Calamities to fall A. M. cir. 3278. B. C. cir. 327 Olymp. XIII. 3. cir. annum Romuli, CHAP. XV. him. on the Moabites. soldiers A. M. cir. 3278. his weep: Moab shall howl over therefore the armed Nebo, and over Medeba: on of Moab shall cry out; all their heads shall be baldness, life shall be grievous unto R. Roman., 28. and beard cut off. every 3 In their streets they shall gird themselves. with sackcloth on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly. 4 And Heshbon shall cry, h and Elealeh their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: eSee Lev. xxi. 5; chap. iii. 24; xxii. 12; Jer. xlvii. 5; xlviii. 1, 37, 38; Ezek. vii. 18.- Jer. xlviii. 38.- - Heb. descending into weeping, or coming down with weeping. phecy of Isaiah into his own larger prophecy against the same people in his forty-eighth chapter, denouncing God's judgment on Moab, subsequent to the calamity here foretold, and to be executed by Nebuchadnezzar; by which means several mistakes of transcribers in the present text of both prophets may be rectified." NOTES ON CHAP. XV. Verse 1. Because in the night] ha beleil. That both these cities should be taken in the night is a circumstance somewhat unusual; but not so material as to deserve to be so strongly insisted upon. Vitringa, by his remark on this word, shows that he was dissatisfied with it in its plain and obvious meaning, and is forced to have recourse to a very hard metaphorical interpretation of it. Noctu vel nocturno impetu; vel metaphorice, repente, subito, inexpectata destructione : placet posterius. Calmet conjectures, and I think it probable, that the true reading is keleil, as the night. There are many mistakes in the Hebrew text arising from the very great similitude of the letters beth, and caph, which in many MSS., and some printed editions, are hardly distinguishable. Admitting this reading, the translation will be,— "Because Ar is utterly destroyed, Moab is undone Because Kir is utterly destroyed, Moab is undone!" Verse 2. He is gone to Bajith, and to Dibon] 'n hy alah habbayith, should be rendered, he is gone to the HOUSE, i. e., to their chief temple, where they practised idolatry. Dibon was the name of a tower where also was an idolatrous temple; thither they went to weep and pray before their idols, that they might interpose and save them from their calamities. So R. D. Kimchi. He is gone to Bajith and to Dibon: but Bishop Lowth reads Beth Dibon; this is the name of one place; and the two words are to be joined together, without the vau intervening. So the Chaldee and Syriac. This reading is not supported by any MS. or Version: but some MSS., instead of war, have y ir, a city, others have y ad, unto, and some editions have y al, upon. But all these help little, though they show that the place puzzled both the scribes and the editors. On all their heads shall be baldness, &c.—" On every head there is baldness," &c.] Herodotus, ii. 36, speaks of it as a general practice among all men, B. C. cir. 726. Olymp. XIII. 3. cir. annum R. Roman., 28. k 5 My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, a 1heifer of three years old for m by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of a destruction. h Chap. xvi. 9. Chap. xvi. 11; Jer. xlviii. 31. Or, to the borders thereof, even as a heifer. Chap. xvi. 14; Jer. xiviii, 34.- Jer. xlviii. 5. Heb. breaking. except the Egyptians, to cut off their hair as a token of mourning. "Cut off thy hair, and cast it away," says Jeremiah, vii. 29, "and take up a lamentation." Τουτο νυ και γερας στον οίζύροισι βροτοίσι Κειρασθαι σε κομην, βαλέειν τ' απο δακρυ παρείων. HOм. Odyss. iv. 197. "The rites of wo Are all, alas! the living can bestow; On every head.-For 1 roshaiv, read rosh. So the parallel place, Jer. xlviii. 37, and so three MSS., An ancient MS. reads why al col one ancient. rosh. Five read bechol rosh, on every head, with the Septuagint and Arabic. AND every head. The vau, and, is found in thirty MSS., in three editions, and in the Syriac, Vulgate, and Chaldee. Cut off" Shorn."] The printed editions, as well as the MSS., are divided on the reading of this word. Some have y geduah, shorn, others П geruah, diminished. The similitude of the letters ▾ daleth and ◄resh has likewise occasioned many mistakes. In the present case, the sense is pretty much the same with either reading. The text of Jer. xlviii. 37 has the latter, diminished. The former reading is found in twelve of Dr. Kennicott's MSS., forty of De Rossi's, and two of my own. A great number of editions have the same reading. Verse 3. With sackcloth] p sak. The word is in the plural o`p sakkim, sacks, in one of De Rossi's MSS. Verse 4. The armed soldiers-"The very loins"] So the Septuagint, oσous, and the Syriac. They cry out violently, with their utmost force. Verse 5. My heart shall cry out for Moab-" The heart of Moab crieth within her"] For libbi, my heart, the Septuagint reads 11 libbo, his heart, or leb; the Chaldee, 1 libbo. For 'n bericheyha, the Syriac reads berocheh; and so likewise the Septuagint, rendering it av avry, Edit. Vat: or ev έavrn, Edit. Alex. and MSS. 1. D. 11. A heifer of three years old—“ A young heifer."? Hebrew, a heifer three years old, in full strength; as Horace uses equa trima, for a young mare just coming to her prime. Bochart observes, from Aristotle, Hist, The distress of A. M. cir. 3278. B. C. cir. 726. 6 For the waters Olymp. XIII. 3. shall be desolate 0 B. C eir. 726. of Nimrim ders of Moab; the howling 4, M. eir. 3278 for the hay thereof unto Eglaim, and the Olymp. XIII. 3. is withered away, the grass fail- howling thereof thereof unto BeerR. Roman., 28. eth, there is no green thing. elim. cir. annum Romuli, 7 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. 8 For the cry is gone round about the borNum. xxxii. 36.- - Heb. desolations.- Or, valley of Animal. lib. iv., that in this kind of animals alone the voice of the female is deeper than that of the male; therefore the lowing of the heifer, rather than of the bullock, is chosen by the prophet, as the more proper image to express the mourning of Moab. But I must add that the expression here is very short and obscure; and the opinions of interpreters are various in regard to the meaning. Compare Jer. xlviii. 34. Shall they go it up" They shall ascend"] For by yaaleh, the Septuagint and a MS. read in the plural, y yaalu. And from this passage the parallel place in Jer. xlviii. 5 must be corrected; where, for yaaleh bechi, which gives no good sense, read yaaleh bo. cir. annum Romuli R. Roman, 28. 9 For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land. the Arabians.- Heb. additions. 2 Kings xvii. 25. that the same town was called both Dibon and Dimon. The reading is therefore indifferent. Upon him that escapeth of Moab, &c.—“ Upon the escaped of Moab, and Ariel, and the remnant of Admah."] The Septuagint for aryeh read ariel. Ar Moab was called also Ariel or Areopolis. Hieron. and Theodoret. See Cellarius. They make 7 Admah also a proper name. Michaelis thinks that the Moabites might be called the remnant of Admah, as sprung from Lot and his daughters, escaped from the destruction of that and the other cities; or, metaphorically, as the Jews are called princes of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah, chap. i. 10. Bibliotheque Orient. Part v., p. 195. The reading of this verse is aba- very doubtful; and the sense, in every way in which This word seems to have been lost out of the it can be read, very obscure.-L. Calmet thinks there text it is supplied by the parallel place, Jer. xlviii. 36. may be a reference to 1 Chron. xi. 22, where it is said, The Syriac expresses it by y aber, præterit, "he" Benaiah slew two lion-like men of Moab," or the tiro hath passed;" and the Chaldee by yithbazezun, Ariels of Moab, and would therefore translate, "I will diripientur. bring down the remnant of Moab like Ariel, (which Verse 7. "Shall perish"] 178 abadu, or deh. To the brook of the willows-" To the valley of wil-Benaiah smote,) and them that are escaped like Adalows."] That is, to Babylon. Hieron, and Jarchi in loc.; both referring to Psa. cxxxvii. 2. So likewise Prideaux, Le Clerc, &c. Verse 9. The waters of Dimon] Some have Dibon, others have Ribon and Rimon. St. Jerome observes mah." They shall be exterminated, as were the inhabitants of those two cities. Ariel was a double city——— the river Arnon dividing it in two. This is the two Ariels of Moab-not two lion-like men, much less two lions. See Calmet on this place. CHAPTER XVI. The distress of Moab pathetically described by the son of the prince, or ruler of the land, being forced to • flee for his life through the desert, that he may escape to Judea; and the young women, like young birds scared from their nest, wade helpless through the fords of Arnon, the boundary of their country, to seek protection in some foreign land, 1, 2. The prophet addresses Sion, exhorting her to show mercy to her enemies in their distress, that her throne may be established in righteousness, 3–5. Exceeding great pride of Moab, 6. The terrible calamities about to fall upon Moab farther described by the languishing of the vine, the ceasing of the vintage, the sound of the prophet's bowels quivering like a harp, &c., 7–13. Awful nearness of the full accomplishment of the prophecy, 14. SEND ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Selad to the wilderness, unto the mount R. Roman., 28. of the daughter of Zion. a2 Kings iii. 4.— b2 Kings xiv. 7.———c Or, Petra, NOTES ON CHAP. XVI. Verse 1. Send ye the lamb, &c.-"I will send forth the son, &c."] Both the reading and meaning of this verse are still more doubtful than those of the preceding. The Septuagint and Syriac read nos eshlach, The desolations of A. M. cir. 3278. cir. annum Romuli, R. Roman., 28. CHAP. XVI. night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. m Moab described. A. M. cir. 3278. Olymp. XIII. 3. B. C. cir. 726. cir. annum Romuli, 3 Take counsel, execute judg-| 5 And in mercy shall the Olymp. XIII. 3. ment; make thy shadow as the throne be established; and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and B. Roman., 28. seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness. 6 We have heard of the "pride of Moab; he is very proud; even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath; but his lies shall not be so. 4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler for the hextortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, i the oppressors are consumed out of the land. Heb. Bring.- - Heb. wringer. Heb. the treaders down. * Dan. vii. 14, 27; Mic. iv. 7; Luke i. 33. Or, prepared. firmed by five MSS. of Kennicott and De Rossi. The two first verses describe the distress of Moab on the Assyrian invasion; in which even the son of the prince of the country is represented as forced to flee for his life through the desert, that he may escape to Judea; and the young women are driven forth like young birds cast out of the nest, and endeavouring to wade through the fords of the river Arnon. Perhaps there is not so much difficulty in this verse as appears at first view. "Send the lamb to the ruler of the land," may receive light from 2 Kings iii. 4, 5: "And Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs with their wool, and one hundred thousand rams: but when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab rebelled against Israel." Now the prophet exhorts them to begin paying the tribute as formerly, that their punishment might be averted or mitigated. Verse 3. Take counsel-" Impart counsel"] The Vulgate renders the verbs in the beginning of this verse in the singular number. So the Keri; and so likewise sixty-one MSS. of Kennicott's and De Rossi's have it, and nineteen editions, and the Syriac. The verbs throughout the verse are also in the feminine gender; agreeing with Zion, which I suppose to be understood. Ο 7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, mn Psa. lxxii. 2; xcvi. 13; xcviii. 9. Jer. xlviii. 29; Zeph. ii. 10.-o Chap. xxviii. 15.- - Jer. xlviii. 20. be the father and protector of his people: but he is actually such. 2. He is judging. He is not a man of war or blood, who wastes his subjects' lives and treasures in contentions with neighbouring nations, in order to satisfy his ambition by the extension of his territory. On the contrary, his whole life is occupied in the distribution of justice. 3. He seeketh judgment. He seeks out the poor distressed ones who cannot make their way to him, and avenges them on their oppressors. 4. He hastens righteousness. He does not suffer any of the courts of justice to delay the determination of the causes brought before them: he so orders that the point in litigation be fairly, fully, and speedily heard; and then judgment pronounced. Delays in the execution of justice answer little end but the enriching of unprincipled lawyers. Verse 6. We have heard of the pride of Moab"We have heard the pride of Moab"] For Nge, read N geah; two MSS., one ancient, and Jer. xlviii. 29. Zephaniah, chap. ii. 8-10, in his prophecy against Moab, the subject of which is the same with that of Jeremiah in his forty-eighth chapter, (see the note on chap. xv. 1,) enlarges much on the pride of Moab, and their insolent behaviour towards the Jews:"I have heard the reproach of Moab; The oppressors-"The oppressor"] Perhaps the Israelites, who in the time of Ahaz invaded Judah, defeated his army, slaying one hundred and twenty thousand men, and brought the kingdom to the brink of destruction. Judah, being now in a more prosperous condition, is represented as able to receive and to protect the fugitive Moabites. And with those former times of distress the security and flourishing state of the kingdom under the government of Hezekiah is" contrasted. Verse 5. In mercy shall the throne be established] May not this refer to the throne of Hezekiah? Here we have the character of such a king as cannot fail to be a blessing to the people. 1. "He sitteth on the throne in truth"-He does not merely profess to And the revilings of the sons of Ammon : And have magnified themselves against their borders. Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, And the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah: The residue of my people shall spoil them, Against the people of JEHOVAH God of hosts." Verse 7, For the foundations of Kir-hareseth— For the men of Kirhares."] A palpable mistake in this place is happily corrected by the parallel text of Jer. xlviii. 31, where, instead of 'w's ashishey, foundations or flagons, we read X anshey, men. In the same place of Jeremiah, and in ver. 36, and here in ver. 11, the name of the city is Kirhares, not Kirhareseth. The desolations of A. M. cir. 3278. every ISAIAH. B. C. cir. 726. Moab described one shall howl: for the | for the shouting for thy summer A. M. eir. 3278. Olymp. XIII. 3. foundations 4 of Kir-hareseth fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. Olymp. XIII. 3. shall ye 'mourn; surely they are stricken. cir. annum Romuli, R. Roman., 28. 8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are "stretched out, they are gone over the sea. 9 Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: Or, mutter.Chap. xxiv. 7. - Ver. 9. Jer. xlviii. 32.- -W Chap. xv. 4. W 12 Kings iu. 25. Or, plucked up.Verse 8. Languish-" Are put to shame"] Here the text of Jeremiah leaves us much at a loss, in a place that seems to be greatly corrupted. The Septuagint join the two last words of this verse with the beginning of the following. Their rendering is xa ουκ εντράπηση τα πεδια Εσεβων. For s ach they must have read & al; otherwise, how came they by the negative, which seems not to belong to this place? Neither is it easy to make sense of the rest without a small alteration, by reading, instead of Evrgarnon ra, εντραπήσεται. In a word, the Arabic version, taken from the Septuagint, plainly authorizes this reading of the Septuagint, and without the negative; and it is fully confirmed by MSS. Pachom. and 1. D. II., which have both of them svrganostaι Tedia Erewv, without the negative; which makes an excellent sense, and, I think, gives us the true reading of the Hebrew ak michlemu shadmoth אך נכלמו שדמות חשבון ;text cir. annum Romuii, 10 And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful R. Roman., 29. field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage-shouting to cease. 11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh. Verse 9. With the weeping-"As with the weeping"] For 2 bibechi, a MS. reads bechi. In Jer. xlviii. 32, it is mibbechi. The Septuagint read kibeki, as with weeping, which I follow. For thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen 77 13 y veal ketsirech heidad naphal. In "And upon thy vintage the destroyer hath fallen."] these few words there are two great mistakes, which the text of Jer. xviii. 32 rectifies. For Typ ketsirech, it has 77 betsirech; and for 777 heidad, shoded; both which corrections the Chaldee in this place confirms. As to the first, "Hesebon and Eleale, and The flowery dale of Sibmah, clad with vines," cheshbon. They frequently render the verb 3 nichlam by εντρεπομαι. And 1 nichlemu answers perfectly well to umlal, the parallel word in the next line. The MSS. vary in expressing the word 'were never celebrated for their harvests; it was the nechaim, which gives no tolerable sense in this place; vintage that suffered by the irruption of the enemy; one reads ' nochaim; two others bechaim; and so read the Septuagint and Syriac. heidad in another the caph is upon a rasure of two letters; is the noisy acclamation of the treaders of the grapes. and the Vulgate instead of it reads D mecotham, And see what sense this makes in the literal rendering plagas suas.-L. of the Vulgate super messem tuam vor calcantium a moan.irruit, "upon thy harvest the voice of the treaders This is rushes." The reading in Jer. xlviii. 32 is certainly right, shoded naphal, "the destroyer hath fallen." The shout of the treaders does not come in till the next verse; in which the text of Isaiah in its turn mends that of Jeremiah, xlviii. 33, where instead of the first 177 heidad, "the shout," we ought undoubtedly to read, as here, haddorech, "the For the men of Kirhares ye shall make For the fields of Heshbon are put to shame. Bp. Lowth's sense of the passage. Her branches are stretched out-" Her branches extended themselves."] For nitteshu, a MS. has 1 mggeshu; which may perhaps be right. Compare Jer. xlviii. 32, which has in this part of the sentence the synonymous word w nagau. The meaning of this verse is, that the wines of Sib-treader." mah and Heshbon were greatly celebrated, and in high repute with all the great men and princes of that and the neighbouring countries; who indulged themselves seven to intemperance in the use of them. So that their vines were so much in request as not only to be propaHated all over the country of Moab to the sea of Sodom, Im to have arions of them sent even beyond the sea into Medgn countriem, wa'y hulemu, knocked down, demolished; that is Verse 10. Neither shall there be shouting-" An end is put to the shouting" The Septuagint read wn hishbeth, passive, and in the third person; rightly, for God is not the speaker in this place. The rendering of the Septuagint is reraurai yap xɛɛusμa, “the civ ceaseth;" which last word, necessary to the rendering of the Hebrew and to the sense, is supplied by MSS. Pachom, and 1. D. 11., having been lost out of the other copies. Verse 12. When it is seen that Moab, &c.—“ When Divine judgments B. C. cir. 726. cir. annum B. C. cir. 726. cir. annum A. M. cir. 3278, he shall come to his sanctuary | Within three years, b as the A. M. cir. 3238. Olymp. XIII. 3. to pray; but he shall not prevail. years of a hireling, and the glory Olymp. XIII. 3. 13 This is the word that the of Moab shall be contemned, R. Roman., 28. LORD hath spoken concerning with all that great multitude; R. Roman., 28. and the remnant shall be very small and Romuli, Moab since that time. 66 c Or, not many. Romuli, Moab shall see," &c.] For n nirah, a MS. reads time agreed on; so, in three years, even to a day, from raah, and so the Syriac and Chaldee. Perhaps the delivery of this prophecy, shall destruction come This is the import of the present text; but if we take wwɔ keshalish, as in three years, .upon Moab | כי נלאה ki nirah is only a various reading of כי נראה ki nilah." SECKER. A very probable conjecture. Verse 14. Within three years] ww beshalish. vor in about three years' time, the prophecy is not so keshalish, according, or in or about three years, is the reading of nine of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., and two ancient editions. But the present reading may well stand : "Now, the Lord hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of a hireling." It seems as if this prophecy had been delivered before, without any time specified for its fulfilment; but now the time is determined" in three years, as the years of a hireling" for, as a hireling counts even to a single day, and will not abide with his employer an hour beyond the definite. These three years, says Calmet, are mentioned from the death of Ahaz, see chap. xiv. 28, and end the third year of Hezekiah, three years before the taking of Samaria by Shalmaneser. This conquerer did not ruin Moab so completely as not to leave a man in the land; the final desolation of Moab was reserved for Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the taking of Jerusalem. Feeble" And without strength."] An ancient MS., with the Septuagint, reads & velo, “and not." CHAPTER XVII. Judgments of God upon Damascus, 1-3; and upon Israel, 4-6. Good effects of these judgments on the small remnant or gleaning that should escape them, 7, 8. The same judgments represented in other but stronger terms, and imputed to irreligion and neglect of God, 9-11. The remaining verses are a distinct prophecy, a beautiful detached piece, worked up with the greatest elegance, sublimity, and propriety; and forming a noble description of the formidable invasion and sudden overthrow of Sennacherib, exactly suitable to the event, 12-14. Jer. xlix. 23; Amos i. 3; Zech. íx. 1; 2 Kings xvi. 9. This prophecy by its title should relate only to Damascus ; but it full as much concerns, and more largely treats of, the kingdom of Samaria and the Israelites, confederated with Damascus and the Syrians against the kingdom of Judah. It was delivered probably soon after the prophecies of the seventh and eighth chapters, in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz; and was fulfilled by Tiglath-pileser's taking Damascus, and carrying the people captives to Kir, (2 Kings xvi. 9,) and overrunning great part of the kingdom of Israel, and carrying a great number of the Israelites also captives to Assyria; and still more fully in regard to Israel, by the conquest of the kingdom, and the captivity of the people, effected a few years after by Shalmaneser.-L. NOTES ON CHAP. XVII. prelate, that the prophecy, as it relates to Damascus, was executed in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz, probably about the third year. If we credit Midrash, the Damascenes were the most extensive and flagrant of all idolaters. "There were in Damascus three hundred and sixty-five streets, in each of these was an idol, and each idol had his peculiar day of worship; so that the whole were worshipped in the course of the year." This, or any thing like this, was a sufficient reason for this city's destruction. A ruinous heap] For mei, "a ruinous heap," the Septuagint reads "y lei, "for a ruin," the Vulgate "y kei, “as a ruin.” I follow the former. Verse 2: The cities of Aroer are forsaken-" The cities are deserted for ever"] What has Aroer on the river Arnon to do with Damascus and if there be Verse 1. The burden of Damascus.] Which is, ac-another Aroer on the northern border of the tribe of cording to the common version, The cities of Aroer are forsaken. It has already been observed by the learned Gad, as Reland seems to think there might be, this is not much more to the purpose. Besides, the cities of |