66 way of removing all difficulties, in respect to the construction of these words, may be to read instead of, and then they will give this apposite sense; truly, the multitude of the idols upon the hills are a lie;" in which signification we have this word, Isai. xlv. 16: and it is allowed on all hands that the words relate to the idol-worship on the mountains; and the Chald. favours this sense. C. iv. 1st. Might not be better rendered according to Piscator," and shall not wander?" to wit, after her idols. 4th. Twenty-one MSS. have ny in the singular number. 1 Thirty MSS. have pn, agreeably to the Keri, which is 6th. Sce the Dissert, of the Collations for this verse, and v. 10. 13th. 14th. Meibom. reads, nubes a mari. Five MSS. read nawn in the singular, which agrees better with the foregoing verb. 19th. The Sept. reads nyow, " my soul hath heard," together with the Syr. Ar. and Vulg. 20th. Fourteen MSS. read 'ny, “my curtains," as the Sept. ai deppeis, &e or et la 1. 29th. Eight MSS. read 2, which is still more grammatical. 30th. Twenty-five MSS. read, with the Keri, ns. C. v. 7th. Twenty-nine MSS. have, agrecably to the Keri, no, which is certainly preferable. 8th. The commentators are much divided in their interpretations of the word ', but the version of Aq. Sym. and Theod. trahentes, (see Poole's Synopsis,) seems to come nearest to the intention of the prophet; and, if we read, with the Keri and fourteen MSS. ', and render this word armed, (see Poole's Synopsis and Taylor's Concordance,) with Rabbi Salomon, they will, both together, be very descriptive of the raging lust of the Israelites, who are compared to horses, armed and unsheathed, alluding to their genitals when ready to cover the mares; and perhaps this description may refer likewise to the impious and obscene practices committed in the temples, and to the honour, of the false gods: witness the rites of Bacchus, Venus, and Priapus, which the Israelites probably imitated. "Romanæ matronæ virilis membri figuram divinis percolebant honoribus, Ægyptiorum more; et in sinu veneris locabant." See Alex. ab Alex. lib. iii. c. 18, and lib. vi. c. 19. 9th. Ten MSS. have TPDN, which is still more grammatical; also six in v. 29. 14th. Would it not be more grammatical to read 7 in the second person plural. 17th. Instead of ', should we not read, as the Syr. Chald. and Vulg. in the singular, as it is thus written three times in this verse, agreeing with "? Though the Sept. and Ar. read all in the plural. 22d. Buxtorf justifies the reading of y in both places, by supposing that the paragogic precedes the pronoun; but I should suppose that this is not so much idiomatic as the error of transcribers; and, as the first verb must be in the singular, and the second in the plural, .יעברוהו יעברחו number, I should write them 24th. the context. Twenty-three MSS. give naw, which is more suitable to 66 ,ישרו כיקושים might we not read,ישור כשך יקושים For they watch as fowlers?" Fourteen MSS. read, with the Keri, '. Thirty-four MSS. ready, which is more gramma tical. 15th. reading. 16th. Eight MSS. haven, which seems to be a better See c. iii. 3. viii. 12. More than forty MSS. have man, and so this word is usually written. 17th. Four MSS. have 'mom, which is more strictly grammatical. 18th. I think Dr Blayney's criticism is forced. The words in the latter part of this verse do not afford a very pertinent sense, and у, "oh! congregation," is never, I believe, elsewhere applied to the Gen ,ורעי רעיתם tiles, to whom the prophet here seems wholly to address himself. The Sept. reads Dny," and those that feed their flocks;" but it appears to me not improbable that we should ready, (as three MSS. have it,)" therefore hear, O ye nations, and know, or consider, the evil that is amongst them." See the next verse. 26th. The Sept. reads by instead of by, and that agrees better with the context: or, perhaps, it might be in the text. And so the Syr. 27th. A tower and a fortress correspond but little with knowing and trying the ways of people; and it is certain that the Sept. instead of, reads some other word: (as did the Ar. the same, or one of the same import. See Poole's Synopsis.) Probably the original text might be 3, (see Mal. iii. 3,) "I have set thee a prover and a tryer of my people," in allusion to the trying and proving of metals; which sense the following part of the context seems to require, (see v. 29;) and it is observable that the verbs in and are elsewhere joined together. See Ps. lxvi. 10; and, particularly, Jerem. ix. 7. ... I 28th. - Two MSS. and the Sept. Vulg. Syr. and Ar. read Dinnwb in Hoph; and, as the learned, Bishop Lowth observes, on Isai. i. 4, where this word occurs in Hiph. that five MSS. omit the first and give it the passive signification, so it is better to render it thus here: " they are all corrupted," or become reprobate, like base metak. See Ezek. xxii. 18. : 29th: Twenty-four MSS. read, with the Keri, on separate ly, which is preferable. See the antient versions. מאש (135 C. vii. 18th. See c. xliv. 17. 22d. More than eighty MSS. agree with the Keri in reading — , which seems necessary. "I brought." See c. xi. 4. 29th. Twenty-nine MSS. read ". See c. iii. 2. C. viii. 1st. Eighteen MSS. read, with the Keri, ; and the Sept. and the other versions omit the first 1. 3d. second One MS. together with the Sept. Syr. and Ar. omits the in, which appears to be redundant. 6th. Nineteen MSS. read, with the Keri, hy, and so it is written c. xxiii. 10. 7th. Fourteen MSS. at least, have, with the Keri, D'D; which reading may perhaps be better to distinguish it from bo in the preceding chapter. Thirty-four MSS. have , which is more grammatical. radical verb. Forty-eight MSS. have 8, which is more suitable to the Is not ND, authorised by twenty-four MSS. a more eligible C. ix. 7th. More than thirty MSS. read, with the Keri, in in Pahul. |