B£]f> LD CHEAPEE ISSUE OP THE BISHOP OF LINCOLN'S COMMENTAEY ON THE HOLY BIBLE, ON JANUARY 1st, 1872. This Commentary having now, by the Divine help, been completed, careful consideration has been given to a desire expressed by many persons, especially among the Clergy, that it should be issued at a cheaper rate : and an endeavour is now made to comply with that request ; as far as is possible, without altering the original form of the work. In the making of tliis arrangement, grateful acknowledgments are due to those who have already been purchasers of the work ; and who, by their encouragement of it from the beginning, have made it possible to offer it at a lower rate than that at which it was first published. The Editor must now prepare to take leave of it. He cannot expect to be allowed to continue much longer his labours in rendering it less imperfect than it is. He offers heartfelt thanks to many dear friends who have cheered him iu the toil of many years, and above all to Him Whose Divine Word he has endeavoured to elucidate, in the spirit of that prayer of one of old*, " Domine, Deus mens, sint castas deliciae mete ScRiPXUEiE Tuse ; nee fallar ia eis, nee fallam ex eis." Christmas, 1871. * S. Aug. Confess, xi. 2. THE HOLY BIBLE, WITH INTEODUCTIONS AND NOTES By CHR. WORDSWORTH, D.D. BISHOP OF LIKCOLN. THE OLD TESTAMENT, IN THE AUTHORIZED VERSION, WITH INTRODUCTIONS, NOTES, AND INDEX. In Parts. In Volumes. PART £ s. d. VOLUME £ s. d. I. Genesis and Exodus .... . 14 I. The Pentateuch .... . 1 6 II. Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy . . 12 III. Joshua, Judges, Ruth .090 II. Joshua to Samuel .... . 15 IV. Books of Samuel .... .070 V. Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esthe r 15 III. Kings to Esther .... . 15 VI. Book of Job .070 VII. Psalms . 11 . 1 5 VIII. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon .090 IX. Isaiah ...... . 10 V. Isaiah to Ezekiel .... . 1 5 X. Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel , 16 XI. Daniel XII. Minor Prophets .... .050 .090 VI. Daniel, Minor Prophets, and Index . . 15 Index .020 ', may he had separately. £6 6 £6 Any Part, or any Yolumt THE GEEEK TESTAMENT, WITH INTRODUCTIONS, NOTES, AND INDEX. In Parts FAET £ s. d. I. Gospels 16 II. Acts of the Apostles 8 III. St. Paul's Epistles 13 IV. General Epistles, Apocalypse, Index . . 16 £3 3 In Volumes. VOLtTME I. Gospels and Acts of the Apostles II. Epistles, Apocaljrpse, and Index £ s. 1 3 d. 1 17 £3 Any Part, or any Volume, may be had separately. EonHon : RIVINGTONS, Waterloo Place ; a^td at (©ytorV and CambrtBge . THE HOLY BIBLE, h\ tbe aiiitborneti ^^rrsion; WITH NOTES AND INTRODUCTIONS CHR. WORDSWORTH, D.D. BISHOP OF LINCOLN. VOL VL Part II.— THE MINOR PROPHETS. A^SW EVITIOX. RIVINGTONS, iLontJon, ©ifort, an^ tffamtiritiae. 1875. LONDON : GILIiEET AND KIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. John's square. THE MINOR PROPHETS, in tbe aiutbornrti ^^erSion; WITH NOTES AND INTRODUCTIONS BT CHR. WORDSWORTH, D.D. BISHOP OF LINCOLN. NEW EDITION. RIVINGTONS, iLontion, €ifort, anti (flamfintigf. 1875. CONTENTS. TiVTEODTJCTION TO THE jNIlNOR PrOPHETS . Chronological Order of the Prophets HOSEA Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah MiCAH Nahum IIabakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Vll xxix 1 29 39 57 62 70 87 95 105 113 120 156 INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. The twelve Minor Prophets form one book'. This is the light in which they were viewed by the ancient Hebrew and Christian Churches ; and in order that their works may be profitably studied, they ought not to be regarded as separate writings, but as constituting one harmonious whole. It is true that each of these prophetical writings has a distinct character of its own ; each does its own appointed work. But that appropriate work of each fits in with accurate precision, and is adjusted with beautiful s}'mmetry, to that which is done by the rest and by all ". "The goodly fellowship of the prophets" may be compared to a row of statues standing in their niches in the west front of some noble cathedral : each has its proper place ; but each has also a relation to the others and to the whole; and together they form a group, graceful in unitj' as well as in its constituent parts. The writings of the twelve Minor Hebrew Prophets, as well as those of the four Major Prophets, are arranged in chronological order' in the Hebrew Bibles, and in our authorized English Version. Hosea, who stands at the head of the Minor Prophets, was contemporary with Isaiah, who holds the first place among the Major Prophets. The names of both have a similar meaning'. Both prophesied in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah ', that is, at the beginning of the ninth century, and during the greater part of the eighth century before Christ. The writings of the Minor Prophets extend in a continuous chain with successive links in a parallel line with those of the Major Prophets till the days of the Captivity at Babylon. The series of the Major Prophets ends with Daniel at Babylon. But the line of the Minor Prophets reaches beyond the Captivity to the restoration of the Jews by Cyrus, and to the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem under Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and also to the reparation of the walls of the Cit^' under Nehemiah and Ezra, in the fifth century before Christ. The prophets Haggai and Zcchariah strengthened the hands of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and stirred up the people to rebuild the Temple. The prophet Malachi saw it rebuilt; and he was a fellow-labourer with Ezra, " the Priest and Scribe," in a still greater work, that of completing the Canon of the Old Testament. Malachi is called by the Jews " the Seal of the Prophets e." ' See Acts vii. 42; xv. 15. Josephus, C. Apion. i. 8. fin.'illy spare the guilty. J>:iluiin .ind Zeplianiiili use language STimcAt (Prsef. ad Hoseam). S. Gre^. jVoimhs. (Carm. xxxiii.) of Isaiah. Zephaniah uses tliat of Habakkuk, as also of Joel, says, " The twelve (prophets) are joined in one book ;" and Amos, Micah ; Habakkuk's hymn shows one well acquainted 60 Theodoret, Prooeni. in Duodecim Prophetas, p. 1308, ed. with the Psalms. Whom does not Jeremiah employ ? .Scliul/.e, Hal., 1769. Cp. Hotiuiger, Thesaur. Philol. 477. Eeil, "The appeal in his day to the great prophecy of "the destruc- Einleitung, § 81. tion of Jerusalem in Micah, iu its own words, shows that the ' Compare Delifzsch (Einleitung in die Prophet. Weissa- book must have been in public use. gungbiicher, prefixed to his Couimentary on Isaiah, p. .xx) ; " Even before the Captivity, God, by Ezekiel, speaks of the and i3r. PiMfy'* Lectures on Daniel, p. 308, who thus writes: — prophets before him as one whole; Ezek. xxxviii. 17, ' Thus "It has been pointed out how the citations of each earlier sail/i Ike Lord Ood, Art thou [Gog] he of whom I have spoken Prophet by those who came after, presuppose that those former in old time by My servants the prophets of Israel which pro- books were of recognized authority. Amos, when he opens and phesied in those days many years, that I would bring thee almost closes his prophecy with the words of Joel, or applies against them ^ ' more extensively those of Hosea, intends manifestly to carry on " When, then, Daniel, studying Jeremiah's prophecy of the a message already recognized as Divine. So also Obadiah,when seventy years of the Captivity, says, ' I understood bi/ the boots' he uses words of the prophecies of Balaam, Amos, Joel, and a (Dan. ix. 2, i.e. the biblia, scriptures), ' the number of the years Psalm. Micah alludes emphatically to those parting words of which the Word of God vas to Jeremiah the prophet, to fulfil his great predecessor in the Book of Kings, to expressions of as to the desolations of Jerusalem seventy years,' this exactly the Psalms aud Proverbs, to Josliua, to David's elegy over Saul expresses what we see from the writings of the prophets before aud Jonathan, as well as to the Pentateuch; Habakkuk, the Captivity to have been the fact, that the books of the Zephaniah, Ezekiel, employ words or thoughts of his. Jonah, prophets were collected together. by adopting the form And, joins on his prophetic history to the " The Captivity set God's seal on the true prophets of God sacred histories before him, aud blends his mission to the over agaiust the false prophets, and gained a reverence for them heathen with the history of the people of God. among those also of the people who liad derided and persecuted " Nahum, in the opening of his prophecy agaiust Nineveh, or slain them before. The former prophets [Zech. 1.4:. &). is a manifestly refers to Jonah's a]ipeal to (Jod in regard to it. For standing expression for the prophets before the Captivity." Nahum had to exhibit the stricter side of God's dealings as to ' See the Chronological Table at the close of this Preface, that same city. God had said in Jonah how He forgave on * See below, Frelim. Note to Hosea. repentance ; Nahum opens his book by saying in that selfsame * See Isaiah i. 1, and Hosea i. 1. form of words, that He was indeed longsuffering, but would not ' Uottinger, Thes. Phil. 483. Tiii INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. In reading the Hebrew Prophets, it is requisite to have a careful regard to those principles of interpretation which were laid down by our Blessed Lord and by the Apostles, and which were applied by ancient Christian Expositors, such as S. Cj-ril of Alexandria in the Eastern Church, and S. Jerome and S. Augustine (especially in his work on the City of God) in the Western. This has been too often forgotten. The sj'stem of Interpretation which is more popular in recent times, is that described by St. Paul when he says, " The letter " (that is the letter of Scripture taken alone, without the spirit) " killeth ; but the spirit giveth life'." This kind of exposition has had the effect of separating Hebrew Prophecy from Christianity, and of isolating it, as if it were a thing to be contemplated at a distance, with which we ourselves have little to do. The Infidelity now prevalent js due in a great measure to the abandonment of the ancient principles of Interpretation, in the exposition of the Old Testament. In our own times the Old Testament has been regarded for the most part as a subject for critical disquisitions on matters of History, Geograph}', and Physics — things most useful and absolutely necessary in themselves, but by no means sufficient for the Interpretation of thp Old Testament. The design of the Old Testament is to prepare the way for Christ ; and every reverent expositor of it will make it his principal study to enable the readers of it to see Christ in every part of it. Unless he does this, he is untrue to his mission ; and he is leaving open a wide door for the entrance of Unbelief. How mean and trivial must many of the incidents in the history of the Patriarchs appear, unless, with St. Paul, S. Justin Martyr, S. Irenseus, S. Jerome, S. Chrysostom, and S.Augustine, and all Christian Antiquity, we read that history by the light of the Gospel, and regard the acts of the Patriarchs as foreshadowings of the history of Christ ! As S. Augustine sa}-s in his book against Faustus the Manichfean^ "Not onlj- the words of the Patriarchs were prophetical, but their Kves were a prophecy. All the Hebrew Monarchy was like a grand Prophecy of a Miglity One, uamelv> of Christ. Therefore not only in those things which the Patriarchs said, but also in what they did, and in all things which happened by God's providence to the Hebrew Nation, we ought to search for prophecies concerning Christ and His Church. As the Apostle St. Paul says, ' figurse nostrae fuerunt,' they were types of us \ If we dwell on the letter of the Old Testament, and do not endeavour to penetrate beneath the surface into its inner spiritual meaning — if we look at it merely as a book affording scope for critical, geographical, and historical discussions, we may become what the Manichaeans of old were — ingenious disputers about the Old Testament ; but we shall not be firm believers in it, nor make others to be so ; but perhaps cavillers against it. Again, how cumbrous, slavish, and even repulsive, will many of the ritual requirements pre- scribed in the Books of Leviticus and Numbers appear, if considered simply in themselves, without continual reference to Christ, and to the Great Sacrifice of Calvary ! How superfluous, unaccountable, and incredible are the miracles recorded in the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt — the three days' darkness, the slaying of the first-born of Egj'pt, the passage through the Red Sea, the Pillar of the Cloud and Fire ; and the Giving of the Law, amid thunders, on Mount Sinai, and the Manna coming down from heaven for forty j^ears, and the smitten Rock gushing with water in the wilderness, and the flowing back of the river Jordan at the presence of the Ark, and the falling down of the walls of Jericho at the sound of the trumpets, and the staying of the sunlight at Bethhoron at the command of Joshua — if these things are regarded merely as incidents in the records of the Hebrew Nation, not exceeding the population of London in numbers, and going to take possession of a petty strip of territory, not much larger than Devonshire and Corn- wall ! Must not every critical reader, and even a thoughtful child, reject such histories as fabulous, if he is not continually invited by the commentator and preacher on the Old Testament, to read the books of Exodus, Numbers, and Joshua, not merely as historical annals of the Hebrew Nation, but as having a spiritual, prophetical, and typical character, and as recording events which were fore- shadowings of the Son of God Himself, and of His Death and Resurrection and Victory over Death and Satan, and of the mysteries of the Gospel, which concern the welfare of all men and all Nations in every age and clime, even to the Day of Doom, and in the countless ages of Eternity'? An Expositor of the Old Testament, who docs not continually remind his readers of these truths, is surrendering them into the bands of Scepticism. There may be, and doubtless have been, many fanciful allegorical speculations of wild en- 1 2 Cor. iii. 6. ' S^pc atiovc, for examplo, the notes on Kxodns xii. — xx., and ' Lib. xxii. I'. 21. i\ie Infroduclion to .Joslnia, pp. ix — xvii, for further illusti'ations J 1 C'ov. X. 6. of thij statement. INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. ix tliusiasts in tlio interpretation of the Old Testament, and these are much to be regretted. But the abuse of what is good does not take away its use ; and what is here advocated, is that sound, sober, spiritual interpretation of the Old Testament which is commended to our acceptance and imitation bj' Christ and His Apostles in the New, and by all primitive Antiquity. The right clue for commenting on the Old Testament was put into the hands of the Church by her Divine Master on the Day of Ilis Resurrection, when He had overcome Sin, Satan, and Death by His Divine Power. In His walk to Eraniaus with the two disciples on that day He " began with Moses and all the Prop/icfs, and expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself^." And He said to His assembled Apostles, " These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with 3-ou, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures'." It is evident from these words of Christ Himself, that the primary duty of the Christian Commentator on the Old Testament is to lead his readers to behold Christ " in all the Scrip- tures ;" and that there cannot be any right understanding of the Scriptures, unless their eyes are opened to see Him there. It is much to be feared, therefore, that with all our boasting of greater advances in Biblical Criticism, we have fallen very low from the standard of Apostolic and primitive times, in many of our expositions of the Old Testament. We are wise in the " letter that killeth," but not "in the spirit that giveth life'." We have a warning against this servile system of exposition in the history of Hebrew Criticism. Many of the Jewish Rabbis in our Lord's age had an accurate knowledge of the original language of the Old Testament ; they held it in their hands, and heard it read in their synagogues. Many of them dwelt in the countrj^ where most of the events took place which it records. But they did not understand it. The great "Hebrew of the Hebrews," the holy Apostle St. Paul*, expressly affirms that the most learned among the Jews did not know (that is, did not comprehend) "the voices of the Prophets " which were read in the sj-nagogues every Sabbath day ; and that " they fulfilled those Scriptures by condemning Him " of Whom the Prophets wrote. He affirms that " a veil was on their hearts in the reading of the Old Testament*," and he doesnot hesitate to say, that the manner in which the Spirit giveth life to the reader, is by enabling the inner eye to see Christ in the Old Testament : or, in the Apostle's words, " the veil is done away in Christ, in the Old Testament : When the heart turneth to the Lord, then the veil is taken away from it." Many in the present day study the Old Testament in a spirit not unlike that of the Hebrew Rabbis. They treat it as a common book ; and rely on their own philological skill alone for its interpretation. No wonder that a veil is on their hearts in reading and expounding it. Holy Scrijjture cannot be otherwise than a sealed book to the most learned and laborious critics, if they do not approach it with meekness and reverence, but handle it with familiarity, and cavil at it in a self-confident, disdainful, and presumptuous temper, as if they themselves were wiser than St. Paul and St. Peter, and all the prophets, and even thanHe Who inspired them. That such persons as these should not be permitted to understand Scripture, is no marvel. Rather it would be a marvel if they were permitted to do so. Scripture would not be true, if they could interpret it aright. For Scripture tells us that men cannot understand Scripture except by the help of the Spirit Who wrote it. And the Spirit will not deign to enlighten those who grieve Him by self-confident presumption. God is " the Father of lights*." And we cannot see " the wondrous things of His law," unless He vouchsafes to open our eyes and enlighten them. It is only in His light that we can see light. But He will not enlighten the proud. " He resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble'." "Surely He scorneth the scorners'." "Mysteries are revealed unto the meek'." "Them that are meek shall He guide in judgment ; and such as are gentle, them shall He learn His way." " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him'°." " He that keepeth the law getteth the understanding thereof"." " If any man willeth to do God's will, he shall know of the doctrine"." We must become like little children if we would enter the kingdom of God. He hideth mysteries from the wise and prudent, and " revealeth them unto babes"." Balaam's ass saw the angel, and rebuked the disobedient prophet who rode upon her, who did not see the angel. Spiritual pride is punished bj- spiritual blindness. The will must be rectified, and the heart must be purified, if the mind is to be clarified, and if the spirit is to be glorified. " In the Scriptures," says George Herbert'^ " heaven lies flat, subject to every mounter's bended knee." Doubtless the ' Luke xxiv. 27. ^ Lnl Vs. x.w. 13. >' Ecclus. xxi. 11. * Acts xiii. 27; xv. 21. ' 2 Cor. iii. 11. ^ .Tiime? i. 17- '- John vii. 17. '^ Matt. xi. 25. ■'' TljcTemjile, Part I ? James iv. 6. 1 Pet. v. 5. - !"iov. iii. Si. X INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. reader of Scripture, and mucli «nore the preacher of God's Word, and the interpreter of Holy Scripture, must use all helps of sound reason and critical learning, and diligent labour, and careful study, for the understanding of that Word. He must use them with as much industry as if every thing depended on his use of them. But he must use them with reverence, humility, and faith, and with constant and fervent praj'er for the illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit. He must use them with continual and loving communion with Christ, Who is ever walking with devout souls to a spiritual Emmaus, and is opening to them the Scriptures, and is making Him- self known to them in the "breaking of bread'." He must use them with devout attention to every whisper of the Holy Spirit, interpreting one portion of Scripture by another, and to His voice in the Church Universal, especially in her Creeds, which we have received from the unani- mous consent of undivided Christendom, and which our Reformers commend to our reverent use in the exposition of Scripture". " Faith," says St. Augustine, " opens the door to the under- standing; but Unbelief shuts it." "When I was a young man," says that great expositor^ "I approached the study of the Bible with shrewdness of disputation, and not with meekness of inquiry. And thus by my own perverse temper, I closed the door of the Bible against myself, because I sought with pride for what can only be found by humility." The Written Word is like the Incarnate Word, " it is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against*." What Christ saj's of Himself, the Incarnate Word, is true of the Written Word, " Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, and on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder*." It is like Him, " a stumbling stone and a rock of offence," to some ; but to others it is like Him, " Who is the corner stone, elect, precious ; and he that believeth in Him shall not be ashamed'." The writer of this Introduction has ventured to dwell longer on this all-important subject in this place, because the present portion of a work in which he has now been permitted to labour for nearly twenty years, affords the last opportunity' which he can expect to have of stating the principles on which it has been his earnest endeavour to compose this Commentary on the Prophetical Books, and on the other parts of the Old Testament. We may now revert to the point from which we have digressed. The holy Apostles teach us that " whatever things were written aforetime " (that is, were written in the Old Testament) " were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope'*." Whatever the Hebrew Prophets spoke, was not spoken by any private utterance of their own, but by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, by Whose power they were borne along as on a strong stream'. The Apostles teach us that " all the Prophets give witness" to Christ'", and that the Spirit which was in the Prophets was " the Spirit of Christ"." They assure us that the Prophets " inquired and searched diligently con- cerning the salvation " purchased for us by Christ, and of the grace vouchsafed to us through Him ; and that " it was revealed unto them, that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the things which are now reported unto us, by them that have preached the Gospel unto us, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven ; which things the angels desire to look into "." It is this characteristic of Hebrew Prophecy which imparts a special interest to it. The Holy Ghost, the Comforter, Who was afterwards sent by Christ to teach the Apostles all things, and to guide them into all truth", speaks to us in the Hebrew Prophets. The Hebrew Prophets were not the original authors of their own prophecies. The Holy Ghost was the Author ". He speaks in them, by them, and through them'*. The prophetic writings are not sources from which, but they are channels through which, the living waters of the Holy Spirit flow. The truth therefore is, that we, who live under the Gospel, and have the benefit of the exposition which our Blessed Lord and the Apostles and Evangelists have given us, in the New Testament, of ' Luke xxiv. 35. '" Cp.Actsx. 43. As S/. 77«a<£«s expresses it, " The prophets 2 See the Reformatio Legum, by Archbishop Cranmer and liveil a Christward life" (ad Magnes. c. 8). others, where it is said that the Articles of the Christian Faith ^' 1 Pet. i. 11. set down in the Creeds, ought always ever to be before the eyes '* 1 Pet. i. 12. of the expositors of Scripture, who ought never to interpret '3 John xvi. 13. Scripture so as to be at variance with them (Rcf. Leg., De '■• See below, on Hos. xi. 1, for some evidence of the unhappy Snmmi Trinitate, c. 13). results, in modern days, of the opposite theory. 3 S.Aug.,SeTm.h\. * Luke ii. 34. '* 5ia = through. This is the preposition used in the piissagestif * Matt. xxi. 44. Luke xx. 18. the New Testament which describe the agency of the Holy Spirit ' 1 Pet. ii. 4 — 6. Rom. ix. 33 ; x. 11. in the prophetic writings. See below, on Matt. i. 22 ; ii. 5. 15. ' The Commentary on Daniel, though later in publication, 17.23; iii. 3; iv.l4; viii. 17; xiii. 35; xxiv.15; xxvii. 9; in all takes an earlier place in this Commentary on the Bible. which the preposition 5m is used; and in the Nicene Creed, ' Rom. XV. 4. ' See below, on 2 Pet. i. 21. " Wlio spake by " (lit. tlurough) " the prophets." INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. xi the meaning of the prophetic writings, and who stand on the vantage-ground of more than two thousand years after them, and see how they have been fulfilled, have a much clearer view of their scope and purport, than the Prophets themselves had, by whose instrumentality they were written'. They " searched and inquired diligently " what that meaning was. We know what it is. The Holy Spirit, which was in the Prophets, has revealed it to us in the Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament. He has taught us there what He Himself meant when He spake by the Prophets in the Old, and what the Prophets by whom He spake earnestly longed to know ; and therefore our Lord says, " Blessed are j'our eyes, for they see; for verily I say unto you, that many Prophets have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them^." It would therefore be a low and erroneous notion, to imagine that the Hebrew Prophets have done their work, and that their prophecies belong only to the past. Rather, we may say that thev are co-extensive with Christianity, and that they possess a living and growing energy, and are ever adapting themselves to events that are arising from time to time in the Christian Church ; and that they will continue to possess this vitality, and to exert this elastic and expansive agency, even to the end. The Son of Sirach, speaking of them, says, " Let the memorial of the Twelve Prophets be blessed ; and let their bones flourish again out of their place'!" This prayer is verified. By reason of the presence and might of the Holy Spirit moving in them and speaking by them, they have a perpetual freshness, a perennial spring ; their projjhecies have a luxuriant exuberance, and are ever putting forth new leaves, and buds, and blossoms; and thej^ wait for the full ripeness of their summer season, in the last ages of the Church and the World, when they will bear an abundance of spiritual fruitage to be gathered by the hand of Faith \ Hence we need not scruple to saj'^ that among all the writings of the Old Testament, none possess a more practical value for all classes of society in the present age, than those of the Hebrew Prophets. The most illustrious evidence of the divine truth and inspiration of the Hebrew Prophets is reserved to be displayed in the latter days, in the great conflict, which seems even now to be near at hand, between Truth and Error, between Faith and Unbelief, between the Church and the World, between Christ and Antichrist ; and in the final victory, which will crown the patience and courage of the faithful, at the consummation of all things, and at the general Resurrection of the dead, and at the Universal Judgment, when Christ will appear in glory. The prophetical writings may be rightly regarded as a Manual, not only for the Christian Preacher, but also for the Christian Citizen, Patriot, and Statesman, who are called to do battle for the Truth in days of doubt and distress, and \^ ho may be perplexed and staggered by the temporary success of evil in Civil Polity, and may even be tempted to despair of the cause of piety and of God in the moral government of the world. If there is any thing which the Hebrew Prophets declare with a more distinct and articulate utterance than another, it is this — that in the latter days of the world, Unbelief and Iniquity will abound, and will triumph for a time ; but that eventually all things will be put under the feet of the Divine Governor of the World, the Great Arbiter of the Destinies of Nations ; and that all wilful and presumptuous sin will then be punished and crushed ; and that Faith, having struggled steadfastly unto the end, will receive a glorious reward. Thus the Hebrew Prophets supply spiritual comfort to the Christian Confessor in public and private life. They inspire the heart of the soldier of Christ with holy courage, and give him hopes full of immortalitj'. In the following pages the design has been to supply at the beginning of the work of each several Prophet, a clue to the main purport of his prophecy. The reader is requested to refer to what is there said. But it may be of use to state in a brief synoptical summary what seems to be their leading principle respectively ; and thus to exhibit, as it were, in one view the component parts of the whole. ' See below, on Hos. xi. 1. to the succession of all ages, vath a foresight of all heresies, 2 Matt. xiii. 16, 17. Luke x. 23, 24. contradictions, and ditt'ercnt estates of the Church, are not to 2 Ecclus. xlix. 10.^ be interpreted only according to the latitude of the proper sense * This truth, which is so well expressed by I,ord Bacon, of the place, and respectively towards that present occasion (Advancement of Learning, p. 101), ought ever to be present whereupon the words were "uttered, but have in themselves to the mind of the expounder and reader of Hebrew Prophecy. intinite springs and streams of doctrine to water the Church in Lord Bacou says, " Divine Prophecies, being of the nature of every part ; and therefore, as the literal sense is, as it were, the theii- Author, ' with Whom a thousand years are as one day,' njuin stream, or river, so the moral sense chiefly, and snme- have springing and germinant accomplishment through many times the allegorical or typical, is that of which lli'e Church haa ages." And the same writer well observes (Ibid. p. 267), the most use." " that the Scriptures, being written to the thoughts of men and sii IXTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. The prophet Hosea, who stands at the head of the Minor Prophets, justifies God's dealings with the Hebrew Nation from the beginning to the end. Hosea, the first of the Prophets, takes up the language of the last preceding Book of Holy Scripture, that of the Canticles, or Song of Solomon'. In order to show that Hosea's language is not to be understood literally, but spiritually, aad that the Marriage between God and Israel is mystical, Israel is represented by Hosea not only as a beloved Wife (as the Church is in the Canticles), but also as a dear So», a type of Christ the beloved Son Himself ^ He treats the relation of God to His People under the endearing figure of that of a Bridegroom to a Bride. The Church of Israel was espoused to God in the Wilderness of Sinai ; but, as the Prophet declares, she was unfaithful to Him : she followed strange gods ; and she is therefore charged by Him with spiritual harlotrj' and adultery. This, he tells us, was the cause of all her misery. No failure of God's love to her — far from it — was the origin of her woe. He was very merciful and long- suffering to her ; but her own sins of unthaukfulness and faithlessness to Him, even in those places which had been distinguished by His wonderful acts of love to her, such as the wilderness of Arabia, even Horeb itself, in the first instance, and, when she had been brought by God into the promised Land of Canaan, such places as Beersheba, Bethel, and Gilgal ', places illustrious in her past history as the scenes of God's miracles of mercy to her fathers, were polluted hy her sins, which were the bitter source of all her sorrows. On account of her long-continued and inveterate sins, the Prophet warns her that .she must expect to suffer severe punishment. She will be carried away captive from her own land — the land of promise — and be scattered in a distant region. But even in this captivity and dispersion there will be divine love*. By the merciful discipline of chastisement she will be weaned from her idolatry ; she will be made sensible of her misery, and be humbled and brought to repentance'; and she will at last be betrothed again to God, and be restored to Him in Christ. There wiU alwaj-s be a faithful remnant in Israel. Christ Himself will be born of the seed of Abraham. Some of this faithful remnant, especially the Apostles and primitive Preachers of Christ (who were all Jews), will convert the Heathen to the Gospel, which is the fulfilment of the Mosaic Law ; and Gentile Teachers will be ernployed by God to bring the Jews back to Him in Christ. This will be like a resurrection from the dead", a new birth from the grave, into life with God in Christ'. Such is a brief summary of Hosea's projjhecy. It is a prophetic history of Israel for nearly four thousand years. It teaches us how to read that history ; it gives cheering hopes of the future ; and shows that all God's dealings with Israel have been dictated by righteousness and love. And there- fore the Prophet concludes with this question and answer : — Who is wise ? and he shall understand these things ; Prudent ? and he shall know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, And the just shall walk in them'. Joel, the prophet of Judgment, takes up the message of Hosea, the prophet of Salvation'. By a grand and sublime generalization, Joel teaches his readers to regard the Lord God of Israel as ever speaking to Mankind in His judicial character and office, and leads them to recognize and admire Him as Ruler of the natural world, and as Arbiter of the destinies of Nations, according to certain fixed laws of moral government, by which He orders all things, and will continue to order them even to the end of time. All judicial visitations upon men and nations, whether they be in the natural world, as plagues of locusts, and other physical epidemics, or bj' means of might}' Empires, which are instruments in God's hands for punishing sins and for working out His own plans — are parts of one great "Day of the Lord." They are onlj' like oscillations of the pendulum, and like faint notes of the clock, which will sound a final alarum with deep and solemn tones in the summons of the World to the Judgment-seat of Christ". Joel proclaims God's offers of mercy and salvation to the penitent and faithful ' ' ; and he foretells the first Advent of the Great " Teacher of righteousness'^," and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, the fruit of Christ's coming, on all nations, and the overthrow of all enemies of Christ and His Church in the great final conflict, where they will be gathered together, in what is called by a grand ' See below, on Hos. i. 2. - gee on Hos. .\i. 1. ' See below, on Hos. i. 10, 11 ; iii. 5. 3 Hos. iv. 15; ix. 15; xii. ]1. Hosea's words are taken up ' Hos. xiv. 9. See the note there, p. 28. liv Amos (iv. 4; v. 6). ^ On the meaning of their names see on Hos. i. 1 ; Joel i. 1. " ■• Hos. ii. 14^23 ; iii. 4. » Hos. xi. 10, 11. '» .See on Joel, Prelim. Note, p. 29. « Hos. vi.l— 3; xiii. 13, 11. " Soe Joel ii. 20. '= Joel ii. 23. IXTRODUCTIOX TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. xiii metaphor " the Valley of Jehoshaphat," (that is, of the Judgment of the Lord) for His great Harvest and Vintage, when they will be crushed by Him with the same ease as sheaves of corn are crushed under the sharp-toothed engine on the threshing floor, or as ripe clusters of grapes are crushed beneath the feet of him who treadeth the wine-press'. Then will be the delivery and victory of the faithful ; then will be new outpourings of grace, symbolized by the gushing forth of living waters' from the House of the Lord, to water the parched and barren places of the earth, as in the vision of EzekieP ; and Judah will dwell safely for ever, for the Lord dwoUeth in Zion, the Church militant on earth, to be glorified for ever in heaven*. The nest prophet, Amos, takes up the words of JoeP, and continues the chain of prophecy. Joel had displayed a sublime view of God's judicial majesty in one magnificent panorama. Amos disintegrates that great whole, and represents the divine attribute of Justice, in its visitations on individual Nations. These Nations not only have a literal significance, but are representatives of various forms of hostility to God and His Church in every age, and especially in the latter days. Such were the heathen nations of Syria, Palestine, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab. All of these are tj'pical nations, and find their counterpart in the history of Christendom. Amos also declares that God will visit with special judicial chastisement all forms of corrupt religion, and all sins of evil living in His Church °. Indeed he dwells upon them with special emphasis and vrith comprehensive fulness, in seven consecutive chapters^. Israel, the ancient Church of God, had received signal blessings from Him ; but (as Hosea had already shown) it had requited those favours with unthankfulness. Therefore, after long forbearance, God will scatter Israel. But in that dispersion (as Hosea had already declared') there would be mercy. The chastisement will bring Israel to repentance ; and Israel will be gathered in Christ and His Church. Then the tabernacle of David, that was fallen, will be reared from its ruins'. A faithful remnant of Israel — the Apostles and first Preachers of the Gospel — will go forth and bring the heathen to Christ'"; and the heathen, in their turn, when they have been converted to Christianity, will assist in restoring the Jews to God in Christ". The Gentiles, having been evangelized by faithful Jews, will evangelize the Jewish Nation ; and finally, Jews and Gentiles will dwell together as brethren and fellow-citizens in the spiritual Sion of the Universal Church of Christ. The prophets Joel and Amos prepared the way for Obadiah, Joxah, Nahum, and Habakkck. Joel had proclaimed God's judicial majesty in a sublime and comprehensive prophecy, displaying its acts in one grand panorama, embracing all nature and historj', civil and ecclesiastical, even to the Day of doom, and the full and final victory of Christ. Amos had particularized God's judicial workings in the moral government of the world, and in the divine visitations on its several kingdoms, Heathen and Hebrew, and in the ordering all thino-s, even the penal discipline of Israel's dispersion, for the future triumph of the Gospel, and for the reception of all the faithful of all nations into the Christian Church. The four Prophets, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, exhibit God's judicial deal- ings in a still more special and particular manner, in what may be termed a characteristic series of four prophetic mono(/rcq)/iies. Obadiah directs his prophecy against Edom ; Jonah and Nahum address their predictions to Nineveh, the great capital of Assyria. Habakkuk concentrates his utterances on Babylon, the great city which succeeded Nineveh in the Empire of the East. But it must be remembered that Edom, Nineveh, and Babylon are not merely literal and his- torical countries and cities, hostile to Israel and Judah ; but they have also a prophetic, representative, and symbolical character. The}' foreshadow three distinct forms of enmity to the Church and people of God. They exhibit three peculiar phases of the Anti-Christianism of the latter days. Edom, the neighbour and kinsman of Israel and Judah, and yet eagerly seizing every opportunity of displayin» an unfriendly and unbrotherly spirit toward the Hebrew People of God; exulting with savage and perfidious delight in their distresses, and especially in the fall of Jerusalem and in the captivity of its king and inhabitants by the armies of Babylon, represents the uncharitable temper of those who have some ties of spiritual neighbourhood and alliance with the Church of Christ, and yet, instead of sympathizing with her in her sorrows, and aiding her in her warfare against unbelief and vice, find ' Joel iii. 1. 13. = See on Joul iii. 18, p. 35. * See above, ]i. xii., and Hos. xiii. 9. 2 Ezek. xlvii. 1. Cp. 286. ' Amos ix. 11. Cp. the speech of St. James at the Couucil of ■< Joel iii. 20, 21. * Amos i. 2. Cp. Joel iii. 16. Jerusalem, Acts xv. 16, 17. ' Amosii.4; iii. 1 — 13; iv. 1 — 13; v. 1 — 27. '^ Amos ix. 12. 7 Amos iii. — ix. " Amos ix. 14. xiv INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. pleasure in her sufferings, and exert (heir influence to thwart, hamper, vex, and weaken her. These are the modern Edomites, who are ready to make commou cause even with Babylon itself against the Christian Sion ; and they may read a solemn warning to themselves in the prophecy of Obadiah. On the other hand, the faithful Church of God, and every true member of it, may find comfort there, in the assurance of future glory and eternal felicity in Christ'. The prophet Jonah was sent to preach repentance to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the proud and powerful Empire which showed its enmity against Israel and Judah at different times, in the daj-s of successive Assyrian kings, Pul, Tiglath-pUeser, Shalmaneser, Sargon, and Sennacherib. God's exceeding kindness, even to His bitterest enemies, was thus displayed. He earnestly desired that Nineveh should repent and be saved ; and this divine attribute of mercy towards all nations, even heathen Assyrias, is more clearly exhibited, because it stands in striking contrast to that narrow and exclusive spirit of Judaism which showed itself in Jonah himself, grudging and even censuring the extension of God's compassion to Nineveh '', and eager to confine His love within the narrow precincts of Palestine. Jonah himself is a prophecy. The calming of the sea, after his act of self-devotion, was a figure of the peace produced in the troubled sea of the World, after a far greater and more willing Sacrifice. Jonah's thi'ee days' burial in the whale's belly, and his resurrection from the sea, and his preaching to Nineveh after that resurrection, and the repentance of Nineveh, and its salvation from the impending doom, was a foreshadowing of the death, burial, and resurrection of a far "greater than Jonah'," and of His preaching of repentance after His resurrection from the grave, by the ministry of His Apostles and their successors, with whom He is " present alway, even unto the end of the world*." The Book of Jonah is like a beautiful rainbow of hope, set by God's hand in the dark cloud of human sin and sufiering. It shows that whatever judgments are executed by Him on His bitterest enemies, are not consequences of any desire on His part to punish, but are due to their sins, evoking and arming the divine justice against themselves. The Prophet Nahdm is the complement of Jonah. Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, but it relapsed into sin, and its moral condition became worse than before, by apostasy. God warned it of its doom by Nahum. And Nahum has also a message to men and nations in these latter days. If, having received the message of the Gospel from the divine Jonah, which is Christ, they fall away by unbelief, as it was prophesied by Christ and His Apostles ' that many would do, then they may see their destiny in the prophecy of Nahum, foretelling the misery and shame, confusion, overthrow, and desolation of the great city of Nineveh, which is the prophetic type of the sin and doom of the Infidel form of Anti-Christianism. The prophet Habakkuk completes the series of prophets whose writings consist solely of special prophecies directed against particular countries and cities, opposed to God and His ancient People. Obadiah had prophesied against Edom ; and Jonah and Nahum had prophesied to Nineveh; Habakkuk prophesies against Babylon. He shows that Babylon's victories were not due to itself, but that it was used by God for executing His judicial purposes on the Nations of the world, especially on His own people Judah, for their sins against Him ; and that though Babylon was em- ployed as an instrument by God^ and its power was wielded as a weapon in God's hand, yet that God would visit Babylon also for its presumption and self-confidence' ; and that though Babylon would prosper and triumph for a time, and though the patience of God's faithful servants would thus be sorely tried, and though the vision of judgment would tarry long, yet it would come at length*, and the Divine Omnipotence would eventually be shown, by the overthrow of Babylon, the proud mistress of the Eastern World, and then there would be heard a shout of awe-struck and yet joyful adoration from the lips of the faithful : " The Lord is in His holy Temple, let all the Earth keep silence before Him'." These things " were written for our learning." Habakkuk fii'st casts his eye backward to the victories of the Exodus ; and in the language of the sublimest poetry '" he derives faith and hope for the future, from God's past miracles of mercy to His chosen people ; and he closes his prophecy with a noble profession of trust in God. However dark may be the prospects of the Church of God, the true believer will never despair" ; no, whatever her outward condition and circumstance may be, " although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labour of the olive ' See below, Obi\diali 19—21. 6 Hab. i. 6—11. » See below, Prelim. Note to Jonah, p.62, and Jonah iv. 1 -3. " Hab. i. 12. » See on Jonah i. 17. ■• Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. « See Hab. i. 12—17; ii. 2—20. « Luke iviii. 8. Matt. xxiv. 12. 37. 40. 1 Tim. iv. 1. 9 H.ib. ii. 20. 2 Tim. iii. 1. " See Hab. iii. 1—15. " See Hab. iii. 17. INTEODTJCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. xv shall fail, and the fields shall j-ield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet," he will say, " I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation '." Ilabakkuk's prophecy casts its shadow forward to our own days. As the Edom of Obadiah has its antitj'pe in our own times in the treacherous friends and fjilse allies of the Christian Church ; as the Nineveh of Jonah and of Nahum represents the proud self-confident spirit of bold and open Infidelity, so the Babylon of Habakkuk has its counterpart in another form of hostility to God which has long exercised the faith and patience of Christendom. The Babylon of Habakkuk and of other Hebrew Propliets, especially Isaiah and Jeremiah, is not merel}' an historical city opposed to the literal Jerusalem, but it has also a tj'pical character. Babylon symbolizes a great Spiritual Power, which is now dominant in the world, and which is called "Babylon" in the New Testament'. It resembled that Power in its creature- worship, idolatry, and superstition, combined with a vainglorious profession of spiritual wisdom and sagacity, and of supernatural gifts and abilities to penetrate into the inner mysteries of the unseen world ; and by its claim to perpetuity and universal supremacy ; and by its oppression of God's faithful people ; and by its pride and arrogance and defiance of God, as displayed especially in two critical events, which stand forth in bold relief in the history of Babylon in the pages of Holy writ— namely, first, in the making of the golden image and the setting up of that idol in the plains of Dura, and in the royal decree that it should be worshijDped by all nations, on pain of condemnation to death ; and secondly, in that great religious festival (for Belshazzar's feast had this character) ^ when the rulers and nobles of Babylon praised their gods of silver and gold, and outraged the majesty of God by drinking wine in the sacred vessels taken from His Temple iu Jerusalem ; and were elated with self-confident joy and exultation, and indulged in festal revelry at a time when the enemy was at their gates, and their own doom was at hand. The mystical Babylon, which is even now setting up an idol' in the person of the Roman Pontiff, to be adored as divine by all, and which has connected that act with a religious festival of her own institution', in open defiance of the teaching of Holy Scripture and the primitive Church, and in contravention of the unique sinlessness of Christ, may read her own destiny in the prophecy of Habakkuk ; and all true citizens of the Christian Zion may derive patience and comfort from it, iu the present trials of their faith. The Book of the Prophet Micah is inserted between that of Jonah and Nahum, and is set in beau- tiful relief and bright contrast against the darkness and gloom which characterize the predictions of Obadiah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, denouncing God's judicial visitations on those who rebel against Him. Micah is the prophet of divine love. He is the messenger of consolation to all nations. He is the herald of universal salvation to all, through Christ. Jonah had given vent to feelings of resentment and impatience because God spared Nineveh, the great capital of Assyria, the enemy of God's people, to which Jonah, in the exclusive spirit of Judaism, would have restrained God's favour. God had taught Jonah a lesson of sympathy and largeness of heart ; and Jonah's history and prophecy had imparted that lesson to others. Micah learnt that lesson, and applies it with affectionate fulness in his prophecy. He declares that though God will visit with judicial retribution all forms of hostility which are symbolized by Edom, Assyria, and Babylon, yet He has mercy in store in Christ for all, even for His bitterest enemies, if they will turn to Him with repentance. Micah proclaims aloud with a thrice repeated appeal, "Hear ye," the solemn truth, that though God is gracious to Zion, if Zion is faithful to God, yet He does not confine His love to her. No, He will chasten Zion, as He punished Nineveh, if she presumes on His grace, and abuses it to an occasion for sin". He will make her desolate, "for the iniquities of her princes, priests, and people ;" " Zion shall be a ploughed field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house," (the Temple itself) "as the high places of the forest'." But God will temper judgment with mercy. His promises to David the King of Zion will never fail. The Redeemer will come to Zion, the promised Messiah, God blessed for evermore. He, "Whose " goings forth are from everlasting," " He will come forth " as Man "from Bethlehem of Judah^" He will come forth as a mighty Conqueror ' Hah. iii. 18. where reasons are given for the opinion that the iilol was an ' The reasons for this identification are given at large below, image of the ruler of Babylon himself, in the notes on the Book of Revelation, xiii.— xvii., pp.224— ' That of the Immaculate Conception, on which day tho 252. All successive investigation, and more recent events, have Roman Council met, Dec. 8, 1869. only served to confirm the writer in the conclusion there stated. ^ Micah i. 2 — 13; ii. 1 — 12; iii. 1—12. ^ See above, on Isa. xxi. 6. 7 Micah iii. 12. * Cp. note on Zech. xi. 17 ; and above, on Uaniel iii. 1—7. ^ Micah v. 2. xvi INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. and will overthrow His enemies, symbolized by Assyria ' tbe foe of Israel and Judab, and will raise . up shepherds to feed His flock, and rulers to guide them and to defend them from their adversaries. lu other words, Christ, Very God and Very Man, begotten of His Father from eternity, and born as Man of the Virgin Mary, of the seed of David, of the house of Judah, at Bethlehem, will over- throw the spiritual enemies of all true Israelites. He will vanquish Sin, Satan, and Death. He is " the breaker up " Who will tear asunder the bars of the grave, and raise Himself, and lead forth the "lorious army of His saints from the darkness of the tomb. " Their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them '." The result of that glorious victory will be, that " out of Zion wdll go forth the law, and the Word of God from Jerusalem." The Gospel of Christ will be preached by His Apostles, sent forth by Him from Jerusalem to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost^. Jerusalem w ill be the Mother Church of Christendom. " The mountain of the Lord's house " {that house which will have been luid desolate like a ploughed field for its sins^) " shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all people shall flow unto it, and many nations shall come and say. Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths." The Temple of Jerusalem will be destroyed ; but out of its ruins will arise a nobler fabric, the Christian Church. The Law will be fulfilled in the Gospel. The Temple will be spiritualized, and Jerusalem will expand and develope herself with living energy and comprehensive universality, and will enfold all nations in the Catholic Church of Christ; and the Jews, once rebels against God', will at length be brought by the agency of Gentile Christians into the fold of the One Shepherd. Therefore well might the Prophet exclaim, with this glorious vision of the future before his eyes, " Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity ? He retaineth not His anger for ever ; because He delighteth in mercy. He will turn again. He will have compassion. He will subdue our iniquities, and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea °." The prophet Zephaniah is the ninth of the Minor Prophets, and is the last of that order who prophesied before the Captivity at Babylon. Zephauiah does for the Two Tribes the same prophetic work which had been done for the Ten Tribes of Israel by Hosea, who stands at the head of the Minor Prophets. He utters a warning voice of coming judgments to Jerusalem, as Hosea had done to Israel : he foretells that Jerusalem will fall, and that Judah will be carried away captive for her sins, as Israel had already been '. He declares also that the God of Israel and Judah is supreme Governor of the World, and that the triumphs of Assyria and Babylon over Israel and Judah were not due to their own power, but that the God of Israel and Judah used those mighty nations as His own instruments for vindicating His own majesty, and for manifesting His own glory, and for executing His judgments on His unthankful people. But Zephaniah also assures Judah, as Hosea had assured Israel, that God's love to His people had never failed, and that it never would fail. Both these prophets minister spiritual consolation to all God's people in every age, and cheer them with the promise, that all who remain faithful to God will be sheltered in all tempests', civil and ecclesiastical, and will be saved in time and eternity. They also proclaimed God's love to the Gentile Nations of the world. They foretold that the mighty Empires of the earth will fall, and that their proud Dynasties will be humbled. They declared that God would thus wean the Nations from trusting in their false deities, and prepare them for the reception of a purer faith in the Gospel of Christ ; that He would give them "a clean lip," and He would cleanse them from idolatry; and that with those lips, with which they had once worshipped false gods, they would "call upon the Name of the Lord, and serve Him with one consent'." They predicted that the Gentiles, having been converted to Christ by the faithful remnant of Israel (namely by the Apostles and first preachers of the Gospel, going forth from Jerusalem), would in their turn supply Christian Missionaries for the conversion of Israel and Judah, scattered abroad and humbled by captivity and dispersion, and liberated even by that captivity from their besetting sin of idolatrj', and healed by that wholesome discipline ; and so, in God's due time, Jerusalem, the 1 Micah V. 5. ' Micah ii. 13. ' The name Zephaniah signifies. Whom the Lord hides; a Matt x.\viii. 19. * ilicah iii. 12. Hosea signifies, Saviour. See ou Zeph. i. 1. Hos. i. 1. » Micah vii. 12—19. ' Micuh vii. 18—20. » Zeph. iii. 9. •" Zeph. i. 4^18; iii. 1—4. INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. xvii mother of Christendom, would be a praise in all the earth. The Lord her God would be in the midst of her'; He would dwell with her for ever in the Christian Church, which had her origin in Sion. The world itself would be a spiritual Jerusalem. Jew and Gentile will dwell together as fellow-citizens and fellow-members of Christ; and God's words by Zephaniah will then be fulfilled, "I will make you a name and a praise among all the people of the earth*." More than a century passed between the age of Zephaniali and the next following prophet, JLaggxi. In that interval Jerusalem had been taken, and its king, princes, and people had been carried captive to Bab3don ^ But Babylon also in her turn had felt the power of God. Cyrus, His servant, had done His work, and had punished Babylon for her sins ; and having executed His judgments on Babylon, Cj'rus performed God's purpose of love towards His chosen people, by issuing a royal decree for their liberation from Babylon, and for their return to Jerusalem, and for rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem, and for the restoration of the sacred vessels which had been taken from the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar, and had been placed in his idol's temple, and had been sacrilegiously profaned by Belshazzar at that festal anniversary when Babylon was taken. These events had been foretold by foregoing Hebrew Projjhets, by Isaiah, Micah, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Daniel. Thus the faith of God's People in the inspiration of their own prophets had been confirmed ; and their reverence and love for Him Who had spoken by the jDrophets, and had humbled their powerful enemies, Assyria and Babylon, and had raised up Cyrus, the great conqueror of Babylon, to be His instrument for their good, had been quickened and invigorated; and a pledge and earnest had been given them that the other predictions which God had uttered, or might hereafter utter by His servants the prophets, would in due time be fulfilled also. This is what imparts a special interest and value to the writings of the three prophets who now fallow, Haogai, Zech.\kiah, and Malachi. The prophetic vista had now been cleared. Israel had been dispersed; Nineveh had fallen; Judah had been scattered ; Babylon had fallen ; Judah had been restored. No great events like these now remained, to arrest the eye and to intercejjt the view of the faithful in looking at the prospect lying before them, between their own age and the Coming of Christ. Haggai, Zechariah, and Mahichi are in a special manner the prophets of Christ's first Advent, and of its consequences, even till His Second Coming to judge the woiid. The mission of Haggai was to stimulate the flagging energies of the exiles who had returned from Babylon. The ancient men among them, who remembered the magnificence of the first Temple, wept when they saw the foundations of the second Temple'. But the Prophet cheered them', not, indeed, with any promise of material splendour (for the latter house was "as nothing in comparison"' with the former), but with the joyful assurance that the glory of the second Temple, which they themselves were building, would be far greater than that of tlie former, because the Lord of the Temple Himself, "the Desire of all Nations'" would come to that Temple, and by coming to it would fill that house with glory; and that in that place He would give peace'. This prophecy was fulfilled when Christ, " God manifest in the flesh," came to that latter house. He was presented there ; He taught and healed there ; He filled it with the Divine Glory by His Coming, and gave peace and salvation, and promise of eternal bliss by His Presence. Therefore, when this prophecy was accom- plished, the devout Simeon was enabled to say in the Spirit, as he took up the infant Saviour in his arms, " Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation'." The prophet Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai; and his prophecies are a sequel to those of Haggai, and are continued in a series of prophetic visions from his own da3's to those of Christ's first Advent, when He came to save, and even to those of His Second Advent, when He will come again to judge. Zechariah's prophecies are obscure to the Jews ; and no wonder ; because they read them with a veil on their hearts. But "that veil is taken away in Christ'"." The darkness of those predictions i* dispelled by the light of the Gospel. Here is a striking proof of the inspiration of the prophet Zechariah, and of the truth of the Gospel. Each is fitted to the other. His prophecies are fulfilled in the Gospel, and are made clear by it. ' Zeph. iii. 17. - Zeph. iii. 20. ' The Hebrew word for peace {shalSm) has a far wider ^ Compare below, Introductory Note to Haggai, p. 113. sense than our English word {peace)t by which it is rendered. It * Ezra iii. 12. ^ Hag. ii. 2 — 4. means salvation from enemies, and peace after it, and happiness, • Hag. ii. 3. ? See on Hag. ii. 6—9. s Luke ii. 29. "> 2 Cor. iii. 4. 15, 16. Vol. VI. Part II. b xviii IXTRODUCTIOX TO THE illNOR PROPHETS. The first v'sioc. of Zechariah reveals the Divine Presence and Power protecting the Hebrew Nation, at that time in a poor estate, like a lowly grove of myrtles in a valley '. But God was with them there, as He was at Horeb, in the burning bush, which represented the Hebrew Nation in Egj'pt, then like a lowly bush, a bush burning with fire, but not consumed'. The Divine Presence is symbolized by a red horse — an emblem of power and battle ; and behind him are red horses. His ministers, showing that the Powers of the world are servants of the God of Israel, "Who will use them for the defence of His own people ^ The next vision represents four horns'*, the symbols of aggressive power. These four horns (as the prophecies of Daniel had prepared the readers of Zechariah to understand') are emblems of the four great earthly Monarchies, opposed to the people of God. And as the numher four is a scriptural symbol of universalitj^ in space, these four horns, in a secondary sense, represent all earthlj' powers antagonistic to the Church of God. The future overthrow of all such worldly Powers is pre-announced in the next vision of the four Carpenters, or Smii/is, who are shown to the Prophet by the Lord". These four Carpenters, or Smiths, are the spiritual adversaries of the four horns which represent the worldly and irreligious power. As their name intimates, they have not only a destructive com- mission, but also a constructive ofEce ; they not only overthrow what is evil, but they also build up what is good. They "fray and cast out the horns " which had scattered God's people'. Their fourfold character displays them as opposed to the four great worldly Monarchies ; and also, in a spiritual and secondary sense, as the instruments in God's hands, in all the four corners of the earth. And thus they symbolize the power of the fourfold Gospel preached to all Nations, even to the four winds of heaven, by the Apostles and their successors in every age ; and overthrowing the powers of the world, and building up the Church of God'. Fitly, therefore, is this vision followed by another which reveals an angel from heaven with a measuring-line in his hand for the building up of Jerusalem". This vision also has both a literal and a spiritual significance. It displays the building up of the literal Jerusalem, notwithstanding the opposition of her enemies; and it foreshadows the building up of the spiritual Jerusalem, the Church of Christ, by divine power in spite of all human antagonism", and the perpetual dwelling of the Lord in the midst of her, and the flowing in of all Nations to find a home there. The next vision reveals another form of conflict between the powers of good and evil. Satan himself is displayed as opposing Joshua the High Priest", the spiritual representative of God's ancient people, the Jews, on their return from the Babylonish Captivity to Jerusalem. In former prophecies it had been revealed, that the Temple at Jerusalem and the walls of the City would be rebuilt, in spite of all worldly hostility. And now it is declared, that, notwithstanding the antagonism of Satan himself, the Priesthood would be preserved, as a brand plucked from the fire by God's hand ; and that it would be purified from taint of sin, represented by the filthy garments in which Joshua was clothed; and be invested with dignity and glory "'. This vision was partly fulfilled in the restoration of the Ritual of the literal Temple at Jerusalem ; but its adequate fulfilment is in Christ. Christ is the Divine Joshua, or Saviour ; He is the One Great and Everlasting High Priest ; He is ever ministering in the true Holy of Holies. He has exchanged the garments of humility and the robe of "the likeness of sinful flesh"," in which for our sakes He vouchsafed to be clothed on earth, for the glorious apparel and splendid mitre of an everlasting Priesthood in the heavenly Jerusalem. Therefore Joshua and his companions are described in the vision as " men to be wondered at'*." That is, they are types of another and mysterious Priesthood, the Priesthood of Christ, to be contemplated with awe and amazement. This interpretation throws light on what follows. The vision of Joshua, the type of Christ's Priesthood, prepares us for the view which is next presented to us, of Christ Himself in His threefold ofiBce, as Prophet, Priest, and King ; and of Christ's Church, which derives all her light from Him in His two Natures, Very God and Very Man, suffering for the sins of the world, and glorified by suffering. The beautiful harmonies of Zechariah's prophecies are awakened by the breath of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel, as by a heavenly breeze stirring and attuning the golden strings of a divine harp. The one is adjusted to the other. The one proves the divine origin of the other. The manifold functions of Christ are displayed in the many names by which He is designated ' Zecli. i. 8. » Exod. iii. 2. ' See Zech. i. 8. « Zech. ii. 1. '« Zech. ii. 5—13. " Zech. ii!. 1—3. * Zech. i. 18. * See on Zech. i. 18. " Zech. iii. 4, 5. • Zech. i. 20. ' Zech. i. 21. » See below, p. 124. '» Rom. viii. 3. '< See on Zech. iii. 8. INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. xix by Zecliariah. He is Joshua, because He is our High Priest : He is Zerubbabel, because He is our Prince, of the regal race of Judah. He is also called " the Branch ;" " Behold, I will bring forth My Servant the Branch'," says the Lord. Christ is the Branch from the root of Jesse and stem of David. In His Human Nature He is the Lord's " Servant," coming in the flesh in order to do His will. He is also the Stone', " the elect Corner Stone," which joins together the two walls of the Jew and Gentile in one ; and the " Stone cut out without hands"," which becomes a mountain and fills the earth ; and He is the Stone " engraven with seven eyes," because He is illumined with the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit. And the blessings of redemption and peace which flow from these attributes and offices are described by the Lord Himself : " I will remove the iniquity of the land " (or of the earth) " in one day " (the day of the Messiah). " In that day shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig-tree*." This Vision of Christ is succeeded by a Vision of His Universal Church, symbolized by the seven-branched Candlestick, of pure gold, whose pipes are fed with oil flowing into them from two Olive-trees, standing on the right and left side of it". These two Olive-trees, representing the continuity of that supply by their vitality and verdure, are called " the two anointed ones," or literally, " the two sons of oil," which stand by the Lord of the whole earth". The Candlestick represents the Church of Christ'. This explains the circumstance that, together with the candlestick, there is conjoined a mention of the Temple, and of its foundation and completion by the Spirit of God'. The reason is, that the Temple and the Candlestick are figures of the Church. The Temple typifies its solidity and symmetry, due to the Spirit of God ; the seven-branched Candlestick of pure gold prefigures the Universal Church of God in the puritj"- of its doctrine, and as diffusing throughout the whole world the light which it receives from the oil of the Spirit. The two Olive-trees, or " Sons of oil," which stand before the God of the whole earth, represent the kingly and priestly offices of Christ. These offices He discharges as Very Man, anointed by the Holy Ghost at His Conception and at His Baptism. Therefore He has the Name Messiah, Christ, or Anointed One'. " He is anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows'"," and all the unction of Christians flows on theui from Christ their Head. " Ye have an unction from the Holy One," says the Apostle". He, the Everlasting King and Priest, "hath made us to become kings and priests to God'" " by virtue of His Incarnation, Kingdom, and Priesthood, and of our mj'stical incorporation in Him ; and He " stands before the Lord of the whole earth." He is ever standing at God's right hand, as our King, ruling the world and defending His People ; and as our Priest, making intercession for us ; and " of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace"." The next vision represents Christ's judicial office. He is merciful and loving to all who believe and obey Him ; but for those who do not believe and obey, there is a sweeping malediction, represented by the flying roll which goeth forth over the face of the whole earth. None can escape it'''. This is directed against moral delinquencies ; and there is also a special punishment for false doctrine. The true Church is represented by a woman ; she is the Bride of Christ. The false Church is also represented by a woman, the harlot. Zechariah is explained by St. John in the Apocalypse, This woman, the corrupt Church, is punished by being placed in an ephah'° ; and she is carried for her sins from Jerusalem to the Land of Shinar, that is, to Babylon'^ Here, also, Zechariah is again illustrated by St. John in the Apocalypse. The woman carried away from Sion to Babylon, is the corrupt Church of the Apocalypse, who is there called "the woman, the harlot," and " Babylon '^" Her doom, pronounced by Zechariah, is more fully described by St. John. The following vision displays the Universal Sovereignty of the Lord God, ruling in all kingdoms of the world, and using them as His instruments for the accomplishment of His purposes, and for the execution of His judgments. This truth is declared by the four chariots", which represent primarily the four great earthly Empires of ancient history ; and secondarily, since the number fonr is the Scriptural symbol of all space", these four chariots'" typify all earthly dynasties. The chariots go forth from the brasen ' Zeeh. iii. 8. ^ Zech. iii. 9. '' See on Zech. v. 8. And she is called " wickedness " in the ' Dan. ii. 34. ■* Zech. iii. 10. Sept., dvon'ta, a remarkable word, especially when taken in con- ^ Zech. iv. 2 — 11. ® Zech. iv. 14. nexion with the 6 &vo^os of St. Paul, describing the *' lawless ' See on Zech. iv. 2. one " who sits in the Temple of God, i.e. in the Cliurch of Christ, ' See verses 6 — 11 of this chapter. claiming for himself the divine attributes of infallibility and ' Cp. Acts iv. 27; x. 38. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth universal supremacy. See below, on 2 Thess. ii. 3. with the Holy Ghost. '* The Sept. here has " the land oi Babylon." '" Heb. i. 9. Ps. xlv. 7. " See Kev. xvii. 1. 3. 5—7. 15, 16. is Zech. vi. 1. >' 1 John ii. 20. '2 Rev. i. 6; V. 10. " See on Matt. x. 2; xxiv. 31. Eev.vii. 1, and Rev. p. 213. " John i. 16. H Sne Zeeh. v. 1—4. "O Zech. vi. .5. XX INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. mountaiai of God's might and power : they are compared to winds issuing forth from the Lord of the whole earth'. They go forth from His presence like winds let loose from a cave, to sweep over the earth with irresistible power, and to do the work of Him Whose emissaries and servants they are. This universal kingdom is next represented as given to Christ. He is " the Man Whose Name is the Branch °." He is both Priest and King ^ He was typified by Joshua the Priest, and by Zerubbabel the temporal Ruler and builder of the Temple at Jerusalem. The crowns brought by the people of the Captivity are given to Joshua the Priest *, in order to signify that the time would come when the Royalty would be imited with the Priesthood. This has been fulfilled in Christ. He is the Builder of the True Temple ; He is the Eternal Priest and Universal King of the Spiritual Jerusalem, the Christian Church. What Zechariah foretold is accomplished in Him, " He shall build the Temple of the Lord, and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne ; and He shall be a Priest upon His throne '." These visions, which unfold great truths of the Christian Faith, are followed by precepts concerning godly practice. The utter hollowness of all religious professions, and of all ceremonial observances, without the exercise of the moral virtues of truth, justice, mercy, and charity, is declared in strong language" ;" and thus a prophetic protest is delivered against that hypocritical Pharisaism which corroded the vitals of the religion of the Hebrew Nation in later daj^s, especially in our Lord's age, and which also has been one of the most pestilent cankers of the Christian Church. Almighty God proffers an abundance of blessings to His people ; but the fulfilment of these gracious promises, it is distinctly declared, is contingent on their own acts '. If they cleave to Him by faith and obedience, then, it is affirmed, they will be a blessing to themselves and others. The Heathen Nations of the world will be brought into communion with God by their means. " Ten men will take hold out of all nations of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you "." This has been fulfilled by Christ and by the faithful remnant of Israel, especially the Apostles, all of whom were Jews, and by other first preachers of Christianity, who were enabled by their commission from Christ, and bj' the power of the Holy Ghost given to the Church at Pentecost, to be instruments in God's hands for bringing the Heathen Nations to Him ; and the eagerness with which the Heathen embraced the Gospel preached by them is described in the vivid language of the prophet, " Ten men will take hold out of all nations of the skirt of him that is a Jew." Such is God's purpose of love to the Heathen, if they believe and obey Him. But, as it is in His dealings with the Jews, so it is in His overtures to the Gentiles. There is mercy, on the one hand, to the penitent, but there is retribution to the ungodly. God is ready to be the Saviour of all who believe, both Jew and Gentile ; and He is also the righteous Judge of all. This truth is declared in what follows. God there reveals His judgments against Heathen Nations relying on their own power, wealth, and wisdom, such as Persia, Syria, Tyre, and Philistia '. But even in these chastisements there was compassion. The humiliation of these Nations by the arms of Alexander the Great (who, like Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus before Alexander, and like the Roman Power after him, was an instrument in God's hands pref)aring the way for Christianity) broke down their faith in the power of their local and national deities, who, as they found by experience, were not able to help and defend them in their danger; and thus, by a salutary discipline of affliction, predisposed them to receive the Gospel of Christ'". Hence, therefore, the Prophet passes from a view of Alexander's conquests to describe the victories of a greater Conqueror, Jesus Christ: just as Zechariah's predecessor, the' Evangelical Prophet Isaiah, having described the successes of Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon and the liberator of the captive Jews, proceeds to hail the victorious career of Christ, subduing all His enemies and redeeming a captive world". How striking is the contrast ! Christ, the Son of God, is seen riding in His triumphal entry into His capital city, Jerusalem, not in a magnificent chariot drawn by snow-white horses, not mounted on a martial charger champing a golden bit, like the Emathian conqueror, Alexander the son of Philip, on his famed war-horse Bucephalus, but "lowly and meek, riding on an ass, even on the foal of an ass"." This vision is to be the signal of rapturous ecstasy to Jerusalem. "Rejoice greatly, daughter ' ZecL. vi. 5. = Zech. vi. 12. 9 Zeeh. is. 1— 6. » Cp. Zech. iv. 14. ■• Zech. vi. 11. lo See on Zech. ix. 7. =■ Zech. vi. 1. 13. • Zech. vii. 3-14. " See above, Prelim. Note to Isaiah. X Zech. viii. 1. ' Zech. viii. 23. " Zech. ix. 9. INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. xxi of Zion; shout, daughter of Jerusalem: behold, th_y King cometh unto thee: He is just and having salvation ; lowly and riding upon an ass, even upon the foal of an ass'." The might of Christ, the King of the Spiritual Zion, is declared to be her sufficient safeguard and support. She is secure under the rule of Him, Who does not need the help of chariots and horses, but rides on in meekness to victory. The da}' (it is foretold) is coming, when the Church will be deprived of all earthly helps, supports, and defences. " The chariot will be cut off from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle-bow shall be cut off^;" but still, though the World is no longer for her, but against her, Christ's kingdom will be extended to the heathen, who will look on Him as their Saviour. It will be universal in extent and everlasting in duration'. This glorious deliverance from the bondage of Sin and Death is to be purchased by blood, " the blood of the covenant," the blood of Christ. This is the price to be paid for the redemption of Zion and of the World from the prison-house in which they lie like captives in a pit. They are freed from it by that redemption ; and instead of being prisoners of death, they become " prisoners of hope' ;" and the}' exchange the dark dungeon of their captivity for the strong fortress of salvation. The battle-bow of earthly power is cut off; but Christ is a victorious Conqueror : He triumphs by His own death ; and He is a warlike Archer, riding with a bent bow in His hand, and discharging His arrows against His enemies. Zechariah adopts the imagery of the Psalmist, which is reproduced by St. John in the Apocalypse, where Christ is displaj'ed as riding with a bow in His hand, on His glorious career, "conquering and to conquer'." The arrows of Christ were the Apostles and first preachers of the Gospel. He took these arrows from His quiver and discharged them from His bow, like missiles to subdue His enemies, and to overcome the heathen World, and to make it subject to His peaceful sway. Christ is ever riding as an Archer in Christian Missions ; and, in the ordination of Christian Ministers to their apostolical and Evangelical office. He is ever sending forth His arrows, winged with feathers from the plumage of the Divine Dove. Zechariah's words are ever being fulfilled, " The Lord shall be seen over them" (like a mighty Archer bending His bow and scattering His enemies, who fall backward before Him'^); "and His arrows shall go forth like lightning ; and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet " (the trumpet of the Gospel), " and shall go with whirlwinds of the south" (with irresistible power) ; " and the Lord God shall defend them; and they shall be like jewels in His crown." And the consequence of this victory will not be carnage and desolation ; but salvation and joy, and a feast of spiritual delight in the Word and Sacraments of Christ. " How great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty ! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids'." The Prophet returns to contrast this blessed consummation with the evil results of disobedience and idolatry. Evil shepherds — bad rulers, civil and ecclesiastical, will be punished for their sins ; and God will take away from them their office and give it to others, namely to faithful Teachers raised up by Christ from the people of God. "Out of him " (that is, from Judah) " Christ will come forth ;" He Who is the " corner stone " which supports the fabric of the Church, and in which the two walls of the Jewish and Gentile world meet in one ; and " the nail " (or peg) to which the cords of the tent of the Church are braced, and by which it is kept firm in the ground, so as not to be torn up or shaken by storms ; and " the battle-bow," by which she overcomes her enemies'. By means of the preaching of those whom Christ sends forth, the Heathen will be evangelized ; and not only so, but the Jews themselves, scattered abroad in all countries hostile to Israel — which are represented by Egypt in the south and Assj'ria in the north — will be brought into the True Zion, the Church of Christ*. Having thus foretold the future gathering together of Israel, the Prophet goes back, in order to specify the cause of their dispersion, and to account for it. It might have been supposed, that in Zechariah's days, when the Temple and Walls of Jerusalem had just been rebuilt, and the great Empire of Persia, in the reigns of Cyrus and Artaxerxes, had favoured their restoration, there woizld be no more scattering of Israel. But the prophet Zechariah, being inspired by the Holy Ghost, reveals the marvellous and almost incredible fact, that Jerusalem would again be destroyed; and that her inhabitants would again be scattered abroad, on account of a sin far greater than any committed by their forefathers, namely the rejection and murder of their True Shepherd, the Messiah, Who is co-equal with Jehovah ' See on Zech. ix. 9. - See on Zooli. ix. 10. * As seen in some of the sculptured monuments of Nineveii. 5 Zech. ix. 10. ' Zech. ix. 12. See Zech. ix. 13, 14. ' Zech. ix. 17. ' See below, on Zech. ix. 13, and Rev. vi. 2. * See on Zech. x. 4. ' Zech. x. 7 — 12. xxii INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. Himself'. He foresees the destruction of Jerusalem; he foretells the desolation of aU the noble mansions of that city, which had just been rebuilt. " Howl, fir-tree " ; for the cedar is fallen." He explains the reason of this catastrophe. Her shepherds have been faithless ; they have not been true to their commission to feed His flock, but have slaughtered it for the gratification of their owti carnal appetites. It has become " a flock of slaughter;" and they glory in their shame'. Therefore their commission is revoked. God sends to Jerusalem a faithful Shepherd, " the Good Shepherd," which is Christ. But they will reject Him with scorn ; they will appraise His faithful service at the pitiful price of thirty pieces of silver*. This is cast to the potter. The Lord rejects them because th reject Him; and He, the True Shepherd, breaks asunder His pastoral staves, " Beauty and Bands'," the symbols of the blessed eflects of His pastoral work, which would have invested His people with spiritual grace and glory, and would have bound them to one another and to God '. Zechariah reveals the mystery, which has now been cleared up in the eyes of the world, that the Jews would destroy themselves, and be outcasts from God, and be scattered abroad, because they rejected and crucified Christ. After describing the pastoral work of Christ in the Church, the Prophet proceeds, by a bold contrast, to describe that of an opposite power and person in Christendom, who claims to be a shepherd, and yet makes himself to be an "idol" in the Church'. "Woe to the idol shepherd," exclaims Zechariah. The woe which awaits him is described, " Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock ! the sword shall be upon his arm " (in which he trusts, and by which he claims to guide the world), " and upon his right eye" (for he thinks that he alone can see) : " his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened'." This prophecy of Zechariah concerning "the idol shepherd," seems to be even now in course of fulfil- ment in Christendom". And here we may recognize another example of the mode in which the words of the prophets adjust themselves to events as they arise, and possess a continuous and increasing power and value for the Christian. And it may be anticipated, that additional evidences of the truth of divine Revelation wiU be supplied in the latter days, as years pass on, by the fulfilment of utterances in them which are now veiled in obscuritj^ ; and that, if we may so speak, the hand of Time wiU raise new trophies to Holy Scripture, and place fresh crowns on the heads of its writers, in proportion as we approach nearer to Eternity ; and that thus, in an age of doubt, the reverent reader of Holy Scripture wiU have new confirmations of his faith in its Inspiration, and in the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God, which is the end of all Hebrew Prophecy. Zechariah has next a vision of the last days. He sees a gathering of hostile powers against God and against His Church, which, having been founded at Jerusalem by Christ, will expand itself to enfold the world. The Church, the true Jerusalem, will be assaulted by enemies on all sides, before the End comes. But she will be " a cup of trembling'"" to all who attack her ; she will be " a burdensome stone " to her adversaries. In other words, their own acts in persecuting and oppressing her wiU recoil upon themselves to their own utter confusion and ruin. God will make her foes to reel like drunken men, and will crush them and grind them to powder beneath the heavy weight of His wrath, and they will be consumed by the fire of His indignation, which wUl burst forth from her to consume them. The Prophet delivers the gracious assurance that Almighty God will defend His Church, and will strengthen aU her faithful members, and will finally crown them with victory and glory. "The feeble among them shall be as David"," for they will be strong through the grace of the Divine David, Jesus Christ. Still further, Zechariah reveals, that not only Heathen Nations, but the Jewish People also, will be converted to Christ. God will pour upon them " the Spirit of grace and supplications ;" and God says, that "they will look on Me Whom they pierced'"'' — a clear testimony (as explained in the Gospel ") to the Godhead as well as the Manhood of Christ. They will mourn for Him, the true " King of the Jews," as they mourned for the good King of Jerusalem, Josiah'*. Each family and person will be touched with penitential sorrow, and will confess Him, Whom they crucified, to be Christ and God". Then He wiU be their Saviour. The fountain opened at Calvary in the wounded side of Christ, to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, will flow freely to them, and they wiU be cleansed by it. There will be no more idolatry among the Jews, as there was be- fore the Babylonish Captivity. Nor wUl there be false teaching then, as there was in the days of the Scribes and Pharisees", 1 See ou Zech. xi. 1. 13 ; xiii. 7. ^ ^ecli. xi. 1, 2. i" Zech. xii. 2. ' ' Zech. xii. 8. ' Zech. xi. 4, 5. * Zech. xi. 13. i- Zech. xii. 10. '•' Jolin xix. 37. C]). Kcv. i. 7. •' Zech. xi. 7. 10. 14. « xi. 7—15. ? See on xi. 15—17 '* See ou 2 Kiugs xxiii. 29, 30. 2 Chion. xxxv. 21. " See on xi. 17, a further expositiou of this prophecy. " Zech. xii. 11 — 14. " Zech. xiii. 2—4. ' Sec belo V, ou Zech. xi. 17. INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. xxiii It is the oiJinai-y practice of Divine Proiiliecy, in Holy Scripture, to recapitulate^. That is, after it has desceudcd to a distant point in the future, it comes back again to its former starting- pLice, and delivers another prediction which reaches down to still more distant objects than those which it had before attained. So it is here. The Pro^^het once more returns to describe more particularly the Death of Christ. He speaks of the wounds in His hands — wounds which He received in the house of His friends, even at Jerusalem itself'. The Death of Christ, which is foretold by Zechariah (as Christ Himself has assured us^j, and is described by the Projjhet as the death of Him ^Vho is the Shepherd of His Peojjle, and also the " fellow," or equal, of Jehovah'', is represented as due to the sins of His People, but as permitted and effected by God*. But God will have a remnant among them ; He will bring His " hand upon the little ones," the meek and gentle of Israel. He will defend them and purify them by trial '". Thus the Prophet is brought again to the times of the End. He describes the last fierce struggle of infidel Autichristianism against the Lord and His Church. The Church will suffer great distress, as Jerusalem did in the days of its siege by the Romans. But at last the Lord will arise and scatter her enemies '. Then shall the End come. Christ will descend from heaven in glory, as He went up from Olivet in His Ascension into heaven. Whether He will literally appear on the Mount of Ascension, the Mount of Olives', time will show. His enemies will all be confounded; but His faithful servants will be marvellously preserved". In the latter days, the living waters of the Spirit will be universally diffused over all the earth. There will be no more strifes and jjarties in religion ; there will be " One Lord, and His Name One '"." The Church will be exalted, extended, and glorified like a lofty plain above the hills of the earth", and will be safely inhabited '■; all her adversaries will be consumed, and she will celebrate an universal and everlasting Feast of Tabernacles". The typical foreshadowings of that great and crowning Festival of the Hebrew year, which spake of God dwelling with His people in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, and which prefigured the glory that would follow when God Himself would vouchsafe to pitch His Tabernacle in human flesh, and be our Everlasting Emmanuel, will then be realized and consummated. The Church will celebrate a spiritual Feast of Tabernacles for evermore ; for God Himself will ever tabernacle amidst her '*. Every thing will then be consecrated. The " bells of the horses "," the emblems of warfare, will be hallowed ; common things will be sanctified '^ The Church will shine in pure light, and in a bright atmosphere of holiness, and be transfigured and glorified for ever in the heavenly Jerusalem. The glorious visions of Zechariah are succeeded by the moral homilies of Mai.achi ; and by this j uxtaposition they supply a striking comment on the indispensable necessity of religious practice, and personal holiness, if there is to be a fruition of heavenly glory ". In the age of Malachi, Jerusalem rejoiced in her newly-built Temple and its restored Ritual; and she looked with self-complacency and hope for the Coming of the Messiah. But the Holy Spirit, speaking by Malachi, tempeis her joy with sober reproofs and solemn warnings. He utters a prophetic protest against that hard, f)roud, covetous spirit of formalism, which afterwards displayed itself in the blindness of the Priests and in the vainglorious h3-pocrisy of the Pharisees in our Lord's age. He declares to the Jews — who gloried in their national privileges, but were not alive to the responsibilities, and did not discharge the duties, which those privileges involved — that unless they repented of their sins, their pride, their oppression, their perjury, their adultery, God would loathe all the I'itual observances and sacrifices of the Temple at Jerusalem ; and that their privileges would be taken from them, on account of their unthankfulness, insensibility, and presumption, and wilful disobedience and moral profligacy, and would be transferred to the Gentiles. The Advent of the Messiah would be a day of sorrow and shame to them, and not of joy and glory. Thus Malachi, " the Seal of the Prophets," prepared the way for the stern preaching of the second Elias, John the Baptist ", coming forth in the wilderness in his raiment of camel's hair, with a leathern girdle about his loins, to denounce God's judgments against Priests, Pharisees, and Sadducees, and the People of Jerusalem ; and to prepare the way for the Judge ", Whose Coming is heralded by Malachi : " The Lord Whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His Temple, even the See below, Introduction to the Book of Revelatiou, pp. 151, " Zecli. xiv. 10. Cp. on Isa. ii. 2, 3. Ezek. xl. 2. 152, aud Prelim. Note to Rev. xx. '- Zech. xiv. 11. '» See ou Zech. xiv. 1(3 — 19. - Tbis seems to be tbe true exposition of xiii. 6. '■' Tlie Apocalypse, as usual, takes up Zuuhariah's worJs aud ** Seeour Lord'swords, Matt. xxvi. 31, verifving this assertion. exj)laius them. See on K«v. vii. 15, aud xxi. 3. < Zech. xiii. 7. ' '^ Zech. xiv. 20. " Zech. xiv. 20, 21. ° Cp. the note ou Acts ii. 23. Isa. liii. 10. ''" See further below, as to this point, in the Prelim. Xole to . » Zech. xiii. 9. ^ Zech. xiv. 1 — 3. M.ilachi. * Zech. xiv. 4. Acts 11 ' Zech. xiv. 4, o. '" Mai. iii. 1; iv. 5. '" Zech. xiv. 'J. '■' lu the words of St. Joliii the Baptist, Matt. iii. 12, and note. xxiv INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. Messenger of the Covenant "Whom ye delight in," and for Whose Coming ye look with desire, but do not prepare j'ourselves for it by holiness of life. " Behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts. But who may abide the day of His Coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth ' ? " Like John the Baptist, whom he announces, Malachi, even while he is describing Christ's First Advent, sees the bright glory and awful majestj' of His Second Coming ; and he darts backward a rapid glance to Mount Sinai, and to the promulgation of the Law of Moses °, and commands the Hebrew Nation to remember and observe the statutes and judgments which the Lord then delivered to Israel ; and he then looks forward to the great and dreadful Day of the Lord '. Thus in his vast prophetic panorama he blends the earthly Sinai with the heavenly Sion. And while he assures the faithful and obedient of every age and nation that " the Sun of Righteousness will arise to them with healing in His wings," he ends his prophecy with a solemn caill of sinners to repentance, lest God should reveal Himself to them in wrath and indignation, " and smite the earth with a curse *." We have thus been brought by God's help to the close of the prophetical books of the Old Testament. Here we may pause awhile, and take a retrospective view of the ground traversed from the beginning of the Sacred Volume, and consider what reflections are suggested by it with regard to what still lies before us in our passage from time to Eternity. Holy Scripture, from its first page to the last, reveals a succession»of conflicts between good and evil ; and of triumphs of good over evil, after severe struggles. The Creation of the earth itself, in its present form, was a work of restoration by God, after a time of desolation and ruin due to the agency of evil". The Fall of Man was a work of min wrought by the Evil One ; but it was succeeded by God's promise of Christ, the Seed of the Woman, Who would bruise the serjient's head^ and would raise men to a loftier condition than that in which they had existed in Adam. The rise in Christ is higher than the fall in Adam was deep. The Deluge was like another fall, consequent on man's sin ; but God graciouslj' enabled him to emerge from it to a higher altitude, with nobler promises. The building of Babel was like another fall, due to human pride and rebellion against God. Men sought for strength by combination in Babel, which was designed by them to be a centre of unity '; but they were punished by dispersion and confusion. God overruled evil for good ; their dispersion prepared the way for the colonization and civilization of the World, and for the eventual difi'usion of the Gospel of Christ, flowing in the language of all nations ; and for the building up the universal Church of Christ, the true Sion, the city of peace — the antithesis of Babel, the city of confusion'. The declension of Mankind into idolatry was like another fall, produced by the evil agency of Satan, the author of idolatry'. But God called Abraham, the father of the faithful, out of the darkness of heathenism and idolatry '", and promised that of him Christ should come, in Whom all nations should be blessed ; and He made his family to be a depository and witness of truth, and to be the seminary of Christianity. The selling of Joseph, one of that family, into Egypt by his brethren, and his imprisonment on false accusations, and his subsequent elevation to bear rule in the palace and realm of Egypt, and to become the preserver of life in the seven years' famine, is like a miniature specimen of the declen- sions and elevations which have their consummation in the Divine Antitype of Joseph, Jesus Christ". The going down of that family into Egypt, the land of idolatry and the house of bondage, was like another fall ; but God made it to be the occasion for a great and glorious conflict with the gods of the heathen, whom He visited with plagues '^ and for manifesting the glory of the Lord God of Israel, by the overthrow of their power, and by covering with the waves of the Red Sea the hosts of Egypt, when pursuing after His own people, whom He saved by two miraculous deliverances (both of which were typical and prophetic of mankind's deliverances by Christ, and of our Exodus in Him "), first at the Passover, when the firstborn of Egypt were destroyed, and next by the way which He made for them on dry land through the waters of the Red Sea, in which their enemies were over- whelmed. The rebellion of Israel in the wilderness was like another fall ; but it was followed by another 1 Mai. iii. 1, 2. ' Mai. iv. 5. » Mill. iv. i. " See the notes on Genesis xxxvii. 28, and xli. 40. 57, where * Mai- iv. 6. the points of resemblance are specified. * See the notes above, on Gen. i. 1, 2. . '^ See on Exodus xii. 12. The first of the ten plag\ies was ^ See Gen. iii. 15. executed on the river, which tbej revered as a deity. See the " See the notes above, on Gen. xi. 1 — 6. notes on Exodus vii. 17; viii. 1. 1 Sec below, on Acts ii. 3. 6. ' Sec on Matt. iv. 9, 10. " See on Exodus xii., Prelim. Note, and Exodus xiv., Prelim.' '" See Gen. xii. 1 ; and on Josh. xxiv. 2. Note, and tlic notes on these two chapters throughout. INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. xxv rise to a higher elevation, in the passage of the river Jordan, and in the conquests of Joshua, the type of Jesus ', and in his settlement of Israel in Canaan, the figure of heaven. The days of the Judges were evil ; they were days of degeneracy and apostasy, but were followed by those of Samuel the Prophet, and David the King, the anointed of the Lord, " the man after God's own heart," " the sweet Psalmist of Israel," the conqueror of his enemies, the first Hebrew King of Jerusalem, the progenitor and type^ of Christ; and by the glorious times of Solomon " the Peaceable," the builder of the Temple of Jerusalem, and in these respects the type of Christ the Prince of Peace, the Builder of the true Temple in the everlasting Sion, the universal Church ^ The dispersion of the Ten Tribes of Israel, and the destruction of Jerusalem, and the captivity of Judah at Babylon (which had been foretold bj- Isaiah, Micah and Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Jeremiah) for their sins of idolatr)^ were like another fall. But this was overruled for the gracious purposes of manifesting the majesty and glory of the Lord God of Israel throughout the East, by the deliverance of the three children, who refused to fall down and worship the golden image set up by the King of Babylon'; and by the preservation of His faithful prophet Daniel in the lions' den, into which he was cast because he refused to omit his prayers to God, notwithstanding the decree of Darius the king '; and by the fulfilment of the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk, in the capture of Babylon by Cyrus the Persian, "the shepherd " and "the anointed" of God* ; and in the deliverance of God's People by him, and in his decree for their return to their own land, and for the restoration of the sacred vessels of the Lord's house, and for the rebuilding of the Temple at Jerusalem — all which events were figurative of still greater mercies in Christ', the mighty Deliverer of all faithful Israelites from their captivity, and the Restorer of our nature, which was like a city in ruins. The destruction of the Temple, and the dispersion of the Hebrew People in distant lands, had the effect of weaning their minds from what was local, material, and transitory in religious worship ', and of raising their hearts to commune with what is unseen, heavenly, and eternal; and it prepared them by a holy discipline for a purer faith. It rescued them from idolatry, and spiritualized them ". It also put an end to the unhappy rivalry and schism between Israel and Judah, and trained them for union in Christ. The Temple built at Jerusalem after the return from Babylon, was far less glorious in external splendour and grandeur than the Temple of Solomon". But the promise was, that "the glory of the latter house would be greater than that of the former"." A.nd why? Because Christ, the Lord of the Temple, would come to it, and fill it with glory. Thus, even the inferiority of the latter house in material respects taught the great truth, that the essence of divine worship, and the glory of the Church, do not consist in external things, however magnificent, but in the presence and in-dwelling of Christ. Here was another progressive step toward that vital and spiritual religion which is taught by Christ in the Gospel'-. The accomplishment of numerous prophecies which had foretold the sufferings of the Hebrew Nation for sin, and their deliverance and restoration after the faU of Babylon, strengthened their faith in the inspiration of Hebrew Prophecy, and in the power and love of the God of Israel, and stimu- lated them to look forward to the accomplishment of the other prophecies which were contained in their Scriptures, and especially those prophecies which foretold the Coming of the Messiah to that Temple which was built after the Captivity. The fulfilment of the former prophecies was an earnest and pledge that the latter prophecies would be fulfilled also. The age of their return from Babylon was succeeded by a debasement and corruption of morals consequent on their vainglorious self-confidence in their own spiritual privileges, and on their dis- dainful contempt of heathen nations. These were the besetting sins of Judaism after the return from Babylon, even till the days of our Blessed Lord, when they reached their climax, and were punished with spiritual blindness as their inevitable retribution. But when every thing seemed most dark, then "the Sun of Righteousness'^" arose iipon the world. The Son of God Himself appeared in human flesh. The great majority of the Hebrew Nation were unable to recognize the beauty of the promised Messiah in the " Man of Sorrows '\" "He came unto His own, and His own received Him ' See above, Introd. to Joshua ix. — xix., and notes on Joshua ' See the notes on 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, and Prelim. Xole to i. 1 ; V. 1, and througliout the book. Isaiah xl. ^ See the notes above, on 2 Sam. vii., and Prelim. Kofe to ' See Inirod. to Ezra, pp. 298, 299. 1 Chron. xxviii. « See Introd. to Ezra, p. 299. 3 See on Psalms Ixxi. and Ixxii. '" Haegai ii. 3. Ezra iii. 12. Zech. iv. 10. *Daa. iii. s Dan. vi. 10. " Haggai ii. 7— 9. Cp. Malaehi iii. 1. ' See above, on Isaiali xliv. 28; xlv. 1. " John iv. 23. '^ Malaehi. iv. 2. '* Isaiah liii. 3. xxvi INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. not '." They rejected and crucified the Holy One of Israel =. Thus they fulfilled the prophecies ol the Psalms, of Isaiah, and Zechariah ; as St. Paul declares, they did not understand the words of the prophets which were read in their own synagogues, aud " they fulfilled them by condemning Him\" Thus o^reater strength accrued to Divine prophecy, even from the unbelief of those who killed the Kino- o{ Glory. The true remnant of Israel— namely, the Apostles and primitive believers among the Jew°— were confirmed in their own faith by the infidelity of the Nation. That infidelity had long before been foretold : " Lord, " exclaimed Isaiah'' in the name of the Hebrew Prophets, " who hath believed our report ? " The apostasy of the Jews was punished by the utter destruction of the Temple and City of Jerusalem by the arms of Rome, aud by the dispersion of the people into all lands even to this hour. But even this terrible visitation was fraught with mercy. No longer are the eyes of the faithful directed toward any local centre, such as the Temple at Jerusalem. No longer do they sit beneath the shadow of the Levitical Law. The material City and Temple have been levelled to the dust; but Jerusalem still lives and grows, and has been catholicized in the Church of Christ. The Church Universal has risen on the ruins of the Temple on Mount Moriah. The Church is the true Moriah, or. Vision of the Lord, where the abiding presence of the Lord is ever seen by the eye of the faithful'. The dim, visionary twilight of the Ceremonial Law h-s passed away for ever, and has melted away and been absorbed into the glorious sunshine of the Gospel. The Jews, as a nation, have been rejected for a time, because they rejected Christ ; but even by this rejection the evidence of Christianity has been strengthened; for all these things were foretold bv their own Prophets who prophesied of Christ. And there ever has been a faithful remnant in Israel, as those Prophets predicted, amid God's Ancient People. They have been the seminary of Christendom. All the Apostles aud first preachers of Christianity were Jews, and were sent forth from Jerusalem by Christ, Who was the personification and consummation of faithful Israel'. They went forth, sent by Him, and empowered by the Holy Ghost, given to them at Jerusalem', to execute His commission, and to pi-each to all nations the Gospel, which is the fulfilment of the Law, and to make all men to be citizens of the true and everlasting Zion, which is His Church*. The dispersion of the Jews in all lands is a standing and ever-speaking witness, in all places, to the truth of Holy Scripture, which foretold it ; and it is also a testimony to the truth of Christ, because the Prophets, and Christ Himself and His Apostles, predicted that such would be the punishment of the Jews for that rejection, and declared that their only escape from that punishment, which has now laLa heavy upon them for eighteen hundred years, is by repentance aud faith in Christ. The heinousness of the sin of Unbelief, rejecting Christ, may be seen in the history of the Jews since the fall of Jerusalem even to this day. But the Prophets also foretold that another triumph still awaits Christianity through this disper- sion of the Jews. They foretold that the faithful remnant of the Jews, namely the Apostles and earliest disciples, would first convert the Heathen to Christianity; and that afterwards Preachers and Missionaries of the Gospel would be raised up in heathen nations, and would evangelize the Jews, and bring them also to the fold of Christ'. God's love to His Ancient People will be manifested, and they will unite with the Gentiles in adoring Him in the Christian Church'". Thus we see, that ever since the Creation, to the Coming of Christ, there has been a succession of conflicts with Evil and of couquests of the Truth, a series of moral falls and moral resurrections, a succession of decompositions and of redintegrations ; and that the tendency has ever been one of progress from what is material, local, and temporal, to what is spiritual, universal, and eternal. The climax of this gradual ascent is reserved for the latter days. The crisis will be seeu on the eve of Christ's Coming to judgment. All Hebrew Prophecy in the Old Testament, and all Christian Prophecy in the New, concur with the evidence derived from the analogies of history, in testifying to a great coming struggle of Error with Truth, and of a great and final victory of Truth over Error. The conflict and triumph described in the last chapter of Isaiah"; the great battle of Anti- christian powers, symbolized by Gog aud Magog in Ezekiel'^, and their utter rout and discomfiture; ' John i. 11. - Acts iii. 14 ; i\ . 10. » See on Psalm Ixxxvii. Hub. xii. 22, 3 See ou Acts xiii. 27. * Isaiah liii. 1. s See on Hosea i. 10, 11 ; ii. 14 — 23. Amos ix. — 15. ^ On the meaning of tiic name Moriah, see on Genesis xxii. iiom. xi. 25, 26. 2. 11, and the notes on 2 Sam. xxiv. 24. 2 Ckiou. iii. 1. '" See Rom. xv. 8 — 12. « See on Hosea xi. 1. ' ' Isaiah Ixvi. 15 — 24. ' Luke xxiv. 47, 49. Acts i. 4. 8. '- Ezeli. xxxviii. aud xxxix. INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. xxvii the gathering of the Nations, and the crushing of their pride in the valle}' of Jehoshaphat, in the magnificent description of Joel'; the combination of hostile forces against the spiritual Jerusalem, the Church of God ; and the grinding to powder of rebel Nations by the Stone cut out without hands, and their scattering like the dust of the summer threshing-floor, predicted by Daniel' in his vision of the Son of Man coming to judgment, and the future Resurrection ; and the confederacy of worldly and godless forces against the Church of God, and their final overthrow, foretold by Zechariah'j all these and other similar prophecies, together with those which are ever recurring in the Psalms — Irom the first and second Psalms even to the end of the Book — which sjjeak of the raging* of Nations against Christ, and the final subjection of all things beneath His feet ; are like parts of one great prophetic drama, which is consummated in the Apocalypse of St. John, in the description of the marshalling of Antichristian forces for a great struggle in the latter days', and for the final shout of victory — "Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigucth ;" '' the kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdom of our Louu and of His Christ^" Therefore the social and political phenomena of the present times will not disturb the mind of the Christian. In our own age (as has been truly said) we "live amid falling institutions; the foundations of fabrics have long been giving way, and a visible tottering has begun ; and the sounds of great downfalls, and great disruptions come from difierent quarters; and great crashes are heard, as if some vast masses had just broken ofl' from the rock, and gone down to the chasm below." But the believer in Christ, with the Bible in his hand, remains unshaken. He knows that " heaven and earth will pass away, but Christ's Word wiU not pass away '." " Jesus Christ is the same j'esterday, to-day and forever'." States and Empires will fall; but Christ remains for ever'. The Holy Ghost will abide for ever with His Church'". The Holy Scriptures will remain; the holy Sacraments will remain; the Creeds of the Universal Church will remain; the Church herself" will remain for ever, to preach the Word of God, and to minister the Sacraments, and to fight against error and sin, and to lead men to a blessed immortality. The faithful Christian will, indeed, mourn over the infatuation of States, abdicating their noblest functions, and forfeiting their most glorious prerogatives by apostasy from Christ '°, as if the everlast- ing Gospel were a thing which could now be flung aside, as superannuated and obsolete; and as if they could prosper without God's blessing; and as if the}' could have any blessing from Him unless they maintain His truth and promote His glory. He will deplore the presumption which vaunts that it can educate a nation (as if Education were not a discipline for eternity) without the doctrines and sanctions of religion, and the grace of the Holy Ghost ; and by the mere beggarly elements of Secularism, which wiU have its sure retribution in national anarchy and confusion. He will weep, as Jeremiah wept amid the ruins of Sion, over the fall of national Churches. He will mourn over the breaking up and crumbling away of ancient Monarchies, and over the sweeping away of fallen and ruined Thrones by the fierce hurricane of popular revolutions. But in all these perturbations he will retain a spiritual calm. They will even strengthen, stablish, and settle him in the truth. And why? Because all these things have been foretold by Prophecy, Hebrew and Christian ; and because they betoken the approaching consummation of a long series of events, which will culminate in the over- throw of all Error, Unbelief, and Ungodliness, and in the full and final triumph of the Christian Faith, at the Coming of the Lord to judgment. They are signs of the nearness of that Coming, and of its blessed results, which Hebrew and Christian Prophecy have foretold — the Resurrection of the dead, the re-appearing of the bodies of the faithful who have fallen asleep in Him; and the fruition of eternal peace, and the joys of His Church triumphant, glorified for ever in heaven. Thus the retrospect of the past, from the present time even to the Creation, is fuU of comfort to the Christian. He knows that " not one good thing has failed " of God's promises, from the first prophecy in Scripture to Adam after the Fall'^ to the present time. It was prophesied that Christ should be born of a woman, that He should come of the seed'^ of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah'*. and of David'', that He should be born of a Virgin ", and at Bethlehem'*, that He should be a Man of ' Joel iii. 19—21. 9 jjatt. xxviii. 19, 20. 1 Cor. xi. 26. = Daniel ii. 35. 44 ; vii. 9—14. 26, 27; xii. 1—3. '" John xiv. 6. H .Matt. xvi. 18. = Zech. xiv. 1—21. i- Rev. xiv. 16. '» Gen. iii. 15. ■• Ps. ii. 4^12; xiv. 5, 6; ex. 1—7. '< Gen. xii. 3; xviii. 18; xxi. 12; xxii IS; xxvi. 4; xxviii. » See Rev. .xvi. 10; xx. 9, 10. « Rev. xi\. 6 ; xi. 15. 14. Exod. ii. 24. '' Gen. xlix. 10. ' Miitt. Xiiv. 35. «Hcb. xiii. 8. " See 2 Sum. vii. 12. 'Ms;i. vii. 11. '» Jiiciib v. 2. xxviii INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS. Sorrows', be meek and lowly, and ride on the foal of an ass', that His price should be thirty pieces of silver^ that He should be pierced in His hands and His feet', that His raiment should be parted, and lots be cast for His vesture', that He should' die as a transgressor* and be buried by the rich; and yet that He should be no other than the Mighty God^ the Prince of Peace, the Lord our Righteousness '; that He should come as the Lord to that Temple' which was built by ZeruBbabel; that He should rise from the dead'", ascend in glory to the heavens", and send down the gift of the Holy Ghost ; and that His "Word should go forth from Zion" into all parts of the world, and that He should enfold the Gentile Nations in His Church. All these prophecies have been fulfilled. What then shall we say? Since these predictions, so numerous, so circumstantial, so various, have been accomplished, can it be imagined that the other prophecies of the Hebrew and Christian Scripturea shall not be accomplished also ? Shall ninety- nine prophecies in the Sacred Volume be fulfilled, and shall the hundredth fail ? Assuredly not. The past fulfilment of the many is a pledge of the future fulfilment of the few ; especially since these few prophecies which remain to be fulfilled, are not only delivered to us by Hebrew Prophets, but by Christ Himself also, Who is the subject and end of all Prophecy, and the Lord of all the prophets. And what is the great prophecy that remains to be fulfilled, and which Christ Himself has reiterated by Himself and by His Apostles, especially by St. Paul in the Epistles to the Thessalonians'^ and the Corinthians" and by St. John in the Apocalypse " ? The final overthrow of all that is opposed to Christ and the complete victory of the True Faith. This is what lies before us. It will be fulfilled at Christ's Second Advent. " Therefore will we not fear", though the Earth be moved, and the hills be carried into the midst of the sea." In all the trials and troubles of private and public life, amid all the winds and waves of popular commotions and tumults, in the distress of nations with perplexity", in the fainting of men's hearts through fear, and fo;- looking after those things which are coming on the earth, in the dissolution of Empires, in the disintegration of national Churches, and in the distraction and strife of parties in religion and polity, in the wild frenzy of fanaticism, in the over- flowings of a self-idolizing superstition in the Church itself, in the rebuke and blasphemy of unbelief, the true Christian wiU cling to this anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, and will see in the storm itself a sign of eternal calm. When all things seem to be most dark, then, as the Apostles, toiling in the ship on the Sea of Galilee, saw Christ in the fourth watch of the night, walking on the sea amid the storm, and coming to them into the ship, and then the wind ceased, and the ship was at the land whither they went ; so at length the faithful will see Him coming to those who are labouring in the Apostolic vessel of His Church, tossed by waves, and buffeted by winds ; they will behold His refulgent Form, made more bright by the contrast of the gloom around it, and treading beneath His feet all the foaming billows of human pride and presumption, and speaking to His disciples with a voice of power and love, " Be of good cheer, it is I "." And then the ship will be " at the haven where they would be'°," — the heavenly haven of everlasting peace. C. Lincoln. KisEHOLJiE, Lincoln, Ascension-tide, 1870. 1 Isaiah liii. 3. ^Zech.ix ' Zeph. xi. 12. '» Isaiah ii. 2— 4. Micah iv. 1, 2. * Psalm xxii. 16. ^ Psalm x.\ii 18. •' 1 Thesi. iv. 13—18. 2 Thess. ii. 1—8. 6 Isaiah liii. 12. ? Isaiah ix. 6. '< 1 Cor. xv. 24—28; 51—58. " Jeremiah xxiii. 6. '6 Eev. xix. 11—21 ; xx. 8—15. '« Psalm xlvi. 2. ' Haggai ii. 6—9. Malachi iii. 1. i? Luke xxi. 25, 26. 1" Psalm ii. 2—6 ; xvi. 11. Cp. Acts ii. 29—36. >' See Matt. xiv. 23—27. Mark vi. 47—50. Johu vi. 16-21. " Psahii Ixviii. 18. Micah ii. 13. " Psalm cvii. 30. CHllONOLOGICAL ORDER OF THE PROPHETS. Some of the Prophets, e.g. Hosea and Isaiah, prophesied during a much longer time than others ; and therefore some of their prophecies may be later in date than some of the prophecies of Prophets who began to prophesy after them. Their dates for the most part cannot be precisely determined. It is probable that the books of most of the Prophets contain the substance and pith of prophecies delivered by them at intervals on several occasions. In the following Table, some modifications have been adopted of that order which is exhibited in the Table prefixed to Isaiah. HOSE.4 I In the daj's of Jeroboam II., King of Israel, and Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah ....... In the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah Probably in the daj's of Uzziah, King of Judah .... In the days of Jeroboam II., King of Israel, and Uzziah, King of Judah Probably in the days of Uzziah ....... Probably in the days of Uzziah ....... In the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah. Cp. Jer. xxvi. 18 ......... . Probably in the reign of Hezekiah, King of Judah Probably in the reign of ilanasseh or Josiah, Kings of Judah In the days of Josiah, King of Judah ...... j From the thirteenth year of Josiah, and in the reigns of Jehoahaz (Shallum), Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, or Coniah), and Zedekiah, Kings of Judah, and after the destruction of Jerusalem From the fifth j^ear of Jehoiachin's captivit)-, and in the reign of ) Zedekiah, and after the destruction of Jerusalem . . . j In the days of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus In the second year of Darius Hystaspes .... Associated with Haggai ... ...... " The Seal of the Prophets " 430—400. For a synoptical view of the historical events of the above period, the reader is requested to refer to the Chronological Table prefixed to the Books of Kings, pp. xx — xxii, and the Introduction to Ezra, p. 295. The principal Commentaries on the Minor Prophets are those of S. Jerome, S. Cyril of Alexandria (published in an emended edition by P. E. Pusey, Oxf., 1868), Theodoret, S. Augustine (De Civitate Dei, lib. xviii.), Haymo, Ecmigius, Thcophylact, Huj^ertus Tuitiensin, Hugo de S. Caro, Albertus Magnus, Nicoiaus de Lyra, Ribera, Cornelius a Lapide. Among the Eabbis, R. Salomon ben Imac, Abenezra, Kimchi. Among the Eeformers, CEcolampadius, Luther, Calvin, Mercer, Osiander. After the Reformation, Brusius, Sanctius, Piscator, Tarnocius, Calovius, Grofius, Schmid, Marckius, Lyserus, IF. Louih, M. Henry. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, J. S. Midiaelis, Starck, Petersen, Dathe, Nciocome, Rosenmiiller, Umbreit, Eichhorn, Ackermann, Maurcr, Henderson, Hesselberg, Hitzig, Ewald, Schegg, Reinke, Hengstenberg (in his Christology), Dr. Robinson, Drake, Bassett, and especially Dr. Pusey (a very learned and inestimable Commentary), and Dr. C. F. Keil (one of the best works of that erudite Expositor), and Kleinert. The expositions of Br. Pocock on Hosea, Joel, Micah, and Malachi are of great value, as are those on Micah and Obadiah by C. P. Caspari; and that of Eliefoth on Zechariah is written in an excellent spirit of Christian Criticism. Isaiah Joel Amos Obadiah Joxah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Jeremiah EZEKIEL Dakiel Haggai Zechariah Malachi These Prophets prophesied in the time between 810—710. 710—625. 629—580. 595—573. 603—534. 519. 519—487. i^ H O S B A. Before CHRIST I. ' THE word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. - The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, ^Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: »!» <=•>•?; ' ' . b Deut. 31 for *" the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord. Ps. 73. 27. Jer. 2. 13. Ezek. 23. 3, Sic. Cn. I.] On the history and prophecies of Hosea, see above, IntbODUCTION to the Minor Prophets generally. The first three chapters of this Book ate a prologue to the whole (like the first five chapters of Isaiah: see on Isa. ch. i.), and reach from the age of the Prophet to the last days. It is an uniform principle of divine prophecy, — " semper ad eventum festinat." It passes at once with a rapid flight to the con- summation of all things. So at the very beginning of the Apocalypse the writer announces the Second Advent of Christ : "Behold, He comethwith clouds" (Rev. i. 7). 1. Hosea, the son of Beeri] HosEA, who stands at the head of the Minor Prophets iu the Canon of Scripture, is to them what Isaiah, whose name signifies Salvation of Jehovah, is to the JIajor Prophets. Both Hosea and Isaiah prophesied in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. See above, Isa. i. 1. The word Hosea signifies salvation ; and Beeri means my well {S. Jerome). The words of the Minor Prophets flow down from the well of God's saving power and love, in a continuous stream, parallel to those of the Major Prophets. They rise from a higher point than the words of the Major Prophets, and descend to a lower one, till they bring us down iu Haggai, Zecbariah, and Malacbi, to the days of the Second Temple, in which the Saviour Himself taught, from AVhom, as from an exhaustless well-spring, flowed forth the living waters of the Gospel, and the gift of the Holy Spirit of God J and they reveal to us the glories of the heavenly city, and the crystal sea, and the waters of life flowing from the throne of God. — in the days of Uzziah — Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel'] Jeroboam the second, King of Israel, iu whose reign the kingdom of the Ten Tribes rose to the highest pitch of prosperity ; by which God graciously proved them whether they would be thankful and obedient to Him, Who gave them their wealth and power (see 2 Kings xiv. 25 — 27). He reigned contemporaneously with Uzziah, king of Judah, for twenty- si.'c years, and died in the twenty-seventh year of Uzziah, who outlived Jeroboam by twenty-five years. Since, therefore, Hosea began to prophesy before the twenty- seventh year of Uzziah, and continued to prophesy in the times of Hezekiah, the son and successor of Ahaz, who succeeded Jotham, the son and successor of Uzziah, he must have prophesied for a period of more than si.\ty years (i. e. from about B.C. 790 to B.C. 725). In the Chronological Table, pre- fixed to Isaiah, above, p. xxii, the reader is requested to correct 780 into 790. Hosea does not mention any other kings of Israel under whom be prophesied besides Jeroboam II., because the successors of Jeroboam (Zecbariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekab, the son of Remaliah, Hosea the sou of Elali) had no permanent position as kings on the throne of Israel, and several of them were murderers and usurpers, and by their sins brought the kingdom to ruin and desolation, till at last their capital, Samaria, was taken, and the Ten Tribes were carried captive to Assyria. Israel's Spieitttal Foenicatiox. 2. Oo, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms] God speaks fi:om the lofty eminence of His foreknowledge, Oo, take t» Vol. VI. Paki II.— 1 thee a wife, who, I foresee, will be a wife of wlioredoms ; that is, one who will be faithless to thee, and who will thus cease to be worthy to be called thy wife. See ii. 2. That this is the true interpretation of this much-con- troverted passage seems to be evident, — (1) From the fact that the Prophet's wife is designed to symbolize the Israelitisb Nation and its relation to God. Now God did not espouse that Nation to Himself when it was unfaithful ; but it became unfaithful after it had beeu espoused to Him. Cp. Ezek. xxiii. 3. It is observable that the Targum here, and the ancient Versions {Sept., Yulg., Syriac) render the words in the future tense (as indeed they are in the original), the land will commit great whoredom from the Lord; and this confirms that exposition. (2) From the circumstance that this wife of Hosea is afterwards spoken of as a woman beloved of her friend (i. e. by her husband), yet an adulteress (iii. 1), and, as such, is a figure of Israel, faithless, and yet not wholly cast off' by God. (3) From the great embarrassments which beset the other conflicting interpretations, viz. — (1) The interpretation which regards the woman whom God's Prophet is commanded to take to himself in marriage, as no other than a common harlot. (2) The interpretation, which, recoiling from such a sup- position, resorts to the theory that the whole transaction had no outward visible reality, but was done only in the Prophet's inner consciousness, and that the names of bis wife (Gomer) and of his three children, are mere ideal fictions and visionary phantoms. Each of these two interpretations has great names to plead in its favour. The former is supported by jS. Irenaus, S. Basil, S. Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret, S. Augustine ; by Aquinas, Lyranus, A Lapide, Calovius, Glassius, Focock, JEwald, Kurtz, and by Dr. Fusey. The latter interpretation is maintained by S. Jerome, Maimonides, Junius, Drusius, IVitsius, Hengsfenberg, Keil. For the history of these interpretations, see Marck, Diatrii)e de Muliere Fornieationum, Lug. Bat. 1696 ; Pfeiffer, Dubia, p. 433 ; Dr. Focock here ; Dr. Waterland, Scripture Vin- dicated, p. 261, who, as well as Wm. Lowth and Dr. Wells, gives the preference to the opinion which, on the whole, seems the most reasonable, and says, " I understand here a wife whicli, after marriage, however chaste before, should prove false to her marriage vow ; and so the case of Hosea and Gomer might be the apter parallel to represent the case of God and His people Israel." — the land hath committed great whoredom, departing/rom the Loed] In the Hebrew Canon of Scripture the Prophet Hosea follows next, in order of time, after the Book of Can- ticles, or Song of Solomon, which is a prophetic and mys- tical representation of the love and marriage of Christ and. Sis Church. See above, Introd. to the Song of Solomon, pp. 121-124. The relation of Marriage, as a symbol of God's union with His people, serves to connect the prophecies of Hosea with the Sang of Solomon ; and the unfaithfulness of Israel to God is B The rejection of Israel HOSEA I. 3—10. for unfaithfilness. Before CHRIST c 2 Kings 10. 11. t Heb. visa. (12 Kings 15. 10, II That is. Xot having obtained mercy. f2 Kings 1 7. 6, 23. t Heb. Iwillnai add any more to, II Or, that I should altogether pardon them. g2 Kings 10. 35. hZech. 4. 6. & 9. 10. II That is, Not my people. ^ So lie went and took G-omer the daughter of Diblaim ; which conceived, and bare him a son. ^ And the Lord said imto him, Call his name Jezreel ; for yet a httle icliile, " and I will f avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, '' and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. ^ ' And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. ^ And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him. Call her name |1 Lo-ruhamah : ' for f I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel ; || but I will utterly take them away. ^ ^ But I wiU have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and '" will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. ^ Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. ° Then said God, Call his name || Lo-ammi : for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. ^" Yet ' the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea. displayed in striking contrast to the love of the Bride in that Divine Book. Cp. Hengst., Proleg. to Canticles, pp. 304, 305 ; on Cant. iii. 4; and Thrupp, on the Song of Solomon, p. 15. See also below, on ii. 2, for another instance of this con- nexion. Thus also we recognize another example of the beautiful and harmonious unity of purpose with which the Books of Holy Scripture are joined on successively (like links in a golden chain) to one another. These are evidences of the continuity of Scripture, and are silent proofs of its Inspiration. All the Books of Scripture (written at intervals extendiug over 1500 years) may rightly be regarded its making one book ; they are all parts of one plan, and are from the mind and h.md of Him, with Wliom "a thousand years are as one day.*' 3. ie went and tooJc Gomer the daughter of Diblaim'] The word Gomer signifies completion {Pocock), and also exhaustion and failure (Gesen. 175; Fuerst) ; and it may signify the condition (if destitution and helplessness to which the Israelitish Nation had been reduced, especially by the bondage in Egypt, when it was received into covenant with God, and was espoused to Him at Mount Sinai. The name Gomer may also have been adopted as connected with heathenism itself (Gen. x. 2. Ezek. xxxviii. 6), as Ezekiel says (xvi. 3) : " Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite;" and this is symbolized also by " the daughter of Diblaim" or of tieo pressed cakes of figs {Oesen. 185), a figure of mere sensual pleasure (S. Jerome, Keil) ', and it may signify heathen extraction, as connected with Diblath, or Diblathaim, in the wilderness (Num. xxxiii. 47. Jer. xlviii. 22). See the note above, on Ezek. vi. 14, where Diblath is a symbol of what is heathen ; and this illustrates the use of the word here. Such was originally the condition of the Hebrew Nation. It was in a heathen and destitute state, and was mercifully taken up by God, in the wilderness, when it thought of little more than the gratification of its sensual appetites. Even after the Exodus it hankered after " the onions, and leeks, and garlick, and flesh-pots of Egypt" (Exod. xvi. 3. Num. xi. 5). 4. Call his name JezreeQ Call his name in memory of Jezreel, situated in the fruitful plain on the north of Kishon (Josh, xvii. 10), but polluted with blood, especially that of Naboth the Jezreelite, for the shedding of which, and other sins, the house of Ahab was threatened with extermination (1 Kings xxi. 14 — 23); and also because Jezreel was the- scene of cruel and sanguinarj- acts committed by Jehu (2 Kings ix. and X.). The name Jezreel was also prophetic, both of judgment and mercy; of Judgment, because it means, God will scatter, and thus presignified the dispersion of Israel; and of merer/, because it ?lso means, God tmll sow, and pre-announccd that the dis- j)ersion of Israel would be a dissemination, and a sowing of the;nselves in mercy (see ii. 23), and be also a sowing of the seed of God's truth in all lands (see above, Introd. to Ezra, p. 209 ; and below, Introd. to the Acts of tlie Apostles, p. 9), and would prepare the way for the diffusion of the Church of Christ in every laud. It was like the scattering of the tribe of Levi throughout the length and breadth of the Holy Land — a scattering which was threatened in judgment for sin, but was overruled by God's mercy into love. See above, on Gen. xlix. 7. Such (as Hosea shows in these prophecies) is the true character of the dispersion of Israel. 6. I will break~\ By some signal victory gained over Israel by AssjTia. Cp. below, x. 14. — Israel — Jezreel] Observe the contrast. By God's grace the Hebrew Nation became Israel, a prince of God; but by its own sin Israel was changed into Jezreel, and was scattered by Him. 6. Lo-ruhamah] Not pitied, not favoured. It is rendered not-beloved by St. Paul (Rom. ix. 25), and not having obtained mercy, by St. Peter (1 Pet. ii. 10). Israel forfeited God's love and pity by unfaithfulness to Him. ■ — ■ but I will utterly take them aivay] Literally,yor in taking away, I will take away to them, i.e. all that belongs to them (Hengst. Fusey). 7. Judah] Judah is contrasted with Israel, which revolted under Jeroboam the first, from the house of David, and set up a rival worship in opposition to that in the Temple at Jerusalem. Judah, therefore, will obtain mercy, but Israel will be deprived of spiritual blessings. — will not save them by lotv] Sosea, whose name signifies salvation, declares here tlie only source from which salvation comes (cp. Isa. ix. 6), and thus prepares the way for the pro- phecy which follows concerning Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. Cp. Matt. i. 21. Acts iv. 12. 8. when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived] The long-sufleriug of God to Israel is thus symbolized. There was a long interval, like that between childbirth and weaning (see on Gen. xxi. 8. 1 Sam. i. 24), between its forfeiture of mercy and its utter rejection ; but at length the birth of Lo-ruhamah is succeeded by that of Lo-ammi. One sin and punishment was followed by another in a deliberate succession and miserable sequence of births. Cp. James i. 15: •^'When lust hath con- ceived, it bringeth forth sin : and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." 10. the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea] By the reception of all nations into the Chuich, through faith in Christ, the true Jezreel, the Seed of God, and the Seed of Abraham, through Whom the promise was fulfilled, that Abraham's seed should be as the sand on the sea-shore (Geu xxii. 17 ; xxxii. 12), and in Whom all families of the earth are bicssed (Gen. xii. 3 ; xxviii. 4), and are joined together in one body under one Head, which is Christ. That this interpretation of this passage is the true one is evident from the testimony of St. Paul (Rom. ix. 25, 26), and of St. Peter (1 Pet. ii. 10). Here is an answer to all objections that might be raised against God's dealings with the Jewish Nation. God chose them to be His people : they rebelled against Him ; but His purpose in choosing them was not, therefore, frustrate. He scattered them; but tlicir punishment had a salutary efl'ect in weaning many of them from idolatry, and in bringing them back Timj toill he restored in Christ HOSBA I. 11. II. 1, 2. hi) means of the Gentiles. which cannot be measured nor numbered ; ^ and it shall come to pass, that II in the place where it was said unto them, Te are not my people, there it shall be said unto them. Ye are "'the sons of the living God. " "Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land : for great shall be the day of Jezreel. II. ' Say ye unto your brethren, || Ammi ; And to your sisters, || Eu-hamah. 2 Plead with your mother, plead : For " she is not my wife, neither am I her husband : Let her therefore put away her ^ whoredoms out of her sight. And her adulteries from between her breasts ; Before CHRIST about 785. k Rom. 9. 2S, 26. I Pet. 2. 10. II Or, instead of that. Ich. 2. 23. m John 1. 12. I John 3, 1. n Isa. il. 12, 13. Jer. 3. 18. Ezek. 34. 23. & 37. 16—24. II That is, ^flJ people. II That is, Hamig obtained mercy. a Isa. 50. 1. b Ezek. 16. 25. to Him. See ii. 7. He raised up the Gentiles to be His people by meaus of the Gospel of Christ, and His Apostles, who were Jews; and the Law went forth from Sion, and the Word of God from Jerusalem, and thus Jerusalem itself was universalized and became co-extensive with the world. And now the duty and privilege of the Gentiles (who have received the Gospel from the Jews, and whose spiritual Mother is Jerusalem) is to bring back Israel in their turn to the Church of God (ii. 1). Tliis is beautifully expressed in the Book of Canticles or Song of Solomon (see above, on Cunt. viii. 1 — 9), the connexion of which book with the prophecies of Hosea has been already noticed on v. 2. 11. TAen shall — the children of Israel he gathered together'] Christ Himself, " the One Head " of whom the Prophet hei-e speaks, adopts these words, when He says to Jerusalem, " How often would I have gathered thy children together" (Matt. xxiii. 37). Cp. John xi. 51, 52, " He should patter together in one the children of God that are scattered abroad ;" and again, these words are applicable to Christ : " Where the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together." See the notes on Matt. xxiv. 28, Luke xvii. 37, and Eph. i. 10. S. Augustine (De Civ. Dei, vii. 28) thus writes concerning this passage ; — " The Prophet Hosea speaks of deep mysteries, and is therefore more difficult to follow ; but as to the passage, where he says, ' It shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them. Ye are not my people, there it shall be said. Ye are the sons of the living God, we know that the Apostles themselves understood this prophecy as foretelling the calling of the Gentiles, and that the Prophet says, ' The chil- dren of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and shall appoint themselves 07ie head, and come up out of the land;' therefore let us think of the Corner-Stone, Jesus Christ, in Whom the two walls are joined together, and lean upon Him, Who is the common support of them both" {Augustine). — one head^ Christ. See above, on Ezek. xxxir. 23 ; xxxvii. 22 ; and below, iii. 5. — shall come tip out of the land'] All nations shall be gathered together from out of the land; that is, as all the tribes of Israel were commanded to come up to worship to- gether at Jerusalem at stated annual festivals, so all the tribes of the spiritual Israel will come up in heart and spirit from all parts of the whole Earth, to the Mountain of the Lord, the Zion of the Church of God ; that is, they will be joined togetlier in one faith and worship in the Christian Church. See above, Isa. ii. 2, 3 ; and below, Mieah iv. 1, 2, which are the best com- ments on this passage; and Eee Ps. Ixxxvii. Isa. li. 6; Ixvi. 23. Jer. iii. 18; 1.4; and Zech. xiv. 16, 17. This prophecy (says M. Senrg) denotes, not a local remove (for they are said to be in the same place, v. 10), but a spiritual ascent to Christ. Great bhalI; be the Day of Jezreel. — great shall be the day of Jezreel~] Great shall be ilte dag of Jezreel, the seed of God. The first blood that was shed at Jezreel was that of Naboth, which was shed for his Vineyard, and which blood brought witli it Divine retribution on those that shed it. See on v. 4. Naboth, as is observed by 8. Jerome here, was a signal type of C'nEiST, shedding His blood for His Vineyard the Church (the resemblances are speci- fied above in the note on 1 Kings xx. 43). Naboth's blood brought retribution on those who shed it ; so did the blood of Christ on those who .eaid, " His blood be 3 upon us and on our children" (Matt, xxvii. 25). But Christ's blood speaks better things than that of Naboth ; His blood is the seed of the Church ; He is the true Jezreel, the seed of God (see on v. 4), and great is the day of Jezreel in Him. Great was the day of Jezreel, when, after His Passion, Burial, Resur- rection, Ascension, and sending of the Holy Ghost from heaven, the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved (Acts ii. 47), then God did great tilings for it. " Magnus est dies seminis Dei, qui iuterpretatur Cheisttts ; ex quo perspl- cuum est ideo in typo Naboth Jezraelitis sanguinem pra;cessisse, ut Veritas compleretur in Christo " (S. Jerome). The seed sown in the earth was Christ, as He Himself says, " Except a corn of wheat fall into the earth and die, it ab'ideth alone; but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit" (John xii. 24). Christ is the true Jezreel. His Blood is the Seed from which the Harvest of the UniTcr.sal Church has sprung up in the field of the whole world. Great will be the day of Jezreel at the General Eesui'rec- tion. Christ's Death, Burial, and Resurrection are the seed- plot of our Resurrection. He is the First Fruits, we the Har- vest (1 Cor. XV. 20—23). Then all the glorified bodies of the Saints will rise up like seed in an instantaneous harvest from the furrows of the Grave in all parts of the earth; then great indeed will he the dag of Jezreel. Cn. II. Say ye — Eu-hamah] Ye Gentiles, who have become the Israel of God in Christ, endeavour to win the Jews to God by assuring them of God's favour. Ye Gentile Christians, do not despise the Jews, they are your hrethren and sisters ; do not irritate them by disd.iiuful words, but provoke them to godly jealousy (see Rom. x. 19 ; xi. 11) by accents of love, and tell them, that though they are scattered abroad, yet God is waiting to be gracious to them and to restore them to Him. Cast aside the Hebrew negative prefix, lo, and in His Name call them by titles of endearment, Ammi {My People) and Ruhamah (having ohfained Mercy). Compare Rom. xi. 30, 31, where St. Paul thus speaks to the Gentile Christians in regard to the Jews : " As ye in times past have not believed in God, yet have now ohtained mercy through their unbelief, even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may ohtain mercy," where St. Paul refers to these words of Hosea. 2. Flead with your mother, plead] Thou, Gentile Church (s.ays God here by the Prophet), remember that the Hebrew Nation, though scattered and banished, is thy mother; plead with her and convert her to God. Cp. Ezek. xx. 35, 36. Hosea takes up here, as in other places (see on i. 2), the language of the Song of Solomon, where the Bride of Christ (i. e. the Gentile Church) desires to bring the Bridegroom to her mother's house (i. e. to the house of the Hebrew Nation). See above, the notes on Canticles iii. 4, and especially the notes on the eighth, the last chapter of that book, which forms an ap- propriate and harmonious prelude to this prophecy of Hosea. As a proof of this harmony between Hosea and the Canti- cles, and as an evidence that the true interpretation of both is spiritual, it may be added that the Jewish Church is called both a mother and a sister (see Cant. viii. 8) of the Gentile Church. She is a mother in priority, and a sister in parity, of God's love. Cp. Rom. ix. 7; xv. 5 — 9. — she is not my ivife] The nation of Israel has divorced her- self from me by her spiritual adultery. As the Targum expresses it, " The mother has played the harlot, the congregation has gone a whoring after false prophets." — her hrensts] Compare Ezek. xxiii. 3. B 2 Ood chastens Israel HOSEA 11. 3—14. that they may repent. 7X5. c Jer. 13. 22, 26. E7ek. IC. 37, 39. dEzek. 1C-. 4. c Ezek. 19. 13. f Amos 8. 11, 13. g John 8. 41. h Isa. 1. 21. .ler, 3 I, C, 8, 9. Ezek l(i. 15, •I Hel). drinks. k Job 3. 23. & 19. 8. Lam. 3. 7, 9. t Heb. walla wall. Ich. 5. 15. Luke 15. 18. mEzek. 16. 8. n Isa. 1. 3. oEzek. 16. 17, 18, 19. + Hcb. new wine. II Or, wherewith tfiey made Baal, ch. 8. 4. p ver. 3. II Or, lake away. q Ezek. 10. 37. & 23. 29. t Keh.folli/.OT, ^ Or. Sriendhj. t Heb. lo her heart. ^ Lest ' I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was " horn, And make her "^ as a wilderness, and set her Uke a dry land, And slay her with ^ thirst. ^ And I will not have mercy upon her children ; For they he the « children of whoredoms. * ^ For their mother hath played the harlot : She that conceived them hath done shamefully : For she said, I will go after my lovers, ' that give me my hread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my f drink. ^ Therefore, behold, *" I will hedge up thy way with thorns, And f make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. 7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them ; And she shall seek them, but shall not find them : Then shall she say, ' I will go and return to my " first husband ; For then urns it better with me than now. ^ For she did not " know that " I gave her corn, and f wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, || lohich they prepared for Baal. ^ Therefore will I return, and ■'take away my com in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will || recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness. '" And now "^ will I discover her f lewdness in the sight of her lovers, And none shall deliver her out of mine hand. '^ 'I will also cause all her mii-th to cease, her 'feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. 12 And I will f destroy her vines and her fig trees, ' whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me : And "I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. '^ And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she " decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord, '** Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and ^ bring her into the wilderness, and speak || f comfortably unto her. 3. as in the day tliat she was lorn] See Ezek. xvi. 4. 16 — 25. 39, whicli supplies the best exposition of this passage. Kzeliiel there describes the miserable state of the Israelitish nation by nature, and displays God's love to her in the wilder- ness of Arabia (cp. Deut. xxxii. 10), and her unfaithfulness and consequent punislnnent and misery. 5. wy lovers'] The false gods whom Israel worshipped instead of the Lord, and to whom she ascribed tbe benefits received from Him. Cp. V. 13, and Jer. ii. 25 ; xliv. 17, 18. 6. I will hedge up thy toay] I will obstruct thy roving vagrancy after thy idols ; I will stop it up by afflictions and banishment into a far-off land ; and thus I will show thee the vanity of thy idols, who cannot save thee in thy distress. As to the metaphor here used, cp. Job xix. 8, and Lam. iii. 7. 9, " He hath hedged me about — He hath enclosed my Kays," which seems to be grounded on this passage. 7. Then shall she say, I will go and return] The propliet predicts the salutary effects of Israel's dispersion, which would bring them to repentance and make them turn to God — like the penitent prodigal in the Gospel (Luke xv. 18); and thus he justifies God's severity as a discipline of love. 8. .ihe did not know] Israel did not consider that I am the Giver of all her blessings (Ueut. vii. 13 ; xi. Ii). — wliich they prepared for Baal] Or, as some render it (e. g. Targum, Vulg., Syriac, Engl. Margin, Jiwald), which they made Baal. God gave them silver and gold, which they made into idols, whom they worshipped in the place of the God Who gave them, and Who is their Maker and Judge. Cp, viii. 4, 4 " Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut oft"." The other interpretation, also, " which they made for, or dedicated to Baal," has strong authority in its favour. See Hengst., Keil. 9. will I return] They turned My gifts into idols, and there- fore I will turn away Myself from them, and take away My gifts. 11. her feast days, her new moons, and her salbaths] Her festal days, which slie has appointed to be kept at Bethel, in opposition to Mine at Jerusalem. See 1 Kings xii. 32. This may be applied, also, to such festivals of the Levitleal Law as were still observed among the tribes of Israel, see 2 Kings iv. 23. Cp. Amos viii. 8. 10, and Tobit ii. 6, and the lamentation of Jeremiah on their cessation (Lam. ii. 6), wliich seems to refer to the words of Hosea. 14. I will — bring her into the wilderness] i.e. into far-off lands in which they will be scattered. These various regions of their future exile and dispersion are called by Ezckiel, " the wilderness of Nations," and ** the wilderness of the people.'* See Ezek. xx. 35, 36, which are the best comments on this passage. God threatens here that He will bring Israel into the wilderness of captivity and dispersion in Assyria, which was designed to have the same merciful effect in chastening and purifying the Ten Tribes, as the wilderness of Arabia after the Exodus (cp. V. 15) was intended to produce on their forefathers in their wanderings there. He brought them into that wilder- ness (as Moses says), that " He might humble them and prove llic Valley of Achor shall he HOSEA II. 15—22. for a door of hope: '^ And I will give Ler her vineyards from thence, and ' the valley of Achor for a door of hope : and she shall sing there, as in ' the days of her youth, and '' as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. "^ And it shall he at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me II Ishi ; and shalt call me no more || Baali. '^ Fqj. <= J-will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name. '^ And in that day -svill I make a ^ covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and tcith the creeping things of the ground : and ' I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to ^ lie down safely. '^ And I will betroth thee unto me for ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. 2° I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness : and ^ thou shalt know the Lord. 2' And it shall come to pass in that day, '' I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth ; — And the earth shall hear Before CHRIST about 785. 7. Josh. 7. 2G. Isa. 65. 10. a Jer. 2. 2. Ezek. l(j. 8, 22 CO. b Exod. 15. 1. II That is, My hutband. II That is, Mij lord. c Exod. 23. 13. Josh. 23. 7. Ps. IS. 4. Zech. 13. 2. d Job 5. 23. Isa, 11.6-9. Ezek. 34. 25. e Ps. 40. 9. Isa. 2.4. Ezelt. 33. 9, 10. Zech. 9 10. fLev. 20.5. Jer. 23. 6. them, and to do them good at their lutter end" (Deut. viii. 2 — 6) so as to qualify them for Canaan and for its heavenly antitype of everlasting rest. — speak comfortably viito her] Literallj', io her heart, in love. Cp. Gen. xxxiv. 3; 1. 21, and see Isa. xl. 1, 2, " Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem," give to her a message of comfort from Christ, and from the Holy Ghost the Comforter. Here the Prophet displays the love of God to His Ancient People in their dispersion and distress. They are i-epresented as wanderers and outcasts, but it is that they may feel their miser}', and yearn for the home of their reconciled Father iu Christ. Cp. Deut. viii. 2— fi. 15. / will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Anchor for a door of hope] Here is a reversal of the threat in w, 9. 12. He continues the comparison of the foregoing verse : — As I prepared their forefathers by the probationary discipline of the Sinaitic Wilderness to enter Canaan, and to in- lierit its vineyards, so will I deal with their posterity the Ten Tribes. I will make their dispersion iu Assyria to be a school for reception into a spiritual inheritance from thence, i. e. suc- ceeding after it, and produced by it. 1 will bring them into the Vineyard of Christ's Church. Cp. on Isa. v. 1 ; Ixi, 5. Ezek. xxviii. 26. Canticles i. 14; viii. 11. And I will do more than this. As the valley of Achor (near Jericho, the first great city of Canaan wliich tlieir fathers conquered) was, as its name indicates, a place of trouble (see on Josh. vii. 24. 26), but became a door of hope to them, on ac- count even of the severe but salutary discipline there exercised, and thence they marched to victory (" ibique aperta spes, ubi fuerat desperatio," S. Jerome; so all the Achors oi trovXAe, through which the Ten Tribes will pass, will be changed into doors of hope to them, by their penitential sorrow and God's gracious pardon and love. Hosea here chimes in with his con- temporary, Isaiah, who says, "The Valley of Achor shall be a place for herds to lie down in " (Isa. Ixv. 10). Even the de- struction of Jerusalem and the Temple — the bitterest Achors of sorrow and humiliation to the Hebrew Nation — have become doors of hope to the true Israel of God, by weaning their ail'ec- tions from the material City and Temple, and by drawing them to the Spiritual Sion, the Church of Christ Universal (which has risen upon the ruins of the literal Jerusalem), and to the glories of the heavenly " Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all " (Gal. iv. 26). This promise may be extended to all penitent believers. God gives to them in Christ such comforts as will be a foretaste of the sweet fruits of the heavenly Canaan of His eternal rest and bliss. The Achor of penitential sorrow becomes to them a door of hope to the heavenly kingdom of everlasting glory. — the days of her youth] At the Exodus ; when Moses and Miriam sang their songs of joy (Exod. xv. 1. 20). 16. Ishi] My husband, lit. my man. Cp. onlsa. liv. 5, "Thy Maker is thiue husband." — Baali] My baal, or lord. The word baal, whence beulah, married, in Isa. Ixii. 4, though often used in a good sense (as Isa. liv. 5), yet shall be avoided by Israel, as being tainted with idolatrous associations, "ne virum nominans, idolum cogitet** (S. Jerome). Israel, once idolatrous, will so loathe idolatry, that even good and innocent words will be shunned by her, if they have been connected with idolatrous uses, and when there is any danger of a scandal arising from them. Here is an important lesson for the Christian Church. Even innocent things, nay, even good things, if identified with idola- try, and scarcely separable from it, are to be avoided. See above, the notes on the case of Hezekiah and the brazen serpent, .2 Kings xviii. 4; Ps. xvi. 4; Zech. xiii. 2, "I will cut oU' the name* of the idols out of the land, and they shall be no more remem- bered;" words which are grounded on the divine precept, Exod. xxiii. 13, " Ye shall make no mention of the names of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.'* 18. will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field] As Noah was at peace with the wild beasts in the Ark, and Daniel with the lions in the den, and our Lord with the wild beasts in the wilderness, so My people will walk unharmed amid dangers. Cp. Job v. 22, 23, and Isa. xi. 6, 7, describing, in poetical language, the happiness of the Christian Church. The union of all animals, savage as well as tame, in the sheet let down from heaven to St. Peter, symbolized the spiritual peace of the Gospel, and the union of nations formerly barbarous, in the Church of Christ. See on Acts x. 15; cp. ou Mark xvi. 18. — I will break the bow] Compare the description of Evan- gelical victory and peace in Isaiah, iu Isa. ii. 4; xxsv. 9. Ezek. xxxiv. 25. Zech. ix. 10. 19. I will betroth thee unto me for ever — in righteousness] The Hebrew Nation, once betrothed to God at Mount Sinai, and loved by Him with the tenderest aftection, and yet guilty of spiritual fornication and adultery, will be cleansed from its sins and washed pure by the blood of Christ, and be espoused to Goil as a chaste virgin (2 Cor. xi. 2), never to be divorced from Him. Her sins will not only be forgiven, but forgotten. Cp. John iii. 29. Eph. V. 25. Rev. xxi. 9. These blessed nuptials will be celebrated, on her repentance and conversion, through faith in Christ's righteousness, and in justification through Him alone, and in the free loving-kindness and mercy of God. Cp. Isa. Ixii. 5 and Theodoret here. Here is a promise of perpetuity to the Church of God in Christ. Cp. Matt. xvi. 18. *' Ista meretrix" (says S. Jerome) "fornicata est, prophetis Sponsi sodalibus interfectis; novissimfe autem venit Dei Filius Dominus Jesus, quo crucifixo et a mortuis resurgente despon- satur, nequaquam in legis justitia, sed in fide et gratia Evangelii." Tliis promise to Israel may be applied to every penitent soul which is espoused to Christ by repentance and faith. They shall heae Jezeeel. 21, 22. I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel] All Creation is here represented as hanging by a continuous chain of dependency ou the Throne of God; audwhen its due subordination is preserved, then a streani of prayer and intercession mounts upward from earth to heaven by that chain, and a stream of grace flows downward by it from Thi'll shall hear Jezreel. HOSEA 11. 23. III. 1—4. Faithless Israel dispersed. Before CHRIST about 785. ich. 1.4. k Jer. 31. 27. Zech. 10. 9. Ich. 1. 6. m ch. 1. 10. Zech. 13. 9. Rom 9. 2S. 1 Pet. 2. 10. ach. 1.2. b Jer. 3. 20. t Heb. of grapes. t Heb. lethech. the com, and the wine, and the oil ; ' and they shall hear Jezreel. ^3 ^^i « i will sow her unto me in the earth ; ' and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy ; and I '" will say to them ivliich ivere not my people, Thou art my people ; and they shall say. Thou art my God. III. ' Then said the Lord unto me, ^ Go yet, Ioyo a woman beloved of her *" friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons f of wine. 2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an f half homer of barley : ^ And I said unto her, Thou shalt "abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man : so ivill I also be for thee. * For the children of Israel shall abide many days ^ without a king, and heaven to eartli ; iind thus all Creation, when harmonized by love and obedience to God, ministers to tiie comfort of man, who is God's seed, as well as to the glory of God. All creatures are eager to serve man, when man serves God, and when he is a faithful Jezreel, or seed of Ood. The corn cries to the earth, the earth cries to the heaven, the heavens cry to God, that they may be enabled by Him to supply man's need, and minister to his comfort. Jezreel, the true seed of God, owns its dependence on Him for all that it receives. The heavens pray to God, for they have no power of themselves to give raiu (see on Jer. xiv. 22, and cp. Zech. x. 1, 2), in order that they may be empowered to hear the prayers of the Earth for rain ; and God hears them, and allows them to pour forth genial showers upon the thirsty ground. The Earth hears the prayers of the corn and the wine and the oil for rain, and sends up their prayers heavenward ; and they all listen to the prayers of Jezreel, and become its intercessors with God, Who liearkens to this chorus of prayer, and answers it in love. How much more is this realized in the world of grace ! There the Divine Jezreel, Who is Christ, and Who vouchsafed to become the Seed of the Woman (Gen. iii. 15), and to be the Seed of Abraham and David, and has thus joined God to Man in His own Person, and is our Emmanuel as well as our Jezreel, is ever praying for His People ; and a shower of blessings descends from heaven to earth in answer to His prayers, and brings forth fruit an hundredfold. Cp. S. Cyril and S. Jerome here. In this beautiful imagery we recognize a repeal of the divine threat, which was denounced on Israel for disobedience and represented heaven and earth as deaf to all human appeals; "Thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the eai'th that is under thee as irou" (Deut. x.\viii. 23). The ears of the Elements are unsealed by human obedience. If Man hearkens to God, all God's Creation will hearken to him. 23. / will soio her unto me in the eartli] Not in her own land only, but every where. The seed of Abraham is sown in all lands where Christ is preached. The whole Earth, under the Gospel, has become a seed-plot for heaven, now that it has received seed from the Divine Sower, which is Christ, and has been sown by His Blood and by His Word, and is watered by the dews and rains of the Holy Ghost. Compare the prophetic imagery in Jeremiah xxxi. 27 : " Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel aud the house of Judah with the seed of men and with the seed of beasts;" and Isaiah Ixi. 9—11. God is the Husbandman (John xv. 1), Jezreel is His husbandry (1 Cor. iii. 9) ; the field is the world (Matt. xiii. 24). The Apostles and their successors in all ages are the Sowers of the Seed ; the Harvest is the End of the World (Matt. xiii. 39) ; the reapers are the Angels, and the Barn is Heaven. Cp. Rev. xiv. 15. Ch. III. 1. Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress] Though Israel h:is been faithless to God, yet she is not utterly cast off; she is still beloved of hev friend (cp. the use of the word, friend in Cant. v. 16. Jer. iii. 1. 20), her companion, her lover, her husband, who is God (ii. 16). This is what is now represented by the Prophet, who is com- manded to take again to himself his wife Gomer (i. 3), not- withstanding her unfaithfulness to him. — and love flagons of wine] Rather, raisin-calces. See Sept., Vulff., Syriac, Arabic, and 2 Sam. vi. 19. Such cakes were oft'ered to idols (Jer. vii. 18 ; xliv. 19). They who love such dainties are they who care not for the spiritual delights of 6 God's love, but only for that which gratifies their own sensual appetites. See above on Diblaim, i. 3. 2. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver] I did not espouse her to me for a wife, but I bought, or acquired (lit. by digging, cp. Deut. ii. 6. Job vi. 27 ; xiii. 11) her /or me as a slave, at a mean price — fifteen shekels of silver (thirty skekela was the price of a slave — Exod. xxi. 32) and fifteen ephahs of barley (not wheat, cp. note on Rev. vi. 6), showing to how low a state of degradation and distress she was now reduced. This represents the condition of the Jewish People, no longer a loved or loving spouse, but in bondage (see Gal. iv. 25) ; and yet she is reserved for a happy time, when she will be delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom. viii. 21). 3. Thou shalt abide] Lit. thou shalt sit (and so in j>. 4) not as a harlot sitting by the way-side (Gen. xxxviii. 14), but wait- ing in patience till thy former Husband vouchsafes to take notice of thee, and restore thee to Himself. Cp. Deut. xxi. 13, which describes the preparatory discipline and purification of a captive woman before she is received into wedlock. — thou shalt not play the harlot] Thou shalt not worship false gods : idolatry is spiritual fornication. One of the happy consequences of the Jewish Captivity has been, that Israel has thus been weaned from idolatry. Cp. Introd, to Ezra, p. 299; and see v. 4 here. Thk Dispeesion of Isbail, and IIS ruiuEE Restobatiok IN Cheist. 4. without a Icing — ieraphim] Here is a remarkable pro- phecy, which has been literally fulfilled, as even the Jewish Rabbis confess. "These" (says Kimchi, ap. Pocock, 122) "are the days of the banishment in which we now are, wherein we have neither king nor prince of Israel, but are under the power of Gentile nations, and without a sacrifice : so are we at this time in this captivity, even all the children of Israel." " Who" (says S. Augustine, de Civ. Dei. vii. 28) " does not here recog- nize a prophetic representation of what the Jews are now ? But let us hear what the prophet adds: 'Afterwards they shall return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king.' Nothing can he more clear than this prophecy, inasmuch as Christ was made of David's seed (Rom. i. 3)." Though God had promised to David perpetuity to his seed aud throne, yet He here declares that Israel should remain many days without a king, and without a prince. Both pro- phecies have come true. David's monarchy ceased to be visible at the Captivity, and yet it is everlasting in Cheist. See above, on Gen. xlix. 10, and on 2 Sam. vii. Yet further. Although Israel has been many days without an ephod (Exod. xxviii. 4, 5. 1 Sam. xxii. 18; xxiii. 9), that is, without a visible priesthood, as the Sept. and Arabic rightly interpret it, yet it has never fallen into idolatry, as a nation, since the Babylonish Captivity. It has remained for more than 2000 years without an image (Exod. xxiii. 24 ; xxxiv. 13. Deut. vii. 5; xii. 3; xvi. 22. 2 Kings iii. 2; below, x. 1. Micah V. 13, where the same word is used as here), and without teraphim — i. e. without idols (as the Prophet says before in v. 3, they shall "not play the harlot"). See Gen. xxxi. 19. 1 Sam. xv. 23; xix. 13. 2 Kings xxiii. 24. Ezek. xxi. 21. Zech. x. 2. And yet, though Israel has not been guilty of idolatry for 2000 years, it has been and is punished more severely than when it committed idolatry. What can be the cause of this ? The reason is, because it is guilty of the sin of not believing in Christ. But to be restored in Christ. HOSEA III. 5. IV. 1—4. Sins of Israel. without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without f an image, and without an ' ephod, and without ' teraphim : * Afterward shall the childi-en of Israel return, and ^ seek the Lobd their God, and ^ David their king ; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the ' latter days. IV. ' Hear the word of the Lord, ye childi-en of Israel : for the Lord hath a " controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor '' knowledge of God in the land. - By swearing, and lying, and killing, and steahng, and committing adultery, they break out, and f blood toucheth blood. ^ Therefore " shall the land mourn, and '' every one that dwelleth thereia shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven ; yea, the fishes of the sea also shaU be taken away. ■^ Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another : for thy people are as they ' that strive with the priest. Before CHRIST 785. + Ke\),nslandingt or, sla/ue, or, pillar, Isa. 19. 19. e Exod. 28. 6. f Judg. 17. 5. g Jer. 50. 4, 5. ch. 5. e. h Jer. 30. 9. Ezek. 34. 23, 24. & 37. 2-i, 24. . 2. 2. Jer. 30. 24. Ezek. 38. 8, 16. Dan. 2. 28. Micah 4. 1. about 780. a Isa. I. 18. & 3. 13, 14. Jer. 25. 31. ch. 12.2. Micah 6. 2. 1) Jer. 4, 22. & 5. 4. i Heb. bloods. c Jer. 4. 28. & 12.4. Amos 5. 16. & In tbe captivity and dispersion of Israel, we recognize the hand of God's fatherly mercy and love. The destruction of the material fabric of the Temple, and of the Levitical Priesthood, prepared the Jews to look to Christ, the Eternal High Priest, and to the Spiritual Temple of His Universal Church ; the aban- donment of their images and their teraphim-^that is, of all idolatrous usages, has qualified them to be worshippers in that holy Temple. Alas ! that some Christian Churches should now be obstructing the approach of the Jews to Christ by acts of creature-worship— such as the adoration of saints and angels, and by setting up idols in the house of God ! It has been sup- posed, with good reason, that some severe judgments of God must overtake idolatrous Churches, before the Jews can be con- verted to Christianity. 5. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LoKD their God, and David their /citig^ The Hebrew Na- tion, which said at the crucifixion of Christ, "We have no king butCa;sar" (John xix. 15),— thus rejecting her true King, — mil remain many days without a visible Monarchy and Priest- hood ; yet, in the latter days, they shall return and find the LoKD their Ood, and David their king in Chbist, Who is the Everlasting King and Priest (S. Jerome). The Hebrew Rabbis themselves confess that this prophecy refers to tlie Messiah. See the Chaldee Paraphrase here and R. Tanchnm, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, in Focock, 138, 139 ; and see above, note on v. 4. May God hasten the time ! It may be remarked here, in passing, that these words afford one refutation, among innumerable others, of the literal system of interpretation of Divine prophecy. If the promises of God to Jerusalem and Sion in Hebrew prophecy are to be localized, and to be limited to the literal City and Temple of the material Jerusalem (instead of being extended to the Spiritual Sion of Christ's Church Universal), then we ought, in reading the present prophecy, to say, that it predicts a personal resur- rection of David the King, to sit on a throne in that earthly Jerusalem. But no; Jerusalem is Christ's Chm-ch; and David lives and reiirns there for ever in Christ. See above, on Jer. XXX. 9. Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 2-1. — and shall fear the Loed] Literally, they shall go trembling fo the Lord. This must be the attitude and gesture of the Jews, if they are to be received again into the favour of God. See xi. 11, " They shall tremble as a. bird out of Egypt, and as adoveoutof the land of Assyria." Zech.xii. 10, andcp. Ps. ii.ll. As was before observed, God's fiivoured people, the Jews (formerly addicted to idolatry, and therefore rejected by God), have now continued free from idolatry for many years (as the Prophet here foretells), and yet have remained outcasts from His favour ; and therefore it is certain that they must have been guilty, and still are guilty, of some more heinous sin than idolatry. What sin is that ? It is the rejection of God's own Son, cruci- fied by them a short time before the destruction of Jerusalem and their own dispersion, which He Himself foretold would be the consequence of that act (Matt, xxiii. 38. S. Chri/sostom ; S. Jerome). Let the Jews only repent of that sin, and come trembling and mourning for it, and they will again be received with open arms by their heavenly Father. See below, on Zech. xii. 10—14; xiii. 1. — in the latter days'] It is a rule given by the Hebrew ex- positors, that, by the latter days, we are to understand the days 7 of the Messiah ; and we must conclude, that what is said to be done in the latter days, is to be fulfilled in the days of Christ — that is, in the times of the Gospel {Focock, 143). Oh. IV.] Having anticipated the end in these introductory chapters, which are a Peologue to the whole (see on i. 1), Hosea (as is usual with the goodly company of the Prophets) returns to his own age, and addresses his own people, " Mear the ivord . . . ye children of Israel.'* Observe, he takes up the words children of Israel from the foregoing chapter, and in a stirring apostrophe remonstrates with the people and their rulers, spiritual and temporal, for the sins which would be the cause of the misery which he has foretold, and thus ho links on this portion of the prophecy to the preceding. See below, on V. 1, where another link of connexion, " Hear ye," is noticed. 2. Hy swearing, and lying] These are infinitive absolutes in the original. The preposition, by, should be omitted; and thus there would be more vehemence in this prophetical out- burst, — they break out] Rather, they break in. The word de- scribes violent aggression and irruption, like that of a house- breaker (Oesen. 691). — blood toucheth blood] Literally, bloods touch bloods. The plural describes the frequency of the crime; waves of blood foUow one another, Uke the billows of the sea in a cease- less tide. . . . Alas ! that this description should be realized in some Christian countries in these latter days. What will the end be ? It is not unworthy of consideration, that many Hebrew Expositors interpret these words blood toucheth blood, as ap- plyiug to incestuous marriages, contracted within the forbidden limits of consanguinity. See the Targum here; and Pococ^, 149. If the words are received in that sense, here too is a warning to Christian nations. 3. Therefore shall the land mourn — toith the beasts of the field] Cattle plagues are described by the Prophet here as punishments of the sins of men, who are sustained by the animal creation, and who suffer in its destruction by pestilence. See below, on Joel i. 18. 4. let no man strive] Impunity in sin is the greatest punish- ment. Cp. V. 17 ; and Focock, 156. — thy people] They are no longer God's people. Compare God's words to Moses after the idolatry at Horeb, " Thy people have corrupted themselves " (Exod. xxxii. 7. Deut. ix. 12). — as they that strive with the priest] He repeats the word strive. Let no man strive by remonstrance with those who strive with God, by rebellion against His lawful representatives invested with His authority (Deut. xxxiii. 10. Mai. ii. 7). Their case is desperate; they are given over to a reprobate mind. Cp. Deut. xvii. 8—13, where God says, that whoso wil- fully and presumptuously rejected the lawful sentence of God, speaking by His priests, was to be put to death. The Jews, to express great impiety, have a proverb which says, they are like those who "judge their judges" {Focock, 158) ; and our Lord says of His Apostles, " He that despiseth you, despiseth Me" (Luke x. 16) ; and the Apostles specify this sin as an imitation of " the gainsaying of Korah," and as one of the characteristics of the latter days (2 Pet. ii. 10. Jude 8). The prevalence of this sin in our own age and country may The sins of prophets, HOSEA IV. 5—14. of priests, and people Before CHRIST about 780. f Sec Jer. 6. 4, ; St 15. S. t Heb. cul off. gisa. 5. 13. t Heb. cul off. h ch. 13. 6. i 1 Sam. 2. 30. Mai. 2. 9. PhU. 3. 19. t Heb. (;// up their sou] to Ihei iniquity. k Isa. 24. 2. Jer. 5. 31. t Heb. visit upon + Heb. cause to 1 Lev. 26. 26. Micah 6. 14. Hag. 1. 6. p Isa. I. 29. & 57. 5, 7. Ezek. 6. 13. & 20. 28. 5 Therefore slialt thou fall ^ iu the clay, and the prophet also shall fall \ni\i thee in the night, and I will f destroy thy mother. ^ « My people are f destroyed for lack of knowledge : hecause thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt he no priest to me : seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. 7 "^ As they were increased, so they sinned against me : ' therefore will I change their glory into shame. ^ They eat up the sin of my people. And they f set their heart on their iniquity. ^ And there shall he, *" hke people, like priest : And I will f punish them for their ways, and f reward them their doings. '" For ' they shall eat and not have enough : They shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase : Because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. '1 "Whoredom and wine and new wine "' take away the heart. '- My people ask counsel at their " stocks, And their staff declareth unto them : For "the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, And they have gone a whoring from under their God. '^ p They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains. And hm'n incense upon the hills. Under oaks and poplars and elms, hecause the shadow thereof is good : "I Therefore yom* daughters shall commit whoredom. And your spouses shall commit adultery. '■* II I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, Nor your spouses when they commit adultery : For themselves are separated with whores, well suggest serious and sorrowful forebodings for wliat is coming. 5. in the day — in the nighty Neither iu day-time nor in night-time shalt thou be free from calamity. — thy mother'} The Hebrew Nation. Cp. ii. 2. 6. of knowledge'] Literally, of the knowledge, the only true wisdom — the knowledge of God (Job xxviii. 12 — 20. Prov. i. 7). — no priest"] Thou, who wert a nation of priests (E.Kod. xix. 6), shalt be degraded from thy estate. 7. As they were increased^ so they sinned against me] The more they ])rospered, the more they sinned against Me, the Author of tlieir prosperity. Cp. Deut. xx.\ii. 15, " Jeshurun ■waxed fat, and kicked." — ioill I change their glory into shame] Because they changed Me — their glory — for an idol, their shame (see ix. 10, and cp. Ps. cvi. 20), therefore will I change their glory into shame. 8. my people] They (the priests who ought to reprove sin) fatten themselves on the sins of the people. This was fulfilled specially iu the fact tliat the priests encouraged the people to sin, in order that they themselves might feed upon the sacrifices which they commanded the people to bring iu order to expiate their sins. See Lev. vi. 26 ; x. 17 ; and Pocock, 168. — they set their heart] Or, lifted up their soul (literally, in the singular number, every one lifted up his soul) on tlie iniquity of the people ; they encouraged them in it, in order that they might profit by it; like tliose in later days who con- nive at and abet sin, in order that they may enrich themselves with wealth gotten by absolution from it, and by commutation of penance. The Propliet has been asserting the legitimate authority of the priesthood in tlie strongest terms (" thy people are as they that strive tcith the priest ") ; and therefore there is greater force in this censure and condemnation of the Priests who were treaclierous to their solemn engagements. 9. like people, like priest] In sin and punishment. Cp. Isa. xxiv. 2. Here is a warning to the Clergy. If tlie Priests of a 8 Church are untrue to their solemn vows and engagements, what will become of the people ? How beautiful is the portrait of the ** Good Parson," drawn by our great English poet of tlie fourteenth century, Geotfry Chaucer :— " Wide was his parish, and houses far asunder. But he ne left nought for no rain nor thunder, In sickness and in mischief, to visit The farthest in his parish much and lite. Upon his feet, and in his hand a staff: This noble 'nsample to his sheep he yaf (gfve). That iirst he wrought, and afterward he taught; Out of the Gospel he the wordes cauglit. And this figure he added yet thereto. That if gold ruste, what should iron do ? For if a priest be foul, on whom we trust. No wonder is a lewed man (lay man) to rust ; And shame it is, if that a priest take keep To see a fouled shepherd, and clean sheep : Well ought a priest ensample for to give By his cleanne'sse, how his sheep should live." ( Chaucer, Prologue to " Canterbury Tides.") 12. My people ask counsel at their stocks] "Saying to a stock. Thou art my father " (Jer. ii. 27 ; x. 3). " Woe unto him that saith unto the wood. Awake " (Hah. ii. 19, and cp. Isa. xl. 20; xliv. 13—20). — their staff declareth unto them] Their staff, or stick (see Ezek. xxi. 21), to which they resort (instead of to God and His Prophets, aud Urim and Thummim), is prophesying unto them. They make the dumb wood their God. May not this also be applied to some in later days, who resort to forbidden arts for searching into futurity ? 13. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains] Cp. Deut. xii. 2—5. 2 Kmgs xvii. 10, 11. Ezek. ix. 28. — elms] Rather, the terebinths. — the shadom thereof is good^ Good for hiding their idolatrous and lustful purposes and practices. 14. themselves] The fathers and husbands are separated, or go aside, leith lohores. Judali warned hij the HO SEA IV. 15 — 19. V. 1. punishment of idolatrous Israel. Aucl they sacrifice with harlots : Therefore the peopiti that ' cloth not understand shall || fall. '^ Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, Yet let not Judah offend ; 'Aud come not ye unto Gilgal, Neither go ye up to 'Beth-aven, " Nor swear, The Lord Uveth. "> For Israel " slideth back as a backshding heifer : Now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place. '' Ephraim is joined to idols : ^ Let him alone. '^ Their drink f is sour : They have committed whoredom continually : ^ Her t rulers with shame do love. Give ye. '^ " The wind hath bound her up in her wings, And '' they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. V. ' Hear ye this, priests ; And hearken, ye house of Israel ; Befcre CHHIST about Amos 4. 4. & 5. 5. t 1 Kings 12. 29. ch. 10. 5. u Amos 8. 14. Zeph. 1. 5. X Jer. 3. G. & 7. 21. & 8.5. Zech. 7. II. y Matt. 15. H. t }Ieb. is gone. zMicaliS. 11. & 7.3. t Heb. shields, Ps. 47. 9. a Jer. 4. 11, 12. & 51. 1. b Isa. 1.20. Jer. 2. 26. — harlots] Consecrated as such to their false gods. See the note on Gen. x.'ixviii. 21, where the same word is used as here. Gilgal and Bethel. 15. Gilgal— Beth-aveii] Gilgal and Bethel, two places once famous for God's mercies to their fathers; the former celebrated in the history of Joshua, who initiated the people anew into covenant with God by circumcision there — whence it had its name Gilgal, or rolling awat/ (Josh. v. 9); and it was "holy ground " (Josh. v. 15), and made glorious by his victories (see on Josh. iv. 19; ix. 6 ; x. 6) ; and famous also in the days of the Judges (ii. 1), and Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 16; x. 8; xi. 14; XV. 33). The sin of Israel was aggravated by their desecration of such a place as Gilgal. Cp. below, ix. 15 ; xii. 11. Amos iv. -1 ; V. 5. Cp. A Lapide here. So Bethel {house of God) was once a holy place, but after- wards it was profaned. It was made famous in the history of Abraham and the other patriarchs by God's gracious revelation to them (Gen xii. 8 ; xxviii. 19 ; xxxi. 13 ; xxxv. 15), but was now perverted by idolatry into a Beth-aven, a house of vanity (1 Kings xii. 29. 32; xiii. 1. 2 Kings x. 29). Cp. v. 8; x. 5; and see below, on Amos v. 5. There is no reason for supposing, with some modern Ex- positors, that the Prophets are speaking of another Gilgal than that which was near Jericho; indeed, such a supposition much weakens the force of their remonstrances with Israel for dese- crating, by their idolatry and other sins, such places as Bethel and Gilgal, which had been hallowed by the piety of their fore- fathers, and by God's gracious dispensations to them. Cp. on V. 1, and on vi. 9. As Hosea himself says (ix. 15), " All their wickedness is in Gilgal " — even in Gilgal, where, when their fathers had been brought by Joshua out of the wilderness, they pitched their first camp in Canaan, and where they were consecrated to God by a second circumcision, even there they now set up their idols, and worship them instead of God {S. Jerome). Observe here a specimen of that policy which hns ever characterized the operations of the Evil One in the Church of God. He is ever attempting to pervert her holiest objects — her Bethels and her Gilgals — into scenes of idolatrj', and to make them his own instruments for the destruction of souls. He is always endeavouring to change our Bethels into Beth-avens. Holy places, holy persons (even the Blessed Virgin herself), holy things (even the Word of God aud Sacraments of Christ) are desecrated by him, and enlisted in his own service. — Nor swear. The Lord Uveth'] Since ye worship dead idols, even at Gilgal and Bethel, instead of tlie living God, Who revealed Himself to your fathers in the wilderness, what monstrous inconsistency and absurdity is it for you to swear, " The Xord Uveth :" you peijure yourselves by your acts. 16. Israel slideth lack as a backsliding heifer] This image is suggested by the mention of Bethel. Israel worshipped a 9 calf there; and by so doing became like "a calf that eateth hay," and like a refractory one, kicking against its owner. — a lamb in a large place] Observe the irony here. Israel kicks, like a restive and refractory heifer, against its Master's yoke, and desires freedom. Cp. Jer. v. 5. Israel shall have liberty — the liberty of wandering far and wide from its home in the wilderness of Assyria, to which it will be carried captive and be scattered there. The refractory heifer will become Uke a stray lamb, one not sheltered and fed in the fold, but feeble and exposed to wild beasts in the solitude of the desert. The service of God is the ouly perfect freedom. Wliat the World calls liberty, is too often the slavery of Satan, hurrying the miserable soul from the city of God into a howling wilderness. 17. Ephraim \i joined to idols] \AicT&\\y, to sorrows. Idols will be the cause of misery to their votaries. The metaphor is kept up ; Ephraim has kicked against God's yoke, like a re- fractory heifer, and has joined or yoked itself to idols ; as it were, yoked itself to an idol.atrous ear; and its punishment will be that God will let it alone (cp. Jer. vii. 16. Ezek. xx. 39), and leave it to itself to wander at large in a strange land. 18. Their drink is sour] Israel has degenerated, like milk turned sour, or like wine that has lost its flavour. Cp. Isa. i. 22, and our Lord's words, " if the salt has lost its savour " (Matt. V. 13). — rulers] Literally, shields. Rulers, who ought to be " de- fenders of the faith " and protectors of the people, are called shields here, as in Ps. xlvii. 9. — ffer rulers with shame do love. Give ye] Rather, her rulers love, yea they love, shame (ISwald, Fusey, Keil) ; or it may mean, they love to say. Give ye shame, which oflers the same sense. By serving idols they seek their own shame, and they woo their own woe. 19. The wind — v;ings] The wind has wrapped up Israel in its wings, in order to sweep it aw.ay captive into a distant land. Wind is personified as a winged creature, a powerful Bird of prev, which carries off its victims in its wings. Cp. the imagery in Zech. v. 1. 9, and Ps. xviii. 10; civ. 3. Isa. Ivii. 13, and the representations of the Winds on " the Temple of the Winds " at Athens. The metaphor is kept up. Ephraim has broken away from God's yoke, and bound itself to idols ; therefore, it will be tied up in the wings of a whirlwind, and swept away into the wilderness, as sand carried up and whirled about in the eddying vortex of a tornado in the desert. — ashamed] Because they have loved shame p. e. idols), they themselves will be reduced to shame. Cp. Isa. i. 29. C'n. v. 1. Sear ye this, priests] Observe the connexion; he had said that if they turned to God, God would hear the voice of creation pleadiug for them (ii. 21, 22). But if not, he has a message of woe to Prince.^, Priests, and People. Sear ye the word of the Lord, iv. 1, and. Sear ye this, priests. Cp. Joel i. 2. Amos iii. 1. 13 ; iv. 1 ; v. 1 ; vii. 16 ; vlii. 4. Micah i. 2; Ui. 1. 9; vi. 1.2. 9. God's judgments HOSEA V. 2—8. on idolatrous Israel. B efoTe CHRIST about 7S0. II Or, and, ^c. i Heb. a correc- tion. c Amos 3. 2. dEzek. 23.5, &c. ch. 4. 1?. t Heb. They will II Or, Their doings will not suffer them, e ch. 4. 12. e PlOT. 1.28. Isa. 1. 15. Jer. 11. II. Ezek. 8. 18. Micah 3. 4. John 7. 3t. h Isa. 43. 8. Jer. 3. 20. S:5.1I. ch. 6. 7. Mai. 2. 11. iZech. 11.8. k ch. 8. I. Joel 2. I. And give ye ear, house of the king ; For judgment is toward you, Because * ye have been a snare on Mizpah, And a net spread upon Tabor. ^ And the revolters are '' profound to make slaughter, II Though I have been f a rebuker of them all. ^ " I know Ephi'aim, and Israel is not hid from me : For now, Ephraim, '' thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled. ^ f II They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God : For ' the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them. And they have not known the Lord. * And ' the pride of Israel doth testify to his face : Therefore shaU Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity ; Judah also shall fall with them. ^ ^ They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord ; But they shall not find him ; he hath withdrawn himself from them. '' They have ^ dealt treacherously agaiast the Lord : For they have begotten strange children : Now shall ' a month devour them with their portions. ^ ''Blow ye the comet in Gibeah, And the trumpet in Kamah : — house of the Icing'] The royal family generally. He 13 not addressiDg tlie house of any one king of Israel specially (whether Jeroboam II., Zeehariah, Shallum, Menahem, Peka- hiah, or Pekah), but is speaking to them generally. The pro- phecies of Hosea are a summary of his exhortations and de- nunciations, uttered during his long ministry of more than si.xty years. — on MizpaK] Even Mizpah, the scene of God's revelations of favour to your great ancestor (Gen. xxxi. 49), and of other acts famous in your national history (Judges x. 17 ; xi. 11 ; XX. 1), and that other Mizpah, celebrated in the later days of Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 5, 6 ; x. 17), have been desecrated by you like Bethel and Gilgal (see iv. 15). Even there, on those high places, ye spread snares for souls, by waylaying them there in their journey to Jerusalem to worship in the place appointed by God {Eben Ezra, Kimchi), and by decoying them by the allurements of your idol worship, — as fowlers spread nets for birds on those mountains, and catch their prey there (S. Jerome). Observe the paronomasia (or play upon the words) here. " Ye have been a snare on Mizpah (your strong watch-tower), therefore there is judgment — Heb. Mishpat — against you." If we pervert our Bethels iuto Bethavens, God will change our Mizpahs into Mishpats. — Tabor] Even there, where God showed His marvellous power, might, and mercy to Israel in the days of Deborah (Judg. iv. 6. 12). 2. are profound to maJce slaughter] Or rather, made slaughter deep 1 dug a deep pit and filled it with carnage — like the pit of Mizpah iu the days of Jeremiah. See Jer. xli. 7 — 9. — Though — all] Or literally, "but I am rebuke (or chattise- ment) to them all (cp. v. 9) for their sins." I, who am love, have become wrath to them. Cp. above, on Ps. clx. 4. " I am prayer." Cp. PococJc, 218. 3. Israel is defiled] Has defiled itself. 4. Theg will not frame their doings] Or rather (see margin), their doings do not allow them to turn to God. 5. the pride of Israel doth testify to his face] The pride of Israel will witness against him. As the rebel angels fell by pride (1 Tim. iii. 6), so did Ephraim. Ephraim, the descendant of Jacob, of the tribe of Joseph, and one of the most powerful and prosperous of the tribes, was impatient of the rule of Judah ; it envied Judah (Isa. xi. 13), and rebelled against the house of David in the days of Jeroboam (1 Kings xi. 26), and set up idols, in opposition to the Temple at Jerusalem. These were the fruits of its pride. These were the consequences of its haughtiness; these its miserable results, in provoking God's wrath against Israel (till at length it was taken captive and 10 scattered), testified against Ephraim to his face openly, as Isaiah says (iii. 9). " The show of their countenance doth witness against them, they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not." This exposition seems preferable to the interpretation of some (e.g. Keil), that the "pride of Israel" (here and in vii. 10) is equivalent to " the glory of Israel " (in Amos viii. 7; cp. below, vii. 10), and is a title of Jehovah Himself. — Judah also shall fall with them] Being tempted by Israel (as in the days of Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and wife of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat), to set up idols in Jerusalem (2 Kings, viii. 26, 27 ; xi. 18. 2 Chron. xxii. 2—4). 6. They shall go with their fiocks and with their herds to seek the Loed] With sacrifices : but though they drive all their flocks and herds to God's altar, and ofler them there, they will not find Him, because they rebelled against Him. Cp. Isa. i. 11. Mic. vi. 6, 7, and below, vi. 6. All the holocausts and hecatombs in the world are profitless without obedience to God's Will and Word. 7. Theg have dealt treacherously] They have acted per- fidiously, like a faithless wife; such is the meaning of the word used here (bagad) and Jer. iii. 20. Mai. ii. 14. Hence we may explain what follows : " they have begotten strange children." — lifow shall a month devour them with their portions] Rather, '* Now shall the new moon devour them with their por- tions, or inheritance." Israel was God's lot, or portion (Hebr. chelek), and God divided to them their portions or lots in Canaan. See Gesen. 284. But, because they are faithless to Him, their sacrifices will not profit them ; nay, those sacrifices have become an abomination to Him, and will increase their condemnation. Instead of His accepting those sacrifices, and feeding upon them as well-pleasing to Him, those sacrifices will devour them. The month, the new moon — even their very feast- day — will be loathsome to God, and will be their day of doom ( cp. Isa. i. 13, 14) ; it will devour them with their inheritance. See Gesen. 2G3, and Keil. This prophecy was consummated in the crucifixion of Christ. The Paschal full moon brought hundreds of thousands of worshippers to Jerusalem, but it was the season in which the Jews killed Him who was the True Passover ; and that sin was the cause of their own destruction at the anniversary of the same Paschal Season, about forty years after, by the arms of Rome. See below, on Matt. xxiv. 1. The futuke Intasion of Iseael. 8. Blow ye — the trumpet] In order to summon the tribes of Israel together (cp. viii. 1. Jer. iv. 5; vi. 1. Joel ii. 1), to repel the invasion of their enemies the Assyrians. The Prophet foresees that invasion, and describes it. Compare the sublime Israel will he jmnished HOSEA V. 9—15. VI. 1, 2. //// they repent. ' Cry aloud at " Beth-aven, " After thee, Benjamin. ^ Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke : Among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be. '" The princes of Judah w'ere like them that ° remove the bound : Therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. " Ephraim is ^ oppressed and broken in judgment, Because he willingly walked after "^ the commandment. '- Therefore will I he unto Ephraim as a moth, And to the house of Judah ' as || rottenness. ^^ When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah saw his 'wound, Then went Ephraim ' to the Assyrian, " and sent || to king Jareb : Yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound. 14 Yov " I will be unto Ephraim as a lion. And as a young lion to the house of Judah : ' I, even I, will tear and go away ; I will take away, and none shall rescue him. '^ I will go and return to my place, f Till ' they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face : ■■' In their affliction they will seek me early. VI. ^ Come, and let us return unto the Lord • For " he hath torn, and '' he will heal us ; He hath smitten, and he will bind us up. - " After two days will he revive us : In the third day he will raise us up. Before CHRIST about V80. I Isa. 10. 30. in Josh. 7. 2. ch. 4. 15. n Judg. 5. 14. s Jer. 30. 12. t 2 Kings 15. 19. ch. 7. 11. S: 12. 1. u ch. 10. 6. II Or, (0 llie king the king that should plead. X Lam. 3. 10. ch. 13. 7, 8. y Ps. 50. 22. t Heb. till they be guilty. zLev. 26. 40, 41. Jer. 29. 12, 13. Ezek. 6. 9. & 20.43. & 36. 31. a Ps. 78. 34. a Deut. 32. 39. 1 Sam. 2. 6. Job 5. 18. ch. 5. 14. b Jer. 30. 17. c 1 Cor. 15. 4. prophetical picture ia Isaiah (x, 28—31) pre-announcing the irruption of Sennacherib and his rapid march of destruction. We may also refer to the words of Ezekiel, declaring the duties of the watchman on beholding the approach of an enemy (Ezek. x.xxiii. 2—6). — Giheah — Ramah'] Two lofty eminences on the northern frontier of Benjamin. The mention of these places shows that in Hosea's prophetic eye the enemy was already in possession of the greatest part of northern and central Palestine. — Cry aloud'] Sound an alarm, as the word is rendered in Joel ii. 1. — Beth-aven'] Bethel. See iv. 13. — After thee, Benjamin] The enemy is already on thy rear. 10. remove the bound] Or landmark. Cp. Deut. xix. 14 ; xxvii. 17. Because they are guilty of this sin, I will remove them. 11. in judgment] Hathcr, hj/ the judgment, o? GoU. — the commandment] Of Jeroboam. Israel obeyed, or fol' lowed after, the commandment (Hebr. tsau) of Jeroboam, order- ing them to disobey God, and therefore God will break them by judgment. Compare Mic. vi. 16, " The statutes of Omri are kept — that I should make thee a desolation," and Matt. xv. 9. Mark vii. 7, " Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." 12. moth — rottenness] Rather, moth, and a worm. That is, though Israel may seem to flourish (as it did in the days of Jeroboam II.), yet, because it is not sound at heart, God's anger is secretly corroding it, as a moth frets a beautiful gar- ment, or as a canker preys on a fair shrub or flower; and, after much patient long-suffering, God's wrath will consume His people (S. Jerome). Cp. Isa. 1. 9 ; li. 8. Ps. xxxix. 11. Job xiii. 28. KI^•a Jaeeb. 13. king Jareb] Literally, King adversary. This title is given here to the king of Assyria, on whom Israel and Judah relied for help in trouble (2 Kings xvi. 8. 2 Cbron. xxviii. 16—20), and to whom they resorted with gifts and fair speeches, as to a friend or lover, oheb (cp. U. 5. 7. 10. 13) ; but who became a yareb, or adversary to them, and who strove and fought against 11 them. Cp. X. 6. 2 Chron. xxviii. 16. 28 ; and see Oesen. 365. 368. 767 ; Delitzsch on Isa. xlix. 25. For similar symbolical names (such as Sheshach, BeJcod, Merathaim), formed by the Prophets to describe the characters of kings and cities with which Israel and Judah had to do, see the notes above, on Jer. xxv. 26. ; li. 41. Ezek. xxiii. 23. 14. /will be] Do not suppose that Assyria will be strong against you by its own power. No ; all its might is from God, Who uses it as His instrument. Cp. Isa. x. 5. — as a lioyi] God, WTio had been in His long-suffering like a moth (v. 12), and had seemed weak and powerless, will ,it length roar as a lion, and devour them suddenly. 15. I will go and return to my place] I will withdraw My presence from them, and will retire from their earthly Temple into My heavenly Sanctuary; and by making them feel their need of My help in their distress, I will bring them to repent- ance (Targum). Prophecx of the Repentance aitd Conteesioit op ISEAEL. Ch. VI. 1. Come, and lei us return] God had just said that lie would return to Ris place, and hide His Face from His People, and by the merciful discipline of affliction would bring them to repentance, and would draw them by affliction to seek Him (b. 15) ; and now the Prophet seems to behold the conver sion of the Jews, and to hear their words of penitential prayer to God : " Come," they say, " let us return unto the Lord. He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up." Cp. 1 Kings viii. 46 — 51. Jer. xxix. 12 — 14; and note above, on Isa. lix. 7 — 10, and the language in Deut. xxxii. 39, which is adopted here. 2. After two days will he revive us in the third day he will raise us up] The fall of Babylon, and the consequent restoration of the Jews by Cjtus, came suddenly and unexpectedly. "Then were we like unto them that dream. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them " (Ps. cxxvi. 1,2). After speaking of the marvellous deliverance of the Jews by Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon, the Hebrew Prophets pass Tlieir future conversion. HOSEA VI. 3—9. Mercy and not sacrifice. d Isa. 54. 13. e 2 Sam. 23. 4. f Pa. 72.6. g Job 29. 23. II Or, mercy, or, kindness. i ch. 13. 3. k Jer, 1. 10. ft 5. 14. I Jcr. 23. 29. Hel). 4. 12. II Or, thai Iky judgments migtit be, SfC. m 1 Sam. 15. 22. Eccles. 5. 1. Micah 6. 8. Matt. 9. 13. & 12. r. n Ps. 50. 8, 9. Prov. 21. 3. Isa. I. 11. o Jer. 22. IG. John 17. 3. II Or, like Adum, Job 31. 33. pch. 8. 1. q ch. 5. 7. rch. 12. II. \\ Oj. cunning f:.r s Jer. II, 9. Ezek. 22. 25. ch And we shall live in his sight. 3 ■* Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord : His going forth is prepared " as the morning ; And ^ he shall come tinto us ^ as the rain, As the latter and former rain unto the earth. * ''0 Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee ? Judah, what shall I do unto thee ? For your || goodness is ' as a morning cloud, And as the early dew it goeth away. ^ Therefore have I hewed them ^ by the prophets ; 1 have slain them by ' the words of my mouth : II And thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. ^ For I desired '" me.vcy, and " not sacrifice ; And the ° knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. '' But they || like men p have transgressed the covenant : There '' have they dealt treacherously against me. ^ ' Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity. And is II polluted with blood. ^ And as troops of robbers wait for a man. So ' the company of priests murder in the way f by consent ; ou to speak of Christ, the divine Antitype of Cyrus (see above, ou 2 Chron. x.xxvi. 22), and of tlie sudden liberation effected by Him. The fall of Babylon and the deliverance of the Jews were wonderful. Much more will be the destruction of the spiritual enemies of the Church. Her recovery from the bondage of sin, Satan, and death, and her hope of resurrection from the grave to life eternal, came suddenly and unexpectedly by the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ. It came ou the third day. As S. Jerome says, ** God in Christ not only healed us when sick, hut He raised us from death to life after itoo days, by Christ's Resurrection on the third day from the dead ; and we shall lire in Mis sight; we shall live lor ever in the sight of Him Whose Resurrection from the dead is the pledge and earnest of our Resurrection (S. Jerome; see also TertulUan, c. Marciou, iv. 43, adv. Jud. c. 13; Origen, Horn. 5 in Exod.; 5. Cyprian, c. Ju- docos ii. 5; S. Cyril, Catech. 14; jS. Aug. de Civ. llei, xviii. 28; and so this passage of Hosea is interpreted by Mercer, Hammond, Pocock, Ijyramis, Calovius, A Lapide, M. Henry, and Pusey). The Jewish Rabbis themselves allow that the Prophet is here speaking of the Messiah. See Pocock, 257; and cp. Job xix. 25—27. Isa. xxvi. 19—21. Ezek. xxxvii. 1—14. Whether Hosea himself had a foresight of Christ's Resur- rection on the third day, we cannot say ; but the Christian Church, looking at the event, has ever believed that the Holy Spirit, Who spake by Hosea, here points to the Resurrection of Christ on the third day, as the source of all deliverance to the Israel of God. Op. Pocock, 257, 258 ; and below, on xi. 1. 3. Then shall loe l-non; \{ we follow'] Rather, Then shall we know, and we shall pursue — like eager huntsmen — after the knowledge of the Lord. — His going forth is prepared as the morning~\ Many are the goings forth of Christ, and all were bright and glorious, like the Day-spring. Christ's going forth from the bosom of the Father in eternity; His going forth by His Incarnation in time; His going foith as the Messiah to preach the Gospel after His Baptism ; His going forth by His Resurrection fi'om the grave — all these goings-forth were prepared or decreed by God, like the orient beams of the inorning, to give life and light to a world lying in daikness (Mai. iv. 2. Luke i. CS). The same word for going forth is used by Micah (v. 2). His great going forth will be on the dawn of the Day of Universal Resurrection and Judgment. — as the rain] As the Psalmist says of Christ, *' He shall come down as the rain on the mown grass " (Ps. Ixxii. 6. Cp. 2 Sam. xxiii. 4). 5. Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets'] I have hewed tliem by prophets, as blocks from the quarry of rough stone or marble are hewn, in order that they may be polished and fitted to be lively stones (1 Pet. ii. 5) in the spiritual Temple of God's Church. As is sung by the Church in the Tiochaic hymn, "In Dedicatione Ecclesias." See Chlictovii Elucidarium, p. 41. " Urbs beata Jerusalem Dicta pacis visio, Quie construitur in coelis Vivis ex lapidibus * * * * Tunsionibus, pressuris, Expoliti lapides Suis coaptantur locis Per manus artificis, DIsponuntur permausuri Sacris Eedificiis." — I have slain them by the words of my mouth] Which are like the hammer that breaiketh the rock in pieces (Jer. xxiii. 29). Cp. on Jer. i. 10. MeECT, iND NOT SiCEinCE. 6. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice] Although I require sacrifice, and have given minute and imperative directions for it in the Levitical Law, yet, in comparison with mercy, I do not desire it ; and I reject all sacrifices, however costly, unless they are ofi'ered in faith and love. See above, the note ou Jei*. vii. 22, which affords the best illustration of these words. Observe the connexion with what has been said before : " They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to .seek the Lord, but they shall not find Him " (v. 6). And why ? Because they did not practise mercy, which is the sacrifice of the heart that God requires, and without whicli all sacrifices are vain. 1'herefore all the sacrifices of all the flocks and herds ou all their mouutuins and in all their pastures are of no avail. Cp. Ps. 1. 8— 13; Ii. 16, 17. Is.i. i. 2— 17. Mic. vi. 8. Matt. i.x. 13; xii. 7; and Davison on Prophecy, 207. 7. like men] Or rather, like Adam ; so margin, and Tulg. — There have they dealt treacherously] Even in the Holy Land, even in holy places — such as the Temple itself— have they transgressed, as Adam in Paradise. See what follows. 8. Qilead is a cily of them that work iniquity — blood] Even Gilead (an earthly Eden), where God showed His mercy to Jacob (Gen. xxxi. 21 — 25), and which God blessed with fertility and wealth — even that whole prosperous country or region (Num. xxxii. 1. Deut. iii. 12 — 15) has been desecrated by Israel, so as to become a city of carnage. It in polluted, or, rather, tracked or trodden with blood. Cp. above, on iv. 15. 9. the company of priests murder in the way by consent] Or, The sins of the nation HOSEA VI. 10, 11. VII. 1—7. encouraged by their rulers. For they commit || leAvdness. '" I have seen ' an horrible thing in the house of Israel : There is " the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled. " Also, Judah, " he hath set an harvest for thee, '' When I returned the captivity of my people. VII. ' When I would have healed Israel, Then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered. And the f wickedness of Samaria : For 'they commit falsehood, and the thief cometh in, And the troop of robbers f spoileth without. - /\jidthey f consider not in their hearts that I '' remember all their wickedness: Now "" their own doings have beset them about ; they are "' before my face. ^ They make the king glad with their wickedness, And the princes ' with their lies. ^ ' They are all adulterers, As an oven heated by the baker, || who ceaseth || from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened. ^ In the day of our king the princes have made him sick || with bottles of wine ; Ho stretched out his hand- with scorners ; '' For they have || made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait ; Their baker sleepeth all the night ; In the morning it burneth as a flaming fire ; ' They are all hot as an oven, And have devoured their judges ; Before CHRIST about 7Sl. II Or, rno^mily. t Jer. 5. 3H. uch.4. 12. 13, 17. X Jer. 51. 33. Joels. 13. Rev. 14. 15. 7 Ps. 126. I. t Hcb. rvih. ach. 5. 1.& 6. 10. t Heb. strippeth, + Heb. gny nol to. b Jer. 17. 1. c Ps. 9, 16. Prov. 5. 22. d Ps. 90. 8. f Jer. 9. 2. II Or, the raiser will cease. II Or,/rBm waking. II Or, with heat through wine. r.Ttlier, the company of priests murder in the way to Shechem (see margin), the sanctuary of God {Shechem means shoulder; hence the confusion in the translation). Sl}echem, the scene of Goil's mercies to the Patriarchs, is polluted by the sins of the priests, who ought to teach the people to obey His law. On the lioliness of Sichem, or Shechem, as a national sanctuary, sec above on Gen. xii. 6 ; xxxiii. 18. Josh. xxiv. 1. Judges ix. 1. 1 Kings xii. 1. 25; and below, John iv. 5. Acts vii. 16; and ep. note above on iv. 15, as to wliat is said on the desecration of such sacred places as Bethel and Oilgal, and also of Mizpeh and Tabor. See also the note on v. 1. The consummation of these acts of wickedness of Israel, polluting holy places with bloodshed, was seen in the Cruci- iixion of Christ Himself in the Holy City, and in the dreadful carnage committed by the Jewish assassins in the Holy Place, when God's House of Prayer became a "den of thieves." See on Matt. xxiv. 15. All this bloodshed was visited upon them in the slaughter of thousands of the Jews, and in the captivity of many tens of thousands by the Roman armies, at the taking of Jerusalem. See on Liike xxi. 25. 11 he hath set an harvest for thee'] God hath appointed a day of judgment — compared to a harvest — (.Jer. li.33. Joel iii. \?'. ilatt. xiii. 39. Rev. xiv. 15) for thee, Juilab, as well as for Isi-ael. God fii-st used the sword of Assyria against Israel, and then used that of Babylon to execute this judgment on Judah. — When I returned the captivity of my people] Or, rather, in my turning of the captivity of my people. Observe the words. My people — tliat is, All My visitations upon the nation are dispensed in love to the faithful remnant of 5Iy people. All national afflictions are occasions and means of salutary discipliue and spiritual joy to them. All national captivities are libera- tions to God's saints. The captivity of an Ezekiel and a Daniel was a deliverance to them from the miserable thraldom and bond- age of the sins which then enslaved Jerusalem ; and it was a season of deliverance to them from the trammels of earthly sor- row, and of admission to the glorious visions of heavenly joy. The climax of this divine saying will be seen at the great Harvest-Day of the World's Judgment. Then, when the harvest is reaped, and the tares are cast into the fire, then will be the time for the Saints of God to " look up, for their redemption " (the turning of their captivity from the bondage of this world) " drawcth nigh " (Luke xxi. 28). Aud see Rom. viii. 21, and 6". Jerome here. 13 Cn. VII. 3. They make the king glad] The king and princes, who, as God's vicegerents and ministers, ought to restrain and punish national wickedness, connive at it ; they even take pleasure in it and encourage it. Cp. Rom. i. 32. 4. heated by the baker] UiieraWy , burning from the baker, — who has kindled it by fire from himself. So the sinner has an oven which is kindled from the lusts in his own heart (Matt, XV. 18). — raising] Stirring the fire. The baker kindles the oven, and when he knows that it is well heated, he ceases from stirring it till the dough is leavened. Cp. v. 6 ; and see Rom. i. 27, they burn iu lust ; and James iii. 6, where he calls the tongue " a fire which setteth on fire the course of nature ; and it is set on tire of hell." Satan kindles for himself the fire of literal and spiritual adultery in the heart of men, and leaves it there to burn till the dough be leavened, and (so to speak) the sin is made ready to be kneaded, and to be made into bread. 5. In the day of our king] The day of our king (not the King of Judah, appointed by God, but the king whom ire have set up), the royal birthdays, the annual feast-days, instituted by Jeroboam, instead of being days of spiritual joy and religious praise and thankfulness to God, are perverted into days of revelry and ribaldry. — have made hira sick with bottles of tvine] Or, are made sick irith heat of wine (Gesen. 786). The king himself pro- motes their debauchery, buffoonery, and scoffing against holy things. 6. whiles they lie in wail] When they cease from actual sin. It is not because they are desisting from s'nful desires, but because they are lying in ambush with deliiierate purpose to commit it. — Their baker] Satan, sure of bis prey, rests for a time from his work, in order that he may return with greater force, and make the embers of their passion to burst forth in a raging fiaiue of actual sin. Their lusts are like fire in an oven. But the Day is coming, when that fire will kindle God's wrath, which will burn like an oven to consume them (Ps. xxi. 9) ; " that Day will burn as an oven." See jSIal. iv. 1. 7. They — have devoured their Judges ; all their kings are fallen] The heated oven of national sins, enconraged by kings and princes, will consume those rulers who, instead of extin- guishing it, have added fuel to it. This was fulfilled in the political anarchy and confusion of the kingdom in the rapid succession, and iu the miserable end, of the kings of Israel after Jeroboam the second, namely, Zacbariab, Shallura, Sleuahem Israel forsakes God, HOSEA VII. 8 — 16. and resorts to heathens for help. Before CHRIST about 7S0. g ch. S. 4. h 2 Kings 15. 1 14,25, 30. i Isa. 64. 7. k Ps. 106. 35. t Hub. jprliikUd. m ch. 5. 5. och. U. II. p See 2 Kings 15. 19. & I?. 4. ch. 5. 13. Si 9. 3. & 12. 1. q Ezek. 12. 13. r Lev. 26. 14, ilc Deul. 28. 15, 8,-c. 2 Kings 17. 13, IS, t Job 35 9, 10. Ps. 78. 3G. Jer. 3. 10. Zech. 7. 5. I Or, chastened. « All their kings '' are fallen : ' There is none among them that calleth unto me. " Ephraim, he "^ hath mixed himself among the people ; Ephraim is a cake not turned. ' ' Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not : Yea, gray hairs are f here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not. '" And the ""pride of Israel testifieth to his face : And " they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this. 1^ "Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart : ■" They call to Egj-pt, they go to Assyria. '- When they shall go, '^ I will spread my net upon them ; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven ; I will chastise them, ' as their congregation hath heard. '^ Woe unto them ! for they have fled from me : f Destruction unto them ! because they have transgressed against me : Though ' I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me. '■* ' And they have not cried unto me with their heart. When they howled upon their beds : They assemble themselves for corn and wine, And they rebel against me. '^ Though I II have bound and strengthened their arms, Yet do they imagine mischief against me. 16 .. Xhey return, hut not to the most High : (see 2 Kings xv. 8—25), and finally in the captivity of the peojile and the ruin of the monarchy. Compare above, Introd. to Kings, p. ix, and Prov. xxviii. 2, " For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof." This prophetic denunciation may be addressed to all Rulers and .States which seek to enrich themselves by national sins, instead of restraining them. In some cities, even in Rome itself, a large annual revenue is received from lotteries, and (not long since, if not still) from brothels. How much of the wealth of our Indian Government was received from the deadly trade in opium ! How much of our own Excise Revenue arises from drunkenness, which is the root of most of the evil in our towns and villages, and which is encouraged by our multitude of haunts of intemperance ! These are the fires which will burst forth upon those who kindle tlicm, and will devour their kings and judges. 8. Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people"] Literally, among the peoples. Israel, who was designed to be separate from the nations, and to be "a peculiar people" to God, has mingled " himself with the heathen, and has learned tlieir works" (Ps. cvi. 35). Therefore he will be carried cap- tive, and be scattered among the heathen in exile. — Ephraim is a cake not turned'] The metaphor of the oven in vv. 4— G is kept up. Ephraim hath mixed himself with the heathen, but their mixing is of no profit; he is like a thin round cake which is laid on the red-hot stones of the oven, and which, if not soon turned, is not fit to eat, but is scorched on one side with the fire, .and burnt up, while the other side remains raw dough, and thus neither side is palatable. See }ip1ow, *• factus est subcinericius panis, ex omiii parte innnuiulo I'iuere et igninm ardore circumdatus" (S. Jerome). Ephraim ought to l>e turned; he ought to tiirn himself by repentance to God (c. 10), and then he would be preserved .ind be acceptable to God as an oll'eriug to Him. 9. graif hairs are here and there upon him] Literally, fjrar/- ness of hair sprinkled itself upon him, and he knoweth it not — "obrepit nou intellecta senectus" (Juvenal, ix. 129). Israel has the seeds of decay and death in him, and he" knows it not; he imagines himself to be young, healthful, and prosperous, while he is approaching the verge of the grave. This was specially applicable to the times of Jeroboam II., when Israel wore the specious semblance of health and prosperity, but tliere was a deadly disease festering and rankling within. 10. the pride of Israel] Cp. v. 5. 11. Ephraim also is lite a silli/ dove] Israel also is become like a deluded dove without heart, i. e. without understanding, which docs not perceive the net spread for it by the fowler : " She hastes to the snare, and knows not that it is for her life" (Prov. vii. 23). See above, on v. 1. — They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria] Instead of fleeing for refuge to God, " like doves to their windows " (Isa. Ix. 8), Ephraim, like a silly dove, flutters away for shelter to Egypt or Assyria, ' 'hich are like " the snare of the fowler," and make it their pie/. See on Isa. xxx. 3; xxxi. 1 ; xxxvi. 6. Jer. ii. 18. 36 ; and below, xii. 1 ; xiv. 3, " Asshur shall not save us." 18. I will spread my net] For this "silly dove." They who will not listen to God's invitations of mercy, must expect to feel His visitations of judgment. — / iciU bring them down] However high they may soar, like a dove, into the air, God will bring them down into the net. He will use Egypt and Assyria as His nets to t.ake them captive, for their sins against Him. — as their congregation hath heard] In the solemn warn- ings of God's law, delivered to their forefathers at Mount Sinai, and on Mount Ebal, Lev. xxvi. 14. Dent, xxvii. 13 — 26; xxviii. 15 — 68. Josh. viii. 33. Cp. Jer. xvii. 5. 13. Though I have redeemed them] Literally, And I have redeemed them; and I would still redeem them, if they would hearken to Me. The imperfect has an optative sense (Keil). 14. When they howled upon their beds] Rather, But they howled itpon their beds. They cried indeed, but their cry was not a devout ejaculation produced by faith, repentance, and love ; it was a howl of anguish, despite, and despair, like that of condemned spirits, whicTi bite their tongues and gnash their teeth in torment and defiance. They did not call on God with a sincere heart, and therefore they were not heard. The cry of impenitent sinners in distress is not prayer, but howling ; it is like Cain's and Esau's bitter cry; it comes not from sorrow for sin, but from pain foi punishment. Compare notes above, on Job xxiv. 12, "Men groan from out of the city;" and on Job XXXV. 9 — 12, which passage is the best comment on the present text. — they assemble themselves for corn and wine] They clamour for temporal blessings, for corn and wine (as Esau did); they murmur if they are suffering from dearth or drought, and yet they rebel against God, in Whose hand the seasons are, and from Whom harvests coiue. 15. / have bound — their arms] I have instructed them, I have taught their fingers tc fight (Ps. cxliv. 1). Cp. Ps. xviii. 34, " He teacheth my hands to war." The prophetic vision HOSEA VIII. 1—10. of coming invasion. " They are like a deceitful bow : Their princes shall fall by the sword for the * rage of their tongue : This shall be their derision ^ in the land of Egypt. VIII. ' Set " the trumpet to f thy mouth, He shall come ^ as an eagle against the house of the Lord, Because "they have transgressed my covenant, And trespassed against my law. 2 '' Israel shall cry unto me, My God, " we know thee. * Israel hath cast off the thing that is good : the enemy shall pursue him. ^ ' They have set up kings, but not by me : They have made princes, and I knew it not : « Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, That they may be cut off. ^ Thy calf, Samaria, hath cast thee off; Mine anger is kindled against them : ^ How long 7vill it be ere they attain to innocency ? ® For from Israel was it also : The workman made it ; therefore it is not God : But the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. ^ For ' they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind : It hath no || stalk : the bud shall yield no meal : If so be it yield, '' the strangers shall swallow it up. ^ ' Israel is swallowed up : Now shall they be among the Gentiles '" as a vessel wherein is no pleasure. ^ For " they are gone up to Assyria, " a wild ass alone by himself : Ephraim ^ hath hired f lovers. '" Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now '' will I gather them, Before CHRIST about 780. X Ps. 78. 57. y Ps. 73. 9. z ch. 9. 3. 6. about 760. ach. 5. 8. t Heb. the roof o/ My moulli. bDeut. 28. 49 Jer. 4. 13. Hab. 1. 8. c ch. 6. 7. dPs. 78.34. ch. 5. 15. eTit. 1. 16. f 2 Kings 15. 13, 17, 25, Shallum, Mena hem, Pekahiah k ch. 7. 9. 1 2 Kings 17. 6. m Jer. 22. 28. ffc 48. 38. n 2 Kings 15. 19, Jer. 2. 24. about 771. p Isa. 30.6. Ezek. 16. 33, 34. t Heb. loves. q Ezek. Ili. 37. ch. 10. 10. 16. a deceitful hoto] Ps. Ixxviii. 57. Ephraim is a deceitful bow, when it relies on itself; but it will become a bow of power in the hand of Christ. See the noble contrast to this passage in Zech. ix. 13. — in the land of Egypt'\ Egypt itself, the broVen reed — on which they trust — w;ll pierce their hands, and they shall be an object of scorn and derision to it. Cp. Isa. xxx. 3. 5. Ch. VIII. 1. Set tlie trumpet to thy mouth — as an eagle"] Upon "the silly dove '" (vii. 11), yea, rather even upon the house of Jehovah. The omission of the two verbs gives greater strength and suddenness to the exclamation, and shows the near approach of the danger. The foe is pouncing down as an eagle (cp. Ezek. xvii. 3. 7. Lam. iv. 19); therefore give immediate warning. — against the house of the Loed] God's house would have been a defence to them if they had served Him faithfully there. But now God turns from them, and brings the eagle against His own people, which has become a feeble aud timid dove (vii. 11). This was fulfilled in the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonish Eagle, and afterward by the Roman Eagle. See our Lord's prophecy, Matt. xxiv. 1 — 26. 2. Israel — thee] Literally, and more emphatically. To me will they cry. My Ood, we know thee — Israel. Israel is re- served for the last place in the sentence, as the strongest plea for God's favour. Behold, O God, we turn to thee, we cry to thee, we know thee, we Israel, Thy people ! The word Israel is re-echoed by the prophet in the next verse. If ye are Israel, God's people, why are ye casting off the good law and despising the grace which has been given you by the God of Israel. 4. They have set up Icings, hut not by me] First Saul (1 Sam. viii. 7), aud theu Jeroboam (1 Kings xi. 40; xii. 3), and many of his successors ; who were not set np by God, or according to His law (Deut. xvii. 15). 5. Thy calf, Samaria, hath cast thee off] It is not God that is the cause of thy rejection and captivity, but thou thyself, by the idol which thou hast set up instead of God. Thy calf hath cast thee oil" as a loathsome thing. God repeats here the 15 word (zanoeA) from the third verse. Thou hast co-s^ q^ what is good, and hast chosen what is evil, and the object of thy choice has cast thee off. See Oesen. 2-19. — against them] Observe, them. God turns His face from them, and speaks of them in the third person, and not to them, in the second person. 7. It hath no stalk] Lit. stalk (or grain growing on the stalk — Gesen. 734.. Cp. Ex. xxii. 5) is not to it. — the hud shall yield no meal] Tliere is a play upon the words in the original, which have the form of a proverb. "There is no stalk (kamah) to it ; the tsemach will yield no kemach, i.e. the shoot will yield no fruit (Keil). 9. they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone hy himself : Ephraim kath hired lovers] Israel is faithless to the Lord; and has gone to Assyria for help. Cp. v. 13; xiv. 3. Jer. ii. 18. 36. She has been faithless to her true Husband, aud has hired lovers; such is her shanielessness; whereas lewd women receive hire, she hath given hire to those with whom she plays the harlot in the spiritiial fornication of idolatry. The com- parison of Israel to the tcild ass, alo,ie hy himself (or rather, alone for himself, i. e. roving for his own ^)?ea««i"e), is best explained by Job xi. 12; xxxix. 5; and Jer. ii. 24; and the circumstance that here the reference is to a male wild ass, is explained by what has been said before, that Israel throws off all female modesty in her spiritual harlotry, and goes and seeks for paramours whom she hires. See what follows. 10. though they have hired] Though they have separated themselves from Me, and roved far and wide for the indulgence of their own lustful appetites in spiritual fornication (i. e. idola- try), yet I wiU Ijring them together into one herd— not, how- ever, to their own land, but as captives to that very land (Assyria) to which they have looked for help, and for which they have forsaken Me. The strong language which God uses in Hebrew prophecy, especially by Hosea, concerning idolatry, which he likens to adultery and harlotry, may well suggest a feeling of alarm and apprehension to Christian Churches in the present age. If they The punishment of Israel HOSEA VIII. 11— 14. IX. 1—5. for idolatnj. Before CHRIST about I Or, begin. II Or, in o liltle while, as Hag. 10. 2. 0. ris; Ezek. 26. 7. Dan. 2. 37. sch. 12. 11. t Deut. 4. 6, 8. Ps. 119. 18. & 147. 19,20. u Jer. 7.21. Zech. 7. f.. II Or, In the sacrifices of mine offerings Ihey, ^c. X Jer. 14. 10, 12. ch. 5. C. & 9. 4. Amos 5. 22. y ch. 9. 9. Amos 8. 7. z Deut. 28, 68. ch. 9. 3, 6. & II. 5. a Deut. 32. 18. b Isa. 29. 23. Eph 2. 10. c 1 Kings 12. 31. dJer. 17.27. Amos 2. 5. ach, 4. 12. & 5. 4, 7. h Jer. 44. 1 7. ch. 2. 12. II Or, in. l!c. cch. 2.9, 12. II Or. winefat. d Lev. 25. 2.1. Jer. 2. 7. Sc 16. 18. e ch. 8. 13. & 11.5. Not into Egypt ' itself, but into another bondage as bad as that. f Ezeli. 4. 13. Dan. 1. 8. g 2 Kings 17. 6. ch. 11. 11. h ch. 3. 4. i Jer. 6. 20. ch. 8. 13. k Deut. 26. 14. 1 Lev. 17. 11. And they shall || sorrow || a Uttle for the bui'den of ' the king of princes. '' Because Ephraim hath made 'many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin. '2 1 have wiitten to him ' the gi-eat things of my law, But they were counted as a strange thing. '* " !| They sacrifice flesh /or the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; " But the LoED accepteth them not ; ^ Now will he remember their iniquity, and visit then' sins : ^ They shall return to Egypt. '■* " For Israel hath forgotten '' his Maker, and " buildeth temples ; And Judah hath multiplied fenced cities : But '' I will send a fire upon his cities. And it shall devour the palaces thereof. IX. ^ Kejoice not, Israel, for joy, as other people : For thou *hast gone a whoring from thy God, Thou hast loved a "" reward || upon every cornfloor. ^ " The floor and the || winepress shall not feed them, And the new wine shall fail in her. ^ They shall not dwell in ^ the Lord's land ; " But Ephraim shall return to Egypt, _— An4 ' they shall eat unclean things ^ in Assyria. * '■ ThW shall not oSer wine offerings to the Lord, ■ Neitlifei- shall they be pleasing unto him : •^ Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners ; All that eat thereof shall be polluted : For theii- bread ' for their soul shall not come into the house of the Lord. ^ What will ye do in "" the solemn day, And in the day of the feast of the Lord ? decline from the pure service of God to creature-worsliip, or to any thing tliat favoui-s it, they must expect even a worse punish- ment tlian tliat which fell on Israel of old. — And iJiey shall sorrow a Utile for the hurd^n of the Icing of princes'] Or, literally, they shall soon sorroio (if the word in the original is from chill, to griere), or they shall begin quickli/ to suffer y/-D?n the iurden of the king of the princes (i.e. the Assyrian king — Isa. x. 8). Israel now goes after Assyria, and Iiires it to help her ; but Assyria will punish and oppress her (cp. Isa. vii. 20, where Assyria is compared to a razor hired by God against His faithless people), and the hire which Israel paid to Assyria will be changed into a burden with which Assyria will oppress. The word rendered sorrow is supposed by many to be the hiphil of chalal, which is used above iifty times, and always (e.Kcept Num. xxx. 2. Ezek. xxxix. 7) in the sense of begin (cp. PococJc, 365), especially in the sense of a plague beginning to break out, as Num. xvi. 46; or, to begin to commit any sin (Gen. xi. 6. Num. xxv. 1); or to punish (2 Kings x. 32. 1 Sam. iii. 2. Ezek. ix. 6. Jer. xxv. 29). The sense of begin- ning, ought, it seems, to be recognized here; and the meaning is, they have begun to sin, and shortly they will begin to suffer. 11. altars shall be unto him to sin"] Israel has loved idols, therefore God wdl give them up to their sin, which will bring its proper ]mnishment with it, and Israel will bo carried away to a land of idols (cp. ix. 3) ; they shall eat unclean things in Assyria ; op. Ezek. iv. 13, they shall eat defiled bread among the Gentiles. 12. I have written— strange thing'] I wrote to Israel the great and manifold things of My Law at Horeb. I wrote the Two T.ables with Jly Own hand ; I wrote statutes and ordi- nances by the hand of Jly servant Moses. Thus Israel has been distinguished by Me, as a peculiar people, from all Nations (Deut. iv. 6) ; but Israel h.is counted them a strange thing, and has turned away from them to worship strange gods. 13. Theg sacrifice Hesh'] Their sacrifices are not sacrifices, 16 they are mere flesh, without any spiritual virtue. Cp. on Jer, vii. 21 ; xi. 15. I will not accept them ; because they have rejected Me. — They shall return to Egypt] i. e. to captivity. Egypt is the synonym for " a land of bondage." Cp. ix. 3. 6; and note below, xi. 5. They shall be carried captive for their sins. Cp. Dent, xxviii. 68. Some suppose that this is to be understood literally, and that it was fulfilled after the destruction of Jeru- salem by the Chaldeans. See Jer. xliv. 12. A Lapide. But that migration into Egypt was not effected by God, but was con- trary to His express command. The former sense is preferable (cp. margin here and Keil); though, in a subordinate sense, the miseries endured by Jews in Egypt, after the fall of Jerusalem, may be within the scope of the prophecy. See on ix. 6. 14. temples] Especially for the golden calves at Bethel and Dan ; and for Baal. Ch. IX, 1. Thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor] Thou hast prostituted thyself in the spiritual harlotry of idolatry upon every corn-floor, by praising tliy false gods there for the fruits of the Earth, which are gifts of God. Cp. ii. 7, 8. 2. The floor and the ivinepress shall not feed them] Because they forget God, and worship and praise idols on their tlireshing- floors for His gifts ; therefore, the threshing-floor and wine-press (or, rather, the oil-press) shall bring no blessing to them. Ob- serve the change of the pronoun from thou to them, her, marking God's aversion from His people on account of their sins. 3. Egypt] See on viii. 13. 4. Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourn- ers] That is, as unclean things, which have been polluted by contact with death. Cp. Num. xix. 14. H.ig. ii. 13. . — their bread for their soul] Rather, their bread \?>for their own soul — i. e. for their own self-indulgence, not for God's glory; therefore, it shall not come into the house of the Lord. 5. What will ye do in the solemn day] In your captivity, how will ye be able to celebrate the periodic festivals of the Israel's itnthanlifulncss HOSEA IX. 6—14. to God. ^ For, lo, they are gone because of f destruction : " Egypt sball gather them up, Memphis shall bury them : II f The pleasant places for their silver, ° nettles shall possess them : Thorns shall he in their tabernacles ; '' The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come ; Israel shall know it : The prophet is a fool, ^ the f spiritual man is mad, For the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred ; " The "■ watchman of Ephraim teas with my God : But the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, Arid hatred || in the house of his God. " ' They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of ' Gibeah : ' Therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins. '" I found Israel Uke grapes in the wilderness ; I saw your fathers as " the firstripe in the fig tree " at her first tune : But they went to ^Baal-peor, and "^ separated themselves "unto that shame : *■ And their abominations were according as they loved. ^' As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, From the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. '- " Though they bring up their children, yet ^ will I bereave them. That there shall not he a man left : Yea, ' woe also to them when I ' depart from them ! ^^ Ephraim, ^as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place : '' But Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer. '■* Give them, Lord : what wilt thou give ? Give them ' a f miscarrying womb and dry breasts. Before CHRIST about II Or, their silver shall be desired, the nettle, ^c. t Heb. the desire. o Isa. 5. 6. & 32. 1.1. S: 34. 13. ch. 10. S. p Ezek. 1 3. 3, &c. Micah2. II. Zeph. 3. 4. + Heb. man of the spirit. q Jer. G. 1 7. & 31.6. Ezek. 3. 17. & 3.1. 7. II Or, agaittst. risa. 31.6. ch. 10. 9. 6 Judg. 19. 22. t ch. 8. 13. u Isa. 28. 4. Micah 7. 1. X See ch. 2. 15. y Num. 25. 3. Ps. 100. 28. 2 ch. 4. 14. 3 Jer. 11. 13. See Judg. 5. 32. b Vi. 81. 12. Ezek. 20. 8. Amos 4. 5. c Jnb 27. 14. dDeut.2S.41,C2 eDeut. 31. 17. 2 Kings 17. 18. ch. 5. 6. f See 1 Sam. 28. 15, IG. g See Ezek. 26, & 27, &28. h let. 16. ch. 13. 16. i Luke 23. 29. t Heb. tlwt castelh the fruit. Lord ? You will not be able to do this, because the Temple, at wliich the greatest of those festivals are to be celebrated, will be ill ruins, and you yourselves far oft" from it in exile. See above, on ii. 11. 6. Egypt shall gather them up] They ought to have been gathered together as one man, to serve the Lord in His temple; but they have scattered themselves from Him togo after idols audserve them ; therefore, they shall indeed be gathered together, but it will be a forced and miserable gathering, viz. in a land of bond- age and exile — another Egypt, in which ihey will be restrained as captives, separated from Canaan, and prevented from going up to Jerusalem to be gathered to the solemn festivals there. — Memphis'] The capital of Lower Kgvpt (Isa. xix. 13. Jer. ii. Ifi; xliv. 1; xlvi. 14. Ezek. xxx. 13. "16). — shall bury them] This seems to be a prophecy of the events recorded in Jeremiah xliv. 11 — 27. — nettles] Or, thistles (Gesen. 734). Cp. Isa. xxxiv. 13. 7. the great hatred] Against God and His laws, and His Prophets; as Ahab said of Micaiah, *' I hate him" (1 Kings xxii. 8). Cp. Ps. 1. 17. 8. The loatehman of JUphraim was ivlth my God] Or, rather, Ephraim was a watehinan with my God {Sept., Vutg.). Israel was set by God to be a watchman with God, even by the side of Him, their Kingand Commander, in His Holy City. Cp. Jer.vi.l7. Ezek. iii. 17 ; xxxiii. 7. But they have fallen away .and departed from God, and have become a snare of a fowler to catch birds. There is a comparison between the watchman on his lofty tower (whence he looks forth in order to give notice of danger to his friends-, and to defend the city), and the fowler who specu- lates from his position in order to catch birds. Cp. what is said of Mizpah, or watch-tower, above, v. 1. They have also become hatred (cp. the use of the abstract in Ps. exx. 7), even pure, intense enmity, instead of doing the work of God iu love. 9. as in the days of Oiheah] When the men of Gibeah wrought that dreadful deed of cruel lewdness described in Judges xis., and the whole tribe of Beujamiu abetted the crime, and was almost exterminated for its sin. This was an epitome of the history of Israel in crime and punishment. Israel's idola- Vol. VL Pabt II 17 try is compared to the savage and lustful impurity of those men of Gibeah. 10. I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness] I loved Israel in the desert, as a thirsty traveller is delighted with the grapes which he finds in a barren wilderness ; or as one who is refreshed by the first ripe fruit on the fig-tree in its prime. Cp. above, i. 2, where God's espousal of Israel is described. — they went to Saal-peor] Lit. they went aioay from Me to Baal-peor, even they. My own People; and they conseerated themselves (as Nazarites, not to Me their glory, but) to shame. — ■ And their abominations] Rather, and they became abotni- nations (see above, v, 8, they became hatred) according to their loves (i. e. the objects of their love) they became cruel, brutish, and lustful, like the false gods which they worship. All idola- ters become like the idols which they worship : as the Psalmist says, " They that make them are like unto them" (Ps. cxv. 8). 11. From the birth — conception] They will perish from every stage, even the earliest, of their being, so as to be utterly de- stroyed. This rendering (authorized by the ancient Versions ; cp. I'. 16) is preferable to that of some modern interpreters, " no birth, no womb, no conception." 13. Ephraim, as I saio Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place] Rather, Ephraim, when Iloohed upon it (with favour), was like Tyre, a noble and strong city, planted in a fair place (cp. Ezek. xxvii., xxviii.); but I have departed from Ephraim (see the foregoing verse), and they are wasted. Cp. Targum here. " Ephraim, ut vidi, Tyrus erat," is the renderiug of the Vulgate here. Cp. S. Jerome. 14. Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts] The common consequences of harlotry. Here again the prophecies of Hosea are joined on to the Song of Solomon, and adopt its imageiy and language ; and they mutually illustrate one an- other. See Cant. viii. 8, where the Hebrew nation, in its state of rejection, is described by the true Bride, the Christian Church, as a "little sister, and she hath no breasts." See the note on that passage. On the other hand, the fliithful Church of Christ is represented as a beloved wife and a fruitful mother of children. See Isa. xlLx. 18—20; liv. 1—8; Ixi. 9. Such will .also the Hebrew Nation be, when it returns to God in Christ. C Their u-idedness is at Gilgul. HO SEA IX. 15—17. X. 1—8. King Jareb. k ch. 4. IS. 12. 11. 1 cli. 1. C. t Heb. Ihc Ezek. 24. 21. oDeut.28. (34, 65. 740. a Nahum 2. 2. II Or, a vme empiyirtg the fruit which it ffiveth, bch. 8. 11. & 12. U. cch. 8. 4. t Heb. slalues, or, standing images, II Or, He hath divided i/ieir d 1 kings 18. 21. Matt. 6. 24. t Heb behead. ech. 3.4. & 11.5. Micah 4. 9. ver. 7 f SceDeut. 29. 18. .Amos S. 7. & 6. \}. Acts S. 23. Heb. 12 15. g 1 Kings 12. 28, 29. ch. 8. 5, 6. h ch. 4- 15. II Or, Chemarim, 2 Kings 23. 5. Zeph. 1.4. i 1 Sam 4.21,22. ch. 9. 11. Sch. 5. 13. Ich. II. 6. m ver. 3, 15. t Heb. the face of llle water. n ch. 4 15. Deut. 9. 21. 1 Kings 12. 30. pch. 9. 6. q Isa. 2. 19. '■'' All their wickedness ^ is in Gilgal : For there I hated them : ' For the wickedness of their doings I vnll drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more ; '" All their princes are revolters. "" Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit : Yea, " though they bring forth, Yet will I slay even f the beloved fruit of their womb. '' My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him : And they shall be ° wanderers among the nations. X. 1 Israel is " || an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself : According to the multitude of his fruit ^ he hath increased the altars ; According to the goodness of his land '^ they have made goodly f images. 2 II Their heai't is ^ divided ; now shall they be found faulty : He shall f break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. ^ ^ For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord ; What then should a king do to us ? ■* They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant : Thus judgment springeth up ' as hemlock in the furrows of the field. ^ The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of ^ the calves of '' Beth-aven : For the people thereof shall mourn over it. And II the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, ' for the glory thereof. Because it is departed from it. ^ It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to ^ king Jareb : Ephraim shall receive shame. And Israel shall be ashamed ' of his own counsel. '' ■" As for Samaria, her king is cut off. As the foam upon f the water. ^ " The liigh places also of Aven, " the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed : ■" The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars ; "^ And they shall say to the mountains. Cover us ; 15. All their loickedness is in Gilgal ; for there I hated therri\ All their wickeilness, tlu'ir idolatry and licentiousness, is at Qilgal. even at the very place where, in the days of Joshua and their fathers, they worshipped Me, and where I was gracious unto them (see above, iv. 15; below, xii. 11); and at Gilgal, ■wliLM-e / once loved them, and received them again into covenant with Myself, by the renewal of circumcision there, I now have cast them off and hate them for their sin. Cp. 5. Jerome here. Gilgal was a type of Golgotha. Sue above on Joshua v. 9, p. 15. 17. thei/ shall be wanderer.^ among the nations^ The Jews are a national Cain of nearly twenty centuries, for the murder of their Brother, the Good Shepherd, the Divine Abel. See above on Gen. iv. 11 — 15. Ch. X. 1. Israel is an emptg vine'] Rather, Israel is a gadding vine, stretching forth its branches far and wide {Sept., Vulg., Arabic; Pocock, 437; Gesen. 136), luxuriant, and pour- ing itself forth into foreign lands (Ps. Ixxx. 9 — 12). There is a reference to Israel's tendencies to foreign alliances and idolatry (see vii. 11, and what follows) ; and though God gave her power to bring forth fruit, she brought it forth unto herself, for her own self-indulgence and not for Him. Cp. Deut. xxxii. 15. Prov. xiii. 7. Luke xii. 21. The more prosperity He gave her, the more unthankful and rebellious she was against Him. See iv. 7. 2. Their heart is divided'] The literal meaning is, Ephraim has divided their heart, i. e. the whole Nation, V)y one simul- taneous act of separation from God, has alienated the hearts of all her people from Him. The word rendered divided, is chalak, which, in leal (as here), has always a transitive sense; and so Sept. and Arabic here. 18 — He shall break doion] God shall punish them with an outbreak of His fury, and will destroy their altars. 3. they shall sag. We have no king] When scattered abroad and captive in Assyria and other lanjs, Israel will be forced to make this confession : *' We have no king '* — we, who have for- saken the Lord our King, and have set up kings for ourselves, have no king ; and even if we had, what should a king do to lis ? Would he be able to help us in our present captivity and distress ? 4. words] Words — mere words, and nothing else. ■ — judgment springeth up as hemlock] Judgment, which ought to be a good and salutary phint to human society, is perverted, and so becomes no better than a noxious weed which chokes the coru ; and it springs up in pestiferous abundance every where, as hemlock (cp. Deut. xxix. 18, where the word (rdsh) is rendered gafl, as usually in our Version; this is the only place where it is translated hemlock), which chokes the corn in the fuirows of the field, and destroys the harvest. Cp. Amos v. 7, adopting Hosea's metaphor, they " turn judgment iuto wormwood," which explains tliis passage, and vi. 12, '*ye have turned judgment \x\io gall (rSsh). 5. Beth-aven] Beth-el, the house of God, which has become Beth-aven, the hottse of vanity (iv. 15; v. 8). — the priests] Heb. Cemarim. See 2 Kings xxiii. 5. Zeph. i. 4. 6. to king Jareb] The adversary king, the king of Assyria, to whom Israel looked for help, hut who has become their enemy, and who Hglits against them. On the meauiug of the word Jareb, see on v. 13. 7. As the foam] Or, as a splinter, or straw (Gesen. 738). 8. they shall say to the mountains — and to the hills] They The days of Gibeali. HOSEA X. 9—14. Call of Israel to repentance. And to the hills, Fall on us. ^ ' Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah : There they stood : ' The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. '" ' J« is in my desire that I should chastise them ; And " the people shall be gathered against them, II When they shall bind themselves in their two furrows. ^' And Ephraim is as "" an heifer that is taught. And loveth to tread out the com ; But I passed over upon f her fair neck : I will make Ephraim to ride ; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. '- ^ Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy ; ^ Break up your fallow ground : for it is time to seek the Loed, Till he come and rain righteousness upon you. '•^ ^ Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity ; Ye have eaten the fruit of lies : Because thou didst trust in thy way, In the multitude of thy mighty men, ^■^ '' Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, And all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, r ch. 9. 9. s See Judg. 20. t Deut. 2S. ea. their two liabi- ttttiints. X Jer. 50. 11. Micah 4.13. t Hell. Ihe beaitli ofhcrncck. a Job 4. 8. Prov. 22. 8. ch. 8. r. Gal. 6. 7, 8. shall cry to those mountaius and hills, where they once wor- shipped their false gods on their high places with fanatical cries of adoration (cp. 1 Kings xviii. 27), and shall say to them, " Cover us," " Fall on us." Cp. Isa. ii. 10. Our Blessed Lord has generalized these words, and has applied them to the terrors of the Great Day, when men will cry out, and cry out in vain, to the mountains and hills of tlieir own self-idolizing imaginations — such as worldly Policy, earthly Wealth and Power, and proud, unsauctificd Pliilosophy — to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. See Luke xxiii. 30. Rev. vi. 16. Formerly Israel went up with festal joy to their high places to worship their idols there with music, dance, and jollity; but the time will eome, says the Prophet, when they will flee before the foe in panic and dismay, and wish them- selves buried there beneath them, as in their graves. So it will be with the World at the Last Day, and with all its Gilgals and Bethels, which it has set up in opposition to God. 9. from the days of Gibeah'] Thou hast continued those evil days of Gibeah, so that they form thy history. See above, on ix. 9. — There they stood : the battle in Oibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtaJie them'] They stood ; i.e. Israel ccmtinued obstinate in tlie sin of Gibeah. As the men of Gibeali, instead of punishing their own wicked citizens who violated the Levite's concubine, identified themselves with them ; and as the whole tribe of Benjamin made their cause tlieir own, and pertinaciously stood and fougiit for it; so do the ten tribes of Israel. Instead of punishing sin, they p.atrouize it : Israel is one Gibeah. The battle in Gibeah against its cruel and lustful inhabitants sliall not overtake them; but a battle far worse— a battle (not of friends who are near, but) of heathen adversaries who will carry Israel away captive. 10. the people"] Rather, na^/o?i5 — foreign, heathen nations, shall be gathered against theiu in battle. — JVken they shall bind themselves in their two furrows] Or, in binding them in their two furrows (^o Targum) ; and there seems to be some propriety in this old Jewish rendering, on account of the metaphor of the heifer, which follows. But the other ancient Versions render it, in their two sins. The diflerence of translation arises fi'oin the ditFerent pointing in the original (Gesen. 614. C]}. Gesen.A^a ; Fuerst.WlG). The sense is, " Heathen nations shall be gathered together against Israel, iu binding them (or taking them prisoners and leading them away captives) in their two sins," i.e. in the two calves, at Daii and Bethel ; or in their twofold apostasy, from God, and 19 from the throne of David. The sins of Israel were the cause o( their punishment : sin is the chain by which the sinner is led away captive. 11. Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught] Israel is like a heifer which w taught; but all her learning con.sists in this, that she loves to tread out the corn because she can feed at pleasure, as the heifer was permitted to do when treading out the com on the threshing-floor (Deut. .xxv. 4). On this ironical use of the word " taught," compare 1 Tim. v. 13. " They learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house." All their learning consists in this. See the note there. This de.'icribes the condition of Israel, serving God only for the sake of its own appetite ; but I pass over her fair neck, and make the yoke to ride on Ephraim ; I will bring her into subjection to the enemy, and reduce Judah and Jacob to hard service for their sins. EsnOKTATION TO REPENTANCE, AND PEOMISE OF GRACE. 12. Sow to yourselves in righteousness] Or rather, for righteousness, as your harvest. The agricultural metaphor is continued. — reap in mercy] According to (God's) mercy ; that is, in gracious abundance from Him. They who sow the seed of good works, will receive a bountiful harvest from His love (3 Cor. ix. 6. Gal. vi. 7—9). Let us sow here in alms and prayers, that we may reap in blessing hereafter. — Break up your fallow ground] Plough for yourselves fresh soil. Be not content with what ye have cultivated, but bring new ground into cultivation. Grow in grace ; forget what is behind ; reach forward to what is before ; add to your faith virtue, aud every Christian grace; and do you, who have been brought to God, bring others to Hinj. On this text see Bp. BulTs .Sermons, Sermon i. — rain righteousness] Compjre P.-ahu Ixxii. 6. Isa. xlv. 8. The word rendered to rain, is translated by teach, in Vulg. and some other ancient Versions ; and this is the usual sense of the hiphil of the verb yarah, used here ; and this is the only place where it is rendered rain, in our Version ; cp. vi. 3, where the p.irticiple poel is used. Especially compare below, the words of the next succeeding Prophet (Joel ii. 23). He will send you ** a Teacher of righteousness." See the note there. These two passages of Hosea and Joel illu^trate one another. Both of them >pcak of Chkist, ami foretell the blessings of Justiflcation and Sanctitication which would be given by Hiui. Sec Pocock, pp. 484, 485. Betliel hecomes Betharhel. HOSEA X. 15. XI. 1. Israel a type of Christ, Before CHRIST d ch. 13, IG. t Heb. the evil of ijour evit. e vcr. 7. a ch. 2. 15. b Matt. 2. 15. c Exod. 4. 22, 23. As Shalman spoiled " Beth-arbel in the day of battle : '' The mother was dashed in pieces upon her children. 1^ So shall Beth-el do unto you because of f your great wickedness : In a moiTiing ^ shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off. XI. ^ When " Israel m-«s a child, then I loved him, And '' called my "^ son out of Egypt. 14. As Shalman spoiled Beth-arheV] As Shalmaneser, king of Assyria (2 Kings xvii. 3), spoiled Betli-arbel ; probably the place called Arbela in 1 Mncc. ix. 2, between Sepboris and Tiberias, and now perhaps called Irh'td (Sobinson). 15. So shall Beth-el do vnfo ?/oh] Your sin shall be tbe cause of your punishment. Your Beth-el (or house of God) shall become your Beih-arhel, i.e. ihe house of the ambush of God, from which He will spring up to punish you. Such is the meaning of Beth-arbel {Qescn. 117 ; cp. Busei/, 70). All men's Beth-els (houses of God), if they are made Beth-aveus (houses of vanity), become Beth-arbels (houses of ambush of God). — in a morningi In the morning dawn; quickly, before the dawn becomes day. Ch. XI. 1. When Israel was a child, then I loved him] At the E.xodus. God loved Israel then, and in the wilderness ; but Israel has been faithless to God : and therefore is punished. ISKASl A TYPE OP ChEIST. — And called my son out of Egypf] See Exod. iv. 22, 23. " Israel is My first-born ; let My son go, that he may serve Me." The Holy Spirit, speaking by St. Matthew (ii. 15), teaches tis that when He Himself uttered these words by Hosea, His divine glance reached from the Exodus of Israel, God's son, to the Incarnation of Christ, and to His flight into Egypt, and to the return from it of the Son of God manifest in the flesh. And thus He has instructed us to see in Israel going forth as God's favoured child from Egypt — the land of the enemy of God — to diffuse His truth throughout the Earth, a type of Christ, pro- ceeding forth from the darkness of heathen Egypt, to evangelize and illuminate the World. The love of God to Israel was a fore- Ehadowing of God's love to Man in Christ, Who came of Israel, and Who has joined Man's nature to His own, and in His own Xjerson to God, and reconciles Man to God. Israel, God's be- loved Sou, was a prophecy of Christ, and Christ is the personal Antitype of a perfect Israel. See below, on Matt. ii. 15, and ;&'. Chri/s. and Theophylact on Matt. ii. 15, and MeorforeZ there, and & Jerome here ; Fococlc, 502 — 506 ; and Matt. Henry here ; and Hengst. on Micah, chap. v. ; and Pfeijfer, Dubia, p. 439; Bp. I'earson, On the Creed, Art. ii. p. 89; Fairbairn, Typology, p.446. Christ is the Antitype of Israel in God's love; and is also the Antithesis of Israel in obedience to God. S. Jerome tells us that the Emperor Julian, in the fourth century, made the following objections to St. Matthew (ii. 15) applying this prophecy to Christ. " The prophet Hosea is speak- ing of the Israelites, but Matthew the Evangelist has applied that prophecy to Christ, in order to deceive those simple people among the heathen who believe in Him." See S. Jerome here. This objection of Julian the apostate has been repeated in later days by the author of the Scheme of Literal Prophecy ; Ijond., 1727, p. 313, and by Strauss. It has been recently said by some among ourselves (Creed of Christendom, p. 100, Loud., 1851; 2)e Wette, Erklarung des Evangcliuras Matthai, 3rd cd., Leipzig, 1845, p. 27), that the passage in question, which is in the eleventh chapter of Hosea, has " not the slightest re- ference to Cfirist." And it has lately been affirmed by another in high place among us (Essays and Reviews, p. 418 ; see also ibid., p. 406), that " tbe time will come, when educated men will be no more able to believe that the words. Out of Egypt hare I called my Son, were intended by the Prophet (Hosea) to refer to the return of Joseph and Mary from Egypt, than tliey are now able to believe the Roman Catholic explanation of Gen. iii. 15, ' Ipsa conteret caput tuum,' i. e. applying that prophecy to the Blessed Virgin Mary." What shall we say here ? If we imagined the Bible to he not inspired, we should he perplexed by these allegations. We should be embarrassed by them, if we supposed that the Prophets themselves were the original Authors of their own Prophecies. We should be staggered and confounded, if we supposed that the Prophets were like sources and fountains, from which the living water of divine prophecy sprung, and not rather like channels, through which itjiotcs and is conveyed to us. But we believe and jirofcss in the Creed, that "the Holt Gil03T spake by (through) the Prophets." We believe and profess 20 with St. Peter that the Spirit of Christ was in them (1 Pet. i 11), and prophesied by them, and that Prophecy came not in old time by the xvillofman, but holy men of God spake, being moved (or home along) by the Holy Ghost (2 Pet. i. 21). We readily allow, that the Prophets themselves, when they uttered their Prophecies, did twt fully understand what was in the mind of the Holy Spirit Who spake by them. As Bp. Sherlock says (Discourse on Prophecy, ii., p. 21), " The Prophets did not clearly understand the things which they foretold, but employed themselves in searching the meaning of the prophetical testi- monies of the Spirit which was in them " (1 Pet. i. 11). And Bp. Marsh (On the Interpretation of the Bible, Lecture x., p. 443) says ; " Most MTiters who treat of secondary senses (of Pro- phecies) contend that those secondary senses were unknown to the Prophets themselves ; and that Divine Providence so or- dered it, that the very persons who committed to writing the words which were dictated by the Holy Spirit, did not perceive ihe whole extent of their meaning." The old Prophets did not clearly discern the extent and range of their own prophecies ; they did not fvdly understand their meaning. This the Prophet Daniel himself avows; see Dan. viii. 26, 27 ; xii. 8. They were inspired to prophesy, but not to interpret their own Prophecies. Therefore the Apostle Peter says, that Prophecy was like a light shining in a dark place, till the dayspring should dawn in Christ, and dispel the darkness (2 Pet. i. 19). And he says, that the Prophets employed themselves in inquiring diligently con- cerning the salvation pre-announced in their own Prophecies; and in searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ, which was in them did signify, when it testified before- hand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should folloio (1 Pet. i. 11). Indeed, here is the proof of the divine origin of Prophecy. Almost every prophecy was " an enigma (as S. Irenceus says, iv. 26. 1 ; cp. Archdeacon Lee on Inspiration, pp. 198, 199) before its fultilment ;" it was an enigma to the Prophets themselves. Time only could solve it. And wisely was this ordered ; because, otherwise. Divine Foreknowledge might seem to control Human Will. But God's Foreknowledge foresees every thing, and forces nothing. It does not touch Man's Free will. Whatever is foretold by God, will be done by Man; but nothing will he done by Man, because it has been foretold by God. If the meaning of Ancient Prophecy had been clear before its fulfil- ment, it never could have had that probationary character, and have served those ptu'poses of moral discipline, which God in- tended it should. God so ordered it, that it might be fulfilled by persons who were wholly unconscious that they were fulfilling it. And the fulfilment of Prophecies in a manner «w_/bre5e^ra by men, even by the Prophets themselves, is an evidence of their divine origin. Tbe fulfilment of Prophecies by persons who were not aware that they were fulfilling them, as was the case with the Jews rejecting Christ, and so fulfilling the prophecies by condemning Him (Acts xiii. 27), 'and thus proving Him to he Christ while they rejected and condemned Him, and even by rejecting and condemning Him, is a proof that men were not Authors of the Prophecies — no, not the Prophets themselves • — but that the true Author of Prophecy is God. Let, therefore, the allegation just cited be true, that the Prophet Hosea did " not intend to refer to the return of Joseph and Mary," when he said Out of Egypt have I called My Son. But what is this to the purpose ? How is it relevant to the question at issue concerning the Interpretation of Scripture? If indeed it is alleged, that because the Prophet Hosea did not intend to refer to that Return, therefore that Return is not foretold by the Prophecy, then our answer is, that they who make such an allegation prove themselves thereby to be utterly incompetent to interpret Prophecy ; because they do not compre- hend its nature— they do not understand what Prophecy is, nor whence Prophecy comes. They erroneously assume that Pro- phecy is a human thing proceeding from the mind of man, where- as Prophecy is a divine oracle issuing from the mouth of God. The true question is, not what was intended by Hosea him- self when he uttered this prophecy, but what was intended by the Holy Ghost Who sp.ike ly Hosea. That Is the question; and a very important one it is. Israel a figure HOSEA XI. 2—4. of Christ. 2 As they called them, so they went from them : '' They saerificecl unto Baalim, and bm-ned mcense to graven images. ^ ^ I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms ; But they knew not that 'I healed them. •* I drew them mth cords of a man, with bands of love : Auil how is it to be decided ? Surely by the Holy Spirit Himself. For "no man Icnoweth the things of God hut the Spirit of God" (1 Cor. ii. 11). Ami the Son of God has vouchsafed to decide that questiou. The Prophets of old were God's Messengers and Ambassadors, who brought sealed letters from Him ; and the Son of God has come from heaven, and has broken the seals of those letters, aud has read them to us. The Holy Spirit has been pleased to inform US, by the Evangelist St. Matthew, what was in His own divine mind, when He spake, many hundred years before, by the Prophet Hosea. Hear His own words in the Gospel. "Joseph arose and took the young child and his mother btf nighty and departed into ^ggpt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoA-en hy the Lord through the Prophet, Out of Egypt have I called my Son " (Matt. ii. 15). 5. Augustine makes this excellent observation in his treatise De Doctrina Christiana, iii. 39 : '* Whenever two or more senses are dedueible from the same words of Holy Scripture, there is no harm in our not knowing which of those senses was intended by the writer himself; provided it call be shown that those senses are authorized by other places of Holy Scripture. The writer himself may yiot have intended those senses, but we are sure that the Holy Ghost, Who used the agency of the writer, and worked through him, foresaw those senses and provided that those senses should be received by us. And herein we may ad- mire the exuberant bounty of God towards us in Holy Scripture, in that the same words of Holy Scripture may have several meanings, which may be attested by His aiithority speaking to us in other places of Scripture." And so Bishop Butler, Analogy, Part II., ch. vii. : — " To say that the Scriptures and the things contained in them can have no other or further meaning than those persons thought or had, who first recited or wrote them, is evidently saying that those persons were the original, proper, and sole Authors of those books, i.e. that they are not inspired" (this is the saying of the writer in Essays and Reviews }ust quoted); " which is absm'd, whilst the authority of these books is under examination, i.e. till you have determined that they are of no divine authority at all. Till this be determined, it must in all reason be supposed, not indeed that they have, for this is taking for granted that they are inspired, but that they may have, some further meaning than what the compilers saw or understood. And upon this supposition it is supposable also that this further meaning may be fulfilled. ** Now, events corresponding to prophecies, interpreted in a different meaning from that in which the prophets are supposed to have understood them ; this affords, in a manner, the same •proof that this different sense was originally intended, as it would Lave aflbrded if the prophets had not understood their predic- tions in the sense it is supposed they did ; because there is no presumption of their sense of them being the whole sense of them. And it has been .already shown, that the apparent com- pletions of prophecy must be allowed to be explanatory of its meaning. So that the questiou is, whether a series of prophecy has been fulfilled in a natural or proper — i. e. in any real sense of the words of it. For such completion is equally a proof of foresight more than human, whether the prophets are, or are not, supposed to have understood it in a different sense. I say supposed ; for though / think it clear, that the prophets did not understand the full meaning of their predictions, it is an- other question how fi\r they thought they did, and in what sense they understood them." Here, therefore, a new light is shed by the Holy Spirit upon the prophecy of Hosea, and on the history of Israel in Egypt. We are taught that Israel was a type of Christ. The name Israel, A Prince of God (Gen. xxxii. 28), suggests this. In Israel, when a cliild, beloved of God, and called out of Egypt, we, who believe in St. Matthew's inspiration, have learnt to see a figure of Christ. The beloved Son of God, the Infant Jesus, was to be in Egypt till the Angel should bring Joseph word; for Herod would seek the young child to destroy Him. He was there till the death of Herod. The death of the Persecutor was the signal for His deliverance and return. All this had been prefigured by the literal Israel who had gone down from Canaan into Egypt. The Enemy of God worked by Pharaoh against Israel, as he did afterwards by Herod against Christ. God loved and protected 21 Before CHRIST about d2 Kings 17. 10. ch.2. 13. & 13.2. e Deut. I. .11. & .12. 10, 11, 12. Isa. 46. 3. f Exod. 15. 2G. Israel in his childhood. In tlie infancy of the Nation, He shielded the young children from the rage of the King. He saved Israel in Egypt, and He saved Israel from Egypt, and sent him forth to "be a Witness and Preacher of His 'Truth to the World. All this was done for the sake of Christ, the Well- beloved Son of the Father, the Light of the World. God loved Christ in Israel, from whom Christ came according to the fiesh. The first-born of Egypt were destroyed, and Pharaoh and hi.s hosts were overthrown in the sea, and then Israel was delivered and went forth toward Canaan. So, the destruction of Christ's Enemies was the signal of His Exodus from Egypt, and of His return to Canaan. " When Herod was dead, behold, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying. Arise, take the young child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel, for .they are dead which sought the Young Child's Ufe. And he arose, and took the Young Child and His mother, and came into the Land of Israel." Therefore, also, since the Enemies of the literal Israel are figures of the enemies of Christ, even of Death and the Grave, there is a peculiar propriety in the union of Hosea's prophecy concerning the call of Israel out of Egypt, with another pro- phecy uttered by the same Prophet concerning the deliverance of the Spiritual Israel, the Israel of God, united in the whole mystical Body of Christ, and redeemed and ransomed by Him from their ghostly enemies, aud concerning their glorious Exodus from the Egypt of Death, and the Grave, and their leading-forth from a land of bondage to the glorious inheritance of their heavenly Canaan in Christ. " I will ransom them " (says Christ Himself hy Hosea) "from the power of the Grave, I will redeem them from Death. Death, I will be thy plagues. Grave, I will be thy destruction " (Hos. xiii. 14). And we may now take up the comment of the Holy Apostle St. Paul, " Death, where is thy sting ? O Grave, tvhere is thy victory ? Thanks be to God Who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. XV. 55—57). Shall we complain of these things? Shall we "grieve the Holy Spirit," Wlio spake by the Prophets ? Shall we murmur at our Adorable Redeemer, because, in His tender love and mercy to us. He has given to us a clearer insight into a pro- phecy uttered by Hosea, than even Hosea himself had, when he uttered it? Shall we be impatient because Christ's gracious words are thus fulfilled in us ; " Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear; for verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them" 1 (Matt. xiii. Id, 17. Luke X. 24. Heb. xi. 13.) Shall we not rather be thankful to Him because He has revealed to us the meaning of Prophecies which we could never have explained for ourselves, and which therefore must ever have remained dark, without a revelation from Him ? Shall we not rejoice in the light shed from Christ's glorious countenance, on the dark prophecies of the Old Testament ? Shall we not exult in our Christian privileges, because He has opened our eyes, and has opened the Scriptures to us ? 2. As they called them'] They (Moses and the Prophets) called, to them (to Israel), but the more they called to Israel, the more rebellious Israel was ; they sacrificed unto Baalim (many forms of idolatry) instead of worshipping the one true God. Cp. Jer. ii. 23 ; vii. 25 ; xxv. 4. Zeeh. i. 4. 3. I taught] I, even J, taught Ephraim to walk, as a Father teaches a child (Deut. i. 31). — taking them by their arms] Or, He took them hy His arms. All the ancient versions render the arms here as referring to God. Cp. Pusey, Keil. 4. I drew them ivith cords of a man] Not of a beast, a heifer (see X. 11), but of a rational and spiritual being. Compare Cant. i. 11, where the Bride says to the Bridegroom, " Draw me, and I will run after thee ;" and our Lord's words, " If I be lifted up, I wiU draw all men unto Me " (John xii. 32). The Vulgate has here " traham eos funicuUs Adam," and this prophecy was specially fulfilled in Christ : He took our Nature, and became the Second Adam, and draws us by the cords of His love in His Incarnation, which has made us to be one with Himself, and by which He espoused to Himself our Nature, sanctified to become His Bride in mystical wedlock, and joined the Church to Himself as His Eve. God's love to Israel. HOSEA XL 5—11. Conversion of the Jeivs. gLev. 26 n. t Heb. lijt up.' h Ph. 78. 25. about 728. They liecame tributaries to Salmanasser. Ich. 10.6. m Jer. 3. 6, Sic & S. 5. ch. 4. IG. n ell. 7. 16. o Jer. 9. 7. cli. 6. 4. p Gen. 14. 8. & la. 21, 25. Dent. 29. 23. Amos 4. 11. q Dent. 32. 36. , 15. Jer. 31. 20. T Num. 23, 19. Isa. 55. 8, 9. Mai. 3, 6. And « I was to them as they that f take off the yoke on their jaws, And '' I laid meat unto them. ^ ' He shall not return into the land of Egypt, But the Assyrian shall he his king, "Because they refused to return. " And the sword shall abide on his cities, And shall consume his branches, and devour them, ' Because of their own counsels. '' And my people are bent to "" backsliding from me : " Though they called them to the most High, f None at all would exalt him. ^ ° How shall I give thee up, Ephraim ? hoiv shall I deliver thee, Israel ? How shall I make thee as *■ Admah ? how shall I set thee as Zeboim ? ■^ Mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. " I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim : ' For I am God, and not man ; The Holy One in the midst of thee : And I will not enter into the city. . ^^ They shall walk after the Lord : ' He shall roar like a lion : When he shall roar, then the children shall tremble ' from the west. ^' They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, " And as a dove out of the laud of Assyria : — ilie!/ that take off the yoke'] God, in His love to Israel, was as one who unyokes o.\en and gives tliem fodder. In Christ, Goil takes off fi-om our nfckE the yoke, of sin, and the yoke of the Law, and puts His own easy yoke on us, and feeds us with the divine nouri^liuient of His lioly Word and Sacraments. 5. He shall not return into the land ofEffi/pt, hut the Assi/rian shall be his king'] Tlie Prophet had said before (viii. 13; ix. 3), that Israel would be carried back into Egypt, and he now ex- plains the meaning of tliat phrase, viz. that igypt is a typical name for a laud of bondage, and that land will be Assyria. Or the sense may be, Israel will not look any more to Egypt for help against Assyria {S. Jerome). 6. his branches] Or, his bars and bolts (Hebr. baddim). Cp. Exod. XXV. 13. Job xviii. 16, viz. his strong men and fortresses, to which he looks for defence. 7. are bent to backsliding] Literally, are hung and fastened to apostasy trom Me, instead of allegiance to Me. This Section of Hosea, which is a prophetical commentary on the history of Jacob, from v. 7 to xii. 12, is the Haphtarah to Gen. xxviii. 10— xxxii. 3, which relates that history. — Though they called them] Tliougb God's prophets called Israel to Him, yet they were so obstinately riveted to apostasy, together they exalted not-i.e. Israel as one man refused to exalt or extol God. On tliis use of the word rendered to exalt (the polelof rum), eyi. E.xod. xv. 2. Ps. xxx. 1; cxviii. 28; cxlv. 1. Isa. XXV. 1. God's Lote to Isbael; theie Conveesion. 8. How shall I give thee tip, Ephraim ?] We see here, as It were, an inward struggle between Justice and Mercy in the Divine Mind. Israel deserved utter rejection, but God, like a merciful Father, yet spares it; He remembers His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and yearns over His undutiful son in tenderness and love. — Admah— Zeboim] Cities destroyed with Sodotn and Go- morrah. See Deut. xxix. 22, 23, to which Hosea refers here. How can I bear to make thee like thein ? No; it must not be. 9. The Holy One in the midst of thee] Cp. Isa. xii. 6. _— Imitl not enter into the city] Rather, / will not enter a city ; I am in the midst of tliee, and will not leave thee for an- other city (Targum). God had said (v. 5) that Israel would be carried captive from their own land to Assyria ; but He here Bays, I will not forsake thee, I will not exchange Zion (though thou wilt be for a time an outcast and a wanderer in the wil- derness of Assyria) for any noble fenced city, such as Nineveh and Babylon, of the heathen world. The Hebrew word (()•) in the original is rightly rendered city here, as in several hundred other places. The sense of rage which is assigned to it here by some recent critics (and in Ps. Ixxiii 20 and Jer. xv. 8) is precarious and unsatisfactory. Here is comfort to Israel in its present dispersion. The presence of the-God of Israel is not, like that of the deities of the heathen, confined to one particular city ; it is not localized. No, " God is a Spirit," and the time is coming (as our Lord says) " when neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, shall men worship the Father" (John iv. 21), "but in every place incense will be offered unto His Name and a pure offering " (Mai. i. 11). When the Jews receive the Gospel of Christ and turn to God, then, wherever they may be, throughout the whole world, they will find the Holy One in the midst of them, in the Universal Church of Christ. Zion will be every where. 10. They shall walk after the Loed] They will turn to Christ ; as has been already prophesied, " They shall abide many days without a king and without a sacrifice ; afterward shall the Children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king.'* See also on iii. 4, 5. — He shall roar like a lion] The Lord shall roar out of Zion (Joel iii. 16. Amos i. 2). Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judab (Rev. v. 5) shall roar with His voice (see on Rev. x. 3) in His Gospel, preached by Apostles sent forth from Zion, two of whom were called "sons of thunder" (Mark iii. 17). And by the terrors of His judgment — such as the destruction of Jeru- salem—He will exhort them to repent and to flee from the wrath to come. — children shall tremble from the west] Sons shall come iremhling to God, not only from Egypt and Assyria (v. 11), but even from the isles of the sea (Isa. xi. 11). This was specially fulfilled in the conversion of vast multitudes by the preaching of St. Peter on tlie day of Pentecost to Jews " from every na- tion under heaven" (Acts ii. 5 — 10, 41). Cp. Zech. viii. 7. 11. as a dove] As Isaiah says, speaking of nations flocking to the Church of Christ, " Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows ?" See above, on Isa. Ix. 8. Israel, without God, is described by the Prophet as a " silly dove with- out a heart " (vii. 11), and as falling into the snare of the fowler (ix. 8) ; but when the Holy Spirit came from heaven, then they Restoration of Israel. HOSEA XI. 12. XII. 1—8. Jacob a imttern to them. " And I -will place them in their houses, saith the Lord. '2 y Ephraim compasseth me about with hes, and the house of Israel with deceit : But Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful || with the saiats. XII. ^ Ephraim " feedeth on wind, and foUoweth after the east wind : He daily increaseth lies and desolation ; •"And they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, And " oil is carried into Egypt, - '' The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, And will f punish Jacob according to his ways ; According to his doings will he recompense him. ^ He took his brother " by the heel in the womb. And by his strength he f ^ had power with God : '' Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed : He wept, and made supplication unto him : He found him ui ^ Beth-el, and there he spake with us ; ^ Even the Lord God of hosts ; the Lord is his '' memorial. ^ ' Therefore turn thou to thy God : Keep mercy and judgment, and "^ wait on thy God continually. '^ He is II a merchant, ' the balances of deceit are in his hand : He loveth to || oppress. ^ And Ephraim said, " Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance II In all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me f that were sin. ahout X Ezek. 28. 25. 26. 8: iJ. 21, 2o. ych. 12. I. II Or, wilh the most h'lti/. about 725. a ch. 8. 7. e Gen. 25. 2(5. t Heb. MI a prince, or, behared himself princely. f Gen. 32. 24, 8;c kPs. 37. 7. II Or, Canaan: See lizek. 16. I Piov. n. 1. Amo3 8 5. II Or. deciire. Re 1 Zech. 11. 5. . i. 17. II Or, nil r labours suffice me not: he shall punishment of iniquity in whom is sin. t Heb. which. partook of the glory and beauty of the Divine Dove, and were at peace in the Ark of the Church. — I will place them in their houses^ WTierever Christ is preached, there Jerusalem is ; and there the true Israelites find their home in His Church. See above, on Ps. l.x.vxvii., and on Isa. ii. 1—4; li.\. 20; Ix.— l.\ii.; l.xv. 18; l.wi. 7-10. Jer- xxxi. 5 — 12. Ezek. xx. 34 — 41 ; xxxiv. 13 ; xxxvi. 6 — 22 ; xxxvii. 16-19. 12. But Judah jiet rulelTi with Ood'] Rather, and even Judah is unruly toward Ood, and toward the Soly One, Who is faithful. See above, on Jer. ii. 31, where the same word is used, and Gen. xxvii. 40, and Oesen. 759, and Keil here. Judah was not loyal to God, Ijut was faithless as well as Israel, and there- fore to be punished. See what follows immediately here con- cerning Judah's unfaithfulness (xii.2). "The Lord hath a con- troversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways;" and cp, v. 5. 13, 14; vi. 4. Cn. XII. 1. oil is carried into Egypf} As a present ; to obtain its favour and help. Cp. above, v. 13. Isa. xxx. 2 — 7 ; and as to the history, see 2 Kings xvii. 4. Jacob's Example to Israel. 3, 4. Se tooJc his brother by the heel — he wept, and made supplication vnto hii7i~\ The Prophet, having mentioned Jacob in y. 2 as a name of the Israelitish nation, now proceeds to sliow how degenerate they are from tlieir father Jacob, in faith and obedience ; and how deservedly, therel'ore, they are punished by God. Jacob, even in his mother's womb, strove for the birth-right (Gen. xxv. 22. 26) : he coveted earnestly the best gifts (1 Cor. xii. 31). Jacob is represented as an example to the Israel of God, by that early act of biavery, and by that pious auibition for precedence, and by that eager zeal for the birlli-right «hich Esau despised, and for despising which Esau is condemned as " a profane person " (Heb. xii. 16). By his strength he had power with God, for he wept and made supplication. l*ia_\ers and tears were his weapons, and they must be the weapons also of penitent and returiii.ig Israel, if Israel is to jtrevail with God. Tliey are the weapons of all true I.-raelites. Jacoli prevailed, and hecamij Israel, i. e. a Prince of God, when he wresiled with Him in faith and prayer for His blessing at Penuel. See above, the notes on Gen. xxxii. 24 — 32, where is a comment on this passage of Hosea, and 23 where it is shown that Jacob in his faith, his agony, his prayers and his tears, was a signal type of Christ, " Who, in the days of His flesh, ofi'ered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared " (Heb. v. 7 ; and see S. Jerome here). 4. Se found him in Jieth-el~\ Jacob was rewarded for his faith by finding God at Bethel, the house of Ood, so called because of God's appearing to him there twice (Gen. xxviii. 11; XXXV. 9) ; and there God confirmed to him the name of Israel, or prince of Ood. But ye Israelites, his descendants, have polluted Bethel by your idolatrous calf, and there you have forfeited God's favour and your own name. Sacoh found God at Bethel by his faith, but ye have lost Him at Bethel — which you have made a Beth-aven (iv. 15). — there he sjyake with ?«] God, in speaking to Jacob our father, spake to us his children (cp. on Deut. i. 6 ; v. 3 ; below, Heb. vii. 9, 10) ; what God promised to Jacob, God said to us, i.e. to all Jacob's cliildren by faith, to all true Israelites, even to the end of the world. 5. Even the LoED Ood of hosts ; the Lord is his memorial'] Jehovali, the Lord God of the hosts of angels who appeared to Jacob at Mahanaim (the two camps or hosts) ; the Lord God of the starry hosts of lieaven (whom ye worship as if they were God). See note on 1 Sam. i. 3. Tlie Lord, Who revealed Him- self by the Name Jehovah to Moses (Exod. iii. 13 — 15), the Everlasting, Self-existing One ; the One great Cause of all Causes, is His Memorial ; as He said to Moses (Exod. iii. 14), " I AM that I AM — the Lord God of your fathers, the God of A^braham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ;" this is My Name for ever, and this is My Memorial unto all genera- tions. 7. He is a merchanf] Rather, in Hosea's hold, abrupt style, Canaan. That is, Israel, is no longer worthy to be called Israel, the Son of Isaac, the Son of Abraham, but has become Canaan —the Son of Ham. Cp. Ezek. xvi. 3, " Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite." At the same time there is a reference to the mercantile character of Canaan, a name given to merchants generally (Job xli. 36. Isa. xxiii. 8. Prov, xxxi. 24. Oesen. 405) ; and therefore it is added, " the balances of deceit are in his hands." Cp. below, on Rev. vi. 5. 8. In all my labours — sin] All my labours bring icith them no iniquity that were sin {Vuly., Keil). •lacoh an example HOSEA XII. 9—14. XIII. 1, 2. to Israel. Before CHRIST about nch. 13."4.' o Le». 23. 42, 43. Neh. 8. 17. Zech. 14. 16. p 2 Kings 17. 12. t Heb. by the hand. q eta. 5.1. &6. 8. r ch. 4. 15. 5! 9. 15. Amos 4. 4. & 5. 5. sch. 8. 11. & 10. I. t Gen. 28. 5. Deut. 26. 5. u Gen. 29. 20, 28. xExoa.12. 50,51. & 13. 3. Ps. 77. 20. Isa, 63. II. Micah G. 4. y2 Kings 17. 11—18. t Heb. wilh billeniesaes. t Heb. Wuorft; seeEzek. 18. 13. & 24. 7, 8. z Dan. 11. IS. a Deut. 28. 37. a 2 Kings 17. 16, 18. ch. 11. 2. t Heb. Ihey add t(i sin. b ch. 2. 8. & S. 4. II Or, thf sacri- fcsojmen. c 1 Kings 19. IS. ° And "I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt "'will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, As in the days of the solemn feast. 1" p I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multipUed visions, And used simihtudes, f by the ministry of the prophets. •^ "i Is there iniquity in Gilead ? Surely they are vanity : They sacrifice bullocks in ' Gilgal ; Yea, ' their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields. '^ Ajid Jacob 'fled into the country of Syria, And Israel " served for a wife, and for a wife he kept slieep. 1^ ^ And by a prophet the Loed brought Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet was he preserved. ^* " Ephraim provoked him to anger f most bitterly : Therefore shall he leave his f blood upon him, ^ And his " reproach shall his Lord return unto him. XIII. 1 When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel ; But " when he offended in Baal, he died. 2 And now f they sin more and more. And '' have made them molten images of their silver, And idols according to their own understanding, All of it the work of the craftsmen : They say of them, Let |) the men that sacrifice ' kiss the calves. 9. And] But. The conjunction here has an adversative sense. Although Ephraim says this, yet God vpill have pity on him. — will yet maJce thee to dwell in tabernacles'] I will restore thee to the condition in which thou wast in the wilderness, when thou wast My people. Thou shalt dwell in tahernacles, and shalt also celebrate the great and joyous Feast of Taber- nacles — the crowning festival of the Hebrew year. The so- lemnity connected with the most glorious events of Hebrew history, and the typical foreshadowing of the Incarnation of the Son of God, tabernacling with men in their nature; and of their dwelling with Him, and of His dwelling with them for ever hereafter in heaven. See the notes on Lev. xxiii. 34. 42. Deut. xvi. 13. 16. 2 Chron. viii. 13. Ezra iii. 4 ; and below, Zech. xiv. 16—19; and on John i. 14; vii. 2. Rev. vii. 15 ; xxi. 3. 10. / have also spoJcen by the fropTiets] Or rather, / have spoien upon the prophets ; I have come down upon them by My Spirit, and have spoken by their mouths. Cp. 2 Pet. i. 21. — visions] Compare Num. xii. 6 — 8, Joel ii. 28. — similitudes] Or parables, as when God compares Himself to a Husband (Isa. liv. 5) or to a Vinedresser (Isa. v. 1). 11. Gilead] JjiteriMy, Jf Gilead is iniquity {Vulg., Arabic). IJ even Gilead on the east of Jordan, as well as Gilgal on the west — the scenes of God's love to Israel — have become iniquity in the abstract (cp. on vi. 8), then Israel is come to nought. Jacob prayed to God in Gilead, and was protected by Him. But in Gilead, ye who boast yourselves to be Jacob's posteritj', rebel against God and worship idols ; therefore ye shall perish, ye shall come to nought. — Gilgal] Even in Gilgal, the scene of God's love to Israel. See above, on iv. 15 ; ix. 15. — their altars are as heaps] Their altars, which are not God's altars, are no better than heaps of rude stones that are gathered together in the furrows of the field, and are to be carried aw.ay, because they mar the fertility of the soil. 12. And Jacob] Or, yet Jacob, your father, was an example of faith and obedience to God, Who mercifully preserved and blessed him in his exile and wanderings, as He blessed your fathers in the wilderness. Jacob served even Laban faithfully, for many years, when he was a wanderer in exile in Syi'ia, a heathen and idolatrous land ; and I greatly blessed him there, and brought him back from Padan Aram to Canaan. Rut you, his posterity, who glory in his name, do not imitate Jacob : you will not serve God, even in the good land which He 21 has given you ; therefore, ye shall not enjoy Jacob's blessings but he carried away captive from Canaan to a foreign ana heathen country beyond Padan Aram, Therefore, O Israel, do thou emulate thy father Jacob : weep and turn to God, wrestle with Him in prayer, and thou shalt prevail also, and recover thy name o^ Israel (S. Jerome). 13. by a prophet] By Moses, sent to your fathers to deliver them from Egypt, and to write the Law at Mount Sinai for them and for you. But ye have forgotten all these mercies. — was he preserved] Literally, was he kept. Israel was l-ept (like a flock) by Moses, whom God appointed to be His shepherd. As the Psalmist says, " He led His people like sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron " (Ps. Ixxvii. 20). Hosea repeats the word from i'. 12. Israel kept sheep for a wife ; and Israel (his posterity) were kept like sheep by God. The Vulgate has, rightly, '^ servavit " in v. 12, and servatus est in v. 13. 14. Therefore shall he leave his blood upon him] God shall not wipe away Israel's blood-guiltiness from him, but leave it upon him. Cp. Josh. ii. 9. 2 Sam. i. 10. How wonderfully has this been fidfilled in the execution of the imprecations which the Jews pronounced upon themselves when shedding the blood of Christ. *' His blood be upon us and on our children !" (Matt, xxvii. 25). Cn. XIII. 1. IV hen Ephraim spake trembling — died] Rather, when J^phraini spake, there was trembling (see Targum and Aben lUzra, Kimchi) ; that is, as long as Ephraim feared God, God made the nations to fear Ephraim (Deut. ii. 25; xi. 25, 1 Chron. xiv. 17. Cp. Esth. viii. 17 ; ix. 3. Job xxk. 21) ; he exalted himself in Israel, he became strong and prosperous, but when he offended in Baal, by idolatry and rebellion against God, theu Ephraim, who was once so prosperous, perished. Cp. Amos ii. 2. 2. They say of them. Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves] The grammatical rendering of this passage seems rather to be. They say to them. Let sacrificers of men kiss calves. And this is favoured by the greater number of ancient versions. See Sept., Vulg,, Syriac, Arabic i and see the margin. The sense is as follows : — The votaries of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan alleged that their form of religion was a re- formation of heathen worship. Many of the Israelites (in the wilderness, and in the days of Solomon) had fallen away to the worship of Moloch, and had become sacrificers of men (1 Kings xi. 5. Amos v. 26. Cp. on Lev. xviii. 21. Deut. xviii. 10. Thou hast destroyed thyself. HOSEA XIII. 3—13. Israel's conversion, a birth. ^ Therefore tliey shall he '' as the morning cloud, And as the early dew that passeth away, " As the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, And as the smoke out of the chimney. * Yet "^I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, And thou shalt know no god but me : For s there is no saviour beside me. ^ ''I did know thee in the wilderness, ' in the land of f great drought; ^ '' According to their pasture, so were they filled ; They were filled, and their heart was exalted ; Therefore ' have they forgotten me. '' Therefore '" I will be unto them as a lion : As " a leopard by the way will I observe them : '^ I will meet them ° as a bear that is bereaved of her tvhelps, And will rend the caul of their heart, And there ■^ill I devour them like a lion : f The wild beast shall tear them. ^ Israel, ^ thou hast destroyed thyself, "I But in me f is thine help. " II I will be thy king : ' where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities ? And thy judges of whom ' thou saidst. Give me a king and princes ? ^ ' I gave thee a king in mine anger. And took him away in my wrath. 2 " The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up ; his sin is hid. ^ " The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him : He is y an unwise son ; For he should not ^ stay f long in the place of the breaking forth of children; Befoe CHRIST about Rlsa. 43. II. & 45. 21. ll Deut. 2. 7. & 32. in. i Deut. 8. 15. & 32. 10. t Hell, drottghls, k Deut. 8. 12, 1-1. & 32. 15. t Hell, the beast oflhefiiltl. p Prov. 6. 32. t Heb. in thy help. II Bather, Whe, thy king ? Kii ; Hobhea then i prison, 2 Kings 17.4. r Deut. 32. 38. ch. 10.3. Jer. 30. 6. y Prov. 22. 3. s I Sam. 8. 5, 19. t I Sam. 8. 7. Si 10. 19. & 15.22, 23. & 16. I. ch. 10. 3. u Deut. 32. 34. Job 14. 17. xlsa. 13. 8. 2 Kings 19. 3. t Heb. a time. 2 Kings xvi. 3 ; xvii. 17 ; x.Ki. 6 ; xxiii. 10. 2 Cliron. xxviii. 3 ; xxxiii. 6. Ps. cvi. 36. Jer. vii. 31 ; xix. 5 ; xxxii. 35. Ezek. xvi. 21 ; XX. 26. 31. Amos v. 26. Jerobcim (it was pleaded by his adherents) wrought a change for the better among them. How could they scruple at, or be offended by, the milder worship of Jehovah under the form of calves set up by him ? Let sacri- ficers of human victims turn away from their sanguinary orgies, and let them kiss the cilves at Bethel and at Dan. On Jcissiiig, as an act of adoration, see on 1 Kings xix. 18. Job xxxl. 26, 27. 3. smoke out of the chimney'] Or, out of the window — the lattice ; the houses had no chimney. 5. I did know thee] I loved thee. 6. According to their pasture'] The more abundantly I fed them, the more they kicked against Me. There is a reference here to Deut. viii. 11 ; xxxi. 20 ; xxxii. 15. The warnings which God gave them by Moses have been despised, and they have committed thoie very sins, against which the warnings were given. 7. toill I observe them] I will lie in wait against them. Cp. Jer. V. 6. 9. Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself] Rather, Israel, thy destruction is from this, that thou art against Me who am thy help. Thou hast destroyed thyself by rebelling against thy Saviour. Here is a clear statement that men are authors of their own destruction, and not God, Who willeth that none should perish, but that all men should bo saved ; Jer. xxvii. 13. Ezek. xviii. 31, 32; xxxiii. 11. Cp. Isa. xlv. 22; and below, ou 1 Tim. ii. 4. 2 Pet. lii. 9. Bp. Sanderson, m. 150. Bp. An- dreives, v. 308. 10. I will be thy Icing] Rather, Where is thy Icing, that he may help thee in all thy cities ? Cp. Deut. xxxii. 37—39. The word {ehi), rendered where, occurs also in v. 14. Cp. Ewald, § ] 04 ; Oesen. 16 ; and see the margin here. 11. I gave thee a Tcing in mine anger] God, Wlio was the King of Israel, and Who was virtually rejected by them when thev asked for an earthly king (1 Sam. viii. 7)i gave to Israel, 25 first Saul, and then to the Ten Tribes he gave Jeroboam, chosen by themselves; and He punished them by their own choice. So He had done to the men of Shechem who chose Abjmelech. See Judges ix. 1 — 57. So God ever deals with those who sin against Him. He punishes them by means of their own sins. Cp. Isa. Ixvi. 4. Jer. ii. 19. 12. ioiiHfZ «J5] As in a purse. See on Job xiv. 17. "My trans- gression is sealed up in a bag, and Thou sewest up mine iniquity." C]i. Deut. xxxii. 34, 35. " Is not this laid up in store with Me, and laid up among my treasures ?" God notes men's sins, and keeps them in remembrance; and so men, by presuming on God's forbearance, and by obstinate continuance in sin, "treasure up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath " (Rom. ii. 5). Israel's conveesion a Spieitual Childbieth. 13. The sorrows of a iracailing woman] Israel, enduring in exile the punishment of the sin which it has conceived, is com- pared to a woman suffering the pangs of parturition. But this chastisement of its banishment and captivity is a merciful one ; it is designed to bring it to the blessedness of the new birth in Christ, and to a glorious resurrection from the womb of the grave, through Him Who is the first-born of every cre.ature (Col. i. 15), the first-begotten of the dead (Col. i. 18. Rev. i. 5). We may compare the imagery in Micah iv. 10. Isa. xiii. 8; xxvi. 17 ; and especially our Blessed Lord's words, " A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow because her hour is come, but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world " (John xvi. 21). What a joyful day will that be, when (with reverence be it said) Christ shall have been conceived in the womb of the Jewish Nation (cp. St. Paul's words. Gal. iv. 19), and have been brought forth by its faith into the world ! — He is an untvise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children] The metaphor derived from childbirth is continued. Israel is an unwise child; in that ho lingers in the womb (in loco diruptionis vulvae ; see 2 Kings xix. 3. Isa. xxxvii. 3), instead of being born into the light of day. Conversion and Birth. HOSEA XIII. 14—16. XIV. 1. Birth and Resurrection. Befi.re CHRIST a Isa. 25. 8. Ezek. 37, 12. •t Heb. the hand. b ICor. 15.54,55. c Jer. 15. C. Horn. 11. 29. (J See Gen. 41.52. & 48. 19. e Jer. 4. 11. Ezek. 17. 10. & 19. 12. ch. 4. 19. ^eU oS t Heb. Nahum 2. 9. II Fulfilled about 721, 2 Kings 17. 6. f 2 Kings 18. 12. g2 Kings 8. 12. & 15. 16. Isa. 13. IG. cb. 10. 14, 15. Amos 1. 13. Nahum 3. 10. '* " I will ransom them from f the power of the Grave ; I will redeem them from Death : "• Death, I will be thy plagues ; Grave, I will be thy destruction : " Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes, '^ Though ^ he be fruitful among his brethi-en. ' An east wind shall come. The wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness. And his spring shaU become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up He shall spoil the treasure of all f pleasant vessels. "^ II Samaria shall become desolate ; ' For she hath rebelled against her God : * They shall fall by the sword : Their infants shall be dashed in pieces, And their women with child shall be ripped up. XIV. ^ Israel, ^ return unto the Lord thy God ; '' For thou hast fallen by tliine iniquity. Israel is compared to a woman iu cluldbivth, and to a babe to be born, because the characteristics of mother imd infant are united in it. Israel, stubbornly lingering in the obstinacy and blindness of unbelief and impenitence, instead of hasten- ing to be converted to the true faith, and to be spiritually born to light and life in Christ, is compared to a babe lingering in the darkness of the womb (on this use of the Hebrew verb amdd, see 2 Sam. i. 10. 2 Kings iv. 6; xiii. 18), instead of hastening to be brought forth into the world. Isaiah adopts the same metaphor : *' Before she travailed she brought forth, before her pain came she was delivered of a man child. Who hatli heard such things ? Who hatli seen such things ? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day ? or shall a nation be born at ouce ? for as soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her cliildren " (Isa. l.vvi. 8). There is a special propriety in the adoption of this figure here, in connexion with the Patriarch Jacob, whose example has just been propounded for tlie imitation of Israel, and who showed Jiis eager haste to be born by laying hold of his brother's heel in the womb. See above, xii. 3. So ought Israel to feel a holy yearning, and to show an impatient alacrity, to be born into the pure and bright daylight of the Gospel of Clirist. Ob- serve, also, the beautiful conuexion with wliat follows. The Bieth peoii tue Geave. 14. IwiHraiisom themfrom the power (or hand) of the Grave'] Christ here speaks. He Who has given Himself a ransom for all (1 Tim. ii. 6), He Who has destroyed Death by dying on tlie cross (Heb. ii. 9. 14), He, the First-born of the Dead, deliveis us by the glorious Childbirth of His Resurrection from the dark womb of Sin and the Grave, into the light and life of Immor- tality ; see below, on John xvi. 21. Col. i. 18. Rev. i. 5; and the noble words of St. Ignatius at the prospect of deaths as quoted below on Phil. i. 21. "MyiWA is now at hand; do not hinder me from being born; allow me to see the pure light ; when I arrive there I shall be a man of God." There is a happy harmony in tlie imagery here blended with what has gone before. Well may the Prophet now speak of the glory of the Resurrection, after speaking of Israel's con- version. For what will Israel's conversion be ? It will be like the resurrection of the dead bones, in the valley of which Ezekiel speaks, and to which he compares it. See Ezek. xxxvii. " What," says the Apostle, " shall the receiving of them " (the Jews) " be, but life from the dead I" (Rom. xi. 15.) The Christian Fatliers apply these words to Christ (see S. Jerome here, and S. Gregory, Hom. xxii., in Evangelia ; and Eusebius, Demons. Evang. iv. 12) ; and it is remarkable that the Hebrew Rabbis also undeistood these words as referring to the Messiah. See A Lapide here, who says, "The Hebrew Prophets are accustomed to subjoin joyful things to what is sorrowful, and to cheer-tbe desponding nation by briglit antici- pations of the futui-e; and to pass, by a rapid flight, from the miseries of their own times, to the gladsome days of Clirist." — O Death, I will be thy plagues ; O Grave, I will be thu 26 destruction'] So the passage is rendered by the Vrdgaie, and hence the Latin Fathers accept the sense as being, " O Mors, ero mors tua, ero morsus tuus, O Interne " (5. Jerome, S. Gregory, S. Aug. See A Lapide) ; and this gives a very good sense. Cp. Heb. ii. 14. But sound and sober criticism cannot assent to the assertion of the learned Roman Catholic expositor, Cornelius A Lapide, who does not hesitate to say, " Ex definitione Ecclesise (Romans) et Concilii Tridentini, sess. 4, sancientis Vulgatam Versionem esse genuinam Sauctam Scripturam, de fide certum est. banc hujus loci esse sententiain, Ero mors tua, O Mors, ero morsus tuus, O Inferne, sic enim babet Vulgata Versio." Here is one proof, among many, of the fallibility of tlie Council of Trent, and of the Roman Church, and of the injury inflicted by them on Biblical Criticism. The right rendering of Hosea's words is, '' Death, where are thy plagues " (see above, xiii. 10, and Dr. Fasey and Keil liere ; and so they are translated by Sept., Syriac, Arabic, and by St. Paul (1 Cor. xv. 55), Grave, where is thy destruction ? (i. e. thy power to destroy.) Christ here sounds the pa;an of His victory over Death and the Grave, and enables and encourages every Christian believer to do the same. This chapter, therefore, and the following one, arc fitly appointed by the Church to he read as proper Lessons on the Wednesday before tlie Festival of Christ's Resurrection (cp. ]ip. Pearson, Art. xi., p. 387. Bp. Andrewes, ii. 256 ; iii. 229. Davison on Prophecy, Disc, vi., part ii., pp. 196, 197) ; and St. Paul's noble Sermon — the most glorious homily on the Resur- rection that ever was preached — in which he adopts these words of Hosea, is fitly appointed to be read at the Burial of the Dead, for the purpose of ministering comfort to mourners, by the hope of Resurrection. — Sepentance shall he hid from mine eyes] Although thou hast been faithless to Me, I will never repent of My love to thee, and of My victory, by which thou art delivered. Compare the similar use of the word repentance, in Rom. xi. 29, "The gifts of God are without ie])entance ;" He never revokes what He has once given to His Church. Cp. 1 Sam. xv. 29. Ps. Ixxxix. 34. Ps. ex. 4. 15. Though he be fruitful] Rather, Because (so Sept., Vulg.) he (Ephraim) will bear fruit (as his name i'/iAram signifies, see Gen. xli. 52) among his brethren, therefore the promise in the foregoing verse will stand firm. Because (ox when) Ephraim is fruitful among his brethren, i. e. as soon as Israel begins to bring forth fruits of repentance and faith in Christ, then all these glorious promises will be fulfilled to him. A new paragraph begins with what follows ; I have therefore altered the punctu- ation. ■ — An east wind shall come] God shall deprive Ephraim of his external prosperity, and prepare him for conversion by salu- tary discipline inflicted by the arms of Assyria, which will desjjoil Israel, and take Samaria, aud carry the people captive. Cp. above, X. 14. 2 Kings xviii. 9 — 12. But tins chastisement mW eventually lead to the conversion of Israel. See what follows : ' Israel, return unto the Lord thy God " (xiv. 1). Israel's repentance. HOSEA XIV. 2—9. Their restoration in Chnst. ^ Take with you words, and turn to the Lord : Say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and || receive us graciously : So will we render the " calves of our lips. ^ ■* Asshur shall not save us ; ^ we will not ride upon horses : •^ Neither will we say any more to the work of our hands. Ye are our gods : ^ For in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. * I will heal '' their backsHding, I will love them ' freely : For mine anger is turned away from him; ^ I will be as "^ the dew unto Israel : He shall || grow as the lily. And f cast forth his roots as Lebanon ; " His branches f shall spread, And ' his beauty shall be as the olive tree, And "■ his smell as Lebanon. ^ " They that dwell under his shadow shall return ; They shall revive as the corn, and || grow as the vine ; The II scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. ^ Ephraim shall say, ° What have I to do any more with idols V '' I have heard him, and observed him : I am like a green fir tree. '' From me is thy fruit found. ^ 'Who is wise, and he shall understand these things ? Before CHRIST d Jer. 31. IS, &c. ch. 6. 13. 5: 12. 1. e Deut. 17. 10. Ps. 33. 17. Isa. 30. 2, IC. & 31. 1. f ch. 2. 17. ver. 8. gPs. 10. 14. & 68. 5. h Jer. 5. 6. & 11. 7. ch. 11. 7. i Eph. 1. 0. k Job 29. 19. Prov. 19. 12. II Or, blossom. t Heb. slrike. t Heb. shall go. 1 Ps. 52. 8. & 128. 3. m Gen. 27. 27. Cant. 4. 11. II Or, blossom. [I Or, memsrial. ver. 3. p Jer. 31. 18. q James 1. 17. r Ps. 107.43. Jer. 9. 12. John 8. 47. & 18. a/. Iseael's Repentance; God's Geacious Peojiises to the Jews on theie Conveesion. Cn. XIV. 2. Tafre with you words] God does not require costly sacrifices from the Jews ; but He asks for heart-felt con- fession of sin and earnest prayer. — receive us gracioiisli/'] Literally, receive good. Israel, when it repents and believes in Christ, will no longer trust, as it has done, in its own merits ; but will ascribe all to God's free grace, and say, Since Thou, God, hast taken away our iniquity, receive as Thine own due whatever good is left in us. Receive Thy own gift, especially the merits of Christ imputed to us, Who is the perfect good, and the Giver of all good to men. " Whensoever," says S.Augustine, " we do any good, God works in us and by us ; and whenever He rewards our acts. He crowns His own gifts." Observe the affecting and pathetic dialogue which now follows between God and penitent and returning Israel, Their recon- ciliation to Christ, as here displayed by the Prophet, is like the embrace of Joseph and his brethren who had sold him, which was typical of that blessed event (see above, on Gen. xlv. 3 — 12) ; and like the scene in our Load's Parable, where the father runs and falls on the returning prodigal's neck, and kisses him. See Luke XV. 20. — toill we render the calves of our lips'} We will not any more worship the calces of Bethel, nor rely on the calves of burnt sacrifices ; but we will ofier the calves of our lips in con- fession of our sins to Thee, and in penitential jirayer and joyful thanksgiving. As the Psalmist says (Ps. li. 15 — 19; Ixix. 30,31), " I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than a bullock that hath horns and hoofs." Cp. Heb. xiii. 15, where the Apostle softens tlic metaphor into " the fruit of our lips :" the original would not have been so generally intelligiljle to his readers. This Section, xiv. 2—10, with Joel ii. 15—27, is the Haphtarah, or Proper Prophetical Lesson, in some Synagogues, to Deut. xxxii. 1—52, the " Song of Moses," where he recounts God's mercies to Israel. ISEAEL WILL BELIEVE AND EEPENT, AND TEUST ONLY IN GOD. 3. Asshur shall not save us] Here follows Israel's confession to God : We will no longer look to Assyria for lielp (cp. v. 13 ; vii. 11 ; viii. 9), nor will we put our trust in horses from Egypt (Isa. xxxi. 1. Ps. XX. 7), but we will flee to Thee for succour, and rely on Thee, God. 4. / will heal] God gives an immediate and gracious answer 27 to the confession and prayer of Israel. Let the Hebrew Nation mark this and be encouraged by it. God will heal Isbael in Cheist. 5. JTe shall groio] He shall blossom. Contrast this beautiful imagery of God's love and grace to Israel, with the description of Israel's desolation consequent on their sins (xiii. 15), 7. Thet/ that dwell under his shadow shall return] Rather, They shall return; dwelling under his shadow they shall revive (as) corn, or, by corn (Sept., Vulg., Syriac, Arabic). The Targum has the remarkable words, " They shall dwell under the shadou) of the Messiah." Christ shall give tliein corn — the bread of life, in Himself; and they shall blossom as the I'ine, being engrafted as living branches in Him Who is the True Vine (John xv. 1 — 4). 8. Ephraim shall say. What have I to do any more with idols ?] God's merciful dispensation in the captivity and disper- sion of the Jews, may already be recognized in their abandon- ment of idolatry. Cp. above, Introd. to Ezra, p. 299. The rest will one day follow. May He hasten the time ! — I have heard him, and observed him] Israel, having for- - saken idolatry, will have a vision of the 'I'rue God. The veil will be taken from their eyes, and they will see Him in Christ (2 Cor. iii. 14—16). — fir tree] Cyijress. — From me is thy fruit found] This i.s God's answer la Christ to Israel, when penitent and restored. A fir-tree, or cypress, is unfruitful in itself, but God enables it to bear fruit. Such is man : a dark, funereal, isolated, and barren Cypress by nature, but fruitful as a Vine, in luxuriant and joyful exuberance, by grace. As our Lord says (John xv. 4), " The branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the Vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me." Tliis chapter is therefore appropriately appointed by the Church to be read, as on the Wednesday before Easter, when we thank God for the benefits derived from the Death, Buri.Tl, and Resurrection of Christ, Who, speaking of His future passion and of its fruitfulness, said, " Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit " (John xii. 24). Ephraim (whose name signifies fruitful) derives its fruit from Christ. The conversion of the world— both of Jew and Gentile— is a Harvest which springs up in Christ, Who is the seed sown in the grave, and Who rose as the first-fruits from it (1 Cor. xv. 20). God is justified in all His Wats to Iskael. 9. Who is wise, and he shall understand tteie thintrs ?j This AH the Lord's loays to Israel HOSEA XIV. 9. are right and good. Before CHRIST about 725. s Prov. 10. 29. Luke 2. 34. 2 Cor. 2. 16. 1 Pet. 2. 7, 8. Prudent, and he shall know them ? For ' the ways of the Lord are right, And the just shall walk in them : But the transgressors shall fall therein. is tlie sum of the whole book. Hosea (whose name signifies Saviour) justifies God's ways to Israel, ever since His choice of Israel to be a favoured nation, even to the end of time. To those who are not wise, but who cavil at God's doings and carp at His Word, the history of God's Ancient People, the Jews, is a hard problem, an unintelligible riddle, an insoluble enigma. They may even take occasion from it to charge God with weakness and caprice. But he that is wise toill understand these things; he that is prudent shall know them; for the ivays of the Lord are right. Hosea proves this. He shows that all the dispensations of God to Israel have ever been, and ever will be, dispensations of Love ; and that in all of them Se is their Saviour (Ps. cvi. 21. Isa. Ixiii. 8), and that the Angel of His Presence is even now saving them if they will be saved, even in their afiSiction and by their chastisement; and that in His love and in His pity He redeems them (Isa. Ixiii. 9). Even in their punishment there is mercy to Israel. Their captivity and dis- persion, first by the arms of Assyria, and afterwards by those of Kome, were designed by God to wean them from their sins, and to bring them by faith and repentance to Himself. Already in great measure they have had that effect. The Jews have cast away their idols [v, 8). They no longer look to the Assyrias and Egjfpts of this world for help. Many of them have been already brought to God in Christ. All the Apostles and Evan- gehsts of Christ were Jews; Christ Himself was a Jew, and He said that " Salvation is of the Jews " (John iv. 22). The Gospel has gone forth from Sion ; and the Christian Church, first planted at Jerusalem, and watered by the dews of the Holy Ghost descending there, as the dew fell at first on Gideon's fleece, is extending itself over the threshing-floor of the world; (see above, on Judges vi. 36—40). And in due time the dispersed of Israel will believe in Clirist, and will be united with their Gentile brethren in the Church, which is the true Zion, and is ** the Jerusalem which is above, the mother of us all" (Gal. iv. 26), and will join with them in praising Him, and will acknow- ledge that "all the ways of the Lord are right; and the ju,-t shall walk in them." This last verse, which is the Epiphonema of Hosea's pro- phecies, is an echo of that at the close of the 107 th Psalm, which celebrates God's mercies vouchsafed to Israel, in redeeming them and gathering them from all countries of the world (Ps. cvii. 1 — 8), and to all mankind in His wonderful works of Crea- tion and Redemption ; and which ends with the words, " The righteous shall see it and rejoice, and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord" (Ps. cvii. 43). The Prophet Jeremiah also, weeping over the ruin of Zion, declares that the judgment is just, and takes up Hosea's words and says, " Who is the wise man, that mag understand this, and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken ? ' (see what follows there, Jer. ix. 12 — 16) ; and the Apostle St. Paul, in commenting on the history and prospects of Israel in his Epistle to the Romans (Rom. ix., x., xi.), where he grounds himself on the prophecies of Hosea (Rom. ix. 25, 26. Cp. Hos. ii. 23 ; i. 10), sums up his argument with an exclamation even of a more fervent character, " the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out. For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things : to Whom be glory for ever. Amen " (Rom. xi. 33. 36). JOEL. , ^ THE word of the Lord that came to Joel tlie son of Petliuel. ' Hear this, ye old men, And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the laud. ^ Hath this been in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers ? "^ Tell ye your children of it. And kt your children tell their children, And their children another generation. " f That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten ; And that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten ; And that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. Before CHRIST about 810. c Deut. 2S. 33. ch. 2. 25. t Heb. The rest duenf the paiiiii Ch. I.] The name Joel signifies that Jehovah (the covenant God of Israel) is the God of all the world. Joel, in his name and in his prophecies, is, as we shall see, the precursor of lEzeJciel. The main design of his prophecy is, to show that Jehovah declares His judicial omnipotence iu various waj's, by which He punishes the ungodly, and maintains aud vindicates His own glory and truth, and eventually rewards His o;vn people. God does this by physical judgments, such as plagues of Locusts, Earthquakes, Pestilences, Famines, which are God's Prophets and Preachers to the World, and are like Heralds of Christ's Coming, aud Apparitors of the great Assize. They call men to repentance, and prepare them for Resurrection, .Tudgment, and Eternity. Cp. Ezek. xiv. 21. Hos. ii.ll— 13. Amosvii. 1— 8. Nah. i. 5. Joel also shows that God proclaims His judicial omnipotence hy National Visitations— such as the invasion and captivity of Israel by the armies of Assyria, and such as the destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of Babylon and of Rome. And lest it should be imagined that the God of Israel and Judah had been overcome by those heathen Nations who have been used by Him for the chastisement of the sins of His people, .Joel reveals the future overthrow of heathen nations, and of all enemies of Christ aud His Church. He describes the grand con- summation of the Last Day and Universal Judgment, when it will be proved by the supremacy of Christ, the King and Judge of all, that Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel, is indeed the God of the Universe, and the Saviour of His faithful people. Joel, the Prophet of Judgment, follows Hosea (Saviour), the Prophet of Salvation. In this combination God's attributes of Mercy and Judgment are displayed. Thus Joel prepares the way for our Lord's prophecy on the Mount of Olives, when, looking down upon Jerusalem, He spake of judgments in the natural world, " famines, pestilences, and earthquakes " (Matt. xxiv. 7), aud of national judgments, especially the destruction of Jerusalem, as preparatory warnings of His own future Coming to judge the World (Matt. xxiv. 7—31 ; xxv. 31). Indeed, by a sublime and magniticcnt process of prophetic foreshortening, Joel teaches us to see the majestic form of Cheist standing in the background above all the Judgments, physical and political, from the Prophet's own age to the Day of Doom; and he en.ables us to descry the Great Wiite Throne (Rev. xx. 11) towering in awful perspective above them all ; and he combines them all as hours in one grand diurnal generalization, which he calls " the Day of the Lord," which will have its Sunset in the Universal Doom of Quick and Dead. Joel \b quoted by Amos i. 2, who there takes up the warnings of Joel iii. 16, and who also closes his prophecy with gracious pre- dictions similar to those of Joel (cp. Amos is. 13. Joel iii. 18). Joel 29 is also cited by Isaiah (xiii. 6. See Joel i. 18). We may accept the opinion that he prophesied before Amos, i. e. before the twenty- seven years of the contemporaneous reigns of Uzziah and Jero- boam II., i.e. before B.C. 810 {Ussher, Pasey, Keil). Joel is placed in the Hebrew Canon between Hosea and Amos, who, according to the inscriptions and contents of their prophecies, prophesied under Jeroboam II. and Uzziah; his position in the Canon is tantamount to a testimony from the Hebrew Church, that he lived and prophesied at that time. For further remarks on the prophecies of Joel, see the Intboduction prefixed to this Volume. 1. Joel^ i. e. Jehovah is Ood. — Fethuel] i. e. persuaded of God. 4. That which the palmerivorm hath left hath the locust eaten'] Literally, That which the gnawing (locust) hath left, the multiplying (locust) hath eaten. These words (in Hebrew, gdzam, arbeh) represent different kinds of locusts, distinguished by the characteristics which their names indicate (Pocock, Pusey, Keil). Some interpreters have supposed them to mean the locust in its various phases of development ; but this opinion is not probable. The Prophet is describing successive swarms of locusts (see Lev. xi. 22), rapidly succeeding one another, and not gradual transformations of one genus of locusts after long intervals. The marvel (as S. Jerome observes) is, that they all come in one year. — thai which the canlcerworni hath left hath the caterpiller eaten] Literally, that which the Jiclcing (locust) hath left, the devouring (locust) hath eaten (Pocock 215). It h.as been supposed by some, that these locusts are sjun- bolical of invading armies, and that these four different and successive swarms represent the four great nations hostile to God's people, viz. the Babylonians, Medo-Persians, Greeks, aud Romans (Ephraem Syrus, S. Cyril, S. Jerome, Haymo, Hugo, Lyranus, Hengstenberg, HavernicJc). But though, doubtless, something more is meant by these locusts than what their name literally implies, and though it can hardly be doubted that the Prophet passes on from these physical locusts to hostile armies, especially from the North (ii. 20. Cp. on i. 9 and ii. 17, and Pusey, pp. 99—102), yet we must not discard the natural sense. Indeed, the great lesson which the Prophet Joel teaches us is this, that God executes His judgments by His agents in the natural world, such as locusts, and thus displays His Justice and Omnipotence as the great Moral Governor of the Universe ; and speaks to men and nations by the voice of nature, and warns them by means of physical phenomena, which are instruments of His primitive retribution for sin, to prepare for a Judgment to come. The literal sense, with such a moral as this, has been Locusts, precursors JOEL I. 5—16. and preachers of Judgvunt. Before CHRIST about d Isa. 32. 10. e So Prov. 30. 25, 2G, 27. ch. 2. 2, II, 25. gTsa.5. C. t Heb. laid ; fig tree for a barking. h Isa. 22. 12. i Prov. 2. 17. Jer. 3. 4. p Isa. 24. 11. Jer. 48. 33. See Vs. 4. 7. Isa. 9. 3. q Jer. 4. 8. s 2 Chron. 20. 3,4. ch. 2. 15, 16. t Lev. 23. 36. B Or, day of u 2 Chron. 20. 13. X Jer. 30. 7. y Isa. 13. 6, 9. ch. 2. I. ^ Awake, ye drunkards, and weep ; And howl, all ye drinkers of wine, Because of the new wine ; '' for it is cut off from your mouth. " For " a nation is come up upon my land, Strong, and without numher, '' Whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. ^ He hath ^ laid my vine waste, and f barked my fig tree : He hath made it clean bare, and cast it away ; The branches thereof are made white. ^ ^ Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for ' the husband of her youth. ^ ^ The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord ; The priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn. '" The field is wasted, ' the land mourneth ; for the corn is wasted : " The new wine is || dried up, the oil languisheth. 1' "Be ye ashamed, ye husbandmen; Howl, ye vinedressers. For the wheat and for the barley ; Because the harvest of the field is perished. '- ° The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth ; The pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, Even all the trees of the field, are withered : Because i" joy is withered away from the sons of men. 1^ "i Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests : Howl, ye ministers of the altar : Come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God : For ' the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. '^ ' Sanctify ye a fast, call ' a || solemn assembly. Gather the elders and " all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, And cry unto the Lord, '* " Alas for the day ! for " the day of the Lord is at hand, And as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. ^® Is not the meat cut off before our eyes. maiutaiued by Tlieodoret iiud many of the Rabbis, and by Bochart, Pocock, DelUzsch, Fusey, Keil. We shall, however, see abundant reason for believing that the judgments of God, inflicted on His sinful people by means of locusts, real as they are, arc symbolical of and introductory to, other judicial visitations, even to the Day of Doom. St. John, in the Apocalypse, adopts the imagery of Joel, and describes one of God's severest visitations under the figure of a swann of locusts (see Rev. ix. 3), which the Prophet calls " God's great army " (ii. 25), spreading desolation every where. 6. a nation is come] The devastations caused by the locusts, as described in these passages, are well illustrated from his own experience by Dr. Tiiomson, Land and Book, pp. 416 — 418, and by Br. Pusey, pp. 985. 101. 106. 9. The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lokd] Here is an intimation that the Prophet, when speaking of tlio plague of locusts, sees something beyond them, namely, a hostile army of invaders profaning the Temple of God ; and that his prophetic vision glances as it were with a lightning flash, to the times of the Chalda?an Invasion, and to the cessation of the dailg sacrifice in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (cp. Dan. viii. 11, 12. 2 Mace. v. 15; vi. 1,2—6; x. 1 — 5), and to a similar calamity in the Roman siege [JosejphuSf B. J., vi. 2, 1); and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and even to the Anticbristian persecution of the Christian Church in the last days. Events which, in the course of history, follow one another in a long train at wide intervals, are here brought together into a single scene. This is a characteristic of Joel's style. He, the divinely-inspired Prophet of the Lord, speaks with the attri- butes of Him Who inspired him, and with Whom "a thousand years are as one day." See below, ii. 18 — 20. With marvellous celerity the prophet passes from his own age to the Day of Doom — "Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand." Cp. a similar transition in Isa. ii. 1 — 21, and S. Jerome here. 13. Oird yourselves'] With sackcloth. See Jer. iv. 8, who adopts the language of Joel. 15. Alas for the day ! for the day of the LoKD is at hand] Cp. Isa. xiii. G. 9. — a destruction from the Almighty] Words adopted by Isaiah, xiii. 6. God is called Almighty {JShaddai) four times by the Prophets ; here, and in that passage of Isaiah, and twice in Ezekiel, i. 24; x. 5. Joel's special mission was, to declare the Omnipotence of Jehovah the Lord God of Israel, the Judge of all tlie men and nations of the world. The beasts groan. JOEL I. 17—20. II. 1—3. The Earth is desolate. Yea, ^joy and gladness from the house of our God ? ''' The f seed is rotten under their clods, The gamers are laid desolate, The bams are broken down ; For the com is withered. '^ How do ^ the beasts groan ! the herds of cattle are perplexed, Because they have no pasture ; Yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. '^ Lord, '' to thee will I cry : For "" the fire hath devom-ed the || pastures of the wilderness. And the flame hath burned all the trees of the field; -*' The beasts of the field '' cry also unto thee : For ^ the rivers of waters are dried up, And the fire hath devoured the pastures of the "ndldemess. II. 1 " Blow ye the || trumpet in Zion, And "" sound an alarm in my holy mountain : Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble : For " the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand ; 2 ■* A day of darkness and of gloominess, A day of clouds and of thick darkness. As the morning spread upon the mountains : ' A gi-eat people and a strong ; 'There hath not been ever the like, Neither shall be any more after it, even to the years f of many generations. ^ ^ A fire devoureth before them ; And behind them a flame bumeth : The land is as '' the garden of Eden before them,. Before CHRIST about 810. zSee Deut. 12 6, 7. & 16. 11 14,15. t Heb. grains. c Jer. 9. 10. ch. 2. 3. I] Or, habitations, d Joli 38. 41. Ps. 104. 21. & 145. 1.5. el Kings!?. 7. & 18. 5. cch. I. IS. Obad. 15. Zeph. 1. 14, 15. d Amos 5. 18, 20. f Exod. 10. 14. h Gen. 2. 8. & 13. 10. Isa. 51.3. 13. How do the leasts groan !~\ The sympathy of cattle with mau iu sufl'ering, and even their punishment for his sin, as in the Flood, is a great mystery ; but the Hebrew Prophets, as Isa. xvi. 10 ; x.\iv. 7. 11. Jer. xii. 4. Hos. iv. 3, and Joel here, the Prophet of Judgment, include the animal and the vegetable world in man's destiny, both for good and evil. It is surely a solemn thought, that the sins of men and of nations are represented by Joel as adding to the groans of the brute creation, and as withering the fields, and blighting the shrubs and trees in the sylvan glades and noble forests of the natural world ; and it is also a cheering thought, that he also displays man's repentance as having a beneficent and ex- hilarating effect on the herds and flocks of the pasture, and as imparting fruitfulness to the earth, and adding freshness to the landscape, and brighter colours to the flowers of the field. See below, ii. 21—24. Why this is so, we do not yet know, but wo shall know hereafter. That it is so, no devout reader of the prophetical Books of Holy Scripture can doubt. We have also the comfort of belie\nng, that though the Earth sufl'ers now from man's sin, yet it will afterwards rejoice with our redeemed and glorified humanity, and be restored in new beauty, through the merits of Christ, and through the faith and obedience of His saints. See below, ii. 21, and Eom. viii. 22, 23. 19. O LoKD, to thee will I cry~\ This is the only remedy in our distress, to cry uuto Thee, O Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel. On the Name Jehovah, or Jauve, see Pococlc here, p. 252, and Fusey, on Hosea xii. 5, and above, on E.xod. vi. 3. Cn. II. 1. Slow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in wy holy mountain"] Here is another proof that the Prophet passes, from God's judicial visitation inflicted by an army c f locusts on His people for their sins, to another and SL'\er' r divine Judgment, executed by a hostile force of terrible in- vaders, who are His instruments in the work of divine retribu- tion. A trumpet is not blown, and an alarm in not sounded, to 31 muster the people to ward oft" a swarm of locusts ; but these warnings are uttered to gather together the people to repel the force of the invader. See Num. x. 9. Jer. iv. 5. Hos. v. 8; viii. 1; aud Amos iii. 6, where the same language is used, and where the word rendered cry aloud, is the same as here translated sound an alarm. There is good reason, therefore, in 5. Jerome^s remark here. While we read of locusts, let us think of invading armies — "Dum locustas legimus, Babylonios cogitemus;"and so S. Cyril and Theodoret. — the day of the Lord cometh'] The judicial visitation of this army of locusts reveals in the background other judgments of God on Jerusalem and on the world. The Prophet sees behind it the armies of Babylon and Rome, and the legions of Angels, with Christ coming at the Great Day to judge all Nations. The imagery of those several successive judgments, is blended together in a grand prophetic picture, as is done in our Lord's prophecy on the Mount of Olives, concerning His Coming to judge the world with legions of Angels (see below, on Matt. xxiv. 3, p. 85) : so that it is not easy to discern which phenomena in the prophetic scenery belong to the one event, and which appertain to the other. — nigh at hand] The Day of the Lord is ever at hand; it is present already in the eye of Him to Whom a thousand years are as one day ; it comes to every man virtually at his death, which cannot be far distant ; and it is foreshadowed in every physical and national visitation. See Phil. iv. 5. 1 Pet. iv, 7 ; and on 2 Pet. iii. 3—8. 2. There hath not been ever the liJce] Words repeated from the sacred history of Joshua commanding the sunlight to stand still — a prophetical figure of the act of the Divine Joshua at the Day of Doom. See above, the notes on Joshua x. 12 — 11. 3. before them] Rather, before it, before the Day. The Day of the Lord, by a magnificent abstraction, is revcalctl to the eye of the Prophet as a terrible Army. He sees it in the locusts; he sees it in the invading forces of Babylon ; he sees it iu the legions of Rome coming against Jerusalem — as in some sublime Alpine scenery, one ridge and range of mountains rises above The Datj of the Lord JOEL II. 4—12. is at hand. Before CHRIST about n.Ter S. 21 l.am. 4.8. Nahu m •>.. tHeb . pot. Jer. 9. 21. p John 10. 1. ver. 31. ch. 3. 15. Matt. 24. 29. e Jer. 25. 30. ch. 3. 16. Amos 1. 2. t ver. 25. u Jer. 50. 34. He [ Jer. 30. r. Amos 5. 18. Zeph. 1. 15. y Num. 24. 23. Mai. 3. 2. ' And behind them a desolate wilderness ; Yea, and nothing shall escape them. * *" The appearance of them h as the appearance of horses ; And as horsemen, so shall they run. ^ ' Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, Lilie the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, " As a strong people set in battle array. ^ Before their face the people shall be much pained : " All faces shall gather f blackness. *■ They shall run hke mighty men ; They shall climb the wall hke men of war ; And they shall march every one on his ways, And they shall not break their ranks : ^ Neither shall one thrust another ; They shall walk every one in his path : And n-hcn they fall upon the || sword, they shall not be wounded. ^ They shall nm to and fro in the city ; They shall run iipon the wall, They shall climb up upon the houses ; They shall ° enter in at the windows ■" hke a thief. '^ ■• The earth shall quake before them ; The heavens shall tremble : ' The sun and the moon shall be dark, And the stars shall withdraw their shining : '^ ' And the Lord shall utter his voice before ' his army : For his camp is very great : "For he is strong that executeth his word : For the " day of the Lord is great and very terrible ; And ^ who can abide it ? ^2 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, another, and some grand gigantic peak towers above them all — so, the 6gure of Christ, the universal King, Conqueror, and Judge, and His judicial Throne, rise behind and above all these successive stages of judicial visitations. — escape them] Escape it. 4. The appearance of Oiem] lis appearance. It is to be regretted that our Translation has these words in the plural number : in the original they are in the singular, and refer to the Day of the Lord. The grandeur of the prophetic picture consists mainly in the concentration of various phenomena of Nature and History, past and future, into one great whole, " tlie Day of the Lord." Cp. v. 11. — of horses] Locusts are often compared to horses by the Arabians (i?ocAarf; Pocock, 261); and cp. Rev. ix. 7. "The shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle." 5. Like the noise of chariots'] A prophetic image anticipated from the Assyrian invasion of Judah. See Isa. xxxvii. 2i, " By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon.** 6. Before their face] Before its face : the singular number. See on v. 4. — the people] Rather, pfo^?fit, generally. All nations shall tremble at Christ*s Coming to Judgment. — All faces shall gather llackness] Some render it, all faces shall withdraw their beauti/ {Oesen., Keil); but the verb kahats, here used, occurs more than 120 times in the Bible, and by Joel himself three times besides in this passage, e. g. li. 16 ; iii. 2. 11, and always in the sense of to gather, to collect. Cp. Lam. iv. 8. Nah. ii. 10. — blackness] The ancient Versions connect the word here used (jo&rur) with parur, a pot, so called from a root signify- 32 ing to boil (Oesen. 665, 689), and regard it as meaning " oUas nigredinem,*' or " fuliginem.'* Modern Lexicographers render it brightness {Gesen. 665 ; Fuerst, iii. 2), and translate the phrase, all faces draio in their brightness, and become pale. But, as was before observed, the sense of the word rendered gatlier (kabats), is not to withdraw so that a thing may be absent, but to collect so that it may be present. Cp. Pocock, 261; Puse!f,-p. 117. 8. fall upon the sword] Here is another proof that the Prophet is not speaking merely of locusts. Men do not go forth against locusts with sword and spear, any more than they sound a trumpet to muster an army to repel them (!•. 1). But this prophetic imagery declares that the executioners of God*s judgments are irresistible. 9. like a thief] As our Lord Himself says, " Behold, I come as a thief* (Kev. iii. 3; xvi. 15); "The Day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night'* (1 Thess. v. 2. 2 Pet. iii. 10). Cp. Matt. xxiv. 43. Luke xii. 39. 10. before them] Before it (in the singular number); i. e. the Day of t lie Lord. 11. And the LoBD shall utter his voice] Rather, And the Lord niters (or, literally, uttered, in the perfect tense) Sis voice. The Prophet, in divine ecstasy, sees the judgment already present ; he beholds the Day of the Lord ; be bears the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God (1 Thess. iv. 16) ; the sun and tlie moon are dark, and the stars withdraw their shining. Compare our Lord's words concerning His Second Advent (Matt. xxiv. 29. Mark xiii. 24, 25). — his camp] His machanih, the word used by Jacob to describe the host of Angels at Mahanaim (Gen. xxxii. 2). 12. Therefore also now] Rather, yet even now : it is not yet too late, but it soon will be. Turn unto the Lord ; JOEL II. 13—20. and He will have mere]]. '■ Turn yo even to me with all j'our heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning : '^ And " rend your heart, and not '' your garments, And turn unto the Lord your God : For he is " gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. And repenteth him of the evil. '■* ^ Who knoweth if he will return and repent, And leave ' a blessing behind him ; Even ''a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God ? '^ ^Blow the trumpet in Zion, '' Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly : '^ Gather the people, ' sanctify the congi-egation, ^ Assemble the elders, ' gather the children, and those that suck the breasts : " Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, And the bride out of her closet. ''' Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep " between the porch and the altar, And let them say, ° Spare thy people, Lord, And give not thine heritage to reproach, That the heathen should || rule over them : ^ Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God ? '^ Then will the Lord "^ be jealous for his land, ' and pity his people. ^^ Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you ' corn, and wine, and oil, And ye shall be satisfied therewith : And I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen : ^^ But ' I will remove far off from you " the northern aiimj, And will drive him into a land barren and desolate, With his face " toward the east sea, And his hinder part ^ toward the utmost sea. And his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, Before CHRIST about SCO. z Jer. 4. 1. llos. 12. C. t 14. 1. a Ps. 34. 18. S: 51. 17. b Gen. 37. 34. 2 Sam. 1. II. Job 1.20. c Exod. 34. 6. Ps. 86. 5, 15. Jonah 4. 2. d Josh. 14. 12. 2 Sam. 12. 22. 2 Kings 19. 4. Amos 5. 15. Jonahs. 9. Zeph. 2. 3. e Isa. 65. 8. Hag. 2. 19. f ch. 1. 9, 13. g Num. 10. 3. ver. 1. hch. 1. 14. i Exod. 19.10,22. kch. 1. 14. I 2 Chron. 20. 13. m 1 Cor. 7. S. agaitiMl them p Ps. 42. 10. & 79. 10. & 115.2. Micah 7. 10. q Zech. 1. 14. S: 8. 2. r Deut. 32. 30. Isa. 60. 10. 8 Seech. I. 10. Mai. 3. 10, 11,12. X Ezek. 47. 18. Zech. 14. 8. y Deut. II. 24. — Turn ye even to me with all your heart"] This section, to f. 18, is aiipropriately appointed liy tlie Cliurch for the Epistle ou the first of the Forty Days of Lent. On tliis text see Bp. Andrewes, Sermons, i. 356. 13. rend your heart] Ps. li. 17. Ezek. xxxvi. 26, not only your garments. Cp. Hos. vi. 6. 14. a meat offering] Which liad hcen taken away (i. 9. 13). Means of grace, the ministrations of tlie Word and Sacraments, are gifts of God, and proofs of His love, and will be vouchsafed iu richer abundance as a reward to a penitent people. 15. Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast] A remark- able expression. The true way of repelling our enemies, and averting the judgments which God sends by them, is by repent- ance. It is vain to blow the trumpet and sound an alarm to muster our armies (see v. 1), unless we obtain God*s favour by repentance. The most effective trumpet is that which calls a Nation and a Church to wield its spiritual weapons of fasting and prayer in the Zion of the Church. The spiritual anny of Christian congregations is the most powerful national defence. 16. elders — children — bridegroom — bride] Even they who were unfit to take part in a literal battle, or were exempt from going to war (Deut. xxiv. 5), must all form part of the spiritual army ; and a very importimt work they perform in it. Even the people of Nineveh recogniz.ed this truth. See Jonah iii. 5 — 10; cp. Judith iv. 9 — 13. The prayers of aged men and women, and of babes and sucklings, though disparaged by this world, are very powerful with God. As Tertullian says (Apol. 39), " Ha;c vis Deo grata est." The Omnipotent allows Himself to be overcome by faith, and lioaveu itself is stormed by a siege of prayers. 17. between the porch and the altar] The brazen altar of Vol. VI. Takt II.— 33 burnt-sacrifice. See above, 1 Kings vi. 3. 2 Chrou. iii. 4; iv. 1; vii. 7; viii. 12. — That the heathen should rule over them] Or, scoff at them (see margin), saying what follows. Here is another proof that the locusts mean a great deal more than a physical visitation. See the next verses. 19. corn — wine — oil] Here also Joel adopts the words of Hosea (ii. 22). 20. / ^riU remove far off from you the northern army] The word " army " is not in the original, and would be better omitted. The promise is, •' I will remove from you the northern one, or northman.*' Locusts did not come from the north to Palestine ; and this word is doubtless used to show that the judgment hero described is not a mere physical plague. Cp. Fusey, 99. 123. The word north (tsaphdn) has an ominous sound. Tlie north is, in Scripture, the quarter from which judici.al visitations come (Jer. vi. 1 ; cp. above, on Lev. i. 11. Ps. xlviii. 2). This was realized to Israel and Judah in the invasions of Assyrians and Babylonians, and afterwards of the Romans, from the north. Cp. Isa. xiv. 31; .xli. 25. Jer. i. 13—15; vi. 22; xv. 12; xxv. 9; t\\\. 6. 10; 1. 3. Ezek. xxvi. 7. — east sea] The Dead Sea. — the utmost sea] The hinder or westfcrn sea — the Mediter- ranean. — his stinh shall come up] The stench of the carcases of his army. This was signally verified in the destruction of the vast Assyrian army of Sennacherib before the walls of Jerusalem, iu the Valley of Hinnom, or Tophet, the type of Hell, .^ud in the deliverance of Jerusalem, in answer to the prayer of Hezekiah. Sec above, on Isa. xxx. 33; xxxiii. 14; xxxiv. 3; xxxvii. 36. D The righteous Teacher promised. JOEL II. 21 — 28. Promise of the Holy Ghost. Before CHRIST about bisa. 41. 16. & 61. 10. Hab. 3. 18. Zech. 10. 7. II Or, a teacher of i Heb. according to righteoumesl. c Lev. 26. 4. Deut. 11. 14. & 28. 12. d James 6. 7, e ch. 1. 4. fver. 11. g Lev. 26. 5. Ps. 22. 26. See Lev. 26. 26. Micah 6. 14. h ch. 3. 1 r. i Lev. 26. 11, 12. Ezek. 37. 26, 27, 28. kisa. 45. 5, 21, 22. Ezek. 39. 22, 28. 1 Isa. 44. 3. Ezek. 39. 29. Acts 2. 17. mZech. 12. 10. John 1. 39. n Isa. 54. 13. Because f he Lath done great things. "' Fear not, land ; he glad and rejoice : For the Lord will do gi-eat things. " Be not afraid, "■ ye beasts of the field : For " the pastures of the wilderness do spring, For the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. ^^ Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and ^ rejoice in the Lord your God : For he hath given you || the former rain f moderately, and he '^ will cause to come down for you "* the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. -■* And the floors shall be full of wheat. And the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. -^ And I will restore to you the years ^ that the locust hath eaten, the canker- worm, and the caterpUler, and the palmerworm, ' my great army which I sent among you. -* And ye shall ^ eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you : And my people shall never be ashamed. 27 '■ And ye shall know that I am ' in the midst of Israel, And that ^ I am the Lord your God, and none else : And my people shall never be ashamed. '8 'And it shall come to pass afterward, that I ""will pour out my spirit upon all flesh ; " and your sons and ° your daughters shall prophesy, your Acts 21. 9. That destruction was a prophetic figure of the destruction of all the enemies of Christ and of His Church in the latter days. See above, on Isa. Ixvi. 24. — Because he hath done great things'] Rather, as in the margin, he hath magnified to do great things. Such is the pride and presumption of the Seunacheribs of this world. They magnify themselves against God Himself. Cp. Jer. xlviii. 26. 42. Lam. i. 9. Dan. viii. 8—11. 25; xi. 36. Obad. 12. Zeph. ii. 8. 10, in all which passages the same word is used. But their haughtiness will be laid low : and the Lord will do great things and bo magnified upon them. 21. Fear not, O land] Rather, Fear not, earth. The Prophet had declared that the Earth and the animal and vege- table kingdoms are involved in suffering for man's sin ; and he now reveals the joyful truth, that they will be renewed by God's mercy, on man's repentance and faith, which are made available by the Incarnation, Death, and Resun-ection of Christ. Cp. Isa. Ixv. 16, and the notes there. Amos ix. 13 ; and sec the Apos- tolic development of this gracious assurance in Rom. viii. 19—22. 2 Pet. iii. 12, 13. Rev. xxi. 1. ThB TElCnEH WHO WILL LEAD TTNTO RlGHTEOITSirESS. 23. he hath given you the former rain moderafelti~\ Or rather, he hath given you the Teacher for righteousness. See margin and Vulg. and Targum. The word here rendered former rain, is, moreh (the hiphil participle of ydrah, to cast, to shoot, to lay foundations, to direct, to prescribe, whence thoruh, the Law); it is very rare in the sense of early rain, the word for which is yoreh. Sengstenberg denies that it is ever correctly rendered rain. See, however, the last clause of this verse. Ps. Ixxxiv. 6, is disputable. But this word is often found in the sense of teacher, as 2 Kings xvii. 28. 2 Chron. xv. 3. Prov. t. 13. Isa. ix. 15; xxx. 10. Hab. ii. 18; and so Pagnini, Munster, Castatio, Vatablus; and so Sabbi Japhet, cited by Aben Fzra, and other Jewish Expositors ; and Abarlinel says, " This is King Messias;" and so most Jewish Expositors (Pocock, 293). Joel seems to refer here to the words of Moses (Deut. xxxii. 2), "My doctrine shall drop as the rain." 8. Jerome here says, " Vos quoque, quos just^ post pceni- tentiam voco filios Sion et Ecclesise, la;tamini et gaudete, quia dcdit vobis Deus Pater Docforem justitice, et descendere fecit pluvias tempovaneas atque serotinas ; potest pluvia temporauea et serotiua Vetus et Novum accipi Testamcutum." Compai-e 3i Sengstenberg and Keil, who adopt the rendering, Teacher; and Dr. Ptisey says, " It seems most probable that the Prophet pre- fixes to all the other promises that first, all-containing promise, of the Coming of Christ." The promise is, that the Lord will send ih-e Teacher, who will bring them unto righteousness, that is, not only guide them to it by His precepts and example, but make them partakers of righteousness, and give them justification by faith and mystical incorporation in Himself, Who is " the Loed our bighteous- NES3" (Jer. xxiii. 6). This has been declared by Hosea (x. 12), "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord till He come and rain righteousness upon you." And thus the Hebrew Prophets prepare the way for the teaching of St. Paul (Rom. iii. 21 — 26), and this is confirmed by what follows, namely, by the promise of the sending of the Holy Ghost (c. 28). Justification by Christ must precede, in order that Sanctifica- tion by the Holy Spirit may follow. The sprinkling of Christ's Blood at the Passover must precede the sprinkling of the dews of the Spirit at Pentecost. — in the first month] Or, at the beginning ; OT, first of all. 25. cankerworm — caterpiller — palmerworm] See i. 4. 27. in the midst of Israel] Though Israel is dispersed through- out the world, yet wherever they may be, the Lord will be " in the midst " of them, when they turn to Christ and become mem- bers of His Universal Church. They will find Zion there. Here, also, Joel adopts the words of his predecessor Hosea. See Hos. xi. 9. 28. it shall come to pass afterward] After the sending of the Teacher of righteousness. See v. 23. The PEOiiisE op the Holy Ghost. 28 — 32. I will pour out my spirit upon allfiesh — shall call] After the promise of the gift of the Teaohee Who will lead Israel unto righteousness, and Whose Coming will be to Israel an indwelling of the Lord Jehovah in the midst of them, the Prophet proceeds to speak of the Coming of the Holy Ghost, consequent on the Incarnation, Death, Resurrection, and Ascen- sion of Christ. That this prophecy began to be fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Ghost at Jeru- salem, we know from the Holy Spirit, speaking by St. Peter in Acts ii. 16 — 18, where the sacred writer adopts the words of the Sepiuagint here. The Spirit was poured upon allfiesh, because "the Word was made flesh" (Juhu 1. 14), and of Him the Eestoration in Christ, JOEL II. 29—32. III. 1, 2. Valley of JcTioshaphat. old men shall dream dreams, yom* yoimg men shall see visions : -^ And also upon ■" the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. ^ And '' I -mil shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 3^ ' The sun shall be turned into darkness. And the moon into blood, ' Before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. 2- And it shall come to pass, that 'whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered : For " in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deHverance, As the Lord hath said, And in "" the remnant whom the Lord shall call. III. ' For, behold, ^ in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, ^ ^I will also gather aU nations, and will bring them doAMi into " the valley of Jehoshaphat, and ^ will plead with Before CHRIST about Col. 3. 11. q Matt. 24. 29. Mark 13. 24. Luke 21. 11, 25. rlsa. 13.9, 10. 1, 15. ver. 10. Matt. 24. 23 Mark 13. 24 Luke 21. 2.^1 u Isa. 46. 13. & 59. 20. Obad. 17. Ro . 11. 2G. X Isa. II. II, IG. Jer. 31. 7. Micah 4. 7. & 5. 3, 7, 8. Rom. 9. 27. & 11. 5, 7. a Jer. 30. 3. Ezck. 38. 14. b Zech. 14. 2, 3,4. 16. Ezek. 38. 22. Baptist said, " He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire" (Matt. iii. 11). Cp. Acts i. 5. The original, in i\ 29, lias, upon the menservanfs and the maidservants. This is paraphrased by the Septuagint into, jipon my manservants and upon maidservants ; and by St. Peter into, on mil servants and on my handmaidens, implying that not only will the Spirit be poured out upon all flesh (i. e. Gentiles as well as Jews ; see Isa. xi. 15. Acts ii. 39, " and all that are afar off:" cp. PococJe, 303), but that the humblest members of society, male and female slaves (cp. 1 Cor. vii. 21), will become God's servants in Christ by the unction of the Holy Ghost. St. Peter adds (Acts ii. 18), and they shall prophesy, which is not in the original — a cheering assurance, that even from the once-enslaved tribes of Africa, and from among the children of Ham, will be raised up Preachers of Christ. The word pillars (like palm-trees, PococTc, 308) of smoTee — probably referring to the pillar of clond in the wilderness, — is paraphrased by the Septuagint and St. Peter into " vapour of smoke;" the allusion in the original (and in Cant. iii. 6, where see note) not being intelligible to non-Hebrew readers. 31. TTie sun shall he turned into darkness"] In a certain sense, these prodigies were fulfilled in the Coming of Christ to punish Jerusalem, at the siege and capture of that city by the Romans. See Joseph. B. J. iv. 4. 5, and vi. 5. 3 ; and below, on Acts ii. 19. Cp. on Matt. xxiv. 6, 7. 29. The Hebrew Rabbis suppose that these phenomena will be visible in the great battle of God's Church with the Powers of Gog and Magog (see FococTc, 310), that is, in the great conflict of the latter days. See above, on Ezek. xxxviii., xxxix. But their fuU accomplishment is reserved for His Personal Advent at the Great Day. Cp. Matt. xxiv. 29. Luke xxi. 25. Tertullian, Chrysostom, Theodoret. Joel, as is usual with him, passes with a rapid flight from the one event to the other. There is a similar comprehensiveness in the Apocalypse (xiv. 14—20). After the promise of Christ's Coming, and of the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Prophet proceeds to describe the awful pheno- mena of the Universal Judgment; for whoever despises the Gospel of Christ, and grieves the Holy Ghost, will feel the terrors of that dreadful Day (A Lapide). — terrible day~\ The Sept., and thence St. Peter (Acts ii. 20), CilU it "notable day." It is probable that the Sept. substituted nireah (from raah, to see) for norah (from yara, to fear). 32. whosoever shall call on the name of the Loed shall he delivered] In the midst of this vision of Judgment there is Love. There is an universal Judgment to come; and there is an uni- versal offer of Mercy to all who flee to Christ for Salvation ; and this Salvation, which first began to be preached by the Apostles at Jerusalem, is freely offered to all in the spiritual Sion of His Church. — deliverance'] Rather, a remnant delivered, or escaping (Heb. peleytah). See Sept., and cp. Isa. iv. 2; x. 20; xxxvii. 31, 32. Jer. 1. 29. Ezek. xiv. 22 ; above, v. 3, and Obad. 14. This word is exactly represented by the aa^Sjiivoi in the Acts of the Apostles. The words in Acts ii. 47, "those who should be sa\ Cil," or, rather, " those who were escaping," refer to this passage of Joel, — as the Loed hath said] Some suppose, said by Ohadiah, 33 17. 21 ; but the opinion is more probable, that Joel here claims divine inspiration for himself, and characterizes his own words as words of God. Ohadiah followed Joel. See on Obad. 10. Restoeation ts Cheist. Ch. III. 1. in those days — I shall bring again the captivity'] After the preaching of Christ, th^ Teacher for righteousness (ii. 23), and after the mission of the Holt Spirit poured out upon all nations (ii. 28), I will turn the captivity (like a stream thrown back in its course; see Ps. cxxvi. 4; cp. Hos. vi. 11) of Judah and Jerusalem, and will bring them back to their home in Christ and His Church. Cp. above, on Ezek. xxxv.; note at the end of the chapter, pp. 238, 239. Yet further, in a larger sense, Judah and Jerusalem com- prehend and include Israel also. Those words not only denote that Nation according to the flesh, hut include all the True Israel of God ; all who are of the faith of Abraham, though not of his seed; all true believers, of what nation soever; all members of that heavenly new Jerusalem (Heb. xii. 23. Rev. iii. 12 ; xxi. 2), the Church of Christ, of which Judah and Jerusalem of old were an image and a type. Many of these may now be said to be strangers, pilgrims, and captives ; but the promise is also to them. Cp. Focock, 319. The Vailet op Jehoshaphat. 2. I will also gather all nations, and vnll bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat] The restoration of Israel to God in Christ and His Church, will be followed by a judicial visitation of God on all hostile powers, and on all forms of Anti" christianism. This is described here in prophetic language as the hriiigiiig them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. They will be brought down from the lofty mountains of their arrogance, pride, and presumption, into a lowly valley, the valley of Jehoshaphat, which means, judgment of the Lord. Cp. V. 12, "Let the heathen come up" (or, let them rise up in insurrection against God, and come) " to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there vrill I sit to judge the heathen round about." It has been supposed by some (since the days of Eusebius and Jerome) that the Valley of Jehoshaphat had a local existence on the cast side of Jerusalem, in the deep ravine more com- monly called Kidron or Kedron, between the city and the Mount of Olives ; and this name, since the fourth century of the Christian era, has been applied to that valley. Mr. Crroi'e (Bib. Diet. i. 951) well observes, that "at what period the name was first applied to that spot is not knon-n : there is no trace of it in the Bible or Josephus." And there is no reason to believe that the appellation J'alley of Jehoshaphat was known to the ancient inhabitants of Jerusalem as a proper name, designating the Valley of Kedron, or any other in the neighbourhood of their city. It is probable that the Valley of Kedron, as well as of Hinnom, was the scene of the great destruction of the im- mense Assyrian host of Sennacherib — a destruction which, as we have seen (on Isa. Ixvi. 24. Jer. xxxi. 39; 1. 21), was regarded by the Prophets as figurative of the future overthrow and extinction of God's enemies; and perhaps this circumstaiuvi Tlie ovcrthrotv of God's enemies. JOEL III. 3—11. The Great Conjlkt. Bnfore CHRIST about ♦ Heb. deiiral Dan. 11. 3S. f Heb. theanr. of the Grecian i Ezck. 23 42. k Jer 6 20. ISee Isa. 8. 9, 10. Jer. 46. 3, 4. Ezek. 38. 7. t lleb. Sanctify. P Or, icythei n Zech. 12. tbem there for my people and for my heritage Israel, Avhom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. ^ And they have ' cast lots for my people ; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. ^ Yea, and what have ye to do with me, '' Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine ? ^ will ye render me a recompence ? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head ; ^ Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly f pleasant things : ^ The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto f the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border. '' Behold, '■ I will raise them out of the place wliither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head : ^ And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the baud of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the ' Sabeans, to a people "^ far off: for the Loed hath spoken it. ^ ' Proclaim j'e this among the Gentiles ; f Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, Let all the men of war draw near ; let them come up : 1* ■" Beat your plowshares into swords. And your |1 pruninghooks into spears : ° Let the weak say, I am strong. '^ "Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, may have connected the name Valley of Jelwshaphat with them. There may have been tliis historical basis for the appellation. Joel may be foretelling here the destruction of Sennacherib's army, as a typical foreshadowing of the future overthrow of all the enemies of God and His spiritual Sion. Tliis name. Valley of Jehoshaphat (which does not occur any where else in the Holy Scriptures), seems to be formed by Joel, by a grand process of abstraction and generalization familiar to Hebrew poetry (like the name Valley of decision, or lif cutting to pieces, in v. 14), as a symbolical representative of Divine Judgment wherever executed, and may be compared to the word Armageddon (i. e. Mount of cutting to pieces) in the Apocalypse. See below, on Rev. xvi. 13 — 16. We have seen many similar examples of this process, in the Song of Solomon, and in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. See above, Introd. to Canticles, 11. 135 ; and on Jer. xxxi. 39 ; 1. 21. Ezek. xxiii. 23. This has been already observed by the Hebrew Kabbis, as David Kimchi here, " Xomlnatur vallis Josaphat de nomine judicii Dei ;" and 5. Jerome, " Omnis, qui judicatur propter peccata sua, in ralle j^ositus est, quai vocatur Josaphat, i.e. Dei judicium." Munster (on ii. 19) says, "Joel here clearly shows that the Valley of Jehoshaphat is not limited to any one place ; but wheresoever God executes judgment on the persecutors of His Church, there is a Valley of Jehoshaphat." Compare Tococi, 337. In this view, this prophecy of Joel may be compared with the larger prophecy of Ezekiel, concerning the gathering to- gether of infidel Powers in the latter days, against Christ and His Church, and their full and final discomfiture. See above, on Ezek. xxxviii., xxxix. " Nos " (says iS. Jerome) " haec juxta tropologiam eos qui contra Ecclesiam dimicant, et qui sub Anti- Christo advcrsus sanctos Domini puguaturi sunt, accipere pos- sumus ; qui idcirco cougregantur, ut pereant." Joel's prophecies are like cartoons, which were afterwards enlarged and filled up in the grand pictures of Ezekiel. Cp. Ezek. xxxiv. to the end, with Joel. They close with the same cheering assurance of God's perpetual presence with His Church ; and what has been said in the notes on those pro- phecies above, may sen'C as a commentary here. — they have scattered among the nations^ As the Assyrians did, and afterwards the Chaldeans and Romans. Joel foresees the dispersion of Israel and Judah. 3. thei/ have cast lots'] As the Assyrians did (Nah. iii. 10). Cp. Obad. 11. — have given a toy for an harlot] They have sold a Hebrew boy to a harlot for her hire, and a Hebrew girl for a night's 36 revelry. This was done by Assyrians, Chaldees, and still more by the Romans. Josephus describes (B. J. vi. 2. 9) how Titus, the conqueror of Jerusalem, disposed of 97,000 Jewish captives. Some were executed ; some sold as slaves ; some reserved to fight in the arena with wild beasts ; others to be led in the triumphal procession to the Capitol. In the times of the Jewish wars with Antiochus Epiphanes, a thousand slave- dealers followed the Syrian army, aud carried chains with them for Jewish prisoners (1 Mace. iii. 41. 2 Mace. viii. 11. 25. Joseph. Ant. xii. 7. 3). 4. what have ye to do with me~\ How have I wronged you, ye Philistines, Tyrians, Sidonians, that ye sliould indict such injuries on My People ? Will ye render Me a recompence 1 Have I done you any harm, that ye should seek to retaliate ? Woe to you, if ye thus strive with Me. I have not injured you, but ye have spoiled Me. The Philistines, Tyrians, and Sidonians ai-e symbolical representatives of all those classes of persons who sr.crilegiously rob the Church of God, and who make merchandise of her people, for their own aggrandizement or gratification. See A Lapide here. 5. ye have ialcen my silver and my gold] In the time of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, about B.C. 887. See 2 Chron. xxi. 16, 17. 6. Grecians] Heb. Xevanim (Gen. x. 2. 4. 1 Chron. i. 5. 7. Isa. l.\vi. 19. Ezek. xxvii. 13. Dan. viii. 21; x. 20; li. 2. Zeeh. ix. 13). 8. / ^cill sell your sons — into the hand of the children of Judah] Probably on the defeat of the Philistines by Uzziah (2 Chron. xxvi. 6, 7), and by Hezekiah (2 Kings xviii. 8). See on Isa. xiv. 28, 29. 31. Perhaps there may be also a prophetic reference to the victories of the Maccabees. This prophecy (says S. Jerome) is to be understood not only in a literal sense, but in a spiritual. The Prophet is foretelling the triumphs of the Israel of God — the Christian Church — which will overcome the heathen Nations, by the weapons of the Gospel, and will deliver them into the hands of the children of Judah, that is, of true believers, in order to be taught and guided by them in the faith of Christ. Compare note above, on Ps. cdix. 7—9. — Saieans] See Job i. 15, Ezek. xxvii. 22. 9. Vrepare war] Literally, Sanctify a war ; by God's com- mand, for the vindication of His glory. See above, on Jer. vi. 4. 10. Seat your ploicshares into sivords] The reverse of what is done in times of peace (Isa. ii. 4. Mic. iv. 3). 11. Assemble yourselves] Or, Hasten (Gesen, 616; Keil). The World's Harvest ; JOEL III. 12—18. The Salmtion of Zion, And gather yourselves together round ahout : Thither || cause '"thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord, '- Let the heathen be wakened, "^ and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat : For there will I sit to 'judge.all the heathen round ahout. '3 ' Put ye in the sickle, for ' the harvest is ripe : Come, get you down ; for the " press is full, the fats overflow ; For their wickedness is great ; '■• Multitudes, multitudes in " the valley of || decision : For '' the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision ; IS rpi^g ^ gyjj f^j2(i w^Q moon shall he darkened. And the stars shall withdraw their shining ; '^ The Lord also shall " roar out of Zion, And utter his voice from Jerusalem ; And "" the heavens and the earth shall shake : "^ But the Lord icill he the f hope of his people, xind the strength of the children of Israel. '^ So "* shall ye know that I am the Lord your God DwelUng in Zion, ^ my holy mountain : Then shall Jerusalem be f holy, And there shall no ' strangers pass through her any more. '^ And it shall come to pass in that day. That the mountains shall ^ drop down new wine, II Or, the LORD shall briltif dnun. p Ps. 10.1. 20. Isa. 13 3. q ver. 2. rPs. 96. 13. & 98. 9. & 110. 0. Isa. 2. 4. 8i 3. 13. Micah 4. 3. 8 Matt. 13. 39. Rav. 14. 15, 18. t Jer. 51. .'!3. llos. 6. II. u Isa. 63. 3. Lam. 1. 15. Rev. 14. 19, 20. or, Ihreshtny. ych. 2. 1. z ch. 2. 10. 31. a Jet. 25. 30. ch. 2. 11. Amos 1, 2, c Isa. 51. 5, C. t Heb. place of harbour. d ch. 2. 27. e Dan. 11. 45. Obad. 16. Zech. 8. 3. t Heb. holiness. f Isa. 35. 8. & 52. 1. Nahum 1. 15. Zech. 14. 21. Rev. 21. 27. g Amos 9. 13. TuE Woeld's IIaevest and Vintage. 13. Fat ye in the sicJcle — the press is full] These are the words of Christ, the Lord and Judge of all, to " the reapers," " the Angels." See Matt. xiii. 30—39 (S. Jerome). The etjtuee Uniteesal Judgment. Here are two metaphors, both of them symbolical of Judg- ment — the Harvest and the Wine-press. See below, on Rev. xiv. 14 — 20, where the same imagery is used. Christ is re- vealed as the principal Agent in these judicial visitations of the whole world. See Matt. xiii. 30. 39, and Rev. xix. 15, " He treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." In this prophetic description, God's judgments against the Nations, especially against the enemies of His People, which in the world's history may occupy a long period of time, are brought together and concentrated in one focus. They are comprehended in one great Harvest, in one great Vintage, the Harvest and Vintage of the Geeat Day, to which they were preparatory, and of which they form a part, in the Eye of God, Who sees all things at one view, and in the eye of the Prophet, who is inspired by Him. — get you domii] Rather, Tread ye, tT3.xa^\e under your feet, the ripe grapes of tlie nations in the wine-press of judgment. 14. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decisionj Or, in the valley of cutting to pieces, like sheaves crushed on the thresli- ing-floor by the sharp-toothed instrument which was formed with revolving cylinders, and by which they were threshed. The Valley of Jehoshaphat, or Judgment of God (see r. 2), is the World's threshing-tloor; and rebellious men and nations are compared to sheaves that have been reaped in the World's harvest, and are cast on the floor to be threshed. As Mercer well says, " Tallis decisionis est ubicumque Dominus impios Ecclesia; persecutores concidit." However numerous they may be in multitude, however furious the uproar they may make in their bold and blasphemous insurrection, raging against God (Ps. ii. 1, 2), yet Ho will gather them all together into the threshing-floor of His judgment, and cast them down prostrate there. Both ideas, namely of number and noise, are joined in the word hamonim used here, and rendered multitudes. See Oesen. 227. Cp. Judges iv. 7. 1 Sam. iv. 14; xiv. 19. Isa. xiii. 4; xvii. 12. Ezek. ixxi. 18; xxxix. 11. 16, "Gog and all his multitude," and the word Mamon-Gog used there, which connects that passage with the present, referring to the same great event. The vast aggregate of surging and tumultuous 37 multitudes will be mown down in the day of the World's harvest, and will be thrown into the Divine threshing-floor, with the same ease as that with which the reaper reaps a field, and flings the sheaves down on the floor (Mic. iv. 12) to be crushed by the sharp-toothed instrument (Hebr. charuts). Cp. Isa. xxviii. 27; xli. 15, and below, on Amos i. 3 ; and note above, on Prov. xx. 26, " A wise king," especially the Wise King, Which is Christ the Judge of all, " scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them," by which they are threshed. See also Isa. xxi. 10. Jer. li. 33. Mic. iv. 13, where the same metaphor is used; and John, Archax)!. Bibl. § G4; and Pocock, 342, 343. In the Apocalypse (as before observed) the word Armaged- don (lit. mountain of cutting ; see below, on Rev. xvi. 16) ex- presses the same truth. That prophecy speaks of a time when the enemies of Christ and His Churdi will be gathered together in a great conflict ; the issue of which will be that they will he routed and cut to pieces. 16. The LoED also shall roar out of Zion] As a lion from his lair. Here, also, Joel again takes up the language of Hosoa (Hos. V. 14). Cp. Amos iii. 4. Zion and Jerusalem here are not the city of the earthly Palestine, but the sanctified City of the Living God, which, taking its origin from Calvary, and from the place where the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost, has become the Universal Church, and enfolds the World. See above, on Isa. ii. 2, 3, and on Ezek. xxxv ; the note at the end of the chapter. Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, now roars from Zion. He preaches aloud with a voice of power in His Church ; and the Day is coming, when He will roar with a louder voice to destroy His enemies. He will deliver a fearful sentence of judg- ment, like the roaring of a lion, upon the ungodly, out of the Zion of the Church glorified '* Depart from Me : ye cursed, into everlasting fire" (Matt. xxv. 41). Sp. Hall, Pocock. Diodati. The Gloet of the Chuech. 17. Then shall Jerusalem he holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more] Such will be the condition of tlie Church glorified and triumphant. She will then be the pure, holy Bride, arrayed in fair linen clean and white (Rev. xix. 8. 14; xxi. 2), and without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing (Eph. v. 25 — 27). All things that oflend will have been rooted out of her field (Matt. xiii. 41). 18. the mountains shall drop down neiotoine] Compare Amos ix. 13 ; Zech. xiv. 6 ; and especially Ezek. xlvii. 1 — 12, describing the hjippy condition of the Church of Christ, under tlio gracious The fountain of life. JOEL III. 19—21. The Chitrch glorified. CHRIST 800. h Isa. 30. 25. t Heb. go. i Pa. 46. 4. Ezek. 47. 1. Zech. 14. 8. Rev. 22. 1. k Num. 25. 1. 1 isa. 19. l.&c. m Jer. 49. 1?. EzeK. 26. 12, 13. Amcyi 1.11. Ooad. 10. Isa. 4. 4. p Ezek. 48. 35. ver. 17. II Orj evenl Ihe LORD llial dwellelh And the hills shall flow with milk, '' And all the rivers of Judah shall f flow with waters, And ' a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, And shall water "the valley of Shittim. 19 ' Egypt shall be a desolation, And "" Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, For the violence against the children of Judah, Because they have shed iunocent blood in their laud. 20 But Judah shall || dwell " for ever, And Jerusalem from generation to generation ; -' For I will ° cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed : •" II For the Lord dwelleth in Zion. influence of the Holy Spirit, and of the Gospel of Christ, in- similar imagery derived from the natural world. The Fountain fbom the Loed's House. — a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LoED, ayid shall water the vallei/ of Shittim'] The fountain from the house of the Lord in Zion will flow down even to the land of Moab, and the barren valley of Shittim, far off from Jerusalem, once the scene of the sin of Israel's lust and idolatry (see Num. xxv.), but now to become the garden of the Lord. These words are not to be understood in a literal and carnal sense. No fountain ever did spring or could spring from the temple, such as to flow down into the plain of Moab (A Lapide). But the Prophet takes occasion from the existence of a real spring of water under the temple, to spirituahze that circumstance, and to apply it in a figurative sense. This image is expanded by Zechariah (xiv. 8), and much more by Ezetiel, who describes the living waters of the Gospel, issuing forth from the Lord's house, and making beautiful trees to flourish on its bank, and flowing down even into the Dead Sea of human corruption, and cleansing and making it teem with lite. See above, Ezek. xlvii. 1 — 12, and the Retrospect to it, pp. 286, 287, which may serve for a comment here. In the words of S. Jerome, slightly modified and para- phrased, " a fountain will flow forth from the house of the Lord, which is the Church of Christ. It is described by Zechariah and Ezekiel at the close of their prophecies. Its beneficent pur- pose will be, to change our barren land of Shittim (or acacias), which yields only thorns and briars, into fallow land of the Lord ; and to refresh our dry places with copious streams ; so that, in- stead of brambles, we may yield flowers ; and in order that in the same Moab, where Israel was guilty of harlotry, and was initiated into the foul orgies of Baal-peor, the lilies of chastity and roses of virgin modesty may flourish, and difi'use a sweet perfume." Christ Himself, Who pours forth the living waters of the Spirit in His Word and Sacraments ministered in His Church, 13 ever irrigating the dry and barren Shittims of this world's wilderness, once defiled by Moabitish lusts and idolatries, and is changing them into a holy Eden, a spiritual Paradise. 19. Sffi/pt— and Edom] Types of God's Enemies : Egypt, the foreign, open foe; Edom, connected with Israel by origin, the treacherous friend of the Church of God. See Prelim. Note to Isa. xiii., ixxiv., Ixiii., and to Jer. xlvi. ; xlix. 7. Ezek. xxv. 14; xxix. 2. 20. Judah shall dwell for ever'] From these words it is evident that the Prophet is not speaking of the earthly Jerusalem (as the Jews and Judaizers imagine), but of the Spiritual Zion, the Church of God, which will never be destroyed on earth (Matt, xvi. 18), and with which Christ will ever be present (Matt, xxviii. 20), and which will exist for ever in heaven (A Lapide). See also on v. 17. 21. I will cleanse theirhlood that Ihave not cleatised^ Iwill wipe off the score of bloodguiltiness that I have not wiped off. In this world God seems for a time to leave sinners to them- selves, and to let them escape with impunity. Rut the time is coming, when all unrepented sins of persons and nations, however they may seem to have escaped His notice, will be visited with full retribution. Cp. Ps. Iviii. 10, 11, and Rev. vi. 10. Or the sense may be (as S. Jerome suggests). In the Church of God I will cleanse the blood that I have not cleansed under the Levitical Law by the sacrifices ofl'ered in the Tabernacle and the Temple. Cp. Isa. iv. 4, " When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the Spirit of judgment and by the Spirit of burning." By means of " the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness in Zion," that is, by the Blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God, which cleanseth from all sm(l Johni. 7. Cp. Rev. i. 5; vii. 14), I will wash those clean who could not be washed by the ceremonial washings or bloodsheddings of the Levitical Law, or by any other means. This shall be done in the Church of God ; for ihe Lord dwelleth in Zion. — the LoKD dwelleth in Zion] The Prophet had promised that Judah should dwell (literally sit, abide, or remain) for ever (v. 20). That is, the elect of God shall dwell for ever in His holy habitation {Bp. Sail); and the reason is, because the Lord dwelleth, literally tahernaclelh, in Zion {Sept.). Cp. Rev. vii. 15 ; xxi. 3 where the same image is used. The prophecies of Ezekiel are summed up with the same assurance (given in their final words, Jehovah-shammah) of the Lord's perpetual presence with His Church. " Lo ! I am with you alway," says the Lord of all, "even unto the end of the world" (Matt, xxviii. 20), 8S AMOS. I. ^ THE words of Amos, nuo was among the herdmen of ^ Tekoa, which chrYIt he saw concernmg Israel ' in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the ^ eh. r/".' days of "^ Jerohoam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the 2Chro";2o:2o. 'earthquake. ^S-'lL. - And he said. The Lord will ' roar from Zion, "eTa^i's?"' And utter his voice from Jerusalem ; And the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, And the top of « Carmel shall wither. fsL'sTg"- '• Cn. I.] The prophecies of Amos arc a sequel to those of Joel. Joel, whose name signifies " the Lord (Jehovah) is God," had displayed in one comprehensive view the judgments of God brought together and concentrated in a grand climax, " the Day of the Lord." He had foreshown the destruction of all the Lord's enemies; he had also displayed His Dixnne Supremacy, and His everlasting love for the spiritual Zioa of His Church ; He had closed his prophecies with an assurance of the Lord's perpetual abiding in her. Amos, whose name signifies hearer, takes up the message and delivers it in several prophetic burdens of judgment (or massas; see on Isa. xxii., Prelim. Note) to the several Nations of the Earth. He marks also his own connexion with Joel by adopting, at the beginning of his prophecy, the closing words of Joel, sig- nificant of God's judicial Majesty in His Church, " The Lord will roar out of Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem " (i. 2). See Joel iii. 6. 16. For further remarks on this subject, see above, the IxTEO- DUCTION to the Minor Prophets generally. 1. herdmen] As he himself says (vii. 14), " I am no Prophet nor a Prophet's son, but a herdman and a gatherer of sycomore fruit." Amos, the shepherd of Tekoa, in the wilderness of Judah, loves to introduce pastoral imagery in his prophecies. The lions roar (i. 2; iii. 4), the conflict of the shepherd with the lion (iii. 12), the kine of Bashan (iv. 3) driven through a gap in a hedge, the cart full of sheaves (ii . 13), the bird in the gin of the fowler (iii. 5), and other rural objects, were associated with his own life, and give a natural freshness to his writings. — Tekoa] About six miles to the south of Bethlehem, ac- cording to S. Jerome, who says (on Jer. vi. 1) that he himself, residing at Bethlehem, had Tekoa daily before his eyes. In his preface to his Commentary on Amos, he repeats the same state- ment. " This Prophet " (he says) " was of the town of Tekoa," six miles south of the holy Bethlehem, which gave birth to the Saviour of the World. Beyond it is no village, nor even any cottages or huts ; such is the desolation of that wilderness, which extends even to the Red Sea. But it affords a free range for shepherds, of whom was Amos the Prophet, " rude in speech, hut not in knowledge" (2 Cor. xi. 6), for "One and the same Spirit spake by all the Prophets " (2 Pet. i. 21). Cp. Hacketfs description in B. D. ii. 1446, and Eobinson, i. 486, and Dr. Thomson, 606. As to the position and history of Tekoa, see also above, on Josh. XV. 59. 2 Sam. xiv. 2 ; xxUi. 26. 1 Chron. ii. 24; iv. 5. 2 Chron. xi. 6; xx. 20. Neh. iii. 5. 27. Jer. vi. 1. It is now called Tekua, It is observable that Amos, the shepherd of Tekoa, south of Bethlehem in Judah, directs his prophecies specially to the ten tribes of Israel. He thus presents an example of Divine kind- ness and tender sympathy for aliens and rebels; and in this respect is like the Good Shepherd, 'Who was born at Bethlehem 39 and laid down His life for His sheep when they had gone astray. Amos teUs us that he prophesied in the time during which Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam II. king of Israel were contemporary, viz. twenty-seven yeai'S, between B.C. 810 and B.C. 783. He, therefore, began his prophetic labours about the same time as Hosea (see Hosea i. 1), aud be prophesied to Israel as Hosea did, and at Bethel, the seat of Israel's idolatry (vii. 10). — two years before the earthquake] In the days of Uzziah (Zech. xiv. 5). Josephus (.int. is. 10. 4) connects this earthquake with the sin of Uzziah in invading the High Priest's office, and otl'ering incense in the Temple. And this statement has been adopted by & Jerome, S. Cyril, and most ancient interpreters, CHrlstian and Hebrew. See A Lapide here. It has been alleged that this is an error, because the earth- quake took place, according to Amos, two years after he him- self began to prophesy ; and he prophesied while Jeroboam II. and Uzziah were contemporaries, that is, in some part of the twenty-seven year^s before Jeroboam's death ; and Uzziah sur- vived Jeroboam twenty-five years ; therefore the earthquake must have been more than twenty-two years before Uzziah's death. But it is said that (as a consequence of his father's incapacity) Jotham his son was over the king's house judging the people of the land (2 Chron. xxvi. 21), and Jotham was only twenty-five years old at his father's death (2 Chron. xxvii. 1) ; and therefore it is alleged, that if the earthquake occurred when Uzziah was stricken with leprosy, it must have taken place long after Jeroboam's death, i. e. long after any of the time in which Uzziah and Jeroboam were contemporary, and much more than two yeai'S after the time in which Amos prophesied. But this reasoning is grounded on the assumption, that Jotham began to be regent immediately after his father was stricken with leprosy, which is nowhere asserted in Scripture. It is a noteworthy coincidence, that Isaiah's vision of the Seraphim in the Temple, and his message of mercy through Christ, is connected with the death of the leprous King Uzziah. See above, on Isa. vi. 1. Amos mentions the earthquake as God's voice in nature (cp. Rev. vL 12), echoing His voice in Prophecy; similarly Joel represents armies of locusts as harbingers of judgment. 2. The LoKD loill roar from Zion, and niter his voice from Jerusalem] Thus Amos joins on his own prophecy of judgment to that of Joel (iii. 16). God roared out of Zion by the voice of Joel, and of Amos himself, denouncing His judgments. And God roared by the voice of the Earthquake, confirming that denunciation by a solemn peal of subterranean thunder. The Earthquake was, as it were, an Amen to the prophecy. — the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn] Amos, like Joel, notes the sympathy of the natural world n-ith man in his punishment. See above, cn Joel i. 18. — Carmel] The fair and fruitful region, literally garden of Ood. See above, Cant. vii. 5. Isa. x-vxiii. 9 j xxxv. 2. Burden on Damascus ; AMOS I. 3—6. Burden on Philistia. 787. h Isa. 8. 4. & 17. 1. Jer. 49.23. Zech.9. 1. D Or, yea, /or four. It Or, convert tt, or, let it be quiet : and so ver 6, 8tc. 12 Kings 10. 33. (t 13. 7. k Jer. 17.27. & 49. 27. ver. 7, 10, 12. rh. 2. 2. 5. I Jer. SI. 30. Lam. 2. 9. II Or, Bikalh- aud for four, I will not |] turn away 2 Thus saitli the Lord ; For three transgressions of '' Damascus, the punishment thereof; ' Because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron : •* ^ But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. ^ I will break also the ' bar of Damascus, And cut off the inhabitant from || the plain of Aven, And him that holdeth the sceptre from || the house of Eden : And " the people of Syria shall go into captivity " unto Kir, saith the Lord. ^ Thus saith the Lord ; For three transgressions of ° Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because they || carried away captive the whole captivity, n Or, Belhedrn. m Fulfilled, 2 Kings 16. 9. n ch. 9. 7. o 2 Chron. 28. 18. Isa. 14. 29. Jer. 47. 4, 5. Ezck. 25. 15. Zeph. 2. 4. II Or, carried them auay with an entire captiDity, 2 Chron. 21. 10, 17. Joel 3 The Peophetic Bxtedens. 3. For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four"] This is a prophetic formula which may be compared with the similar phrase in Proverbs xxx. 15. 18. 21. 29, where the uum- bcrs three and four are combined in a like manner. We may also compare the " torque quaterque beati '* of Virgil, and the French use of tris, in trhs ban, fres sage, &c. This prophetic formula is repeated eight times by Amos. It notes two things; first, God's long-sufiFering for a time, in order that men may repent and escape punishment ; secondly, the certainty of that punishment. It is remarkable that none of these Burdens of Amos are addressed to the greatest Powers of the heathen World, opposed to Israel and Judah — AssjTia and Babylon. The Holy Spirit, Who spake by him, resen-ed the declaration of the destinies of these two great kingdoms for two other of the Twelve Minor Prophets. Assyria was reserved for Nahum ; Babylon for Habakkuk. There seems, therefore, to have been Divine forethought in this omission. The desolation of Egypt (not mentioned by Amos), had been declared already by Joel iii. 19. The Lord God of Israel, in delivering these lurdens by Amos (the hearer), concerning the destiny of heathen lands, proved that He is not a local Deity (as the heathen thought their own gods to be), but is the Supreme Kuler of all Nations ; and that their gods, who cannot help them, are mere vanities. By revealing also the judgments impending on His Own People Israel and Judah, He shows that those heathen nations which punished them for their idolatry (i. e. Assyria and Babylon), did not do it by their own power, but were executioners of His Divine Will, and were instruments in His hands for vindicating His own power, majesty, and truth. Thus these prophecies of Amos are fraught with moral instruction not only to Israel and Judah (for if God punished the heathen who did not know Him, how much more would He chastise Israel and Judah for their sins), but also to the heathen world. Compare the notes above, on Isaiah's burdens (Isa. xiii. Frelim. Note, pp. 30—38), and the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel concerning the Heathen Nations of the World (Jer. xlvi. — li. Kzek. xxv. — xxxii. On the spiritual interpretation of these prophecies, and their relation to the Christian Church, see above, on Isa. xiii. and the passages of Jeremiah (xlvi.) and Ezekiel (xxv.) just cited. Inasmuch as these prophecies of Amos are enlarged by the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, it will not be necessary to repeat what has been already said concerning them in com- menting on those books. The prophecies of Amos are expanded by succeeding Pro- phets. Amos himself takes up the prophecy of Joel, whom he succeeds; Joel, by a magnificent generalization, had dis- played all God's judgments in nature and history as concen- trated in one Great Dag of the Lord. Amos disintegrates this great whole, and particularizes those judgments. Joel declares that God will judge all collectively. Amos proclaims that He will judge each singly. And by saying that /or three transgres- sions and for four, God will not reverse the judgment of each nation t:ilcen singly, he implies that each transgression is regis- tered in God's book of reckoning. — Damascus'] The capital of Syria, which prospered under Hazael, and invaded and subdued the e.astern region of Israel (2 Kings X. 32, 33; xiii. 7; cp. 2 Kings viii. 12). — / will not turn away'] I will not reverse. — they have threshed Oilead with threshing instruments of iron] Here again Amos adopts the imagery of Joel (see Joel iii. li). The machine here mentioned is described by 5. Jerome "as a kind of waggon which rolls on iron-toothed wheels, so that, the corn being shaken out of it, it may crush the straw on the threshing-floor." The word here used [chardts) is the same as that employed by Joel iii. 14, " Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision " (charuts). Gesen. 308. Amos is referring here to the cruelties practised on Israel by Hazael, King of Syria, as foretold by Elisha : — " I know the evil thou wilt do to the children of Israel ; their strong- holds thou wilt set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child " (2 Kings viii. 12). The Syrians cast the women of Israel like sheaves on the threshing-floor, and threshed them with sharp instruments of iron (Theodoret). Therefore God says, " I will send a fire on to the house of Hazael." 4. Ben-hadad] An official name of Syrian Kings, and signi- fying Son of Hadad, the sun-god worshipped by Syria (1 Kings XV. 18 ; XX. 2. 2 Kings vi. 24 ; xiii. 25). These words, "shall devour the palaces," are adopted by Jeremiah from Hosea viii. 14, and Amos here. See Jer. xxvii. 17. The words "shall devour the palaces" (Hebr. armonoth) " of Benhadad," are adopted from Amos by Jeremiah (xlix. 27). The word armon (a palace) is a favourite one with Amos, who uses it four times in this chapter {vv. 4. 7. 10. 12. 14), and twice in the next chapter (vv. 2. 5), and in all these cases in connexion with the verb deal, to eat, to devour. It also occurs three times in the third chapter (vv. 9, 10, 11), and once in the sixth (p. 8), and only twice in any other of the Minor Pi-ophets (Hos. viii. 14. Micah v. 5). 5. plain of Aven] Literally, plain of vanity; perhaps of Heliopolis, or Baalbek (Eivald, Uitzig). Its site has not heeu accurately defined; it stems to have been called ^re» by the Prophet on account of the idolatry practised there. Cp. Hos. v. 8. It is contrasted with the Eden which follows. Edens become Avens, as Bethels become Bethavens, by idolatrv. — Eden] VitcmUy, pleasti re ; one of the Paradises or Parks of the Syrian King. Its site is not known. Cp. B. D. i. 487. — Kir] To the north of Armenia. This prophecy was fulfilled by Tiglath Pileser, king of Assyria, who carried" the Syrians captive to Kir. See above, on 2 Kings xvi. 9. 6—8. Gaza — Ashdod — Ashielon — Ekron] The great cities of Philistia (Josh. xv. 47. Judges i. 18; xiv. 19; xvi. 1. 1 Sam. v. 1. 6 ; vi. 17. Jer. xxv. 20. Zeph. ii. 4). 6. they carried away— the whole captivity] A captivity (of Israelites) in full number, so that none were spared {S. Jerome). This was done in the days of Jehoiachin (2 Chron. xxxvi. 10). Here also Amos takes up Joel, who had threatened the Philistines with divine wrath for their cruelty in this capture and sale of Israelites (Joel iii. 6). The judgments denounced in this chapter onwards to the end, and in the next chapter (ii. 1—3), were executed by Nebu- chadnezzar and the Chaldeans. Cp. Jer. xlvii. 45. Ezek. xxv. 15. Judgments on Philistia, AMOS I. 7—15. II. 1. Tijre, Edom, Ammon, Moab p To deliver them up to Edom : '' '' But I will seud a lire on the wall of Gaza, "Which shaU devour the palaces thereof : " And I will cut off the inhabitant 'from Ashdod, And him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, And I will ' turn mine hand against Eki-on : And 'the remnant of the Phihstines shall perish, saitli the Lord God. " Thus saith the Lord ; For three transgressions of " Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; "Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, And remembered not f the brotherly covenant : '" ^ But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, Which shall devour the palaces thereof. " Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of ^Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because he did pursue ^ his brother '' with the sword, And f did cast oflf all pity, •^ And his anser did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever : '- But " I will send a fare upon Teman, Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah. '^ Thus saith the Lord ; For three transgressions of ' the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because they have || "^ ripped up the women with child of Gilead, ^ That they might enlarge their border : '■* But I will kindle a fire in the wall of ^ Eabbah, And it shall devour the palaces thereof, ' With shouting in the day of battle. With a tempest in the day of the whirlwind : '^ ^\jid ■" their king shall go into captivity. He and his princes together, saith the Lord. II. 1 Thus saith the Lord ; For three transgi-essions of ^ Moab, and for four, I wiU not turn away the punishment thereof; Because he '' bm-ned the bones of the king of Edom into lime : 8 Ps. 81. H. t Jer. 47. 4. Ezek. 25. 10. u Isa. 23. 1. Jer. 47. 4. Ezek. 20, & 27, &2S. Joel 3. 4, 5. t Heb. Ihe cove- nant o/ brethren, 2 Sam. 5. 11. 1 Kings 5. 1. 8i 9. 11—14. y ver. 4, 7, i-c. z Isa 21. 11. at 34. 5. Jer. 49. 8, ftc. Ezek. 2.5. 12. 13, 14. & 35. 2, SiC. Joel 3. 19. Obad. 1, S;c. Mai. 1. 4. a Gen. 27 41. Deut. 23. 7. Mai. 1. 2. b2 Chron.28. 1' t Heb. corrupted hix compassions. c Ezek. 35. 5. d Obad. 9, 10. e Jer. 49. 1. 2. Ezek. 25. 2. Zeph. 2. 9. J Or, divided Ihe mountains. f Hos. 13. 10. g Jer. 49. I. h Deut. 3. 11. 2 Sam. 12. 20. Jer. 49. 2. Ezek. 25. 5. 1 ch. 2. 2. a Isa 15, & 10. Jer. 48. Ezek. 25. 8. Zeph. 2. 8. b 2 Kings 3. 27. — to SJoin] The cruel and treacherous foe of their brethren of Isrnel. See on v. 11. Ps. cxxxvii. 7. Isa. xxxiv. 6 ; Ixiii, 1. Jer. xxvii. 3. Ezek. xxv. 12; and Obadiah throughout. 9. Ti/nisl See above, Isa. xxiii. 1 — 17. Jer. xxv. 22; xlvii. 4; and especially Ezek. xxvi., xxvii., xiviii., where this prophecy against Tyre is enlarged. 11. Sd'omi See on v. 6. — rf/d cast off all pity'] Lit. destroyed its own compassions — as if pity were an evil thing, and to be extinguished. 12. Teman'] The southern region of Edom {S. Jerome), the country of Eliphaz (Job ii. 11). — SozraK] The capital of Edom. See on Isa. xxxiv. 6; l.xiii. 1 . 14. Sahbah] The capital of Ammon. See above, 2 Sam. xii. 26, 27. 29. Jer. xlix. 2. Ezek. xxi. 20; xxv. 5, where this prophecy is enlarged. Cn. II. 1. Moah] Thisprophecy of judgment is also enlarged in Isa. XV., xvi. ; and in Jer. xiviii. ; and in Ezek. xxv. 9. — he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime] This act of the king of Mo.ib , burning the bones of the king of Edom into lime, was probably a sequel to what he is said to have done when harassed and distressed by the invasion of the three con- federate kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom. He, the king of Moab, at that time in a fit of desperation, took his own eldest son (this is the true meaning of the passage ; cp. Josephus, Ant. ix. 3. 2 • and so 5. Jerome, Biifinus, Etiselius, and most ancient 41 expositors) and offered him np as a burnt offering upon the wall. See on 2 Kings iii. 27. Then the kings of Israel and Judah retired from Moab ; and then it was, as it seems probable, that the king and people of Moab, who before had attempted to attack Edom, but were prevented from executing their purpose by the two kings leagued with Edom, wreaked their vengeance on the king of Edom, being left isolated, and burnt his bones into lime as a holocaust to the spirit of the dead son of the king of Moab, whom, in a fit of desperate anguish, his father had offered as a burnt oifering to win the favour of the cruel gods whom he worshipped. This opinion is corroborated by the Hebrew tradition men- tioned by S. Jerome here, " that the bones of the king of Edom, who had come up together with Joram king of Israel, and Jeho- shaphat king of Judah, to attack Moab, were torn up from their grave by the Moabites, in a spirit of revenge, and were burnt." Amos says, that the Moabites burnt the bones of the king of Edom into lime; and the Chaldee Targum,smi other exposi- tors, explain this by saying, that in order to proclaim and per- petuate their act of vindictive cruelty, the Moabites daubed the walls of their houses with the lime made of the bones of the king. This denunciation of the Prophet Amos against the king and people of Moab is designed to show that the Lord God of Israel is the God of the whole world, and takes judicial cogni- zance not only of things happening to Israel, but of the conduct of one heathen power, Moab, to another heathen power, Edoui. Judgments denounced on Jiidah AMOS II. 2—11. and on Israel. fLev. 26. 14, 15 Neh. 1. 7. Dan. 9. 11. gisa. 28. 15. Jer. 16. 19, 20. Rom. 1.25. h Ezek. 20. 13, 16, 18,24, 30. IJer. 17.27. Hos. 8. H. I Isa. 10. 2. ch. 5. 12. m Ezek. 22. 11. II Or, young n Lev. 20 3. Ezek. 36. 20. Rom. 2. 24. Exod. 22. 26. p Ezek. 23. 41. 1 Cor. 8. 10. Si 10. 21. II Or, such as have fined, or, mulcted. q Num. 21.24. Deut. 2. 31. Josh. 24. 8. r Num. 13. 2S, 32, 33. s Isa. 5. 24. Mai. 4. 1, t Exod. 12. 51. Micah 6. 4. u Deut. 2. ?. & 8.2. 2 But I ■will send a fire upon Moab, And it shall devour the palaces of " Earioth : And Moab shall die with tumult, ^ With shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet : 3 And I will cut off ' the judge from the midst thereof. And will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Loed. * Thus saith the Loed ; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I wiU not turn away the punishment thereof ; ''Because they have despised the law of the Loed, And have not kept his commandments, And « their lies caused them to err, *■ After the which their fathers have walked : ^ ' But I will send a fire upon Judah, And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. ® Thus saith the Lord ; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because '' they sold the righteous for silver. And the poor for a pair of shoes ; ^ That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor. And ' turn aside the way of the meek : " And a man and his father will go in unto the same || maid, " To profane my holy name : ^ And they lay themselves down upon clothes ° laid to pledge '' by every altar, And they drink the wine of !| the condemned in the house of their god. ^ Yet destroyed I the '' Amorite before them, ' Whose height 2cas like the height of the cedars. And he was strong as the oaks ; Yet I ' destroyed his fi-uit from above, and his roots from beneath. '" Also ' I brought you up from the land of Egypt, And " led you forty years through the wilderness. To possess the land of the Amorite. '^ And I raised up of your sons for prophets. 2. / u-ill send a fire upon Moal^ For burning his own son with fire, and for burning the bones of the king of Edom. — Kirioth'] In Moab, now Kereyat. Cp. Jer. xlviii. 2-1. 41. 4. Juda}i\ From judgments on heathen Nations he passes to Judah and Israel, the principal subject of his prophecies. — tlieir Uef\ Their idols. 5. Iviill send a fire upon Judah — Jerusalem'] Observe, that though God by Amos denounces judgment both on Judah and Israel, yet it is only on Jerusalem that He threatens to send fire as the instrument of its destruction. Here is prophetic dis- crimination. And so it came to pass, Jerusalem was burntwith fire by the Chalda;ans (3 Kings xxv. 9. 2 Chr. xxxvi. 19), and afterwards by the Romans. Samaria, the capital of Israel, was also taken, but it was not burnt with fire. There is a specialiti/ (which proves their divine origin) in the prophecies concerning Jerusalem. Jerusalem was taken seventeen different times, but only once was it compassed by a trench cast around it by the invaders, viz. in the siege predicted by Christ (Luke xix. 43). 6. thei/ sold the righteous for silver] They take bribes in judgment, and betray the innocent man, whom they ought to have defended from bis'enemy. This portion, from ii. 6 to iii. 8, is the Saphfarah to Genesis xxxvii. 1 to xl. 23, which relates the history of the sale of Joseph, the type of Christ, for money, by his brethren, and the sin of Judah. " They sell the righteous for money," words certainly applicable in the deepest aiid fullest sense to the selling of the righteous One foi thirty pieces of silver. It is one of the Bilent proofs of the inspiration of Hebrew Prophecy, that while it has literal subordinate fulfilments in historical acts of earlier da^-3, it finds its fiiU accomplishment in the person of Chbist. " Christo hffic verba competuut, et ad Christum, quasi ad scopura et amorem suum, data vel levi occasione et similitadinc, avolare Solent Prophetse" (ALapide); a very true remark, which de- serves the attention of the devout student of prophecy. — the poor for a pair of shoes] They sell the precious souls of the poor for the meanest thing, with which they trample on the dust or in the mire (S. Jerome). 7. And a man and his father] This had been Reuben's sin (Gen. XXXV. 22), for which he lost his birthright (Gen. xlix. 3, 4). It was a sin to be punished by death (Lev. xviii. 7—15 ; xx. 11). — To profane my holy name] So that it is blasphemed among the Gentiles (2 Pet. ii. 2), who abhor such a crime (1 Cor. v. 1, 2). 8. they lay themselves dotca upon clothes laid to pledge] This was another sin committed against another express law of God(Exod.xxii.26. Deut. xxi v. 12, 13). Their consciences are so seared by sin, that they lay themselves down at ease to sleep oa the garments of the poor debtor which he has pawned to them ; and they do this in the house of their god by the side of every altar of their idol deities, and there they drink of tlie voine of the condemned — that is, wine bought by fines extorted from those whom they have amerced in judgment. Thus, with bold impiety, they sin against God and man at the same time. 9. Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them] This was Israel's ungrateful requital of all My mercies to them in destroying the Nations of Canaan for their idolatry and uncleanness; they were not thankful for My favour, nor did they profit by the warning, but they imitated the sins of the nations which I commanded them to exterminate for those sins. — Whose height was like the height of the cedars] So that U\e spies quailed at the sight of them (Num. xiii. 28. 32, 33 j xxi. 34), Judgments on Israel. AMOS II. 12—16. III. 1—5. Five Parables. And of your young men for ''Nazarites. Is'it not even thus, ye children of Israel ? saith the Lord. '- But ye gave the Nazarites wine to di-ink ; And commanded the prophets, " saymg, Prophesy not. ^^ ^ Behold, II I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. '•* " Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, And the strong shall not strengthen his force, "" Neither shall the mighty dehver f himself : '^ Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; And he that is swift of foot shall not dehver himself : " Neither shall he that rideth the horse dehver himself. ^* And he that is f coui'ageous among the mighty shall flee away naked ra that day, saith the Lord. III. ^ Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken agamst you, children of Israel, Against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, sayiag, 2 ^ You only have I known of all the famihes of the earih : '' Therefore I will f punish you for all your uiiquities. ^ Can two walk together, except they be agreed ? ■* Will a Hon roar ia the forest, when he hath no prey ? Will a young Hon f cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing ? ^ Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him ? Shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all ? y Isa. 30. 10. Jer. II. 21. ch. 7. 12, 13. Micah 2. 6. z Isa. 1. 14. D Or, I ivillpresa your place, as a cart full of sheaves preaselh. a Jer. 9. 23. ch. 9. 1, Src. b Ps. 33. 16. t Heb. his soul, or, life. a Deut. 7. 6. Sr 10. 15. Ps. 147. 19, 20. b See Dan. 9. 12. Matt. 11.22. Luke 12. 47. Rom. 2. 9. 1 Pet. 4. 17. t Heb. visit upon, + Heb. give forth 11. Nazarites] Separated and dedicated to God. See above, ou Num. vi. 2 — 21. Judges xiii. 5. Lam. iv. 7. 12. ye gave the Nazarites wine to drinJc'] Ye not only broke My law in your own persons, but ye tempted your children, who were dedicated to My service, to violate their vows to Me (Num. vi. 3). This condemnation may be applied in Christian times to parents and others who deter children that have been baptized and confirmed (and are Christian Nazarites dedicated to God) from coming to the Holy Communion. — Frophesy nof] Because God's word was burdensome to them. Cp. vii. 10. Micah ii. 6; and above, Isa. xx.k. 10, " Which say to the seers. See not," and Jer. xi. 21. The climax of Israel's sin is represented in our Lord's words : " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets" (Matt, xxiii. 37), and in His own Crucifixion (Acts vii. 52). 13. Behold, I am pressed under you] Behold I, even I your God, strain 7nyself under you and groan with the burden, being no longer able to bear your sins (as S. Jerome expounds it, and so Sept., Vtdg., Arabic), as a cart that i^ full of sheaves. As God says by Isaiah, '* Thou hast made Me to serve w'ith thy sins, thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities" (Isa. xliii. 24). Cp. Mai. ii. 17. The propriety of the simile of the Cart, pressed down and groaning with its load of ripe sheaves, consists further in this, that the Cart hears them to the threshing-floor and shoots them don-n there to be threshed. In like manner, Israel, wearying God with the weight of their sins, will be cast down by Him on the threshing-floor, to be crushed like sheaves by the sharp thi'eshing instruments of divine judgment. " As a cart " (says S. Jerome), " loaded heavily with corn or hay, creaks and groans with the weight, so I, overburdened by your sins, utter my voice and say, ' The flight shall perish from the swift.' " Amos here takes up the metaphor of the preceding Prophet, Joel (Joel iii. 14. See the note there). Ch. III. 1. Hear this word] This address is repeated thrice (iii. 1; iv. 1; V, 1). See also vii. 16 ; viii. 4. It is like our Lord's emphatic saying, " He that hath eai's to hear, let him hear," and the similar appeal seven times repeated in the Apocalypse. See Eev. ii. 7. It is taken up by Amos fi'om his predecessors. Rosea V. 1, and Joel L 2; and is continued by Micah i. 2j iii. 1. 9; vi. 1, 2. 9. 2. Yoa only hate I know>n\ I have specially loved you. Cp. Hos. xiii. 5, and note below on Aotd w. 18, where it is saitl tkvi 4a all God's works are known, i. e. loved by Him. Israel was loved by Him with a special love. — Therefore I will punish you] Compare our Lord's words to Choraziu and Capernaum, and concerning those to whom His Apostles would preach (Matt. x. 15; xi. 21, 22. Mark vi. 11. Luke X. 13. Judgment begins with the house of God (Ezek. ix. 6. 1 Pet. iv. 17). The Fite Paeables. In the following verses (tui. 3 — 6) are five Parables, all show- ing God's moral Government in the affairs of the World and of His Church ; and that nothing in the history of either happens by chance, but is ordered by Him, using the natural Elements and the greatest Nations of the World as His instruments for the punishment of sins committed after deliberate warning, and for the manifestation of His Power and Glory. 3. Can two toalk together] How can you expect God to walk with you and bless you, unless you conform to His will ? Cp. " Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him;" see Matt. v. 25, where "the adversary" is under- stood by many ancient expositors to mean, in a spiritual sense, the Word of God. Be of one mind with it, or be reconciled to it speedily, if you desire to be at peace. 4. Will a lion roar] Or, Does a lion roar — and he has no prey ? The roar of a lion is a certain assurance that he has, or soon will have, the prey in his grasp. So the warning voice of the Lord by His Prophets (see i. 2) is a sure sign that He is coming to judge you. 6. Can a bird fall in a snare — zuhere no gin \sfor him 1] Or, as the Sept. paraphrases it. Will a bird fall upon the earth without a fowler ? — literally, without a springe. The fall of the bird is a sure sign of the fowler's presence. So, your punishment is not a mere matter of chance, but it is divinely designed. As our Lord says, " Not a sparrow falls to the ground without-your Father" (Matt. x. 29). Much more, when Israel falls, let him recognize God's hand in his own fall, and repent of the sins which caused it. — Shall one talce up a snare] Or, shall the snare, or trap, rise up from the earth without having taken any thing. The springing up of the trap is a sign that it has caught something. It will not rise up without having done its work. So My instruments of judgment (such as the armies of Assyria and Babylon, whom I send against you, ana set before you only as traps to tiike you) will not rise np and depart before they have sxec'-'ttd upon you the judgment wliich I have set them to God's moral government AMOS III. 6—15. of the work ;s7. ! Or, vol r;,n ( gether! c Isa. 45. 7. li Or, ami shall nut Ihe LORD do s imewhat ? a Gen. 6. 13, & IS. 17. Vi. 25. 14 John 15. 15. c ch 1.2. f .\cts 4. 20. S: 5. 20, 29, 1 Cor, 9. 10. II Or, oppress g Jer. 4. 22. 1 Or, spoil. h 2 Kings 17. 3,5, & IS. 9, 10, II. 9 Or, punish Ii,aclfor. i Jer. 36. 22. k Jiidf!. S. 20. 1 I Kings 22. 39. <- Shall a trumpet be blo^™ iu the city, and the people || not be afraid ? ' Shall there be evil in a city, || and the Lord hath not done it ? 7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but '' he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. '^ ' The lion hath roared, -who will not fear ? The Lord God hath spoken, 'who can but prophesy ? ^ Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, And iu the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say. Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, And behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, And the || oppressed in the midst thereof. '" For they « know not to do right, saith the Lord, Who store up violence and || robbery in their palaces. " Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; '' An adversary there shall be even round about the land ; And he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled. '- Thus saith the Lord ; As the shepherd f taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear ; so shaU the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the comer of a bed, and || in Damascus in a couch. '^ Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of hosts, ^■' that in the day that I shall || visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Beth-el : and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. ^^ And I will smite ' the winter house with •"the summer house; and 'the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord. perform. Compare tlie metaphor in Ezetiel xu. 13, where God sMvs, concerning Zoilckiab king of Jerusalem, " My net also will 1 spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare " — i. e. by the Chakliean army. 6. Sliall a trumpet he blown in the city'] Ye are alanned at the sound of the trumpet announcing the approach of an earthly enemy (see on Hos. v. 8 ; viii, 1), and will you not much more fear when the prophetic trumpet of God's voice (Isa. Iviii. 1. Ezek. jutxiii. 3. 5) is sounding an alarum in your eai's and calling you to repentance (Joel ii. 1. 15), and preparing you for the sound of the trumpet of the Great Day, which will awaken you from 3'our graves to Judgment ? — ShaU there he evil in a city'] Shall there be physical evil (not moral evil, though even this cannot exist without God's j'Crmissiou, and is overruled by Him to good), such as Plague, I'estilence, Famine, Earthquake, or War, and will ye attribute this to mere bliud chance, and not to tlie deliberate will, sove- reifin power, and chastening hand of Him Who sends these things as His own sore judgments on guilty cities and nations (Ezek. xiv. 21), and who says to the World, " I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil, I the Lord do all tlicse things"? See on Isa. xlv. 7. £p. Sanderson, in. 77. \bO; and Pfeiffer, p. 430. 7. Surely the Lord Oo'D will do nothing — prophets] Therefore ye ought to listen to the voice of the Prophets as the voice of God, declaring the secret counsel (Hebr. sod. See Job xv. 8 ; xxxiv. 4, where the same word is used) of His will, and fore- warning you of His dealings with you. God has ever warned the World of coming judgments, in order that it may not incur them. As *S. Chrysostom says, He has revealed to us hell, iu order that we may escape hell. He warned Noah of the coming Deluge. He told Abraham and Lot of the future judgment on Sodom and the cities of the plain. He revealed to Joseph the seven years' fiimine, and to Moses, and to Pharaoh by Moses, the ten plagues; and to Moses, and Joshua, and the Prophets, all the chastisements of His People ; and to 44 Jon.ih the destruction of Nineveh ; and by Christ and His Apos- tles He foretold the fall of Jerusalem ; and Christ has warned all of His own future Coming to judge the World. God docs this in order that men may repent; and that, if they obstinately continue in sin. He may be justified in executing punishment upon them (S. Jerome ; Corn, a Lapide). 9. Publish in the palaces at Ashdod] Even heathen nations are summoned to assent to the justice of God's judgment on His people. The Divine Judge appeals to them as His Jury, and asks for their verdict on Israel. — tumults] Lawless anarchy, confusion, and violence. 12. As the shepherd] Only a small remnant of Israel will be saved fi'om the general destruction. Only a pair of shin bones, or a lappet of an ear of the whole sheep, will be rescued from the mouth of the destroying lion of Assyria, " decem trihuum parvas reliquias de Assyrioruin manibus narrat eruendas " (S. Jerome). — that dwelt in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch] Only a small remnant shall be rescued of those voluptuous crowds of grandees who dwell in Samaria — i.e. (as he expresses it in vi. 1), who "trust in the mountain of Samaria" — relying on its earthly wealth and strength, and in- dulging in its comforts, like men who recline and loll at ease and prop themselves by pillows in the corner of a bed (i. e. in the corner of the divan — at the angle where two sides of the sofa meet — the most luxurious place), and who recline on JJamascus, as on a couch — that is, who lean on Syria for help (as Pekah king of Israel did; Isa. vii. 2 — 8), instead of relying on God. *' As a man who is weary " (saj's 5. Jerome) " reposes on a couch, so Israel, when harassed by war, supported itself on Damascus." This seems to be the preferable interpretation of the passage, and is authorized by Sept., Tulg., Syriae, Arabic, Tarymn ; and see Pusey, 184. 15. the winter house with the summer house] That is, both compartments of the palace. See on Jer. xxxvi. 22. — >wuses of ii-ory] The palace which had rooms inlaid with ivory, like that of Ahah (1 Kings xxii. 30). Cp. Ps. ilv. 8. Punisnment for Israel's sins AMOS IV. 1- at Bethel and Gilgni. rV. ^ Hear this word, ye 'kine of Bashan, that are in the raountaiu of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters. Bring, and let us drink. 2 '' The Lord God hath sworn by his hoHness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away " with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. ^ And ''ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her ; and || ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord. ^ ' Come to Beth-el, and transgress ; at ' Gilgal multiply transgression ; and ^ bring your sacrifices every morning, '' and yom* tithes after f three years : * 'and f ofi'er a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish '' the free oflferings ; ' for f this hketh you, ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God. ^ And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places : ■" Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. ^ And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest : and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it Before CHRIST 7S7. d Ezek. 12. 5, 12. H Or, ye shall cftsl att-ai/ the things 0/ the palace. e Ezek. 20. 3!). f Hos. 4. 15. & 12. II. ch. 5 5. g Num. 2S. 3 4. h Deut. 14. 2S. t Heb. (Arse years i Lev. 7. 13. & 23. 17. i Heb. nffcr h,j k Lev. -h. IS, 21. Deut. 12. 6. 1 Ps. 81. 12. t Ileb. so ye tope. m Isa. 26. 11. Jer. 5. 3. ver. 8, 9. Hag. 2. 17. Ch. IV. 1. r/e line of Bashan] Ye voluptuous, effeminate rulers, who do not deserve to be called men, but animals ; aud not oxen, but cows (op. 2 Pet. ii. 14), cows of tlie fat pastures of Bashan (cp. Ps. ixii. 12. Ezek. x.x.xix. 18) ; or he may be speak- ing here of the haughty and luxurious women of Samaria. — their masters] Their princes ; or (if he is speaking of women) their husbands. Cp. Isa. iii. 16. 2. he Kill take you away with hooks] These words are adopted by Jeremiah : " Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them." Cp. Hab. i. 15. The execution of judgment will be personal and painful ; not like the catching of fish in a net, so as they may be saved, but by a hook, which is followed by death. 3. ye shall go out at the ireaches] Te shall go through the breaches made in the walls of the captured city ; the prisoners will be so many that it would take too much time to drive them through the gates ; the ruin and captivity will be total. — every cow at that which is before her] Every (woman, see V. 1) will be forced by the enemy to march straight onwards on the way which lies before her, without looking to the right or left (Josh. vi. 5. 20), like cows driven one after another through a gap in a hedge. — and ye shall cast them into the palace] Rather, ^e shall be cast towards the Harmon. Tlie Hebrew letters are ha-harmon- ah ; the final -ah signifies motion to a place like our final English ward, as heavenroarii (see Oesen. Gram. § 90, p. 148) e. g. Sabel-ah, to Babylon; ^s«K;--aA, to Assyria; ha-harah, io ihe mountain ; midbarah-ah Dammesek, toward the wilderness of Damascus. What the meaning is of the Hebrew word here used, har- mon, is disputable. One thing seems certain ; that it is de- signed to contrast with armon, or palace (see above, on i. 4), and that it is used to announce that tdey who rioted in their armon, or palace (iii. 10), will be spoiled in their armon, or palace (iii. 11), and that they will be flung out of their armon to a harmon. The ancient renderings of harmon are very various. Some think that the phrase, they will be cast out to Armon, means that they will be driven as outcasts to Armenia (so Symmachus, Tarijum, Syriac, Jerome, Bochart); others, to Mount Romman, or itemman {Sept.) ; others, to Sermon. The sense is, ye will be hurled from a high estate to a low- one; ye, who were brought up in palaces, will hereafter "embrace duughills " (Lam. iv. 5). And it is probable that the Prophet is here forming a word to mark the contrast between their pre- sent condition of pride and splendour, and their future state of abasement and shame. You, who now are reveUing at ease in your Armon, will be cast out to the har, or hill, of Jlimmon, the god of Syria and Damascus (see 2 Kings v. 18), in whom ye trust (see iii. 12) ; and this is confirmed by what is said below (v. 27), "I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus.'* This may have given rise to the rendering in the Septuagint here. 4. Come to Beth-el and transgress — Gilgal] Words uttered in a tone of bitter irony and indignation, as Ezekiel says (xx. 39), •* Go ye, serve ye every one his idols ;" and our Lord to the Jews, "Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers " (itatt, xxiii. 32). 45 Amos, in thus speaking of Bethel and Gilgal, seats of Israelitish idolatry, is taking up the language of his predecessor Hosea. See Hos. iv. 15, " Come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven." Cp. ix. 15; xii. 11; and below, v. 5. — bring your sacrifices every morning, aud your tithes after three years] The strain of irony is continued. Go to, and imi- tate at Bethel the worship of the Temple ; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes after three years, or, rather, after every three days (literally, after a treble of days) ; so Sept., Vulg., Syriac, Arabic, Targum, and see Keil. That is, Xofc only imitate, but go beyond, the requirements of the Levitical Law, which prescribed this payment after three years (Deut. xiv. 28 ; xxvi. 12). This is a characteristic of idolatry and schism, to profess extraordinary zeal for God's worship, and go beyond the letter and spirit of His Law by arbitrary will-worship and self-idolizing fanaticism. 6. offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven] Contrary to the Leritical Law (Lev. ii. 11). You copy the Law in some things, and you innovate upon it in others, as seems best to your own private conceits. This was a characteristic of the worship set up by Jeroboam. See above, 1 Kings xii. 27 — 29. In some respects it was an imitation of the ceremonies of the Levitical Law, in others it was a deviation from it. Jeroboam chose what he liked, and left out what he liked. This is the essence of schism. It culls what pleases its fancy from God's Law and from the usages of God's Church. " This liketh you, ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God." — proclaim and publish the free offerings] Commit your sins of schism and idolatry with a bold face. Make no secret of them. Proclaim them by public announcements, so that all may know them. This is another characteristic of schism. It has no sense of shame in rending the seamless coat of Christ. It publishes itself to the world by demonstrations of disunion, and it even claims admiration for its zeal iu breaking that Christian Unity for which Christ prayed (John xvii. 11. 21, 22). 6. And I also have given you cleanness of teeth] Your gifts to Me were such as I have described; and what was My gift to you in return ? Ye defiled your teeth by feeding on idol-sacrifices, and I sent you cleanness of teeth, i. e. chastisement by Famine. But this was done in love. It was the only remedy left. God pleads with Israel in mercy while He announces this. He chastened them that they might return to Him (vv. 6. 9, 10, 11), and He says, " Seek ye Me, and ye shall live " (v. 4. 6). — Yet have ye not returned unto vie] God emphatically declares the loving design of His chastisement of Israel, by repeating this sorrowful ejaculation four times {vc. 6. 9, 10, 11). 7. one city — one piece] In order to call their attention to the fact that this visitation was not a thing of chance or necessity, but of design, God made it partial and extraordinary. For a like reason He made the light local in Goshen (Exod. x. 23), and afterwards at Beth-horon (see on Josh. x. 12); and sent a storm of thunder and rain in the time of wheat harvest, in the days of Samuel (1 Sam. xii. 17, 18). "Ye have not returned unto 3Ic. AM03 IV. 8—13, V. 1—5. 3Iercy to the pemten^. Before CHRIST 787. iver. 6, 10, 11. iDeut. 28. 22. Ha .2. 17. II Or, Ihe multi- tude of your gardens, Sfc, did the palmer- worm. ^c. p Joel 1.4. & 2.25. II Or, in the way, q Exod. 9. 3, 6. & 12. 29. Deut. 28. 27, GO. Ps. 78. 50. t Heb. Kith Ihe captivity of your 2Kii i 13. 7. s Gen. 19.24,25. Isa. !3. 19. Jer. A9. 18. t Zech. 3. 2. Jude 23. M^ ir. 6. X See Ezek. 13. 5. & 22. 30. Luke 14. 31, 32. II Or, spirit. y Ps. 139. 2. Dan. 2. 28. z ch. 5. 8. t 8. 9, a Deut. 32. 13. & 33. 29. Micah 1.3. b Isa 47. 4. Jer. 10. 16. ch. 5. 8. & 9. 6. a Jer. 7. 29. Ezek. 19. 1. & 27.2. c Isa. 55. 3. d ch. 4. 4. ech. 8. 14. not to rain upon another city : one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. ^ So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water ; but they were not satisfied : " Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. ^ ° I have smitten you ■udth blasting and mildew : || when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, '' the palmer- worm devoured them : Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. 1" I have sent among you the pestilence || "^ after the manner of Egypt : your young men have I slain with the sword, f and have taken away your horses ; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils : 'Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. '' I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew ' Sodom and Gomorrah, ' and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning : "Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. '^ Therefore thus will I do unto thee, Israel : and because I will do this unto thee, " prepare to meet thy God, Israel. ^^ For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the || wind, ^ and declareth unto man what is his thought, "" that maketh the morning darkness, ^and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, ''The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name. V. ' Hear ye this word which I ^ take up against you, Even a lamentation, house of Israel. 2 The virgin of Israel is fallen ; she shall no more rise : She is forsaken upon her land ; there is none to raise her up. ^ For thus saith the Lord God ; The city that went out hij a thousand shall leave an hundred. And that which went forth hy an hundred shall leave ten. To the house of Israel. ^ For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, ^ Seek ye me, "^ and ye shall live : ^ But seek not "* Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to ^ Beersheba : 9. When your gardens — increased'] Ov rather, a. multitude of your gardens (see Vulg., Targum, Syriac, and the English margin) the locust devoured. 10. taken away your horses'] By the sword of Hazael, king of Syria. Cp. 2 Kings viii. 12, with xiii. 3. 7. 13. he — declareth unto man — his thought] God knows what man thinks, and reveals man's thoughts to him (Ps. vii. 9; cxx.\ix. 2). The heart of man is deceitful (Jer. xvii. 9, 10), hut God strips oif the disguise and reveals man to himself. God did this hy Nathan to David, by Elisha to Gehazi, by St. Peter to Ananias and Sapphira. How much more will He do it at the Great Day by Christ, Who " knows what is in man " ! There- fore, O man, whoever thou art, " Prepare to meet thy God." Pbophect op Judgment on the Wicked. Ch. V. 1. Sear ye this — a lamentation] The Prophet Amos now proceeds a step farther. He had warned Israel of coming judgment. He had declared the merciful calls they have received from God, in successive chastisements, exhorting them to re- pentance. He now sees judgment present, and describes it in a pathetic dirge over Israel. Hear this wordj this heavy burden, which I, Amos, the bearer (see above, on i. 1), fake up, hft up, as a weight, to let it fall upon you from the hand of God. The consequence of this burden is, that the Tirgin of Israel (cp. Isa. xlvii. 1) is fallen : 6ho lies prostrate under it {y. 2). 2. She is forsaken upon her lanit] Rather, she is cast down upon her soil {Tula., Targum, Arabio\, 46 3. shall leave] Rather, shall retain as a remnant. He takes up the words of Deuteronomy (xxviii. 62), " Ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude;*' and he shows that God's blessings for obedience are turned into curses for disobedience. " One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one ; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee : till ye he left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill " (Isa. XXX. 17) ; whereas, if they were obedient, "How should one of them chase a thousand !" (Deut. xxxii. 30. Josh, xxiii. 10). As the ancient Christian Poet says, ** If the Lord is against us, our walls become cobwebs ; but if the Lord is with us, even cobwebs become walls." Pbomise op Mekct to the Penitent. 4. SeeJc ye me, and ye .shall live] Therefore this prophecy of judgment is designed to declare in mercy, that if Israel repents, the judgment will not be inflicted. He had before repeated four times His sorrowful complaint, *' Ye have not returned unto Me " (iv. 6. 9. 10, 11) ; and now He repeats four times His gracious promise. Seek ye Me, and ye shall live {vv. 4. 6. 8. 14). Such was His long-sufl'ering to Israel. 6. pass not to Beersheba] Bethel and Gilgal, on account of their ancient sacred reminiscences and associations, derived from patriarchal history, had been seized upon by Jeroboam (as Ma- hometans seize upon churches and change them into mosques), in order that he might destroy the coune-\ion of Judah with them, and might avail himself of their sanctity as a lure for attiiicting votaries to his own form of religious worship. Sec on Woe to Gilgal and Bethel. AMOS V. 6—16. SeeTc good ; not evil. For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and ^ Beth-el shall come to nought. ^ « Seek the Lord, and ye shall live ; Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, And there be none to quench it iu Beth-el. ^ Ye who '' turn judgment to wormwood. And leave off righteousness in the earth, ^ Seek him that maketh the ' seven stars and Orion, And turneth the shadow of death into the morning, ■^ And maketh the day dark with night : That ' calleth for the waters of the sea, And poureth them out upon the face of the earth : '" The Lord is his name : ^ That strongtheneth the f spoiled against the strong. So that the spoiled shall come against the fortress. '" " They hate him that rebuketh in the gate. And they ° abhor him that speaketh uprightly. " Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, And ye take from him burdens of wheat : p Ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them ; Ye have planted f pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. '2 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins : ■• They afflict the just, they take || a bribe, And they 'turn aside the poor in the gate /ro«i their right. '^ Therefore ' the prudent shall keep silence in that time ; For it is an evil time. '•' Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live : And so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, ' as ye have spoken. '^ " Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate : " It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. '^ Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus ; f Hob. 4. 15. 8s 10, 8. g ver. 4. mch. 4. 13. t Ileb. spoil. n Isa. 29. 21. 1 Kings 22, 8. p Deut. 28. 39, 38, 39. Micah 6. 15. Zeph. 1. 13. Hag. 1. 6. t Heb. vineya'di of desire. q ch. 2. 6. 110: risa. 29. 21 ch. 2. 7. 8 ch. 6. 10. t Micah 3. 11. M Vs. 34. 14. & 97. 10. Rom. 12. 9. X Exod. 32. 30. 2 Kings 19.4. Joel 2. 14. Hoaea iv. 15. But Jeroboam was not content with appropriating Uethel and Gilgal in his own domain, for this pui-pose, but he also laid bis hands on Beersbeba (celebrated in the history of Abraham, and where God appeared to him (Gen. xxi. 33 ; xxvi. 33, 3-1), and to Isaac and Jacob (Gen. xxvi. 24; xlvi. 1, 2), and beyond the limits of Jeroboam's Kingdom of Israel, and even to the south of the kingdom of Judali, and he made it to be a place of religious pilgi'im.ige for his people. That Beersbeba was defiled with idolatry, is evident from 2 Kings xxiii. 8. Cp. below, viii. 14. But all these arts of state-policy were of no avail, as the Prophet here declares. Bethel and Gilgal, notwithstanding their former sanctity, will be given up by God to destruction. — QiJgal shall surely go into captiviti/] Thei*e is a parono- masia, or play upon words in the original, which renders it more expressive, " Gilgal galoh yigleh " — the place of rolling away (such was the origin of the name Oilgal, because there God rolled away the reproach of Egypt from Israel ; see on Josh. v. 9) shall be clean rolled away. Cp. Isa. xxii. 18, " He will toss thee like a ball into a large country," as a " rota ro- tando rotabitur " (A Lapide). This is the law of God's dealings with man; He "curses onr blessings," if we do not use them aright (Mai. ii. 2). Christ, the Corner Stone, will break to pieces those who fall upon it ; and it will grind to powder those on whom it falls (Matt. xxi. 44). Our holiest Gilgals — our Sacraments, oui Scriptures, our Sermons, our Sundays — which were designed by Gnd tc roll away from us the reproach of Egypt, will be rolled away from us, if we do not use them aright ; and will roll us downward into our destruction. — Belh-el shall come to nought^ Betli-el shall become aven, or vanity. See Hos. iv. 15, where it is called Bcth-aceii, or house of vanity. 47 7. Te who turn judgment to wormwood'] A metaphor adopted from Hos. x. 4. See the note there, and cp. vi. 12. — And leave off" righteousness in the earth] Rather, cast righteousness doivn to the ground ; as the Jews did when they killed " the Lord our righteousness " (Jer. xxiii. 6). 8. that malceth the seven stars'] Ye who worship the stars are rebelling against Him Who made them. The seven stars (Heb. cimah, cluster or group) are the Pleiades. See above, on Job ix. 9; xxxviii. 31. — Orion] Heb. cesil. See above, on Job ix. 9 ; xxxviii. 31. The " Seven Stars " and Orion are mentioned, as including the rest by a poetic synecdoche. 9. That strengtheneth the spoiled] Rather, that malceth spoil (see margin), or desolation, to flash upon the strong, Cp. Sept. and Arabic, and Keil. — iSo that the spoiled] Or rather, so that spoil, or desolation, cometh on the fortress {Sept., Vulg., Arabic). 10. They hate him that rebuketh in the gate] In the place of public concourse, whether for deliberation or administration of justice. See on Job v. 4 ; xxxi. 21 ; and below, k. 15 ; and Isaiah's imitation of these words, they " lay a snare for him that re- proveth in the gate." These words were fully accompUshed in Christ (John vii. 7 ; viii. 45 ; xv. 25). 11. 'ye take from him burdens of wheat] Ye exact presents ot wheat from the poor man, as bribes, toi the administration ot what you call justice. On these verses see Sp. Sanderson's Sermons, ii. 353— 35G. 12. They afflict— they turn] Or rather, afflicting, taking. The words arc participles. 13. the prudent shall keep silence] See above, on Prov. xxviii. 13. 28, " When the wicked rise, men hide themselves." Lamentation and woe. AMOS V. 17—26. I hate your feast-days. y Jer. 9. I?. z Exod. 12.12. Nahum 1. 12. a laa. i. 19. Jer. 17. 5. Ezek. 12 .22, 27 2 Pet. 3. 4. b Jer. 30 .7. Joel 2. 2 Zeph. 1 15. c Jer. <8 44. d Prov. 21.27. Isa. 1. 11—16. Jer. 6. 20. Hos. 8. 13. eLev. 2G. 31. 11 Or, smell you\ bolt/ dfttft. f Isa. m. 3. Micah 6. 6, 7. n Or, IJiank ogerings. g Hos. 6. 6. Mirah 6. 8. t Heb. roll. h Deut. 32. 17. Josh. 24. 14. Ezek. 20. 8, 16,24, Acls 7. 42, 43. See Isa. 43. 23. n Or, Siccuthyoui il kings 11. 33. Wailing shall he in all streets ; And they shall say in all the highways, Alas ! alas ! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, And ^ such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. '^ And in all vineyards shall he wailing : For ^I will pass through thee, saith the Lord. '8 " Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord ! To what end is it for you ? •■ The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. '^ ' As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him ; Or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 2" SMI not the day of the Lord he darkness, and not light ? Even very dark, and no brightness in it ? 21 ■' I hate, I despise your feast days, And ' I will not || smell in your solemn assemblies. " ' Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them : Neither will I regard the || peace offerings of your fat beasts. 2' Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs ; For I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 21 ^But let judgment f run down as waters, And righteousness as a mighty stream. 25 " Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel ? 28 But ye have borne |1 the tabernacle ' of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. 16. stick as are slcUful of lamentation] Professional mourners (2 Chron. xxxv. 25. Jer. ix. 17. Matt. ix. 23). 17. I will pass through thee'] To destroy thee; as I passed tlirough Egypt on that night when a great cry was made, " for there was not a house where there was not one dead " (Exod. xii. 12. 30) ; 18. Woe unto you that desire the day of the LoED !] This is to be explained from the foregoing prophecies of Joel. That Pro- phet had foretold the Coming of the Day of the Lord, when Jehovah, the God of Israel, would judge all the heathen, and delJTer and exalt His people Israel and Judah. See Joel ii. 1, 2. 11. 31 ; iii. 2. 14. The words day of the Lord occur four times in the prophecies of Joel, but not in any earlier Prophet. The Hebrew Nation had flattered itself that Joel's prophecy announced blessings to itself, because they were children of Abraham ; but Joel had warned them that only they who call on the Name of the Lord, i. e. who serve the Lord, and not any other god, would be saved (ii. 32), and that the Day of the Lord would be a terrible day to sinners. A similar spirit manifested itself in those who said, in Jere- miah's days, " The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord are these " (Jer. vii. 4) ; and who prided themselves on their national religious privileges, but did not obey the Lord of the Temple, and were therefore condemned by the Prophet. A like temper was manifested after the Captivity. The Hebrew Nation was eager for the Messiah's Coming to the new-built temple ; but the Prophets reminded them that His Coming would be a day of fear and woe to the ungodly. See Mai. iii. 2. 19. leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent hit him] Serpents often lurk concealed in the walls of Eastern houses (Lane's Egyptians, pp. 342, 343). 21. I hate, I despise your feast days] Language repeated by Isaiah (i. 11. 13, 14), and Jeremiah (vi. 20). — I will not smell] Words derived from Leviticus xxvi. 31, " I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours." See the note there, and on Gen. viii. 21, " The Lord smelled a sweet savour," dcscri'oing God's acceptance of Noah's sacrifice, typical of the one true and perfect Sacrifice well pleasing to God. See 4S Eph. V. 2, " Christ hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour." 23. Take thou aioayfrom me the noise of thy songs ; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols] Or harps. They thought to please God by vocal and instrumental music; but it was an abomination to Him, because it came from hypocrites whose heart was far from Him. See below, on vi. B. Compare the account given of the inventors of musical instruments in the history of the family of Cain (to be destroyed by the flood). Gen. iv. 21, and the note there; and Job xxi. 12, 13; and Isa. V. 12, " The harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts : but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of His hands." Here is a warning to all who think to please God by elaborate musical services in His house; while they do not take heed to worship Him with their hearts, and to obey Him in their daily life. 24. But let Judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream] The tide of music rolled down in a full stream of sound from many voices and harps, like the sound of many waters. Cp. Ezek. xliii. 2. Rev. i. 15 ; xiv. 2. But what did it profit when there was a drought of justice and righteous- ness ? Cp. Ecclus. XV. 9. Ps. I. 16. 25. Bave ye offered unto me] Rather, Did ye offer unto Me sacrifices in the u-ilderness, forty years, O ye house of Israel I No ; ye did not ofi'er sacrifice to Me, but ye worshipped idols. "This is an important text, in answer to some recent allega- tions against the veracity of the Pentateuch (see note above, on Num. XV. 2), on the ground that the Israelites would not find a sufiicient number of cattle in the wilderness for compliance with the sacrificial requirements of the Levitical Law. The fact is (as has been shown in that note), that the Levitical Law was given at Sinai under the supposition that Israel would obey God and would enter Canaan within a fern days after the giving of the Law, and would observe it there. But it was not given with a view to their observance of it in the wilderness. And by their disobedience, they were excommunicated for thirty-eight years from God's favour, and condemned to wander in the wilderness, and were deprived of the privilege of observing it. 26. But ye have home] Ye did not ofi'er sacrifices to Me, ye Captivitij foretold. AMOS V. 27. VI. 1—7. Woe to them that arc at ease. 27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity ^ beyond Damascus, Saith the Lord, ' whose name is The God of hosts. VI. ' Woe ° to them that || are at ease in Zion, And trust in the mountain of Samaria, iriiich are named '' || chief of the nations. To whom the house of Israel came ! 2 "Pass ye unto '' Calneh, and see ; And from thence go ye to "^ Hamath the great : Then go down to ^ Gath of the Philistines : 8 Be they better than these kingdoms ? Or their border greater than your border ? ^ Ye that '' put far away the ' evil day, •^ And cause ' the || seat of violence to come near ; •* That lie upon beds of ivory, and || stretch themselves upon their couches And eat the Iambs out of the flock, And the calves out of the midst of the stall ; ^ "' That II chant to the sound of the viol. And invent to themselves instruments of musick, " like David ; ^ That drink || wine in bowls, And anoint themselves with the chief ointments : " But they are not grieved for the f affliction of Joseph. "^ Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, k 2 KiiiKS I ch. 1. 13. a Luke i;. 5 b Ex. 13. 5. I10r,/r,<(-/r»,/... c Jcr. 2. 10. d Isa. 10. 9. Taken about TJi. e2 Kings 18.: f 2 Hir. 26. 6. g Nalium 3. 8. h Kzck. 12. 2?. ich.5. 18. &U. 10. kcli. 5. 12. Tcr. 12. I Ps. 114. 20. II Or, habitatutn II Or, abound wiih siipcrfiuttieo. !l 1 Chr. 23. i. I Or, ill bowls of dill not adore Me, Whoso glory dwelt in the moving tabernacle; lut lie took up, and bore along with yon, t/ie tabernacle of your king (not the true King, Jehovah, the Lord of heaven and earth, and the Divine Protector of Israel, but your own chosen king, j)/o/ocA— which signifies fring). Cp. 1 Kings xi. 7 ; and Sept. here; and the quotation by St. Stephen, Acts vii. 43, where the word Moloch is expressed. — and Cliiun your images, the star of your god~\ Rather, and the stand (pedestal, or basis; the word seems to be derived from the Hebrew can, to stand upright, Gesen. 386) of your images (so Kibera, Junius, Hengst., Keil, and, iloaht\ng\y. Dr. Pusey) ; others render it the statue of your images (so Vulg., Oesen. in Thes.). Others sujiposc that Chiun is the same as Saturnus, and as Remphan among the Egyptians, and that the Sept., there- fore, adopted the word Remphan for it. See Fuerst, 653 ; Tfeiffer, 439 ; Surenhusius, 415 ; and note below, on Acts vii, 43, and Dr. Pu-sey, 200 ; and Gesen. Lex. 395. Cp. Turpie, 181, w ho thinks that Chiun was a sun-god. 27. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus'] Beyond the capital of Syria, in which you trust for help (see above, iii. 12), instead of relying on Me, the Lord God of Israel. It was very appropriate, therefore, in Amos to use the word Damascus here; and it was no less proper lor St. Stephen, in his speech at Jerusalem to the Jewish Sanhedrim, where he refers to this prophecy, to use the word Babylon, " I will carry you anay beyond Babylon," for such a carrying away had hem foretold by Isaiah, and Jeremiah, xx. 4, 5. St. Stephen is quoting from " the Book of the Prophets," and nothing is more common among writers and speakers in the New Testament, than to combine into oue several passages from various Prophetical Scriptures. See the note below, on Acts vii. p. 69, and the nu- merous instances of this practice collected in the excellent work of Surenhusius (Catallage, Amst. 1713), there cited. On. VI. 1. Woe to them that are at easel Cp. Isa. xxxii. 9. — named chief of the nations] Rather, the named (i. e. the renowned priuccs ; sec Num. i. 16 ; xvi. 2) among the chief of the nations, i. e.. Woe to the principal men of the princely nation of the Earth ! Woe to the princes of Israel, the first among the nations in God's favour (Exod. xix. 5). — To whom the house of Israel came] To which (princes) the house of Israel resorts for ihelp and guidance in afi'airs of state. 2. Pass ye unto Calneh — Mamath — Gath] Look to East, Xorth, and West, and see whether any of the great kingdoms there are better (i. e. more favoured by God) than these kingdoms Vol. VI. Past II.— 49 of Israel. On Calneh in Babylonia, see Gen. x. 10. Isa. x. 10. Ezek. x.wii. 23. On Hamath in Syria, see Gen. x. 18. Ninn. xui. 21 ; xxxiv. 8. Isa. x. 9. On Gath, see 1 Sam. v. 8. These pa.ssages (vi. 1 — 6, and vii. 14, 15) are quoted by S. Augustine (de doct. Christ, iv. 16) as specimens of divine elo- quence and inspiration in one who, like the prophet Amos, was "a herdman " (i. 1). 5. That chant] That trill (Heb. y«;raO, light ballads. — And invent to themselves instruments of music, like David] Who flatter themselves that they will be blessed of (iod as David was, because they arc like him in oue particular — inventing musical instruments ; but they invent them to themselves, not to God's glory — as David did. On the flattering self-delusion of persons who imagine that, because they imitate good men in some particnlai's, they will therefore be favoured by God, see the excellent remarks of Sp. Sanderson, commenting on this text in his Lectures on Conscience (Lect. iii. § 13, vol. iv. p. 52). 6. That drink wine in bowls] Even in sacrificial boiols (Eko<\. xxxviii. 3. Num. iv. 14. 2 Chron. iv. 8); which they profane by sacrilegious revelry — as Belshazzar did at Babylon. — anoint themselves with the chief ointynents] Although in time of mourning all auoiuting was omitted (3 Sam. .\iv. 2), yet they, in this ciisis, when the divine wrath was about to break out uiwn the nation, and they ought to be sitting in sackcloth and ashes, are curious to procure the best ointment for tlieir o« u use. Roman Patricians, in Cicero's days, cared only for their own fish-ponds, that their tables might be well supplied with mullets and other fish from them, when their country was in danger of being overwhelmed with a flood ; they thought " only of the cock-boat of tlieir own fortunes when the vessel of the State was being wrecked." The Emperor Nero was fiddling, when Rome was in flames Here is another prophetic warning for our days of selfish luxury and lack of zeal for God. — are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph] That is, they grieve not themselves for the ruin (literally, breach) of their Church and country. Joseph, the ancestor of Ephraim, the head of the ten tribes, was afilicted by his own brethren, who saw the anguish of his soul, and were not moved by his tears (Gen. xlii. 21) ; and when they had sold him to the Ishmaelites, sat down, in heartless indifl'erence, " to eat bread." See Gen. xxxvii. 25. So their descendants, the Jews, feasted at the Passover after they had killed the true Joseph (John xviii. 28). How many dwell in ceiled houses, and sing to the sound of the hai^p, and feast on the richest dainties, and care nothing for the sorrows of Christ and His Church ! nay, rather rejoice in them ! (Rev. xi. 10.) I'unishnent of Israel foretold. AMOS VI. 8— 1-i. VII. 1. The Five Visions. ;s7. p Jer. 51.H. Ileb 6. 13, 17. q Ps.47. 4. Czek. 24. 21. ch. 8. 7. i Ileb. thefutncis thtreof. t Isa. 55. 11. u ch. 3. 15. I Or, dropi'ittgs. I Num. 34. S. I Kings .S. r)5. II Or, valley. And the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed. " p The Lord God hath sworn by himself, saith the Lord the God of hosts, I abhor "i the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces : Therefore will I deliver up the city with all f that is therein. " And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die. '" And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house. Is there yet any with thee ? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, ' Hold thy tongue : ' for || we may not make mention of the name of the Lord. " For, behold, "the Lord commandeth, " Alii he will smite the great house mth || breaches, And the little house with clefts. '- Shall horses run upon the rock ? Will one plow there with oxen ? For " ye have turned judgment into gall. And the fruit of righteousness into hemlock : '^ Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, Which say. Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength ? '^ But, behold, 'I will raise up against j^ou a nation, house of Israel, saith the Lord the God of hosts ; And they shall afflict you from the ^ entering in of Hemath unto the |1 river of the wilderness. VII. 1 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me ; and, behold, he formed II grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth ; and, 7. the banquef] R.ither, the cry of revelry (Gesen. 509). 9. ten men] A large number — they shall all die. 10. a man's uncle^ Or, next of kin (Gesen. 191), whose duty it was to bury his deceased relative. — !ie thai burneth him'\ The Israelites did not burn coi^pses, but bury them; except iu times of great mortality, which is implied here by this mention of biirninff. — iy the sides of the house^ Or rather, at the back of the house, in its extreme corner. — jN'o] They are all dead except one — myself. — Then shall, he sai/'] Then shall the kinsman answer, Hush.' for there must be no mention of the name of the Lord. This last man was expected by the kinsman to cry out in a piteous appeal for mercy to the Lord. But he, iu an obstinate and god- less fit of proud and sullen despair, checks and stifles the appeal, saying, "Mush." Cp. viii. 3, where the same word is used. — for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord] This represents the wretched, reprobate condition to which Israel would be reduced. As S. Jerome says, " Hoc commemorat ut ostendat, nee malorum quidem pondere et necessitate com- pulses velle nomen Dei confiteri." We see here a portraiture of the death-bed of the hardened iiifidel. He who has obstinately abused the intellectual powers given him by God, to cavil against God's truth, will be forsaken by Him at the last, and will not be able to utter His Name. 11. with breaches — with clefts'] Or.into breaches and shivers. 12. Shall horses run upon the rockJ] No; but ye do what is tjnitc .IS preposterous. And, as horses stumble and wound them- selves by running on sharp rocks ; and as no harvest is to bo expected from the ploughing of oxen there; so, iu the self-cbosc-u way of your own evil passions (which is prefeiTed by you to tlie plain and even road of the law of God), you only lacerate your- selves, and reap no fruit from your labours. — ye have turned judgment into gall] See v. 7. 13. Have we not taken to us horns] Horns are symbols of power (Deut. xxxiii. 17. 1 Kings xxii. 11). And these sinners a-k, " Have we not acquired to ourselves help by our own might ?" They speak like him who deified his own right liaud and his own wea])oii, " Dcxtra mihi Dcus, ct telum, quod missile libro." 14. a 7iation] Assyi-ia. ^ — entering in of Memath] The northern boundary of Israel. Sec V. 2. Num. xxxiv. 8. 2 Kings xiv. 25. 28. — the river of the wilderness] The southern boundary ; the Wadg el Ahsy, which separated Moab from Edom at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea (2 Kings xiv. 25). Five Visions. Isbael's Punishment and Kestoeation. C'n. VII. The last portion of the prophecies of Amos (ch. vii. — ix.) contains five Visions, which confirm what has been foretold in the foregoing portion. Amos has five Pambles (iii. 3 — 8) and five Visions. The first four visions are distinguished from the fifth or last vision (ch. ix.) in this respect, that the first four begin with the same formula, "Thus hath the Lord God showed me;" the last begins with the words, " I saw the Lord." They difier also in their contents. The first four symbolize the judgments which have already fallen in part on the ICingdoin of Israel, and in part are still to fall ; the last Vision, while it proclaims the overthrow of the ancient constitution of the King- dom of Israel, reveals its restoration in a far more glorious and everlasting monarchy — that of Cheist (ix. 11 — 15). Of these four Visions the first two (vii. 1 — 6) contain a promise of divine mercy in reply to the Prophet's prayer ; and thus they represent the memorable fact, that God was very patient with Israel, and that His judgments were not inflicted upon Israel at once, but after frequent admonitions and calls to repentance, and after many acts of divine love, sparing Israel when they deserved punishment. The second two Visions con- tain no assurance of mercy, because the divine long-suffering has been exhausted by Israel's sin, and is to be followed hy judgment. But Amos foretells, that eventually, in consequence of the iuflictiou of salutary chastisement, Israel will be brought to re- pentance, and be reconciled to God in Christ, the beloved Son of God. Thus wc see that the Prophet Amos takes np and eontiinics the strain of his predecessor Hosea, who has shown that all God's chastisements of Israel were due to Israel's sin, and were tem- pered with love, and will lead to the restoration of Israel to God iu the Church of Christ. See Hosea xiii., xiv. The Visions, like the Parables (iii. 3 — 8), begin with a pro- saic recitative, which bursts forth into an impassioned, poetical, and antistrophieal prophecy. 1. he formed grasshoppers] Uiither, he was forming locusts. Cp. Nah. iii. 17, where the same word is used (Ocsen. IGl). God's mercy (o Israel, AMOS VII. 2^13. and suhsequent judgment. lo, it u-as the latter gi-onvth after the king's mowings, - And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee : " || by whom shall Jacob arise ? for he is small. 2 ''The Lord repented for this : It shall not be, saith the Lord. '' Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. ^ Then said I, Lord God, cease, I beseech thee : " by whom shall Jacob arise ? for he is small. ^ The Lord repented for this : This also shall not be, saith the Lord God. ^ Thus he shewed me : and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbUne, with a plumbline in his hand. ^ And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou ? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, "^ I ■ft'ill set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel : ' I will not again pass by them any more : ^ ^And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste ; And ^ I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. '" Then Amaziah '' the priest of Beth-el sent to ' Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel : the land is not able to bear all his words, i' For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. '- Also Amaziah said unto Amos, thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there : ^^ but '' prophesy not again any more at Beth-el : ' for it is the king's || chapel, and it is the f king's court. II Or, irAoorCor, fur) Jacob ihnli ilnnd! ^ b Deut. 32. 36. A Sep 2 Kings 21. 13. Isa. 28. 17. & 34. 11. Lam. 2. S. = rli. s. 2. Micah 7. 18. f lleer-sheba, Gen. 20. 23. S: «i. 1. ch h. 5. & 8. II. K Fultilled, 2 KinKs 1.1. 10. h 1 Kings 12. r. i 2 Kinijs 14. 2:1 Thus God showed to Amos that the vast army of locusts described by Joel (i. 4) were creatures formed by Him to execute His purposes. — ihe latter grototK] The second crop ; so that this would be consumed by the locusts. — after the king's mowings] Therefore this first visitation was a merciful one. God might have formed the locusts so as to destroy the first crop ; but He allowed the king to mow and to gather-in that. Thus He had dealt with Israel : He had given great successes to various Kings of Israel, especially to Jero- boam I. and to Jeroboam II. (see 2 Kings xiv. 27); but they were not drawn to God by these acts of kindness; therefore, after these " King's mowings," He sends locusts to consume the aftergrowth. And even now He relents at the Prophet's peni- tential intercession (asking, hg whom shall Jacob arise I or, who is Jacob, that he should stand? (Gesen, 469) and confessing his weakness, for he is smalt) ; and thus he sliows that if Israel «ill repent, Israel will still be spared. 4. bg fire] A severer judgment, sent because of Israel's im- penitence under the former judgment. These successive judg- ments are like the successive plagues of Egypt, sent to bring Pharaoh to repentance. — it devoured the great deep] The fire was devouring the ocean (cp. Gen. i. 2 ; vii. 11. Isa. li. 10), especially the Medi- terranean sea, bordering Piilestine. See the ne.xt note. The power of this fire showed it to be a fire of God; it was a pre- cursor of the great conflagration which will consume the World — even the Sea itself— at the Great Day (2 Pet. iii. 10). Com- pare note on Jer. li, 32, where the fire of God, burning Babylon, is described as burning even its lakes and moats. — did eat up a part] Rather, z7 devoured the portion — God's fovonred portion and inheritance, Israel. See Deut. xxxii. 9, where the same word, chelek, is used. Cp. Micah ii. 4. 7. with a plumbline] The wall of Israel had been built by God witli a plumb-line, and now it would be destroyed with a plumb- line (cp. 2 Kings xxi. 13. Isa. xxxv. 2. Lam. ii. 8) ; that is, there was, so to speak, an architectural design and plan in God's work of destroying Israel, no less than in His former favour to 51 Israel in building him up. God does every thing according to measure, number, and weight (Wisdom xi. 20). As one said of old, "The Deity is a perfectGeometrician." And the plumb-line of destruction was to be coextensive with the plumb-line of construc- tion — it was to be total. This was fulfilled in the captivity and dispersion of Israel, which was so ordered as to be preparatory to the building up again and restoration of Israel, in Christ, and iu His Universal Church, on the ruins of the literal Jerusalem. See below, ix. 11 — 15; and above, Introd. to Ezra, p. 299. 9. the house of Jeroboam] The house of Jeroboam II, (2 Kings xiv. 23 — 28). He does not s.iy Jeroboam himself (as Araaziali, the priest of Bethel, falsely alleged, v. 11), who died in peace, but the house of Jeroboam, which came to a miserable end (2 Kings XV. 10). 10. the priest of Beth-el'] The High Priest of the sanctuary of the golden calf there charges Amos, the Prophet of the Lord, with high treason against the King, and says that the land, i.e. the people, cannot bear his words; that his prophecies are in- tolerable (cp. Wisdom ii. 12. 15) ; although the King's house, his dynasty, and his nation, would have been saved, if they had listened to his words; they were eventually destroyed because they rejected his warnings. 12. Judah] Thy own country. See i. 1. — eat bread] As if the design of Amos in prophesying was to gain a livelihood, like those false Prophets who prophesied, and those false priests who taught, for hire ! (Micah iii. 11.) Go thou to Judah, and eat bread there, and do not interfere with me, but let me eat bread in Bethel. Do thou live by thy trade there, and let me live by my trade here {S. Jerome). 13. it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court] Bethel is the king's sanctuary and house of the kingdom — i. e. it is a chief shrine of the national worship. Observe, This priest of Bethel claims honour for it, not because it is the Lord's Sanc- tuary, hut because it is the King's Sanctuary ; and not because it is the house of God, but the house of Jeroboam. All chiims of reverence for a Church simply and merely as a national establishment, independently of Divine institution, are no belter than these assertions of Amaziah. The first royal propouuder of m 1 Kings 20,35. 2 Kings 2. 5. S; 4. 38. 8: 6. 1. Ezek. 21. 2. Micah 2. 6. p SecJer. 28. 12. &29.21,25,31,32. q Isa. 13. IG. Lam. 5. II. Hos. 4. 13. Zech. 14. 2. Amos the Prophet ; and AMOS VII. 14—17. VIII. 1— C. Amaziah, priest of Bethel. Before u Tlieii Rnswered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I toas no prophet, neither n-as I " a prophet's son ; " but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of || sycomore fruit : ^■' and the Lord took mo f as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. ^^ Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord : Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, And "drop not thy tvord against the house of Isaac. '' p Therefore thus saith the Lord ; •I Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, And thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, And thy land shall be divided by line ; And thou shalt die in a polluted land : And Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. VIII. ' Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me : and behold a basket of summer fruit. - And he said, Amos, what seest thou ? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Thon said the Lord unto me, " The end is come upon my people of Israel ; •"I will not again pass by them any more. •^ And "^ the songs of the temple f shall be howUngs in that day, saith the Lord God : There shall he mauy dead bodies in every place ; '' They shall cast them forth f with silence. '^ Hear this, ye that ' swallow up the needy. Even to make the poor of the land to fail, * saying, "When will the || new moon be gone, that we may sell corn ? And ' the sabbath, that we may f set forth wheat, * Making the ephah small, and the shekel great, And f falsifying the balances by deceit ? ^ That we may buy the poor for '' silver, And the needy for a pair of shoes ; Yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat ? dch.6. 9, 10. t Heb. be tiUr.l. e Ps. 14. 4. Prov. 30. 14. what is now called Erastianism, as f;\r as we know, was Jero- boam I. ; the first priestly advocate of it, as far as we know, was Amaziah. S. Jerome, in his note here, applies these words to the Arians, who appealed to Arian Emperors, supporting their dogmas and persecuting the orthodcx teachers by the secular arm. When, in the fourth century. Catholic Bishops of Spain invoked the power of the Emperor Maximus, and would have put the Priscillianists to death, they were sternly rebuked and vigorously opposed by the saintly and apostolic Bishop, S. Martin of Tours {Snip. Sever., Hist. Eccl. ii. 50). Observe, also, that it is often the lot of God's Prophets — indeed, it was the condition of Christ Himself (Luke x.xiii. 2) and of His Apostles (Acts xvii. 7) to be taxed with disloyalty to the Crown, when they are discharging a duty of patriotism by upholding religious truth (which is the only safeguard of Thrones) in opposition to unbelief, heresy, schism, sacrilege, idolatry, and profaueuess, 14. /was no prophet.neilhervisisl apropliei's son] Literally, " No prophet, I ; no prophet's son (or disciple, 1 Kings xx. 35. Matt. xii. 27), I." Thou chargest me with making myself a Prophet in order that I may eat bread, i. e. for the sake of a livelihood (see v. 12) ; but I have not sought that profession, I do not claim it. I am a mere herdman ; and, so far from grati- fying my appetite by prophesying, I am content with the sim- plest fare, the fruit of the mulberry-fig. See 1 Kings x. 27. Ps. Ixxviii. 47. " In Palestine, at the present day, none but the very poor consent to be herdmcn, and only such gather sycamore fruit or use it " (Dr. Thomson, The L:iud and the Book", 23). 16. drop not thy word] Cp. Deut. xxxii. 2. Ezek. xx. 46 ; xxi. 2. Micah ii. 6. 11. Probably Amaziah had used this word {natapK) in ridicule of the prophetic utterances of Amos. 17. Thy tvife shall be an harlot~\ Thou teachest idolatry, which 52 is spiritual harlotry; and thou shalt be punished by harlotry in thy own house for thy sin. — tht/ land shall be divided ly line'] According to my Vision (t,. 7). Ch. VIIL I. a basket of summer fruit] A b.asket of ripe fruit, signifying that Israel was ripe for judgment. Cp. Rev. xiv. 18. " Gather the clusters of the Earth, for her grapes are fully ripe." 2. The end is come] The end, Hebr. l-ets, with allusion to the Hebrew word kails, summer fruit, used in the foregoing verse. 3. the temple] Or palace ; the idol temple of Bethel. — ihe^ shall cast thorn forth with silence] Literally, "7ie(i.e. every one) casts them (the corpses) forth, saying, hush !" See vi. 10, and Judges iii. 19. Neh. viii. 11. Zeph. i. 7. Zccu. ii. 13. 4. that swallow up the needy] Rather, that pant after them to devour them, like a dog or wild beast panting and yelping after its prey. Cp. Job v. 5. Ps. Ivi. 1, 2; Ivii. 3; above, ii.7. Eceles. i. 5, where the same word (shciaph) is used. 6. the new moon] The holy day when, according to the law, trade was suspended. Cp. Num. xxviii. 11. — the sabbath] Cp. Neh. xiii. 15, 16. — set forth wheat] Literally, open out wheat — i. e. throw open our granaries, closed on the holy day, and display the samples of our corn in our sacks, and sell their contents. — makiiiff the ephah small, and the shekel great] Cheating by giving scant measure for the ephah by which ye sell (1,^ of a bushel), and demanding greater weight than the right standard of the shekel, which ye charge as price for the goods sold. 6. That we may buy the poor for silver] To buy the poor by reducing him to the necessity of selling himself as a bondmau (Lev. x.xv. 39). — the needy for a pair of shoes] Ch.'ii. 6. 70]. n Job 5. 14. Isa. 13. 10. Sc 59. 9, 10. Jcr. 15. 9. Micah 3. e. olsa. 15.2, 3. Jer 48. 37. Ezek. 7. IS. & 27. 31. Prophecy of Christ's rejection AMOS VIII. 7—14. IX. 1. and the dispersion of the Jetcs. ^ The Lord hath sworn by ' the excellency of Jacob, Before " CHRIST Surely "^ I will never forget any of their works. ,^,, ^ J"- » ' Shall not the land tremble for this, li°'- '■ "• " And every one moum that dwelleth therein ? ' ""'■ ■*' '' And it shall rise up wholly as a flood ; And it shall be cast out and drowned, " as by the flood of Egypt. mch.9.5. ^ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, " That I -will cause the sun to go down at noon, And I will darken the earth in the clear day : '" And I will turn your feasts into mouming. And all your songs into lamentation ; " And I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, And baldness upon every head ; ^ And I wiU make it as the mourning of an only son, And the end thereof as a bitter day, ^^ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, That I will send a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, But "i of hearing the words of the Lord : '- And they shall wander from sea to sea, And from the north even to the east, They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, And shall not find it. '^ In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. '■* They that 'swear by ' the sin of Samaria, And say, Thy god, Dan, liveth ; And, The f manner ' of Beer-sheba liveth ; Even they shall fall, and never rise up again, IX, ' I saw the Lord standing upon the altar : and he said, Smite the || lintel of the door, that the posts may shake : q 1 Sam. 3. 1. Pa. 74 9. Ezek. 7. 2G. t Heb. way : See Acts-9. 2. Sc 18.25. & 19.9,23. & 24. 14. t ch. 5. 5. 7. bi/ the exceUenci) of Jacob'] God Himself (1 Sam. xv. 29). 8. it shall rise up wholly as a flood— drovined] The whole land of Israel shall heave upward as a flood ; it shall rise up and then sink downward, even as the Jlood of Egypt — the Nile. Tlie land shall lose its stability, and become fluid, like the swollen flood of the river Nile in its inundations. Cp. below, ix. 5. Jcr. xlvi. 7, 8. The word by, which is not in the original, would be better omitted. 9. I will cause the sun to go down at noon] Tliis prophecy has been supposed by some (Hitzig) to have been fulfilled by an eclipse of the sun, B.C. 784, the year of the death of Jeroboam II. (but this is very questionable, see Ptisey, 217) ; or by one of the eclipses in B.c! 791; or in BC. 771; or in B.C. 770 {Ussher, Annnles, a.m. 3213). However this may be, the climax of the fulfilment was in the miraculous darkness at the Crucifixion of Christ ; to which the words in the following verse may be applied (quoted as words of Amos in Tobit ii. 6). I will turn your feasts into mourning. Your great festival of the Passover (at which Christ was cruci- fied) shall be turned into a day of lamentation (S. Jerome here, and 5. Irenaus, iv. 6G). 10. the mourning of an only son] Another reference to Christ. Cp. Zech. xii. 10. 11. I will send a famine in the land] On the earth. They in the land of Israel, who now despise God's Word, will, when dis- persed, and wandering from sea to sea, and from north to east (t>. 12), hunger after it. This will be one of the good effects of their banishment. They will be like the prodigal in the far-off land, feeding on husks, and yearning for the food once plentifully enjoyed and despised by him in his father's house. Such is the present condition of the Jews. They roam in restless vagrancy about the world, and seek the word of God ; but they find it not, because they have killed the Incarnate &3 Word, revealed in the written word {S. Jerome). But they will feed upon the living bread of the written Word, when they are willing to see Christ there. See 2 Cor. iii. 14 — 16. 14. the sin of Samaria] The golden calf (iv. 4 ; v. 5) at Bethel. — The manner of Beer-sheba liveth] Literally, the way of Beersheba — i. e. the religion there practised ; so the word way is used in Acts ix. 2 (see the note there) ; or it may be, the way to Beersheba, the pilgrimage of unhappy votaries to the idolatrous shrine there. See above, v. 5. Ch. IX. 1. I saw the Loed] This is the fifth and last Vision. Before this Amos had seen the instruments employed by the Lord to execute His judgments (the locusts, the fire, the plumb-line, in the Lord's hands, and the basket of ripe fruit representing the ripeness of Israel for judgment), and to prepare the way for His Coming; but now the Lord Himself appears in all His Mujesty. — standing upon the altar] The altar which Jeroboam had set up at Bethel (S. Cyril, and so Euffinus, Clarius, A Castro, A Lapide, Etcald, Hitzig, Hoffmann, Pusey), and against which the man of God from Judah prophesied, " O altar, altar, — behold this altar shall be rent " (1 Kings xiii. 1 — 3). Others (S. Jerome, Theodoref, Ilengst., Keil) suppose the altar to be the brascu altar at Jerusalem. — Smite the lintel of the door] Rather, the Jcnop, or chapiter of the colonnade. Cp. the use of the s.ame word (captor) in Exod. xxv. 31. 33; xxxvii. 17. In those two chapters of Exodus it occurs sixteen times, and is alwaya rendered knop. See margin here, and in Zeph. ii. 14. The command "Smite" is given by the Lord to the destroying Angel. Cp. Exod. xii. 12. 2 Sam. xxiv. 1. 15, 16. 2 Kings xix. 35 ; and Ezckiel's Vision (chap. ix. and x. 2. 7). — the posts] Ot thresholds. The idolatrous temple was to bo shaken from top to bottom. Cliasliscmeiit of Israel AMOS IX. 2—0. by dispersion, in mernj. c Ps. 139. S, kc i Job so. C. c Lev. 20, .13. Drut. 28. C5. Kzek. 5. 12. f Lev. 17. 10. Jer. 44. 11. g Micah 1. 1. 1> ch. 8. 8. II Or, tphertj. t Ileb. incensioi iPs. 104.3, 13. II Or. bundle. q .ler. 30. II. ii 31. 35, 36. Ob.id. 16, 17. And II ■■' cut tbein in the head, all of them ; And I will slay the last of them with the sword : *■ He that fleeth of them shall not flee away, And he that cscapeth of them shall not be delivered. - ' Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them ; ■^ Though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down : ' And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence ; And though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, Thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them : ^ And though they go into captivity before their enemies, ' Thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them ; And ' I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. * And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall ^ melt, '' And all that dwell therein shall mourn : And it shall rise up wholly like a flood ; And shall be drowned, as hij the flood of Egypt. ** It is he that buildeth his || f ' stories in the heaven, And hath founded his || troop in the earth ; He that " calleth for the waters of the sea, And poureth them out upon the face of the earth : ' The Lord is his name. '' Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, children of Israel ? saith the Lord. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt ? And the " Philistines from " Caphtor, And the Syrians from ° Kir ? ^ Behold, p the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I ■■ will destroy it from off the face of the earth ; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. ^ For, lo, I will command, and I ■ndll f sift the house of Israel among all — cut them in the head, all of theyii] This is usually referred to the idolatrous fabric and its parts ; but it may be applied to the worshippers ; and this is confirmed by what follows ; and the sense then would be — cut tlicm in the head, and I will slay the last, or remnant, of thein ^Yith the sword : the worshippers from the head to the tail of them would be cut off, as well as the temple, from its summit to its threshold, be destroyed. See Isa. \x. 14, " The Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail." 2. Though they dig into hell] Cp. Ps. cxixix. 8. Job xxvi. 6. 0'.)ad. 4. Jer. li. 53. 3. top of Carmel] Carmel, both from its height and nume- rous caverns {Raumer, Sichter, Schulz, Hengst., Fusey), was used as a hiding-place ; as appears in the history of Elijah (1 Kings xviii. 19. 2 Kings ii. 25 ; iv. 25. — will I command the serpent] God will command the venomous sea-serpent to bite His enemies. The whale was coiuniauded by God to swallow Jonah ; the fish to pay tribute for Christ; the viper to spare St. Paul: all these were under Divine control. The "Old Serpent," Satan, is God's servant, and is used by Him to do His will in punishing the ungodly (Is.a. X.XX. 33. Ps. vii. 13). 5. shall be droKned] Shall sink, like the Nile {Sept.). See viii. 8. 6. stories] Or steps. Scripture speaks of the third heaven (2 Cor. xii. 2), the heaven of heavens (1 Kings viii. 27). — his troop] Rather, his vault or arch. Literallj, a hand (Gesen. 10); the visible firmament (Gen. i. 7) which divides the water above the heavens from the water beneath the heavens. Cp. Gen. vii. 11. 7. Are ge not as children of the Ethiopians] Ye people of Israel boast your elves to be My special favourites, because I chose your father Abraham, and brought him out of Mesopotamia into Canaan. And ye will be blessed by Me as My peculiar people, if ye walk in the steps of your father Abraham. But the fact of his call from Mesopotamia to Canaan was not, when considered irrespectively of the spiritual character of him who migrated at My call, any proof of My favour. I order and change the bounds of habitation of all nations. The Ethio- pians are children of Ham, who came forth from the ark as well as Shem and Japhet; and if ye do not obey Me, ye are no better than they are. I did bring you out of Egypt. Yes ; but I brought the Philistines also (whom ye despise as uncir- cumcised) out of Caphtor (probably Cappadocia — Targum, Sept., Tulg. : see Gen. x. 14) ; and I brought the Syrians from Kir (see i. 5). Ye cease to be Israelites; ye become no better than Cushites, Philistines, and Syrians, if ye forsake Me; indeed, ye become worse than them, in proportion as ye enjoy moi-e spiritual light than they did. Compare St. Paul's state- ment, Rom. ii. 25 — 29; ix. 6, 7. 8. the sinful kingdom] Any and every kingdom that sins against Me. Cp. Isa. x. 6. 9. I icill sift the house of Israel] A beautiful image, repre- senting clearly God's beneficent design in the captivity and dispersion of Israel. It seemed as if He, when He had given them into the hand of Assyria, had scattered them abroad and had utterly cast them to the winds. But no, they were safe in the divine sieve (cp. Jer. xv. 7. ; Ii. 1. Matt. iii. 12. Luke xxii. 31) ; and they were there for the purpose of being proved and tested. Those among them who were impenitent and god- less, and did not profit by the chastisement, would be dispersed like chaif by the wind ; but the penitent and faithful would be preserved, and be made manifest by the sifting : they would he David's Bestoration in Christ, AMOS IX. 10—13. ai)d in the Church nnivcrsal. nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least f grain fall upon the earth. '" All the sinners of my people shall die hy the sword, ' which say. The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. '' 'In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, And t close up the breaches thereof; And I will raise up his ruins, And I will build it as in the days of old : '- ' That they may possess the remnant of " Edom, And of all the heathen, f which are called by my name, Saith the Lord that doeth this. " Behold, "the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper. And the treader of grapes him that f soweth seed : ^ And the mountains shall drop || sweet wine, And all the hills shall melt. t Ileb. »/on r ch. 6. 3. a Acts 15. 16, 1?. t Oliad. ID. u Num. 24. IS. t Heb. upon t Heb. draweth Mill. y Joel 3. 18. II Or, new wine. seporated by that process from the chafl"; and not a single grain (Hebr. tserur; literal^, a thing bound together; any thing solid, as a pebble ; a grain of corn, as opposed to the loose, dusty chafl'; Oesen. 720) — would fall to the earth. This image is adopted by the Evangelical Prophet Isaiah in that noble passage where Babylon is compared to a threshing- floor of God for the wiunowing of Judah. See above, on Isa. xxi. 10, and compare xxviii. 23 — 29. Such is the whole World now. It is God's floor, in which Israel is being winnowed, in order that the remnant of good grain may be gathered into the garner of Christ's Church universal. 10. prevent its'] Come before ns, to meet us; confi-ont us. Restoeation op Iseael in Cheist; and Conveesion of Israel's enemies (symbolized by Edom) and of the Gentiles. 11. Ill that rfay] The glorious day which is now revealed to the Prophet, the Day of Christ. Cp. Jip. Chandler on Pro- phecy, i. 139. Having spoken of the Divine purpose in sifting Israel in its Captivity (i>. 9), he now proceeds to speak of their Restora- tion to God in Christ, and in His Church. Amos foresees and foretells clearly that, before salvation comes to Israel, all that is dearest to Israel, all on which Israel dotes most fondly and relies most confidently, and of which they boast most proudly, will be destroyed, and Israel will be carried captive and dis- persed ; the House of David itself, to which God's promises of continuity were announced, will be in ruins. But the battle would be succeeded by peace. Calm would follow the storm. Building-up would grow out of destruction. Israel's Midnight would be changed by Christ into a glorious Noon. — will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen] Literally, the (pastoral) hut (or booth) of David, the fallen (hut) of the shepherd of Bethlehem ; near which Amos himself kept cattle (i. 1). He does not call it a royal palace, but a hut or booth {succah), and a fallen one, to show the low estate to which it would be I'educed, and from which it would be raised in Christ; and thus he prepared the *i'ay for the propliecy of Micah con- cerning Bethlehem (see Micah v. 2), and for the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the rod springing forth from the roots of the hewn-down tree of Jesse. See on Isa. xi. 1 ; liii. 2. Ezek. xvii. 22—24. The Hebrew Rabbis recognized in these words a prophecy concerning the Messiah (see the authorities in Hengstenherg here), and they call Him " the son of the fallen one," a title derived from this passage. See the Rabbinical Authorities in J3p. Chandler on Prophecy, i. 14 1. Observe, the Propliet here tells the Ten Tribes of Israel that their own Restoration depends on the building-up of the house of David, from which they had severed themselves by the schism of Jeroboam (cp. Ezek. xxxvii. 15 — 25) ; and thus, while he cheers them with promises of recovery by Christ, the Seed of David, he does not suffer them to forget their own sin of schism and separatiou from David's House, 12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LoBD that doeth this~\ These words, and tliose in the foregoing verse, are referred to by St. James, in the first Council of the Church, the Council 63 of ferusalem, when it was debated whether the Ceremonial Law of Moses was to be imposed as obligatory on the Gentile Con- verts, and whether they were to be admitted on any other terms, as of necessity, except faith in Christ, and by Baptism in His Name. See below, on Acts xv. 16, 17. St. James, in dealing with this question, which concerned the Gentiles as well as the Jews, quoted the words of Amos here as they stand in the Septuagint Version, made by Jews at Alexandria, in the Greek language, the priucipal language of the Heathen World. That Version was not designed to be a literal one, but a Paraphrase. Cp. below, on Micah v. 2. The Septuagint Ver- sion is a Hellenistic Targum. And when the Translators met with a passage, in the Original Hebrew, which, if literally ren- dered, would be unintelligible to Hellenistic ears, they did not hesitate to modify it, so aa to preserve the spirit by deviating from the letter. This they have done here. They did not confound the word Edom with Adam (man, or mankind) as some have imagined ; but they deUberately substituted Adam for Edom, which contains the same consonants as Adam, mankind (with the exception of vau), and suggested Adam to them. And thus they gave, virtually, the true sense in a much clearer way to Greek readers than if they had preserved the ipsissimam voceni, Edom. To the Hebrew niind, Edom was a representative of the Nations of JIankind opposed to Israel ; but this idea was not familiar to the Greek mind. The substitution of Adam in the mind of the Translator, and its correlative Greek word, a.f$pa. 61.4. & B5. 21. Ezek. 30. 33- I) I«a. CO 21. Jer. 32. 41. r.vjk. S4. 28. Joel 3. 20. i-i ' And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, And "tlioy shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them ; And they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; They shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. '^ And I will plant them upon their laud, And ^ they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, Saith the Lord thy God. description of Canaan flowing with milk and honey (Exod. iii. 8, 17. Lev. xxvi. 5). 14. I tcill bring ar/ain Ihe captimiy'] Kathor, I will turn the captivity. The Cajitivlty is reg.irded as a stream which is to be turned. Compare Ps. cxxvi. 4. 14, 15. theii shall build the waste cities— and they shall plant vineyards — and I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith ihe LoBD thy Ood] These prophecies received a subordinate and piepavatory fultilnient wlieu some of the Jews returned under Zcrubbabel to Jerusalem ; but this was only a foretaste of their full accomplishment in Christ. The opinion that they were fully accomplished in Zcrubbabel, was broached by Theodore of Mopsuestia, but was condemned as heretical iu the Second Council of Constantinople. The Prophets speak of conversion to Christianity under the terms of restoration. Thus, a restoration is promised to Moab I Jer. xlvih. 47), to Amnion (Jer. xlix. 6), and even to Sodom and her daughters. Those prophecies cannot be understood literally, but they foretell the reception of heathen nations into the I'harch. See A Lapide, here. Similarly all these prophecies of Amos are fulfilled in all places wherever Israel is planted in the true spiritual Holy Land, the Church of Christ. Zion now enfolds the World, and will never be destroyed. Palestine ex- tends to all places where Christ is preached and adored. The World has become a Holy Land in Him. See above, on Jer. XXX. 3; xxxi. 5; on Isa. Ixv. 21, and chap. Ixvi. 7 — 12. Ezek. xxxiv. 13; xxxvi. 33; xxxvii. 12; and on Joel iii. 20, 21. An Ancient Father of the Church at the close of the Fourth Century, .S. Jerome, who dwelt at Bethlehem in the immediate neighbjurhood of Tckoa, the native place of Amos the Prophet, thus writes : *' The Tabernacle of David had fallen down to those who said, ' Evil sliall not overtake us ' (i\ 10), whom the Lord sifted and proved in His sieve, and whose threshing-tioor He had purged by the fan of His Majesty, and the transgressors among whom He had slain by the sword. " But now, according to the custom of Scripture, after a prophecy of chastisement. He adds promises of love and pro- sperity. He says, that He will raise up this Tabernacle of i)avid that had fallen down, that He will build it all up again in the ResuiTcction of Christ the Son of David ; so that what had fallen down in the Jewish Synagogue might rise up in the Christian Church ; and that they who believe in Christ m\ght possess the remnant of JEdom and of all ihe heathen ; so that whatever remains of the earthly and sanguinary kingdom of Edoui, the enemy of Israel, might be changed into a kingdom of heaven ; and that the heathen might be converted and return to the Lord ; and so, when the fulness of the Gentiles had come in, all Israel should be saved (Rom. xi. 12). " The prophecy of Amos which now succeeds, is understood by us who do not follow the letter that killeth (as some of the Jews now do), but the spirit that giveth life (2 Cor. iii. 6), to have been in part fulfilled, and to be in course of fulfilment, in the Christian Church. It is fulfilled in all who have fallen into ruin by sin, and who are built up by repentance. And when the Tiibernacle of David, which had fallen down, is built up again in Christ, then, as the Prophet says, a time succeeds of universal ubuudance. They who before went forth weeping, bearing their good seed, now return again with joy, and bring their sheaves with them (Ps. cxxvi. 6). The ploughman overtakes the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed. The vintage and seed-time will coincide. In that day the wine-press will be filled, the grapes will be trodden, and red wine will be poured forth from the blood of Christ and the Holy Martyrs, and this their blood will be the seed of the Church. " The mountains shall drop sweet wine, and the hills shall melt, when every one, who ascends in a holy and virtuous life to the hills of spiritual contemplation, will taste the honey and the sweet wine which flow there ; as the Psalmist says, ' Taste and see how gracious the Lord is.' ' Thy words are sweet to my Koutli, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb ' (Ps. xxiiv. 8 ; Ps. six. 10; cxix. 103). And they who dwell beneath the mountains, on which the Bridegroom comes leaping in the Canticles (Song of Solomon ii. 8), will be planted like a Para- dise of God; and all fruits of holy learning and knowledge will hang upon their boughs. Then he who once wandered in captivity, and did not then believe in the Name of the Lord, but is of the remnant of Israel, will return to God and to his own land, by faith in Christ, and he will recognize in the Gospels Him of Whom he once read in the Prophets ; and after the Lord has thus turned back the Captivity of His people Israel, they will build up cities which before were desolate on lofty mountains, and dwell in them, according to our Lord's words, 'a city set upon a hill cannot be hid' (Matt. v. 14). They will also plant vineyards and drink wine of them, according to the invitation given by Christ in the Canticles (v. 1), ' Drink, yea drink abundantly, O beloved.' This is the grape of Sorcc which we drink daily in the holy mysteries of the Lord's banquet. And they will plant gardens and water them, and no kinds of Christian graces and virtues will be lacking there ; and they will eat the fruit of them. And thus the promise of Christ will be fulfilled, ' Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth ' (Mat. v. 5). And the final promise of the prophecy here is, ' 1 will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord of hosts;' whence we learn that, though the Church of God will be persecuted in the last days, it will never be destroyed ; it will be assaulted, but it will never be con- quered. And the reason of this is, because the Lord God Al- mighty, the Lord God of the Church, has promised this ; and God's promise is Nature's law" (5. Jerome). Compare 8. Angus- tine, De Civ. Dei, xviii. 28. " We are not authorized to seek for a realization of this prophecy of Amos in the return of Israel from its Babylonish Captivity to Palestine, under Zcrubbabel and Ezra; for this was no planting of Israel to dwell for ever in the land, nor was it a setting up of the fallen hut of David. Nor have we to transfer the fulfilment to the future, and think of a time when the Jews, who have been converted to their God and Saviour Jesus Christ, will one day be led bach: to Palestine. Canaan and Israel are types of the kingdom of God, and of the Lord's Church. Cp. Joel iii. 8. The raising up of the fallen hut of David began with the Coming of Christ, and the found- ing of the Christian Church ; and the taking possession of Edora and all the other nations upon whom the Lord reveals His Name, took its rise in the reception of the Gentiles into the Kingdom of Heaven set up by Christ. The Land which will flow with streams of Divine blessing is not Palestine, but the domain of the Christian Church ; it is the Earth, as far as it re- ceives the benefits of Christianity. The people which cultivate this land are the members of the Christian Church, so far as it is grounded in living faith, and brings forth the fruits of the Holy Spirit" (Keil). See also M. Henry here, who says : — "This must certainly be understood of the abundance of spiritual blessings iu heavenly things, which all those are and shall be blessed with, who are in sincerity added to Christ and His Church ; they shall be abundantly replenished with the good- ness of God's House, with the graces and comforts of His Spirit; they shall have bread — the bread of life — to strengthen their hearts, and the wine of divine consolations to make them glad — meat, indeed, and drink, indeed — all the benefit that comes to the souls of men from the Word and Spirit of God. In Gospel-times the mountains of the Gentile world shall be enriched with these privileges by the Gospel of Christ preached, and professed, and received in the power of it. When great multitudes were converted to the faith of Christ, and nations were born at once; when the preachers of the Gospel were always caused to triumph in the success of their preaching, then the ploughman overtook the reaper; and when the Gentile Churches were enriched in all utterance, and in all knowledge, and all manner of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. i. 5), then che mountains dropped sweet wine" (M. Henry'). O B A D I A H. THE vision of Obadiah. Thus saitli the Lord God ' concerning Etlom ; I Isa. 21. 11. &34. 5. Ezek. 25. 12, 1.1, U. Befoie CHRIST about S87. Joel 3. 19. Mai. 1. Peeliminaet Note. Tlie prophecy of Obadiah is linked on to the foregoing preJictions of Amos by a particular word. Tliat word is Edom. In the last chapter of his prophecies, Amos had said that the Lord would " raise up the tabernacle of David that was fallen," and he had expressed its future glory and universal sovereignty under the sway of the Messiah, by saying that it would "possess the remnant of Sdom " (ix. 11, 12). 1"he name JEdom, as was there observed, represents not merely the literal Edomites, but all those persons and classes of society, which, being allied by nearness of birth or place to the Israel of God — that is, to the Christian Church (as Edom, or Esau, was to Jacob), have yet behaved to it in an unbrotherly, heartless, and treacherous manner. Tliat prophecy of Amos is now taken up and expanded by Obadiah, who follows next to Amos in the Hebrew Canon, and in the order of time. That this is the proper place for Obadiah in the chrono- logical sequence of the Prophets, and that he prophesied during, or soon alter, the twenty-seven years in which Uzziah, King of Judali, and Jeroboam II., King of Israel, were contemporaries — i.e. between B.C. 810, and B.C. 783— was suggested 1400 years ago by S. Jerome, wlo says, " a great portion of Obadiah is contained in the Book of Jeremiah ;" and this has been suc- cessfully proved, and is ncv; generally admitted, by the best expositors, as Sengatenherg, iWey, Keil ; see also Kiteper, Jere- mias, p. 100 ; Delitzsch on Isaiah Ixiii. 1 — 6 ; and the remarks of Gi-af (Der Prophet Jertmias, Leipz. 1863, pp. 559—570); and especially Carl Paul Caspari (Der Prophet Obadja, Leipz., 1842, pp. 6 — 42), wh,i, however, thinks that Obadiah is speaking of the cruelty of 1 dom to Judah at the time of the Chalda?an invasion. They have .shown that Jeremiah in his prophecy concerning Edom (Jer. xlix. 7 — 22), has adopted the language of Obadiah. The uncertainty of that modern Criticism which sets aside the authority of the Hebrew Canon, and has exhibited itself in the disquisitions on Obadiah of Hilzig, Hofmann, and others, is strikingly displayed in the fact tb:it the former makes him to be the latest of the Prophets, and the other regards him as the earliest. It is observed by Caspari (pp. 5 — 12), in examining the prophecies of Jeremiah concerning Edom, that we discover a great number of expressions which are peculiar to Jeremiah and often occur in his writings ; but not a single one of these is found in Obadiah ; which would be unaccountable, if Obadiah had followed and used the prophecies of Jeremiah, instead of vice versa. On the other baud, nothing which Jeremiah has in common with Obadiah, in the prophecies concerning Edom, is found in any other part of Jeremiah. Obadiali's prophecies concerning Edom form one connected whole; Jeremiah inter- sperses his prophecy with phrases culled here and there from Obadiah. From this demonstration we may derive the following inferences : — 1. It confirms our confidence in the arrangement of the Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible — an arrangement which, happilv, has been adopted in our own Authorized English Version of the'Old Testament. 2. The chronological position of Obadiah illustrates an important truth concerning God's dealings with mankind. It may be laid down as a rule, that God never executes a judgment, or inflicts a punishment on a nation or au individual. '67 without having given some previous warnings, either special or general, as to the hateful character and dangerous consequences of the sins for which the judgments are intlicted. God warns men of hell, in order that they may escape bell, and attaia heaven. He speaks of punishment, that He may not inflict it. This was the law of His working with regard to even heathen nations. He did not denounce His judgtnents on Nineveh by Nabnm before He had given a warning to Nine- veh by Jonah; and He did not denounce His judgment on Edom by Jeremiah, before He had given warning of the approaching visitation by Obadiah. 3. It is to be regretted that in our English Version of Obadiah, the sin and punishment of Edom are represented as already pas/; whereas, the truth is, that they are future. Obadiah does not exult over Edom as having been punished for their sins against their brother Israel, by the Lord God of Israel, but he is sent by God, in His mercy, to ivarn Edom against committinj the sin, in order that fhej/ may escape the punishment ; see below, on v. 12. 4. The name Obadiah means servant of the Lord (Jehovah), the God of the Covenant of Israel. Obadiah per- forms his work as servant of Jehovah, by showing that the Lord God of Israel is Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and the destinies of all heathen Nations are in His hands ; and that it is the duty and happiness uf nations to acknowledge His supremacy; and that though heathen nations, like Edom, may for wise purposes be allowed to chastise Israel — the Church of God — yet, eventually, the Lord God of Israel (that is, of the true Church) will overrule all things to the good of His Church, which will endure for ever ; and to the glory of the Great Name of the Lord God of Abraham, shedding blessings on all His faithful people of every nation, through the Seed of Abraham, in Whom " all families of the earth arc to be blessed " — our Lord and Saviour Jesus Cheist. 5. It may be observed, that, in order to bring out more clearly the supremacy of Jehovah, the Lord of Israel, Obadiah never uses the word Elohim. 6. In the series of special denunciations of warning against heathen nations, which form the entire subject of the writings of Three among the Minor Prophets, the denun- ciation of Obadi.ih against Edom holds the first place ; It is followed by the special denunciations of Jonah and of Nahum against the great Assyrian capital, Nineveh. These special denunciations by Obadiah against Edom, aud by Jonah and Nahum against Nineveh, are again succeedeil by Habakkuk's message of woe to Babylon. It has been shown above, concerning Edom, Nineveh, and Babylon, that each of them represents a particular type respectively of sin against God, and of enmity against His Church. See on Isa. xiii. prelim, note. Jer. xlix. 7 ; 1. 1. 21. Ezek. xxv. p. 213 ; xxxi. p. 22(>. Edom is the type of unfratemal aud treacherous church- mansbip. Nineveh is the type of open blasphemy and Infidelity. Babylon is the type of proud and dominant Idolatry. The "priority of Obadiah to Jonah, Nahum, and Habakkuk may suggest the solemn truth, that Edomitish hatred against God's Church (that is, the malignant enmity of those who are connected with the spiritual Israel of God by ties of consan- guinity or neighbourhood) calls for God's primitive retribution even before the sins of such distant foes as Nineveh and Babylon, who had not the same advantages as Edom enjoyed. 1. Obadiah^l Servant of Jehovah. See the Frelim. A'oie, and Caspari, pp. 1, 2. — the Lord God] Hebr. AdosaI Jehotah, declaring that God's IVarnings OBADIAH 2—8. of woe to Edam. Before CHRIST c 2 Kings H. 7. (1 Isa. 14. 13, 14, 15. Kev. IS. 7. e Job 20. C. Jer. 49. 16. & SI. 53. Amos 9. 2. f Hab. 2. 9. h Deut. 24. 21. I9a. 17. 6. & 24. M. D Or, gluanings .' t Heb. Ihe m till/ peace. i hi. 33. 22. f Heb. the men of thy bread. kisa. 19.11, 12. n Or, of it. 1 Job 5. 12, 13. Isa. 29. M. Jer. 19. 7. ■' We have heard a rumour from the Lord, And an amhassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. ~ Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen : Thou art greatly despised. ^ The pride of thine heai't hath deceived thee, Thou that dwellest in the clefts " of the rock, whose habitation is high ; '' That saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground ? •• " Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle. And though thou '' set thy nest among the stars. Thence will I bring thee do'mi, saith the Lord. * If ^thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough ? If the grapegatherers came to thee, ^ would they not leave || some grapes ? '' How are the things of Esau searched out ! IIgiv are his hidden things sought up ! ^ All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border : f ' The men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee ; f They that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee : ^ There is none understanding || in him. " ' Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, Jkhotah (the God of Israel) is the Adoxai, or Lord, the Creator, Ruler, and Judge of all Nations ; as S. Jerome says here, " Visio Abdia; est servi Domini, quern mittit gentibus. Dcstructio Iduiusea! visio nationum est." — Thus saith the Lord God — Ife 7iave heard a nimotir (or report) from the Lord] Some ancient writers regarded this passage as implying a pluralUy of Persons in the One Godhead. Compare on Gen. i. 26, " Let us make," and .\ix. 24, "The Lord rained fire from the Lord ;" and see 5. Jerome on llicah iv. and Mtiseh. Dem. Evang. v. 21; and this opinion is approved by some later Expositors (Cocceius, Caloviiis, Ffeiffer, p. 4i2). It is certainly worthy of notice, that the Lord God (AdonaI Jehotah) is introduced as saying. We (which supposes at least tico persons) have heard a rumour from another Person, called the Lord (JEnoVAn). This coincides at least with the doctriue of Three Persons, each Divine, in the Unity of the Godhead. — IEdom~\ Connected with Israel by origin and neighbour- hood, and therefore bound in duty to protect and help them ; but perfidious and cruel in its conduct to Israel ; and therefore a type of all who are allied to the Church of God, and who ouglit to defend her, but betray and persecute her. See above, on Isa. xxiii. 1, and Prelim. Note on Isa. xiii.. Cp. Jer. xlix. 7. Ezek. XXV. 12 -14. 2. Behold, I have made thee small] Edom was great, but God will make it small. Cp. Jer. xlix. 15. The contrast to this is in the following prophecy of Micah concerning Beth- lehem of Judah. Bethlehem was small, but God would make it great, by the birth of Christ there (Mic. v. 2, 3). The fulfilment of this prophecy began to take place in the overthrow of the Edomites by Nebuchadnezzar ; and was more completely executed under the Maccabees (Josephtis, Aut. xii. 18. 1; Caspari, 142-5). 3. in ihe clefts of the roci] In places of refuge in the rock (Gesen. 260). On the rocky fastnesses of Edom in Petra and other cities of its domain, see Stanley, Palest, pp. 87—89; Burckhardt, Syria, 421—427 ; Robinson, ii. 134—137 ; and Keil here, who says, "The Edomites inhabited the mountains of Seir, which are :a the eastern side of the Ghor, or Arabah, stretching from the deep rocky valley of the river Ahsy, which extends northward, to the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, and stretches southward to the iElanitic gulf of the Red Sea. These mountains are formed of huge rocks of granite and porphyry, which teruiinate on the west in steep, wall-like precipices of sandstone. Eastwai-d they slope downward to the Bandy desert of Arabia. They abound in clefts and caves, some 58 natural, some artificial. Hence its earliest inhabitants were called Horites, or dwellers in caves. The capital, Sela, or Petra, is proved to have been a place of great magnificence aud strength by its numerous remains of temples, tombs, and other edifices. It was defended on the east and west by rocks like walls, which present an endless variety of bright colouring, from the deepest crimson, melting into the softest pale red, and sometimes shadowing off into orange aud yellow. On the north and south it was guarded by mountains." Jeremiah has adopted these words of Obadiah. See Jer. -xlix. 16. Cp. Ps. Ix. 9. 4. Thouyh thou exalt thyself as ihe eayW] Cp. Job xxxix. 27 — 30, and Balaam's words concerning the ICenites (Num. xxiv. 21), " Strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock. Nevertheless, the Kenite shall be wasted." 5. If thieves came to thee'] The plundering of thieves would leave some remnant, and the gathering of grapes would leave some gleanings, " but thou wilt be ntterly spoiled and loasted." 6. Jlom are the things of Esau searched out.'] Literally, Sow are Esau out-searched ; how arc Esau rifled and ransacked. He uses the word Esau to remind Edoui of its brotherly relation to Jacob or Israel. And so Jeremiah, in the parallel prophecy, says, " I have made Esau bare, I h.ave uncovered his secret places" (Jer. xlix. 10). — hidden things] Secret treasures. 7. ihe men of thy confederacy] Thine allies have spoiled thee, O Edom ! Thou hast dealt treacherously with thy brother Israel, aud thy confederates have dealt treacherously with thee ; they have sent thee to the border ; they have cliused thee out of thy own land, as thou hast chased Israel. — They that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee] Literally, thy bread have laid a snare (see Gesen. 461) under thee. The abstract word thy bread represents the friends who lived upon the Edomites, and who had no other means of sub- sistence hut from the nonrishmeut which the Edomites g.ave them. Cp. Ps. xli. 9, " He who did eat of my bread hath lifted up his heel against me." — There is none understanding in him] In Edom. They have lost all their wisdom, for which they were famous, and are in- fatuated aud demented by sudden calamity. See what follows. Edom is a type of worldly wisdom aud secular policy, as well as of unbrotherly enmity to God's people. In both respects the punishment of Edom is a warning to aU Machiavellian politi- cians in these latter days. Merciful Warnings OBADIAH 9—14. to Edom. AikI nmlerstautling out of the mount of Esau ? •'' And thy '" mighty men, " Temau, shall be dismayed, To the cud that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. '" For thy "violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, And p thou shalt be cut oft' for ever. " In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, In the day that the strangers || carried away captive his forces. And foreigners entered into his gates, and ■• cast lots upon Jerusalem, Even thou tvast as one of them. '- But II thou shouldest not have ' looked on ' the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger ; Neither shouldest thou have 'rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction ; Neither shouldest thou have f spoken proudly in the day of distress ; ^•^ Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity ; Yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, Nor have laid hands on their || substance in the day of their calamity ; '"* Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape ; 587. m Vs. 70. 5. Amos 2. IG. n Jer. 49. 7. oGcii. 27.41. Ps. 137.7. Ezek. 25. 12. & 33.5. Amos 1. 11, p Ezik. 33. 9. Mai, 1.4. II Or, carri,;! awinj lus iub. q Jofl 3. 3. Nalium 3. 10. II Or, (1« Hill be- hold, ^c. rPs.22. 17. k. 54. 7. & 59. 10. Micali J. U. & 7. 10. s Ps. 37. 13. St 137. 7. t Job 31. 29. Prov. 17. 5. & 21. 17, 18. Micah 7. 8. t Heb. nth. 9. Temaii] See Amos i. 12. Jereiuiiili also .iSopts these tlioughts .nud language in his prophecy concerning Eclom (x!ix.7). 10. For thy violence against thy Jjrother Jacoh'] Words adopted from Joel iii. 19, and from Amos i. 11. Obadiah had used the word Esau in r. 6 ; he now uses the word Jacob in order to mark as strongly as possible the unbrotherly cruelty and treachery of the Edomites to their brethren. 11. In the day that thou stoodest on the other sicle~\ Rather, in the day of thy standing against (Israel) in the day of strangers carrying away captive his strength. Doubtless, Edom had been already guilty of many acts of wickedness to his brethren of Israel, ever since the days of their wandering in the wilderness (Num. XX. 14. 21, 22), and it persisted in this temper of hostility even to the time of the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (Ps. cxxxvii. 7). Obadiab foresaw the latter event (as has been rightly sup- posed by Theodoret, Michaelis, Caspari, Sengstenherg, Pusey) ; and he takes occasion from Edom's known disposition towai'ds Israel, to warn Edom of the bitter consequences that will ensue to Edom itself, if it indulges in that virulent spirit of hatred and treachery to Israel at a crisis when the misfortunes of its brethren ouglit to excite its sympathy and to obtain its succour, — In the day'] Observe the pathetic repetition of these words, "in the day," seven times, with every variety of sorrow to Israel, to be avenged by the day of the LoED (o. 15). . — Even thou wast as one of them~\ The word " wast " is not in the original, and ought to be expunged. The Prophet is not speaking of a past event, but of the future, and he is warning Edom against what he ivill be tempted to do, but ought not to do, and what the Prophet forbids him to do. This, therefore, is a proof of God's mercy to Edom. He endeavours to deter him from sin, so that he may not incur punishment. See above, Frelim. Soie. Note on the English Authoeized Veesion. 12. Hul thou shouldest not have looked] Rather, And look liiou not. See the margin. Do not behold. It is a strong pro- hibition (so Sept., I'ulg., Syriac, Arabic, Junius, Tremellius, Piscator, Keil, and cp. Pusey, p. 229). This is important to observe. The translation given in the text of our Authoeized Veesion is happily neutralized in the margin; but it has tempted many readers to imagine that Obadiah is referring to a past event, especially to the unbrotherly conduct which was displayed by Edom towards Judah, when Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonian army under Nebuchad- nezzar. Thus many English readers have been led into an altogether inaccurate notion with regard to the prophetic character and 59 office of Obadiah, and also with regard to the time in which ha lived; and a prejudice has been raised against the Hebrew arrangement of the Books of the Minor Prophets. These errors will be avoided by adopting the translation in the margin of our Authorized Version, instead of that in the text. This may serve as an occasion for again expressing a desii-e, that the wish of our Translators, as uttered in their Preface to the Authorized Version (and why is that Preface so little known and so rarely printed with our Bibles ?) were complied with ; and that the renderings placed by them in the margin, should be consulted habitually by the reader of the Translation. Would it not be well that editions of our Authorized Translation were usually accompanied with the marginal renderings ? Indeed, it may be doubted whether any edition should be published with- out them. It may also be suggested for consideration, whether the ministers of the Church, who officiate publicly in reading the appointed Lessons of Holy Scripture, might not be at liberty to substitute, in such public reading, the rendering in the margin, in lieu of the rendering in the text. Such a substitu- tion seems to be authorized by the Keri and Chetib of the Hebrew S^magogues ; and the advantage of it is obvious from such an example as that which is now before us in the Prophet Obadiah. If we are to have a new revision of our Authorized Version (which is a holy bond of uuiou among all members and Churches of the Anglican Communion in all parts of the world, and also a sacred link of Christian connexion of our dis- senting brethren with the whole Anglican Communion, and is of inestimable value in this respect), it deserves serious considera- tion whether this work of revision ought not, at least in the first instance, to be applied, not to the Text, but to the Margin. Considerable additions might be made to the Margin ; and if these additions, after careful examination and a sufficient time of probation, were generally approved, then (but not till then) they might be allowed to pass from the Margin into the Text. The remarks of Br. Pusey, in his Introduction to the Minor Prophets, deserve the careful consideration of all who have a due regard for Church-Unity and Scriptural Truth. — 2ieither shouldest thou have rejoiced — neither shouldest thou have spoken] Rather, Pejoice thou not — speak thou not. See the foregoing note. A similar correction is to be made in the two following verses, which are to be reaidered. Do not look — • do not lay hands ; do not stand in the cross way. Do not deliver up the remnant. The Prophet is here warning the Edomites against cruelty to their brethren of Judah in the day of the fall of Jerusalem, which he foresees. This warning may be extended to all spiritual Edomites. Heretical and schismatical teachers, and treacherous friends, exult in the aillictions and distresses of God's Church. " Nos- Restoration of Zion OBADIAH 15—19. in Christ. Before C 11 HIST about n Ezck. 30. 3. Joel 3. M. X Ezck. 35. 15. Hab. 2. 8. y Jer. 25. 28, 29 Si 49. 12. Joel 3. 17. 1 I'et. -1. 17. z Joel 2. 32. a Anioj 9. 8. II Or, l/ieff that g Or, it limit he hnti/, Joel 3. 17. b Is.i. 10. 17. • An;o5 9. 12. i ■/.-■v'.x. 2. 7. Neither sliouldest thou have || delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. '^ "For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen : " As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee : Thy reward shall return upon thine own head. "^ ^ For as ye have drunk upon my holy moimtain, So shall all the heathen drink continually, Yea, they shall drink, and they shall |1 swallow down, And they shall be as though they had not been. '7 'But upon mount Zion " shall be || deliverance, And II there shall be holiness ; And the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. '" And the house of Jacob '' shall be a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame. And the house of Esau for stubble, And they shall kindle in them, and devour them ; And there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau ; For the Lord hath spoken it. '^ And tlmj of the south " shall possess the mount of Esau ; ■* And they of the plain the Philistines : tram ruinam Euam putant case victoriain" (5. Jerome), See on Rev. xi. 10. But let tliera see their own punishment foretold here by Olxuliiih. All Edomites, who rejoice in the miseries of Sion, will bring worse woes on their own heads. The Day of the Lord is at hand; as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy re- ward shall return upon thine own head {v. 15). It is observable that this language is adopted in the Apoca- lypse, and is applied to the mystical Babylon— the Roman Church — as a judicial sentence upon her for her Edomitish hatred and persecution of her brethren in the Christian Sion, and for indulging a malignant pleasure in their sorrows. See Rev. iviii. 5, 6; and see above, on Jer. chap. li. 14. 24. 29. 49; and Baruch iv. 12. Judgment on Edost, and on all enemies of Zion. 15. the day of the LoHD is near"] A phrase adopted from Joel. See Joel ii. 1 ; iii. 14. — Thy reward'] Thy recompense ; compare Joel iii. 4. 7, where the same word (gemul) is used ; it is also adopted by Isa. lis. 18 ; Ixvi. 6. Jer. li. G. Lam, iii. 64, who (using the same word) calls God '* the Lord God of recompenses (li. 56). 16. as ye have drunk upon my holy ynountain] As ye have profaned the Temple of God by your drunken revels and carousals. — So shall all the heathen drin'k'] Ye and all Zion's heathen enemies (of which Edom is a type) shall drink of the cup of God's wrath. See Lamentations iv. 21, " Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom — the cup also shall pass through unto thee." Cp. Jer. X.XV. 15, "Take the wine-cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee, to drink it." This, also, is applied in the Apocalypse to the mystical Babylon, the enemy of the Christian Sion. " In the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double " (Rev. xviii. 6). Cp. Rev. xiv. 10. Restoration of Zion in Cheist. 17. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance'] Words adopted from Joel ii. 32 ; iii. 17. As was observed in the former of those two passages, the word rendered deliverance (Heb. peleytah) would be better translated an escaping, i. e. the remnant who escape from God's wrath poured out upon the nations. This word is represented by the phrase oi o-oifo/xei/oi in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts ii. 47 ; cp. Acts ii. 21. 40) ; and Joel and Obadiah are foretelling what the sacred historian of the Acts describes as fulfilled in Zion, the mother of Christendom, which stretches out her arms to enfold all who escape from God's wrath by repentance, and flee to her bosom with faith. Obadiah (says S. Augustine) is the briefest of all the Prophets ; but he, too, prophesies of Christ and of His conquests over the Gentiles, sym- bohzed by Edom. He Siiys that in Sion will he salvation, and that those who arc saved, will " go forth from mount Sion " to 60 judge (Augustine has, "to defend ") the " mount of Esau," »ud the Kingdom will be the Lord's. This was fulfilled in part, when they who believed in Christ, especially the Apostles, went forth from mount Sion to save by their preaching those who were converted to Him, that they nnght be delivered from the power of darkness, and be translated to the Kingdom of God {S. Augustine, De Civ. Dei, xviii. 31). — there shall he holiness] Or, a sanctuary. The Christian Zion is the sanctuary, not only of the Jews, but of all Nations See Isa. ii. 2 ; Ivi. 7. Joel iii. 17. — the house o/ Jacob shall possess their possessions] Words taken up from Amos ix. 12. Cp. on Num. xxiv. 18. God pro- mised to Christ to give Him the heathen for an inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for a possession (Ps. ii. 8); and Christ, after His ResuiTection, gave a commission to His Apos- tles to go into all the world and baptize all Nations, and to make them a possession for Himself (Matt, xxviii. 18, 19. Mark xvi. 15). 18. the house of Jacob shall be a Jire] The living flame of God's Word, kindled by the fire that came down from heaven at Pentecost, when Christ baptized His disciples " with the Holy Ghost and with fire " (Luke iii. 16), will run with a holy con- flagration of zeal and love, and consume all that is hostile to God, and will purify and refine the heart of the world. Cp. Isa. V. 24, and x. 17, " 'the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and His Holy One for a flame." And Jer. v. 14, " I will make my Words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood ;" and (xx. 9), " His Word was in mine heart, as a burning fire;" and Mai. iii. 2, " He is like a refiner's fire ;" and ibid. iv. 1, " The day conieth that shall burn as an oven " to all who will not be purified by that refining fire of the loving discipline of the Gospel. 19. they of the south shall possess the mount of Usau] The Prophet refers to the teiTitorial divisions of the literal Israel, and spiritualizes them. The south (Hebr. negeb) was the southern region of Judah. See Josh. x. 40; xv. 21; xviii. 5. Judges i. 9. The plain (Hebr. shephelah), the lowland on the coast of the Mediterranean, west of Palestine. See Josh. x. 40; xv. 33. The sense is, the Church of God will break forth in all direc. tions from Zion, and subdue all tbe countries in its neighbour- hood, till it has absorbed the World, and made it to become a Holy Laud, a spiritual Jerusalem. This prophecy began to be fulfilled when the Apostles and other disciples of Christ went forth from Zion to Idumea, and Philistia (Acts viii. 26 ; ix. 3. 32—43), and Samaria (viii. 1—7), and to the East of Jordan, and planted Christian Colonies there, according to our Lord's command, " Ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts i. 8). " This prophecy " (says S. Jerome) " is daily being fulfilled in us, and has its accom- plishment in the extension of the Church, which is the Kingdom of God." Saviours shall come from Zion. OBADIAH 20, 21. The Kingdom shall he the Lord's, And they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria : And Benjamin shall possess Gilead ; 2° And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even " unto Zarephath ; And the captivity of Jerusalem, || ■which is in Sepharad, ' shall possess the cities of the south. -' And " saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau ; And the ^ kingdom shall be the Lobd's. H, 2?. Zech. H. 9. Luke I. 33. Rf l[ Or, shall pos- sess that wfiic/i u in Sepfiarad, tier. 32. 44. h Ps. 22. 23. Dan. 2. 41. ft 7. !V. 11. 15. & lU. C 20. the captivity of this host — Zarephath"] Israel, once cap- tive, shall take the World captive in the chains of the Gospel. Cp. above, the notes on Ps. cxlix. 8, 9. Obadiah here enlarges on the jnophecy of Joel. Joel had closed his prophecies with a promise that the Lord would bring again the captivity of His people Israel (Joel iii. 17) ; but Obadiah adds, that the captivity of Israel, i. e. they who once were car- ried captive to Assyria and Babylon, will liberate others and deliver them from the bondage of Sin and Satan, " into the glorious liberty of the children of God " (Horn. viii. 21). This act of liberation, and this conquest of love, is described as being extended to Zarephath, the heathen city of Sidon, once the realm of Jezebel, who introduced the worship of l!a;il into Israel (see above, 1 Kings xvii. 9, 10, and below, Luke iv. 26) ; and thus the complete triumph of the Gospel going forth from Zion into heathen and idolatrous lands, is represented. — the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharadi The sense is. The Jews of the Dispersion, both in the East and West, who were formerly carried away captive, but now Christianized, will extend themselves southward, and evangelize Egypt, Ethiopia, and the rest of Africa. Sepharad is a generic term, like India, applied both to East and West Indies, and represents Iberia in its twofold sense, viz. the Iberia on the Cimmerian Bosphorus in the East (Vulg., S. Jerome), and also the other or Western Iberia (colonized from the Eastern on the Cimmerian Bosphorus), and now called Spain (Targum, Syriac, Arabic, Kimchi, and other Hebrew expositors. See Caspari, 136; Fuerst, 994; and 60 Lyramts, Vatablus, A Castro, A Lapide, and others. It is not unworthy of remark, that the great Apostle of the Gentiles speaks of his own intention to go and evangelize Spain (Rom. XV. 24. 28). Obadiah (says A Lapide) is here speaking of Chris- tian missions, of Apostles and apostolic men, many of whom were Jews, into the far West, and also to the East. Cp. 5. Augustine, Ue Civ. Dei, xviii. 31. 21. sarioursi Or deliverers. These were the Apostles and other preachers of the Gospel, who carried the glad tidings of salvation, which went forth originally from Zion, where Christ suftci-ed, and where the Holy GJiost was given. See Isa. ii. 3. Clirist is the Good Shepherd, and in like manner Jeremiah describes the Preachers of the Gospel as shepherds (Jer. xxiii. 4), "I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them." Christ, Who is the light of the world (John viii. 12), and Who ligbteth every one that cometh into the world (John i. 9), vouclisafed to say to His disciples, " Ye are the Light of the World " (Matt. v. 14). So the S.iviour Himself enables His ministers to save others. " Sic Ipse Salvator Apostolos su33 mundi voluit esse salvatores " (S. Jerome). Cp. 1 Tim. iv. IG, " Thou shalt both save thyself, and them tliat hear thee." — to judge the mount of Esau] St. John, in the Apocalypse, beholds the saints of God standing on Mount Sion (Rev. xiv. 1) ; and here tlie Prophet says, that they who come up on Mount Z/o)>— that is, in the Christian Church— will judge the JI/o«nl. Matt. 12. i9, b Gen 10 11, u ch. 3. s. . S 4. 11. c Gen IS 20, 21 I. ' NOW the word of the Lord came unto ■■" || Jonah the son of Amittai, saymg, -Arise, go to Nineveh, that '' great citj', and cry against it; for ' their wickedness is come up before me. Ezra 9. 6. James 5. 4. Rev. 18. 5. What is the design of tlie Book of Josah ? lu tlie previous prophetical books Almighty God, had prc-anuounced His judicial retribution on heathen Nations, whom He used, or would use, as His instruments to punish His people Israel and Judah for their sins. He h.-id then revealed Himself as the Supreme Ruler and Moral Governor of the World. He had also declared His special love to Israel and Judah, and had foretold, tliat though they would be scattered for their sins, yet, on their repentance and faith, they would hereafter be restored in Christ. Lest, however, it should be supposed that God's relation to the llealhen Nations was one only of power, terror, and judg- ment, and not also of love and mercy. He had announced by the prophet Anio5 that all Nations of tlie World would be brought into covenant with Him, on equal terms with the Jews, in Christ. See Amos ix. 11, 12, quoted by St. James at the Council of Jerusalem, Acts xv. 15 — 17, in jtroof of that statement. He had also declared by the Prophet Obadiah, that He Himself, having used the Heathen Nations to punish and carry captive Israel and Judah for tlieir sins against Him, would afterwards use Israel and Judah (who, after their captivity, and by their captivity, would be brouglit nearer to God in the Gospel) as His instruments for releasing tlie Heathen Nations from the bondage of Sin and Satan, and for bringing them back to Him in Christ. See Obad. 19—21. He had also shown His kindness even to Edom itself, first by a salutary warning against the sin of malice and hatred toward Israel (Obad. 12— II), and next. He had cheered Edom with a promise of restoration, on condition of its faith and repentance, by means of Israel, converting it to Christ (Obad. 21). Such Divine declarations as these must have seemed strange to some zealous Israelites. They would have been, iu their days, what Saul of Tarsus afterwards was. They would have been fired with fervent enthusiasm for the Levitical Law, and for the privileges and prerogatives of Israel. They would almost have felt angry with God for such an extension of His favours to the Heathen. They would have thought that the gain of the Heathen was their own loss. And this narrow and exclusive spirit of Judaism towards the Heathen Nations of the world would be aggravated, exasperated, and intensified by the growing hostility, pride, and cruelty of Heathen Nations, especially of AssTBlA, towards themselves, the favoured people of God. But God would show the Jews that He had mercy for all. He would display this by His conduct to Nineveh, the capital city of that very Assyrian Nation which was the most powerful and bitter enemy of Israel. He would thus teach Israel, that, if they were indeed His people, they must imitate His merciful spirit, and love their enemies, and embrace the Assyrians as brethren. We may compare the prophecy in Isa. lix. 2-t, " In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria." We have then a portraiture of the Jewish character (such as was afterwards displayed in the strongest colours in Saul of Tarsus) presented to us in the Prophet Jonah. He grudges God's mercy to the Heathen. He is angry with God's love to them. He shrinks from the commission of preaching repent- ance to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Perhaps he had heard that Assyria would be used by God to chastise Israel and carry it captive. He does not wish that Nineveh should repent. He is quite content, nav, he is almost eager, that it should C2 perish. He sits down outside its walls, watching, to see them fall. Almighty God graciously vouchsafed to correct this jealous temper. He would teach the Prophet Jonah to be merciful, like Himself; He woul.l use him, although reluctant and shrinking back, in preaeliing repentance, and iu delivering a message of pardon to Nineveh on its repentance; and in saving Nineveh from destruction. Thus He anticipated the lesson inculcated in our Lord's parable, which exhibits the narrow-minded and sullen spirit of the Jew, in the elder brother murmuring at his father's love in receiving the penitent prodigal (Luke .\v. 25 — 32). Thus He taught Jonah that while he was a Hebrew Prophet (i. 9), and therefore was justly full of love for the Hebrew Nation, and of zeal for the God of the Hebrews, he must also be like the God of the Hebrews — the God of Abraham, in whose Seed all the families of the Earth are blessed ; and must feel sympathy for all Nations, even for Assyria, the greatest and most formidable foe of Israel ; and must desire to promote the salvation of all, as children of the same heavenly Father. He taught Jonah a lesson which was learnt in perfection by St. Paul, " the Hebrew of the Hebrews," the Apostle of the Gentiles, who would have sacrificed every thing for his brethren after the flesh, the Jews, and their salvation (Rom. ix. 1 — 5), and yet cheerfully incurred their wrath, and exposed himself to death at their hands (1 Thess. ii. 15, 16. Acts xiv. 5. 19), in order that he might preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. iii. 8). But Jonah (as we know from Christ Himself (Matt. xii. 39, 4-0; xvi. 4. Luke xi. 30) was also a type of a greater than St. Paul. Jonah, after his three days' burial and resurrection, preached Repentance to Nineveh, the great Heathen City. Christ, the Divine Antitype (in Whom we .see in perfection the virtues, opposite to all tiie failings of all His human types), went forth after His Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven, to preach by His Apostles ; and He is ever going forth to preach by His Ministers, repentance and remission of sins to all Nations of the World. The Book of Jonah is a prophecy of this great Missionary Work of Divine Mercy and Love, which has now been going on for 1800 years, and will go on to the Day of Doom. Thus we see that, though the Book of Jonah may at first appear to be only a history, yet it is a prophecy. Jonah him- self is not only a prophet, but is a prophecy as well. By his self-sacrifice for the sailors in the storm, he is a prophecy of the Propitiation and Atonement made by the Great Prophet, the Divine Jonah, Jesus Christ. The sudden cessation of the storm, the calm that followed Jonah's self-sacrifice, and the safe arrival at land of the weather-beaten ship of Joppa, are beautiful forcshadowiugs of the World's Peace with God after the self-devotion on Calvary, and of its consequent safe anchorage iu the haven of eternity. Jouah was a prophet of Christ's Burial and of His Resur- rection, and of the great Christian Doctrine of LTuiversal Redemption by Him. He was a prophet of the gracious and blessed truth that God's mercy is over all His works. God desireth not the death of a sinner, and willeth not that any should perish, but that all (even the Ninevites) should be saved and come to the knowledge of His truth (1 Tim. ii. 4. 2 Pet. iii. 9) ; and that He oilers salvation freely to all through Christ, \\'lio "tasted death for every man," and gave Himself a ransom for all (Ileb. ii. 9. 1 Tim. ii. 6). Jonah flees to Tarshish. JONAH I. 3—5. The Lord sends a storm. ^But Jonah ''rose up to flee nnto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, >ich. <.2. and went down to "Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid 2c'hron'2.''i6. the fare thereof, and went do-ma into it, to go with them unto Tarshish 'from (aL.i. I'o. the presence of the Loed. ^But 'the Lord f sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a^iuh. cast fonh mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was f like to be broken. ^ Then • "*"''■ "'""''''' " the mariners were afi'aid, and cried every man unto his god, and '' cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to hghteu it of them. ' Then te irohn. h So Alts 27. 18 19, 38. Such considerations as these, show that the Book of Jonah, though it may seem at first sight to he only a history, is rightly admitted among the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament. The history of Jonah is a prophecy. It prophesies of Christ — of His three days' Burial and Resurrection, and of the con%'ersion of the Heathen and their reception into God's fiivour through faith in Christ. As is well said hy S. Augustine (De Civ. Dei, xviii. 30), "Jonas non tarn sermone qu^m sua quadara passione prophetavit ; profect6 apertifis quam si Christi mortem et resurrectioiiom voce clamaret." That the author of the Book of Jonah was Jonah himself, and that it was designed by him to he a representation of his own weaknesses and prejudices, and to be a penitential confes- sion from his own lips; and to displny God's love to the heathen, and to foreshadow their conversion, and thus to be a prophetical lesson to the world, will probably be evident to all who examine it with attention. See, for example, on i. 4, and his prayer in chapter ii. Ch. 1. 1. Noio] Or And. Thus this Book is linked on to the foregoing. See on Josh. i. 1. This copula shows that this Book is not an independent work, but belongs to the Hebrew Canon of Scripture. — the tcord of the LoED came'] There is a phrase used in thoi Old Testament not unfrequeutly, viz. " It was said unto " such and such a prophet " iy the word of the Lord"(l Sam. iii. 21 ; especially 1 Kings xiii. passim). The rendering should be " in the woi'd of the Lord." This phrase seems to represent the " word of the Lord " as an atmosphere of kindling holy thought, a sphere of spiritual truth encompassing the Prophet, illuminating and moving his whole soul, and finally taking shape in language of exhortation, or prediction, or teaching, or resolve, as the case might be {Canon Liddon). — Jonah] The name, like tliat of the other Prophets, is significant. Jonah means a dove, which, in Scripture, is said to moHrn (Isa. xxxviii. li; lix. 11). The name may serve to re- mind us of the mournful and plaintive spirit of the Prophet who bore it. In this hook, Jonah relates that he had mur- mured against God's mercy to Nineveh ; and that he mourned for the seeming failure of his own prophecy (iv. 1, 2) ; and that he craved death ; and that he mourned for the destruction of the gourd, and again wished to die (iv. 8). But, being brought to a bettor mind, he afterwards wrote this book, in which he mourns over his own backwardness and murmurings against God. He mourns for his own mourning, and utters a plaintive prophetic elegy for his own jealous and envious temper and sullen munnuring against God's love to the Gentiles; and thus he becomes at last like the dove who brought an olive branch of peace to Noah in the Ark, and a message of the ceasing of the Flood ; he became even, like the Divine Dove, a figure of the love of the Holy Spirit Himself, coming down at Pentecost to enable the Apostles to preach the Gospel of Christ to the Nineveh? of the Heathen World. As S. Jerome says (ad Paulinum), " Jonas, columba pulcherrima, naufragio suo " (quo pacem conciliat navigantibus, et finem procella; imponit) " passioncm Domini pra?figurans mundum ad pcenitentiam revocat, et sub nomine Nineve gentibus salutem nuntiat." — son of Amittai] Of Gath-hepher, in the tribe of Zebulun, in the times of Jeroboam II. See 2 Kings xiv. 25. 2. go to Nineveh] God uses the Hebrew Prophet to convert the Heathen City. He is one of the numerous specimens of Israel's mission fulfilled in Christ to the World. " God always blessed those of the heathen who were brought into contact with His chosen people hy a certain knowledge of Himself. The Egyptian kings and people learnt much of Him from Joseph in oue generation, and from Moses in another. The Canaanites heard of Him from the Spies; the Pliilistines by the capture of the Sacred Ark; the Fhffinicians on the Mediter- ranean coast through Hiram of Tyre ; the Syrians of Damascus through captives like Naaman's Servant, and the Miracles of Elisha; the Babylonian and Persian kings through Daniel; . 63 and the Persians, later, through Esther. The truth, which was already ' the glory of God's People Israel,' was, in a measure, ' a light to lighten the Gentiles ' " {Liddon). — Nineveh, that great citg] See on Gen. x. 11. It formed a trapezium, or irregular parallelogram, the average length from west to east being about twenty miles, and the average breadth from nortli to south being about twelve miles, Nineveh proper (.ffoHy;'«;(i)beingatthenortli-west corner ;anothercity(i\7)nrurf) being at the south-west corner ; there was a third large city on the Tigris, about five miles north of Nimrud ; fourthly, the Citadel and Temple (now Khorsabad), near the north-east corner. See the Plan in M. V. Niebuhr, Gesehiehte Assurs, p. 284; and in Dr. Fusey, p. 254 ; Eawlinson, Anc. Mon. i. p. 316; Dr. Smith, Bib. Diet. ii. 550. God, speaking to Jonah, says, " Their wicJcedness is come up before Me." God is brought before us in these words, as He sits above this waterflood of crime, as He remaineth in the moral world, a King for ever. He is the Great Judge, unseen by man, but witnessing all human acts, and words, and motives, seated even now upon His Throne of Judgment; and each crime of each member of that vast community mounts upwards, and is registered in His heavenly Court. The same phrase had already been used in the murder of Abel, and of the iniquity of Sodom and Gomorrah ; it marks that special notice of sin which precedes judgment. God had waited long in His Patience and His Mercy, but the cup at length was full to overflowing {Liddon). 3. Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Loed] Literally, /com the face of Jehovah; that is, from doing this work, as a servant standing before his master and waiting for his orders, and as a prophet ministering before God (see Pusey, 247. 251) ; and from Palestine and the Temple at Jerusalem, where God specially vouchsafed His Presence visibly. See below, ii. 4, " I will look again toward thy holy temple." — Tarshish] Tartessus, in Spain (1 Kings x. 22. Ps. Ixxii. 10) ; the contrary direction to Nineveh. — Joppa] On the Mediterranean, north-west of Jerusalem (2 Chron. ii. 16). He grieves at being chosen to go as a prophet to the Assyrians, the enemies of Israel, and to their capital city ; and he fears lest, by the couversiouof the Heathen, Israel should sulfer loss. Therefore he becomes like Cain, and flees from the presence of the Lord (Gen. iv. 16. S. Jerome). 4. the LoKD sent out a great wind] Literally, the Lord cast forth. Tlie wind obeyed God, and preached a lesson to the Prophet, who was disobeying Him. This is a penitential confession from Jonah's own lips. The whole history in this book is so composed as to exhibit God's power, and the obedience of His creatures to Him. — the ship teas like to be broJcen] The ship thought to he broken — to be wrecked. The living consciousness and appre- hension of the ship, fearing to he wrecked in the tempestuous sea, is set in striking contrast to the lethargic stupor of the prophet, whose conscience was, as it were, entranced in a swoon; and though be was at that time guilty of the sin of disobedience against God, yet he thought nothing of his own danger of an eternal shipwreck, but lay fust asleep in the dark hold of the ship. Such is often the condition of the human soul. See on v. 5. 5. the mariners — cried every man unto his god] Jonah, the author of this hook, makes his penitential reflections on his own history; he here contrasts the pious devotion of tliese heathens towards their false gods, with his own thankless and faithless resistance to his own God — the only true God. — caM forth the wares] Cp. Acts xxvii. 18, 19. 33. — Jonah 2Cas gone doion into the sides of the ship] The lowest part of the ship, " interiora navis " (^. Jerome). 'I'hj word for ship (sephinah ; from saphan, to board, or floor over) which occurs only here, is the usual word for ship in Arabic and Aramaic {Oesen. 5931. sleeper, arise. JONAH I. 6—14. Cast me into the sea. ni Josh. 7. 14, 16. 1 Sam. 10. 20, 21. & 14 41, 42. Prov. 16. 33. Acts 1. 26. B Or, JE- HUVAH. Ps. 146. C. Act.s 17. 21. ♦ lleb. wiih orcat Icar. f Ileb. may he lilevljrim vs. II Or, grew mi:i and m-ire lem- t Heb. w.nl. p John 11. 31). But Jonah was gone clo^vu ' into the sides of the ship ; and he lay, and was fast asleep. 6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him. What meanest thou, sleeper ? arise, " call upon thy God, ' if so he that God will think upon us, that we perish not. 7 And they said every one to his fellow. Come, and let us "' cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. '^ Then said they unto him, " Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us ; What is thine occupation ? and whence comest thou ? what is thy country ? and of what people art thou ? ^ And he said unto them, I am an Hehrew ; and I fear || the Lord, the God of heaven, " which hath made the sea and the dry html. '" Then were the men f exceedingly afraid, and said unto him. Why hast thou done this ? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, hecause he had told them. ^' Then said they unto him. What shall we do unto thee, that the sea fmay be calm unto us ? for the sea || f wrought, and was tempestuous. '■- And he said unto them, ^ Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea ; so shall the sea be calm unto you : for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. '^ Nevertheless the men f rowed hard to bring it to the laud ; '^ but they could not : for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. '■* Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said. We beseech thee, Lord, — mas fast asleep"] Literally, was cast into a deep sleep. Tbe word here used (the niphal of radam, to sleep heavily — Gesen. 758) is the same as that used to describe Sisera's deep sleep (Judg. iv. 21) ; and that of the Assyrians, in death (Ps. Ixxvi. 6) ; and the trance of Daniel (viii. 18 ; i. 9). Jonah, lying like one stupefied, in a heavy sleep, in the dark hold of the ship, ready to founder in the deep, is a type of the desperate sinner who has fled away from God, and is in peril of eternal perdition, and yet unconscious of his danger. Jonah slept in the ship in the storm ; Christ slept in the ship in the storm (.Mark iv. 38). Jonah was flying from God ; Christ was doing God's will. Jonah was awakened by the mariners ; Christ by His disciples. Jonah is cast into tbe sea, and the storm ceases ; Christ, by His Divine Power, rebukes the stonn, and there is a great calm. 6. What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy Ood] The prophet of God here relates that he himself was in such a state of physical and spiritual stupor, that he needed a powerful voice of alarm to awaken him ; and that God merci- fully rebuked him for his sin by sending a heathen shipmaster to be his prophet, and to awaken him from his slumber (What meanest thou, sleeper .') and to excite him to watchfulness and prayer. The Apostle St. Paul speaks of this spiritual lethargy when he exclaims, " Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead " (the death of sin), " and Christ shall give thee light " (Eph. v. 14). — if so he that God mill think upon «j] Rather, " if so be that the Ood" (Ilelir. ha-Elohim), the only true God, "will think upon us." Polytheism is put to tlight by that inner sense of truth which often flashes on the mind in the hour of extreme danger, and gives vent to what Tertullian calls the " testimonium auiiua; naturaliter Christiana;." 7. they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah] As the arrow, shot from the bow " drawn at a venture," but directed by God's hand, hit Ahab (though disguised) " between the joints of his harness " (1 Kings xxii. 34), so this lot fell on Jonah the Prophet, flying from the presence of the Lord ; not '• by any virtue in the lot itself, but by tbe Will of God, Who rules un- certain lots" even in the hands of heathens, when He thinks fit (S. Jerome, Cp. Josh. vii. 14. 18. 1 Sam. x. 20, 21 ; xiv. 41. Acts i. 26) ; as He sent the milch kine of the Philistines on the way to liethshemesh, and thus declared His Will con- cerning the Ark, and proclaimed that their suft'erings were 61 plagues inflicted upon them by Himself for their sin (1 Sam. vi. 1—12). 9. I am an Sebreto ; and Ifearthehoav] Jonah is brought by means of the storm, and by the appeal of the heathen mari- ners, and by the falling of the lot upon himself, to a sense of his sin, and now makes his confession of faith, and owns that he had fled from tbe presence of the Lord, and that tbe storm was on account of himselfj and pronounces his own sentence, and therefore a.sks to be taken up and east into the sea, in order that they may escape. It cannot be doubted that the Prophet Jonah, in doing this, was under divine direction. " Against me the storm thunders ; it is seeking me ; it catches me ; in order that you may live, the waves themselves command you to cast me into the sea" {S. Jerome). Jonah was a type of Christ. None of the imperfections of the human tj'pes of Christ are ever seen in the Divine Antitype ; but where the human types are blemished by sins, there the Divine Antitype shines by the opposite virtues. So it is here. Jonah had fled from the presence of God in faithless disobedience. Christ came forth from the bosom of the Father in filial love. Jonah, in a sense of personal sin, gave himself up to death, that the waves of God's wrath, raging against the mariners and the ship, might abate and the storm cease. Christ, the Holy One, without the least taint of sin, gave Himself up to die for tbe sins of the World — " the Just for the unjust " (1 Pet. iii. 18) ; and the waves of God's wrath, raging against the ship of the World, tossed by that furious tempest on account of the sins o( the mariners who sailed in it, were lulled; and there is a groat calm, and the ship will arrive safely at the harbour — the harbour of Eternal Life. Cp. S. Jerome and A Lapide, here. 11. the sea wrought, and mas tempestuous] Literally, the sen was going on and raging, " ibat et intume seebat " ( Vulg.) 13. the men rowed hard] Literally, theg dug. 14. they cried unto the Lord] The heathen mariners abandon their own gods, and cry to the LoED (Jehovah), the God of Israel, the only true God, Whom Jonah worshipped {o. 9), and Whom he had preached to them as the Creator, Lord of all. It is remarkable that the name Jkhotah occurs three times in this verse. And in v. 16, it is added, that " they feared Jehovah ex- ceedingly, and ofl'ered a sacrifice unto Jehovah, and made vows." Here we see a prophetic glimpse of the conversion of the Heathen to the true faith, by means of Hebrew prophets and preachers. Jonah is cast into the sea. JONAH I. 15—17. The Lord ineimies a fish. ■we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and "■ lay not upon us innocent blood : for thou, Lord, ' hast done as it pleased thee. 1^ So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea : ' and the sea f ceased from her raging. '^ Then the men " feared the Lord exceedingly, and f offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows. '7 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And "Jonah was in the f belly of the fish three days and three nights. r Dcut. 21.8, s Ps. 115. 3. t Ps, 89. 9. Luke 8. 24. ] Heb. stood. u Mark 4. 41. Acts 5. II. t Heb, sacrificed a sacrifice uiilo Ike LORD, and vowed vows. X Matt. 12. 40. & 16. 4. Lnke 11.30. t Heb. bowels. — lay not upon us innocent hlood'] Wliat a striking contrast is presented by this prayer of these heathens to the imprecation of the Jews crucifying the Divine Jonah, " His blood be on us and on our children " ! (Matt, xxvii. 25.) The Jews rejected Christ ; but the Gentiles gladly received Him. 15. the sea ceasedfrom her raging'] When we consider the state of the world as it was before Christ's Passion, that it was like a Sea agitated by contrary winds and swelling waves of error and unbelief; and when we reflect how the vessel of Human Nature, sailing upon that boisterous sea, was in danger of being wrecked and of foundering in the deep, and bow, after the Passion of Christ, there was a great calm of faith, peace, and safety, we shall recognize there a fulfilment of these prophetic words, The sea ceased from her raging. 17. the Lord had prepared a great fish to sivallow up Jonah] The Lord had prepared. Literally, The Lord numbered, or appointed. The Hebrew verb mandh (whence the Greek and Latin mina), to divide, to number, to allot, to appoint, is used four times in this book, in a remarkable manner. " The Lord pre- pared a great fish ;" " the Lord God prepared a gourd " (iv. 6) ; " God prepared a worm " (iv. 7) ; " God prepared a vehement east wind " (iv. 8) — showing that God is ever working in the government of the World — is alway preparing things for their appointed season and work, — and ordereth all things " by num- ber, measure, and weight." In the obedience of the fish whom God appointed to do His work, and who kept the Prophet in safe custody (as Daniel was kept in the lions' den, and as our Lord was s.ife "among the wild beasts " in the wilderness), and who, when " the Lord spake unto him, vomited out Jonah upon the dry land " (and not into the watery ocean), we see a contrast to Jonah him- self, who had disobeyed God. The fish, like Balaam's ass, is a prophet to the Prophet himself, and teaches him obedience to God. Let us bear in mind that Jonah himself (as is most proba- ble) is the narrator of all this. This book was written by him ; and therefore we see here a frank confession of his own failings, and a proof of his own repentance. *' The great fish " (called kjjtos herein Sept, and in Matt. xii. 40) " was probably a large shark, or sea dog, ' canis carcharias,' which is common in tlie Mediterranean, and has so large a throat that it can swallow a man whole." See Oken and Miiller (quoted by Keil here) who state that in the year 1758 a sailor fell overboard from a frigate in the Mediterranean, and was swallowed by a sea-dog; and that the captain of the vessel ordered a cannon on the deck to be fired at the fish, and, that the fish, being struck by the ball, vomited up the sailor, who was taken up by a boat let down into the sea, and was received again alive and not much hurt. The fisli, which was twenty feet long and nine feet broad, was harpooned ; it was drawn up on the frigate, and dried ; and was exhibited by the sailor in Erlangen, and at Nuremberg and other places. *!>'. Augu.Hine mentions (Epist. 102), that in his time a fish was exhibited at Carthage which would have contained many men in its belly. The fable of Arlon and the Dolphin {Herod, i. 23) seems to have been derived from the history of Jonah. The reasons for this miracle wore many : (1) That the Ninevites, having heard of it from Jonah's own narration, and perhaps from some of the sailors who had cast him into the sea, might listen to his preaching, and repent. As Our Lord Himself said, " Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites," and they repented at his preaching (Matt. xii. 39; xvi. 4. Luke xl. 29—32. (2) That Jonah might be a type and prophecy of Christ's Death, Burial, and Resurrection. (3) That God's dealings with the Jewish Nation might be justified. The heathen city Nineveh repented in consequence of this miracle, and of Jonah's preach- ing, and was saved. Jerusalem did not repent after the greater miracle of Christ's Resurrection, and at the preaching of His Apostles, and was destroyed. Vol. VI. Paet II.— 65 — three days and three nights'] On the meaning of this Hebrew expression, see S. Jerome here, and the note below on Matt. xii. 40, where it is shown that it is equivalent to au assertion that Jonah rose from out of the whale's belly " on the third day" Jonah in the whale's belly three days and three NIOHTS. Much has been written concerning this history. To the Christian reader it will be sufficient to remember, that its historical truth has been avouched and authenticated, and that its prophetical significance has been expounded, by Jesus Christ, Whom we can prove by incontrovertible arguments to be what He Himself affirmed — the Son of tlie Living God; and there- fore infinite in knowledge and truth. The proofs of this are given in the Editor's Four Lectures ou the Inspiration of the Bible, Lecture ii., and need not be repeated here. Well, therefore, might S. Jerome say, *' Hujus loci mys- terium in Evangelio Dominus exponit ; et superfluum est, vel id ipsum, vel aliud dicere, qu^m exposuit Ipse Qui passus est." The Christian reader will recollect that the Son of God has asserted the truth of this history, and has also applied it to Himself; and has shown that there was an adequate reason for the miracle here wrought by God, inasmuch as it was a pro- phetical representation of the greatest events that have ever occurred in this world's history, namely, the Burial and Resur- rection of Christ Himself. Jonah's grave in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights was a strange event, such as was never heard of before. But even in that respect he was a figure of Christ, Who was buried in a new tomb wlierein no man before was laid (Luke xxiii. 53), and Who raised Himself from the dead, as He had declared that He would do — John ii. 19. Cp. Matt. XX. 19. In Jonah's Burial and Resurrection, we may also see a foreshadowing of the great event still futiu-e, that concerns all mankind — namely, the Resurrection of all at the Great Day. Jonah's Resurrection was a type of Christ's Resurrection; which is a pledge of our Resurrection. " As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. xv. 22). The Burial of Jonah, unhurt in the whale's belly, affords to us a cheering illustration of what Jonah's predecessor, the prophet Hosea, said, as explained by the Apostle St. Paul — " Death, where is thy sting ? Grave, where is thy victory ?" (Hos. xiii. 14.) God can keep us safe in the jaws of the great Whale, and in the abysses of the great Deep ; namely, in the jaws of Death, and in the depths of the Grave. Cp. S. Ire- ncEus, iii. 22 ; and v. 5 ; and TertulUan, De Resnr. CarnJs, c. 58. Our Blessed Lord has distinctly affirmed that "Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly ;" and He coupled that assertion as to the past, with a prophecy concerning the future— namely, "so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." That prophecy was fulfilled. Its fulfilment proved Christ's truth. It confirms our belief in His assertion, that the history of Jonah is true. All our difficulties with regard to this and other histories in the Old Testament are dissolved in the crucible of faith in Jesus Christ, the Sou of God, Who received the Old Testament as true and divine, and commanded us to receive it as such. We accept the Written Woi'd from the hands of the Incarnate Word. The Word of God is vouched to us as true, by the witness of the Son of God ; and we learn here to recognize a proof of the reality of our own future Resurrection, which Christ Himself has proclaimed to us as certain ; " Tlie hour is coming, when all that are in the graves shall hear His Voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damna- tion " (John v. 28, 29); and thus we too are stimulated to repent by the preaching of Jonah, and to rise from the death of sin now, that we may rise to glory hereafter. Jonah's prayer to the Lord JONAH 11. III. 1—3. Old of the fall's hclhj. n Ps. 120. I. & 1:10. 1. 8: 142. 1. I,.nm. 3. 55, 50. II O,, out of mini "JJtiction. 1. I's. C5. 2. I; Or, the graie, 1,1. H. 9. c Fs. 88. 6. t Hell. Arar^ a I's. 42. 7. e Ps. 31. 22. 1 Ps. 18. 6. k2 Kings 17. 15. Ps. 31. C. Jer. 10. 8. & IG. 19. 1 Ps. .'iO. H, 23. & lie. 17, 18. Hos. H.2. Hell. 13. 15. m Ps. 3. 8. II. 1 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, - and said, I " cried || by reason of mine affliction unto the Loed, '' and he heard me ; Out of the belly of || hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 2 " For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the f midst of the seas ; And the floods compassed me about : "" All thy billows and thy waves passed over me. ■* ^ Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight ; Yet I will look again ' toward thy holy temple. ^ The ^waters compassed me about, even to the soul : The depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. ^ I went do\\Ti to the f bottoms of the mountains ; The earth with her bars loas about me for ever : Yet hast thou brought up my life '' from || corruption, Lord my God. ^ When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord : ' And my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. ^ They that observe '' lying vanities forsake their own mercy. ^ But I will ' sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving ; I will pay that that I have vowed. "■ Salvation is of the Lord. '" And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. III. ^ And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 2 Ai-ise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach imto it the preaching that I bid thee. ^ So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. The remarks of S. Augustine on Jonah's history (Epist. 102, Sex Quaest. contra Paganos, vol. ii. p. 426 ; and De Sym- bolo ad Catechum., c. 6) are well worthy of attention. Their Bubstauce is as follows : — The heathen (he says) scoft' and sneer at the history of Jonah. How could he have been swallowed by a fish (they ask), and remain alive three days in its belly, and then be cast forth from it on dry land ? To which we reply. Either we mnst reject all miracles as incredible, or we ranst admit that there is no reason for not believing this miracle. If we are to abandon onr faith because heathens and unbelievers scoff, we must cease to believe that Christ died, and was buried, and rose again the third day. We must cease to believe that Lazarus was brought forth out of his grave by Christ on the fourth day. We must cease to believe that those three men, who were cast into the fiery furnace at Babylon, wallced in the fire, and came forth from it unhurt; and that the people of Israel — more than two millions in number — passed through the Red Sea, the waters of which stood as a wall on their right hand and on their left. Cp. S. Irenctus, v. 5, and S. JeroniGt here. The history of Jonah is a type and prophecy of Christ. Christ Himself has assured us of this (Matt. xii. 39, 40). As Jonah went from the wood of the ship into the depth of the sea, so Christ went from the wood of the cross into the depth of the earth. As Jonah gave himself to death for those who were tossed by the storm iu the Mediterranean Sea, so Christ Himself gave Himself to death for those who are tossed by the storm in the sea of this world. As Jonah rose from the whale's belly and from the depth of the sea, so Christ rose from the dead. As Jonah after his j*esurrection preached to the heathen of Nineveh, and they repented ; so Christ after His resurrection preached by His Apostles to the Heathen World, and it repented at their preaching. The reality of the Anti- type confirms the historical truth of the type. Jonah is proved by Chi-ist. Ch. II. 1. Then Jonah prayed unto the Loss his GotZ] Jonah pravcd from the whale's belly in the depths of the sea ; 60 " and his prayer was heard. "Undique ad ccclos tantundem est viae." Heaven is equi-distant from all places of the earth. He prayed not only to Jehovah, but he prayed to Him as his God. Jonah, who probably wrote this book, thus declares his own repentance and conversion to God. He was sent to the Niuevites to call them to repentance, and to show that Jehovah his God was willing to be their God also. The prayer here set down, which could be known to none but to God and Jonah, is a proof that we have here a com- munication from Jonah himself. As will be seen by reference to the margin, this prayer is derived mainly from the Psalms. Here also Jonah in his burial was a figure of Christ, Who, on the eve of His death (see Matt. xxvi. 30), and upon the cross, found utterance for His own feelings in the words of the Psalms (Matt, xxvii. 46). Jonah, the tjTJe of Christ, was praying in his mystic grave of three days and three nights. This throws some light on the still more mysterious question concerning our Blessed Lord's employment in His Human Soul during the three days' Burial of His Human Body. See the note below, on 1 Pet. iii. 19 — " He went, and preached to the Spirits in prison." 3. thou hadst cast me] Rather, Thou didst cast me. 8. They that observe lying vanities'] Literally, They that Tceep — They who keep what is false, lose what is true. AU who hug a lie, lose God, \Vho is Truth and Love. Ch. III. 3. Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh] Observe the mysterious and inscrutable workings of God's Providence, by which His purposes are brought to pass. God had formerly sent Jouah to Nineveh. Jonah fled in tlie opposite direction, toward Tarshish. He fled the laud, and betook himself to the sea. God follows him, and raises a storm against the ship iu which he is, and it is in danger of being wrecked. Jouah is cast into the sea, and is iu peril of perishing. Jonah is swal- lowed by the whale, and is in danger of being destroyed. Jouah is cast forth out of the whale's belly — not into the sea, where the whale was, but on to the dry land. God did not bring him by a Jonah prcaclies at Nineveh. JONAH III. 4—8. Nineveh repents. Now Nineveh was an f exceeding great city of three clays' journey. * And Jonah hegan to enter into the city a day's journey, and °he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. ^ So the people of Nineveh '" beheved God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. " For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and ho laid his robe from him, and covered himynih. sackcloth, "and sat in ashes. ^ '' And he caused it to be proclaimed and f pubhshed through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his f nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing : let them not feed, nor drink water : ** but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God : yea, ^ let them turn every one from his evil way, and from ' the violence that is in their + lUh.ofGod: So Gen. 30. 8. Ps. .16. Ij. & 80. 10. aSeeDeut.18.22. b Matt 12. 41. Luke II. 32. d 2 Chr. 20. 3. Joel 2. 15. t Heb. joiJ. t Heb. great men. a. SS. 6. 1. 50. G. straight course to Nineveh. As S. Chrysostom says (Horn. 5, in Jonam). The sailors cast him into tlie sea, tlie sea gave him to the whale, tlie whale gave him to the land, the land gave him to God ; and God gave him to the Ninevites; and God gave them pardon and peace. God's hand was in it all. — Nineveh was an exceeding great citi/'] Literally, a great city to Ood ; that is, God regarded Nineveh, and God cared for it, though it was a heathen city% the enemy of Jerusalem ; and therefore God sent Jonah to preach to it, and spared it on its repentance. Not only Jerusalem, hut all cities of the World are cities to God. His eye is on them all. Here is a tacit reproof from Jonah, reviewing his own history, and writing this book for the purpose of correcting the narrow spirit (hy which he himself had once been influenced) which imagined that no city, except Jerusalem, was a great city to Ood. Thus Jonah anticipates St. Stephen's speech to the Jewish Sanhedrim (see on Acts vii.), and St. Paul's language to the Jews, in his Epistle to the Romans (iii. 29), where he says, " Is He the God of the Jews only ? is He not also of the Gentiles ? Yes, of the Gentiles also." — three days' journey'] In circumference. Diodorus Siculus (ii. 3) says that the city was 150 stadia in length, and Herodotus (v. 53) reckons 150 stadia as a day's journey. Cp. Ffeiffer, p. 4i8. The city, or rather tetrapolis (for Nineveh consisted of four cities; see above on i. 2), was about ninety English miles in circumference. See Marcus v. Niebuhr, p. 2'77. 4. Jonah began to enter into the city a day's joitrney~] He preached during one day in different parts of the city ; begin- ning at the entrance of it from the west. — forty days'] This period oi forty days (and also o? forty years) often occurs in Holy Scripture as a time of probation. See S. Jerome here, and the note above, on Gen. vii. 4. Deut. ix. 9. 1 Kings xix. 8, and on Matt. iv. 2, and on Acts, p. 29. This was the period of Nineveh's repentance, followed hy escape from destruction ; it was the period of the fast of Moses, followed by the reception of the Tables of the Law from the hand of God ; it was the period of the pilgrimage of Ellas, after which he had a vision of God in Horeb ; it was the period of our Lord's fasting in the Wilderness, followed by Victory over Satan ; it is therefore titly appointed by the Chm'ch as the duration of the Lent fast, ending in the joy and victory of Easter. Jonah, after his resurrection (from the whale's belly and the depth of the sea), preaching to Nineveh, was a type of Christ preaching after His Resurrection, by His Apostles, to Jerusalem, Our Lord teaches us this; He says that Jonah was a sign to the Jews, aud He adds that " the men of Nineveh will rise up in the Day of Judgment against that generation of Jews and condemn it ; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, aud a greater than Jonah is here " (Matt. xii. 41). Observe that other point of contrast. God gave Nineveh forty days, and they repented ; He allowed Jerusalem forty years after Christ's resurrection, and they did not repent, and perished. — be overthrown'] As Sodom and Gomorrah were. The same word is used here to describe the threatened overthrow as is appHed to them. See above, note at Gen. xix. 25 on this word, which is of great importance for determining the manner in which the cities of the plain were destroyed. 5. the people — proclaimed a fast] Such was the readiness of 67 the people to listen to his preachiug, that before the Prophet had begun his second day's work, the Ninevites believed, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. This alacrity of this great heathen city is mentioned to their honour by Christ Himself, and is contrasted with the obstinacy and unbelief of the Jews (Matt. xii. 41. Luke xi. 32). — the people — believed God] Doubtless they had heard of Jonah's miraculous deliverance, and had been convinced there- by that he was a messenger sent from God. See above, on i. IG. They believed Ood, and proclaimed a fast. Here is a fore- shadowing of the faith and repentance of the Heathen World after the Ilesurreetion of Christ, and after the Preaching of the Gospel hy the Apostles sent by Him to the Gentiles. 6, 7. word came unto the king — and he caused it to be pro- claimed] Such was the efl'ect produced by the preaching of Jonah ; such was the alarm of the people ; aud such was their alacrity, that they would not defer their repentance till they could receive a command from the king; but, without waiting for a royal mandate, they proclaimed a fast. See v. 5. And such was the earnestness of the king, that when uiord came, or rather the matter came, to his ears, he was not offended by this act of his people, but he confirmed it by his own authority. Nineveh was a vast city, and some time would therefore elapse before the king had tidings of what was done. It is said by Aristotle (Polit. iii. 2), that such was the size of Babylon, and such were the intervals between its dwellings, that when the city had been taken by Cyrus, two days elapsed before tidings of its capture reached to the extre- mities of the city. The name of Me King of Nineveh at this time is un- certain. Some p'''"^ him at as early a period as B.C. 860. Rawlinson suppr.i^J Jonah's preaching at Nineveh to have been at about B.C. 760 {Sawlinson, ii. 390—392). He seems to have resided in the royal palace at Khorsabad, in the north-east corner of the Tetrapolis of Nineveh. The conquests of Shalmaneser II. had probably tended to increase the luxury aud pride of Nineveh, which provoked God's anger against it. 7,8. Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing — let man and beast be covered with sackcloth] The King of Nineveh declared his consciousness of a great truth, that by the Providence of God the destinies of the animal creation, whether for joy or sorrow, whether for action or suHering, are linked in a mysterious chain of sympathy with those of man. See on Joel i. 18—20, and below iv. 11, where God declares His regard for cattle ; aud Ps. xxxvi. 7, "Thou, Lord, shalt save both man and beast." We are informed by Herodotus (ix. 21), that when the Persian General Masistius was killed at Platajas, the whole Persian army, with Mardonius at theu- head, made a lamenta- tiou, shaving themselves and their horses, and the beasts of burden. Alexander the Great imitated this Persian custom in his mourning for Hephaestion {Plutarch, Alex. c. 72). The natural creation " was made subject to vanity " on account of man's sin at the Fall ; and it yearns for deliverance, from the bondage of corruption, into a higher state of ease, joy, and felicity. See on Gen. iii. 17. Rom. viii. 19—23. 2 Pet. iii. 13. 8. violence] The besetting sin of the proud and warlike monarchy and nation of Assyria. Cp. Isa. xxxvii. 24 — 28, and the notes on 2 Kings xix. 37 ; xx. 12. Nineveh is spared. JONAH m. 9, 10. IV. 1—7. Jonah is angry. h Ex. 34. G. Ps. 8(i. 5. Joel 2. 13. c 1 Kings 10. 4. hands. ^ ^ Who can tell ;/ God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we iierish not ? '" '' And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way ; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them ; and he did it not. rV. ' But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 2 ^^^ he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country ? Therefore I " fled before unto Tarshish : for I knew that thou art a '' gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. ^ " Therefore now, Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me ; for ^ it is better for me to die than to live. ^ Then said the Lord, || Doest thou well to be angry ? ^ So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. ^ And the Lord God prepared a || f gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah f was exceeding glad of the gourd. ^ But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. 10. God repented of the evil] See Jer. xviii. 7, 8 : "At what instant 1 shall speak concerning a nation and a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it ; if that nation, against whom I had pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them." God's un- changeable will to spare the penitent, is shown in changing His actions toward sinners on their repentance. Ch. IV. 1. it displeased JonaK] Jonah was displeased for two reasons: (1) because his prophecy seemed to have failed of accom- plishment, and he was liable to the charge of being called a false prophet {Theodoret). He preferred his own personal credit to the preservation of the city. (2) He was angry because God was merciful to the great heathen city, the enemy of God's people; and because Nineveh was spared. Cp. v. 11. How different is the conduct of the holy Angels, who rejoice when one sinner turns to God (Luke xv. 7). How difl'erent was the temper of the Lord of Angels, Who wept over Jerusalem be- cause it would not repent (Luke xix. 41). But Jonah relates liere his own infirmity ; and doubtless he was inspired to record it as a sign that he repented of it, and to warn others against a similar sin. 2. I knew that thou art a gracious Ood'] Jonah, in an exclu- sive, jealous, envious, Jewish temper, murmurs at God's kindness to the heathen city ; as the Elder Brother — the Jew — in the Parable, is angry, because his Father — Almighty God— was merciful to the returning and penitent prodigal, his younger brother — the Gentile — " whicli had devoured his living with harlots " (Luke xv. 28—31). 6. Jonah Kent out of the city, and sat on the east side of the citi/'] He had come from the west, and had passed through it. The forty days had now expired. — a booth'] With interlaced twigs and leaves of trees. He would not enter into a house in Nineveh, for fear it might be overthrown, and fall on his own head ; but he made a booth for himself outside the city wall. — till he might see what mould become of the city] Though the forty days had expired, yet he would not abandon all hope that the city might yet receive some punishment from God, in answm- to his own remonstrance, and perhaps on account of a relapse of Ninereh into sin. 6. the LOED Ood prepared] Hebr. Jehovah Elohim. See Gen. ii. 4. — a gourd] Hebr. Kilcaion ; the Palma Christi, or rieinus; the Coptic and Arabic Kiki ; a tall biennial plant, cultivated in Kasteru gardens; very rapid in growth; beautiful, succulent, and luxuriant ; but a sli:;ht injviry will cause it to fade and die {Qesen. 731 ; cp. Pfeijfer, 450). 63 It grows to the size of a small fig-tree ; its leaves are like those of a plane-tree, hut larger, smoother, aud darker. See Fusey, 259, 260. S. Augustine, writing to S. Jerome (Epist. 71 aud Epist. 82 ; cp. S. Jerome here), mentions that when this chapter was read according to S. Jerome's Latin translation, in a church in Africa, the congregation was much disturbed, because in that translation the word " hedera " bad been substituted for the former Latin rendering, with which they were familiar, and which was derived from the Septuagint, " cucurbita;" aud ho takes occasion to offer some remarks concerning vernacular translations of Holy Scripture, which are well worthy of consideration at the present time. 7. God prepared] Hebr, ha-Elohim ; the God j the only true God. — God prepared a worm — and it smote the gourd] Which overshadowed Jonah's head. Some of the Ancient Fathers (as S. Jerome and 5. Augus- tine, Epist. 102) saw a tj'pical representation in this incident also, as follows : — Jonah was a figure of the Jews clinging to the ceremonial shadows of Judaism, and envying the Gentiles their privileges, and grieving at their repentance and at their reception into God's fovour. When the doctrine of Repentance was preached by the Apostles, then the noonday Sun of the Gospel of Christ withered up the leaves of the Ceremonial Law, which was only a sliadow of the Evangelical good tilings to come (Col. ii. 17. Hel). X. 1). Under its shadow many .Jewish Jonalis sat at that time, placing themselves outside the Gentile World, and jealous of God's mercy to it, and even desirous to see its destruction. And those Jewish Jonahs were angry with God for withering the umbracular gourd of the Ceremonial Law, and were exasperated against the Apostles of Christ, especially against St. Paul (who himself had once been a Hebrew Jouah, rejoicing in that shadow), for accepting as a gracious dispen- sation of God's providence, the fact that the Jewish Gourd had faded beneath the rays of the Gospel of Christ, and that God had mercifully spared the Gentile Ninevehs, aud had received them into covenant with Himself. They despised the Gospel as a worm; indeed, Christ Himself is called a Worm (Ps. xxii. 6), because He was rejected and trodden under foot as such by the Jews; but the Worm " smote the gourd that it withered." As long as the Jews are like what Jonah was then — mur- murers against God's dispensations — so long will they be like Jonah in Assyria, roaming there without a home, feeling the scorching heat of God's displeasure. But let them come to the Shadow of the Cross ; let thrm sit down beneath the Tree of Life, whose leaves never wither, which are " for the healing of Thoti hadst pity on the gourd. JONAH IV. 8—11. Shoxdd I not spare Nineveh } ^ And it came to pass, when the suu did arise, that God prepared a (| vehe- ment east wind ; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and Avished in himself to die, and said, ^ It is better for me to die than to Hve. ^ And God said to Jonah, || Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd ? And he said, || I do well to be angry, even unto death. '" Then said the Lord, Thou hast || had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow ; which f came up in a night, and perished in a night : " and should not I spare Nineveh, ''that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons ^ that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand ; and also much '' cattle ? II Or. Art thou greatly angry? II Or. I am greatly angry. II Or, spared. t Hell, urns Ike ion ojllie nig/it. g Deut. 1. 39. h Ps. 30. (i. & 145. 9. the nations " (Rev. xxii. 2) ; then tbey will be refreslicd with health and joy, and will dwell in love and peace with their Gentile brethren, under that hospitable shade in the Paradise of God. 8. Ood prepared^ Hebr. ISlohim. These various titles of God arb Jesigned to show that Jehotah, the Lord God of the Hebrews, is also Elohim, the God of Creation and of Nature; and that He is the God — that is, there is no other God besides Him. And thus Jonah, while he encourages the heathen to look to the Lord God of Israel as waiting to be gracious to them, warns them against their own polytheism, which represents various deities as exercising dominion in divers countries re- spectively, and as having several powers over the diHereut elements of the natural world. — a vehement'] Sultry and silent. 10. the Loed] Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel, sums up the whole history, and teaches the lesson to be drawn from it. — which came up in a night] Literally, the son of a night. 11. sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left] These 120,000 were children ; and therefore we may estimate the whole population of Nineveh at about 650,000 souls {M. v. Niebuhr, p. 278). Though Nineveh was a tetrapoMs of about ninety miles in circumference, we are not to be surprised that the population was not greater than this; because, like Babylon and other great Eastern Cities, it contained within its walls much pasture- land and arable ; as is implied by what follows, where it is said that in it teas much cattle. Cp. above, on iii. 6, 7. — and also much cattle] This is a happy and appropriate conclusion to the book. God cares even for cattle. How much more, therefore, for wen, for whose service cattle were created. Therefore, let Jonah learn, and let him teach the world, that God wiUeth all men to repent and to be saved, even the heathen Ninevehs of this world, and to be united with the Jews in one and the same faith, hope, and love, and in worshipping the same Lord and Father of all, in the same Heavenly City, the Jeru- salem that is above, which is the mother of us all (Gal. iv. 26). This is the lesson which the Prophet Jonah learnt, and which he is ever teaching in this Divine Book, read as divinely inspired Scripture in the Church of every age ; and which has its perfect fulfilment in Cheist (the divine Jonah, i. 17), in Whom there is neither Greek, nor Jew, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but He is all in all (Col. iii. 11. Gal. iii. 28) ; to Whom, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory now and for evermore. AiiEU. M 1 C A H. chrYst ^' ' THE word of the Lord that came to ^Micah the Morasthite in the days "jIJ" of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, "" which he saw concerning a Jer. 26. 18. b Amos 1. 1. Samaria and Jerusalem. The name Micah signifies " WTio is as Jah, or Jehovah " (Caspari, iiber Micha, p. 14; cp. Exod. xv. 11. Dent. iii. 24. Ts. Ixxxvi. 8 ; below, vii. 18). His prophecies are united to those of Jonah ; and follow them in a logical sequence and liarmonious order. As we have already seen, Jonah was not only a prophet, but a prophecy ; a prophecy of Chi'ist's Death, Burial, and Resurrection, and of the propitiation effected by His Sacrifice of Himself. His history foreshadowed the calm produced thereby in the Sea of this world, and it prefigured the preaching of Repentance after Christ's Resurrection to the Ninevehs of Heathendom ; and it exhibited God's desire that they should all be admitted into His Church, on their faith and repentance, upon equal terms with the Jews. The Prophet Jonah, who had formerly been swayed by Hebrew prejudices, and had gi'udged the extension of God's mercy to the Heathen, especially to the Assyrians, the formid- a'ole foes of Israel and Judah, was brought by God to a better mind, and was chastened, and softened, and spiritualized by the holy discipline of Divine Love. Jonah has written his own recantation in his prophetical book, and has preached to the world for 3500 years this holy lesson of universal charity, which he himself had been slow to learn : he has also delivered a gracious message of universal redemption by Christ, in that prophetic book, when expounded by the light of the Gospel. The Prophet Micah learnt this lesson, perhaps from Jonah's prophecy ; and, so far from grudging the glad tidings of salva- tion to the Gentiles, he rejoices in the prospect of the reception of all Heathen Nations into the Church of God; spreading forth from Zion in the days of the Messiah, and enfolding them all in its arms. See iv. 1 — 5. He declares that the promised Shepherd, Wlio would be born at Bethlehem-Judah, the City of David, and "Wliose goings forth are from everlasting," will " stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, and will be great unlo file ends of I fie earth" (v. 4). Thus, while Jonah declares the salvability of the Heathen, Micah proclaims the great truth afterwards expressed by Christ Himself in the words "salvation is of the Jews " (Johri iv. 22). Zion is the mother of all Christendom. " It shall come to pass " (says the Prophet, rejoicing in the glorious vision of the Church Universal, elevated aloft so as to be visible to all Na- tions, and expanding itself with a living and growing power and energy) " that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say. Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob ; and He will teach ns of His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For the Law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of God from Jerusalem " (Mieah iv. 1, 2). Micah thus reconciles the Jews to the admission of the Heathen within the pale of the Church of God. The Heathen are the spiritual ofl'spring of Zion ; and the Hebrew Mother is glorified in the multitude of her Gentile children. Jonah had declared that God was willing and eager to be merciful even to Assyria and its great capital, Nineveh ; and thus he comforted the Gentiles with a hope of being admitted into God's favour on a par with the Jews; and Micah, and Nahum after him, assure the Jews, that if the Ninevehs of this world are obstinate in their hostility to God's Church, then the Messiah, the Son of Davi3, will protect Israel and Judah (if Uicy are faithful to God), and will deliver them from " the Assyrian invader" — the proud and godless Sennacherib — and from all the enemies of the Church who are represented and typified by him. See below, v. 5, 6. 9. Jonah declares the salvability of all Assyrian enemies of God's Church, if they repent; Micah proclaims the destruction of all Assyrian enemies of God's Church if they persist in their resistance and rebellion against Him. The prophecies of Micah are divided into three parts, all beginniug with Jlear ye ; — 1st. Chapters I., II. 2nd. Chapters III., TV., V. 3rd. Chapters VI., TIL In the first part, the Prophet foretells the destruction of Samaria for its sins (i. 1 — 7), and the spoliation of Judah and the carrying away of its people (8 — 16) ; and grounds this threat on the iniquities of the Princes, Nobles, and false Prophets (ii. 1 — 11) ; and promises to Israel and Judah restora- tion on their repentance. The second portion is a recapitulation of the former, with an enlargement containing a further declaration of their sins, in more minute and precise detail (iii.) ; and also a larger and fuller promise of recovery and restitution through the Messiah (whose birth-place he specifies, with a declaration of His Divine Nature and office), on their faith and repentance (iv. 1 — 7 ; v. 1 — 5), and a glorious display of His power and victories, and of the peace to be established by Him (v. 6 — 14). The third portion declares God's gracious dispensation of love and merey to Israel from the beginning ; and Israel's ingratitude ; and it contains a prophecy that Israel will here- after be touched with remorse, consequent on their misery in their banishment and dispersion; and that they will confess their sins, and turn to God by repentance and faith ; and that God will be gracious unto them, and deliver them from their enemies. The prophecies of Micah may be regarded as standing in the same relation to those of Isaiah, as St. Mark's Gospel does to St. Matthew ; or as the Epistle to the Galatian.^" does to the Epistle to the Romans. Ch. I. 1. Micah the Morasthite'] From Morcnhcth ilath, in the lowland of Judah (see v. 14), south-west of Jerusalem, near Eleutheropolis (S. Jerome), which was about twenty miles south-west of Jerusalem, and eighteen miles west of Hebron. Cp. Caspari, 35. — in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezelkiah'] After the death of XTzziah. Mieah, therefore, was younger than Hosea, who prophesied under Uzziah (Hos. i. 1) ; and than Amos (Amos i. 1) ; and than Isaiah (see on Isa. i. 1 ; vi. 1) ; but, in other respects, the contemporary of that Prophet, who prophesied *' in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah." The salutary influence of Mieah's prophetic warnings on the mind and conduct of the good King Hezekiah, is described in Jer. xxvi. 17 — 19. On the genuineness and authenticity of this superscription, see Caspari, pp. 59 — 100, refutiug the objections of De Wette, Knohel, Maurer, ISwald, Meier, and Umbreit. We shall see that the invasion of Judah by the proud Assyrian conqueror Sennacherib, in the days of the good King Hezekiah, and the miraculous destruction of his army before the gates of Jerusalem, are treated by Micah in the same spirit as by Isaiah ; that is, not only as instructive and cheering signs of God's protection to Hezekiah and Jerusalem, remaining firm in their allegiance to God, bnt as prophetic encouragements to Woe to Samaria, MICAH I. 2 — 8, and to Jerusalem f)-07n their foes. - f Hear, all ye people ; ■^ Hearken, earth, and fall that therein is : And let the Lord God "^ be witness against you, The Lord from ' his holy temple. ^ For, behold, ' the Lord cometh forth out of his « place. And will come dovm, and tread upon the " high places of the earth. ■* And ' the mountains shall be molten under him, And the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire. And as the waters that are poured down f a steep place. * For the transgression of Jacob is all this. And for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob ? is it not Samaria ? And what are the high places of Judah ? are they not Jerusalem ? ^ Therefore I will make Samaria ^ as an heap of the field. And as plantings of a vineyard : And I mil pour down the stones thereof into the valley, And I will ' discover the foundations thereof. ^ And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, And all the " hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, And all the idols thereof will I lay desolate : For she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, And they shall return to the hire of an harlot. " Therefore " I mil wail and howl, ° I will go stripped and naked : p I will make a wailing hke the dragons. And mourning as the f owls. about 7.511. t IIcl). Hear, people, all 0/ c Deut. 32. I. Isa. 1. 2. ■t Heb.Ue fitlii d Ps. 50. 7. Mai. 3. 5. ePs. 11.4. Jonah 2. 7. Hub. 2. 20. f Isa. 2(i. 21. gPs. 115. 3. h Deut. 32. 13. 33. 20. Amos 4. 13. i Judg. 5. 5. Ps. 97. 5. Ve CA. I, 2, 3. Hab. 3. G, 10. + Heb. a descent. nisa. 21.3. & 22.4. Jer. 4. 19. o Isa. 20. 2, 3, 4. p Job 30. 29. Ps. 102. 6. t Heb. daughters of the owl. the Church of God iu every age, especially in the latter days. If she acts in the spirit of Hezekiah, all her Seunacheribs will be destroyed, and she will be delivered by God. 2. Sear, all ye peopW] Or, Hear, nations all. Micah takes up the appeal of bis namesake Micaiah, speaking in the pre- sence of Ahab and Jeboshaphat about 150 years before (1 Kings xxii. 28), Sear, ye nations all. The words are the same, and in the same order in both. This appeal is not only to the people of Israel and Judah, but to all nations. See what follows — Searlcen, Earth, and the fulness thereof The God of Micab, the God of Israel and Judab, is the God of the Universe ; all things are His creatures, and His witnesses. See Deut. xxxii. 1. Cp. Isa. i. 2, and Poeoclc here. Micab follows Micaiah in rebuking the false prophets by which the king and people of Israel were seduced; and in reproving the rulers of Israel for their sins ; and in showing to them the bitter fruits which those sins would produce. He frequently adopts the imagery and language of Micaiah. Cp. the lying spirit (ii. 11) with the lying spirit in 1 Kings xxii. 22, 23; the horn of iron (iv. 13) with those in 1 Kings xxii. 11 ; the smiting on the cheeTc in v . 1 with 1 Kings xxii. 14. Micab also often adopts the language of the Pentateuch. Here, in v. 2, Hearken, O Earth, he refers to Deut. xxxii. 1 ; and in ». 3 he refers to Deut. xxxii. 13 ; xxxiii, 29. In ii. 13; iv. 7, be refers to Exod. i. 7. 12; in vi. 4 be has bis eye on Deut. V. 6; vi. 12; vii. 8; xiii. 5. See the important and inte- resting collection of passages in Caspari, pp. 420 — 427, in which it is shown that the prophecies of Micah are grounded on the Books of Moses, and supply a strong argument for their genuineness and inspiration. The same may be said of his testimony to the Book of Joshua and the Psalms and Proverbs (ibid. 427 — 432). In his turn Micah is referred to by Habakkuk, Zephauiah, Jeremiah, and Ezckiel, and by the Evangelists, ibid. 450 — 458. 3. For, behold, the LoED cometh forth out of his place^ Words used also by Micah's contemporary, Isaiah (xxvi. 21). 4. the mountains shall be molten'] As when the Lord came down in His glorious Majesty on Sinai (Judges v. 5. Psalm xcvii. 5). 71 5. For the transgression of Jacob is all this] All tliis is done to punish the falling away of Jacob; "judgment must begin at the bouse of God " (1 Pet. iv. 17). — high places of Judah — Jerusaleni] Even the Holy City and Temple are polluted by idolatry, and have become like the high places of heathen deities. This was true specially in the days of King Ahaz, who made his children to pass through the fire to Moloch, and made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem (2 Chron. xxviii. 3. 24, 25). Cp. xxxiii. 6 ; and 2 Kings xvi. 10 — 16. Ezekiel xvi. 31. 7. the hires'] Gifts given to her for her spiritual harlotry; offerings for idolatrous worship. Micah here adopts the imagery and language of his predecessor Hosea (Hos. ii. 5. 8. 12; i.\. 1). — they shall return to the hire of an harlot] That is, her religious ornaments shall be carried away by her enemies and spoilers, to adorn the idolatrous temples of Assyria and other Heathen Nations. See the note on 2 Kings xvii. 5, where Sargon, King of Assyria, is cited as taking away 27,280 prisoners from Samaria. Doubtless be took away treasures also and religious vessels, and votive offerings to adorn the temples of Nineveh, his own harlot city (Nabum iii. 4 — 6). As Hosea prophesies, " It shall be also carried unto Assyria, for a present to King Jareb " (Hos. x. 6). So Nebuchadnezzar took away the sacred vessels of the Temple at Jerusalem, to adorn the temple of his god at Babylon (Dan. i. 2 ; v. 1 — 4. Ezra i. 7). The sense is. Because Samaria, the capital of Israel, fell away from her faithfulness to God, and lapsed into idolatry, which is spiritual harlotry — because she worshipped false gods, and attributed all her wealth and prosperity to them, instead of to the God of Israel — therefore her idolatrous images, and other precious ornaments, shall be carried away to other harlots — that is, to other idolatrous nations — viz. the Assyrians, who will give them as gifts to their false deities (TargMii). 8. dragons] Jackals. See above, Job xxx. 29. — oiols] Ostriches. Literally, daughters of the she-ostrich. See on Job xxx. 29. Micah appears to be referring to that passage where Job describes himself " as a brother of dragons " The triumphafit march MICAS. I. 9—16. of the invader. Before CHRIST about htrt q 2 Kings IS. 13 Isa 8 7, 8. r2Sam. 1. 20. II That is. Dull. s Jer. C 26. II Or, Ihou that dteelieit /airly. t Heb. inltabi- trest. t Isa. 20. 4. & 47. 2. 3. Jer. 13. 22. Nalium 3. 5. 1 Or, rite country offliicki. li Or, A place II Or, was grieved. u Amos 3. G. X 2 Kings 18. H, 17. y •! Sam. 8. 2. 2 Kings IS. 14, 15. 16. II Or. /or. II That is. A lie. z Josh. 15. 44. a Josh. 15. 44. II Or, the glory of Israel shall come, » For II her wound is incurable ; for "^ it is come unto Judah ; He is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. '" 'Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all : In the house of || Aphrah ' roll thyself in the dust. 1' Pass ye away, || thou f inhabitant of Saphir, having thy ' shame naked : The inhabitant of || Zaanan came not foi-th in the mourning of || Beth-ezel ; He shall receive of you his standing. '- For the inhabitant of Maroth || waited carefully for good : But " evil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem. 13 thou inhabitant of " Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast : She is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion : For the transgressions of Israel were found in thee. 1^ Therefore shalt thou ^ give presents || to Moresheth-gath : The houses of || ^ Achzib shall he a lie to the kings of Israel. 1^ Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, inhabitant of " Mareshah : II He shall come unto '' Adullam the glory of Israel. '^ Make thee "^ bald, and poll thee for thy '' delicate children ; 15. 2. 5.- 22. 12. Jer. 7. 29. 5: 16. 6. & 47. 5. & 4S. 37. d Lam. 4. 5. (jackals), " a companion of owls." Literally, " daughters of the ostrich." 9. it is come unto Judafi] The judgment will not stop at Samaria; but will come to Judah. This was fulfilled, first by the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians, and by the subsequent ravages of Judah by the same power (see Isa. X. 28—32 ; xxxvi. 1) ; and by the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldseans (Ct/ril and Theodoret). 10. Declare ye it not at Gaili] Micah adopts the words of David, mourning over Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. i. 20). — weep ye not at all] Literally, weeping, weep not. Hide your tears; lest the Philistines should rejoice when they see them. — in the Tiouse of Aphrah roll thyself in the dusf] Or, as it is in the Cethib ; I roll myself in the dust. There is a play on the words here, as in the other names of the ten towns here speoified, which were near Jerusalem. The name Aphrah, or Ophrah, means dust. The Prophet says that the names of this and other towns will be verirted in deed, and are prophetic and symbolical of their unhappy fate ; or else are a striking contrast to it. This passage of Micah (ro. 10 — 16) is to be compared with that noble one in Isaiah (x. 28 — 32), where the Propliet de- scribes the panic which spread from one town to another near Jerusalem, when the Assyrian army under Sennacherib invaded Judah, and took all its fenced cities (xxxvi. 1). Micah continues the prophetic description of Isaiah. Isaiah represents the panic, alarm, and havoc produced in the days of Hezekiab, by the Assyrian army under Sennacherib invading Jerusalem from the north-east. Micah represents his career to the south-west, even to Lachish, mentioned by both the Prophets. See r. 13. We know from Jeremiah (xxvi. 18) that the prophetic warnings and reproofs of Micah wrought powerfully on the mind of the good King Hezekiab; snd that for atime the judgments impending over Jerusalem were averted by his repentance. Similar results appear to have been produced on him by the cheering voice of Isaiah, who completed the work of Micah, by inspiring the King with faith and hope; and God blessed the work of the two Prophets, and the prayers of the penitent King (who at first had faltered — see 2 Kings xviii. 14—16), by delivering him and his people, and by destroying the army of Sennacherib, when it returned from Egypt in triumph, beneath the walls of Jerusalem. See above, on Isa. xxxvii. 36. 11. Saphir] A word which signifies beautiful. Thy beauty is changed into shame. — the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth] Literally, the inhabitant of going forth has not gone forth to the battle, for fear of the enemy. ** Nou est egressa quEe habitat in exitu " {J'ulg., liosen., Caspari, and Kelt). — in the mourning of Beth-ezel ; he shall receive of you his standing] Or rather. The mourning of Beth-ezel (or house of nearness — literally of the side of ( Oesen. 74.) — tcill receive its station from you — that is, the wail of distress will pass on trom Zaanan to the town at its side, Seth-ezel. The sound of mourning is represented as passing (as it were, in a telegraphic series of signals) from one town of Judah to another. 12. Maroth] Bitternesses. — waited carefully for good^ 'Rather, writhes in anguish for good (i. e. for succour), like a travailing woman, pained and anxious for delivery (Rev. xii. 2). 13. thou inhabitant of Lachish] About thirty miles south- west of Jerusalem, now Uni-lakhis, and about ten south- west of Moreshah. It is probable that Micah is describing the havoc made by the army of Sennacherib when he besieged Lachish (2 Kings xviii. 14. Isaiah xxxvi. 2. 2 Chron. xxxii. 9). — bind the chariot to the swift beast] Harness the courser to the chariot, that thou mayest escape from the invader. — She is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion] Lachish, in the lowland of Judah, was the first to import the idolatry of Israel into Judah. Lachish was an Amorite city, bordering on Philistia, and on Dan (famed fur idolatry — see Judges xviii. 30) ; and therefore it was very likely that Lachish should be infested with the contagion, and should pollute Judah with idolatry. 14. Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moresheth-gath] Thou, Zion, on account of thy sin (received from I-achish) wilt be obliged to give a dismissal (literally dismissals), that is, wilt be obliged to abandon, MoresJieth-gath, which was once dependent on thee, but will now fall into the hand of the enemy. In the word Moresheth there may be an allusion to meorasdh, betrothed (cp. Dent. xxii. 23). Thou, O Zion, wilt be obliged to give a dismissal (see Exod. xviii. 2. 1 Kings ix. 16) to the city once betrothed to thee. Or, if we take the word Moresheth (as is more probable) to ^\^mf^' inheritance {Pocock, 9; Oesen. 4^Q ; Fuerst, 788), then the sense will be. Instead of receiving any thing from thy inheritance, thou wilt be obliged to send mes- sages and presents to it. Perhaps there may be a reference to the presents which Hezekiab sent to propitiate the Assyrian invader (2 Kings xviii. 15, 16). — Achzib] Literally a lie. Achzib well realizes its name ; it will become like a dry brook, which deceives the ti-aveller who expects to find water there (Job vi. 15. Jer. xv. 18). 15. Mareshah] Literally, inheritance. I will make a stranger inherit thee. An heir, or the heir, means Sennacherib, — Adullam] The celebrated cave where David found refuge from his enemy (1 Sam. xxii. 1, 5. 2 Sam. xxiii. 13), and w:i3 preserved to become king of Judah ; there, in David's strong- hold, whence he went forth to conquest and to sovereignty, the victorious enemies of Judah, the tribe of David, will rejoice. Let them there see the bitter fruits of apostasy from the God of David. 16. Make thee laid] Shave thyself as a mourner (Job i. 20. Isa. XV. 2 ; xxii. 12. Jer. vii, 29). Woe to evil princes, MICAH II. 1—9. people, and prophets. Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle ; For they are gone into captivity from thee. II. ' Woe to them " that devise iniquity, and '' work evil upon their beds ! When the morning is light, they practise it, Because " it is in the power of their hand ; " And they covet "^ fields, and take them by violence ; And houses, and take them away : So they || oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. ^ Therefore thus saith the Lord ; Behold, against ^ this family do I devise an evil. From which ye shall not remove your necks ; Neither shall ye go haughtily : "^for this time is evil. ^ In that day shall one ^take up a parable against you, Ajid '' lament f mth a doleful lamentation. And say, We be utterly spoiled : ' He hath changed the portion of my people : How hath he removed it from me ! II Turning away he hath divided our fields. ^ Therefore thou shalt have none that shall ^ cast a cord by lot in the con- gregation of the Lord. '' II t ' Prophesy ye not, saij they to them that prophesy : They shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame. 7 thou that art named the house of Jacob, Is the spirit of the Lord || straitened ? Are these his doings ? Do not my words do good to him that walketh f uprightly ? ^ Even f of late my people is risen up as an enemy : Ye pull off the robe f with the garment fifom them that pass by securely as men averse from war. ^ The II women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses ; Before CHRIST about c Gen. 31.29. il Isa. 5. a. li 2 Sam. 1. 17. t Heb. with a lamenlitlion of I] Or, Prophesy not as they pro- t Heb. Drop, ^c. Ezek. 21. 2. I Isa. .10. 10. Amos 2.12.8.7.1a, II Or, shortmedl t Heb. upright ! f Heb, yesterday, t Heb. oeer ayaifisl a garment I Or, ifli — Enlarge thy baldness as the eafflel Or rather, the vulture — vultur barbatu3 ; or perhaps, vultur percnopterus, which has the frout part of the head bald {Gesen, 572 ; Kamus ; Hassel- guist ; Keil). Ch. II. 1. Because it is in the power of their hatnl] Rather, lecause their hand is their God. As Mezentius said, "Dextra mihi Deus, et telum quod missile libro." (Virff. ^a. X. 21.) 4. lament with a doleful lamentation, and «ay] Utter a lament (so Gesen. 536) ; but as the feminine form, nihei/ah, does not occur in this sense of lamentation, others suppose it to be niphal of hai/ah, to be, and to signify actum est ! it is done ! it is all over ! (Fuerst, 910, and so De Dieu, Eioald, Kleinert, Keil) ; and the sense is, they lament a lamentation. " It is done," say they ; " we are utterly spoiled." There is a re- markable alliteration in the original, expressive of repeated lamentations (nahah nehi, niheyah). — Turning away he hath divided our fields~\ Rather, he hath divided our fields (the fields of God's own people) to one who turns away, i. e. a perverse and rebellious one — to an infidel apostate — Assj-ria (Kimchi, Pococlc, Keil). It is the same com- plaint as in Habukkuk, " the wicked (Chaldiean) devoureth the man that is more righteous than he" (Hab. i. 13). 5. thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by Zo^] Or, a measure for a lot. Thou, godless generation, shalt have none to partake in an inheritance. The reference is to the original assignment of the inheritances of the tribes in the Promised Land by lot under Joshua (Josh. xiv. 2). 6. Prophesy ye not^ Literally,(?)-o^«o<. Micah adopts the word {nMaph, to drop, a word, a prophecy) used by Amos (vii. 16), and which is thence to be explained. 73 The false priests and prophets said to the true prophets. Prophesy not against Israel and her worship. See Amos ii. 12; vu. 13. The sense is. Prophesy ye not (say the false prophets to Amos and to Micah, and to other true prophets), but they (the true prophets) shall prophesy ; but they shall not prophesy to these ; that is, they shall not be prophets to this godless people: it will not listen to their words, but will reject them, and will choose other prophets (viz. false prophets) for itself; and it tvill not remove shame, literally shames (plural); it will not put away its false gods, which are the cause of all its shame and misery. The word rendered fake in our version is nasag, which properly means ioremove — to remove a landmark (Deut. xix. 14. Prov. xxii. 28. Hos. v. 10. Cp. Gesen. 552. Cp. below, vi. 14). 7. Is the spirit of the LoED straitened ?J Here is another reference to the words of Micaiah the true prophet in the time of Ahab, as contrasted with the false prophets of Israel ; and to the words of the false prophets saying to him, " Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee ?" (1 Kings xxii. 2 1.) Do ye, O ye false prophets, imagine that ye can constrain tlie Spirit of the Lord, by forbidding His prophets to prophesy ? are these Sis doings ? are your miseries appointed by God ? are they not brought upon you by yourselves ? Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself (Hos. xiii. 9). Do not my words — the words which I utter, as God's prophet — do good, and bring comfort to him that walketh uprightly ? e. g. to the good King Hezekiah, as contrasted with you, on whom I denounce judgment ? 8. Even of late'] Even yesterday. Your wickedness is fresh, like a thing of yesterday. Cp. 2 Kings ix. 26, " Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth;" and Ps. xc. 4, "A thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday." Arise ye, and depart. MICAH II. 10—13. Tlie Breaker is come up mDeut. 12.9. nLer. IS. 25, 2S. Jer. 3. 2. II Or, walk with the wind, and lie o°E2ek. 13. 3. p ch. 4. G, 7. From their children have ye taken away my glory for ever. 1" Arise ye, and depart ; for this is not your " rest : Because it is "polluted, it shall destroy you, even mth a sore destruction. '1 If a man || "walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink ; He shall even he the prophet of this people. 12 p I will surely assemhle, Jacob, all of thee ; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel ; I will put them together "^ as the sheep of Bozrah, As the flock in the midst of their fold : 'They shall make great noise by reason of the multitude o/men. 13 The breaker is come up before them : They have broken up, and have passed through the gate, And are gone out by it : And ' their king shall pass before them, 'And the Lord on the head of them. 9. have ye ialcen away my glory for everl Ye have robbed them for ever of the ornament which I gave them ; whereas the Law prescribes that thou sbalt restore at night the garment thou hast taken in pledge from a poor debtor (Exod. xxii. 26). So Xeil. But there seems to be something more in this pro- phetic declaration. Ye have not only despoiled the poor, but ye have robbed Me ; ye have divested Me, as far as ye are able, of My glory and excellency (Hebr. hadar, see Ps. viii. 5 ; xxix. 4. Isa. ii. 10. 19. 21 ; xxxv. 2, and usually applied to God). He had said before (v. 6) that they would not remove their omn shame, i.e. their own idols; and now God says that they have taken away Sis glory. 10. Arise ye, and depart^ A noble appeal to Israel and Judah; representing to them that their future captivity will even be a blessing. Arise ye, and depart — quit your own home, for it is defiled by idolatry, which is the cause of your misery ; go ye into Assyria, depart ye to Babylon, there ye will be chastened for your sins, and purified by repentance. 11. If a man tuaH-ing in the spirit} Rather, ivalMng in ivind as his element; mere vanity. The sentence maybe thus ren- dered, If there he a man, ivalking in ivind, forging lies and saying, I will prophesy nnto thee of wine and strong drink — he shall be a prophet of this people. Such an one, who is a prophet of lies, is the only person fit to be their prophet, and the only one to whom they would listen. Cp. Ezek. xiii. 3, 4. Peojiise of Restoeation to Israel in Cheist. 12. I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee} Observe the sudden transition from sorrow to joy. There is a similar change at the beginning of chapter iv. The false prophets prophesied carnal delights, and deceived the people with lies. Micah, the true Prophet of the Lord, has nobler joys and purer pleasures to announce : " I foresee and fore- tell that thou, O Jacob, shalt be taken captive, and be scattered for thy sins; but I, saith the hard, will surely gather thee, I will gather together the remnant of Israel," as Micah himself explains the words below (iv. 6), and as God says by Jeremiah (xxxi. 10), " He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock." This prophecy is fulfilled in Christ, the Good Shepherd, who gathers all His sheep together into one fold. See Pocock here; and cp. John x. 1 — 18 ; xvi. 28 ; and Pusey, p. 309. The Prophet Micah, like Isaiah his contemporary, looks beyond the captivity of Israel by Assyria (i. 11. 16; ii. 4), which he foretells, as Isaiah did ; and he looks also beyond the captivity of Judah at Babylon, which both these prophets pre-announced ; and he looks also beyond the liberation of Judah by the decree of Cyrus ; and his prophetic view extends to the time of that glorious spiritual restoration which is effected by Christ, of Whom Cyrus was a type. See above on Isa. xl. 1—12, which is the best comment on this prophecy. — the sheep of Sozrah} In Edora ; famous for cattle (Isa. xxxlv. 6). — of men] He says men, in order that the comparison of Israel to a flock may be better understood. 74 The Victoet ojp Cheist and of His People, in His TEITTMrHANT ReSUEEECTION EEOM THE DEAD. 13. The Ireal-er is come up before them} A magnificent transition from Cyrus to Christ; as in Isa. xl. 1 — 5. The Pro- phet sees the conqueror Cyrus breaking into Babylon, smiting asunder the bars which kept Israel captive as in a prison ; and how they went forth, after the issuing of his decree, in joy and triumph to their own land. And from this prophetical view of Cyi'us and his victory, and its blessed consequences, he passes on, by a rapid prophetic flight, to speak of the Divine Cyrus, Jesus Christ, and of His triumph over Death and the Grave. The Sreaker-np is, by the confession of the Jews them- selves, a title of the Messiah. See the Rabbinical authorities in Pp. Pearson on the Creed, Art. vi. p. 270, Note. Christ has broken into the camp of our ghostly Enemy, and has spoiled the strong man, and has rescued us from his grasp. He has broken the gates of brass, and bars of iron in sunder (Ps. cvii. 16. Acts ii. 24), and has gone forth before us, as a triumphant king and captain at the head of a victorious army ; and He is uo other than the Lord Jehovah at our head; as the Lord went before His People, when He led them out of Egypt, at the Exodus (Exod. xiii. 21). " There is no passing on nor going forth " (says S. Jerome here) " without Christ our King, Who is both King and Lord." "Christ" (says Corn, a Lapide here) "has delivered us from the bondage and prison-house of sin and Satan, and ye also will be able to break its bands, being strengthened by His gi'ace, and ye will go forth with songs of joy to Zion— the Jerusalem above — which is free, and the mother of us all " (Gal. iv. 26). Christ, the Breaker, has gone up into heaven, and has sent His Spirit to lead all the faithful thither. All the saints of God, by -virtue of the Death and Resurrection of this Divine Breaker, will burst through the prison-doors of the grave at the Day of Judgment, and be carried up, with Christ going before them, into His Heavenly Kingdom. He will pass on as a king at their head ; and the Lord God (for such He is) will lead them thither, that where He is they may be also. For further proofs and illustrations of this interpretation, sec Pfeiffer, 451 ; Hengstenberg, and Keil. We may add the substance of the words of an English Expositor, who is often very happy in eliciting and in expressing the spiritual sense of Holy Scripture — Matthew Henry ; " Their breaker has come vp before themio break down all opposition, and to clear the road before them, and under His guidance they have broken vp and have passed through the gate, and have gone out hy it, having Omnipotence for their Vanguard. Their King shall pass before them, to lead them in tlie w.iy — even Jehovah (He is their King), at the head of them, as He was at the head of the armies of Israel when they came out of Egypt and followed the pillar of cloud and fire through the wilderness. Christ is the Church's King. He is Jehovah. He beads them; passes before them; brings them out of the land of their captivity (like Moses), and brings them (like Joshua) into the land of their rest. He is the breaker. He broke upon the powers of darkness, and broke through them, and rent the veil, and opened the Kingdom of Heaven to Warnings of judgment, MICAH III. 1—11. and promises of mercy. III. ^ And I said, Hear, I pray you, heads of Jacob. And ye princes of the house of Israel ; " Is it not for you to know judgment ? " Who hate the good, and love the evil ; Who pluck off their skin from off them, And their flesh from off their bones ; ^ Who also '' eat the flesh of my people. And flay their skin from off them ; And they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, As for the pot, and "" as flesh -within the caldron. ■* Then "^ shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them : He •ftill even hide his face from them at that time. As they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. ^ Thus saith the Loed ^ concerning the prophets that make my people err, That *' bite with their teeth, and cry. Peace ; And ^ he that putteth not into their mouths, They even prepare war against him. •^ '' Therefore night shall he unto you, f that ye shall not have a vision ; And it shall be dark unto you, f that ye shall not divine ; ' And the sun shall go down over the prophets. And the day shall be dark over them. 7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded : Yea, they shall all cover their f lips ; ""for there is no answer of God. ^ But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, And of judgment, and of might, ' To declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. ^ Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, And princes of the house of Israel, That abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. 10 m They build up Zion with " f blood. And Jerusalem with iniquity. " "The heads thereof judge for reward, And ^ the priests thereof teach for hire, And the prophets thereof divine for money : "^ Yet will they lean upon the Lord, f and say. Is not the Lord among us ? none evil can come upon us. cEzek. 11. 3, 7. d Ps. 18.41. Prov. 1. 28. Isa. I. 15. Ezek. 8. 18. Zech. 7. 13. eTsa. 56. 10, 11. Ezek. 13. 10. & 22. 25. fch. 2. 11. Matt. 7. 13. gEzek. 13.18, 19. h Isa. 8. 20, 22 Ezek. 13. 23. Zech. 13. 4. t Heb./romo t Heb./rom divining. I Amos 8. 9. f Ileb. vppc-rlip. k Ps. 74. 9. Amos 8. 11. m Jer. 22. 13. n Ezek. 22. 27. Hab. 2. 12. Zeph. 3. 3. t Heb. bloods. ols; , 1. 2.1. Ezek. 22. 12. q Isa. 48. 2. Jer. 7. 4. Rom. 2. 17. + Heb. sayini all believers. The hreaker lias gone lefore vs out of the grave, and has carried aw.ay its gates as Samson did Gaza's — bars and all — and by that break we go out and arise to glory." Ch. III. 1. And I said. Sear, I praii yoii] Here begins the second portion of Micah's prophecies. The following address to the Rulers of Israel and Judah is a recapitulation and enlarge- ment of the former; and as in th.it Address, so here also, denunciations of judgment are followed by promises of mercy in Christ. He contrasts evil shopberds with the Good Shepherd. 3. iV ho also eat the flesh of my people'] Cp. Ps. xiv. 4, " They eat up My people as thej eat bread ;" and Ezek. xxii. 27, *' Her princes in tbe midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. Cp. Ezek. x-txiv. 2—10. 5. the prophets — that bite with their teeth, and cry. Peace] The false prophets, as long as they receive any thing to put into their mouths, prophesy peace ; they prophesy for hire, and divine for money and for bread. See v. 11 ; and cp. above, on Amos vii. 12, where the idolatrous priest insinuates that the true Prophet Amos, is like one of these false prophets, who, as long as they are fed by their masters, are ready to promise peace to those who feed them ; like dogs, who fawn on those who give them meat ; and this is further explained by what follows : he that putteth not into their mouths, at biin they snarl and growl, and prepare war (literally, sanctify war against him; cp. on Joel iii. 9), as if the cause of their own appetite were the cause of heaven ! Such are false teachers in the Christian Church, who make a traffic of godliness (1 Tim. vi. 5), and corrupt the Word of God for their own benefit (see on 2 Cor. ii. 17), and whose " god is their belly " (Phil. iii. 19), and whose " gospel is their maw." 6. the sun shall go down"] Words taken from Amos viii. 9. 7. they shall all cover their lips] As in mourning (Levit. xiii. 45), and in shame (Ezek. xxiv. 17). Those lips with which they spoke lies ; those mouths with which they devoured greedily what was given them, that they might prophesy (v. 5), shall be covered with sorrow and shame. 10. They build up Zion with blood'] They build it up with blood as with cement. Cp. Jer. xxii. 13. Hab. ii. 12, " Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood." Zion shall he MICAH III. 12. IV. 1—3. a ploiced field. r Je 710. .26. IS. ch. 1. 6. s Ps. 79. 1. t ch. 4. 2. a Isa. 2. 2, &c. Ezek. 17. 22,23. ^- Therefore shall Zion for your sake be "■ plowed as a field, ' Aud Jerusalem shall become heaps, And ' the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. IV. ^ But ''in the last days it shall come to pass. That the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be estabhshed in the top of the mountains, And it shall be exalted above the hills ; And people shall flow unto it. " And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, And to the house of the God of Jacob ; And he will teach us of his ways. And we wiU walk in his paths : For the law shall go forth of Zion, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ^ And he shall judge among many people, And rebuke strong nations afar off; 12. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plotoed as a field] This solemn warning of llicith was blessed by God with a salu- tary efiect, and was remembered afterwards as having produced a reformation in Jerusalem, when, in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (about B.C. 609), Jeremiah the Prophet was arrested by the priests and prophets of Jerusalem because he had stood forth in the Temple and had denounced, that woe would fall on Jerusalem for its sins unless it repented. But the princes (who were more just and temperate than the priests and prophets) interceded for him, and spake to all the assembly of the people — '' Mleah the Morasthite" (see above, i. 1) " pro- phesied in the days of Hezekiah, King of Judah " (Hezekiah's accession was about 120 years before that of Jehoiakim), " aud spake to all the people of Judah saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, * Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house ' (the Temple) ' as the high places of a forest.' Did Hezekiah, King of Judah, put him at all to death ? Did be not fear the Lord, and be- sought the Lord ? and the Lord repented Him of the evil which He had pronounced against them,*' Micah's prophecy produced a reformation in his ovra age ; and it exercised a salutary influence a century afterwards, and induced the princes to protect Jeremiah, who was delivered out of the hands of his enemies (Jer. xxvi. 24), and continued to prophesy till after the fall of .Terusalem, which Micah and he himself had foretold. Such is the energy of God's Word. It m.ay seem to be dead for a time, like seed buried in the ground ; but it springs up aud brings forth fruit many years after it has been sown. In a figurative sense, this prophecy of Micah extended even to the d.ays of Christ. Then the heads of the house of Jacob and the princes of the bouse of Israel abhorred judg- ment, and perverted all equity. They condemned the Just One and built up Zion with blood, even with the Blood of Christ. Therefore Zion was ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem became heaps, and the mountain of the Lord's house — the Temple itself — became as the high places of the forest. Not one stone was left upon another by the Roman armies, but all was cast down, according to Christ's prophecy (Matt. xxiv. 2. Mark xiii. 2. Luke xix. 4-1; xxi. 6). Restoeation and Exaltation op Jeeusalem in Cheist AND THE ChUEOH. Ch. IV. 1. Sut in the last dm/s] Literally, at the end of the days of prophets; the beginning of the day of Christ. — it shall come to pass] Here is a sudden trousition from sorrow to joy, from bumiUation to exaltation, like that in ii. 12. The transition in both cases is produced by the gleam winch the Prophet catches of the glory of Christ. See v. 3. He had described the abasement aud desolation of the mountain of the Lord's house (iii. 12); he now foretells its exaltation in the Church of Christ (Justin Martyr c. Tryphon, § 109). Cp. above Isa. ii. 2, aud Fiisey here. 76 — And people shall floio unto it] A marvellous prediction, which is fulfilled only in the world of grace. There rivers flow upward to hills, the powerful nations of the world flow to Zion which they had despised. The Church of Christ, which went forth from Jerusalem where Chi'ist taught, worked miracles, and suffered, and rose from the dead; and to which He sent the Holy Ghost from Heaven, to enable His Apostles to go forth from Jerusalem to evangelize the World, was at first persecuted by the mighty Kingdoms of this world ; but at length they were converted to Cliristianity, and bowed their necks meekly beneath the Cross. See above, on Isa. ii 2, where the same prophecy is uttered, in order that in the mouth of two witnesses (Micah and Isaiah) this great truth might be esta- blished. Compare also the Vision of Ezekiel (xl. — xlviii.), describing the Catholic Church of Christ growing upward and stretchiug outward from Jerusalem to enfold all nations; which is the full expansion aud development of the prophecy. The Law of the New Dispensation, and the Word of God, which is the Gospel, are here represented as going forth from Zion, and from Jerusalem, the metropolis of the Old Dispen- sation, where the Temple stood, and sacrifices were offered, and to which, at stated periods, the Jews were obliged to go up to worship from all parts of the land. The Gospel took its rise in Zion, in order to show that the Gospel was not set up in opposition to the Law, but grew out of the Law, aud is the fulfilment of it. In the Temple of Jerusalem Christ was presented ; at Jerusalem He preached, worked miracles, died, aud rose again j there the Spirit was poured out by Him when He had ascended into the Heavenly Jerusalem ; there the Apostles were commissioned and enabled to begin to " preach repentance aud remission of sins" to all Nations (Luke xxiv. 47); and thence they went forth with that gracious message into "Juda?a, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth " (Acts i. 8). The living waters of the Gospel, which has gushed forth from the well-spring in Zion, flow in ever-widening streams, to irri- gate and fertihzc the wilderness of heathenism, and to make it blossom as the rose. See Bp. I'earson, Art. ii. pp. 82, 89 ; aud M, Menry here ; and Hettgstenberg. It has beeu supposed by some (Caspari, 444; Delitzsch on Isaiah, ii. 2 ; Sengstenberg, and Keil) that Micah's prophecy was delivered before that of Isaiah ; but see above, on Isa. i. 1, and vi. 1. However (as Focock observes, p, 27), the matter is of little moment. The true Prophets were not like the false Prophets, who stole the word from others (Jer, xxiii. 30), but they were all full of power by the Spirit of the Lord (iii. 8. 2 Pet. i. 21) ; aud what the Holy Spirit had spoken by the mouth of one Prophet, He often repeated by the mouth of another. 3. Me shall judge among many people] Or peoples. Christ shall rule over all nations : " All 'kings shall bow down before Him, all nations shall do Him service " (Ps. ii. 8 ; Ixxii, 8, 11 ; ex, 6) ; " At the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow " (Phil, ii, 10) ; " The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ " (Rev. xi. 15). Christ's Kingdom, MICAH IV. 4—10. His Coming to Zion. And they shall beat their swords into '' plowshares, And their spears into || pruninghooks : Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, " Neither shall they learn war any more. '' ^ But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree ; And none shall make them afraid : For the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. ^ For " all people will walk every one in the name of his god, And ' we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. ^ In that day, saith the Lord, ^ will I assemble her that halteth, "* And I will gather her that is driven out. And her that I have afflicted ; 7 And I will make her that halted ' a remnant, And her that was cast far off a strong nation : And the Lord '' shall reign over them in mount Zion From henceforth, even for ever. ^ And thou, tower of || the flock, The strong hold of the daughter of Zion, Unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion ; The kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. ^ Now why dost thou cry out aloud ? ' Is there no king in thee ? Is thy counseller perished ? For "' pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. '" Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, daughter of Zion, Like a woman in travail : For now shalt thou go forth out of the city. e Jer. 2. U. f Zech. 10. 12. g Ezek. .H. 10. Zeph. 3. 19. h Ps. H7. 2. Ezek. 34. 13. 8s 37.21. k Isa. 9. G. & 24. 23. Dan. 7. 14, 27. Luke 1. 33. • — ■ tJiei/ shall heat their swords into plowshares"] An image derived by inversion from Joel, speaking of times of war (Joel iii. 10). Tliis prophecy began to be fulfilled in tlie peaceful days of the ilrst appearance of the Gospel. The World was in a quiet condition wlien Christ came to visit it. That universal peace was an earacst of the peace in earth and heaven which is the fruit of the Gospel of Christ {S. Ci/ril ; Milton, Ode on the Nativity, stanzas 3, 4, 5). 4. sit every man under his vine] As in the days of Solomon, the peaceable — the type of Christ, the Son of David, the Builder of the true Temple, and the Prince of Peace (1 Kings iv. 25). 5. For all people irill rvalk] All 7iations walk every one in the name of his god ; i. e. though all nations should strengthen themselves in the name, and by the might, of their several gods, and combine against us, we will not fear, but will walk with our one tnie Gody and sliall prevail against them by His Name. 6. In that day, saith the LoKD, will I assemble] Here is a promise of restoration similar to that in ii. 12. — her that halteth] Cp. v. 7. I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast off a strong nation ; and Zeph. iii. 19, I will save her that halteth. She that halteth is the dispersed Israel, lame and worn out, like a fiock by wander- ing, but gathered in Christ. It is suggested that the history of Mephibosheth, the halting son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, is inserted in the Sacred History as being prophetic and typical of the Jewish Nation. See the note above, on 2 Sam. ix. 6. Mephibosheth, who h-alted, was brought to David, and made to sit at his table (2 Sam. Ik. 10). So the Mephibosheth of the Hebrew Nation, wliich now halteth, will be brought to sit at the table of the Divine Son of David, Jesus Christ. 7. the Lord shall reign — in mount Zion^for ever] These words are repeated from Joel iii. 20, 21. Ob.adiah 21. Observe the contrast. On account rff the rebellion of her people, Zion becomes a ploughed field (iii. 12), but through the obedience of Christ, the Lord will reign in it for ever, Cp. Ps. ii. G, " Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Siou," 77 Isa. xxiv. 23, " The Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion." The Church of Christ is the Mount Siou which stands for ever. The Church is called Mount Sion by the Holy Spirit. Heb. xii. 22, " Ye are come unto Mount Sion ;" and Rev. xiv. 1, " Lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father's name written in their foreheads." 8. And thou, tower of the fiock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it (or he) come, even the first dominion] Tliis is fulfilled iu the Messiah (Targum). The strong hold or fortress of Zion , the royal palace and castle of David, the Shepherd and King (cp. Cant. iv. 4. 2 Sam. v. 9. ] Kings ix. 15. 1 Cbron. xii. 1. Sengst., Keil), shall become a sheepfold for the fiock of Him Who is, like David, a King, a Conqueror, and a Shepherd. See below, v. 4, " He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord." Cp. vii. 14, " Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage." To this pastoral fortress the first dominion shall come ; all the primitive glory and majesty of the reign of Solomon and David shall come back to the Throne of David in Christ and His Church (Luke i. 32. Matt. xxi. 4, 5. John xii. 17). Some of the Hebrew Rabbis supposed that this tower of theflnck is the same as that tower of the fiock which was near Bethlehem, and so Pusey, 327, and this deserves notice. See Gen. XXXV. 20. But the scenery of the prophetic description is at Jerusalem (see Focock, 33 ; and Keil here ; and so some Hebrew Rabbis ; cp. .S. Jerome, Tradit. Hebr. in Gen. xxxv.). In a spiritual sense, this prophecy is accomplished in the true Zion, the Church of Christ, the Tower of the Flock (says A Lapide) is the Church of Christ, which had its origin in Jerusalem, and to which all nations are gathered, so as to make one flock and one Sliepherd (John x. 16). 9. Now why dost thou cry out aloud ?] He returns to the nearer vision of sorrow for the approaching misery of Zion. He sees the captivity of her kings (Jehoiachin and Zedekiah), and the confusion of her counsellors. She is represented as in anguish, like a woman in travail. See Hos. xiii. 13. Isa. xU. 14. The captivity at Babylon foretold, MICAH IV. 11 — 13. V. 1. md the future restoration. o Obaa. 12. cb. 7. 10. p Isa. 55. 8. Rom. 11.33. t Isa. 18. 7. & 23. 18. & 60. G, 9. a Zecb. 4. 14. & a Lam. 3. 30. Matt. 5. 39. & 27. 30. And thou shalt dwell iu the field, And thou shalt go even to Babylon ; There shalt thou be dehvered ; There the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. ^^ " Now also many nations are gathered against thee, That say, Let her be defiled. And let our eye ° look upon Zion. '2 But they know not ^ the thoughts of the Lord, Neither understand they his counsel : For he shall gather them "* as the sheaves into the floor. ^^ ' Ai'ise and thi'esh, daughter of Zion : For I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass : And thou shalt ' beat in pieces many people : 'And I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, And their substance unto "the Lord of the whole earth. V. ^ Now gather thyself in troops, daughter of troops : He hath laid siege against us : They shall ^ smite the judge of Israel vnth a rod upon the cheek. 10. ihou shalt go even to JSalylon~\ As Isaiah also, Micah's contemporary, was enabled to foresee and foretell, in the days of Hezekiali, at a time when Assi/ria was the dominant power, and hostile to Judah, and Babylon was of little consideration. See above, the notes on Isa. xxxix. 3—8. Here Wicah also supplies a refutation of that modern sceptical Criticism, which ascribes the latter portion of Isaiah's pi-ophecies to a later author than Isaiah, because they presuppose this captivity at Babylon. See above, on Isa. chap. xl. Prelim. Note. — There shalt thou he delivered; there the LoED shall redeem thee'] Micah also, as well as Isaiah, foretells the return of Judah from Babylon. Compare Isa. xl. 1 — 1; xliv. 26. Like Isaiah also, Micah was enabled by the Holy Spirit to look far beyond the captivity of Judah at Babylon, and beyond Judah's deliverance from it. He was empowered to see that glorious event, of which that deliverance was a type — namely, the deliverance of Judah and the World fi-om the exile and bondage of sin and Satan by the mighty arm of Christ — the divine Cyrus. See above, ii. 12, 13 ; below, v. 3. 11. let our eye looJc upon Zion] Cp. Ps. liv. 7. Restoeation of Iseael in Cheist. 12. 13. he shall gather them as the sheaves into the jloor. Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion] The Heathen Nations shall be like ripe sheaves cast together on the threshing-floor, to be trodden under the hoofs of some powerful horned oxen, drawing the threshing-machine over them, and trampling them under their feet (Deut. xxv. 4 — horns are emblems of strength — Deut. xxxiii. 17. 1 Kings x-Kii. 11. Isa. xxi. 10; xli. 15. Amos vi. 13). See above, on Isa. xli. 15, 16, where similar imagery is used ; and compare the note on Joel iii. 13, 14. This prophecy received a primary and partial fulfilment in the victories of the Maccabees (1 Mace. v. 1,2). But (as iS.Jero:«e observes) its adequate accomplishment is in Christ. It is to be applied to the work of Apostles and Apostolic men. Missionaries of Christ, who are compared by St. Paul to oxen treading out the corn (1 Cor. ix. 9. 1 Tiin. v. 18. Cp. Isa. xxxii. 20). Their worlc is indeed one of bringing the nations into subjec- tion (3 Cor. ii. 14; also x. 5. Eph. vi. 12); but it is in subjection to the Law of Love, in order that the good grain, winnowed from the sheaves on the floor, may be gatliered into the garner of heaven. Cp. note above, on Ps. cxlix. 8. — thou shalt heat in pieces many people] Rather, thoti loilt crush many nations by threshing. 5Iany Nations of the World will rise up against Christ and His Church, but He will enaljlo her to overcome them all. Tffs chaff and stubble will be burut, but not a grain of good corn will be lost ; cp. Ezekiel's prophecy concerning the gathering together of the Anti-Cliristian Powers in the latter days, .and their final overthrow. See above, on Ezekiel, chap, xxxviii. and xxxix. 9. — I icill consecrate their gain unto the Loed] Cp. Isa, xxiii. 18. Zech. xiv. 20. 78 Ch. V. 1. Now gather thyself in troops] Rather, Now shall ifiou be cut in pieces, thcu daughter of troops ; thou, in- vading army {iiot Judah, as some expound the words), shalt in thy turn be cut off, or spoiled, Tulg., Targum, S. Taiichum, Abarbinel, A Lapide, Grotius, and Pocock, pp. 39 — 43. The word here used is from gddad, to cut in pieces ; Gesen. 157; Fuerst, 263; whence Armageddon, the mount of cutting in pieces (see on Rev. xvi. 16 ; and Joel iii. 13) ; and occurs in Deut. xiv. 1. 1 Kings xviii. 28. Cp. Jer. xvi. 6 ; xli. 5 ; xlvii. 5. The sense is the same as in Isaiah (xxxiii. 1), "Woe to thee that spoilest — thou shalt be spoiled." This will be the fate of all the enemies of God and His Church. Cp. Rev. xiii. 10. There is a play on the words between the verb liere used and the noun gad, a troop. Thou, who boastcst of thy multi- tude of troops, wilt be assailed and conquered by an invader iu thy turn, and be cut in jneces, for thy violence against us. Observe also that this translation serves to show the con- nexion of what has gone before with what follows. At the end of the last chapter, Zion, victorious over her enemies, is compared to one who threshes sheaves on a threshing- floor, with a sharp threshing instrument, and cuts them in pieces by it. And now it is said that the daughter of troops — that is, first, Assyria, the spoiler of Israel and the invader of Judah, and next, Babylon, the conqueror of Jerusalem, and the carrier-away of her people captive — will be cut in pieces by this tiireshing. Compare Joel's expression, " Multitudes, multitudes in the valley o{ decision," or o[ cutting in pieces (Joel iii. 11). Next the Prophet Micah passes on to declare Vho it is that gives to Zion this power and victory — namely, Ciieist. — he hath laid siege against us: they shall smile] The Chaldean has besieged us, and has smitten our King, Zede- kiah (2 Kings xxv. 21. Lam. iv. 20); but will be smitten also. Observe the noble contrast which now follows between the mighty Ninevehs aud Babylons of this world, and the lowly Bethlehem. That which is great in the world's sight, is small iu God's eye ; and what is weak in man's sight, is strong by His power. The first shall be last, aud the last first. All the proud Ninevehs and Babylons of this world will be put under the feet of Him ^Vho came forth from obscure Bethlehem. The Deliveeaitce op Zion by Cheist, boen at Beth- lehem: THE RULEE, THE ShEPHEED, THE EvEELAailNa God. The ensuing prophecy of Micah (v. 1 — 5), combined with what goes before and what follows, consummates the witness of the Old Testament concerning Christ, and is the groundwork of His history in the New. It completes the chain of predictions (as Dr. Sales has olKcrved) which appropriate the promised Seed of the Woman to the family of Shera, Abraham, Isiuac, and Jacob, and to the Tribe of Judah, and to the Royal House of Diivid at Bethlehem, where, as here foretold, He is i') be Christ's birth at Bethlehem ; MICAH V. 2. His Eternity. -But thou, '' Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little ■^ thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be 'ruler in Israel ; 'Whose goings forth have been from of old, from f everlasting. CHRIST 710. b Matt. 2. 6. John 7. 42. c 1 Sam. 23. 23. d Exod. 18. 25. e Gen. -13. 10. Isa. 9. 6. f Ps. 90. 2. t Heb. llie dayt of elernily. born. It carefully distiuguishes that Human Nativity from His Divine Generation before the beginning of the World — even from Eternity. Thus it prepares the way for the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke, which he::in with a narrative of tlie wonderful events connected with liis Birth at Bethlehem; and it is also like a prologue to the Gospel of the beloved Disciple St. John, declaring the mystery of His Godhead, and of His Eternal Generation from the Tather. It foretells the dispersion and temporary rejection of the literal Israel, and the gathering in of the Gentiles into the Church by the instrumentality of tlie faithful remnant of Israel (the Apostles, and first preachers of the Gospel, who were Jews), and the final restoration of Israel to God in Christ and His Church. And thus it prepares the way for the preaching of St. Paul and the other Apostles in tlieir Epistles; and it foretells and describes the full and final victory of Christ and His Church, over all the hostile powers of this world ; and tlms it anticipates the Apocalypse. 2. But thou, Seth-Uhem Ephratahl Ov, And thou. On Beth- lehem JSphralah, see Gen. xxxv. It) ; xlviii. 7. Euth iv. 11. Beth-lehem signifies house of bread; Sphratah menus fruitful. Botli were appropriate names for the birthplace of Him Who is the True, the Living, Bread tliat came down from Heaven (John vi. 33 — 35) ; and Whose Birth, and Death, and Resur- rection, are the germiuant seed, and also the gracious nourish- ment, of all the s^mi\ia\fruitfulness of the Saints in this world, and of all their glory, beauty, and felicity in the world to come. — though thou he little among the thousands of Judah'] Or, too small to be reckoned among the thousands of Judah. See Keil and Puseg. The word thousands means families under a leader or head. See Exod. xviii. 21. 35. Num. i. 16 ; X. 36. Deut. i. 15. Judges vi. 15, where the word is rendered family. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, when the wise men came to Jerusalem, saying, " Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" and when Herod asked the Chief Priests and Scribes where Christ should be born, we read that they answered that question by referring to this passage of the Prophet Micab, which is quoted in that Gospel in the following form : — "And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the leait among the princes of Judah." From this quotation we may first gather the important inference, that the Jews in our Lord's age applied this prophecy of Micah to the Messiah ; as the Targum here does. See also John vii. 43, where they say, "Hath not the Scripture said that * Christ Cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" And the Holy Spirit, record- ing the quotation thus interpreted, has set His Divine Seal upon that interpretation as true. This leads us on to the conclusion, that, not only in this passage, but in many other prophecies, Micah is speaking of Christ. Cp. Bp. Andrewes' Sermon on this text, vol. i. 153. It has been objected that theybrm of this quotation does not agree exactly with the original, nor with the Septuagint. Bat, as was before observed with regard to the Septuagint (see on Amos ix. 12), it is rather to be regarded as a Paraphrase than a literal Version ; and it imparts the sense and spirit more clearly ^o its Greek readers, because it is not a literal ver- sion of the Hebrew. So we may say here— the Council of Chief Priests and Scribes (if St. Matthew is giving their exact words), or St. Matthew himself, who was inspired by the Holy Spirit, is doing what the Septuagint had done, and what was familiiir to all Hebrew expounders of Scripture ; he is giving the sense of the Prophet Micah, and is giving it more clearlt/ to his readers, even by deviating in some particulars from the letter, which would have been less intelligible to them. Thus, for example, he calls Bethlehem by the title of Bethlehem in Judah, and not Sphj'atah; and this for a good reason; because the name Ephratah was then obsolete. It was a fact that Beth- lehem was in Judah, and the Evangelist thus reminds us of Jacob's prophecy that Shiloh should come from Judah (see on Gen. xlix. 10), and that the prophecy was now fulfilled in Jesus. Next, he substitutes princes for thousands. This also was a reasonable and judicious paraphrase. He found the word alaphim (thousands) in the original of Micah. But this word, 79 however clear to the Hebrew mind, would not be so to those readers of the Gospel who were not familiar with Hebrew customs and liistory, and it suggested to the Evangelist the similar word alluphim (leaders or rulers), which would convey it to them; for the Hebrew thousand represented a certain organization, with a leader or ruler at its head. See the beginning of this note. Further, whereas Micah says that Bethlehem is little to be among the thousands of Judah, St. Matthew says that Beth- le/iem is not the least among the princes of Judidi. This also is a pai-aphr.ase, and it takes up the latter part of Micah's pro- phecy liere, and makes it act upon the former. As much as to say, that since "out of thee shall He come forth unto Me, that is to be the ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth h.ave been from of old, even froiu everlasting," therefore, though thou, Beth- lehem, art now fallen away from thy pristine grandeur and glory, which thou didst possess in the days of David, and thy very title, " City of David," has passed away from tliee to Jerusalem, and thou hast dwindled down into a small and obscure village, and art therefore little (as Micah says) to be reckoned among the thousands of Judah ; yet, by reason of what Micah also says concerning thee, thou (though thus fallen in the eyes of men, and in the esteem of the world) art not little in the eyes of God, Who will surely keep His promise to David, and Who loves to choose the weak and despised things of tliis world, to confound the mighty and the proud. No; thou art by no means the least ; but, rather, thou art chief among the thousands and the rulers of the thousands of Judah; for out of thee shall come forth to Me (says God) the Euler of all Israel — \\Tiose goings forth, or birth, are from thee, in time, but are from Me in Eternity. Cp. the note of A Lapide here, and Puseg on Daniel, p. 486 ; and for an excellent dissertation on this pas- sage, in which its Christian character is triumphantly vindi- cated against the modern Jews and Unbelievers, see, especially, Hengstenberg, Christology, i. pp. 479—513, EngUsh Trans- lation. In thus dealing with the prophecy of Micah, the Evan- gelist acted in a manner fiimiliar to Hebrew interpreters and expositors of Scripture, and consistently with the rules of sound reason, which does not scrutinize syllables, but endeavours to understand the sense, and to communicate the spirit, of God's Holy Word. On this subject see further below, the note on Matt. ii. 5, 6, and the excellent remarks of Surenhusius, Catallage, pp. 170—188. Lastly, observe how Micab agrees with his contemporary propliet Isaiah. Isaiah, speaking to the despairing King of Judah, Ahaz (when his throne and kingdom were menaced by the confederacy of Israel and Syria), guaranteed to him the stabiUty of both (and the safety of all true believers in every age) by the promise of the birth of the Everlasting King Emmanuel, from the Virgin of the house of David. See on Isa. vii. 1 — 16. So Micah pledges God's word for the protection of Judah .and Jerusalem, and of all fiiithful sons of Zion, from the Assyrian and Babylonian (and from all worldly enemies), by the promise of His Birth at Bethlehem. Isaiah's prophecy de- signates the person from whom He is to be born. Micah names the pilace of His Birth. Both declare His Manhood and Godhead. • — shall he come forth unto Me~} God Himself speaks. The Father is declaring the Incarnation and Birth at Bethlehem, and also the Eternal Generation of the Son. — ruler] Heb. Moshel. A word applied to Joseph as Governor over Egypt (Gen. xlv. 8. 26) ; to Solomon (1 Kings iv. 21) ; and to the JRiiler (the Messiah) promised by God to David (2 Sam. xxiii. 3. 2 Chron. vii. 18). Compare Jer. .XXX. 21, "Their Governor" (Moshel) "shall proceed out of them." Cp. Zech. x. 4. — from everlasting] This is au illustrious testimony to the Divine Generation before all time, of Christ the Eternal Son of God, " God, of the substance of His Father, begotten before .all worlds ;" and also in time (according to what is said that He should come forth of Bethlehem), "made Man of the substance of His mother, and born in the world." Man'ifestly this pro- phecy belongs only to Him (Pocock, 44; and Hengstenberg here). Cp. note on Proverbs viii. 22, 23, where it is said, " I was set ni^ from everlasting," the same word as here; and cp. John i. 1, 2; viii. 58. Christ the divine Shepherd. MICAH V. 3—5. Christ Our Peace. g ch. 4. 10. h ch. 4. 7. II Or, rule. ilsa. 411. 11. 49. 10. Ezek. 34. 23. ch. 7. 14. kPs. 72. "i. Jja. 52. 13, Zecli. 9. 10. Luke 1. 32. 1 Ps. 72. 7. Isa. 9, 6. Zech. !l. 10. Luke 2. 14. Eph. 2. 14. ^ Therefore •«^11 he give thera up, Until the time that ^ she which travaileth hath brought forth : Then ^ the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel ; ^ And he shall stand and (| ' feed in the strength of the Lord, In the majesty of the name of the Lord his God ; And they shall abide : For now "^ shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. ^ And this man ' shall be the peace. When the Assyrian shall come into our land : And when he shall tread in our palaces. Then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, And eight f principal men. The Prophet Micah announces the Birth of the Messiah in human flesh, and His Cominj^: forth from Eternity. This ought not to seem strange to us, when we remember that tlie Messiah is represented by Micah*s coutemporary prophet Isaiah, not only as a Child boru to us, and as a Son given to us, but also as the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, or, rather, the Father of Eternity ; i. e. the Father of the new, regenerate race of man — the Father of the new Creation ; of Whom Eternity is one essential attribute. See Isa. ix. 6. 3. Therefore will he give them vp, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth~\ Because the Messiah will come forth from Bethlehem, the City of David, reduced to low estate, therefore it is appointed by Him Who is God as well as Man, that Israel and Judah should he given itp to captivity and to humiliation, till the time of His Incarnation and Birth from His Mother at Bethlehem, in order that His Divine Power and Love may be shown by raising them from the depths of misery to a glorious elevation in Himself (Cyril, Jerome, Pocock, i:maU, Eitzig, Keil). Here also Micah harmonizes with his brother prophet Isaiah, declaring the Godhead and Manhood of Christ ; and the one Prophet illustrates the other. " Behold, a Virgin " (or rather the Virgin ; the Virgin of the house of David ; the Virgin who is foreseen by the Divine Eye of the Holy Spirit, speaking by Isaiah) ** shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name luunanuel" (God with us) (Isa. vii. 14) ; and this was the proof to Abaz, that though Judah would be brought low, it would never be destroyed. Cp. Pocock, p. AS. — the remnant of his brethren shall rehtml The remnant shall return, as the name Shear-Jashuh (Isaiah's son) declared (see Isa. vii. 3 ; x. 21), and they are called His brethren ; for since He is Man, and of the Seed of Abraham, He " is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Heh. ii. 11, 12); and they shall return xmto Israel, because all will be united in that com- mon name, and be the " Israel of God " (Gal. vi. 16). 4. he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Loud] He shall stand — that is, remain — firm and immovable, in stately dignity, aud royal and judicial majesty ; and having a constant care for His people. He shall feed His floek like a Shepherd, in the strength of the Lord Jehovah ; for He is Son of God as well as Son of David; and is called David by the Prophets; see on Ezek. xxxiv. 23, ** I will set one Shepherd over them, even My Servant David ; He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd." So speaks Micah's contemporary, Isaiah : " Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him. He shM feed Sis floch like a shepherd ; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young" (Isa. xl. 10, 11). Compare our Lord's words (John x. 1 — 12). His flock ranges over all lands, even unto the ends of the earth. Cp. Isa. lii. 10. Ps. ii. 8. All Men are His flock ; all the Earth is His fold. Cp. Caspari here, pp. 232—236. 6. this man shall be the peace, zuhen the Assyrian shall come info our land'] We have seen in the prophecies of Isaiah, that Sennacherib, the proud King of Assyria, blaspheming God, and invading Judah, and threatening Hezekiah and Jerusalem in the days of Micah and Isaiah, was a type and figure of the godless Powers of this world raging against Christ and the spiritual Sion of His Church ; and that the sudden de- struction of the army of Sennacherib beneath the walls of Jerusalem, is a type and prophecy of the future discomfiture, and overthrow of all the enemies of the Church of God. See SO above, on Isa. Ixvi. 24. This view is further displayed by Ezekiel in his prophetic description of the Anti-Christian con- flict of the latter days. See above, on Ezek. xxxviii. 4. 17; xxxix. 2. 11. " The Assyrian is a type of Antichrist" {Pusey). Christ is called the Peace, or Our Peace. The Hebrew word for peace means safety and all its attributes. Christ Him- self explains it. "In Me ye shall have peace; in the world ye shall have tribulation ; but be of good cheer, I have over- come the world " (John xvi. 33 ; xiv. 27). " He is our Peace," says St. Paul (Eph. ii. 14). Cp. Col. iii. 15. "When the Assyrian shall come into our land." The words " the Assyrian " primarily represent Sennacherib coming against Judah ; and this prophecy of Micah suggests the conjecture that the "Angel of the Lord" (a title often given to Christ in the Old Testament; see Gen. xvi. 7; xxii. 11. Exod. iii. 2. Judges vi. 12), who went out and smote the Assyrians at the walls of Jerusalem with that terrible stroke of destruction, in the days of Hezekiah, and brought peace to Jerusalem, was no other than He of Whom Micah is now speaking — namely, Cheist. In a second sense the name " the Assyrian" is a generic term for all the enemies of Christ and His Church. Cp. S. Jerome here, who applies this term to our ghostly enemy, the Evil One — the Adversary of Christ and of His People ; and so Corn, a Lapide and Matthew Henry here ; "These words refer to the deliverance of Hezekiah and bis kingdom from the power of Sennacherib in the type ; but under the shadow of ■that, it is a promise of safety to the Church from the designs and attempts of all the Powers of darkness " (cp. Pusey here). — Then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men] We tvill raise. Here, says S. Jerome, we may recognize a plurality of Persons in the Godhead. — We— the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost — will do this. Cp. Gen. i. 26. In the numbers seven and eig?U used here, and applied to Christian Shepherds, who derive a royal power from Christ, there may perhaps be a reference to the seven and eight princes in Eastern Courts, "who saw the King's face" (see Esther i. 14, and Jer. xxxix. 3) ; and the contrast and antagonism of Christ and His Church to the secular Powers of the World, may perhaps be thus marked. But it must also be remembered that seven is the number of rest and completion, aud eight is the number of resurrection, victory, and glory. See on Gen. ii. 2; xvii. 12. Exod. xii. 15 ; x-xix. 30. 2 Chron. vii. 9, and the notes on Matt. V. 2 ; xxiii. 13 ; xxvii. 52. Luke xxiv. 1. Rev. i. 11; xi. 19, p. 229; xvii. 10, 11, and above, on Ezekiel, p. 280. Compare Eceles. xi. 2 : " Give a portion to seven, and also to eight ;" that is, give largely — let thy work of bounty be complete and overflow. And in Isaiah the seven women who take hold of the skirt of one Man who is a Jew (Isa. iv. 1), represent the sevenfold fulness of the Universal Church (.symbolized by the seven golden Candlesticks in the Apocalypse, Rev. i. 12. 20) laying liold of the One Man, Christ Jesus, by the hand of Faith. This prophecy of Micah, therefore, foretells the raising up of a complete and victorious army of Christ's faithful soldiers, the Apostles and their successors, the principal men in His Church, who will overcome the enemies of the Church by their holiuess of living, their courage in preaching, and by theii" patience in suft'ering and dying. Observe the word rendered principal men. It means anointed, and is so rendered by Symmachus and Oesenius (553). All the grace aud power aud royalty of Christians is from Christ, the Anointed One. "They have an unction from the Holy One " (1 John ii. 20). " Of His fulness have .ill we received, and grace for grace " (John i. 16). Promises to Israel, MICAH V. 6—10. and to the Gentiles. ® Autl they shall f waste the laud of Assyria Avith the sword, Aud the land of "" Nunrod || in the entrances thereof : Thus shall he " deliver m5 from the Assyrian, When he cometli into our land, And when he treadeth within our borders. ^ And ° the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people •■ As a dew from the Lord ; As the showers upon the grass, That tarrieth not for man. Nor waiteth for the sons of men. ^ And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people. As a lion among the beasts of the forest. As a young lion among the flocks of || sheep : Who, if he go through, both treadeth down, aud teareth in pieces, And none can deliver. ^ Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, And all tliine enemies shall be cut off. '^ '' And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, That I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, II Or, ii:i/h l„-r own nahed'Wordi. n Luke 1. 71. 6. ihey shall waste the land of Assyria'] Or it may mean, they shall feed (accoriiing as the word is derived from riidh, to feed, or raa, to break) the land of Assyria with the sword. Cp. Ps. ii. 9. Rev. ii. 7 ; and so Sept., Vulg., and Keil. In the Cluirch of God tlie work of pastoral teaching is always a work of warfare against error. In the escutcheon of the Church the sword is joined with the crook. Cp. above, on Psalm c.\lix. 6 — 9. The more widely the Gospel of Christ spreads itself among the nations of the world, the more bitter will be the spirit of Unbelief and Ungodliness {Keil). The conflict will wax hotter aud hotter, till it is decided by the Coming of the Lord to Judgment. The more fierce the rage of Antichrist, the nearer will be the presence of Christ. — the land of Nimrod] Babylon, the other great enemy of Judah. See Gon. x. 8—11. — in the entrances thereof^ Or, gates. The margin has with her own naked swords. The word in the original, pethacheyah, is from the same root {pathach, to ope7i, to un- sheath) with pethichoth (Ps. Iv. 21), rendered drawn swords, and with pethachim, wliich signifies entrances; "and our Translators" (says Fococh) "being loth to determine, put one into the Text, and the other into the Margin. The Ancient Versions are in fivvour of tlie former; but many Hebrew Rabbis prefer the latter I'endering ;" and in that sense it may be said spiritually, with Pocock, 55, that "by the might and power of Christ, and of such as shall by Him be qualified aud commissioned to spread and maintain His Truth, all that oppose it shall be beaten back with their own weapons " — as Goliath's head was cut off by David with Goliath's own drawn sword. This sentence, they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod, or Babylon, is the clue to the two next succeeding prophetical books — viz. of Nahum and Habbakuk, which foretell the overthrow respectively of the two great worldly powers hostile to God's aucient Church — viz. Assyria and Babylon ; and under the type and figure of them, predict the destruction of the two forms of Antichristianism symbolized by them— viz. Infidelity and Idolatry. See above, on Isa. xiii.. Prelim. Note, p. 38 ; xxi. 11. — Thus shall he deliver !w] Christ's ministers, h\% principal men, will fight valiantly ; but the deliverance will be due to HlM. 7. the remnant of Jacob shall he in the midst of many people (or nations) as a dew from the LoED — men] The faithful remnant of Israel are the Apostles and all those among the Jews who believe in Christ, and preach Christ, God and Man, as revealed by the Prophet Micali, who loves to repeat this word remnant (ii. 12; iv. 7; v. 7, 8; vii. 18). Cp. Isa. i. 9. Rom. ix. 29 ; xi. 14. This declaration is naturally subjoined to the prophecy that the God of Israel will raise up seven shepherds and eight principal Vol. VI. Past II.— 81 men (i. e. a victorious army of believers and preachers) against the enemy {v. 5). The Apostolic Church of Christ, which derives its origin from Zion, is in the midst of the Oentiles among many nations, being diff'used every wliere, and is like a deio from the Lord upon the Nations, and like the shower upon the grass, for the Church receives and dift'uses the dews and showers of the Holy Spirit in the Word and Sacraments of Christ. — That tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men] The Church is not like a cistern supplied with water pumped up by the force of some hydraulic mechanism of human device ; it is not like the irrigation of Egypt, " watered by the foot" (Deut. xi. 10); but it is moistened like Gideon's fleece — the type of the Church (see Judges vi. 39, 40) ; it is saturated with silvery sparkling dew-drops, which distil graciously in abundance from heaven. Cp. above, tlie beautiful imagery in Ps. ex. 3, " Thou hast the dew of thy youth from the womb ef the morning;" and iu Ps. cxxxiii. 3, "Like as the dew of Hermon, that falls on the hill of Zion." In both those pas- sages the congregations of Christian believers are compared to dew. See the notes above, on Ps. ex. 3, and on Ps. cxxxiii. 3, which illustrate this passage, and are illustrated by it. 8. As a lion] The Israel of God being strong in Christ, " the lion of the tribe of Judah " (Rev. v. 5), will be enabled to overcome its spiritual enemies. Cp. 1 Mace. iii. 4. It will be like Dew in gracious benediction, and like a Lion in invincible strength. See 5. Jerome here : and Cn.spari. 251.. 9. Thine hand shall be lifted up] The following prophecy (9—14) is fullilled by Christ, enabling all His faithful soldiers to do valiantly, to fight the good fight, and to overcome their enemies by His might. It reaches to the world's End (Pusey). 10 — 14. / will cut off thy horses— cities] These five verses may best be considered together. Israel had been accustomed to rely on Egypt and Assyria (see on Isa. xxxi. 1. 3; and Hos. xiv. 3) ; but the time will come, when the Church of God will not lean on an arm of flesh for support. The present prophecy declares that God will teach the Church in the latter days to rely solely on His Divine power and love, and not to look to the horses and war-chariots of secular allies (cp. Ps. xx. 7; and Isa. ii. 7 ; and Zech. ix. 10, " I will cut otf the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem "), and not to seek fur refuge in the strongholds of temporal support; and will make her to "dwell safely without walls, and having neither bars nor gates " (Ezek. xxxviii. 11) ; and that He will root out of her that which caused her weakness aud her misery; her witchcraft, sorcery, and idolatry; and will pluck up her groves, or rather her idolatrous wooden pillars, stems of trees (Heb. asherim ; see on Ex6d. xxxiv. 13. Deut. vii. 5. Judges iii. 7; vi. 23. 2 Kings xviii. 4 ; xxi. 3. 7, &c. Isa. xvii. 8 ; xxvii. 9. Jer. xvii. 2) ; and will destroy her cities— so most Ancient Versions. The G Occrthrow of idolatry. MICAH V. U— 15. VI. 1—5. Israel's historn r Isa. 2. 6 s Zech. 13.2 II Or, shilucs. t Isa. 2. 8. II Or, enemie,. u Ps. 149. 7. ver. 8. 2 Thess. 1. 8. aDeut. 32. I. Ps. 50. 1, 4. Isa. I. 2. b Hos. 12. 2. c Isa. 1. 18. & 5. 3, 4. & 43. 26. IIos. 4. 1. e Exod. 12. 51. 14 30. & 20. 2. Deut. 4. 20. Amos 2. 10. f Nil . 5. & 23.7. &24. 10, 11. Deut. 2.1. 4. 5. Josh. 24.9, 10. Rev. 2. 14. g Num. 25. 1. & 33. 49. Josh. 4. 19. & 5. 1 And I will destroy thy chariots : ' ' And I will cut off the cities of thy land, And throw do^soi all thy strong holds : '- And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand ; And thou shalt have no more ' soothsayers : 13 » 'j^i^j graven images also will I cut off, And thy || standing images out of the midst of thee ; And thou shalt ' no more worship the work of thine hands. '^ And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee : So will I destroy thy || cities. '^ And I will "execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, Such as they have not heard. VI. ^ Hear ye now what the Lord saith ; Arise, contend thou || before the mountains. And let the hills hear thy voice. " "Hear ye, mountains, ""the Lord's controversy, And ye strong foundations of the earth : For " the Lord hath a controversy with his people, And he will plead with Israel. ^ my people, "^ what have I done unto thee ? And wherein have I wearied thee ? Testify against me. * ' For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, And redeemed thee out of the house of servants ; And I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. ^ my people, remember now what "^Balak king of Moab consulted, And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him ; From ^ Shittim i;nto (jrilgal ; Targum and our Margiu has thy enemies (the woixl areyca may mean either; Vococlc^Qfy\ Gesen^QbO). The former rendering (cities — i. e. fenced cities) is confirmed by the context and ». 11, and S, Jerome here. It intimates that, when the Church has reached her consummation, she will have no need of fortifi- cations; God will be her defence. She will say, " We have a strong city ; salvation will God appoint for walls and bul- warks " (Isa. xxvi. 1). " The Lord is our King. He will save us " (Isa. xxxiii. 22). " He will be like a wall of fire round her." Cp. Zech. ii. 4. The extermination of idolatry by the good King Hezekiah, putting his faith and trust in God, aud not in any arm of flesh, and his consequent deliverance from the invading army of Sennacherib, and the sudden destruc- tion of that army by the Angel of the Lord — these things were figures and shadows of the last days of the Church. Cp. Caspari, 265. The Church is strong by holiness (cp. Fusei/, 337). Ch. VI.] Here begins the third and last portion of Micah's pro- phecies. It is a hortatory application of what has gone before. God summons His people to hear His Voice, in the presence of all Creation, and He declares in the presence of that great public auditory, that all the miseries of the Hebrew Nation (and of Mankind) are due to their own sins ; and that He is ready to heal them. Tliis passage (v. 6 — vi. 8) is the JIaph- tiXrah to Balaam's history. Num. xxii. 2 — xxv. 9. 1. contend thou'] Stand thou, O Zion, plead with the mountains, which thou hast profaned with idols. 2. Hear ye, mountains'] For similar appeals to the Earth and Heaven, cp. Deut. xxxii. 1. Isa. i. 2. Jer. x.xii. 29. — the Lord hath a controversy] Jehovah condescends to become a litigant with His people; and appeals to the Elements of the Universe, which had witnessed His dealings with them since the Exodus from Egypt, to decide the cause. Cp. Isa. i. 18, "Come, let us reasoii together;" and Hos. iv. 1," The Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land j" 82 and Hos. xii. 2, " The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah." 3. U'herein have I wearied thee ?] I have not wearied thee. No; as He said by Isa. xhii. 23, "X have not cau-sed thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense." Sutf on the other hand, thou hast wearied Me by thy sins, as the same Prophet adds (xliii. 24). Cp. Amos ii, 13, • — Moses, Aaron, Miriam] The Lawgiver to command ; the Priest to atone; the Prophetess to teach, and praise (iod. 5. remember now what Balak M»g of Moah consulted] Remember how Balak the King of Moab united with the elders of Midiau in a desire and design to destroy thee (see the re- ferences in the Margin) ; and how he sent for Balaam, the Seer, from the East, and hired him to curse thee; and how B;Uaam desired to curse thee ; but thy God turned that curse into a Ijlcssmg (Deut. xxiii. 4, 5. Josh. xxiv. 10), and thus showed His love toward thee ; and how, even by the salutary discipline of love, chastising thee for harlotry and idolatry, into which tliou wast allured by Balaam's arts; and also by the destruc- tion of Balaam (Num. xxxi. 8), and by the punishment of the Midianites, He taught thee the wretched consequences of disobe- dience ; and how, by the example of zeal and courage in Phinehas, the sou of Eleazar, aud the benediction pronounced upon him, God showed thee the blessedness of obedience (Num. xxv). — From Shittim unto Oilgal] That is, from the last station in the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness to the first station in Canaan, Gilgal (Num. xxii. 1 ; xxv. 1. Josh. iv. 19), where Israel's reproach was rolled away. These words introduce a new consideration, and 1 have therefore inserted a stop after him ; the former sentences refer to mercies conferred under Moses, Aaron, and Miriam ; but the Prophet now appeals to the miracles of mercy vouchsafed by God to Israel under Joshua, in the passage over Jordan and in the overthrow of Jericho, and the new reception of Israel into covenant with God by circumcision at GilgaL True religion, MICAH VI. 6—14. how distinguished from false. That ye may know '' the righteousness of the Lord. ^ Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, And bow myself before the high God ? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings With calves f of a year old ? '' ' Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, Or with ten thousands of '' rivers of oil ? ' Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my f body /'or the sin of my soul ? ^ He hath "' shewed thee, man, what is good ; And what doth the Lord require of thee, But " to do justly, and to love mercy, and to f walk humbly vrith thy God ? ^ The Lord's voice crieth unto the city. And II the man of wisdom shall see thy name : Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. '" II Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the mcked, And the f scant measure ° that is abominable ? " II Shall I coimt them pure with ^the wicked balances. And with the bag of deceitful weights ? ^^ For the rich men thereof are full of violence. And the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies. And "^ their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. '^ Therefore also will I ' make thee sick in smiting thee, In making thee desolate because of thy sins. '■* ' Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied ; And thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee ; t Ilcb. mijsn/n i Ps. 50. 9. Si 51. 16. Isa. 1. II. k Job 29. 6. 12 Kings 16. 3. St 21.6. &23. 10. Jer. 7.31. &13. 3. Ezett. 23. 37. t Heb. 6c/iy. m Deut. 10. 12. I Sam. 15. 22. Hos. 6. 6. Si 12.6. n Gen. 18. 19. Isa. I. 17. t Heb. humble thyself (0 walk. II Or, Hy name thall see that I Or, Is there yp( unto every man an house of the wicked, ^c. t Heb. measure »/ Amos 8. 5. o Deut. 25. 13—16. Prov. 11. 1. & 20. 10, 23. II Or, Shrill I be pure with, ^c. p Hos. 12. 7. q Jer. 9. 3,5,6,8. rLev. 26. 16. Ps. 107. 17, 18. — That ye may Icnow the righteousness of the Lord] All your history, from your deliverance out of Egypt under Moses, to your entrance into the Promised Land under Joshua, attests the righteousnesses of the Lord, His faithfulness to you, and His love of what is just and holy, and His hatred of sin. 6. Wherewith shall I come before the Loed] The Prophet takes up the word the LoBD (Jehovah) from the foregoing clause, and supposes this question to be put by some persons who have heard of the righteousness of the Lord (the righteous acts of the Lord, in power, justice, and mercj^. Cp. Judges v. 11. 1 Sam. xii. 7), and who profess, hypocritically, to be eager to offer any. ritual sacrifices to Him. Ou this passage, see S. Augustine's two Sermons, Serm. 48,49. It has been thought by some that Micah is supposing this question to be put by Balak when he consulted Balaam, and that the words in reply are what Balaam answered. So Bp. Sutler, in his Sermon on the character of Balaam (Serm. vii. p. 104), who grounds some interesting and instructive inferences on that hypothesis; which is, however, questionable. 7. rivers of Oi7] Cp. Job xx. 17. Oil formed a part of the daily minchah, or meat offering, and was added to burnt oli'er- ings (Num. xv. 1 — 16; xxviii., xxi.!;). — Shall I give my firstborn'] As a later King of Moab did (2 Kings iii. 27'). Cp. Jer. vii. 31. For a reply to Tindal's objection, that by this mention of hamaa sacrifices together with legal rites, Micah appears to sanction them, see Dr. Waterland, Scripture Vindicated, p. 269. 8. ITe hath showed thee — xvhat is good^ As in Deut. x. 12. 1 Sam. XV. 22. Ps. 1. 16, 17. Hos. vi. 6; and see Isa. i. 11 ; Ixvi. 3. Jer. vi. 20 ; yii. 22. Amos v. 22— where God declares that He loathes all sacritiees where faith and obedience are not found in those who offer them. It is observable that the inculcation of moral virtues by the prophets, as of superior and paramount importance, in com- parison with ritual and ceremonial observances, though pre- scribed by the Levitical Law given by God Himself, is generally to be found, as here, in connexion with prophecies which predict 83 the Fall of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the Captivity and dispersion of the Jews into foreign lands, where the observance of the ritual law would be impossible. This was a merciful provision, in order that the Jews might not despond and despair because their City and Temple were in ruins, and they could not come before the Lord with burnt offerings, and boio themselves before the Sigh Ood in His Temple. They could still hold spiritual communion with God; and He comforts them with the assurance that this spiritual communion would be exercised and its power intensified by the withdrawal and destruction of what was material and external ; and that they would be able to serve and please God with what was good, and to render what the Lord required of them — namely, to do justly and lore mercy, and tvalk humbly with their Ood. Cp. Davison on Prophecy (Disc. v. p. 208). 9. The Lord's voice crieth unto the city] The Lord's voice cries by His Prophets, and also by His penal visitations (such as plague, famine, and war — which are His *' sore judg- ments"); and Wisdom shall behold Thy Name; Wisdom will recognize God's glorious attributes in all these manifestations, and will say. Sear ye the Sod, listen to God speaking by these visitations, and consider Who hath appointed it. Cp. Isa. xxvi. 11, " Lord, when Thy hand is lifted up, they will not see ; but they shall see ;" and Jer. ii. 31, " See ye the Word of the Lord." His voice cries in the ears of all (Prov. viii. 1 — 4), but only Wisdom sees His Name. The word here used for Wisdom literally means lohat is (see above on Job v. 12), i. e. is real; all mere worldly knowledge and policy is a vain phantom. See the Sermon on this text, by Dr. Sierce, President of Magdalen College, before the King at Whitehall, a.d. 1665. — iuho hath appointed it] Assyria was called " the rod of God's anger," and " His grounded staff" against Israel (Isa. X. 5 ; XXX. 32). 11. Shall L count them pure with the wicked balances] Rather, Can I be pure with the wicked balance ! That is, if I have it in my hand, can I be guiltless ? 14. thy casting down] " Thy destruction will be in the midst of thee" to stay thee, instead of thy God who was "in the midst of thee " to save thee (Isa. xii. 6. Hos. xii. 6). Israel's woes caused hj sin. MICAH VI. 15, 16. VII. 1 — 6. Pardon in Christ. 710. t Dcut. 23. 38, 39, 4 0. Amos 5. 11. Zeph. 1. 13. Hag. 1.6. D Or, lie doth much keep the, ^c u 1 Kings 16. 25, 26. X Hos. 5. 11. y 1 Kings 16. 30, &c. & 21. 25, 26. 2 Kings 21. 3. z 1 Kings 9. 8. Jer. 19. 8. II Or, astonish- ment. a lS3. 25. 8. Jer. 51. 51. Lam- 5. I. t Heb. the gatherings of alsa. 17. 6. & 24. U. b Isa. 2S. 4. Hos. 9. 10. c Ps. 12.1. & 14. 1, 3. Isa. 57. I. II Or, godly, or, merciful. t Heb. the mischief of his tout. B 2 Sam. 23. 6, 7. Ezek. 2. 6. See Isa. S3. 13. Luke 12. 53. & 21. 16. 2 Tim. 3. 2, 3. And thou slialt take hold, but shalt not deliver ; And that "which thou dehverest will I give up to the sword ; '^ Thou shalt ' sow, but thou shalt not reap ; Thou shalt tread the ohves, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil ; And sweet wiae, but shalt not drink wine. '^ For II the statutes of " Omri are " kept, And all the works of the house of ^ Ahab, And ye walk in their counsels; ~ . . .- That I should make tliee ^ a || desolation, And the inhabitants thereof an hissing : Therefore ye shall bear the ° reproach of my people. VII. ^ Woe is me ! for I am as f when they have gathered the summer fruits. As " the grapegleanings of the vintage : There is no cluster to eat : My soul desired the firstripe fruit. 2 The "^ II good man is perished out of the earth : And there is none upright among men : They all lie in wait for blood ; '' They hunt every man his brother with a net ; ^ That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, ' The prince asketh, ''and the judge asketh for a reward ; And the great man, he uttereth fhis mischievous desire : So they wrap it up. ^ The best of them ^ is a brier : The most upright is sharper than a thom hedge : The day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh ; Now shall be their perplexity. * *■ Trust ye not in a friend. Put ye not confidence in a guide : Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that Ueth in thy bosom. ^ For ' the son dishonoureth the father. The daughter riseth up against her mother, The daughter in law against her mother in law ; A man's enemies are the men of his own house. — thou shalt tal-e hold~\ Rather, thou shalt remove, but not save (see Qesen. 552; and Keil) ; thou shalt remove thy goods in thy flight from the enemy, but shalt not rescue them, or save thyself by flight. 15. Thou shalt soio, hut thou shalt not reap~\ From Levit. xxvi. 25, 26. Deut. x.tviii. 39, 40. 16. the statutes of Oinrl are Jcept — worlcs of the house of Ahab'] Ye rebel against the Lord God, and break His Law, and forget His mercies, to keep the statutes and follow the doings of the worst kings of Israel (1 Kings x\'i. 25. 31, 32. 2 Chron. xxii. 2). Cp. Hos. v. 11, Ye "wUhngly walked after the com- mandment " of Jeroboam. — ye shall hear the reproach of my people] Because ye have oppressed My People, therefore ye, their rulers, shall bear at the hands of the Heathen among whom you will be dispersed, the reproach which they heap on My People. Cp. Ezek. xxxvi. 20. This was fulfilled in King Zedekiah and his sons, and in the princes and nobles of Jerusalem, upon whom the chief weight of suffering and ignominy fell, in the Chaldajan invasion. The Prophet foketells the PEifiTEXiiAL Peayer op THE Jetvish Nation ; and God's promises of mekct, AND PATOUE, and GLORY TO DEE IN ChEIST. Ch. VIL 1. Woe is »ie !] The Prophet speaks in the name 84 of the ancient Church of Israel, and deplores her low estate consequent on her sins. 1. My soul desired the Jlrstripe fruit] I desired the early fruit. I longed for the graces and virtues of primitive times, but I did not find them. Cp. Hos. ix. 10, where Israel in its youthful prime is compared to early fruit; but none is now found in her. God here speaks by the Prophet, and declares His dis- appointment at the unfruitfulness of Israel. So Christ camo to the barren fig-tree, — the symbol of the Jewish Nation. He hungered for fruit, but found nothing there but leaves. See on Matt. xxi. 18, 19. 3. That they may do evil] Rather, For evil both hands are ready /o rfo ;7 roeH (i. e. as if evil were their good); hut to do good the prince asketh for a bribe. — a retimrd] A bribe. — they wrap it up] Or twist it together, to make it strong, as a cart-rope (Isa. v. 18). 4. The day of thy toatchmen] The d,ay of visitation, foretold by thy prophets, who warned thee, as thy watchmen (Ezek. iii. 17 ; xx.\iii. 7), of the coming doom. 5. 6. Trust ye not in a friend] Such is the wickedness of the times, that the nearest friends and relatives cannot repose ,any confidence in each other. Our Lord adopts those words in His description of the latter days of the World (Matt. x. 21. 35, 36; xxiv. 12. Cp. Luke xii. 53; xxi. 16; and 2 Tim. iii. 2). Zion's deliverance. MIC AH VII. 7—14. Christ's Charge to Ilis Church. ' Therefure '' I ^^^ll look uuto the Lord ; I will wait for the God of my salvation : My God will hear me. ^ ' Kejoice not against me, mine enemy : "■ When I fall, I shall arise ; When I sit in darkness, " the Lord shall ha a light imto me. ^ ° I \d\\ bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, Until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me : p He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. '" II Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, And "^ shame shall cover her which said unto me, ' Where is the Lord thy God ? ' Mine eyes shall behold her : Now f shall she be trodden do-mi ' as the mire of the streets. ^^ In the day that thy " walls are to be built, In that day shall the decree be far removed ; '- In that day also "he shall come even to thee from Assyria, II And from the fortified cities, And from the fortress even to the river. And from sea to sea, And/)w« mountain to mountain. -^ jl Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, >' For the fruit of their doings. '■* II Feed thy people with thy rod. The flock of thine heritage. Which dwell solitarily in ^ the wood, in the midst of Carmel : Let' them feed in Bashan and Gilead, I Prov. 24. 1?. Lam. 4. 21. m Ps. 37. 24. Prov. 24. 10. p Ps. 37.G. II Or, /Ind limn Kilt see liei Ihal and cmer her ' Willi shame. q Vs. S5. U. rPs. 42.3, 10. Si 79. 10. K 115 2. Joel 2. 17. iich.4. 11. t Heb. she shnll be for a Ireudi'ig t 2 Sam. 22. 43. Zech. 111. 5. u Amos 9. II, &c. X Isa. II. 16. S: I!). 23, (to. 8i 27. 13. Hos. 11. II. II Or, even to. II Or, Rule, Vs. 29. 9. ch. 5. 4. 8. Ri^joice not against me, O mine enemy~\ Zion warns Baljyloii not to exult over lier ; for Babylon will fall, and Zion will rise again (S. Jerome, M. Solomon). Cp. Jer. 1. 11 ; and Isa. xlvii. 6. The Church of Christ may apply tliese words to the mystical Babylon, — the corrupt and proud Church of Rome, — • which exults in her distresses in these last times. The Jews themselves apply this text to Rome ; and they say that some great blessing will be vouchsafed to Israel, when Rome is lumibled and destroyed. See Fococtc, 86. 88 ; and compare J'itringa on the Apocalypse, 792 ; Mede's WorI;s, 902. And when we consider what hindrances the Roman Church places in the way of the conversion of the Jews to Christianity by her creature-worship and idolatry, and especially Mariolatry and adoration of the Roman Pontilf, to say nothing of her canonization of the Apocrypha, as if it were equal in authority and inspiration to the Hebrew Scriptures of Moses and the Prophets, we cannot doubt that the humiliation of the Roman Papacy is almost a necessary pre-requisite to the conversion of the Jews, and to their reception into the Christian Sion. 11. In the day — luilf] Or, The day (is coming) for the huilding of Thy walls. The day here sjioken of cannot be the day in which the walls of the literal Jerusalem were rebuilt by Nehemiah, with a commission from Artaxerxes ; for what follows was uot fulfilled then. But this prophecy foretells the building up of Zion by the hand of Christ, Who came to Jerusalem, and laid the foundation of His Church there, and sent the Holy Spirit from heaven on the Day of Pentecost to the Apostles, the Master-builders under Him, to build up the walls of tjie spiritual city, so that it might enfold all Nations. See above, on iv. 1, 2. — In that day shall the decree he far removed"] Or rather, be extended and promulgated far and wide. God makes the decree (see Ps. ii. 7, 8, " 1 will declare the decree," — where the same Hebrew word, chok, for decree, is use. 15). In his song of victory, after that glorious deliverance, Moses said, " Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath He cast into the sea" And Miriam said, "Sing ye to the Lord ; for He hath triumphed gloriously : the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea " (Exod. xv. 4. 21). The miraculous mercies of the Exodus, and of the deliver- ance of Israel by the blood of the Paschal Lamb, and by the way opened to them through tlie waves of tlie Red Sea, in wliicli they themselves passed through a wall of waters on their right hand and on their left hand, from out of the land of bondage into the wilderness, on their way to Canaan, being baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea (1 Cor. x. 2), were figurative of the far greater and more miraculous mercies which God bestows on all true Israelites in Christ, Who is the true Passover (1 Cor. v. 7. John xix. 36) ; and of their deliverance from the laud of spiritual bondage; Sin, Satan, and Death, and of the overwhelming of their spiritual cnomies in the Red Sea of the Blood of Christ, through wliich they pass in their Bap- tism (as 2'heodoret here observes), out of the bondage of their ghostly Egypt, and enter on the way of salvation, which leads them on their earthly pilgi-image through the wilderness of this world to the heavenly Canaan of their everlasting rest. See the notes above, on Exod. xii. 7 — 1 5 ; and chap, xiv., Frelim. Note ; and the words of the Church in her Baptismal Oflico (and how much is suggested by those few words !), " Almighty and everlasting God, Who of Thy great mercy didst save Noaii and his family in the Ark from perishing by water, and also didst safely lead the children of Israel Thy people through tho Red Sea, figuring thereby Thg Holy Baptism." Well, therefore, may Micah use these words, when he is foretelling the redemption of Israel by Christ, and the for- giveness of their sins, and the blessings received by them, and communicated by them to all Nations, received into covenant with God by the Sacrament of Baptism, in which the Blood of Christ is applied to the washing away of sins, and to the purchase of His Universal Church (Acts xx. 28). 20. Thou wilt peiform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old} This is fulfilled in Christ, the Promised Seed of Abraham and Jacob, in Whom all Nations are blessed. And, tlierefore, we may sum up all, in the words of Zacharias the Priest of God, when, filled with the Holy Ghost, he prophesied, and said, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in tlie house of His servant David; as Ho spake by the mouth of His holy Prophets, which have been since the world began : tliat we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our forefathers, and to remember His holy covenant ; the oath which He sware to our fiither Abra- ham, that He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our hfe" (Luke i. 68-75). "There is no prophetic denunciation of judgment against Israel," says Aharbinel, " which is not concluded with pro- mises of mercy." This he has shown from Hosea, Joel, Amos, Jeremiah; and Micah's last words declare how greatly God delights in mercy; because they not only give assurances of mercy to the literal Israel, on their repentiince, but to all that shall in Christ, the Promised Seed, lay hold on His promise, made to Abraham, and in him to all the kindreds of the earth ; so that the Gentiles, also, reading this prophecy, cannot but glorify God, and rejoice with His people, and sing unto Hiin that hymu which the Apostle puts into their mouth : " Praiso the Lord, al! ye Gentiles; and laud Him, all ye people" (Rom. XV. 11. Dr. Focoek). N A H U M. ' THE burden " of Nineveh. The book of the ^^sion of Nahnm the El- '' z^i-"- 2- "■ koshite. God is '■jealous, and " the Lord revengeth ; t Exod. 20. 5. 1- 34 14. Dcut. 4. 24. Josli. 24. 19. P Or, Tlie LORD is a jealous God, nttdarevaiger,Sic. Vs.. 94. 1. Isa. 53. 18. The connecting link between the prophecies of Micah, which have preceded, and those of Nahtim and Habakkuk, wbicli now follow, is to be found in llicah v. 6. There that Prophet described the victory of Christ and His Church in these words : — " They shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Simrod (or Babylon) in the entrance thereof. Then shall he deliver us from the Assyrian." See also Micah v. 5, " This man shall be the Peace when the Assyrian shall come into our laud, and when he shall tread in our palaces; then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men." Those prophecies, as the context shows, and all the best Ejcpositors agree, have not only a literal sense, which relates to the deliverance of Judah from Assyria in the days of Hezekiah, and also to the liberation of the People of God from Babylon by the arms of Cyrus ; but they look far beyond those national mercies, and foreshadow the triumph of Christ and of His faithful people, and the overthrow of their enemies. It is a legitimate inference from these prophecies, con- sidered together with those of Isaiah, that the deliverance of the faithful Hezekiah and of the literal Jerusalem from the liaughty and impious power of Sennacherib, the great Assyrian conqueror, and the destruction of his immeuse host before the walls of Jerusalem, by " the Angel of the Lord," was due to the might of Christ, Who is often called by that title in the Old Testament. See above, on E.xod. ill. 2. Judges .\ili. 18. Indeed, the words of Micah — which clearly point to Chi-ist as the destroyer of the Assyrian invaders, whose conquests over Ethiopia and Egypt Micah himself saw, and whose overthrow he, as well as his contemporary prophet, Isaiah, foretold.— bring us irresistibly to this couclusion. Cp. above, on Micah v. 5. They also lead us to regard the Assyrian King in his pride and blasphemy against the Lord, as a type of infidel and god- less Powers which rise up against Christ, and which will be routed and crushed by Him in the last days. This exposition, as we have seen, was accepted by ancient Interpreters, especially S. Jerome. It prepares us for what follows. There are three specific prophecies, which fill up the entire books of three of the Minor Prophets, and are directed against three dlilereut worldly powers, hostile to God and His people ; The iirst is that of Obadiah, directed against Edou — the faithless, treacherous, and cruel foe of Israel their brother. Edom is the type of powers which have some connexion with God's Church by neighbourhood or consanguinity, and who, in spite of this relationship, behave In a heartless manner to her in her distresses — as Edom did to Israel and Judah in the days of their calamitj'. Edom is the type of faithless, insidious, and unbrotherly members of the Church. The second prophecy is that of Nahtjit, against Nineveh, the capital of Assyria — the haughty and savage enemy of Judah. Nineveh is the type of the openly infidel and impious form of Autlchristianism. It is well said by a recent German Expositor, that the Prophet Nalmm saw in Nineveh the representative of the AVorlJly Power opposed to God; and the destruction of Nineveh was a prophetic figure of the future overthrow of all such powers, even to the end of the world (Keil, p. 400). The next is that of Habakkuk, directed against Babylon. Babylon is represented by the Prophets as professing herself very wise, and yet a votary of idols, a victim of gross and debasing superstition (Isa. xlvii. 10). Babylon is the figui-e of 87 the idolatrous form of Anticbristianism, which makes presump- tuous claims to superior intelligence and insight into the mysteries of the unseen world. Cp. what has been said on Isa. xiii.. Prelim. Note. We see these qualities brought to a climax in the Babylon of the Apocalypse, Papal Rome. The proofs of this identity are given by the Editor in another place, in his Notes on the Book of Revelation, and in a separate work, " On Union with Rome ; or, Is the Church of Rome the Babylon of the Apo- calypse ? " We have now arrived at the prophecy of Nahnm. It has been said by some that there is no reference to Christ in this book. But the Holy Spirit, Who spake by the prophets (2 Pet. i. 20, 21), declares by^the Apostles, that " to Him give all the Prophets witness" (Acts ill. 24; x. 43) ; aud that the Spirit of Christ was In the Prophets, and that they uKiuIrcd and searched diligently what that Spirit witnessed when it spake of His suHerings and of the glory that should follow (1 Pet. i. 10). If we accept the interpretation now given, that the Assyrian was overthrown by Christ's power, and that the Assyrian is a type of godless Antichristian powers in these latter days, we "shall see Christ in the prophecies of Nahum, as well as in all other ; aud we may adopt, with some modifi- cations, the language of S. Jerome : " Micah is followed by Nahum, whose name signifies the Consoler. He consoles those of Israel who had been taken captive and dispersed by the Assyrian; he foretells the future downfall of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria; and, in a spiritual sense, he predicts the destruction of all godless Ninevehs in the latter days." And again (in his Epistle to Paullnus), S. Jerome says, " Nahum — the consoler of the woi-ld — rebukes the bloody city (iii. 1), and foretells its destruction, and after that event he exclaims, "Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that pubhsheth peace" (i. 15) — the Christian significance of which prophecy had ah-eady been declared by Isaiah (Iii. 7. Rom. x. 15). The prophecy of Nahum (says S. Jerome in prolog.) is to be understood, not only historically, but figuratively ; and in read- ing it we must vise from the level of the literal sense to the higher altitude of the moral and spiritual. The prophet speaks to us concerning the consummation of all things, and affords consolation to the faithful in the l.ast days, in order that they may despise the pomp and power of this world as mere tran- sitory phantoms aud fleeting shadows, and may prepare them- selves for the Day of Judgment, when the Lord will appear as the Avenger of' His People against all Antichristian As- syrians. So far, then, from its being true that Christ is not to be found in the prophecy of Nahum, rather we may say that He is the principal agent iu it. The date of Nahum's prophecy fidls soon after those of Isaiah and Micah; namely, after the carrying away of the ten tribes of Israel by Assyria (B.C. 721), and after the destruction of the army of Sennacherib at the walls of Jerusalem (about B.C. 712— ntringa, Keil), and before the fall of Nineveh, as to the date of which see on 2 Kings xxlli. 29. Ch. I. 1. The burden] Both the prophecies of Nahum and Habakkuk (which form a pair) are called hurdens, or heavy messages from God, taken >ip by the two Prophets, and delivered to Nineveh and Babylon respectively. By this word (burden) these prophecies are connected with the slindar predictions of Isaiah, which are also called burdens (Isa. xlii.). . — Elkoshite~\ A native of Elkosh in Galilee (S. Jerome). Woes denounced NAHUM I. 3—11. upon NineveJi. Ps. 103. 8. Jonah 4. 2, e Job 9. 4. f Ps. 18. 7, &c. , Hab. 3.5, 11, 12 gPs. lOB. 9. Isa. 50. 2. Matt. 8. 26. i Ps. C8.8. k Judg. 5. S. Ps. S?. 5. Micah 1. 4. 1 2 Pet. 3. 10. m Mai. 3. 2. t Heb. slartd up. o 1 Chr. IC. 34. Ps. 100, 5. Jer. 33. II. Lam. 3. 25. II Or, atrengli. p Ps. 1. 6. 2 Tim. 2. 19. q Dan. 9. 26. & 11. 10, 22, 40. rPs. 2. I. s 1 Sam. 3. 12. t 2 Sam. 23. C, 7. uch. 3. 11. X Mai. 4. I. y 2 Kings 19. 22. 23. t Heb. n eounseller of Belial. The Lord revengeth, and f is furious ; The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, And he reserveth wrath for his enemies. ^ The Lord is '' slow to auger, and " great in power, And will not at all acquit the ivichecl : ' The Lord hath his way in the whirkdud and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of his feet ; ^ ^ He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, And drieth up all the rivers : '' Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, And the flower of Lebanon languisheth. * ' The mountains quake at him, and " the hills melt, And ' the earth is burned at his presence. Yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. ^ Who can stand before his indignation ? And ■" who can f abide in the fierceness of his anger ? " His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by him. ^ ° The Lord is good, a || strong hold in the day of trouble ; And Phe knoweth them that trust in him, ^ "i But with an overrunning flood he will make au utter end of the place thereof, And darkness shall pursue his enemies. " ' What do ye imagine against the Lord ? ' He will make an utter end : Affliction shall not rise up the second time. ^" For while they he folden together ^ as thorns, " And while they are drunken as drunkards, " They shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. '' There is one come out of thee, ^that imagineth evil against the Lord, f A wicked counseller. 3. The LoKD is slow to anger^ and great in fower'] God's mercy even toward Nineveh had been shown in the previous boolc of Jonah, who had even murmured at God's long-sufTeriug. But Nineveh had now relapsed into sin ; and therefore God, Who had sliown His mercy by Jonali, declares His justice by Nalium. Nahum, in the opening of his prophecy against Nineveh, manifestly refers to Jonah's appeal to God in regard to it (Jonah iv. 2). It was for Nahum to exhibit the stricter side of God's deal- ings with that same city. God had shown by Jonah how He forgives on men's repentance. Nahum begins his book by ileclaring in the same form of words as that used by Jonah, that God is long-suffering, but will not spare the guilty. Cp. Fusey on Daniel, p. 309. 4. Bashan — Carmel— Lebanon'] Bashan rich in pastures, Carmel in flowers, Lebanon in cedars, emblems of worldly wealth, glory, and power, languish and fade before God. — Bashan languisheth^ and Carmel] With these words, taken up from the last chapter of the foregoing Prophet, Micah (vii. 14), and from Isaiah (xxxiii. 9), Nahum links on his own prophecy to that of his predecessor. See also i. 3, compared with Jlicah vii. 18. And while the enemies of God and His People are described by Micah at the conclusion of his prophecy, as so humbled by Him, that they will lick the dust (vii. 17), Nahum declares, at the beginning of his prophecy, that such is God's Glory and Majesty, that the " clouds are the dust of His feet " {y. 3). Nahum reminds his readers, in the beginning of his pro- phecy, that though the Assyrians were allowed to overcome the land of Israel, and to come np "to the sides of Lebanon^ and into the forest of his Carmel " (Isa. xxxvii. 24), yet this was done by permission and commission of the God of Israel, to punish His People by "the Assyrian— the rod of His anger" (Isa. X. 5. 12), for their sins. God Himself said, " Hast tbou not heard long ago how I have done it ? " (Isa. xxxvii. 26.) 5. the mountains quake] Repeated from Amos ix. 13, the earth is burned, or heaved up by an earthquake. 6. who can abide] Or rise tip. See Margin. 8. the place thereof] That is, of Nineveh; which occupies the whole scene in the Prophet's eye. See v. 1. 9. Affliction shall not rise up the second time] It will despatch Nineveh at one blow ; it had been warned by Jonah. 10. while they ho folden together as thorns] Or, though thetf be twisted and matted together as thorns; so as to appear impenetrable, and present to the enemy a front bristling willi briars. Compare 2 Sam. xxiii. 6, 7, " The sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns; the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron ;" and Isa. ix. 18. Micah vii. 4, " The best of them is as a briar, the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge ;" yet God will consume them. — while theg are drunken] The kings and nobles of As.=;yria, such as Sardanapalus (or Saracus) and his courtiers, were proverbial for their habits of intemperance and revelry. Diodorus Siculus (ii. 26) says that Nineveh was taken (under Sardanapalus) when the king and nobles were carousing in a drunken revel. The official name of Rabshaheh, the principal emissary of the King of Assyria, signifies chief cup-bearer (2 Kings xviii. 17). 11. There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the Lohd] Here is a reference to Sennacherib and his blas- phemous message, delivered hy Rabshakeh (2 Kings xviii. 22, 23. Isa. xxxvi. 14—20. Theodoret). IVoe to Assyria. NAHUM I. 12—15. II. 1. Hfstoration to Jiuhh. '- Tims saitli the Lord ; II Tliougli //;('// he quiet, auJ likewise man}', Yet thus ^ shall they be f cut dowu, when he shall "2^ass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. '^ For now will I ''break his yoke from off thee, And will burst thy bonds in sunder. '•* And the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee, That no more of thy name be sown : Out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image And the molten image : ''I will make thy grave ; for thou art vile. '■^ Behold "^ upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. That publisheth peace ! Judah, f keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows : For f " the wicked shall no more pass through thee ; ' He is utterly cut off. 11. ^ II He " that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face : at peacp, kh should they have been mnjitf, nii'l to ihfjuld llini have been s/tnn, and he $lii,uld have passed tiitinj. Z2 Kings 13, 3S, 37. » Hel). »'ior>l. c 2 Kings 10.37. <1 Isa. 52. 7. noni. 10 15. disperser, or, hammc. a Jer. 50. 23. 12. Though they be quief^ Though they be uninjured and unimpaired in strength, yet they shall be cut down when they pass through ; that is, when they imagine that they will pass through the land of Judah, in an easy march and resistless career of victory. Such was the imagination of Sennacherib, marching in triumph from the conquest of Egypt and Ethiopia, and coming back from his southern campaign of victory to Jerusalem. But bis vast host was to be swept away there in a single right. See above, the notes on Isa. xx. 3 ; and xxxvii. 36 ; and compare the magnificent description of the sudden mowing down of Assyria's glory and power, in Isa. xvii. 12 — 14. — Though I have afflicted thee'] God afflicted Judah by the Assyrians — the rod of His anger — for their sins (Isa. x. 5 — 12), when Sennacherib took all their fenced cities and caused a terrible panic there. See Isa. x. 28—32, and the notes there; and Isa. xxxvi. 1. Hezekiah's heart failed him, he cut oft' the gold from the Lord's house, as a bribe to the Assyrian ; and he said to him " That which thou puttest on me I will bear" (2 Kings xviii. 14). But this was of no avail. The threats of Sen- nacherib were repeated. God called Hezekiah to repentance by the Prophet Micab (Jer. xxvi. 18, 19), and then He encouraged him by Isaiah. Hezekiah sought the help of God by repent- ance and prayer, and he was saved, and his foes slain. 14. thee] Assyrian : the gender is changed in the Hebrew. — I will make thy grave] This \^'as fulfilled iu the murder of Sennacherib, in the house of Nisroch his god, by the hand of his own sons (2 Kings xix. 37). See also Isa. xxxvii. 38. The Targum and Syriac Version render this, I toill make there ihy grave, or, I will make thy idol thy grave; and so the Wasoretic punctuation would lead us to understand the words. This interpretation has been accepted by S. Jerome, Montanus, A Lapide, Junius, Tremellius, Drusius, and others. "I will pollute thy idols by a dead body " (see 2 Kings xxiii. 20 ; cp. Ezek. vi. 5), " and that body will be thine own." The deliveeance and jot oe Judah, toe the ovee- TnEow OF Sennacherib and Nineveh ; the deliver- ance AND JOY OF THE ChUKCH FOE THE VICIOKX OF Christ. 15. Behold upon the mountains the feet] Like beacon-fires on the hills, telling glad t'dings. These words, taken up from Isaiah proclaiming the Advent of Clirist (Isa. lii, 7 ; cp. xl. 9 ; cp. St. Paul's exposition of them, Rom. x. 15) are used by Nahum in a double sense ; first, to describe the joy produced iu Judah by the tidings of the destruction of Sennacherib, and afterwards of Nineveh, and Judah's consequent; deliverance from its Assyrian enemies. But beyond the horizon of this first sense, the Prophet sees into the far-oft' future, when he utters these words. The Holy Spirit, Who speaks in Nahum, and illumines his mind with divine light, reveals here the glad tidings which were brought to the Church of God by the news of Christ's Resurrection and Victory over her ghostly enemies, Satan, Sin, and the Grave ; and foretells her future joy at her deliverance from the hostile Powers which will rise up against her in tlie latter days. — Judah, keep thy solemn feasts] Keep the feasts which were interrupted for three years by the occupation of Judnh by the Assyrian invader, and by the alarm of his approach prevent- ing the iuhabitants from going up to Jerusalem. Keep them now that thine euemy is no more; keep them with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord thy Redeemer. Now that Christ has conquered our enemies, Satan, Sin, Death, and the Grave, the solemn feasts of Judah are kept under the Gospel, not in the shadow, but in the substance. We keep the feast of Passover at Easter. As tlie Apostle says, " Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us : therefore let us keep the feast " (1 Cor. v. 7). We keep the solemn feast of Pentecost when we celebrate the Coming of the Holy Ghost at Whitsuntide. We keep the solemn feast of Tabernacles when we commemorate, in the season of Adveut and at Christmas, the tabernacling of the Son of God in our flesh. Well, therefore, might 5. Augustine observe (I)e Civ. Dei, vii. 31), referring to this passage of Nahum, that " these words are said to the faithful of Judah, wlio belong to tlie New Testa- ment, whose solemn feasts cau never be superannuated and pass away, but are ever fresh as long as the world lasts." In Holy Baptism we have a Spiritual Circumcision ; in the Holy Commuiiion we feed on the true Paschal Lamb— "the Lamb of God which taketh away the siu of the World." — the wicked sJiall no more pass through thee] The wicked (Hebr. Lelial) shall no more pass through tliee. Nahum uses the word by wliieh Isaiuli describes the Assyrian army passing through Judah (Isa. viii. 8; xxviii. 15). St. Paul adopts the word Belial, here used, and asks, "What concord has Christ with Belial?" (2 Cor. vi. 15) and leads us to recognize here a figure of Christ's enemies. " These words of rejoicing " (says (S. Jerome) " may be ad- dressed to the Church of Christ. Thine enemy is utterly cut otf, Christ has come to thee. He Wlio formed thee from the dust. He Who, after His Resurrection, breathed into the face of His Apostles, and said to them, ' Receive ye the Holy Ghost ' (.lohn xx. 22), He it is. Who delivers thee from the enemy, who will uo more pass through thee. Nineveh is destroyed. Tlie World will pass away. Trouble and soitow will pass away." 'rhcse words may be applied also to every faithful soul which is delivered from the yoke of the Evil One. Cp. V. 13 ; and so S. Cyril and Theodoret. Ch. II. 1. Se that dasheth in pieces] Rather, the scatterer. The prophet now turns to Nineveh, and announces her destruction. This was fulfilled by the combined forces of the Medes under Cyaxares, and of the Eabyloniuns, probably under Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar (llerod. i. lOG). In the Book of Tobit (xiv. 15) that action is ascribed to Nabuelio- doDosor and Assuerus (Cyaxares). Cp. Viod. Sic. ii. 24 — 28, Prophetic description NAHUM 11. 2—7. of the siege of Nineveh, Before CHRIST 713. b Jer. 51. 11, 12. ch. 3, 14. cisa. 10. 12. Jer. 25. 20. II Or, Ihe pride of Jacob as the i>ride A I's. 80. 12. Hos. 10. 1. e l3a. 63. 2, 3. II Ol.dyedscarlet. U Or, fi^y torches. 1 Neh. Ihcir shou II Or, mollm. II Or, thai which '' Keep the munition, watch the way, Make thij loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. - " For the Lord hath turned away || the excellency of Jacob, As the excellency of Israel : For ** the emptiers have emptied them out, And marred their vine branches. ^ The shield of his mighty men is made * red, The vahant men are \\ in scarlet : The chariots shall he with || flaming torches in the day of his preparation, And the fir trees shall be terribly shaken. ^ The chariots shall rage in the streets. They shall justle one against another in the broad ways : f They shall seem like torches. They shall" run like the lightnings. ^ He shall recount his || worthies : They shall stumble in their walk ; They shall make haste to the wall thereof. And the f defence shall be prepared. ^ The gates of the rivers shall be opened. And the palace shall be || dissolved. '^ And II Huzzab shall be || led away captive, She shall be brought up. And her maids shall lead Jicr as with the voice of ' doves, tabering upon their breasts. wliose nnrrative is derived from the Assyrian history of Ctesias. (see Ctedce Reliquiae, pp. 426—440, ed. Baelir. Franlif. 1824) Josephus, Ant. x. 22 ; and x. 5. 1. Cp. Up. Newton on the Prophecies, Dissertation IX. ; Marcus v. Niebuhr, pp. 39. 200, 466, who assigns the date B.C. 605 to tliat event. Idelei; Handbuch, i. 206, places it in B.C. 610. See also Bunker, Geschichte, i. 316 ; Keil on the Lesser Prophets, pp. 306—400; and Saiolinson, Ane. Monarchies, ii. 520; iii. 188 — 195. The prophecy expands from Nineveh's fall to that of Antichrist. 2. Fur the Loud liath turned away tlie excelleney of Jacob^ Rather, the Lord restoreth the excellency of Jacob (Taryum, Vuly., Syriac, Kleinert). • — the .emptiers] Spoilers; i. e. the Assyrians. — marred~\ Destroyed. — their vine branches'] The branches of the Vineyard of the Lord. Cp. Isa. v. 1. Therefore the Lord interferes to restore them. 3. The shield of his mighty men is made red] The shield of the Lord's mighty men (those sent by Him. against Nineveh, the Medes and Babylonians) is made red with vermilion, to inspire terrors (Drusius). — scarlet] 'The Oriental military cloak {sagum). The Pro- phet is describing the dress of the Median and Babylonian cap- tains coining against Nineveh ( Orotius, Kleinert). — Jlaming torches] Or flashings, as of steel (Fuerst, 1191). — his preparation] Or, his equipment, that is, of the Lord's army. — fr frees] Cypresses; i.e. the spears, made of cypress wood, shall be brandished terribly by tliy foes. 4. They shall seem like torches] The chariots of the Assyrians, as seen in the nioninnents of Nineveh, blaze with shining ^veapons, and the horses are caparisoned with red, and the poles are bright with metallic snns and moons ; the charioteers riding in them would also be bright in splendid armour, so that in their rapid motion they would have the appearance of flames and flashes of lightning (Strauss, Kleinert, Layard). See the engravings in Mawlinson, i. 291. 368. 429; ii. 2. 8. 11. 13, who observes (iii. 438) that the Babylonian chariots resembled the Assyrian. Cp. Hab. i. 7, 8. Jer. iv. 13. 6. lie shall recount his worthies : they shall stumble in their walk] The King of Assyria will muster his mighty men ; but they will be panic-stricken, and wiU totter and stumble 90 in their march, perhaps also reeling through intemperance. Sea on i. 10. — the defence shall be prepared] The moveable tower, covered over for the protection of the soldiers working the catapult, for the projection of the missiles against the besieger. Cp. Sawlinson, ii. 78 — 83, where is a description of the covered towers, and battering-rams, and balistje, used by the Assyrians in ofi'ensive wai'fare. Doubtless they had similar engines for defence. 6. The gates of the rivers shall be opened] The gates or sluices of the canals shall be opened by the enemy to let in a flood of water, in order to inundate the city (Diod. Sic. ii. 25 — 58 ; Vatablus. Cp. EaioUnson, iii. 191 — 193). On the fortifications of Nineveh, by means of its walls; and also by its water, canals, and moats, from the Khosruj, which flows into the Tigris from the north-east, see Layard, Nineveh, p. 660; jRatvlinson, i. 325 ; and the plan there, p. 316. " There was an ancient prophecy," says Diodorus (ii. 26), " that Nineveh should never be taken till its river became an enemy to the city." It is a singular fiict, that the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, which were the causes of the wealth and power of Nineveh and Babylon, and in which they trusted and exulted as their strength and glory, were turned into means for their destruction. So it will be with all worldly Ninevehs and Babylons, which rely on themselves, and resist God. The rivers of strength and wealth in which they trust, and of which they boast, will become the instruments of their destruction. — the palace shall be dissolved] By the inundation. Com- pare Diod. Sic. ii. 27, who says that the city was overwhelmed by the bursting-in of the Tigris. 7. Huzzab shall be led away captive] Huzzab is a symbolical name for Nineveh, as Sheshach, Pekod, and Merathaim were for Babylon (see above, on Jer. xxv. 26 ; 1. 21 ; Ii. 41. Ezek. xxiii. 23), and was formed or adopted by Nahum for the purpose of describing its character. Huzzab means established, set firm (Gen. xxviii. 12), and confident in its strength ; from natsab, to set, to fix (Fuerst, 913 ; Gesen. 560 ; A Lapide here). The sense is, that Nineveh, which seemed to be strongly rooted as a fortress on a rock, will bo shaken, dismantled, and laid bare, and be stripped of its strength, and be brought up, or be torn vp, and carried away captive. — her maids shall lead herj Rather, her maids shall be Prophetic description NAHUM 11. 8— 13. III. 1—3. of the tahimj of Nineveh. ^ But Nineveh is \\ of old like a pool of water : Yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall theij cry ; but none shall || look back. ^ Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold : II For there is none end of the store and gloiy out of all the f pleasant furniture. '° She is empty, and void, and waste : And the « heart melteth, and '' the knees smite together, ' And much pain is in all loins, And ^ the faces of them all gather blackness. " Where is the dwelling of ' the Hons, And the feeding place of the j^ouug lions. Where the lion, even the old lion, walked, And the lion's whelp, and none made them afi'aid ? '^ The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, And strangled for his lionesses, And filled his holes with prey. And his dens with ravin. '^ "" Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, And I will burn her chaiiots in the smoke, And the sword shall devour thy young lions : And I will cut off thy prey from the earth, And the voice of " thy messengers shall no more be heard. III. ' Woe to the f ^ bloody city ! it is all full of lies and robbery ; The prey departeth not ; - The noise of a whip, and ""the noise of the rattling of the wheels. And of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots. ^ The horseman lifteth up both f the bright sword and the glittering spear : Before CHRIST about 713. II Or, from the dtitjt that j//t^ hath been. II Or, caute them /" /urn. II Or. ««,/ their iufiiMe store, ^c. ■I Hob veudiof destre. m Ezek. 29. 3. 33. 3. Sr 39. ]. ch. 3. S. n 2 Kings IS. 17, 19. & 19.9, 23. t Heh. city of blonds. a Ezek. 22. 2, 3. & 24. 6, 9. Hab. 2. 12. b Jer. 47. 3. \ Ileb. l!„-fl,im of III,- swurd. a,, the tiyhtnilly of the spea tnd sighing or sobbing {Oesen. 536 ; Fiiersf, 909), cooing sadly, like doves (cp. Isa. xx.sviii. 14; lix. 11), tabering, i.e. smiting with their beaks on their breasts as upou timbrels (Ps. Ixviii. 25), and thence producing a dirge-like sound. Cp. Luke xviii. 13 ; xxiii. 27, ou the action of beating the breast in lamenta- tion. Nineveh is compared to a Queen : her people and allies are like her handmaidens, who mourn with her and for her. 8. But Nineveh is of old like a pool of ivater~\ Kather, And Nineveh has been like a pool (Heb. berecah, whence Spanish Alberca, through the Arabic) or reservoir of water all her dags. The words ^ooZ of water are not here used in a bad sense, but in a good. The word bericah is applied to the pool of Silcjam, and of Gihon, and other royal pools at Jerusalem. See Neh. ii. 11; iii. 15. Eccl. ii. 6. Isa. vii. 3; xxii. 9. 11 ; xxxvi. 2, which, especially in hot and dry countries, were of great beauty and value. The sense is, that Niueveh has been all her days a fair and richly-adorned reservoir, to which streams of many nations have flowed in commercial relations with her, and in tributary subjection to her (as /S. Jerome well says : " Ninive tantos nutrierat populos, ut piscinarum aquis compararetur." Cp. Rawlinson, ii. 179 — 183, on the extensive commerce of Nineveh); but now they sAa// _^ee (like water flowing away), and shall not listen to her cry for succour, " Stand ye ;" and she shall be left like a dry and broken cistern. In a somewhat similar manner the mystical Babylon is said in the Apocalypse to sit on mang waters, which are peoples, multitudes, and nations (Rev. xvii. 1. 15) ; but they will all fail her in the hour of her distress (Rev. xviii. 10). 9. Take ye the spoiV] This is said to the Babylonian invaders of Nineveh (8. Jerome). 10. the faces of them all gather blackness'\ Words adopted from Joel ii. 6. Cp. Jer. xxz. 6. 91 12. Tlie lion'] An Assyrian emblem of strength, and even of divinity, as seen in the Assyrian monuments. See Rawlinson, i. 173. The Man-Lion (there figured from Layard) was the emblem of Nergal, the Assyrian war-god. The Lion was, in the language of prophecy, the fittest amongst animals to symbolize Assyria. The favourite national emblem— the Lion — was a true type of the people; blood and ravin are their characteristics in the mind of the Hebrew pro- phet {Rawlinson, i. 308). S. Jerome interprets this in a figurative, as well as a literal sense, and says that "Leo Diabolus est" (1 Pet. v. 8), "et catulus Leonis, Antichristus.*' 13. Behold, I am against thee] Words repeated in iii. 5, and adopted by Ezekiul, and applied to Egypt (xxix. 3) and to Gog (x.\xix. 1). Cn. III. 1. Woe to the bloody city] Literally, the city of bloods. The savage temper, and sanguinary acts of Nineveh are recorded in her own history, written by herself, and still preserved in the cuneiform inscriptions recently discovered there. See some extracts from them above, in the notes on 2 Kings xvii. 4. 24; xix. 37, where Sargon, King of Assyria, father of Sennacherib, says, " I have ground to powder the nations, and have displayed the signs of my dominion to the four elements ;" and see, especially, the notes on 2 Chrou. xxi. 1 ; and on Isa. x. 28 — 32 ; and xviii. 1. 2. The noise of a tvhip] The Prophet passes on to foretell the attack upon Nineveh by the confederate forces of the Jledes and Babylonians ; he hears the cracking of the whips of their charioteers, and the rattling of the wheels) and the horses rushing to battle, and the chariots bounding over the plain ; and describes them with the vivid energy of poetic imagination. 3. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword] The rider Kincvih aIuiU he NAHUM III. 4—10. like Egyptian Thchcs. H.-f.'re CH RIST about 713. lUv. 18. 2, 3. Jcr. 13.22, 26. Ezek. 16. 37. Micah I. II. f ilab. 2. 16. t Hcb. No Amoi 111 Jir. 46. 2.1, -tu Ezck. 30. 14—16 1 ir.b. in Ihy And there is a multitude of slaiu, and a great number of carcases ; And there is none end of their corpses ; they stumble upon their corpses ^ Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, " The mistress of witchcrafts, That selleth nations through her whoredoms. And families through her witchcrafts; ^ ''Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts ; And ^ I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, ' And I will shew the nations thy nakedness, And the kingdoms thy shame. ^ And I will cast abominable filth upon thee. And ^ make thee vile, and will set thee as ^ a gazingstock. ^ And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee ' shall flee thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste : "^ who will bemoan her ? Whence shall I seek comforters for thee ? ^ ' Art thou better than || f populous "" No, That was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it. Whose rampart teas the sea, and her wall was from the sea ? ^ Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite ; Put and Lubim were f thy helpers. '" Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity : from maling lil.s liorsc3 to mount upwards (to the WiiU of the city), anil ihejiame of the sword and the flashing of the spear. 4. Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well- favoured harlot] Nineveh professed love for other nations, and sugi^ested to them that what she was doing wa.^ for their benefit, and was done in affection for them ; and she allured and inveigled them by her crafty blandishments, as by magical arts, for her own benefit. Cp. Isa. xxiii. 17, where the same lan- guage is applied to the great commercial city. Tyre {Abarbinel, Mirhaelis, 31. Henry, Hengst.. Keil). We have a specimen of this wily craftiness in Rabshakeh'a speech to llie Jews, in which he attempted to cajole and seduce them from their allegiance to Hezekiah, by promises of temporal advantage to themselves (Isa. xxxvi. 16, 17). The whoredoms of Nineveh (as Keil justly remarks) are represented in this prophecy in that character, and not in the form of seduction to idolatrous worship; she is the emblem of godless, impious, and cruel worldly policy and power — in a word, of infidel Antichristianism. And in this respect she is distinguished from Babylon, the idolatrous form of seduction, and of rebellion against God, See Habak. ii. 18 — 20. One of the worst features in the character of the Assyrians was their treachery. See v. 1 ; and Isa. xxxiii. 1. They were notorious as covenant-breakers [Rawlinson, i. 305). — selleth nations'] Enslaves them. It was the policy of Assyria, after the capture of cities, to sell their inhabitants into slavery. See the Assyrian inscriptions specified above, on v. 1. In one of these (quoted in the notes on 2 Chron. xxxii. 1), Sennacherib boasts that he carried away more than 200,000 captives, old and young, male and female, from cities of Judah in the days of Hezekiah. Upon the Assyrian bas-reliefs still preserved, are long files of men bearing their booty out of the captured towns ; and carts laden with spoil, succeeded by long trains of captives ; their hands manacled before, or behind their backs, and fetters attached to their feet, and even rings passed through their lips. And in this abject guise they are brought into the presence of the Assyrian King. On some be proudly places his feet; some he jiardons; a few he orders for execution; many he sentences to be carried into slavery. See Rawlinson, ii. 86, 87. On tlie cruel modes of execution practised by the Assyrians, see ibid. pp. 87, 88. 7. Whence shall I seek comforters for thee] Nahum the rrojihet, whose name signifies consoler, was raised up by God to comfort Israel and Judah with this prophecy concerning the overthrow of Nineveh, and the destruction of their Assyrian 92 enemy, and their own deliverance from him ; but there was no comfort for Assyria herself. In a spiritual sense this may be applied to the Church and the World. The Church has the divine promise of the per- petual presence of the Comforter (see John xiv. 16) ; but wliere will hereafter be any comfort to the worldly Ninevehs and their mighty men, who rebel against God and persecute His Church ? They will cry, and cry in vain, to the hills to cover them. 8. Art thou better than populous No ?] Rather, Art thou letter than No-Amon ? that is, than the Egyptian Thebes, the great city of Upper Egypt, which was called No-Amon — i. e. the dwelling-place or portion of the Egyptian god Amon ; and called by the Egyptians P-amun, the house or temple of Amun, who was worshipped there {Herod., i. 182 ; ii. 42. Diod. Sic., i. 45). It is mentioned by Jeremiah xlvi. 25; and Ezek. xxx. 14 — 16. See the notes there. — situate among the rivers] Thebes was built on both sides of the Nile (Strabo, XTii. p. 816; Roole, in Smith, B. U. ii. 676). — WTiose rampart was the sea] The Nile. See Isa. xviii. 2 ; xix. 5. Tlie Nile is still called a sea {bahr) by the Arabs; and when it overflows it is very like a sea. 9. Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength] See above, on Isa. xviii. — xx., where these two countries are represented as combined against Assyria, and conquered by it. — Put] In Northern Africa, stretching to Mauritania. See on Gen. x. 6 ; and Ezek. xxvii. 10. — Lubim] Libyans. See on Gen. x. 13. — thy helpers] He addresses No-Amon, or Thebes. 10. Yet was she carried aivay] Egypt and Ethiopia also were overrun by Assyria herself; and many of the inhabitants of their cities were carried captive by the Assyrian conqueror Sen- nacherib ; and he returned in triumph from his victorious cam- paign in those countries, and expected to take Jerusalem as an easy prey; but his career was checked there, and his army was destroyed in one night by the Angel of the Lord. These facts may be gathered from the eighteenth, twentieth, and twenty-seventh chapters of Isaiah, and from the Assyrian inscriptions recently discovered, and quoted in the notes on those chapters. Cp. Raiclinson, kac. Hon., ii. 416; Oppert, Inscr. des Sargonides, p. 27. Isaiah himself was commanded to symbolize prophetically in his own person this captivity of Egyptians and Ethio]iians, whose King Tirhakah came forth to resist Sennacherib (Isa. xxxvii. 9). See Isa. xx. '6, "The Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years, for a sign [ Pwpheaj of Nineveh's doom, NAHUM III. 11—18. and of the Kiiuj of Assyria. "Her young children also were dashed in pieces °at the top of all the streets : And they ^ cast lots for her honourahle men, And all her great men were hoimd in chains. " Thou also shalt be '^ drunken : Thou shalt be hid, Thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy. '■- All thy strong holds shall he like ' fig trees with the firstripc figs : If they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater. ^■^ Behold, ' thy people in the midst of thee are women : The gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies : The fire shall devour thy ' bars. '■' Draw thee waters for the siege, " Fortify thy strong holds : Go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln. '-' There shall the fire devour thee ; The sword shall cut thee off. It shall eat thee up like " the cankerworm : Make thyself many as the cankerworm. Make thyself many as the locusts. "'" Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven : The cankerworm || spoileth, and fleetli away. ''' ^ Thy crowned are as the locusts. And thy captains as the great grasshoppers, Which camp in the hedges in the cold day, But when the sun ariseth they flee away, And their place is not kno-^vn where they are. 18 I ijij^y shepherds slumber, " king of Assyria : Thy II nobles shall dwell in the dust : 'lU. n Pa. 137. 3. I>a. 13. 16. Has. 13. 16. o Lam. 2. 19. II Joel 3 3. Obad. II. q Jer. 25. 17, 27 ch. I. 10. n Or, spreadeth hiiindf. y Rev. 9, ?. z Ex. IS. 16. Ps. 76. 6. a Jer. 50. 18. Ezek. 31.3, Jtc II Or, valiant and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia, so sliall tbe king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt" (Isa. xx. 3, 4). Nahum here foretells the wonderful result, that the great Empire of Assyria, which a short time before the delivery of this prophecy had sent forth from Nineveh her mighty armies to overrun Egypt and conquer Thebes, will herself be spoiled by the invaders, and that Nineveh, her capital, be levelled with the dust. And so it came to pass. 11. Thou also shalt be drunTcen] From the cup of God's wrath (Jer. xxv. 17. 27. Obad. 16). As thou hast cruelly treated the Egyptians and Ethiopians, so wilt thou be treated by the Babylonians and Jledes in return. — Thou shalt he hid'] Thou, who wast once so glorious, shalt be plunged in gloom. What a contrast between this description of Nineveh's fall and shame, and the vain-glorious boasting of Sennacherib, who marched forth from her gates to overrun Judah, Ethiopia, and Egypt, and conquered the two latter great nations, and then sent his messengers and his letters to vauut his owu invincibility and to blaspheme the living God ! (Isa. xxxvi., xxxvii). So will it be hereafter witli all Ninevehs — that is, with all the proud and infidel Powers of this World, which now glory in their might, and boast their owu prowess, and vent words oi defiance against the Most High, and oppress His Cliurch. 14. Draw thee waters for the siege] O Nineveh, make preparations for filling thy cisterns, to provide thyself with water to drink during the siege ; as Hezekiah did when thou didst besiege Jerusalem. Cp. ou Isa. xxxvi. 2. 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, i: 30. Ecclus. xlviii. 17. — Go into clay — bricJclciln] Make bricks for thy fortification. 15. The fire] 'I'races of fire may still be seen there (Bor.omi). 93 15. canl-erioorni] Literally, the licl-er. Hebr. yelek. Trans- lated caterpillar Vs. cv. 34; and Jer. li. 14. 27; and canker- worm in Joel i. 4 ; ii. 25 ; and fcere v. 16. 17. Thy crowned] Thy princes. So Kimchi, Oesenius, Kleinert, and others; but Vulg. has, thy mixed troops, and so Arabic ; and this seems to bo the true sense, thy crowd of mercenaries {Fuerst, 832 ; and Keil), who are compared to a swarm of locusts. lu a spiritu.al sense, this may be applied, with S. Jerome. to the strange, heterogeneous medley, the " mixtus populus " of forces (which Ezekiel has represented under the name of tlie army of Gog; see on Ezek. xxxviii., xxxix.), who are combined together under the banner of Antichristianism. 18. Thy shepherds slumber] (Hebr. ndmu) have fallen asleep in death. See on Isa. xxxvii. 36 ; and Ps. Ixxvi. 1 — 12, where the same word (jinraa) occurs, ii. 6. The destruction of the army of Sennaclierib before Jerusalem, was like a prelude to the general destruction of the mighty men and of the countless hosts of Nineveh. — shall dwell] Or, are lying. When all hope was lost, the King of Assyria, in a fit of desperation, committed suicide. Ctesias says (in Diod. Sic. ii. 25 — 28) that he burnt himself, with his concubines and eunuchs, and all his chief wealth, iu his palace. Cp. Sawlinson, iii. 190 — 192. Nahum's i>rophecy of the future destruction of Nineveh was fulfilled by the Medes and Babylonians (see above, on ii. 1) ; and, accordiug to his prediction, the vast power of Nineveli completely vanished, and its glory was utterly eclipsed, so that iu the year B.C. 401, Xenophon passed by the site without learning its name (Xenophon, Anab. iii. 4. 7). Four hundred years afterwards a small fortress was standing on the site, to guard the passage of the river Tigris (Tacitus, Ann. xii. 13), and opposite to it, on the west bank of the Tigris, has ai'isen Nineveh's utter destruction NAHUM III. 19. for its iniquities. Beftire CHRIST about 713. b 1 Kings 22.17. t Heb c Micah 1. 9. ri Lam. 2. 15. Zeph. 2. 15. See Isa. 14. 8, S.-C, Thy people is '' scattered upon the mountains, And no man gathereth them. 'ki]«'s. ^^ There is no f healing of thy bruise ; " thy wound is grievous : ^ All that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee : For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually ? tlie city of Mosul. In the year 1776, Niebuhr visited the spot, untl supposed that what were the heaps of ruins of Niueveh, were natural undulations in the soil (see the view in RawJin- son, i. 326). In more modern times it has been explored by Botta, the French Consul (in 18 i2), and more recently by Layard and others, who have brought to light those gigantic remains of palaces, statues, and other monuments which testify to the ancient grandeur of Nineveh, and those annalistic in- scriptions which confirm the veracity of the prophecies of Nahara and of Isaiah, and of the historical narrative of Holy Scripture; and bear witness to the divine foreknowledge of the Holt Ghost, Who speaks in it; to Whom with the Fatheb and the Sox, Three Persons and One God, be all honour and glory now and for evermore. Amen. H H A B A K K U K. I. ' THE burden wliicli Habakkuk the prophet did see. - Lord, how long shall I cry, " and thou wilt not hear ? Even cry oat unto thee 0/ violence, and thou wilt not save ! '' Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance ? The prophecy of Habakkuk makes a pair with that of Nahust. Both prophecies are called itirilens; hoth are visions of the future. Kahum, the comforter (as his name signifies), consoles Israel, led captive by Assyria, with the assurance that the capital of that proud and cruel Empire would be over- thrown by the Lord God of Israel, Whose universal sovereignty over the dynasties of this World, and Whose righteous attri- butes and tender regard for His exiled people, would then be declared ; and that they would be delivered from the heavy yoke which pressed upon them. Such is the literal sense of that prophecy ; and in a spiritual sense it belongs to all time, especially to the last days of the World, and foretells that all haughty, infidel, and godless forms of Anticliristianism will be eventually overthrown, and that the Church of God will be comforted by the Love of her Divine Lord and Saviour, to Whom all power in lieaven and earth is given (Matt, xxviii. 18), and Who will make all His enemies His footstool (Ps. ex. 1. Matt. xxii. 44). The Ten Tribes of Israel were carried captive by Assyria for their sins; but there was another proud and cruel Power, which was permitted, and indeed commissioned, by God, to chastise the other kingdom— that of Judah — which did not profit by the warnings of His wrath against idolatry, that had been displayed by the punishment of Israel, carried captive and dispersed by Assyria. This was Babylon. Babylon is displayed in Holy Scripture as the essence and type of all creature-worship, idolatry, and superstition, com- bined with a profession of much spiritual wisdom, and of a supernatural gift and ability to penetrate unseen mysteries, and to read the future; as evinced by its magical arts, its astro- logy, sorcery, and divination; and these characteristics were allied with vain-glorious vaunting of itself, its strong and magnificent city and vast extent of empire, consequent on the conquests of Assyria by Nabopolassar, and the successful cam- paigns of his son and successor, Nebuchadnezzar, in Asia and Palestine, where Jerusalem and Tyre had fallen before him ; and in all the regions to the east and south-west of the Jordan, and in the laud of the Pharaohs, who had been crushed by his victorious arms. Habakkuk, the Levite (see iii. 19), who had ministered in the Temple of Jerusalem, was raised up by God to do the same work for Judah, with regard to Babylon, which Nahum the Elkoshite, of Galilee (Nah. i. 1), had done for Israel, with respect to the elder Empire of Asia — that of Assyria, which had fallen before the power of Babylon, and whose splendours had been eclipsed by its glory. The name Habakkuk signifies a loving embrace (see Gesen. 258 ; Fiierst, 413, 414 ; Caspari on Micah, 31) ; and as lyafium was a comforter sent by God to console Israel, in cap- tivity and affliction, so in HabaklciiJc (as Luther has suggested), we have a vision of God's love, embracing His people of Judah, whose captivity by the Chaldeans he foresees and foretells (i. 6). As 5. Jerome says, " Prophetia " (Abacuc) " est contra Baby- lonem et regem Chaldieorum, ut quomodo prior Propheta Naum, quem Abacuc sequitur, vaticinium habuit contra Nineven et Assyrios, qui vastaverunt decem tribus quas vocabantur Israel, ita Abacuc prophetiam habet adversus Babylonem et Nabucho- donosor a quibus Juda et Jerusalem Templumque subversas sunt." "Both prophecies" (as jS. Jerome also observes) "have a spiritual sense, and extend themselves to the last times." Both 95 are messages of consolation to the Church in her conflicts with Antichristianism, iu two diflerent aspects. Nahum comforts her with the assurance of the triumph of Christ over the Infidel form of Antichristianism. In Habakkuk God clasps His faithful people together to His own bosom, iu a fatherly embrace of love, and assures them that the time is coming when they will have nothing to fear from the haughty pride, the vain-glorious boastings, the ambitious assumptions of uni- versal Supremacy, and arrog.ant claims to Infallibility, and to divine knowledge in spiritual things ; and that He will utterly destroy the fascinating superstitions and seductive idolatries which are now the distinctive characteristics of the mystical Babylon, as displayed in tlie Apocalypse. It may be observed that Nahum, (the comforter) stands seventh in the order of the Minor Prophets ; and Habakkuk, (the embracer) is eighth. Seven is the number of Rest after toil and distress. Eight is the number of Resurrection to glory. See above, on Ezek., p. 280. Nahum comforts us with a vision of rest ; Habakkuk assures the faithful of a joyful embrace in the Kingdom of Glory, when their bodies will be raised and re-united to their souls, and they will embrace their friends and fellow-worshippers, and be embraced by God's love in Christ, in the Kingdom of Heaven. As S. Jerome says, we have " mani- festissimam de Christo prophetiam in octavo Propheta, id est in Sesurrectionis dominiccB numero" (S. Jerome, in cap. iii. prolog.). Habakkuk prophesied in the reign of Josiab, probably near its close. He precedes Zephaniah, who foretold the fall of Nineveh (Zeph. ii. 13; for Zephaniah repeats thoug'nts and words of Habakkuk ; see i. 7 ; cp. Hab. ii. 20), which took place a little before Josiah's death. See on 2 Kings xxiii. 29. Ch. I. 1. burden"] See on Nahum i. 1. — did see'] So Nahum's prophecy is called a vision. As to the time of the vision, see vv. 5 and 6. The Sins or Jerusalem:. Its Punishjiext foeetold. 2. O Lord, hoto long shall I erg] Or, how long have I cried, and thou heardest not 1 Lord God of Judah, how long have I cried to Thee concerning the wickedness of the people of Jerusalem, among whom I live ? Dost Thou not observe these things ? Wilt Thou not punish the proud and prosperous sinners, and deliver the righteous who are oppressed by them ? Yes (is the Lord's reply), I will bring the army of Babylon against the guilty princes of Jerusalem, and will punish them by the arms of the Chaldeans (y. 8). Thus, at the beginning of his prophecy, Habakkuk protects the faithful people of Jerusalem against the notion that its future captivity would be due to the power of Babylon and her false gods; and teaches them to regard it as an act of God Himself, using the mighty empire of Babylon as His own vassal for doing His own work, in vindicating His own Majesty, and punishing ofl'enders against His Law. Judgment must begin at the house of God; that is, at Jerusalem. But in order also to show that the punishment of Jerusalem would not be in- flicted by the power of Babylon independently of God, the Prophet further reveals that God's chastifements would extend to Babylon herself, because she would not take the warning which was given by the judgment executed by God on Jerusaiem, for its idolatry and other sins, by her instrumentality. 3. iniquilg— grievance — strife and contention'] These are, as it were, personified by the Prophet, as they are by the Psalmist God icill use Babylon HABAKKUK I. 4—10. to punish Jerusalem. b Job 21. 7. Vs. 94. 3, S:c. Jer. 12. 1. II Or, wrested. d Deut. 2S 49,50. Jer. 5 1.5. li fuiniled, 2 Chron. :iG. B. t Heb. breadths. J Or, from them slmti i:riicccil the judgmnit „S these, and the captivity v/ these. t Heb. iharp. e Jer. 5. C. Zeph. 3. 3, J Or, the supping vp of their Jaces. 3,c. or, the.r faces shall look toward the east. t Heb. the oppo- sition of thtir facfs toward tht east. For spoiling and violence arc before me : And there are that raise up strife and contention. * Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth : For the '' wicked doth compass about the righteous ; Therefore || ■ftTong judgment proceedeth. ^ ^ Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder maiTellousl}' For I will work a work in your days, Which ye will not believe, though it be told you. ^ For, lo, '^ II I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, Which shall march through the f breadth of the land. To possess the dwelling places that arc not theirs. ^ They are terrible and dreadful : II Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves ; ^ Their horses also are swifter than the leopards. And are more f fierce than the ' evening wolves : And their horsemen shall spread themselves, And their horsemen shall come from far ; ^They shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. * They shall come all for violence : II f Their faces shall sup up as the east wind, And they shall gather the captivity as the sand. ^" And they shall scoff at the kings, And the princes shall be a scorn unto them : They shall deride every strong hold ; For they shall heap dust, and take it. (Ps. Iv. 9, 10), " I have seen Violence and Strife in the city : Day and night they go about upon the walls thereof. Mischief also and Soriow are in the midst of it. Deceit and Guile depart not out of her streets." The Prophet uses four words which tlie Psalmist had employed — aren, amdl, chamas, W6 — and in the same strain of complaint, for the sins of Jerusalem. 4. thk law is slackeii^ Or benumbed, and paralyzed. God Answees the Peophet. 5. Behold ye amottg the heathen, and regard^ Look forth, says Jehovah, among the heathen; for I will make use of a heathen nation (that of Babylon, the most powerful of all heathen nations) as My instrument for asserting My own righteous Majesty and vindicating My own holy Law, and punishing the sins of My People, who defy the one and break the other. These words are quoted by St. Paul, in his Sermon in the Jewish Synagogue, at Autioch in Pisidia ; *' Behold, ye de- spisers, and wonder, and perish" (Acts xiii. 41). St. Paul's quotation is derived from the Septuagint (which is in harmony here with the Syriac and Arabic), and is, as has been before observed, a Paraphrase rather than a literal Version. See above, on Amos ix. 12. The Septuagint keeps the sense, but modifies the letter, of the Original. Instead of translating ba-goyim by, among the Gentiles, it adopts another rendering of it — O despisers (a rendering justified by the form of the word, as Dr. FococJc has sliown. Not. Mis. in Port. Mos., Works, i. pp. 141 — 143) ; and instead of he amazed, the Septuagint has vanish away (or perish) ; tliat is, be stupetied by astonishment, and be confounded and faint away ; which is a justifiable rendering, and is authorized by Targum, Syriac, and Vulg. See I'ocouk, ibid., and Surenhusiiis, Catallage, p. 427. This passage of Habakkuk was very suitable to St. Paul's purpose. The Prophet is warning the Jews that they must expect a terrible retribution for faithlessness and disobedience to God. Precisely the same warning is addressed to them by the Apostle. The Prophet tells tliem that God will punish them with captivity and dispersion, by the instrumentality of Heathen Babylon. Doubtless St. Paul, when he uttered those words, was looking forward to the similar punishments which 96 God would execute upon them by the hands of Rome (the Western Babylon), for like sins, and even more heinous, especially the siu of rejecting Christ and His Gospel. 6. lo, I raise up the Chaldeans'] Behold, it is I, the God of Judah, Who do it. It is not done by the will and power of Babylon herself. Babylon is the servant of Jehovah. See Jer. XXV, 9, " I will send Nebuchadrezzar My servant ;" and so in Jeremiah xxvii. 6 ; xliii. 10, God calls Nebuchadnezzar My servant for punishing Israel and Judah; and He calla Cyrus My shepherd, for restoring them (Isa. xliv. 28). The punish- ment and the mercy both came from God. — Chaldeans] A Semitic race, which dwelt from time im- memorial in Babylonia, where they exercised the principal sway. (.Sec Gen. xxii. 23. Isa. xxiii. 13 ; xliii. 14 ; xlvii. 1 ; xlviii. 14. 20. Jer. v. 15; xxi. 9; xxiv. 5; xxv. 12; xxxii. 4. 24. Ezek. xii. 13 ; xvi. 29 ; xxiii. 16. 23.) 7. They are terrible and dreadful^ Rather, terrible and dreadful is he. The adjectives here, and pronoun, are in the singular number, and masculine gender. The nation is united aud summed up in its Head. — Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of them- selves] Or rather, do proceed. Tliis verb, and the following verbs, would be better rendered in the present tense than in the future tense. The prophet says that the King of Babylon does not ascribe his power to God, as he ought to do, but arrogantly claims to be the source of his own pre-eminence. This arrogance and vain-glorious impiety are exhibited in the speech of Nebuchadnezzar their King, for which he *as smitten of God ; " Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the Kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty ?" (Dan. iv. 30.) 8. shall spread themselves] Or rush forward. 9. Their faces shall sup tip as the east wind] Or, more lite- rally, the panting of their faces is toward an east wind; i.e. for destruction (Ewald ; cp. Fuerst, 760 ; cp. Gesen. 448). • — the captivity] a captivity ; that is, hordes of captives. 10. they shall heap dust, and take it] Such is the ease with which they storm and take a city. The raising an embankment against it is only like casting up a heap of dust, and the city falls before it. The prophet's question. HABAKKUK I. 11— 17. 11.1,2. Tlic Lord's answer. " Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, ^Imputing this his power nnto his god. '- ^Art thou not from everlasting, Loed my God, mine Holy One ? We shall not die. Lord, ' thou hast ordained them for judgment ; And, f mighty God, thou hast f established them for correction. '^ ^Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on || iniquity I ' Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, I A7id boldest thy tongue ; When the -^'icked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he ? '^ And makest men as the fishes of the sea, As the II creeping things, that have no ruler over them ? '^ They "" take up all of them with the angle. They catch them in their net, and gather them in their || drag : Therefore they rejoice and are glad ; "'" Thei-efore "they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag ; Because by them their portion is fat, and their meat || f plenteous. ^'' Shall they therefore empty their net. And not spare continually to slay the nations ? II. ^ I mil " stand upon my watch. And set me upon the f tower, ''And will watch to see what he mil say || unto me. And what I shall answer || f when I am reproved. '' And the Lord answered me, and said, ^ Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables. Dcfcrc CHIUST almut G2li. e Dan. 5. 4. h Ps. 00. 2. 8: Lam 5. 19. i 2 Kings 19. 2j. Ps. 17. 13. Isa. 10.5, G, 7. Ezek. 30. 2.i. t Heb. rock, Deut. 32. i. t He\i. founded. k Ps. 5. 5. n Or, ijrierance, lJer.l2. 1. n Deut. 8. 17. Isa. 10- 13. & 37. 24, 25. II Or, dainlj/. t lleb./a(. ■f Heb./t'ncfd place. b Ps. 85. 8. II Or, in me. II Or, when I an argued with. t Heb. upon my arquing. cisa. 8 l.S:30.l 11. Tlten shall his mind cTianffe"] Rather, the wind passes iy; that is, the storm of his violence, compared to a wind, sweeps by, and passes over (the land), and offend-i ; this, its potrer, is its god. It defies God, and deifies itself. See ahove, t'. 6, and Jlicah ii. 1, and the description of the Autichristian power in Daniel x\. 36—38. ,' The Prophet's QnESxioy. 12 — 17. Art thou not from everlasting, LoED mil God — the nations'] These verses may hest be considered together. O Jehovah, my God, the Holy One, the God of Israel, let me derive comfort from the reflection that Thou art from ever- . lasting; and that whatever the Chaldeans do, is done by the per- mission of Thee, the Mighty God, or RocE, for our sins, and J for our correction; and therefore tee shall not die. We shall be I chastened, but not killed. But why, O Lord, dost thou use I such a power as that of Babylon, which idolizes itself, and > imputes all its victories to its own arm, and defies Thee ? , Since Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil with com- ; placency. Why dost Thou look on the Chaldeans, and keep silence while they devour Thy People — which, sinful as many of tliem are, is more righteous than the Chaldeans; for many holy men are among them, and they have Thy Temple, and worship Thee ? ^\Tiy dost Thou make men to be no better than fish niid reptiles, where the more powerful and the more venomous hurt and destroy the rest ? The Chaldeans are allowed by Thee to catch Thy People like fish, with hook and with net. And when they have done it they exult and do outrage to Thee, and, iu their brutish idola- try, worship the instruments by which Thou hast permitted them to gain their booty — their net and their drag I These prophecies concerning the literal Babylon reach onward to our own days, and to the mystical Babylon,— which is Rome. The King of the literal Babylon is compared here to a fisherman, catching men and nations in his net. And it may be observed, that the Head of the mystical Babylon claims to be the successor of an Apostolic fisherman, and is a spiritual " fisher of men ;" and that his decrees, in which he imi- tates the Chaldean King, and claims universal Supremacy, spiritual and temporal, are issued with this formula — " Datum Romse apud Sanctum Fetrum sub annulo Piscatorit." And Vol. VI. Paet II.— 97 he worships his own di"ag, and makes others worship it ; they must all bow down before his assumed Infallibility, and adore that universal Supremacy in which he encloses the Nations, as in a net. Sec below, on Rev. xiii., pp. 233, 231; and Dr. Robinson here, p. 150. Cn. II. 1. I toill stand upon my watch'] The Prophet, likened to a watchman (as the Prophets often are; see Ezek. iii. 17 ; xxxiii. 2. 6. 7. Mieah vii. 4. Cant. iii. 3; v. 7), stands on his tower, and listens for the reply which God makes to the question which he has just put. The Prophet raises himself from earthly things, and ascends to the height of spiritual meditation (as Sloses did, on the height of Horeb or of Pisgah, and St. Peter on the house- top, and the Saviour Himself, when He went up to the moun- tain alone to pray); and there, with attentive ear, after devout supplication, he hearkens to the Voice of God speaking within him. Cp. iS. Cyril and Theodoret here. — what he will say unto me] Rather, what He (God) will say in me. He prays that he may hear God's voice speaking within himself. — And what I shall answer — reproved] Rather, and what (when I have heard God's voice in me) I shall answer to my own complaint. See Sept. here, Targum, and Arabic. The Lobd's Answer — Write the Vision. 2. Write the vision, and malce it plain upon tables] In large letters, to be seen by all, even by those who run, and do not attentively look at it ; even as the Decalogue was written on Tables by God Himself; and as the Law was written by Joshua on the stones at Sichem (see Josh. viil. 31) ; and as the names of Isaiah's two sons were written by the Prophet. The Vision (of the future destruction of Babylon) was to be written now, iu order that, when it came to pass, the people might be witnesses of its fulfilment, and believe in the Prophet's inspiration. If\t had not been written and published then, bat had been reserved for some years in the Prophet's own bosom, and not divulged till it was accomplished, some might say that the 'N'ision had never been seen, and that the prophecy was no prophecy, but had been uttered after the event. St. Paul appears to allude to these words of Habakkuk in H The vision slicdl come. HABAKKUK II. 3- 5. Tlic just shall live hy faith. Before CHRIST about C26. il Dan. 10. H. & Tliat lie may run that readeth it. For '' the vision is yet for an appointed time, But at the end it shall speak, and not lie : Though it tarry, wait for it ; Because it will ' surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul ichich is Hfted up is not upright in him But the 'just shall live by his faith. II Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine. He is a proud man, neither keepeth at home. his Epistle to the Galatians, where ho is referring to the large letters in which that Epistle was written by his own hand; which teaches the lesson inculcated by the Prophet here — flie Just shall live ly his faith. See below, the note on Gal. vi. 11. Habakkul; receives a command from God, " Write the Tision.*' The Vision to be written by the Prophet, related to the liter-al Babylon, its pride, its idolatry, its fall. St. John, in the isle of Patmos, received a similar command from Christ. " What thou seest, write in a book." See Rev. i. 11. Habakkuk's Vision concerning the literal Babylon has been fulfilled ; so, in due time, St. John's Vision iu the Apoca- lypse, concerning the mystical Babylon (the City and Church of Rome) will be. 3. the visio7t is yet for an appointed time'] Rather, the vision \& for the appointed end, and strives (or yearns^ pants, and longs; see Fuerst, 590; Gesen. 358; Bitzig, Keil) for the end, Hebr. hets, or inoed kets, the time of the end; i.e. the time of the Messiah. See Dan. viii. 17. 19; .\i. 35 ; xii. 4. 13, where the word kets is used; and compare the note of Keil here. The sense is, that this prophecy of Habakkuk, concerning the destruction of Babylon, will not only have a literal fulfil- ment in the overthrow of the Babylon on the Euphrates, but that it reaches onward to the times of the Christian Dispensa- tion, even to the latter days, and will have its perfect accom- plishment iu the destructiou of the mystical Babylon. The Vision of Habakkuk is the preamble to the Apocalypse. In order that the prophecy of Habakkuk may be duly understood, it must be read throughout with an eye, not only to the literal Jerusalem and the literal Babylon, but with a view also to the spiritual Sion, namely, the Christian Church, and the Autichristian, mysterious, and idolatrous City and Church of Rome, of which (as is shown below, in the notes on the Apocalypse, Rev. xvii.) the literal Babylon was a type. — Because it will surely come] The Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, grounding his quotation on the Septiiagint here, paraphrases these words thus — " ffe that shall come will come" (i.e. the Messiah); aud by this paraphrase he confirms the interpretation given in the preceding note, that this pro. l)hecy will have its full accomplishment in the last days. The Prophet is foretelling the Divine Judgment on the spiritual Antichristian Power, which will be finally destroyed by the Second Advent of Christ. See below, on 2 Thess. ii. 8. — it will not tarry] It will not fail ; literally, it will not lag behind when the proper time comes for its fulfilment. Cp. Judges V. 28. 2 Sam. xx. 5, where the same word occurs. 4. Behold, his soul which is lifted up] Behold (it is) lifted up, (and) not right (is) his soul in him ; but the just by h is faith shall live. These words are quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews (x. 38); and the last clause is cited also in Rom. i. 17. Gul.iii.ll," The just shall live by faith." In the Epistle to the Hebrews (x. 38) the words are represented thus — " Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw bade, my soul shall have no pleasure" (or rather, tny soul is not pleased) "in him." This form of quotation of the second member of the .sentence, " if he draw back, my soul is not pleased in him," is derived from the Septuagint Version; which, as has been already observed more than once (see on Amos ix. 12), was not designed to be a literal Translatiou, hut a Paraphrase. The Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, for reasons stated below (Introd. to Hebrews, pp. 373, 374), used the Septuagint Version iu his quotations from the Old Testament ; and iu this passage of Habakkuk, that Version gives the sense and spirit of Habakkuk, but does not attempt to represent literally the rxact words. The words " if he dram back," are a paraphrastic rendering of the original, " Behold, his soul is lifted up." The word translated "lifted tip"— uppeldh— (the perfect pual of dphal, connected with ophel, a hill, an aelivity ; whence the hill OpJiel at Jerusalem, on the east of Zion) signifies, in hiphil, to act presumptuouslu (see Num. xiv. 44, in which it is so rendered, and which is the only place where it occurs ; and cp. Oesen., 645), is used by the Prophet, meaning to raise himself up from a lower level to a lofty elevation ; and might fitly be repre- sented, as it is in the Septuagint, by a word which the Apostle to the Hebrews adopts as signifying the drawing back of the sonl from the proper level of humility and faith in God, and the entrenching itself in an independent spirit of self-reliant presumption, in the lofty fortress of human pride, such as was the characteristic of Babylon and its King. See here i. 11. 16. That this is the true sense of the word, is shown by Fococh (Not. Mis., vol. i. p. 144), who saj's that the meaning is, the wicked man withdraws himself into the lofty citadel of his own human self-confidence ; but the righteous man has no need of such a citadel ; his castle is faith in God, and he will live and be preserved thereby. See also Bishop Pearson's remarks on this passage (Pra;f Par. in LXX., vol. i. p. 263, ed. Churton), where he says that the word aphal means to withdraw oneself into a lofty tower or dark fortress for safety. Cp. 2 Kings v. 24. With regard to the other portion of the sentence, " his soul is not upright in him" this may mean, as the Septuagint para- phrases, "his soul is not pleasing in him" — that is, is «o^ pleasing to God ; as Oesenius says (p. 375, under the verb yashar, here used), "to be straight or right in my eyes, signifies it is pleasing to me, I approve ;" and so Dr. Pocock, p. 145, and Bp. Pearson, p. 264, explain the phrase here; and this is paraphrastically represented by " my soul is not pleased in him." — But the just shall live by his faith] Literally, but the just, by his faith shall he live. The word rendered ya/^A, is emunah, from aman, to be firmly rooted and established, supported, and stayed up — as a building on its foundations, or a tree in its roots (see Oesen. 58) ; and so may be compared with the Greek and Latin Trftrris and fides (faith), from ireidoiiat and its deriva- tive Latin^rfo, to rely ttpon. Hence the heart of Abraham, the " father of the faithful," is called neemdn (Neb. ix. 8), in refer- ence to the fact that lie believed (Hebr. heeman) in the Lord, and this was counted to him for righteousness (Gen. xv. G). The great truth, therefore, that we derive from this whole passage, is, that there is a characteristic and essential diftcrenco between tlie good and evil man. The evil man, in a proud, presumptuous Chaldean spirit, withdraws and elevates himself iu the great and lofty Babylon that he has built for his own glory (Dan. iv. 30), and vaunts his own strength, and imagines himself impregnable there ; but he will be hurled down to destruction in the zenith of his glory, and be made to herd with the beasts of the field (Dan. iv." 32). But the righteous man will not rely on any thing in himself, but will build him- self hy faith on the solid rock (i. 12) and sure foundation of God's Word, and bo rooted, like a firm-set tree, on the soil of His gracious promises; and, as long as he does this, he will never fall ; but he will live — be preserved eternally, by faith in God's mighty power and love. 5. Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine] The Prophet thus applies to the Babylonians what has been said. The better translation is, " Yea also, because the wine " (which he drinks, and gives to others to drink) "is treacherous" (Vulg.) — i.e. betrays and inflames him and them, and excites them to commit sins of insolence, licence, and impiety. Cp. Prov. xxiii. 31, 32. The Babylonians were notorious for their intemperance : " Babylonii niaximfe in viuum et quas ebrietatem sequuntur efl'usi sunt" (Curtius, v. 1). This prophecy was accomplished in its fullest sense in Belshazzar's feast, when the King and his courtiers were flushed with the wine that they drank profanely from the vessels of the Temple of Jerusalem, and praised their gods of gold and silvei', and were destroyed in that night of impious revelry (D.an. V. 1-5; 28-30). — neither keepeth at home] Rather, and he ahideth not ; i. e. is soon swept away by destruction ; whereas the faithful man cndurcth for ever. Contriist Belshazznr and D.inicl hero—* Woe to Babylon, HABAKKUK II. G— 13. for her violence and pride. Who enlargeth his desh-e « as hell, And is as death, aud cannot be satisfied, But gathereth unto him all nations, And heapeth unto him aU people. ^ Shall not all these '' take up a parable against him. And a taunting proverb against him, and say, II Woe to him that increaseth that tvhich is not his ! how long ? And to him that ladeth himself with thick clay ! 7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, And awake that shall vex thee. And thou shalt be for booties unto them ? " ' Because thou hast spoiled many nations, All the remnant of the people shall spoil thee ; ■" Because of men's f blood, And /or the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. " Woe to him that ' || coveteth an evil covetousness to his house That he may "' set his nest on high. That he may be delivered from the f power of evil ! '" Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, Aud hast sinned anaiust thy soul. " For the stone shall cry out of the wall. And the || beam out of the timber shall || answer it. '- Woe to him that buildeth a town with " f blood. And stablisheth a city by iniquity ! '•^ Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts ° That the people shall labour in the very fire, Before CHRIST about G26. K Prov. 2?. 20. ( 30. 10. I Jer. 22. 13. II Or, ncllt (. •ilgaill. m Jer. 49. 16. Obad. 4. t lleb. tmlmof the hand. ', or, II Or, piec fastentTtg. II Or, wi/iiess against it. II Jer. 22. 13. F.zek. 24. 9. Micah 3. 10. Nahum 3. 1. + Heb. bl,„„l3. Jer. 51. 53. the former deslroyed suddenly, the hitter preserved to a good old age (Dan. i. 21 ; vi. 28). — enlargeth his desire— gatherelh unlo him all nations, and heapeth nnto him all people^ Or, peoples. This was signally exemplified in the literal Babylon. See Dan. ii. 37, 38; iii. 4; iv. 1 ; Jer. xxvii. 7, 8 ; 1. 23 ; li. 2.5. May not this also bo applied to the mystical Babylon, which sitteth as a Queen on many waters, " which are peoples and multitudes, and nations, and tongues," aud requires that all should ackuowledge her Supremacy ? See below, on Rev. xvii. 1. 15. She too is intoxicated with pride, as was the literal Babylon. Her Sovereign King and Priest is now setting up a golden image (the idol of his own Supremacy and Infallibility) as Nebuchadnezzar did, who, like other Chaldean monarehs, united sacerdotal functions with royalty. She also has her Belsbazzar's feast : her sins are like those of Babylon ; and Babylon's doom will ere long be hers. 6. Shall not all these talce rtp a parable — a taunting proverbl Habakkuk here adopts the words of Isaiah concerning Babylon (Isa. xiv. 4 — " Thou shalt tahe vp this proverb against the King of Babylon, and sag. Son) hath the oppressor ceased!"), and conuects his own prophecy of her fall with that of Isaiah. — ladeth himself with thick dag'] Or, mass of dirt (Hebr. abtit). So Snriiic and Vulg.; but Sept. and Arabic render it maketh his collar, or yoke, to press heavily. The Hebrew word here used, abtit, occurs nowhere else, but seems to be connected with ubaf, to knot together, to fasten ; and thence to lend, or borrow onapledge (Deut. XV. 6. 8. Ftierst, 1006; Gesen. 601.) If we suppose the rendering in our Version to be correct, then the mention of thick dag (literally, a cloud of clay) derives additional interest from the fact that the city of Baby- lon was surrounded by enormous walls of clay ("coctilibus maris "). She deemed them to be impregnable (as Nebuchad- nezzar boasts in his inscription still extant ; cp. above, notes on Isa. xiii. 19 ; xiv. 21) ; yet they would be only like a grave for the burial of her glory. On the whole, the rendering of Sept. and Arabic seems preferable. Babylon draws all nations to herself, and puts a 99 galling yoke and heavy burden ou their necks. This is also true of the mystical Babylon. How different is her yoke and burden from the easy yoke and light burden of Christ ! (Matt. xi. 29, 30.) 7. Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite theel The Persian army, under Cyrus, rose vp suddenly from the bed of the river of Babylon, the Euphrates, in which she gloried as the cause of her strength and wealth, aud they rushed into the palace, and Babylon was taken in her hour of festal revelry, and Belshazzar was slain (S. Jerome, Theophylad, Semigiiis). So will it he with the mystical Babylon, " In one hour shall her judgmeut come ; in one hour shall her riches come to nought" (Kev. .xviii. 10. 17). See above, the notes on Isa. xiii. 15—19 ; xiv. 1 ; xxi. 5. 8. 9. Jer. 1. 1 ; and li. 30. 46, which may serve as a comment on this prophecy of Habakkuk con- cerning Babylon. 9. That he may set his nest on high] Cp. the language of Jeremiah, xlix. 16. Obad. 4; aud the words of the King of Babylon himself, in Isaiah xiv. 14, where he says, " I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will he like the Most High j" aud the words of the inscription written by Nebuchad- nezzar himself, and quoted above on Isaiah xiv. 21, where he de- scribes Babylon as impregnable : see also the note there on v. 14. 11. the stone shall cry out of the wall] This was literally fulfilled when the fingers of a man's hand came forth and wrote the doom of Babylon on the wall of the palace in which the kings of Babylon so much gloried (sec the inscription re- fen-ed to in the foregoing note), and in which one of them was feasting, on the anniversary of the festival of his god (Dan. v. 5—30). 18. buildeth a town with blood] Words adopted from Micah iii. 10. 13. is it not of the LoED — the people shall labour in the very fire] Rather, Is it not the Lord's doing that the people — i. e. nations like Babylon — shall labour for the fire ! — i. e. to supply food for fire. Cp. Neh. ii. 13. Jer. li. 58, where the same words are applied to Babylon ; see the note there. This was literally fulfilled. The Babylonians baked bricks for immense walls which they thought would never be stormed. Woe to Babijhn, HABAKKUK II. 14—20. for her revelry and idolatry. Before CHRIST about 626. B Or, in i„,n ? ll Or, by knnwinci the glory of the LORD. p Isa. 11. 9. q Hos. 7. 5. rGen. 9. 22. B Or, more u-ilh thame than with B Je'r. 25. 26, 27. 8: 51. 57. u Isa. 44. 9, 10. & 46. 2. I Jer. 10.8, 14. Zech. 10. 2. t Heb. the fashioner of hit y Ps. lis. 5. 1 Cor. 12. 2. z Ps. 1.15. 17. a Ps. 11. i. t Heb, be Went all the earth before hint. b Zeph. 1. 7. Z( And the peoiDle shall weary themselves || for very vanity ? '* For the earth shall he filled || with the "knowledge of the glory of the Lokd, As the waters cover the sea. '^ Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, That puttest thy i bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, That thou mayest ' look on their nakedness ! '^ Thou art filled || with shame for glory : ' Drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered : The cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee. And shameful spewing shall he on thy glory. "' For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee. And the spoil of beasts, tvhich made them afraid, 'Because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land. Of the city, and of all that dwell therein. 18 ""What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it ; The molten image, and a ^ teacher of lies, That f the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make '' dumb idols ? '" Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake ; To the dumb stone. Arise, It shall teach ! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, ^ And there is no breath at all in the midst of it. -" But ' the Lord is in his holy temple : f "^ Let all the earth keep silence before him. and for lofty palaces in which they hoped to reign gloriously ; but all the labour of Babylon was only like fuel for the five which was kindled by the Persian invaders and by which her glory was consumed. See the notes on Isa. xlvii. 14. Jer. li. 30. 32. So it will also be with the mystical Babylon, the City and Church of Rome. See below, on Kev. xvii. 16 ; xviii. 18. 14. tie earth shall be filled — sea'] Words adopted from Isa. xi. 9. The Earth will not only be filled with the glory of the Lord (as it is in Isaiah), but with the knowledge of it. Meu will recognize it. It will be filled with that knowledge, as the sea is covered with waters, which lie deep, spread far, and will never be dried up. Such is the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ revealed in the Gospel (2 Cor. iv. 6). Such was the knowledge of His glory, manifested by the sudden destruction of Babylon, and the miraculous deliverance of His people (Ps. cxxvi. 1, 2). They who will not see God's glory in His mercy, will be compelled to own it in His judgments. Habakkuk here describes the result of the overthrow of Babylon, and of all Powers that resemble it. Isaiah represents it as a consequence of the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. Destruction of error, and difi"usion of the Truth — both are requisite for fiUiug the Earth with the glory of the Lord. Such will also be the result of the destruction of the mystical Babylon. It will give a great impulse to the spread of the Gospel. 15, 16. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drinJc'] The Babylonians were notorious for their intemperance (Curtiiis, V. 1). Their religious festivals were celebrated with dissolute in- temperance, even in the temples themselves (see Maiolinson, iii. pp. 464, 465) ; and, as a fit punishment for these sins, Babylon was taken at a religious festival and a revel (Dan. v. 1. 30). Then God gave to her the cup of His wrath (i-. 16). Cp. Jer. XXV. 27 ; and li. 57. Lam. iv. 21, concerning Babylon. The mystical Babylon allures the nations, and intoxicates them with wino from the golden chalice of her false doctrines and alluring idolatries (Rev. xvii. 14) ; and she will be made to drink, in her turn, of the cup of the wrath of God (Rev. xvi. 19; xviii. 6). 17. the violence of Lebanon shall carer thee'] The violence done by thee to Lebanon, the mountain of Israel, and the type of Israel's glory (see Jer. xxii. 6. 23. Isa. xxxv. 2), will be made to cover thee with shame. Isaiah saya that at tlie fall of 100 Babylon the cjTjresses and cedars of- Lebanon rejoiced. See Isa. xiv. 8, and the note there on v. 14, where it is shown from the King of Babylon's own words, that he made havock with the cedars and cypresses of Lebanon, to adorn the buildings of his own city. So the violence done by Rome to the true Church of Christ will recoil upon herself. — the spoil of beasts] Hunted by thee. Cp. Sawlinson, iii. 438. — Secause of men^s blood, and for the violence] On account of the blood shed by thee, and on account of the violence done by thee to laud and city, and all that dwell therein. 18. TVhat profiteth the graven image — the molten image] This is the climax of Babylon's sins — idolatry. Here also the prophet Habakkuk follows Isaiah, speaking of Babylon (xliv. 9, 10. 20), " Who hath formed a molten image that is profit- able for nothing — Is there not a lie in my right hand ?'* Cp. xlvi. 1. 2. 6—8 ; and note there. So the mystical Babylon will find in the day of her trial, that all her objects of will-worship will be of no avail to save her from the anger of a jealous God, Who will not give His honour to another; and Who said to the Evil One, the author of idolatry, " Get thee behind Me, Satan ; for it is writteu. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve " (Matt. iv. 10). — a teacher of lies] The teacher of lies is here contrasted with the Teacher of righteousness, Joel ii. 23, which is Christ. 19. Arise, it shall teach .'] Rather, Arise, Shall it teach ? The antithesis is to be marked thus .- — TVoe unto him that saith to the wood. Awake! To the dumb stone. Arise ! Shall it teach 1 So rulg. Cp. Isa. xliv. 9—20. 20. the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him] The Lord revealed Himself in His holy temple to Isaiah, who heard the Seraphim cry one to another, saying, " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts ; the whole Earth is full of His glory " (Isa. vi. 3). Cp. Zeph. i. 7, " Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord." Zech. ii. 13, " Be silent, O all fiesh, before the Lord. He is raised up out of His holy habitation." In a spiritual sense, this is to he applied to the City and The inopheCs jiratjer. HABAKKUK III. 1—4. The Lord's glorij at Sinai. III. ' A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet ° || upon Shigiouoth. - Lord, I have heard f thy speech, and was afraid : Lord, || '' revive thy work in the niidst of the years, In the midst of the years make known ; In wrath remember mercy. ^ God came from || Teman, " And the Holy One from mount Parau. Selah. His glory covered the heavens. And the earth was full of his praise. ^ And his brightness was as the light ; He had || homs coming out of his hand : And there tvas the hiding of his power. Before CH IlIST about C2(;. aPs. 7, title. II Or, according to variable tongs, called in Hebrew, Shigionoth. t lleh. Ihy report, or, thy hearing, I] Or, preserve alive. b Ps. 85. 0. II Or, the south c Deut. 3.1. 2. Judg. 5. 4. Ps. 68. 7 B Or, bright beams out of his iide. Temple of the Spiritual Zion, Christ's Holy C.itholic Church, to which He has promised His presence, "even unto the end of tlie world" (Matt, xxviii. 20), and \Vho has this name, Jehovah Shammah — i. e. " The Lord is there." See Ezek. xlviii. 35. CiT. III. 1. A prayer of HahalcX'ulc ihe prophet jtpon Shigionoth'] Tliis is a prater (Ht'br. tephillcth), lilce Ps. xvii. ; Ixxxvi. ; xc. ; cii. ; cxlii., whicli are the only places where this word (tephillah) occurs in the titles of the Psalms. It is a prayer, and it is also upon Shigionoth — that is, it is a prayer of an impassioned, literally, of an erratic strain ; from shafjah, to err; like the Psalm called shiggaion (Ps. vii.), characterized by vehement emotions and sudden transitions ; as a magnificent lyrical ode, and a sublime and sacred dithyramb. In tliis Prayer, which is also a Psalm, the Prophet reverts to the miraculous mercies of the Exodus, and of the wanderings in the wilderness, and of the triumphant march of Israel, under Joshua, into Canaan ; and thence he derives a consolatory and cheering assurance, that, however God's people m.ay for a time be tried by affliction, in the ruin of Jerusalem and the Temple, and in the captivity and exile at Babylon, and in the triumph of God's enemies over them; yet, if they turn to Him by re- pentance, wait patiently, and rely on Him with faith, the vision will not fail; but that God's love will manifest itself towards them, and His promises to Abraham will be fulfilled, and His tuight and majesty will be displayed in the overthrow of His enemies — especially such enemies as Babylon — and in the de- liverance and restoration of His people from their captivity there ; and much more iu the deliverance of all true Israelites, by Christ, from the power of all their spiritual enemies, in the first coming of Christ in the flesh ; and next, in the latter days ; and, lastly, at His Coming in glory. Therefore, whatever may happen, the Prophet declares his resolve thus — " I will rejoice iu the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (i>. 18). Many ancient Expositors regarded the whole of this chapter as a triumphal Hymn, celebrating the victories of Christ. So S. Augustine, i)e Civ. Dei, xviii. 3, 4; S.Jerome, Theodoret, Theophglact, and others. There is a profound truth in that Exposition. The Son of God was present with the people of God before His Incarnation, in the miracles of Egypt and of the Exodus, and in the mercies vouchsafed to Israel in the wilderness, as St. Paul has taught us (1 Cor. x. 4. 9. Heb. xi. 26). And this exposition opens to us a magnificent view of Christ, working in and for His Church iu successive ages, even from the begin- ning to the end, when He will renew at once all the miracles of the Exodus and the deliverance from Babylon, and of the over- throw of the power of Egypt and Chaldea, and will sum up, as it were, all His might and majesty in that manifestation of His Presence and His Coming, whoa He will put all His enemies under His feet and receive His Church into glory. 2. LOBD, revive thy work in ihe midst of the years'] So Symmachus, Tulg., and Theodotion ; within the years; lite- rally, in the inner parts of years (see ii. 19, where the satiie word, kereb — derived from kdrab, to draw neai — is used), with- in years. So Sept., and Aquila ; "as years draw nigh." As years pass on, do not delay, O Lord, to show Thy might and to revive Thy work of love and power, which Thou showedst to Thy People in the Exodus and in the wilderness. Do ni.t defer it beyond the appointed time. See above, on ii. 3 ; Loioth, De Poes. Heb., p. 290. Tliere is a remarkable rendering here in the Septuagint, 101 Syriac, &n. 1), and also a psalm of ICeginoth. Snch are the songs which are ever in the mouth of God's Church, *' in the house of her pilgrimage." Tiiey are prayers of faith and hope, and also hymns of praise. And the day may not be far distant when "the appointed time" will arrive (ii.3), aud God will revive His work — His work of the Exodus, and His work of the overthrow of Babylon, and the deliver- ance of His People, in the midst of the years ; and the harps of all true Israelites will then be taken down from the willows, and the songs of the stringed instruments will be heard in the courts of the heavenly Sion, and they themselves will stand on the margin of a " sea of glass," — a sea once of trouble and storm, but now crystallized into an everlasting heavenly calm ; and " they will he there harping with their harps," and sing- ing " the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb " (Eev. xiv. 2 ; xv. 2, 3), to Whom, with tlio Father aud the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory now aud for ever. ZEPHANIAH. I. ' THE word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the sou of Gedahah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Anion, king of Judah. - f I will utterly consiune all things from off f the land, saith the Lord. CUIUS almut Zephaniah — whose name signifies. Whom IheLord covers, or shelters, in times of storm and distress {Oesen. 716) — holds a remarkahle place in the Hehrew Canon. He is the last of the Minor Prophets before tlie Captivity : he follows Nahum and Habakkuk ; and his prophecy is linked ou to that of the latter. It opens with repeating Habakkuk's exhortation to the whole Earth to stand in silent reverential awe before Jehovah (see Zeph. i. 7 : cp. Hah. ii. 20), and to the faithful to wait in patience till the prophecy is fulfilled. Cp. Zeph. iii. 8 ; and Hab. ii. 3. The contents of liis prophecy correspond to his position. It has a retrospective, and also a prospective character. The two preceding prophets, Nahum and Habakkuk, had foretold respectively the overthrow of the two great Powers of the ancient World, hostile to God and His People — Assyria and Babylon; and had cheered Israel and Judah with hopes of deliverance from them. And they minister consolation to the Church in every age, and animate all true Israelites with the spirit of patient trust in Christ, that He will protect the Chris- tian Siou in all her dangers (whether from Infidelity or Super- stition), and rescue her from all her enemies. Zephaniah takes a more comprehensive view. He sums np and recapitulates tlie predictions of all preceding prophecy, and concentrates them in the bright focus of one great and concise prophetic denunciation against the World, whether outside the visible Church, or within it, as far as it is opposed to Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel, and is hostile to His faithful People. Zephaniah prophesied when the tempest which was driven down from the northern regions of Chaldea, and which had been long hovering over Jerusalem, was about to burst with terrible fury upon the City, the Monarchy, the Priesthood, the Princes, and the People. He had a mission of mercy in that time of trouble. As his name suggests, he comforted the faithful of Jerusalem and of every age with the cheei'ing assurance that Jehovah will hide and shelter them in all storms, poUtical or ecclesiastical, however black and boisterous. *' Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear ; though war should rise up against me, in this will I be confident." ** In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion ; in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me " (Ps. xxvii. 3.5). " Oh, how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that I'ear Thee. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy pre- sence from the pride of man. Thou shalt ^eep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Ps. xxxi. 19, 20). In both these passages the Psalmist uses the word tsaphan {to hide, to keep secretly), which is the root of the name Zephaniah {Tsephan-yah, whom Jah, or Jehovah, hides). The Prophet himself explains the sense of his name, when he says to the meek and righteous, " Ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger " (ii. 3). In another respect Zephaniah's prophecy corresponds to his position. He is the last of the Minor Prophets before the Captivity. And he takes up and renews the work of the first of that goodly fellowship — Hosea. Hosea had comforted Israel with the assurance that their own captivity and dispersion would be overruled by God to pro- mote His glory and their own future happiness. He had con- soled them by saying that they would be weaned by it from their besetting sin idolatry, and from dependence ou heathen nations, 105 such as Assyria, which caused their rejection. And he had cheered them with the reflection that God's truth would be communicated to the Heathen Nations of the World by their dispersion among them. He had foretold that the faithful rem- nant of Israel (the Apostles and first believers in Christ) would convert the Gentiles to Christianity ; and that eventually the Gentiles, being received into Christ's Church would convert the rest of the Jews, and so " all Israel shall be saved " (Rom. xi. 26). Hosea, the first of the Minor Prophets, was the Prophet of Israel ; that is, of the Ten Tribes, who were to be carried captive and dispersed by Assyria. Zephaniah, who was the descendant of King Hezekiah (i. 1), and who prophesied at Jerusalem in the reign of Josiah, was the Prophet to the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin ; he does for them what Hosea had done for the ten. He predicts their Captivity nm\ dispersion; but he foretells also that this also (as well as that of Israel) would he converted by God into a blessing to them and to the Heathen. The great Heathen Nations of the World would all bo humbled in their turn; the mighty powers of Ethiopia and Egypt would be subdued by Assyria ; Assyria would be hum- bled by Babylon ; Babylon would be used by God to overthrow Tyre and to overrun Moah, Edom, and Ammou, but would lierself be captured by Persia and Media ; Persia and Media would be subdued by Greece, and Greece by the arms of Rome. Thus the pride of all the Nations of the World would be broken, and they would lose their fiiith in the power of their own national deities, and would be prepared to receive Chris- tianity, and would eventually become pi-eachers of the Gospel ; and having been themselves converted by Christian Jews, would at length convert the great body of the Jews, whom God would restore to Himself for ever in the true Zion, — the spiritual Jerusalem, — the Church of Christ. See on iii. 8—20. By foretelling these last conquests, the prophecies of Zephaniah are also joined on to those three prophets which follow, namely, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, tho pro- phetical trio which stand nearest to the threshold of the Church. Zephaniah ends his prophecy with the cheering words, " I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn bach: your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord." He prepares the way for those three prophets, who prophesied when the Lord had turned haclc the captivity of Judah from Babylon, and who taught the Jews to see in it a foreshadowing of a far more glorious deliverance — the emancipation of all true Israelites from their own bondage and exile, under the powers of Sin, Satan, and the Grave, and their restoration to life, and hope of everlasting glory in the heavenly Jerusalem, by the might and love of Cheist. The Coming Judgment. Cn. I. 1. The word of the LoED which came unto Zephaniah — the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah — king of Judah'\ Zephaniah, the Prophet, was a descendant of the good King Hezekiah, and prophesied under another good king, Josiah ; and he shows God's love to Judah in raising up to her su -h good kings. He prophesies woe to Jerus.alera, whose guilt was greater because she did not profit aright by the reformati m attempted by them. 2. the land'] Rather, the earth. He prophesies woe to the world, as far as it is opposed to God. Sin of compromises in rcliriion. ZEPIIANIAH I. 3 — 8. The Lord's sacrifiee. Before CHRIST G30. aHos. 4. 3. b Ezek. 7. 19. S 14.3, 4, 7. Matt. 13. 41. II Or, idols. c Fulfilled about 024, 2 Kings 23.4, 5. d Hos. 10. 5. e2 Kings 23. 12. Jer. 19. 13. f 1 Kings IS. 21. 2 Kings 17.33,41. gisa. 48. 1. Hos. 4. 15. II Or, lo Ihe LORD. h Josh. 23. 7. 1 Kings 11. 33. ilsa. 1.4. Jer. 2. 13, 17. & 15. 6. k Hos. 7. 7. 1 Hab. 2. 20. Zech. 2. 13. m Isa. 13. 6. n Isa. 34. 0. Jer. 40. 10. Ezek. 39. 17. Rev. 19. 17. + Heb. saiictijieijf , prepared. * Heb. Jer. 39. 0, ^ " I -u'ill consume man and beast ; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and '' the || stumbliughlocks Vtith the wicked ; and I will cut off man from off the laud, saith the Lord. ^ I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, And upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem ; And " I will cut off the remnant of Baal from tliis place, And the name of ^ the Chemarims with the priests ; ^ And them ' that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops ; 'And them that worship and ^ that swear || by the Lohd, And that swear '' by Malcham ; ^ And ' them that are turned back from the Loed ; And those that ''have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him. "^ ' Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God : "" For the day of the Lord is at hand : For " the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, He hath f bid his guests. ^ And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will f punish "the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. 3. fishes of the sea] Words takeu up from the foregoing Propliet, Habakkuk (i. 14). 4. upon Judah] He prophesies woes also to the visible Church, as f\ir as it is apostate from God. It has been imagined by some, that the invasion of Juduh and the v.'oes of Jerusalem, here foretold by Zephaniah, were accomplished by an army of Scythians, mentioned by Herodotus (i. 15. 103 — 106 ; iv. 1). So JUtoald, Hitzig, and Sertheau; and after them Stanley, Lectures, pp. 502, 503. But neither Herodotus nor the his- torical Books of the Old Testament mention any conquest of Jerusalem by the Scythians ; and Jeremiah, who is very full and explicit in his details of Jewish history at this period, knows nothing of Scythians, but ascribes all God's judgments on Jeru- salem at this time to Babylon. Cp Keil, and Kleinert, p. 163. — the remnant of Baal] The idolatry which still lurked in Judah, alter Hezekiah's and Judah's reformation, and which thus aggravated the siu of those who still clave to it. So the Reformation of the sixteenth century in Europe, when new light was shed upon the world by the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures, has greatly added to the guilt of those who still cling to the sins of idolatry and creature-worship, which are condemned in those Scriptures by God Himself, speaking not only by His Prophets in the Old Testament, but by Christ and His Apostles in the New. The remnant of Baal is contrasted with the remnant of the house of Judah, or the residue of God's People, i. e. tlie believers in Christ. See ii. 7. 9; iii. 13. Zech. viii. 12; and note below, on ii. 7. — the name of the Chemarims] Priests of the high places, who were put down by Josiah. See on 2 Kings xxiii. 5. Even the names of such persons and things are hateful to God (see above, Exod. xxiii. 13 ; and Hos. ii. 17 ; and below, Zech. xiii. 2), and will be rooted out by Him. How much more the persons and things themselves ! — with the priests] Those who, being of the family of Aaron, and therefore Levitical Priests, have apostatized to idolatry (Tarnovius, Grotius). S. Jerome applies this to Christian Bishops and Priests, "qui frustra sibi applaudunt in Episcopal! nomine, et in Presbyterii dignitate, et non in opere." 5. that worship the host of heaven upon the housetop.^] Where they might better contemplate and adore the stars (Theodoret). See Deut. iv. 19. 2 Kings xxiii. 12. Jer. xix. 13; xxxii. 29. — that swear ly the Loud, and that swear by Malcham] Or, who swear ly their king (i. e. Baal), — the king whom they have made for themselves — as well as by Jehovah. The Prophet pronounces a severe censure against those who " halt between two opinions " (1 Kings xviii. 21), and endeavour, by ingenious shifts, to blend falsehood with truth ; as is done by religious syncretism, which is one of the cha- racteristics of these latter days. On the sin of religious com- promise and indifierence (what SicAarrf Hooker ci\\]s "a mingle lOG mangle of religion and superstition, light and darkness"), see the note above, at 2 Kings xvii. 29 ; and on the history of the judgment of Solomon (1 Kings iii. 22 — 25). They that divide tlieir affection and their adoration between God and idols, between the Creator and the creature, will, tlie Prophet warns us here, be punished in company with the worst idolaters. If Satan have half, he will have all. If God have only half. He will have none. " Ye cannot serve God and Mammon" (Matt. vi. 24). •' What concord hath Christ with Belial ? " (2 Cor. vi. 15.) 6. that have not sought ihe Lobd] It is a sin not to seek and diligently to inquire after Him. Diligent and persevering search after truth is necessary to salvation. The Evangelical merchantman seeks for goodly pearls (Matt. xiii. 45). The Bereans were more noble than they of Tliessaloniea, because tliey searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so (Acts xvii. 11). God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Heb. xi. 6). 7. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God] Zepha- niah takes up the words of the preceding prophet, Habakkuk, (ii. 20), and thus links on his proplieey to his predecessor's. " The Lord is in his holy temple ; let the whole earth keep silence before Him," where the original words are the same as here. — the day of the Loed] The Prophet here adopts the words of Joel i. 15"; ii. 1. 11; iii. 14; and Amos v. 18. 20, Obad. 15. Isa. ii. 12; xiii. 6. See below, tin. 14, 15. — the Loed hath prepared a sacrifice] Words repeated from Isa. xxxiv. 6. See the note there. Cp. Jer. xlvi. 10. Ezek. xxxix. 17. 19. These are the only passages in the pro- phetical books where the word sacrifice occurs in this sense. The sacrifice which God hath prepared is the Jewish Nation ; and He hath bid His guests, literally. He kath sanctified His called ones to offer it. Cp. Isa. xiii. 2, " I have commanded my sanctified ones." Jer. xsii. 7, " Sanctify destroyers;" and see Micah iii. 5. Joel iii. 9, where the words " sanctify war" occur. All men, either willingly or unwillingly, are sacrifices to God. They will he blessed for evermore, if they freely oft'er and present themselves, their souls and bodies, as living sacrifices to God, which is their reasonable service or worsliip (Rom. xii. 1). If not, they will be made to be sacri- fices to His righteous indignation, against their own will. See above, on Isa. xxxiv. 6. Jer. xlvi. 10 ; and below, on Mark ix. 49, " Every s.acrifice will be salted with salt." Cp. Rev. xix. 7. The contrast to this terrible picture is presented by the Prophet in the gracious revelation at the close of the pro- phecy, where God declares that the Gentiles, when converted to Christianity, will exercise a holy Priesthood, and will bring the Jewish Nation as an acceptable offering to Himself. Sea below, iii. 10. 8. such as are clothed with strange apparel] Such as mimic the manners of heathens, and adopt their costume. Cp. Lev. xix. 27, 28; xxi. 5. The Babylonian grandees wore splendid Woe to dwellers in Maktesh. ZEPHANIAH I. 9—18. The Daij of the Lord. * In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the thrcsholil, which fill their masters' liouses with violence and deceit. '° And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that there shall he the noise of a cry from ^ the fish gate, and au howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills. " ■'Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, For all the merchant people are ~cut down ; All they that bear silver are cut off. '■- And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are f "■ settled on their lees : ' that say in theu' heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. '^ Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation : They shall also build houses, but ' not inhabit them ; And they shall plant vineyards, but " not drink the wine thereof. ^^ "^ The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly. Even the voice of the day of the Lord : The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. '^ ^ That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of waste- ness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, ^^ a day of ^ the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. '^ And I mil bring distress upon men, that they shall ' walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord : and ^ their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh " as the dung. '^ '' Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's WTath ; but the whole land shall be " devoured by the fire p 2 Chron 33. H. u Micah C. 15. X Joel 2. 1, 11. V Isa. 22. 5. Jer. 30. 7. Joel 2. 2, II. a Dent. 2S. 2S Isa. 5i). 10. b Ps. /9. 3. c Ps. 83. 10. Jer. 9. 22. & IS. 1 rt Prov. 11.4 Ezek. 7. 19. e ch. 3. 8. scarlet and vermilion robes (Ezek. xxiii. 14. Dan. v. 7. 16. 29 : cp. Nahum ii. 3), and the Assyrians blue (Ezek. x.xiii. 12) ; and the nobles of Jerusalem seem to have been dazzled with the splendour of their attire, and to have imitated it ; as the Macedonians, under Alexander the Great, adopted the gorgeous apparel of the Persian court of Darius. 9. that leap on the threshold^ That leap over the threshold, violently rush into the houses of others to despoil them, and fill the houses ol' their masters with the rapine they have torn from them. Many expositors explain this by what is recorded in 1 Sam. V. 4, 5, concerning the priests of Dagon, who would not tread on the threshold of his temple; and so the Targum here. If this interpretation is correct, theu the Prophet is to be miderstood as censuring the adoption of idolatrous practices from Philistia — practices which were the more blamable, because they were records of the humiliation of Dagon bowing down, and mutilated in his own temple before the Lord God of Israel (1 Sam. v. 3, 4) — as well as the strange attire of the Babylonians (i'. 8). 10. a cry from the fish gate'} A cry of distress, when, to punish the violence of those Jews who break into the houses of weaker citizens, the Chaldean invaders will come and rush into the fish-gate, on the north side of the lower city. Cp. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14. Neh. iii. 3; xii. 39; and Jer. xxxii. 2. — the second'] Rather, the lower city (Acra), on the north of Zion. See above, on 2 Kings xxii. 14. Cp. Neh. xi. 9. Josephus, XV. 11. 5. — from the hills] Of Jerusalem — Zion and Moriah. Cp. Isa. Ixvi. 6; and & Jerome here. 11. I£ov)l,ge inhabitants of MaX-tesh] Literally, of a mortar. See Oesen. 421. 473. Prov. xxvii. 22. Judg. xv. 19, where the word denotes a hollow place in a rock. The name Maktesh, or mortar, is here given to Jerusalem, because in her cruelty she pounded the poor and needy, as in a mortar ; and because she in her turn for her sins would be pounded, as in a mortar, by the Chaldeans. Babylon itself is called a hammer by Jeremiah (1. 23). Similarly, Jerusalem is called a pot, or cauldron, by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Sec OH Jer. i. 13. Ezek. si. 3 ; xxiv. 3. 6. 107 Such appellatives as these are frequent in tlie prophetical writings, and give much life and vigour to them. Jerusalem is called Maktesh ; so Merathaim and Pekod are names given to Babylon (Jer. 1. 21. Ezek. x.\m. 23) ; Oareh, given to the King of Assyria (Jer.xxsi.39); andMiizzab, given toXineveh (Nahum ii. 7) ; and see the Introd. to tlie Song of Solomon, p. 125. 12. I will search Jerusalem with candles} I will search every corner and secret recess of the city, so that none may escape. (Cp. Prov. xx. 27. Luke xv. 8). This prophecy extends not only to the si/>ge of Jerusjilem by the Chaldeans, but also to her subsequent capture by the Romans, who searched all parts of Jerusalem, the drains, sewers, sepulchres, and eaves, in order to drag forth to death those who lurked there (Josephus, B. J. vii. 17. 20-30). So in the last day, the Judge will search every part of the Visible Church with candles. He searcheth every remote corner, and dark cranny, and chink of every heart. He will "bringforth tolightthe hidden tbingsof darkness, and will make manifest tlie counsels of the hearts" (1 Cor. iv. 5). " Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight; but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do " (Heb. iv. 13). Cp. £p. Sanderson, ii. 327. — settled on their lees] Men living in carn.al security, and rooted in inveterate habits of sin and sensuaUty, are like wine that is not disturbed in order to be racked off; and which, if it be bad wine, retains all its austere harshness and turbid thickness. See note above, on Jer. xlviii. 11 ; and Isa. xxv. 6. True religion is diffusive. It is racked off, as it were, from the cask, and put into vessels for the refreshment of many. Selfishness is sin. It settles itself on the lees ; it stagnates and curdles, and thickens, till it becomes useless and noisome to the scent and to the taste. — The LoED will not do good] This is the creed of the Deist and the Libertine. Cp. Ps. x. 11 ; xeiv. 7. They deny God's pi'ovidential government of the world. Things happen, they say, by chance or necessity. God will not reward piety and virtue, nor punish ungodliness and vice. 17. their blood shall be poured out as dust] Of as little value, and iu as great quantity, as the dust In the streets of the city, or as iu the sandy plain. Judgments on the Heathen. ZEPHANIAH II. 1—9. God calls them to repent. a Joel 2. IG. II Or, not deBiroiis li Job 21. IS. Ps. I. 4. Isa. 17. 13. Has. 13.3 c 2 Kings 23. 20. e I's. 7C. 9. f Joel 2. 14. Amos 5. 15. Jon.ih 3. 9. p Jer. 47. 4, 5. Ezek. 25. 15. Amos 1. C, 7, 8 Zecll. 9. 5, 6. li Jer. 4. & 15.8. iEzek. 25. 16. 1 Seel.«a. 17. 2. m Isa. 11. 11. Micah 4. 7. & 5. 7, 8. Hag. 1. 12. Si l| Or, when, ^c. n Exod. 4. 31. Luke 1 . 68. o Ps. 120. 1. Jer. 29. 14. cli. 3. 20. p Jer. 43. 27. Ezek. 25. S. q Ezek. 25. 3, 6. r Jer. 49. 1. s Isa. 15. Jer. 48. Ezek. 25. 9. Amos 2. 1. t Amos 1. 13. u Gen. 19. 25. Deut. 29. 23. Isa. 13. 19. & 34. of his jealousy : for ' he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the laud. II, ' " Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, uation || not desired ; - Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass ^ as the chaff, before " the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you. ^ '' Seek ye the Lord, "^ all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment ; seek righteousness, seek meekness : ' it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. ■* For ^ Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation : They shall drive out Ashdod '' at the noon day, and Ekron shall he rooted up. ^ Woe unto the inhabitants of ' the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites ! the word of the Lord is against you ; *" Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. '' And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, ' and folds for flocks. ^ And the coast shall be for "" the remnant of the house of Judah ; they shall feed thereupon : in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening : II for the Lord their God shall " visit them, and ° turn away their captivity. ** p I have heard the reproach of Moab, and '^ the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and 'magnified themselves against their border. ^ Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely ' Moab shall be as Sodom, and ' the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, " even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desola- tion : " the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. 13. Jer. 49. 18. S: 50. lO. JrDOilENTS ON THE NaTIOKS.— CaLL TO REPENTANCE. Ch. II. 1. nation not desired'] Rather, O nation not ashamed; lost to all sense of sbame, and therefore unwilling to receive correction, and incapable of amendment {Sept,^ Tartfum, Arabic, St/riac), The radical idea of the word casaph, lierc used (connected with ceseph, silver), in the passive voice, is to become white, pale, or blank, as something which loses its colour and is eclipsed. Thence it is applied to a person who is put to confusion with shame. See Oesen. 409. 2. before the day pass as the chaff] Or, day passes away like chaff. Tlie day of your life flies aw.ay like chaff. Cp. Isa. xxix. 5. "What is your life?" says St. James (iv. 14), "it is even a vapour, that appcarcth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." Therefore repent, while ye have time. "Uteu- dum est £etate, eito pede preterit a;tas." Tlie day of man is con- trasted with the Day of the Lord. The sentence is parentlietical ; the word before (which is not in the original) ought to be omitted. 3. ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger] Ye too shall be Zephaniahs. See above. Prelim. Hate to chap. i. on the meaning of tlie Prophet's name. 4. Gaza shall be forsalcen] The Prophet declares the judg- ments of the Lord God of Israel on the Nations of tlie Hcatlien World, and begins with that which is nearest to the judicial Throne of His Majesty at JeruSiilem; namely, Philistia; ■ thence he proceeds to Mo.ab and Ammon; and so southward to Ethiopia. These propliecies have not only a judicial aud punitive significance, but also a merciful and gracious meaning. The heathenism of the Gentile World will be destroyed, and they will be converted to God in Clirist. See vv. 7. 11 ; iii. 10. Oaza will be forsalcen. There is a play on the meaning of these words. Cp. above ,on Micah i. 10 — 14-, " Azzah" (i.e. Gaza) "will be azubah" (forsaken); " Ukron will be teaker" (will be rooted out). 6. Cherethites] Perhaps .i colony from Crete. See 1 Sam. 103 XXX. 14. 2 Sam. viii. 18. 1 Chron. xviii. 17. Ezek. xxv. 16. There is another play on the words here. The word Che- rethites signifies cutters off (they were used as executioners in the royal army of Judah) ; and the sense is, I will cut off (from the verb cdrath, to cut off, Gexen. 41G) the cutters off. 6, 7. the sea coast shall be dwellings—for shepherds, and folds for flocks — the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah] That is, the sea-coast shall become a sacred colony for those Jews who will believe in Christ and preach the Gospel. This is the true prophetic meaning of the words the remnant of the house of Judah. See v. 9, and Isa. x. 21 ; xi. 11; xxxvii. 32. Amos v. 15. Zech. viii. 11, and St. Paul's use of the word (Kom. ix. 27; xi. 5). This prophecy was ful- filled in the preaching of the Gospel in Philistia by St. Peter and by St. Philip, and by the erection of Christian Churches there. Cp. above on Ps. Ixxvii. 4, and below, on Acts viii. 26. 40; ix. 32 — 35. These were "the dwellings and cottages for shepherds" — namely. Christian pastors — and "folds for Hocks," Christ's sheep and lambs. Compare the similar imagery in the Evangelical prophecies of Isaiah (Ui. 5 ; Ixv. 10), " Sharon shall be a fold of flocks ;" Jer. xxxi. 5 — 14, and xxxiii. 12. Ezek, xxxvi. 38 ; and see S. Jerome and A Lapide here. 8. I have heard the reproach of Moab] Cp. Isa. xvi. 6. " We have heard of the pride of Moab." Cp. Jeremiah (xlviii. 29), and t>. 10 here, " This shall they have for their pride." We, who have heard of its pride, will hear of its shame. 9. the remnant of my people] The faithful remnant. It is the same word as in «. 7. Here is a prophecy of the Christianiza- tion of those countries which were occupied by Moab. Cp. Jer. xlviii. 47, " I w'ill bring again the captivity of Moab.'* The prophecy declares that the heathenism of the nations here mentioned will be abolished, and that a faithful remnant of God's People will be gathered from them, by believing Jews — namely, by Apostles and primitive Disciples of the Christian Church, who went forth from Jerusalem — and will be incorpo- rated in God's family in Christ. Woe to Ethiopia, ZEPHANIAH II. 10—15. III. 1—4. Assyria, and Jerusalem. '" This shall they have ^ for then- pride, Because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts. ' ' The Lord will he terrible unto them : For he will f famish all the gods of the earth ; ^And men shall worship him, every one from his place, Eren all ^ the isles of the heathen. '■- "^ Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall he slain by "^ my sword. '^ And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and '' destroy Assyria ; And will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry Hke a wilderness. '■* And ' flocks shall lie down in the midst of her. All '' the beasts of the nations : Both the II ^ cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the || upper lintels of it ; Their voice shall sing in the windows ; Desolation shall be in the thresholds : II For he shall uncover the '' cedar work. '^ This is the rejoicing city 'that dwelt carelessly, ■^ That said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me : How is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie dovai in ! Every one that passeth by her ' shall hiss, and "" wag his hand. III. ' Woe to II f her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city ! - She " obeyed not the voice ; she '' received not || correction ; She trusted not in the Lord ; she drew not near to her God. ^ " Her princes within her are roaring lions ; her judges are "' evening wolves ; They gnaw not the bones till the morrow. '' Her " prophets are light and treacherous persons : liefore CM RIST aGpn. 10. 5. h Isa. 18. 1. & 20.4. Jer. 4G. 9. Ezek. 30. 9. c Ps. 17. 13 d Isa. 10. 12. Ezek. 31. 3. Nahum 1. l./t 2. 10. «i 3. 15, 13. e ver. 0. fisa. 1.1.21. 22. li Or, pelican. gisa. 34. 11, H. II Or, knopt, or, chapiters^ D Or, when he Imlh uncm-ned. li Jer. 22, H. ilsa. 4/. 8. I Job 27. 2.1. 2. 15. Ezek. 27. 3G. m Nahum 3.19. II Or, i/!utl;iwus. f Heb. crniiL a Jer. 22.21. Ii Jer. 5. 3. II Or, instruclion, c Ezek. 22. 27. Micah3. 9, 10, II. d Hab. 1. s. e Jer. 23. 11, 32. 11. he will famish all the gods of the earth'] By depriving tlicm of tbcii' worshippers and s.icriticcs, and bj converting tlie heathen nations to Himself. This was the result of the chastisement of those nations by such conquerors as Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar, who were employed by the Lord God of Israel to punish them for their sins, and to break the neck of their pride, and to destroy their confidence in their own false national deities, which were not able to help them, and were carried away into captivity, never to be restored ; and thus to prepare them for the recep- liun of a purer faitli, and, eventually, for the incorporation of the meek and humble among them into the Church of Christ. See 5. Jerome and Theodoret here. Cp. iii. 10. 8. Augustine (Do Civ. Dei, xviii. 33) applies these words to the conversion of the heathen to Christ ; and J£useb. also (Demonst. Evang. ii. 16) interprets this prophecy in that sense. 12. Ye Ethiopians also, ge shall be slain bg my sword] Literally, " Ye jEthiopiaiis also " (in the farthest south), *' shall be slain bg my sword — even thrg" Ye shall be slain by Mg sword, wielded by the hand of the King of liabylon, Nebuchadnezzar, "Mi/ Servant" (Ser. x\v. ^; x.wii. 6; xliii. 10). Cp. Ezek. xxix."l9 ; xxx. 4. 9, 10. Jer. xlvi. 13. 13. he will stretch out his hand against the norths and destroy Assgria] Even Assj'ria, which carried away Israel captive, and liad overrun Egypt and Ethiopia (Isa. xx.), shall be destroyed by the hand of the Babylonians. See above, ou Nahum i. 1 ; ii. 1 — 7. 14. cormorant and the hittern] Or, the pelican and the porcupine. See on Isa. xxxiv. 11, whence the words are adopted here. — vpper lintels'] Or knops of the pillars. See on Amos ix. 1. — Their voice shall sing] There shall be the voice of the songster in the tcindows ; birds shall perch and sing in the ruined windows of its palaces. — cedar work] Cedars hewn in Lebanon, by Assyrian kings, for the construction of their palaces of Nineveh. Sec the note above, ou Isa. xxxvii. 24. 15. I am, and there is none beside me] Such was the language of self-idolizing Nineveh, the type of the infidel and lOU impious powers of this World ; see above, Introd. to Nahum. In this respect, as in some others, that form of Antichristianisra resembled the Babylonish or idolatrous form, to which these words are ascribed by Isa. xlvii. 8. Both these forms deify tliemselves, and defy God ; and both will be destroyed by Him, as He declares by His holy Prophets. — shall hiss, and wag his hand] Cp. Jer. xix. 8. Micah vi. 16. The movement of the hand is an action of dismissal — "Away with thee! begone ont of my sight!" — and thus it intimates that the mighty Powers of this World, which once claimed homage from men bowiug in silent awe before them, and kissing the hand in lowly adoration (1 Kings xix. 18), will be hissed and hooted ort' the stage of this world, and bo motioned to be gone and to disappear, by those who once trembled in their presence. The most terrible climax of this rejection and dismissal, will be in those awful words of tlie Judge of all at the Great D.ay, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." Woe to the Faithless and Uxbiguteous ix the Cnuncn OF God. God's TEjtroKAHY Rejection op the Jews, and Choice OF THE Gentiles in theie place. Cn. III. 1. Woe to her] To Jerusalem. — that is filthy] Rather, that is obstinate or perverse {Gesen. 505; Fuerst, 861; Kleinert, 177). See what foUow.s. "She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction." 3. evening wolves] Habak. i. 8. — They gnaw not the bones till the morrow] Rather, theg lag not up the bones for the morrow. They are wolves who prowl about in the evening, ami arc so ravenous when they seize their prey, that they leave not a single bone till morning light. See Sept., Vtilg., Syriac, Targum, and Gesen. ISO; Fuerst, 300. 4. Ser prophets are light] Rather, are boastful; properly, overflowing —hke a vessel which boils over — with profuse foam and scum of empty, vain-glorious, and wanton words. See Gen. xlix. 4. Judges ix. 4. Gesen. 672. Conversion of tlie heathen ZEPHANIAH III. 5—9. by faithful Jews Before CHRIST about SeeMicah 3. U. t Heb. mornivg i Jer. 3. 3. SO. 15. t Ilcb. shoulder Her priests have polluted the sanctuary, They have done ' violence to the law. ^ The just LoED '' is in the midst thereof; He will not do iniquity : f Every momiug doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not But ' the unjust kuoweth no shame. I have cut off the nations : Their || towers are desolate ; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by : Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, That there is none inhabitant. "^ I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, Thou wilt receive instruction ; So their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them : But they rose early, and ' corrupted all their doings. Therefore '" wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, Until the day that I rise up to the prey : For my determination is to " gather the nations. That I may assemble the kingdoms. To pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger : For all the earth "shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the people '' a pure f language, That they may all call upon the name of the Lord, To serve him with one j consent. 7. I said, Surely thou wilt fear me] I said io 3u(\a\\, Only fear thou me. If thou wilt fulfil this one condition, then thou wilt be saved. — howsoever I punished theni] Or, in all my visitations of her. — they —corrupted all their doings'] The Jews rejected God's offers of mercy under the Old Dispensation and under the Gospel ; therefore, as a Nation, they are cast off, and the Heathen are taken into His favour in their place. See what follows, and S. Augustine, De Civ. Dei, vii. 33, who cites these verses as a prophecy concerning the conversion of the Heathen to Christianity. 8. Therefore] Since salvation cannot come forth from tlie people, even of favoured Israel and Judah (for they liave cor- rupted themselves and become abominable), wait ye for Me, says God, the only Saviour. This is a prophecy of Christ, coming to visit and redeem His People {S. Jerome). "Wait ye upon Me, saith the Lord." He repeats the exhortation of Habakkuk (ii. 3 ; the same word is used there), to wait in patience, and trust for the fulfilment of God's pro- phecies and promises; intininting that to many, in evil days of sore distress for the Church, the time will appear to be very long, and they will almost despair of the Lord's Coming to deliver them. — Until the day that I rise up] The Sept. and Vulgate here has, "In the day of My resurrection;" and ancient Christian E.xpositors liavc recognized here, a prophecy of Christ's rising tip (as He is described by Jacob, in Gen. xlix. 9) from the dead to divide the spoil. When He rose from the dead, He triumphed over Sin, Satan, and the Grave; and He gave a commission to His Apostles, to bring all Nations into subjection to the Gospel. See Eusehius, Dem. Evang. ii. 17, and S. Jerome, here ; and 5. Augustine, De Civ. Dei, xviii. 33. — ■ For my determination is] Rather, it is my right judg- ment ; my judicial right and ofiice (Hebr. mish-pat ; the word in V. 5, and Malachi iii. 5). I will come near to you to judgment. God will inflict punishments on the Heathen Nations of the World, in order to bring them to Himself in Christ. God will judge the Nations; and in consequence of those judg- ments their conversion will take place. "O Lord, when Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness" (Tsa. xxvi. 9). See nhovc, Prtlini. I^ote to chap, i., and above, on ii. 11, 110 — jny determination (or judgment) is to gather the nations] This is specially true of Christ, to Whom " the Father hath committed all judgment " (John v. 22), and ^Vho, when He comes to judgment, will gather before Ilim all nations (Matt. XXV. 32). The Conteesion op the IlEATnEN by Israel's Faith- ful Remnant; and the subsequent Conversion op THE Jews by Believeus and Peeacheks feoh the Heathen. 9. will I turn to the people a pure language] Rather, a clean lip (the contrast to unclean lips; Isa. vi. 5). When I have chastened the Heathen, and weakened their faith in their own idols, I will give back to the Heathen Nations a clean lip ; I will convert them to holiness. Their lips, which were created by Me, for My service and glory, have been polluted by worship of idols (Ps. xvi. 4); but I will cleanse and sanctify them by dedication to Myself; and they will render to Me the calves of their lips, as Hosea says xiv. 2, Before the building of Babel, the tohole Earth was of one lip (see on Gen. xi. 1) ; but pride, and defiance of God, pro- duced confusion and a jargon of tongues. But when the Holy Ghost came down from Heaven, the Gospel sounded forth in the languages of all nations, and in the Christian Sion all nations meet together, in order that they may '* with one mind and one mouth glorify God " (Rom. xv. 6). This union, begun on earth, will be perfected in heaven. There will be one language ; and that language will be Love. — with one consent] Literally, and very forcibly, with one shoulder. Cp. Isa. xix. 23,' 21, " Egypt will serve with Assyiia, and Israel shall be a third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land." What a noble picture is here ! In ancient triumphal pro- cessions the victorious soldiers marched side by side, bearing the trophies of their conquest. Here all the great Nations of tlie World ai-e personified, marching in order, side by side, and giving their shoulders and their necks, with one mind, to bear the one Gospel of Christ throughout the world, in a grand triumphal procession (cp. 2 Cor. ii. 14) ; and thus we see an anticipation of the glorious time when the voice will be heard in heaven, " The Kingdoms of this world are become the King- dom of the Lord, and of His Christ " (Rev. xi. 15). Conversion of the Jews. ZEPHANIAH III. 10—15. Sing, daughter of Zion. 10 1 Fi-om beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, Even the daughter of my dispersed, Shall bring mine offering. " In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, "Wherein thou hast transgressed against me : For then I ^A\\ take away out of the midst of thee them that 'rejoice in thy pride, And thou shalt no more be haughty f because of my holy mountain. '- 1 will also leave in the midst of thee ' an afflicted and poor people. And they shall trust in the name of the Lord. '•' ' The remnant of Israel " shall not do iniquity, ''nor speak lies ; Neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth : For y they shall feed and lie do'mi, And none shall make them afraid. '■* '^ Sing, daughter of Zion ; shout, Israel ; Be glad and rejoice with all the heart, daughter of Jerusalem. '^ The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy : ^ The king of Israel, even the Lord, '' is in the midst of thee : Before on RIST about C30. q Vs. G8. 31. Isa. 18. I, 7. & CO. 4, S.C. Mai. 1. 11. Acts 8. 27. t Hch. in my holy. s Isa. H. 32. Zech. II. II. Matt. 5. 3. 1 Cor. 1. 27, 28. James 2. 5. t Micali 4. 7. ch. 2. 7. u Isa. GO. 21. . G.I. 8. Rev 14.5. y Ezelt. 34. 28. Micah 4. 4. & 7.-14. z Isa. 12. C. & .54. 1. Zech. 2. 10. S: a John I. 49. b Ezek 4S. 35. ver. 5, 1 7. . 7. 15. .•;• 21. 3, 4. 10. From heyond the rivers — mine offering"] Bather, From leyond the rivers of Ethiopia they (i. c. the Gentiles) will bring my worshippers, the daughter of my dispersed ones (i. e. the Jews scattered abroad), as a meat offering to me. Israel and Judah will be dispersed throughout tlie world for their sins, as God had foretold by Moses, "The Lord shall scatter" (or disperse) "you among the Nations" (Deut. iv. 27); and agaiu " The Lord shall scatter " (or disperse) " thee among all people, from one end of the earth even unto the other" (Deut. x.\viii. 64). Already, in Zephaniah's time, this had been fulfilled witli respect to the Ten Tribes captured and dispersed by Assyria. The dispersion of Judah also was near ; and, in course of time, the very name of the twelve tribes was " the Diaspora, or Dispersion." See below, John .\i. 51, and on Acts ii. 2 — 6. James i. 1. But Zephaniah has a message of comfort for them here. A\lien Heathens have been converted to Clu'istianity by the faithful remnant of Israel (i. e. by Apostles and other primitive Preachers of the Gospel, who went forth from Jerusalem), then they will convert the Jews of the difl'ereut dispersions; even in the far off region of Etliiopia, bordering on central Africa ; and they will present them as an offering (literally, a meat offering ; Hebr. minchah) to Me. The best exposition of this passage will be found in the similar prophecies concerning the work of the Heathen in con- verting the Jews, in Isaiah Ixi. 5, 6 ; Ixv. 18 — 21 (wliere see the note) ; and in the Song of Solomon, iii. 4, and viii. 8, 9. St. Paul adopts tliis imagery (Rom. xv. 16), " That the offering vp of tlie Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost;" and Phil. ii. 17, " I am poured forth" (my blood will be poured out as a drink offering) " upon the sacrifice and service of j'our faith." On the minchah, the meat offering (an emblem of human labour mingled with divine grace) joined with the drink otter- ing, and ever adjunct to the whole hunit offering, see on Levit. ii., Prelim. Kote, aud xxii. 13, which will explain the imagery here. The Prophet had declared that the wicked would be a sacrifice to God's anger (Zeph. i. 7) ; He here declares that the Jewish Nation will be brought to Himself as an acceptable sacrifice by the Gentile Nations. 11. In that day — mountain'] In that day, Judah, when thou art converted to God, thou wilt no longer have cause to feel shame for thine iniquities; for thou wilt repent and believe, and God will blot them out, — as Hosea says at the close of his prophecy (xiii. 12), " The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, his sin is hid," — and thou wilt no longer be proud of thy spiritual privileges, and feel a vain-glorious confidence in Jerusalem and its Temple (see on Jer. vii. 4) ; for the Gentiles will be admitted to equal privileges with thee; and thou wilt embrace them as thy brethren in the spiritual Temple of Sion, the Universal Church of Christ. lU 12. an afflicted and poor people] A people bowed down and humbled with a penitential sorrow for sin; such hath God chosen, says St. J.imes, the first Bishop of Jerusalem (ii. 5). They will be left in thee ; they will he a precious remnant ; they will be comforted, and rest in peace and joy ; tlicy will lie fed by Me as a flock (Micah vii. 14); and none shall make them afraid (r. 13). Perhaps tliere is something of a typical and prophetic significance in the words of the sacred historian and the Prophet (2 Kings xxv. 12. Jer. Iii. 16), where they say that the Chaldeans, when they took Jerusalem, left " of the 2'oor of the land to be vinedressers and hushandmen," while the kings, princes, and nobles were taken prisoners. Certainly, in the first ages of the Gospel, and when Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome, God chose the poor, the meek, the humble and simple of this world ; not the mighty, and the noble, and the proud, to be vinedressers in His vineyard, and to be husbandmen in the field of His Church. 13. The remnant of Israel] The Israel of God, the children of faithful Abraham, the true believers in Christ. " This remnant " (says S. Augustine, De Civ. Dei, vii. 33) " are those of whom St. Paul " (quoting Isaiah x. 22) " speaks : — ' Though the number of the Children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant (only) shall be saved ' (Rom. ix. 27). Tliis remnant are those of the Jewish Nation who believed in Christ." Cp. jS. Jerome here. SiNO, Daughteb of Zion. Zephaniah closes his prophecy, as Hosea does, with a triumpliant announcement of the restoration of God's ancient People to His favour in Christ. Hosea, the Prophet of the Ten Tribes, proclaims this blessed consummation to Israel ; Zepha- niah, the Prophet of Jerusalem, completes the prophecy, aud briugs a joyful message of grace and glory both to Judaii and Israel. He unites both together in praising God. " Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, Israel ; be glad and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem." Both the two sticks are to be joined together in one stick, in the hand of Christ (see Ezek. xxxvii. 17) ; and the Gentiles are to be like almond blos- soms on Aaron's rod, and to flourish upon it (Num. xvii. 8), in the hand of Christ, the Everlasting High Priest ; and to be laid up before God in the Holy of Holies of His Everlasting Temple, the heavenly Jerusalem. See the notes above on Ezek. xxxvii. 16 — 28, which afford the best exposition of this passage. 15. The king of Israel, even the Loed, is in the midst of thee] This joyful promise of God's presence and perpetual indwelling, is here repeated twice for greater assurance. See r. 17. It is taken up from Isaiah (see Isa. xii. 6, and the note on Isa. Ixvi. 17, on the phrase "in the midst"), and from Hosea (xi. 9), who is the first of the Minor Prophets, aud with whom Zeplianiah, the last of the Minor Prophets before the Baby, lonisb Captivity, loves to associate himself. The future glory ZEPHANIAH III. IG— 20. of the Church of Christ. Before CHRIST about e ver. 15. f Deut. 30. 9. Isa. G2. 5. & 65. 19. Jer. 32. 41. t Heb. he will be tilenl. g Lam. 2. 6. t Heb. Ihe hurdm upon it %vas reproach. h Ezek. 31. lU. t Heb. I will ael th-m for a praise. t Hth. of their shame. i Isa. II. 12. & 27. 12. & 56. 8. Ezek. 2S. 25. & 34. 13. &il. 21. Am.js 9. 14. Thou sbalt not see evil any more. '" In that day " it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not : And to Zion, "* Let not thine hands be || slack. ''' The Lord thy God ^ in the midst of thee is mighty ; He will save, Hie will rejoice over thee with joy ; f He will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. '" I will gather them that ^ are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, Who are of thee, to whom f the reproach of it was a burden. '^ Behold, at that time I will undo all that affiict thee : And I will save her that *■ halteth. And gather her that was driven out ; And f I will get them praise and fame in every land f Where they have been put to shame. ■-" At that time ' will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you : For I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth. When I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord. This prophecy of the perpetual Divine Presence is fulfilled in God the Son, Emmanuel, "God with us" (Matt. i. 23); " God manifested in the flesh " (1 Tim. iii. 16), promising His perpetual presence to His Church (Matt, xxviii. 20) ; and in God the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, sent to abide with her for ever (John xiv. 16). 17. he will rejoice over thee with joy"] As the Bridegroom with the liride. Tlie imagery is from Isa. Ixii. 5, and cp. Jer. xxxii. 4-1. — Se will rest in his love'] Liter.iUy, "he will he silent in his love" (J'ulff.). lie will acquiesce in thee, with full con- fidence in thy faithfulness and love. So the Psalmist compares himself to an infant, composed to sleep in tender trust and silent love on its mother's breast. He says that he lulled his soul to sleep (literally, has made it silent) like a weaned child, lying on the bosom of its mother; ,ind he adds, " Let Israel trust in the Lord, from henceforth for evermore ! " See the note on Ps. cxxxi. 2. So the love of God reposes, as it were, in silent quietness and peace, on the devout soul of the believer, in full trust, that the soul, like a faithful spouse (cp. Isa. Ixii. 5), will render love for love. St. John, the beloved disciple, rested in silence on the bosom of Christ at the paschal supper ; and when at death, after long tarrying (John xxi. 22), the Saviour came to him, St. John fell asleep in Christ. 18. I will gather them that are sorroitful for the solemn assembly'] I will gather those who mourn for the cessation of the sacred feasts of Jerusalem (Lam. i. 7; ii. 6. Hos. ii. 11. Amos viii. 3), which were only shadows of the good things to come under the Gospel (Heb. xi. 1), and will comfort them by the restoration of those festivals in all their fulness, in the Sacraments of the Christian Church. May we not apply these words to our own age and country ? JIany among us mourn and are sorrowful for churches closed during the week, from Sunday to Sunday ; and for infrequent Communions ; and for non-observance of the Fasts and Festi- vals of the Christian Church ; and for the cold neglect of that spiritual edification which the Church provides in the Book of Common Prayer, in the examples of God's gracious working in holy men, Apostles, Evangelists, and Martyrs, whom He has given to the Church ; and for the loss of that Scriptural teach- ing provided by her in the Lessons, Epistles, and Gospels on those days. God sees the tears of the sorrowful ; these things " are noted in His book " (Ps. Ivi. 8). He will hereafter gather those who sorrow with this sorrow, and will m.ike them rejoice for ever in an eternal festival in the Courts of His heavenly Sion. — Wlio are of thee] Tliey (that is, these faithful worshippers) are of thee; they proceed forth from thee. Zion was the Mother of Christendom. (See above, on Ezek. xxxv. 14, p. 239.) — to whom the reproach of it was a burden] A burden to these holy mourners was the reproach which the Heathen uttered against Jerusalem, for her desolation and the ces- sation of her feasts (Lam. i. 7). They sympathized with her in her sorrows (cp. Ps. cxxxvii. 5); they were "grieved for the affliction of Joseph " (Amos vi. 6). The taunt of the Heathen against Zion wounded them to the quick. Here is a promise of comfort to all who feel sadness of heart fur tlie distresses and sufferings of the Church, which are iuHicted upon her by the tyranny of evil men. 19. / will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out] A prophecy repeated from Isaiah (xxxiii. 23), " The lame take the prey;" aud from Micah (iv. 7), where he is describing the blessed consequences of the birth of Christ, and the going forth of His Church from Jerusalem to enfold all Nations of the World. See Micah iv. 1 — 7, and v. 1 — 7, and the notes there. 20. When I turn bach; your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord] Literally, wie» / turn your captivities (plural). Your various captivities (whether in Assyria, or Babylon, or Rome, or in other parts of the world) will all bo turned back like a stream. As the Psalmist says, " Turn our captivitv, O Lord, as the rivers of the south " (Ps. cxxvi. 5) ; they will all flow into the Cliurch of Christ. See Isa. ii. 2, Micah iv. 1. " All nations shall flow into it." The prophet here recapitulates the divine promises of restoration to the dispersed Israel and Judah (cp. Dent. xxx. 3. Ps. cxxvi. 4. Jer. xsix. 14; xxxi. 23; xxxii. it; xxxiii. 7, 11. Lam. ii. 14. Ezek. xx.vix. 25. Hos. vi. 11. Joel iii. 1. Amos ix. 14), which are fulfilled in Christ ; to Whom, with the Father and Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory now and for ever, AlIEIf. At this point, in order of time, follow the prophecies of jEEEMiAn, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Then succeed Haggai, ZECitABiAH, and Mai.acui; the last of whom is called by the Jews, the "Seal of the Peopiiets." The reader is requested to refer here to the Introductions prefixed to the Prophets Jeuemiah and EzEKIEL; and also to the Introductions to the Books of Ezra and Neiiemiah, as preparatory to what uow follows in the prophetical writings. H A G G A I. I. 1 IN ^ the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lokd f by Haggai the prophet irnto a Ezra 4. 24. & 5. 1. Zech. I. 1. 1 lleh. by the hand of Haggi Before CHRIST about 520. MoEE than a hundred years elapsed between the prophecies of Zephaniah and those of Hagoai. In that interval many predictions of foregoing prophets, namely, of Isaiah, Micah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, foretelling the capture and destruction ot Jerusalem by the Babylonians, had been fulfilled. In B.C. 605, the fourth year of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem for the first time ; but the city was still allowed to stand, and a time was granted to it for repentance. But it refused to listen to God's warnings of judgment from the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel ; and it was again taken by Nebuchadnezzar, B.C. 597, and its king, Jehoiachin, was carried captive to Babylon. Still some further respite was granted it, but in vain. In the year B.C. 586, Jerusalem was taken; the Temple and the City were burnt with fire ; its king, Zedekiah, and many of the princes, and nobles, and people were carried to Babylon ; and the kingdom of Judah was destroyed. Years passed on, and the time approached for the fulfil- ment of other prophecies — those which foretold the sudden cap- ture of the great Chaldean City, Babylon, and the destruction of its dominion by Cyrus, " God's shepherd, and anointed one," leading the army of Medes and Persians to victory ; and, as a result of that conquest, the restoration of the captives of Judah to their own land, and the decree for the rebuilding of the Temple of the Lord. This fulfilment was in the year B c. 536. God had performed His work of wholesome discipline and loving chastisement to His People in their Captivity, by teach- ing them humility, and weaning them from idolatry, and healing the schism between Israel and Judah, and by sifting the faithful wheat from the careless and godless chaff, and bad prepared tlie true Israelites, by the fulfilment of prophecies concerning themselves, for the reception of Christ, AVlio is the subject of all prophecy. See above, Introd. to Ezra, pp. 296—299. The Temple began to be rebuilt in the year B.C. 535. But the work was thwarted by Samaritans (Ezra iv. 1 — 7. 23), and the builders themselves were disheartened, and began to doubt whether the time had arrived for the accomplishment of the prophecies which had foretold that the Temple would be restored, and whether the Temple which they were building, so inferior in grandeur to the Temple of Solomon, could be in- deed the fabric of which such glorious things had been spoken by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. " Slany of the Priests and Levites, and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men that had seen the first house" (which had been destroyed fifty years before), " when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice " (Ezra iii. 12). " Who is left among you " (says Haggai, ii. 3) " that saw this house in her first glory ? and how do ye see it now ? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing ? " In consequence of this opposition from without, and of this failure of faith aud courage within, the work of building the Temple was intermitted for fifteen years, " unto the second year of Darius, King of Persia " (Ezra iv. 24). The foundation." 'jf the second Temple might have long continued to lie in this miserable condition ; but God had ordered it otherwise. He would show that the work was not of man : '* Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts'" (Zech. iv. 6). " Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, prophesied uuto the Jews that were in Judah and Jeru- salem, in the name of the God of Israel, even uuto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Vol. VI. Pabi II.— 113 Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God helvina ihem" {Ea-a v. 1,2). ^ " The first of these prophets was HAOaAl. His name signifies the festal one (S. Jerome here. Oeseii. 260; Fuerst, 416; Sengst., Kell). One of the sources of the deepest sorrow to the mourners over Zion was this, that by reason of the destruction of her Temple, her solemn festivals could no longer be kept. " They wept, because the solemn feasts and sabbaths were forgotten " (Lam. ii. 6) ; and " all her mirth ceased, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts " (Hos. ii. 11). But the promise of comfort to Zion was, that she should again " keep her solemn feasts " (Nahum i. 15) ; and the last Prophet before the Captivity, Zephaniah, in his final utterance before that event, had cheered the mourners with the assurance that God would gather those who were sorrowful for the cessation of the solemn assemblies (Zeph. ui. 18). Very appropriate, therefore, is the name of the first Prophet after the Captivity, Haoqai, properly Chaggai, from Cliag, a festival (Gesen., Fuerst). He it was who was specially raised up by God to stimulate the flagging energies of the feeble com- pany wliich had returned from Babylon to Jerusalem, and were dispirited and disheartened by opposition from without, and by lukewarmness and faithlessness from within, to resume the suspended work, and to complete the rebuilding of the Temple. The significance of this name, H.aggai, the festal one, will still further appear, if we remember that the Feast of Taber- nacles was called specially by the Jews, the chag, or feast. See above, on Lev. xxiii. 3-1. 1 Kings viii. 65. Ezra iii. 4 ; and below, ii. 2; and (as is shown in those notes) it was typical of the Incarnation of the Son of God, Who pitched His tabernacle in our flesh (John i. Ii), and \Vho will tabernacle with His saints for ever. See Rev. vii. 15; xxi. 3. Tlie powerful motive, by which Haggai excited the Jews to prosecute aud complete the work of building the Temple — which was begun at the Feast of Tabernacles (Ezra iii. 4) — was this, that, however insignificant this latter liouse might be in their eyes (from which tears flowed when they saw its founda- tion) — however in material respects, and in splendour of decoration, it was inferior to the former house, the Temple of Solomon — though no visible cloud of glory rested upon it (such as took possession of the Temple of Solomon at its dedi- cation : see on 1 Kings viii. 10, 11) — though it h.ad not the Ark of the Covenant, and the Two Tables of the Testimony in the Holy of Holies, nor the Urim and Thummim, nor the Fire from heaven on the Altar, nor the holy oil (cp. Sp. Pearson, Art. ii. p. 83) — yet, in fact, it would be far more glorious than Solomon's Temple. And why ? Because the Lord God Him- self, tabernacling in human flesh, would visibly appear there, aud would " fill the house with the glory " of His presence, and " in that place would give peace, saith the Lord of hosts " (ii. 7—9). When we consider that all the Hebrew festivals were fulfilled in Christ; that He is our Passover (1 Cor. v. 7); that by His Ascension, and sending of the Holy Ghost, all the shadowjj glories of the Hebrew Pentecost are consummated (Acts ii. 1) ; that by His Incarnation we celebrate a perpetual Feast of Tabernacles in the spiritual Jerusalem of the tjniversal Church of Christ ; and that all the Festivals of the Christian Church, — the weekly Festival of the Lord's Day, and the Sacra- ment of Regeneration, and the Festival of the Holy Eucharist, and all the Holy D.iys of the Christian Year, — dc.'ive all their virtue, beauty, and grace from the Incarnation, Death, Resur- Will ye dwell in cieled houses, HAGGAI I. 2 — 12. and let Ood's limise lie waste ? Before CHRIST about 520. b 1 Chron. 3. 17, 19. Ezra 3. 2. Matt. 1. 12. Luke 3. 27. (] Or, capiat n. c Ezra 3. 2. & 5. 2. d IChr. 6. 15. e Ezra 5. 1. f2Sam. 7. 2. I's. 132. 3, &-C. t Heb. Sil i/our hrart on your g Lam. 3. iO, ver. 7. h Deut. 2S. 33. i Zech. 8.10. + Ileb. pierced through. m Lev. 26. 19. Deut. 28. 23. 1 Kings 8. 35. '' Zerubbabel the sou of Shealtiel, || governor of Judali, and to " Joshua the son of ^ Josedech, the high priest, saying, - Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say. The time is not come, the time that the Loed's house should be built. ^ Then came the word of the Lord "^ by Haggai the prophet, saying, ^ ^Is it time for you, ye, to dwell in your cieled houses. And this house lie waste ? ^ Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts ; f ^ Consider your ways. ^ Ye have '" sown much, and bring in httle ; Ye eat, but ye have not enough ; Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink ; Ye clothe you, but there is none warm ; And ' he that earneth wages eameth wages to put it into a bag f with holes. '' Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; Consider your ways. '^ Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house ; And I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. ^ "^ Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little ; And when ye brought it home, ' I did || blow upon it. Why ? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste. And ye run every man unto his ot\ti house. '" Therefore " the heaven over you is stayed from dew. And the earth is stayed /ro»i her fruit. ^^ And I " called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and ° upon all the labom- of the hands. '■- •" Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the Lord. rectlon, and Ascension of "God manifest in the flesli," we may recognize liere a fitness in tlie name of the Propliet Haggai, whose mission it was to urge the Jews to rebuild the Temple, on the ground that the Lord Himself would glorify it with His Presence, and thus the " glory of the latter house would be greater than that of the former, saith the Lord of hosts." See the rcmarlis above, on Ezra and Nehemiah, Iiiirod., pp. 296 — 299, which may afford some appropriate illustration here. Ch. I. 1. secoyid year~\ See Ezra iv. 2-1. — Darius'] Hystaspes, who reigned from B.C. 521 to 486. On the meaning of the name, see above, at Ezra iv. 5. — jirst day of the month'] Oa the festival of the full moon. The prophecies of Hagga'i {the festal : see Frelim. JS'ofe) begin on the first festival of the sixth month. — Zeriibbahel] Of the royal seed sown at Bahel, or Babylon. See 1 Chron. iii. 19 ; and Ezra i.8— 11 ; u. 2j iii. 2; v. 14—16, as to the question how he is called the son of Shealtiel (asked of Ood), or Salathiel, as he is called also in Luke iii. 27. — Josedech] That is, righteousness of Jehovah. See Ezra ii. 2. 1 Chron. v. 14, as to the typical character of Zerubbabel, the representative of the royal seed of David ; and of Joshua (Saviour), the son of Josedech (righteousness of Jehovah), the High Priest, both joined together in building the Temple, and thus together foreshadowiug the work of Christ, Who was the Trne King of the seed of David, and is also our Great and Everlasting High Priest. " Historically " (S. Jeroine says), " Zerubbabel, of the royal tribe, is one person, and Joshua, of the priestly dignity, is ."xnother person; but spiritually they are joined together in Him ^^'ho is our Lord and Saviour (Joshua), and our great High Priest, and also tlie King of all faithful Israelites." See above, Introd, to Ezra, p. 297. S. Hi Jerome says again here: "Hie Zorobabel de Tribu Juda, hoc est, de David stirpe descendens, typus est Salvatoris, qui ver& destructum axlifieavit Templum et redu.xit populum de captivi- tate; et tam de veteris Templi lapidibus quam de uovis, qui prius fnerant impoliti, sedificavit Ecclesiam, id est de rehquiis populi Judaic! et de Gentium multitudine." 2. The time is not come] For the reason of this saying, see the Frelim. Note. The literal meaning is, [it is] not time [for us] to come [up to the site of the Temple] ; [it is] not time for iuilding the house. i. for you, O ye] 'Raihcr, for you yourselves. — . in your cieled houses] In your houses wainscoted with cedar, and all costly woodwork (Targutn). Cp. 1 Kings vii. 7. Jer. xxi ; 14. 5. Consider your ways] Set your heart upon your ways, — an exhortation repeated v. 7; ii- 15. 18. 6. If have sown much] Cp. Deut. xxviii. 38. Hos. iv. 10. Mic. vi. 14, 15. God chastens you by dearth and drought, in order to make you consider your ways and amend them, and to become fruitful in a spiritual harvest of good works. 8. Oo tip to the mountain] To the mountainous region ; not to any particular mountain. See below, on Matt. v. 1. 9. I did blow upon if] And made it fly away, like chnS before the wind. — Because of mine house that is waste] Observe the alli- teration in the original : " Because my house is chdrei " (waste, or desolate), — the same word as is used by Nehemiah ii. 3, "the city of my father's sepulchres lieth waste;" and again ii. 17, "Now Jerusalem lieth Wdsfe ;" aud Jer. xxxiii. 10, 12, — "Therefore I have called upon you, chiJreb, a drought" (V. 11). The Second Temple. HAGGAI I. 13— 15. 11. 1—7. The Desire of all Nations. '^ Then spake Haggai the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message unto the chr^It people, saying, "^ I am with j-ou, saith the Lord. "520"' 1^ And 'the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zeruhbahel the son of Shealtiel, Rom's. 'i'.'"- ' governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high '•'" 1' '• ... ■*■ ^ s ch. 2. 21. pnest, and the spu-it of all the remnant of the people ; ' and they came and did t Em 5. 2. 8. work in the house of the Lord of hosts, then- God, ^^ in the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king. II. ^ In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth daij of the month, came the word of the Lord | by the prophet Haggai, saying, - Speak now to Zeruh- 1 "?,;/" "" babel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying-, ^ ^ Who is a Ezra 3. 12. left among you that saw this house in her first glory ? and how do ye see it now ? '' is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing ? b zech. 4. 10. * Yet now 'be strong, Zerubbabel, saith the Lord ; and be strong, Joshua, c zech. s. ■>. son of Josedech, the high priest ; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work : for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts : ^ ^According a ex. 29. 45,4c. spu'it remaineth among you : fear ye not. ^ For thus saith the Lord of hosts ; ^ Yet once, it is a httle while, and ^ I will hI"i°2.'25. shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; ^ and I will*^ shake all nations, '' and the desu-e of all nations shall come : and I will fill this mSIIu' '"' 15. In the four and iiceniieth dat/'] That is, the four-.inil- twentieth day of the month in which the Prophet had hegun to exhort theiHj which he did on the first day of it (v. 1 ; and see ii. 18). For the chronology of tliis period, see Introd. to Ezra, p. 295 ; and on Ezra v. 1 ; vi. 22. The Gloey op the Second Tempie. Cn. II. 1. In the seventh month, in the one and ttoentieth day of the month'\ Of the second year of Darius; twenty-four days after tlie foregoing appeal (in the former chapter), which had in- duced them to resume the work of rebuilding the Temple. It is observable that this prophecy was delivered on the seventh daif, or the great day, of the gi'eat Feast of Tabernacles (see Lev. xxiii. 34), which was typical of the Incarnation of Christ, Who was presented in our flesh in this Temple, and filled this house with His glory. Cp. above. Prelim. Note. The building was now prosecuted under great difficulties (Ezra V. 3 — 10) till it was finally completed and dedicated, in the sixth year of Darius — the twenty-first after the publication of the Edict of Cyrus, which, having been lost for a time, was provi- dentially discovered at Ecbatana. See Ezra vi. 1. 15. 22. Ezra, the Priest and Scribe, did not come from Babylon to Jerusalem till fifty-three years afterwards, B.C. 458 (Ezra vii. 1). Neliemiah, the cup-bearer of Artaxerxes, the builder of the Walls of Jeru- salem, came from Susa to Jerusalem fourteen years after Ezra's jom-ney to Jerusalem. See Introd. to Ezra, p. 295. Observe, therefore, how long the patience of God's people was tried. They only, who stood steadfast in patience, fiiith, and hope, were rewarded. Here is a lesson to our own age, when men's hearts fiiil, because they are sorely distressed by present trials, and do not firmly believe in the final triumph of Truth. 3. Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory ?] See Ezra iii. 12, and above, Prelim. Note. It was now about sixty-six years since the destruction of the first Temple by the Chaldeans. 4. be strong, Zerublalel~\ Compare the words of Zcchariah the Prophet (iv. 6 — 9) : " This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. W'lio art thou, O great moun- tain ? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain ; and he shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, bis hands shall also finish it, and thou slialt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you," See alsoZcch. viii. 9. 13. " Let your hands ie s^/owy. . . . Fear not, let your hands be strong." 115 5. According to the word'] Rather, the word. The Word of God and the Spirit of God are mth you. See the next note. — so My Spirit remaineth among you] Vulg., Syriac, and see Targum. A remarkable expression, especially when explained by later events. Christ was in the ancient Cburch in the wilderness (see 1 Cor. x. 9. Heb. xi. 20) ; and now, when the Eternal Word became Incarnate, and when the Holy Spirit was sent to be in the midst of God's faithful people, then this prophecy was fulfilled. 6. Yet onee] That is, once more. The first shaking was at Mount Sinai, to which the reference is in the foregoing verse. See Heb. xii. 26, and S. Jerome here. 6, 7. I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations] The prophecy of shaking, as the Apostle to the Hebrews teaches us (Heb. xii. 26), was fulfilled in the Coming of Christ from heaven. The shaking of all Nations took place in a little while after the Prophet's own days ; it was like the shock of an earthquake. It was felt in the breaking up of the Persian mouarcby by Alexander the Great, and by the splitting up of his Empire, and by the crushing of the powers of the Nations of the World by Rome, which subjugated and humbled them, and destroyed their faith in their national deities, which were unable to save them, and thus prepared the way for the reception of a holier faith, that of the Gospel of Christ. See the excellent remarks of Bp. Pearson on this mission of the Roman Empire (in his 3rd Coucio, Jlinor Works, ii. 35). Just before the Coming of Christ, " the Roman arms (says he) had broken the preconceived superstitions of the heathen concerning their false deities. Wherever Rome's vic- torious eagles flew, there the majesty of the ancient gods fell, and their authority was destroyed. As many conquests as Rome ach ieved over Nations, so many triumphs did she celebrate over their national deities. It was a very ancient notion, that the gods forsook the cities which were taken and occupied bj* enemies. 'Thus the armies of Rome had put to flight all their deities ; aud the Romans had so learned to exult over the deities of other nations, that they scarcely worshipped their own, except with lukewarmness and indifi'ercnce." Thus the Nations of the Earth were prepared for Christianity. Cp. Hengstenberg and Eeil here. The besiee of ail Nations. 7. the desire of all nations shall come] So this passage wa.» rendered by the ancient Jewish Expositors, as Jf. Akiba (Tiilia, Sanh. C. x. Sect. 30, Maimon. in Sanhcd.; and this is acknow- ledged by Jarchi). Aud the Chaldee Targum here translates it thus, " The desire of all nations shall come;" and so the J'ulgate, which understands it as applied to a Person, " Veniet desideratus Hie glory of the latter house HAGGAI II. 8, 9. will eclipse that of the former. Before CHRIST about house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts, ^ The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. ^ ' The glory of this latter house shall be cunctis gentibus," i. e. " He who is desired by all Nations shall come." And so the Latin Fathers, as S. Jerome here, who (having mentioned the other interpretation of the Sept., which will be noticed presently) says, "According to the Hebrew original, this signifies that He Who was desired by all Nations — the Lord and Saviour— will come ; and then I will fill this house with greater glory than the former, saith the Lord of hosts. And because I know that nothing is so conducive to the edifica- tion of My glorious house as Peace, therefore, in this house I ivill give Peace — even the Peace that passeth all understanding. Therefore, Zerubbabel, thou son of Josedech, and thou Joshua, the High Priest, be strong, take courage, and build this house." The Septuagint (he obseu'es) renders these words " the elect things, or choice things, of all Nations shall come." And, truly, to the Church of Christ have come the elect things of Corinth, Macedonia, and the elect of Babylon (1 Pet. v. 13), for the Apostles of Christ had a commission from Him to go and teach all Nations and bring them into the Church. So the Septuagint. " But" (adds S. Jerome) "it is better to understand it as it is in the Hebrew, which signifies that He Wlio was desired by all Nations would come to that Temple, and by His Coming to it would fill it with glory ; so that its glory would be greater than that of the Temple of Solomon ; inasmuch as the Lord of the Temple is greater than His servant who does His will." So & Augustine, De Civ. Dei, xvii. 18, and Semigius, Hm/mo, Hugo, Lyramis, Luther, A Lapide, Drusius, Orotius, Tamo- vius, Munster, Vatablus, Calovius, Olassius, Bp. Andremes, 240, Bp. Pearson on the Creed, Art. ii., Bp. Chandler, i. 77, W. Lowih, Davison on Prophecy, Disc. vi. p. 238. Hence S. Bernard, " Dcsidero Te millies. Mi Jesu, quaudo venies ? Me liEtum quando facies, Dulcodo inefi'ahilis, Totus desiderabilis ?" and in the Hymn at the festival of the Ascension : " Jesu, nostra redemptio. Amor et desiderium, Tu esto nostrum gaudium. Et nostra in Te gloria Per cuncta semper smcnla." These words of Haggai, applied to the Messiah, seem to be grounded on Jacob's prophecy, " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and to Sim shall the gathering of the people" (ov peoples) " be." See on Gen. xlix. 10. And this interpretation, which applies Haggai's words to Christ, is confirmed by the language of his successor Malachi, who, speaking of the latter house, or second temple, says, " The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in, behold He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts " (Mai. iii. 1). And the aged Simeon, when he took the Infant Jesus into his arms, at His presentation iu that Temple, declared the fulfilment of the prophecy, when he said, " Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace : for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel " (Luke ii. 29). Let us now consider the objections to this interpretation. The Hebrew words here, u-bau, chemdath col-hag-gogim, 1. e. et venient (plural) desiderium (singular) omnium gentium. (1) Fn-st it is said that chemdath cannot be applied to a person, and cannot signify an object of desire. But this allegation does not seem of much force. The substantive chemdah is derived from the verb chamad, to desire, to long for, to delight iu (Oeseniiis, 28fi; Fuerst, 456). As Keil says, "chem-dah signifies desire (2 Chron. xxi! 20) ; then, the object of desire," as costly things, valuables. We may compare " desiderium " in Latin ; as Cicero addresses his wife, " Valete, desideria mea." Ep. xiv. The cognate word machmad is often used iu this sense of object of desire, us in I Kings XX. G. Cant. v. 16. Lam. i. 10 Ezck. XXIV. 16, where Ezekiel's wife is called " the desire of his eyes." Cp. ibid. vv. 21. 25. Hos. ix. 16. Joel iii. 5. _ _ Another objection is, that the singular noun chemdah is joined to a plural verl>, bau, and this is irrecoucile.able with the opinion that chemdah represents a Person. _ Doubtless, if the Person were any common Person, this oljjcction would have much force. But first let it be observed that in the original the verb 116 precedes the noun. It is ban chemdah, i. e. " There shall come" (plural) " the desire." The mind is kept for a time in suspense by bau (there shall come), and asks, what will come ? The answer is chemdath col hag-gogim (the desire of all nations). Now, let it be supposed, for argument's sake, that the version of the Targum and the Vulgate is correct, and that this is a prophecy of the Coming of the Messiah to the Temple, is it wonderful that the singular substantive here should be combined with a plural verb, when we consider that the Messiah contains in His own single Person the two distinct Natures of God and Man, and the three offices of Prophet, Priest, and King ? Might He not be justly regarded as a collective Being ? And collective nouns are often followed by a plural verb in Hebrew. See Olass, Philol. Sacr. Lib. iii., Tract iii.. Canon 53 ; and Oesen. Gram. § 146 ; EwaM, Gram. § 307. 6. See Gen. xxxiii. 13 ; xli. 17. Num. x. 3. 1 Kings i. 40. 1 Chron. x. 6. Ezra X. 12. Ps. Ixviii. 11. The objection to our authorized translation (that in the original the verb is plural and the noun is singular), lies with still greater force against the other translation, which renders the noun as if it were plural, and explains it as " desirable things " so Hengst., Keil, and others. Eioald renders it "the most longed-for of all nations." Riklcert translates it " the choices', nations," and so Hifzig. They regard this as a prophecy of the offering of the treasures of the Gentiles to the Second Temple. There is also another insuperable objection to the expo- sition which regards this prophecy as foretelling that the Gen- tiles would bring offerings to the Second Temple, and that therefore it would be more glorious than the Temple of Solomon. The fiict is, the Gentiles brought offerings to Solomon's Temple. The Tyrians and Phoenicians hewed the cedars of Lebanon for it at its first erection ; and in the daj's of Hezekiah many brought gifts nnto the Lord to Jerusalem (2 Chron. xxxii. 23). But, on the other hand, the Heathen did not bring their desirable things to the second Temple. All the prophecies, such as those of Isaiah and others (Isa. Ix. 5. 11. Micah iv. 13. Zech. xiv. 14), which are quoted in this sense, are distorted from their true meaning. They are all to be appUed to the ofl'eriugs which the Nations will bring of themselves and of their wealth to the spiritual Temple of Zion, the Christian Church (see below, on Rev. xxi. 21) ; and it is observable that some interpreters, who apply them here as predictive of oblations to the material Temple raised by Zerubbabel, have, in other places, rightly explained them, as pointing to contributions of the heathen, not to any material Temple at all, but to the Church of Christ. Nor, even if all the Nations of the Earth had united together in bringing their " desirable things" to the Sccoud Temple which they never did — could it ever be said, as a consequence of this, that God filed this house with glory ; and in this house ivill 1 give peace {v. 9). Observe that tlie coming of what is desirable to the Temple is -^nt first by the Prophet, and then the filling of the house with the glory is represented as a result of the Coming ; whereas the ofi'erings of the Gentiles were consequent on the Coming of Christ. The filling the house with glory, with the glory of the Lord of Hosts, cannot be regarded as a result of the bringing of mere perishable gold and silver (which cannot be shown to have been brought at all) to tlie Temple of Zerub- babel ; but can only be regarded as a consequence of the Divine Presence, seen in the Coming of Christ, the Lord God Himself, to the Temple. Let any one examine the passages of Holy Scripture where this word glory (Hebr. cabod) occurs, and where a place is said to Refilled with the glory of the Lord, and he will be satisfied of this. See Exod. xl. 34, 35, concerning the filling of the Tabernacle toith the glory of the Lord; and 1 Kings viii. 11. 2 Chron. v. 14; vii. 1, 2, 3, where the glory of the Lord is said to havcfilled the Temple; and compare the passages in Ezek. iii. 23 ; xliii. 4, 5 ; xliv. 4. Tliis interpretation is further con- firmed by the words of Haggai's brother-prophet, Malachi (iii. 1. 4), already quoted, " The Lord, whom ye seek, sliall suddenly come to His Temple ; behold, He shall come, saitli the Lord of hosts; then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord." The Coming of the Lord Himself to the latter house, and the benefits attendant on the Presence of Him " in Whom all the families of the Earth are blessed," filled the minds of both these Propliets with a vision of glory.' On the whole, we may adopt the words of Bp. Pearson (Art. n. p. 83) on this text; and with them this note shall conclude. " In the same manner the Prophet Malachi hath given an express signifcation of the Coming of the Messias whUe the The glory of the latter house. HAGGAI 11, 10—12. Tn this place will I cjlve peace. Before CHRIST about greater thau of the former, saitli the Lord of hosts : and iu this phice \;i\\ I give '' peace, saith the Lord of hosts. '" In the four aud twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of ufke "m: " Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, i^ Thus ^''''■^•'*- saith the Lord of hosts ; 'Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, '^If one bear holy flesh in 'Deuuas:,'^;"' Temple stood (Ma!, iii. 1), ' Beliokl, I will send My messenger, aud be shall prepare the way before Me ; aud the Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His Temple, even the Mes- senger of the Covenant whom ye delight in.' And Haggai yet more clearly (Hag. ii. 6, 7. 9), ' Tlius saith the Lord of hosts ; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saitli the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former, saith the Lord of hosts.' " It is, then, most evident from these pi-edictions, that the ilessias was to come while the second Temple stood. It is as certain that the second Temple is not now standing. Therefore, except we contradict the veracity of God, it cauuot be denied but the Messias is already come. " Nothing can be objected to enervate this argument, but that these prophecies concern not the Messias ; aud yet the ancient Jews confessed they did ; and that they do so cannot be denied. "For, first, those titles, 'the Angel of the Covenant,' 'the Delight of the Israelites,' 'the Desire of all Nations,' are certain aud known ch.aracters of the Christ to come. " And, secondly, it cannot be conceived how the glory of the second Temple should be greater than the glory of the first, without the coming of the Messias to it. For the Jews them- selves have observed that five signs of the divine glory were in the first Temple, which were wanting to the second— as the Urim and Thummim, by which the High-priest was miracu- lously instructed of the Will of God ; the Ark of the Covenant, from whence God gave His answers by a clear and audible voice ; the Hre upon the altar, which came down from heaven, aud immediately consumed the sacrifice; the divine Presence, or habitation with them, represented by a visible appearance, or given, as it were, to the King and High-priest, by anointing with the oil of unction; and, lastly, the spirit of prophecy, with which those especially who were called to the prophetical office were endued. "And there was no comparison between the beauty and glory of the structure or building of it, as appeared by the tears dropped from those eyes which had beheld the former (Ezra iii. 12); for 'many of the priests and Levites, and chief of the fothers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice ;' and by those words which God commanded Haggai to speak to the people for the introducing of this prophecy (Hag. ii. 3) : — ' Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory ? And how do ye see it now ? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing ?' " Being, then, the structure of the second Temple was so far inferior to the first, being all those signs of the divine gloi-y were wanting in it with which the former was adorned ; the glory of it can no other way be imagmed greater, than by the coming of Him into it, in Whom all those signs of the divine glory were far more eminently contained ; and this person alone is the Messias. For He was to be the glory of the people Israel, yea, even of the God of Israel ; He, the Urim and Thum- mim, by whom the Will of God, as by a greater oracle, was revealed; He, the true Ark of the Covenant, the only pro- pitiatory by His blood; He which was to baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire — the true fire which came down from heaven ; He which was to take up His habitation in our flesh, and to dwell among us that we might behold His glory ; He who received the Spirit without measure, and from whose fulness we do all receive. In Him were all those signs of the Divine glory united, which were thus divided in the first Temple ; iu Him they were all more eminently contained than in those ; therefore. His Coming to the second Temple was, as the sufla- cient, so the only means by which the glory of it could be greater than the glory of the first. " If, then, the Messias was to come while the second Temple stood, as appeareth by God's prediction and promise, if that Temple many ages hath ceased to be, there being not one stone left upon a stone ; if it certainly were, before the destruction 117 of it, in greater glory than ever the former was ; if no such glory could accrue unto it but by the Coming of the Messias, then is that Messias already come" (-Bjo. Pearson). 8. The silver is viine, and the gold is viine, saith the Lord of hosts'] Therefore, do not be distressed because this latter house is not adorned with so much splendour of silver and gold as was the former house, the Temple of Solomon. All tho Earth is My Temple. Every beast of the forest which is brought to Me for sacrifice is already Mine (Ps. 1. 10). All the silver and gold in it are Mine by creation, and adorn that Universal Temple ; as David, the fiither of Solomon, declared, when ho ofiered to God what he had prepared for the Temple which was to be built by his son : " Thine, Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty : for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. . . . Both riches and honour come of Thee ; . . . and of Thine own have we given Thee" (1 Chron. xxix. 11 — 14). These words may be rightly applied, with an ancient African Bishop, to stimulate the grace of Christian almsgiving : " When you hear the precepts of giving alms, take heed and remember that God is commanding thee to give, not of wlmfc belongs to thee, but of what belongs to Himself; lest when thou art bestowing thine alms on the poor, thou shouldest be pufl'ed up with vain-glorious imaginations. ' Mine is the silver. Mine is the gold ' (saith the Lord). It is not yours. O ye rich men of the earth, why therefore do ye hesitate to give of Mine to the poor? Or why .are ye so proud when ye give it?" {S. Augustine, Serm. 50). 9. The glory of this latter house shall he greater than of the former] Because it will he filled with glory by the Coming to it of the Lord of Glory, as Christ is called, 1 Cor. ii. 8. Cp. James ii. 1. See above, on v. 7. In all other respects this latter house was as nothing in comparison with the former (t). 3). But having the Lord of Olory visibly presented in it, and teaching in it, it was filled with glory, and it had all the substance consummated in its splendour and majesty, of which all the ornaments, and all the sacrifices of the former house were only faint types and dim foreshadowings. From this passage, and from that of Malachi (iii. 1), " The Lord shall suddenly come to His Temple," we m,iy conclude, against the Jews, that the Messiah is come, and that His coming is not future ; for He was to come to His Temple, to that latter house, which was in course of being built when Haggai prophesied, to which Jesus of Nazareth did indeed come, and of which, as the same Jesus prophesied, not a single stone now remains upon another (Matt. x.\iv. 2. Mark xiii. 2. Luke xix. 44), so th.at no Messiah can now come to it. The registers of imperial Rome, the great heathen mis- tress of the world, by enrolling the names of Joseph, and Mary the mother of Jesus, in the census of Bethlehem, proved that He was born there ; the armies of Rome, by destroying the Temple of Jerusalem, proved that the Messiah is come. And when the Roman Emperor Julian attempted to rebuild the Temple, in order to invalidate that argument, God intervened in a wonderful manner to frustrate the work (Chrysost. Orat. 3, in Judfeos; Ammian. xxiii. 1; Socrates, Wi. it; Theodoret, iii. 15; Sozomen, V. 21; Bp. Warburton's Julian; Oihbon, eh. xxii. ; De Broglie, iv. 333). Thus Rome preaches Christ. — in this place will I give peace] I will there give Hiin Who is the Prince of Peace (Isa. ix. 6), and through Whom we have peace with God ; and Who has given us His peace (John xiv. 27 ; xvi. 33) ; aud Who is Peace (Eph. ii. 14). 10. In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, i» the second year of Darius] A little more than two months after the dehvery of the former prophecy (ii. 1). So soon was the prospect of things changed from sadness to joy, by the obedience of the people to the divine appeal, that now, near the end of the ninth month Chisleu (corresponding nearly to the latter part of our November and to the first part of December), when the sowing of the winter crops was finished, God gave them a respite from the drought, and a grateful supply of former rain, with a promise of an abundant harvest. 11. Ask now the priests] The Prophet of tho Lord may Contagion of sin. HAGGAI II. 13—21. The skirts of the garment. Before CHRIST about m Num. 19. II. p ell. 1. 6,9. Zech. 8 10. q Deut 28. 22. 1 Kings 8. 37. Amos -i 9. ch. 1. 9 rch. 1. 11. £ Jer. 5 3. Amos 4 6, 8, 9 10, 11. t Zeeh. 8.9. 11 Zech. 8. 12. the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it bo holy ? And the priests answered and said, No. '^ Then said Haggai, If one that is "' unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean ? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. ^'* Then answered Haggai, and said, " So is this people, and so is this natioji before me, saith the Lord ; and so is every work of their hands ; and that which they offer there is unclean. '^ And now, I pray you, ° consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Loed : '^ since those days were, ^when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were hut ten : when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were hit twenty. '^ "^ I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail "■ in all the labours of your hands ; ' yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord. '^ Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from ' the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider it. '^ "Is the seed yet in the barn ? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth : from this day will I bless you. 2" And again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, ^i Speak to Zerubbabel, "governor of not intrude into priestly functions, but must pay respect to the priestliood, as Clirist did (Matt. viii. 4). 12. If] Literally, Behold. ■ — holt/Jlesh] Sanctified and ofiered to the Lord in sacrifice. — pottage~\ Literally, what is boiled. — No'] The oft'ering is holy ; but the thing touched by it does not become holy by the contact. The offering could not communicate holiness to what it touched. For the moral application of this, see what follows (d. 14). 13. unclean it/ a dead body] Literally, tmclean ly a soul — a phrase derived from the Lcvitical Law. See on Lev. xsii. 4. Cp. Num. V. 2 ; Ti. 6 ; ix. 6. 10. — It shall be nnclean] For so it is declared in the Levitical Law (Lev. vii. 19. Num. xi.x. 11. 22). 14. So is this people — and so is erery work of their hands] This people lives, it is true, in a holy Land, which is, as it were, an offering dedicated to the Lord; hut the Land does not communicate any holiness to the People by auy intrinsic virtue of its own, but it entails upon them all an obligation to personal holiness. They who live in the Holy Land, and draw near to the Presence of the Holy One in His holy house, ought themselves to be holy ; just as they who feed on the holy flesh of the sacrifices are to he holy persons. See the note above, on Lev. vi. 18. Yet further; if they themselves .ire mor.iUy dead in tres- passes and sins, then the holiness of the Land will do them no good; nay, rather, since what is evil communicates its virulent poison by contact, they will pollute every thing that they touch with the foul taint of that moral and spiritual death. We may here refer to the notes above (Lev, x. 6. 19), on the inuer meaning of the Levitical Law concerning the con- taminating influence of Death in the natural World, and on the blessed contrast produced in this respect by Christ's In- carnation, Death, Burial, and Resurrection, under the Gospel. The Wings oe Skirts op the Gabment. In further illustration of those remarks, we may observe the words here used by the Prophet Haggai. He says that no holy flesh of a sacrifice carried in the skirt can communicate holiness. The word used by him twice for skirt is canSph, literally, a wing. Let us refer to his two brother pro])liets, Zechariah and Malachi. Zechariah predicts, that in the days of the Gospel, " Ten men shall take hold out of all languages, even shall take hold of the skirt (cAnaph) of him that is a Jew, saying. We 118 will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you" (Zeeh. viii. 23). That is, all nations will take hold of the skirt, or hem, of the garment of Christ, Who is " the Word made flesh," "God manifest in the flesh"— o{ Him Who is born King of the Jews. They will take hold of it by foith in His Incarnation, as the faithful woman laid hold of the hem of His garment; and virtue will go out fi'om Him — from His holy flesh — to heal them, as it healed her. See Matt. ix. 20—23. Mark v. 30. Luke vi. 19. Remark also, further, this contrast : — that whereas the flesh of a dead man, under the Levitical Law (as Haggai here reminds us), communicated defilement; and as Death under the Law was a source of pollution, now under the Gospel our only well-spring of Life and Purity is through the Death of Christ. It is from His flesh ; it is from His blessed body, pierced for us, and hanging in death on the Cross, tliat the sanctifying, sacramental streams of blood and water flowed, which cleanse the heart of the believer. His Death is our Source of Life. By Death He overcame Death, and destroyed him who had the power of it (Heb. ii. 14), and has made us to be heirs of eternal life. But in order that this may be so, there must be faith on our part ; there must be personal holi- ness in them that touch Him ; and therefore Malachi, adopt- ing the same word, cdnaph, completes the statement of his brother pi-ophets Haggai and Zechariah, by saying, "Unto you that /(?«)• My Name, the Sun of Righteousness " (Christ, " the Lord our Righteousness," as Jeremiah calls Him) " shall arise with healing in His wings" or skirts (cenaphim, Mai. iv. 2). 15. before a stone was laid] Literally, from the not yet of laying stone to stone (Keil, Fiierst, 52G), or before the beginning of laying (Oesen. 325), wheu you were faithless and disobedient, then ye were chastened by God ; but if ye return to Him, and build His house. He will hasten to be gracious to you. The Prophet desires them first to look backward on their punishments for disobeying God, and then look forwards to their blessings for obeyiug Him. 18, 19. Consider now from this day and upward] Or, from this day and forward, or onward. Here is the contrast. It is still winter (see v. 10) ; the seed has only just been com- mitted to the earth : it is not yet in the barn. There are no fresh leaves as yet on your fruit-trees — your vine, fig-tree, pomegranate, and olive-tree — but ye have begun again to build the house of the Lord; and even from this day forward I will hasten to bless you. 20. in the four and twentieth day of the month.] Even on tha The Lord's signet. HAGGAI II. 22, 23. The Kingdom of Christ. Judah, saying, ^1 will shake the heavens and the earth; - and ^I will over- .Before throw the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms "520" of the heathen ; and " I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in He"i2'. I'a. them : and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword vutu^fJ!' „,.,., .1 J aMicahS. 10. 01 lus brother, zecii. 4. 0. & 0. 10. -^ In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, Zerubbabel, my seiwant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, '' and will make thee as a signet : for "I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts. \> Cant. 8. 0. Jer. 22. 24. cisa. 42. 1. & 43. 10. saino day as the prophecy (v. 10). So eager was God to ho gracious to His peniteut and obedient people. The Lobd's Sionet. Chkist's Kingdom. 21 — 23. I n'ill shake the heavens and the earth — In that day, saith the LoED of hosts, will I take thee, Zertibbabet, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LoED, and ivill make thee as a signet : for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts'] All other kingdoms shall be moved (see u. 7); but the kiugdom of the seed of David, which was represented by Zerubbabel, the descendant of David, and ancestor of Christ (see Matt. i. 12. Luke iii. 27. Cp. on 1 Chron. iii. 19. Ezra ii. 2. Neh. vii. 7. Hag. i. 1), shall never be destroyed. It will indeed be assailed; but it will break in pieces all king- doms that resist it, and will scatter them like chaff of the summer threshing-floor, but will never be removed (Dan. ii. 35. 44; vii. 14. 27. 1 Cor. xv. 24. Heb. xii. 28. Rev. xi. 15). God promised by Jacob that the sceptre should never depart from Judah. See the note on Gen. xlix. 10. God gave greater clearness and force to that promise by assuring David, of the tribe of Judah, that his Seed and Kiugdom would continue for ever (see the notes on 2 Sam. vii. pp. 85 — 87); and He declared, by the Angel Gabriel, to the Blessed Virgin, that this promise would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. See Luke i. 31, " Behold, thou sbalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His Name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David : and He shall reign over the house of Jncoh for ever and ever; and of His kingdom there shall he no end." This promise is here made to Zerubbabel, as the repre- sentative of the house of David, in a time of great humiliation and distress. Just as it was with the Temple of Jerusalem, so it was with her monarchy. The Temple seemed, in all external respects, to be far inferior to the Temple of Solomon ; but it was to be made much more glorious than that Temple, by the coming of the Lord of the Temple to it. Tile family of David was now reduced to a low estate. Zerubbabel, the representative of the house and monarchy of David, was not called by the title of King; he appeared to owe his position to the will of Persia, and to derive his dignity from his ofiice as Persian Governor (i. 1), or Sheshbazzar (Ezra i. 11; ii. 2; v. 14. 16). But the promise was, that when they seemed to be reduced to the lowest estate, then the seed and kingdom of David would rise most gloriously. The diminution of their earthly grandeur prepared the way for the increase of their heavenly spleudour. Isaiah had foretold this. He had said that a rod should come forth out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch sliould grow out of 7iis roots — that is, when the tree was hewn down to the very ground ; and that the Messiah should grow up as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. See Isa. xi. 1 ; liii. 2. Prom the time of the Captivity, the house of David never recovered its royal title and insignia. But the monarchy was safe in God's keeping. King Jeconiah, the faithless monarch of Judah before the Captivity, was like a signet plucked from God's right hand, and cast away (Jer. xxii. 24). But Zerubbabel, the faithful governor, the leader of Judah from Babylonish captivity to Jerusalem, the city of God, was made like a signet on God's right hand. He was the builder of the Temple ; and by him God set a seal on His promises to Judah. He wa3 the descendant and represeutative of David, and the ancestor and type of Christ. He was a signet [chotham) on God's hand (cp. the use of the word chClhdm, repeated in Cant. viii. 6), and this signet would ever remain on God's right hand. It would be there for ever in Chkist, the Divine Son of David, the true King of Israel. By Him the royal charter of the Blessed Gospel is sealed. He seals us as His own in Baptism, in Con- firmation, in tlie Holy Eucharist. He has sealed us with His own image and likeness, and has made us to become sons of God (Rom. viii. 29). 'ila gives us an earnest and pledge of immortal glory to our souls and bodies, that, as we have borne the image of the earthly, we slmll also bear the image of the heavenly (1 Cor. XV. 49) ; and that our vile bodies will be changed, so as to be fashioned like unto His glorious body (Phil. iii. 21). In Him all the promises of God are Yea and Amen. He, the Everlasting Word, came down from heaven, and became the Incarnate Word ; and by tlie Witness which He gave to tho Old Testament, He set His Divine Seal on it; and by sealing the Apostles and Evangelists with the seal of the Holy Spirit, He avouched their writiugs to be divine. He has set His seal on the whole Written Word, and has delivered the Holy Scrip- tures to us as the lively oracles of God. To Hi5r, therefore, with the Father and the Holt Ghcst, be all honour and glory, in all the churches of the saints, now and for ever. Amen. 119 ZECHARIAH. chrTst ■'■• ' ^ ^^® eighth month, ""in the second year of Darius, came the word of "52™' the Lord ^ unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, fg'Vi^*' saying, - The Lord hath heen f sore displeased with your fathers. Ezra 5. I. . att. 23. 35. ' Heb. with displeasure. Inteodxtctoby Note. Tbe Book of Zechaeiah is a sequel to that of Haggai ; and it reveals the future from his own age even to the Second Coming of Christ. Zechariah was raised up by God, together with Haggai, to stimulate the flagging energies of the Jews who had returned from Babylon, and to excite tliem to resume the work of rebuilding the Temple, which had been suspended from the first year of Cyrus (B.C. 53G) to tbe second year of Darius Hystaspes (B.C. 520), a period of about sixteen years. See Ezra iv. 24 ; V. 1 ; vi. 14 ; and Introd. to Ezra, p. 295. Haggai had cheered the builders with the assurance, that however inferior the latter house would be to the former in material grandeur and external splendour, it would be made much more glorious than that by the Coming to it of Cbrist, Who would "flu it with the Glory of tbeLord;" and He liad encouraged them with the gracious promise, that in that house " He would give peace " (Hagg. ii. 6 — 9). The Prophet Haggai had also declared, that all tbe nations of the world which resisted the power of God and oppressed His Church, would be placed beneath the feet of Christ, — the Divine Zerubbabeh^and that He would reign in everlasting glory at the right band of God. See on Hagg. ii. 20—23. Thus ended tlie prophecy of Haggai. His prophecy is followed up and continued by Zechariah, and is carried on in a series of glorious visions to the Second Advent of Cbrist. After a brief prologue (i. 1 — 6), — spoken in the interval between the penultimate and final prophecies of Haggai, and connecting Zechariah's predictions with them, and declaring that all God's promises of favour to His people depend for their fulfilment on their repentance and obedience to Him, and on their exercise of moral duties, and that if His people resist Him, they must look for chastisement at His hands, and that tliey will be cast olf, as their fathers were, — the prophet pro- ceeds to comfort them in the first vision, by saying that God is present with them in their low estate; and that though their enemies may seem to be enjoying prosperity, yet that their own present humiliation and the temporary exaltation of the heathen ai'e not to be interpreted as signs of any indifl'erence on God's part, or of any inability to protect them and to chastise His enemies; but that in His own good time. He will arise and punish the proud Powers of this world, and reward all His faithful servants who stand firm in the diiy of trial ; and that the Lord is sore displeased with the heathen who afllict His people, and that He will yet comfort Zion, and will yet choose Jerusalem (i. 7 — 17). The second Vision follows naturally after this gracious assurance. It reveals the four great Empires (designated as horns) which had oppressed God's people, and displays the four counteracting powers (called carpenters, or rather, smiths) employed by God to humble those Empires, and make them sub- servient to His own gracious purposes, for the advancement of His own glory, and for the trial and purification of His people, and foi the building up of His Church. See i. 19 — 21. An enlargement of this revelation succeeds. The next Vision displays the Coming of tbe Lord, and the redemp- tion of His People by Cbrist (Who is the Divine Antitype of Cyrus the great conqueror of Babylon and the deliverer of God's people from its thraldom ; see on 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, and Pre- Urn. y.ole to Isa. xl.) ; and reveals the building up of the Spiritual 120 Temple of His Church Universal, and the flowing in of the heathen to it (ii. 11). These glorious evangelical events were foreshadowed by those things which Zechariah's countrymen had seen, namely, their own liberation by Cyrus, who had captured Babylon ; and their restoration to their own country, the Holy Land, and the re- erection of the Temple by virtue of his royal decree. Therefore this Vision, which opens by taking up the words of the first Vision (" a line shall he stretched forth upon Jerusalem ;" see i. 16, compared with ii. 1, 2) closes with a repetition of the pro- mise there given, *' Tbe Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again " (ii. 12). Cp. i. 17. This has now been fulfilled in Cheist. The fourth Vision explains more fully the means by which this glorious restoration and exaltation of Israel into a Holy Nation and an Universal Church is to be achieved. It is to he accomplished by Christ, — " the Angel of the Lord," Who is sent by Jehovah. It is done by Christ overcoming Satan, and delivering His people from Satan's grasp, and taking away the sins of the people, personified by Joshua their High Priest, and clothing them with tbe white robe of His own righteousness (see on iii. 1 — 5), and promising everlasting glory to His justified people, on condition of their obedience to His Will and Word. The Angel of the Lord, Who is Christ, assures Joshua and the Priesthood of Israel, that they themselves are types of this blessed work of Justification. The Priesthood of Aaron was a thing "to he wondered at" (see iii. 8), that is, not to be looked at merely with the outward eye, but to be gazed at with the eye of faith, discerning, under the type of that Priesthood and of all its sacrifices, a marvellous prophetical adumbration of the Everlasting Priesthood of Christ — the Divine " Joshua the son of Josedech" (namely. Saviour, Son of Jehovah's righteous- ness; such is the meaning of those words) — and of His one Sacri- fice, oil'ered once for all, to take away the sins of the world. Therefore, Christ is here introduced by Jehovah, saying, "Behold, I will bring forth My servant the Beanch" (see on iii. 8) ; and He also is called the Stone, engraven with seven eyes (see iii. 9). And by Him the iniquity of tbe land is taken away, and peace and joy are given to all the Israel of God. The enjoyment of all these blessings is represented as con- tingent on repentance, faith, and obedience; and therefore a solemn warning is here introduced against stubbornness and hardness of heart, and against hatred, malice, and uncharitable- ness ; in order that the grace of God in Christ may not be received in vain. This Vision of Christ justifying His People is followed by a Vision of His Church Universal. The Church is represented by a seven-branched lamp, and it is displayed to our eyes as illumined by the Holy Ghost the Sanctifier, filling it with the oil of His grace. Zerubbabel, the representative of the royal house of David, and the rebuilder of the Temple (as we have seen, on Hagg. ii. 20 — 23), is a typical personage, symbolizing tbe person ,and oflice of Christ, the True Seed of David, the Divine King of Judah, the Builder of the Spiritual Temple — the Universal Church, — from small beginnings,introublous times As Zerubbabel began and finished the building, so did Cbrist : He finished it by the gift of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pen- tecost. " Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts" (iv. 5—10). Turn yc unto Me, ZECHAKIAH I. 3. saith the Lord ofhostR. ^ Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; Turn " ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts. Before CHRIST Hence we recognize the reason of the combination of the seven-branched Candlestick or Lamp-stand (the figure of the Church), and of the Olive-trees, with the plummet-line, and the foundation Stone. We have here distinct figures of Christ's work as King, in the founding of the Church, and also in sending the Holy Ghost to finish the work, by His gracious agency, in eanctification and illumination. The Holy Ghost works upon the Church by the twofold office of Christ, namely. His Universal Monarchy and His Everlasting Priesthood. Christ's Kingly and Priestly offices are the two ever-verdant Olive-trees, through which the Oil of the Spirit is always flowing to fill the seven- branched Candlestick of the Universal Church with oil, and enabling it to diffuse the light of Divine Truth and heavenly grace throughout the world. See iv. 11 — 14. But lest it should be imagined that the gracious work of Christ and the Holy .Spirit in the Church can be effi^ctual without the co-operation of the human Will, and lest these dispensations of God's love should be .abased into occasions either of spiritual indolence, or of reckless licentiousness, a solemn warning is again interposed against the neglect of the moral virtues and practical duties of justice, mercy, and holiness, enjoined by the commandments of God. This is declared in the Vision of the Flying-Roll, proclaiming God's curses against all sin and un- righteousness ; and in the sweeping-uway of all wickedness (symbolized by the woman in the Ephah, pressed down by a weight of lead), from Sion the Church of God, the City of Truth and Peace, to the land of Shinar and Babylon, the Land of con- fusion, and the city of exile and captivity. This judicial an- nouncement is followed by a gracious declaration consequent on the former Visions of Christ and the Church. Observe the con- trast which follows. Wickedness is to be carried to Babylon, the land of captivity ; but Faith is to come from the land of captivity, and to do homage to Christ. (See v. 5 — 11). This is symbolized in the seventh and last Vision. It re- veals the Lord's universal sovereignty and His retributive justice exercised over all Nations of the earth (vi. 1 — 8). It pre- announces the time when the Jews, who are now dispersed, will bring tribute to Christ and acknowledge Him, Wlio is the Branch from the root of David, to be the true Builder of the Spiritu.al Temple; and their offerings and their homage will be like silver and gold made into a royal crown formed of many diadems, and set upon the head of Him Who is the true High Priest, and therefore a recognition from them, that He is both King and Priest, and that He is the Messiah promised to theii' Fathers (vi. 9—15). God's promises are again followed by warnings, lest anyone should presume upon His love, and pervert His grace into an occasion for sin. He tells them that all religious observances, such as fasting and weeping and self-mortification, are of no avail without holiness (vii. 1 — 7). The enjoyment of all divine blessings is contingent on faith and obedience ; and, therefore, another solemn warning is here introduced. The history of ancient Israel, chastened for its sin by God, in successive judicial visitations since the time of the Exodus even to the day of the captivity at Babylon, is propounded as a lesson to all their pos- terity, and to all future generations (vii. 8—14). If they listen to this warning, they will prosper ; and the Church of God, going forth from Jerusalem to enfold the world, will be the source and well-spring of holy festivity and joy to all Nations of the world (viii. 1 — 23). This promise is followed by a prophecy foretelling the overthrow of all great worldly Powers opposed to the City of God; and the subjection of all Nations to Christ her King, and their incorporation in His Church (ix. 1—8). The triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem in lowliness and meekness is displayed as a prelude to that Victory ; and the precious blood-shedding of Christ, which followed in a few days after that triumphal Entry, is revealed as the cause of the deliverance of His people from the prison-house of Sin and the Grave (ix. 9. 11). The sending forth of the Apostles and first Missionaries, like arrows winged with feathers of the plumage of the Divine Dove, on the Day of Pentecost, discharged from the bow of the Diviuc Archer Jesus Christ, and shot forth from Jerusalem into all parts of the world, is represented as a consequence of Christ's Death, and Resurrection, and Ascension into Glory (ix. 13 — 17). Their warfare against His enemies will be a message of peace to His friends. "He shall speak peace unto the Heathen ; His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth." His Preachers shall be jewels in His Crown ; and many shall rejoice in the beauty of Christ, preached by 121 thom; and shall be strengthened and refreshed with spiritual food (ix. 13—17). Israel shall be gathered again (x. 8—12). This has been already fulfilled in part. All the Apostles were Jews. Many devout Jews from every country under heaven were united to Christ and His Church on the Day of Pentecost, and in the primitive ages of Christianity ; and in His o^vn duo time God will restore the residue to Himself In the next prophecy, the destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of Rome is foretold (xi. 1, 2). The announcement of this sad catastrophe might well stagger and perplex the readers of this prophecy. Was it possible that the Hebrew people, who had been scattered by Assyria and Babylon, should derive so little benefit from those terrible calamities? Would they re- quire another captivity ? Yes, it would be so. And what would be the cause of this divine chastisement ? Their own sin — even a sin far more heinous than any committed by their forefathers. This must have seemed almost incredible when Zechariah wrote his prophecies. But the words of the Holy Ghost speaking by him have been fulfilled. They were accomplished in the rejection of Christ, the Good Shepherd, valued at the miserable price of thirty pieces of silver (xi. 12). They were fulfilled in the Cruci- fixion of Him, Who is displayed by the prophet as no other than the LoED God (xi. 13). Therefore, the Hebrew nation would again be cast off; but still a remnant would be saved (xi. 11), and — oh ! most merciful dispensation — in due time the heart of the Nation itself would be touched by the Spirit of God, and it would bleed with sorrow and remorse, and the Nation itself would turn with weeping eyes to Him Whom they had pierced, and would acknowledge Jesus Christ to be their Saviour, King, and God. A fountain would be opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem — the fountain of His Blood — for sin and for uncleanness (xiii. 1). Israel would wash itself and be cleansed by the waters of that pool of Bethesda, would bathe in that Pool of Siloam, and be healed of its bliud- ness (xiii. 1). The prophet foretells that Christ would be smitten (xiii. 7. Cp. Matt. ,xxvi. 31), and many would live by His death. The Kingdoms of the World will rise up in the last days against Him and against His Church, in a fierce Anti- Christian conflict, but they will all be scattered before Him. Then all Nations will be gathered before Him as their Judge. His Victory will be complete : " The Lord shall be King over all the earth : in that d.ay shall there be One Lord, and His Name one " (xiv. 9). All the Israel of God, chastened by trial, and cleansed by those living waters which will flow forth from Jeru- salem, shall be united for ever and ever in holy worship in the glorified Church of Christ (xiv. 8—21). Zechariah is regarded by the Jewish Commentators as one of the most obscure of Hebrew Prophets. This is the opinion of Abarbinel, Jarchi, and other Hebrew Rabbis, concerning him. And no wonder, because they read his prophecies with a veil on their hearts (2 Cor. iii. 14). They cannot bring them- selves to acknowledge that their own prophets have foretold that the Messiah would appear in a lowly guise and poor estate, and be rejected and put to death by His own People, as Zechariah foretells (ix. 9; xi. 12, 13; xiii. 13). But the veil is taken away in Christ. When they turn to the Lord, the veil will be taken away (2 Cor. iii. 14, 16); and this is what Zechariah himself predicts : " They will look on Him Whom they have pierced, and will mourn in bitterness for Him as one that moumeth for his firstborn " (xii. 9, 10) May God hasten the time! On the erroneous theory of a " double Zechariah," see below, Freliminary Note to chap. ix. Ch. I. 1. In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius'] About two months after Haggai's first prophecy (Hag. i. 1), and a few weeks after Haggai's second prophecy, foretelling the greater glory of the new Temple, by reason of the Coming of Christ to it (ii. 7—9). — Zechariah'] Namely, whom^ the Lord remembers ; i. e. whom He cares for in times of trial. Compare the name of the Piophct Zephaniah, i. e. whom the Lord hides from a storm of trouble ; and see the reference to the name of Zechariah, the father of the Baptist, in Luke i. 72. — Berechiah] That is, blessed of the Lord. See below, on Matt, xxiii. 35. — the son of Iddo] Cp. Ezra v. 1 ; vi. 14, where Zechariah himself is called " the son of Iddo," chief of one of the priestly families who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem with Joshua The Man on the red horse ZECHAPJAH I. 4—8. among the myrtles. Before CHllIST about 520. d 2 Chron. 36. 15. 16. elsa.31. 6. Jer. 3. 12. 5: II Or, orcrtake. e r.am. 1. 18. i ch. 6. 2—: Or, bay. And I ■will turn iiuto you, saith tlie Loed of hosts. ^ Be 3'e not as your fiithers, '' unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; ' Turn ye now from your evil ways, aud/rowi your e"^dl doings : but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord. ^ Yoin- fathers, where are they ? and the prophets, do they live for ever ? ^ But 'my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not || take hold of your fathers ? and they returned and said, ^Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to om* ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt vdth us. ^ Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, ^ I saw by night, and behold ** a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom ; and behind him %cere there ' red horses, || speckled, and white. and Zerubbabel (Neh. xii. 4). Zechariah, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, combined in bis own person the offices of Priest and Projihct. Lil;e them, he pre-announces Christ's everlasting Priesthood ; like them, he displays Him as the great Prophet Who should come into the world ; and also as the Universal King; and like them he proclaims His Divinity (xi. 13). Caxi to Eepentauck. 3. Turn ye vnio me — and I mil turn unfo you~] Zechariah comes forth, like John the Baptist, and begins his preaching with a call to repentance, and warns the people, by the history of their fathers, that no spiritual privileges will profit them without holiness, but rather will aggravate their guilt, and increase their condemnation, if they disobey God. He declares to thera that no outward profession of religion will avail ; that all notions of self-righteousness are offensive to God ; and that what He looks for is personal holiness, and a practical discharge of the duties of piety and mercy. 5, 6. Tour fathers, tohere are ihey ? — dealt with us] Your fathers have passed aw.ay. Yes; and you may reply that the Prophets have passed away likewise. True ; but the Word of God, which was spoken by His "servants the prophets," has not passed away. It took hold of your fathers ; it was like an arrow, shot out of the divine bow, and it bit the mark ; it has been fully accomplished in the punishment of your fathers for their sins. Therefore, do not imitate yonr fathers, who de- spised the wai-nings of former prophets, but listen to my prophecy. The Ridee ahono the Myetles. — The Asqel or the Loed. 7. Upon iliefour and twentieth day of the eleventh month'] Just five months after the resumption of the building of the Temple, in obedience to God's word by Haggai, which was fol- lowed by a promise of a blessing, even by a promise of Christ's coming to it (Hag. i. 12 — 15; ii. 7 — 9). The promise of a distant blessing had been followed, at an interval of exactly three months from the utterance of God's word by Haggai, exhorting the people to rebuild the house, by the assurance of an immediate temporal blessing, as a pledge and earnest of that future spiritual blessing (Hag. ii. 10. 18, 19) ; and now precisely two months afterwards Zechariah sees a series of Visions in a single night, which speak comfort to him, and through him to the people. 8 — 17. I saw ly night, and behold a man riding vpon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom — the Loed shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem] These ten verses will best be considered consecutively in one note. The Prophet sees a man, who appears to be also a divine personage, " the Angel of the Lord," the Son of God. See above, on Exod. iii. 2—8. Judg. vi. 12—22; xiii. 3—20; and see Ezek. i. 26; ix. 2; xl. 3. Dan. vii. 13; and so Tarnovius and other interpreters explain it here. He is revealed as a Rider. Such is Christ. See above, Ps. xlv. 1 — 3 ; and below, on 122 Rev. vi. 2; xLx. 11 — 16. He is on a red horse, — the colour of blood. Some Expositors (as A Lapide) expound this as sym- bolizing His Incarnation. His human nature, by means of which He was enabled to die, and shed His blood, is, as it were, that on which He rides, as on a horse, to victory. Behind Him are other riders on horses, as in the Apoc.ilypse (xix. 11 — 14). These, His followers and servants, are on horses of red (the colour of blood) ; speckled, grisly pale, or ghastly grey (see Kliefoth, 19; and compare the pale horse, in the Apo- calypse, vi. 8) ; and white, the colour of victory (see on Rev. vi. 2), specially of Christ's victory. This principal rider, followed by those three other riders, stood amid the myrtles in the bottom ; " in prof undo" {Vulg.), that is, in a low place, among lowly shrubs, myrtles, fragrant in smell, and beautiful iu leaf. Esther was called Hadassah, or Myrtle, on account of her beauty. See Esther ii. 7. Cp. Isa. xli. 19; Iv. 13, where the myrtle is mentioned among beautiful trees; and Neh. viii. 15, where it is specified with palms, olives, and pines, as furnishing branches for the joyful pro- cession of the Feast of Tabernacles. This Vision represents Christ's presence with Israel. Chi'ist had been with them in the wilderness of Arabia (1 Cor. x. 4-. 9. Cp. Heb. xi. 26); and He was with them in the days of Zechariah. Israel was no longer like a noble forest of stately cedars on a lofty Lebanon, but was like a lowly plantation of modest myrtles, in a hollow place, weak, surrounded by enemies. Such was the condition of the little band of exiles who had now returned to Jcrusiilem from Babylon. But they had now been stirred by the Spirit of God j they were doing a work of holy faith and obedience in rebuilding the Temple. Therefore, though in a low place, they were like a beautiful, evergi'cen, fair-flowering, odoriferous grove of myrtles in God's sight ; and the Angel of the Lord was among them. The best commentary on the present vision of the Angel of the Lord among the myrtles in a low pLace, may be found in that other Vision of " the Angel of the Lord in the bush," — the bush which was burning, but not consumed, — which Moses saw at Horeb, and which was also a type of God's people Israel, bumble and afflicted in Egypt, but not destroyed, because God was with them. See the notes above, on Exod. iii. 2 — i. " The Angel of the Lord," it is there said, was " in the midst of the bush ;" and it is also said that " God spake to Moses out of the bush." The Angel was a divine Person, and He assured Israel by Moses of God's presence and protection. So it Is here. Though Israel is like a myrtle-gi-ove in a low place, yet God is in the midst of them. And the three riders on their red, speckled, and white horses, are perhaps symbolic of His Angel ministers of War, Pestilence, and Victory, whom He sends fortli to do His will in all parts of the world, and who return to Him and give to Him an account of their doings (bk. 10, 11) j or, as some suppose (e consummated in glory at that great Day when all earthly Powers will be put under His feet, and " the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of the Lord, and of His Christ " (Rev. xi. 15), and He will "reign for ever and ever. King of kings, and Loed of lords" (Rev. xvii. 1!), and will say to all His faithful servants on His right hand, " Receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world " (Matt. xxv. 34). It is also a probable opinion, that the two Olive Trees symbolize the Old and New Testament; through which the Oil of the Holy Spirit is conveyed to the Candlestick of the Church which illuminates tlie world by the light thence received ; and this interpretation is confirmed by the language of the Apoca- lypse, where are Two Olive Trees and Two Candlesticks, which are called God's Two Witnesses, and they are said to stand before the Lord of all the earth. See below on Rev. xi. 3, 4, pp. 216, 217. On the whole, we may conclude that the two Olive Trees represent either the Incarnate Word or the Written Word. 12. What be these two olive branches u-hich through the ttco golden pipes empty the golden oil] Literally, empty the gold. Observe, the Candlestick is golden, and the oil is called gold; it is like liquid gold. The Church must be pure and holy ; and what she teaches and ministers to the People must be pure and holy also; not adulterated with the admixture of any novel doctrines, such as those which have been added by some to " the faith once for .all delivered to the saints " (Jude 3), and imposed ai necessary to salvation. "How is the gold become dim, and the fine gold changed ! " (Lam. iv. 1.) K The fiijing roll. ZECHARIAH V. 1—11. The Woman carried to Babylon. b Mjl. 4. 6. II Or, ever!/ one of this people that tteatelh holdeth hiia^tM guiltiest, a< it doth. c Lev. 19. 12. ch. 8.17. Ma). 3. 5. dSeeLcv. 14. 45. V. ' Then I turned, ancT lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying ''roll. 2 And he said unto me, What seest thou ? And I answered, I see a flying roll ; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. 3 Then said he unto me. This is the ** curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth : for || every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it ; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side accordmg to it. ^ I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of ' him that sweareth falsely by my name : and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and "^ shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof. ^ Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me. Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. 6 And I said, What is it ? And he said. This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover. This is their resemblance through all the earth. 7 And, behold, there was hfted up a || talent of lead : and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. ^ And he said, Tliis is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah ; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. ^ Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind %vas in their wings ; for they had wings like the wings of a stork : and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. 10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me. Whither do these bear the ephah ? 1' And he said unto me. To " build it an house in Hhe land of Shinar : and it shall be estabhshed, and set there upon her own base. The Fltino Kolx,. The Woman in the Ephah. Cn. v.] This Vision follows as a natui-il sequel to the pre- ceding one. The announcement of God's gracious favour to the faithful in the former Vision is succeeded here hy a solemn warning to the ungodly. The description of the faithful Chnrch, the spiritual Sion, in the foregoing chapter, is now followed by a represent.ition ^f its opposite, the faithless Church, whose place is a spiritual £ubt/lon {v. 11). This Vision had in the first instance a message of warning for the godless men at Jerusalem in Zochariah's own day, the false swearers, extortioners, and adulterers, and others with whom Neheniiah had to contend (cp. Mai. iii. 5) ; but it is extended to the spiritual Jerusalem, the Cluu'ch (S. C'/ril). 2. a fiyiny roll (or volume unrolled and spread out) ; iJte length thereof is iioenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits'] That is, its length was exactly equal to the dimensions of the Holy Place of the Tabernacle ; and to the Porch of the Holy Place in Solomon's Temple, and of the House itself in breadth, which was twenty cubits (see 1 Kings vi. 3), and it was equal in its other dimension, ten cubits, to the depth of the Porch, so that if it had been laid down (as a carpet) in the Porch, it would have covei'ed the whole area. This signifies that the warning here pronounced is universal in its extent and application. None who enter the Porch of the Visible Church may flatter themselves that they can escape God'a wrath and malediction, if they commit any of the sins condemned by the comprehensive commination of this flying Boll, which may be compared to a net, co-extensive with the World, and drawn throughout the whole, from side to side. 3. iJiat swearethl Namely,ya?.se/y. See v. 4. 6. This is an cphah^ Literally, the ephah, the full measure of iniquity (S. Jerome, Theodorel). The Ephah was the measure by which corn was meted out and dispensed. The Ephah or bushel is chosen here, because it 130 was the principal measure of capacity among the Hebrews : it contained about eight gallons. See on Exod. xvi. 36. A\liat does it symbolize? The membersand ministers of God'sChurch ought todispenso nourishment to others. They ought to measure out their gifts, and to feed those around them with the wholesome food of divine truth and holy example. If they do not do this, their privileges will become the occasion and instrument of their punishment. They will be like the woman (which represents wickedness) cast into tlie ephah, and sealed np in it hermetically with lead, and swept away by the winds of God's wrath, from the Sion of His Church tolhe Babel of Confusion. Hero is a wai'iiing to all who adulterate God's truth, or refuse to impart it in purity and simplicity. 9. there came out itvo women, and the loind was in their wings; for Ihey had wings like the icings of a stork'] The Woman in the Ephah is a corrupt Church : the other two women, who carry her away, with wings like those of a stork, a bird pro- verbial for its filial love, and therefore called chasidah, ov pious (see on Job xxxix. 13), perhaps represent faithful Churches ; and the meaning seems to be, that they will punish Error, because they love the Truth. The stork is a migratory bird (Jer. viii. 7), soaring aloft with sail-like, flapping wings, and frequents ruinous and marshy places, like Babylon. 11. To build it an house in the land of Shinar] The place where the tower of Babel, or Confusion, was built by rebels against God (see on Gen. x. 10; xi. 9), and the scene also of Israel's exile and punishment for sin (Isa. xi. 11. Dan. i. 2) where Babylon was ; the City of Confusion, opposed to Sion, the City of Peace. See on Acts ii. 6. The Prophet intimates to the Jews of his own age, that if they sin against God by the sins here mentioned, their restora- tion to Jerusalem is frustrate and abortive ; they are not, in heart, in Sion the City of Peace, but in Babel the City of Confusion ; and though they may pride tliemselvcs in Ijuildinga city and temple at Jerusalem, yet their own proper place, where their own house is built, is the land of Shinar. The four chariots. ZECHARIAH VI. 1—18. The crowns for Joshua. VI. ^ And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains ; and the mountains tuere mountains of brass. - In the first chariot were "red horses ; and in the second chariot '' black horses ; ^ and in the third chariot " white horses ; and in the fourth chariot grisled and || bay horses. * Then I answered '' and said unto the angel that talked Avith me. What are these, my lord ? ^ And the angel answered and said unto me, " These are the four || spirits of the heavens, which go forth from ''standing before the Lord of all the earth. ^ The black horses which are therein go forth into ^ the north country ; and the white go forth after them ; and the grisled go forth toward the south country. '' And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might '' walk to and fro through the earth : and ho said. Get j^ou hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth. " Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying. Behold these that go toward the north country have quieted my ' spirit in the north country. ^ And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, '" Take of tlicm of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah ; '^ then take silver and gold, and make ^ crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest ; ''^ and speak unto him, saying. Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold ' the man whose name is The '" BRANCH ; And he shall || grow up out of his place, " And he shall build the temple of the Lord : '^ Even he shall build the temple of the Lord ; Before CHRIST II Or, strong, a ell. 5.10. II Or, winds. f 1 Kings 22. 19. Dan. 7. 10. ch.4. 14. Luke 1. 19. gJer. 1.11. Ecclcs.lO. 4. k Exod. 2S. 36. 29. e. Lev. S. 9. ell. 3. I See Luke 1. 7S. John 1.45. m ch. 3. S. II Or, branch up from under him. n ch. 4. 9. Matt. 16. 18. Epli.2. 20, 21,22. Heb. 3. 8. Wickedness, or Lawlessness (see Sept, here, which lias avofxia, and cp. 2 Thess. ii. 8, b ivo/ios), is carried to Babylon and is settled there, because at Babylon is its proper place (S. Jerome). This Vision, like the other Visions of Zecbariah, extends to Christian times. In the Christian CUurch Universal, corrnptions liave arisen which may find a solemn warning here. The Church of Rome boasts herself to be Sion : but slie is the mystical iJabylon of the Apocalypse (as is shown below, Revelation xvii., xviii., pp. 219—260). Her Sovereign Pontiff is "the Lawless one" of St. Paul. See below, on 2 Thess ii. 3—12, pp. 29—32. Tills prophecy may be applied, and ought to be applied, !is a warning to tliose who are tempted to communicate with her in her eiTors and corruptions. Her doom will be, to be removed from her place, and to be swept away by the whirlwind of God's wrath, because she rebels against His Will and Word. The Fo0E Chaeiots. Cn.VI. 1 — 8. beJiold, Ihere came four chariots out from le- itceen two mountains — of trass — these — have quieted my spirit in the north countri/j Those eight verses will best be considered together. The four chariots from between two mountains of brass represent God's instruments of retributive justice going forth from the fortress of His Power. Brass is a symbol of might (Job xl. IS. Ps. cvii. 16. Dan. xlv. 2. 32. 39). Chariots are emblems of rapid marcli and victorious career. The four chariots symbolize the four great Empires, already descril.ed by Daniel (ii.-Sl— 43 ; vii. 3—7. See S. Ct/ril liere) ; and the colours of the horses represent their various attributes (cp. above, i. 8—10) and their going forth fi'om between two mountains of brass — not real mountains, but symbolical — shows that they have one common starting-place, which can be no other than the Will of God, Who is the Governor of the world. Cp. v. 5. The words ffrisled and lay would be better rendered grisled and strong. See the Margin and Dr. Pusey on Daniel, p. 358, rtho rightly remarks that "the imagery here, like that above in i. 18, 19, presupposes the existence of Daniel's prophecies, and is an argument for their authenticity, and is to be explained from those prophecies." Of the black liorses, the symbol of the Se- tond Empire (the Mcdo-Persian), it is said, that they have made 131 miue anger to rest in the north country (i. e. ou Babylon), because of God's judgments executed on Babylon by Cyrus, who is represented here as God's minister. The third is here said to go forth after them, for the Greeks occupied the region before held by the Persians. The fourth, the Roman, which ia characterized by grisled and strong horses, corresponds in these features of mixture and strength with tlie fourth, or Roman, Empire, as described by Daniel (ii. 41). The Ceowns — peom the People op the Caeiititt — PLACED ou THE HEAD OP JoSHUA THE HiGH PeIESI. 10 — 14. Talce of them of the captivity — high priest— for a memorial in the temple of the Lord'] God commands that the silver and gold, brought as au offering from some of the captives of Babylon to the Temple at Jerusalem, should be made into crowns (or rather into diadems), encircling one crown (cp. Rev. xix. 12, and Kliefoth, 98) ,aud placed, not on the head of Zerub- babel, the civil Ruler, but on the head of Joshua the High Priest. Christ's glory eclipses that of both. Zerubbabel was a civil Ruler, but not a King; Joshua was a Priest, not a Ruler; Christ is the universal King and everlasting Priest. This was a typical and prophetical act. The crowns are for the JPriest. This prefigures the future glory of Christ the Messiah {Targum), the Branch {v. 12). He grows up out of His place, literally, from under Rim (cp. Exod. x. 23) ; the Branch shall grow up /com v.nder Himself , that is, by reason of His own innate virtue. He, as Man, shall grow up from His eternal Godhead ; and shall put forth divine vigour, and grow up and flourish, and overshadow the earth, like a great tree : as He Himself says, comparing Himself to a corn of wheat which dies and brings forth much fruit (John xii. 24), the grain dies, and the Harvest of the Gentiles springs up from it. By reason of the union of His Manhood with His Godliead (cp. A Lapide here). He springs up and puts forth His divine power and dif- fuses His divine Grace in the Universal Church, and therefore it is added. He shall build the temple of the Lord, that Ls, the Church in all place and time. 13. he shall— rule upon his 'krone— and— le a priest upon The Man n-lw is the Branch, ZECHAKIAH VI. 14. the Priest, and King. And he " shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule upon his throne ; And p he shall be a priest upon his throne : And the counsel of peace shall be between them both. " And the croAvns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, "^ for a memorial in the temple of the Lord. Jiis throne: and the counsel of peace shall he between them hoth'] That is, tlie Priesthood and the Monarchy shall be united in a lioly alliance, and shall produce eternal peace by their union in Him. This is fulfilled in Christ, and in Christ alone, " In unins gloria Domini Jesu utrnmque consentit" (S. Jerome). This union had already been symbolized by the two Olive Trees in iv. 11—14. It is an expansion of the divine words of Psahn ex., where Christ is revealed ns a King, seated at God's right hand, till He makes his foes His footstool : and also, " as a Priest for ever." The offering of silver and gold from the people of the cap- tivity, and the formation of these precious mctala so offered, into diadems for the crown of Joshua the High Priest, the leader of the captivity from Babylon, and the builder of the Temple with Zerubbabel, was typical of the homage to be paid to Christ by the Jewish dispersion and by all nations of the world wlio were once in the Babylonish bondage, and exile of Sin and Death, hut have received liberty from Christ. Thei^ that are far off (it is added, v. 15) shall come, and shall build in the Temple of the Lord, namely, the Universal Church of Christ (S. Ci/ril), and do homage to' Him. " All kings shall bow down before Him, all nations shall do Him service " (Ps. Ixxii. 11). " The Kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall give presents, the Kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts" (Ps. Ixxii. 10). They shall cast their crowns down before Him. Therefore, the crowns or diadems here mentioned are described as a memorial ill the Temple of the Lord, they were typical of what would take place hereafter, and they are inscribed with certan signi- ficant names, i. e. Jlelem, or Chelem {strength) ; ani Tobijah, (pleasing to the Lord) ; and Jedaiah (whom the Lord knows) ; and Chen (grace) ; the son of Zephaniah (whom the Lord hides and protects). These names indicate the moral qualifications of those whose offerings will be accepted by Christ, " Per singu- las virtutes nostras Dominus coronatur " (S. Jerome). Christ is crowned with gold and silver diadems of our faith and good works, and with the glory of our salvation (S. Cgril). The following excellent remarks on these prophecies of Zechariah may liere be submitted to the reader ; — " The first return of the Jewish people from Babylon was not to security and peace. Their establishment was opposed by the jealousy of the Samaritans, and the hatred of other sur- rounding enemies ; the rebuilding of their Temple and their Walls was forcibly interrupted and delayed. The struggle affected their promised restoration as a Church and People ; and the exercise of their religion was at stake in it. " But Prophecy was instructed to supply the encouragement which the conflict of their misfortunes required. It did so by assurances of the repression of their enemies, and the complete re-establishment of their City, Temple, and public peace. ' Thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies ; My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of Hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. My cities through prosperity shall yet he spread abroad, and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem ' (Zech. i. 16, 17). ' For thus saith the Lord of Hosts ; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked Me to wrath, saith the Lord of Hosts, and I repented not ; so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear ye not' (viii. 14, 15). " Such is the general scope of Haggai and Zechariah's pre- dictions, as they relate to the affairs of the Jewish people. "But these prophets introduce also the Gospel -subject; Zechariah especially, in mystic vision and by typical represen- tation, which yet are sufficiently clear, as expressive of the kingdom of the Christian Church, and the concourse of Nations resorting to that future Temple. For here, in this a)ra, we have a second application of the same systematic form of prophecy which was employed in the establishment of the Temporal King- dom. The nearer subject, in each instance, supplies the pro- phetic ground, and the prophetic images, for the future Christian sulgect. " In the first instance, the Kingdom of Christ is delineated in connexion with, and by analogy to, the actual kingdom which was seen before men's eyes rising to view. In the second in- stance. His personal Priesthood, and His Church, are delineated 132 in connexion with, and by an eqiial analogy to, the Priesthood and Temple of the Hebrew Church, at the time when the Priest, hood was reinstated in its functions,and that Temple was rebuilt. "As an example of this j^mio/f'cai prediction, founded upon the present scene of things, consider the following oracle of Zechariah : — "The prophet had been commanded to take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them, or set one of them, upon the head of Joshua, the son of Josedech, the hi(jh priest, and then to deliver this prophecy : ' Thus spcaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the Man whose name is the Branch and He shall grow up out of this place (or, there shall be a growth out of His place), and He shall build the Temple of the Lord: Even He shall build the Temple of the Lord, and Jle shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both;' and ' the crown shall he for a memorial in the Temple of the Lord. And they that are afar off shall come and build in the Temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God ' (Zech. vi. 10 — 15). *'This oracle, I think, will justify and sustain the character I have assigned to it. Its mystic form, its sublime and emphatic spirit, its promise of glory, its union of the Priesthood and the Throne, its appointed memorial of the -crown to be laid up in the Temple of the Lord, its assemblage of builders from afar, absolutely refuse to be confined to the literal idea of i\\Q present work of the Jewish restoration, in their national increase, their Priesthood, and their Temple. The whole principle of the pro- phecy meets us in the face, first in its ground of analogy, and next in its proper extent, an extent wherein it leaves the in- ferior subject, from which it springs, far behind. " In truth, there is both reason and sublimity in Prophecy ; and we shall scarcely understand it, unless we are prepared to follow it in both. Its sublimity is, that it often soars, as here, far above the scene from which it takes its rise. Its reason is, that it still hovers over the scene of things from which it rose. It takes the visible, or the temporal, subject as its point of departure (if I may borrow the phrase) for its enlarged revela- tion ; and yet by that subject it goverBs its course. " In this method of it, I believe that men of plain unsophis- ticated reason find it perfectly intelligible; and that it is only the false fastidiousness of an artificial learning which puts the scruple into our perceptions either of its consistency, or its sense. But when we consider that this structure of Prophecy, founded on a proximate visible subject, had the advantage, both in the aptitude of the representation, and in the immediate pledge of the future truth ; a sounder learning may dispose us to admit it, and that with confidence, whenever the prophetic text, or mystic vision, is impatient for the larger scope, and the conspicuous cliaracters of the Symbol and the Fact concur in identifying the relation" (Davison on Prophecy, pp. 230—232). Again, the same writer thus speaks : — " The predictions joined with the building of Solomon's Temple are of a simpler kind ; perhaps they relate purely and solely to the Temple itself But the second Temple rises with a different structure of prophecy \ipon it. Haggai, Zecliariah, and Malachi have each delivered some symbolical predictions connected with it, or with its Priesthood and Worship. " Why this difference in the two cases ? I think the answer is clear; it is a difference obviously related to the nearer con- nexion which the second Temple has with the Gospel. " When God gave them their First Temple it was doomed to fall, and rise again, under and during their first economy. The elder prophecy, therefore, was directed to the proper his- tory of the First Temple. " But when He gave them their Second Temple, Christianity was then nearer in view; through that second edifice lay the Gospel-prospect. Its restoration, therefore, was marked by a kind of prophecy which had its vision towards the Gospel. And a great confirmation is derived to all this view of the structure of prophecy from the following fact, when it is deliberately weighed and examined. In the days of David and Solomon, when the temporal Kingdom was set up, the Christian Kingdom was copiously and eminently foretold at the same time ; but it Ileroie CHRIST 419. r l.sa 5?. lU. & 60. lu. liph. 2. 13, 19. 8ch. 2. 9. & 4. V The Glory of th€ Church. ZECHAEIAH VI. 15. VII. 1—10. True fasting, and fake. '^ And ' they that are far off shall come And huikl in the temple of the Lord, And " ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, If ye will diligently ohey the voice of the Lord your God. VII. ' And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth dan of the ninth month, even in Chisleu ; - when they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Eegemmelech, and their men, f to pray hefore the Lord, ^ and to " speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying. Should I weep in ^ the fifth mouth, separating myself, as I have done these so many years ? * Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying, * Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying. When ye " fasted and mourned in the fifth ^ and seventh month, ^ even those seventy years, did ye at all fast ''unto me, even to me? ^And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, II did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? ^ \\Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried fhy the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited ^the south and the plain? ^ And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying, ^ Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, ""f Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother : '" and ' oppress not the widow, nor the f Heb. In inlrrnt the face of tlie LOKD: I Sam. 13. IJ. cli. 8. 21. a Ueut. 17. 9, 10, 11. 4 33. 10. Mai. 2. 7. bJer.52.12.ch.8. 19. cell. 1. 12. f Sec Rom. 14, (!. II Or. l.c w,( ye llieii tliiit. !,c. II dr. Are «../ tlie-e Ihr u:„,ls. t \U\).liythelia„d of, «T. g Jer. 17. 20. h Isa, 58. n, 7. Jcr. 7.23. Micah. 6. 8. t Helj. Judge jut! gment of Irulh. .21,22. Deut. 24. 17. Isa. I. 17. Jer. 5. 28. cannot be saUl th.it the Temple set up in those same days had an equal illustration of Christian prophecy cast upon it. The temporal kingdom, which was then beginning its course, was not to be restored, after it should once be taken away. But the Temple was destined to fall, and be restored. Hence it should appear that t\\a first institution of the kingdom, and the second building of the Temple, were equally the seasons wherein the Christian prophecy, connected with each of those ordinances, might be found with the most clear and significant adaptation. And such is the actual case : such the date of the respective predictions joined with and grounded upon the Jewish Kingdom and Temple. Proceeding from these two distant points in the first Kconomy, Prophecy, in each, directs our view to that era which unites together the Temple and the Kingdom, and completes the divine promises and predictions, engrafted upon both, in the Clmrchand Kingdom of Christ" {Davison on Prophecy, p. 237). 15. they that areyar oj]f~\ Distant nations, symbolized by these emissaries from Babylon, shall come and build in the Temple of iAeioj'rf, the Church of Christ universal. See Isa. Ix. 10. — i\\\s shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey"] It shall surely come to pass ; but it shall be fulfilled only to those who believe and obey the Gospel preached to them. Pbophetio Rebukes tor Sin, especiallt Htpoceist. The Mokai, Vietdes ake what God heqi:iees. Fastino IS Peopitless without Obedience. On. VII.] Zechariah's seven typical and prophetical visions are succeeded by practical instructions. All theological mysteries are consummated in holiness and love. 1. In the fourth year of king Darius— in Chisleu] Two years after the resumption of the building of the Temple, and two years before it was finished. This prophecy is separated from the foregoing by an interval of nearly two years. The month Chisleu, the ninth month, coincided nearly with our December. See above, on Ezra x. 9. Neh. i. 1. 2. When they had sent unto the house of Ood] Hebr. JBeth-el. There are four difiereut renderings of this passage. (1) They sent to Bethel. (2) They sent to the house of God. (3) Bethel (i.e. the inhabitants of it) sent. (4) The House (or congregation of God) sent. On the whole, the second interpretation, that in the text, seems preferable. The sense is: ^^ They sent'* (literally, one sew/) " to the house of Ood," which was thus far advanced to comple- tion. So Vulg., U. Salomon, J'atablus, Fagninus, A La^ide. 133 Compare Judges xx. 26, where there is the same difference of rendering; and Judges xxi. 2. 3. Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself] From food and other enjoyments. Shall I continue to weep and fast in the fifth month, on the tenth day, when the Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians ? See above, on Jer. lii. 12, 13. Shall I do this now, when the Temple is rising from its ruins ? — as I have done these so many years] They did well to fast, but not to boast of their fasting and self-mortification. Here is a symptom of that Pharisaical reliance on outward works of religion, which reached its height in our Lord's age (Matt. vi. 16. Luke xiii. 13) and became almost as detrimental to vital religion as idolatry had been in the age before the Captivity. The Jews suffered for each of these sins, in different times : Idolatry was the cause of their captivity at Babylon, Pharisaism led to their destruction by the arms of Rome. Surely it is a miserable condition for a Church, when both these sins (idolatry and Pharisaism) are combined in her. What then will the end be? 6. ye fasted — in the fifth and seventh month] In the fifth month for the destruction of Jerusalem, in the seventh month for the murder of Gedaluih, the son of Ahikam, the Governor who was set over the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar. See above, on Jer. xli. 1. — did ye^fast unto me] No; ye fasted to yourselves. Your fiisting was not produced by a deep sense of shame and remorse for sin, as hateful to Me and as the cause of your punish- ment from Me; it was not a fiist of sorrow for My oflended Majesty, but for your own punishment. It was not a God-ward sorrow, but a world ward sorrow (see on 2 Cor. vii. 10). And ye fasted in order that ye might appear unto men to fast (Matt. vi. 16), and in a vain-glorious self-conceit of your own righteous- ness. Cp. Amos v. 25, " Have ye offered unto Me sacrifices and oS'erings in the wilderness forty years ?" No, ye offered them not to Me, but to the idols which ye made for yourselves to worship. 6. And when ye did eat] Ye did eat for yourselves, for your own self-indulgence; not praising Me for y our food.and not setting apart thank-oflerings from your abundance, to Me, and to the poor. 7. the south] Hebr. negeb. The region to the south of Judah (Josh. XV. 21. 47). — the plain] Hebr. Shephelah, The lowland, on the Medi- terranean Sea (Josh. xv. 33). 9, 10. Execute true judgment] This is the fast which God requires, and without which all fasting is useless, nay, is even an hypocritical abomination in His sight. Fast from sin, and do what is right in His eyes. Cp. Isa. Iviii. 6, ?• Israel's sin and uw. ZECHARIAH VII. 11—14. VIII. 1— G. Joys of ohediencc. de Micah 2.1. ch. 8. U. 1 Neh. 9. 29. Jer. 7. 24. Hos. 4. 16. tHeb. Ihri, ga hncksliijing shoulder. ■t Heb. m heavy. m Acts?, 57. n Ezek. 11. 19. St 36. 26. o Neh. 9. 29, .'io. t Heb.iyfAe hniid of. p 2 Chron. SC. 10. Dan. 9. 11. q Prov. 1. 24—23. Isa. 1. 1.5. Jer. 11. 11. Si 14. 12. Micah 3. 4, r Deut, 4. 27 & 28, 64, Ezek, 36. 19. ch, 2, 6, s Deut, 2S. .1.1, t Lev, 26, :.'2, u Dan, 8. 9, t Heb. land vf a Nahum 1. 2. ch. 1. 14. bch. 1. 10. c ch. 2. 10. disa. 1.21, 26. elsa. 2. 2,3. f Jer. 31.23. pSee I Sam. 2. 31. Isa. 65. 20, 22. Lam. 2. 20. .>tc. &5. 11—14. \ neb. fur louin- iude of dni/s. n Or, hard, or difficult. fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor ; '' and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. ''But they refused to hearken, and 'f pulled away the shoulder, and f '" stopped their ears, that they should not hear. '- Yea, they made their " hearts as an adamant stone, ° lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit f by the former prophets : ■■ therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts. '^ Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear ; so '' they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts : ^* but ' I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations ' whom they knew not. Thus 'tljp land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned : for they laid " the f pleasant land desolate. VIII. ' Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, - Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; "" I was jealous for Ziou with great jealousy, And I was jealous for her with great fury, ^ Thus saith the Lord ; ""I am returned unto Zion, And " will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem : And Jerusalem ** shall be called a city of truth ; And ""the mountain of the Lord of hosts "^the holy mountain. * Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; "^ There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man mth his staff in his hand f for very age. ^And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playhig in the streets thereof. ^ Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; If it be || marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, '' should it also be marvellous in mine eyes ? saith the Lord of hosts. Here is a preparation for Our Lord's teacliiug in the Gospel ; and for the woes pronounced by Him on that prond, self-righteous, Pharisaical spirit, which brought down God's wrath upon Jeru- salem. " Woe unto you, Scribes and Phai-isees, hypocrites, for ye p.ay tithes of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith ; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone " (Matt, xxiii. 23). 14. tfiei/ laid the pleasant land (literally tlie land of desire) desolaie'] They themselves, the Jews, by their sins (rather than the Assyrians and Chaldeans by their arms), made their own land to be a wilderness. "0 Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself" (Hos. xiii. 9). The BLESsiNog op Obedience. Ch. VIII.] In the foregoing address the Prophet has declared the bitter consequences of disobedience to God's moral law : he now proclaims the blessings of obedience. The rebuilding of the material Temple itself might prove a snare to them. 'I'hey might be tempted to rely too much on the e.iternal forms of religion connected with that sacred faliric. He insists therefore on the need of personal holiness and of vital religion, and he promises to all true believers and faithful wor- shippers, those etern.il blessings and heavenly glories which are bestowed by God on all devout worshippers in the spiritual Zion of the Cl-.urch of Christ. 2. I loas jealous for Zion'] I glowed with love and zeal for Zion, whom I have espoused to Me, and with indignation against her enemies, who have treated her cruelly. He repeats the wordsfrom i. 14, " I am jealous for Jerusalem." Cp. Joel ii. 18, " The Lord will be jealous for His land, and pity His people." 3. the mountain of the Loed] Tlie Church of God, " wliich shall be established in the top of tlie mountains, and e-talted above the hills," in the Gospel Dispensation. See Isa. ii. 2. Micah iv. 1. Ezek. xl. 2. This prophecy stretches onwards from the Prophet's age to the last days of the world. It received some faint gleams and dim glimpses of fulfilment in his own age, in the restoration of the Temple, and in the rebuilding of the Walls of Jerusalem ; 134 but what was then effected fell very far short of the gloriom revelations in this prophecy (see vv. 6 — 8. 20 — 23). It received a great accession towards its accomplishment after the Death, Re- surrection, and Ascension of Christ, and in the Descent of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost, enabling the Apostles to go forth from Jerusalem and to preach the Gospel to all Nations, and to bring them into the spiritual Zion of Christ's Church, which will be extended to all the world, and be glorified for ever in heaven. We assert (says an ancient Father) that these prophecies received a partial, preparatory and typical accomplishment under Zerobbabel and Neliemiah, when the people had returned from Babylon, and the Temple and City were rebuilt ; but their com- plete fulfilment is in Christ, and in His Church, which is the true Jerusalem, to which all nations flow from the East and the West, to sit down in the kingdom of God (Matt. viii. 11). In that Jerusalem all the blessings that are promised liere will bo fully realized and enjoyed (S. Jerome). 4, 5. old men — boys and girls playing] This imagery, which represents a time when there is no alarm of war, or plague, or famine, but every thing is peaceful and joyous, describes, in a spiritual sense, tlie condition of the Church defended by Christ, and enriched with blessings by Him (S. Jerome). 4. every man with his staff] Men will live long, and will not die by any violent death, but of old age. 6. Jf it be marvellous] S. Jerome applies this prophecy to the times of the Church which succeeded the persecutions under the Roman Emperors, specially Diocletian, and says, " Who would have supposed that the same Imperial Power which destroyed our Churches and burnt our Bibles, should now rebuild the former at public expense, in splendour and magnificence of gold and v.irious marbles, and restore the latter in golden, purple, and jewelled bindings (deauratos et purpuratos, et gcmmarum varietate distinctos) ? " But so it is. No doubt this was one of the marvels comprehended in the prophecy. But the greatest marvel of all is future. It will be in the deliverance of heathen nations from idolatry, and in the conversion of the Jews ; and in the union of both in Christ. See what follows, and compare the Evangelical Prophecies of Isa. xi. 11, 12; xliii. 5, 6. Ezek. xxxvii. 21. Hosea ii. 19. Amos ix. 14. Mai. i. 11. Conversion of the Gcnlilcs. ZECHARIAH VIII. 7—23. Moral duties. ^ Tims saitli the Lord of hosts; Behold, 'I will save my people from ^.j,"; the east country, aud from f the west country ; " and I will bring them, and -, ^^ ,^ they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem : '' and they shall be my people, and Ez^y..% I will be their God, ' in truth and in righteousness. 14, IJ. t neh.tlilcouiUnj " Thus saith the Lord of hosts; ""Let your hands be strong, yo that hear j/ '*'•«"• sV^"" Jer. 30. 22. & in these days these words by the mouth of " the prophets, which ivcre in ° the "5^/ day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the Wi u:"; temple might be built. '"For before these days || there was no •'liire for man, mn^tl'-*. nor any hire for beast ; '' neither teas there any peace to him that went out or j '^i'^^- \'^^- came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his |i,°„V«ami;" °^ neighbour. '' But now I ivill not he unto the residue of this people as in llUg^'iflo, lo. the former days, saith the Lord of hosts. '-'For the seed shall he j-mos-t^h'^ion. is. s. ^ T IIos. 2. 21 22. perous; the vine shall give her fruit, and 'the ground shall give her increase, lifg\''fi ' and ' the heavens shall give their dew ; and I will cause the remnant of this I p'%°^l'""' people to possess all these things. '^ And it shall come to pass, that as yg '^^'^H^s'-^'- were "a curse among the heathen, house of Judah, and house of Israel; ujcr. 12. is. so will I save you, and "ye shall be a blessing : fear not, but " let your hands x ccn. 12. 2. be strong. '^ For thus saith the Lord of hosts; ''As I thought to punish •'^^'s-^i.'zsV " ' O 1 Zeph. 3. 20. you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, " and "-J^rV"' I repented not: '^ so again have I thought in these days to do well unto a 2 ciudn? sc. ic. Jerusalem and to the house of Judah : fear ye not. '^ These arc the things that ye shall do ; '' Speak ye every man the truth to bch. 7.9. his neioihbour ; f execute the iudgment of truth and peace in your gates : Ep'i'i. 4: 2.5. . ... . 1 . -1 1 iHch.Juitgelnill,, '' "and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts agamst his neighbour; and "fll'J"''^"""' '' love no false oath : for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord. llTil' "" '^ Aud the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying, '^ Thus saitli * "''■ ^' '' ■*" the Lord of hosts ; "The fast of the {omihmonth, ''and the fast of the fifth, ''and uZili^^i:,, 41. J, 2. )i Jer. 52.4. Esth. 8. \7. 'joy and gladness, and cheerful || feasts; '' therefore love the truth aud peace -° Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall isJss.To!" come people, and the inhabitants of many cities : -' and the inhabitants of one ^^''',.^,"'^0. city shall go to another, saying, ' Let us go || f speedily f to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts : I will go also. -Yea, ""many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. -^ Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten Micah4. 1, 2. II OT.canliniiaUy. t Heb. going. ) Heb. /« inlreat the face 0/ llie LOUD. ch. 7.2. m Isa. 6.1. 3, Src. S; 06. 23. 7. from the east — and — «*e5/] As our Lord snys, *' Many shall come from the cast and from the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob iu the Kingdom of God" (Matt. viii.ll). Cp. Isa. xlix. 12. 10. before tliese days'] The prosperity of .Tudah dates from the time of the resumption of its work of rebuilding the Temple of the Lord. See Haggai ii. 18. Tliis temporal prosperity was a pledge aud earnest of those greater spiritual blessings which will be the unfailing and eternal reward of faith and obedience. — no hire~\ No wages j all labour was fruitless. Cp. Hag. i. 6. 9-ll;ii. 16. 19. 12. the seed shall be frosperons] If such arc the blessings pronounced by God to the builders of the typical and material fabric of the Temple of Jerusalem, which was to be destroyed (cp. Hag. ii. 19), how much greater are the rewards assured by Him to those who edify and enlarge the spiritual antitype — the Christian Church — which will last for ever ! 19. The fast of the fourth month] On the ninth day of it, in the eleventh year of ZedcUiah, when Nebuchadnezzar took Jeru- salem. See Jer. xxxix. 2 ; lii. 6, 7. — fifth — seventh'] See above, on vii. 5. ■ — tenth] When the siege of Jerusalem was begun, iu the ninth year of Zedekiah (Jer. xxxix. 1). 135 — shall be — cheerfiilfeasts] Ye will no longer have occasion to mourn over the destruction of Jerusalem : ratlier, ye will rejoice that the transitory splendours of the material temple and city have passed away, being transfigured into the everlasting glory of the universal Church of Christ, which has risen up from the ruins of the literal Jerusalem, and extends itself far and wide so as to embrace the world. Cp. Isa. xxxr. 10. The Jews cannot consistently assert that these prophecies were fulfilled in Zerubbabel, and iu the rebuilding of the material Temple by him. If so, why do they still mourn over the destruc- tion of the Temple ? All the four days mentioned by Zechariah are still days of fasting and mourning to them. They have not been changed to them into " cheerful feasts." Bat they are so changed to vs who dwell in the spiritual Sion of Christ's Church ; and they will be so changed to the Jews when they turn to Christ. 20 — 22.] These prophecies, which foretell the flowing in of all Nations to Jerusalem, to offer sacrifices there, are fulfilled iu the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, and in their reception into the spiritual Sion of the Church of Christ (S. Cyril, Theodoret, Rupertiis^ S.ugo, S. Jerome). 23. ten men — out of all languages of the nations, erA shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jeto] The prophet hosteua Gentiles converted hj Jews. ZECHARIAH IX. 1. The land of Iladrach. men shall " take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take 1. hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We vdll go vrith you : for we have icor. 14. 25. heard "that God is with you. IX ^ The " burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, Before CHRIST 518. Isa. 3.C. S:4. about 517. I Jer, 23. 33. from the type to tlie antitype ("Propheta avolat a typo ad antitypum ") from Jerusalem to the Church of Christ {A Zapide). ,. , ,. Some (as 5. Ci/ril) interpret this as a prophecy of the time when many will join themselves to Christian believers, who are the genuine Jews and the true Israelites of God (Gal. vi. 15) ; as St. Paul says, " He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh : but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly ; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter " (Rom. ii. 28, 29. PhU. iii. 3) ; and the eagerness with which a large number of converts will flock from all parts to the Church of Christ, is represented by the statement that ten men out of all nations will take hold of the skirt of one believer in Christ, and say, " We will go with you." Cp. Kliefoth, 107. But we must rise higher. This is a prophecy that all Nations will lay hold, by faith, on the hem of the garment of Cheist, the Lord and Saviour of all (S. Jerome). Christ came of the Tribe of Judah, and was made " under the Law " (Gal. iv. 4). " Salvation is of the Jews " (John iv. 22). Ten is a number of completeness (S. Cyril). The words of the prophet may best be explained from the similar language of Isaiah, "In that day, seeen. women shall talc'e hold of one man (Isa. iv. 1, where see the note). To take hold of the skirt, literally, winff (Hebr. cnnaph) is an expression full of meaning, and runs through both Testaments, with special refereuce, of a typical and prophetical character, to Christ. To Him devout and faithful souls come, and lay hold of the hem of His garment, and virtue goes ever from Him to heal them. See Matt. ix. 20 ; xiv. 36. Here is a beautiful picture of the act of faith, in all ages and countries, which lays hold of Christ in prayer, in Scriptures, and in Sacra- ments ; and receives spiritual comfort, pardon and grace, and life eternal from Him Who is the one Fountain and Well-spriug of all our healtli and joy. It is Christ, Who, by His Godhead joined indissolubly to the Manhood in His Person, protects the faithful soul which lays hold of the skirt, literally, the wing, of His garment : as Ruth the Moabitess, the future bride, the type of the Church coming from the Gentile world, was covered with the skirt of Boaz, the type of Christ. See above, on Ruth iii. 9. It is He Who, by His incarnation, cleanses all who lay hold of His skirt, or wing. See above, on Hag. ii. 12. It is Christ Who, by virtue of His perfect purity, arises as the Sun of righteousness with healing in His wings (Mai. iv. 2, where see the note). In all these places the same word (loing) canaph is used. Peeliminaey Note to Chapteks IX.— XIV. op ZECHAniAn. There is a difference between the portion of this Book which has preceded, and that which follows. In the former portion, a series of sublime visions has been presented to the view ; henceforward not a single vision occurs. In the former part, we have seen the ministry of angels ; no angel appears in this latter part. It has been alleged by some, that this second portion of this Book was composed by a diSereut person from the author of the former part ; and by a writer who lived at an earlier period. This theory was propounded by the learned Joseph Mede (Epist. xxxi.), grounding an argument on the fact that a prophecy which is fouud iu chapter xi. 12, is ascribed by St. Matthew (xxvii. 9) to Jeremiah. Mede was followed in this opinion by Hammond, Kidder, Ifewcome (see the note in his edition of tlie Minor Prophets, p. 303, ed. 1809), and others. It is not to he forgotten, that though those critics assigned this second portion to an earlier writer than Zechariah, they all recognized its inspiration and canonicity. The arguments adduced by most of them were considered and refuted by Slagney, in his edition of Zechariah, Oxford, 1797. But since that time the genuineness of this latter portion has been im- pugned in Germany by Bertholdt, De Wette, and others, who ascribe it to the Zechariah mentioned in Isaiah viii. 2. Other critics, asEichhorn, Corrodi, Paulus, and Oramlerg, have gone into the opposite extreme, and have assigned this second portion to a writer later than Zechariah, i. e. to a time posterior to the return from the Captivity. These two opposite parties might well be left to answer one another ; and if tlie reader is desirous to see the evidence fairly and fully stated for the genuineness and integrity of Zechariah, and to see an answer to the objections raised against it, he may consult the work of Hengstenherg on the subject (" Dissertations on the Genuineness of Daniel, and Integrity of Zechariah," Engl. Trans., Edin. 1848) ; E'dvernick,'SAu\e\l. p. 408, and even Be Wette, iu the last edition of his Einleit. ; also the remarks of Kliefoth, 286, and of Keil (Introd. to Zechariah, p. 519. German edition). In refutation of those theories it may be observed, that Zechariah lived at the time when the Canon of Holy Scripture was just on the point of completion by Ezra and others, and it is not at all probable, that his contemporaries, who collected the Canon, would make a large addition to his known writings, and call that addition by his name : the fact, that they, who lived in his age, called the whole Book by the name Zechariah, is a strong argument for its genuineness and integrity. To this consideration may be added, that, whereas in the writings of the more ancient prophets, as Isaiah and Micah, the spiritual deliverance to be wrought by the Messiah is connected with the temporal deliver- ance of Judah from Assyria and Babylon (because those nations were the enemies of Judah in those earlier days), this is not the case iu Zechariah ; he grounds his prophecies of redemption by Christ on predictions of the deliverance of Israel and Judah, by the valour of the Maccabees, from the arms of Syria or of Greece. See ix. 13. Every thing in the latter portion harmonizes with the former portion. The seven prophecies in the one grow out of the seven visions in the other; and every thing in the latter, as well as in the former portion of this book of Zechariah, bespeaks an author who lived after the dissolution of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes of Israel, and also after the humiliation of the monarchy of Judah, and when the schism between Israel and Judah was healed, and all the Tribes looked to Jerusalem as their centre and their home ; and at a time also when the glories of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon had waned and faded away ; and when the people of Judah had returned from captivity to Jerusalem, and were looking forward to the Advent of the Messiah, with no external obstacles and impediments between themselves and the kingdom of Christ, except those which were produced by those enemies whose rise and dominion were either contem- porary with, or subsequent to, the days of Zechariah. WOE to all the Woelblt Powees which aee Opposed TO God. — The Land of Hadeach. Ch. IX. 1. Thehiirden'] The prophetic message of woe. See above, on Isaiah xiii. 1. The burden signifies a denunciation of suftering, " verbum grave, et ponderis et laboris plenum " (5. Jerome, Kliefoth). — the land of Radrach] Hadrach is not a literal appellative of any specific region, as has been supposed by some (Gesenius, Sleek, Maurer, jEbrard, Michaelis, Rosenmiiller, and others), but is a symbolical name (as 5. Jerome has observed, and so Hengst., Kliefoth, and Keil) which designates the worldly Power at that time dominant, namely, Persia, which was then jtowerful, but was to be weakened by God using the arms of Greece, first at Marathon (B.C. 490), then at Salamis (B.C. 480), and at Platffia (B.C. 479), and Mycale (B.C. 478) ; and afterwards at Granicus (B.C. 334), at Issus (B.C. 333), and at Arbela (B.C. 331), in the conquests of Alexander the Great, who captured Persepolis and Ecbatana (B.C. 330), and finally died at Babylon (B.C. 323.) The Prophet had good reason to veil the hostile power of Persia under a symbolic name, as, in later days, St. Paul concealed tlie Roman Empire under the phrase, " He that now letteth." See below, on 2 Thess. ii. 7. The word Had-rach is formed from two Hebrew words, viz. had, or chad, sharp, active, strong; and racli, soft, weak. " Ad-rach" (says S. Jerome) "ex duobus integris nomen com- positum ; Ad, acutum, Raoh, moUe tenerumque siguificans." It designates the worldly Power once strong, but to be made loeak. It may be compared to the Greek word oxy-nnoron. This name, Iladrach, may also be compared with other symbolical names in the prophetical Books of the Old Testament, and applied by the Prophets to persons, nations, and cities, and expressive of their character or their destiny ; such as Jareb, a name for the king of Assyria (see on Hosea v. 13 ; x. 6) ; JIuzzab, a name for Nineveh (see Nah. ii. 7) ; Sheshach, a name Judgments on Syria, ZECHARIAH IX. 2—5. Tyre, and Philistia. And ''Damascus shall he the rest thereof: Wheu ' the eyes of mau, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall he toward the Load. And '' Hamath also shall border thereby ; '■ Tyrus, and ' Zidon, though it be very « wise. And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, And '' hea^^ed up silver as the dust. And fine gold as the mire of the streets. Behold, ' the Lord will cast her out. And he will smite "^ her power in the sea ; And she shall be devoured with fire. ' Ashkelou shall see it, and fear ; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, And Ekron ; for her expectation shall be ashamed ; And the king shall perish from Gaza, c Chron. 20. 12. Va. 143. IS. d Jer. 49. 23. Amos 1.9. f 1 Kings 17.9. Ezek 28. 21. Obad. 20. e Ezek. 28. 3, kc. )l Job 27. IG. Ezek. 23. 4, 5. i Isa. 23. 1. k Ezek. 2li. 17. for Babylon (see Jcr. xxv. 26); Felcod and Merathaim, also names for Babylon (see Jer. 1. 21. Ezck. xxiii. 23) ; JDumah, a name for Edom (Isa. xxi. 11); MaJctesh, a name for Jerusalem (sue Zeph. i. 11). See also the notes above, on the words Oareb and Ooath (Jer. xxxi. 39), and Sh-ua and Koa (Elzek. xxiii. 23), and tbe Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel iii. 2), and Azal (below, xiv. 5), and tbe remarks above on symbolieal names in the Song of Solomon ; see Inlrod. to Canticles, pp. 125, 126. Hodraeh is Ihe designation of tbe Powers of this world generally (of which Persia was a specimen), strong for a while and proudly exulting in their strength, and opposing God, and persecuting His Church, and in His due time to be laid low and to be broken in pieces by Him. How many Hadraclis are now vaunting themselves as if they were all-powerful ! how many are raging against Him, and how terrible will be their downfall ! — Damascus shall be the rest thereof^ The woe from God shall fall, and rest not only on Persia, but on Damascus, tbe capital of Syria. This was fulfilled primarily in the conquests of Alexander's General, Parmenio, in that country, B.C. 333. See vv. 2, 3. For a learned commentary on the first eight verses of this chapter, see Dean Jackson on the Creed, book viii., chap, xvii., who shows that those prophecies were accomplished by Alexander the Great, and in the victories of the Maccabees in Philistia (1 Mace. X. 88 ; xi. 60, 61 ; xiii. 33—52). A recent writer thus comments on this passage : — " In this chapter is a distinct prediction of the conflict of the .Jews (i. e. under the Maccabees) with the Greeks, (i. e. Autiochus Epiphanes), and of their victories over them. And, before this war, there is a prophecy of a heavy calamity, which fiills in succession upon Damascus, Haniatb, Tyre, Zidon, and the maritime cities of Philistia, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, Asbdod ; iu which calamity the temple of God was to be guarded, not by human power, but by His unseen Presence. I will encamp about mine house, because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of Mm that returneth (Zech. ix. 8). And this, while God shoidd smite the power of Tyre in the sea. The selection of tbe places and of the whole line of country corresponds very exactly to the march of Alexander after the battle of Issus, when tbe capture of Damascus, which Darius bad chosen as the strong depository of bis wealth, of Persian women of rank, confidential oflicers and envoys {Orote, Greece, xii. 173), opened Coele-Syria ; Zidou surrendered ; Tyre, specially marked out by Zechariah (ix. 3), was taken with great efl'ort, after a seven months' siege {Diod. Sic. xvii. 40 — 45. Arrian, ii. 16 — 24. Q. Curt. iv. 2) ; Gaza too resisted for five months, was taken, and, it is said, plucked up (SIrabo, xvi. 2—30) ; but Alexander passed by with his victorious army and returned, and Jerusalem remained uninjured. History gives no other explanation of Zeehariah's prophecy than this conquest by Alexander : that conquest agrees minutely with the prophecy. No other event in history does. But, apart from this, tbe victory of the Jews over the Greeks was, of all events of history, then the most impro- bable. There was not the most distant likelihood of collision between them ; they had no point of contact. The name of Greece was known to the Jews only as that of one of tbe many countries which traded with Tyre; a distant nation, to whom T\ re and Zidon bad, iu their slave-trade, sold Jewish youths, that U'ify might remove them far from their border ; but the guilt and the Dunishment belonged to Tyre and Zidon, not to them. 137 Joel had, for this sin, prophesied the punishment of Tyre (iii. 4 — 6), not of Greece. Eichborn, whose form of unbelief exempted him from any necessity to explain prophecy of any other than its true object, avowed that this prophecy of Zechariah did relate to the march of Alexander .and the victories of Jews over Greeks at the later critical period of their history. He said plainly, " The conquests of Alexander are described so clearly that they cannot be mistaken.' 'In what is saidof Tyre, who can mistake Alexander's wonderful conquests ? ' ' All the chief places, which Alexander, after the battle of Issus, either took possession of or conquered, are named one by one, the land of Hadrach, Damascus and Hamath, Tyre and Zidon, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and Ashdod.' Greece was, until Alexander, a colonizing, not a conquering nation; the Hebrews had no human knowledge of tbe site of Greece. There was not a little cloud, like a man's hand, when Zechariah thus absolutely foretold the conflict and its issue. Yet here we have a definite prophecy, given later than Daniel, fitting in with his temporal prophecy, expanding a part of it, reaching beyond the time of Antiochus, and fore-announcing the help of God in two definite ways of protection ; (1) without war.against the army of Alexander ; (2)«i the war of tlie Maccabees ; and those, two of the most critical periods in their history, after the Captivity. Yet, being expansions of part of the prophecy of Daniel, the period to which they belong became clearer in the event by aid of the more comprehensive prophecies. They were two points in the larger prediction of the third empire " {Dr. Fusey's Lectures on Daniel, pp. 277—281). In a spiritual sense, Damascus, the capital of Syria, is another form of worldly power opposed to God ; and so are the other heathen cities here mentioned. See above, on Isaiah xiii., Prelim. ±^ote, and Jeremiah xlvi. 1. — When the eyes of man — toward the Loed] Some render this, for ihe Lord has an eye to man (that is, to all mankind), and to all the tribes of Israel {Sept., Arab., Targum, Syriac) ; that is, Jehovah, the Lord God of Jerusalem, sees and cares for all Mankind, and especially the tribes of Israel ; and controls and disposes all the conquests of armies, and all the destinies of nations, to the advancement of His glory and to the spiritual welfare of His people. Or the sense may be, for the eyes of man and of all the tribes of Israel ought to look to the Lord as their Saviour. Jehovah in Christ is the Redeemer of the World (Kliefoth). 2. Hamath also shall border thereby^ Rather, Hamath also which borders thereby. Hamath, the great city of Syria, called " Hamath the great " (Amos vi. 2 ; see Numbers xiii. 21. 2 Kings xviii. 34. Ezek. xlvii. 16), shall sufl'er with Damascus. — Tyrus, and Zidon'] They also shall be humbled. This was fulfilled literally by the conquest of Alexander tbe Great, B.C. 332, after a seven mouths' siege. Tyre is a symbol of a particular form of earthly power, opposed to God. See above, on Ezek. xxvii., xxviii., and Hengst. here. — though it be very wise~\ Rather, because it is very wise (Sept.). Because of its worldly wisdom, it shall be abased. Cp. Isa. xlvii. 10, " Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath per- verted thee." Cp. kliefoth, 117. 4. ihe Loed toill cast her out] Alexander's victories arc dua to the Lord, Wlio beholds and controls all things. Sec v. 1. 6. Ashkelon shall see it, and fear] Ashkelon, and tbe other great cities of Philistia, shall see the fall of Tyre and shall fear for a like fate to themselves. Philistia is another form of hostility Conversion of Philistia. ZECHARIAH IX. 6—9. Christ's trntmplial entry. i Ileb. bloods. olsa. CO. 18. Ezek. 28. 24. p Exod. 3. 7. qlsa. 62. II. ch. 2. 10. Matt. 21.5. John 12. 15. rJer.23. 5.8:30, 1 I.uke 19. 38. John 1.4!) And Ashkelon shall not be iuliabited. '' And a bastard shall dwell "" in Ashdod, And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. ^ And I will take away his f blood out of his mouth, And his abominations from between his teeth : But he that remaineth, even he, shall he for our God, And he shall be as a governor in Judah, And Ekron as a Jebusite. ^ And " I will encamp about mine house because of the army, Because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth ; And " no oppressor shall pass through them any more : For now ^ have I seen with mine eyes. ^ "^ Eejoice greatly, daughter of Zion ; Shout, daughter of Jerusalem : Behold, ' thy King cometh unto thee : to God. Cp. Amos i. 6—8. Zepli. ii. -1, and Jcr. xlvii., wliich is tlie groundwork of this prophecy. 6. a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod'] A bastard, literally, one whose birth lias some blemisli in it. In Deut. xxiii. 2, the only other passn^e where it is found, it may mean a stranger {Gcten. 480). The sense is, Gaza will be humbled, and her citizens will bo superseded and supplanted by a promiscuous immigration of a strange rabble of foreigners. All these things (says A Lapide) have a mystical fulfilment m Christ and His Church. Christ and His Apostles have subdued the spiritual Philistines to the sway of the Gospel, and have made them to coalesce with the Mthful Hebrew remnant in one People of God. It has been supposed by some, that the words, a bastard shall dwell, point to a time when even they who were excom- municated by the Hebrew Law will be admitted, on their faith and repentance, to equal privileges with the Jews in the Church of Christ. See Kliefoth, 121. This prophecy had a literal fulfilment in the victories of Alexander. In a spiritual sense it foretells the overthrow of worldly powei's, which imitate Philistia in its sins, especially in its enmity to the Israel of God. 7. I will take away his blood] I will abolish the idolatrous sacrifices of the Philistines, who feasted on meats offered to their gods in their temples. Beneficial Eesults or Alexandee's Viotokie3. Coster- sioN or THE Gentiles to Christ. — Tie that remaineth — sii-M hs for our God] Rather, and even he shall be Irft, as a chosen and elect remnant to our Ood, and shall be as a ruler in Judah. That is, even from heathen nations men shall be saved, and be raised to a high place, as brethren, and as governors in the Church of Christ. — Ekron as a Jebusite] The happy effect of this humiliation of the great worldly Powers of Persia, Syria, and Philistia was this, that they lost their confidence in their own false deities, and were prepared to receive a purer faith. The Prophet fore- tells this, and predicts also, that there will be a faithful remnant among those nations whicli will turn to the True God ; and many among the heathens will become governors in Judah ; many who were once Gentiles will become Preachers and Mis- sionaries in Christ's Church. Even Ekron itself will become a Jebusite, a dweller in Jtrusalem, the Church of God. Cp. S. Ci/ril here, and Kliefoth, 120. What has already been observed with regard to the effects of the victories of Assyria, of Nebuchadnezzar, of Persia, and afterwards of Rome (see above, on Isa. xiv. 32 ; xvi. 1 ; xix. 23 — 25; xxiii. 18. Jer. xlviii. 6. 47; xhx. 39. Zeph. iii. 8—10) may also be applied to the conquests of Alexander the Great. They ffere all made ministerial to the conversion of the heathen from idolatry, and to their reception into the Church of God. See the Introd. to the Acts of the Apostles, pp. 7 — 14. It would be well if History were written and read with an eye to this great truth, which is continually inculcated by the Holy Spirit in the writings ui the Hebrew Prophets. We speak of the "connexion of sacred and profane history;" but tohat history can rightly be called profane ? What history is there, rightly studied, which is not sacred ? What history is there, in 138 which wc may not trace tlie footsteps of Clirist ? Alexander the Great was a fore-runner of Christ. 8. I will encamp about mine house] God here promises to encamp about the Church, says iS. Jerome, who thus writes here, " These prophecies declare what God says to Christ by the Psalmist, ' Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance' (Ps. ii. 8) ; and again, ' The daughter of Tyre shall bo there with a gift ' (Ps. xlv. 12). This was typified by the faithful woman in the Gospel coming from Tyre and Sidon to Christ, and worshipping Him, and receiving a blessing from Him (Mark vii. 26). In the Acts of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Philip preach iu Philistia, and there are Christian Churches there (Acts viii. ; ix. ; xxi. 3). Philistines will become Preachei'S of the Gospel, Ekron will become a Jebusite, that is, a citizen, of the spiritual Jerusalem, the Christian Church." See, there- fore, what follows here. We have a vision of the triumphal entry of Christ, the mighty Conqueror — how different from Alexander the Great ! and yet reaping the fruit of Alexander's victories, and making them ministerial to His own glory. CHKIST'S TeIUMPHAL ENTKT into jEKtrSALEM. 9. Sejoice greatly, daughter of Zion] The application of the foregoing prophecies, in a spiritual sense, to Christ and His Cliurch, is corroborated by the fact that we have here a pro- phecy of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem ; we have an assurance to that effect from the Holy Spirit Himself iu the Gospels (Matt. xxi. 5. John xii. 15). Let us consider therefore the connexion of that triumphal entry with what the Prophet has been foretelling in the pi-e- eeding part of this chapter. Christ's victories are compared and contrasted with those of Alexander the Great. The conquests of Alexander were effected by fire and sword, and with the physical force of horses and chariots ; and their effects were of short duration, except so far as they prepared the way for the Gospel. The victories of Christ are by peaceful and quiet agencies, and their results are univer- sal and everlasting (cp. Dean Jackson on the Creed, hook viii., chap, xvii., and chap, xviii., where is a commentary on this prophecy). Observe how this is displayed by Zeehariah. Christ's riding ou the young colt, the foal of an ass, in that triumphal procession into Jerusalem, was a figure of His peaceful \ ictory over the heathen world, — typified by the foal of an ass,, on which no man had ever ridden, and which was loosed by the Apostles, and brought to Him, and on v/hich they laid their garments, and ou which He rode to Jerusalem, the City and Church of God. This had been already foretold by the Patriarch Jacob, predicting the future victories of the Messiah, binding the foal (the figure of the Gentile Church) to the vine (the typo of the Hebrew Church). Cp. here, Ps. Ixxx. 8 ; Isa. v. 2 ; Jer. ii,, 21 ; and see the notes above, on Gen. xlix. 10 — 12. The cir- cumstances of the fulfilment of that prophecy, which is here repeated in greater fulness by Zeehariah, are more specifically detailed in the notes below on the passages in the Gospel de- scribing that fulfilment ; to which the reader is requested to refer. See on Matt. xxi. 5—9; Mark xi.2— 10; John xii. 13 — 15, and S. Cyril here. Cp. S. Justin Martyr, contra Tryphon. § 53. It is remarkable that St. John's narrative of that tritmiphal Christ's triumphal entry. ZECHARIAH IX. 10—13. His death and victory. He is just, and || having salvation ; Lowly, and riding upon an ass. And upon a colt the foal of an ass. '" And I ' will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, And the horse from Jerusalem, And the battle bow shall bo cut off: And he shall speak ' peace unto the heathen : And his dominion shall he " from sea even to sea, And from the river even to the ends of the earth. ' ' As for thee also, || by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy " prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. '- Turn you to the strong hold, ='ye prisoners of hope : Even to day do I declare that ' I will render double unto thee ; 1^ When I have bent Judah for me, neftiro CHRIST about 8II0S.I.7.&2.IS. Micah S. 10. Hag. 2. 22. t Eph. 2. II, 17. u P9. 72.8. H Or, u-Jtose cove- nant is by blood. Exod. 24. 8. Heb. 10.29. & 13. 20. X Isa. 42.7. 51. 14. 8:01. 1. y Isa. 49. 9. z Isa. CI. 7. Entry of Christ, rkling into Jerusalem on tlie foal of an ass (tlie type of the Gentile world guitlcd by Him into the Jerusalem of the Chureh), is immecliatcly followed by the mention of an in- cident in the history: "Certain Greeks wished to see Jesus" (u. 20). The Entry itself was like a vision of the coming of the Greeks (i.e. of the Gentile world) to Jesus: these Greeks were its first fruits. The fo.il on wliich Clirist rode is followed by the mother; both were brought to .Tcsus ; but Christ rode only on the colt. The Hebrew mother will follow the Gentile colt into the Spiritual Sion of the Christian Church. Cp. Rom. xi. 25, 26, and jS. Cyril here. — having salvafion~\ The Messiah, though lowly and now going to His Passion, is yet endued with help and power to save both Himself and the whole World from Death ; and to destroy all His enemies, and those of His People, by His Death. — riding upon an ass, and upon a coll] Riding, not on a war-horse of victory (like the Bucephalus of Alexander the Great), but upon an ass, yea even (such is His humility) upon a young ass. See on Matt. xxi. 5 ; John xii. 13. 10. / will cut off the chariot from ISphi-aim'] Although Christ is meek, and rides on the foal of an ass, in the days of His humiliation, into Jerusalem, yet He is a mighty King, and brings salvatiou with Him ; and iMl cut off the chariot from JSphraim, and the horse from Jerusalem. Tliis prophecy de- clares that tlie Israel of God (His Clmrch and People) shall dwell safely, and will not need earthly helps and supports (S. Ci/ril) ; and will no more trust in an arm of flesh, nor rely on chariots and horses, bows and spears, but on the power of Christ their Saviour : as the Psalmist says, " I will not trust in my bow, it is not my sword that shall help me, but it is Thou tliiit savest us from our enemies, and puttest them to confusion that hate us " (Ps. xliv. 7, 8). " Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God" (Ps. XX. 7). Cp. Hos. i. 7 ; ii. 18 ; Micah v. 9, 10, " I will cut oft' thy horses out of the midst of theej and will destroy thy chariots." — he shall speak peace unlo the heaihen~\ A clear prophecy concerning Clirist, of whom tlie Apostle says, " He is our peace. Who hath made both to be one " (i. e. united the heathen and the Jew), "and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us ; and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh" (Eph. ii. 14. 17). — • his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the rirer even to the ends of the earth'] The Prophet takes up tlie words of the Psalm, probably written by Solomon, the peace- able king— describing the work of his great Antitype, Christ, the Prince of Peace; see above on Psalm Ixxii. 1.8. 11. As for thee also,bj/ the blood of thy covenant — no tvater] Thou also, daughter of Zion, for the sake, or by means, of the blood of thy covenant (that is, of the covenant made with thee), I hare delivered thy captives out of the pit wherein is no water. This is the true rendering of the passage, and not (Vvlg. and Sept.) thou hast delivered, which is repugnant to the Ho'jrew original. The Messiah here speaks to Sion, and declares the deli- verance which He works for her by His own blood, shed on the Ci-oss. God admitted the Israel of old into covenant with Him by blood at Sinai, when He delivered them from Egypt (see above, on Exod. xxiv. 5—8); and, as the Apostle teaches, this transitory covenant by blood, at the Exodus from a literal bondage, was a figure of the blood of Christ— the blood of the 139 Everlasting Covenant (Heb. xiii. 20), by which His People are delivered from the bondage of sin (Heb. x. 1-1—23). I?y appointing this chapter to be read on JEaster JEven, the Church has happily led us to recognize the true meaning of these words ; namely, that Mankind was like Joseph in the pit where no water was (Gen. xxxvii, 24), and was like the prophet Jeremiah in the pit where was no water, but mire (see on Jer. xxxviii. 6) ; and that Christ, by His Death and Burial, descended into that pit (as He Himself says by the Psalmist in the Pasch:d Psiilm, Ixix. 2, "I sink in the deep mire where no grouud is"), and raised Himself from it ; and by His Resurrection, He, Who is " the first-begotten of tlie dead," " the firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Cor. xv. 20), has raised us up also ; for " in Adam we all die," and sink into the pit, but "in Christ we all are made alive" (1 Cor. xv. 22), rtud rise up out of it; and we, who once weve prisoners, sullied in the mire of sin, being redeemed from our prison, and cleansed by the blood which He shed for us (I Pet. i. 2. 19. 1 John i. 7), rise up to liberty, life, and glory through Ilim. "O Christe," exclaims id have jilUd it ivith Ephralm (as with arrows). What is the connexion here ? Christ has been represented by the Propliet as a King riding in triumph to Jerusalem (f. 9). That triumph was won by humility. His lieaveuly Glory was a fruit of His earthly Passion, to which He was going at that time. After the vision of that triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, the Prophet proceeds to speak, in proper order, of Christ's Death, Burial, and Resurrection, and their blessed consequences to mankind. He now reveals Him to us as no longer weak and lowly, but as a mighty Warrior, riding on a war-horse, with bow and quiver, to victory, and as the LoBD and GOD. He adopts the imagery of the Psalmist, addressing Messiah the King, " Gird Thee with Thy sword upon Thy thigh, Thou most mighty : according to Thy worship and renown. Good luck have Thou with Thine honour : Zide on, because of the word of truth, of meekness, and righteousness; and Thy right hand shall teach Thee terrible things. Thy arrows are very sharp, and the people shall be subdued unto Thee : even in the midst " (or, rather, in the heart) " of the King's enemies. Thy seat, O Ood, endureth for ever " (Ps. xlv. 4 — 7). Cp. note ou Ps. c.\xvii. 4. Zechariah anticipates the words of St. John, revealing Christ's victories over all earthly powers, in the Apocalypse : — " I saw, and behold a white horse : and He that sat on him had a Sow, and a crown was given unto Him : and He went forth conquering and to conquer" (Rev. vi.2). And again, cp. Rev. xix. 11, "I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse ; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge aud make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head many crowns" (diadems ou one crown); " and He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood : and His Name is called the Word of God ; and out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations : and He shall rule them with a rod of iron : and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and ou His thigh a Name written, KiSGof Kings, and Loed of Lords." But what are Christ's Arrows ? They are the Apostles (whose name means sent forth), whom, after He had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven (Ps. Ixviii. 18 ; Ejjh. iv. 8—11), He sent forth from His Bow, like Arrows winged w ith feathers from the plumage of the Holy Ghost — the Divine Dove Whose wings are silver wings and His feathers like gold (Ps. Ixviii. 13). They are the Missionaries whom Christ is ever sending forth from the Bow of His Divine Commission, to subdue the world to Himself. These are His Arrows, His Quiver is full of them, and they will never fail of victory, " His sagittis totus orbis vulneratus et captus est," says S. Jerome. By these arrows all the world has been wounded, but these wounds (says S. Cyril) are not wounds unto death, but unto life ; they are wounds of love, like those with which the Spouse in the Canticles is wounded by the Bridegroom (Cant. V. 8). For further illustrations of this exposition, see above on Psalm xlv. 5, cxxvii. 4, and below on Rev. vi. 1, 2. The image is from Isaiah, where Cheist Himself, who is sent forth from the Father, is compared to an arrow discharged from a Bow. " He hath made Me a polished shaft, in His quiver hath He hid Me " (Isa. xlix. 2). And, "As My Father hath sent Me" (says Christ to His Apostles), "so send I you" (John xx. 21). And S. Ci/ril here thus writes : " Zechariah here calls Israel t}ie Sons ofEphraim, of whom were the Apostles, equipped with the 110 word of God, aud made to be like a Bow and Arrows, which smote the nations with divine doctrines, and wounded them, not to death, but in love ; as the Bride says in the Canticles that she is wounded with love (Cant. ii. 5). Cp. A Lapide here. Judah and Ephraim are represented here as the Bow and Arrows of Christ, because the first Preachers of the Gospel were Jews and Israelites ; they were sons of Zion and children of Ephraim. And these apostolic sons of Ephraim are presented to us in noble contrast to those other children of Ephraim, of whom the Psalmist says that they, being harnessed and carrying bows, turned themselves back in the day of battle. These Evangelical sons of Ephraim are described as mighty jnen (see X. 7), and they never turn back from the enemy, but meet them boldly and put them to flight. And they are like Arrows discharged from Jerusalem against the Sons of Qreece, or Javan (Dan. viii. 21), because they were sent forth from Zion against the Greek or Heathen World, to bring it into subjection to Christ. — And made thee as the sword of a mighty man~\ Here is another reference to Isaiah, Christ Himself was like an arrow from the hand of God (Isa. xlix. 2), and Zechariah represents Christ's Apostles as arrows shot forth from Christ's bow. Of Christ it is said that God has made His mouth to be like a sharp sword (Isa. xlix. 2), and here Christ speaks of His Apostles as made to be "as the sword of a mighty man." 14. The Loed shall he seen over theml Christ is here called the Loed, and God ; and His majestic form is seen like that of a mighty Conqueror standing over the bow which he draws, and over the arrows wliich he places ou the string in order to discharge them. A vivid illustration of this imagery may be seen in the engravings of Assyrian kings riding in their war-chariots, and drawing their bows, and dis- charging their arrows, from sculptures in Nineveh (in Bawlin- son, Anc. Mon. ii. 8. 11. 13 ; cp. 32. 39). So the glorious form of Christ is ever visible to the eye of faith, standing over His ministers, whom He sends forth as arrows against His enemies, to subdue the world. — his arrow shall go forth as the lightning'] Such is the power aud splendour of the preaching of the Gospel, flashing forth like lightning on the gloom of the world, and dazzling all eyes with its brightness. Compare the act of Gideon and his men (figurative of the preaching of the Gospel), making the torches to flash forth from their pitchers, to dazzle and confound their enemies the Midia- nites. See above on Judges vii. 10—20. Two of the Apostles were called Boanerges, sons of Thunder (Mark iii. 17). — shall blow the trumpet^ Like the trumpets before which the walls of Jericho (the type of the city of this world, as op- posed to Siou the city of God) fell down prostrate to the ground. See above, on Joshua, chapter vi., Prelim. Note. — • tvith whirlwinds'] Like the mighty rushing wind, be- tokening the power of the Holy Spirit given to the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 1, 2). 15. and subdue with sling stones] So Sept., Vulg., Arabic, Targum. Such as the Prophet here foretells was the power of the preachers of the Gospel, after the Resurrection and Ascen- sion of Christ, and after the giving of the Holy Ghost by Him. The threatenings of Holy Scripture dischai-ged by the preachers of the Gospel are like stones from a sling (S. Jerome). — they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine] Being filled with the new wine of the Holy Spirit of God. See on Acts ii. 13 ; and cp. Cant. v. 1. — filled like bowls — corners of the altar] Their power will be derived from the Blood of Christ. They will be filled with Preachers of the Gospel. ZECHARIAH IX. 16, 17. X. 1—4. Christ from Jtidah. '^ And the Lord their God shall save them in that day As the flock of his people : For '' thoj shall be as the stones of a crown, " Lifted up as an ensign upon his land. '^ For ''how great ishis goodness. And how great is his beauty ! ^ Corn shall make the young men |j cheerful, And new wine the maids. X. ^ Ask ye " of the Lord '' rain " in the time of the latter rain ; So the Lord shall make || bright clouds, And give them showers of rain. To every one grass in the field. ^ For the '' f idols have spoken vanity, And the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; They ' comfort in vain : Therefore they went their way as a flock, They || were troubled, ' because there was no shepherd. 3 Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, ^ And I f punished the goats : For the Lord of hosts '' hath visited his flock the house of Judah, And ' hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle. * Out of him came forth '' the corner. Out of him ' the nail. Out of him the battle bow, Before CHRIST about 617. d Iia. (12. 3. Mai. .■). 17. els.i. II. 12. II "T, yrou., or, epeak. a Jcr. U. 22. b Deut. 11. 14. c Jol, 29. 23. Joel 2. 23. II Or, lighlnings, Jcr. 10 13. dJer. 10. 8. ]Iab. 2. 13. t llvb. Itraphli Judg. 17. 5. e Job 1.1. 4. I] Or, (t'iswered Ihal. ^c. f Ezek. 34. 5. g Ezek. 34. t Hcb. vitit: ll Luke 1. £1 k Num. 24. 17. 1 Sam. 14.38. Isa. 10, 13. i Isa 22. 23. love of Him, and know nothing but Christ, and Him crncified (1 Cor. ii. 2). Thus they will he like sacrificial bowls, filled with the blood of a victim, and like horns of the altar, tinged with that blood. 16. stones of a crowji] The faithful Preachers of the Gospel are jewels in the crown of Christ. — Lifted vp as an ensiffn~\ Their preaching will be clear and bold, like a standard lifted up on high. Cp. Ps. Ix. 6. The banner of the Cross, unfurled in the eyes of the world, is leading them on to victory. 17. how great is his goodness — heatitt/'] As the Psalmist says to Christ, " Thou art fairer than the children of men, full of grace are Thy lips, because God hath blessed Thee for ever" (Ps. xlv. 3). Cp. Song of Solomon ii. 3, 4; v. 10—16, and Isa. xxxiii. 17, "Thine ej'cs shall see the King in His beauty." . — Corn — and neio ivine~\ The spiritual blessings of the Gospel, especially in God's Holy Word and Sacraments, are the corn and new wine which strengthen and refresh chaste and holy souls, who are here compared to young men and maidens (5. Cyril). Cp. Joel ii. 19, and note on Jer. xxxi. 12. ReSTOEATION op I8EAEL IN CnBlST. Cn. X.] The Prophet, having foretold the victories of Christ over the sons of Greece, i. e., over the heathen Nations, by the Apostolic preaching of the Gospel.which is to go forth from Zion by the instrumentality of Jews, who are missiles discharged from the Bow of Christ, now proceeds to speak of the conversion of the Jews by means of the Gentiles; as the Apostle says, after the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, all Israel will be saved (Rom. xi. 25). 1. Ask ye of the Loed] Ask not of idols; for none of the vanities of the Gentiles can cause rain (Jer. xiv. 22). — rain — latter rain'] Types of spiritual graces, shed in suc- cessive abundance on the field of Christ's Church in the Gospel. The former rain may represent the Old Dispensation, the latter the New. 2. They toere troulled'] Israel was troubled and perplexed, and scattered abroad among the Nations, because it forsook the Lord and worshipped idols. It was dispersed, and roamed in " the wilderness of the people " (see Ezek. xx. 25. Hosea ii. 14), lilie ebeep without a shepherd, 141 3. the shepherds'] The rulers of Israel, civil and ecclesiastical (Ezek. xxxiv. 2). — goats] The chief and the evil among the people. See Jer. 1. 8 ; Ii. 40. Ezek. xxxiv. 17. — the LoED of hosts hath risitedhisjtocic] He has visited Israel with chastisement. He has scattered them in captivity and exile in Assyria and Babylonia ; but it is with a loving de- sign and merciful desire that they may bo humbled and purified, and repent, and may turn to Him, and that He may gather them again. See Amos ix. 8, 9. — as his goodly horse in the tattle] Such will Israel be when they are converted to Christ. See the Bridegroom's word< to the Bride, the Church : " I have compared thee, my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots " (Cant. i". 9). In the Apocalypse Christ is described as riding on the white horse, and His S.iints follow Him on white horses (Rev. vi. 1,2: xix. 14). 4. Out of him came forth the corner] Out of Judah came forth Christ the Lord, Who, as Ho Himself declares, is the Head Stone of the Corner (Matt. xxi. 42), and is called by the Apostles the Corner Stone, in Whom the two walls of the Gentile and Jewish People meet and are united, and on Which all the fiibric of the Church rests (Eph. ii. 20, and so Isa. xxviii. 16, and 1 Pet. ii. 6). This corner-stone is here described by Zechariah as from Judah ; and " it is evident," says the Apostle, " that our Lord sprang out of Judah " (Heb. vii. 14). The promise that Christ should come from Judah, was a pledge, that, however Judah might be chastened, it would never be destroyed, but would flourish anew in Him (see on Isa. vii. 14). — the nail] The peg (Hebr. ydthed), by which a shepherd's tent was fastened to the ground. Christ is the Nail by which the pastoral Tent of the Church, In this world's wilderness, in its raissionary-nomad life, is fixed ; and established in Him, it stands firm against all the winds and storms of Unbelief and Ungodliness. See on Matt. xvi. 18. On this imagery of the nail, namely the wooden peg and pin, typical of Christ and His Cross, by which the Tent of the Universal Church is held fast, and immovable, see the notes above, on Judges iv. 21, 22, and on Isaiah xxii. 23, where the same word, yathed, is used. — the battle hovf] See above, on ii. 13. The success of Clirist's preachers. ZECHARIAH X. 5 — 11. The conversion of Israel. Before CHRIST about s Isa. 49. 19. Ezek. 36. 37. t Hos. 2. 23. y Isa. 49. 20. z Isa. 11. 15, 10. Out of him every oppressor together. ^ And they shall be as mighty men, Which ™ tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle : And they shall fight, because the Lord is with them, And II the riders on horses shall be confounded. '' And I will strengthen the house of Judah, And I will save the house of Joseph, And " I will bring them again to place them ; For I ° have mercy upon them : And they shall be as though I had not cast them off : For I am the Lord their God, and ^ will hear them. ^ And theij of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, And their ■> heart shall rejoice as through wine : Yea, their children shall see it, and be glad ; Their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. ^ I will ' hiss for them, and gather them ; For I have redeemed them : ' And they shall increase as they have increased. ^ And ' I will sow them among the people : And they shall " remember me in far countries ; And they shall Hve with their children, and turn again. '" " I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, And gather them out of Assyria ; And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon j And ^^jlace shall not be found for them. ^1 '^And he shall pass through the sea with affliction. And shall smite the waves in the sea. And all the deeps of the river shall dry up : And ^ the pride of Assyria shall be brought down. — ei'eri/ oppressor] Every victorious ruler. C'p. Isa. iii. 12 ; Ix. 17 ; aud see above, on i.t. 3, 4. 5, ihei/ shall be as mighty men] As Uie AposUe says, God always makes us to triumph in Christ (2 Cor. ii. 14). 6. Itoill strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph] Joseph, the father of Ephraim, the chief of the Teu Tribes, will be united with Judah in Christ. He makes the two sticks of Ephraim aud Judah to coalesce in one, so that there shall no longer be any rivalry between them, and they Bhall be gathered together in the spiritual Ziou of His Church. See on Ezek. xxxvii. 19—22. Hosea i. 10, 11. They who were severed by Jeroboam's srhisui, will dwell together in Christ ; and there" will be " One Flock and One Shepherd " (S. Jerome). 8. I will hiss for them, and gather them] As bees are gathered, by hissing or whistling, into a swarm and into a hive (Isa. v. 26 ; vii. 18. Oesen. 851). So easy will the conversiou of the Jews be, by the power of God. 9. X ivitl soit) them among the ■people] The Jews, who are now scattered and bear no fruit, will be sown among all Nations as good seed in the field of the Church of Christ, which is diffused throughout the world (Matt. xiii. 28, 29) and will be gathered together in the great day of harvest into the garner of heaven. Cp. Jer. xxxi. 17. Hos. ii, 22, 23. They will be Jezreel indeed, i. e., the seed of Qod. Zccbariah takes up the imagery of Hosea, the first of the prophets, and repeats the gracious promises delivered by him. See above, on Hosea i. 10, 11. " Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered togethei', and appoint themselves one head " (Christ), " for they shall come up out of the land; for great shall be the day o^ Jezreel.'* 10. I will bring them again also out of — Kgypt, and gather them out of Assyria] Egypt, the house of bondage, and Assyria, the scene of Israel's captivity and dispersion, represent all lands where they are now scattered ; and the promise that God will 142 bring them thence is an assurance of their future liberation, aud of their gathering together in Christ's Church. Compare Klie- fofh, 145 ; above, Hos. xi. 11, " They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the laud of Assyria ;" aud above, ou Isa. xi. 11, 16, and on xix. 23, 24, " There shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria." — Qilead and Lebanon] The rich pasture-land on the east, and the great mountain range on the west of Palestiue. There Christian Churches will arise. These names are not to be confined to the literal significa- tion, any more than Sion and Jerusalem are. They represent the rich spiritual pastures and lofty strongholds and mountains of religious contemplation, in the Holy Laud of Christ's Universal Church, as is evident from a comparison of- other prophetical passages of Scripture foretelling the conversiou of the Jews. See Kliefoih, 145; and above, on Isa. Ixv. 10, "Sharon shall be a fold of flocks." Jer. xxxi. 4-8. Ezek. xxxiv. 11 - 14. 23- 31, with the Eetrospect at the end of Ezekiel xxxv., which affords the best comuieut on this prophecy of Zechariah. 11. he shall pass through the sea with affliction] Or I'ather, " the sea, the affliction," a phrase which shows that the Prophet is not speaking here of a physical sea, but the sea of troubles, like the Red Sea through which Israel passed from Egypt, tlie house of bondage, on their way to Cana.an, the typo of heaven. — And shall smite the waives in the sea] As He smote the Red Sea for Israel to pass out of Egypt. This is equivalent to an assurance that all obstacles will be surmounted that now restrain the Jews in spiritual bondage, and that they will be delivered by a glorious Exodus from their present spiritual Egypt of darkness and thraldom into the glorious light and liberty of tlie Gospel in the Cliurch of Clirist. Cp. Isa. xi. 15, 16. See -S. Jerome here, and S. Cyril, and Keil, wlio well says, " The principal fulfilment of this prophecy is of a spiritual kind, and was accom- The destruction of Jerusalem. ZECRAHlAIi X. 12. XL 1—7. The good Shepherd. And ^ the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. '- And I will strengthen them in the Lord ; And 'they shall walk up and down in his name, saitli the Lord. XL 1 Open " thy doors, Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 2 Howl, fir tree ; for the cedar is fallen ; because the || mighty are spoiled : Howl, ye oaks of Bashan ; ''for || the forest of the. vintage is come down. ^ There is a voice of the howhng of the shepherds ; for their glory is spoiled : A voice of the roaring of young lions ; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. ^ Thus saith the Lord my God ; " Feed the flock of the slaughter ; ^ Whose possessors slay them, and '' hold themselves not guilty : And they that sell them " say, Blessed he the Lord ; for I am rich : And their o'\\ti shepherds pity them not. ^ For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord : But, lo, I will f deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, And into the hand of his king : And they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. 7 And I will f feed the flock of slaughter, || even you, « poor of the flock. t>«or. g Zcph. 3. Before CHRIST about B Or, ijaHanls. & 50. 7. e Deut. 29. 19. Hos. 12. 8. pUshed iu p.avt through the gathering of the Jews into Christ's kingdom, whicli hegan in the days of the Apostles, and will con- tinue on till the remnant of Israel is converted to Christ." 12. they shall walk up and down in his navie^ As Enoch walked with God, and pleased Him, and was translated {S. Jerome). The Destruction op Jesfsalem by the Romans, its rumsiiMENT Ton the Rejection of Cheist. Cii. XI. 1,2. Open thy doors, Lebanon'] Open thy gates to the oneiny, that tire may devour thy cedars. These and the lullowiug words are prophetic of the dev.astation of tlie Holy Land by the Roman armies under Vespasian (a.d. 69) ; and the capture of Jerusalem by his son Titus (a.d. 70). See S, Cyril and S. Jerome here. The stately cedars of Lebanon, and the sturdy oaks of Bashan, are figurative symbols of the great men and glorious ornaments of the Holy Land. Cp. Isa. ii. 12, 13; X. 8. 19; xiv. 8. As is well said by those Christian expositors, the Prophet is here speaking of the Temple of Jerusalem, which was rebuilt by Zcrubbabel, but afterwards destroyed by Titus. Lebanon opens its gates, that the armies of Rome may enter, and that the fire may devour the cedars, and that all the land maybe laid waste and its rulers destroyed. It is said by Josephus (B. J. vii. 12), that seven years before tlie destruction of the Temple and the City, the great bronze eastern gate of the Temple, which required twenty men to sliut it, flew open of its own accord in the sixth hour of the night, at the Passover; and when a similar event haiipened, forty years before that destruction, some of the Hebrew doctors applied to that event the prophecy of Zochariah, " Open thy gates, O Lebanon" (Galatiints, A Lapide). 2. the forest of the vintage] Rather, " i\ic forest that is fenced like a fortress." 3. the shepherds — young lions'] The shepherds are emblems of rulers, and the lions are symbols of such rulers as tyranni- cally oppress and devour the people. Cp. Jer. xxv. 31— 3G. Ezek. xix. 2, 3. Job iv. 10. These evil rulers roared like lions against Christ, even when hanging on the cross (S. Cyril). 4. Thus saith the Lord — Feed the flock of the slaughter] God had given a commission to the Priests and Rulers of Judea to feed His Flock ; but they had made it a flock of slaughtering : they did not feed, but they slaughtered it, to fatten themselves. Therefore they themselves will be slain. See Ezek. xxxiv. 2, 3, " Woe to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves ! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks ? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed : but ye feed not tlie flock." Therefore God revokes the commission and transfers it to the Oood Shepherd (John x. 11), who is Christ (see S. Cyril, T/ieodoret), and who, instead of slaying the flock, as those evil shepherds did, to feed themselves, gave His life for the sheep, that they might live for ever, and is ever giving to them heavenly food (John x. 11; xxi. 16). Cp. Ezek. xxxiv. 23—31, where is the same line of thought. The thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel is the best exposition of the present prophecy. 5. ihet/ that sell them say. Blessed be the LoED ; for I am 143 ric?i] Here is a prophecy concerning false teachers; and it was fulfilled in our Lord's age. The language here described was that of the Pharisees, who corrupted the word of God (Matt. xv. 6) and sold the people, for gain to themselves (M. Henry). They were covetous and wealtliy, and inferred, from tlieir own worldly prosperity, that they were special favourites of Jehovah, and that all their doings were approved and blessed by Him. They in- sulted God by .ascribing the gains of their own oppression and fraud to His favour. Compare Luke xvi. 14, and our Lord's teaching in that chapter, which is a protest against that Phari- saical notion. 6. / mill deliver — every one — into the hand of his king] I will deliver the Jews into the hands of the Roman Power, of which they said, when they rejected and crucified their own true King, " We have no king but Ca;sar" (John xix 15). Cp. M. Henry and Hengstenberg here. The Loed Jehovah will feed the floce. His love foe ishael. 7. I will feed the flock] I (Jehovah says in Christ) will be the Shepherd of the flock, which is not fed, but slaughtered by its own shepherds (see j). 4): I will feed even yOH, O poor of the flock (cp. ti. 11) : I will not feed the wealthy and proud, but the poor and meek. " Blessed are the poor," He says ; and " Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Learu of ^le, for I am meek and lowly iu heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (JIatt. xi. 28, 29). — I look unto me two staves] Two pastoral staves. Other shepherds have one pastoral crook : Christ has two. Cp. Ps. xxiii. 4. Christ the Good Shepherd left His heavenly fold to seek the lost sheep (Luke xv. 4). He came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. x. 6 ; xv. 21) : He gave all His pas- toral care to them. He took into His hand two pastoral staves ; one of which He called "Seatiry" or favour (Hehr. noam, trans- lated beauty in Psalm xxvii. 4; xc. 17 — " the beauty of the Lord," and jfleasantness in Proverbs iii. 17 — "ways of pleasantness." Cp. XV. 26 ; xvi. 24, where the same idea is expressed ; and this is the most usual meaning of the adjective raaem). The staff of beauty, loveliness, favour, delight, pleasant- ness, was indicative of God's love to Israel, of His delight iu them, and of the pleasure He took in seeing their spiritual and temporal welfare and iu promoting it. The Vineyard of the Lord of Hosts was the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant. What could have been done more to His vineyard, that He did not do in it? See Isa. v. 4 — 7. Con- sequently the destruction of Jerusalem, which Zechariah here foretells, could not come iVom any design of God, but was caused by its own sins. Therefore our Lord wept over Jerusalem, and uttered those plaintive words in Matt, xxiii. 37; Luke xiii. 34. The other Staff is called Sands; for God's will was to join together Israel and Judah in one ; and to join them also to the Gentile world in Christ ; and to join them together in Christ to Himself. But they rejected God's counsel of love towards themselves. Cp. Luke vii. 30. They kUled the Good Shep- herd, and therefore God brake asunder those two staves. He The Shcplicrd is God. ZECHARIAH XL 8-13. His pr Before CHRIST about 51?. B Or, Binders. h Hos. 5. 7. t lleb. waa straitened for t Heb. of his nOr, the poor oj the finch, tfc., certainly knew. k Zeph. 3. 12. t Heb'. If it be good in t/tiur 1 Matt. 2(>. 15. See Exod. 21. 32 m Matt. 27.9, 10 And I took unto me two staves ; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called II Bands ; and I fed the flock. ^ Three shepherds also I cut off "^ in one month ; and my soul | lothed them, and their soul also ahhorred me. ^ Then said I, I will not feed you : ' that that dieth, let it die ; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh f of another. '" And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. " And it was broken in that day : and || so '' the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it teas the word of the Lord. '- And I said unto them, f If ye think good, give me my price ; and if not, forbear. So they ' weighed for my price thirty j^ieces of silver. '^ And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the " potter : a goodly price that I was prised at of them. rejected His own people, and gave up tlioir city to destruction, and received tlie Gentiles in their place. — Bands^ Or binders. The staff of God's covenant with the Jewish Nation; that staff by which Israel and Judah were bound together in one. See v. 14. God joined all the tribes in one by a common worship, and especially by commanding them all to appear before Him at stated times in one place— Jeru- salem. — I fed thejiocl-'j Jehovah in Christ did the work of a Good Shepherd to the Jewish Nation during the whole of His earthly ministry. Cp. John x. 11. 14; xiv. 6. Heb. xiii. 20. 1 Pet. ii. 25 ; v. 4. 8. Three shepherds also I cut off in one month'] The ancient Hebrew Nation was spiritually fed by Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. See Micah vi. 4," " I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam," the representation of the Civil Government, the Priesthood, and the Prophecy. The Rulers, the Priests, and the Prophets were its three shepherds. And when the Jews rejected Christ, Who is the True King, Priest, and Prophet, then God cutoff their three shepherds, took away from them their "place and nation" (John xi. 48), i. c. the ciril Power and also the Priesthood and Prophect/. See /S. Ct/ril, S.Jerome, and Theodoret. They have no longer any Ruler, no longer any Priest, no longer any Prophet or Preacher of Divine Truth. This was done in one month, even in the Jirst month of the Hebrew year, " the beginning of months" (Exod. xii. 2), the month Nisan orAbib, the month of theFeast of the Passover, when they crucified there own Prophet, Priest, and King. 9. that that dieth, let it die] That which is spiritually dead, let it die and be buried. Cp. Matt. viii. 22. " The dry tree" of the Jewish Church and State was only fit for the fire. See Luke xxiii. 31. — let the rest eat — the flesh] This was fulfilled in the terrible intestine feuds and civil bloodshed at Jerusalem, even in the Temple itself, when it was besieged by the Romans. See on Matt. xxiv. 15. And it was literally true, that some then ate the flesh of Iheir neighbours ; even mothers ate the flesh of their children. See above, on Deut. xxviii. 54. 56, 57. 10. that I miqht Irealc my covenant wJiich I had made with all the people] Literally, toilh all the peoples. " When the Most High divided to the Nations their inheritance, when He separated the Sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel, for the Lord's portion is His people, Jacobis the lot of His inheritance" (Deut. xxxii. 8, 9). This was God's compact with all Nations, and with Israel. He assigned a special inheritance to Judah ; and no people could deprive them of it, as long as they were true to Him. But now that they have rejected Christ, He has broken that compact; Jerusalem is trodden down by the Gentiles (Luke xxi. 24), and the Jews are wanderers and outcasts in all lands. 11. the poor of the flocTc — Lokd] God rejected the wise and learned — the proud Priest and Pliarisee ; but He accepted the lowly Galileans — the fishermen and publicans. The meek, humble, and docile disciples of Christ, who waited in patient trust on Him, Who is the Good Shepherd, recognized in His Cruci- fixion a proof of His Messiahship, because the l*assion of Christ had been foretold by the Word of the Lord, namely here, 144 and by Isaiah (chap, liii.), and elsewhere. But the Cross of Christ was a stumbling-block to those who were proud and wive in their own conceits (Matt. xi. 25 . Luke x. 21. 1 Cor. i. 23) ; aud they fulfilled the words of the Prophets, as St. Paul declares, by condemning Him (Acts xiii. 27). The unbelief of the proud strengthens the faith of the lowly. That unbelief is foretold in Holy Scripture, and is therefore a proof of its truth. 12. I said unto them] Christ, the Shepherd of Israel, here speaks, and asks for His hire or the wages for His pastoral work. The Shepheed's Price. — So they weiyhed for my price thirty \\\ecQS of silver] Tills miserable pittance, the price of a bondslave (see Exod. xxi. 32. Hos. iii. 2), is described here in bitter irony as the price of Him "that was valued. Whom they of the children of Israel did value " (Matt, xxvii. 9, 10). They weighed to Him thirty pieces of silver. Instead of wages, they ottered to Him an insult. Thirty pieces of silver are so contemptible a sum, that the very offer of them from them. His own people, for such services as His, was more insulting than a positive refusal (Uengst.). This prophecy was fulfilled in the payment of this sum to Judas the Traitor, by the Chief Priests for the blood of Christ (Matt, xxvi. 14, 15 ; xxvii. 3—10). The Shepherd is Jehovah. 13. And the Lord said unto me. Cast it unto the potter : a goodly price that Z was prised at of them] Jehovah speaks to Christ, the Good Shepherd, Who came from His Father to feed the flock ; and since He fed it in the Lord's Name, since the Father was in Him and He in the Father, and since He and the Father are One in substance, therefore His work was the work of Jehovah Himself. The rejection of Christ was the rejection of Jehovah. Christ is Jehovah. He is so called here by Zechariah, " The Lord said — a goodly price that I was prised at of them." The price at which Christ was estimated was the price at which Jehovah Himself was valued by His own people. Christ, the Lord of all, says " Cast it to the Potter." What was done by Judas and the Jews in the betrayal of Christ, and in the purchase of the Potter's field with the price of His blood, was done with His permission. No one could take away His life from Him. He laid it down of His own accord, and took it again (John x. 18). "De- stroy this temple," He said, speaking of His own body, " and in three days I will raise it up" (John ii. 19). All this was done with the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, accord- ing to His inscrutable will (see on Acts ii. 23) ; and the proofs of His Messiahship were displayed by the fulfilment of such pro- phecies as these, even by those who rejected Him. The similarity of language in which the Servant or Mes- senger of Jehovah is spoken of in both portions of Zechariah (see on chap, ix.. Prelim. H'ote) is a strong argument foridentity of authorship. The Messiah, the Servant of Jehovah, is dis- tinguished from Jehovah, aud yet is identified with Him as His equal in dignity and glory. See xii. 9, 10 ; cp. xi. 13. In no prophetical book is the doctrine of the distinct Divine Personality, as well as the Humanity of the Messiah, more clearly and uni- formly displayed than in this of Zechariah. On the site of the Potter's field (probably the Valley of The tJiirty pieces of silver. ZECHARIAH XL U— 16. The Idol Sliephcrd. And I took the thirty j^icccs of silver, And cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. '^ Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even || Bauds, That I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. '* And the Lord said unto me, " Take unto thee yet the instruments of a fooUsh shepherd. ^^ For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, tvhich shall not visit those that be || cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is Before C 11 11 1 ST abaiit nEzck.3l.2,3,«. Hinnom) anj on other incidouts of a solemn and mysterious in- terest connected with that place, see above, on Jer. xviii. 2 ; xix. 2, and note after Jer. xix. 11, p. 44 ; and cp. Hengst. here. From the words, " Cast it to the Potter," it is probable that the potter may have been present in the Temple when the Chief Priests transferred the money (which Judas had cast into the Treasury) to the purchase of the field. This prophecy, or rather a prophecy very like it, is as- cribed to Jeremiah by St. Matthew (xxvii. 9). When we bear in mind the fact that nothing is more usual in Hebrew Prophecy, than for the Holy Spirit to repeat by suc- ceeding Prophets what He had said before by their predeces- sors; and that He does this in very many instances in Zechariah (who, as the Jews said, prophesied with the spirit of Jeremiah, Siirenhusius, 282), it cannot seem surprising that what is here said by Zechariah should have been said before with some slight additions by Jeremiah ; and that the Holy Spirit, speak- ing by St. Matthew, should have referred to that prophecy, which is no longer extant in his writings. The Holy Ghost, speaking by St. Jude, cites a prophecy from Enoch which is nowhere found in the Bible (Jude 14). Further, it has been supposed by some {Grotius, Sengsten- ierg, Kliefoth) that the present prophecy of Zechariah is con- nected with, and grounded on, those events in Jeremiah concern- ing the Potter (xviii. 2; xix. 2), and that it is a renewal of those prophecies of Jeremiah which portend the destruction of Jeru- salem, as a potter's vessel in the valley of Hinnom. If this is so, then St. Matthew, referring to the Prophets, specifies Jeremiah as the elder. It is usual for writers of the New Testament to blend several prophecies of the Old together, and to mention the name of one Prophet only. See below, on Matt, xxvii. 9, and Surenhtisius, p. 288. There is a remarkable instance of this in Mark i. 2, " As it is written in Esaias the Prophet " (such is the true reading), "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight ;" where St. Mark combines two prophecies, the first from Malachi iii. 1 ; and second from Isaiah xl. 3, and lie mentions only the name of Isaiah as being the older prophet, although he places first the prophecy from Malachi. There is a learned dissertation on this passage in Dean Jackson's work on the Creed, book VIII. ch. xxvii. and eh. xxviii. 14. I cut asunder mine other staff— that I might break the brotherhood^ The Twelve Tribes, which were joined together at Jerusalem in the solemn annual Festivals, have now been scattered abroad by God. This is a consequence of the destruc- tion of Jerusalem ; the punishment inflicted upon them for the rejection of Christ (Matt, xxiii. 38. Luke xiii. 35). The Foolish, oe Wiceed SnEPnERD. 15. Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd^ This is said to the Prophet, who is commanded to personate the foolish or wicked shepherd (folly, in Scripture, is impiety, Ps. xiv. 1. Matt. V. 22 ; cp. note on Job ix. 9) by taking such accoutrements as he would appear in. The Jews, by their re- jection of Christ, Who is the Light, have subjected themselves to the divine malediction. They rejected the True Shepherd, and they were given over into the hands of false and wicked shepherds. They were deceived by many false prophets and many false Christs (Matt. xxiv. 5) ; and they are under the dominion of false shepherds, who do not heal the sick and feeble, but commit ravages on the flock, by false doctrines, such as those which constitute the greater part of the later Rabbinical and Talmudical teaching. They have incurred the fearful re- tribution of judicial blindness and misery pronounced by the Messiah Himself, speaking prophetically by the Psalmist (see on Ps. Ixix. 22—28, and St. Paul's explanation of those words in Horn. xi. 7 — 10) .and by Christ, in His own Person, in those Eight Woes in Matt, xxiii. 13—39. Vol. VI. Paet II.— 145 Good Shepherds (s.iys S. Cyril) have a light pastoral stafl", by which they guide tlie sheep ; but the evil shepherd maltreats and belabours the sheep with rude liandling. So, in spiritual things, the good Christian Pastor deals gently, tenderly, and lovingly with his flock ; but the bad Pastor is impatient, and rules them with roughness and violence ; and does not bring back the sheep when astray, nor guard them against the wolf and the robber, nor heal those which are sick ; and does not feed them with the wholesome food of sound doctrine, but with poisonous heresies. See above, on Ezek. xxxiv. 2 — 4. 10. Such are the instruments of an evil shepherd. The Idol Shepheed. Tlie Prophet, having spoken of foolish or godless shepherds in the Jewish Church and Nation, and having declared the miseries brought by them on that Church and Nation, and also on themselves, proceeds now to speak of pastoral folly or impiety in the Christian Church, and of its future destiny. The characteristic feature of this form of folly and im- piety is, that it claims divine honour for itself. The Shepherd makes himself to be an idol. The Prophet's words are, *' Woe to the idol shepherd ! " Literally, " Woe to the shepherd, the idol" {HchT.ha-elil); the word is the same as in Leviticus xxvi, 1, " Ye shall make unto you no idols." This is a mysterious prophecy, which reaches to the latter days. S. Cyril compares these words to those of St. Paul con- cerning " the Man of Sin," or " Lawless one," in 2 Thcss. ii. 2 — 12 ; and S. Jerome says here, ** thou shepherd and idol.' " This shepherd is so ungodly that he is not called a worshipper of idols, but is himself named an idol, inasmuch as he calls himself God, and desires to be adored by all men. This shepherd is described under another figure by Daniel the prophet (see on Dan. vii. 8. 11. 20, 21), and by St. Paul, writing to the 'Ihessa- lonians, where he foretells the rise of a Power that would " sit in the temple of God " (or Christian Church), " and show itself as God." See the note below, on 2 Thcss. ii. 3 — 12. Theodoret also applies this prophecy to the Antichristian Power that would arise in the Church of Christ in the latter days. And so Remigius, Lyranus, J'atablus, and others. The question Iiere oflers itself for consideration — Has .any Person or Power, corresponding to this descrip- tion, arisen in the Church of God ? It cannot be denied that the Bishop of Rome claims to be a Shepherd, and even to be the Chief Shepherd of the Church of Christ ; he does not allow any Bishop or Priest to exercise any pastoral office in feeding tlie sheep and Iambs of Christ, except by his own authority. All ordinations of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons are null and void (he says) without his sanction. And even a Bishop who is nominated to an Archbishopric, ceases for a time to be a Bishop, and (as may be seen in the Roman Pontifical p. 87, ed. Rom., 1818), be cannot exercise any episcopal functiou till he has received the pallium from the Roman Poutitf. It would not be easy to point out any other Shepherd who makes himself to be an idol, except the Bishop of Rome. That the Bishop of Rome does make himself into an idol, is certain. The first act that he performs after his election to the papacy, is to go into the Church of St. Peter, and to take his seat upon the High Altar there ; and while he is there sitting he claims and receives adoration from the Cardinals, who kiss his feet, which trample upon the Altar of God. He, as God, sitteth there in the Temple of God, showing himself as God. The present Pope, Pius IX., did this on Wednesday, June 17, 1846. This ceremony is called by Roman writers, "Ado- ratio Pontificis," "the Adoration of the Pope. " The authori- ties for these assertions may be seen below, in the note on Revelation xiii. 13, 14, pp. 233, 234. Among the medals struck in the Romau Mint, there is one which represents the Cardinals kneeling before the Pope whom they have elected, with this inscription, "Quern creaat, adoranf," " Whom they create they adore " (Numismata Pontificum, p. 3, ed. Lutet., 1679) ; in The Idol Shcpliml. ZECHARIAH XI. 17. XII. 1—3. Tlie Church i^erscctitcd. broken, uor || feed that that staudeth still : but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. ^7 ° Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock ! The sword shall he upon his arm, and upon his right eye : His arm shall be clean dried up, And his right eye shall be utterly darkened. XII. 1 The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, ^ which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and '•formeth the spirit of man within him. -Behold, I will make Jeru- salera " a cup of || trembling unto all the people round about, || when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3 <* And in that day will I make Jerusalem ' a burdensome stone for all '"or.'andahoaaaiiislJudakshM he le which sliatl he in siege againstJemsalem. d ver. 4, G, 8, 9, 11. & ch. 13.1. & 14.4,6, 8,9, 13. e Matt. 21.44. CHRIST about 517. II Or, bear. Jer. 23. 1. Ezek. 34. 2. John 10. 12, 13. a Isa. 4i. 5 ft 44 24.&45, 12, IS. & 48. 13. bNum. IG. 22. Eccles. 12. 7. Isa. 57. 1(3. Heb. 12. 9. c Isa. 51. 17, 22, 2,1. II Or, shtmber, or other words, " They worship the idol which they have made witli tlieir own hands." One of the most eloquent French ^vriters of the present day, himself a zealous Roman CathoUc, Count Montalembert, in a letter written fi-om his death-bed, dated Paris, Feb. 2S, 1870, uttered an indignant protest against those votaries of the Papacy who, to quote his words, " trample under foot all our liberties and principles, in order to immolate justice and truth, reason and history, as a sacrifice to the idol which they have set up for themselves in the Vatican." The words of Count Montalembert are, "pour venir ensuite immoler la justice et la verite, la raisou ct I'histoire, !l I'idole qu'ils se sont erigee au Vatican." And he adds, " if this word idol seems too strong a one, let me refer you to the words used by Mouseigneur Sibom', Archbishop of Paris, in writing to me, on Sept. 10, 1853. ' The new Ultramontane school is leading us to a double idolatry, idolatry of the temporal power of the Papacy, and idolatry of the spiritual. The Ultramontane Bishops have driven every thing to extremes, and have outraged all liberties both of the State and of the Church.' " At the very time when the present note is passing through the press, the Roman Catholic Bishops, summoned by the Roman Pontiff to meet in Council at Rome, in St. Peter's Church, under his authority and influence, are debating whether they shall not ascribe to him an attribute of God, — Infallibility. If they promulgate this dogma, they will have supplied another argument to prove that the Bishop of Rome is the "Idol shepherd " of Zcchariah. The doom of the "Idol Shepherd" is foretold in what follows : — 17. thatleaveththefloci:'\lAteTii.\\y, deserter of the flock. In- stead of defending the flock from grievous wolves who tear the flock, he exposes it to their attack. This is true of the "idol shei)herd " described in the foregoing note. The Bishop of Rome does not feed the flock of Christ with the healthful food of the Holy Scriptures — he denies the use of God's Word to the People, and he exposes them to heretical teachers : he himself becomes a wolf and tears them. — The sword shall be tipon his arm, and upon his right eye] He claims to have the arm of Omnipotence for ruling the Universe,— the words addressed to every Pope, at his coronation by the person who crowns him, are, " Scias te esse Rectorem Orbis,"— and to have the eye of Omniscience for searchmg all mysteries of the faith. He has recently put forth a claim to this attribute ty promulgating a new dogma (Dec. 8, 1854), which ho enforces as an article of faith necessary to salvation, viz. that the Blessed Virgin Mary was exempt from original sin ; a dogma which exalts her to a participation in that original sin- lessness which belongs only to Christ ; and by which therefore he endeavours to make the Blessed Virgin to be au instrument for outraging the honour of her Divine Son. But the arm of the Idol Shepherd will be withered, and his eye be darkened. The sword of the Lord (says S. Jerome) will be upon his arm and upon his right eye ; and all his might and boasting will be blighted, blasted, and dried up ; and the knowledge which he falsely arrogates to himself will be eclipsed in everlasting gloom. Cp. 2 Thess. ii. 8. When wiU this he ? Thou, O Lord, kuowest. The Peesecutions op the Cnuncn of God win becoil UPON HEK ENEMIES. Preliminary Xote. On. XII.] In these Prophecies which follow, to the end of 140 the Book, there is the same foreshortening as that which has already been observed in the Book of Joel. It is the property of Omniscience to see all things at one glance ; and Divine Prophecy imitates this property by represent- ing the future in one view. In the following prophecies, the penitential act of contrite sinners, especially of Jews, looking at Him Whom they pierced (xii. 10), dates from the Day of Pentecost, and continues to the latter days, when it will be greatly intensified, and will produce blessed results, and is here concentrated into one focus. The rising up of enemies of God against Christ's Church, which commenced at the same time, and has been continued in successive persecutions from Jews, Gentiles, and other un- believers in every age, and which will reach its climax in the great Antichristiau outbreak of the last times, and be con- founded by the Coming of Christ to Judgment, is here summed up iu one panoramic picture displayed at once to the eye. 2. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling'] The cruelties which had been practised upon Jerusalem by Babylon had ah'cady, in Zechariah's age, brought God's wrath and in- dignation upon Babylon, which had afflicted her ; according to Isaiah's prophecy, " Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling" (the cup which causes reeling), "even- -the dregs of the cup of my fury, thou shall no more drinik it again. But I will put it into the hand of them that afllict thee." See on Isa. U. 17—23. Zechariah proceeds from that retributive act of God's justice, and enlarges it, and applies it to His dealings with the enemies of the spiritual Jerusalem, the universal Clmrch of God, which is the subject of his prophecies in the latter part of the book. See xiv. 1, 2. And therefore he speaks here, not of one nation, such as the Chaldeans, or Romans, but of all people {ov peoples) and all nations ; i.e., all those who rise up against God and persecute His Clinrcb. Thus Zechariah's prophecy here comes in contact with that of Ezekiel concerning the gathering to- gether of Infidel Powers against Christianity in the latter days. See above, on Ezek. xxxviii., xxxix., and Joel iii. 1 — 16, which supply the best interpretations of this prophecy, revc.ding the confederacy of Worldly, Infidel, and Impious Powers against the Church of God iu the latter days, and their future final doom and utter discomfiture. It is impossible to apply these prophecies (as some have en- deavoured to do) in all their breadth and fulness, to the literal Jerusalem. Doubtless they may have a partial reference to the days of the Maccabees and to Antiochus Epiphanes, the type of Antichrist. But no one who examines them carefully can say that they were exhausted by the events of that age. And there- fore, with jS. Jerome, Theodorei, and other ancient Expositors, and with Itibera, Arias, Vatablus, in more recent times, we must understand them as prophetic of the final triumph of Christ and the Christian Church. The Christian Church from the commencement is the only legitimate continuation of "the Israel of God." The root is in Zion, but the branches overshadow the earth. Cp. Rom. xi. 18. Eph. ii. 12. 19. Gal. vi. 16. See the note above, on Ezek. XXXV. 14, pp. 238, 239, which may serve to illustrate the present prophecies. In that DAT. 8. in that day] These words, in that day, occur sixteen times in this .and the two foUowiug chapters (xii. 3, 4. 6. 8, 9. 11 ; xiii. 1, 2. 4; xiv. 4. 6. 8, 9. 13. 20, 21). It is not to be supposed that all the events here described are to occur in one day, or at one time. The words, that day, designate the Day present to The Church will he glorified ZECHAKIAH XII. 4—9. through affliction. Buf.irc cimisT al)o!it Sir. people : all that burden themselves with it shall he cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. *In that day, saith the Lord, ^I will smite every horse with astonish- ^^Jii'^j"; ment, and his rider with madness : and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and vnll smite every horse of the people with blindness. * And the govemors of Judah shall say in their heart, || The inhabitants of ii or, mere Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. ^ In that day will I make the governors of Judah ^ Uke an hearth of fire ^'%\,la\ among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf ; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left : and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. ^ The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. ^ In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem ; and *■ he '' ''°^' '' '"' that is II f feeble among them at that day shall be as David ; and the house of \ H^./aTtei David shall he as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. ^And it shall come to pass in that day, that I -nill seek to 'destroy all ve^a!'"""' the nations that come acrainst Jerusalem. tlie Divine Eye of the Holy Ghost, Who inspired the Prophet, and to Whom "a thousand years are as one day " (2 Pet. iii. 8). He sees all things at one glance ; and to Him they are all con- centrated in that day. — will I make Jerusalem a huriensome stone'] Literally, a stone of iurdening. Jerusalem — the Holy City — was a burden- some stone to those who waged war against, and profaned the Temple of God; such as Autiochus Epiphanes, Pompey, and Crassus, who came to a miserable end. See A I/apide here and Dean Jackson on the Creed, book I., chap. -xix. It was not till Jeinisalem had rejected and crucified the Lord of Glory that she ceased to be a burdensome stone to those who attacked her ; but when that sin was committed, then she was given up to destruc- tion by the armies of Rome. Christ became a bm'densome stone to her. As He Himself says, " Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken : but on whomsoever it shall fall, ii will grind him to powder " (ilatt. xxi. 41). This stone will become n mountain, and break in pieces all powers that resist it, as Daniel foretells (Dan. ii. 44). And such is Christ's Church— a burdensome stone. Many have risen, and many more will rise up against it, but they will not prevail (Matt. xvi. 18) ; and if they resist it, and they dash themselves against it, they will be broken and crushed by it. See Ezek. xxxix. 1 — 28. 4. I will smite evert/ horse— of the peopW] Rather, of the peoples. The Infidel and Worldly Powers which rise up against the Church of Christ, are described as a mighty army of chariots and horses, rushing on to the charge ; but they are smitten and routed by God. Compare the words of the mighty host de- stroyed at Jerusalem and the representative of infidel powers assailing the Church. See above, on Isaiah Ixvi. 24. 5. the governors of Judah] These are the holy Apostles, and all faithful rulers of Churches and Apostolic Pastors and teachers (S. Cgril). my strength in the Loed of hosts'] In Ihe last days the governors of Judah — that is, the rulers of Christ's Chm-ch — shall not trust in secular powers (which will be hostile to her) but in the Zord if hosts alone, and will say, " Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses : but we will remember the Nama of the Lord our God" (Ps. xx. 7). See on Micah v. 10, and above, is. 10. 6. will I make the governors of Judah like a hearth (or a pan) of fire among the tvood] The Apostles and Apostolic teachers of the Christian Church (on which the Holy Ghost descended in tongues of fire at Pentecost) will glow with flames of holy zeal and love, and consume every thing in a sacred conflagi-ation {S. Ci/ril). Cp. Jer. v. 14. — ihei/ shall devour all the iwople~] Or all nations. Ko nations, however mighty, will be able to resist the power of Christ and His Church in the last days : as it is said in the Apocalypse, " The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ " (Rev. xi. 15). That Mountain (us described by Daniel) will fill all things, and destroy all that oppose it. God's Word will be like a fii'C, which will consume every thing as stubble that resists it. 147 — Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place"] Rather, literally, Jerusalem shall dwell still under herself, that is, the Church will not rely on earthly powers, which will be opposed to her, but she will dwell in continual stability, de- pendent upon herself (see the use of the word in vi. 12, out of His place, Vit. from under Himself) and on her own spiritual strength, derived from her Divine Head, Christ. 7. The LOKD also shall save the tents of Judah first] There shall be no local or persoual supremacy in the Cliurch of God. " The Church will recover her primitive glory " (5. Jerome says here), "and the tents of Judah will he saved;" that is, there will be in the whole world Christian assemblies of faithfiil worshippers who belong to the " Jerusalem that is above, which is the mother of us all " (Gal. iv. 26). And the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not magnify themselves, as if their power, honour, and victory were due to their own arm; that is, " no rulers of the Church will imagine that any thing that they do is done by their own learning and wisdom, but will ascribe it to the help of the Lord." And none will domineer over the rest : according to the words of St. Peter, they will not be " lords over God's heritage, but will be ensamplcs to the flock " (1 Pet. v. 2, 3). 8. In thai day — he thai is feeble among them — shall be as David ; and the house of David shall be as Ood] This has been fulfilled in the Incarnation of Christ, Who is the True David. See above, on Ezeklel xxxiv. 23, 24, and xxxvii. 24, 25. " Of His fulness all we have received, and grace for grace " (John i. 16) ; and even the poorest and feeblest among us are made "kings and priests" to God (Rev. i. 6 ; v.lO; xx. 6. lPet.ii.59) by union with Him, the JSverlasting King and Priest, and become " partakers of the Divine nature" (2 Pet. i. 4) by virtue of bap- tismal incorporation in Him, and spiritual indweUing in Him, Who is "Emmanuel, God with us" (Isa. vii. 14. Matt. i. 23), " God was manifest in the flesh " (1 Tim. iii. 16. John i. 14), especially by means of the Holy Communion received into the heart by faith. By Jerusalem (says S. Cyril) the Prophet here, without doubt, means the Christian Church ; and he describes the strength, security, and quietness which she receives from Christ, the true David. — as the angel of the Loed] The name of Christ. Sec above, on i. 11. The Enemies op the Chuech tvill be ovEEinEowu. Conversion to Cheist, especiallt of the Jews. 9. in that day — In-ill seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem] This cannot be applied in all its ful- ness to the literal Jerusalem ; no such combination of all nations against Jerusalem ever lias been formed. This prophecy foretells a great insurrection and confederacy of Worldly Powers against the true Spiritual Jerusalem, the Church of Christ, and it predicts their destruction. " The Lord will protect those who dwell in the Church" (says S. Jerome), " and will seek to destroy her enemies." Sec on xiv. 2, and the Conversion of the Jews. ZECHAEIAH XII. 10—13. Mourning for Christ. Before CHRIST al)Oiit 517. k Jer. 31. 9. & 50. 4. Ezek. 39. 29. Joel 2. 2S. IJohn 19.34,37. Rev. 1. 7. m Jer. 6. 26. Amos 8. 10. n Acts 2. 37. o 2 Kings 23. 29. t Heb. families, q2 Sam. 5. 14. Luke 3. 31. '" ''And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications : and they shall ' look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, "" as one mourneth for Ms only son, and shall he m bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 1' In that day shall there be a great " mourning in Jerusalem, " as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. ^- ^ And the land shall mourn, f every family apart ; the family of the house of David apart, and then- wives apart ; the family of the house of ■» Nathan apart, and their wives apart ; '^ the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart ; prophecy in Ezekiel xxxviii., xxxix. ; and in Revelation xvi. 16; xix. 11—21 ; and xx. 8, ; and the notes there. 10. I ti>iU pour upon the house of David, and vpon the in- habitants of Jenisalem, the spirit of grace and of supplica- tions'] The Prophet takes up the words of .Joel (ii. 28), " I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh;" and Ezekiel xxxix, 29, "Z have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel." God will pour out His spirit of grace; and this grace from Him will excite in men a spirit of supplication. This prophecy has been fulfilled in part, by the outpourinfj of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, and on large multitudes of devout men from all countries, on the day of Pentecost; and upon Cornelius and his companions at Cffisarea, and on innumerable others after them ; and will be completely accomplished in the Church of Christ. See what follows. — they shall look upon me whom they have pierced^ Observe that the Lord Jehovah here speaks, and s.ays, "They shall look upon Me;" and we know from the Holy Spirit in the New Testament (John xix. 34. 37. Rev. i. 7) that these words are to be fulfilled in Chkist. Therefore Christ is Jehovah." Com- pare Bp. Pearson on the Creed, Art. iv., p. 201, and Dr. Wa- terland, ii. p. 19; Dr. Pusey on Daniel, p. 486, who says here, " I will pour out My Spirit. To pour out the Spirit is plainly a Divine Act. When Zechariah prophesied, the Jews were familiar with that great prophecy of Joel in which God speaks, / will pour out My Spirit (Joel ii. 28). Here He foretells some out- pouring, and that, as a fruit of it, they should gaze earnestly on Mimself Whom they had pierced." These words of Zecharisih predict the piercing of Christ; as the Holy Ghost Himself, speaking by the Evangelist St. John, has assured us (John xix. 33); and they foretell the turning of the eyes of the Jews to Him {S. Cyril; Theodoret) ; and, in a more general sense, they pre-announce the turuiug of the eyes of all penitent sinners — whether Jew or Gentile (see Rev. i. 7, where they are extended to " all kindreds of the earth")— who have pierced Him with their sins, crucifying afresh the Son of God (Heb. vi. 6). They shall turn to the Cross of Christ with contrite hearts and weeping eyes, and shall look to Him with faith and repentance, and be saved from the ends of the earth (cp. Isa. xlv. 22), as the Israelites, when stung by the serpents, looked to the braseu serpent and were healed (John iii. 14). See an excellent sermon (a Good Friday sermon) in this general sense, by Bp. Andremes, ii. 119—138. This prophecy began to be verified on the Day of Pentecost, when many Jews at Jerusalem were "pricked in their heart" by St. Peter's sermon, and said, " What shall we do ? " and were baptized (Acts ii^ 37 — 41 ; cp. v. 14) ; and it will be ful- filled in a more signal manner (as S. Augustine observes iu his De Civ. Dei, vii. 30) when the Jews come to Christ in the true Jerusalem of His Church, and weep for the sin they committed in rejecting Him. See on Isa. Ixiv. 9 — 12. Jer. iii. 21; xxxi. 9; 1. 4. Ezek. xxxix. 23—29. On the rendering of the Sept. here, see S. Jerome and the note below, on John xix. 37. The framers of that Version, or rather Paraphrase, taking the word ddkaru (they pierced) as figurative, and as equivalent to, " they pierced with pungent sarcasms of scorn," render it, "they danced against, or insulted ;" being moved to this rendering by the similarity of the words (as written in Hebrew) rakadu (they danced) and dakaru (they pierced) ; on which principle of allusive analogy many of the renderings of the Septuagint may be accounted for. See above, on Amos ix. 11, 12. The Jews themselves acknowledge these words to be spoken of the Messiah; but to escape the Christian inferences from this admission, they have invented the fiction of a double Messiah— a conquering and a suffering Messiah. See Buxtorf, Lexicon (in Armillus), and Bp. Chandler, p. 90. 148 — they shall mourn for him"] Observe the change of persons here, " they shall look on Me," and " they shall mourn for Sim." Christ, being God, is one in substance with Jehovah, as He Himself says, " I and My Father are One " [substance] (John X. 30. Cp. John xvii. 21, 22.) But since He is Man as well as God, and distinct in Person from the Father, the Father speaks of Him in the third person. — as one mourneth for his only son] Only, Hebr. ydchid, a word used with special typical reference to Christ, e. g., in the history of Isaac. See on Gen. xxii. 2. 12 ; and Judges xi. 34, with reference to Jephthah's daughter, whose history was a mysterious foreshadowing of Christ's sacrifice (see the note at the end of Judges xi., p. 129). Compare the use of this word in the great P.aschal Psalm, xxii. 20, and xxxv. 17, which foretells the Crucifixion of Christ. Cp. Jer. vi. 26; Amos viii. 10. 11. as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Me- f/iadon] This prophecy implies the Death o{ the Messiah. It declares that the mourning of the Jews for Christ, and for their own sin iu crucifying Him, will be like the bitter mourning for the death of Josiah the good King of Judah, who was slain at Megiddon (near to which, as S. Jerome says, was Hadadrimmon, now Rammaneh, or Eamiine) ; and for whom "all Judah and Jerusalem mourned, and Jeremiah lamented for him, and the singing women spake of him in their lamentations, for many generations " (2 Chron. xxxv. 23 — 25). Josiah was a signal type of Christ. See the notes above, on 2 Kings xxiii. 30, pp. 159, 160, which may serve for a comment here. 12. every family apart] Our mourning for Christ must be a personal mourning ; a general one will not sufiice : each one individually must have a separate consciousness of his own sin. See above, on Ezekiel, Introd., pp. 155, 156, and Ezek. xxiv. 23, " Ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another." 12, 13. the family of the house of David apart — of Nathan — of the house of Devi— of Shimei] Four families are here men- tioned — two of the royal line, under the names of David and Nathan (the son of David, from whom Zerubbabel descended, Luke iii. 27. 31) ; and two from the priestly line, Levi and Shimei. See Numbers iii. 17, 18; where Shimei is mentioned as a son of Gershon and grandson of Levi. Cp. Sengst, and Keil here. The prophet mentions one leading family (David) and one subordinate (N.athan) in the royal race ; .and one leading family {Levi), and one subordinate one (Shimei), in the priestly lino (cp. Dr. Mill on the Genealogies, pp. 166—169). This prophecy cannot be understood literally ; first, because the genealogies of the families of David, Nathan, Levi, and Shimei are now lost ; and next, because it cannot he imagined that other tribes than those of Judah and Levi will be excluded from this penitential confession and reconciliation. But these four names are representative names (as are the names of the tribes of Israel in the Apocalypse ; see on Rev. vii. 4 — 8, p. 196). And these four names are used to intimate that all orders, high and low, of both classes, the civil and ecclesiastical, must confess their sins against Christ. The Rulers and Priests of Jerusalem joined together in rejecting and crucifying Him. They must both unite in mourning for Him. This prophecy, therefore, may be applied to describe the acts of penitence which are required of all orders of men, whether temporal or spiritual, for their manifold sins against Christ. It is only on tliis condition of repentance, and of conformity to the likeness of His death, by being crucified to the world, that they can obtain pardon of Him, and be saved. Every one must bear in his heart the marks — the stigmata — of the Lord Jesus (cp. Gal. vi. 17). 13. their wives apart] " Hoc siguificat, qu6d tempore tribula- Fountain for sin. ZECHARIAH XII. 14. Xlll. 1—6. Tlie wounds -in the hands. the family || of Shimei apart, and their wives apart ; '■' all the famihes that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. XIII. ' In " that day there shall be '' a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for f uncleanness. 2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will ''cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered : and also I will cause '' the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. ^ And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live ; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord : and his father and his mother that begat him " shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. ■* And it shall come to pass in that day, that Hhe prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied ; neither shall they wear * f a rough garment f to deceive : ^ '' but he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman ; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. ^ And one shall say unto him. What are these wounds in thine hands ? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. licton. CUUIST alioul 51?. II Or, 0/ Simeon. as LXX. ach. 12, 3. b lleb. 9. 14. 1 I'et. 1.19. .1.5. t Ileb. tfparolion c Ex.23. 13. Josh. 23. 7. Pa. 16. 4. Ezek. 30. 13. Hos. 2. 17. Micah 5. 12, 13. d 2 Pet. 2. 1. g 2 Kings 1. 8. Isa. 20. 2. Matt. 3. 4. t Heb. agarnie tionis et luctus non debeamus servire eonjugiis et operi nuptia- Tum. Uncle et in Joel dicitur aj Judajos, Egrediatur sponsus de cuhicido suo et sponsa de thalamo suo" {S, Jerome, Joel ii. IG). Cp. 1 Cor. vii. 5. The Blessed Consequences op Repentance and op TUKNING to CHEIST. Abolition of Idolatet and Heeest. ClI. XIII. 1. In that day there shall be a fountain opened"] Tlie Prophet, having spoken of the piercing of Christ crucified, and of the looking of penitent souls to Him Wliom they have pierced with their sins, now speaks of the flowing forth of that Blood from His side which cleanseth from all sin (1 John i. 7. 1 Pet. i. 2. Rev. i. 5). The gnshuig forth of this stream, and its cleansing virtue, had heen described in glowing imagery by Kzekiel (xlvii. 1 — 12) and by Joel (iii. 18). " Hie fons de domo Dei cgrediens refertur ad Ecclesiam, et ad scientiam Serip- turarum, ut omnes renascamur in Christo, et in aqua baptismatis (in which the cleansing virtue of Christ's blood is first applied to us) nostra nobis peccata condonentur " (S. Jerome). This fountain was opened at Calvary, and it flowed on the Day of Pentecost, and many were then cleansed by it (Acts iii. 19; V. 31), and it has ever been flowing to all the faithful, in the Word and Sacraments ministered in Christ's Church. In our pilgrimage through this world's wilderness to the Canaan of our heavenly rest, we drink of the smitten Rock — the spi- ritual Rock which foUoweth us, and that Rock is Christ. Cp. 1 Cor. K. 4, and John vii. 37, " If any man thirst, let him come unto Mc, and drink." To those who dwelt in Jerusalem, a fountain was opened at Calvary ; and the cleansing waters of that foimtain are ever being applied to the soul in the holy Sacrament of Baptism (S. Cyril). 2. I will cut off the names of the idols] Not only all idolatrous worship will be abolished, but the very name of its objects will he cut oft' under the Gospel of Christ. See on Hos. ii. 16, 17. Here is a solemn warning to all who dally with idolatry in any shape. — the prophets and the unclean spirif] The teaching of false doctrine is due to Satan himself, who is the unclean spirit, and is the author of what the Apostle calls "doctrines of devils" (1 Tim. iv. 1) ; and so St. John, Rev. xvi. 14. 3. when any shall t/et prophesy'] Having spoken of Satan, rte tinclean spirit, as the author of false doctrines, he now proceeds to speak of his emissaries, false teachers; tbey also shall be cut off (S. Jerome). — his father and his mother that legal him sJiall thrust him through] Such will be their zeal for God, that they will execute in spirit the Law of Moses against teachers of false doctrines. See Dent. xiii. 6—9 ; xviii. 20. The letter of that law is now abrogated under the Gospel. See below, on Luke ix. 55. Some Roman Catholic divines, indeed, as A Lapide here, make this text to be a divine command to kill heretics. 119 S. Martin of Tours' was of a very different mind (see Sulpicius Severus, Hist. Eccl. ii. 50) ; and so TertuUian, ad Scap. 2., ' Religionis non est, religionem cogere ;" and Laclant. Divin. Inst. v. 20, " Defcndenda religio non est occideudo, sed nioriondo ; religio cogi non potest." But this prophecy declares that no sound believer will give any quarter to heresy in his nearest and dearest relatives. It is the triumph of Christian faith and charity, to love the erring without loving their errors; and to hate their errors without hating the erring. Indeed, because the true Christian loves the erring, therefore he hates their error, and endeavours to deliver them from it, in order that they may be saved in the day of the Lord. Whereas the false teacher and treacherous brother abets the erring in their errors, and flatters heretics in their heresy. 4. neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive] They shall not imitate Elias (2 Kings i. 8), or John the Baptist (Matt. iii. 4), or any other teacher, by their rough hairy garment and ascetic life ; which some adopt in order to deceive others by specious semblances of sanctity. Cp. Micah iii. 5. 5. JBut he shall say, I am no prophet — an husbandman] He will no longer imitate the arrogance of false teachers, but will emulate the modesty of the true, like Amos (vii. 14), 6. And one shall say unto him, iVhat are these wounds in thine hands ? Then he shall answer. Those with tohich I teas wounded in the house of my friends] To whom do these words refer ? Some reply — To the false prophet, wounded by his parents and friends for prophesying, whom he, being now penitent, calls his friends, because they punished him. But tliis seems a doubtful interpretation. According to the Levitical Law, the false prophet was to be stoned (Dcut. xiii. 10), not to be wounded in the hands. Some think that by these wounds he means the gashes which he inflicted on himself in the worship of his false gods (1 Kings xviii. 28). But this notion seems still less tenable. On the whole, it appears most reasonable to acquiesce in the opinion of those interpreters (Eupertus, Aquinas, Galatinus, Ribera, Menochius, Tirinus, A Lapide, Bp. Chandler, and others), who say that Zechariah, having spoken of the piercing of the Messiah (xii. 10), and of the fountain for uncleanness which gushed forth from His wounded side on the cross (xiii. 1), and of the blessed consequences of His passion to all penitents, here reverts to Him, and puts this question to Him, " What are these wounds in Thine hands ? " The Holy Spirit had already revealed that the Messiah would be so wounded; " They pierced my hands and my feet," Messiah had said by the Psalmist (Ps. xxii. 16). And tliat these wounds would be received in the house of His friends, even among His own people the Jews, had been foretold by Isaiah (liii. 3—5). This exposition is found even in so early a Christian writer as S. Barnabas (Epist. c. 6 : see Dressel's note, p. 9) ; and it i« The Shepherd smitten. ZECHARIAH XIII . 7—9. XIV. 1, 2. . The Shepherd is God. Before CHRIST about 517. i Isa. 40. 11. £2ek.34. 23. k John )0. 30. & U. 10, II. Phil. 2. 6. 1 Matt. 2ff. 31. Mark 14.27. mMatt. 18.10, 14. Luke 12. 32. n Rom. 11.5. q Ps. 50. 15. &91. 15. cb. 10. 6. r Ps. 144. 15. Jer. 30. 22. Ezek. 11.20. Hos. 2. 23. ch. 8. 8. a Isa. 13.9. Joel 2. 31. Acts 2. 20. b Joel 3. 2. ^ Awake, sword, against ' my sliepliercl, Aud against the man ^ that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts : ' Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered : And I will turn mine hand upon " the little ones. ^ And it shall come to pass, that in all the laud, saith the Lord, Two parts therein shall be cut off and die ; " But the third shall be left therein. ^ And I will bring the third part ° through the fire, And will '' refine them as silver is refined, And will try them as gold is tried : ■' They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: ' I will say, It is my people : And they shall say. The Lord is my God. XIV. ^ Behold, " the day of the Lord cometh, And thy spoil shall he divided in the midst of thee. 2 For '' I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle ; confirmed by what follows, " Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep sliall be scattered," which refers to the Passion of Christ, as we know from Christ Himself. See Matt. xxvi. 31. Mark xiv. 27. The Passion op Cheist. 7. Awaie, O smord, against my shepherd'] Observe the connexion. In the foregoing verses, the earthly father and mother of the false prophet, or shepherd, are represented as smiting bim and thrusting him through («. 3). Here the Heavenly Father, Jehovah Himself, speaks concerning the true shepherd, " Awalce, O sword, against Mt/ Shepherd," the shep- herd appointed by Me. The salvation of the world by the sacrifice of Christ was by " the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God," though that counsel was executed "by wicked hands." See on Acts ii. 23 ; and cp. note on 2 Sam. xxiv. 1, p. 131. Christ Himself said to Pilate, " Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above, " i.e. from heaven (John xix. 11). — Awake, smord ! ] This sword is that of which our Lord speaks to the Father in the Pasch.xl Psalm, " Deliver uiy soul from the sword" (Hebr. chereh,t\\e same word as here), " my darling from the power of the dog." And again in that other Paschal Psalm, " They persecute Him whom Thou hast smitten ; and tliey talk to the grief of those whom Thou hast wounded" (Ps. Ixix. 26). He, Who is the Good Shepherd, was smitten, as if He had been a false shepherd. That this pro- phecy points to Christ we know from His own words in Geth- semane, " All ye shall be oft'ended because of Me this night ; for it is ^vl■itteu, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad " (Matt. xxvi. 31. Mark xiv. 27). Thk Godhead op Cheist, the Teue Shepheed. — against the man that is mij felloio'] Hebr. 6mith, a word only used in Leviticus, where it occurs eleven times, and is trans- lated always (either in the text or margin) by neighbour, i.e. comrade and equal — one of the same nature and rank with another. See Lev. vi. 2 ; xviii. 20 ; xix. 11. 15. 17 ; xxiv. 19 ; XXV. 14, twice, 15. 17. This, then, is the sense in which the word is here used ; and it is clear that the Shepherd, Who is here smitten, is equal to .Tehovah, and a distinct Person from Him. Cp. Mengst. here, and Keil, and Dr. Piisei/ on D.iniel, p. 488. Christ Himself has assured us in the Gospel that Jehovah is here speaking of Him and of His Passion ; and it is a wonderful mystery, that while Jehovah is thus foretelling the Death of Christ, to be slain by the hand of His own people. He procl.aims Him to be not only a Man (" the Man that is My fellow "), but also declares Him of the same nature with Himself. The Fellow of Jehovah is no other than the equal of Jehovah. It is He Who said, " I and My Father are One" (John x. 30) ; "I am in the Father, and the Father in Me" (John xiv. 10). He Who is smitten is Man, and so was able to die for us, He is also equal with Jehovah, and therefore is able to deliver us from death. He is the good Shepherd, Who gave Himself freely for U3 (John x. 11. 14—18), that we might live by His death. — Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered^ Words which were applied by Christ to Himself, as already noted (Matt. xxvi. 31. Mark xiv. 27). — Itoill turn mine hand upon the little ones] Of whom the good Shepherd says, " Fear not, little JlocJc " (Luke xii. 32 ; cp. Matt, xviii. 10 — 14). Immediately after our Lord had quoted these words of Zechariah, in the garden of Gethsemane, He added to the disciples who then forsook Him, "After I am risen, I will go before you" (He uses a pastoral word there; cp. John x. 4) " into Galilee." That special fulfilment was like an earnest and pledge of the more general fulfilment still awaiting this prophecy ; which is accomplished, whenever the little ones, — they who were once proud and great in their own conceit, — become meek and teach- able, and go with faith and repentance to meet Christ. And it will be realized when the fulness of the Gentiles shall have come in, and the Jews turn to Christ with weeping eyes and contrite hearts, and look on Him Whom they have pierced (xii. 10). 8, 9. Two parts therein shall be cut off — die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire] The division into three parts represents the time of trial for Jerusalem ; and the falling away and reprobation of many, are represented by two-thirds, and the purifying and refining of a smaller number, are symbolized by one-third, in the salutary discipUne of the fire of persecution. Cp. Rev. xvi. 19 ; and see Ezek. v. 2. 12; Rev. viii. 7 — 12; ix. 15; xii. 4, where the third part represents what is smitten. With regard to the imagery of trial by fire, cp. Isa. xlviii. 10. Jer. ix. 16. Mai. iii. 3. 1 Pet. i. 7. This purifying and refining work began immediately after the Crucifikion, in the last days of Jerusalem ; and it will have its climax and consummation in the time immediately preceding Christ's Second Advent. The Prophet Daniel describes the purifying discipline of the persecutions in the latter days of the Church in xi. 35, " Some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them and to purge ;" and Dan. xii. 10, " Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried." The Peesecutions op the Last Days — The puLii and FINAL ViOTOET AND GlOEY OP ChEIST AND OP HiS Chuech. Cn. XIV. 1. thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee] This prophecy was fulfilled, in a preparatory manner, when the Romans spoiled Jerusalem, under Titus ; but it was not exhausted then, as is evident from v. 2. It will have its com- plete accomplishment in the last days, when the Church of God will be despoiled by her enemies. 2. I will gather all nations against Jerusalem] This was true, only in a very subordinate sense, when God brought the armies of Rome, under Titus, against the literal Jerusalem (cp. xii. 9); but it will be fulfilled by a general insurrection of Antichristiauism against. the spiritual Jerusalem, the Church of God, in the latter days. Compare Ezekiel's prophecy concerning that insurrection, xxxviii. 14 — 17, and the predictions in the Apocalypse, Rev. xvi. 12—14 ; xvii. 14 ; xx. 8. God is here said to gather the nations against Jerusalem, the Visible Church, as in Ezekiel xxxviii. 17, because what is done by them is done by The last persecution. ZECHAKIAH XIV. 8—5. Tlie faithful delivered. Aud the city shall be takeu, and 'the houses rifled, and the women ravished; And half of the city shall go forth into captivity, aud the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. ^ Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, As when he fought in the day of battle. ■* And his feet shall stand in that day '' upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, Aud the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the cast and toward the west, ^ And there shall be a very great valley ; And half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. ^ And ye shall flee to the valley of || the mountains ; II For the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal Hcfon; C II H I S T about I Or, my I alley of the mourtla!. thall toucli Ills to Ihe place he teparated. His permission (as in the campaigns of Nebuchadnezzar and the Eomans against the literal Jerusalem), and for the trial and purification of His people, and for the punishment of their sins, and because the enemies of the Church will be g:athered together in order to be destroyed by Him. Cp. on Joel iii. 2, "/ n-ill qather together all nations, and bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat " (i.e. of Judgment of the Lord). " Assemble yourselves and come, all ye heathen, and gather together round about." — the residue of the people shall not he cut off"] In the literal Jerusalem almost a total depopulation of Jerusalem was made by war, pestilence, famine, or captivity. "It is clear from this" (says Keil) "that the words do not refer to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans." The prophecy was not e.\haustcd then, but it extends to the last days, and it is explained by Christ's promise of perpetual presence and protec- tion to His Church, " On this Eock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it " (Matt. xvi. 18). 3. Then shall the IjOUD go forth— as when he fought in the day of battle^ In the day of slaughter. This is not applicable to the last days of the literal Jerusalem. The Lord forsook that guilty city which had rejected Christ, and gave it up to be trodden under foot by the Gentiles ; but it will be fulfilled in the Christian Church, for which the Lord will fight in the great antichristian struggle, which even now seems near at hand ; and He will destroy all her enemies. See the foregoing note, and on Ezekiel xx.\viii. 18 — 23 ; xsxix. 1—8 ; aud Rev. xix. 13—21, and xx. 8, 9, 10. The Day op Doom. 4. his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives^ Christ ascended from the Mount of Olives in triumph to heaven, like a mighty conqueror and king, having overcome Satan, Death, and the Grave, aud sat down in heavenly Glory, at the right hand of God ; and the angels announced His ascen- sion in these words to the Apostles, who were standing on the Mount of Olives and were gazing up into heaven, " This same Jesus, Who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven" (Acts i. 10). The Mount of Olives was the last spot on earth on which those Blessed Feet rested before His Ascension; and some have ventured to say that they left an impression there. See A Lapide here, and Dean Jackson on the Creed, book IX. chap. Ixiii. Per- haps, when He comes in glory, it may please Him to stand there. Doubtless the Mount of Olives is mentioned here, and is referred to by Ezekiel (xi. 23, see the note there) with reference to His glorious Ascension from that place, and in order to connect His triumphant Ascension to Heaven with His future glorious Advent to judge the world. There was a subordinate and pre- paratory fulfilment of this prophecy when the literal Jerusalem was besieged and taken bytheltoman armies. The judgment of God on Jerusalem is represented by Christ Himself (in Matt. xxiv.) as a type and rehearsal of the Universal Judgment of the world. See the notes below on that chapter. Christ delivered that prophecy on the Mount of Olives. He ascended from the Mount of GUves. The siege of Jerusalem began at the Mount of Olives. See below, on Matt. xxiv. 3. Clirist's feet stood then, in a figure, on the Mount of Olives ; for it was He Who led the armies of Rome; it was He Who sent Titus against 151 Jerusalem. The legions of Cajsar were armies of Christ, WTjo executed judgment by them on that guilty and rebellious city. Cp. Dean Jackson, vol. viii., p. 501. — a very great valley'] This is the name given to the scene of the future Universal Judgment, which is called the Valley of Jehoshaphat (or of the Judgment of Jehovah) by Joel. See on Joel iii. 12 — 14. There will be a great Earthquake (see Amos j. 1) which will shake alljaations, and will r.aise the dead from their graves. All the pride, and pomp, and power of this World will then be de- pressed, as it were, into a lowly valley, and will be placed beneath tlie feet of Christ, the Almighty Judge (1 Cor. xv. 25). 5. And ye shall flee to the valley of ihe mountains'] Zechjiriah derives his prophetic scenery from the literal Jerusalem. As in the day of its destruction the true believers listened to Christ's warning, "Let them which be in Judea/ee to the mountains" (see on Matt. xxiv. 16), and thus escaped the doom of the city ; and as Lot of old fled from Sodom to the mountains, and found a refuge there (Gen. xix. 17. 30), so the true behevers will take warning at the approach of the Great Diiy, and escape the wr.ith to come. Ye, who are my faithful people, shall flee to the valley of the mountains, or rather, of My mountains ; ye shall flee from the great eai'thquake, and ye shall find shelter there : " When these things come to pass, lift up your heads, for your redemp- tion draweth nigh " (Luke xxi. 28). _ The wicked shall flee, and flee in vain, to their mountains in panic and alarm, and shall cry to the mountains, "Fallon us, and to the hills. Cover us, and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb" (Luke xxiii. 30. Rev. vi. 16). But ye sbdl look up to J/y hills from whence cometh your strength, and find safety there, as Lot fied from Sodom to the mountains, and was saved from the doom of the city. He describes the Mount of GUves as cleaving asunder, so as to open a way for those who escape from the besieged city. The Mount of Olives would have hindered the Bight of those who fled forth from Jerusalem ; but by the earthquake a free passage is given to them, on account of their faith, according to our Lord's words, " If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall s.ay unto this mountain. Remove hence to yonder place, aud it shall remove" (Matt. xvii. 20). — unto Azal] Azal is a symbolical word, like many others in the prophetical writings (see above on Hadrach, ix. 1 ; cp. Kliefoth here, p. 265), signifying nearness, or union, from the Hebrew word atsal, to join together (Oesen. 74). Ilence the Vulgate has " ad proximum." The word Azal (says 8. Jerome) signifies here union — the K»/o»of Jew and Gentile, the union of the Law and the Gospel — in one Church. As Jeremiah describes the spiritual Jerusalem, i.e. the Chris- tian Church, as extending to Oareb and Goath (two symbolical names), because the Church provides a spiritual remedy in Christ, for sin and death (see on Jer. sxxi. 39), so Zechariah describes the valley made by the division of the mountain of Christ's ascen- sion, as extending to Azal, or union, because it unites all in Him. In other words, the Valley of God's mountain, which is represented as near Jerusalem (the Mount of Olives), the site of Christ's Ascension, is here said to extend to Azal, that ia to union, to enfold all the faithful, both Jews and Gentiles (who once were separated), in one Church j and this extension is to be The living icatcrs of ZECHAEIAH XIV. 6—10. everlasting salvation. & 24. 30, 31. & 25. 31. Judu 14. h Joels. 11. II i. e. it shall not lie clear in some places, and dark In other places of the world, t Heb. precious. t Heb. thickneis. II Or, the day shall be one. i Rev. 22. 5. k Matt. 24. 3G. 1 Isa. 30. 20. & 60. 19, 20. Rev. 21. 23. m Ezek. 47. 1. Joel 3. 18. Rev. 22. 1. H Or, eastern, Joel 2. 20. n Dan. 2. 44. Rev. II. 15. o Eph. 4. 5, 6. Yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the 'earthquake in the days of Uzziali king of Judah : s And the Lord my God shall come, And '' all the saints with thee. ^ And it shall come to pass in that day, II That the light shall not be f clear, nor f dark : ^ But II it shall be ' one day ^ which shall be known to the Lord, Not day, nor night : But it shall come to pass, that at ' evening time it shall be light. ^ And it shall be in that day, that living "" waters shall go out from Jerusalem ; Half of them toward the || former sea. And half of them toward the hinder sea : In summer and in winter shall it be. ^ And the Lord shall be " king over all the earth : In that day shall there be ° one Lord, and his name one. ^^ All the land shall be || turned •" as a plain fi-om Geba to Rimmou south of Jerusalem : both nortliward and southward, because all the faithful in both directions will be included in it. " Duorum populorum (olim separatorum sed) rursum in una fide societas inter duos monies placabili sede requiescet, quoniam et Vetus et Novum Testamen- tum sibi utnimqueywn^e^Mr'* [S. Jerome). This uuion is a consequence of Christ's Ascension from the Mount of Olives. He sent the Holy Ghost from heaven, and enabled the Apostles to go forth from Jerusalem into all the world, to unite all nations in His Church, which holds both Testaments in her hands, and is the shelter appointed by God for all His people in all the world. — earthquake in the days of Uzziah'] See on Amos i. 1. — the Lord my Ood shall come, and all the saints with iheel With Thee, Christ, coming to judgment, the holy angels shall come also. 5. Ci/ril here. Daniel vii. 13—27. Matt. x.w. 31. 1 Thess. iv. 16. 2 Thess. i. 7. Jude 14. He, to Whom all judgment is committed, is Christ (John v. 22) ; and He will come in the clouds with all His holy angels to judgment ; and it is expressly said here that the Loed God will come; there- fore Christ is Jehovah. Compare on xiii. 7. 6. it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not he clear, nor dark'] Rather (according to the Cheiib) in that day there will not be light, the brightest things will be wrapped up (tliat is, " the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven " — Matt. xxiv. 29. Mark xiii. 25. Cp. Joel ii. 31). The heavenly firmament, formerly expanded in its bright pages bespangled with constella- tions, will he wrapped together like a scroll, and be shrivelled up in the fire of the world's conflagration. Cp. Isaiah xxxiv. 4, " All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll;" and 2 Pet. iii. 7. 10, "The heavens and the earth are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and all the works that are therein shall be burned up." And compare Rev. vi. 12— 17, describing the last day, "There was a great earth- quake; and the sun became black as sackcloth, and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of heaven fell nnto the earth, even as a fig-tree easteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together ; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, . . . hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains ; and said to the mountains and rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wratli of the Lamb. For the great day of His wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand ?" •The verb here used is kapha, which in niphal (as here) signifies, /o be drawn together. SeeGesen.lZQ ; Fuerst, 1747; and so Zud.de Dieu, Kliefoth, Sengst., Sofmann, Koehler, and Keil here. 7. it shall be one day— known to the LoedT For, as our Lord 152 savs, " Of that day knoweth no man — but My Father only " (Matt. xxiv. 36). — not day, nor nighf] It will not be day, for the sun will be darkened; nor will it be night, for moon and stars will disap- pear; but there will be light from the countenance of Christ, and from the flaming stream of fire which will issue forth from the throne of the Judge, when He comes to judgment (D.in. vii. 9, 10. 2 Thess. i. 8). The Living Watees of Saltation. 8. living waters shall go out from Jerusalem] The Prophet, having described the terrors of the great Day, goes back to a higher point in the series of events, to justify God's judgments on the world, by declaring that in order to qualify and prepare men for that awful Assize, he will give them living waters of divine truth. A remarkable instance of a similar process of prophetic recapitulation may be seen in the Apocalypse of St. John, who is continually reminding us of Zeehariah. See the notes below, on Rev. xx. 1. The Prophet takes advantage of the physical fact, that the literal Jerusalem was abundantly supplied with water, flowing in subterranean streams beneath the City and the Temple ; and the spiritual waters here described by Zeehariah are represented as flowing forth from Jerusalem, where Christ suffered on the cross, and where the Holy Ghost was given to the Apostles, who went forth to preach the Gospel of salvation through the blood of Christ, to all nations, and to enfold the World in the spiritual Jerusalem of the Universal Church. See S. Cyril, S. Jerome, Eusebius, Dem. Evang. vi. 18, and Theodoret here. These spiritual waters are described as going forth, half to the former, or eastern sea, i. e. the Dead Sea; and half to the hinder Sea, i. e. to the Mediterranean ; because the Gospel is diffused into all nations. And they are represented as flowing both in winter and summer (very different therefore from the literal brooks of Palestine), because the Gospel is not dried up in summer, and frozen in winter, but is perennial. This imagery has been already displayed to us in the vision of Ezekiel, which exhibits these living waters as gushing from beneath the altar in the spiritual Temple, and flowing forth with salubrious streams to fertiUze the world, and make it bring forth fruit, and to purify the Dead Sea of Human Corruption, and to make it teem with life. See above, on Ezek. xlvii. 1—12 ; and the Retrospect of Chapter xlvii., pp. 286, 287 ; and oii Joel iii. 18, which may supply a comment on the present passage. 9. one Loed, and his name one] One Lord, One faith (Eph. iv. 5.) ; and all will be baptized unto that One Name, tlie Name of the Ever-Blessed Trinity, according to Christ's command given to His Apostles, "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them into the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : and Lo ! I am with you alway (literally, all days), even unto the end of tlie world " (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20). 10. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Gebal Rather, all the land shall be changed (so as to become exalted) The future glonj ZECHARIAH XIV. 11— IG. and victory of the Church. Aucl it shall be lifted up, and *" j| inhabited in her place, From Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, ■■ And from the tower of Hauaneel unto the king's \\-iuepresses. '1 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be 'no more utter destruction ; ' But Jerusalem || shall be safely inhabited. '2 And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem ; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, And their eyes shall consume away in their holes. And their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. '^ And it shall come to pass in that day, that " a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them ; And they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour. And " his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. '^ And (I Judah also shall fight || at Jerusalem ; *' And the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. '^ And '"■ so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. ^^ And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations q ch. 12. 0. II Or, tliall abide. rKeh. 3. 1. at 12. 3U. Jer. 31. 38. sJer. 31.40. t Jir. 23. C, II Or, thaU abidt. 1 Judg. 7. 22. 2 Chjon. 20. 23. Ezek.38. 21. II Or, Ihou aha, O Judah, shall. II Or, againsl. y Ezek. 39. 10, 1?. ic. z ver. 12. as the plain, or high talile-laud,y;-om Gela, about ten miles north of Jerusalem (Josh, xviii. 24) to Mimmon, on thesouth of Jerusalem, and ou the borders of Edom, about fourteen miles north of Bcersheba (Josh. xv. 32). The meaning is, that all the land of Christ's Church will be elevated ; according to the prophet's words, " It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's !ious» " (the spiritual Temple), "shall be established on the top of the mountains" (Isa.ii. 2. Mic. iv. 1 ; and see above, on Ezek. xl. 1, p. 278, Setrospect). The Church of Christ is like a city set ou a hill, which cannot be hid (Matt. v. 14). Physically, the literal Jerusalem is lower than the hills that stand about it ; the prophecy of its elevation above the hills, will he fulfilled in the glorification of Christ's Church, which will hereafter be exalted on earth above all worldly and temporal Powers, and will mount up in glory to heaven. Zecbari.ih does not foretell that the literal Jerusalem and Canaan will be glorified, but that the earth itself, the Universal Church, will be like a glorified Canaan, and a beatified Jerusalem {Kliefoth). The City shall be safely inhabited. — it sliallle lifted up, and inhabited inker place'] Literally, he inhabited tinder herself, by her own inherent spiritual strength. The Church of Christ will no longer rely on secular powers, and be subject to them, which will fail her and be arrayed against her; but she will be lifted up and dwell securely in her place, by virtue of Christ's presence and power always in her (Matt, xxviii. 20), and by reason of the indxelling of the Holy Ghost, given to her by Him to abide with her for ever (John xiv.l6). On the use of the Hebrew word iachalh (under) see above, vi. 12, where it is said of Christ, that " He shall grow up out of His place," literally, from under Himself. The following prophecy of Zechariah is best explained by a comparison of it with that of Jeremiah, where he describes the building up of the Church of Christ, and the safety of its inhabitants in all parts of it, by imagery similar to the present, derived from the topography of the literal Jerusalem. See the notes above, on Jer. xxxi. 38, 39, pp. 77, 78. * Probably (as the ancient fathers suggest), the following names may have been chosen as symbolical, as is certainly the case in Jeremiah. See on Jer. xxxi. 38. The corner gate may be mentioned with reference to Christ, the Corner Stone ; Hananeel, \\\\\\ reference to God's grace ; the King's wine- presses, with allusion to the sufl'erings of Christ our King, Who in His passion was trodden like grapes in a wine-press; but Who rose and conquered by suffering, and Who will become like one who treadeth the wine-press, when He puts all His enemies under His feet. See on Isa. Ixiii. 1 — 3. 153 — From Benjamin's gate'] The gate on the north wall, toward Benjamin and Ephraim (2 Kings xiv. 13. Neh. viii. 16). — the first gate, unto the corner gate] On the north-west. See on Jer. xxxi. 38, 39. The first gate may perhaps be the same as the old gale in Neh. iii. 6. — from the tower of Sananeel unto the Icing's winepresses] Lit. from the north-cust (Neh. iii. 1) to south (Neh. iii. 15) ; figuratively, from God's grace to Christ's act of Judgment. (See above.) In order to mark the security of the universal Church, the gates ou opposite sides of Jerusalem are specified. She is safe on all sides, even in the terrible day of doom. 11. there shall he no more utter destruction] Literally, there shall be no more any accursed thing, and no ban of extermina- tion, Hebr. cherem. See Josh. vi. i7, 18, where it signifies a devoted OT accursed thing; Mai. iv. 6, where it means a curse; and compare Rev. xxii. 3., where it is said of the heavenly city, *' there shall be no more curse." The literal Jerusalem was devoted to destruction by a curse for its idolatry, and was destroyed by the Babylonians ; and it was again devoted to destruction for the rejection of Christ, and was destroyed by the Romans. But the Spiritual Jerusalem, the Church of Christ, will never be destroyed. 12. the liOIiD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem] " Onmcs persecutorcs, qui afflixerunt Eccle- siam Domini, ne taceamus de futuris cruciatibus, etiam in prae- seuti receperunt quai fecerunt," says S. Jerome, who exemplifies this in the history of Valerian, Decius, Diocletian, Maximinianus, Maximinus, and Julian, and other persecutors of the Church. 13. a great tumult (or confusion) from the LoED shall he among them] The enemies of the Church, which have been con- federate against her, and have raged against her with furious violence, will suddenly be checked in their mad career, and will be distracted and confounded, like the enemies of Jerusalem in Jehoshaphat's time (2 Chron. xx. 23). 14. Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem] All believers will be united in defending the Church of God. — the wealth of all the heathen— shall he gathered] Compare Ezekiel xxxix. 10, describing the victory of the Church of God. 15. so shall be the plague of the horse] So complete will bo the destruction of the enemy, that not merely they themselves, but all their instruments of warfare, here represented as horses, mules, and camels of a besieging army, will be consumed. Compare the similar description in Ezekiel xxxix. 9, 10. 20. JOTEUL AnNOUKCEMENT OP THE COXTERSIOX OP THB Heathen. The pukity and gloet of the Chcech. 16. everg one that is left of all the nations — tabernacles] The manifestation of God's power and love in defending Hii The Iwliness and unity ZECHARIAH XIV. 17.— 21. of the Church of Christ. Before CHRIST about 517. Jolin 7. 2. clsa. CO. 12. t Heb. upon tfho. there is not. d Deut. 11. 10. wliicli came against Jerusalem shall even ^ go up from year to year to worsliip the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep '' the feast of tabernacles. ''' ' And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. ^^ And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, f '' that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. '^ This shall be the || punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 20 Li that day shall there be upon the || bells of the horses, ' HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD ; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. "' Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts : And all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein : Church, and in defeating her enemies, shall have the hlessed effect of turning many of the Heathen Nations (i.e. of unbe- lievers generally), to the true faith and worship of God. The imagery is here also borrowed, as usual, from Hebrew customs, and from the literal Jerusalem. The conversion of the Nations to Christianity is described as a going up to Jeru- salem to worship the Lord at the Feast of Tabernacles, because that Feast was the great and crowning festival of the Hebrew year, and was specially typical of Christ's Incarnation (by which He, Who is God from eternity, came down from heaven, and pitched His tent in our nature, — John i. 14, — and dwells for ever among us), and of all the blessed fruits of the Incarnation in time and eternity. Compare the notes above, on Isaiah l.vvi. 23; Hos. xii.9; andLev. xxiii. 31. Deut. xvi.l3;xxxi.l0. 2Chron. viii. 12, 13. Ezra iii. 4. John vii. 2. 17. whoso will not come tip o/all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King — even nponthem shall bene rain'] No rain of God's grace will fall on those who despise the call to come to Christ and His Church. " There is none other Name under heaven, but that of Jesus, given unto men whereby we must be saved ; neither is there salvation in any other " (Acts iv. 12) ; and " such as are being saved " are described in Holy Scripture as "added to the Church" (Acts ii. 47). The Church, says S. Jerome here, is the Jerusalum which is above, which is free, which is the mother of us all (Gal. iv. 26); and they who desire to partake of the grace and salvation provided by Christ, must " come to mount Zion, the city of the living God" (Heb. xii. 22). They must p.artake faithfully, joyfully, and reverently of the Word and Sacraments, and other means of grace whicli are ministered in His Church ; and so the refreshing rain and dews of the Holy Spirit will fall upon them. But if they will not comply with these conditions, their souls will be parched and will wither away with spiritual drought. 18. if the family of Egypt go not up"] Egj'pt is the repre- sentative of the enemies of the Israel of God (S. Cyril), and especially of such as rely on worldly wisdom and secular philosophy, science, and art, for which Egypt was famous. But she is not excluded from hope of salvation if she will turn to God and join the communion of His Church. But if God's adversaries will not repent, they cannot hope for His favour; they will have no rain of divine grace, but will be smitten with plagues, like those of Egypt. Egypt was not refreshed by rain from heaven, but was watered by artificial channels cut in the earth (Deut. xi. 10. Plin. N. H. v. 9). Such is the soul of man without divine grace; hut the Egypts of this world will receive rain from God if they believe in Christ. 19. This shall be the punishment] Literally, this will le the sin of Egypt (Kchr. chattaih), am\ so Sept., Vulg. God does not punish willingly. His enemies bring down His wrath upon themselves by their sins. 20. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, IWLINESS UNTO TEE LORD] Here is another proof, if proof were needed, that this prophecy does not concern the literal Jerusalem and the Hebrew Nation, otherwise than as united with the Church of Christ. For it was contrary to the Hebrew law to "multiply horses" (Deut. xvii. 16). But here 151 horses are mentioned as consecrated to God. The very words. Holiness to the Loed, which were engraven .upon the golden- plate of the mitre of the High Priest himself (Exod. xxviii. 36), are to be attached to the bells upon them. The meaning is this — Horses are emblems of strength, war, and victory. See Ps. cxlvii. 10. Prov. xxi. 31. Jer. viii. 6. Hos. i. 7. Hab. iii. 15; above, x. 3. Rev. vi. 2; xix. 11 — 14, where Christ is described as a mighty Conqueror riding on the white horse, and followed by a train of riders on white horses. The consecration of horses (so that the housings, with which they are caparisoned, are to be like the mitre of the High Priest, inscribed with " Holiness unto the Lord ") is an intimation that there will no longer be any need of horses for battle and destruction — "men shall not learn war anymore*' (Isa. ii. 4. Micah iv. 3), but that the instruments of War itself will b'j christianized, and that all power, and dignity, and victory, wiU be hallowed and dedicated to the honour and glory of God. — the pots in the Lord's house shall be liketheboirls before the altar] The meaning is, that there can be no future glory without holiness in this life. " Without holiness no mau shall see the Lord " (Heb. xii. 14), "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection " (Rev. xx. 6). This truth is expressed by means of imagery from the literal Temple at Jerusalem. In the Levitical Ritual, the pots in which the flesh of the sacrifices was boiled, were regarded as much less holy than the sacrificial bowls in which the blood " wherelnisthe life " was received, and out of which it was sprinkled or poured on the altar. But in the Church, the spiritual Jerusalem, namely, the Church Universal when glorified, every vessel, — that is, every person, however humble in position he may be, — will be holy ; and nothing that is unholy will find a place there, and therefore it follows, "yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of Hosts." The words, " every pot shall be holiness," may be illustrated by the word vessel in the New Testament: Acts ix. 15, "Go thy way, he is a chosen vesselnnto me ;" 1 Thess. iv. 4, "Let every one know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and houour;" 2 Tim. ii. 21, "If a man purge himself from these (sins), he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the master's use." .The "earthen vessels" (see 2 Cor. iv. 7) of the Church of God shall be glorified, and become like precious vessels of pure gold. See here the blessings of repentance and of faith in Christ ; thereby thy soul, which was once a vessel of shame, becomes a vessel of glory in the heavenly temple. As the ancient Hymn says— "Fit ex lebete phiala. In vas translata glorias Ex vase contumeliae." "Let all who are members of Christ's Church" (says S. Jerome) "consecrate all their strength and all their victories to Him. Let the belis of our horses be holy to the Lord. Let us endeavour to sanctify every thing, and dedicate it to Him. Let us hallow the vessels of Judaism, and convert them into vials of sweet odours before the altar of God." The holiness ZECHAKIAH XIV. 21. of the Chnrch, And in that day there shall he no more the '' Canaaiiite in "^ the house of the cin/'i LoED of hosts. about 517. fl3a. 35. 8. Joel 3. 17. Rev. 21.27. S: 22. 15. g Ej.h. 2. 13, 20, 21, 22 21. there shall he no more the Ganaanite hi the house of the TjORD of hosts'\ The Churcli will then be puritied, .ind all vestiges of idolatry and all sins of impurity by wbieb the Canaauites were defiled will be rooted out (Oen. ix. 25. Lev. xviii. 28 ; xx. 23. Deut. vii. 2; ix. 4; xxix. 17). Cp. Isa. xxxv. 8; Obad. 17; Joel iii. 17; and Rev. xxi. 27, "There shall in no wise enter into the heavenly city any thing thatdefileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or niaketh a lie." Compare Rev. xxii. 15, and the last words of St. John's first Epistle, " Little children, keep yourselves from idols." May the Lord of Hosts grant (says Theodorel here) that no Canaanilo may be seen among us ; but that we may all live according to the laws of the Gospel of Christ, and may look for the blessed hope and glorious n]ipearing of the groat Ciod and our Saviour .fcsus Christ (Titus ii. 13.) ; to Whom, with the giving and praise in all the Churches of the Saints upon earth, and in the heavenly and eternal city of the Churcli glorified, the Jerusalem which is above, forever and ever. Amex. 155 MALACHI. Before CHKiST about I. ' THE burden of the word of the Loed to Israel f by Malachi. - " I have loved you, saith the Lord. the hand of Malachi. a Deut. 7. 8. & 15. 1. Pbbliminaet Note. The propbecies of Malachi derive a special interest, not only from their contents, but from their position. Malacbi follows Zecbariah; and he is called by the Hebrews " The Seal of the Prophets," as closing the prophetical Canon of the Ancient Dispensation. He completes the Old Testament, and prepares the way for the New. In this view his name Malachi, which means Angel, or Messenoek, is very appro- priate. He is the Angel of the Old Covenant, flying with joyful alacrity, to bring the glad tidings of the Gospel. Malachi, in his immediate succession to Zecbariah, dis- cbarges an office peculiar to himself. Zecbariah is one of the most sublime and impassioned among " the goodly fellowship of the Prophets." It seems as if the Holy Spirit designed to teacb the world by him, the last but one in the prophetic line, that if Prophecy was to become mute (as it became for an interval of about four centuries soon after Zecbariah), its silence was not due to any failure or exhaustion of power in the Divine Author of Prophecy. _ No ; the light of the sunset of Prophecy in Zecbariah is as brilliant and glorious as its noonday splendours in Isaiah. The Visions of Zecbariah, their rich colouring and varied imagery, their prophetic utterances reaching from his own age to the Day of Doom, display this truth. This has been shown already in the Introductory Note to Zecbariah. Zecbariah reveals to us the Birth of Christ, " the Man Whose Name is the Branch'" springing up from a lowly place; He sets Christ before us in a fair picture, riding in triumph " on the foal of an ass " to Jerusalem ; be also unfolds the scenes of Gethsemane and Calvary 2; he declares to us His Royalty and His Priesthood, typified respectively by Zerubbabel and Jeshua the son of Josedech, the leaders of the returning exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem^ ; and he proclaims in clear tones His Godhead''; and finally, as with lightning's speed, he passes on to the future evangelization of the Heathen, the conversion of the Jews*, and to the last struggle and overthrow of all Antichristiau powers^ and to the full and final victory of Christ, and the everlasting glory and felicity of His Church'. Let us now turn to Malachi. What a striking contrast is here ! All is quiet and sedate. We seem to liave passed from the sight of some impetuous torrent, sweeping along in a violent stream, dashing over rugged rocks and hurUng itself down in headlong cataracts, and carry- ing every thing with it in its foaming flood, to the contemplation of the clear mirror of a peaceful lake. The stream of Prophecy ceased to rush vehemently after Zecbariah, and it tempers its vehemence "in the clear haven of a translucent pool " in Malachi : there it rested in peace for 400 years, till it flowed forth again in the Gospel. Why was this ? The reason will be evident, if we examine the prophecies of Malachi. They are all of an ethical character. They inculcate in dear, vigorous, stern, and severe language, made more ex- pressive by sharp authoritative questionings, as if the Prophet w-ere summoning the Nation in God's Name to a strict examina- tion at His judicial bar^, the great moral and religious duties of ' vi. 12. a xiii. 7. 3 iii. 1—10; iv. 6-14; vi. 10—15. ^--^i-lS- ^xi;. 10— 14;xl. 7— 16. "xiv. 1— 7. 7xiv. 8-21. 8 See i. 1, 2. 6. 10; ii. 10. 14, 15. 17 ; iii. 7, 8. 156 piety to God, of justice and mercy to man, and of personal purity, holiness, temperance, and sobriety. They speak of, Christ's Coming. Like the Baptist, the Pi-eacber of righteous- ness, the Prophet Malacbi sees, even in Christ's First Coming to save, a vision of His future Advent to .judge '. He calls back the minds of the people to a remembrance of the thunders and lightnings of Mount Sinai, and to the requirements of the Moral Law delivered by God to them by " Moses His servant '"; " and he concludes with carrying them onward to the terrors of the Great Day, and to the curse that will then be pronounced on all impenitent sinners. He speaks indeed of the rising of the " Sun of Righteousness with healing on bis wings," but that genial and salut.ary Dayspring will beam only on those " who fear His Name"." In the days of Malachi, the Temple of Jerusalem had been rebuilt; its ritu.al had been restored; a fragrant cloud of intense again arose in a silver steam from the golden altar before the veil in the Holy Place ; sacrifices were ofl'ered again to God on the brazen altar before the porch of the Temple. The schism between the ten tribes of Israel and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin had been healed in the Babylonish Captivity. The aff.'ctions of all the tribes were now concentrated in Jerusalem. Idolatry had ceased. But in its place had arisen a cold, bard, rigid, self-complacent spirit of ceremonial formalism, such as afterwards came to a head in the proud, vainglorious Pharisaism CI our Lord's age. It had none of that penitential sorrow gushing forth from the contrite heart in a flood of tears, none of that living faith and ardent love showing itself in the daily self- devotion of a holy and religious life, which alone can make acts of worship to be pleasing and acceptable to God. These considerations will explain the tone and tenour of Malachi's prophecies. What are the practical inferences to be hence derived ? What are the lessons to be deduced from the succession of the ethical teaching, commonitory precepts, and comminatory warnings of Malachi to the glowing imagery, and projihetic visions, and mysterious revelations of Zecbariah ? What are the lessons to be deduced from Malachi's position, not only as the last of the prophets, but also as the her.ald of the Gospel ? They may be briefly stated as follows : — The fruit of all spiritual teaching, even of the highest and transcendental kind, like the prophecies of Zecbariah, is not in ecstatic emotions and enthusiastic raptures, but in the quiet discharge of moral duties; it is to be seen in holiness of life and in personal preparation for Death, Judgment, and Eternity. " Love is the fulfilling of the Law'*." "On these two command- ments" (love to God and our neighbour) "hang all the Law and the Prophets '3." "He hath showed thee, man, what is good ; and now what doth the Lord thy God require of thoe, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God'* ?" " Prepare to meet thy God'*." Malachi is the Messenger of the Lord. He is like the Baptist, the great forerunner of Christ; \Vhose coming he announces, "Behold, I will send My Messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me"*." He is like the Baptist, a stern teacher of moral duties, and in boldly rebuking sin. The Temple had been rebuilt: sacrifices were again oflerej '^ Matt. xxii.40. " Amos iv. 12. '» iv. 4. '2 Rom. xiii. 10. '< Micab vi. 8. '« iii. 1. The sins of the Jews MALACm I. 3-7. after their return. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us ? Was not Esau Jacob's brother ? saith the Lord : yet '' I loved Jacob, ^ and I hated Esau, and "^ laid his moun- tains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the ■5\-ilderncss. * Whereas Edom saith. We are impoverished, but wo will return and build the desolate places ; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down ; And they shall call them, The border of wickedness, And, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever. ^ And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, "^ The Lord will be magnified || f from, the border of Israel. '' A son ^ honoureth /h's father. And a servant his master : ' If then 1 be a father, where is mine honour ? And if I ?»c a master, where is my fear ? Saith the Lord of hosts unto you, priests, that despise my name. ^ And ye say. Wherein have we despised thy name ? ' || Ye oiier '' polluted II Or, Bring titila, Sec. Dcfore Clin I ST about Kzck. .■i5. 3, 4, 7, 9. 14. 15. ObaU. 10, Sc. (i Ps. 35 27. II Or, upon. i Heh./rom upon. c Exod. 20. 12. Kcli.2. 14, 17.S. 3. Bat in the priests and in the worshippers he saw a worUllv, formal, hypocritical spirit ; and he denounced it with intrepid sternness and unflinching eeverity. " Ye offer polluted bread 'upon Mine altar i." "And now, O ye priests, this command- ment is for you — the priest's lips should keep knowledge — but ye are departed out of the way 2. Ye have wearied the Lord with your words'." And he threatens both people and priests with God's judgments^; and, what is more, he foretells this rejection for tlieir sins, and the reception of the heathen in their place*. The sight of the concourse of the worshippers to the restored Temple at Jerusalem leads him to foretell the gathering together of all Nations into the Church of Christ, Wlio would visit that Temple, and Who would send forth the Priests of the Gospel from Jerusalem to receive the wliole world into His Church. And the formality, and hypocrisy, and profaneness of the Jewish Priests and People are contrasted with that holier faith and service which God would accept from those who worship Him in spirit and in truth in every nation in the world. " From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same. My name shall be great among tlie Gentiles ; aud in every place incense shall be offered uuto Me, and a pure offering, for My name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts'." The reception of the prophecy of Malachi into the Hebrew- Canon is a strong proof of its inspiration. It cannot be imagined that the Hebrew Church and Nation would ever have consented to receive a book containing such unpalatable announcements as these — pronouncing such unmitigated censures on the Priest- hood and People — predicting their future rejection, and fore- telling the adoption by God of the heathen (whom they detested) into His favour, in their own stead — unless they had been con- vinced, by incontestable proofs, that Malachi spoke by inspira- tion of God. There are many valuable expository works on the pro- phecies of Malachi, such as the Commentary of S. Jerome, and of Dr. Pococlc in our own country ; and in our own age, of Hengstenberg and KeU. But the best commentary is to be found in the hook of Malachi's contemporary, Nehemiah. The reader is invited to refer to that book, with the Introduction to it ", and notes upon it, in a former volume^. Compare especially Malachi ii. 11 — 17 with Nehemiah xiii. 23 — 30, and Malachi iii. 8 — 10 with Nehemiah xiii. 10—14. Ch. I. 1. The hurioi] Or prophetic message — usually of woe. See on Nahum i. 1. ■ Zech. ix. 1 ; xii 1. The present passage, to ii. 7, is the Haphtarah to Gen. xxv. 19 — xxviii. 9, the history of Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. The reason of this juxtaposition is obvious. The Sins os the Jews. 2. Iliave loved you, saith the LoED. Yet ye say. Wherein > i. 7. < iii. IS ; iv. 1. ' pp. 295—300. 157 3 ii. 1—8. 6 i. 11. a Vol. iii. pp. 325—357. 3 ii. 17. s i. 11. hast thou loved us ?] These words must be explained (as S. Cyril observes) by reference to the condition of the Jews at this time. Malachi begins his prophecies with animadverting on tlie ungrateful temper of the Hebrew Nation. They repined and murmnred against God. They were under heathen rule. They were feeble and poor (Neh. ix. 36, 37). The former prophets had foretold their return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of tlie Temple; and those prophets had also preannounced the coming of the Messiah. The Jews had returned ; the Temple had been rebuilt; but Messiah had not come. They were disappointed and impatient, and murmured against God, aud charged Him with unfaithfulness, fickleness, and inconstancy. The prophet replies to these allegations. He assures them of God's love ; and teaches them that all their miseries were due to themselves. Cp. Neh. ix. 31—33. 2. 3. I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau'] See below, on Rom. ix. 13. The doctrine there taught by St. Paul, which has been much misrepresented and distorted by some Calvinistic teachers, may be illustrated by the divine words here. The love of God toward Jacob (as 5. Cyril remarks) was not without foresight of Jacob's faithfulness and piety as compared with Esau. The hatred of God toward Esau, " a profane person who despised his birthright" (Heb. xii. 1(5), was certainly no arbitrary or capricious passion. And if we extend these words to the nation which derived its descent from him — Edom, we find it repre- sented in the historical and prophetical books as bringing God's judgments on itself by its proud impiety, and by it3 unmerciful and revengeful spirit towards Israel, its own flesh and blood. See above, on Ps. cxxxvii. 7. Isaiah Lxiii. 1. Obadiah 8. 3. dragons'] Jacials. Cp. Pococlc here, p. 107. 4. We are impoverished] Rather, loe are broken in pieces. Observe Edom's pride and self-contidence. He says. We have been broken in pieces, but we will mend ourselves. A vain boast, for God had dashed them into fragments, and no vaan could make them coalesce. On the other hand, Judah, whom Edom has hated and persecuted, has indeed been scattered by God; hut He will gather them again. Observe the repetition of the word border in the contrast between them. Edom is the border (gebUl) of wickedness; but the Lord will show His power and love over the border (geltll) of Israel {v. 5). 6. If then i" be o father, where is mine honour ?] This is God's question to Israel, His "firstborn" (Exod. iv. 22). Israel has received speci.1l favour from God's fatherly love. Observe the characteristics of the Lord's words to Israel by Malachi. Tliey are distinguished by a series of interrogations (see Prelim. Xote). The nation is arraigned at God's judgment-seat, and God puts questions to it, as He did to Adam. We have here a rehearsal of the questionings of the great day of reckoning, to which Malachi appeals (iv. 1 — 6). 7. polluted bread] Bread {Hehr. 7fc^e»i)isthe Levitical word for sacrificial offerings. See Lev. iii. 11. 16 ; xxi. 6. 8. 17. 21, 22. Pococlc, iii. Hence the term table here for altar ; polluted bread is equivalent to what is described as " blind, lame, and sick," in v. 8. The future conversion MALACHI I. 8—12. of the Gentiles Before CHRIST about ver. 14. iHe'b. to sacrifice. 1 Job 42. 8. t Ileb. the face of Gad. m Hos. 13. 8. t Heb./roOT your hand. Amos 5. 21. 11 Ps. 113. 3. Isa. S9. 19. q Isa. GO. 3, 5. r John 4. 21, 23. 1 Tim. 2. 8. s Rev. 8. 3. tisa. 66. 19,20. bread upon mine altar ; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee ? In that ye say, ' The table of the Lord is contemptible. ^ And ^ if ye offer the bHnd f for sacrifice, is it not evil ? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil ? offer it now unto thy governor ; will he be pleased with thee, or ' accept thy person ? saith the Lord of hosts. ^ And now, I pray you, beseech f God that he will be gracious unto us : "" this hath been f by your means : will he regard your persons ? saith the Lord of hosts. 1" Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? " neither do ye kindle_^?-c on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, "neither will I accept an offering at your hand. 11 For pfrom the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall he great ''among the Gentiles ; 'and in everyplace 'incense shall he offered unto my name, and a pure offering : ' for my name shall he great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. 8. offeritnoieuntotliy governor'] Thy governor{Vi.ehr.pecTiah), the ruler set over thee by the Persian king. Such were those who are called "governors beyond the river " in Neheniiah ii. 7, such was Nehcmiah himself, who was appointed to that office by Artaxerxes (Nch. v. 14), and who says of himself, " I did not cat nor required I the bread of the governor " (Nch. v. 14 — 18). Cp. xii. 26. Such had been Zcrubbabcl before him (Hagg. i. 1. 14; ii. 2. 21). The sense is, Te treat your God in a worse manner than the .leputy of a lieatheu power. Ye put polluted bread on His table; ye would not dare to present such bread at your gover- nor's table, Hebr. slnilchan, a word also used by Nehemiali, the governor, to describe the abundaut supply of food prepared for his own table (Neh. v. 17, 18). What a contrast between that provision and the miserable supply (the lame, the blind, the sick) for the Lord's table, as here described by the prophet ! 9. this hath been by your means'] Such sins liave ye com- mitted ; will God then accept you ? No ; not except ye repent. It is useless for you to pray and ofter sacrifice, except ye amend your own practice. 10. TVho is there even among yoK— nought] The sense is rather as follows: TFho is there among you, or. Oh! that there were even some among you, who would not open My sanctuary to such profime intruders, but would close the doors (of My house, the Temple at Jerusalem) against such worship- pers and sucli sacrifices as these ! and would not kindle the fire on Mine altar to no purpose .' "Away with your vain oblations! Wliat purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me ! " Would that some one would drive them from My house! Cp. Isa. i. 11. Jer. vi. 20. Amos v. 21. The interrogative Who would, often expresses a wish, and is equivalent to OA tta< .' See 2 Sam . xv. 4. Ps. iv. 6. Jcr. ix. 12. Hagg. ii. 3. Cp. Theodoret, T'atablus, A Lapide, Pocock, 113, and Keil here. The Reception of the Gentiles. 11. For from the rising of the sun — Oentiles] Ye will be cast off from My presence for your sins. Yes; and ye think that God cannot exist witliout the Temple and without your worship ; and that, if I cast you off, I shall be left without votaries. No ; this will not be so, for I have resolved to receive the Heathen in your place. Compare Isa. Ixiv. 10 — 13 ; Ixv. 1—9, where the Lord meets the allegations of the Jews by a similar reply. Here is an anticipation of our Lord's declaration to the Jews, " The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Matt. xxi. 43). All earthly calamities are represented by the prophets as preparing the way for the preaching of the Gospel throughout the world. Cp. Hahakkuk ii. 13, 14. — in every place] Not only in the Temple at Jerusalem, but every where; as our Lord declared to the Samaritan woman (John iv. 21—23), and St. Paul (1 Tim. ii. 8). Here was a bold leap into futurity. And here is a striking proof of Malachi's inspiration. God had declared in the Levitical Law that sacrifices were to be oft'ered only in one place, and not " in every place " (Dent. xii. 13). The Hebrew Nation was 158 jealous of any extension of God's favour to the Heathen (see this feeling exemplified above in the Prophet Jonah) ; hut Malachi has overcome this prejudice (cp. Micah iv. 1), and even revokes the Divine command to ofl'er sacrifice in one place. Who could do this hut God Himself? — incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering] This passage is grounded on Levitisus ii. 1, where the offering (minchah, the word nsed here) is combined with incense : " When any will ofl'er a meat offering (minchah) unto the Lord, his ofl'ering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil upon it, and \>ut. frankincense thereon." The minchah, being made of flour (produced by a concurrence of human labour and divine goodness) and being joined with oil and frankincense, the one (oil) the symbol of the unction of the Holy Spirit, the other (frank- incense) the emblem of prayer (Rev. v. 8; viii. 3 — 11 ; and see Irenceus, iv. 33, referring to this passage of Malachi) represents two things : — (1) In relation to Christ, the minchah symbolizes His offering of Himself, the heavenly corn of wheat (see John xii. 24) given by God's goodness and bruised by suffering and obedience, the act of His own will and work ; and sanctified by the unction of the Holy Ghost, and consummated in His mediatorial office in the heavenly Temple by the incense of prayer offered by Him as our Great High Priest in the golden censer of His merits. (2) In respect to man, the minchah, with its accompaniments of oil and incense, represents God's goodness working with our will, sanctified by the Holy Ghost, and offering up prayer and thanksgiving, going up to God, as it were, in a fragrant silver cloud of incense from the altar of our hearts. The prophecy of Malachi, therefore, foretells that Christ's sacrificial ottering and mediatorial office would he universal and everlasting, as S. Augustine says (De Civ. Dei, xviii. 37), " We see this sacrifice oft'ered Ijy the Priesthood of Christ after the order of Melchizedek in all the world; but the Jewish sacrifices have ceased, as the Prophet here predicts; and that men in all places would respond to it by a correlative offering of themselves." The ancient Christian Pathers have applied this prophecy to the Holy Eucharist, and have regarded it as a pre- diction that this commemorative sacrifice, representing the Sacrifice once oft'ered at Calvary, and pleading its efficacy and applying it to the faithful receiver, and being sanctified by the invocation and illapse of the Holy Spirit, and by the prayers of tlie fiiithful, would be offered in all the world. See S. Justin Martyr, C. Tryphon. §41, where he says that this is a " figure of the bread and the cup of the Eucharist;" and S. Irenceus (iv. 32, Grabe) says that Christ taught us "the new oblation of the New Testament, which (oblation) the Church, having received it from the Apostles, oft'ers up in all the world to God, Who gives to us nourishment; and presents to Him the first fruits of His own gifts, according to the words of Malachi " (i. 10, 11). In the words of Joseph Mede (Works, 355), " This place of Scripture was once, in the eldest and purest times, a text of eminent note, and familiarly known to every Christian, being alleged by their Pastors and Teachers as an express and uu- douljted prophecy of the Christian Sacrifice, or solemn worship of the Eucharist, taught by our Blessed Saviour unto His The pure offering MALACHI I. 13. in every place. 12 But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, " The table of the Lord is poHutecl; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. '^Yc said also, Behold, what a weariness is it ! \\ and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts ; and ye brought that which loas torn, and the lame, and the sick ; thus ye brought an offering : '^ should I accept this of your hand ? saith the Lord. Before C II 111 ST about 397. u ver. 7. 11 Or, whereas t/t miy/tt hate btuic it away. Disciples, tq be obserred of all tbat sbould believe on His Name. It is quoted iu this sense by Fathers of the second and third centuries, and is inserted in tliis sense in ancient Litnrgics, as in tliat of S. Mark." TertulUan (C. Juda!:is, c. 5; C. Marcion, iii. 22, iv. 1) gene- ralizes the words into a prophecy of spiritual offerings of prayer, and praise, and thanlisgiving ; and so Ct/prian. Euseb. (Deni. Evangelic, i. 6) applies tlieiu to the pure offering of prayer and good works to God ; and S. Ci/ril says here, " God thus declares that the sweet perfume of spiritual incense will be offered to Him every where in reverence and holiness, namely, the oblation of faith, hope, and charity, and good works." The sacrifice is called pure by the Prophet, as being offered by a pure conscience {Iren. iv. 3 k TertulUan, C. Scap. c. 2), or else in respect to Chi'ist, Who offered the only pure sacrifice, contrasted with the sacrifices of the Jews. Compare Mede, pp. 358, 359, in his essay on this text, where he shows iu what sense the Eucharist is called a sacrifice (a commemorative one) by tlie Ancient Fathers, pp. 360—379; and sec Waterland on the Service of the Eucharist considered in a Sacrificial View, vol. vii., pp. 341 — 391, or chap. xii. of his Review on the Doctrine of the Eucharist. The Cheistian Sacrifice. As a very imposing superstructure has been built on this text by the Divines of the Roman Church, both in doctrine and practice, with regard to the sacrificial character of the Holy Eucharist (see A Lavide here), it may not be amiss to dwell a little longer on this Subject. Undoubtedly the Fathers, especially S. Chrysostom and jS. Augustine, and others in the fourth and fifth centuries, speak of the Eucharist as a Sacrifice. But what is their definition of the word Sacrifice ? " A true Sacrifice," says S. Augustine (De Civ. Dei, x. 6), " is every act which is performed in order that we may cleave unto God in holy communion ; such act being referred to Him as our Sovereign Good, by which alone we can enjoy true felicity." Undoubtedly also they say that " Christ is daily ofi'ercd in the Sacrifice of the altar." But the sense in which they use these words is explained by other expressions in their writings. Thus S. Chrysostom says, in expounding our Lord's words, " Do this iu remembrance of Me," in his commentary on Hebrews x. 9, " We do not ofl'er another Sacrifice, as the High Priest did formerly, but always the same;" and then, explaining himself, he adds, " or ratter we make a commemoration oi ^ Sacrifice" {fiaWov ie aiaiJi.vr)iTiv ipya^6/jLeda Bva-ia';). And S. Augustine (C. Faust, xx. c. 18) thus speaks : " Christians, in the holy oblation and participation of the body and blood of Christ, celebrate a memory of the same Sacrifice that 7ias been accomplished. ' Peracti ejusdem Sacrifieii memo- riam celebrant.' " And again he says (Epist. ad Bonifac. xxiii. p. 267, ed. Bened.), " Was not Christ offered once iu Himself? And yet He is offered in the Sacrament at Easter and every day ; nor does any one say what is false when he aftirms Him to be offered. For if Sacraments had not a resemblance to the things of which they are Sacraments, they would not be Sacraments at all. But from this resemblance they derive the names of the things themselves" (which they represent). Let not the words of the Fathers be cited partially, but as a whole. When this is done, it will be granted by caudid reasoners that those expressions in which the Fathers speak of the Eucharist as a Sacrifice are to be qualified by those other phrases in which they speak of it as a memory or similitude of a Sacrifice; and not rice rersa. A writer, especially when speaking rhetorically, may call a picture by the name of the person or thing of which it is a picture^ but the living person or thing would never be •filled a picture of itself. The statue of Homer may be called Homer; a view of Athens may be called Athens; but Homer could never be called a statue of Homer, nor Athens be called a view of itself. A map of Greece may be called Greece, but Greece could never be called a map of Greece. The I'athcrs, believing the Eucharist to be, by Christ's appointment, a perpetual representation and memory of the Sacrifice of the Cross, which is ever represented by our Great High Priest to His Father in Heaven, and to be 159 the means by which the virtue of that Sacrifice is communi- cated to us, and we are united to Christ and receive His body and blood in our hearts by faith, might well speak of tho Eucharist as a Sacrifice; but if they had thought the Eucharist to be no other than the very Sacrifice of the Cross itself continued or renewed, they never could have called it, as they do, a memory or resemblance of a Sacrifice that is past. Hence Bishop Andrewes (Ad Card. Bellarmin. Apolog. Responsio, p. 18-1) thus writes, " Credunt nostri homines insti- tutam a Domiuo Eucliaristiam in Sui Commemorationem, etiam Sacrifieii Sui, vel si ita loqui liceat, in Sacrificium commemora- iivum. . . . Memoriam ibi fieri Sacrifieii damns non inviti, sacrificari ibi Christum de pane factum nunquam daturi." And in his sermon on Acts ii. 42, vol. v., p. 6G : " The Church of Rome many times celebrateth this mystery without any break- ing (of bread) at all. Whereas it is of the nature of an Eucharist or peace-offering which was never offered but it was eaten, that there might be a representation of the memory ofi that Sacrifice, and together an application to each person by partaking of it." Similarily Archbishop Laud (Conference with Fisher, ed. Oxon. 1839, p. 256) : " And since here is mention happened of Sacrifice, my third instance shall be in the sacrifice which is offered up to God in that great and high mystery of our redemption by the death of Christ. For as Christ oll'ered up Himself once for nil, a full and all-sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, so did He institute and com- mand a memory of this sacrifice in a sacrament, even till His coming again. For at and in the Eucharist we offer up to God three sacrifices : one by the priest only ; that is, the commemo- rative sacrifice of Christ's death, represented in bread broken and wine poured out ; another by the priest and people jointly, and that is the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for all the benefits and graces we receive by the precious death of Christ ; the third by every particular man for himself only ; and that is the sacrifice of every man's body and soul, to serve Him in both all the rest of his life, for this blessing thus bestowed on him. Xow thus far these dissenting Churches agree, that in the Eucharist there is a sacrifice of duty, and a sacrifice of praise, and a sacrifice of commemoration of Christ. Therefore, accord- ing to the former rule (and here in truth too), it is safest for a man to believe the commemorative, the praising, and the performing sacrifice ; and to ofler them duly to God, and leave the Church of Rome in this particular to her superstitions — that I may say no more." And in like manner Bishop Bull (Woi-ks, vol. ii. p. 250, ed. Oxon. 1827) : " The first article (of the Roman Creed) I shall take notice of is this : ' I profess, that iu the Mass is ofi'ered to God a true, proper, and jiropitiatory sacrifice for tho liviug and the dead ; and that in the most holy sacrifice of the Eucharist there is truly, and really, substantially the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and that there is wrought a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole sub- stance of the wine into the blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls trausubstantiation.' Where this proirasition (' that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the liviug and the dead,') having that other of the ' substantial presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist ' immediately annexed to it, the mean- ing of it must necessarily be this, that in the Eucharist the very body and blood of Christ are again offered up to God as a pro- pitiatory sacrifice for the sins of men. "Which is an impious proposition, derogatory to the One full satisfaction of Christ made by His death on the cross, and contrary to express Scrip- tm-e. Hob. vii. 27; and ix. 12. 25, 26. 28 ; and x. 12. 11. It is true the Eucharist is frequently called by the ancient Fathers TrporT Dan. 8. 9. ach. 2. 17. b Job 21. H, 15. &22. 17. Vs. 73. 13. Zeph. 1. 12. 1 Heb. i,ii t Heb. in ijliick. c Vs. 73. 12. ch. 2. 1 7. t Heb. art built. d Ps. 05. 9. e P.I. 66. 16. ch.4. 2. f Heb. 3. 13. R Ps. 56. S. Isa. 65. 6. Kev. 20. 12. h Exod. 19. 5. Deut. 7. 0. Ps. 135. 4. Tit. 2. 14. I Pel. 2. 9. II Or, special treasure. ilsa. 62. 3. ech.3. 16. 1.19. Rev. 2. 28. 14. Ye have said. It is vain to serve God'] This sceptical and murmuriug spirit had been rebuked by Zephanlah (i. 12). — we have kept his ordinance] Literally, that we keep his keeping, or observe his observance. It seems here specially to refer to the ceremonial ordinances prescribed by the Levitical Law. Cp. Num. iii. 6—8. Ezek. xliv. 8. — walked mournfuUtf] Literally, walked in black, squalid, and sordid — in sackcloth, and with ashes on the head (Ps. xxxv. 13, 14; xxxviii. 6). 15. And now we call the proud happy] We call. The Prophet condescends to identify himself with those whom he re- proves. " We call the proud happy ; yea, we say " (he is adopting the words of the murraurers), " they that work wickedness are set up." Therefore it is vain to serve God. But he suddenly quits the seat of the scorners. He retires aside from the crowd, who proudly rely on their own popular verdicts, vaunting their own intelli- gence, and setting at nought the decrees of God; and, standing aloof from them, he joins the smaller compauy of the faithful few who wait and fear the Lord, and thiuk upon His Name, and look up to heaven, and with the eye of faith behold the Almighty Judge holding a book of remembrance in His hand, and noting down the acts, speeches, and thoughts of the dwellers upon earth ; and he listens, with the ear of faith, to the promises of God, assuring Hi^ righteous servants of a future eternal reward. 17. they shall be mine— jewels] Rather, they shall be to Me for a peculiar treasure, Hebr. segullah, the word used in Exod. xix. 5, whence it is derived here : " Ye shall be to Me a peculiar treasure;" and in Deut. vii. 6;xiv. 2; xxvi. 18. Ps. cxxxv. 4. On that day which I am making {Sept., R. Tanchum, Vatablus, Sengst., Keil), that is, in the Last Day, the Day of the Lord, the Day which the Lord is always making, when He calls men by death to Himself; and for which He is preparing in all His visitations on Men and Nations, In God's divine eyesight that Day of Doom is now present ; and, by a grand process of foreshortening, the holy Prophets, especially Joel, represent all God's judgments in the world as hours (if we may so speak) marked on the dial -plate, and struck by the alarum, of that Great Day. Men vainly imagine that 165 they can determine questions of morals and religion — that they can set aside the Bible, or recast the Creed of the Church, according to what they call "the needs of the age." They would even be making the Day of Judgment, if they conld. to be an Assize Day of their own judicial supremacy; but that Day is the Day which God knows, and which God maies— andHe only. Ch. IV. 1. the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven (or furnace) ; and all the proud—shall be stubble] The Baptist (to whom Malachi has referred) adopts this imagery (Matt. iii. 1) when he sees Christ coming to his baptism, and foresees His coming to Judgment. "He will burn up the chafl'with un- quenchable tire" (Matt. iii. 12). — the proud] The proud, whom " ye call happy " (see iii. 15), and who thiuk themselves to be happy. He uses the same word here as there. — leave thsm neither root nor branch] Another phrase adopted by the Baptist, speaking of Christ's Coming. " Behold now the axe is laid to the root of the tree. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire" (Matt. iii. 10. Luke iii. 9). Our Lord says, " The Law and the Prophets (i. e. the Old Testament) were until John" (Luke xvi. 16). Malachi twice foretells the coming of the Baptist as the forerunner of Christ (iii. 1 ; iv. 5) ; and it is interesting to observe how the B iptist, at the beginuing of the Gospel, takes up and repeats the lau- gu.age of Malachi, the last of the Prophets. St. John the Baptist, standing at the threshold of the New Testament, echoes the voice of Malachi, standing at the exit of the Old; and he reaches forth his hand, and takes from the hand of Malachi the torch of divinely -revealed tiuth, which had been delivered down in an unbroken scries through suc- cessive generations of inspired men for a thousand years, fi-om the hand of Moses. 2. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun uf righteousness arise with healing in his tvings] Observe the word wings. The Hebrew word for wing (cnnaph) signifies the skirt or hem of a garment. The skiit of a garment w.is The Sun of righteousness. MALACHI IV. 3—5. " Remember ije the laiv of Moses." Bufore CHRIST al)out g 2 Sam. 22. 43. .Micah 7. 10. Zech. 10. 5. Ii Exod,20. 3, arc i De:it. 4. 10. k Ps. 147. 19. 1 Matt. 11. 14. 5 & 17. 11. Marks. 11. Luke 1. 17. With healing in his wings ; And ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. ' * And ye shall tread down the wicked ; For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet In the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. •* Eemember ye the '' law of Moses my servant, Which I commanded unto him ' in Horeb for all Israel, With ^ the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you ' Elijah the Prophet cast by a Bridegroom over a Bride in espousals (see on Ruth iii. 9) ; and persons laid bold on tbe skirt of a garment in order to receive the guidance and protection of those who wore it. See above Zech. viii. 23, " Ten men shall take hold of the s/cirt of him that is a Jew ;" and compare Isa. iv. 1, '■ In that day " (tbe day of the Messiah) "seven women" (representing the Universal Church) " shall lay hold of one man " (Christ). Malacbi, foretelling Christ's Advent, takes up this imagery, and in a glorious picture describes Him as the Su7i of Righteousness. Compare Ps. xix. 5, where is a reference to Christ as the Sun, and as a Bridegroom, and Jer. xxiii. 6, "The Lord our Righteousness." This "Day-Spriugfrom on High " (Luke i. 78) is invested in glorious apparel, clothed with light as with a garment (Ps. civ. 2) ; and from the wings— the very hem and skirt of His raiment— healing is shed upon all who fear His Name. How signally was this exemplified when tbe faithful woman came trembling, and knelt hehind Christ, and took hold of the hem of His garment ; and immediately virtue went forth from Him, to heal her in body and soul (Matt. ix. 20—22. Mark V. 30). Wliat a beaming forth of healing light was there from the solar orb of His Righteousness, what a flood of luminous glory streamed forth from Him, when they who feared His Name " besought Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment, and as many as touched it were made perfectly whole " i. e. whole, not only in body, but in soul (Matt. xiv. 36); or, as St. Luke expresses it, " virtue went out of Him, and healed them all " (Luke vi. 19). The Baptist saluted Christ as the Bridegroom, and the Church as His Bride (John iii. 29). Christ, the Divine Bride- groom, the Sun of Righteousness, casts the skirt of His pure spotless robe over His Spouse, as Boaz did over Ruth (see on Ruth iii. 19). He, dying on the cross, cleansed her with His own blood (Eph. v. 25, 26. Acts xx. 28. Rev. i. 5. 2 Cor. xi. 2) ; and hath clothed her with His own righteousness; and therefore she is represented in the Apocalypse as the " woman clothed with the Sun " (Rev. xii. 1). The Church is clothed with Christ. And every baptized person has put on Christ (Gal. iii. 27), the new man (Rom. xiii. 14. Eph. iv. 24. Col. iii. 10), and wears Christ, and walks in while (Rev. iii. 4). All who fear His Name, and come to Him with humility, and take hold of the Bkirts of His clothing, in His holy Word and blessed Sacraments, with the hand of faith— to them virtue goes forth from Him, and they are healed ; to them " the Sun of Righteousness arises," in genial radiance illumining the dark places of their souls, "with healing on His wings." — ye shall go forth, and grow up as caloes of the stalV] R ilher, ye will go forth and leap, skip, or vault {Sept., Tulg.), like calves well-fed in the stall; which exult with joy when let loose out of their stalls to go forth to pasture. Such is tbe joy of the Saints of God even now, being deU- vered by Christ from the bands of sin and Satan, and exultmg with spiritnaljoy in their Evangelical liberty, purchased for them by the death and resurrection of Christ (S. Cgril) ; and such and umchmore will be their joy hereafter. At the sound of His Divine Voice, they will spring forth from their graves, and renew their strength, and mount up with wings like eagles (Isa. xl. 31), and be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and 60 be ever with the Lord (1 Thess. iv. 17). 3. 1/e shall tread down the wicked] The metaphor is kept up. As oxen tread the sheaves under foot on the threshing-floor at the harvest ; so, at tbe Great Day wliich is the world's harvest, shall the Saints (who arc now trodden under foot by the proud oppressor) trample on all ungodliness. See Rom. xvi. 20. This inetaph>r is taken up from Miculi iv. 12; vii. 10. Isa. xli. 15, 16. Cp. Joel iii. 14. Zech. x. 5. Remember the Law of Moses. 4. Semember ye the law of Muses my servant] Malachl, who is called by the Hebrews " The Seal of the Prophets," concludes the Old Testament with a solemn admonition to the Hebrew Nation and to all ages, that they should remember what is con- tained in the earliest portions of that Book — the Pentateuch. The Holy Spirit, speaking by Malacbi, here sets His divine seal on the Pentateuch, as it was received by the Jews in his days. And the Old Testament in our days is precisely the same as it was in the days of Malacbi. Whosoever, therefore, despises or disparages the Penta- teuch, is chargeable with sin against the Holy Ghost, Who commands us here to remember, that is, to revere and observe it. It is remarkable, that at the conclusion of the Gospel (John XX. 31; xxi. 24, 25), and at the end of St. Paul's Epistles (2 Tim. iii. 15—17, the last Epistle written by St. Paul), and at the close of St. Peter's Epistles (2 Pet. iii. 15, 16), and in the last words of the Revelation of St. John (xxii. 18, 19), we have similar retrospective references to the preceding portions of Holy Scripture. The Holy Spirit has taken care, in all His farewell utterances, to inculcate on our minds the paramount importance of the careful study of God's written Word, and of devout veneration for it. Malacbi, the last of the prophets, preaches of Clirist, and exhorts us to remember Moses. He thus teaches us that the Gospel is no new thing, but was foreshadowed in the Law, and dates from tbe earliest times. The fulness of the Law and tbe Prophets is Christ. Elijah the Peophet. 6. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet] Our Lord expressly tells us that " Elias is come already, and they knew him not ; " and the Evangelist adds, " then the disciples under- stood that He spake to them of John the Baptist " (Matt. xvii. 9—13. Mark ix. 11—13). Cp. Matt. xi. 13. Cp. Focock, 148—192. The Jews, interpreting these words of Malacbi literally, suppose that Elijah, who is still alive, will appear in person before the Second Advent of the Messiah, and " restore the tribes of Jacob. " (Ecclus. xlviii. 10) ; and many ancient Christian Expositors, as Justin Martyr, Hippolytus, Origen, S. Cyril, Gregory Nyssen, S. Chrysostom, Tertullian, S. Hilary, S. Ambrose, S. Jerome, S. Augustine, S. Gregory, using the Septuagint Version, which has here " Elijah the Tishbite" (and so Arabic), imagined that Elijah will come in person before the Second Advent of Christ. See the authorities quoted below, in the note on Matt. xvii. 10, and on Rev. xi. 3,4; the passages cited in Suicer, Thes. v. Elias; and in the Cateehisme de Montpellier, i. 375, and hyHengst. here, Christol. iv. 219—224, English translation. In the face of such strong catholic evidence in favour of a belief in a personal coming of Elias before the Second Advent of Christ, it would seem to be presumptuous to deny tbe possibility, or even tbe probability, of such an event. But the words of the Prophet Malacbi, especially as interpreted by the Gospel, do not seem to require, perhaps not to admit, such a belief; and the opinion of these early Greek Fatbei-s may, perhaps, be ascribed to the fact that they used the Septuagint Vei-sion, rather than the Hebrew Original ; and perhaps tbe Latin derived their opinion from them. The Vulgate has " Eliam prophetam," and so the Syriac — not " Thesbiten;" but the early Latin Version has " Thesbiten." As Christ Himself is called David by the Prophets, because He is the true King and Shepherd of Israel, and because all the promises which were made to David are fulfilled in Him Who is David's Seed (see on Jer. xxx. 9. Ezek. xxxiv. 23 ; xxxvii. 21. Hosea iii. 5), so John the Baptist is called Elias, who was the representative of the Prophets, just as Moses is the repre- sentative of the Law ; and therefore Moses and Elias were illumined in Christ's glory at the Transfiguration (Matt. xvii. 3. Mark ix. 4. Luke ix. 30). " Dominus atquc Salvator trans- Elijah the prophet. MALACHI IV. n. Tlir Datf of the Lord. "' Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord ® And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, And the heart of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and " smite the earth with ° a curse. Dcfore CHRIST figuratus in nionte loquentcs secum habebat Moysen et Eliam in candidis vestibus, qui ct dieebant ei qutB passurut esset in Jerusalem : Lex enini et omuis prophetaruin chorus Cbi'istl praedicat passionem " [S. Jerome), All the Law and the Prophets testified of Christ, and are lighted up by Him, Who is the Sun of Righteousness, and by His Gospel. John the Baptist was not only the antitype of Elias in his dress, his office, bis character, and his courageous acts, especially in his reproving kings (see on Matt. iii. 4; xiv. 2. Mark ix. 12, 13), but he also consummated the prophetical work of which Elias was the exponent and representative. ** Tlie Law and the Prophets prophesied until John, since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it " (Matt. xi. 12. Luke xvi. 16). The Church declares her judgment on this matter by ap- pointing this chapter, as well as the third, to be read on the festival of St. John the Baptist. — Hefore the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord] Words adopted from .loel ii. 31. See the note there. 6. he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children^ The angel Gabriel, when he appeared to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, quoted these words and applied them to the Baptist, whose birth he foretold. " He shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just " (Luke i. 17) J whence we may observe that the angels themselves read the Scriptures. Cp. Eph. iii. 10. 1 Pet. i. 12. The sense is. He shall unite the Jen-s, who are our fathers, to us Christians, who are their children {^S. Jerome, Theodoret, and S. Chrysostoiyi, in Matt. xvii.). This blessed work will be done by him who preaches the kingdom of heaven ; many will come from the East and the West, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God (Matt. viii. 11. Luke xiii. 28). This is ful- filled even now in the Church ; for we are children of Abraham by faith in Christ, Who is Abraham's Seed (Gal. iii. 7—9). St. John the Baptist also adopted these words of Malachi when he said, " God is able of these stones to raise np children unto Abraham " (Matt. iii. 19) ; the Father of the faithful. Abraham is our father, and we are his children, and his heart is turned to our heart, and our hearts are turned to his heart, by faith in Clirist. Yet further, it is not to be denied or forgotten, that accord- ing to the Christian Fathers who supposed that Elias will appear again in person before the Second Advent of Christ (see above on tin. 5, 6.), one of the principal purposes assigned for that ap- pearance is, that he may convert the Jews to Christianity. So Theodoret here, and