6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf: and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

7 And m there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. > But now, O LORD, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and

i Mal. iii. 6.- -k Phil, iii. 9. Psa. xc. 5, 6.- - Hos. vii. 7. Heb. melted.- Heb. by the hand, as Job ix. 4.- Chap. lxii. 16. Chap. xxix. 16; xlv. 9; Jer. xviii. 6; Rom. ix. 20. 21. Eph. ii. 10.

behem olam. They aleyhem, which the Septuagint probably found in their copy, seems to be a remnant of Onya bemaaleleyhem.

This, it may be said, is imposing your sense upon the prophet. It may be so; for perhaps these may not be the very words of the prophet: but however it is better than to impose upon him what makes no sense at all; as they generally do, who pretend to render such corrupted passages. For instance, our own translators: "in those is continuance, and we shall be saved" in those-in whom, or what? There is no antecedent to the relative. "In the ways of God," say some: "with our fathers," says Vitringa, joining it in construction with the verb, nap katsaphta, "thou hast been angry with them, our fathers;" and putting NO vannecheta, "for we have sinned," in a paren

we all are
hand.
9 Be not wroth very sore, O
LORD, neither remember iniquity
for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we
are all thy people.

R. Roman., 4.

t

10 Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, "Jerusalem a desolation. 11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.

12 Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? y wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?

Psa. lxxiv. 1, 2; lxxix. 8. Psa. lxxix. 13.- Psa. lxxix. 1; chap. iii. 8; Jer. vi. I; ix. 11.-2 Kings xxv. 9; Psa. lxxiv. 7; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 12.- Ezek. xxiv. 21, 25.- Chap. xlii. 24. Psa. lxxxiii. 1.

ben Maimon interpretatur D' iddim, vestes quibus mulier se abstergit post congressum cum marito suo. Alii pannus menstruatus. Alii panni mulieris parientis.-And we ben made as unclene alle we: and as the cloth of the woman rooten blode flowing, all sur rigtwisnesses.-Old MS. Bible. If preachers knew properly the meaning of this word, would they make such a liberal use of it in their public ministry? And why should any use a word, the meaning of which he does not understand? How many in the congregation blush for the incautions man and his "filthy rags!"

יי!

Verse 7. There is none] Twelve MSS. have ein, without the conjunction 1 vau prefixed; and so read the Chaldee and Vulgate.

And hast consumed us because of our iniquities"And hast delivered us up into the hands of our iniquities."] For 1 vattemugenu, "hast dissolved us," the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee had in their copies 11 temaggenenu, "hast delivered us up." Houbigant. Secker.

thesis. But there has not been any mention of our fathers: and the whole sentence, thus disposed, is utterly discordant from the Hebrew idiom and construction. In those is continuance; y olam means a destined but hidden and unknown portion of time; but cannot mean continuation of time, or continuance, Verse 8. But, now, O Lord, thou art our Fatheras it is here rendered. Such forced interpretations "But thou, O JEHOVAH, thou art our Father"] For are equally conjectural with the boldest critical emen-ny veattah, and now, five MSS., one of them ancient, dation; and generally have this farther disadvantage, and the two oldest editions, 1486 and 1488, have л that they are altogether unworthy of the sacred writers.-L.

Coverdale renders the passage thus:-But lo, thou art angrie, for we offende, and have been ever in spnne; and there is not one whole. This is, I am afraid, making a sense.

After all that this very learned prelate has done to reduce these words to sense and meaning, I am afraid we are still far from the prophet's mind. Probably On bahem, in them, refers to T deracheycha, thy ways, above. hy olam may be rendered of old, or during the whole of the Jewish economy; and yon venivvashea, "and shall we be saved?" Thus :-Thou art wroth, for we have sinned in them (thy ways) of old; and can we be saved? For we are all as an unclean thing, &c.

Verse 6. As filthy rags] y ddim. Rab. Mosheh

veattah, and thou; and so the Chaldee seems to have read. The repetition has great force. The other word may be well spared. "But now, O Lord, thou art our Father." How very affectionate is the complaint in this and the following verses! But how does the distress increase, when they recollect the desolations of the temple, and ruin of public worship, ver. 11: "Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt up with fire," &c.

We all are the work of thy hand] Three MSS. (two of them ancient) and the Septuagint read ay maaseh, the work, without the conjunction 1 vau prefixed. And for TT yadecha, thy hand, the Bodleian, and two other MSS., the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read TT yadeycha, thy hands, in the plural number.-L.

Verse 9. Neither remember iniquity] For

The conversion of

ISAIAH.

the Gentiles foretold.

laad tizcor, one of my MSS. has

pлy laad tik-written in the margin by a later hand: but this MS. tsoph, "be not angry," as in the preceding clause. abounds with words of this kind, all altered by later This has been partially obliterated, and in tizcor, hands.

CHAPTER LXV.

We have here a vindication of God's dealings with the Jews, 1, 2. To this end the prophet points out their great hypocrisy, and gives a particular enumeration of their dreadful abominations, many of which were committed under the specious guise of sanctity, 3-5. For their horrid impieties, (recorded in writing before Jehovah,) the wrath of God shall certainly come upon them to the uttermost; a prediction which was exactly fulfilled in the first and second centuries in the reigns of the Roman emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Hadrian, when the whole Jewish polity was dissolved, and the people dispersed all over the world, 6, 7. Though God had rejected the Jews, and called the Gentiles, who sought him not, (Rom. ix. 24-26,) yet a remnant from among the former shall be preserved, to whom he will in due time make good all his promises, 8-10. Denunciation of Divine vengeance against those idolaters who set in order a table for Gad, and fill out a libation to Meni, ancient idolatries, which, from the context, and from the chronological order of the events predicted, have a plain reference to the idolatries practised by Antichrist under the guise of Christianity, 11, 12. Dreadful fate which awaits these gross idolaters beautifully contrasted with the great blessedness reserved for the righteous, 13-16. Future restoration of the posterity of Jacob, and the happy state of the world in general from that most glorious epoch, represented by the strong figure of the creation of NEW heavens and a NEW earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, and into which no distress shall be permitted to enter, 17-19. In this new state of things the term of human life shall be greatly protracted, and shall possess none of that uncertainty which attaches to it in "the heavens and the earth which are now." This is elegantly illustrated by the longevity of a tree; manifestly alluding to the oak or cedar of Lebanon, some individuals of which are known to have lived from seven to ten centuries, 20–23. Beautiful figures shadowing forth the profound peace and harmony of the Church of Jesus Christ, which shall immediately follow the total overthrow of Antichrist; with a most gracious promise that the great chain of Omnipotence shall be put upon every adversary, so that none will be able any longer to hurt and destroy in all God's holy mountain, 24, 25.

A.

B. C. cir. 712.

cir. annum

4. M. cir. 3292. I AM sought of them that
2 • I have spread out my hands
Olymp. XVII. 1.
asked not for me; I am found all the day unto a rebellious peo-
Numa Pompilii, of them that sought me not: I ple, which walketh in a way that
R. Roman., 4. said,
Behold
behold
me,
me, was not good, after their own
unto a nation that was not called by my thoughts;

name.

a Rom. ix. 24, 25, 26, 30; x. 20; Eph. ii. 12, 13. This chapter contains a defence of God's proceedings in regard to the Jews, with reference to their complaint in the chapter preceding. God is introduced declaring that he had called the Gentiles, though they had not sought him; and had rejected his own people for their refusal to attend to his repeated call; for their obstinate disobedience, their idolatrous practices, and detestable hypocrisy. That nevertheless he would not destroy them all; but would preserve a remnant, to whom he would make good his ancient promises. Severe punishments are threatened to the apostates; and great rewards are promised to the obedient in a future flourishing state of the Church.-L.

NOTES ON CHAP. LXV.

Verse 1. I am sought of them that asked not for me-"I am made known to those that asked not for me"] nidrashti, supavns sysvouny, the Septuagint, Alexandrian, and St. Paul, Rom. x. 20; who has however inverted the order of the phrases, supavseevoy, "I was made manifest," and supednv, "I was found," from that which they have in the Septua

3 A people that provoketh me to anger

b Chap. xiii. 19.— -c Rom. x. 21.-d Deut. xxxii. 21. gint. nidrashti means, “I am sought so as to be found." Vitringa. If this be the true meaning of the word, then 1 shaalu, “that asked," which follows, should seem defective, the verb wanting its object: but two MSS., one of them ancient, have JÓNU shealuni," asked me ;" and another MS. 8 shealu li, "asked for me;" one or other of which seems to be right. But Cocceius in Lex., and Vitringa in his translation, render 'n nidrashti, by "I have answered;" and so the verb is rendered by all the ancient Versions in Ezek. xx. 3, 31. If this be right, the translation will be, "I have answered those that asked not." I leave this to the reader's judgment; but have followed in my translation the Septuagint and St. Paul, and the MSS. above mentioned. p bikeshuni is written regularly and fully in above a hundred MSS. and in the oldest edition, pa bikeshuni.-L.

Verse 3. That sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick-" Sacrificing in the gardens, and burning incense on the tiles"] These are instances of heathenish superstition, and idolatrous practices, to which the Jews were immoderately addicted

that graves, and lodge in the monu-
ments; h which eat swine's flesh,
and broth of abominable things
is in their vessels;

"Here in distress the Italian nations come, Anxious, to clear their doubts, and learn their doom. First, on the fleeces of the slaughtered sheep, By night the sacred priest dissolves in sleep : When in a train, before his slumbering eye, Thin airy forms and wondrous visions fly. He calls the powers who guard the infernal floods, And talks inspired, familiar with the gods." PITT. There was a practice exactly like this which prevailed among the Highlanders of Scotland; an authen- "The second way of consulting the oracle was by tic account of this is given by Sir Walter Scott, in a a party of men, who first retired to solitary places, renote on his poem called The Lady of the Lake. It is mote from any house; and there they singled out one as follows:of their number, and wrapt him in a big cow's hide, "The Highlanders, like all rude people, had various which they folded about him. His whole body was superstitious modes of inquiring into futurity. One of covered with it, except his head, and so left in this posthe most noted was the Taghairm, mentioned in the ture all night, until his invisible friends relieved him, text. A person was wrapped up in the skin of a new-by giving a proper answer to the question in hand;

God's gracious promise

A. M. cir. 3292.
B. C. cir. 712.

ISAIAH.

B. C. cir. 712.

of restoration. k 5 Which say, Stand by thy- have burned incense upon the A. M. cir. 3292. Olymp. XVII. 1. self, come not near to me; for I mountains, and blasphemed Olymp. XVII. 1. am holier than thou. These are me upon the hills: therefore Numa Pompilii, a smoke in my nose, a fire that will I measure their former work burneth all the day. into their bosom.

cir. annum

Numa Pompilii,

R. Roman., 4.

6 Behold, m it is written before me: "I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom,

7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD, which

See Matt. ix. 11; Luke v. 30; xviii. 11; Jude 19.

1 Or, anger. in Deut. xxxii. 34; Mal. iii. 16:- Psa. 1. 3.

which he received, as he fancied, from several persons that he found about him all that time. His consorts returned to him at the break of day, and then he communicated his news to them; which often proved fatal to those concerned in such unwarrantable inquiries.

cir. annum

R. Roman., 4.

8 Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all.

Which eat swine's flesh] This was expressly forbidden by the law, Lev. xi. 7, but among the heathen was in principal request in their sacrifices and feasts. Antiochus Epiphanes compelled the Jews to eat swine's flesh, as a full proof of their renouncing their religion, 2 Mac. vi. 18 and vii. 1. "And the broth of abominable meats," for lustrations, magical arts, and other superstitious and abominable practices.

In their vessels] For □ keleyhem, a MS. had at first bichleyhem. So the Vulgate and Chaldee, (and the preposition seems necessary to the sense,) “in their vessels.'

"There was a third way of consulting, which was a confirmation of the second above mentioned. The same company who put the man into the hide took a live cat, and put him on a spit. One of the number was employed to turn the spit; and one of his consorts inquired of him, What are you doing? He answered, I roast this cat until his friends answer the question; which must be the same that was proposed by the man shut up in the hide. And afterwards, a very big cat (in allusion to the story of the King of the Cats,' in Lord Lyttleton's Letters, and well known in the High-dee lands as a nursery tale) comes, attended by a number of lesser cats, desiring to relieve the cat turned upon the spit, and then answers the question. If this answer proved the same that was given to the man in the hide, then it was taken as a confirmation of the other, which, in this case, was believed infallible.

“Mr. Alexander Cooper, present minister of NorthVist, told me that one John Erach, in the Isle of Lewis, assured him it was his fate to have been led by his curiosity with some who consulted this oracle, and that he was a night within the hide, as above-mentioned; during which time he felt and heard such terrible things, that he could not express them. The impression it made on him was such as could never go off; and he said for a thousand worlds he would never again be concerned in the like performance, for this had disordered him to a high degree. He confessed it ingenuously, and with an air of great remorse; and seemed to be very penitent under a just sense of so great a crime. He declared this about five years since, and is still living in the Lewis for any thing I know."-Description of the Western Isles, p. 110. See also PENNANT'S Scottish Tour, vol. ii. p. 361.

Verse 4. Which remain among the graves] "For the purpose of evoking the dead. They lodged in desert places that demons might appear to them; for demons do appear in such places, to those who do believe in them."-Kimchi.

Verse 5. For I am holier than thou] So the Chalrenders it. Tp kedashticha is the same with

ne kadashti mimmecha. In the same manner pin chazaktani, Jer. xx. 7, is used for pin chazacta mimmenni, “ thou art stronger than I."-L Verse 6. Behold, it is written before me] Their sin is registered in heaven, calling aloud for the punishment due to it.

I will-recompense into their bosom] The bosom is the place where the Asiatics have their pockets, and not in their skirts like the inhabitants of the west. Their loose flowing garments have scarcely any thing analogous to skirts.

Into their bosom] For y al, ten MSS. and five editions have s el. So again at the end of this verse, seventeen MSS. and four editions have ↳ al.—L.

Verse 7. Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers-“Their iniquities, and the iniquities of their fathers"] For the pronoun affixed of the second person on chem, your, twice, read DT hem, their, in the third person; with the Septuagint and Houbigant.-L.

Verse 8. A blessing is in it] The Hebrews call all things which serve for food 7 berachah, “a blessing." On this verse Kimchi remarks: "As the clus ter of grapes contains, besides the juice, the bark, and the kernels, so the Israelites have, besides the just, sinners among them. Now as the cluster must not be destroyed because there is a blessing, a nutritive part in it; so Israel shall not be destroyed, because there are righteous persons in it. But as the bark and ker

In the monuments-"In the caverns"]nels are thrown away, when the wine is pressed out, bannetsurim, a word of doubtful signification. An an- so shall the sinners be purged away from among the cient MS. has D'Y batstsurim, another Dy bats- just, and on their return from exile, shall not be pertsurim, “in the rocks;" and Le Clerc thinks the Sep-mitted to enter into the land of Israel;” Ezek. xx. 38.

A gracious promise

4. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712.

cit. annum

CHAP. LXV.

number.

of restoration.

9 And I will bring forth a seed a table for that troop, and that Olymp. XVII. 1. out of Jacob, and out of Judah furnish the drink-offering unto Numa Pompilii, an inheritor of my mountains: that R. Roman., 4. and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.

V

t

10 And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.

11 But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare

W

W

Ver. 15, 22; Matt. xxiv. 22; Rom. xi. 5, 7.- Chap. xxxiii. 9; xxxv. 2.- - Josh. vii. 24, 26; Hos. ii. 15.- Chap. lvi. 7; lvii. 13; ver. 25.

For my servants' sakes—“ For the sake of my servant"] It is to be observed that one of the Koningsburg MSS. collated by Lilienthal points the word "y abdi, singular; that is, "my servant," meaning the Messiah; and so read the Septuagint, which gives a very good sense. In two of my old MSS. it is pointed y abadai, and by abdi, "my servant," this confirms the above reading.

Verse 9. An inheritor of my mountain's—“An inheritor of my mountain"] hari, in the singular number; so the Septuagint and Syriae; that is, of Mount Sion. See ver. 11 and chap. lvi. 7, to which Sion, the pronoun feminine singular, added to the verb in the next line, refers; yereshuah, “shall inherit her."-L.

Verse 10. Sharon—and the valley of Achor] Two of the most fertile parts of Judea; famous for their rich pastures; the former to the west, not far from Joppa; the latter north of Jericho, near Gilgal.

|

A. M. cir. 3292.
Olymp. XVII. 1.
Numa Pompilii,
R. Roman, 4.

B. C. cir. 712.

cir. annum

12 Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be -y Or, Gad.- 2 Or, Meni. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16; Prov. i. 24, &c. ; chap. lxvi. 4; Jer. vii. 13; Zech. vii. 7; Matt. xxi. 34-43.

* Ezek. xxiii. 41; 1 Cor. x. 21.

bant. "In all cities, and especially in Egypt and Alexandria, it was an ancient idolatrous custom on the last day of the year, to spread a table covered with various kinds of viands, and a goblet mixed with new wine, re. ferring to the fertility either of the past or coming year. The Israelites did the same, worshipping all kinds of images, and pouring out libations on such tables," &c. See also Le Clerc on the place; and on lxvi. 17, and Dav. Millii Dissert. v.

The allusion to Meni, which signifies number, is obvious. If there had been the like allusion to Gad, which might have been expected, it might perhaps have helped to let us into the meaning of that word. It appears from Jerome's version of this place, that the words Sapove, to a demon, (or daiovi, as some copies have it,) and n sux, to fortune, stood in his time in the Greek version in an inverted order from that which they have in the present copies; the latter then answering to 11 gad, the former to meni: by which some difVerse 11. That prepare a table for that troop—ficulty would be avoided; for it is commonly supposed "Who set in order a table for Gad"] The disquisitions that agad signifies run, fortune. See Gen. xxx. 11, and conjectures of the learned concerning Gad and Meni are infinite and uncertain: perhaps the most probable may be, that Gad means good fortune, and Meni the moon. "But why should we be solicitous about it?" says Schmidius. "It appears sufficiently, from My Old MS. Bible translates: That putten the the circumstances, that they were false gods; either borde of fortune; and offreden licours upon it; and so stars, or some natural objects; or a mere fiction. The the Vulgate. Holy Scriptures did not deign to explain more clearly what these objects of idolatrous worship were; but chose rather, that the memory of the knowledge of them should be utterly abolished. And God be praised,Septuagint. that they are so totally abolished, that we are now quite at a loss to know what and what sort of things they were." Schmidius on the place, and on Jud. ii. 13, Bibl. Hallensia.

Jerome, on the place, gives an account of this idolatrous practice of the apostate Jews, of making a feast, or a lectisternium, as the Romans called it, for these pretended deities. Est in cunctis urbibus, et maxime in Ægypto, et in Alexandria, idololatriæ vetus consuetudo, ut ultimo die anni, et mensis ejus qui extremus est, ponant mensam refertam varii generis epulis, et poculum mulso mixtum; vel præteriti anni vel futuri fertilitatem auspicantes. Hoc autem faciebant et Israelitæ, omnium simulachrorum portenta venerantes; et nequaquam altari victimas, sed hujusmodi mensæ liba funde

apud Sept. This matter is so far well cleared up by MSS. Pachom. and 1. D. 11., which agree in placing these two words in that order, which Jerome's version supposes.-L.

Ετοιμάζοντες τῳ δαιμονιῳ τραπεζαν, και πληρούντες rn ruxn xspaoua. "Preparing a table for the demon, and filling up, or pouring out, a libation to fortune."

Ye have set up an aulter unto fortune
And geven rich drink offeringes unto treasure.
COVERDALE.

Verse 12. Therefore will I number you] Referring to Meni, which signifies number. "Rabbi Eliezar said to his disciples, Turn to God one day before you die. His disciples said, How can a man know the day of his death? He answered, Therefore it is necessary that you should turn to God to-day, for possibly ye may die to-morrow."

Verse 13. My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry] Rabbi Joachan ben Zachai said in a parable: There was a king who invited his servants, but set them no time to come to the feast The prudent and