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THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. 
 
IfnirobitctltiT. 
 
 I. Title. So called from the name of the — II. Author. Jeremiah, the 
 S. of Ililkiah, a priest of Anathoth (i. (>) in Benj., called to proph. office 70 yrs. 
 aft. d. of Isa., in lotli yr. of K. Josiah (i. 1). Some yrs. att., Jer. came to 
 Jeru?., visited cities of Judah, prophetiving above 40 years (ii. (5). Jehoiakira 
 ppurned his predictions, cut the roll in pieces, and burned it. Jer. rewrote it 
 with additions (xxxvi.). Falsely accused, in the reisfn of Zedekiah, of deserting 
 to Chaldajans, he was imprisoned. By order of Nebuchadnezzar he had the 
 choice of going to Babylon, but preferred to remain with his own people. 
 They, disobeying his message, went to Egypt, taking him and Baruch with 
 them (xliii. G), there he still sought to turn the people (xliv.), but we have no 
 further ace. of him. Trad, says the Jews put him to death at Taphauhes 
 {Jerome). Jer. was contemp. with Zeph., Ilab., Eze.. and Dan. '• The hist, of 
 Jer. brings before us a man forced, as it were, in spite of himself, from 
 obscurity and retirement into the publicity and peril which attended the pro- 
 phetical office. Naturally mild, susceptible, and inclined rather to mourn in 
 S-'cret for the iniquity which surrounded him than to brave <ind denounce the 
 ■wrong-doers, he stood forth at the call of God and pi'oved himself a faithful, 
 fearless champion of the truth, amidst reproaches, insults, and threats. This 
 combination of qualities is so marked, that Havernick regards it as a proof of 
 the Divine origin of his mission. In Eze., on the other hand, we see the power 
 of Divine inspiration acting on a mind natui'ally of the firmest texture, and 
 ab-orbing all the powers of the soul " (Anr/i/fi). III. Time. B.C. G_'S— .'iS.'S. 
 " The style of Jer. corresponds with the character of his mind ; it is peculiarly 
 marked by pathos. He delights in expressions of tenderness, and gives 
 touching descriptions of the miseries of his people" (Jwi/w.?). "His style, 
 though inferior to that of Isaiah in jiower and sublimity, is marked by pathos and 
 tenderness, in accordance with what seems to have been the cast of his mind. 
 He excels in expressing and awakening the softer emotions" (Li f ton, 
 Lowth). With this Ilorne agrees, and he adds, " The middle part of his 
 book is almost entirely historical, and is written in a plain prosaic style, 
 suitable to historical narrative. On many occasions he is veiy elegant and 
 sublime, especially in xlvi.— li. 1 — .59, which are wholly poetical, and in which 
 the Prophet approaches very near the sublimity of Isaiah." 
 
 Two or three of the prophecies of Jer. clearly announce the Messiah. Thus, 
 in xxiii. 5. (!. He is called the Lord our righteousness, a7ad on this passage Dr. 
 Hales says this is " to intimate that He will be a mediatorial God. by whose 
 hand we shall obtain justification from the name, wherefore it calls him by the 
 name of the name ; that is, the ineffable name Jaoli. hei'e put for God Himself. 
 Again in xxxi. 22 we have a distinct prediction of the miraculous conception 
 of Jes IS Christ; and in xxxi. 31— 15(), and xxxiii. 8, the efficacy of Christ's 
 atonement, the spiritual character of the new covenant, and the inward efficacy 
 of the Gospel are most clearly and emphatically described. Comp. Epistle to 
 the Ilcbs. viii. 8 — 13, and x. Ki, et neq. 
 
 The character of Jeremiah is reflected in his writings. Ilis speech is clear 
 and simple, incisive and pithy, and though generally speaking somewhat 
 dilfuse, yet ever ricli in thought. If it lacks a lofty strain, the soaring flight 
 of an Isaiah, yet it has beauties of its own. It is distinguished by a wealth of 
 new imagery which is wrought out wdth great delicacy and deep feeling, and 
 by a " versatility that easily adapts itself to the most various objects, and by 
 ai'tibtic clearness " {Eivald). In the managameat of his thouglitSj Jeremiah 
 
Snnapsts?, 
 
 (According to Home after Dr. Blayney.) 
 Introduction— Title, i. 1—3. Call of Jer. 
 
 4-10. 
 Part I.— PROPHECIES DELIVERED IN 
 
 REIGN OF JOSIAH ii.— .\ii. 
 
 Discourse 1 ii.— iii. 5. 
 
 Discourse 2 iii. 6 — vi. 
 
 Discourses vii. — x. 
 
 Discourse 4 xi., xii. 
 
 Part II.— PROPHECIES DELIVERED IN 
 REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM. 
 
 Discourse 1 xiii. 
 
 Discourses xiv., xv. 
 
 Discourses xvi., xvii. 18. 
 
 Discourse 4 xvii. 19—27. 
 
 Discourses xviii. 
 
 Discourses xix., xx. 
 
 Discourse 7 xxii., xxiii. 1—8. 
 
 Discourse 8 xxiii. 9—40. 
 
 Discourse 9 xxv. 
 
 Discourse 10 xxvi. 
 
 Discourse 11 xxxv. 
 
 Discourse 12 xxxvi. — xlv. 
 
 Discourse 13 xlvi.— xlix. 1—6. 
 
 Part III.-PROPHECIES DELIVERED IN 
 REIGN OF ZEUEKIAH. 
 
 Discourse 1 xli.x. S4— 39. 
 
 Discourse 2 xxiv. 
 
 Discourse 3 xxix. 1— 32. 
 
 Discourse 4 xxx. — xxxi. 38. 
 
 Discourses xxvii. — xxviii. 1 — 16. 
 
 Discourse 6 1., li. 1 — 58. 
 
 Discourse 7 -xxi. 1 — 14. 
 
 Discourses xxxiv. 1 — 22. 
 
 Discourse 9 xxxvii. 1 — 21. 
 
 Discourse 10 xxxii. 
 
 Discourse 11 xxxiii. 
 
 Discourse 12 .... xx.xviii., xxxi.x. 1 — 18. 
 
 Part IV.— EVENTS IN JUDAH FROJI 
 TAKING OF JERUS. TO RETREAT 
 INTO EGYPT. 
 
 Discourse 1 xl.— xlii. 
 
 Discourse 2 xliii.— xliv. 
 
 Conclusion— added after the return from 
 captivity IIL 
 
 has more recourse than other Prophets to the law and the older sacred writingfs ; 
 and his style is rich in repetitions and standing' phrases. These peculiarities 
 are not. however, to be regarded as signs of the progressive decline of the 
 prophetic gift, but are to be derived from deeper foundations, from positive 
 and fundamental causes. The continual recurrence to the law and the fre- 
 quent application of the prophetic parts of Deuteronomy, was prompted by the 
 circumstances of the time. The wider the people's apostasy from the law of 
 God extended itself, so much the greater becanie the need for a renewed 
 preaching of the laAV, that should point to the sore judgments there threatened 
 against hardened sinners, now about to come into fulfilment. And as against 
 the guile of false prophets, whose influence with the infatuated people became 
 over greater, the true witres.-^-es of the Lord could have no more effective meaua 
 of sliowing and proving the Divineness of their mission and the truth of their 
 testimony than by bringing .strongly out their connection with the oldl'ropheta 
 and their utterances QDditzsoh). 
 
JEUEMIAn. 
 
 [Cap.!. 1-0, 
 
 • Joseplius snys 
 this town is 20 
 Btndia ilistant fr. 
 Jerusiilein, luid 
 Jerome descrilws 
 It as three Koin. 
 miles north of 
 that city. 
 
 " Dr. Robinson 
 coiisiilers the pre- 
 sent Anata to 
 occupy the site 
 of this ancient 
 town, portions of 
 tliewiillofwliioh, 
 
 dations of .some 
 of the liouses, 
 still remain." — 
 Henderson. 
 
 t> "The first an'l 
 ]ast of the kings 
 tin-Ier whom each 
 Prophet proplie- 
 Rieil are often 
 tlius sppcififcl in 
 the pr<-n.'ral title." 
 
 — t'tUlSSft. 
 
 " From the sixth 
 f. of this chapter 
 
 yonnfT when he 
 
 wascalle.lliynoa 
 to the propliPtic 
 office."— /,u «■//!. 
 
 c Ilite. 
 
 d Dr. Porter. 
 
 CHAPTER THE FIBST. 
 
 1 — 3. (\) the "words, better, the life and acts. Some under, 
 stand by tbe term " a collection of the iirophecies of Jeremiah." 
 Jeremiah, a name variously translated, yome say from raniah, 
 to throw down, and so meaning " Jehovah shall throw doAvn ; " 
 others take it from ram. high, and think it means, '• God e.xalteth." 
 Hilkiah, jioss. the well-known priest of this name. Anathoth, 
 Jos. xxi. 13, 18." (2) came, lit. n-fiJi, or began to come, from thia 
 time onward, thirteenth year, wh. would be the year after 
 Josiah began his national reformations. Jehoiakim, etc., 
 Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin are omitted in this i-eference, for they 
 reigned only three months each.* 
 
 The yoiinfi C/iris/ian. — The young Christian, trembling on the 
 
 as also the i^onn- 1 threshold of life of service, is equipped and comforted by his 
 
 Master. I. The young Christian's fears, arising from sense of — 
 
 1. Weakness, '"a child," witliout influence, experience, stability ; 
 
 2. Ignorance : how comprehend a theme into which angels 
 de.=;ire to look ? 3. Unworthiness : might not some one better 
 known do the work required of him better ? 4. Human opjoosi- 
 tion : he saw that children can see how men hate the truth. II. 
 The young Christian's encouragements. 1. God sends him to 
 work: ''I ordained thee:"' God will aid ■whom He sends: 2. 
 Disclosure of God's purpose : no less God's purpose to send him 
 than to save Lsrael ; God's plan to use us, as well as to save 
 others ; 3. Promise of Divine presence : " I am with ihee : " 
 Wesley's saying, " The best of all is, God is with us ; " 4. The 
 
 weTnayTnferTha't ' message should be supplied, r. 'J : His words are spirit and life ; 
 Jeremy was very [ wisdom and power of God. Learn :— (I) Advance courageously ; 
 
 (2) Expect opposition : '• they hated Me before thej' hated you ; " 
 
 (3) Look constantly for Divine aid."^ 
 AnnlhotJi. — A poor village of some twenty houses, built amon^f 
 
 Avhite ro-'jks and wliite ruins, on a bare, gvey mountain side. No 
 trees, no verdure, no richness, nor grandeur, nor beauty ; here, 
 amid mountain solitudes and rocky dells, he (Jeremiah) mourned 
 and v/ept over the foreseen calamities of his beloved country. . . . 
 One can trace in nearly all the images and illustrations with 
 which his writings abound, the influence of those wild scenes 
 amid which he passed hie boyhood. Mountains, rocks, wild 
 beasts, shepherds, are again and again introduced.'* 
 
 4 — 6. (4) word . . came," the way in which Divine messages 
 came to the Prophets is never described. Probably thej' distinctly 
 heard an inward voice ; or felt an impulse to utter certain things. 
 (.")) formed thee, the figurative assertion of God's predestina- 
 tion of Jeremiah to the prophetic ofBce. in fulfilment of the 
 Divine plan.* knew thee, in the sen.se of " approved of thee " 
 as a fit agent for My purpose, sanctified thee, in the sense 
 of "set thee apart," not in the sen.se of "made thee holy."* 
 ordained thee, or appointed thee by this public call, nations, 
 generally : to other beside the Jewish nation. (G) child, either 
 as young in years,"* or as inexperienced.^ He had never occuijied 
 any public position. 
 
 Fears and comforts in 2»'os])ect of lahovr for God {vv. 5 — 9).— 
 
 « " This call was 
 part of Jere- 
 miah's first nil- 
 dress to the 
 peoi)le. It was 
 no at'terthoup-ht, 
 but a public pro- 
 clamation, by wh. 
 from the first he 
 stood forth, 
 claimin;» to act 
 by an external 
 authority, and to 
 fpeaknothisown 
 Words, but tliose 
 of .Jehovah." — 
 Upk. Com. 
 
Cap. i. 7—10.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 9 
 
 1. The fears of God's servant in prospect of labour. 1. He feels 
 his weakness, having no influence, no experience, being unstable ; 
 
 2. He feels his ignorance : 3. His unworthiness ; 4. He dreads 
 th9 enmity of man. II. The comforts of God's servants in the 
 prospect of labour. 1. The assurance they are called to the work ; 
 2. The knowledge of the purpose of God ; ?>. The promise of the 
 presence of God ; 4. The fact that the message is from God.-'' 
 
 Jerauiah. — 
 
 I am the man sore smitten with the wrath 
 Of Him who fashioii'd me ; my heart is faint, 
 And crieth out. Spare, spare, O God ! Thy saint 
 But yet with darkness doth He hedge my path. 
 
 My eyes with streams of fiery tears run down. 
 
 To see the daugliter of my p-eople slain, 
 
 And in Jerusalem the godless reign. 
 Trouble on trouble are ui:)on me thrown ; 
 
 Mine adversaries clap their sinful hands 
 
 The while they hiss and wag their heads, and say, 
 " "Where is the temple but of yesterday — 
 
 The noblest city of a hundred lauds .' " 
 
 'VVe do confess our guilt ; then, Lord, arise, 
 
 Avenge, avenge us of our enemies ! s 
 
 7 — 10. (7) say not, etc., comp. Ex. vi. 30, vii. 1, 2. thou 
 Shalt go , God renews a command which requires a simple and 
 unquestioning obedience. (8) of their faces, the look of an 
 audience often terrifies a young and untried speaker, and as 
 Je^-emiah had bitter judgments to announce, the faces would be 
 likely to daunt him. I am with thee, the usual and all-suf- 
 ficing assurance." (9) touched my mouth,* as a symbol of the 
 bestowment of grace for the speaking or prophesying required. 
 (10) set thee over, or given thee the oversight : set thee to 
 have an eye to the conduct and the future of the nations. 
 ■fauild . . plant, indicating the restoration of nations when they 
 are duly repentant and reformed. 
 
 Ji-rcmiah. a lesi<on fur the dhnppointed (v. 8). — Sketch the un- 
 gi-ateful treatment of the Prophets by the Israelites : of all per- 
 Becuted Prophets we know most of Jeremiah. See — I. How these 
 words apply to him : his ministry may be summed up in three 
 words : 1. Good hope ; 2. Labour ; 3. Disappointment. II. How 
 these words apply to us.'' 
 
 Providential interpositions. — The goodness or mercy of God is 
 Been when it interposes for the help of man. Thus Moses was 
 preserved on the margin of the Nile. The ravens, in a time of 
 famine, bring Elijah bread and flesh, 1 Kings xvii. 6. The story 
 is known how Du Moulin, during the massacre of the Huguenots, 
 in Paris, was cherished for a fortnight by a hen, which came 
 constantly and laid her eggs where he was concealed. Also how, 
 at Calais, an Englishman, who crept into a hole under a staircase, 
 was there preserved by means of a spider, which had woven its 
 web over the hole, and so the soldiers slighted the search there. 
 It is related of Aristomenes that, being thrown for dead into a 
 ditch along with others, he found his way out by means of a fox 
 which came thither, and pointed a passage out. Lord IMountjoy, 
 coming from Ireland, had perished, together with his ship's 
 U)mpan7, had not Providence wonderfully preserved them by 
 
 6 Is. xlix. 1, 6. 
 
 c"Wlien Jeliovab 
 declare.? tliat He 
 liail».aiiotitieiltli« 
 Prophet before 
 bis birth, the 
 me,aning is not 
 that ile liaii 
 cleansed him fr. 
 the pollution of 
 original sin, as 
 some have sup- 
 poseil, but that 
 He had separated 
 him in His eter- 
 nal counsel to the 
 work ill which 
 he was to be 
 engaged." — Hen- 
 dersun. 
 
 d It is supposed 
 that at his call 
 Jeremiah was 
 under 25 years of 
 age. 
 
 e For the reluc- 
 tance of men to 
 do God's work, 
 comp. Ex. iv. 10, 
 vi. 12, 30 ; Jno. 
 i. 3. 
 
 fSkms and Twigs, 
 g G. iSmith. 
 
 a Ex. iii. 12 ; De. 
 xxxi. 8 ; Jos. i. 5. 
 
 b Comp. Is. vi. 7, 
 li. 16. 
 
 "God, by this 
 visible sign, as- 
 sures him that 
 He had conferred 
 upon him the 
 gift of utterance, 
 and imparted His 
 will and purposes 
 in such a measure 
 to him that his 
 words ouglit to 
 be esteemed the 
 oracles of God." 
 — Loicl/i. 
 
 c J. li. Newman. 
 j'.lO. Dr. G. Croft, 
 ii. 48 ; A. Fuller, 
 GS3. 
 
 "It is reported 
 that in the 
 Tanml language 
 there is no word 
 for hope. Alas I 
 poor men, if we 
 were all as des- 
 titute of tlie 
 blessed comfort 
 itself as these 
 Tamul speakers 
 are of the wordl 
 What must be 
 the misery of 
 
10 
 
 JEREillAir. 
 
 [Cap. i, 11— la 
 
 80 11 Is i" lie 11 j means of certain sea-birds. Camerarius relates how, in the time 
 nicTnbor^ tl7e ' °^ ^ 8ie,s:e, the inhabitants, who were sorely presstd by the 
 woni, but can | Turks, placed a large stove of beehives on the walls of the be- 
 nevcr know hope '• sieged place, and furiously tuml>ling down the hives on their 
 o<w'/ ' ~ ^J""'' ! enemies, the latter were so desperately stung, that in a pnug ot* 
 
 indignation they gave up the siege, to the inexpref^sible joj o'> 
 d Crane, the besieged Christians, who were holpen by these new and 
 
 wonderful recruits I And thus is mercy displayed in the meaneist 
 
 creatures.'^ 
 
 11 — 16. (11) seest thoti, this indicates that God guided the 
 Prophet by vL-ion.'i. rod, or branch, almond tree, wh., putting 
 forth its flowers before its leaves, is an image of wakefulness and. 
 activity ,« The Heb. words ftlialwd, an almond tree, and .sliahrd, 
 hastening, have an affinity in their sound. So the almond is 
 made the symbol of Gods hastening. (12) liasten, or I watch 
 for opportunity to perform it. (i:^) seething pot, a metal 
 vessel used for cooking meat. The seething intimates that ii> 
 was boiling furiously', north, the district of the Chalda^ans.* 
 (14, 15) families . . north, the Assyrian kingdom is treated in 
 the Bible as a composite kingdom, consisting of many provinces 
 and nations, liis throne, intimating a general council and 
 determination to destroy the city.« (10) judgements, as distinct 
 from projihecies. 
 
 'Th(; almond tree in ilossoni. — " A little after sunrise, went out 
 by the Jaffa gate, and, turning to the left, took the path that 
 winds down the slope of Zion. As I went along, the jileasant 
 sound of bees, ' the wild bees of Palestine,' clustering over the 
 pink blossoms of an almond tree on the left, greeted me. The 
 tree itself, all flower, without a single leaf, was a gay contrast 
 to the dark olives below. A few days ago it M'as brown and 
 bare ; to-day it is all brightness : and to this sudden change 
 reference is made when Jeremiah is taken to one of the orchards 
 of Auathoth and bidden look at the ' rod of the almond tree,' for 
 it is added. ' I will hasten My word to perform it.' ''"^ — Xnfc on v. 
 13. — To compensate in some measure for the scarcity of fuel, the 
 Orientals endeavour to consume as little as possible in preparing 
 their victuals. For this purjiose they make a hole in their 
 dwellings, about a foot and a half deep, in which they put their 
 earthen pots, with the meat in them, closed up. about the half 
 above the middle ; three fourth parts they lay about with stones, 
 and the fourth part is left open, through which they fling in 
 their di'icd dung, and any other combustible substances they can. 
 procui-e, which burn immediately, and produce so great a heat, 
 that the pot becomes as hot as if it stood over a strong fire of 
 coals ; so that they boil their meat with greater expedition and 
 much less fuel than it can be done upon the hearth. The hole 
 in which the pot is set has an aperture on one side, for the iiur- 
 pose of receiving the fuel, which seems to be what Jeremiah calls 
 the face of the pot. '• I see." said the Prophet, " a ]ot, and the 
 face thereof is towards the north :" intimatin-r that the fuel fp 
 heat it was to be brought from that quarter. This emblematical 
 prediction was fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar, whoso doniiuions 
 lay to the north of Palestine, led his armies against Jerusalem, 
 and overturned the thrones of the house of David.« 
 
 17 — 19. (17) gird . . loins, the sign of earnest preparation 
 
 a It is the first 
 of trees to lilos- 
 soni, aiiil hence 
 tlip Koinans up- ( 
 Jjlied to it the : 
 epitliet:! " viiri- ' 
 la n t " a II (1 
 " watchful." lis 
 bloisonis, wliich j 
 are wliite an \ I 
 plentiful, burst | 
 fortli in .January, 
 even before the i 
 leaf-buds apjjear. [ 
 
 b The seething I 
 pot is a figure of | 
 the Chaldicans ; ' 
 an 1 tlie concep- } 
 tioii seems to be | 
 that it will boil ] 
 over, anil tlie > 
 contents pour ' 
 diiwn to the \ 
 desolation of Je- , 
 rus.alem. i 
 
 i(7., from the f.ace ' 
 of the regien ■ 
 situated towards 
 the north. 
 
 c "Or ' Each | 
 prince shall pitcii j 
 )iis royal pavi- I 
 lion, witli all the j 
 marks of sove- ' 
 reign ty belong- I 
 ing to it, in token i 
 of having oh- | 
 tained a com- ' 
 ])lete victory, and { 
 taken entire pos- 
 session of tlie 
 city.' " — Lowth. I 
 
 " In the destruc- ! 
 tion of Jerusa- ' 
 lem the Chal- \ 
 dieans would but i 
 fullil the pur- | 
 poses and conn- I 
 cils of God." — I 
 Jlittderson. 
 
 r. II. /. Sauriix, ' 
 
 vii. •-".)4. 
 
 d Dr. lionar. 
 t J'axton. 
 
Cap. ii. 1—8.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 11 
 
 for Avork » and fixity of purpose to do it thoroughly, not dis- 
 mayed, at the oppopitiou he was certain to meet with.* con- 
 found, 7IIIJ /•{/., '-break to pieces." (18) a defenced city, i.e. 
 like one, guarded well round with Divine defences." iron 
 pillar, symbol of his Divinely strengthened n-ill. (19) not 
 prevail, and Avith such an assurance Jeremiah may well bani.sh 
 all timidity and hesitation. " They shall no more prevail against 
 thee, than they could against an impregnable wall or fortress." 
 
 Oj'posititDi (r. 19). — In proi^ortion as we are faithful to God 
 ■we are assailed by man. I. The vehemence of our foes, '' fight 
 against thee ;" they do not fight against principle so much as 
 against persons. II. The certainty of our security, " they shall 
 not prevail." Saints may be weary, maimed, fearful ; but not, 
 in the end. defeated. III. The source of our confidence. 1. The 
 abiding presence of the Lord ; 2. The constant mauiiestation of 
 the power of the Lord.'* 
 
 CHAPTER TEE SECOND. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) moreover, this first prophecy is to be closely con- 
 nected with the call. (2) ears of Jerusalem, i.e. in the most 
 public places where audience is to be gained. This implies that 
 the Prophet was to leave Anathoth. remember thee, or. for 
 thee; what thou hast so strangely forgotten. "Israel is here 
 rsiiresented as a young bride."" The reference is to the forty 
 years in the wilderness of Sinai.* (3) holiness, i.e. a con- 
 secrated tiling.^ (Lev. xxii. 10. the same word is used.) offend, 
 or incur the guilt of touching a sacred thing. (4) Jacob . . 
 Israel, though the ten tribes had been taken into captivity, 
 many of the Israelite nation remained, blended with Judah ; 
 and nil are addressed. 
 
 The inrjratitude of men (rv. 4 — G). — Here we are called to con- 
 sider—I. The complaint he makes : it may be urged against lis, 
 for there is — 1. The same folly : 2. Tlie same ingratitude. II. His 
 challenge in relation to it. I. Have you ever found Him a hard 
 master .' 2. Or less gracious or merciful than He professed to be ? 
 Tell me then — (1) What will ye say in justification of yourselves ? 
 2. What line of conduct will ye henceforth pui-sue.'''^ 
 
 5 — 8. (.t) what iniquity, or injustice in dealing with them." 
 vanity, the usual description of idols, and idolatrous worship.* 
 become vain, its worshippers acquiring its character,'' Ps. cxv. 
 8. (()) led . . wilderness, coDip. De. viii. 1.5, !(>, xxxii. lo.'' 
 deserts, e/e., figures to represent the entire lack of all ordinary 
 conveniences of life : and many dangers present." (7) plenti- 
 ful country, Jit. a Carmel-land. The fertile district of Carmel 
 being made to represent the' whole land./ (8) handle the law, 
 •i.e. the Scribes, or perhaps Levites. pastors, i.e. the temporal 
 rulers, prophets, i.e. those who received and communicated 
 speci:d Divine messages. 
 
 Three !<]uniirft,l jm.'isihilitie.t of human life (w. fi — 8). — I. The 
 possibility of dishonouring the great memories of life. 1. As 
 when the vividness of their recollection fades ; 2. When their 
 moral purpose is overlooked or misunderstood ; 3. When their 
 Btimulating and strengthening function is suspended. II. The 
 possibility of under-estimating the interpositions of God, 1. Ee- 
 
 I a Job xxxviii. 3 ; 
 I 1 Pet. i. 13. 
 I b "Naturally de- 
 ■ spoiuleiit and 
 I self-Uibtrustlul, 
 I there was no 
 1 feebleness in Je- 
 I remiuli's cliarao- 
 . ter, and be pos- 
 se s s e d a far 
 liiglier quality 
 than physical 
 courage in bis 
 power of patient 
 endm-auce.' 'Spk. 
 Com. 
 c Comp. Eze. iii. 
 
 9. Also Je. XV. 
 
 10, XX. 2, xxiii. 
 18, etc., xxvi. 
 10, XXXV. 15, 
 xxxviii. 6. 
 
 d iiltmsaiidTwigi, 
 
 a Eze. xvi. 8; 
 Ho. ii. 20 : Joel 
 i. 8. 
 
 b " Prob. the v. 
 is intended to 
 set forth the zeal 
 and piety they 
 had evinced at 
 that early period, 
 and which were 
 as striliingly 
 contrasted with 
 their idolatrous 
 practices at the 
 time of the 
 Prophet." — Hen- 
 derson. 
 
 c " A people par- 
 ticularly dedi- 
 cated to Me, as 
 the firstfi-uits of 
 the i.lcrease of 
 the ground are, 
 by their law, 
 consecrated to 
 God, E.X. xxiii. 19. 
 d C.tiimevit,M.A, 
 a Mi. vi. 3. 
 
 b Je. .V. 15, xiv. 
 14, 22, xvi. 19; 
 1 Co. viii. 4. 
 
 c "A people's 
 character never 
 rises above that 
 of its gods, wli. 
 are its ' better 
 nature.' " -Bacon. 
 
 d Is. Ixiii. 9, 11, 
 13 ; Ho. xiii. 4. 
 
 e "A more fright- 
 ful desert it had 
 hardly been our 
 lot to behold. 
 The niountaina 
 beyoud presented 
 
12 
 
 JEFxEMlAn. 
 
 [Cap. il. 5—8, 
 
 a niopt uninvit- 
 iiif; iind liiiloous 
 aspect ; preci- 
 picrs and iiakeil 
 conical praks of 
 clialky and pra- 
 Telly formation, 
 rising one above 
 anotlier, without 
 a sign of life or 
 vegetation." — 
 Jiubiiisun. 
 
 f Is. X. 18, xvi. 
 10, xxxvii. 21. 
 
 g Dr. J. I'aiker. 
 
 «. 5. W.DiinU>p,i. 
 
 vv. 6, 7. E. Sco- 
 bell, 313. 
 
 "After we had 
 passed the salt 
 desert, we caiae 
 to the llalek-el- 
 moat-dereli, or 
 the valley of tlie 
 angel of death. 
 Tliis extraordi- 
 nary .ippellation, 
 and the pi culiar 
 nature of tlie 
 ■Whole of tins 
 tract of land, 
 broken into deep 
 ravines, wiiliout 
 ■water, of a dreari- 
 ness without ex- 
 ample, will, per- 
 liaps, be found 
 forcibly to illus- 
 trate Jer. ii. 6." 
 — MorUr. 
 
 "Upward steals 
 tlie Hfe of man. 
 as the sunsliine 
 from the widl ; 
 from the wall in- 
 to the sky ; from 
 the roof along the 
 Epire. Ah ! the 
 souls of those 
 that die are but 
 sunbeams lifted 
 liiglier." — Lumj- 
 felloic. 
 
 Life is a thing 
 wliich many peo- 
 ple seem in a 
 great hurry to 
 get rid of, if we 
 may judg(; by the 
 nuniiicrof "fast" 
 young men now- 
 adays, wlio use 
 thini-iclves up 
 with the greatest 
 apparent sati;- 
 factiuu. 
 
 member the Deliverer : 2. And the Giver. III. The possibility 
 of the leading minds of the Church being darkened and jierverted. 
 
 1. Such men phould watch themselves with constant jealousy; 
 
 2. Such men should never be forgotten by those who pray. ^ 
 Kdtr on r. (!. — ^^'hen the Prophet describes this wilderness, 
 
 according to our version, as the laud of the shadow of death, his 
 meaning has been differently understood by diflereut people. 
 Some have supposed it to mean a ]ilace where there were no 
 comforts or conveniences of life, but this seems too general : and 
 to explain it as a jiarticular and distinct member of the descrip- 
 tion, pointing out some quality different from the other circum- 
 stances mentioned by Jeremiah, seems to be a more just, as it is 
 undoubtedly a more lively way of interpreting the Prophet. 
 Others have accordingly understood this clause as signifying, it 
 was the habitation of venomous serpents, or destroying beasts ; 
 some as endangering those that ptissed through it, as being sur- 
 rounded by the hostile tribes of Arabs : some as being Overshadowed 
 by trees of a deleterious quality. They might better have intro- 
 duced the whiilwinds of those southern deserts than the last 
 particulai-, which winds, taking up the sand in gnat qiiantities, 
 darken the air. and prove fatal to the traveller. This last would 
 be giving great beauty and energy to the expression (the shadow 
 of death), since these clouds of dust, literally speaking, over- 
 shadow those that have the misfortune to be then passing through 
 those deserts, and must, at the same time, give men the utmost 
 terror of t»ing overwhelmed by them, and not uufrequcntly do 
 in fact jirove deadly. Another clause, a land of pits, is also a 
 part of the Prophet's description. Irwin affords a good comment 
 on this part of our translation : in the one place he saj's, " The 
 ])ath winded round the side of the mountain, and to our left, a 
 horrid chasm, some hundred fathoms deep, presented itself to our 
 view. It is surprising no accident befell the loaded camels." In 
 another, " On each side of us were perpendicular steeps some 
 hut dred fathoms deep. On every part is such a wild confusion 
 of hanging preciinces, disjointed rocks, and hideous chasms, that 
 we might well cry out with the poet, ' Chaos is come again.' 
 Omnipotent Father ! to Thee we trust for our deliverance from 
 the perils that surround us. ' It was through this wilderness 
 that Thou didst lead Thy chosen people.' It was here Thou didst 
 manifest thy signal protection, in snatching them from the jaws 
 of destruction which opened upon every side." And in the next 
 I)age, " At two o'clock we came suddenly upon a dreadful chasm 
 in the rond. which appears to have been the effect of an earth- 
 quake. It is about three hundred j^ards long, one hundred yards 
 wide, and as man.y deep ; and, what is a curiosity, in the middle 
 of the gulf, a single column of stone raises its head to the surface 
 of the earth. The rudeness of the work, and the astonishing 
 length of the stone, announce it to be a hisiix nafiirce. though 
 the robbers declared to us that beneath the column there lies a 
 prodigious sum of money ; and added, with a grave face, they 
 have a tradition, that none but a Christian's hand can remove 
 the stone to come at it. "We rounded the gulf, which was called 
 Soinnh. and leaving it behind us, we entered a valley where we 
 found a very craggy road." The fir.=t clause in this x'assage, 
 through a land of deserts, is the most obscure and difficult to 
 ascertain. Instead of travelling in the night, as he had proposed, 
 
Cap. ii. 9^19] 
 
 JE REM I A II. 
 
 18 
 
 to avoid the burning' heat of the sun, he says, " At seven o'clock 
 we halted for the nig-ht. The Arabs tell us that the roads are 
 too rugged and dangerous to travel over in the dark." Under 
 the next day, " \vc reached the foot of a prodigious high moun- 
 tain, which we cannot ascend in the dark." The following day, 
 he tells us, " by six o'clock we had accoutred our camels, and 
 leading them in our hands', began to ascend the mountain on 
 foot ; as we mounted the steep, we frequently blessed ourselves 
 that we were not riding, as the path was so narrow, the least 
 false step must have sent the beast down the bordering precipice." 
 Under another day he remarks that the greatest part of that 
 day's journey was " over a succession of hills and dales, where 
 ths road was so intricate and broken, that nothing but a camel 
 could get over it. The appearance of the road is so frightful in 
 many places, that we do not wonder why our people have hitherto 
 lain by in the night."* 
 
 9 — 13. (9) plead, as in a court of Iaw.« with, yoii, the 
 present generation, children's children,* who will further : 
 develop the idolatry and rebellion. (10; isles of Cllittim,'^ [ 
 coast lands of the IMediterranean Sea. Kedar, fig. for the [ 
 Eastern lands."* (11) changed their gods, the tenacity with j 
 which men keep hold of national religions has always been very j 
 marked, their glory, wh. was the revelation to them of the one, | 
 living, and spiritual God. (12) very desolate, or diy. The | 
 heavens are poetically called on to shrivel and dry up in horror j 
 at such conduct. (13) broken cisterns,'" such as have cracks j 
 or rents, through which the water wastes away. 
 
 The fountnni and the eiatevti (v. 13). — In these two evils we 
 have ail the sins of the people summed up, — apostasy and self- j 
 Bufficieucy. I. The fountain forsaken. 1 . Its nature : 2. Its 
 contents, — God, a Fountain of cleansing influence — of cheering 
 influence — of reviving power — of fertilising results. This foun- \ 
 tain is forsaken when men cease to think of God as the chief end ! 
 of their life — when they overlook the law of God — when they do | 
 not cleave to the word of God — when they are beginning to look j 
 back to old times of bondage — when they look away fi'om the [ 
 cleansing fountain to their own works. II. The cistern pre- 
 ferred. 1. Domestic happiness : 2. Professional life ; 3. Intellec- 1 
 tuality ; 4. Social life. III. The disappointment involved. 1.1 
 That of one who has spent his best time and strength to no pur- j 
 pose ; 2. Of one who must after all go to the rejected fountain ; } 
 3. AVho finds that his past life has been a grievous sin. 1 
 
 Kdfe on v. 13. — In Eastern language, '• living water"' signifies 
 Bpringing water, that which bubbles up. The people had for- ! 
 eakeu Jehovah, the never-failing Spring, for the small quantity 
 which coul* be contained in a cistern ; nay, in broken cisterns, : 
 which vv'ould let out the water as fast as they received it. When j 
 people forsake a good situation for that wliich is bad, it is said, 
 " Yes ; the stork which lived on the borders of the lake, where | 
 there was a never-failing supply of water, and constant food, has ] 
 gone to dwell on the biink of a well," i.e. where there is no fish, ' 
 and where the water cannot be had.-^ 
 
 14—19. (11) slave ? God called him to be son, not slave, Ex. 
 iv. 22. "Vi'liy . . spoiled ? the answer must be, on account of his 
 Bins, so he must not charge God with his calamities. (15) 
 
 " Far more va- 
 lued is tlie vine 
 that beuils be- 
 iieatli its swell- 
 ing clusters, than 
 tlie dark and 
 joyless ivy, round 
 the cloister s wall 
 wreathing its 
 barren arms."— 
 iSouthey. 
 
 h Ilarmer. 
 
 a " The expres- 
 sion is taken 
 from the pleas of 
 plain till and de- 
 fendant, used in 
 a court of jus- 
 tice." — Loirth. 
 b " This e.'vpres- 
 sion is design- 
 edly used, to in- 
 timate that the 
 final judgment 
 on the nation 
 would be sus- 
 pended for many 
 generations. " — 
 llofxhii. 
 
 c See Kitlim, Ge, 
 X. 4. 
 
 d Ge. xjTf. 13 ' 
 Ps. cxx. 5 ; Cant. 
 i. 5. 
 
 e " The usua. 
 plan is to dig a 
 tank in the 
 ground, build 
 round with 
 stonework, some- 
 times raising this 
 several feet above 
 the ground, and 
 putting on it a 
 roof. These cis- 
 terns are very 
 liable to crack 
 and leak, e-p. 
 those near the 
 surface of the 
 ground and un- 
 scientifically 
 constructed ; and 
 no more expres- 
 sive fig. of un- 
 trustworthiness 
 could be found 
 than a leaky 
 lnt\k."- 17>0Tns<m, 
 f Robei-ts. 
 
 a Comp. Job ir, 
 10, ll;Ps.X33aT. 
 
14 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. ii. 20—25. 
 
 10, Iviii. 6 ; .Tp. li. 
 17: Y,7A\ xix. 3,6; 
 Na!i. ii. 11, 12. 
 6 " Niipli, or 
 Menipliis, cnpital 
 of Lowei MpryiJt, 
 on the W. bank 
 of tlie Nile. 
 Tahapanes, or 
 Da >'ine, on the 
 I'Hiiicic branch 
 of the Nile. 
 Ilipse two citie.s 
 B'anl for the 
 wliule of ICgypt." 
 — F.tnxxel. 
 c " The two rivers 
 are tlie two 
 empires, and to 
 fir ink their 
 waters is to ailii)it 
 tlieir principles 
 anil religion." — 
 Shi. Com. 
 
 f. 17. J.Marriott, 
 
 213. 
 
 d Roseiimuller, 
 
 a Ex. xix. f? ; .Tos. 
 xxiv. 13; Jh. x. 
 IG ; 1 ?a. xii. 10. 
 
 b "It was an in- 
 cru;tatlan at tlic 
 1 ot'om of the 
 lakes, after the 
 sxinimer heat ha^ 
 evajiorateil the 
 water. It wa; 
 u.-e^l for washing. 
 (Job ix. 30; Pr. 
 XXV. 20).—Faus- 
 set. 
 
 c "Thoufrh thou 
 usest ever so 
 many methoilsof 
 washing away 
 thy sins.. ..yet 
 the marks or 
 stains will al- 
 ways ajipear ii' 
 the sisriit of God, 
 till they are done 
 away liy a sincere 
 reiicntance and 
 reformation. " — 
 Liiiclli. 
 
 d C. H. Spurgeon. 
 
 a " The people 
 prob. appealed to 
 the maintenance 
 of the <laily sac- 
 rifice, and the 
 Jlosaic ritual ; 
 and even more 
 confidently per- 
 haps to Josiali's 
 splendid restora- 
 tion of the 
 
 ' yotin^ lions, type of the dang-ers into wh. Israel's rebellion 
 liad brouoht liiiii. Lions are soiiietimes taken to rcjiresent the 
 IJahylouian ]irinccs." (K!) Nopli, Taliapanea/ places in 
 Koyi)t. broken . . crown, iiuir;/. "feed on thy crown." or 
 devour the best jiart of thy country. (17) to tliyself, by 
 thy own doinyfs. (18) \va,7 of E<?ypt, at this time some 
 of the rulers were inclined to alliance with Egypt, while 
 others favoured alliance with Assyria.*" (ID) thine . . thee, 
 the natural consequences of wrong-doing jjrove to be Divine 
 judgments. 
 
 j\vU' on r. 18. — The Euphrates is always muddy, and the water, 
 consequently, not good to drink unless it has stood an hour or 
 two in earthen vessels for the sand and impurities to settle, 
 which at times lie half a finger thick at the bottom of the vessel. 
 Hence it was not without reason that the Lord said to the Israel- 
 ites, by the Prophet Jeremiah, " "What hast thou to do in the way 
 of AssjTia, to drink the waters of the river .'" (Euphrates.) For 
 this reason we fnid in the houses of the city and villages, par- 
 ticularly those lying on the Great River, many large earthen 
 vessels holding a pailful or two, which they fill from the 
 Euphrates, and do not use till the impurities have settled at the 
 bottom, unless they are verj' thirsty, and then they drink through 
 their pocket-handkerchiefs. — (Rauwolf.)'' 
 
 20—22. (20) broken thy yoke, th.it which Egypt laid 
 upon thee. But God gave Israel many gracious deliverances, 
 and received from Israel repeated promises of I'aithfi;! service." 
 high hill, rfp.. Is. Ivii. 5 — 7. (21") nohle vine, .s-rr Is. v. 1, etc. 
 right seed, fructified and of good quality, unto me, or to 
 my hurt and vexation. (22) nitre, not saltpetre, but the natrnn 
 of Egypt, a mineral alkali.* sope, Heb. honfh, a vegetable 
 alkali now called ])ofa.'<h. Combined with oil it was used for 
 washing, marked, as a stain that cannot be got out." 
 
 Sin aroimed hij the law. — A contented citizen of Blilan, who 
 had never passed beyond its walls during the course of sixty 
 years, being ordered by its governor not to stir beyond its gates, 
 became immediately miserable, and felt so powerful an inclina- 
 tion to do that which he had so long contentedly neglected, that, 
 on his applicalion for a release from this restraint being refused, 
 he l)ecame quite melancholy, and at last died of grief. How well 
 this illustrates the Apostle's confession that he had not known 
 lust unless the law had said unto him. ''Thou shalt not covet !" 
 " Sin," saith he, " taking occasion by the commandment, wrought 
 in me all manner of concupiscence." Evil often sleeps in the 
 soul until the holy command of God is discovered, and then the 
 enmity of tlie carnal mind rouses itself to oppose in every way 
 the will of God. '' Without the law," says Paul, '■ siil was dead." 
 How vain to hope for salvation from the law, when through the 
 pei'versity of sin it pi'ovokes our evil hearts to rebellion, and 
 works in us neither repentance nor love."* 
 
 23—25. (23) say, in self-defence." vallej^, of Hinnom. ch. 
 vii. 32.* swift dromedary, a '• young fem.ale wh. has never had 
 a foal." (24) wild ass, " symbol of an untamed and reckless 
 nature." her occasion, the pairing season. (2.")) thirst, or 
 lusting after these vain idols. " Do not wear out thy shoes and 
 expose thyself to thii-st and weariness in undertaking long 
 
Cap.ii. 26—34.] JEREMIAH. 15 
 
 journeys to make new alliances with idolaters." no hope, } temple, and to 
 mar<?. " Is the cas-j desperate ? " | ^^'^ suppressiou 
 
 Sclf-i-lndicatlnrj sinners reproved (rv. 23, 2i).— I. The self- vin- 1 ship S Baariu 
 dicatiug ways of sinners. 1. In a Avay of direct denial; 2. Of j such pleas a- 
 vain excuse ; 3. Of hyiwcritical palliation. II. The charge which r"'''^'l little as 
 God brings against them. 1. By an appeal to fact ; 2. By a most ' '''"" 
 apt comparison.'^ 
 
 26—30. (2fi) house of Israel, here the whole Heb. people 
 remaining in their land. (27) stock, a thing that cannot move 
 itself, stone, this word being feminine in Hebrew is re^jresented 
 as a mother, hack" unto me, a token of contempt and aver- 
 sion. (28) "Where . . gods, why do not they comfort and help 
 you in your troubles ? cities . . gods, besides the national 
 deities, tutelary gods abounded. (29) j^lead with me, for help 
 in trouble-time. (30) sword . . prophets, with prob. allusion 
 to the violent persecutions of Manasseh.* 
 
 as the rites 
 of Molech were 
 still privately 
 practised . ' '— /Sp/t. 
 Com. 
 
 b 2 Ki. xxiii. 10. 
 c C. Simeon, M.A. 
 
 a Heb. noreph, 
 properly the 
 binder part of 
 the neck. 
 
 6 Josephus tells 
 us that both the 
 
 The folly of neglect inq God (re. 27, 28). — I. The conduct of | ligTousmen'gene- 
 einners towards their God. 1. It is a state of ease ; 2. Of trouble. I rally, were put to 
 II. The folly and danger of it. 1. The disappointment it willp^eat'i in large 
 occasion ; 2. The reflections to which it will give rise. Address relentless Mng.''^ 
 — (1) Those that are at ease in their sins ; (2) Those who are 
 brought into any kind of trouble; (3) Those that have aheady i "^•'^'''nfon.i/'.J. 
 begun to seek the Lord." | „ j^^ ^j^^^.^ . 
 
 Ihll// of idolnfry .ihotrn. — The following incident occurs in the | foolish wisdom, 
 life of the Auglo-Saxon missionary, Winfrid, afterwards called i ?o there is a wise 
 Boniface. On his recommencing his mis.sionary work in Hessia, i ^si^'^'ance, in not 
 he found that, during his absence (^t Rome), many of the con- 
 verts had relapsed into their old supeistitions, and therefore 
 resolved to destroy one of the chief objects of veneration in the 
 neighbourhood in which he was labouring ; this was an eminent 
 oak near Giesmar, in Upper Hesse, which for ages had been 
 eacred to Thor, the god of thunder. Many times had the zealous 
 missionary declaimed against this idolatry, but without effect. 
 He determined, therefore, to strike a blow at the object itself, 
 and remove, if possible, the stumbling-block from their midst. 
 Jlr. Maclear (Mi.s.fions of the 3Iiddle Aye.t) thus describes the 
 scene : — " One day, accompanied by all his clergy, he advanced, 
 axe in hand, to cut down the offending monarch of the forest. 
 The people assembled in thousands to witness the great contro- 
 versy between the new and the old belief, many em-aged at the 
 interference of the stranger preacher, many more conildent tliat 
 an instant judgment would strike dowTi so daring an offender. 
 But scarcely had the missionary begun to ])ly his axe than it was 
 apparent that Thor could not defend his own. If he was a god, 
 he was certainly either ' gone on a journey,' or was 'asleep and 
 needed awaking ;' for in vain his votaries supplicated his ven- 
 geance. After a few blows of the axe, a crashing was heard in 
 the topmost boughs : a mighty rushing wind, says the chronicler, 
 seemed to shake every branch, and then the leafy idol came 
 down to the ground, and split into four quarters. ' The Lord. 
 He is the God I ' the people shouted, thus acknowledging the 
 superior might of the new faith."'* 
 
 31- 
 
 tion. 
 
 -34. (31) O generation, a highly-impassioned cxclama- 
 have . . darkness ? a strong appeal." are lords, and 
 
 prying into God's 
 ark, not inquir- 
 ing into things 
 not revealed. I 
 would fain know 
 all that I need, 
 and all that I 
 may : I leave 
 God's secrets to 
 Himself. It is 
 bappy for me 
 that God makes 
 me of His court, 
 though not of 
 His counciL" — 
 Bp. Hall. 
 
 " A man is never 
 astonished or 
 ashamed that he 
 doesn't know 
 what another 
 does, but be is 
 surprised at tlie 
 gross ignorance 
 of the other 
 in not knowiiig 
 what he does." — 
 IlaliOurton, 
 
 d Ilassell, 
 
 a " So far was 
 
 Jehovah from 
 proving a nig- 
 
 wili have our own will. (32) ornaments, Oriental females gardly and au- 
 
16 
 
 JERTSMTAH. 
 
 [Cap, iil. 1-a 
 
 Btere sovereign 
 to the Jews, that 
 He hn<l eviuced 
 Himself to he 
 tlieir most liberal 
 benefactor. No- 
 thing but wan- 
 tonness con 111 
 have induced 
 them to renounce 
 their subjection 
 to Hira." — Hen- 
 derson. 
 
 i C. Simeon, M. A. 
 
 ». 34. Dr. G. E. 
 Biber, 141, 154 ; 
 £. Bather, i. 86. 
 
 " Sincerity 1 thou 
 first of virtues, 
 let no mortal 
 leave thy onward 
 path, althoupli 
 tlie earth sliouM 
 gape, and from 
 the gulf of hell 
 destruction cry, 
 to take dissimu- 
 lation's wind- 
 ing way. — Home. 
 
 Be truly religi- 
 ous, and do not 
 care to seem to 
 be so. 
 
 "Wio by kind- 
 ness and smooth 
 attention can in- 
 sinuate a hearty 
 ■welooMie to an 
 u n w p 1 c o m e 
 guest, is a hypo- 
 crite superior to 
 a thousand plain 
 dealers." — i,((ra- 
 ier. 
 
 b Roberii. 
 
 a " Contrary to 
 all precedent in 
 the caae of adul- 
 terj', Jehovah 
 offer* a return 
 to Judali, the 
 epiritual adul- 
 teress." — Funssft. 
 b <S';/r., Viilff., 
 Turg., Calvin, elc. 
 « S^k. Com. 
 
 prcatly pride themselves on tlieir ornaments, attire, or g-inllea 
 for the breast. The r arringe girdle in the E. taking the place 
 of the marriage ring Vvith us. ('.V.i) trimmest, c/c, makcst 
 effort to Icam foreign and base idolatries, v/ickcd . . ways, 
 better, thy ways ^vickedne£S. (34) 'blood., c'c of idolatrous 
 persecutions : or with a reference to the children offered to 
 Molech. not . . secret, or by breaking into the house, by 
 digging through like a lliicf. 
 
 (ji)d\s comjh'aiiit arjulnsf Ike rehelJioiis (ri'. 31, 32). — I. God's 
 appeal in answer to yorr charges against Him. ]. Was He to the 
 Jews a wilderness or a land of darkness .' 2. Has He in His con- 
 duct to us deserved any such humiliating imputation .' II. His 
 charge against you. He complains of two things. 1. The 
 flagrancy of your rebellion ; 2. The contemptuousness of your 
 neglect. Apply: — (I) Are any of you disposed to vindicate 
 yourselves ? (2) Are ary of you humbled under a senso of your 
 guilt ? " 
 
 35 — 37. (3r>) innocent, the people made loud professions, in 
 the time of the reiom:ation of Josiah, but God knew they were 
 not sincere, plead, here the word means as a judge, not as a 
 plaintiff. (30) gaddest, travellest, dost wander about. Turn- 
 ing now to Egypt and now to Assyria. (37) from him, i.e. 
 from Egypt, to wh. land the people were then turning, hands 
 . . head," the sign of failure and despair. " The ambassadors 
 thou seudest to Egypt shall return with disappointment and con- 
 fusion." 
 
 j\'()fe on r. 37. — Impenitent Jeriisalem was to be punished 
 for revolting against God : and, as a token of her misery, she was 
 to go forth with her "hands on her head.' Tamar '-laid her 
 
 j hand on her head," as a tign of her degradation and sorrow. 
 'When people are in great distress, they put their hands on their 
 heads, the fingers being c'asped on the top of the crown. Should 
 
 I a man who is plunged into wretchedness meet a friend, he 
 immediately puts his hands on his head to illustrate his circum- 
 
 I stances. When a person hears of the death of a relation or friend, 
 he forthwith clasps his hands on his head. 'When boys have 
 been punished at school, they run home with their hands on the 
 same place. Parents are much displeased and alarmed when 
 they see their children with th:ir hands in that position, because 
 they look upon it not merely as a sign of grief, but as an emblem 
 of bad fortune. Thus of those who had trusted in Egypt and 
 Assyria it was said, " Thou shalt be ashamed " of them : and they 
 v/ere to go forth with their hands on their head iu token of 
 their degradation and misery.*" 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRD. 
 
 1_3, (1) they say, or, that is to say. The Prophet gives 
 his conclusion. shall . . again," see the law, Dc. xxiv. 4. 
 that land, in wh. such people dwelt as could take back aa 
 adulteress, yet return, some regard this as an imiierative ;* 
 but others render, " and thinkest thou to return unto ]\Ie ?"« (2) 
 high places, the scenes of idolatries, which are regarded as 
 spiritual adulteries, in tho ways, illus. by Ge. xxxviii. 14, 
 
Cap. iii. 4, 5.] 
 
 JE REM I An. 
 
 17 
 
 4.rabian, or desert robber, watching for prey.'' (3) showers, 
 etc.. see De. xxviii. 24. 
 
 JS'ofe 0)1 r. 2. — Every one knows the general intention of the 
 Prophet, but Chardin has given so sli-ong and lively a description 
 of the eagerness that attends tlieir looking out for prey, that I 
 am persuaded my readers will be pleased with it. '• Thus the 
 Arabs wait for caravans with the most violent avidity, looking 
 about them on all sides, raising themselves up on their horses, 
 running here and there to see if they cannot perceive any smoke, 
 or dust, or tracks on the ground, or any other marks of people 
 passing along."' 
 
 4, 5. (4) from this time, i.e. the time of Josiah's reforma- 
 tion. God would have the penitent return not merely an out- 
 ward act, but inward and sincere, the guide," lit. familiar 
 friend, but here meaning /ni.^luuid. Father, husband, are the 
 '•two most endearing appellations that could have been em- 
 ploj'cd." (5) spoken, in the public profession of reformation, 
 as thou couldest, i.e. persistently. " Her words were fair, 
 but her deeds were false." 
 
 i'he ffiddc of youth (v. 4). — T. Tlie young need a guide — 1. On 
 account of their ignorance ; 2. On account of their natural 
 buoyancy ; 3. Of their dangerous sixrroundings. II. God is 
 willing to become their guide — 1. By liis "Word : 2. By His 
 providence ; 3. By Eis Spirit. III. God expects them to show a 
 desire that lie would become their guide. 1. They must pray to 
 Him ; 2. They must pray to Him as a Father. IV. God wishes 
 them to apply to Him immediately. This time — 1. Is the com- 
 manded time : 2. Mo.st .suitable ; 3. May be the only time.* — 
 'Jlic pntjiei' praye)' tf yci/tJi. — Hclsiie some story to illustrate the 
 usefulness of guides to travellers in foreign lands, as among the 
 mountains of Sv\-itzerlaud, etc. I. The journey of life. 1. Things 
 unknown — length, trials, enemies, temptations, etc. ; 2. Things 
 desired — prosperity, length of days, fi'iends, hapitiness, to "rejoice 
 and be gla^l all our days," etc. : 3. Things certain — a journey to 
 be only once made, will certainly end ; the end will answer to 
 the way. '• AVhat will ye do in the end?" II. The pilgrim of 
 life. A youthful traveller is supposed. 1. Such are inex- 
 perienced ; 2. Think they know more than they really do ; 3. 
 Often wilful and wayward ; 4. Travelling through unknown 
 land ; 5. Need help and provision of a spiritual kind for the 
 journey. III. The guide of life. Many false guides — custom, 
 fashion, human reasons, etc. Only one safe Guide — God. He 
 has all that a good guide should have. 1. Knowledge of way ; 
 2. Sympathy with the traveller : 3. Strength and vigilance to 
 meet and defeat danger ; 4. Constant presence. If we say " yes" 
 to the text, then — (1) The start will be in the right direction ; 
 (2) The way will be in the safe path ; (3) The end will be in 
 the best place." 
 
 Zat/y Iliniti/iydon. — It is recorded of the late Countess of 
 Huntingdon, who afterwards so warmly espoused the cause of 
 God and His truth, that in her early youth, when about nine 
 years old, the sight of a coq^se about her own age carried to the 
 grave induced her to attend the funeral, when the first im- 
 pressions of deep seriousness respecting sm eternal world were 
 made on her conscience.'' 
 
 VOL. IX. O.T. B 
 
 rf " TTie Arabs of 
 the desert to the 
 east ami south of 
 Palestine were 
 notorious for 
 tlieir habit of 
 robbing travel- 
 lers, as they si ill 
 are at tlie pre- 
 sent day." — ilen- 
 dcf.ion. 
 e Ilarmer. 
 
 a " As having 
 espoused them in 
 the days of their 
 youth, before 
 their manners 
 were corrupted 
 by idolatr}'. Je. 
 ii. 2 ; Ho. ii. 16." 
 — Loiolh. 
 
 b G. Brooks. 
 
 r. 4. E. Cooper, 
 iii. 296; W. Jay, 
 ii. 2S8; E. Blerir 
 coice, i. 23. 
 
 '• The first breath 
 of morn ia 
 sweeter than the 
 last breath of 
 eveninjr. The 
 earliest snovrdrop 
 is lovelier thaa 
 tlie latest rose. 
 As tlic firstfruits 
 of the ground, 
 and tlie firstlings 
 of tlie flock, were 
 offered up to the 
 I-ord in tht 
 olileii time, so 
 offer up to Him 
 your youthful 
 affections and 
 your youthful 
 service." — Mog- 
 ridge. 
 
 c Hive. 
 
 Our weakest 
 
 years engender 
 ]iassions which 
 our strongest are 
 unable to eradi- 
 cate, 
 
 " Our youth and 
 manhood we owe 
 to our country, 
 but our declining 
 years are due to 
 o u rselves."— 
 ['liny. 
 
 dR.T.ai 
 
18 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. lil. 0— la 
 
 a Comp. Eze' 
 xxiii. 4, etc. 
 ft " A bill of 
 divorce is called 
 in Heb. a writiii'/, 
 or document, «/' 
 cutting off, and 
 ]iore in tile plural, 
 a icrilinii of ciil- 
 t>nO off b?o. 
 slie to whom such 
 a ilocunient was 
 given by lier hus- 
 band was cut olt" 
 from all con- 
 nection with 
 liim." — Hender- 
 son. 
 
 c Comp. Je. vii. 
 18, xix. 4 ; and 
 .ilso 2 Clir. x.v.\iv. 
 ■ii. 
 
 d Eze. xvi. 51. 
 e C. Simeon, il.A. 
 
 a Not receive 
 you with averted 
 looks. So LXX., 
 ^yi\, and Vulg. 
 b Ps. lx.vxvi. 15, 
 ciii. 8, 9. 
 
 c" However few 
 the converts 
 might be, Jeho- 
 vah would not 
 d.'spise them, but 
 wouM restore 
 them to their own 
 land. Or that, 
 should there only 
 be one found in 
 a foreign city, or 
 two in any of 
 the nations, they 
 should not be 
 forgotten." — 
 JUiulrrsoii. 
 d \y. ."^Iri-rns. 
 rv. 11, 15. H. 
 Marridll, 75. 
 f. 15. Dr. J. Owen, 
 xvii. GO; JI. ,Sj/- 
 d'u/inm, 272 ; Or. 
 J. Scoll, iii. 3o3; 
 £. Cooper, ii. 239. 
 * R. T. S. 
 
 a " Because the 
 tabernacle of God 
 M'ill beono'm.ide 
 without hands' 
 (lleb. i.v. 11), 
 even the heart 
 of His believing 
 p e ople." — Sj[jk. 
 Com. 
 
 b Ro. ix. 25, 26. 
 
 r " Most of the 
 ppijiliecies which 
 nioiitjiin tlie re- 
 Btoraliou of tLe 
 
 6 — 11. ((>) said also, on another occasion, backsliding^, 
 the word used is not an aljoctivc, but a substantive, and the 
 claus:; should read, " Ilast thou seen backsliding, even Israel?" 
 gone up, or goes up. (7) treacherous sister, so called bee. 
 Judah was as bad as Israel, but Jmlali made a good outward 
 show and profession." (8) bill of divorce,* a fig. for God a 
 putting away the ten tribes. (9) lightness, or the fame, 
 report, defiled, or profaned. Stones, efr., ch. ii. 27. (10) 
 feignedly, JLh. '• in falsehood." The Jews' professions of 
 ameudment were hypocritical and insincere.'' (II) more . . 
 Judab, bee. Judah "had the additional warning of the fate of 
 Israel, and disregarded even that."* 
 
 Comparative oriminalify (f. II). — The criminality of Judah 
 exceeded that of Israel. I. State this decision of the Lord. II. 
 Confirm it. 1. It argues a greater dejiravity of heart ; 2. lb 
 casts more dishonour upon God ; 3. It does more extensive injury 
 toman. Address — (I) Those who are careless about religion ; 
 (2) Those who make a profession of religion." 
 
 12—15. (12) toward the north, the region to wh. the '•' ten 
 tribes" had been carried by Shalmaueser. return, etc., lit. 
 "turn, thou that hast turned." anger to fall," in further 
 judgments, merciful, this is the highest and most moving of 
 all incentives to repentance.* (13) acknowledge thine 
 iniquity, penitence being the essential condition of restoration. 
 (14) married unto you, and so long to bo in gracious and 
 dear relations, one . . family, prob. a prophetic fig. of the fact 
 that only a few will ever return, but for even the few Gci will 
 care." (15) shepherds, pastors ; as before, temporal rulers. 
 
 J'a.ttor.i (r. 15). — They shoidd have — 1. Spiritual wisdom ; 2. 
 Authority from 'the unction of the Holy One ; 3. Experience of 
 religion ; 4. Skill to divide the AVord aright ; 5. Knov\-ledge of 
 the state of their flocks ; (J.'Zeal for the glory of God ; 7. Jealousy 
 for the word and truth of God ; 8. They should watch for souls ; 
 9. Should be pious at all times ; 10. Ihey should be comforters of 
 those that mourn; 11. They should maintain discij^line in the 
 Church : 12. They should be examples to the believers.'' 
 
 Avchbi.Hhi>p Adalbert. — Adalbert, who lived in the tenth cen- 
 tury, was appointed Archbishop of Prague. This preferment 
 seemed to give him so little satisfaction, that he was never seen 
 to smile afterwards ; and on being asked the reason, he replied, 
 " It is an easy thing to wear a mitre and a cross ; but an awful 
 thing to give an account of a bishopric before the Judge of 
 quick and dead."' 
 
 16 — 19. (IG) in those days, the recognised formula for the 
 times of Messiah, the ark, etc., regarded as the centre of the 
 Mosaic system. It api^ears that the ark was finally lost in the 
 Babyloni-sh captivity, visit it, better, '• neither shall it ba 
 missed." that be done, or, " neither shall it be made, or re- 
 paired."" (17) Jerusalem, the whole city, not specially the 
 temple. "There the foundation of the Chri.stiau I'hurch was 
 laid." nations, i.e. the Gentiles.* imagination, marg. 
 stul/ljornncts. (18) with . . Israel, clearly intimating that the 
 return was to be a united one." (11>) how, i.e. how gladlj'. 
 
 (f lid's relations to Jlis peojyle (r. I'J). — I. The ho lOurs whirh 
 God desires to confer upon us. 1, To make us members of His 
 
Cap. iil. 20-25.] 
 
 JEREUrAB. 
 
 Id 
 
 family ; 2. To make us heirs of heaven. II. The difficulties that 
 beset the conferring- these honours upon us. 1. Arising from 
 God's character ; 2. From our own character : 3. From the great- 
 ness of the blessings. III. The effect which uniformly follows 
 the conferring of these honours — a filial spirit towards God. 1. 
 Reverence; 2. Love; 3. Obedience. Ajiply : — (1) Encom-age 
 those who doubt the possibility of their salvation ; (2 ) "Warn 
 those who see no difficulties in the way of their salvation ; (3) 
 Exhort those who profess to be in the way of salvation.'' — 'The 
 clilhl at home (v. 19). — I. A condition of delightful privilege, — 
 "put among the children." A relation of endearment, depen- 
 dence ; involving obligations of , affection, obedience ; which 
 carries with it advantages, — instruction, maintenance, inheri- 
 tance. II. Some difficulties in the way of its bestowment. 
 " How shall I .' " These are insuperable to all but infinite 
 wisdom ; they spring out of the sinner's character. III. The 
 evidences of the removal of these difficirlties and the attainment 
 of the blessing. 1. Prayer ; 2. Si3irit of adoption ; 3. Preserva- 
 tion and pers?verance. — Children of God. — Here is — I. A most 
 delightful condition of privilege and happiness. As children of 
 God, we are also heirs to His kingdom. II. A suggestion of 
 difficulties in the way of our attaining this condition, — " How 
 ehall I ? " etc. III. The solution of these difficulties, and the 
 process by which v>'e may attain these privileges, — '• thou shalt 
 call Me, My Father.''* 
 
 20 — 23. (20) husband, or familiar friend. (21) weeping, 
 etc., the signs of real i^enitence on the part of the people. Weep- 
 ing is blended with prayer for mercy. (22) return, etc.,<^ comp. 
 the similar passage, Ho. xiv. 1. (23) hills, specially associated 
 with idol wor.ship.* 
 
 JjacMideiv reelaimed (r. 22). — I. God inviting backsliders to 
 return to Him. 1. The characters addressed; 2. The sin and 
 consequence of backsliding ; 3. God's message to such characters. 
 II. Backsliders complying with God's invitation. 1. The ready 
 compliance they manifest ; 2. The way they return to God. 
 
 The bach-ilider's confe.t.tion — I have been a fugitive servant to 
 the most glorious Lord and Master : I have deserted His service, 
 and denied my obedience. But now, Lord, nail my ear to Thy 
 door-post, that I may serve Thee for ever : nail my heart to Thy 
 service, that no trouble, temi^tation, or desertion may drive me 
 away from Thee ; nail my eyes to Thy service, that I may never 
 look upon vanity ; nail my hands to Thy service, that I may 
 never do an ill turn ; nail my feet to Thy way, that I may never 
 turn aside from Thee. Let all the faculties of my soul be nailed 
 to Thy service and obedience. 
 
 24, 25. (24) shame, etc., the people here acknowledge the 
 unprofitableness and disgrace of their idolatry." (2.5) we lie 
 down, or we will lie down : prostrating ourselves humbly before 
 God. The miseries of the captivity were recognised as Divine 
 judgments on the national sins.'' " The expressions are taken 
 from those who cast themselves down upon the ground, and 
 cover themselves with, dust or ashes out of grief and anguish of 
 mind. 
 
 God the salration of Israel (r. 23). — Let me ask if this be 
 not — 1. A mighty salvation ? 2. A merciful salvation ? 3. A free 
 
 B 2 
 
 1 Jews inin Judah 
 : ami Israel to- 
 gether, as equal 
 sharers iu tliab 
 blessing. (See 
 Je. XXX. 3, xxxi. 
 1; Is. xi. 13; Eze. 
 xxxvii. le, 22 ; 
 JIo. i. 11; Zee. 
 X. G)."—Loiclh. 
 
 d G. Brools. 
 
 V. 16. Dr. Gordon, 
 iv. IIU. 
 
 V. 17. Dr. Gordon, 
 XV. 124. 
 
 " The excesses of 
 yontli are rlravts 
 upon our oM age, 
 payable with in- 
 terest about! 
 thirty years after 
 date." — Collon. 
 
 e J. Preston. 
 
 a " The whole 
 descripiion ia 
 most grapliicahy 
 conceived. The 
 Ijecple weeping 
 upon the hils; 
 God's gracious 
 voice bidding 
 them return ; the 
 glad cry of the 
 penitents pro- 
 claiming that 
 tliey come; the 
 profession of 
 faitli won from 
 them by the Di- 
 vine love ; these 
 form altogetlier 
 a most touching 
 picture of a na- 
 tional repent- 
 ance."-,5/)X-. Ci'ji\ 
 b "The altars \vh. 
 were erected oa 
 high places to 
 the lieathen gods 
 abounded to such 
 a degree, that 
 they were seea 
 in every direc- 
 tion." — Hender- 
 son. 
 
 a " So far from 
 bringing us sal- 
 vation, tliey have 
 cost us our cattle 
 and even our 
 cliildren, whom 
 we have sacri- 
 ficed to them."— • 
 Fimssit. 
 b Ezr. Is. 7. 
 
20 
 
 JEnEMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. iv. 1—6 
 
 c w. Tl'iUiHion, I galvation? 4. An unchangeable salvation? 5. A soul-satisfying 
 ^■^- salvation ?' 
 
 a " Tlie ropniit- 
 niice (lescribpil 
 in ch. iii. 21-25 
 was a lio|)(» lint a 
 reality." — Sid: 
 Com. 
 
 b " Swearinpr by 
 the uaiiio of Gwl 
 is mentioiicil 
 elsewliere as a 
 solemn part of 
 religious wor- 
 ship, an'l opposeil 
 to tlie custom of 
 swearing by fahe 
 gods, wliicli was 
 practiseil among 
 idol a ters." — 
 Lnwlh. 
 c C. Back. 
 
 a "The an- 
 
 humbled heart is 
 like ground wli. 
 niay be im- 
 proved, being let 
 out to us for that 
 purpose, but wh. 
 is as yet fallow, 
 overgrown witli 
 weoils, its na- 
 tural product." 
 — Fa usset. 
 
 b Be. X. 16. 
 
 c " By placing 
 such signals on 
 fit spots tlie safest 
 route would be 
 inilicated to the 
 fortilied towns." 
 ■^Spi. Com. 
 
 dS. TomJi/ns. 
 
 e Dr. Thomas. 
 
 V. 3. J. Weemse, 
 L 1G3. 
 
 The cry of the 
 penitent soul, 
 " Have mercy on 
 me," U more ao- 
 C'piable to Jesus 
 tlian tlie chant of 
 angels, the me- 
 lody of golden 
 harps swept by 
 serapliic fingi^rs, 
 or the Umd swell- 
 ing anthem of 
 heaven, thongli 
 it be " as the 
 Voice of many 
 
 CHAPTER THE FOURTH. 
 
 1, 2. (1) wilt return, i.r. art really willing to return." put 
 away, this would be the outward sign of the neccsi^ary repent- 
 ance, then . . remove, better, '• and henceforth not wander." 
 (2) swear, by the name of the living God, truly and sincerely. 
 " We swear by the God whom we worship."* 
 
 Xtitiirc of hack.tHding. — Backsliding is the act of turning from 
 the path of duty. It may be considered as partial when applied 
 to true believers, who do not backslide with the whole bent of 
 their will : as voluntarj\ when applied to those who, after pro- 
 fessing to know the truth, wilfully turn from it, and live in the 
 practice of sin ; as final, when the mind is given up to judicial 
 hardness, as in the case of Judas. Partial backsliding must be 
 distinguished from hypocrisy, as the former may exist when 
 there are gracious intentions on the whole ; but the latter is a 
 studied profession of appearing to be what we are not." 
 
 3 — 6. (3) break . . ground, " repent of your idolatry, and 
 so be prepared to sarvo the Lord in truth."" thorns, or weeds, 
 wh. would abound in the neglected soil. (4) circumcise,* the 
 symbol of self-hamiliatiou, and the sign of consecration to the 
 Lord, fury, or vengeance, fire, with a consuming power. (.5) 
 blow . . land, raising tho alarm of war. The verse pictures 
 the fright of the people at the presence of a hostile army. (C) 
 standard, or signal round which to rally the people.^ 
 
 The jAoiifilb for the fallon'a {c. 3). — I. The hearts of unregene- 
 rate men are like fallow ground. II. It is their duty to break 
 up their fallow giound.'' — lite life of the sinner afoolhh afjr'icul- 
 turc {v. 3j. — Notice here two things. I. A grand evil. 1. Los3 
 of seed : 2. Loss of labour ; 3. Loss of hope. II. An urgent duty, 
 evangelical repentance for sin. 1. Hard work ; 2. IndisiJcnsable 
 work.* 
 
 Soirhifj in China.— In China the fields are parted by terraces, 
 on which some of the seed scattered in the broadcast is wont to 
 fall in the sower's attempt to cover the headlands as well as the 
 more central parts of the enclosure. These seeds resemble those 
 that fell bj' the wayside in the paral)le. and are. like them, 
 obvious to the ej'e of any hungry bird that may chance to fly 
 near them. As the valleys often, in their expansion, rebut against 
 the rocky declivities of the hills, large masses of stone constitute 
 a fence on ono or more sides of the fields. Near these stones, the 
 monuments of ancient changes in the crust of the earth, several 
 kinds of thorny shrubs are found growing. One of them, a 
 species of (lardenia. has sharp spines of more than an inch in 
 length. The thorns- referred to in the parable belonged to a 
 Sjiecies of rest-harrow, very common in the barren lanes and 
 commons of this country. The fiardoiia and its companions, 
 however, are very projier representatives in China, and would 
 answer the purpose of any missionary who should take this 
 parable as the theme of discourse in a Chinese village. The 
 A\Titer has a lively remembrance of these thorns, as, in crossing 
 a farm near a pleasant ravine, he often mistook his path amidst 
 
Cap. iv, 7—14.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 21 
 
 mighty aid. 
 / Visitor, 
 
 a ]ab_-STinth of ten-aces and causeways, and found himself opposed ! )vaters." Tliough 
 
 in one iilace bv a hng-e stone, ■\vhicli he could not climb, and in i |" *''® . ''.'^'''f^* 
 
 ,, ^ , ■. *=: £ c A- >- ii i I lieaveii, tins plea 
 
 another by an impervious rence ot tnorns. JNow as these stones i enters His de- 
 
 and thorns lay or grew at the sides of the corn-fields, the sower \ lighted ear, and 
 
 would, in the bountiful sweep of his hand, cast a few seeds upon secures His M> 
 
 both of them. If the stones were covered with a thin layer of 
 
 earth, the seed might germinate in very rainy seasons ; and if 
 
 the thorns left a vacancy here and there between them, the grains 
 
 might sprout for a time under their shade ; but neither one nor 
 
 the other would ever arrive at maturity. Only that seed which 
 
 fell in good ground, in soil prepared by the plough and the 
 
 harrow to receive it, would yield any fruit to recompense the 
 
 BOwer for his i^ains.-/" 
 
 7—10. (7) lion, symbol of Assyria." destroyer, etc., he 
 who has already destroyed Gentile nations, on his way, lit. 
 has broken up his encampment. (8) gird, etc., ch. vi. 2(J. (9) 
 heart of the king, i.e. his spirits, his courage. '• Great cala^ 
 mities often deprive men of their presence of mind." astonished 
 . . Tv'onder, bee. both these had joined in persuading the people 
 that no such - troubles should come upon them, (lu) This f. is 
 probably an outburst of Jeremiah's own feelings. " He had con- 
 Btantly to struggle with the misgivings of his o'wn melancholy 
 nature."* 
 
 Lnvltinq i^laee of lionx. — " Having quickly armed ourselves, and 
 left Philip in charge of my waggons, we briskly pushed our 
 way between the thickets, winding through the willow grove, 
 and crossing many a deep ravine. Everywhere the enormous 
 foot of the hippopotamus had imprinted the earth with holes. 
 G>-rt, who hatl never seen a zcc-lioe, a sea-cow, as the colonists 
 call this animal, enjoyed the ti ip as much as myseif, both equally 
 anxious to gratify our curiosity. He had been less a traveller 
 than any of the rest of my men ; and therefore, like myself, had 
 the greater novelty to expect. As we hurried on. our conversation 
 was on nothing but the sea-cow ; and his animation, excited by 
 the subject to a higher pitch than usual, exceedingly pleased and 
 amused me. Thus beguiling the time, my attention was diverted 
 from the flowers that decked our path or the birds that enlivened 
 the branches above our heads. Suddenly he stopped, and, crying 
 out with some emotion, ' Look here, sir,' I turned my eyes down- 
 wards, and saw^ the recent footmarks of a lion which had been to 
 drink at the river, apparently not more than an hour before. 
 This gave a check to our dialogue on the hippopotamus ; and in 
 a lower and graver tone of voice, he talked now only of lions, and 
 the danger of being alone in a place so covered with wood. That 
 which a minute before had been praised as a delightful shady 
 path, was now viewed as the lurking-place of lions, and of every 
 formidable beast of prey." " 
 
 11—14. (10 at that time, the time of the Bnbylonian in- 
 vasion, previously referred to. dry wind, or hot pestilential 
 wind : the simoom." fan, for such purjioses the husb.andmau 
 uses the wind: but he would not use the simoom. (12) full 
 wind, or fuller, stronger, than winds that fan or cleanse, unto 
 me, i.e. to perfomi my wilL (115) he. the enemy: Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, the lion, as clouds,'' gathering for a storm. whirl- 
 Wind, swiftly moving, and overwhelming, eagles, De. xxviii. 
 
 a NebuchadneS" 
 zar is referred to. 
 
 b " Deeply affect- 
 i ed by this state 
 i of things, tlie 
 I Prophet cannot 
 ; restrain his feel- 
 I ings, but gives 
 I them utterance 
 I in what, at first 
 I sight, ajijiears to 
 I be a blas^phenious 
 I charge against 
 ' Jehovai'. It is, 
 however, but a 
 strong Oriental- 
 ism." — IlKiidef 
 son. 
 
 r. 10. n.Alford, 
 i. 207. 
 
 Na7.i.inzen coin- 
 pares the sonl to 
 a i)air of writing- 
 tables, out of 
 which must be 
 ; washed whatso- 
 I ever was written 
 with sin, and in- 
 stead thereof 
 1 must be entered 
 the writing of 
 grace; both these 
 are necessary in 
 true repentance. 
 
 c Buixhell. 
 
 a It generally 
 blnw.s from the 
 south-e.ist across 
 the dry sandy 
 deserts to the 
 cast of Palestine. 
 
 " This simoom 
 exteuils its ra- 
 vages all the way 
 
22 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. iv. 15-18. 
 
 fr. the extreme 
 end of tlic Gulf 
 of Ciiuiba.va up 
 to Mosul ; it car- 
 ries along with 
 it flakes of lire 
 like threads of 
 Bilk ; instantly 
 Btrikesdeail those 
 that broathc it, 
 anil consumes 
 them inwarilly 
 to ashes." — Cui. 
 Campbell. 
 
 t Joel ii. 2. 
 
 « J. Fostfr. 
 
 r. It. /. Craig, 
 ii. 383; Dr. S. 
 Charters, ii. 437 ; 
 ir. Hichardsnn, 
 ii. 210; J. Jowett, 
 22. 
 
 4 Ez. Hopkins. 
 
 a " Scouts to 
 warn men of tlie 
 approach cjf a'l 
 enemy. Here the 
 Prophet, by way 
 of irony, calls the 
 ChaMaiiiu army 
 by that name." 
 — Loiclh. 
 
 b Beddome. 
 
 Calls to repen- 
 tance come in the 
 thunder's roar, in 
 the liffhtnins's 
 flash, from the 
 shininf? stars, 
 ifrom the rolling 
 earth, fi-om tlie 
 failing flower. 
 from tlio church- 
 yard stones, from 
 t,he funeral- 
 tr.ain ; they come 
 on every birth- 
 day, on every sick 
 day, Willi every 
 sorrow, with 
 every mercy. i>er- 
 Bistently calling 
 ".Repent." 
 
 t Paxton. 
 
 40. (14) vain thoughts, thonprhts of security in the service 
 of vain idols. Or ref. may bo to their confidence in Egy[)t. 
 
 Vaiiithoiifihfs (r. 11). — I. The characteristics of vain thoug-hts. 
 1. Cannot reap any good from them : 2. They cannot a.^sociate 
 with good and useful thonghts : 8. JIust be driven out to attend 
 to serious matters : 4. Tliey dwell largely and habitually on 
 trifles ; 5. They trifle with important things ; G. They are fickle ; 
 7. Those pertinaciously fixed upon an unworthy object ; 8. Will 
 again and again return to it; 9. Such as are on speculative 
 fancies ; 10. Those bent on schemes of worldlj' felicity. II. The 
 correctives of vain thoughts. 1. The substantial state of the 
 mind must be cured of vanity ; 2. We should have specific sub- 
 jects of serious interest to employ thought ; 3. Self-detection in 
 the act of sin ; 4. Recourse to acts of devotion ; o. Practical 
 employment : G. Communion with thoughts of wise and good.'' 
 
 fain tlioiiglitx. — A true Christian, who. by experience, knows 
 what it is to deal with his own heart, finds ic infinitely more 
 difficult to beat down one sinful thought from rising- up in him 
 than to keep a thousand sinful thoughts from breaking forth 
 into open act. Here lies his chief labour, to fight against 
 phantasm and any ajiparitions, such as thoughts are : he sets 
 himself chiefly against these heart-sins, because he knows that 
 these are the sins that are most of all contrary to giace, and do 
 most of all weaken and waste grace. Outward sins are but like 
 60 many caterpillars that devour the verdure and flourishing of 
 grace ; but heart-sins are like so many worms that guaw the 
 very root of grace.'' 
 
 15 — 18. (!•')) Dan, the border-town of Palestine on the north, 
 mount Epliraim, on the march towards Jerusalem. The 
 northern boundary of the kingdom of Judasa. (IGj watchers," 
 or besiegers. (17) keepers of a field, who watch to frighten 
 away the wild beasts. (IS) this . . wickedness, this final 
 siege is the issue of thy wickedneiss. 
 
 iJitfcnicss of a'ni (r. 18). — I. Sin is bitter. 1. It is so com- 
 paratively ; 2. Absolutely. II. It reaches to thine heart. 1. It 
 defiles it; 2. It disquiets it ; 3. It ruins and damns it. Apply :^ 
 (1 ) Since sin is bitter, bitter remedies must be taken ; (2) It is a 
 mercy that grace reaches to the heart as well as sin.* 
 
 iVotr on V. 17. — In Arabia, and probably in other parts of the 
 East, instead of a solitary ■\^•atchman in the middle of the planta- 
 tion, they place guards at certain distances round the whole field, 
 increasing or diminishing their numbers according to the sup- 
 posed danger. This custom furnishes a clear and easy explana- 
 tion of a passage in the prophecies of Jeremiah, where he 
 solemnly warns his people of their approaching calamities : " As 
 keepers of a field, are they against her round about : because she 
 hath been rebellious against Me. saith the Lord."" Fields in the 
 East have not fences to keep off cattle and other marauders, but 
 only low embankments : hence, were there not keepers, they 
 would be exposed to all kinds of depredations. These men 
 wander about the ridges, or spend their time in platting baskets 
 or jjouches for areca-nuts and betel leaf, o.-- tend a few sheep. 
 At night they sleep in a small stall, about six feet by four, which 
 stands on four legs, and is thatched with leaves. The whole 
 affair is so light, that it can be removed in its comi)lete state to any 
 other part by two men ; or be taken to pieces in a few minutes, 
 
Cap. iv. 19-31.] 
 
 JEREiriAff. 
 
 23 
 
 and removed and put together by one man. The frail fabric 
 illustrates the " lodge in a garden of cucumbers." "^ 
 
 19 — 22. (ID) bowels, regarded as the seat of emotion. Most 
 deeply is the Prophet moved by his vision of the coming woes of 
 the lard, are pained, or writhe in pain, maketli a noise, 
 of moaning." (2U) destrnction, etc., or complete, utter destruc- 
 tion, tents .. curtains, poetical for the dwellings. (21) 
 standard, rv. 5, G. (22) wise . . evil, "they have studied all 
 the artsi of sin and wickedness, but are perfect strangers to the 
 obligations of religion and virtue." * 
 
 Tlie mlffrr'ics of war (v. 19). — In the contemplation of war — I. 
 What should be our feelings ? We should view it — 1 . As a 
 calamity endured ; 2. As a judgment inflicted. II. What should 
 be our conduct? Make the inquiry in reg'ard — 1. To ministers; 
 2. To people. Address — (1) The careless ; (2) The self-couMent ; 
 (3) The mourners."-' 
 
 23—26. (23) I beheld, " in this, and the following vv., the 
 Pro|)het sees in vision the desolate condition of Judaea during 
 the Babylonish captivity."" The imagery is highly poetical. 
 form and void, Ge. i. 1. (24) moved lightly, or as light 
 things, being tossed by the earthquake. (25) birds . . fled, 
 bee. in the desolate land they could not find their food. (2G) 
 frtlitfixl place, or the Carmel (ch. ii. 7). 
 
 i^iii, its iv'ide eonttcqncnas. — Sages of old contended that no sin 
 was ever committed whose ccnscquenccs rested on the head of 
 the sinner alone ; that no man could do ill and his fellows not 
 suffer. They illustrated it thus : " A vessel sailing from Jop-pa 
 carried a passenger who, beneath his berth, cut a hole throug'h 
 the ship's side. When the men of the watch expostulated with 
 him, " Whatdoest thou, miserable man?" the offender calmly 
 replied, " What matters it to you ? The hole I have made lies 
 tinder my own berth." This ancient parable is worthy of the 
 utmost consideration. No man perishes alone in his iniquity ; 
 no man can guess the full consequences of his transgressions.'' 
 
 27 — 31. (27)- thus, Jeremiah now puts the message into 
 plainer language, full end, or final destruction. There was 
 hope and promise even in the Bab. cr-ptivity. (28) not repent, 
 bee. the iniquity of Judah could now only be met by judgments. 
 The time for repentance is conceived as gone. (21») horsemen, 
 etc., the cavalry and archers of Chaldsea. (30) clothest . . 
 gold, intimating the utter uselessness of all attempts to gain 
 the favour and mercy of the conqueror, rentest thy face, or 
 en largest thine eyes with stibium." (31) WOe is me, for the 
 hoioelessness of the calamity. 
 
 J'aintinfj the eyes. — Almost all writers and travellers in the 
 East afford us proof of the unchanging character of Oriental 
 fashions. A gentleman, describing his visit to a Jewish family 
 in Damascus, says : " They were rich, stylish people, consequently 
 •we may conclude that their dress and ornaments were consistent 
 with all that was thought proper or fashionable. The gentle- 
 men of the family being from home, the ladies.received me in a 
 handsome apartment, with the utmost courtesy and kindness. 
 The ceiling and walls of the room were highly ornamented with 
 painting and gilding ; the walls similarly decorated and hung 
 with looking-glasses. The dress of the ladies was splendid : they 
 
 d Robeiis. 
 
 a Twice appliecl, 
 as here, to the 
 low moaning of 
 persons in grief, 
 Is. xvi. 11; Jer. 
 xlviii. 36. 
 b " The repeti- 
 tious clauses of 
 tliis V. are de- 
 signed to give 
 greater force to 
 ttie sentiment 
 conveyed in it." 
 — Hnidersou. 
 c C. Himi'011. if.A. 
 V. 19. Dr. T. Uoi-- 
 ton, 353. 
 
 V. 22. I)r. V. 
 Knox, vi. 253. 
 
 I a Spk. Com. 
 
 b iSptayeon. 
 
 "The efforts ol 
 men to e.^plaia 
 the origin of sin, 
 this throws no 
 more liglit upon 
 it than a candle 
 upon a widely 
 extended laud- 
 scape veiled in 
 mists, and 
 wrapped in mid- 
 night darkness." 
 —Br. Omlirie. 
 
 a "The use of 
 their paint was 
 to contract the 
 eyelids, and make 
 their e3'es appear 
 more large and 
 full, which they 
 thought a great 
 beauty." — Lou-l/i. 
 
 31. & iSmith, 
 325. 
 
 " Her e.ves, spark- 
 ling witli great 
 iro, resembled 
 properly two 
 starsof the night, 
 that shoot forth 
 their brightness 
 upon the earth 
 when all things 
 be in silence."^ 
 William Fainter. 
 
84 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. V. 1, 2. 
 
 " The eye takes 
 in at once the 
 landscape of the 
 ■world at a small 
 inlet which a 
 grain might 
 close, and half 
 creates the won- 
 drous world we 
 ■ee." — Young. 
 
 a Comp. the 
 search of Dio- 
 genes the Cynic 
 in the streets of 
 Athens. 
 
 "The true sense 
 of this jiassage is 
 that Josiah's re- 
 forms were frus- 
 trated by the 
 immorality pre- 
 valent among all 
 classes ; which, 
 though checked 
 lor a time, yet 
 ■was too deeply 
 ingrained to he 
 really eradicated 
 bj' all that good 
 king could do." 
 — Spk. Cum. 
 
 t O. BrooTcs. 
 
 ». 1. Tr. Reading, 
 ii. 469 ; J. Smit'/i, 
 U- 270; A. Jiu- 
 lerts, V. i. 
 
 r. 2. Dr. Ilam- 
 tnond, iv. 601. 
 
 " There are some 
 men who, like 
 pictures, would 
 be perfect in 
 their moral cha- 
 racters were it 
 not for some ble- 
 mish which you 
 discover on tlie 
 ey^, or the enr, or 
 the motilh, or 
 some other part 
 of the exposed 
 person."— yoAn 
 Jiate. 
 
 Actions, looks, 
 •words, steps, 
 
 form the alpha- 
 bet by which you 
 may spell charac- 
 ter." — Luvater. 
 
 ] wore loose Eastern robes of silk, stomachers covered -with gold, 
 I and je'ft'elled ornaments on their heads. But one decoration 
 attracted my attention from all the others, and seemed to my 
 unaccustomed eyes to mar their beauty in a high degree. From 
 the outer corner of each eye a black line was paintid upon the 
 check, which gave exactly the appearance of two slits or rents. 
 Now you will no longer be at a loss to understand what was the 
 singular custom alluded to by Jeremiah, of which there can be 
 little doubt that this fact affords an interesting illustration." 
 
 CHAPTER THE FIFTH. 
 
 1, 2. (1) run, etc.. this is a strong figure, and not to be 
 pressed with absolute literalness. There were some godly men, 
 but Jeremiah refers to the mass of the people, or more particularly 
 to the leaders of the people, find, a man, i.e. one worthy of 
 the name." There was a general corruption of manners. 
 exeCTiteth, in the sense of •' carries out into practice." truth., 
 or probity, it, i.e. Jerusalem. Comp. Ge. xviii. 32. (2) sv.^ear 
 falsely, though not by false gods, they swear in a false, 
 deceptive spirit. They were hypocrites when not idolaters, 
 see r. 7. 
 
 Iii(jht Itind of men {v. 1). — I. That in the estimation of God the 
 true excellence of man is moral and religious. 1. A strict 
 obedience to the Divine will as far as it is known : 2. An earnest 
 endeavour to attain an accurate acquaintance with the Divine 
 word. II. That there are states of society in which men of this 
 description are exceedingly rare. 1. They may ba removed by 
 death ; 2. They may be withdrawn into concealment : 3. They 
 may be reduced in numbers by the progress of degeneracy. 
 III. That in the worst states of society such men are very 
 valuable. 1. They avert Divine judgments ; 2. Draw down 
 Divine blessings ; 3. Promote the work of reformation.'' 
 
 tSfrcet.i i)i Jenisalcni. — In Jeru.?aleni there are no right names 
 for streets, just as in Alexandria and Cairo. Hence the diffi- 
 culty of directing any one to a house or place. In Malta tbe 
 British Government have remedied this with great care, by 
 affixing, in large letters, its name to every street, just as in 
 London or Edinburgh. In ancient times the streets of Jerusalem 
 seem to have had their names ; and it is worth our while to 
 notice how many of these are mentioned in Scripture. There 
 was the Bakers' Street, from which King Zedekiah ordered 
 Jeremiah's food to be sent to him (.Tcr. xxxvii. 21 ). There was 
 '■ Ea.st Street," into which Hezekiah gathered the priests and 
 Levitcs, Avhen exhorting them to cleanse the house, and to 
 carry f 01 th the filthincss that had been allowed to lie there in 
 heaps in the reign of Ahaz (2 Chron. xxix. 4). There was the 
 '• Street of the House of God," into which the men of Judah 
 and Benjamin came together in the days of Ezra (Ez'a x. !)). 
 ITiere was the " "Water-gate Street." where the peo})le came 
 together in the days of Nehcmiah (Xeh. viii. 1, 3, 1(!). There 
 was '• Ephraim-gate Street," where thej' met to celebrate the 
 feast of tabernacles (Xeh. viii. KJ). Nor were these streets few, 
 for Jeremiah, when warning Isi-ael against the increase of her 
 false gods, eays, '-According to the number of the streets of 
 
Cap. V. 3—6.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 25 
 
 Jerusalem have ye eet up altars to that shameful thing," Jer. xi. 
 13. In the days of that Prophet the idolatry seems to liave been 
 more open than before, and the public streets were the place 
 wiiere altars and idols were set up. Heuce there are more 
 allusions to the ••streets of Jerusalem " in his prophecies than in 
 all the other Prophets together (Jer. v. 1, vii. 17, 34, ix. 21, 
 xi. G, 13, xiv. IG, xxxiii. 10, xliv. G, 9, 21). He was specially 
 tha prophet of the streets, the " out-door " preacher : and 
 he was thus brought more keenly and frequently into collision 
 with the inhabitants than any of his " fellow-servants the 
 Prophets."' 
 
 8 — 6. (3) eyes . . truth, i.e. upon the sincerity of religious 
 profession ; upon the heart. God is the God of truth ;" and 
 desireth truth in the inward parts, stricken, with chastise- 
 ments that were designed for correction.* faces . . rock, fig. 
 for an obstinate unwillingness to receive Divine instruction. 
 (4) poor, ctc.,'^ they must belong to those classes which, in all 
 ages, are found least susceptible of religious impressions. (5) 
 great men, men of education and position, these . . bonds, 
 among tliem he found nothing but the most lawless profligacy.'' 
 (G) evenings, or deserts. Three of the wildest animals are 
 here taken to represent the Babylonians, who were to punish the 
 wilful and wicked nation. 
 
 I'/i.ianctip'i'd ajfllction (r. 3). — I. Some of the forms of un- 
 sauctified affliction. 1. Insensibility ; 2. Hardihood. II. Some 
 of the means by which this evil may be kept away. 1. By 
 seeking to ascertain and to accomijlish the design of our affliction ; 
 
 2. By repressing every tendency to murmuring or impatience ; 
 
 3. By avoiding immoderate sorrow.' 
 T/w Hon. — i'he lion prowls about in the day, which I have often 
 
 witnessed in Africa : but the habits of the wolf are different, as 
 it seldom makes its appearance before sunset, after which it comes 
 forth, like other thieves of the night, in search of prey. I never, 
 when moving about in Africa, saw more than one wolf stalking 
 about in daylight, and that was in a most forsaken part, ^^•here, 
 to a great extent, the land was absolutely paved with flag-stones, 
 the same as the side pavements in our streets ; but when night 
 came they were constantly howling and hovering around our 
 encampment. The habit of the leojiard, also, is to be slumbering 
 in concealment during the day ; but the darkness rouses him, 
 and he comes forth seeking what he may devour. It is of the 
 tiger species, and rather smaller. The wolves and leopards 
 have the boldness to prowl about their cities, as the wild 
 beasts did about our wagons in the wilderness, so that it should 
 be most hazardous for man or beast to venture outside their 
 walls/ — 'J7u' n\ilf. — The rapacious character of the wolf was 
 familiarly known to the ancients, for both the Greek and Latin 
 poets frequently mention it. In the first book of the Georgics, 
 Virgil says, this office was given to the wolf by Jupiter, to hunt 
 the prey. " The rapacious wolf "is a phrase which often occurs in 
 the odes of Horace : and Ovid, in one of his Elegies, sings how 
 the wolf, rapacious and greedy of blood. Avhen pressed by famine, 
 piund. rs the uugMarded fold : his ravenous temper prompts 
 liim to destructive and sanguinary depredations. He issues forth 
 in the night, traverses the couTitry, and not only kills what I 
 is suilicient to satisfy his hunger, but everjrw'here, unless deterred ' 
 
 am 
 
 l"When I 
 
 ! man," is the 
 
 j piietry of cliild- 
 
 liood. " Wlien I 
 ! was young," is 
 
 the poetry of old 
 
 age. 
 
 c Christian Treas. 
 
 a De. xxxiL 4. 
 
 6 Is. ix. 13; Je. 
 
 il. 30. 
 
 c " The Prophefc 
 supposes tliat 
 siicli evil conld 
 only exist among 
 the mass of the 
 uninstructed vul- 
 gar, and then he 
 goes ou to ex- 
 )iress his hope 
 tliat lie would 
 find things in a 
 very different 
 state among 
 
 tliose consti- 
 tuting the higher 
 ranks of society, 
 wlio had enjoj-ed 
 superior advau- 
 tages." — Bender' 
 son. 
 
 d " They bid open 
 defiance to God's 
 laws, and cast oif 
 all obligations of 
 duty and con- 
 science ; like 
 lieadstrong oxen 
 that will not be 
 brought under 
 tlie yoke, but 
 break through 
 any bonds wliere- 
 by you would re- 
 I striiin them, or 
 bring them under 
 discipliue." — 
 Loicth. 
 
 e G. Broois. 
 
 f Campbell. 
 
 V. 3. Origen, Op. 
 iii. 1G3; Dr. k. 
 Lucns, iii. 253 ; 
 H. i»rtr(>.s, iii. 151 ; 
 Dr. Fplhcrgill, i. 
 403; T. Jiennell, 
 347. 
 
 r. 4. Dr. & 
 Clarke, 405. 
 
20 
 
 JEnE.)riA!T. 
 
 [Cap. V. 7— ft 
 
 vv. 4. B. Dr. y. 
 
 Jinvi;/, i. 45 ; Dr. 
 J. (Jrlun, i. 225. 
 
 " The way to gain 
 a g()nA ri'p.Ua- 
 tion is to emloa- 
 voiir to be wliat 
 yoa desire to ap- 
 poar."— S >c/vito. 
 "Affliction is the 
 Roo 1 man's sliin- 
 iug sceuj ; pros- 
 perity conoo.ils 
 hisbri'jlitest ray ; 
 a? niglit to star-?, 
 woe lustre gives 
 to mau."-i'u««y. 
 
 " lie went, like 
 one t!iat liath 
 beenstiiMu'd and 
 is of sense for- 
 lorn ; a sa Idor 
 and a wiser man 
 he rose the mor- 
 row morn." — 
 Coleridje. 
 
 It " all things 
 work togetlier 
 for good to them 
 that love God," 
 tlion afflictions 
 must 1)0 among 
 the number. 
 
 No man has n 
 right to do as he 
 pleases except 
 when he pleases 
 to do right. 
 
 g Paxton. 
 
 a Je. V. 25, ix. 0, 
 
 xliv. 22. 
 
 r. 8. " The Kam;> 
 term is used in 
 tlie East to de- 
 note a similar 
 thing. It is said, 
 ' Listen to tliat 
 evil man, he is 
 always neigliing.' 
 ' O that wicked 
 one, he is like 
 tlie horse in his 
 frensy.' 'The 
 men of that 
 family are all 
 neigli.^rs.' Jl.'a- 
 thcnism is ever 
 true to itself: 
 Impurity is its 
 jnscpirablo com- 
 pa iiiou." — lio- 
 berlt. 
 
 by the barkinj'' of dog-.? or the vociferation of the shepheplg, 
 destroy.? a whole flock ; he roams about the cottacjes. kills all the 
 animals which have been left without, dig-.s the earth umler the 
 doors, enters with a dreadful ferocity, and puts every living 
 creature to death, before he chooses to depart, and carry off hia 
 prey. "Wlien these inroads happen to be fruitless, ho returns to 
 the wools, searches about with avidity, follows the track of wild 
 beasts, and pursues th^m in the hope that they may be stopped 
 and seiz3d by some other wolf, and that ho may be a partaker of 
 tho spoil. " To appease hunger," says Buffon, " he swaIlow.s in- 
 discriminately cverythingf he can find, corrupted flesh, bones, 
 hair, skins half-tanned and covered with lime ;" and Pliny avcra 
 that he devours the earth on which he treads, to satisfy hia 
 voracious appetite. Wheu his hunger is extremo, he loses the 
 idea of fear ; he attacks women and children, and even some- 
 times darts upon men ; till, becoming' perfectly furious by 
 excessive exertions, he generally falls a sacrifice to pure rage and 
 distraction. He has been accordingly joined with the lion in 
 executing punishment upon wicked men ; and it is evident, from 
 his character and habits, that he is well adapted to the work of 
 judgment : '' The great men," Baiel Jeremiah, •' have altogether 
 broken the yoke, and burst the bonds ; wherefore a lion out of 
 the forest shall slay them, and n, wolf of the evenings shall spoil 
 them." The rapacious and cruel conduct of the princes of Israel 
 is compared by Ezekiel to the mischievous inroads of the samo 
 animal : " Her princes in the midst thereof, are like wolvca 
 ravening' the prey, to shed blool, to destroy souls, to get dis- 
 honest gain." The disposition of the wolf to attack the weaker 
 animals, especially these which are under the protection of man, 
 is alluded to by our Lord in the parable of tlie hireling shepherd : 
 ■• The wolf catches them and scatters the flock ;" and the Apostle 
 Paul, in his address to the elders of Ephesus, gives the name of 
 this insidious and cruel animal to the false teachers who disturb 
 the peace, and perverted the faith of their people : ■• I kno\r 
 this, that after my dejiarting, shall g-rievous wolves enter in. 
 among you, not sparing the flock." Ovid gives him the same 
 character iu his fable of Lycaon.^ 
 
 7 — 9. (7) how, or why. What reason can be olTered for any 
 expectation of pardon ? sworn . . gods, again and again the 
 " swearing " is noticed as a solemn act of religion, fed . . full, 
 supplied them with all good : some, however, trans., '"though I 
 bound them to ]Me by oath." harlots' houses, a strong fig. for 
 idol temples, but, with allusion to the unclean rites of idol 
 worship. (8) fed, etc., Eze. xxii. 11. (9) visit," iu severe 
 judgments. 
 
 Sill a h'ni'lrannr, to our rpcrivinrj hJc-ixlnfj-t. — "When our spiritual 
 supplies fail, the channel is sometimes at fault, and not the 
 stream ; the hindranc? to their coming lies with us and not with 
 our heavenly Father. The supply of fuel to our city in midwinter 
 sometimes fails, not because the coal-fields are exhausted, but 
 because the weather has frozen our rivers, detained our colliers in 
 the channel, and blocked up our railways. The supply of ^^•ater 
 or of gas to our houses is sometimes insufficient, not becaiise the 
 reservoirs are low, but because the pipes which connect our 
 dwellings with the m'ain service are choked up or broken. 
 I News fails to reach us, uot because our correspondent has neg- 
 
Cap. V. 10—24.] 
 
 JEREMIAff. 
 
 27 
 
 lected to write, but because the means of transmission have been 
 imperfect.* 
 
 10 — 13. (10) go ye, an apostrophe addressed to the Baby- 
 lonians. They were to execute the Divine judgment, full end, 
 final and complete destruction, v. IS. not the Lord's, He 
 having' withdrawn from their defence, by reason of their 
 iniquities. (11, J 2) belied, spoken unworthily and untruth- 
 fully of God." (13) word . . then, i.e. any word or message 
 from God.* thus . . then, " may the evil which the Prophets 
 threaten fall upon their own head." 
 
 Vnln dcfcnct'H (r. 10). — I. The sinner's consciousness of danger. 
 
 1. His danger is real ; 2. He has a deep-seated apprehension of it. 
 II. His inadequate means of defence. 1. Sometimes in an 
 absolute denial of the moral government of God ; 2. In mistaken 
 views of the Divine character ; 3. In a false estimate of personal 
 merit or excellence.' 
 
 14—18. (U) words . . mouth, ch. i. 9. fire . . wood, ?>., 
 the issue of thy words shall be a destruction like the burning of 
 dry wood." (15) from far, Is. xxxix. 3. mighty, or enduring, 
 firm, language . . not,'' as threatened, De. xxviii. 49. (lH) 
 quiver, kcc ch. iv. 29. (17) bread, here put for bread-corn, 
 impoverish, better, pound, or batter with the battering-ram. 
 sword, here in a general sense for the instruments of siege. 
 (IS) full end, as V. 10, ch. iv. 27. 
 
 Her. Dr. Campbell. — " Is not Mr. B. a deep preacher 1 " asked a 
 friend of the late Eev. Dr. Campbell, of Aberdeen. " Eh 1 " 
 replied the doctor, smiling : " I will tell you a story, sir. "When 
 I was a boy, I was amusing myself with some other boys in a 
 pool. Some of them were going further in than I was disposed 
 to go. and I was frightened. To a man, who was passing by, 
 I called out, ' Is this pool deep 1 ' ' No, man,' replied he ; 'it is 
 only muddy.' There is such a thing as preaching the deep 
 things of God, which will be neither understood nor relished by 
 the natural man. But it is very possible to jn-each the plain 
 truths of the Gospel, in a language and style which at once 
 clothe them with mystery, and expose them to ridicule. It ought 
 never to be forgotten that the Gospel is a revelation : and that 
 it is by manifestation of the truth that the preacher is to com- 
 mend himself to every man's conscience. I have heard of t 
 minister discussing the unrevealed glories of Christ. This may 
 be deep preaching ; I am sure it must be very nonsensical and 
 unprofitable."" 
 
 19—24. (19) like as, etc., retribution has come upon thee, 
 retribution in kind." They had given themselves up to worship 
 foreign idols, they should now be given up to serve foreign 
 masters. (20, 21) declare this, proclaim it publicly. (22) 
 sand . . decree,* Job xxxviii. 10. 11 ; Ps. civ. 9. (23) heart,_ 
 or disposition, will." (21) fear, in the religious sense of 
 •' worship." giveth rain, etc.. comp. Ps. cxlvii. 8 ; Mat. v. 45 ; 
 Ac. xiv. 17. weeks .. harvest, the seven weeks intervening 
 bet. thr- Passover and Pente^ ost, dating fr. the ICth day of Nisan. 
 
 1)1(1} ffrrnwe (r. 21). — I. AVhiC God has done to produce pious] 
 consideration. 1. lie hr.s given powers of mind adapted to it ; | 
 
 2. lie lias given us the means to answer to these powers ; 3. His 
 Uoly Spirit to strive, convince, etc. II. The indifference men ; 
 
 b S. Martin. 
 
 ' a " Tlicy denied 
 the Liiviiie go- 
 veniment over 
 liuuiaii affairs; 
 I asc.ibing His 
 ! judgments to 
 { cliance or for- 
 1 tune, and disbe- 
 1 i e V i n g all 
 threateuinjjs of 
 sword or fa- 
 mine which the 
 Prophets have 
 denounced in Hi3 
 niiuie, wli. i.s, iu 
 eflect, to give 
 Ilim the lie." — 
 L< III /I. 
 b IIo. i. 2. 
 c G. Brooks, 
 
 a "Thy dentin- 
 
 i ciations of judg- 
 I nient shall aU 
 I be fulfilled, and 
 shall consume 
 them as lire does 
 wood." — Fausset. 
 b " This would 
 render tliem 
 more pitiless, a( 
 they would not 
 understand their 
 cries for mercy." 
 —iSpk. Com. 
 
 " Our actions are 
 our own ; their 
 consequences be- 
 long to heaven." 
 — Francis. 
 
 " Our best light 
 must be made 
 lite, and our best 
 thouglit, action." 
 — IS. Umiles. 
 
 c R. T. S. 
 
 a "All God's pro- 
 mises were niada 
 upon condition 
 of your obedi- 
 ence, and if you 
 forsake (J od, you 
 are not to e.vpecb 
 that the iiroiuise 
 of dwelling iu 
 tliis land sliouid 
 be made good to 
 you any longer." 
 —Ltjulh. 
 
 i"Modern science 
 has shown that 
 tlie resisting 
 
 power of sand is 
 
28 
 
 JEREMUn. 
 
 [Cap. vi. 1—5, 
 
 enormous. By 
 the nicclianical 
 laws wli. guvcni 
 it tlie sliock of a 
 blow is distribu- 
 ted laterally, and 
 produces little- 
 effect. A wave 
 wh. would shatter 
 rocks falls power- 
 less upon saud." 
 — Spk. Cum. 
 c De. xxi. 18, 20. 
 <t Dr. Dunis. 
 
 a " In metaphors 
 taken fr. bird- 
 catchers, the I'ro- 
 pliet describes 
 the cunuinK of 
 the more aban- 
 doned part of the 
 nation, and the 
 great we.alth wli. 
 they had unjustly 
 acquired."— //tvt- 
 derson. 
 
 b J. J. Cort, M.A. 
 a " Both priests 
 and prophets 
 agree to speak 
 pleasing things 
 to the people, 
 thereby to keep 
 up their interest 
 and authority 
 with them ; and 
 what can this 
 end in but a total 
 corruption of 
 manners ? the 
 cnisequence of 
 wh. must be utter 
 ruin and destruc- 
 tion." — Linoth. 
 h S. Martin. 
 
 a " Every one 
 knows that Jeru- 
 salem is situated 
 in the tribe of 
 Benjamin. As for 
 Tekoa, we see 
 every day with 
 our own eyes tliat 
 it is a little town 
 upon a hill about 
 twelve (Roman) 
 miles from Juru- 
 Balem. Between 
 these is anotlier 
 villiige, called in 
 the Heb. and Syr. 
 tongues, /li'l/t- 
 acharmn, whioh 
 also is placed 
 upon a hiU." — S. 
 Jeronn: 
 
 b " The peuernls. 
 more prudent 
 
 often exhibit. 1. Of some it is total, without any concern ; 2. 
 Of othcns considerate only of the cxtcrnal.s of religion ; ."5. Of 
 some only to tlic intellectual parti of truth ; 4. Of others only 
 occasional. III. The consequences of this indifference. 1. It 
 i.s extremely foolish ; 2. Detrimental to the soul ; iJ. Specially 
 offensive to God ; 4. Must end in the soul's ruin. Apply : — (1) 
 Examine and test yourselves ; (2) Seek the quickening- iufluencjs 
 of the Spirit ; (3) Be resolved and wise, and now, lest you perish 
 for ever.'* 
 
 25—28. (2.")) iniquities, rfc, ch. iii. 3. (2G) lay wait, or 
 "pry as fowlers lie in wait."" (27) cage, or basket coop full of 
 birds that have been caught, full of deceit, i.e. of treasures 
 acquired by fraud. (2^)) fat, De. xxxii, 15. overpass, sur- 
 pass in wickedness even the wicked. 
 
 JVational {IcHnqiicncy (v. 25). — Notice the chief of our national 
 sins. 1. Ungodliness ; 2. Immorality ; 3. General indifference 
 to the truth. Apply :— (1) Lay it to heart personally ; (2) Pray 
 for your country.'' 
 
 29—31. (29) not visit, v. 9. (.30) wonderful, or a thing 
 exciting amazement and terror. (31) by their means, accord- 
 ing to the guidance and directions of these false prophets, love 
 to have it so, prefer the license wh. such false teachings 
 give." Mi. ii. 11. 
 
 M'hai Kill ye do in the end? (y. 31). — I. There is an end to 
 every evil course — a termination, and a result which God fore- 
 knows as a certain termination, and as an inevitable re.sult, if 
 an evil course be pei-si.sted in and persevered in. II. The end is 
 not far distant ; it draws nigh. III. The proximate end of some 
 things is already realised, and the end of other things is begin- 
 ning to api:»ear. IV. Some of our fellows are, under our eye, 
 realising the proximate end of many of their evil ways ; while 
 others, by looking to the end, have forsaken their evil ways. 
 Appeal to different characters, as the hypocrite, the neglecter 
 of salvation, to the criminal, etc.* 
 
 CHAPTER THE SIXTH. 
 
 1 — 5. (1) of Benjamin, a name for Jerusalem, as situated 
 partly within the limits of this tribe. Jeremiah was himself a 
 JJenjamite. Tekoa, 11 m. S. of Jerusalem. Th^ south was tho 
 only road open to thosT Avho would escaps. Bstli-haocerem, 
 Ne. iii. 14." (2) comely, etc., or, to a luxuriant pasturage. (3) 
 shepherds, efc., another fig. for the consuming Babylonians, 
 who should feed upon this pasture. (4) at noon, the usual 
 resting time : but, in their eagerne.ss, the Chaldajans would 
 advance even at noon, woe, cfc. the expression of the im- 
 patient soldiers.* (5) go by night, i.e. the soldiers clamour for 
 a night assault. 
 
 T/n: cirrliny .teaxnna of the year (v. 4). — 1. Thei'C are times 
 when serious thoughts will crowd into the mind ; 2. For wlio 
 can see things cliange and depart without regret.' 3. But yet the 
 fuller beauties of summer succeed to those of spring : 4. It 
 would seem tliat autumns have produced similar feelings in the 
 miudsof inspired writers ; 5. Scenes of autumnal docny speak to 
 those who are in the summer of their life ; 6. The autumn of 
 
Cap.vi. 6— 12.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 29 
 
 life is approaching ; 7. 'When the evening is come night is not i 
 far off ; when auiunin is with us winter is at hand." i 
 
 Note on r. 1 — Fire a'lfinnh. — Fire signs are used as a telegraph 
 in some parts of tlie South Seas. A native of Tanna, in giving [ 
 me the news one morning, said, " There will be a party over from ; 
 the island of Aueiteum to-day or to-morrow." " How do you I 
 know ? " " Because we saw a great bonfire rising there last 
 night."' The natives of heathen islands are also in the habit i 
 of kindling fires, as a smoke signal, to attract the notice of a j 
 vessel which may be off their shore. Sometimes when we are ' 
 wondering whether there are any natives among the dense bush i 
 which we see from the ship, up goes a column of smoke, and 
 removes all doubt.'' — Note on r. 2. — A passage of D'Arvieux will 
 account for that surprise which he supposes the daughters of 
 Jerusalem would notwithstanding feel, upon seeing the swarthi- 
 ness of the person which Solomon had chosen for his spouse, 
 as it shows the attention usually paid by the great men of the 
 East to the complexion of their wives, as well as the great 
 tanning power of the sun in Palestine. " The princesses, and 
 the other Arab ladies, whom they showed me from a private 
 place of the tent, appeared to me beautiful and well shaped ; 
 one may judge by these, and by what they told me of them, that 
 the rest are no less so ; they are very fair, because they are 
 always kept from the sun. The women in common are ex- 
 tremely sunburnt, besides the brown and swarthy colour which 
 they naturally have," etc. Naturally, he says, though this most 
 permanent swarthiness must arise from the same cause with that 
 temporary tanning he speaks of. or otherwise the Ar-ab princesses 
 would have been swarthy, though not sunburnt, being natives of 
 the country, which yet, he aflirms, they were not. It is on this 
 account, without doubt, that the Prophet Jeremiah, when he 
 ■would describe a comely woman, describes her by the character 
 of one that dwelleth at home. The delicate, and those that are 
 Bolicitous to preserve their beauty, go very little abroad : it 
 Beems it was so anciently, and therefore the Prophet uses a term 
 to express a woman of beauty, which would not be very appli- 
 cable to many British, fine ladies. * 
 
 6 — 8. fC) cast a moTint, marg. "pour out the engine of 
 Bhot."" The fig. of pouring has reference to the emptying of the 
 baskets of earth, wh. were brought to make the mound. (7) 
 grief, etc., the groan of those suffering by reason of the w'icked- 
 ness wh. calls for these judgments. (8) instructed, or learn 
 the lessons of thy chastisement, my SOUl, or I Myself: ''lest 
 My mind and affection be utterly alienated from thee." 
 
 A soJenm admonition (r. 8).— I. The benefits of instruction in 
 national danger. II. The destructive consequences of this in- 
 struction being sent in vain. Apply — 1. To the man who rests 
 in the mere external observances of a public fast ; 2. To those 
 who are desirous of instruction.* 
 
 9 — 12. (9) turn back, or go over the vineyard again to be j „ comp. Is. xtU. 
 quite sure no stray grapes are left." into the baskets, better, ! 6, x.\iv. 13. 
 " upon the tendrils." (10) ear is uncirctimcised, ch. vii. 20 : 
 Ac. vii. 'A. " Closed against the precepts of God by carnality." , '■. 10. J. Si/aU, 
 reproach, they turn it into ridicule. (11) weary with 
 holding in, and must utter my denunciations, wh. shall reach all 
 
 than the troops, 
 (loLiy tlie assault 
 till the iie.xt 
 morning, the 
 usual lime for 
 such an enter- 
 pnie."-Sjk. Com. 
 
 c /.'. W/iileJuad, 
 M.A. 
 
 "In Eeth-hacce- 
 reni there niight 
 possibly be a very 
 liigh tower. Kim- 
 chi observes that 
 the woril signifies 
 a high tower, for 
 tlie keepers of the 
 vines to watch in. 
 If it Mere so, it 
 was a very proper 
 place to set »ip 
 the sign of fire 
 in, to give notice 
 to all the sur- 
 rounding coun- 
 try. It was usual 
 with the Per- 
 sians, Grecians, 
 and Romans, to 
 signify in the 
 night by signs of 
 fire, and by burn- 
 i n g torches, 
 eitlier the ap- 
 proach of an 
 enemy, or suc- 
 cour from friends. 
 The former was 
 done by shaking 
 and moving their 
 torches ; the 
 
 latter by holding 
 tliem Etill."— 
 Binder. 
 d Dr. Turner, 
 e IJarmer. 
 
 a Comp. 2 Sa. tx. 
 15; Isa. x.\.\vii. 
 33 ; Je. x.xxii. 24, 
 xxxiii. 4; Eze, 
 xvii. 17. 
 b K. Cecil, M.A. 
 !-.8. Or.Ji. WItich- 
 cole, i. 177; Abp. 
 Tillolson, ill. 53 ; 
 R. Cumell, 43 ; 
 T. Meeler, 125; 
 P. ill nclwn. it. 
 276 ; J. T. Robin- 
 son, 111; K. C. 
 Cox, 342. 
 
 , 10. 
 74. 
 
80 
 
 J'ERFAIIMl. 
 
 [Cap. vt. 9- 12« 
 
 *' How wretched 
 a spectacle is a 
 garden into 
 ■wliicli cloven- 
 footed b e a s t n 
 have entered ! 
 That which yes- 
 terday was fra- 
 grant, and shone 
 all over with 
 crowded beauty, 
 is to-day rooted, 
 despoiled, tram- 
 pled, and utterly 
 devoured ; and 
 flll over the 
 ground you shall 
 find but tlie re- 
 jected cuds of 
 flowers and 
 Vo-vves and forms 
 that have been 
 champed for their 
 juices and then 
 rejected. Such 
 to me is the 
 Bible, when the 
 pragmatic pro- 
 phecy-mo n per 
 and tlie swinish 
 utilitarian have 
 toothed its fruits 
 and craunched 
 its blossoms." — 
 Beecher, 
 
 "The motives of 
 the best actions 
 ■will not bear too 
 Eti-ict an inquiry. 
 It is allowed that 
 the cause of most 
 actions, good or 
 bad, may be re- 
 solved into the 
 love of ourselves : 
 but the self-love 
 of some men in- 
 clines them to 
 please others ; 
 and the self-love 
 of others is 
 wholly emploj-ed 
 in pleasing thorn- 
 selves. This 
 makes the great 
 distinction be- 
 tween virtue and 
 vice."— /SVt'V. 
 
 classes, young-, miJdle-aged, and old. full of days, i.e. who 
 have lived to the full term and peHod of human life. (12) 
 houses . . others, De. x.xviii. 30. 
 
 Ciiurfiijefor (hul vcirnvdcd. — A traveller relates the following 
 incident : — " Some time since, I was travelling' in Switzerland. 
 On the close of a brilliant day I was anxious to see the last rays 
 of the setting sun. I mounted a hill, and, struck with admira- 
 tion at the g-lorious colouring- around me. I longed for a com- 
 panion to unite with me in praising the Sun of righteou.sness 
 thus visible in the beauties of creation. A distant whistle from 
 a peasant returning to his home quickened my steps, but his 
 speed fast exceeded mine, and he was quickly out of sight. The 
 rosy tints were also fading, giving jjlace to the deep shadows 
 of evening. As I descended the height, I walked clo.se to a 
 hedge which bordered a deep ravine. The sound of voices from 
 beneath arrested my attention ; and looking through the bushes, 
 I beheld a body of men, wearing the apjiearance of banditti, 
 at their evening meal. Here. I thought, is an opportunity of 
 making known the plan of salvation ; but my timid, bashful 
 nature suggested the temerity of such an effort. One so totally 
 defenceless as I was could not be called upon to face such a 
 gang ; so I moved on slowly, still listening to their rough 
 language. Dissatisfied with my own cowardice, I went near au 
 opening in the hedge to take another view ; my foot trod uj^on 
 unsafe ground, and I came down with the crumbling earth into 
 the midst of the dreaded party. I now felt God had decided for 
 me, and realised the truth of the following lines : — 
 " ' Let faith suppress each rising fear. 
 
 Each anxious doubt exclude ; 
 Thy ]\Iaker's will has placed thee here, 
 
 A Maker wise and good.' 
 " ' A booty I a booty I ' shouted the marauders. With a strength 
 not my own, I echoed, with an undaunted voice. ' A booty ! a 
 booty such as you have never received before ! ' An unpleas.ant 
 expression passed over their faces. I heeded it not, feeling 
 assured I was God's ambassador. 'Yes,' I exclaimed. ' I bring- 
 you good news — glorious news, of a powerful Friend who is able 
 and willing to save both body and soul.' A tall, dark-featured 
 man took up my words. ' Save my soul ? No one has ever 
 cared for my soul : I have been a castaway from my birth.' 
 Opening my pocket Bible, I repeated from niemoiy — for there 
 was no other light but such as the stariy firmament gave — 
 suitable invitations, exhortations, and promises. Oh ! how quick 
 and powerful is the Avord of God. discerning the thoughts and 
 intents of the heart, imparting light, life, and hope ! Finding- 
 the attention of my hearers riveted, I concluded -with this 
 verse : — 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, 
 that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' With 
 heartfelt pleasure I heard a union of voices cry out, ' Let ua 
 shake hands upon that ! ' ' Let us also,' I said, ' go to the Foun- 
 tain of all strength, and ask God to confirm our resolutions." 
 They unanimously knelt down under the blue vault of heaven. 
 U])on rising, the dark-featured man begged a favour of me — 
 ' Will you give me your Bible ? ' ' Will j'ou promise,' I asked, 
 ' to read it with prayer ? ' 'I will,' he answered. Three years 
 after this interview I was accosted by a respectable-looking man 
 
Cap. vi. 13-20.] 
 
 JE REM I An. 
 
 31 
 
 in Piccadilly. ' Excuse the liberty of the inquiry, sir. Have 
 you visited such a canton, in Switzerland, in such a year .' And 
 do you recognise this book ? ' pi-oducing' from his pocket my 
 well-worn Bible. Answering in the affirmative, he then grasped 
 my hand, and said, • This gift has been blessed to my soul : and 
 often have I prayed that I might meet you ^on earth to thank 
 y^u for this inestimable boon.' " 
 
 '' Cast down thj'self . and only strive to raise 
 The glory of thy Maker's sacred name. 
 Use all thy power that blessed Power to raise, 
 "Which gives the power to be, anduse the same." 
 
 — Herbert.* 
 13—17. (13) to covetonsness, or gaining gains," the 
 acquisition of exorbitant or unjust gains, falsely, or fraudu- 
 lently. (14) slightly, only making a surface-healing, without 
 reaching the deep cause, daug-hter . . people, the poetic 
 name for Jerusalem, saying, peace, this would be the hope 
 based on Josiah's reforms.* (15) were they ashamed, a 
 people is in a terrible condition when it is past feeling srhame. 
 (!(]) old paths, the neglected and despised ways of allegiance 
 to Jehovah, and obedience to His wilL'' (17) -watchmen, the 
 Prophets. 
 
 Tli-c old jmtlut (r. 10). — The figure : travellers and their guides. 
 I. The denomination, " old paths." 1. Because ordained from 
 eternity ; 2. Because herein all the saints have walked ; 3. 
 Because tried. II. The description, " good way." A way is 
 good — 1. "When safe ; 2. "When direct ; 3. "When frequented : 
 4. When pleasant ; 5. "When firm and pas.?a'ble. III. The direc- 
 tions, ''Stand, etc." 1. They who seek this path should be 
 cautious in their observations ; 2. They must be earnest in their 
 inquiries ; 3. They should be prompt in entering thereon. IV. 
 The destination, " rest." 1. On the journey, contentment, satis- 
 faction, etc ; 2. Afterwards eternal repose.'' 
 
 18 — 20. (IS) congregation, or general assembly of man- 
 kind. (19) O earth, the appeal being even to nature to listen 
 to God's charge against His people. (2(i) to what piirpose," or 
 what is the value of any external ceremonies, when the heart is 
 not in them .' Sheba, a part of Arabia Felix, famous for its 
 spices, sweet cane,* Is. xliii. 24. "burnt offerings, which 
 shof/Id testify to an entire devotion to My service, but do not. 
 
 j\'fife 0)1 v. 20. — The sweet-smellmg reed grows in the deserts of 
 Arabia. It is gathered near Jambo, a i^ort town of Arabia 
 Petra3a, from M-hence it is brought into Egyjot. Pliny says it is 
 common to India and Syria. This plant was probably among the 
 number of those which the Queen of Sheba presented to 
 Solomon ; and what seems to confirm the opinion is, that it 
 is still very much esteemed by the Arabs on account of its 
 fragrance. It is likely the sweet cane of Jeremiah, who calls it 
 prime, or excellent, and associates it with incense from Sheba. 
 '• To what purpose cometh there to IMe incense from Sheba, and 
 the sweet cane from a far country .''' And, in allusion to the 
 same plant. Isaiah complains in the name of Jehovah. " Thou 
 hast bought Me no sweet cane with money." In the Book 
 of Exodus it is called " sweet calamus," and is said to come 
 '•from a far country ;"' which agrees with the declaration of 
 ancient writers, that the best is brought from India." 
 
 "The flighty pur- 
 pose never is o'er- 
 tiiok, unless the 
 deed go with it ; 
 from this mo- 
 ment the Tcry 
 firstliiiprs of ny 
 heart shall be the 
 firstlings of my 
 liand." — Hhakc- 
 xjieuiv. 
 
 b CliHtrhman's 
 Pnttiy Ma<j. 
 
 a Is. Ivi. 11; Je. 
 viii. ]0. 
 
 b '• They have 
 used oidy l(ni- 
 litis, as if a sur- 
 ge o n should 
 slightly s-kin over 
 as< re that festers 
 underneath." — 
 L(,iii/i. 
 
 c " Teur country 
 was once pi-osper- 
 ons and blessed. 
 Try to Icaru what 
 were tlie paths 
 trndden in those 
 days by your an- 
 ee.-tors. Discover 
 what the good 
 path was wli. led 
 them to liappi- 
 ness. See wliether 
 it was the 
 patli of idolatry, 
 of moral corrup- 
 tion, of priv:;te 
 greed;- cr the 
 p.atli of true re- 
 ligion, of purity 
 of life, of self- 
 sacrilice." — Sjik. 
 Ctm, 
 
 d Stems and 
 Twigs. 
 
 a Is. i. 11, Ixvi. 3; 
 Am. V. 21; M. 
 vi. 6. 
 
 " The oracle of 
 .lupiter Hammon 
 gave this answer 
 to the Atlienians, 
 ' I am better 
 pleased with the 
 prayer of the 
 Lacedemonians 
 tlian with all the 
 oblations of the 
 Greeks.'"— /"/aro. 
 
 b Ex. sxx. 23. 
 
 V. 19. W. J. JB. 
 
 Biiiiiell, 291. 
 
 c Paxlon. 
 
32 
 
 JEnE3fIAff. 
 
 [Cap. vi. 21—30. 
 
 a "When Gofl 
 saya He lays 
 stuinlilins-blocks 
 ill mens way. wi- 
 iriust rerae'ubor 
 tint it is by the 
 g(!iieral ai;Uon of 
 His moral law, by 
 which wilful sin 
 in ouo point re- 
 acts upoii the 
 whole moral na- 
 ture." — Upk. Com. 
 
 b Is. xiv. 13. 
 
 " Wlien a person 
 l3 hungry, or 
 weary, or when 
 he bears biul 
 news, it is said, 
 * His bauJs h.ave 
 become weak,' 
 'His hamls have 
 turneil cold.' " — 
 Roberts. 
 
 " Jrost. wretched 
 men are cradled 
 into poetry by 
 wronj; : tliey 
 learn in sufFerinj? 
 what tliey teach 
 in song."-S/tdlfi/. 
 
 " Only the ac- 
 tions of tlie just 
 smell sweet, and 
 blossom in the 
 iiiiit."Shirlt'!f. 
 
 e Neie.^paper, 
 
 a Mi. i. 10. 
 
 6 Lowlh. 
 
 e Ft. xvii. 3 : Isa. 
 i. 25 ; Zee. xiii. 9 ; 
 Mai. iii. 2, 3; 1 
 Pe. i. 7. 
 
 d " They have 
 rejected .all God's 
 gifts and motives 
 for their repent- 
 ance, and there- 
 fore Jeliovah has 
 rejected them as 
 an alloy too ut- 
 terly adulterate 
 to repay the re- 
 finer's toil." — 
 Spk. Com. 
 
 "As we see one 
 coal kiiviie an- 
 other, and Wood 
 to be apt matter 
 
 I 21—25. (21) stumblingblocks, or causes of stumbling-. « 
 ; Perhaps ref. is to the Babylonians, as causes of the fall of 
 the nation. C22) sides . . earth, or remotest regions of the 
 eart.h.^ (2.*5) spear, or javelin : coinp. the Zulu /7.?.?^v/^//. voice 
 roareth, Ls. xvii. 12, i:i. horses, ch. iv. 18. '(21) time, 
 report of the ])rowess and mijrht of the Chald:eans. hands . . 
 feeble, so that we cannot hold our weapons. (25) every sid,e, 
 there is danjrer all around. 
 
 ) Diiljlit. mir ]))'(! i/rr. — According' to the Di-lhi Gazette, the 
 I Dufllas are in an uncomfortable state of mind about our approach- 
 ing expedition into thrir country. A big-soundinj: war prayer 
 I has been drawn up by the local pope, who has enjoined all true 
 Dufllas to repeat it twice a day. Among other things they are to 
 pray : " Let their co.asts bs ruled by us ! Let the demon-< of their 
 fo^-ts be given to those of ours ! Let the soul of him who is the 
 chief cause of this quarrel be bound by that of our friend and 
 chief, whom he has injured ! Let the properties of their country 
 ! be received by us ! Let their warriors be seized by us ; for 
 which reason make strong all our warriors, that they may bind 
 j the spirits of all their able men for us to destroy them 1 Give U3 
 j such help that they may not stand or hold, and that they be 
 1 rendere<l insane and made to tremble ! Come, our principal god, 
 \ who art great, and powerful, and old, and whose words are 
 I always obeyed, destroy all oitr enemies, with all they possess, 
 ; even that which is upon their backs ! Let owls scream on their 
 houses ! Let all venomous reptiles scramble up the posts of 
 I their houses, and frighten them with terrific noises ! Let fierce 
 ' dogs, wild elephants, and ferocious tigers terrify them, so that 
 they scratch each other's faces and tear their own hair ! Let the 
 rainbow drink up the water of their wells, and tanks, and rivers ! 
 Let a powerful tempest sweep them away ! Come, spirits of our 
 warriors, of our ancestors, seize the spirits of our enemif^s ! 
 Come, sjiirits of our great-grandmothers, with the demons of this 
 powerful country, by whom we are governed, and whose eyes, and 
 ears, and nostrils are ever open towards us 1'* 
 
 26—30. (2fi) gird, ete.. as ch. iii. 2.".« wallow . . ashes, 
 the sign of wilduess of grief, only son. Am. viii. 10 : Zee. 
 xii. 10. spoiler, i.e. Nebuchadnezzar. (27) tower, or watch- 
 man in a tower, to notice the people's ways. (28) brass and 
 iron, '• their impudence resembles brass, and their obstinacy may 
 be compared to iron.'* (2'J) burned, or snort, blow furiously. 
 But these metals will not be refined even in intense fires of 
 chastisement.*^ (1^0) reprobate, or refuse ; only dross, with no 
 basis of good metal.'' 
 
 The lattle-feliL— 
 
 I3oyond Busaco's mountains dun. 
 AVh(^n far had roU'd the sultry sun. 
 And night her pall of gloom had thrown 
 O'er Nature's still convexity ; 
 
 High on the heath our tents were spread. 
 The cold turf was our cheerless bed, 
 And o'er the hero's dew-chill'd he.ad 
 The banners llapp'd incessantly. 
 
Cap. vii. 1—4.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 33 
 
 The loud war-ti-nmpet woke the morn, 
 The quiveiinc;' druni. the peali'ig- horn ; 
 From i-ank to rank the cry is borne, 
 " Aroiise for death or victory 1" 
 
 The orb of day. in crimson dye, 
 Began to mount the morninji: sky ; 
 Then, what a sight for warrior's eye 
 Hung on the bold declivity 1 
 
 The serried bay'nets glittering stood, 
 Like icicles on hills of blood ; 
 An aerial stream, a silver wood,_ 
 
 Reel'd in the flickering canopy. 
 
 Like waves of ocean rolling fast. 
 Or thunder-cloud before the blast, 
 Massena's legions, stern and vast, 
 Rush'd to the dreadful reveliy. 
 
 The pause is o'er : the fatal shock 
 A thousand thousand thunders woke ; 
 The air grows sick ; the mountains rock 
 Red Ruin rides triumphantly.* 
 
 CHAPTER THE SEVENTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) word, a new prophecy, or denunciation. (2) gate, 
 either the principal gate on the east side of the temple : or the 
 gate of the court of Israel : prob. the latter. (3) amend . . 
 doings, Zee. i. (>, '' ivoys or habits, (hi'ing.t the separate actions 
 upon which the formation of habits depends." cause you, or 
 permit you. (4) lying words, such as deceive, temple . . 
 these, the repetition emphasises their confidence. Being the 
 temple and service of Jehovah, they intimated that it would never 
 be destroyed. God would surely protect it."* 
 
 " )S7r, ix your .toid xnrr/l?''- — Some years ago an officer in the 
 army, being in Richmond. Surrey, met a young chimney-sweep, 
 who. looking him in the face, said point-blank and suddenly, as 
 if he were a sentry giving him a challenge, " Sir, is your soul 
 saved .'"' The soldier was hot ready with a direct reply. The 
 sudden and strange way in which the question had been put by 
 the sooty-faced lad. who stood before him waiting the answer, was 
 enough to take him aback. But that was not all. He was not 
 quite sui-e whether the boy wa§ serious, or was only seeking fun 
 in a new and odd way : and. above all other reasons for his 
 hesit.ation was this, that in truth he dare not say " Yes 1'' and did 
 not like to say '• Xo !" So he resorted to the convenient device of 
 questioning his querist instead of answering him, and said to the 
 lad, " Is yours .'"' Seriously, and without pausing, he replied as 
 follows : " I thank God, sir, I believe it is ; and I have no doubt 
 that, if I were to die, I should go to heaven." After a few more 
 words the two went on their way. The soldier turned into 
 the park with his heart full of solemn feeling ; for to himself at 
 least he had been compelled to answer the boy's question. It liad 
 thrust upon his attention a fact of the utmost importance — that 
 he dare not say, " I am saved." He walked, thought, prayed, 
 
 ■\roL. IX. o.T. c 
 
 to make a fire ; 
 so tliosp that are 
 di>pospil to con- 
 tention and 
 brawling are apt 
 to kindle strife." 
 — Caudray. 
 
 " As we avoid 
 fighting dogs, 
 lest we be caught 
 by the shins ; 
 even so are we 
 to avoiil tronble- 
 some spirits, that 
 are ready to 
 wran gle about 
 every trifle." — 
 Cairdray. 
 
 " The next dread- 
 ful thing to a 
 battle lost is a 
 battle won." — • 
 Duke of Wetting- 
 ton. 
 
 e Hogg. 
 
 a The Jews sup- 
 posed that bee. 
 the temple was 
 dedicated to 
 Jehovah, He, as 
 theirtntelarGod, 
 woulil effectually 
 protect it, and 
 all who came to 
 worship iu it." — • 
 Henderson. 
 
 r. 2. ^y. Fenn, 
 
 82. 
 
 r. 3. G. J. Znlli- 
 Infer, ii. 1G8 ; T. 
 J/cbbes, 53. 
 r. 4. Dr. R. Moss, 
 V. 147 ; J. Sod' 
 son, 371 ; Jip. 
 Kfirje, 491 ; O. 
 Currey, Huls. Lee. 
 121. 
 
 " Lais broke her 
 looking-glass be- 
 cause it showed 
 the wrinkles on 
 her face. Jlany 
 men are angry 
 with tliem that 
 tell them tlieir 
 fa\iUs. when (hey 
 should he angry 
 only with the 
 f.iuils tliat Br« 
 told them." ■" 
 Venning. 
 
34 
 
 JFRE.UIA/r. 
 
 [Cap. vli. 5-16. 
 
 a Je. \T7. 5 ; Ne. 
 ix. 5 ; Ps. xc. 2. 
 
 "Witli Goil tliero 
 is no free iimii 
 but His servant, 
 thougli in tlie 
 galleys ; no slave 
 but the siiiULT, 
 tliough in a 
 palace; none 
 noble but the 
 virtuous, if never 
 EG basely de- 
 scenrleil ; none 
 rich but be that 
 possessetli Goil, 
 even iir rags ; 
 none wise but 
 he that is a fool 
 to himself and 
 the world ; noiie 
 happy but he 
 whom the world 
 pities. Let me 
 be free, noble, 
 rich. wi-AO, happy, 
 to God." — B}>. 
 IJiill. 
 b J. Fin vel. 
 
 a Is. iv. 10, xir. 
 13, 14. 
 
 6 " The Prophet 
 dops not charge 
 them with tlie 
 transgression of 
 tlie ritual ordi- 
 nances of Jloses, 
 but with the 
 breach of the 
 weightier matter 
 of the law." — 
 Zowlh. 
 
 vr. 9, 10. Dr. T. 
 Jlorton, 315. 
 
 e S. TumUjns 
 (1659). 
 
 a " At Silo, where 
 once was the 
 tabernacle and 
 ark of tlie Lonl, 
 there can scarce- 
 ly be poiiiteil out 
 the foundation of 
 an altar." — & 
 Jerome. 
 
 b "When people 
 are given up to 
 judicial hardness 
 of heart, inter- 
 cessory prayer 
 for them is ua- 
 fl V a i 1 i n g." — 
 
 ftlUSSI-t. 
 
 " Comfort, like 
 the golden sun, 
 di^ipeU the sullen 
 
 re.solved, and ere very long' obtained, through faith, the blessing 
 of a conscious salvation. 
 
 5—7. (.")) throughly, sincerely, and heartily, man . . 
 neighbour, i.r. one with another. ((]) oppre.ss not, rfo., 
 comp. ch. V. 28 ; De. xiv. 29, xxiv. 19 — 21. These would b3 
 the true signs of an earnest and thorough reformation. (7) 
 dwell, permanently and securely, ever and. ever, fj'dm 
 etcrnitij to ctcrnifi/ : " the strongest formula by which j^erpetuity 
 of duration is e.x;prc.«sed in Hebrew.' " 
 
 State of the n'ortd. — The world is a gi'eat hospital, full of sick 
 and dying souls, all wounded by one and the same mortal weapon 
 — sin. Some are senseless of their misery, feel not their pains, 
 value not a physician. Others are full of sense, as well as 
 danger, mourn under their condition, and sadly bewail it. The 
 merciful God hath, in His abundant compassion to the perishing 
 world, sent a Physician from heaven, and given Him His orders 
 under the great seal of heaven (Luke iv. 18). He is the " tree of 
 life," whose leaves are for the healing of the nations : He is 
 ■' Jehovah Rophi," the Lord that healeth us. The brazen serpent 
 was an excellent type of our Great Physician, Christ (John iii. 14). 
 He rejects none that 3ome, and hetils all whom He undertakes.* 
 
 8 — 11. (8) lying words, such were the assurances of the 
 false 2:)voi-)hets.'^ (9) steal, ft a., comp. these sins and vices with 
 the signs of amendment God looks for, vi\ 5, C. (10) delivered, 
 or we are free to do all these things, because we have gone 
 through the prescribed ceremonials of the temple.* (11) robbers, 
 the word means those who rob with violence. God"s holy temple 
 was not a fit place for such to enter. " You make My house a 
 Ijlace of sanctuary and protection to malefactors." 
 
 The need of repenfttnee. — This heavenly Physician hath no 
 practice but on humbled and broken-hearted sinners ; these are 
 they to whom He applies His remedies, and in whom He works 
 and cures. He was appointed and designed to bind up the 
 broken in heart. None others do think they need Chrisfs help, 
 prize His remedies, or value His consolations : those that are 
 whole, that never saw the " plague of their hearts," or gi-oaned 
 under the burden of their sins, do not think they need a 
 pliysician. Christ hath few patients, and little practice in the 
 world, because men are not sick of sin." 
 
 12—16. (12) Shiloh," in the tribe of Ephraim, and north of 
 Bethel. Jos. xviii. 1 ; 1 Ga. iv. 3 ; Ps. Ixxviii. GO. at the first, 
 before the tabernacle was removed to Zion, or the temple built. 
 (13) rising up early, a fig. for doing a thing earnestly. " Speak- 
 ing zealously and earnestly." called, etc.. Pr.i. 2-1 : Is. Ixv. 12, 
 Ixvi. 4. ( 1 4) as I have done, i.e. I will utterly destroy it. (!.")) 
 your brethren, the ten tribes, who had already come under 
 Divine judgments. (IG) pray not, spoken to Jeremiah.* cry, 
 olferiug prayer aloud. 
 
 rraijer hi time of troiihle. — A German colporteur writes : — "A 
 man who bought two Bibles of me told nie how God's "Word had 
 delivered him from great distress of mind and body. He set up 
 business for himself, but wiihout any faith in God. In a few 
 years he was reduced to poverty. Ho and his wife and children 
 were actually starving. Suddenly he thought of his Bible and 
 opened it. The fii'st patsage wliich caught his eye was, ' Call 
 
Cap. vii. 17-24.] 
 
 JEREMIAir. 
 
 35 
 
 upon Me in the day of trouble ; I will deliver thee, and thou ! shade with her 
 
 Bhalt glorify Me.' the effect was overpowerinfr. He fell on his : ^^''^et influence, 
 ------ - - _ 1 _ _ o , J^,^,^ cheers the 
 
 knees, calling- loudly and fervently on God. Peace came to his 
 
 eoLil. and he has been delivered from trouble. In his house he j house of care."— 
 
 has had ever since the bread needful for his earthly wants, and J^ov^e. 
 
 his soul feeds daily on ' the Bread of Life.' " 
 
 17 — 20. (17) wliat they do, in carrjing- out their worship 
 of the most impure of all the heathen deities. (18) children, i 
 etc., all taking some part in the degrading- service, cakes," j 
 made of honey, fine flour, eto., in a round fiat shape, to resemble I 
 the disc of the moon, to whom they were offered, q-ueen of | 
 heaven, the moon.* Ashtoreth, the wife of Baal, the sun-god. j 
 (19) confusion . . faces? are they not themselves utterly dis- 
 graced and put to shame ? (2) poured out, ch. iv. 25, 2G, 
 ix. 10, xii. 4. The creatures share man's lot.' 
 
 'Ilie wants and claims of our covntrj/men (r. 17). — I. Glance at 
 the circumstances and conduct of the Jewish people, which gave 
 rise to the language of the text. II. Follow up the striking 
 suggestion of the text with relation to the spiritual evils of our 
 native laud. 1. Their seciilar condition : 2. Their religious 
 state : 3. Their future and everlasting habitation ; 4. The means 
 provided for the restoration of men. Aj^ply : — (1) What could be 
 done / (2) What has been done ? (3) What is 5'ct to be done ? 
 (4) What have we personally done ? (5) What shall we now do ? "^ 
 
 WJiat a child can, do. — Even a child may do something to help 
 forward Chrisfs cause. A oomiiany of men were pushing a boat 
 into the water, but it stuck so fast that they could not move it. 
 " Another jiound,'' said one, '• and it will go." " I can push 
 a pound,' answered a ■ little boy. Upon the addition of his ! 
 strength the boat again moved, and soon floated on the water. 
 But all these men could not of themselves move the boat. 
 • — Hottentot girls. — A little Hottentot girl, nine years old, was 
 asked how she and her younger sister spent their time. She 
 replied. " We often pray to our Saviour to own us as his children, 
 and to keep us from growing up as children of the devil. Then 
 we sing verses together, which we learn at school. Sometimes 
 we help old mother Lydia to work, and she gives us a piece of 
 bread for our labour, for our parents are a great way off ; and 
 when they are at home, we have to dig for roots in the fields 
 to satisfy our hunger, for they are very poor, and have very little 
 to give us.'^ 
 
 melanclioly 
 
 a " Prob. very 
 
 similar to those 
 offered at Athens 
 to Artemis in the 
 miilille of the 
 month Muny- 
 chiou. Tliese 
 were round like 
 the full moon, 
 and covered with 
 liglits,and finally 
 were burnt in 
 her honour, form- 
 ing with the 
 adileJ libation 
 the symbol of a 
 eucharist."— (Sipi. 
 Com. 
 
 b Regarded as the 
 symbol of female 
 productiveness. 
 
 c Ro. viii. 20—22. 
 
 d Dr. R. M'AU. 
 
 " Act I for in ac- 
 tion are wisdom 
 anil glory ; fame, 
 immortality, — 
 these are its 
 crcuvn. Wouldst 
 thou illumine the 
 tablets of story ? 
 Build on <ichieve- 
 menls thy doom 
 of renown." — 
 Anon. 
 
 eU. T.S. 
 
 21—24. (21) burnt offerings, these should be wholly con- 
 sumed on the altar. God says, they may be dealt with as common 
 sacrifices, for they were insincere, and so an abomination unto 
 Him." (22) spake not, etc., i.e. God did not give ceremonial 
 rules first, but moral laws : and His anxiety ever mainly conoerns 
 those moral laws.* (23) obey, etc.. De. vi. 3. (24) imagina- 
 tion, or stubbornness, went backward, like headstrong oxen. 
 
 E.rplicit ohedicHcc. — There Avas a cry of fire near a large 
 schoolhouse. The children in the school were very much 
 affri'jlited. and began to rush to the doors and stairs, thus 
 perilling their limbs and lives. But there was one little girl 
 Avho remained quietly in her seat. Her teacher asked her why 
 she did not do as the other girls did. " My father is a fireman," 
 she said ; " and he told me, whenever there was a cry of fii'c 
 C2 
 
 a " The Prophet 
 j tells the Jewa 
 j that they may, if 
 ! tliey please, eat 
 the flesh of their 
 burnt - offering!!, 
 as well as of their 
 peace - offerings, 
 for God will 
 accept neither of 
 Ihem from their 
 hands." — f^inclh. 
 U. i. 11 ; Je. vi. 
 2J ; Am. v. 21. 
 b Ex. xix. 5, 6<' 
 Le. xi. i5. 
 r--. 21-23. D. W. 
 Marks, 160. 
 
36 
 
 JEREmAff. 
 
 [Cap. viL 25-34. 
 
 " Christ's slippp 
 were markeil in 
 the ear ami tlie 
 foot ; ' They hear 
 My voice, iind 
 follow Me.' " — 
 jr. Jinj. 
 
 •' This life will 
 not admit of 
 equality; but 
 surely that man 
 who thinks he 
 derives conse- 
 quenco antl re- 
 spect from keep- 
 ing others at a 
 distance is as 
 base-minfled ais a 
 coward who 
 shuns the enemy 
 from the fear of 
 an attack." — 
 Goethe. 
 
 ^M. T.S. 
 
 ft Je. xlvli. 5, 
 xlviii. 37. 
 
 b 2 Ki. xxi. 3—5. 
 
 "The redeeming 
 power of tlie 
 blood of Christ is 
 greater tlian the 
 condemning 
 power of sin. 
 This excellency 
 it hatli from tlie 
 dignity of His 
 person (for it is 
 called the blood 
 of God. Acts XX. 
 28), which makes 
 His obedience 
 and sufferings 
 give more glory 
 to God than our 
 suffering in hell 
 ■wonlil h.avedone. 
 I?aiah xlii. 21 ; 
 Bom. V. 17." — 
 Mather. 
 
 R. Watson, 
 
 a Je. xvi. 9. 
 
 " Eeferenco is 
 made in this r. 
 to the joyous 
 processions in 
 which tlie bride 
 and bridegroom 
 are led through 
 
 while I was in school, to remain quiet in my seat : for that was 
 the safest way. I was dreadfully frightened ; but I knew that 
 father had told me what was best : so I sat still when they raa 
 to the doors." 
 
 25—28. (2.;) sent unto you, r. 13. hardened. . . neck, 
 ch. xvi. 12. (27, 2S) receivetli correction, or direction, 
 instruction for heaven-sent messengers, truth, in the sense 
 of fidelity, from their mouth, which only makes false pro- 
 fessions. 
 
 American ^wzrw/.?. — The American Sunday-School ITcrnld. a 
 few years ago, states that a little girl, six years old, in a Sunday 
 school, was repeating the fifth commandment. Her teacher 
 endeavoiii'ed to show her in what way she was to honour her 
 parents, and said, •' You must honour your parents by obeying 
 them." " O ma'am." e.xclaimed the child, " I cannot keep that 
 commandment." " Why cannot j'ou keep it. my dear .'" " Because, 
 ma'am, when my mother tells me to do one thing, my father tells 
 me to do another. Now, just before I came here, my mother told 
 me to stay upstairs and learn my lesson, and my father t^ld me 
 to come down and play : now, how could I obey them both / No, 
 no,"' closing her little hands, as if in despair : " no. no, ma'am, it 
 is impossible for me ever to keep that commandment." 
 
 29 — 31. (2!)) cut . . hair, a sign of mourning." It is rom- 
 manded in anticipation of the desolation of Jerusalem, genera- 
 tion . . wrath, that is but the subject of His judgments, "This 
 sinful generation, who have so highly provoked His aneer." 
 (30) in the house, etc., this must refer to the times of 
 Manasseh.* (31) high places, here prob. meaning '• artificial 
 mounds." Tophet, 2 Ki. x.xiii. 10. burn, etc.. Le. sx. 2 — :■,. 
 
 Kntiire of repentance. — Repentance, as explained by John's 
 ministry, is a conviction of the fact of sin. but a sharp and 
 painful conviction. A conviction that never produced humility, 
 never siglicd, never wept, never " wept apart." a7id never soucht 
 solitude for the purpose of prayer and reflection, is not that 
 which is an element of true repentance. It is a serious and 
 painful ajiprehension of danger. Hence John asked the Pharisees 
 and Sadducees that came to his baptism, " Who hath warned you 
 to flee from the wrath to come ? " Repentance is an humble 
 confession of sin. The people confessed g'enerally to John ; for 
 it was impossible for him to enter into the particulars of each 
 case ; but to Ood they confessed their sins in detail. Repentance 
 is fruitful. Under its influence the churl becomes liberal : the 
 unjust becomes righteous : and those who had formerly been 
 careless of their spiritual interests wait upon God in the use 
 of every means of grace. Repentance is des])airing. but hopeful. 
 The people who were awakened under John's mini.-^try felt that 
 in themselves there was no help ; and he taught the whole of 
 them to wait for Christ the Saviour.'^ 
 
 82 — 34. (32) valley of slaughter, bee. the enemies coming 
 upon Jerusalem would make so great a slaughter of the people 
 there, bury, the dead of the siege. (33) carcases, dead 
 bodies cast out, wh. none should trouble to bury, fray them 
 a"way, no passer by to drive off the birds. (34) cease, etc., 
 silence shall fall upon the utterly desolated and deserted city." 
 
 Silence of sorrow. — " Then will I cause to cease from the 
 
Cap.viii.1-3.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 87 
 
 cities of Judah. and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice 
 of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, 
 and the voice of the bride ; for the land shall be desolate.'' 
 It was the custom in the East, even in modern times, to conduct 
 the bride and bridegroom through the streets, with the loudest 
 demonstraiions of joy. Rauvvolf found this custom also pre- 
 valent in Aleppo. " When a Turkish woman is going to be 
 married, and the bridegroom is conducted to her house, their 
 relations and friends, who are invited to the wedding, as they go 
 along through the streets cry with such a loud voice, which they 
 gradually raise as they advance, that they can be heard from 
 one street to the other." When the Prophet paints a period 
 of jiublic distress, he says among other things, •' The voice of 
 the bride and the bridegroom shall no longer be heard." Thus, 
 in Persia, no marriages are celebrated during Lent (the month 
 of Eamadan), and the solemnities of mourning in memory of 
 Hossein ; because everything must then be still and mournful. 
 (Olearius.) — Rosenmullee. 
 
 CHAPTER THE EIGHTH. 
 
 1—3. (1) at that time, when the city shall be taken, 
 tiring . . bones, ransacking even the very tombs, in hope of 
 finding treasure." (2j spread, etc.. or toss them out. exposing 
 them openly to view, loved . . served . . walked . . wor- 
 Sllipped, '• there is great force in the piled up verbs by wh. their 
 worship of the heavenly bodies is described."* The point is, that 
 these gods prove utterly unable to prevent such desecration. 
 " They are unconcerned spectators of the indignity offered to 
 their former worshippers." (3) residue, or survivors of the 
 great calamity, evil family, ch. i. ].5. 
 
 Death of Despair. — So Mr. Great-heart, old Honest, and the 
 four young men, went to go up to Doubting Castle, to look 
 for Giant Despair. When they came at the castle gate, they 
 knocked for entrance with an unusual noise. At that the old 
 Giant comes to the gate, and Diffidence, his wife, follows. Then 
 said he. Who and what is he that is so hardy as after this manner 
 to molest the Giant Despair ? Mr. Great-heart replied. It is 
 I, Great-heart, one of the King of the Celestial country's con- 
 ductors of pilgrims to their place ; and I demand of thee that 
 thou open thy gates for my entrance ; prepare tliys^f also to 
 fight, for I am come to take away thy head, and to demolLsh 
 Doubting Castle. Now Giant Desjiair. because he was a giant, 
 thought no man could overcome him : and again, thought he, 
 Since heretofore I have made a conquest of angels, shall Great- 
 heart make me afraid ? So he harnessed himself, and went out : 
 be had a cap of steel upon his head, a breastplate of fire girded to 
 him, and he came out in iron shoes, with a great club in his hand. 
 Then these six men made up to him, and beset him behind and 
 before ; also when Difiidence, the giantess, came up to help him, 
 old Mr. Honest cut her down at one blow. Then they fought 
 for their lives, and Giant Despair was brought down to the 
 ground, but was very loth to die. He struggled hard, and had, 
 as they say, as many lives as a cat ; but Great-heart was hi.s 
 
 the streets, ac- 
 companieii by 
 bands of singers 
 and musicians."- 
 Ilenderson. 
 
 ""Wlicn Greeks 
 joined Greeks, 
 then was tlie tug 
 of war. The la- 
 boured battle 
 sweat and con- 
 quest bled." — D. 
 K. Lee. 
 
 a " Josephiis saj^ 
 that iramensa 
 riches were de- 
 posited in 
 David's sepul- 
 chre by his son 
 Solomon, wliich 
 were never taken 
 away till Hyr- 
 canus's time." — 
 Antiq. vii. 15. 
 
 b Spk. Com. 
 
 " The Prophet, 
 beginning with 
 I the heart, de- 
 ! scribes their wor- 
 I ship in the vari- 
 I ous stages of its 
 j d e V e 1 p m e nt, 
 j and then con- 
 trasts its fulness 
 witli tlje niiser- 
 j able reward that 
 I ensues." — HiUig. 
 
 " He that de- 
 spairs, degrades 
 ' the Deity, and 
 ; seemstointiuinte 
 that He is insuf- 
 ficient, or not 
 just to His wonl ; 
 J and in vain lialli 
 read the Scrip- 
 tures, tlie world, 
 and man," — i\it' 
 )ut in. 
 
38 
 
 JEnEMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. viii. 4—12. 
 
 c Bunyan. 
 
 a " An expostu- 
 ]ati(m, iiiiiiljing 
 that men are 
 selilom so far 
 gone in wicked- 
 ness as not to be 
 touclietl with 
 some remorse for 
 their evil doings, 
 and make some 
 general resolu- 
 tions of amend- 
 ment ; whereas 
 this people are 
 guilty of one per- 
 petual apostasy, 
 as if they couiil 
 deceive (iod by 
 their hypocritical 
 pretences, with- 
 out making any 
 steps towards a 
 reformation."— 
 Lotcl/i. 
 
 Je. vii. 24. 
 
 b "A double 
 metaphor : fir.st, 
 the determined 
 persistence of tlie 
 people in sin is 
 compared to the 
 blind fury wliioli 
 at the sound of 
 tlie trumpet 
 seizes vipou the 
 warhorse ; and 
 then its im- 
 petuous rush into 
 the battle is 
 likened to the 
 overtiowing of a 
 torrent (tlie word 
 rusltinrj is lit. 
 ovfr/lnirijig), wh. 
 notiiing can stop 
 in its destruc- 
 tive com-se." — 
 Spi: Com. 
 
 e Dr. IT. Bonar. 
 
 d Knollcs. 
 
 "As well the 
 soldier dieth who 
 stamletli still, as 
 he that gives the 
 bravest onset." — 
 Sir f. aiiiiiei/. 
 
 e Dr. Philip. 
 
 p Ezr. vi. 6 ; Ne. 
 Viu. 9, 13. 
 
 death, for he loft him not till he had severed his head from hia 
 shoulders.' 
 
 4 — 7. (4) moreover, repunption of the main prophecy fr. eh. 
 vii. 28. not arise, or try to got up ajrain. turn away, i.e. 
 wander fr. his path, return, or try to find his path ag-aiu. (.">) 
 perpetual backsliding, keeping- on wandering- further and 
 further, with no attem))ts to return." (C) as the horse, at lull 
 speed, that cannot be checked.* (7) stork. Is. i. 'S. A migra- 
 tory bird, turtle, a kind of dove, Cant. ii. 12. crane . . S-wal- 
 lo-w, Is. xxxviii. 14. judgment, or ordinances. 
 
 llinnan rejection of Divine lore (v. t>). — I. God's love. II. 
 Man's rejection of it. 1. The wrong words ; 2. The impenitence ; 
 3. The recklessness ; 4. Stupidity." 
 
 JIorxe.i in hattlc. — " The Marmalukes, -n-earing their beards 
 long and rough, with graue and sterne countenance, hauing 
 strong- and able bodies, vsed such cunning in all their fights and 
 battels, that after they had giuen the first charge with their 
 lannces, they would by and bye, with wonderful actiuitie, vse 
 their bows and arrows, casting their targuets behind them ; and 
 forthwith the horseman's mace, or crooked scimitar, as the 
 manner of the battel or place required. Their horses were strong- 
 and couragious, in making and swiftnesse much like unto the 
 Spanish jennets : and that which is of many hardly bclecued, so 
 i docile, that at certaine signcs or speeches of the rider they would 
 I with their teeth reach liim up from the ground a launcc, an 
 ! arrow, or such like thing : and as if they had knov\-n the enemie, 
 I run vpon him with, open mouth, and lash at him with tlieir 
 j heeles, and had by nature and custom learned not to be afraid of 
 ' anything. These courageous horses were commonly furnished 
 with siluer bridles, gilt trappings, rich saddles, their necks and 
 brests armed with plates of yx-on : the horseman himselfe was 
 commonly content with a coat of mailc, or a brest plate of yron. 
 The chiefe and wealthiest of them vsed head pieces : the rest a 
 liunen covering of the head, curiously folded into manie 
 wreathes, wherewith they thought themselves safe ynough 
 against any handie strokes : the common souldiers vsed thrumb'd 
 caps, but so thicke that no eword could pierce them."'' — Here tve 
 are like hirih ofj)a-i.<:affe. — •• It is stated in the history of England 
 that when the first missionary wKo arrived at Kent presented 
 himself before the king, to solicit permission to preach the 
 Go.sj:)el in his dominions, after long deliberation, when a negative 
 was about to be put upon his apjilicatiou, an aged councillor, 
 with his I!ead silvered over with grey hairs, rose, and by the 
 following speech obtained the permission which was requested. 
 ' Here we are,' said the orator. ' like birds of passnge : we know 
 not whence we come, or whither we are going ; if this man can 
 tell us, for Ood's sake let him speak,' I say, if there are six 
 hundred niillions of our fellow-creatures who, like birds of 
 passage, know not whence they came, nor whither they are 
 going, for God's sake let us send them the Gospel, which will tell 
 them whence they came, and which is able to make them wise 
 unto salvation.'"' 
 
 8—12. (8) law . . -uath us, fr. this it appears that copies of 
 the law were multiplied, in vain, if they failed to order and 
 guide tlieir lives by its precepts-, scribes, or copyists." Trans. 
 
Cap. viii. 13—17.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 39 
 
 "the lying pen of the scribes hath made it into a lie," wh. suj?- 
 gests that they were unfaithful in copying.* (9) wise, evidently 
 meaning, they who think themselves wise, rejected . . Lord, 
 by persisting in false interpretations of the "Word. (10 — 12) 
 wives, etc., comp. ch. vi. 12 — 15. 
 
 Ditficultii's and (hnufcrit of injidditi/ (r. 9). — The text includes 
 three classes of men who do not believe the Scriptures. I. 
 Sceptics, those who profess to be in uncertainty. 1. When sincere 
 they must be miserable ; 2. Wretched ; 3. Continual mental conflict 
 must be torment. II. Atheists. III. Deists.'' 
 
 13—17. (13) consiime them, by the destructive power of 
 the Chalda3ans : '"gather and sweep thera away." "Judahisa 
 vine wh. bears no fruit, a tree which makes even no profession 
 of life, for her leaf is dry."" (14) why . . still? making no 
 effort to prepare against the threatened calamity. Jeremiah tells 
 the attitude wh. the nation ought to take, water of gall, 
 joison,' De. xxix. 18. (15) health, or rest. (l(j) his horses, 
 those of the on-coming enemy. Dan, ch. iv. 1.5. strong ones, 
 chargers. (17) will send, better, '-am sending." cockatrices, 
 or lci.<iili/,-7,'g,'^ types of dangerous enemies. 
 
 SiTjJcnts. — Few animals excite more hon'or on their first 
 appearance than these common enemies, both of man and beast. 
 The possibility of some being made subject to certain incanta- 
 tions or charms is remarkable, and is often referred to in Scrip- 
 ture. The Hindoos, or at least the serpent-charmers, pretend to 
 handle all sorts of snakes with impunity, to make them come 
 and go at pleasure, and. in short, to have a cabalistic authority 
 over the whole race. The cobra is the only serpent used for 
 display by jugglers. When caught, it is held at arm's length by 
 the tail, and as often as it attempts to strike, it is beaten off. It 
 is then seized by the head, thrown on the ground, and its fangs 
 knocked out with a hammer ; after which its poison bag is 
 squeezed dry. By these means the cobra is rendered harmless, 
 though it may be easilj^ excited, and made to raise itself in answer 
 to the sounds of music (Ps. Iviii. 4, 5). A gentleman, having 
 visited Bladras, writes : " One of the most noted serpent-charmers 
 about the district chanced one morning to get hold of a cobra, 
 of considerable size, which he got conveyed to his home. He 
 was occupied abroad all day, and had not time to get the danger- 
 ous fang extracted from the sei-pent's mouth. In the evening 
 he returned to his dwelling, considerably excited with liquor, and 
 began to exhibit his snakes to various persons who were around 
 him. The newly-caught cobra was brought out with the others, 
 but it darted at the juggler's chin, which it bit, leaving two or 
 three little marks. The poor juggler, who was immediately 
 sobered, exclaimed, 'I am a dead man ! Nothing can save me.' 
 Well did he know the deadly character of the bite, for in two 
 hours he was a corpse ! Some of his friends and companions in 
 art vehemently assorted that it was nob the envenomed bite 
 which had killed him. ' No, no ; he only forgot one little Avord 
 — one small portion of the charm.' Ilis death, however, gave a 
 severe blow to the art and practice of snake-charming in Madras." 
 The basilisk is frequently mentioned in Scripture, but no descrip- 
 tion is given further than that it cannot be charmed. The Greek 
 text calls it basilisc, and the Hebrew tacplia, while the English 
 impropsrly renders it cockatrice, a fabulous animal that never 
 
 6 t^c/ioh supjrests 
 tliat tliereis liere 
 a reference to a 
 corniptioii of tlie 
 text, by .111 omis- 
 sion of tliose i^as- 
 saprs whicli de- 
 nounceil idolatry. 
 V. 8. A'. M. Clonl- 
 burn, 129 ; Dr. 
 N. Carter, 87. 
 V. 9. T. Dicight, 
 1. 482 ; C. Benson, 
 IIuls. Lee. 90. 
 f. 11. J. //. New- 
 rr.;in.?>Q. 
 c Dr. Bennett, 
 
 a Spt. Com. 
 
 "Tlie vintafre and 
 liarvest are fre- 
 queiitlyrmployed 
 figuratively as 
 images of com- 
 Iilete destmc- 
 tion ; but liere 
 the terms are to 
 be taken in their 
 literal applica- 
 tion." — liender- 
 son. 
 
 b " Lit. water of 
 the poisonous 
 plant, perhaps 
 the poppy."— 
 l-'a asset. 
 
 Je. ix. 15, xxiii. 
 15. 
 
 c Is. xi. 8. 
 
 " Serpent char- 
 mers in the East 
 entice serpents 
 b}' music, and by 
 a particular pres- 
 sure on the neck 
 render them in- 
 capable of dart- 
 ing." — Fausset. 
 
 " No part of 
 conduct asks for 
 skill more nice, 
 though none 
 more common, 
 than to giv9 
 advice ; misers 
 themselves in 
 this will not be 
 saving, unless 
 their knowledge 
 m.^kes it worth 
 the having ; and 
 wlK-re's the won- 
 der, when we ivill 
 obtrude a useless 
 gift, it nieeta 
 ingratitude ? "— 
 Siilliii'jJkeU 
 
40 
 
 jEJiEmAn. 
 
 [Cap. viii. 18-22. 
 
 d Bib. Treus. 
 
 n " Slimmer is 
 the fruit-patlier- 
 iiig, wliicli fol- 
 lows the coni- 
 harvost. . . I)o- 
 spair seized tlie 
 people when they 
 saw oppdrtuiii- 
 ties for their de- 
 liverance again 
 and a-jaia pass 
 by, till God 
 seemed utterly 
 to have forgotten 
 til em." — is J)/:. 
 Com. 
 
 6 "In an old ver- 
 sion this word is 
 translated 
 t r ea c i e." — //. 
 ilacmillan. 
 
 e " Jeremiah im- 
 plies that the 
 fault lay wholly 
 in the patients 
 themselves, who 
 refused to submit 
 to the preicrip- 
 tions." — Lowlii. 
 
 V. 20. //. Kiii'T, 
 311; /)/•. J. Du- 
 pri, i. 1 ; K 
 Ci'uper. iii. 126 ; 
 E. Hiuclui; 315 ; 
 J. Miller, 423. 
 
 V. 22. T. Adfim.i, 
 210 ; J. S'cull, 
 123; J. W,'sleij, 
 vii. 281 ; \V. tin- 
 main, iii. 353 ; /;•. 
 Con/tfr. V. 361 ; 
 G. ir. WondlKHixr, 
 ii. 271; F. CI use, 
 LS19. 
 
 a a. s. Doii-cs, 
 
 B.A. 
 
 e Dr. T. Divighl. 
 
 Some one oiice 
 asked a venerable 
 minister of the 
 Gospel this ques- 
 tion : — •' What is 
 the hardest 
 (meaning the 
 most dreadful) 
 text in tlie 
 Bible?" The 
 minister referred 
 to a text, saying, 
 " I know of no 
 harder text than 
 thi^, and yet 
 there is nothing 
 about ilamnalion 
 or bell iu it." 
 
 existed. Tlie eggs of the basilisk are referred to in Isa. li.x. .5 ; 
 hence it would appc^ar to be asuake, and not a viper, as the latter 
 brings foi-th its young alive.'' 
 
 18—22. (18) comfort myself, try to find some g-round of 
 consolation, faint in me, it misg-ives me. Fear prevails over 
 hopes. ( 1'.)) "behold, rfc. Ileb. is better rend., '■ The voice of the 
 cry of the daughter of my people from a land afar olf."' Jer. anti- 
 cipates the complaints of the captive Jews. (20) harvest is 
 past, harvest and summer being times of opportunity." (21) 
 hurt, or breaking, black, "look ghastly, as those who are 
 dying." (22) halm,* Ge. xxxvii. 2."). Gilead, ch. xlvi. 11 : 
 this district was famous for balm, turpentine, and similar healing 
 gums ; therefore physicians and surgeons resorted thither."^ 
 
 Thi' day of grace (r. 20). — I. A short time, and therefore 
 requires diligence : the King's business requires haste. II. A 
 limited time, as summer days are longer than winter days. III. 
 A varying time : rainbow of mercy seen only in the day of 
 grace. ■' — T/ic harrcKt jiast. — I. Every person who still remains in 
 sin may, at the close of the year, usefully adopt this lamentation. 
 II. A season in which religion prevails is also eminently a time 
 of harvest, and such as lose this season may well adopt the lamen- 
 tation of the text. III. Another situation to which this melan- 
 choly reflection is peculiarly applicable is that of a dying sinner.' 
 
 " Too late '. lout, and for rrcr ! ' — Such were the ominous words 
 of a dying friend. I ha*l known him long : he was -what the 
 world calls " a moral man." He was imlustrious, honest, kind, 
 and generous, ever ready, when an opportunity offered, to do his 
 neighbour a favour, and. consequently, gathered amund him a 
 large circle of warm friends. What lacked he still ? He was 
 not a Christian ; often had the claims of religion been urged 
 upon him, but he invariably took refuge iu the evasion, "I will 
 think about it. I mean to become a Christian before I die." 
 Some time since, he was taken suddenly ill. and sent for me to 
 come and see him die. I went. What a change a week had 
 wrought iu that strong man ! There he lay, an emaciated 
 skeleton, scorched with fever, and sitffering the most excruciating 
 pain. His wife and children were weeping around his bed. for 
 he was evidently near his last, yet could speak very distinctly. 
 I sat down upon the bedside and tried to talk to him : he was all 
 attention ; but when I had iinished what 1 had to say, he fixed 
 his eyes upon me. and then upon his wife and children, and said, 
 " I am dying, and am going to hell ! Too late I too late I Lost, 
 and for ever ! " If ever I saw horror, and gloom, and a counte- 
 nance from which the last ray of hope had faded away into the 
 blackness of despair, it was there. AVe were stupeSed ; the house 
 was bathed in tears. IVlany a poor man and woman that he had 
 assisted was there, but their cries and petitions could not save 
 him. His words, as to dying, were true ; and turning over, as if 
 to hide his face from us, in a violent convulsion, he burst a blood- 
 vessel, and was a dead man. — 1(7/// mm prrliih — Thi- pJii/.iician 
 .ynirnrd. — Two gentlemen were fellow-passengen? in a vessel 
 bound to a distant port. One was in vigorous health, and the 
 other emaciated with disease, and maiiifesting iiremonitorj' symp- 
 toms of a speedy dissolution. He was young and intelligent, but 
 had not made what he knew to be the necessary preparation for 
 the event which was rapidly approaching. His fellow-passenger, 
 
Cap.ix. 1-3] 
 
 JEREmAIT. 
 
 41 
 
 as they were diawinp: near the port -u-hither they were bound, 
 advised him to consult an eminent physician who resided there. 
 " No," he replied. " I shall not consult hiin." He was asked why. 
 To which he answered. " It is not because I do not entertain the 
 highest opinion of his skill, but he will honestly tell me that my 
 disease is incurable, that I must die ; and I do not wi.'^h to receive 
 the announcement from such a source.'" — The lahn of life. — 
 "Alexander the Great was dying- of a wound, which did not 
 seem very dangerous at first, but it bafiled his physicians, and 
 ■was rapidly becoming mortal. One night, however, it is said he 
 dreamed that some one had brought him a peculiar-looking plant, 
 which, when applied to the festering sore, had cleansed and 
 closed it. In the morning, when he awoke, he described the 
 plant : and the historian informs us that it was sought for and 
 found, and when applied to the wound, the fiery paiu sub.-ided, 
 and he was speedily healed. Now your soul has received a deadly 
 hurt : it has been stung by the old serpent, the devil. The wound 
 gets worse. There is a tender plant which is able to heal you ; 
 it is the Balm of Gilead. They used to wound the balsam tree, 
 in order to obtain its healing essence : and so for our transgres- 
 sions the Saviour was wounded, and ' by His stripes ye are 
 healed.' "'•'^ — I'ci.soii and aniUlote.- — There is a tree called the man- 
 chaneel. which grows in the West Indies ; its apjiearance is very 
 attractive, and the wood of it peculiarly beautiful ; it bears a 
 kind of apple, resembling the golden pippin. This fruit looks 
 very tempting, and smells very fragrant : but to eat of it is 
 instant death : and its sap or juice is so poisonous, that if a few 
 droits of it fall on the skin it raises blisters, and occasions great 
 pain. The Indians dip their arrows in the juice, that they may 
 poison their enemies when they wound them. Providence hath 
 so appointed it that one of these trees is never fouiid. but near 
 it there also grows a white wood, or a fig tree, the juice of either 
 of which, if applied in time, is a remedy i'or the diseasses produced 
 by the manchaueel. 8in. like this poisonous apple, looks jjleasant 
 to the eye. and men desire it.— eat of it. and die. But there is a 
 remedy at hand ; it is the precious blood of the Son of God. which 
 soothes the troubled conscience, and cleanses it from all sin. 
 " Not balm, new bleeding from the wounded tree, 
 Nor bless'd Arabia with his spicy grove, 
 Such fragrance yields." 
 
 CIIAFTER THE NINTH. 
 
 1 — 3. CD fountain, or reservoir, fr. wh. tears might freely 
 flow, slain, in the great coming calamity .« (2) wilderness, 
 far away fr. the abodes of men who will not heed my message, 
 lodging place, or cararansevai '> assembly, or gang. (3) 
 like tlieir bow,'" or just as soldiers before battle bend their 
 bows, so they prepare to shoot out lying words, like arrows. 
 '■ The tongue is here aptly compared to the bow, and deceit to 
 the arrow shot from it.'"'^ 
 
 J.'eJifi'iovx cniiaolat'ion {v. 1). — I. Religion affords ample solace 
 to the afiflicted. 1. The poor; ?. The bereaved; 3. The sick. 
 II. The Gcspel bestows healing on the patient. III. Ilcligion 
 
 The words which 
 he repoateil were 
 
 these : — " The 
 liarvest is past, 
 tlie summer is 
 enricil. ami we are 
 not saved." — 
 Jeremiah viii. 20. 
 Cer::;inly there 
 are in tlK> JBibie 
 no words more 
 fearful than 
 these. Wh.it can 
 be more dreadful 
 than the wail of 
 a lost soul ? 
 
 '■ Has a man lost 
 a good situalidn, 
 it is said, ' His 
 harvest is past.' 
 Is a person 
 amassinj? much 
 nioney, it is ;aid, 
 'He is gathering 
 in his harvest.' "- 
 liubfi-ts. 
 
 f Dv.J. Uamlllon. 
 
 " The most tri- 
 fling actioriS that 
 affect a man's 
 credit are to bs 
 regarded. The 
 S(jund of your 
 haunner at five 
 in the morning, 
 or nine at night, 
 heard by a civdi- 
 tor, makes him 
 easy six months 
 longer; but if he 
 sees you at a bil- 
 liard table, or 
 hears yom' voice 
 at a tavern, when 
 you -should be at 
 work, he sends 
 for his money the 
 next day ; de- 
 mands it bpfura 
 he c\\\ receive it 
 in a lump." — 
 Franklin. 
 
 a This r. is by 
 many joined to 
 the previous 
 chapter. 
 
 Is. -xxii. 4 ; La. 
 ii. 11, iii. 4S. 
 
 6 " This lodge 
 gonerallyconfists 
 of a largo sq'.iare 
 building, enclos- 
 ing a court ri)en 
 above, round the 
 sides of which 
 
42 
 
 JEREiflAH. 
 
 [Cap. Ix. 4-8. 
 
 ore small arclies. 
 Mill witliiii each 
 of these is aJ;irk 
 cell orilormitury, 
 wiUiout fiirni- 
 tufo oraccommo- 
 daiion of any 
 kiiitl." — Ilcnder- 
 sun. 
 
 c " The word 
 b,')},l. lit. tr,;i,l. 
 nieain to strin<;, j 
 tlie bow being 
 heM firmly by | 
 one foot while | 
 the string is 
 pusheil up to the 1 
 notch. T li e | 
 Assyrians hehl it 
 witli tlie kuee."- 
 Sjii. Com. 
 
 d Ps. Wiv. 3, 4.- 
 
 ©('. 1—4. Dr. G. 
 To'jnsend, 13G. 
 
 V. 3. Dr. A. 
 Geivrd, ii. 1 ; J. 
 Gaskiii, 3U8. 
 
 e Pulpit Studies. 
 
 f Roberts. 
 
 a Ge. XXV. 2G. 
 xxvii. 36 ; Ho. 
 xii. 3. 
 
 6 " The arrow 
 Bhotout "may be 
 trans, "murder- 
 ous arrow." 
 
 e " ' Layeth his 
 ambush.' "-Hen- 
 derson. 
 
 V. 5. P. Siellon, 
 U. 431. 
 
 d S. U. Tyng. 
 
 V. 1. "Eacli of 
 the negroes took 
 from his quiver a 
 biindl'ul of arrows 
 and putting two 
 between his 
 teeth, and one 
 iu liis bow, waved 
 to us with his 
 hand to keep at 
 a distance." — 
 Murujo Park. 
 
 e Jip. Hopkins. 
 
 affords solid comfort to those mourniugf over their own cor- 
 ruptions. 1. The Word of God teaches them that the painful 
 consiciousness of their owii imperfections has ever been a charac- 
 teristic of the most eminent sainls : 2. And assures every believer 
 of a final triumph over liis corruptions.' 
 
 A lodf/c ill ilie n-ihlfnir.-m. — People in the East, on their journeys 
 to other towns or countries, are obliged to travel throng-h the 
 most lonely wilds. On this account the native sovereigns, or 
 opulent men, erect what are called '• rest-houses," or choidfrict. 
 where the travellers or pilgrims reside for the night. '• In the 
 wilderness," too, devotees and ascetics live retired from men : 
 there, either for life, or for a short period, they perform their 
 austerities, and live in cynical contempt of the rest of mankind. 
 When a father is angry witli his family, he -of ten exclaims, '■ If I 
 had but a shade in the wilderness, then should I be happy. I 
 will become a pilgrim and leave you." Nor is this mere empty 
 declamation to alarm his family ; for numbers in every town and 
 village thus leave their homes and are never heard of more. 
 There are, however, many who remain absent for a few months 
 or years, and then return. Under these circumstances, it is no 
 wonder, ■s\'hen a father or husband threatens his family to retire 
 to the liufii, that is, " wilderness," that they become greatly 
 alarmed. But men who have been reduced in their circumstances 
 become so mortified, that they also retire from their homes, and 
 all their future days wander about as pilgrims. •■ Alas ! alas 1 
 I will retire to the jungle, and live with wild beasts ! " says the 
 broken-hearted widow. 
 
 " Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness. 
 Some boundless contiguity of shade ! ''-f 
 
 4 — 8. C4) take ye heed, etc.. in such a state of society no 
 man could trust his brother, supplant, as Jacob did." (5) 
 weary themselves, through taking such pains, and making 
 such efforts. ((1) thine habitation, addressed to the Prophet. 
 Some regard it as the continuation of the warning of r. 4. Trust 
 no one, for deceit is all round thee. (7) melt them, in refining 
 fires of national calamity, how, etc., i.e. how other.wise. (8) 
 arrow,'' r. 3. his wait, or a trap to catch him.' 
 
 JJiJfk- 111 tics of old age tritliout religion (c. 4). — I. That period 
 of life during which the Saviour grants to men the privileges of 
 the Gospel is known under the appellation of a day of grace ; a 
 day in which He waits for the sinner's repentance, and is pecu- 
 liarly eager to aid his efforts. II. But a short portion of the day 
 of grace is now left to him. III. The heart has become in- 
 creasingly hard. IV. The pride of character which attends the 
 advanced periods of life. 
 
 iSelf-rcitpcct in old age. — If reverence is due from others to the 
 old, they ought also to respect themselves : and by grave, and 
 prudent, and holy actions, to put a crown of glory upon their 
 own grey heads. They ought not to be vain and light in thinr 
 converse ; nor children of a hundred years old ; nor. bj' the felly 
 and wickedness of their lives, expose themselves to that contempt 
 which will certainly be cast upon them, where age is not accom- 
 panied with gravity and prudence. And therefore we find it 
 (Prov. xvi. 31). "The horuy head is a crown of glory, if it be 
 found in the way of righteousness ; " otherwise, instead of being 
 a glory, it is but a double shame and reproach.* 
 
Cap. Ix. 9-22.] 
 
 JEREMIAB. 
 
 4^ 
 
 9—11. (0) not visit, ch. v. 9. 29. (10) habitations, or 
 
 pasture-lands:" ■n-ith poss. allu^^ion to the temporary eucamp- 
 ments of the shepherds, 'burnecl up, marg. deflate. (11) 
 Jerusalem, the city, as well as the country, was thus to be 
 overwhelmed, dragons, or jackals.'- 
 
 Emhlem of drpraviti/. — In a vessel filled with muddy water, the 
 thickness visibly subsided to the bottom, and left the water purer 
 and ])urer, until at last it seemed perfectly limpid. The slightest 
 motion, however, brought the sediment again to the top ; and 
 the water became thick and turbid as before. " Here," said 
 Gotthold, when he saw it, " we have an emblem of the human 
 heart. The heart is full of the mud of sinful lusts and carnal 
 desires ; and the consequence is, that no pure water — that is, 
 good and holy thoughts — can flow from it. It is, in truth, a 
 miry pit and slough of sin, in which all sorts of ugly reptiles^ are 
 bred and crawl. Many a one, however, is deceived by it, and 
 never imagines his heart half so wicked as it really is, because 
 sometimes its lusts are at rest, and sink to the bottom. But this 
 lasts only so long as he is without opportunity or incitement to 
 ein. Let that occur, and worldly lusts rise so thick, that his 
 whole thoughts, words, and works show no trace of anything but 
 slime and impurity. One is meek as long as he is not thwarted : 
 cross him, and he is like powder ignited by the smallest spark, 
 and blazing up with a loud report and destructive effect. Another 
 is temperate so long as he has no jovial companions ; a third 
 chaste while the eyes of men are upon him." 
 
 12 — 16. (12) wise man, able to trace the connection bet. 
 suffering and sin. (13) Lord saith, speaking Himself, bee. 
 the wise men failed, set before them, made plainly and pub- 
 licly known to them. (14) im.agination, as before, better rend. 
 sfuhbornnivscs. Baalim, ch. ii. 8, 23. (l'>) 'wormwood, 
 De. xxix. 18. water of gall, ch. viii. 14. (16) scatter them, 
 Le. xxvi. 33. 
 
 ,'^i'lf-madc miser ]!. — Men are too often ingenious in making 
 themselves miserable, by aggravating to their own fancy, beyond 
 bounds, all the evils which they endure. Thej' compare them- 
 selves with none but those whom they imagine to be more happy : 
 and complain that upon them alone has fallen the whole load of 
 human sorrows. '• I will restore thy daughter again to life," 
 eaid an Eastern sage to a prince who grieved immoderately for 
 the loss of a beloved child, " provided thou art able to engrave 
 on her tomb the names of three persons who have never mourned." 
 The prince made inquiry after such persons ; but found the in- 
 quiry vain, and was silent. 
 
 17 — 22. (17) mourning women, who attended funerals to 
 help the wailing." cunning, or skilled in wailing.* (18) 
 make haste, intimating that the calamity was near at hand, 
 for us, who mourn over Jerusalem as spiritually dead. (19) 
 cast us out, spewed us out, Le.xviii. 28. (20) hear, cic, even 
 the younger women must join the wailing, for the number of 
 dead would bs so great. The women were to wail while ttie men 
 resisted the besieger. (21) into our windows. I.e. the besiegers 
 burst in at the windows, from without, or from being able to 
 go out. (22) handful, laid on the ground to make up a sheaf. 
 
 JJ.ath (f. 21). — Death as an enemy is — I. Cruel, 1. Strikes at 
 
 (I " The wilder- 
 ness sometimes 
 signifies tlie plain 
 or clianipuign 
 countj-y, anil is 
 opposed to the 
 mountaius."— 
 Loiclh. 
 
 b Ps. bciv. 19; Is. 
 xiii. 22, xxxiv. 
 13 ; Je. li. 37. 
 Northern my- 
 thology tells "of 
 the Jligdard ser- 
 pent, whom Oilin 
 feared would 
 bring m u c li 
 trouble to the 
 gods. He caused 
 it to be brought 
 to him, wlien 
 he hurled it into 
 the deep ocean. 
 But the monster 
 grew to such 
 enormous size, 
 that it could 
 hold its tail iuit3 
 mouth, thus en- 
 circling the 
 whole earth. So 
 extensive is that 
 depravity which 
 follows the ser- 
 pent's trail from 
 Eden. 
 
 " The carnal 
 mind, which is 
 enmity, fortifies 
 the soul against 
 God, as with bars 
 and doors; 
 averts it from 
 Him, carries with 
 it a horrid, guilty 
 c o n s c i o usness, 
 which fills it with 
 eterual despair 
 and rage ; and 
 inwraps it in the 
 blackness of 
 darkness for 
 ever." — Howe. 
 
 a "Those wliosf 
 
 business it was 
 to attend 
 funerals, and by 
 their skilled 
 
 wailings aid the 
 real mourners iu 
 giving vent to 
 their grief. Hired 
 mourner.- are still 
 employed ia 
 
 Egypt." — SfK 
 Cum. 
 
44 
 
 JERE.VIAB. 
 
 [Cap. ix. 23-26. 
 
 2 Chr. XXXV. 25 ; 
 Ec. xii. 5 ; Am. 
 V. 16; SUit. ix. 
 23 ; Mk. V. 38. 
 
 b Skilful in la- 
 meiilatiju. 
 
 c Dr. T/fmas. 
 
 " Of the twpii^y- 
 five barons who 
 were appnin'ol 
 to enforce the 
 observance of I 
 Magna Ch.arta," 
 says Sir Bernard 
 B"rkes secoml 
 series of VicUsi- 
 tuil'S of Families, 
 " tliere is not 1 
 now «n tlie I 
 House of Peers a ; 
 sin:^lrt male de- I 
 sceudaiit." : 
 
 d Dr. Thompson, j 
 
 "If there be a ' 
 regal solitude, it i 
 is a side bed. \ 
 How tlie patient 
 lords it there ! 
 wliat caprices he 
 acts without 
 control I how- 
 kin g-1 i Ic e he 
 Bways liis pillow 
 — tumbling, and 
 tossing, and 
 shifting, anil 
 lowering, and 
 thumping, and 
 flatting, anil 
 moulding it, to 
 the ever- varying 
 requisitions of 
 his throbbing 
 temples." -L )nl}. 
 
 e Duke of Man- 
 eheslcr. 
 
 a " Wisdom here 
 is political saga- 
 city. Mitjht is 
 miiit.ary prow- 
 e.ss." — Fausset. 
 
 b " Because tlie 
 Jews valued 
 themselves so 
 much on their 
 ci re umcision, 
 Goil tells them, 
 when He sends 
 His juilguien''s 
 abroail in tlie 
 world, they sh.all 
 fiud no mure 
 
 the dearost objects of our affections ; 2. Robs us of our most use- 
 ful mcu ; ;5. Drags us from tho dparost thin;^s of the hca t : 4. 
 Reduces our bodies to the du.st. II. He is unremitting. III. He 
 is subtle. IV. He is resistless. V. lie is ubiquitous. VI. He is 
 conquerable. Christ has conquered di^ath — 1. In His own resur- 
 rection : 2. In His power u'^on the minds of His disciples ' 
 
 J/iiiirniiifj at the (/rare. — I have noticed every mornins;' since 
 coming to Sidon, that women come forth very early to visit tho 
 graves. They move about under the trees and among the tombs 
 in tlie grey dawn, wrapped up from head to foot in their white 
 sheets, and looking for all the world like veritable ghost'^. Some- 
 times I hear the voice of prayer ; some weep and sob. Avhile 
 others sing or chant in a low, monotonous tone. In ninety-nine 
 cases out of a hundred this jiublic manifestation is the work of 
 that arch-tyrant, custom, and nothing more. . . . Home of these 
 mourners have tents pitched above the gi'aves which require to 
 be wept over. These, however, afford but slight protection 
 against the pitiless storm and piercing wind. The great majority 
 have no cover, and the mourners go home to nurse rheumatisms, 
 burn in fevers, or go blind with ophthalmia. The real weeping 
 is in the houses. And when you further know that many of 
 these mourners and chanters are hired, and weep, howl, beat 
 their breast, and tear their hair, according to contract, your com- 
 passion will fail fast, take another direction, and sigh for the 
 victims of folly and fashion.'* — Death in oitr pahiccx — l^iwcn 
 Eihahctlia cliriiitcning. — The very christening of this little lady 
 looks now like a gorgeous dance of death. Nearly all the noble- 
 men who figured officially at it came to as violent an end as tlie 
 baby's mother, or were otherwise gloomily distinguished. Essex, 
 who carried the basins, was the last of the earls of the line of 
 Bouchier. Exeter, who carried the wax, the first marquis of the 
 house of Courcenay, was beheaded. Dorset, who bore the salt — 
 the Grey who. like the king, repudiated his first wife, Catharine 
 Fitz-Alan, and, by King Henrj^'s niece, became the father of 
 Lady Jane Grey — also passed under the axe. Lord Rochford. a 
 graceful rhymer and clever sonneteer, and Lord Hussey. who 
 swelled the train, tasted soon after the scaffold. Cranmer, the 
 young princess's godfather, came to a more painful end by fire ; 
 while the Earl of NV'iltshire, worse than submitting to the heads- 
 man himself, saw his son undei'go that bloody submission : and 
 the Early of Derby, the luckiest man of this awfully splendid 
 group, came off with no worse fortune than having a daughter 
 married to the Lord Stourton, who was hanged.' 
 
 23 — 26. (23) wiss . . mighty. . rich," the three classes that 
 might expect to defend and preserve themselves and their city 
 in times of national distress. (24) knoweth me, 1 Cor. i. 31 ; 
 2 Cor. x. 17. The true knowledge of God leads to practical 
 obedience of His will. (2."i) piinish, Heb. rix]f vpon. circum- 
 cised, etc.. confidence in their being circumcised would not avail 
 the unfaithful Jews, but the judgments of uncircumcised sinners 
 shall come upon them.' (2()) Egypt, etc.. comp. list in ch. xxv. 
 corners,'" lit. corners of their hair shorn. A peculiarity of cer- 
 tain Arabs (Le. xix. 27). 
 
 The (jloyy i>f mini {v. 2.3\ — T. The glory forbidden. 1. In 
 wisdom : 2. In might ; .3. In riches. II. The glory enjoinca. 
 1. The knowledge that there is a God ; 2. The knowledge of God 
 
Cap. X. 1—5.] 
 
 J ERE MI AB. 
 
 45 
 
 as the moral Govprnor of the universe ; 3. The knowlcdcre of 
 God as the God of redemption. Apply: — (1) Let us avoid all 
 forbidden gfrounds of glorying: ; (2) Let us understand what is 
 the enjoined grounds of glorying ; (3) Let us acknowledge the 
 superiority of the Christian's ground of glorj-iug.'* 
 
 Clalvant. — Clairaut was born in France in 1713, and began 
 the study of mathematics as soon as he could lisp his ABC; for 
 the first book which was put into his hands, and from which his 
 father taught him to read, was Euclid's Elements. When only 
 nine years of age. algebra and geometry were familiar to him, 
 and the solution of the most difficult problems he considered as 
 an amusement. At eleven years old he understood the most 
 abstruse parts of the science ; and at his twelfth year he com- 
 posed a treatise on some discoveries he had made in mathematics, 
 which was published in 1724, with an honourable certificate 
 from the Acadejny of Sciences. In 1730 he wrote an ingenious 
 treatise on " Curves of a Double Curvature," which would have 
 done honour to the ablest geometrician. The Academy of Sciences 
 at Paris, equally delighted and surprised at the exhibition of such 
 wonderful talents in such a youth, departed from their rule, by 
 receiving him into their Society before he had attained the age 
 required for the admission of members. He was received when 
 only in his eighteenth year.' 
 
 CHAPTER THE TENTH. 
 
 1 — 5. (1, 2) signs of heaven, eclipses, comets, etc., which 
 hea' hen peoples greatly fear." (3) customs, established insti- 
 tutions, one cuttetli, i.e. anybody can do it. (4) d.eck, etc.. 
 covering the wooden body with platings of gold and silver.* 
 with nails, to secure it from falling down. (5) upright, 
 etiff and straight. <^ do evil. Is. xli. 23. 
 
 Ilenrinp the M ord of the Lord (r. 1).— I. What is the Word of 
 the Lord? His Law and Gospel. II. What is implied in hearing 
 the Word of God ? 1 . That we attend His ordinances ; 2. That we 
 observe what we hear : 3. That we understand what we observe : 
 4. That we believe what we understand ; B. That we remember 
 what we believe ; 6. That we practise what we remember ; 7. 
 That we continue in what we practise. III. Why shoiild we 
 hear? I. Because God has commanded it ; 2. Because it is for 
 our great interest, it being the means of repentance, faith, light, 
 comfort, and leads to eternal happiness. IV. How worthy of 
 reproof are they — 1. Who do not come to hear ; 2. Who do not 
 hear when they are come ; 3. Who do not mind what they hear 
 if they do come : 4. Who do not understand what they give 
 attention to ; 5. Who will not believe what they understand ; C. 
 Who will not practise what they believe. V. Exhortation. 1. 
 Hear God's Word vv'ith reverence ; 2. Caution ; 3. Attention ; 4. 
 Inten'ion'' 
 
 '• Sif/ii.'! of hrnren.'^ — Heathenism in all ages has l>een a prolific 
 system of doubt and dismay to its million'.; of votaries. It has laid 
 prostrate, or warped aside, the finest intellects ; and made created 
 and lifek ss objects the controllers of human hope and fear, rather 
 than tlie great Creator. How lamentable that it was necessary 
 for this holy patriot and prophet to warn the Jews from foUow- 
 
 f avou r tlian 
 I Ihiise Avho iire 
 I not c i r c n in- 
 cise J." — Louth. 
 
 c Cut as to t>ie 
 corners cf the 
 beard. 
 
 " SeveralAraliian 
 tribes livinp not 
 far from the Holy 
 Land adopted tlie 
 custoui, as a sign 
 of tlieir special 
 religion, of shav- 
 ing the hair of 
 tlitir heads in an 
 extraordinary 
 fashion, viz., 
 either on the 
 crown of the 
 head, or towards 
 the temples, or 
 eloe of disfignring 
 a portion of the 
 beard." — Hero- 
 dotus. 
 
 Dr. J. 
 
 Boyle 
 
 V. 24. 
 Harris, 
 Lee. 
 
 d G. Brooks, 
 e R. T. S. 
 
 a " The Feb., 
 living, as they 
 are supposed to 
 do, in the midst 
 of idolaters, were 
 more or less ex- 
 posed to their 
 fi>ductive influ- 
 ence. The Chal- 
 da?ans specially 
 employed their 
 arts for the 
 j purpose of work- 
 I ing on the super- 
 1 sfitinus fears of 
 mankind." -i/tn- 
 de7-son. 
 1 
 6 Is. zlir. 10, 11. 
 
 c " Like one of 
 those stiff, in- 
 elega'it pillars, 
 soniithing like a 
 palm tree, wl.ic'i 
 luay be seen In 
 Oriental archi- 
 tecture, anil to 
 wli., with their 
 arms and legs 
 clns3 to their 
 sides, and their 
 legsandfeet mere 
 unsliiippii bkicks, 
 tliey niiglit well 
 be compared."— 
 
^6 
 
 JEREMIAn. 
 
 [Cap. -z. 6— lO. 
 
 Hab. IL 19 ; 1 
 Cor. xii. 2. 
 d ir. Stevens. 
 
 " Su) erstition is 
 the jioesy of 
 practical life. 
 Hence, a poet is 
 niine tlie wfirse 
 for being siiper- 
 stitious."-Goelhe. 
 
 t Robert!. 
 
 a Ee. XV. 4. 
 
 b Is. xli. 29 ; Ha. 
 ii. 18. ; Zee. x. 2. 
 
 c Ge. X. 4. 
 
 d Poss. the Paz 
 of Job xxvili. 17, 
 " Jewels of Paz." 
 
 V. 7. /. Saurin, i. 
 SU9. 
 
 e Pulpit Studies. 
 
 / Bib. Treas. 
 
 " Take away a 
 toy from a cliilil, 
 and give him 
 another, and he 
 is satisfied ; but 
 if he be linngry 
 no toy will do. 
 As new - born 
 babes, true be- 
 lievers desire the 
 sincere milk of 
 the Word ; and 
 the desire of 
 grace in this w.ay 
 is pri\ce."—Julin 
 Kficlon. 
 
 Wonderful al- 
 chemy of Cod's 
 grace it ij wliicli 
 transmutes tri- 
 bulation into 
 triumph, turns 
 ■waters of Jlarah 
 into a licalthful 
 fountain, euiibles 
 one to pal her 
 grapes of thorns 
 and ligs of this- 
 tles, causes tlie 
 rose to lilooni 
 through a whole 
 winter of trials, 
 and lielps the 
 EC>U to regard 
 afllictions as i)ro- 
 niisos, notthreat- 
 eiiiugs 1 
 
 j ing the practices of the idolaters ! and how vividly correct at this 
 I day are his descriptions of that soul-destroying- system ! Should 
 a supposed malijjnant begin to rule in any given month, multi- 
 tudes are in a state of terrible agitation, and. with the priests at 
 their head, are devising a thousand plans to avert its direful 
 potency. Though their astronomers can calculate with tolerable 
 accuracy the time when an eclipse will occur, yet this will not 
 serve in the least to pacify the vast tribes of the East. During- 
 its continuance they are all in a state of complete consternation ; 
 they abstain from their food and usual occupations, and yield 
 themselves up to all the foolish impositions and absurd fantasies 
 of their wily priests.* 
 
 6-10. (C) like . . thee, Ps. Ixxxvi. 8, 10, (7) king of 
 nations, i.r. all nations," (8) brutish, debased, almost like 
 mere animals *" stock, contemptuous word for their idol. (9) 
 Tarsh.isla,<^ port on Spanish coast. Uphaz, Da. x. :>.<'■ blue 
 and purple, expensive, as dyed with the valuable vnircx. or 
 shell-fish. (10) true God, lit. a God who is truth ; who is a 
 real God, not a sham figure. 
 
 T/ie trite and lirhirj God (r. 10). — T. The Lord is the true God. 
 This is proved — I. By His Word ; 2. His dealings ; 8. His pur- 
 poses ; 4. His manifestations. II. The Lord is the living God, 
 hence we should seek our spiritual life from Him. III. He is 
 the everlasting King, hence we should inriuire into and submit to 
 His laws.* 
 
 FoJhj of idolatry and iwwnr of the (Joupcl. — It was related at a 
 public meeting that several missionaries once landed in India, 
 who, anxious to lose no time in proclaiming the glad tidings 
 of salvation, stopped at the first large village on their route, and, 
 taking their stand under the shade of some large trees while the 
 natives collected round them, they began to preach unto them 
 Jesus. There was profound attention for more than an hour, 
 when first one voice was raised and then another. '• Jesus is tha 
 true God," " Jesus is the true God,' they cried. " Come with us, 
 and pull down our temples, and throw our gods down the hills." 
 Then they led the way, and soon bore their wretched idol, which, 
 though it had legs, could not walk, to the brow of a neighbouriuj* 
 hill, where they contemptuously flung it over. But the words of 
 the text may be applied to other idols besides those of heathen 
 nations. It is a fact, and a sight to be met with any day in 
 Madras and other large Eastern cities. A set of bearers are hired 
 one day to bear on their shoulders a hideous idol, ornamented 
 with gold and gems : and the next, the same set of men carry 
 forth in state the Virgin ^lary. One form of idolatry is perhaps 
 a little more refined than another : but how truly may it be said 
 of them all, " They that make them are like unto them ; so is 
 every one that trusteth in them!"/ — M'ind-.'ttorm in Avirr'wn. — 
 AVhile at "Washington, I first witnessed the wnid-storm. which is 
 common in this country. It is peculiar, sometimes awful. The 
 morning had been hot. the sky fair : I had been to the Senate, and 
 was now resting and writiu'jf in my chamlier. Quietly the soft and 
 refreshing breezes went down ; a haze came over the sun. so 
 that it shone as behind a gauze curtain. Every noise was stilled, 
 except that of the frog, which was unpleasantly audible. The 
 sky got silently darker, the atmosphere became oppressive, and 
 not a breath of air was felt. Suddenly in the distance you 
 
Cap. X. 11—16.] 
 
 JEREMlAn. 
 
 47 
 
 M'ould see things in commotion ; and, -while everything- was yet 
 quiet about you, you might hear the distant roaring of the wind. 
 Then the cattle run away to their best shelter ; then the mother 
 calls on her heedless children: and the housewife flies from 
 Btory to story to close her windows aiid shutters against the 
 entrance of the coming foe. Xow the dust, taken up in whirl- 
 winds, would come flyir.g along the roads ; and then would come 
 the gust of wind, which would make everything tremble, and 
 set the doors, windows, and trees flying, creaking, crashing 
 around you. You would expect the torrent to fall and to roll : 
 but no. there was neither rain nor thunder. It was wind, and 
 wind alone : and it wanted nothing to increase its power on the 
 imagination. It raged for a few minutes, and then passed as 
 suddenly away, leaving earth and sky as tranquil and as fair as 
 it found them. It is not easy to account for this very sudden 
 destruction and restoration of an equilibrium in nature. The 
 phenomenon, however, supplies a iine illustration of some 
 striking passages in Holy Scripture.? 
 
 11—13. (11) made . . earth, this is the sole claim of Jehovah. 
 (12) he hath made, Ge. i. 6. (13) waters, ttc, comp. the 
 account of the creation." 
 
 Gods of the heathen. — An Indian chief, having sent for Hia- 
 coomes, a converted native, with the view of receiving religious 
 instruction from him, after some conversation, the chief asked 
 him how many gods the English worshipped. Hiacoomes 
 answered, " One and no more." On which the chief reckoned 
 up about thirty-seven principal gods which he had. " And shall 
 I," said he, " throw away all these thirty-seven for the sake of 
 one only.'" "^Vhat do you yourself think?" said Hiacoomes; 
 " for my part, I have thrown away all these, and many more, 
 some years ago, and yet I am jireserved, as you see, to this day." 
 "You speak true," said the chief, "and therefore I will throw 
 away all my gods too, and serve that one God with you." 
 Hiacoomes proceeded more fully to instruct him. and the rest of 
 the company with him : and the chief having promised to 
 worship the true God, and serve Him only, was as good as his 
 Avord, for he carried himself as a true servant of God, all the 
 days of his life after.* 
 
 14—16. (1-t) brutish, v. 8. founder, man who casts the 
 metal idol. (15) work of errors, or deluded notions that 
 til III (in can ever be gods. They deserve only ridicule. (IG) 
 portion of Jacob, a term for Jehovah." rod . . inheritance, 
 " an expression taken from the first division of the land of 
 Canaan, when the inheritance of each tribe and family was 
 meted out with a line or a rod."* 
 
 Univrr.sal depranty. — If the words which the Apostle uses 
 (Rom. iii. 10 — 19) do not most fully and determinately signify a 
 universality, no words ever used in the Bible, or elsewhere, are 
 sufficient to do it. I might challenge any man to produce any I 
 one paragraph in the Scripture, from the beginning to the end, 
 whei'e there is such a repetition and accumulation of terms, so j 
 strongly, and emphatically, and carefully to express the most | 
 perfect and ab.solutely universality, or any place to be compared ; 
 to it. What instance is there in the Scripture, or indeed any I 
 other writing, when the meaning is only the much greater part, ' 
 
 " Liberal minds 
 are open to con- 
 viction. Lil)eral 
 doctrines are ca- 
 pable of iin- 
 IjroTement. 
 Tliere are prose- 
 lytes from atlie- 
 ism, but nrne 
 from supersti- 
 tion." — Junius, 
 
 g Dr. Reed. 
 
 a Job x.\xviii. 25, 
 26. 
 
 1'. 11. J. Medf, 
 i. 249 ; Dr. J. 
 Jortin, iv. 193. 
 
 r. 12. Oi-igen, Op. 
 iii. 169. 
 
 "Neman is born 
 wise ; but wis- 
 dom and virtue 
 1 require a tutor, 
 I though we can 
 I easily learn to 
 I be vicious with- 
 out a master."— 
 Se?iica. 
 
 b Whitecrou, 
 
 Comp. T>e. 
 \ xxxii. 9 ; I's, 
 { Ixxiv. 2. 
 
 I b Loiclh. 
 
 ! A 11 man's 
 
 ■ thoughts, all his 
 desires, all his 
 [ purposes are evil, 
 expressly or by 
 implication ; be- 
 cause the subject 
 of them is avow- 
 edly sinful, or 
 because they do 
 not jiroceed from 
 a holy principle, 
 and are not di- 
 rected to a proper 
 cnil. It is not oc- 
 casionally tlifit; 
 the human eoul 
 
48 
 
 jEnr.MiAU. 
 
 [Cap. X. 17-22. 
 
 is thus untipr the 
 in3ii-nee of ile- 
 piMviry, but tliis 
 is its habil anil 
 ttalc. It seems 
 impossible to 
 cnnstnict a sen- 
 tence wh. sliouM 
 more <listincfly 
 cxjiro-ss its toUd 
 corruption tlinn 
 this. (Gen. viii. 
 21.; 
 c Jon. EJicards. 
 
 a Movable pro- 
 perty. 
 
 6 Is. xxii. IS. 
 
 " Despair defies 
 even deripotisnx ; 
 there is tliat in 
 1»y heart wouM 
 make its way 
 tliro' hosts with 
 levell'd spears." 
 — Lord Bijron. 
 
 "Lean absti- 
 nence, pule grief, 
 anil hiiRgard 
 care, the dire 
 attenilants of 
 forlorn despair." 
 — I'aliisnn. 
 " To me to live is 
 Christ." All 
 otlier kind.? of 
 life will at last 
 be found to have 
 been only aliving 
 death. 
 
 c S^ulhwcll. 
 
 a Je. vi. 22, ix. 
 11. 
 
 " It is asserted 
 that a fa.5hion- 
 able preaolier, 
 after having 
 taken for his 
 te.vt thc.je words 
 of St. Paul, 'I 
 •will know no- 
 thing among you 
 Imt Clirist, and 
 Chri"t crucified,' 
 manajTrori not to 
 repa-xt this name 
 a r,i?i';le time. It 
 \vas2isy : instead 
 of speaking of 
 d'JvoMon to the 
 Rivl'iiir, bespoke 
 of di^vo'iion in 
 R.»ncral— one of 
 the favourite 
 themes o£ the 
 
 where this meaniner is sig-nified in sitch a manner by repeating 
 such expressions. " They are all," " they are all." " they are al- 
 toj^'ethcr," '"every oue." ''all the world;" joined to inulti))lied 
 neg'ative terms, to show the universality to be without exception, 
 saying, " There is no flesh," " there is none, there is none, there 
 is none, there is none," foiir times over : besides the addition of 
 "no. not one — no, not one," once and again. ... So that if this 
 matter [universal depravity] be not here set forth plainly, ex- 
 pres.sly, and fully, it must be because no words can do it : and it 
 is not in the power of language, or any manner of terms and 
 I^hrases, however contrived and heaped one upon another, detenni- 
 uately to signify any such thing." 
 
 17, 18. (17) thy wares," If. the few necessary things that 
 time permits you to collect ere you are hurried into captivity. 
 CIS) sling out, a fig. indicating the suddenness and force of the 
 desolation impending.* may find, or feel intensely. 
 Shun delays. — 
 
 Shun delays, they breed remorse ; 
 
 Take thy time while time is lent thee : 
 Creeping snails have weakest force : 
 
 Fly their fault, lest thou repent thee. 
 Good is best when sooner wrought, 
 Lingering labours come to nought. 
 
 Hoist up sail while gale doth last, — 
 Tide and v/ind stay no man's pleasure I 
 
 Seek not time when time is past — ■ 
 Sober speed is wisdom's leisure ; 
 
 After-wits are dearly bought : 
 
 Let thy fore-wit guide thy thought. 
 
 Time wears all his locks before — 
 
 Take thou hold upon his forehead : 
 When he flees, he turns no more. 
 
 And behind his scalp is naked. 
 Works adjourn'd have many stays ; 
 Long demurs breed new delays.' 
 
 19—22. (19) woe is me, this is the cry of the Prophet, as 
 representing the stricken nation before God. grievous, or 
 mortal, incurable. (20) tabernacle, poetical for dwcUins-s. 
 none to stretch, i.e. the men are all swept awa}'. (21) 
 pastors, as before, the temporal rulers. (22) bruit,"^ sound of 
 the enemy." dragons, or jackals. 
 
 A hint to ?ii!ni.ite)v. — At a ministers' meeting at Northnmpton, 
 a question was discussed, to the following purport : To what 
 causes in ministers may much of their want of success be im- 
 puted ? The answer turned chiefly upon the want of personal 
 religion : particularly the neglect of close dealing with God in 
 closet pr.ayer. Jer. x. 21 was referred to : '• Their pastors are 
 become brutish, and have not sought the Lord ; therefore they 
 shall not pr'ospcr, and Iheir flocks shall be scaltercd." Another 
 reason assigned was the want of reading and studying the Scrip- 
 tures more as Christians, for the edification of their own souls. 
 " We are too apt to study them," adds Mr. Fuller, " merely to find 
 out something to say to others, without living upon the truth 
 ourselves. If we eat not the book before we deliver its contiinte 
 
Cap. xi. 1—5.1 
 
 JEREmAB. 
 
 49 
 
 to others, we may expect the Holy Spirit will not much accom- 
 pany us. If we study the Scriptures as Christians, the more 
 l'amili;ir we are with them the more we shall feel their iinport- 
 auce ; but if otherwise, our familiarity with the Word will be 
 like that of soldiers and doctors with death — it will wear away 
 all sense of its importance from onr minds. To enforce this 
 sentiment, Prov. xxii. 17, 18, was referred to — ' Ajiply thine heart 
 to knowledge : the words of the wise will be pleasant if thou 
 keep them within thee ; they shall withal be fitted iu thy lijjs.' 
 Another reason was, our want of being emptied of self-sufficiency. 
 In proportion as we lean upon our own gifts, or parts, or pre- 
 parations, we slight the Holy Spirit ; and no wonder that, being 
 grieved, He should leave us to do oiu- work alone.'"* 
 
 23—25. (23) way . . himself, Pr. xvi. 1, xx. 24. Jeremiah's 
 prayer in prospect of the national calamity. (24) "witll judg- 
 ment, better, in meoftnre : ch. xlvi. 28. bring . . nothing, 
 marg. diriil/ii.><Ji me. (2.5) pour, etc.. Ps. Ixxix. 6, 7." 
 
 The trail of man not in Iiini.self (r. 23). — I. Let us consider the 
 conviction here expressed in its sources : " I know," says he. 
 1. The nature of our condition ; 2. The limitation of our powers ; 
 3. Historj^ : 4. Experience ; f). Scripture. II. Consider its uses. 
 1. It should produce gratitude ; 2. Submission ; 3. Check pre- 
 sumption : 4. Induce one to repair to God in earnest prayer. III. 
 Let us glance at the encouragements of this conviction. God 
 is — 1. Able; 2. 'Willing; 3. Engaged to direct our steps.* 
 
 The hand of God. — Nothing was more remarkable than New- 
 ton's constant habit of regarding the hand of God in every event, 
 however trivial it might appear to others. In walking to his 
 church, ho would say, '• The way of man is not in himself, nor 
 can he conceive what belongs to a single step. "When I go to 
 St. llary Woolnoth. it seems the same whether I turn down 
 Lothbury or go through the Old Jewry ; but the going through 
 one street and not another, may produce an effect of lasting 
 consequence. A man cut down my hammock in sport ; but had 
 he cut it down half an hour later I had not been here, as the 
 exchange of the crew was then making. A man made a smoke 
 on the seashore at the time a ship passed, which was thereby 
 brought to, and afterwards brought me to England."' 
 
 CHAPTER THE ELEVENTH. 
 
 1—5. (1. 2) covenant, aee 2 Ki. xxiii. 3." (3) cursed, eic, 
 De. xxvii. 2G : Ga. iii. 10. (4) obey, etc., Le. xxvi. 3, 12. (5) 
 oath. De. vii. 12. 13. 
 
 Fidel itji to the truth. — The recording angel, as he writes down 
 the shortcomings of at least the majority of those who are pro- 
 fessedly Christians, must in our time give prominence to the fact 
 that they are not. and make no effort to be, '■ valiant for the 
 truth." It is easy to be valiant in a great many things, but not 
 to ba valiant in living for the truth — not merely iu defending it 
 by word of mouth, which is necessary, and yet only one part of 
 the valour our cause requires. Lax modem notions on this sub- 
 ject have done mischief, not only in the woidd, but within the 
 boundaries of our churches, since it has become the fashion with 
 
 VOL. IX. O.T. D 
 
 t h e o - p h i 1 a n- 
 thropy of the 
 day."— ra-' Prea- 
 cher and the King. 
 
 " The desire for 
 knowlecige. like 
 the thirst for 
 riches, increases 
 ever witli the 
 acquisitiouof it." 
 — iSlerne. 
 
 b WJdtecroM. 
 
 a " ' Since I (my 
 nation) must be 
 corrected, I do 
 not deprecate all 
 chastiscnicnt.but 
 pray only tor mo- 
 dtrationin it.and 
 that the full tide 
 of Thy fury may 
 be poured out on 
 the heathen in- 
 T,aders for their 
 cruelty towards 
 Tliy people.' " — 
 Ea uscet. 
 
 r. 24. Dr. M- 
 Hole, i. 43 ; R. 
 A/orehe((d,u.208; 
 J. n. I'inder, 277. 
 
 V. 25. Dr. J. 
 
 Urton, ii. 69. 
 
 S W. Jay. 
 
 " We must fol- 
 low, not force 
 Providence." — 
 Uliakespcare. 
 
 c R. T. S. 
 
 a "\I\Mit they 
 were specially to 
 com m u u i c ate 
 was tlie contents 
 of that portion 
 of the book of the 
 law, which had 
 been found in 
 the temple in 
 .Josiah's time." — 
 Hoidarson. 
 
 " The Prophet 
 puts the people 
 in mind of tlie 
 renewal of the 
 covenant lately 
 made in the 
 
50 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap, xl. &-IOI1 
 
 time of Josiali."- 
 
 Lighlfoot. 
 
 rv. 1—10. Origen, 
 Op. iii. 176. 
 
 t)r. Peckwell, a 
 
 I.oiiilou clcrtry- 
 man, received in- 
 fection from a 
 (lead body, and 
 knew that lie 
 must soon die. 
 He proaelieil on 
 the follo\vin}< 
 Friilay evening a 
 toiaching and 
 liowerfnl sermon, 
 tolil tlie people it 
 was his last, anil 
 bade tliem faro- 
 well. So it 
 proved ; and on 
 the Sunday a 
 stranger filled his 
 place. 
 
 6 Teachers' Mag. 
 
 a "2 Ki. XNiii. 
 15, 20. T'rob. 
 Jeremiah accom- 
 panied Josiah in 
 his progress 
 throug-h the land, 
 evcrj-where read- 
 ing from tlie 
 newly found 
 
 T)ook." — Kagds- 
 bach. 
 
 b Shncham, the 
 verb used, is pro- 
 perly applied to 
 loading a camel's 
 back, in one of its 
 coiijugations,and 
 tins was done at 
 dawn, and hence 
 the metaphor is 
 peculiarly Orien- 
 tal, being taken 
 from the daily 
 life of the sons of 
 the desert. 
 
 c " They made 
 some steps to- 
 wards a reforma- 
 tion in the time 
 of Josiah, but 
 now they have 
 agreed or con- 
 Epired together 
 to return back to 
 their former 
 i d ol a tries."— 
 
 <'omp. Eze. xxii. 
 25 ; ilo. vi. 9. 
 
 many thinkers to laud all display of energ-y and earnestness, no 
 matter what the cause is which leads to their manifestation. 
 Valour, like charity, is made to cover a multitude of sins : though 
 if it is admirable and beautiful to see tlie truth valorously 
 defended, it should bo in the same proportion odious to us to 
 witness what at any rate has the appearance of heroism expended 
 in the b?>half of error. For there are varieties of truth, as we 
 know well — truth moral, intellectual, physical : truth which man 
 can hims'df discover, and truth which he has only attaiued 
 through a Divine revelation. But on any clearly defined subject 
 there cannot b^ two opposite opinions which are true : and beiore 
 we can be valiant we must have in our own minds clear and 
 distinct views of what the Christian truth really is for which we 
 are going- to fight. A g-eneral who chose to clothe his troops iu 
 uniforms closely resembling- those of the enemy, and had stan- 
 dards almost identical v.-ith theirs, might chance to achieve some 
 success, yet he could not be surprised if he were severely beaten. 
 Is it not to be feared that indolence lies at the root of our lack 
 of valour far too frequently .' "We do not trouble ourselves to 
 investigate, and not investigating, we do not feel as deeply as we 
 should on many points which concern Christian doctrine. And 
 still, on the other hand, we must be careful that we do not mis- 
 take for a precious portion of the truth, something which has 
 only been attached thereto by the particular Church to which we 
 adhere.' 
 
 6—10. (C) proclaim, the word used means also, read aJovd, 
 and it may refer to the newly-found book of the law," wh. was 
 to be made known to the people. (7) earnestly protested . . 
 rising early, in Heb. language, early rising to do a thing is 
 the sign of earnestness of purpose.*" (8) imagination, see 
 (?h. iii. 17. will bring, better, have IroiKjht : the reference 
 !)eing to the fact constantly illustrated in their history that dis- 
 obedience always brought calamity. (D) a conspiracy,'' or 
 general agreement in disobedience to God's covenant. (10) 
 went after, or walked after. 
 
 Experience of depravity. — An African said to a missionary, 
 " Yesterday morning, when you preach, you show me that the 
 law be our schoolmaster to bring us to flirist. You talk about 
 j the ten commau<lments. You begin at the first, and me say to 
 myself. ' Me guilty ! ' the second, • Ble euilty ! ' the third, • Jle 
 guilty ! ' the fourth, ' Me guilty ! ' the fifth, ' Me guilty ! ' Then 
 you say the sixth. Thou shalt not kill. Me say, ' Ah ! me no 
 guilty, me never kill some person.' You say, ' I suppose plenty 
 people live here, who say, Me no guilty of that ! ' Me say again 
 in my heart, ' Ah, me no guilty ! ' Then j'ou say, ' Did you 
 never hate any person ? Did you never wish that such a 
 pei'son, such a man. or such a woman, was dead .' ' JNIassa, you 
 talk plenty about that: and what I feel that time I cant tell 
 you. I talk in my heart, and saj'. ' ]\Ie the same person ! ' My 
 heart begin to beat ; me want to ciy ; my heart heave so much 
 me dont know what to do. Massa, me think me kill tep 
 people before breakfast ! I never think I so bad. Afterwards 
 you talk about the Lord Jesus, how lie take off our sin. I 
 think I stand the same like a person that have a big stone upon 
 him head, and can't walk — want to fall down. m-a.^-'sa 1 I have 
 trouble too much ; I no sleep all night. I hope the I«ord Jesua 
 
Cap. xl. 11-20.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 51 
 
 Christ will take my sins from me. Suppose He no save me, I 
 shall go to hell for ever." 
 
 11 — 14. (11) will bring, better, are alwvt to hrinrj. not 
 hearken, bee. the time for judgment has fully come.'' (12) 
 cry . . gods, ch. ii. 28 ; De. xxxii. ."7, 38. (13) shameful 
 thing, Heb. hoxhcth, shame ; the name of contempt for Baal.'' 
 (14) pray not, ch. vii. 1(5.'= 
 Hope against drttpair. — 
 
 l)espair not, Virtue, who in sorrow's hour 
 Sigh'st to behold some idol overthrown, 
 And from the shade of thy domestic bower 
 
 Some green branch gone, some bird of promise flown : 
 God chastens but to prove thy faithfulness, 
 
 And in thy weakness He will be thy stay ; 
 Trust and deserve, and He will soothe and bless ;^ 
 
 The darkest hour is on the verge of day. 
 Despair not, Man. however low thy state, 
 
 Kor scorn small blessings that around thee fall ; 
 Learn to disdain the impious creed of fate. 
 
 And own the Providence that governs all. 
 If thou art baffled in thy earnest will, 
 
 Thy conscience clear, thy reason not astray, 
 Be this thy faith and consolation still. — 
 The darkest hour is on the verge of day.' 
 
 15 — 17. (15) lewdness, light regard of the marriage contract. 
 or covenant, holy flesh, poss. a fig. for their sacrifices, wh. 
 were unacceptable bee. of their immorality and hj'pocrisy. (16) 
 green olive, comj}. Ps. lii. 8." kindled, etc., fig. of the deso- 
 lation wrought by the Chaldaean army. (17) planted thee, 
 and so hath all rights in thee, evil, in the sense of calamity, 
 which should be Divine judgment, against themselves, the 
 einner"s sin is always to his own hurt. 
 
 Oriffinal depravity. — Now there must be some cause of this 
 constant and universal depravity : and the sacred historian refers 
 it to our nature itself, when he affirms that " the imagination of 
 man's heart is evil from his j-outh." The word translated 
 "youth '" is not only used to denote the period of life commonly 
 so called, but comprehend)! infancy also, and in the present case 
 (Gen. viii. 21) must be thus understood ; for we cannot account 
 for it that man should be sinful " from his youth " unless the 
 seeds of evil exist in his constitution — unless he be sinful from 
 the commencement of his being. Such a description would not 
 have been given if we came into the woi'ld perfectlj^ pure, or 
 with merely a tendency to evil, which might be checked in in- 
 numerable cases by education and a variety of circiimstances. 
 The tree must be corrupted to the core which produced corrupt 
 fruit at first, and continues to produce it as long as it stands.* 
 
 18 — 20. (18) given me knowledge, i.e. of the evil designs 
 that were being plotted against the Prophet himself." (ID) like 
 a lamb, the word used means a lamb that has been tamed, so as 
 to be familiar and play with children, tree . . fruit, fig. for 
 Jeremiah and his prophecies.'' (20) trlest the reins, etc., 1 
 Sa. xvi. 7, etc. thy vengeance, in sense of righteous 
 judgment. 
 
 d2 
 
 a Ps. xviii. 41 ; 
 Pr. i. 28; Is. i. 
 15 ; Mi. iii. 4. 
 
 b Wordsworth. 
 
 " Tlie errch'on of 
 altars to Baal in 
 evf-ry street of 
 Jerusalem, be- 
 tokens a public 
 cstiiblishmrnt of 
 idola'ry, such as 
 actually took 
 place in the reign 
 of Jlauasseh." — 
 f!pt. Com. 
 
 c Je. xiv. 11,12. 
 
 t'. 12. J. Weemse, 
 i. 82. 
 
 d Prince. 
 
 a Ro. xi. 17. 
 
 A minister 
 travelling 
 through the 
 
 west, some time 
 ag'o. asked an old 
 lady on whom lie 
 called, what she 
 tlionpht of the 
 diictriiie of total 
 depravit}'. " Oh, 
 sir !" she replied, 
 "I think it is a, 
 good doctrine if 
 people would only 
 live up to it." 
 
 " Our birth is 
 nothing but our 
 death begun, as 
 tapers waste that 
 instant they take 
 Are." — roung. 
 
 6 Dr. T. Dick. 
 
 a " Jeremiah hero 
 digresses from 
 his main subject, 
 in order to take 
 special notice of 
 tlie attempt wb. 
 had been plotted 
 upon his life by 
 his own tciwns- 
 mcn. It would 
 
62 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap.xli. 1— 4, 
 
 liprrnlrd (Irprarify. — AVhen the lig-ht of GofVs grace comes into 
 your heart, it is pometliing' like the opening- of the windows of 
 an old cellar that has been shnt up lor many days. Down in 
 Ihat cellar, which has not been ojiened for many months, ai-e all 
 kinds of loathsome creatures, and a few sickly plants blanched 
 by the darkness. The walls are dark, and damp by the tiail of 
 reptiles : it is a horrid filthy )ilace, in which no one would 
 willingfly enter. You may walk there in the dark very securely, 
 and, except now and then for the touch of some slimy creature, 
 you would not believe the place was so bad and filthy. Open 
 those shutters, clean a pane of srlass, let a little litfht in, and now 
 see how a thousand noxious things have made this place their 
 habitation ! Sure, 'twas not the lig-ht that made this place so 
 horrible : but it was the liurht that showed how horrible it was* 
 before. So let God's grace just open a window, and let the li;jrht 
 into a man"s soul, and he -will stanci astonished to see at what a 
 distance he is from God.*^ 
 
 21—23. (21) prophesy not, trying thus to frighten God's 
 Prophet with thi-ir threats." (22) young men, " those of the 
 legal age for military service." famine, in the time of the 
 siege. (2:?) no remnant, of those who thus sought the Pro- 
 phefs life.* even the year, or in the year. 
 
 Ncrcr yield to dc.yiriir. — 
 
 Art thou low, and sick, and dreary ? 
 
 Ts thy spirit sunk and weary 
 
 ■\Yich its light against the ills of life, that seem to fill the air? 
 Gird thy loins once more, and try, — 
 The stout heart wiu3 the victory, 
 But never dark despair. 
 
 Does temptation strong approach thee ? 
 Does some secret wrong reproach thee 
 With its conscious voice, accusing thee of more than thou 
 canst bear ? 
 Before high heaven cleanse thy breast; 
 Go sin no more, and thou'lt find rest, 
 But never in despair. 
 
 Has thy love of man grown chary? 
 Has thy trust in him gi-own. wary ? 
 Hast thou coldly turn'd a deafen"d ear to sin's repentant prayer ? 
 Think that none can enter heaven. 
 Who has not others" sins forgiven, 
 
 And saved them from despair.* 
 
 CHAPTER THE TWELFTH 
 
 1 — 4. (1) righteous art tho-a, the general acknowledgment 
 of God's justice and holiness. 3'-et, rfc. the PiO]ihet finds ditli- 
 culty in dealing with a particular case." wherefore . . prosper ? 
 the great (piestiou of tli«- times of the later monarchy.' happy, 
 by reason of their security. (2) month, i.e. iu their professions. 
 reins, regarded as the seat of the affections.' (i?) tried mine 
 still lieM fast bis heart, .so as to prove my sincerity, pull . . out, Ileb. trnr tlicin 
 
 ^Tcluv\Ti'l ti'ie ""^•'^ ^"*' ^^^ • • ^"^' '"^'^ ^'^ ^""^ ^y ^'^° peo]ile who mock the 
 chftracta- of 3o- Prophet, sure that ttej' shall outlive all his threatenings.' 
 
 appear tlmt lie 
 h.iil not oiitpr- 
 tained tlioslitrlit- 
 est su?pici(jii of 
 their intention, 
 anil tliat lie must 
 liave remained 
 ignorant of it, if 
 it had not been 
 immediately re- 
 vealed to him by 
 the Omnisciciit 
 Searcher of 
 hearts,"-i/fwrff/'- 
 son. 
 
 h The LXX., ' 
 fender, "Let us 
 put wood (('./■. ' 
 poison) into his 
 bread." I 
 
 c Spurgeon. 
 
 a " This was the 
 usage the Pro- 
 phets commonly 
 met with from 
 those who be- 
 came their ene- 
 mies, because 
 they told them 
 those truths they 
 had no mind to 
 bear." — Lowth. 
 
 h Fr. Ezr. ii. 23, 
 Ke. vii. 27, it ap- 
 pears that 1^8 
 men of Aiia- 
 thoth returned 
 from exile. 
 
 " All hope is last 
 of my reception 
 into grace. 
 What -worse ? 
 For where no 
 hope is left, is 
 left no fear." — 
 Milton. 
 
 C Clements, 
 
 a "However rlif- 
 ficult Jeremiah 
 found it to re- 
 concile the appa- 
 rent discreiiaii- 
 cies of the Div. 
 pcvernnient, lie 
 
Cap. xii. 5—9.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 53 
 
 Doctrinal viyxterii's. — How unreasonable it is to reject any 
 doctrine which is revealed to us in the Christian Scriptures, only 
 because we are unable to comprehend how it can be ! The words 
 may be plain and evident where the doctrines which they contain 
 are mysterious ; and how much safer, and wiser, and more be- 
 fitting our present condition it is to conclude that these truths 
 are proposed bj' the Author of light to prove our humility and 
 ready acquiescence in His will, to become subservient to the ends 
 of religion by exercising the obedience of our reason, and pro- 
 bably in other ways which at present we cannot perceive. It is 
 not intended that we should know everything in this present 
 life ; it is not agreeable to our notions of a state of trial that we 
 should. Many things we must at present take for granted, upon 
 the authority of God"s Word ; nor is this any juster ground of 
 ccniijlaint than it is that a child is less acquainted with the 
 rea.-on of things than one of maturer age. That man acts most 
 agreeably to his character of an imperfect and ei-riug creature, 
 placed in a state of discipline, who first satisfies himself that the 
 Scriptures are indeed what they profess to be, the Word of God ; 
 and then takes in hand the sacred volume of truth with a humble 
 and teachable mind, prepared to believe all that is therein stated, 
 because he finds it there ; and to practise all that is therein com- 
 manded, because he there discovers the sure will of God, and the 
 motives to obedience. This it is to receive with meekness the 
 engrafted Word./ 
 
 5, 6. (.5^ run, etc.. this is a proverbial saying, and intimates 
 that further and higher indignities awaited the Prophet in 
 Jerusakin." land of peace, the open champaign country, 
 swellings of Jordan, lit. tlte pride of Jordan, the thickets in 
 the JoiTlan valley, abounding in wild l)casts.* Some refer this 
 expression to the Jordan floods.'' (G) brethren, ch. ix. 4. a 
 multitude, or called aloud. 
 
 Gradathxm of trial (r. .5). — Apply the text— 1. To those who 
 are discouraged in the service of God by trifling difficulties : 2. 
 To those who have succumbed to feeble temptations ; 3. To such as 
 have desponded at the presence of slight afflictions : 4. To the 
 large class who have failed to gain spii-itual profit under favour- 
 able providences. — Tie siri'lliitfi of Jordiui. — I. The river Jordan 
 an emblem of death. 1. It rolled between the desert and the 
 Promised Land : 2. It separated the Israelites from the people of 
 the Promised Land ; 3. It must be crossed before the Promised 
 Land be reached ; 4. It was subject to occasional rise and over- 
 flow. II. The inquiry concerning our conduct in reference to 
 the river. 1. Shall we refuse to enter ? 2. Shall we rush recklessly 
 on ? 3. Shall we construct some artificial apparatus ' 4. Shall we 
 adopt the method of deliverance revealed in the Gospel .' how 
 wilt thou do .' '' 
 
 7—9. (1) mine honse, or temple, dearly beloved, ch. xi. 
 15. hand, Heb. the pnlm.. here especially with its power to 
 Bqueeze and crush. (8) as a lion, a savage beast of prey, roar- 
 ing against Me." hated it, this term can only be applied to 
 God with qualification. God cannot Jmto in the sense that man 
 may hate. ('.») speckled bird.'' one differing in plumage from 
 the' others, which the other birds peck to death. By accepting 
 heathen rites the Jews had acquired a mutlcy appearance. 
 
 hovah." — Hen- 
 \ derson. 
 
 i 6. Job xxi. 7 — 17; 
 j Ps. xxxvii. 1 — 35, 
 I Ixxiii. 3. 5, 7, 
 
 xcii. 7;Hab.i. 13. 
 
 c Ps. vii. 9. 
 
 d " Ura? them by 
 
 ni.iiu jiirce oub 
 
 j of tlie flock, and 
 
 \ make examples of 
 
 thorn, that all 
 
 men may ac- 
 
 1 knowlcilge ttat 
 
 ( there is One who 
 
 j u(l peth tlie 
 
 1 earth." — S^'k. 
 
 Com. 
 
 € "It is mora 
 
 ' than this : it is 
 the ath(.'istical 
 boast of the im- 
 
 ' pious, in their 
 prosperity, that 
 
 I Got! Himself 
 
 j would never see 
 their destruc- 
 tion." — Woids- 
 tcoith. 
 
 f Dp. Blomfield. 
 
 n "If he could 
 not bear with 
 the ill-usage of 
 his acquaintance 
 and neigiiboura 
 at Anathoth, 
 how would he be 
 able to undergo 
 the hardships he 
 must expect to 
 meet with from 
 the great men at 
 Jerusalem, who 
 would unani- 
 mously set them- 
 selves against 
 him y" — Lowth. 
 
 b Henderson. 
 
 c Wordsicorth. 
 
 d G. Brooks. 
 
 a " My people 
 have blasphemed 
 Me and My laws, 
 just like a wil<i 
 beast, that opens 
 its mouth ag.ainst 
 every one that 
 withstands it." — 
 Lowlh. 
 b Heb. tsabuang. 
 
54 
 
 JEREiTIAn. 
 
 [Cap. 3ril. 10-13. 
 
 a term of very 
 uncertain sigiiili- 
 caiion. 
 
 a " Ttcvfniifs had 
 tliis meaning in 
 olil time." — Upk. 
 Cum. 
 
 •'There is a bitter 
 irony in ' your 
 revenues,' tliose 
 revenues which 
 ye liave cliosen 
 for yoursDlves, in 
 opposition to Jfy 
 command, and in 
 preference to Jly 
 service and fa- 
 vour, the3' shall 
 be the cause of 
 your shame." — 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 At a communion 
 in the west of 
 Scotland, as a 
 verbose preacher 
 was addressing 
 the congrega- 
 tion, one by one 
 liis ministerial 
 brethren dropped 
 out of the chapel 
 into tlie vestry. 
 As the last one 
 who left put his 
 head into the 
 vestry, those who 
 preceded him in- 
 quired if the 
 prolix speaker 
 had not yet 
 finished his ad- 
 dress. " Weel," 
 said he, " his 
 tow's dune lang 
 syne, but he's 
 spinniu' awa' 
 yet." 
 
 A Quaker once 
 discovered a thief 
 in his house; and, 
 taking down his 
 grandfather's old 
 fowling-piece, he 
 quietly said, 
 "Friend, thee 
 h.ad better get 
 out of the way ; 
 for I intend to 
 fire this prun 
 riglit where thee 
 ■tauds." 
 
 Kiife on. r. 9. — Dr. Boothroj'd, " Ravenous birds." The context 
 confirms this rendering', and also the marginal reading, " talons." 
 Considering the numerous birds of prey in the East, it is no 
 wonder that there are so many allusions in the Scriptures to their 
 ravenous propensities. Of a ferocious man it is said, " That 
 fellow is in every place with his talons." " What I wretch, have 
 you come hither to snatch with your talons ! " " Alas ! alas I 
 how many has this disease snatched away in its talons ! " " True, 
 true, even my own children have now got talons."'' 
 
 10 — 13. (10) pastors, as previously, ruJiT.t, here the refer- 
 ence is to the ChaLlcean generals. trodden . . foot, doin^ 
 ruinous injury to the young shoots, pleasant portion, romp. 
 ch. xi. IG. (11) it mournetll, waileth in its utter desolation ; 
 the vei'y laud seeming to cry for inhabitants. (12) no flesh, as 
 Ge. vi. 3, mankind as A-(«/w';'.?. (13) to pain, the extreme labour 
 of their idol service, raven 'Ues, or the produce of the fields." 
 
 JVotc on i\ 10. — Besides successive invasions by foreign nations, 
 and the systematic spoliation exercised by a despotic government, 
 other causes have conspired to perpi^tuate the desolation of Juda;a, 
 and to render abortive the substance that is in it. Among these 
 has chiefly to be numbered its being literally trodden under foot 
 by many pastors. Volney devotes a chapter, fifty pages in length, 
 to a description, as he entitles it, *' Of the Pastoral, or "Wandering- 
 Tribes of Syria," chiefly of the Bedouin Arabs, by whom espe- 
 cially Juda3a is incessantly traversed. '• The pachalics of Aleppo 
 and Damascus may be computed to contain about thirty thou.saud 
 wandering Turkmen (Turcomans), All their jjroijerty consists ia 
 cattle." In the same pachalics, the number of the Curds •' exceed 
 twenty thousand tents and huts," or an equal number of armed 
 men. " The Curds are almost everywhere looked upon as robbers. 
 Like the Turkmen, these Curds are joastors and wanderers. A 
 third wandering people in Syria are the Bedouin Arabs." " It 
 often happens that even individuals turn robbers, in order to 
 withdraw themselves from the laws, or from tyranny, unite and 
 form a little camj), which maintain themselves by arms, and, in- 
 creasing, become new hordes and new tribes. We may pronounce, 
 that in cultivable countries the wandering life originates in the 
 injustice or want of policy of the government : and that the 
 sedentary and the cultivating state is that to which mankind is 
 most naturally inclined." "It is evident that agriculture must 
 be very precarious in such a country, and that, under a govern- 
 ment like that of the Turks, it is safer to lead a wandering life 
 than to choose a settled habitation, and rely for subsistence on 
 agriculture." " The Turkmen, the Curds, and the Bedouins, have 
 no fixed habitations, but keep jierpetually wandering with their 
 tents and herds, in limited districts, of which they look upon 
 therrtbelvcs as the proprietors. The Arabs spread over the whole 
 frontier of Syria, and even the plains of Palestine." Tlius, con- 
 trary to their natural inclination, the peasants, often forced to 
 abandon a settled life, and pastoral tribes in great numbers, or 
 many, and without fixed habitations, divide the country, as it 
 were, by mutu.al consent, and apportion it in limited districts 
 among thems(>lves b}' an as^^nmed right of property, and the 
 Arabs, subdivided also into dilTerent tribes, spread over the plains 
 of Palestine, " wandering jii-rjietually," as if on veiy puiijose to 
 tread it down. What could be more unlikely or uonatural in 
 
Cap. xlii. 1—5.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 55 
 
 Biich a land ! yet what more strikingly and strictly true ! or how 
 else could the effect of the vision have been seen ! Many pastors 
 have destroyed my vineyard ; they have trodden my portion 
 under foot.* 
 
 14 — 17. (14) evil neiglilDOiirs, the nations in the vicinity 
 of Judah, who doubtless took evil advantage of the times of her 
 weakness and peril." Syrians, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, 
 and Philistines, pluck . . Judah, by its removal into captivity. 
 (15) return, etc., or I will again have compassion. These 
 neighbours shared, in measure, with Judah in the restoration. 
 (10) "ways . . people, who then shall have wholly given up 
 their idolatry, the Lord, or Jehovah.' (17) not obey, Is. 
 Lx. 12. 
 
 8inful companions to he abandoned hi/ the Christian. — Some- 
 times great sinners must abandon their companions. For fre- 
 quently there are sins which in their very nature are so wrapjjed 
 up in companionship that no man can be safe who does not break 
 with companions as well as with courses. It is not as a general 
 rule. I do not say that a young man, violating no cano/j of 
 morality, dwelling in a virtuous home, and only with his com- 
 panions worldly and sinful by the higher sentiments misapjaro- 
 priated, ought, when he becomes a C'hristian, to abandon those 
 companions. On the contrary, he ought to be a better companion 
 than he ever was before. But if you have been in lust's com- 
 panionship, if you have been in the fiery strifes and toils of the 
 passions, then the fire burning in your companions will not easily 
 be slaked in you. There must be something more than a simple 
 and barren attempt to turn away from sin. You must break 
 with your comjjanions.« 
 
 CHAFTER THE THIRTEENTH. 
 
 1 — 5. (1) unto me, in vision. Some think this symbolical 
 act was literally done by Jeremiah ; others, with more proba- 
 bility, regard it as done in vision." linen girdle, i.e. the inner 
 girdle, worn next the skin, put . . water, i.e. to wash it. Let 
 it be in its dirtv stfte :* representing the "deep-grained pollu- 
 tion of the people." (2— i) Euphrates, Heb. Phrath: either 
 the river of Babylon f or the original name of Bethlehem. 
 Ejihrafh.'' It is hardly possible to conceive that Jer. went twice 
 to the Euphrates, a distance of 200 miles, hole, or cleft. Typi- 
 cal of the Jewish captivity. 
 
 Note on r. 4. — The girdle of the Orientals is sometimes made of 
 silver or gold, or embroidered silk, or highly dyed muslin. Its 
 uses are, to keep the lower garments fast to the loins, to 
 strengthen the body, and to command respect. Chiefs have 
 numerous folds of muslin round that \nvt, and they march along 
 with great pomp, thus enlarged in their size. That, therefore, 
 which was of so much use, and ^^'hich indicated the dignity of 
 the wearer, was to be marred, tyjiifying the degradation of the 
 Jews in their approaching captivity. The Hindoos have a cus- 
 tom of burying certain articles by the side of a tank or river, in 
 order to iutlict or prefigure evil in reference to certain obnoxious 
 individuals who are thus jjlaccd under the ban. Thus eggs, 
 human hair, thread, a ball of saffron, or a little of the earth on 
 
 b Keith. 
 
 a " During the 
 thirteen years 
 that the Bab. 
 be.~ieged Tyre, 
 NfbiK'hadnezzar, 
 after subduing 
 C ce 1 a - S y r i a, 
 brought Amnion, 
 Moiib, etc., and 
 finally Kgypt, 
 into subjection." 
 — Fausuct. 
 
 b " The embrac- 
 ing of the true 
 religion is repre- 
 sented as con- 
 sisting in an 
 avowal, with all 
 the solemnity of 
 an oath, that Je- 
 hovah alone was 
 God." — Hundtr- 
 son. 
 
 r. 15. Bishop 
 O'Bcirne, ii. 441. 
 
 c C. U. Spui-geon. 
 
 a " The world 
 the Proph.moved 
 in was not the 
 sensible, but the 
 spiritual world. 
 Inward acts 
 were, however, 
 wlien it was pos- 
 sible and proper, 
 materialised by 
 u t \v a r d per- 
 formance, bub 
 not ahvaj'S and 
 necessarily so." 
 — /■(( usset. 
 
 b " Jeremiah was 
 to wear it con- 
 st.antlv, though 
 full of the effects 
 of pcrspinition, 
 and never to 
 wash it:'— Mau- 
 
 c f^pl: Com. ; 
 Wordsworth, etc. 
 
 d Henderson, Uit' 
 zig, etOi 
 
66 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xill. 6-ia 
 
 e Roberts. 
 
 a "To that con- 
 dition the Jews 
 liail been reduced 
 by the coTupt- 
 ing idoliitries of 
 tlie heathen. 
 They liad dis- 
 qualified tliem- 
 selves for acting 
 as witnesses for 
 Jehovali as tlie 
 only true God, 
 and like a cast- 
 away girdle, they 
 were to be lium- 
 bled and re- 
 jected. " — IJeu- 
 derson. 
 
 b Ex. xix:. 5, C ; 
 De. iv. 7 ; I's. 
 
 CXiCXT. 4. 
 
 c C. •Simeon, J/..4. 
 
 a Je. XXV. 15 ; 
 Is. xxviii. 7 ; 
 Eze. xxiii. 31. 
 
 " God"s judg- 
 ments are often 
 represented 
 under tlie fig. of 
 a cup full of in- 
 toxicating li- 
 quor."— iiiC^A. 
 b '■ As wine In- 
 toxicates.so God's 
 wrath and jmlg- 
 Dients shall re- 
 duce them to 
 that state of help- 
 less distraction 
 that they shall 
 rush on their own 
 ruin." — Fiiussi-t. 
 c Eze. V. 10; 
 Mat. X. 21. 
 
 vv. 12—17. Ori- 
 gen, Op. iii. 193. 
 
 The wisest liabit 
 is the habit of 
 care in the for- 
 mation of habits. 
 
 d Clietver, 
 
 ti "The metaphor 
 is taken from the 
 dan^^iTs to which 
 travellers arc 
 exposed who, in 
 a drirlc and 
 stormy night, 
 cross mountain 
 regions, wliere 
 they are liable at 
 every step to 
 Etumble against 
 
 which the devoted person has had his feet, are buried in the 
 situations alluded to.' 
 
 6—11. (C)) after many days, during' wh. the g-irdlc. left iu 
 the damp, would become mouldy, and quite unfit for use." (7) 
 digged, wh. intimates that tlic girdle had b?en actually buried 
 in the soil. (8. !)) the pride, i.e. the temporal grandeur. The 
 Jews returned fr. Bab. as a very feeble folk. (lOj evil people, 
 as being- self-willed. The expression limits the application of 
 this symbol. (11) cleave to me,' the inner girdle is the closest 
 cleaving part of a man's dress. 
 
 Cnnfi'inpt of (rod's mercies (r. 11). — I. The honour which God 
 has designed for His people : the primary use of the girdle is to 
 bind up the garments around the loins, but a girdle is also of use 
 for ornament. II. The way in which this honour is contemned 
 by the Jews. What can be a more just description of ourselves ? 
 Address — 1. In the way of appeal; 2. In a way of encoui'age- 
 ment." 
 
 12—14. (12) bottle . . -wine, bottles were used for holding' 
 various liquids : what Jer. asserts here is, that the bottle shall 
 be filled with iri/ii; wn. is the symbol of the ivrnth of God." 
 certainly know, the language of sneering and derision. (13) 
 witli drunkenness, the ruin of those who have drunk the 
 wrath of God.' (14) dash them, as drunken men tuml)le one 
 against another. In drunkenness men will injure their own 
 wives and children." 
 
 The drunhdrd s thrnhlom. — The writer of the pamphlet entitled 
 "The Confessions of a Drunkard,'' say^<. " Of my condition there 
 is no hope that I should ever change : the waters have gone over 
 me ; but oirt of the black depths, covtld I be heard, I would ciy 
 aloud to all those who have set a foot in that perilous fiood. 
 Could the youth to whom the flavour of his first wine is as deli- 
 cious as the opening scenes of life, or the entering upon some 
 newly-discovered jiaradise, look into my desohition. and be m.ade 
 to understand what a dreary thing it is when a man .shall feel 
 himself going down a precipica with open eyes and a passive 
 will, — to see his destruction, and have no power to stop it, and 
 yet to feel it all the way emanating from Mmself : to perceive 
 all goodness emptied out of him. and yet not able to forget a 
 time when it was otherwise ; to bear about the piteous spectacle 
 of his own ruin :— could he see my fevered eye, feverL^h with 
 the last night's drinking, and feverishly looking forward for 
 this night's repetition of the follv : could he feel the bodv of 
 death out of which I cry hourly, with feebler and feebler outcry, 
 to bo delivered, it were enough to make him dash the sparkling 
 beverage to the earth in all the pride of its mantling tempta- 
 tion."'' 
 
 15 — 18. (lo) not prond, so as to reject the teaching of these 
 symljols. though they are given in humiliiting forms. (13) 
 give ,glory, by makim,"- confession. Jos. vii. li). darkness, 
 Is. viii. 2;). dark motintains, where travelling is perilous." 
 gross darkness. Be. xxviii. 2'.). (17) -weep in secret, in- 
 dicating that he '«ould. in sorrow, retire from jileadiig any 
 longer with t1iem. " Touching expressions of tender, hopeless 
 grief." (1^^) king, Jehoiaehin. or Jeconiah. queen, or queen- 
 mother, Kchuslita.'' principalities, mars', hcad-iircs. 
 
Cap. xiil, 19—24.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 57 
 
 Pride (v. 15). — I. Different kinds of pride. 1. Race pride — 
 pride in ancestors : 2. Face pride — pride in outward appearance ; 
 3. Place pride — pride in social position ; 4. Grace pride — pride 
 in godliness. H. The warning-. Be not proud — I. Because we 
 have nothing to be proud of ; 2. Because it is abhorrent to God ; 
 3. Because it is unlike Christ ; 4. Because it is ruinous. Apply : — 
 (1) Some are very proud ; (2) Some occasionally ; (3) Some are 
 bravely struggling against pride. <" 
 
 Ante on v. IS. — The margin lias instead of "principalities," 
 " or head tires." This again alludes to the threatened judgments 
 which were to befall the people and their rulers. Dr. Boothroyd 
 has, instead of '' ijrincipalities," '• the diadem of your glory." Of 
 a proud man who treats another with contempt it is said, " Ah ! 
 his turban will soon fall." •' Yes. imperious upstart ! thy head- 
 dress will soon come down." " Have you heard of the proud 
 wife of Kandan ?" '• No.' " Her head ornaments have fallen ; 
 she is humbled." " Ah," says the bereaved father over the dead 
 body of his son, " my crown is fallen ! my crown is fallen." 
 When men quarrel, it is common for the one to say to the other, 
 "I will beat thee till thy turban fall." When they tight, the great 
 object of the combatants is to pull off each other's turban or 
 head-dress, because it shows that the individual is then disgraced 
 and humbled. The feelings of a man who has his turban 
 knocked off his head are probably something like those which 
 are produced by the knocking off of a man's wig. For the 
 turban to fall off the head by accident is considered to be a very 
 bad omen. Jehoiakim and his queen were to have their " head 
 tires " brought down ; they were to be humbled on account of 
 their sins." 
 
 19 — 22. CIO) cities . . soutll, i.e. of the Kcgeb, or southern 
 district of Judah. shut up, as besieged. This indicates that 
 the invader would overrun the whole country. (20) flock, tig. 
 for the cities grouped round Jerusalem. They are suddenly and 
 wholly s-wept away by the enemy. (21) taugllt . . captains, 
 i.e. thine own seeking aid from these Assyrians rather than from 
 thy God. has really given them the mastery over thee." (22) 
 Wherefore, etc., ch. v. 19, xvi. 10. 
 
 6W.<( retrihuttvejv.stice (r. 21). — I. Let us endeavour to estab- 
 lish the doctrine that retributive justice belongs to God. II. 
 This will lead us to as.sail your hope of impunity from it. 1. The 
 fir.st foundation of the sinner's hope is derivable from God's 
 delay ; 2. Prosperity ; 3. The mercy of God. III. We proceed to 
 answer the question. 1. Wilt thou say, I do not deserve the con- 
 demnation .' 2. Or, I was not warned I 3. Or, There was no way 
 of escajoe ?' 
 
 23, 24. (23) Ethiopian, the African negi-o, whose skin is 
 nearly black." accustomed, practised, so that evil has become 
 the f'ettled habit. (24) stubble, left from the thrashing, 
 ■wind . . •wilderness, wh. lias nothing to hinder its full sweep. 
 
 T/ie nlanvinfi pniver of xin (v. 2:0.— -The long-continued im- 
 penitence of men aug-ments the difficulties in the way of their 
 salvation. I. The habits of men are strengthened and confirmed 
 by indulgence. II. The influence of this world, as men advance 
 in life, usually becomes more perplexing, and a greater hindrance 
 to their conversion. III. As years increase, men become less 
 
 some projecting 
 angle of a roolc, 
 and so be procipi- 
 tateil iuto the 
 abyss below." — 
 Henderson, 
 
 b 2 Ki. xxiv. 8— 
 15. 
 
 " The Heb. kings 
 generallymarried 
 women who were 
 not of royal race, 
 but were sub- 
 jects; they had 
 also many wives. 
 Honce the posi- 
 tion of a Qufen 
 Consurt was an 
 inferior one, but 
 that of a Queen 
 Mother was one 
 of considerable 
 i n fl uen ce." — • 
 Worii^a-orlh, 
 V. 15. Dr. N. 
 Bnulu, ii. 129. 
 r. 16. lip. Till/' 
 lot; V. 4G2; /{. 
 Erskine, vi. 389 ; 
 Dr. II. Graves, iv. 
 581 ; C. Dullen, 
 204. 
 
 c J. nmton. 
 
 d Hjberls. 
 
 a " When Aliaz 
 made himself tri- 
 butary to the 
 king of Assyria, 
 he taught the 
 Assyrs. Uow they 
 mi^'lit become 
 masters and con- 
 querors over liis 
 own country, 
 whenever they 
 pleased."— ioii7 A. 
 
 6 W. Jay. 
 
 a A Cushite of 
 Africa, not of 
 Arabia. 
 
 " Habit is second 
 nature : as tliere- 
 fore it is morally 
 impjssible that 
 the Jews c^iil 
 alter their in- 
 veterate habits 
 of sin, nothing 
 rcmaiui but tka 
 
58 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xiii. 23, 24. 
 
 infliction of tlie 
 exireui'st pun- 
 ishment, their 
 exp;v ri.ition." — 
 Faussct. 
 
 Pr. xxvii. 22 ; Is. 
 i. 5 ; Mat. xi.x. 24. 
 
 t'. 23. Dr. T. Ilnr- 
 tOH, 300 ; /);•. 
 Ci'iiaiil, i. 59 ; 
 Abj>. Tillolson, ii. 
 291; J. Aheriiel/iu, 
 iv. 2!J!i; /■•. 67.V'/- 
 ton, ii. 214 : Dr. 
 J. J riiii, 78 ; G. 
 J. ZMIiknff,-r, ii. 
 133 ; Bp. D. Wil- 
 son, 4U5. 
 
 b Dr. G. Spring. 
 
 How flifficult it 
 is foi- an indivi- 
 dual to change his 
 character is well 
 set forth in tlie 
 Eastern proverb, 
 " If any one telU 
 you tliat a mou n- 
 tain lia^ changed 
 its place, believe 
 it ; bat if any 
 one says that a 
 man lias changed 
 his cliaracter, be- 
 lieve it not." 
 
 There are four 
 good habits- 
 punctuality, ac- 
 curacy, steadi- 
 ness, and de- 
 spatch. With- 
 out the first of 
 these time is 
 ■w.asted ; without 
 the second, mis- 
 takes the inost 
 hurtful to our 
 own credit and 
 interest, and that 
 of other.;;, may be 
 c o m ni i 1 1 e d ; 
 \vith')ut tlie tliinl 
 nothing can be 
 well dune ; and 
 \v i t h out the 
 fourth, opportu- 
 nities of great 
 advantage are 
 lost, wliich it is 
 impossible to re- 
 call. 
 
 "It is very true 
 that pr^'Oi'pts are 
 useful, but prac- 
 tice an 1 imita- 
 tion go far be- 
 y o n li the m ; 
 Ueuce the iin- 
 
 interested in the subject of reli.2:ion, and more obdurate and 
 averse to any alteration in their moral character. IV. The 
 thoug-lit of multiplied and long-continued transgression is very 
 apt to discoura.gc all attempts at repentance. Y. There is awful 
 reason to apprehend that God will leave men of this description 
 to perish in their sins. Apply — (1) To the aged ; (2j Those in 
 middle life ; (3) To the young.* 
 A Per.<iian poem. — 
 Plant in Eden's fair garden a bitter-fruit tree ; 
 Let its waters of heavenly purity be, 
 Let rich dropping honey bedew the young root, — 
 Still, still you will find that bitter's the fruit. 
 Bring the heavenly peacock, and cause it to brood 
 O'er the eg^ of a raven, and then let the food 
 Of the nestling be fig-seeds from Eden's fair tree, 
 And let Gabriel breathe on it — holy is he ! 
 Let it drink of the water of sweet Salsebil — 
 What does it avail .' 'Tis a hoarse raven still 
 Deposit a viper in that rosy bod, 
 With the choicest of luxuries let it be fed, — 
 Is it tamed by your kindness, or softened its spite 7 
 Oh, no ! it turns on you Avith venomous bite. 
 By night bring an owl to your elegant bowers, 
 Let it perch on the rose-bushes, sport with the flowers j 
 But as soon as the day spreads its wings on the sky, 
 So soon will the owl stretch its pinions to fly, 
 And seek the tall forest, in darkness to lie. 
 So sure as our garments catch odorous smell 
 In a shop of rich perfume —and so far 'tis well^ 
 They will borrow as surely a dark, dusky hue 
 If we stand by a forge — j'ou allow this is true. 
 Then wonder no more if a dark, evil deed, 
 From a dark, evil man should spontaneous proceed. 
 No more can the Eihiop make himself white. 
 Than a soul of mean birth can emei'ge into light, 
 And show itself generous, noble, and wise, — • 
 So let not the poets throw dust in our eyes. 
 Power of early habits. — '• In North America a tribe of Indians 
 attacked a white settlement and murdered the few inhabitants. 
 A woman of the . tribe, however, carried away a very young 
 infant and reared it as her own. The child grew up with the 
 Indian children, different in complexion, but like them in every- 
 thing else. To scalp the greatest possible number of enemies 
 was, in his view, the most glorious and happy thing in the 
 world. ^\'hilG he was still a youth, he v>'as seen by some white 
 traders, and by them conducted back to civilised life. He showed 
 great relish for his new life, and especially a strong desire for 
 knowledge, and a sense of reverence, which took the direction of 
 religion, so that he desired to become a clergyman. He went 
 throuoh his college course with credit, and was ordained. He 
 filled Ills fuuctious well, and appi^ared happy and satisfied. After 
 a few years he went to serve in a settlement somewhere near the 
 seat of war which was then going on between Britain and the 
 United States ; and before long there was fighting not far off. 
 I am not sure," says Miss Martineau, " whether he was aware 
 that there were Indians in the field (the British having soma 
 
Cap. xiv. 1-6.] 
 
 JEREMIAIT. 
 
 5d 
 
 tribes of Indians for allies), but he went forth in his usual dress, ] 
 black coat and neat white shirt and neckcloth. AVhen he re- ^ 
 turned he was met by a gentleman of his acquaintance, who i 
 was immediately struck by an extraordinary change in the ex- 1 
 pression of his face, and the fire of his eye, and the flush on his 
 cheek ; and also by his unusually shy and hurried manner. 
 After asking news of the battle, the gentleman observed, ' But 
 you are wounded I — Xo ; not wounded ? Why, there is blood 
 upon the bosom of your ghirt 1 ' The young man crossed his 
 hands firmly, though hurriedly, upon his breast : and his friend, 
 supposing that he wished to conceal a wound which ought to be 
 looked to, pulled open his shirt, and saw — what made the young 
 man let fall his hands in despair. From between his shirt and 
 his breast the gentleman took out — a bloody scalp ! ' I could 
 not help it,' said the poor victim of early habits, in an agonised 
 voice. He turned and ran, too swiftly to be overtaken ; betook 
 himself to the Indians, and never more appeared among the j 
 whites.''"^ 
 
 25 — 27. (2.5) measures, i.e. the oJlotted and adopted portion ' 
 which I have measured out to thee. (2(;) shame may appear, ! 
 with allusion to the public disgrace of the i:)roved adulteress. (27) i 
 abominations, the shameless ceremonies and orgies of heathen ' 
 and idolatrous religions." when . . 1)0 ? marg. " after when ' 
 yet '?" '• Thou wilt not be made clean after how long a time 
 yet?" 
 
 Gofrit desire to hJe.i.t the n'lnner (v. 27).— I. Man's uncleanness — 
 1. In heart ; 2. In life ; 3. In religion. II. God's desire that 
 he should be clean. III. His expostulation with us. IV. Our 
 refusal. V. God's condemnation.* 
 
 CHAPTER THE FOURTEENTH. 
 
 1 — 6. (1) dearth, or drought," ch. svii. 8. (2) gates, put 
 for the people who congregate in the gates, black . . ground, 
 with the clothing and in the attitude of mourners. (3) little 
 ones, or common ones, servants, pits, cisterns for preserving 
 the rainfall, covered their heads, the sign of uttermcst 
 distress.* (4) chapt,<^ cracked with the drj'ness. (5) forsook 
 it, bee. finding herself unable to feed it.** (6) snuffed, etc., 
 trying to get scent of grass and water somewhere. 
 
 Kofc on V. 4. — The description that Sir J. Chardin gives us of 
 the state of these countries, with respect to tlie cracking of the 
 earth, before the autumnal rains fell, is so lively a comment on 
 Jer. xiv. 4, that I beg leave to introduce it here as a distinct 
 observation. The lands of the East, he says, which the great 
 diyness there causes to crack, are the ground of this figure, 
 which is certainly extremely beautiful ; for these dry lauds have 
 chinks too deep for a person to see to the bottom of : this may be 
 observed in the Indies more than anywhere, a little before the 
 rains f.all, and wherever the lands are rich and hard. The 
 Prophefs speaking of i loughmen shows that he is speiiking of 
 the autumnal state of those, countries : and if the cracks are so 
 deep from the common dj-yness of their summers, what must 
 they be when the rains are withheld beyond their usual time, 
 
 portance of 
 watcliiug early 
 habits, that they 
 may be free from 
 what is objec- 
 tionable ; and of 
 keeping bcfor« 
 our mind, as 
 much as possible, 
 the necessity of 
 imitating the 
 good and the 
 vise ; without 
 settled principle 
 and practical 
 virtue, Ufa is a 
 desert ; without 
 Christian piety, 
 the contempla- 
 tion of the grave 
 is terrible." — Sir 
 Wm. Knighton, 
 c Miss Martineau, 
 
 a Comp. Je. ii. 
 20, 23, 24, iii. 2, 
 6. 
 
 " Men blush less 
 for their crimes 
 than for their 
 weaknesses and 
 vanity." — Bi-uy- 
 ere. 
 
 b Dr. II. Bonar. 
 
 a Hob. hatsai'oth, 
 or restraint. 
 Here plural, 
 restraints. 
 
 " The heaven 
 being restrained 
 fr. giving rain, 
 andilie earth be- 
 ing restrained fr. 
 bearing fruit, 
 and the people 
 being reduced to 
 great straitness 
 and distress." — 
 \Yu)-dsu:oiili. 
 
 "At the present 
 day Jerus. li.as 
 oniyono fountain, 
 tliat of tilcam. A 
 lack of rain not 
 only produ.'ps a 
 deartli of crops, 
 but a f.aikii-e of 
 water to drink."- 
 a. Jt-rome. 
 
 b 2 Ga. 
 xix. 4. 
 
 XT. 30, 
 
60 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xiv. 7—16. 
 
 e D. Icappen, Sw. 
 kappa, to cut. 
 cut off. Our 
 word chap, means 
 to crack, or open 
 in Ions slits. 
 d " Tliese crea- 
 tures are very 
 Bh.arp - sighted"; 
 anil travellers in 
 the desert fre- 
 quently avail 
 themselves of 
 their appearance, 
 knowing that 
 there must be 
 herbage and 
 
 wafer in the 
 vicinit}-." — //t?i- 
 derxon. 
 a Vi. cix. 21. 
 b 2 Chr. xxxiii. 
 7, 8. 
 
 c Arab. To come 
 suddenly on anj-- 
 one ; to con- 
 found, strike 
 dumb. 
 
 r. 7. T. Boston, 
 iv. 105 ; T. Scoi; 
 T. .-iSl ; Dr. //. 
 Draper, i. 322 ; | 
 C'.J3niti!eu,i.2i] ; j 
 Ah/j. Lei(jhtvii,m. 
 S9(). I 
 
 f. 8. J. WiUison, ' 
 457 ; T. B!aci-leij, 
 li. 48. i 
 
 d Sl,'mt and 1 
 
 a '• It appears ' 
 from this r. that ! 
 the peojile had I 
 again engaged in 
 the e.xternal ser- | 
 vice of Jehovah, i 
 in tlie hope that I 
 this would avert I 
 His anger, but as | 
 they were not 
 really weaned fr. 
 idolatry, it is de- [ 
 clared to be in [ 
 ▼ain." — Header- • 
 
 inn, 
 
 Pr. i. 28, xxviii. 
 0; Is. i. 15, i 
 Iviii. 3. j 
 
 V. ID. BUJinp G. \ 
 Williariis, 87. I 
 b Teachers' Treas. i 
 a Sj'k. Com. 
 V. 14. J. Boys, 
 152. 
 
 " The proud he 
 tamed, the peni- 
 tent he cheered, 
 nor to rebnhe 
 the rich offemler 
 f e a r ■ d ; his 
 preaching much, 
 but more his 
 practice wrought 
 
 which is the case Jeremiah is referring- to .' This refers to a 
 (Iroug-ht -which was to take place in Judah. At such times, in 
 the East, the ground is '• chapt ;" large fi.=sures meet your eye in 
 every direction, and the husl)audmen are then ashamed and put 
 to confusion : tliey know not what to do ; to ploitgh the land 
 under such circumstances is of no use, and therefore they are 
 obliged to wait till it shall rain. Thus, should the rains be later 
 than usual, the people are daily looking for them, and after one 
 night's fall, the farmers may be seen in every direction working 
 in their fields with the greatest glee, in the full hope of soon 
 casting in the seed. 
 
 7—9. (7) do thou, or act Thou in consideration of Thy 
 mej-ciful name, not of our deserts." (8) hope of Israel, whose 
 future rests on the Divine promise and covenant. stran<5er, 
 who concerns himself but little with the aifairs of tlie land, 
 wayfaring man, a mere traveller. The people as little heeded 
 God as they did the mere passing stranger or traveller. God 
 dirc'lt with them.* turneth aside, or stretcheth out his tent. 
 (9) astonied,"^ and so losing presence of mind. 
 
 A pnnjt'r fur all sea.s'ons (v. 9).— I. Here is a prayer for all 
 seasons. 1. Times of joy : 2. Of adversity : 3. Of labour : 4. Of 
 perplexity, etc. II. Here is a prayer for all saiiits. 1 . All need 
 to pray thus ; 2. All mu^t pray thus ; 3. All will pray thus. III. 
 Here is a prayer always answered. 1. For it is according to Uia 
 will ; 2. For it honours Ilis^ame.'' 
 
 10 — 12. (10) loved to wander, not merely, they do wander> 
 but they love it: and persistently choose the evil way. (11) 
 pray not, ch. vii. IG. (12) oblation, Heb. minchuh, a meat- 
 offering." 
 
 The n-ngex of k'ui. — A certain tyrant sent for one of his subjects, 
 and said to him, " What is your employment .' " He said, •• I am 
 a blacksmith." '• Go home and make me a chain of such a 
 lengtli." He went home ; it occupied him several montlis, 
 and he had no wages all the time he was making it. Then he 
 brought it to the monarch, Avho said, " Go and make it twice ag 
 long." He brouglit it up again, and the monarch said. '• Go and 
 make it longer still." Each time he brought it there was nothing 
 but the command to make it longer still. And when he brought 
 it up at last, the monarch said, '• Take it and bind him hand and 
 foot with it, and cast him into a furnace of fire." These were 
 the wages for making this chain. '' The wages of sin is death." * 
 
 13—16. (13) ah, Lord God, ch. i. fi. assured peace, last- 
 ino-. settled peace. (14) lies, their statements can only deceive, 
 divination. Do. xviii. 10. thing of nought, Heb. dil, a 
 diminutive of el, Cod, signifies a small idol made of the more 
 precious metals." See ch. xxiii. 21. CI.")) therefore, etc., ch. v. 
 12, 13. (IG) none to bury, Fs. Ixxix. 3. 
 J'}iifhle,<:.'i )»i?iisf^ei-. — 
 
 Most guilty, villanous. di>honest man ! 
 
 Wolf in the clothing of the gentle lamb I 
 
 Da,rk traitor in the Messiah's holy camp! 
 
 Leper in saintly gai-b ! assassin masked 
 
 In virtue's robe ! vile hypocrite accursed! 
 
 I strive in vain to set his evil forth ! 
 
 The words that should suliicientlj^ accurse 
 
Cap. XV. 1—4.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 61 
 
 And execrate such reprobate, had need 
 
 Come glowing from the lips of eldest hell. 
 
 Among the saddest in the den of woe, 
 
 Thou saw'st him saddest 'mong the damned now damned.* 
 
 17—22. (17) let, etc., ch. xiii. 17 ; Ja. i. IG, ii. 18. virgin 
 daughter, as never having been previously subdued by any 
 foreign prince. (IS) go about into, go into exile in a strange 
 land." (19) lothed, or thrown away as worthless. (20) have 
 sinned, the cry of the penitent people.'' (21) disgrace, or 
 show as if Thou didst lightly esteem, throne . . glory, fig. 
 for the temple, as earthly dwelling of God. (22) vanities, or 
 idols, thou he, who alone canst send the plentiful rain. 
 
 Jluw to i^lead with God {re. 20, 21). — We propose — I. To explain 
 this prayer of the Prophet ; his acknowledgments are plain and 
 easy to be understood ; his pleas require some explanation. II. 
 To point out some important lessons contained in it. 1. The 
 true nature of a sinner's humiliation ; 2. The proper grounds of 
 a sinner's encouragement. Apply: — (1) Have you ever pleaded 
 with God in this manner? (2) Have you ever pleaded thus with 
 God in vain ?' 
 
 Kote on r. 22. — There are persons among the South African 
 nations who pretend to have power to bring rain in times of 
 drought, and who are called rain-makers. A nation seldom 
 emploj's their o'svu rain-maker, but generally thinks those at a 
 distance have more power to produce it than those at home. A 
 rain-maker, from high up the country, once travelled with my 
 party for a few weeks. I asked him seriously, if he really believed 
 that lie had power to bring rain when he pleased .' His reply was, 
 that he could not say he had, but he used means to bring it : 
 such as rolling great stones down the sides of mountains, to draw 
 down the clouds. A rain-maker at Lattakoo who was unsuccess- 
 ful, first said it was because he had not g-ot sufficient presents of 
 cattle. He then desired them first to bring him a live baboon : 
 hundreds tried but could not catch one. He next demanded a 
 live owl, but they could not find one. No rain coming they called 
 him rogue, impostor, etc., and ordered him away."* 
 
 CHAPTER THE FIFTEENTH. 
 
 1—4. (1) Moses and Samuel, the most persuasive and suc- 
 cessful of all the previous intercessors." Comp. Eze. xiv. 14. 
 cast . . sight, or send them away : it is too late for any answer 
 of peace. (2) such . . death, etc. i.e. each to the various form 
 of Divine judgment under wh. they must come.* (3) kinds, 
 or classes of calamity. (4) removed, etc., De. xxviii. 25. 
 Manasseh, 2 Ki. xxi. 3. 
 
 Kote on v. 3. — An Oriental enemy, as in former ages, cuts down 
 the trees of the country which he invades, destroys the villages, 
 and burns all the corn and provender which he cannot carry off : 
 the surrounding plain, deprived of its verdure, is covered with 
 putrid carcases and burning a.shes : the hot wind wafting its 
 foetid odours, and disuersing" the ashes among the tents, renders 
 his encampment extremely disagreeable. During the niglit the 
 hycna-s. jackals, and wild beasts of various kinds, allui-ed by the 
 
 — a living ser- 
 mon of tlietmths 
 lie taught." — 
 Dryden. 
 
 b Pollock. 
 
 a " Lit. as itine- 
 rant merchants 
 travelling- for the 
 sake of gain." — 
 (k'sinius. 
 
 " The result of 
 their covetous- 
 ness will be this, 
 that they will be 
 obliged to wan- 
 der to and fro, 
 as pedlars and 
 hucksters, in a 
 strange land, 
 which they know 
 not, and which 
 will not deign to 
 know them." — • 
 Wui-dsworth. 
 
 b Is. cvi. 6 ; Da. 
 ix. 8. 
 
 !>. 21. J.HoiDe.iL 
 •145. 
 
 ''■ 22. E. Barry, 
 33. 
 
 c C Simeon, M.A. 
 
 "Nothing is so 
 haughty and as- 
 .suming as igno- 
 rance, where self- 
 cou3eit bids it 
 set for infalli- 
 bility." — South, 
 
 d Campbell. 
 
 a Ex-, xxxii. 11— 
 U; Nu. xiv. 13— 
 20; 1 Sa. vii. 9, 
 -xii. 23 ; Ps. 
 xcix. 6. 
 
 b Intimati ng 
 that for each 
 the sentence 
 has been pro- 
 nounced, and it 
 only awaits e.xe- 
 cution. 
 
 Death here is the 
 plague. The 
 plneue in the 
 .Miilille Ages was 
 called the'' WacJS 
 death." 
 
62 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. XV. 5-14« 
 
 "The cmoUy of 
 the effeiniiiato is 
 more drea'lfuj 
 than that of the 
 hardy." -M I'd to*. 
 
 C Puxtoii. 
 
 a " Thy sins ren- 
 der thee un- 
 worthy of pity, 
 and everyboily 
 that sees the 
 calam itles 
 brought upon 
 thee will own 
 them to be just." 
 —Loicth. 
 
 b Fausset. 
 
 ». 9. R.IInll,Y.l. 
 
 c W. J. Stua>-t. 
 
 d Roberts. 
 
 " Much more may 
 a judge over- 
 weigh himself in 
 cruelty than in 
 clemency." — Sir 
 P. Siilnei/, 
 
 e Ibid. 
 
 a Oomp. Job iii. 
 1 ; Je. XX. 15. 
 
 b Thy loosing or 
 ddii^erance. 
 
 Je. xl. 4. 
 
 "The sweet 
 words of Chris- 
 tian promise, 
 words that even 
 yet mipht stem 
 destruction . were 
 they wisely 
 preach il, are 
 muttered o'er by 
 men whose tones 
 proclaim how flat 
 and wearisome 
 they feel their 
 trade; rank scof- 
 fers some. Vint 
 most too indolent 
 to deem them 
 falsehoods, or to 
 know their 
 truth." — Cole- 
 ridge. 
 
 "This law is the 
 magistrate of a 
 
 scent, prowl over the field with a horrid noise ; and a.s soon as 
 the morning dawns, a multitude of vultures, kite.?, and bird.s of 
 prey, are seen assertino: their claim to a share of the dead. Such 
 was the scene which Forbes contemplated on the plains of Hin- 
 dostan ; '" and it was to me," says that writer, " a scene replete 
 with horrid novelty, realising the Projihefs denunciation : ' I 
 will ap])oint over them four kinds, saith the Lord ; the sword to 
 slay, and the dog's to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the 
 beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.' "<^ 
 
 5 — 9. C5) ask . . doest ? or make inquiry for thy -welfare." 
 "Tliey that pass by will even exult over thy calamities." (6) 
 gone backward, ch. vii. 24. (7) fan, or winnow them, as the 
 com is winnowed. (8) widows . . sea, a strong poetical fig. ; 
 not to be pressed literally, young men, the word means, 
 picked ivnrriovs. (9) SUn . . day. Am. viii. 9. '• Fortune deserts 
 her at the very height: of her prosperity." * 
 
 21ie Chrixthm^i) sun (r. 9). — I. The Christian has a sun, so 
 have all men. 1. But with some it is nature, traditions of the 
 fathers, priestly agency, sacramental efficacy, fancied superior 
 morality : 2. Of the Christian is Jesus as set forth in Holy Writ. 
 II. The Christian is sunnifled by his Sun. III. The Christian 
 sunnifies others : he reflects and spreads the brightness of his 
 Sun. Apply — 1, To sinners; 2. To saints; 3. To Chi'istian 
 workers." 
 
 ^Tofe on v. 7. — "When the cholera or any other pestilence rages, 
 it is said, " Alas ! this sickness has fanned the people away." 
 " Truly they have been suddenly fanned from the earth." See 
 on Isa. XXX. 24.'' — JVofe on v. 9. — Of a person who is dead, it ia 
 said, " He is set," and of one dying. " He is setting." Should a 
 beautiful young man or woman be reduced by sickness, it is said, 
 " He is like the evening, which is occupying the place of the 
 morning 1 " " 
 
 10 — 14. (10) woe is me," the Prophet here expresses his own 
 sorrowful feelings, strife . . contention, called to reprove 
 publicly the licentiousness of the times, lent on usury, fig. 
 way of saying that he had no causes of personal quarrel. (11) 
 thy remnant,'' either, the latter part of Jer.'s life, or with 
 those of his family who should survive him. (12) iron, fig. for 
 Jer.'s intercession, northern iron, fig. for Chalda^ans. steel, 
 should be hra.^-.'t. (13) thy substance, not Jer.'s. but that 
 of Judcea. without price, without allowing any ransom- 
 price ; or, as if it were all of no value. (14) fire, etc.. De. 
 xxxii. 22. 
 
 JDr. Arnold (of J?i/r/h)/'). — We listened, as all boys in their better 
 moods will listen (ay, and men too. for the matter of that), to a 
 man who we felt to bo, with all his heart and soul and strength, 
 striving against whatever was mean and unmanly and un- 
 righteous in our little '\%orId. It was not the cold clear voice of 
 one giving advice and warning from serene heights to those who 
 were struggling and sinning below, but the warm living voice of 
 one who was fighting for us, and by our sides, and calling on us 
 to hoi)) him and ourselves, and one another. And so. wearily, 
 little by little, but surely and steadily on the whole, was broughu 
 home to the young boy, for the first time, the meaning- of hia 
 life : that it was no fool's or Bluggard's paradise into which h9 
 
Cap. XV, 15—18] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 63 
 
 had wandered by chance, but a battle-field ordained from of old, 
 where there are no spectators, but the youngest must take his* 
 side, and the stakes are the life and death. And he who roused 
 this consciousness in them, showed them at the same time, by 
 every word he spoke in the jjulpit, and by his whole daily life, 
 how that battle was to be fought ; and stood there before them 
 their fellow-soldier and the captain of their band. The true sort 
 of captain, too, for a boy's army, one who had no misgivings and 
 gave no uncertain word of command, and, let who would yield 
 or make truce, would fight the fight out (so every boy felt) to the 
 last gasp and the last drop of blood. Other sides of his character 
 might take hold of and influence boys here and there, but it was 
 this thoroughness and undaunted courage which more than any- 
 thing else won his way to the hearts of the great mass of those 
 on whom he left his mark, and made them believe first in him, 
 and then in his Master.' 
 
 15 — 18. (15) remember me, Jer.'s intense expostulation, and 
 prayer. There is something of impatience in its tone. (16) eat 
 them, Eze. iii. 3 ; Re. x. 1). (17) alone, in the separation of 
 deep feeling. (18) pain perpetual, figs, for his exceeding 
 grief in his hopeless mission, liar, or as a deceitful brook, 
 whose waters fail in time of need. 
 
 The Word of God jjreeions (v. IG). — I. How the Word of God 
 should be received. 1. It is necessary for all : 2. Suitable for all ; 
 o. Sufficient for all. II. "What effect it will produce. 1. Its 
 declarations ; 2. Its precepts ; 3. Its promises ; 4. Its threaten- 
 ings. Jlay we not learn hence — (1) \Vhat enemies to their own 
 eouls they are who neglect the Holy Scriptures ; (2) "What an 
 unspeakable blessing is the Bible Society." — Soid-fccding (v. 16). 
 — I. The grandest discovery, " Thy words were found." 1. Explain 
 the universe ; 2. They reveal Himself ; 3. They reveal His re- 
 demptive provisions. II. The richest repast. 1. They satisfy 
 the cravings of hunger ; 2. They invigorate the soul. III. The 
 sublimest delights.* 
 
 Ilcnvij Martyn. — " What do I not owe to the Lord," writes 
 Henry Martyn, " for permitting me to take a part in the transla- 
 tion of His Word ? Never did I see such wonders, and wisdom, 
 and love, in the blessed book, as since I have been obliged to 
 study every expression ; and it is a delightful reflectiou that 
 death cannot deprive us of the pleasure of studying its mys- 
 teries." — Dr. Bucharran. — The same testimony was given by a 
 kindred spirit employed in the same work. Shortly before his 
 death. Dr. Buchanan, giving to a friend some details of his 
 laborious revisions of his Syriac Testament, suddenly stopped, 
 and burst into tears. On recovering himself, he said, " I am not 
 ill. but I was completely overcome with the recollection of the 
 delight which I have enjoyed in this exercise. At first I was 
 disposed to shrink from the task as irksome, and apprehended 
 that I should find even the Scriptures pall by the frequencj- of 
 this critical examination. But so far from it, every fresh perusal 
 seemed to throw fresh light on the Word of God. and to convey 
 additional joy and consolation to my mind." '• How delightful," 
 observes his biographer, " is the contemplation of a servant of 
 Christ thus devoutly engaged in his heavenly Master's work, 
 almost to the very moment of his trrnsitiou to the Divine source 
 of life and truth itself 1 " • 
 
 man's life. It 13 
 not the pilot 
 flirectingtlie ves- 
 sel ; it is the ves- 
 sel al)and<,ne(l to 
 the force of the 
 current, the in- 
 fluence of the 
 tides, ami the 
 control of the 
 winds." — Joseph 
 JoJinson. 
 
 c Hughe*. 
 
 a C. Simeon, MJL 
 
 b Dr. Thomas. 
 
 " Though num- 
 berless drops be 
 in tlie sea, yet if 
 one be taken out 
 of it, it hath so 
 much the less, 
 though insen- 
 sibly ; but God, 
 because He is In- 
 finite, can admit 
 of no diminution: 
 therefore are 
 men niggardly, 
 because the more 
 they give, the 
 less they liave ; 
 but Thou, Lord, 
 mayst give what 
 Thou wilt, witli- 
 out abatement of 
 Thy store. Good 
 prayers never 
 came weeping 
 home. I am sine 
 I shall receive 
 either what I ask 
 or what I should 
 ask."— £;j. Hall. 
 
 " I adore the 
 fulness of the 
 Scriptures," was 
 the exclamation 
 of Tertullian. 
 '• In which pos- 
 ture of holy 
 a d m ir a tion," 
 paid Dr. Owen, 
 '• I desire my 
 mind may be 
 found while I 
 am in t b i 8 
 world." 
 
64 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap, XV. 19-21. 
 
 « Spk. Com. 
 
 "Let tliirv? ad- 
 versaries f,'ive up 
 their error for 
 tliy truth ; but 
 do not thou pive 
 up tliy truth to 
 tlicir error." — 
 Wo>\Uioorlh. 
 
 " Do not thou 
 couiplywitli tlieir 
 liuniour, or stuily 
 to soothe tlieni in 
 their wickedness; 
 but ratlier en- 
 d e a V o u r, by 
 vholesoine re- 
 proofs, to turn 
 them from the 
 error of tlieir 
 ways."— ioir//i. 
 
 " There are many 
 things tliat ap- 
 pear very friij)it- 
 ful tliat yet do 
 not prove at all 
 hvrl/ul to a good 
 m a n." — Ma I. 
 Henry. 
 
 IT. 19, 20 T)r.J. 
 Ou-en, x'V. 157. 
 
 I Dr. W. Wilson. 
 
 c BucHngham. 
 
 " The joy of the 
 vicked is but 
 for a moment ; 
 that of the 
 righteous is ever- 
 lasting. The 
 ■wicked rejoice ; 
 but their joy is 
 simply like let- 
 ting off fire- 
 w o r k s, — the y 
 blaze away, and 
 seem to put the 
 modest little 
 stars to shame. 
 Jiut it is all for a 
 little whili;: they 
 are over in a 
 moment, while 
 the quiet s*ars 
 are shining still." 
 — liei: 'J'. Junes. 
 
 d Ilosiins, 
 
 19 — 21. (10) return, to thy duty as prophet: from this Jer. 
 seems for a time to have shrunk iu his hopelessness, precious 
 . . vile, " cause the i)recious metal to come forth from the dros-!." " 
 (20) brasen wall, ch. i. 18, vi. 27. (21) the terrible, those 
 even who act towards thee with violence. 
 
 J/iii/gft'riril <ihlif;fitio».<t (r. ID).— I. We have a Divine admoni- 
 tion as to personal religion. II. We have also a Divine dii-ection. 
 III. We have a Divine caution.' 
 
 ]\'aft'}:'i that fail (c. 18). — Heb. "Waters that are not to be 
 trusted," i.e. such as are delusive, such as disappoint expectation. 
 That which Mr. Harmer proposes simply as a query, may be 
 stated as a very probable sug-gcstion, viz. that in these ^^•ords the 
 Proi)het alludes to the phenomenon of the miragre. so fretjuently 
 mentioned by Eastern travellers. "There is, " says Chardin, ''a 
 vapour or splendour, in the plains of the desert, fonned by the re- 
 percussion of the rays from the sand, that appears like a vast lake. 
 Travellers afflicted with thirst are drawn on by such appearances, 
 but coming near find themselves mistaken : it seems to draw 
 back as they advance, or quite vanishes." " To the south-east, at 
 a distance of four or five miles, w^e noticed on the yellow sands 
 two black masses, but whether they were the bodies of dead 
 camels, the temporary hair-tents of wandering Bedouins, or any 
 other objects, magnified by the refraction which is so strongly 
 produced in the horizon of the desert, we had no means of ascer- 
 taining. With the exception of these masses, all the eastern 
 i"ange of vision presented only one unbroken waste of sand, till 
 its visible horizon ended in the illusive ai^pearance of a lake, thus 
 formed by the heat of a midday sun on a nitrous soil, giving to ' 
 the parched desert the semblance of water, and reflecting its 
 scanty shrubs upon the view, like a line of extensive forests : but 
 in no direction was either a natural hill, a mountain, or other 
 interruption to the level line of the plain, to be seen."' "We 
 have f uffered very much from the fatigue of this day's journey, 
 and have still five days' march through this waterless desert. 
 The only object to interest us, and relieve the weariness of mind 
 and body, has been the mirage so often described. Some travel- 
 lers state that this phenomenon has deceived them repeatedly. 
 This I am surprised at, since its iieculiar appearance, joined to 
 its occurrence in a desert, where the traveller is too forcibly im- 
 pressed with the recollection that no lakes or standing pools 
 exist, would appear to me to prevent the possibility, that he who 
 has once seen it, can be a second time deceived. Still, this does 
 not diminish the bcattty of the phenomenon : to see amid burn- 
 ing sands and barren hills, an apparently beautiful lake, perfectly 
 calm and unruffled by any breeze, reflecting in its bosom the sur- 
 rounding rocks, is, indeed, an interesting and wonderful spectacle ; 
 but it is a tantalising sight, traversing the desert on foot. alwaj'S 
 with a scanty supply of water, and often, owing to their great 
 imi^rudence, wholly destitute of it."'' — T/ie droiifjlit in Fcrstia. — 
 A correspondent of the Lcrant Ifcrnld says : — " The details 
 which reach us here of the destittition and misery which the 
 drought of last year has caused in the central and southern 
 provinces of Persia are fearfully heartrending. That the 
 people are dying of hunger even in the streets of the capital 
 is a minor phase of this terrible calamity. In Khorassau 
 parents are selling their children as slaves to the Turcomans in 
 
Cap. 2:vl. 1—4.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 63 
 
 order to keep them alive, and in Ispahan, as is said, men have 
 been seizpd in the act of dig'ging' up the corpses to serve as food 
 for their starving- families. In Shiraz-Kerman and Verd the 
 wretched sulf erers endeavour to support life on the grass and roots 
 which they may find in the neighbourhood, and, as might be ex- 
 pected, pestilence follows hard on the footsteps of famine. Be- 
 tween tnem the half of the kingdom of Persia is being rapidly 
 depopulated. 
 
 CHATTER THE SIXTEENTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1, 2) not . . wife, marriage was regarded as a duty 
 by the Jews, and the blessings of the Mosaic law rested upon 
 fruitfulness." In commanding Jer. not to take a wife God in- 
 timated that during the impending calamities it would be 
 impos.sible to bring up families : they would only increase the 
 anxieties of siege and famine times, this place, the land of 
 Judtea. (3) mothers . . fathers, who are so deeply ah'ected 
 when calamities come upon their children. (4) grievous 
 deaths,* by disease, famine, and sword. Deaths having most 
 distressful features for parents, lamented, with the usual 
 wailings for the dead. 
 
 3Iarvyln{i unhclicvevs. — The Rev. S. Kilpin, of Exeter, had 
 witnessed the awful consequences produced in the Church of 
 Christ, and in families, from those who professed to be the disci- 
 ples of Jesus, forming marriages contrary to the com ni and. — 
 " lie not unequally yoked with unbelievers," " only in the Lord," 
 etc. As he never shunned to declare the whole counsel of God, 
 this subject was presented to his congregation. Ihe next day, 
 a gentleman, whose name or residence he never knew, called to 
 thii'iik him for the discourse, adding, that his state of mind when 
 he entered Exeter was most distressing, as he was on the very 
 point of complying with a dreadful temptation, which would 
 have embittered his future life. He had been a discijile of 
 Christ, was anxious to consecrate his life to the service of his 
 adorable Master, and had sought a helpmate to strengthen his 
 hands in serving God. A lady, whom he deemed pious, had 
 accepted his addresses ; but when every customary arrangement 
 was made, she had dishonourably discarded him. His mind was 
 so exceedingly wounded and disgusted, that he had determined 
 to choose a wife who made no profession of religion, and had 
 fixed on another object for his addresses, with every prospect of 
 success, although he had not as yet mentioned his intention to 
 her. He added. " But the providence of God led me. an entire 
 stranger in this city, to your meeting-house. You may suppose 
 that your subject arrested my attention. You appeared to b.3 
 acquainted with every feeling of my soul. I saw my danger, 
 and perceived the temptation, and the certain ruin of my peace, 
 if th(! dreadful snare had not been broken. Y'ou, sir, under God, i 
 have been my deliverer. By the next Sabbath I should have j 
 been bound in honour to an enemy of that Jesus whom I adore ; i 
 for although she is moral and externally correct, yet she knows ] 
 the Saviour only in name. I could not leave the city in peace i 
 until I hail sought to make this communication.'' They unitedly 
 addressed Him who can deUver, and does deliver His people. 
 
 VOL. LX. O.T. £ 
 
 " Life's roarl from 
 youth had Lain 
 through grief 
 au.i gloom, aud 
 every iiiile.stoue 
 was a loved oue'a 
 tomb." — Huuse- 
 hold Words. 
 
 a De. xxviii. 4. 
 
 h " By those many 
 maladies whicll 
 follow in the 
 track of war and 
 famine." — Spk. 
 Can. 
 
 " ThougJi bache- 
 1 o r s be the 
 strongest stakes, 
 married men are 
 the best binders, 
 in the hedge of 
 tlic common- 
 wraith. It is 
 the policy of the 
 Londoners, when 
 tliey send a .'^liip 
 into the Levant 
 or M e d i t e rra- 
 nean fea, to 
 make every ma- 
 riner therein a 
 merchant, each 
 feaman ventur- 
 ing somewhat of 
 his own, wliich 
 will make him 
 more wary to 
 avoid, and more 
 valiant to un- 
 dergo dangers. 
 Thus married 
 men, e.^pecially 
 if having po.ste- 
 rity, are the 
 deeper sharers 
 in that State 
 wherein they 
 live, wliich en- 
 giigetli their af- 
 fections to the 
 greater loyalty." 
 — Fuller. 
 
 The Cherokee 
 marriage-cere- 
 mony is very ex- 
 p r e s s i V c. 'J lie 
 man ami woman 
 join liands over 
 running water 
 to indicate that 
 their lives are 
 theiiceforih to 
 How on ill one 
 stream. 
 
66 
 
 JEItEMIAn. 
 
 [Cap. xvl. 5—15, 
 
 a " Oorl here an- 
 tioijiatos the fiil- 
 fil'ii"iit of Jcre- 
 miali's pro])li(.'- 
 cics, and tells 
 liim how to de- 
 mean himself 
 when they shouM 
 liavebeenaccoiM- 
 plished."-IV'y/'(ii- 
 irorlh. 
 
 b " Among the 
 Greeks, wlio an- 
 ciently, as now, 
 ■wore their bair, 
 the custom of 
 tearinpr, cuttint? 
 off, or sliaving 
 the hair, was at 
 Ic.ist as common 
 as among: the 
 Jews. With them 
 t!ie hair, thus se- 
 parated him the 
 h^ail, was some- 
 tiiHes laid upon 
 tlio corpse as a 
 tribute of affec- 
 twn anil regret ; 
 sometimes it was 
 CRst upon the 
 fnneral pile, to 
 ha consiimeJ 
 with the remains 
 of tlie deceased ; 
 and on otiier oc- 
 casions it was 
 laid upon the 
 grave." — Kitlo. 
 c Am. viii. 10; 
 Jili. i. 16. 
 
 I'. 5. ./. ('. Dieleric, 
 Ant. CU). 
 d Brmnt. 
 
 a .7e. vii. 34. xxv. 
 10; Eze. xxvi. 13. 
 
 h De. xxi.x. 21; 1 
 Ki. ix. 8, 9. 
 
 e " There among 
 idolaters you may 
 iudulije your evil 
 propensities to 
 the full ; you 
 may practise 
 j-oi;r idolatries 
 withont inter- 
 mission."- /vost«- 
 vtiH/cr. 
 
 r. 11. J. WeeTnse, 
 i. U3. 
 d Young. 
 
 « Cheever. Thus, while part of his congres-ation thougrht it an unfit Bubjecfc 
 
 for the pulpit, at least one person received it as a message from 
 God, by whom it was no doubt sent.' 
 
 5 — 8. (5) house of mourning, as if you were going to a 
 mourning feast. Intimating that the general distress would 
 permit no such feasts as were usual at funerals. <« (G) cut 
 themselves, rtc, Le. xix. 28 ; De. xiv. 1. This was a heathen cus- 
 tom, wli. it seems the Jews had adopted with their idolatry.* 
 make . . bald, shave a bare patch on the front of the head.' (7) 
 tear themselves, marg. ''break bread for them :" see r. 5. 
 cup of consolation, it was the custom to force food and 
 drink upon mourners, who, in their first grief, often fasted 
 from all food. (8) house of feasting, i-. 5. 
 Blessing in monrniiifi. — 
 
 Deem not that they are blest alone ■ 
 Whose lives a peaceful tenor keep ; 
 For God. who pities man, has shown 
 A blessing for the eyes that weep. 
 
 The lii^ht of smiles shall fill again 
 The lids that overflow with tears ; 
 And weary hours of woe and pain 
 Are promises of happier years. 
 
 There is a day of sunny rest 
 For every dark and troubled night ; 
 Though grief may bide an evening guesi^ 
 Yet joy shall come with early light. 
 
 Kor let the good man's trust depart, 
 Tliough life its common gifts deny ; 
 Though with a pierced and broken heart, 
 And spurned of men, he goes to die. 
 
 For God has mark'd each sorrowing day, 
 And number "d every secret tear ; 
 And heaven"s eternal bliss shall pay 
 For all His children suffer here.'' 
 
 9 — 13. (9) voice, efc, including all private and publio 
 seasons of rejoicing." (10) wherefore, etc., ch. v. 1!', xiii. 22.* 
 (11) because, of rebellion and idolatry persisted in through 
 ereneration after generation. (12) worse, etc., ch. vii. 2(1 ; 1 
 Ki. xiv. 9. (1,3) imagination, better, stubbornness; perversity, 
 (i;^) these, in the captive land ye may do your own will. The 
 sentence is ironical.'' not . . favour, i.e. understand that 
 you cannot have liberty to serve idols and My favour. That is 
 conditioned by yoiu' obedience. 
 
 Saluto rinrs.'i of mniirninri. — 
 
 How wretched is the man who never moum'd 
 I dive for precious pearl in sorrow's stream : 
 Not so the thoughtless man that only grieves, 
 Ttikes all the torment, and rejects the gain 
 (Inestimable gain), and gives heaven leave 
 To make him but more wretched, not more wise.' 
 
 (I "The suffer-' 14^ i5_ (],}) therefore, or '-yet surelv." days come, ch. 
 
 thf mi'.vionish xxi'i- 7. 8." (1.-)) land of the north, the usual appellation of 
 
 captivity "will be , Chaldasa, wh. was north to Judaea. 
 
^v 
 
 Cap. xvi. 16—18.1 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 67 
 
 Ground of confidenee. — There is a story of a young- man who 
 was at sea in a rag-ing- tempest, and, when all the passengers 
 were at their wits'-end for fear, he only was merry ; and when 
 he was asked the reason of his mirth, he answered that the pilot 
 of the ship was his father, and he knew his father would have 
 a care of him. The great and wise God, He is our pilot ; He t^its 
 at the stern ; and though the ship of the Church or State be in 
 a sinking condition, yet be of good comfort, our Pilot will have 
 a care of us.'' — Three epochs of confidence. — People have generally 
 three epochs in their confidence in man. In the first they 
 believe him to be everything that is good, and they are lavish 
 with their friendship and confidence. In the next, they have 
 kad experience, which has smitten down their confidence, and 
 they then have to be careful not to mistrust every oaie, and to put 
 the worst construction upon everything. Later in life, they 
 learn that the greater number of men have much more good in 
 them than bad, and that, even when there is cause to blame, 
 there is more reason to pity than condemn ; and then a spirit of 
 confidence again awakens within them."— (! 7/ )•(>!"/«« confidence. — 
 A soldier lay dying in the hospital, in terrible agony. A visitor 
 asked him, " What Church are you of ? " " Of the Church of 
 Christ." he replied. " I mean of what persuasion are you ? " 
 " Persuasion.'" said the dying man, as his eyes looked heavenward, 
 beaming with love to the Savour, "I am persuaded that neither 
 death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
 things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor 
 any other creature, shall be able to separate me from the love of 
 God which is in Christ.'' — What do you do \\^thout a mother to 
 tell your troubles to ? " said a child who had a mother to one 
 whose mother was dead. " Mother told me whom to go to before 
 she died," answered the little orphan. " I go to the Lord Jesus. 
 He was mother's friend, and He is mine." The other replied, 
 " Jesus Christ is up in the sky ; He is far awny, and has a great 
 many things to attend in heaven. It is not likely He can stop to 
 mind you." •' I do not know about that," said the orphan ; all I 
 know is, He says He will ; and that is enough for me." The 
 orphan was right. God's ear is open to babes and sucklings as to 
 young men and fathers. 
 
 16 — 18. (16) fishers . . hunters,^ reference in these figures 
 is to the coming judgments, by the Chaldeans, who would hunt 
 out the people from their hiding-places, and accomplish a general 
 destruction.'' (17) eyes . . ways, Job xxxiv. 21 ; Pr. v. 21. 
 The judgment is one decided on after complete inquiry and 
 perfect knowledge. (18) first, i.e. before accomplishing the 
 return promised in v. 15. double, i.e. in proportion to God's 
 usual severity in punishing men's sins. Bonhle is used as a fig. 
 meauirjg///^/y, nmphj. carcases, so in contempt the olfering 
 of animals in their idol sacrifices is called."^ 
 
 Dirine comfort. — AVhen a man walketh in the sun, if his face 
 be towards it, he hath nothing before him but bright shining 
 light and comfortable h^at ; but let him once turn his back to 
 the sun, what hath he before him but a shadow 1 And what is 
 a shadow, but the privation of light, and heat of the sun ? Yea, 
 it is but to behold his own shadow, defrauding himself of the 
 other.. Thus there is no true wisdom, no true happiness, no 
 real comfort but in beholding the countenance of God ; look 
 
 E 2 
 
 so great, that tha 
 deliverance frorn 
 tiiem will be 
 more joyous than 
 eveu their exodus 
 from Egypt." — 
 WurdsKorlh. 
 
 vr. 14, 15. Ahp. 
 Sijiiae, i. 
 
 b Spencer. 
 
 "Though the 
 mariner sees not 
 tlie polestar, yet 
 the needle of the 
 compass which 
 points to it tells 
 liiui which way 
 he sails ; thus 
 the heart that is 
 touched with the 
 loailstone of Di- 
 vine love, trem- 
 bling with godly 
 fear, and yet still 
 looking towards 
 God by fixed 
 believing, inter* 
 prets the fear by 
 the love in the 
 fear, and tells 
 the soul that its 
 course is heaven- 
 ward, towards 
 the haven of 
 eternal rest." — 
 Leiyhton. 
 
 c Miss Bremer, 
 
 a Am. iv. 2 ; Hab. 
 i. 15. 
 
 b " lit. under- 
 stood, the fishers 
 are the main 
 armies who, in 
 the towns and 
 fortresses, cap- 
 ture the people 
 in crowds as in 
 a net, while thr 
 hunters are the 
 1 i g h t - a r m e d 
 troops, who pur- 
 sue the fugitives 
 over the whole 
 country, and 
 
 drive them out 
 of their hiding- 
 places with as 
 eager pleasure 88 
 hunters track out 
 their gaw.e."— . 
 <S^*. Com. 
 
68 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap, xvii. 1— 4. 
 
 c Some think tlie 
 reference is to 
 the otfcriiis of 
 human beinjjs. or 
 of unclean ani- 
 mals. 
 d Upencpi: 
 
 a " The result of 
 God's jmlsments 
 on the Jews will 
 be that both the 
 Jews when re- 
 stored, and the 
 Gentiles who 
 have witnessed 
 those iudgnients, 
 shall renounce 
 idolatry for the 
 •worsliip of Jeho- 
 vali." — fausset. 
 b Je. ii. 11. 
 c " Tlie ' hand ' 
 and ' might ' \vh. 
 they were to 
 know and feel, 
 ■were the severe 
 alTlictious to be 
 Buttered durinj? 
 the captivity, and 
 whicli they re- 
 quired to e.xperi- 
 ence only once 
 more in order 
 to be effectually 
 weaned from ido- 
 latry." — Hender- 
 son. 
 
 V. 19. Dr. R. 
 Morixnn, 183. 
 d T. Bruoks. 
 
 a Tlie metal sty- 
 lus for writing' 
 on clay tablets, 
 the point of wli. 
 was made of 
 some hard sub- 
 stance, such as a 
 diamond. 
 
 h " On Assyrian 
 contract - tablets 
 witnesses who 
 were too poor to 
 possess a seal im- 
 pressed a nail- 
 mark. From 
 these nail-marks 
 the word trans- 
 lated point has 
 been derived."— 
 Jiib. T/iinrjs, etc. 
 
 e Is. xi. 9, Ivl. 7, 
 Ivii. 13. 
 
 See C. J. Hon re, 
 " All Israel Sa- 
 ved," ltd. 117. 
 
 from that and we lose these blessinprs ; and "what shall we 
 fi'ain ? a shadow, an empty imaore ; instead of a snhstantial, 
 to g'ain an emiity imag-o of ourselves, and lose the solid 
 imag-e of Cod. Yet this is the common folly of the world ; 
 men prefer this shadow before that substance, whereas there is 
 not the least appearance of any true comfort but in God only."* 
 
 19—21. (19) fortress, or place of defence. G-entiles, in 
 their readiness to give up their idolatry shall reproach the 
 hesitating Jews by their forwardness." (20) make gods, aa 
 inconceivable absurdity in the very statement.* (21) this once, 
 i.e. in this overwhelming judgment.* the Lord, better e/(7/(^cfl/t, 
 the covenant name of God. 
 
 Worldhj comforts. — The comforts of this world are but like the 
 treasures of snow ; do but take a handful of snov/. and cru.'^h it 
 in your hands, it will melt away presently ; but if you let it lie 
 on the ground, it will continue for some time : and so it is with 
 the things of this world ; if you take the comforts of this life in 
 your hands, and lay them too near your hearts in aiiection and 
 love to them, they will quickly melt and vanish away from you ; 
 but if you leave them in their proper place, and do not set an 
 inordinate affection upon them, they will continue the longer 
 with you : as if you should line a garment with linen, it M-ould 
 do very well, but if you line it with pitch or glue, that will stick 
 fast to the body, and in all likelihood soil both garment md the 
 man that wears it ; so when the world is glued to our hearts, it 
 spoils the comforts of all the mercies that we enjoy : and so ifc 
 may be said that the otherwise lawful ".se of them is abused, 
 when they are either used too affectionately in making gods of 
 them, or being too eagerly bent in the gaining of them."' 
 
 CHAPTER THE SEVENTEENTH 
 
 1 — 4. (1) pen of iron, Job xix. 24. An iron chisel suitable 
 for cutting inscriptions on stones ; or engraving on metal." 
 point . . diamond, or finger nail.'' Such a pen made indelible 
 marks, and so did the sin of Judah. altars, plural. God'a 
 altar was one, Baal's altars were many. Possibly the names of 
 the idols to whose service the altar was devoted were put upon 
 the horns. (2) children, whose lives might be sacrificed in 
 the Moloch rites. Or indicating that the children are trained 
 up in the fathers' bad example. (H) mountain . . field,'" fig. 
 for Zion. Field means '• o]ien country." the whole country of 
 Judaea, high places, 1 iSa. ix. 12. for sin, or because of 
 thy sin. (4) discontinue, cease to po.ssess : or cease to till, so 
 that the land shall have rest, for ever, i.e. until its consuming 
 work is done. 
 
 The hnmhvrifinri of fjreat aittliors. — An old compositor who 
 worked upon I'viich many j'ears ago tells us that of all Ihe able 
 contributors to that witty iicriodical, the manuscripts of Douglas 
 Jerrold and Gilljcrt A'Beekctt were the ri^t peculiar. Jcrrold's 
 was written in .almost microscopic characters with a fine gold 
 pen. and so close that one of the sides of the small foolscap 
 octavo paper he used wotild nearly fill a solid brevier column of 
 Ihtneh. Jlr. A'Bcckett's was altogether the reverse, being written 
 very wide apart and on post octavo paper. It had a very curioua 
 
Cap. xvii. 5—8.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 appearance, for he began up in the left-hand corner and widened 
 out his lines till he finished the page, in a diamond phape, down 
 in the opposite corner. When written thus, one of his pages 
 would make about six lines of type. Mr. Dickens wrote a very 
 unreadable hand, and his manusci-ipt was full of alterations, 
 deletions, and interlineations.'' — Oviginalthj uf tcrltinfj. — If you 
 would write to any purpose, you must be perfectly free from 
 within. Give yourself the natural rein ; think on no pattern, no 
 patron, no paper, no pi'ess, no public ; think on nothing, but 
 follow your impulses. Give yourself as you are, what you are, 
 and how you see it. Every man sees with his own eyes, or does 
 not see at all. This is incontrovertibly true. Bring out what 
 you have. If you have nothing, be an honest beggar, rather than 
 a respectable thief.' — Benefits of writliig. — The habit of com- 
 mitting our thoughts to writing is a powerful means of ex- 
 panding the mind, and producing a logical and systematic 
 arrangement of our views and opinions. It is this which gives 
 the writer a vast superiority, as to the accuracy and extent of 
 his conceptions, over the mere talker. No one can ever hope to 
 know the principles of any art or science thoroughly who does not 
 W'rite as well as read upon the subject/ — Adajitation of ii'vithig. 
 — As we should adapt the style of our writing to the capacity of 
 the person it is addressed to, so should we our manner of acting ; 
 for as persons of inferior understandings will misconceive, and 
 perhaps suspect some sophistry from an elegance of expression 
 which they cannot comprehend ; so persons of inferior sentiment 
 will probably mistake the intention, or even suspect a fraud, 
 from a delicacy of acting which they want capacity to feel.? — A 
 man with a clear head, a good heart, and an honest understanding 
 will always write well ; it is owing either to a muddy head, an 
 evil heart, or a sophisticated intellect, that men write badly, and 
 sin either against reason, or goodness, or sincerity. There may 
 be secrets in painting, but there are none in style. When I 
 have been asked the foolish question what a ycung man should 
 do who wishes to acquire a good style, my answer has been, that 
 he should never think about it, but say what he has to say per- 
 spicuously as he can. and as briefly as he can, and then the style 
 will take care of itself.'' 
 
 5—8. (5) trtistetli in man, as Judah was then trusting in 
 Egypt and Assyria. flesh., contrasted with God. arm, of 
 reliance. (6) laeath, Heb. 'ar'av, wh. is both a "juniper" and 
 a •■ destitute man." Here a dry bush, or bare tree." salt land, 
 in Heb saltness is a sign of barrenness.* (7) blessed, etc., 
 Ps. ii. 12, xxxiv. 8, cxxv. 1. (8) tree, etc., Ps. i. 3. river, 
 or watercourse.' see . . COmeth, i.e. shall not notice it bee. the 
 heat brings sense of feai: careful, or anxious."* drought, 
 marsr. restraint. 
 
 '/he curse and the bJesshifj (vv. 5— 8).— I. The curse. 1. The 
 person against whom it is denounced, the self-reliant, self-con- 
 fident, etc. ; 2. The language in which it is expressed implies 
 that the person shall be unprosperous, useless, worthless, etc. 
 II. The blessing. 1. The person to whom it is promised: he 
 recognises God ; 2. The language in which it is expressed. 
 Appfy;— On whom dost thou trust ."—Z'///>;T«fr hetwecn trusting 
 man and Vol (cc. .")— 8).— ]Man not independent; must have a 
 support} often selects a wrong one. 1. The folly and evil oi 
 
 d Dublin Univer- 
 sity Ma'jazine. 
 
 " That was a 
 beautiful tribute 
 of Napoleon to 
 the supremacy 
 of mind over 
 phj'sical force in 
 tlie long trial. 
 ' Do you know, 
 F o n t a u e s,' he 
 said, ' wliat I 
 admire most in 
 the world ? It 
 is the powerless- 
 iioss of force to 
 found aiij'thiiig. 
 There are only 
 two powers in 
 the world — the 
 sabre and the 
 pen ; and in the 
 end the former 
 is al ways con- 
 (juered by the 
 latter.' " — Anon. 
 
 e Emerson. 
 
 f Blakey. 
 
 g Greville. 
 
 '• Those writer* 
 who lie on the 
 watch for no- 
 velty can hav9 
 little hope of 
 greatness ; for 
 great things can- 
 not have escaped 
 former observa- 
 tion." — Johnson, 
 h SoutJiey. 
 
 a Etrald, Urn" 
 breil, etc. 
 
 b De. xxix. 23; 
 Ps. cvii. 34 ; Zep. 
 ii. 9. 
 
 c " Here ap- 
 parently an arti- 
 ticial streamlet 
 made for pur- 
 poses of irriga- 
 tion."— 5pA-. t'vm. 
 
 d " The pious 
 man who makes 
 God his confi- 
 dence is truly 
 liappy, whatever 
 may be the out- 
 ward circum- 
 stances in which 
 he may b « 
 
70 
 
 JEREMIAB. 
 
 [Cap. xvll. 0-1^ 
 
 placed." — Ilen- 
 dcrson. 
 
 e 0. Brooks. 
 
 f Delta in 400 
 
 Sks. 
 
 a "There is no 
 sure relianoe to 
 be placed in the 
 feelings of the 
 lieart, nor in the 
 dictates of con- 
 science, unless 
 the conscience 
 be informed and 
 reprnlated by the 
 ■nill and Word 
 of God."-Words- 
 worth. 
 
 b Horsley. 
 
 e 1 Sa. xvi. 7 ; Ps. 
 vii. 9, cxxxix. 1, 
 23. 
 
 d "According to 
 the Arabian na- 
 turalist Dnmir, 
 there was an old 
 belief that the 
 partridge took 
 egfi3 out of other 
 biK.ii' nests, and 
 that Avhen the 
 young were 
 hatched, and 
 
 were old enough, 
 they ran away 
 from their false 
 pare n t." — liib. 
 Things. 
 
 e Albert Barnes. 
 
 / G. Brooks. 
 
 g Thcmns Kll- 
 ii-ond (lliltou's 
 friend). 
 
 a The " throne of 
 glory " is etiui- 
 valiMit to Him 
 who is enthroned 
 in glory. 
 
 trusting' in man. 1. Such trust is idolatrous in principle ; 2. 
 Grovelling in its aim ; i5. Unreasonable in its foundation ; 4. 
 Destructive in its issue. II. The wisdom and benefit of trusting 
 in the Lord. 1. It is pious in principle ; 2. Elevated in its aim ; 
 a. Rational in its foundation ; 4. Glorious in its issue. Apply ; — 
 (1) A mistake to suppose the rich and gay happy, and the poor 
 and pious miserable ; (2) An unreserved confidence in God can 
 alone seciu-e our happiness and the Divine favour.-'^ 
 
 9 — 11. (0) deceitful, i.e. self -deluding. We may never trust 
 it." wicked, or mortally sick, incurable.'' (10) search, etc., 
 thoroughly, fr. God none of its secrets are hidden.' give, 
 in righteous judgments. (11) partridge, etc., better. '• gathereth. 
 young wh. she hath not brought forth : " or " as the i)artridge 
 sitteth on eggs wh. she hath not laid.''<i The idea is that '•the 
 covetousTiian is as sure finally to reap only disappointment as 
 the partridge wh. piles up eggs not of her own laying, and is 
 unable to hatch them." 
 
 Tlie deceitfulncis of the heart (y. 9). — 1. Men impose on them- 
 selves in respect of their own character ; 2. In regard to their 
 attachments ; 3. In regard to their power of resisting temptation ; 
 4. In regard to their promises of reformation and amendment. 
 Apply : — (1) Their danger of losing the soul ; (2) You have a heart 
 which is not to be trusted ; (3) Wake from all delusions to the 
 reality of yoiu* condition.* — The human heart (r. 9). — I. Its 
 deceitfulncss. 1. It misrepresents the nature of things ; 2. It 
 conceals the tendency of things ; 3. It practises imposition on 
 itself. II. Its wickedness. It is so — 1. Universally: 2. Unsearch- 
 ably ; 3. Incurably. Learn — (1) Our need of regeneration ; (2) 
 The claims of the Saviour ; (3) The duty of Belf -examination.-' 
 
 A I\t"e)v Year's petition. — 
 
 O that my eyes might closed be 
 
 To what becomes me not to see I 
 
 That deafness might possess my ear 
 
 To what concerns me not to hear ! 
 
 That truth my tongue might always tie 
 
 From ever speaking foolishly ! 
 
 That no vain thought might ever rest 
 
 Or be conceived in my breast ! 
 
 That by each word, each deed, each thought, 
 
 Glory may to my God be brought I 
 
 But what are wishes ? Lord, my eye 
 
 On Thee is fixed, to Thee I cry : 
 
 O purge out all my dross, my sin. 
 
 Make me more white than snow within. 
 
 Wash, Lord, and purify my heart. 
 
 And make it clean in every part ; 
 
 And when 'tis clean. Lord, keep it so, 
 
 For that is more than I can do.f 
 
 12—14. (12) throne," the first refc-ience is to the Temple as 
 Jehovah's earlhly dwelling-place, then the Prophet's thought 
 rises to Jehovah Himself. (13) hope of Israel, on whose word 
 alone Israel can safely hope, forsake thee, Ps. Ixxiii. 27 ; Is. i. 
 p •• \\ nuz 1 s I ■^^- written . . earth, or dust, where names arc soon rubbed 
 written in the ! out. Contrasted with in the rock, where names may abide.* 
 
Cap. xvii. 15—18.] 
 
 JEREilTAff. 
 
 71 
 
 fountain . . waters, ch. ii. 13. (14) thou . . praise, i.e. Thou 
 only. The expression of simple and entire trust in God. 
 
 A prin/cr far t;iilcafhui (r. 14). — 1. These words express a deep 
 concern about salvation, and an earnest desire to obtain it ; 2. A 
 firm persuasion that God alone can save ; H. A heartfelt applica- 
 tion to God for salvation through the medium of prayer ; 4. An 
 unwavering confidence that the salvation which God bestows in 
 answer to prayer will be a salvation suited to the wants of fallen 
 man.'' 
 
 Happiness in God. — The happiness of this mysterious nature of 
 ours is never to be found merely in the possession of Gods gifts, 
 the work of His hand, or the bounties of His providence. The 
 Boul can Snd its true satisfaction only in rising beyond the gifts, 
 and claiming the Giver as its own. When you covet the friend- 
 ship or love of a fellow-man, it does not satisfy you that he 
 bestows upon you only outward gifts — his money, his property, 
 his books : what cares a loving, longing heart for these ? Unless 
 the man give you something more than these, give you himself, 
 and become yours by the bond of deepest sympathy and affection, 
 the rest are but worthless boons, ^o is it in the soul's relation 
 with God. That after which, as by a mysterious and inborn 
 affinity, every devout spirit yearns, it is not God's gifts and 
 bounties, but Himself. The wealth of worlds would be to the 
 heart longing after Deity a miserable substitute for one look of 
 love from the Great Father's eye. "My soul thirsteth for God" 
 is the language in which Scripture gives expression to this deep 
 want of our nature, and points to the ineffable satisfaction pro- 
 vided for it. "My soul thirsteth for God. for the living God." 
 " As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my 
 soul after Thee, God ! " " If any man love Me, My Father will 
 love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with 
 him ;" '•! in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made 
 perfect in one."'' 
 
 15—18. (15) where, etc., Is. v. 19. The questions of the 
 sceptic and the scoffer. (16) not hastened, i.e. had not in- 
 truded himself into the prophetic office, but simply followed the 
 Divine call. His prophetic office was his Inirdcn. wh. in obedience 
 he had taken up." desired. . . day, no wish to be a prophet of 
 evil. bee. I had any vindictive feelings. (17) terror, or cause 
 of dismay ; i.e. by not fulfilling the threatenings Thou dost bid 
 me deliver. (18) confounded, etc., Ps. xxxv. 4, xl. 14. double, 
 complete, and unusual, ch. xvi. 18. 
 Happiness ereryivJtere. — 
 
 True Happiness had no localities, 
 
 No tones provincial, no peculiar garb. 
 
 "Where Duty went, she went : witli Justice wept, 
 
 And M'ent with Meekness, Charity, and Love. 
 
 "Where'er a tear was dried, a wounded heart 
 
 Bound up. a bruised spirit with the dew 
 
 Of sj-mpathy anointed, or a pang 
 
 Of lionest suffering soothed, or injury 
 
 Repeated oft, as oft by love forgiven ; 
 
 "Where'er an evil passion was subdued. 
 
 Or Virtue's feeble embers fanned ; where'er 
 
 A sin was heartily abjured aTid left ; 
 
 ^Vhere'er a pious act was done, or breathed 
 
 earth may b» 
 easily efiaced, afc 
 contrasted with 
 wliat is ■R-ritten 
 in a book, or en- 
 graven in the 
 rock." — Mender- 
 son. 
 
 c G. Brocks. 
 
 Tlie glory of God 
 and the happi- 
 ness of man are 
 blondea together 
 by the Hand that 
 united isoul and 
 body in one 
 man, light and 
 heat in one snn, 
 holiness and hap- 
 piness iu. one 
 heaven ; and 
 what God has 
 joined together 
 let not man put 
 asunder. 
 
 d Dr. Caird. 
 
 "'What you de- 
 mand is here, or 
 at UlubrsB.' Tou 
 traverse the 
 world in search 
 of happiness, 
 which is within 
 the reach of every 
 man: a contented 
 mind confers it 
 on all." — Horace, 
 
 (I " I have not 
 
 forced myself for- 
 ward to follow 
 tliee as a shep- 
 herd." — Cmbreit. 
 1.17. /J. Bcddome, 
 iii. 63. 
 
 "It is not so much 
 by the symmeti-y 
 of what we attain 
 iu this life that 
 we are to be made 
 li.appy, as by the 
 en]i»'ening hcpe 
 of what we shall 
 reach in the 
 world to come. 
 While a man is 
 stringing a harp, 
 he tries the 
 strings, not for 
 music, but _ for 
 construction. 
 When it is finish- 
 ed it shall be 
 played for me- 
 lodies. God is 
 fashioning the 
 human heart for 
 future joy. He 
 
72 
 
 JEREiflAn. 
 
 [Cap. xvii, 19-27. 
 
 only sounds a 
 Etrin^ lic'ie nnd 
 there to see liow 
 far His work has 
 progresied." — Jl. 
 W. Jliecher. 
 b Pollock. 
 
 a "As the Sab- 
 bath was insti- 
 tuted as a sitru 
 or token of God's 
 covenant witli 
 His people, the 
 Jews prof;iiiing 
 the Rabbatli was 
 in effect renounc- 
 ing their share in 
 the coveuaut." — 
 Lotcth. 
 
 " Bright Sabbath 
 morning, on the 
 moor, where all is 
 still, save praise ; 
 and where, hard 
 by. the ripe gr.aln 
 shakes its bright 
 beard in the sun ; 
 the wild bee 
 hums more so- 
 lemnly; the deep 
 sky, the fresh 
 green grass, the 
 Eun, and sunny 
 brook." — BaiUy. 
 
 h Wayland. 
 
 m " In the siege 
 the gates of Je- 
 rusali'iu and its 
 palaces were ac- 
 tually burned 
 with fire. Ne. 
 ^.\Z,\i:--WordU- 
 tcorlh. 
 
 " The green oasis, 
 the little grassy 
 meadow in the 
 w i 1 d e r n e s s, 
 where, after the 
 week-ilays' jour- 
 ney, the pilgrim 
 lialts for refresh- 
 ment and repose; 
 where he rests 
 beneath the 
 shade of the lofty 
 palm trees, and 
 dips his vessel in 
 the waters of 
 the calm, clear 
 stream, and reco- 
 rcag Ilia strength 
 
 A pious prayer, or ■\vi^^lKxl a piou.s wi.-h ; 
 There ^vils a liigli and holy place, a spot 
 Of sacred light, a most religious fane. 
 "V^Taere Ilappiuess, descendiug, sat aud smiled.* 
 
 19—23. (19) gate, wh. one is not certain. Evidently the 
 one through whidi there was the most trailic. (2U) kings, 
 prob. including all the officials. (21) take heed, C'n tliis point 
 be very watchful, burden . . day, ciiitij). Neh. xiii. 1'.). (22) 
 hallow, efc, Ex. XX. 8. etc. (2^) neck stiff, the sign of rebel- 
 lious opposition and wilfulness." 
 
 IleJigions ohsn-ratice of (he Fahhath. — The importance of the 
 religious observance of the Sabbath is seldom sufficiently esti- 
 mated. The violation of this duty by the young is one of the 
 most decided marks of inciiiieut moral degeneracy. Religious 
 restraint is fast losing its hold upon that young man who. having 
 been educated in the fear of God. begins to spend the Sabbath in. 
 idleness or in amusement. And so also of communities. The 
 desecration of the Sabbath is one of those evident indications of 
 that criminal recklessness, that insane love of pleasure, and that 
 stibjection to the government of appetite and ]iassion, which 
 forebodes that the " beginning of the end " of social happiness, 
 and of true national iirosperity. has arrived. Hence we see how 
 imperative is the duty of parents, and of legislators, on this sub- 
 ject. The head of every family is obliged, by the command of 
 God, not only to honour this day himself, but to use all the 
 means in his power to eeciu-e the observance of it by all those 
 committed to his charge. He is thus not only promoting his 
 own, but his children's happiness ; for nothing is a more sure 
 antagonist force to all the allurements of vice, as nothing tends 
 more strongly to fix in the minds of the young a conviction of 
 the existence and attributes of God, than the solemn keeping of 
 this day. And hence, also, legislators are false to their trust, 
 who, either by the enactment of laws, or by their cxamp.e, 
 diminish, in the least degree, in the minds of a people, the 
 reverence due to that day which God has set apart for Him- 
 self.* ^ ^ 
 
 24—27. (24) diligently, with anxious carefulness and 
 thought seeking fully to obey. (25) remain for ever, or per- 
 manently continue the centre of the covej^.ant kingdom. (2G) 
 shall come, us at the great festivals, sacrifices of praise, 
 i.e. sacrifices wh. should be sincere expressions of pious and 
 grateful feeling. (27) fire, etc., La. iv. 11." " The scene of theii 
 sin should be the scene of their punishment." 
 Typ"-^ avd vsi's of the Snhhofh. — 
 
 Hail to the day which He, who made the heaven, 
 Earth, and their armies, sanctified and blest, 
 Perpetual memory of the Maker's rest ! 
 Hail to the day when He, bj whom was given 
 New life to man, the tomb asunder riven. 
 Arose ! That day His Church doth still confess, 
 At once Creation's and Redemption's feast, 
 Sign of a world called forth, a world forgiven. 
 Welcome that day, the day of holy peace, 
 The Lord's own day 1 to niaa's Creator owed. 
 
Cap. xviii. 1—4.] 
 
 JE REM I An. 
 
 73 
 
 And man's Redeemer : for the soiil's increase 
 In sanctity, and sweet repose bestowed ; 
 Typa of the rest when sin and care shall cease, 
 The rest remaining for the loved of God 1 * 
 
 Eaihath evening. — 
 
 Closing' Sabbath ! Ah, how soon 
 
 Have thy sacred moments pass'd 1 
 
 Scarcely shines the morn, the noon, 
 
 Ere the evening- brings thy last ; 
 
 And another Sabbath flies, — 
 
 Solemn witness ! — to the skies. 
 
 "What is the report it bears 
 
 To the secret jjlace of God ? 
 Does it speak of wordly cares, 
 
 Thoughts which cling to earth's low sod ? 
 Or has sweet communion shone 
 Through its hours from God alone 1 
 
 Could wc hope the day w^as spent 
 
 Holily, with constant heart, 
 We might yield it up content, — 
 Knowing, though so soon it part, 
 We should see a better day. 
 Which could never pass away, 
 
 God of Sabbaths ! Oh forgive, 
 
 That we use Thy gifts so ill ; 
 Teach us daily how to live. 
 That we ever may fulfil 
 
 All Thy gracious love designed, 
 Giving Sabbaths to mankind." 
 
 CHAPTER TEE EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 to po forth aeainf. 
 upon liis pilgrim- 
 age in the ilesert 
 with renewed 
 vigour and cheer- 
 f uhiess." — lieade, 
 b Up. Munt. 
 '• He tliat would 
 prepare for 
 iieaven, must 
 honour the Sab- 
 bath on earth. 
 He that would 
 liope for the 
 spiritual joys 
 there, must ac- 
 quire a taste and 
 aptitude for them 
 
 here They 
 
 who complain of 
 weariness and 
 satiety in the 
 services of Christ 
 have an evidence 
 in their own 
 breasts of their 
 unfitness for a 
 heavenly world 
 — tliey are con- 
 demned out of 
 their own 
 mouths. The 
 louder they ex- 
 claim against our 
 Lord's day and 
 its duties, the 
 more decidedly 
 do tliey exclude 
 themselves from 
 the Cliristian 
 character and 
 the Christian 
 liope.'"- Bishop D. 
 Wilson, 
 c Edniiston. 
 
 1 — 4. (1, 2) house, or workshop. The clay-field lay south 
 of Jerusalem, just beyond the valley of Hinnom." (3) wheels, 
 lit. the two wheels.* (4) marred, or spoiled : it was a failure. 
 made it again, i.e. made up th*e clay again into a new vessel, 
 and possibl}' one of another shape, and fitted for another purpose. 
 
 'fh • ^;a/Y/Z»/(; of the jiotter (fv. 1 — 10). — Consider man in the 
 hands of God — I. As morally defective : the clay marred, in 
 moral judgment, moral aftections, moral conduct. II. As 
 morally improvable : God is mighty to save, emotionally, magis- 
 terially, reformatively. III. As morally free. It is here indi- 
 cated that man is — 1. Responsible for his destiny; 2. For his 
 conduct 
 
 Di.seorery of jjorcelnin. — Although many persons have devoted 
 their whole lives to the phantoms of discovering the perjietual 
 motion and the philosopher's stone, which might have been 
 much better employed, yet even these pursuits have sometimes 
 proved of great service. Porcelain, which had been known to 
 the Chinese and Japanese for ages, was not made in Europe until 
 the beginning of the eighteenth century, when John Bottger. a 
 German from Schlaiz. in Voigtlaud, was the first in Europe who 
 invented the art. This man was apprentice to one Zorn, an 
 
 a Zee. xi. 13; 
 Matt, xxvii. 10. 
 6 " By this is 
 meant the hori- 
 zontal lathe of 
 the potter, con- 
 sisting of two 
 wheels or round 
 plates, on the 
 upper one of wh. 
 was placed the 
 clay, which he 
 moulded into ves- 
 sels at his plea- 
 sure. These 
 w li e e I s were 
 either of wood or 
 stone, and were 
 in use at an early 
 period among 
 the "Egyptians." 
 — Hmdifscn. 
 c Dr. T/ioma.i. 
 ri-. 1—6. G. White- 
 field, V. 197; F. 
 D. .ifaurice, Pro» 
 and Kgs. S96. 
 
74 
 
 JE RE in AH. 
 
 [Cap. xvlll. 5-14. 
 
 " False linppiness 
 roiulcrs iiii'ii 
 stern ami proud, 
 and tli.it luippi- 
 ness is never 
 communiciited. 
 True happiness 
 renders tliom 
 kind and sen- 
 sible, and that 
 liappiness is al- 
 ways shared." — 
 Montesquieu, 
 
 d Percy Anec. 
 
 U Is. xlv. 8 ; Eo. 
 ix. 20. 
 
 b "God is said 
 to repent of evil, 
 ■vv'ben He chaiuji'S 
 His dealings with 
 men ami nations, 
 on tlieir turning 
 to Hiui." — a. Au- 
 gustine. 
 
 vv. 7, 8. /. Frii.Ki; 
 271; !Jii. Vchon, 
 iL 320. 
 
 c Bp. Sanderson. 
 
 " To be liappy, 
 tiie passion must 
 ba ehcerfnl and 
 gay, not plooiiiy 
 and melaneiioly. 
 A projieiisity to 
 hope and joy is 
 real riches ; one 
 to fear and sor- 
 row, real jio- 
 Verty." — Ilumc. 
 
 a This -word is 
 still in use in 
 the North of 
 E n R 1 a n (1, as 
 meaning, " set 
 about work ; " 
 "manner of doing 
 work." 
 
 h 2 Ki. xvii. IS; 
 Je. vii. 'i. 
 
 ai)othecary at Berlin, where he met ■with an alchemist, who. in 
 return for some good offices done to him by Bottger. promised to 
 teach him the art of making' gold. Bottger then imagining him- 
 self to be in possession of the secret of making gold, immediately 
 concluded that his fortune was made, and ran away from Berlin 
 into Saxony, in the j'ear 1700. Thither he was pursued, but he 
 found protection in that country, where they at length urged 
 him to give a specimen of his pretended knowledge ; which, in 
 fact, the poor fellow was not able to do, as he had been imposed 
 upon, and. in truth, knew nothing of the matter. In order, how- 
 ever, to discover the grand secret, he laboured incessantly ; and 
 it so happened that having once mixed various earths together, 
 in order to make ntrong and durable crucibles, in course of 
 baking them he accidentally discovered the art of making por- 
 celain. Thus the intended transmutation took place, not in the 
 metals indeed, but in his own person ; and as if he had been 
 touched with a conjurer's wand, he was on a sudden transformed 
 from an alchemist into a potter. The first porcelain thus manu- 
 factured at Dresden, in 17UG, was of a brownish-red colour, being 
 made of a browTi clay."* 
 
 5 — 10. {'•>, G) cannot . . potter, a strong assertion of God's 
 absolute power and right over the creatures He makes and the 
 nations He calls into being." ye in mine liand, i.e. I can 
 crush you down into a shapeless mass, out of which I may form 
 a new nation. (7) pluck up, ch. i. 10. (8J if .. evil, all 
 God's dealings with men are conditional. His conduct towards 
 them is '• always in strict accordance with the manner in which 
 they behave themselves towards Him." * (S)) build, or establish 
 it. (10) of tlie good, change My purpose of blessing it with, 
 prosperity. 
 
 The diijnUij of man. — "When a piece of base metal is coined 
 with the king's stamp, and made current by his edict, no man 
 may henceforth presume either to refuse it, either in payment, 
 or to abate the value of it ; so God. having stamped His own 
 image upon every man. and withal signified His ble,<sed pleasure, 
 how precious He would have him to be in our eyes and esteem, 
 by express edict proclaiming : '• At the hand of every man's 
 brother will I require the life t)f man : I require every man to be 
 his brother's keeper ; for in the image of God made He man ;" 
 we must look to answer it as a high contempt of that sacred 
 Majesty, if we set any man at noug-ht, or make less account of 
 him than God would have us. The contumelious use of the 
 image is in common construction ever understood as a dishonour 
 meant to the prototpye. The Romans, when they meant to set a 
 mark of public disgrace or dishonour on any eminent person, 
 did manifest their intention by throwing down breaking, or 
 trampling upon their statues or pictures.' 
 
 11 — 14. Cll) go to, Ge. xi. 3. frame," as a potter frames 
 a work on his wheels, devise, etc.. terms implying careful pre- 
 paration, return, i.e. turn from the evil, and return to your 
 God. and goodness.* (12) no liope,' a despairing feeling may 
 lead to keeping on in a course of sin : therefore (.jod gives such 
 gracioss promi.ses and a.ssurances to keep up hope. (13) ask 
 . . heathen, sec if you can find a ])arallel case.'' virgin, a 
 term intended to remind the people that they had been wholly 
 
Cap. xvlii. 15— 20.] 
 
 JEREMTAH. 
 
 75 
 
 separated unto God. (14) will, etc., trans. " Shall one leave the 
 moisture of the field (for) the snow-water of Lebanon, or shall 
 the running waters be forsaken for the muddy waters.'" Illus- 
 trating' the leaving of the true God for false gods. 
 
 Fallen, man. — We saw at Hanover the unfinished palace of the 
 deposed monarch ; we were shown his state and private carriages 
 and his stables of cream-coloured horses. A saddening sight to see 
 all the emblems of sovereignty and no king ; the insignia of royalty 
 and the monarch for ever exiled. How like to human nature, 
 which has so much about it prepared for the service of the 
 King of kings, so much of faculty for heavenly occupation ; but 
 the King has dejaartcd and the house is left desolate, and all the 
 furnishing thereof perverted to alien uses. Thought, imagina- 
 tion, judgment, memory, all fit to be yoked to celestial chariots, 
 become the very hacks of the devil, and the body once a palace 
 now a haunt of thieves. Alas, alas 1 poor manhood 1 « 
 
 15—17. (15) forgotten me, the pure and living water ; eh. 
 ii. 13, xvii. 13. vanity, a word meaning ya/«7; wo', and severely 
 characterising the idol worship, they, i.e. the false gods ; said 
 to do what the false prophets and priests really did. ancient 
 paths, the old beaten track, as set forth in the law of Moses, 
 paths, i.e. self-willed bypaths. not cast up, raised, and pre- 
 pared, so as to be fit and safe to travel on." (16) hissing, an ex- 
 pression of insult and contempt, wag . . head, in mockery and 
 ridicule. (17) east wind.,'' fig. for the calamities of war and 
 wasting judgments, the hack, a sign of displeasure : ch. ii. 27."^ 
 
 Man — j/errer.iio7i of Jii.^facvltiex.^Accordi'ng to the fable, the 
 tail of the snake obtained precedence of the head and led the 
 way in the creature's journeying. Being altogether blind the 
 new guide dashed against a stone at one moment, and the nest 
 came violently against a tree, and at last drowned both itself and 
 the head in the river of death. Here may be seen the unhappy 
 condition of men in whom their baser nature is dominant, the 
 animal controlling the intellectual. They invert the order of 
 nature, they rebel against common sense ; their course cannot 
 but be unAvise and dangerous, and their end must be fatal. God 
 made man upright, and placed his thoughtful faculties aloft in 
 the place of sovereignty, but man in his folly permits the appe- 
 tites which he holds in common with the brute creation to reign 
 supreme, while the mind, which ought to rule, is degraded to 
 meanest servitude.'' 
 
 18 — 20. (IS) devise devices, or frame a plot to secure his 
 ruin, not perish, cfc, i.e. we need not fear if we put this 
 troublesome Prophet away ; we shall still have the Law, the 
 priest, and the prophet among us." with the tongue, by 
 carrying malicious reports about him to the king, Jehoiakim. 
 (ISO give heed, appeal to God from heedless man. voice, or 
 loud outcry and threats. (20) digged . . SOUl, Ps. xxxv. 7. 
 speak good, to pleachin their behalf. 
 
 blander — jioisonovs. — This slander is compared to poison — " the 
 tongue is an unruly evil, fuU of deadly poison." The deadliest 
 poisons are those for which no test is known ; there are poisons 
 60 destructive that a single drop insinuated into the veins pro- 
 duces death in three seconds, and j-et no chemical science can 
 separate that virus from the contaminated bloody and show the 
 
 c Je. ii. 25. 
 
 " This language 
 of tlie Jews in- 
 volves the last 
 stage of hardened 
 wiclceduess." — 
 Ueiideison. 
 
 d " Even among 
 the heathen it 
 was a tiling un- 
 heard of, that a 
 nation should lay 
 aside its gods 
 for foreign gods, 
 though their gods 
 are lalse gods." 
 — Fausset. 
 
 e Sjiurgeon. 
 
 a "A road cast 
 I'P means one 
 raised sufficiently 
 to keep it out 
 of the reach of 
 floods, etc. We 
 still call our chief 
 roads hiyhttays, 
 bee. when the 
 country was un- 
 drained it was 
 necessary to raise 
 them above the 
 level of the ad- 
 joining fields." — 
 t>pk. Com. 
 
 Is. Ivii. 14, Isil, 
 10. 
 
 b Job xxvii. 21, 
 xx.wiii. 24 ; Ps. 
 xlviii. 7 ; Is. 
 xxvii. 8. 
 
 c Is. i. 15, lix. S. 
 
 d Sjiurgeon. 
 
 a " They com- 
 forted themselves 
 with the assur- 
 ance that God 
 had made these 
 lasting institu- 
 tions in His 
 Church, and the 
 Law declares 
 they shall never 
 perish. Le. vi. 
 18, X. 11 ; comp. 
 Je. V. 11." — O'ro* 
 lius. 
 
76 
 
 JEREUTAn. 
 
 [Cap. xvlii. 21—23, 
 
 b E. W. liobert- 
 ion. 
 
 c Shakexpeare. 
 
 " Know tlion this 
 truth, L"ii(iui;li for 
 \n.n\ to know, 
 virtue aUme is 
 h ii ]) p i n ess be- 
 low." — Pupc. 
 
 a " These words 
 of inalediotion, 
 regarded as ut- 
 terances of per- 
 sonal feeling, are 
 not exempt from 
 the taint and 
 stain of liumau 
 infirmity and p:is- 
 s i o n." — Wordi- 
 worth. 
 
 h " It redounds 
 to tlie glory of 
 God'sjustioe that 
 incorrigible sin- 
 ners should meet 
 with exemplary 
 punishment." — 
 Lowlh. 
 
 " Human happi- 
 iless, according 
 to the most re- 
 ceived noLions, 
 seems to consist 
 of three ingre- 
 dients — actiiin, 
 pleasure, and in- 
 dolcuco. And 
 tlioiigli these in- 
 gredients o\ight 
 to lie mixed in 
 dilTeront projior- 
 tions, aoconling 
 to the ))arlieular 
 disposition of the 
 person, yet no 
 oi\u ingredient 
 can be entirely 
 wanting without 
 destroying in 
 Fonifi measur(i i 
 the relish of the 
 whole comiiosi- 
 tion." — Ddvid 
 Hume. 
 
 " What nothing 
 earthly gives, or 
 can destroy, the I 
 soul's calm sun- | 
 shine and the j 
 heartfelt joy."— 
 Pope. 
 
 $ Percy Alice. 
 
 metallic particles of poison glittering palpably, and say, " Behold, 
 it is there.''' 
 
 'Tis slander 
 Whose edge is sharjicr than the swortl, \\ Lose tongue 
 Outvenoms all the worms of Nile ; whose breath 
 Hides ou the })Ostiug winds, and doth belie 
 All corners ot the world, kings, queens, and states, 
 IMaids, matrons ; nay, the secrets of the grave 
 This viprous slander enters.' 
 21—23. (21) deliver, rfc, Ps. cix. 10." "Let the calamities 
 of war and famine, which Thou hast threatened, come upou 
 them ; I can intercede no m:ire." (22; cry, such as rises in a 
 city wh. is given over to be sacked. (2;5j thou knowest, in 
 this the good man may ever find rest, forgive not, but execute 
 Thy judgments on them.* 
 
 Mohainincdan .lirdar. — At the siege of Tellicherry. Sirdar Cawn, 
 the Mohammedan general, after a spii-ited resistance, threw him- 
 self with many of his bravest and most faithful followers into a 
 fortified house formed in the cavity of a rock at Corichee, the 
 mansion of his women and the repository of his treasures. He 
 determined not to survive the disgrace of a defeat, but to defend 
 himself to the last extremity. This stronghold was at length set 
 on fire, and the sirdar and his followers were compelled to sur- 
 render, or perish in the flames. At the first breaking out of the 
 conflagration many of the sirdar's family, fearful of a woi'se fate, 
 began to drop down from the walls, amidst the fire of the sepoys. 
 Among these were seven of the finest women of the East, who 
 composed the sirdar's seraglio. Captain Christie, who happened 
 to pass by the spot at the moment they were preparing to throw 
 themselves from tlie battlements, stopped the fii'iug at the hazard 
 of his life, ran up to their assistance, and received them one 
 after another in his arms. Lieutenant Ilawkes. of the artillery, 
 came up to lend his assistance in this generous act of gallantry, 
 and the fair captives were conducted by the two officers in safety 
 to their commanding officer. The general, like another Scipio, 
 ordered them to be given up to their lord, who had testified the 
 most agonising anxiety concerning their fate. "Wlien they came 
 into his presence he looked sternly into their faces, and mani- 
 fested symptoms of trouble, anguish, and despair. But after he 
 had conversed with them for some time, his face became suffused 
 with tears of joy, and he expi-essed the strongest emotions of 
 gratitude for the delicate manner in which the women had been 
 treated by the British officers. " You," said he. '• enjoy the fortune 
 of this day, and you deserve it. Go thei-efore to tlie room (de- 
 scribing one in the fortified house), and you will find for your re- 
 ward two lacs of rupees."' Above £2(i,()()0 was accordingly divided 
 among the army. The sirdar, when he was taken i;risoner, had 
 expected immediate death ; he inquired why it was delayed, and 
 regarded the humanity of the English in sparing him with astonish- 
 ment. '■ If you mean," said ho to theoffi''e'rs into whose h.ands he 
 fell, " to save my life, restore my wives and my children." The joy 
 tliat filled his mind on receiving this pledge of the merciful 
 intentions of the English was not lasting. He died soon after of 
 grief and agony of mind, desiring, as a last favour from Jlaior 
 Abington, that his family miglit be sent to Seringapatam. Ilia 
 request was readily granted and punctually i^icrformed.* 
 
Cap. xix. 1—9.] 
 
 JEREMIAn. 
 
 77 
 
 CHAPTER THE NINETEENTH: 
 
 1 — 5. (1) earthen bottle, Heb. iaMmh, a flask with a long 
 neck, wh. took its name from the noise made by liquids in 
 running' out of it. ancients, elders and rulers, ancients . . 
 priests, i.e. the heads of the twenty-four courses." These were 
 to be witnesses of tiie symbolic action. (2) Hinnom, ch. vii. 
 31. east gate, or sun-gate. (3) ears . . tingle, 1 Sa. iii. 11 ; 
 2 Ki. xxi. 12. (4) estranged, etc., alienating it from God by 
 introducing the idol worship, blood of innocents, children 
 offered to Moloch, as v. 5. (5) built also, comj). ch. vii. 31, 32.* 
 
 Anecdote of a French jJreacher. — Ma.«sillon, in the first sermon 
 he ever isreached, found the whole audience, ujion his getting 
 into the pulpit, in a disposition no way favourable to his inten- 
 tions : their nods, whispers, or drowsy behaviour, showed him 
 that there was no great profit to be expected from his sowing in 
 a soil so barren ; however, he soon changed the disposition of the 
 audience by his manner of beginning: "If," says he, "a cause, 
 the most important that could be conceived, were to be tried at 
 the bar before qualified judges ; if this cause interested ourselves 
 in particular : if the eyes of the whole kingdom were fixed upon 
 the event : if the most eminent counsel were employed on both 
 sides ; ard if we had heard from our infancy of this undetermined 
 trial ; would you not all sit with due attention and warm expec- 
 tation to the pleadings on Ijoth sides ? Would not all your hopes 
 and fears be hinged upon the final decision / And yet, let nie 
 tell you, you have this moment a cause of much greater impor- 
 tance before you, a cause where not one nation, but all the 
 world, are spectators ; tried, not before a fallible tribunal, but 
 the awful throne of heaven ; where not your temporal and 
 transitory interests are the subjects of debate, but your eternal 
 happiness or misery, where the cause is still undetermined ; but, 
 perhaps, the very moment I am speaking may fix the irrevocable 
 decree that shall last for ever ; and yet, notwithstanding all this, 
 you can hardly sit with patience to hear the tidings of salvation. 
 I plead the cause of heaven, and yet I am scarcely attended 
 to.'" 
 
 6—9. (6) Tophet, ch. vii. 32. (7) void, empty, worthless, 
 ineffective." carcases, efc, ch. vii. 33, xvi. 4. (8) hiss, in 
 contempt. (9) eat, etc., Le. xxvi. 29 ; De. xxviii. 53 ; La. iv. 10. 
 Fervency in prracli inr/. — 
 
 Still thinking I had little time to live, 
 ]My fervent heart to win men's souls didst rive ; 
 I preached as never sure to preach again, 
 And as a dying man to dying men ! . . . 
 Though God be free, He works by instruments, 
 And wisely fitteth them to His intents. 
 A proud unhumbled preacher is unmeet 
 To lay proud sinners humbled at Chrisfs feet ; 
 So are the blind to tell men what God saith, 
 And faithless men to propagate the faith : 
 The dead are unfit means to raise the dead. 
 And enemies to give the children's bread ; 
 
 a 1 Chr. xxiv. 4, 
 
 6 Baal and Mo 
 loch were iiamea 
 promise uoiisly 
 given to the 
 same idol. Prob. 
 Baal was the ge- 
 nui-al name, and 
 Moloch distinc- 
 tive of one form 
 of his manifesta- 
 tion. 
 
 "The p i o n s 
 George Herbert 
 built a new 
 church at Layton 
 Ecclcsia, near 
 Spaldiiifr, and by 
 his order the 
 reading pew and 
 pulpit were a 
 little distant 
 from each other, 
 and botli of an 
 equal heiglit; for 
 lie would often 
 say, 'They should 
 neither have a 
 lirecedency or 
 priority of the 
 other; but that 
 prayer and 
 preaching, being 
 equally useful, 
 miglit agree like 
 brethren, and 
 have an equal 
 honour and esti- 
 mation.' " — Life 
 of llfibert. 
 
 c It. T. S. 
 
 a " Neumann svip- 
 iwises that Jer. 
 carried the bottle 
 to Tophet full of 
 water, the sym- 
 bol in the East 
 of life, and at 
 these words 
 rmijtied it before 
 the assembled 
 elders." — Spk. 
 Cvin. 
 
 True eloquence 
 coii.'^istsiii saying 
 all that • neces- 
 sary aud nothing 
 moro. 
 
78 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 reap. xlx. 10-13, 
 
 I R. Baxle 
 
 a By these figures 
 is set fortli the 
 distinction lie- 
 tween cliastise- 
 ments and judg- 
 ments. 
 
 6 Zep. i. 5. 
 " Simplicity of 
 style, then, as 
 opposed to the 
 artificial and 
 
 rhetorical, is es- 
 sential tyeariiest- 
 ness ; forwliocan 
 believe that man 
 to be intent on 
 saving souls, who 
 seems to liave 
 laboured in the 
 study oidy to 
 make his sermon 
 as fine as glitter- 
 ing imagery and 
 hi gh -sounding 
 diction could 
 render it. I could 
 as soon believe a 
 physician were 
 intent on saving 
 his fellow-crea- 
 tures from death, 
 who, when tlie 
 plague was 
 sweeping them 
 into the grave, 
 spent his time in 
 studying to write 
 his prescriptions 
 in beautiful cha- 
 racters and clas- 
 sical Latiuity." — 
 /. A. James. 
 
 " Zeal for tlie 
 public good is 
 the characteris- 
 tic of a man of 
 honour and a 
 gentleman, anrl 
 must take place 
 of pleasures, pro- 
 fits, and all other 
 private gratifica- 
 tions. Whoever 
 wants this mo- 
 tive is an open 
 enemy, or an in- 
 glorious neuter 
 to niinkind, in 
 proportion to the 
 misapplied ail- 
 vant;iges_ witli 
 wh. nature and 
 f o rt u n e have 
 blessed him." — 
 Sterle. 
 e U. Herbert. 
 
 And utter strangers to the life to come, 
 
 Arc not the best conductors to our home. 
 
 They that yet never learned to live and die, 
 
 Will scarcely teach it others l'eeliriglJ^* 
 10 — 13. (10) break, fVc, as a sign of theentii-e and hopeless 
 destruction of the city. (11) made "whole, or healed. Comp. 
 the crushing of the clay of the marred vessel, and making a new 
 one from it. A finished vessel, once broken, cannot be thus re- 
 paired or remade." (12) as Tophet, ch. vii. ol. (13) defiled, 
 by the presence of dead bodies, because of, better, even the very 
 houses, roofs, flat, and often used as jjlaces for sacrifices.'' 
 
 Preach'nii] — of the preacher. — AVhen he preachcth, he pi-ocures 
 attention by all possible art, both by earnestness of speech— it 
 being natural for men to think that where there is much 
 earnestnes.s there is somewhat worth hearing — ard by a diligent 
 and a busy cast of his ej'cs on his auditors, with Jetting them 
 know that he marks who observes and who not ; and with par- 
 ticulari.'-ing of his speech, now to the younger sort, then to the 
 elder — now to the poor, and now to the rich, — " This is for you, 
 and this for yoix ; " for particulars ever touch and awake more 
 than generals. Herein, also, he serves himself of the judgments 
 of God ; as of those ancient times, so especially of late ones, and 
 those most who are nearest to his jiarish ; for people are very 
 attentive to such discourses, and think it behoves them to be so 
 when God is so near them, and even over their heads. Sometimes 
 he tells tTiem stories and sayings of others, according as his text 
 invites him. For them also men heed, and remember better than 
 exhortations, which, though earnest, yet often die with the 
 sermon, especially with country people, who are thick and heavy, 
 and hard to raise to a point of zeal and fervency, and need a 
 mountain of fire to kindle them : but stories and sayings they 
 will well remember. He often tells them that sermons are dan- 
 gerous things ; that none goes out of church as he came in, but 
 either batter or worse ; that none is careless before his judge ; 
 and that the word of God shall judge us. By this and other 
 means the parson procures attention ; but the character of his 
 sermons is holiness. He is not witty, nor learned, nor eloquent, 
 but holy— a character that Hermogenes never dreamed of, and 
 therefore he could give no precepts thereof. But it is gained, 
 first, by choosing texts of devotion, not controversy ; moving and 
 ravishing texts, whereof the Scriptures are full. Secondly, by 
 dipping and seasoning all our words and sentences in our hearts 
 before they come into our mouths : truly affecting and cordially 
 expressing all that we say, so that the auditors mnv plainly per- 
 ceive that every word is heart-deep. Thirdly, by turning often, 
 and making many apostrophes to God: as, "•' Lord ! bless my 
 people, and teach them this point ! '' or, " Oh, my IMaster. on 
 whose errand I come, let me hold my pence, and do Thou speak 
 Thyself ; for Thou art love, and when Thou teachest, all are 
 scholars." Some such irradiations scatteringly in the sermon 
 carry great holiness in them. The Prophets were admirable in 
 this. So Isa. Ixiv. 1 — '• Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, 
 that Thou wouldest come down," etc. And Jer. x. 2.'?. after he 
 had complained of the desolation of Israel, turns to God suddenly, 
 " Lord. I know that the way of man is not in himself." etc. 
 Fourthly, by frequent wishes of the people's good, and joying 
 
Cap. XX. 1—6.] 
 
 JEREMIAir. 
 
 79 
 
 therein, though he himself were with St. Paul, " even sacrificed i 
 upon the service of theii' faith." For there is no greater sign of ! 
 holiness than the procuring and rejoicing in another's good.''' I 
 
 14, 15. (14) in the court, indicating his fearless obedience j 
 to his Divine call. His life was at this time in peril : ch. xviii. | 
 IS. He chose the position in which he would be able to address j 
 the greatest crowd. (15) all her towns, or suburban villages. \ 
 
 Ministers of the (tosjicL— An English merchant, who had ■ 
 occasion to visit Scotland on business about the year 1G.50, hap- I 
 pencd to hear three of the most eminent of the Scottit^h ministers 
 of that age — Robert Blair, Samuel Rutherford, and David Dick- | 
 son. Being asked, on his return", what news he had brought i 
 from Scotland, the gentleman, who had never shown any sense i 
 of rcligion before, replied, " Great and good news ! I went to } 
 St. Andrew's, when I heard a sweet majestic-looking man (Blair), 
 and he showed me the majesty of God. After him, I heard a | 
 litiJe fair man (Rutherford), and he showed me the loveliness of j 
 Christ. I then went to Irvine, where I heard .a well-favoured I 
 proixsr old man, with a long beard (Dickson), and that man 
 showed me all my heart." '• The whole general assembly," .=ays 
 "VVodrow, " could not have given a better character of the three 
 men.''" 
 
 CHAPTER THE TWENTIETH. 
 
 1, 2. (1) Pashur, prob. head of the 1 Tith coursO of priests." 
 chief governor, better, deputy-governor.' Heb. Paldd Xng'ul, 
 or high priest's deinity. (2) smote, an insulting blow. 
 Jeremiah seems to have been of the same order and the same 
 family as Jeremiah. stocks,« 2 Chr. xvi. 10 ; Ac. svi. 24. high 
 gate, or upper gate. Prob. the gate on the north of the Temple. 
 
 JfiignciKit jici-snnithms. — The irreligious character of the Revo- 
 lution which these and their fellow workmen and the Encyclo- 
 pajdists brought about, followed logically enough from the 
 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and a century and a half of 
 Satanic persecution directed against the Huguenots — persecutions 
 in the time of Louis XV., not the work of fanatics, but proceed- 
 ing from a vicious king and a sceptical Court. The injury 
 jiermanently done to the nation by sitch insensate intolerance is j 
 incalculable. The most earnest and devotedly religious spirits of | 
 France were either driven into exile or extinguished. When the 
 earnest spirit of Protestantism was driven out, the earnest spirit j 
 of Catholicism decayed likewise ; a mocking hypocritical uni- 
 formity took its place : licence and corruption flourished unre- 
 proved ; and when deism and atheism arose, they found no 
 antagonists worthy of respect. It were a melancholy thing to 
 resign ourselves to the conclusion that so shameful a history as 
 that of Louis XV., and the horrors of the French Revolution, 
 were inflicted on a great people without any intelligible causes. 
 One of the chief of these was the inhuman and odious persecu- 
 tion which the devoted ailherents of an austere and sublime 
 creed met with from the daj' of the Revocation of the Edict of 
 Kautes.'' 
 
 3—6. (.") brought forth, bee the night's thinking made him 
 feel that he had gone too far. Magor-missahih, ^terror is on \ a Je. vi. 25. 
 
 " 'Tis a very satl 
 t h i n g w li e n 
 pronclievs shall 
 l>e like printers, 
 who many times 
 cnnipo.-^e and 
 I)rint off many 
 things which 
 they neither un- 
 derstand, love, 
 nor have any ex- 
 perience of; all 
 they aim at is 
 money for print- 
 ing-, which is 
 their trade ; or 
 when they shall 
 be like gentle- 
 men-nshcrs, who 
 bring ladies to 
 their pews, bub 
 go not in them- 
 selves ; bring 
 others to heaven, 
 and themselves 
 stay without." — 
 Vi-ntiiiig. 
 a W/iittcross, 
 
 a 1 Chr. xxiv. 14. 
 
 6 "Poss. he was 
 set over the se- 
 veral watches or 
 guards of the 
 ]jriests and Le- 
 vites : for they 
 kept watch and 
 ward in the 
 Temple both 
 night and day." 
 — Lou'th. 
 
 c "An instrument 
 of torture with 
 five holes, in \vh. 
 the neck, two 
 hands, aud two 
 feet were thrust, 
 the body being 
 kept in a crooked 
 posture." — l'\ius- 
 sel. 
 
 d Edinburgh St- 
 view. 
 
80 
 
 JEREMIAa. 
 
 [Cap. XX. 7—9. 
 
 " Trob. by con- 
 trast tlio wonl 
 Pft'Oiiir meant, 
 ' I'rosperity on 
 every side.' " — 
 Henderson. 
 
 " For moJes of 
 
 faith let g'race- 
 less zealots light ; 
 ho can't be 
 wrong whose life 
 is ill the i-ifrht. 
 In faitli andliupc! 
 tlie worM will 
 disagree, but all 
 maukinil's con- 
 cern is charity." 
 — Pitpe. 
 
 h B. T. S. 
 
 a " The Prophet 
 alludes to Ills re- 
 luctance to ac- 
 cept the prophe- 
 tical oBice, wh. it 
 required power- 
 ful inducements 
 from Jehovah to 
 o V e r c o m e." — 
 Hendfrsnn. 
 '■ I could have no 
 temptation to 
 run upon this 
 errand without 
 being sent, since 
 it procures mo 
 nothing but ill- 
 usage." — L'lirth. 
 vv. 7—12. Origen, 
 Op. iii. 2G2. 
 " When a young 
 painter inquired 
 of the celebrated 
 Gilbert .Stuart. 
 how young per- 
 sons sliould be 
 taught to paint, 
 he replied, ' Just 
 as jiupiiies are 
 tauglit to swim, 
 ■ — cliuck them 
 in I ' No one can 
 learn to swim in 
 tlie sea of extem- 
 pore speech with- 
 out going into 
 the waters." — 
 Biihop ffr/lraine. 
 i J. lied/urd. 
 
 cnry s'uh'." (4) terror, etc., though not narrated we may 
 suppo.se that Pashur suifered very greatly in the coming calami- 
 ties. (5) deliver, etc., 2 Ki. xx. 17. strength, or treasures; 
 wealth and luxuries, labours, for produce of the labours. ((>) 
 thy friends, or partisans, lies, false assui-ances of peace and 
 deliverance. 
 
 A 2>i'^'>"'CHtor. — Dr. Cox, at the anniversary of the Baptist 
 Home Mis.sionary Society, in 1827, stated that a few years ago, 
 in a village, a female of guilty notoriety, having read a religious 
 tract, was induced to turn from her evil ways, and, through the 
 instruction of one of their missionaries, to acknowledge her guilt, 
 and to reform. For that act of repentance she brought down 
 the malignant enmity of her friends, even of hei own family, 
 who did not desist from their persecution until they had brought 
 her to a state of dangerous, and, as it ultimately proved, fatal 
 illness. On her death-bed, she entreated one of her persecuting 
 brothci's, Avho came to see her die, once to attend the preacher 
 ■ft-hom she heard.in the village ; and, as a dj-ing i-equest is seldom 
 refused, even by the most callous, he went to the house of God 
 with the bitterest feelings, both against the preacher and hia 
 subject. But mark the result : lie, whose •' waj's are not as our 
 ways," touched his heart, turned him from his wickedness, 
 changed the whole current of his feelings, and made him a 
 decided convert to Christianity. He was then. Dr. Cox believed, 
 a faithful itinerant labourer in the field of his former enmity.'' 
 
 7 — 9. (7) deceived, heitex, pcv.^uadcd ; induced to become a 
 prophet." in derision, i.e. made a laughing-stock. (8) cried 
 out, or complained. Complaint was the characteristic feature 
 of all his work. All through he had nothing but lamentation, 
 and this was -wearying to himself and to all who heard him. 
 reproach, bee. the people said of Jeremiah, '• He does nothing 
 but groan." (9) speak . . name, this was the resolve of a 
 time of despondency, burning fire, Ps. xxxix. 3. He found 
 that he could not resist the impulses of God"s Spirit. 
 
 MiniMera, iheit' discount gcm.ent.'i and .wpports (rr. 9 — 12). — I. 
 Ministerial discouragements distressingly felt. 1. Here is a rash 
 resolution formed ; 2. An insuperable obstable presented to his 
 meditated abandonment of his work. II. Popular detraction 
 seu.sitively deplored. 1. Explain the nature of popular detrac- 
 tion ; 2. Adduce Scripture precepts respecting the evil of popular 
 detraction ; 3. Exhibit Scripture examj^les of individuals who 
 have felt the scorpion's sting of popular detraction ; -1. Analyse 
 more particularly the case of the Prophet as exhibited in the text. 
 III. Divine support hap])ily realised. 1. From a souse of the 
 presence and power of God : 2. Expectation of the future failure 
 and confusion of his opposers ; 3. From a belief of the omnisci- 
 ence of God ; 4. From the elHcacy of prayer. Learn — (1 ) To expect 
 detraction ; (2) Follow the Saviour's rule : speak to the detractor 
 alone ; (3) Cultivate habits of circumspection ; (4) Lay our cause 
 before God ; (5) Anticipate through tlie merits of Christ a world 
 where there will bo no defaming.* — Iniproroitcnts in jireaohing. 
 — In many of our river valleys freshets frequently cover the old 
 soil many inches deep, and all its grasses and flowers are hid by 
 the mud and buried thei'e. But after a time seeds and roots 
 begin to germinate, aud soon a riclier veget.ation than ever works 
 in on that very same soil, so that the river bottom is never abaa 
 
Cap. XX. 10—18.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 81 
 
 doned, and never becomes a desert. The old growths may cease 
 by the puperimpositiou of a new soil, but the new soil itself 
 must be covered with a new growth. As it is in nature, so it is 
 in the human soul. I expect increasing knowledge, and by in- 
 creasing knowledge I expect that there will be better methods. 
 "With increasing mind, there ought to be more skill in preaching. 
 There ought to be better discernment of the nature of the human 
 mind, and therefore better methods of society. There ought to 
 be great improvements in education. But all these changes may 
 take place without in the slightest degree affecting the more 
 fundamental elements of revealed religion iu nature, the necessity 
 of the human soul for the doctrine of immortality, and that 
 blessed doctrine of redemption tlu-ough Jesus Chi'ist, which is 
 the highway to immortality.' 
 
 10 — 13. (10) defaming, or the people talking together. Ps. 
 xxxi. 13. my familiars, Heb. men of my peace. Ps. xli. 1). 
 Men of my acquaintance, enticed, i.e. misled, so that some 
 good ground of accusation against him might be found." (11) 
 ■with me, in this was assured safety, whosoever his enemies 
 might be.* everlasting confusion, the term everlasting is 
 here equal to utter and hnpeles.'i. (12) triest, etc., cYi. y.i. 20, 
 xvii. 10. opened, unfolded, and so committed. (13) sing, in 
 anticipation ; bee. the Prophet was quite sure that God would 
 work deliverance for him. 
 JSIiicli ii'f (if sJa n der. — 
 
 And over the laurels of full-blown Fame, 
 
 And the tender shoots of the young Good Name, 
 
 He stamped with his merciless lioof of flame, 
 
 And he left its print on each. 
 And backwards and forwards he wriggled his tail, 
 Through i-ose-trimmed garden, and lily-strewn vale, 
 Marking his course by a loathsome trail, 
 Lilic a .Huail-track over a peach. 
 
 14—18. (14) cursed, etc., comp. Job iii. 3, x. 18." Words- 
 vorth calls this "a passionate outbreak of human infirmity." 
 (1.")) very glad, bee. of the possible future usefulness that 
 seems to be in every new-born child. (IG) cities, etc., Ge. xix. 
 25. cry, of alarm, shouting, of the warriors.* (17) slew, 
 etc., a fig. for his wish that he had never known the miseries of 
 life. (fS) wherefore, etc., Job x. 18, 10. 
 Life — it.i illi/.^iio/tx. — • 
 
 When I consider life, 'tis all a cheat. 
 
 Yet, fool'd with hope, men favour the deceit ; 
 
 Trust on, and think to-morrow will repay 
 
 To-morrow's falser than the former day ; 
 
 Lies more, and while it says we shall be bless'd 
 
 With some new joys, cuts off what we possess'd. 
 
 Strange cozenage ! none would live past years again. 
 
 Yet all hope pleasure in what yet remain ; 
 
 And from the dregs of life think to receive 
 
 \^ hat the first sprightly running could not give. 
 
 I'm tired with waiting for this chymic gold. 
 
 Which fools us young, and beggars us when old.' 
 
 VOL. IX, O.T, 
 
 "It lias been said 
 that not less than 
 fifty millions of 
 Protestants, at 
 dilt'erent times, 
 liavc I een put tt 
 death by papists. 
 What an army 1 
 What seas of 
 bloofl have been 
 shprll If their 
 bodies were piled 
 in one heap, they 
 would be bigger 
 than any moun- 
 tain in this 
 w o r 1 d." — Dr. 
 Beaumont. 
 c Bpecher, 
 
 a " So the Jews 
 often tried to 
 persuade our 
 Lord to say some- 
 tliing that niiglit 
 form ground 
 of accusation 
 against Him : e.g. 
 Mk-. xii. 13-17." 
 
 — .S/'j{-. C077l. 
 
 b lio. viii. SI. 
 " That thou art 
 blamed shall not 
 be thy defect; for 
 slander's mark 
 was ever yet the 
 fair ; so tliou be 
 good, slander 
 doth not approve 
 thy worth the 
 greater." -.S/i«ie- 
 spea re. 
 
 a " Job's words 
 are more violent 
 and passionate, 
 and more directly 
 directed against 
 God than Jere- 
 miah's." — Keil. 
 " This lamenta- 
 tion is written 
 in poetical 
 figures, and it is 
 not to be looked 
 ujion as express- 
 ing indignation 
 and malice, but 
 rather mourning 
 and sorrow." — ■ 
 Loiclh. 
 
 h " Let him be 
 kept iu alarm the 
 whole day, not 
 merely at night 
 when terrors or- 
 dinarily prevail, 
 but in daytime 
 wlien it is some- 
 thing extraonii* 
 nary.'' — FiiussH. 
 c Drydcn. 
 
82 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap.xxl. 1— lO. 
 
 a " Tills pro- 
 phecy \v:is given 
 prob. when, ai'ler 
 huvin.;? ropulsed 
 tlie Epv]iti:uir; 
 who brouglit suc- 
 cours to tlieJpws, 
 tbeC'lKi'.dees were 
 a second time ad- 
 vanciiif? against 
 Jerusalem, but 
 were not yet 
 closely besieging 
 it." — Faiisset. 
 
 " Let prayer be 
 the key of tlie 
 morning and the 
 bolt of the even- 
 i n g." — Mallhtw 
 Henry. 
 
 I Dr. T. 
 Jenkyn. 
 
 yf. 
 
 • " Apparently 
 this broke out at 
 an early part of 
 the siege, ami 
 was the result of 
 the excessive 
 crowding of men 
 anil animals in a 
 contini'd space, 
 witli all sanitary 
 rcgnhttions ut- 
 tei-ly neglected." 
 —Hyk. Com. 
 
 " Little is said 
 [in the Bible] of 
 angels. Tliey are 
 like the constel- 
 lations in space : 
 there is light 
 enough to reveal, 
 to show tliat they 
 are ; but more is 
 needed to reveal 
 all their nat\ire | 
 and functions." — 
 IJcni-y Jialchelur. 
 
 I T. Adams. 
 
 " I have many 
 books lliat I can- 
 not sit down to 
 read ; they are 
 indeed good and 
 Bound, but, like 
 halfpence, there 
 
 C II AFTER THE TJFENTY-FIRST. 
 
 1, 2. (1) son of Melcliiah, head of the fifth course. A 
 diiYerent man from the Pashiir of ch. xx. 1. Zeplianiah., the 
 second, or assistant priest. (2) Nebuchadrezzar, the more 
 correct way of spelling- this king-'s name." according . . 
 works, i.e. accomplij^hing oiir deliverance as in former days : 
 comp. I.s. xxxvii. (i. go up, withdraw his army from Jerusalem. 
 Comp. the deliverance from Sennacherib. 
 
 iSj/f'clfic j>r/ii/rr. — From the want of this determinateness and 
 precise discrimination in our objects of transaction with God, we 
 retire from our devotions without any vivid impressions of what 
 we have been seeking of Him ; and we afterwards look abroad 
 without distinct views of any reflation between what takes place 
 in the church, and what we carried on in the oratory. It is not 
 thus we ask favours of each other. A beggar at our door begging 
 indefinitely for '• nothing particular," would not be likely to 
 meet with relief. Civic and corporate petitions to the senate, or 
 the throne, without a fixed prayer and determinate request, 
 would have neither attention nor gracious answer. "We have no 
 reason to expect different and better results fi-om our indefinite 
 and unsettled transactions with God. Look to the record of the 
 Spirit, and you will discover that all the answers registered in 
 that book were specific replies to requests distinctly meant and 
 proCt'ered.'' 
 
 3 — 7. (3) then, etc.. a response was made that would be quite 
 opposed to their wishes and hopes. (4) in your hands, i.e. 
 the turning back will be on your part, not on the part of the 
 Chaldaaans. into the midst, intimating that they would 
 actually take the city. ('>) I myself, by prospering the 
 Chaldasaus (Jod would execute His own judgments on them. 
 (()) pestilence," in addition to the sword. This pestilence 
 would be manifestly the Divine judgment. (7) oiot spare, 
 ch. lii. 10, 27. 
 
 Armies of God. — In heaven He hath armies : of fire to burn 
 Sodom ; of floods to drown a world : of hailstones to kill the 
 Amorites : of stars to fight against Sisera : the sun which Mood 
 still in Gibeou, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, whilst 
 Israel slew their enemies. Yea, there are heavenly soldiers. 
 '• Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly 
 host." One of those celestial soldiers slew in one night above a 
 hundred thousand Assyrians. Below He hath seas to drown 
 Pharaoh ; the earth to devour Korah : with fierce lions, fell 
 dragons, hissing serpents, crawling worms. He can subdue His 
 rebels. In hell He hath an armj- of fiends, though bound in 
 chains, that they should not hurt the faithful, yet let loose to 
 terrii'y the wicked. There v.'as an evil- spirit to vex Saul ; foul 
 spirits in the Gospel made some deaf, others dumb, and cast 
 many into fires and into waters.* 
 
 8—10. (S) way . .death, De. xxx. 10. Here life means secur- 
 ing their life by passing over to the Chaldeans. (It) falleth to, 
 goes and makes liis submission to. life . . prey, to make hia 
 escape witli his life. (10) against, i.e. fully purposing ita 
 complete destruction. 
 
Cap. xxii. 1—5.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 83 
 
 A llglttluntse Blhle. — A lighthouse looks like a tall pillar rising- 
 out of the sea, or built upon some high bhiff. The top is a large 
 lantern, where a bright light is kept burning all night, which is 
 seen far out to sea ; and it says to all ships and sailors sailing by, 
 '■ Take care ! take care ! "' One is built on a ledge of rocks : its 
 warning light says, '• Give wide berth to these sunken rocks." 
 Another says, '• Steer clear of this dangerous reef." Another, 
 '• Keep clear of this dangerous headland. If you come here you 
 are lost." There are a great many lighthouses on the coast : how 
 does a sailor know which is which .'' He sees a light gleaming 
 through the darkness and the storm ; but where is it .'' He has 
 a chart in the ship, and that tells. A chart is a map of the coast 
 with all its rocks and sandbanks and lighthouses put down, and 
 everything that a sailor ought to know in order to steer his ship 
 safely across the ocean. If he faithfully con^ults it, and keeps a 
 good look-out, he is likely to ride out the storm, and come safely 
 into port. 
 
 11—14. (11) house, the royal house or family; not the 
 palace or the building. (12) in tlie morning, the usual fig. 
 for cariirsfli/, thuroHgldy. (13) inhabitant, image of the popu- 
 lation of Jerusalem. It is feminine in form, rock, i.e. Mt. 
 Ziou. (14) forest, the Jewish fig. for stateliuess, and used here 
 for the stately buildings of Jerusalem." 
 
 A'otlona of God. — There are two notions of God that have more 
 or less prevalence among men. One represents Him as a vast 
 oi'gan located in the very centre of heaven, and giving forth 
 majestic sou7ids when touched, and silent when not. The other 
 represents Him as a Being that is never silent, never still, never 
 unheard : One that has such a nature that if there were not an 
 angel in heaven, if there were not a man on earth, if there were 
 nothing in all creation, from side to side, there is that in Him- 
 self that would make Him for ever overflow with taste, and 
 feeling, and love. The one ascribes to Him a nature that is 
 merely susceptible of being called out upon the application of 
 the motive. The other ascribes to Him a nature that pours 
 itself abroad in the earth by reason of its own fulness and rich- 
 ness. It is the latter of these two ideas that I hold, and suppose 
 the Scriptures to teach.* 
 
 CHAPTER THE TJFENTY-SECOND. 
 
 1 — 5. (1) go down, the palace on Zion was actually higher 
 than the Temple, but regarded as Inferior, the language of descent 
 becomes appropriate." (2) king of Jndah, the prophecy is 
 general, and should be referred to whoever might be on the 
 throne. The king then reigning was Jehoiakim. servants, 
 or courtiers, these gates, the large space at the entry of the 
 palace-courts, where the king would hold audience. (3) execute, 
 efr., cli. xvii. 12.4 Comp. r. 17. (4) indeed, truly and heartily. 
 enter, rfc. ch. xvii. 25. (o) not hear, ch. xvii. 27. swear, 
 De. xxxii. 40 — 42. this house, the royal palace. 
 
 ^'rt(•?VY/»/".s^s■ of j/rirofc righfg. — The private rights of a public 
 
 man should be guai-ded as sacredly as the altar of a temple. If 
 
 the President of the United States pursue an inhuman course 
 
 towards tho Indian, — if he transgress the canons of liberty 
 
 F 2 
 
 goes a great 
 quantity to a 
 small amount. 
 There are silver 
 books, and a 
 very few goldea 
 books; but I have 
 one book worth 
 tUem ;\11, called 
 
 the Bible." T. 
 
 A'eiftoii. 
 
 " Scriptures hard 
 to be understood, 
 must be ex- 
 plained by those 
 that are plain." 
 — Collins. 
 
 a "The metaphor 
 of a forest is em- 
 ployed to convey 
 the idea of a 
 dcnfe mass of 
 buildings with 
 which the city 
 was fdled."-i/en- 
 derson, 
 
 " The unholy 
 soul, like the my- 
 stical Babylon, 
 makes itself a 
 cage of unclean 
 binls, aud a habi- 
 tation of filthy 
 spirits : and if it 
 continues to be 
 such, it must, 
 when it dis- 
 lodges, take up 
 its habitation 
 with cursed 
 spirits for ever 
 in utter dark- 
 ness." — Leighion, 
 b Beecher. 
 
 a It was also ne- 
 cf s-ary to de- 
 bceud from tho 
 Temple-mount in 
 order to reach 
 the palace on 
 JI u n t Zion. 
 Comp. 2 Chr. 
 -xxiii. 20. 
 
 b "There can be 
 no doubt that 
 the Prophet has 
 in his eye the 
 oppressive mea- 
 sures arlopted by 
 Jelioiakim for 
 raising the tri- 
 bute wh. Nocho, 
 king of Egypt, 
 
84 
 
 JEREmAff. 
 
 [Cap. xxli. 6—16. 
 
 had impose il 
 \ipon bim (2 Chr. 
 xxwi. 3) ; nnd 
 defraying tlic 
 cost of tliG ex- 
 pansive buiKlinjrs 
 wliicU he ciiiiseil 
 to be erected in 
 Jernsalem." — 
 Henderson. 
 
 V. 3. IV. Heading, 
 iv. 100. 
 
 e Beecher. 
 
 a " Tlinupli thou 
 werfc n'ver so 
 precious in my 
 siprht, werb as 
 valuable for 
 riches ami plenty 
 as tlie fat pas- 
 tures of Gilead, 
 and thy build- 
 ings as beautiful 
 for their sUute- 
 liness as the tall 
 cedars of Leba- 
 non, yet unless 
 thy princes and 
 people rt'form, 
 tliou shalt be- 
 come nothing 
 but ruin and ile- 
 solation."- AoH'Wi. 
 h '■ The Gentile 
 nations, more in- 
 telligent than 
 you, shall under- 
 stand that whicli 
 you do not, viz., 
 that this city is 
 a spectacle of 
 God's venge- 
 ance." — Calvin. 
 
 a 2 Clir. XXXV. 25. 
 b 2 Ki. xxiii. 3i. 
 c Comp. the Slial- 
 lum of 2 Ki. XV. 
 13, who only 
 reigned one 
 month. 
 
 d " The people 
 perhaps enter- 
 tained hopes of 
 Sliallum's return 
 fr. Egypt, in wli. 
 case they would 
 replace hiui on 
 the throiui, and 
 thereby free 
 themselves from 
 the oppressive 
 ta.xes imposed liy 
 J eh oi ak im." — 
 Fanssit. 
 e Wondicorlh. 
 f Walker. 
 
 a For .Tehoia- 
 Ivim's history see 
 2 Ki. x.xiii.*34— 
 £7, x,\ir. 1—6. 
 
 whicli he is 8u-orn to defend, — if he wink at evils which he ia 
 bound to prevent or suppress, he deserves severe public rebuke. 
 But in his own private home, whether he manages his individual 
 aii'airs with economy or stinp:iiiess : whether he di-iuks whisky at 
 his table, or nothing but cold water : whether he dresses ill or 
 well ; talks much or little, spends his income in one way or 
 another— these and all such-like th.'ugs do not belong to him 
 as President, but as a private man, and are sacred from remark. 
 For good morals every man may be held responsible. There 
 ought to be but one key to a man's privacy, and that in hi3 
 own hands ; but the devil has given everybody a key to it, and 
 everybody goes in and out, and filches Avhatever he pleases." 
 
 6—9. (0) art G-ilead, Gilead was famous for its aromati° 
 plants, its grassy uplands, and its abundance of sheep and cattle: 
 so it is fitly taken as the emblem of prosperity. Lebanon, 
 the usual metaphor for everything magnificent.'* cities, the 
 judgment should include ail the cities of Judah along with 
 Jerusalem. (7) prepare, Ileh. sanctify : appoint to execute 
 My judgments, choice cedars, fig. for the princes and state 
 officers : or perhaps for the chief dwellings. (8, yj many, ito.,^ 
 De. xxix. 24 — 2-). 
 
 Hca'lii'n iilolati'ii. — A singular phenomenon, known as the 
 Spectre of the Brocken, is seen on a certain mountain in 
 Germany. The traveller who at dawn stands on the topmost 
 ridge, beholds a colossal sha<:lowy spectre moving on the 
 summits of the distant hills. But, in fact, it is only his own 
 shadow projected upon the morning mists by the ri.sing sun, 
 and it imitate^, of course, every movement of its creator. So 
 heathen nations have mistaken their own image for Deity. 
 Their gods display human frailties and passions and scanty 
 virtues, projected and magnifi3d ^^pon the heavens, just as the 
 small figures on the slide of a magic lantern are projected, 
 magnified, aud illuminated, upon a white sheet. 
 
 10 — 12. (10) the dead, Z./;. for Josiah. whose death was long 
 remembered by an annual public lamentation." goetli away, 
 into captivity. This was the fate of .Tehoahaz : from the cap- 
 tivity he never returned." (11) Shalluin, most prob. a name of 
 Jehoahaz : poss. given to him in iroiy by the Prophet bee. he only 
 reigned three months." ( 12) die . . place, i c. in Egypt.'' " lie 
 was the first king of Judah who died in banishment." 
 
 Ilccolleciioii of home. — 
 
 How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood, 
 
 When fond recollection recalls them to view ; 
 The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood, 
 And every loved spot which mj' infancy knew.' 
 
 Thou spot of earth, where from my bosom 
 
 The first weak tones of nature rose, 
 ■Where first I cropped the stainless blo.«°"m 
 
 Of pleasure yet unmix'd with woe' , 
 "Where, with my new-born powers delighted, 
 
 I trippM beneath a mother's hand — 
 In thee the quenchless flame was lighted, 
 
 That sparkles for my native land.-' 
 
 13—16. (i:n woe nnto him, i.r. Jehoiakim, w?.o seems to 
 have been a heai'tless tyrant." chambers, lit. v_pjjcr chambers. 
 
Cap. xxil. 17-23.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 85 
 
 wli. involved toilsome work in building.* service without 
 wages, in olden times kings were accustomed thus to exact 
 forced labour on public works from their people." (l-i) wide 
 house, lit. ■■ house of extensions." windows, lit. my n-indons, 
 the language of boastfulness. Some think it should be " large 
 or double v/indows : ' the blinds being ttvo-lcavcd. ceiled, 
 roofed, vermilion,'' Eze. sxiii. 14. Red sulphuret of mercury. 
 (15) reign, permanently and securely, eat and drink, the sign 
 of enjoying life and jDeace. (1(5) know me ? and My defendings 
 and preservings. 
 
 IJIrr/ance does not malte a home. — I never saw a garment too 
 fine for a man or maid ; there was never a chair too good for 
 a ccbbler, or cooper, or king to sit in ; never a house too fine 
 to shelter the human head. These elements about us, the 
 gorgeous sky, the imperial sun, are not too good for the human 
 race. Elegance fits man. But do we not value these tools of 
 housekeeping a little more than they are worth, and sometimes 
 mortgage a house for the mahogany we would bring into it ? 
 I had rather eat my dinner off the head of a barrel, or dress after 
 the fashion of John the Baptist in the wilderness, or sit on a 
 block all my life, than consume myself before I got to a home, 
 and take so much pains with the outside that the inside was 
 as hollow as an empty nut. Beauty is a great thing ; but beauty 
 of garments, house and furniture, is a very tawdry ornament 
 compared with domestic love. All the elegance in the world will 
 not make a home, and I would give more for a spoonful of real 
 hearty love than for whole shiploads of furniture, and all the 
 gorgeousness that all the upholsterers in the world could gather 
 together." 
 
 17—19. (17) COvetOTlsness, including all kinds ot getting 
 for his own pleasure or aggrandisement." violence, or crush- 
 ing ; applied to the liberties and rights of the people. (IS) not 
 lament, the sign of regret for his departure. The death of 
 Buch a tyrant would only be felt as a national relief. (19) 
 burial . . ass, the manner of Jehoiakim's death is not recorded : '' 
 the point of the prophecy is that his body would not be buried. 
 
 Tlie doom of the defrniider, etc. (v. 19).— This said of Jehoiakim. 
 not his character ; his life and death suggestive of the romance 
 of crime. I. The romance of fraud : many think the poorest wa^' 
 to get money is to earn it. II. The romance of libertinism. 
 III. The romance of assassination.' 
 
 The mfety rf right-doing. — Truth has no revolution in it. 
 Right has no change in it. Justice is always safe and sure. 
 If j'ou must crucify Christ because Ho will not join your party, 
 your faction, your Church, your religion, then crucify Him ; but 
 remember the eighteen hundred years of darkness, and revolution, 
 and turmoil that follo\\'cd His first crucifixion. The great battle 
 of God Almighty is not fought out yet, and yoa will have more 
 of it in your day. If you want peace, do right. If you will not 
 do right, remember that God is the incendiary of the universe, 
 and that He Avill burn your plans, and will by-and-by bui-n you 
 with unquenchable fire."* 
 
 20 — 23. (20) Lebanon, etc., the highest places in the sur- 
 rounding country are mentioned as those from whence the i^eoplo 
 might see the failure of the allies in whom they were trusting. 
 
 h " From the ab« 
 sence of nia- 
 cliinery the rais- 
 ing of materials 
 fur tlie upper 
 stories was a jif- 
 ticult task, espe- 
 cially when mas- 
 sive stones were 
 used." — Sjik.Com. 
 c Corap. De. xxir. 
 14, 15. 
 
 d " A. beautiful 
 red paint, called 
 siiinpis, bee, ac- 
 cording to Pliny, 
 it was first dis- 
 covered near the 
 town of Sinojte, 
 in Pontus. It 
 was composed of 
 quicksilver and 
 s u 1 1^ h u r, and 
 must not be mis- 
 taken for the 
 preparation of 
 reil lead, known 
 amongst us by 
 the name of ver- 
 milion." — Men- 
 del sun. 
 e Theo. Parker. 
 
 a For Jehoia- 
 kim's character 
 comp. Eze. xii. G. 
 
 h " Prob. he was 
 taken prisoner ia 
 some valley dur- 
 ing the siege, 
 then killed, and 
 his dead body 
 cast into the 
 h i g h way." -» 
 LoHi/t. 
 
 c Dr. Talmage. 
 "Tlie usurei 
 hangs the co- 
 zener. Through, 
 tatter'd clothes 
 small vices do 
 appear : robes 
 and furr'd gowns 
 hide all. Plate 
 sin with gold, 
 and the strong 
 lance o£ justice 
 hurtless Ireaks : 
 arm it in rags, a 
 ]iigmy straw doth 
 pierce it."-Shake' 
 spedre. 
 U Beecher, 
 
 a Fig. of east 
 wind, cotnp. ch. 
 iv. 12, xviii. 17. 
 
8G 
 
 JEREMIAIT. 
 
 [Cap. xxil. 24—27. 
 
 J " O Jerusalem, 
 thou that art 
 lifted up (111 hitrh 
 like Lebanon, 
 ami that niakest 
 thy nest in the 
 stately cedars, 
 that think est 
 thyself secure, 
 like an eaple 
 ■which has built 
 its nest in the 
 loftiest trees of 
 the highest 
 m oun tain." — 
 Woidsicort/i. 
 
 e Dr. Thomas. 
 
 " A holy woman 
 was wont to say 
 of the rich — 
 ' They are hem- 
 med round with 
 no common mi- 
 sery ; they go 
 down to hell 
 without think- 
 ing of it, because 
 their staircase 
 thither is of gold 
 and porphyry.' " 
 — Spurgeon. 
 
 d Percy Anec. 
 
 a " The estima- 
 tion in which 
 signets were held 
 is the point of 
 the metaphor in 
 the present in- 
 B t a n c e." — Ilen- 
 ^ersoji. 
 
 b 2 Ki. xxiv. 15. 
 
 V. 24. J. a 7)ie- 
 teric, AnI. 6i8; 
 Dr. E. Payson, ii. 
 432. 
 
 "It is a prepos- 
 terous tiling that 
 men can venture 
 their souls where 
 they will not 
 venture their 
 money ; for they 
 will take their 
 religion upon 
 trust, but Would 
 not trust a synod 
 about the gooii- 
 ness of half-a- 
 croyni.'"--)yiUium 
 Pcnn, 
 
 Bashan, the northern part of the region beyond Jordan, pas- 
 sages, better Aharim, a range of mountains to the south of 
 Gilead. lovers, here allird luifiiui.t. (21) prosperity, in thy 
 prosperous days, thy youth, i.e. the time of the Exodus. (22) 
 wind.," fig. of coming calamity, pastors, or shepherds : here 
 civil and ecclesiastical rulers. (23) inhabitants, ctcfi a fig. 
 of Jerus.. in view of the palaces roofed with cedar fr. Lebanon, 
 gracious, or how wilt thou groan ! 
 
 j\/{i)i in material i>ru.^pcrit)i (c. 21). — Here we have man in 
 material prosperity — I. Addressed by Almighty God. 1. Be 
 humble ; 2. Be spiritual ; 3. Be generous. II. Refusing an 
 audience with his JMaker. 1. Because I am happy as I am ; 2. 
 Because Thy voice will disturb me. Address the prosperous: — (1) 
 Be wise in time : (2) Use the world as not abusing it, etc." 
 
 " Tom of Ten 2'hoii.mnd.'''' — Among the thousand victims of that 
 most disastrous adventure, the South Sea scheme, there was 
 psrhai^s scarcely one more to be pitied than a native of Leeds, of 
 the name of Thomas Hudson. In the early part of his life he 
 filled a respectable situation as a Government clerk in London. 
 While in this situation, he came into the jwssession of a large 
 fortune by the death of an aunt ; he then retired into the 
 country, where he lived for some time very happily, until he 
 unfortunately became an adventurer in the South Sea scheme ; 
 and so sanguine was he of its success, that he embarked the 
 whole of his fortune in it. When the news reached him of the 
 failure of his darling scheme, he left his residence in a state of 
 distraction, and went to London. From this moment he became 
 insane, and "Tom of Ten Thousand," as he called himself, 
 wandered through the streets, wrapped in a rug, and leaning on 
 a crutch, and without cither shoes or stockings. In this state 
 did the poor creature perambulate, even in the coldest weather, 
 and crave assistance from the humane, until death released him 
 from all his troubles at a very advanced age* 
 
 24—27. (24) Coniah, or Jehoiachin, son and successor of 
 Jehoiakim. He surrendered to the Babylonians, and was carried 
 captive to Chalda3a. signet, i.e. the royal ring used for sealing 
 public documents. The signet expresses that wh. is exceedingly 
 precious, and highly valued." (25) give thee, as a captive. 
 (2(!) mother, i.e. the queen-mother.' who had great influence at 
 the Jewish court. (27) desire to return, intimating that the 
 bitterness of captivity shall partly be the '• home-sickness " which 
 they shall suffer, 
 
 IJr. Franlilin.- — It is recorded of Franklin that, when a young 
 man expressed his surprise that a gentleman well known to 
 them, of unbounded wealth, should appear more anxious after 
 business than the most assiduous clerk in a counting-house, the 
 doctor took an apple from the fruit basket, and presented it to a 
 little child, who could just totter about the room. The child 
 could scarcely grasp it in his hand ; he then gave it another, 
 which occupied the other hand. Then choosing a third, remark- 
 able for its size and beauty, he presented that also. The child, 
 after many ineffectual attempts to hold the three, dropped the 
 last on the carpet, and burst into tears. '• See there."' said 
 Franklin, "there is a little man with more riches than he can 
 enjoy." The increase of painful care, anxiety, and trouble, 
 generally bear at least an ecLual proportion to the increase oi 
 
Cap. scxiii, 1—4.] 
 
 JEREillATT. 
 
 87 
 
 riches. The i^eace of the child was not broken until the attempt 
 was made to obtain the grasp of the third apple ; had but two 
 been thought of, its happiness would have been great.'^ 
 
 28 — 30. (28) idol, better, vessel. A lamentation over Coniah's 
 hard fate. He seemed to be idolised by the Jews, and this made 
 his fate so sad. (29) O earth, etc., the repetition expresses deep 
 feeling, as if Jeremiah thoroughly joined in the lamentation over 
 Coniah. (30) cllildless," with none to succeed him ; and so in 
 him the proper line of Davidic kings became extinct.* 
 
 A call to hear the. Word of the Lord (r. 29).— I. The subject of 
 the address. 1. The Word of the Lord is unwritten as well as 
 written ; 2. It is threatening as well as promising. II. The 
 duty inculcated in the address. 1. To hear and understand ; 2. 
 To hear and obey ; 3. To hear and make known to others. III. 
 The style of the address, apostrophe. 1. The universality of its 
 range ; 2. The earnestness and affection of its spirit.'^ 
 
 Indifference to God's messa/je. — It is related of a well-known 
 minister in the last century, that, having given out his text, he 
 paused to notice its effects ujaon his congregation, but they were 
 evidently too fashionably indifferent to be interested in anything 
 so unimportant as a passage from Holy Writ. Shocked at the 
 unconcern of his audience, and terrified by the sudden thought 
 of their awful condition and his own responsibility, the good 
 man leant forward in the pulpit and gave vent to the excitement 
 of the moment in an outburst of passionate tears : an action so 
 unusual could not but aAvaken attention to the sermon which 
 followed, when, in a voice husky with cuiotion, and energetic 
 from grief, he exhorted his hearers to have pity upon their own 
 immortal souls and to grieve no longer the heart of their Father 
 by apathy and neglect. 
 
 CHAPTER TEE TJVENTY-THinD. 
 
 1—4. (1). pastors, here riders." my pasture, they used 
 the sheep as if they had independent rights over them, whereas 
 the sheep were the Lord's, and they only under-shepherds, not 
 owners. (2) scattered, etc., i.e. the wrong-doing of the rulers 
 first led the people away from God into idolatry, and then 
 brought on them judgments and captivity, driven, E. shepherds 
 never drive the sheep ; the sheep follow them. (3) Teninant, 
 left out of the coming calamities. folds, better, pastures. 
 fruitful, ch. iii. in. (4^ shepherds, such as Ezra, Nehemiah, 
 etc. he lacking, needful supjilies : or "none shall be missing." 
 
 The present (rod (r. 4).— I. The text proves the folly and sin 
 of every form of idolatry. 1. It is senseless : 2. Sinful. II. The 
 truth of the text should stimulate us to the cultivation of an 
 incessantly devotional spirit. III. See in the text a source of 
 sure consolation to the Christian amidst the sorrows to which he 
 is exposed. IV. "What a safeguard against the seductions of sin 
 may these noble words prove. 1. We are self-tempted ; 2. We 
 are socially tempted ; 3. We are Satanically tempted.'' 
 
 i\'ece.'i.'<i/i//or the cristeDce of God. — Notwithstanding the conse- 
 quences which may justly be dreaded by sinful and incorrigible 
 beings, it is certainly of all things most desirable that there 
 ehould be a God. Social order and civil government, with all 
 
 a Ko son of Je- 
 couiali's is found 
 ill the list ol 
 Jewish kiugs. 
 
 b " Tliough Mes- 
 siah, the heir of 
 David's tlirone, 
 was lineally de- 
 scended from 
 Jeooniah, it was 
 only through 
 .Joseph, who, 
 
 though his le^al, 
 was not his real 
 father."- Fausset. 
 
 V. 29. ."?. Laving- 
 
 (on, ii. 3G5. 
 
 How many 
 
 hearers of the 
 Gospel are like 
 Pharaoh's lean 
 kin el They 
 seem to devour 
 everything, and 
 digest nothing. 
 
 c G. Brookt. 
 
 a, Com p. 
 xxxiy. 2. 
 
 Eze. 
 
 6 J. H in Ilomi- 
 
 list. 
 
 " Preaching to 
 some hearers is 
 like throwing a 
 ball against a 
 wall ; all that is 
 said to them 
 seems to rebound 
 upon the preach- 
 er, without pro- 
 ducing any sen- 
 sible effect. It 
 is like playing 
 upon a piano 
 whose strings 
 are all broken ; 
 there is no mu- 
 sical resnonse. 
 How is 'this !" 
 They are dead 
 to "the impres- 
 sions which tha 
 truth is calcu- 
 
88 
 
 JEREiflAR. 
 
 [Cap. xxiil. 5-13; 
 
 ]atf<l to proiluoo 
 within tliem." — 
 John Bate. 
 
 aPs. Ixxii. 2; Is. 
 xi. 5, .xxxii. 1. 
 
 6 " He by whom 
 Jeiiovah works 
 rigliteoiisness."— 
 Jiengstenbeig. 
 
 c " This view 
 equally contains 
 the doctrine of 
 the Goilheail of 
 the Messiiili, but 
 not so directly. 
 Forit implies the 
 existence of a 
 vicegerent of G od 
 upon earth, by 
 whom God will 
 impart that per- 
 fect righteons- 
 ness, to wh. no 
 man can attain 
 by himself." — 
 Spk. Com. 
 
 d Eta in 400 Sks. 
 
 e Beta in 400 Sks. 
 
 " National happi- 
 ness must be pro- 
 duced through 
 the influence of 
 religions laws." 
 — Sout/iei/. 
 
 / Q. Brooks 
 
 a Je. xi. 3. 
 
 b " Bxternal cir- 
 cumstances as- 
 sist in urging on 
 to rnia thobC 
 who choose the 
 dangerous path 
 of vice.''— -S^'i. 
 Com. 
 
 After Br. Scud- 
 dor's return from 
 India, he was 
 up'^u a steam- 
 boat with Uis 
 
 the sublime coiitomplations of rolig-ion, its dignifying effect and 
 powerlul consolations, clearly depiiid on the grand i>riuciple 
 that there is a Being who made and who governs the universe. 
 Such a Being must be infinitely worthy of the adoration of 
 His rational creatures : He must have a claim on their implicit 
 obedience ; and to Him they must all be accountable. Here lie the 
 foundations of human happiness, and particularly of that moral 
 excellence, which even in this life approximates the rational 
 creature to its highest attainable perfection ; here too arc the 
 securities, and the only effective securities, of every constitution 
 calculated to promote the i^resent or the future felicities of man.* 
 
 5 — 9. ('.'>) righteous iDrancll, comp. Is. iv. 2, xi. 1, liii. 2; 
 Zee. iii. 8, vi. 12. execute juclgmcut, the characteristic of 
 the kingdom of Christ." (<)) llis days, De. xxxiii. 28. name, 
 Jcliovah Tsidkemi, '• the Lord our righteousness." ' Righteousness 
 here means "personal holiness," ratiier than " justification."' « 
 (7) brought . . Egypt, this had hitherto been regarded as the 
 very highest manifestation of God"s power and grace. (8) north 
 country, the Prophet's description of Chalda;a. (9) prophets, 
 i.e. the false proph':>ts. like a drunken man, staggering 
 under the words of Divine threatening which he had to utter. 
 
 'The. liingdom of the M(i<.nah (c. .5).- — I. The person of the 
 Messiah. 1. His human incarnation ; 2. His personal perfection ; 
 3. His sovereign character. II. The nature of His kingdom. 
 1. Universal ; 2. Mediatorial ; 3. Spiritual ; 4. Celestial. III. 
 The character of His reign. 1. Legitimate : 2. Eighteous : 3. 
 Prosperous ; 4. Everlasting-.'' — Mcsn'iah'.t vc'ign (r. R). — I. The 
 character of Christ. There are three things we look for in a king. 
 
 1. Supreme power ; 2. Legislative authority ; 3. Righteous 
 administration. II. The nature of His reign. 1. Spiritual : 2. 
 Benevolent ; 3. Equitable ; 4. Perpetual. III. The prosperity 
 with which that reign shall be attended. 1. Increase of willing 
 subjects ; 2. Provision for all their wants ; 3. Security of their 
 happiness: 4. Subjugation of their foes. Apply: — (1) How 
 great the folly of His opponents : (2) How full of joy should be 
 His subjects ; (3) How zealous should they be for the extension 
 of His power.' — The Lord our rir/hfrous/ie.'<,<t (r. G). — I. Explain 
 the title here given to the Redeemer. L The dignity of Hia 
 nature : 2. The importance of His work : 3. The interest of His 
 people in Ilim. H. Assign some reasons for the prominence of 
 this title. Because ij exhibits — 1. A grand view of His character ; 
 
 2. Views of His character which have been most virulently 
 opposed ; 3. But which must be most cordially embraced by His 
 people./ 
 
 10—12. (10) adulteress, those living in immorality and sin. 
 swearing, or of the curse, wh. ini<iuity has brought upon it." 
 pleasant places, or pastures, course, or mode of life, force, 
 or heroism : " that on which they pride themselves as mighty 
 men." (11) profane, common and unholy by reason of 
 iniquity. (12) slipperj^ ways, down v.-hich they must surely 
 fall, driven on, pressed on l)y their very sins.' visitation, 
 or the set time of Divine judgment. 
 
 C/trc (\f pvojnnlty. — A merchant on fitting out a ship for India, 
 told the captain, at the time of making the contract for the 
 voyage, that he must engage not to swear, nor have any swear- 
 
Cap. xxiii. 13-20 J 
 
 JEREMUB. 
 
 89 
 
 ing among the crew. This must be the law of the ship. The 
 captain said he was willing to reform. •' But how can I suddenly 
 break off an inveterate habit.'" he inquired. " I will take care 
 you are reminded of your duty," replied the owner. " AVear the 
 ring" that I will give yon. and let the law of the vessel be ex- 
 pliciily known." The ring was provided, beaiing this motto, 
 '■ Swear not at all." The vessel performed the voyage, and re- 
 turned to port. On inquiry, it was found that there had been no 
 prof anen ess on board, excepting a little within the hrst twenty 
 days after sailing ; and the old habit was entii'ely destroyed. 
 
 13 — 16. (13) folly, the stupidity of prophesying by Baal. 
 Heb. word nieariB, Jiaronrlesx. an unsavoury thing. (14) horrible 
 tiling, even worse things than in Samaria, bcc. the jirivileges 
 of Jerusalem were greater, strengthen, by the influeuceof 
 their bad example. As Sodom, Is. i. 9. (15) "wormwood, 
 ch. viii. U, ix. 1.5. profaneness, or hypocrisy ; but better. 
 dc.iccrution. (16) vain, i.e. they deceive you." vision . . 
 heart, Lr. one of their own invention, in wh. is no truth. 
 
 Strenijtlinilng the hands of tlie niched (v. 14). — I. All sin is 
 horrible in its nature. II. To strengthen the hands and hinder 
 the repentance of sinners is to oppose the great plan of God's 
 government. III. It tends to the misery of mankind. IV. It is 
 to operate with the spirit of evil who works in the children of 
 disobedience. V. It is a hoiTible thing because we thus become 
 partakers of their sins. VI. It is directly contrary to God's 
 commands, and is marked with His peculiar abhorrence. Apply 
 — 1. To teachers of religion, to Christians in general, to heads 
 of families, and the young ; 2. It is also a horrible thing t/O be 
 strengthened in evil-doing.'' 
 
 17 — 20. (17) still, they keep on saying, have peace, ch. 
 vi. 14. imagination, or stubbornne.ss. (18) who hatli 
 stood? meaning, "manifestly they have not." (19) whirl- 
 wind, ch. xxx. 2:!. or tempest, tornado. (20) not return, not 
 be restrained or withdrawn." latter days, those following on 
 the great calamities. 
 
 Iinportance of ,ielf -knowledge. — Knoiv thyself ia one of the 
 most useful and comprehensive precepts in the whole moral 
 system ; and it is well known in how great a veneration this 
 maxim was held by the ancients, and in how high esteem the 
 dut}' of self-examination necessary to it. Thales, the Milesian, 
 the prince of the philosophers, who floui'ished about a.m. SBHO, 
 and was contemporary with Josiah, king of Judah, is said to be 
 the first antlior of it, who used to say. that '• for a man to know 
 himself is the hardest thing in the world." It was afterwards 
 adopted by Chylon the Laciedemonian ; and is one of those three 
 precepts which Pliny affirms to have been consecrated at Deljihos 
 in golden letters. It was after-n-ards greatly admired and fre- 
 quently adopted by others, till at length it acquired the au- 
 thority of a divine oracle, and was supposed to have been given 
 originally by Apollo himself ; of which general opinion Cicero 
 gives us this reason, " Because it hath such a weight of sense 
 and wisdom in it as appears too great to be attributed to any 
 man." And this opinion of its coming originally from Apollo 
 himself perhaps was the reason that it was written in golden 
 capitals over the door of his temple at Delphos.* 
 
 sou, when he 
 heard a person 
 using profane 
 language. Ac- 
 costing him, he 
 s;iicl, " This boy- 
 was born and 
 hronglit up in a 
 lioathen country 
 and a land of 
 idohitry ; but, in 
 all his life, ha 
 never heard a 
 man blasplieme 
 his Maker until 
 now." The man 
 apologised, and 
 moved a w a y 
 ashamed. 
 a " Tliey delude 
 you with \-aia 
 promises of se- 
 curity.'"- J/durtr. 
 
 '•• 15. C. Barker, 
 •21. 
 
 " Beware of flat- 
 tery ; 'tis a 
 flowery weed 
 wliich oft offends 
 tlie very idol 
 vi c e whose 
 shrine it would 
 pe r f lime. " — 
 Fenlon. 
 
 b Di: LaOircp. 
 
 a " Tlie expres- 
 sion i.s taken 
 from a messenger 
 that comes back 
 \\itIio>it doing 
 his business." — 
 Lutcl/i. 
 
 " .'^elf-love never 
 yet could look on 
 truth but with 
 blear'd beams. 
 Sleek Flattery 
 and she are twin- 
 born sisters, and 
 so mix tlieir eyes, 
 as if you sever 
 one, the otiier 
 dies." — £iH Jun- 
 son. 
 
 "Whitefield, when 
 flattered, saiil, 
 '■ Tal;e care of 
 fire : I cuiry 
 liowder about 
 
 b Afason, 
 
90 
 
 JEREmAIT. 
 
 [Cap. xxiii. 21—23. 
 
 a .Te. xiv. 11, 
 xxvii. 15, xxix. 9. 
 
 t " Are ye so ig- 
 norant as to sup- 
 pose that I can 
 only see things 
 near Me, viz.. 
 thing.?in heaven, 
 ami not earthly 
 things as being 
 too remote ? " — 
 
 vv. 23. 24. Dr. J. 
 JoHin,\. US; 1)'. 
 RU:hiu-dson,\.22. 
 V. 2t. S. C/i'ir- 
 nnck, i. 527 ; Dr. 
 W. Luplon, 422 ; 
 Dr. R. Moss, vi. 
 3fi3 ; Dr. W. 
 JBrnckt^nridji: 
 115 ; C. /'.■l':rs. 
 17i) ; J. HV.rft'w, 
 Vii. 238 ; Dr. Ji. 
 Pricf, 108 ; A. 
 Jli,:lviald, 51 ; 
 J. Fnocett, i. 1 ; 
 H'. Dealtry, 22. 
 c Dr T/iomas. 
 " Many a time 
 ■when we stami 
 in the pulpit 
 some sinner may 
 be jireseut to 
 whom we are 
 R'llressiug our 
 la it message — 
 who will never 
 he.vr the Gospel, 
 or be exhorteil 
 to take care of 
 liis soul ag.iin. 
 Shoall we not 
 wish to pour 
 upon sucli a 
 0U3 the whole 
 force of our 
 power.? o£ per- 
 suasion ; to speak 
 to him emph.ati- 
 cally, in tlio 
 words of Baxter. 
 'as a ilying man 
 to (lying men' ? ' 
 — (Jhrisliaii lie- 
 virw. 
 d D.: Wheedon. 
 
 V. 28. R. P. lind 
 
 dicmnhf, ii. Ifill : 
 R. Ci'cil, iii. ITS ; 
 W. Jf. J/'-lhiloil\ 
 
 15 ; Dr. J. FM- 
 clitr, iii. 75. 
 
 " Dreams, where 
 t li o \i g h t, in 
 fancy's m a v. c. 
 runs mad." — 
 young. 
 
 21 — 24. (21) ran," taking prophetical respon.slbilities upon 
 themselves, aud niauifesting- in the Proi)het's work great eager- 
 ue.ss. (22) my counsel, r. 18. The sign of the true prophet 
 is his influence in favour of morality. (2:5) at hand, tliea 
 surely I see the wickeduess of these false prophets. (24J hide 
 himself, Ps. cxxxix. 7.* 
 
 77/Y' tr/<r pu/pit (r. 22). — The text enables us to sketch aa 
 ideal preacher. I. Ilis mental position, '• If they had stood ia 
 My counsel." This mental position is — 1. Most necessary : 2. 
 Most ennobling. II. His grand work caused JMy people to hear 
 My words. 1. A most dirlicult work ; 2. A most urgent work. 
 III. His true test. 1. Conversion from evil is the great want of 
 mankind ; 2. The great tendency of God's Word."^ 
 
 Sonl-cnnrcrthui preao/irrs. — There are preachers, by myriads 
 and majorities, and deeply pious ones too, that never once in all 
 their lives distinctly concentrated their purposes to the single 
 point of converting men. Their efforts are to finish an eloquent 
 sermon, to develop theological or Biblical truth, to thiill aostheti- 
 cally an audience, to pour forth general religious emotion, to 
 spread a popular fame, to gather crowds, to build a large church. 
 etc. Verily these have often their reward, namely success in 
 their objects. But here is a lonesome preacher, who does not 
 object to all these ; but with or without them, by study, by 
 closet, by pulpit, by pastoral work, some or all, he means to con- 
 vert souls, and just so many as he can. Where this is attained 
 all the other success is well enough. Where this is not attained, 
 all the other success does not comfort him a i^enny : he goes oS 
 crestfallen and disappointed, indignant at the devil and himself. 
 He will not stay there where Satan has beaten hira : but he will 
 go where, please God, he can get some souls. Maffitt, in his 
 golden days, did convert his thousands, surpassing jMr. Caughey 
 in this respect, for that was his unerring aim. Bascom aimed to 
 be the jjulpit orator ; his purpose terminated in the elaborate 
 harangue, the thrilled audience, and the gathering crowd. He 
 did not entertain the downright purpose of conversion. Sum- 
 merfield terminated his effort with pouring his own rich religious 
 emotions upon his melting congregation ; but his emotion did 
 not go forth into the sharp volition and the determined practical 
 drudgery of action. And we think that this same analysis ex- 
 ercised upon every minister of strength aud ability would, in 
 nearly every case, bring out the answer to the question, What 
 prevents this able minister from converting souls .' He does not, 
 in the full force of the word, try.** 
 
 25—28. (2.-.) dreamed, De. xiii. 1. (26) deceit . . heart, 
 none are so fully deceived as those who are xrlf-fh'rrir/'d. (27) 
 as their fathers, sec Ju. iii. 7, viii. 3;s. (28) hath a dream, 
 ;.(;. one really given to him by God. chaff, dreams out of mens 
 mere invaginations, wheat, dreams communicared by God. 
 
 ^l .iii!/!/r.<<fci/ riDifr/hsf: (r. 2S). — The contrast in this })assage 
 admits of a threefold application. 1. To true and false doctrines ; 
 2. To true and false teachers ; :•]. To true and false professors. — 
 /{rHf/i(iii.<t truth and error (r. 2S). — I. That religious error is a 
 human dream, but religious truth is a Divine word. 1. Because 
 they imply a partial dormancy of the soul : 2. Because they are 
 temporary illusions. II. That religious error as well as truth is 
 allowed a voice in this world. This fa^-t indicates— 1. The 
 
Cap. xxiii. 29-38] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 91 
 
 superior force of truth ; 2. Man's inalienable right to free speech. 
 Hi. That the relative value of religious truth and religious error 
 does not admit of comparison ; these dreams, errors, are chaff. 
 This applies — To ideas and their expressions, to religion and its 
 forms, to character and its accidents, to spiritual and secular 
 worth." 
 
 29 — 32. (20) like . . fire, you can tell it by its purifying 
 power, hammer, breaking down man's pride, and convicting 
 him of sin. (3!)j against . . propliets, i.e. purposing judg- 
 ments on the false prophets, steal . . neighbour, i.e. try to 
 catch up and imitiite the true Prophets, bee. they have no 
 message of their own. (31) use, heXtev smooth. The intimation 
 is that they talk, but liave really nothing to say." (32) light- 
 ness, vain, frivolous talking. 
 
 The liihh' like a fire and a liammer (i'. 29). — I. Like a fire 
 heaven-kindled, all-penetrating, destructive, discriminating, 
 refining, sanctifying. II. Like a hammer, heart hard and 
 unimpressible, breaks down pride and self-righteousness. 
 Apply : — 1. Employ the Bible for our personal salvation ; 2. 
 Maintain its authority and power against all gainsayers ; 
 3. Beware of immoderate expectations concerning effects.'' 
 
 iSiq)crio]'ity of the Bible. — This book is the mirror of the 
 Divinity, the rightful regent of the world. Other books are 
 planets shining with reflected lustre ; this book, like the sun, 
 shines with ancient and unborrowed ray. Other books have, to 
 their loftiest altitudes, sprung from earth ; this book looks down 
 from heaven high. Other books appeal to understanding or 
 fancy ; this book to conscience and faith. Other books solicit 
 our attention ; this demands it,— it speaks with authority, and 
 not as the scribes. Other books guide gracefully along the 
 earth, or onward to the mountain summits of the ideal ; this, 
 and this alone, conducts up the awful abyss which leads to 
 heaven. Other books, after shining their season, may 2ierish 
 in flames fiercer than those which consumed the Alexandrian 
 library ; this, in essence, must remain pure as gold, and uncon- 
 snmable as asbestos, amidst the flames of general conflagration. 
 Other books may be forgotten in the universe where suns go 
 down and disappear like bubbles in the stream : this book, 
 transferred to a higher clime, shall shine as the brightness of 
 that eternal firmament, and as those higher stars, which are for 
 ever and ever." 
 
 33-36. (3.3) forsake you, cast j-ou away : throw you as 
 a burden away into captivity. (34) say the burden, pro- 
 fessing to be burdened with a Divine message. (3.5) answered, 
 they were to S2ieak in this fomi henceforth bee. the false prophets 
 were making use of the word Intrden." (3(3) word . . burden, 
 i.e. it shall become a crushing burden to him. 
 
 Hints to jire/u'/iei:?. — I. Preach Christ crucified, and dwell 
 chiefly on the blessings resulting from His righteousness, atone- 
 ment, and intercession. li. Avoid all needless controversies in 
 the pulpit ; except it be when your subject necessarily requires 
 it : or when the truths of God are likely to suffer by your silence. 
 III. When you ascend the pulpit, leave your learning behind 
 you : endeavour to preach more to the hearts of your people than 
 
 a Br. Thomas. 
 
 a Vo.T et prae* 
 tL"rc?a iiiliil. 
 
 V. 20. II. P. Bud' 
 
 dkcinbc, ii. 1 ; 
 
 Bji. a. WUbei'/orce, 
 
 129. 
 
 b G. Brocks. 
 
 " As thieves be 
 loth to assault a 
 house where they 
 know there be 
 good armour and 
 artillery, so, 
 wherever the 
 liooks of the 
 Holy Scriptures 
 be well occupied 
 and e,\erci.->ed, 
 there neither the 
 devil nor any of 
 his .lugels dare 
 come near." — 
 Varrdniy. 
 " The truths of 
 the Bible are 
 like gold iu the 
 soil. \\'hole gene- 
 lationswalk over 
 it, and know not 
 what treasures 
 are hidden be- 
 neath. So cen- 
 turies of men 
 pass over the 
 Scriptures, and 
 know not what 
 riches lie under 
 the feet of tlieir 
 i nt erpretation. 
 Sometimes, when 
 they discover 
 them, they call 
 them new truths. 
 One might as 
 well call gold 
 newly dug new 
 
 gold."— yjt(rcV(tV. 
 
 c (J. Gilfiilan. 
 
 a This had been 
 Jeremiah's cha- 
 racteristic word, 
 and Isaiah's. 
 I'rob. the false 
 prophets took it 
 up and useil it 
 partly in ridicule. 
 b Brc'ifer. 
 "'1 here is a kind 
 of preachers risen 
 up of late, who 
 shroud and cover 
 every rustical. 
 
92 
 
 JEREmAB. 
 
 [Cap, xxlli. 37-40. 
 
 and unsavoury, 
 ami cliildisli, and 
 aboiu'il sermon, 
 under the name 
 of tlie simple 
 kind of teacli- 
 Inif ; like the 
 I'Dljisli priests, 
 ■who make igno- 
 rance the mother 
 of devotion. But, 
 indeed, to preach 
 timply is not to 
 preach rudely, 
 nor unlearnedly, 
 nor confusedly, 
 but to i)reacli 
 plainly and per- 
 spicuous-ly, that 
 the simplest man 
 may umlorstand 
 what is taugiit, 
 as if he did hear 
 his n a me." — 
 Henry Umith, 
 1592. 
 
 « Or I ■will carry 
 you away as a 
 burden. There 
 is eviilent play 
 on the ■word 
 burden in. these 
 verses, 
 
 A clerpryman, ob- 
 servintf a poor 
 man by the road 
 breaking stones 
 ■with a picka.xe, 
 and kneeling to 
 get at his work 
 better, made the 
 remark, "Ah, 
 John 1 i wish I 
 could break the 
 stony hearts of 
 itiy hearers as 
 easily as yon are 
 breaking those 
 stones." The 
 man replied, 
 " Perhaps, mas- 
 ter, you do not 
 ■work on, your 
 knees." 
 
 He that will 
 learn of none 
 but luniself is 
 sure to have a 
 fool for his 
 master. 
 
 ( Beecher. 
 
 to their heads. IV. Do not affect too much oratory. Seek 
 rather to prclit, than to be admired."* 
 
 Duty (if t lie dcrtjy. — 'Ihe London Times delivered, some time 
 since, an excellent homily to the En;4lish clergy, which aii])lie3 
 equally well to mini.stcrs of all countries and denominations : 
 "The clergy are ready to relj' ujion everything rather than on 
 the .subslanlial claims of their message. One party take to gay 
 drosses, banners, and processions : another to penny readings, 
 political lectures, and concerts. They change from one thing to 
 another day by day, and the result is only a weary wa.-tc of their 
 own time, and the creation of a certain amount of social feeling 
 which might equally be produced without the supei'natural aid 
 of the Church and religion. Religious truths, if they are what 
 thej' are bolieved to be, cannot need all this trivial machinery 
 to recommend them ; and the religious convictions, which are to 
 be of anv value, mui*t be produced and sustained by more simple 
 and permanent means. If we may judge by the liistory of the 
 Chnrch. both in early and modern times, a man of truly religiotis 
 feeling needs nothing but a room and a Bible to bring about the 
 greatest results. The one thing essential is not new plans and 
 tlaily changes, but a belief in the jjower of the permanent truths 
 of the Christian religion, and a devotion to these alone. The 
 l)ersonal example and the public teaching of religion are the 
 only necessary instruments of a clergyman, and, in our opinion, 
 the' less he is diverted from those to novel devices and elastic 
 webs the better." 
 
 37_40. (.37, 38) ye say, Avilfully refusing in this to yield 
 to My commands. (SU) forget yoil, or burden you.' forsake 
 you, by withdrawing jMy prdtection from you. leaving you to 
 your calamities. (40j everlasting reproach, ch. xx. 11. 
 
 The qlfice nf the itrcaclur. — If a man wants to indulge in 
 
 levities, or fantasies, or imaginations, let him do it : I am not 
 
 beset with super.stitions. But still, if a child woirld play mum- 
 
 1 blety-peg. I would not advise him to go into the graveyard and play 
 
 I on his father's and mother's graves. There are proprieties and 
 
 I adaptations, and if a man is called merely to please, if he ia 
 
 I to be a pleasure-monger, even of ideas, let him take the lectui*e- 
 
 ! room or the theatre, let him go where pleasure is the normal 
 
 I end. But to take the Church, to take the crucified Saviour, to 
 
 j take the everlasting issues of human life, and in tlie midst of 
 
 I these tremendous verities, think of nothing but soft sentences, 
 
 and sv/eet figures, and sentimental graces, and preaching these 
 
 short sermons that please everybody, and particularly Ihe closing 
 
 passages of them — this I do not think is salutary. But if there 
 
 is any case in which it is allowable, it is* the case of men that 
 
 preach for the sake of pleasing, and for that only. But they 
 
 are said to be refined. Yes. they are refined. Oh! but they are 
 
 said to be eloriuent. Yes. they are eloquent. Oh ! but they are 
 
 said to be attraolive. But when they stfind on that awful, final 
 
 day, between the living and the dead, before God AlnuThty's 
 
 judgment, and all God"s angels are gatliered togelher. and there 
 
 is nothing to stand between tbein and damnation, except 
 
 elegancy, and refineTuent. and pleasant voices, and words, and 
 
 gestures — in that hour, will it seem to them to have been worth 
 
 their while to have bought their destruction at such a pricfv'* 
 
Cap. xxiv. 1—7.] 
 
 JEREUTAB. 
 
 93 
 
 CnAPTER THE TJFENTY-FOURTH. 
 
 1 — 3. (1) after, etc., 2 King-s xxiv. 12 ; 2 Chr. xxxvi. 10, In 
 the eighth year of Nebuc.'s reign. (2) one basket, of the two 
 (v. i.) put in the appointed place for offerings of firstfruits in 
 the forecourt of the Temple. (2) first ripe, the fig bears three 
 crops, of %vh. the first is considered the best, so bad, perhaps 
 bruised, perhaps of a bad sort.'' (3) what seest thou ? di- 
 recting- the Prophet's special attention to these figs. 
 
 Firtorial illiistraiioii. — Saints Cyril and Methodius, the earliest 
 apostles of the Sclavonic tribes, — the Moravians, Bohemians, 
 Hungarians, and Bulgarians, — were two Greek monks of the 
 order of St. Basil, known as St. Cyril and St. Methodius, and con- 
 nected in a very interesting manner with the history of religious 
 art. Cyril Avas learned and eloquent, a philosoplier and a pioet : 
 Methodius was considered an excellent painter of that time, 
 ■when his country produced the only painters kno'mi. These two 
 monks departed together, by order of the patriarch of Constanti- 
 nople, to preach to the savage nations along the shores of the 
 Danube. Bogaris. the king or chief of Bulgaria, having heard 
 of the art of Methodius, required of him that he should paint 
 a picture in the hall of his palace ; and that it should bo " some- 
 thing terrible," to impress his subjects and vassals with awe. 
 Methodius accordingly painted the Day of Judgment, represent- 
 ing at the summit our Lord seated in glorj^ and surrounded 
 with angels : on His right, the resurrection of the blessed ; and, 
 on His left, the doom of sinners, swallowed up in flames, and 
 tormented by the most hideous demons. When the king desired 
 to have the interpretation of this " terrible " ijicture, Cj'ril, who 
 was as eloquent in words as Methodius was in colours and forms, 
 preached to the barbarian monarch and his attendants such a 
 sei'mon as converted them all on the spot. Their mission was 
 extended successfully through the surrounding nations. Wliile 
 Methodius painted "the doctrines of the Christian faith, Cyril 
 explained them in the language of the people.* 
 
 4 — 7. (4, .5) acknowledge, or regard with special interest." 
 for their good, with a view to their deliverance from idolatry 
 and to their spiritual blessing. (G) bring . . land, fulfilled in 
 the restoration under Zerubbabel, etc. (7) return . . heart, 
 i.e. heartily give up their idolatry, and give themselves again 
 sincerely to the worship of Jehovah. " Repentance, though not | rr.s— 7. //. Oicen, 
 the cause of pardon, is its invariable accompaniment." | ^^- ^^• 
 
 Fonri' of Uhi.itraf'ion. — We may safely assert that Jeremy 
 Taylor is none the less vigorous for illustrating the long-suffer- 
 ing of God by the rabbinical story that the Archangel Michael, 
 being God"s messenger of vengeance, had but one wing, that he 
 might labour in his flight : while Gabriel had two wings, that he 
 might "fly swiftly " when bringing the message of peace. And 
 the nature of repentance and faith is set before lis all the more 
 clearly, when Adams likens Faith to a great queen in her pro- 
 gress, having Repentance as her messenger going before her, and 
 Works a« the attendants following in her traiu.* 
 
 a "The bad fiprs 
 may have been 
 those of the 
 sycamore tree, 
 wliicli, unless 
 they are punc- 
 tured as they 
 riiien. contain an 
 acriil juice which 
 renders tlieni un- 
 eatable." — Tiis- 
 trum. 
 
 " This prophecy 
 was designed to 
 encourage the de- 
 spairing e\iles, 
 and to reprove 
 the people at 
 home who prided 
 themselves as su- 
 perior to those in 
 Babylon, and 
 abused the for- 
 bearance of G-od." 
 — Faiisset. 
 
 I A bisliop of the 
 Church of Eng- 
 land, who was 
 tutor to a prin- 
 cess, said to her, 
 " I find that my 
 instructions 
 have made you 
 but little better." 
 l?he replied, "Ah I 
 but my lord, you 
 do not know how 
 nuich worse I 
 should have beeu 
 without tliem." 
 6 Mrs. Jameson. 
 
 a " To have a 
 kindly feeling' to- 
 wards the olijpct 
 r e ga r d e d." — 
 headi'rson. 
 
 V. 7. n. VTarn- 
 ford. 1. 227; T. 
 liotvdler, ii. 2S7. 
 
 b J. a. PilkingtotK 
 
94 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. XXV. 1—3. 
 
 « C o m p. D e. 
 xxviii. 25, 37. 
 
 " Sin is of one 
 
 nature all tlu> 
 ■worM over ; for 
 thnu^li a liar is 
 not a Jrunkanl, 
 nor a swearer 
 a wlioreiiionger, 
 nor either pro- 
 perly a miirrleror, 
 yet tliey are all 
 of a clinrch, all 
 branches of the 
 one wicked rnnt, 
 all of kin ; they 
 liave but one 
 father, the devil, 
 as Christ said to 
 the professinpr 
 Jews, the visible 
 Church of that 
 ap;e ; He slighted 
 their claims to 
 Abraham and 
 Moses, and plain- 
 ly told them, 
 ' That he that 
 coMiniitteth sin, 
 was the servant 
 of sin.' " — IF. 
 I'enn. 
 
 " I have heard of 
 a fatlier who ob- 
 jected to teach 
 ills child to pr.TV. 
 The child broke 
 liis leg ; and, 
 ■wliile his leg 
 was being taken 
 off, he continued 
 to curse and 
 swear all the 
 time. ' See ! ' 
 said the physi- 
 cian, ' yon have 
 a point of con- 
 science about 
 teacliing your 
 child to pray ; 
 but Satan has no 
 conscience about 
 teacliing him to 
 swear.' " — Spur- 
 geon. 
 
 b Beecher. 
 
 " .Tudge not the 
 preacher ; for ho 
 is thy judge : if 
 thou uiislike him, 
 thou conceiv'.'it 
 biui not. God 
 
 8—10. (8) evil figs, V. .3. by this term Zcdekiah. and the 
 remnant still in JudiDa, are indicated. They were left in thoir 
 corruptions, M-hile by the captivity the rest of the nation were 
 purified. (!)) for their lliirt, in distinction from the Divine 
 purpose in the Bal)ylouian captivity." These were to be scattered 
 without hope of return, (lo; be consuined., BO as never to be 
 gathered to,5"ether aj^^ain. 
 
 Confirmed bnpcnttcncr, flic vnparclnnnhle abi. — In point of fact, 
 anything that is supposed to constitute blasphemy against the 
 Holy Ghost has ap]iarcntly been committed and recovered frorii 
 by men. It is said that it is speaking directly against the opera- 
 tions of God's Spirit. But thousands of men have spoken directly 
 against them. " Ah I " it is said. " but it is doing it wantonly." 
 But thousands have done it wantonly. " Well,' it is said, '" it ia 
 doing it maliciously." But thousands do it maliciously. There 
 are thousands that rail at and revile the most notable fruits of a 
 revival of religion, and are foamingly Avicked, who yet, by-and- 
 by, are broken down, become subjects of saving grace, and are 
 made penitent. Was there ever a worse t;ase than Paul's— a case 
 in which there was more malignity, more bitterness, more venom, 
 more railing against the Spirit of God, and more hatred towards 
 the fruits of it in His children, than in his ,' And was there 
 ever a case in which a man Avas more gloriously traiisformcd 
 than in his ? There is not one single element v/hich commenta- 
 tors and teachers have been accustomed to describe as blasphemy 
 against the Holy Ghost, which Ave do not know to be pai'donable, 
 because it has been pardoned. If it be a single act which men 
 are liable to fall upon, it is remarkable that the Apostles did not, 
 after the time of Christ, seize it, both for Avarning and for aAvful 
 condemnation. How would it have fallen upon the heads of 
 doomed men ? But, except one passage in the first of John and 
 the fifth chapter, there is almost no recognition of sins that are 
 not to be pardoned. There is all the way through the Xcav Tes- 
 tament the recognition of states that do not encourage much 
 hope. " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard hi 
 spots ? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do 
 evil." This the Old Testameut said centuries ago, and it has 
 been sounding on in human experience and in human philosophy 
 ever since. There is a' state in which a man"s conscience 
 becomes so torpid, so dead, that there is no resurrection from 
 it in this life ; and that is what I understand to be substantially 
 meant by the unpardonable sin. It is the sin of condition — of 
 the whole moral condition — and not the sin of a specific act. In 
 this case there Avas a specific act ; but it brought the SavioTir's 
 condemnation upon it because it was symptomatic of a hopelessly 
 sinful condition.* 
 
 CUAPTER THE TIVENTY-FIFTK 
 
 1 — 3. (1) fourth year, comp. Da. i. 1. Jehoiakim Avas prob. 
 set on the throne by Necho about July, and Nebuc. mounted the 
 throne in January, ()()4 B c. So Nebuc. 's first year was partly the 
 third and partly the fourth of Jehoiakim. (2. ii") from . . years, 
 nineteen years in Jcsiah"s reign, three months of Jehoahaz'e, and 
 
Cap. XXV. 4—7.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 95. 
 
 four years of Jelioiakim's. rising early, the fig. for earnestly, 
 ch. vii. 13. 
 
 ^'c^lln's account of Whltrfield. — To give your ladyship any just 
 description of what our eyes have witnessed and our hearts felt, 
 within the last few days, exceeds my feeble powers. My inmost 
 soul is penetrated with an overwhelming sense of the awful 
 power and presence of Jehovah, who hath visited us with the 
 blessed effusion of His Spirit, on this occasion, in a very eminent 
 manner. Under Mr. Whiteiield's first sermon, there was a visible 
 appearance of miTch soul-concern among the immense crowd 
 that tilled every part of the burial-ground ; so that many were 
 overcome with fainting ; others sobbed deeply ; some wept 
 silently : and a solemn concern appeared on the countenance of 
 almost the whole a-sembly. When he came to press the injunc- 
 tion in the text (Lsa. li. Ij upon the unconverted and the ungodly, 
 his words seemed to cut like a sword upon several in the con- 
 gregation : so that, whilst he Avas speaking, thej' coukl no longer 
 contain, but burst out in the most piercing, bitter cries. At this 
 juncture Mr. Whitefield made a pause of a few seconds, then 
 bui"st into a flood of tears. During this short interval, Mr. IMadan 
 and myself stood up, and requested the people as much as possible 
 to restrain from making anj' noise. Twice afterwards we had to 
 repeat the same counsel, still advising the people to endeavour 
 to moderate and bound their feelings, but not so as to resist or 
 stifle their convictions. Oh. with what eloquence, what energy, 
 what melting tenderness, did ]\Ir. "Whitefield beseech sinners to 
 be reconciled to God — to come to Him for life everlasting, and 
 rest their weary souls in Christ the Saviour ! When the sermon 
 was ended, the people seemed chained to the ground, Mr. Madan, 
 Mr. Talbot, Mr. Downing, and myself, found ample employment 
 in endeavouring to comfort those who seemed broken down 
 under a sense of guilt. We separated in different directions 
 among the crowd, and each was quickly surrounded by an atten- 
 tive audience, still eager to hear all the words of this life. Of 
 such a season as this it may well be said. •• I hnve heard thee in 
 a time acceirted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured 
 thee : behold, now is tlie accepted time ; behold, now is the day 
 of salvation." 
 
 4 — 7.^ (i I prophets, besides Jeremiah, Urijah, Zephaniah, 
 and Ha'balckuk had prophesied during this period, {a) turn, 
 etc.," 2 Ki. xvii. 1.3; Je, xviii. 11. xxxv, 1.5, (6) works., 
 hands, a sevei-e and scornful description of the idols. (7) not 
 hearkened, this was evident, for they had not oheijcd. 
 
 Fidi'Vitij. — .Some time a.go. on a winter night, when the snow 
 was falling heavily, a poor woman, with five children, reached a 
 village in Essex, just as a farmer's lad was shutting up a barn. 
 She begged him to ask his master's leave for them to pass the 
 night in the barn. The lad did so : and the master, who was a 
 kindj feeling man, ordered him to take a bundle of straw, and 
 make them a comfortable bed. The poor woman felt grateful, 
 and asked the lad if he would like to h€ar a song. He hoped 
 that it would bo something amusing, and replied. '• Yes ; '' upon 
 which she and her children sung one of Watts's hymns. The lad 
 felt interested — she asked him if he had ever prayed to God. and 
 thanked Him for the mercies he had enjoyed ; and said that she 
 \s'as going to pray with her children, and he might stay if he 
 
 calletli preaching 
 fol!.v. Do not 
 grudge to jiick 
 out treasures 
 from nil earthen 
 pot. Tlie worst 
 speak SMiietliing 
 .good ; if all want 
 sense, God takes 
 a text and 
 preaches pati- 
 ence." — Hetbert. 
 
 An Indian hav- 
 ing heard from a 
 wldte man some 
 strictures on zeal, 
 re]>lipd, "I don't 
 know about hav- 
 ing too much 
 ze.il, but I think 
 it is better the 
 pot should boil 
 over, than not 
 boil at all," 
 
 Count Ziska, the 
 brave Bohemian 
 captain, com- 
 manded tliat, 
 after death, his 
 body should be 
 flayed, and the 
 s:.in be made 
 into drum-heads 
 to send dismay 
 into the hearts 
 of tlieir enemies 
 when his fol- 
 lowers went out 
 to battle for the 
 faith. 
 
 a "The great! 
 summons of God 
 to mankind, 
 wliether given 
 b.v the Propliets 
 of old. by John 
 the Baptist, or 
 b}' the Apostles 
 and their succes- 
 sors." — fiik. Com. 
 V, 4. ./. O'/osse, ii. 
 81; J. Darison, 
 Warh. L,'C. 31. 
 V. 6. B. Bt'ddome, 
 V. 119. 
 
 During a flood in 
 .^t. Petersburg, 
 the sentiuel be- 
 fore the jialace 
 rofuseii to leava 
 his post (though 
 ordered so to do 
 
96 
 
 JEREMIAIT. 
 
 [Cap. XXV. 8—11. 
 
 by the empress, 
 anil (Icalli by 
 firo\viiiii{,'s(pnieil 
 jniniiii^ni) lillre- 
 lieveil by the 
 proper officer. 
 
 b WIdlecross. 
 
 a " The sound 
 of the liaml-niill 
 is a familiar 
 one in the East, 
 anil its cessa- 
 tion is aptly nieu- 
 tioneil bj' the 
 Prophets as one 
 of the signs of 
 utter desola- 
 
 t i o n." — V a n 
 Len ncp. 
 
 b" 'i^onight-Jight : 
 so universal in 
 the East, that tlie 
 poorest honse has 
 it burning all 
 night." — Faussel. 
 
 Job xxi. 17. 
 
 vv. 11, 12. /. Ely, 
 232. 
 
 " There arc some 
 diseases tliat are 
 called the re- 
 proaches of phy- 
 sicians; and 
 there ai'e some 
 people that may 
 be truly called 
 the reproaches of 
 ministers; and 
 those are they 
 who are great 
 hearers, and talk- 
 ers, and .admirers 
 of ministers, but 
 never obey the 
 doctrines deli- 
 vered by them." 
 —T. Hi ooks. 
 
 e Hi-nnj Smith. 
 
 " Those auditors 
 who can find no- 
 thing to do but 
 note elegant. 
 
 w o r d s an d 
 phrases, or rhe- 
 torical colours, 
 or perhaps an 
 ill grace of ges- 
 ture iu a pithy 
 and material 
 speech, argue 
 themselves full 
 ere tiiey come to 
 the feast ; and 
 therefore go 
 awiiy with little 
 pleai!ure. and no 
 l!rofit."-i'>>. //a;/. 
 
 pleased. The lad stayed while she ofTered up her thanks for the 
 mercies she cnjoj'ed ; and begged for a blcs.sing' upon him. lie 
 then went away, but could not rest, and after passing- a i-leepkss 
 night, he resolved on going again to the barn to talk with the 
 woman. She was gone— he saw her no more, but from that day 
 he became a changed character.* 
 
 8—11. (8, 9) families . . north, ch. i. 13, 14, races from the 
 great region watered by the Tigris and Euphrates, my servant, 
 so called as being appointed to execute a Divine commis.sion. 
 astonishment, ch. ii. U, v. 30. hissing, ch. xviii. IG. xix. 8. 
 (10) millstones, the household mill, at which each day's supply 
 of corn was ground by the women." light . . candle,'' in inha- 
 bited houses the candle was kept burning thro" the night, and it 
 was the sign of life. 
 
 Motives of hearers. — As there were wise virgins and foolish 
 virgins ; so there are wise hearers, and foolish hearers. Some 
 are so nice, that they had rather pine than take their food of any 
 which is licensed by a bishop ; as if Elias should refuse his food 
 because a raven brought it to him and not an angel ; some come 
 unto the service to save forfeiture, and then they stay the sermon 
 for shame ; some come because they would not be counted 
 atheists ; some come because they woitld avoid the name of 
 papists ; some come to please their friends. One hath a good 
 man to his friend, and lest he should offend him, he frequents 
 the preacher's, that his friend may think well of him : some come 
 with their masters and mistresses for attendance : some come 
 with a fame ; they have heard great speech of the man. and 
 therefore they will spend one hour to hear him once, but to sea 
 whether it be so as they say : some come because they are idle, 
 to pass the time they go to a sermon, lost they should be weary 
 of doing nothing ; some come with their fellows : one saith. let 
 us go to the .sermon ; content, saith he, and he gceth tor com- 
 pany ; some hear the sound of a voice as they pass by the church 
 and step in before they be aware : another hath some occasion of 
 business, and he appoints a friend to meet him at such a sermon, 
 as they do at St. Paul's ; all these are accidental hearers, like 
 children which sit in the market, and neither buj- nor sell. But, 
 as many foxes have been taken when they came to take, so Ihey 
 which come to .spy. or wonder, or gaze, or scoff, have changed 
 their minds before they went home, like one which finds when 
 he doth not seek." 
 
 The ramhlint] hearer. — He belongs to no Christian church. 
 One minister, however excellent, he thinks, cannot be sufficient 
 " A variety, a varietj', you know," he says, " is always best." 
 From place to place he wanders, and may justly be called "the 
 strolling professor." " Oh." says he. " I have found .'<uch an ex- 
 cellent man ! I never heard his equal ! If you could hear him, 
 you would be charmed indeed ! " But this rambling hearer 
 
 cannot be a fixed one long. " Mr. M is come to town. Such 
 
 a preacher ! " Away he goes. His favouiite preacher is deserted 
 for a time ; but he returns ; and now his favourite minister is 
 rather fitit. ■'vord.y, uninteresting. In short, this man is every- 
 where. Tiiei-e is no preacher but he knows ; no church or chapel, 
 but he is there for a time. Ah ! l)ut where is the benefit from 
 all this ] " A roihug Btoue gathers no iuobs." 
 
Cap. XXV. 12—17.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 97 
 
 12 — 14. (12) seventy years, this number may be intended 
 as a figure for the complete period ordered in the Divine Provi- 
 dence." The number sercn is in Scrip, the symbol of perfection 
 or completion, punish, etc.,'' comp. Isa. x. 5, ItJ. perpetual 
 desolations, r. '.),'' true of its condition to the present day. (13) 
 this book, i.e. the record of Jeremiah's prophecies. (14) serve 
 themselves, i.e. they shall carry out their own schemes by 
 reducing- the Chaldnsans to slavery. This was fulfilled in Cyrus 
 and his confederates, deeds, treatment of the Jews. 
 
 Fiiljihnc7it of 'pTopliecy. — Two rabbis, approaching Jemsalem, 
 observed a fox running upon the hill Zion. And Eabbi Joshua 
 wept ; but Eabbi Eliezer laughed. " Wherefore dost thou laugh ? " 
 eaid he who wept. '' Nay, wherefore dost thou weep ? " demanded 
 Eliezer. " I weep," replied the Rabbi Joshua, " because I see 
 what is written in the Lamentations fulfilled : " Because of the 
 Mount Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it." "And 
 therefore," said Rabbi Eliezer, " do I laugh ; for, when I see 
 with mine own eyes that God has fulfilled His threatenings to 
 the very letter, I have thereby a pledge that not one of His 
 promises shall fail ; for He is evermore ready to show mercy than 
 judgment." 
 
 15 — 17. (15) wine . . fury, lit. " The cup of wine, even this 
 fury."" This figure expresses ''stupefying judgments."* to 
 drink it, this offering of the wine-cup took place in vision. 
 (IG) moved . . mad, having all the sjTnptoms of drunkenness ; 
 excited, restless, unable to plan wisely, sword, the sj-mbol of 
 war. (17) took the cup, Jer. is here narrating what he had 
 done in /tis i-'tsion. Micharlis needlessly suggests that Jer. oiiered 
 the wine-cup to the ambassadors of the nations who were at 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 The fiend of alcoliol. — 
 
 There walketh a fiend o'er the glad green earth, 
 
 By the side of the reaper. Death, 
 He dazzles alike with the glow of his mirth, 
 Or quenches the light of the household hearth, 
 
 With his foul and withering breath. 
 
 He stalketh abroad with his hydra-head, 
 
 And there gather in his train 
 The falling foot and the strong man's bread, 
 The restless living — the ghastly dead, 
 
 And misery, want, and pain. 
 
 He nerves the arm of relentless hate, 
 
 With the goblet's headed foam ; 
 He lurks in the halls of the rich and great. 
 In the beggar's hut — at the palace gate, 
 
 And curses the jjoor man's home. 
 
 He barters the wealth of a good man's name, 
 
 For the wine-cu])"s treacherous glow ; 
 An<l snatches the pinions of deathless fame. 
 Till they drop with their burden of guilt and shame, 
 
 'Mid the dregs of sin and woe. 
 yoL. IX. o.T. a 
 
 a Comp. Da. ix. 
 2, 2-1. 
 
 b "Thongli the 
 CliaUlafaiis and 
 other nations 
 wereinstrumeuts 
 I in the hands of 
 Cioil in punish- 
 ing the Jews, 
 yet, as tliey had 
 no knowledge of 
 tliis fact, but 
 merely gratified 
 their cruel and 
 ambitious pas- 
 sions, they, in 
 their turn, there- 
 by contracted 
 guilt for which 
 Jehovah threat- 
 ens to punisli 
 them." — Iltnder- 
 
 c Je. L 40. 
 
 a Vs. Ix. 3; Je.' 
 
 xiii. 12, 13. 
 
 6 " God"s judg. 
 ments are nieta- 
 pliorically repre- 
 sented by a cup 
 of intoxicating 
 liquors, bee. they 
 fill men with 
 astonishment, 
 and bereave them 
 of tlieir commoa 
 judgment and 
 discretion." — ■ 
 LoMcth. 
 
 Ps. Ixxv. 8; Is. 
 li. 17 ; Je. xlviii. 
 26, xlix. 12, li. 31 ; 
 Ha. ji. 16; Ke. 
 xiv. 10, xvi. 19. 
 " This is an allu- 
 sion to those 
 i n toxioating 
 draughts which 
 used to be given 
 to malefactors 
 just before their 
 execution.totaka 
 away their senses. 
 Immediately be- 
 fore the execu- 
 tion began, says 
 the Talmud, they 
 gave the con- 
 demiied a quan- 
 tity of frankin- 
 cense in a cup of 
 wine, to stupefy 
 him, «nd render 
 him insensible of 
 his pain. The 
 com passionate 
 ladies of Jerufar 
 
98 
 
 J ERE MIA IT. 
 
 [Cap. XXV. 18-2^ 
 
 lem generally 
 
 provided tliis 
 draught at their 
 own cost. The 
 foundation of 
 tliis custom was 
 the command of 
 Solomon, I'ro. 
 xxxi. 6." — Leiris. 
 e Household 
 Words. 
 
 a " Jerusalem 
 must first drink 
 of it, because 
 judgment begins 
 at the house of 
 God." — Kurds- 
 Horth. 
 
 h Mat. Hewy. 
 
 " This clause 
 may, however, 
 have been in- 
 serted by Jer., at 
 his final revision 
 of his prophecies 
 in Egypt."— 
 Fausset. 
 
 e " Auxiliaries." 
 — Gesenius. 
 
 d Herodotus. 
 
 e " The islands 
 and maritime re- 
 gions where the 
 Phoenicians had 
 planted colonies." 
 — Henderson. 
 
 " Contempt is 
 frequently regu- 
 lated by fashion." 
 — Zimmerman. 
 
 "It is the cur.se 
 of kings, to be 
 attended V>y 
 slaves, that take 
 tlieir humours 
 for a warrant to 
 break within the 
 bloody house of 
 life : and, on the 
 winking of au- 
 thority, to un- 
 derstand a law." 
 — Shakespeiire. 
 • 
 " I am no cour- 
 tier, no fawning 
 dog of State, to 
 lick and V.\m the 
 hand that buf- 
 fets me ; nor can 
 1 smile u])on my 
 guest, Bud praise 
 
 For the fiend .still walketh with cruel will, 
 
 AVith a swift and res^tless tread. 
 That he may l)y his g-uilesomc. subtle skill, 
 Gather alike both the .i,'-ood and the ill 
 
 "With the ruined and the dead. 
 
 But a summons we hear that comes from heaven, 
 
 With this deadly fiend to fig-ht : 
 And thoug-h his power be sevenfold seven, 
 To us that oppose 'tis assuredly given 
 
 To conquer, and put him to flight."^ 
 
 18 — 22. (18) kings," poss. to include Jeeoniah and Zedekiali, 
 the successors of Jehoiakim. as well as that monarch, as . . day, 
 " in the fourth year of Jehoiakim things had come into a very 
 bad posture." * (I'O Pharaoh., the general title of the Eg-j-ptiau 
 kings, like Shah, or Czar. (20) mingled people, Heb.' Ertb, 
 prob. foreign mercenaries, serving in Egypt ;« or the mixed 
 races on the shores of the Red Sea. Uz, a district of Edom. 
 Philistines, on the southern borders of the Mediterranean. 
 Azzah, or Gaza, remnant of Ashdod, this town had been 
 captured and destroyed by Psammcticus,'' after a siege of 29 
 years. (21, 22) Tyrns . . Zidon, the great Phoenician sea- 
 ports, isles, or coast-lands of the Jlediterranean.* 
 
 Ihmxc-wnrming. — On the marriage of their majesties, some 
 difficulties existed as to a suitable residence : St. James's Palace 
 was falling fast to decay ; Buckingham House required great; 
 repairs ; and Windsor Castle was actually in a state of dilapida- 
 tion. After due consideration, the little palace at Kew was 
 adopted as the temporary residence of the royal pair, while the 
 necessary repairs were made on Buckingham House and Windsor 
 Castle. When the latter was put in a state fit for their reception, 
 their majesties gave what is called a house-warming. The king' 
 showed, on this occasion, his real kindness of disposition, by the 
 activity which he displayed in making ready for his guests — 
 exploring kitchen, storerooms, and every apartment, to see that 
 all was going on right, and that proper cheer was provided, not 
 merely for the higher orders, but even for the soldiers in attend- 
 ance. No host could receive all his visitors in a more friendly, 
 courteous, and hospitable manner. He had an abundance of civil 
 things to say to everybody — pithy observations to the men, "and 
 agreeable compliments to the ladies. He kept every one in a 
 good humour, and always spared them the trouble of making- 
 long ceremonious answers. The royal family dined at a separate 
 table, a table elevated. This etiquette of a distinct table was 
 kept up all through the reign, though in some of the proudest 
 courts of Europe it is by no means strictly adhered to. It was 
 observed also when his majesty visited any of hia subjects. He 
 commenced the dignity of his habits early, and preserved it to 
 the end. Ilis i^redecessors of the Brunswick line were more 
 familiar on this point, and coxvrt anecdotes mention the fears 
 entertained by a certain German lady of the convivial eftects of 
 Sir Robert AValpole's punch on a monarch's conversation. Her 
 fears were, by the way, not altogether unreasonable, for Sir R. 
 Walpole himself used to say that he governed the king M"ith 
 good punch and bad Latin. The love of punch was one of the 
 German faults of the old monarch ; and was strikingly contrasted 
 
Cap. XXV. 23—29.] 
 
 JEREMTAIT. 
 
 99 
 
 with the extreme abstcmioueness? which distinguished his suc- 
 cessor, George the Third, who seldom indulged in more than a 
 ghxss of weak wine at a time. 'When calling it a German fault. 
 we must, at the same time, do to tlie Gennan character the 
 justice of observing that it is a fault of old date, and one from 
 which, at more recent times, it has almost wholly redeemed itself. 
 The queen used to tell on this head a pleasant anecdote, which 
 the king took great pleasure in repeating. The Duke of Meck- 
 lenburg, father of the queen, being once in familiar conversation 
 with the late Pope, he was asked by his Holiness " whether his 
 countrymen, the Germans, continued to drink as hard as they 
 used to do?" "Oh, no," replied the duke ; ''the sottish custom 
 is quite given over, except in the ecclesiastical electorates ! "/ 
 
 23—26. (2,3) Dedan, Ge. xxv. .3, 4 : Is. xxi. 13. Tema . . 
 Buz, neighbouring tribes of Arabia. Job xxxii. 2. corners, 
 lit. "All who have the corners of their hair shorn : "« a description 
 of the tribe of Kedar. (24) mingled people, not the same as 
 r. 20. Prob. the mixed tribes east and south of the Dead Sea.' 
 (25) Zimri,'^ prob. a tribe on the east side of the desert, towards 
 Persia : but not identified. Elam, at the head of the Persian 
 Gulf, used for Persia. (I'G) Sheshach, or Babylon.'' ch. li. 41. 
 
 The money xpr?it in alcohol in Great Uritain would every year 
 support 200,000 missionaries (which would be about one to every 
 3.000 adult heathen) at £200 each : 2,000 superannuated mis- 
 sionary labourers at £100 each ; 100,000 schoolmasters at £100 
 each ; build 2,000 churches and chapels at £2.000 each ; build 
 200 schools at £r)00 each ; give to .00.000 widows 5s. each per 
 week ; issue .50,000 Bibles every day at Is. Gd. each, and 100,000 
 tracts every day at 4s. per hundred ; and present to 192,815 poor 
 families £10 each on Christmas Day ; or it would, in one year, 
 supply each human being on the globe with a Bible : or it would, 
 in one year, provide 200 hospitals at £20.000 each : 12,000 churches 
 and chapels at £2,000 each : 10,000 schools at £600 each ; 2.000 
 mechanics' institutions and lecture halls at £2.000 each ; 25.000 
 almshouses at £200 each: 1.000 baths at £2.000 each: 2,000 
 libraries at £500 each: 200 public jmrks at £5,000 each; give 
 400.000 poor families £10 each : and present a new Bible to each 
 man. woman, and child in Great Britain. So that the money 
 spent in Great Britain alone, for strong drink, would, as far as 
 outward ministry is concerned, evangelise the world — besides 
 providing largely for temporal distress.' 
 
 27—29. (27) be drunken, etc., "metaphors denoting the 
 utter helplessness to which the nations ar*e reduced by drinking 
 the wine-cup of fury."-" (28) refuse to take, endeavour to 
 master the circumstances of difficulty and distress in which they 
 will be placed.* (2'.)) should . . unpunished ? if God did not 
 spare His own people, there could be no hope for them. 
 
 Dttti/ and ehuif/ei'.-'—The perils of good men in former days. 
 Persecution ; special trials and deliverances ; Apostles the only 
 preachers, hence, and for other reasons, God specially protected 
 them. The common prison ; strong, where common malefactors 
 ■were kept. Subject, — Duty and danger. I. Duty often involves 
 danger. This the case with nearly eveiy duty. Work, a duty, 
 exposes to various risks. To save one from drowning or burning, 
 a duty, yet there may be danger. A duty to live a Christian 
 a2 
 
 his stomachj 
 when I know ha 
 feeds (111 poison, 
 iinil ilcatli riis- 
 p\)iscd sits grin- 
 ninqr at my 
 table." — Seicel. 
 
 f Percy Anee. 
 
 a Je. ix. 26. 
 
 6 " A mixture of 
 people in that 
 part of Arabia, 
 jiroperly called 
 the Desert, cotj- 
 pifting of the 
 Nabatheans, 
 Anialekites, Mi- 
 diaiiites, and 
 other nati(ais, 
 called in Scrip, 
 by the general 
 name of the chil- 
 dren of the £ast." 
 — Lojcth. 
 
 Nomad Arabs. 
 
 c SjT. renders 
 Zamron, which 
 may connect 
 with Zimran, see 
 Ge. XXV. 2. 
 
 d " In the Ca- 
 balistic system, 
 called Athbash ; 
 the first Heb. 
 letter being ex- 
 jiressed liy tlie 
 last, Sheshach, 
 would exactly 
 answer to Eabel." 
 — Wordiwoith. 
 
 e A^ttcman Hall. 
 
 a Spl: Com. 
 
 b "If they either 
 do not believe 
 thy tlireaten- 
 ings, or else dis- 
 regaid them, as 
 thinking tliem- 
 selves sufficiently 
 provided against 
 any host'ile inva- 
 sion." — Lotcth. 
 
 " There is no sin 
 Wliich doth more 
 deface nod's im- 
 age tliau drunk- 
 enness ; it (iiS' 
 
100 
 
 JEREiHAn. 
 
 [Cap. XXV. 30-33, 
 
 guiseth a person, 
 nii'l dntli even 
 u n m a n h i m. 
 1) r n n k e n n e s s 
 makes liim liave 
 tlie throat of a 
 fish, the belly of 
 a swine, anil the 
 )iea(l of an ass. 
 Drunkenness is 
 the shame of na- 
 ture, tlie extin- 
 guisher of reason, 
 the shipwreck of 
 chastity, and the 
 murder of con- 
 science. Drunk- 
 enness is hurtful 
 to the body ; the 
 cup kills more 
 than the cannon; 
 it oau.ses dropsies, 
 catarrhs, apo- 
 ple.\ies ; it fills 
 the eye with fire, 
 and the legs with 
 water, and turns 
 the body into a 
 hospital."— r. 
 Watson. 
 
 e Hive. 
 
 "We talk about 
 'fetching up ' a 
 lost hour, but 
 the thing is im- 
 possible. A mo- 
 ment once lost is 
 lost for ever. 
 We could as ra- 
 tionally set out 
 to find a sound 
 that had expired 
 in air, as to find 
 a lost moment." 
 — Angell Jumes. 
 
 d R. T. S. 
 
 a Joel iii. 16 ; 
 Am. i. 2. 
 
 6 •Com p. Is. xvi. 
 9, lU; Je. xlviii. 
 33. 
 
 c " The thunder- 
 storm seen first 
 on the edge of 
 the horizon over- 
 Bpreads the 
 heaven, and tra- 
 vels frorw iiatiun 
 to nation in its 
 destructive 
 course." — Spk. 
 Com. 
 
 " If a catalogue 
 were made of all 
 the ti-uths that 
 
 life, but it often entails danger : cross >rov(ls. opposition, petty 
 persecution. II. Danger docs not absolve ns from duty. When 
 the doors were opened the ang-el did not t';ll the Apostles to go 
 away from the citJ^ but to ])rocecd with tlieir work and in the 
 most public place. Other men would be in great danger, s dritual 
 and eternal, if they did not hear " all the words of this life.'' 
 III. God our trust and protection from danger, while we are in 
 the way of duty. He saw His servants in jirisou : did not aban- 
 don them, sent an angel, etc. IMay not work a miracle in our 
 behalf : but will not neglect us. sends inward supports if not 
 outward deliverances. Learn : — Better to have external things 
 against us, and our conscience at peace, than conscience disturb- 
 ing us in the midst of surrounding prosperity.' 
 
 A minLttcr. — The late Rev. R. Hall observed, in conversation. 
 
 with a friend, " You remember Mr. , sir ? " " Yes. very well." 
 
 '• Were you awai-e of his fondness for brandy and water .' " " No." 
 " It was a sad habit ; but it grew out of liis love of story -telling ; 
 and that also is a ba^l habit, a very l)ad habit, for a minister of 
 the Gospel. As he grew old, his animal spirits flagged, and his 
 stories became defective in vivacity ; he therefore took to brandy 
 and water; weak enough, it is true, at fir.st. but soon nearly 
 ' half-and-half.' Ere long, he indulged the habit in a morning ; 
 and when he came to Cambridge, he would call upon me, and 
 before he ha<l been with me five minutes, ask for a little brandy 
 and water, which was of conr.se to give him artificial spirits to 
 render him agreeable in his visits to others. I felt great diffi- 
 culty, for he, you know, sir, was much older than I was : yet 
 being persuaded that the ruin of his character, if not of his 
 peace, was inevitable, unless something was done, I resolved 
 upon one strong eiiort for his rescue. So the next time that he 
 called, and, as usual, said, ' Friend Hall, I will thank you for a 
 glass of brandy and water ; ' I replied, ' Call things by their 
 proper names, and you shall have as much as you please.' • ^^'hy ! 
 do I not employ the right name ? I ask for a gla.'^s of brandy 
 and water.' ' That is the current, but not the appropriate name ; 
 ask for a glass of liquid fire, and distilled damnation, and you 
 shall have a gallon ! ' Poor man ! he turned pale, and for a 
 moment seemed struggling with anger. I'ut knowing that I did 
 not mean to insult him, he stretched out his hand, and said, 
 ' Brother Hall, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.' From 
 that time he ceased to take brandy and water.'"' 
 
 30 — 33. (30) roar, etc.." as a lion, filling with consternation 
 both the shepherds and their sheep, upon Ills habitation, 
 upon S\\([ixia,\\\^ pnstiirage. shout, the vintage cry.* (31) a 
 noise, that made by the trampling of the invaders. (32 ) evil, 
 in the sense of cahunitij. whirlwind, ch. xxiii. 10. coasts, 
 or sides, as ch. vi. 22.'; (33) not lamented, ch. viii. 2. xvi. 4. 
 
 Hypocrisy. — In the pursuit of pastoral duty, I stood a little 
 while ago in a cheesemonger's shoji. and' being in a fidgety 
 humour, and having a stick in my hand, I did what most Engli.<h- 
 men are sure to do — I was not content with seeing, but must 
 needs touch as well. ls\y stick came gently ujion a tine cheese 
 in the window, and, to my surpri.se, a mo.'^t metallic sound ema- 
 nated from it. 1'he sound was rather liollow, or one miglit have 
 surmised that all the tastelKiles had been iilled up with soverci<Tn8, 
 and thus the cheese had been greatly enriched, and the n-erchait 
 
Cap. xxvi. 1-7.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 101 
 
 had been his own banker. There was, however, a sort of crockery 
 jingle in tne sound, like the ring of a hnge bread or milk pan. 
 Buch as our country friends use so abundantly ; and I came to 
 the very correct conclusion that I had found a very well got-up 
 hypocrite in the shop-window. Mark, from this time, when I 
 pass by, I mentally whisper, "Pottery:" and the shams may 
 even be exchanged for realities, but I shall be long in believing 
 it. In my mind the large stock has dissolved into jiotsherds, and 
 the fine show in the window only suggests the potter's vessel. 
 The homely illustration is simply introduced because we find 
 people of this sort in our churches, looking extremely like what 
 they should be, yet having no substance in them, so that if, acci- 
 dentally, one happens to tap them somewhere or other with 
 eudden temptation or stern duty, the baked earth gives forth its 
 own ring, and the pretender is esteemed no longer.'* 
 
 34—38. (31) shepherds, fig. for kings and rulers, wallow, 
 cover yourselves over with: loU yourselves about in. prin- 
 cipal . . flock, lit. ■■ the strong ones of the flock," i.e. the leaders 
 of society ; the great and rich men. pleasant vessel, or 
 vessel of desire. » '• Destroyed as a crystal glass." (35) to flee, 
 lit. flight shall fail the shepherds. (;!(i) hath spoiled, or 
 spoileth, ch. vi. 2, 3. (37) peaceable habitations, or pastures 
 of peace : where the flocks lately dwelt safely. (38) forsaken 
 his covert, and come forth to judgment, oppressor, Heb. 
 Jonah, signifying also a doce.^ 
 
 Jljipucriaii and sincerity. — Consider, hypocrisy lies close in the 
 heart ; if thou art not very careful thou mayest easily pass a 
 false judgment on thyself. They who were sent to search the 
 cellar under the Parliament, at first saw nothing but coals and 
 winter provisions ; but upon a review, when they came to throw 
 Bway that stuff, they found all but provision for the devil's 
 kitchen : then the mystery of iniquity was uncased, and the 
 barrels of powder appeared. How many are there that, from 
 gome duties of piety they perform, some seeming zeal they ex- 
 press in profession, presently cry, " Omnia bene,'' and are so kind 
 to themselves as to vote themselves good Christians, who, did 
 they but take the pains to throw those aside, they might find a 
 foul hypocrite at the bottom of them all. Hyi:)ocrisy often takes 
 np her lodging next door to sincerity, and so she passes unfound, j 
 the soul not suspecting hell can be so near heaven. And as 
 hypocrisj', so sincerity is hard to be discovered. This grace often 
 lies low in the heart, like the sweet violet in some valley or near 
 some brook, hid with thorns and nettles — infirmities, I mean ; 
 so that there requires both care and wisdom, that we neither let 
 the weed of hypocrisy stand, nor pluck up the herb of grace in 
 its stead. ■= 
 
 CHAPTER TEE TWENTY-SIXTH. 
 
 1 — 7. (1) beginning, etc.. "prob. soon before the critical 
 hattle of Carchemisli. wh. established the supremacy of Xebu- 
 chadnezzar and Babylon."" (2) in the court, the largest 
 court, where the males assembled for worship. (3) repent me, 
 oil. xviii. 8. ^■i — 6) like Slliloh, ch. vii. 12, 14, (J) heard, i any retm-n. Sha 
 
 have been disco* 
 Tcreil bj' wrang- 
 ling in company; 
 or by solemn dis- 
 putation in the 
 sci:ool.s. I believe 
 it would appear 
 tliat the contend- 
 ing parties might 
 have been em- 
 ployed as advan- 
 tageouslyto man- 
 kind, and much 
 more so to them- 
 selves, in whip- 
 ping a top or 
 brandishing a 
 r a t t \&:' —Dr. 
 Brat lie. 
 
 d C. H. Spurgeon. 
 a " Your past 
 excellency shall 
 not render you 
 safe now. I will 
 turn to your ig- 
 nominy what- 
 ever glory I con- 
 feiTed on you." 
 — Calvin. 
 
 LXS. render, 
 " Ye shall faU 
 like chosen 
 rams." 
 
 6 " There may be 
 a covert allusion 
 to the Chalda?au 
 standard bearing 
 a dove on it, in 
 honour of Semi- 
 ramis, the first 
 queen, said in 
 popular supersti- 
 tion to have been 
 nourished by 
 doves when ex- 
 posed at birth, 
 and at death to 
 have been trans- 
 formed into a 
 dove.' '— Fausset. 
 
 c A Divine of the 
 .'^erenlceilth CViIf 
 lary. 
 
 It Je. XXV. 1, 11. 
 
 Clytie ■was a 
 water-nymph 
 who loved the 
 sun-god without 
 
102 
 
 JE RE if I AH. 
 
 rCap. xxvi. 8-11. 
 
 constantly prized 
 nt the ohjuct (pf 
 lier affectiiin, 
 looking at liiin 
 wlien lie rose, 
 ami while he 
 passed his daily 
 course. Slie saw 
 no other ohicot. 
 At last her limbs 
 rooted, and her 
 face became the 
 sun-flower, 
 which turns on 
 its stem so as 
 always to look at 
 the sun. 
 
 " Honour with 
 some is a sort of 
 paper credit, with 
 vhicU men are 
 obliged to trade 
 Avho are deficient 
 in the sterling 
 cash of morality 
 and religion." — 
 iSimmernmnn. 
 
 a " They accused 
 him of uttering 
 falsehooil in the 
 name of Jehovah, 
 a crime wh. was 
 threatened in the 
 law of Moses with 
 deat h." — Hen- 
 de.'son. 
 
 b Comp. Ac. vi. 
 13, li. 
 
 e Lit. " a sen- 
 tence of death is 
 to this man," i.e. 
 is due to him. 
 
 " Honour, my 
 lord, is much too 
 proud to catch at 
 every slender 
 twig of nice 
 distinction. 
 These for tli' un- 
 feeling vulgar 
 may do well ; 
 but those whose 
 Bouls are by the 
 nicer rule of 
 virtuous deltcaoy 
 only s w a y ' d, 
 stand at another 
 bar than that of 
 laws." - T/iumsoii . 
 
 'Houoara a- 
 
 efc, Jer. spoke publicly, and at a time when the court was full 
 of people. 
 
 Jfcrnic cnnsfancy. — A mother and her seven sons were brought 
 before the tyi-aut Antiochus in the persecution of the Jews, and 
 offered a discharge if they would but taste swine"s flesh. They 
 unanimously refused, were " tormented with scourges and whips," 
 but still refused. '' What wouldst thou ask of us ? We are ready 
 to die rather than tran.sgress the laws of our fathers," they said. 
 The enraged king ordered the speaker to be slain in the most 
 excruciating manner. His mother and six brothers were com- 
 pelled to witness his awful agony, yet, with unshaken constancy, 
 exhorted one another to die manfully. The second son follows 
 the first to martyrdom. The third stretched out his hands to the 
 executioner to be cut off. saying. '• These I had from heaven, and 
 for his laws I despise them." The fourth, fifth, and sixth sons 
 endured torture and death with the same dauntless fidelity. The 
 mother and her youngest son remain. The ma?'.gled members of 
 her six sons strew the ground. Antiochus now lays bribes before 
 the youth. Wealth and station are pi-offered him, if he will but 
 taste. The nobler than Spartan mother addresses him : " I beseech 
 thee, my son, look upon the heaven and the earth, and all that is 
 therein, and consider that God marie them of things that were 
 not ; and so was mankind made likewise. Fear not this tor- 
 mentor, but, being worthy of thy brethren, take thy death, that 
 I may receive thee in mercy again with thy brethren." O 
 wonderful woman ! The record runs, " Last of all, after the 
 sons, the mother died." These Jewish martyrs inherited the 
 promise, being " faithful unto death." 
 
 8—11. (8) priests and prophets, these were more bitter 
 against Jer. than the princes were, took him, apprehended 
 him, to put him on his trial, as a disturber of the Government, 
 and for discouraging the people from defending their country 
 against the enemy." (t)) why, they assume that the thing that 
 Jer. prophesied was absolutely impossible.* (10) princes, who 
 would not have the priests and people take the government out 
 of their hands, new gate, or east gate. A judicial court was 
 at once constituted. (11) worthy to die," and they demand 
 in.stant judgment and execution. 
 
 FaUiiHj hi Christian constancy. — You are thinking of the 
 thriving tradesman whose upward course you marked for so 
 many years. How regular he was in the sanctuary 1 How 
 fervent his zeal ! How admirable his devotedness to God ! In 
 business affairs he was honest, and affable, and diligent, and the 
 hand of the Lord prospered him. His liberality increased, and 
 many rejoiced in his light, or sat under his .shadow with .great 
 delight. He was a pillar, at once adding to the comeliness and 
 to the strength of the building. His beneficence continues to 
 this day ; but Avhat about his personal service ? "VNTiat about his 
 religious habits.' Where is his former activity? Where is now 
 his zeal, once so urgent that it almost verged upon fanaticism ? 
 Ah ! was it then, just then, when the Lord increased his capa- 
 bilities and augmented his resources of \isefulness — was it then 
 that the spirit of the world crept in? Is his zeal a matter of 
 histoiy ? Do the children of the church know an\i:hing about 
 him 1 Do they wonder that he was ever such an orderly, punc- 
 tual, active office-bearer as their fathers tell them he was — he, so 
 
Cap. xxvi. 12—19.] 
 
 JEREillAIt. 
 
 103 
 
 infrequent in liis attendance on the sanctuary — lie, so proverbial 
 for his lateness, partly haljitual, partly sensational when he does 
 come — he, whose voice is so seldom heard in prayer — he, who 
 never gladdens the humhle ones of the Lord's vintag-e by his 
 presence in their goodly fellowship — he, who has left all the toil 
 of the Redeemer's service to be done by his poorer brethren, con- 
 doning for his forsalsen labour by his willingness, it may be to 
 direct, and it may be to subscribe. Is it so that the spirit of the 
 world has crept in, and that, in grievous abandonment of his 
 former energy, he has grown weary in well-doing ? <^ 
 
 12—15. (12) tlie Lord sent me, so as a Divinely com- 
 missioned prophet he was above all human tribunals. The 
 answer of Jer. is simple and straightforward. (13) amend, 
 etc., ch. vii. 3. (11) in your hand, he wns quite willing to 
 submit to lawful government, but v/hatever the result, he must 
 simply deliver .the Divine message." (15) innocent blood, i.e. 
 the guilt of putting the innocent to death. 
 
 Chavacter of a minkter.- — A minister's character is the lock of 
 his strength, and if once this is sacrificed he is, like Samson 
 shorn of his hair, a poor, feeble, faltering creature, the pity of 
 his friends and the derision of his enemies. I would not have 
 ba<l ministers screened, nor would I have good ones maligned. 
 "When a preacher of righteousness has stood in the way of sinners, 
 and walked in the counsel of the ungodly, he should never 
 again open his lips in the great congregation until his repen- 
 tance is as notorious as his sin. But ■while his character is 
 unsullied, his friends should jireserve it with as much care 
 against the tongue of the slanderer as they would his life against 
 the hand of tlie assassin. When I consider the restless malignity 
 of the great enemy of God and holiness, and add to this his 
 subtlety and craft ; when I consider how much his malice would 
 be gratified and his schemes promoted by blackening the 
 character of the ministers of the Gospel ; when I consider what 
 a multitude of creatures there are who are his vassals, and under 
 his influence, creatures so destitute of moral principle and so 
 filled with venomous spite against religion as to be prepared to 
 go any lengths in maligning the righteous, and especially their 
 ministers, I can account for it on no other ground than that of 
 a special interposition of Providence, that the reputation of 
 Christian pastors is not more f retpiently attacked by slander and 
 destroyed by calumny. But probably we see, in this as in other 
 cases, that wise arrangement of Providence by which things of 
 delicacy and consequence are preserved by calling forth greater 
 Bolicitude for their safety. Church members should, therefore, 
 be tremblingly alive to the importance of defending their minis- 
 ter's character. They should neither expect to see him perfect 
 nor hunt after his imperfections. "When they cannot but see 
 his imperfections — imperfections which, after all, may be 
 consistent with not only real but eminent i)iety — they should 
 not take pleasure in either magnifying or looking at them, 
 but make all reasonable excuse for them, and endeavour to 
 lose sight of his infirmities in his virtues, as they do the spots 
 of the sun amid the blaze of radiance with which they are 
 eurroundt'd.* 
 
 16—19. CIG) spoken . . name, if Jer. was a true prophet, it 
 
 chieved far ex- 
 ceed those that 
 are created."^ 
 Solon. 
 
 "A Christian ia 
 
 the bigliest style 
 of man." — Pope. 
 
 d W. M. Punshon. 
 
 a See De. xriii. 
 
 20. 
 
 Comp. Jos.ix. 25; 
 2 Sa. XV. 26 ; Da. 
 iil. IC. 
 
 " D i pr n i t y ot 
 honour. — Base, 
 grov'lhng sonls 
 ne'er know true 
 honour's worth, 
 but v.'eigh it out 
 in mercenary 
 scales: tlie secret 
 pleasure of a 
 .LTcnerous act is 
 the great mind's 
 preat bribe." — 
 Dry den. 
 
 " Love's common 
 unto all the mass 
 of creatures, as 
 life and breath ; 
 lion our to maa 
 alone; honour 
 being then above 
 life, dislionour 
 ni ust be worse 
 than death ; for 
 fate can strike 
 but one, reproach 
 doth reach whole 
 families." — C'a/'i- 
 wright. 
 
 "As all things 
 that have life 
 court whatever 
 helps and solaces 
 and succours it, 
 and siiuns inju- 
 rious influences, 
 so the believer 
 applies to all the 
 appointed means 
 for the support 
 and nourishment 
 of his life, and 
 guards it from 
 tlie attack of all 
 adverse powers, 
 within and with- 
 out." — Dr. Lei/' 
 child. 
 
 b J. A. Jamet, 
 
104 
 
 JEUEMIATT. 
 
 fCap.xxvil. 1- 
 
 « " A prophet 
 couM not be put 
 to dentil uiilcis 
 he proplmsieil in 
 the liiim' nf othrr 
 gniis; or after his 
 proptiecy lial 
 failed in its ac- 
 co in pHshment." 
 —Fausscl. 
 h Ac. V. 21. 
 c " He prophesied 
 In tlie time of 
 Jotliam. Alia?,, 
 and Hczel<iah, 
 and was contem- 
 porary with 
 llosea and Amo^ 
 In Israel, and 
 •witli Isai.ah in 
 Judah.'-JKtf/-cfi- 
 tcoi'lh. 
 
 d2Chr.xxxii.26. 
 e Dr. Porter. 
 a " The circum- 
 stances detailed 
 in this and the 
 three following 
 «rerses appear to 
 have been ad- 
 duced in opposi- 
 tion to what had 
 been related re- 
 Bpecting Micah ; 
 and as they had 
 takeu place in 
 tlie reign of the 
 present monarch, 
 they furnished an 
 apt precedent for 
 the c o u d e m- 
 nation of .Jere- 
 miah." — Hender- 
 tnii. 
 
 " Without con- 
 stansy there is 
 neither love, 
 friendship, nor 
 virtue in the 
 ■world."- Addison. 
 b Spencer. 
 
 a Ncigelsbach, Spk. 
 Com., etc. 
 
 b " The task as- 
 si|:fned to Jer. 
 rei]uircd great 
 faith, as it was 
 Fiire to provoke 
 alike his own 
 counfrymon, and 
 the foreign nui- 
 ba-'s.adors, and 
 their kings, by a 
 set^niing insult, 
 at the very time 
 that all were full 
 of confident 
 hopes ground(Ml 
 on the confeile- 
 tacy." — Fausset, 
 
 ■was thoir duty to listen to his message.* CI 7) elders/ i.e. some 
 of the elder ones among these princes. CI8j Mieall, rtr..'^ comp. 
 Mic. i. 1, iii. 12. '^his Avas a denunciation, and a prophecy of 
 national calamities, like the prophecy of Jeremiah. (19) fear 
 the Lord, so as to give heed to His message, 'besoilgh.t tlie 
 Lord, liL " soothed by prayer the face of the Lord." ^ thus, 
 etc.. i.e. by doing any evil to Jer. 
 
 /iiiin a dt'.wlation. — Morning dawned : .and with my kind host, 
 
 to whom every spot in and around Jerusalem was familiar, 1 
 
 ascended to the terraced roof. Just b'^liind Moriah, the Tyropeau 
 
 ! valley was distinctly inii-k3d by a deeply-shaded dell, running 
 
 I from north to south through the city. B'yond it rose Zion, 
 
 ! higher and longer than Moriah As I looked, a moviiigr 
 
 ' object in one of the fiel'is riveted my attantion. '• Haste, giva 
 me the glass," I said. I turned it unon the spot. Yes, I waa 
 right ; a plough and a yoke of oxen were there at work. Jere- 
 miah's prophecy was fultlUed before my eyes.« 
 
 20—24:. (2 )) Urijall, wo have no other reference to this 
 prophet." Kirjath-jearim, Jos. ix. 17. (21) niigdity men, 
 captains of his army. (22) Elnathan, 2 Ki. xxiv. 8. Achbor, 
 2 Ki. xxii. 12. (23) fetohed, etc., Jehoiakim was at the time a 
 vassal of Egypt, so one accused of treason would be readily sur- 
 rendered to him. graves, etc., 2 Ki. xxiii. G. (21) nevertlie- 
 less, in spite of this attempt to urge the prince to jrat Jer. to 
 death. Ahikam, 2 Ki. xxii. 12, 14. 
 
 Advantarje of consfaiioj. — It is easy to keep that armour bright 
 which is daily used; bat, hanging by the wall till it be rusty, ifc 
 will take some time and pains to furbish it over again. If an 
 instrument be daily play;id ujion. it is easily kejit in tune ; bub 
 let it be awhile negi^ctad, and the strings and frets break, the 
 bridge flies off, and no small labour is required to bring it into 
 order again. And thus also it is in things spiritual, in the per- 
 formance of holy duties : if we continue them with a settled 
 constancy, they will be enaj, familiar, and delightful to us : but, 
 if once intermitted, it is a new work to begin again, and the 
 former estate will not be attained but with much endeavour and 
 great diificulty.* 
 
 CHAPTER TEE TWENTY-SEVENTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) Jehoiakim, this is prob. an error for Zedekiah.a 
 (2) bonds and yokes, the yoke here is the carved piece of 
 wood attached to the two yokes on the pair of oxen, and connect- 
 ing them : but it stands for the entire instrument. The bonds 
 are the straps or fastenings of these yokes. (3) send them, 
 this was to be actually done. Tlie nations referred to were those 
 wh. God had given into the hand of the king of Babylon. The 
 ambassadors of these kings had ])rob. come to Jerus.. to make a 
 league for resisting the king of Babylon.' (l) their masters, 
 the great kings, v. 3. 
 
 God and the earth, (rr. 4, ■'i). — I. God is the Crc.ntor of all 
 earthly things ; the earth is not eternal, not the production of 
 chance, not the work of many gods. II. God is .he Sovereign 
 Disposer of all earthly things : might have built it and left it 
 uninhabited ; might have populated it with other creatures than 
 
Cap.xxvii. 5—15.] 
 
 JEREMIAB. 
 
 105 
 
 those who tenant it now : He has given what He thinks fit of it I <^ ^''- ^^'C"^*- 
 to individuals, tribes, and nations." 
 
 5—8. (5) given it," Da. iv. 17, 2.5, 32. God acts in the 
 sovereignty of His will, but infinite wisdom and goodness guide 
 His will. (6) my servant, ch. xxv. 9, xliii. 10. beasts, tfc, 
 " the territories of these nations were to become mere hunting 
 grounds for him."'* (7) son . . son's son, Evil-Merodach was 
 his son, and Belshazzar his grandson." serve . . him, or bring 
 him into servitude. (8) yoke, see note on v. 2. 
 The creation. — 
 
 I saw when at His word the formless mass, 
 The world s material world, came to a heap ; 
 Confusion heard His voice, and wild uproar 
 Stood ruled, stood vast infinitude confined ; 
 Till at His second bidding darkness fled. 
 Light shone, and order from disorder sjirung : 
 Swift to their several quarters hasted then 
 The cumbrous elements, earth, flood, air, fire ; 
 And this ethereal quintessence of heaven 
 Flew upward, spirited with various forms, 
 That roU'd orbicular, and turned to stars 
 Kumberless, as thou seest, and how they move ; 
 Each had his place appointed, each his course ; 
 The rest in circuit walk this universe* 
 
 9 — 11. (9) diviners, etc., these arts were exjiressly forbidden 
 to the Jev/s." enchanters, or soothsayers. (10) to remove 
 you, i.e. the certain effect of the delusion will be to remove you. 
 (11) bring . . neck under, i.e. yield to the conqueror, and put 
 themselves into su Injection to him. 
 I'ietiive of a ivitcli. — 
 Through a close lane as I pursued my journey, 
 And meditating- on the last night's vision, 
 I spied a wrinkled hag, with age grown double, 
 Picking dry sticks, and mumbling to herself ; 
 Her eyes with scalding rheum were galld and red, 
 And palsy shook her head ; her hands seemed wither'd ; 
 And on her crooked shoulder had she wrapp'd 
 The tatter'd remnant of an old striped hanging, 
 "\^'hich served to keep her carcase from the cold. 
 So there M'as nothing of a piece about her. 
 Her lower weeds were all o'er coarsely patched 
 With different coloured rags — black, red, white, yellow, 
 And seem'd to speak variety of wretchedness. 
 I ask'd her of the way, which she informed me ; 
 Then craved my charity, and bade me hasten 
 To save a sister.* 
 
 12 — 15. (12) Zedekiah, who was restless under the Baby- 
 lonian yoke, and, revolting, brought the final ruin on the land, 
 bring . . under, fig. for quietly submitting. (13) die, by 
 stubborn and wilful resistance. (14) a lie, ch. xiv. 11, xxiii. 
 21, xxix. 8, lyingly. (15) not sent them, so no kind of trust 
 is to be put in their prophecies. 
 
 Detection of hjinrj. — The folly of lying consi.sts in its defeating 
 its own puri)ose. A habit of lying is generally detected in the 
 end ; and after detection the liar, instead of deceiving, will not | 
 
 a " Gorl liere, as 
 elsewhere, con- 
 nects with the 
 symbol doctrine, 
 wljicli is as ib 
 were its fOul, 
 witliovit whicli it 
 wduld be not 
 only cold amj 
 frivolous, but 
 even dead." — • 
 Oilvin. 
 b S}ik-. Com. 
 c '• The two kings 
 mentioned in 
 Ptolemy's Canon 
 between Evil-Me- 
 rodach and Bel- 
 shazzar (or Na- 
 boncilus) — viz., 
 Neri g lissarus ami 
 Labor osoarcho- 
 dus, had no right 
 by lineal descent: 
 for Keriglissaru3 
 was only husband 
 to Evil-llero- 
 dach's daugliter, 
 and Laborosoar- 
 cUodus was son 
 to Nori^lissarus." 
 —Lnirlli. 
 d Milton. 
 
 a De. xviii. 11 ; 
 Is. ii. 6. 
 
 " There is also an 
 affected igno- 
 rance, such a one 
 as is contracted 
 by a wilful neg- 
 lect of the 
 means ; and this 
 is not excusing 
 but conilemni'jg. 
 ... In the midst 
 of liglit to be in 
 darkness ; for an 
 Israel to have an 
 Egypt in a 
 Goslien; this is 
 higldy provok- 
 ing, ami may 
 justly cause God 
 to lay hold oa 
 vengeance." -Z>c. 
 Sfinih. 
 b Olicay. 
 
 "To perceive 
 truth by its pro- 
 per eviilence, is of 
 the forni.al na- 
 ture of tlie ra- 
 tional mind ; as 
 it is of the 
 physical nature 
 of the eye to see 
 an object by the 
 lipriit tliat it re- 
 flects, or oi the 
 
108 
 
 JERK in AH. 
 
 [Cap. xxviii.l— 4* 
 
 ear to hoiir ttie 
 sounils wliioh the 
 air conveys to 
 it."—lip.lioisley. 
 
 a Oilpfn. 
 
 a 2 Ki. xxir. 13 ; 
 2 Chr. xxxvi. 5 — 
 7. 
 
 6 2 Ki. XXY. 13— 
 17 ; 2 Chr. xxxvi. 
 18. 
 
 " Do not as some 
 ungracious pas- 
 tors do, sliow me 
 tlie steep and 
 thorny way to 
 lieaven, wliiUt 
 like a puff'd and 
 reckless liliertine. 
 himself the prim- 
 rose path of dal- 
 liance treads, and 
 recks not his own 
 roa<l." — Shake- 
 t pea re. 
 
 c Mrs. Jameson. 
 a 2 Ki. XXV. 1 3 ; 
 Je. lii. 17, 20, 21. 
 
 The gennineness 
 of these four i-r. 
 (19—22) is dis- 
 puted. 
 
 b Ezr. i. 7, v. 13, 
 14. 
 
 Toil needn't liave 
 such a reverence 
 for truth as al- 
 w.ays to stand at 
 an aw fill distance 
 from it. 
 
 a " The Jews 
 often divided any 
 period into two 
 halves, the begin- 
 ving ami the^/i I. 
 Eo tlie fonrth 
 year would lie in 
 the b'yiiiniiig of 
 Zedekiah's reign; 
 and during the 
 first tliree years 
 the country was 
 ill a Very dis- 
 turbed state."— 
 Fausset. 
 h Better render, 
 
 even bo believed when he happens to speak the truth. Nay, 
 every sinfclc lie is attended with such a variety of circumstances 
 which l''a<i to a detection, that it is often discovered. The uso 
 grenerally made of a lie is to cover a fault ; but as this end is 
 seldom answered, we only aggravate what we wish to conceal. 
 In point even of prudence, an honest confession would serve u3 
 better." 
 
 16—18. (Ifi) vessels, etc., these had been carried away in 
 the reigns of Jeconiah, and also of Jehoiakim." (17, is) go 
 not, etc., Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard under Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, carried all away.* , 
 
 Preparation for m/nistri/. — Once on a time, when St. Ildefonso 
 was entering his cathedral at the head of a midnight pi'ocession, 
 he perceived the high altar surrounded by a blaze of light. He 
 alone of all the clergy ventured to approach, and found the 
 Virgin herself seated on his ivory episcopal throne, and sur- 
 rounded by a multitude of angels chanting a solemn service from 
 the Psalter. He bowed to the ground before the heavenly vision ; 
 and the Virgin thus addressed him : '• Come hither, most faithful 
 servant of God, and receive this robe, which I have brought thee 
 from the treasury of mj' Sou." Then he knelt before her : and 
 she threw over him a chasuble, or cassock, of heavenly tissue, 
 which was adjusted on his shoulders by the attendant angels." 
 
 19—22. (10) pillars, etc.. 1 Ki. vii. 1.5, 2.S, 27.'^ (20—22) 
 then . . restore, after the captivity, when God Himself shall 
 arrange for the return of His people. This was fulfilled in the 
 commission of Cyrus.' 
 
 Divine f (lit li fill ne-iis. — A storekeeper of the Christian Commis- 
 sion was requested to cut the slices of bread thinner, as the 
 supply was running low. He said, " Oh, no ! I can't : the poor 
 fellows are so hungry ! " '' But our brea<^l will soon be gone." 
 " "Well, I have faith to believe the Lord will send us more before 
 we are quite out." He did as he liked, feeding the hungry 
 soldiers that pressed about him. The last loaf was taken from 
 the shelf, and hundreds were still unfed, when an immense load 
 of provisions was driven up to the head-quarters of the Commis- 
 sion, — more than enoiigh to supply all their wants. It came 
 moi-e than a hundred miles to Gettysburg, just in time. The 
 Lord does not require thin slices, but a strong faith. 
 
 CHAPTER THE TJFENTY-EIGHTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) beginning, or earlier half. Zedekiah reigned 
 eleven years." of Gibeon, a priestly city, Jos. xxi. 17. (2) 
 broken' . . king, by this declaration Hananiah assures the 
 peoi)le that they will be relieved of Babylonian dependence and 
 bondage. (."!) Wo fnll years, lit. '-two years of days."' (4) 
 Jeconiah, whom the people regarded as their rightful king. 
 
 The vtini.tter's asftnciation ovit.h Chrint. — After preaching over 
 twenty-five years — aaid among you during the greatest number 
 of those years — in looking back upon my experience, that parfc 
 of my life which stands out, and which I remember most vividly, 
 is just that part that has had some conscious 'association with 
 Christ. All the rest is pale and thin, and lies like a cloud ou the 
 
Cap. xxviii. 5—14.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 107 
 
 horizon. I remember so mucli of my life in the ministry as has 
 been full of Christ, and almost all the rest I have forgotten. 
 Doctrines, systems, measures, methods — what may be called the 
 necessary mechanical and external part of worship ; the more 
 obvious part ; the ]iart which tlie senses would recognise — this 
 Beems to liave withered and fallen off like the leaves of last 
 summer ; but that part which has taken hold of Christ remains, 
 abides.'* 
 
 5 — 9. (5) said, in answer to this iitterly false prophecy. (6) 
 amen, or even so I could heartily wish it might be. (7) 
 nevertheless, Le. spite of all your prophecies and my wishes. I 
 must give you God's message. (8) prophets . . pestilence, 
 Jer. here intimates that he does not stand alone. He only carries 
 on former Divine denunciations. Considering the corruption of 
 the times, prophecies of calamity were much more likely to be 
 given than prophecies of peace." (9) when . . pass, Jer. is 
 eatisfled to wait the testing of events. 
 
 Ladij Iluntiniidnn and Mr. M'hitrfiihl. — A Christian minister 
 relates an anecdote, which he heard from Lady Anne Erskine. 
 after he had Vieen x^reaching in Spafields Chapel, London, oir the 
 evening of February 7, 1 71)8, to a large and attentive congrega- 
 tion, it relates to a brother of the Eev. George 'Whitefield. Mr. 
 "Whitefield, it appears, had been in a backsliding state ; but, under 
 a sermon preached by his broth er in the Countess of Huntingdon's 
 chapel, Bath, it pleased God to arouse him from that state : after 
 which, however, he became melancholy and despairing. He was 
 takiug tea with the Countess of Huntingdon, on a service even- 
 ing, in the chapel-house, and her ladyship endeavoured to raise 
 his desponding hopes by conversing- on God's infinite mercy 
 through Jesus Christ ; but, for a while, in vain. '■ My lady," he 
 replied, " I know what you say is true. The mercy of God is 
 infinite : I see it clearly. But, ah ! my lady, there is no mercy 
 for me — I am a wretch, entirely lost." '"I am glad to hear it, 
 Mr. Whitefield," said Lady Huntingdon. '• I am glad at my heart 
 that yon are a lost mar ." He looked with great surprise. '"Wliat, 
 my lady, glad ! glad at your heart that I am a lost man 2 " '• Yes. 
 Mr. "Whitefield, truly glad ; for Jesus Christ came into the world 
 to save the lost ! " He laid down his cup of tea on the table. 
 " Blessed be God for that," said he. " Glory to God for that 
 word," he exclaimed. " Oh, what unusual power is this which I 
 feel attending it ! Jesus Christ came to save the lost ! then I 
 have a ray of hope." and so he went on. As he finished his last 
 cup of tea. his hand trembled, and he complained of illness. He 
 went out into the chapel court for the benefit of tlie air, but 
 staggered to the wall, exclaiming, " I am very ill." A poor old 
 woman, who was going into the chapel, lent him her staff to 
 suppoi't him into the house, saying she would call for it when 
 Divine service was over, and inquire after him. But his time 
 was come. Soon after he was brought into the house he expired. 
 
 10 — 14. (10) took . . yoke," ch. xxvii. 2. This was done as 
 a sign that Hauaniah regarded Jer.'s predictions as wholly false. 
 He matched Jer.'s symbolic act by an answering symbolical act. 
 (11) all nations, ch. xxvii. 7. went liis way, not deigning 
 any reply. fl2. 1:5) siialt make, better, vllt make; i.e. your 
 conduct in encouraging the people to resist is^ebuchadncz2it>a: will 
 
 " I liave cleter- 
 niiiifil to break." 
 c " H a n a n i a h 
 jirob. fixed tliis 
 date by the ex- 
 pectation tbat 
 the confederacy 
 tlien on foot 
 would defeat Ne- 
 b u c h a dnezzar." 
 — ''^pk. Com. 
 d Bt^echer. 
 (I " Hauaniahliad 
 given no warn- 
 ing as to the 
 need of repent- 
 ance and cunver- 
 sii n, but had 
 foretold prospe- 
 rity uncondition- 
 ally." — Fausset. 
 One Sabbath af- 
 ternoon, soon 
 after lie had be- 
 gun Ills sermon, 
 I Jlr. Fuller ob- 
 ! served several of 
 I his congregation 
 asleep. Grieved 
 with their im- 
 proper conduct, 
 I he disturbed 
 j them by a smart 
 rap with his hand 
 I on the pulpit, 
 and said, " I have 
 often been afraid 
 of preaching you 
 to sleep ; but it 
 cannot be my 
 fault to-day, for 
 you are asleep 
 almost before I 
 have begun." 
 " I want to be 
 better acquaint- 
 ed with God'a 
 Holy Word; to 
 have its inesti- 
 mable truths 
 lodged in my 
 m e ni r y, its 
 heavenly doc- 
 trines impressed 
 upon my heart; 
 that my tempera 
 may take their 
 fashion from it, 
 and my public 
 a d m inistrations 
 be enriched by 
 it."— y/wrt!/. 
 
 a " Ilananiah re- 
 sorts to violence, 
 tears the yoke fr. 
 the Prophet's 
 neck, and breaks 
 it, prob. to the 
 great delight or 
 the multitude, 
 wiio saw iu tliia 
 
'108 
 
 JEREXflAIT. 
 
 [Cap. xxiz.l— 7. 
 
 spiritecl net a 
 Bjiiiliol of de- 
 liverance." — !:>pk. 
 Com. 
 b Je. xxvii. 6, 7. 
 
 Pt. Diilip (le 
 Neri followed tlie 
 anticipations of a 
 young law stu- 
 dent tbrougli all 
 the stages of lii.s 
 e X ]) e c t e il tri- 
 iimphs with tiie 
 question, " And 
 then?" It came 
 in at every point; 
 and, last of all, 
 with his ima- 
 gined victories 
 won, the impres- 
 sive question 
 ■was, "And 
 then?" TlKi 
 student felt its 
 force, and was 
 led to give up 
 the law for the 
 ministry. 
 
 c £. Da vies. 
 
 V. 16. W. May, 1 ; 
 S. Darifs, ii. 130; 
 J. liiddock, iii. 
 33; W. T. Young, 
 ii. 234;^'. /y/i'iH'7- 
 ton, it. 285; T. 
 Dwiy/il, ii. 244. 
 
 a Dr. TaJmage. 
 
 "He that finds 
 Truth, without 
 loving her, is 
 like a bat ; wh., 
 .though it have 
 eyes to discern 
 that there is a 
 sun, yet hath so 
 evil eyes tliat it 
 cannot delight 
 in the sun." — Hir 
 Philip Sidney. 
 
 You may know 
 real Christians, as 
 you know any- 
 thing else; causes 
 by their effects. 
 
 t Pret. Davies. 
 
 only rosult in makingf their captivity the r.iore bitter. (14) 
 yoke of iron, imjio.-fsible to break. an<l heavy to bear.* 
 
 Jrii)ora)icr of the fiif lire. — None, indeed, can open the " seven- 
 sealed book," or look forward ovei; the dim and shadowy field 
 stretching out inimitably before him. The astronomer discourses 
 on the rate at which a sunbeam travels, and explains how the 
 flashing lightning may be dispersed, and its terrible swoop evaded. 
 He even indicates those spheres where storms never gather, and 
 thunders never roll ; but he cannot solve the anxious problems 
 of our future, nor help us by his great wisdom to avoid its mani- 
 fold evils, because they come uuf ore warned. Nor will the lives 
 of those gone before avail us, seeing no two lives are marked by 
 the same vicissitudes, or chequered by the same light and shades, 
 the same joy and sorrow. In the eloquent words of a foreiga 
 divine, •' We can become familiar with a landscape ; we know 
 where to find the waterfall, and the shady ledge where the violets 
 grow in spring, and the sassafras gives forth its odours ; but we 
 can never become familiar witli our life-landscape ; we can never 
 tell where we shall come upon the shady dell, or where the 
 fountains will gush, and the birds sing. That is with God." 
 And Ilis name be praised that it is so ! for a definite iirescience 
 thereof would, in most instances, cloud the whole course of life, 
 poison every stream of enjoyment, and render existence a curse 
 of no ordinary magnitiide." 
 
 15 — 17. (15) not sent thee, Jer. had courage to make this 
 distinct charge when he had received the new message from God. 
 (1(5) this year, Ilananiah actually died two months after utter- 
 ing his false prophecy, taught "rebellion, De. xiii. .">. (17) 
 seventh month, comp. fifth month of r. 1. This fulfilment of 
 Jer.'s word must have greatly strengthened his authority as Gods 
 Prophet. 
 
 A startling antwnnccmrnt (?". 10).— These words proved true in 
 the case of Hananiah. The first Sunday in the year a tim-C for 
 earnest thought. I. Those who are over thirty rears of age 
 have gone beyond the average of human life. II. The character 
 of our occupations adds to the probability. III. Eapid climatic 
 changes threaten our lives." — The grmt jwi^xihllitii of the ncm 
 year. — I. Life is the greatest uncertainty in the world. 1. Thou- 
 sands have died since the last New- Year's day ; 2. Thousands of 
 others will die before the next; 3. Youth no prevuitive; 4. 
 Health no safeguard ; 5. You may have to leave j'our schemes 
 unfinished : tJ. Your education may be only begun : 7. You may 
 be unprepared : 8. You may delay pre[)aration ; 0. You may be 
 unwilling to think about it. II. You may have strong hopes of 
 the contrary. Should you die this year — 1. You will be for ever 
 cut off from all the i)leasures of life ; 2. All your hopes will be 
 disappointed ; 3. You will be deprived for ever of the means of 
 salvation.* 
 
 a "It would have 
 degraded their 
 wlifilo moral na- 
 ture to have lived 
 
 CHAPTER THE TJrEXTY-NINTII. 
 
 1—7. (1) residue of the elders, those of them who were 
 
 still alive. (2) after that, etc.. 2 Ki. xxiv. 12. etc. queen, 
 
 or queen-mother. (3) Zedekiah sent, the object of this 
 
 is'^'conspii-ators^ embassy is not indicated. (4) all . . captives, the letter waa 
 
Cap. xxix. 8—14] 
 
 JEREMIAIT. 
 
 109 
 
 ^vritten poon after they were caiTied away, and was intended to 
 console them. (5) build, etc.. i.e. settle quietly down, for the 
 captivity will certainly be prolong-ed. (C) increased there, 
 in n' mbers and wealth. (7) seek tlie peace, or be peaceable 
 citizens in the land of sojourn, duly obeying the laws." 
 
 l.'ai/iiiond the trarellev. — Raymond, a celebrated European 
 traveller, speaking of the Spanish smugglers, says : " These 
 smugglers are as adroit as they are determined, are familiarised 
 at all times with peril, and mucu in the very face of death. 
 Their first movement is a never-failing shot, and certainly would 
 be an object of dread to most passengers ; for where are they to 
 be dreacled more than in deserts, where crime has nothing to 
 witness it. and the feeble no assistance ? As for myself, alone 
 and unarmed, I have met them without anxiety, and have 
 accompanied them without fear. We have little to ap]'rohcnd 
 from men whom we inspire with no distrust or envy, and every- 
 thing to expect in those from whom we claim only wh.at is due 
 from man to man. The laws of nature still exist for those who 
 have long shaken off the law? of civil government. At war 
 with society, they are sometimes at peace with their fellows. 
 The nssassin has been my guide in the defiles of the boundaries 
 of Italy ; the smuggler of the Pyrenees has received me with a 
 welcome in his secret paths. Armed, I should have been the 
 enemy ot both ; unarmed they have alike respected me. In such 
 expectation, I have long since laid aside all menacing apparatus 
 whatever." * 
 
 8—11. (8~) diviners, etc., ch. xiv. 14. (0) falsely, or in a 
 lie. (10) after seventy years, ch. xxv. II, 12. (11) peace, 
 or good will, expected end, or, " a future and a hope." '■ An 
 end. and that such an end as you wish for,'' 
 
 Dirliie pttrpo.'^e.t fiilJiUcd in rt7i.s>ver to j)raj/er (vi\ 8 — 13). — I. A 
 certain danger declared. II. A blessed deliverance promised. 
 1. The grounds on which it rested : 2. The time of their return 
 expressly declared : 3. In their restoration the Divine faithful- 
 ne s would be strikingly manifested ; 4. The procuring cause of 
 their deliverance was the boundless compassion of God. III. An 
 important duty enjoined. 1. It is Divinely ordained ; 2. The 
 greatest encouragement is afforded for its observance ; 3. To be 
 successful it must be attended to in no formal manner. 
 
 12—14. (12) call upon me. Da. ix. 3. (13) seek, etc., 
 Le. xxvi. 39, 40 ; De. xxx. 1 ; Ps. xxxii. G. (14) be found, etc., 
 comp. De. iv. 29, 30, xxx. 1 — 5. 
 
 Heart sea>xhinf/s (r. 13). — I. Man, ihrough all ages of time, 
 has been influenced by a principle of reform, so all spiritual 
 l^rogress must be the outcome of diligent searching. II. This 
 searching is the child of necessity. III. The searching to be 
 successful must be thorough. Apjjly : — 1. The ultimate and in- 
 evitable object of search ; 2. The certainty of success assured, 
 dependent only upon one condition named, earnestness ; 3. 
 Searching is not always strenuous exertion, study the might of 
 systematic inaction ; 4. Note the individual reference of the 
 text. 
 
 Address to elder scholars. — You are feeling much your need of 
 salvation, but you do not feel it more, or indeed so much, as you 
 really need it. (We should try to keep up, and deepen earnest 
 
 handed togetlier 
 apainst the coun- 
 try tliat was for 
 tlie time their 
 li o m e, and 
 cherishing feel- 
 ings of liatred 
 towards those 
 v.'itli wliom tliey 
 were every day 
 brought into con- 
 tact." — Spk. Com, 
 
 r. 7. A. 
 573. 
 
 Fuller, 
 
 " Ml true opin- 
 ions are living, 
 and show their 
 life hy being 
 capable of nou- 
 rishment ; tliere- 
 fore of ch.Tuge. 
 But their ch.inge 
 is that of a tree, 
 not of a cloud." 
 — Runkin. 
 
 b Cheever. 
 
 "What is truth?" 
 was once asked 
 of a deaf and 
 dumb boy. lie 
 moved his finger 
 in a straight line. 
 " What is false- 
 hood?" He 
 male a zigzag 
 motion with his 
 linger. Truth 
 is the straight 
 line, falsehood is 
 the crooked way. 
 
 r?). 12, 13. /. 
 &lade, v. 19. 
 
 a T. H. B., in 
 
 Analyst. 
 
 " The truth is 
 infinite as the 
 firmament above 
 you. In child- 
 hood both seem 
 near and measur- 
 able ; but with 
 years they grow 
 and grow ; and 
 seem further off, 
 ar.d further, and 
 grander, and 
 tleeper, and vast- 
 er, as God Him- 
 self ; till you 
 
110 
 
 JEREMIAB. 
 
 [Cap. xxlx. 15-23, 
 
 smile to remem- 
 ber how you 
 thought you 
 could touch the 
 sky, airl blusji 
 to recollect the 
 proud auil self- 
 SulTicient way in 
 ■which you u^eil 
 to tiUk of know- 
 ins: or preachinjf 
 •Tlie Trutli.' "— 
 F. W. Robertson. 
 
 No Christian 
 man, through the 
 operation of 
 
 grace, loses his 
 identity ; he still 
 retain? some pe- 
 cialiai-itios of liis 
 former character. 
 We may trace in 
 Paul the Apostle 
 the lineaments of 
 Saul the perse- 
 cutor. 
 
 6 Hive. 
 
 "To play with 
 Important 
 truths, to dis- 
 turb the repose 
 of established te- 
 nets, to subtilise 
 objections, and 
 elude proof, is 
 too often the 
 sport of youthful 
 vanity, of which 
 maturer expei-i- 
 ence commonly 
 repents. There 
 is a time when 
 every man is 
 weary of raisinar 
 difficulties only 
 to task himself 
 with their solu- 
 tion, and desires 
 to enjoy truth 
 without the 
 labour or hazard 
 of contest." — Dr. 
 Siimuel Johnson. 
 
 a Checver. 
 
 a "Burninpc alive 
 wag a mole of 
 punishment cus- 
 tomary among 
 the Chahhuaus." 
 — Ilendfrson. 
 
 b Is. xxxii. 6. 
 
 Believers are 
 Gods . workman- 
 
 feeling' ; injury may be done by comforting' too soon.) God and 
 Christ and the Holy Spirit are much more anxious about your 
 salvation than you are. (See Jer. xxix. 11.) Illustrating the 
 Divine anxiety for salvation of men : the Father devises the 
 plan^tho San executes it at cost of humiliation, sacrilice, and 
 death — the Holy Ghost has been striving with you a long- time, 
 until almost grieved and quenched. Do you say, But why make 
 this condition, ■' When ye shall search for Me with all your 
 heart" .' Surely if you are really in earnest you would not wish 
 to bring to God half a heart. This is the real difficulty : we are 
 so unwilling to seek God wholly, to give all for Christ, to j^ield 
 unto Him body, soul, aad spirit. To help you in getting your 
 whole soul united in seeking God, ponder these considerations. 
 1. The priceless value of the soul ; 2. The shortness and un- 
 certainty of life ; 3. The sadness and bitterness of sin ; 4. Your 
 utter helplessness in saving yourself ; n. The full and sufficient 
 salvation provided in Jesus Christ. If your heart is wholly set 
 upon the search for God. it will be manifested by such things as 
 these : — (1) The immediate and resolute giving up of all sin ; (2) 
 The earnestness of your own personal decision for Christ ; (3) 
 The importunity with which you carry your cry for mercy and 
 salvation to the throne of the heavenly grace. Let then your 
 whole heart seek.* 
 
 15 — 19. (lo) ye liave said, these denunciations are addressed 
 to the false prophets. (IG) king that sitteth, Zedekiah. who 
 was not the actual king while Jeconiah lived. (17) vile figs, 
 ch. xxiv. 8. (18) persecute them, ch. xxiv. 9, alsoxix. 8, xxv. 
 18. (19) becatise, etc., ch. xxv. 4. xxxii. 33. 
 
 I?c,tculH/j a droivmng hoy. — The Rev. Blr. Kelly, of the town of 
 Ayr, once preached an excellent sermon from the parable of the 
 man who fell among thieves. He was i^articularly severe on the 
 conduct of the priest, who saw him, and ministered not unto 
 him, but passed by on the other side ; and. in an animated and 
 pathetic flow of eloquence, he exclaimed, " "What ! not even the 
 servant of the Almighty ! he whose tongue was engaged in the 
 work of charity, whose bosom was appointed the seat of brotherly 
 love, whose heart the emblem of pity : did he refuse to stretch 
 forth his hand, and to take the mantle from his shoulders to 
 cover the nakedness of woe 'J If he refused, if the shepherd him- 
 self went astray, was it to be wondered at that the flock followed .' " 
 Such were the precepts of the preacher, and he practised what he 
 preached. The next day, when the river was much increased, a 
 boy was swe^it overboard from a small boat by the force of the 
 current. A great concourse of people were assembled, but none 
 of them attempted to save the boy ; when Mr. Kelly threw him- 
 self from his chamber window into the cui'rent, and at the hazard 
 of his own life saved that of the boy." 
 
 20—23. (20, 21) Ahab . . Zedekiah, false prophets, not 
 otherwise known. (22) roasted, cutii]). Da. iii. G." (23) 
 villany, folly, or lewdness.* 
 
 Ilijpocritcx nfcldnff iltcir own adrantage. — God is in the hypo- 
 crite's mouth, but the world is in his heart, which he expects to 
 gain through his good reputation. I have read of one that 
 offered his prince a great sum of money to have leave once or 
 twice a day to come into his presence, and only say, •' God save 
 
Cap. xxix. 24-32.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 Ill 
 
 yonr Majesty ! " T'ne prince, wondering- at this large offor for so 
 Binall a favour, asked him, " What advantage would this afford 
 him .' " " sii-e," saith he, " this, though I have nothing else at 
 your hands, will get me a name in the country for one who is a 
 great favourite at court, and such an opinion will help me to 
 more at the year's end than it costs me for the purchase." Thus 
 some, by the name they get for great saints, advance their 
 worldly interests, which lie at the bottom of all their profession.^' 
 
 24 — 29. (24) to Shemaiali, a false prophet. Nehelamite, 
 or from the village of Nehlem." Shemaiali is onlj' known through 
 this passage. (25) letters, prob. one to the people, and a sepa- 
 rate and private one to the priest. (2G) officers, lieb. j^dkids; 
 having the overcharge of the Temple. Overseers to keep order, 
 mad, c/c, intimating that Jeremiah was in such a state. (27) 
 reproved, exerted your authority in silencing. (28) is long, 
 this was the brunt of Jer."s olfending. The false prophets 
 declared there would be a speedy return. Jer. said No, not for 
 many long years. (29) read this letter, whether in a kindly 
 spirit, or to annoy the Prophet, does not appear. 
 Guards agcunst deceit. — 
 
 For the dull world most homage pays to those 
 
 Who on their understanding most impose. 
 
 First man creates, and then he fears th' elf ; 
 
 Thus others cheat him not, but he himself. 
 
 He hates realities, and hugs the cheat, 
 
 And still the only pleasures the deceit. 
 
 So meteors flatter with a dazzling dye, 
 
 Which no existence has but in the eye. 
 
 At distance, prospects please us, but when near, 
 
 We find but degerb rocks and fleeting air ; 
 
 From stratagem to stratagem we run, 
 
 And he knows most, who latest is undone ; 
 
 An honest man will take a knave's advice, 
 
 But idiots only will be cozend twice ; 
 
 Once warned is well bewared.* 
 
 30—32. (30, 81) trust . . lie, in an utterly false representa- 
 tion. (32) man . . people, none of his posterity should be 
 spared to return to their own land again." taught rebellion, 
 ch. xxviii. IB. 
 Ilijpocrife. — 
 
 Devoured the widow's house and orphan's bread ; 
 
 In holy phrase, transacted villanies 
 
 That common sinners durst not meddle with. 
 
 At sacred feasts he sat among the saints. 
 
 And with his guilty hands touched holiest things : 
 
 And none of sin lamented more, or sighed 
 
 More deeply, or with grave countenance, 
 
 Or longer prayer, wept o'er the dying man, 
 
 Whose infant children, at the moment he 
 
 Pla,nned how to rob. In sermon style ho bought, 
 
 And sold, and lived ; and salutations made 
 
 In Scripture terms. He prayed by quantity ; 
 
 And with his repetitions long and loud. 
 
 All knees were weary. With one hand he put 
 
 A penny in the urn of poverty, 
 
 ship ; anrl tbeend 
 of all His works 
 is to form one 
 v.ist mirror in 
 which to reflect 
 His own image. 
 
 c Guniall. 
 
 a " The site of 
 this villa.are is un- 
 kudwii. This was 
 aiUiressed to She- 
 niaiah after the 
 messengers who 
 delivered the 
 former message 
 to the captives 
 in Babj'lon were 
 returned home, 
 and they brought 
 the letter of She- 
 maiali mentioned 
 in the following 
 verse."— ioer/A. 
 " In the E. mad- 
 ness is regarded 
 as sometliiiig di- 
 vine, and many 
 of tlie symbolical 
 actions of the 
 Prophets, such as 
 that of Jeremiah 
 going about w-ith 
 a yoke on his 
 neck, would be 
 mocked at by 
 tlie irreverent as 
 passing the line 
 between pro- 
 phecy and niiui- 
 uess."~;Spk. Com. 
 V. 26. J. a Lie- 
 tei-ic, Ant.&ZQ. 
 b Drydm. 
 
 a " As he despised 
 the lawful time, 
 and wished to 
 return befure the 
 time God had 
 expressly an- 
 nounced, in just 
 retribution ha 
 should not .share 
 ii\ the restoratioa 
 from Baliylon at 
 all." — Fuusiel. 
 
 " It is not wrang- 
 ling disputes and 
 syllogistical rea- 
 sonings tlial are 
 the aiiglity pil- 
 lars M'liichun.ier- 
 prop truth iu tlie 
 world : if we 
 would but un- 
 derset it with 
 the holiness of 
 our hearts and 
 lives, it eUuuid 
 
112 
 
 JKREifTAir. 
 
 [Cap. XXX. 1—3, 
 
 never fail. Truth 
 is a prevailing^ 
 and conqupring 
 tliiii.ir. ■Till! would 
 quickly overcome 
 the world, did 
 not tlie eartlii- 
 ness of our dis- 
 positions and tlie 
 darkness of our 
 false hearts liin- 
 der it." — Cud- 
 worth. 
 
 Ton are sure to 
 do all things spi- 
 ritually, if you 
 live in the spirit 
 of sousbip. 
 
 6 Pollok. 
 
 a "The joyful 
 transition is 
 marked by a sud- 
 den cliange from 
 grave and 
 mournful accents 
 in solemn pros?, 
 to a jubilant out- 
 burst of poetic 
 ecstasy. "-JI'uMii- 
 xcorth. 
 
 6 Je. iii. 18; Eze. 
 xxxvli. 6, 21, 22 ; 
 Ho.i. 11. 
 
 "We may ]iossess 
 earthly comforts; 
 but we must not 
 be possessed by 
 them : we may 
 use them as flow- 
 ers to smell, but 
 not as garlands 
 to crown our- 
 selves with : we 
 may as pilgrims 
 Waik with them, 
 as staves iu our 
 hands, seeking 
 the country 
 vliich is above ; 
 but we niiiy not 
 load ourselves 
 ■with them, or 
 bear them as 
 bui'dens ui)on our 
 backs : we may 
 niake them our 
 encouragement, 
 but not our con- 
 fiiU'iico ; we may 
 use tliem as ac- 
 cessories ; but we 
 nnay not love 
 them as our 
 
 And with the other took a shilling- out — 
 
 On charitable lists, — thone trumps which told 
 
 The public ear who had in secret done 
 
 The poor a benefit, and half the alms 
 
 They told of, took themselves to keep them pounding. 
 
 He blazed his name, more jdeased to have it there 
 
 Than in the book of life. Secst thou the man I 
 
 A serpent with an ang-el's voice ! a grave 
 
 With flowers bestrewed ! and yet few were deceived. 
 
 His virtues beinof overdone, his face 
 
 Too grave, his prayers too long, his charitiea 
 
 Too pomi)ous:ly attended, and his speech 
 
 Larded too frequently, and out of time, 
 
 "With serious phraseology — were rents 
 
 That in his garments opened in spite of him, 
 
 Through which the well-accustomed eye could 866 
 
 The rottenness of his heart.* 
 
 CHAFTER THE THIRTIETH. 
 
 1 — 3. (1) word, etc., different in tone to the preceding 
 " words."" This prophecy chiefly concerns the restoration of the 
 exiles. (2) in a book, so that t\\cy might be carried to the 
 captives, and might be preserved safely until the time of their 
 fulfilment. (3) Israel and Judah, note that loth sections of 
 the people of Israel are included in the promises of restoration.* 
 In ch. xxxi. distinct messages are given, first to the ten tribes, 
 then to Judah. 
 
 The ejl'ect of mercy. — A soldier in the — th regiment of our 
 army, a fine, gallant fellow, heard of the severe sickness of his 
 wife. He applied for leave of absence, but was refused. The 
 ofBcers of his regiment then made a new application in his 
 behalf, which was again refused. He left the army : but before 
 he got away, was retaken and brought in as a deserter. He was 
 tried, found guilty, and summoned before the commanding officer 
 to receive his sentence. He entered the tent— a fine, tall, soldierly- 
 looking man — saluted, and stood perfectly unmoved, while the 
 officer read his fearful doom — "To be shot to death with 
 mu.sketry on the next Friday." Not a muscle of his face twitched, 
 not a limb quivered. " I deserve it, sir," he replied, resi:)ectfully ; 
 •' I deserted from my flag. Is that all, sir ? " " No," replied the 
 officer; "I have something else for you ;" and taking another 
 paper, he read' aloud the doomed man's pardon. The undaunted 
 spirit, whom severity had failed to move, was comidetely broken 
 down by clemency. He dropped to tlie ground shaking, .sobbing, 
 and overcome ; and being restored to his regiment, i^roved him- 
 self grateful for the mercy shown him, and was soon promoted 
 for good conduct. There are many who say. '• 'We are not going 
 to be frightened into religion." and Avho profess to be too brave 
 to fear Gods wrath. But will you withstand the proffers of His 
 grace .' If you shrink not from the curse of the law, will j'ou 
 not hear the tender entreaty of the Cross .' Ah 1 if, like the 
 deserter, you really heard the sentence ringing in your ears : if, 
 like him, you really felt that you deserved it ; if you knew (hat 
 the execution of it was near at hand, like him you would be 
 
Cap. XXX. 4—17.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 113 
 
 principal liappl- 
 II ess." — Sp ur- 
 sloife. 
 
 c American Mes- 
 senger. 
 
 a Henderson. 
 
 b Je. \v. 31, vi. 24; 
 Xab. ii. 10. 
 
 c Je. xxiii. 5, 6. 
 
 The fullest re- 
 ference of thi3 
 term must be to 
 5Iessiah,in\vliom 
 all the promises 
 made to David 
 were to be ful- 
 filled. 
 
 Is. Iv. 3, 4; Eze. 
 xx.\iv. 23, xxxvii. 
 24 ; Ho. iii. 5. 
 
 W. Strong, 
 
 broken down by the voice of Jesns saying, " Thy sins are forgiven 
 thee ;" gladly would you welcome the gracious pardon. Shut 
 not your cars to that compassionate voice. Throw yourself at 
 Jesus' feet, take the forgiveness He freely offers, and let your 
 life henceforth show that His grace has not been bestowed in 
 vain." 
 
 4—9. (4. .5) voice of trembling, " depicting the state of 
 teiTor into which the Jews were thrown on the approach of the 
 Medo-Persian army to the attack on Babylon."" They feared 
 the approach of Cyrus, who nevertheless was to be their deliverer. 
 (()) a man, or a male. The men seemed as full of trouble as 
 women in the time of childbirth.' paleness, one sign of fright. 
 (7) that day, the day when Babjdon is captured. (8) break 
 his yoke, i.e. the yoke of Babylon, serve themselves, exact 
 forced labour : hold in bondage. (9) David their king, or 
 the Siirout of David." 
 
 Trust in the nwrey of God {Wilkiv.WTi's dying cn7)fe.t,iio7i).— 
 When the venerable Mr. Wilkinson had nearly reached the close 
 of his life, he said to a relative who came to vi.^it him, and who 
 attemjited to cheer him by referring to his Christian character, 
 " Ah, you cannot see my heart. It has always been my endeavour 
 not only to abstain from evil, but from all appearance of evil : 
 but I would be jealous of my own heart. The heart is deceitful 
 above all things, and desperately wicked : who can know it ? 
 Well, I must do as I have done ten thousand times befoz-e under 
 such feelings, cast myself entirely on the mercy of God : ' G od 
 be merciful to me a sinner ' — the vilest of sinners : and after all 
 I have received, a most ungrateful sinner 1 I shall never get 
 beyond that prayer." 
 
 10—13. (10) fear. . not, eo7}ip. Is. xli. 13. xliii. 5, xliv. 1. 
 from afar, even '• from the most distant provinces of the Chal- 
 da^an empire." in rest, having external peace and internal j Jews in Baby 1 
 quietness and order. (11) full end, ch. iv. 27, v. 18. correct 
 . . measure, ch. x. 2:5, 24. (12) bruise, etc.. ch. xvii. !). Only 
 to be cured by such extreme afflictions and chastisements, 
 ■wound is grievous, ch. x. 19, xiv. 17, xv. 18. (13) bound 
 up, or for the pressing together of thy wound. None can help 
 or heal." 
 
 (rod's fjraciovs designs tn^rards His chosc7i people (vr. 10, 11). — 
 Observe then — I. That God has glorious things in reserve for 
 His chosen people. 1. For the Jewish people : 2. For His people 
 afar off among the nation.s. II. That even His darkest dispensa- 
 tions towards them are intended for their good. 1. This was, 
 and still is, the case M'ith respect to the Jews ; 2. And may we 
 not see the hand of God ordering and overruling everything for 
 our good ? III. That His presence with them is their never- 
 failing security. Exhort — (1) Those who are afar off; (2) Those 
 who are visited with any great affliction ; (3) Those who are 
 under discouragement of any kind.* 
 
 14 — 17. (14) lovers, i.e. the nations which formerlv sought "■ "God conde- 
 the alliance of Judah. esp. Assyria and Egypt, seek thee not, fan^ua'^e.arla'^ted 
 to .'how any concern for thy distress, of a cruel one, i.e. with ^ Ijiiman ' con- 
 a severity which looks like cruelty." (1.5) criest thou, ]>lead- U e p t i o ns."— • 
 ing as if I had dealt unjustly with thee : ch. xv. 18.* sorrow, ^ausset. 
 or bodily pain. (16) therefore, or surely, be devoured, God 
 
 VOL. ix. O.I. H 
 
 V. 7. 
 164. 
 
 A man is estima- 
 ted,in God's bock, 
 at wliat his love 
 is 1o Christ, and 
 uo more. 
 
 a " So desperatp 
 were the circum- 
 tances of tlie 
 
 while enduring 
 the punisliment 
 God had inflicted 
 upon them for 
 their crimes, that 
 no human inter- 
 jiosition which 
 they could ra- 
 tionally expect, 
 could avail for 
 their deliver- 
 ance." — Hender- 
 son. 
 
 It is a good sign 
 when you love 
 those most ia 
 whom you see 
 most of Christ. 
 
 b C. Simeon, M.A. 
 
114 
 
 J ERE in An. 
 
 [Cap. XXX. 18—22. 
 
 h " i'lie fuiilt is 
 in tliysolf, not in 
 Jle ; anil the 
 renipdyisin thine 
 own hands. Turn 
 to Jle by reijent- 
 ance. and tliou 
 Bhalt be liealed." 
 — Wordsworth. 
 
 V. 17. ir. .A. nai- 
 ler, ii. 133; lii>. 
 Armstrong, 249. 
 
 c Archer Sutler, 
 M.A. 
 
 a "Generally 
 
 there was a castle 
 or citadel in the 
 miildle of the an- 
 cient cities, upon 
 a rising ground, 
 for the greater 
 strength and se- 
 curity of the 
 place." — Lowth. 
 
 h " It is not only 
 foretold that a 
 native governor 
 should be set 
 over the house of 
 Israel, but that 
 he should be dis- 
 tinguislicdforhis 
 piety. "-A'oi.//n//. 
 
 V. 21. Ii. Ersl-ine, 
 ii. 358; Ji. Bull, 
 V. 277 ; J. Ailing, 
 Op. ii. 4, 128. 
 
 c R. Cecil, M.A. 
 
 " Truth is a mir- 
 ror which reflects 
 objects that pass 
 before it, without 
 addition, diminu- 
 tion, or altera- 
 tion in any sense 
 or degree what- 
 soever. It is a 
 pure, cry s tal 
 stream, which 
 shows in her 
 depths the e.\act 
 image of things 
 as they may 
 stand on her 
 bank s." — John 
 Mate. 
 
 would raise up Cyrus ai^ainst ihcm. and so secure the deliverance 
 of His people. (17) restore health, since even the incurable 
 God can cure, outcast, or " one put away and rejected." 
 
 The licstt'ircr of mankind (r. 17). — How deep are the wants 
 which our faith supplies, and how wide is the feeling- of the 
 beauty and the power of the remedy. 1. Faith in the C'hn.'itian 
 sacrifice and its attendant revelation of the Divine character 
 alone answer the demands of the heart and reason of man for a 
 higher state of moral })erfection ; 2. Christianity offers to main- 
 tain a communication between this world and that eternal world 
 of holiness and truth ; 8. Faith contirms and directs that prin- 
 cii)le of hope which even in our daily life we are per])etually 
 forced to substitute for happiness : 4. But above all its recom- 
 mendations to the wants and solicitudes of man, the Gospel 
 commends itself by the adorable object which it presents to our 
 affection." 
 
 18—22. (18) Jacob's tent, ch. iv. 20. The term "tent" is 
 perhaps iised to indicate the temporaiy character of their dwell- 
 ings in Chahhea. own heap, or '-iittle hill." Heb. frl. Re- 
 ferring to Mount Zion." palace . . remain, or " each palace 
 shall be inhabited suitably. (19) thanksgiving, such would 
 be becoming to the restored and redeemed people, not small, 
 or not lightly esteemed. (20) aforetime, as in the prosperous 
 days of David. (21) of themselves, the governors shall be 
 natives, not foreigners. Reference is to Zerubbabel, a prince of 
 the house of David, draw near, as a specially favoured one.* 
 engaged his heart, the sign of sincerity and earnestness. (22) 
 my people, ch. x^xiv. 7. 
 
 Enconrngrmcnt to seek after God (v. 21). — From this passage I 
 shall call your attention to the following propositions : — ] . That 
 it is man's grand privilege that he can approach unto God ; 2. 
 That he has from Scripture a special warrant to draw near to 
 God ; 3. That God engages for the success of that man who thus 
 seeks to approach unto Him.'' 
 
 Egyptian- hricloi. — The bricks anciently used by the Egyptians 
 in the erection of their cities and dwellings were made of clay, 
 bound together with chopped straw, and baked in the sun. Such 
 were the bricks which the Israelites were employed in making. 
 Their composition was necessarily perishable, and explains why 
 it is that no remains of the ancient cities of Egypt are to be 
 found. They would, indeed, last longer in the dry climate of 
 that country than in any other ; but even there they must 
 gradually decay and crumble to dust, and the cities so constructed 
 become heaps. Of precisely the same materi.tls are the villages 
 of Egypt built at this day. " Village after village," says the Rev. 
 Mr. Jowett, speaking of Tentyra, '• built of unburut brick, 
 crumbling into ruins, and giving jilace to new habitations, have 
 raised the earth in some parts nearly to the level of the summit 
 of the temple. In every part of Egypt we find the towns built 
 in this manner, upon the ruins, or rather the rubbish, of the 
 former habitations. The expression in Jer. xxx. 18 literally 
 applies to Egypt, in the meanest sense : and the expression in 
 Job XV. 28 might be illustrated by many of these deserted 
 hovels : ' He dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no 
 ' xnan iuhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.' " 
 
Cap. szsi. 1—5.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 115 
 
 23, 24. (23) -whirlwind, etc., 2 Ki. ii. 1 ; comp. Je. xxiii. 
 19. 20. continuing", or a cutting. (2i) latter days, first 
 referring- to tiie restoration times and then to the times of 
 Messiah. 
 
 iJod'n incs>iengcrs. — 
 
 God sent His singers upon earth 
 With songs of .sadness and of mirth. 
 That they might touch the hearts of men, 
 And bring them back to heaven again. 
 
 The first, a youth, with soul of fire, 
 
 Held in his hand a golden lyre ; 
 
 Through groves he wandered, and by streams, 
 
 Playing the music of our dreams. 
 
 The second, with a bearded face, 
 Stood singing in the market-place, 
 And stirred with accents deep and loud 
 The hearts of all the listening crowd. 
 
 A grey old man, the third and last. 
 Sang in cathedrals dim and vast, 
 "While the majestic organ i-olled 
 Contrition from its mouths of gold. 
 
 And those who heard the singers three 
 Disputed which the best might be ; 
 For still their music seemed to start 
 Discordant echoes in each heart. 
 
 But the Great Master said. — ■' I see 
 
 No best in kind but in degree ; 
 
 I give a various gift to each, 
 
 To charm, to strengthen, and to teach. 
 
 These are the three great chords of night, 
 And he whose ear is tuned aright, 
 "Will hear no discord in the three, 
 But the most perfect hannony." 
 
 CHAPTER TIIE THIRTY-FIRST. 
 
 1 — 5. (1) same time, l.c. in the latter days mentioned ch. 
 XXX. 21. be the God, be manifcsthj their God through My 
 intervention on their behalf : ch. xxx. 22. (2) left of the 
 sword, referring either to the ancient deliverance from Egj^pt, 
 or figuratively to the restoration from Babylon." went . . rest, 
 or planned to guide him to the rest of Canaan. (3) of old, 
 msirg.from afai','' or in the olden time, everlasting love, so 
 as truly covering and blessing thee now as then, drawn thee, 
 from this last captivity." (4) tabrets, alluding to Ex. xv. 20. 
 (5) common, or abundant things. The mountains of Samaria 
 are those of Israel. 
 
 'J'/w attract he force pf Blniiclofe (v. 3).— I. Divine love — 1. In 
 its object ; 2. In its measure ; 3. In its duration. II. Divine 
 attraction — 1. In its nature ; 2. In its means. Apply : — (1) 
 Let saints rejoice in the Divine love ; (2) Let sinners yield to the 
 Divine attraction.'' 
 
 Eastern dunces. — Sj^eaking of the Greek dances, and particu- 
 h2 
 
 " We sliould echo 
 in our thankful- 
 ness the first inti- 
 mation that God 
 gives in His pro- 
 vidence of an ap- 
 proacl ling mercy, 
 ifyouilobuthear 
 wlien the Idug is 
 on liis road to- 
 wards your town, 
 you raise your 
 bells to ring him 
 in, and stay not 
 till he be entered 
 the gates. The 
 birds they rise 
 betimes in the 
 morning, and are 
 saluting the 
 rising sun with 
 their sweet notes 
 in the air. Thus 
 should we strilce 
 up our Iiarps in 
 praising God at 
 the first appear- 
 ance of a mercy." 
 — Gurnall. 
 
 " The grand, and 
 indeed the only, 
 character of 
 truth, is its ca- 
 pability of en- 
 during the test 
 of universal e.x- 
 p e r i e n c e, and 
 coming un- 
 changed out of 
 every possible 
 form of fair 
 discussion." — air 
 Jvlin Ileiscltel. 
 
 a LongfeUow. 
 
 a "The Eahy- 
 lonish captivity 
 may fitly be 
 spoken of figu- 
 ratively as a wil- 
 ilerncss state." — 
 Henderson. 
 
 b " Israel grate- 
 fully acknow- 
 ledges in reply 
 Gild's past grace; 
 but at the same 
 time tacitly im- 
 plies bj' the ex- 
 pression of old, 
 that God does 
 not appear to her 
 now." — Fausset, 
 
 c" Or, 'Therefore 
 I draw out, I 
 
116 
 
 JEnEMIAII. 
 
 [Cap. xxxl.e— 17. 
 
 prolong, or ox- 
 tonil, p'^rppt'iiiil 
 Ioiii;-^!utfcri iifr 
 ami love towanl 
 thee." — Words- 
 worth. 
 
 d 0. Brooks. 
 
 e Shaw. 
 
 a " Tlio schism of 
 Jeroboam sliall 
 be li^ulcj in thi! 
 captivity. Tlie 
 envy of fipliraim 
 and Juiiali sliall 
 ceasu in those 
 happy times." — 
 Wordsicorlh. 
 
 h De. xxvi. ID. 
 
 * "The house of 
 Joseph is thus to 
 be restored to its 
 old pre - emi- 
 nence."-.Spi. Com. 
 
 d C. Simeon, M. A. 
 
 Nature is true to 
 itself, and so is 
 grace ; the ox is 
 not better known 
 by its lowing, nor 
 a lion by its roar, 
 than a Cliristiau 
 by his holy life. 
 
 « A T. S. 
 
 a " The Jews 
 call all countries 
 islands wh. they 
 go to by sea." — 
 Lomlh. 
 
 h "In Jerusalem 
 they would be 
 occupied with 
 religious duties, 
 but after these 
 are rendered to 
 God, they are to 
 disperse each to 
 his own fields." — 
 ;S>)/.-. Com. 
 e 1 Sa. ii. 28. 
 
 a JIat. ii. 18. 
 
 b "By a beautiful 
 figure, Il:ichcl, 
 the mother of 
 the Kphraimites, 
 wlio was buried 
 at this pl.ace, is 
 personified, and 
 represented as 
 risen from her 
 grave, and bit 
 terly lomeuling 
 
 larly of that called the crane. Dr. Chandler says : •' The peasants 
 peri'orm it yearly in the streets of the Greek convent, at the con- 
 clusion of the viiitasre, joininc: hands, and preceding their mules 
 and their asses, which ai"C laden with grajies in ]ianuiers. in 
 a veiy curved and intricate manner, the leader waving- a hand- 
 kerchief, which has been imagined to denote the clue given by 
 Ariadne."' 
 
 6 — 9. (G) watclimen, "these were placed on heights at the 
 time of the new moon to give first notice of its appearance." 
 up to Zion, both sections of the nation, Israel and Judah, 
 uniting in the sacred festivals." (7) among', or because of tho 
 restoration of Israel, regarded as the chief of the nations'" (8) 
 north country, the Chaldajan districts to which Israel had 
 been carried : ch. iii. 12. IS. COasts, ch. xxv. 32. thither, to 
 Palestine. (9) weeping, that of gladness, not of sorrow, 
 supplications, indicating a right spirit of depeitdence on God. 
 ■walk . . rivers, indicating full su|)ply during their desert; 
 journey. Ephraim . . firstborn, 1 Chro. v. 1, 2.' 
 
 Chrinfinn pi///rim.'i (rr. 8, !)). — I. Their character. The text 
 implies — 1. That there is no discouragement which God will not 
 enable us to surmount ; 2. That God has chosen those who are 
 in the most discouraging circumstances on purpose that His own 
 power may be the more displayed and glorified. II. Their 
 journey is here described — 1. In its commencement : 2. In its 
 progress. Address — (1) Those who yet are in. a state of bondage ; 
 2. Those who are travelling towards Ziou.'' 
 
 Arclihisliop Leigh ton.. — In 1018. it was a question asked of the 
 brethren, at the meetings of ministers twice in the year, " If 
 they pi-cached the duties of the times ?" And when it was found 
 that Leighton did not, he was reproved for this omission ; but he 
 replied, '' If all the brethren have preached on the times, may 
 not one poor brother be suffered to preach on eternity .' "' 
 
 10 — 14. (10) nations, the pagan nations, isles, aS' before, 
 the coast-lands of the Mediterranean." HI) was stronger, 
 while God withheld from Israel His defence and help. (12) 
 flow, like a river from Zion for the cultivation and refreshing 
 of the land.* watered, garden, fresh and growing, Is. Iviii. li. 
 (13) to joy, at being settled in their own land and under God's 
 blessings. (14) satiate, i.e. fully satisfy, fatness, through 
 the great abundance of the thank-offerings." 
 
 GofVs r/ootlncfn .wfi.-ifijing (r. 11). — I. The objects of His Divine 
 complacency,— " My people." II. The measure of their joy. — 
 " shall be satisfied." III. The source of their delight, — " My 
 goodness." 
 
 15 — 17. (\r>) voice . . Ramall," "This is a poetical figure, 
 representing in a dramatic form the miserable condition of the 
 kingdom of Ephraim devastated by the sword of the Assyrians. 
 Ramah is in Benjamin, two hours' journey from Jerusalem.* 
 Rachel, as mother of Benjamin, Ephi-aim, and Jlanasseh. she 
 stands as mother of the ten tribes." (K!) rewarded, the reward 
 of mothers is for their cliildren to grow up, and dwell in the 
 land. (17) in thine end, ch. xxix. 11. For thy iiosterity. 
 
 27ie C/in.ff'uin'.i liopr in ihc drath of i»f/jnt.i (vr. lo. It!). — I. 
 Eachel's sorrow, death of infants, affecting, common, few 
 families in which there is not the memory of a lost child. II. 
 
Cap. xxxi. 6—17.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 117 
 
 Ilaohers consolation. Apply — 1. To the young-; 2. To parents; 
 3. Let all remember that none but little children enter into the 
 kingdom of heaven.'' — TIlc captin- Jews. — Briefly allude to cir- 
 cumstances under which the words of text were spoken : while 
 Ezekiel was prophesying to captive Israel in ChaldcEa, Jeremiah 
 was prophesying in Israel ; the former preparing the captives 
 for their return, the latter encouraging the remnant to expect 
 that event. Consider — I. The place they had left. The promised 
 land. For their sins God had permitted their captivity. You 
 are now surrounded by good influences. If thoughtless, God 
 may permit the loss to you of much that is good. Those who 
 see this will grieve. II. The place they had gone to. Chaldaja, 
 land of idolatry. Left home, friends, liberty ; and worst of all, 
 means of grace, comfort, instruction. You may wander to the 
 far coiintry (prodigal), and sigh for lost good. III. The hope of 
 their return. By whom entertained. Old friends, teachers, etc. 
 How brought about. Spirit of God awakening desire. Memory 
 recalling the past. Providence preparing the waj'. Mercy 
 calling. Learn : — 1. Beware of indifference ; 2. Look after old 
 scholars who have wandered ; 3. In love invite them back ; 4. 
 Pray for their conversion." 
 
 Historical fi/pes of future events. — It is worthy of note that in 
 the New Testament some words are quoted from the Prophets 
 which contain no prediction at all. and are yet spoken of as being 
 fulfilled, because the event to which they allude was a type of 
 that to which they are applied. Our Lord, and after Him the 
 Apostles, laid down the principle that past history may re}.n-esent 
 that which is to happen hereafter. Thus the Saviour refers to 
 the brazen serpent, and to Jonah as prefiguring His resurrection, 
 and even the time of it on the third day. If Paul teaches that 
 Hagar and Ishmael are ty})ical of the covenants ; the paschal 
 lamb of Chrisfs atoning death ; the passage of the Red Sea of 
 baptism : the smitten rock of Christ ; the author of the Epistle 
 to the Hebrews, St. Peter in his allusion to the deluge, and St. 
 John in his mystical application of the names Sodom, Egypt, 
 and Babylon, confirm the principle which helps us to inteipret 
 passages of the Old Testament, such as those where the Messiah 
 is called David, and to understand passages of the New Testa- 
 ment where what was spoken of David is applied to our Lord. 
 The principle also solves the apparent difficulty of the two 
 passages cited above, — a difficulty strongly insisted upon by the 
 enemies of Christianity. In neither case does St. Matthew quote 
 predictions, but Hosea's and Jeremiah's references to past history. 
 \Vlien Hosea said. '• Out of Egj'pt have I called My Son," or M'hen 
 Jeremiah spoke of Rachel weej)ing for her children, neither was 
 uttering a prediction of the future, but alluding to facts long 
 past. Hosea was alluding to the Exodus eight centuries before, 
 and Jeremiah to the carrying away of the ten tribes one hundred 
 years before he wrote. St. Matthew, therefore, speaks of them 
 as being fulfilled in the only way in which facts can be fulfilled, 
 in events the antitypes of those referred to.-'' 
 
 Ilachcl ivvepincj fur her children. — 
 
 Rachel for her children wailing, 
 With a woe how unavailing 
 Aught to soothe — and comfort failing 
 To assuage her moans. 
 
 tlie absence of 
 Ikt desoeiiilants, 
 who hail all been 
 carried into 
 exile." — Hender- 
 son. 
 
 c " The imme- 
 diate reference 
 ol the allusion is 
 to the assem- 
 blage at Raniah 
 of lienjamin, by 
 the captain of the 
 ChaUUean guard, 
 of the unfortu- 
 nate captives 
 whiim he was 
 carrying away 
 from their coun- 
 try to Babylon." 
 —Dr. W. H. Mill. 
 
 V. 15. Dr. S. 
 Clmrlres, ii. 417 ; 
 Dr. 8. iliusse, 67 ; 
 S. Lavinglon, ii. 
 1U7; Hi), liorne, 
 i. 287 ; C. J. 
 Hoare, 1)5. 
 
 d J. H. Stewart. 
 M.A. 
 
 e Hive. 
 
 Rachel, the an- 
 cestral mother of 
 the Israelites.was 
 buried near Ita- 
 mah, on the way 
 to Bethlehem. 
 The figure of 
 speech by which 
 slie is made to ty- 
 pify or imperso- 
 nate the weeping 
 mothers who, at 
 Bethlehem, 
 mourned over 
 their lost ones, 
 refusing to be 
 comforted, is pe- 
 culiarly touching 
 and beautiful. 
 The m o t h e r's 
 love in every age 
 and clime is the 
 fame, and the 
 grief of a mother 
 over hfci' de<ad is, 
 of all sorrow, the 
 most helpless and 
 un con solable. 
 But even this has 
 its balm. Could 
 those stricken 
 mothers have 
 known that Jesus 
 lived, that in the 
 heartless slaugh- 
 ter of their little 
 ones the Savioiir 
 of the world had 
 been spared, to 
 
118 
 
 JEREMlAn. 
 
 [Cap, xxsl. 18-21* 
 
 fulfil His mission 
 of R e (1 e e m n r, 
 they might have 
 smiled even amid 
 their tears. 
 
 " The voice of 
 weeping. — The 
 air is full of 
 farewells to the 
 dying, and 
 mournings for 
 the dead ; the 
 heart of Kachel, 
 for her children 
 crying, will not 
 be comforted." — 
 Lonij/ellow, 
 
 fA.McCaul. 
 
 "When we would 
 convince men of 
 an error by the 
 strength of 
 truth, let us 
 withal pour the 
 sweet balm of 
 love upon their 
 heads. Truth and 
 love are two of 
 the most power- 
 ful things in the 
 world ; and when 
 they both go to- 
 gether they can- 
 not easily be 
 withstood. The 
 golden beams of 
 tnith and the 
 silken cords of 
 love twisted to- 
 gether will draw 
 men on with a 
 secret violence, 
 whether they 
 will or no." — 
 Cudwoiili. 
 
 a "Ephraim ac- 
 knowledged that 
 he hail been chas- 
 tised rightly, and 
 for his good, bee, 
 like an untrained 
 steer, he had re- 
 sisted Jeliovah's 
 will." — Spk. Com. 
 
 6 "Chastisements 
 are effects of dis- 
 pleasure, I ut not 
 of a displeasure 
 intended for the 
 destruction of its 
 object, but the 
 «me ndmcnt." — 
 Rob, Hull. 
 
 The Jewish mother, Ramahs daughter, 
 When her babes were given to slaughter, 
 Saw their pure young blood, like water, 
 Poured upon the stones. 
 
 'Midst her martyred infants kneeling, 
 High the wail of anguished feeling, 
 Mother's love and woe revealing, 
 
 Thrilled upon the air ; 
 Then were seen bright angels bending 
 O'er the slain, — white wings extending 
 To waft the spirits heavenward tending,— 
 
 She has found them there. 
 
 But, ah ! the children of my sorrow, 
 Night is theirs — no hopeful morrow ; 
 Alas ! worn heart, where wilt thou borrow 
 
 Words tliy grief to show ? 
 Oh, my sons ! ere sin beguiling 
 Plunged you into depths defiling 
 Of intemperance — treacherous smiling— 
 
 Gulf of sin and woe I 
 
 Ye were innocent and loving. 
 Mother's deepest yearnings moving ; 
 Her soft arms and bosom proving 
 
 Shelter still, and rest. 
 Babes of Bethlehem, loved and cherished. 
 Would my babes like you had perished 1 
 Eeft while .sinless, spotless, cherished, 
 
 From the mother's breast. 
 
 They were spared, were fostered, nourished, 
 Plants of hoi)e, they bloomed and flourished, 
 Yet they withered, fell, and perished 
 
 In their summer prime. 
 Lost, oh, lost ! — Say not for ever, 
 One there is who can deliver — 
 Seek and save the lost — dissever 
 
 Youth from guilt and crime. 
 
 18 — 21. (18) bemoaning, in a penitent and humble frame 
 of mind, bullock, etc., lit. like an untaught calf, Ho. x. ll." 
 (Ifl) turned, by God's dispensations of chastisement, in- 
 structed, or brought to my senses by my suffering.'' smote . . 
 thigh, tlie natural expression of one who is suddenly struck 
 with a thought, or a conviction, reproach . . youth, burden 
 of the memory of youthful sins.' (i^O) against him, in the 
 purposo to chastise him. (21) waymarks, to mark the way 
 back to Palestine. 
 
 The trur pi'n'iti'Ht (vr. 18, 10). — We have here — I. The picture 
 of a true jienitent. 1. His position is solitary ; 2. His language 
 that of self-rei)roach ; 3. He refers his state entirely to God ; 4. 
 He at length ventures on the filial relationship. II. The process 
 of his restoration. 1. It was by affliction; 2. Instruction: 3. 
 Conviction: 4. Humiliation. Apply: — (1) Consider afflictions 
 as prc]iaratives for conversion ; (!') Consider them subsequently 
 to conversion as preventives, restoratives, preparatives. 
 
Cap. xxxi. 22—30.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 119 
 
 c " The burden 
 
 of punishment 
 and shame due 
 to tlie sins of my 
 youth, my former 
 Chtate. ever t-inop 
 the exodus from 
 Egypt." — IKordj. 
 iDortli. 
 
 r. 18. Dr. H, 
 
 Hitmmnnii. iv, 
 ^83 ; R. Hall. r. 
 303 : S. Darii's, 
 i. 227 : S. Loiccll, 
 103; E Close, i. 
 141 : Dr. E. I'ay- 
 svii, ii. -169. 
 
 27ie yol'r.— The simile is a most apt one. I had frequent 
 opportunities of witnessing- the conduct of oxen when, for the 
 fLvat time, put into the yoke to assist in drag'g'ing' the wagons. 
 On observing' an ox that had been in the yoke for seven or eight 
 hundred miles beginning to get weak, or his hoofs to be worn 
 down to the quick, by treading on the sharp gravel, a fresh ox 
 was put into the yoke in his place. When the selection fell on 
 an ox I had received as a present from some African king, of 
 course one completely unaccustomed to the yoke, such generally 
 made a strenuous struggle for liberty, — repeatedly breaking the 
 yoke, and attempting to make ils escape. At other times such 
 bullocks lay down upon their sides or backs, and remained so in 
 defiance of the Hottentots, though two or three of them would 
 be lashing them with their ponderous whips. Sometimes, from 
 pity to the animal. I would interfere, and beg them to be less 
 cruel. '• Cruel ! " they would say, " it is mercy, for if we do not 
 conquer him now, he will require to be so beaten all his life." ,= CampheTl. 
 Some oxen would seem convinced of the folly of opposing the 
 will of the Hottentots by the end of the first day ; some about 
 the middle of the second ; while some would continue the 
 struggle to the third ; after which they would go on as willingly 
 and quietly as any of their neighbour oxen. They seemed con- 
 Tinced that their resisting was fruitless as kicking against the 
 pricks, or sharp-pointed iron, which they could not injure, but 
 that every kick tlaey gave only injured theinselves.« 
 
 22—26. (22) daughter, Israel, compass, or give her 
 protection to." (23) as yet, or again. The old form of blessing 
 shall be renewed. (24) go forth with flocks, i.e. the scattered 
 peoples of the land, who live by shepherding. (2.5) satiated, 
 fully satisfied. (2G) I awaked, i.e. the Prophet, who had seen 
 all this joy and prosperity of the restoration time in his dreams. 
 
 Waijiiiarli.'i in the Eat:t. — Dr. Bonar, writing of his journey 
 through the Wilderness near the spot of Israel's first encampment, 
 Bays, '• We rode off about nine, through a fine large plain ; but ,. 22. ,/. AlHng, 
 quite a plain of the desert. — no stream, no vei-dure ; at firsst soft up. ii. 4, 136 ; 
 sand, then hard gravel, then stones, and all these generally of a l^ossuet, vii. 71. 
 white colour. Has Atakah towered upon our right, full in the 
 morning sunshine. No trace of a road appeared, for though the 
 camels do form a track, or rather a number of parallel tracks, yet 
 the drifting ,=and obliterates them, or washes them out. Still the 
 waymarks are visible everywhere, — consisting of small heaps of 
 stones set up on each side, which are carefully preserved by the 
 Bedouin ; for even they mi^ht at times be at a lo- s as to the 
 way so great is the sameness of the region for miles on every 
 hand. Jeremiah's words came into mind, • Set thee up waymarks ; 
 make thee high heaps, set thine heart toward the highway, even 
 the way which thou wentest' (chap. sxxi. 21). The sand docs 
 not seem to obliterate these, or, if it does, they are renewed from 
 time to time. They were always a welcome sight to us. assuring 
 us that we were in the right track ; for at times we began to ask i, naysnnd Kightt 
 whether even our Arabs were sure of their way ; so waste did '" '/'f -^'"*''- 
 the desert appear, without a mark or foot-trace of any kind what- 
 soever."* 
 
 27—30. (27) SOW . . beast, a striking fig. to represent the „ ^ 
 Bwif t and abundant increase of the population.'' (28) watched, n ; 
 
 a " Israel, who is 
 feeble as a wo- 
 man, shall be su- 
 perior to the 
 warlike Chal- 
 daeans." — Calvin. 
 
 The Christian 
 Fathers see a 
 reference in this 
 passage to the 
 Virgin Mary. 
 
 " There are three 
 parts ia trutli : 
 tirst, tlie inquiry, 
 whioli is the 
 wooing of it ; 
 secondly, the 
 knowledge of it, 
 wliich is the pre- 
 sence of it ; and 
 tliirdly, the be- 
 lief, which is the 
 enjoyment of it." 
 — Jidcon. 
 
 ( Eze. xtt:vi. 8— • 
 
120 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 (Cap. xxxl. 31—37 
 
 6 " TliP provorb 
 ainonjf the exiles' 
 cliililren boni in 
 Babvlon, to ex- 
 press tliat tliev 
 suffered tlie evil 
 Consequences of 
 tlieir fathers' 
 Biii-s. rather th:m 
 of tlieir own." — 
 Fausset. 
 
 e Ga. vi. 5, 7. 
 
 d C. Simeon, if. A. 
 
 V. 31. Dr. R. 
 Gordon, iy. 153 ; 
 F. D. 3fduri,v, 
 Pro. and K<js. 
 414. 
 
 V. 33. T. Hartley, 
 2G5. 
 
 t'. 34. J. Scott, 
 289. 
 
 "After all, the 
 most natural 
 beauty in tlie 
 world is honesty 
 and mo;-;il truth ; 
 for all beauty is 
 truth. True fe.a- ! 
 tures make tlie ' 
 beauty of a face, 
 and true propor- 
 tions the beauty 
 of architecture, 
 as true measures 
 that of harmony 
 and music. In 
 poetry, which is 
 all fulilo, truth 
 Btill is the p"r- 
 tectiou."-Smij''tiS- 
 burij. 
 
 a S. THldersham 
 (1625J. 
 
 nr. 3«— 10. Dr. 
 li. Gordon, iv. 
 10 T. 
 
 " The most sub- 
 lime spectacle 
 in the world is 
 a powerful niiml 
 V i n d i c a t i n pr 
 truHi in the pr(>- 
 scnce of its foes, 
 an 1 a martyr 
 calmly sealing 
 his fiiith with 
 his blood."— 
 Colton. 
 
 for the risrhfc opportunity for punishinjr them, "watch . . build, 
 iiain.iT similar earn and vio-ilaiice in tlie besto\rment of vestciring 
 mercies. (2'.)) fathers, c'/c..* sec Eze. xvili. 2. (Si)) owu 
 iniquity ,<■ bcc. tho special judgments affecting the race as a 
 whole would be removed. 
 
 The sure con^ciiucneca of sin (r. 30). — I shall noticG this .solemn 
 declaration — I. As an answer to the prevailing sentiment of that 
 day. 1. It must be confessod there was ground lor it : 2. But 
 though in some respects this proverb was true, yet as uttered by 
 them it was false and presumptuous. II. As a declaration of 
 God's established rule of procedure in all ages, sin shall not go 
 unpunished — 1. In this world ; 2. In the world to come. Appli- 
 cation : — (1) Contemplate not so much the immediate as the 
 remote consequences of sin ; (2) Contemplate the provision 
 which God has made for those who repent them of their sins.'* 
 
 31—34. (31) new covenant, He. viii. 8—12. (.32) with . . 
 fathers, i.e. not the old Mosaic covenant, which required a 
 formal obedience, an husband, having authority over them, 
 and ever dealing with them compassionately and tenderly. (23) 
 inward parts, giving them right principles, and a right dis- 
 position, so that obedience shall become easy to them, their 
 God, ch. xxxii. 38. (31) teach no more, bee. all being right- 
 minded none will need to be constrained to do right. God will 
 give greater measure of His grace. 
 
 The A^e/v Carenant (*,'. 31). — In these words the Old and the 
 New Covenants are placed in opposition to each other. The latter 
 is represented as being — I. More effective in its provisions. 
 Under it obedience will be — 1. Spiritual: 2. Loving: 3. Cheer- 
 ful ; '1. Diligent ; .5. Persevering. II. Jlorc conip- ehensive in 
 its range. We have here — 1. An important truth implied ; 2. A 
 cheering assurance given ; 3. A striking reason adduced. III. 
 More secure as regards its stability. 
 
 D'lrinc fi)rgirrnci^x.^A\\ God's acquittances ai'e general : not 
 as men's, only from the beginning of the world to tli;it day that 
 the acquittance is made, but fi-om the beginning of the world to 
 the end of it. His pardon, where it is once given, can never be 
 revoked, or cancelled again. He forg-iveth not as man doth, but 
 when He forgiveth our sins, He forgetteth them also. 'Whom 
 God hath once pardoned. He never so forsaketh that they shall 
 quite lose His favour again. This pardon sets ns in as good 
 state before God, as if we had never sinned. " Thou art all fair, 
 my love ; there is no spot in thee.""" 
 
 35—37. (3.")) divideth, or .stirreth up. comp ch. xxxiii. 20 ; 
 Ps. Ixxxix. 3(), 37. (30) those ordinances, such as of the 
 sun. moon, sea, etc. God's purpose concerning His people ia as 
 unchangeable as the laws of nature are. (37) lieaveu . . 
 measured, ch. xxxiii. 22. 
 
 The Clinrrh'.f .'<eciir<tji (rr. 3.5 — 37). — Let us contemplate — T. 
 The promises here made to God's Church and people. Certainly 
 they refer — 1. To God's ancient peopl(>, the Jews : 2. To the Chris- 
 tian Church. II. The use which is to be made of them by indi- 
 vidual believers. "We should be careful — -1. As to the persons to 
 whom they belong ; 2. As to the extent lo which they are to be 
 apjdied ; 3. As to the use that is to be made of them when they 
 ai-e 60 applied. Lay down the following rules: — (1) Seek tO 
 
Cap. xxxii. 1—13.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 121 
 
 gain Christ Himself as your portion : (2) Embi-ace His promises » C. Simeon, M. A. 
 with humility ; (3) Improve them with all care." 
 
 38 — 40. C3S) tower . . corner, the ancient limits of the 
 city." (3'.)) Gareb, the future Calvary.' " The locality outside 
 the city, where lepers were removed to." Goatla, a toilsome 
 ascent, towards the S.W. (40) valley, etc., ch. vii. 32. Tophet ; 
 S. of the city, horse gate, Ne. iii. 28. not be plucked up, 
 the rebuilt citj' shall be established for long' generations. 
 
 Vaviahle friiUfulnt'ss. — For so have I known a luxuriant vine 
 swell into irregular twigs and bold excrescences, and spend itself 
 in leaves and little rings, and afford but trifling clusters to the 
 vine-press, and a faint return to his heart which longed to be 
 refreshed with a full vintage : but when the lord of the vine had 
 caused the dressers to cut the wilder plant, and made it bleed, it 
 grew temperate in its vain expense of useless leaves, and knotted 
 into fair and juicy bunches, and made accounts of that loss of 
 blood by the return of fruit. So is an afflicted province cured of 
 its surfeits, and punished for its sins, and bleeds for its long riot, 
 and is left ungoverned for its disobedience, and chastised for its 
 wantonness : and when the sword hath let forth the corrupted 
 blood, and the fire hath purged the rest, then it enters into the 
 double joys of restitution, and gives God thanks for His rod, and 
 confe ses the mercies of the Lord in making the smoke to be 
 changed into fire, and the cloud into a perfume, the sword into a 
 etaff, and His anger into mercy." 
 
 n Ne. iii. 1 ; Zee 
 xiv. lu ; 2 KJ. 
 xiv. 13. 
 
 b Lightfoct. 
 
 " AcciiPtom your 
 children to a 
 strict attentioa 
 to truth, even in 
 the most minute 
 i particulars. If a 
 i thing happened 
 j at one window, 
 and they, when 
 relating it, say 
 tliat it happened 
 ] at another, do 
 ] not let it pass, 
 but instantly 
 check them ; you 
 do not know 
 where deviation 
 from truth will 
 end." — br. John- 
 son. 
 
 c I. Taylor. 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRTY-SECOND. 
 
 1 — 5. (1) tenth year, the siege of Jerus. began in Zedek.'s 
 ninth year." It was temporarily raised upon the approach of an 
 army fr. Egypt.* (2) in the court, etr., Jer. had been arrested 
 on attempting to leave Jerusalem. At fii'st he was only in 
 custody, afterwards he was put into a dungeon. (3j shut him 
 Tip, put him in confinement, fearing the mischievous influence 
 of his prophecies upon the people. (4) not escape, ch. xxxiv. 
 2, 3. (5) visit him, an expression that may either mean for 
 restoration, or for punishment." 
 
 Zr(Teltinli\s cnpfiriti/, blind nf.i.'i. and death. — Some superficial or 
 inattentive readers of the Bible have supposed this prophecy, 
 which declares that Zedekiah should behold the king of Babylon, 
 to be contradictory to Ezek. xii. 13, where it is said, he should be 
 brought to Babylon, but should not see it ; and, indeed, Josephus 
 tells us that the .seeming inconsistency of the two prophecies 
 determined Zedekiah to believe neither of them. Both of them, 
 however, were literally fulfilled. Zedekiah was taken in the 
 plains of Jericho, and sent to the king of Babj'lon at Riblah 
 (2 Kings XXV. .5, G), where he then resided, whom he saw and 
 spoke to. and who caused his eyes to be put out. He was then 
 sent to Babylon, which he could not see, and was there imprisoned 
 and died."^ 
 
 6 — 12. CO, 7) Hanameel, Jeremiah's first cousin, field in a Tliis field was 
 Anathoth," a sacerdotal city, so having 1.000 cubits of suburban | »* t'>° ''cession 
 fields outside the walls attached to it. right of redemption, of 'J'lte chaldKafl 
 Le. sxv. 24, 25"; Ru. iv. 3— G. (8) right of inheritance, I army. 
 
 a Je. xxxix. Ij 
 
 2 Ei. XXV. 1. 
 
 b Je. xxxvii. 6. 
 
 " The siege lasted 
 from the tenth 
 month of the 
 ninth year of 
 Zedekiah's reiga 
 to the fourth 
 month of the 
 eleventh year." 
 — Lowlh. 
 
 c " Zedekiah's 
 was a harder fate 
 than the words 
 suggest ; Je. 
 xxxix. 6, 7, Hi.. 
 W'—Spk. Com. 
 
 d Carpentey. 
 
122 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xxxil. 13-20. 
 
 h "\\nien Ilaiini- 
 b.al laid siftre to 
 Hoiiip, tho sito oil 
 whicli he pitclieil 
 his camp was put 
 Tip to auction, 
 anil fouml a pur- 
 chaser in the 
 besieged city."— 
 liu-y. 
 
 e " Two ileods 
 were drawn up 
 in a contract of 
 sale. The one, 
 the original copy, 
 ■witnessed and 
 sealed with the 
 public seal ; the 
 other not .so, but 
 open, and there- 
 fore less authori- 
 tative, being but 
 a copy. The 
 sealed copy was 
 to be opened 
 after the seventy 
 years' captivity." 
 • — Fausstt. 
 
 d Je. xxxvi. 4. 
 
 vv. 6—8. S. C. 
 Wilk^, i. 339. 
 
 A real Christian 
 must learn to die 
 to all his rigli- 
 teousness, as well 
 as to his um-igh- 
 teousness. 
 
 e SarmC'T. 
 
 a " Special care 
 was taken that 
 the deed should 
 sustain no injury 
 from the lengtli 
 of time tliat 
 would elapse be- 
 fore the Jews 
 could recover 
 their possessions 
 in Palestine." — 
 Henderson. 
 
 The kingdom of 
 Christ on eartli 
 may bo compared 
 to a nursery gar- 
 flen ; where you 
 •will always find 
 far more .^ajilings 
 than growu-up 
 ^I'ees. 
 
 t Earmer. 
 
 since ITananieel had no children, then I knew, v.r.thc coming 
 of Ilanamccl coniiimed the directions I had received. ('J) 
 weighed, money docs not seem to have been coined* seven- 
 teen shekels, or about 40 shillings. (10) subscribed., etc., 
 did all that was necessary properly to secure the transfer of the 
 property. (11) evidence,' the actual deed, and the testimony 
 of the witnesses. (12) Barueh, Jeremiah's agent.'' 
 
 Evidence (if piircha.te. — The double evidences of Jeremiah's 
 purchase, which are mentioned here, seems a strange manage- 
 ment in their civil concerns : yet something of the like kind 
 obtains still among them. Both the writings were in the hands 
 of Jeremiah, and at his disposal, verse 14 ; for what purpose then 
 were duplicates made .' To tho.se that are unacquainted with the 
 Eastern usages, it must appear a question of some difficulty. 
 " The open or unsealed Avriting," says an eminent commentator, 
 " was cither a copy of the sealed deed, or else a certificate of the 
 witnesses in Avhose presence the deed of purchase was signed 
 and sealed." — (Lowth.) But it still recurs, of what use was a 
 copy that was to be buried in the same earthen vessel, and run 
 exactly the same risks wath the original .' If by a certificate is 
 meant a deed of the witnesses, by which they attested the con- 
 tract of Jeremiah and Hanameel, and the orig'inal deed of piirchase 
 had no witnesses at all, then it is natural to ask, why were they 
 made separate writings? and much more, why was one sealed, 
 and not the other .-' Sir J. Chardin's account of modern manage- 
 ments, which he thinks illustrates this ancient story, is, " that 
 after a contract is made, it is kept by the party himself, not the 
 notary ; and they cause a cojDy to be made, signed hj the notaiy 
 alone, which is shown upon proper occasions, and never exhibit 
 the other." According to this account, the two books were the 
 same, the one sealed up with solemnity, and not to be used on 
 common occasions ; that which was open, the same writing, to 
 be perused at jileasure, and made use of upon all occasions. The 
 sealed one answered to a record with us ; the other a writing for 
 common us?.' 
 
 13—15. (13) charged Baruch, gave him the following 
 instructions. (14) earthen vessel, to protect them. This 
 would be hidden in the ground in some secure place, to be found 
 when the laud was again inhabited." (15) again, i.e. subsequent 
 to the captivity. 
 
 Preserving documents. — Whatever materials the ancient Jews 
 wrote upon, they were liable to be easily destroyed by the damp- 
 ness when hidden in the earth. It was therefore thought requi- 
 site to enclose them in something that might keep them from 
 the damp, lest thej'' ehoiild decay and be rendered useless. In 
 those days of roughness, when war knew not the softenings of 
 later times, men were wont to bury in the earth every part of 
 their laroperty that could be concealed after that manner, not 
 only silver and gold, but wheat, barley, oil, and honey ; vestments 
 and writings too. For that I ajiprehend was the occasion of 
 Jeremiah's ordering that the writings he delivered to Baruch, 
 mentioned in his thirty-second chapter, should be put into and 
 earthen vessel.* 
 
 16 — 20. (IG) prayed, prob. to relieve his own anxiety, and 
 to unburden hia own learti. (17; too hard, marg, "hid from 
 
Cap. xxxii. 21—25.] 
 
 JEREMIAE. 
 
 123 
 
 Thee;" or "too -wonderful for Thee." (IS) shewest, etc., 
 Ex. xx. ,5, 6, xxxiv. 7 ; Is. Ixv. 6. bosom, the fold, or pocket of 
 Eastern garments is so called. (19) eyes . . men, Job xxxiv. 
 21 : Pr. V. 21. (20) even nnto this day, i.e. memorable even 
 until now." 
 
 (jiuV.'S omnuciencc — The Inqi/l.^ifum, or the record on high. — 
 " "Within those blood-stained walls, for whose atrocious cruelties 
 Rome has a heavj' account to render, a prisoner is under exami- 
 nation. He has been assured that nothing- he reveals shall be 
 recorded or used against him. "\Miile making- frank and in- 
 genuous confession, he suddenly stops. He is dumb — a mute. 
 They ply him -with questions, flatter him, threaten him ; but he 
 answers not a word. Danger makes the senses quick. His ear 
 has caught a sound : he listens, and that sound ties his tongue. 
 An arras hangs be.side him, and behind it he hears a pen running 
 along the jiages. The truth flashes on him. Behi-nd that screen 
 there sits a scribe, committing to the fatal page every -word he 
 says, and he shall meet it all again on the day of trial. Ah 1 
 how solemn to think that there is such a pen going in heaven, 
 and entering on the books of judgment whatever we say and 
 -wish, all we think and do. Would to God we heard it — heard it 
 everywhere — always heard it ! What a check it might prove 1 " *> 
 
 21—25. (21) has hrouglit, etc., De. xxvi. 8. terror, Ex. xv- 
 14. (22) flo-\ving .. honey, Ex. iii. 8. (23) possessed it, 
 settled down in it. (24) mounts, siege-works, raised for the 
 battering-rams." (2.'>) buy thee the field, purchase of pro- 
 perty when the State was just upon its ruin seemed very un- 
 reasonable. 
 * The men of old. — 
 
 I know not that the men of old 
 
 Were better than men now, 
 Of heart more kind, of hand more bold, 
 
 Of more ingenuous brow : 
 I heed not those %\ho i^ine for force 
 
 A ghost of time to raise. 
 As if they thus could check the course 
 Of these appointed days. 
 
 Still is it true and over true. 
 
 That I delight to close 
 This book of life self- wise and new, 
 
 And let my thoughts repose 
 On all that humble hajipiness 
 
 The world has since foregone — 
 The daylight of contentedncss 
 
 That on those faces shone I 
 
 With rights, though not too closely scann'd, 
 
 Enjoyd as far as known — 
 With will, by no reverse unmann'd — 
 
 With pulse of even tone — 
 They from to-day and from to-night 
 
 Expected nothing more, 
 Than yesterday and yesternight 
 
 Had profferd them before. 
 
 a Call-in. 
 
 V. 18. Dr. J. 
 
 Tvnilinson, S5. 
 
 V. 19. J. Saurin, 
 
 i. 151. 
 
 b Dr. Guthrie. 
 
 " Tlie trial of 
 faith is by find- 
 ing what we will 
 do for God. To 
 trust II im when 
 we have secur- 
 ities in our own 
 iron cliestiseasy, 
 and not thank- 
 wortliy. But to 
 depend nn Him 
 for what wo can- 
 not see, as it is 
 more liard for 
 man to do, so it 
 is more accept- 
 able to God wlicn 
 done, for in that 
 act we make con- 
 fession of His 
 Aeity. "-•Fi'lthanu 
 
 a " Mounds of 
 earth, raised as 
 breastworks by 
 the besieging 
 army, behind 
 wliich tlicy em- 
 ployed tlieir en- 
 gines, and wliicU 
 tliey gradvially 
 pushed forward 
 tothe walls of the 
 city." — Fausset. 
 
 " Let us learn, as 
 Luther did, wlio, 
 looking out of his 
 window one sum- 
 mer evening, 
 saw, on a tree at 
 hand, a little bird 
 making his brief 
 and easj' disposi- 
 tionsfor a night's 
 rest. ' Look,' said 
 he, ' liow that 
 little fellow- 
 preaches faith to 
 us all. He takes 
 hold of hi^ twig, 
 tuclvs liis head 
 under liis wing, 
 and goes to 
 sleep, leaving 
 God to think for 
 h i m.' " — J'. B. 
 I'oicer. 
 
 " The Tihone is 
 foraied of two 
 rivers, running 
 side by si<le in 
 one channel, the 
 one pure as the 
 blue sky above 
 
124 
 
 JEREiflAn. 
 
 [Cap. xxxil. 26—35. 
 
 It, tlie othor 
 tiiTbid and dis- 
 co 1 o u r e il ; but 
 they do not com- 
 bine ; so trutli 
 and erroi', or 
 good and evil, 
 may live side by 
 side in tliis 
 world, the one 
 as beautiful as 
 God, tlie otlier 
 as uply as hell ; 
 but tbey do not, 
 they cannot 
 commingle." — 
 Dr. Cumming. 
 
 " As the sun 
 shining upon a 
 man's face dis- 
 covers all the 
 ■wens, warts, and 
 blotches that 
 may be upon it, 
 BO the light of 
 truth, shining 
 into the sinner's 
 heart, reveals to 
 him all tlie evil 
 desires.t hough ts, 
 feelings, and 
 everything else, 
 which may lie 
 concealed there- 
 in." — Jv/in Bale. 
 
 If you be poor in 
 this world you 
 should be rich in 
 faith ; and if you 
 be rich in this 
 world, be poor in 
 spirit. 
 
 5 Ld. Ilouqhton. 
 
 a Je. ii. 7, 2.5, 
 vii. 23, £8, xxii. 
 21. 
 
 If there is no con- 
 formity between 
 Christ and the 
 Christian here, 
 there can be none 
 hereafter. 
 
 b Dr. J. Parker. 
 
 " The goodness of 
 a Christian lies in 
 his holiness, as 
 the goodness of 
 the air lies in the 
 clearness of it, 
 and the worth of 
 gold in its pure- 
 liess."~2'. Walion. 
 
 To them was life a simple art 
 
 Of duties to be done — 
 A pamc ■tt'liere each man took his part, 
 
 A race ■udiere all must r.-n ; 
 A battle whose great scheme and scope 
 
 They little cared to know, 
 Content, as men at arms, to cope 
 
 Each with his fronting foe. 
 
 Man now his virtue's diadem 
 
 Puts on, and proudly wears — 
 Great thought, great feelings, came to them, 
 
 Life instincts unawares : 
 Blending their souls' sublimest needs 
 
 With tasks of every day, 
 They went about their gravest deeds, 
 ' As noble boys at play. 
 
 A man's b"st things are nearest him, 
 
 Lie close about his feet ; 
 It is the distant and the dim 
 
 That we are sick to greet : 
 For flowers that grow our hands beneath 
 
 We struggle and aspire — 
 Our hearts must die, excejit they breathe 
 
 The air of fresh desire. 
 
 But, brothers, who up reason's hill 
 
 Advance with hopeful cheer — 
 O 1 loiter not. those heights are chill, 
 
 As chill as they are clear ; 
 And still restrain yoitr haughty gaze, 
 
 The loftier that ye go. 
 Remembering distance leaves a haze 
 
 On all that lies below.* 
 
 26—30. (2r,, 27) God . . flesh, Xu. svi. 22. Difficulties are 
 never hindrances to God. (28) I will give, or I am giving. 
 That is ]My settled purpose. (2i)) roofs, cfc. ch. xix. i:5. (30) 
 only done, so abundant were their idolatries and rebellions that 
 nothing else could be seen in the review of their history. yo'Utll, 
 or origin as a nation." 
 
 (Totra rcrrlafion of Uimnclf (v. 27). — This is God's revelation of 
 Himself, not the fancy of the sijeculator, dream of poet, etc. 
 I. Here is a direct assertion of personality, not the voice of 
 creation but of the Creator. II. Here is a direct assertion of 
 dominion, not a Lord, but the Lord.* 
 
 31 — 35. (.'^1) remove . . face, withdraw My protection from 
 it. (.'52) evil, especially in the encouragement of idolatry, and 
 its attendant immoralities. (S3) back, Heb. ncch : ch. ii. 27. 
 (31) set . . house, ch. vii. 30, 31. (3.)) cause, etc., ch. vii. 31, 
 xix. ty. 
 
 Iiliilnfry. — How senseless it is I We should think that artist 
 beside himself who would undertake to draw a likeness of some- 
 thing which he had never seen, nor ever could see,— to paint a 
 portrait of the air, the wind, or the fragrance of flowers. And 
 
Cap. xxxii. 36—44.] 
 
 JEREMIAn. 
 
 125 
 
 '• God is a Spirit." What know we of Him ? To whom shall we 
 liken Him ? " 
 
 36—38. (30) now therefore, resuming- the ar§-ument from 
 V. 27. (37) gather theni,«and so the seeming' destruction shall 
 only issue in a great restoration, when, throug-h their afflictions, 
 they are cured of their idolatry. (38) my people, ch. xxiv. 7. 
 
 'J he fuinrc conversion of thr Jens {ve. 37 — 40). — 1. What 
 blessings God has in store for His chosen people. 1. A restora- 
 tion to their own land ; 2. A renewed acknowledgment of theii' 
 relation to Him : 3. A spirit of piety poured out upon them. II. 
 What security they have for the enjoyment of them. 1. The 
 veracity of God ; 2. The j^ower of God. Apply : — (1) WTiat we, 
 if we are God's peo^jle, may expect for ourselves ; (2) What 
 encouragement w^e have to labour for our Jewish brethren.* 
 
 39—41. (39) one heart," Eze. xi. 19. Prob. referring to 
 the reunion of Israel and Judah. (40) everlasting covenant, 
 ch. xxxi. 81, 33.* (41) assuredly, i.e. in truth, or stability. 
 Indicating God's fixed jiurpose. 
 
 Bible religion (v. 40). — I. As having its seat in the heart. 1. 
 Not merely in the intellect ; 2. Not merely in the sentiments : 
 3. Not merely in occasional service. II. As imparted by God. 
 1. Not miraculously, not irrespective of man's activities ; 2. By 
 the ministry of His servants. III. As a safeguai-d against 
 apostasy."^ 
 
 I/elif/ion and reason. — When pure religion and pure reason are 
 compared — when in their entireness they are contemplated in 
 connection, it will be found that religion is much larger than 
 reason ; that they may be compared to two circular planes, the 
 one of immensely vaster circumference than the other : that 
 consequently, many parts of religion are beyond reason — deeper 
 than reason — loftier than reason : that there is a border round 
 the edge of religion, which reason does not touch ; that when 
 the former surpasses the latter there is no ojjposition, but that 
 where they come within a common measurement, there they 
 agree — there they correspond — there they fit and cohere together 
 as exactly as two planes with polished siu-faces. "V\'ithin a certain 
 degree, the correspondence of reason and religion may be demon- 
 strated, the perfect reasonableness of Christianity may be shown. 
 From principle to principle, duty to duty, institute to institute, 
 "we may go on making our appeal to the unsophisticated under- 
 standing, in the Aijostle's words. " I speak as unto wise men. 
 judge ye what I say." And if what we can understand should 
 be reasonable, we may conclude that the rest is reasonable. " If," 
 as Boyle says. '' God vouchsafes to discover to us, in respect of 
 His nature and attributes, what we cannot know without His 
 information : and since we know that whatever He says mu t be 
 true, we have more reason to believe wh;it He says of Himself 
 and Divine things, than what we should be able to guess at 
 about them by the analogy of things of an infinitely distant 
 nature.'"'' 
 
 42—44. (42) like as, in similar faithfulness to 3Iy word. 
 (43) fields . . land, indicating the reseitlement of the country, 
 and orderly government." (44) subscribe evidence, r. 10. 
 
 ^'/l)■iefl/ in reliijion.'i ehnracter. — AVe ought, if rightly minded. 
 to rejoice in the exuberance and variety of the spiritual g-ifts I baudry siiali re- 
 
 a Homilist. 
 
 a Je. xxxi. 8, 9, 
 
 18—20, 33. 
 
 Trutli win be 
 uppermost one 
 time or other, 
 like cork, tliouph 
 kci)t down in the 
 water. 
 
 6 C. Simeon, M.A, 
 
 a "In ch. iii. 13, 
 the ni a n i f o 1 li 
 paths of sins are 
 described as the 
 s c a 1 1 e ring of 
 men's ways, but 
 under the new 
 covenant tliey 
 will with one 
 consent v.alk in 
 the one narrow 
 path of right 
 d oin g." — Spk. 
 Com. 
 
 b Ps. Isxxix. 34, 
 35 : Is. \v. 3 ; He. 
 viii. lu. 
 
 " Called an ' ever- 
 lasting cove- 
 nant.' not only 
 bee. God will be 
 for ever fuHhful 
 to it, but bee. the 
 consequences of 
 it will be ever- 
 lasting." — Milt. 
 Henri/. 
 
 c Dr. Tliomas. 
 
 V. 40. R. Warn- 
 ford, i. 91 ; Dr. 
 II. Draper, iL 
 364. 
 
 V. 41. Dr. liees, 
 iv. 485. 
 
 d Dr. Stougliton, 
 
 a " Trade shall 
 revive, for they 
 shall have money 
 enough to buy 
 land with. Hus- 
 
12C 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 rOap. XX3J11. 1—8, 
 
 Vive, for those 
 tliat have moiu'v 
 shall covet to lay 
 it out u))oii 
 Ian (Is." — Mat. 
 Iliniij. 
 
 " It is hard to 
 personate and 
 act a part long; 
 for, where truth 
 is not at the bot- 
 tom, nature will 
 always be en- 
 deavouring to 
 Jetiiru, and will 
 peep out and 
 betray herself 
 one time or 
 other." — Tillol- 
 ton. 
 
 b Dr. Goulbum. 
 
 a " This invita- 
 tion betokens 
 God's favour and 
 loving-kind uess ; 
 that He is ready 
 to comply with 
 the first intima- 
 tions of His 
 servants' de- 
 sires." — Loiol/t. 
 V. 3. F. Clvse, ii. 
 135. 
 
 b G. Brooks. 
 a " In ancient 
 siegres, as the 
 works of the 
 enemy approach- 
 ed the walls, it 
 was usual to 
 build inner foi'ti- 
 fications, and for 
 this purpose 
 houses were 
 pulled down, 
 both to give the 
 vacant space ne- 
 cessary, and to 
 supply mate- 
 rials." — Spk. Com. 
 
 b Mai locks in 2 
 Chr. xxxiv. 6 ; 
 axes in Eze. x.xvi. 
 
 e Henderson. 
 
 d Je. x.xiv. 6, 
 xxxi. 4, 28, xlii. 
 10. 
 
 e Eze. xxxvi. 2.5 ; 
 Zee. xiii. 1 ; Ho. 
 L\. 13, 14. 
 
 V. 6. A. lioberls. 
 li. 81. 
 
 f C.Simeon, M.A. 
 
 possessed by Christians, just as we delight in the rich variety of 
 nature, or in that of tlie ^\ord of God. There are many lines of 
 thought in religion, many forms which practical and personal 
 piety take.s, although, of course, they are all animated by tha 
 same essential principles. St. John and St. Paul were both 
 equally devoted to the cause and person of our Lord, yet no two 
 men ever existed who manifested tliis devotion in shapes more 
 different. 15oth these members held of the Head by a living 
 union, but they discharged for the Head functions altogether 
 different. Let us not conceive of all genuine religion as moving 
 in one groove of feeling and practice, and refuse to acknowledge 
 any man as a Christian, because he does not run upon our par- 
 ticular groove. There are several points of view from which 
 Christianity may be surveyed ; and although it be one and the 
 same object, from whatever point we look, j-et eyes placed on 
 different levels will see it grouped in different perspectives.'' 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRTY-THIRD. 
 
 1 — 3. (1) second, time, after the message about the field, 
 shut up, ch. xxxii. 2. 3. (2) maker, Lsa. xxxvii. 2G. (3) 
 mighty things, or things hidden, or shut up — in the mys- 
 terious counsels of God." Poss. alluding to the times of Messiah. 
 
 Prayer (r. 3). — 1. The invitation to prayer. 1. "Whose is it? 
 2. To whom is the invitation addressed 1 3. What is the tenor 
 of the invitation ? II. The promise. 1. It is general ; 2. It is 
 special. Apply: — (1) Reprove the prayerless ; (2) Encourage 
 the praj'erf uL* 
 
 4—8. (4) thrown . . mounts, pulled do^^Tl to make inner 
 fortifications." by the sword, or axes,* used for breaking down 
 the houses. Or the '' sword "' may be here put for the soldiers 
 who use the sword.' (5) they come, a poetical figure. These 
 ramparts and inner defences are said to advance to fight the 
 Chalda3ans. fi.ll, etc., this would be the actual result of the pro- 
 longed resistance, and in this form the Divine judgment would 
 be manifested. ((!) health, etc., first the cure of its moral evils, 
 then gracious outward restoration. The word rendered cure, lit. 
 means, " the long linen bandage employed in dressing wounds." 
 (7) build them, or establish them.'' (8) cleanse, or pro- 
 nounce clean." 
 
 Conrer.Hiun of flir Jrirx a mnffrr of imjJorfance to God and 
 man (rr. fi — 9). — Consider — I. The event predicted. In the pas- 
 sage before us God promises to them — 1. A discovery of His will ; 
 2. A manifestation of His favour ; 3. A communication of His 
 grace. II. I'he vast importance of it. Mark— 1. The interest 
 which God Himself has in it ; 2. The interest of the whole world 
 involved in it. Improvement : — (1) Consider what blessings you 
 yourselves enjoy ; (2) What reason you have to seek the welfare 
 of your Jewish brethren.-' 
 
 'J'/ie ./e/r-f. — It is not usual to acknowledge much literary 
 obligation to the people of Israel ; yet under the liberal tolera- 
 tion and patronage of the Moorish dynasties of Bagdad and Spain 
 they attained to considerable eminence. Two of the earliest 
 writers of travels were .Tews. Closes Petachia travelled about 
 the year 11S7 through Poland to Tartary, and thence through 
 
Cap. xxxiii. 9—11.] 
 
 JERE^VUn. 
 
 127 
 
 various Asiatic countries to Jerusalem : and about the same 
 period appeared the -work ascribed to Benjamin Ben lona, com- 
 monly called Benjamin of Tudela. who is represented to have 
 been a native of Navarre, and a student of Cordova. " Zai/s noii 
 ultima sdhhaiayioruni.'' His journeys are stated to have extended 
 by the way of Constantinople, through Antioch. to Jerusalem ; 
 thence to Tadmor, and the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris. 
 Bagdad was then under the government of the Abassides, to 
 whose toleration of the Jews our traveller bears ample testimony'. 
 His course then lay through Persia, and he returned by the 
 Indian Ocean and the Bed Sea to Egypt and Sicily, s 
 
 9 — 11. ('.0 it shall be, i.e. the restored Jewish nation, a 
 praise," Is. Lxii. 7. fear and tremble, vvdth awe at the signs 
 of the power and faithfulness of Israels God.* (10) sliall be 
 desolate, better, '-is desolate.''" The Prophet seems to see the 
 land as the people thought of it during the time of the captivity 
 — uniiihabited and silent. (11) voice, etc., ch. vii. 34. xvi. 9. 
 praise, etc., comp. Ezr. iii. 11. cause to return, or reverse.** 
 
 Moilern Jerusalem. — At the season of Easter, when the thoughts 
 of half the world turn, or ought to turn, to the hills of Jerusalem, 
 it is curious to be receiving the annual ofhcial report of our 
 consul upon the Holy City ! Foolscap paragraphs about the 
 vicinity of Calvary and the Via Dolorosa ! A blue-book from 
 Bethany and the Mount of Olives 1 The Foreign Office of " the 
 Britons," who were only just known to exist when the first Good 
 Friday and the first Easter Sunday dawned — the Foreign Office 
 of that barbaric race now " having the honour " to acknowledge 
 particulars as to the quantity of Manchester cottons and Stafford- 
 shire pots and pans- which have lately entered '■ thy gates, O 
 Jerusalem I " Says the Consul, eighteen thousand pounds' worth 
 of calicoes and shirtings have been imported into " Zion," and 
 six thousand pounds' worth of hardware. Moreover, although 
 the attempt to supply the city with water from the pools of 
 Solomoil has failed, and the American colony is no success, they 
 are still doing great things in a small way — making a carriage- 
 able path down to Jaffa, and clearing the road to Jericho of the 
 thieves who linger there, as they do on most other roads, long 
 after the Samaritan has disappeared. The sleepy, dim, half-alive 
 official report is a perfectly fair incture of the sleepy, dim, half- 
 alive capital which is so ancient and was so holy. There she 
 stands now, the •' city of God," a drab and whitewashed mass of 
 mean houses, straggling over her ragged enceinte, inside the 
 girdle of her useless walls. Those walls, and a few commanding 
 objects, like the domes of the Holy Sepulchre, and of the harem, 
 make her retain a certain vestige of her greatness : but with 
 the far vision of the heart must that eye see, to which Jerusalem 
 can now appear anything but an ugly, hot, mean, stagnant 
 town. From one point, perhaps, the bend of the path to Bethany, 
 some queenly state lingers about the place which Titus found 
 almost too beautiful to ruin, and over which, at that very spot, 
 the eyes that wept for Lazarus shed Divine tears. There the 
 great masonry of Solomon makes a foreground, and the blue and 
 green cirque of the Great Mosque promises the traveller what 
 he will not realise. But, from any other point — and, more than 
 all, upon entering the streets — this centre of the thought of 
 Cly:istondom is as unlike the metropolis of religion and of civi- 
 
 It is the high pri- 
 vili.ge of a true 
 believer to sea 
 nothing between 
 God and his Koul 
 i bu t tlie Lord 
 i Jesus Christ. 
 
 g Percy Anee. 
 
 a " That is, the 
 subject of men's 
 praise and admi- 
 ration, the glory 
 of which re- 
 dounds to Grod, 
 who is her pro- 
 tector."— iouf A. 
 
 6 Comp. Vs. 
 cxxxi.x. 14 ; l3. 
 
 c Je. .\xxii. 43. 
 
 (f " To ' rever;e 
 the captivity ' 
 does not here 
 mean to restore 
 the captives from 
 their exile, bufc 
 to restore the 
 country fi-om the 
 circumstances of 
 desolation to wh. 
 it had been re- 
 duced, although 
 this naturally 
 presupposed the 
 restoration of it;* 
 in habitants." — 
 Henderson, 
 
 "When, on one 
 occaifion, a crowd 
 of crusaders ap- 
 ! preached the 
 j Holy City, and 
 ] caught tl;e first 
 I fight of its spires 
 ! through the blue 
 [ luminous tre- 
 I mors of the dis- 
 1 tance, some knelt 
 in silent praise, 
 I some kissed the 
 I ear th, some 
 I prayed, and 
 I laughed, and 
 I wept in wild 
 I emotion; and 
 ' knight and 
 palmer, old man 
 and little child, 
 joined to raise 
 the cry, ' Jeru- 
 salem, Jerusa- 
 lem 1 ' "-<StoH/flrA 
 
128 
 
 JERFMIMI. 
 
 [Cap. xxxiii. 12-18. 
 
 •« The Christian 
 must lie like the 
 sun ; bnt he must 
 not he like He/e- 
 Idah'ssun, which 
 •went backwarils; 
 nor like Joshuas 
 sun, wliioh stodil 
 Btill ; but he must 
 be like David's 
 sun, which re- 
 joices as a ffiant 
 to run his race." 
 —Bishop Hall. 
 
 "Christianity 
 
 hasKivpii to truth 
 a (lifjiiity iiule- 
 penclent of time 
 and numbers. It 
 has required tliat 
 truth shoulil be 
 believed and res- 
 pected for itself." 
 — Vinet. 
 
 t Daily Telegraph. 
 
 «Is. Lrv. 10; Je. 
 L19. 
 
 h " ' Every shep- 
 herd tells his 
 tale,' i.e. ' counts 
 the number of 
 his sheep.' " — 
 Millo/i's L'Al- 
 leyt-o. 
 
 " Shepherds in 
 Bendiun; forth 
 and b r i n g i n {? 
 b.ack their sheep 
 to the fold, count 
 them by striking 
 each as it jiasses 
 with a rod." — 
 Fnii.inet. 
 
 c " ' I will make 
 to rise,' God's 
 promise havinf? 
 fora tiiue.seemeil 
 to lie dead and 
 abor ti ve." — 
 Calvin. 
 
 vv. 14-2G. Dr. 
 /i. Gordon, iv. 
 180. 
 
 d Paxlon. 
 
 a "The name is 
 here given to 
 
 ligation as a Bedouin camp, or the 7ilace that most reserables it 
 in situation — the Constantina of Alg-eria. Filth, poverty, dust, 
 heat, disease, and fleas are ihe penuine native commodities of 
 modern Jeru^^alem. The chief feature of the yellow, punburnt 
 suburb outside the Damascus ofate prepares the pilfrnm well for 
 the interior. Ris'ht and left he observes vast numbers of tomb- 
 stones, cut or iiainted with Hebrew letter.s — a j2;reat camp of the 
 dead ! — a " multitude which no man can number '• — husUiug and 
 elbowing one another all down the Valley of Jehoshaphat round 
 to Siloam, up the slope of Olivet, and on both sides of waterless 
 Kedron, for room to lie under the walls of Salem. There are 
 the g-raves of Jews wlio have come from all jiarts of the earth to 
 die in the holy air, and to be ready for the judgment-day at 
 Tophet, without the pain of having- to find their way underneath 
 the ground to the spot where they think all flesh will be sum- 
 moned to the " dread assize." Fitly does the pilgrim pass through 
 this suburb of the dead into the dead city, " mooning in '" on his 
 weary mule or camel, along ■with a few IVIanchester calicoes and 
 Staffordshire pots, perchance, or, it may be, with a wrinkled 
 olive-seller or two, bearing friiitas wrinkled from the old gnarled 
 trees in Gethsemane. What he will see after he passes the knot 
 of lepers, winking and blinking with rotting visages in the 
 sun, are tumble-down hovels, grimy, dark lanes, squalid bazaars, 
 frowsy, dejected Fellaheen, slinking Arabs, sleepy Turks, miserable 
 Israelites, rascally-looking Christians ; no life, no joy, no stir, no 
 colour in the •• y)lace of David ;" only the state of things which 
 this report depicts, when not a shirt apiece is bought in the year, 
 and the main road from the Jaffa gate to the sea remains, and is 
 likely to remain, a break-neck mule-path.' • 
 
 12 — 14. (12) habitation . . down," the free occupation of 
 the land by shepherds is an effective indication of its peaceful 
 and secure condition. (i;{) telleth, i.e. counteth.'' (14) good 
 thing, or good word : ch. xxix. 1(>, xxiii. 5, C.« 
 
 Numhering the floclts. — It was the custom of more accurate or 
 severe masters to number their flocks in the morning Avhen they 
 went out to pasture, and again in the evening when they returned 
 to the fold. But the most indulgent masters seem to have always 
 numbered their flocks in the evening ; a fact clearly attested by 
 Virgil iu the close of his sixth Eclogue : 
 
 " Cogere donee oves stabulis numcmmque referre 
 Jussit, et invito processit vesper Olympo." 
 
 " Till vesper warned the shepherds to pen their sheep in tlie folds 
 and recount their number ; and advanced on the -sky. full loth to 
 lose the song." Agreeably to this custom, the Prophet Jeremiah 
 is directed by the Spirit of God to in-omise, " The flocks shall pa.ss 
 again under the hands of him that tc^Ueth theni, saith the Loi-d." 
 The reference of these words to the rod of the shejiherd number- 
 ing his flock, when they return from the pasture, apiiears from 
 the verse immediately preceding : '• Thus saith the Lord of Ilo.sts, 
 Again in this place, which is de.'^olate. without man and \\'iihout 
 beast, and iu all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of 
 shepherds, causing their flocks to lie down."'' 
 
 15—18. (!.") branch, ch. xxiii. 5. (ic.) oiTr righteousness, 
 Hcb. Jchoiah-tmikcnu.' (17; never want a man, JItb. '• there 
 
Cap. xxxiii. 19—22,] 
 
 JE RE ill An. 
 
 129 
 
 ' The perpetuity of the kinj^'doin, I Jerus., i.e. to tlie 
 only reuiised .spiritually iu the .'".'l',"';!:''-: .''"•• ^M« 
 the 
 
 shall not be cut off from David 
 
 and the Levitical order, are only realised tjjiritually 
 Messiah.* (18) Levites, these stand here to represent 
 restoration of the religious and ceremonial sj'stem. 
 
 IliU and his (janlcner. — -The Eev. llowlaud Hill had great 
 reason to rejoice iu the consistent lives and zealous devotion to 
 God of many of his people at Wotton. There was amongst them 
 a person of the name of Rugg-, of a piety so deep, and of a life 
 BO useful and unblemished, that even his enemies admired and 
 were awed by his character. Mr. Hill's gardener at Wotton, who 
 had always passed for an honest, quiet sort of man, was at length 
 discovered to have been the perpetrator of several burglaries and 
 other daring robberies in the neighbourhood, though he had. till 
 caught in the fact, never been even suspected. He was tried at 
 Gloucester, condemned, and executed. It need scarcely be said 
 that his master visited him in jail. Dui'ing his interview with 
 him there, he confessed the many crimes of which he had been 
 
 her business 
 ui e d i a t e 1 y to 
 work on earth 
 thut righteuus- 
 iiesswLicliClirist 
 works fib.solute- 
 \y:'—Siik. Com. 
 h 2 Sa. vii. 16; 
 Ps. Ix.xxix. 29. 
 The brightest 
 Christian, in his 
 graces is not 
 unlike the sea, 
 wliich never con- 
 tinues long at 
 high water mark. 
 "In tlie cliannel 
 through u'liicU a 
 running stream 
 is directed upon 
 
 guilty. '■ How was it, William," he inquired, " that you never '^ ™''^ wheel, the 
 
 robbed me, when you had such abundant opportunity.'"' "Sir." 
 
 replied he, "do you recollect the juniper bush on the border 
 
 against the dining-room .' I have many times hid under it at 
 
 night, intending, which I could easily have done, to get into the 
 
 house and plunder it ; but. sir. I was afraid : something said to 
 
 me, He is a man of God : it is a house of prayer ; if I break in I 
 
 Bhall surely be found out : so I never could pluck up courage to 
 
 attempt it." In another conversation he told him, "Sir, I well 
 
 knew that old Mr. Rugg was iu the habit of carrying- a deal of 
 
 money in his pocket : times and times have I hid behind the 
 
 hedge of the lane leading to his house — he has passed within a 
 
 yard of me, vs'hen going home from the prayer-meeting, again 
 
 and again ; I could not stir ; I durst not touch so holy a man. I 
 
 ■was afraid. I always began to tremble as soon as he came near 
 
 me. and gave up the thought altogether, for I knew he was a 
 
 holy man."<^ 
 
 day, conceive of the Divine ordi- 
 ' ch. xxxi. 35, 30. (21) covenant 
 (22) host, etc.. ch. xxxi. 37. Ful- 
 filled spiritually in Christian believers ; the true Israelites, the 
 spiritual seed of Abraham. 
 
 Jeviisdlnn discoceric.i. — Outside Jerusalem how much remains 
 
 19—22. (19. 20) break . 
 nances in nature as failing 
 . . David, 2 Sa. vii. 12—10. 
 
 a " The perpe- 
 tual succession 
 of day and night, 
 in virtue of the 
 Divine ordinance 
 to that eflect, ig 
 appealed to as a 
 pledge of the 
 
 for US to learn 1 The field has been scarcely furrowed by the j the'prondse^ade 
 merest surface plough : and whole districts, with many a nioun- j by God both to 
 tain nook, are virgin soil to the Western explorer. AVe have in i I'avid and the 
 the Book of Joshua the Domesdav Book of the land of Israel. 
 
 same turning of 
 a valve that 
 shuts the water 
 out of one course 
 throws it into 
 another. Thus 
 the Jews, by re- 
 jecting the coun- 
 sel of God, shut 
 themselves out, 
 and at ilie same 
 moment opened 
 a way whereby 
 mercy m i g li t 
 flow to us who 
 were afar oiT." — ■ 
 Rev. William Ar- 
 not. 
 c C'heever. 
 
 Levites."' — IJeii- 
 
 Who yet has taken that olden roll in hand, and verified by it the i Comp. Nu. x.xt. 
 Bites and caves, the living villages and the ruinous heaps which ! 12, i3;Ps. Ixxxix. 
 etud every corner of the land .' Let us remember that what ! ^ '^^•^'^ '• ^^^^- "• 
 
 A pious man re- 
 sendiles a well- 
 tenipcied b'ade; 
 it may be turue'd 
 aside niomcn- 
 tarilv, but there 
 
 Let us 
 Rawlinson, and Layard, and Botta have done for the history of 
 the later monarchy in the motmds of Assyria and Chalda>a. yet 
 remains to be done for Numbers and Joshua, and for the golden 
 period of the Israelitish monarchy. It is not for nothing, surely, 
 that Providence has left it within our grasp, in a sceptical age — 
 in an age devoted, bej'ond all others, to phvsical research and | '^ t'^^* . >" i' 
 physical evidences— to elucidate the details of the Word written, | cause'itTuret'ura 
 by the numberless illustrations wliich every diligent exploration i to its former 
 of the land, which is, as it were, the framework, the setting, of | straightneaa. 
 VOL. IX. O.T, I 
 
130 
 
 JEREMIAB. 
 
 [Cap. xxxiil. 23—23. 
 
 > The Cliri.1t ill II 
 Adcvcale and Uc- 
 view. 
 
 a " Christ Is tlmt 
 eeeil of David 
 that is to be 
 pen'etual dictii- 
 tor to the sceil 
 of Ab , Is , and 
 Jacob ; and as 
 this people shnll 
 ne'.-cr want snch 
 a Kin.sr. so thii 
 King shall never 
 want sueh a 
 ■peo|ile. Christi- 
 anity shall con- 
 tinue in the 
 dominion of 
 Clirist, and the 
 subjection of 
 Christians to 
 Him, till day and 
 night come to an 
 end." — Matthew 
 JInni. 
 
 1)1'. 2t— 26. W. 
 Ji. Freemantle, 
 Jihoms. Lee. v. 
 78. ^ 
 
 " At one time, 
 ■when a pious 
 minister of the 
 Go-;pel was pass- 
 ing over a hill, a 
 lark, pursued by 
 a hawk, took re- 
 fuge in lii-> bo- 
 som; he kindly 
 lolged tlie little 
 refugee, till, hav- 
 ing reached a 
 considerable dis- 
 tance from its 
 p?rsecu!or. he 
 gave it liberty 
 to snar and sing 
 in si'.fety. The 
 cir cum stance 
 suggested to his 
 mind a train of 
 happy till ughts. 
 vh. he bi-duyht 
 forward in a 
 discourse from 
 Ps,alm xxxiv. 22, 
 ' The Lord r •- 
 deemeth the soul 
 of His servants : 
 andn^neof tin m 
 tliattruitinlliiM 
 shall be <leso- 
 late.' ' — Whi.e- 
 truss. 
 % U. W. Beechcr. 
 
 tlie Divine history, at ouce affords. It mattei's nothing to thej 
 truth of God's Word whore stood the temple of Solomon, where 
 are buried the ruins of C'ai)eruaum, where Israel pitehcd their 
 teuts in the wilderness, where John preached the bai:)tism of 
 repentance ; but it does matter something to our understanding 
 of that Word, that we should be able to show its minute and 
 exact accordance with the existing facts of local toi>ugraphy.* 
 
 23—26. (li3, 24) two families, i.e. the two kingdoms of 
 Israel and Judah. before them, or in their judgment. Those 
 who think thus of Israel and Judah are the Chalda3ans : or, more 
 generally, those who thought the Jews would never be restored 
 to their former condition. (2.">) covenant, r. 20. (20) then, 
 but not till then." will cause, etc., ch. xxxii. 44. 
 
 JV'-rr.t.sUy of cin-rrrt hrllrf. — Go into New York, and in the Sixth 
 Ward you shall find two representative men. One says, " I voted 
 for the judge, and helped to put him where he is, and he will 
 wink at my crimes. I can drink as much as I please, on Sundays 
 and on week-days, and he will not disturb me. He is easy and 
 good-natured, and he is not going to be hard with me if I do 
 break the laws a little." And the man, bccau.se he believes that 
 the judge does not care for his wickedness, and will not punish 
 him, grows bold and corrupt in transgression. But at length he 
 is brought before the court, and he iinds there, instead of his 
 bribed judge, a white-faced man — not red-faced ; one of those 
 mt n with a long head upward — not backward and downward : a 
 man with a full sense of the value of justice and truth. The 
 culprit begins his shuffling excuses. The judge listens to none 
 of them ; he reads the law, and says, '■ Your conduct is herein 
 condemned," and sends him away to receive his just deserts. 
 When the man has expiated his crime, he goes around in the 
 same ward, and says, '• You must walk straight hereafter. The 
 judge that sits on the bench now is not the»jolly old judge that 
 used to sit there. If you go before him, he will make you 
 smart." Docs it not make a difference what a man believes about 
 a judge? If he believes that he is a lenient, conniving judge, 
 does it not make him careless ? And if he believes that he is a 
 straightforward judge, does it not make him afraid of trans- 
 gression I Now lift up the judge's bench, and make it the 
 judgment-seat ; and take out the human judge, and put God 
 Almighty there. If men believe Him to be an all-smiling God — 
 a God that is all sunshine, an all-sympathising God — a God that 
 is nothing but kindness, and goodness, and gentleness, they say 
 to themselves, " We will do as we have a mind to." Take away 
 that miserable slander upon the revealed character of God, and 
 lift up the august front of Justice, on whose brow love proudly 
 sits, and let men see that there is a vast heart of love and gentle- 
 ness indeed, but one that will by no means clear the guilty, and 
 they will take more heed to their conduct. Does it, then, make 
 no difference what a man believes about Gods nature, and His 
 manner of dealing" with men ? It makes all the difference between 
 laxity and earnestness, between an endeavour to live truly and 
 no endeavour at all in that dhectiou ; between right and wrong 
 conduct.* 
 
Cap. xxxiv. 1—7.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 131 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRTY-FOURTH. 
 
 1—3. (1) kingdoms . . dominion, ILh. "The dominion of 
 his hand.'' " people, or peoples, races, tribes, under liis rule.'' 
 (2) burn it, a sign of the exasperated state of Nebuchadnezzar's 
 mind. The fate of the city would be unusually hard. This 
 prophecy of Jer.'s specially threatened the king. (3) taken, 
 ch. xxxii. 4. 
 
 From Jerumlem to Jericho. — A journey into the country of the 
 Bedouin Arabs requires to be taken under their guidance and 
 protection. They by such means levy black-mail on all travellers 
 who pass through their country. It seems singular that the 
 Sultan does not provide guards or make the roads safe. But it 
 seems to be a^.part of the peculiar misgovernment of the country 
 to allow the Bedouin tribes of each locality to levy contributions 
 on travellers, or, in other words, to rob them of conduct money. 
 Travellers have to purchase the protection of the Bedouins of the 
 Jordan against all enemies of their own or neighbouring tribes ; 
 and the agreement is to the effect that they shall be taken by 
 the Sheik Eeschid and a jjroper guard to the Dead Sea and the 
 Jordan, and back in safety to Jerusalem. Without such pro- 
 tection the journey is simply impossible, and there is an amusing 
 account of a lady and gentleman who had attempted the trip 
 without the formality of a Bedouin guard, and who had been 
 met and robbed of their bag'gage, their money, clothes, and 
 valuables, the gentleman having to beg of the IJedouin robbers 
 the Timc.^ newspaper in which to clothe himself and his wife. 
 The husband returned to Jerusalem in that valuable journal, his 
 wife being wrapped up in the supplement.^ 
 
 4 — 7. (4) thou . . sword, this assurance, however, implies 
 his caiitivity. (5) burnings, etc.. receiving the honours of a 
 roj-al funeral." ((>, 7) Lachisll, 2 Ki. xviii. K5, xix. 8. These 
 were outlj'ing fortresses Avhich, at the time of the proj^hecy, had 
 not fallen into Nebuchadnezzar's hands. 
 
 Ancf/(iri/ of death.. — Now I further saw, that betwixt them and 
 the gate was a river : but there was no bridge to go over, and 
 the river was very deeji. jVt the sight, therefore, of this river, 
 the pilgrims were much stunned ; but the men that went with 
 them said, "You must go through, or you cannot come at the 
 gate." They then addressed themselves to the water ; and, enter- 
 ing, Chi'istian began to sink : and, cr3'ing out to his good friend 
 Hopeful, he said. " I sink in deeji waters : the billows go over my 
 head ; all his waves go over me." Then said the other, " Be of 
 good cheer, my brother : I feel the bottom, and it is goo>'l." Then 
 said Cliristian, " Ah ! my friend, the sorrow of death hath com- 
 passed me about : I shall not see the land that flows with milk 
 and honey."' And with that a great darkness and horror fell 
 upon Christian, so that he could not see before him. Hopeful, 
 therefore, here had much ado to keep his brother's head above 
 water ; yea, sometimes he would be quite gone down, and then 
 ere a while would rise up again half diiad. Hopeful did also 
 endeavour to comfort him, saying, " Brother. I see the gate, and 
 men standing by to receive us : " but Christian would answer. 
 " It is you they wait for : you have been hopeful ever since I 
 
 12 
 
 a " This predic- 
 tion belongs in 
 point of time to 
 ch. xx.xii. 1 — 5, 
 and is merely an 
 aniplificatiou of 
 whut is con- 
 tained in those 
 XV. It was con- 
 sequently deli- 
 vered before Je- 
 r e m i a h was 
 placed in cus- 
 tody." — Hender- 
 son. 
 
 b "The verbose 
 description well 
 suits the pomp of 
 an Oriental 
 armj" ; and also 
 describes the 
 fact, tlrat such an 
 army consisted 
 of a loose aggre- 
 gate of tributary 
 and half - con- 
 quered nations 
 and tribes, held 
 together by the 
 personal iufin- 
 euceof oueman." 
 — Spk. Com. 
 
 c Jewish ChrO' 
 n icle. 
 
 a " It was cus- 
 tomary among 
 tlie .lews, at the 
 funeral of their 
 kingf, esp. of 
 those whose me- 
 mory they ho- 
 noured, to pre- 
 pare a bed of 
 spices (2 Chr. 
 xvi. 14), which 
 they made a per- 
 fume of by burn- 
 ing tliem, and 
 therein to depo- 
 sit tlie body of 
 the deceased 
 prince." — Lowth. 
 
 " I wish a char- 
 acter as decisive 
 as that of a lion 
 or a tiger, and an 
 imijetus towards 
 t !i e important 
 objects of my 
 choice as forcible 
 as theirs towards 
 prey and hostil- 
 ity; wish to have 
 an extensive at- 
 mosphere of con- 
 sciousness; a soul 
 
132 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xxxlv. 8—16. 
 
 wliich can min- 
 gle with every 
 element in every 
 form, wliicli, like 
 an iEolian liarp, 
 arrests even the 
 ViiKrant winds, 
 and makes them 
 music." -• J. 
 Foster. 
 
 h liunyan. 
 
 a De. XV. 12. 
 6 Je. x.xxvii. 7, 
 also xx.\iT. 21, 
 22. 
 
 " Jesus Christ 
 not only calleil 
 Lazarus into life, 
 but He com- 
 manded tlie 
 grave-clothes to 
 be taken off liiin, 
 that he might 
 have libprly in 
 life. Life, with- 
 out liberty from 
 the grave- 
 olotlies, would 
 Bcarcely have 
 been a blessing. 
 So Jesus Christ 
 not only gives 
 life to the soul 
 which believes in 
 Him ; lie also 
 ctimniands the 
 Spirit to descend 
 upon liim. to set 
 him free from all 
 enslaving habits. 
 ' If the Sou make 
 yon free, ye shall 
 be free indeed.' " 
 — frihn /iile. 
 e W. Umilh. 
 " Wlien I see the 
 spirit of liberty 
 in action, I see a 
 strong principle 
 at work ;and tliis 
 for a while is all 
 I can possibly 
 know of it. The 
 wild gas, the fi.'ced 
 air, is plainly 
 broke loose ; bnt 
 we ought to sus- 
 pend our judg- 
 ment, until the 
 first e fV e r V e s- 
 oence is a little 
 BUhsided, till the 
 licnior is cleared, 
 and until we see 
 something deeper 
 than tlie agita- 
 tion of a troubled 
 imd frothy sub- 
 
 knew you." " And bo have you," said he to Christian. '• Ah, 
 brother ! " said he, '• surely, if I •was right. He would now rise to 
 help me ; but for my sins lie hath brought me into the snare, 
 and hath left me." Then I saw in my dream that Christian was 
 in a muse a while. To whom. also. Hopeful added these words, 
 " Be of good cheer ; Jesus Christ maketli thee whole." And with 
 that Christian brake out with a loud voice, '• Oh ! I see Him 
 again, and lie tells me, ' When thou passest through the waters, I 
 will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not over- 
 flow thee.' " Then they both took courage, and the enemy was 
 after that as still as a stone until they were gone over.* 
 
 8—11. (8) proclaim liberty, Ex. xxi. 2. "By the law a 
 Hebrew, after having been a bond-servant for six years, on the 
 seventh was to be let go free."" (D) serve him.self of, i.r. 
 make the Hebrew serve him. (10) obeyed, carried out the 
 wishes of tlie king, who prob. adopted tliis policy to secure fresh 
 drafts of soldiers. The Prophet sees in it a hopeful return to the 
 obedience of the Mosaic law. (11) turned, e/c. this was during 
 the time that the Chaldasans raised the siege, prob. in order to 
 meet an Egyptian army.* 
 
 Love of I'lbcrty. — John Milton, the chief of poets, held the post 
 of Latin Secretary under Cromwell. At the restoration he was 
 of course dismissed from his office. He was now poor and blind, 
 and to these afflictions Charles II. added political persecutions ; 
 he fined him, and doomed his writings on liberty to be publicly 
 burned. Nothing daitnted by these fierce and muUiplicd trials, 
 the great poet retired into private life, evoked his mighty genius, 
 and produced Pavadine Lost. But after he had endured the ill3 
 of poverty several years, Charles, feeling the need of his match- 
 less talents, invited hiin to resume his former post, with all its 
 honours, emoluments, and court favours. But Milton knew that 
 the price of this honour must be silence on the great question of 
 human liberty. Therefore he did not hesitate a moment. It 
 was a strong temi^tation — the bribe was splendid. By merely 
 keeping silence, he could have honour, abundance, and high 
 position, in exchange for poverty, persecution, and neglect ! But 
 this could not be. The poet loved truth too well. His soul was 
 too noble, too sincere, too firm in its allegiance to God and liberty, 
 to barter away its right to condemn tyranny for jdace or gold. 
 Hence he spurned the royal offer, and clung to his princijiles and 
 his poverty, until death called his free soul to enter its congenial 
 heaven. And so gentle was the summons, so sweetly calm was 
 his unruffled spirit to the hour of dissolution, that his friends 
 knew not the precise moment of his death.'' 
 
 12 — 16. (12) therefore, on account of this insulting act of 
 disobedience. (13. U) covenant, etc., Ex. xxi. 2 : De. xv. 12. 
 It seems that the last year of Zedekiah was the Sabbatical year. 
 It seems that the Sabbatical years had beea altogether neglected 
 for a long time previous to the captivity, (l.'i) done right, 
 they had seemed to be correcting their fault, in the house, 
 or T(>mple. This indicates that the matter had been i)ublic and 
 solemn, being transacted in the Temple. The insult of the dis- 
 obedience was therefore the more marked. (1(J) turned, again 
 to the old wilful ways. 
 
Cap, xxxiv. 17- 22.] 
 
 JEREMIAB. 
 
 133 
 
 Christian liberti/. — 
 
 Grace makes the slave a freeman. 'Tis a change 
 
 That turns to ridicule the turgid speecli 
 
 And stately tone of moralists, who boast 
 
 As if, like him of fabulous renown, 
 
 They had indeed ability to smooth 
 
 The shag of savage nature, rind were each 
 
 An Orpheus, and omnipotent in song : 
 * But transformation of apostate man 
 
 From fool to wise, from earthly to divine, 
 
 Is woi'k for Him that made him. He alone. 
 
 And He by means, in philosophic eyes 
 
 Trivial and worthy of disdain, achieves 
 
 The wonder ; humanising what is brute 
 
 In the lost kind, extracting from the lips 
 
 Of asps their venom, overpowering strength 
 
 By weakness, and hostility by love. . . . 
 
 He is the freeman whom the truth makes free, 
 
 And all are slaves besides." 
 17 — 22. (17) liberty to you, freedom fr. the Divine protec- 
 tion, which will leave you a hopeless prey to your enemies. (18) 
 cut the calf, referring to the significant rite by which the 
 covenant was sealed." Ge. xv. 10. (19) princes of Judah, 
 "territorial magnates." (20) dead, etc.. ch. vii. 33, xvi. 4. (21) 
 gone up from you, or have temporarily raised the siege. (22j 
 return, and complete their work. 
 
 Difidi/if/ ricliin.i fov saenfice. — It was a customary thing to 
 cut the victim (which was to be offered as a sacrifice uijon the 
 occasion) into two jiarts, and so placing each half upon a different 
 altar, to cause those who contracted the covenant to pass between 
 them (Gen. sv. 9, 10, 17). This rite was practised both by 
 believers and heathens at their solemn leagues— at first doubtless 
 ■with a view to the great Sacrifice, who v.'as to purge our sins in 
 His own blood ; and the offering of these sacrifices, and passing 
 between the parts of the divided victim, was symbolically staking 
 their hojies of purification and salvation on their performance of 
 the conditions on which it was offered. This remarkable prac- 
 tice may be clearly traced in the Greek and Latin writers. 
 Homer has the following expression, " Having cut faithful 
 oaths." Eustathius explains the passage by saying they were 
 oaths relating to important matters, and were made by the divi- 
 sion of the victim. The editor of the Fragments Si(j}j)hnicntar>j 
 to Calmct is of opinion that what is yet practised of this cere- 
 mony may elucidate that passage in Isa. xxviii. 1.5, "We have 
 made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement ; 
 when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not 
 come unto us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under false- 
 hoods have we hid ourselves ;" i.e. we have cut off a covenant 
 sacrifice, a purification offering with death, and with the grave 
 we have settled, so that the scourge shall not injure us. Tiie 
 following superstition is related by Pitts: "If the Algerine 
 corsairs, at any time, happen to be in a very great strait or dis- 
 tress, as being chased, or in a storm, they will gather money, 
 light up candles in remembrance of some dead marrabot (saint) 
 or other, calling upon him with heavy sighs and groans. If they 
 find no succour from their before-mentioned rites and eupcrsti- 
 
 stance. I must 
 be loletably sure, 
 before 1 congra- 
 tulate men upon 
 a llessing, tliat 
 they liave really 
 received one. 
 Flattery corrupts 
 bot'i the receiver 
 and giver, and 
 adulation is not 
 of more service 
 to the people 
 than to kings."-— 
 Burke. 
 
 Nothing more 
 iinbecomes a 
 heavenly hope 
 than an earthly 
 heart. 
 
 a Cowper. 
 
 a An ancient 
 writer relates 
 that Agamem- 
 non, the Itailer of 
 the Greeks, at 
 the siege of Troy, 
 " to confirm his 
 faith sworn to 
 Achilles, ordered 
 victims to be 
 brought. He 
 took one, and 
 with his sword 
 dicided it in the 
 midsl, placed the 
 pieces opposite to 
 each other, and 
 holding his 
 sword, reeking 
 with the b'ood, 
 passed between 
 the separated 
 pieces." 
 
 "Passing be- 
 tween the divi- 
 ded pieces im- 
 l>lied the willing- 
 ness of the 
 parties to be so 
 treated, if they 
 failed in adlier- 
 ing to the stijni- 
 lations." — JJtn- 
 derson. 
 
 V. 18. J. C. Die- 
 leric, Ant. 633. 
 "0 Liberty, 
 parent of happi- 
 ness, celestial- 
 born ! When t. e 
 first man bec.une 
 a living soul, his 
 sacred genius 
 tliou. Be Bri- 
 tain's care; with 
 her secure, pro- 
 long thy loved 
 retreat ; thcno* 
 bless mankind; 
 
134 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. XXXV. 1—6. 
 
 ■wliile yet among 
 bor sons, ev' II yet 
 tliere are, to 
 Pliii'lii thine equal 
 1 a w s, \v li o s e 
 bosoms kintUc at 
 tlie s;icre'l names 
 of (Veil. Ualei^'h, 
 WuNiiigham.aiiil 
 Drake."— />yer. 
 
 The spiritually- 
 miiidecl Chris- 
 tian, when the 
 sun of riglitcous- 
 upss shines upon 
 liis path, looks 
 xipou all his sins 
 as upon his 
 shadow, viz., as 
 " cast behind bis 
 IWik." 
 
 a Ex. Tviii. 9 ; 
 Kn. X. 29, 32; 
 Ju. i. 16 ; 1 Chr. 
 ii. 55. 
 
 "This tribe came 
 into Palestine 
 with the Israel- 
 ites, but, in order 
 to maintain their 
 j n depen d<'nce, 
 they led a noma- 
 dic life, without 
 fi.vcd settle- 
 ments, and so 
 were able with- 
 out difficulty to 
 remove on an.f 
 attempt being 
 made to subdue 
 them." — Il^tider- 
 snn. 
 
 "Therearemany 
 traces of the 
 K e c h a b i tes at 
 present. Tliey 
 livH entirely iso- 
 lated, will not be 
 recognised, and 
 shun, or, rather, 
 bate, all inter- 
 course and every 
 connection with 
 the otiier Jews. 
 They only so- 
 journ in Arabia. 
 and for the m-sc 
 part on the 
 western sh.ores of 
 the Red Sea. ami 
 are engaged 
 solely in the 
 raising of cattle. 
 They are called 
 Arab Hcbl), or 
 
 tions, but that the danger rather increases, then they go to 
 sacrificing a sheep (or two or three upon occasion, as they think 
 needful ). which is done after this manner: having cut off the 
 head with a iinife. they immediately take out the entrails, and 
 throw them and the head overheard, and then, with all speed 
 they can (without sliiuuiug), tney cut the body into two ])arts 
 by the middle, and throw one part over the right side of the ship, 
 and the other over the left, into the sea, as a kind of propitiation. 
 Thus those blind intidels apply themselves to imaginary inter- 
 cessors instead of the living and true God." In the case here 
 referred to the ship passes between the parts thus thrown on 
 each side of it. This behaviour of the Algeriues may be taken 
 as a pretty accurate couuterpart to that of making a covenant 
 with death, and with imminent danger of destruction, by ap- 
 peasing the angry gods. Festivities always accompanied the 
 ceremonies attending oaths. Isaac and Abimclcch feasted at 
 making their covenant. Gen. xxvi. 30 : '' And he made them a 
 feast, and they did eat and drink." Gen. xxxi. 54: '"Jacob 
 offered sacrifice upon the Blount, and called his brethren to eat 
 bread." This practice was also usual among the heathen aatiouB. 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRTY-FIFTH. 
 
 1—5. (1) Jelaoiakim, the predecessor of Zedekiah. This 
 prophecy is seventeen years earlier than the manumission of the 
 slaves, narrated in the prev. ch. (2) Rechabites, a tribe of 
 Arabs, of the family of Jethro." wine to drink, by this their 
 firm allegiance to principle was to be tested. One of their chief 
 rules was not to drink wine. (3) Jaazaniall, etc., chief men 
 of the tribe : some who had found shelter for a time in Jerusalem. 
 (4) chamber . . princes, these chambers were round the 
 temple-courts. This one may have been a kind of council- 
 chamber, door, or threshold. (5) drink, observe that Jer. 
 does not call upon them to drink in the name of the Lord, tl^en 
 they would have been bound to obey him. 
 
 The llechnhitcs. — " On my arrival at Mesopotamia, some Jews 
 that I saw there pointed out to me one of the ancient Rechabites. 
 He stood before me, wild, like an Arab, holding the liridle of his 
 horse in his hand. I showed him the Bible in Hebrew and 
 Arabic, which he was much rejoiced to see, as he could read both 
 languages, but had no knowledge of the New Testament. After 
 having proclaimed to him the tidings of salvation, and made 
 him a present of the Hebrew and Arabic Bibles and Testaments, 
 I asked him, ' AVhose descendant are you .' ' ' Mousa.' said he, 
 boisterously, ' is my name, and I \vill show you who were my 
 ancestors ; ' on which he immediately began to read from the 
 nth to the 11th vv. of Jer. xxxv. ' AVhere do you reside ? ' said I. 
 Turning to Gen. x. 27, he replied: 'At Hadoram, now called 
 Simar by the Arabs ; at Uzal, now called Sanau by the Arabs ;' 
 and again referring to the same chapter, verse oOth. he continued : 
 ' At Mesha. now called IMecca, in the deserts around those jjlaces. 
 We drink no wine, and plant no vineyard, and sow no seed : and 
 I live in tents, as Jouadab our father commanded us : Hobab was 
 our fatlier too. Come to us, and you will find us sixty thousand 
 
Cap. XXXV. 6—15.] 
 
 JEREillATT. 
 
 135 
 
 in number : and you see thus the prophecy has been fulfilled, — ■ 
 Therefore, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel ; Jona- 
 dab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before Me 
 for ever ; ' and saying this, Mousa, the Rechabite, mounted his 
 horse, and tied away, and left behind a host of evidence in favour 
 of sacred writ."* 
 
 6—11. (<!) Jonadab, 2 Ki. x. 15. (7) btiild house, etc.,^ 
 all these thiugs are the signs of a settled Iife.<» (8) obeyed, etc., 
 ■whether their father's injunction was, in itself, good and wise, 
 or not, they had at least kept it faithfully. ('J, 10) tents, which 
 can readily be removed from jjlace to place. (11) go to Jeru- 
 salem, for the security of its walls and defences. Syrians, or 
 marauding bauds of Aramisans, wlio took advantage of the in- 
 security of the country occasioned by the Chaldajan invasion. 
 
 Praise of wuw. — A good sherris-sack hath a twofold operation 
 in it. It ascends me into the brain, dries me there all the foolish, 
 dull, and crudy vapours v/hiuh environ it ; makes it apprehensive, 
 quick, forgetive, full of nimble, fiery, and delectable shapes ; 
 which, delivered o'er to the voice, the tongue, which is the birth, 
 becomes excellent wit. The second proiierty of your excellent 
 sherris is, the warming of the blood, which, before cold and 
 settled, left the liver white and pale, which is the badge of 
 pusillanimity and cowardice ; but the sherris warms it, and 
 makes it course from the inwards to the parts extreme. It 
 illumineth the face, which, as a beacon, gives warning to all the 
 rest of this little kingdom, man, to arm ; and then the vital 
 commoners, and inland jjetty spirits, muster me all to their 
 captain, the heart ; who, great and puffed up with this retinue, 
 doth any deed of courage ; and this valour comes of sherris. So 
 that skill in the weapon is nothing without sack, for that sets it 
 awork : and learning, a mere hoard of gold kept by a devil, till 
 sack commences it. and sets it in act and use. Hereof conies it 
 that Prince Harry is valiant ; for the cold blood he did naturally 
 inherit of his father, he hath, like lean, sterile, and bare land, 
 manured, husbanded, and tilled, with excellent endeavour of 
 drinking good, and good store of fertile sherris, that he has 
 become very hot and valiant. If I had a thousand sons, the first 
 human principle I would teach them should be, to forswear thin 
 potations, and addict themselves to sack.'' 
 
 12 — 15. (12. 13) my words, contrasted here with those of 
 Jonathan. (14) rising early, the usual fig. for "earnestly." 
 (1.")) all my servants, contrasting God's many messengers 
 with this one lawgiver to the Eechabite. return ye, etc., ch. 
 xviii. 1 1 , XXV. .5." 
 
 D'isohcdicnce to Gnd condemned (rv. 13, 14). — Let us consider 
 this conijilaint — I. Simply. There is at this day — 1. The same 
 re,£,"ard for the commands of men ; 2. The same disregard for the 
 cor.imands of God. But let us consider the complaint more 
 minutely— II. With its attendant aggravations. 1. The authority 
 from which the different commands proceeded ; 2. The commands 
 themselves : 3. The manner in which they were enforced. Ad- 
 dress — (1) Those who regard man. and not God ; (2) Those who 
 regard God, and not man ; (3) Those who feel a united regard 
 ior both.* 
 
 The sinqik'st learner a true scholar, — The uncombed, ragged 
 
 Arabs who keep 
 the seventh 
 day." —liabbi J. 
 .'ichirartz. 
 b Wolff. 
 
 a Difldonis tells 
 us tliat tlie Na- 
 batlieans, for the 
 preservation of 
 tlieir wandering 
 habits, and tliere- 
 by of tlieir liber- 
 ty, forbade any 
 one " either to 
 sow corn, or plant 
 fruit trees, or 
 drink wine, or 
 build a house." 
 " I'here, uiy lad," 
 said an Atheniaa 
 once to a little 
 Hebrew boy, by 
 way of joke, 
 " here is a pruta 
 (a small coin, of 
 less value than a 
 farthing), bring 
 me something 
 for it, of wliich 
 I may eat 
 enough, leave 
 some for my 
 host, and caiTy 
 some home to my 
 family." The 
 witty boy went 
 and brought 
 him salt. " Salt," 
 e.xclaimed the 
 Atlieniau ; " I did 
 not tell thee to 
 bring salt 1 " 
 " Nay," replied 
 the boy. archly, 
 "didst thou not 
 say, ' Eribg me 
 of what I may 
 eat, leave, and 
 take some home?' 
 Verily of this 
 thou mayest eat, 
 leave some be- 
 hind, and still 
 have plenty to 
 carry home."—? 
 ili'drash Evh. 
 b Sliakespeare. 
 
 a "I enjoined 
 nothing unrea- 
 sonable, but sim- 
 ply to sei've Jle, 
 and I attached 
 to tlie command 
 a gracious pro- 
 mise, but in vain. 
 If Jonadab's 
 commands, wdi. 
 were arbitrary, 
 and not moral 
 obligations ia 
 themselves, weia 
 
136 
 
 jEREitrsn. 
 
 [Cap. xxxvi. 1—4. 
 
 obeyed, much 
 more ought 
 Mine, which are 
 in themselves 
 right." — Fausset. 
 
 II'. 13, \\. A. 
 Roberts, vi. i58. 
 
 b C. Simeon, M.A. 
 
 e II. jr. Beccher 
 
 a Vt. !. 24; Is. 
 
 l.\v. 12. 
 
 6 " Dr. Wolff and 
 Siy. J'icrolli bear 
 ■witness to the 
 eNistence of a 
 large tribe wlio 
 represent them- 
 selves as the 
 descendants of 
 the Keehabites." 
 —Bib. Bid., Smith. 
 
 vv. 18, 19. Dr. M. 
 Franl; ii. 413 ; 
 W. licailinq, ii. 
 481 : //. Tou-n.um. 
 ii.-.'l"); J.ll.l'olt, 
 ii. 316 ; np. Ilebcr. 
 27.5 ; ir. //. Mill, 
 238 ; J. W. Warier, 
 ii. 533. 
 
 e II. C. Cherry, 
 M.A. 
 
 Many of the 
 exiicriences of 
 chil Ihood are 
 forgotten in after 
 life, yet they all 
 have bad their 
 influence ; and 
 this influence 
 still e.xists, se- 
 cretly control- 
 ling our lives. 
 
 a Is. viii. 1 ; Eze. 
 11. 9 ; Zee. v. 1. 
 
 J We may assume 
 that many of 
 these jirophecies 
 had been pre- 
 viously written. 
 
 e "In such places 
 God is intro- 
 duced, as speak- 
 ing after the 
 manner of men, 
 and using sueh 
 methods as in 
 human probabi- 
 lity may be most 
 likely to prevail." 
 
 little wretch that has hardly got off from the briny sea — having 
 come I'rom the Emeralu Isle — and that jjoes into the mistress's 
 school and begins to iunible the book, though he never saw the 
 inside of a book before, and begins to learn, is a scholar just as 
 much as the boy that is reaching out his hand to take his 
 diploma and go to the next higher school. He is a scholar, 
 though he has the bulk of his learning yet to acquire. And so 
 it is with following Christ. Whoever will go to the Word of 
 God, where four pictures open — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 
 whoever will read the life of Christ just as you would road the 
 life of any other person, and follow that, ho is a Christian.'^ 
 
 16—19. (IG, 17) I will bring, nothing shall remove the 
 threatened penalty." (18) house, or representatives of the 
 family of. (lU) want a man, i.e. the race should not be per- 
 mitted to die out.' 
 
 Uhcdiciue io parents (rr. 18, 19). — I. Endeavour to impress on 
 the attention of the young the necessity for a strict obedience to 
 the commands of their i)arents. II. As also fcr a general obe- 
 dience, under the limitation of altered circumstances and times, 
 to the institutions and customs of our forefathers. III. Show 
 that it is much more our duty implicitly to resjject and obey 
 eveiy command of God." 
 
 Clai^p of h'lx mothers hand. — A Christian mother died with the 
 hand of her little son clasped in her own. Years passed and the 
 boy grew to manhood, reckless and abandoned in chai'acter. The 
 memory of his mother's prayers, and of the lessons he had 
 learned at her side, seemed to have faded away. From one 
 excess of wickedness into another he plunged, until his cup of 
 iniquity seemed full. Then, by the abounding mercy of God. he 
 was snatched as a brand from the burning, and became a new 
 creature in Christ. Speaking of his life of sin, he said that, 
 hardened as he seemed, and indifferent to all things sacred, there 
 never was a time when, tempted to sin, that he did not feel the 
 clasp of his dying mother's hand, drawing him from the paths of 
 sin to the ways of lioliness, with a force which he found it hard 
 to resist. That mother, though dead, yet spoke. 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRTY-SIXTH. 
 
 1—4. (1) fourth year, ch. xxv. 1. C2) roll, pieces of parch- 
 ment sewn together so as to make a roll, having a piece of wood 
 at each end." write, etc., i.e. he was to collect his prophecies, 
 and make a permanent record of them.* days of Josiah, ch. 
 xxv. 3. (3) may be, ete., ch. xxvi. 3. hear, so as to act in a 
 way to delay, if not remove, the judgment.' (4) Baruch, ch. 
 xxxii. 12. 13, Ifi. 
 
 Tlie names of Ti'rilin/i viafcrials and fhe'ir nrif/ins. — Amongst 
 I the materials upon which the ancient Scrijitures were written. 
 ! were skins, tanned, or dyed I'ed or yellovr. These were not bound 
 j by the edge, but so fastened together as to form one continuous 
 I roll ; hence the word volume, from Lat. roli/men, a roll. Some 
 I were written on prepared skins called parchments, so called from 
 I Pergamos. the place where parchment was first made. '• Some- 
 times tables of wood or stone, called caudices, or codices, were 
 I employed, hence the term codes (Lat. tablet) came to bs applied 
 
Cap. xxxvi. 5—15.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 1»7 
 
 to a manuscript on any material ; " and hence also a system of 
 laws was called a code, because the use of such tables was once 
 frequent for legal purposes, where durability was important. 
 *' These tables were written on in their natural state (or, when 
 used for temporary x)urpo-es, covered with wax) with a,n iron 
 needle (Job xis. 24) called a sti/ltis ; hence we have the teim 
 style now applied to the style of the com^oosifcion. 
 
 5 — 10. (.5) shut up, prob. in confinement or prison, though 
 we have no record of Jer. being imprisoned in the days of 
 Jehoiakim. It is possible that he was " shut up " by illness. (G) 
 fasting clay," when the multitudes would be assembled in the 
 temple-courts. (7) supplication, for pardon and mercy, accom- 
 panying this with the signs of true repentance. Heb. '• suppli- 
 cation shall fall." as petitioners fall at the feet of a king in the 
 E. (8. '.)) proclaimed a fast, i.e. a special one, perhaps on 
 account of the national calamities.'^ (10) higher court, the 
 large court, where the general assembly of the people was held. 
 
 'fhotKjliiful hooks — '/heir vahic. — For my own part, I have ever 
 gained the most profit, and the most pleasure also, from the 
 books which have made me think the most ; and when the diffi- 
 culties have once been overcome, these are the books which have 
 struck the deepest root, not only in my memory and understand- 
 ing, but likewise in my affections. For this point, too. should 
 be taken into account. AVe are wont to think slightly of that 
 which it costs us a slight effort to win. When a maiden is too 
 forward, her admirer deems it time to draw back. Whereas what- 
 ever has associated itself with the arousal and activity of our 
 better nature, with the important and memorable epochs in our 
 lives, whether moral or intellectual, is — to cull a sprig from the 
 beautifid jiassage in which Woi'ds worth describes the growth of 
 Michael s love for his native hills — 
 
 " Our living being, even more 
 Than our own blood, and — could it less / — retains 
 Strong hold on our affections, is to us 
 A pleasurable feeling of blind love. 
 The pleasure which there is in life itself." 
 
 If you would fertilise the mind, the plough must be driven over 
 and through it. The gliding of wheels is easier and rapider, but 
 only makes it harder and more barren. Above all, in the present 
 age of light reading, that is, of reading hastily, thoughtlessly, 
 indiscriminately, un fruitfully, when most books are forgotten as 
 soon as they are finished, and very many sooner, it is well if 
 something heavier is cast now and then into the midst of the 
 literary iiublic. This may scare and repel the weak ; it M'ill 
 rouse and attract the stronger, and increase their strength by 
 making them exert it. In the sweat of the brow is the mind as 
 well as the body to eat its bread.' 
 
 11—15. (11) son of Gemariah, this Gemariah was the 
 iblic scribe, or the socretaiy of state, but he had not been present 
 ftt Earuch's rending. His son had no bad purpose in cai-rying 
 the report to him. (12) scribe's chamber, or office of the 
 secretary of state, prob. in the forecourt of the king's palace, 
 princes sat there, holding a council of state, f 13) declared, 
 etc., i.e. recited the chief points. (14) Jehudi, his pedigree 
 
 Exod. xxxii. 15; 
 Deut. vi. ; Isa. 
 .xx\-. 8; Pab. it 
 2 ; Luke i. G3 ; 
 2 Cor. iii. 3. 
 
 a The pre.at day 
 of expiation, wh. 
 was kept upon 
 the tenth day of 
 the seventh 
 montli. Le. .x.xiii. 
 27, 29. 
 
 h Keil supposes 
 this fast to have 
 been held in 
 com memoration 
 of the capture of 
 Jerusalem by tlie 
 Chalilccans in the 
 previous year. 
 
 V. 6. F. Fowle, 
 i. 1. 
 
 V. 8. Dr. R. Sur- 
 
 r aires, 199. 
 
 " Books are faith- 
 ful repositories, 
 which may be 
 awhile neglected 
 or forgotten, tut 
 when they are 
 opened again, 
 will again iiupiirt 
 their instruction. 
 Memory once in- 
 terrupted is not 
 to be recalled ; 
 written learning 
 is a fixed lumi- 
 nary ,wliich, after 
 the cloud that 
 had hidden it has 
 passed away, is 
 again bright in 
 its proper sta- 
 tion. Tradition 
 is but a meteor, 
 which, if it once 
 faiis. cannot be 
 rekindled." — 
 JoIdisoii. 
 
 c Hare. 
 
 a " The honour- 
 able treatment 
 which 13■^ruch 
 meets witlisliows 
 that tlie princes 
 were favourably 
 inclincil towards 
 him and Jere- 
 miah. "-tV/ii Com. 
 " As good almost 
 
138 
 
 JEREMIt a. 
 
 [Cap. xxxvi. 16—19, 
 
 Jrill a man as kill 
 agood book ; wlio 
 kills a iiinu kills 
 a reasonable i.re:i- 
 ture— Uoils im- 
 age; but he who 
 destroys a gnoil 
 book kills reason 
 itself -kills the 
 image of (lod, as 
 it were, in the 
 eye. ilany a man 
 lives a bnrilcn 
 to the earth ; 
 but a good book 
 is the precious 
 Ufe-blooil of a 
 master spirit, 
 enibalniftd and 
 treasured up on 
 purpose to a life 
 beyond life, "i'is 
 true no age can 
 restore a life 
 whereof, perhaps, 
 there is no great 
 loss; the revolu- j 
 tions of as;es do \ 
 not often I'ecover | 
 the loss of a re- 
 jected truth, for | 
 the want of \vh. j 
 whole nations 1 
 fare the worse. 
 — Milton. 
 h Lord Dudley. 
 
 a "Jeremiah be- 
 ing prob. only 
 u n d e r houso- 
 arrest, would find 
 no diPriculty in 
 availing himself 
 of the advice 
 given by the 
 princes." — IJen- 
 dersnn. 
 
 9.^S. Ink.— The 
 Oriental ink is 
 thicker than 
 ours, and cai\- 
 eists of lamp- 
 black or charcoal 
 mixed with gum 
 and water. It is 
 sold dry, in 
 grains. 
 
 "Charles Lamh, 
 tired of londiiig 
 his books, threat 
 ened to chain 
 Wordsworth's 
 poems to his 
 Bhclves, adding, 
 Torof those who 
 borrow, some 
 read slow ; some 
 lUbaa. to tcod, 
 
 indicates that he was of good family, but he was prob. a juuior 
 member of the council. (15) read . . ears, much of the sub- 
 stance of it was jiolitical, so of the utmost interest to them.<» 
 
 Una of hooh.t. — Books are loved by some merely as elegant com- 
 binations of thought : by others as a means of exercising the 
 intellect. By some they are considered as the engines by which 
 to propagate opinions, and by others they are only deemed worthy 
 of serious regard when they constitute repositories of matters of 
 fact. But perhaps the most important use of literature has been 
 jDointcd out by those who consider it as a record of the respective 
 modes of moral and intellectual existence that have prevailed in 
 successive ages, and who value literajy perfonnunces in propor- 
 tion as they preserve a memorial of the spirit •.vhich was at work 
 in real life during the times when the^^ M-ere wntien. Considered 
 in this point of view, books can no longer be slighted as fanciful 
 tissues of thought, proceeding from the solitary brains of insulated 
 poets or metaphysicians. They are the shadows of what has 
 formerly occupied the minds of mankind, and of what once 
 determined the tenor of existence. The narrator who details 
 political events does no more than indicate a few of the external 
 effects, or casual concomitants, of what was stirring during the 
 times of which he professes to be the historian. As the genera- 
 tions change on the face of the globe, different energies are 
 evolved with new strength, or sink into torpor ; faculties are 
 brightened into i^erfection, or lose themselves in gradual blind- 
 ness and oblivion. No age concentrates within itself all advan- 
 tages. The knowledge of what has been is necessary, in addition 
 to the knowledge of the present, to enable us to conceive the full 
 extent of human powers and caiiacities ; or, to speak more cor- 
 rectly, this knowledge is necessary to enable lis to become 
 acquainted with the varieties of talent and energy with which 
 beings of the same general nature with ourselves have, in past 
 times, been endowed.* 
 
 IG— 19. (IG) afraid, of the mischief they thought it would 
 do to the people, disheartening them, tell the king, bee. of 
 the political importance of these writings. (17, IS) tell US, etc., 
 before speaking to the king the princes were anxious to be 
 assured that they were the very words of the recogni.sed Proi)het, 
 Jeremiah, with, ink, to intimate how entirely Baruch had been 
 a mere agent. (19) hide thee," bee. the princes too truly 
 guessed the effect of such denunciations on so jealous a tyrant 
 as Jehoiakim. 
 
 Influence of hoohs. — Benjamin Franklin tells us. in one of his 
 letters, that, when he was a boy, a little book fell into his 
 hands, entitled Llwai/s to do Good, by Cotton JIather. It 
 was tattered and torn, and several leaves were missing. '• But 
 the remainder," he says, " gave me such a turn of thinking, as ■" 
 to have an inlluence on my conduct through life! for I have 
 always set a greater value on the ct.aracter of a doer of good 
 than any other kind of reputation : and, if I have been a use- 
 ful citizen, the public owes all the advantages of it to the little 
 book." Jeremy Benthani mentions, that the current of his 
 thoughts and .studies was directed for life by a single phrase 
 that caught his eye at the end of a pamphlet : •' The greatest 
 good of the greatest number." There are single sentences in 
 the JSfew Testament that have awakened to spiritual life hundreds 
 
Cap. xxxvi. 20 - 23.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 13d 
 
 of millions of dormant souls. In i.hing-s of less moment, reading 
 has a wondrous power. George Law, a boy on his father's farm, 
 met an old, unknown book, which told the story of a farmer's 
 son, who went away to seek his fortune, and came home, after 
 many years' absence, a rich man. From that moment, George 
 became uneasy, left home, lived over again the life he had read 
 of, returned a milliounaire, and paid all his father's debts. 
 Robinson Crusoe has sent to sea more sailors than the press- 
 g'ang. The story about little George Washington telling the truth 
 about the hatchet and the plum tree, has made many a truth- 
 teller. AVe owe all the "Waverley novels to Scott's early reading 
 of the old traditions and legends : and the whole hodj of pastoral 
 fiction came from Addison's sketches of Sir Roger De Coverley 
 in The iSjJccfafoi: But illustrations are numberless. Tremble, 
 ye who write, and ye who publish writing. A pamphlet has 
 precipitated a revolution. A paragraph quenches or kindles the 
 celestial spark in a human soul, in myriails of souls.'' 
 
 20 — 23. (2U) laid. . . roll, not venturing at first to show it 
 to the king. (21) fetch the roll, being detemnined to see it 
 for himself, stood, it seems that the king sat and the courtiers 
 stood. (22) "winterhouse, this is noticed to explain the pre- 
 sence of the fire." ninth month, or December. on the 
 hearth, or brazier.* (2.'{j leaves, or columns, penknife, lit. 
 " the secretary's knife," used for trimming the reed-pen. 
 Jehoiakim acted in extreme temper."^ 
 
 Jcholalii Ill's 'penUnife (r. 23). — I. The use of the historical 
 portions of Scripture is, that they represent to us embodied truth, 
 and weave doctrine into the details of ordinary life. II. 
 Christian parents should not let this and other instances of 
 persons who have had godly parents dishearten them in their 
 endeavour to train their children aright. III. AVithout literallj^ 
 mutilating the Word of God men may be practically guilty of the 
 same act."* 
 
 T/w hearili. — The "hearth" here mentioned was in all pro- 
 bability the faiiihiiir of the East, of which so full an account 
 is given in Smith and D wight's Travels in Armenia. " "What 
 rttracted our attention most this stormy day, was the apparatus 
 for warming us. It was the species of oven called tannoor, 
 common throughout Armenia, and also in Sjaia, but converted 
 here for purposes of warmth into what is called a tandoor. A 
 cylindrical hole is sunk about three feet in the ground in some 
 part of the room, with a flue entering it at the bottom to convey 
 a current of air to the fire which heats it. For the emission of 
 smoke no other provision is made than the open sky-light in the 
 terrace. "When used for baking bread, the dough, being flat- 
 tened to the thickness of common pasteboard, perhaps a foot 
 and a half long by a foot broad, is stuck to its smooth sides 
 by means of a cushion upon which it is first spread. It indicates, 
 by cleaving off. when it is done ; and being then pa-i^ked down 
 in the family chest, it lasts at least a month in the winter and 
 ten days in the summer. Such is the only bread known in the 
 villages of Armenia : and even the cities of Erivan and Tebriz 
 ofl\a' no other variety than a species perhaps only twice as thick, 
 and so long that it might almost be sold by the yaixl. To bake 
 it. the bottom of a large oven is covered with pebbles (except one 
 corner where a fire is kept constantly burning), and upon them, 
 
 but don't read ; 
 and some neither 
 read nor mean to 
 read, but borrow, 
 to leave you an 
 opinion of their 
 sagacity. I must 
 do my moncy- 
 borrowing 
 frieud.s the jus- 
 tice to say, that 
 there is nothing 
 of tliis caprice or 
 wantonness of 
 alienation in 
 t li e DJ. W h e n 
 they borrow my 
 m o n e y, they 
 never fail to 
 make use of it.' " 
 — Talfourd. 
 b H. bouiersley. 
 
 a " The great 
 
 men had distinct 
 houses or apart- 
 ments, titted for 
 the several sea- 
 sons of the year. 
 Am. iii. 1.^."— 
 Lowlh. 
 
 b " In the East 
 neither chimneys 
 nor oveus are 
 used, but, when 
 the weather is 
 cold, a pitcher of 
 brass or iron, 
 containing Imrn- 
 iiig wood or char- 
 coal, is used for 
 tlie purpose of 
 war 111 i n g the 
 chambers, and. 
 when the wood 
 has burned to 
 embers, a cover 
 is placed over the 
 pot to make it 
 retain the heat." 
 — Jlciiderson, 
 
 c "As often as 
 Jehudi read three 
 or four columns, 
 the king cut the 
 piece he had read 
 off, and threw it 
 into the fire, un- 
 til the entire roll 
 was burnt." — 
 Faussel. 
 
 vv. 21—24. Up. 
 Midltij, 345. 
 
 r. 23. T. Arnold, 
 iii. 317. 
 
 I'. 24. Or. E. 
 Piivsnn, ii 444 ; 
 //. Goodwin, i. 
 222. 
 
 I. 22. Nintb 
 
uo 
 
 JETiEMIAR. 
 
 [Cap. xxxvi. 24—29. 
 
 month. Kislcu | 
 or Chisleu, kii- i 
 Bweriiifl to our | 
 Uocem'opr. t^i'e i 
 Bible Monlh.1, pi', i 
 132 — 13G. 'J he I 
 fire (in the hearth \ 
 was 1) r (1 b a b 1 y 
 cliiircoal brouslifc 
 in ill a brazier of 
 mecaL 
 
 d H. C. Milchen- 
 son, JJ.A. 
 
 e Bush. 
 
 Trees of right- 
 eousness, the 
 more they are 
 shaken by the 
 winil, the more 
 they are rooteil 
 nn;l i?rouuded in 
 Christ. 
 
 a 2 Ki. xxii. 11. 
 
 " The desirable 
 treasure of wis- 
 dom and know- 
 ledge, which all 
 men covet from 
 the impulse of 
 nature, infinitely 
 surpasses all the 
 riches of the 
 world ; In com- 
 parison with wh., 
 precious stones 
 arj vile, silver is 
 clay, and purified 
 gold grains of 
 sand ; in tlie 
 splendour of wh. 
 the sun and 
 moon grow dim 
 to the sight ; in 
 the ailmirable 
 sweetness of wh. 
 honey and niau- 
 na are bitter to 
 the taste. Tlie 
 value of wisdom 
 decrease! h not 
 with time ; it 
 hath an ever- 
 flourishing vir- 
 tue tliafc cleans- 
 eth its possession 
 from every ve- 
 nom." — Ricliard 
 de liurij. 
 
 I C.Clayton, M. A. 
 
 " Books may be 
 helps to learning 
 and kiiowle<lgc, 
 and make it more 
 common and dif- 
 fused ; but I 
 doubt whether 
 they are ueoes- 
 
 ■\vlacn heated, the sheets of doug-h are spread. The convenience 
 of such thiu bread, where knives and forks are not u.sed. and 
 spoons are rare, is that a piece of it doubled enables you to take 
 hold of a mouthful of meat more delicately than with your bare 
 fingers ; or, when properly folded, helps you to convey a sjjoonful 
 safely to your mouth to be eaten with the spoon it,-;elf. AVhc-n 
 needed for purposes of warmth, the tauuoor is easily transformed 
 into a tandoor. A round stone is laid upon the mouth of the 
 oven, when well heated, to stop the draught ; a square frame 
 about a foot in height is then placed above^ it ; and a thick 
 coverlet, spread over the whole, lies upon the ground around it, 
 to confine the warmth. The family squat upon the floor, and 
 warm themselves by extending their legs and hands into the 
 heated air beneath it, while the frame holds, as occasion requires, 
 their lamp or their food. Its economy is evidently great. So full 
 of crevices are the houses, that an open fireplace must consume 
 a great quantity of fuel, and then almost fail of warming even 
 the air in its immediate vicinity. The tandoor heated once, or 
 at the most twice, in twenty- four hours by a .small quantity of 
 fuel, keeps one spot continually warm for the relief of all numb 
 fingers and frozen toes.''' 
 
 24 — 26. (24) not afraid," this refers to the king and hia 
 attendants, not especially to the princes who had brought the 
 roll. (25) made intercession, or entreaty. (2(j) take, i.e. 
 arrest and put in prison. This the i^rinces had expected, r. Id. 
 
 Jeremiah's roll burnt (r. 21). — We learn hence — I. The 
 importance of the written Word. II. The value of Divine or- 
 dinances. III. The Lord's object in the Scriptures. IV. The 
 rebellion of the carnal mind. Y. The folly of destroying God's 
 Word. Apply : — 1. jMake known this Word to others ; 2. Study 
 it for our own comfort.' 
 
 lidoh.'i and rcadinrj. — Of all the amusements which can possibly 
 be imagined for a hard-woi-king man. after his daily toil, or in 
 its intervals, there is nothing like reading an entertaining book, 
 supposing him to have a taste for it, and supposing him to have 
 the book to read. It calls for no bodily exertion, of which he 
 has had enough or too much. It relieves his home of its dulnesa 
 and sameiiess. which in nine cases out of ten, is what drives him 
 out to the alehouse, to his own ruin and his family's. It trans- 
 ports him into a livelier, and gayer, and more dever.sified and 
 interesting scene ; and while he enjoys himself there, he may 
 forget the evils of the present moment, fully as much as if he 
 were ever so drunk, with the great advantafre of finding himself 
 the next day with his money in his pocket, or at least laid out in 
 real necessaries and comforts for himself and his family. — and 
 without a headache. Tsay. it accompanies him to his next day's 
 work, and if the book he has been reading be anything above 
 the idlest and lightest, gives him something to think of besides 
 the mere mechanical drudgery of his every -day occupation. — 
 something he can enjoy while absent, and look forward with 
 pleasure to return to. But suiiposmg him to have been fortunate 
 in the choice of his book, and to have alighted ui'on one really 
 good and of a good class. What a source of dcmostic enjoyment 
 is laid open ! What a bond of family union ! He may reati it 
 aloud, or make his wife read it, or his eldest boy or girl, or jiass 
 it round from hand to hand. All have the benefit of it— all 
 
Cap. xxxvl. 27-32.] 
 
 JEREMIAE. 
 
 141 
 
 contribute to the gratification of the rest, and a feeling of 
 common interest and pleasure is excited. Nothing- unites people 
 like companionship in intellectual enjoyment. It does more, it 
 gives them mutual respect, and to each among- them self-re.spect 
 — that coi'ner-stone of all virtue. It furnishes to each the 
 master-key by -which he may avail himself of his privilege as an 
 intellectual being- to 
 
 Enter the sacred temple of his breast, 
 And gaze and -R'ander there a ravished guest, 
 Wander through all tlie glories of his mind, 
 Gaze upon all the treasui-es he shall find. 
 And -while thus leading him to look -within his o\\ti bosom for 
 the ultimate sources of his happiness, warns him at the same 
 time to be cautious how he defiles and desecrates that in-ward 
 and most glorious of temples." 
 
 27—32. (27) after that, and in response to this act of 
 public insult to God through His Prophet. (28) another roll, 
 for man's wilfulness cannot be permitted to destroy God's Word." 
 (21') why, etc., here is given the point which so greatly offended 
 Jehoiakim. (30) dead . . heat, ch. xxii. lu. (31) punish, 
 or visit his iniquity upon him. (32) like -words, other ]iro- 
 phecies of the same kind.* Jehoiakim's act " only made 
 matters -worse, for it tended to enlarge the bulk of the volume, 
 and to aggravate its tidings of disaster." 
 
 Jchoinkun. lurtu^ the sacred roll {vv. 27, 2S). — The folly of 
 this act -w-as great as the impiety, and take occasion to notice — 
 I. The enmity of man's heart against the Word of God. The 
 same disposition may be shown in a variety of -«^ays. 1. By 
 denying the Divine authority of Scripture ; 2. By explaining 
 away all its fundamental ti'uths : 3. By entertaining doubts of 
 its utility to the poor : 4. By setting its precepts at defiance ; 
 5. By reviling and persecuting those who embrace it. II. The 
 folly of indulging it. 1. We cannot change one declaration in 
 all the Scriptures ; 2. We cannot prevent the execution of one 
 threatening ; 3. We accumulate on our own heads the judgments 
 ■we despise. Learn — (1) To tremble at the AVord our.selves ; (2) 
 To use all diligence to make it known to others ; (3) To faith- 
 fully deal with those who pour contem.pt upon it."^ 
 
 Eastern climate.— It may not be improper here to remark upon 
 the -wisdom and goodness of God displayed in the temperature of 
 an Oriental sky. The excessive heats of the day, which are 
 sometimes incommodious, even in the depth of winter, are com- 
 jicnsated and rendei-ed consistent with animal and vegetable 
 life, by a corresponding degree of coolness in the night. The 
 patriarch Jacob takes notice of this fact, in his expostulation 
 -with Laban : " By day the heat consumed me, and the frost by 
 night." Mr. Bruce, in like manner, frequently remarks in his 
 journey through the deserts of Senaar, where the heat of the 
 day was almost insupportable, that the coldness of the night -n'as 
 vei-y great. When llauwolf travelled on the Euphrates, he -n-as 
 Avont to wrap himself up in a frieze coat in the night-time, to 
 defend himself from the frost and dew, -which, he observes, are 
 very frequent and violent there. Thevenot traversed the verj' 
 fields where Jacob tended the flocks of Laban ; and he found the 
 heats of the day so intense, that althougli he -wore upon his head 
 d lai"ge black handkerchief after the manner of the Orientals 
 
 sary ones or no, 
 or much advance 
 any other science 
 beyond tlie)nirti- 
 cular records of 
 actions or regis- 
 ters of time ; and 
 these, perhajis, 
 might be as long 
 preserved with- 
 out them, by the 
 care and exact- 
 ness of tradition 
 in the long suc- 
 cession of certain 
 races of men with 
 wliom tliey were 
 e n trusted." — 
 Tt mple. 
 c <bi/' ■/. Ilerscliel. 
 
 a " Here is a 
 sublime speci- 
 men of the 
 triumph of God'3 
 Word, when re- 
 pressed by the 
 power, and burnt 
 by the rage of 
 tlus world, wlie- 
 ther it be iu the 
 suppression of 
 the fc'criptures, 
 or in preventing 
 their circulation, 
 or in casting 
 copies of them 
 into the fire, or 
 in the imprison- 
 ment and mar- 
 tyrdom of God's 
 preachers. That 
 Word rises more 
 gloriously out of 
 all its persecu- 
 tions." — Words- 
 icorth. 
 
 b " To consume 
 the material vo- 
 lume was not to 
 defeat the de- 
 sign of Him 
 who had in- 
 spired it. For at 
 once the Divine 
 decree was issued 
 f r another roll 
 to be vmtten, 
 not only omit- 
 ting none of the 
 heavy penalties 
 of the consumed 
 copy, but con- 
 taining aggra- 
 vated penalties, 
 and making the 
 assurances of im- 
 pending judg- 
 jiient doubly 
 sure." — F. Jacox, 
 
 \c C. Simeon, M. A, 
 
142 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xxxvii. 1—5. 
 
 ». 32. Wlimdinn, 
 iv. 115; \y. Jay, 
 vii. Co. 
 
 " The iinjiression 
 we feel from the 
 s c e n I' r y of 
 autumn is accom- 
 panied with 
 much exercise of 
 thought ; the 
 leaves then betriu 
 to fade from tlie 
 trees; thetlowors 
 and shrubs, with 
 wliich the fields 
 were adorned in 
 the summer 
 months, decay ; 
 the woods and 
 groves are silent; 
 the sun himself 
 seems gradually 
 to withdraw his 
 light, or to be- 
 come enfeebled 
 in his power. 
 Who is there 
 who, at this sea- 
 son, does not feel 
 his mind im- 
 pressed with a 
 sentiment of 
 melancholy ; or 
 who is able to re- 
 sist that current 
 of thought 
 which, from such 
 aitpearances o f 
 decay, so natu- 
 rally leads him to 
 the solemn ima- 
 gination of tliat 
 inevitable fate 
 which is to bring 
 on alike the decay 
 of life, of empire, 
 and of nature it- 
 self ? " — Alison. 
 
 d Paxton. 
 
 a Pharaoh TTo- 
 plira, tlic Apries 
 of Horodotus,was 
 an ally of Zede- 
 kiah, but his in- 
 tervention a- 
 vailed nolliing. 
 "Whether, how- 
 ever, he with- 
 drew without 
 giving Nebuc. 
 battle, or whe- 
 ther he was de- 
 feated, we do not 
 ,ltnow."-<S;/U-.Cum. 
 
 when they travel, yet his forehead was frequently so scorched, aa 
 to swell exceedingly, and actually to sutfer excoriation : hia 
 hands being more expo.^ed to the burning sun, were continually 
 parched ; and he learned from experience to sympathise with the 
 toil-worn shc))hcrd of the East. In Europe, the days and nights 
 resemble each other, with respect to Ihe qualities of heat and 
 cold : but if credit be due to the representations of Chardin, 
 it is quite otherwise in Oriental climates. In Lower Asia, par- 
 ticularly, the day is always hot ; and as soon as the sun is fifteen 
 degrees above the horizon, no cold is felt in the depth of winter 
 itself ; on the contrary, the nights are as cold as at Paris in the 
 month of March. It is for this reason, that in Turkey and 
 Persia they always used furred habits in the country, such only 
 being sufficient to resist the cold of the night. Chardin travelled 
 in Arabia and Mesoj)otamia, the scene of Jacob's adventures, 
 both in winter and in summer, and attested on his return the 
 truth of what the patriarch asserted, that he was scorched with 
 heat iu the day, and stiffened with cold in the night. This 
 difference in the state of the air in twenty-four hours, is in some 
 places extremely great, and according to that respectable traveller, 
 not conceivable by those who have not seen it ; one would 
 imagine they had passed in a moment from the violent heats of 
 summer to the depth of winter. Thus it has pleased a beneficent 
 Deity to temper the heat of the day by the coolness of the night, 
 without which, the greatest part of the East would be a parched 
 and sterile desert, equally destitute of vegetable and animal life. 
 This account is confirmed by a modern traveller. When Camp- 
 bell was passing throug-h Mesopotamia, he sometimes lay at 
 night out in the open air. rather than enter a town, on which 
 occasion he says, " I found the weather as piercing cold, as it 
 was distressfully hot in the daytime." The same difference between 
 the days and nights has been observed on the Syrian bank of the 
 Euphrates ; the mornings are cold, and the days intensely hot. 
 This difference is distinctly marked in these words of the 
 Prophet : '• Therefore, thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim. king of 
 Judah : he shall have none to sit upon the throne of David ; and 
 his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the 
 night to the frcst." So ]ust and accurate are the numerous 
 allusions of Scripture to the natural state of the Oriental regions ; 
 and so necessary it is to study with care the natural history of 
 those celebrated and interesting countries to enable us to 
 ascertain with clearness and precision the meaning, or to discern 
 the beauty and force, of numerous passages of the sacred volume.** 
 
 CHAPTER TEE THIRTY-SEVENTH. 
 
 1—5. (1) Zedekiah, 2 Ki. x.xiv. 17. C2) did hearken, 
 more esp. to the advice to yield fully to the Chalda'aus. (:!) 
 sent, etc., during the interval of hope excited by news of the 
 approach of the Egyptian army. (4) not . . prison, i.e. not 
 yet. nee r. IB. (B) departed, for a time raising the siege." 
 
 Prayhirj .wJiIir):';. — If there be any persons so thoughtless or 
 foolish as to call this order " unmilitary," it will not be the 
 Hindoos. The religion of the British soldier is a standing 
 astonishment to hia Sepoy comrade, who styles it the " once-a* 
 
Cap. xxxvii. 6—10.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 143 
 
 week dcfii.'' In front of his hut he himself has always the little 
 '• toolsee plant," which rejiresents the wife of Shiva, and which 
 he sednlou.^ly waters morning- and evening. That Hindoo soldier 
 must be a " budmash " indeed who does not say prayers before 
 and after bathing- at daybreak. Perhaps his solicitations at the 
 altar of Shiva or Parvati are only for carnal things. Perhaps he 
 prays only that he may be relieved from punishment drill, that 
 he may gain a good-conduct stripe, that he may receive some 
 more annas of pay. or that his wife may bear a boy who may 
 come to be a havildar or even a jemadar. But the Hindoo, 
 whatever his gods are like, believes in prayer ; and the Moham- 
 medan soldier also, when anything goes wrong, vows a bran-new 
 green cloth to the shrine of the nearest saint, and spreads his 
 praying carpet at the Azan — if there be no parade. The natives 
 see with wonder the " gorn lognc''' — the strong " white people " 
 — take their religion like their washing, home once every seven 
 days — and that, too, in military manner, like a regimental drill. 
 One of their MoUahs, they tell you, was asked at what hour of 
 the twenty-four -'the faithful" need rot trouble their heads 
 about praj'cr to Allah, and his answer was " in the hour — which 
 never comes — between the night and the day." Yet we call these 
 people " heathens : " and doubtless the mumbled " Fathah." 
 from the Koran, or the " Mantras ' which a Eajpoot or Brahmin 
 linesman mutters as he gets liis tooth-stick and lota ready, are 
 not very lofty specimens of the " voice of the heart." Still they 
 are what they are, and the ear of Heaven is open, by whatever 
 name its mercy and hope are invoked. Nor are those the worst 
 soldiers who are often upon their knees. Hume tells us that on 
 the eve of the battle of Hastings the Saxons spent the night in 
 drinking mead and metheglin ; but that the Koraians passed 
 it in silence and religious devotions, and went into battle 
 singing the h}Tnu of Boland. The psalm-singers had the best 
 of it in the bloody struggles around the standard ; and the 
 Cavaliers, in .spite of their chivalry, went down before those 
 terrible fellows who marked the " fighting verses " in their 
 Bibles with the blades of their swords. " Show me the men 
 that pray," Gustavi's Adolphirs used to observe, '-and I will 
 show you those that you can't beat ; '' and we will be bound that 
 the stout Highlander wh> grounded his arms at the door of 
 Dum-Dum Church sooner than take part in a service which was 
 against the grain of his conscience, never showed his back to an 
 enemy, and never will.* 
 
 6—10. (0, 7) Pharaoh's . . land, i.e. their help will be of 
 no practical value to you. (8) come again, comp. ch. xxi. 4 — 7." 
 (1*. 10) "wounded, etc.. a strong fig. to express the utter hopeless- 
 ness of the conflict. Even the disabled men of Kebuc.'s army 
 would suffice to take the citj'. and burn it to the ground. 
 
 The (jrent adnniffifje nf ohcying God. — Connect with past history 
 of Isra-l. and the day's lesson. I. Had the nation been obedient, 
 instead of invasion and oppi-ession. they had had increasing 
 peace : instead of sin and idolatry, their moral and religioiis 
 excellence had abounded. II. But it applies to us also. 1. We 
 have a picture of what our peace may be if we serve the Lord. 
 I'icture a river : at first narrow, gets broader : at first shallow, 
 gets deeper ; at first a babbling brook, full of little eddies, turns, 
 tftc, by-and-by a majestic river. Uowing on without a sound or a 
 
 lI'iMt 
 
 -3. S. 
 
 , 49. 
 
 "As that storm 
 roars the loudest 
 which lias been 
 the longest ga- 
 tliering. so God's 
 reckoning day 
 with sinners, by 
 being long com- 
 ing, will be tlie 
 more terrible 
 wlien it comes." 
 — (julhrie. 
 
 "Luther loved to 
 fight on the deck 
 of the Church's 
 fcliip out on the 
 high seas, against 
 tiie fleet that 
 caniesailingfrom 
 the ports of the 
 eneniy. Leighton 
 preferred tlie 
 jjeaccful toils of 
 the tisherman. to 
 m end the 
 Church's nets 
 inidersomesliady 
 rock, and to cast 
 them out into 
 the still waters 
 for a draught of 
 fishes. Luther's 
 fuith was more 
 of the soldier's 
 s w o r d, a n d 
 Leiglitcn's njore 
 of the pilgrim's 
 staff. The one 
 was eager, like 
 Peter ; the other 
 retiring, like 
 John. But both 
 were faithful 
 servants, loved 
 their Lord, and 
 hare long since 
 embraced in hea- 
 ven."—/. Stouyh- 
 ton. 
 
 b Daily Paper, 
 
 a " G od has the 
 sovereign com- 
 mand of all the 
 hosts of men, 
 even of those 
 that know Him 
 not, that own 
 Jlim not, and 
 they are all made 
 to sei-ve His jnir- 
 poses. He di- 
 rects theif 
 inarches, their 
 counter - march- 
 es, their retreats, 
 their returns, as 
 it pleai-es Him; 
 and furio'dl 
 
lU 
 
 JEJiEMIAH. 
 
 (Cap. xxxvii. 11—15. 
 
 armies, like 
 stormy wiiiils, in 
 fill their mot ions 
 are fullilling His 
 Word." — Mai. 
 
 llf.nnj. 
 
 6 nice. 
 
 " On piety hu- 
 manity is built ; 
 and on linmaiiity 
 much happiness ; 
 ami yetrstill more 
 on piety itself. 
 A soul in com- 
 merce witli her 
 Gol is heaven ; 
 feels not the 
 tumults anil the 
 shocks of life ; 
 the whirls of pas- 
 Bioiis, an;l th:> 
 strokes of heart." 
 — I'ouny. 
 
 C H. W. Deecher, 
 
 a Allusion, Iiow- 
 cver, m.iy be to 
 Jer.'s going, as 
 others did, to 
 fetuli a store of 
 proi'isions from 
 the iiaiji'ibour- 
 ing country. 
 
 " When tlie siefje 
 was tenipor.irily I 
 raised, the first 
 object with 
 everybo'ly would 
 be to obtain sup- 
 plies of food, anil i 
 accordingly Jo- j 
 reiniali in 
 midit of 
 ppo/ilf, i.e. 
 companied 
 othei-s. who, like 
 liinnelf, had a 
 right to a share 
 in the priests' 
 produce at Ana- 
 thoih, started 
 thither to .see ] 
 whether any I 
 stores still re- i 
 mained which 
 might be avail- 
 able for tlieir 
 commnn use." — 
 Sj^k. Com. 
 
 tlie 
 the 
 
 by 
 
 & "Often in the 
 E. part of the 
 private house of 
 a public otTioer 
 serves as a 
 prison." -/'«««£<. 
 
 ripple. 2. Our right consnoss is also illustrated by waves of sea ; 
 Ocean an imago of infinitude : waves wash round all coasts ; 
 how much they cover, how much they bear up. Learn :— ( 1) All 
 this depends upon obedience and trust : then peace with God, 
 conscience, etc. ; (2) Some hearken to the advice of others rather 
 than commands of God : and what the result.''' 
 
 Paternal rrlation.i of God. — We think it would be wrong- to 
 attribute to God such tender compassion as mothers feel ; we 
 shrink from transferring to God the interior and most exquisite 
 passages of the history of the household, because it seems to ua 
 that there must be incompatibility between personal administra- 
 tion in the family and civil administration in a State government. 
 Bub this is wrong ; for we are to gain our conceptions of God 
 Himself from the noblest faculties of man. We are to take the 
 b^st thoughts and the best feelings of human beings, and from 
 these we are to derive our highest views of God : and in doing 
 this, every thought, every figure which we aj^ply to Him, inclines 
 us to take the family and its experiences as the source of infor- 
 mation respacting Him. Those things that are furthest from 
 animal life, and those things that indicate the most exquisite 
 experiences of affection in the mother and in the father, are the 
 very ones which we should transfer to God, and should believe 
 that He possesses."^ 
 
 11 — 15. (11) broken up, marrf. "made to ascend :"' gone up; 
 the fig. intimates that they removed their siege-engines, and, aa 
 we say, raised the siege. (12) tlisn, taking advantage of the 
 opanness of the country, separate liimseli, Dtanj. '"slip away 
 from ;"" or better. •' to receive a sliaro thence." (13) captain, 
 I'tc-., or captain of the watch, took Jer., i.e. arrested him. 
 fallest away, or as a spy you intend to give information to the 
 ChaldiBans. (11) false, still the character of his predictions 
 had api^eared to favour the Chalda3an cause, and we can hamly 
 wonder that he was suspected. (1.5) prison . . llOU.33, the place 
 reserved for political offenders.* 
 
 Treatment of primner^. — The treatment of those that are shut 
 up in the Eastern prisons differs from our usages, but serves to 
 illustrate several passages of Scripture. Chardin isolates several 
 circumstances concerning their prisons, which are curious, and 
 should not be omitted. In the first place, he tells us that the 
 Eastern prisons are not public building-s erected for that purpose ; 
 bub a part of the house in which their criminal judges dwell. As 
 the governor and provost of a town, or the captain of the watch, 
 imprisoned such as are accused in their own houses, they sit 
 ai>art a canton of it for that purpose, when they are put into 
 these offices, and choose for the jailer the most proper per.-^on 
 they can find of their domestics. Sir John supposes the pri.'son in 
 which Joseph, together with the chief butler and chief baker of 
 Pharaoh, -o'as put, was in Potiphars own house. But I would 
 apply this account to the illus^tration of another passage of Scrip- 
 ture : '■ AVherefore." it is said, Jer. xxxvii. l-"), "the princes were 
 wroth with Jeremiah, and smote liim. and put him in pri.-;on in 
 the house of Jonathan the scribe ; for they had made thab the 
 prison." Here we see a dwelling-hou-e was made a prison : and 
 the house of an eminent person, for it was the bouse of a scribe, 
 which title marks out a person of quality : it is certain it does so 
 in some places of Jeremiah, particularly ch. xxxvi 12, "Then he 
 
Cap. xxxvii. 16-21.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 145 
 
 went down into the king's house into the scribe's chamber, and 
 lo, all the princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and 
 Dclaiah," etc. The making the house of Jonathan the prison, 
 would not now, in the East, be doing him any dishonour, or 
 occasion the looking upon liim in a mean light : it would rather 
 mark out the placing him in an oihce of im]iortance. It is pro- 
 bable it was so anciently, and that his house became a prison, 
 when Jonathan was made the royal scribe, and became, like the 
 chamber of Elishama, one of the prisons of the iieople." 
 
 16 — 21. (16) dungeon, or pit ; an underground cell : ch. 
 xxxviii. 6." cabins, cells, vaults, arched cavities, many 
 days, prob. till the Chaldfeans had returned again. (17) 
 secretly, or privately. The return of the Chalda^ans had 
 renewed the king's anxiety, tlioti . . Babylon, ch. xxxii. .3, 4. 
 xxxiv. 2, 3. (IS) I offended, the messages Jer. had given had 
 not been his own. He had been but God's agent. (19) not 
 come, this the false prophets had constantly said.* (20) sup- 
 plication, etc., for milder treatment. (21) court, not into the 
 cell, or dungeon : a freer kind of custody, bakers' street, or 
 quarter. <^ 
 
 Ovens. — In primitive times, an oven was designed only to serve 
 a single family, and to bake for them no more than the bread of 
 one day : a custom which still continues in some places of the 
 East : but the increase of population in the cities, higher degrees 
 of refinement, or other causes in the progress of time, suggested 
 the . establishment of public bakehouses. They seem to have 
 been introduc'd into Judcea long before the captivity ; for the 
 Prophet Jeremiah speaks of '■ the bakers' street," in the most 
 familiar manner, as a place well known. This, however, might 
 be only a temporary establishment, to supply the wants of the 
 soldiers assembled from other places to defend Jerusalem. If 
 they received a daily allowance of bread, as is the practice still in 
 eome Eastern countries, from the royal bakehouses, the order of 
 the king to give the Prophet daily a piece of bread, out of the 
 street where they were erected, in the same manner as the 
 defenders of the city, was perfectly natural. The custom alluded 
 to still maintains its ground at Algiei-s. Avhere the unmarried 
 soldiers receive every day from the public bakehouses a certain 
 number of loaves. Pitts indeed asserts, that the Algerines have 
 public bakehouses for the accommodation of the whole city. 
 The women prepare their dough at home, and the bakers send 
 their boys about the streets, to give notice of their being ready 
 to receive and carry it to the bakehouses. They bake their cakes 
 everj^ day, or every other day, and give the boy who brings the 
 bread home, a piece or little cake for the baking, which is sold 
 by the baker. Small as the Eastern loaves are, it appears from 
 this account, that they give a piece of one only to the baker, as a 
 reward for his trouble. This \;W\ perhaps illustrate Ezekiel's 
 account of the false prophets receiving jiieces of bread by way of 
 gratuities : " And will ye pollute me among my people, for hand- 
 f uls of barley, and pieces of bread.'" These are compensations 
 still used in the East, but of the meanest kind, and for Bervices 
 of the lowest sort.'' 
 
 Christ receives 
 all from God by 
 His oneness uitfi 
 (.'rod ; Vie receive 
 all from Christ by 
 our oneness with 
 Him. 
 
 c Ilarmer. 
 
 a "That selected 
 for Jer. appears 
 to liave been of a 
 squalid descrip- 
 tion, consisting 
 of a -well, or pit, 
 with vaults 
 round the sides, 
 in which the pri- 
 souers were 
 lodged." — Hen- 
 derson. 
 
 b Je. xxvi. 
 xxix. 1. 
 
 T, 
 
 " The event hath 
 now convinced 
 j'ou how much 
 they have de- 
 ceived you ; for 
 you see the siege 
 renewed, and tha 
 city in imminent 
 danger of being 
 taken." — Lowth. 
 
 c " The streets in 
 E. cities are ge- 
 nerally distin- 
 gtiished fr. each 
 other, not by tha 
 sejjarate names 
 wliicli tliey bear, 
 but by the sorb 
 of traffic or busi- 
 ness carried on 
 in them. The 
 different branch- 
 es of trade, in- 
 stead of being 
 intermixed, as 
 with us, are 
 usually assigned 
 to a distinct 
 locality." — Mack' 
 elt. 
 
 If you lay the 
 least weight on a 
 rotten branch it 
 breaks under it; 
 so an unsound 
 Christian cannot 
 bear the least 
 crots for Christ. 
 U Paxton. 
 
 VOL. IX. O.T, 
 
 K 
 
146 
 
 JE RE if: A IT. 
 
 [Cap. xxxviil. 1— 6t 
 
 • " .Tor. -wnnll 
 not have so oftt-ii 
 repeateil this 
 unwelcome int^s- 
 Sage, but that lie 
 couli] put tliem 
 in a certain way, 
 though not to 
 save tlie city, yet 
 to save thom- 
 selves ; so that 
 every man mifrhc 
 have his r)wn life 
 given him for a 
 prey if he would 
 be advised." — 
 Jfat. Hfiiry. 
 
 h air E. Daiy. 
 
 a "Had Jcr. not 
 had a Divine 
 commission he 
 might justly 
 have been ac- 
 cused of troa?on ; 
 biit, having one, 
 •which made the 
 result of the 
 Biege certain, ho 
 acted hum.mely 
 as the interpreter 
 of God's will 
 under tlie theo- 
 cracy, in advis- 
 ing surrender."— 
 Fausset. 
 
 h " Zedekiah in 
 his pusillanimity 
 gives up Jere- 
 miah to tlie 
 princes, as Pilate 
 gave up Christ to 
 the chief priests." 
 — Wordswurlh. 
 
 c " Every house 
 In Jerus. was 
 supplied with a 
 subterranean cis- 
 tern, so well cnn- 
 structed that we 
 never read nf the 
 city suiVcring iu 
 asiege from want 
 of water." — ISpk. 
 Com, 
 
 "To see sad sights 
 moves more tlinn 
 to hear them 
 told ; for then the 
 eye interprets to 
 the ear the heavy 
 motion that it 
 doth behold; 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRTY-EIGHTn. 
 
 1 — 3. (1) Shephatiali, etc., for some of these names comp. 
 ch. xxi. 1, 9, xxxvii. :5. (2) he that, etc., ch. xxi. 9. (4) 
 surely, so the defenders may cherish no hope of success." 
 
 JJfc a rircr. — Pliny compares life to a river. The river, small 
 and clear iu its origin, guyhes forth from rocks, falls into deep 
 glens, and wantons and meanders through a wild and picturesque 
 country ; nourishing only the uncultivated tree or flower by ita 
 dew or spray. In this, in its state of infancy and youth, it may 
 be compared to the human mind, in which fancy and strength 
 of imagination are predominant : it is more beautiful than use- 
 ful. When the different rills or torrents join, and descend into 
 the plain, it becomes slow and stately in its motions, and able to 
 bear upon its bosom the stately barge. In this mature state, it is 
 deep, strong, and useful. As it flows on towards the sea. it loses 
 its force and its motion, and at last, as it were, becomes lost and 
 mingled with the mighty abyss of waters.* 
 
 4 — 6. (4) therefore, I.e. bee. Jer.'s messages utterly dis- 
 heartened the soldiers : and he seemed to actually recommend 
 their de.sertion to the enemy." welfare, /(Y. "the peace." (5) 
 in your hand, Zedekiah speaks dcspondingly, and as one who 
 felt powerless to resist his chief ofBcers.* (6) dungeon, 
 ch. xxxvii. 10 : a pit, or cistern, wh. had been full of water." 
 "with cords, this gives indication of the depth and unwhole- 
 someness. The i^rinces hoped Jer. would die in the pit. 
 
 I'j-ison.i. — There were two prisons iu Jerusalem ; of which one 
 was called the king's prison, which had a lofty tower that over- 
 looked the royal palace, with a spacious court before it, where 
 .state prisoners were confined. The other was designed to secure 
 debtors and other inferior offenders : and in both these the 
 prisoners were supported by the public, on bread and water. 
 Suspected persons were sometimes confined under the custody of 
 state officers, in their own houses ; or rather a part of the house 
 which was occupied by the great officers of state, was occasionally 
 converted into a prison. This seems to be a natural conclusion 
 from the statement of the Projihet Jeremiah, iu which he gives 
 an account of his imprisonment : '' Wherefore, the princes were 
 wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison, in 
 the house of Jonathan the scribe ; for they had made that the 
 prison." This custom, so different from the manners of our 
 country, has descended to modern times ; for when C'hardin 
 visited the East, their prisons were not public buildings erected 
 for that purpose, but, as in the days of the Prophet, a part of the 
 house in which their criminal judges reside. " As the governor, 
 or provost of a town," sa3^s our traveller, " or the captain of the 
 watch, imprison such as are accused, in their own houses, they 
 set apart a canton of them for that purpose, when they are iiufc 
 into these offices, and choose for the jailer the most proper 
 person they can find of their domestics." The royal prison in 
 Jerusalem, and especially the dungeon, into which the prisoner 
 was let down naked, seems to have been a most dreadful ])lace. 
 The latter cannot be better described than in the words of 
 Jeremiah himself, who for his faithfulness to God and his couatry, 
 
cap. xxxviii. 7—13.1 
 
 JEREMLin. 
 
 147 
 
 in a most degenerate age. had to encounter all its horrors : " Then ; 
 took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon tliat was in 
 the court of the prison ; and they let him down with cords : and 
 in the dungeon there was no water, but mire : and his feet sunk 
 in the mire." A discretionary power was given to the keeper to 
 treat his prisoners as he pleased ; all that was expected of him 
 being onlj- to produce them when required. If he kept them in 
 safe custody, he might treat them well or ill as he chose : he 
 might i^ut them in irons or not : shut them up close, or indulge 
 them with greater liberty ; admit their friends and acquaint- 
 ances to A'isit them, or suffer no person to see them. The most 
 worthless characters, the most atrocious criminals, if they can 
 bribe the jailer and his servants with large fees, shall be lodged 
 in his own apartment, and have the best accommodation it can 
 afford ; but if he be the enemy of those committed to his charge, 
 or have received larger presents from their persecutors, he will 
 treat them in the most barbarous manner.'' 
 
 7 — 9. (7) Ebed-melecll, prob. keeper of the royal harem." 
 Ethiopian, Heb. Cushitc. sitting in the gate, where causes 
 ■were usually heard. It was the king's duty to sit there, as a 
 magistrate, for a certain time every day. (8, 9) like to die,* 
 likely to do ; w ill be sure to die. no more bread, private stores 
 were consumed ; and nobody was likely to think of the poor 
 prophet. 
 
 Blach enuMclis. — The possession of black eunuchs is not very 
 common in the Levant : they are hardly anywhere to be found, 
 except in the palaces of the sovereign, or of the branches of the 
 royal family. When the Baron De Tott's wife and mother-in- 
 law were permitted to visit Asma Sultana, daughter of the 
 Emperor Achniet, and sister of the reigning prince, he tells us, 
 that '■ at the opening of the third gate of her palace, several 
 black eunuchs presented themselves, who. with each a white staff 
 in his hand, preceded the visitors, leading them to a spacious 
 apartment, called the chamber of strangers." He adds, that to 
 have such attendants is a piece of great state, as the richest 
 people have not more than one or two of them.' 
 
 10 — 13. (10) thirty men, not so much for defence, as the 
 indication that he came by the king's authority. Had he gone 
 alone, the princes might have thought he was only doing his 
 own ^ill. (11) cast clouts," rags of torn garments, rotten 
 rags, pieces of Avorn-out garments.* (12) under armholes, 
 to ease the strain of lifting Jer. up out of the well. (13) in the 
 court, still in custody, but not in peril of his life. 
 Frison of the condemned. — 
 
 Apart from hence, involved in deeper gloom. 
 Frowns in dark state, " Fate's dreaded anteroom 1" 
 But oh ! what hand can nxise the sable screen 
 That veils the horrors of the '• final scene ;" 
 To the shock'd sight the dismal cells expose. 
 Where death-doom'd felons wait life's awful close ! 
 Where, as the night-clock strikes, the culprits hear 
 The tre-'d of death, at every stroke more near ; 
 And with the daybreak, startled fancy eyes 
 Before their view the fatal scalfold rise ! 
 Yet deem not vauily, in these dreary cells, 
 
 when every part 
 a part of woe doth 
 biar ; 'tis but a 
 part of scrrow 
 tluit we liear. 
 Deep soiincla 
 make lesser noise 
 tlian shallow 
 
 funis: and sorrow 
 ebbs, being 
 blown with wind 
 of words." — 
 Shakespeiu-e. 
 
 d Paxton, 
 
 ft "Eunuchs of 
 the present day, 
 to whom the 
 charge of harems 
 is committed, are 
 mostly from Nu- 
 t'ia or Abys- 
 sinia. "-J/ic/ine?w. 
 
 6 Lit. " he is 
 dead in his 
 place ; " the lan- 
 guage of fear of 
 the worst. 
 
 c Ilarmer. 
 
 a A.-S. chtf. jy, 
 piece of cloth, 
 etc., used for a 
 patch. 
 
 b "This thought- 
 ful act of the 
 negro shows liis 
 ki'iidliness, the 
 dejith of the cis- 
 tern, that force 
 would be neces- 
 sary in pulling 
 out Jeremiah, 
 and therefore 
 that the mire 
 was deep, and 
 possibly that Je- 
 remiah was en- 
 feebleil by his 
 privations, and 
 required gentle 
 treatment."— 
 Sjpt. Com. 
 
 " So we'll live, 
 and pray, and 
 
148 
 
 JEUEMIATI. 
 
 [Cap.xxxviii. 14—23. 
 
 Bins, and toll oM 
 talcs, find Innjrli 
 at pililcd biittor- 
 flips ; !inl lipiir 
 j)oi)r ro>^ues talk 
 of court news, 
 nncl we'll talk 
 wltli them too; 
 who loses and 
 wlio wins, who's 
 in, wlio's out. in 
 a wall'd prison 
 packs and sets of 
 groat ones, that 
 ebb and flow by 
 tir ni n." — 
 Shakvspea re. 
 
 c Ilalloran. 
 
 a " The third 
 pas.sa!?e or gate 
 tvhich lay be- 
 tween the kinpr's 
 palace, w here 
 the prison was, 
 and tlie Temple, 
 whither the kins 
 now retreated for 
 fear of the Chal- 
 dEcan army."- 
 Li'jlitfoot. 
 
 b " Zed"kiah is an 
 example of that 
 moral cowardice 
 which is the bane 
 and destruction 
 of many, psp. in 
 courts." - Wu/ds- 
 icorth. 
 
 vv. 14- 20. J. 
 Joirelt, Led. 154. 
 c BLs/iop King. 
 
 VK. 19, 20. J. 
 Milnei; iii. 485. 
 
 "As flowers 
 
 always wear their 
 own colours and 
 give forth their 
 own fragrance 
 every day alike, 
 so sliould Chris- 
 tians maintain 
 their cliaractcr 
 at all times and 
 under all circum- 
 stances." — //. IV. 
 Beccher. 
 
 a Dr. Jolinsoii. 
 
 With g-uilt that .sorrow or contrition dwell.? ; 
 
 Or through the conscious walls, as Echo flies, 
 
 Her voice re2)cats rep?ntant groans or sighs ! 
 
 Oh no ! e'en here by terrors iinsub;lued, 
 
 By dea! h unawed Vice pons her blackest brood : 
 
 Here the short hours, which penitence t^hould claim, 
 
 Are blindly wasteil in some sinful game. 
 
 Gaming, of fraud and infamy the source, 
 
 By long indulgence gains resistless force ; 
 
 "While " sentenced wretches" hug the insatiate 'vico, 
 
 And madly stake their souls upon the dice 1 
 
 Here ' demon fury" every sense appals. 
 
 And shakes with impotence of rage the walls. 
 
 To swell the dreadful scene, while all around 
 
 The clanking chains in mournful concert sound.' 
 
 14 — 16. (14) third entry, or innermost entrance from the 
 palace into the Temple." a tiling, or a word, a prophetic inti- 
 mation as to the result of the siege. (15) hearken, so as to 
 follow out the advice I give. (16) sware secretly, being too 
 weak to take a decided and open course.'' 
 A jjri.ton. — 
 
 A prison is in all things like a grave. 
 
 Where we no better privileges have 
 
 Than dead men ; nor so good. The soul, once fled, 
 
 Lives freer now than when she was cloister'd 
 
 In walls of flesh ; and though the organs want 
 
 To act her swift designs, yet all will grant 
 
 Her faculties more clear, now separate, 
 
 Than if conjunction, which of late 
 
 Did marry her to earth, had stood in force, 
 
 Incapable of death or of divorce : 
 
 But an imprison'd mind, though living. die3,^ 
 
 And at one time feels two captivities : 
 
 A narrow dungeon, which her body holds. 
 
 But narrower body which herself enfolds.* 
 
 17 — 19. (17) go forth, and give thyself up as prisoner, 
 soul live, or thy life shall be spared. (18) given into, as a 
 conquered city, thou . . hand, ch. xxxi.K. .5. (]!>) lest they, 
 I.e. the Chalda3ans. mock me, for deserting at last, only whea 
 it was too late to save the city. 
 Life and death. — 
 
 Reflect that life and death, affecting sounds 
 
 Are only varit^d modes of endless being : 
 
 Reflect that life, like every other blessing, 
 
 Derives its value from its use alone : 
 
 Not for itself, but for a nobler end 
 
 The Eternal gave it : and that end is virtue. 
 
 "\Mien inconsistent with a greater good. 
 
 Reason commands to cast the less away : 
 
 Thus life, with loss of wealth, is well preserved, 
 
 And virtue cheaply saved with loss of life." 
 
 20—23. (20) only obey, all will then come right. (21) 
 uowTnronnsZed ^^^^^ is the word, viz.. that both Zed. and the city would be 
 thai UUe refused taken. (22) -women, of the court. These -ft'ould be taken M 
 
Cap. xxxix. 1—3.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 149' 
 
 prey by the Chaldsean officers, and they would reprove Zedekiah 
 for following l^ad advice." tliy friends, conip. Obad. 7. they . . 
 back, I.e. the friends in whom Jer. trusted would for.'^ake him 
 in the hour of need. (23) tliotl shalt cause, i.e. the harder 
 fate of the city shall be the consequence of thine obstinancy.* 
 
 How n-e are Unhid tofirthcr. — You x-emember the touching 
 story of the daughter of Sir Robert Peel. Her father gave her, 
 as a birthday present, a gorgeous riding habit, and went out 
 ■with her on the same day for an airing in. the park, his heart 
 sweMing with parental pride as he rode by her side. Shortly 
 afterwards, .she sickened and died of typhus fever of the most 
 malignant type : and when inquiry was made as to how she 
 caught the infection, it was discovered that the habit, bought 
 froix one of the London West End tradesmen, had been made 
 in a miserable attic, where the husband of the seamstress was 
 Ij'ing ill of fever, and that it had been used by her to cover him 
 in his shivering fits. Thus, whether we will believe it or not, 
 the safety of tlie highest is bound up with the condition of the 
 lowest." 
 
 24 — 28. (24) no man know, throughout the interview 
 Zed. shows himself to be utterly weak. (2."-) the princes, 
 whom Zed. so greatly feared, and who would find in this inter- 
 view a new occnsion against Jei*. (26) Jonathan's house, 
 ch. xxxvii. 1.5. (27) the matter, i.e. the advice to desert to the 
 Chaldajans. which Jer. had so earnestly given to the king. (28) 
 court, ch. xxxix. 21. 
 Hace fur life. — 
 
 For life — the victim's utmost speed 
 
 Is mu.stered in this hour of need : 
 
 For life — for life — his giant might 
 
 He strains, and pours his soul in flight ; 
 
 And mad with terror, thirst, and pain. 
 
 Spurns with wild hoof the thundering ^lain. 
 
 'Tis vain : the thirsty sands are drinking 
 
 His streaming blood — hi^ strength is sinking : 
 
 The victor's fangs are in his veins — 
 
 His flanks are streaked with sanguin'd strains — 
 
 His panting breast in foam and gore 
 
 Is bath'd — he reels — his race is o'er ; 
 
 He falls -and with convulsing throe. 
 
 Resigns his throat to th' ravening foe 1 
 
 And lo ! ere quivering life has fled, 
 
 The vultures, wheeling o'erhead. 
 
 Swoop down, to watch, in gaunt array, 
 
 Till the gorged tyrant quits his j^rey." 
 
 CHAPTER TEE THIRTY-NINTH. 
 
 1—3. (1) ninth year, 2 Ki. xxv. 1, 2 ; Je. lii. 4." (2) 
 eleventh year, the siege lasted just one year and six months, 
 "broken up, or such breaches were made in the walls as gave 
 the invaders pos.session of the city. (15) middle gate, that wh. 
 eeparated the city of Zion from the lower town. Rab-mag, 
 prob. the official title of the second ;S//r//v'-r/-, meaning, " Chief 
 of the magicians," the sacerdotal caste of Chaldsea.* 
 
 to submit, ha 
 woulil become 
 tlie object of 
 more cutting de- 
 risiou on tlie part 
 of liis own mis- 
 tresses, who, iu 
 order the more to 
 graiify their new 
 lords, would ex. 
 idc over his fiillen 
 c o n d it ion." — 
 IJenderson. 
 
 b "It shall be 
 thine own act, as 
 completely as if 
 done with thine 
 own hand." — ' 
 Spk. Com. 
 
 c Rev. W. N. 
 
 Taylor. 
 
 " Few men have 
 done more harm 
 than those who 
 have been 
 thought to be 
 able to do least ; 
 and there cannot 
 be a greater error 
 than to believe a 
 man whom we 
 see qualified with 
 too mean parts 
 to do good, to be, 
 therefore, inca- 
 pal.ile of doing 
 hurt. There is a 
 supply of malice, 
 of pride, of indus- 
 try, and even of 
 fdily. in the 
 meekest, when he 
 sets his heart 
 up(.n it, that 
 makes a strange 
 progress in wick- 
 edness." — Lord 
 Chirendon. 
 
 a Pringle. 
 
 a " After his ex- 
 pedition to Jcru- 
 salem, Kebu- 
 chadnezzar him- 
 self seems to 
 have retired to 
 ]iil)lali in the 
 laud of Hamath, 
 to the nor 111 ot 
 
150 
 
 JEnEillAtt. 
 
 [Cap. xzzix. 4— 7« 
 
 ralcstine. on the 
 riglitbiuikof tlie 
 rivt!r Oroiites, 
 !ilu)iU ;>.■> miles 
 K.E. of Biiallioc, 
 on the frrciit road 
 bi'twecii I'ales- 
 tiiio and Baby- 
 lonia." — jy'o/'i/i- 
 wor(/i. 
 
 b " It was cus- 
 tomary among 
 tlieUlialdiuansto 
 give tlie names 
 of tlieir idols, as 
 an additional 
 title, or mark of 
 honour, to jier- 
 6ons of distiuc- 
 tiou." — Lvivlh. 
 
 a " They took to 
 fliglit by the 
 double wall wh. 
 ran along the 
 Bouth side of 
 Zion.andruaohed 
 the point wlienee 
 two roads struck 
 ofT, the one to 
 Bethlehem, and 
 the other across 
 the south siile of 
 the Mount of 
 Olives. They ap- 
 pear to have 
 taken the latter 
 route in order to 
 reach the Jordan, 
 liaving crossed 
 wh. they might 
 liave escaped 
 into Arabia JJe- 
 serta."— y/f» Av- 
 son. 
 
 b C o tn p. Je. 
 xxxii. 4 ; Eze. 
 Xii. 14. 
 
 " Possibly he was 
 deiirived of siglit 
 by having a I'ed- 
 hot iron held 
 before his eyes." 
 — Mic/melis. 
 
 " The Assyrian 
 sculptures dc- 
 liiot the delight 
 with which the 
 kings struck out, 
 often with their 
 owu Lauds, tlie 
 
 J'nJrxfint' e.rjil/irnfion.t. — A large number of valuable and im- 
 portant identifications are newly advanced or supported in the 
 last (Jii/ir/rrli/ SfitfcDicnt of the Exploration Fund. Among them 
 conies, first, and most imx)ortant, the site of Bethabara, the place 
 where John baptised ; the name is still preserve<l in one of the 
 many previously unknown fords of the Jordan discovered in the 
 course of the survey. It is illusti'ative of the value of the 
 new map that it will show no fewer than fifty of these fords, 
 against eight in the best map at present existing. The " Tower 
 of Ader," the site of Jacob s camp, is proposed to be idcnti^ed 
 with the " Shepherd's Plain," near Bethlehem. Lieut. Conder 
 proposes sites also for the " Valley of Bles.sing " and the town of 
 Bezeth ; he has traced Pilate's Arpieduct to its conclusion, and 
 furnishes an accurate survey of Tell Jezer, where M. Ganneau 
 found the now famous inscription marking the ancient Levitical 
 boundaries. The number contains, also, a dtawing of the moun- 
 tain where Lieut. Conder found the '• Altar of Ed :'' an accounC 
 of the recent excavations in Jerusalem conducted by theCxcrmans ; 
 of the discoveries and excavations in connection with the First 
 Wall of the city by ]\Ir. Ilenrv Maudslay ; and important papers 
 by Major "Wil.^on and Captain Warren, the latter giving his 
 reconstruction of the Temple of Herod. The survey party are 
 now in I'hilistia ; tlie total amount of work done up to the 
 present is nearly 4,0'JO square miles. 
 
 4 — 7. (4) fled, from the upper city. Even in the hour of 
 extremity Zed. would not follow Jer.'s advice, and submit, fled, 
 2 Ki. xxv. 4:— 12." plain, or wilderness of Judaea. (5) gave 
 judgment, pronounced his sentence. ((>) slew, etc., Zed.'s 
 2Hinishmeut was specially terrible bee. of the stubbornness of his 
 resistance. (7) put out . . eyes, a cruel but not unusual 
 punishment.* 
 
 Putting ovt the eyes. — By an inhuman custom, which is still 
 retained in the East, the eyes of captives taken in war are not 
 only put out but sometimes literally scooped or dug out of theij 
 sockets. This dreadful calamity Samson had to endure, from 
 the unrelenting vengeance of his enemies. In a posterior age, 
 Zedekiah. the last king of Judah and Benjamin, after being 
 compelled to behold the violent death of his sons and nobility, 
 had his eyes put out, and was carried in chains to Babjdou. 
 The barbarous custom long survived the decline and fall of the 
 Babylonian emjire, for by the testimony of Mr. Maurice, in hia 
 History of Hindostan. the captive princes of that country were 
 often treated in this manner by their more fortunate rivals ; a 
 red-hot iron was passed over their eyes, which efi'ectually de- 
 prived them of sight, and at the same time of their title and 
 ability to reign." Extinction of the sight was not allowed as a 
 punishment under the iMosaic law, but was commonly emploj-ed 
 in the East against such as were in a position to have engaged 
 in plots against the existing government, Judg. xvi. 28 : 2 Kings 
 xxv. 7 ; Ezek. xii. 13. The s.ame punishment M-as frequently 
 employed by the Normans in our own land, and was inflicted by 
 William II. upon his brother IJobert. In the seventeenth century, 
 a silver style, resembling those used for painting the ej-ebrows, 
 was heated red-hot, and thrust into the eyes of one of the Persian 
 princes, for the purpose of destroying sight. The late Pasha of • 
 Acre, Achmcd, called Djezzar, or the Butcher, subjected hia 
 
Cap. xxxix. 8—18.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 151 
 
 attendants to the most shameful cruelties ; many of them had 
 lost an eye, or ear, or an arm ; others had their noses slit : nor 
 were any means of redress o]i?n to them. The same wicked 
 custom still prevails. Mr. Roberts, speaking of this practice, 
 Bays. " The eyes of many were plucked out by hooks : others iiad 
 the sight destroyed by powerful drugs ; and some had their eye- 
 lids sewn together, as is the custom with hunting hawks." "^ 
 
 8 — 10. (S) tturned, even as Jer. had foretold." see also ch. 
 lii. 12. 13. (9) captain . . guard, or chief marshal, remnant, 
 those left from the first deportation conducted by the conquering' 
 princes. Prob. Kebuzaradan had been left in charge of the 
 conquered city, fell to him, or deserted to him. (10) poor, 
 poss. the disabled, who would only encumber his joui-ney, and 
 could do no mischief if left behind. 
 
 Piter the Great. — The soldiers of Peter the Great, the Czar of 
 Muscovy, were no sooner masters of the town of Narva, than they 
 fell to plundering and committing the most enormous barbarities. 
 The Czar ran from place to place to put a stop to the disorder 
 and massacre. He even turned upon his own victorious but 
 uugoveraable troops, and threatened them with instant death if 
 they did not immediately desist from rapine and slaughter, and 
 allow quarter to their vanquished foes. He actually killed with 
 Ms own hands several Muscovites who did not obey his orders.'' 
 
 11 — 14. (11) charge, instructions how to treat the Prophet." 
 (12) take him, secure his personal safety, and pay him every 
 attention. (13) Compare the names with those in v. 3. (14) 
 Gddaliah, ch. xxvi. 24. He was the chief of the deserters to 
 the Chalda^ans. home, piob. to Gedaliahs home, dwelt . . 
 people, as a freeman. 
 
 Trials of a jrri.wncr. — A prisoner is an impatient patient, 
 lingring under the rough hands of a cruell phisitian ; who 
 having come to his disease, knowes his complainte, and hath 
 power to cure him, but takes more pleasure to kill him. He is 
 like Tantalus, who hath freedome running by his doore, yet 
 cannot enjoy the least benefit thereof. His greatest griefe is 
 that his credit was so good and now no better. His land is 
 drawne within the compasse of a sheepe's skin, and his owne 
 hand the fortification that barres him of entrance : hee is 
 fortunes tossing-bal, an object that would make mirth melan- 
 choly : to his friends an abject, and a subject of nine dayes' 
 ■wonder in euery barber's shop, and a mouthful of pitty (that he 
 had no better fortune) to midwiues and talkatiue gossips ; and 
 all the content that this transitory life can giue him seems but 
 to flout him, in respect the restraint of liberty barres the true. 
 To his familiars hee is like a plague, whom they dare scai'ce 
 come nigh for feare of infection ; he is a monument ruined by 
 by those which raysed him ; he spends the day with a hei mihl ! 
 fee mhentm ! and the night with a nullis est medicah'dis herbls.'' 
 
 15—18. (1.5) -while .. prison, but after Ebed-melech had 
 rescued him from the pit. (IG) before thee, the intimation 
 that Ebed should see the evil, and live through it. (17) deliver 
 thee, as a recognition of his services to Gods Prophet, afraid, 
 Ebed miglit well fear the wild slaughter and rioting that is 
 usual when a city is sacked. (18) for a prey, or an unexpected 
 &ud uiilooked for gain.<* 
 
 eyes of captive 
 priuoes."— Faa^ 
 
 c Paxion. 
 
 a "The fate of 
 the city was 
 delayed for a 
 niuiith, probably 
 until definite in- 
 structions had 
 been received 
 from Nebuciiad- 
 uezzar. 
 
 We live amid sur- 
 faces, and the art 
 of life is to skata 
 well on theui. 
 
 6 Percy Aiiee. 
 
 a " Xo doubt ha 
 had been in- 
 forniod that the 
 I'roiiliet had ex- 
 horted both king 
 and people to sub- 
 mit themselves 
 to his authority." 
 — Loiclh. 
 
 " How Uke a 
 prison's to a 
 gravel when 
 dead we are with 
 solemn pomp 
 brouglit thither, 
 and our heirs, 
 masking their 
 joy in false dis- 
 sembled tears, 
 weep o'er the 
 hearse : but the 
 earth no sooner 
 covers the earth 
 brouglit thither, 
 but they turn 
 away with in- 
 ward smiles, the 
 dead no more 
 remember'd : so 
 enter'd into a 
 jjrison." — Mat' 
 .siii'je?: 
 
 b -SV/' Tlwnwis 
 Overbury. 
 
 a " The ' life ' 
 which he had 
 risked in rescu- 
 ing the Propheb 
 was to be his 
 reward, being 
 spared beyond 
 aU hope when . 
 
152 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xl. 1-6. 
 
 the lives of bis 
 eiieniii'S sliould 
 be forfeited." — 
 Fausset. 
 
 J e . X I i . 9 , 
 xxxviii. 2. 
 
 " For love of all 
 tlie goils, lot's 
 leave the lierniit 
 pity with our 
 mother ; ami 
 when we have 
 our armours 
 biicklecl ou, let 
 venom''! ven- 
 geance ride upon 
 our swords." — 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 * C. Edmrds. 
 
 a "Prob. all the 
 prisoners of note, 
 who might be 
 worth taking to 
 Babylon, were 
 collected at lla- 
 mah indisorinii- 
 nately, and ex- 
 amined there."— 
 Upk. Com. 
 
 6 " From tlie 
 signs of hesita- 
 tion which Jer. 
 manifested, the 
 captain con- 
 cluded that he 
 would rather re- 
 main in tlie laud 
 than go to Baby- 
 ion, and not only 
 Bent him to Ge- 
 daliah, but pro- 
 vided him with 
 victuals for his 
 journey, and dis- 
 missed him with 
 a present." — 
 UendiTSon. 
 
 " It is no unusual 
 thing for men of 
 the most aban- 
 doned character 
 to be struck with 
 profound awe, 
 and restraineil 
 fi-om their vile 
 purposes, by the 
 presence of an 
 eminrtitly pious 
 person. Th; re is 
 a iinw(>r in real 
 godliness which 
 commands the 
 levereuce. of 
 
 Glorici of libevtij. — 
 
 Oh- Liberty ! Liberty ! wlio would not die, 
 
 In tny records to live eterually ? 
 
 Oh Liberty ! Liberty ! thine is the -wreath 
 
 That flames o'er the scene of a warrior's death ; 
 
 Hallows the soil of the soldier's grave, 
 
 And plays o'er the land of the good and the brave, 
 
 Though the mighty come forth in their pride, 
 
 And nations be swept from the land, 
 
 For ever the names of thy patriot band 
 In the volume of fame shall abide. 
 Like Sicily's mountain whose fires never die, 
 
 Thj^ presence ou earth is confest ; 
 A beacon of wrath when it flames on high, 
 
 And a mighty fear when at rest. 
 I Like thee it wakes from its terrible sleep, 
 
 And o'er the daik rock and green valley sweep,* 
 
 CHAPTER TEE FORTIETH. 
 
 \ 1—6. (1) from Ramah, ch. xxxi. IS." He had been carried, 
 with other prisoners, to Ilamah, a short distance from Jerusalem, 
 chains, or manacles. At first Jer. was mixed up with the other 
 captives, who were bound together with chains on the handa. 
 (2) Lord, etc., this sounds like a repetition of Jer.'s words, which 
 
 [ may have been reported to the captain. (3) brorigllt it, to 
 pass. (4) loose thee, so give thee thy personal liberty. Icok 
 •well, ch. xxxix. 12. (o) while . . back, or while he was hesi- 
 tating.* (6) Gedaliah, ch. xxvi. 24, xxxix. 14. Mizpah, in 
 Benjamin, 2 hours N.W. of Jerusalem. 
 
 Liithcr. — Disinterestedness was a leading feature in the char- 
 acter of Luther ; superior to all selfish considerations, he left the 
 honours and emoluments of this world to those who delighted in 
 them. The following extract, from a will he executed so'ne 
 years before his death, proves how little he regarded that wealth 
 to attain which thousands sacrifice every enjoyment in this 
 life, and every hope of happiness in the next. The reformer 
 says, '■ Lord God ! I give Thee thanks that Thou hast ■filled me 
 to be poor upon earth, and a beggar. I have neither house, land, 
 money, nor possessions of any kind, which I can leave. Thou 
 hast given me a wife' and children : I commend them to Thee :• 
 nourish them, teach them, preserve them, as Thou hast hitherto 
 preserved me, Father of the fatherless, Judge of the Avidow I " 
 The poverty of this great man did not arise from wanting the 
 means of acquiring riches ; for few men have had it in their 
 power more easily to obtain them. The Elector of Saxony 
 oft'(>red him the produce of a mine at Sneberg ; but he notoly 
 refused it, " lest " said he, " I should tempt the devil, who is 
 lord of these subterraneous treasures, to tempt me." The 
 enemies of Luther were no strangers to his contempt for gold. 
 When one of the popes asked a certain cardinal, why they did 
 not stop that man's mouth with silver and gold : his eminence 
 replied, "That German beast regards not money!" It may 
 easily be supposed, that the liberality of such a man would often 
 exceed his means, A poor student once telling him of his 
 
Cap. xl. 7-16.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 153 
 
 poverty, he desired his wife to give him a sum of money ; and 
 when she informed him they had none left, he immediately 
 seized a cup of some value, which accidentally s'ood within his 
 reach, and giving it to the poor man, bade him go and sell it, and 
 keep the money to supply his wants. In one of his epistles, Luther 
 says, " I have received one hundred guilders from Taubereim : 
 and Schartts has given me fifty : so that I begin to fear lest 
 God should reward me in this life. But I declare I will not 
 be satisfied with it. Wha.t have I to do with so much money? 
 I gave half of it to P. Priorus, and made the man glad.'* 
 
 7 — 12. (7) in the fields, or scattered over the wilder parts 
 of the country." (8) came to, to offer their allegiance and ser- 
 vice to him. Netophatllite, fr. Netophah, a town in Judah.'' 
 Maachatllite, from Maachathi. at the foot of Mt. Hermon.' 
 (9) fear not, these officers would naturally fear that Gedaliah 
 might deliver ,.hem as captives to the Chalda?ans. serve . . 
 Babylon, comj?. Jer.'s advice, ch. xxvii. 11, xxix. 7. (10) to 
 serve, lit. "stand before."'' come unto ns, i.e. whose officers 
 will come with the king's commands and requirements, gather, 
 etc., there would be fruit on the trees, though no corn in the 
 fields. (11) in Moab, etc., i.e. seeking shelter in neighbouring 
 lanus. (12) Mizpah, r. 6. There Gedaliah seems to have had 
 his residence. 
 
 Affficfion endeam tJte prom'ises. — We never prize the precious 
 words of promise till we are placed in conditions in which their 
 suitability and sweetness are manifested. We all of us value 
 those golden words, " When thou walkest through the fire thou 
 shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee," 
 but few if any of us have read them with the delight of the 
 martyr Bilney, to whom this jiassage was a stay, while he was 
 in prison awaiting his execution at the stake. His Bible, still 
 preserved in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 
 has the passage marked with a pen in the margin. Perhaps, if 
 all were known, every promise in the Bible has borne a special 
 message to some one saint, and so the whole volume might be 
 scored in the margin with mementoes of Christian experience, 
 every one appropriate to the very letter." 
 
 13—16. (13) Johanan, r. 8. (14) Baalis, an ally of 
 Zedekiah's." slay thee, ILh. " strike thee in soul,'' i.e. a 
 deadly stroke.* (1.")) I will slay, privately assassinate. (16) 
 falsely, so Gedaliah, in his over-trustfulness, thought. 
 
 Murder. — The Eev. Ebenezer Erskine, after travelling at one 
 time, toward the end of the week, from Portmoak to the banks 
 of the Forth, on his way to Edinburgh, was, with several others, 
 prevented by a storm from crossing that frith. Thus obliged to 
 remain in Fife during the Sabbath, he was employed to preach, 
 it is believed, in Kinghorn. Conformably to his usual practice, 
 he prayed earnestly in the morning for the Divine countenance 
 and aid in the work of the day ; but suddenly missing his note- 
 book, he knew not what to do. His thoughts, however, were 
 directed to the command, " Thou shalt not kill ; " and having 
 studied the subject with as much care as the time would permit, 
 he delivered a short sermon on it in the forenoon. Having 
 returned to his lodging, he gave strict injunctions to the servant 
 thaj 110 one should be allowed to see him during the interval of 
 
 those who hate 
 it; and tliis tlio 
 invmilest sinners 
 iiften so iar feel 
 as to be unable to 
 carry on their 
 violent opposi- 
 ti( n against it, 
 while yet no 
 .-aving cliancre i3 
 effected upon 
 t\\vm."-Rubinson. 
 c U. T. S. 
 
 a " The leaders 
 of the Jewish 
 army had beea 
 scattered 
 tln-onghout the 
 ctamtry on the 
 c;iptnre of Zede- 
 kiah, in order to 
 escape the notice 
 of the Chaldte- 
 ans."' — Fuufset, 
 b 2 ?a.. xxiii. 28. 
 c De. iii. 14. 
 d "To be their 
 representative, 
 and to do their 
 will, and also to 
 mediate with 
 them ia your 
 br-lialf." — nUziy. 
 " Fire, and ham- 
 mer, and file are 
 necess;iry to give 
 the metal form ; 
 and it must have 
 many a grind 
 and many a rub 
 ere it will shine ; 
 so, in trial, char- 
 acter is shaped, 
 and beautified, 
 and brightened." 
 —S. Coin/, 
 e C. H. Spurgeon. 
 
 a Je. xxviL 3. 
 
 6 This Ishmael, 
 being of the seed 
 royal of David, 
 envied Gedaliah, 
 who had the 
 presidency to wh. 
 lie thought him- 
 self entitled. 
 Therefore he 
 leagued Inmself 
 with the ancient 
 enemy of Ju- 
 dah. 
 
 •• Foul deeds will 
 rise, tliongh all 
 the earth o'er- 
 whelm them to 
 men's eyes : for 
 murder, though 
 it have no 
 
154 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xlI.1-7. 
 
 tongue, will 
 speak with most 
 niiniciiloiis or- 
 grin." — tSliakc- 
 speare. 
 
 " Anil witlierVl 
 inurilpr,a1ai-uMi'il 
 by liis sentinel, 
 the wolf, whose 
 howls his watch, 
 thus with his 
 stealthy pace, 
 witli Tarquin's 
 ravis'.iing strides, 
 towards his de- 
 sign moves like 
 a g h o s t." — 
 Sliakespeare. 
 
 "Evil into the 
 mind of god or 
 m;in may come 
 and go, so unap- 
 proved, and leave 
 no spot or lilame 
 hehiud."-- Miltuti. 
 
 e Whilecross 
 
 a 2 Ki. XXV. 8, 25. 
 
 Probably the 
 happiest period 
 in life most fre- 
 quently is in 
 middle age, when 
 the eager ]ias- 
 sions of yoiith 
 are cooled, and 
 the infirmities of 
 ago not yet be- 
 gun ; as we see 
 that the shadows, 
 which are at 
 morning and 
 evening so large, 
 almost entirely 
 disappear at mid- 
 day."-/'/'. J /vioW. 
 
 a Jno. iv. 5. 
 
 6 Pome think 
 should be Sahm, 
 close to Shechem. 
 
 c " The pr-rjons 
 here spoken of 
 belonged to tlie 
 remainder of the 
 ten tribes, wlio 
 liad retained 
 their veneration 
 for the God of 
 tlibir£utbers,aud 
 
 worship. A stranger, however, ■vvho was also one of the persona 
 detained by the state of the weather, expressed an earnest dcsiro 
 to see the minister ; and havinjr with diiFiculty obtained admit- 
 tance, appeared much agitated, and asked him, with great 
 eagerness, whether he knew him, or had ever seen or heard of 
 him. On receiving assurance that he was totally iinacquainted 
 with his face, character, and history, the gentleman proceeded 
 to state that his sermon on the sixth commandment had reached 
 his conscience : that he was a vn/rdrrcr ; that being the second 
 son of a Highland laird, he had some time before, from baso and 
 selfish motives, cruelly suffocated his elder brother, who slept in 
 the same bed with him ; and that now he had no peace of mind, 
 and wished to surrender himself to justice, to suffer the punish- 
 ment due to his horrid and unnatural crime. Mr. Erskine asked 
 him if any other person knew anything- of his guilt. His ansM'er 
 was, that so far as he was aware, not a single individual had the 
 least siispicion of it : on which the good man exhorted him to 
 h^ deeply affected with a sense of his atrocioits sin, to make an 
 immediate application to the blood of sprinkling, and to brin^ 
 forth fruits meet for repentance ; but at the same time, since, in 
 providence, his crime had hitherto remained a secret, not to 
 disclose it, or give himself up to public justice. The unhappy 
 gentleman embraced this well-intended counsel in all its parts, 
 became truly pious, and maintained a friendly correspondence 
 with Llr. Erskine in future life.' 
 
 CHAPTER THE FORTY-FIRST. 
 
 1—3. (1) seventh montli, fr. this it appears that Gedaliah's 
 presidency lasted only two months." eat bread, wh. is the 
 Eastern sign of friendship. (2) tlien arose, i.e. even in the 
 very midst of the banquet. (.S) slew, etc., Gedaliah's death 
 being the signal for a general massacre, but it was confined prob. 
 to the men of war. 
 
 The iraniinij. — In former days, when a military company wa3 
 to be called out. the notice delivered to each of the members was 
 called "the warning.' An officer, who was a Christian, having 
 given the warning to a young man, Avas playfully accosted by 
 another youug man, who was not a member of the company, 
 with the question, " Have you not a warning for me too .' " The 
 officer replied, " Yes, I have a warniug for you : I warn you to 
 flee from the wrath to come." This unexpected reply proved an 
 arrow from the Lord's quiver ; and to ic the young man ascribes 
 his conversion. 
 
 4—7. (-1) no man knew, i.e. beyond the town of Mizpah. 
 (.')) Sliecliem, or Syehar. mod. Xablous.« Slliloh. eh. vii. 12.* 
 Samaria, the chief town of tlie ten tiibes. beards sliaven, 
 a sign of deep sorrow, cut themselves, Le. xix. 27. 28 : De. 
 xiv. \.' (G) weeping, .went, in utter hypocrisy, come to 
 Gedaliah, speaking as if he were a court-officiah (7) slew 
 tliem, the reason for this ti'eacherous murder docs not appear. 
 
 Jiovln;] thr tonrpie. — At Chinsurah. in the East Indies, there is 
 a famous place of rr.sort called Suraishovtollnh. or the residence 
 of the Bull-god. This is a square area, on which, beneath the 
 shade of cue vast banyan tree, several temi)les stand, dedicated 
 
Cap. xli. 8-14.] 
 
 JERE.]fIAIT. 
 
 15^ 
 
 to several popular idols, to accommodate all classes of comers. 
 Here many self-infiicted or self-chosen cruelties are i^ractised by 
 those who thus hope to merit a place in the Hindoo heaven. A 
 favourite penance is to have the tongue bored through with a 
 large iron spike. A blacksmith is the operator, who is said to be 
 very skilful both in driving a nail and driving a bargain. It 
 sometimes happens that the candidates for this piece of service 
 at his hands are so numerous and impatient, that they are obliged 
 to submit to be arranged in order as they arrive, and wait till each 
 in his turn can be gratified with a wound in the unruly member, 
 which they use, meanwhile, with no small eloquence, to induce 
 him to hasten to their relief, and when he is come, to get the 
 business done as cheaplj"^ as they can. The shrewd knave, how- 
 ever, is wise enough to take his time, and extort a larger or a 
 smaller fee, according to the number, rank, or fanaticism of his 
 customers.'' 
 
 8 — 10. (8) we have treasures," a very politic plea. Tliese 
 men knew that hidden stores of provisions would be important 
 to Ishraael, and their secret would be lost with them if he put 
 them to death. (9) it wliicli Asa made, see 1 Ki. xv. 22. A 
 large cistern would be necessary for the supply of the fortress. 
 (10) captive, intending to set np a patty kingdom under the 
 ehelter of the Amiuonibes. 
 
 Granaries in tlic Eaut. — In Palestine wells or cisterns are used 
 for grain. In them the farmers store their crops of all kinds 
 after the gi-ain is threshed and winnowed. They are cool and 
 perfectly dry. The top is hermetically sealed with plaster, and 
 covered with a deep bed of earth : and thus they keep out rats, 
 mice, and even ants — the latter by no means a contemptible 
 enemy. The custom is doubtless an ancient one, and is extended 
 from this country through the Carthaginians of North Africa 
 into Spain. They seem to be alluded to in the passage cited 
 above. These cisterns not only preserve the grain and other 
 stores deposited in them from insects and mice, but they are 
 admirably adapted to conceal them from robbers. These ten 
 men had doubtless thus hid their treasui'es, to avoid being 
 plundered in that time of utter lawlessness ; and in a similar 
 time I found people storing away grain in cisterns far out in the 
 open country between Aleppo and Hamath ; and they told me it 
 was to hide it from the Government tax-gatherers. It is quite 
 dangerous to come upon a deserted site full of these open cisterns 
 and wells, especially at night, as I have often found. Frequently 
 they are entirely concealed by the grass, and the path leads ripht 
 among' them. They must always be dug in dry places, generally 
 on the side of a sloping hill. They would not answer in a wet 
 country, but in these dry climates stores have been found quite 
 fresli and sound many yeai's after they were thus buried.* 
 
 11—14. (11) Jolianan, ch. xl. 1.3 : the man who had warned 
 Gnlaliah. (12) great waters, a large open pool, 2 Sa. ii. lo. 
 Gibeon, four miles N.W. of Jerus., on the road from Mizpah to 
 Ammon. (13) glad, at the prospect of deliverance, (li) cast 
 about, turned round. 
 
 llccapfurcs. — In the year 17G0, the ship Gond latent, from 
 Waterford. was taken by a French jDrivateer off XJshant, who took 
 out all the crew, except five men and a boy, over whom they 
 
 prob. were in the 
 habit of repair- 
 ing at stated 
 seasons to Jerus. 
 Tlie plight in 
 wliicli they now 
 appeared was in- 
 dicative of deep 
 mourning on ac- 
 count of tlic 
 destruction of 
 tliatcity." — Hew 
 dersoji. 
 
 d Cheever. 
 
 a " Subterranean 
 storehouses for 
 keeping graia 
 safe from rob- 
 bers." — Words- 
 uvrl/i. 
 
 V. 8. "This re- 
 fers to stores 
 tliey liad con- 
 cealed, as is clear 
 from the men- 
 tioning of ' the 
 oil ami honey.' 
 During the time 
 of the Kandiaa 
 war many pri- 
 soners received 
 lenient treat- 
 ment, because of 
 the assurance 
 that they liad 
 treasures hid iu 
 tlie field, and 
 that they should 
 be the property 
 of tlieir keepers. 
 In some cases 
 there can be no 
 doubt there were 
 largo sums thus 
 acquired by cer- 
 t a i n i n d i V i- 
 duals." — Uuberls. 
 
 I) Dr. Tlwvison. 
 
 " The wise and 
 good wish well 
 to liberty, 
 throughout all 
 lands ; but aim 
 to win her cause 
 by some bold 
 manly movement 
 from the heart of 
 
156 
 
 JEREMIATT. 
 
 [Cap. xli. 15-1& 
 
 all united 
 nations ; not by 
 base assassin's 
 craft, o£ \\a.n%- 
 man's well re- ! 
 pnM. E.it liow ! 
 to gain tliis, how j 
 to inaugurate i 
 this grand con- 1 
 certed blessing, 
 seems a knot ' 
 time's wearied 1 
 fingers work at I 
 till they bleed ; i 
 and bullied races | 
 vainly pray for. 
 Still the i-idaie i 
 must be read. | 
 The hour must i 
 come when retri- j 
 butive Mercy ■ 
 shall succeed her | 
 sterner sister 
 Justice, and aye 
 reign in parity 
 divine with ri-;li- 
 teous love." — 
 Jiailey. 
 
 I Percy Anec. 
 
 o 2 Sa. xix. 38, 
 40. 
 
 6"LesttheChal- 
 dseans sIiouM 
 suspect all tlie 
 Jews of being 
 implicated in 
 lUimael's trea- 
 son, as thon;;h 
 the Jews sought 
 to liave a prince 
 of the house of 
 David." — i'ausset 
 
 placed nine Frenchmen. While iiavig-ating the vessel to France, 
 four of the English formed the design of regaining possession of 
 the vessel. One Bvien tripped up the heels of the Frenchman at 
 the helm, seized his pistol, and discharged it at ajiother : making 
 at the same time a signal to his three comrailes below to follow 
 his example : they did so. and soon overcame them, the French- 
 men crying for quarter. Xone of tha British sailors could either 
 read or write, and were quite ignorant how to navigate the vessel ; 
 but Brien steered at a venture, and arrived safe at Youghall, in 
 Ireland, in the gaol of which place ho lodged his prisoners. In 
 17i)4. the Brf.ti'i/. of London, in her return from Jamaica, parted 
 from her convoy in the Gulf of Florida, and was captured off the 
 Lizard by a French frigate. The captain and crew, with the 
 exception of the mate, carpenter, cook, and boy. and Mrs. Williams, 
 a passenger, were taken out of the Brturi/ by the Frenchmen, 
 and a lieutenant and thirteen men put on board to take charge 
 of the prize. Three days after, the ship being driven by heavy 
 gales of wind in sight of Guernsey, a plot was laid for securing 
 the Frenchmen, and retaking the ship. Mfs. AViHiams counter- 
 feited being ill. on purpose to draw the attention of the lieitt.enant, 
 while the cabin-boy removed the fire-arms, etc. This beiag 
 effected, she prepared herself with extraordinary resolution for 
 the event. At eleven o'clock at night, when the lieutenant wa3 
 asleep in his berth, and othci's of the French were between deck, 
 in the fore part of the ship, the signal was given, and Mrs. 
 Williams locked the lieutenant in the cabin, and stood at the 
 door with a pistol in her hand, to prevent its being opened by 
 force. In the meantime, the French on deck were thrust down 
 the fore hatchway by the three men. A fine breeze brought 
 them into Cov.'es Road in twelve hours ; and Mrs. Williams waa 
 found standing sentinel, with a pistol in her hand, at the cabin- 
 door, when a boat's crew -^vent on board. Thus, by the spirited, 
 exertions of a woman and three brave fellows, a ship and cai'go, 
 worth £20,000, was rescued from the enemy." 
 
 15— IS. (15) escaped, fl(;ieing .at once, scarcely even showing 
 fight, but losing two of his party. (IG) took Jolianan, he 
 becoming the leader on the death of Gedaliah. (17) Cllimham, 
 Heb. (Tcrnth-chriiihohiiin, poss. a caravanserai belonging to Chim- 
 ham, near Bethlehem." (IS) because of the Clialdasans,* 
 who would certainly take vengeance for the murder of the 
 governor whom they had appointed. 
 
 Ccvtauity of jiKhjmcnl. — There was a man who committed a 
 foul murder in a Scottish castle upon a young bridegroom, at 
 whose marriage festivities he had hy|iocritically assisted. The 
 assassin took horse in the deal of night, and lied for his life 
 through wood and winding path. When the sun dawned, he 
 slackened his pace, and behold ! he was emerging from a thicket 
 in front of the very castle whence be had fled, and to which, by 
 tortuous paths, he had returned. Horror seized him ; he was 
 discovered, and condemned to death. So. however far and fast 
 we may fly, we shall find ourselves, when light returns, ever ia 
 presence of oiu- sin and of our Judge. 
 
Cap.xlii. 1— 12.] 
 
 JEREiflAH. 
 
 157" 
 
 CHAPTER THE FORTY-SECOND. 
 
 1 — 3. (1) came near, sought an audience to ask counsel in 
 the time of perplexity. (2) unto Jeremiah, who poss. was 
 one of the captives taken away by Ishmael. (2) siipplication, 
 etc., as ch. xxxvi. 7. thy God, intimating' that he had prevail- 
 ing power with Him. (3) show us the way, the prayer sounds 
 righl and good, but it does not seem to have been offered in 
 sincerity." 
 
 Note on V. 2. — The margin has this, " Let our supplication fall 
 before Thee." " O my lord," says the suppliant, " let my prayer.'? 
 be prostrate at your feet." '• O forget not my requests, but let 
 them ever surround your feet." " Allow my su^jplications to lie 
 before you." "Ah ! give but a small place for my prayers." 
 " At your feet, my lord, at your feet, my lord, are all my 
 •requests."* 
 
 4—6. (4) heard, ch. xxxiv. 10, xxsv. 17. (5) between us, 
 or against us. (G) we will Obey, good promises followed by 
 bad performances." 
 
 I'tificncc in jj?'ai/n: — How many courtiers be there that go a 
 hundred times a year into the prince's chamber, without hope of 
 once speaking with him, but only to be seen of him. So must we 
 come to the exercise of prayer purely, and merely to do our duty, 
 and to testify our fidelity. If it please His Divine Majesty to 
 speak, and discourse with us by His holy inspirations and interior 
 consolations, it will be doubtless an inestimable honour to us, 
 and a pleasure above all pleasures ; but if it please Him not to 
 do us this favour, leaving us without so much as speaking to us. 
 as if He saw us not, or as if we were not in His presence, we 
 must not for all that go our way, but continue with decent and 
 devout behaviour in the presence of His Sovereign Goodness ; 
 and then infallibly our patience will be acceptable to Him, and 
 He will take notice of our diligence and jierseverance : so that 
 another time, when we shall come before Him, He will favour 
 us, and pass His time with us in heavenly consolations, and make 
 us see the beauty of holy prayer.* 
 
 7—12. (7) ten days, he had to wait for this time before the 
 answer came. The delay may hav% been necessary to allay the 
 panic, and quiet the people. They had impulsively promised 
 obedience in the time of excitement. (8 — 10) still abide, 
 settling down quietly under the power of the Chalda^ans. 
 repent, ch. xviii. 11. (11, 12) I . . mercies, by overruling the 
 King of Babylon's plans concerning you. 
 
 Urlclis. — If their bricks, in those hot and diy countries, are in 
 general only dried in the sun. not burnt, there is some reason to 
 be doubtful whether the Hebrew word inaJhcn signifies a brick- 
 kiln, as multitudes besides our translators have supposed. The 
 bricks used in the construction of the Egyptian canals, must have 
 been vv^ell burnt : those dried in the sun could have lasted no 
 time. But bricks for this use could not have been often wanted. 
 They were nob necessary for the building those treasure cities 
 which are mentioned Exod. i. 11. One of the pyramids is built 
 with sun-dried bricks, which Sir J. Chardiu tells us are durable. 
 
 a "They profess 
 gre.it reverence 
 for Jereniiah. as 
 for God ; but will 
 not hearken to 
 the one or tlie 
 ot]ier, but prefer 
 their own wilfiU- 
 ness to both."— " 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 b Itoberts, 
 
 a " It is the con- 
 stant method of 
 hypocrites to 
 pretend a pro- 
 found submission 
 to the will of 
 God till that 
 comes to cross 
 their inclinations 
 or interest." — 
 Lou'th. 
 
 fv. 5. 6. /. Fatv- 
 cell, iii. 308. 
 " Among all the 
 graces that adorn 
 a Cliristiau soul, 
 like so many 
 ]ewels of various 
 colours and lus- 
 tres, against ihe 
 day of licr espou- 
 sals to the Lamb 
 of God, there is 
 not one more 
 brilliant than 
 patience." — £^. 
 Hvnie. 
 b Sales. 
 
 Posiilonius. in his 
 Life of.-Vugustine, 
 relates, that the 
 good man, going 
 on one occasion 
 to preach at a 
 distant town, 
 took with him a 
 guide to direct 
 him in tho way. 
 This man, by 
 some unaccount- 
 able means, mis- 
 took the usual 
 road, and fell into 
 a by-path. It 
 afterwards 
 proved, that in 
 tliis way the 
 preacher's life 
 had beca Eaved, 
 
158 
 
 'JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xlil. 13-19. 
 
 as his enemies, 
 aware of liis 
 journey, hail 
 placed them- 
 selves in t}ie pro- 
 per road with a 
 design to liill 
 him. 
 
 a Ilarmcr. 
 
 a " Wliat our 
 hearts are most 
 set on often prove 
 fatal to us. Those 
 who think to 
 escape troubles 
 by cliangins; 
 tlieir place will 
 find them wher- 
 ever they go." — 
 J''iiusset. 
 
 "Even as a 
 mother o'er her 
 children bending 
 yearns with ma- 
 ternal love : her 
 fond embraces 
 and gentle kiss to 
 each in turn ex- 
 tending, one at 
 lier feet, one on 
 her knee she 
 places, and from 
 their eyes, and 
 voice, and speak- 
 ing faces, their 
 varying wants 
 and wishes com- 
 prehending, to 
 one a look, to one 
 a word addresses, 
 even with her 
 frowns a 
 
 motlier's fond- 
 ne.ss blending: so 
 o'er us watches 
 Providence on 
 liigh. and hope to 
 Bonie and help to 
 others lends, and 
 yields alike to all 
 an ojion car, and 
 when she seems 
 her favours to 
 deny, slie for our 
 prayers alone the 
 boon suspends, 
 or, seeming to 
 deny, she gr.ints 
 the prayer." — 
 J-'ilkaJfC. 
 
 I Murder. 
 
 a " The Jews 
 going intoKgypt 
 for proteciiou, 
 
 ' as woll as accommodated to the temperature of the air there ; 
 which last circumstauce is, I presume, the reason they are in such 
 common use in these very hot countries. There must then be 
 many places used in the East for the making- bricks, where there 
 are no kilns at all ; and such a place, I apprehend, the word 
 Dialhi'ii signifies ; and it should seem to be the perpetual associa- 
 tion of a kiln and of the places where bricks are made witlvua 
 in the "West that has occasioned the word to be translated brick- 
 kiln. The interpretation I have g^iven best suits Jer. xliii. 9. 
 The smoke of the brick-kiln, in the neighbourhood of a royal 
 Egyptian palace would not have agreed very well with the 
 Eastern cleanliness and perfumes." 
 
 13—16. (13, 14) Egji-pt, seeking shelter there was the plan 
 generally favoured, see no war, as yet the battle had not been 
 carried into Egyi>t. (15) sojourn there, seeking the protection 
 of its king rather than the protection of God. (IG) overtake 
 you, ch. xliv. 14, IS." 
 
 Wild Arabs. — The deserts that lie between Egypt and Syria 
 are at this day terribly infested by the wild Arabs. " In travel- 
 ling along the sea-coast of Syria, and from Suez to Slouut Sinai,'' 
 says Dr. Shaw, " we were in little or no danger of being robbed 
 or insulted ; in the Holy Land, and upon the isthmus between 
 Egypt and the Red Sea, our conductors cannot be too numerous."' 
 He then goes on to inform us, that when he went from Ramah 
 to Jerusalem, though the pilgrims themselves were more than 
 six thousand, and were escorted by four bands of Turkish infantry, 
 exclusive of three or four hundred sjiahcrx (cavalry), yet were 
 they most barbarously insulted and beaten by the Arabs. This 
 may lead us, perhaps, to the true sense of the preceding words, 
 " And he shall array himself wdth the land of Egypt, as a 
 shepherd putteth on his garment." It signifies, that just as a 
 person appearing to be a shepherd, passed unmolested in common 
 by the wild Arabs ; so Nebuchadnezzar, by his subduing Egy]it, 
 shall induce the Arab tribes to suffer him to go out of that 
 country unmolested, the possession of Egypt being to him what 
 a shepherd's garment was to a single person : for though, upon 
 occasion, the Arabs are not afraid to aifront the most powerful 
 princes, it is not to be imagined that conquest and power have 
 no effect upon them. " They that dwell in the wilderness," says 
 the Psalmist, referring to these Arabs, "shall bow before him," 
 whom he has described immediately before, '" he having dominion 
 from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth," and 
 which he unquestionably supposes was the great inducement to 
 that submission. Thus the Arab that was charged with the care 
 of conducting Dr. Pococke to Jerusalem, after secretiug him for 
 some time in his tent, when he took him out into the fields, to 
 walk there, put on him his striped garment ; apparently for his 
 security, and that he might pass for an Arab. So D'Arvieux, 
 when he was sent by the consul of Sidon to the camp of the 
 grand emir, equipped himself for the greater security exactly 
 like an Arab, and accordingly passed unmolested and un- 
 questioned.* 
 
 17 — 19. (17) all the men, for a limitation of this denuncia. 
 tion, comp. ch. xliv. 14, 28. (IS) execration, cfc, ch. xxiv. 9. 
 (19) admonished, you, or testified against you." 
 
Cap. 2-lii. 20—22.1 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 159 
 
 The worst pvnishnteiif of sin is the n-rath to come. — The pirate 
 Gibbs, whose name was for \nany years a terror to commerce 
 with the West iBcIies and South America, was at last taken 
 captive, tried, condemned, and executed in the city of New York. 
 He acknowledged, before his death, that when he committed the 
 first murder, and plundered the first ship, his compunctions were 
 severe, conscience was on the rack, and made a hell within his 
 bosom. But after he had sailed for years under the black flag, 
 his conscience became so hardened and blunted that he could rob 
 a vessel and murder all its crew, and then lie down and sleep as 
 sweetly at night as an infant in its cradle. His remorse dimi- 
 nished as his crimes increased. So it is generally. If, therefore, 
 remorse in this life is Gods way of punishing crimes, the more 
 men sin the less He punishes them ! How absurd ! 
 
 20—22. (20) dissembled, see w. 3, 5, 6. (21, 22) not 
 obeyed, as you so faithfully promised, and even Bwore to do. 
 
 I^rrsent nr/e suitable to hijjioeri.ty. — There was an age of 
 chivalry, when no craven courted knighthood, for it involved 
 the hard blows, the dangerous wounds, the rough unhorsiugs, 
 and the ung-entle perils of the tournament ; nay, these were but 
 child's plaj^ : there were distant Eastern fields, where Paynim 
 warriors must be sLiin by valiant hands, and blood must flow in 
 rivers from the Red-cross knights. Then men who lacked valour 
 preferred their hawks and their jesters, and left heroes to court 
 death and glory on the battle-field. This genial time of peace 
 breeds carpet knights, M'ho flourish their untried weapons, and 
 bear* the insignia of valour, without incurring its inconvenient 
 toils. Many are crowding to the seats of the heroes, since prowess 
 and jiatience are no more required. The war is over, and every 
 man is willing to enlist. "When Home commenced her long 
 career of victory, it was no pleasant thing to be a soldier in the 
 Roman legions. The power which smote the nations like a rod 
 of iron abroad, v.'as a yoke of iron at home. There were long 
 forced marches, with hunger and cold and weariness ; heavy 
 armour was the usual load when the legionary marched at ease ; 
 but •' ease " was a word he seldom used. Rivers were forded ; 
 mountains were scaled ; barbarians were attacked ; proud nations 
 were assailed ; kingdoms were subdued. No toil too stern for 
 the scarred veteran, no odds too heavy, no onslaught too ferocious, 
 no arms too terrible. Scarcely were his wounds healed, ere he 
 was called to new fields ; his life was battle : his home the tent ; 
 his repast was plunder ; his bed the battle-field ; while the eagle's 
 bloody talons removed all need of sepulchre for his slaughtered 
 bod3^ But afterwards when Rome was mistress of the world, 
 and the Prictorian cohorts could sell the imperial purple to the 
 highest bidder, many would follow the legions to share their 
 spoils. It is not otherwise to-day. Into the tiiumphs of martyrs 
 and confessors few are unwilling to enter ; in a national respect 
 to religion, which is the result of their holiness, even iiiigodly 
 men are willing to share. They have gone before us with true 
 hearts valiant for truth, and false traitors are willing to divide 
 their spoils," 
 
 was in effect re- 
 fusing to subniifc 
 tliemsclves to tlie 
 king of Babylon, 
 to whom God 
 liad decreed the 
 povernment of 
 Judrea. and all 
 tlie neighbouring 
 CO u n tries."— 
 LowCik 
 
 V. 20. Dr. J.Orton, 
 i. £82; T. Gis- 
 borne, i. 173. 
 
 " Ottocar, King 
 of Boliemia, re- 
 fused to do hom- 
 age to Bodol- 
 phus I., till at 
 last, chastised 
 with war, he was 
 content to do 
 him homage pri- 
 vately in a tent ; 
 which tent wag 
 so contrived by 
 tlie emperor's 
 servants, that, 
 by drawing a 
 cord, all was 
 taken awaj', and 
 and so Ottocar 
 presented on his 
 icnees, doing his 
 homage, to the 
 view of three 
 armies then in 
 the field. Thus 
 God at last shall 
 uncase the closest 
 dissembler to the 
 sight of men, 
 angels, and 
 devils ; having 
 removed all veils 
 anil pretences of 
 religion and 
 piety." — Spencer, 
 
 A Christian with 
 Christ may be 
 safe and happy 
 in the stocks, is 
 the prison, or 
 even in the den 
 of hous. 
 
 a C. U. Spurgeon, 
 
160 
 
 JEREillAIT. 
 
 [Cap. xliij. 1—13 
 
 a Ps. six. 13. 
 
 " He wlio will 
 fight the ilovil at 
 his own weaiioii 
 must not wonder 
 i£ he finilnliiinan 
 over -match." — 
 SouOi. 
 
 Christ has prn- 
 mised all tliat 
 pertains to life, 
 and He is "the 
 •way " to it. 
 
 h Dr. Tliomas. 
 
 a Je. xlvi. 14 ; 
 Eze. XXX. 18. 
 
 They that are not 
 content with 
 their present con- 
 dition are like 
 little children 
 upon a hill ; and 
 they look a good 
 way off, and see 
 another hill, and 
 think, if they 
 ■were on the top 
 of that, then 
 they were able to 
 touch the clouds 
 with their fin- 
 gers ; but, when 
 they are on top 
 of that hill, alas ! 
 they are as far 
 from the clouds 
 as before. So it 
 is witli many 
 who think an- 
 other condition 
 ■woulil give them 
 happiness, but. 
 wdien the desired 
 position is at- 
 tained,find them- 
 selves as far from 
 contentment as 
 before. 
 6 Franklin. 
 
 a " Toss, the 
 palace of Phii- 
 raoh was being 
 built or repaired 
 at tins time ; 
 hence arose tlic 
 mortal and brick 
 kiln at the 
 entry. "—Faussel. 
 
 h "lie shall in- 
 Test the laud uf 
 
 CHAPTER TEE FORTY-THIRD. 
 
 1 — 4. (1, 2) Azariali, comp. cli. xlii. 1. proud, or pre- 
 sumptuous." self-willed men. '• Who refused to obey Almighty 
 God, when His commands crossed their inclinations. (3) setteth 
 thee on, Baruch was Jeremiah's friend, .and bclong-ed to the 
 party that was prepared to submit to Babylon. He belong-ed 
 therefore to the rival political party. (4) dwell . . Judah, 
 abide quietly under Chaldasan sway. 
 
 Artji/iiirnt ar/ninsf .linniiifj (v. -i). — I. That God denounces sia 
 with abhorrence. Three things show sin to be an abomination. 
 1. The misrepresenting- conduct of the sinner : 2. The universal 
 conscience of mankind ; 3. The history of the Divine conduct 
 towards our world. II. That God hates sin with intensity. 1. 
 For its deformitj' ; 2. For its confusion : 3. For its misery. III. 
 God prohibits sin with earnestness. 1. Hence those who sin war 
 against their ov/n highest interest ; 2. Against the well-being of 
 the creation ; 3. Against God.* 
 
 5—7. (.5) remnant, ch. xl. 11, 12. (6) men, etc., comp. 
 xli. 16. (7) Tahpanhes, ch. ii. l(i, in the northern frontier of 
 Egypt," which was nearest to Palestine. 
 
 IJi.scnntciit cured. — All human situations have their incon- 
 veniences. We feel those that we find in the present ; and we 
 neither feel nor see those that exist in another. Hence we often 
 make troublesome changes without amendment, and frequently 
 for the worse. In my youth I was a passenger in a little sloop 
 descending the river Delaware. There being no wind, we were 
 obliged, when the tide was spent, to cast anchor and wait for the 
 next. The heat of the sun on the vessel was excessive — the 
 company strangers to me. and not very agreeable. Near the 
 river side I saw what I took to be a pleasant green meadow, in 
 the middle of which was a large shady tree, where, it struck my 
 fancy. I could sit and read — having a book in mj' pocket — and 
 pass the time agreebly until the tide turned. I therefore pre- 
 vailed with the captain to put me ashore. Being landed I found 
 the greatest part of my meadow was really a marsh ; in crossing' 
 which, to come to my tree, I was up to my knees in mire ; and I 
 had not placed myself under its shade five minutes before 
 musquitoes in swarms found me out, attacked my legs, hands, 
 and face, and made my reading and my rest impossible ; so that 
 I returned to the beaoh, and called for the boat to come and take 
 me on board again, where I was obliged to bear the heat I had 
 strove to quit, and also the laugh of the company. Similar cases 
 in the affairs of life have since frequently fallen under my 
 observation.* 
 
 8 — 13. (S, 9) great stones, as largo as he could carry, 
 hide . . clay, or plaster them over, buildiug a sort of dais for 
 a king, entry, ete., as Eastern palace grounds were very 
 extensive, this may have been at some distance from the ]ialace 
 itself." (10) my servant, ch. xxv. I». set . . hid, a symbolical 
 declaration that he should surely couquerthe countiy. pavilion, 
 or the canopy of his throne. (11) death to death, ch. xv. 2 ; 
 Zee. xi. !). (12) fire, the destructive agent used by conquerors, 
 array himself,* a strong fig. to indicate absolute possession of 
 
Cap. xliv, 1—6.] 
 
 JEREMIAB. 
 
 161 
 
 the land. (13) images, statues. Beth-shemesla, i.e. "the 
 house of the Sun," or Heliopolis, or On. 
 
 Claij. — 'i'he words apjjear to allude to embedding stones in clay 
 and baking them, rendering it almost impossible to recover 
 them ; and the lesson conveyed is, that it is in vain to seek 
 safety by disobeying God's commands. His wrath will follow 
 sinners into all their false refuges, and destroy them and their 
 hiding-places together. Clay v/as used at a very early period for 
 making bricks. The bricks of which the tower of Babel was 
 built were of clay, baked by fu-e. Gen. xi. 3 ; but those after- 
 wards made by the Israelites, under their cruel taskmasters, 
 were dried in the sun, Exod. v. 13. The more common materials, 
 however, were, and still are, unburned brirJis. Of these the 
 pyramids of Egypt were constructed. They are composed of 
 '• clay, mud, and straw, slightly blended and kneaded together, and 
 afterwards baked in the sun. The straw which keeps these bricks 
 together, and still jireserves its original colour, seems to be a proof 
 that these bricks were never burned or made in kilns.' There are 
 many passages of Scripture explained by remembering that the 
 reference is to unburned bricks, as Ezek. xiii. 11 ; Zech. ix. 3 : 
 Isa. XXX. 13, etc. The pigeon-houses of Egypt were constructed 
 of crude bricks, pottery, and mud, and placed on the roofs of the 
 huts ; to this the Psalmist may allude, Psa. Ixvii. 13. The 
 watcrpots at Cana (John ii. 6) were probably of this material. 
 Mr. Wilson says, while he was sitting by the well of Cana, six 
 females, each carrying a waterpot on her head, came to the well 
 to get water. ''These vessels are formed of clay, hardened by 
 the heat of the sun, of globular shape, and large at the mouth, 
 not unlike the bottles commonly called carboj's used in our 
 countTy for holding vitriol and other acids." He adds that these 
 vessels hold about the same quantity as those spoken of by the ' 
 Evangelist — three firkin.'^, or about twelve gallons each. Tempta- 
 tions, diffieulties, and afflictions are likened to miry clay, Psa. xl. 
 2. The Slough of Despond, of which Bunyan, in his Pilgrlm'.t 
 Prof/rr.fx. speaks, was a, pit of miry clay. 'J he man who maketh 
 riches his trust, or acquires them unjustly, is likened to a man 
 who loadeth himself with thick clay — it will avail him nothing, 
 but will be a trouble to him. Hab. ii. G. The doors of the granary 
 of Joseph in Egypt are kept carefully sealed, but not with wax. 
 The inspectors put their seal upon a handful of clay, with which 
 they cover the lock of the door. Job xxxviii. 14. Official letters 
 were sealed Avith mud or clay, and the patriarch may allude to 
 this custom. Some such seals are to be seen in the British 
 Museum. 
 
 CHAPTER THE FOnTY-FOURTH. 
 
 1 — 6. (1) dwell, better, unjmirn. These Jews expected soon 
 to reiurn to Judrea. Migdol, a city on the eastern frontier 
 of Etryjrt," towards the Ptcd Sea. Talipanhes, ch. ii. 10. 
 Noph, Blemphis, now Cairo. Patliros,* or Upper Egypt. (2) 
 seen, are eye-witnesses of the fulfilment of My threatened 
 judLnnents. (3) went to burn, " implying perverse assiduity." 
 serv3 other gods, cunq). De. xiii. <j, xxxii. 17. (4) sent . . 
 prophets, ch. vii. 13, xxv. 4. (.5) inclined their ear, to 
 listen with a view to obedience. (6; poured forth, ch. xiii. 18. 
 
 VOL. IX. O.T. L 
 
 Eg.ypt, and take 
 eutii-e possession 
 of it, just iis a 
 slie]3lierd's gar- 
 nieut covers liia 
 body all over. 
 So calamities, 
 when they sur- 
 round men oa 
 every side, are 
 con^.pared to a 
 garment. Ps. 
 ci.'c. 19. — Loulh. 
 
 "With as great 
 ease as a shep- 
 herd throws his 
 cloak round him 
 when going forth 
 to watch his 
 flock by night in 
 the open field, so 
 easily sliall the 
 king of Babylon 
 take possession 
 of all the wealth 
 and glory of 
 Eg3T5t.and throw 
 it round him, and 
 depart without 
 any one daring 
 to resist his pro- 
 gTess."-Sp/.: Com. 
 •' The truest de- 
 finition of evil is 
 that which repre- 
 sents it as some- 
 thing contrary to 
 nature ; evil is 
 evil, because it is 
 unnatural: a vine 
 which should 
 bear olive ber- 
 ries, an e}'e to 
 which blue seems 
 yellow, would be 
 diseased ; an un- 
 natural mother ; 
 an unnatural 
 son; an u n- 
 natural act, are 
 the strongest 
 terms of con- 
 demnation." — I". 
 ir. livVcrison. 
 
 a Ey. xiv. 2; No. 
 x.Nxiii. 7. 
 b Is. xi. 11 ; comp. 
 Gp. X. 14. 
 '■ lu noble consis- 
 tonc}' with that 
 unbendint^detcr- 
 niinaticn to do 
 his duty wliicU 
 had marked Jere- 
 miah's whole life, 
 and undeterred 
 
162 
 
 JEREMIAn. 
 
 [Cap. xliv. 7-15. 
 
 by tlia recent | 
 ■violence of the 
 Jews, will) liiul S 
 dr.a.'T.sjed hiiniuco | 
 K.L'ypt against i 
 liis will, we liud I 
 liim boldly re- j 
 bilking the ten- 
 deneios to idol- 
 atry, which seem 
 to have grown 
 only tlio stronger 
 in tlieir tribula- 
 tiun." — ^I'k. Cum, 
 
 C G. Brocks. 
 
 a Comp. Nu. xvi. 
 38 ; I'r viii. 3(i ; 
 Je. vii. 19. 
 
 " God designed 
 that this rem- 
 nant should have 
 kept possession in 
 Judaea, when the 
 rest of their 
 brethren were 
 carried away 
 captive. But by 
 their going into 
 Egypt, and de- 
 filing themselves 
 vith the idol- 
 atries of that 
 nation, they have 
 provoked God to 
 make an utter 
 destruction of 
 them."' — Lmcth. 
 
 h 1 Ki. xi. 1-8, 
 XV. 13, xvi. 31. 
 
 e Job xxii. 9 ; Is. 
 xix. 10. 
 
 " Oh, how will 
 crime eiigemler 
 crime I throw 
 guilt upon the 
 BOul, and, like a 
 stone cast on the 
 troubled waters 
 of a lake, 'twill 
 form in circles, 
 round succeeding 
 round, each wider 
 than the first." — 
 Colman. 
 
 d Broois. 
 
 a "The totality 
 here spoken i f 
 must be confined 
 to those who had 
 
 The ahomlnahlc thing (v. 4). — I. Sin is an abominable thing, if 
 we con.sidcr it — 1. In reference to God : 2. lu reference to the 
 moral law ; 3. In reference to its fatal influence on man. II. 
 Sin i.s an abominable thing which God hates. 1. lie has shown 
 it in the expulsion of the rebel angels from lieaven ; 2. In the 
 exile of our first parents from Eden ; H. In the iirevalence of 
 disease and death among men : 4. In a long series of recorded 
 judgments ; 5. In the cross of Christ. III. Sin is an abominable 
 thing which God hates, and which He therefore exhorts and. 
 entreats us not to commit. 1. By the Bible ; 2. By conscience ; 
 .3. By affliction." 
 
 7 — 10. (7) to cut off, i.e. to certainly bring on yourselves 
 the overwhelming judgments of the God whom you offend." 
 (8) begone, of your own accord, and in your own wilfulness. 
 ('.)) their wives, it seems, from the history, that the Jewish 
 queens were great promoters of idolatry.' land Oi Judah., 
 which was sacred to Jehovah. (10) humbled, or contrite." 
 
 Kcijlrct of past n-arnuujs (rv. 1), 10). — ••Have ye forgotten," etc. 
 I. It was tlieir duty to recollect the lesr^ons taught by the past, 
 IT. They were not unwilling to recall the im?t glories of Israel, 
 III. They ought to have remembered the connection between 
 former sins and their punishment (see margin), in the light of 
 God's unchanging justice. IV. Such remembering of the past, 
 duly improved, had saved from present and future misery. 
 Apply : — Present times. 
 
 Memory: a irarnitig voice. — A gracious soul remembers that 
 man was stoned to death for gathering sticks on the Sabbath-dny. 
 He remembers how Saul lost two kingdoms at once — his own 
 kingdom and that of heaven — for sjiaring Agag and the fat of 
 the cattle. He remembers how the unprofitable servant, for the 
 non-improvement of his talent, was cast into outer darkness. 
 He remembers how Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead 
 suddenly for telling a lie. He remembers how Lofs wife, for a 
 look of curiosity, was turned into a pillar of salt. He remembers 
 how Adam was cast out of Paradise for eating forVjidden fruit, 
 and the angels cast out of Heaven for not keeping their standing. 
 He remembers that Jacob smarted for his lying to his dying day. 
 He remembers how God followed him with sorrow upon sorrow, 
 and breach upon breach, filling up his days with grief and 
 trouble. He remembers how Moses was shut out of the Holy 
 Land, because he spake unadvisedly with his lips. He re- 
 members the young prophet who was slain by a lion, for eating 
 a little bread, and drinking a little water, contrary to the 
 command of God, though he was drawn thereunto by an old 
 prophet, under a pretence of a revelation from heaven. He 
 remembers how Zach arias was stricken dumb, because he 
 believed not the report of the angel Gabriel. He remembers 
 how Uzza was stricken dead for supporting the ark. wlien it 
 was in danger of falling; nor can he forg-ct the fifty thousand 
 men of Bethshemesh, who were slain for looking into the ark ; 
 and the remembrance of these things stirs up his hatred and 
 indignation against the least sins.'* 
 
 11—15. (11) set .. evil, Am. ix. 4. all Judah, all the 
 
 idolaters : r. 28 intimates that soinn of this remnant did return 
 from Egypt." (^12) remnant of Judah, those are distinctly 
 
Cap. xliv. 16-23 ] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 163 
 
 marked out who had sought shelter in Egypt in oppcsitiou to the 
 commands of the Prophet. (13) punish, conq). eh. xlii. ];") — 18. 
 (It; none . . escape, i.e. none but those mentioned in v. 28. 
 (15) liad. burned, better, '• did burn." 
 
 Tliffniicn (if God {v. 11). — I. The smile of God. the token of 
 His favour, brightens all nature and life, "■ Thy favour is life," 
 etc. II. The frown of God, the token of His displeasure, casts 
 a shadow on the heart and life. A]>ply — 1. To those who enjoy 
 God s smile, live in it, rellect it ; 2. To those who have forfeited 
 it, seek reconciliation through Christ. 
 
 1 /le secret of luip])invgx. — Some time since I took up a little 
 work, purporting to be the lives of sundry characters, as related 
 by themselves. Two of these characters agreed in saying that 
 they were never happy until they ceased striving to be great 
 men. The remark struck me, as you know the most simple 
 remark will, when God pleases. It occurred to me at once, that 
 most of my sorrows and sufEerings were occasioned by my 
 unwillingness to be the nothing that I am, and by a constant 
 striving to be something. I saw that if I would but cease 
 struggling, and be content to be anything or nothing, as God 
 pleases, I might be happy.* 
 
 16—19. (16, 17) goeth . . mouth, referring to certain rows 
 wh. they had made." queen of heaven, ch. vii. IS, xix. 13. 
 *' To the moon and the rest of the host of heaven." had. "we 
 plenty, '• fools attribute their seeming prosperity to God's con- 
 nivance at their sin.'* (IS) wanted all, been starving and 
 suffering. (19) cakes, ch. vii. 18. without our men, or 
 husbands. The thing was done with their full approval;"^ 
 therefore our vow must stand. 
 
 'Ilie impiety of imgndJij men (rr. 16, 17). — I. The impiety of that 
 people. 1. Their voluntary engagements ; 2. Their deliberate 
 violation of them ; 3. Their self-vindicating effrontery. II. The 
 resemblance that exists between them and us. Look at — 1. The 
 profane sinner; 2. The self-righteous formalist; 3. The hypo- 
 critical professor. III. The certain issue of such conduct. 1. 
 How did it fare with them ? 2. How will it fare with you ? 
 Address — 1. Those who disregard our testimony ; 2. Those who 
 tremble at the word of God."* 
 
 The new vwnn. — When the new moon is first seen, the people 
 present their hands in the same form of adoration, and take off 
 the turban, as they do to other gods. If a person have a 
 favourite son or wife, or airy friend with whom he thinks 
 himself fortunate, he will call for one of them on that night, 
 and, after looking at the new moon, will steadfastly look at the 
 face of the individual. But if there be no person of that descrip- 
 tion present, he will look at his white cloth, or a piece of gold.* 
 
 20 — 23. (20) the women, who evidently had taken a 
 prominent position in arranging- the answer to be given to the 
 Prophet. (21) remember them, i.e. the various idolatrous acts. 
 (22) no longer bear, even Divine patience being outworn by 
 long-continired wilfulness and disobetlience." (23) sinned . . 
 Lord, not merely in idolatrous acts, but in the cherished spirit 
 of disobedient wilfulness.* 
 
 The ciivse of natiniuii ndrer.tify (v. 23). — I. Indicate some form 
 and features of national adversity. II. Point out some of the 
 L2 
 
 c o n t uiiiaciously 
 refuscil to li.sten 
 to the I'ropliet 
 and, after tliejr' 
 had gduetldtlier, 
 hvid coiifonned to 
 the id<ilatnes of 
 the couutr.v. The 
 otliers may liavo 
 removed tliitlier 
 under different 
 circumstances." 
 — Jlendmson, 
 
 b Payson. 
 
 a Oomp. Nu. xxx. 
 12; De. xxiii. 23; 
 Ju. xi. 36. 
 '• They appeal to 
 their rasli and 
 impious vow as 
 an obligation of 
 con.s eience." — 
 Wiirdswnrth. 
 b " It is the curse 
 of inijiiety not to 
 perceive theliand 
 of God in calami- 
 ties." — Fidtssi'l. 
 " They argue, 
 from the lalla- 
 cious topic of 
 worldly pro?pe- 
 rity, that then 
 they must needs 
 have been in the 
 right." — Loulh. 
 " So perversely 
 did they miscon- 
 strue providence, 
 thoiigli God, by 
 His prophets, had 
 so often ex- 
 plained it to 
 them, and the 
 tiling itself 
 spoke the direct 
 contrary." — Mat, 
 Henry. 
 
 c Ku. XXX. 7, 8. 
 d C. kimeun,M.A. 
 e lioberls. 
 
 a "Wlien chao 
 tisement comes, 
 men nuist not be 
 content with ex- 
 amining the im- 
 mediate past, but 
 nnist make a 
 more searching 
 inc)uirj'. and they 
 will then find 
 that 6iu louf 
 
164 
 
 JE RE MI An. 
 
 [Cap. xliv. 24-28. 
 
 persisted in has 
 been that whicli 
 the Divine justice 
 could no longer 
 bear." — Spk. Cum. 
 
 6 La. i. 8 ; Da. ix. 
 11, 12. 
 
 "There arc mine- 
 rals called liydro- 
 phanouA, which 
 are not trans- 
 parent till they 
 are immersed in 
 water, when they 
 become so ; as 
 the liydrophane, 
 a variety' of oixil. 
 So it is with 
 many a Chris- 
 tian. Till tlie 
 floods of adver- 
 sity have been 
 poured over him, 
 his character ap- 
 pears murred and 
 clouded by self- 
 ish n e ss and 
 ■worldly iutiu- 
 ences. But trials 
 clear away the 
 obscurity, and 
 give ilistinctnoss 
 and beauty to his 
 p i e t y." — Pro/. 
 HUchcock. 
 
 a " The Jews, 
 heretofore, in the 
 midst of all their 
 idolatry, had re- 
 tained the form 
 of appeal to the 
 name of God, 
 and the law, the 
 distinctive glory 
 of their nation. 
 God will allow 
 tliis nu more." — 
 
 Vows are easily 
 made, but more 
 easily bro'.;en. A 
 sea captain, wliilo 
 iil)on a single 
 plank in tlie wide 
 ocean, vowed to 
 (iovote his life to 
 God if he should 
 be saved, but for- 
 got his vow as 
 euoa as Lis feet 
 
 mistakes that are made in tracing their causes. III. Show that 
 these mistaken ari.<e from the pride of heart which declines the 
 admission of human puilt. IV. Consider the Divine dechiratiou 
 in the words, " therefore," etc. 
 
 Adn'T-'<ilji : itn hiiforij. — Scripture history (which has a di- 
 dactic intent throuj^hnut) is one continuous detail of misfortune 
 and success, trouble and cor?solation : — the narrative, for instance, 
 of the pilgrimage of the Israelites, universally acknowledged to be 
 typical of the way of regeneration. In this, every one is beset 
 by hindrances and temptations, which, though sorely oppressive 
 while they last, nevertheless give place in turn to triumph. 
 The hunger and thirst, and bitter streams, all show what must 
 be anticipated, but no less so the supply of food, and the sweeten- 
 ing of the v^aters. It is a happy thing for a man to feel 
 famished, and that the waters are bitter, for it is the sign of 
 an amending uatiu'e, and leads him to cry to God for help. If 
 we are not often so imi:)elkd. it is a proof that we are but little 
 advanced upon our journey. There can be no virttie or gladness 
 without trial and suffering in the first place. There is no buying 
 corn of Joseph till there has been a famine in the land : nor can 
 any man know what are the green pastures and the still waters, 
 till he has bsen in the valley of the shadow of death. God 
 cannot lead him thither till he has felt how weak he is in 
 himself. Until this experience shall have been gone through, 
 they are a mere mirage of the imagination. " It must needs be 
 that the Son of Man suffer before He enter into His glory." In 
 its aptitude for grievances, temptations, and pei'plexities, con- 
 joined with its free-will, the spirit of man is constituted in the 
 very be.st manner possiV)le for urging him on towards hraven. 
 Though they are painful to him, Ihey are privileges. That waa 
 a deej) insight into the economy of Provi'dence which saw that 
 
 " Sweet are the uses of adversity." 
 Had Flavins Bcethius never been imprisoned by Theodoric, he 
 had never written his Conxvlntions of Fhiloso2)hij. To a prison, 
 also, we owe i-'Ugrim's Progress.' 
 
 24—28. (24, 25) fulfilled . . land, " when Jer. said these 
 words he pointed to their hands, in which they were carrying 
 the crescent-sliaped cakes wh. they had vowed to the goddess." 
 surely accomplisli, better read as an ironical phrase — '• accom- 
 plish then four words, and see what will come of it." ( 2G) I 
 have sworn," comp. God s solemn vow with theirs. God re- 
 fuses to recognise any longer His covenant relation to this rem- 
 nant. (27)\vatcll, etc., ch. i. 10; Eze. vii. G. (28) small 
 numlDer, v. 14. know, by better and desolating experiences. 
 
 Man's iviirds and God's (r. 28). — I. The words of man betray 
 often the sin of the heart and the vanity of the mind. II. The 
 words of God manifest His integrity, holiness, power and love. 
 I^I. In regard to life and salvation, time and eterni';^-. who.se 
 shall stand ? IV. AYhose word shall stand the test of the hour of 
 repentance or death ? 
 
 Iniitlintin: hearers. — It is said of Demosthenes that, speaking 
 to the Athenians on a very .serious Fubject. aiul fii'ding llem to 
 be inattentive, he paused, and told Ihem that he had something 
 of sjiecial importance to relate, which he was anxious that they 
 should all heajT, Silence being thus obtained, and evez^ eye 
 
Cap.xlv, 1— 5.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 165 
 
 fixed upon him, he said that two men. having- barg-aiued for the 
 hire ot an ass. were travelling trom A.thens to Megara on a very 
 hot day, and both of them striving to enjoy the shadow of the ass. 
 One of thom said that he hired the ass and the shadow too ; the 
 other said that he hired the ass only and not the shadow. 
 Having made this grave statement, Demosthenes retired ; wh'-n 
 the people pressed him with great eagerness to return and finish 
 his tale. " ye Athenians,"' said he, " will ye attend to me when 
 speaking about the shadow of an ass ; and will ye not attend to 
 me when I address you on the most important affairs ? " This 
 reproof does not apply exclusively to the "men of Athens.' 
 English people are deeply concerned in it ; and the ministers of 
 Christ, who are accustomed to discourse upon subjects immensely 
 more important than any that called forth the eloquence of the 
 Athenian orator, have reason to urge the same comi)laint. Many 
 persons have an ear for vanity, but none for the truth : they 
 will listen to follj^ but not to the words of wisdom. To the 
 things of this world they will pay a fixed attention, but to Christ 
 and His salvation they are criminally indifferent.* 
 
 29, 30. (29) sign, a calamity wh. you shall trifncsa shall be 
 to you the assurance of calamities wh. you shall svjf'cr. (30) 
 Pharaoh-hophra," or Apries, who succeeded Piammis, the 
 successor of Pharaoh-Xecho. who was beaten by Nebuchadnezzar 
 at Carcheniish. The calamity of Hophra came about six or seven 
 j^ears after Jer."s prophecy.'' He was kept prisoner in his palace 
 at Sai's for more than ten y-ars, and died B.C. 570. He was 
 intensely hated by the Egyptians. 
 
 Ilisforicnl gif/ns (r. 2'.*).— I. The sign mentioned in the text 
 a reminder of the retributive justice of God. II. The events of 
 history to be interpreted in the light of Divine justice and love. 
 III. Some of them, as destruction of Armada, invention of 
 printing, discovery of America, pre-eminently significant. 
 
 CII AFTER TEE FOIITY-FIFTIL 
 
 1 — 5. (1) when . . written, arp. ch. xxxvi., which this should 
 follow. (2. 3) grief . . sorrow, Baruch grieved for the nation's 
 sins, and sorrowed for the punishments such sins must surely 
 involve. Possibly also Baruch had to bear personal troubles in 
 that anxious tinie. (4) break down, comp. ch. i. 10. (5) 
 great things, matters of personal benefit. " Dost thou aspire 
 to honour and dignity in a time of common calamity V" for a 
 prey, ch. xxxix. 18. 
 
 Amhifioji {r. 5). — I. The evil denounced. It may be viewed 
 under three aspects. 1. There are some who pursue worldly 
 objects that are far above them : 2. There aie some who pursue 
 with undue eagerness worldly objects they might reasonably hope 
 to attain ; 3. There are some who pursue all classes of worldly 
 objects in a selfish spirit. II. The reasons why it is denounced. 
 1. Because it attaches excessive value to worldly objects ; 2. 
 Because it misapprehends the comparative advantages of the 
 different ranks in the social scale ; 3. Because i% overlooks the 
 duties whi';h arise out of the relations we sustain to our race and 
 o\ir Maker ; i. Because it ignores aJ.1 the facts, and objects, and 
 
 were on the solid 
 earth. Jtrs, Jud- 
 son, ill tlie begin- 
 ning of lier re- 
 ligious life, t\vice 
 forgot her vows ; 
 falling oasilv into 
 the old liaiiit of 
 dancing when in 
 the society of 
 dancing people. 
 
 6 Thornton. 
 
 a " The prophecy 
 ^vas fulfilled by 
 the aniserable 
 death of Apries, 
 who for a time 
 flourished in 
 great prosperity, 
 and arrogantly 
 presumed upon 
 Ins own power, 
 and imjnously 
 Taunted that no 
 god could over- 
 throw it. but was 
 defeated by A ma- 
 sis, wlio had re- 
 belled against 
 him, and wa3 
 strangled by his 
 own subjects."— 
 J/irodnliis. 
 b Bumuquet. 
 
 a " Baruch, who 
 was of a nobl9 
 liouse in Jeru- 
 salem, and whose 
 brother Seraiah 
 was advanced to 
 high place in the 
 court of Judah, 
 felt, it seems, 
 some disappoint- 
 irent in seeing 
 that the avenues 
 to the promotion 
 and preferment 
 of whicli lie had 
 a reasonable ex- 
 pectation, and to 
 wdiich he aspired, 
 were closed by 
 his call to the 
 service of God." 
 — Wii}'(lsworf/i. 
 rv. 2—5. /;/•. T. 
 Jartion, xi. 79. 
 
 V, 5. y. Jlometu 
 
166 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xlvi. 1—8; 
 
 663; r. Maninn, 
 V. 1022; Jl. Wil- 
 kinson, i. 10 ; 
 Jltibnk. Crabb, 
 271 ; Dr. G. 
 F'i!/i,r(iin,n.235; 
 Dr. V. Knox, vi. 
 291 ; Dr. E. Pay- 
 ton, iii. 5U3. 
 
 h G. Brooks. 
 
 C Whilecross. 
 
 n 2 Chr. XXXV. 20. 
 
 Prnf. Raiolinson 
 objects to this 
 identiflcation of 
 C.archemish, and 
 places it higlier 
 ■up the river, in a 
 position wliich 
 made it the key 
 of Sj'ria. 
 h Fr. fourhir ; 
 It. forbire; Ger. 
 /urban, to 
 cleanse. 
 
 c " Footmen in 
 the time of Ho- 
 linshed were 
 called brigrins ; 
 hrUinIa was an 
 Italian division 
 of an army." — 
 Woolrych. 
 "This term 
 translates the 
 Hebrew word 
 iiruon, a coat of 
 mail. Brigandine 
 is defined by 
 Wedgwood and 
 Kiohardsou as a 
 kind of scale 
 armour, made of 
 m a n y-j o i nt e d 
 plates, V e r .V 
 pliant and, easy 
 for the body, so 
 called from being 
 used by the light- 
 arm ed foot 
 soldiers known as 
 brigands."' — Vtn- 
 a'l's. 
 d J'uxlon. 
 a " The moment 
 seized by the 
 Prophet is that 
 when the Kg. 
 • host first feels 
 that tlio battle is 
 lost, and, over- 
 borne by the 
 enemy, loses 
 heart, and in 
 do.spair, yet not 
 witliont a strug- 
 gle, givi's way." 
 
 interests, and blessings of the spiritual world. Address — 1. 
 Worldling's ; 2. Christians.* 
 
 Ainbition. — The deadness of John, Duke of Saxony, to the 
 world was very remarkable. When he was informed of the re- 
 bellion of the ascetics, which led to so afflictive a war in Germany, 
 he said, "If it be the will of God that I should continue a i)rince, 
 as I have hitherto been, His will be done ; but if otherwise, I 
 can descend to a lower station ; fewer horses and a humbler 
 equipag-e will serve me as well."" 
 
 Cn AFTER THE FORTY-SIXTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) G-entiles, or the nations. (2) against Egypt, 
 or relating^ to Egypt. Carcliemisll, prob. Circr.'^iuiii, tho 
 fortress at the confluence of the Chaljoras and the Euphrates. 
 Reference is to a second battle at this place ; in the first Josiah 
 had been killed.'* (."S) order, or get in order, buckler, a 
 small round shield, carried by light-ai'med troops, shield, a 
 heavier defence, covering the whole body. (4) harness, or 
 mount, furbish,' rub or scour to brightness, brigandines,' 
 coats of mail. 
 
 The battle cry (v. .3). — I. There are wars of conquest, result- 
 ing from unrighteous ambition, pride, etc. 11. There ai'e wars 
 of defence, as when men fight for home and liberty, etc. — as 
 Switzerland, etc. III. There are wars of Divine retribution, as 
 when God moves the hearts of men to punish sin and oppression. 
 IV. In the midst of all war it is the believer's privilege to livo 
 at peace with God. V. Learn the folly of fighting against God. 
 '• Who hath fought against Gofl and prospered .' ' 
 
 Brigandine. — A piece of defensive armour ui-ed in early times 
 was the breastplate or corslet : with this Goliath was accoutred ; 
 but in our version the original term is rendered a coat of mail ; 
 and in the inspired account of the Jewish armour it is translated 
 habergeon. It was between the joints of this harness (for so we 
 render it in that passage) that Ahab received his mortal wound 
 by an arrow shot at a venture. To this species of armour the 
 Prophet Isaiah alludes, where the same Hebrew word is used as 
 in the preceding texts, but is here rendered breastplate ; and in 
 the prophecies of Jeremiah it is translated brigandine. From 
 the use of these various terms, in translating the Hebrew terra 
 shirion, it seems to have covered both the l>ack and breast of the 
 warrior, but was probably intended chiefl.v for the defence of 
 the latter, and, by consequence, took its name from that cir- 
 cumstance.'' 
 
 5 — 8. (5) wherefore, etc., a sudden exclamation of astonish- 
 ment." So well equipped an army was uoverthtless driven back 
 in dismay, look not back, make no attempt to halt in their 
 flight, fear, or panic, wh. utterly disorganises an army. (G) 
 I let not, better rend., the swift shall not successfully fiee^ 
 I north, Euphrates was northward in relalion to Judah. (7j 
 I as a flood, as their own Xile. swelling with flood, writers . , 
 rivers, or. •' as the streains roll on their waters :" or 'his waters 
 1 toss to and fro as tho rivers.'* (8) the city, better, cities io 
 [general, the cxpitssion of the world-couiiucriag power. 
 
Cap. y-lvi. 9—17.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 1G7 
 
 Adjuncts ofn-ixr. — 
 
 In thy faint slumbers, I by thee have watcii'd, 
 And heard thee murmur tales of ii'on wars ; 
 Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed ; 
 Cry, Courage ! to the field 1 and thou hast talk'd 
 Of sallies and retii'es ; of trenches, tents, 
 Of pallisadoes, frontiers, parapets ; 
 Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin ; 
 Of prisoners' ransom, and of soldiers slain, 
 And all the currents of a heady fight.'' 
 
 9—12. (9) Ethiopians, Heb. Cvsh. Libyans, Heb. Put. 
 shield, so forming the heavy-armed detachments, bow, indi- 
 cating that they were the light-armed troops. (10) this, the 
 day of Egypt's defeat* sword, etc., ch. ii. 30. (11) virgin, 
 Egypt is so called bee. she had never been brought under the 
 power of any foreign monarch, not be cured,* the overthrow 
 would be final, the loss could never be retrieved. Egjqit would 
 never recover its former strength. (12) the land, i.e. the earth, 
 mighty . . mighty, in the wild confusion the warriors trampled 
 down each other. 
 
 The halm of Gllcad, or halsam of Mecca. — The genuine balsam 
 of Mecca {Amyris ojiobalmnnim) is both scarce and expensive. 
 The kings of Judah cultivated this shrub, biit ouly to a very- 
 small extent. It will be interesting to learn that a bottle of this 
 extraordinary balsam is kept at the botanical garden at Paris, as 
 an object of the rarest and highest value. What is generally 
 sold by the name of balsam of Mecca is merely the oil, obtained 
 by boiling, from the seeds, stones, and branches of the tree. The 
 balm itself is too rare to be purchased in the ordinnry way. 
 Josephus informs us that the queen of Sheba brought it first to 
 Juda3a, where balsam, myrrh, and incense, in the days of old, were 
 to be seen used by the populace in abundance almost daily. This 
 is one of the many things which we " mourn for" in "the days 
 gone by."' The reason of its excessive scarcity is sujiposed to be 
 owing to the destruction of Jerusalem. The Jews, actuated by 
 de.*pair and hatred, destroyed all the balsam plants. There are 
 none now to be found in Palestine. Only one plantation is now 
 kuo^Ti to furnish it, and that is in Arabia Petrasa. The whole 
 plantation only yields about three pounds annually, and it is 
 monopolised by the Grand Seignior. This, of course, we can 
 scarcely refrain from noticing without an expression of regret.'' 
 
 13 — 17. (13) the word, or prophetic message, how, i.e. 
 declaring how. (1-1) declare, etc., ch. iv. 5. Migdol, etc.. 
 ch. xliv. 1. stand fast, take your places in your ranks." 
 sword shall devour, or hath devoured : alluding to the 
 previous conquests of Nebuchadnezzar. (1.")) thy valiant 
 men, or, ''thy mighty one." The Sr})t. understauds the refer- 
 ence to be to A])is, the Bull, the idol of Egypt.* (10) one . . 
 another, as v. 12. to oiir own people, this would be the cry 
 of the liired troop.^ in the Egyptian army, such as are mentioned 
 in V. 9. (17) a noise, or empty sound ; or ruin, i.e. is ruined. 
 
 BaWc-field. after a lap.fc of time. — 
 
 Then after length of time, the labouring swains, 
 Who tu{n the turfs of those unhappy plains, 
 
 b " The rise of 
 theisile is gentle, 
 but at the uiouth 
 it, vnilike most 
 rivers, is much 
 agitated, owing 
 to the sand banks 
 impeding its 
 course, and so it 
 ruslies into tlia 
 sea like a cata> 
 ract." — Fausset. 
 c aimkespeare, 
 
 a For " day of the 
 Lord " see Is. 
 xiii. 6 ; Joel i. 15, 
 ii. 1 ; Am. v. 18 ; 
 Zep. i. 14, 15. 
 h Je. XXX. 13 ; 
 Eze. XXX. 21. 
 " I'hysicians in 
 Entrland would 
 he perfectly as- 
 tonibhed at the 
 numerous kinds 
 of medicine wh. 
 are administered 
 to a patient. The 
 people them- 
 selves are unwill- 
 ing to take one 
 kind for long 
 together, and I 
 liave known a 
 sick woman swal- 
 low ten difl'ercnt 
 sorts in one day. 
 Sliould a patient, 
 when about to 
 take liis medi- 
 cine, scatter or 
 spill the least 
 q u a n t i t y, no- 
 thing will induce 
 liim to take the 
 rest; it is a bad 
 omen ; he nmst 
 have tlie nostrum 
 change d." — 
 Rvbcrl.t. 
 
 c J'icsse's Art of 
 Vtrjumeiij. 
 
 a " Some take 
 this as an iron- 
 ical address to 
 Egypt, and a 
 s u m m o n s to 
 them to stand 
 upon their de- 
 fence." — IJender- 
 
 b ■' Apis, the hull- 
 shaped Egypiian 
 idol, worsiiijiped 
 at Xoph. or Mem- 
 phis. The con- 
 trast thus is 
 between the pal- 
 pable imiiotence 
 of the idol, and 
 
 ; 
 
168 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xlvi. 18-28. 
 
 the might attri- 
 b'.ito'l to it by 
 its v.-orsliippers." 
 
 — /•'(H.S.vW. 
 
 e Dnjdcn. 
 
 a " Tabor rises in 
 tho form of a 
 truncated cone to 
 tlie height of , 
 about 1,350 feet } 
 above ttie plain 
 of KsJraelon, its 
 total h e i g li t i 
 above tlie sea ! 
 level being 1,8j5 ; 
 feet. Otlieri 
 mountains of j 
 equal elevation i 
 are in siglit, but j 
 its shape and the I 
 wide extent of I 
 the plain around i 
 it, make it a far 
 more conspicu- 
 ous object. Car- 
 mel also is a most 
 commanding 
 mou n tain." — 
 Robinson. 
 
 6Comp. Je. iv. 31. 
 
 « Dr. W. liees. 
 
 a " He was the 
 
 first of the 
 supreme triad of 
 TUebep, ami con- 
 fessedly his form 
 was the most 
 elevated and 
 spiritvvil under 
 which the Egyp- 
 tian priesthood 
 represented the 
 divinity to the 
 adoration of the 
 people. He was 
 tlie deity invi- 
 sible and un- 
 fathomable, 
 whose name sig- 
 nifies the coll- 
 een led, and was 
 the mysterious 
 mainspring, who 
 created, pre- 
 serves, and go- 
 verns the world." 
 — Leiwrmtint. 
 h Eze. x.\i.\. 13. 
 e Home. 
 
 a " Nations have 
 their periods ; the 
 Jewish nation it- 
 self has come to 
 an end as a na- ) 
 Uon ; but the 
 
 Shall rusty piles from the plotijrh'd furrows take, 
 And over empty helmets pass the rake : 
 Amazed at autique titles on the stones, 
 And mighty reliqucs of giyantic bones.« 
 
 18—21. (1!^) as Tabor, or "like a Tabor amonjr tlie 
 mountains." Tabor is mentioned for its great and noble eleva- 
 tion." Nebuchadnezzar is compared to these mountains. (19) 
 daughter . . Egypt, fig-, term for the people of Egypt.' fur- 
 nish . . captivity, make jireparatious for the captivity which 
 will surely be your lot. (-'0) destruction, or '-the destroyer." 
 Lit. " a gadfly from the north has come upon her." The lly that 
 destroy.s cattle. (21) hired men, mercenary troops, fatted 
 bullocks, ready to be slaughtered. 
 
 'J'he oat/i.'i of ,/chorah (r. 18). — -I. The Divine oaths recorded in 
 Scripture exhibit and declare the glory of the Divine character. 
 1. As they show forth the infinite condescension of God ; 2. As 
 they furni.sh a sublime and awful manifestation of the sincere 
 earnestness of the Divine mind in what He declares unto us in 
 His AVord, with such an attestation ; 3. As they exhibit the 
 benevolent solicitude of God for the welfare of the unworthy 
 creatures whom He thus addresses ; 4. As they intimate the un- 
 changeablene.ss of the Divine mind in relation to those arrange- 
 ments in His moral and natural government which were in that 
 manner established and confirmed. II. The Divine oaths also 
 serve to illustrate the moral character of man. and to exercise a 
 powerful influence on his moral and spiritual influence. 1. As 
 they strongly corroborate the fact t.hat the human heart is cot rupt 
 and alienated from God ; 2. As they are fearful warnings of the 
 perilous condition of the impenitent and unbelieving soul ; 3. 
 As they afijord the strongest encouragement to believers in their 
 onward progress to heaven.' 
 
 22—26. (22) like a serpent, as a snake disturbed by the 
 wood-cutters glides swiftly away. ('23) though . . searched, i.e. 
 though it seems to be impenetrable. A fig. for the vast multi- 
 tudes of the Egyptian army, grasshoppers, or locusts. (24) 
 daughter, as r. r.t. (2.^) multitude, better. '• Amnion of 
 No.'"" No, the sacred city of Thebes. (26) afterwards, after 
 a time of Divine judgments, lasting some forty yrs.* 
 
 Ko-Ani-on (v. 25). — No, or No-Amon, or Amon of No ("marginal 
 reading), was the metropolis of Upper Egypt, by the Greek 
 geograjihers termed Thebes, a city eminently di.stiugui.'^hed for 
 the Avor.ship of Jupiter, who by the Egyptians was called Amon 
 or Ammon ; hence the city received the appellation of Diospolis, 
 or the City of Jupiter. The grandeur of ancient Thebes must 
 now be traced in the four small towns or hamlets of Luxor, 
 Karnak, Medinet-Abou, and Gournou. Karnak is regarded by 
 the most accurate modern travellers as the principal site of 
 Diospolis ; and tho Egyptians seem to have called forth all the 
 resources of wealth, and all the efforts of art, in order to render 
 it worthy of their supreme divinity." 
 
 27, 28. (27) fear thou not, eie.. Is. xli. 13, xliii. 5, xliv. 2 ; 
 Je. XXX. 10. (28) a full end, ch. xxx. 11." 
 
 GocVs ])romise iinchangcdhU: — Verse 28 is so closely connected 
 with ver. 27, that both must be read together. They resemble 
 chap. xxx. 10, 11, and relate probably to tho ^ame subject. 
 
Cap. xlvli. 1-7.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 169 
 
 Towards the fall of the Jewish monarchy, Juctea became the 
 battle-ground between the Egyptians, on one side, and the Baby- 
 lonians on t]i3 other. It was subject now to one of these powers, 
 now to the other, as they respectively conquered. At length 
 Babylon became finally master of the territory fiom the rivei of 
 Egy[)t to the Euphrates, 2 Kings xxiv. 7. In the days of 
 Jehoiakim Jerusalem was held under vassalage to Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, who toolv Daniel and his companions, with jjrubably 
 others of its principal inhabitants, to Babylon. Subsequently 
 Jerusalem was more thoroughly subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, and 
 large numbers of its peojile were carried away to his distant 
 empire. The Proijhet, in the passage to be elucidated, comforts 
 the Jews under the humiliation and sufferings thus inflicted on 
 them. Their land should not be made " altogether desolate," 
 Jer. XXX. 11. The nations which oppressed and enslaved Judaea 
 should be destroyed, but God would not make a full end of her. 
 She should be corrected with moderation, and her sons should 
 afterwards be restored to their own land. This prediction was 
 fulfilled when the Jews returned from Babylon under favour of 
 Cyrus, the conqueror of all the East. 
 
 CHAPTER THE FORTY-SEVENTH. 
 
 1—4. (1) against, or, concerning, before . . Gaza, it is 
 not certain which Pharaoh is here referred to, and we have no 
 certain reference to the event. Poss. he took Gaza on his return 
 from his victory at Carchemish." (2) waters rise, Is. viii. 7. 
 overflowing flood, or torrent. Is. xxx. 28. (3) noise . . hoofs, 
 Nah. iii. 2. fathers . . children, each would care only to save 
 himself in the general fright ; and natural affections would be 
 destroyed, feebleness of hands, by being made helpless 
 with extreme fear. (4) remnant . . Caphtor, prob. Crete, 
 whence the Philistines had originally, in jiart. come.* 
 
 Rii'nu at Gaza. — '■ The ruins of white marble sometimes found 
 at Gaza f)rove that it was formerly the abode of luxury and 
 opulence. It has shared in the general destruction ; and, not- 
 withstanding its proud title of the capital of Palestine, it is now 
 no moi-e than a defenceless village " (baldness has come uj^on it), 
 '• peopled by, at most, only two thousand inhabitants." It is 
 forsaken and bereaved of its king. " The sea-coast, by which it 
 was formerly washed, is every day removing farther from the 
 deserted ruins of Ashkelon." It shall be a desolation. Ashkelon 
 shall not be inhabited. " Amid the various successive ruins, 
 those of Edzoud (Ashdod), so powerful iinder the Philistines, 
 are now remarkable for their scorpions." The inhabitants shall 
 be cut off from Ashdod. Although the Christian traveller must 
 yiold the palm to Volney, as the topographer of prophecy, and 
 although supplementary evidence be not requisite, yet a place is 
 here willingly given to the following just observations.'' 
 
 5 — 7. (5) baldness, the sign of mourning, cli. xvi. C. cut 
 off, or speechless through grief, valley, or low-lying plain, 
 known as SJii'jihcJah. cut thyself, another sign of extreme 
 grief. ((I) sword, rtc, the instrument of Divine judgment." 
 how long, this is the supposed complaint of the Philistines. 
 
 Gorpel Clinrch, 
 Gods spiritual 
 iL-riiel, still con- 
 tinues, and will 
 to the end of 
 time; in Ihttt this 
 promise istohave 
 its full accom- 
 plishment, tliat, 
 though God cor- 
 rect it, He will 
 never make a full 
 end of it." — Mat. 
 Henry. 
 
 " They were, ia 
 truth, great ras- 
 cals, and be- 
 longed to that 
 class of people 
 who find things 
 before they are 
 lost." — Grimm. 
 
 V. 28. C. H. Hall, 
 Bamp. Lee. 153. 
 
 a 2 Chr. sxxT. 
 20, x.\-\Ti. 3. 
 
 6 " The Philis- 
 tines, being the 
 neighbours of 
 the Phffinicians, 
 would naturally 
 make a common 
 cause with them 
 in case of foreign 
 i n V a s i o u." — 
 Henderson. 
 
 " There can be 
 no treaty of 
 peace till we lay 
 d own these 
 weapons of re- 
 bellion with 
 which we fight 
 against heaven ; 
 nor can we ex- 
 pect to have our 
 distempers cured, 
 if our dail)- food 
 be poison." — 
 Hcougal. 
 
 e Keith, and sea 
 next page. 
 
 a Eze. xir. 17, 
 xxi. 3. 
 
 r. 6. a C/inis, i. 
 220 ; A. S/tants, 
 3C3 ; /, Fruncii, 
 
170 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xlviil.l— dS. 
 
 n. 7> ; R. CiCll, 
 lL3o7. 
 
 bC. Simeon, .U.A. 
 
 "It is fabled of 
 Achilles, the 
 Grecian chief, 
 that his iiiotlier 
 dipped him, when 
 a child, in the 
 river Styx, by 
 which every part 
 of }iis boiy was 
 rendered invul- 
 nerable except 
 the heel of one 
 foot, by whicli 
 she had held 
 him. Paris, his 
 inveterate ene- 
 my, becoming 
 acquainted with 
 this one unjiro- 
 tected part, shot 
 Achilles in the 
 heel and mor- 
 tally wounded 
 him. Thus every 
 man needs to be 
 armed with tlie 
 complete armour 
 of God, else his 
 inveterate foe, 
 Satan, will be 
 sure to hit the 
 least part that he 
 finds unarmed." 
 — Silencer. 
 
 cA'n'A, continued 
 from last page. 
 
 a " These dis- 
 tricts were pos- 
 sessed by the 
 Emim, a gigantic 
 people, but the 
 Moabites were 
 snccessfid in ex- 
 jxdlingtheni. and 
 occupied at first 
 a considerable 
 region, the up- 
 lands east of the 
 Dead Sea, and 
 tlje Jordan as far 
 as the mountains 
 of Oilead, to- 
 guLber witli the 
 
 (7) given it a charge, wh. it is bound to execute to the full. 
 sea shore ? the strip of tihore-laud held by the Philistines. 
 
 The means of tcrminailng irar (rr. 6, 7). — 1. The evils of pro- 
 tracted war. 1. War is a tremendous evil ; 2. Well might the 
 Prophet desire its speedy termination. II. The reason of its con- 
 tinuance. 1. War is one of those judgments with which God 
 punishes the sins of men ; 2. Till He has effected His ])urposes by 
 it. no human efforts can bring it to a close. III. Means of its 
 termination. 1. The intention of God's chastisements is to brings 
 us to repentance ; 2. On the attainment of this end He will 
 instantly remove His judgments from us. IV. Suggests some 
 hints respecting those heavy judgments which God has de- 
 nounced against sinners in another world, and respecting the 
 best means of averting them from our souls.'' 
 
 Zand of J'Jiilisfivr.s. — The land of the Philistines was to be 
 destroyed. It partakes of the general desolation common to it 
 with Juda3a. and other neighboviring states. While ruins are to 
 be found in all Syria, they are particularly abundant along the 
 sea-coast, which formed, on the south, the realm of the Philistines. 
 But its aspect presents some existing peculiarities, which travel- 
 lers fail not to particularise, and which in reference both to the 
 state of the country, and the fate of its different cities, the 
 Prophets failed not to discriminate as justly as if their descrip- 
 tion had been drawn both with all the accuracy which ocular 
 okservation and all the certainty which authenticated histoiy 
 could give. And the authority so often quoted may here be 
 again appealed to. Volney (though, like one who in ancienfc 
 times was instrumental to the fulfilment of a special prediction, 
 "he meant not so, neither did his heart think so'"), from the 
 manner in which he generalises his observations, and marks the 
 peculiar features of the different districts of Syria, with greater 
 acuteness and perspicuity than any other traveller whatever, is 
 the ever-ready purveyor of evidence in all the cases which came 
 within the range of his topographical descriiition of the wide 
 field of prophecy — while, at the same time, from his known, open 
 and zealous hostility to the Christian cause, his testimony is 
 alike decisive and unquestionable ; and the vindication of the 
 truth of the following predictions may safely be committed to 
 this redoubted champion of infidelity .■: 
 
 CHAPTER THE FORTY-EIGHTH 
 
 1—3. (1) Moab, Ge. xix. 37. The districts near to the Dead 
 Sea." Moab had taken part with the Chalda^ans against Judah.* 
 Neho, a town 8 Pom. miles S. of Heshbon.'' Kiriathaim, 
 prob. Et-tcjim. west of Medeba. and S.W. of IIe.<hbon. Misgab, 
 this word is better translated the "hi?h citadel." Pief. is to the 
 celebrated fortress, Air-hrirs.'' (2) Hcsllbon,'" the cajjital city 
 of the ^loabites, Nu. xxi. 2G. When (he Chald.Tans took this 
 city, they there devised plans for subduing the wliole country. 
 Ilcshbou' in Chaldee means '' a dericc." madmen, Is. xxv. 10. 
 (?,) Horonaim, Is. xv. o. 
 
 J/(in!).—The land of IMoab lay to the east and south-east of 
 Judaea, and bordered on the east, north-east, and partly on the 
 south by the Dead Sea. Its early history is nearly analogous to 
 
Cap.xlviii. 4— 6.] 
 
 JEnEMIAU. 
 
 171 
 
 that of Ammon ; and the soil, though perhaps more diversified, 
 is, in many plaees where the desert and plains of salt have not 
 encroached on its borders, of equal feriility. There are manifest 
 and abundant vestiges of its ancient greatness. '' The whole of 
 the plains are covered with the sites of towns, on every eminence 
 or sjjot convenient for the construction of one. And as the land 
 is capable of rich cultivation, there can be no doubt that the 
 country now so deserted once presented a continued picture of 
 plenty and fertility." The form of fields is still visible ; and 
 there are the remains of Roman highwaj's, which in some places 
 are completely leaved, and on which there are milestones of the 
 times of Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and Severus, with the number of 
 the miles legible upon them. Wherever any spot is cultivated, the 
 corn is luxuriant : and the riches of the soil cannot i^erhaps be 
 more clearly illustrated than by the fact, that one grain of 
 Heshbon wheat exceeds in dimensions two of the ordinary sort, 
 and more than double the numl^er of grains grow on the stalk. 
 The frequency, and almost, in many instances, the close vicinity 
 of the sites of the ancient towns, •• prove that the population of 
 the country was formerly proi^ortioned to its natural fertility." 
 Such evidence may surely suffice to ])rove that the country was 
 well cultivated and peopled at a period so long posterior to the 
 date of the predictions, that no cause less than supernatural 
 could have existed at the time when they were delivered, which 
 could have authorised the assertion, with the least probability or 
 apparent possibility of its truth, that Moab would ever have been 
 reduced to that state of great and permanent desolation in which 
 it has continued for so many ages, and which vindicates and 
 ratifies to this hour the truth of the Scriptural prophecies./ 
 
 4 — 6. (i) Moab, prob. meaning here the city Ar-Moah, 
 Nu. xxi. l.^. her little ones, "her children augmenting the 
 melancholy and distressing scene by their pitiable shrieks." (5) 
 Luliith, situated on a height : comp. Is. xv. 5. continual 
 weeping, lit. " with weeping shall go up weeping." going 
 down, descending into the valley towards Horonaim. (fi) like 
 the heath, live in the wilderness like the heath, or juniper," do 
 not trust to walls. 
 
 Flee for your life (y. 6). — I. "Whence you are to flee. II. 
 "\Miere you are to flee. III. How you are to flee. IV. \Mien you 
 are to flee. V. Why you are to flee. * 
 
 The heath in tlic n-'ddcrncss. — This does not refer to the com- 
 mon heather so familiar in our own country, but to a species of 
 plant growing in lonely desert places in the south of Palestine, 
 w^hich bears some resemblance to our common heather, esiaecially 
 to those dry stumjis over which fire has passed, and which have 
 been bleached by exposure to the weather. This plant is called 
 by a long name — Anastatica ; but it is more familiarly known 
 as the Rose of Jericho. . . . The Crusaders used to bring it home 
 from the Holy Land, and some superstitious tales are told of it ; 
 as, for example, that it fii-st burst into blossom on Christmas Eve 
 to welcome the birth of the Heavenly Babe, and paid its tribute 
 of honour to the resurrection of the Redeemer by continuing in 
 flower till Easter morn. But its own true history is stranger 
 even than these fables. The spots Avhere it is found are moistened 
 with water during the rainy season, but in the hot summer they 
 are diied up, and become baked by the heat almost as hard as a 
 
 lowliuiclslietweea 
 their own hills 
 and tlie river, a 
 rppionjjerhapsSO 
 miles in length, 
 anil lu or 12 
 broad." — Ayve. 
 
 b 2 Ki. xxiv. 2. 
 
 c Nu. xsxii. 3, 38. 
 
 d Is. XV. 1, xtL 
 
 7, 11. 
 
 e "An ancient 
 and royal city, 
 nearly midway 
 between tlie ri- 
 vers Jabbok anil 
 Arnon, the ruins 
 of which cover 
 the sides of an 
 ele^'ated hill, wh. 
 commands an 
 extensive view of 
 the surrounding 
 country." — Jleu- 
 derson. 
 
 / Keith. 
 
 a " Resort to the 
 most solitary 
 places 3'ou can 
 Uiink of, where 
 nothing grows 
 
 ibut barren 
 
 i s h r u b s, and 
 where no enemy 
 
 I can find you out." 
 —Lnu-th. 
 h Hugh Mucmil- 
 
 \ Ian. 
 '• All furnish'd, 
 all in aims, all 
 plumed like es- 
 tndges.that wing 
 the wind ; baited 
 like eagles liav- 
 inglatclyl athedl 
 glittering iu 
 golden coats, like 
 images ; as full 
 of spirit as tlie 
 month of May, 
 and gorgeous as 
 the Eun at mid- 
 summer ; wanton 
 as youthful goats, 
 wild as young 
 bulls. " — Shake- 
 speure. 
 
 A soldier of Mar- 
 shal Eaxe's army, 
 being di.coven d 
 in theft, was 
 condemned to 
 
172 
 
 JEREMIAB. 
 
 [Cap.xlvlli. 7— lOU 
 
 be hung. WHiat 
 he liaii stuleii 
 miglit be worth 
 five sliil lings. 
 The 51 a r s h a 1 
 meeting him, as 
 he was leil to 
 execution, said 
 to liim— " What 
 a miserable fool 
 you were to risk 
 your life for five 
 shillings." " Gre- 
 neral," replied 
 the soldier, " I 
 have risked it 
 every day for 
 fivepence." This 
 repartee saved 
 his life. 
 
 " So calm, the 
 
 waters scarcely 
 seeni to stray, 
 and yet they 
 glide, like happi- 
 ness, away."— 
 Byron. 
 
 e Hugh 
 millun. 
 
 Mac- 
 
 • So read the 
 LXX., Syr., and 
 Vulg. 
 
 b Nu. xxi. 29. 
 
 c "Solomon 
 built a high place 
 for Chemosh, 
 near to Jerusa- 
 lem (1 Ki. xi. 7, 
 33), which was 
 defiled by Josiah 
 (2 Ki. xxiii. 13). 
 There are various 
 conjectures con- 
 cerning this false 
 god ; some identi- 
 fying him with 
 Mars, and some 
 with Saturn." — 
 Ai/n: 
 
 d lip. Tiiiilo?: 
 
 " According to 
 Jewish tradition, 
 he was worsl lip- 
 ped uuiler the 
 symbol of a black , 
 
 brick. Rain seldom falls in the pouth of Palestine ; months 
 fre(iuently pass away without a shower, or a cloud as big- as a 
 man's hand ; the sky above is like brass, and the oarih beneath 
 as iron : and all the channels of the streams and lills are diy and 
 I wliite as the roads. Xow what becomes of the Rose of Jericho : 
 ... God, whose tender mercies are over all His works, . . . has 
 f urui.shed it with a remarkable provision by which it escapes 
 from the dreadful consequences of drought. Whenever all the 
 ' water within reach of its roots is exhausted, and it can get no 
 f more, it sheds its leaves, gathers all its branches together, and 
 [ rolls itself up into an irregular elastic ball. And thus i)acked up 
 in a travelling bag, composed of its own framework, like the 
 fairies of old that were said to go from place to place in chariots 
 of nutshells, it awaits patiently till the wind of the desert begins 
 to blow. It is then speedily uprooted, rolls easily over the sur- 
 I face, and is driven to and fro through the desert. For days, and 
 sometimes even weeks, it is whirled about from place to place, 
 but it suffers no injury. The life is still strong in it, and all its 
 tender and vital parts are gathered safely into the middle, pro- 
 tected by the branches, that close over them like a network. Ifc 
 looks a dry, unsightly thing in this state. But at last it is carried 
 to the brink of a stream, to some little oasis or spot of 
 moisture ; and no sooner does it feel the scent of water than it 
 begins slowly to unfold its branches, to stretch down its roots 
 into the moist soil, and to expand its tiny flowers in the genial 
 atmosphere. It grows on that spot until it, too, becomes a dry 
 and Inarched land, and then it rolls itself up in a ball, is again 
 uprooted by the winds, and carried to a moist i)lace, where it 
 again unfolds itself and grows. It repeats this strange 
 process of migration until its seeds are perfected and ready to 
 be shed in a suitable place for their growth, when it finully dies. 
 And though its withered branches continue for many j'oars to 
 curl and expand, according to the state of the atmo-sphere, this 
 is no longer a vital, but a mechanical process.'' 
 
 7 — 10. (7) works, or fortifications." Chemosh, the national 
 god of Moab,' representing the whole land.' priests, etc.. ch. 
 xlix. 3. (8) valley, or lowlands on the east bank of the Jordan, 
 plain, ci>))ij>. De. iv. 43, upland pasture districts. (D). give 
 wings, bee. only extreme haste can save any of them. (10) 
 deceitfully, or renu.istlji. negligently. Reference is to the 
 agents sent by God to execute His judgments on Moab. 
 
 Lii]i(')vnn}inrx.<i and zeal (r. 10). — He serves God deceitfiilly — 1. 
 Who serves Him with the body without the soul ; 2. He who 
 serves Him with the soul without the body, when both may be 
 conjoined in His service ; 3. He who reserves one faculty for sin 
 or one sin for* themselves, or one action to please himself and 
 many for religion.'' 
 
 Moah. — Moab has often been a field of contest between the 
 Arabs and Turks ; and although the former have retained pos- 
 session of it. both have mutually reduced it to desolation. The 
 different tribes of Arabs who traverse it not only bear a per- 
 manent and habitual hostility to Christians and to Turks, but one 
 tribe is often at variance and at war with another : and the 
 regular cultivation of the soil, or the improvement of those 
 natural advantages of whicli the country is so full, is a matter 
 either never thought of, or that cannot be realised. Property k 
 
Cap. xlviii. 11-17.] 
 
 JEUEMIAH. 
 
 173 
 
 there the creature of power, and not of law ; and possession forms 
 no security when pkmder is the preferable right. Heuce the 
 exteu ive jtlains, where they are not partially covered wich wood, 
 present a barren aspect, which is only relieved at intervals by a 
 few clusters of wild fig trees, that show how the richest gifts of 
 nature deg-euerate when unaided by the industry of man. And in- 
 stead of the profusion which the plains must have exhibited in 
 every quarter, nothinj? but " patches of the best soil in the 
 territory are now cultivated by the Arabs:" and these only 
 " whenever they have the prospect of being able to secure 
 the harvest against the incursions of enemies.' The Arab herds 
 now roam at freedom over the valleys and the plains ; and " the 
 many vestiges of field enclosures" form not any obstruction ; they « ^«''A. 
 wander undisturbed around the tents of their masters, over the 
 face of the country ; and while the valley is perished, and the 
 plain destroyed, the cities also of Aroer are forsaken : they are for i « " -^s wine left 
 the flocks which lie down, and none make thL-ni afraid. Thesti'ong I *°.^'^J^-* ™ }^^ 
 contrast between the ancient and the actual state of Jloab is i uT'flavouTaVi'd 
 exemplified in the condition of the inhabitants as well as of the j streiigUi, which 
 land : and the coincidence between the prediction and the fact is ' j' y-'^^^'^ '"'^e by 
 as striking in the one case as in the other.' " " " 
 
 star, wli. would 
 seem to coiiiite- 
 naucethe opinion 
 that he corre- 
 sponded to Sa- 
 turn." — Jlandd- 
 son. 
 
 r. 10. Bp. Taylor, 
 V. J27 ; <S. iiacis, 
 iii. 84; G. Ma(- 
 Iheir, ii. 117; T. 
 Kitdwles, ii. 2G9 ; 
 B}i. JUumpden, 
 lUl. 
 
 being poured 
 from one vessel 
 into another, so 
 Jloab, owing to 
 its never having 
 been dislodged 
 
 pride of strength 
 
 unimpaired." — 
 
 Fausstt. 
 
 " Wine, as first 
 
 expressed from 
 
 the 
 
 11—13. (11) settled . . lees, as wine is left, after fermenta- 
 tion, to preserve its .strength and flavour." For similar figure 
 comp. Zep. i. 12. emptied .. vessel, by a refining process ; from itsTetUe^ 
 that removes the dregs. taste, his pride and luxury. (12) 1 meuts, retains its 
 wanderers,'' themselves wandering fr. distant Chaldrea, and 
 making him wander : but the fig. is taken from lifting a pitcher 
 to pour out its contents. (13) ashamed, bee. her idol can give 
 her no security, of Beth-el, 1 Ivi. xii. L'S). 
 
 Wiuulrrcrs of the ilc^crt (r. 12).— Ihe Bedouin fwandering) I J{;fekSioured 
 Arabs are now the chief and almost the only inhabitants of a | fluid or juice, it is 
 country once studded witli cities. Traver.sing the country, and • *'"-'^ fermented, 
 fixing their tents for a short time in one place, and then decamp- i P^^**'"" tlu-ougli 
 r ii, 1 i ■ J. -1 T T • , ; 1 piocess that se- 
 
 ing to another, depasturing every part successively, and despoil- [ parates the im- 
 
 ing the whole land of its natural produce, they are wanderers ; purities and set- 
 who have conic up against it, and who keep it in a state of per- 1 t'csthem as lees 
 petual desolation. They lead a wandering life ; and the only ! standing th^ 
 regularity they know or practise is to act upon a systematic j upon its lees or 
 echeme of spoliation. They prevent anj' from forming a fixed i 'I'fgs, in s'ome 
 settlement who are inclined to attempt it; for although the ' |t''|f ^^""j^^.t^j;^^ 
 fruitfulness of the soil would abundantly repay the laboiu- of ; improved. a 
 settlers, and render migration wholly unnecessaiy, even if the \ g'oss and co.arse 
 population were increased more than tenfold, j-et the Bedouins ! 'I'^'^o™ remains, 
 forcibly deprive them of the means of subsistence, compel them | the fecule^nt mat- 
 to search for it elsewhere, and, in the words of the prediction, I ter stays by, and 
 literally cause them to wander. " It may be I'emarked generally | tiecomesfa-tened, 
 of the Bedouins," says Burckliardt. in describing their extortions j Tody of TlJ wine 
 in this very countrj% "that wherever they are the masters of the I itself."- Bus/uwii. 
 cultivators, the latter are soon reduced to beggaiy by their un- j b'Lit. niurf Abo 
 ceasing demands." " V^ • ^ '^■'-''^sel to 
 
 ° I dram the wine 
 
 I off fronx the, 
 14—17. (If) mighty, and quite able to stand in the war. I '^''^f > 
 (]."•,) gone up, fled away out of. chosen . . men, the choice : I'.s:,'- a uoleHj 
 of them have only gone to battle to be slain. (IG) near to , "■ •!«' * 
 
 come, Is. xiii. 22. About twenty-two years passed bet. this i <^ ^"'*- 
 
174 
 
 JEREUJAn. 
 
 [Cap. xlviii. 18-25. 
 
 '• There is n spirit 
 of retii<taiice im- 
 planted by llie 
 Deity in tlie 
 breast of man, 
 j)roportiolie(l to 
 tlie size of tlie 
 wrongs he is 
 rtestiiieil to en- 
 dure." — C. /. Fox. 
 
 a W. R. Williams. 
 
 a " Jer. draws a 
 picture of tlie 
 conquered in- 
 liabitants, who 
 formed a valu- 
 a')Ie part of the 
 spoil of war, col- 
 leoted together 
 outsiile tho walls, 
 waiting until the 
 time com"S for 
 their captors to 
 ai a r c h them 
 away to the 
 slave- mar t." 
 — Spk. Com. 
 
 h Wordsworth. 
 
 "Destruction 
 o'ertalces as often 
 those that fly as 
 those that boMly 
 meet it." — Dill- 
 hum. 
 
 e Keith. 
 
 a " Strength is 
 often expressed 
 by the horn, 
 wherein the 
 
 strength of bulls 
 and such like 
 creatures con- 
 sists ; and by the 
 arm, wherein hu- 
 man strength 
 doth chiefly dis- 
 cover itself." — 
 Luifth. 
 
 Vs. Ixxv. 5, 10; 
 Li. ii. o. 
 
 The armoiu-y of 
 a natiim may be 
 well stored with 
 every part of the 
 best armour wh. 
 is possilile to be 
 provided, but it is 
 «f no practical 
 
 prophecy and the calamity. (17) strong staff, that thought 
 itself so strong. 
 
 'ihc Ktronfi .flaff and flic hrnii/i/iil rod (r. 17). — I. The purposes 
 of our Heavenly Father in great Ijercavemcnts. 1. To tcjcii ua 
 that we should not mi,'S])lace our trust ; 2. To convince us of our 
 sin.s and to sever us from them ; 3. To teach us His own inde- 
 pendence of the instruments He employs ; 4. To remiiid us of 
 the sovereignty of God ; 5. To exhibit His wise and watchful 
 providence. II. The duties to which we are, amid such scenes, 
 specially called. 1. AVe are to exercise submission ; 2. That we 
 should profit by the example of those who have died in the Lord; 
 3. That we should cease from mac and put our trust in God." 
 
 18—20. C18) Dibon, Is. xv. 2. sit in thirst, covip. "sit in 
 the duft," Is. xlvii. 1." "Sit in a land where everything is 
 parched."* (ID) Aroer, on the river Aruon. De. ii. :;(;. It lay 
 in the way of the Moabites who fled to Arabia Dcserta ; and its 
 inhabitants would learn from the fugitives the lot that surely 
 awaited themselves. (20) it is, i.e. JJtlimi. 
 
 D'lhon. — The ruins of Diban (Dibon) situated in the midst of a 
 fine plain, are of considerable extent, but present nothing of 
 interest. The neighbouring hot wells, and the similai ity of the 
 name, identify the ruins of Myoun witli Meon, or Beth Meon of 
 Scripture. Of this ancient city, as well as of Araayr (Aroer), 
 nothing is now remarkable but what is common to them ■with all 
 the cities of Moab — their entire desolation. The extent of the 
 ruins of Rabba (Rabbath Moab), formerly the residence of the 
 kings of Moab? sufficiently proves its ancient importance, though 
 no other object can be particularised among the ruins excejit the 
 remains of a palace or temple, some of the ^^•alls of whicli are 
 still standing; a gate belonging to another building: and an 
 insulated altar. There are many remains of private buildings, 
 but none entire. There being no springs on the spot, the town 
 had two birkets, the largest of which is cut entirely out of the 
 rocky ground, together with many cisterns. Mount Xebo was 
 completely barren when Burckhardt passed over it, and the site 
 of the ancient city had not been ascertained. Isebo is spoiled." 
 
 21—25. (21) Holon, Jos. xv. .51. Jaliazah, Nu. xxi. 23 ; 
 Is. XV. 4. Mepliaath, Jos. xiii. 18. xxi. 37. (22) Beth- 
 diblatliaim, comp. Nu. xxxiii. 4(). and Eze. vi. 14. (23) Beth- 
 ganml, the city of camels. Tlie site is unknown. Beth-meon, 
 comp. Jos. xiii. 17. Now Minn, a mere ruin. (24) Kerioth., 
 Jos. XV. 25 : Am. ii. 2. Bozrah, Ge. xxxvi. 33 ; Is. Ixiii. 1. 
 (2.5) horn, the Eastern emblem of strength and sovereignty." 
 
 Citir.t of Maah. — And the cities of IMoab have all di.-a] peared. 
 Their place, together with the adjoining part of Idunia^a, is cha- 
 racterised in the map of Vo\nc]f>i 'JrnvcJit. by the ruins of towns. 
 His information respecting these ruins was derived from some of 
 the wandering Arabs : and its accuracy has been fulh- corrobo- 
 rated by the testimony of different European travellers of high 
 respectabdity and undoubted veracity, who have since visited 
 this devastated region. The whole country abounds with ruins. 
 And Burckhardt, who encountered many difficulties in so desolate 
 and dangerous a land, thus records the brief history of a few of 
 them : "The ruins of ICleale, Heshbon. Jleon. IMedaba, Dibon, 
 Ai-oer, still subsist to illustrate the history of the Beiii Israel." 
 
Cap. xlviii. 26-30.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 175 
 
 And it might with eqiial truth have been added, that they still 
 subsist to confii-m the inspiration of the Jewish Scrijjture, or to 
 prove Ihat the seers of Israel were the prophets of God. for the 
 desolation of each of these very cities was the theme of a pre- 
 diction. EverythiDg worthy of observation respecting them has 
 been detailed, not only iu Burckhardt's Travd.s in Syria, but also 
 by Seetzeu, and, more recently, by Captains Irby and Mangles, 
 \\ ho, along with Mr. Banks and Mr. Legh, visited this deserted 
 district. The predicted judgment has fallen with such truth 
 upon these cities, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab far 
 and near, and they are so utterly broken down, that even the 
 prying curiosity of such indefatigable travellers could discover 
 among a multiplicity of ruins only a few remains so entire as to 
 be worthy of particular notice. The subjoined description is 
 drawn from their united testimony : — Among the ruins of El Aal 
 (Eleale) are a number of large cisterns, fragments of buildings, 
 and foundations of houses. At Hesliban (Heshbouj are the ruins 
 of a large ancient town, together with the remains of a temple, 
 and some edifices. A few broken shafts of columns are still 
 standing ; and there are a number of deep wells cut in the rock. 
 The ruins of Medaba are about two miles in circumfcre/ice. 
 There are many remains of the ^\alls of private houses con- 
 Rtriicted v.'ith blocks of silex, but not a single edifice is standing. 
 The chief object of interest is an immense tank or cistern of 
 hewn stones, "which, as there is no stream at Medaba," Burck- 
 hardt remarks, '• might still be of use to the Bedouins, were the 
 surrounding ground cleared of the rubbish to allow the water to 
 flow into it ; but such an undertaking is far beyond the views 
 of the wandering Arabs." There is also the foundation of a 
 temple built with large stones, and apparently of great antiquity, 
 with two columns near it.'' 
 
 26—30. (26) make . . drtinken," God's judgments are repre- 
 Bented as a cup of intoxication : ch. xxv. 15. wallow, or "reel 
 from side to side." * '" Fall plump down as drunkards do." ' in 
 derision, exposed to the scorn of his enemies. (27) Israel . . 
 thee, Moab had made game of the calamities of the Jews, 
 among thieves, so as to deserve such insult. Eeference is 
 intended to the fact that Moab had acted as a thief in seizing 
 the country of Heuben.'' (28) like the dove, wh. often makes 
 its nest in the sides and roofs of caverns : Is. xvi. 1, 2. (29) 
 pride of Moab, Is. svi. 6. (30) wrath, in the sense of exceed- 
 ing arrogancy. lies . . effect, or his strength shall not match 
 his pride. '• The nothingness of his lies." or boastings. 
 
 FyrrJnis and the ]>JiiIoiioj>hrr. — When PjTrrhus, king of Epirus, 
 was making great preparations for his intended expedition into 
 Italy, Cineas, the philosoiihcr. took a favourable opportunity of 
 addressing him thus : " The Romans, sir, are reported to be a 
 warlike and victorious people ; but if God permit us to overcome 
 them, what use shall we make of the victory ? " " Thou askest," 
 said Pyrrhus, " a thing that is self-evident. The Romans once 
 conquered, no city will resist us ; we shall then be masters of all 
 Italy." Cineas added, " And having subdued Italy, what shall 
 we do next .' " Pyrrhus, not yet aware of his intentions, replied, 
 *' Sicily next stretches out her arms to receive us." " That is 
 very probable." said Cineas, "but will the possession of Sicil.y 
 put an end to the war?" .''God grant us success in that," 
 
 use there. It 
 must be taktn. 
 and ' put on ' tlia 
 WiiiTU rs ; each 
 part iu its right 
 place aud rela- 
 tion ; aud not 
 only so, it Tiui.';t 
 be used .-iftpr it is 
 put on, and useA 
 in the jiroper way 
 and at the proper 
 times, iu order 
 that its utility 
 may be proved in 
 the preservatiou 
 and victory of the 
 warrior over lii.-j 
 foes. So with the 
 a)-mour of God. 
 He has provided 
 the best moral 
 armour in the 
 universe for His 
 people. (PeeEph. 
 vi. 13—18.) It is 
 in the armoitry 
 of the Scripture, 
 the means of 
 gnice, aud the 
 Spirit's agency, 
 but the soldier 
 of the Cross must 
 put it on, and 
 use it in all 
 courage and pro- 
 priety, or he will 
 not be victorious 
 over his enemies, 
 nor will the prac- 
 tical glory of the 
 armour be mani- 
 fest. "-/oA/i Bate, 
 b Keith. 
 
 a " The ministers 
 of the Divine 
 justice are to 
 make Jloab drink 
 of tlie wine-cup 
 of God's fury, till 
 terror deprives 
 Iiim of his senses. 
 His sin had been 
 that of mag- 
 nifying himself 
 against Jehovah 
 by depriving the 
 lleubeiiitesof the 
 countrj' wliich 
 God had takea 
 fr. the Amorites 
 to give tUem." — 
 6>/.-. Com. 
 
 b Fiierst. 
 
 c " Sh.all be so 
 afflicted by God's 
 wrath as to dis- 
 gdvqt' all his past 
 priiie. riches, and 
 vainglory, aud 
 
176 
 
 jEnE.)riAiT. 
 
 [Cap. xlviii. 31—39. 
 
 thou 
 rob- 
 that 
 thou 
 liiia 
 
 f'lll in his shame- 
 ful abasement.' 
 
 -/■((». ^■.^■f^ 
 
 d '• Didst 
 find Israel 
 iiiug thee, 
 wlieuevcr 
 spakest of 
 tliou skippest for 
 joy ? No. Israel 
 did not rob thee, 
 but tlion liast 
 taken advantage 
 of his misery to 
 spoil him." — 
 Wordswoi-th. 
 e Cheever. 
 
 a " Trans. ' Eglah 
 Shelishiah ;' 'fr. 
 Zoar to Horo- 
 naim, even to 
 the third Eglah ;' 
 several places 
 seem to have 
 borne the name 
 of Kglali.aml tliis 
 is specified as the 
 • tliird Eglah.' " 
 —Lighlfool. 
 
 " So, where nnr 
 wide Numidian 
 ■"vfistes exteml, 
 sudden til* im- 
 petuous Imrri- 
 canes descend, 
 ■wlieel thi-ough 
 the air, in circ- 
 ling eddies play, 
 tear upthesaads, 
 and sweep whole 
 plains away ; the 
 helpless tr.'iveller, 
 with wild sur- 
 prise, sees the 
 dry desert all 
 around him rise, 
 and, smother'd in 
 the dusty wiiirl- 
 wind. dies." — 
 Addison. 
 
 h Keith. 
 
 a Is. xri. 12. 
 
 "'Wefind.Vrabs,' 
 La Hoiiuc tells us 
 from D'.'rvieux, 
 ' who have their 
 arms scarred by 
 the gaslies of a 
 knife, which they 
 BometiTnes give 
 ♦ henibelves, to 
 «mrk out to 
 
 answered Pj'rrhus, " and we shall make these only the fore- 
 runners of greater thiug-s, for then Lybia and Carthage will soon 
 be ovirs ; and these things being completed, none of our enemies 
 can offer any farther reisistancc." '• Very true," arlded Cineas, 
 " for then we may easily regain IMacedou, and make an absolute 
 conquest of Greece ; and, when all these are in our possession, 
 what shall we do then ? " Pyrrhus, smiling, answered, " Why 
 then, my dear friend, we will live at our ease, drink all day long, 
 and amuse ourselves with cheerful conversation." ''Well eir," 
 said Cineas, " and ^vhy may we not do all this now, and without 
 the laboiir and hazard of an enterprise so laborious and uncer- 
 tain ? " Pyrrhus, however, unwilling to take the advice of the 
 philosopher, ardently engaged in these ambitious pursuits, and 
 at last perished in them.' 
 
 31—34. (31) howl for Moab, Is. xv. .5. all Moab, camp. 
 "■ whole Palesiina,' Is. xiv. 31. men of Kir-liere3, Is. xvi. 7, 11. 
 (32) vine of Sibmah, Is. xvi. 8. over the sea, i.e. the Dead 
 Sea. sea of Jazer, this must be a poetic fig., as Jazer lies in 
 an upland valley, fifteen m. N. of Heshbon. The river of Jazer, 
 a tributary of the Arnon, may be intended. (33; joy, etc., 
 Is. xvi. 10. (34) Elealeh, Is. xvi. 9. Zoar, Is. xv. 5. as an 
 heifer, or trans, "even to the third Eglah,"" Nimrim, 
 Is. XV. G. 
 
 The Cities of Moah. — Wlien the towns of Moab existed in their 
 prime, and were at ease, when arrogance, and haughtiness, and 
 pride prevailed among them, the desolation and total desertion 
 and abandonment of them all must have utterly surpassed all 
 human conception. And that such numerous cities, which sub- 
 sisted for many ages, which were diversified in their sites, some 
 of them being built on eminences, and naturally strong ; others 
 on plains, and surrounded by the i-ichest soil : some situated in 
 valleys by the side of a plentiful stream : and others where art 
 supplied the deficiencies of nature, and where immense cisterns 
 were excavated out of the rock, and which exhibit in their ruins 
 many monuments of ancient prosperity, and many remains easily 
 convertible into present utility, should have all fled away, all 
 met the same indiscriminate fate, and be all desolate, without 
 any to dwell therein, notwithstanding all these ancient assurances 
 of their permanent durability, and their existing facilities and 
 inducements for being the habitations of men, is a matter of just 
 wonder in the present day. and had any other people been the 
 possessors of Bloab, the fact would cither have been totally 
 impossible or unaccountable. Trying as this test of the truth of 
 prophecy is, that is the word of God, and not of erring man, 
 which can so well and so triumphantly abide it. They shall cry 
 of Moab, How is it broken down ! ' 
 
 35—39. (35) in the high places, this would be the last 
 relic of the national religion. When the temples were destroyed, 
 worship would be kept up on the ''high places.""" (3ti) lik& 
 pipes, or like the flutes used at funerals. Comp. Is. xvi. 11. (37) 
 bald . . clipped, the usual signs of mourning. Is. xv. % 
 cuttings, eh. xvi. (>, xli. 5, xlvii. 5. (38) generally, better, 
 " nothing but lamentation everywhere." (3i') turned, the 
 back, to floe away. 
 
 Cuttings for the dead (j>. 37). — The relations of the deceased 
 
Cap. 2-lviii. 40—47.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 177 
 
 often testify their sorrow in a more serious and affecting' manner, 
 by cutting- and slashing their naked arms with daggers. To 
 this absurd and barbarous custom the Proplret thus alludes : 
 *' For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped ; upon 
 all hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth." And 
 again, '" Both the great and the small shall die in the land ; they 
 ehall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut 
 themselves." It seems to have been very common in Egypt, and 
 among the people of Israel, before the age of Moses, else he had 
 not forbidden it by an express law : " Ye are the children of the 
 Loril your God ; ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any bald- 
 ness between your eyes for the dead." Mr. Ilarmer refers to 
 this custom, the "wounds in the hands" of the Prophet, which 
 he had given himself, in token of affection to a person.'' 
 
 40 — 43. (40) he, i.e. Nebuchadnezzar." aS an eagle, 
 *naking an impetuous dash.* (41) Keriotll, trans. " the cities." 
 surprised, taken by storm. (42) destroyed . . people, its 
 national existence shnll be ended. (43) fear, cic, Is. xxiv. 17, 18. 
 
 Oities of Muah. — While the ruins of all these cities still retain 
 their ancient names, and are the most conspicuous amid the 
 wide scene of general desolation, and while each of them was 
 in like manner particularised in the visions of the Prophet, they 
 yet formed but a small number of the cities of Moab : and the 
 rest are also, in similar verification of the prophecies, desolate 
 withotit any to dwell therein. None of the ancient cities of 
 Moab now exist as tenanted by men. Kerek, which neither 
 bears any resemblance in name to any of the cities of Moab 
 which are mentioned as existing in the time of the Israelites, 
 nor possesses any monuments which denote a very remote anti- 
 quity, is the only nominal town in the whole country, and in 
 the words of Seetzen, who visited it, " in its present ruined state 
 it can only be called a ha,mlet : " " and the houses have only one 
 floor." But the most populous and fertile province in Europe 
 (especially any situated in the interior of a country like Jloab) 
 is not covered so thickly with towns as Moab is plentiful in ruins, 
 deserted and desolate though now it be. Burckhardt enumerates 
 about fifty ruined sites within its boundaries, many of them 
 extensive. In general they are a broken down and undistinguish- 
 able ma'^s of ruins ; and many of them have not been closely 
 inspected. But, in some instances, there are the remains of 
 temples, sepulchral monuments, the ruins of edifices constructed 
 of very large stones, in one of which buildings '• some of the 
 stones are twenty feet in length, and so broad that one constitutes 
 the thickness of the wall : " traces of hanging gardens ; entire 
 columns Iving on the ground, three feet in diameter, and 
 fragments of smaller columns ; and many cisterns cut out of 
 the rock.' 
 
 44—47. (44) fleeth. . . pit, a forcible way of declaring that 
 none shall escape. (45) because . . force, or without force : 
 they stand powerless. a fire, etc., comp. Nu. xxi. 28, 29. 
 corner, i.e. of the beard, crown, etc., Nu, xxiv. 17." (40) 
 Cliemosh, v. 7. (47) bring again, com^. ch. xlvi. 26, 
 xlix. 6. 39. 
 
 Noah. — In a general description of the condition of the in- 
 habitants of that extensive desert which now occttpies the jjlace 
 
 VOL. IX. O.T. M 
 
 their mistresses 
 I wliat tlidr rigour 
 [ iind the violenca 
 I of love ni.ado 
 I t h e in siiiler.' 
 From this e.x- 
 I tract we letiru 
 I wh.at particular 
 part of the body 
 received these 
 cu t ti ngs. The 
 S c r i p t u re fre- 
 queiitly spealis of 
 them in a more 
 general manner," 
 — JIaimer. 
 h Paxton. 
 
 a " Nebuchadnez- 
 zar's rise seemed 
 to be like that of 
 the mighty eagle, 
 spreading out hia 
 wings, featliered 
 with the innu- 
 merable colours 
 of the variegated 
 masses w h i cli 
 composed the 
 t'haldaaan host, 
 sweeping over 
 dilferent conn- 
 tries, and strik- 
 ing fear in his 
 flight." — Hkinley. 
 
 b De. xxvlii. 49 ; 
 Je. xlix. 22 ; Eze. 
 xvii. 3. 
 
 It is said of 
 Ajitoninus, Arch- 
 bi-hop of Flo- 
 rence, that, after 
 he had heard the 
 confession of 
 
 a wretched 
 usurer, he gave 
 no other absolu- 
 tion than this : 
 " God be merci- 
 ful to thee, if He 
 please, and for- 
 give th^e tliy 
 sins, which I do 
 not believe, and 
 bring thee to 
 eternal life, which 
 is impossible." 
 
 c Keith. 
 
 a "The meaning 
 is that the fire 
 of war consumes 
 both far and 
 near, both liair 
 and beard, i.e. 
 everything that 
 the tire can singe 
 or destroy.' '— . 
 Spk. Conu 
 
ITS 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xlviii. 44—47. 
 
 ** Tlio dcvasta- 
 ti'iu was to reacli 
 tlie most elc- 
 vatpil, au:l the 
 most remote, 
 parts of tlie 
 country." — Ihn- 
 dfrson. 
 
 " Next niglit— a 
 dreary iiiglit I 
 Cast on tlie 
 wildest of tlie 
 Cyclades i';li>s, 
 wlicre never Im- 
 man foot liail 
 mark'd the shore, 
 these ruirians left 
 me.. .. Beneath a 
 shade I sat me 
 down, more 
 heavily op- 
 pres.s'il. more de- 
 solate at heart 
 than e'er I felt 
 before : wlien 
 Philomela o'er 
 my liead befrau 
 to tune her 
 melancholy 
 strain, as piteous 
 of my woes ; till 
 by degrees, com- 
 posing sleep on 
 ■wounded nature 
 shed a kind but 
 short relief. At 
 early morn, 
 waked by tlie 
 chant of birds. I 
 look'd around for 
 usual oVijocts : 
 objects found I 
 none, excejit be- 
 fore me stretch'd 
 the toiling main, 
 and rocks and 
 ■wood,?, in savage 
 view, behind." — 
 Thomson. 
 " Open rebukes 
 are for magis- 
 trates and courts 
 of justice. I'ri- 
 vate rebukes are 
 for friends; 
 wlicroall the wit- 
 nesses of the 
 ofTender's blushes 
 are blind, and 
 deaf, and dumb." 
 — Filtlmin. 
 
 h Keith. 
 
 of these ancient flonrishing states, Volney, in plain but unmeant 
 illustration of this pi'fdiction. remarks, that the '• wretched 
 pcasaJits live in perpetual dread of losing the fruit of their 
 labours-: and no sooner have they gathered in their harvest, 
 than they hasten to secrete it in ])rivate places, and retire auiong 
 the rocks ■R-hich border on the Deail Sea." Towards the opposite 
 extremity of the land of Bloab. and at a little distance from its 
 borders, Seetzen relates that '• there are many families living iu 
 caverns ; " and he actually designates them " the inhabitants of 
 the rocks." And at the distance of a few miles from the ruined 
 site of Heshbon there are many artificial caves in a large range 
 of perpendicular cliifs, iu some of ■u'hich arc chambers and 
 small sleeping apartments. While the cities are desolate, with- 
 out any to dwell therein, the rocks are tenanted. But whether 
 iiocks lie down in the former without any to make them afraid, 
 or whetlier men are to be found dwelling in the latter, and are 
 I like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's 
 I mouth, the wonderful transition, in eilher case, and the close 
 I accordance, in both, of the fact to the prediction, assuredly 
 I mark it in characters that may be visible to the purblind mind, 
 I as the word of that God before whom the darkness of futurity is 
 j as light, and without whom a sparrow cannot fall tmto the 
 1 ground. And although chargeable with the impropriety of 
 i being somewhat out of place, it may not be here altogether 
 I improper to remark that, demonstrative as all these clear pre- 
 j dictions and coincident facts are of the inspiration of the 
 j Scriptures, it cannot but be gratifying to every lover of his kind, 
 i when he' contemplates that desolntion caused by many sins and 
 j fraught with many miseries, which the wickedness of nuan has 
 I wrought, and which the prescience of God revealed, to know 
 that all these prophecies, while they mingle the voice of wailing 
 with that of denunciation, are the word of that God who, 
 although He suffers not itiiqiiity to pass unpunished, overrules 
 evil for good, and makes the wrath of man to praise Him, and 
 who in the midst of judgment can remember mei'cy. And 
 reasoning merely from the " uniform exiierience " (to borrow a 
 term and draw an argument from Hume) of the truth of the 
 prophecies already fulfilled, the un]irejudiced mind will at once 
 perceive the full force of the proof derived from experience, 
 and acknowledge that it would bo a rejection of the authority 
 of reason as well as of revelation to mistrust the truth of that 
 prophetic afHrmation of resuscitating and redeeming import, 
 respecting Ammon and Moab, which is the last of the series, 
 and which alone now awaits futurity to stamp it with the 
 brilliant and crowning zeal of its testimony : "I will bring again 
 the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord. I will 
 bring again the captivity of the chiLlren of Ammon, saith the 
 Lonl. The remnant of My people sJiall possess them. They 
 shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desola- 
 tions, and they shall repair the waste cities, the dctolatious of 
 raauy geueratious."* 
 
Cap. xlix. 1—11.] 
 
 JEREMIAIT. 
 
 179 
 
 CHAPTER TEE FORTY-NINTH. 
 
 1 — 3. (1) Ammonites, the people settled north of the 
 MoabiLcs." no heir, "in seizing Giiead the Ammonites acted as 
 if the country had no rightful owner,'' or heir. their king, 
 or Melcom, their god.* (2) Rabbah, Am. i. 14 : comp. 2 Sa. 
 xii. 26 — 30. daughters, smaller towns and villages, be heir, 
 or victor. This was partly fulfilled in the time of the Maccabees. 
 (3) Ai, an unknown town, prob. near Heyhbou. hedges, or 
 vineyard walls. Running anywhere for shelter. 
 
 Places of burial {i\o). — The places of burial in the East are 
 without their cities, as well as their gardens, and consequently 
 their going to them must often be by their garden walls, not 
 hedges. The ancient warriors of distinction, who were slain in 
 battle, were carried to the sepulchres of their fathers : and the 
 people often went to weep over the graves of those whom they 
 would honour. These observations put together sufficiently 
 account for this passage.'^ 
 
 4—6. (4) gloriest . . valleys, the countiy was cut into 
 valleys by the streams flowing towards the Jordan, flowing 
 valley, flowing now with the blood of the slain." (5) right 
 forth, wdthout even makiug effort at resistance, so extreme will 
 be yom- fear, gather up, rally the fugitives. ((>) bring 
 again, ch. xlviii. -47. 
 
 Zeal for God. — Do not the " work of God negligently " and 
 idly : let not thy heart be upon the world, when thy hand is lift 
 up in prayer ; and be sure to prefer an action of religion in its 
 place and proper season before all worldly pleasure, letting 
 secular things, that may be dispensed with in themselves, in 
 these circumstances wait upon the other ; not like the patriarch 
 who ran from the altar in St. Sophia to his table in all his pon- 
 tificals, and in the midst of his oSice, to see a colt newly fallen j 
 from his beloved and much-valued mare Phorbante. More pru- i 
 dent and severe was that of Sir Thomas More, who being sent for ' 
 by the king when he was at his prayers in public, returned 
 answer, he would attend him when he had first performed his 
 service to the King of kings. And it did honour to Rusticus, 
 that ■when letters from Cajsar were given to him, he refused to 
 open them till the philosopher had done his lecture. In honour- 
 ing God and doing His w^ork put forth all thy strength ; for of 
 that time only thou mayest be most confident that it is gained, 
 which is prudently and zealously spent in God's service.* 
 
 7—11. (7) Edom, comp. Is. xxxiv. 5 ; Am. i. 11 ; Obad. 
 Edom lay along the south of Judah, from the district of Moab 
 to the Mediterranean, wisdom . . Teman, comj). Obad. 8. 
 "Teman was a strip of laud N.E. of Edom. It is here put for 
 Edom generally."" counsel, suited for times of emergency. 
 (8) dwell deep, turn your caravans into the very depths of the 
 desert, for there is danger in the well-known tracts. Dedan, 
 this people was noted for conducting caravans. (0) grape 
 gatherers, Obad. 5. (10) secret places, even the hiding- 
 places of Mt. Sier. his seed, i.e. the seed of Esau. (11) leave, 
 etc.. the usual sign of mercy mingling with judgment. 
 
 Martin Luther's mill, — In the last will and testament of this 
 m2 
 
 a Ge. xix. 37, 38. 
 For this prophecy 
 comp. Zep. ii. 9 ; 
 Am. i. 13 — 15. 
 " This prophecy 
 seems to have 
 been occasioneA 
 by their aggre.M- 
 sions and en- 
 croachments on 
 tlie territory of 
 Israel, E. of tho 
 Jordan, after tlis 
 deportation of 
 the ten tribes. 
 Tlie Ammonites 
 were subdued by 
 Nebuchadnezzar 
 five years after 
 tlie fall of Jeru- 
 salem." — Words- 
 icovth. 
 
 b 1 Ki. xi. 5, 33 , 
 2 Ki. xxiii. 13. 
 c Jlanner. 
 
 a " The abun- 
 dance of thy 
 valley."— jE'/rn/d. 
 
 " In the riches 
 of thy fat and 
 plentiful valleys, 
 which overflow 
 with abundance 
 of all things." — 
 Lotrth. 
 
 " With all the 
 zeal which young 
 and fiery con- 
 verts feel, v/ithiu 
 whose heated 
 bosoms throngs 
 the memory of 
 a thousand 
 wrongs." — Lord 
 /yrun. 
 
 b Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 a Gesenltis. 
 " Its inhabitants 
 w ere among 
 those 'children of 
 the East' famed 
 for wisdom, be- 
 cause of their 
 sldll in proverbs 
 and dark say-' 
 ing.s." — Spk.Com. 
 b When God de-' 
 si,?ns a people for 
 destruction. He. 
 deprives them cf 
 that common) 
 prudence find, 
 
180 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. xlix. 12—22. 
 
 foresifrht which 
 me reqiiisito for 
 the duo maiiajrc- 
 Bieiifc of tlipir 
 affairs." — Lnn-ili. 
 r. II. Dr. JJhiir, 
 iv. 4 !C. 
 c Cheeier. 
 
 a •• The I.lu- 
 nixans proiully 
 iiuagiiieil that 
 ttio terror wilii 
 which tlie cele- 
 brity of tlioir 
 power liail iii- 
 Pinred tliose by 
 •whom tliey were 
 s u r r o u u rl fi (1, 
 AvouM secure 
 thetn against any 
 hostile attacli." 
 — llenJcrsun. 
 
 f. 12. D?: n. ir. 
 
 HiimUlon, Colli/. 
 Lee. 431. 
 
 rv. 15 — 18. J. 
 Joicett, Lee. 137. 
 
 r.'lG. D): Jamie- 
 son, i. 'i'So. 
 
 a " From A.D. 
 6 36 onwards, 
 Ptitra suddenly 
 vanishes from 
 the pages of 
 history. It was 
 unknown to the 
 Arabs, was con- 
 founded by tlie 
 Crusaders witli 
 an entirely dif- 
 ferent place, and 
 only in the pre- 
 sent century was 
 its real site dis- 
 covered by 
 Burckhardt, and 
 full details piven 
 of its splendid 
 but desolate re- 
 mains by La- 
 fa o r d 8." — Spk. 
 Com. 
 
 h " 'When tlie 
 Jordan swells in 
 the time of har- 
 vests, the lions 
 that lie in tlie 
 thickets on the 
 river-side, are 
 raised out of 
 tlieircoverts.and 
 Infest the coun- 
 try."— itijc^A. 
 
 eminent reformer, occurs the follo^^'i^g• remarkable passage :— • 
 " Lord God, I thanlc Thee that Thou hast bjen phrased to make 
 me a poor and indigent man upon earth. I liave neither house, 
 nor land, nor money, to k^ave behind me. Thou hast given nia 
 wife and children, whom I now restore to Thee. Lord, nouri.sh, 
 teach, and preserve them, as Thou hast me.'' 
 
 12—16. (12) they . . cup, the Jews, who might be expected 
 to escape judgments, if any nation did. (I'.i) Bozrah, ch. 
 xlviii. 24. (llj rumour, cic, Obad. 1. (l.'j) small . . lieatlien, 
 Obad. 2. (16) dwellest . . rock, the cities of Edom were hewn 
 in the sides of seemingly inaccessible rocks, and in this the 
 people felt the utmost confidence and security." nest . . eagle, 
 Obad. 4. 
 
 JidcJi (liveirt7i(j.9. —In this beautifttl passage the Prophet strictly 
 adheres to the truth of history. Esau subdued the original in- 
 habitants of Mount Ilor, and seized on its savage and romantio 
 precipices. His descendants covered the sides of their mountains 
 '• with an endless variety of excavated tombs and private dwell- 
 ings, worked ottt in all the symmetry and regularity of art, with 
 colonnades and pediments, and ranges of corridors, adhering to 
 the perpendicular surface." On the inaccessible cliffs, which, iu 
 some places, rise to the h(>ight of seven hundred feet, and the 
 barren and craggy precipices which enclose the ruins of Petra, 
 the capital of the Nebataai, a once powerful but now forgotten 
 people, the eagle builds his nest, and screams for tlie safety of 
 his young, when the unwelcome traveller approaches his lonely 
 hibitation.* 
 
 17—22. (17) hiss, in mockery at the utter abasement of its 
 pride, plagues, or distresses. (18) overthrow, etc., Ge. xix. 
 25. neighbour cities, such as Admah and Zeboim." (10) he, 
 i.e. Nebuchadnezzar. Svvelling, or flood tiino.* appoint . . 
 time, marg. "prevent me in judgment." (20) least . . flock, 
 the weakest and humblest of the Chaldiean host, draw, or drag 
 them about, as a lion would a sheep. (21) is moved, or quakes. 
 (22) as eagle, ch. xlviii. 40. 
 
 I'ctra. — Petra, the ancient capital of Idumrca. hitherto wrapped 
 up in the deep recesses of solitude, remained until lately unknown. 
 Here was the cradle of commerce seventeen centuries ago ; the 
 emporium of northern Arabia, and the entrepot between Palestine, 
 and Syria, and Egj-pt. It was the birthplace of Balaam, and 
 renowned for oracles and auguries ; in it, as a strongliold, were 
 deposited the treasures of the sultans of Egypt : and yet the 
 name of Petra seemed to have become all but extinct with the 
 declension of the Roman power in the East. Here is a town 
 embosomed amid a fortress of mountains ; utier desolation reigna 
 over wonderful ruins, noble in decay, and sublime in their fall. 
 Jlount Ilor, with Aaron's tomb, surmounts the city of desolations, 
 the metropolis of moving sands, and a blighted desert. The 
 entrance is from the east, through a deej) gorge, or ravine, called 
 El sjih, and the river that supplied Edom ilowed through this 
 valley ; ihe wall of rock is from four hundred to seven hundred 
 feet high. The sides of this romantic chasm are clothed with 
 tamarisk, wild fig, oleander, and the caper plant, the latter 
 hanging in luxuriant festoons from cracks and crevices ; the 
 \ solitude is only disturbed by the screaming of eagles, hawks, owls, 
 
Cap. xlix. 23-27.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 181 
 
 and ravens, wliicli congregate here in vast multitudes. The 
 ruins burst on the eye of the astonished and bewildered traveller 
 in all their awful magnificence. This amphitheatre of mountains 
 is tinged with extraordinary hues, and is at once romantic and 
 picturesque. Sepulchres and tombs : sculptures, in all the 
 majesty of art, decorate these "everlasting hills;" more than 
 two hundi-ed and fifty sepulchres are chiselled in the rock. And 
 this is Edom, the metropolis of Iduma^a ! The stupendous ruins 
 the magnificent tombs, the amphitheatre, the columns, and 
 capitals, obelisks, friezes — all attest the magnificence which once 
 reigned in this mountain metropolis ; a city o-f desolation, which 
 even the bittern scarce disturbs, '• lines of confusion, and stones 
 of emptiness.'' The territory of the descendants of Esau is 
 swept as by " the besoni of destruction," and remains a miracle 
 of evidence, as palpable as any monument in the history of time. 
 Its eighteen cities are mouldered into dust, and the dwellers 
 Among the rocks, that " made their nests among the stars," are 
 brought low. The attention and contemplation seemed to be 
 here divided between the survey of '• nature, who invites attention 
 to her matchless girdle of rocks, wondrous as well for their colours 
 as their forms, and the men who feared not to intermingle the 
 works of their genius with such splendid efforts of creative 
 power. "'"^ 
 
 23—27. (2.S) Damascus, principal city of Sji-ia. Ilamath . . 
 Arpad, 2 Ki. xvii. 24. faintliearted, "the sinews are re- 
 laxed, unknit, thro' terror."' sorrow . . sea, i.e. as on the sea." 
 C24, 25) not left, not spared in the time of general calamity. 
 Damascus is a city noted for the beauty of its situation, etc.'' 
 of my joy, Z.,^. in which I delighted. (2()) therefore, better, 
 mrehj. {'11) fire. Am. i. 4. Ben-hadad/ the name, prob., of a 
 lace or dynasty of kings of Syria. 
 
 Wrccl! — a scene of frenzii and d'latrrpiy - 
 
 And now lash'd on by destiny severe, 
 
 "With horror fraught the dreadful scene drew near!- 
 
 The shijD hangs hovering on the verge of death, 
 
 Hell yawns, rocks rise, and breakers roar beneath t 
 
 In vain, alas ! the sacred shades of yore 
 
 "Would arm the mind with philosophic lore ; 
 
 In vain they'd teach us, at the latest breath, 
 
 To smile serene amid the piangs of death. 
 
 Even Zeno"s self, and Epictetus old. 
 
 This fell abyss had shuddered to behold. 
 
 Had Socrates, for godlike virtue famed, 
 
 And wisest of the sous of men proclaim'd, 
 
 Beheld this scene of frenzy and distress. 
 
 His soul had trembled to its last recess I 
 
 O yet confirm my heart, ye powers above, 
 
 This last tremendous sliock of fate to prove ; 
 
 The tottering frame of reason yet sustain ; 
 
 Kor let this total ruin whirl my brain 1 
 
 In vain the cords and axes were prepared, 
 
 For now the audacious seas insult the yard ; 
 
 High o'er the ship they throw a horrid shade, 
 
 And o'er her burst in terrible cascade. 
 
 Uplifted on the surge, to heaven she fiies, 
 
 Her shattered top half buri^sd in the skies ; 
 
 " 'Tis to be 
 happy that we 
 ruu after plea» 
 sures ; and covet 
 (•<ic') in every 
 thing in our own 
 proml will. But 
 we, alas ! niistaka 
 our happiness, 
 and foolishly 
 seek it where it 
 is not to be 
 found. As silly 
 chililren think 
 to catch the sun, 
 when they see it 
 setting at so near 
 a distance. They 
 travel on, and 
 tire themselves 
 in vain ; for the 
 thing they seek 
 is in another 
 world." — Bishop 
 Hickes. 
 
 c Murray. 
 
 a Comp. Is. lyiL 
 
 2U. 
 
 I) " This ancicnfc 
 ci ty was cele- 
 brated for its 
 felicitous posi- 
 tion, tlie exqui- 
 site lieauty of its 
 environs, the 
 magnitude of its 
 tenipV, and the 
 wealth of its in- 
 h abi tan ts."— 
 Ihndcrson. 
 
 c 2 Ki. xiii. 3. 
 
 " A ship that has 
 been driven by 
 wave and tem- 
 pest far up on 
 the beach, where 
 no tide can ever 
 come to lift her 
 off, but that lies 
 there, high and 
 dry, seams gap- 
 ing, s.ails rotting, 
 spai's falling, 
 hated of eai-th, 
 and driven out 
 from the water, 
 is not half so piti- 
 able an object as 
 a great man who 
 by policy, policy, 
 policy, has been 
 cairied out of the 
 deep channels of 
 honour, and lies 
 all awreck upon 
 the sliore of good 
 
182 
 
 JEREXtlAn. 
 
 [Cap. xlix. 28-39. 
 
 mpn a opinions. 
 —Il,rclifr. 
 
 " Tlio very rat^s, 
 instinctively hid 
 quit it: there 
 they hoist us, to 
 cry to tlie sea 
 that roar'd to us; 
 to sigh to tlie 
 ■winds, whoso 
 pity, sighinff 
 hack again, did 
 us but loving 
 wrong." — aiiake- 
 speare. 
 
 d ir. Falconer. 
 
 a " The very 
 noise of thn 
 enemies shall 
 fri'jrlit them, and 
 bring a panic 
 fear upon them." 
 —Loath. 
 
 b .Tnhn Flavel, 
 
 I69y. 
 
 •'TTe that en- 
 larges Ids curi- 
 osity after tlie 
 works of nature. 
 d e m oust r ably 
 multiplies the in- 
 lets to happiness ; 
 therefore we 
 slioulil cherish 
 arilour in tlie 
 pursuit of useful 
 knowledge, and 
 reineniliLr that a 
 blighted spring 
 ninkes a barren 
 year, and that 
 the vernal flow- 
 ers, however 
 beautiful and 
 pay, are only 
 intended by na- 
 ture; as prepara- 
 tives toautninnal 
 frwits." -Jv/iHMH. 
 
 a Ki-ilh. 
 
 a Is. xxii. C. 
 
 '' The reason for 
 the judgment on 
 the I'^laiuites does 
 ni'ta))pear. They 
 &0 uut beem, as 
 
 Then beafUong pi nn.i,'-iu,e^ thundcr.s on the g^roiind. 
 
 Earth groans ! air tn in hies ! and the deeps resound I 
 
 Her giaut bulk the dread concussion feels, 
 
 And quivering with the wound, in torment reels. 
 
 Again she pluuges ! hark 1 a second shock 
 
 Tears her strong bottom on the marble rock I 
 
 Down on the vale of death, with disinal erics, 
 
 The fated victims shuddering roll their eyes 
 
 In wild despair, while yet another stroke, 
 
 "With deep convulsion, rends the solid oak : 
 
 Till like the mine, in whose infernal cell 
 
 The lurking demons of destruction dwell, 
 
 At length asunder torn her frame divides, 
 
 And crashing sj^reads in ruin o'er the tides.'* 
 
 28, 29. (28) Kedar, ch. ii. 10. Hazor, a district in Arabia 
 Petrtea, divided into districts, each presided over by a petly chief. 
 (2'.}) curtains, or tent hangings, fear, ctc.,'^ Muyor-viisMihib, 
 see ch. vi. 25. 
 
 Aiiihition. — What are all the vain and empty titles of honour, 
 to the glorious and substantial privileges with which believers 
 are dignified, and raised above all other men by Jesus Christ ? 
 He is the Son of God, and they are the sons of God also ! He is 
 the " Heir of all things,' and they are joint-heirs with Christ J 
 He reigns in glory, and they shall reign with Him ! He sits 
 upon the throne, and they shall sit with Him on His throne. Oh 
 that believers did but understand their own happiness and 
 privileges by Christ, they would never droop and sink under 
 every small trouble as they do.* 
 
 30—33. (30) get . . off, or hurry hastily away, dwell 
 deep, as V. 8. (31) arise, addressed to Nebuchadnezzar, with- 
 out care, in the sense of its security, neither . . bars, cvmp. 
 De. iii. 5 ; Eze. xxxviii. 11. (32) utmost corners, mc ch. ix. 
 26. (33) dragons, or jackals ; (ch. x. 22) or serpents. 
 
 Dntdpn.t. — It shall be a habitation for- dragons (serpents). I 
 laid his heritage waste for the diagons of the wilderness. The 
 evidence, though derived from testimouj', and not from per!>onal 
 observation, of two travellers of so contrary characters and views 
 as Shaw and Volney, is so accordant and apposite, that it may 
 well be sustained in lieu of more direct proof. The former re- 
 presents the land of Edom, and the wilderness of which it now 
 forms part, as abounding with a variety of lizards and vipers, 
 which are very dangerous and troublesome. And the narrative 
 given by Volney, already quoted, isecpially decisive as to the fact. 
 The Arabs, in general, avoid the ruins of the cities of Iduma^a, 
 " on account of the enormous scorjiions with which they swarm." 
 Its cltie ', thus deserted by man, and abandoned to their undis- 
 turbed and hereditary jjossession, Edom may justly be called the 
 inheritance of dragons." 
 
 34 — 39. (31) Elam, the province of Elymais. part of Susiana, 
 W. of Persia proper. (3.")) bow of Elani, this country was 
 famed for its archers." (3G) the four winds, it is said that 
 whirlwinds seem to blow from all quarters. " Wars and commo- 
 tions are metaphorically denoted by winds." (37) dismayed, 
 etc., for coutirmatiou of this prophecy, comp. Ua. viii. 2, 27. 
 
Cap. 1. 1—8.] 
 
 JEREillAK 
 
 183 
 
 (r,8) destroy . . king, i.e. ELim would lose its independent 
 Bovereicfuty. (39) bring again, comj}. ch. xlviii. 47.* 
 
 Of all the causes whicli conspire to blind 
 Mans erring judgement, and misguide the mind, 
 What the weak head with strongest bias rules, 
 Is pride, the never-i'ailing vice of fools. 
 "Whatever nature has in worth denied, 
 ^he gives in large recruits of needful pride ; 
 For as in bodies, so in souls, we find, 
 "What wants in blood and spirits till'd with wind : 
 Pride, where wit fails, steps iu to our defence, 
 And fills up all the mighty void of sense. 
 If once right reason drives that cloud away. 
 Truth breaks upon us with resistless day. 
 Trust not yourself : but. your defects to know, 
 Make use of every friend and every foe.<= 
 
 CHAPTER TEE FIFTIETH. 
 
 1 — 3. (1) against, as before, better rend, concerning. This 
 prophecy was given in the fourth year of Zedekiah : see ch. li. 
 6U, GO." (2) set . . standard, or flag, to call attention to the 
 herald"s message. Bel, Is. xlvi. 1. Merodacli, or Mardiilt, 
 the tutelary God of Babylon, Is. xxxix. 1. confounded, bee] 
 unable to protect the city they were supposed to defend. (3) 
 nortll, the district of Media.* 
 
 iS'tHUfrs returning to God(rv.\ — 5). — I. In those days the chil- 
 dren of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah, together, 
 — so enmities are to be abolished. II. Going- and weeping : going 
 whither / weeping wherefore .' going to Ziou with tears of joy 
 and gratitude. III. They seek the Lord their God. IV. They 
 ask their way to Zion with their faces thitherward. V. Come 
 and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a i^erpetual covenant." 
 
 BroJtoi images (v. 2). — As it was generally believed that the 
 divinity abandoned any figure or image which was mutilated or 
 broken, this pro23lietio declaration may be considered as asserting 
 the destruction of the idols. Such a sentiment still prevails 
 among the heathen. Dr. Buchanan, who visited many Indian 
 provinces at the commencement of the seventeenth century, 
 mentions that a Polygar chief, about two hundred and fifty years 
 before, had been directed by the god Ganesa to search for trea- 
 sures under a certain image, and to erect temples and reservoirs 
 with whatever money he should find. " The treasures were ac- 
 cordingly found, and applied as directed ; the image from under 
 which the treasures had been taken was shown to me, and I was 
 Bui-prised at finding it lying at one of the gates quite neglected. 
 On asking the reason why the pcoj^le allowed their benefactor to 
 remain in such a plight, ho informed me that the finger of the 
 image having been broken, the divinity had deserted it : for no 
 mutilated image is considered as habitable by a god."'' 
 
 4 — S. (i) come, or return, weeping, partly with joy at so 
 unexpected an opportunity ; partly in penitence called forth by 
 the sense of the Divine goodness and faithfulness. (5) faces 
 thitlierward, indicating set purpose to journey to Zion. per- 
 
 a people, to have 
 mulcsted the He- 
 brews. It is pos- 
 sible tliat they 
 may have been 
 addicteil to ido- 
 lan-}-, anil thus 
 been distinguish- 
 ed fi'oni the 
 Persians proper, 
 wliose relisrioniii 
 the njain \va3 
 inoiiotheistic."'- 
 Ui'iiUei son. 
 
 b Comp. Ac. ii. 9, 
 
 c Pope. 
 
 a B.C. 593. 
 
 b "The devasta- 
 tation of Babylon 
 liere foretold in- 
 cludes not only 
 that by Cyrus, 
 but also that 
 more utter one 
 by Darius, who 
 took Babylon by 
 artiiice, wlien it 
 had revolted 
 
 from Persia, and 
 ' mercilessly 
 slaughtered the 
 inhabitants, 
 I hanging 4,U0O of 
 I the nobles ; also 
 I the final deser- 
 j tion of Babj-loa 
 I owing to Seleucia 
 having beea 
 built close by 
 under fc-ekucus 
 Kioauor."— /'auj- 
 Sel. 
 
 c Gamma in 400 
 Skts. 
 
 d Burder. 
 
 a "As long as the 
 . sheep are in the 
 
 fold, it is a tres- 
 
 pass to attack 
 1 them, and is 
 i punished as such. 
 
 But Israel haviag 
 
184 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. 1. 9-13. 
 
 left the fold, has 
 now no owner. 
 anl may tliere- 
 fore lie inal- 
 treateil with iiii- 
 pu 11 i ty."—Spk. 
 Com. 
 
 h " T.eatl ye the 
 way for the 
 people, out of 
 Balrylon, as th? 
 he-goats press 
 forward, and 
 place themselves 
 at the head of 
 the flocks, and 
 lead them to pas- 
 t ur e."— Words- 
 xcorth. 
 
 tv. 4, 5. J, Dur- 
 ham, 177; Dr. 11. 
 IIiDtler, i. 'I'A, ii. 
 306; J. CiiniiiiKj- 
 h(im. ii. 15(1; C. 
 Bradlt^j, ii. 82. 
 
 V. 5. J. Diu-ham. 
 214; ,S. Iti'iidrr, 
 399 ; G. Camp- 
 Ml, 231; Noah 
 Hill, 22 ; /. Srnll, 
 27; C. Bnidley, 
 ii. 104; H. ilel- 
 vill, ii. 155. 
 
 e II. Melvill, B.D. 
 
 a Some render, 
 " as a heifer 
 t h r e s h i n g," 
 Whi'oh being nn- 
 muzzled would 
 eat abundantly 
 and become 
 frisky. 
 
 "Common happi- 
 ness is sustained, 
 not by great 
 e.xertions, wliich 
 are in the power 
 of a few, an<l 
 happen rarely 
 even to them, 
 but by gn.'at 
 numbers doing 
 everyone a little, 
 every one sonie- 
 thinpr in his par- 
 ticular province, 
 to his particular 
 n eigUbonrluiod. 
 This is the way 
 in which Trovi- 
 llence intended 
 friciety to be car- 
 ried on, and be- 
 neficence to be 
 exercig ei" — 
 
 petual covenant, Ne. viii. 38, x. 29. (G) on the moun- 
 tains, -n-here they sacrifice to their idols, resting place, 
 Jchorah. the only true source of g-ooil. (7) devourod them, 
 as wild beasts would wandering- sheep. offend not, exou-iug- 
 themselves as being: agents of Jt hovali, who was angry with Kis 
 lieople." habitation of justice, cdm/). ch. xxxi. 23. (8; he 
 goats, which go first, and lead the flock.* 
 
 Seeking, after Jiadliifi {v. 5). — I. It must become a Christian to 
 be always inquiring the way to Zion like one who knows he 
 may be deceived, but — 1. It is comforting to remember that we 
 are not to stand or fall by human decii^ion ; 2. There are cases of 
 depression in which one cause or another weaves darkness round 
 a man, so that while his face is towards Zion he cannot perceive 
 that he is on the road ; 3. A Christian should never be too confi- 
 dent ; 4. It follows that you ought to be imitating in a.skiug as 
 to the road to Zion : the dead ; the living ; the Bible ; God ; 5. 
 It is a question not merely for beginners but for most advanced 
 Christians ; (j. It does not imply doubt so much as caution. II. 
 We have the case of those who are certified as to the direction in 
 which they are proceeding, by busj-ing themselves in iuquiriea 
 as to the way. 1. Christianity is that in which no man can be 
 too advanced to study the alphabet ; 2. There cannot be a worse 
 symptom in an individual or congregation than a distaste for the 
 elementary truths and facts of Christianity : 3. This then is the 
 test: what here are simple truths simply delivered ; for with the 
 believer, what was glad news at the beginning is glad news to 
 the end ; 4. There must be real honesty of purpose ; there is such 
 a thing as asking the way to Zion with the face towards Babylon ; 
 5. God giveG more grace in proportion as that akeady given ia 
 improved." 
 
 9—13. (9) assembly, etc., the mixed annies of liledes. Per^ 
 sians, and their allies, from thence, i.e. by the great nations 
 coming from the north, none . . vain, none of the warriors 
 .shall return without aiding in the conquest : or none of the 
 arrows shall fail of their aim. (10) satisfied, with the abun- 
 dance they bear away. (11) fat, big, corpulent, so proud, 
 heifer at grass, who might eat her fill, indulge how she 
 pleased." (12) Omit the words. .« 7m// ic. Babylon waste become 
 the hindmost of the nations, a wilderness, etc. (13) Comp. ch. 
 xix. 8, xlix. 17. 
 
 Mevodach. — Merodach was a name, or a title, common to the 
 princes and kings of Babylon, of which, in the brief Scriptural 
 references to their history, two instances are recorded, viz., Mero- 
 dach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, who exer- 
 cised the office of government, and Evil-Merodach, who lived iu 
 the days of Jeremiah. From Merodaeh being here associated 
 with Bel, or the temple of Belus. and from the similarity of 
 their judgments — the one bowed down and confounded, and the 
 other broken in pieces — it may reasonably be inferred that some 
 other famous Babylonian building is here also denoted ; while, 
 at the same time, from the express identity of the name with 
 that of the kings of Babylon, and even with Evil-Merodach, then 
 residing there, it may with equal reason be inferred that, under 
 the name of Merodaeh, the palace is spoken of by the Prophet. 
 And next to the idolatrous temple, as the seat of false wor.-hip 
 which corrupted and destroyed the nations, it may well be 
 
Cap. 1. 14-20.] 
 
 JETIEMIAH. 
 
 185 
 
 imagined that the royal residence of the despot who made the 
 earth to tiemble and oppressed the loeoj^le of Israel, would be 
 selected as the marked object of the righteous judgments of God. 
 And secondary only to the Bii^s Nimrood in the greatness of its 
 ruins is the Mujelibe, or Makloube, generally understood and 
 described by travellers as the remains of the chief palace of 
 Babylon.* 
 
 14 — 16. (14) ptlt . . array, post yourselves in good positions. 
 (15; £liout, as conquerors do. lOLindations, hetier. buttrmxcfi. 
 (IG) sower, so that even the fields shall not be tilled. "Grain 
 was grown within the city wall sufficient to last for a long 
 sii'ge. '" " Conquerors usually spare agriculturists." 
 
 I ahicc at Lahijam. — The palace of the king of Babylon almost 
 vied with the great temple of their god. And there is now some 
 controversy, in which of the principal mountainous heajos the 
 one or the other lies buried. But the utter desolation of both 
 leaves no room for any debate on the question, — which of the 
 twain is bowed down and confounded, and which of them is 
 broken in pieces. The two palaces, or castles, of Babylon were 
 strongly fortiiicd. And the larger was suriounded by three 
 walls of great extent. When the city was suddenly taken by 
 Demetrius, he seized on one of the castles by surprise, and dis- 
 placed its garrison by seven thousand of his own troops, whom 
 he stationed within it. Of the other he could not make himself 
 master. Their extent and strength, at a period of three hundred 
 years after the deliver}- of the prophecy, are thus sufhciently 
 demonstrated. The solidity of the structure of the greater as 
 well as of the lesser palace, might have warranted the belief of 
 its unbroken durability for ages. And never was there a build- 
 ing whose splendour and magnificence were in greater contrast 
 to its present desolati':>n. The vestiges of the walls which sur- 
 rounded it are still to be seen, and serve with other circumstances 
 to identify it with the Mujelibe. as the name Merodach is 
 identified with the palace. It is broken in pieces, and hence its 
 name Mujelibe, signifying overturned, or turned upside down. 
 Its circumference is about half a mile ; its height one hundred 
 and forty feet. Bttt it is '• a mass of confusion, none of its 
 members being distinguishable." The existence of chambers, 
 passages, and cellars, of different forms and sizes, and built of 
 different materials, has been fully ascertained. It is the recep- 
 tacle of wild beasts, and full of doleful creatures ; wild beasts cry 
 in the desolate houses, and dragons in the pleasant palaces — 
 " venomous reptiles being very nimierous throughout the ruins." 
 "All the sides are worn into furrows by the weather, and in 
 some places where several channels of rain have united together, 
 these furrows are of great depth, and penetrate a. considerablo 
 way into the mound." '■ The sides of the ruin exhibit hollows 
 worn partly by the weather." It is brought down to the grave, 
 to the sides of the pit.* 
 
 17 — 20. n?) scattered sheep, dwelling in different parts 
 of the Babylonish kingdom. " Like a f oek driven and scared in 
 all directions." king of Assyria, Shahnaneser. (18) have 
 punished, in the destruction of Nineveh." (I It) habitation, 
 or pasturage. Carmel, cic, places noted for their rich pastures.* 
 (20; those days, perhaps referring to the more distajat times 
 
 '• T;iou floest xi.^ 
 wrong ill seeking 
 a scar in a smooth 
 skill." — Lyly. 
 
 b Keith, 
 
 a Aristotle, 
 
 " The happiness 
 of life consists, 
 like the day. not 
 ill single lia-hes 
 (of liglit). but in 
 one continuous 
 niilil serenity. 
 1 he most beau- 
 tiful period of 
 the heart's exist- 
 ence is ill this 
 calm equable 
 light, even al- 
 though it be only 
 moonshine or 
 twihght. Now 
 the mind alone 
 can obtain for us 
 this heavenly 
 cheerfulness and 
 peace. "-A'icA/e?'. 
 
 " Go, fix some 
 weighty truth ; 
 cliain down some 
 passion ; do some 
 generous deed ; 
 teach ignorance 
 to see, or grief to 
 smile; correct 
 thy friend, be- 
 friend thy great- 
 est foe ; or, with 
 warm heart, and 
 confidence di- 
 vine, fpring up, 
 and lay strong 
 hold on Him 
 who made thee." 
 — I'vuiig. 
 
 "A hundred 
 mouths, a hun- 
 dred tongues and 
 threats of brass 
 inspired with 
 iri.ii lungs." — 
 Virgil. 
 
 b Keith, 
 
 a " At the taking 
 of this city, the 
 last king of As- 
 syria was killed, 
 and the seat and 
 title of the em- 
 pire removed to 
 Babylon, wh. wm 
 
186 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. L 21-24. 
 
 no limger called ' 
 the Assyrian, but 
 the Uabyuiiiiau 
 mo liar o hy." — 
 Ltul/i. 
 
 b Is. l\v. 10; Eze. 
 xxxiv. 13, 14. 
 
 f. 20. S. S. Pierce, 
 2'&. 
 
 Happiness is like 
 mauaa ; it is to 
 be gathered iu 
 grains and en- 
 303-ed every day. 
 It will uot keuj), 
 it cauuub be 
 accumulated, nor 
 liave we to go 
 out of ourselves 
 or into remote 
 places to gather 
 it, since it has 
 rained dotvu tr. 
 heaven, at our 
 Very doors, or 
 ratlier witliiuside 
 them. 
 
 c Keith. 
 
 a This appears 
 to be intended as 
 a name for Baby- 
 lon. 
 
 6 '• Because she 
 is tlie land of 
 ■ Jifcral/mim, or 
 double rebellion, 
 therefore she is 
 the land of I'l'kod, 
 or visitation ; i.e. 
 of punishment 
 from God." — 
 Wnrdsienrlli. 
 The falling 
 masses bear evi- 
 dent proof of tlie 
 operation of tire 
 having been con- 
 tinued on them, 
 as well after they 
 were broken 
 
 down as before, 
 since every ])art 
 of their surface 
 has been so 
 equally exposed 
 to it, that many 
 of them have ac- 
 quired a rouniled 
 foriu, and in 
 none can the 
 place of separa- 
 tion from its ad- 
 joining one be 
 traced by any 
 appearance of 
 superior fresli- 
 
 of the Messiah, not found, com^K Ps. s. 15, xxsviii. 36 ; 
 Is. xli. 12. 
 
 'J'na.fiiir.'i of Chahhra. — And after the incessant spoliation of 
 ages, now that the cud is come of the treasures of Chaldiua. the 
 eurlh itself fails not to disclose its hidden treasures, so as to 
 testify that they once were abundant. In proof of this an in- 
 stance ma}' be f;ivcn. At the ruins of Hooniauia. near to those 
 of Ctesiphon, pieces of silver having (on the oth JIarch, 1812) 
 been accidentally discovered, edging out of the bank of the 
 Tigris, '• on examination there were found and brought away," 
 by jocrsons sent for that purpose by the pacha of Bagdad's officers, 
 " between six and seven hundred ingots of silver, each measuring 
 from one to one and a half feet iu length ; and an earthen jar, 
 containing upwards of two tliousand Athenian coins, all of silver. 
 Many were jjurchased at the time by the late Mr. lUch, formerly 
 the East India Company's resident at Bagdad, and are now in his 
 valuable collection, since bought by Government, and deposited 
 in the British Museum.'' Amid the ruins of Ctesiphon '• the 
 natives often pick up coins of gold, silver and copper, for which 
 they always find a ready sale in Bagdad. Indeed, some of the 
 wealthy Turks and Armenians, who are collecting for several 
 French and German consuls, hire people to go and search for 
 coins, medals, and antique gems ; and I am assured they never 
 return to their employers empty-handed." as if all who spoil 
 Chaldffia shall be satisfied, till even the ruins be spoiled unto the 
 uttermost."^ 
 
 21—24. (21) Merathaim, or fhf rclch." This command is 
 given to Cyrus and his allies. Pekod, or rlsitation ; prob. a 
 district of Babylonia, and hero used as another symbolic name 
 for Babylon.* (22, 23) hammer . . earth, Is. xiv. 4—0, 1(5, 17. 
 desolation, com p. Re. xviii. IS). (21) snare, Cyrus took the 
 city by surprise, by draining the Euphrates. 
 
 JJoifrKction of JJtibijloii hij frc. — On the summit of the hill are 
 " immense fragments of brick-work of no determinate figures, 
 tumbled together, and converted into solid vitrified masses." 
 " Some of these huge fragments measured twelve feet in height, 
 by twenty-four in circumference ; and from the circumstance of 
 the standing brick- work having remained in a perfect state, the 
 change exhibited iu the.se is only accountable from their having 
 been exposed to the fiercest fire, or rather scathed by lighting." 
 " They are completely molten — a strong presumption that fire 
 was used in the destruction of the tower, which, in parts, resem- 
 bles what the Scriptures prophesied it should become. ' a burnt^ 
 mountain.' In the denunciation respecting Babylon, fire is par-* 
 ticularly mentioned as an agent against it. To this Jeremiah 
 evidently alludes, when he says that it should be ' as when God 
 overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,' on which cities, it is said. ' the 
 Lord rained brimstone and fire.' ' Iler high gates shall be 
 j burned with fire, and the people shall labour in vain, and the 
 ; folk in the fire, and they shall be weary,' " '• In many of these 
 , immense unshapen masses might be .traced. the gradual effects of 
 j the consuming power, which liad produced so remarkable an ap- 
 pearance ; exhibiting parts burnt to that variegated dark hue, 
 I seen in the vitrified matter lying about in glass manufactories ; 
 while, through the whole of these awful testimonies of the fire 
 j (whatever lire it was !) which, doubtless, hurled them from their 
 
Cap. 1.25-28.] 
 
 JEREMIAIT. 
 
 187 
 
 original elevation " (I will roll thee down from the rocks), " the 
 regular lines of the cement are visible, and so hardened in com- 
 mon with the bricks, that when the masses are struck they ring 
 like glass. On examining the base of the standing wall, con- 
 tiguous to these huge transmuted substances, it is found tolerablj' 
 free from any similar changes — in short, quite in its original 
 state ; hence.' continues 8ir Kobert Kcr Porter, " I di-aw the 
 conclusion, that the consuming power acted from above, and 
 that the scattered ruin fell from some higher point than the 
 summit of the present standing fragment. The heat of the fire 
 which produced such amazing effects must have burned with 
 the force of the strongest furnace ; and from the general ap- 
 pearance of the cleft in the wall, and these vitrified masses, I 
 should be induced to attribute the catastrophe to lightning from 
 heaven. Ruins by the explosion of any combustible matter would 
 have exhibited very difterent appearances.""^ 
 
 25—28. (25) armoury, storehouse of weapons. God's 
 weapons for the judgment of nations are war, famine, pestilence, 
 disease, and death. (2G) utmost border, i.e. even the hind- 
 most parts of the army. Some refer it to the long distance from 
 which the Median army came, storehouses, or granaries, as 
 heaps, of corn, to be burnt as a bonfire." (27) bullocks, fig. 
 for her strong youths, or princes, magnates. (28) them that 
 flee, esp. the Jews, of his temple, wh. the C'haldaiaus had 
 destroyed. 
 
 Drstnicflnn of Bttltjlon htj fire. — The high gates of the temple 
 of Eelus, which were standing in the time of Herodotus, have 
 been burnt with fire ; the vitrified masses which fell when Bel 
 bowed down rest on the top of its stupendous ruins. " The hand 
 of the Lord has been stretched upon it ; it has been rolled down 
 from the rocks, and has been made a burnt mountain," — of 
 which it. was further prophesied, "They shall not take of thee a 
 Btone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations, but thou shalt be 
 desolate for ever, saith the Lord." The old wastes of Zion shall 
 be built; its former desolations shall be raised up : and Jerusalem 
 shall be inhal)ited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 
 But it shall not be with Bel as with Zion, nor with Babylon as 
 with Jerusalem. For as the " heaps of rubbish imj^regnated with 
 nitre " which cover the site of Babylon " cannot be cultivated," 
 BO the vitrified masses on the summit of Birs Nimrood cannot be 
 rebuilt. Though still they be of the hardest substance, and in- 
 destructible by the elements, and though once they formed the 
 highest ]iinuacles of Belus, yet, incapable of being- hewn into any 
 regular form, they neither are nor can now be taken for a corner 
 or for foundations. And the bricks on the solid fragments of 
 wall, which rest on the summit, though neither scathed nor 
 molten, are so firmly cemented, that, according to Mr. Eich, " it 
 is nearly impossible to detach any of them whole," or*, as Captain 
 Mignan still more forcibly states, "they are so firmly cemented, 
 that it is utterly impossible to detach any of them." " My most 
 violent attempts," savs Sir Robert Ker Porter, " could not separate 
 them." And Mr. Buckingham, in assigning reasons for lessening 
 the wonder at the total disappearance of the walls at this distant 
 period, and speaking of the Birs Nimrood generally, observes, 
 '■ that the burnt bricks (the only ones sought after) which are 
 found in the filujelibe, the Kasr, and the Birs Nimrood, the Oiily 
 
 ness, or any 
 exe nptiou from 
 the influeiico of 
 the destroying 
 flame. 
 
 '• The common 
 course of things 
 is in favour of 
 liappiness ; hap- 
 piness is the 
 rule, misery tlie 
 exception. Were 
 tlie order re- 
 versed, our at- 
 tention would be 
 called to ex- 
 amples of health 
 and competency, 
 instead of disease 
 and want." — 
 Falpy. 
 c KaiUl. 
 
 a " This meta- 
 phor desciihes 
 ihe suddenness, 
 ease, and com- 
 pleteness with 
 which Babylon 
 will be taken and 
 spoiled ; it will be 
 like the confla- 
 gration of a barn 
 of coru."-IKo/-dj>- 
 icoii/i. 
 
 "Ai-iosto, in one 
 of his romantic 
 legends, tells us 
 of a tree, many- 
 branched, and 
 covered witii de- 
 lectable bunches ; 
 but whoso shook 
 that tree to win 
 tlie fruit, found, 
 too late, that not 
 fruit, but stones 
 of crushing 
 weight, came 
 down upon his 
 head. The sen- 
 sualities which 
 fools call pleasure 
 are such a tree : 
 they who seek its 
 fruit become its 
 victim s." — (S. 
 Coley. 
 
 " All men that 
 have r a m-b 1 e d 
 after happiness 
 have failed ; nei- 
 ther learning, nor 
 fame, nor wealth, 
 nor pleasure, 
 taken separately 
 or jointly, could 
 ever give it, 
 without actinp 
 up to the heigb 
 
183 
 
 JEREillAH. 
 
 [Cap. 1. 2Q-AO. 
 
 «nil (iignity of 
 liuinan natnrp, 
 awX ppttiiij: a 
 /i^ht set of prin- 
 ciples fortlioufjlit 
 anil practico; 
 aiiioiis--<t wliioli 
 may be rockoiieil 
 the love of jus- 
 tice, tempeniMC(\ 
 fortitivle, aiul 
 benevolence. " — 
 Anloiiinus. 
 b Keith. 
 
 B Comp. Job xvi. 
 13. 
 
 6 " The Baby- 
 lonians were so 
 discouraged by 
 liaviiig lost some 
 battles, that they 
 retireil within 
 the walls of tlie 
 city, and could 
 not be induced 
 to meet Cyrus 
 again in the 
 field." — Nendei- 
 ton. 
 
 a " Babylon has 
 hitherto, by its 
 ambition, kept 
 the world in un- 
 rest : now by its 
 fall men every- 
 where can rlwcll 
 in security." — 
 Spk. Com. 
 
 Is. xiv. 6—8. 
 
 i Stems and 
 Twigs. 
 
 a D. doten, F. ra- 
 doter. 
 
 6 Or hired sol- 
 diers from the 
 Burrouudiug na- 
 tions. 
 
 c " Many of their 
 idols were huge 
 and grotesque in 
 nppeai'ance, and 
 calculated to in- 
 spire beholders 
 ■wit!) terror." — 
 Jii'ii derson. 
 
 " Fnlly to under- 
 stand this lias- 
 sage, a person 
 must see the 
 frenzy of the 
 heathen when 
 they get a sight 
 of thfir idols. 
 Thus, when the 
 
 three great monuments in whicli there are any traces of their 
 having been used, are so difficult, in the two la.st indeed so im- 
 possible, to be extracted whole, from the tenacity of the cement 
 iu which they are laid, that they could never have been resorted 
 to while any considerable portion of the walls existed to furnish 
 an easier supply : even now. though some portiou of the mounds 
 on the eastern bank of the river"' (the Birs is on the western 
 side) " are occasionally' dug into for bricks, they are not extracted 
 without a comparatively great expense, and very few of them 
 whole, in proportion to the g'reat number of fragments that come 
 up with them." Around the tower there is not a single whole 
 brick to be seen.* 
 
 29—32. (29) archers,« r. 14. (30) therefore, etc., oh. xlix. 
 2G. (31) most proud, Jlch. " pride." " man of pride." Bab. 
 is the peisouification of pride. (32) fire . . oities, Cyrus seem.s 
 to have ravaged the Babylonian district for twenty j-ears before 
 taking Bay Ion itself. 
 
 The Ahiiifjhtij Deliverer (vv. .31 — 34). — I. God's vengeance on 
 His enemies. II. His merciful interposition on behalf of His 
 people. 1. An interesting title to be considered ; 2. An im- 
 })ortant qualification referred to ; 3. A convincing proof adduced ; 
 4. A gracious fact declared. 
 
 33, 34. (33) refused. . . go, therefore the strong arm o<t 
 Jehovah must deliver them, by judgments on their enemiea. 
 (34) Redeemer, or Goel, avenger, tiie land, orearth.** 
 
 The .strenrith of ihe Iledeemer {v. 34). — I. These words suggest a. 
 difficulty : why does Israel so often suffer ? 1. God does not 
 display His strength at once in order to glorify it ; 2. In order 
 to make His people lay hold of it ; 3. Hereby He chastens His 
 people ; 4. And instructs them : o. And that He may show 
 mercy to their oppressors. II. These words convey a blessed 
 truth ; 1. Consider the might of the enemies from whom He de- 
 livers them ; 2. Consider the completeness of the deliverance ; 
 3. Consider that He upholds to the end all whom He has redeemed. 
 III. These words imply a terrible warning — 1. To all who op- 
 press God's people ; 2. To all who reject Hia help.* 
 
 35 — 40. (35) sword, symbol of war. "Wise men, MariU Da. 
 i. 4. (30) liars, impostors ; the astrologers or scothsnyers are 
 referred to. dote," or rave : talk idlj', senselessly. (37) min- 
 gled people, mixed races,* many of whom had been brought to 
 Babylon as captives, like the Jews, as women, divested of all 
 manliness. (38) drougllt, better read here "a sword." Refer- 
 ei;ce is to Cyrus emptying the bed of the Eu]ihrates. idols, lit. 
 terrtir.^." "Mere bugbears to frighten children with." (39) 
 wild, pfc, Is. xiii. 21. (40) Sodom, etc.. Ge. six. 25 : Je. xlix. 18. 
 
 llahi/lon and 2'rnphecy. — This possibly refers to a circumstance 
 attending the capture of the city by the Persians ; but it more 
 probably alludes to the physical condition of the country. The 
 plain in which Babylon stands is exposed to long drought and 
 intense heat in summer, so that the dry soil must have been at 
 all times perfectly barren without artificial irrigation ; but with 
 such irrigation the ground is, even at this day. of unexampled 
 fertility, except upon the wide-spread grit and debris of desolated 
 cities. Therefore it was that the land exhibited one of th3 most; 
 extensive and complicated syst&ms of irrigation that the world 
 
Cap. 1.41-46.] 
 
 JEREMlAff. 
 
 189 
 
 ever saw. It was overrun with innumerable canals in all direc- 
 tions — the largest of them navigable and feeding others, diminish- 
 ing in imp;>rtauce with their distance from the trunk. Ihe^e, 
 as well as the parent river, were bordered with an infinity of 
 hjalraulic machines, by which the water was raised and dis- 
 tributed into the fields and gardens. The same plan is still 
 pursued, to a limited extent, at some spots in the immediate 
 vicinity of the rivers. But it is now literally true of Eabjlon 
 that •■ a drouyht is upon her waters, and they are dried up." 'Yet 
 still the lines and ridges of innumerable canals remain, which 
 enable the spectator to trace the general .system, and to verify 
 the ancient historians as well as the prophecies of Scripture : the 
 whole being strongly calculated to show the ei;tent to which 
 human skill and industry were once employed in giving to this 
 now desolate region that fertility for which it was in old times 
 celebrated. This explanation seems to us to give much force to 
 the present prediction, since there can be no country the subsis- 
 tence of which more entirely depended upon a complicated 
 system of irrigation. Wherever water is applied in this region 
 (with the ex«eption already made), the productive powers of the 
 Boil and climate cannot be exceeded ; but where that is wanting, 
 it becomes a naked desert. 
 
 41 — 44. (41) many kings, in the allied army under Cyrus, 
 coasts, or remote parts. (42) cruel, Is. xiii. 17, 18. like a 
 man, in orderly array, so as to seem like one great man moving 
 on. (43) waxed, feeble, so that he attempted no resistance. 
 Compare the panic of Belshazzar, Da. v. 6. (44) like a lion, 
 ch. xlix. 19.« 
 
 Predictions concernincf Bahylflti. — The united testimonies. 
 given without allusion to the prediction, afford a better than any 
 conjectural commentary, such as previously was given without 
 reference to these facts. While of Babylon, in general, it is said, 
 that it would be taken from thence ; and while, in. many jilaces, 
 nothing is left, yet of the burnt mountain, which forms an ac- 
 cumulation of ruins enough in magnitude to build a city, men 
 do not take a stone for foundations, nor a stone for a corner. 
 Having undergone the action of the fiercest fire, and being com- 
 pletely molten, the masses on the summit of Bel, on which the 
 hand of the Lord has been stretched, cannot bo reduced into any 
 other form or substance, nor built up again by the hand of man. 
 And the tower of Babel, afterward the temple of Belus. which 
 witnessed the finst dispersion of mankind, shall itself be wit- 
 nessed by the latest generation, even as now it stands, desolate 
 for ever. — an indestructible monument of human pride and folly, 
 and of Divine judgment and truth. The gi-eatest of the ruins, as 
 one of the edifices of Babylon, is rolled down into a vast, indis- 
 criminate, cloven, confounded, useless, and blasted mass, from 
 ■which fragments might be hurled, with as little injury to the 
 ruined heaji, as from a bare and rocky mountain's side. Such is 
 the triimiph of the word of the living God over the proudest of 
 the temples of Baal.* 
 
 45, 46. (4.">) therefore, efc. comp. ch. xlix. 20. (46) cry . . 
 nations, " who shall be astonished at the unexpected downfall 
 of so great a city, and so ]iotent an empire."" 
 
 The s2>uiUng of Chaldaa. — When the Eomans under lleraclius 
 
 gods are taken 
 out in proces- 
 sicin, the multi- 
 tudes slicut, and 
 the pi-iests mut- 
 ter and rave. 
 T lie peslures are 
 all diotorteil. and 
 tlie devotees are 
 aliccted with 
 alternate sorrow 
 crjoy."— Vilc/iertj. 
 
 " As the ivy 
 twines around 
 the oak, so do 
 misery and mis- 
 fortune encom- 
 pass the h,ippi- 
 ness of man. 
 Felicity, pure 
 and unalloyed 
 felicity, is not a 
 plant of earthly 
 growth : her 
 gnrdtns are the 
 skies."— .fiurtoM. 
 
 a " The compari- 
 son of the invader 
 of Babylon to a 
 lion coming up 
 from tlie jungle 
 of Jordan was 
 very apj ropriate 
 to C.vrus, who 
 came forth from 
 the bed of .a river 
 to take the city." 
 — Wordsworth. 
 
 " Ever.y human 
 soul has the genn 
 of some flowers 
 within ; ami they 
 would ojien, if 
 they could only 
 fiml sunshine and 
 free air to ex- 
 pand in. I al- 
 ways told you, 
 that not having 
 enough of sun- 
 shine was what 
 ailed the world. 
 Make people 
 liappy. and there 
 \vi 1 not be half 
 the quarrelling, 
 or a tentli part of 
 tlie wickedness 
 tliere is." — Mrsi 
 Child. 
 
 h Kiith. 
 
 a Lnirth. 
 
 Recent evidence 
 is not wan'ing 
 to Bhow tbat^ 
 
190 
 
 JEREMIAn. 
 
 [Cap. 11. 1-4. 
 
 xrliprever a trea- 
 sure is to be 
 fouiiil, a swonl, 
 in tlie liaiid of a 
 fierce enemy, is 
 upon it, and spo- 
 liation lias not 
 ceaseil in tlie 
 land of Ch.iMaja. 
 " On tliG west of 
 Hilleh, tliere are 
 two towns wliich, 
 iu the eyes of the 
 Persians and all 
 the Shiites, are 
 rendered sacred 
 by the memory 
 of two of the 
 greatest martyrs 
 of that sect. 
 These are ^Nleslied 
 Ali and Weshed 
 Housien, lately 
 filled with riches, 
 accuninlated by 
 the devotion of 
 the Persians, bnt 
 carried off by the 
 ferocious Waha- 
 bees to the mid- 
 dle of their do- 
 Berts." 
 
 " Praise is the 
 sacred attribute 
 of heaven, 'tis 
 ours alone, witli 
 humble, grateful 
 he.arts, t' employ 
 the gracious 
 instinct it be- 
 stows, to our own 
 honour, h.ippi- 
 ness, and virtue : 
 for happiness and 
 virtue are the 
 Bame."-i''/aHCi5. 
 
 h Keith. 
 
 a The " vannns " 
 of the Romans 
 was a broad 
 basket, into 
 Whicli the corn 
 and cliafE was 
 received after 
 thrashing:, and 
 then thrown to- 
 wards the wind. 
 I'lie Jews Ui>ed a 
 
 ravaged Chaldnaa, " though much of the treasure had been re- 
 moved from Dcstagercd, and much had been expended, the 
 remaining wealth appears to have exceeded their hopes, and even 
 to have satiated their avarice." ANTiile the deeds of Julian and 
 the words of Gibbon show how Chaldaja was spoiled — how a 
 sword continued to be on her treasures — and how, year after year 
 and age after age, there was rumour on rumour and violence in 
 her land — more full illustrations remain to be given of the truth 
 of the same prophetic word. And as a painter of great power 
 may cope with another liy drawing as closely to the life as he, 
 though the features be different, so Gibbon's description of the 
 sack of Ctesiphon, as previously he had described the sack and 
 conflagration of tSeleucia (cities each of which may aptly be 
 called •• the daughter of Babylon," having been, like it, the capi- 
 tal of Chalda3a), is written as if. by the most graphic representa- 
 tion of facts, he had been aspiring to rival Volney as an illustra- 
 tor of Scripture prophecy. "The capital was taken by assault ; and 
 the disorderly resistance of the people gave a keener edge to the 
 sabres of the Moslems, who shouted with religious transport, • This 
 is the white palace of Chosroes ; this is the promise of the apostle 
 of God.' The naked robbers of the desert were suddenly enriched 
 beyond the measure of their hope or knowledge. Each chamber 
 revealed a new treasure, secreted with art. or ostentatiously dis- 
 played ; the gold and silver, the various wardrobes and precious 
 furniture, surpa-^sed (says Abulfeda) the estimate of fancy or 
 numbers ; and another historian defines the untold and almost 
 infinite mass by the fabulous computation of three thousand of 
 thou.sands of thousands of pieces of gold. One of the apartmenta 
 of the palace was decorated with a carpet of silk sixty cubits in 
 length and as many iu breadth (90 feet) : a paradise, or garden, 
 was de])icted on the ground ; the flo^vers. fruits, and shrubs, were 
 imitated by the figures of the gold embroidery, and the colours 
 of the precious stones : and the ample square was encircled by a 
 variegated and verdant border. The rigid Omar divided the 
 prize among his brethren of iVIedina : the picture was destroyed ; 
 but such was the intrinsic value of the materials, that the share 
 of Ali alone was sold for 20.000 drachmas. A mule that carried 
 awaj'' the tiara and cuirass, the belt; and bracelets of Chosroes, 
 was overtaken by the pursuers ; the gorgeous trophy was pre- 
 sented to the commander of the faithful, and the gravest of the 
 companions condescended to smile when they beheld the white 
 beard, hairy arms, and uncouth figure of tlae veteran who was 
 invested with the spoil of the great king."* 
 
 Cn AFTER THE FIFTY-FIUST. 
 
 1—4. (1) that dwell, etc.. i.e. the inhabitants of the 
 metropolis of the Chalda-ans. Lit. " that dwell in the heart of 
 mj insurgents." destroying wind, ch. iv. 11. The meta])hor8 
 used in this and succeeding verses are agricultural. (2 ) fanners, 
 cnmp. ch. XV. 7.0- (.3) brigandine, ch. xlvi. 4. (4) in her 
 streets, or, more generally, in her land. 
 
 ^Vh(l^ one .'<in n-ill do. — There was but one crack in thelanthorn, 
 and the wind has found it out, and blown out the candle. How 
 great a mischief one unguarded point of character may cause us 1 
 
Cap. li. 5-13.] 
 
 JEREMTAff. 
 
 191 
 
 One spai'k blew up the magazine and shook the whole country for 
 miles around. One leak sank the vessel and drowned all on 
 bora'd. One wound may kill the body. One sin destroy the soal. 
 It little matters how carefully the rest of the lauthorn is pro- 
 tected, the one point which is damaged is quite sufficient to 
 admit the wind ; and so it little matters how zealous a man may 
 be in a thousand things, if he tolerates one darling sin ; Satan will 
 find out the flaw, and destroy all his hopes. The strength of a 
 chain is to be measui'ed not by its strongest but by its weakest link, 
 for if the weakest snaps, what is the use of the rest .' Satan is a 
 very close observer, and knows exactly where our weak points 
 are ; we have need of very much watchfulness, and we have great 
 cause to bless our merciful Lord who prayed for us that our faith 
 f.'iil not. Either our pride, our sloth, our ignorance, our anger, 
 or our lust, would prove our ruin unless grace interposed ; any 
 one of our senses or faculties might admit the foe, yea, our very 
 virtues and graces might be gates of entrance to our enemies. O 
 Jesus, if Thou hast indeed bought me with Thy blood, be pleased 
 to keep me by Thy power even unto the end.'' 
 
 5 — 9. (.5) forsaken, better, iridowcd. filled with sin, i.e. 
 with the punishments resulting from sin. (C) ilee, etc., ch. 1. 8." 
 
 (7) golden enp,* setting off her poison, and enticing men to 
 drink, heedless of the peril of so doing. Comp. ch. sxv, 15, 16. 
 
 (8) fallen. Is. xxi. '.).' take value, "spoken ironically, and 
 intimating that her ruin is irrecoverable." <* (9) skies, or 
 clouds. 
 
 Flee ye, etc. (r. 8). — When the Arabs have drawn upon them- 
 selves the resentment of the more fixed inhabitants of those 
 countries, and think themselves unable to stand against them, 
 they withdraw into the depths of the great wilderness, where 
 none can follow them. Thus also very expressly M. Savary 
 (torn. ii. p. 8): " Alwaj's on their guard against tyranny, on the 
 least discontent that is given them, they pack up their tents, load 
 their camels with them, ravage the flat coiintr}', and, loaded with 
 plunder, plunge into the burning sands, whither none can pursiie 
 them, and where they alone can dwell." Is it not then most 
 probable that the dwelling deep, mentioned in these words, means 
 their plringing far into the deserts, rather than going into deep 
 caves and dens, as has been most commonly supposed ? This ex- 
 planation is also strongly confirmed by verse 30. Flee, get you 
 far off, dwell deep.* 
 
 10-13. (10) Lord .. righteousness, i.e. "their justifica- 
 tion in their controversy with Baliylon, the cruel enemy of God 
 and His people."" (11) make bright, or sharpen, shields 
 some render, quivers. Medes,* including the Persians. (12) 
 upon the walls, better " again.st the walls." The text is most 
 prob. a summons to the invaders. (18) many waters,"^ the 
 turnings of the Euphrates, and the canals irrigating the land, 
 measure, meted out as judgment on thy covetousness : or the 
 term limit, to which it will be allowed to go."* 
 
 Bufij of arlnu>ivh'd<i\nfi God's mercies. — Consider — I. What is 
 that word which we are now called to declare ? 1. The agricul- 
 tural ; 2. The commercial; 8. The political; 4. The religious. 
 il. In what manner should we declare them .' 1. Let us acknow- 
 ledge God in them ; 2. Wc must adore Him for them ; 3. 13y an- 
 
 shoTel, ami threw 
 the corn and 
 cliafl' agiiiust tha 
 wind. 
 
 The word fan 
 comes to us from 
 the Lat. raiinus, 
 tlirougli the Fr. 
 vaiinir. And the 
 winnowing 
 shovel is tlie 
 origin of the 
 ladies' "fan." 
 
 " 'J'here is no 
 malice like the 
 malice of the 
 re neg a d e." — • 
 Ahtcuulay. 
 
 b C, II, Spurgeon. 
 
 a Comp, 
 xviii. 1. 
 
 Be. 
 
 &" The cup in the 
 hand of Babylon 
 is a golden cup ; 
 she chooses such 
 a cup, in onler 
 that men's eyes 
 may be dazzled 
 with the glitter 
 of the gold, and 
 may not inquire 
 what it con- 
 tains." — Origen. 
 
 c Be. si. 8, xviii. 2. 
 
 d Loicth. 
 
 V. 5. Dr. J. Owen, 
 xvi. 1U5. 
 
 a Fausset, 
 
 b " The Medes, 
 the Madai of Ge. 
 X. 2, were a 
 branch of the 
 great Aryan 
 family, who as 
 conquerors had 
 seized upon the 
 vast regions ex 
 tending from the 
 Caspian Sea to 
 the Eastern 
 borders of Meso- 
 potamia, bub 
 without being 
 nbie to dispossess 
 the Turauiaa 
 
192 
 
 JE RE in AH. 
 
 [Cap. 11. 10-13. 
 
 tribes who lial 
 previously dwc'lt 
 tliere. Tlicywere 
 divided into 
 numerous clans, 
 ench with iis 
 own loc;il chief, 
 the loaders of tlie 
 larger secticius 
 bein? thn>o who 
 arec;Uli'd kings." 
 — S/it. C'cm. 
 
 c Re. xvii. 1, 15. 
 
 d Eicald. 
 
 e C. Simeon, M.A. 
 
 The true felicity 
 of life i; to bo 
 free from pertur- 
 batiniis, to under- 
 stand our dnti.'S 
 towards heaven 
 and man. to en- 
 joy the present 
 without any 
 anxious depend- 
 ence upon the 
 future ; not to 1 
 amr.se ourselves [ 
 with either hopes 
 or fears, but to 
 rest satisfied , 
 with wliat we I 
 have, which is 
 abundantly suf- 
 ficient ; for he 
 that Is so wants 
 nothing. 
 
 " That wlip.-ein 
 God Jlimself is 
 happy, and tlie 
 li o 1 y angels 
 happy, and in 
 the defect of wh. 
 the devils are un- 
 happy, that dare 
 I call hajjpiness. 
 "Whatsoever con- 
 duceth unto this 
 may with ane.asy 
 metaphor deserve 
 that name; 
 ■whatsoever else 
 the world terms 
 happiness is to 
 me a story out of 
 Pliny — an appa- 
 rition, or real 
 delusion, wherein I 
 tliere is no more 
 of Iiappiness than 
 the name." — Sir 
 Thomas lirotcn. 
 
 "An extreme 
 rigour is sure to 
 arm everything j 
 nprainst it, and at - 
 length to relax | 
 ju'oa supine neg- 
 iect." — liiiikc. I 
 
 j ticipation bless God for the yet richer mercies which he has in 
 reserve for us.' 
 
 Sjioiliiig of Babylon (r. IH). — On taking- Babylon sud'lenly and 
 by surprise, Cyru.s became immcriiately jiossesscd of the Ircasurea 
 of darkne-s, and hidden riches of secret places. On his first pub- 
 licly appearino- in Babylon, all the ollicers of his army, both of 
 the Persians and allies, according to his command, wore very 
 -splendid robes, thoe belonging to the superior otlicers being of 
 various colours, all of tlie finest and brightest dye, and richly 
 embroidered with gold and silver ; and thus the hidden riciies of 
 secret places were openly displayed. And when the treasures of 
 Babylon became the spoil of another great king, Alexander gave 
 six mince (about £15) to each Macedonian horseman, to each 
 Macedonian soldier and foreign horseman two mina) (£o), and to 
 every other man in his army a donation equal to two months' 
 ))ay. Demetrius ordered his soldiers to plunder the land of Babylon 
 for their own use. But it is not in these instances alone that 
 Chalda3 i has been a spoil, and that all who spoil her have been satis- 
 fied. It was the abundance of her treasures which brought suc- 
 cessive spoliators. Many nations came from afar, and though 
 they returned to their own country (as in formerly besicgingf 
 Babylon, so in continuing to dispell the land of Chalda^a), none 
 returned in vain. From the richness of the country, new trea- 
 sures were speedily stored up, till again the swoj-d came upoi 
 them, and they were robbed. The prey of the Persians and of the 
 Greeks for nearly two centuries after the death of Alexander, 
 Chaktea became afterwards the prey chiefly of the Parthians, 
 from the north, for an equal period, till a greater nation, the 
 Romans, came from the coasts of the earth to jiillage it. To be 
 restrained from dominion and from plunder was the exciting 
 cause, and often the shameless plea, of the anger and iierce wrath 
 of these famed, but cruel, conquerors of the world. Yet. within 
 the provinces of their empire, it was their practice, on the sub- 
 mission of the inhabitants, to protect and not to destroy. Bufc 
 Chaldasa, from its extreme distance, never having yielded perma- 
 nently to their yoke, and the limits of their empire having been 
 fixed bv Hadrian on the western side of the Euphrates, or on the 
 very borders of Chalda3a, that hapless country obtained not their 
 protection, though rejioatedly the rcene of ruthless spoliation by 
 the Romans. The authority of Gibbon, in elucidation of Scrip- 
 ture, cannot here be distrusted, any more than that of the 
 heathen historians. To use his words, "a hundred thousand cap- 
 tives, and a rich booty, rewarded the fatigues of the Roman sol- 
 diers," when Ctesiphon was taken, in the second century, by the 
 gener.als of IMarcus. Even Julian, who, in the fourth century, was 
 forced to raise the siege of Ctesiphon, came not in vain to 
 Chalda^a. and failed not to take of it a spoil : nor, though an apos- 
 tate, did he fail to verify by his acts the truth which he denied. 
 After having given Perisador to flames, •' the plentiful magazines 
 of corn, of arms, and of splendid furniture, -were partly distri- 
 buted among the troops, and partly reserved for tlie public ser- 
 vice : the useless stores were destroyed by fire, or thrown into 
 the stream of the Euphrates " (Gibbon). Having also rewarded 
 his army with a hundred pieces of silver to each soldier, he thus 
 sti'iiulated them (w hen .still dissatisfied) f o fight for greater spoil. 
 •• Riches are the object of jour desires? those riches are in the 
 
Cap. li. 14-24.] 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 193 
 
 hands of the Persians, and the spoils of this fruitful country are 
 pro;^o.iO(l as a prize of your valour and discipline." The enemy 
 bt'ing defeated after an arduous conllict. "' the spoil was such as 
 ini^jht bo expected from the riches and luxury of an Oriental 
 tatiip ; large quantities of silver and gold, s;;)lendid arms and 
 trappings, and beds, and tables of massy silver." 
 
 14—18. (14) Lord . . himself, Am. vi. 8. caterpillars, or 
 locusts ; Neh. iii. l.j. lift . . shout, or sing over thee the viu- 
 tage-song, as those who tread the grapes. (15, 1(>) made, etc., 
 comp. ch. X. 12, 13. (17, IS) every man, etc., ch. x. 14, 15. 
 
 Aplaijue of lucmtts — The Mormons are threatened with as many 
 plagues as the Egyptians of old. The last grievance is the advent 
 of locusts, which have committed great devastation. Their 
 doings are thus described in the De.seret Nems : — " The mode of 
 their operations in this city and neighbourhood has been very 
 simple. After flying for a time at a very high altitude, numbers 
 of them began on Sunday afternoon, the 5th, to fly low, and 
 towards evening settled down, covering trees and every kind of 
 vegetation, h.anging in clusters from twigs and tender branches, 
 and covering the ground under foot. Apple trees, pear trees, 
 carrots, and corn seemed their favourite food ; for they stripped 
 them of every leaf in an incredibly short time. Peach trees 
 Buffered somewhat in the fruit, which was eaten clean away; 
 but the leaves were mostly uninjured. Oats, barley, and wheat, 
 where not ripe, suffered severely. It was a curious-looking 
 spectacle to see ajiple trees stripped of everything except the 
 fruit, and much of that eaten into the core on one side, after the 
 voracious insects had cleansed them of leaves, in some instances 
 devouring the tender twigs. There seems no way of successfully 
 driving them off when they settle down in a locality. They can 
 be dislodged from particular trees by kindling small fires of straw, 
 a little damp, underneath, and shaking the branches. Then 
 they will rise, and the smoke compels them to leave. They can 
 also be caught in large quantities with bag nets or similar con- 
 trivances, in early morning, before the heat of the sun gives 
 them that vitality which they possess during the day ; or they 
 can be so caught in a dull, cloudy day, when the sun is not 
 shining, for then they keep near the ground. AVhen thus caught, 
 they are sometimes boiled and fed for hogs and poultry, the 
 latter being particularly fond of them. One wheat field, nearly 
 nine miles out, seemed literally alive with them, flitting in count- 
 less myriads just above the grain, their thin, gauze-like wings 
 glistening in the sunlight." 
 
 19—24. (19) portion, etc.. ch. s. 16. (20) battle axe, ham- 
 mer : " the reference is to Cyrus. (21, 22) break in pieces, and 
 so utterly ruin. (23) captains, Heb. Pnhah, prob. the original 
 of the title pasha. (24) render unto, bring upon Bab. retri- 
 butive judgments. 
 
 <Ti>d.t mrrri/ to IT\.^ people (v. 20). — I. The extent of God's 
 mercy to His chosen people. 1. They are constantly represented 
 as a remnant ; 2. For tliem God designs the richest mercy. II. 
 The interest the Jews have in it. 1. We ought not to overlook 
 this : 2. The promise should fill us with unutterable joy. III. 
 The effect whicn the contemplation of it should produce on us. 1. 
 humiliation ; 2. Gratitude ; 3. Affiance.* 
 
 TOL. IX. O.T. S 
 
 "Content's s 
 kingdom, timl I 
 wear the crown." 
 — Ufytctjod. 
 
 V. 15. Dr. .7. Bar- 
 row, iv. 391. 
 
 " The fountain of 
 content must 
 spring up in the 
 niiud ; and he 
 who lias so little 
 knowledge of hu- 
 man nature as to 
 seek happiness 
 l>y changing any- 
 thing but his 
 own dispositions- 
 will waste his 
 li'fe in fruitless 
 efforts, and mul- 
 tiply the griefs 
 which he pur- 
 p<ises to remove." ■ 
 — Juhnwit. 
 
 If happiness wer» 
 an attainment of 
 the mind, to be 
 acquired, as a 
 science or an art 
 is learned from 
 the master, n» 
 ])Iace could con- 
 tain the numbers 
 that would fluck- 
 to the school.. 
 But there is no 
 such school ; each 
 must learn tho 
 lesson by himself. 
 
 " When I am 
 pressed with. 
 thoughts about 
 «'orldly or home 
 cares, I take a 
 Psalm, or a say- 
 ing of I'aui, and' 
 go to sleep OB 
 it." — Lulher. 
 
 a " The mace, or 
 mall, '.^as aniorg 
 thu weapons use»l 
 by ttiu toldiers, 
 and by the As- 
 syrian monarchs 
 t h e m .- .' Ives."— 
 Ilaiclinson. 
 
 V. 20. Dr. G. Lav- 
 son, 31. 
 
 J C. Simeon, M.A,\ 
 
194 
 
 JERE^f^A R. 
 
 [Cap. li. 25-35, 
 
 e Gescnius. 
 b Koberls. 
 
 " I enrn that I 
 eat, get that I 
 •wear, owe no 
 man hate, envy 
 110 man's liappi- 
 lless, glail of 
 otlier men's !?ooil, 
 anil contfnt witli 
 my har m." — 
 S/taks^eare. 
 
 25—29. (2.">) destroying mountain, fig. for Babylon, -which 
 liad been like a volcano, burnt mountain, i.e. cue burnt out, 
 whose fires ai'e (luenched, and which is left a mere useless ruin. 
 (2(i) not . . Stone, bee. the stones of volcanoes are unfit for 
 building- purpose.^. (27) Ararat, in Armenia, 2 Ki. xix. 37. 
 Minni and Ashehcnaz, also in Armenia. Ge. x. 3. cap- 
 tain, or satrap, rough caterpillars, or bristling- locusts." 
 (28, 29) prepare, lit. consecrate, tremble, -n'ith its fear and 
 confusion. 
 
 Locv.tts (ir cntcrpillars ? — Rome think locusts are meant instead 
 of caterpillars ; and one reason assigned is, that they '• have the 
 appearance of horses and hor.semen." Others translate ■■ bristled 
 locusts." There are bristled caterjjillprs in the East, which at cer- 
 tain seasons are extremely numerous and anuoying. They creep 
 along in troops like soldiers, are covered with stiff hairs or bristles, 
 which are so painful to the touch, and so powerful in their 
 effects, as not to be entirel}' removed for numy days. Should one 
 be swallowed, it will cause death : hence people, at the particular 
 season -when they ai'e numerous, are very cautious in examining 
 their water ves.sels. lest any shoi;ld have fallen in. In the year 
 182G, a family at Manipy had to arise early in the morning to go 
 to their work, and they therefore prepared their rice the evening 
 before. They were up before daylight, aud took their food : ia 
 the course of a short time they were all ill, and some of them 
 died during the day. The rice chatty was examined, aud there 
 were found the remains of the micutty, the rough caterpillar. 
 Dr. Hawkesworth says, of those he saw in the West Indies, " their 
 bodies were thick set with hairs, and they were ranging on the 
 leaves, side by side, like files of soldiers, to the number of twenty 
 or thirty together. When we touched them we found that their 
 bodies had the qualities of nettles." 
 
 30 — 32. (.30) forborn, etc., in utter hopelessness and despair, 
 bars are broken, all her fortresses, and chief defences. (34) 
 one . . another, intimating the simultaneous entry of the enemy 
 at different points." (32) passages, poss. the fevrieg^ or the 
 passages up from the river bank, reeds . . fire, a fig. designed 
 to show liow dry the river marshes had become. The reeds may 
 have been formed into stockp.des on the river banks."^ 
 
 Orrrflivom of Babylon. — It seems a contradiction to say that 
 one post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet 
 another, to show the king- of Babylon that his kingdom is taken 
 (not at one end, as our translation says, but) at the extremity. 
 Yet this was strictly true ; for Babylon was taken at each end at 
 the same time, so that the messengers who carried the news to 
 the king at his palace in the middle of the city, did run to meet 
 each other, as coming from opposite quarters. 
 
 33—35. (33) threshing floor, such were in the open air,. 
 the ground being trodden down hard by cattle." time to thresh, 
 or at the time when it is trodden. (34) devoured me, i.e. the 
 Jewish nation, wh. is here introduced, coni]iiaining of the in- 
 juries infiicted on them by the Chakteans. d.i"agon, or serpent 
 -which swallows its prey whole. A sea i-nonster. delicates, 
 delicacies, treasures ; dainty meats. Ge. xiix. 20. cast me out, 
 in'"a "circle^'oi- i keeping up the fig. of the overgorged animal. (;55) my fiesll, 
 
 a Hi'rfxfolu.t says 
 that the extreme 
 parts of the city 
 ■were takeu be- 
 fore they wlio 
 dwelt in the 
 mi'ldle of it were 
 sensible of their 
 danger. 
 
 6 "At right an pries 
 ■with tlie river 
 ■were the main 
 streets, at the 
 enil of each of 
 ■which were 
 gates, anil prob. 
 steps leailing 
 down to tlie 
 river, ami so tlie 
 people were car- 
 ried across in 
 boats. "-<Sj)A-. Com. 
 
 c "After draining 
 oft the river, 
 Cyrns burned tlie 
 Btockmle of dense 
 tree-like roeds on 
 its Viaiiks, form- 
 ing the outworks 
 of the city forti- 
 fications. The 
 burning of tliese 
 would give tlie 
 apiinarance of the 
 niar.'^h or river 
 being itself on 
 fire." — Faussel. 
 
 a "Near Jericlio 
 -wore no less than 
 five such floors, 
 all trodden by 
 Cien, cow.s, and 
 younger cattle, 
 Brrangpil in each 
 ease tive abreast, 
 nnd driven round 
 
Cap. li. 36-40.] 
 
 jEREmAH. 
 
 195 
 
 wh. Nebuchadnezzar, as a wild beast, devoured.* inhabitant, 
 viavg. remainder or i)0.^terity. 
 
 Uahyhm.— On the one side, near to the site of Opis, " the 
 country all around appears to be one wide desert of sandy and 
 barren soil, thinly scattered over with brushwood and tufts of 
 reedy grass." On the other, between Bussorah and Bagdad, 
 "immediately on either bank of the Tigris, is the untrodden 
 desert. The absence of all cultivation,— the sterile, arid, and 
 wild character of the whole scene, formed a contrast to the rich 
 and delightful accounts delineated in Scripture. The natives, in 
 travelling over these pathless "deserts, are compelled to explore 
 their way by the stars." " The face of the country is open and 
 flat, presenting to the eye one vast level plain, where nothing 
 is to be seen but here and there a herd of half-wild camels. This 
 immense tract is very rarely diversified with any trees of mode- 
 rate growth, but is an immense wild, bounded only by the 
 horizon." In the intermediate region, '• the whole extent from 
 the foot of the wall of Bagdad is a barren waste, without a 
 blade of vegetation of any description ; on leaving the gates, the 
 traveller has before him the prospect of a bare desert, a flat and 
 barren country." " The whole country between Bagdad and 
 Hillah is a perfectly flat and (with the exception of a few spots 
 as you approach the latter place) uncultivated waste._ That it 
 was at some fornjer period in a far different state, is evident 
 from the number of canals by which it is traversed, now dry and 
 neglected ; and the quantity of heaps of earth covered with 
 fragments of brick and broken tiles, which are seen in every 
 direction.— the indisputable traces of former population. At 
 present the only inhabitants of the tract are the Sobeide Arabs. 
 Around, as far as the eye can reach, is a trackless desert." " The 
 abundance of the country has vanished as clean av.^ay as if the 
 'besom of desolation' had swept it from north to south; the 
 whole land, from the outskirts of Babylon to the farthest stretch 
 of sight, lying a melancholy waste. Not a habitable spot ap- 
 pears for countless miles." The land of Babylon is desolate, 
 without an inhabitant. The Arabs traverse it : and every man 
 met with in the desert is looked on as an enemy. Wild beasts 
 have now their home in the land of Chaldasa ; but the traveller is 
 less afraid of them. — even of the lion, — than of '• the wilder 
 animal, the desert Arab." The country is frequently^ " totally 
 impassable." •' Those splendid accounts of the Babylonian lands 
 yielding crops of grain two or three hundredfold, compared 
 with the modern face of the country, afford a remarkable proof 
 of the singular desolation to which it has been subjected. The 
 canals at present can only be traced by their decayed banks.''" 
 
 33—40. (3G) plead thy cause, ch. 1. 34. dry . ._ sea," 
 poss. referring to the "great lake dug by Nitocris to receive the 
 waters of the Euphrates." Prob. only the Uoual Oriental term 
 for any largo river, or great body of water. (37) heaps, or 
 ruins : ch. 1. 2(), 39. (3S) yell, or growl : " the Heb. word is an 
 imitation of the actual sound." (3'.)) heat, i.e. when flashed 
 with confidence and security, drunken, or a drinking-bout, a 
 carousal, a perpetual sleep, the sleep of death at the hands 
 of their coniiuering enemy.*" (-iUj lamhs, etc., all classes of 
 society are here indicated.*^ 
 
 diulylon. — "'. "he soil of this desert," says Captain Mignan, who 
 
 ratlier in all 
 directions, over 
 the tloor." — Ro- 
 binson. 
 
 " Babylon is like 
 a thre.-iliiiigfloor 
 not troilileu for a 
 long time, but 
 the time of har- 
 vest, when her 
 citizens shall be 
 tro(i(len under 
 foot, shall come." 
 — Calcin. 
 
 " There sliall bo 
 a clear riddance 
 made of her in- 
 habitants and 
 their treasures, 
 as the liarvest 
 clears the fields, 
 and leaves them, 
 empty and bare." 
 —Lotcth. 
 
 h " Xebucliadnez- 
 zar liad devoured 
 Jerusalem, had 
 treated her as 
 ruthlessly as a 
 crocodile does its 
 l>rey, and for tliia 
 cruelty he and 
 Babylon are 
 justly to be 
 punished." — Sp&. 
 Cum. 
 
 If you make 
 transient objects, 
 uncertain riclies, 
 or fleeting plea- 
 sures your cliief 
 good, prepare for 
 disappuiutmeut. 
 
 " Our content- 
 ment is our best 
 having."— i8/*<iA«- 
 sjjeare, 
 
 c Keilh, 
 
 a Lit. fulfilled ia 
 Cyrus's draining 
 tlie river. Fig. , 
 in tlie exhaustion 
 of the muliitudes 
 and wealth of 
 Babylon. 
 
 b " The night in 
 wh. tlio con(juest 
 of Babylcn was 
 effected, was dur- 
 ing the grrat 
 festival whiclv 
 
196 
 
 JEREMIAir. 
 
 [Cap. 11. 41—44. 
 
 hail been insti- 
 tutcil ill liunoiir 
 of the iilols. aiKl 
 at wliicli rrvrlry 
 of every desc.ri|i- 
 tion WMsiiuiiilgi'il 
 in tosuoli a pitijli 
 that most of tlie 
 inhabitants were 
 more or l<'ss in a 
 state of inebria- 
 tion." — JJender- 
 son. 
 
 c Is. xxxiT. 6. 
 
 Tou may be the 
 greatest man and 
 tlie richest in the 
 world ; but if 
 you are witliout 
 Christ, you are 
 " wretihcd and 
 miserable and 
 poor and blind 
 and naked." 
 
 a Keith. 
 
 a Is. xiii. 19. 
 
 " Babylon had 
 been embellislied 
 with ornaments 
 more tlian any 
 city that we are 
 acquainted 
 with." — Jlcrodo- 
 (us. 
 
 b Comp. Is. viii. 
 7, xvii. 12, 13. 
 
 e Grotius. 
 
 d "Beference 
 may be to the 
 holyvessels taken 
 out of the temple 
 of tlie Lurd at 
 Jerusalem, and 
 placed ill tlie 
 temple of Sel." 
 — Wordsworth. 
 
 V. 42. " This me- 
 taphor is in com- 
 mon use to sliow 
 the overwhelm- 
 ing power of an 
 enemy. 'Tippio 
 Saib went down 
 upon liis foes ; 
 1 ke the sea he 
 swept tlie'u all 
 away.' ' True, 
 tiue, the Bi'iti^li 
 
 traversed it on foot, and who, in a gin^le day, crossed forty 
 watcr-cnnrses, " consists of a hard clay, mixed with sand, which 
 at noon b;^came so heated with the sun's rajs that I found it too 
 hot to walk over it with any degree of comfort. Those who 
 have crossed those desert wilds ar ;.lrcady ae jiiaintcd with their 
 dreary tediousness even on horseback ; wliut it is on foot they 
 can easily imagine." Where astronomers first calculated eclipses, 
 the natives, as in the deserts of Africa, or as the mariner without 
 a compass on the pathless ocean, can now direct their course 
 only by the stars over the pathless desert of Chalda;a. AVhere 
 cultivation reached its utmost height, and where two hundred- 
 fold was stated as the common j^roduce, there is now one wide 
 and uncultivated waste ; and the sower and reaper are cut off 
 from the land of Babjdon. "Where abundant stores and treasures 
 were laid up, and annually renewed and increased, fanners have 
 fanned, and spoilers have spoiled them till they have emptied 
 the land. Where labourers, shaded by palm trees a hundred feet 
 high, irrigated the fields till all was plentifully watered from 
 numerous canals, the wanderer, without an object on which to 
 fix his eye but " stinted and shortlived shrubs," can scarcely 
 set his foot without pain, after the noonday heat, on the " arid 
 and parched ground," in plodding his weary Avay through a 
 desert, a dry land, and a wilderness. Where there were crowded 
 thoroughfares, from city to city, there is now " silence and 
 solitude ; " for the ancient cities of Chaktea are desolations, — 
 where no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass there- 
 by.'' 
 
 41—44. (41) Slaesliach, ch. xxv. 26. praise . . earth, 
 ch. xlix. 2.5." (42) the sea, a fig. for the invading army.* (43) 
 cities, related, or dependent cities. Poss. the reference may be 
 to the inner and outer cities, the two parts into which Babylon 
 was divided by the Euphrates." (44) Bel, Is. xlvi. 1. swal- 
 lowed up, poss. alluding to the sacrifices offered to this idol ; 
 more prob., to the treasures taken by the nation called after the 
 name of this god."^ flow together, in their pilgrimages to Bel's 
 shrine, wall, r. 58. 
 
 Cities of Chahkea. — "While the ancient cities of Chaldasa ai"e 
 thus de.solate, the sites of others cannot be discovered, or have 
 not been visited, as none pass thereby ; the more modern cities, 
 which "flourished under the empire of caliphs, are " all in ruins." 
 The second Bagdad has not indeed yet shared the fate of tho 
 first. And Hillah — a town of comparatively modern date, near 
 to the site of Babylon, but in the gardens of which there is not 
 the least vestige of ruins — yet exists. But the former, " ran- acked 
 by massacre, devastation and oppression, during several hundred 
 years,'' has been '' gradually reduced from being a rich and 
 powerful city to a state of comparative poverty, and the 
 feeblest means of defence." And of the inhabitants of the 
 latter, about eight or ten thousand, it is said that " if any- 
 thing could identify the modern inhabitants of Hillah as the 
 descendants of the ancient T-abylonians. it would be their ex- 
 treme profligacy, for which they are notorious even aniong their 
 immoral neighbours." Thej'' give no sign of repentance and 
 reformation to warrant the hope that judgment, so loi,, con- 
 tinued upon others, will cease from them : or that they are the 
 peo])lc that shall escape. Twenty years liave not passed siuoo 
 
Cap. li. 45-490 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 197 
 
 towns in Chalctea have been ravaged and pillaged by the Waha- 
 bees ; and 60 lately as 1823. the town of Siieeivban " was sacked 
 and ruined by the Coords." and reduced to desolation. Indica- 
 tions of ruined cities, whether of a remote or more recent period, 
 abound throughout the land. The process of destruction is still 
 completing. Gardens which studded the banks of the Tigris 
 have very recently disappeared, and mingled 'w ith the desert, — 
 and concerning the cities also of Chaktea the word is true that 
 they are desolations. For " the whole country is strewed over 
 with the debris of Grecian, Roman, and Arabian towns, con- 
 founded in the same mass of rubbish. '« 
 
 45 — 49. (■!.■)) deliver . . soul, preserve his life from the 
 perils of the time of judgment. (4G) rumour, of the approach 
 of the Chaldajan army. There would then be a year elapse, 
 during which they would have opportunity for escape." (i?) 
 therefore, the exiles should take warning from these events. 
 (48) sing for Babylon, all nature shall njoice at the downfall 
 of the oppre^^sor. All God's faithful servants shall be glad because 
 of Ilis judgments upon idtilaters. (4'.)) Tra/i.t. '■ Babylon also 
 shall fall, O ye slain of Israel ! Those also of Babj'lon shall fall, 
 O ye slain of all the earth ! * Departed spirits of the slain are 
 called to rejoice in Babylon's ^all. 
 
 JJivnlalion (f JJahi/lon. — But while these lie in indiscriminate 
 ruins, the chief of the cities of Clialda^a. the tirst in name and in 
 power that ever existed in the world, bears many a defined mark 
 of the judgments of heaven. The pi-ogressive and predicted 
 decline of Babjdon the great, till it ceased to be a city, has 
 already been briefly detailed. About the beginning of the Chris- 
 tian era. a small portion of it was inhabited, and the far greater 
 part was cultivated. It diminished as Seleucia increased, and 
 the latter became the greater city. In the second century nothing 
 but the walls remained. It became gradually a great desert ; 
 and, in the fourth century, its walls, repaired for that purpose, 
 formed an enclosure for wi'd beasts, and Babylon was converted 
 into a field for the chase — a hunting-place for the pastime of the 
 Persian monarchs. The name and the remnant were cut off from 
 Babylon : and there is a blank, during the interval of many ages, 
 in the history of its mutilated remains and of its mouldering 
 dcca3^ It remained long in the possession of the Saracens ; and 
 abundant evidence has since been given, that every feature of 
 its prophesied desolation is now distinctly visible — for the most 
 ancient historians bore not a clearer testimonv to facts confirma- 
 tory of the prophecies relative to its first siege and capture by 
 Cyrus, than the latest travellers bear to the fulfilment of those 
 which refer to its final and permanent ruin. The identity of its 
 site has been completely established. And the truth of every 
 general and of every particular prediction is now so clearly 
 demonstrated, that a simple exhibition of the facts precludes the 
 possibility of any cavil, and supersedes the necessity of any reason- 
 ing on tiie subject. It is not merely the general desolation of 
 Babylon, — however much that alone would have suriiassed all 
 human foresight, — which the Lord declared by the mouth of His 
 Prophets. In their vision, they saw not more clearly, nor defined 
 more precisely, the future history of Babylon, from the height of 
 its glory to the oblivion of its name, than they saw and depicted 
 faUeu iiabylon as now it lies, and as, in the nineteenth century 
 
 troops went lika 
 the sea u])cii 
 Bliurtpcre ; tlia 
 foits Ijave beeu 
 carried away.' " 
 — Roberts. 
 
 "The noblest 
 mind tlio lest 
 contentment 
 has." — mpenser. 
 
 e Keilh. 
 
 a "The first ru- 
 mour of war de- 
 nounced apainst 
 tlae liead cf that 
 empire sliall be 
 tlie year before 
 the siege, when 
 Cyruo and Ka- 
 bonnidus (or Eel- 
 shazzar) shall 
 engage iii a 
 battle, and the 
 latter shall be 
 overcome, iijjca 
 which defeat the 
 conqueror should 
 in the following 
 year lay sit ge to 
 the city itself." — • 
 Lowth. 
 
 b Henderson. 
 
 " What an object 
 of wonder and 
 awe is an old 
 castle to a boyish 
 imagination! 
 Its height, how 
 dreadful ! up to 
 whose moulder- 
 ing edges his 
 fear carries him, 
 and hangs hira 
 over the battle- 
 men ts. What 
 beauty in those 
 u n a pproaohable 
 wallflowers, that 
 cast a brightness 
 on the old brown 
 stones of the eili- 
 fice, and make 
 the horror pleas* 
 ing." — Wilson. 
 
 Good men, like 
 St. Gregory and 
 Luther, have 
 feared lest they 
 should have their 
 portion, like 
 Dives, in this 
 life ; bad men, 
 that they should 
 not have it. 
 
198 
 
 JEHEifUn. 
 
 [Cap. IL 50-53. 
 
 " Content can ' of the Christian era, it has, for the first time, been fully described. 
 Bootlip, where'er And now when an end has come upon Babj^lon, after a lonj,'' suc- 
 \\ A ° ^In " " cession of ag-es has wrought out lis utter desolation, both the pen 
 a R-W'len in tlie ^^'^ 'he pencil of travellers who have traversed and inspected its 
 des >rt waste." — 
 While. 
 
 c Kfith. 
 
 a " AVe leail here 
 a life of sliame. 
 Daily the re- 
 proacli is cast in 
 our teeth tliat 
 Bel has proveil 
 more mighty 
 tlian Jeliovah ; 
 anfl. as tlie pos- 
 session of tlie 
 sacred vessels 
 seems to prove 
 tills, we are nn- 
 alile to answer 
 the taunt, ami 
 shame covers our 
 f aces ; for it is true 
 that strangers 
 }iave gone into 
 the sanctuaries 
 of the house of 
 Jehovah, which 
 only our high 
 priests were per- 
 mitted to enter." 
 — Spk. Com. 
 
 b " On the cylin- 
 der of Xebuchad- 
 nezzar, still ex- 
 tant, are these 
 words: 'In Baby- 
 lon is the tower 
 of my abode. . . 
 To make more 
 dillicult the at- 
 tack of an enemy 
 against Imgour- 
 Bel, the inde- 
 structible wall 
 of Babylon I 
 constructed, a 
 bulwark like a 
 
 mountain I 
 
 built my palace 
 for the wonder 
 of the people, . . . 
 it is proof against 
 all attack.' " — 
 Wordsioort/i. 
 
 "■Worllly riches 
 are like nuts: 
 many clothes are 
 torn in getting 
 them, many a 
 tooth broke in 
 cracking them ; 
 but never a belly 
 Idled with eating 
 them." -Venning. 
 
 c KeitA. 
 
 ruins, must be combined, in order to delineate what the Word of 
 God. by the Prophets, told from the beginning that that end 
 would be.' 
 
 50 — 53. (50) go away, further away out of dansrer. Pre- 
 pare even to return to Jerusalem by cherishing thoughts of that 
 sacred city, (ol) confounded, reproached. Tlie exiles inti- 
 mate their prostrate condition in JJabylon, and the way in wh. 
 they, and their God, were contemned." (52) do judgment, by 
 proving the powerlessness of Bel in the day of calamity. (53) 
 mount . . heaven, in her pride and boasting, height . . 
 strength, with allusion to her high and immense walls. 
 350 ft. high, according to Herodotus.* 
 
 Predictions conorrnitifj JJahi/Jon. — Truth ever ecoms the dis- 
 cordant and encumbering aid of error : but to diverge in the 
 least from the most precise facts would here weaken and destroy 
 the argument : for the predictions correspond not closely with 
 anything, except alone with the express and literal reality. To 
 swerve from it is, in the same degree, to vary from them ; and 
 any misrepresentation would be no less hurtful than iniquitous. 
 But the actual fact renders any exaggeration impossible, and 
 any fiction poor. Fancy could not have feigned a contrast more 
 complete, nor a destruction greater, than that which has come 
 from the Almighty upon Babylon. And though the greatest city 
 on which the sun ever shone be now a desolate wilderness, there 
 is scarcely any spot on earth more clearly defined, and none could 
 be more accurately delineated by the hands of a draftsman, than 
 the scene of Babylon's desolation is set before us in the very 
 words of the Prophets ; and no words could now be chosen like 
 unto these, which, for two thousand five hundred j'ears, have 
 been its " burden " — the burden which now it beai's. Such is the 
 multiplicity of prophecies and the accumulation of facts, that 
 the very abundance of evidence increases the difficulty of 
 arranging in a condensed form, and thus appropriating its 
 specific fulfilment to each precise and separate prediction, and 
 many of them may be viewed connectedly. All who have visited 
 Babylon concur in acknowledging or testifying that the desola- 
 tion is exactly such as was foretold. They, in general, apply the 
 more prominent predictions ; and, in minute details, they some- 
 times unconsciously adopt, without any allusion or reference, tha 
 very words of inspiration. Babj'lon is wholly desolate. It has 
 become heaps — it is cut down to the ground — brought down to 
 the grave — trodden on — uninhabited — its foundations fallen — its 
 walls thrown down, and utterly broken — its loftiest edifices rolled 
 down from the rocks — the golden city has ceased— the worms are 
 spread under it, and the worms cover it, etc. There the Arabian 
 ])itches not his tent ; there the shejiherds make not their folds ; 
 but wild beasts of the desert lie there, and their houses are full 
 of doleful creatures and owls dwell there, etc. It is a jios-sessiou 
 for the bittern, and a dwelling-place for dragons ; a wilderness, 
 a dry land, and a desert ; a burnt mountain ; pools of water ; 
 spoiled, empty, nothing left, utterly destroyed ; every one that 
 goeth by is astonished, etc." 
 
Cap. li. 54-64.] 
 
 JEREMIATT. 
 
 199 
 
 54 — 58. (54) cry, the war ciy ; ch. 1. 22. (55) waves, the 
 masses of her iuvadiug' enemy pouring- through her streets. (5G; 
 mislity men, v. oO. recompenses, etc., ch. \. 2.K (57) drunk, 
 60 incapable of defence." wise men. Da. ii. 2. (58) broad 
 walls, Ih'ivilutus saj's, 85 Eng-. feet wide : Stralo says, 32 feet.'' 
 in the fire, in striving- to put out the hre. 
 
 Walls of BahijloiL. — They were so broad that, as ancient his- 
 torians relate, six chariots could be driven on them abreast ; or a 
 chariot and four horses might pass and turn. They existed as 
 walls for more than a thousand years after the prophecy was de- 
 livered ; and long after the sentence of utter destruction had gone 
 forth against them, they were numbered among " the 8 jveu wonders 
 of the world." And what can be more wonderful now, or what 
 could have been more inconceivable by man. when Babylon was 
 in its strength and glory, that the broad walls of Babylon should 
 be so utterly broken that it cannot be determined with certainty 
 that even the slightest vestige of them exists. " All accounts 
 agree," says Mr. Rich, " in the height of the walls, which was 
 fifty cubits, having been reduced to these dimensions from the 
 prodigious height of three hundred and fifty feet " (formerly 
 stated, by the lowest computation of the length of the cubit, at 
 thi-ee hundred feet) '• by Darius Hystaspes, after the rebellion of 
 the town, in order to render it less defensible. I have not been 
 fortunate enough to discover the least trace of them in any part 
 of the ruins at Hillah ; which is rather an unaccountable cir- 
 cumstance, considering that they survived the final ruin of the 
 town, long after which they served as an enclosure for a park ; 
 in which comparatively perfect state St. Jerome informs us they 
 remained in his time." In the sixteenth century they were seen 
 for the last time by any European traveller (so far as the author 
 has-been able to trace), before they were finally so utterly broken 
 as totally to disappear. And it is interesting to mark both the 
 time and the manner in which the walls of Babylon, like the city 
 of which they were the impregnable yet unavailing defence, were 
 brought down to the grave, to be seen no more. '• The mean- 
 while,"' as Rauwolf describes them, " when we were lodged there, 
 I considered and viewed this ascent, and found that there were 
 two behind one another " (Herodotus states that there was both 
 an inner, or infei-ior, and outer wall), "'distinguished by a ditch, 
 and extending themselves like unto two parallel walls a great 
 waj^ about. ai»d that they were open in some places, where one 
 might go through like gates ; wherefore I believe that they were 
 the wall of the old town that went about them ; and that the 
 places where they were open have been anciently the gates 
 (whereof there were one hundred) of that town. And this the 
 rather because I saw in some places under the sand (wherewith 
 the two ascents were almost covered) the old wall plainly 
 appear.'''' 
 
 59—64. (50) with Zedekiah, marq. in behalf of." Seraiah 
 was entrusted with a special copy of the prophecy to console the 
 Jews in the Babylonian exile. Jjeraiah was the brother of 
 Baruch, ch. xxxii. 12. quiet prince, //'/., prince of Menucha : 
 or prince of the resting-place, ^ i.e. of those who waited upon the 
 king in his bed-chamber. (GO^ evil, or calamity. (Gl) read, 
 to some assembly of the captives. " Then see that thou read." 
 (G3; cast . . Euplirates, a symbolical act. We need not sup- 
 
 a Comp. the pro- 
 verb, "They 
 whom the gods 
 would destfoii, 
 they first de- 
 munl." 
 
 b " The walls 
 were from 41 to 
 CO miles in cir- 
 cumference, and 
 from 75 to 335 
 feet in hpifrlit, at 
 different parts. 
 They formed a 
 square, in each 
 side of which 
 were 25 gates 
 leading into 
 the city. Be- 
 tween these gates 
 were 250 towers, 
 so that it was 
 considered to be 
 iiiip7-egnable." — 
 Partly JJeuder- 
 
 " Can any man 
 s.ay that the 
 wild fowl in his 
 grounds are liis, 
 which suddenly 
 take their wings 
 and fly away, 
 and for awhile 
 make a stay in 
 another man's 
 field, and tliereby 
 give a like pro- 
 perty to the 
 second as they 
 did to the first ? 
 No more can 
 any man call 
 riches truly his, 
 wh., like winged 
 birds, shift their 
 owners, and haste 
 from one to 
 another."— »S>ur- 
 sloice. 
 
 " Happy the man 
 who, void of 
 care and strife, 
 in silken or in 
 leather purse re- 
 tains a good old 
 shilling." — Gold- 
 smilh. 
 
 c Keith. 
 
 a "That is sent 
 by Zedekiah to 
 appease Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's an- 
 ger at his revolt." 
 — Calf ill. 
 b "It was his 
 business to ride 
 forward each 
 day, ani seleot 
 
200 
 
 ■JEHFMIAtt. 
 
 [Cap.lii.l-S. 
 
 tl'e place where 
 the king would 
 halt nnd pass the 
 High t." — Hjik. 
 Com. 
 
 "The utility cf 
 riches consists 
 not in the wel- 
 fare of the indi- 
 vidual, but in the 
 general good cf 
 society. "What- 
 ever tends to loss 
 of health, or com- 
 fort, or deteriora- 
 tion of morals, in 
 the main body of 
 the nation, is not 
 •wealth but po- 
 verty, notwith- 
 standing any 
 superficial splen- 
 dour of tilings 
 wherewith it may 
 be combined." — 
 Quaiiei-ly Review. 
 
 " Riches do not 
 consist in having 
 more gold an.i 
 silver, but in 
 Laving more in 
 proportion than 
 our neighbours ; 
 whereby we are 
 enabled to pro- 
 cure to ourselves 
 a greater plenty 
 of the conveni- 
 ences of life tlian 
 comes w i t h i n 
 their reach, who, 
 sharing the golil 
 and silver of the 
 world in a less 
 proportion, want 
 the means of 
 plenty and 
 power, and so 
 are poorer." — 
 Locke. 
 
 C Keith. 
 
 " The heathen 
 mother takes her 
 babe to tlie idol 
 temple, and 
 teaches it to clasp 
 its little liands 
 before its fore- 
 head, in tlie atti- 
 tude of prayer, 
 long before it 
 can utter a word. 
 As soon as it can 
 Walk, it is taught 
 
 pose the roll to have been lost. Seraiah -would draw it up again. 
 ((M) thus far, intimating that the next ch. is an appendix. 
 
 I'll/' cities (if Uahij'dn. — The cour.^e of the ligris through 
 Babylonia, instead of being adorned, as of old, with cities and 
 towns, is marked with the sites of '• ancient ruins." Sitace, 
 ^abata, Narisa, Fuchera, Sendia "no longer exist." A succes- 
 sion of longitudinal mounds, crossed at right angles by others, 
 mark the supposed site of Arteniita, or JJestagered. Its once 
 luxuriant gardens arc covered with grass ; and a higher mound 
 distinguishes '• the royal residence " from the ancient streets. 
 Extensive ridges and mounds (near to Houmania). varying in 
 height and extent, are seen branching in every direction. A wall 
 with sixteen bastions is the only memorial of Apollonia. The 
 once magnificent Seleucia is now a scene of desolation. There is 
 not a single entire building, but the country is strewed for miles 
 with fragments of decayed buildings. " As far,' says JJajor 
 Iveppet, '■ as the eye could reach, the horizon presented a bi^oken 
 line of mounds ; the whole of this place was a desert fiat." On 
 the opposite bank of the Tigris, where Ctesiphon its rival stood, 
 besides fragments of walls and broken masses of brick\\ork. and 
 remains of vast structures encumbered with heaps of earth, there 
 is one magnificent monument of antiquity, •■ in a remarkably 
 perfect state of preservation," " a large and noble tile of building, 
 the front of which presents to view a wall three hundred feet in 
 length, adorned with four rows of arched recesses, with a central 
 arch, in span eighty-six feet, and above a hundred feet high, sup- 
 ported by walls sixteen feet thick, and leading to a hall which 
 extends to the depth of one hundred and fifty-six feet," the 
 width of the building. A great part of the back wall, and of 
 the roof, is broken down ; but that which remains •• still appears 
 much larger than Westminster Abbey." It is supposed to have 
 been the lofty palace of Chosrocs ; but there desolation now 
 reigns. " On the site of Ctesiphon, the smallest insect under 
 heaven would not find a single blade of grass wherein to hide 
 itself, nor one drop of water to allay its thirst." In the rear of 
 the palace, and attached to it, are mounds two miles in circum- 
 ference, indicating the utter desolation of buildings formed to 
 minister to luxury. But, in the words of Captain Blignan, 
 " such is the extent of the irregular mounds and hillocks that 
 overspread the site of these renowned cities, that it would occupy 
 some mouths to take the bearings and dimensions of each with 
 accuracy."' 
 
 CHAPTER TEE FIFTY-SECOND. 
 
 1—3. (]) Zedekiah, ctc.,2'K\. xxiv. 18—20. (2) Jehoiakim, 
 2 Ki. xxiii. ;54— 37. (8) anger . . Lord, 2 Ki. xxiv. 3. 4. 
 
 Advice to a moflier. — The first book read, and the last book laid 
 aside by every child is the conduct of its motlier. 1. First give 
 yourself, then your child, to God. It is but giving Ilim His own. 
 Not to do it is robbing- God. 2. Alw.ays prefer virtue to wealth 
 — the honour that comes from God to the honour that comes 
 from men. Do this for yourself, do it for your child. 3. Let your 
 whole course be to raise your child to a high standard. Do not 
 sink into childishness yourself. 4. Give not heedless commandSt 
 
Cap. lii. 4-16.] 
 
 JEREMIAB. 
 
 201 
 
 but when you command require prompt obedience. 5. Never 
 indulge a child in cruelty, even to an insect. 6. Cultivate 
 sympathy with your child in all lawful joj's and sorrows. 7. Be 
 sure that you never correct a child until you know it deserves 
 correction. Hear its story first and fully. 8. Never allow your 
 child to whine or fret, or to bear grudges. 9. Early inculcate 
 frankness, candour, generosity, magnanimity, patriotism, and 
 selt-denial. 10. The knowledge and fear of the Lord are the be- 
 ginning of wisdom. 11. Never mortify the feelings of your 
 child by upbraiding it with dulness ; but do not inspire it with 
 self-conceit. 12. Pray with and for your child, often and 
 hcartil}'. 13. Encourage all attempts at self-improvement. 14. 
 Never deceive nor break a promise to a child. 15. Reprove 
 not a child severely in the presence of strangers. 16. Remember 
 that life is a vapour, and that you and your child may be called 
 out of time into eternity any day. 
 
 4—11. (4) forts, or watch towers." (5, 6) iDCSieged, invested 
 BO closely that no provisions from outside could reach the inha- 
 bitants. (7) fled, com}). 2 Ki. xxv. 4. (8) pursued, etc., 2 
 Ki. xxv. 5. ('J) land of Hamath, omitted in 2 Kings : comp. 
 Je. xxxix. .5. (10) slew . . princes, ch. xxxix. 6. (11) put 
 him in prison, this information is additional to that given us 
 in 2 Kings. 
 
 ^l ivord ahout rye.t. — Large eyes were admired in Greece, where 
 they still prevail. They are the finest of all, when they have the 
 interna] look : which is not common. The stag or antelope eye 
 of the Orientals is beautiful and lamping, but is accused of look- 
 ing skittish and indifferent. " The epithet of stag-eyed," says 
 Lady Wortley Montagu, speaking of alurki.sh love-song, "pleases 
 me extremely ; and I think it a very lively image of the fire and 
 indifference in his mistress's eyes. " We lose in depth of expres- 
 sion, when we go to inferior animals for comparisons with 
 human beauty. Homer calls Juno ox-eyed ; and the epithet 
 suits well with the eyes of that goddess, because she may be sup- 
 posed, with all her beauty, to want a certain humanity. Her 
 large eyes look at you with a royal indifference. Shakespeare 
 has kissed them, and made them human. Speaking of violets, 
 he describes them as being — 
 
 " Sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes." 
 This is shutting up their pride, and subjecting them to the lips 
 of love. Large ej'es may become moi-e touching under the cir- 
 cumstance than any others, because of the field which the large 
 lids give for the veins to wander in, and the trembling amplitude 
 of the ball beneath. Little eyes must be good-tempered, or they 
 are ruined. They have no other resource. But this will beautify 
 them enough. They are made for laughing, and should do their 
 duty.* 
 
 12 — 16. (12) tenth, comp. serenih of 2 Ki. xxv. 8." served 
 the king, or stood before him : implying that he was a courtier, 
 or high officer. (13) burned, etc., 2 Ki. xxv. 9. Probably only 
 the larger houses were burnt. (14) all the "walls, to ensure 
 that it could not again be made a centre of rebellion. (15, 16) 
 Comp. 2 Ki. xxv. 11, 12. multitude, or of the n-orlnnenJ> 
 
 Fire a good .tervnnt. — Fire is, in some degree, the universal 
 instrument of all the arts and all. the necessaries of life. In 
 
 to gather a few 
 flowers or fruits, 
 or put a little rice 
 upon a banaiia- 
 itaf.andlay tlienx 
 upon the altar 
 before the idol 
 god. As soon as 
 it can utter the 
 names of its pa- 
 rents, so Eoon it 
 is taught to ofl'er 
 up its petitions 
 before the 
 images. Whoever 
 saw a lieatlien 
 child that could 
 speak, and not 
 pray ? Christian 
 mothers, why is 
 it that so many 
 children grow up 
 in this enlight- 
 ened land with- 
 out learning to 
 pray?" — Vt. 
 Cliroiiicle, 
 
 a " Erected by 
 the besieging 
 party for the 
 double purpose of 
 observing what 
 was done by 
 those defending 
 the city, and of 
 amoying them 
 by discharging 
 missiles upon 
 them from the 
 elevation which 
 was thus afford- 
 ed." — IJcnderion. 
 
 " Those eyes, 
 those ej-es, how 
 full of hcavea 
 they are ! Whea 
 the calm twilight 
 leaves the heaveu 
 most holy : tell 
 me, sweet eyes, 
 from what di- 
 vinest star did 
 ye drink in your 
 liquid melan- 
 choly ? Tell me, 
 beloved ej'es."— 
 Uuiici'/: 
 
 b Lcifjh Hunt. 
 
 a In Heb. letters 
 are used for nu- 
 merals, and some 
 of them are so 
 much alike that 
 confusion is 
 easily made by 
 copyists. 
 
 6 " The object oj 
 
202 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. lii. 17-27, 
 
 N e buchadnezzar 
 was to peoplo 
 B;iliyl<in, not, 
 
 with p;iupers but 
 with ineu of a 
 better class, arti- 
 sans aiitl work- 
 men, who woulil 
 enrich it. The 
 expense of takin.!:; 
 them to Babylon 
 must have been 
 cousiilorable." — 
 Spk. Cum. 
 
 " He which med- 
 dleth with that 
 he hath not to 
 do is compareil 
 to one that 
 catclieth a do^ 
 by the ears, and 
 dare neither hold 
 him still nor let 
 him go ; so ho 
 can nMther go 
 forward for want 
 of skill, nor back- 
 ward for shame." 
 — Henry Smith. 
 
 e Slurm. 
 
 a Lowlh. 
 
 "To gire pain is 
 the tyranny, to 
 make liajipy the 
 true empire, ot 
 beauty. ' ' — Steele. 
 
 b Roberts. 
 
 A. prison is a 
 house of care, a 
 place where none 
 can thrive, a 
 touchstone true 
 to try a friend, a 
 grave for one 
 alive ; sometimes 
 a place of right, 
 B m e t i m e s a 
 place of wrong, 
 sometimes a 
 place of rogne>; 
 and thieves, and 
 honest men 
 among. 
 
 Mr. JIartroos, a 
 respectable Ar- 
 menian gentle- 
 man, who dieil at 
 Calcutta in the 
 year 1816. di- 
 sjected by his 
 
 order that man should make continual use of this element, the 
 Creator has caused it to mix in the air. the water, and all fat an I 
 oily substances. How very useful is all the combustible matter 
 which supplies us with fuel. AVithout a suflicieut provision of 
 it, we should not only lose the greatest advantai^es, but we should 
 be exposed to the greatest inconvenience. In winter, were it not 
 for the fire which lights us, a great part of our time would pass 
 in the most insupportable darkness. Deprived of that artificial 
 light, our most agreeable amusements would cease at sunset. 
 We should be obliged to remain motionless, or else to wander in 
 darkness, with horror, in the midst of a thousand dangers. How 
 melancholy our state would be, if in these long evenings we 
 could neither enjoy the pleasures of society, nor make use of the 
 resources of reading, writing, and working. Consider how un- 
 wholesome, and how little nourishment there would be in the 
 greatest part of the food which the earth produces, if by means 
 of fire they were not dissolved, softened, and prepared to a certain 
 degree. And how should we be able to provide so many other 
 necessaries and conveniences of life, if the workmen and artists 
 did not procure them for us with the help of fire .' "Without that 
 element, we should not be able to melt metals, to make them 
 malleable, to refine them ; to change sand into glass ; or to give 
 to lime the consistence of stone. Without tire nature and all its 
 treasures would become useless, and would lose in our eyes the 
 most of their cliarms.' 
 
 17—23. (17—19) pillars, etc., 2 Ki. xxv. 13—1.5. (20) under 
 the feasss, "the bases were under the ten lavers;" so this 
 would better read, " The t'n^elve brazen bulls which were instead 
 of bases."" to support the brazen sea. (21 — 2.3) pillars, etc., 2 
 Ki. XXV. 16, 17. (22) five cubits, 1 Ki. vii. 16. 
 
 The finger as a mea-fHrc. — In the same way do the people of 
 the East speak of anjiihing which is less in measure than a. span. 
 " What height are your pepper vines ? " " About two fingers." 
 " "Wlien the rice becomes five fingers in height we shall want 
 more rain." That which is less than a finger is spoken of as a 
 grain of rice ; the next gradation is an ellit, i.e. gingelly seed ; 
 the next is a mustard seed ; and the last an ajiu, i.e. an atom.* 
 
 . 24—27. (24) Seraiah, 2 Ki. xxv. 18. (25) seven men, 
 comp. " five men " of 2 Ki. xxv. 19. (26. 27) so . . land, 2 Ki. 
 XXV. 20, 21. 
 
 Prhon di.fcijjJ/nr. — A gentleman who visited the county gaol 
 of Norfolk in 1818, gives the following interesting particulars 
 of the advantages of inculcating habits of industry among the 
 prisoners. He says : " On the ground floor of the felons' yard 
 there are two work-rooms : in one were two shoemakers, and a 
 lad who had been in a manner apprenticed to them. He had 
 been more than once detected in crime, and bore a very bad 
 character ; from this, and from the character of his associates, 
 his was considered almost a hopeless case. Upon his last con- 
 viction, the governor requested the magistrates to allow him to 
 try the experiment of reformation by labour. At first he was 
 unruly : but he has much improved, has learned to make shoes, 
 and will, in the opinion of his instructor, be able to earn his 
 livelihood at the time of his liberation. The governor and the 
 turnkey remarked how much the lad had amended his behaviour 
 
Cap. lii. 28-34.] 
 
 JEREMIAn. 
 
 203 
 
 and conversation since he liad been fully employed. In the other 
 room, one weaver and two carpenters were employed, and were 
 thankful for the opportunity of being so ; and indeed it is a rule, 
 to which my experieace has not furnished an exception, that 
 prisoners are always glad to work ; and are more orderly and 
 manageable — are less exposed to contamination : in short, in 
 prison, and when they leave it, are less vicious when em^jloyed 
 than when idle. In these ojainions the gaoler fully coincided. 
 He said, • Work is the best governor of a prison : it prevents dis- 
 sension and attempts to escape, it takes away half the trouble 
 and half the danger ; ' and he would wish to employ his prisoners, 
 and iiay them accordingly, though the labour produced nothing. 
 They are allowed one-third of their earnings — half at the time if 
 they require it, and half at the expiration of the sentence. An 
 account is kept with each of them. I obsei'ved that the boy 
 described above had already a credit of IDs. ; another man had 
 received nearly £7, and had instructed two others to make 
 shoes."' " 
 
 28—30. (28) three . . twenty, comp. 2 Ki. xxiv. H, 16. 
 (29) eighteenth, year, when Nebuc. raised the siege of Jems., 
 to march against the king of Egypt. He then sent all the 
 captive Jews in his camp away to Babylon. (.50) three and 
 twentieth year, when Nebuc. laid siege to Tyre. 
 
 Count UfjnUfiQ and his children. — Ugolino, a Florentine count, 
 with his four children, was thrown into a dungeon by Arch- 
 bishop Ruggieri. The horrors which he was here doomed to 
 encounter have given a melancholy celebrity to his name. " The 
 hour." says he, '' approached, when we expected to have some- 
 thing brought us to eat : but instead of seeing any food appear, 
 I heard the door of that horrible dungeon more closely barred. I 
 beheld my little children in silence, and could not weep ; vaj 
 heart was petrified. The little wretches wept ; and my dear 
 Anselmo said, ' Father, j'ou look on us ! What ails you .' ' I could 
 neither weep nor answer, and continued swallowed up in silent 
 agony aU. that day. and the following night, even till the dawn 
 of day. As soon as a glimmering ray darted through the doleful 
 prison, that I could view again those four faces in which my 
 own image was impressed. I gnawed both my hands with grief 
 and rage. My child'-en, believing I did this through eagerness to j 
 eat, raising themselves suddenly up. said to me, ' My father, our j 
 torments would be less if you would allay the rage of you^ j 
 hunger upon us.' I restrained mvself, that I might not increase ■. 
 their misery. We were all mute that day, and the following. I 
 The fourth day being come, Gouldo, falling extended at my feet, j 
 cried, ' Bly father ! why do you not help me ? ' and died. The j 
 other three expired one after another, between the fifth and sixth ; 
 day, famished, as thou seest me now ! and I. being seized with 
 blindness, began to go groping upon them with my hands and 
 feet ; and continued calling them by their names three days after 
 they were dead ; theu hunger vanoLuished my g-rief.''" 
 
 31 — 34. (31) Evil-merodach, son and successor of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, lifted . . head, fig. for cheered and encouraged 
 him, by giving him liberty, and some kindly notice." (B2) 
 kings, i.e. the other captive kings kejit to grace the court. (33) 
 cat bread, i.e. take his place as an official of the palace. (Comp. 
 
 will that a con- 
 siilerable sum 
 sliould be applied 
 by liis e.xecutors 
 to the relief of 
 poor prisoners 
 coufinprl in gaol 
 for sm.all debts. 
 One twelfth part 
 of the entire sunx 
 left, amounting 
 to 2,106 rupees, 
 was immediately 
 appropriated to 
 the payment of 
 the debts of 
 unfortunate per- 
 sons confined ia 
 prison ; in con- 
 sequence of wh., 
 one hundred and 
 eight persons ob- 
 t a i n e d their 
 liberation. 
 a fercy Anec. 
 
 " It was a shrewd 
 saying of the old 
 monk, that two 
 kinds of prisons 
 woull serve for 
 all offenders in 
 the world — an 
 Inquisition and 
 a Bedlam. If any 
 man should deny 
 the being of a 
 God, and the im-| 
 mortaUty of the 
 soul, such a one 
 should be put 
 into the first of 
 these — the Inqui- 
 sition — as being 
 a desperate 
 heretic ; but if 
 any man should 
 profess to believe 
 these things, and 
 yet allow himself 
 in any known 
 wile ness, such 
 a o niuhould be 
 put to Bed- 
 lam." — TJk men 
 
 " Satiety comes 
 of riches, and 
 con tumacious- 
 ness of satiety." 
 — Holon. 
 
 a Percg Anec. 
 
 rt"Evil-Merodacl' 
 is s:iid in Jewish 
 tradition to have 
 foi-ined an ac- 
 quaintance witti 
 J c Uoiachia 
 
204 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. lii. 31-34. 
 
 wliile they were 
 companions in 
 prison ; Nfbu- 
 cliadnezzar hav- 
 ing put his son 
 in prison tor a 
 tvna."—Faussct. 
 
 b " This change 
 of condition, 
 vouchsafed at 
 Babylon by God's 
 mercy, even to 
 Jelioiachin, after 
 the terrible male- 
 dictions de- 
 nounced against 
 him, and aftt'r a 
 long exile and 
 captivity of 37 
 yrs., was like a 
 presage of com- 
 fort and mercy 
 from God Him- 
 self, and was a 
 prelude and a 
 pledge of the 
 liberation and 
 exaltation of the 
 Jewisli nation, 
 when it had been 
 humbled and 
 purified by the 
 discipline of suf- 
 fering, and of its 
 return to its 
 own land." — 
 Woi-dsxootih. 
 • terey Aaec 
 
 2 Sa. ix. 7, 11.) (34) continual diet, or daily provision for 
 the maintenance of himself and his attendants.* 
 
 Francis I. — When Francis, after having- performed prodigies of 
 valour and of personal courage, and after having two horses 
 killed under him, was taken prisoner at the battle of Pavia, he 
 was conducted captive to the celebrated convent of Carthusian 
 friars at Pavia. He sent to his mother, Louisa of Savoy, Regent 
 of France in his absence, the melancholy news of liis captivity, 
 conceived in these dignified and exjn-essive terms, '• Tout est 
 l^erdu, madame, hormis I'honneur." From Pavia, Francis was 
 conducted to Madrid, where he was closely confined, and treated 
 with great indignity, contraiy to the advice given to Charles the 
 Fifth by one of his counsellors, the Bishop of Osma, who advised 
 his sovereign to present Francis with his liberty, with no other 
 condition annexed to it than that of becoming his ally, urging 
 that it would be an act of generosity worthy of so great a 
 monarch. Francis suffered extremely from his imprisonment, and 
 would most probably have died from it had not his sister, the 
 Queen of Navarre, visited him in his wretched and solitary state. 
 So much did this behaviour endear his sister to him, that he 
 alwaj's called her " son time," " sa mignon ; " and notwithstanding 
 his over-strict and bigoted attachment to the Church of Rome, 
 he permitted her to become a Prostestant, without interfering 
 with her religious opinions. AVlien Francis was at length re- 
 leased from his imprisonment, and after he had crossed in a boat 
 the small rivei Fontarabia, which divides Spain from France, he 
 mounted a fleet Arabian courser that was brought him, and 
 drawing his sword, cried out in a tone of transport and exulta- 
 tion, " I am still a king 1 " « 
 
LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAR 
 
Introbittfiom 
 
 (^Fbr General Introduction see commencement of Prophecies of Jeremrali!) 
 
 This Book is a kind of appendix to tlie Prophecies of Jeremiah, of which, 
 in the original Scriptures, it formed a part. It expresses with pathetio 
 tenderness the Prophet's grief for the desolation of the city and temple of 
 Jerusalem, the captivity of tlie people, the miseries of tamiue, the cessation of 
 public worship, and the other calamities with which his countrymen had been 
 vi-sited for their sins. The leading object was to teach the suffering Jews 
 neither to despise the chastening of the Lord, nor to faint when i-ebuked of 
 Him, but to turn to God with deep repentance, to confess their sins, and 
 humbly look to Him alone for pardon and deliverance. No Book in Scripture 
 is more rich in expressions of patriotic feeling, or of the penitence and tru.st 
 which become an afflicted Christian. The form of these poems is strictly 
 regular, with the exception of the last. They are in the original Hebrew 
 alphabetical acrostics, in which every stanza begins with a new letter. The 
 third has this further peculiarity, that all the three lines in each stanza have 
 the same letter at the commencement. As a composition this Book is remark- 
 able for the great variety of pathetic images it contains : expressive of the 
 deepest sorrow, and worthy of the subject which they are desiiined to illustrate 
 ^Angus). 
 
 Snn0|3sis. 
 
 {Afcnrding to Home.) 
 This Book, ■wliicli iu our Bible is divided 
 into five chapters, consists of five distinct 
 Elegies. 
 
 Elegy I.— A Lamentation of the sad reverse 
 of fortune which the country had expe- 
 rienced, and a confession that the miseries 
 were well deserved. 
 
 Elegy II.— A mclanclioly detail of the dire 
 effects of the Divine anger in the sub- 
 version of the civil and religious constitu- 
 tion of the Jews, 
 
 Elegy III. — The inexhaustible mercies of 
 God are set forth as the never-failing 
 source of consolation, and an exhortation 
 to patience. 
 
 Elegy IV. — A contrast between the present 
 deplorable condition of the nation and 
 their former flourishing affairs. 
 
 Elegy v.— An epilogue to the previoua 
 Klegies. This chapter is in some versiaaj 
 entitled " The Prayer of Jeremiah." 
 
Cap. 1. 1-6.] 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JFREM7AB. 
 
 207 
 
 CHAPTER TEH FIRST. 
 
 1 — 3. (1) solitary, alone ; without her inhabitants." as a 
 widow, " cities are often described as the mothers of their in- 
 habitants, aud their kings and princes as their husbands." 
 nations . . provinces, the surrounding kingdoms, e.ff. 
 Philistines, Edomites, etc. tributary, the word here means 
 bond-servants. " Her only function now is to be a vassal unto 
 others." (2) weepetli sore, Je. xiii. 17.* lovers, or allied 
 states, dealt treacherously, utterly failing her in the hour 
 of her need.'" (3) Judah., etc., Je. lii. 27. affliction . . 
 servitude, their breaking the Mosaic law in relation to setting 
 at liberty the slaves, was one great sign and proof of their 
 rebelliousness, straits, a metaphor taken from hunting : 
 driven into a corner.'^ 
 
 T/te fire at Chicago. — IMr. Banchor relates that when the 
 Chicago iire had so far died out as to admit of investigation 
 amongst the heaps of ruins, a search was made on the spot where 
 stood the Western News Company's establishment. An enor- 
 mous stock of periodicals, Bibles, and various books had been 
 consumed, and in turning over the debris, a leaf of a quarto 
 Bible was found charred and tinder, and upon it was the first 
 chapter of Jeremiah, which opens with the above words. This, 
 he adds, '■ was all the literatm-e saved from the great depot." 
 Become as a ividotr. — Jerusalem had been sacked by a ruthless 
 foe, and her sons had been carried off to Babylon. " As a widow.'' 
 "When a husband dies, the solitary widow takes off her marriage 
 jewels, and other ornaments ; her head is shaved ; and she sits 
 down in the dust to bewail her lamentable condition. In the 
 book Scanda P^trdna, it is said, after the splendid city of Kupera 
 had been plundered by the cruel Assurs, " the city deprived of its 
 riches by the pillage of the Assurs, resembled the widow 1" 
 Jerusalem became as a widow in her loneliness bemoaning her 
 departed lord." 
 
 4 — 6 (4) ways, i.e. highways leading from the country dis- 
 tricts to Jeru.salem. mourn, bee. none journey on them to the 
 solemn feasts." Gra.ss-grown roads and streets may, ilguratively, 
 be said to be in mourning, her gates, those of Zion. virgins, 
 '• v.'ho took a prominent part in all religious festivals.''* (.5) 
 chief, masters over her." prosper, lit. •' are at rest," so 
 crushed is Zion. that they have no fear of her renewing her re- 
 bellion, children . . enemy, driven before them like a flock 
 of slaves.'^ (6) beauty, that of her temple, palaces, aud walls, 
 liarts, or deer. 
 
 An old man's sorrow. — 
 
 Careful, sorrowing, 
 
 He seeth in his son's bower 
 
 The v/ine-hall deserted, 
 
 The resort of the wine noiseless, 
 
 The knight sleepeth ; 
 
 The warrior, in darkness. 
 
 There is not there 
 
 Koise of the harp, 
 
 n Jerusalem la 
 described as a 
 widow woman, 
 sitting sad and 
 pensive, on the 
 ground, tlie posi- 
 tion often taken 
 bj' mom-ners. 
 
 b "The dartness 
 or solitude of the 
 night dot)i natu- 
 rally promote 
 melancholy re- 
 flection s." — • 
 Lowth. 
 
 c Comp. 
 x.\iv. 2. 
 
 2 KL 
 
 d "Image from 
 robbers, who, in 
 the E., intercept 
 travellers at the 
 narrow passes in 
 hilly regious." — 
 Fausset. 
 
 V.3. J. C. Dieterie, 
 C35. 
 
 a For the ioy o( 
 these journeys 
 coni]i. the Psalui3 
 of Degrees, cxx. 
 — cxxxiii. 
 
 b Ex. XV. 20 ; Ps. 
 Ixviii. 25; Je. 
 xxxi. 13. 
 
 c De. xxviii. -4. 
 
 d " In ancient 
 sculptures such 
 mournful proces- 
 sions of •women 
 and tender chil- 
 dren are often 
 engraved." — Spi: 
 Com. 
 
 " The sorrowa 
 which the soul 
 endures, not self- 
 inflicted, are but 
 hooded joys, that 
 
208 
 
 LAMENTATWyrS OF JEREMIAB. 
 
 [Cap. i. 7-11. 
 
 when she touches 
 the wlrrte stnuul 
 of he;rven, tlicy 
 chister rouml lier 
 and slip otr their 
 robes, anil laugh 
 out aiigiMri in tiie 
 ■world of lifjiit."— 
 J. SIniii/iin liiijij. 
 e John M. Kemble. 
 
 a "The bitterest 
 ingredient in the 
 cup of adversity 
 is the remeni- 
 branca of lost 
 possessions and 
 e njoy me nts." 
 — Henderson. 
 
 h " None could 
 stain our glory if 
 we did not stain 
 It ourselves. " — 
 Mat. Henry. 
 
 e U. R. Thomas. 
 
 " Let never day 
 nor night uu- 
 hallow'il pass, but 
 still re in em ber 
 what the Lord 
 bath done." — 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 d Dr. W. 
 Sprague. 
 
 B. 
 
 3 Chr. xxxvi. 
 
 •10. 
 
 "■What man 
 
 should learn is, 
 to reject all that 
 is useless iu re- 
 membrance, aud 
 to retain with 
 cheerfulness all 
 that can profit 
 and amend. For- 
 get not thy sins, 
 that thou niaycst 
 B( iTow and re- 
 pent ; remember 
 death, that thou 
 ni:iyest sin no 
 n:urc ; remember 
 the judgment of 
 God, that thou 
 maycot justly 
 fear ; and never 
 torget His mercy, 
 
 Joy in the dwellings, 
 
 As there was before. 
 
 Then departeth he into songs, 
 
 Singeth a lay of sorrow, 
 
 One after one ; — 
 
 All seemed to him too wiie, 
 
 The plains and the dwelling-place.* 
 
 7 — 9. (7) remembered, better, remember.=<. In her 
 afflicted state she thinks over the past, with the bitterness of 
 regret.'^ when, better, after which, mock . . sabbatlis, wh. 
 seemed to the heathen a mere excuse for idleness. (<S) removed, 
 or she is as a thing which men remove from their sight. She is 
 become an abomination, sigheth., " over the infamy of her 
 deeds thus brought to open shame."' backward, as if she 
 would hide herself. (9 J Skirts, wh. were as if rolled in the 
 mire.* last end, comp. De. xxxii. 2'J. down wonderfully, 
 Is. xlvii. 1 ; Je. xlviii. 18. 
 
 Till' action of the memory in pahi (v. 7). — A word or two on 
 the place of memory. I. It generally refers to the pleasant 
 things of the past ; this by a law of its nature, the law of contrast. 
 
 I. Life has its pleasant things ; 2. Life has its painful things. 
 
 II. That its reference to the pleasant things of the past always 
 intensifies the sufferings of the sufferer. Two things tend to this. 
 
 1. The cousciousness that the pleasant things are irrevocably lost ; 
 
 2. That they have been morally abused ; memory involves recep- 
 tivity, retention, reproduction.'' — TlieivlcJwd surprl.wd hij their own 
 desfniefion (r. 10). — It will at once be unexpectedly dreaJful. and 
 dreadfully unexpected. 1. This will appear from the fact that 
 God's wrath against the wicked is constantly accumulating ; 2. 
 Because in the present life God's wrath, for the most part, seems 
 to slumber ; at least they perceive no direct expression of it ; 3. 
 Because they have been in this life receiving so many expres- 
 sions of Divine goodness ; 4. Because the wicked are often dis- 
 tinguished for worldly prosperity ; 5. Because they have in some 
 way or other made a confident calculation of escaping it."* 
 
 10, 11. (10) pleasant things, prob. with special reference 
 to the sacred vessels of the temple." not enter, De. xxiii. 3. 
 (11) pleasant things, here, their jewels and treasures, re- 
 lieve the soul, or " cause the breath to return ; "' i.e. refresh a 
 fainting person with food, vile, i.e. treated as vile. There is 
 no penitence in the expression. 
 
 Pleasant things for food. — What a melancholy picture have we 
 here 1 The captives, it appears, had been allowed, or they had 
 concealed, some of their '• pleasant things," their jewels, and 
 were now obliged to part with them for food. "What a view we 
 also have here of the cruelty of the vile Babylonians 1 The 
 people of the East retain their little valuables, such as jewels, 
 and rich robes, to the last extremity. To part with that w'hich 
 has, perhaps, been a kind of heirloom in the family, is like 
 parting with life. Have they sold the last A\T:eck of their olher 
 property ; are they on the verge of death ; the emaciated mem- 
 Ijers of the family are called together, and some one undertakes 
 the heartrending task of proposing such a bracelet, or armlet or 
 anklet, or car-ring, or the pendant of the forehead, to be sold. 
 For a moment all are silent, till the mother or daughters 
 
Cap. 1. 12-14.] 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAS, 
 
 209 
 
 burst into tears, and then the contending feelings of hunger, 
 and love for their " pleasant things," alternately prevail. In 
 general the conclusion is, to pledge, and not to sell, their much- 
 loved ornaments ; but such is the rapacity of those who have 
 money, and such the extreme penury of those who have once 
 fallen, they seldom regain them. Numbers give their jewels to 
 others to keep for them, and never see them more. I recollect a 
 person came to the mission-house, and brought a large casket of 
 jewels for me to keep in our iron chest. The valuable gems 
 M'ere shown to me one by one : but I declined receiving them, 
 because I had heard that the person was greatly indebted to the 
 Government, and was led to suspect the object was to defraud the 
 creditors. They were then taken to another person, who received 
 them, decamped to a distant part of the country, and the whole 
 of the property was lost, both to the individual and the 
 creditors.* 
 
 12—14. (12) nothing . . by," as Zion sits in her desolate- 
 ness and sorrow, she appeals to all who pass by to pity her woes. 
 " As if the Prophet had said, Let any indifferent person judge, 
 whether any calamity is like to mine."'' (\'.\) fire, or inflamma- 
 tion, net, image taken from hunting wild beasts, turned, me 
 back, to drive me into the nets. (14) yoke, an agricultural 
 figure, his hand, as if He were the ploughman, who 
 fastened firmly' on the yoke, wreathed, i.e. the cords fastening 
 the yoke are knotted together, strength to fall, under so 
 heavy a yoke. 
 
 To those n-lio pans lij (v. 12). — We learn — 1. That sin produces 
 sorrow ; 2. Sin deserves punishment ; 3. The punishment due to 
 our sins have been visited on Christ ; 4. Christ being punished 
 for our sins, sorrowed on account of sin : 5. It was the sorrow of 
 innocence under the imputation of guilt ; G. Under the imputa- 
 tion of the sin of the whole world : 7. At the hands of one whom 
 He termed His righteoits Father ; 8. It was voluntarily under- 
 taken ; !). It was willingly endured ; 10. It was patientlj' en- 
 dured ; 11. All this sorrow is now a part of history ; 12. It is 
 equally a matter of history that men are so much engrossed by 
 the concerns of life that they are turned aside ; 13. These are 
 the passers by, — note them. Mr. Worldly Wiseman, — the votary of 
 fashion, the sensualist. Is it nothing ? It is something even now, 
 it is something forever. — Chri.st'fi sufferings unpnraUded (c. 12). 
 — 1. No other could have had the same intensified sense of suffei'- 
 ing : 2. Or the same cause of suffering ; 3. Or the same absolute 
 isolation in sufTering : 4. Or ever encountered the same base in- 
 gratitude or malevolence ; .5. No other sufferings ever attained 
 the .■ ame glorious rrr^ults ; 6. Or will ever be followed by such 
 dignity and joy to the illustrious sufferer. "^ 
 
 A pope's srrniori. — At the Council of Lyons in A.D. 1245, Pope 
 Innocent IV. one day mounted the pulpit in full attire, and 
 gave out for his text, " See ye, who pass this way, was ever sor- 
 row like unto my .sorrow.'" And compared his five afflictions — 
 the desolations of tne ]\Iongols, the revolt of the Greek Church, 
 the iirogivss of heresy, the devastation of the Holy Land, and the 
 persecutions of tlie emperor, to depose Mhom and to award the 
 empire that, council had been summoned — to tlie five wounds of 
 Jesus. He wept himself ; and the tears of others interrupted the 
 Holy Father's discourse,"* 
 
 VOL. IX, O.X, O 
 
 that thou mayest 
 never be .eel to 
 lies pair."— /V- 
 tmic/i. 
 
 " Great abun- 
 dance of riches 
 cannot of any 
 man be both 
 gathered and 
 kept without 
 sin." — Erasmus. 
 
 b Robert!. 
 
 a "This sorrow- 
 ful exclamation 
 may, in a secoml- 
 ary ami spiritual 
 sense, be regard- 
 ed as coming 
 from the lips of 
 Olirist on the 
 cross, bewailing 
 the sins and 
 miseries of the 
 world, which 
 caused Him that 
 bitter anguish, 
 of which alone it 
 could be properly 
 said, that' no sor- 
 row was like unto 
 His sorrow.' "— 
 WordsiL'urlh. 
 
 V. 12. Bp. An- 
 drem,ii. iSS; H. 
 Sravgall, 194 ; R. 
 n'armford,i.319; 
 Dr. J. Toulmin, 
 .375 ; /. Neirloit, 
 iv. 20O; Up. AJiiril, 
 i. 137; C. Haic- 
 trnj, 133 ; //. 
 /l/((''no«. iv. 371; 
 /. ^/cZ/tv, ii. 202; 
 F. Close, i. 50; 
 Dr. W. Wilson, 
 157; Dr. A. 
 AkCfiul, 351; E. 
 /Heiicoice, ii. 205 ; 
 A. Gatty, ii. 258. 
 
 c Dr. J. Burnt, 
 
 d F. Jacox. 
 
210 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMlAn. 
 
 [Cap, i. 15-23. 
 
 a " They fell not 
 on tlio battle- 
 field but iu the 
 heart of the 
 city." — Otlrin. 
 I lOx. ix. 29, 33 ; 
 Je. iv. 31. 
 V. 17. " What a 
 grapliic view we 
 liave here of a 
 person in dis- 
 tress! See that 
 pnur willow Iook- 
 iuK at the dead 
 body of her hus- 
 band, as the 
 people take it 
 from the house : 
 she spreads forth 
 her hands to 
 their utmost ex- 
 tent, and pite- 
 ously bewails her 
 condition. The 
 last allusion iu 
 the verse is very 
 commou." — Jio- 
 berls. 
 c H. Giles. 
 
 a Spk. Com. 
 " The forms of 
 expression used 
 in this r. are 
 strongly indica- 
 tive of that vio- 
 lently excited 
 state of the in- 
 testines which is 
 occasioned by ex- 
 cessive grief. The 
 whole verse is 
 the most affect- 
 ing imaginable." 
 
 V. 20. Ah/: Drum- 
 
 tnoiid, 149. 
 
 b C/irislopher 
 
 Love. 
 
 a Je. 1. 1, 2, etc. 
 
 h Dr. II. Bonar. 
 
 " For his was not 
 that open, artless 
 soul, that feels 
 relief by bidding 
 Borrow flow; nor 
 souglit he friend 
 to counsel or con- 
 dole, whate'cr 
 his grief mote be, 
 •whic)! he could 
 not control." — 
 Uyron. 
 
 Content is tlio 
 gift of heaven, 
 Bnd not the 
 certain effect of 
 anything uiion 
 earth; and it is 
 
 15—17. (l.o) trodden, etc.. hy the nii,?ht t)f the conquerors, 
 the very soldiers were trainpled down in the streetp." assembly, 
 of armies ; of eneini(;s. young men, who arc the i«tren.Lfth and 
 hope of ana tion. as . . "winepress, Is. Ixiii ;i. (Id) mine eye, 
 etc., Je. xiii. 17, xiv. 17 ; La. ii. IS. Thi.s is the plaintive lamen- 
 tation of Ziou. the widow, as she sits solitary.* relieve, or re- 
 vive. (17) spreadeth . . hands, in usual attitude of prayer, 
 but of prayer under pressure of g'rcat distress. 
 
 Uisc'qjiine of .wrruw. — Sorrow is the noblest of all discipline. 
 Our nature shrinks from it, but it is not the less for the greatness 
 of our nature. It is a scourge, but there is healing- in its stripes. 
 It is a chalice, and the drink is bitter, but strength proceeds 
 from the bitterness. It is a crown of thorns, but it becomes a 
 wreath of light on the brow which it has lacerated. It is a cross 
 on which the spirit groans, but every Calvary has an Olivet. To 
 every place of crucifixion there is likewise a jilace of ascension. 
 The sun 1 hat was shrouded is unveiled, and heaven opens with 
 hopes eternal to the soul, which was nigh unto despair."^ 
 
 18—20. (18) righteous. Da. ix. 7, 14. commandment, 
 lit. mouth, I.e. message by His prophets. This is the expression 
 of penitence, (lit) lovers, v. 2. elders . . city, i.e. died of 
 famine, while vainly seeking for food. (20) bowels, etc., Is', 
 xvi. 11 ; Je. xlviii. 3(5. turned, or violently agitated, as 
 death, " pale pining forms, slowl.y wasting with hunger, and 
 presenting the very image and api^earance of death.''" 
 
 False rented ij for sorrow.^. — You th.it in your sorrows give your- 
 selves to mirth and pastime, and merry meetings, thinking there- 
 by to drive them away, you do rather increase and augment 
 them. Just like the pelican, of whom it is reported that, being 
 naturally afraid of fire, the shei^herds are wont to carry some 
 coals and lay them by ner nest, and the poor silly creature keeps 
 fluttering with her wings, thinking thereby to extingui.sh and put 
 them out, but does but inflame and kindle them ; and by this 
 means the fire burns both her nest and self too. So, for us to go 
 to worldly joys and pastimes to quench the sorrows and troubles 
 of our minds, is the ready way rather to increase than remove 
 them.* 
 
 21, 22. (21) called, or proclaimed. The day of judgments 
 on the Babylonians ; " the day of the capture of Babylon. (22) 
 do . . me, some read, " Glean them as Thou hast gleaned me." 
 
 Tlie da II that will r'u/ht all n-ron/js (r. 21). — In that day — 1. 
 God shall no longer be shut out of His own world ; 2. Christ 
 shall no longer be denied and blasphemed : 3. Evil shall no 
 longer prevail ; 4. Error shall give place to truth ; 5. The saints 
 shall no longer be maligned.* 
 
 Comfort in sorrnw. — I say there is comfort, real and deep, in 
 
 thinking that the path of sorrow we tread has been beaten smooth 
 
 and ^^■icle by the feet of the best that ever trod this world : that 
 
 our blessed Saviour was a Man of Sorrows : and that the best of 
 
 Ilis Church have been suffered to journey by no other path than 
 
 that their ]Master went. It is not alone that the mourner travels 
 
 ^ through this vale of tears : Apostles and Prophets aie of the 
 
 company ; saints and martyrs go with him : and the sorrowful 
 
 i face of the Great Hedeemer, though sorrowful now no more, re- 
 
 I mains for ever with the old look of brotherly sympathy to Ilia 
 
Cap. ii. 1— S.] 
 
 LAMEyTATIOm OF JEREMIAff. 
 
 211 
 
 servants' eyes and hearts. Nothing hath come to us, nothing 
 will come to us, but has been shared by better men. Search out 
 the human being sult'ering the sharpest sorrow, and we can match 
 it in the best of the Church of God.'= 
 
 CHAPTER THE SECOND. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) witll a cloud, a dark threatening thunder-cloud." 
 beauty of Israel, Solomon's temple, footstool, i.e. the 
 ark.* (2) habitations, homesteads, with pastures. These are 
 rejDresented as destroyed by earthquake, strongholds, fortified 
 towns, polluted, made the sacred land common or unclean, 
 free to the invader. (3) horn, the symbol of i)Ower. God took 
 away all power of defence, drawn . . enemy, better, " He set 
 Himself — His right hand — as an adversary," comp. r. 4. (4) 
 pleasant to the eye, all the ehiefest in worth and dignity. 
 
 Tlu; footstool. — Those who are in favour with the king, or 
 those who obey him, are called his footstool. Eut the figure is 
 also used in a degrading sense. Thus, do two men quarrel, one 
 Bays to the other, "I will make thee my footstool." "Ah! my 
 lord, be not angry with me, how long have I been your foot- 
 Btool/" "I be that fellow's footstool] never 1 Was he not 
 footstool to my father .' ' <^ 
 
 5 — 8. (5) swallowed, comp. Jer.'s likening Nebuchadnezzar 
 to a lion, increased, or heaped it up. (6) a garden, i.e. no 
 better than a mere garden, feasts, etc., ch. i. 1. despised . . 
 priest, /.('. shown no regard for even the most honourable offices. 
 He made all to share in His judgments." (7; cast oft', C(*w^;. 
 Ps. Ixxxix. 38, 3'J. made a noise, their triumphant shouting 
 on getting possession of the temple. (8; stretched , . line, 
 Is. x.xxiv. 11. 
 
 Deijrccs of sorrow. — 
 
 First learn my grief, how fearful and how deep. 
 Starting. I woke from my childhood's rosy sleep. 
 The bud burst forth ! a secret chill came o'er me, 
 The breath of love drew forth each hue so bright ; 
 A hero raised me to his own proud height. 
 And life and all its charms lay spread before me. 
 
 *' Already with the bridal myrtle crown'd 
 For him in whom my very being was bound, 
 I watch'd, with mingled fear and rapture glowing ; 
 The marriage-torches cast their ruddy glare ; 
 They brought me in his corpse and laid it there, 
 From seven deep wounds his crimson heart's blood flowing." 
 
 The second took the word with trembling tone : 
 " Oh, not of shame ! of blood the form alone 
 That sleeping still or waking meets her view ; 
 My heart too opened to that breath divine. 
 Anguish and rapture — th;y have both been mine ; 
 For me the cup of love has mantled too. 
 
 *' The glory vanish "d from the lov'd one's head ; 
 I saw him selfish, mean, his brightness fled, 
 2 
 
 as eafy for Pro* 
 viileuce to con- 
 voy it without 
 wealth as with 
 it. 
 
 c Boyd. 
 
 a "The Lord 
 hath poured out 
 His fury upoa 
 Zion, as in a 
 teuipest, and has 
 dashed down lier 
 beauty as with 
 lightning, and 
 has not fpared 
 tlie ark of His 
 sanctuary." — 
 Wordsicurth. 
 
 b 1 Chr. xxviii. 2 ; 
 Ps. l.\.x.x. i., xcix. 
 1, 5, c.xxxii. 8. 
 
 a " "With the de- 
 struction of the 
 city the royal 
 autliority fell ; 
 with the ruined 
 temple and the 
 cessation of the 
 festivals the 
 functions of the 
 priest ceased." — 
 Upk. Com. 
 
 " nie night of 
 sorrow now is 
 turn'd to day : 
 her two blue 
 windows faintly 
 she uplieaveth, 
 like the fair sun, 
 when in his fresii 
 array he cheers 
 tlie morn, and 
 all the world re- 
 lieveth : and as 
 the bright suu 
 g'.orilies tlie sky, 
 so is her face illu- 
 mined wiih lier 
 e y e." — HJtake- 
 ■V eare. 
 
 " .My tree was 
 thick witll sliade. 
 O's blast! thine 
 office do, and 
 strip the foliage 
 otf. to let the 
 lieavens s li i n e 
 through." — 
 liuckert. 
 
212 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. ii. 9-13 
 
 "The first sliarp 
 Borrow, — ay, the 
 breaking up of 
 tliat de?p loim- 
 tniil, never to be 
 seal'il till we with 
 Time close up the 
 great account." 
 —Caroline liuwles. 
 
 h Madame de 
 Pontes. 
 
 a " The scene 
 here depicted is 
 presented in the 
 most touch i ngr co- 
 lours. The lirer, 
 denoting the bile, 
 wh. is formed on 
 the inferior sur- 
 face of the liver, 
 is copiously dis- 
 charged when 
 the passions are 
 violently agi- 
 tated.' ' — Haider- 
 ton. 
 
 In prosperity 
 prepare for a 
 change ; in di- 
 versity hope for 
 one. 
 
 h Bishop Hall. 
 
 a " Wliat can I 
 bring forward as 
 a witness or in- 
 stance, to prove 
 that others have 
 sustained as 
 grievous ills as 
 thou ? I cannot 
 console tbee as 
 mourners are 
 often consoled by 
 showing tliat thy 
 lot is only what 
 others too suf- 
 fer." — Fausset. 
 
 b Comp. Jo. ii. 8. 
 V. 31, xiv. 14, 
 xxiii. IG. 
 
 c " The false pro- 
 phets, in their 
 attempts to ac- 
 count for the 
 captivity, in- 
 vented any cause 
 but the true one, 
 the apostasy of 
 
 And yet, alas, I lov'd him ! — him alone ! 
 He went ; if shame still chain him to her side, 
 Or niving madness drive him far and wide, 
 I know not ; but the grief is all my own." 
 
 She ceased ; the third then gadly took the word : 
 
 " In one brief sentence all my sorrows dwell, 
 Till thou hast heard it. pause ! consider well, 
 Ere yet the final judgment thou assign, 
 And learn my better right, too cleurly proved. 
 Four words suffice me : I was never loved ! 
 The palm of grief thou wilt allow is mine." ' 
 
 9 — 12. (9) sunk, covered up with ruins and rubbish, "bars, 
 or defences. among the Gentiles, carried away captive, 
 law no more, bee. there are none on whom to press its com- 
 mands. '■ The civil and religious laws were one under the theo- 
 cracy." (10) elders, setting the example of extreme grief, 
 virgins, usually so regardful of iwrsonal adornment. (11) 
 swoon, or faint." (12) to their mothers, who could give 
 them nothing, as wounded, dying a lingering, miserable 
 death. 
 
 Treatment of sorrows and 2>Jca'''vre. — That which the French 
 proverb hath of sickness, is true of all evils, that they come on 
 horseback, and go away on foot : we have often seen a sudden 
 fall, or one meal's surfeit hath stuck by many to their graves ; 
 whereas pleasures come like oxen, slow and heavily, and go away 
 like post-horses, upon the spur. Sorrows, because they are linger- 
 ing guests, I will entertain but moderately : knowing that the 
 more they are made of, the longer they will continue : and for 
 pleasures, because they stay not, and do but call to drink at my 
 door, I will use them as passengers with slight respect. He is 
 his own best friend, that makes least of both of them.* 
 
 13—16. (13) take to witness," or, ^^^^at prophetic testimony 
 I can I give thee ? The Prophet had no consoling or comforting 
 message to deliver, equal to thee, what instance of national 
 calamity can compare with thine ? breach . . sea, measureless, 
 like the sea. (H) foolish things, delusions, Jer. xxiii. 26.* 
 discovered, or declared to thee : not sought to bring thee to a 
 true sense of thy sins, false burdens, or prophetic me.s.«ages. 
 causes, false reasons to account for your banishment;'^ or 
 " drivings out." '' (15) clap their hands. Job xxvii. 23, sxxiv. 
 37. wag . . head, 2 Ki. xix. 21 : Ps. xliv. 14. perfection of 
 beauty, Ps. xlviii, 2. (IG) opened . . mouth, as wildbeasis. 
 
 Claj/pinfj hands (v. IB). — Oriental females express their respect 
 for persons of high rank by gently applying one of their hands 
 to their mouths : a custom which seems to have existed from time 
 inimemoi'ial. In some of the towns of P>arbary. the leaders of 
 the sacred caravans are received with loud acclamations, and 
 every expression of the warmest regard. The women view the 
 parade from the tops of the houses, and testify their satisfaction 
 by striking their four tingers on their lips as fast as they can. all 
 the while making a joyful noise. The sacred writers perhaps 
 allude to this custom in those passages where clapping the hand 
 in the singular number is mentioned. Striking one hand smartly 
 
Cap. ii. 17—22.] 
 
 LAMENTATIONS, OF JEREUIAff. 
 
 213 
 
 upon the other, which we call clapping the hands, was also used 
 to express joy, in the same manner as among ourselves : but in 
 the East it appears to have been g-euerally employed to denote a 
 malignant satisfaction, a trium^jhant or insulting joy. In this 
 way the enemies of Jerusalem ex^iressed their satisfaction at 
 the fall of that great and powerful city.* 
 
 17 — 19. (17) devised, purposed, and previously intimated." 
 (18) wall, appealing to the very wall, which was broken down, 
 to join in weeping over the sorrows of the city.* river, or 
 torrent, apple, /(7. daughter, comp. Ps. xvii. 8. (19) cry out, 
 in prayer, beginning . . watches, i.e. cry all the night 
 through, young children, nothing could be more pitiable 
 than to see these dying of hunger, top . . street, Is. li. 20. 
 
 llungtr — The last of a creie. — The brig Tijrrel, Captain Coghlan, 
 in a voyage from Sandy Hook to Antigua, was wrecked on the 
 3rd of July, Iv.Jit. The crew, consisting of seventeen persons, 
 embarked in the boat, which was only nineteen feet long and six 
 broad. On the IGlh. their whole stock of provisions and water 
 being exhausted, only three persons of the seventeen now survived, 
 the others had all perished by famine ; and these were 
 
 " With hunger pinch'd, 
 Waiting the slow approach of death." 
 
 To them no hope, no prosjiects now remained, since 
 
 " All actual nourishment but air was wanting." 
 
 The mate, Purnell, the captain and the boatswain, the only 
 persons remaining, attempted to eat part of a boy who had last 
 died ; but they could not swallow it, and the body was therefore 
 thrown overboard. Early on the succeeding morning, the 18th 
 of July, Pcrnell found both his companions dead and cold. Their 
 melancholy fate taught him to anticipate his own dissolution ; 
 but though his body was feeble, yet his understanding was un- 
 impaired, and his spirits as good as his deploi-able situation would 
 admit ; and he never lost hopes of making land. On the 25th, 
 having, in the meantime, been relieved by some barnacles on the 
 rudder, he discovered a sail, which proved to be a schooner, com- 
 manded by Captain Castleman. Purnell was taken on board, and 
 had a draught of water, the first he had tasted for twenty-three 
 days. He was so weak that his life was despaired of, but by kind 
 treatment and medical advice he recovered." 
 
 20—22. (20) to whom, even to Thine own chosen and 
 covenant people." fruit, i.e. their own children, span long, 
 or rend, "swaddled with their hands : ''* r . 22. (21) young., 
 old, the slaughter was indiscriminate ; a mere massacre of the 
 population. (22) solemn day, or feast-day. Terrors come 
 crowding round Zion, as people used to do at her festivals. The 
 phrase, Jlfjtjor-ni/.^.sahil/. fear on every side, is found Je. vl. 25. 
 swaddled,"^ bound or swathed ; referred to the early dressing of 
 infants. 
 
 JJii/if/er — Faithful companion. — A Mr. Eogers and a Mr. Carr, 
 both natives of Kentucky, were on their return from the Council 
 Bluffs, on the margin of the Missouri, when tlie cold v.'eather set 
 in, accomj^auied with a deep fall of snow. IMr. Piogers being in 
 a weaJi state of health, it v>'as thought fittest to attempt to 
 
 the Jews." — Uen- 
 di'isou. 
 
 d Je. xsvli. 1(^ 
 15. 
 
 e Paxton. 
 
 a Lev. xxvi. 14— 
 o9 ; De. xxviu. 
 15—68. 
 
 6 For the bold 
 figure coii)p. Is. 
 xiv. 31 ; Je. xxii. 
 29; Hab. ii. 11; 
 Lu. xix. 40. 
 
 "Violent fires 
 soon burn out 
 t h e m s e Ives." — 
 5 /; a k e s p e a r e. 
 " The misfortune 
 is, that, -when 
 man has found 
 honey, he enters 
 upon the feast 
 with an appetite 
 so voracious, that 
 he usually de- 
 stroys liis own 
 dehght by excess 
 and satiety." — 
 Knnx. " Every 
 inordinate cup is 
 uu blest, and the 
 ingredient is a 
 devil." — Shake- 
 spea ve. '• Too 
 much is stark 
 nought."- ^YeUh. 
 "Cue may be 
 surfeited with 
 eating tarts." 
 "Gentleness does 
 more than vio- 
 lence." — French. 
 " Soon fire, soon 
 ashes." — Dutch. 
 
 c Percy Ance. 
 
 ri " This is a con- 
 tinuation of the 
 pathetic appeal 
 from tlie wall 
 wliich surround- 
 ed Jerusalem.and 
 which now lay 
 in riii'is on the 
 ground."- II ordi- 
 
 h Comp. Le. xxvl. 
 29 ; De. xxviii. 
 56, 57 ; Je. xix. &. 
 
 c A.-?, sica-dhil, 
 .<:ire(l/iil,n liundih, 
 from sicedhian, to 
 
214 
 
 LAMEXTATIOyS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap.iii.l-Q, 
 
 bind. Swadtiling- 
 clothes are 
 clothes bmuiil 
 tight round the 
 body. 
 
 "A bow overbent 
 will weaken." 
 "Extremes 
 meet." "Too far 
 east is west." "A 
 baited cat may 
 prow as fierce as 
 a lion." — Emjlislt. 
 
 " True contout- 
 ment depends 
 not upon wliat 
 we have ; a tub 
 was lai-ge enough 
 for Diogenes, but 
 a world was too 
 little for Alex- 
 ander."— Co//o«. 
 
 d Percy Artec, 
 
 a Is. lijc, 9; Je. 
 xiii. 16; Am. v. 
 
 20. 
 
 b " The anguish 
 I feel in my mind 
 is as painful as if 
 all my bones were 
 broken." — Loicl/i. 
 
 " Very prob. the 
 Prophet draws 
 nuich of what he 
 says from his 
 own experience, 
 but the whole 
 that he sets fortli 
 is more tlian his 
 own personality ; 
 it is the type and 
 pattern of every 
 individual." — 
 Eicald. 
 
 V. 1. Dr. J. Donne, 
 V. 303. 
 
 V. 5. J. Foslo; i. 
 30G. 
 
 c /. Foster. 
 
 " The excesses of 
 our youtli are 
 drafts upon 
 our old aire, jiay- 
 ablo witli in- 
 terest, about 
 
 descend the stream, instead of traversing the forests. When one 
 himdi-ed and fifty miles from any settlement, tlic ice on the river 
 prevented their descent : and no other alternative was left thaa 
 to land, and lei've Mr. Rogers in the woods, with some iieee.'isaries, 
 till the return of his friend, who went in quest of relief. Carr. 
 with difficulty, reached the settlement, and immediately returned 
 to his helpless friend. After a toilsome search, and an absence 
 of twenty-one days, Carr at length discovered the apparently life- 
 less body of Rogers. On apjiroaching it, the narrative states, 
 this faithful fellow traveller first observed a rise of snow, and 
 many tracks of a wolf leading to it. With a jmlpitating heart 
 he went up to it, and saw a piece of bulfalo-robe sticking out ; 
 stooping down, he discovered the glistening eyes of his friend I 
 He was still alive ; but his feet much frozen. His fire had gone 
 out, and in attempting to make more, his powder blew up. He 
 was afraid his friend had been frozen, and, despairing of life, had 
 rolled himself up in his buffalo robe, and lain down. He was 
 eight days without any kind of food, and was so exhausted that, 
 when the wolf stared him in the face, he was not able to make 
 any exertion or noise to drive him away. Rogers was then con- 
 veyed to Hempstead, where he not only recovered his general 
 health, but, strange to tell, the complete use of his limbs.'* 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIED. 
 
 1 — 6. (1) seen affliction, in the sense of suffering or ex- 
 periencing it. Reference is rather to the suffering of the people, 
 wh. he hatl personally shared, rod, etc., Pr. xxii. 8. (2) dark- 
 ness, the fig. for calamities." (3) turnetli his hand, in order 
 to give a repetition of strokes. Lifts up his baud to .strike again 
 and again. (4) made old, worn out as with constant rubbing 
 and chafing, broken my hones, Is. xxxviii. 13.' (5) huilded, 
 as besiegers build mounds, gall, or bitterness, travel, or 
 travail, weariness. ((>) dead of old, or for ever dead: '-se- 
 questered from human society, as if I were out of the world." 
 
 Aegro slarcvij (r. ">). — 1. In judging of this system of slavery 
 we are to remember that we stand on the Christian ground : 2. 
 So regarding it, we need not to hesitate to assert unconditionally 
 that it is wrong, essentially so, for men to arrogate a property in 
 fellow men ; that there can be no such property ; 3. This assumed 
 property is a total violation of the natural equality of mankind ; 
 4. What an odious sjstem that must be in any ca.se which 
 renders religion, whether in practice or sentiment, a thing of 
 aggravated difficulty ; 5. Slaveiy necessarily causes a wretched 
 moral degradation."^ 
 
 I'itt li/iiifj in solitiifJe. — Pitt died at a solitary house on Wim- 
 bledon Common. Not far off, by the roadside, stood a small 
 country inn. where the various parties interested in the great 
 statesman's life were accustomed to apply for iuformation. aud 
 leave their horses and carriages. On the morning of the 23rd of 
 January. ISiiG, an individual having called at the inn, and nob 
 being able to obtain a satisfactory reply to his inquiries, ho 
 proceeded to the house of Pitt. He knocked, but no servant ap- 
 peared—he opened the door and entered — he found no one in 
 attendance — lie proceeded from room to room, and afc lengtli 
 
Cap. iil. 7-16.] 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 215 
 
 entered the sick chamber, where, on a bed, in silence and in 
 perfect solitude, he found, to his unspeakable surprise, the dead 
 body of that great statesman Avho had so lately wielded the power 
 of England, and influenced, if he did not control, the destinies of 
 the world. We doubt whetHer any much more awful example of 
 the lot of mortality has ever been witnessed."* 
 
 7—12. (7) hedged, Job iii. 2.3, xix. 8 ; IIo. ii. 6. chains, 
 lit. chain of brass. (8j sliutteth out, Job xxx. 20 ; Ps. xxii. 2. 
 (9) hewn stone, comj). r. 5. paths crooked, comi^elling me 
 to turn aside from the ordinary road." (10) bear . , lion, the 
 peril of those who take by-paths and forest-paths. (11) pulled 
 , . pieces, as by these wild beasts. (12) me as a mark, Job 
 vii. 20. Made me the mark or object of His indignation. 
 
 'I'/w s/n/icr's hednrn (r. 22). — I. There is the hedge of moral 
 sense. II. Of social life. 1. Of social relationship ; 2. Of social 
 sentiment. III. Of personal incapacity. 1. The lack of physical 
 health : 2. The lack of intellectual ability ; 3. The lack of se- 
 cular means.* 
 
 A Jicavif chain (i: 7). — This figure is taken from a prisoner 
 having a heavy chain to drag as he goes along. Hu.sbands some- 
 times speak of their wives as a chain. Thus, is a man invited to 
 a distant country ; he asks in reply, " How can I come ? my wife 
 has made my chain heavy." " My husband, my husband, you 
 shall not go ; my weeping shall make your chain heavy."' A 
 man in great trouble asks, " WTio will break this sangale?" i.e. 
 chain. '• My chain, my chain, who will break this chain '/ " " Have 
 you heard Varavar's chain is broken ? He is dead I Who will 
 make another chain for him.''« 
 
 13—16. (1.3) arrows . . quiver, lit. " sons of his quiver ; " an 
 Hebraic figure." (l-t) derision, Je. xx. 7. their song, Job 
 xxx. 1). (15) bitterness, better pi., bitternesses, wormwood, 
 De. xxix. 18. (IG) broken my teeth, Pr. xx. 17.* covered 
 me, mavg., " rolled me in ; " better, •• fed me with ashes.' ' 
 
 (■rvief of ilii, (Jhvi.^tian. — Beautiful is the spectacle of Christian 
 grief, and strikingly observable is the d-iiierence between the 
 blessedness of religion and the feeble consolations of philosophy. 
 It is the pride and object of philosophy to render the human 
 heart insensible to suffering. In this, however, happily for man. 
 it seldom succeeds ; and when it does, the character is brutalised, 
 and more than half the benefit of life's discipline is lost., while, 
 at the same time, the heart that has foolishly endeavoured to 
 harden itself against suffering, becomes also insensible to jo3% and 
 Icscs those fine transitions from darkness to light, and from light 
 to dai-kuess, which, like the beauties of opening and closing day, 
 constitute the great part of the glory and brightness of the moral 
 landscape. Christianity, on the other hand, which is addressed 
 to us as creatures liable to sorrow, and which is offered to man as 
 a means of alleviation, and as a remedy of woe, seeks not to 
 harden the mind against feeling, but rather permits the full feel- 
 ing of sorrow, in order that the heart may receive the benefit of 
 this essential part of the discipline wherewith heaven in its wis- 
 dom sees fit to exercise the children of men. Herein is seen the 
 excellence of Christian principles, in that they recognise the use 
 of afflictions, and render them subservient to the purposes of 
 good. 
 
 Dirty years aftef 
 date."^C'o/?on. 
 
 d Cheever. 
 
 n " He coHceives 
 of himself as a 
 traveller whose 
 way is blocked 
 up by a solia 
 wall, and who, 
 being compelled 
 to turn aside into 
 the devious path- 
 ways of the 
 forest, is exposed 
 to the rapacity 
 of wild beasts.'* 
 — Henderson. 
 V. 8. J. Sieve- 
 %1-rirjht, 275. 
 b I r. Tlwinas. 
 " Small causes 
 are sufficient to 
 make a man un- 
 easy, when great 
 ones are not in 
 the way ; for 
 want of a block, 
 he will stumble 
 at a straw." — 
 Sicift. 
 c Roberts. 
 
 a Com p. Job v. 7, 
 
 .\U. 28. 
 
 b " Keeping up 
 the metaphor of 
 V. 15, Jer. com- 
 plains that his 
 bread was so 
 filled with grit 
 that in eating it 
 his teeth were 
 b r k e D."— ^/t. 
 Com. 
 
 c " We fare as 
 hard as those 
 who feed upon 
 bread baked in 
 ashes, whose 
 
 teeth are in 
 danger of being 
 broke with gri'.a 
 and stones."^ 
 Louth. 
 
 " He is li.nppy 
 wliose circum- 
 stances suit his 
 temper ; but he 
 is more e.xcellent 
 who can suit his 
 temjier to any 
 circumstances. "~ 
 Humr. 
 
 il Rrrords of 9 
 Village licctoi y. 
 
216 
 
 LAifE.VTATIOXS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. iii. 17-25. 
 
 " No roses blonin 
 upon my f:uliiig 
 cheek, nor laujrli- 
 iiig graces wan- 
 ton in my eyes ; 
 b n t b a g g a r d 
 (Irief, lean-look- 
 ing, sallow Care, 
 anil i)ining dis- 
 content— a rue- 
 ful train— dwell 
 on my brow, all 
 hideous and for- 
 lorn." — Rotce. 
 
 " What a rich 
 feast the canker 
 grief has made ; 
 how has it suck'd 
 the roses of thy 
 cheeks I and 
 drunk the liquid 
 crystal of thy 
 eyes V — Sewell. 
 
 a Sewell. 
 
 a Mai. iii. 6. 
 
 t>. 22. Bp. An- 
 drews, Iv. 261 ; D. 
 Wikr<x.i.iiS; U. 
 Alford, 160. 
 
 V. 24. Dr. DaU 
 gleish, 3; .S. Lnv- 
 ingtnn, 1. 105 ; U. 
 C. Denies, 1U5. 
 
 ( Dr. Parker. 
 
 " Consider tliis. 
 Christians, tliat 
 of all men in the 
 ■world you have 
 least cause, yea, 
 no cause, to be 
 murmuring and 
 muttering under 
 any dispensations 
 that you meet 
 with in tliis 
 world (Lam. iii. 
 24; Eph. iii. 8; 
 IPet. i. 3,4). Is 
 not God thy por- 
 tion ? Chrysos- 
 tom pi-ojjounds 
 this question, 
 ' Was Job miser- 
 able when ho luid 
 lost all tliat God 
 had given him 'I ' 
 and gives tliis 
 answer, ' No, he 
 had bUU that 
 
 17—21. (17) removed, etc.. P.s. Ixxxviii. 14. prosperity, or 
 g-ood. (IS) said, or thought iu my heart, strengtll . . Lord, 
 Is. xl. 27. (19) remembering, bciLtcr rend., remember, misery, 
 or homelessnes.?. (20) humbled, or bowed ; sinks down as in a 
 swoon. (21) tliis, which he is about to express in vc. 22 — 2(j; the 
 unfailing- quality of God's mercy. 
 
 The Jirat grief. — It is a bitter consciousness (none can tell how 
 bitter but those to whom it has been given) ^'hen we a. 
 wakened from our youthful dream of happines.'^ by some ster^ 
 reality, and know that from henceforth it may never be indulged 
 again — when an all-powerful, though all-merciful hand has 
 passed over the beautiful vision we so fondly cherished, and its 
 dazzling colours have faded beneath the touch, and we see that 
 the form is the same, but the lustre can never be recalled. We 
 may have thought that our minds are ready for the change, — we 
 may have pictured it to ourselves, and sorrowed for the inevitable 
 hour, and even prayed for strength to bear it, — but the experience 
 of one real grief will teach us wliat no preparation will impart. It 
 will show us our own weakness, and the vastness of that mercy 
 which stooped to share a nature endowed with such capacities 
 for suffering. It will force us to look uj^on the unknown future 
 with a chastened and a thoughtful eye ; and whilst it bids us 
 bear thankfully in our hearts the remembrance of ' our early joy, 
 as the tyije granted us by God of the blessings reserved for us in 
 heaven, it will tell us that from henceforth the warfare of 
 human life must be ours ; and that, till the grave has closed upon 
 our heads, we may hope but for few intervals of rest." 
 
 22 — 25. (22) we . . consumed," the Prophet speaks as repre- 
 sentative of the people, compassions, Ps. Ixxxvi. l.j. (23, 
 21) portion, Ps. xvi. 5, Ixxiii. 2(5, cxix. 57 ; Je. x. 16. (25) 
 wait for Him, and so wait His time. 
 
 Mail lirinij Inj mercy (ri\ 22, 23). — 1. It is of the Lord's mercy 
 that we are not consumed bodily ; 2. It is of the Lords mercy 
 that we are not consumed intellectually ; 3. It is of the Lord's 
 mercy that we are not consumed morally : dwell on the words 
 consumption, mercy, morning.* 
 
 Jeremiah and the dulte, a contrast. — Imagine the Prophet in 
 his solitariness. All around him is widespread desolation : the 
 once gorgeous palace is in ruins ; the temple, adorned with go'd 
 and silver, and the richest tapestry, no longer graces the heights 
 of Moriah, but is reduced to ashes ; the favoured people are in. 
 exile ; the Prophet is sorrowful and sad ; yet, while the tear still 
 glistens in his eye, and his bosom heaves with intense emotion, 
 he exclaims, " The Lord is my portion, saith my soul ; therefore 
 will I hope." How different is it with the man whose portion is 
 earthly I It is said of a certain duke that he has a passion for 
 costly diamonds ; and what is the consequence .' His house 
 resembles a castle rather than a mansion, and is surrounded with 
 a loftj'^ wall, over which no one can climb without giving alarm. 
 His treasure is kept in a safe, let in the wall of his bedroom, so 
 that it cannot be reached without first waking or murdering the 
 owner ; the safe is so constructed that it cannot bo forced with- 
 out di charging four gixns, and setting an alarm-bell a-ringing 
 in every room. His bedroom, like a prisoners cell, has but one 
 small window, and the bolt and lock of the massive door are of 
 the stoutest iron. In addition to these precautions, a case, coa» 
 
nap. lii. 26-36.] 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 217 
 
 taining twelve loaded revolvers, stands by the side of his bed. 
 Might we uot inscribe over it, " Piamonds are my portion ; there- 
 lore do I i'ear r^' 
 
 26—30. (20) good, '-the repetition of the word at the 
 beginning of this and tlie connected verses heightens the effect." 
 quietly wait, or wait in silence ; " abstaining from all com- 
 plaining, salvation, including all God's gracious ways of 
 helping. (27) yoke, symbol of suffering : Divine disciplinary 
 dealings, youth, early in life, when all lessons are more easily 
 learned. (28) keep silence, comp. '-quietly wait," of r. 27. 
 (29) month. . . dust, the attitude of deep humiliation.' (30) 
 cheek, etc., Is. i. (5 ; Mat. v. 3a. 
 
 The f/ocnt of early obedience (v. 27). — There is a threefold yoke 
 which it is good for a man to bear in his youth. I. The yoke of 
 afiliction. 1. Good for all kinds of men; 2. Enlightening; 3. 
 Preparatory to grace and conversion ; 4. Strengthens spiritual 
 convictions ; 5. Stirs up the heart to prayer ; G. Teaches the 
 emptiness of the creature. II. The yoke of conviction of sin. 
 1. The sooner it is borne the easier it is borne ; 2. Those who are 
 subjects of early convictions grow rich in grace. III. The yoke 
 of subjection and obedience to Christ, 1. He has his yoke ; 2. It 
 Lb the concern of every one to take his yoke in youth, because of 
 the call of God, the claims of Christ, the invitation of the Spirit ; 
 sia gets advantage by continuance ; the earlier the easier ; it has 
 the "kindest acceptance with God ; it is the fittest season for 
 religion : the danger of delay." 
 
 llerhcrt Palmer.— The Rev. Herbert Palmer, B.D., Master of 
 Queen's College. Cambridge, who died in lC-17, and who was "a 
 burning and a shining light" in his day, wns remarkable for his 
 dutiful affection to his parents, not only when he was a child, 
 but during his whole life. He was peculiarly attentive to his 
 pious, aged mother : promoting to the utmost of his power both 
 her temporal and spiritual comfort, even to the day of her death, 
 which happened not long before his own. He used frequently 
 to enforce this duty in his ministry, observing the emphasis 
 which God puts upon it through the whole of the Scriptures. He 
 used to say that he had noticed the effects of disobedience to parents 
 EO that he scarcely ever knew undutiful children escape some 
 visible judgment of God in the present life : he also thought that 
 the mischiefs ^vhieh occur in society frequently take their rise in 
 the contempt of parental authority.'' 
 
 31 — 36. (31) cast off. He puts away in cliastisnnrtr.,, but not 
 in foraaliinij. Divine punishments are only temporary. (32) 
 cause grief, by His judgments. (33) willingly, lit. "from 
 his heart."" (31) crush, etc., prob. referring to the excess of 
 cruelty with which the Chalda;ans had executed the Divine com- 
 mission. (3.5) turn . . right, so as to procure an unjust judg- 
 ment, most High, here only a superior, a judge. (3(3) 
 approveth not, or seeth not with approval.* 
 
 Comfort for the sorronfiil (vv. 31— 3G).— We have— I. A cheer- 
 ing a-^surance given — 1, That God"s abandonment of His people 
 is only temporary ; 2. That the favour with which He will visit 
 them will be signal and abundant. II. An important reason 
 adduced. This may be inferred— 1. From His character ; 2. The 
 relation. J./^) lie sukaius to His people ; 3. Their sufferings are 
 
 God who gave 
 
 li i m a 1 1.' " — 
 
 UriJije. 
 
 c liec. li. Gray. 
 
 a Ps, xxxvii. 7. 
 
 6 Ps, cxi.x. 25. 
 
 )'. 26. G. J. Zol- 
 likvffer, ii. 277; 
 Dr. A. liee.^, iii. 
 oGU; //. Melvill, 
 i. 281. 
 
 I'. 27. Dr. A. 
 
 Siuipf, ii. 223 ; 
 Siid.Smil/i.i.oGi; 
 Up. Wordswoi't/i, 
 C2 ; l:. Soutlujate, 
 ii. 77; II. iicou- 
 yall, 119. 
 
 c Matthew Mead. 
 
 The teacher Is 
 lilte tlie switch- 
 man, who holds 
 j tlie key to the 
 switches on the 
 railroad. If he 
 does his duty 
 faithfully, the 
 train will reach 
 its destination 
 I safely : if he 
 I neglects it, dis- 
 ! aster and ruin 
 I follow. A mis- 
 placed switch or 
 a wrong signal 
 may scud liun- 
 I dreds into eter- 
 nity unprepared. 
 
 d R. T. S. 
 
 a Nil. xvi. 28 { 
 He. xii. 10. 
 
 h " As God takes 
 no plcasvu-e in 
 oppressing the 
 poor and lielp- 
 less, so neither 
 will He suU-'er 
 any men to go 
 unpunislied that 
 arc guilty of sucU 
 acts of injustiue 
 and cruelty, who 
 never think that 
 all the wrongs 
 they do are com- 
 mitted in the 
 
218 
 
 lAMEXTATIONS OF JEUF.MIAn. 
 
 [Cap. iii. 37— 45, 
 
 sight of the su- 
 preme Juil^'e of 
 the world." — 
 Luwlh. 
 
 V. 33. /. Fiiircell, 
 I G3 ; Dr. llai,i,-r, 
 a. 272; r. Black- 
 ley, iii. 179. 
 
 " His sad com- 
 plexion wears 
 griefs niouruing 
 livery — ho is 
 clothed ill tear:;." 
 —John Day. 
 
 e Henry Smith, 
 1570. 
 
 a Spl: Com, 
 
 b " The prep, in 
 the Heb. is very 
 forcible, imply- 
 ing, ' Let us go 
 back, not half- 
 way but the 
 ■wh ole.' " — Nd- 
 geUbach. 
 
 e " The action of 
 confession was 
 not to lie the 
 mere outward ex- 
 ten s-ion of the 
 hands towards 
 God. Such out- 
 ward expression, 
 to be sincere, was 
 to be accom- 
 panied with the 
 inward f<>elings 
 of the heart." — 
 Jlendcrson. 
 
 d Beta in 400 
 
 Sks. 
 
 e lii'rijamin Reach, 
 IGoU. 
 
 a Our sins be- 
 come the hiding 
 cloud. 
 
 " I have seen a 
 fatlicr hold out 
 at a distance 
 from the child, a 
 promised go< d. 
 The cliild,assoon 
 us he s,aw it, 
 Ktretelu'd out liis 
 hands to take it, 
 but found that it 
 
 attended with many alleviations ; 4. The object He has in view 
 iu their afflictions : 5. His readiness to remove His chastoningf 
 hand. ]II. A gracious limilatiou s>il)joined whenever He afliicts. 
 It is — 1. Within the bounds of moderation ; 2. I^cvcr in viola- 
 tion of the principles of e(|uity. 
 
 jDirine clui-ftisciiicntii. — This is the manner of God's proceed- 
 ings — to send good after evil, as He made light after darkness ; 
 to turn justice into mercy, as He turned water into wine. For 
 as the beasts nuist be killed before they could be sacrificed, so 
 men must be killed before the}' can be sacrificed ; that is, the 
 knife of correction must prune and dress them, before they 
 can bring forth fruit. These are the cords which bind the ram. 
 unto the altar, lest when he is brought thither he should run 
 from thence again ; this is the chariot which carrieth our 
 thoughts to heaven. This is the hammer which squaroth the 
 rough stones, till they be plain and smooth, and fit for the 
 temple." 
 
 37—41. (37) who . . not, Ps. xxxiii. 9. (.")S~) evil and 
 good, Am. iii. C. (SO) living, the word is emphatic in the 
 sentence. "As long as God spares a man's life, why does he 
 murmur 1 The chastisement is really for his good ; only let him 
 use it aright, and he will be thankful for it in the end."" (40) 
 try our ways, our conduct, for in them we shall find the 
 reason of our chastisement, turn again, or return.' (41) 
 heart . . hands, the bauds in the attitude of prayer : the heart 
 with them, making the praj^er both sincere and earnest."^ 
 
 Linnrj men ought 7iot to complain (r. 39). — I. State the most 
 common causes of complaint. 1. Our circumstances in the 
 world ; 2. The sufferings to which we are doomed ; 3. Our con- 
 dition as moral agents. II. Show the impropriety of such con- 
 duct. 1. It is unreasonable ; 2. Useless; 3. Impious and profane ; 
 4. Endangers his immortal interests. III. Point out its most 
 effectual remedy. 1. Seek the regeneration of our natures ; 2. 
 Consider what pain and punishment we deserve : 3. Think of 
 the sufferings of others ; 4. Ilemember the design of God in 
 afflicting us ; 5. Pray that our day of .strength may be as our day."* 
 
 The hdicrcr's portion. — 'Tis a j)art and portion which can never 
 be spent. You may live upon God : there is enough iu Him for 
 millions and millions and millions. God is better than heaven, 
 better than grace, better than glory, better than things present, 
 or things to come. The promises are like a rich ring of gold, — but 
 this is the rare diamond in that ring ; it is the crowit. the top, 
 excellency of all promises. His wisdom is the soul's for direction. 
 Ills power for protection. His grace for its acceptation. His 
 Spirit for its consolation, His creatures on eartli to serve us. His 
 angels to guard us. His ordinances to feed and strengthen us. His 
 grace to adorn us, His riches to advance and crown us to eternity.* 
 
 42 — 45. (42) not pardoned, or overlooked our iniquity, but 
 rather, has visited it upon us. (43) covered . . anger, i.e. 
 covered Thy face in anger, persecuted US, better, jnir.siied us. 
 (44) covered . . cloud, to hide 'i'hy face from the observation 
 of our distresses." (4.j) offscouring, 1 Gor. iv. 13. 
 
 Importunate prayer.— 'Yo present a petition is ozie thing ; to 
 prosecute a suit is another. IMost prayers answer to the former. 
 But successful prayer corresponds to the latter. The children of 
 
Cap. m. 46-54.] 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 219 
 
 this world are in this respect wise in their generation. "When 
 they have a petition to carry, they go with it to the seat of 
 government, and having convej'^ed it by the i>roper channel to 
 tlie power which is to decide upon it, they anxiously await the 
 decision, iii the meantime securing all the influence they can, 
 and doiug everything possible to ensure a favourable result. So 
 should the children of light do. But frequently they just lodge 
 their petition in the court of heaven, and there they let it lie. 
 They do not press the suit. They do not employ other means in 
 furthering it, beyond the simpjle j^resenting of it. They do not 
 await the decision of it. The whole of prayer docs not consist in 
 taking hold of God. The main matter is holding on. How 
 many are induced by the slightest ajipearance of repulse to let 
 go, as Jacob did not ! I have been struck with the manner in 
 ■which jjetitions are usually concluded: '"And your petitioners 
 will ever pray." So " men ought always to pray (to God) and 
 never faint.' Payson saj's, "Ihe ijromise of God is not to the 
 act, but to the habit of prayer."* 
 
 46—50. (4G) opened their mouths, ch. ii. 16. (47) fear, 
 etc., Is. xxiv. 17 : Je. xlviii. 43. (48) mine ej^e, etc., Je. iv. 19. 
 (4'.)) without . . intermission, or because there is no inter- 
 mission of my miseries. (50) till the Lord, intimating that 
 in his seeming hopelessness he yet held fast his hope in God. 
 
 Tears of Hod's iicoplc. — They are the tears wliich burst from 
 our hearts when we look upon Him whom we have pierced, and 
 weep as a mother that weepeth for an only son ; the tears Avhich 
 Christ wept over Jerusalem, fallen and impenitent, foreseeing its 
 relentless doom ; the tears of compassion which He wept over 
 the sorrows of the house of Lazarus : the tears which Paul shed 
 when in the city of Ephesus he weui:, by night and by day, from 
 house to house, entreating the jieoi^le to be reconciled unto God. 
 Not the bitter and disappointed mood of Jonah when he was ex- 
 ceedingly displeased and very angry becau'se the Lord had re- 
 lented of His threatenings against Nineveh, and entreated God, 
 saying. " Take, I beseech Thee, my life away from me, for it is 
 lietter for me to die than to live : " but the mood of Jeremiah the 
 Prophet, when He exclaimed. "Is there no balm in Gilead.-' Is 
 there no physician there ? Why then is not the health of the 
 daughter of my jjeople recovered ? " " O that my head were 
 waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, thnt I might weep day 
 and night for the daughters of my people ! " Not the tears of 
 pride, v/hich come reluctant from the steeled head, like water 
 dropping from the flinty rock, but the tears of pride humbled 
 and convinced liy the power of God, which flov/ copiously like 
 the streain which issued from the rock, when it had been smitten 
 by the wand of ]\Ioses, the messenger of God. Not the tears of 
 natural desire after a worldly good, nor the tears of natural sor- 
 row for a worldly good removed, but the tears of spiritual desire 
 after spiritual good, or the tears of sorrow when God hath hidden 
 His countenance or removed our candlestick out of its former 
 place." 
 
 51 — 54. (.51) afiecteth . . heart, or maketh my soul ache, 
 because of, or '• more than all." daughters, F.n-ald refers to 
 the daughter, or dejiendent towns around. Vnlrin thinks that 
 iJnT. exceeded even the eoftness of women in his abundant weep- 
 
 was too far away 
 for Ijini to 
 reach, lie thea 
 came nearer, and 
 stretcheil forth 
 liis bauds with 
 greater effort. 
 Still the object 
 was too far for 
 his grasp. Agaia 
 the child came 
 nearer and jiiade 
 another mighty 
 effort. The fa- 
 ther seeing the 
 child so mvicli in 
 earnest to s( ize 
 the object, drew 
 his hand towards 
 the cliild, and 
 smilingly allowed 
 him to seize the 
 promised bless- 
 in g. "— ^o/i n i^ate. 
 b A'eciiis. 
 
 m. 49, 50. T. Bof 
 ion, iv. 60. 
 
 " Hide not thy 
 tears ; weep bold- 
 Ij-, and be prond 
 to give the flow- 
 ing virtue manly 
 ^^■ay : 'tis na- 
 ture's mark to 
 know an lionest 
 heart by. Shame 
 on tliose breasts 
 of stone that can- 
 not melt in soft 
 adoption of 
 another's sor- 
 row." — Aaron 
 Hill. 
 
 "E emembrance 
 is the only para- 
 dise out of which 
 we cannot be 
 driven away. In- 
 deed, our first 
 parents were not 
 to be deprived of 
 it." — lllclila: 
 
 a E. Irving, 
 
 "Sufferiyg la 
 sweet when ho- 
 nour doth adorn 
 it. Who slighU 
 revenge ? "ot lt« 
 
220 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAB. 
 
 [Cap. lil. 55—59, 
 
 that fears, but 
 
 scorns it. " — ' 
 liuckiiiriluun. 
 
 a C.Simeon, U.A. 
 
 " For sorrow is 
 the messenger 
 between the jioet 
 ami men's bo- 
 soms. Genius 
 can fill with 
 unsympatliising 
 goils tlie scene, 
 but grief alone 
 can teach us 
 what is man." — 
 Jiidtcer Lijilon. 
 
 b Cheever. 
 
 He who lays out 
 most for Christ, 
 provides best for 
 himself. He who 
 Serves not him- 
 self, but Christ, 
 is most truly free. 
 He who belongs 
 not to himself, 
 bat to Christ, 
 possesses all 
 tUiugs. 
 
 V. 57. W. Fenner, 
 1. '.^65. 
 
 " Praying in the 
 
 Holy Gliost ; " 
 " U'he Spirit 
 
 mnketh interces- 
 sion within you," 
 is the language 
 of Scripture. As 
 a winil musical 
 insti'ument in 
 the h.anils of the 
 musician, so 
 
 should Christians 
 in ))rayer be in 
 tlie hands of the 
 Liivine Spirit; 
 they shoulcl pre- 
 sent such jiraycrs 
 as He imiites 
 within them. 
 The harmony, 
 melody, sweet- 
 ness, power, ami 
 effect of their 
 prayers .should be 
 produced by the 
 agency of the 
 Spirit dwelling 
 in them. 
 
 h Dr. Edmond. 
 
 ing'. (r)2) like a bird, as hunters do a bird : tiring it down 
 with prolonged pursuit. (5:!) dungeon, Je. x.\xvii. l(i. stone, 
 usually put at the mouth of a dungeon to secure the prisoner. ( 54) 
 waters . . head, a figurative expn-ssion of his great trouble. 
 Comp. Ps. Ixix. 2. cut off, Ps. Ixxxviii. 5 ; Is. liii. 8. I am 
 as good as dead. 
 
 The vfficacij of lyrayrr {rr. 54—07). — I. To -what a state God's 
 most favoured saints may be reduced. In the Pi'ophet's experience, 
 however, we see — II. What remedy is open to them. The 
 answer he received will lead us to contemplate — III. The 
 efficacy of that remedy whenever applied." 
 
 Fothcnj ill's gencrus'itij. — A worthy clergyman, a friend of Dr. 
 Fothcrgiil, was, in the early part of his life, settled in London 
 upon a curacy of £50 per auuuni. An epidemical disease .'^eizsd 
 upon his wife and five of his children. In this state of distress 
 he earnestly desired the doctor's advice, but dared not apply for 
 it, from a consciousness of being unable to reward him lor his 
 attendance. A friend kindly offered to accompany him to the 
 doctor's, and give him his fee. They took advantage of his 
 hour of audience ; and, after a description of the several cases, 
 the fee was offered and rejected, but a note was taken of 
 his place of residence. The doctor assiduously called from 
 day to day, till his attendance was no longer necessary. The 
 curate, anxious to return some grateful mark of the sense he 
 entertained of his services, strained every nerve to accomplish 
 it ; but his astonishment was great Avhen the doctor, instead 
 of receiving the money he offered, put ten guineas into his 
 hand, desiring him to aj^ply to him without hesitation in futtu-e 
 difficulties.' 
 
 55—59. (5.^) low dungeon, or very deep pit." (.56) 
 breathing, poss. intended to indicate how exhausted and feeble 
 his prayer was. (57) thoii drewest near, in past time of 
 trouble. (58) hast pleaded, as my Gael or arcnrjcr. (59) 
 judge . . cause, at this present time also. 
 
 ]\'utch'i)uj vnto 2>T(ty''i'- — When an archer shoots his arrow at 
 a mark, he likes to go and see whether he has hit it, or how near 
 he has come to it. When you have written and sent oil a letter 
 to a friend, you expect some day that the postman will be knock- 
 ing trt the door with an answer. Wltcn a child asks his father 
 for something he looks in his face, even before he speaks, to see 
 if he is pleased, and read acceptance in his eyes. But it is to be 
 greatly feared that many people feel when their prayers are over 
 as if they had quite done with them. Their only concern was to 
 get them said. An old heathen poet speaks of Jupiter throwing 
 certain i^rayers to the winds — dispersing them " in empty air." 
 It is sad to think that wc so often do that for ourselves. What 
 Avould you think of a man who had written, and folded, and 
 sealed, and addressed a letter, flinging it out info the stre.et, Mid 
 thinking no more about it ? Sailors in foundering ships some- 
 times commit notes in scaled bottles to the waves, lor tlie chance 
 of their being some day washed on some shore. Sir John 
 Franklin's companions among the snows, and Captain Alien 
 Gardiner, dying of hunger in his cave, wrote words they c<mld 
 not be sure any one would ever read. But we do not need to 
 think of our prayeis as random messages. We should, therefore, 
 look for reply to them, and watch to get it.* 
 
Cap. Iv. 1—4.] 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 221 
 
 60—63. ("GO, Gl) imaginations, or devices." The word 
 carries the idea of plav.s funned by men in mere wilfulness. (02) 
 tlie lips,' or the talk ; the foolish and malicious speeches. (G3) 
 music,'' the subject of their merriment ami their song-. 
 
 Tmiling rejii-oiiclws. — Pericles, as he was sitting before others 
 in a meeting', a foul-mouthed fellow railed upon him all the day 
 long ; at night, when it was dark, and the meeting broke up, the 
 fellow followed him and railed at him, even to his door, and 
 he took no notice of what he said ; but when he came home, 
 this is all he said to him, " It is dark, I i^ray let my man light 
 you home."''' 
 
 64—66. (64) render, etc., comp. Ps. Ixix. 22—28 : the words 
 are taken fr. Ps. xxviii. 4. (G5) sorrow of heart, or judicial 
 blindness." (G6) destroy, etc., comp. Je. x. 11. heavens . . 
 Lord, Ps. viii. 3,* cxv. 16. 
 
 Unceasing prayer. — In this precept— to pray always — there is 
 nothing of exaggeration, nothing commanded which may not be 
 fulfilled, when we understand of prayer as the continual desire 
 of the soul after God ; having, indeed, its times of intensity, 
 seasons of an intenser concentration of the i^piritual life, but not 
 being confined to those times ; since the whole life of the faith- 
 ful should be, in Origen's beautiful words, one great connected 
 prayer ; or, as St. Basil expresses it, prayer should be the salt, 
 •which is to salt everji:hing besides. " That soul," says Donne, 
 " that is accustomed to direct herself to God upon every occasion : 
 that, as a flower at sunrising, conceives a sense of God in every 
 beam of His, and spreads and dilates itself towards Him, in a 
 thankfulness, in every small blessing that He sheds ui^on her — 
 that soul who, whatsoever string be stricken in her, bass or treble, 
 h^r high or her low estate, is ever turned toward God : — that 
 Boul prays sometimes when it does not know that it prays."" 
 
 CHAPTER THE FOURTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) gold . . dim, gold is used metaphorically for the 
 illustrious portion of the Jewish people." Calrin refers it to the 
 splendid adornment of the temple, stones . . sanctuary, 
 meta]ihorical, referring to the priests and Levites. The fig. may 
 be taken from the gems of the high pnest's breastplate ;* or 
 from the stones of which the temple was built, top . . street, 
 ch. ii. 19. (2) earthen pitchers,' Je. xix. 10, 11. (3) sea 
 monsters, tannin. Dr. Pocock venders Jackal.^ ; others render 
 7vJinJe!t, these creatures being mnnnnalia. young ones, lit. 
 oi-helj).^.'' ostriches, Job xxxix. 13—17. (4) cleavetii . .thirst, 
 bee. the mothers, in the famine time, have no milk. 
 
 The irorhr.'! esfimnfion of the righteo//.^ (r. 2). — I. The charac- 
 ters described. 1. Ziou is their spi.itual birth-place, they ac- 
 knowledge their great and growing obligations to Zion ; 2. They 
 are devoted to the interests of Zion. II. Tlie excellence of the 
 sons of Zion. 1. In respect of its purity ; 2. Its utility ; 3. Its 
 value ; 4. Its honour. III. The estimation in which the sons of 
 Zion are too often held. 1 . Their ]irinciples and misnames ; 2. 
 Their motives are suspected ; 3. Their conduct is misrepresented.'' 
 
 'J he potter iind the clag — J//ipre.f.'<i//ilifg of ehildven. — It was 
 jny privilege, not long since, to visit au extensive manufactory 
 
 a Je. xi. 19, xvilL 
 18. 
 
 6 Ps. xxii. 7. 
 c Ps. Mr. 2. 
 
 d Jeremiah Bur- 
 roughs. 
 
 a " Lit. a ' cover- 
 ing of lieart,' i.e. 
 a mental disease, 
 obstinacy, liard- 
 ness, the worst 
 calamity that can 
 befall a liumaa 
 being."— iiert- 
 di-rson. 
 
 b " They shall be 
 not only ex- 
 cluiled from the 
 happiness of the 
 invisiblehcareus, 
 bat cut off from 
 the comfort even 
 of these visible 
 ones, \vh. are the 
 heavens of the 
 Lord, and wh. 
 those therefore 
 are unworthy to 
 be taken under 
 the protection of 
 wlio rebel ag'aiust 
 H i m." — Mat, 
 Ih'ii rii. 
 c Archbp. Trench. 
 
 a Grntitis, Sen* 
 di'fspn, etc. 
 h Michaetis. 
 c " With solid 
 gold is contrasted 
 the hollow 
 pitcher, easily 
 bi-olcen.and made 
 of materials of no 
 intrinsic value, 
 but deriving its 
 worth from mere 
 human labour." 
 —H/i/l-. Com. 
 d As this terra is 
 only appliLcl to 
 the young of dog- 
 like creatures, its 
 USB favours the 
 translation, 
 Jiiciiils. 
 
 ,' Zela in 400 Sks, 
 Dr. Shaw also 
 says that, daring 
 the lonesome 
 part of the iiitrht, 
 the osU'ichei 
 
222 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREmAH. 
 
 [Cap. Iv. 5-a, 
 
 often maile a 
 
 doleful anil liiiie- 
 ous iioice, which 
 wonM sometiMies 
 be like the roar- 
 1112 of a lion ; at 
 other times it 
 ■wouM bear re- 
 semblance to the 
 lioarser voices of 
 other qiiailru- 
 peils, particularly 
 of the bull ami 
 the ox. 1 hive 
 often hearil th 'm 
 groan, as if tliey 
 Were in the 
 greatest agonies, 
 — an action lieaii- 
 tifully alluileil to 
 by tlie I'rophet 
 !Micali(i. 8).\vhen 
 it is faiil, ' I 
 will make a . . . 
 mourning as the 
 owls,' or rather, 
 ostriches. 
 / W. 11. Groser. 
 
 a Comp. Jobxxiv. 
 
 6 "So'lom was 
 Tint given up into 
 the hands of an 
 enemy that laid 
 Biege to it, nor 
 condemned to 
 the lingering, 
 de.stnictioa of 
 famine." — Loicth. 
 
 " Sodom's suffer- 
 ings iu dying 
 were brief ; there 
 were no starving 
 infants, no mo- 
 thers cooking 
 their offspring 
 for f o o d."— 
 Ndgelshach. 
 
 r Job XXX. 30. 
 
 "In the morning, 
 When you awake, 
 accustom your- 
 self to think first 
 upon CJod, or 
 Bomething in 
 order to His ser- 
 vice ; and at 
 night also let 
 Him close thine 
 eyes, and let your 
 sleep be neces- 
 sary and health- 
 ful, nut idle an<l 
 e.\)iensive of time 
 beyond the neeils 
 and conveniences 
 It nature : and 
 
 of the finest kind of j^orcelain. in one of our midland cities. I 
 was first shown the crude materials : I saw them kneaded toge- 
 ther in great circular cisterns as if by an unseen power, and then 
 passed into the room where the potters pursued their craft. I 
 watched " the potter work a work upon the wheels ; " and as the 
 white, moist clay, grew beneath his skilful hand into forms of 
 grace and beauty. I thought I had never yet seen so exquisite a 
 type of perfect plasticity. I could now appreciate the cogent 
 question of the Apostle, " Hath not the potter power over the 
 clay .' " 1 had visited the city simply as a Sunday-school teacher, 
 and here was indeed a striking emblem of my work. Each child, 
 I thought, that God places beneath my care, has a nature plastic 
 and impressible as yonder clay, and, whether I will it or not, will 
 bear the impress of my moulding hand, whether skilful or 
 unsteady, whether put forth in earnest wisdom or in vague un- 
 certainty. Yonder vessels have different purposes to serve, — 
 some to honour, and some to dishonour, according as the potter 
 shall determine ; but this for a few years, or at most p. few 
 centuries. And the vessels which I am called to fashion, they 
 too have their destinies ; but their honour or their dishonour 
 shall be unchanging and eternal. God grant that, like some of 
 these material things, they may at length be deemed fit for a 
 royal Master's use ! ^ 
 
 5 — 8. (5) delicately, or daintily. " Faring sumptuously 
 eveiy day." desolate, i.e. there are none to wait on them, or 
 jirovide for them. Such ^jersons are the most heljjless in famine 
 times, in scarlet, prob. referring to the luxurious scarlet 
 couches of the grand houses, dunghills, are content to lie on 
 the dunghills to secure a little warmth." (G) is greater,* bee. 
 her knowledge and privilege were greater, no hands, etc., i.e. 
 no human hands were wearied in the Avork of destroying her. 
 
 (7) Nazarites, or separated ones ; see Nu. vi. rnbies, or coral. 
 
 (8) visage, etc., these indicate the effects of prolonged famine.* 
 like a stick, withered and dry. 
 
 O-sfrick. — This remarkable bird lives in the sandy deserts of 
 Arabia and Africa, subsisting on the coarsest herbage and grain. 
 When full-grown, the neck, particularly of the male, which 
 before was almost naked, is now very beautifully covered with, 
 red feathers. The plumage, likewise, upon the shoulders, the 
 back, and some parts of the wings, from being hitherto of a dark 
 greyish colour, becomes now as black as jet, while the rest of the 
 feathers retain an exquisite whiteness. The females form their 
 nests in the sand, and cover their eggs, the same as the fowl or 
 partridge. Several birds lay their eggs in the same nest, the 
 males sitting on them at night, and the females doing so alter- 
 nately in the day. As many as sixty eggs have been found in 
 one nest, while several others were scattered around, which are 
 said to have served as nourishment to the j'oung ones when 
 hatched, till capable of digesting harder food. The parent birds 
 take little care of their young. Dr. Shaw says that on the least 
 noise, or trivial occasion, she forsakes her eggs or her young 
 ones, to which, perha])s, she never returns, or if she does, it may 
 be too late. Though the ostrich will sometimes engage iu fierce 
 and angry combat, employing both its claws and bill, it never- 
 theless, when taken young, becomes as tame as the domestic 
 fowl. The same author observes : — "I had several opportunitiea 
 
Cap. iv. 9— 12.] 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 223 
 
 of amusino;' myself -with the action and behaviour of the ostrich. 
 It is very diverting" to observe with what dexterity and equipoise 
 of body it would play and frisk about on all occasions. In the 
 beat oi' the day. particularly, it would strut along the sunny side 
 of ihe house wiih great majesty. It would be perpetually fan- 
 ning and priding itself with its quivering, expanding wings, and 
 at oilier times it would continue its fanniug. vibratory move- 
 ments. With their help, it will go faster than the fleetest horse, 
 and with two black boys on its back."' With all their speed, 
 hovv'cver. they do not run in a straight line, but wheel round in 
 circles of a greater or less extent, so that the Arab huntsman is 
 able, after a very diihcult chase, to approach and slay them with 
 their clubs, preferring that weapon, that an effusion of blood may 
 not spoil the feathers. These are chieiiy obtained from the 
 wings, which in a bird of full plumage contain forty : the tail 
 feathers seldom exceed nine inches in length, and are of so little 
 value, that they are seldom exported from the Cape, as the birds, 
 when killed, are generally found with their tails worn to the 
 Btumps from working in the sand. 
 
 9 — 12. (9) better, bee. at once put out of their misery, pine 
 away, Heb. Jiou- out ; as if the famine struck them, and life 
 slowly ebbed away." (10) hands . . children, De. xxviii. 57 ; 
 La. ii. 20. (11) accomplished, etc., by this expression we are 
 recalled to the fact that this Divine visitation had been 
 threatened. (12) not . . believed, bee. the city seemed to be 
 BO well fortifitxi.'' 
 
 Coohlmj in. the East (r. 5). — In preparing their victuals, the 
 Orientals are. from the extreme scarcity of wood in many coun- 
 tries, reduced to use cow-dung for fuel. At Aleppo, the inhabi- 
 tants use wood and charcoal in their rooms, but heat their baths 
 with cow-dung, the parings of fruit, and other things of a similar 
 kind, which they employ people to gather for that purpose. In 
 Eg.^^it. according to Pitts, the scarcity of wood is so great, that 
 at Cairo they commonly heat their ovens with horse or cow dung. 
 or dirt of the streets ; what wood they have being brought from 
 the shores of the Black Sea, and sold by weight. Chardin 
 attests the same fact : " The Eastern people always use cow-dung 
 for baking, boiling a pot. and dressing all kinds of victuals that 
 are easily cooked, especially in countries that have but little 
 wood : " and Dr. Russell remarks, in a note, that " the Arabs 
 carefully collect the dung of the sheep and camel, as well as that 
 of the cow ; and that the dung, ofcal, and other matters used in 
 the bagnios, after having been nevr gathered in the streets, are 
 carried out of the city, and laid in great heaps to diy, where 
 they become very offensive. They are intolerably disagreeable, 
 while drying, in the town adjoining to the bagnios ; and are so 
 at all times when it rains, though Ihey be stacked, pressed hard 
 together, and thatched at top." These statements exhibit, in a 
 very strong light, the extreme misery of the Jews, who escaped 
 from the devouring sword of Nebuchadnezzar : " They that feed 
 delicately, are desolate in the .streets : they that were brought up 
 in scarlet, embrace dunghills.'' To embrace dunghills is a 
 species of wretchedness perhaps unknown to us in the history of 
 modern warfare : bitt it presents a dreadful and appalling image, 
 when the circumstances to which it alhides are recollected. What 
 can be imagined more dibtressiag to those who lived delicately, 
 
 sometimes be 
 carious to see tlie 
 lirepuraliou wli. 
 the sun makes 
 wlieu he is com- 
 ing for 111 from 
 his chambers of 
 the east I " — 
 Jtnniy Tuijlor. 
 
 "But live con- 
 tent, which 13 
 the calmest life ; 
 but pain is per- 
 fect misery, the 
 worst of evils ; 
 and, excessive, 
 overturns all pa- 
 tience." — Miltvn. 
 
 a "Stricken 
 through, or 
 pierced through, 
 is very expres- 
 sive of the sharp 
 pain occasioned 
 by severe han- 
 ger." —hcndefsoti. 
 
 b " Such was the 
 natural strength 
 of Jerusalem, and 
 such the wide- 
 spread belief that 
 the God of the 
 Jews was omni- 
 potent, that the 
 city was con- 
 sidered to be 
 impregnable." — 
 Henderson. 
 
 " There is a 
 sacredness ia 
 tears. They are 
 not the mark of 
 weakness, but of 
 p o w e r. They 
 speak more elo- 
 quently than 
 ten thousand 
 tongues. They 
 are the messen- 
 gers of over- 
 whelming grief, 
 of deep conti i- 
 tion, and of 
 unspeakable 
 love." — W'asliing- 
 lun Irving. 
 
 " Thy tears are 
 no reproach ; 
 tears oft look 
 graceful on the 
 manly cheek : 
 the cruel cannot 
 we^p. Lo, friend" 
 
224 
 
 LAMENTATTOXS OF JEREMIAJt. 
 
 rcap.iv. is-ia 
 
 pliip's eye pives 
 tliee the drop it 
 would refuse 
 \lt>z\i." -Tkunuon. 
 
 " Tears of joy 
 jire tlie dew in 
 which the Suu of 
 ]lishteoasiiess is 
 111 i r r o r e d." — 
 Kicbler. 
 
 » Eze. xxii. 26, 
 28 ; Zep. iii. 4. 
 
 b Conip. Mat. 
 xxiii. 31, 37; Ac. 
 vii. 02. 
 
 " Sooner mayest 
 thou trust tliy 
 pocket to a pick- 
 pocket than give 
 loyal frieudsliip 
 to the man who 
 boasts of eyes to 
 which the heart 
 never mounts in 
 dew ! Only when 
 man weeps lie 
 should be alone ; 
 not because tears 
 are weak, but 
 they should be 
 secret. Tears are 
 akin to prayer- 
 Pharisees parade 
 prayers, impos- 
 tors parade 
 tears." — Buluei: 
 
 " On each pallid 
 check a single 
 tear hung quiver- 
 ing like early 
 dowdrojis on the 
 sickening lily." — 
 Jiu'jh Kelly. 
 
 " Shed a tear of 
 pity on their 
 woes, which, as 
 it drops, some 
 soft-eyed angel 
 bears, trans- 
 formed to pearl, 
 and in her bosum 
 ■wears."— (Sir W. 
 Jones. 
 
 than to wander without food in the streets ? What more dis- 
 gusting and terrible to those who had been clothed in rich and 
 splendid garments than to be forced hy the destruction of their 
 jialaces to seek shelter among slacks of dung, the filLh and stench 
 of which it is almost impossible to endure .' The dunghill, it 
 appears from Holy Writ, is one of the pommon retreats of the 
 mendicant, which imparts an exquisite force and beauty to a 
 passage in the .song of Hannah : " He raiseth up the poor out of 
 the dust, and liftcth the beggar from the dunghill, to set them 
 among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory." 
 The change in the circumstances of that excellent woman she 
 reckoned as great (and it was to her not less unexpected) as the 
 elevation of a poor despised beggar from a nauseous and pol- 
 luting dunghill, rendered tenfold more fu3tid by the intense heat 
 of an Oriental sun, to one of the highest and most splendid 
 stations on earth.'' 
 
 13—16. (13) for the sins, etc., Je. v. 31, xxiii. 21." shed 
 . .just, Je. xxvi. 7 — 24.* (14) with blood, by coming into 
 contact with the many slain in the streets, could not touch, 
 for fear of defilement. (15) they cried, i.e. men generally, even 
 the heathen, cried against these polluted fugitives, and would not 
 let them settle amongst them. (IG) anger, lit. the face, they 
 respected, men generally in the countries sought as asylums by 
 the outlawed priests and elders. 
 
 IJjI'ect of Jivnger. — I leave it to physicians and naturalists to 
 determine, with minute exactness, what elfect extreme hunger 
 produces on the body, particularly as to colour. It is sufficient 
 for me to remark, that the modern inhabitants of the East 
 suppose it occasions an approach to blackness, as the ancient 
 Jews also did. " Her Nazarites," says the Prophet, coniplaiuiug 
 of the dreadful want of food, just before Jerusalem was taken 
 by Nebuchadnezzar, "her Nazarites were purer than snow, they 
 were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, 
 their polishing was of sapphire. Their visage is blacker than a 
 coal : they are not known in the streets : their skin cleaveth to 
 their bones ; it is withered, it is become like a stick." Lam. iv. 
 7, 8. The like is said, ch. v. 10 : " Our skin was black like an 
 oven, because of the terrible famine." The same representation 
 of its effects still obtains in those countries. So Sir John C'hardiu 
 tells, that the common people of Persia, to express the sufferings 
 of Hossein, a grandson of their prophet Mohammed, and one of 
 their most illustrious saints, "v\iho fled into the deserts before hi3 
 victorious enemies, that pursued him ten days together, and at 
 length overtook him, ready to die with heat, thirst, and fatigue, 
 and slew him with a multitude of wounds, in memory of which 
 they annually observe ten days with great solemnity : I say he 
 tells us, that the common people then, to express what he suf- 
 fered, '• appear entirely naked, excepting the parts modesty re- 
 quires to be covered, and blackened all over ; while others are 
 stained with blood ; ot.hers run about the streets, beating two 
 flint-stones agamst each other, their tongues hanging out of 
 their mouths like people quite exhaiisted, and behaving like 
 per.sons in des]iair, crying with all their miuht, Hossein. etc. 
 Those that coloiired themselves black, intended to represent the 
 extremity of thirst and heat which Hossein had sufVered. which 
 was BO great, they say, that he turned black, and hid ton^juQ 
 
Cap. V. 1-5.1 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 225 
 
 swelled out of his mouth. Those that were covered with blood, 
 intended to represent his being so terribly wounded, as that all 
 his blood had issued from his veins before he died." Here we see 
 thirst, want of food, and fatigue, are supposed to make a human 
 body look black. They are now supposed to do so ; as they were 
 supposed anciently to have that ett'ect.' 
 
 17—20. (17) -watclied . . nation, even the Egj^rtians.'^ (18) 
 they . . steps, referring- to the missiles of the besiegers, whose 
 engines were now advanced close to the walls.'' (19) pursued, 
 any of the inhabitants who tried to escape."^ (20) hreatll . . 
 nostrils, Ge. ii. 7. anointed, the Jewish term for the king, 
 taken . . pits, hunted like a wild beast. 
 
 I'erseevtion. — One Palmer, of Eeading, being condemned to 
 die, in Queen Mary's time, was much persuaded to recant, and 
 among other things a friend said to him, "Take pity on thy 
 golden years and pleasant flowers of youth, before it be too late." 
 His reply was as beautiful as it was conclusive, " Sir, I long for 
 those springing flowers which shall never fade away." When 
 he was in the midst of the flames he exhorted his companions 
 to constancy, saying, '• 'We shall not end our lives in the fire, but 
 make a change for a better life ; yea, for coals we shall receive 
 pearls." Thus do we clearly see that, although "if in this life 
 only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable," 
 yet the prospect of a better and enduring substance enables us to 
 meet all the trials and temptations of this present life with holy 
 boldness and joy. 
 
 21, 22. (21) rejoice, this call to an enemy of God's pcoj^le 
 appears to be konical. " Rejoice while thou mayest."" cup, of 
 Divine judgment. (22) accomplislied, carried through, and 
 completed, discover tliy sins, bee. the evil of sin is shown 
 in God's judgments upon it.* 
 
 God's discovery of mnn's nins (v. 22). — I. It is a vast discovery. 
 Think — 1. Of the significance of each separate sin; 2. Of the 
 number of each man's tins. II. It is a terrible discovery. III. 
 It is an inevitable discovery. 1. Sometimes made here — Cain, 
 Belshazzar, Judas, Felix ; 2. Is certain to be made hereaf ter.^ 
 
 CHAPTER THE FIFTH. 
 
 1 — 5. (1) reproach, or national disgrace. (2) our inherit- 
 ance, Ps. Ixxix. l.« aliens, foreigners. (13) fatherless . . 
 widows, bee. the war destroyed so many of the men. (4) 
 water for money, no sign of scarcity could be more forcible 
 than this, — even water must be paid for.* wood, necessary for 
 firing. (5) necks, whereon yokes were laid." 
 
 }\'ood for fuel {v. i). — That numbers of the Israelites had no 
 Wood growing on their own lands, for their burning, must be 
 imagined from the openness of their country. It is certain, the 
 Eastern villages now have oftentimes little or none on their 
 premises : so Russell says, that inconsiderable as the stream that 
 runs at Aleppo . and the gardens about it, may appear, they, how- 
 ever, contain almost the only trees that are to be met with for 
 twenty or thirty miles round, " for the villages are destitute of 
 trees," and most of them only supplied with what rainwater they 
 can save in cisterns. D'Arvieux gives us to understand that 
 
 vol.. IX. 0.T, P 
 
 a Je. viii. 20, 
 xxxvii. 4—10, 
 
 xlvi. 17. 
 
 6 " Towards the 
 eiul of the siege 
 tlie towers erect- 
 ed b.v the enemy 
 would comiiiaud 
 the streets, and 
 such spots would 
 be avoided."— 
 Spk. Com. 
 
 c Comp. Je. lii. 
 8,9. 
 
 " Whose hearta 
 are ready at liu- 
 niaiiity's soft call 
 to drop the tear." 
 — U'. Mason. 
 
 a Comp. Eoc. xL 
 9. 
 
 b " He will dis- 
 cover how great 
 
 thine iniquities 
 are, by the re- 
 markable judg- 
 ments wherewith 
 He punisheth 
 thee." — Loicth. 
 
 c Dr. Thomas. 
 
 a Le. XX. 24. 
 
 b " Reference is 
 
 most prob. to the 
 sojourn in Baby- 
 lon, where one of 
 thehardslilpswas 
 the necessity for 
 pajiiig a tax on 
 water, a tax for 
 access to the 
 rivers and foua- 
 tains."' — Fausset. 
 
 c De. xxviii. 48. 
 
 " Thy heart I3 
 big ! Get the® 
 apart and we^> 
 
228 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 [Cap. V. 6—15. 
 
 rassion 1 see is 
 ca telling; for 
 mine cyt^s, seeinj; 
 those U'luls of 
 sorri)\v stand in 
 thine, begin to 
 water." — tiJia'iie- 
 spm re. 
 
 " Unvalued here 
 such tears may 
 fall ; but know, 
 caoh tear will 
 prove a preciou; 
 jiearl in lieaven 
 a lio ve. " — Tiie 
 Tiiumj'h pf Time. 
 
 " Ah ! bitter chill 
 it was; the owl, 
 for all his fea- 
 thers, was a-oolil; 
 the hare limjj'd 
 trembling 
 through the 
 fro/.eu grass, and 
 Bileut was the 
 flock in woolly 
 f»ld." — Keats. 
 
 " The nunneries 
 of silent nooks, 
 the murmur'd 
 lon.Lring of the 
 ■wood." — Lowell. 
 
 tL Uai mer. 
 
 several of the present villages of the Holy Land are in the same 
 situation ; lor, observiDg that the Arabs burn cow-duug in their 
 encampments, ho adds that all the villagers v,'\\o live in places 
 where there is a scarcity of wood take great care to provide 
 themselves with sullicient quantities of this kind of fuel. This 
 is a circumstauce 1 have elsewhere taken notice of. The Holy 
 Laud appears, by the last observations, to hav3 been as little 
 wooded anciently as at present ; nevertheless, the Israelites seem 
 to have burnt wood very commonly, and without buying it too, 
 from what the Prophet says. Lam. v. 4. Had they been wont to 
 buy their fuel, they would not have comphiincd of it as such a 
 hardsliip. The true account of it seems to be this : The woods 
 of the laud of Israel being from very ancient times common, the 
 people of the villages, which, like those about Alep]jo, had no 
 trees growing in them, supplied themselves with fuel out of 
 these wooded places, of which there were many anciently, and 
 several that still remain. This liberty of taking wood in com- 
 mon, the Jews supposa to have been a constitution of Joshua, of 
 which they give us ten ; the first, giviug libcdy to an Israelite 
 to feed his llock in the woods of any tribe : the second, that it 
 should be free to lake wood iu the fields anywhere. But though 
 this was the ancient custom in Judasa, it was not so in the 
 country into which they were carried captives ; or if this text of 
 Jeremiah respects those that continued in their own country for 
 awhile under Gedaliah, as the ninth verse insinuates, it signifies 
 that their conquerors possessed themselves of these woods, and 
 would allow no fuel to be cut down without leave, and that leave 
 was not to be obtained without money. It is certain that pre- 
 sently after the return from the captivity timber was not to be 
 cut without leave, Neh. ii. S."* 
 
 6—10. (6) given the hand, as a pledge of fidelity ; sub- 
 mitted ourselves, with iDread, i.e. to get mere food to keep us 
 alive. (7) our . . not, Je. xxxi. 29 ; Eze. xviii. 2. (8) 
 servants have rviled, Neh. v. 15. (9) sword . . wilderness, 
 fig. for the perils from the Arabs, (10) black, ch. iv. 8. 
 
 Danger man ^'^ near n-hen ire least expect it. — The Rev. John 
 Newton sometimes said he had received more damage at his own 
 door than in all the countries he had been in abroa<l ; for he had 
 twice fallen down the steps at his own door, each time spraining 
 a knee. So much injury he had never received abroad. Such a 
 gull; of despair, j f j^qJ; shows clearly the necessity of our always living as if exposed 
 so"ieaSary^that ! ^^ danger, and thus committing ourselves to the Divine pro- 
 we cannot be \ tection. — Life full of da/iffn-n. — I sometimes think that life is like 
 without it a day, ) the experience of a man that climbs Alpine glaciers. His life is 
 perpetually threatened by deep crevices covered with snow, steep 
 declivities, uneven ledges, and impending avalanches. He is 
 met by dangers at every step ; and A\hen the ascent is accom- 
 plished, he can count twenty places where he might have been 
 dashed in pieces for one where he was absol::tely safe." 
 
 " Look upon any 
 duty or grace, 
 and you will find 
 it lie between 
 Scylla and Cha- 
 ry bdis, two ex- 
 tremes alike dan- 
 gerous. Faith, 
 the great work 
 of God, outs its 
 way between the 
 mountain of pre- 
 Eumption ami the 
 
 except we would 
 be all that while 
 beside ourselves) 
 Iteeps us that we 
 foil neither into 
 the sleepy apo- 
 plexy of a block- 
 ish stupidity, nor 
 into a raging fit 
 of discontent." — 
 Gnrmill. 
 a U. ^V. Deecher. 
 
 a " Comp. the 
 boast of Scnna- 
 eherib, who says 
 
 11 — 15. (11.12) hanged . . hand, prob. aft. their death, to ex- 
 pose them to public contumely." {\?>) grind, the house hand-mill ; 
 the work of female slaves, under the wood, i.e. under the 
 heavy burdens of wood which they were compelled to fetch and 
 carry. (14) ceased . . gate, from attending as magistrates. 
 (15) dance, the sign of cheerfulness. 
 
Cap. V. 16-22,] 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREillAH. 
 
 227 
 
 Hanging hy the Jiand (i\ 12). — No i^unishment is more common | 
 than this in the East, c.^pecialiy for slaves and refractory children. | 
 Thus, h.as a master an obstinate slave ; has he committed some \ 
 great oifence with his hands ; several men are called, who tie I 
 tlie offender's hands, and hoist him to the roof, till he beg for ■ 
 forgiveness. Schoolboys who are in the habit of playing truant { 
 are also thus punished. To tell a man you will hang him by the 
 hands, is extremely provoking. See, then, the lamentable con- 
 dition of the princes in Babylon ; they were " hanged up by their | 
 hands " as common slaves.'' 
 
 16—18. (IG) crown, fig. for the glory of the nation. (17) 
 this, our calamity rather than our sin. (18) foxes, or jackals, 
 creatures that frequent desolated cities, and live among ruins." 
 On a tea?: — 
 
 Oh. that the chemist's magic art 
 Could crystallise this sacred treasure I 
 Long should it glitter near my heart, 
 A secret source of pensive pleasure. 
 
 The little brilliant, ere it fell. 
 Its lustre caught from Chloe's eye ; 
 Then, trembling, left its coral cell — 
 The spring of sensibility ! 
 
 Sweet drop of pure and pearly light, 
 In thee the rays of ^'irtue shine 
 IMore calmly clear, more mildly bright, 
 Than any gem that gilds the n\ice. 
 
 Benign restorer of tlie soul ! 
 Who ever iliest to bring relief, 
 When fii'st we feel the rude control 
 Of love or pity, joy or grief. 
 
 The sage's and the poet's theme, 
 In every clime, in every age ; 
 Thou charm 'st in fancy's idle dream, 
 In reason's philosophic page. 
 
 That very law which moulds a tear, 
 And bids it trickle from its source. 
 That law preserves the earth a sphere, 
 And guides the planets in their course.* 
 19—22. (]9) remainest, etc., Ps. ix. 7." (20) for ever, 
 ewij). the next sentence, /<<?• so long time. (21) turn US, Je. 
 xxxi. 18. (22) tliou ha'st, better, /w wilt Thou? " Wouldst 
 Thou utterly reject us ? " 
 
 Genninc conrcrsion (r. 21).— The text teaches that — 1. It is a 
 turning of tlie soul to the Lord, not to creeds, not to churches ; 
 2. It is a turaing of the soul to the Lord, by the Lord ; no one 
 can turn the human soal to God but Himself.* 
 Various fears. — • 
 
 There is a tear that spots the cheek. 
 
 And speaks more than tlie tongue can speak. 
 
 In words without a name. 
 That tells of many a pang within, 
 Of many a foul aud deadly sin — 
 It is the tear of shame. 
 
 of the people of 
 Ekron, -The chief 
 pric-sts and noble- 
 men I put to 
 death, on stakes 
 ■t',1 nmnd the city 
 I hung their 
 bodies; thepeople 
 of the city with 
 their wives I 
 gave to slavery." 
 —SpL: Com. 
 b lioberts. 
 
 a " They were 
 prob. first at- 
 tracted thither 
 by the bodies of 
 the slain, of 
 which they are 
 particularly 
 fond." — Uender- 
 
 p. 16. "Has a 
 man lost his pro- 
 perty , his honour, 
 his beauty, or his 
 happiness, he 
 says, ' My crowu 
 has fallen ; ' does 
 a father or grand- 
 father reprove 
 liis sons for bad 
 conduct, he asks, 
 • Has my crow a 
 fallen ?'" — AV- 
 berts. 
 
 " From these 
 pearly eyes 
 should there fall 
 down more tears 
 of penitence than 
 the clouds drop tu 
 purcliase a' new 
 spring, I could 
 not be forgiven." 
 -Old Play, Mule- 
 asses. 
 
 b Samuel Rogers. 
 
 a Ps. xxix. 10, 
 
 cii. 12, cxlv. 13. 
 b Dr. Thomas. < 
 " Our only hope 
 is in the eternity 
 and unchange- 
 ableness of Tliy 
 nature ; and that 
 'i'hou still gO' 
 vcrnest the 
 world, and order- 
 est all the e rents 
 of it ; whereby 
 Thou art always 
 able to help us, 
 and art never 
 forgetful of the 
 promises whicU 
 XUou hast mads 
 
228 
 
 lASIEXTATIOyS OF JEREilTAH. 
 
 [Cap. V. 19— 2a 
 
 to Tliy people." 
 —Low I It. 
 
 " TliR tnar down 
 cliiUlhood's cheek 
 that tluws, is 
 like the dewilrop 
 oil the rose ; 
 when next the 
 Buiniucr breezo 
 comes by, and 
 Avaves the busli, 
 the flower is 
 ATy."—i>ir]Viilter 
 Scott. 
 
 A maniac, while 
 listening to a 
 thrilUng recital, 
 was moved to 
 tears. Lifting' 
 her w i t li e r e d 
 finger, slie ex- 
 claimed, "Do you 
 see tliat tear ? 
 It is the first 
 tear that I have 
 shed for seven ] 
 years ; and it will 
 relieve my poor 
 burning liea'l. I 
 h ave often 
 wislied tliat I 
 couM weep ; but 
 I could not." 
 
 " Of nature's 
 tears I woulil not 
 rob tliee : they 
 invigorate vir- 
 tue, soften at 
 once, and fortify 
 the heart ; but 
 when tliey rise 
 to speak this de- 
 sperate language, 
 thej' then grow 
 tears of weak- 
 ness." — Thomson. 
 
 « Qiunler, 
 
 There is n, tear that through the soul 
 
 Causes compassion's tide to roll 
 In full but placid How, 
 
 I'hat shows the holy maxim true 
 
 How man is bom his guilt to rue- 
 It is tlie tear of woe. 
 
 There is a tear whose mute appeals 
 Tell all the conscious bosom feels, 
 
 With thrilling eloquence. 
 That wrings the sympathetic s^gh 
 Where ne"er a drop had dimm'd the eye— 
 
 The tear of penitence. 
 
 There is a tear that trickles still, 
 
 Announcing all the worst of ill, 
 Too bitter for relief, 
 
 That when by some dire mis'ry curst, 
 
 Swells the stretch'd heart-strings till they burst- 
 It is the tear of grief. 
 
 There is a tear that dims the eye, 
 
 When answer'd by the stifled sigh. 
 That i<i3eaks of woe within, 
 
 Ploughing a channel down the face 
 
 As if were there its resting-place- 
 It is the tear of sin. 
 
 There is a tear that fiercely starts, 
 And to the haughty eye imparta 
 
 A glance, by guilt sujaplied, 
 That falls not o'er the moisten'd lid— • 
 To flow by fierce disdain forbid — 
 
 It is the tear of pride. 
 
 But there's a tear that gently flowB, 
 And, like the dewdrop on the rose, 
 
 Refreshes all things near — • 
 In which the sky of purest blue 
 Keflects its own celestial hua— 
 
 It is religion's tear.o 
 
THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL. 
 
I. Autlior. EZEKIEL (God n-'dl strengthen, or pjrrail) the son of Bnzi, was, 
 like Jeremiah, a priest as well as a prophet ; " but with the priestly character 
 more largely developed, and also oue step farther removed from ihe ancient 
 I'rophets, inasmuch as he is the first in whom the author and the writer 
 entirely preponderates over the seer, the poet, and the statesman " {Sfanhy). 
 Carried captive with Jehoiakim by Nebuchadnezzar. B.C. r/.)i», eleven years 
 before the destr. of Jerus. 11. Time, B.C. 5;j5 — .574. Place. All his prophecies 
 were delivered in Chaldiea, on the river Chebar (Khabiu-). which falls into the 
 Euphrates at Carchemish, about 2U0 miles north of Babylon. Here he resided 
 (i. 1, viii. 1), and here his wife died fxxiv. 18). Tradition says that he was put 
 to death by one of his fellow exiles, a leader among them whose idolatries he 
 had rebuked : and in the middle ages what was called his tomb was shown, 
 not far from Bagdad. 111. Characteristics. His writings show remarkable 
 vigour, and he was evidently well fitted to oppose '' the people of stubborn 
 front and hard heart " to whom he was sent. His characteristic, however, was 
 tho subordination of his whole life to his work. He ever thinks and feels as 
 the prophet. In this respect his writings contrast remarkably with those of 
 his contemporary, Jeremiah, whose personal history and feelings are frequently 
 recorded. IV. Canonicity. Until recently the prophecies of Ezekiel have 
 always been acknowledged as canonical, nor was it ever disputed that he was 
 their author. The Jews, indeed, say that the Sanhedrim deliberated for a long 
 time whether his book should form pai-t of the sacred canon. They objected 
 to the great obscurity at the beginning and end of his prophecy, and to what 
 he says in xviii. 20, which, they urged, was contrary to Moses (Exod. xx. n). 
 But it is worthy of remark that Closes himself says the same thing as Ezekiel 
 (Deut. xxiv. l(j) {Calmct). V. General subject. The central point of his 
 predictions is the destruction of Jerusalem. They were d3livered partly before 
 and partly after that event. Before that event his chief object w^as to Ccvll to 
 repentance those living in careless security, and to assure them that the 
 ■destruction of their city and temple was inevitably and fast approaching. 
 ■After this event his principal care was to console the exiled Jews by promises 
 of future deliverance and restoration to their own land, and to encourage 
 them by assurances of future blessings (Angus). 
 
 Snnnpsb. 
 
 (^According to ITengstenherg.') 
 
 The First Cycle i.— vii. 
 
 The Second Cycle viii.— xi.\-. 
 
 The Third Cycle xx.— .-^.xiii. 
 
 The Fourth Cycle x.xiv. 
 
 Foreign Nations xxv.— xx.xii. 
 
 "Words of Comfort xxiii. 21— xxxix. 
 
 The Restoration xl.— xlviii. 
 
 (Accorditig to Litton.') 
 
 I. Relating- to the destruction of 
 
 Jerusalem. Ezekiel's call (i.— iii.). 
 
 Symbolical representations of sie.G'e .ind 
 capture of Jerusnlem Civ. — vii.). Vision 
 of Jerus.ilem, exliibitiiig the idolatry of 
 tlie people (viii. — xi.). Reproofs and 
 ■warnings aildressrd to conlemporaries 
 fxii. — xix.). Another series, warning of 
 the approaching calamity (xx.— xxiii.). 
 Announcement of the comnioncenient 
 of (he siege by the King of Babylon 
 (xxiv.). 
 
 II. Relating to heathen nations (xxv. — 
 
 xxxii.). 
 
 III. Relating: to the rp'^toration of the 
 
 Jews (xxxiii.- xlviii.). 
 
 The Book is divided by Havernick into nine sections, and it seems 
 probable that the arrangement was made by Ezekiel himself (Angus). 
 
Cap. i. 1-3.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 231 
 
 CHAPTER THE FIRST. 
 
 1 — 3. Cl) now it came, better, "and it came." A discourse 
 in Htbrcw is usually b?g'un with the particle vaa or a ml. 
 thirtietll year, this was the age at which Levites were called 
 to their office." Ezekiel was a priest, v. 3. captives, or people 
 of the cairtivitj'. Chebar,'' the same as Chabor, 2 Ki. xvii. (i ; 1 
 Chr. V. 20. visions of God, sublime, mysterious, majestic 
 visions. (2) Jehoiacliin's captivity, 2 Ki. xxiv. 12. (3j 
 expressly, a " phrase marking strongly that it was in truth a 
 heaven-sent vision.'' Ezekiel, Heb. Jchrzhrl. hand . . llim, 
 indicating that he felt sensible impressions of Gods joower rest- 
 ing upon him.'' 
 
 Tlir. Divine government of the world (i'. 1). — Note the subject, 
 period, scene, and purpose of this vision. I. The subordinate 
 agencies of the Divine government. 1. Here is the intelligent : 
 2. The uou-intelligent. II. The leading features of the Divine 
 government. 1. The idea of vastness ; 2. Of complication ; 3. 
 Of intelligence ; 4. Of progressiveness ; 5. Of harmony. III. 
 The wonderful Head of the Divine government.'' 
 
 Tltc river llivhar {v. 1). — '"The Khabour flows through the 
 richest pastures and meadows. Its banks were now covered with 
 flowers of every hue, and its windings through the green plain 
 were like the coils of a mighty serpent. An uncontrollable 
 emotion of joy seized all our party when they saw the end of 
 their journey before them. The horsemen urged their horses to 
 full speed ; the Jebours danced in a circle, raised their coloured 
 kerchiefs on their spears, and shouted their war-cry : the Tizari 
 sang their mountain songs and fired their muskets into the air. 
 Trees in full leaf lined the water's edge. We rode through a 
 mass of flowers, reaching high above the horses' knees, and such 
 r I had never before seen, even in the most fertile parts of 
 the ]\Iesopotamian wilderness. We had passed several tels and 
 the double banks of ancient canals, showing that we were still 
 amidst the remains of ancient civilisation. Flocks of sheep and 
 herds of camels were spread over the meadows on both sides of 
 the river. On the morning after our arrival we crossed the 
 Khabour on a small raft, and pitched our tents on its northern 
 bank, near the ruins of Arban, which consist of a large artificial 
 mound of irregular shape, washed by the river. From the tojj of 
 the mound the eye ranged over a level country bright with 
 flowers, and spotted with black tents, and inmimerable flocks of 
 sheep and camels. During our stay at Arban the colour of these 
 great plains was undergoing a continual change. After being 
 for some days of a golden yellow, a new family of flowers would 
 spring up. and it would turn almost in a night to a bright scarlet, 
 which would again as suddenly give way to the deepest blue. 
 Then the meadows would be mottled with various hues, or would 
 put on the emerald green of the most luxuriant of i^astures. 
 The glowing descriptions I had so f requentlj^ received from the 
 Bedouins of the beauty and fertility of the banks of the Khabour 
 were more than realised. The Arabs boast that its meadows 
 bear three distinct crops of grass during the year, and the 
 wandering tribes look upon its wooded banks and constant green 
 
 a Nu. iv. 23, 30. 
 
 These 30 years 
 are ve.rifuifly 
 reckoned. They 
 seem to refer to 
 the Propliet's 
 own age. Viher, 
 and other learned 
 men,reckontliein 
 from the thne 
 when Josiah ami 
 all the people of 
 Juilah entered 
 into the solemn 
 covenant, 2 Ki. 
 xxii. 3. From 
 ihis time the 40 
 years of Judah's 
 transgres sion 
 may be reckoned: 
 see Eze. iv. 6. 
 
 6 " It flows into 
 the Euphrates 
 nearCarchemifh, 
 or Circesinm. 2U0 
 mi'.es N. of Baby- 
 
 c 1 E. xviii. 46. 
 
 V. 1. A. Fuller, 
 516; F. D. Mau- 
 rice, Pro. and 
 Kgs. 432. 
 
 d Dr. Thomas. 
 
 '• While we view, 
 amid the noon- 
 tiile walk, a 
 limpid rill giish 
 tlirongh the 
 
 tickUiig herbage, 
 to the thirst of 
 summer yielding 
 the delicious 
 
 draught of cool 
 refreshment: o'er 
 the mossy brink 
 shines not tlie 
 surface clearer, 
 and the waves 
 with sweeter 
 music murmur 
 as they flow?"^ 
 Akeiiside. 
 
 "The river Tlhine, 
 it is well known, 
 doth wasli your 
 city of Cologr.e ; 
 but tell mo, 
 nymphs, what 
 powers divina 
 shall henceforth 
 wash the river 
 Rliine?" — CWe- 
 ridye. 
 
232 
 
 EZEKIEL 
 
 [Oap. 1. 4-14. 
 
 a Ps. Iviii. 9; 
 comp. Is. xxi. 1 ; 
 Je. xxiii. 19, xx7. 
 32. 
 
 b Spk. Com. 
 
 e The word used 
 may also be trans. 
 " polished brass." 
 LXX. and Vahj. 
 render it by elec- 
 trum, a com- 
 pound of gold 
 and silver. 
 
 d " Ezekiel was 
 living in a 
 country on the 
 walls of whose 
 temples and pa- 
 laces were those 
 strange mixed 
 figures, human 
 heads with the 
 bodies of lions 
 and the feet of 
 calves, and the 
 like, wh. we see 
 in the Babyloni- 
 an and Assyrian 
 monuments. . . . 
 The Prophet is 
 not constructing 
 liis cherubim in 
 imitation of these 
 figures; the Spirit 
 of God is reveal- 
 ing forms corre- 
 sponding to the 
 general rules of 
 Eastern symbol- 
 ism." — Spk. Com. 
 vr. 4—14. J. Sor- 
 taiii, 292. 
 V. 5. J. Sawin, 
 Vii. 262. 
 
 * U. A". Thomas. 
 / Jtiish. 
 g Ibid. 
 
 a "Incessant rest- 
 Jess motion indi- 
 cates the pleni- 
 tude of life in 
 these cherubim. 
 Comp. Ue. iv. 8." 
 — Fausset. 
 
 e>. 12. Dr. J. Flet- 
 cher, iii. 391. 
 
 "One design of 
 their having four 
 faces was, that 
 they might tro 
 directly forward 
 towards cither of 
 
 Bward as a paradise during the summer months, where man can 
 enjoy a cool s^hade, and beast can find fresh and tender herbs, 
 whilst all around is yellow, parched, and sapless." 
 
 4—9. (4) ■whirlwind," one of the mightiest of Eastern 
 destructive agencies, the north, wh. was lelt by the Jews to 
 be the peculiar seat of the power of Jehovah.* infolding 
 itself, or lying in wreaths ; moving round so as to form a circle 
 of light, colour, or appearance ; lit. cije of. amber, conq). 
 the sunset colour just before the crimson flush. "^ (.")) four . . 
 creatures, see Re. iv. G. of a man, i.e.. they were erect. (0) 
 four faces, v. 10. (7; straight feet, i.e. like a man's leg, 
 without the middle joint which four-footed beasts have, sole . . 
 feet, the foot proper was shaped as a calfs, indicating solid, 
 firm treading. (8) hands . . wings, i.e. hands under each of 
 the wings. (9) joined, i.e. in flying, one wing of one creature 
 touched the wing of the nexf 
 
 The preparatory rlnion for trve in'opliets {v. 4). — ^Note — I. 
 What is local and temporary in this vision. 1. The peculiar 
 sources of impression and instruction for the Prophet. II. The 
 revelation of God's dealings with the Jews. Here we are taught 
 — 1. The Divine dealings would be marked by majesty of thought, 
 by God"s mode of manifesting Himself, by the agency of God's 
 command. Note — II. What is iiniver.sal and permanent in this 
 vision. 1. That Divine providence j)ossesses .stupendous machinery ; 
 2. That Divine providence has ever a moral aim in the use of its 
 stupendous machinery ; it teaches that all the mighty agencies of 
 God are against evil, that with the Divine majesty of retribution 
 there is also the majesty of mercy.' 
 
 A .ttraiglit foot (r. 7). — Heb. " their feet was a straight foot." 
 By foot here is meant the lower part of the legs, including the 
 ankles. As the human foot is formed, motion of the body in 
 any particular direction requires the foot to be turned in that 
 direction. The form here mentioned precludes that necessity, 
 which is doubtless the reason of its being assigned them.-' — • 
 Wing.i and face.'! {v. 9). — The reader must imagine such a relative 
 position of the living creatures, preserving the form of a square, 
 that to the eye of a spectator the different faces would be pre- 
 sented as here described, for the Prophet could not see the four 
 faces of each at once. Suppose two of the living creatures on a 
 right line in front, and two on each side of the line, equidistant 
 from it, and the faces can be easily arranged so as to conform u) 
 the description.? 
 
 10—14. (10) likeness, or the things wh. their faces resem- 
 bled. The human face was the i^rominent one. the lion face was 
 on the right side, the ox face on the left, and at the back the 
 eagle face. This gives the four-square figure. (11) stretched 
 upward, this was the attitude when the figure stood, joined, 
 so as to fold over and shadow the faces. Comp. Is. vi. 2. (12) 
 straight forward, bee. they never needed to turn themselves 
 round, seeing that, whichever way they Avent, they had a face 
 looking that way. spirit . . go, whichever way the inward 
 impulse con.straincd them. "One spirit of one conscious life 
 guided all the motions in perfect harmony." (13) appearance, 
 was burnished and bright, like flame. (11) lightning, flashing 
 suddenly to and fro,<» 
 
Cap. i. 15-25.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 233 
 
 The nature of angels (v. 10). — 1. Their origin ; 2. Their appear- 
 ance ; 3. Their spirituality ; 4. Their purity ; 5. Their love ; G. 
 Their humility ; 7. Their t^iihere of action ; 8. Their fellowship ; 
 9. Their subjection ; 10. This vision of celestial glory exhibits 
 to us the Son of man — the Sou of God as covered with sur[Dassiug 
 dignity, and as demonstrating, by His sovereign command of all 
 the ministers of light, what power and authority He has to 
 clothe whomsoever He pleases with whatsoever commissions, and 
 to insist upon there being surrendered to Him all accounts of 
 conduct tliat may be perfoi-med in any world.'' 
 
 15 — 18. (15) one wheel, i.e. one wheel to each of the living 
 creatures. It was set beneath their feet, and arranged to fit 
 exactly the motion of the creatures. (10) work, or make, con- 
 struction, wheel . . wheel, '• each wheel was composed of two 
 circles, cutting one anoiher at right angles, one only of wh. 
 appeared to touch the ground, according to the direction the 
 cherubim desired to move in." " (17) turned, not, ic. they 
 never returned, or went backward. (18) rings, or felloes, the 
 circumferences of the wheels, full of eyes, symbolising the 
 *' plenitude of intelligent life." 
 
 The n-/iee!s. — From all that we can gather of the fonn of these 
 •wheels, they appear to have been spherical, or each composed of 
 two of equal size, and inserted, the rim cf the one into that of 
 the other at right angles, and so consisting of four equal jiarts 
 or half circles. They were accordingly adapted to run either 
 forward or backward, to the right hand or the left, without any 
 lateral turuiug ; and by this means their motion corresponded 
 ■with that of the four faces of the living creatures to which they 
 were attached. ""^Vhen they went upon their four sides, tliey 
 turned not as they went ;" Kcb. '■'Wiien they went, they went 
 upon the quarter-part of their fourfolduess," i.e. upon, or in the 
 direction of. one of the four vertical semicircles into Mhich they 
 were divided, and which looked towards the four points of the 
 compass. "\\ hen it is said, " they turned not," it is not to be 
 understood that they had not a revolving or rotary motion, but 
 that they, like the faces,, never forsook a straightforward 
 course.* 
 
 19—21. (19) went "by them, or along with them. (20) 
 spirit . . go, V. 12. (21) in the wheels, or in each wheel. 
 " One and the same spirit actuated the living creatures through- 
 out, wheels and all."" 
 
 Vi.\ii>n.<tfroi)i God. — Vi.sions from God, generally. It is true of 
 them all that they arc — 1. Mental, hence most real, most impres- 
 sive, memorable; 2. Symbolic ; 3. Conjunctive : the Book of the 
 Prophet Ezekiel begins Mith the word "and :" true visions are 
 often products of wRat has preceded them, and causes that by 
 impulse and command affect coming time ; 4. Predictive ; 5. 
 Divine.* 
 
 Note nn rv. 10, 20. — These circumstances are doubtless dwelt 
 upon with peculiar emphasis, in order to show the intimacy of 
 relation and harmony of action subsisting between the living 
 creatures and the wheels, or more properly between the things 
 symbolically represented by them." 
 
 22—25. (22) npon the heads, above the heads, colour . . 
 crystal," a perfectly, oppressively clear sky, in wh. the Divine 
 
 the four cardinal 
 
 poiuts without 
 turuijig tlieir 
 bodies." — Bush. 
 
 b a. B. Kidd. 
 
 n "As it were one 
 wheel piit across 
 witliiu another, 
 like two circles 
 ill a sphere, cut- 
 ting one another 
 at right angles, 
 to signify the 
 SI ability and uiil- 
 forinity of their 
 motions, and the 
 subserviency of 
 one part of pro- 
 vi deuce to 
 another, "-iou-^A. 
 
 V. 16. W. Strong, 
 G57; J. Wesley, 
 vii. 409. • 
 
 " The holy power 
 tliat clothes the 
 senseless e rtU 
 with woods, with 
 fruits, with 
 flowers, and 
 verdant plains, 
 whose bounteous 
 hand feeds • tlie 
 whole brute crea- 
 tion, knows uU 
 our wants, and 
 lias enough to 
 give \\s."—Rowe, 
 
 b Hush. 
 
 a " All four crea- 
 tures together 
 with their wheels 
 are here called 
 t/ie liiinij crea- 
 /«/'p, because they 
 formeil a whole, 
 one in motion, 
 and one in will, 
 for one spirit was 
 in them." — S^k, 
 Com. 
 
 b U. R. Thotnat. 
 
 c Bush. 
 
 a "Such a ■ 
 dazzles the sye 
 
234 
 
 BZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. i. 26-28. 
 
 wit.h its lustre." 
 — /.utci/i. 
 
 b Job xxxvii. 4, 
 6 : Ts. xxix. 3, 4, 
 fi ; He. .^ 3. 
 
 f" From an Arab, 
 root, nieaninjj 
 ' the impf tuims 
 rusli of heavy 
 raiii.' " — faussii. 
 
 d Vulg. renders, 
 "When there was 
 
 a voice tliey 
 stood ill an atten- 
 tive posture." 
 
 « Bush. 
 
 «. 23. "Tlie wings 
 therefore of the 
 wliole four beiiijj 
 in contact with 
 each otlier, form- 
 ed a kind of cur- 
 tain beneath the 
 incumbent pave- 
 ment, and thus 
 completed the 
 resemUance to 
 tlie temple bases, 
 and forming in 
 fact a niiifrnili- 
 ceiit living 
 chariot." — Ibid. 
 
 f Ibid. 
 
 a Pa. X. 5, 6 ; Ee. 
 L 14, 15. 
 
 h " This vision 
 being an evident 
 representation of 
 the Word that 
 was to be made 
 flesh, whose in- 
 carnation is the 
 foundation of 
 God's covenant 
 of mercy with 
 mankinil, a rain- 
 bow, the symbol 
 and token of 
 mercy, was a very 
 fit attendant up- 
 on that glorious 
 vision." — Loifth. 
 
 c Dr. If. Bonar. 
 
 " There is a Di- 
 vine truth in 
 the opinion that 
 these fourfold 
 chnrubiin, or 
 
 living creature?, 
 represent the i 
 
 plory appeared as upon the throne. (23) covered . . bodies, 
 the upper wings folding over their heads, the lowvr ones shtulLug 
 their limbs. (21) noise, rustling, voice . . Alraig'llty, i.e, 
 like thunder.* voice Of speech, or tumulc : perhaps refeixing 
 to the noise of .'itdnn." (2.'i) let . . wings, to take the attitude 
 of waiting, listening for Divine commands.'' 
 
 Kofc on r. 22. — Heb. "As for the likeness upon the heads of 
 the living creatures, it was that of an exj ansion Btretched over 
 their heads above, like the aspect of the terrible crj^stal." This 
 expansion was a splendid level pavemoit or flooring, of a crystal 
 clearness, and resting upon the heads of the living creatures, as 
 the temple lavers rested upon the four cornerstays. or " uuder- 
 setters," of their bases. The resemblance to the crystal was not 
 in colour, but in transparency, for the colour was like that of a 
 sap{)hire stone, or the cerulean azure of the real firmament of 
 heaven. This is evident from v. 2(5, and also from Ex. xxiv. 9, 
 10, containing an evident allusion to this vision, and perhaps the 
 germ of it. " Then went up Moses and Aaron. Nadab and Abihu, 
 and seventy of the elders of Israel ; and they saw the God of 
 Israel : and there was under Ilis feet, as it were, a paved work of 
 a sapphire-stone, and, as it were, the body of heaven in its clear- 
 ness.'' — r. 2J. — Heb. " And there was a voice — in their standing 
 they let down their wings." The design of the Prophet seems 
 to be, to show the perfect obsequiousness of the living creatures 
 to the word of command emanating from the throne above, and 
 directing their movements. AVhen the word was given to move, 
 their wings were at once expanded, the resounding din was 
 heard, and the glorious vehicle, instinct with life, rolled on in 
 amazing majesty. Again, when the coiinter mandate was heard, 
 they in an instant stayed themselves in mid career, and relaxed 
 their wings.-' 
 
 26—28. (26) throne, comjf. Ex. xxiv. 10. The throne 
 appeared as if made of light, and resembling the colours and the 
 brightness of sapi^hire. appearance of a man, surely as a 
 foreshadowing of God's manifestation of Himself to us in the 
 person of the Man Christ Jesus. (27) amber . . fire, these appear 
 to be the sjaubols of Divine vengeance. " Our GJod is a con- 
 suming fire." « (28) of tlie bow, i.e. spanning the scene with 
 one splendid arch.* 
 
 The gJorij and the lore (v. 28). — Mark the several words of the 
 text, each of them full of meaning. I. The Lord, Jehovah, the 
 Triune God, the Messiah, is the manifestation or revelation of 
 Godhead. II. The glory, Jehovah the Glorious One, to Him we 
 ascribe the glory, that is. all infinite perfection and excellence. 
 III. The likeness, word same as in Gen. i. 2(5, " Christ the ])erfect 
 likeness of God," the express image of His person. IV. The 
 appenrance, the vision, visible form, otherwise we cannot see 
 "the King eternal, immortal, invisible."' 
 
 Kotr on r. 27. — There is a studied indistinctness in the image 
 here described, yet it is plain that a human form is intended to 
 be shadowed forth, and that too in connection with the splendour 
 of fire — a usual accompaniment of the visible manifestations of 
 the Deity. There is little room to doubt, therefore, that in the 
 augu.st occupant of the throne we are to recognise the Son of 
 God, the true God of Israel, anticipating, in this emblematic 
 manner, His manifestation in the iiesh, and His future exaltation 
 
Cap. iL 1-5.J 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 235 
 
 as King of Zion, riding forth in the chariot of the Gospel. Such 
 was the vision prtseutcd to the view of the Prophet of the cap- 
 tivity. A more magnificent conception can scarcely be framed 
 by the mind of man. Indeed, if we except the Apocalyptic dis- 
 closures of '• the ^holy city, the now Jerusalem, coming down 
 from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her 
 husband,' we know of nothing of this nature in the whole com- 
 pass of revelation to be compared with it. Let the reader bring 
 before his mind's ej'C the four living creatures of majestic size — 
 so posited, and with their wings so expanded and in contact, as 
 to form a hollow square — the v/hole four raised above the earth, 
 and resting ujdou an equal number of spherical wheels compounded 
 like the equator and meridian circles of the globe — their heads, 
 •with the quaternion of faces, made the supporters of a broad 
 lucid pavement, clear as ci-ystal, and having the hue of the 
 ethereal vault — and this splendid firmament surmounted by the 
 visible Divine Glory, controlling the movements of the living 
 chariot — let him imagine this rolling throne moving onward 
 with the noise of mighty thuudering's. or of many waters, even 
 "as the voice of the Almighty God when He speaketh," while 
 fiery si^lendours and a bright rainbow surround the Majesty 
 above, and the light of lamps, burning coals, and lightnings, 
 glow amid the living creatures, and he cannot but feel that the 
 ordinary creations of human genius, whether of poets or painters, 
 present nothing worthy to be placed by the side of it/ 
 
 CHAPTER THE SECOND. 
 
 1—5. (1) son of man,« a term applied to Ezekiel 80 times : 
 only applied otherwise to Daniel;* and our Lord. It may be 
 used to put Ezekiel in mind of his frailty, though he was honoured 
 with such sublime visions.'' stand, in the attitude of one 
 listening an^ ready to obey. (2) set . . feet, Da. x. 11. Comp. 
 Eze. i. 28. {?>) nation, ileb. goijhii, the word applied to heathen 
 nations, and used to intimate that the Jews had outdone the 
 wickedness of the heathen. (-1) impudent, Heb. hard of face. 
 stifQiearted, unwilling to yield to counsel or chastisement. 
 (5; rebellious house, "^ Is. xxx. 9. 
 
 Comniixftion r/irt'ii to ministers (r. 4). — 1. To declare God's will ; 
 2. To assert His authoiity ; 3. To seek, notwithstanding all our 
 discouragements, the salvation of their souls. Learn hence — 1. 
 The importance of the ministry ; 2. The duty of those who are 
 ministered unto.« 
 
 Faithfulness to God and the lihifj. — Bishop Latimer having one 
 day preached before King Henry YIII. a sermon which displeased 
 his majesty, he was ordered to preach again on the next Sabbath, 
 and to make an apolog.y for the offence he had given. After 
 reading his text, the l)ishop thus began his sermon ■.—'■^ Hugh 
 Latimer, dost thou know before whom thou art this day to speak.'' 
 To the high and mighty monarch, the king's most excellent 
 majestj^ who can take away thy life if thou offendest : therefore, 
 take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease : but 
 then consider well, Hugh, dost thou not know from whence thou 
 comcst .' upon whose message thou art .sent ? Even by the great 
 and mighty God 1 who is all-present 1 and who beholdeth aU thy 
 
 whole glorified 
 society of believ- 
 ers, who show 
 forth their faith 
 in the Gospel, 
 ami live for ever 
 ill Christ." — 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 V. 26. F. D. j)ff(U- 
 rice, P.-Bk. 177. 
 
 "The angels have 
 hail two great 
 gala (lays ; the 
 first when crea- 
 tion wasfiuislied, 
 the next whea 
 Christ was born, ' 
 They are to have 
 a thirii when He 
 s]i,all come agaia 
 in tlie clonils of 
 heaven." — Seeds 
 and S/ieaves. 
 
 d Bush, 
 
 fflTTeb. Ben Adam, 
 b Ba. viii. 17. 
 c 2 Cor. xii. 7. 
 d " Whetlier they 
 will regard what 
 is said by thee or 
 not, yet the event 
 answering thy 
 preilictious shaL 
 render thy au- 
 thority unques- 
 tionable, and 
 them inexcusable 
 for not hearken- 
 ing to the warn- 
 ings thou hast 
 given them." — 
 Loicth. 
 
 e C. Sime on, 
 
 " They are im- 
 pudi'nt children, 
 brazen-faced , n ml 
 cannot blush ; 
 they are stiff- 
 he a r t e J, self- 
 willed, ard can- 
 not bend, cnnnyt 
 stoop, neither 
 asliauud not 
 afraid to sin ; 
 they will not ba 
 wrought upon by 
 the sense either 
 c£ honour at 
 
236 
 
 duty." — MatthiV 
 Henry. 
 
 ei-. 4, 5. n. a. 
 Richards, 5:83 ; /. 
 Run dull, 32 :i. 
 When Com. 
 Smitli received a 
 telegrnin tl}at 
 Thi> Congress, 
 ■which was coiii- 
 maiided by liis 
 son, had struck 
 Ler flag, he re- 
 marked, " Then 
 Joe is dead 1" It 
 T\-is the father's 
 eulogy over his 
 dead son. He 
 was indeed dead. 
 
 a Comp. 2 Sa. 
 xxiii. 6 ; Sol. 
 Song ii. 2 ; Is. ix.. 
 18. 
 
 6 Comp. Pte. x. 9. 
 
 c " Tlie idea is to 
 possess himself 
 fully of the mes- 
 sag', and digest 
 it in the mind : 
 not literal eiiling, 
 but such an ap- 
 propriation of its 
 unsavoury con- 
 tents, that tliey 
 should become, 
 as it were, part 
 of himself, so as 
 to impart them 
 the more vividly 
 to his hearers." 
 — Fausset. 
 
 d " So as to be 
 
 completely filled, 
 as the sealed roll 
 in the Apoca- 
 IjTise. lie. V. 1." — 
 Wordmcurlh. 
 
 V. 6. R. Warner, 
 iu. 121. 
 
 V. 7. W. Reading, \ 
 U. 493. 
 
 •'As angel guar- 
 dians." — /''/".'/, 
 "■£m:liii." "Vows 
 as faitliful as a ' 
 dying saint's." — I 
 CenlUi-re. " As 
 the magnet." — 
 W. S. Walter. 
 "As the needle j 
 to its pole " — j 
 Centli-re. " As [ 
 the polestar."— I 
 Cumberland.! 
 ".\s the silent I 
 mirror shows in j 
 Its true bosom." ' 
 *-J. O. Cuo^er. ' 
 
 EZEK!EL. 
 
 [Cap. ii. 6—10. 
 
 way.-? ! and who is able to cast thy sonl into hell 1 Therefore, 
 take care tliat thou deliverest thy messaEfc faithfully." He then 
 proceeded with the same serraou he had preached the preceding 
 Sabbath, but with considerably more energ-y. The sennon ended, 
 the court were full of expectation to know what would be the 
 fate of this honest and plain-dealing' bi.-^hop. After dinner, the 
 king- called for Latimer, and, with a stern countenance, asked 
 him how he dared to be so bold as to preach in such a manner. 
 He, falling on his knees, re])Ued, his duty to his God and his 
 prince had en forced him thereto, and that he had merely discharfred 
 his duty and his conscience iu what he had spoken. Upon which 
 the king, rising from his seat, and taking the good man by the 
 hand, embraced him, saying, " Blessed be God, I have so honest 
 a servant." 
 
 6—10. (6) not afraid, Je. i. 8, 18. briers" . . scorpions, 
 figures for those who might annoy, resist and persecute the Pro- 
 phet. (7) most rebellious, or rebellion itself. (8) eat . . 
 thee,'' fig. for receive the message, commit it to memory.'^ (0) 
 sent, or stretched forth, roll, ancient bonks were written on 
 skins, rolled up. not folded. (10) T/ithin and witliont,'' not 
 as usually, on the one side only, but on both sides, because there 
 was so much woe to recoi'd. 
 
 The scorpian. — To the northward of Mount Atlas, the scorpion 
 is not very hurtful, for the sting bring only attended with a 
 slight fever, the application of a little Venice treacle quickly 
 assuages the pain. But the scorpion of Getiilia. and most other 
 parts of the Sahara, as it is larger, and of a d.arker com- 
 plexion, so its venom is propnrtionably malignant, and frequently 
 attended with death. In Syria it does not seem to be deadly, 
 but occasions much inconvenience and suffering to the inhabi- 
 tants- Whole companies are suddenly afi'ectcd with vomitings, 
 which is supposed to be jiroduced by the poisonous matter which 
 exudes from the skin of the scorpion, as it crawls over thfir 
 kitchen utensils or provisions. Nor is it possible almost to avoid 
 the danger ; it is never at rest during the summer months, and 
 so malicious is its disposition, that it may be seen continually 
 flourishing its tail, in which the sting is lodged, and striking at 
 every object within its reach. So mischievous and hateful is 
 tliis creature, that the sacred writers use it in a figurative sense 
 for wicked, malicious, and crafty men. Such was the house of 
 Israel to the Pi'ophet Ezekiel : " Thou dwellest," said Jehovah to 
 His servant, "among scorpions." No animal in the creation 
 seems endued with a nature fo irnscible. When taken, they 
 exert their utmost rage against the glass which contains them ; 
 will attempt to sting a stick, when jmt near them ; will sting 
 animals confined with them, without provocation ; are the 
 cruellest enemies to each other. IMaupertuis put a hundred to- 
 gether in the same glass : instantly they vented their rage in 
 mutual destruction, universal carnage ! in a few days only four- 
 teen remained, which had killed and devoured all the others. It 
 is even asserted that wlun iu extremity or des] air, the scorjiiou 
 will destroy itself : he slings himself on the back of the head, 
 and instantly expires. Surely BIosos with great propriety men- 
 tions scox'pions amo^sr the dangers of tlie wilderness; and )to 
 situation can be conceived more hazardous thni- that of Ezekiel, 
 who is said to dwell amonjj' scorpions ; nor could a fitter contrast 
 
Cap. iii. 1-9.5 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 237 
 
 be selected by our Lord : " Will a father give a scorpion to Ms I " ^^ *!lV*";/'*^'t 
 child instead of an egy: ? " Jesus invested His disciples with ' ™„J|^" ~ ' ""*' 
 power to ti'ead on serpents and scorpions ; by which may bo i ' 
 denoted power and authority to counteract and bafile every 
 kind of agent which the devil employs to vex and injure the 
 Church. The disciples of Antichrist, who, by their poisonous 
 doctrines, injure or destroy the souls of men, arc likewise com- 
 pared to these dangerous animals : " And there came out of the 
 smoke locusts upon the earth : and unto them was given power 
 a^ the scorpions of the earth have power. "« 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIED. 
 
 1 — 3. (1) eat . . speak, receive the truth thyself, then speak 
 it to others. (2) opened my inoutli, in the attitude of obedi- 
 ence. (3) cause . . eat, perhaps iutimating that he should 
 wait for a, full impression of the message, and not act merely on 
 a Jlrst impression of it. moutll . . sweetness," any message 
 given by God the good man feels to be precious, but he may 
 afterwards be oppressed by finding it to be a message of woe.* 
 
 Etfccfs of the JcH-ish capticity on the Grccl/s. — Selden considers 
 that Pythagoras conversed with Ezekiel at Babylon. Townsend 
 has given an interestinjT view of the efEects of the dispersion of 
 the Jews upon the progress uf philosophy and liteiaturc in 
 Greece. He notices the constant intercourse between Judcca and 
 Egyjit, and the frequent communication of the Greeks with the 
 latter country, where the Grecian legislators and jihilo.-ophers 
 acquired their knowledge. Thus the Greeks must have become 
 a/^quainced with the history and polity of the Jews. He remarks, 
 tnat from the period of the cnptivit;^', when so many of the Jews 
 were removed to Babylon and Egypt, the Greeks began to have 
 more exalted ideas of the Deity. He thows that Thales, as well 
 as Pythagoras, would thus converse with the Jewish captives ; 
 and that many of the opinions taught by the former, appear to 
 have been learned from them ; btit observes that when com- 
 pared with Christianity, moral philosophy is little less than the 
 darkness it so partially illumined. With respect to Pythagoras, 
 he seems to have conversed with Jews at Tyre, and at Mount 
 Carmel. Also he visited Egjq^t, and was twelve years at Babylon, 
 where he arrived about two years before the death of Belshazzar, 
 and witnessed many of the events recorded in the book of Daniel, 
 and had a teacher whom Selden considers to have been Ezekiel.'' 
 4 — 9. (4, 5) strange speech, lit. '• deep of lip and heavy of 
 tongtre ; " or a people speaking an obscure and unintelligible 
 language. The idea is that even thcij would more readily listen 
 to the Prophet than Israel wotild. (G; many people, or peoples ; 
 the heathen nations. (7) not . . me, speaking by providences 
 and judgments. (8) face strong," with prob. reference to 
 Ezekiels name. wh. means " One whom God makes strong." (9) 
 adamant, Heb. s/mw/r. a diamond.* Zee. vii. 12; Je. xvii. 1. 
 flint, De. viii. 1."). The diamond was employed to cut flint.'' 
 Our vntire land. — 
 
 There is a land, of every land the pride, 
 Beloved by heaven o'er all the world beside ; 
 Where brighter suns dispense serener light, 
 
 a Re. X. 9. 
 
 6 " The sweetness 
 in the moutll de- 
 noted tliat it was 
 good to be a 
 messenger of the 
 Lord, but the 
 bitterness wbicU 
 accompanied it 
 denoted that the 
 
 o m ni i s s i o a 
 brought witli lb 
 nnich sorrow, for 
 the tidings were 
 sail and evil,"— 
 l<pk. Com. 
 
 " I have seen 
 angels by tlie 
 1 sick one's pillow 
 I — theirs was the 
 soft tone and the 
 soundless tread ; 
 where smitten 
 'lie art 3 were 
 
 1 drooping like the 
 willow, t h e y 
 stood between 
 the living and tlie 
 dc.iil.'' — EiiMbeth' 
 
 WiUicralt. 
 
 c Visilor, 
 
 « "I have given 
 thee courage and 
 assurance iiro- 
 portionabletothe 
 liarilinessandiiu- 
 ])udence of those 
 thou hast to deal 
 with." —Louih. 
 
 b Formed from 
 the Lat. ndainas, 
 it formed the 
 pnint of the 
 an.-'ient pen, or 
 stylus. 
 
 c "Ezekiel's firm- 
 ness being tliat 
 of a diaiuoudj Uc 
 
238 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. 1 1. 10-17. 
 
 slioulil cut a 
 stroke homo to 
 the liardo iicrl 
 hearts of a rt'liel- 
 lious people." — 
 apk. Com. 
 
 m. 8, 9. /;/•. G. 
 Crofl, ii. 59. 
 
 * Statesman, yet 
 frieiul to truth ; 
 of so'.il sincere, 
 in action f;iitlifal, 
 find in honour 
 clear I Wlio broke 
 11 o promise, 
 served no pri- 
 vate end, Miio 
 gain'd no title, 
 and who lost no 
 friend ; ennobled 
 by himself, liy 
 all approved, 
 praised, wept. 
 Olid honour'd by 
 the muse he 
 loved." — Pope. 
 
 <i J. Montgomery. 
 
 « " The idra 
 seems to bo tliat 
 though God 
 should forsake 
 and destroy His 
 temple, w hich 
 is pre-eminently 
 His place, yet 
 His presence 
 wakes every 
 pliica to be His 
 temple, and He 
 is attendeil there 
 by multitmles of 
 the heavenly 
 host. " — Words- 
 irnrlh. 
 
 Comp. Is. vi. 3. 
 A befjear asking 
 Br. Suiollet for 
 alms, he gave 
 him.through mis- 
 take, a guinea. 
 The poor fellow, 
 on perceiving it, 
 hobbledafterbini 
 to return It ; 
 upon which, 
 
 KmoUet returned 
 it to him. with 
 another guinea as 
 a reward for his 
 honesty, exclaim- 
 ing at the same 
 time, " What a 
 lodging has 
 
 honesty taken 
 up with I" 
 
 » Uill of Abib, 
 
 And milder moons em paradise the night ; 
 
 A land of beauty, virtue, valour, truth, 
 
 Time-tutor'd age, and love-exalted youth. 
 
 The wandering mariner, whose eye explores 
 
 The wealthiest isles, the most enchanting shores, 
 
 Views not a realm so bountiful and fair, 
 
 Nor breathes the spirit of a purer air ; 
 
 In every clime the mag^net of his soul, 
 
 Touch'd by remembrance, trembles to that pole I 
 
 For in this land of heaven's peculiar grace, 
 
 The heritage of nature's noblest race, 
 
 There is a spot of earth .'supremely blest — 
 
 A dearer, sweeter .spot than all the rest, 
 
 "Where man, creation's tyrant, cast:^ aside 
 
 His sword and sceptre, pageantry and pride, 
 
 While la his coftend looks benignly blend 
 
 The sire, the son, the husband, brother, friend. 
 
 Here woman reigns ; the mother, daughter, wife, 
 
 Strews with fresh flowers the narrow way of life ! 
 
 In the clear heaven of her delightful eye, 
 
 An angel-guard of loves and graces lie 1 
 
 Around her knees domestic duties meet, 
 
 And fireside pleasures gambol at her feet. 
 
 Where shall that land, that spot of earth be found ? 
 
 Art thou a man ?— a patriot .' — look around ; 
 
 Oh thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam, 
 
 That land thy country, and that spot thy home !<* 
 
 10—14. (10) receive . . heart, explanation of the fig. of 
 eating the roll, ch. ii. 8. (11) of thy people, God does not say, 
 i " of My people." " They have disfranchised themselves by their 
 I sins." (12) took me up, to carry me to the place where the 
 1 message was to be delivered, rushing, caused by the passing 
 \ away of the cherubic creature he had seen, blessed . . place," 
 I i.e. the place where God had given the revelation of His glory. 
 i(13) -wings, etc., ch. i. 20. (14) bitterness, bee. of the 
 1 character of the message, hand . . strong, I could not resist 
 the Divine impulses. 
 
 Tlie n'ldoiv'a deht. — A minister of the Gospel, when preaching 
 from the text, '• If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, 
 I and we pine away in them, how should we then live?" said, 
 ! " I knew a poor widow who had got into a little debt that was a 
 I burdeir upon her, which she could not remove, just as sin is a 
 I debt or burden upon the conscience, which no man is able to cast 
 : off. Well, what could the widow do ? Her language to herself 
 I was, ' How can I live with this burden ? ]\rv little furniture, my 
 i all, will be sold 1 I must go to the workhouse, where I must 
 mix with bad people, who know not ray Saviour, and who take 
 His name in vain ! ' A benevolent individual, hearing of her 
 distress, sent to the creditor, desiring him to bring a receipt iu 
 f tdl, and he should have his money. He took the receij t. and 
 gave it to the widow. ' Oh,' said she, ' now I shall live ! I shall 
 live ! ' " This litt le story the minister ap]ilied, in the most rimple 
 manner, to the atonement of Christ, and His payment of the dt bt 
 of sin. 
 
 15—17. (15) Tel-ahih," on the river Cluhar (ch. i. 3), the 
 
Cap. m. 18-21.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 239 
 
 either 
 bill of corn 
 ( Uesenius), or hill 
 O.' grass land 
 (Fuersi), and so 
 luimed on ac- 
 count of ita 
 frultfiiliiess. 
 
 chief seat of the Jewish exiles in Babylon, astonished, * or j ny-aning^ 
 astouuded ; having my spirit utterly cast down and overwhelmed, 
 seven days, the usual period for mourning-, Job ii. lo."^ (Ki, 17) 
 a watchman, Is. Ivi. lO ; Jc. vi. 17.'' '• One to look out from a 
 city's walls, and see whether an enemy is coming, and give notice 
 of his approach.'' 
 
 Tlio natclnnan {i\\l). — l. His character and qualifications. 1. , ,<p ^ 
 He must be a man of good repute ; 2. He must produce proofs of fu-^t Eng. stu- 
 past fidelity and good management ; 3. He should have discern- | niun ; Ger. cr- 
 ment, ingenuity, and courage ; 4. He should be healthy and | «"<«"«"; old Fr., 
 strong, able to bear exposure and fatigue ; .5. He must be pro- { and7c'-H);f/;S'"lhe 
 perly appointed ; 0. He must have a jiioper dress and light. II. j stuniiing of the 
 The watchman's duty. 1. One part is to tell the hour ; 2. To 
 protect the persons and property of the inhabitants from villains, 
 accidents, and offences ; 3. Go give alarm when danger is near ; 
 4. To give account of the city to the magistrates.' — iSo/itvde not 
 loneluirss {v. 17j.— Why not talk with Him in the city; The 
 point is that busy men may hear God in solitude, and solitary 
 men may hear Him in the city. 1. The speciality of God s 
 appointment ; 2. The personality of God's communication ; 3. 
 The familiarity of God's condescension. Apply : — (1) God has 
 ever something to say to man, as a ruler, as a lather ; (2) In seek- 
 ing solitude, man should seek God : solitude without God leads to 
 madness, with God to strength and peace ; (3) Man himself should 
 often propose to commune with God. Communion with God 
 shows the capacity of our spiritual nature, the superiority of the 
 material spiritual over the sijiritual.-'^ 
 
 18—21. (18) surely die, i.e. surely, unless you repent. This 
 condition is assumed in all the Divine messages, speakest to 
 warn, implying that the Prophet ought to do this again and 
 again, die . . iniquity, nnforgiven, and therefore to meet the 
 eternal penalties, 'blood . . hand, counting you guilty of his 
 death, in his sins, if you failed to warn him." (]'J) delivered 
 thy soul, from the burden of the man's death in sin. (20) lay 
 a stumblinghlock, or cause his ini(iuity to become his ruin. 
 (21) sin not, and he manifestly ought not to sin if he be a 
 righteous man. 
 
 Procraf^ti nation — A Pomprian 2^ri<'st- — Both in regard to the 
 preservation of life, and the salvation of the soul, there is too 
 often a strange indifference. The warning voice may arouse 
 attention for a time, but the opportunity of escape is deferred, 
 and destruction follows. A recent discovery at Pompeii has 
 brought to light the fact of a priest fleeing from the temple, 
 "when the warning came of the city's api^roaching doom. I3ut 
 the treasures of the temple — why should he leave them ? Ah 1 
 why? He is supposed to have returned to obtain them. Again 
 he sets out, but had not proceeded far, before the destruction 
 came, and he was lost. Had it not been for the treasures, his 
 life might have been spared. — Tin; lost capfriin. — A ship was on 
 its way homeward, after a prosperous vo3-age, when a storm 1 1**^" *" ti "t"^ ''°°d 
 arose, and raged with such violence that the ship sprung a leak. [ s(?arce lear her- 
 After vainly striving to save the ship, it was resolved to abandon ! self, no less un- 
 her. The boat was lowered, and all the crew, except the captain, j reasonable is he, 
 got into her, though not without great difficulty, as the tempest th'^viporouf dlya 
 was raging fiercely. The captain rushed down to the cabin to \ of youth iind 
 get his cash-box and some papers, although the crew earnestly manhood, defcra 
 
 faculties by fear 
 or surprise con- 
 vej's the ordinary 
 idea of the. word." 
 — Wuoli-ych. 
 
 cGe.\. I'J; 1 Sa. 
 .xxxi. 13. 
 d Ilab. ii. 1. 
 
 ». 17. Dr.E.Boyi, 
 
 1U7. 
 
 e Benson Bailey. 
 
 f Dr. Parker. 
 
 a " It shall be 
 charged upon 
 them in the day 
 of account tliat 
 it was owing to 
 tlieir unfaithful- 
 ness that sucli 
 and such precious 
 souls perished in 
 sin ; for who 
 knows but i£ 
 they had had 
 fair warning 
 given thtm they 
 might liave tied 
 in time from the 
 wrath to come ?" 
 — Mat. Ueiuy, 
 
 " As we would 
 judge a man a 
 fool, who, having 
 a great choice of 
 strong liorsfcs, 
 should let them 
 go empty, and 
 i lay a great bur- 
 
240 
 
 F.7.EKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. iv. 1-4. 
 
 reforn-ation till 
 feeble olil age." 
 — VvLUcdniy. 
 
 a Spi. Com. 
 
 6 " The silence of 
 prophets is God's 
 punishment of a 
 people."-.S. C'/iry- 
 suslam. 
 
 V. 22. jr. Jay, iT. 
 303. 
 
 The memory of 
 
 good actions is 
 
 the starlight of 
 the soul. 
 
 " Our memories, 
 corrupted by the 
 fall, are often 
 like those ponds 
 where frogs live 
 and the fish die." 
 — Cripplegate Let- 
 tii/es. 
 
 e J. J. Day, iI.A. 
 
 a Fausset. 
 h " Frotrahfrr, 
 mediseval Latin, 
 whence fr. pro- 
 Iraire. portniire, 
 to cut or carre 
 out ; very apjiro- 
 priate of the 
 ancient delinea- 
 tions carveil in 
 the solid lojk." — 
 Woolrycli. 
 
 e " Those used by 
 the Assyrians ap- 
 pear to have con- 
 sisted of a strong 
 framework on 
 wheels, so cover- 
 ed as to protect 
 the soldiers 
 working it, ami 
 armed with one, 
 Bonietiines two, 
 pointed weapons. 
 It differed con- 
 Biderably from 
 the more famili- 
 arly known ram 
 employed by the 
 Jlomans." — Ayre. 
 
 " The tile was 
 pr9bably an un- 
 dcicd one. Lord 
 
 entreated him not to do so, but to save himself "while he could. 
 During the moment he w;.s gone, a violent gu^t of wind parted 
 the rope which held the boat to the ship. When he returned 
 with his money and papers, lie stood anxiouslj' by the side of the 
 ship, but the boat was far away, and unable to return to him ; 
 ami so he perished, — almo.'rt saved — altogether lost. 
 
 22 — 27. (22) plain, lit. "the cleaving that parts the moun- 
 tain." (2;>) glory, etc., ch. i. 28. "Now he is to learn that 
 there is a time to be silent, as well as a time to speak, and that 
 both are ai)pointed by God."" (24) shut . . house, so as for a 
 time to keep silence ; and also in this way he was to learn how 
 the people would shut their cars and hearts against His message. 
 {2')) hands, cic, this must be treated morally, for we have no 
 account of Ezekiel's having been imprisoned. (2{j) he dumh, 
 no judgment can be greater than that wh. comes by the silencing 
 of God s prophets and ministers.' 127) when I . . thee, then 
 thou shalt be free to speak. 
 
 llenwmbering GocVs commandments {v. 27). — I. The duty of 
 remembrance. 1. It is our duty ; 2. The world is opposed to it ; 
 :>. But it is important in a worldly point of view. II. The 
 benefit of this remembrance, since this life is designed to prove 
 us, whether we will serve God or no. III. Do these things seem 
 hard .' note the comfort to be derived from this subject, " To do 
 thee good at thy latter end." Apply — 1. To Chx-istians ; 2. To 
 others.' 
 
 CHAPTER THE FOURTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) a tile, or brick. "Such are found in Eabvlon, 
 covered with cuneiform inscriptions, often two feet long, one 
 broad."" pourtray,'' i.e. draw the picture of. (2) lay siege, 
 i.e. repi'eseut the laying of a siege. fort, or watch-tower, 
 mount, for the engines, hattering rams, the engine used 
 for thrusting down walls.' (3) iron pan, or plate : as a kind 
 of shield This was to be Ezekiel's defence as he conducted (in 
 symbol) the siege of the city. (4) lie . . side, to represent the 
 prostrate and bound condition of Jerusalem in the time of siege. 
 
 Catapult. — Calmet describes " an engine used for throwing 
 very heavy stones, by means of a strong bow, whose circular 
 arms are tightly held by two vertical beams, nearly upright ; 
 the cord of the bow is drawn back hy means of a windlass, placed 
 between two beams also, behind the former, but uniting with 
 them at top ; in the centre is an arm. capable of swinging back- 
 ward and forward ; round this arm the bowstring passes ; at the 
 bottom of this arm is placed the stone, in a kind of seat. The 
 bowstring being drawn backward, by the power of the windlass 
 drawing the moving arm, the rope is suddenly let go from this 
 arm by a kind of cock, when the bowstring, recovering its 
 natural situation, with all its power violently swings forward 
 the moving arm, and with it the stone, thereby projecting 
 the stone with great force and velocity. Another machine 
 for throwing stones consists of two arms of a bow, 
 which are strengthened by coils of rope, sinews, or hair 
 (women's hair was reckoned the best for the purpose). 
 These arms being drawn backward as tight as possible, by a 
 
Cap.iv, 5— 12.7 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 241 
 
 windlass placed at some distance behind the machine, the string 
 of the bow is attached to a kind of cock, and the stone to be dis- 
 charged being placed immediately before it, on touching the 
 cock, the violent effort of the bow threw ofiE the stone to a great 
 distance." The arms of this bow were of iron ; which was the 
 same as the halistce of the Romans. " Besides these kind of 
 instruments that were extremely j^o^^'^rful, others of smaller 
 size and inferior powers were constructed for the i^iu-jDose of 
 being carried about : these were somewhat like our ancient 
 cross-bows ; and the bowstring was drawn back by various con- 
 trivances, often merely by strength of arm, or by reducing the 
 board that cariied the arrow to its station backwards, by jaressing 
 it against the ground."'* 
 
 5—8. (5) three . . ninety," see Nu. xiv. 34. (6) forty 
 days, with poss. reference to the extreme idolatries of the reign 
 of Manasseh. (7) set thy face, i.e. direct thy mind, arm . . 1 
 uncovered, so as to wield a weapon.* (8) bands, to keep you 1 
 from moving ; a symbol of the straitness of the siege. j 
 
 j\'otc on vr. 4 — 7. — It is more than probable something is alluded 
 to here which we cannot understand. When a person is sick, he 
 •will not lie on his right side, because that would be a bad omen : 
 ehould he in his agony, or when asleep, turn on that side, his 
 attendants will immediately again place him on the left side. 
 After people have taken their food, they generally sleep a little, 
 but they are careful to repose on the left side, " because the food 
 digests better." It is impossible to saj' what is the origin of this 
 practice : it may have arisen from the circumstance that the 
 right side '• is of the masculine gender,"' and the left feminine, as 
 is the case with the supreme Siva. Females are directed to 
 recline on the right side, and many curious stories are told in 
 reference to them, which are not worth repeating.'^ 
 
 9—12. (0) wheat, etc., needful food for the time of his lying 
 down, fitches, or .yielt (10) by weight, carefully doled 
 out. shekels, Ge. xxiii. 15. (11) hin, Ex. xsix. 40. About a 
 quarter of a pint. (12) bake . . man, indicating 1he lack of 
 ordinary firing materials. The dried dung of cattle is constantly 
 used for firing in th3 East." 
 
 Mi lift. — This word (millet) occurs more than once in the sacred 
 volume : Ezr>kiel calls it ditrJian or cJoclinn; and Calmet thinks 
 it is probably the Ilolcnss diirra, which forms a principal food 
 an'iong the Orientals. Its Latin name, millet, is supposed to be 
 derived from millc. that is, a thousand grains, in allusion to its 
 extraordinary fruitfuliiess. It requires a light sandy sdil : is 
 Bown late, and gathered in about the middle of October ; while 
 the wheat and the barley are reaped by the end of May, just 
 before the drought of a Syrian summer comes on. The worldly 
 man is accustomed to regard such different management as the 
 fruit of human observation and sagacity ; but the inspired 
 Prophet ascribes it with equal truth and energy to the suggestion 
 of Divine wisdom and goodness : '' For his God doth instruct him 
 to discretion, and doth teach him." It is made into bread, with 
 camel's milk, oil, butter, and other unctuous substances, and is 
 almost the only food eaten by the common people of Arabia 
 Felix. Nicbuhr found it so disagreeable, that he would willingly 
 Lave preferred plain barley bread. This is certainly the reason 
 
 VOL. IX. O.T. Q 
 
 Cornwallis got a 
 good iilea of 
 haugalore from a 
 B r a li m i n, who 
 acted as spy, and 
 drew a plan of 
 the place with 
 great accunacy iu 
 a short time ia 
 moist clay." — 
 Cullairay. 
 
 d Paxton. 
 
 a " Prob. dating 
 from Jeroboam's 
 first setting up 
 tli3 iiloltitrous 
 worsliip of the 
 golden calves, to 
 the last captivity 
 of the Jews, ia 
 the twenty-tliird 
 j-car of Kebuo.'s 
 reign." — Lowlh. 
 
 b Is. lii. 10. 
 c Roberts. 
 
 a " To use human 
 dung for such a 
 pirpvise implies 
 the most cruel 
 necessity. It was 
 in violation of tho 
 law. De. .xiv. 3, 
 xxiii. 12—14."— 
 fausset. 
 
 The Sultan, 
 whilst at Buck- 
 ingham Palace 
 had a lamb 
 bro.ight to the 
 palace every 
 
 morning, which 
 was slaughtered 
 there by his 
 butcner after a 
 certain ceremony 
 had been per- 
 formed over it. 
 Fowls were also- 
 killed in the 
 saine fashion. 
 The Sultan al- 
 ways dined alone; 
 there wa-. a 
 special dinner 
 prepared for his 
 son, who also 
 dined alone, as 
 (lid his two 
 nephews. Seve- 
 ral other sepamte 
 
S42 
 
 ■tables wore laiil 
 for meiiiln'rs of 
 Lis Imperial Ma- 
 jesty's suite, ac- 
 cording to tlieir 
 official dignity. 
 The rvUo \va> 
 broken tliroujJtli 
 on the occasion 
 of the luiiclieon 
 ■with the Queen 
 at Wi II d S(ir 
 Cvstle.auddininf; 
 ■with tlie Lord 
 Mayor at the 
 Mansion House. 
 b t'axton. 
 
 a Comp. Ac. x. 
 14. 
 
 J "Look one upon 
 another as per- 
 sons under 
 astonishment for 
 the greatness of 
 your calamities, 
 and pining away 
 or dying a lin- 
 gering deatli 
 through famine 
 and other hard- 
 ships." — Loicth. 
 
 " Ceremony was 
 but devised at 
 first to set a gloss 
 on faint deeds, 
 hollow welcomes, 
 recanting good- 
 ness, sorrow ere 
 'tis shown ; but 
 where there is 
 true friendship, 
 there needs 
 none." — &hake- 
 spfare. 
 
 c Roseniniiller. 
 
 a Je. xlii. 18, xUv. 
 11—15. 
 
 "Look, who 
 comes here ; a 
 grave unto a 
 soul, holding the 
 cterjial spirit, 
 against her will, 
 in the vile prison 
 of afflicted 
 breath. — Shake- 
 spi'iiiv. 
 
 " Memory, the 
 bane of the 
 wicked, the home 
 of the jiast, the 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. V. 1—4. 
 
 that it was appointed to the Prophet Ezckicl as a part of his hard 
 fare. But llauwolf seems to have been of a dilFercnt mind, or 
 not so difficult to jilease ; of this grain, says he, they bake very 
 well-tasted bread and cakes, and some of them are rolled very 
 thin, and laid tog'ethcr after the manner of a letter : they are 
 about four inches broad, six long, and two thick, and of an ashen 
 colour. The grain, however, is greatly inferior to wheat or barley, 
 and by consequence must form a very inferior species of bread." 
 
 13—17. (i;^) defiled iDread, i.e. unclean according to Levi- 
 tical rules. (14) polluted, by infringement of the laws con- 
 cerning the clean and the unclean." (1.")) cow's dung", which 
 was commonly used : camel's dung makes the clearest tired, 
 (10) hreak tlie staff, Le. xxvi. 2ti. (,17) astonied, comj). ch. 
 iii. 1.5.* 
 
 Fuel. — In consequence of the ivant of wood, camel's dung la 
 used in the East for fuel. Shaw, in the preface to his Trarch, 
 where he gives a detailed descnption of the mode of travelling in 
 the East, says that in consequence of the scarcity of wood, when 
 they wanted to bake or boil anything, the camels dung which 
 had been left by a preceding caravan was their usual fuel, which, 
 after having been exposed to the sun during three days, easily 
 catches fire, and burns like charcoal. The following quotation 
 from D'Arvieux serves still better to illiistrate the text in which 
 the Prophet is commanded to bake bread, or rather thin cakes of 
 bread, upon cow-dung. " The second sort of bread is baked 
 under ashes, or between two lumps of dried and lighted cow- 
 dung. This produces a slow fire, by which tha dough is baked 
 by degrees ; this bread is as thick as our cakes. Tiie crumb ia 
 good if eaten the same day, but the crust is black and burut, and 
 has a smoky taste from the fire in which the bread is baked. A 
 person must be accustomed to the mode of life of the Bedouins, 
 and very hungry, who can have any relish for it." "We will also add 
 what Xiebuhr says in his descrii:)tion of Arabia. '" The Arabs o^ 
 the desert make use of an iron plate to bake their bread-cakes ; or 
 they lay a round lump of dough in hot coals of wood or camel'a 
 dung, and cover them entirely with it, till the bread in their 
 opinion is quite done, when they take the ashes from it, and cat 
 it warm." = 
 
 CHAPTER THE FIFTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) knife, or sword, symbol of the -destruction of the 
 inhab."of Jerus. by the sword of the Chaldfeans. barber's razor, 
 or a sword to use like a barber uses his razor, balances, to 
 signify the exactness of Divine justice. (2) burn, to indicate the 
 destruction of this proportion of the inhab. by famine and pesti- 
 lence, smite . . knife, as a symbol of this proportion killed by 
 the sword, scatter . . wind, to re]n-esent the captivity of the 
 last third. (3) few, to represent those left in the land, Je. xl. 
 5, G. skirts, or wings. (4) cast . . fire, to signify the calamity 
 of even the few that were spared fof a time." 
 
 The Scripture.^ a record of hiivuiii .sorrow. — The Bible, from 
 the third of Genesis, is the history of a sorrowful race. This 
 fact should teach us — I. That sorrow is mightily present 
 in our world. Here is a book — 1, The product of many lauds 
 
Cap. V. 5-13.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 S4S 
 
 and ages, expi'essing^ their sorrows ; 2. Intended for all lands 
 and times. This reliection t^hould — (1) Stir our thought : (2j Cul- 
 tivate our soberness : (:5) Quicken our sympathies. II. Sorrow is 
 prestnt in this world becanso of sin. The Scriptures, as the 
 record of human sorrow, teach — 1. That sorrow is here because of 
 sin ; 2. As the penalty of sin ; 3. As one means of purification 
 from sin.* 
 
 5 — 9. (.")) in the midst, with the intention that she .should 
 hold forth My truth and claims before the nations. Notice the 
 locally central position of Palestine : esp. as between Egypt, 
 rhueiiicia, and Assyria. (G) cliange my judgments, into 
 calamities. God's judgments are injunctiuns. but disobeyed they 
 become n-oes. (7) multiplied, better, •• raged tumultuously," in 
 your self-will and rebellion. (8; execixte judgments, camp. 
 the commands God gives with the judgments He executes. 
 (9) not done, comj). Mat. xxiv. 21." 
 
 I^rocidtnce: tlie murderer and his .fi/ir/iilar n'onnd. — A gentle- 
 man, who was very ill, sending for Dr. Lake, told him that he 
 fotind he must die, and gave him the following account of his I 
 death. He had, about a fortnight before, been riding over j 
 Hounslow Heath, where several boys were playing at cricket. 
 One of them, striking the ball, hit him just on the toe with it, I 
 looked him in the face, and ran away. His toe pained him 
 extremely. As soon as he came to Brentford, he sent for a I 
 Burgeon, who was for cutting it off. But unwilling to suffer 
 that, he went on to London. '\Vhen he arrived there, he imme- 
 diately called another surgeon to examine it, who told him his 
 foot must be cut off. But neither would he hear of this : and so, 
 before the next day, the mortification seized his leg. and in a day 
 or two more struck up into his body. Dr. Lake asked him 
 whether he knew the boy that struck the ball. He answered, 
 " About ten years ago, I was riding over Hounslow Heath, where 
 an old man ran by my horse's side, begged me to relieve him, and 
 Baid he was almost famished. 1 bade him begone. He kept up 
 with me still, upon which I threatened to beat him. Finding 
 that he took no notice of this, 1 drew my sword, and with one 
 l)low killed him. A boy about four years old. who was with 
 him. screamed out his father was killed. His face I per- 
 fectly remember. That hoj it was who struck the ball against 
 me which is the cause of my death." '' 
 
 10—13. (10) eat . . thee, I^e. xxvi. 29 ; De. xxviii. .5.3 ; La. ii. 
 20, iv. 10. remnant . . scatter, fulfilled in the pre.sent condi- 
 tion of the remnant of the Jews ; they are found in every land. 
 (11) defiled, efr... 2 Chr. xxvi. U. "^detestahle things, i.e. 
 idols. (12) third part, as in the symbol, v. 2. (13) fury to 
 rest, or cease, when its purpose of punishment is completed, 
 my zeal, or just regard for My honour and authority." 
 
 IJwniin V recks. — Can anything be more sad than the wreck of 
 a man I We mourn over the destriiction of many noble things 
 thnt- liave existed in the world. IMen. when they hear of the ; 
 old Phidian Jupiter, that sat forty feet high, carved of ivory and j 
 gold, and that was so magniticent, so transcendent, that all the 
 ancient world counted him ttnhappy that died without having 
 seen this most memorable statue that ever existed in the world, 
 often mourn to think that its exceeding value led to its destruc- I 
 Q2 
 
 min'Ts magnetio 
 t el egr.T ij li."— 
 FamUy Frknd 
 b N. R. Thonias. 
 
 a La. iv. 6; Da. 
 
 ix. 12; see also 
 Zee. xiii. 8, 9, 
 .\iv. 2. 
 
 " As Grocl con- 
 nected Himself 
 pecal.arly with. 
 Isniel, so there 
 was to be a pe- 
 culiar maiiifesta-, 
 tion of God's 
 wrath against 
 sin in their case." 
 — Fnirbiiirn. 
 "All the routes 
 — both by land 
 and water— wh. 
 ciinnected tlie 
 tliree parts of the 
 ancient, world 
 passed through 
 Palestine. The 
 commerce bet. 
 Asia on the one, 
 and Europe and 
 Africa on the 
 otlier Iiand, had 
 its centre in tlie 
 great mercantile 
 cities of I'hicni- 
 cia and Philistra. 
 I'owards the S. 
 tlie Arabah led 
 to the Gulf of 
 Elah, and the 
 Shephelahtotlmt 
 of Hero. Opolis, 
 while towar.ts 
 the E. the ordi- 
 nary caravan 
 ro.ad led to the 
 n e i g li b 11 r ing 
 ?;nplirates, to the 
 Persian Gulf, and 
 thence to the im- 
 portant countries 
 of Southern .\sia. 
 Even the liigh- 
 ways wb. con- 
 nected Aria and 
 Africa touched 
 Palestine." — L'j^ 
 Ucal Tliinrjs. 
 b Chcever. 
 
 a " This is only a 
 partial and im- 
 perfect mode of 
 representing 
 God's dealings 
 with men." — Sp/c. 
 Cum. 
 
 " The completely 
 liuman clothing 
 of ideas in this 
 passHfie is a sen- 
 sible rcpresenta- 
 
244 
 
 [Cap. V. 14— 17. 
 
 tion of the per- 
 BiiM:iliry of (iivl. 
 in His beins ami 
 in His actiuus." 
 — ikhrocdci: 
 
 " pentlenipn, 
 the time of life 
 is short; tospond 
 that shortness 
 basely, were too 
 long, if life did 
 rile upon a dial's 
 point, still end- 
 ing at the arrival 
 of an hour." — 
 Shtikespeare. 
 
 " He had learnt 
 a most useful 
 princii)le of life, 
 wliioli was. to lay 
 notljiufr to heart 
 which he could 
 not help, and bow 
 great soever dis- 
 appoin tments 
 liad fell out (if 
 possible), totliink 
 of them no more, 
 but to work on 
 upon other af- 
 fairs, and some, 
 if no'; all, would 
 be better natur- 
 etV—Sir Dudley 
 Ni»-lh. 
 b licecher. 
 
 a Ex. xxiii. 29 ; 
 De. xxxii. 24; 2 
 Ki. xvii. 25. 
 
 "When the cho- 
 lera rages, no one 
 ■will go out while 
 the sun is at its 
 zenith, because 
 it is believed that 
 the demon of the 
 pestilence is tlien 
 actively engaged. 
 'The hot exhala- 
 tions of noomlay 
 are the cliariots 
 of the fiends.' 
 The demons of 
 darkness are said 
 to have the most 
 power at mi 1- 
 night."— /iofttv/i. 
 
 h Busbtquius. 
 
 tBurdcr, 
 
 tion. and that it perishod. It was a £rreat loss to art that such a 
 thinij should perish. Can any man look upon the AcroiJolis — 
 shattered "tt^ith balls, crumbled by the various iniiuences of the 
 elements, and utterly destroyed, and not mourn to think that 
 such a stately temple, a tem;)le so unparalleled in its exquisite 
 symmetry and beauty, should be desolate and scattered .' Can 
 there be anythiuGf more melancholy than the destruction, not 
 only of such temples as the Acropolis anrl the Parthenon, but of 
 a whole city of temples and statues .' More melancholy than the 
 destruction of a statue, or a temple, or a city, or a nation, in its 
 physical aspects, is the destruction of a man, the wreck of the 
 understanding, the ruin of the moral feelinpfs, the scattering- all 
 abroad of those elements of power that, united together, make 
 man fitly the noblest creature that walks on the er.rth. Thousands 
 and thousands of men make foreign pilgrimages to visit and 
 mourn over fallen and destroyed cities of former grandeur and 
 beauty ; and yet, all round about every one of us, in every street, 
 and in almost every neighbourhood, there are ruins more stupen- 
 dous, more pitiful, and more heart-touching than that of any city. 
 And how strange woulil be the wonder if. as men wandered in 
 the Orient, there should come some one that should call from the 
 mounds all the scattered ruins of Babylon, or build again Tadmor 
 of the desert 1 How strange it would be to see a city, that at 
 night was a waste heap, so restored that in the morning the light 
 of the sun should flash from pinnacle, and tower, and wall, and 
 roof ! How marvellous would be that creative miracle ! But 
 more marvellous, ten thousand times, is that Divine touch by 
 which a man, broken down and shattered, is raised up in his right 
 mind, and made to sit, clothed, at the feet of Jesus.* 
 
 14—17. (14) -u^aste, etc.. De. xxviii. 37. (l.")) instrnetion, 
 they shall learn of Cod and His claim:) from such an exam]>le of 
 judgment. (It;) arrows, De. xxxii. 23. staff of bread, ch. 
 iv. H). (17) evil beasts, wh. soon multiply in a desolate and 
 uninhabited country." 
 
 Juf/7irafire vxc of fJir irord " arroii-y — The arrow, in this 
 passage, means the pestilence. The Arabs thus denote it : "J 
 desired to remove to a less contagious air. I received from Soly- 
 man. the emperor, this message : that the emperor wondered 
 what I meant, in desiring to remove my habitation. Is not the 
 pestilence God"s arrow, which will always hit His mark. If God 
 would visit me herewith, how could I avoid it ? 'Is not the 
 plague,' said he, ' in my own palace : and yet I do not think of 
 removing.' " * We find the same opinion expre.-sed in Smith's 
 remarks on the Turks. " What," say they. " is not the plague 
 the dart of Almighty Cod. and can we escape the blow He levels 
 at us l Is not His hand steady to hit the persons He aims at .' Can 
 we run out of His sight, and beyond His power ' '' So Herbert, 
 sp-^aking of Curroon, says, '• That year his empire was so wounded 
 with God's arrows of plague, pestilence, and famine, as this 
 thousand yeaxs before was never so terrible."' <= 
 
Cap. vi. 1—10.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 245 
 
 CHAPTER THE SIXTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) set thy face, as if directing' tliy messag-e. 
 (3) mountains, etc., Palestine was a liilly, though it can 
 hardly be called a mountainous country, rivers, or ravines." 
 (•1) images, or sun-images, Le. xxvi. ;^0.* slain . . idols, to 
 show the manifest connection between idolatry and calamity, and 
 to put the idol-trusting to shame. 
 
 Preachers to he ac/piainted ov'ith liHman natnre. — Michael 
 Angelo, when painting an altar-jiiece in the conventual church, 
 in Floi-ence, in order that the figures might be as death-like as 
 possible, obtained permission of the prior to have the coifins of 
 the newly-buried opened and placed beside him during the night ; 
 an axipilliing expedient, but successful in enabling him to repro- 
 duce with terrible effect, not the mortal pallor only, but the very 
 anatomy of death. If we would preach well to the souls of 
 men, we must acquaint ourselves with their ruined .-tate, must 
 have their case always on our hearts both by night and day. must 
 know the terrors of the Lord and the value of the soul, and feel 
 a sacred .sympathy with perishing sinners. There is no masterly, 
 prevailing preaching without this.' 
 
 5 — 7. (5) dead carcases, of tho.se killed by famine and the 
 Bword. bones, said to intimate that no decent burial should be 
 given to the dead bodies." ((3) works, i.e. your idols, which are 
 not gods, but the mere work of men's hands. (7) I . . Lord, by 
 the display of My glory as the '• All-powerful punisher of sin."' * 
 
 Falxc religion and its doom (i: 5). — Man says he wants sincerity 
 and earnestness. "What God asks is truth, the one religion which 
 He has revealed. I. False religion: there is such a thing : it may 
 be earnest and zealous, yet false. II. Its uselessness : it profits 
 nobody, either here or hereafter ; is not acceptable to God. 
 III. Itshatefulness: God abhors it : it is outward, untrue, again.st 
 His revelation : dishonouring, self-exalting. IV. Its doom: its 
 condemnation is — 1. Certain ; 2. Utter ; 3. Visible ; 4. E.xpres- 
 eive ; 5. Contemptuous: 6. Everlasting. Apply :— (I) See that 
 your religion is true : (2) Your worship real.' — The end is come 
 \v. 5). — I. The end of the year. It should be a season — 1. Of 
 thank.sgiving ; 2. Of self-examination ; 3. Of confession : 4. Of 
 devout contemplation. II. The end of life. It is the end of- • I 
 1. Our abode on earth; 2. Of our present enjoyments; 3. Our 
 present employments ; 4. Our present sorrows : 5. Our present - 
 connections ; G. Our present privileges. III. The end of the i 
 world. 1. It will be the close of time ; 2. The introduction of | 
 an unalterable state of rewards and punishments ; 8. It will be 
 the epoch of Chi-isfs glorious manifestation.'' 
 
 8—10. (8) a remnant, Is. iv. 2 ; Je. xliv. 14. (9) remem- 
 ber me, when under the pressure of calamity, they would. 
 in penitence, turn thought and heart to God. (9) broken, Je. 
 xxiii. 9. The pass, may read. '■ I have broken their whorish 
 beirb," etc." (10) said in vain, i.e. without adequate cause, or 
 full intention and power to execute. 
 
 Conscience. — The following remarkable instance of the force 
 of conscience occurred, in 1835, in the neighbourhood of London. 
 
 a Moiitioiied aa 
 tlietuvoiirite?eat 
 of iddl rites, just 
 as hiU-tcips were. 
 
 6 2Clir. x.xxiv.4; 
 Is. xvii. 8. 
 
 We get life, as 
 we lost It : both 
 tlie o:;e and the 
 other indepeu- 
 dently of our- 
 selves. " As in 
 Adam all die, 
 even so in 
 Christ shall all ba 
 made alive." 
 
 c Spurgeon. 
 
 a Comp. 2 Kl. 
 x.xiii. 14, 16. 
 
 6 " Importing 
 that the judg- 
 ments God in- 
 tended to bring 
 upon the Jews, 
 would make the 
 most hardened 
 and stupid sin- 
 ners sensible thab 
 this was God's 
 hand." — Lowth. 
 
 c Dr. H. Sonar. 
 
 With love, the 
 heart becomes a 
 fair and fertile 
 garden, with sun- 
 sliine and warm 
 hues, and eshal- 
 ing sweet odours; 
 but without it, it 
 is a bleak desert 
 covered with 
 ashes. 
 
 a Or made co»» 
 
 Irite. 
 
 "When they that 
 escape shall, in 
 the land of their 
 exile, remember 
 Jle, when they 
 shall loathetheni- 
 selves for tlieir 
 sins — tUeu at lasb 
 
246 
 
 shall they know 
 tliat I am the 
 Lord, aii'l that 
 ^ty jnirpose in 
 pronouncing 
 tlu'ir doom has 
 not been in vain." 
 — Sjii: Com. 
 " The testimony 
 of a gooil con- 
 science will make 
 the comforts of 
 heaven desccml 
 upon 111 a n ' s 
 ■weary liead, like 
 r. refreshing dew 
 or shower upon 
 a parched land ; 
 it will give hiiu 
 lively earnests 
 and secret anti- 
 cipations of ap- 
 proaching joy; 
 it will bill his 
 soul go out of the 
 body undaunted- 
 ly, and lift up his 
 head with con- 
 fidence before 
 saints and angels. 
 The comfort 
 
 ■which it conveys 
 is greater tlian 
 the capacities of 
 mortality can 
 appreciate, 
 niigUty and uu- 
 speakable, and 
 not to be under- 
 stood as it is felt." 
 —Br. Smth. 
 h R. T. S. 
 
 a Nx xxiv. 10 ; 
 Eze. xxi. 17. 
 
 6 " In indigna- 
 tion at the abom- 
 inations of Israel, 
 extend thine 
 baud towards 
 Juilrea.as if about 
 to ' strike ' and 
 ' stamp,' shaking 
 oflf the dust with 
 thy foot, in token 
 of how Goil sliall 
 'stretcli out His 
 hand upo}i them,' 
 and tre.ad them 
 down." — Faussrt. 
 
 e Je. ii. 20; Ho. 
 iv. 13. 
 
 d Nu. xxxiii. 46 
 Je. xlviii. 22. 
 
 " The name, in 
 tlie modified form 
 Diblathan, is 
 found on the 
 Jloabite stone." 
 — S/7^-. Com. 
 "A good con- 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. vi. 11-14. 
 
 j A lady, of about thirty-eight years of age, elegantly dressed, 
 
 eutered the shop of Mr. , a resi)eclablu pastrycook, in a state 
 
 of great mental excitement, and inquired if Mr. -were still 
 
 alive. On being answered in the atlirniative, she, in the most 
 earnest manner, begged to see him. Ueing engaged in superin- 
 tending the making of some confectionery, he begged to be 
 excused, and referred her to his daughter, ■who, he said, ■would 
 wait upon her. The daughter immediately withdrew with her 
 into the parlour, when, after sitting a few moments in silence, 
 she burst into a flood of tears. AVhen she became more com- 
 posed, she stated that upwards of twenty years since she was a 
 boarder at a highly respectable boarding school in that neigh- 
 bourhood, which school Mr. had for nearly forty yei'rs sup- 
 plied with pastry, etc., and while there, she w^as in the habit of 
 abstracting small articles from his tray, unknown to the person 
 who brought it. She had now been married some years, was the 
 mother of six children, and in the po.■^sessiou of every comfort 
 this world could afford ; but still the remembrance of her youthful 
 sin had so haunted her conscience, that she was never happy. 
 Her husband, perceiving her uuhapijiness, had, after many fruit- 
 less endeavours, at last got possession of the cause, when he 
 
 advised her, for the easement of her conscience, to see if jMr. 
 
 were alive, and to make him or his family a recompense ; and as 
 she was going to leave Loudon on the following day, perhaps for 
 
 ever, she had then come for that purpose. Mr. , on b^^'ing 
 
 informed of the object of her visit, told her not to make herself 
 any longer unhappj^, as she was not the only young lady who 
 J-^'-d acted in that manner. After begging his forgiveness, 
 which he most readily granted, she insisted on his acceptance of 
 a sum of money, which, she said, she believed was about the value 
 of the articles she had stolen : and after remaining about an hour, 
 she departed, evidently much happier.* 
 
 11 — 14. (11) smite . . foot," gestures indicating deep concern 
 at the wickedness of the people.''* ''Call attention by act>! of 
 grief and consternation." (12) far off, i.e. out of reach of the 
 perils of the siege, remaineth, in the city. (13) slain . . 
 altars, w. 4. 5. hill, etc., noted places for idolatrous worship." 
 sweet savour, Heb. sacuur of o-r.it, Ge. viii. 21. "Applied to 
 idol sacrifices in ivory." (H) Diblatb., part of the desert to- 
 wards Moab.'' 
 
 Note on V. 14. — " The land shall be utterly spoiled, — I •will 
 make the land more desolate than the wilderness." '• The tem- 
 ples are thrown down ; the palaces 'demolished : the ports filled 
 up ; the towns destroyed ; and the earth, stripped of inhabitants, 
 seems a dreary burying-place." (Volney.) "Good God!" ex- 
 claims the same writer, '• from whence proceed such melancholy 
 revolutions ? For what cause is the fortune of these countries so 
 strikingly changed ? Why are so many cities destroyed ? ^^'h.7 
 is not that ancient population reiiroduced and perpetuated?" "'I 
 wandered over the country ; I traversed the provinces ; I enu- 
 meiated the kingdoms of Damascus and Idumasa, of Jerusalem 
 and Samaria. This Syria, snid I to myself, now almost depopu- 
 lated, then contained a hundred flourishing cities, and abounded 
 with towns, villages, and hamlets. "What are become of so many 
 productions of the hands of man ? AVhat are become of those 
 ages of abundance and of life^ " etc. Seeking to be ■wise, mea 
 
tJap. vii. 1—9.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 247 
 
 become fools when tliey trust to their own vain imaginations, 
 and will not look to that Word of God which is as able to con- 
 found the wise as to give Understanding to the simple." These 
 words, from the lips of a great advocate of infidelity, proclaim 
 the certainty of the truth which he was too blind or bigoted to 
 isee. For not more unintentionally or unconsciously do many 
 illiterate Arab pastors or herdsman verify one prediction, while 
 they literally tread Palestine under foot, than Volney, the acade- 
 imician, himself verifies another, while, speaking in his own 
 mame, and the spokesman also of others, he thus confirms the 
 unerring truth of God's holy word by what he said, as well as 
 by describing what he saw.* 
 
 CHAPTER THE SEVENTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) moreover, etc.. the ch. beginning thus is a dirge 
 rather than a proidiecy. Only three or four years were to inter- 
 vene before the final overthrow of Jerusalem by the Clialdasans. 
 (2) land of Israel, this is the term for the whole land that is 
 useil after the captis-ity of the northern nation." four corners, 
 or wings ; * fig. to include the whole land, (3) recomiDense, 
 eU-., God speaks of the people's sin as if it had been a personal 
 injury to Him. (1) not spare, or set limits to the calamities 
 that are coming. Punishment and bitter sufEering is necessary 
 to reveal the hateful character of sin. 
 
 Desolation of Judaa. — It is no " secret malediction," spoken of 
 by Volney. which God has pronounced against Juda3a. It is the 
 curse of a broken covenant that rests upon the land ; the con- 
 seriuences of the iniquities of the people, not of those only who 
 have been plucked from off it and scattered throughout the world, 
 but of those also that dwell therein. The ruins of emisires origi- 
 nated, not from the regard which mortals paid to revealed 
 religion, but from causes diametrically the reverse. The 
 desolations are not of Divine appointment, but only as they have 
 followed the violations of the laws of God, or have ai'isen from 
 thence. And none other curses have come upon the land than 
 those that are written in the Book. The character and condition 
 of the people are not less definitely marked than the features of 
 the land that has been smitten with a curse because of their 
 iniquities. And when the unbeliever asks, Wherefore hath the 
 Lord done this unto the land 1 the same word which foretold 
 that the question would be put, supplies an answer and assigns 
 the cause.'^ 
 
 5 — 9. (5) an only evil, i.e. a singular evil, with none to 
 match it. Or an unrelieved evil, which shall have no mitigations. 
 (<!j the end, the final manifestation of the Divine judgment on 
 the land, watchetll, or wakes up for thee. (7) morning, or 
 beginning of the day of doom, sounding, or echo : i.e. it is a 
 reality, and no mere echo of the mountains." (8) shortly, in a 
 very few years ; at most three or four. (9) not spare, v. 4. 
 
 Sin in hlosxom (y. '>). — The teaching of the figure before us is — 
 I. That beauty may be associated with evil, as beauty of counte- 
 nance, Absalom, poetry, eloquence, art. magnificent mansions and 
 picturesque acres. II. That success is no test of moral right or 
 Vkioug. 111. That the forces of retribution are ever at work.* 
 
 science is to the 
 soul what health 
 is to the body; 
 it preserves a 
 constant easa 
 anil serenity 
 
 within us, and 
 more than coun- 
 tervails all the 
 calamities and 
 afflictions whicli 
 can possibly be- 
 fall U&." —Addi- 
 son. 
 e Keilh. 
 
 a Mai. i. 1, ii. 11. 
 
 " Possibly Manas- 
 sell and his suc- 
 ce.=sors in the 
 k i n g d o m of 
 Judah had the 
 dominion of th'j 
 whole laud of 
 Canaan, formerly 
 divided into the 
 two kingdoms of 
 Judah and Israel, 
 as t r i b u t a r i cs 
 under the kings 
 of Assyria." — 
 ri'idiuux. 
 
 b Nu. x.\iv. 17. 
 
 " Wliat stronger 
 breastplatethan a 
 heart untainted ? 
 Thrice is he arm- 
 ed who hath his 
 quarrel just; and 
 he but naked, 
 though locked up 
 in steel, whose 
 conscience witU 
 injustice is cor- 
 rupted." — Shake- 
 sjwai-e. 
 
 c Keith. 
 
 a Rather, the 
 noise you hear is 
 the rushing of 
 the enemy to 
 destroy you. 
 
 " How in the 
 looks does con- 
 scious guilt ap« 
 pear!"— Oi'id. 
 
 b U. R. Tliomas. 
 
248 
 
 EZKKlF.t. 
 
 [Cap. vii. 10-27. 
 
 t« " Wiokedness 
 daily siireailsan.l 
 increases, till it 
 becomes ripe for 
 j u d J? "1 c 11 1-" — 
 
 L'HVtll. 
 
 b " Tlio violence 
 aiiil fury of the 
 CMemy have risen 
 up so as to be- 
 come a rod to 
 punisli the wick- 
 edness of the 
 people." — Spk. 
 Com. 
 
 c " Trans. ' There 
 is notliing of 
 them, of their 
 multitude, of 
 their crowds; 
 and there is no 
 eminence among 
 them.' " — Keviscd 
 Eng. Bible, 
 d Joel ii. 2 ; Zep. 
 1.14. 
 « Roberts. 
 
 a " As cloves, 
 whose natural 
 abode is the 
 Talleys, when 
 driven by fear 
 into the moun- 
 tains mourn la- 
 mentably, so shall 
 the remnant, who 
 have escaped ac- 
 tual deatli, moan 
 in the land of 
 their e.xile."-Spi-. 
 Com. 
 
 h " Their wealth 
 will not procure 
 them the neces- 
 saries of life 
 under the straits 
 cf famine, or 
 miseries of bond- 
 age." — Lowth. 
 c Eze. xiv. 3, xvi. 
 17, xliv. 12. 
 d Campbell. 
 
 a "The God of 
 Jerusalem gires 
 the tcmjile into 
 the hands of tlie 
 C'haldajans, and 
 He uses them, 
 ■wicked as they 
 are, as His own 
 instruments for 
 punishing His 
 people for the 
 sins by which 
 they pollute tlie 
 city and the 
 temple."- Words- 
 
 wo I- III. 
 I Keith. 
 
 a " It was cus- 
 .tomary to lead 
 
 10—15. (10) rod. . . blossomed, a fig. to represent the fact 
 that the iniquity of Jiulah was now full, and demanded im- 
 mediate Diviup interference." 8ome refer thetij^. to the blossom- 
 intr of the Chal(i;e;in power, (llj rod of wickadnes.a, or a 
 roil that must punish wickedues.s.* multitude . . theirs, a 
 difficult sentence. Prob. meaning-, neitlier the men themselves, 
 nor any of their belong-ings, their wives or their children."^ (12) 
 day, /.«". the day of doom.<* (13) not return, to occupy hid 
 land, the lease of which he sells, neither . . life, better, 
 '■ Neither shall any strengthen for himself his life by his iniquity." 
 (14) none . . battle, bee. of failing hearts. (15) sword, etc., 
 V. 2. vi. 12, etc. 
 
 The miirnhif/ gone forth (v. 10). — This alludes to the punish- 
 ment of the children of Israel ; and Jehovah, through His servant, 
 addresses the people in Eastern language : •' The morning is gone 
 forth.' Their wickedness, their violence, had grown into a rod 
 to punish them. The idea is implied in the Tamul translation 
 also. '• Yes, wretch, the rod has long been growing for thee : 'tis 
 now ready, they may now cut it.' "True, true, the man"s past 
 crimes are as so many rods for him.'"* 
 
 16 — 19. (16) doves, noted for the mournfulness of their note, 
 and their fond attachment to their homes and mates." (17) 
 hands . . feeble, for the fig. see Job iv. :5. 4. ; Is. xxxv. 3. be 
 weak, lit. r/a, yield as wat^r. (18) gird, etc., Is. xv. 3 ; Je. 
 xlviii. 37. baldness. Is. xxii. 12 ; comp. De. xiv. 1. (19) cast, 
 etc., this would be done in the misery of famine, when they 
 found gold and silver could feed nobody.* stumblingblock, 
 curse was on the gold and silver because they had made idol 
 gods, and ornaments for idol gods with it.' 
 
 Doves mouni'intj. — This is a most strikingly apt simile to all 
 who have heard the sound made by the turtle dove. In the 
 woods of Africa I have often listened to the sound of the turtle 
 dove's apparent mourning and lamentations, uttered incessantly 
 for hours together — indeed, without a moment's intermission. In 
 a calm, still morning, when everything in the wilderness is at 
 rest, no sound can be more plaintive, pitiful, and melancholy. It 
 would cause gloom to arise in the most sprightly mind, — it rivets 
 the ear to it, — the attention is irresistibly arrested. "* 
 
 20—22. (20) beauty . . ornament, prob. referring to God'a 
 temple, images, of their idol gods, set . . them, or made it 
 as an unclean thing ; given it into the hands of the Gentiles. 
 (21) strangers, barbarous and savage nations." (22) face . . 
 them, so as not to interfere and defend the holy place from 
 their outrages, robbers, lit. " men making breaches." 
 
 tStrangers. — Instead of abiding under a settled and enlightened 
 government, Judtea has been the scene of frequent invasions, 
 '■ which have introduced a succession of foreign nations (des 
 peuples etrangers)." " When the Ottomans took Sj'i-ia from the 
 Mamelouks, they considered it as the spoil of a vanquished 
 enemy. According to this law, the life and jiroperty of the van- 
 quished belong to the conqueror. The Government is far from 
 disapproving of a system of robbery and plunder which it finds 
 so profitable " (Voluey).' 
 
 23 — 27. (23) make a chain, comp. Je. xxvii. 2. A chain is 
 the symbol of caijtivity." bloody crimes, Xtath.ev,Jitdgiiu'nt of 
 
Cap. viii. 1-4.] ezekiel. 
 
 blood, i.e. " murder committed with hypocritical formalities of 
 justice."' (24) worst, the most cruel and terrible.* pomp . . 
 strong, or the pride of power, Le. xxvi. I'J. their lioly 
 places, God no longer owns them as His." (25) destruction, 
 or cutting off. (2i)) mischief. Is. xlvii. 11. seek a vision, 
 coiiij). Je. xxxvii. 17, xxxviii. 14. (27) king . . troubled, 
 general consternation making all the leaders and counsellors of 
 the land helpless. 
 
 War. — Seneca, the great moralist of antiquity, is still more 
 strong in his condemnation of war. " How are we to treat our 
 fellow creatures? Shall we not .spare the effusion of blood ? How 
 small a matter not to hurt him to whom we are bound by every 
 obligation to do all the good in our power I Some deeds, which 
 are considered as villanous while capable of being prevented, 
 become honourable and glorious when they rise above the con- 
 trol of law. The very things which, if men had done them 
 in their private capacity, they would expiate with their lives, we 
 extol when perpetrated in regimentals at the bidding of a 
 general. We punish murders and massacres committed among 
 private persons ; but what do we with w^ars, the glorious crime 
 of murdering whole nations ! Here avarice and cruelty know 
 no bounds ; enormities forbidden in private persons are actually 
 enjoined by legislatures, and every species of barbarity autho- 
 rised by decrees of the senate, and votes of the people." 
 
 CHAPTER THE EIGHTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) elders, those carried away with Jehoiachin, and 
 now at the Chebar. These had come to inquire of the Lord, 
 through His Prophet, hand . . me, ch. i. 3. (2) likeness, 
 etc., comji. ch. i. 2(;, 27. loins . . fire, to intimate the vengeance 
 of God kindled against the wicked Jews, amber, ch. i. 4. (3) 
 form of a hand, camp. Da. v. 5. in the visions, i.e. he 
 seem.. ' to have all these things done to him in the vision, door 
 . . gate, i.e. the entrance to the court of the juiests. image of 
 jealousy, some idol figure that provoked Jehovah to jealousy." 
 (4) glory . . there, showing plainly that it was the residence 
 of Jehovah alone. Ref . is to the Shekinah cloud.* 
 
 Ainhcr (Heb., clutxmal; Greek, electron) is supposed to be a 
 fossil resin, which is most likely the case, leaves and insects 
 being often found embedded in it. It is one of the most electric 
 substances known, and. by friction, produces light in the dark. 
 By rubbing a piece of this substance brisklj' till it became heated, 
 it was found to attract and repel light bodies. This principle 
 was called electricity, from the Greek word electron, amber. 
 Amber is a substance somewhat harder than resin, transparent, 
 of a yellowish colour, bitter in taste, something like myrrh, and 
 capable of a bright polish ; on account of which the ancie'nts 
 reclioned it among gems of the first clnss. and employed it in all 
 kinds of ornamental dress. Malte Bruu conjectures that the 
 aromalites, or aromatic stone of the ancients, was amber. The 
 colour which resembled wax and honey-yellow was most 
 esteemed by them, not only for beauty, but for solidity. The 
 high esteem in which it is held is shown by the statement of 
 Piiuy that, in his days, a small piece of amber was more than 
 
 249 
 
 away captives in 
 a row with a 
 chain passed from 
 the utck of one 
 to the otlier." — 
 Fausiel. 
 
 b De. xxviii. 49, 
 
 50. 
 
 c Jerome. 
 
 " This expression 
 appears to inrli- 
 cate tliat at this 
 time the Bab. 
 empire contained 
 in it an elements 
 of rude, rough, 
 and uncultivated 
 warriors, wliile at 
 tlie same time 
 there must iiave 
 been a highly 
 civilised popula- 
 tion long settled 
 in iS'ineveh or 
 Babylon." — 
 Jbuald. 
 
 a Comp. 2 Ki. 
 xvi. lu— 15, x.\L 
 7. 
 
 « 
 
 b " EzeWel has 
 this repeated 
 vision of (be 
 glory of God to 
 aggravate the sin 
 of Israel, in 
 changing their 
 own Uod.theGod 
 of Israel (who is 
 a God of so much 
 glory as here He 
 appears to be), 
 forilunghill gods, 
 .scandalous god., 
 false gods, and 
 indeed no goUs." 
 —Mai. Ihury. 
 
 The ancients 
 used amber as a 
 medicine. How 
 tlie Hebrews ob- 
 taiueil it we are 
 not told. But as 
 the I'hfEnicians 
 traded with 
 Spain, there is 
 very little doubt 
 but th.at they 
 carried it to Tyre. 
 A classic writer 
 a^Sbcrts tbattlifl 
 
250 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. viii. 5-11. 
 
 P h no n i c i a n s equal in value to a strouo- and robust slave. It is used in thia 
 Trom'^tUe Korih- i country for making' necklarces, snuif-boxes, and bracelets, etc, 
 cru Saa. ' ^^'^^^ Easterns, at the present day, make mouthpieces to their 
 
 I tobacco jjipes of the same material, which they highly prize. It 
 1^'!!!^.'' "il" .'.^..'^ i is sometimes used for money. A traveller writes, •• We paid for 
 what we wanted in little coarse pieces of amber." This sub- 
 stance is found in different jjarts of the world ; but mostly on 
 the shores of the Baltic Sea. It is met with floating on the coast, 
 particularly after tempests ; and in beds of wood coal in different 
 parts of Europe. — often in mines far from the sea. and in liirmah. 
 As many as one hundred and fifty tons were picked up in one 
 year on the seashore near Pillau, in Prussia. 
 
 5, 6. (5) toward, the north., comp. 2 Ki. xvi. 14." the 
 altar, i.r. the great altar of burnt-offering. (0) great abomi- 
 nations, by thus in the most insulting way setting up an idol 
 image right in front of Jehovah's shrine, go . . sanctuary, 
 being compelled to forsake it, and deliver it up to its pollution.* 
 
 I^rcdicfinn.t of Ezclcicl.- — Host of the earlier predictions of the 
 Book of Ezekiel have respect to the remnant of the nation left 
 in Juda;a. and to the further judgments impending over them, 
 such as the siege and sacking of Jerusalem — the destruction oi! 
 the Temple — the slaughter of a large portion of its inhabitauta 
 — and the abduction of the remainder into a foreign land. The 
 date of the first chapter is about six years prior to the occurrence 
 of these events, and the vision which it contains was undoubtedly 
 designed to exhibit a visible symbol of the Divine glory which. 
 dwelt among that nation. The tokens of Jehovah's presence 
 constituted the distinguishing honour of Israel, and its depar- 
 ture from among thorn would consequently form the essence of 
 their national calamities, and swell them indefinitely beyond all 
 similar disasters which could possibly befall any other j)cople. 
 Plain intimations of the abandonment of the Holy City by the 
 emblems of the Lord's gloiy are interspersed through several 
 ensuing chapters, till we come to the tenth, where the same 
 splendid image is again brought to view, and is now exhibited 
 in the act of forsaking its ancient dwelling-place. The first 
 chajiter describes what their treasure was ; the tenth, the loss of 
 it. Together with this, the latter contains several additional 
 particulars in the description of the vision, which are all impor- 
 tant to its explication. By keeping in mind this general viev/ of 
 the contents of these chapters, the reader will find himself 
 assisted in giving that significancy to each, which he was 
 probably before at a loss to discover. It may be here remarked, 
 that the symbol of the Divine glory described by Ezekiel was not 
 designed as a mere temporary emblem, adapted oi;ly to that occa- 
 sion, but that it is a permanent one, of which we have repeated 
 intimations in the Scriptures. It is from this fact, chiefly, that 
 it derives its importance as an object of investigation." 
 
 7 — 11. (7) hole in the wall, through which ho could see 
 into one of the very side chambei's of the sanctuary itself. This 
 is more prob. than that the chamber was in the outer wall of the 
 Temple." (,S) dig, i'Vr.,the secrecy of these ritts is thus forcibly 
 indicated : the ordinary entrance had been covered up. and some 
 secret entrance madi>, poss. through the other rooms. Or the 
 very chamber itself may have been secretly made iu the foun« 
 
 Volnnu^ if you 
 know how to 
 roiul liini."— ir. 
 ELlerij C/uinniiuj. 
 
 a "The locality 
 of tlie Mol en- 
 iianops the hei- 
 iiousiiv^ss of the 
 sin before God's 
 own altar." — 
 Fausset. 
 
 ^ Crimp. V,7.e. vii. 
 21, 2-2, X. 18. 
 
 e Duxh. 
 
 " Books are a 
 giiiile in youth, 
 anil an entertain- 
 ment for age. 
 They support us 
 under solitude, 
 .and keep us from 
 becoming a bur- 
 den to onr.selve.^. 
 Thoy help us to 
 forget ffie cross- 
 ness of men and 
 things, compose 
 our cares and our 
 passions, and lay 
 our disappoint- 
 ments asleep. 
 we are 
 of the 
 we may 
 to the 
 dead, who have 
 nothing of 
 peevishness, 
 priile. or design 
 iu their conver- 
 Batiou." — Collier. 
 
 When 
 
 weary 
 living, 
 repair 
 
 a Ko indignity 
 couM be so great 
 as making a very 
 portion of the 
 Riuctuary a place 
 of idulutrous 
 
 rites. 
 
 b Eclurence is 
 
Cap. viii. 7—11.1 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 251 
 
 dations. (9) go in, so as to get demonstration of the evil. 
 
 (10) ponrtrayed, etc., these pictures were objects of worship.' 
 
 (11) seventy, etc., a comjjany of the elders or leaders of the 
 nation. Poss. members of the great council, or Sanhedrim. 
 
 The chdiiihcr of iinagerij (rr. 7 — 12). — From this vision we learn 
 the following truths. I. Tliat man has a wonderful power of 
 vision beyond that of the senses. 1. Through this power God 
 'frequently reveals the greatest truths ; 2. Through it man will 
 derive much of his happiness or misery for ever. II. That the 
 degenerating tendency in the most advanced people has ever been 
 strong. This — 1. Repudiates the atheistic notion that the original 
 state of man was that of savageism, and confirms the Biblical 
 doctrine, that God made man ujiright, etc. ; 2. Shows that it 
 behoves the most advanced people to be humble. III. That the 
 greatest sins of humanity are generally the hidden ones. 1. Man 
 has power to conceal his sins ; 2. That as a sinner he has the 
 strongest reasons for concealment. IV. That an insight of the 
 hidden iniquity of a pojiulation is a necessary qualification for a 
 true reformer. 1. It serves to impress him with the justice of 
 human suffering : 2. Also with the greatness of God's love in 
 redemption ; 3. With the sublime mission of Christianity. 
 
 V. That the most hidden sins are destined to be exposed. Of this 
 exposure of sin there are two kinds. 1. Unconscious ; 2. Conscious. 
 
 VI. That a practical disregard of the constant presence and 
 iTispectiou of God is an explanation of all sin 1. Because the 
 realising of God's presence implies supreme love to Him ; 2. If 
 men love Him supremely, they will have no room in their hearts 
 for idols. "^ 
 
 Cdrc.i. — Caves, and other similar subterraneous recesses, eonse- 
 crated to the worship of the sun, were very generally, if not 
 universally, in request among nations where that superstition 
 was practised. The mountains of Chusistan at this day abound 
 with stupendous excavations of this sort. Allusive to this kind 
 of cavern tempLe, and this species of devotion, are these words of 
 Ezekiel. The Prophet in a vision beholds, and in the most sub- 
 lime manner stigmatises, the horrible idolatrous abomimrtions 
 which the Israelites had borrowed from their Asiatic neighbours 
 of Ohaldiea, Egypt, and Persia. '" And he brought me (says the 
 Prophet) to the door of the court ; and when I looked, behold, a 
 hole in the wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig 
 now in the wall ; and, when I had digged in the wall, behold 
 a door. And he said unto me, Go in (that is, into this cavern 
 temple), and behold the wicked abominations that they do 
 there. So I went in, and saw, and behold, every form of 
 ci'ceping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the 
 house of Israel, were portrayed upon the wall round about."' 
 In this subterraneous temple were seventy men of the ancients 
 of the house of Israel, and their employment was of a nature 
 very nearly similar to that of the priests in Salsette. " They 
 stood with every man his censer in his hand, and a thick cloud 
 of incense went up. Then said he unto me. Son of man, hast 
 thou seen what the ancients of Israel do in the dark, every 
 man in the chambers of his imagery,' " In Egypt, to the parti- 
 cular idolatry of which country, it is plain, from his mentioning 
 every forni of creeping thing and abominable beasts, the Prophet 
 ift tkie place alludes, these dark, eeoluded recesses were called 
 
 evirlently to the 
 Egyptian form 
 oi idolatry. 
 
 " Bclzoni's dis- 
 coveries brought 
 to liglit many 
 subterraueau 
 cliainbers in 
 rocks upon the 
 shores of the 
 Nile. These were 
 used as sepul- 
 chres both for 
 kings and private 
 persons. The 
 
 walls were uni- 
 formly adorned 
 by painted 
 figures . . . and 
 by hieroglyphical 
 cliLiracters, some 
 of wh. were re- 
 presentative of 
 the objects of 
 idolatrous wor- 
 sliip." — Spk. Com. 
 
 c Dr. Thomas, 
 
 " Conscience is 
 justice's best 
 minister: it 
 thieateus, pro- 
 mises, rewards, 
 and punishes, 
 and keeps all 
 under its control: 
 the busy must 
 attend to its re- 
 monstrances, the 
 most powerful 
 submit to its re- 
 proof, and the 
 angry endure its 
 upbrai dings. 
 Wiiile conscience 
 is our friend, all 
 is peace ; but if 
 once offended, 
 farewell the tran- 
 quil mind." — 
 JJon Mrs. MoU' 
 tatju&. 
 
 Bessus, a Greciark,- 
 gave as a reason 
 for pulling down 
 the birds' nests 
 about his house, 
 that the birds 
 never ceased to 
 accuse him of the 
 murder of lug 
 father. 
 
252 
 
 EZEKJEL. 
 
 [Cap.vlil. 12— 18 
 
 a As vi: 7, 8. 
 
 h •• Kvt-ry one of 
 the 7l) el.ler.-5 had 
 ]iis own imagery, 
 iliis favourite ob- 
 ject of idolatrous 
 worship por- 
 
 trayed upon the 
 wall of thecham- 
 iber ; and to it lie 
 did homage with 
 iliis censor, ac- 
 cording to tlie 
 device of his own 
 lieart." — Words- 
 icort/i. 
 
 c " Tliis was a 
 form of Katnre- 
 worsliip. It was 
 a festival held 
 when Nature in 
 the E. seem-! to 
 wither and die 
 under the scorcli- 
 ing heat of the 
 8un. to burst 
 forth a?rain into 
 life in due sea- 
 son. The death 
 of Adonis sym- 
 bolised the siis- 
 pensii.u of the 
 productive 
 powers of Na- 
 ture, wh. wore in 
 due time revived. 
 The excitement 
 of the fesiival 
 led to unl)ridled 
 license and ex- 
 cess." — Biblical 
 Tiiinris, 
 d Hush. 
 
 a Joel il. 17. 
 6 " To under- 
 stand this clearly 
 it should be ob- 
 served that, ,as if 
 purposely to pre- 
 vent the abomi- 
 nation referred 
 to, the entrance 
 of the temple was 
 on the E. side of 
 the bnildin.?, so 
 that, in looking 
 towards it in 
 worship, the wor- 
 shippers neces- 
 sarily turned 
 their backs upon 
 the sun at its 
 rising in the K., 
 at wh. time the 
 Inininary w.is 
 most usually 
 worshipped. 
 Tliese meu being 
 
 mystic cells, and in them were celebrated the secret mysteries of 
 Isis aud Osiris, represented by the quadi'upeds sacred to those 
 
 deities.'' 
 
 12—14. (12) in the dark, or in secret." chambers., 
 imagery, or his chambers painted with imajres.* Lord . . 
 eartll, ch. ix. 9. This they inferred from Gods permitting' 
 national calamities to come unchecked. (13. I'ij weeping for 
 Tammuz, tv Adonis, poss. the same as Osiris, a symbol of the 
 sun." '-The sun-god mourned by his lover Astarte, the personi- 
 tication of vegetable aud animal life, at his departure in' the 
 decline of the year to dwell in the region of gloom with 
 Peisephone." 
 
 T/ie I'roplu'f Ezcl'icL — The Prophet Ezekiel holds a conspicuous 
 place among the writers of the Old Testament, although, from the 
 highly figurative style of his predictions, a greater tiegree of 
 obscurity has been supposed to attach to this book than perhaps 
 to any other, except the Revelations, in the whole sacred canon. 
 This remark applies peculiarly to the first and tenth chapters of 
 the book, which contain the description of a remarkable emble- 
 matical vision, presented, indeed, under some variations of aspect 
 in each, but in its general features manifestly the same. These 
 chapters, together with the nine last, are said to have been 
 reckoned so sacredly obscure by the ancient Jews, that they 
 abstained from reading them till they were thirty yeai-s of age. 
 The mystery appears to have been but little abated by time, as 
 the great mass of commentators still speak of the unpeuetrated 
 veil of symbolical darkness in which the Prophet's meaning is 
 wrapped, and the common readers of Scripture reiterate the 
 lamentation ; although doubtless every portion of the inspired 
 writings i.s just as luminous and intelligible as infinite Wisdom 
 saw best it sliould be : and it is a feature of revelation worthy 
 of that Wisdom, that it is adapted to every stage of progress aud 
 attaiument in spiritual knowledge. While in some parts, and 
 those the most important, it levels itself to the capacity of a 
 child, in others it gives scope to the intellect of an angel.'' 
 
 15—18. (1."), IG) inner court, that of the priests. iDetweeii 
 . . altar, positions which even the priests only took on the most 
 solemn occasions, and then they turned to the west of the temple." 
 faces . . east, offering tints the insult of their backs to Jehovah, 
 and the worship of their faces to the sun.'' (17) branch . . 
 nose, " as the Persians, who. when worshipping the rising sun, 
 held a tamarisk branch in their hands.''"^ Perhaps in contempt 
 Ezekiel puts the noite instead of the mnvth. before which the 
 branch was properly held.'* (18) not spare, ch. v. 11. 
 
 Iliilderi ahnmhiation.^ c.vpofu'd (>: l.')). — Apply this passage — 
 
 1. To the world. 1. The abominatioE-s that are visible to all are 
 exceeding great : 2. But the more we know of the world, the 
 more wicked will it appear. II. The Church. 1. The outward 
 court worshippers are, for the most part, exceedingly corrupt ; 
 
 2. Would to God we could except from this censure the wor- 
 shinpers of the inner court. III. The heart. 1. This, the Prophet 
 tells us, is superlatively deceitful ; 2. It is also, as the same 
 Prophet informs us, unsearchably wicked. Behold here then — 
 (1) The folly of man; (2) The forbearance of God; (3) The 
 wonders of Ecdeeming Love.* , 
 
Cap.lx. 1—4.] 
 
 EZEKlEt. 
 
 253 
 
 Svn-ivorship. — This last expression undoubtedly alludes to some 
 particular ceremony belong-ing to their idolatrous ■wori^hip. Mr. 
 Lowth {On the Prophets) says, the words may refer to a custom 
 among- the idolaters of dedicating a branch of laurel, or some 
 other tree, to the honour of the sun, and carrying it in their 
 hands at the time of their worship. Lewis observes, that the 
 most reasonable exposition is that the worshipper, with a wand 
 in his hand, would touch the idol, and then apply the stick to his 
 nose and mouth, in token of worship and adoration.-^ 
 
 CHAPTER THE NINTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (V) loud voice, as giving a command requiring imme- 
 diate attention, have charge, Le. the angels charged to exe- 
 cute Goii's judgments on the city." draw near, quickly ; 
 ready to act at once. (2) slaughter ■weapon, such as Levites 
 used for preparing the sacrifices, one man, the leader of 
 them, linen, the dress of the priests, and symbol of purity, 
 inkhorn . . side,' it was quite usual for scribes to carry the 
 receptacle for ink and pen stuck in tlieir girdle. (3) gone up, 
 departed from the inner sanctuaiy to the threshold, as a step 
 towards forsaking His temjile. The glory tarried awhile only 
 to give the waiting officers their commission of vengeance. 
 (4) mark,"^ to indicate that such should be spared, sigh, etc., 
 in their grief at the iniquity around them. 
 
 CJiri.ftians a t/rinrj protest tu/tjinxt sin (r. 4). — I. God"s people 
 described. I. They are sighing ones, sorrowing ; 2. They are 
 crying ones, protesting. II. Their pecu^liar mark, a mark of — 
 1. Separation : 2. Service ; 3. A visible mark : 4. A mark of 
 safety.'' — Uetrihiition {rr. 4, 5), — I. That the chief distinction 
 between man is moral. 1. Not unreasoning caprice ; 2. Nor any 
 material characteristics : 3. Nor any mental qualities. II. That 
 the results of this distinction are tremendous. III. That the 
 Divine superintendence of human destiny is perfect. 1. The 
 moral character and condition are now conspicuous ; 2. The 
 arrangement is divine.' 
 
 Mark on the forehead. — Mr. Maurice, speaking of the religious 
 rites of the Hindoos, says, before they can enter the great 
 pagoda, an '• indispensable ceremony takes place, which can only 
 be performed by the hand of a Brahmin ; and that is, the 
 impressing of their foreheails with the tiltik, or mark of different 
 colours, as they may belong either to the sect of Yeeshnu, or 
 Seeva. If the temple be that of Veeshnu. their foreheads are 
 marked with a longitudinal line, and the colour used is vermilion 
 If it be the temple of Seeva, they are marked with a parallel 
 line, and the colour used is turmeric, or saffi'on. But these two 
 grand sects being again subdivided into numerous classes, both 
 the size and the shape of the tUiih are varied in proportion to their 
 sul.ierior or inferior rank. In regard to the tihih. I must observe, 
 that it was a custom of veiy ancient date in Asia to mark 
 their servants in the forehead. It is alluded to in these words 
 of Ezekiel, where the Almighty commands his angels to •' go 
 through the midst of thf city, and set a mark on the foreheads of 
 the men who sigh for the abominations committed in the midst 
 thereof." The same idea occurs also in Rev. vii. 3./ 
 
 compelled to 
 make a chcice, 
 cliose to triru 
 Hieir backs, li. 
 the temple, and 
 tlieir faces to tlia 
 sun. rather thao 
 their backs to 
 the sun, and their 
 faces to the tern* 
 pie.''— Kitto. 
 c W'ini.iirnrl/i. 
 d H.iKI.'ih'nb.rri. 
 >■ C. ,Simrun,il.A, 
 / ISurder. 
 
 a Comp. 2 EL x; 
 24. 
 
 h " The form in 
 most general use 
 is a flat case 
 about nine inches 
 long, hj an inch 
 .and a quarter 
 broad, and half 
 an inch thick, the 
 hollow of which 
 serves to con- 
 tain the reed, 
 pens, and pen- 
 knife. It is fur- 
 nislied at one 
 end with a lid 
 at ached by a 
 hinge. To the 
 flit end of the 
 shaft towards the 
 end furnished 
 with the lid is 
 soldered the ink- 
 vessel, which has 
 at the top a 
 liingo, and a 
 clasp fitting very 
 closely. The ink- 
 vessel is usually 
 twice as heavy a3 
 the shaft. The 
 latter is pa=sed 
 thro' the girdle, 
 a;; 1 prevented 
 from slipping 
 through by the 
 projecting ink- 
 vessel. The 
 whole is usually 
 of polished metal, 
 b)-ass, silver, or 
 copper." — Kilto. 
 
 c lie. vii. 1. 
 
 The mark to be 
 put is the Heb. 
 letter Tiot, wh. 
 is in form some- 
 thing like a cross, 
 
 d ir. If. ninjthe, 
 
 e U. R. Ttwmat, 
 
 f Durder, 
 
254 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 Cap. Ix. 5—11, 
 
 a 2 Chr. xxxvi. 
 17. 
 
 "Jivlgraent of ten 
 begins at tlie 
 house of God, 
 bee. such pcrscjus 
 sin a g ,1 i n s t 
 greater liglit and 
 clearer cnuvic- 
 tions." — Lotcl/i. 
 
 b Nu. -xix. 11. 
 
 •'Every great and 
 original writer, 
 in proportion as 
 he is great or 
 original, must 
 himself create 
 the taste by 
 which he is to be 
 r e 1 i s h e d." — 
 Wordsworth. 
 e sturgeon. 
 
 Dr. Thompson, 
 speaking of one 
 of tliese scribes 
 or letter-writers, 
 says :— ■' This is a 
 sort of Moslem 
 confessional, and 
 that fellow's head 
 must be crammed 
 with the secrets 
 and the scandal 
 of half tl;e city. 
 No matter ; I 
 suppose, like 
 other confessors, 
 he keeps dark 
 and may be 
 trusted. Still, 
 this letter writ- 
 ing would not be 
 a very thriving 
 business In our 
 own country." 
 
 •' Consider ! ex- 
 cept aliving man, 
 there is nothing 
 more wonderful 
 than a book 1 a 
 message to us 
 from the deal ; 
 from human 
 Bouls whom we 
 never saw, who 
 »ived perhajis 
 thousands of 
 miles away ; anil 
 yet tliese, in 
 those little sheets 
 of paper, speak 
 to us, amuse us, 
 terrify us, teach 
 ns, comfort us, 
 open tlieir hearts 
 to us as brot hers." 
 —C.K. gslfi/. 
 
 5—7. (r; smite, all that have not the mark of r. 4. (C) be- 
 gin . . sanctuary, where idolatry was most shamefully deve- 
 loped. This work of de.struction was in fact done by the (Jhal- 
 dajans.a ancient men, ch. viii. 11, 12, IG. (7) defile the 
 house, this was done by shedding human blood iu it, am^ 
 leaving in it dead bodies.* 
 
 I'rcachlng : its force the main conxidcrntion. — I had tried to 
 drive certain long- brass-headed nails into a wall, but had never 
 succeeded except in turning up their points, and rendering them 
 useless. When a tradesman came who understood his work. I 
 noticed that he filed off all the points of the nails, the veiy 
 points upon whose sharpness I had relied ; and when he had 
 ([uite blunted them, he drove them in as far as he j)leased. 
 With some consciences our fine jioints iu preaching are worse 
 than useless. Our keen distinctions and nice discriminations are 
 thrown away on many ; they need to ^e encountered with sheer 
 force and blunt honesty. The truth must be hammered into 
 them by main strength, and we know from whom to seek the 
 needed power." 
 
 8 — 11. (8) left, bee. the avengers were gone forth from the 
 temple to slay in the city. Then the Prophet intercedes. (It) 
 full of blood, the sign of violence, perverseness, or wrest- 
 ing of judgment, ch. viii. 2;i. (10) not spare, ch. v. 11. (II) 
 reported, .his report concerned his safe jji-eservation of Goda 
 elect by affixing on them the required mark. 
 
 Inkliorn. — This position of the inkhorn of Ezekiel's writer may 
 appear somewhat odd to a European reader, l)ut the custom of 
 placing it by the side continues in the East to this day. Olearius, 
 who takes notice of a way that they have of thickening their 
 ink with a sort of paste they make, or with sticks of indian ink, 
 wliich is the best paste of all — a circumstance favourable to their 
 sealing with ink — observes that the Persians carried about with 
 them, by means of their girdles, a dagger, a knife, a handkerchief, 
 and their money ; and those that follow the profession of writing 
 out books, their inkhorn, their penknife, their whetstone to 
 sharpen it, their letters, and everything, the Muscovites were wont 
 in his time to put in their boots, which served them instead of 
 pockets. The Persians, in carrying their inkhorns after this 
 manner, seem to have retained a custom as ancient as the days 
 of Ezekiel ; while the Muscovites, whose garb was veiy much 
 in the Eastern taste in the days of Olearius. and who had many 
 Oriental customs among them, carried their inkhorns and their 
 papers in a very different manner. Whether some such variations 
 might cause the Egj'ptian translators of the Septuagint "\'ersiou 
 to render the words, " a girdle of sapjihire, or embroideiy. on the 
 loins," I will not take upon me to alllrm : but I do not imagine 
 our Dr. Castell would have adojited this sentiment in his Lexicon, 
 had he been aware of this Eastern custom : for with great pro- 
 priety is the word hcxrtlt mentioned in this chapter three times, 
 if it signified an inkhorn, the requisite instrument for sealing 
 those devout mourners; but no account can be given why this 
 lieseth should be mentioned so often, if it only signified an '' em- 
 broidered girdle." As to the other point relating to the Arab 
 seals, their having no figures upon them. otAj an inscription : ifc 
 is to be thought that tho-e of the Jews were in like manner 
 without any images, since they were as scrupulous as the Mohaia- 
 
Cap. X. 1—12.] 
 
 255 
 
 medans can be : and from hence it will appear that it was 
 extremely natural for St. Paul to make a seal and an inscription 
 equivalent terms in 2 Tim. ii. It) : " Tlie foundation of God 
 Btandeth sure, baving His seal," this inscription, '■ The Lord 
 kuoweth those that are His ; and let every one that nameth the 
 name of Christ depart from iniquity.'" " 
 
 CHAPTER THE TENTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) firmament, etc., comp. ch. i. 26. sapphire stone, 
 Ex. xxiv. 10. (2) he siJake, i.e. the being seated on the thrones. 
 cherub, i.e. the fourfold fig-, described in ch. i. coals, with 
 which to burn up, or destroy, the city." (3) right side, or 
 north side. clOTld . . court, i.e. the Shekinah cloud was moved 
 from the entrance of the sanctuary, and filled the priest's court.'' 
 (4) went up, as if ascending and jmssing away. 
 
 TJirine forces and hinnan lu/cnts hi rctnhvtion (v. 2). — I. That 
 ■there are in the economy of God terrific forces for the destruction 
 of evil. II. That the great forces provided against evil will 
 often be used by the instrumentality of man."^ 
 
 5—7. (5) sound . . -wings, ch. i. 24. The cherubic figure 
 appears to move, as if in close attendance on the Divine glory. 
 (.0) take fire, v. 2. (7) clothed with linen, symbol of his 
 priestly office ; but now he has to become a minister of Divine 
 vengeance, took . . went out, to put the command at once 
 into execution. 
 
 An gel. i : their ititerest in man. — Angels were in the full exercise 
 of their powers, even at the first infancy of our species, and 
 ehared in the gratulations of that period when, at the birth of 
 humanity, all intelligent nature felt a gladdening impulse, and 
 the morning stars sung together for joy. They loved even as 
 "with the love which a family on earth bears to a younger sister, 
 and the very childhood of our tinier faculties did only serve the 
 more to endear us to them ; and though born at a later hour in 
 creation, did they. regard us as heirs of the same destiny with 
 themselves, to rise along with them in the scale of moral eleva- 
 tion, to bow at the same footstool, and to partake in those high 
 dispensations of a parent's kindness, and a parent's care, which 
 are ever emanating from the throne of the Eternal on all the 
 members of a duteous and affectionate family. AVe cannot but 
 remark how fine a harmony there is between the law of sympa- 
 thetic nature in heaven, and the most touching exhibitions of it 
 on the face of our world. When one of a numerous household 
 droo])s under the power of disease, is not that the one to whom 
 all the tenderness is turned, and who in a manner nionojjolises 
 the inquiries of his neighbourhood, and the care of his family .' 
 When the sighing of the midnight storm sends a dismal fore- 
 boding into the mother's heart, to whom of all her offspring, we 
 would ask, are her thoughts and anxieties then wandering '! Is it 
 not to her sailor boy. whom her fancy has placed amid the rude 
 and angry surges of the ocean .'' Does not this, the hour of his 
 apprehended danger, concentrate upon him the whole force 
 of her wakeful meditations I And does not he engross for a 
 season her every sensibility and her every prayer ?<» 
 
 8—1.2. (8) man's hand, ch. i. 8. (9) beryl stone, ch, i. 
 
 a liarmer. 
 
 a For coals of 
 fire as denoting 
 the Divine venge- 
 ance, see Vs. c.KX, 
 4, cxI. 10 ; Re. 
 viii. 5. 
 
 6 " The Shekinah, 
 or Divine glory, 
 is i-epre.sented as 
 a briglit flame 
 breaking out o'£ 
 a thick cloud." — 
 Loulh. 
 c U. R. Tlwmas. 
 
 " Down thither 
 prone in flight, 
 he speeds and 
 tlirougli the vast 
 ethereal sky sails 
 between world 
 and World with 
 steady wings : 
 now on the polar 
 winds, then with 
 quick fan win- 
 nows the buxom 
 air." — Millon. 
 
 " Among the 
 varied e.xternal 
 inflnences amidst 
 wliich tlie human 
 race is developed, 
 a book is incom- 
 parably the most 
 important, and 
 tlie only one that 
 is absolutely 
 essential. Upon 
 it the collective 
 education of the 
 race depends. It 
 is the sole instru- 
 ment of register- 
 ing, pei'petuat- 
 ing, transmitting 
 t h o u g h t."— i/, 
 Rogurs. 
 
 a Dr. Chalmert, 
 
 a E. P. Hood. 
 
255 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. X 13—17. 
 
 " Oh 1 there are 
 no tears in 
 Ji e a T o n ; but 
 when angels 
 coniJ clown to 
 eartli, it may lie 
 tliL'y can fall into 
 companionship 
 with human sad- 
 ness, and even 
 learn to weep ; 
 anil wliere is the 
 speotacle which 
 shall wring tears 
 from eyes which 
 they were never 
 meant to stain, 
 if it be not that 
 of the obstinate 
 rejection of the 
 Gospel of re- 
 conoi lia tion, 
 and of careless 
 trifling with a 
 thing so inesti- 
 mably precious 
 as the soul ? Olii 
 men, buried with 
 your gold 1 angels 
 weep over you. 
 Young men, frit- 
 tering away your 
 days in vanities 
 and pleasures ! 
 angels weep over 
 you."-//. Meloill. 
 
 "Books, such as 
 are worthy the 
 name of books, 
 ought to have no 
 patrons but truth 
 and reason." — 
 Bacon. 
 
 h Dwight. 
 
 a Onlgnl is the 
 whole wheelwork 
 machinery, with 
 its ic'iirlwind-IH'f 
 rouaion. Their 
 being so ad- 
 dressed is in 
 order to call 
 them immediate- 
 ly to put them- 
 selves in rajjid 
 motion." — Faus 
 sd. 
 
 "■What the god 
 intmid, is theirs 
 alone : h?t us not 
 bar their great 
 opposeless wills, 
 
 10. (10, 11) appearances, etc., ch. i. 13, 15, 17. (12) eyes, 
 
 ch. i. IS. 
 
 The hand and the winrj (r. S). — There are two proofs of our 
 religious life — our great thoughts of God ; our great deeds for 
 f4od. In religion, as in life, there are two ideas — the sense of 
 faruess, the sense of nearness. I. See Vv-hat a Divine work 
 creation is. II. Then you see what Divine providence is. III. 
 See in the human hand, beneath the wing of the angel, the rela- 
 tion of a life of action to a life of contemplation. IV. In a 
 word, you see what religion is ; it is the human hand beneath 
 the angel's wing." 
 
 The mini.<tfrij of angels. — " Are they not all ministering spirits," 
 says St. Paul, '• sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs 
 of salvation ? " In this passage we are plainly taught that 
 ministering to the saints is a standing emjiloyment of angels 
 throughout the ages of time. Accordingly, they are exhibited 
 in Jacobs vision of the ladder as "ascending and descending" 
 from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven continually in 
 the discharge of this* great duty. According to this declaration 
 also we are furnished by the Scriptures with numerous examples 
 of their actual ministry to the children of God. Thus angels 
 delivered Lot from Sodom, Jacob from Esau, Daniel from th3 
 lions, his three companions from the fiery furnace, Peter from 
 Herod, and the Jewish Sanhedrim and the nation of the Israelites 
 successively from the Egyptians, Canaanites, and Assj^ians. 
 Thus they conducted Lot, Abraham, and the Israelites in seasons 
 of great difficulty and danger to places and circumstances of safety 
 and peace. Thus they conducted Gideon to the destruction of 
 the Midianites. Joseph and Mary to Egypt, Philip to the eunuch, 
 and Cornelius to Peter, tq the knowledge of the Gospel throutrh 
 him, and to the salvation of himself, his family, and his friends. 
 Thus angels instructed Abraham, Joshua, Gideon. David. Elijah, 
 Daniel, Zechariah the Prophet, Zachariah the father of John the 
 Baptist, the Virgin Mary, the Apostles, and their fellow-disciples. 
 Thus they comforted Jacob at the approach of Esau, Daniel in 
 his peculiar sorrows and dangers, Zechariah in the sufferings of 
 his nation, Joseph and Mary in their perplexities. Christ in His 
 agony, the Apostles and their companions after His resurrection, 
 Paul immediately before his shipwreck, and the Church uni- 
 versally by the testimony and instruction given in the Revelation 
 of St. John.* 
 
 13 — 17. (13) O "wheel, or move round, as if reminding them 
 of their duty." Heb. the gnlgal. or the whirling. These wheels 
 were most rapid in their revolutions. (14) face, etc., ch. i. 10. 
 (l.")) lifted up, to attend the Divine Glory on this its removal 
 from the Temple. (IB) cherubims •went, ch. i. 19. (17) 
 spirit . . tliem, ch. 1. 20, 21. 
 
 wheel (r. 13). — I shall consider this wheel — I. As emble- 
 matical of God's government. II. The propriety of this figure, 
 
 1. A wheel is a very curious piece of mechanism ; 2. You never 
 see uTore than half of it at one time ; 3. All parts of the circum- 
 ference are alike near to the centre ; 4. It is subject to frequent 
 movements and changes ; 5. A wheel is a great assistance to 
 labour. III. Some of the revolutions which prompt the excla- 
 mation, wheel. 1. The gift of a Saviour for a guilty world ; 
 
 2. Some of the sparing movements j 3. Those events which lead 
 
Cap. X. 18-22.] 
 
 E7.EKIEL. 
 
 257 
 
 to conversion ; 4. Unforeseen events leading- to unforeseen con- 
 nections ; 0. That cast of the wheel which brings poor sinners to 
 heaven. Improvement: — (1) Mark God's jirovidence — g-eneral, 
 particular, or miraculous ; (2) Admire God's providence ; (3) 
 Trust it ; (4) Obey it.* 
 
 tiujJCTintc'Jidence of Jirovidence. — 
 
 There is a power 
 Unseen, that rules the illimitable world, 
 That guides its motious, from the brightest star 
 To the least dust of this sin-tainted mould ; 
 "While man. who madly deems himself the lord 
 Of all. is nought but weakness, and dependence. 
 This sacred truth, by sure experience taught, 
 Thou must have loarnt, when wandering all alone ; 
 Each bird, each insect, flitting' through the sky, 
 "V\'as more sufficient for itself than thou." 
 
 IS — 22. (18) departed," moved ag-ain, as if ascending'. ''It 
 now quite leaves the house itself, and settles upon the cherubim 
 which stood in the court adjoining' it, r. 3." (ID) wheels. . 
 them, ch. i. 19, 2(5. (20) knew . . cherubims, ■i.e. now I 
 recognised that this strang-e living' creature represented the 
 cherubim that guarded the glory, in the holy of holies. (21) 
 hands, ch. i. 8. (22) saw . . Chebar, as narrated in ch. i. 
 
 Order of Providence. — 
 
 See through this air. this ocean, and this earth, 
 All matter quick, and bursting into birth. 
 Above, how high progressive life may go ! 
 Around, how wide ! how deep extend below I 
 Vast chain of being ! which from God began, 
 Nature's ethereal, human angel, man, 
 Beast, bird, fish, insect, what no eye can see, 
 No glass can reach : from infinite to thee ; 
 From thee to nothing. — On sujierior powers 
 "Were we to press, inferior might on ours ; 
 Or in the full creation leave a void, 
 "Wliere. one step broken, the great scale's destroyed; 
 From Nature's chain whatever link j-ou strike. 
 Tenth, or ten-thousandth, breaks the chain alike. 
 
 And if each system in gradation roll, 
 Alike essential to the amazing whole. 
 The least confusion, but in one, not all 
 That system onl.y, but the whole, must fall. 
 Let earth, unbalanced, from her orbit fly, 
 Planets and suns run lawless through the sky; 
 Let ruling angels from their spheres be hurl'd. 
 Being on b'ing wreckd. and world on world ; 
 Heaven's-, whole foundations to their centre nod, 
 And nature tremble to the throne of God. 
 All this dread order break— for whom ? for thee? 
 Vile worm ! — oh. madness ! pride ! impiety 1 
 '\^'bat if the foot, ordain'd the du-t to tread. 
 Or hand to toil, asj'ired to be the head .' 
 What if the head, the eye, or ear. repined 
 To serve mere engines to the ruling mind ?* 
 
 VOI. IX. O.T. B 
 
 by seeming mora 
 than the}' would 
 havo lis be ; so 
 sliall the thxia 
 tli.it links pro- 
 priety remain 
 unbroken, and 
 the nerve of hops 
 but brace obedi- 
 ence to the wiU 
 of heavea. " — 
 Havai-d. 
 
 b M. WiU-s. 
 
 c Tliomson. 
 
 a " The cherubim 
 (or chariot) had 
 stooil first oil tlie 
 tlireshoM of tha 
 temple door, and 
 there received 
 the glory of the 
 Lord. They then 
 lifted tlieir 
 wings, rose and 
 left the temple 
 by the east gate 
 of the outer 
 court, at the en- 
 trance of which 
 they now lor a 
 time stooil. It 
 was by the east 
 gate of the outer 
 court that tha 
 glory of the Lord 
 returned to tha 
 new temple. Ch. 
 xiiii. 4." — Splc 
 Cm. 
 
 " iSothing but 
 omniscience can 
 outdo tlie know- 
 ledge of angels ; 
 r knowledge that 
 dives into all tha 
 recesses of nature 
 and spies out all 
 the secret work- 
 ings of second 
 causes by a cer- 
 tain and imme- 
 diate view ; wh. 
 the quickest hu? 
 man intellect 
 ]i u r s u e s by 
 tedious medita- 
 tion, dubious 
 conjectures.shorfc 
 experiments, and 
 perhaps after all 
 is forced to sit 
 down in igno- 
 rance and dis» 
 8 a t i sfactiou."— • 
 Dr. Soul/i. 
 b fope. 
 
253 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap.xl. 1— T2. 
 
 a Je. i. 13 ; Eze. 
 xxiv. 3, 4. 
 
 h •' These infulf^ls 
 purpose to deride 
 tliG Prophet ; as 
 if they liad said — 
 If tliis city be a 
 caldron, wo li:id 
 rather take our 
 chance of boiug 
 cousuincd iu it, 
 than leave our 
 fine houses and 
 other acconuuo- 
 dations. and run 
 the risk of \var 
 or captivity." — 
 ZfOui/i. 
 
 e U. R. Thcmas. 
 
 " Oh ! while you 
 speak, methinks 
 a sudden calm, in 
 spite of all the 
 liorror tliat sur- 
 rounds nie, falls 
 upon every 
 fri.<?hted faculty, 
 anil puts my soul 
 in tune 1 " — Lee. 
 
 m W/iUecrcss. 
 
 a 1 Ki. viii. C5; 
 2 Ki. xiv. 25. 
 J Je. lii. 9, lU. 
 " Home is the 
 one place in all 
 this world whore 
 hearts are sure 
 of each other 
 It is the place of 
 confldenco. it is 
 the place whore 
 we tear ofT that 
 mask of guarded 
 and suspicious- 
 coldness which 
 the world forces 
 us to we.ar iu 
 self-rl .fence, and 
 wIki .; we pour 
 out the unrs; 
 served connuuiii- 
 oatiuus of lull 
 
 CHAPTER THE ELEVENTH. 
 
 1—4. (1) lifted me up, ch. iii. 12, 14, viii. 3. east gate, 
 where the glory tarried awliile iu its departing. Jaazaniall, 
 com p. ch. viii. 11, but the names cannot be identified with any 
 known persons. (2) wicked counsel, esp. in bidding tho 
 people not to believe the Divine threatenings by the Prophets. 
 (H) not near, i.e. the threatened day of calamity, caldron," 
 likening their safety within the impregnable walls of Jeru.^alem 
 to the safety of flesh iu a caldron, wh. the lire cannot reach.* 
 (4) prophesy, declare the denunciations of God against them. 
 
 A ri.s/on of jjrio^t/ioodfi {vr. 1 — 2.j). — This vision discovers — I 
 The destruction of a corrupt priesthood. 1. Their unhallowed 
 designs and influence ; 2. Their contempt of sacred things ; 3, 
 Their false security ; 4. Their conformity to evil associations ; 5, 
 Their liability to terrible retribution. II. The formation of a 
 true priesthood. 1. Divinely collected ; 2. Divinely regenerated ; 
 3. Divinely adopted." 
 
 5 — 8. (o) fell upon me, comp. ch. iii. 24. (C) multiplied 
 your slain, ch. xxii. 3, 4. (7) flesh, cic, see note on c. 3, (8) 
 the sword, or judgment by war. 
 
 l'rori(h'nri'. — A lady in high life introduced herself to tho Eev. 
 Samuel Xilpin's study, with the apology that she thought it her 
 duty to inform him that, some years before, she was passing the 
 street as a stranger on the Sabbtth, when seeing many persons 
 enter a pa.ssage, she followed them, and found herself within his 
 chapel. Every object was new ; but she listened, and was in- 
 terested in the sermon. Immediately after, she left England, 
 and. with some young friends, became the inmate of a convent 
 in France, to finish their education. AvHiile there, every argu- 
 ment was employed to convert them to the lloman Catholic 
 religion. Her English associates were overcome by these per- 
 suasions. " Your discourse, sir," said she. '• which I could never 
 get from my mind, has been my preservation, from that period 
 to the present, though I have been beset with every snai'e from 
 family connections," etc. Mr. Kilpin recommended suitable 
 books to her attention, and devoutly committed her to the God of 
 heaven, while she kneeled with him, bathed in tears." 
 
 9 — 12. (0) hands of strangers, who sh; 11 carry you into 
 captivity. (10) border of Israel, at Hamatb," where the king 
 of ]3abylon judged and condemned Zechariah, etc.'' (11) not . . 
 caldron, i.e. it shall be no defence from the tire of the Divine 
 indignation. (12) not walked, etc., De. xii. 30, 31. 
 Jl(i)m\ cluirKjed from our youth. — 
 
 Onr home in youth — no matter to what end : 
 
 Study — or strife — or pleasure, or what not : 
 
 And coming back in few short years, we find 
 
 All as we left it, outside ; the old elms. 
 
 Tilt, house, grass, gates, and latchefs selfsame click; 
 
 I'uL lift that latchet — all is changed as doom : 
 
 The tscrvants have forgotten ovu- step, and more 
 
Cap. xi. 13-21.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 259 
 
 Than half of those who knew us know us not. 
 
 Adversity, ijrosperity, the grave, 
 
 Play a round game with friends. On some the world 
 
 Hath shot its evil eye, and they have passed 
 
 From honour and remembrance, and a stare 
 
 Is all the mention of theii- names receives ; 
 
 And people know no more of them than of 
 
 The shapes of clouds at midnight, a year back.« 
 
 13 — 16. (13) Pelatiah, v. 1. This stroke of God indicated 
 the destruction of the idolaters, of whom Pelatiah was a 
 leader, full end, or a complete, irremediable destruction." 
 (14, lo) tliy bretliren, i.e. those of thy kindi-ed and ac- 
 quaintance who are carried captive with thee. US . . posses- 
 sion, i.e. those left in Jerusalem regarded their captive brethren 
 as couiing under Divine judgments, and themselves as in the 
 Divine favour. (UJ) little sanctuary,* God's presence pre- 
 Berviug them in their distant captivity, even as His presence had 
 preserved them in their own land. 
 
 A refuge In the time of danijcr (r. 16). — I. The blessing pro- 
 mises — 1. A refuge in the time of danger ; 2. Continued safety ; 
 3. The bond of their union ; 4. The source of their enjoyment. 
 II. The extent of its application. 1. In illustrating the bound- 
 less mercy of the Lord : 2. In trusting to an unchanging source 
 of happiness ; 3. In pointing out the only centre of union of the 
 whole Church. 
 
 FcdiiKjs in danr/er. — A child lies in his little bed in some high 
 chamber of an old castle, and hears the tempest growling in the 
 chimney, and the prowling thief-winds at the window, and the 
 Bcream of the spirits of the air. The storm rocks the walls, and 
 beats upon the roof ; and ho sliudders and covers his head, and 
 expects at every burgt of thunder that the castle will go crashing 
 to the ground. But, down in the room below, his father sits 
 unmoved, reading by the fire ; only now and then, when the 
 tempest swells, he raises his spectacles for a moment, and 
 exclaims. '■ God help the poor wretches on the sea to-night ! " or 
 "I hope no belated traveller is out in such a storm as this ! " 
 and then turns to his book again. In the morning, the child 
 hardly dares to look forth, lest the heavens and the earth have 
 passed away ; but the father only walks into his garden to see 
 if some old tree has been blown down, or some unpropped vine 
 fallen from tlie trellis. In times of peril and disaster, the 
 Christian, through his faith and hope in God, is like the father 
 by the fire : wliile he who has no such trust is tormented with 
 fear and apprehension like the child in the chancer.* 
 
 17 — 21. (17) gather you, etc., the point seems to be that 
 the earlier captives should return, biit the proud remnant then in 
 Jerusalem should be destroyed, or, if taken into captivity, never 
 return from it to their own laud. (IS) they, i.e. the people of 
 the earlier caiitivities. detestable tilings, or things asso- 
 ciated with idolatry. (1!)) one heart, a united feeling of devo- 
 tion to the sole service of God ( Is. xxxii. .39)." new spirit, comp. 
 the stiff-neckedness and rebelliousness which they had formerly 
 Bhown.* stony . . flesh, a fig. peculiar to Ezekiel." (20) my 
 people, as serving ]\Ie heartily and sincerely. (21) heart . . 
 heart, a strong expression to indicate that the very essence of 
 
 B 2 
 
 and confiding 
 hearts. It is tha 
 spot whei-e ex- 
 piessions of ten- 
 dprness gu;h out 
 without any son- 
 tation of awk- 
 wardness and 
 without any 
 dread of riiii- 
 c\Ue. " ~ F. W. 
 Robertson, 
 c Bail I/. 
 
 a Comp, .To. ir. 
 27, V. lU, 18. 
 6 " They have 
 been carried far 
 away from the 
 literal and ma- 
 terial sanctuary 
 at .Jerusalem, but 
 I .Myself will be 
 their sanctuary." 
 — li'ordsicurth. 
 Is. viii. 14 ; Pa. 
 .\ci. 9. 
 
 " Jty shrine is 
 the humble heart 
 — a preparatioa 
 for Gospel catho- 
 licity when tha 
 local anil ma- 
 terial temple 
 should gi^e place 
 to the spiritual." 
 — Faasset. 
 Render, " for a 
 Utile while a 
 sauctuary." 
 r. IG. /. &iurin, 
 viii. 103 ; 11'. Jai/, 
 iii. 414; Dr. it. 
 Gordon, iv. 194. 
 Talkative per- 
 sons'seldom read. 
 This is among 
 the few truths 
 \yhich .appear the 
 more strange the 
 more we reflect 
 upon them. For 
 what is reading 
 but silent cou- 
 versation 1 
 c Bceclio: 
 
 (I Ac. iv. 32. 
 
 b Zee. xii. 10. 
 
 •' Conversion is 
 commonly .spo- 
 ken of in Scrip- 
 ture as if it v.-ere 
 a new en ation, 
 because of tlie 
 new dispositions 
 and powers wh. 
 accompany it,""" 
 Lotclh, 
 
2G0 
 
 rZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xi. 22-25. 
 
 e " The coiitra'^t 
 Is not, as uiiinl, 
 botwcon Uie 
 spirit ami tlio 
 flesh, Imt, be- 
 tween tlie IiearD 
 nniiatur.illy Ii.ir- 
 deiied, ami tljc 
 heart reawalc- 
 eiieil to feeling- 
 proper to uian." 
 • — apk. Com. 
 
 r.l9. B-Bedilnrnfl, 
 iv. 27 ; /;;■. y.'. 
 Harris,!. 91; W. 
 Jaij, is. 23. 
 
 The imajre anrl 
 likeness of Guil 
 are to be fouml 
 not in the face 
 l)iit ill the lieart. 
 
 d G. Broois. 
 
 "X heart xin- 
 epotted is not 
 easily dannteil." 
 —m/iakespcure. 
 
 rtTlie TJabbis say 
 that the plory 
 liiifrereil for three 
 years over tlie 
 Jlount of Olives, 
 but of tliis Scrip- 
 tiira says uo- 
 thiug. 
 
 b " Not in actual 
 fact, but in ec- 
 static vision. He 
 hail been as to 
 the outward 
 world all the 
 time before the 
 elders in Chal- 
 da;a ; he now 
 reports what he 
 had witnessed 
 with the inner 
 eye." — Fatissel. 
 
 eC.ShmorijM.A. 
 " Six wings he 
 ■wore, to shade 
 his lineaments 
 divine ; the pnir 
 that clad eacli 
 Elioulder bro;irl 
 came mantling 
 o'er his breast 
 with regal orna- 
 ment; tliemidille 
 pair girt, like a 
 starry zone, liis 
 waist, ami rounrl 
 skirted his loins 
 and thifrhs with 
 downy pold ami 
 colours dipjj'd in 
 beareu; the third 
 
 idolatry -was pleasing to the very lieart of these rebellious 
 people. 
 
 O'eniiine rdiginn (rr. 10, 20). — I. Its Author. 1. Explain iu 
 ■what sense ; 2. Prove. II. The chang'e which it accomplishes. 
 1. It hannonises : 2. It renews; 3. It softens. III. The prac- 
 tical inlluence which it exerts. 1. 01>edience to God, which is 
 impartial ; 2. Which is constant ; 8. Which is decided. IV. The 
 privilege which it confers. 1. Its nature ; 2. Its validity ; 3. Ita 
 effects. Address— (1) Those who are indifferent about this 
 invaluable privilege ; (2) Those who are uncertain -whether they 
 possess it or not ; (3) Those who have attained it."* 
 
 A new heart — An Indian chief. — The efforts of some Cliri-stian 
 mis.sionaries had been the means of diffusing much Scriptural 
 knowledge among the Delaware Indians of >.'orth America, and 
 their doctrines were frequently the subject of conversation 
 among them. One evening, Tedynscung, a native chief, ■was 
 sitting by the fireside of his friend, who mantioned the golden 
 rule to him as very excellent. — •• For one man to do to another as 
 he would the other .should do to him." '• It is impossible 1 — It 
 cannot be done 1 " said the Indian chief. After mu.sing for about 
 a quarter of an hour, Tedynscung again gave his opinion, and Kiid, 
 •■ Brother, I have been thoughtful on what you told me. If the 
 Great Spirit that made man would give him a new^ heart, he could 
 do as you say, but not else." 
 
 22—25. (22) lift np, as in attitude for flying. (23) upon 
 the mountain, i.e. the Mount of Olives. The Shekinah thus 
 left altogether the temple and city : yet, in great grace, it 
 lingered near." (24) brougllt . . Chaldsea, i.e. back again to 
 the banks of the Chebar.* (25) them . . captivity, see 
 ch. -viii. 1. 
 
 Departure of G oil from IBs temple (v. 23). — I. How averse 
 God is to forsake His people. Look we to His declarations ; 
 look we to examples. II. "What are the different steps by which 
 His departure may be discovered .' He withholds— 1. The mani- 
 festations of His love ; 2. The influences of His grace ; 3. The 
 warnings of His Spirit. III. The dreadful state of those who 
 are forsaken by Him. 1. They are delivered up into the hands of 
 their spiritual enemies : 2. They live only to increa.se their 
 guilt and misery. Apply: — (1) How are we to reconcile this 
 doctrine with other parts of Scripture (2) How are we to avert 
 this awful calamity ? " 
 
 An/jels. — Their airy and gentle coming may well be com- 
 pared to the glory of colours flung by the sun upon the morning 
 clouds, that se(fti to be born just where they appear. Like a 
 1)eam of light striking through some orifice, they shine upon 
 Zacharias in the temple. As the morning light finds the flowers, 
 so they found the mother of Jesus, and their message fell on her, 
 pure as dewdrops on the lily. To the shepherd's eyes, they filled 
 the midnight arch like auroral beams of light : but not as 
 silently, for they Fang more marvellously than when the morning 
 stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. 
 They coramitncd with the Saviour in His glory of ti-ansfiguration, 
 sustained Ilira in the anguish of the garden, watched Him at the 
 tomb ; and ns they had thronged the earth at His coming, so 
 fhey seem to have hovered in tlie air in nniltitudes at the hour 
 of ilia ascension. Beautiful as they seem, they are never mere 
 
Cap. xii. 1-7.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 2G1 
 
 poetical adornments. The occasions of tlieir appearing are grand, 
 tlie reasons weijlity. and tlieir demeanour suggests and belies the 
 highest conception of superior beings. Their very coming and 
 going is not with earthly movement. They are suddenly seen in 
 the air, as one sees white clouds round out from the blue sky in 
 a summer's day. that melt back even while one looks upon 
 them. We could not imagine Christ's history without angelic 
 lore. The sun without clouds of silver and gold, the morning 
 on the fields without dew-diamonds, but not the Saviour without 
 His angels. '' 
 
 CHAPTER THE TWELFTH. 
 
 1 — 7. (1, 2) dwellest, i.e. even now, in the captivity, such 
 is tlie character of the people around you." (3) stuff,' or 
 household goods. By this act Ezekiel was to intimate that he 
 might not stay with a people who gave so little heed to his 
 counsels. (\) by day, so that all may see, take notice, and be 
 warned by it. (5) dig, ''tc, to illus. the escape of Zedekiah from 
 Jerusalem.'' (6) cover tny face, as the king did. (7j twiliglit, 
 or dark. Through all this representing Zedek.'s escape as a 
 warning to the people around him. 
 
 The Difine expectation {v. 3). — I. The subject to which this 
 expectation refers. 1. Men do not consider that they are sinful 
 creatures ; 2. Nor that they are dying creatures ; 3. Nor that 
 they are immortal creatures. II. The means employed for 
 bringing about the expectation which is here expressed. 1. The 
 Divine forbearance ; 2. The afflictive dispensations of Divine 
 Providence ; 3. The ministrj' of the Gospel. 
 
 TraccUinij — Baggage. — When they travel to distant places, 
 they are ■wont to send off their baggage to some jilace of ren- 
 dezvous some time before they set out. The account that an 
 ingenious commentator, whose expositions are generally joined 
 to Bishop Patrick's, gives of a paragraph of the Prophet Ezekiel. 
 ouaht to be taken notice of here ; it is, iu a few words, this, 
 " that the Prophet was to get the goods together, to pack them 
 up openly, and at noonday, that all might see and take notice of 
 it. that he was to get forth at even, as men do that would go of): 
 by stealth ; that he was to dig through the wall, to show that 
 Zedekiah should make his escape by the same means ; that what 
 the Prophet M'as commanded to carry out in the twilight, must 
 be something different from the gods he removed in the day- 
 time, and therefore must mean provision for his present subsis- 
 tence : and that he was to cover his face, so as not to see the 
 ground, as Zede-kiah should do, that he might not be discovered." 
 Sir John Chardin, on the contrary, supposes there was nothing 
 unusual, nothing very particular, in the two first of the above- 
 mentioned circumstances. His manuscript notes on this passage 
 of Ezekiel are to the following pui-port : " This is as they do in 
 the caravans : ^they carry out their baggage in the daytime, and 
 the caravan loads in the evening, for in the morning it is too hot 
 to set out on a journey for that day. and they cannot well see 
 in the night. However, this depends on the length of their 
 journeys : for when they are too short to take up a whole night, 
 they load iu the night, in order to arrive at their joui-ney's "end 
 
 liis feet sliadow'd 
 from either liec-l 
 with feather'd 
 mail, sky-tinc- 
 tured grain," — 
 
 MilliVK 
 
 d Bccdier. 
 
 a De. xxix. 4. 
 
 6 Instruments oZ 
 cajitiTity : the 
 needful equip- 
 ments of au 
 exile. 
 
 c 2 Ki. XXV. 4; 
 Je. xxxix. 4. 
 
 »'. 3. S. Lavington, 
 ■Mi. 
 
 " There are few 
 tilings so exhila- 
 rating to the 
 spirits, especially 
 in the season of 
 ardent and buoy- 
 ant youtli, as the 
 first visit to a 
 foreitrn land. 
 
 Amongst tiling* 
 purely ploasur- 
 alile, it is per- 
 haps one of the 
 n]Ost nnalloyed 
 gratificati ons 
 whicli occur in 
 tlie course of oui 
 life. But. hkeiU 
 other pleasures, 
 it may be made, 
 accordingly as we 
 use it, a source 
 of present vanity 
 anil future regret, 
 or, on tlie other 
 hand, of lasting 
 anil solid im- 
 provement. Our 
 object should be, 
 not to gratify 
 curiofity, and 
 seek mere tem- 
 )iorary amu.-e- 
 ment, t.ut to 
 learn and to 
 vcnci'ate, — to im- 
 prove the heart 
 and understand' 
 iug." — Grairy. 
 
2G2 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xii.8— 19. 
 
 early in the morning, it being a greater inconvenience to arrive 
 
 at an unknown i)lace in tlie night, than to set out on a journey 
 I then. As to his digging through the wall, he says Ezekiel ia 
 , speaking, without doubt, of the walls of the caravansary. These 
 
 walls, in the East, being mostly of earth, mud, or clay, they may 
 
 easily be bored through." <^ 
 
 d Uarmer. 
 
 (I "Ezekiel, bear- 
 ing his .«.'('# on 
 his shoulder, was 
 a sign (jf the 
 weight of calam- 
 ity coming upon 
 king and peoijle." 
 — Spi: Com. 
 
 6 Eze. vli. 27. 
 
 " This is a travel- 
 ler, sir, knows 
 men ami man- 
 ners, and has 
 plongh'd lip sea 
 so far, till both 
 the poles have 
 knock'd; has 
 teen the sun take 
 Ooach, and can 
 distinguish the 
 colour of his 
 liorses, and their 
 kinds." — lleiiu- 
 mont cindFletclier. 
 
 "All travel 
 has its advan- 
 tages. If the 
 passenger visits 
 better countries, 
 he may learn to 
 improve his own ; 
 anil if fortune 
 carries him to 
 worse, he may 
 learn to enjoy his 
 own. ' — Julinson. 
 
 Ton dill not 
 make yourself a 
 heart of stone ; 
 neither can you 
 make yourself 
 " a heart of 
 flesh ;" both the 
 one and the 
 other are trace- 
 able to a power 
 out of yourself. 
 
 e Uarmer. 
 
 a 2 ITi. xxiv. 11, 
 Xiv. 12. 
 
 " happy heart, 
 wliere piety af- 
 fectotli, wliere 
 humility sub- 
 jectcth, whore 
 repentance cor- 
 fcctetU, where 
 
 I 8 — 12. (8, 9) house of Israel, those among whom Ezekiel 
 dwelt. (10; burd.en, or prediction of woe." prince, or King 
 Zedekiah.*" (11) your sign, t.e. a sign or warning to you of 
 what shall surely come to pass. (12) bear, etc., just as the 
 Prophet had represented. Comp. the historical account. 
 
 TraveUhif] — Bnr/'iafje. — Ezekiel's collecting together his goods, 
 does not look like a person's flying in a hurry, and by stealth ; 
 and consequently his going forth in the evening, in consequence 
 of this preparation, cannot be construed as designed to signify a 
 stealing away. These managements rather mark out the distance 
 of the way they were going — going into caj^tivity in a very far 
 country. The going into captivity had not privacy attending it ; 
 and accordingly, the sending their goods to a common rendez- 
 vous beforehand, and setting out in an evening, are known to be 
 Eastern usages. On the other hand, I should not imagine it was 
 the wall of a caravansary, or any place like a caravansary, but 
 the wall of the jjlace where Ezekiel was, either of his own 
 dwelling, or of the town in which he then resided ; a manage- 
 ment designed to mark out the flight of Zedekiah : as the two 
 first circumstances were intended to shadow out the carrying 
 Israel openly, and avowedly, into captivity. Ezekiel was, I 
 apprehend, to do two things ; to imitate the going of the people 
 into captivity, and the hurrying flight of the king, two very 
 distinct things. The mournful, but composed collecting together 
 all they had for a transmigration, and leading them perhaps on 
 a^ses, being as remote as could be from the hun-ying and secret 
 management of one making a private breach in a wall, and 
 going off precipitately, with a few of his most valuable effecta 
 on his shoulder, which were. I should think, what Ezekiel was 
 to carry, when he squeezed through the aperture in the wall, not 
 provisions. Nor am I sure the Prophet's covering his face waa 
 designed for concealment : it might be to express Zedekiah "s dis- 
 tress. David, it is certain, had his head covered when he fled 
 from Absalom, at a time when he intended no concealment : and 
 when Zedekiah fled, it was in the night, and consequently such a 
 concealment not wanted : not to say, it would have been embar- 
 rassing to him in his flight not to be able to see the ground. 
 The Prophet mentions the digging through the wall, after men- 
 tioning his preparation for removing ns into captivity ; but it 
 is necessary for us to sujipose these emblematical actions of the 
 Prophet are rang-od just as he performed them." 
 
 13 — 16. (13) my net, Zedekiah was caught in escaping by 
 the Chalda;ans, but the net was really God's, not see it, bee, 
 his eyes were put out. (14) scatter, etc., 2 Ki. xxv. 4. 5. (l.">) 
 know, by the fulfilment of the threatened Divine judgments. 
 (K!) a few men, ch. vi. 8— 10." 
 
 The liavdnr.'is of the Am r^.— Stones are charged with the Avorst 
 species of hardness — " As stubborn as a stone ; " and yet the 
 hardest stones submit to be smoothed and rounded under the sofb 
 
Cap. xii. 17-25.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 263 
 
 friction of wat?r. Ask the myi'lads of stones on the soa-shore, 
 what has bciconi3 of all their an'jfles, oncj so sharp, and of the 
 roughness and uncouthness of their whole appearance. Thoir 
 simple reply is, " Water wrought with us, nothing but water, and 
 none of us resisted." If they yield to be fashioned by the water, 
 aud you do not to be fashioned by God, what wonder if the very 
 stones cry against j'ou .' * 
 
 17 — 20. (17) moreover, on another occasion, or with another 
 message. (1>S) with quaking, i.i-. with such signs of alarm as 
 persons would feel in a time of siege ; and with anxiety to limit 
 the quantity of food to that barely necessary to sustain life." 
 (I'J) people of the land, i.e. the captives. They were to feel 
 that the lot of their brethren in Jerusalem was far worse than 
 their own. desolate . . therein, \.e. desolated of her people 
 and her treasures. (20) cities, dejiendent on the fall of the 
 chief city, Jerusalem. 
 
 Preparing food. — At Algiers they have public bakehouses for 
 the people in common, so that the women only prepare the 
 dough at home, it being the business of other persons to bake it. 
 Boys are sent about the streets to give notice when they are ready 
 to bake bread ; " upon this the women within come and knock 
 at the inside of the door, which the boy hearing makes towards 
 the house. The women open the door a very little way, and, 
 hiding their faces, deliver the cakes to him, which, when baked, 
 he bring-s to the door again, and the women receive them in the 
 same manner as they gave them." This is done almost eveiy 
 day, and they give the boy a piece, or little cake, for the baking, 
 which the baker sells (Pitts). This illustrates the account of 
 the false prophetesses receiving as gratuities pieces of bread : 
 they ai"e compensations still used in the East, but are compensa- 
 tions of the meanest kind, and for services of the lowest sort.* 
 
 21—25. (21, 22) days . . faileth, the point of the prov. is 
 that the threatened judgment was so long in coming that the 
 people need not fear its ever coming at all." vision, i.e. pro- 
 phetic vision. (23 ) at hand, close at hand. Very close when 
 Ezekiel wrote, effect, or carrying out. (24) vain vision, 
 one that will not be fulfilled, flattering divination, one that 
 encourages the people to think they will yet be spared. Very 
 soon the national calamities will silence the false diviners.* 
 (25) in your days, before you die : in your time. 
 
 Denlli and efernitij at hand {v. 23). — I. The tidings here 
 announced to the Jews. Similar tidings to you, but you have 
 disregarded them as the Jews of old : yet the days are at hand. 
 II. The sign by whicli they were confirmed. Apply : — 1. It may 
 be that some of you will consider ; 2. But the great mass of you 
 will not.*^ 
 
 j\Wirne.f.t to the dead. — AHien the spirit of the living Christian 
 draws nigh to the throne of grace, there is then between him 
 and the spirits of the just made perfect a real nearness, the 
 thought of which should be mi st consolatory to those whose 
 friends have fallen asleep in Jesus. They are then breathing 
 the same atmosphere of communion with Christ which those 
 breathe who are with Him in paradise. The radii of a circle, in 
 approaching a centre, cannot but, in the nature of things, draw 
 near to one another ; and two hearts, though separated by oceans 
 
 oberlienoa dis- 
 secteth, where 
 perseverance pcr- 
 fectetli, wliera 
 power protccteth, 
 where devotion 
 projecteth, where 
 cluirity comiect- 
 eth." — Qniiiii;s, 
 b falsford, 
 
 a " K syinhoh'cal 
 representation of 
 the famine ami 
 fear witli which 
 tliey sliould eat 
 tlieir scanty 
 morsel at the 
 siege." — Fausset. 
 
 Tlie Rev. James 
 Hervey was once 
 liighly compli- 
 mented by a per- 
 son on account 
 of liis writings. 
 " sir," said that 
 godly man, and 
 at the same time 
 laying his hand 
 on his breast, 
 " you would not 
 strilie the sparks 
 of applause, if 
 you knew liow 
 much corrupt 
 tinder I have 
 within." 
 
 h JUarmer. 
 
 a Je. xvii. 15, xt. 
 
 7; Zcp. i. 12; Is. 
 V. 10; Am. vi. 18: 
 2 Te. iii. 3, 4. 
 
 b " The false pro- 
 phets who fore- 
 told peace and 
 safety, shall see 
 their prophecies 
 so confuted by 
 the events quite 
 con'rary to wliat 
 they foretold, 
 that they will 
 never pretend 
 any more to 
 publish new pro- 
 phecies."-Z<o!c,'/(. 
 
 fi: 21, 22. J. W. 
 Warier, ii. 453. 
 
 c C. Simeon , M.A. 
 
 Notice in the 
 seed the germ of 
 the tree. Cut it 
 open ; study it 
 under the mi- 
 croscope. Root, 
 trunk, branches, 
 Icavcd, ai°e ail 
 
264 
 
 [Cap. xiil. 1-5 
 
 there. Pii in tin? 
 
 Cliris;iaii's heart 
 
 is planted the 
 
 genu of all that 
 
 iiuikes a sou a: 
 
 God. 
 
 d Dr. Goulburn. 
 
 a "Not a mere 
 repetition of 
 the scotr (('. 22). 
 Tliere the scoffers 
 asi^ertcd that the 
 evil was so often 
 threatened and 
 postponed, it 
 must have no 
 reality ; here for- 
 malists (|o not go i 
 so far as to deny 
 that a dny of 
 evil is coming:, 
 but assert it as 
 far off yet. The 
 transition is easy 
 from this carnal 
 security to the 
 gross infidelity of 
 the former class." 
 — Fiiusset. 
 
 rv. 23—28. Adn. 
 Witjriim, Blooms. 
 Lee. viii. 248. 
 
 As soon may we 
 count the rays of 
 light, or atoms 
 floating throujrh 
 the air, as num- 
 ber the vain ima- 
 ginations that 
 pass through the 
 human heart. 
 i Elliot. 
 
 a Te. vi. 14, \xiii 
 11. etc., xxvii. 14. 
 xxix. 8, 22, 23 ; 
 !Mic. iii. 5. 
 
 6 Comp. Is. i 1, 
 ii. 1. 
 
 e "In deserts the 
 foxes become so 
 ravenous and 
 crafty in their 
 devices to got 
 fooil. Bo the 
 prophets wander 
 in Israel, a moral 
 desert, nnre- 
 ftraineil, greedy 
 of gains which 
 they get by 
 
 crnft,"— /it M&st^ 
 
 and monnlains, yea. though scparatrd hy a greater gulf, which 
 divides the seeu from the unseen world, if l)oth api)roach that 
 great centre of attraction in the spiritual world. " the Lamb ."lain 
 from the foundation of the world." cannot but really and tridy 
 draw near to one another, though there may be no outward 
 visible token of such aearness.'* 
 
 26—28. (2n. 27) many days, i.e. it belong-s only to the far 
 off future." (28) prolonged, even Divine long-suffering now 
 shall fail, and judgment come speedilj'. 
 .i\2)os f I -op It to fu turiti/. — 
 
 Ye rocks ! ye elements ! thou shoreless main, 
 
 In whose blue depths, worlds, ever voj'aging. 
 
 Freighted with life and death, of fate complain. 
 
 Things of immutability 1 ye bring 
 
 Thoughts that with terror and with sorrow wringf 
 
 The human breast. Unchanged, of sad decay 
 
 And deathless change ye speak, like prophets old, 
 
 Foretelling evil's ever-present day ; 
 
 And as when horror lays his finger cold 
 
 Upon the heart in dreams, appal the bold. 
 
 O thou Futurity 1 om- hope and dread, 
 
 Let me unveil thy features, fair or foul I 
 
 Thou who shalt see the grave untenanted, 
 
 And commune with the re-embodied soul ! 
 
 Tell me thy secrets, ere thine ages roll 
 
 Their deeds, that yet shall bo on earth, in heaven, 
 
 And in deep hell, where rabid hearts with pain 
 
 Must purge their plagues, and learn to be forgiven I 
 
 Show me the beauty that shall fear no stain. 
 
 And still through age-long years unchanged remain 1 
 
 As one who dreads to raise the pallid sheet 
 
 Which shrouds the beautiful and tranquil face 
 
 That yet can smile, but never more shall meet, 
 
 With kisses warm, his ever fond embrace, 
 
 So I draw nigh to thee, with timid pace. 
 
 And tremble, though I long to lift thy veiL» 
 
 CHAPTER THE TniRTEENTH. 
 
 1—5. (1,2) propliesy . . hearts, i.e. of their own will, and not 
 as delivering a Divine message." (3) seen nothing, had no 
 Divine vision given them.* " Seers of what they have not seen." 
 (4) like the foxes, these creatures find their homes in desolate 
 and ruined countries and cities ; so the prophets find their profit 
 in the ruin of their country.<" (5) gaps, or breaches. The fig. 
 is taken from stopping the way of an enemy when a breach in 
 the walls has been made.'' made . . hedge, or thrown up any 
 works of defence. 
 
 luKvrx. — When game fails him, or when the eword has ceased 
 to sujiijly his wants, the fox devours, with equal greediness, honey, 
 fruits, and particularly grapes. In allusion to his eager desire 
 for the fruit of the vine, it is said in the Song of Solomon, " Take 
 us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines, for our vine3 
 have tender grapes." In Scripture, the Church is often compareJ 
 
Cap. xiii. 6-9.1 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 to a vineyard ; her members to the vines with which it is stored ; 
 and by consequence, the grapes may signify all the fruits of 
 righteousness, which those mystical vines produce. The foxes 
 that spoil these vines must therefore mean false teachers, who 
 corrupt the purity of the doctrine, obscure the simplicity of 
 worshio. overturn the beauty of appointed order, break the unity 
 of believers, and extinguish the life and vigour of Christian 
 practice. These words of Ezekiel may be understood in the same 
 sense : '■ Jerusalem ! thy ju-ophets (or as the context clearly 
 proves), thy flattering teachers, are as foxes in the deserts ; " and 
 this name they receive because, with vulpine subtlety, they speak 
 lies in hypocrisy. Such teachers the Apostle calls " wolves in 
 Bheep's clothing," deceitful workers, who. by their cunning, sub- 
 vert whole houses ; and whose word, like the tooth of a fox upon 
 the vine, eats as a canker.' — In this passage, Dr. Boothroj-d, 
 instead of foxes, translates " jackals," and I think it by far the 
 best rendering. These animals are exceedingly numerous in the 
 East, and are remarkably cunning and voracious. I suppose the 
 reason why they are called the lion's provider is, because they 
 yell so much when they have scent of prey, that the noble beast 
 hearing the sound, goes to the spot and satisfies his hunger. They 
 often hunt in packs, and I have had from twenty to thirty follow- 
 ing me (taking care to conceal themselves in the low jungle) for 
 an hour together. They will not. in general, dare to attack man : 
 but let him be helpless or dead, and they have no hesitati6n. 
 Thus our graveyards are often disturbed by these animals ; and, 
 after they have once ta.stcd of human flesh, they (as well as 
 many other creatures) ai'e said to prefer it to any other. Their 
 cunning is proverbial : thus, a man of plots and schemes is called 
 a nareijan, i.e. a jackal. '■ Ah ! only give that fellow a tail, and 
 he will make a capital jackal." ''Begone, low caste, or I will 
 give thee to jackals."/ 
 
 6 — 9. (0) made to hope, reference is rather to their own 
 delusive hope that the event might confirm their word." (7) 
 vain vision, one that was a mere mental deception ; an imagi- 
 nation of your own mind. (8) am against you, or I come 
 against you to punish your wickedness. (D) assembly, etc., 
 here referring to the roll of the sacred people, as recognised by 
 God. The Heb. word used {xod) means a privy council ; and the 
 Projihets may be spoken of as constituting God"s privy council, 
 enter, etc.. on the return of the people to their land.!" 
 
 Foj-e.i. — •• The cunning of the fox caused it to be a f.tting term 
 of rejiroach for the false prophets : ' Israel, thy pro23hets are 
 like the foxes in the deserts' (Ezek. xiii. 4). Thus also our Lord 
 rebuked the duplicity of Herod : • Go ye, and tell that fox ' 
 (Luke xiii. 32). Its habit of burrowing, especially among rocks 
 or ruins, is more than once alluded to : ' Foxes have holes, and 
 the birds of the air have nests : but the Son of man hath not 
 where to lay His head " (Matt. viii. 20). ' If a fox go up. he shall 
 even break down their stone wall' (Neh. iv. 3). And its resort- 
 ing to desolate places : ' The mountain of Zion, which is desolate, 
 the foxes walk upon it' (Lam. v. IS) : though here the jackal is 
 more especially indicated. So it is also in I'sa. Ixiii. 10 : 'They 
 shall fall by the sword : they shall be a portion for .tJuT all/ 1»;' 
 for the fox is not an habitual carrion feeder ; while the jackals 
 follow caravans, and attack graves for the carrion, which is their 
 favourite dainty," 
 
 265 
 
 d "It was the 
 office and duty 
 of prophets, liE 
 tliey were truly 
 what they pre- 
 tended, by their 
 prayers aud in- 
 tercessions to 
 put a stop to 
 God's vengeance 
 when it was just 
 ready to be 
 poured out upon, 
 a sinful people." 
 — Lowlli. 
 
 "Reference is to 
 jackals, wliich iff 
 desolate ruins arft 
 more hungry aud 
 rapacious tbaa 
 otliers." — Woi-di- 
 icoiih. 
 
 V. 3. //. Syden- 
 ham, 224 ; Bp. 
 Wilber/uice, 30G. 
 
 V. 4. W. Beading, 
 iv. 129. 
 
 e Paxton. 
 
 f RuberU. 
 
 a " They come to 
 believe their own 
 lies. 'The Lord 
 hath not sent 
 them that they 
 should hope,' ie. 
 so that they 
 should have 
 grounds to hope 
 iliat their words 
 will be coa- 
 lirnied, " — Spk. 
 Com. 
 
 b " They shall die 
 in their capiivity, 
 and shall die 
 childless, shall 
 leave no poster 
 rity to take their 
 denomination fr. 
 them, aud bo 
 their names shall 
 not be found 
 among those who 
 either themselves 
 or their posterity 
 returned out of 
 Babylon, of 
 whom a particu- 
 lar account was 
 kept in a publio 
 register." — Mat, 
 Henry. 
 
266 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. x'ii. 10-13, 
 
 « " la a Mc'lian 
 Village the iiiun 
 were biiililin^' a 
 wall of beaten 
 earth rainuied 
 Into moulils or 
 boxes, to give the 
 jiarts the requi- 
 site shape ami 
 consistence, ami 
 so Uepositeil, by 
 the withdrawal 
 of the niouM, 
 layer by layer, 
 upon tlie wall, 
 each layer drying 
 in its place as tlie 
 work proceeds. 
 I'he blocks are 
 xisually of con- 
 siderable size, 
 and are of va- 
 rious quality and 
 strength, as well 
 as cost, according 
 to the materials 
 employed, and 
 the time ex- 
 pended upon 
 them. Unless the 
 climate be very 
 dry, such a wall 
 ri-xjuires to be 
 faced or coated 
 ■with a tenijipreil 
 mortar of lime or 
 Sana, as a fence 
 against the 
 weather. "-K/^n. 
 h Job xxvii. 20; 
 Ps. xi. 6, xviii. 
 13, n ; Eze. 
 xxxviii. 22. 
 c G. Brooks 
 dC. Simeon, M.A. 
 e Campbell. 
 
 " A divine ought 
 t ) calculate his 
 sermon, as p.u 
 astronomer does 
 his almanac, to 
 the meriilian of 
 the place and 
 people where he 
 lives." — Palmer. 
 
 "As a tliistle, if 
 stroked upward, 
 will not molest 
 a mull, but, if 
 stroked down- 
 ward, will prick 
 liim : so many 
 hearers of the 
 •wonl, so long as 
 the minister 
 preaches pleasant 
 t h i n g s, are 
 pleased with 
 
 iiim ; but so soon 
 Bj ho rubs them 
 
 10-13. (10) saying, peace, Je. vi, H. a wall, very 
 sliirhtly : as we would t^iij, '• run up a wall.'' untenipered 
 mortar, or slight coating of lime to make it look sound. WalU 
 in the E. are often made of unbaked bricks, or rather ma.«ses of 
 clay, smeared over with cement. This will not stand heavy 
 rains." (11) overflowing shower, i.e. one so heavy as to make 
 an overflow. God's judgments are often compared to storms.* 
 hailstones, lleb. Ktuncts of ice. (12) Toe said, your folly shall 
 even pass into a popular jirovcrb. (liJ) rend it, force it asunder 
 so that it shall come down with an utter destruction. 
 
 Preaching (y. 10). — I. The charge brought against the preachers 
 of the Gospel. 1. That they preach what is unreal ; 2. AVhat is 
 unintelligible ; 3. Allegorical. II. Some of the statements of 
 the preachers of the Gospel on which thi.s charge against them is 
 founded. 1. Those which relate to the natural condition of man- 
 kind : 2. To the evidences of conversion : 3. To the happiness of 
 religion ; 4. To the future punishment of the finally impenitent.*' 
 — Deln.^ive confidence reproved {vr. 10—12). — I. Who are obnoxious 
 to this reproof? 1. Unfaithful ministers : 2. Unbelieving people. 
 II. The warning here given to tliem. Their labour will end — 1. 
 In certain and bitter disappointment : 2. In irremediable and 
 endless ruin. Address — (1) Careless sinners; (2) Self-compla- 
 cent formalists ; (8) Inconsistent professors.'' 
 
 Snelts. — In countries destitute of coal, bricks .are only either 
 sun-dried, or very slightly burnt with bushes and branches of 
 trees laid over them and set on fire. Such are ready to moulder 
 if exposed to moisture, and entirely to melt away if exposed to 
 heavy rain dashing against them. To prevent such a catastrophe, 
 all the houses in the Cape colony ai\) daubed or plastered over 
 with fine mortar, made from ground seashells. Should only a 
 small hole remain unnoticed in the plaster, powerful rain will 
 g-et into it, and probably soon be the destruction of the whole 
 building. Well do I remember one deluge of rain that turned a 
 new house of three floors absolutely into a mass of rubbish, and 
 brought down the gable of a parish chui'ch, besides injuring 
 many other buildings.^ 
 
 14 — 16. (11) ye . . consumed, fr. this expression it appears 
 that the city of Jerusalem is figured by this wall which is about to 
 be destroyed. (15) they . . dauljed, i.e. the false prophets, who 
 helped it to cherish a false security. (l(j) visions of peace, 
 Je. vi. 10, viii. 11. 
 
 Cure for dull i^reaeliinfj. — Congregations sometimes ntourn over 
 dull preaching when themselves are to blame. Give your minister 
 more beefsteak, and he will have more fire. Next to the Divine 
 unction, the minister needs blood ; and he cannot make that out 
 of tough leather. One reason why the Apostles preached so 
 powerfully was that they had healthy food. Fish was cheap, 
 along Galilee, aiid this, with unbolted bread, gave them plenty 
 of phosphorus for brain-food. These early ministers were never 
 invited out to late suppers, with chicken .salad and doughnuts. 
 Nobody ever embroidered slippers for the big foot of Simon 
 Peter, the fisherman preacher. Tea parties with hot waflles. at 
 ten o'clock at night, make namby-pamby ministers : but good 
 hours and substantial diet, that furni.shes nitrates for the muscle, 
 and phosphates for th<i brain, and carbonates for the whole frame, 
 prepare a man for ellectivc work. \\'hen Iho water lb low tho 
 
Cap. xiii. 17-23.1 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 267 
 
 mill-wheel goes slow ; but a full race, and how fast the grist is 
 ground. lu a man the arteries are the mill-race, and the brain 
 the wheel ; and the jDractical work of life is the grist ground. 
 The reason our soldiers failed in some of the battles was because 
 their .stomachs had for several days been innocent of everything' 
 but ■• hurd-tack.'' See that your minister has a full haversack. 
 Feed him on gruel during the week, and on Sunday he will give 
 you gruel. Eight hundred or a thousand dollars for a minister 
 is only a slow way of killing him, and is tho worst style of homi- 
 cide. Why do not the trustees and elders take a mallet or an axe, 
 and with one blow i^ut him out of his misery .' " 
 
 17 — 19. (17) daughters, some women prophets are noticed 
 in Scripture :" this encouraged others of the same sex to pretend 
 to the same gift. (18) sew . . armlioles, or elbows. By fixing 
 pillows on the elbows, these women designed to indicate the 
 assurance of perfect restf ulness and tranquillity.* kerchiefs . . 
 stature, magical veils put on the heads of those who consulted 
 these false prophetesses, "will ye save, nay rather, how surely 
 you will deceive and destroy all j'ou gain. (19) for handfuls, 
 eic, i.e. for mere gain putting the name of God to dishonour. 
 For even the meanest and most tritling rewards. 
 
 Carpets. — In Barbary and the Levant they "always cover the 
 floors of their houses with carpets : and along the sides of the 
 wall or floor, a range of narrow beds or mattresses is often placed 
 upon these carpets ; and, for their further ease and convenience, 
 several velvet or damask bolsters are placed upon these carpets 
 or mattresses, indulgences that seem to be alluded to by the 
 stretching of themselves upon couches, and by the sewing of 
 pillows to armholes " (Shaw). But Lady M.W. Montagu's descrip- 
 tion of a Turkish lady's apartment throws still more light on this 
 passage. She says : '• The rooms are all spread with Persian 
 carpels, and raised at one end of them about two feet. This is the 
 sofa, which is laid with a richer sort of carpet, and all round it a 
 sort of couch, raised half a foot, covered with rich silk, according 
 to the fancy or magnificence of the owner. Round about this 
 are placed, standing against the walls, two rows of cushions, the 
 first very large, and the rest little ones. The seats are so con- 
 venient and easy, that I believe I shall never endure chairs again 
 as long as I live." An^J in another place she thus describes the 
 fair Fatima : " On a sofa raised three steps, and covered with 
 fine Persian carpets, sat the kahya's lady, leaning on cushions 
 of white .«atin. embroidered. She ordered cushions to be given 
 me. and took care to place me in the corner, which is the place of 
 honour.'''^ 
 
 20—23. (20) make tliem fly," or run into your nets and 
 snares. Margin has, " into your gardens or groves.'" tear . . 
 arms, and expose your deceptions. (21) kerchiefs, r. 18. 
 (22; lies, false representations, leading the righteous to mistrust 
 the "Word of God.*" and deluding the sinners with vain hopes. 
 hands . . wicked, by wh. his evil works were wrought. 
 (2:J) see no more vanity, bee. the fulfilment of Divine 
 thrcateniugs, and your own destruction, are close at hand. 
 
 I'llhum nnd nrmluth'.<!. — The margin has, instead of "arm- 
 holes,'' '• elbows." The marginal reading is undoubtedly the 
 best. Rich people have a great variety oi" pillows and bolsters 
 
 a little on tbe 
 gall, and touches 
 them home to 
 the cjuieU, thea 
 they kick and 
 storm at the 
 same."-C'« icdniif. 
 
 a Be IVitt Tal- 
 mu'je. 
 
 a E.\. XV. 20 ; JiL 
 iv. 4 ; 2 Ki. xxii. 
 14 ; comp. Joel 
 ii. 28. 
 
 b " Or the idea 
 may be. Woe to 
 the women wlio 
 mutHe up tlie 
 joints of My 
 hands, when I 
 stretch them out 
 in retribution, 
 and wlio endea- 
 vour to hide My 
 arms wliich I 
 make bare to 
 p u n i s h My 
 people."— IFo/'dj- 
 wuiih. 
 
 "An old Scotch 
 preacher is re- 
 porteci to have 
 .said in one of his 
 sermons at AJaer- 
 leen-' Ye people 
 of Aberdeen get 
 your fashions 
 from G lasgow, 
 and Glasgow 
 
 from Edinburgh, 
 and Edinburgh 
 from London, and 
 London froru 
 Paris, and Paris 
 from the devil.' " 
 — John Bute. 
 
 c Biirder. 
 
 a " Fly is pecu- 
 liarly appropriate 
 as to those lofty 
 spiritual flighls, 
 to wliicli they 
 pretended to 
 
 raise their dupes 
 when tliey veiled 
 tlieir heads with 
 kerchiefs, and 
 made tliem rest 
 on luxurious 
 
 arm-eushious." — ■ 
 
 l> " Disheartened 
 
268 
 
 EZEEIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xlv. 1-8, 
 
 the rigliteoiis 
 with grouinlless 
 fears." — /,()«'//(. 
 lluference may 
 be iuteiulcil to 
 the l'roi)liet 
 Jcremiali, as llie 
 man (lisheai-t- 
 eiieil t)y the male 
 and female false 
 propliets. 
 c Ruberts. 
 
 a " They look for 
 en CO unigeinent 
 and comfort. But 
 Kzekiel, with the 
 genuine pro- 
 
 phetic spirit, sees 
 deep into their 
 hearts, and finds 
 them at variance 
 with devotion to 
 
 to support themselves in various positions when they wish to 
 take tlieir case. Some are long and round, and are stuffed till 
 they are quite hard, whilst others are short and soft, to suit the 
 convenience. The verse refers to females of a loose character, 
 and Parkhur-t is right wlien he says. •• These false i)rophote>sjs 
 decoyed men into tlieir gardens, where probably some impure 
 rites of worship were ])fr formed." The pillows were u.sed for 
 the vilest purjjoses, and the kerchiefs were used as an affectation 
 of shame." 
 
 CHAPTER THE FOURTEENTH. 
 
 1 — 5. (1) elders, comp. ch. viii. 1. These were fellow-exiles 
 with Ezckiel, who was at this time fully recognised as a prophet of 
 Jehovah." (2. 3) idols . . heart, the idol of the heart is self- 
 will.'- sttimblingblock, etc., comp. ch. vii. 11). (4) will 
 answer him, or as we say in sarcasm, " He shall have his 
 answer." according . . idols, i.e. an an.swer as didusive as 
 the idols he serves. A reply adjusted not to his inrpiiry but to 
 
 tlie true God. I his evil practices." (a) take, as in a snare ; their own evil 
 The idols of self- ' - - - ^ ^ _ _ »_. . . 
 
 heart being the snare and pitfall in which they are causrht. 
 
 The iiliik in the heart a liarner to the truth (vr. 2.8j. — I. The 
 idols that are in the heart, and the stumbling-blocks that ai"e 
 before the face, are tho sins with wliich God's people are some- 
 times chargeable. II. Men professing to impiire after God while 
 their idols are in their hearts, and their stumbling-blocks before 
 their faces : or the gross inconsistency of seeking to mingle the 
 service of God with the pursuit of sin. 1. Men may pray from 
 the influence of custom ; '2. From the ]iromptings of conscience ; 
 '.i. From the desire to stand well with their fellow-men ; 4. From 
 a vain desire to set themselves right with God. III. God 
 taking notice of the idols that are in men's hearts, and the 
 stumbling-blocks that ar3 before their faces, or the faithful 
 I warnings which God addresses to those who follow sin while 
 Wordsu-urth. 1 they profess to serve Him. 1. He intimates that He is perfectly 
 e "Turn thee fr. / acipiainted with us ; 2. He tells us that He cannot answer the 
 these, ordarenot I i-e(juests of those who indulge in sin: 8. He shows us how 
 wh'iT'namris i Unreasonable it is to expect that He Mill >e inquired of by us. 
 Jealous, 'le.^t in j J)(irkHex.'^ (if heathenism- — A Hindoo of a thoughtful, re- 
 wrath He hear | fleeting turn of mind, but devoted to idolatry, lay on his death- 
 bed. As he saw himself about to plunge into that boundle.'^a 
 unknown, he cried out, ''What will become of me.'" '-Oh," 
 said a Brahmin, who stood by. " you will inhabit another 
 body." ''And where," said he. "shall I go then?" "Into 
 another." " And where then .' " " Into another ; and so on, 
 through thousands of millions."' Darting across this whole 
 period, as though it were bat an instant, he cried, " 'Wliere 
 shall I go then .' " Paganism could not answer ; and he died, 
 agonising under the inquiiy, " Where shall I go last of all ? " 
 
 6—8. (fi) repent and turn, the word repent deals with 
 the right feel'imj ; tlic word turn deals with the correspondingf 
 ttet'ion in ordering life and conduct. (7) stranger, comp. Le. 
 xvii. 10, XX. 2. hy myself, not by the agency of a projjhet. but 
 by a direct visitation of judgment." " sign, etc., De. xxviii 37. 
 
 will and unsub- 
 missiveness are 
 set up therein. 
 The Proijhet 
 
 warns tlieni that 
 God will not be 
 inquired of in 
 such a spirit as 
 this." — Syk. Com. 
 
 b "Lit. 'They 
 have made their 
 idols to go up 
 upon their 
 hearts, as \i their 
 Jiearts were an 
 altar and throne ( 
 for idols. 
 
 and answer thine 
 unblest desire : 
 far better we 
 should cross His 
 lightning's path 
 than be accord- 
 ing to our idols 
 }ieard, and God 
 should take us at 
 our own vain 
 word."'— A'cWe. 
 
 a "I will punish 
 him immedi.itely 
 b y M y o w n 
 hands. See v. 8. ' 
 — Lomh. 
 
 V. 7. W. Readiivi, 
 
Cap. xiv. 9—11.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 269 
 
 Infanticide. — When a missionary, in South America, was 
 reproving- a married woman, of reputed good character, for 
 following- the custom of destro.ying- female infants, she answered 
 with tears. •' I wish earnestly, father, I wish that my mother had. 
 Ly my death, prevented the distresses I endure, and have yet to 
 endure, as long as I live. Consider, father, our deplorable con- 
 dition. Our husbands go to hunt, and trouble themselves no 
 further. We are dragged along, with one infant at the breast 
 and another in a basket. They return in the evening without 
 any burden : we return with the burden of our children ; and. 
 though tired with a long ma-ch, are not permitted to sleep, 
 but must labour the whole night in grinding maize to make 
 chica for them. They get drunk, and. in their drunkenness, 
 beat us, draw us by the hair of the head, and tread us under 
 foot. And what have we to comfort us for slavei-y that has no 
 end .' A young wife is brought in upon us, who is permitted to 
 abuse us and our children, because we are no longer regarded. 
 Can human nature endure such tyranny .' What kindness can 
 we show to our female childreji equal to that of relieving them 
 from such oppression, more bitter a thousand times than death .' 
 I say again, would to God that my mother had put me under 
 ground the moment I was born ! " * 
 
 9—11. (9) I . . deceived, i.e. suffered him to be deceived.^ 
 but both he and those who are deceived by his false prophecies 
 will alike come into the Divine judgment. (10) bear . . 
 iniquity, both of their idolatry and their hypocrisy in seeking 
 Jehovah when they loved their idols. (11) go . . astray, this 
 ■was the Divine purpose in inflicting the ijunishments. For the 
 Divine love works through the Divine judgments.'' 
 
 BeliLsiun find ilhi.'iion. — We distinguish between illusion and 
 delusion. We may paint wood so as to be taken for stone, iron. 
 or marble ; this is delusion : but you may paint a picture in 
 which rocks, trees, and sky are never mistaken for what they 
 seem, yet produce all the emotion which real rocks, trees, and 
 sky would produce. This is illusion, and this is the painter's 
 art : never for one moment to deceive by attempted imitation, 
 but to produce a mental state in which the feelings are sug- 
 gested which the natural objects themselves would create. Let 
 us take an instance drawn from life. To a child the rainbow is 
 a real thing — substantial and palpable ; its limb rests on the 
 Bide of yonder hill ; he believes that he can appropriate it to 
 himself ; and when, instead of gems and gold, hid in its radiant 
 bow. he finds nothing but damp mist — cold, dreary drops of dis- 
 appointment, — that disappointment tells that his belief has been 
 delusion. To the educated man that bow is a blessed illusion, yet 
 it never once deceives ; he does not take it for what it is not, he 
 does not expect to make it his own ; he feels its beauty as much 
 as the child could feel it. nay, infinitely more — more even from 
 the fact that he knows that it will be transient ; but besides 
 and beyond this, to him it presents a deeper loveliness : he 
 knows the laws of light and the laws of the human soul which 
 gave it being. He has linked it with the laws of the universe, 
 and with the invisible mind of God : and it brings to him a 
 thrill of aAve. and a sense of a mysterious, nameless beauty, of 
 which tlie child did not conceive. It is illusion still, but it has 
 fulfilled the pr:)uuse.« 
 
 r. 8. //. Ay,rd, 
 ii. V2). 
 
 " Travel Iprs tell 
 us that there is a 
 trihe in Africa so 
 piven to supersti- 
 tion, tliat tliey fill 
 tlieir huts and 
 liovels with so 
 many idols, that 
 they do not even 
 leave room for 
 their families. 
 How many men 
 there are who fill 
 their hearts with 
 the iilols of sin, 
 so that there is 
 no room for the 
 living God, or for 
 any of His holy 
 pri n c iplesl" 
 —ISate. 
 
 b R. T. a. 
 
 a " Not merely 
 permis-ive.ly, but 
 but by overruling 
 their evil to serve 
 the purposes of 
 His righteous 
 judgment, to be 
 a touchstone to 
 spparate the pre- 
 cious from the 
 vile, and to 
 'prove His peo- 
 ple.' " — Fausset. 
 
 De. xiii. 1-3; 1 
 Ki. xxii. 2.3; Je. 
 iv. 10; 2 Th. ii 
 11, 12. 
 
 b "God punishes 
 sins liy means of 
 sins." 
 
 " The judgments 
 i inflict on the 
 false prophets, 
 and those that 
 consult tbem, 
 sliall be an in- 
 struction to My 
 people to keep 
 close to Jle and 
 3Iy worship." — 
 Luicth. 
 
 V. 0. J. Puckle, IL 
 
 c F. W. Robert- 
 son. 
 
270 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xiv. 12— la. 
 
 i» " Pi'snal objects 
 of Divine f;ivour 
 on account of 
 tlieir rigliteous- 
 ncss. >,oa!i, in 
 lieing allowed to 
 be an iiistni- 
 nient in saving 
 tlie human race 
 from the flood, in 
 the ark; Job, in 
 having his estate 
 doubled after liis 
 affliction; Daniel, 
 in seeing the 
 captivity, ami 
 foreseeing the re- 
 turn anil coming 
 of Christ."— 
 Oiigi-n. 
 
 " Tliey signally 
 prevailed in sur- 
 ing ollwrn. Noah, 
 in saving the 
 human family ; 
 Daniel, in saving 
 the Chaldican 
 astrologers from 
 destruction (Da. 
 if. 21): Job, in 
 interceding for 
 his friends (Job 
 xlii. 8—10)."— 
 Wurdsioorth. 
 
 vv. 12, 13. J. 
 
 Abenwlhy, ii. 328. 
 
 fi'. 12—14. Ii. 
 Goodirin, iii. 33. 
 
 vv. 13, 14. Origen, 
 Op. iii. 369. 
 
 " There is many 
 a woundeil heart 
 without a con- 
 trite spirit. The 
 ice may be 
 broken into a 
 thousand pieces, 
 it is ice still ; but 
 expose it to the 
 beams of t)ie Sun 
 of iiigliteousness 
 and tlien it will 
 ■m(i\i."-Middletvn. 
 
 i Gi'indon. 
 
 a There may be 
 times when the 
 very Divine love 
 must refuse to 
 hear intercessors. 
 
 "Were there in 
 it tho most per- 
 fect of all men 
 that have been, 
 or are still living, 
 they should avail 
 liotliing tiiwanls 
 interceding for a 
 laud already 
 
 12—14. (12, 13) the land, better, a land, any land- 
 grievously, in a way tliat compels Divine interl'erenee. 
 staff, etc., di. iv. 1(5. V. k;. (14) three men, comp. Ge. xv. 1. 
 Noah, Daniel, and Job, three men eminent in rijrhteousnesa 
 and lioliness, who Uved in evil days." Obs. the indication that iu 
 Ezekiel's time Daniel was known and honoured among the 
 exiles. Daniel was then about thirty years old. 
 
 Evil.'i of inmiffii-'iencii of fond. — The benefits which accrue to 
 the body from supplying- it with a sufficiency of wholesome 
 food, show in the strongest light the evils which result from 
 insufficiency. Disease is one of the first. Many diseases are 
 induced by it, many are aggravated. Sanitary movemenrs 
 having reference to the poor cannot possibly effect any lasting- 
 amelioration of their condition so long as they go short of proper 
 aliment. It is worthy the attention of philanthropists that 
 epidemic and pestilential diseases in particular are far more 
 widely fatal in their ravages among the ill-fed than among the 
 well-fed. Certainly there are several such diseases which assail 
 rich and poor alike — as measles, small-pox. and scarlet fever ; 
 Ijut even these are much more destructive when they attack 
 persons who have been forced to subsist on poor or too scanty 
 nourishment. Legislators, no less than the charitable, may find 
 in this fact a vitally important princijjle of action. Insufficiency 
 over-j^rolonged, induces the slow and miserable death of starva- 
 tion : and no physical calamity can be conceived of as more 
 terrible. Yet starvation — actual, killing starvation — is perhaps 
 the least part of the injury to the human race which comes of 
 privation of needful sustenance. Actual death from hunger is 
 only an occasional thing ; the evils which accrue from the 
 debilitating effects of customary stint, life still dragging on. are 
 incalculably more extended and severe. Even the physical 
 disease which they engender is a slight evil compared with the 
 impeded mental action which must needs follow. A miserable, 
 starving dietary, while it weakens the body, half paralyses the 
 soul, and not seldom leads direct to insanity itself. "When we 
 remember how entirely the brain depends for its nourishment 
 upon the blood, and that if this iiabulum of life and nervous 
 energy be either diminished in quantity or deteriorated in 
 quality, no organ of the body can possibly work -well, how easy 
 it is to see that between insufficient, innutritions diet, and pros- 
 tration of mind, there is little less than an inevitable connection. 
 Every man has experienced the feeling of debility which attends 
 hunger but a little longer unsatisfied than nsual. and how swift 
 and lively is the revival of every function of the mind as well as 
 body which follows its proper gratification.* 
 
 15 — 18. (15) noisome beasts, comp. Le. sxvi. C>. Prob. 
 enemies are intended by this fig. of beasts. (K;) deliver . , 
 daughters, i.e. their intercessions should be unavailing, bee. 
 the iniquity would be such as necessitated Divine visitation.* 
 (17) sword, ch. xxi. 4, xxxviii. 21. (18) tbough, etc., comp. 
 V. 10. 
 
 The tiger. — A party of gentlemen from Bombay, one day visit- 
 ing the stupendous cavern temple of Ele]ihanta, discovered a 
 tigers whel]) in one of the obscure recesses of the edifice. 
 Desirous of kidnap]nng the ctib without encountering the fury 
 of its dam, they took it up hastily and cautiously, and retreated. 
 
Cap. TV. 1—5.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 271 
 
 doomed to de« 
 siruotioa." — Cal' 
 
 Vill. 
 
 " As to a valiant 
 soldier, nothing 
 is more noble, 
 and worthy of 
 praise, than to 
 carry the armour 
 and arms of his 
 prince ; so a true 
 Christian esteem- 
 eth nothing of 
 greater yalue, 
 and more honour- 
 able, than to bear 
 the arms and 
 ba<]ges of Christ, 
 that is, crosses 
 anil afflictions." 
 — Caudray. 
 
 b VisiloK 
 
 Being left entirely at liberty, and extremely well fed, tlie tiger 
 grew rapidly, appeared tame and fondling as a dog, and in every 
 respect entirely domesticated. At length, when having attained 
 a vast size, and notwithstanding its apparent gentleness, it began 
 to inspire terror by its tremendous powers of doiug mischief, it 
 fell in with a piece of raw meat dripi)ing with blood. It is to 
 be observed, that up to that moment it had been studiously kept 
 from raw animal food. The instant, however, it had dipped its 
 tongue in blood, something like madness seemed to have seized 
 the animal ; a destructive principle, hitherto dormant, was 
 awakened ; it darted fiercely, and with glaring eyes, upon its 
 prey, tore it with fury to pieces, and, growling and roaring in 
 the most fearful manner, rushed off towards the jungles. How 
 forcibly descriptive is this propensity of the tiger of the evil 
 inclinations of the human heart 1 In various situations in which 
 we may be placed, they appear to have no power ; but let only 
 the oppOL'tunity occur, and the temptation approach, and the 
 unhallowed heart of man rushes forward as recklessly and as 
 impetuously after evil as the tiger after his prey. The grace of 
 God alone, can control the unruly wills and affections of sinful 
 men. Sin may be repressed and hidden, but it cannot be destroyed 
 within us, until Divine grace reigns triumphant in our hearts.' 
 
 19 — 23. (19) pour . . blood, i.e. with great destruction of 
 mens lives, by the pestilence. In Heb. l/Ivod expresses any 
 premature kind of death. (20) own souls, or own lives. (21) 
 upon Jerusalem, the former references had been general, now 
 the principle of Divine dealing is ajiplied to the city of privilege, 
 Jerusalem, whose iniquity was more hateful by reason of its 
 superior position and privilege. (22) comforted, by seeing 
 how even Divine judgments work out for good." (23) "without 
 cause, i.e. without sufficient cause ; or without a definite and 
 gracious ijurpose. 
 
 GoiVs peace. — The child frightened in Ms play runs to seek his 
 mother. She takes him upon her laj). and presses his head to 
 her bosom ; and, with tenderest words of love, she looks down 
 upon him, and smooths his hair, and kisses his cheek, and wipes 
 awaj' his tears. And then, in a low and gentle voice, she sings 
 some sweet descant, some lullaby of love : and the fear fades 
 out from his face, and a smile of satisfaction plays over it, and 
 at length his eyes close, and he sleeps in the deep depths and 
 delights of peace. God Almighty is the mother, and the soul is 
 the tired child ; and He folds it in His arms, and dispels its 
 fear, and lulls it to repose, saying, " Sleep, My darling, sleep ! 
 It is I who watch thee." "He giveth His beloved sleeiJ." The 
 mother's arms encircle bu': one ; but God clasj^s every yearning 
 soul to His bosom, anl pives to it the peace which passe th under- 
 Btanding, beyond Lhc reach of care or storm.* • 
 
 CHAPTER THE FIFTEENTH. 
 
 1—5. (1, 2) vine . . tree, the vine is a symbol of the Jewish 
 Church." The reference here is to the ivood of the tree, wh. is 
 useless for firewood, and to the carpenter.* branch, an ordi- 
 nary branch of any tree. {?,) pin, or peg. These were driven 
 into walls of houses for domestic uses. (4) for fuel, sometimes 
 the vine-branches are bui-ned for charcoal, but they do not give close to the fteu^ 
 
 a " This will com- 
 pose your nunds, 
 and make you 
 give glory to 
 God and acknow- 
 ledge His judg- 
 ments to be 
 righteous, 
 though they 
 
 touch you very 
 nearly in the 
 destruction of 
 yoiu- friends and 
 country. "-/.Ott/A. 
 
 When afflictions 
 have done their 
 work, and have 
 a c c o m p 1 i s h ed 
 that for which 
 tliey were sent, 
 then will appear 
 the wisdom and 
 goodness of God. 
 iff sending them, 
 and God will nob 
 only be justified 
 but glorified iu 
 them." — Mat. 
 Henry. 
 
 b Beecher. 
 
 a Is, 
 l.x.x.'i. 8 
 
 V. 1 ; Pc. 
 
 6 " The branches 
 of the vine are 
 pruned every 
 spring, being cut 
 
272 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. XV. 6—8; 
 
 «nil, wlicii not 
 neivled to t hatch 
 the top of the 
 eurth-wall, are 
 biinipil to put 
 them out of tlio 
 way, as tliey are 
 too porous anil 
 litrht toserveaiiy 
 purpose." — Yun 
 Lemiep. 
 
 "In tliis paissafre 
 the Prophet prives 
 us a tig. repre- 
 sentation of man, 
 c o n s i il e r e il 
 especially as the 
 object of Divine 
 care and culture. 
 He IS naturally 
 capable of yield- 
 ing a precious 
 fruit : ill tliis 
 consists his sole 
 excellency ; tliis 
 is the sole end of 
 Jiisexistence.and 
 if he fails in this, 
 he is of no use 
 but to be de- 
 stroyed."- .flo&e;Y 
 hull. 
 
 e Dr. Tliomas. 
 
 d Spenser. 
 
 "And in tlie 
 tliickest covert of 
 that shade, there 
 ■was a pleasant 
 arbour, not b}- 
 art, but of the 
 trees' owno incli- 
 nation inaile, 
 which knitting 
 their raiicke 
 
 braunches part 
 to part, with 
 wanton yvie 
 
 twine entrayl'd 
 athwart, and eg- 
 lantine and ca- 
 prifolc anioiy?, 
 fasliion'd above 
 witliin their in- 
 most part, that 
 nei her Phoebus' 
 beams could 
 through them 
 throng, nor 
 iEolus' sharp 
 blast could worke 
 t h e in any 
 yiroug."~Spi:user. 
 p Ilurdis. 
 
 out heat enough for cooking purposes, and vine-wood charcoal is 
 chiefly used iu the houses of the wealthy to heat the iandnor, or 
 warming apparatus. (5) is burned, as Jerusalem was iu the 
 prophetic vision. 
 
 J In- jjiiraholii' picture of Israel {rr. 1 — S). — We infer — I. That 
 God has placed some sections of the human family under special 
 culture. 1. This was the case with the Jews : 2. With Christen- 
 dom : 3. With Great Britain. II. That such sections are. whether 
 fruitful or unfruitful, widely distinguished from all others. 1. 
 If fruitful, they are distinguished for valuablcness ; 2. If un- 
 fruitful, they are distinguished by worthlessr.css. III. That 
 such distinction is recognised and retributed by God.« 
 'frees chararteriseil. — 
 
 The sailing Pine ; the Cedar, proud and tall ; 
 
 The vine-prop Elm ; the Poplar, never dry ; 
 
 The builder Oak ; sole king of forests all ; 
 
 The Aspen, good for staves ; the Cypress, funeral} 
 
 The Laurel, meed of mighty conquerors 
 
 And poets sage ; the Fir that weepeth still ; 
 
 The Willow, worn of hopeless paramours ; 
 
 The Yew, obedient to the bender's will ; 
 
 The Birch for shafts ; the Sallow for the mill ; 
 
 The BIyrrh, sweet bleeding in the bitter wound ; 
 
 The warlike Beech ; the Ash, for nothing ill ; 
 
 The fruitful Olive, and the Plataue round ; 
 
 The carver Holm ; the Maple, seldom inward sound."* 
 6 — 8, (6) -will I give, as useless, and only fit for the burning. 
 (7) one fire, i.e. one form of the Divine judgment. (8) tres- 
 pass, or '■ they have perversely fallen into perverse rebellion." 
 Trees : their f/roirf/i and age. — 
 
 Than a tree, a grander child earth bears not. 
 
 What are the boasted palaces of man, 
 
 Imperial city, or triumphal arch. 
 
 To forests of immeasurable extent. 
 
 Which tmie confirms, which centuries wa.ste not? 
 
 Oaks gather strength for ages, and when at last 
 
 They wane, so beauteous in decrepitude — 
 
 So grand in weakness, e"en in their decay 
 
 So venerable — "twere sacrilege t' escape 
 
 The consecrating touch of time. Time watch'd 
 
 The blossom on the parent bough ; Time saw 
 
 The acorn loosen from the spray ; Time pass'd 
 
 While springing from its swaddling shell yon oak, 
 
 The cloud-crown"d monarch of our woods, by thorna 
 
 Environ'd, 'scaped the raven's bill, the tooth 
 
 Of goat and deer, the schoolboy's knife, and sprang 
 
 A roj'al hero from his uui'se's arms. 
 
 Time gave it seasons, and Time gave it years, 
 
 Ages bestow d, and cenairies grudged not ; 
 
 Time knew the sapling when gay summer'.s breath 
 
 Shook to the roots the infant oak, which after 
 
 Tempests moved not. Time hollow'd in its trunk 
 
 A tomb for centuries, and buried there 
 
 The epochs of tlie rise and fall of states, 
 
 The fading generations of the world, 
 
 The memory of men." 
 
Cap. svi. 1—9.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 273 
 
 CHAPTER TEE SIXTEENTH. 
 
 a Comp. Is. li. 1. 
 6 '■ Those are 
 said to be our 
 
 » . i . -, T 1 J? 1 ji Jiarents iu the 
 
 1 — 5. (1, 2) abominations, to understand and leel the | Scrijx dialect, 
 grievous sin of her idolatries. (3) 'birth., lit. t/nj cutti/if/ out." wiiose mannera 
 of . . Canaan, i.e. it would seem, by your manaers, as if you 
 had been born iu Canaan, as if your " father had been an Amorite 
 and your mother a Hittite."* (4) salted. . . swaddled, refer- 
 ences to the E. mode of treating- new-born infants.'^ The r. 
 describes an utterly neglected infaut.^ (5) lotlling . . person, 
 or the contempt of thy life ; or with rei'ereuce to the unsightly j \va.-ilied in salted 
 appearance of such an exposed infant. water, clothed, 
 
 .1 cJiarr/c to cif>/ mini^iers (c. 2).— The charge here given to ' f^^,;^'^'^*!;^^^^^ 
 Ezckiel applies to all city ministers. I. Ezekiel had a commis- ! swalidiing cloth, 
 sion to a corrupt city. II. His commission was to reveal the city three or four 
 to itself. 1 . Because the moral corruptions of a city expose the j !^'J^|"i^ Y^'^^' ^"'J 
 population to terrible calamities; 2. Because the city itself is, long, which 
 ignorant of its moral corruption ; 3. Because such revelation , is linuly wouud 
 
 we resemble. 
 ]\[at. iii. 7 ; J no. 
 viii. 44."— Lowlh. 
 c ■• In the East 
 at tlie present 
 day, as soon as a 
 babe is born it is 
 
 bodies of new-born infants. It is lu'obable that they only i f^re thus pinioned 
 sprinkled them with salt, or washed them with salt-water, which ' t°ia,t'^ifc ^".''^^' t^° 
 they imagined would dry up all superfluous humours. Galen 1 ne'itiier hand or 
 '■' JSale modico iiu-pcr.w , ('itti.s Ivfanfia dcnsiur. f:(ili(li(irq/'e \ foot."— Van Len- 
 
 ncp. 
 
 d Ho. ii. 3. 
 
 says, 
 
 ivfanfia dcnsiur 
 cddltiir ;" that is, a little salt being sprinkled upon the infant, 
 its skin is rendered more dense and solid. It is said that the 
 inhabitants of Tartary still continue the practice of salting their 
 children as soon as they are born./ 
 
 6 — 9. (0) polluted, etc., still regarding Israel as an untended 
 infant, live, i.e. when so utterly uucared for. I took thee up. j " Ex. i. 7. 
 and saved thy life, (7J caused . . field, or •• I made thee ten j fie'i'i"J,te,rat''the 
 thousand, as the sprouting of the field.'"" come . . ornaments, ' nianiage ''^cere^ 
 fig. for ''thou becamest most beautiful."' naked . . bare, i.e. ' monies of the 
 nakedness and bareness itself. God pr( sided over all the growth^ Hindoos, to see 
 of the naked infant into the beautiful woman. (8) spread . . 
 thee,* symbol of taking a woman under a man"s protection. 
 (9) oil, the symbol of health and rejoicing. 
 
 The life of souls the ordinance of God (r. 6). — I. Servants of 
 God, what then is our office .' II. There are souls dead. 1. Men 
 are ignorant of the nature of their souls ; 2. The souls of men 
 are not fulfilling the end of their being : 3. The souls of men are 
 strangers to the peculiar joys of their being. III. Therefore, as 
 the servants of God, the cry of our ministry is, Live.*" 
 
 Advice to one seehing .miration. — " A person whom I once knew 
 was roused from a habit of indolence and supineness to a serious 
 concern for his eternal welfare. Convinced of his depraved 
 nature and aggravated guilt, he had recourse to the Scriptures 
 and to frequent prayer ; he attended the ordinances of Chris- 
 tianity, and sought earnestly for an interest in Christ, but found 
 no steadfast faith, and tasted very little comfort : at length he 
 applied to an eminent divine, and laid open the state of his heart. 
 Short but weighty was the answer : ' I perceive, sir, the cause of 
 
 all your distress ; you will not come to Christ as a sinner ; this _ 
 
 mistake lies between you and the joy of religion: this detains money of ten pro- 
 ve L. IX. O.T. S 
 
 V. 2. />. Henry, 
 
 209. 
 
 e Dr. Tlinnias. 
 
 f Barder. 
 
 amongst them 
 the same in- 
 teresting custom. 
 Tlie bride is 
 seated on a 
 throne, sur- 
 
 rounded by ma- 
 trons, wearing 
 her veil, 1 ec 
 gayest robes, and 
 most valuable 
 jewels. After the 
 timli has been 
 tied round her 
 neck, the bride- 
 groom a p- 
 prcaclies her 
 
 with a silken 
 skirt (purchased 
 by hiuisclf), and 
 folds it round 
 her severnl times 
 over tlie rest of 
 her clothes. Tliia 
 part of the cere- 
 
274 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap xvi, 10-19. 
 
 duc^s powerful 
 
 emotions on all 
 
 pro.sent.' " — A'o- 
 
 bt-rls. 
 
 c J. Pidsf.ird. 
 
 d lliTVClJ. 
 
 ti Van Letinep. 
 b Oricntiil uoiiipn 
 are notoriously 
 fou'l of decking 
 with jewellery, 
 not only their 
 heads, but other 
 parts of their 
 boily a? well. 
 Comp. Ge. xxiv. 
 22, 17. 
 
 It is often a large 
 ring, ornamented 
 witii emeralds, 
 pearls, or botli. 
 To the European 
 taste it looks 
 very disfiguring ; 
 and when of ex- 
 pensive materials 
 is so tempting 
 to thieves, tliat, 
 as we have some- 
 where read, their 
 last act when 
 escaping from a 
 house they have 
 plundered is 
 often to twitch 
 tlie ring out of 
 the nose of some 
 sleeping female, 
 and then before 
 she has hiid time 
 to recover 'from 
 the fright and 
 pain, vanish 
 amid the dark- 
 ness of the 
 night. 
 
 t>. 10. I clothed 
 thee also with 
 broidered work, 
 and sliod thee 
 with badger's 
 skin, and gn-ded 
 thee about with 
 fine linen, anil 
 1 covered thee 
 with silk. 
 See on IOk. xxv. 5. 
 vv. 18, 19. J.nt\ 
 took est thy 
 broidured gar- 
 men t s, a)id 
 coveredst them : 
 and thou hast sot 
 mine oil anil 
 mine incense i'C- 
 foic them. Jly 
 meat also which 
 I gave tliee, fine 
 flour, and oil, and 
 lioney. where- 
 with I fed thee, 
 
 you in the g-.iU of bitterness, and take heed, take heed, lest it 
 consign you to the bond of iniiiuity.' This admonition never 
 departed from the gentleman's mind, and it became the means 
 of removing- the obstacles of his peace." "* 
 
 10—14. (10) badgei''s skins, Ex. xxv. ,"5. silk, Heb. 
 Dir.ilii, the derivation of wh. is disputed. '■ Silk was used for 
 clothing- first in the North of China, thence it came to Syria and 
 E?ypt by way of India."" (11) ornaments, wh. were highly 
 prized by brides. (12) jewel . . forehead, in Is. iii. 21, the 
 word is no.fi'-Jen'd.'' (13) fine flour, etc., signs of delicate pro- 
 vision and treatment, into a kingdom, as in the reigns of 
 David and Solomon. (11) perfect, ciu/ip. ch. xxvii. 3. 4. come- 
 liness, a suitable and suggestive word for a bea^itiful and 
 adorned bride. But all her grace must be traced to the provision 
 and the care of God. 
 
 Oriuimcntiifoi' the nose. — The nose jewel is a singular ornament, 
 peculiar to the East, which the Jewish females wear, and of 
 which the Asiatic ladies are extremely fond. This ornament 
 was one of the jDresents which the servant of Abniham gave to 
 Rebekah, in the name of his master : " I put," said he, '- the ear- 
 ring upon her face ," more literally, I put the ring on her nose. 
 They wore ear-rings besides ; for the household of Jacob, at his 
 request, when they were preparing to go up to Bethel, gave him 
 all the ear-rings which were in their cars, and he hid them under 
 the oak which was by Shechem. The difference between these 
 ornaments is clearly stated by the Prophet : " I put a jewel on 
 thy nose and ear-rings in her ears." The nose jewel, therefore, . 
 was different from the ear-ring, and actually worn by the females 
 as an ornament in the East. This is conlirmed by the testimony 
 of Sir John Chardin. who says, '• It is the custom in almost all 
 the East for the women to wear rings in their noses, in the nostril, 
 which is bored low down in the middle. The.se rings are of gold, 
 and have commonly two pearls and one ruby between them, 
 placed in the ring : I never saw a girl or young woman in Arabia, 
 or in all Persia, who did not wear a ring after this manner in her 
 nostril." 
 
 15—19. (15) trust, etc., didst think too much of thyself, 
 and so fell into temptation, harlot, idolatry is often described 
 Iw the Prophets as adultery. (1(1) deckedst, etc., with reference 
 to the eiforts of the lewd woman to make herself attractive, 
 like tilings, etc., i.e. there shall never anj'thing happen again 
 so i-evolting and so dreadful. (17) images, i.e. idol-images. 
 (18) garments, wh. I had given thee as my bride. (Ut) sweet 
 savour, or incense offered to idols of the good things I gave 
 thee. 
 
 ITcnthen idolatry. — The Hindoos, in one portion of their 
 idolatrous worship, observe the following rites. The image is 
 first anointed with giiigelly '- oil,'" which is afterwards washed 
 off with lime-juice and pure water. A composition made of the 
 following artieles is then poured upon it .- — Water of the uni-ipe 
 cocoa-nut, rose-water, milk, plantains, "honey," rice, ''flour," 
 sugar, sandal-dust, powder of the bezoar stone, nutmeg, saffron, 
 and camphor. Then the whole is washed off with the water of 
 unripe coaoa-nuts. At the offering of the -'incense," cakes are 
 presented, made of native species of chickpeas, rice, sesame, 
 
Cap. xvi. 20-34.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 275 
 
 millet, peas, beans, and muslartl. The " broidered garment " 
 mentioned by the Prophet, which is generally made of silk, 
 (though I have seen one of cotton), is then reverently drawn 
 over the image. Who can avoid being struck with these 
 resemblances I Wi\o can avoid being appalled at the wickedness 
 of the Jews I See the observations on 2 Chron. xiv. 5. 
 
 20—24. (20, 21) pass . . firo, to Moloch, Je. xxxii. So- 
 (22) remembered, or thought on. naked, do. (r. 7, etc.). 
 (2o, 24) eminent place, meaning a house in which to carry 
 on thy wicked idolatries ; a heathen temple. 
 
 Ancient idolatrij in Britain. — In the wi'itings of the Rev. T. 
 Maurice, on Indian Antiquities, when referring to the Avorshij? 
 practised by the British Druids, he remarks : — '• The pen of history 
 trembles to relate the baleful orgies which their frantic super- 
 stition celebrated, when, enclosing men, women, and children in 
 one vast wiCker image, in the form of a man, and fdling it with 
 every kind of combustibles, they set fire to the huge colossus. 
 While the dreadful holocaust was offering to their sanguinary 
 gods, the gi-oans and shrieks of the consuming victims were 
 drowned amidst shouts of barbarous triumph, and the air was 
 rent, as in the Syrian temple of old, with martial music ! 
 Ilcligion shudders at such a perversion of its name and rites, 
 and humanity turns with horror from the guilty scene."" 
 
 25 — 29. (2.5) built, etc., allusion is made in this r. to the 
 rude manners of such lewd women. (2G) Egyptians, by 
 depending on them rather than on God, thy true Husband. 
 
 (27) stretclied, etc., in severe dealings ; abridging thee of 
 necessaries and conveniences, daughters, or cities, lleferences 
 may be intended to the calamitous times of the Judges. 
 
 (28) Assyrians, in depending, as a nation,, on their help. 
 
 (29) land of Canaan, here prob. intended to include the 
 Phoenician border and Syrian districts. 
 
 Lcn-d. — " Lewd way, " Ezek. xvi. 27, as the modern usage, but 
 Acts xvii. 5, " certain lewd {i.e. common) fellows of the baser 
 sort." Anglo-Saxon, Lead '• people." In early English, lede 
 (German, leutc). Similarly the adjective "vulgar" has not 
 alwaj'S been used in an obnoxious sense, as in " vulgar tongue," 
 i.e.. tong-ue of the people, and the Vulgate Version is that 
 universally adoptcdby the Romish communion. Latimer, Sermon 
 IV. " Conv. of the Clergy," speaks of the '• lewd servant hiding 
 his master's money in the ground," where it seems to mean 
 '• vile." Iludibras calls bear-baiting a " lewd, anti-Christian 
 game " (i. 802-3). Katherine's cap is called by the mad 
 Petruchio "lewd," i.e. common.-^ 7 a in in/j of tlie S/n'rn\ Act iv. 
 Sc. ?>. " Lewd men (referring to Esau) when they think they 
 have earned of God, and come proudly to challenge favour, 
 receive no answer but ' Who art thou ? ' " « 
 
 30 — 34. (30) weak, or wasted. Sin ever weakens both 
 intellect and heart. (31) eminent place, r. 24. (32) wife, 
 adultery being a mitch deeper sin than fornication, because it 
 involves inrfaithfiihic.^.'i. (33) hirest, or bribest. (3-1) con- 
 trary, manifesting stronger wilfulness, and more shameless 
 wdckcdness. 
 
 I'rcvention of licentionsnesa. — " A^Tiy did you not take the 
 arm of my brother last night ? " said one young lady to another. 
 
 g2 
 
 thou hast evea 
 set it before theia 
 for a sweet sa- 
 vour: and thu3 
 it was, saith tha 
 Lord God. 
 Tlie Ilev. Mr. 
 Richards, aa 
 American mis- 
 sioiiarj', relates 
 tliat ill 18j2 a 
 Hindoo was seen 
 to throw his liv- 
 ing cliild into the 
 river, as a sacri- 
 fice to the Gun- 
 ga, having first 
 violently forced 
 it from the arms 
 of its -weeping 
 mother. The maa 
 W.1S apprehend- 
 I ed, and, on his 
 I e .\ a ni i n a t i n, 
 pointed out the 
 I Brahniiu who 
 directed him to 
 do this awful 
 act, to atoue for 
 his sins! 
 a M'hileci'oss. 
 
 " A. just and rea- 
 sonable modesty 
 does not only re- 
 couinieiid elo- 
 ; qnenoo, but sets 
 j off every great 
 talent which a 
 man can be i^os- 
 sesseil of. It 
 heiglitens all the 
 virtues which 
 it accompanies. 
 Like the shades 
 in paintings, it 
 raises and rounds 
 every figure, and 
 makes the colours 
 more beautiful, 
 though not so 
 glaring as they 
 woidd be with- 
 out.'' — Addison. 
 
 a Hall, B. iii. 
 Cont. i. 
 
 r. 30. Dr. H. 
 Ilfimmond, iv. 
 567. 
 
 vi\ 30—33. OrU 
 gen, Op. iii. 376. 
 The life, oppor- 
 tunities, and 
 seeming enjoy- 
 ments of Colonel 
 Gardner • were 
 such as to secure 
 him the name of 
 " The H.appy 
 Rake." "Wliila 
 being congratu- 
 lated by his com« 
 
276 
 
 EZEKIEL 
 
 [Cap. xvi. 35-43. 
 
 pauioiis, one day, 
 lie couM not for- 
 bear groaning, 
 nu'l saying, as a 
 dng entereil the 
 nm'.n, - Oli that I 
 Were that dogl " 
 
 a Le. XX. 10; De. 
 xxii. 22. 
 
 "jroilesty is silent 
 ■\vlicn it vvouM 
 bs improper to 
 speak; the 
 hiiin'ole, without 
 being calleil 
 upon, naror re- 
 collects to say 
 anything of him- 
 self."— ira'a/pr. 
 
 All the wicked- 
 ness you have 
 done in j'our life, 
 wa? first done in 
 your heart. 
 
 hR.T.S. 
 
 a "The judg- 
 ment I will exe- 
 cute upon tliee 
 sliall be for an 
 instruction to 
 other nations, 
 how they follow 
 thine ill-prac- 
 ticed." — Lowt/i. 
 
 b "It Is not a 
 
 mitigation of the 
 peualty that is 
 here foretold, but 
 such an utter de- 
 struction of ((// 
 the guilty tliat 
 there shall be no 
 need of furtlier 
 p u n ishment." — 
 Calvin. 
 
 c "Tr.ans. 'I will 
 not do what is 
 scandalous (viz. 
 encouraging tliee 
 in thy sin by 
 letting it pass 
 with impunity; 
 upon all thine 
 aboniinatious.' " 
 •~Fuirbairn. 
 
 " Because I know him to be a licentious young man," -was tho 
 answer. " Nonsense 1 " said the sister : " if you refuse the atten- 
 tions of all licentious men, you will have none, I can assure 
 you." " Very well," was the reply, " then I can disjiense with 
 them altogether ; my resolution on this point is unalterably 
 fixed." 
 
 35—39. C35, 30) filthiness, or brass ; put perhaps in con- 
 tempt for gold. (;!7) against tlice, fig. of the invas^ion of the 
 Assyrians, etc. (liS) break Vv'edlock, are unfaitliful to marriage 
 vows." blood, or destruction of thine inhabitants. 
 
 Infanticide. — Mr. Ellis, in his Afi.s.sin/iari/ Tou)% relates the 
 following shocking instance of infanticide. A man and his wife, 
 tenants of Mr. Young, who has for many years held, under ihe 
 king, the small district of Kukuwaw, situate on the centre of 
 Waiakea Bay, resided not far from Maaro's house. They had one 
 child, a fine little boy. A quarrel arose between them on one occa- 
 sion respecting this child. The wife, refusing to accede to tlie wishes 
 of the husband, he, in revenge, caught up the child by the head 
 and the feet, broke its back across his knee, and then threw it 
 down in expiring agonies before her. Struck with the atrocity 
 of the act, Mr. Young seized the man, led him before the king 
 Tamehameha. who was then at Waiakea, and rer[nested that he 
 might be punished. The king in'i aired. '• To whom did the child 
 he has murd-^red belong ] " j\Ir. Young answered that it was his 
 own son. '" Then," sai:l the king, '• neither you nor I have any 
 right to interfere ; I cannot say anything to him." * 
 
 40—43. (40) stone thee, Jno. viii. .5—7. (41) burn.. 
 
 fire, coinp. Ge. xxxviii. 24 ; De. xiii. IG. sigllt . . women, i.e. 
 of other na'^ions, as Syrians, Philistines, etc." (42) to rest, 
 when the fitting paiiishmeat has been brought on thee.* 
 (43) fretted me, a word suitable to a grieved and injured 
 husband. Is. Ixiii. 10. lewdness, the wickedness of spiiitual 
 adultery." Comp. Le six. 2'd. 
 
 Prrmnit qvntifieation of pnsunn. — It is of the nature of passion 
 to seize upon th? present gratification, utterly irrespective of 
 conse'^ueuces, ani utterly regardless of other or more excellent 
 gratificatious, which may bo obtained by self-denial. He whose 
 passions are inflamed looks at nothing beyond the pi-esent grati- 
 fication. Hence he is liable to seize upon a present enjoyment, 
 to the exclusion of a much more valuable one in future, and 
 even in such a manner as to entail upon himself pnienant and 
 remediless misery. And lience. in order to be cnnbled to enjoy 
 all the happiness of which his present state is capable, the 
 sensitive partof man needs to be combined with another, which, 
 upon a compfvrison of the present with the future, shall impel 
 him towards that mode eitlier of gratification or of self-denial 
 which shall most promote his happiness u])On the whole. Such 
 is self-love. We give this name to that part of our constitution 
 by which we are incited to do or to forbear, to gratify or to 
 deny our desires, simply on the ground of obtaining the greatest 
 amount of happiness for ourselves, taking into view a limited 
 future, or else our entire futui-e existence, ^\^len we act from 
 simple respect to present gratification, we act from passion. 
 When we act from a respect to our whole individual h.apjiiness, 
 without regard to the i^rescnt, only as it is a part of the whole;, 
 
Cap. xvi. 44—52.] 
 
 EZEKIEI. 
 
 277 
 
 and without any reg'ard to the happiness of otheT , only as it will | <* ^yuijland. 
 coatributa to our own, we are then said to act from self-love.'^ 
 
 44—47. (44) the mother, with reference to the Ilittite 
 mother (r. 3). (-15) sister . . sisters, i.e. of Sodom and 
 Sam'iria. (4(; j elder sister, bee. (he capital of the more impor- 
 tant kingdom of Israel, and as setting the example of idolatry. 
 left hand, i.e. of one looking- eastward. Samaria lay to the 
 north, her daiTg'hters, her neighbouring and dependent towns." 
 (47) very little thin^, or loathed as a small thing. Judah 
 had even gone to extreme lengths in idolatrous wickedness. 
 
 Parental responsih'ditij. — And what will parents be able to say 
 to God at the day of judgment, for all their neglect of their 
 children, in matter of instruction and example, and restraint 
 from evil ? How will it make your ears tingle when God shall 
 arise terribly to judgment, and say to you, Behold the children 
 which I have given you ; they were ignorant, and you instructed 
 them not ; they made themselves vile, and you restrained them 
 not. Why did you not have them instructed and trained up in 
 piety ami devotion ? Yo.i have neglected this duty, and now 
 your children, whose souls you have ruined by your neglect, will 
 follow you to hell, to be an addition to your torments there, j 
 AVill not your children themselves challenge you at that day, and 1 
 say to you. one by one, " Had j'ou been as careful to teach me the I 
 good knowledge of the Lord as I was capable of learning it, | 
 Lad you been as forward to instruct me in my duty as I was ready 
 to have hearkened to it. it had not been with me as it is this 
 dav. I had net now stood here trembling, in fearful expec- 
 tation of the eternal doom which is just ready to be passed 
 upon me."* 
 
 48—52. (48) not clone • . as thoii, yet ■'Sodom's sins 
 brought an awful Divine judgment. (4'.)) idleness, the secret 
 of immornlity, and the service of formal religions." The fruitful 
 land of Sodom*' made her people proud, wealthy, idle, and 
 voluptuous, hand of the poor, neglect of the poor and suf- 
 fering i? a high moral offence in the sight of God. (50) took 
 them away, Ge. xix. 24. (51) justified, i.e. made them appear 
 almoi^t good, when set in contrast with thee. (52) bear . . 
 8hame, i.e. the disgrace which an overwhelming punishment j 
 will bring upon thee. 
 
 Gradual {jroivfh of paasinii. — 
 
 As years enlarged his form, in moody hours. 
 
 His mind betrayed its weakness with its powers ; 
 
 Alike his fairest hopes and strangest fears 
 
 Were nursed in silence, or divulged with tears ; 
 
 The fulness of his heart repressed liis tongue. 
 
 Though none might rival Javan when he sung. 
 
 He loved, in lonely indolence reclined, 
 
 To watch the clouds, and listen to the w'ind. 
 
 But from the north when snow and tempest came. 
 
 His nobler spirit mounted into flame ; 
 
 With stern delight he roamed the howling woods, 
 
 Or hung in ecstasy o"cr headlong floocTs. 
 
 Meanwhile, excursive fancy longed to view 
 
 The world, which yet by fame alone he knew; 
 
 The joys of freedom were his dailj'- theme, 
 
 I a " The worship 
 of Jloloch was 
 gener.ally prac- 
 t.iped by the tea 
 
 I tribes, whose 
 metropolis was 
 famaria; as it 
 was by tlia 
 Amorites, who 
 derived tlieir 
 original from 
 Lot, an inhabi- 
 tant of Sodom." 
 — Zmcth, 
 
 V. 44. J. W. War- 
 ier, i. 461. 
 
 " Wg oft by 
 lightning read in 
 darkest niglits; 
 and b}- your pas- 
 sions I read all 
 your natures, 
 though 3'ou. at 
 other times cau 
 keep them dark." 
 — Ju/ni Ci-oicne. 
 
 b Ahp. TUlolson. 
 
 a " ?atan finds 
 some mischief 
 still for iiUe 
 hanils to do." — 
 Watts. 
 
 i Ge. xiii. 10. 
 
 r. 49. J. IhuMt, 
 ii. S41 ; n. Mar- 
 viM, ix. 318. 
 
 rv. 49, 50. Dr. 
 Conant, v. 1. 
 
 " We say of a 
 man who has no 
 wiil-niastcry,' He 
 is ruled by his 
 ] assions ; ' they 
 govern him, not 
 he them. Cen- 
 turies ago an 
 Arab wrote: 
 
 ' r.iFsion is a 
 tyrant whioli 
 siays those whom 
 it governs.' It 
 is like fire, which 
 'iuce thoroughly 
 kindled, can 
 scarcely ha 
 (juenclif d ; crlil.e 
 the torrent, 
 which, wheu it il 
 
278 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xvl. 53-57. 
 
 BwoUen, can no 
 longer be ro- 
 Btiaiu'^i'l witliin 
 it.< banks. Call nut 
 liim a prisumr 
 ■who has been put 
 in fftters by his 
 enemy, but rather 
 liiin wliose own 
 passions over- 
 jwwor him to 
 (lest ruotiou." — 
 Joseph Johnson. 
 
 Passinn i.s at fir.st 
 like a thiTi thread; 
 by-and-by it be- 
 comes lilie a 
 cable. 
 
 c Monlgomery. 
 
 a "This is not a 
 promise of re- 
 storation, but a 
 dpuuneiatiou of 
 hoijelesi ruin. 
 Wlien Sodom 
 shall h'i rebuilt 
 an^l shall flourish, 
 wlien Sunnria 
 shall be again a 
 mighty people, 
 then, but not till 
 then, shall Jeru- 
 salem be re- 
 s to red." — Spi. 
 Coin. 
 
 b Dr. Boyd. 
 
 Ahttle Amoilaan 
 boy, whose fatber 
 posses.seii i.j re- 
 1 i g i n. and 
 neglected family 
 prayer, spent 
 some time in a 
 pious family, 
 where he was in- 
 structed in the 
 simple truths of 
 the Bible. While 
 cue day conver.s- 
 inz about the 
 greatness and 
 gooilness of God, 
 lie made this na- 
 tural remark: — 
 I" \V(i haven't got 
 any Co'l at my 
 papa's house." 
 
 " The passions, 
 likd heavy bodies 
 down steep hills, 
 ouee in motion, 
 move themselves, 
 aud kuuw uo 
 
 Glory the secret' of his mi(lnig:ht dream ; 
 That dream he told not ; though his heart ■would ache, 
 His home was precious for hi.s motlicr s sake. 
 AVith her the lowly paths of peace he ran, 
 11 is guardian angel, till he verged to man ; 
 But when her weary ej'e could watch no more, 
 When to the grave her timelcs.s corse he bore, 
 Not Enoch's counsels could his steps restrain. 
 He fled, and sojourned iu the land of Cain. 
 There, ■n^hen he heard the voice of Jubal's lyre, 
 Instinctive genius caught the ethereal fire : 
 And soon, with sweetly-modulating- skill. 
 He learned to wind the passions at his will, 
 To rule the chords with such mysterious art. 
 They seemed the life-strings of the hearer's heart ! 
 Then glory's opening field he proudly trod, 
 Forsook the worship and the waj's of God. 
 Round the vain world pursued the phantom fame, 
 And cast away his birthright for a uame.<^ 
 53—57. (53) wlien I bring, i.e. if ever I do, which is very 
 unlikely." (oi) that shame, in the meantime, and till then, 
 a comfort, as a companion in suffering as well as in siu. 
 Sinners when themselves under punishment are consoled by see- 
 ing other sinners punished. (55) "«rhen, etc., comp. note on v. 
 53. (5(5) not mentioned, bee. it was utterly despised, and 
 thought to be an awfully wicked place. It was held in utter 
 contempt. (57) despise thee, in turn, w^hen thou hast become 
 the object of Divine indignation. 
 
 Comfort to Sodom {rr. 53. 5i). — It is mentioned as if a fault 
 that Jerusalem w^as a comfort to Sodom : Jerusalem had. so to 
 speak, kept Sodom and Samaria in countenance. The text sug- 
 gests that it is very blanreworthy iu those who profess to be 
 Christians to do anj'thing which may comfort a sinner in his 
 sinfulness, and encourage him to go on in his evil ways. I. One 
 way is V,}' being as bad as Sodom itself. II. Allowing sinful 
 conduct to pass without rebuke. III. Seeking the society and 
 acquaintance of an irreligious man. showing him that j'ou think 
 him a congenial spirit, and feel it pleasant to be with him. IV. 
 Cherishing a worldly spirit, being as eager for worldly advantage, 
 and unscrupulous in the means of attaining it. V. By never, in 
 any way, w'arning one's neighbour that you fear and know that 
 he is not a Christian.* 
 
 I'arcntnl thoiightlci^anrK.t. — A careless parent one evening 
 entered the late Eev. BIr. M'Cheyue's house, and asked him to 
 come with him to baptise a dying child. He knew that neither 
 this man nor his wife ever entered the door of a church : but he 
 rose and went with him to the miserable dwelling. There au 
 infant lay, apparently dying ; and many of the female neigh- 
 bours, equally depraved with the parents, stood round. Ho came 
 forward to where the child was. and spoke to the jiarents of their 
 ungodly state, and fearful guilt before God. and concluded by 
 showing them that, in such circum.stances. he would consider it 
 sinful in him to adnriuistcr baptism to their infant. They said, 
 "He might r' least do it for the s.-vke of the poor child." He 
 told them that it was not baptism that saved a soul, and that out 
 of true concern for themselves, he must not do as they wished. 
 
Cap. xvi. 58-63.1 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 279 
 
 The friends around the bed then joined the parents in upbraiding 
 him, as having no pity on the poor infant's soul ! He stood 
 among them still, and showed them that it was they who had 
 been thus cruel to their child ; and then lifted up his voice in 
 solemn warning, and left the house amidst their ignorant re- 
 proaches.'' 
 
 58—60. (r.S) borne, the consequences of. (59) deal . . done, 
 God would witlidraw from His covenant of protection as they had 
 withdrawn from their covenant of service." (CO) remember . . 
 covenant, i.e. by-and-by call it to mind, and return to thee with 
 restoring mercies, everlasting covenant, the spiritual one 
 of the Gospel. 
 
 SolcmnUii of parentarje. — "WTien children are born to you, the 
 most solemn book is opened, so far as you are concerned, that 
 ever is opened, except that which relates to your own soul's fate. 
 The account that begins to be incurred when jiarents rejoice 
 because a child is born to them, is the most solemn account that 
 ever is incurred, aside from one's own individual duty towards 
 God. I do not mean that all the misconduct and evil endings of 
 the child are to come back upon the laarent. and that there is to 
 be in the child no free-will, so that uo individual account can 
 belong to him. For if a parent has cleansed his skirts of his 
 children, the guilt of their sins will rest on their heads, and not 
 on his. But unless the parent can show that the child's mis- 
 conduct and wreck of eternity are not attributable to any fault 
 of his, the weight of the child's condemnation will be divided — 
 no. it will not be divided ; it will rest undivided on the child's 
 head, and undivided on the parent's head. It is a responsibility 
 assumed by every parent to look after the welfare, temporal and 
 eternal, of his child. If God had sent to him an angel, with a 
 scroll of heavenly writ, saying, " I send to school to you My well- 
 beloved child ; take it, teach it, and bring it back to heaven ; 
 and let its education be the test of your fidelity," — if God had 
 Gent to the parent such a missive, his responsibility would not be 
 'greater or more real than that which is laid upon us when we 
 undertake to bring up children. They are not simply plaj'things, 
 although they do make playthings. They are not mere little 
 pleasure- bells, although no bells ever ring so sweetly. They are 
 not instruments of music, and pictures, and flowers of dear 
 delight in our households, that we may enjoy them, and that 
 they may enjoy themselves. They are not frolicsome kittens 
 and singing birds for our pleasure and their own. They are 
 God's immortals. They are sent forth to make an earthly pilgrim- 
 age, and you are their schoolmasters and pilots. It is a solemn 
 thing to have such a charge put into your hands.* 
 
 61—63. (01) for daughters, Gal. iv. 26." tby covenant, 
 not by any covenant of thy making, but by sovereign grace 
 alone. (Gi') establish, etc.. Ho. ii. 19, 20. know . . Lord, 
 not then in judgments, but in .wondrous restoring grace. (03) 
 never . . mouth, in any attempted self-vindications, all . . 
 done, as detailed in this chap.* 
 
 The effect of GocVa mere// on the renewed sonl (rv. 62, 03). — I. 
 Tlie extent of man's wickedness. 1. Give a brief summary of 
 the chapter ; mark how this image was applicable to Judah and 
 Jerusalem ; to us also it may be applied, II. The exceeding 
 
 grouml but the 
 bottom."- Fuller. 
 
 a De. xxix. 12, 14. 
 
 Parricide was by 
 the PiOmau law 
 punished in a 
 niucli severer 
 manner than any 
 otlier kind of 
 liomicide. After 
 being scourged, 
 the delinquents 
 were sewed up in 
 a leathern sack 
 with a live dog, 
 a cock, a viper, 
 and an ape, and 
 so cast into the 
 sea. Solon, iu 
 his laws, made 
 none against par- 
 ricide, conceiving 
 it impossible that 
 any one should 
 be guilty of so 
 unnatural a bar- 
 barity. 
 
 " As rivers, when 
 they overflow, 
 drown those 
 grounds andruia 
 those husband- 
 men which, 
 whilst they flow- 
 ed calmly betwixt 
 their banks, they 
 fertilised and en- 
 riched ; so our 
 passions, when 
 they grow exorbi- 
 tant and unruly, 
 destroy those vir- 
 tues to which 
 t e3' maybe very 
 serviceablewhilst 
 they keep within 
 their bounds." — 
 Boijle. 
 
 b Btcclier. 
 
 a " In the times 
 of the Apostles 
 there was a par- 
 ticular deference 
 i paid to the 
 j Church at Jeru- 
 I salc-m as the 
 mother Cliurch 
 of the Christian 
 world." — Lowth. 
 
 b "Enhancing the 
 grace of God, 
 
280 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xvil. 1—67 
 
 which has par- 
 doned so many 
 aii'l so great sins. 
 Notliing so mi-'lts 
 into love anl 
 humility as the 
 sense of the 
 riohea of Goil's 
 pardoning 
 grace. " — Fa usset. 
 
 vv. 62, 63. M. 
 Jacksnn, ii. 31. 
 
 V. 63. ir. Diinlop, 
 ii. 201; A'. Er- 
 skine, vii. 157; J. 
 Polls, 12 ; Dr. W. 
 Wilson, 253. 
 
 c C. Simeon, JI/.A. 
 It argues a tender 
 heart to feel you 
 have a haril one. 
 4 Dr. Cuyler. 
 
 a "The Heb. 
 
 derived from a ! 
 root meaning 
 ' sharp.' i.f. cal- I 
 culated to sti iiu- ! 
 late attention | 
 anil whet the in- 
 tellect. "-/'((«wt/. I 
 
 J> For the figure 
 Bee De. xxviii. 
 49; Je. iv. 13; 
 Ho. viii. 1. 
 
 c The kindom of 
 Judah is no 
 longer likened to 
 an independent 
 cedar : in its de- 
 pressed state it 
 is only like a de- 
 pendent vine. 
 
 " An Inilian once 
 brought up a 
 young lion, and, 
 finding him weak 
 anil huruiless, 
 never atti'nipted 
 to coutnil hiui. 
 Every day the 
 lion gained in 
 strength, and be- 
 came more un- 
 managcahle.until 
 at last, wlieu ex- 
 
 riches of God's grace ; vile as the Jews had been He promised to 
 restore them to favour : this j^romise is no doubt to be extended 
 to us. III. The effect of this grace upon every soul of man ; \t 
 is thought by some calculated to puff up jjiide and conceit in ail 
 who receive it. But this is — 1. Contrary to reason ; ■ 2. Contrary 
 to fact, llemcmber — (I) Your covenant mercies ; (2) Your 
 covenant engagements.' 
 
 Ncglcctlnii salrntion. — Simply " neglect the great salvation," 
 and you will make your everlasting ruin sure. IMany foolish, 
 faithless parents have stood by the grave of a child which the^ 
 dug with their own hands. How ? Did lihey administer slow 
 poison, or strike an assassin-knife through the young heart .' No ; 
 but they killed their child just as surely, by simple neglect of the 
 first laws of health. Many a father, too, has wrung his hands in 
 agony before a prison-cell which held a ruined son, or over the 
 letter which told him of a son's disgrace, and on those very hands 
 rested the guilt of that boy's ruin. Why ? Had they led that 
 son into Sabbath-breaking, or theft, or profiigac}' ? IS'o : buc 
 they had let the youth alone, and left him to rush into theia 
 unrestrained. Neglect was the boy"s ruin. There is no need 
 that the man in a skiff amid Niagara's rapids should row to'wards 
 the cataract ; resting on his oars is quite enough to send him over 
 the awful yersQ.'^ 
 
 CHAPTER THE SEVENTEENTH. 
 
 1—6. (1, 2) riddle, Ju. xiv. 12. Here meaning a figurative 
 speech, or continued metaphor. One requiring serious "thought 
 to discern its meaning." (I!) great eagle, representing Nebu- 
 chadnezzar. The eagle was an Assyi-ian emblem.* feathers, 
 symbols of the many nations of wh. the Bab. kingdom was com- 
 posed, divers colours, intimating the variety of language, 
 habits, and costumes of the peoples subject to Babylon, highest 
 branch, or top shoot ; i.e. king Jeconiah. (4)' top, or head, 
 young" twigs, princes of the royal family, traffic, or com- 
 merce. Is. xliii. U. (5) seed, i.e. the king's .seed: ref. is to 
 Zedekiah. great "waters, fig. for the wealth with wh. Nebuc. 
 supplied Zedekiah. ((>) spreading vine,"" one not trained to a 
 pole, but lying on the ground. Kejit low so as to secure it3 
 dependence on the Bab. king. 
 
 'J7ic car/If. — The eagle is the strongest, the fiercest, and the 
 most rapacious of the feathered race. He dwells alone in the 
 desert, and on the summits of the highest mountains ; and suffers 
 no bird to come with impunity within the range of his flight. 
 His eye is dark and piercing, nis beak and talons ai-e hooked and 
 formidable, and his cry is the terror of every wing. His figure 
 answers to his nature ; independently of his arms, he has a robust 
 and compact body, and very powerful limbs and wings ; his 
 bones are hard, his flesh is firm, his feathers are coarse, his atti- 
 tude is fierce and erect, his motions are lively, and his fiiglit is 
 extremely rapid. Such is the golden eagle, as described by the 
 mo.st accurate observers of nature. To this noble bird the Prophet 
 Ezekiul evidently refers, in his parable to the house of Israel : '• A 
 great eagle, with great wings, long-winged, full of feathers, 
 which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took tha 
 
Cap. xvii. 7—15.]' 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 281 
 
 higliest branch of the cedar." In this parable a strict regard to 
 physical truth is discovered in another respect, for the eagle is 
 kno\Mi to have a predilection for cedars, which are the loitiest 
 trees in the forest, and therefore more suited to his daring temper 
 than any other. La Roque found a number of large eagle's 
 feathers scattered on the ground beneath the lofty cedars which 
 still crown the summits of Lebanon, on the highest branches of 
 which that tierce destroyer occasionally perches.'' 
 
 7 — 10. (7) anotlier . . eagle, this represents Pharaoh Hophra, 
 king of Egypt, bend . . him, Zedekiah, inclined to favour the 
 Egyptian alliance, furrows, etc., i.e. " Erom the furrows w'here 
 it wa,s planted to briug forth fruit for another, it shot forth its 
 roots to him."" (8; great waters, comp. v. 5. {[)) shall it 
 prosper ? in such manifestly unfaithful ways, he, i.e. the in- 
 sulted Nebuchadnezzar, spring, or growth. (10) east wind, 
 in the E., as with us, so injurious to vegetation.'' 
 
 'The eaijle. — The rca.son of the figure must be obvious to every 
 reader : the erect and majestic mien of the eagle point him out 
 as the intended sovereign of the feathered race ; he is therefore 
 the fit emblem of superior excellence, and of regal majesty and 
 power. Xenophon and other ancient historians inform us that 
 the golden eagle with extended wings was the ensign of the 
 Persian monarchs. long before it was adopted by the Romans ; 
 and it is very probable that the Persians borrowed the symbol 
 from the ancient Assyrians, in whose banners it waved, till 
 imperial Babylon bowed her head to the yoke of Cyrus. If this 
 conjecture be well founded, it discovers the reason why the 
 sacred writers, in describing the victorious march of the Assyrian 
 armies, allude so frequently to the expanded eagle. Referring 
 still to the Babylonian monarch, the Prophet liosca proclaimed 
 in the ears of Israel, the measure of whose iuiijuities was nearly 
 full : '• He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord. ' 
 Jei-cmiah predicted a similar calamity to the posterity of Lot : 
 " For thus saith the Lord, Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and 
 shall spread his wings over Moab;" and the same tigure is 
 employed to denote the sudden destruction which overtook the 
 house of Esau : " Behold, he shall come n-p and fly as the eagle, 
 and spread his wings over Bozrah." The words of these inspired 
 Prophets were not suffered to fall to the ground ; they received a 
 full accom]ilishment in the irresistible imijetuosity and complete 
 success with which the Babylonian monarchs, and particularly 
 Nebuchadnezzar, pursued their plans of conquest. Ezekiel deno- 
 minates him wuth striking propriety, ''a great eagle with great 
 wings ; '' because he was the most powerful monarch of his time, 
 and led into the field more numerous and better appointed armies 
 (which the Prophet calls, by a beautiful figure, his wings) than 
 perhaps the world had ever seen.'= 
 
 11—15. (11, 12) king of Babylon, i.e. the great eagle. (1.3) 
 king's seed, i.e. his uncle. Zedekiah. oath, of allegiance, on 
 condition of wh. oath Zedekiah was giVen the throne. (14) 
 base, as a dependent kingdom : tiibutary to Babylon, lift 
 itself up, in rebellions. (15) sending . . Egy^Jt, cnnqj. 2 
 Ki xxiv. 20; 2 Chr. xxxvi. 13 ; Je. xxxvii. 5 — 7. prosper, in 
 violating his oath to Nebuc. and sinning against God's commands, 
 De. xvii. IG. 
 
 cited by rngo, ha 
 ll-U upon tlie In- 
 diuuaaJ tiirehim 
 to piecL'S. I'aision 
 rebouibies that 
 lio u." — liiUical 
 Treasury, 
 
 d Paxlun. 
 
 a " Zeilekiah waS 
 courting tlie 
 
 favuiir uf Egypt 
 while he owed 
 his very position 
 to tlie bounty of 
 Assyria."— jS/^i'. 
 Cum. 
 
 b " The Prophet 
 compares the 
 Clialdoian army 
 to a parching 
 wind that blasts 
 the I'riiits of the 
 earth, wiihers 
 the leaves of the 
 trees, and makes 
 everytliiiig look 
 naked and bare." 
 — Lowlh. 
 
 " All the fresh 
 leaves of her 
 siiruuting shall 
 wither."— iroj ds- 
 uorlh. 
 
 '■ Passion is the 
 great mover and 
 spring of the soul. 
 ^V' h e n men's 
 passions are 
 strongest, they 
 may have great 
 and noble eflects ; 
 but they are then 
 also apt to fall 
 into the greatest 
 m i scarriages." — 
 a^rat. 
 
 c Paxtott. 
 
 V. 15. F. n. But' 
 
 Ion, 87. 
 
 •■ Passions direct- 
 eU to their right 
 cud may fail in 
 their manner but 
 not in their mea- 
 sure. When the 
 suliject of our 
 hatred is siii, it 
 
282 
 
 EZEKIEl. 
 
 [Cap. xvii. 16-21, 
 
 cannot be too 
 dei>p : wlien the 
 object of our love 
 Is Cioil. it cannot 
 l)Pt(ii)higli. yUi- 
 floratiou may 
 become a fault. 
 To be but warm 
 when God com- 
 niamU us to be 
 hot is sinful. We 
 belie virtue by 
 the constant ilul- 
 nes-i of a nieilio- 
 crity."-/V///((iOT. 
 
 " When head- 
 strong passion 
 gets the reins of 
 reason, the force 
 of nature, like too 
 strong a gale, for 
 ■want of ballast, 
 oversets the ves- 
 sel."— //i(/!/""'. 
 a Sigourtteij. 
 
 a " This cere- 
 mony was espe- 
 cially used when 
 an inferior made 
 profession of his 
 subjection to liis 
 superior."-J^oi»/A. 
 
 Is. xli. 13. 
 
 r. IG. /. Weemse, 
 i. 152. 
 
 Tlie conquests of 
 Alexander the 
 Great could not 
 satisfy him ; for 
 ■when he bad 
 conquered the 
 whole of one 
 known world, he 
 sat down and 
 wept because he 
 knew of no other 
 world to conquer. 
 
 I Marslon. 
 
 a Reckon with 
 him. 
 
 " Lowliness is 
 young ambition's 
 ladder, whereto 
 the climber u))- 
 Wards turns his 
 
 The conqueror. — 
 
 Ilistory hath spt her crown 
 
 Upon the conqueror's head, 
 And bade the awestruck world bow down 
 
 Belore his banner's head. 
 So down the world hath bow'd, 
 
 Upon her letter d pa^e. 
 And the wild homage of the crowd 
 
 Swell'd on from age to age. 
 
 What miseries mark'd his way, 
 
 How oft the orphan wept, 
 How deep the earth in sackcloth lay, 
 
 Faint trace her annals kept. 
 Though like a torrent's flow 
 
 The widow's tears gush'd out, 
 The current of that secret woe 
 
 Quell'd not the victor's shout. 
 
 The Gospel's sacred scroll 
 
 A different standard shows : 
 Its plaudit on the humble soul, 
 
 And contrite, it bestows. 
 To men of holy life 
 
 Its glorious crown is given. 
 Who nurse, amid this vale of strife, 
 
 The peaceful germs of heaven." 
 
 16—18. (10) sliall die, comp. ch. xii. 13. (17) neither, 
 etc.. Je. xxxvii. 7. mounts . . forts, as defences ; or as modes of 
 attacking the Chald;ean besiegers of Jerusalem. (IS) despised 
 the oath, v. 13. given his hand," and so pledging his troth 
 and fealty. 
 
 Unfruit/iiJne.1.1 of amhition. — I have often been astonished at 
 the softness in which other minds seem to have passed their day : 
 the ripened pasture and clustering vineyards of imagination : 
 the mental Arcadia in which they describe themselves a< having 
 loitered from year to year. Yet, can I have faith in this per- 
 petual Claude Lorraine pencil — this undying verdure of the soil — • 
 this gold and purple suffusion of the sky— those pomps of the 
 palace and the pencil with their pageants and nymphs, giving 
 life to their landscape ; while mine was a continual encounter 
 with difficulty, a continual summons to self-control .' A march, 
 not unlike that of the climber up the side of Etna ; every step 
 through ruins, the vestiges of former conflagrations ; the ground 
 I trode, rocks that had once been flame : every advance a new 
 trial of my feelings or my fortitude ; every stage of the ascent 
 leading me. like the traveller, into a higher region of sand or 
 ashes : until, at the highest, I stood in a circle of eternal frost, 
 with all the rich and human landscape below fading away in 
 distance, and looked down only on a gulf of fire.* 
 
 19 — 21. (]'.)) mine oath, bee. God was working His purposes 
 through the action of Nebuchadnozzar. who was, in some sense. 
 His representative. (20) sjDread my net, comp. cli. xii. 13, 
 xxxii. 3. plead with him, or bring him into judgment." (21) 
 fugitives, those belonging to him who would try to escape : 
 ch. Xli. 1-1. 
 
Cap. xvil. 22-24.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 283 
 
 Sir Walter Ealclgh. — Fuller, in liis Worthies, gives the follow- 
 ing account of Sir Walter Raleigh's first rise in life: — ''This 
 Captain Raleigh," he says, •' coming out of Ireland into the 
 English Court in good habit (his clothes being then a consider- 
 able part of his estate) found the queen walking, till meeting 
 with a dirty place, she seemed to scruple going over it. Presently 
 Raleigh cast and spread his new plush cloak on the ground, 
 whereupon the queen trod gently, rewarding him afterwards 
 with many suits for his so free and seasonable tender of so fair a 
 foot-cloth. An advantageous admittance into the first notice of 
 a prince, is more than half a degree of preferment. WTien Sir 
 "Walter found some hopes of the queens favour reflecting on him, 
 he wrote on a glass window obvious to the queen's eye — 
 
 ' Fain would I climb, but fear I to fall.' 
 
 Her majesty, either espying or being showed it, did under write — 
 
 ' If thy heart fail thee, climb not at all.' 
 
 How great a person in that Court this knight did afterwards 
 prove to be, is scarcely unknown to any." * 
 
 22—24. (22) highest branch, many think the reference in 
 this V. is to Messiah, tender one, conip. Is. xi. 1, liii. Used 
 in reference to the low estate of the family of David when 
 Messiah was born. (23) mount, etc., first reference to Mount 
 Moriah, as a fig. of the exulted jDlace found for Messiah, bring 
 forth, cte., indicating the gro^\i:h of the Christian Church or 
 kingdom. (2f) trees . . field, other, and worldly kingdoms." 
 
 ihn-l of evrry n-inr/ (n. 24). — The cedar a royal tree. Christ 
 the true cedar, and all people are the birds that lodge in its 
 branches. 1. The young may come ; 2. The aged may come ; 
 3. The very bad. the outrageously sinful, may come ; 4. All 
 the dying may find their nest in this goodly cedar.* 
 
 I'tin-l of erer;/ n-'nifj. — The cedar of Lebanon is a royal tree. It 
 stands six thousand feet above the level of the sea. A mis- 
 sionary counted the concentric circles, and found one tree thirty- 
 five hundred years old — long-rooted, broad-branched, all the 
 year in luxuriant foliage. The same branches that bent in the 
 hurricane that David saw sweeping over Lebanon, rock to-day 
 over Lhe head of ths American traveller. This monarch of the 
 forest. Vt'ith its leavy fingers, plucks the honours of a thousand 
 years, and sprinkles them upon its own iiplifted brow, as though 
 some great Hallelujah of heaven had been planted upon 
 Lebanon, and it were rising up with all its long-armed strength 
 to take hold of the hills whence it came. Oh ! what a fine 
 place for birds to nest in ! In hot days they come thither — the 
 eagle, the dove, the swallow, the sparrow, and the raven. My 
 text intimates that Christ is the cedar, and the people from all 
 quarter: are the birds tha', lodge among the branches. " It shall 
 be a goodly cedar, and under it shall dwell all fowl of every 
 wing." As in EzokieUs time, so now. Christ is a goodly 
 cedar : and to Him are flying all kinds of people, young and 
 old, rich and poor : men high-soaring as the eagle, those fierce 
 as the raven, and those gentle as the dove. "All fowl of every 
 wing."« 
 
 face ; but when 
 he ouce obtains 
 the u t most 
 rouuri, he then 
 unto the ladder 
 turns his back, 
 looks in the 
 clouds, scorning 
 the bare degrees 
 by which he did 
 ascend." — Hhuke- 
 speaye. 
 
 " Strong passions 
 work wonders, 
 when there is a 
 greater strength 
 of reason to curb 
 XX\en\."— Tucker. 
 
 b I'crcy Anec. 
 
 a " Christ's king- 
 dom shall by 
 degrees exalt 
 itself above all 
 the kingdoms of 
 the world ; and 
 shall at length 
 put an end to 
 them, and itself 
 continue unto all 
 eteniity."-io!£7/i. 
 Da. iv. 35, 44, 
 vii. 27 ; Lu. i. 33; 
 1 Co. .\LV. 24. 
 
 I'!'. 22—24. J. 
 Ailing, Op. ii. 4, 
 139 ; F. Allix, 
 325 ; Dr. It. Go)- 
 dvn, iv. 2U7. 
 
 r. 24. Dr. J. Owen, 
 .w. 415. 
 
 b Dr. Talmage. 
 
 " Wliat profits us 
 that we froni 
 heaven derive a 
 soul immortal, 
 and with looks 
 erect survey the 
 stars, if, like the 
 brutal kind, we 
 follow where our 
 passions lead the 
 way ? "—Drydm. 
 
 c Dr. Talmage, 
 
284 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xviii. 1— 9. 
 
 U " It is nowhere 
 saiil in O. T. or 
 N. T. that God 
 visits tlie in- 
 iquities of the 
 fathers upon the 
 childreu, except 
 wliore the cliil- 
 drou ohstiuatoly 
 persist iu iiuitat- 
 iuf? the ini(iuity 
 of tlie fathers." 
 — Wordsworth. 
 
 v.\. Dr. R. Gierke, 
 389. 
 
 V. 2. Dr. W. Lan- 
 don, 1 10. 
 
 v. 4. //. Worth- 
 ington, 1G9 : E. 
 G. Marsh, 115. 
 
 6 G. in Homillst. 
 
 " God drawetli 
 straight lines, 
 but we think 
 and call tliein 
 crooked. Dzek. 
 xviii. 2,')." — Uath- 
 er/ord. 
 
 " When passions 
 glow, tlie lieart, 
 like heated steel, 
 takes each im- 
 pression, and is 
 work'd at plea- 
 sure." — J'OMWi/. 
 
 « Cheever. 
 
 a De. xii. 2; Eze. 
 vi. 13, xvi. IG, 
 24. XX. 28 ; 1 Co. 
 X. 21. 
 
 " The humblest 
 trade has in it 
 elbow-roi.'u for 
 all the cirtues. 
 That ■ huckster 
 can be true and 
 honest and hon- 
 ourable : what 
 more can Roths- 
 child be ? The 
 excellence of a 
 circle lies in its 
 roundr.ess, not 
 its bigness. The 
 rim of a three- 
 penny bi'„ is a 
 true circle, and 
 would not be 
 tueuded, but only 
 
 CHAPTER THE EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1, 2) concerning . . Israel, i.r. in reference to its 
 desolations, fathers . . edge, the present generation suffers 
 for the sins committed by previous generations." (;^) not . . 
 use, bee. God will plainly punish this generation for their own 
 sins ; and they will not be able to shift the blame on to their 
 fathers. (4) all . . mine, imi^lying direct and individual dealing 
 with each. 
 
 77/r entail of suffcr'tnq (v. 2). — I. The fact is indi.-sputable. 
 II. The procedure maybe vindicated. II f. The use of the proverb 
 shall cease. 1. An acquaintance with the rules which guide the 
 Divine judgment of transgressors shall prevent men from using' 
 this proverb ; 2. The common relation which all men sustain to 
 Him may well prevent us from attributing iniquity to Him ; 
 
 3. The true spirit of penitence which a knowledgt; of His equity 
 and His love shall excite, shall in a similar manner acquit Him; 
 
 4. If any darkness yet seem to hover around these truths, the 
 dawn of the last day shall assuredly dispel it.* 
 
 An vnfaitliftd fatlicr. — A father who had a son in college 
 requested a minister who was going through the town where he 
 was to call on him and converse with him in reference to the 
 salvation of his soul. The minister called, agreeable to the request 
 of the father, and introduced the subject of religion. He alluded 
 to the feelings and request of the father, who wished him by 
 all means to attend first to the salvation of his soul. The young 
 man replied, " Did my father send such word as that .' " " He 
 did,' was the reply. '-Then,'' said the young man, ''my father 
 is a dishonest man." " But why do you say he is dishonest .' " 
 said the minister. "Because."' replied the student, "he has 
 often advised me, in regard to the cotirse he would have me 
 pursue in life, how to gain the riches, honours, and pleasures of 
 the world, but he is not the man that has ever manifested any 
 interest in regard to the salvation of my soul, any more than if 
 I had no soul ! " « 
 
 5 — 9. (")) just, comprehensive term for all moral rightness. 
 (G) eaten . . mountains, sharing in the sacrificial feasts on 
 the high places, where are the idol-shrines." (7) oppressed, 
 etc., Ex. xxii. 25, 2C> ; De. xxiv. 12. given . . hungry, De. xv. 7. 
 (8) usury, Ex. xxii. 2.5; Le. xxv. 36, 87 ; De. xxiii. li) : Ps. xv. 5. 
 (il) truly, obediently, faithfully, and kindly, live, or preserve 
 his life. Such a man comes into no Divine judgment. 
 
 Character — fione lefore. — A young man's character was such 
 as to excite universal disap]irobation. He could no longer resist 
 the pressure of jiublic sentiment. He disposed of his property, 
 and attempted to resume business in a distant part of the country. 
 But his character, or rather his reputation, had gone before liim. 
 Men regarded him with suspicion. He was unable to secure the 
 confidence and countenance necessary to success. In this case 
 his sins went before him to his new place of residence. The 
 sins of men go before them still further. They go before tliem 
 to the judgment, and will be rcaily to meet tliem there. "What 
 a fearful m acting 1 How impossible to escape from their 
 
Cap. xviil. 10-18.1 
 
 EZEKTEl. 
 
 2S5 
 
 Bccusings and consequences. It is related of a prisoner that, 
 after he had toiled for months in constructing a mine from 
 his dungeon, by means of which he hoped to escape, when at last 
 he broke ground and let in the light of day which he had so 
 fondly hoped to enjoy, the first object he saw was an armed 
 jailer waiting to arrest him ! That jailer struck far less dismay 
 and despair to the heart of the prisoner than meeting with his 
 sins will strike to the heart of the sinner at the day of judg- 
 ment.* 
 
 10—13. (10) robber, or " breaker up of a house." (11) any of 
 those, described in vv. 5 — 9. (12) lifted . . eyes, in adoration 
 or supplication. (13) blood, or death. ''His destruction is 
 owing wholly to himself."" 
 
 InconKhtcnc]/ of 'parents. — Parents, to do them justice, are 
 seldom sjiaring of lessons of virtue and religion, in admonitions 
 which cost little and which profit less, whilst their example ex- 
 hibits a continual contradiction of what they teach. A father, for 
 Instance, will, with solemnity and apparent earnestness, warn 
 his sou against idleness, excess in drinking, debauchery, and 
 extravagance, who himself loiters about all day without employ- 
 ment, comes hone every night drunk ; is made infamous in his 
 neighbourhood by sjme profligate connection, and wastes the 
 fortune which should support, or remain a provision for his 
 family, in riot, or luxury, or ostentation. Or he will discourse 
 gravely before his children of the obligation and importance of 
 revealed religion, whilst they see the most frivolous, and often- 
 times feigned excuses, detain him from its reasonable and solemn 
 ordinances. Or he will set before them, perhaps, the supreme 
 and tremendous authority of Almighty God ; that such a Being 
 ought not to be named, or even thought upon, without senti- 
 ments of profound awe and veneration. This may be the lectui'e 
 he delivers to his family one hour, when the next, if an occasion 
 arise to excite his anger or his surprise, they will hear him treat 
 the name of the Deity with the most irreverent profanation, 
 and sport with the terms and denunciations of the Christian 
 religion as if they were the language of some ridiculous and 
 long exploded superstition. Now, even a child is not to be 
 imjiosed upon by such mockery. He sees through the grimace of 
 this counterfeited concern forvu'tue. He discovers that his parent 
 is acting a part, and receives his admonitions as he would 
 hear the same maxims from the mouth of a player. And 
 when once this opinion has taken possession of the child's 
 mind, it has a fatal effect upon the parent's influence in all 
 subjects, even those in which he himself may be sincere and 
 convinced.* 
 
 14 — 18. (14) if he, i.e. the utterly bad man, who brings 
 destruction down upon his own head, considereth, layeth it 
 to heart, not such like, not any of the evil things. (1.5 — 17) 
 comp. vr. 5 — 9. not . . father, but judgment shall spend itself 
 on the sinful father." (18) his brother, i.e. his brother-man. 
 
 I'arcnt,^ .tliouhl iiot drceire f/wir cJiildren — The fan- ii and the 
 leopard. — In a German fable a doe warns her youthful offspring 
 to beware, as she skips abcut the forest, of that dangerous animal 
 the leopard. '• And what is the leopard like .' "' inquires the 
 fawn. '• Oh, it is a dreadful-looking monster ; its eyes glare and 
 
 magnified, if 
 swelled till it 
 equalled in size 
 the tire of a cart- 
 wheel, or dilated 
 till it toiiclied 
 the outline of a 
 plauet."-6; Coley. 
 
 b Dr. Jeffers. 
 
 a " ITpon his own 
 head, but not ou 
 the heads of his 
 children, if they 
 do not imitate 
 liim." — ^Yords• 
 uoi-lh. 
 
 A house took tire. 
 The mother was 
 busiest of all 
 saving her trin- 
 kets. The fire 
 spread rapidly. 
 The mother, try- 
 ing to enter the 
 house a second 
 time, was stop- 
 ped. She shrieked 
 in anguish ; for 
 her babe lay ia 
 its cradle in the 
 burning build- 
 ing. At what a 
 cost had she 
 i-aved lier trifles! 
 Should she not 
 have rescued tlie 
 child first ? Is 
 not this true of 
 our children's 
 souls now in 
 danger of eternal 
 fire? 
 
 "A man's own 
 heart must ever 
 be given to gain 
 that of another." 
 — GoldsmL.h. 
 
 b Paley. 
 
 a It is never- 
 theless true that 
 1 ereditary dis- 
 al.ilities do fol- 
 low on parental 
 wrong - doings ; 
 but rather on 
 parental rii-eiand 
 immii7-alitU'st\ian. 
 (Ill such acts of 
 unkiudness, in* 
 
285 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. STTiii. 19-26. 
 
 justice, and iilol- 
 atry sis are dealt 
 with by Kzekiel. 
 
 1'. 14. D. .S. Dey- 
 ling, iii. 5U7. 
 
 " Govern ynur 
 passions.or other- 
 wise tbey will 
 govern you." — 
 Horace. 
 
 m 2 Ki. xiv. 6 ; 
 3 Clir. XXV. 4 ; 
 Je. xxxi. 29. 
 
 h Je. xxxi. 34 ; 
 
 Am. viii. 7. 
 
 c 1 Ti. ii. 4 ; 2 Pe. 
 iii. 9. 
 
 V. 20. /. Jlinks, 
 343. 
 
 V. 23. D. Featley, 
 "in ; T. Mimlon, 
 V. 1008 ; /'. Dit- 
 snulov, 117 ; S. 
 Roberts, ii. 221. 
 
 " No man's body 
 is as strong as 
 liis appetites, but 
 Heaven has cor- 
 rected the bound- 
 lessness of his 
 voluptuous de- 
 sires by stiiitina: 
 his strenptth and 
 contracting his 
 capacities." — Til- 
 loison. 
 
 d Dr. Burns. 
 
 a Comp. 2 Pe. ii. 
 21. 
 
 " Such a one 
 sins against a 
 clearer light and 
 greater convic- 
 tions, and witlial 
 is guilty of the 
 greatest ingrati- 
 tude, in doing 
 despite unto the 
 Spirit of grace." 
 —hnclh. 
 
 b '• It was really 
 their way tliat 
 was unequal, 
 since living in 
 Bin they expected 
 to be dealt with 
 as if they were 
 jigliteous. Goil's 
 way was invari- 
 ably to deal with 
 
 its jaws drop blood." The fa,wn goes off to roam the wood, 
 and in the course of her rambles espies, at some distance ia 
 the long grass, a graceful creature with beautifully spotted 
 hide ; its movements are elegant and even playful ; its asjject 
 betrays no sanguiuaiy stain nor fiercejae.'-'s of purpose. " \Vell, 
 this cannot be the leopard," says the fawn ; " this is not tho 
 creature which my parent described. I must go and make 
 acquaintance with it." She accordingly advances to meet the 
 new-found friend, and — but one need not stop to mention the 
 result. How often do well-meaning but unwise parents deceive 
 their children to their destruction I 
 
 19 — 23. (19) "wYiy ? i.e. is it not a common proverb that 
 the son bears the father's iniquity .' The Jews appeal to their 
 own experience, wlien, etc., implying that if the Jews of that 
 generation had done right, they would not have been punished 
 for their ./?/('//(";■.?' sins of the previous generations. (I'O) soil, 
 ctG., comp. De. xxiv. lii." (21) turn . . sins, then he shall not 
 be dealt with on the ground of the forsaken sins, but on the 
 ground of the new obedience. (22) not be mentioned, being 
 forgiven they shall be forgotten.* (23) any pleasure, the 
 frequency of prophetic denunciation might produce such an 
 impression." 
 
 God's conduct to the jJOfiteritj/ of the n'iched (r. 20). — I. See if, 
 and in what sense, children bear the evils of their parents' 
 iniquities. 1. The mind and body exert a remarkable influence 
 on each other ; 2. Children are greatly influenced by the position 
 their parents occupy ; 3. They are powerfully influenced by their 
 parents' example ; 4. They partake directly of the evil doings 
 of their parents. II. Does God inflict this penalty ui^on them 
 for the parents' sins? Ezekiel says '• Xo." 1. It would be 
 opposed to goodness and mercy : 2. To justice ; 3. To fact ; 
 4. To individual responsibility. III. To reconcile the teachings 
 of Moses (Ex. xx. 5) and Ezekiel — 1. God punishes rebellious 
 parents; 2. Children hating Him learn — (1) God's government 
 is the reflection of His goodness and holiness : (2) Every man 
 is individually accountable ; (3) Men will hs judged according 
 to their circumstances ; (4) Jesus is a universal Saviour for all 
 sinners.'' 
 
 24—28. (24) righteous, etc., this is the answering side of 
 the truth of God's dealings declared in re. 21, 22." turneth 
 away, in utter apostasy. Ileference is not to the temporary 
 failures and fallings of the godly, mentioned, taken into 
 account as a mitigation of sentence. C2'>) not equal, or 
 weighed out, balanced ; properly adjusted to the several ca.ses.* 
 (2r.) his iniquity, i.e. you need go no further for explanation 
 than the fact of his own sin. 
 
 The .'^mlter .vnitten (r. 2.")). — Take in conjunction with this text 
 Acts viii. 3, xiv. 12, ix. 1. xxiii. 12 ; Gal. i. 13 : 2 Cor. xi. 23, 
 xxvi. 10. xvi. 23 ; Gal. vi. 7. All these experiences were under- 
 gone by the same person. The persecutor was persecuted, etc. 
 By these facts we are taught — I. That a man's life comes 
 back upon him. II. That a man's Christian experience mu.«t be 
 affected by the unchristian life he has lived. We see — 1. That 
 the distribution of penalties is (Jod's work, not man's : 2. That 
 under all the apparent confusion of human life there is » 
 
Cap. xix. 1—4.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 287 
 
 principle of justice ; 3. That the greatest sufferings may be borne 
 witla patience and hopefulness.'-' 
 
 27 — 30. (27) turneth, in penitence of heart that makes him 
 alter his conduct. (L\Sj considereth, see v. U. (29) not 
 equal, V. 2.5. (oOj every one . . ways, and surely no principle 
 of judgment can be better than this, repent, the inward 
 feeling of penitence, turn yourselves, the corresponding 
 outward act. This call intimates that, if thus strictly judged, 
 the whole nation would be found guilty. 
 
 Practical intention of the CtosjjcI {r. 27). — The text presents a 
 prospect of the possibility of .salvation in the use of proper 
 means. I. The first step to salvation is here described to be 
 the relinquishment of former evil practices. II. The next step 
 is to do tliat which is lawful and right.'' 
 
 31, 32. (31) make . . heart, set yourselves on the endeavour 
 to cherish other feelings and wishes. The '"new heart" indi- 
 cates a religion that is spirit mil. not ceremonial. The effort to 
 renew our own heart will surely drive us to seek the new heart 
 from God, who alone can give it by His Spirit." Comp. Ps. li. 
 1—5. 10, 11. (32) no pleasure, r. 23. 
 
 ScJf-dcfttriiction (y. 31). — I. The nature of eternal death. 1. A 
 state of conscious existence ; 2. A state of deprivation ; 3. A 
 Btate of hideousness. II. The question proposed. 1. There is no 
 necessity for it in the nature of God ; 2. There is no necessity 
 in the will of man ; 3. There is no necessity on account of our 
 circumstances.* 
 
 The garden of God. — 
 
 Christ in His heaveulj' garden walks all day. 
 And calls to souls upon the world's highway. 
 "Wearied wath trifles, maimed and sick with sin,, 
 Christ by the gate stands, and invites them in. 
 
 " How long, unwise, will ye pursue your woe 1 
 Here from the throne sweet waters ever go ; 
 Here the white lilies shine like stars above ; 
 Here in the red rose burns the face of Love. 
 
 " "Tis not from earthly paths I bid you flee, 
 But lighter in My ways your feet will be : 
 'Tis not to summon you from human mirth, 
 But add a depth and sweetness not of earth. 
 
 " Still by the gate I stand as on ye stray ; 
 Turn your steps hither ; am not I the Way ? 
 Tlie sun is falling fast, the night is nigh ; 
 Why will ye wander ? "WTierefore will ye die? 
 
 " Look on My hands and side, for I am He ; 
 None to the Father cometh but by Me ; 
 For you I died ; once more I call you home : 
 I live again for you — 3Iy chikken, come I " 
 
 CHAPTER THE NINETEENTH. 
 
 1 — 4. (1) lamentation, a mournful ditty suitable for a funeral, 
 princes of Israel, those of the house of Judah. Some think 
 there is special reference to Zedekiah.' Others refer to Jehoahaz 
 
 different men ;io« 
 cording to tlieir 
 lie&'-rti." - Fa usset. 
 c Dr. Parker. 
 
 V. 27. Dr. A. Lit- 
 tUloH, 22 ; Or. B. 
 W'hkhcule, i. 303 ; 
 Dr. M. Hole, i. 7 ; 
 II'. Fa rill g ton, 
 185 ; J. IJerrey, 
 4 ; Dr. li. Parkin- 
 son, i. 241 ; H. ir. 
 Kcans, 219; Dr. 
 li. IK. ywr, i. 2ti7; 
 /•; Arnold, 46. 
 i'.28. Ji. /a. Cotton, 
 40. 
 a J. E. Golding. 
 
 a Je. x.-^.xu. 39 ; 
 Eze. xi. 19, 
 x.\xvi. 2G. 
 
 "Altliongh Gcd 
 ' uorlis iu us to 
 will and to do,' 
 and is tlie first 
 mover in our re- 
 generation, yet 
 we must worli to- 
 gether with His 
 grace, at least 
 willingly receive 
 it, and not 
 quench or I'esist 
 its motions." — 
 Loiclh. 
 
 I'.Sl. Dr.U.lJam- 
 
 niiiiij,iv.bi)b ; Dr. 
 T.Pierce,VI5; W. 
 Dunlup, ii. 18. 
 
 b ir. W. Whythe. 
 
 A bear once en- 
 tered a saw-mill, 
 sat down ou the 
 log' which was 
 moving close 
 under the saw, 
 and began to 
 cat the sawyer's 
 dinner. Souu he 
 I'elt a nip at his 
 tail, and gave a 
 growl; then 
 another, which 
 so aroLised his 
 bear-nature, that 
 he turjied and 
 hugged tlie great 
 saw till he was 
 sawed in two. 
 
 c Fahjiuie. 
 
 a Uitzig, Ewald. 
 
283 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xlx. 5—0. 
 
 t Spk. Com. 
 
 c Ge. xlix. 9; Ku. 
 sxiii. 'il. 
 
 d Arab name for 
 a linn is " the 
 couchor." 
 
 e 2 Ki. xxiii. 33. 
 
 / " Tliere is an 
 allusion to the 
 custom, wlientlio 
 news arrives that 
 a lion or other 
 savage beast is 
 conniiitting mis- 
 chief, of assem- 
 bUiig on all sides 
 to seize ami slay 
 it." — ilkhaelis. 
 
 g Vs. XXXV. 7, 
 xciv. 13. 
 
 "It is folly to 
 pretenJ that one 
 ever wholly re- 
 covers from a 
 disappointed pas- 
 s i o n. Such 
 ■wounds always 
 leave a scar. 
 There are faces I 
 can never look 
 upon without 
 emotion, there 
 are names I can 
 never hearspoken 
 without almost 
 starting." — Lowj- 
 fdlow. 
 h Beecher. 
 
 a " Or he learned 
 and practised all 
 the methods of 
 tyranny and op- 
 pression. " • — 
 Loulh. 
 
 " Passion Itself is 
 very figurative, 
 and often bursts 
 out into meta- 
 pliors ; but, in 
 touching the 
 pathos, the poet 
 must be psrfectly 
 ■well acquainted 
 with the emo- 
 tions of tlie 
 human soul, and 
 carefully distin- 
 guish between 
 those .metajjliors 
 which ristf glow- 
 ing from the 
 heart, and those 
 cold conceits 
 
 Wlii';h are engen- 
 dered in the 
 fancy."' — Gold- 
 smil/i. 
 " Our passions 
 
 and Jehoiadiiu. as a warniiio- to Zcdekiah.'' (2) thy mother, the 
 laud or Jinlali, as the luiLivo couucry of tho princes addrcssad. 
 lioness,'-' bf o. tierce at catching- prey ; iu allu.siou to her heaihenish 
 practices, lay . . lions,'' fig. ot her corrupting intercourse with 
 heathen nations. (.'}) one . . whelps, riz. Jehoahaz." learned 
 . . prey, alluding to this king following the evil and idolatrous 
 practices of his pre lecessors. (i) nations, e.-^p. Egypt.-/ pit, 
 hunters pit, arranged for securing wild animals,*' 2 Ki. xxiii. 33 ; 
 Je. xxii. 11. 
 
 True patriof.'i. — The men and women that are patriots — who 
 are they / Mothers who are bringing up their children in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord— they are writing better 
 declarations of indeiieudence than ever Thomas Jefferson in- 
 scribed. Humble fathers who are trainirig their children in 
 essential manliness, in self-reliance, iu independence, making 
 them ashamed to beg. and proud to rely upon their own resources 
 — they are patriots. They are lovers of our country. The humble 
 schoolmistress that gathers her summer brood and pours her 
 refined life into the bosom of these rustics — she is a patriot. The 
 .schoolmaster, who stands nearer to the work of God in the world, 
 and in our age, than even the minister himself does— he is the 
 patriot. The editor, that is taking knowledge, and giving to it 
 multiform wings, and setting it flying round and rouud the 
 world — he is the patriot. Those men who augment the sub- 
 stantial qualities of manhood —the ijreachers of the Gospel, the 
 humble missionary, the colporteur, the devoted Christian in eveiy 
 neighbourhood — those men are working for the spiritual develop- 
 ment of man — they are God's truest patriots. They, of eveiy 
 name, everywhere, who make men larger, are working for 
 liberty ; and they who are demoralising men, and making license 
 turn into lust and bi'lluiue appetites, are the devil's instruments, 
 and are working for bondage and for despotism.* 
 
 5 — 9. (5) another, riz. Jehoiachin, 2 Ki. xxiv. 6. He was 
 put on the throne by the consent of the people. (G) catch . . 
 prey, followed the same idolati-ous course as his p]-cdecessor.<» 
 (7) knew, i.e. he claimed as his own. desolate palaces, lit. 
 n-'ido)vs, or widowed palaces : those from wh. he had turned out 
 the occupants. Je. xxii. l.'i. 1(!. (S) nations, here the Chaldaians. 
 For the fate of Jehoiachin see 2 Ki. xxiv. 10 — 12. (li) voice . . 
 mountains, as a lion seeking her prey. 
 
 I^ii/wr/il .fi'mion far Cruiinvcll. — On the death of Oliver Crom- 
 well, a funeral sermon was preached at Christ Church, Dublin, 
 before the lord deputy, hy his cha})lain. Dr. Harrison, from these 
 words: "And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him," 2 
 Chron. xx. 2-1. '• This is a lamentation, and shall bo for a lamen- 
 tation," Ezek. xlx. 14. The sermon, which was full of the praises 
 of Cromwell, was afterwards published by one Edward Matthews, 
 under the title of Thvctii Jlijhcrnici ; or, Ireland Si/iiipathi.'^hifj 
 iritli Enqhind and Scotland in a .vtd Ltnnrntafion far /wr Jasinh. 
 The sermon was dedicated, in the mo-t fulsome language, to 
 Richard Cromwell, by PMward IMatthews. '• Divine I'rovidence,'' 
 he says, " made it my lot to hear this sermon pathetically delivered 
 by that pious divine. Dr. Harrison, in a full fluent manner, ex- 
 tracting tears from the eyes, and sigh.s from the hearts of the 
 hearers. I moved the doctor for the printing thereof, being so 
 precious a piece, touching so unparalleled a person, that it waa 
 
Cap. XX. 1—0.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 289 
 
 more fit to be made public, than perish in oblivion ; who in a 
 modesfc manner termed it a sudden imperfect and unpolished col- 
 lection of scattered thoug-hts and notes, which brevity of time, 
 and burthen of spirit, would not permit him more completely to 
 compile. The usefulness of the piece, replete with so many 
 observations, tog-ether with the desire of erecting all lasting 
 monuments that might lead to the eternising ot' the bles.sed 
 memory of that thrice-renowned patron and pattern of piety, 
 your royal father (whose pious life is his never-perishing pyramid, 
 every man's heart being his tomb, every good man's tongue an 
 epitaph), hath emboldened me, in all humility, to present it to 
 your highness as a lively effigy to mind you of his matchless 
 virtues. And as the learned author intended it not so much for 
 the eye or ear, as for the heart ; not for only reading, but practice 
 principally ; so may your highness i^lease to make use thereof as 
 a pattern of imitation for piety and reformation in the nations." '" 
 
 10—14. (10) thy mother, the land of Judah. Jehoiachin 
 is here addressed. vine . . blood, p'betical reference to the 
 infant before it was wa '\ed ; the people were planted in Canaan 
 A\hen but an infant nation, full of hranches, the people 
 multiplied under God's blessing." (II) sceptres, Ge. xlix. 10. 
 (12) east .. fruit, Ho. xiii. 15. (i:;) wilderness, that of 
 Babvlon. (U) fire . . out, comj). Ju. ix. 15. Allusion is to 
 Zedekiah. 
 
 Sceptres. — The allusion here is evidently to the sceptres of the 
 ancients, which were no other than walking-sticks, cut from the 
 Btems or branches of trees, and decorated with gold, or studded 
 with golden nails. Thus Achilles is introduced as swearing by a 
 sceptre, which being cut from the trunk of a tree on the moun- 
 tains, and strij^ped of its bark and leaves, should never more 
 produce leaves and branches, or t^proiit again. Sucli a one the 
 Grecian judges carried in their hands. See Homer, //. i. i;31.* 
 
 CIIAriER THE TJFENTIETIL 
 
 1 — 4, (1) elders, as oh. viii. 1, xiv. 1. (2, 3) not "be 
 
 inquired, i.e. not pay any heed to your inquiries." (4) judge, 
 i.e. jilead in their behalf. Addressed to Ezekiel. 
 
 Teich.f of formal i.fiii. — In 'Mrs. GraxA's Letters from the Moun- 
 tnin;f (180(1). is the following anecdote of the then Duchess of 
 Gordon. "The 'duchess said that on Sunday she never saw com- 
 pan}'. nor played cards, nor went out : in England, indeed, she 
 did so. because every one else did the same, but she would not 
 introduce those manners into this country (Scotland). I stared 
 at these gradations of piety growing warmer as it came north- 
 ward, but was wise enough to stare silently." The tricks of 
 formalism and hypocrisy are evermore the same. Man is regarded 
 more than God. '\Vhat Mrs. Grundy may say has far more influ- 
 ence with many than what the Lord may say. This is miserable 
 meanness and rank impiety.* 
 
 5 — 9. (5) lifted . . hand, the sign of swearing, known, 
 by My judgments and deliverances." I . . God, i.e. I am the 
 God you should serve, and I alone. (6) espied, observed and i 
 
 VOL, IX. O.T, T 
 
 never wholly die, 
 but, in the last 
 cantos of life's 
 romantic epos, 
 they rise up 
 again and do 
 battle, like some 
 of Ariosto's 
 heroes, who have 
 already been 
 
 quietly interred, 
 and oufrht to be 
 turned to dust." 
 — Long/ellotp. 
 
 b Percy Artec. 
 
 a " The conntry 
 of Judoea, from 
 whence the royal 
 family have their 
 orig-inal, was like 
 a fruitful vine ia 
 a floui-ishing con- 
 dition."— Xow/A. 
 
 " The metaphor 
 of tlie binod is less 
 harsh in the Heb. 
 bee. tlie juice of 
 a vine is called in 
 Scr pture its 
 blood. Ge. xlix. 
 ll."-}Vordsicort/t. 
 V. 12. Joji. Ed- 
 Kards, ii. 36. 
 
 6 Burder, 
 
 a " Because y« 
 
 inquire with an 
 
 evil temper, a 
 
 cavilling spirit, 
 
 and a murmuring 
 
 I tone, and not 
 
 I with penitential 
 
 I meeknes.s, and 
 
 ; self - abasement 
 
 ' for your sin, and. 
 
 I with liumblesub- 
 
 I mission to the 
 
 I will of God," — 
 
 I Wordsworlfi. 
 
 j »■?). 1— 3. H.Good- 
 
 I loin, iii. 106. 
 I 
 
 f. 3. R. Warner, 
 
 iii. 147. 
 
 6 Spiu-geon. 
 
 a Ex. iii. 8, iTk 
 31. 
 
290 
 
 h " Ood's name 
 means tho sum 
 total of His 
 perfections ; to 
 manifest these. 
 His gratuitous 
 ^biercy abounding 
 above their sins, 
 yet without 
 wrong to His 
 justice, and so to 
 set forth His 
 glory, was ami is 
 the ultimate end 
 of His dealings." 
 — Faussel. 
 C Dr. Dillon. 
 
 ». 12. Bp. D. Wil- 
 ton, 118. 
 
 a J. D. Hull, M.A. 
 
 V. 12. Though a 
 few passages 
 might be cited 
 where the word 
 "Sabbath" is per- 
 haps used in a 
 general sens;, in- 
 cluding < : Sab- 
 tatical years, and 
 other festivals, 
 which were signs 
 of the relations 
 between Jehovah 
 an'l His people, 
 and distinguish- 
 ed them from Vna 
 Gentiles around, 
 yet there is here 
 a particular re- 
 ference to the 
 geventh-day Sab- 
 bath .which stood 
 par fxcelli'iice in 
 a different posi- 
 tion from all the 
 other . celebra- 
 tious. 
 
 a Vs. Ixxviii 38. 
 " Compassion is 
 an emotion of 
 which we ought 
 never to be 
 ashamed. Grace- 
 ful, particularly 
 In youth, is the 
 tear of sympathy, 
 and the heart 
 that melts at the 
 tale of woe. We 
 should not per- 
 mit ease and 
 ialu'jrence to 
 contract our 
 
 aUectious, aud 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. XX. 10-17. 
 
 chose, as specially suitable for them, glory, or the fairest 
 flower of all lands. (7) cast, etc., though Mo.-es gives no 
 positive record of the Israelites having- taken up with Egyptian 
 idolatries, inclination towards such is implied in the readiness of 
 the people to worship the golden calf. (8; then I said, i.e. 
 even while they were in Egypt I thought of destroying them, 
 (9) my name's sake,* the honour of wh. was pledged in the 
 covenant with the patriarchs. 
 
 The 7wr/i n-ruuf/ht hij God for His nnmr\'i sale (v. 9). — There 
 are three questions to be answered from the text-. "Who ? ^Vhat ? 
 Why ? I. "Who it is that is said to work ? II. "What is it that 
 lie hath wrought ? III. "Why is it that He hath wrought .'« 
 
 10—13. (10) caused . . Egypt, Ex. xiii. IS. (11) statutes, 
 as ©n Mt. Sinai, Ex. xs. man do, Le. xviii. ;") : Ilo. x. H ; Ga. iii. 
 12. (12) sabbaths, Ex. xx. 8, xxxi. 13, xxxv. 2: De. v. 12. 
 (13) polluted, Ex. xvi. 27. I said, etc., comp. Nu. xiv. 29, 
 xxvi. 6j. 
 
 The iSaMmfh Go(l\'! imtfUnt'wn and rjift to man (r. 12). — "We 
 observe— I. That the Sabbath is God's institution ; the appoint- 
 ment is coeval with creation, obviously it was no Hebrew insti- 
 tution, kept in abeyance during the sojourn in Egypt, re-enacted 
 by an express law, made additionally binding by words and 
 example of our Lord. II. That the Sabbath is God's gift, man 
 not made of iron, the body needs it, the mind needs it, above all 
 the soul needs it. III. The ends for which the Sabbath was 
 given. 1. To be a sign between a nation and Him ; 2. To be the 
 means of sanctifying a nation." 
 
 Sahhath-iveaJung. — An Oriental legend tells us that while 
 Solomon was on j on his way to pay a visit to the Queen of 
 Sheba he came to a valley in which dwelt a peculiar tribe of 
 monkeys. Upon inquiring into their history he learned that they 
 were the posterity of a colony of Jews, wlio, settiling in that 
 region many years before, had. by habitually profaui ng the 
 Sabbath, degenerated into the brutes ho found them. This story 
 though having no foundation in fact, nevertheless involves a 
 truth, but it d ^ not illustrate the -hole truth as to the effects 
 of Sabbath-breaking ; for while in this world it sinks the human 
 soul and body nearly to a level with brute life, in the world to 
 come it sinks both > a perdition where to take the lowest jilaco 
 in the lowest rank of brute being would bo an honoi.r and a 
 hapi^iness which the despairing spirit will be denied the jileasure 
 of hoping to enjoy, even to the latest futurity. 
 
 14—17. (14) name's sake, as ?•. 9. (].".) not bring them, 
 i.e. the very people who came out of Egypt : only thf^ir descen- 
 dants entered Canaan. (K!) he went, they hankered after 
 the idolatries of- Egypt, which seemed to them connected with 
 plenty of food. (17) make an end, even in the judgments I 
 brought upon them I remembered mercy." 
 
 Legend of conipasition. — One day. on going into the church, St. 
 Giles found a poor sick man extended upon the pavement, and 
 thereupon took oil his mantle, and spread it over him ; when the 
 man was immediately healed. This and other mir.aeles having 
 attracted the veneration of the people. St. Giles fled from hi3 
 country, and turned hermit ; he wandered from one solitude tc 
 another until he came to a retired wilderness, near the mouth ol' 
 
Cap. XX. 18—26.] 
 
 EZEKIEL.' 
 
 291 
 
 the Rhone, about twelve miles to the south of Nismes. Here lie 
 dwelt in a. cave, by the side of a clear spring-, living ujion the 
 herbs and fruits of the forest, and upon the milk of a hind which 
 had taken uja its abode with him. Now, it came to pass that the 
 king of France (or. according to another legend. AVamba. king of 
 the Goths) was hunting in the neighbourhood ; and the hind, 
 pursued hj the dogs, fled to the cavern of the saint, and took 
 refuge in his arms. The hunters let fly an arrow, and, following 
 on the track, were surprised to find a venerable old man seated 
 there, with the hind in his arms, which the arrow had pierced 
 through his hand. Thereupon the king and his followers, per- 
 ceiving that it was a holy man, prostrated themselves before 
 him, and entreated forgiveness.* 
 
 18—22. (18) their children, when the fathers had fallen 
 by the judgments in the wilderness. The Bk. of Deuteronomy 
 contains these gracious Divine pleadings, (li). 20) hallow, or 
 separate, keep holy." (21) the children rebelled, trying in 
 each fresh generation the patience of God. (22) withdrew my 
 hand, from inflicting the meditated judgment. 
 
 The Sabbath (v. 20).— I. The design of the Sabbath. 1. An 
 emblem of creation ; 2. A memorial of redemption ; 3. A cove- 
 nant sign ; 4. A foretaste of heaven. II. Its necessity. 1. 
 Physical need ; 2. Moral influence. III. Its duties. 1. To God ; 
 2. To ourselves ; 3. To our families ; 4. To others.* 
 
 'The Sabbath. — The Rev. Samuel Kilpin, on descending from 
 the pulpit one Sabbath morning, was politely requested by a 
 stranger to dine with him at an inn. He rei^lied, '• Dine with 
 you, sir, at an inn in Exeter on a Sabbath-day ! No, sir, not if 
 you would give me the city. A minister who has to address souls, 
 on subjects connected with eternity, dine at an inn with company 
 on the Sabbath-day ! No, sir, except from necessity, I never sit 
 with my family, but at a short meal, on the Sabbath. I have to 
 preach to myself as well as to others — excuse my firmness, I feel 
 obliged by your kindness." « 
 
 23—26. (23) scatter them, Le. xxvi. 33 ; De. iv. 27, xxviii. 
 C4. (24) eyes . . idols, comjj. r. 16. (25) statutes . . good, 
 better rend. Jii'IffJiients. as in second sentence. Reference is not 
 to rules of life, or commands, but to Divine dealings as punish- 
 ments. (2()) polluted . . gifts," i.e. by leaving them un- 
 restrained to all the evil practices of their idolatry. 
 
 Ancient enijievor.^. — From among the long list of those in 
 power who, in the first ages of the Christian Church, persecuted 
 the believers in Christ, and who were signally punished for their 
 opposition to the truth, we may mention the following : — Nero 
 ■was driven from his throne, and, perceiving himself in danger of 
 death, became his own executioner ; Domitian was killed by his 
 own servants ; Hadrian died of a distressing disease, which was 
 accompanied with great mental agony : Severus never prospered 
 in his affairs after he persecuted the Church, and was killed by 
 the treachery of his son ; Maximinus reigned but three years, 
 and died a violent death : Decius was drowned in a marsh, and 
 his body never found ; Valerian was taken prisoner by the 
 Persians, and, after enduring the horrors of captivity for several 
 years, was flayed alive ; Diocletian was compelled to resign his 
 empii-e, and became insane ; Maximianue Herculeus wt;s deprived 
 t2 
 
 wrap us np in 
 a selHjh enjoy- 
 ment ; but we 
 should accustom. 
 oir.<elvost) think 
 of the distresses 
 of liuman life, of 
 the solitary cot- 
 tage, the dying 
 p.iient. anil th3 
 weeping orphr.u. 
 Nor ought we 
 ever to sport with 
 pain and distress 
 in any of our 
 amusements, or 
 treat eyen the 
 m vinest insect 
 wiih wanton 
 cruelty." — /Hair, 
 b Mrs. Jameson. 
 
 a " The pollution 
 of the Sabliath 
 consisted in fail- 
 ing to make the 
 day holy in deed 
 as well as in 
 name by earnest 
 worship and true 
 heart service." — 
 ^■ijjl: Com. 
 
 V. 20. /. Mede, I. 
 
 V. 22. T. ikon, T. 
 445. 
 
 b TF. W. Whythe. 
 
 e 'Whitecross. 
 
 a "1 judicially 
 gave them up 
 to pollute them- 
 selves. Their own 
 sin I made their 
 pu nishmeut." — ■ 
 FiHisxpl. 
 
 " God sometimes 
 makes sin to be 
 its own punish- 
 ment, and yet 
 He is not the 
 author of sin ; 
 and there needs 
 no more to make 
 men miserable 
 than to give them 
 up to their own 
 vile appetites an 1 
 passions. Let 
 
 them be put into 
 the hand of their 
 own counsels, 
 and they will 
 ruin themselves 
 and mal.e them- 
 selves desolate." 
 —Mat. ilisiiry. 
 
292 
 
 E7.EKIEL. 
 
 ICap. XX. '2,1 -Z^ 
 
 of his grovernmont, aud ptranp-led : ^raximanns Galerius was sud- 
 denly and awfully removed by death ; and .Severus committed 
 suicide. '• The way of transgressors is hard."'* 
 
 27 — 29. ''27) in this, which the Prophet proceeds to state, 
 viz., the defiling' of the sacred land of covenant and jiromise 
 with such self-willed idolatries, blasphemed, or grievously 
 insulted. (28) lifted . . hand, or put forth ]\Iy power, pro- 
 vocation, etc., reference is to the meat-offering : see ch. 
 xvi. 1!). " Beiup: offered to idols, it became abominable, and was 
 turned into a provocation." drink offerings, Le. xxiii. 18. 
 (2',)) Bamah, or hUjh place. Ezekiel says the very name shows 
 that it was not the place appointed by God.^ 
 
 Jy.-<tice in princrx. — In the rci^n of Theodosius the emperor, a 
 violent sedition arose at Antioch, because he had exacted a new 
 kind of tribute from the people. In the heat of the commotion 
 the populace broke oown the statue of the Empress Placilla. who 
 was lately dead. The emperor in a great rage sent forces against 
 the city to sack It. When the herald came and told this to the 
 citizens, one Macedonius, a wise monk, sent to the herald an 
 answer after this manner : •"Tell the emperor these words. — That 
 he is not only an emperor, but also a man : therefore let him look 
 not only on his empire, but also on himself ; for he, being a 
 man, commands also those who are men ; let him not, then, use 
 men so barbarously, who were made in the image of God. lie is 
 angry, and that justly, becaiise the brazen image of his 
 wife has been contumeliou.sly used ; and shall not the Xing' 
 of heaven be angry to see His glorious image in man con- 
 tumeliously handled .' O wliat a difference there is betwixt 
 the reasonable soul and the brazen image ! We. for this image, 
 are able to set up a hundred : but he is not able to set up a single 
 hair of these men again, if he kill them." These words being 
 told the emperor, he suppressed his anger, and drew back his 
 forces.' 
 
 30 — 32. (30) are ye, this appeal is addressed to the exiles. 
 Notwithstanding all the warnings of men, they persisted in 
 following the evil example of their fathers. " The particle of 
 interrogation often implies a negative." (.31) offer . . gifts, 
 r. 26. through the fire, not merely as a sj-mbol, but in fact 
 burning them to death. It is singular to find this custom 
 retained by the exiles, inquired of, r. 3. (32) as the 
 heathen," such a resolve indicated a repudiation of their rights 
 and privileges as Jehovah's people. 
 
 The pngnntsm of the heart (r. 32). — Look at it — I. As an evil 
 to which the godly are liable. 1. The force of early habits ; 
 
 2. Of social influence ; 3. Of Satanic agency. II. As an evil 
 against which the godly should struggle — 1. By the growth of 
 heavenly sentiments ; 2. Hy closer fellowship with the Divine ; 
 
 3. By a moral conquest over spiritual foes ; i. By a translation 
 into the heavenly world.* 
 
 33 — 38. (33) mighty, etc., sisrns of judgmrnt and severe 
 dealing." (31) the people, better, the peoples ; the various 
 nations. (3o) wilderness, here used figuratively to describe 
 , the time of exile, trial, and discipline, which should be to them 
 nn?l forbearnn'^^^^ I ''^'^i^t the wildemess-time had been to the people on Iheir coming 
 bub viu govern ' out of Ei^'-ypt, (30, 37J under the rod/ a metaphor from Ui© 
 
 V. 21. W. Reading, 
 iL517. 
 
 ( R. T. S. 
 
 a There is here 
 a play upon the 
 •wonls, Jlii, sig- 
 nifying " gc," 
 anil nvih, "tr/ial." 
 Baniali, or, What 
 go thoy to ? 
 Comp. E.x. xvi. 
 15. 
 
 " Tlie name Bn- 
 tnnh was a brand 
 of the Divine 
 displeasure, and 
 a memorial of 
 the people's 
 guilt."-^V^i-. Com. 
 " Instead of the 
 word Misbrfirh, 
 tlie name which 
 God appropriated 
 to His own altar, 
 the plafe is 
 usually called 
 Bamali, a name 
 ■taken from an 
 idoliitrous cus- 
 tom."— Z,oir(A. 
 
 r. 27. W. Nind, 
 ii. 338. 
 
 a " Puch was 
 Israel's infatu- 
 ated resolve. But 
 God mercifully 
 interposed to pre- 
 vent its execu- 
 tion, by dispers- 
 ing them, as He 
 liad mercifully 
 delivered them 
 from Egyptian 
 idolatry, by 
 bringing theu\ 
 into the wilder- 
 ness." — Words- 
 worth. 
 
 V. 32. R. n. 
 Froudr, Rim. ii. 
 173; J. Randall, 
 382. 
 b Dr. Tliomas. 
 
 « " I -will no 
 longer try to 
 reclaim you by 
 the gentle me 
 
Cap. XX. 39—49.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 293 
 
 shepherd, and meaning-, to be gathered into the flock. Le. xxvii. 
 32.'-' The shepherd takes account of the condition of each sheep 
 as the flock passes, one by one. under his rod. bond, or obliga- 
 tions and responsibilities. (88) ]3urge you, etc., " the election 
 of the good involves the rejection of the bad." ■* 
 
 Cunvi'rsUm : in its Cdniiiu-nocincnt and irrofjvcus (i^. 37). — I. In 
 its commencement God accomplishes it in a variety of ways. 
 1. By the dispensations of His [irovidence ; 2. By the conversion 
 of .'-ome pious friend ; 3. By the public ministry of the Word ; 
 4. By the secret operation of His Spirit upon the soul. II. In 
 its progress — 1. He reveals that covenant to us ; 2. He enables 
 us to lay hold on it ; 3. He confers upon us all the blessings. 
 Eemarks:— (1) How sovereign God is in the dispensations of His 
 mercy ; (2) How mysterious are His dealings with the children 
 of men ; (3) How you may best answer all the purposes of 
 His gi'ace.« 
 
 I'dxn'iiuj under the rod. — It was the custom among the Jews to 
 select the tenth of their sheep (see Le. xxvii. 32) after this 
 manner. The lambs were separated from the dams, and enclosed 
 in a sheep-cote with only one narrow way out. The dams were 
 left immediately without. On opening the gate their young 
 instantly hastened to join their mother, when a man, placed 
 at the entrance, with a rod dipped in ochre, touched every tenth 
 lamb, and so marked it Avith his rod, and said, '• Let this be holy 
 in the name of the tenth." The passage in Ezekiel, divested of 
 its flgurative form, appears to have this signification, that God 
 would deliver a remnant of His peo]ile who were then in captivity 
 in Babylon ; that He would take ];articular notice of them, and 
 count them one by one, as a she2)herd does his sheei) ; and, 
 marking them for His own peculiar service, bring them into the 
 privileges of the covenant which He had made with them./ 
 
 39—44. (39) go ye, serve, this is evidently spoken in 
 irony ; indicating that God prefers the open idolater to the 
 secret hypocrite. Be not half and half, naming My name, and 
 serving your idols at the same time. (40) holy mountain, 
 where God"s temple was. all of them, both those of Judah 
 and of Israel, firstfruits, or chief. (41) be sanctified, or 
 honoured, Je. xxxiii. 9. (42) know, or fully experience and 
 realise. (43) remember, call to mind, and on account of past 
 doings humble yourselves in the dust. (44) my name's sake," 
 the supreme reason for the Divine action is the necessity for 
 upholding, in the view of men, the Divine honour. 
 
 A .vveet savour (v. 41). — 1. Such are the merits of the Great 
 Redeemer ; 2. There was sweet savour in His active life ; 
 3. So too in His passive obedience ; 4. For the sake of these 
 two things the Lord accejits ns : 5. None can be accepted 
 withoiit Christ ; but having received His merit, you oinnot be 
 unaccepted.* 
 
 45—49. (4.5) moreover, this is properly the beginning- of 
 a new prephecy, and so should have commenced ch. xxi. 
 (•U'>) south, so J"uda3a is situated in relation to the place where 
 Ezekiel was in the north of Babylonia, drop thy word, De. 
 xxxii. 2 : Is. Iv. 10." forest . . field, fig. for land of Israel : '' 
 perhaps bee. the stately buildings of a city resemble the tall 
 iortst trees. (47) fire, fig. for the destruction wrought b/ the 
 
 you as masters 
 do ill servauts, by 
 strijies and cor- 
 rections, and by 
 this 7iieans cure 
 .vou of yi ur han- 
 kering after the 
 heathen customs 
 and idolatries."^ 
 Louih. 
 
 b " Lord, \vave 
 again Thy chas- 
 tening rod, till 
 every idol throne 
 crumble to dust, 
 and Tliou. God, 
 reign in our 
 liearts alone."— 
 KMe. 
 
 c Je. xxxiii. 13. 
 
 d Eo. xi. 7—11. 
 
 V. 35. B. Bed^ 
 dojHP. ii. 30; if. 
 £. misun, 317. 
 
 e C. >Sim(on, Af.A. 
 
 / Visitor, 
 
 a "His reasons 
 were all fetched 
 from Himself. 
 Had He dealt 
 with them 'ac- 
 cording to their 
 wicked ways and 
 corrupt doings,' 
 He would have 
 left them to be 
 scattered and 
 lost, but He re- 
 covered and re- 
 stored them for 
 the sake of His 
 own name, not 
 only tliat It 
 might not be 
 roUuted. but that 
 He might be 
 s a n c t i H e d ia 
 them before the 
 heathen." — Mat. 
 Ileiin/. 
 b Dr. T/iomas. 
 
 a "The gift of 
 prophecy is com- 
 pared to raiu, 
 or the dew of 
 henven, which 
 m a k e s every- 
 thing fruitful. 
 Such is the bene- 
 fit of sound doc- 
 trine wherever it 
 is received." -^ 
 Lowch, 
 
294 
 
 F.ZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxi. 1—7, 
 
 b " Judah anil 
 Jerusalem are 
 Cixlled forests, not 
 only bee. tliey 
 hail been full of 
 people, as a wood 
 of ti-ees. but bee. 
 they had been 
 empty of fruit, 
 fir fruit trees 
 grow not in a 
 forest. T hose 
 that sliould have 
 been as tlie gar- 
 den of the Lord 
 had become like 
 B forest." — Mai. 
 Henry. 
 
 e Mat. xiii. 14, 15. 
 d G. liruuks. 
 
 a "The Prophet 
 is not now touch- 
 ing the question 
 as to the e.\tent 
 to which the 
 righteous suffer 
 with the wicked. 
 That, as a m.atter 
 of fact, national 
 udgment in- 
 volves the inno- 
 cent in the tem- 
 poral ruin of the 
 guilty, there is 
 no doubt. The 
 equity of God is 
 vindicated by the 
 ruin being only 
 temporal." — Spk. 
 Com. 
 
 b Eze. XX. 47. 
 
 vv. 1, 2. Dr. T. 
 Morion, 400. 
 
 e JR. Ball 
 
 a Job xl. IG ; Ps. 
 Ixvi. 1 1, l.\i.K. ; 
 Is. xxi. 3. 
 " Now wliat a 
 sullen-blooded 
 fool was this, at 
 sulks with earth 
 and heaven 1 
 Could he not out- 
 weep liis passion 
 like a blustering 
 day and be clear- 
 skied thcre- 
 »fter ?" 
 ~-A. Smith. 
 "In man or wo- 
 man, Vmt far 
 most in man. and 
 most of all in 
 tuuu that minis- 
 
 Chaklaeans. all faces, or all tlie surface of the country. 
 (48) not . . quenclied, until its full mission of destruction i3 
 wroug-ht out. (4 'J) parables, or in metaphors wh. we cannot 
 understand." 
 
 I'rcachcr.i {v. 49). — I. The charge broujrht ajrainst the preachers 
 of the Oosi'cl. 1. That they ])rcach what is unreal ; 2. \\ hat is 
 uniutelli<,nble : 3. ^Vhat is allegorical. II. Some of the state- 
 ments of prcachei's of the Gospel on which this charge against 
 them is founded. 1. Those which relate to the natural condition 
 of mankind : 2. To the evidences of conversion ; 3. To the 
 happiness of religion ; 4. To the future punishment of the 
 finally impenitent.'' 
 
 CHAPTER THE TIFENTY-FIRST. 
 
 1—5. (1, 2) Jerusalem, comp. sotiih, ch. xx. 46. holy 
 places, i.e. the temple and its surrounding buildings. (.3) nay 
 sword, wh. is the king of Bab.ylou. righteous, etc.. in a 
 general calamity wh. would affect all classes. Comp. ch. xx. 47." 
 
 (4) south. . . north, i.e. from one end of the land to the other.* 
 
 (5) not return, i.e. into its sheath until its mission is 
 accomplished. 
 
 I'retty preaching. — I am tormented with the de.sire of writing 
 better than I can. I am tormented, say I, with the desire of 
 preaching better than I can. But I have no wish to make fine, 
 pretty sermons. Prettiness is well enough when prettincss is in 
 place. I like to see a pretty child, a pretty flower : but in 
 sermons prettiness is out of place. To my ear it should be 
 anything but commendation, should it be said to me, " You have 
 given us a pretty sermon." If I were put upon trial for my 
 life, and my advocate should amuse the jury with tiopes and 
 figures, or bury his arguments beneath a profusion of flowers of 
 his rhetoric, I would say to him, '• Tut, man, you care more for 
 your vanity than for my hanging. Put yourself in my place, 
 speak in view of the gallows, and you will tell your story plainly 
 and earnestly." I have no objections to a lady winding a sword 
 with ribbons, and studding it with roses as she presents it to her 
 hero-lover ; but in the day of battle he will tear away the 
 ornaments, and use the naked edge on the enemy.' 
 
 6, 7. (G) sigh, i.e. give irablic indication of your intense 
 grief and concern, breaking . . loins, as if utterly bowed 
 down by the weight of troubles. '-The loins are the seat of 
 strength." " The breaking of the loins is a fig. for the utter 
 prostration of the strength. (7) tidings, of the peril and woe 
 of Jerusalem, melt, etc., ch. vii. 17. 
 
 Crying in the irronfi place. — I remember (says Foster, in 
 speaking of Eobert Hall), at the distance of many years, with 
 what vividness of the ludicrous he related an anealote of a 
 preacher long since deceased, of some account in his day and 
 connection. He would, in preaching, sometimes weep, or 
 seem to weep, when the people wondered why, as not perceiving 
 in what he was saying- any cause for such emotion in the exact 
 Y)laces where it occurred. After his death one of his hearers, 
 happening to inspect some of his manuscript sermons, exclaimedi 
 
Cap. xxi. 8—17.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 295 
 
 " I have found the explanation ; we used to wonder at the good 
 doctor's weeping with so little reason sometimes as it seemed. 
 In his sermons there is written here and there on the margins, 
 ' Cry here.' Now I really believe the doctor sometimes mis- 
 took the place, and that was the cause of what appeared so 
 unaccountable.' ' 
 
 8—13. (8, 0) a sword, r. 2.'» furbished,* or brightened, 
 made every way ready for immediate war. (10) glitter, and 
 to excite alarm. contemneth, etc., trans. " The sceptre of 
 my son contemneth all wood.' <^ (11) handled, and put at 
 once to its use. (12) cry and howl, com p. the sighing of 
 the Prophet, as a kroker on, with the howling of those who 
 actually suffered, sniite . . thigh, one of the natural expres- 
 sions of exceeding distress. (13; trial, or time of trial, the 
 rod, or sceptre. Here a fig. for the prince, then reigning, who 
 was of David's house.'' 
 
 Ttrn 2)re<iclic):f — llcr. G. -Wlilte field. — When visiting America 
 the llev. G. Whitetield often stood on the outside steps of the 
 court-house in Philadelphia, and ^jrcachcd to thousands who 
 crowded the streets below. On one of these occasions a youth 
 pressed as near to his favourite preacher as possible ; and, to 
 testify his respect, held a lantern for his accommodation. Soon 
 after the sermon began, he became so absorbed in the subject, 
 that the lantern fell from his hand, and was dashed to i^ieces ; 
 and that part of the audience in the immediate vicinity of the 
 speaker's station were not a little discomposed by the occurrence. 
 Some years after, Mr. Whiteiield, in the course of his fifth visit to 
 America, about the year 1754, on a journey from the southward, 
 called at St. George's, in Delaware, where Mr. Kodgers was then 
 settled in the ministry, and spent some time with him. In the 
 cours3 of this visit, Mr. Rodgers, riding one day with his visitor 
 in a close carriage, asked him whether he recollected the occur- 
 rence of the little boy who ^^'as so much affected with his 
 preac'ning as to let the lantern fall. Mr. Whitefield answered, 
 " Oh yes 1 I remember it well, and have often thought I would 
 give anything in my power to know who that little boy was, 
 and what had become of him." Mr. Eodgers replied with a 
 smile, " I am that little boy." Mr. Whitefield, with tears of joy, 
 Btarted from his seat, clasped him in his arms, and with strong 
 emotions remarked that he was the fourteenth person then in the 
 ministry whom he had discovered in the course of that visit 
 to America, of whose hopeful conversion he had been the instru- 
 ment.' — JJr. Stauntnn. — Dr. Staunton was called the searching 
 preacher. Once, when preaching at Warborough, near Oxford, 
 a man M-as so much affected w^ith his first prayer, that he ran 
 home and desired his wife to get ready and come to church, for 
 there was one in the pulpit who prayed like an angel. The 
 woman hastened away and heard the sermon, which, under the 
 Divine blessing, was the means of her conversion, and she 
 afterwards proved an eminent Christian.-^ 
 
 14 — 17. (14) third time, to express the violence of the 
 threatening judgment. Let its stroke be repeated again and 
 again. '• Doubled " means " multiplied," or " repeated." sword 
 . . slain, or by which many are slain, privy chambers, 
 indicating the "sack" of the city. (15) point, or ''whirling 
 
 ters and serves 
 the altar, in my 
 sciul I loathe all 
 affectation ; 'tid 
 my perfect scoru; 
 object of my im- 
 placable dis- 
 gust." — Cowpcr, 
 
 a De. xxxii. 41. 
 
 " The faithful 
 servant of God 
 saw God arming 
 Himself as a 
 miglity man for 
 the war, and the 
 glittering sword 
 of vengeance in 
 His hand, and ha 
 calls aloud to 
 hit countrymea 
 all at ease, with 
 awakeuiiig thun- 
 ders, "A swoi-d,' 
 etc. " — J/f C'luyne. 
 b Fr. fourbir ; 
 It. forhire ; Gar. 
 f u rb a u, to 
 cleanse. 
 
 c Revised English 
 Bible. 
 
 " The trees of 
 Judah Blight ba 
 consumed ; bub 
 they imagined 
 that the rod, or 
 sceptre, in the 
 hands of the 
 King of Judah, 
 \v h o m the y, 
 adopting God'3 
 words, call His 
 Sou, would ba 
 indestructible." — 
 Wordsworth. \ 
 
 d " What horrors 
 will not arise 
 
 , when the sword 
 shall cut down, 
 without regard, 
 the ruling scep- 
 tre o Judah ?" — 
 Karlsruhe Trans. 
 of Bible. 
 
 IT. 9,10. J.H.B. 
 Mountain, 345 ; 
 R. M. McCheyne, 
 Hem. 31G ; A'. A. 
 Huckling, 315. 
 e R. T. S. 
 
 / Whitecross. 
 
 " If yon always 
 I'-^e with those 
 who are lame, 
 you will yourself 
 learn to Uuip."— 
 Eioiii t/ie Latin. ' 
 
296 
 
 ^EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxl. 18—24! 
 
 a Fairbdirn. 
 
 t Henderson. 
 
 e " In its scnb- 
 bnrti, that tlic 
 eilfre ]i:ny not be 
 blunt when it is 
 presentlj' drawn 
 forth to strilie." 
 —Fitussel, 
 
 d Ges'mius. 
 
 t Grotius. 
 
 " Brfice thyself 
 together; string 
 together all thy 
 nerves ; concen- 
 trate all thy 
 force. God ad- 
 dresses the sword, 
 and gives it a 
 comnjission to go 
 forth as a mighty 
 man, or as a 
 powerful army 
 with all its forces 
 nerved together 
 ngainst Jerusa- 
 1 e m." — }y'oiUs- 
 xcoiih. 
 
 / Roherts. 
 
 a Je. xxvii. 2, 3. 
 
 For Eabbah or 
 Ruhbitlh, see 2 
 Sa. xii. 20 ; Je. 
 xlix. 2 ; Eze. xxv. 
 6. 
 
 Submission to 
 God implies that 
 ■we justify Him 
 in everything 
 that He does— 
 that we approve 
 all that God does 
 — that we cleave 
 to God in the 
 •midst of all. 
 
 b Job Caryl. 
 
 oNo-xriii. 23. 
 
 » « The Chal- 
 dseans niarl;»'d 
 upon tlie arrows 
 tl e names of the 
 places they had 
 in view, or the 
 alternatives they 
 Bubinitted to this 
 d e t e r 111 iiiatiou. 
 They then drew 
 the arrows from 
 the quiver at a 
 Teutiue, au(i the 
 
 glance of the sword:"" naked, bared, sword.* ruins, lit. 
 '• stumbliujj-blocks." wrapped/ or draivn; 'prepared to flash 
 forth, drawn for slaughter;" s-harpcned.'' (Ki) go .. hand, 
 " Unite th.y forces on the right hand.'"' (17") smite hands, as 
 an expression of indignation. 
 
 " iimitc iJiy hands tixjcthcr.'' — To smite the hand.s together, m 
 the East, amounts to an oath ! In the seventeenth verse, Lhe 
 Lord says, in reference to Jerusalem, " I will also smite ]My hands 
 together, and I will cause My fury to rest : I the Lord have said." 
 By the solemn smiting of hands it was shown the word had 
 gone forth, and would not be recalled. When a priest delivers a 
 message to the people, when he relates anything which he pro- 
 fesses to have received from the gods, he smites his hands 
 together, and says, "True." Does a Pandarum. or other kind of 
 religious mendicant, consider himself to be insulted, he smites 
 his hands against the individuals, and pronounces his impreca- 
 tions upon them, crying aloud, " True. true, it will all come upon 
 you." Should a person, when speaking of anything Avhieh is 
 certain to happen, bo doubted by others, he will immediately 
 smite his hands. " Have you heard that Muttoo has been killed 
 by a tiger?" "No! nor do I believe it." The relater will then 
 (if true) smite together his hands, which at once confirms the 
 fact. '■ Those men cannot escape for any great length of time, 
 because the king has smitten his hands : " meaning, he has sworn 
 to have them taken. Jehovah did smite i±is hands together 
 against Jerusalem./ 
 
 IS — 20. (18, 19) two ways, these were to be marked, as on 
 a map — one leading to Jerusalem, the other to Ammon. (20^ to 
 Rabbath, dc, it seems that Zedekiah invited the Ammonites 
 to an alliance in opposition to the Chalda^ans :" this, however, 
 would only draw down destruction on both. 
 
 Vi'aiis of God 711 i/Ktrr ions. — God hath ways and judgments 
 which man cannot reach unto. Some of His ways are acted, as 
 we say, above board : they are done in a clear light : he that runs 
 may see and read them, and God in them ; he that runs may 
 read love written upon some of them in letters of gold, or with 
 beams of light. And he that runs may read wrath written upon 
 others of them in letters of blood, or with streams of darkness, 
 and the very shadows of death ; but some ways of God are so 
 curtained about and veiled, so hidden and obscured, that wo can- 
 not perceive them. Though all the ways of God are ways of 
 light, yet matiy of them are in the dark to man. " how un- 
 searchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding 
 out.'* 
 
 21 — 24. (21) parting . . way, i.e. where the roads divided, 
 one leading to Ammon, and one to Jerusalem. He was uncertain 
 which to attack first, divination, " the common word fo/ any 
 kind of superstitious omen."" arrows bright, or he shook his 
 arrows.* images, or teraiihim.' looked . . liver, or entrails 
 of auim.ils offered for sacrifice. Particular appearances, wh. 
 Avere really due to the auinial's freedom fr. disease, Wi re regarded 
 as ho)iefiil. (22) for Jerusalem, i.e. to settle whether he 
 should go fir.«t to Jerusalem, appoint . . rams, ch. iv. 2. (2;i) 
 unto them, i.r. to the Jews, sworn oaths, of fealty to 
 Babylon. Prob, Nebuc.s auger at theii- unfaithfuluesa decided 
 
"Cap; xxi. 25-32.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 297 
 
 his going first to Jerus. (24) taken . . hand, or fall into the 
 hands of the Bab. king. 
 
 Uirinaf 1(1/1 hi/ arruirs. — " He made his arrows bright." This 
 was for the jiurpose of divination. Jerome on this passage says 
 that '■ the manner of divining by arrows was thus : They wrote 
 on several arrows the names of the cities they intended to make 
 ■war against, and then putting them pmmiscuously all together 
 into a quiver, they caused them to be drawn out in the manner 
 of lots, and that city whose name was on the arrow first drawn 
 out. was the first they assaulted." A method of this sort of 
 divination, different from the former, is worth noticing. Delia 
 Valle says : '• I saw at Aleppo a Mohammedan, who caused two 
 persons to sit upon the ground, one opposite to the other, and 
 .gave them four arrows into their hands, which both of them 
 held with their points downward, and as it were in two right 
 lines united one to the other. Then, a question being put to him 
 about any business, he fell to murmur his enchantments, and 
 thereby caused the said four arrows of their own accord to unite 
 their points together in the midst (though he that held them 
 stirred not his hand), and. according to the future event of the 
 matter, those of the right side were placed over those of the left, 
 or on the contrary.'' Tliis practice the writer refers to diabolical 
 influence. The method of divination practised by some of the 
 idulatrous Arabs, but which is prohibited by the Koran, is too 
 singular to be unnoticed. " The arrows used by them for this 
 purpose were like those with which they cast lots, being without 
 heads or feathers, and were kept in the temple of some idol, in 
 whose presence they were consulted. Seven such arrows were 
 kept at the temple of Mecca ; but generally in divination they 
 make use of three only, on one of which was written. My Lord 
 hath commanded me ; on another. My Lord hath forbidden me ; 
 and the third was blank. If the first was drawn, they looked on 
 it as an approbation of the enterprise in question : if the second, 
 they ma.de a contrary conclusion : but if the third happened to 
 be drawn, they mixed them, and drew over again, till a decisive 
 answer was given by one of the others. These divining arrows 
 were generally consulted before anything of moment was under- 
 taken, as when a man was about to marry, or about to go a 
 journey, or the like."'' 
 
 25—27. (2.j) profane, -wicked, we should say profanely. 
 The word used, however, means "pierced through."" (20) 
 diadem, for he shall no longer be king. (27) overturn, etc., 
 repeated to increase the solemnity, whose right it is, coiitp. 
 Ge. xlix. 10. There can be no full and satisfactory reference of 
 this expression save to Messiah. 
 
 Crotvnn (v. 2G). — I. Some of the crowns that will at death be 
 taken oif, — of wealth, of nobility, etc. 11. Some of the crowns 
 that will not be taken off, — of character, of life, etc. — Social 
 chanfjes suhserrient to the liiiKjilom of Cliriat (v. 27). — I. Join in 
 a protest against the passion for mere change and commotion. 
 II. There are things that a good man will wish might be over- 
 turned. 1. False, pernicious religion ; 2. Military despotisms ; 
 3. Etc., etc.* 
 
 28 — 32. (28) Ammonites, r. 20. reproach, or scorning of 
 Judah, (29) see vanity, or indulge false confidences of their 
 
 one that first 
 came firth wilh 
 one of the nuirkg 
 upon it, was re- 
 gan.led not only 
 as supplying 
 tlie re.-punse re- 
 quireil, but as 
 nuuiifesfing tlie 
 will of tlie puds, 
 and lis conveying 
 an assurance of 
 success iu the 
 enterprise in 
 
 view."— A'('«o. 
 
 " The method of 
 obtaining an 
 
 omen, by sliaking 
 lots together in 
 a helmet, was 
 faiiiiliar to the 
 ancient &reeks." 
 — Spk. Com. 
 
 c Ge. xxxi. 19. 
 
 i: 22. J. C. Die- 
 leric, Ant. 653. 
 
 It does not sup- 
 pose insensibility 
 to the atHictions 
 under -which we 
 are called to cul- 
 tivate it. It does 
 not supiKise that 
 we are not to 
 employ the 
 m-aiis wliich are 
 within ouri)ower, 
 with a view to 
 the iirevention of 
 evil. Nor is prayer 
 to God against 
 1 evil inconsistent 
 with submission 
 to Him under it. 
 
 d Burder. 
 
 a " To Ezekiera 
 idealising view 
 Zedaldah was the 
 grand victim 
 'pierced through' 
 by God's sword 
 of judgments, as 
 his sons were 
 slain before his 
 eyes, which were 
 then put out, and 
 he was led a cap- 
 tive in chains to 
 Babylon."- Faut- 
 set. 
 
 V. 26. W. A. But- 
 
 ler, ii. luc, 
 
 b J. Foster. 
 
298 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxil. 1-4, 
 
 a All image taken 
 from the smelt- 
 ing of metals. 
 
 b '• .lastly is tlioir 
 name blotteil out 
 wliu wouM liave 
 Israel's name for 
 ever lost." — Mat. 
 Henry. 
 
 " Superstition is 
 a word so often 
 useil.that the evil 
 whicli it desig- 
 nates lias passed 
 for innocent 
 and playful ab- 
 errations of ig- 
 norance. Were 
 1 to attempt its 
 description, 1 
 would s.ay that 
 superstition is 
 the restless effort 
 of a guilty but 
 blind conscience 
 to find rest, and 
 peace, and good, 
 by uiiautlioriseil 
 propitiations and 
 ceremonies; ami 
 the horrid nature 
 of these pro))i- 
 tiations, and the 
 multitude of 
 
 these ceremonies, 
 equally prove the 
 strong feeling of 
 distress in the 
 soul, and the in- 
 efficiency of the 
 means used to 
 remove it." — R. 
 Watson. 
 
 a 2 Ki. xxi. 16; 
 Eze. xxiii. 37, 45, 
 xxiv. 6. 9. 
 h " Instead of de- 
 riving advantage 
 from her bloody 
 sacrifice to idols, 
 she only thereby 
 brought on her- 
 self the time of 
 herpunishmeot." 
 — Fmisset. 
 e Ltiirlh. 
 
 The most agree- 
 able of all com- 
 panions is a 
 simple, frank 
 man, without 
 any high pre- 
 tensions to an 
 
 security, upon the necks, i.e. casting- thy slain in heaps, 
 have an end, or reach its doom. (:)0) shall . . sheath? w. 4, 
 o. in the place, i.e. thou ehalt be destroyed in thy land, not 
 carried captive. (31) blow .. wrath," .stp ch. xxii. liO — 22. 
 brutish, or burning. (32) no more remembered, ch. xxv. 
 10. They should, as a nation, be consigned to oblivion.* 
 
 Atiinum. — It was prophesied concerning- Ammon, '• Son of man, 
 set thy face again.st the Ammonites, and i)rophcsy against them. 
 I will make Kabbah of the Ammonites a stable for camels, and a 
 couching-place for flocks, liehold, I will stretch out ]\Iy hand 
 upon thee, and deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen ; I will cut 
 thee off from the people, and cause thee to perish out of the 
 countries ; I will destroy thee. Tiae Ammonites shall not be 
 remembered among the nations. Eabbah, the chief city of the 
 Ammonites, shall be a desolate heap. Ammon shall be a per- 
 petual desolation." "Ammon was to be delivered to be a spoil 
 to the heathen — to be destroyed, and to be a perpetual desolation." 
 " All this country, formerly so populous and flourishing, is now 
 changed into a vast deaert." Ruins are seen in every direction. 
 The country is divided between the Turks and the Arabs, but 
 chiefly possessed by the latter. The extortions of the one and 
 the depredations of the other, keep it in perpetual desolation, and 
 make it a spoil to the heathen. '■ The far greater part of the 
 country is uninhabited, being abandoned to the wandering Arabs, 
 and the towns and villages are in a state of total ruin.' ''At 
 every step are to be found the vestiges of ancient cities, the 
 remains of many temples, puVilic edifices, and Greek churches." 
 The cities are desolate. '■ JMany of the ruins present no object 
 of any interest. They consist of a few walls of dwelling-houses, 
 heaps of stones, the foundations of some public edifices, and a 
 few cisterns filled up : there is nothing entire, but it appears 
 that the mode of building ^^'as ver^^ solid, all the remains being 
 formed of large stones. In the vicinity of Ammon there is a 
 fertile plain interspersed Tf\ith low hills, which, for the greater 
 part, are covered with ruins." 
 
 CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SECOND. 
 
 1—4. (1, 2) judge, or pronounce judgment on. Comp. ch. xx. 
 4, xxiii. 3(5. bloody city, lit. " city of bloods."" show her, 
 or make her to know. (3) time may come, ch. vii. 7.* (4) 
 unto thy years, i.e. thy years of visitation and judgments. 
 '• Thou hast filled up the measure of thine iniquities, aiid brought 
 the time of vengeance upon thyself." '• reproach, etc., De. 
 xxviii. 37. 
 
 I^uddcn judgment. — A sad catastrophe befell the town of Pieurs, 
 in Italy, in the year 1618. It was situated beneath Mount Conto, 
 and on the very site of a buried town, whose fate might have 
 given forewarning. A gay, laughter-loving, thoughtless little 
 town it was ; and as the sun set on the 4th of September, the 
 people lay down to rest, or pursued their festivities far into the 
 night, without a dream of danger : but in the darkness of that 
 night JMount Conto fell and destroyed them all. A great roar 
 was heard far over the country ; a shock felt, as of an earthquake, 
 
Cap. xxii. 5—12.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 and then a solemn stillness followed. In the morning, a cloud 
 of dust and vapour hung over the valley, and the bed of the 
 river was dry. All the excavations that have been made have 
 failed to discover a single vestige of the inhabitants or their 
 dwellings. The cathedral, with its gold and jewels, the churches, 
 liouses, and hovels, the priests, peasants, and nobles, there lie at 
 rest till the great day. In such a fearful ruin shall those perish 
 who, having lived under the very shadow of Christ's salvation all 
 their lives, receive at last the heavy doom of those who, having 
 had the offer, have yet '"rejected so great salvation."'' 
 
 5—8. (5) those, i.e. those countries." infamous, or defiled 
 in name. (6) princes, including the king's family, and the 
 chief officers, to their power, or up to the measure of their 
 ability, each was guilty of violence and bloodshed.'' (7) light . . 
 mother, so transgressing the foundation-law of social morality.*' 
 stranger, who should have been the object of kindly hosi^itality 
 and charity. (8) holy things, those connected with sacred 
 worship. 
 
 Bndiis. — President Davis, in his sermons, remarks: — How 
 astonishing was the rigid justice of Brutus the elder, who, in 
 spite of all the passions of a father, passed sentence of death 
 upon his own sons for conspiring against the liberty of their 
 country. 'WTiile these j^ouths stood trembling and ^-eeping before 
 him, and hoping their tears would be the most powerful defence 
 "with a father ; while the senate whispered for the moderation of 
 the punishment, and that they might escape with banishment ; 
 while his fellow consul was silent : while the multitude trembfed, 
 and expected the decision with horror ; the inexorable Brutus 
 rose, in all the stern majesty of justice, and turning to the lictors, 
 who were the executioners, said to them, " To you, lictors, I 
 deliver them." In this sentence he persisted, inexorable, not- 
 withstanding the weeping intercession of the multitude, and the 
 cries of the young men. calling upon their father by the most 
 endearing names. The lictors seized them, stripped them naked, 
 bound their hands behind them, beat them with rods, and then 
 struck off their heads ; the inexorable Brutus looking on the 
 bloody spectacle with unaltered countenance. Thus the father 
 was lost in the judge ; the love of justice overcame all the fond- 
 ness of the parent ; private interest was swallowed up in regard 
 for the public good and the honour and security of government. 
 This, perhaps, is the most striking resemblance of the justice of 
 Deity that can be found in the history of mankind. But how 
 far short does it fall ! How trifling were the sufferings of these 
 youths compared with those of the Son of God ! They, too. were 
 criminals ; He was holy and free from sin. How insignificant 
 the law and government for which they suffered, to that of the 
 Divine ! How small the good of the public in the one case to 
 that of the other ! <>■ 
 
 9—12. (9) carry tales, to slander others ; or to bear false 
 ■v\'itness so as to bring others into judgment." (10) in thee, etc., 
 comp. ch. xviii. 6. 01) committed abomination, reference 
 is to sins related to the social and moral relationships, which are 
 carefully defined in the laws of Moses. (12) taken gifts, etc., 
 Ex. xxiii. 8 ; De. xvi. 19. 
 
 Extortion Qv. 12). — There is surely no part of the world worse 
 
 299 
 
 oppressive great- 
 ness ; one who 
 loves life, and 
 understands the 
 ute of it ; obhg- 
 iug alike rt all 
 hours ; above all, 
 of a golden tem- 
 per, and stedfast 
 as an anchor. 
 For such a one 
 we gladly ex- 
 change the great- 
 est genius, the 
 most brilliant 
 wit, the pro- 
 foundest thinker. 
 d Cheever. 
 
 a Eze. xvi. 57. 
 b Eze. ix. 9, xvL 
 38, xxiii. 37, 45. 
 c De. xxvii. 16. 
 " When the brave 
 man gives his 
 shattered arm to 
 the surgeon's 
 knife, will may 
 prevent even the 
 quiver ot an eye- 
 lid ; but no will 
 and no courage 
 can reverse his 
 sensations, or 
 prevent the 
 operation from 
 inflicting pain. 
 When the heart 
 is raw, and smart- 
 ing from recent 
 bereavement, let 
 there be the 
 deepest and 
 most reverential 
 submission to the 
 highest will, is it 
 possible not to 
 wince ? Can any 
 caut demand for 
 submission ex- 
 tort the profes- 
 sion that pain is 
 pleasure ?" — F. 
 ir. liober-tson. 
 " He who comes 
 from the kitchen 
 smells of its 
 smoke ; he who 
 adheres to a sect 
 lias something of 
 its cant ; the col- 
 lege air pursues 
 the student."— 
 Lnralpi: 
 d R. T. S. 
 
 a Le. xLc 16L 
 
800 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxii. 13-23. 
 
 h HdberU. 
 
 a Eze. xxi. 14, 17. 
 
 b " TIioii Shalt by 
 thine own fault 
 forfeit the privi- 
 leges of a holy 
 na t i o n." — Spk. 
 Com. 
 
 V. 14. Jnn. Ed- 
 wards, ii. 78. 
 
 " I warn every 
 aspirant for 
 wealth ag-ninst 
 the infernal 
 canker of selfl^h- 
 iiess. It will 
 eat out the 
 heart with the 
 fire of hell, or 
 bake it harder 
 than a stone. 
 The heart of 
 avaricious okl 
 age stands like a 
 bare rock in a 
 bleak wilderness, 
 and there is 
 no rod of au- 
 thority, nor in- 
 cautaliou of 
 
 pleasure, which 
 can draw from it 
 one crystal drop 
 to quench the 
 raging thirst for 
 B a t i sfaction." — 
 Beeclier. 
 
 CR.T.S. 
 
 » Also Isa. iv. 4 ; 
 Je. vi. 2'J ; Zee. 
 siii. 9. 
 
 vv. 17—19. C. 
 Benson, Ilids. 
 Ln. 335 ; Dr. 
 Owen, xvii. 493. 
 " Great vices are 
 the proper ob- 
 jects of our de- 
 testation, smaller 
 faults of our 
 pity; but .affec- 
 tation appears to 
 be the only true 
 
 than the East for usury and extortion. A rich man will think 
 nothing of demanding twenty per cent, for hi.s precious loan. 
 Does a person wish to buy or sell an article : does he want to 
 avoid any office or duty, or to gain a situation, or place any 
 person under an obligation : he cannot think of doing the 
 one or the other, without giving himself into the hands of the 
 extortioner.'' 
 
 13—16. (13) smitten my hand, as an expression of my 
 indignation." (H) can, otc, ch. xxi. 7. (1.5) consume, by 
 the fires of national calamity. ( KJ) shall take, better, ''Thou 
 shalt be profaned by thyself in the sight of the heathen."* "2so 
 longer enjoy the privileges of a city called by My name." 
 
 Lord Chief Baron Siinjfhe. — In the year 1772. says a respectable 
 writer. I spent the summer in London, and being upon a visit to 
 a family at Ware, in Hertfordshire, we one day went to Hertford, 
 it being the summer assizes. Lord Chief Baron Smythe presided 
 on the bench, whom I had heard much of a.s being a godly and 
 spiritual man, as well as an upright and judicious judge. The 
 first day he sat at nisi pi-ii/.s-, and I thought him very sensible 
 and knowing, or, what the lawyers call, learned in his profession : 
 but the next morniftg he had to try three criminals ; I forget 
 the offences, but they were all capital, and the prisoners were 
 tried separately, and found guilty. The venerable judge, in 
 passing the sentence of the law ujDon them, was very solemn. 
 He stated to them separately the aggravation of the particular 
 crime of each, and the necessity that; the laws of the country, 
 and the seciTrity of the people, should be maintained by the 
 punishment of the offenders, " which punishment," he added, " I 
 am now to denounce upon you. This it is painful for me to do, 
 but it is a duty imposed upon me by my office to pronounce — • 
 That you bq taken from hence to the ])lace from whence you 
 came," etc. His subsequent address affected the audience, how- 
 ever it might the criminals. '• Prisoners ! so we sec that the law 
 worketh wrath against transgressors, and the Divine law on ua 
 and all mankind as sinners, who have come short of the glory of 
 God. But God, ^^•ho is rich in mercy, hath provided a glorious 
 salvation, in which you and I may find abundant relief. He sent 
 His own Son to seek and save the lost, and to give Himself a 
 sacrifice for sin, that whosoever believeth in Him should not 
 perish, but have everlasting life. The blood of Jesus Christ, the 
 Son of God, clcanseth from all sin. I am a sinner like you ; but, 
 pleading that blood, I found mercy ; and therefore recommend 
 that blood to you. Go ye, and do likewise." « 
 
 17—22. (17, 18) dross, camp. Is. i. 2.5 ; Mai. iii. ?,." (19. 20) 
 midst of the furnace, Jerusalem would be like the furnace 
 for the piu-ii'ying away of the national dross. (21) blow upon 
 you, to raise high the heat. (2i') my fury, or Divine 
 vengeance, which is like a purifying fire. 
 
 Ijjipocrisy. — The shops in the square of San Marco were all 
 religiously closed, for tlie day was a high festival : we were much 
 disappointed, for it was our last day, and we desired to take away 
 with ns some souvenirs of lovely Venice ; but our regret soon 
 vanished, for on looking at the shop we meant to patronise, we 
 readily discovered signs of traffic within. AVc stepped to the side 
 door, and found, when one or two other customers had been served. 
 
Cap.xxili. 1—4.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 301 
 
 that we might pu-rchase to our heart's content, saint or no saint. 
 After this fashion, too. many keep the laws of God to the eye. 
 but violate them in the heart. The shutters are up as if the 
 man no more dealt with sin and Satan ; but a brisk commerce is 
 going on behind the scenes. From such deceit may the Spirit of 
 truth pi'eserve us.* 
 
 23—26. (23. 24) rained upon, Is. v. 6 ; Am. iv. 7. Temporal 
 End spiritual blessings are withheld from the rebellious land. 
 (2.')) prophets, i.e. the false prophets, who agreed to encourage 
 the people to resist the Bab. king, by wicked assurances and 
 promises, devoured souls, by their' deceits, taken the 
 treasure, making gain of their evil prophesyings. (20) 
 violated, or offered violence to, by misinterpreting it." 
 
 Ihjpocrmj easji, but dangcrouti. — The counterfeit will always 
 have some admirers, from its cheapness in the market. One 
 must dig deep in dark mines for gold and silver ; the precious 
 treasure must be brought from far across the seas ; it must be 
 melted down ; it must pass through many assays, and the dies 
 must be worked with ponderous engines before the coin can be 
 produced ; all this to the sluggish many is a heavy disadvantage. 
 Hush ! hearken ! steal silently upstairs ; the spirit of Deceit in- 
 vites you to her chamber ; a little jilaster of Paris, a fire, a 
 crucible, molten lead, the mould, and there is your mone3% sir, 
 without troubling Peru, Potosi, California, or the Mint. Slink 
 out and change your tine new shillings, and your fortune's made 
 without the ignoble waste of sweat and labour. But be qiiiet, 
 for a detective may be near, a coarse-minded minion of unpoetic 
 law, who may cruelly block iip your road, or even lead you into 
 prison. Short cuts to wealth have brought many to the hulks ; 
 and. let me add, there are short cuts to godliness which have 
 brought many to perdition ! * 
 
 27—31. (27) princes, etc., Mic. iii. 11; Zep. iii. 3. (28) 
 untempered mortar, ch.xiii. 10. (2^') oppression, or deceit. 
 (30) hedge, or wall, gap, or breach. Ps. cvi. 23. " This was 
 a proof of the general corruption, that there was among them no 
 faitliful servant to stand in the gap, and build up the hedge."" 
 
 Stand in. the gate {r. 30). — A man having lost all his children, 
 and in complaining of his forlorn condition, says, " Alas ! I have 
 not any one to stand in the gate ; my enemies can now enter 
 when they please to tear and devour me." " In the gate, in the 
 gate, no one stands." * 
 
 CHAPTER THE TJFENTY-THIED. 
 
 1 — 4. (1,2) two women, r/z. Samaria and Jerusalem." Israel 
 and Judah were branches of the same stock. (3) in Egypt, 
 ch. xvi. 7, XX. 8. (4) Aholah, meaning, "Her tent or taber- 
 nacle," and applied to Samaria, which had a temple and worship, 
 but not Jehovah's. Aholibah, denotes, "My tabernacle is in 
 her." It is applied to Jerusalem. 
 A virtvnils yvoman. — 
 
 Thou asketh what hath changed my heart, 
 And where hath fled my youthful folly 1 
 I tell thee, Tamar's virtuous art 
 Hath made my spirit holy. 
 
 source of the 
 ridiculous."— 
 Fielding, 
 b Sinu-ijeon. 
 
 a Le. X. 10. 
 V. 24. Alf.rander 
 Shivik.% 280 #. 
 " The kite is a 
 bird ■vvliich de- 
 lights in the free 
 air, and soars 
 aloft, as if it 
 would fain ap- 
 proach to heaven. 
 All the wliile, 
 however, it keeps 
 its sliarp eye con- 
 tinually directed 
 to the earth, if 
 haply it may 
 tliere spy some 
 prey to seize. 
 And like it are 
 liypocrites ; they 
 love to speak of 
 heavenly and 
 spiritual things ; 
 they goto church 
 and take the 
 holy supper ; 
 they read, and 
 pray, and sing ; 
 but, neverthe- 
 less, their heart 
 ret.ainsits earthly 
 inclination, and 
 they seek that 
 whicli istemporal 
 more than that 
 which is eternal." 
 — Gollhold. 
 b Spuffjeon, 
 
 a Spk. Com. 
 b Roberti. 
 
 a Je. iii. 7, 8, 10. 
 " Continency ia 
 that moral virtue 
 by which we re- 
 strain concupi- 
 scence. There is 
 this distinction 
 between chastity 
 and continencj' : 
 chastity requires 
 no effort, because 
 it may result 
 from constitu- 
 tioo, whereas 
 
30-2 
 
 [Cap. xxiii. 5— 8, 
 
 (xmtinency ap- 
 piNvrs to be the 
 coiisoqupiice of a 
 victory gaiiiL'.l 
 ovor ourselves. 
 The term is must 
 usually applied 
 to men ; as chas- 
 tity is to women." 
 —a. Hack. 
 " Paltry affecta- 
 tion, strained 
 allu-ions, and 
 disgu.-itin.i^ffnery, 
 are easily attain- 
 ed by those who 
 choose to wear 
 them ; they are 
 but too fre- 
 quently the 
 badges of ignor- 
 ance or of stuiji- 
 dity, whenever 
 it woulil endea- 
 vour to please." 
 — doltlxmilh. 
 b William Knox. 
 
 a " Not like the 
 humbler natives, 
 rilling on mules, 
 asses, or camels." 
 — Wordmcorth. 
 
 "When that 
 monster -taming 
 Hercules over- 
 came .all in the 
 Olympics, Jupiter I 
 at last, in an un- 
 known shape, 
 wrestled with 
 him: the victory 
 was uncertain, 
 till at length 
 Jupiter descried 
 himself, and Her- 
 cules yielded. 
 No striving with 
 supreme powers : 
 we must submit 
 ourselves unto 
 the mighty hand 
 of God, acknow- 
 ledge our of- 
 fences, call to 
 Hi 'II for mercy. 
 If He strike, as it 
 is with them 
 that arc wounded 
 with tlio spear of 
 Achilles.Ueidone 
 must help." — 
 Burton. 
 
 " Affectation in 
 any ijurt of our 
 carriage, is light- 
 ing up a cnu'lle 
 to our defects, 
 uad never lulls 
 
 Her eye — as soft and blue as even, 
 
 When day and nijrht are calmly meeting' — 
 
 Beani.s ou my heart like lig-ht from heaven, 
 And purihes its beating. 
 
 Tlie accents fall from Tamar's lip 
 
 Like dewdrop.s from the rose-leaf dripping, 
 
 V\Tien honey-bees all crowd to sip. 
 And cannot cease their sipping". 
 
 The shado-n-y blush that tints her cheek, 
 
 For ever comiDq", ever going, 
 May well the spotless fount bespeak 
 
 That sets the stream allowing. 
 
 Her song comes o'er my thrilling breast. 
 E'en like the harp-string's holiest measures. 
 
 When dreams the soul of lands of rest 
 And everlasting pleasures. 
 
 Then ask not what hath changed my heart, 
 Or where hath fled my youthful folly — 
 
 I tell thee, Tamar's virtuous art 
 Hath made my spirit holy.* 
 
 5 — 8. (')) when . . mine, while she was mine : before the days 
 when the separate worship was set up. doted . . lovers, i.e. 
 her foreign alliances. (G) blue, or purple. Garments dyed with 
 the expensive purple dye. horses,<* these were scarce in Judasa. 
 (7) defiled herself, her idolatry being figured as spiritual 
 immorality. (8) left she, but added new idolatries to those 
 brought from Egypt. 
 
 Jjii/c— Blue was a sky colour in great esteem among the Jews, 
 and other Oriental nations. The robe of the ephod, in the 
 gorgeous dress of the high priest, was made all of blue : it was a 
 prominent colour in the sumptuous hangings of the tabernacle ; 
 and the whole people of Israel were required to put a fringe of 
 blue upon the border of their garments, and on the fringe a 
 riband of the same colour. The palace of Ahasuerus, the king of 
 Persia, was furnished with curtains of this colour, on a pavement 
 of red, and blue, and white marble : a proof it was not less 
 esteemed in Persia than on the Jordan. And from Ezekiel we 
 learn that the Assyrian nobles were habited in robes of this 
 colour : " She doted on the A.ssyrians. her neighbours, which were 
 clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young 
 men." It is one of the most remarkable vicissitudes in the 
 customs of the East, that this beautiful colour, for many ages 
 associated in their minds with everything splendid, elegant, and 
 rich, should have gradually sunk in public estimation, till it 
 became connected with the ideas of meanness and vulgarity, and 
 confined to the dress of the poor and the needy. In modern 
 times, the whole dress of an Arabian female of low station con- 
 sists of drawers, and a very large shift, boih of blue linen, orna- 
 mented with some needlework of a dilforcnt colour. And if 
 credit may be given to Thevenot, the Arabs between Egypt and 
 Mount Sinai, who \e:A a most wretched life, are clothed in a long 
 blue shirt. To solve this difficulty, Mr. Harnicr supposes that 
 "the art of dying blue was discovered in countries more to the 
 east or south than Tyre ; and that the dye was by no means 
 
Cap. sxiii. 9—17.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 303 
 
 become common in the days of Ezekiel, though some that were 
 em])loyed in the construction of the tabernacle, and some of the 
 Tyriaus in the time of Solomon, seem to have possessed the art 
 of dying with blue. These blue cloths were manufactured in 
 remote countries ; and to them that wore scarcely anything but 
 woollens and linens of the natural colour, these blue calicoes 
 formed very maguihcent vestments. It does not appear, how- 
 ever, that the Jews ever Avore garments wholly of this colour ; 
 and perhaps they abstained from it as sacred and mj-sterious, 
 than which none was more used about the tabernacle and the 
 temple, in the curtains, veils, and vestments, belonging to these 
 sacred edifices.'' * 
 
 9—12. (9) hand . . Assyrians, 2 Ki. xvii. 23." (10) naked- 
 ness, those carried into captivity were usually stripped bare, 
 famous, or infamous. A byword among women. Spoken of 
 as a striking example of the judgments that came upon the 
 idolatrous.' (11) sister Aliolibah, v. 4. inordinate love, 
 passionate and wilful service of the idols. (12) doted . . 
 neighbours, Ahaz began the alliance with Assyria, and 
 encouraged the ado^jtion of the Assyrian idolatries.' horse- 
 men, V. 6. 
 
 )Sj)irif of a bitter love. — By pride 
 
 Angels have fallen ere thy time : by pride- 
 That sole alloy of thy most lovely mould — 
 
 The evil spirit of a bitter love. 
 
 And a revengeful heart, had power upon thee. 
 
 From my first years, mj' soul was filled with thee 
 
 I saw thee midst the flowers the lowly boy 
 
 Tended, unmarked by thee — a spirit of bloom, 
 
 And joy, and freshness, as if Spring itself 
 
 Were made a living tiling, and wore thy shape I 
 
 I saw thee, and the passionate heart of man 
 
 Enter 'd the breast of the wild-dreaming boy ; 
 
 And from that hour I grew — what to the last 
 
 I shall be— thine adorer ! Well, thir love. 
 
 Vain, frantic, guilty, if thou wilt, became 
 
 A fountain of ambition and bright hope ; 
 
 I thought of tales that by the winter hearth 
 
 Old gossips tell — how maidens sprung from kings 
 
 Have stoop'd from their high sphere ; how Love, like Death, 
 
 Levels all ranks, and laj-s the shepherd's crook 
 
 Beside the sceptre. Thus I made my home 
 
 In the sof c palace of a fairy future 1 "* 
 
 13 — 17. (13) defiled, in heart and purpose, one way, and 
 that a bad way. '■ Both alike forsaking God for heathen confi- 
 dences." (U) men pourtrayed, pictures, or bas-reliefs, repre- 
 senting deified heroes, vermilion, or red ochre." Vermilion 
 seems to have been the peculiar colour of the Chaldjeans, as 
 purple was of the Assyrians. (15) girdles, these were the mark 
 of dignity, and to this part of the dress much care was given, 
 dyed attire, or --in ample dyed turbans:" lofty and richly 
 adorned head-dresses. ( J G) doted, this word indicates a kind of 
 love that is merely passionate and foolish. (17) alienated, i.e. 
 she soon gra-y weary of the alliance, and turned from Babylon to 
 Egypt.* 
 
 to make us be 
 taken notice of, 
 eitlier as want- 
 ing sense or 
 wanting sin- 
 cerity."— iocAe. 
 
 b Paxton, 
 
 a " God made 
 
 these very As- 
 syrians tlie exe- 
 cutioners of His 
 judgments upon 
 the ten tribes : 
 many of tliem 
 being carried 
 away by Pul, 1 
 Chr. V. 25, 26 ; 
 afterward by 
 Tiglath - Pileser, 
 2 Ki. .w. 29 ; and 
 at length tlie 
 whole country 
 was subdued and 
 depopulated by 
 Slialiiianeser, 3 
 Ki. xvii. 6." — 
 Louth. 
 
 h " 'The report of 
 her infamy went 
 abroad to all 
 women,' i.e. to 
 all provinces."— 
 Kimchi. 
 
 c2 Ki. xvi. 7, 11; 
 2 CUr. .x.\viii. 18 
 — 23; Isa,. vii. 20, 
 Ivii. 9. 
 
 d E. B. Lylton. 
 
 a " In striking 
 
 agreement with 
 this r. is the 
 fact that the 
 As.syrian sculp- 
 tures lately dis- 
 covered hare 
 painted and 
 coloured bas- 
 reliefs, red, blue, 
 and black." — 
 f'aussd. 
 
 b 2 Ki. xxiv. Tj 
 , Je. xsLsvii. S, 7. 
 
304 
 
 'EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxiii. 18—27, 
 
 " All affectation 
 is vain an 1 riili- 
 culoua ; it is the 
 a 1 1 m p t of 
 poverty to appear 
 rich."— id fu to-. 
 
 e lioberU 
 
 a French, par 
 amour, by or 
 with love. 
 b Fausset. 
 
 "Tlielanp:naf?eof 
 the Propliot liere 
 is very strong, 
 and some readers 
 may recoil from 
 it with horror 
 and aversion. It 
 was doubtless de- 
 signed to excite 
 Buoh feelings as 
 these, and has a 
 seasonable and 
 solemn warning, 
 especially for 
 times lilvG our 
 own, when there 
 seems to be a 
 growing ten- 
 dency towards a 
 sensual religion, 
 In lieu of a 
 spiritual one; 
 and to the scenic 
 pompof crea'^ure- 
 woishipand idol- 
 atry. " ^ Words- 
 tcorth. 
 
 " Affectation is a 
 greater enemy to 
 tlie face than the 
 small pox." — ,67. 
 Ecremond. 
 
 c Jo7ison. 
 
 a EicaJd. 
 
 h Pekod moans 
 the land of visi- 
 tation. Slwn, a 
 cry for help. Noa 
 is a male camel, 
 anil stands for 
 Babylon as Ju- 
 dah's paramour. 
 
 V. 2t. J. C. Die- 
 Uric, Ant. 6G3. 
 
 "Of all the adult 
 male criminals in 
 London, not two 
 in a hundred 
 htivo entered 
 tipoa a course of 
 Ciime who Uavo 
 
 Yermilioyi.— lihe nature of those imag-es. and the practices, may 
 be seen from the context, and the portraying was of the colour 
 of vermilion. In the Hindoo temples and vestibules, figures of 
 the most revolting descriptions are portrayed on the vlls : there 
 the sexes are i)aiated in such a way as few men of discretion 
 would dare to describe. In some temples there are s;one figures 
 in such positions as hell itself could only have suggested : and, 
 recollect, these are the places where men, women, and children 
 assemble for worship." 
 
 18—21. (18) my mind, i.e. God's. (19) calling to remem- 
 brance, " mark the danger of suffiiring the memory to dwell on 
 the pleasure felt in past sins."' (20j paramours," or lovers of 
 either sex : the word was formerly used both iii a good and bad 
 sense, but now only in a had sense, horses, '• The horse waa 
 made by the Egyptians the hieroglyphic for a lustful person."* 
 (21) lewdness, or lastfulness. 
 Love: its pur if ij. — 
 
 It is a flame and ardour of the mind, 
 
 Dead in the proper corpse, quick in another's : 
 
 Transfers the lover into the loved. 
 
 That he or she that loves, engraves or stamps 
 
 The idea of what they love, first in themselves ; 
 
 Or, like to glasses, so their minds take in 
 
 The forms of their beloved, and them reflect. 
 
 It is the likeness of affections. 
 
 Is both the parent and the nurse of love. 
 
 Love is a spiritual coupling of two souls, 
 
 So much more excellent as it least relates 
 
 Unto the body ; circular, eternal ; 
 
 Not feign'd or made, but born : and then so precious, 
 
 As nought can value it but itself : so free, 
 
 As nothing can command it but itself. 
 
 And in itself so round and liberal, 
 
 As, where it favours, it bestows itself. 
 
 But we must take and understand this love 
 
 Along still as a name of dignity, 
 
 Not pleasure. 
 
 True love hath no unworthy thought, no light, 
 
 Loose, unbecoming appetite, or strain ; 
 
 But fix'd, constant, pure, immutable."^ 
 
 22—27. (22) raise . . lovers, i.e. the Babylonians, whose 
 alliance had been given up for the sake of Egypt. These would 
 become the agents for the destruction of Jerusalem. (23) Pekod, 
 and Shoa, and Koa, poss. names of Chaldasan tribes." Or 
 these may be the names of the great captains. Or they may be 
 titles or degrees of honour. Or symbolical names of Babylon.* 
 (21) chariots, or warlike equipment. (2.3) jealousy, God 
 here speaks as a grieved husband coneorniug an unfaithful wife, 
 nose . . ears, this was an Egyptian form of punishment for an 
 adulteress. (2G) fair jewels, JI(h. " instruments of thy deck- 
 ing." (27) thus, i.e. by severe and terrible judgments. 
 
 Varied pvninhnirnf.t of .tin. — Men's sins carry with them a 
 punishment in this life. Different sins are differently punished. 
 The degrees of punishment are not always according to our esti- 
 mate of the culpability. Many sins againi;t a man's body go on 
 
Cap. xxiil. 28-35] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 305 
 
 in tlie body, reproducing their penalties from year to year, and 
 from ten years to ten years. And the ignorant crime, or the 
 knowing crime, committed when one is yet in his minority, may 
 repent itself and repent its bitterness and its penalty when one 
 is hoary with age. Mere repenting of sin does not dispossess the 
 power of all sins. There are transgressions that throw persons 
 out of the pale of society. There are single acts, the penalties of 
 which never fail to reassert themselves. There are single wrongs 
 that are never healed. This great transgression that seemed in 
 the commission without any threat and without any danger, 
 pursued this man through all his early life, and clear down until 
 lie was an old man and returned from his exile. And even then 
 he was quit of it only by one of those great critical transitions 
 which take place, or may take place, in the life of a man. with- 
 out which he would have gone on, doubtless, expiating still his 
 great wrong." 
 
 28—31. (28") deliver tliee, or hand thee over, alienated, 
 r. 18. (29) take . . lal)Our, i.i'. the fruits of thy labour. 
 naked, as female captives were served. (30, 31) thy sister, 
 Aholah. or Samaria. 
 
 Tn-o old autliors on sin. — God needs no other light to discern 
 our sins by. but the light of His own face. It peereth through the 
 darkest places ; the brightness thereof enlighteneth all things, 
 discovers all things ; so that the sins that are committed in 
 deepest darkness are all one to Him, as if they were done in 
 the face of the sun. For the.v are done in His face, that shines 
 more, and from which proceeds more light, than from the face 
 of the sun. So that this, it ought to make us the more fearful 
 to oiierid ; He sees us when we see not Him. and the light of His 
 countenance shines about us when we think ourselves hidden in 
 darkness." — Sorrow for siii. the more it is for sin, as it is against 
 God. is the move ingenuous, the more evangelical, the more 
 genuine act of saving repentance. The more it is for sin. as sin 
 is prejudicial to us. the less ingenuous, the less evangelical, and 
 a less evident, a less comfortable sign of repentance unto life. 
 There are two sure characters of ingenuous Gospel sorrow : when 
 it proceeds from our love to God, when we mourn for of- 
 fending Him because we love Him. Now these are not. or not so 
 visible, in any sorrow for sin as that which mourns for sin as it 
 is against God. The other springs rather from self-love, when 
 we bewail sin becatise it is against us ; hurtful, dangerous, 
 damnable.* 
 
 32—35. (32) deep and large. Is. li. 17 ; Ee. xiv. 9. 10. it 
 containeth mucli, i.e. the cup of judgment. {?>?>) filled witli 
 drnnkcnness, God's judgments are often compared to a cup of 
 intoxicating liquors." {'.\\) suck it out, so as to drain every 
 drop, slierds, or pieces.* (;5."J)cast. . back,'' as if determined 
 not to see me : a sign of contempt and aversion. 
 
 77//" most (ilarnii/if/.tin.i. — If I wei'e called to point out the most 
 alarming sins to-day — those which are most widespread in tin ir 
 ravages, most deceitful in their influence, and most ^ oul-destroying 
 in their uliimate effects — I would not mention drunkenness 
 with all its fearful havoc, nor gamliling with its crazed victims, 
 nor harlotry with its hellish orgies : but the love of money on 
 the ]"iart of men, and the love of display on the part of women. 
 
 Vol. IX. O.T. U 
 
 livpit an honest 
 life up to tlie age 
 of twenty ; al- 
 most all who 
 enter upon a 
 course of crime 
 do so between 
 the ages of eight 
 ami sixteen." — 
 Eit/-l of iShaftes- 
 bury. 
 
 " A liypocrite is 
 good in notliing 
 but sight." — ■ 
 Pericles. 
 
 c II. W. Beecher. 
 
 " By the death of 
 Christ we are 
 greatly stirred 
 up, both to a 
 caution against, 
 and a detestation 
 of, .«in : for that 
 must needs be 
 deadly wh. could 
 be healed no 
 other way than 
 by the deatl\ of 
 Clirist. Who, 
 therefore, seri- 
 ously considering 
 that his sins 
 could be no 
 otiier ways ex- 
 piated than by 
 the death of the 
 Son of God Him- 
 self, would not; 
 tremble to tread 
 as it were this 
 most precious 
 
 I blood under foot 
 by dail3- sinning I 
 •2 Cor. V. 14 ; 
 1 Pet. i. 19 : Heb. 
 
 ! ix. 14, 2S. X. 4, 5." 
 
 i — y.'/'- Diinniint. 
 
 ! a Willuun lirud- 
 
 I .■iliiuc (1021). 
 
 I b Da rid Ciurkson 
 (1U50J. 
 
 a .Te. XXV. 15, 
 xlviii. 2G ; Hab. 
 ii. 16. 
 
 b " Thou shalt 
 behave thy=eif as 
 drunken people 
 (In. who first 
 tlirow away, or 
 break in pieces, 
 the cup, and 
 tlien are aiigry 
 with themselves 
 as the cause of 
 their own iiii» 
 
3oa 
 
 EZEKIBL. 
 
 [Cap, xxiii. 36-44. 
 
 fortune s." — 
 Lvtrtli. 
 
 c 1 Ki. xiv. 9 ; 
 No. ix. 2G. 
 
 <i Crosby. 
 
 a " On the very 
 day tliat tliey 
 had burned ths-ir 
 Cliildron to JIo- 
 locli ill tlie valli'y 
 of Oehenua, tliey 
 shaiiiolessly and 
 hypocritically 
 presented thetii- 
 s^dved as wor- 
 Bliippers in Je- 
 hovah's temple." 
 — Fa Ud'set. 
 
 " The mixture of 
 the worship of 
 Jehovali and of 
 false gols was 
 characteristic of 
 tlie tirjie.aud was 
 thoroughly hea- 
 then : Jehovah 
 being placed as it 
 were in the list 
 of <leitips, not 
 ao':nowledged as 
 the One God." — 
 iSpk. Cum. 
 
 vv. 37—39. Jon. 
 Edwards, ii. 185. 
 
 " We are never 
 rendered so ridi- 
 culous by quali- 
 ties which we 
 have, as by those 
 which we aim 
 at, or affect to 
 have." — From '.he 
 French. 
 
 b Whilecross. 
 
 a " This Kohl 
 consists ot a 
 collyrium of an- 
 timony, or otlier 
 substance, con- 
 sidered beneficial 
 to the eye as 
 Well as oriia- 
 moiital, which is 
 kept in a small 
 bottle, and ap- 
 plied with a 
 probe of silver, 
 ivory, or wood to 
 the edjjes of the 
 
 While open vice sends its thousiands. these fashionable and favoured 
 iudulgenccs send their ten thousauds to perdition. They sear 
 the conscience, encrust the soul with au impenetrable shell of 
 worldlincss, debauch the affections from eveiy high and heavenly 
 object, and make man or woman the worshipper of self. "While 
 dniug all this, the poor victim is allowed by public opiuiou to 
 think himself or herself a Christian : while the drunkard, the 
 gambler, or the prostitute is not deceived by such a thought for 
 a moment.'' 
 
 36—39. C^C,) judge, cnmj}. ch. xx. 4. xxii. 2. (37) pass . . 
 fire, this Moloch worship was regarded as the very height of 
 their idolatrous iniquity. (38) same day, i.e. at the very time 
 of making their offerings : see r. oi)." (3'.)) profane it, by the 
 hypocritical show of W' orshipping Me, when their hearts were gone 
 after their idols. 
 
 Sahhath-hrcuhing. — An active and skilful young minister, 
 while engaged under circumstances of the mo.st promising kind 
 
 in the village of J , was told of a miller who, with more thau 
 
 usual of the bravery of profanene.ss, had repelled eveiy attempt 
 to approach him on the subject of religion, and had daunted all 
 the hopes and efforts of the few serious persons in this vicinity. 
 Among other practices of sinful daring, he uniformly kept hia 
 windmill, the most striking object in the hamlet, going on the 
 Sabbath. In a little time, the clergyman determined to make an 
 effort for the benefit of the hopeless man. He undertook the 
 office of going for his flour the next time himself. '• A fine mill," 
 said he, as the miller adjusted his sack to receive the flour : " a 
 fine mill, indeed, one of the completest I have ever seen.' Thia 
 was nothing- more than just — the miller had heard it a thousand 
 times before ; and would firmly have thought it, though he had 
 never heard it once ! but his skill and judgment were still 
 gratified by this new testimony, and his feelings conciliated 
 even towards the minister. '• But O ! " continued his customer, 
 after a little pause, " there is one defect in it ! " " What is that 1 " 
 carelessly asked the miller. "Avery serious defect, too." '• Eh," 
 replied the miller, turning up his face. '• A defect that is likely 
 to counterbalance all its advantages.'' " Well, what is it.' " said 
 the miller, standing straight up, and looking the clergyman in 
 the face. The minister went on — " A defect which is likely to 
 ruin the mill I " '• What is it ? " rejoined the miller. " And will 
 one day. no doubt, destroy the owner."' '• And can't you say it 
 out .' " exclaimed the impatient miller. " It goes on the Sab- 
 bath ! " pronounced the minister, in a firm, and solemn, and 
 monitory tone. The astonished man stood blank and thunder- 
 struck, and remained meek and submissive under a remonstrance 
 and exhortation of a quarter of an hour's length, in which the 
 danger of his state and practice, and the call to repentance 
 towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Chrst, were fully pro- 
 posed to him.* 
 
 40 — 44:. (40) -wash tliyself, etc., those were the usual pre- 
 parations made by an Eastern bride for her husband's coming, 
 paintedst thine eyes, with Kohl." '• Orientals admire eye- 
 brows that meet over the nose, presenting the appearance of a 
 bow ; and wlien nature has denied them this ornament, they 
 imitate it by artificial paint." <,41) stately bed, or had some 
 
Cap. xxiv. 1—5.' 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 307 
 
 couch, or divan, table, fig. for the idol altar. (42) Sabeans, 
 Job i. 15. The word may mean '• drunkards.'' (43) now com- 
 mit, or still keep on in these wicked ways, even with so old an 
 adulteress. (44) Aholall, etc., ch. xxiii. 4. 
 
 T lie sting of death la sin. — I once met a little boy in Wales, 
 crying- bitterly at his father's door, afraid to go in. I asked him 
 what was the matter. He told me that his mother had sent him out 
 clean in the morning, but that he had got into the water and 
 made his clothes dirty. So he feared to go in. because his father 
 would punish him. We have soiled our characters by sin, and 
 therefore it is that we fear death — dread the meeting with our 
 Father.* 
 
 45 — 49. (45) righteotis men, the Chaldasans as instruments 
 of God's righteous judgments. Ref. may. however, be to the 
 Prophets, who are sometimes said to execute the judgments which 
 they foretell. (4()) removed, into captivity. (47) stone them, 
 this was the Mosiac puni.'^hment of the adulteress." (48) thus, 
 by great judgments. (4!>) bear the sins, I.e. the proper pun- 
 ishment of the sinful. " God is known by the judgment which 
 He executeth." 
 
 Madness of sinners. — A recent traveller, relating the incidents 
 of his voyage to India, writes :—" Flocks of greedy albatrosses, 
 petrels, and Cape pigeons, crowded around the ship's stern. A 
 hook was baited with fat, when upwards of a dozen albatrosses 
 instantly rushed at it. and as one after another was being hauled 
 on deck, the remainder, regardless of the struggles of the captured, 
 and the vociferations of the crew, kept swimming about the stern. 
 Not even did those birds which were indifferently hooked and 
 made their escape, desist from seizing the bait a second time." 
 Thus to the letter do ungodly men rush at the baits of Satan ; 
 they see others perish, but remain careless, and even when they 
 are aU but destroyed themselves they persist iu their infatuation.* 
 
 CHAPTER THE TJFENTY-FOURTH. 
 
 1 — 5. (1) ninth year, of Jehoiachim's captivity. (2) this 
 same day, i.e. though Ezekiel is far away fr. Jerus., he is to 
 tell his fellow-exiles" that on the very day when he spoke to 
 them. Nebuc. had commenced the siege." (.3) parable, or 
 illustrative teaching, pot, or caldron for boiling flesh. Comp. 
 the fig. ch. xi. :}.' (4) good piece, or choice piece." Ironically 
 reminding them of their boast that they are the choice members 
 of the community. (5) bones, i.e. make the strong men of 
 Jerus. themselves to be fuel for burning the city. The poor of 
 the city are represented by the hones. 
 
 77ie' hoilinfj caldron (r. 1). — From the vision and its finst 
 fulfilment we gather — I. That the sins of any city are an offence 
 tr) God. They are— 1. Seen by Ilim : 2. With aiiger. II. That 
 the sins of any city will ensure its doom. 1. History illustrates 
 thi^ : 2. Prophecy predicts tliis : 3. The law of causation involves 
 thi^. III. That the sins of any city concern everv individual 
 inhabitant. 1. They bring sorrow on all : 2. They give a 
 mission to all. Learn : — (1) Seek to evangelise the entire city, so 
 U 2 
 
 eyelids, for tlia 
 inirpose of black- 
 ening them, iuul 
 thus enliaueiiig 
 the 1 rightiie^s of 
 the eye, which is 
 usually large, 
 shaded by long 
 lashes, and de- 
 ciiledly the finest 
 feature of Orien- 
 tal women." — 
 Vnii Liiinep. 
 b Rev. T. Junes. 
 
 ale. XX. 10 ; De. 
 xxii. 22 ; Jno. 
 viii. 5. 
 
 " Sin is an in- 
 tolerable burder^ 
 (Isa. i. 3) ; such 
 as i^resseth down 
 (Htb. xii. 1) ; a 
 burden it is to 
 God(Amosii. ]3); 
 to Christ it was 
 wlien it made 
 Him sweat wateB 
 and ■ lood ; to thq 
 angels when it 
 brake their backs 
 and sunk them 
 into hell, to men, 
 under whom the 
 very earth groan- 
 eth, the a.xletree 
 thereof is ever 
 ready to crack, 
 etc. It could not 
 bear Korah and 
 his company, and. 
 spewed out the 
 Canaanites, etc." 
 — Jv/iit Tnqip, 
 b Spurgeon. 
 
 a 2 Ki. XX7. 1; 
 
 Je. lii 4. 
 
 " That Ezekiel 
 on the banks of 
 the Chebar knew 
 what was taking 
 place at .Terus., 
 on the very day 
 of its occurrence, 
 may be a iliffl- 
 culty to those 
 expositors who 
 deny that God 
 can make any 
 proiilicfcal com- 
 municution, but 
 need not incline 
 us to discover, 
 with them, in this 
 passage a pre- 
 diction after the 
 event."- KUr/olh. 
 
 b "The caldron 
 
JOB 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxiv. 6—9. 
 
 Is the city of 
 Jems. ; tlie fin; is 
 tlie .siirroiinJiiig 
 army; the lic-sU 
 (111 1 l)i)uesiiro the 
 iiiUabilants shut 
 in witliiu tlie 
 walls. "-.5)>i'. Com. 
 
 e\ Sa. !.>:. 21. 
 
 d U. R. Thomas. 
 
 " The sorrow of 
 the worlil.tliDUsIi 
 it seem a thick 
 liomogeueoiis co- 
 vering over all 
 human life, is yet 
 male up of as 
 miny different 
 kinds aa that 
 carpet of grreen 
 which covers the 
 earth. Here, it 
 iscliiefiy thepain 
 of a iliseaseil 
 body ; and there, 
 the eating canker 
 of a discontenteil 
 mind. At one 
 time the loss of 
 property, at 
 another, the loss 
 of friends, is the 
 more iminediato 
 cause of grief. 
 Some are dis- 
 tresseii because 
 they cannot gat 
 this world's good, 
 and others be- 
 cause they must 
 Boon part with 
 that which they 
 have gotten." — 
 Arnol. 
 
 a Wordsworth. 
 
 b Ge. iv. 10. 
 
 vv. 6, 7. Dr. T. 
 Reimell, 193. 
 
 " 3y retaining 
 any brunch of 
 our own wills 
 or di>sires unre- 
 aonnced, as not 
 resisrned up into 
 God's lian 1. wo 
 give him hold of 
 us, who will never 
 let hold go. unless 
 we cut off the 
 
 as to save it ; (2) Seek to convert iudivuluals, that at least they 
 may ba saved.'' 
 
 I'cinauia nf ancient Ti/rr. — So literal has been the fulfdment 
 of this prophecy, that Tyre, once so rich and iiopulons. has 
 become a mere fishing- station ; and nearly cveiy traveller who 
 has visited its remains has remarked U[ion the fact that fisher- 
 men ■were to be SL;en drying their nets upon the toj) of the rocks, 
 which stretch into the sea. Volncy, the celebrated infidel 
 historian, adds his testimony, unconsciously, to the truth of God's 
 Word. He says : " The whole village contains onlj' fifty or sixty 
 poor families, who live but inditfereutly on the produce of their 
 little grounds and a trifiing fishery. The houses they occupy 
 are no longer, as in the time of Strabo, edifices three or four 
 stories high, but wretched huts, ready to crumble to pieces." 
 Since Volney's time the place has somewhat increased in jjopu- 
 lation. D-r. Thomson, in The Land and the Book, describing- 
 his visit to Tyre in 18")?, and contrasting her present with her 
 former state, says : "The Hebrew historians, prophets, and p ,ot8 
 constantly allude to her power, wealth, liaxury. and vices ; and 
 Ezekiel sjeuis to tax the entire geography of the known world 
 to set forth the extent of her commerce, and the multitude of 
 her riches. It would take a volume to trace the varied fortunes 
 of Tyre through Egyptian, Chaktean, Macedonian, Roman, 
 Saracenic, Frank, and Turkish dynasties, domi to the present 
 wretched representative of so much greatness and glory. With 
 but few exceptions it is now a cluster of miserable huts, 
 inhabited by about 3..")1))- impoverished Matawelies and Arab 
 Christians, destitute alike of education, of arts, and of enter- 
 prise, carrying on with Egypt a small trade in tobacco from the 
 neighbouring hills, and of lava mill-stones from the Hauran. 
 This is a sorry schedule for the name of Tyre, but it is about 
 all she can exhibit : — 
 
 " Dim is her glory, gone her fame, 
 Her boasted wealth has fled ; 
 On her proud rock, alas ! her shame, 
 The fisher's net is spread. 
 
 " The Tyrian harp has slumbered long", 
 And Tyria's mirth is low. 
 The timbrel, dulcitner, and song 
 Are hushed, or wake to woe." 
 
 6 — 9. (6) scum, not that floating on the top in process of 
 boiling, but the " deeply-grained verdigris and rust in the pot 
 itself."" piece by piece, i.e. bring out the contetfts piece by 
 piece. Ref. is to the chief men of the city, no lot, taken 
 usually to decide which should go into captivity, and which 
 remain. All would go forth to captivity or death. (7) top . . 
 rock, where it lies exposed, and does not .«ink in so as to 
 be hidden. (8) fury . . vengeance, the blood crying as 
 Abel's did.* (9) pile, fig. for the preparations for the city's 
 destruction. 
 
 Arab enmrl-fcnat. — The following account of a roval Arab 
 camel-feast will afford some illustration of the parable contained 
 in tliis chapter : '■ Before midday, a carpet being spread in the 
 middle of the tent, our dinner was bruught in. being- served up 
 in large wooden bowls between two men, and truly, to my appre- 
 
Cap. xxiv. 10—18.] 
 
 EZEKIEl. 
 
 309 
 
 hension, load enougli for them. Of these great platters there 
 were about tifly or sixty in number, perhaps more, with a great 
 many little ones ; I mean, such as one man was able to bring in. 
 strewed here and there among them, and placed for a border ox- 
 garnish round about the table. In the middle was one of a 
 larger size than all the rest, in which were the camel's bones, 
 and a thin broth in which they were boiled. The other greater 
 ones seemed all tilled with one and the same sort of provision, a 
 kind of 23lum-broth, made of rice and the fleshy part of the 
 camel, with currants and sjiices, being of a somewhat darker 
 colour than what is made in our cottntry " {I'hilosophical 
 Tranmetuins Ahr'uhjL'd). The Hebrew word translated '• burn," 
 Bhould have been rendered, as in the margin, "heap." The 
 meaning cannot be that the bones were to be burnt under the 
 c'ddron, but that they were to be heaped up in it ; for it is said, 
 " let them seethe the bones of it therein." With this inter- 
 pretation the Septuagint translation of the passage agrees : and, 
 viewed in this light, the object is ascertained by the foregoing 
 extract." 
 
 10—14. (10) spice it well, better, make it froth and bubble 
 in the swift boiling." (11) set it, i.e. the very pot itself ; let it 
 Le burned as well as its center ts. scum, or rust. (12) lies, 
 a word here indicating idols, not forth, by the previous admo- 
 liitions of the Prophets, or providential dealings.* (13) my 
 fury, unto burning and destruction. (1-1) according . . 
 doings, ch. xxiii. 24. 
 
 Piinislimoit of sin. — "What a diabolical invention was the 
 " Virgin's kiss," once used by the fathers of the Inquisition 1 
 The victim was pushed forward to kiss the image, when, lo. its 
 ai-ms enclosed him in a deadly embrace, piercing his body with a 
 hundred hidden knives. The tempting pleasures of sin offer to 
 the unwary just such a virgin's kiss. The sinful joys of the 
 flesh lead, even in this world, to results most terrible, while, in 
 the world to come, the daggers of remorse and despair will cut 
 and wound bej^ond all remedy."" — Sin . the toil of it. — " There 
 was a man in the town where I was born who used to steal 
 all his firewood. He would get up on cold nights, and go and 
 take it from his neighbours' wood-piles. A computation was 
 made, and it was ascertained that he spent more time and 
 worked harder to get his fuel, than he would have been obliged 
 to if he had earned it in an honest way, and at ordinary wages. 
 And this thief is a type of thousands of men who work a great 
 deal harder to please the devil than they would have to work to 
 please God." "* 
 
 15—18. (15, 16) desire . . eyes, i.e. Ezekiel's wife. She is 
 to represent the sanctuary in which the Jews so much gloried ; 
 V. 21. mourn, etc., bee. it was a righteous Divine judgment ; 
 or to indicate that there would be no time for the ordinary 
 laiiientations over the dead." (17) tire, ref. to the high priest's 
 mitre, wh. he might not put off.* In times of mourning the 
 head was often shaved, or dust was cast on it. cover . . lips, a 
 usual sign of mourning." bread of men, or of mourners. 
 Food was usually supplied for the comfort of mourners. 
 (18) "wife died, note the submissive obedience of the Prophet. 
 
 The stroke of death under the direction of God (v, 10).— 
 
 nipmber which 
 o;;eaiietli us. For, 
 as one very well 
 objt'rve.^, so the 
 snare be strong 
 Pad liold sure, 
 a bird, thoug-h 
 caught but by 
 one claw, sliall 
 .as certainly be 
 the fowler's por- 
 tion, as if slia 
 hail been taken 
 by both wings." 
 — Dr. Jackson. 
 
 c Burder. 
 
 a "Or. 'I will 
 
 make the foe de- 
 ligh t in its 
 desi ruction aa 
 much as one de- 
 lights in well- 
 seasoned savoury 
 meat.'" — Fausset. 
 
 b "I did what 
 was requisite ou 
 niy part towards 
 thy conversion, 
 but thou re- 
 fusedst to comply 
 with tliose fre- 
 quent calls and 
 exhortations I 
 pave the e."— 
 Loiclh. 
 
 r. It. T. Randall, 
 
 396. 
 
 c Spurgeon. 
 d Beecher. 
 
 a " The times 
 th at were comin g 
 were so extraor- 
 dinary as to leave 
 no room for the 
 quiet lamenta- 
 tion for the dead 
 according to the 
 usual forms of 
 mourning."-(Sf)i. 
 Cv7n. 
 
 b Le. xxi. 10. 
 
 c Le. xiii. 45; % 
 
310 
 
 EZEKIBL. 
 
 [Cap. xxlv. 19—27. 
 
 Fa. XT. 30; Je. 
 xiv. 4 ; Mic. iii. 7. 
 
 r. IG. Dr. D. Wil- 
 son, ii. 355; J. 
 Morh'ij. 3(JG; C. 
 H. M'liuriii, 1. 
 
 d Alpha iu 400 
 Sks. 
 
 " This refers to 
 mourning for the 
 (lead, and tlie 
 I'rophet was for- 
 bidden to use 
 any symbol of 
 sorrow on the 
 death of his wife. 
 At a funeral cere- 
 mony tlie tires 
 and turbans are 
 talvcn off, and 
 the sandals are 
 laid aside. Thus 
 nobles, who wear 
 the most costly 
 turbans, are seen 
 walking with 
 their he"ds un- 
 covered, and 
 those who had 
 on beautiful san- 
 dals are barefoot. 
 But the Prophet 
 •was to put on his 
 tire and sandals, 
 to indicate he 
 was not mourn- 
 ing for the dead." 
 — lioberts. 
 
 e Paxton, 
 
 a U. R. Thomas. 
 
 " The path of 
 sorrow, and that 
 path alone, leads 
 to the land where 
 sorrow is un- 
 known ; no 
 trav'ller ever 
 reach'd that blest 
 abode, who found 
 not thorns and 
 briers on his 
 toml."—Coii:per. 
 
 "He was a man 
 wlio stole tlie 
 livery of the 
 court of lieaven, 
 to serve the devil 
 in." —PoUok. 
 
 I. That social connections are desirable enjoyments. They are — 
 
 1. Various : 2. Justly desirable. II. That these enjoyments ar© 
 subject to the stroke of death. 1. This stroke should be cxi)ected 
 by all ; 2. We should seriously prepare for it : 3. Our ])reparalion 
 should be habitual ; 4. The siiint's recovery from this stroke 
 should be anticipated by faith in Gods promises, and hope of 
 renewed communion with saints iu heavenly glory. III. That 
 the stroke of death is under the direction of God. 1. The death, 
 of our pious friends is only a removal, it is not an annihilation ; 
 
 2. They are taken away by God, their rewarder, our benefactor ; 
 
 3. They are taken away with a wise and gracious design, for 
 their good and ours.'' 
 
 Miiiirninfi for the dead {v. 17). — The time of mourning for the 
 dead was longer or shorter, according to the dignity of the person. 
 Among the modern Jews the ustial time is seven days, during 
 which they shut themselves up in their houses ; or, if some 
 extraordinary occasion forces them to appear in public, it la 
 without shoes, as a token they have lost a dear friend. This 
 exjjlains the reason that when Ezekiel was commanded to abstain 
 from the rites of mourning, he was directed to put his shoes on 
 his feet. To cover the lips was a very ancient sign of mourning; 
 and it continues to be practised among the Jews of Barbary to 
 this day. When they return from the grave to the house of the 
 deceased, the chief mourner receives them with his jaws tied up 
 with a linen cloth, in imitation of the manner in which the 
 face of the dead is covered ; and by this the mourner is said to 
 testify that he was ready to die for his friend. Muffled in this 
 way, the mourner goes for seven days, during which the rest of 
 his friends come twice every twenty-four hottrs to pray with him. 
 This allusion is perhaps involved in the charge which Ezekiel 
 received, when his wife died, to abstain from the customary 
 forms of mourning : '• Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the 
 dead : bind the tire of thy head upon thee, and put on thy shoes 
 upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of 
 men." The law of Moses required a leper to have his clothes 
 rent, his head bare, and a covering upon his upper lip. because he 
 was considered as a dead man, " of whom the flesh is half con- 
 sumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb."' 
 
 19—23. (19) people, \.r. the fellow-exiles. (20, 21) excel- 
 lency . . strength, or object of your boasting ; the temple of 
 which you were so prottd. soul pitieth, or loveth. They would 
 soon have occasion to pity it. (22) cover . . men, cnmp. r. 17. 
 (23) pine away, bee. forbidden to find the usual relieving 
 expressions of grief ; left to a secret, inward, heart-consuming 
 sorrow. 
 
 S\n the worst sorrow (vv. 15 — 24).— It is so because — T. Other 
 sorrows may have no evil, but even good in them ; this is essen- 
 tially and eternally evil. II. Other sorrows are remediable : this 
 leads to destruction. III. Other sorrows may come direct from 
 God ; this is ever in direct antagonism to Ilim. lY. Other 
 sorrows have to do with men in their relation to others ; this with 
 his own inner being and his relation to God. Learn: — 1. Eightly 
 weigh your own sorrows ; 2. Eightly deal with the world's 
 sorrows ; 3. Rightly value the Saviour's mission." 
 
 24 — 27. (24) a sign, tj-pical representation of what would 
 
Cap. XXV. 1—4.] 
 
 EZEKIBl. 
 
 befall them, this cometll, the destruction of the temple. 
 {2o) strength, v. 21. (26) escapeth, as a fug-itive, to carry 
 the terrible tidings. (27) sign, portent, or wonder. When the 
 event has hapjiened, they shall be convinced that your action and 
 experience had been a proijhetical sign for them. 
 Ihe preacher — 
 
 The pulpit 
 
 Must stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand, 
 
 The most important and effectual guard, 
 
 iSupport, and ornament of virtue's cause. 
 
 There stands the messenger of truth : there stands 
 
 The legate of the skies. His theme divine, 
 
 His othce sacred, his credentials clear. 
 
 By him the violated law speaks out 
 
 Its thunders ; and by him, in strains as sweet 
 
 As ang-els use, the Gospel whisjjers peace. 
 
 He 'stablishes the strong, restores the weak, 
 
 Reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart, 
 
 And, armed himself in panoply complete 
 
 Of heavenly temper, furnishes with arms 
 
 Bright as his mvn, and trains, by every rule 
 
 Of holy discipline, to giorious war, 
 
 The sacramental host of God's elect I 
 ***** 
 
 To such I render more than mere respect, 
 Whose actions say that they respect themselves." 
 
 CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FIFTH. 
 
 1—4. (1,2) Ammonites, eh. xxi. 28. "In the fifth year 
 after the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar subdued the 
 Ammonites and Mo.abites." <» (3) alia, the expre.ssion of con- 
 tempt. They insolently exulted over the fall of the temple, 
 regarding it as the triumph of heathenism over the claims of 
 Jehovah. (4; men of the east, synonym for the Chaldfeans. 
 or poss. here the wild Eastern tribes who should distress the 
 Ammonite country after it had been conquered by the Chaldaaans ; 
 palaces, better, " encampments." 
 
 The fn/ifJrfif vine (i\ 1). — I. Here is a lesson of humility for 
 saints. " What is the vine more than any tree ? " etc. 11. A 
 lesson of searching for all who are professors. 1. What is a 
 fruitless professor.' 2. Why is it that these men are fruitless 
 and must be cast away? 3. What is God's estimation of fruit- 
 less profess-ors ? 4. What is to become of this fruitless tree ? >' 
 
 The tlanfim of seed-flme. — The seed-time is attended with con- 
 siderable danger to the hiisbandmen in Palestine and Syria : for 
 although the more peaceful Arabs apply themselves to agriculture 
 to supply their families with grain, many of the same wandering 
 race choose rather to procure the corn which they want by 
 violence than by tillage. So precaiious are the fruits of the 
 earth in Palestine, that the farmer is often seen sowing accom- 
 panied by an armed friend, to prevent his being robbed of tJie 
 6eed. These vexatious and often desolating incursions are 
 
 i 
 
 3ii 
 
 V. 24. W. Read' 
 ing, iv. 157. 
 
 " Keep in mind 
 that excellent 
 rule: never 
 preach a single 
 sermon, from 
 wliicli an unen- 
 lightened hearer 
 miyht not learn 
 the plan of sal- 
 vation, even 
 tlioiigh he never 
 afterwards heard 
 another d i s- 
 course."-i/. Rich- 
 mond. 
 
 How do you 
 know whether 
 you are pure 
 gold, or ba.'e 
 metal? Gold, if 
 pure, must bear 
 tlie royal stamp 
 to give it cur- 
 rency. Tf you 
 lack the impress 
 of Christ, you 
 cannot pass cur- 
 rent in the king- 
 dom of heaven. 
 
 a Cowper, 
 
 a Joscpftus. 
 
 A m ro n, d e- 
 
 scended from 
 Lot, held the re- 
 gion E of Jordan, 
 separated fr. the 
 Aniorites on the 
 N. by the river 
 Jabbok, and from 
 Moab on the S. 
 by the river 
 Arnon. 
 
 b Simrgeon. 
 
 "Oh! when the 
 reiiiing world 
 melts away be- 
 hind us to a 
 small point, how 
 we shall monm 
 over our present 
 follies, our sad 
 pleasures, our 
 wiiywardand un- 
 bridled sorrows, 
 and our un- 
 lieavenly lives! 
 i-laeh departed 
 friend is a m«g>- 
 
312 
 
 EZEKTEL. 
 
 [Cap. XXV. 5—7, 
 
 oU ina:i liyes 
 aino;i<? graves. 
 A siiiall griev- 
 ance mike.s us 
 besMo oiirselva 
 
 nst tliat attracts desoribsd by the Prophet in the following' rcmaiksible terms, 
 "Aril anl "the '^^^^°^ ^^ dsnounced thg judurments of God ao^ainst tlie descen- 
 dants of Amnion : '• Behold, therefore, I will deliver thee to the 
 m3n of the East for a possession, and they sliall s?t their 
 palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee : they shall 
 eat thy fruit anl they shall drink thy milk." The practice of 
 a great sorrow robbing the sower in the field seems to have been very ancient, 
 makos us r>!tiro fmd jg perhaps alluded to by the P-salmisfc, when he encourages 
 ^ "u'.'n "'^^'y'uh "a *^" righteous man to parsevere in working out his salvation, in 
 smaU crack spite of the dangers to which he is exposed, by the complete 
 soun Is dull, but success which in due time shall assuredly crown his endeavours. 
 
 on account of the danger from the 
 clear a-'aiu."— luiii-iug imi^i miLccnug xiiauiau, '• shall reap in joy." " lie that 
 Richter. ° \ goeth forth a:id weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtlesa 
 
 "There are a ' com 3 again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." It 
 Ihousand joyous i is much more natural to suppose that these verses refer to such 
 things in life, i ^q^^ ^f violence, than to imagine, with all the commentators 
 heeiW hi^a Hfe -who have turned their attention to this circumstance, that they 
 of joy as thiu'B allude to the anxiety of a husbandman who sows his corn in a 
 hath been, till time of great s:;arcity, and is afraid his hopes may be disap- 
 breezy sorrow ; pQ^^^ed by the failure of the succeeding harvest. We nowhere 
 an 1 daily duties read that such fearful anticipations ever produced weeping and 
 paid hanily at : lamentation, although the Orientals are very prone to violent 
 *'-'n'h''^'cr^*""'^-*' ! expressions of grief. But, if we refer the passage to the danger 
 to the'l^l'miiid I which the farmer in those parts of the world often incurred, of 
 
 Kouii 13 uiiii, unu auccc;a-'> wiliuu. ill uuc time :m 
 
 if it be broken u rj,^ ^j^^^ SO^^ ;^ tears," 
 
 more, it sounds , , . • , c i • * i • 
 
 rioar a'^ain "— lurkiug aud unteeung Arabu 
 
 that studies to 
 perfnrni them." 
 —Talfourd. 
 
 C Faxton. 
 
 losing his precious seed, the hope of his future subsistence, and 
 even his life, in attempting to defend it, we have an adequate 
 cause for his tears and lamentations. The passage contains a 
 beautiful picture of the success which, by the blessing of God, 
 attended the efforts of His chosen people to return from their 
 captivity to the land of their fathers, and holds out a powerful 
 encouragement to believers in Christ to pcr.severe in tlieir 
 heavenly course, notwithstandiii^ the numerous and severe trials 
 of this present life ; for. in due time, they shall certainly enter 
 into the rest which remains for the people of God.'= 
 
 5—7. (5) Rabbali, De. iii. 11. couohing-place, place for 
 
 resting and feeding the sheep. " It is a proverbial expression 
 
 li\ for utter destruction to say that grass grows where a town has 
 
 I stood." « (()) clapped, rfc. signs of gladness at the destruction 
 
 of Jerusalem, but in God's sight proofs of envy and malice ; a 
 
 savage kind of joy. (7) spoil, or povtion to b? d(*vourod. 
 
 The dirge over the nations (chapters xxv. — xxxiii.). — The 
 
 universal and permanent lessons of all this are clearly — I. The 
 
 interest of a true man in other nations beside his own : 2. The 
 
 universality of God's dominion ; 3. The similarity in the laws of 
 
 and scores of j moral history in all lands and times : 4. The degrees in retri- 
 
 a Loioth. 
 
 Is. xvii. 2, xxii 
 10, xxxii. 
 Zep. ii. 14, 15. 
 
 h U. R. Thomas. 
 
 "Ah ! when the 
 apples are ripa 
 a cliild's foot 
 against tlie tree 
 win bring scores 
 
 them to the 
 ground. He 
 might take his 
 little stick and 
 throw it 
 
 twenty times, 
 and not hit more 
 than 
 apple, 
 
 bution according to the degrees of sin.* 
 
 t<h<'phrfd^an(i the sea.wn-t. — The SjTian shepherds were exposed, 
 
 with their flocks, to all the vicissitudes of the seasons. It was 
 
 indeed impossible to erect buildings capacious enough to receive 
 
 the countless numbers of cattle, which constituted the wealth of 
 
 single ; those pastoral princes. Their servants were, therefore, compfdled 
 
 for he i to watch the flocks night and dav. The flocks of Libva '• often 
 
 uunld be work gj-^^ze both night and dav, and for a whole month together, and 
 
 mg according to " • • t i t i -n j. i ix • i ji i ■ 
 
 Ids own skill, i rcp^ur into long deserts, without any slielter. so wide the pl.-an 
 
 aud would ac- \ extends," The Mesopotamian shepherd was red iced to the sama 
 
Cap.xxv. 8— 11.] 
 
 EZEKTEL. 
 
 313 
 
 incessant labour, chilled by the piercing cold of the morning, 
 and scorched by the succeeding heats of a flaming sun, the 
 opposite action of which often swells and chafes his lips and 
 face. Jacob complains, " Thus I was ; in the day, the drought 
 consumed me, and frost by night ; and my sleep departed from 
 mine eyes." In times long posterior to the age when Jacob 
 flourished, the angels who descended to announce the birth of 
 our Lord found the shepherds, to whom they were sent, keeping 
 watch over their flocks by night. To prevent them from wander- 
 ing, they shut them up in a fold formed of hurdles, and took 
 their station on the outside, to defend them from the attacks of 
 wild beasts, or bands of robbers, that infested the country, and 
 preyed upon the property of the peaceful and industrious in- 
 habitants. When the Prophet Ezekiel threatened the Ammonites, 
 that llabbah, their capital, should become a stable for camels, we 
 are not to imagine that the Arabian shepherds were careful to 
 provide such coverts for these, more tender animals. Chardin 
 says, that as ihey feed them on the ground, and do not litter them, 
 they never think of erecting such buildings for their reception. 
 The same fact is admitted by Dr. Shaw, when he makes a sup- 
 position that the cattle of these countries would be much more 
 numerous than they are. if they had some little shelter in winter. 
 The only shelter to which they have recourse, is the desolate 
 ruin ; and to this circumstance the Prophet Ezekiel most 
 probably alluded, when he described Kabbah as about to become 
 a stable for camels, or, as the original term may be rendered with 
 er^ual propriety, a jilace of camels, where they scieen themselves 
 from the rays of a burning sun, and feed on the nettles, and 
 other plants, which spring up among the mouldering walls of 
 ruined habitations. The same term is rendered in the twenty- 
 third psalm, pastures : and perhaps all that the Prophet means is 
 only this, that E,abbah should be so comiiletely destroyed, that 
 camels should feed on the place where it stood : and if this was 
 his meaning, it has been long since realised, for the last remains 
 of that proud city have entirely disappeared. The greatest skill 
 and vigilance, and even tender care, are required in the manage- 
 ment of such immense flocks as wander on the Syrian plains. 
 Their prodigious numbers compel the keepers to remove them too 
 frequently in search of fresh pastures, which proves very 
 destructive to the young that have not strength to follow. This 
 circumstance displays the energy of Jacob's apology to his 
 brother Esau, for not attending him as he requested : ''The flocks 
 and herds with young are with me ; and if men should over- 
 drive them one day. all the flocks would die." It illustrates also 
 another passage in the prophecies of Isaiah : "He shall feed his 
 flock 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:" a beautiful image, expressing with great force 
 and elegance, the tender and unceasing attention of the shepherd 
 to his flock.' 
 
 8 — 11. (S) Moab, the neighbour country of Ammon. Seir, 
 the same as Edom. These countries joined in hostility to Judah, 
 and in joy at the fall of Jerusalem. (9) open the side, or 
 shoulder : expose them to the attacks of the invaders, frontiers, 
 defence-cities, in which the people placed the utmost confidence. 
 Beth-jeshimotll, ^tc, Nu. xxxii. 38 ; Jos. xiii. 20 ; Je. xlviii. 25. 
 
 coinplish but 
 little ; but when 
 he strikes the 
 trunk of the tree 
 dozens of apples 
 have been wait- 
 ing for that, an(l 
 they drop at his 
 feet, and he gets 
 twenty times as 
 many as he 
 would do by 
 plying his stick 
 merely. Now ia 
 every part of life 
 God has fruit 
 ready to drop 
 into your lap ; 
 and the abun- 
 dance that you 
 get is not to be 
 measured by the 
 skill with which 
 you can throw, 
 but by that 
 Divine nature 
 which does ex-. 
 ceeding abun- 
 dantly more than 
 we can ask' or 
 think.' ' — Beccher. 
 
 " ' The meteor, if 
 it once fall, can- 
 not be rekindled.' 
 When those who 
 once flashed be- 
 fore the eyes of 
 the religious 
 
 public with the 
 blaze of a vain 
 profession, fall 
 into open and 
 scandalous sin, it 
 is impossible to 
 renew their 
 glory. Once 
 break the egg of 
 hypocrisy, and 
 who can repair 
 the damage ?"— 
 Spurgeon. 
 
 c Paxion. 
 
 a " TTpon the 
 children of Am- 
 mon, i.e. I will 
 open Moab to the 
 men of the East, 
 wlio.having over- 
 run the children 
 of Ammon, shall 
 then foil upon 
 
BU 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. XXV. 12-14. 
 
 Moab."— f dtr- 
 haim. 
 
 " However con- 
 stant the visita- 
 tions of sickness 
 and bereave- 
 ment, the fall of 
 the year is most 
 thickly strewn 
 •With the fall of 
 human life. 
 Everywliere the 
 spirit of some sad 
 power seems to 
 direct the time : 
 it hides from us 
 the blue heavens: 
 it makes the 
 green wave tur- 
 bid ; it walks 
 through the 
 
 fields, and lays 
 the damp un- 
 gathered harvest 
 low ; it cries out 
 in the night wind 
 end the shrill 
 hail ; it steals the 
 Bummer bloom 
 from the infant 
 cheek ; it makes 
 old age shiver to 
 the heart ; it goes 
 to the church- 
 yard, and cliooses 
 many a grave ; it 
 flies to the bell, 
 and enjoins it 
 when to toll. It 
 is God that goes 
 His yearly round; 
 that gathers up 
 the apijninted 
 lives; and, even 
 where' the hour 
 is not come, en- 
 graves by pain 
 and poverty 
 many a sliarp 
 and solemn lesson 
 on the heart." — 
 James Martincau. 
 
 a The subduing 
 of Edomby David 
 further deepened 
 the ill-feehng, 2 
 Sa. viii. 14. 
 
 h " Teman and 
 Dedan were dis- 
 tricts, the former 
 in tlie S., tlie 
 latter in the N. 
 Hence from Te- 
 nian to Dedan 
 means ' over tlie 
 whole country.'" 
 —Spk. Com. 
 
 "There was but 
 fue crack in the 
 
 (10) ■witll, better, af/ainst." (11) judgments, deserved and 
 long called for, now to be executed. 
 
 2'he .state of Amman and Mnah. — "While the country is thuB 
 despoiled and desolate, there are valleys and tracts throughout it 
 which " are covered with a fine coat of verdant pasture, and are 
 places of resort to the Bedouins, where they pasture their camels 
 and their sheep." '• The whole way we traversed,'' says Sectzen, 
 " we saw villages in ruins, and met numbers of Arabs with their 
 camels," etc. Mr. Buckingham describes a building among the 
 ruins of Ammon, '• the masonry of which was evidently con- 
 structed of materials gathered from the ruins of other and older 
 buildings on the sjjot. On entering it at the south end," he adds, 
 ' ' we came to an open square court, with arched recesses on each 
 side, the sides nearly facing the cardinal points. The recesses 
 into the northern and southern walls were originally open 
 passages, and had arched doorways facing each other ; but the 
 first of these was found wholly closed up, and the last was 
 partially filled up, leaving only a narrow passage, just suiBcienfc 
 for the entrance of one man and the goats, which the Arab 
 keepers drive in here occasionally for shelter during the night." 
 He relates that he lay down among '• the flocks of sheep and 
 goats." close beside the ruins of Ammon ; and particularly remarks 
 that, during the night, he was almost entirelj' prevented from sleep- 
 ing by the " bleating of flocks." So literally true is it, although 
 Seetzen, and Burckhardt, and Buckingham, who relate the facts, 
 make no reference or allusion whatever to any of the prophecies, 
 and travelled for a different object than the elucidation of the 
 Scriptures, that "the chief city of the Ammonites is a stable for 
 camels, and a couching-place for flocks." '• The Ammonites shall 
 not be remembered among the nations." While the Jews, who 
 were long their hereditary enemies, continue as distinct a people 
 as ever, though dispersed among all nations, no trace of the 
 Ammonites remains ; none are now designated by their name, 
 nor do any claim descent from them. They did exist, however, 
 long after the time when the eventual annihilation of their race 
 was foretold, for they retained their name, and continued a great 
 multitude, until the second century of the Clfristian era. '• Yet 
 they are cut ofE from the people. Ammon has perished out of 
 the countries ; it is destroyed." No people is attached to its soil 
 — none regard it as their country and adopt its name ; and the 
 Ammonites are not numbered among other nations. 
 
 12—14. (12) Edom, Nu. xxiv. 18. 19. The descendants of Esau 
 kept up their grudge against the descendants of Jacob, taking 
 vengeance, or manifesting a most implacable resentment." 
 (13) Teman, Ge. xxxvi. 11—1.5. Dedan, Ge. x. 7.» (14) my 
 vengeance, in answer to their vengeance, r. 12. 
 
 Ammon. — Seetzen (whose indefatigable ardour led him, in 
 defiance of danger, the first to exploi-e the countries which lie 
 east of the Jordan, and east and south of the Dead Sea, or the 
 territories of Ammon, ]\loab, and Edom) ju.?tly characterises 
 Ammon as •' once the residence of manj' kings — an ancient town, 
 which flourished long before the Greeks and Romans, even before 
 the Hebrews ; " and he briefly enumerates thoi^e remains of 
 ancient greatness and splendour which are most distinguishable 
 amid its ruins. " Altlwiugh this town has been destroyed and 
 deserted for many ages, I tstill found there some remarkable ruinsj 
 
Oap. xxvi. 1—6.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 315 
 
 which attest its ancient splendour. Such as, 1st, A square build- 
 ing, ver^^ hij,^hly ornamented, which has been perhaps a niauso- i 
 kum. 2nd, The ruins of a large jialace. ord, A iiiaguiticent i 
 amphitheatre of immense size, and well preserved, with a i 
 peristyle of Corinthian pillars without pedestals. 4th, A temple i 
 with a great number of columns. 51h, The ruins of a large | 
 church, perhaps the see of a bishop in the time of the Greek [ 
 emperors. Gth, The remains of a temple with columns set in a 
 circular fonn, and which are of an extraordinary size. 7th. The j 
 remains of the ancient wall, with many other edifices." Burck- 
 hardt. who afterwards visited the spot, describes it with greater 
 minuteness. He gives a plan of the ruins ; and particularly 
 noted the ruins of many temples, of a spacious chtirch, a curved 
 wall, a high-arched bridge, the banks and bed of the river still 
 partially paved ; a large theatre, with successive tiers of apart- 
 ments excavated in the rocky side of a hill ; Corinthian 
 columns fifteen feet high ; the castle, a very extensive building, 
 the walls of which are thick, and denote a remote antiquity ; 
 many cisterns and vaults : and a plain covered with the decayed 
 ruins of private buildings ; — monuments of ancient splendour 
 standing amid a desolate heap."" 
 
 15 — 17. (15) Philistines," ancient foes of Israel, dwelling in 
 the plaiiis towards the coast, S.W. of Judah. old hatred., 
 carrying on into later times the early hatred of the races. (16) 
 Ciieretlllms, another name for the Philistines, representing 
 prob. one of the immigrations which formed the nation.' 
 remnant, etc., Am. i. 8. (17; furious rebukes, or heavy 
 judgments. 
 
 Vuidlcatio7i of rcrenrjc. — 
 
 Lo, by thy side, where Rape and Murder stand : 
 Now give some "surance that thou art Revenge, 
 Stab them, or tear them on thj- chariot-wheels ; 
 And then I'll come, and be thy waggoner, 
 And whirl along with thee about the globes, 
 Provide thee proper palfreys, black as jet, 
 To hale thy vengeful waggon swift away, 
 And find oat murderers in their guilty caves ; 
 And. when thy car is loaden with their heads, 
 I will dismount, and by the waggon- wheel 
 Trot, like a servile footman, all day long ; 
 Even from Hyperion's lising in the east, 
 Until his very downfall in the sea.' 
 
 lantern, and the 
 wiiiil li.is fi)unj 
 it out auil blown 
 ovit the candle. 
 How great a 
 mischief one un- 
 guarded point of 
 character may 
 cause us! One 
 tpark blew up 
 the niafrazine 
 and shook tiie 
 whole country 
 for miles around. 
 One leak sunk 
 the yesstl and 
 drowned all on 
 board. One 
 wound may kill 
 the body ; one 
 sin destroy the 
 soul."— -S^ic's/^'un. 
 
 c Keilh. 
 
 a Comp. Is. xl. 
 14, xiv. ^D— 32, 
 etc. 
 
 l> 1 Pa. XXX. 14; 
 Je. xlvii. 4 ; Zep. 
 u. 6. 
 
 "But they were 
 not aware that 
 there a7-e things 
 which make re- 
 venge a virtue by 
 reflection, and 
 not an impulse 
 of mere anger ; 
 though the laws 
 sleep, justice 
 wakes, an<l in- 
 jured souls oft 
 do a public right 
 with private 
 ■wrong, and jus- 
 tify their deeds 
 uiito them- 
 selves." — Byron. 
 
 c Shakespeait. 
 
 CnAPTER THE TWENTY-SIXTH. 
 
 1—6. (1) first . . month, wh. precise month is not stated. 
 (2) Tyrus, the Latin form of the word Tyre," Jos. xix. 2!) ; 2 
 Sa. xxiv. 7. gates, etc., in and out of wh. the merchandise 
 went. Jerusalem had long been a centre-place on the highway 
 of commerce, and Tyre might be jealous of its pro.eperity.* (3) 
 many nations, alluding to the composite character of the 
 Bab. army, as the sea, in its storm-time. A suitable fig. in a 
 message to a sea-port town. (41 scrape her dust, making an 
 entire riddauce of her public buildings. (5) spreading of nets, 
 
 a Kebuch.'s siego 
 of Tyre lasted 
 thirteen years. 
 
 6 " In the true 
 spirit of mercan- 
 tile competition, 
 Tvre exulted in 
 tlie thought that 
 the trade of 
 Jerus. would now 
 
316 
 
 EZEKTEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxvl. 7— la 
 
 be diverted into 
 her markets." — 
 Spk. Com. 
 
 c So Maundrell, 
 etc. 
 
 " Of all the aliilt 
 male cnmiual.-iiii 
 Lonilon, not two 
 in a haudrcil 
 ha7e entered up- 
 on a. coarse of 
 crime who have 
 lived an honest 
 life up to tlie ajje 
 of twenty: almost 
 all who enter up- 
 on a course of 
 crime do so be- 
 tween the asjes 
 of eight and six- 
 teen." — Earl v/ 
 Shaftesbury. 
 
 d Keith. 
 
 a Tyre, as is well 
 known, sufTored 
 two memorable 
 sieges : one frMtn 
 Nebuchailnezzar, 
 the other from 
 Alexander tlie 
 Great. 
 
 " If but one sin 
 
 be nnrepented of, 
 tlie man con- 
 tinues still a 
 bond-slave of 
 hell. By one 
 little hole, a sliip 
 will sink into tlie 
 bottom of the 
 sea. Tlie stab of 
 a penknife to the 
 heart will as well 
 destroy a man as 
 all tlie daggers 
 that killed C;e~ar 
 in the seiiate- 
 liouse. The soul 
 will be strangled 
 with one cord of 
 vanity as well as 
 with all the cart- 
 ropes of iniquity: 
 Duly the more 
 Bins, the more 
 plagues and 
 fiercer flames in 
 liell ; but he that 
 lives and dies 
 impenitent in 
 cue, it will be his 
 destruction. One 
 dram of pyi.son 
 jwill despatch a 
 
 travellers say that this is litsrally fulfilled." (6) daughters, 
 or d 'peiivlent cities. 
 
 Deitnictioii of Tijre. — Ono of the most sin^'ular events in 
 history was the maimer in which the siege of Tyre was conducted 
 by Alexander the Great. Irritated that a single city .should alone 
 oppose his victorious march, enraged at the murder of some of 
 his soldiers, and fearful for his fame — even his army's despair- 
 ing of success could not deter him from the siege. And Tvre 
 was taken in a manner, the t ucce.^s of which was more wonderful 
 than the design was daring ; for it was surrounded by a wall one 
 hundred and fifty feet in height, and situated on an island half 
 a mile distant from the shore. A mound was foi'med from the 
 continent to the island ; and the ruins of olil Tyre, two hundred 
 and forty years after its demolition, afforded ready materials for 
 the purpose. Such was the work, that the attempts at first 
 defeated the power of an Alexander. The enemy consumed and 
 the storm destroyed it. But its remains, buried beneath the 
 water, formed a barrier which rendered successful his renewed 
 efforts. A vast mass of additional matter was requisite. The 
 soil and the very rubbi.sh were gathered and heaped. And the 
 mighty conqueror, who afterwards failed in raising again any of 
 the ruins of Babylon, cast those of Tyre into the sea. and took 
 her very dust from off her. He left not the remnant of a ruin — 
 and the site of ancient Tyre is now unknown.'' 
 
 7 — 10. (7) king of kings, one who has subdued other kings, 
 and holds them in subjection. (8) fort, etc., the description of 
 an ancient siege." (ii) axes, or hatchets. (10) dust, etc., 
 when they rush in through the breaches to sack the city. 
 
 JIMorij of Tijre. — This history of the city is most affecting, 
 and it has been said with much force, that " the noble dust of 
 Alexander, traced bj" the imagination till found stopjiing a beer- 
 barrel, would scarcely afford a stronger contrast of grandeur and 
 abasement than Tyre, at the period of being besieged by that 
 conqueror, and the modern town of Tsour erected on its ashes." 
 It was probably a colony of the Sidonians. as it is called " the 
 daughter of Sidon." From its present name appears to have 
 been taken the general name of Syria. Its first mention is in 
 Joshua, where it is called •' the strong city Tyre." At an early 
 period it became the mistress of the seas ; traded even to Britain, 
 and planted colonies in different parts of the Mediterranean, 
 among which Carthage became the most celebrated. The hi-tory 
 of Tyre is more especially interesting to the Christian from its 
 connection with prophecy, and from the striking eloquence with 
 which inspiration has described the majesty of its brighter days, 
 and the impressive circumstances of its destruction. It was also 
 referred to by our Saviour, when He pronounced woe upon the 
 inhabitants of Chorazin and Bethsaida, because they had seen 
 His mighty works and repented not. Her merchants were princes, 
 her traifickers the honourable of the earth. She heaped up silver 
 as dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. The boards of 
 her ships were of the fir trees of Senir, her m.asts of the cedars of 
 Lebanon, her oars of the oaks of Bashan. her benches of the ivory 
 of Chittim. her sails of fine linen, broidered work from Egjqit, 
 and her awnings were of purple. Her heart was lifted n]>, and 
 she said, '• I am a god ; I sit in the seat of God. in the midst of 
 the seas." Such is the description givou in sacred writ of the 
 
Cap. xxvl. 11-18.3 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 317 
 
 pride and magnificence of ancient Tyre. Now, in the language 
 of the same authority, the noise of her songs is ceased, and the 
 voice of her haqjs is no more heard : her walls are broken down, 
 her pleasant houses are no more ; she is made like the top of a 
 rock, a place to spread nets upon : she is built no more. 
 
 11—14. (11) tread down, the people in the streets, strong 
 garrisons, lit. pillars of streni/th. " The multitude and strength 
 of the pillars of Tyre are attested by its ruins.'" (12) pleasant 
 110US3S, or houses of desire, in . . "water, where tliey can even 
 to this day be seen.' (13) noise . . cease. Is. xxiv. 8 ; Je. vii. 
 3i, xvi. 'J. (l-l) top of a rock, i.e. quite bare.' 
 
 I'rcsent state of Tyre. — Passing by Tyre from curiosity only, I 
 came to be a mournful witness of the truth of that prophecy, 
 " that Tyre, the cpieeu of nations, should be a rock for fishers to 
 dry their nets on." Two wi'etched fishermen, with miserable 
 nets, having just given over their occupation, with very little 
 success. I engaged them, at the expense of their nets, to drag in 
 those places where they said shellfish might be caught, in hojjes 
 to have brought out one of the famous purple fish. I did not 
 succeed ; but in this I was, I believe, as lucky as the old fishers 
 had ever bjen. The purple fi.sh at Tyre seems to have been only 
 a concealment of their knowledge of cochineal, as, if the whole 
 city of Tyre applied to nothing else but fishing, they would not 
 have coloured twenty yards of cloth in a year."^ 
 
 15 — 18. (1.5) shake, with fear for themselves. (16) princes 
 of the sea, the merchant rulers of Carthage, and other colonics 
 founded by Tyre. These would be in extreme distress on account 
 of the fall of Tyre. (17) lamentation, comj). Re. xviii. S). of 
 seafaring men, or of the seas. •• Tyre was an inhabited city 
 rising from out of the sea that surrounded her."' haunt it, the 
 strangers who come, for trade ptu-poses, to dwell in it. (18) 
 isles, or colonies on the Mediterranean islands and shores. 
 
 Tijreas a sea-j/ort. — The stirring scenes of a sea- port exhibit a 
 picture of more constant excitement than can ever be presented 
 by any other place. The arrival and discharge of ships ; the 
 cries of the captains as they direct their ready mariners ; the 
 songs of the boatmen, the da.sh of the oars, and the roll of the 
 eea ; the solitary female, whose eye catches every speck that 
 appears white in the horizon, and never leaves it till one after 
 another of its inmates have been carefully numbered, that per- 
 chance she may discover among them the father of her discon- 
 solate children ; the faltering step of the aged sailor, \\'hose 
 battles have been fought, and whose victories have been won : 
 the tearrs of those who are bidding farewell, and the rapture of 
 those who are greeting the arrival of a long-absent friend ; the 
 anxious assemblies of the merchants, either speaking of traffic, 
 or proclaiming their good fortune, or lamenting the loss of some 
 fair sliip in a destructive gale : the reckless merriment of the 
 Beameu. as they enjoy upon land a little respite from their con- 
 stant toils ; — all these, and a thousand other scenes of noise, and 
 joyousness, and wealth, have been exhibited upon thes? shores. 
 They have passed away, like the feverish dream of a disturbed 
 Bleep. Ships may be seen, but at a distance ; no merchant of the 
 earth ever enters the name of Tyre upon his books, and where 
 thousands onco assembled in pomp and pride, and there was 
 
 mail, and one 
 reigning sin will 
 bring bim to 
 endless misery." 
 —II. l.ollon. 
 
 a Wiirdstcorth. 
 b " The number 
 of granite co- 
 lumns that lie in 
 the sea, particu- 
 larly iu the north 
 of the island, is 
 surprising. The 
 east wall of the 
 inner harbour i9 
 entirely founded 
 upon them, and 
 they are thickly 
 spnad over the 
 bottom of the sea 
 on every side." — 
 Tlwmson. 
 c " Ale.xander, as 
 Arriaii relates, 
 scraped off the 
 very dust of old 
 Tyre to build 
 his caustway, 
 and now you 
 can find none 
 of the remains 
 except by dig- 
 gins below the 
 surface." — Ibid, 
 d JJruce. 
 
 " Were a cup of 
 pleasant wine put 
 into your hands, 
 and you knew for 
 certain that a' 
 deadly poison 
 was mixed up 
 with the wine, 
 which would 
 
 rack you with 
 the fiercest 
 pains, and ere 
 long tear soul 
 and body in 
 s u n d e r, who 
 would drink it ? 
 — who would not 
 dash it from him 
 forthwith ? Yet, 
 if \\e had but 
 faith we should 
 know and feel 
 that sin is dead- 
 lier than the 
 deadliest poison, 
 that it racks us 
 with fiercer 
 pains, and gives 
 us over to a more 
 ter'ible dissolu- 
 tion ; for it cuts 
 us ofi'from God, 
 from Pirn who is 
 the only source 
 of all blcssiug 
 
318 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxvii. 1— a. 
 
 and pc 
 JIare. 
 
 a Uardy. 
 
 "Tou have seen 
 the canopy of 
 beaveu covered 
 Vi'itU the black 
 clouds of a 
 t hit iiderstorm, 
 a id every now 
 and then the 
 darkness lias 
 
 been made more 
 "Visible, or sen- 
 sible, by sudden 
 flashes of light- 
 ninj?. Just like 
 these flashes are 
 the pleasures of 
 the world ; they 
 last but for a 
 moment, and 
 leave dai-kness 
 and misery be- 
 hind ; whereas 
 true happiness 
 shells a continual 
 daylight on the 
 ^o\A." -ChrisVian s 
 Penny Mag. 
 
 a Hogg. 
 
 a " This alludes 
 to the mournful 
 ditties used at 
 funerals, wlierein 
 the mourning 
 womenrecounted 
 everything that 
 was valuable or 
 praiseworthy be- 
 longing to the 
 deceased, ami 
 then lamente-l 
 his loss." — Loiclh. 
 h "Tyre, in con- 
 sequence of her 
 sea-girt position, 
 separated by a 
 strait of half a 
 mile from the 
 mainland, is dc>- 
 Ecrilied as a ship 
 built of the be.-t 
 materials, and 
 manned with the 
 best mariners 
 
 beauty, and splendour, and dominion, I could discover only a few 
 children iimusing thcnist Ivcs at play, and a party of Turks sitting 
 in gravity, and sijiping their favourite coli'ee." 
 
 19—21. (19) bring . . deep, the sea did actually come to 
 cover the ruins. (liU; down, ctr., comp. Is. xiv. I), land of 
 th.e living, I.e. the laud of the true God. (21) be no more, 
 as a great commercial city. '■ As to old Tyre the projihecy was 
 literally fultilled, not a vestige of it being left." 
 
 The nihi.'i of Tyre. — Relentless desolation seems to brood over 
 this devoted region. Fragments of clustered columns and broken 
 walls, at the south-east extremity of the town — the only visible 
 remains of the structures even of the Middle Ages — perhaps mark 
 the site of the magnificent metropolitan church, once the con- 
 spicuous ornament of Christian Tyre. In that splendid edifice of 
 rich Gothi'i architecture, distinguislied by three spacious naves 
 and two lofty towers, where councils were held and princes and 
 prelates assembled, the bones of the Emperor Frederick Barba- 
 rossa were deposited in a sumptuous sepulchre. Every trace of 
 the mausoleiim of Origen, raised in the third century, and stiU 
 existing in the twelfth, has now disappeared. Broken shafts 
 thrown into a narrow creek awkwardly serve the purpose of a 
 bridge ; others i)iled in the sea, form a barrier against hostile 
 approach. A few columns of marble, of granite, and of porphyry, 
 lie unheeded round a small cove, now the only landing-place, 
 while mounds of sand, thinly strewn with architectural frag- 
 ments, alone point out the ancient circuit of the town. And ia 
 this all that remains to tell the tale of ancient Tjtc, the early 
 seat of civilisation, the empress of the waves .' Could this dreary 
 coast have poured forth dauntless navigators to explore distant 
 regions ; this cheerless waste, could it ever have been the patri- 
 mony of '• merchant-princes .' " Could this little territory have 
 been the emporium of the commerce of the world?" 
 
 CHAPTER THE TJFENTY-SEVENTH. 
 
 1—6. (1,2) lamentation, or funeral dirge." (?,') entry, 
 lit. entries. Ancient Tjre had two ports. It was a harbour to 
 and from which ships went from all parts of the Mediterranean, 
 and connected seas, perfect beauty, completelv fitted, and 
 grandly adorned. (4) midst . . seas, lit. " in the" heart of the 
 sea."* (5) Senir, the Amorite name for ]\rt. Hermon.'^ (ti) 
 Baslian, a district celebrated for its oaks, company . . ivory, 
 this is better trans. '■ They have made thy ro\vinQ--bonches of 
 ivoiy inlaid in the best boxwood." isles of Ch.ittim,'' phrase 
 for Greece and the Grecian islands. 
 
 A .ttal-e of .<(in, if n, .tf/ite of (Icnth, Cr. 3). — 1. TVe are all destitute 
 of spiritual life ; 2. The Word of God is the appointed means of 
 communicating spiritual life ; 3. The influence of the Holy 
 Spirit is indispens.able to the prodiiction of spiritual life ; 4. The 
 influence of the Holj' Spirit is to be obtnined through pi-aver ; 
 ."). We have every encouragement to pray for the influence of the 
 Holy Spirit : <'>. The cnnsr'qu'"'nocs of the outpouring of the influ- 
 ence of the Till}' Snirit will be beneficial and gloriors.'' 
 
 Ancient Tyre. — The Saracens and Turks were the unconscioufl 
 
Cap.xxvii. 7—11.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 "^19 
 
 instruments who carried these prophecies into their fulfilment : 
 thej utterly destroyed Sidou and Tjrre, that they might not afford 
 further retuge to the crusaders. There were two harbours, formed 
 by the island — one towai-ds the north, and the other towards the 
 Bouth ; and there was a passage between the island and the shore 
 from the one to the other. The island is represented by Pliny as 
 having been four miles in circumference, but the peninsula upon 
 which the present town is situated is of much less extent. It 
 would therefore appear that it is built, for the most part, upon 
 the mole thrown up by Alexander, including- a small portion of 
 the original island. There is thus enough of the rock left in 
 existence for the fishers to spread their nets upon, while the 
 principal area, once mantled with palaces and alive with a busy 
 population, has been swept into '■ the midst of the waters,'' and 
 can be built no more. The disappearance of the island has caused 
 the destruction of the harbours ; and as all protection to shipping 
 is now taken away. Tyre can never again rise to eminence as 
 ''the mart of nations.'" There are still two small rocks in the 
 sea, to which the island probably extended ; and as the fisher- 
 men's boats can approach them in calm weather, they seem to 
 invite the spreading of nets upon their surface. I and my com- 
 panions sailed over the present harbour in a small boat, to 
 examine the columns that may clearly be seen under the water 
 on a fine day. but the sea was too rough to allow us to discover 
 many of them. The present town is walled, and is of very 
 modern date. The space inside is in a great measure open, and 
 the houses are mean. The governor's residence is the only 
 respectable building. There are many columns near the small 
 harbour, and others on the opposite side of the peninsula, but 
 there is no ruin of ancient date the plan of which can be traced. 
 We saw in a garden a granite column of one block, that measured 
 thirtj' feet in length, and the diameter was in proportion. The 
 eastern end of the cathedral is still standing. We ascended to 
 the top of the ruin by a spiral staircase, and from thence had a 
 view of the town. The burial-ground is near. From this situa- 
 tion the houses had a singular appearance, as the roofs are all 
 flat, and were then verdant with a rich covering of grass. IJpon 
 the plain there are the remains of an extensive aqueduct. The 
 mole appears like a mere collection of sand, but beneath, there 
 may be some construction of more enduring materials. 
 
 7—11. (7) fine linen, Ge. xli. 42. spreadest forth, as they 
 Bail, to catch the wind." blue and purple, i.e. material dyed 
 with costly murez-dyes.^ ' isles of Elishah, Ge. x. 4. (8) 
 Arvad, Ge. x. 18. (9) Gebal, a province of Phoenicia, near 
 Tyre." calkers, stoppers of chinks : it was their business to 
 make the vessels water-tight. (10) Persia, Heb. Puj-as. Leid 
 and Phut, prob. in Africa, Nah. iii. 0. hanged . . thee, it was 
 customary to ornament the walls with weapons. (11) G-am- 
 madims, an unknown nation. The word may mean, watch men. 
 
 Eastern .^iil/h'ers in time of pence. — The Eastern soldiers in time 
 of peace are disponed of about the walls of places, and particularly 
 in the towers, and at the gates. Xiebuhr tells us that the foot- 
 soldiers of the imam of Yemem have very little to do in times of 
 peace, any more than the cavalry : some of them mount guard 
 at file dela's, or governor's ; they are also employed at the gates 
 and upon tlie towers. Van Egmont and Heyman give a similar 
 
 and skilful pilots, 
 but at last ia 
 tempestuous s?as 
 wrecked. "- faiij- 
 set. 
 
 c T>e. iii. 9. 
 Virgil mentions 
 tlie fir tree as 
 especially useful 
 for ships, the 
 cedar and cypress 
 for houses. 
 d Je. ii. 10. 
 vn. 1—4. J. Hunt, 
 195. 
 
 e G. Brooks. 
 " O sin 1 how 
 hast thou 
 cursed us 1 Thou 
 hast thrown up 
 a barrier between 
 ourselres and. 
 God. With thy 
 chilling breath 
 tluiu hast extin- 
 guished the light 
 of our household 
 joys ; thou hast 
 unstrung our 
 harp, and filled 
 the air with dis- 
 cordant cries ; 
 thou hast un- 
 sheathed the 
 sword, a u d 
 bathed it ia 
 humau blood ; 
 thou hast dug 
 every grave iu 
 the bosom of the 
 fair earth ; but 
 for thee, we 
 should not have 
 known the name 
 of wdow or or- 
 phan, tear and 
 sigh, sorrow and 
 death ; but for 
 thee, our hearts 
 had been untorn 
 by a pang, and 
 our joy pure as 
 the ecstasies of 
 heaven." — j5/\ jr. 
 Parker. 
 
 a Caligula, the 
 extravagant Ro- 
 man emperor, 
 furnished his 
 p 1 e a s u r e-boats 
 with costly sails 
 and other expen- 
 sive ornaments. ' 
 — Siif(oinus. 
 h This was used 
 for awnings over 
 the deck. 
 c 1 Ki. V. 18 ; Pa. 
 Ixxxiii. 8. 
 V. 7 Bp. Word*- 
 worth, 314. 
 
320 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 Cap. xxvil. 12—21. 
 
 «. 11. J. C. Die- ' account. Sandys, speaking of the decorations of one of the gates 
 teric, Am. 671. | ^j ^]^g imperial seraglio in Constantinople, tells us that ii is hung 
 a Uarmer. \ with shields and scimetars. Through this gate people jiass to the 
 
 i divan, where justice is administered ; and these are the ornaments 
 
 I of this public jiassage.'' 
 
 a Fairhnim. \ 
 
 h liochart. 
 "Each frronp of 
 shops is calleil a 
 market." — Van 
 Lmnep. 
 
 "The domestic 
 •utensils of the 
 Orientals are 
 nearly always 
 trass : and to 
 these they often 
 refer as a sign of 
 property. ' He is 
 a rich man ; liis 
 house is full of 
 brass vessels.' 
 ' Begone 1 fellow, 
 I have more brass 
 in my house than 
 would purchase 
 all thy property." 
 ' The miserable 
 man has not a 
 brass dish in his 
 house." "-Roberts. 
 
 The desolate ap- 
 pearance of Soor 
 from the sea— a 
 Btrajjgling, re- 
 pulsive village of 
 low scattered 
 dwellings, with a 
 few squalid in- 
 habitants loiter- 
 ing on the beach 
 — is in gloomy 
 contrast with the 
 gorgeous descrip- 
 tions of insular 
 Tyre,before Alex- 
 ander effected its 
 destruction by 
 the daring expe- 
 dient of uniting 
 it with the con- 
 tiueut. 
 
 a 2 Chr. xxvii. 2. 
 
 b Je. viii. 25. 
 
 e Now Aleppo. 
 
 "It was a bfau- 
 ,tiful truth which 
 »ur. forefathers 
 
 12—16. 02) Tarshish, prob. Tartc.vus in Spain. Oe. x. 4. 
 Spain was rich in metals, traded in thy fairs, or •• did barter 
 with thee."" (18) Javan, Ureece. Tubal, and Meshech, 
 '■ the Moschi and Tibareni. who.se habitation was near the Euxine 
 Sea."* persons of men, 7:.e. slaves. (14) Tog arm ah, Armenia, 
 Ge. X. 2. (15) Dedan, Ge. x. 7. (KJj emeralds, or carbuncle, 
 coral, poss. silk, or precious stones, are meant by the word, 
 agate, Is. liv. 12. 
 
 The site of ancient Ti/re. — The present peninsula, once the site 
 of this splendid city, anciently estimated at three miles in cir- 
 cumference, but apparently of somewhat less extent, is now a 
 dreary waste, distinguished only by hillocks and furrows ; and 
 the memorable isthmus, then so laboriously constructed, has 
 become less conspicuous from, the augmentation of its width, by 
 the gradual accumulation of sand. Its onco vaunted port is now 
 so effectually choked, that only small boats can ajiproach the 
 shore, although, amidst the waves, the foundations are still 
 visible of the massive walls that formed its fortified boundaries, 
 leaving only a narrow entrance secured by a chain. Near the 
 landing-place, a few tolerable houses face the sea, and similar 
 ones are sparingly distributed in other directions. An insignificant 
 bazaar offers few temptations even to those who seek ordinary 
 commodities, and the diverging streets are little more than 
 circuitous alleys, capriciously winding between high walls, as if 
 concealment alone afforded security. Here and there a low door 
 opens into an orchard or paddock, but more frequently into a 
 small court, surrounded with miserable hovels, evidently the 
 abodes of abject poverty. Occasional!}' an unclosed door exhibits 
 a court of larger dimensions, where a few rude implements of 
 husbandry, and the less meagre looks of better-clad occupants, 
 betoken a state somewhat approaching to comfort and ease. 
 Little cultivation, however,, is perceptible near the town ; of 
 commercial activity there is no sign ; listless groups fill every 
 vacant space; and fishermen no longer '• sprea^l their nets" on 
 the shore. Hence it becomes difficult to conjecture how a popula- 
 tion, scarcely removed from indigence, can here subsist, notwith- 
 standing the temperate habits of the East, which demand little 
 more than a morning and evening repast of fresh-baked cakes, 
 sometimes eaten with a sort of pottage made of lentils.onions, etc., 
 and sometimes merely with a, dravight of water, or a little fruit. 
 
 17—21. (17) wheat of Minnitli, 1 Ki. v. 9-11. Minnith 
 is in the country of the Ammonites, wh. was famous for its corn- 
 lauds." Pannag, not known as a place. Poss. it means some 
 kind of gum or ointment, balm, for wh. Gilead was famous.* 
 ( IS ) Damascus, the chief city of Syria. Helbon, or Chaiybon." 
 a district in Syria famous for its wine. (19) Dan, poss. sliould 
 be ^'('(l^n. the modern Aden. Javan, poss. a Greek settlement 
 in Arabia, bright iron, i.e. vs-rought iron, cassia, Ex. xxx. 
 24. calamus, Ex. xxx. 2'^. (20) precious clothes, perhaps 
 ''saddle-cloths." (21) Kedar, Go. xsv. 13. 
 
Cap. xxvii. 22—25.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 321 
 
 JlcHglonfor business. — The earnest spirit of business (and men 
 must be earnest, or they will do nothing), — the earnest spirit of 
 business must be met and controlled, must be suffused and sanc- 
 tilied, by a still more earnest spirit of religion. A hollow and 
 heartless piety can never guide such a business spirit as Hale 
 possessed, and such as, in these days especially, all successful 
 men must possess. Strength must be combined with strength ; 
 earnestness must control earnestness ; zeal must pierce into, and 
 exalt and purify zeal ; faith in eternal things, in the soul, in 
 God, in Christ, in the Spirit, in heaven, must be clear, eagle-eyed, 
 seeing at a distance, looking through clouds and storm ; love to 
 God must be a blaziug fire like that on Elijah's altar, which 
 licked up the water, dust, and stones that filled the trenches. 
 Say not such mighty faith, such fervent love, are impossible in 
 this world of bustle, toil, and care ; for Hale has demonstrated 
 that the thing was practicable ; and so has William Wilberforce ; 
 and so has Mr. Hardcastle the merchant : and so has Thomas Fowell 
 Buxton the brewer ; and so has Joseph John Gurney the banker, 
 and many more. Amidst the heats of secular employments, they 
 cooled their burning brows by opening windows that looked into 
 eternity, and let in breezes that came blowing from the land 
 •where angels dwell. And when their souls' chariot-wheels were 
 ready to catch fire by the friction of their secular activity, faith 
 in other things, and love to other things, was like cold water 
 dropping down to prevent the flames. The world did not carry 
 them away ; did not ovenjower and conquer and burn them up : 
 tliey remained, after all, masters of the world and of themselves, 
 through the constant faith they had, that they were the servants 
 of God and of Christ.'' 
 
 22—25. (22) Sheba, in Arabia Felix. Raamali, on the 
 Persian Gulf. (23) Haran, Carrhoe, in N.W. Mesopotamia. 
 Canneli, prob. a town on the Tigris. Eden, in Mesopotamia." 
 Assliur, here prob. the towni Snm. Cllilmad, jirob. the Char- 
 mancU of Xeuophon : or Kalwada. near Bagdad. (24) all sorts, 
 or in excellent wares, made of cedar, to give the clothes a 
 fine scent.* (25) did sing of thee, or " were the bulwarks of 
 thy traffic." 
 
 Infancy of British trade. — In England the progress of com- 
 merce was extremely slow, and this country was one of the last 
 nations in Europe to avail itself of its natural commercial 
 advantages. Before the reign of Edward III., all the wool of 
 England, except a small quantity made into coarse cloths for 
 home consumption, was sold to the Flemings or Lombards, and 
 manufactured by them. All foreign goods were brought into 
 England by the Lombard or Ilanseatic merchants. The English 
 ports were frequented by ships both from the north and south 
 of Europe ; and they tamely allowed foreigners to reap all 
 the profits arising from the supply of their wants. The first 
 commercial treaty of England on record is that with Ilaquin, 
 king of Norway, in 1217; but the English did not venture to 
 trade in their own ships to the Baltic iintil the beginning of the 
 fourteenth century ; and it was not until the fifteenth that they 
 eent any ships into the Mediterranean, or to the ports of Spain 
 and Portugal. To Edward III. England is indebted for giving 
 the first impulse to commerce, by endeavouring to excite a spirit 
 of industry among his subjects. By alluring Flemish artisans to 
 ■\rOL. IZ. O.T. 2 
 
 symbolised, 
 when, in must of 
 our old iiusrket- 
 to-.vns, they )iave 
 erecceil a market- 
 cross, as it to 
 teach the buyers 
 and sellers to rule 
 ill their actions, 
 and sanctify their 
 gains, by the re- 
 membrance of 
 the cross. The 
 Israelites were 
 tauglit the .«ame 
 in their encamp- 
 ment : every part 
 of the camp 
 looked toward 
 the tabernacle. 
 So the C'aiiicse, 
 though in super- 
 stition and igno- 
 rance, set up 
 their idols ia 
 their shops. 
 ' Prayer and jiro- 
 vender hinder no 
 ni.in's journey. 
 There is no time 
 lost in sharpen- 
 ing the scythe.' " 
 — G. S. Buiies. 
 
 d J. Stuugliton, 
 
 a 2 KL x.-d. 12. 
 
 h " Still fine 
 clothes are kept 
 in large chests 
 of cypress-wood, 
 whose odour pre- 
 serves them from 
 the ravages of 
 moths. Ezekiel 
 speaks of such 
 made of cypress." 
 — Van Lennep. 
 
 Soon after Col- 
 bert came into 
 the management 
 of the finances of 
 France, he sent 
 for the principal 
 merchants of 
 that kingdom, 
 and in order to 
 ingratiate him- 
 self with them, 
 and to acquire 
 their confiilence, 
 lie asked what 
 he could do for 
 them? They 
 unanimously an- 
 swered, " Pray, 
 sir, do nothing 1 
 Lai*$ez-noui 
 
S22 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxvli. 26—36 
 
 {aire" " Let ns 
 do lor ourselves." 
 
 " Oar business 
 liuist be till' 
 main ilmiu of 
 our iiitelloclual 
 activities lUij- by 
 day. It is tlu- 
 chiinnel we liave 
 clioscn fur tliein : 
 tliey must flow 
 in it witli t 
 difTusivo euerfry. 
 filling every nook 
 and corner." — 
 Dr. Tnllwh. 
 c Percy Aiuc. 
 
 a Spk. Com. 
 
 b Fa unset. 
 
 t>. 27. /;;•. J. Ed 
 tear lis, lu3. 
 
 p- Sin is to be 
 overcome, not sc 
 much by main- 
 taining 11 direct 
 opposition to it. 
 as by cultivating 
 opposite princi- 
 I)1l's Woulil you 
 kill the weeds in 
 your ganlen, 
 
 plant it with 
 good seed : if the 
 ground be well 
 occupied tliere 
 will be less need 
 of the labour of 
 the hoe. If a 
 man wished tc 
 quench fire, he 
 miglit fight it 
 with 'his hands 
 till he was burnt 
 to deatli ; the 
 only way is tc 
 apply an opposite 
 element." — An- 
 drew Fuller. 
 
 "Behold my 
 tears I — oli, think 
 them pearled 
 drops distilled 
 from the heart! " 
 Heywood. 
 
 a Eze. xxvl. 15 
 
 6 " As men are 
 •pt to despise 
 
 .settle in his dominions, as well as by many wise laws for the 
 encoiirasremcnt and re<julation of trade, he gave a beginning to 
 the woollen manufactures of England ; and first turned the 
 active and entequ'If^ing genius of hi.s people towards those arts 
 which have raised the Eugli.sh to the highest rank among com- 
 mercial nations. So rapidly did the commerce of England 
 advance from this time, that in the twenty-eighth year of the 
 same king, the balance of commerce in her favour was nearly 
 equal to £800.000 of our money. " Thus," as Sir William Temple 
 says, " when England had but a very small foreign commerce, we 
 were rich in proportion to our neighbours, by selling so much 
 more than we bought, even though we maintained such mighty 
 wars in I'rauce, and carried our victorious arms into the heart of 
 Spain.' "^ 
 
 23—30. (20) great waters, scenes of peril, east wind, 
 
 Ps. xlviii. 7. (27) riches, etc., ''All who have been enumerated 
 as sharing in and constituting the glory of Tj^re are now recounted 
 as partakers in her wreck."" (28) suburbs, or pr^incts ; build- 
 ings on the adjoining continent. (2i») stand . .land, '• being 
 cast out of the ships wherein they prided themselves."* (30) 
 against thee, better, over thee : on account of thy wreck and 
 ruin, cast . . ashes, the signs of intense and hopeless mourning. 
 MimvnliKj for the dead. — The Arabs have taken all their modes 
 of manifesting sorrow and mourning from the Hebrews, as is 
 easily proved by comparing the habits of Ihe people at the present 
 day with the accounts in the Bible. When a cpJamity befalls a 
 family, all their relations, connections, and friends immediately 
 hasten together to console them. This undertaking is commenced 
 by sorrowing with them, and exhibiting every antic sign of grief 
 that comes into their heads, and is concluded by eating. These 
 modes of expressing afiliutiou, public or private, are as follows : 
 tirst, they break out into desperate cries, which are heard at a 
 great distance (Jer. is. 12, xxxi. 15), and sing at intervals mourn- 
 ful dirges, imitating the ancients in this matter, likewise 1 
 Kings xiii. 20 ; Jer. xxii. 18, xxxix. '> ; then to rest their wearied 
 throats, with sad faces, among clouds of tobacco-smoke, they talk 
 over their calamity, cur.-~ing their enemies if they are the cause 
 of it. meditating schemes of revenge, and imploring at every 
 moment the aid of God, remaining all the time seated with the 
 mourners on the ground, regardless of comfort, like the friends 
 of Job, when, for seven days and nights, they sat by his side aa 
 he lay on the ashes (Job ii. 8 — 1.3, iii., iv.) ; thirdly, they put on 
 their worst clothes, tear them, let their beards grow, and roll 
 themselves on the ground, casting dust and earth upon their 
 heads ; the women dye their faces with black, uncover their 
 heads : let their hair fall loose and di.shevelled, frequently tearing 
 it : and not satisfied with this, they scratch their faces and hands, 
 and foam at their mouths ; they knock their heads against the 
 walls, and rage like maniacs among those engaged in offering 
 consolation, who in their turn act in the same way. 
 
 31—36. (31) utterly bald, ch. vii. 18. C"2) lamentation, 
 r. 1. r:?3) wares, or merchandise. (34) broken . . seas, r. 27. 
 (3.')) isles," including cities on the neighbouring coasts. 
 (30) hiss, as an expression of insult and derision : * or aa 
 Chaldee paraphrase, '• with astonishment," 
 
Cap. xxviii. 1—6.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 325' 
 
 Tlie Lombards. — During the twelftli and thirteenth centuries 
 the commerce of Europe was almost entirely in the hands of the 
 Italians, more commonly known by the name of Lombards. 
 Companies or societies of Lombard merchants settled in every 
 kingdom. They were taken under the immediate protection of 
 the several governments, and enjoyed extensive privileges and 
 immunities. The operation of the ancient barbarous laws con- 
 cerning strangers was suspended with respect to them ; and in 
 France they were exempted from the droit d'aubalae. As the 
 Lombards engrossed the trade of every kingdom in which they 
 settled, they soon became masters of its cash. Money, of course, 
 was in their hands not only a sign of the value of their com- 
 modities, but became an object of commerce itself. They dealt 
 largely as bankers, and in an ordinance in the year 12y5, we 
 find them styled mcrcatures and camjjsoves. The Lombards 
 carried on this as well as some other branches of their commerce 
 with somewhat of that rapacious spirit which is natural to 
 monopolisers who are not restrained by rivalship. An absurd 
 opinion which prevailed in the Middle Ages was, however, in 
 some measure the cause of their exorbitant demands, and may 
 be pleaded in apology for them. Commerce cannot be carried on 
 with advantage, unless the jjersons who lend a sum are allowed 
 a certain premium for the use of their money, and as a compen- 
 sation for the risk they run in permitting another to traihc with 
 their stock. This premium is fixed by law in all commercial 
 countries, some of the States of America excepted, and is called 
 the legal interest of money. But the fathers of the Church jjre- 
 posterously applied the prohibitions of usury in Scripture to the 
 payment of legal interest, and condemned it as a sin. The 
 schoolmen, misled by Aristotle, whose sentiments they followed 
 implicitly, and without examination, adopted the same error and 
 enforced it. Thus the Lombards found themselves engaged in a 
 traffic which was deemed criminal and odious, and subject to 
 punishment if detected. They were not satisfied, therefore, with 
 that moderate premium which they might have claimed if their 
 trade had been open and authorised by law. They exacted a sum 
 proportionate to the danger and infamy of a discovery. The 
 Lombards \^'ere established in England in the thirteenth century, 
 and carried on an extensive commerce, particularly as bankers, 
 in a street which still bears their name. The three gilt balls 
 which now adorn the shops of pawnbrokers were the arms of 
 the Lombards, and were generally attached to their respective 
 houses in England.*^ 
 
 CHAPTER THE TTVENTY-EIGHTH. 
 
 1 — 5. (1, 2) prince, or king. His name prob. was Ittiohalus." 
 This prince is regarded here as the representative of a proud 
 system, lifted up, in self-confidence and pride, a god, comp. 
 Da. iv. 30.' Some princes have actually demanded that divine 
 honours should be paid to them, midst . . seas, ch. xxvii. 4. 
 man, and only a man. (3) than Daniel, "^ spoken in irony, 
 ch. xiv. It. (4) tliy wisdom, dc, this represents the prince's 
 boosting and self-esteem, not the actual facts. (5) because . . 
 riches, the usual consequence of riches swiftly gathered is 
 inordinate pride, and carnal reliance on mere temporal wealth. 
 
 X 2 
 
 those in adver- 
 sity, whom they 
 courted and re- 
 sjiictcd in pro- 
 .spurity."— ioitvA. 
 
 V. 33. Dr. R. Wcl- 
 
 tvn, 393. 
 
 "It is one thing 
 to understand 
 persons, and 
 
 another tiling to 
 understand mat- 
 ters ; for many 
 are perfect in 
 men's humours 
 that are not 
 g-reatly capable 
 of the real part 
 of business.which 
 is the constitu- 
 tion of one that 
 hath studied mea 
 more than books. 
 Sucli men are 
 fitter for practice 
 than for counsel, 
 and they are 
 good but in their 
 own alley : turn 
 them to new men, 
 ami they have 
 lost their aim : 
 so as the old rule, 
 to know a fool 
 from a wise man, 
 ' Alille ambos 
 inidvs ad ignolos, 
 et videbis,' doth 
 scarce hold for 
 them ; and, be- 
 cause these cun- 
 ning men are 
 like haberdashers 
 of small wares, 
 it is not amiss to 
 set forth their 
 shop." — Bacon. 
 
 c Percy Ante. 
 
 a Josephut, 
 
 b Also Ac. xiL 
 21 ; 2 Th. ii. 4. 
 
 " The words are 
 put in the mouth 
 (if the speaker to 
 denote liis arro- 
 gant pride ; but 
 the situation of 
 the island city, 
 full of luxury and 
 
324 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap, xxvill. 6—15. 
 
 beauty, in the 
 niidst of the blue 
 ■water of the 
 Moditprranean, 
 gives force to 
 the expression." 
 — <S^i-. Com. 
 
 c Da. i. 17, vi. 3. 
 
 See Dr. E. Ap- 
 thorp, ii. 240. 
 
 d A. Wai'wick. 
 
 a " Thou Shalt 
 die by such a 
 remarkable juilg 
 meat as God 
 usually inflicts 
 upon notorious 
 offenders." — 
 Lowth. 
 
 " In ways of 
 greatness think 
 on this — that 
 slippery all aui- 
 Toition is."— JJer- 
 rick. 
 
 "Towns turned 
 to aslies, fanes 
 involved in lire 1 
 Tliese deeds tlie 
 guilt of rash am- 
 bition tell." — 
 Fawkes. 
 
 b Tupper. 
 
 " Thou art the 
 consummation of 
 the model of 
 perfection. T)ie 
 king of Tyro, 
 ■whowastheliead 
 of the Tyrian 
 community, and 
 completed and 
 crowricd its or- 
 ganisation, was 
 like a seal which 
 gaye perfection 
 to it." — Words- 
 worth. 
 
 h " The chenib 
 consecrated to 
 'tlie Lord by the 
 anointing oil." — 
 Faivbait-n. 
 
 «». 12-21. Ori- 
 gen, iii. 401. 
 
 Pride a great enemy to rea.vm. — Pride is the greatest enemy 
 to reason, and discretion the greatest opposite to pride : for while 
 wisdom makes art the ape of nature, pride makes nature the ape 
 of art. The wise man shapes his apparel to his body: tlic i)roud 
 man shapes his body by his apparel. 'Tis no marvel, then, if he 
 know not himself, when he is not to-day like him he was yester- 
 day ; and less marvel if g-ood men will not know him. when he 
 forgets himself and all goodness. I should fear, while I thus 
 change my shape, lest my llaker should change His ojnnion, 
 and, tindiug me not like him He made me. reject me as none of 
 His making. I would any day put off the old cause of my 
 apparel, but not every day put on new-fashioned apparel. I see 
 great reason to be ashamed of my pride, but no reason to be 
 proud of my shame* 
 
 6—10. (6) Lord God, note that, in the use of this full 
 name is given the assertion that Jehovah is the only God. 
 (7) strangers, even the Babylonian amiy. made up of people 
 from unknown regions. (8) tlie pit, or bottom of the sea. The 
 fig. of this r. is taken from a sea-fight. ('J) a man, only a 
 man. and so entirely in the power of the foe. You shall show 
 no Divine powers in the time of trouble, so as to be able to 
 deliver yourself. (10) uncircumcised, heathen idolaters as 
 opposed to the covenant people." 
 
 Depth, of pride. — 
 Deep is the sea, and deep is hell, but pride mineth deeper ; 
 It is coiled as a poisonous worm about the foundations of the 
 
 soul, 
 If thou expose it in thy motives, and track it in thy springs of 
 
 thought. 
 Complacent in its own detection, it will seem indignant virtue ; 
 Smoothly it will gratulate thy skill. subtle anatomist of self. 
 And spurn at its very being, while it nestleth the deeper in thy 
 bosom.'' 
 
 11 — 15. (n. 12) sealest . . sum, or completest the perfect 
 pattern. " Thou art the sealer of a perfect structure." * 
 (13) in Eden, ironically describing the king of Tyre as an 
 Adam, a fii-st of creation, sardius, etc., comp. Ex. xxviii. 
 17 — 20, xxxix. 8, foil, tabrets, or drums, pipes, hollow- 
 tubes; the accomiianiments of festive seasons. (14) anointed 
 cherulD,* or " chenxb of unction." coveretll, as the cherub in 
 the holy of holies overshado\s-eth the mercy-seat. The cherub 
 was a symbol of perfection. stones of fire, i.e. bright jewels, 
 such as named r. 18. (15) perfect, to all appearance, and in 
 thine own estimation. 
 Siicee.'i.^ of .tfitire. — 
 
 Of all the ways that wisest men could find 
 
 To mend the age. and mortify mankind. 
 
 Satire well writ has most successful proved, 
 
 And cures, because the remedy is loved. 
 
 'Tishard to write on such a subject more, 
 
 "Without repeating things oft said before ; 
 
 Some vulgar errors only we remove, 
 
 That stain a beauty which so much we love. 
 
 Of well-chose words some take not care enough, 
 
 And think they should be, as the subject, rough ; 
 
Cap. xxviii. 16—23]. 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 325 
 
 This great work must be more exactly made, 
 
 And sharpest thoughts in smoothest words conveyed : 
 
 Some think, if sharp enough, they cannot fail, 
 
 As if their only business was to rail ; 
 
 But human frailty nicely to unfold. 
 
 Distinguishes a satire from a scold ; 
 
 Rage you must hide, and prejudice lay down :— 
 
 A satires smile is sharper than his frown." 
 
 18—19. (16) filled . . violence, swift prosperity often leads 
 to violence, cheating, and extoi'tion. In haste to be rich, virtue 
 and charity are often put aside, as profane, no longer to be 
 regarded as sacred. (17) brightness, or splendour, alluding 
 to the lu.x.uries wh. wealth encourages, lay . . kings, as an 
 example of the end of presumptuous pride. (18) iniquity . . 
 trafac, wh. had become dishonest and overreaching. (19; asto- 
 Uislied, at thy ruin." 
 
 Profanii ]i . — The crew of a vessel being at port after a very 
 fatiguing day of labour, went on shore to get some refreshment. 
 They were all sitting in one box, talking boisterously, when the 
 eldest of them, remarking to one of the crew that he became 
 worse in his habit of swearing, proposed a fine of one penny on 
 eveiy person who should be guilty of the same crime. This was 
 received with approbation by them all, except the individual who 
 had been reproved, and whose conduct led to the measure. He, 
 however, said if they would excuse him that night, he would 
 willingly join them on the morrow. He declared to his com- 
 panions, that he would ''have this evening's liberty." But God 
 set the seal of death upon him. Shortly after this assertion he 
 left his companions, and by them was seen no more in life. The 
 crew having seen nothing of him the evening he had parted from 
 them, nor the next day and night, they suspected that he must 
 have fallen overboard when returning to the ship. A search was 
 made for him, and in little more than a quarter of an hour his 
 lifeless body was found.* 
 
 20—23. (20, 21) Zidon," the neighbouring, but older* 
 Phoenician city. It was famous for its fishery, and increased 
 in wealth after Tyre was humbled. (22) against thee, bee. 
 of the idolatries wherewith the Zidonians had corrupted Israel. 
 (28) pestilence, another agent used in executing the Divine 
 vengeance on nations. 
 
 Plagur at Malta. — All the other miseries of mankind have no 
 parallel to the calamities of the plague. The s.^mipathy which 
 relatives feel for the wounded and the dying in battle is but the 
 shadow of that heartrending affliction inspired by the ravages 
 of pestilence. Conceive in the same house the beholder, the 
 sickening, and dying. To help is death ! To refuse assistance 
 is inhuman ! It is like the shipwrecked mariner striving to 
 rescue his drowning companion, and sinking with him into the 
 same oblivious grave. In 1813, such was the virulence with 
 which the plague raged at Malta, such the certain destruction 
 which attended the slightest contact with the infected, that, at 
 last every better feeling of the heart was extinguished in a 
 desir3 of self-preservation ; and nobody could be procured to 
 perform the melancholy offices which make up the funeral 
 train of sickness and death. In this woeful emergency a band 
 
 V. 31. J. C. Diex. 
 teric, Ant. 675, 
 
 c Mulgrave. 
 
 a Com p. Re. xviL 
 
 16, xviii. 9. 
 
 ?■. 17. Dr. T. Le- 
 
 hind, iii. 1G7. 
 
 V. 18. Bp. wa- 
 
 berj'orce, 94. 
 
 " The sins of our 
 youth liasteu U3 
 to tlie sins of our 
 age ; ami the sins 
 of our age look 
 back upon the 
 follies of our 
 youth ; pride fea- 
 thers my ambi- 
 tion, aud ambi- 
 tion swells my 
 pride ; gluttony 
 is a pander to 
 my lust, aud my 
 lust a steward to 
 my gluttony. 
 Sins seldom end 
 where they begin, 
 but run on, till 
 they be infinite 
 and innumer- 
 able." — Anthony 
 Furindon. 
 
 b Whitecross, 
 
 a, Joel iii. i. 
 
 b Ge. X. 19. 
 
 " If those whom 
 the wis<lom of 
 our laws has con- 
 demned to die, 
 Iiad been de- 
 tected iu their 
 rudiments of 
 
 robbery, they 
 might, by proper 
 discipline, and 
 useful labour, 
 have been dis- 
 entangled in 
 tlieir habits; 
 they might have 
 efcaped all the 
 tenjplations to 
 subsequent 
 c r i m e s 7 n d 
 passed their days 
 in ri piration and 
 penitence ; and 
 detected they 
 might all harrt 
 
326 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxix.!— 7. 
 
 been, liad tlie 
 pro>:ecnt()rs been 
 certain tlieirlives 
 vouM have been 
 sparoil. 1 believe 
 every thi(?f will 
 confess that he 
 lias been more 
 than onoe seized 
 and dismissed ; 
 and that lie has 
 Bometimes ven- 
 tured upon cajji- 
 tal crimes, be- 
 cause he knew 
 that those whom 
 he injured wonid 
 rather connive at 
 his escape tli.'in 
 cloud their minds 
 ■with the horrors 
 of his death." — 
 Johnson. 
 
 e Percy Anec. 
 a " This transi- 
 tion from the 
 enemies to the 
 people of God is 
 made to close 
 the portion of 
 the prophecies 
 against the 
 lieathen, ■which 
 concerns tlie 
 nations in the 
 immediate vici- 
 nity of the 
 Israelites, 'them 
 that despise 
 them round 
 about them,' 
 before passing to 
 the more distant 
 'Egy^t:'—iipk. 
 Com. 
 
 a "The most 
 po'n'erful king of 
 Egypt next to 
 r s a m m e t i cus, 
 whose great 
 grandson he was. 
 He besieged and 
 captured Oaza 
 (Jer. .\lvii. ]), 
 and attacked 
 SiJon, and en- 
 countered the 
 king of Tyre in 
 an ong.agemeiit 
 by sea, and re- 
 covered nnich of 
 the influence wh. 
 Eg. had lost since 
 its defeat at Car- 
 cheiiiish by Ne- 
 buchadnezzar, in 
 the fourth >ear 
 
 of darinof and ferocious Greeks came oyer to the island, and, 
 clad in oiled k^atber, volunteered their pervicos -with very liappy 
 elt'ect : but their number was so small, that recourse was obli.<ced 
 to be had to some French and Italian prisoners of war for 
 assistance. What will not man for liberty perform ? Tempted 
 by the promise of a handsome reward and their liberation a' 
 the disappearance of the plagfue, numbers of these unfortunate 
 captives engaged in the perilous task of waiting on the sick, 
 burying the dead, cleaning and whitewashing the infected 
 houses, burning their furniture, etc. Providence appeared to 
 have taken these children of despair under its speciul protec- 
 tion ; few of them comparatively fell victims to their humane 
 intrei^idity. Mr. Murdo Young, in his notes to his poem of 
 Antonia, mentions that he saw some of them, when duty led 
 them near the prison where they had left their less enterprising 
 comi^anions confined, climb up to the chimney tojjs of the infected 
 houses, and being 
 
 " Free from jilague, in danger's dread employ, 
 Wave to their friends in openness of joy." ' 
 
 14 — 16. (24) pricking brier, -'first ensnaring the Is- 
 raelites to sin, and then being made the instrument of punisiiing' 
 them." See Nu. xxxiii. .55. (25) gathered . . scattered, here 
 the Lords mercy to Israel is set in contrast with His dealings 
 with the surrounding nations." (2G) build houses, Is. Ixv. 21. 
 
 The record of our Ji.rrs. — With every turn of the turnstile on 
 Waterloo Bridge a record is made against the gatekeeper, and he 
 cannot recall or obliterate it. Every movement of the wind 
 over Greenwich observatory, steady or capricious, fa.st or slow, is 
 self-registered, with pencil and paper, by an apparatus communi- 
 cating to a room below, in which blank paper is presented to 
 the pencil by clockwork, and these autobiographical memoirs 
 are carefully preserved. So constant and unerring is the record 
 kept in the book of God's remembrance concerning all our 
 actions, and even, "every idle word that men shall Bpeak " 
 (Matt. xii. 36). 
 
 CHAPTER TEE TJFENTY-NINTH. 
 
 1—^7. (1) tenth year, i.e. of the captivity. Jerusalem had, 
 at this time, been besieged, but not taken. (2) Pharaoh, the 
 common name of the Eg. kings. This was IFojihra, or Api-fe.'^, 
 in the Greek." (3) great dragon, Heb. tann'nn, prob. the 
 crocodile,* the chief creature of the Nile made a symbol of the 
 king, midst . . rivers, the royal city, Sols, was situated in the 
 Delta, among the many branches or streams of the Nile, river 
 . . myself, the exiiression of Hophra"s boastful pride."^ (4) 
 hooks, Job xli. 2. fish . . rivers, a fig. for the allies of Egypt, 
 stick . . scales, a fig. for the fate of Hophra, whose subjects 
 revolted, and strangled him. (5) thrown, etc., this was the 
 fate of Hophra's army. ((!) staff of reed, Is. xxxvi. (». (7) 
 break, and so utterly fail the Jews in the hour of their need. 
 
 I'lain prearhincj. — In the town of Goslar, in the Hartz i\roun- 
 tains, there is in the principal square a fountain, evidently of 
 mediaeval date, but the peculiarity of its construction is that no 
 one can reach the water so as to fill a bucket or even get a drink 
 
Cap. xxix. 8—16.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 327 
 
 to quench, his thirst. Both the jets, rnd the basin into which 
 they tall, are above the reach of any man of ordinary stature ; 
 yet the fountain was intended to supply the public with water, 
 and it fultils its design by a method which we never saw iu use 
 before : every jjerson brings a spout or trough with him long 
 enough to reach the top of the fountain and bring the water 
 down into his pitcher. We are afraid that all our reverence for 
 antiquity did not prevent the full exercise of our risible faculties ; 
 sixpeunyvvorth of mason"s work with a chisel would have made 
 the crystal stream available to all ; but no, every one must bring 
 a trough, or go away uusuijplied. When lu-eachers of the Gospel 
 talk in so lofty a style that each hearer needs to bring a dictionary, 
 they remind us of the absurd fountain of Goslar. The use of six- 
 syllabled jaw-breaking words is simply a most ludicrous vanity. 
 A little labour on the part of such pedants would save a world of 
 Ijrotitless toil to their hearers, and enable those uneducated 
 persons who have no means of reaching the preacher's altitude 
 to derive some measure of instruction from his ministry.'' 
 
 8 — 11. (8) a S"WOrd, fig. for invasion of Chaldasan army." 
 (9) because, etc., i.e. it must be distinctly understood that the 
 judgment will come upon him for his impiety and his insolence, 
 (lu; tower of Sj^ene,* or modern A.^nouan, near to which are 
 the First Cataracts. (II) forty years, an ideal number. Ihe 
 terms of this verse indicate a period of national degradation, and 
 should not be too literally pressed. (12) scatter, etc., "the 
 scattering was to be mainly the dissipation of their power." 
 
 The 2>i'ccii^ion of 2'rojjlu'tio language. — Wonderful precision in 
 the accomx)lishment of prophecy may be noticed in the cases of 
 Egyi^t (Ezek. xxix. 10, 15, xxx. G, 12, 13), of Ethiopia (Nah. iii. 
 8 — 10), and other nations of antiquity. Indeed, so exactly does 
 the history of the four great monarchies correspond with the 
 prophecies of Daniel (ii. 31), 40, vii. 17 — 24, viii. and ix.) that the 
 celebrated infidel Porphyiy (A.D. 233 — 304) could only evade the 
 force of their evidence by declaring, contrary to all evidence, that 
 they were written long after the events, '• which is as absurd as 
 if any one should maintain that the works of Yirgil were not 
 written under Augustus, but after his time ; for the Book of 
 Daniel was as public, as widely dispersed, and as universally 
 received as any book could ever possibly be."" 
 
 13—16. (13) gather, etc., comp. Je. xlvi. 26. (14) land of 
 Pathros, the Thchaid, or Upper Egjqit." base kingdom, in 
 a depressed or low state : poss. meaning a tributary kingdom. 
 (1.")) basest of kingdoms, travellers still attest the '• deplorable 
 and debased state of this country."' (IG) confidence, etc., 
 refen-ing to the disposition to trust Egypt in the conflict with 
 Kebuchadnezzar. look after, or seek aid from. 
 
 Eggpi\an Hplendnurs. — The great temple at Karnak has twelve 
 principal entrances, each of which is comi">osed of several propyla 
 and colossal gateways, besides other buildings attached to them, 
 in themselves larger than most other temples. One of the 
 propyla is entirely of granite, adorned with the most fiuishea 
 hieroglyphics. On each side of many of them there have been 
 colossal statues of basalt and granite, from twenty to thirty feet 
 in height, some of which are in the attitude of sitting, while 
 others are standing erect. A double range of colossal sphinzcs 
 
 of Jehoiakim (2 
 Ki. xxiv. 7 ; Je, 
 xlvi. 'i)."-Wurds- 
 worth. 
 
 b On Honian coins 
 tlie crocodile is 
 tlie emblem of 
 Kgypt. 
 
 c Ilerodolus says 
 that tills king 
 persuaLled him- 
 self tbat even the 
 gods could not 
 dispossess him of 
 his kingdom. 
 
 d Spiu-geon. 
 
 a " Prob. Nebuc. 
 was encouraged 
 by the revolt of 
 Amasis against 
 Pharaoh and Ho- 
 pliia, to invade 
 Ppypt, anil was 
 thus enabled to 
 subdue it with 
 greater ease." — 
 U'il/ciiison. 
 b '■ Syene itself 
 being the last 
 town of Egypt 
 towards tlie tron- 
 ticr of Ethiopia, 
 this ver. does not 
 convey the sense 
 of the original, 
 wh. is correctly 
 given by jXttc- 
 come — ' From 
 Migdol to Syene, 
 even to the bor- 
 ders of Ethiopia.' 
 Migdol, rendered 
 ' tower ' in our 
 vers., but which 
 should be pre- 
 served as a proper 
 name, was in the 
 north of Egypt, 
 wliile Syene was 
 at its southern 
 frontier; so 'from 
 Jligdol to Syene ' 
 describes the 
 whole of the 
 country." — Ma- 
 dn.r. 
 c Home. 
 
 a Gc. X. 14; It. 
 -xi. 11. 
 
 6 " Upon its re- 
 volting from the 
 Persians it wai 
 Hually subdued 
 
328 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 ICap. xxix, 17-21. 
 
 by Oclius, the 
 I'croiaii oniporor, 
 anil lias been 
 governed by 
 
 Btraiigers ever 
 since." — Lowth. 
 
 "On the failure 
 of the Persian 
 empire, it be- 
 came subject to 
 the ifaceilonians, 
 after tliem to the 
 Romans, then to 
 the Saracens, 
 then to the Jla- 
 melukes, and it 
 is now a province 
 of the Turkish 
 empire." — Pri- 
 deuux. 
 
 "Accurst ambi- 
 tion, how dearly 
 have I bouglit 
 youl "—Lri/Ut'ii. 
 
 e ilorne. 
 
 • "Till the heads 
 of the soldiers 
 became bald v.ith 
 continual wear- 
 ing their hel- 
 mets, and the 
 skin was worn off 
 their shouMers 
 with carrying 
 earth to raise 
 mounts and forti- 
 fications .ngainst 
 it." — Loiiih. 
 
 h 1 Pa. ii. 1 ; Job 
 xvi. 15. 
 
 e""\Vhen thy pre- 
 dictions shall 
 liave come to 
 pass, thy words 
 shall be more 
 heeded. "-F((»s.«^/. 
 re. 17—20. W. 
 Jay, ix. 420; /. 
 Summerjield, 12. 
 
 d W. Jay. 
 
 "The e a gl e- 
 winged pride of 
 sky-aspiring and 
 ambitions 
 thought s."— 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 e Bnrckhardi's 
 7\'avtU in Syria. 
 
 extends across the jDlaiu from the temple at Luxor (a distance of 
 nearly two miles), which terminates at Karnak in a most magni- 
 ficent gateway, fifty feet in height wkich .still remains unim- 
 paired. From this gateway the great temple was approached by 
 an avenue of fifty lofty columns, one of which only now remains, 
 leading to a vast jjropyloa in front of the portico. The interior 
 of this portico pres3uts a cniip d'ceil, which siirjiasses any other 
 that is to he found among the remains of Egyptian architecture. 
 Twelve cohxmns, sixtj' feet high, and of a beautiful order, form 
 an avenue through the centre of the building, like the nave of a 
 Gothic cathedral, and they are flanked on each side by sixty 
 smaller ones, ranged in six rows, which are .seen through the 
 intervals in endless perspective. The walls are covered with 
 bas-reliefs of a similar character with those found in the other 
 ancient Egyptian temples. Such is the mass of disjointed frag- 
 ments collected together in these magnificent relics of ancient 
 art, that more than human power would a])pear to have caused 
 the overthrow of the strongholds of superstition. Some have 
 imagined that the ruin was caused by the instantaneous con- 
 cussion of an earthquake. AVhether this conjecture be well 
 founded or erroneous, the Divine predictions against Egypt have 
 been literally accomplished. '' The land of Egypt " has been made 
 " desolate and waste ; "' "judgments " have been executed " in No," 
 whose " multitude " has been '• ctit off ; " and No is rent asunder." 
 17 — 21. (17) seven and twentieth, ,<ter r. 1. This is a later 
 prophecy, inserted here to show that Nebuchadnezzar would 
 fulfil the previotis threatenings on Egypt. (IS) serve, cfc. not 
 merely to carry out a great undertaking, but to fulfil a Divine 
 commission against Tyre. It was a long and exhausting siege of 
 thirteen years, head . . peeled, figs, to express the hard service 
 of the soldiers." no wages, bee. the inhabitants succeeded in 
 removing their treasures to New Tyre, half a mile distant from 
 the shore. (IK) give . . Egypt, compensating Nebuc. with the 
 spoils of Egypt. (20) his labour, i.e. as the hire for his labour 
 in the siege of Tyre, for me, as agents in fulfilling My pur- 
 poses. (21) that day, of Egypt's overthrow, horn, Ps. cxxxii. 
 iz.'' opening, efc, i.e. freedom to speak.*" 
 
 Srrrirc done for Hod rnrardvd {rr. 17 — 20). — These words 
 furnish us with three reflections. I. The disposal of states and 
 nations is the work of Divine providence. II. That men may 
 serve God really, when they do not serve II im by design. III. 
 "We shall never be losers by anything we do for God.'' 
 
 Vncorcring the head.— -" During the war which happened about 
 eight years ago between the Towara and the jMaazy Bedouins, 
 who live in the mountains between Cairo and Coss<>ir, a party of 
 the former happened to be stationed here with their families. 
 They were surj-rised one morning by a troop of their enemies, 
 while assembled in the sheikh's tent to drink cofl'ee. Seven or 
 eight of them were cut down : the sheikh himself, an old man, 
 seeing escape impossible, sat down by the fire ; when the leader 
 of the Maazy came tip. and cried out to him to throw down his 
 turUan, and his life should be spared. The generous sheikh, 
 rather than do what, according to Bedouin notions, would have 
 stained his reputation ever after, exclaimed, ' I shall not uncover 
 my head before my enemies j' and was immediately killed with 
 the thrust of a lance."* 
 
Cap. XXX. 1—9.3 
 
 EZEKIEL, 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRTIETH. 
 
 1—5. (1, 2) liowl ye, i.e. ye Eg-j^nians. woe worth," or 
 alas! (3) near, Joel ii. 2, 3. cloudy day, darkened with 
 calamities, time . . heathen, or for judging tie heathen, (-i) 
 pain, marg. fmr. ■ foundations, i.e. her strong forts and 
 citadels, on whose stability she rests. (5) Ethiopia, etc., Heb. 
 Cuah, 1-hiit, and Litd.'' mingled people, <■ the mercenary forces 
 of Egypt from various nations ; or foreigners settled in Egj-pt. 
 Chub, the site is unknown.'' It may be connected with CojJtos. 
 men . . league, i.e. Jews who had settled in Egypt. 
 
 E(llipt. — Egypt was one of the most ancient and one of the 
 mightiest of kingdoms, and the researches of the traveller are 
 still directed to explore the unparalleled memorials of its power. 
 Ko nation, whether of ancient or modern times, has ever erected 
 such gi-eat and durable monuments. "While the vestiges of other 
 ancient monarchies can hardly be found amid the mouldering 
 ruins of their cities, those artificial mountains, visible at the 
 distance of thirty miles, the pyramids of Egypt, without a record 
 of their date, have withstood, unimpaired, all the ravages of time. 
 The dynasty of Egypt takes i^reccdence, in antiquity, of every 
 other. No country ever produced so long a catalogue of kings. 
 The learning of the Egyptians was proverbial. The number of 
 their cities, and the population of their country, as recorded by 
 ancient historians, almost surpass credibility. Nature and art 
 united in rendering it a most fertile region. It was called the 
 granary of the world. It was divided into Several kingdoms, 
 and their power often extended over many of the surrounding 
 countries. Yet the knowledge of all its greatness and glory 
 deterred not the Jewish Prophets from declaring that Egypt 
 would become '" a base kingdom, and never exalt itself any more 
 among the nations." And the literal fulfilment of every pro- 
 phecy affords as clear a demonstration as can possibly be given, 
 that each and all of them are the dictates of inspiration.« 
 
 6 — 9. (6) pride . . down, travellers tell how impressive are 
 the ruins of Egypt." tower, etc., see ch. xxix. 10. (7) deso- 
 late, etc., ch. xxix. 12. (8) set a fire, a fig. of Divine judg- 
 ment* (9) messengers, etc.. Is. xviii. 1, 2. careless 
 Ethiopians, they were dwelling in fancied security."^ 
 
 E(jlipt.- — Egypt became entirely subject to the Persians about 
 three hundred and fifty years previous to the Christian era. It 
 was afterwards subdued by the Macedonians, and was governed 
 by the Ptolemies for the space of two hundred and ninety-four 
 years : until about thirty j'ears before Christ, it became a pro- 
 vince of the Roman empire. It continued long in subjection to 
 the Romans — tributary first to Rome, and afterwards to Con- 
 Btantinople. It was transferred. A.B. (;41, to the dominion of the 
 Saracens. In 12,10 the IWnmelukes deposed their rulers, and 
 usuiped the command of Egypt. A mode of government the 
 most singular and surprising that ever existed on earth was esta- 
 blJ-^hed and maintained. Each successive ruler was raised to 
 supreme authority, from being a stranger and a slave. No son 
 of the former ruler — no native of Egj-pt succeeded to the 
 eovereigntj ; but a chief was chosen from among a new race of 
 
 a Comp. Sir W. 
 Scoti'^ " Woe 
 worth the chase; 
 woe worth the 
 clay, that cost thy 
 life, my gallant 
 grey." 
 
 6 Je. -xlvi. 9. 
 
 c Je. XXV. 20. 
 
 d The Cubii are 
 mentioned by 
 Ptolemy as a 
 people of Jtareo- 
 lis, a province of 
 Egypt. 
 
 " Ambition ! the 
 desire of active 
 souls, that pushes 
 them beyond the 
 bounds of na- 
 ture, and elevates 
 the hero to the 
 gods ; tliat can 
 infonii the souls 
 of beardless boys, 
 and ripen 'em to 
 men in spite of 
 nature."— Roice. 
 
 " W h i t e-r o b ' d 
 ambition leads, 
 ignobly proud, to 
 cringe for votes, 
 and coax the 
 fickle crowd."— 
 llviies. 
 
 e Kiilh. 
 
 a " Thebes ap- 
 peared tome like 
 entering a city 
 of giants, who, 
 after a long con- 
 flict, were all de- 
 stroyed, leaving 
 the ruins as the 
 only proofs of 
 their former 
 
 existence." — Bel- 
 zon i. 
 
 b Ps. Ixxviii. 63 ; 
 Je. vii. 2U ; Am. 
 i. 4. 
 
 c " The cataracts 
 interposing be- 
 tween them and 
 iigypt should not 
 save them." — 
 Fit ussct. 
 
 Ju. viii. 11 ; Zepi 
 ii. 16. 
 
330 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. 
 
 . 10-ia 
 
 " Much tlie rag- 
 ing thirst of 
 fatiie exoc'Cils the 
 generous warmth 
 tliat proiupts to 
 ^vclr^hv iloeds." — 
 
 d Keith. 
 
 « " I will destroy 
 the strength of 
 Eg'ypt; the me- 
 taphor is taken 
 from tlie decrease 
 or failing of the 
 Nile, upon whose 
 overflowing all 
 the plenty and 
 prosparity of 
 
 Egypt depend- 
 ed." — LoiDlh. 
 " JIany of the 
 ancient canals 
 are now filled 
 with sand, and 
 the desert is fast 
 encroaching, in 
 very many places, 
 on the once cul- 
 tivated parts." — 
 GaiUbij. 
 
 " The same sun 
 ■which gilds all 
 nature, and ex- 
 lii la rates the 
 whole creation, 
 does not shine 
 upon disap- 
 pointed ambi- 
 tion. It is some- 
 thing that rays 
 out of darkness. 
 and insjjires no- 
 thing but gloom 
 and melancholy. 
 Men in this de- 
 plorable state of 
 mind find a com- 
 fort in spreading 
 the contagion of 
 their spleen. 
 They find an 
 advantage, too ; 
 for it is a general 
 popular error to 
 imagine the 
 loudest com- 
 plaincrs for the 
 public to be the 
 most anxious for 
 its welfare. If 
 such persons can 
 answer the ends 
 of relief and 
 profit to them- 
 selves, they are 
 apt to be careless 
 enough abort 
 eithur the means 
 
 imported slaves. When Eg-ypt became tributary to the Turks iu 
 I'jIT, tlie ]\laniolukes rctaiiicd much of their jiower. and every 
 pacha was au oppressor and a stranji^er. During all thet^e ages, 
 every attempt to emancipate the country, or to create a prince of 
 the land of Egypt, has proved abortive, and has often been fatal 
 to the asi>irant. Though the facts relative to Egypt form too 
 l)rominent a feature in the history of the world to admit of con- 
 tradiction or doubt, yet the description of the fate of that 
 country, and of the form of its government, shall be left to tho 
 testimony of those whose authority no infidel will question, ami 
 whom no man can accuse of adapting their descriptions to the 
 predictions of the event.'' 
 
 10—12. (10) multitude, or large population. Egypt was 
 noted for the swift increase of her people. (11) terrible. . 
 nations, ch. xxviii. 7. (12) rivers dry, i.e. the artificial 
 canals constructed for purposes of ii-rigation, and threading tho 
 whole land. This indicates a time of drought which would 
 prepare the way for the invaders." 
 
 I'jjiipt. — Gibbon and Volney are again our witnesses of the 
 facts : — ■' Such is the state of Egypt. Deprived twentj'-three 
 centuries ago of her natural proprietors, she ' has secfi her 
 fertile fiel Is successively a prey to the Persians, the Mace- 
 donians, the Romans, the Greeks, the Arabs, the Georgians, and, 
 at length, the race of Tartars distinguished by the name of the 
 Ottoman Turks. The Mamelukes, purchased as slaves, and 
 introduced as soldiers, soon usurped the iiower and elected a 
 leader. If their first establishment was a singular event, their 
 continuance is nob less extraordinary. They are replaced by 
 slaves brought from their ori;^inal country. The system of 
 oppression is methodical. Everything the traveller sees or 
 hears reminds him he is in the country of slavery and tyranny." 
 " A more unjust and absurd constitution cannot be devised than 
 that which condemns the natives of a country to perpetual 
 servitude, under the arbitr.try dominion of strangers and slaves. 
 Yet such has been the state of Egypt above five hundred years. 
 The most illustrious sultans of the Baharite and Borgite dynasties 
 were themselves promoted from the Tartar and Circassian bands ; 
 and the four-and-twenty beys, or military chiefs, have ever 
 been succeeded, 'not by their sons, but by their servants." Tliese 
 are the words of Volney and of Gibbon. And what did the 
 ancient Prophets foretell? ''I will lay the land waste, and all 
 that there is therein, by the hands of strangers. I the Lord 
 have spoken it. And there shall be no more a prince of the land 
 of Egypt. The sceptre of Egypt shall depart away."' The pro- 
 phecy adds : '• They shall be a base kingdom — it shall be the 
 basest of kingdoms." After the Lapse of two thousand and four 
 hundred years from the date of this ]irophecy. a scoffer at 
 religion, but an eyewitness of the facts, thus describes the self- 
 same spot : " In Egypt there is no middle class, neither nobility, 
 clergy, merchants, landholders. A universal air of misery, 
 manifest in all the traveller meets, points out to him the 
 raiiacity of oitpression, and the distrust attendant upon slavery. 
 The profound ignorance of the inhabitants equally prevents 
 them from perceiving the causes of their evils, or applying the 
 necessary remedies. Ignorance, diffused through eveiy class, 
 extends its effects to everj species of moral and physical know- 
 
<?ap. XXX. 13-23.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 331 
 
 ledge. Nothing is talked of but intestine troubles, the public 
 misery, pecuniary extortions, bastinadoes, and murders. Justice 
 herself puts to death without formality." ^ 
 
 13— IQ. (13) destroy their idols," idolatry is the great 
 Bin wli. calls for Divine vengeance on nations. Noph, or 
 Memphis.* a prince, i.e. one of a native dynasty. (14) Pa- 
 thros. Upper Egypt ; ch. xxix. 14. Zoan, or Tunis." No, or 
 Thebes.'' (1(1) Sm, or Pelusium.^ (17j Aven, or Heliopolis./ 
 Pi-beseth, now Td Bastah, in the Delta. The JJi^ha-sfLs of 
 Herodotus, the seat of one of the annual festivals. (18) Tehaph- 
 nehes, or 'Jhltjianhcg, Je. ii. IG. break . . yokes, i.e. those 
 imposed i/i/ Egypt, cloud, v. 3. (I'J) thus, in this thorough 
 and complete manner. 
 
 J'roj'/ircics ro/icrnihif/ Juiypt. — Can any words be more free 
 from ambiguity, or could any events be more wonderful in their 
 nature, or more unlikely or impossible to have been foreseen by 
 man than these prophecies concerning Egj-pi ? Ihe long line of 
 its kings conmieuced with the first ages of the world, and while 
 it was yet unbroken its final termination was revealed. The 
 very attempt once made by infidels to show, from the recorded 
 number of its monarchs, and the durations of their reigns, that 
 Egypt was a kingdom previous to the Mosaic era of the deluge, 
 places the wonderful nature of the.se i^redietions respecting it in 
 the most striking view. And the previous fxperience of two 
 thousand years, during which period Egypt had never been 
 without a prince of its own, seemed to preclude the possiliility of 
 those predicted events which the exjjericnce of the last two 
 thousand years has amply verified. Though it had often 
 tyrannised over Judcea and the neighbouring nations, the Jewish 
 Prophets foretold that its own sceptre would depart away ; and 
 that that countr}^ of kings (for the number of its contemporary 
 as well as successive monarchs may "warrant the apiiellatiou) 
 would never have a prince of its own, and that it would be laid 
 waste by the hands of strangers. They foretold that it should 
 be a base kingdom — the basest of kingdoms ; that it should be 
 desolate itself and surrounded by desolation ; and that it should 
 never exalt itself any more among the nations. They described 
 its ignominious subjection and unjiaralleled baseness, notwith- 
 standing that its past and present degeneracy bears not a more 
 remote resemblance to the former greatness and pride of its 
 power, than the frailty of its mud-walhd fabric now bears to 
 the stability of its imperishable pyramids. Such prophecies, 
 accom; lishcd in such a manner, prove, without a comment, that 
 they must be the revelation of the omniscient Rider of the 
 universe. 9 
 
 20—23. (20) eleventh, year, comp. ch. xxix. 1, xxx. 1. 
 
 (21) Pharaoh, -i.e. llnpUra, as in ch. xxix. roller, or bandage. 
 
 (22) arms, both of them," to render him utterly helpless. 
 (2.'>) scatter, ch. xxix. 12. 
 
 ^(■{f-dcittrvc.tion. — As Noah was drunk with his own wine, 
 Goliatli behcided with his own sword, the rose destroyed by the 
 canker bred in itself, the breast by a self-bred wolf, the apple by 
 the worm, the dam"s belly eaten through by the young vipers, 
 Agiippina killed by Nero to whom she gave breath, so we are 
 U]idone by ourselves, our destruction is of ourselves. The bitter I 
 
 or the conse- 
 qiiences."-iy«/*e, 
 
 h Yulney. 
 
 a Zee. xiii. 2. 
 
 b " Famous for 
 the tMi;ple of 
 Plah (tl]e goil of 
 fire), and fur tlie 
 worsliip of Ooiris 
 and Apis (from 
 the conjunction 
 of which came 
 Otiri-ajiis, or 
 Sera pis), and the 
 centre of Kgyp- 
 tian idolatry."^- 
 )yo>dsicoi-th. 
 
 Comp. Is. xi.Y. 3 ; 
 Je. ii. 16; Ho. 
 i-\. 6. 
 
 c Ps. Ixxviii. 12. 
 
 d Je. xlvi. 25. 
 
 e Ex. xvi. 1. 
 
 f Ge. xli. 45 ; Je. 
 xliii. 13; Ho. iv. 
 15. 
 
 f. 13. Dr. Woi'th- 
 inqliiH, Bvyle Lec. 
 i. 31G, 
 
 " There is a 
 fire and motion 
 of the soul but 
 once kindled, 
 quencliless ever- 
 more." — Byron. 
 
 " Obstinate am- 
 bition leads 
 througli all the 
 rupged roads of 
 barren lore," — 
 Aitiistrong. 
 
 g Keilh, 
 
 a The king of 
 Babylon had pre- 
 viuu.-ily (iisjjos- 
 sessed the king 
 of Egypt of all 
 his new con- 
 quests. This was 
 the brealdng of 
 one arm. The 
 attack on Egypt 
 itself was the 
 breaking of the 
 other. 
 
332 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxxl. 1—0. 
 
 " The towering 
 hope of caKle- 
 eyeil ambitiou." 
 — Sinollel. 
 
 b Spencer. 
 
 " Gigantie plian- 
 tom of tlie 
 brain, ainbitinn, 
 Vroi'iliiiK 1111)11- 
 stroiis liopos and 
 fears." — J'iiillips. 
 
 "Ambition is the 
 miiiil's iinmo- 
 desLy." — Daccii- 
 ant. 
 
 a Je. xxxix. 2. 
 
 6 " 'J'lie Assyrian 
 empire, after 
 haviiipr been su- 
 preme in Asia for 
 four centuries, 
 had been over- 
 thrown bj' tlie 
 united force of 
 tiie Babylcininns 
 and tlie Medes, 
 in tlie vear B.C. 
 6U6."— <S/j/.-. Com. 
 " As.syria 'was a 
 rejireseiitatire of 
 t'le worl liy in- 
 fidel powers rely- 
 ing on their own 
 streiifrth, opposed 
 to God and His 
 Churcli, and de- 
 fying and blas- 
 pheming Him. 
 It was therefore 
 the fittest of all 
 powers to be 
 coupled with 
 Egypt."- iro/-(ii- 
 wortk. 
 
 e Cotnp. Ps. i. 3. 
 d It. r. S. 
 
 a Ge. ii. 
 lxx.\. 10. 
 
 Ps. 
 
 6 CImldce para- 
 phvuse. 
 
 " The true am- 
 bition tlie re 
 aloae r e s i d e s, 
 w n e r e justice 
 Vllldi(■a^es. and 
 ■wisdom guides : 
 Vlipre inwanl 
 diyuityjoius out- 
 
 waters of Marah and ]\Ieribah that we drink so deep of are of 
 our own mingling- arid ombittcriug- : the rods that scourge us aro 
 of our own making. Sin. like a friar, whijis itself ; ininisli- 
 mcnt is connate, innate to sin. We may thank our own folly for 
 our own bane.* 
 
 24 — 26. (21) strengtlien, so that he may fully execute My 
 mission, groan, as one dying of his wounds. (2.5) know . . 
 Lord, bee. God has a high spiritual purpose, even in His 
 judgments of heathen nations, scatter, ch. xxLk. 12. 
 
 J/('.\-p<i)iiiihi/ifi/ of (h:stru€tion. — A physician, hearing of a sick 
 man who is likely to die, takes some remedy, and goes and 
 knocks at the sick man's door. If the sick man does not let 
 him in he dies ; but he is his own destroyer. The physician 
 did what he coulTl, but the sick man would not be cured. This 
 is the case of the impenitent sinner, at whose heart Christ 
 knocks in vain, till sudden destruction comesupoa the neglecter. 
 lie might have been saved, but would not be. 
 
 CHAPTER TIIE THIRTY-FIRST. 
 
 1 — 5. (1) third month, rather more than a mouth before 
 Jerus. was taken. « (2) multitude, or people over whom he 
 reigns. Like king like people. (3) Assyrian, king of the 
 country, whose capital was Nineveh.* cedar, the kingly among 
 trees. shadowing shroud, or garment of leaves casting 
 a wide sliadow. thick boiig'hs, better as LXX., the clouds. 
 
 (4) waters, the several branches of the navigable Tigris, deep, 
 i.e. deep river, with its shallower streams and canals. As with 
 Egypt, so with Nineveh, the river was th3 source of fertility. 
 
 (5) therefore, bee. so well nourished." shot forth, better, 
 '• when, in flood, the deep water sent forth its streams.'' 
 
 W. Wilbcr/iircc, IJ.i/. — -The Rev. Joseph Brown, A.M., in his 
 funeral sermon for this excellent man. states that he once met 
 with an instance of his humility which astonished and embar- 
 rassed him. One day Mr. W. had kindly given Mr. Brown some 
 advice, who expressed his thankfulness, and added that he 
 should feel indebted if, in conver.-ation or correspondence, he 
 wotdd at all times be his counsellor, and. if necessary, correct him 
 and point out his faults. He suddenly stopped in his walk, and 
 replied, " I will ; but you must promise me one thing." "With 
 pleasure," Mr. B. answered, little thinking of the nature of the 
 rec|uest. " Well, then." continued Blr. W., " in all your conver- 
 sation and correspondence with me, be candid and open, and. 
 point out my faults.'''' 
 
 6 — 9. (C) fowls, r^e.. comp. Da iv. 12. The figs, of this i\ 
 intimate that other naiions sought the protection of A>svria. 
 (7) fair, or beriutii'ul. .is a tree, and as a nation. (S) garden 
 of God, paradise." hide him, /./■. overshadow and dw.irf him. 
 chestnut, or plane tree. (!•) envied him, reference is to the 
 feeling of surrounding nations towanls Assyria and Egypt. 
 " All the kings of the East envi'd him and his Lavatnrss." '' 
 
 Tlir })ltnic tvi'P. ilip r7u:if?ii/f of Scripfiiri'. — The Hebrew word 
 'nrm'in. occurs twice in the Old 'JVst.ament (Gen. xxx. 37 : E:^ek. 
 xxxi. 8). In botli cases it is translated chestnut in our version, 
 but more correctly in the Septuagint, plane tree, i.e. tke 
 
Cap.xxxi. 10— 18.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 333 
 
 Oriental plane tree {Plataniis oricntalis). There can be little 
 doubt of this rendering, which is supported by all critics. We 
 never saw the chestnut m Palestine, excepting planted in 
 orchards in Lebanon ; while the plane tree, though local, is 
 frequent by the sides of streams and in plains, both on the coast 
 and in the northern parts of the country. The 'armoii is in 
 Genesis associated with the willow and poplar, which, like the 
 plane tree, grow on low ground where the soil is rich and 
 humid. It is common on the banks of the Upper Jordan and of 
 the Litany (Leontes), where it overhangs the water. " The 
 chestnut trees Cplane trees) were not like his branches," and it 
 is always a noble and beautiful tree. We examined a plane tree, 
 growing in one of the streets of Damascus, more than forty feet 
 in circumference. The foliage is a pale green, the leaves 
 palmate, like those of our common sycamore (which, however, 
 is a very diiferent tree), and its flowers are in clusters of 
 pendulous, rounded ballrf. It was held sacred by the Greeks, 
 and Herodotus mentions one of enormous size near Sardis, to 
 which Xerxes paid homage. In Ecclus. xxiv. 14, Wisdom is com- 
 pared to •• a plane tree by the water." The Hebrew name, 
 'ariito/i, signifies •' naked," and it is a characteristic of the plane 
 tree that it annually sheds its outer bark. 
 
 10 — 14. (10) thou . . lie, observe the blending of reference 
 to the fnr and the king, heart is lifted up, herein lay the 
 sin that brought the judgment. God did not visit for the 
 prosperity, but for the j^ride which the prosperity engendered." 
 (11) mighty one, here referring to Nabupolassar, king of 
 Babylon.'' (12) strangers, the Hedes and Babylonians, his 
 shadow, re. 3, 6. (13) fowls, i.e. the wilder fowls, or birds, 
 and tl^e wild animals, shall make home in his desolate ruins. 
 (It) to the end, i.e. this is the design of the Divine judgments."^ 
 stand . . height, rely on themselves, on their own height. 
 
 Conceits of pride. — When a proud man thinks best of himself, 
 then God and man think worst of him : all his glory is but 
 like a vapour, which climbeth as .though it would go up to 
 heaven, but when it comes to a little height, it falls down 
 again, and never ascends more. So Adam thought that the fair 
 api)le should make him like his Maker, but God resisted his 
 priile, and that apple made him like the serpent that tempted 
 him with it. Absalom thought that rebellien would make him 
 a king, but God resisted his pride, and his rebellion hanged him 
 on a tree."^ 
 
 15—18. (15) went down, ch. xxvi. L5. covered the deep, 
 as a mourner covers himself with sackcloth." great waters, 
 or flood-waters, mourn, lit. to he black. (!()) shake, with 
 fear, to hell, or Sheol ; note the sense in wh. a nation can be 
 said to go down to Sheol. it is a fig. of shameful and hopeless 
 desolation, cor/iforted. ref. is to tributary peoples, in mc^'^ure 
 comforted bee. the great nation shares their fate. (17) into 
 hell, r. 1(1. his arm, auxiliaries, used for his purposes. (18) 
 thou like, cnmp. r. 2. The application is now made to Egypt, 
 uncircumcised,* ch. xxviii. 10. xxxii. 19, 20. 
 
 Jln-telcii^ pride. — Philip, liaving made himself master of 
 Potida^a. received three mes-^engers in one day : the first brought 
 him an account of a great victory gained over the Illyrians by 
 
 ward state, o\xt 
 purpose go>)il, as 
 our achievement 
 great ; \v li era 
 public bleshiiifr.s, 
 public priii.-ie at- 
 tenil, where glory 
 i.s our motive, not 
 our end : wouldst 
 thou be famed 1 
 have those high 
 acts iu view, 
 brave men would 
 act, though scan- 
 dal would ensue." 
 — Young. 
 
 " Strong with 
 wild ambition's 
 mad'ning fires." 
 —Mickle. 
 
 " Graces that 
 might lull stub- 
 born ambition to 
 inglorious rest." 
 — Lee. 
 
 a Vr. vii. 13, xL 
 2, .xvi. 18. 
 
 6 " Called the 
 ' mighty one ' 
 {El. a name of 
 God), bee. he was 
 God's representa- 
 tive and instru- 
 ment of judg- 
 ment." — Fausset. 
 
 c "Thy destruc- 
 tion shall be a 
 warning to other 
 kings and jioten- 
 tates, to deter 
 them from prid- 
 ing themselves in 
 the time of their 
 prosperity." — 
 loath. 
 
 d Henry Smilh. 
 
 a " The deep, the 
 source of As- 
 syria's prosperity 
 (c. 4) was made 
 to mourn, being 
 diied up, instcavi 
 of giving forth 
 its waters, its 
 gladaliundauce." 
 — i<j'k. Cum. 
 
 h " As circumci- 
 sion was an ob- 
 ject of mocki.'.ig 
 to thee, thou 
 shalt lie in the 
 
334 
 
 EZEKTEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxxl. 1— lOL 
 
 liii.lst of 
 i r c u 111 
 El;iiii li_ 
 sworj."— 
 
 c Culton. 
 
 the un- 
 ci so '1. 
 til.' 
 Grotius. 
 
 bt " 7em<:alom 
 
 was by this tiiim 
 ovort'irown, aii'l 
 Aniasis was bc- 
 pinninG: liis re- 
 volt asfiinstPIia- 
 raoli Hoplira." — 
 Fausset. 
 
 b " P h a r a o li 
 
 shoulil have been 
 like ttie Idn? of 
 beasts, but lie is 
 a mere sea-mon- 
 ster. There is 
 strong irony 
 
 liere, bee. the 
 E,!?. kins; was 
 prourl of the 
 comparison be- 
 tween himself 
 ami the mighty 
 crocodile." — Spk. 
 Com. 
 
 " Herodotus re- 
 lates that in his 
 time thny had in 
 Esrypt many and 
 various ways of 
 takiiicf the cro- 
 codile. Brookes 
 . says, ' Tlie nn li- 
 ner of takinpr the 
 crocodile in Siain 
 Is by throwin^i 
 three or four 
 nets across a 
 river at proper 
 distances from 
 each other; that 
 so If he break 
 throna;Ii the first, 
 hemay becantrlit 
 by one of the 
 others.' " — Dur- 
 der. 
 
 e Ilarmcr. 
 
 a Carryinff on 
 t!ie figure of tlie 
 croco<lile. 
 
 h Com)). Is. xiii. 
 10, iiy. 12; Jool 
 
 his general, Parmenio ; the second told hira he was proclaimed 
 victor at the Oh-mpic Games ; and the third informed him of the 
 birth of Ale.vaudcr. r>ut there was nothing in all these events 
 that ought to have fori the vanity, or that would have justified 
 the pride of Philip : t^ince. as an elegant writer remarks. '■ for the 
 first he was indebted to his general ; for the second to his horse ; 
 and Ins wife is shrewdly susi^ected of having helped him to the 
 third."* 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRTY-SECOND. 
 
 1 — 5. (1) twelfth year, etc , prob. one year and seven months 
 after the destruction of Jerusalem." (2) lamentation, or 
 dirge, thou art, better, '• thou wouldest be like a lion, and 
 thou art like a whale," or crocodile.* troublest . . feet, as a 
 crocodile on landing and going forth. (.'5) spread . . net, 
 ch. xii. 13. -witli a company, i.e. the Chahheans. Their in- 
 vasion was God's net. i.e. God's judgment. (\) leave, rfc, comp. 
 ch. xxix. ~). (5) tliy lieigllt, fig. taken from the high, oedar, 
 wh. when prostrate, shall seem to fill up the valleys. 
 
 Princes cniiiparcd to lions (c. 2). — Nothing is more common, la 
 the East, than the comparing princes to lious, or better knowu 
 to those that are acquainted with their writings ; but the com- 
 paring them to crocodiles, if possessed of naval power, or strong' 
 by a watery situation, has hardly ever been mentioned. D'ller- 
 belot, however, cites an Eastern poet, who, celebrating the 
 prowess of Gelaleddin, surnamed IMankberni, and Khovarezma 
 Shah, a most valiant Persian prince, said. " He was dreadful as a 
 lion in the field, and not less terrible in the water than a croco- 
 dile." The power of the ancient kings of Egypt seems to be 
 represented after the same manner, by the Prophet Ezekiel, 
 ch. xxix. 3. " Behold I am against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, 
 the great dragon (the great crocodile) that lieth in the midst of 
 his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have 
 made it myself." In this ver. the same Prophet makes use of 
 both the similes, I think, of the panegyrist of Gelaleddin : " Take 
 up a lamentation for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say unto hira, 
 Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale 
 (a crocodile) in the seas : and thou earnest forth with (or from) 
 thy rivers, and troubledst the waters witli thy feet, and fouledst 
 their rivers." It is very odd in our translators to render the 
 original word fan rem, whale, and, at the same time, talk of feet ; 
 nor, indeed, are rivers the abode of the whale : its bulk is too 
 great to admit of that : the term dragon, which is thrown into 
 the margin, is the preferable version ; which word in our lan- 
 guage, as the Hebrew word in the original is, I think, generic, 
 and includes the several species of ovijiarous (juadrupeds. if nob 
 those of the serpentine kind. A crocodile is, without doubt, the 
 creature the Prophet means : and the comparison seems to point 
 out the power of Egyptian kings of antiquity : they were mighty 
 by sea as well as by land." 
 
 6 — 10. ("(") water . . blood, indicatinrr the abundance of the 
 slain, land . . swimmest, or the laud of thy swimming." The 
 land watered by the Nile. (7) put thee out, as a candle is put; 
 out. Pharaoh is figured here as a star, cover, efff.. fig. of the 
 downfall of other tributary nations at the. same time as Egypt,* 
 
Cap. sxxli. 11—21.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 335 
 
 (8) set darkness, so that everytliing shall look dark and 
 dismal.'' (9) vex, efc.hy the story wh. the exiles shall cany of 
 Egypt's utter desolation. (10) amazed at thee, ch. xxvi. l(j, j 
 xxvii. 3.^, XXX. !). brandish, or tlomi.sh. 
 
 Moral degradation of Ennpt. — Travellers describe the most 
 execrable vices as common, and represent the moral character of 
 the people as corrupted to the core. As a token of the desolation 
 of the country, mud- walled cottages are now the only habitations 
 where the ruins of temjoles and palaces abound. Egypt is sur- 
 rounded by the dominions of the Turks and of the Arabs : and 
 the prophecy is literally true which marked it in the midst of 
 desolation : " They shall be desolate in the midst of the countries 
 that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities 
 that are wasted." The systematic oppression, extortion, and 
 plunder, which have so long prevailed, and the price paid for his 
 authority and power by every Turkish pacha, have rendered the 
 countiy " desolate of that whereof it was full," and still show, 
 both how '■ it has been wasted by the hands of strangers," and 
 how " it has been sold into the hand of the wicked." <* 
 
 11 — 16. (11) sword, emblem of the destructive power. (12) 
 pomp, the splendid temples, palaces, etc., for which Egypt was 
 famous. (13) destroy . . beasts, comp. ch. xxix. 11." "Hence- 
 forth Pharaoh was no longer to flood other peoples with his over- 
 whelming forces." (14) deep, better, sinh ; or subside, like 
 oil, i.e. slowly ; with no full current.* (15) then . . Lord, i.e. 
 this shall be the gracious issue of My judgments. (16) lamen- 
 tation, v. 2. 
 
 Unliappinegs of amiifion. — Look at the tender climbing plant 
 of summer : it takes hold of some object, and creeps along up- 
 ward till its tendrils shoot high and beautifully into the air : but 
 the prop is taken away, and there it stands, reaching out its 
 fingers for something to fasten upon : full of life and vigour still, 
 but sinking because its support is taken away, and falling like a 
 worthless weed to the ground. Such, even at the very moment of 
 its greatest vigour, is often the state of those who seek worldly 
 greatness. Look at all history : when were its great men so 
 wretched, as when they had attained the highest point of exalta- 
 tion ! " He has gained everything," said a companion of Napoleon, 
 when he was in the zenith of prosperity, '■ and yet he is un- 
 happy." « 
 
 17—21. (17) the month, prob. the twelfth month." (18) 
 •wail, conip. V. 2, IG. cast . . down, i.e. foretell its destruction. 
 nether parts . . pit, fig. for utter and hopeless destruction.* 
 (19) pass, or surpass. Other nations have perished, so shalt 
 thou." (20) delivered . . sword, better, the sword is put forth. 
 draw her, like carcases to the grave. (21) the strong, etc. : 
 tHis ^•. represents the great tyrants in Sheol coming to meet and 
 welcome the king of Egypt and his auxiliaries.'' 
 
 End of ainlition. — Take. the four greatest rulers, perhaps, that 
 ever sat upon a throne. Alexander, when he had so completely 
 Bubdued the nations that he wept because there were no more to 
 conquer, at last set fire to a city, and died in a scene of debauch. 
 Hannibal, who filled three bushels with the gold rings taken 
 from the slaughtered knights, died at last by poison administered 
 by his own hand, unwept and unknown, in a foreign land. Caesar, 
 
 ii. 10, iii. 4; Am. 
 viii. 9 ; Key. vi. 
 12—11. 
 
 c So brilliant is 
 the shiniiifjf of 
 tlie stars in tlie 
 E.ist th.at a great 
 horror of ilark- 
 ness is repre- 
 senteil by their 
 being covered. 
 
 " Mean depen- 
 dence, bright am- 
 bition's baue."— 
 Haijley. 
 
 " Strong minds 
 by chaste am- 
 bition uurst." — 
 Ibid. 
 
 d Keith. 
 
 a " The picture is 
 ideally trne. not 
 to be interpreted 
 by the letter; the 
 political ascend- 
 ency of Egypt 
 was to cease with 
 the Chaldtcan 
 conqviest. "-/'({(;■- 
 bairn. 
 
 b " No longer 
 shall they de- 
 scend violently, 
 as the overflow- 
 ing Nile, on other 
 countries, but 
 shall be still and 
 sluggish in poli- 
 tical action." — 
 Fausset. 
 
 Some regarj the 
 oil as typical of 
 the spirit of 
 Divine grace ; 
 butthatseenisin- 
 apjiropriate here, 
 c Lewis. 
 
 a r. 1. The LXX. 
 say the first 
 month. 
 
 b Eze. xxxi. 14; 
 Is. xiv. 15. 
 
 c " What reason 
 hast thou now to 
 prefer thyself 
 before others ? 
 Since thou sh.alt 
 undergo the samo 
 fate with the 
 worst of them." 
 — Lowth. 
 
 d Is. siv. 9. 
 
336 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 reap, xxxii. 22-32, 
 
 "Vaulting ambi- 
 tion whicli o'er- 
 le.ips itself." — 
 S/uikespeare. 
 
 e Bowes. 
 
 a Is. xiv. 16. 
 
 b Ge. xiv. 1 ; Is. 
 
 xxii. G. 
 
 c Je. xlix. 31—38. 
 
 " The Elamites 
 were a fierce and 
 warlike people. 
 In tlie reoorils of 
 Assurbanipal we 
 have a detailed 
 account of five 
 cam paigns 
 against Elam, 
 and ,liis final 
 triumph over 
 Elam seems to 
 have been one 
 of his proudest 
 boasts." — Sjjk. 
 Com. 
 
 " Oh that a breast 
 so fair should bo 
 the seat of base 
 a m b i t i o u." — 
 Tit/he. 
 
 a "Northern ra- 
 tions; the Moschi 
 and Tibareni, 
 between the 
 
 Black and Cas- 
 pian Seas." — 
 Fa asset. 
 
 b Paxlon. 
 
 a " TVlien their 
 might and power 
 were tenilde to 
 all, and they were 
 contriving ruin 
 against others, in 
 theiiudst of their 
 enterprises, they 
 were shorn of 
 their power, and 
 delivered over to 
 shame and con- 
 fusion." — Hoscn- 
 miiUer. 
 
 having' conquered eight hundred cities, and dyed his g-arments 
 with the blood of one milliou of his foe.s, was stabbed by his best 
 friends iu tiie very place which had been the scene of his greatest 
 triumph. Napoleon, after being the scourge of Europe, and the 
 desolator of his country, died in banishment, conquered and a 
 captive.' 
 
 22—25. (22) Asslitir, i.e. the king of Assyria, his graves, 
 poss. alluding to Egypt, as sharing Asshur's fate. (2:!) sides . . 
 pit," the fig. is taken from the caves, or rock-sepulchres, where 
 the dead are Laid on shelves cut iu the sides, terror, or dismay- 
 ing. (2-t) E 1 am, '^ in Persia; an auxiliary of Assyria, con(iuered 
 by Nebuchadnezzar.' borne their shame, •' the just retribu- 
 tion of their lawless pride."' (2.")) bed, a final bed. or a grave. 
 
 ^l.w///•/V^/^ graces. — Our idea of graves is entirely inconsistent 
 with their being set in the sides of a pit.. But the passage before 
 us has reference to scenes in ancient Assyria, and is to be inter- 
 preted bj'' the manners and customs prevalent in the Prophet's 
 time. A traveller thus describes an Assyrian sepulchre which he 
 explored : '■ Picture to yourself a small room, squai-e in shape, 
 and with a flat vault. On either side, recesses or niches (resem- 
 bling a small oven) are cut into the wall, evidently to hold the 
 body. These niches, being only about four feet long, may be 
 thought too small to receive a man ; but I imagine that the 
 corpse was crammed into a sarcophagus similar to those discovered 
 at Nimroud, which the recesses are well calculated to contain." 
 It has been well observed that " the descrii>tion of the Prophet is 
 strictly applicable to such chambers as Mr. Poss discovered in the 
 ancient rock ; a pit, or cavern, in whose sides the individual 
 tombs are set, where the company of the illustrious dead, that 
 spread terror during their lives, meet round about in grim and 
 silent assembly." 
 
 23—29. (2(1) Meshech, ch. xxvii. 13. Tubal, ch. xxvii. 
 1.3." (27) iniquities . . bones, comp. expression "with their 
 sins upon their heads." (28) broken, by a violent death. 
 (2i)) Edom, ch. XXV. 12. 
 
 The burial of warrior.^ {v. 27). — The ancients, in every part of 
 the world, were accustomed to inter their warriors in complete 
 armour. We are informed by Chardiu that the Mingrelian 
 soldier sleeps with his s^vord under his head, and his arms by his 
 side ; and he is buried in the same manner, his arms being 
 placed in the same position. The allusion of Ezekicl to this ancient 
 custom is extremely clear*. 
 
 33 — 32. (30) princes . . north, i.e. of Syria. Zidonians, 
 who shared the fate of Tyre, their terror, that wh. they 
 inspired, not that wh. they felt." (31) comforted, with the 
 miserable comfort that others have to sulfer even as he. 
 (32) my terror, God making these nations marked examples 
 of His vengeance on iniquity. 
 
 A cirre for avihifion. — A fellow-countryman of ours, ambitious 
 to madness, had toiled for years, working early and late, denying 
 himself every comfort, absorbed in the one fixed purpose of 
 achieving intellectual superiority. His ej'e at length caught 
 these words : " When all is gained, how little then is won ! And 
 yet to gain that little, how much is lost ! " The words sunk 
 into his heart. The whole truth flashed Uke lightning across 
 
Cap. xxxiii, 1—11.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 337 
 
 his soul. He now beheld the fame he nad toiled for as abso- 
 lutely worthless. " When all is gained, how little is won ! " 
 said he. '" Yes, how little 1 Oh, what is it .' It is nothing. 
 Fame — o-h, what is it .' The breath of fools and devils. That is 
 the object on which I have set my whole heart, and for which I 
 have been labouring. ' AVhen all is gained, how little then is 
 won ! And yet to gain that little, how much is lost ! ' Oh, how 
 have I been labouring and suffering for it ! I have given all for it, 
 all of this world, and all of the next." Renouncing his schemes 
 and possessions, he became a follower and preacher of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRTY-THIRD. 
 
 1—6. (1,2) the sword, God's judgment by a hostile army, 
 coasts, or borders ; put generally for "their country." ■watch- 
 man, to warn of the enemy's approach. Watchmen were 
 jjlaced in turrets on the city walls, or in outposts. (3) blow, 
 etc.,'' this was the appointed signal. (4) blood . . head, i.e. he 
 must bear the responsibility himself, and cannot accuse the 
 watchman. (,5) deliver his soul, i.e. preserve his life, by 
 adequate defence, or by timely flight. (G) taken . . iniquity, 
 60 comes under judgment, blood . . require, i.e. the watch- 
 man must ansv/er to me for his unfaithfulness and its con- 
 sequences. 
 
 Tlic true tvatcliman (r. 6). — I. Tlie true watchman's vision of 
 his work. He sees — 1. It entails great responsibility on himself ; 
 2. Involves the greatest results to his hearers ; S. Utters the 
 emotions of God ; 4. Proclaims both the hope and the method of 
 man's improvement. II. The true watchman's vision of the 
 conduct of others. He sees — 1. The gross sins of many of 
 them ; 2. The hyjjocrisy of many more.* 
 
 7—11. (7) thee a watchman, ch iii. 17." (8) surely 
 die, i.e. by a violent death. " The qualification, if thou dost 
 not repent, is supposed." * (9) delivered thy soul, from the 
 responsibility of his doom. (10) pine . . them, ch. xxiv. 23. 
 These are the words of persons despairing of God's mercy, and 
 thence taking encouragement to go on in sin.' (11) no plea- 
 sure, etc., 2 Sa. xiv. 14 ; Eze. xviii. 32. 
 
 An imperafice command (r. 2). — We wish you to ask, and we 
 will endeavour to answer, five questions. 1. What are we to 
 turn from .' 2. What are we turn to ? 3. How are we to turn 1 
 4. When are we to turn ? .'). Why are we to turn 1 — {Jay.) — A 
 snlenvt question. — " Why will ye die ? " The death to which 
 this question relates is not temporal death, which is unavoidable; 
 it is death eternal. 1. Do you think that it is imaginary ? 2. Do 
 you think that it is a trivial evil ? 3. Do j^ou think that it is un- 
 certain in its occurrence ? 4. Do you think that it is imposed 
 upon you by an unalterable decree ? .5. Do you think that the 
 Divinely-appointed method of escape from it is not satisfactory ? 
 6. Do you think thaf on a view of the whole circumstances it 
 is to be preferred .'<i^ 77/6' salvation of slnner.'i (le.<!ired hi) God. 
 • — "As I live," etc. L The state of mankind as sinners'. 1. A 
 state of moral evil ; 2. A state of imminent danger. II. Their 
 duty and privilege as sincere penitents. 1. Their duty— to turn ; 
 2. Their privilege — to be saved ; 3. The attainment of this 
 
 vol.. IX. 6.T. Y ' 
 
 " The towering 
 wing of eagle- 
 phiiu'd ambi- 
 tion." — Hannah 
 More. 
 
 a Is. Iviii. 1; 1 
 Cor. xiv. 8. 
 
 t'. 6. W. J. B. 
 
 Bennett, 231. 
 
 " Ambition's like 
 a circle on the 
 water, which 
 never ceases to 
 enlarge itself, till 
 by broafi spread- 
 ing it disperse to 
 nought."— ,S/iaA-e- 
 speare. 
 
 b U. R. Thomas. 
 
 a " Think not 
 th.at bee. the 
 walls and gates 
 of Jerus. may be 
 destroyed, thy 
 duty as a watch 
 man to the house 
 of Israel will 
 cease. No ; from 
 that very time it 
 will have new 
 obligations, and 
 thou wilt liava 
 new admoni- 
 tions, insola- 
 tions, and pro- 
 mises to give. 
 The fall of Jeru- 
 salem will be a 
 renewal of thy 
 c o m m ission,"— . 
 tVorclsworth. 
 
 h Fausset. 
 
 c Je. iL 25. 
 
 vr. 7— 'J. /. P. 
 
 Hewlett, 15. 
 
 i G. Brooks. 
 
838 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxxiii. 12—20. 
 
 «. 8. <S. Davies, iii. 
 316. 
 
 V. 0. Dr. F. S. 
 Hook, 211. 
 
 r. 11. R. AUes- 
 tree, hi; A. Far- 
 indon, i. 497 ; li. 
 Baxter, vii. ; T. 
 Gregory, 51 ; Cr. 
 JR. Lucas, i. oU2 ; 
 J. Foord, 65 ; T. 
 St. John, i. 135; 
 D. Cooper, \\. 164 ; 
 C. F. Femcick, i. ; 
 B. W. Mal/iias, 
 227; R. W. Dih- 
 din, 204. 
 
 e Alpha in 400 
 Sks. 
 
 / J. Fuller. 
 
 g Rev. David 
 
 Thomas, D.D. 
 
 a Le. vi. 5. 
 
 r.l5. Dr. J. Hunt, 
 iii. 241. 
 
 "God's seed will 
 come to God's 
 harvest. "-/i«7/ip;'- 
 ford. 
 
 " The Gaul insa- 
 tiate, burning 
 with the pangs 
 of wild ambition 
 t h vva r t e d." — 
 Richardson. 
 
 h Spencer. 
 
 V. 20. W. Harri- 
 son, Blooms. Lee. 
 viii. 151. 
 
 *■• "We rifty talk of 
 the best means 
 of doing good, 
 but, after all, the 
 greatest diffi- 
 culty lies in do- 
 ing it in a proper 
 gpirit; 'spealung 
 the truth iu 
 loye,* 'ill meek- 
 ness instructing 
 those that oppose 
 themselves,' witji 
 ♦ tlie meekness 
 and gentleness of 
 Christ.' I have 
 kuuwn atuuous 
 
 privilege is aB ceiiain as it is dcsiralsle. Apply : — "Why -n'ill ye 
 die ? " ' — 'J7u' .fi?itirr his oivn (hclraytr. — That God has no pleasure 
 in the eternal death of the sinner is manifest — 1. From what 
 God has said ; 2. From what God has done. Learn: — (1) God 
 does not compel sinners to go down to ruin : (2) Every 
 sinner must turn from his evil ways, or he will finally perish ; 
 (3) If impenitent, sinners are eternally ruined ; they are self- 
 ruined/ 
 
 Why vjcn are not sarcd. — " Well, then," said a sceptic to me, on 
 one occasion, " why is the world not saved ? " " My friend," 
 said I, " you misconceive the power required to convert souls." 
 There was a little boy in the room, and I illustrated my meaniug 
 by saying, " Suppose I will that that little boy leave the room. 
 There are two ways in which I could give effect to that will. I 
 could take him in my arms, and by superior muscular force 
 remove him ; or I could take him on my knee, speak lovingly 
 and persuasively to him. in order to induce him to leave the room 
 himself. If I adopted the former, I should merely have removed 
 his body : his volition would be against me, and he would feel I 
 had done him violence ; if I succeeded in the latter, I should 
 have influenced his mind, and he himself would use his own little 
 limbs, and with, a hajipy smile depart." «■ 
 
 12—16. (12) righteousness, etc., ch. sviii. 24, 20,' 27. 
 (13) trust to, or lean upon, think the good will outweigh his 
 evil. (14) lawful and right, or judgment and justice, 
 (lo) restore the pledge, ch. xviii. 7. give . . robbed," 
 make the full restitution which is the sign of a true penitence, 
 walk . . life, ch. xx. 11. (IG) mentioned, ch. xviii. 22. 
 
 ^\'orllS concomiiant with faith. — The eye alone seeth in the 
 body, yet the eye which seeth is not alone ; the forefinger alono 
 pointeth. yet that finger is not alone on the hand : the hammed 
 alone striketh on the bell, yet the hammer that striketh is not 
 alone in the: clock ; the heat alone in the fire burneth. yet that 
 heat is not alone without the light ; the helm alone guideth the 
 ship, yet the helm is not without the tac^^ling. Thus, though 
 faith alone doth justify, yet that faith which justifieth is not 
 alone, but joined with charity and good works. Though good 
 works are not the cause why God crowneth us, yet we must take 
 them in our way to heaven, or we shall never come there.* 
 
 17 — 20. (17) not equal, or fair. (18, 19) when, etc., comp. 
 vv. 13—16. (20) way . . equal, ch. xviii. 2o. 
 
 Good n-orM no >Sariour. — The time is coming when all things 
 shall appear as they are, according to the spiritual measurement 
 of things. The time is coming when you and I shall have served 
 our term here, and shall have passed tlirough sickness and death, 
 and shall stand before God. You will go up. many of you, with 
 your fancied excellences and your comjilaisant characters in your 
 hand, to stand before God, only to see that you never knew Him, 
 and to hear Him say, " I never knew you." Stjrangers. aliens, 
 and enemies you are by evil M'orks. Althougli you have sat 
 much under the Gospel, and have all your life long been sur- 
 rounded with beneficent influences, they have never brought 
 your soul into a living communion with the spirit or the love of 
 God. Immortality can only come by that, and you have lost' 
 your portion. And as you depart, glancing, and seeing the gloi-y 
 
Cap. xxxiii. 21—29.] 
 
 EZEKIEI. 
 
 339 
 
 that you leave behind, then, methinks, some feeble voices shaJl be 
 lifted up, and shall be heard. Some poor child of sin and sorrow, 
 betrayed by her best affections, was carried down, till all that 
 was within her said. "I am lost if God does not save me 1 " 
 when, shot from the bosom of God's love there came a ray of 
 light, and she looked and saw her Saviour. And ever since she 
 has followed Him, and she will enter the kingdom of heaven. 
 And in that moment, when she becomes the companion of God's 
 angels, you, that never sinned as she did, nor listened to the 
 voice of your passions ; you that have turned your face from God 
 and heaven, will go down, down, down, for ever and for ever, and 
 will perish ! And then you will know that it is possible even 
 for a publican and a harlot to enter the kingdom of God, and 
 you to be cast out." 
 
 21—24. (21) one escaped, prob. more than one. From the 
 date it appears that the fugitives were more than a year 
 making their way to Chaldsea. city is smitten, comj). 2 Ki. 
 XXV. 4. (22) hand, etc.. the expre.ssion prob. indicates a state of 
 trance, opened, to speak to the people, who were stricken 
 dumb with the sad tidings. (23, 2f) wastes, so recently 
 desolated by the conqueror, one, a single person ; yet he 
 found God faithful to His promise ; much more shall we, who 
 are many. 
 
 TJie best news. — Said a teacher to his boys one day, " Tell me, 
 now, what was the best news that you ever heard." One boy 
 said it was that his father, who had been long away at sea, was 
 coming home. Another, that he was to have a new Bible, all 
 his own. One, who had lived almost all his life in the country, 
 said the news that pleased him best was that he was going to 
 London. Another, brought up in London, had been most glad to 
 hear that he was going into the country. One little boy, the 
 last of all, said, " I think the best news I ever heard, teacher, 
 was that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." 
 
 25 — 29. (20) eat . . blood, a practice connected with idola- 
 try." (2ii) stand . . sword, i.e. rely on j^our own power. Might 
 is your right. (27) they . . wastes, prob. referring to Geda- 
 liaii's party, wh. hoped to settle in Jerusalem, and re-establish 
 the kingdom. (28) most desolate, by the destruction of the 
 remaining remnant, pomp, etc., ch. xxiv. 21. (29) then, i.e. 
 when the judgments are complete. 
 
 Fear of jiuhjmrnt. — Jerome used to say that it seemed to him 
 as if the trumpet of the last day was always sounding in his ear, 
 eaying : "Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment." The gene- 
 rality, however, think but little of this awful and important 
 period. A Chri.stian king of Hungary being very sad and pensive, 
 his brother, who was a gay courtier, was desirous of knowing the 
 cause of his sadness. " brother ! " said the king, " I have been 
 a great sinner against God, and know not how to die, or how to 
 appear before Him in judgment." His brother, making a jest of 
 it, said : "These are but melancholy thoughts." The king made 
 no reply ; but it was the custom of the country that if the 
 executioner was to sound a trumpet before any man's door, he 
 was presently led to execution. The king, in the dead hour of 
 the night, sent the executioner to sound the trumpet before his 
 brother's door, who, heaiiug it, and seeing the message of death. 
 
 sinners diop the 
 subject of re- 
 ligion in conse» 
 q u e n c e of a 
 preaclier address- 
 ing them in an 
 luigry tone." — 
 Nettleton. 
 
 " Ambition 
 climbing uilh a 
 giant's pride." — 
 lieirel. 
 
 a Beecher, 
 
 " There were dif- 
 ferent tribes in 
 tlie \vildernpss, 
 but tlie manna 
 was for all. 
 When tlie clou<l3 
 pour out the rain 
 they disregard all 
 the divi,«ions of 
 the land, and 
 the refreshing 
 shower falls alike 
 upon cottage, 
 farm, garden, 
 and lordly hall." 
 — Rfv. Tlwrnas 
 Jones. 
 
 " I yielded up my 
 fond believing 
 heart for the 
 charms of trea- 
 cherous ambi- 
 tion. "—SmoZ/ti. 
 
 a See Gp. ix. 4 ; 
 Le. iii. 1 7, vii. 26, 
 xvii. :u— 14; De. 
 xii. IG ; Ac. xv. 
 
 " Perhaps the 
 phrase should be 
 trans. ' near the 
 blood,' in allu- 
 sion to the idola- 
 trous rite of 
 pouring the blood 
 of the slain beast 
 into a vessel or 
 pit, . and then 
 eating part of the 
 sacrifice just by 
 it." — Spencer. ' 
 
 "Ambition'a 
 dark and subtle 
 art too oft love's 
 rites have niis- 
 applied "— I 
 FliilUps. 
 
340 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxxlU. 30-33* 
 
 6 Biblical 
 tury. 
 
 m " The rulinp 
 race take great 
 pride in their 
 fine and loftj' 
 gates, wliose 
 
 double doors 
 
 stiind open all 
 day long, reveal- 
 ing the refresh- 
 ing sharle witlun 
 of the pe.icock 
 tree, etc. ... On 
 the carved 
 benches, each 
 side of the pate, 
 lonnge the gaily- 
 clad retainers of 
 the great man. 
 And he himself 
 often takes liis 
 seat there." — 
 Van Lennep. 
 
 h " They praise 
 thy eloquence, 
 but care not for 
 the subject of it 
 as a real and per- 
 sonal thing; just 
 as many do in 
 the modern 
 C h u r c h." — S. 
 Ji-romc. 
 
 V. 21. lip. Fleet- 
 wood, 59 ; J. Dsm- 
 gla.i, 11.% ; A. H. 
 Eruns, 202 ; J. W. 
 Warier, ii. 1U9 ; 
 J. Ii. B. Moun- 
 tain, 192. 
 
 V. 32. Dr. .7. 
 
 Donne, v. 378 ; 
 Dr. Chalmers, vii. 
 152 ; /*. Williams, 
 288. 
 
 c Dr. Thomas. 
 
 4 Stems and 
 Twigs. 
 
 e Q. Brooks. 
 
 ' ' Gone 1. gone I ' 
 says the be- 
 reaved admirer : 
 'she was imleed 
 like a sweet voice 
 to my ear.' ' I 
 hear not the 
 sweet song.' 
 ' Wliere is my 
 music ? ' ' The 
 
 ppi-anc: into the king's presence, beseeching to know in what he 
 had olfi ndcd. ■' Ahis ! brother,' said the king, "j'ou have never 
 oifended me." And is the sign of execution so dreadful, and 
 shall not I, who have gi'catly offended, fear to be brought before 
 the judgment-seat of Christ .'* 
 
 30 — 33. (.^0) against thee, bee. of thy sombre prophecies, 
 in the doors, where the people often sit." (liuh-ihn i<ays, '• I 
 saw many persons squatted in groups round their doors, smoking 
 with their long pipes, aud talking." (31) as thy people, as if 
 they meant to listen and obey, but with no real intention of 
 (hilnfj what you enjoin. (32) lovely song, of wh. they like 
 the sound, not the words.* (3.'!) this . . pass, e.<p. whatEzekiel 
 had been saying about the remnant left amid the desolations of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 An old picture of modern life (vv. 30 — 32). — Some people have 
 true prophets, some true prophets have false jjeople. Let us 
 notice their conduct. I. They conversed much concerning their 
 proihet. 1. This practice is a very common, one; 2. It is fre- 
 quently very injurious. II. They were interested in the ministry 
 of their prophet: such interest is no proof of piety, such ministiy 
 meets the desire for excitement, for knowledge, for hap]iiness. 
 
 III. They were spiritually unreformed by the miuistrj^ of their 
 prophet. 1. Divine truth is preached that it may be practised ; 
 2. It will never be practised if the heart go after covetou.sness. 
 
 IV. They were destined to discover, when too late, their terrible 
 mistake in relation to the ministry of their prophet. 1. In the 
 reproaches of a guilty conscience ; 2. In the felicities of experi- 
 mental rehgion ; 3. Or, in the mj'sterious horrors of retribution. "= 
 — On hrarinij sermons. — I. The Gospel may be heard with, 
 pleasure but without profit. 1. "When the mind only is gratified ; 
 2. When the affections are merely excited. II. The converse is 
 true. 1. Does the Word make you watchful / 2. Prayerful? 3. 
 Lead you to obedience 1 III. It is desirable th.nt the Gospel should 
 be heard both with pleasure and profit. 1. The pleasure should 
 arise from the message, not from the rhetoric : 2. From our felt 
 sense of participation in the benefits of which the message 
 speaks ; 3. From our detei'mination to obey the message.'' — 
 Si'nfiincntali'iin (v. 32). — I. The sentimentalist, as well as the 
 Christian, attends on the preaching of the Gospel. 1. He is a 
 frequent attender, a sermon-hunter : 2. He delights to attend on 
 the preaching of the Gospel, admires the stars of the i">ulpit, 
 talks much of his favourite preacher; 3. He has his sensibilities 
 stirred by the preaching of the Gospel : he is an interested, 
 appreciative, admiring, excited hearer, feels intellectual gratifica- 
 tion, aesthetic pleasure, emotional glow, etc. ; 4. Unlike the 
 Christian he is not permanently influenced by the preaching of 
 the Gospel: convinced but not converted, his religion a matter 
 of taste or fancy, or emotion, he wants a living faith.' 
 
 The coveioiis ninn'a pro i/cr.t.— About eight years since (says a 
 correspondent of the A^ew York 'ErangeU.if of 183.1), while obtain- 
 ing subscriptions for a benevolent purpose. I called upon a gentle- 
 man in one of our largest cities, who generously contributed to 
 the object. Before leaving. I said to him, " How much, think 
 you, will such an individual subscribe ? " " I don't know," said 
 he ; '• but could j'ou hear that man pray, you would thir.k he 
 would give you all he is worth." I called upon him, but to my 
 
Cap. xxxiv. 1—6.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 341 
 
 Furprise he would not contribute. As I was about to take my 
 leave of him, I said to him, "As I came to your house, I asked 
 an individual what he thought you would probably give. ' I 
 don't know,' paid he ; ' but could you hear that man yiray, you 
 would think he would give you all he is worth.' " The man's 
 head dropped, tears gu hed from his eyes, he took out his pocket- 
 book, and gave me seventy-five dollars. He could not withstand 
 this argument ; his heart relented, and his purse opened. 
 
 CHAPTER THE TIIIBTY-FOURTII. 
 
 1 — 6. (1, 2) slieplierds, or unfaithful rulers and princes." 
 feed themselves/ comp. 2 Cor. xii. 14 : Ph. ii. 21. (3) fat, or 
 perhaps the milk. These figures imply the levying of exorbitant 
 taxe.«. kill, etc., so as to grasp the property of the dead. (4) 
 diseased, or convalescent : those, weak while recovering from 
 disease, broken, as by wolves, driven away, or straying; 
 seduced into error, sought . . lost, contrast Lu. xv. 4. force, 
 etc.. comp. Ex. i. 13, 14.*^ (5) meat, or a jirey ; bee. not defended. 
 Ref. prob. is to the people being left exposed to temjjtations to 
 idolatry. (G) mountains, etc., the special scenes of idol worship. 
 
 The D'nhic >-}H'phcrd (chapter xxxiv.). — I. That all rulers have 
 great responsibilities, they are shepherds. II. The failure of 
 rulers is ever a great misfortune to subjects. III. All misrule 
 will only come to an end in the proportion that God Himself 
 reigns over a people. 1. What is the method by which God will 
 become consciously the ruler of man .' 2. "\Miat wiU be the results 
 of such rule ?'' 
 
 i>1i''i'2) in the East. — When travelling in wilderness parts of the 
 world, cattle are, on various accounts, apt to wander or to be 
 Fcattered. and require attentive shepherds to watch their motions. 
 Should the grass near the encampment of the traveller not suit 
 their taste, or be scarce, they will gradually move to a greater 
 and greater distance, till bushes or clumps of trees are between 
 them and the wagons ; then, perhaps, having the scent of water, 
 or that of better grass, they will move off at great speed. The 
 distant roar of a lion also will so alami them that they Avill start 
 off like furious or frantic animals. I remember halting for a 
 night about a hundred iniles beyond Lattakoo. Knowing that 
 lions were numerous in that part, all the oxen were made fast by 
 ropes to the wagons. During the night lions had roared within 
 hearing of the oxen, when all, no doubt, had through terror 
 endeavoured to break loose from their fastenings, but only three 
 had succeeded, which having fled, were pursued by two lions, 
 and one of them caught, and almost entirely devoured by those 
 two voiticious animals. After they had fairly killed the one, they 
 pursued the other two for upwards of two miles, when they gave 
 up the chase, and returned to feast on the one they had secured. 
 All this we knew from the foot-marks they had left on the 
 ground. In the morning the Hottentots were sent in search of 
 the other two. which they found feeding several miles off. The 
 Jewish shepherds were condemned for not searching for the 
 scattered sheep. When men are fatigued by travelling, they 
 become lazy and indolent, and feel indisposed to set off in search 
 of strayed oxen many miles distant ; yet I never noticed our 
 
 song of tlia 
 iiijriit! the song 
 of tlieiiightl has 
 left Die.' " — [icH 
 hi'i-ls. 
 
 '• Ambition, sky- 
 asspiriiig, led Uira 
 on." — Umart. 
 
 a Je. xxiii. 1. 
 
 " All those who 
 .ire invested with 
 the duties, 
 wlietlier civil or 
 ecclesiasticnl, of 
 ruling, tending, 
 and feeding the 
 fiook of My 
 lif(j]5le." - IKo'ifo- 
 uvrUi. 
 
 b " It was cha- 
 racteristic of the 
 last kings of 
 Judah that while 
 the distress and 
 misery of the 
 people daily in- 
 creased, the kin ga 
 e.xacted more and 
 more of their 
 subjects, and 
 lavished more 
 ,".nd more on per- 
 sonal luxury and 
 &hov;."-Spk. Com. 
 
 c Le. XXV. 43, 46. 
 
 " A magistrate 
 should look upon 
 himself as sus- 
 taining tlie office 
 of a shejiherd, 
 that makes it his 
 chief business to 
 take care of his 
 flock ; not as if 
 •he were going to 
 a feast to fill him- 
 self and satiate 
 his appetite, or 
 to a market to 
 make what gain 
 lie can to him- 
 self."— P.'d/o. 
 
 d U. Ii. Thomas. 
 
 r. 2. St. AnflUf 
 line, Op. vii. 225. 
 
 r. 6. Ab'p. Sumntr 
 152. 
 
842 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxxiv. 7—14. 
 
 e Campbell. 
 
 • Conip. Je. lii. 
 9—11. 
 
 "Can earth afford 
 such gemiiiie 
 state, pre-emin- 
 ence so free, as 
 wlien arraycl in 
 Clirist's autho 
 rity, lie from the 
 pulpit lifts liis 
 awful hand ; con- 
 jures, implores, 
 and labours all 
 he can for re- 
 BuV)iecting to 
 Divine command 
 the stubborn 
 
 spirit of rebel- 
 lious man ?" — 
 Woi'dswvilh. 
 
 " .Tust as a dark 
 lantern is of no 
 use to any but to 
 him who can-ies 
 it dark every- 
 where, behind 
 and on either 
 side, but held 
 by its possessor, 
 it casts before 
 him a stream of 
 informing light." 
 — £p. of Oxford. 
 
 ( R. T. S. 
 
 a "Of sin, error, 
 and unbelief." — 
 (S. Augustine. 
 
 b Is. Ixv. 9, 10; 
 Je. xxiii. 3 ; Eze. 
 xxviii. 25, xx.wi. 
 24, x.xxvii. 21, 22. 
 
 c " The pastures 
 of the mountains 
 of Israel, on 
 which the sheep 
 feed, and the 
 rivers of which 
 they drink, m:iy 
 be interpreted to 
 mean the spiri- 
 tual pastures ami 
 streams of Holy 
 Scri|)tnre, whicli 
 have flowed into 
 an lands."— <S. 
 Augustine. 
 
 r. 12. /. Dotrnes, 
 U.279. 
 
 Hottentots unwilling- to go in search of strayed oxen, ho^vever 
 fatigued they might be. and rarely did they return without find- 
 ing them, though, in some instances, they had to trace their loot- 
 marks for ujjwards of twenty miles." 
 
 7—10. (7. 8) became meat, r. .">. search, for, bo as to be 
 sure that none were mit^sing. and so as quickly to bring back the 
 wandering. (9, 10) require my tiock, or demand an account 
 of My flock from them, and punish them if there are any missing." 
 cease, or remove fr. the oittce in wh. they have proved unfaithful. 
 
 An old ivoman in ]\'i/ts/tirr. — A minister in Wiltshire, walking 
 near a brook. ob.scrved a poor woman washing wool in the stream ; 
 w/iich is done by placing it in a sieve, and dipping it in the 
 water repeatedly, until it is white and clean. lie engaged in 
 conversation with her, and, from some expressions of regret and 
 gratitude which she uttered, was induced to ask her if she knew 
 him. " O yes, sir,' she replied. " and hope I shall have reason to 
 
 bless God for you to all eternity. I heard you preach at W , 
 
 some years back ; and hope your sermon was the means of doing 
 me great good." " Indeed, I rejoice to hear it ; pray, what wa3 
 the subject/" "Ah. sir, I can't recollect that ; mine is such a 
 bad head." " How then can it have done you good, if you don't 
 even remember it ? " '• Sir, my poor mind is like this sieve ; the 
 sieve doesn't hold the water, but it runs through and cleanses the 
 wool : my memory docs not keep the words, but, blessed be God, 
 He made them touch the heart : and now I don"t love sin ; I go 
 whenever I can to hear of Jesus Christ ; and I beg of Him every 
 day to wash me in His own blood, which cleanses from all sin." 
 This jjractical way of remembering good things is the b;'st of all 
 remembrance. Our stores of religious iuformation cannot render 
 us service unless they are reduced to practice. Reader, do you 
 complain of want of memory, as to what you read of the Bible .' 
 Let this anecdote give you a hint. Keep the sieve wet ; let the 
 water constantly be running through. The efEect, by God's 
 blessing, will be seen in your conduct.* 
 
 11—14. (11) search . . out, God Himself will do what the 
 she^jherds neglected. He is the proper Owner of the flock, they 
 were only uuder-shepherds. The repetition of the pronoun / 
 makes it emphatic. (12) cloudy . . day," of national calamity 
 and humiliation. (13) gather them, this would be the first 
 sign of returning favour.* The full reference points to the in- 
 gathering from all nations to the Church of Christ. (14) good 
 pasture, Ps. xxiii. 2. high mountains, ch. vi. 2, 3.<= good 
 fold, secure and pleasant. 
 
 Tlit^ lo.^t shrrp. — Here's a farmer owns a hundred sheep. Well, 
 at night he counts 'cm ; and he makes one short. He goes over 
 them again : perhaps he's reckoned wrong. No: it's only ninety- 
 nine again. lie goes in to his wife, who is sitting by the kitchen 
 fire waiting till ho comes to supper. " Why, lass, there's one 
 gone. Poor thing I he must have got over the wall." (Ah I the 
 devil's always ready to help a poor sheep of Christ over the wall.) 
 He starts in search of him. By-aud-by he sees the foot-marks. 
 Ah, yonder he is ! But now he has to mind where he treads : he 
 has to make a spring now and then over some boggy place ; and 
 the land is all sopping wet. But he sees the track of tho 
 wanderer ; and now he hears " Ba-a I " and the great soft eyes of 
 
Cap. xxxiv. 15—19.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 343 
 
 the creature stare up at him from a quagmire, as if to say, " O 
 master, help me out ! " He takes him up, and puts him over his 
 shoulders ; and the black mud drips down his jacket : but he 
 doesn't mind that. At last he comes to the brook that skirts his 
 orchard ; and then he washes aU the filth away, and the poor 
 thing trots into the fold with such a happy bleat, as if to say, 
 '• Thank you, sir ! " Now, that's how Jesus fetches back His 
 wanderer ; only He doesn't put him across His shoulders. He puts 
 him into His bosom : and then He takes and washes him in the 
 fountain filled with His own precious blood. That's what He did 
 for me eight years ago. And that's what He is ready to do for 
 you. Hallelujah!'' 
 
 15 — 19. (15) lie down, the sign of their being satisfied and 
 secure, Ps. xxiii. 2. (It!) destroy the fat, i.e. those who have 
 made themselves fat at the expense of the sheep, judgment, 
 or discretion ; treating each one according to his deserts : see v. 17. 
 (17) between . . cattle, i.e. bet. vv^eak and strong cattle.'* (18) 
 tread down, etc., si>oiliug, so that others cannot use, what they 
 do not want themselves.* (I'J) my ilock, wh. for My sake ought 
 to be so carefully tended. 
 Ajjoor hut good jwcaclier. — 
 
 A good man ther was of religioun, 
 
 That was a poure persone of a toun : 
 
 But riche he was of holy thought and werk. 
 
 He was also a lerned man, a clerk, 
 
 That Cristes gospel trewely wolde preche. 
 
 His parishens devoutly wolde he teche. 
 
 Benigne he was, and wonder diligent, 
 
 And in adversite ful patient : 
 
 And swiche he was yi^reved often sithes. 
 
 Ful loth wer him to cursen for his tithes, 
 
 But rather wolde he yeven oat of doute, 
 
 Unto bis poure parishens aboute, 
 
 Of his offring. and eke of his substance. 
 
 He coude in litel thing have suffisance. 
 
 "Wide was his parish, and houses fer asonder, 
 
 But he ne left nought for no rain ne thonder, 
 
 In sickenesse and in mischief to visite 
 
 The ferrest in his parish, moche and lite, 
 
 Upon his fete, and in his hand a staf. 
 
 This noble ensample to his shepe he yaf, 
 
 That first he wrought, and afterward he taught. 
 
 Out of the Gospel he the wordes caught, 
 
 And this figure he added yet therto, 
 
 That if gold ruste, what shuld iren do ! 
 
 For if a preest be foule, on whom we trust, 
 
 JsTo wonder is a lewed man to nist : 
 ^Vel ought a preest ensample for to yeve, 
 
 By his clenenesse, how his shepe shulde live. 
 He sette not his benefice to hire. 
 
 And lette his shepe acombred in the mire, 
 
 And ran unto London, unto Scint Poules, 
 
 To seken him a chantfre for soules. 
 
 Or with a brotherhede to be withold : 
 But dwelt at liome, and kepte wel his fold. 
 So that the wolfe ne made it not miscarie.* 
 
 He preaches 
 
 Christ best, who 
 lifts Hiia up 
 most. 
 
 d Richd. Weaver, 
 
 a Lit. " Between 
 the small cattle 
 and the cattle of 
 rams and he- 
 goats." A fig. for 
 '• between the 
 poor and. the 
 rich." 
 
 h " The flock was 
 obliged to eab 
 what they hail 
 troilden into the 
 dirt, and drink 
 that wliieh they 
 had muildied. . . 
 The great men 
 were so vexatious 
 to the poor thab 
 what little coarse 
 food they had. 
 was submitted to 
 them." — Ma t. 
 Henry. 
 
 V. 17. SI. Augus- 
 tine, Op. vii. ; B, 
 Betidomp, v. 67. 
 v.\%. Dr.J. Donne, 
 iv. 4U7. 
 
 " The language of 
 reason, unaccom- 
 panied by kind- 
 ness, will often 
 fail of making an 
 impression ; it 
 has no effect upon 
 the understand- 
 ing, because ifc 
 touches not the 
 heart. The lan- 
 guage of kind- 
 ness, unassoci- 
 ated with reason, 
 will frequently be 
 unable to per- 
 suade ; because, 
 though it may 
 gain upon 
 the affections, it 
 wants that which 
 is necessary to 
 convince the 
 judgment. Bub 
 let reason and 
 kindness be 
 united in a dis- 
 course, and sel- 
 dom will even 
 pride or prejudice 
 find it easy to 
 resist."-ffii-6orn* 
 c Chaucer. 
 
844 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxxiv. 20-27. 
 
 a Ps. xxiL 12, 
 Ixviii. 31 ; Da. 
 viii. 3, 5. 
 
 h Is. xl. 11 ; Jno. 
 X. 11. 
 
 c Is. Iv. 3, 4 ; Je. 
 XXX. 9 ; Ho. iii. 5. 
 
 Alexander the 
 Great was much 
 olleiided with 
 tliose who re- 
 fused the pre- 
 sents tliat he 
 offered them, and 
 once wrote to 
 Phocion that lie 
 could no longer 
 number him 
 among his 
 friends if he 
 rejected tlie 
 marks of his 
 regard. So with 
 Christ to His 
 children. He is 
 not pleased with 
 ns when we do 
 not expect large 
 things from liim, 
 and accept the 
 large things that 
 He offers us. 
 "We honour Him 
 by obeying His 
 every word in 
 faith, like the 
 man at the pool 
 of Eetliofda, and 
 gi-atefnlly accep- 
 ting His choicest 
 blessings. 
 
 d French S. S. 
 Magazine. 
 
 O Mai. iii. 10. 
 
 h " The literal | 
 Ifnlfilment is the > 
 primary one, 
 thougli the spiri- 
 tual also is de- \ 
 signed. In cor- ' 
 res-^ondencewith 
 the settled reign 
 of righteousness 
 intprnally, all is 
 to be prosperity 
 externally, I'erti- I 
 lising sliowers, ' 
 and productive 
 trees and lauds." 
 —Fausset. I 
 
 20 — 23. (20) judge between, so as to relieve the sufferers 
 and punish the oppressors. The fat str.uds for the i-ich aud 
 arrogant rulers ; the lean f.or the humble poor of the people. 
 (21) thrust, etc., fig-, taken from the rou^'h ways of rams and 
 he-goats." (:^2) save, out of the hand of such SLlf-seekingp 
 oppressors. (23) one shepherd, the lull and iinal reference 
 mu.st be to Messiah.* servant David, a second and a greater 
 David."^ 
 
 Christ, the Good Shepherd. — One of my friends, travelling- in 
 Greece some years since, met three sheijherds with tlieir Hocks. 
 One had under his care about six hundred and fifty sheep, 
 another about seven hundred, and the third about seven hundred 
 and fifty, in all tw^enty-one hundred : these three flocks were put 
 together. Each sheep had a separate name ; it would not 
 answer to any other name, nor even to its own, unless called by 
 its own shepherd. Each shepherd knew all his sheep! and also 
 their names. If he saw that one was going in a dangerous 
 direction, he called it, and it retraced its steps. If the way was 
 narrow or steep, he walked first, and the sheei) followed. It was 
 cold when my friend met the sheiiherds. feome of the lambs 
 appeared very vigorous and playful, but others, ou the contrary, 
 appeared weak and delicate. The cold made them tremble, and 
 they could scarcely walk. The shej herds were clothtd in large 
 cloaks, gathered in at the waist by a girdle. They took these 
 little lambs, and put them in their bosoms. They took care not 
 to stifle them, but to leave their heads uncovered, in order that 
 they might breathe freely ; but thus they ke]3t them warm ! It 
 was pleasing to see these old shepherds, Avith their long grey 
 beards, aud their bosoms filled with the lambs. It is thus that 
 Jesus did. "He shall gather the lambs with His anns." the 
 Bible tells us, "and cTirry them in Hi s bosom." Children have 
 loved Jesus, and Jesus has not left them to perish. He lakes 
 care of them as well as of grown persons. '-I love them that 
 love Me," says He : " and they that seek Me early (or i artfully) 
 shall find Me." Amongst the twenty-one hundred sheep that my 
 friend saw, he found some weak or fatigued. They could not 
 walk much, especially in steep or miry places. Then the shep- 
 herds approached them, and. jilacing their crook beneath them, 
 helped them to advance. They always treated them with the 
 greatest tenderness. The Good Shepherd also does the same ; 
 He pities the weak, and assists them in their journey : He never 
 abandons them ; He makes them go out to find pasture.'' 
 
 24—27. (24) their God, i.e. I will be in manifest and 
 gracious relations with them as their God. a prince, or living 
 representative and agent of God. Gotl iiuiniffxt. {2'>) covenant 
 of peace, one that shall ensure peace ffir them, sleep . . 
 woods, a sure sign of security. The i)eopling of a o<pintry 
 results in driving the wild beasts from the woods and foi'csts. 
 (2()) shower, periodical rains, on which the fruitfulness of the 
 land depended." (27) safe, ref. prob. is to the harvest of land 
 and tree, wh. should be secured to the people, not stolen by 
 maraudci's.'' 
 
 Shim-crK of lle.'^.tinfj (r. 20). — I. We are to observe that this 
 conmiunication is needed by the world. 1. The condition of 
 the heathen world ; 2. The slow progress of i-eligion among men. 
 II. That this communication is promised by God. 1. Its nature 
 
Cap. xxxiv. 28—31,] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 345 
 
 is defiued by His promise ; 2. Its extent is also defined ; 3. Ilis 
 purpose defines the result of this communication. III. It must 
 be sought by the Church. 1. By removal from the world ; 2. By 
 the cultivation of union and love ; 3. By the emi)loyment of 
 zealous and vigorous exertions ; 4. By the offering of fervent and 
 importunate prayer." 
 
 Oriental s/ii'jjlnrd,i. — The Oriental shepherds, when unprovided 
 •with tents, erect huts or booths of loose stones, covered with 
 reeds and boughs. Pococke found, in the neighbourhood of 
 Acre, some open huts, made of boughs raised about three feet 
 from the ground, inhabited by Arabs. In such booths many of 
 the people of Israel \\ere obliged to take shelter in the wilder- 
 ness, from the want of a sufficient number of tents, the remem- 
 brance of which they were commanded to preserve by a solemn 
 festival. But even these meaner and more inconvenient habi- 
 tations are not always within the reach of an Aiabian shepherd ; 
 he is often obliged to take refuge under the projecting rock, and 
 to sleep in the open air. A grove or woodland occasionally 
 furnishes a most agreeable retreat. The descrijition which 
 Chandler has left us of one of these stations, is so strikingly 
 picturesque, that it must be given in his own words : '• About 
 two in the morning our whole attention was fixed by the barking 
 of dogs, which, as we advanced, became exceedingly furious. 
 Deceived by the light of the moon, we now fancied we could see 
 a village, and were much mortified to find only a station of poor 
 goatherds, without even a shed, and nothing for our horses to eat. 
 They were l.ying. wrapped in their thick capotes or loose coats, 
 by some glimmering embers, among the bushes in a dale, under 
 a spreading tree by the fold. They received us hospitably, 
 heaping on fresh fuel, and producing sour curds and coarse 
 bread, which they toasted for us on the coals. "We made a 
 scanty meal, sitting on the ground, lighted by the fire and by the 
 moon, after which sleep suddenly overpowered me. On waking. I 
 found my two companions by my side, .sharing in the com- 
 fortable cover of the janizary's cloak, which he had carefully 
 spread over us. I was now much struck with the wild appearance 
 of the spot. The tree was hung with rustic utensils ; the she- 
 goats in a pen sneezed, and bleated, and rustled to and fro ; the 
 fihrubs by which our horses stood were leafless, and the earth 
 bare ; a Ijlack caldron, with milk, was simmering over the fire ; 
 and a figure, more than gaunt or sjivage. close by us, struggling 
 on the ground with a kid. whose ears he had slit, and was 
 endeavouring to cauterise with a red-hot iron." This description 
 forms a striking comment on a pa.ssage in Ezekiel, in which God 
 condescends to give this promise to His people : " I will make 
 with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts 
 to cease out of the land : and they shall dwell safely in the 
 wilderness, and sleep in the woods." No reasonable doubt can 
 be entertained that they were often exposed in the same 
 manner, while tending their flocks ; and in great danger when 
 their country, from the thinness of the population, or other 
 causes, happened to be overrun with beasts of prey. They are 
 accordingly cheered with the sure prospect of those ravenous 
 animals being exterminated, and every woodland becoming a 
 place of safety to the slumbering shepherd.'* 
 28 — 31. (28) prey, v. 25. Obs. the reference to the perils 
 
 c J. Parsons. 
 
 The painter 
 woiiM nevei- at- 
 tain to ciuiuence 
 if lie went to an 
 e.xliibitiun and 
 devoted himself 
 to the stndy of 
 some work of 
 motlerate worth, 
 anil said, " I will 
 attempt to reach 
 this, and there I 
 will stop con- 
 tented." No, he 
 gbes to the gal- 
 leries of the great 
 masters, and 
 though his timid 
 pencil may not 
 dare to hope that 
 he shall strike 
 out thoughts so 
 cle.arly and make 
 life stand out 
 upon the canvas 
 as they have 
 done, yet he 
 seeks to drink iii 
 their inspiration, 
 hoping that he 
 may rise to some 
 proud eminence 
 in art by imitat- 
 ing them. Tlie 
 Christian's all- 
 fufificient pattern 
 is Christ. 
 
 " A wall of crys- 
 tal is a safe 
 defence against 
 the force of fire, 
 yet it is no ob- 
 struction to the 
 beams and che- 
 rishing light of 
 the sun. buch a 
 crystal wall is 
 Christ ; He keeps 
 otf Gods fiery 
 indignation from 
 us, but yet con- 
 veys to lis the 
 clierishing and 
 reviving influ- 
 ences of His 
 love. " — £ishop> 
 Hopkins. 
 
 d Paxton. 
 
 a That Is, to 
 bring the people 
 
346 
 
 EZEKTEL. 
 
 Cap. XXXV. 1—6. 
 
 glory, or " a 
 name," iustead 
 (it shame. 
 
 6 /. Laird. 
 
 V. 29. a: Erskine, 
 in. 343; Dr. U. 
 Gordon, iv. 235. 
 
 " All the glory 
 anil beauty of 
 Christ are mani- 
 fested within, 
 ami tliere He de- 
 lights to dwell ; 
 His visits there 
 are frequent, His 
 con d escension 
 ama zi ng. His 
 conversation 
 sweet. His coin- 
 forts refreshing ; 
 and tlie peace 
 tliat He brings 
 passethall under- 
 standing." -Thos. 
 in Kempis. 
 
 a De. ii. 5; Eze. 
 XXT. 12—14. 
 
 "Edom is the 
 God-hating, God- 
 opposing power, 
 for Edom was 
 ever distinguisli- 
 ed for its bitter 
 liatred against 
 Israel, and so tlie 
 ruiu of Edom is 
 the triumph of 
 Israel in the 
 power of God." 
 — Syk. Com. 
 
 " It is only in 
 their nalimial 
 character of foes 
 to God's people 
 that the Edom- 
 ites are to be 
 utterly destroy- 
 ed." — Fausset. 
 
 There is a beau- 
 tiful fable told of 
 Amphion, the son 
 of Jupiter, that 
 bo muved great 
 
 of idolatry, dwell safely, Je. xxiii. 6. (29) plant of re- 
 nown, or "a planting' for a name.''" Comp. Is. Ix. 21. Ixi. 3. 
 sliame . . heathen, i.e. of sharing in the idolatries and moral 
 evils of the heathen. Or it may refer to the rejiroaches of the 
 heathen on account of the national humiliation. (:50) I the 
 Lord, V. 2+. (;n ) my flock, Jno. x. 11. men, only men ; so 
 remember the contrast, '• ye are mni. I am Gud." 
 
 The jiJant of renoirn (?•. 21)). — 1. Some plants are renowned for 
 their rareness ; 2. For their beauty ; 3. For their fragranco ; 
 4. For their healing' virtue ; .''). For their shelter from the sun ; 
 (). For their exeellcut fruits. The person, work, ble.ssings. and 
 promises of the Lord Jesus considered under each of these repre- 
 sentations.* 
 
 The plant of renoivn. — In the preceding and follo'wing verses 
 Israel is compared to a flock of sheep, by observing which the 
 propriety of the following illustration will be apparent : — 
 '■ Looking to the east, flocks and herds were seen spreading 
 through the undulating valleys. In one place we saw manj' of 
 thom gathered together under a shady tree, waiting till the 
 excessive heat of noon should be abated. The sight of these 
 flocks reclining beneath the shady trees suggested the true 
 meaning of the passage, ' I will raise up for them a plant of 
 renown.' This plant is some noble shady tree, where the flock 
 may find rest and shelter ; a wide-spreading covert, renowned 
 for its coolness, under whose protecting branches they shall feed, 
 and be ' no more consumed with hunger.' The great Redeemer 
 is thus represented as giving to His flock, first shelter from 
 burning wrath, and then peace to feed in plenty when they are 
 delivered." 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRTY-FIFTH. 
 
 1—6. (1, 2) Mount Selr, the country of Edom, inhabited by 
 the descendants of Esau." (3) stretch . . hand, the usual fig. 
 of Divine judgments. (4) waste, as cities overrun by hostile 
 armies. (5) perpet'ual hatred, hast kept up thy hatred from 
 of old. iniquity . . end, or received its just doom, ch. xxi. 21). 
 (()) prepare thee, change thee. There seems to be a play on 
 the name, '■ I will change thee from Edom into Dam (hlood). 
 sith, or since, not hated, but rather taken delight in. 
 
 Idiima-a. — There is a prediction which, being peculiarly remark- 
 able as aj)plicable to Iduma:!a. and bearing reference to a circum- 
 stance explanatory of the difficulty of access to any knowledge 
 respecting it. is entitled, in the first instance, to notice : '* K'one 
 shall pass through it for ever and ever." Isaiah xxxiv. 10. '• I 
 ■will cut off from Mount Seir him that passeth out and him 
 that returneth." Ezek. xxxv. 7. The ancient greatness of 
 Idumtca must, in no small degree, have resulted from its com- 
 merce. Bordering with Arabia on the cast, and Egj'pt on the 
 south-west, and forming from north to south the most direct and 
 most commodious channel of communication between Jerusalem 
 and her dependencies on the Red Sea, as well as between Syria 
 and India (through the continuous valleys of El Ghor and El 
 Arabia, which terminated on the one extremity at the borders of 
 Juda:a, and on the other at Elath and Esiongabcr on the Elanitio 
 Gulf of the Red Sea), Idumsea may be said to have formed the 
 
Cap. XXXV. 7—11.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 347 
 
 euiijorium of the commerce of the East. A Roman road passed 
 directly through Idumtea, from Jerusalem to Akaba, and another 
 from Akaba to Moab ; and when these roads were made, at a time 
 long posterior to the date of the predictions, the conception could 
 not have been formed, or held credible by man, that the period 
 would ever arrive wlien none would pass through it. Above 
 seven hundred years alter the date of tlie prophecy. Strabo relates 
 that " many Romans and other foreigners "' were found at Petra 
 by his friend Athenodorus, the philosopher, who visited it. The 
 prediction is yet more surprising, when viewed in conjunction 
 with another, which implies that travellers would pass by 
 Idumasa, — every one that goeth by shall be astonished. And the 
 hadj routes (routes of the pilgrims) from Damascus and from 
 Cairo to Mecca, the one on the east, and the other towards the 
 south of Iduma3a, along the whole of its extent, go by it, or 
 touch partially on its borders, without passing through it. The 
 truth of the prophecy (though hemmed in thus by apparent 
 impossibilities and contradictions, and with extreme probability of 
 its fallacy in every view that could have been visible to man) 
 may yet be tried.* 
 
 7—11. (7) most desolate, v. 3. Heb. " desolation and deso- 
 lation." passeth . . returneth, i.e. such shall be the peril of 
 the country that no traveller will go through it. (8) moun- 
 tains, Edom is characteristically a mountain district, ch. xxxii. 
 4, .5. (9) cities . . return, to habitation." (10) two nations, 
 Israel and Judah.'' whereas, or although Jehovah dwelt 
 there. (11) known . . them, i.e. among My people, whom I will 
 surely defend against thee. 
 
 Id iniura.— The remark of Volney, who passed at a distance to 
 the west of Iduma3a, and who received his information from 
 the Arabs in that quarter. " that it had not been visited by any 
 traveller," will not be imobserved by the attentive reader. Soon 
 after Burckhardt had entered, on the north-east, the territories 
 of the Edomites, the boundary of which he distinctly marks, he 
 Bays that " he was without protection in the midst of a desert, 
 where no traveller had ever been before seen." It was then " that 
 for the first time he had ever felt fear during his travels in the 
 desert, and his route thither was the most dangerous he had ever 
 travelled." Mr. Joliffe, who visited the northern shore of the 
 Dead Sea, in alluding to the country south of its opposite extre- 
 mity, describes it as " one of the wildest and most dangerous 
 divisions of Arabia,'' and says that any research in that quarter 
 was impracticable. Sir Frederick Henniker, in his JVofcs dated 
 from JMouut Sinai, on the south of Idumasa, unconsciously con- 
 centrates striking evidence in verification of the prediction, 
 while he states a fact that would seem, at first sight, to militate 
 against it. " Seetzen, on a vessel of paper pasted against the 
 wall, notifies his having penetrated the country in a direct line 
 between the Dead Sea and Jlouut Sinai" (through Idumaja). "a 
 route never before riucompli.^hed. This was the more interesting 
 to me, as I had previously determined to attempt the same, it 
 being' the shortest way to Jerusalem. The Cavalier Frediani, 
 whom I met in Egypt, would have persuaded me that it was 
 impracticable, and tlaat he, having had the same intention him- 
 self, after having been detained in hope five w^eeks, was com- 
 pelled to relinquish his design. While I was yet ruminating over 
 
 masses of stone, 
 anil raised the 
 walls of Thebes, 
 simjjly by mak- 
 ing melody upon 
 his lute. There 
 is One greater 
 than he, who has 
 built the walls of 
 His Church, and 
 united together 
 His people in 
 bonds stronger 
 than death, by 
 the sweet, soft 
 influences of 
 w o r d s mo r e- 
 gentle than the 
 strains that flow 
 from the lyre 
 when tuned to 
 sweetest notes. 
 
 b Keith. 
 
 (iComp. Is.rsxiT. 
 1—15. 
 
 " From Mount 
 Hor, a part of 
 Jlount Peir, no- 
 thiug is to be 
 seen but nigged- 
 ness and desola- 
 tion." — Gadsby. 
 
 b Ps. Lxxxiii. 12. 
 
 " One thing wh. 
 contributed to 
 make CfBsar's 
 soldiers Invin- 
 cible was their 
 seeing him al- 
 ways take his 
 share in danger, 
 and never desire 
 any exemptioa 
 from labour or 
 fatigue. We have 
 a fur higher in- 
 centive in the 
 war for truth, 
 and goodness 
 when we con- 
 sider Him who 
 endured such 
 contradiction of 
 sinners against 
 Himself." -Spur' 
 ijeon. 
 
 Tertnllian re- 
 marks, ''If thou 
 endurest wrong 
 for Christ's sake. 
 He is a revenger; 
 if sorrow, He is 
 a comforter ; if 
 sickness, He is a 
 physician; if los% 
 
348 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxxvl. 1—4. 
 
 He is a rpstornr ; 
 if life, He is a 
 leviver." 
 e Keith. 
 
 a LoioiTi. 
 
 h " ■\\nien all the 
 land of the liviiif? 
 rejoices, aiul 
 when the land of 
 the saints and all 
 other lands are 
 converted to tlie 
 service of God. 
 then thou, O 
 Jtount Seir, and 
 all Idunifea. that 
 is, all ye powers 
 of this world 
 which delight in 
 blood, shall be 
 desolate, and 
 shall know Utai 
 I am the Lord." 
 — S. Jerome. 
 
 God in Christ 
 may as soon 
 cease to bo God. 
 as ce.ase to lie 
 gracious and 
 good. 
 
 The profane 
 
 swearer is com- 
 pared to a fish 
 who bites at the 
 naked hook. 
 
 « Keith. 
 
 A Tirg. Ororg. lib. 
 iii. 1. 11'. 
 
 " I want," said a 
 young corporal 
 one day to Hed- 
 ley Vicars, " to 
 liave more of 
 Jesus in this 
 life." Christ 
 crucified is not 
 a mere fund in 
 reserve— a kind 
 of extreme unc- 
 tion to help men 
 to die iu pence : 
 
 this scrap of paper, tlie superior paid me a morning' visit ; ho 
 also said it was impossible, but at leng'th promised to search for 
 guides. I had already endeavoured to per.suade those who had 
 accompanied me from Tor, but they also talked of dangers, and 
 declined." Guides were found, who, after resisliug for a while 
 his entreaties and bribes, agreed to conduct him by the desired 
 route ; but. unable to overcome their fears, deceived him, and led 
 him towards the Blediterraneau coast, through the desert of 
 Gaza."^ 
 
 12 — 15. (12) blasplieinies, evil things said against Israel 
 are regarded as blasphemies against Israel's God. (3) against 
 me, not against the nation merely. " You boast as if I could 
 not assert My right in Judaea.''" (14) rejoiceth, in restoration 
 from their captivities and Divine judgments.* desolate, the 
 Edomites never recovered their country. (13) all Idumsea, i.e. 
 all tlie several tribes and divisions of it. 
 
 Idumrca. — Iduma^a was situated to the south of Judpoa and of 
 Moab : it bordered on the east with Arabia Petrasa. under which 
 name it was included in the latter part of its history, and it 
 extended southward to the east_n-u gulf of the Red Sea. A single 
 extract from the Trarcis of Volney will be found 1 1 be equally 
 illustrative of the prophecy and of the fact. " This country 
 has not been visited by any traveller, but it well merits such an 
 attention : for from the reports of the Arabs of Bakir. and the 
 inhabitants of Gaza, who frequently go to Maan and Karak. on 
 the road of the pilgrims, there are, to the south-east of the lake 
 Asphaltites fDead Sea) within three days' journey, upward^ of 
 thirty ruined towns absolutely deserted. Several of them have 
 large edifices, with columns that may have belonged to the 
 ancient temples, or at lea-t to Greek churches. The Arabs some- 
 times make use of them to fold the cattle in, but in general avoid 
 them on account of the enormous scorpions with which they 
 swarm. "We cannot be surprised at these traces of ancient jiopu- 
 lation, when we recollect that this was the country of the 
 Nabatheans, the most powerful of the Arabs, and of the Idu- 
 ma;ans, who, at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, were 
 almost as numerous as the Jews, as appears from Josephus. who 
 informs us. that on the first rumour of the march of Titus 
 against Jerusalem, thirty thousand Idumasans instantly assembled, 
 and threw themselves into that city for its defence." 
 
 CHAPTER THE TIIIRTY-SIXTIL 
 
 1 — 4-. (1) mountains, ch. vi. 2. (2) the enemy, Edom, as 
 in the previous chapter, aha, a scornful and exulting expres- 
 sion, ancient high places, comp. '• everlasting- hills,' Ge. 
 xlix. 2(). in possession, ch. xxxv. 10. (3) residue, i.e. 
 those of the surrounding nations that had surviv'cd the fall of 
 Jerusalem, infamy, or treated as infamous. (4) rivers, lit. 
 bottoms, or wadies. 
 
 hhniurn. — A greater contrast cannot be imagined than the an- 
 cient and present state of Iduma}a. It was a kingdom previous to 
 Israel, having been governed first by dukes or princes, afterward 
 by eight successive kings, and again by dukes, before there 
 reigned any king over the childi'en of Israel. Its fertility and 
 
Cap. xxxvi. 5—7.1 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 849 
 
 early cultivation are implied, not only in the blessings of Esau, 
 wliose dwelling was to be the fatness of the earth, and of the 
 dew of heaven from above, but also in the condition proposed by 
 Moses to the Edomites, when he solicited a jjassage for the 
 Israelites throixgh their borders, '-that they would not pass 
 through the fields nor through the vineyards ; " and also in the 
 great wealth, especially in the multitudes of flocks and herds, 
 recorded as possessed by an individual inhabitant of that country, 
 at a period, in all probability, even more remote. The Idumajans 
 ■were, without doubt, both an opulent and a powerful people. 
 They often contended with the Israelites, and entered into a 
 league with their other enemies against them. In the reign of 
 David they were indeed subdued and greatly oppressed, and many 
 of them even disi)ersed throughout the neighbouring countries, 
 particularly Phceuicia and Egypt. But during the decline of the 
 kingdom of Judah, and for many years previous to its extinction, 
 they encroached upon the territories of the Jews, and extended 
 their dominion over the south- westein part of Juda3a. Though 
 no excellence whatever be now attached to its name, which 
 exists only in past history, IdumaDa, including perhaps Judtea, 
 was then not without the praise of the first of Roman jDoets : 
 
 " Primus Idumeas referam tibi, Mantua, palmas." "» 
 And of Lucan : * 
 
 " Arbustis palmarum dives Idume." " 
 
 5 — 7. (5) fire . .jealousy, or fervent zeal for the honour of 
 My name. Idumaea, ch. xxxv. 12. ir>. despiteful minds, 
 the bad feeling of Edom towards Israel is the thing specially 
 noticed. ((5) my fury, active indiijnation. borne the sliam.e, 
 ch. xxxiv. 29, xxxv. 12, 13. (7) lifted . . hand, the sign of 
 taking an oath, bear their shame," wh. would be the disgrace 
 of perpetual irremediable desolation. 
 
 Idiiincpa. — But Idumaea, as a kingdom, can lay claim to a higher 
 renown than either the abundance of its flocks or the excellence 
 of its palm trees. The celebrated city of Petra (so named by 
 the Greeks, and so worthy of the name, on account both of its 
 rocky vicinity and its numerous dwellings excavated from the 
 rocks) was situated within the patrimonial territory of the 
 Edomites. There is distinct and positive evidence that it was a 
 city of Edom, and the metropolis of the Nabatheans, whom 
 Strabo expressly identifies with the Iduma3ans, possessors of the 
 same country, and subject to the same laws. " Petra." to 
 use the woi'ds of Dr. Vincent, by whom the state of its 
 ancient commerce was described before its ruins were dis- 
 covered, " is tlie capital of Edom or Seir, the Iduma:a or Arabia 
 Petrtea of the Greeks, the Xabatea, considered both by geographers, 
 historians, and poets, as the source of all the precious com- 
 modities of the East."' " The caravans, in all ages, from Minea, 
 in the interior of Arabia, and from Gerrha, on the Gulf of Persia, 
 from Iladramant on the ocean, and some even from Sabea or 
 Yemen, appear to have pointed to Petra as a common centre ; 
 and from Petra the trade seems to have again branched out in 
 every direction to Egypt. Palestine, and Syria, through Arsinoe, 
 Gaza, Tyre, Jerusalem, Damascus, and a variety of subordinate 
 routes that all terminated on the Mediterranean. There is every 
 proof that is requisite to show that the Tyrians and Sidonians 
 
 it is the power 
 wliich is daily to 
 move the life, 
 tliat tliey may 
 live in lioiiuess, 
 
 " Dungeons nnd 
 thrones, which 
 the same hours 
 retill'd as hereto- 
 fore ; because 
 ambition was 
 self-will'd."— 
 Byron. 
 
 " That spirit of 
 his, inspiration 
 lifts him from 
 tlie earth." — 
 lilmlcespeare. 
 
 h Phars. Ub. IIL 
 
 c Keith, 
 
 a " The shame 
 whioh tliey cast 
 on you sljall re- 
 coil on them- 
 selves."' — ITti/'di- 
 zcvrth. 
 
 If yon look to 
 Christ alone for 
 salvation, you 
 will look upon 
 everything else 
 as you ought ; 
 you will then 
 put every doc- 
 trine and duty in 
 Scripture in its 
 riglit place. 
 
 If God was will- 
 ing to give Christ 
 for us, we may 
 be quite sure He 
 is willing to save 
 us. 
 
 " TJ n c n t roll'd 
 ambition prasjis 
 at once.domiuion 
 absolute, and 
 b o 11 u d 1 e s d 
 w e a 1 t h." — 
 Hannah More. 
 
 " But rare on 
 
 earth, is sucb 
 sublime ambition 
 found." — Robert 
 Montgo mtry. 
 
S50 
 
 EZEKIBL. 
 
 [Cap. xxxvl. 8—15. 
 
 •' Proud anibitioK were the first merchants who introduced the produce of India to 
 
 Is but a bcjjgar. 
 b Keith. 
 
 a Will soon cnme 
 uuiler Zerubba- 
 bfl. 
 
 " To see Jesus 
 clearly with th« 
 eye of faitli is to 
 sea the (let'p 
 opening away 
 f roui Egypt's 
 shore —is to see 
 the water gush 
 sparkling from 
 the desert rock — \ 
 is to see the 
 serpent gleaming 
 on its pole over a 
 dying camp— is | 
 to see the life- ! 
 boat coming 
 •when our bark 
 reels among 
 foaming break- 
 ers—is to see a 
 pardon when the 
 noose is on our 
 iieck and our 
 foot is on the 
 drop."— Gii/An'tf. 
 
 You will be made 
 willing to come 
 to Christ when 
 you are made 
 "weary of stop- 
 ping away. 
 
 "Within his 
 breast, as in a 
 palace, lie, wake- 
 ful ambition, 
 leagued with 
 hasty pride." — 
 1\ Fletchm; 
 
 b Keith. 
 
 a " The neigh- 
 bouring people 
 raised this ill | 
 character upon 
 the land of 
 Judiea, bee. of 
 tlie severe judg- 
 ments of the I 
 sword, famiir!, 
 and pestilencj, 
 whieh hal de- 
 stroyed the 
 greater part of 
 its inliabitants." 
 — Liivlli. 
 b " The land of 
 
 all the nations which encircled the Jltditerranean ; so is then- 
 the strongest evidence to prove that the Tyriaus obtained ai. 
 their commodities i'rom Arabia. But if Arabia was the centj:'^ 
 of this commerce. Petra was the point to which all the Arabian, 
 tended from the three sides of their vast peninsula."'' 
 
 8—11. (8) shoot forth, in the time of your restoration, 
 they . . hand," these restored days were really near, though 
 no bigns of them then ai:)peared. God's promise is ever near, it 
 does not really tarry, (i)) for yOTl, acting on your behalf, 
 tilled and. sown, after the time of captivity, during which the 
 land shall keep her Sabbaths. (10) multiply men, contrast 
 ch. xiv. 17. (11) better .. beginnings, i.e. give j'ou more 
 secure and lasting possession of the land, and i:)rosperity in it. 
 
 Petra. — At a peiiod subsequent to the commencement of the 
 Christian era, there always reigned at Petra, according to Strabo, 
 a king of the royal lineage, with whom a prince was associated 
 in the government. It was a place of great strength in the 
 time of the Romans. Pompey marched against it. but desisted 
 from the attack, and Trajan afterwards besieged it. It was a 
 metropolitan see. to which several bishoprics were attached in 
 the time of the Greek emperors, and Idumjea was included in the 
 third Palestine — Palest ina tertia sice .lalutarit. But the ancient 
 state of Idumosa cannot in the i^resentday be so clearly ascertained 
 from the records respecting it which can be gleaned from history, 
 whether sucred or profane, as by the wonderful and imperishable 
 remains of its capital city, and by " the traces of many touoia 
 and villages," which indisputably show that it must once have 
 been thickly inhabited. It not only can admit of no dispute that 
 the eountry and cities of Idum-ca subsisted in a very different 
 state from that absolute desolation in which, long jirior to the 
 period of its reality, it was represented in the prophetic vision ; 
 but there are prophecies regardiag it that have yet a prospective 
 view, and which refer to the time when '• ihe children of Israel shall 
 possess their possessions,"' or to "' the year of recompenses for 
 the controversy of Zion." But, dangerous as it is to explore the 
 land of Idumaja, and difficult to ascertain those existing facts and 
 precise circumstances which form the strongest features of its 
 desolate a-?pect (and that ought to be the siibject of scientific 
 as well as of religious inquiry), enough has been discovered to 
 show that the sentence against it. though fulfilled by the agency 
 of nature and of man, is precisely such as was first recorded in 
 the annals of inspiration.* 
 
 12 — 15. (12) npon you, i.e. upon the moimtains of Israel, 
 V. 1. (13) devourest up men, it was represented as a land 
 exi)Osed to famine and pestilence." Comp. Nu. xiii. .S2. (14) be- 
 reave, marg. ca,u,He to fall, an expression which may refer to 
 falling into idolatry. (15) shame, or contemptuous speeches, 
 i\ G. cause . . fail, as ?•. 14.* 
 
 JTnman vitrhs. — In the age succeeding the flood, they piled old 
 
 Babel's tower, and said, '• This shall last for ever.'" But God 
 
 confounded their language : thoy finished it not. Old ])haraoh 
 
 j and the Egyptian monarchs heaped up their Pj'ramids. and they 
 
 said. "They shall stand for ever:" and so, indeed, they do 
 
 ' stand, but the time is approaching when age shall devour even 
 
Cap. xxxvi. 16—24.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 351 
 
 these. The most stable things have been evanescent as shadows 
 land the bubbles of an hour, speedily destroyed at God's bidding-. 
 Where is Nineveh? and vi'here is Babylon.' Where the cities of 
 Persia I Where are the high places of Edom ? Where are jVIoab 
 and the princes of Ammou ? Where are the temples of the 
 heroes of Greece ? Where are the millions that j^assed from the 
 gates of Thebes 1 Where are the hosts of Xerxes .' or where the 
 vast armies of the Roman emperors / Have they not passed 
 away .' And though in their i^ride they said, '■ This monarchy is 
 an everlasting one, this queen of the seven hills shall be called 
 the eternal city," its jaride is dimmed ; and she who sat alone, 
 and said, '• I shall be no widow, but a queen for ever," she hath 
 fallen ; and in a little while she shall sink like a millstone in the 
 flood, her name being a curse and a byword, and her site the 
 habitation of dragons and of owls. Man calls his works 
 eternal ; God calls them fleeting ; man conceives they are built 
 of rock : God says, '• Nay, sand ; or, worse than that, they are 
 air.'' Man says he erects them for eternity; God blows but for 
 a moment, and where are they ? Like baseless fabrics of a vision, 
 they are passed and gone for ever.^ 
 
 16—20. (16, 17) defiled it, making it unclean, and unfit 
 to be regarded as God's holy land. (18) blood . . slied, esp. in 
 idolatrous sacrifices, such as the worship of Moloch." (10) ac- 
 cording to, or with judgments proportioned and fitted to their 
 ■wickedness. (20) profaned, i.e. dishonoured, disgraced.* Give 
 a false and unworthy impression of Jehovah, the God of their 
 land. 
 
 The messenger (vv. 16, 17). — I. This portion of Scripture, from 
 Ver. 10. presents an epitome of the Gospel : ver. 17, man sinning ; 
 ver. 18, suffering ; ver. 21, an object of pity ; ver. 24, his salva- 
 tion resolved upon ; ver. 20, 27, renewed and sanctified ; ver. 28, 
 restored. II. Who is commissioned to deliver God's message ? not 
 an angel, but a man. Observe — The kindness of God to man ; 
 the honour conferred by God on man ; the wisdom of God.« 
 
 Profanity. — Some years ago, as a party were drinking in a 
 public-house at a village near Dundee, two of them agreed to 
 make a trial who «.hould invent the newest and most profane 
 oaths. 'While one of them was just opening his mouth to 
 make the dreadful attempt, his jaws were suddenly arrested, 
 so that he was unable to close his mouth, or speak a word. He 
 was carried to the infirmary and died soon after. Let profane 
 swearers tremble for their danger.** 
 
 21—24. (21) had pity, or a pitiful regard to;" eh. xx. 9. 
 
 (22) not . . sakes, i.e. not on the ground of any good deservings 
 of yours.* (2:5) sanctify my name, as a holy -name, the 
 name of One who cannot bear iniquity, and will " by no means 
 clear the guilty." be sanctified, have My name cleared and 
 honoured by ]\Iy judgments. (24) take yoU,'' after enduring the 
 judgments and chastisements. 
 
 (ilo/r.i i.Ki/ire ill Kdlrnliiiri (v. 22). — I. Attend to the expression, 
 for My name's sake. II. "We are to understand that the motive 
 which moved God to save man has regard to His own glory. I 
 III. In saving man for His holy name's sake, God exhibits the i 
 mercy, holiness, love, and other attributes of the Godhead. — | 
 u^an an object of Diane mei'cy. — I. The doctrine that God is not \ 
 
 Israel will receivi 
 an outpcimiiig o' 
 grace. Ilsiilula- 
 tiy will be re- 
 moved from it. 
 liigli places. This 
 \\as fulfilled a1 
 tlie return froir 
 Babylon, aii(' 
 bow much mort 
 by tlie restora- 
 tion iu Clirist !" 
 — Woidsirorili. 
 
 " Painted deceit, 
 tyrannical ambi- 
 tion. Chase these 
 far from you." — • 
 Buuring. 
 
 c Spurgcon. 
 
 a Eze. xvi. 36, 38, 
 xxiii. 37. 
 
 h Is. lii. 5 ; Eo. 
 
 ii. 24. 
 
 See Dr. Gitlhrie, 
 Gospel in Ezek. 
 
 c Dr. Guthrie. 
 
 Profanity is said 
 to be a tribute 
 which the ser- 
 vants of the 
 devil pay to 
 tlieir master in. 
 token of allegi- 
 ance ; as tiie 
 tenants of a 
 Scotch Ian d- 
 holder pay Him 
 a pc pper-corn an- 
 nually in tokeu 
 of submission. 
 
 d Whiltcross. 
 
 a "And a thou- 
 sand pities it was 
 that tliat should 
 be tranjpled on 
 and abused. He 
 looked with com- 
 passion on His 
 own honour, wh. 
 lay bleeding 
 among the 
 heathen, on that 
 jewel which was 
 trodden into the 
 d i r t." — Mat. 
 limn/. 
 6 De.'ix. (i. 
 c Eze. xxxiv. 13, 
 
352 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxxvl. 25—38 
 
 xxxvii. 21, xxxix. 
 
 d Dr. Gnlhrie. 
 a Nu. viii 5-22; 
 li. l\i. 6; lie. x. 
 2i. 
 
 '■ The rite thus 
 prescribed by the 
 Liiw anil ex- 
 plaineil by the 
 Pr.iptiets, gave 
 ocoiision to the 
 use of water at 
 tlie admission of 
 proselyte-sin la cr 
 days, and so to its 
 adoption by John 
 in his baptism 
 nnto repejit- 
 
 ance." — Spk.Com. 
 b Is. xxxii. 15, 
 xHv. 3 ; Joel ii. 
 98 : Zoo. xii. 10 ; 
 Jno. vii. 38 ; Ac. 
 ii. 17, 18. 
 V. -iS. Ii. ErxJcine, 
 viii. 2-iU ; W. Rn- 
 m'line, iv. 389; C. 
 li-urlley, ii. 63. 
 V. 26. G. Harder, 
 ii. 3; W. O-ileUl. 
 215 ; T. Ilof/frs, ii. 
 25;) ; J. Cawood, 
 i. 396 
 
 i>. 27. Br. n. 
 J)r'ippr, ii. 576. 
 d G. Brooks. 
 
 a Eze. xvi. 61. 
 
 b " Tlio Prophet 
 repoats this sen- 
 tence on purpose 
 to check all vain 
 presumption in 
 the .lews, and 
 confidence of 
 their own in- 
 trin^c worth or 
 merit, a fault 
 tiiey liave been 
 Very prone to in 
 all ages." — Lowth. 
 
 c C. Simeon. 
 
 d Ibid. 
 
 V. 29. //. B. Wil- 
 son, 51. 
 
 t'. 31. R. Baxter, 
 xvii. 122 ; R. 
 \Yalker, iv. 214. 
 
 V. 32. lip. Fleet- 
 wood, 435. 
 
 Ols.li.3. 
 
 h "What is the 
 matter of God's 
 
 moved to save man by any merit or worth in him, is a truth 
 of the highest imjiortauce to sinners. II. It is important for the 
 saint also. III. AVhile it keeps the saint humble, this doctrino 
 will help to make the saint holy.'' 
 
 25 — 28. (2.-)) sprinkle, etc., the sig-n of the recovered rem- 
 nant being sepai'ated as priests unto the Lord." filthiness, 
 the moral evils always associated with idolatry. (2U) new 
 heart, the sign of changed feelings and views; eh. xi. !!>; 
 Je. xxxii. ;>9. stony heart, so long unimpressible by teach- 
 ings and by judgments, heart of flesh, impressible and docile. 
 (27) my spirit, as a spirit of obedience. The full gift of the 
 Si^irit was reserved for Messiah's times. (28) dwell, perma- 
 nently and secui'ely, and in the full covenant relations. 
 
 The new heart (r. 2(;). — I. The heart of msn is by nature a 
 heart of stone ; it is impervious to religious impressions. Try 
 it — 1. By the beauties of nature ; 2. By the wonders of Provi- 
 dence ; 3. By the joys and sorrows of common life ; 4. By the 
 solemnities of the future world : 5. By the disclosures of the 
 Bible ; 6. By the attractions of the cross. II. It is the prero- 
 gative of God alone to change the heart. 1. This may be argued 
 from the explicib testimony of Scripture ; 2. From the nature 
 and extent of human dspravity ; 3. From the figures which are 
 employed by the sacred writers to represent the change ; 4. From 
 the frequent inefficiency of the most abundant and best-assorted 
 means. III. The new heart is a heart of flesh. Try it — 1. By 
 the law of God ; 2. By the Gospel ; 3. By affliction ; 4. By the 
 sins of others ; 5. By the glories of heaven."^ 
 
 29—32. (29) save . . uncleannesses, i.e. from falling into 
 them : from being contaminated with th3m. corn, type of 
 both material and spiritual i^rosperity and increase. Material 
 prosperity was part of the Divine pledge given in the Mosaic 
 covenant. (30) reproach of famine, .ice n: 13—15. (31) 
 remember, with due penitence and humility." lothe your- 
 selves, ch. vi. i). (32) your sakes,* r. 22. 
 
 The duty of .teJf-luathing. — I. The duty enjoined. It implies — 
 1. A calling of our evil ways to remembrance ; 2. A loathing of 
 ourselves on account of them. II. When it is to be performed. 
 1. Conversion qualifies us for it ; 2. We need it as much after 
 conversion as before. Infer — (1) How opposite to a Christian 
 state is self-righteousness ; (2) How dear must Christ be to every 
 true penitent.'^ — GorV.'i mercies: not gicen for our merits (r. 32). — 
 I. God, in imparting His blessings to us, has not respect to any 
 good in us ; nothing in us meritorious to which He can have 
 respect, nor would it con.sist with Ilis honour ; experience shows 
 that God is not influenced by such motive. II. There is in us 
 nothing which is not rather a ground for shame and confusion — 
 the sins of our unregenerate state, the infirmities of our regene- 
 rate state. III. The importance of our being reminded of these 
 things. 1. That we may be led to humility ; 2. That we may be 
 excited to thankfulness. Apply : — (1) Concede to God the liberty 
 of dispensing His favours as Ho will ; (2) Be thankful for the 
 merits of Christ.'' 
 
 33 — 38. (33) cleansed, this was the gracious issue of the 
 chajtisement of the captivity. The Jews have never since then 
 relapsed into idolatry. (34, 35) garden of Eden, a fig. of rich 
 
Cap. xxxvli. 1—4.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 353 
 
 aud perfect beauty." (36) I the Lord, the signs of IVEy power 
 £ind grace will be so manifest, that in your blessing- and pros- 
 perity My name will be gloriiied. (37) inquired, of, i.i\ sought 
 iu jjrayer.* It will be characteristic of the restored conditions 
 tha'u God will then be ready to answer prayer, liook, ch. xxxiv. 
 23. 31. (3S; holy flock, the great flock of choice animals for 
 sacrifice. 
 
 Tin- ncccsnify of prayer {v. 37). — I. The blessings for which we 
 should inquire. 1. For ourselves ; 2. For the Church of God ; 
 3. For the world. II. The manner iu which we should inquire 
 for them. 1. In the method which He appoints ; 2. With devout 
 dispositions of inind ; 3. In every situation of life ; 4. With 
 diligent perseverance unto death. III. The reasons why we 
 should inquire of the Lcrd. 1. Prayer is a Divine ordinance ; 
 
 2. Proves the dependence of the creature on the Creator : 3. And 
 the connection between duty and interest.' 
 
 Yet ! — " I will yet for this b% inquired of " (Ezek. xxxvi. 37). 
 Yet be inquired of — though His goodness has been so long abused 
 hj our sins 1 Yet — though He has promised to bless ! For it is 
 a characteristic of God's dealings with His people, that what lie 
 promises to do for them He will be, and is to be inquired of by 
 them to do it for them. He connects means with ends, the 
 praj^ers of His people with the blessings He confers upon them. 
 After making •■ exceeding great and precious promises " to His 
 Church, He adds, " Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this 
 be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them ; I will 
 increase them with men like a flock." There is a deep lesson to 
 be learned from this "yet." It is a little word, but it implies 
 much. It teaches us the connection of means and ends ; so, if 
 we would have a blessing, \ve must not be idle, but work : if we 
 would receive, we must ask : if we would have an outpouring of 
 the Spirit and a revival of God's work, we must pray. " Ask, and 
 ye shaU receive."'^ 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRTY-SEVENTH. 
 
 1—4. (1) hand, etc., ch. i. 3. in the spirit, meaning, in a 
 vision. This was one mode of Divine commtiiiication with 
 Ezekiel. valley, poss. the Chebar, jtoss. the valley by Jerusalem. 
 (2) open valley, or wide j^lains." very dry, "representing 
 the Israelites dispersed abroad, destitute of life, national and 
 spiritual." (3) thou knowest, the words imply, "it seems 
 impossible to me." * (4) prophesy, in sense of " preach," 
 "proclaim." O . . hones, etc., comp. Jno. v. 28, 29. 
 
 tSji'n-itiud rrxiirrection (rv. 1 — 10). — I. The condition of the 
 •workl. 1. Spiritually dead, bones ; 2. Hopelessly so, dry bones ; 
 
 3. Universally so. valley full. II. The means for its recovery. 
 1. A Divine appointment, preaching ; 2. The claim of attention ; 
 3. The offer of salvation. III. The wonderful result. 1. The 
 Gospel is accompanied by Divine power ; 2. The Spirit is essenti;il 
 to complete sticeess ; 3. In the use of the means success is 
 certain.' — Oni these hones lire? (r. 3). — I. That all men are 
 Bpiritua''ly dead. 1. Destitute of the principle of spiritual life : 2. 
 Insensible to the beauty and attractions of the spiritual world ; 
 3. Incompetent to discharge the functions of holy beings ; i. 
 Under the doniinion of sinful propensities, II. That no created 
 
 VOL. IX. O.T. Z 
 
 promises must be 
 the matter of our 
 prayers. By ask- 
 ing for the mercy 
 promised we 
 must give glory 
 to tlie donor, ex- 
 press a value for 
 the gift, own oar 
 dependence, and 
 put lionour upon 
 prayer which God 
 lias put honour 
 u p on." — Mat. 
 Ilau-y. 
 
 c Eta iu 400 Ska. 
 
 He who causeth 
 the soul to linn- 
 ger and thirst 
 after righteous- 
 ness lias also 
 already provided 
 an abundant 
 supply by mak- 
 ing His own Son 
 unto us " wis- 
 dom, and right- 
 eousness, and 
 sa net i fieation, 
 ami redemption." 
 1 Cor. i. 3U. 
 
 d Christmn InleU 
 telligencer. 
 
 a " Tlie bones 
 were lying, like 
 bones of men 
 slain iu a battle, 
 jiarohed and 
 
 bleached by the 
 sun, in a low 
 plain ; and the 
 i'rophet was led 
 round the higher 
 ridge of the 
 plain, as round 
 tlie verge or 
 margin of a vol- 
 canic crater, in 
 order to survey 
 them, lying be- 
 low him in its 
 ilark bosom." — 
 Wo?'dsworth. 
 
 b " Faith leaves 
 the question o( 
 po>siMlity tnrest 
 with God, with 
 whom nothing 11 
 
354 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. XXX vil. 5—17. 
 
 impossible." — 
 
 e W. JK. Whijte. 
 i G. Brooks. 
 
 o"Tlii3 was ful- 
 filleil when, upon 
 Cjriis's procla- 
 mation of liberty, 
 t li o s e whose 
 spirits Goil liad 
 stirreil up began 
 to thiiilc of mak- 
 ing use of tlicir 
 liberty, and get- 
 ting ready to be 
 go n e." — Mat. 
 Henry. 
 
 b Dr. II. Bonar. 
 
 r. 9. E. Ersl-ine, 
 i. 51 : //. Bliml, 
 iii. 98; Dr. R. 
 Jiidmfr. ii. 479; 
 //. AicNeile, 70. 
 
 A man without 
 Christ is a world 
 without a sun. 
 
 "Divine grace 
 even in tlie heart 
 of weak and sin- 
 ful man is an 
 i n viacible 
 thing."- Lciijhlon. 
 
 a R. Cecil, M.A. 
 b Dr. J'/iomas. 
 V. 14. J. Cennick, 
 2. 
 
 God gave us to 
 tlie Sun, and the 
 Bon gave Him- 
 self for us. 
 " As leaves fall 
 from the trees, 
 so the graces of 
 God decay ami 
 drop away, in the 
 wicked, one after 
 another, as if 
 there was a con- 
 8 u m p t i o n." 
 —Cawdray. 
 
 a Add, however, 
 Levi, and part of 
 Simeon, and the 
 Jehovali - wor- 
 sliippers from the 
 northern nation. 
 
 power cau communicate spiritual life to man. 1. Not the diffu- 
 fc;ion of kuowlfdre : 2. Not external reformation ; 3. Not civil 
 govcrnuicnt ; -1. Not ecclesiastical rites : .O. Nob moral suasion. 
 111. That it is the prerog-ative of the Holy Spirit to quicken the 
 spiritually dead. 1. His influence is obtained in aiicwcr to prayer ; 
 2. It operates throug-li the instrumentality of the "Word ; 3. Ifc 
 products faith in Christ : 4. The mode of His ■\vorkins»' is in- 
 scrutable. Apply: — (1) Prophesy unto the bones ; (2; rroi>hesy 
 unto the winds.*' 
 
 5 — 8. (.')) cause breath, the sign of returning life. Ge. ii. 7. 
 
 (0) sinews, etc., the parts which corruption speedily and com- 
 pletely destroj'f>. A lig. for the reviving and restoring of a 
 nation. (7) noise, of movement : symbol of the gathering of 
 Israelites fr.-.m different parts, bone" to Ills bone, each fitting 
 into the j.)roper place and relation. (S; no breatll, so only as 
 yet the forms of life." 
 
 Nij breath, no life (v. 8). — I. 0%r creed may be sound and yet 
 we may not be Christians. II. Our religion may be externally 
 complete and yet we may not be Christians. III. Our good 
 works may be numerous and praiseworthy, yet we may not be 
 Christians. IV. Our life may be exemplary, and yet we may not 
 be Christians. A life with no breath must be — 1. A very imper- 
 fect life ; 2. A very unhappy life : 3. A very unsuccessful life.* 
 
 9, 10. f!)) wind, or breath, symbol of the sjDirit of life, 
 four winds, implying that Israel had been scattered to all 
 quarters, slain, this expression suggests that the place of the 
 vision was the neighbotirhood of Jerusalem, where those slain by 
 the Chalda^ans lay. (10) lived, showed signs of movement and 
 expression, great army, to indicate the large numbers who 
 will gather for the return and restoration. 
 
 The vallei/ of dry hones (r. 10). — I. The desperate condition of 
 unregenerate man. II. The agency by which God saves men 
 from a state of unregeneracy. 1. By His Word : 2. By Hia 
 Spirit. III. The eif ects which this deliverance produces, -'^pply : — 
 
 (1) How important the preaching of the Gospel ; (2) What com- 
 fort for downcast sinners. 
 
 11 — 14. (11) are, i.e. they represent the deplorable and forlorn 
 condition of the house of Israel, cut off, hopelessly. We shall 
 never be a nation again, our parts, or for our lot ; as far as 
 we are concerned. Indicating a condition of extreme despair. 
 (12) open your graves, so that you need not desjiair of being 
 beyond God's power. He can even raise the dead. (13) know, 
 by a great and impressive proof and persuasion. (14) spoken 
 it, in promises, and performed it in act. 
 
 Nature and graee (rr. 12 — 1.5). — This passage presents to U3 
 the grave of nature and the resurrection of grace." — Soiil-re.fiir- 
 reotiim (rr. 13, 14). — I. This is a matter of individual iesponsi- 
 bility. II. It is a good in itself. III. It is the givaud end of all 
 God's dealings with man. IV. It involves the highest agency of 
 God. V. It is the only jjlcdge of a glorious bodily resurrection.* 
 
 15 — 17. (15, in) one stick, com-p. Nu. xvii. 2. One wood, or 
 rod. Judah, and Benjamin, wh. formed the kingdom of Judah." 
 (17) join them, as a symbol that in the restoration they should 
 alike share, and i'lom that time only one nation occupy the Holy 
 Land. 
 
Cap. xxxvii. 18—23.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 355 
 
 Joininq the stichx (ri: 15 — 17). — I. The sad condition of the 
 people of Israel at the time the Prophet wrote. It ^^as — 1. Con- 
 trary to nature ; 2. Displeasing to God ; 8. Disastrouf? to them- 
 Belves. II. The happy condition to which the people were about 
 to be restored. 1. It is of great importance to the Church itself ; 
 
 2. It is an immense advantage to the surrounding community ; 
 
 3. It is well-pleasing and highly honouring to God. III. The 
 agency by which this delightful change has to be effected. 1. He 
 breathed into them the ijriuciple of spiritual life ; 2. He sent 
 them wise advisers and earnest intercessors ; 3. He visited them 
 ■with a sore trial ; 4. He appointed them a common work ; 5. He 
 makes His residence in their midst.* 
 
 18, 19. (18) show US, this would seem to be unnecessary, 
 but the question may be asked in a contemptuous spirit. (] U) 
 hand, of Epliraim, regarded as the ruling tribe." 
 
 lliinic .stares. — At Umea. in Sweden, a person whom Dr. Clarke 
 visited, '' produced several ancient Runic staves, such as are 
 known in Sweden under the name of Runic almanacs, or Runic 
 calendars. They were all of wood, about three feet and a half 
 long, shaped like the straight swords rejiresented in churches 
 upon the brazen sepulchre-plates of our Saxon ancestors. The 
 blades were on each side engraved with Runic characters and 
 eigns, like hieroglyphics, extending their whole length. The 
 signs were explained to us as those of the mouths, and the cha- 
 racters denoted the weeks and days. The Runic staves which 
 had been given to us were afterwards exhibited at Morvana, and 
 in the different places through which we passed, in the hope of 
 procuring more. AVe afterward saw others : bttt they were 
 always rare, and considered more as curious antiquities than 
 things in actual use : although the inhabitants were well 
 acquainted with them, and were often able to exjilain the mean- 
 ing of the characters itijon them, and the purpose for which these 
 instrtimeuts were made, especially in this part of Sweden. "VVe 
 saw one of more elaborate workmanship, where the Rttuic cha- 
 racters had been vei'y elegantly engraved upon a stick like a 
 physician's cane ; bitt this last seemed to be of a more modern 
 date. In every instance it was evident, from some of the marks 
 upon them, that their first owners were Christians : the different 
 lines and characters denoting the fasts and festivals, golden 
 numbers, domiuical letter, epact, etc. But the citstom of thus 
 preserving written records tijion rods or sticks is of the highest 
 anti<iuity. There is an allusion to this citstom in Ezekiel xxxvii. 
 1() — 2U, where mention is made of something very similar to the 
 Runic staff." Nearly nine centuries before the age of Ezekiel's 
 prophecy, Mo°es used rods in the sante manner (Numbers xvii. 
 2. ?> ). We may now .see satisfactorily the use to which these 
 written rods were in after-ages applied, as illustrated by the Runic 
 staves which have generally the form of a sword or sceptre, being 
 the ensigns of office and dignity borne in the hands by the priests. 
 the elders, and princes of the people. The recurved rods of the 
 priests among the Greeks, and the crosier of a modern bishop, 
 had the same origin,* 
 
 20 — 23. (20) before their eyes, " as a visible token or 
 
 pledge of the truth of what I enjoin thee to speak to them." (21, 
 
 22; one king, the Messiah. (23) idols," as we have already 
 
 Z2 ' 
 
 who settled in 
 Judrea. 
 
 There is infi- 
 nitely more glory 
 ill tlieiuan Ciirist 
 Jesus tliiin iu all 
 generations of 
 men put to- 
 gether; in Him 
 alone divinity 
 and humanity 
 are for ever 
 united. 
 
 b F. Morgan. 
 
 a Je. iii. 18, 1. 4 } 
 Zee. X. 6. 
 '■ If a thing re- 
 flects no light, it 
 is black ; if it 
 reflects part of 
 the rays, y; is 
 blue, or indigo, 
 or red ; but if it 
 reflects them all, 
 it is Avhite. If 
 we are like 
 Christ, we shall 
 seek, not to al>> 
 sorb, but to re- 
 flect the light 
 which fulls upoa 
 VIS from heaven 
 upon others, and 
 thus we shall 
 become pure and 
 spotless ; for this 
 is the meaning of 
 the 'white robes' 
 which tlie saints 
 wear in glory."— ^ 
 Ba'cher. 
 
 Christ pleased 
 not Himself, in 
 order to s:ive us. 
 How many of us 
 please ourselves, 
 and /never think 
 that we are dis- 
 pleasing Him. 
 
 It is hard work 
 for the saul to 
 pick up a living 
 iu light litera- 
 ture. 
 
 h Burder. 
 
 a 2 Co. vl. 16. 
 
 Christ, in our 
 nature, was pur 
 
856 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxxvii. 24-28, 
 
 and spotless. His 
 app.'aniiice in 
 this worlil was 
 ns if a crystal 
 stream were to 
 niii through a 
 lUUildy cliamiol, 
 without beiug 
 defilea by it. 
 " Without booaS, 
 Goil is .silent, 
 justice doriiiaut, 
 natural science 
 at a stand, phi- 
 losophy 1 am e, 
 letters dumb, 
 ftnd all things 
 Involved in Cim- 
 merian d a r k- 
 ness." -Bari/inlin. 
 b Dr. Gi fen 's 
 Lectures to Clill- 
 dreii on llie 
 Bible. 
 
 a Is. Ix. 21 ; Joel 
 iii. 2U ; Am. ix. 
 15. 
 
 h Ps. Ixxxix. 3, 4 ; 
 Is. Iv. 3; Je. 
 xx.xii. 40. 
 
 e Am. i.x. 11 ; .Inc. 
 i. 14 ; lie. xxi. 3. 
 
 V. 24. H. Tliomp- 
 son, 179. 
 
 "All the sobriety 
 which religion 
 needs or requires, 
 is that which real 
 earnestness pro- 
 duces. Tears and 
 shadows are not 
 neeilful to so- 
 briety. Smiles 
 and cheerfulness 
 are as much its 
 elements. When 
 men say. Be 
 sober, they usu- 
 ally mean. Be 
 stupiil ; but when 
 the Bible says. Be 
 sober, it means. 
 Rouse up, and 
 let fly the ear- 
 nestness and vi- 
 vacity of life. 
 The old Scrip- 
 tural sobriety 
 was etfectually 
 doing; the later 
 ascetic sobriety 
 is effectual ditl- 
 Kr.w.- — H. »-. 
 Beecher, 
 
 seen, this has been fulfilled to the present clay. No people witness 
 more simply and purely to the Divine vnifrj than do the Jews. 
 
 Chrixt in tlic Scripturrs-. — I remember reading- once, among 
 the stories of old times, of a certain architect who had to build a 
 temple. It was to be a very large and splendid one : and the 
 architect was very anxious that it should be known in after ages 
 that he had planned and built it. But he was not allowed, by 
 the king who employed him. to write his name ui^on any part of 
 it. After much thought, therefore, he most cleverly so arranged 
 it that the building itself should, in a hundred different ways, 
 take the form of the letters of which his name was made up. No 
 one. perhaps, on first walking in would notice any more than the 
 walls and pillars, the figures upon the ceiling, or the lines of the 
 variously-coloured floor. But after a time, as he looked atten- 
 tively, the shapes of letters would appear ; some large and stretch- 
 ing all across the building, others very small ; but all so placed 
 together as to spell the same word. And it would not be long 
 before above, below, and all around he would read, whichever 
 way he turned his eye, the name of the architect of the temple.* 
 
 24—28. (24) David, etc., Is. xl. 11 ; Je. xxiii. 5, xxx. 9 ; 
 Eze. xxxiv. 23. (2.3; dwell, securely and permanently." (25) 
 covenant of peace, ch. xxxiv. 21.* my sanctuary,' fulfilled 
 in the spiritual sense. The Church is God's earthly temple. (27) 
 tabernacle, or earthly dwelling-place."^ Zerubbabel's temple 
 was a partial fulfilment. (28) sanctify, in sense of setting 
 apart, and consecrating. 
 
 Confessing Chriit. — St. Augustine relates, in his Confctsion.^, 
 that one Victorinus. a great man at Rome, who had many rich 
 heathen friends and relations, was converted to the Christian 
 religion. He repaired to a friend of his, also a convert, and told 
 him secretly that he too was a Christian. " I will not believe 
 thee to be a Christian,'' said the other, '• until I see thee openly 
 profess it in the church." "What," said Victorinus, "do the 
 church walls make a Christian ? " But directly the answer came 
 to his own heart — " Whosoever shall be ashamed of IMe and of 
 My words, of him also, shall the Son of man be ashamed when 
 He cometh in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels." 
 He was ready to bear the scorn and persecution of his heathen 
 friends, that he might honour his Master in a public confession 
 of His name. It cost something to acknowledge Christ in those 
 early days of His Church. When Symphorianus, a young Roman, 
 acknowledged himself a believer in Jesus, he "was seized and 
 scourged nearly to death, and then dragged away to a place of 
 execution. His heroic Christian mother walked by his side, not 
 shrieking and bewailing his terrible fate, as her mother's heart 
 prompted, but encouraging and cheering him with such words aa 
 these : " Son. my son. remember life eternal ! Look up to heaven I 
 Lift up thine eye to Him that reigneth there ! Life is not taken 
 from thee, but exchanged for a better." At these words, the 
 young man's heart was wondrously cheered, as if God had sent 
 an angel to strengthen him. He went to the block with a face 
 all glowing with holy joy. What power but that of a "living 
 God" could stistain a mother and son in such an hour? What a 
 glorious exchange was f^uch a belief for the dead system ol 
 heathen worship in which they had been born 1 
 
Cap. xxxvlii. 1—23.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 357 
 
 CHAPTER THE TIIIRTY-EIGIITE. 
 
 1—7. (1, 2) GrOg, a symbolical name." Magog, Ge. x. 2. 
 Meshech and Tubal, ch. xsvii. 13, xxxii. 2G. (8, 4) hooks, 
 etc., ch. xxxix. 2. The fig. is taken from the mode of securiug 
 the Nile crocodiles. (.5) Persia, etc., ch. xxvii. 10, xxx. .5. ((i; 
 Gomer, the Cimmerians of Crim-Tartary,* Ge. x. 2. Togarmali, 
 Armenians. The northern parts of Asia Minor, ch. xxvii. 14. 
 (7) 1)6 thou prepared, this is Gods challenge to a contest. 
 "In it there is a strain of irony, as if it were foolish indeed to 
 measure strength with Jehovah." 
 
 Gof] and ilagog (chapters xxxviii., xxxix.). — The vision of 
 Gog and Magog, or the Church's struggle with the world. I. 
 The strife. 1. Fiercely aggressive ; 2. Insidious ; 3. Widespread ; 
 4. Terrible. II. The victory. 1. Divinely wrought ; 2. Over- 
 whelming destruction of evil ; 3. Complete flourishing of the 
 good."^ 
 
 8 — 13. (8) latter years, beyond the historical events with 
 which Ezekiel has been dealing. Comp. the conflict in the Bk. 
 of Rev. always waste, better, for along time. (9) storm, 
 suddenly, and with a great show of terror. (10) think an evil 
 thought, i.e. one that designs evil to others, and works evil 
 to thyself. (11) unwalled villages, comp. Zee. ii. 4, 5. 
 safely, securely, without thought of approaching danger. 
 (12) take a spoil, easily, without any conflict. (13) Sheba, 
 etc., nations far removed from each other." 
 
 14 — 17. (14) know it, and try to take advantage of such 
 prosperity and security." (15) north parts, v. 6. (10) as a 
 cloud, r. 9. sanctified in thee, i.e. honoured in thy over- 
 whelming destruction. (17) thou he, ^?'c., the final opposer of 
 God, represented by the Pharaohs and Sennacheribs of former 
 times. God is not previously mentioned by name. 
 
 Cardinal JMazar'ui. — Cardinal Mazarin, reputed the most con- 
 summate statesman of his age, but whose great aim in life was 
 to gratify his ambition, when on his death-bed, alarmed by the 
 stings of conscience, cried out, " Oh my poor soul ! what must 
 become of thee ! Whither wilt thou go ? " Then turning to the 
 queen mother of France, he said, '• Madame, your favours have 
 undone me ; were I to Uve again, I would be anything rather than 
 a courtier." * 
 
 18 — 23. (18) my fury, as human passion makes the blood 
 to fly up into the face. (19) jealousy, etc., ch. xxxvi. 5, 
 xxxix. 2."). shaking, indicating alterations of kingdoms and 
 governments. (20) fishes, etc., the figs, of the verse are taken 
 from the effects of a terrible earthquake." steep places, or 
 towers. (21) sword, comj?. ch. xiv. 17. against his brother, 
 the sign of intestine quarrels, which are fatal to any enterprise. 
 (22) plead, urge my cause by the agency of pestilence and 
 fighting, hailstones, ch. xiii. 11, (23). magnify myself, 
 ch. xxxvi. 23, xxxvii. 28. 
 
 Madnr.^.1 of anhhilion. — I have read of Menecrates, a physician, 
 that would needs be counted a god, and took no other fee of his 
 patients but their vow to worship him. Dionysius Syraousanus, 
 
 a fUanilinpr tot 
 the world re- 
 garileii as auta« 
 guuistio to God. 
 
 6 Wordsworth. 
 
 " He loves not 
 Christ at all who 
 does not love 
 Christ above all.'* 
 —Austin. 
 
 c U. n. Thomas. 
 
 a Merchants 
 from these na- 
 tions are repre- 
 sented as coming 
 to God's camp to 
 see if they can 
 buy the spoil. 
 
 a Comp. Re. xvi. 
 13, 14. 
 
 Love Christ not 
 for what He lias, 
 or gives simjily, 
 but love Hini for 
 His own sake. 
 
 6 E. T. S. 
 
 a " The Prophets 
 often describe 
 God's judgments 
 upon particular 
 countries or per- 
 sons, as if it were 
 a disFolution of 
 the whole world, 
 bee. His particu- 
 lar judgiuents 
 are an earnest of 
 the general judg- 
 ment." — Lowlh. 
 
 " 'Wliere lust nnd 
 tni-liulent ani'i.i- 
 tiou reign, death 
 
358 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxxlx. 1— 10k 
 
 took swift 
 geaiicp."— } 
 6 T. Adams. 
 
 ven- 
 
 'oung. 
 
 a " Tlie details 
 •re set forth in 
 order to carry 
 out tlie allegory, 
 and their very 
 extravaganee, so 
 to speak, points 
 out that we have 
 but the shadow 
 of a great spiri- 
 tual reality, wh. 
 man can only 
 faintli' repre- 
 sent, and feebly 
 grsLspinaJlyure." 
 ^Spk. Com. 
 
 " lU-weaved am- 
 bition, how much 
 art tliou shrunk." 
 — Shakespeare. 
 
 a Joel ii. 11, 31; 
 Zep. i. 14; He. vi. 
 17, xvi. 17, xxi. 6. 
 
 h " The features 
 of the prophecy 
 show clearly that 
 it is not to be 
 understood lite- 
 rally but spiii- 
 tually." — Wurds- 
 icorlh. 
 
 c " The burning 
 of tlie foe's wea- 
 pons implies that 
 iiotl^ig belong- 
 ing to them 
 shoulil be left to 
 pollute the land. 
 Tlie seven years 
 syient on this 
 work implies the 
 completeness of 
 the cleansing, 
 and the people's 
 zeal for purity." 
 — Fau.ixel. 
 r. 8. //. W. Suli- 
 ran. i. 18. 
 d lluberli. 
 
 hearing of this, invited him to a banquet ; and, to honour him 
 according to his desire, set before him nothing but a censer of 
 frankincense, with the smoke whereof he was feasted till he 
 starved, while others fed on good meat. This showed the great 
 naturalist a natural fool, a madman. Sapor, a Persian king, 
 wrote himself " King* of kings. Brother to the Suu and JVloon, 
 and Partner with the Stars." Yet. akxs ! he was a man, therefore 
 a madman in the arrogatiou of his style.* 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIETF-N'INTH. 
 
 1 — 7. (1) Gog, ch. xxxviii. 1. (2) leave . . thee, marg. " strike 
 thee with six plagues," or '• draw thee back, with a hook of six 
 teeth," ch. xxxviii. 4. (3) thy 'bo'W', chief of the war weapons. 
 (4) fall, smitten and defeated, raveno'us birds, that crowd 
 battle fields. (5) open field, where shall be no shelter from the 
 ravenous creature.-?. It was a great indignity to leave dead 
 bodies exposed. (0) fire, eumjj. Re. xx. 'J. isles, including 
 coast lands. (7) so, i.e. by this manifestation of power in the 
 discomfiture of My people's enemies." , 
 
 Ambition .tclf -condemned. — After his final defeat at Waterloo, 
 the first Napoleon continued for some hours in moody silence, 
 without food. None of his attendants ventured to atldress 
 him : but at length some coffee was sent in by the handa 
 of a little peasant lad, known to the emperor. After waiting 
 awhile, the child with frank simplicity exclaimed, " Eat, sire : 
 it will do yo.i good." "Do you not belong to Gonesse.'" asked 
 Napoleon. "No sire; I come from Pierrefite." ''Where your 
 parents have a cottage and some acres of laud.'" "Yes, sire." 
 " This is happiness," was the emphatic comment of the modem 
 Alexander. 
 
 8—10. (8) it is come, i.e. the time of the great threatened 
 destruction." The Prophet declares it to be so certain that it is 
 "as good as done." (!)) d'well . . cities, the small remnant 
 left in the land would find a supply of fuel for seven years in 
 the multitude of weapons left on the battle-field. This is to be 
 regarded as a poetical figure rather than historical fact.' hand- 
 staves, or javelins, seven years,": the number seven is here 
 treated as the ideal or perfect number. (10) spoil, etc., Is. xiv. 
 2, xxxiii. 1. 
 
 The predicted, day (i: 8). — I. There have been great historic 
 days whose events were clearly predicted. II. There have been 
 important days in individual history whose events were pre- 
 dicted. III. We may take these facts as the basis of an argument 
 for the fulfilling of Divine threats and promises to various 
 characters. 
 
 iSmr!/ flf a ha f tie-field. — This refers to the dreadful stench which 
 should arise from the dead bodies of Gog. The Tamul transla- 
 tion has it, " cause to stop the noses." The moment people smell 
 anything offensive, they immediately press the nostrils together 
 with their fingers. They say of a bad smell. " It has stopped my 
 nose ; " which means the nose is so full of that, it is not sensible 
 I of any other smell. The figure is much used in reference to the 
 decayed oysters at the pearl fishery.'' 
 
Cap. xxxix. 11—22.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 359 
 
 11 — 16. (11) Gog, poetical name for the enemies of Israel, 
 place . . graves, whero he expected a triumph he shall hnd a 
 grave, valley, etc., this may be an imaginary valley, seen in 
 the Prophet's vision, or a place on the high road, E. of the Dead 
 Sea," the highway between Syria and Petra, and Egypt, pas- 
 sengers, or travellers. stop tlie noses,* with the stench 
 of the corpses. Hamon-gog, or "the multitude of Gog.' 
 (12) seven months, during all this time they v/ould be finding 
 scattered corpses." (13j to them, i.e. to Israel. A day of joy 
 and triumph. (14) sever out, set apart to this work, men . . 
 employment, dedicated entirely to this work until it was com- 
 pleted.'' with the passengers, i.e. with the help of the 
 passers by. as next v. (15) set . . sign, to direct the attention 
 of the buriers to it. (1(5) Hamonah, or '-the multitude." 
 
 TIte rival armies. — I. The enemies of the Lord. 1. Their 
 character. (1) The idolater ; (2) The forgetful ; (3) The indif- 
 ferent ; (4) The undecided ; (.*>) The reckless. 2. Their doom. 
 They jDerish — (1) Without God, and so cut oif from the only 
 source of true life ; (2) Without hope ; (3) Fighting against 
 God. II. The friends of the Lord. The cour.se of the sun is — 
 1. Very quiet; 2. Gladdening ; 3. Regular and sure ; 4. One of 
 increasing brightness.' 
 
 Cuntinual employment (v. 14). — Men of continual employment ! 
 and women also. These are the persons everywhere needed to 
 originate and sustain Christian enterprise throughout the world. 
 From those who come forward to offer themselves for th^ work 
 it is not easy to discriminate at first, but on making a farther 
 selection from those who have undergone a measure of testing 
 or probation, it is on those who have shown themselves to be 
 '■ men of continual employment " that we would rely. The 
 remark has been repeatedly made, and experience confirms it, 
 that to accomplish much it is only necessary for us to proceed 
 steadily and patiently in the doing of a little : we must, in the 
 words of the philosopher, be whole men to one thing at a time ; 
 shunning alike the temptation to attempt two or three things at 
 once, and do each of them badly, or that much more common, 
 probably, to pause after the completion of some work in hand, 
 and spend too much time in the consideration of what is to 
 follow and how it is to be carried out. '• "Work like a star, 
 unhasting but unresting," says a great modern author, an 
 example himself of what he commends : and it is thus by the con- 
 tinuity of our employment that we acquire and strengthen habits 
 which are so valuable as powers for good. Even our relaxations 
 (for such must have their place) need not interrupt the flow of 
 our work, though forming a variation ; if life be compared to a 
 stream, we must not allow ourselves any stagnation, though the 
 current of our employment runs more softly and slowly for a 
 time, as a river does when it widens out temporarily into 
 shallows, to pursue its course again beyond in its ordinary 
 channel. And in our inner life, in the culture of the heart and 
 affections, it is most necessary that the work should be steadily 
 pursued. A day"s, a week's, a month's suspension has conse- 
 quences extending far bej-ond the period of intermission, and 
 casts a shadow which may be projected far into the future. 
 
 17 — 22. (17) feathered fowl, all carrion birds, sacrifice, 
 the heaps of elain are regarded as a sacrificial feast provided by 
 
 I ""Aplacefright- 
 
 ! fuliii its pliysical 
 cluiracter, and 
 admonitory of 
 
 \ past juilgments." 
 
 j — lipk. Com. 
 
 I b Comp. the same 
 I Heb. word, trans. 
 ] muzzle, in De. 
 .xxv. 4. 
 
 c " Usually the 
 survivors of an 
 army bury their 
 ovvn dead ; but 
 here the rout is 
 so complete that 
 the house of 
 Israel bury the 
 corpses of their 
 foes." — Words- 
 truii/i. 
 
 d Is. l.xvi. 24. 
 
 e H. G. Parish, 
 
 n.A. 
 
 " Employment, 
 which Galen calls 
 ' Nature's physi- 
 cian,' is so essen- 
 tial to human 
 luippiness, that 
 indolence is 
 justlj' considered 
 the mother of 
 misery." -Buiion. 
 '• Assure yourself 
 that employment 
 is one of the best 
 remedies for the 
 d i sappointments 
 of life. Let even 
 your calamity 
 have the liberal 
 effect of occupy- 
 ing you in some 
 active virtue, so 
 shall you in a 
 manner remem- 
 ber others till 
 you forget your- 
 self."— ;-"/■«». 
 
 "As fire is kept 
 up 1)3' blowing, 
 and putting on 
 wood ; to the 
 grace of God 
 must be daily 
 stirred by the 
 use of the Word, 
 sacraments, and 
 prayer, by medi- 
 tating, striving, 
 seeking, and 
 
 k n oc ki n g." — 
 Cuudniy. 
 
 a "The cattle of 
 ralestiiie are 
 generally small. 
 
360 
 
 EZEKJEL. 
 
 [Cap. xxxix. 23—29, 
 
 and deciiledly in- 
 ferior to those 
 of more northern 
 climes. The cause 
 is doubtless to 
 bo found in the 
 seauty pastures 
 of a land laid 
 waste for many 
 centuries by ever- 
 returning foes, 
 and many of 
 whose sjjrings of 
 water have been 
 drying up ; but 
 there are dis- 
 tricts in whicli 
 the cattle are 
 finer, and in a far 
 better condition. 
 There are ])rob. 
 as fine ' bulls of 
 Baslian ' now 
 grazing on the 
 plains of the 
 Hauran as there 
 were in king 
 David's time." — 
 Van Letinep. 
 6Comp. Ps. Ixxvi. 
 6. 
 c McCosh. 
 
 a " They were 
 not carried away 
 by their enemies 
 bee. I wanted 
 power to rescue 
 them, but as a 
 just punishment 
 of their sins." — 
 Lotcth. 
 
 b "After theyhave 
 become sensibli' 
 of their puilt, 
 and ashamed of 
 it." — Fausset. 
 
 " We have em- 
 ployments as- 
 signed to us for 
 every circum- 
 stance in life. 
 AVlien we are 
 alone, we have 
 our thoughts to 
 watch ; in the 
 family, our tem- 
 pers ; and in 
 company, our 
 tongues." — Han- 
 nah More. 
 
 e Detliam. 
 
 a "The pouring 
 out of His Sjiirit 
 Is a plcdu'e tliat 
 He will hide His 
 
 God for them. (1 S) ram.s, etr., prob. here fi^-urcs of the various 
 classes of i)eople in the slain armies, fatiings of Basliaii," 
 De. xxxii. H. (li)) drunken, or satiated. (20) my ta'jle, 
 poetical carrying out of the figure of the sacrificial feasts, 
 chariots, better, charioteers.'' (21) set . . heathen, ch. 
 xxKviii. K). 23. (22) know, or fully apprehend and realise. 
 God is thus knoTSTi in His mercies and judgments. 
 
 (jdd rrjlvcldd. — The beautiful rays coming from the face of 
 God, and shining in such loveliness ai-ouud us. are reflected and 
 refracted when they come in contact with the human heart. 
 Each heart is apt to receive only such as please it, and to reject 
 the others. Hence the many-coloured aspects, some of them 
 hideous in the extreme, in whicli God is presented to different 
 nations and individuals. Hence the room for each man fashioni7jg 
 a god after his own heart. An evil conscience, refleciiug only 
 the red rays, calls up. a god who delights iu blood. The man of 
 fine sentiment, reflecting only the softer rays, jiaints from the 
 hues of his own feelings a god of mere s;nsibility, tender as that 
 of the hero of a modern romance. The man of glowing imagi- 
 nation will array in gorgeous but delusive colouring, and iu the 
 flowing drapery of majesty and grandeur, beneath which, how- 
 ever, there is little, or no reality. The observer of laws will 
 represent Him as the embodiment of order, as blank and as black 
 as the sun looka when we have gazed upon him, till we are no 
 longer sensible of his brightness."^ 
 
 23—26. (23) hid I my face," the character of Israel's cap- 
 tivity, as Divine cluuti.soncnt for sin will be made plain when God 
 has restored and sauctitied them. (21) uncleanness, by reason 
 of their idolatry. (2.")) bring again, ch. xxxiv. 13. etc. whole 
 house, the entire covenant people. (2(i) borne their shame, 
 i.e. the .shame which is the due of their iniquities.* 
 
 Evidence of God. — A man that should meet Mith a palace beset 
 with pleasant gardens, adorned with stately avenues, fnruished 
 with well-contrived aqueducts, cascades, and all other appendages 
 conducing to convenience or jileasure, would easily ima,t;ine that 
 proportionable architecture and magnificence were within : but 
 we should conclude the man was out of his wits that should 
 assert and plead that all was the work of chance, or other than 
 of some wise and skilful hand. And so, when we survey the 
 bare outworks of this our globe, wlicn we see so vast a body 
 accoutred with so noble a furniture of air. light, and gravity, 
 with everything, in short, that is necessary to the prcserv.ation 
 and security of the globe itself, or that conduceth to the life, 
 health, and happiness, to the propagation and increase of all the 
 prodigious variety of creatures the globe is stocked with : when 
 we see nothing wanting, nothing redundant or frivolous, 
 nothing botching or ill-made, but that everything, even in the 
 very appendages alone, exactly answereth all its ends and occa- 
 sions, — what else can be conclueled but that all was made with 
 manifest design, and that all the whole structure is the woi'k of 
 some intelligent Being, some Artist of |;ower and skill equivalent 
 to such a work I' 
 
 27—29. (27) am sanctified, ch. xxxvi. 23, (28) which 
 caused, lleh. " by My causing them." (29) poured . . 
 spirit," Joel ii. 28. There ie immediate reference to the grace 
 
Cap. xl. 1—10.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 361 
 
 given to the returned captives ; but further and fuller reference 
 to the gift of the Holy Ghost to the earl}' Church.* 
 
 Injiiicncrs of the JIolij i>jyirit. — Ihe same shower blesses various 
 lands in different degrees, according to their respective suscep- 
 tibilities. It makes the grass to spring up in the mead, the 
 grain to vegetate in the field, the shrub to grow on the plain, 
 and the flovver,s to blossom in the garden ; and these are garnished 
 with every hue of loveliness, the lily and the violet, the z'ose and 
 the daisy ; all these worketh the same spirit that renews the 
 face of the earth. The influences of the Holy Spirit, descending 
 on the moral soil, produce " blessing in variety,' convictions in 
 the guilty, illumination in the ignorant, holiness in the defiled, 
 strength in the i'eeble, and comfort in the distressed. As the 
 Spirit of Holiness, He imparts a pure taste ; as the Spirit of 
 Glory. He throws a radiance over the character ; as the Spirit of 
 Life, He revives religion ; as the Spirit of Truth, He gives trans- 
 parency to the conduct ; as the Spii-it of Prayer, He melts the 
 soul into devotion ; and as the Spirit of Grace, He cmbues with 
 benevolence, and covers the face of the earth with the works of 
 faith and labours of love.' 
 
 CHAPTER THE FORTIETH. 
 
 1—5. (1) in . . captivity, " this was the fiftieth year from 
 the eighteenth of Josiah, the year of his memorable passover.' " 
 hand .. me, ch. i. 3. (2) visions of God, or Divinely-sent 
 visions, higdi mountain, fr. which a broad and general view 
 could be obtained. Ileference may be to Mount Zion, from 
 wh. a good view of Mt. Moriah could be obtained, frame, or 
 fabric* The Heb. seems to intimate that this was vjnm the 
 Mount. (3) brass, i.e. brightly shining, line of flax,'' for 
 measuring the ground, measuring reed,'' for the walls. (4) de- 
 clare, etc., so that it may be to them a model in rebuilding the 
 temple. (5) wall, /.p. boundary wall, and an handbreadth, 
 or the cubit used by the man in measui-ing was one handbreadth 
 over the cubit used in Chaldaaa. 
 lievereyiee for the hoiixe of God. — 
 
 " When once thy foot enters the church, beware I 
 God is more there than thou ; for thou art there 
 Only by His permission. Then, beware ; 
 And make thyself all reverence and fear. 
 Kneeling ne'er spoil'd silk stocking : quit thy state ; 
 All equal are within the churchs gate. 
 " Let vain or busy thought have there no part ; 
 
 Bring not thy plots, thy plough, thy pleasure thither ; 
 Christ purged His temple — so must thou thy heart. 
 All worldly thoughts are but thieves met together 
 To cozen thee : look to thy actions well, 
 For churches either are our heaven or hell." « 
 6 — 10. (6) gate . . east, the east-gate building is described as a 
 model for all the buildings at the other gates, stairs, for their 
 number see v. 22. threshold, or lintel, the upper part of the 
 door-case. The threshold proper is the lower part of the door- 
 case : and he would not need to go upstairs to measure this. (7) 
 little chamber, prepared for the Levitical guard, 'who attended 
 
 face no more."— 
 
 t'ausstt. 
 
 b " St. Peter dis- 
 tinctly appro- 
 priates tliese 
 prophecies to the 
 outpouring of the 
 Holy Spirit ou 
 the day of Pen- 
 tecost, and the 
 inauguration of 
 the Church of 
 Christ by that mi- 
 raculous event." 
 —Spk. Com. 
 
 V. 29. J. Howe, r. 
 
 2uy. 
 
 c Dr. Jenkyn, 
 
 a 2 Ki. xxiii. 22. 
 
 In this and the 
 remaining chap- 
 ters of Ezekiel, 
 is given an ideal 
 picture of the 
 restored Jewish 
 temple. 
 
 6 " The -words 
 describe the 
 situation of the 
 temple on the 
 south side of 
 Mount Zion, wh., 
 with ail its 
 courts, build- 
 ings, and walls 
 en com passing 
 the courts and 
 the whole area, 
 or lioly moun- 
 tain, resembled a 
 city for bigness." 
 — Lowth. 
 
 c Zee. ii. 1. 
 
 d Re. xxi. 15. 
 
 e G. Herbert. 
 
 a " Along tha 
 wall of the porch 
 were chauibers, 
 three on each 
 side; v. XQ." — 
 
 LCMth, 
 
863 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xl. 11-23. 
 
 "Guard -rooms." 
 —Kiel. 
 
 Those chambers 
 were about lUt't. 
 6in. square. 
 "Be always em- 
 ployed about 
 Boiue rational 
 thing, that the 
 devil find thee 
 iioi\fX\c." -Jerome. 
 
 t St. Crjprian. 
 
 a " This hall or 
 colonnade ex- 
 tended the whole 
 breadth of the 
 building to tlie 
 pavement ; v, 18. 
 Outside the 
 building, on the 
 pavement, was a 
 series of pillars." 
 — Spk. Com. 
 " To be emploj'ed 
 is to be happy." 
 —Gray. 
 
 b Ingram Cobbin, 
 M.A. 
 
 a " Closed win- 
 dows, with shut 
 lattices, tlie bars 
 of which, being 
 let into the 
 wall, coulil not 
 bo opened or 
 shut at plea- 
 sure." — Gesenius. 
 
 " Taste is, in 
 general, con- 
 sidered as that 
 faculty of the 
 human mind 
 
 by which we per- 
 ceive and enjoy 
 whatever is beau- 
 tiful orsublime in 
 the works of iia- 
 ture or art." 
 — Archibald Alli- 
 son. 
 
 b Jluskin. 
 
 There are men 
 with eyes in 
 their heads, 
 shrewd and self- 
 willing withal, 
 who are yet 
 blind to half the 
 
 to and kept the ^.ate." between, i.fi. the passage running 
 between. (8) porcll, or portico. ('.)) inward, i.e. towards the 
 court of the temple. (10) posts, or ba.-^es. 
 
 Tfir frmplc af God. — Be dilig'ent. Sometimes speak to God, at 
 other times liear Him speak to you. Let Him regulate your soul. 
 Whom He hath made rich, none shall make poor. Thei"e can be 
 no penury with him whose heart has once been enriched with 
 celestial iDounty. Hoofs arched with gold, and palaces adorned 
 with marble, are vile in comparison with that house which the 
 Lord has chosen to be His temple, in the which the Holy Ghost 
 dwells, niuminate this house with the li;.rht of righteousness. 
 Its ornaments shall never fade, and it shall dwell hereafter in 
 spotless beauty and eternal majesty.* 
 
 11 — 15. (11) length of the gate, or gateway. The extent 
 of rhe gate. (12) space, a limit, or barrier, to in'otect the 
 guard-rooms. (13) from the roof, etc.^ i.e. across the gate- 
 building from north to south. From "the roof of one chamber to 
 the roof of the corresponding opposite one. (14) posts, or 
 columns." (15) face, or front. 
 
 T/ie gate Beautiful. — This was the highest gate of the temple, 
 being fifty cubits high, or ten cubits higher than the other gates, 
 the cubit being the length of a man's arm from the elbow to the 
 tip of the middle finger. Nine gates were completely covered 
 with gold and silver, but this with Corinthian brass, which was 
 of greater value. Its doors were forty cubits high. The ascent 
 to it was by fifteen steps. The whole of the workmanship was 
 of the very best kind, and it was an addition made to the temple 
 by Herod the Great.* 
 
 16—19. (IB) narrow, Heb. clo.ml: fitted with network, or 
 lattices." arches, prob. projections, or bays in the wall. (17) 
 outward court, answering to the Conrt of the Women in 
 Herod's temple. The first on passing the gate, pavement, of 
 mosaic work, thirty chambers , over the cloLsters, and sup- 
 ported by them. (18) lower pavement, on the outer court, wh. 
 was lower than the inner court. (1*J) without, inarg. " from 
 without." 
 
 Three distinct scJiooh of Eurnpran arcliitectvre. — Now there 
 have as yet been three distinct schools of European architecture. 
 I say European, because Asiatic and African architectures belong 
 so entirely to other races and climates, that there is no question- 
 ing of them here ; only, in passing, I will simply assure you that 
 whatever is good or great in Egypt, and Syria, and Judasa, is just 
 good or great for the same reasons as the buildings on our side 
 of the Bosphorus. We Europeans, then, have had three great 
 religions : the Greek, which was the worship of the God of 
 Wisdom and Power : the Mediasval, which was the worship of 
 the God of Judgment and Consolation ; the Eenaissance. which 
 was tlie worship of the God of Pride and Beauty : these three we 
 have had — they are past — and now. at last, we English have got 
 a fourth religion, and a God of our own.* 
 
 20—23. (20) that looked, ILh. "whose face was." (21) 
 arches, r. Ifi. (22) seven steps, r. 0. '-There was the samo 
 number of steps, no doubt, to each of the gates from the precincts 
 to the outer com-t." (23) over against, better, proportionable 
 with. 
 
Cap. xl. 24—38.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 363 
 
 National aroJutcctvre the exponent of a national relir/ion. — 
 Every great national architecture has been the result and expo- 
 nent of a great national religion. You can't have bits of it here, 
 bits there ; you must have it everywhere, or nowhere. It is not the 
 exponent of a theological dogma, — it is not the monopoly of a 
 clerical company, — it is not the hieroglyphic writing of an initiated 
 priesthood ; it is the manly language of a people inspired by 
 rcsohite and common purpose, and rendering resolute and com- 
 mon fidelity to the legible laws of an undoubted God." 
 
 24—27. (24) according . . measures, Ic. to those pre- 
 viously given. (2.j) windows, r. 16. (2G) seven steps, i-. 22. 
 (27; gate to gate, or the distance between the gates. 
 Grandeur of an abhetj. — • 
 
 How reverend is the face of this tall pile, 
 Whose ancient pillars rear their marble heads 
 To bear aloft its arch'd and pond'rous roof. 
 By its own weight made steadfast and immovable, 
 • Looking tranquillity 1 It strikes an awe 
 
 And terror on my aching sight ; the tombs 
 And monumental caves of death look cold, 
 And shoot a chillness to my trembling heart." 
 
 28—31. (28) by . . gate, or through the south gate. (29) 
 little chambers, couq). v. 7. (30) arches, v. 16. (bl) utter, 
 or outward. 
 
 ^1 carced pillar (v. 31). — A fanciful text for a fanciful hearer. 
 The rudest people find pleasure in contemplating sculpture and 
 carving. Here is a carved pillar ; a palm tree is an emblem of 
 the righteous ; a reminder to him who treads the courts of the 
 temple that he should be planted there, then he will flourish as a 
 palm, become fruitful, and himself, like the carved emblem, 
 become a pillar in the house of God. 
 
 Old cathedrals. — When we enter one of those antique piles in 
 southern German3^ or in Spain — for there only can a Catholic 
 Gothic cathedral be seen in all its glory. — I know not that it is 
 possible for the heart of man to desire any addition to the mag- 
 netic solemnity of the whole scene. The tall, narrow windows, 
 quite dark wi^h the long purple garments of pictured martvrs, 
 apostles, and kings, tinge eveiy ray that passes through them 
 with the colours and the memory of a thousand years of devotion." 
 
 32 — 34. (32) into, before, they were looking at the inner 
 court, now they actually entered it. (33, 34) eight steps, coiiip. 
 the seven steps of the other gates : rv. 22, 26. 
 
 Wondem of the Uihle. — If you ever tried it, you must have 
 been struck with the few solid thoughts, the few suggestive 
 ideas which-survive the jjerusal of the most brilliant of human 
 books. Few of them can stand three readings ; and of the 
 memoriabilia which you have marked in your first reading, on 
 reverting to them, you find many of those were not so striking or 
 weighty or original as you thought. But the Word of God is 
 eolid : it will stand a thousand readings ; and the man who has 
 gone over it the most frequently and carefully is the surest of 
 finding new wonders therefl 
 
 35 — 38. (35) north gate, similar in all respects to the 
 others. (3(>. 37) chambers, etc., see a-. 7, 16. (38) washed . . 
 offering, Le. i, U— 13, 
 
 pleasures of ex- 
 istence. The 
 many-tinted sky, 
 tUe sparkling rir- 
 njaineut, ihe 
 varied earth, the 
 lioundless ocean, 
 are not for them ; 
 they see them, 
 indeed, and so 
 does an ass. 
 a liuskin. 
 
 Taste is that 
 sen-sibility by 
 which we recog- 
 nise the beauties 
 and deforudties 
 of nature or art, 
 deriving plea- 
 sure from the 
 one, and sufler- 
 ing pain from 
 the other."- iray- 
 land. 
 a Congreve. 
 
 " Taste is an 
 attainment after 
 a poet has been 
 disciplined by 
 experience, auii 
 has added to 
 genius that 
 talent by which 
 he knows what 
 ^lart of his genius 
 lie can make 
 acceptable and 
 intelligible to the 
 portion of man- 
 kind for which 
 he writes." — 
 Coleridge. 
 
 a Wa shinglon 
 Jrcing. 
 
 " May not taste 
 be compared to 
 that exquisite 
 sense of the bee, 
 which instantly 
 discovers and ex- 
 tracts the quin- 
 tessence of every 
 flower, and dis- 
 regards all the 
 rest ?" — Ureville, 
 
 a Rev. 
 Hamilton. 
 
 Jamet 
 
 •' A thing of 
 
 beauty is a joy 
 
 for ever. Its 
 
 lOTelicess io* 
 
864 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xl. 39-49. 
 
 creases ; Ik will 
 never pa»o into 
 not liiiigiicss." — 
 Keais. 
 
 a Lady Morgan. 
 
 a "If the gate- 
 building pro- 
 jecteil with its 
 porch forwaril on 
 to the paveitieiit 
 of the inner 
 court, the tables 
 were fitly placed 
 for carrying out 
 the directions of 
 the law." — Spk. 
 Com. 
 
 "Taste and ele- 
 gance, thnu.ali 
 they are reckouud 
 only among tlie 
 Bmaller and 
 
 secondary mo- 
 rals, yet are of no 
 mean importance 
 in the regula- 
 tion of life. A 
 moral taste is not 
 of force to turn 
 vice into virtue ; 
 but it recom- 
 mends virtue, 
 with sometliiug 
 like the blandisli- 
 ments of plea- 
 sure." — liarke. 
 
 b Armstrong. 
 
 a " The priests 
 who keep watch 
 as guards of tlie 
 temple." — Vul- 
 gate. 
 
 b The breadth 
 does not agree 
 with that of 
 Sol.'s porch, the 
 length does. 
 
 c Comp. 1 Ki. vii. 
 21; 2 Clir. iii. 17. 
 
 "Beauty was lent 
 to nature .as the 
 t3rpe of heaven's 
 unspeakable and 
 holy joy, where 
 all perfection 
 makes the sum of 
 bliss. ' '-Mrs. llale. 
 
 JILitorical value of architccfure. — Architecture is the printin.ij- 
 pres^ of all ai^es. and ."-ives a history of the .stale of the f>ocicty in 
 which it was erected, from the cromlech of Ihe Druids to those toy- 
 shops of royal bad taste — Carlton Hou-e and the Brig-htoii Pavi- 
 lion. The Tower and Westminster Abbey are glorious pa^^es in 
 the history of time, and tell the story of an iron despotism, and 
 the cowardice of unlimited power." 
 
 39 — 43. (.30) porch, "not under the covered portico, wh. 
 was only ten cubits broad, but in the angles formed by the porch 
 and gate-front. These tables v/ere blocks for killing and pre- 
 paring the sacrifices." (^40) without, on either side the entrance 
 of the north gate, from the inner court. (41) eight tables, 
 these were prob. of wood. (4J) four tables, i.e. four others. 
 (43) hooks, to wh. the beasts might be fastened : or perhaps on 
 which the carcases might be hung, the tables, prob. the stone 
 tables. 
 
 Situation for hitllding. — 
 
 Meantime the moist malignity to shun 
 
 Of burthen'd skies, mark where the dry champaign 
 
 Swells into cheerful hills ; where marjoram 
 
 And thyme, the love of bees, perfume the air ; 
 
 And where the cynnorrhodon with the rose 
 
 For fragrance vies : for in the thirsty soil 
 
 Most fragrant breathe th' aromatic tribes. 
 
 There bid thy roofs high on the basking steep 
 
 Ascend, there light thy hospitable fires, 
 
 And let them see the winter morn arise, 
 
 The summer ev'ning blushing in the west ; 
 
 While with umbrageous oaks the ridge behind 
 
 O'erhung, defends you from the blusfring north, 
 
 And l)leak affliction of the peevish east. 
 
 ! when the growling winds contend, and all 
 
 The sounding forest fluctuates in the storm. 
 
 To sink in warm repose, and hear the din 
 
 Howl o"er the steady battlements, delights 
 
 Above the luxuiy of vulgar sleep.* 
 
 44—49. (44) singers, 1 Chr. vi. 31. 32. (45) prospect, or 
 outlook, charge of the house," Xu. iii. 2.">. etc. (4(5) charge 
 of the altar, Le. vi. 12, 13. Zadok, 1 Ki. ii. 27, 35. (47) 
 court, i.e. the inner court. (48) porch . . house, i.e. of the 
 sanctuary, or temple itself. Comp. Sol.'s porch, 1 Ki. vi. 3.* (49) 
 Steps, LXX. has " ten steps." pillars . . posts,' " meaning 
 that upon the bases (pests) stood shafts (pillars). These shafts 
 were prob. in the form of palm trees." 
 Musie. — 
 
 Amid the golden gifts which Heaven 
 
 Has left, like portions of its light on earth, 
 
 None hath cuch influence as music hath. 
 
 The painter's hues stand visible before us 
 
 In power and beauty — we can trace the thoughta, 
 
 Which are the workings of the poet's mind : 
 
 But music is a mystery, and viewless 
 
 Even when present, and is less man's act, 
 
 And less w'ithin his order ; for the hand 
 
 That can call i'orth the tonesj yet cannot tell 
 
Cap. xli. 1-12.] 
 
 365 
 
 Whither they go. or if they live or die. 
 When floated once beyond his feeble ear ; 
 And then, us if ib were an unreal thing, 
 The wind will sweep from the neglectjd strings, 
 As rich a swell as ever minstrel drew.'' 
 
 d L. E. Lcuidon 
 
 CHAPTER THE FORTY-FIRST. 
 
 I — 6. (1) temple, the actual sanctuary, the holy place:" 1 
 Ki. vi. 17. posts, i.e. the piers, or door-cases on each side of the 
 entrance, tabernacle, Heb. oJwl, prop, the tabernacle of the 
 congregation. Here, the interior, or covered portion of the 
 temple. (2) door, or entrance. (3) inward, or inside.'' (4) 
 measured, etc., comp. the holy of holies of SoL's temple.' 
 raost lioly, the Oracle as distinguished fr. the temple or holy 
 place. (5) wall, or outer wall, wh. was of immense thickness. 
 side chamber, comjj. 1 Ki. vi. 5—10. ((j) three, i.e. there 
 were 3 stories of 30 chambers in each, hold . . house, i.e. the 
 beams were made to rest, not on the actual wall, but on rests 
 projecting from the wall. 
 
 U'/w huniinri of the temple. — While the holy house was on fire, 
 everj'thing was plundered that came to hand ; and ten thousand 
 of those that were caught were slain. Nor was there a com- 
 miseration of any age, or any reverence of gravity ; but childi'en, 
 end old men, and profane persons, and priests, were all slain in 
 the same manner. So that this war went round all sorts of men, 
 and brought them to destruction ; and as well those that made 
 Supplication for their lives, as those that defended themselves by 
 fighting. The flame was also carried a long way and made an 
 echo, together with the groans of those that were slain. And 
 because this hill was high, and the works of the temple were 
 very great, one would have thought the whole city had been on 
 fire. Nor can one imagine anything either greater or more 
 terrible than this noise. For there was at once a shout of the 
 Roman legions, who were marching altogether : and a sad clamour 
 of the seditious who now were surrounded with fire and sword. The 
 people also that were left above were beaten back upon the 
 enemy, and under a great consternation, and made sad moans at 
 the calamity they were under. The multitude also that was in 
 the city joined in this outcry with those that were upon the hill. 
 And besides many of those that were worn away by the famine, 
 and their mouths almost closed, when they saw the fire of the 
 holy house, they exerted their utmost strength, and brake out 
 
 into groans and outcries again One would have thought 
 
 that the hill itself, on which the temple stood, was seething hot ; 
 as full of fire in every part of it. that the blood was larger in 
 quantity than the fire, and those that were slain, more in number 
 than those that slew them. For the ground did nowhere appear 
 visible for the dead bodies that lay on it ; but the soldiers went 
 over heaps of those bodies, as they ran upon such as fled from 
 them.'' 
 
 7 — 12. (1) enlarging, of the upper chambers, by the thin- a "Winding 
 ni..g of the outer wall to form rests for the joists, winding , stairs wliich en- 
 about, of the staircase, by the midst, or middle story. The I J.^,^",f,jg ^j'^;^ ^.",|^ 
 Btaircasea were inside the house, and so went through the middle up between eacU 
 
 a " The holy 
 place, to which 
 we have come 
 from tlie fore- 
 court. The mea- 
 surement begins 
 from the east 
 wall, where the 
 entrance was. 
 Tliis waU had 
 pillars si.\ cubits 
 bruavl, and bet. 
 the pillars a door 
 ten cubits broad, 
 with doorposts 
 five cubits broad 
 on each side ; so 
 that the whole 
 breadth of tlie 
 wall was thirty- 
 two cubits." — 
 Keil. 
 
 b " It is not said, 
 Ne hnniyltt me in, 
 but JJe icent in, 
 because the holy 
 of holies was not 
 to be entered 
 even by a priest 
 like Ezekiel." — 
 •Sp/c. Cum. 
 
 c 1 Ki. vi. 20. 
 
 " The criterion 
 of true beauty 
 is, that it in- 
 creares on ex- 
 amination ; of 
 false, that it 
 lessens." — Lord 
 O'reville. "Beauty 
 u n a c corapanied 
 by virtue is a 
 flower without 
 p e rf n m e." — 
 '• Beauty is like 
 an almanac : if 
 it last a year, it 
 is well." — T. 
 Adams, 
 
 d Josephus, 
 
sm 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xli. 13-17. 
 
 two chambers 
 from tliL' bottom 
 to the top ; uiid 
 th^re were two 
 doors at the top 
 of each pair of 
 stairs, one door 
 opening into one 
 room, the otlier 
 into that over 
 against it." — 
 Zowl/i. 
 
 but. "SixcnbiLs 
 to the armpit." 
 
 e " Eather, ' ami 
 so also was what 
 w.as left free to 
 the side cham- 
 bers of the 
 house.' "-iro;-dj- 
 tcorlh, 
 
 d " As tliR rows 
 of cliambers ran 
 E. and W., one 
 set of 'cliambers 
 opened to the 
 soutli, another 
 set to tlie north." 
 — Sj)/c. Com. 
 
 e Irving. 
 
 a\ Ki.vi. 15,16. 
 
 " Tlie word cieled 
 means ocerlnid, 
 pan filed. 'Ciel' 
 in French mean- 
 ing ' canopy ' was 
 soon speit In 
 English ' seele,' 
 lience the par- 
 ticiple ' seeled,' 
 also written 
 ' cieled.' " — Bib. 
 Things. 
 
 "The hnman 
 heart yearns for 
 the beautiful in 
 all ranks of life. 
 The beautiful 
 things that God 
 makes are His 
 gift to all alike. 
 I know there 
 are many of the 
 poor who have 
 fine feeling and 
 a keeji sense of 
 the beautiful, 
 which rusts out 
 and dies because 
 they are too 
 hard pressed to 
 procure it any 
 gratification." — 
 Mrs. :Slowe. 
 
 b Ilive. 
 
 story to the ui)ikt." i S) six great cubits,* ch. xl. 5. This 
 wa« the hoi.t!:ht cf each i-jory. ('J) that . . left/ riz. the passage 
 bet. these side chambers aud the temple-wall. (10) between, 
 etc., from the outer wall to the wall of the court. (11) left, the 
 passage runniug- along-.'' (12) building, behind the sanctuary, 
 iu the vacant space, and prob. used for receiviug the olfal, etc., 
 of the sacrifices. 
 
 An ancient chamhcr. — My chamber wa.s in the o''J part of tho 
 mansion, the ponderous furniture of which mij<nt have been 
 fabricated in the days of the giants. The room was panelled 
 with cornices of heavy carved work, in which flowers and 
 grotesque faces were strangely intermingled : and a row of black- 
 looking portraits stared mournfully at me from the walls. The 
 bed was of rich .hough faded daniask, with a lofty tester, and 
 stood in a niche opposite a bow window. I had scarcely got into 
 bed when a strain of music seejned to break forth in the air just 
 below the window. I listened, and found it proceeded from a 
 band, which I concluded to be the waits from some neighbouring 
 village. They went round the house, playing under the windows. 
 I drew aside the curtains to hear them more distinctly. The 
 moonbeams fell through the upper part of the casement, partially 
 lighting up the antiquated aiiartmeut. The sounds, as they 
 receded, became more soft and aerial, and seemed to accord with 
 the quiet and moonlight. I listened and listened — they became 
 more and more tender and remote ; and as they gradually died 
 away my head sunk upon the pillow, and I fell asleep.* 
 
 13—17. (1.-)) house, or sanctuary proper, the holy place, 
 separate place, or holy of holies, building, that mentioned 
 in V. 12. (U) face, or front. (L")) galleries, terrace-buildings ; 
 pos. the w^ord means the side-chambers, vv. G, 7. (1(1) cieled 
 with wood, or overlaid with woodwork." covered, or hidden 
 from view from below. Or the meaning may be, covered with 
 lattice-work. (17) by measure, i.e. even this woodwork was 
 done by careful measurement. 
 
 Children and huu-tci. — You all know what a house is. I will 
 tell you why it is I think that girls and boys are like houses. 
 I. How bright and fresh a newly-built and completely-furnished 
 house is. II. A house has distinct compartments, rooms. There 
 is. in children, the mind-room, the heart-room, the soul-room. 
 The uses and relations of these (Ps. cxxxix. 14). III. A house is 
 of no use if an entrance be not gained. Two doors, — ear, mouth. 
 Two windows, — eyes. Bunyan's "ear-gate," "eye-gate," etc. 
 IV. A house is a place to live in. Conscience the head of family ; 
 and desire, hope, thought, etc., members. V. A house may be 
 broken into. Evil tempers, etc. '-"Watch!" YI. A house may 
 catch fire. A bad passion wiU set a boy on fire. VII. Sometimea 
 all inside are startled by a knock at the door. Desire, thought, 
 conscience, etc., listen. " Behold I stand at the door and knock," 
 etc. Conscience wishes to open. Passion says " You shall not." 
 So say habit, desire, etc. VIII. There comes a time iu tho hi.'Jtoiy 
 of every house when it stands empty, when the tenants have left 
 it to crumble into ruins and decay. Bodily house empty. Death. 
 " How w'ill it be with you when you leave your bodily house ? " . . . 
 I earnestly hope you will go out with the sure hope of tiiking up 
 your abode in that house of which our Saviour said, " In ]My Father's 
 house are many mansions, I go to prepare a place for you." * 
 
Cap. xli. 18-26.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 3G7 
 
 18 — 22. (18) made, or oruamented with carved work, in the 
 wood, wh. took shape of cheruhims, palm trees, etc. tv/0 faces, 
 iwnij). oh. i. 10. As carved on the Hat they could not show four 
 faces. (19) made through, or the design was repeated all 
 through the house. (20) unto . . door, couip. up to the windows, 
 V. l(i. (-'1) posts, or side pilasters, squared, not round, nor 
 arched, face, or front. (22) altar, of incense, Ex. xxx. l,etc.« 
 table, another word for an altar.* before the Lord, in front 
 of the holy of holies.'^ 
 
 PvuxUclcs. — Praxiteles, who flourished 3G4 years before Christ, 
 was the sculptor of some of the most famous statues of antiquity. 
 Among these were two Venuses, one clothed and the other naked. 
 The first was purchased by the Khoans, ■nho preferred it as the 
 most decent. The Cnidians took the rejected one, which was so 
 exquisitely beautiful, that many persons took a voyage to Cnidus 
 for the sole purpose of seeing it. Nicomedes, king of Bythnia, 
 was so desirous of possessing- it, that he offered to pay all the 
 public debts of Cnidus, which were large, as the price ; but the 
 citizens refused to part with it on any terms, regarding it as the 
 principal glory of the state. Praxiteles having promised the 
 choice of his works to Phryne, a lady to whom he was attached, 
 she, in order to discover which he most valued, ran to him one 
 day with the false intelligence that his house was on fire. "I 
 am undone,'' he cried, '■ unless I save my Satyr and my Cujiid." 
 The lady having thus obtained an indisputable criterion, chose 
 the Cupid as the most valuable of all his performances.'* 
 
 23—26. (2:5) two doors, 1 Ki. vi. 31. The holy place and 
 the holy of holies had two doors each. (24) turning leaves, 
 i.e. each would turn back. (25) made, or carved, thick 
 planks, made to form a kind of wainscot-work. (26) narrow 
 windows, ch. xl. IG. thick planks, or wainscoting." 
 
 Clidnilcrs in the Temple, and their fiirnitnrc. — With three of 
 the four rooms we have nothing to do. Two were bedrooms, 
 and in the third and dreariest snuffled a restless boy, something 
 proud of his dignity of clerk, something interested in the last 
 number of the Avenger of Blood, yet something pining for the 
 undignified j>itching and tossing, carried on by mere boys, who 
 were not clerks, in a yard behind. Sometimes the clink of the 
 copper and the instant clamour of the antagonists were too 
 much for him, and he left the Avenger roasting his father's 
 murderer, and went sulkily to the window to gaze on the plebeians, 
 and to wish that he had not risen from the ranks. Then nobler 
 thoughts came over him ; he i-emembercd his salary, and the 
 occasional order for the Adelphi, from his good-natured masters, 
 and ho went back to the half- cooked assassin who was being so 
 signally served out by filial retribution. But the principal chamber 
 was a pleasant one, handsomely carpeted, pictured from various 
 collections, and not without its easy chairs for its owners, and 
 similar accommodation for any friend. Philip Arundel's tastes 
 were a little in the way of the Epicui'ean's above mentioned, but 
 anything like fastidiousness had been corrected in Philip at 
 college : and though there were some engravings, statuettes, aiid 
 knick-knacks which the elegant gentleman would not have dis- 
 dained. 1 hey were interspersed with articles that he would have 
 removed with a jiair of tongs via the window. Pipes of all 
 kinds hung about, or littered the mantlepiece, which was further 
 
 a " The altar 
 here is a cubit 
 higher, and 
 double the 
 breadth to that 
 of Moses, which 
 is supposed to be 
 agreeable to the 
 dimeusions of the 
 altar niaiie by 
 Solomon, who did 
 not exactly ob- 
 serve the propor- 
 tions prescri bed 
 to Moses, in mak- 
 ing the cheru- 
 bims and other 
 furniture of the 
 temple." — Loiot/i. 
 
 b Mai. i. 7. 
 
 c " The altar of 
 incense was be- 
 fore the veil of 
 the holy of ho- 
 lies, where wag 
 the Divine pre- 
 sence over the 
 ark. " — Woids- 
 wort/i. 
 
 d Peraj Anee, 
 
 a " The sense 
 would be plainer 
 if we read — 'The 
 figures of paira 
 trees were carved 
 upon that wain- 
 scot ; ' described 
 in t). 25." — Lowth. 
 
 Socrates called 
 beauty a short- 
 lived tyranny ; 
 Plato, privilege 
 of nature ; Theo- 
 phrastus, a silent 
 cheat ; Theocri- 
 tus, a delightful 
 jjrejudice ; Ca- 
 reades, a solitary 
 kingdom ; Domi- 
 tian said that 
 nothing was 
 more grateful ; 
 Aristotle af- 
 f i r m e d that 
 beauty was bet- 
 ter than all the 
 letters of recom- 
 mendation in the 
 world ; Homer, 
 that 'twas a glo- 
 rious gift of 
 nature ; ami Ovid 
 calls it a favour 
 bestowed by the 
 gods. 
 
868 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. rlii. 1—9. 
 
 " oil, liow much 
 moreiloth beauty 
 beauteous seem, 
 by tlmt sweet 
 oniainent whicli 
 trutli (li)th give! 
 Tlie rose is fair, 
 but fairer we it 
 deeui, for that 
 Bweet odour wli. 
 dotli in it live." 
 — Shakespeai-e. 
 
 b Shirley Brooks. 
 
 a " There were 
 two equal clus- 
 ters of chambers 
 on tlie north and 
 south of tlie Gn- 
 rah, or separate 
 place. These two 
 clusters of cham- 
 bers were one 
 hundred cubits 
 from east to 
 west, and fifty 
 cubits fr. north 
 to south, and 
 they had three 
 stories." - Words- 
 worth. 
 
 b Milton, 
 
 a "The building 
 rose in terraces, 
 as was usual in 
 Bab. architec- 
 ture, and so each 
 of the two upper 
 stories receiled 
 from the one 
 below it." — Sjit. 
 Com. 
 
 6 L. Amy. 
 "The Bible, with- 
 out a spiritual 
 life to interpret 
 it, is like a trellis 
 on which no vine 
 grows — bare, an- 
 gular, and in the 
 way. The Bible, 
 with a spiritual 
 life, is like a 
 trellis covereil 
 with a luxuriant 
 vine — beautit'al, 
 
 encumbered with quaint tobacco jars, in which teiTiers' heads, 
 and even the feminine form, were pi-ofaned into receptacles for 
 the malijjned weed. There was, ag'ainst a wall, a noble stag-'s 
 head, but on its branches hung a travelling cap, a shot flask, a 
 lliohland dirk, and other disiigurements, that made it rcsembla 
 a stern Christmas tree. A Gothic bookcase was not ill-furnished, 
 but between a Lvcretivn of l.")l 1 and the P'ichwick Fnprrs was a 
 cifiar cabinet ; and the last volume of Uo.sn-cU would have fallen 
 as tiat as Jemmy himself did on the pavement of that assize town 
 M'hcre he got so terribly tipsy, but that a jiair of fencing-gloves 
 buttressed the book, and made you look round for foils and 
 masks. These you sought not in vain, for they wei"e set as an 
 approjjriate halo around a bracket, from which, and from the sea, 
 rose Venus Anadyomene.* 
 
 CHAPTER THE FORTY -SECOND. 
 
 1 — 4. (\) utter, or outer. This would be the priests' court ; 
 some prefer to regard these chambers as connected with the 
 separate builJing, ch. xli. 12. and so in the outer court of the 
 people, chamber, better, block of chambers." (2) before, f/c, 
 better, " unto the place whose length was," etc. (o) gallery, or 
 row of chamber.s. (4) walk, or cloister, dividing the building' 
 into two sets of rooms, one half of wh. looked into the outer 
 court, the other into the inner. 
 Cloistern of an ahhnj. — 
 
 But let my due feet never fail 
 
 To walk the studious cloisters pale. 
 
 And love the hitrh embowed roof, 
 
 With antique pillars massy proof ; 
 
 Ard storied windows richly dight, 
 
 Casting a dim religious light : 
 
 There let the pealing organ blow 
 
 To the full-voiced choir below 
 
 In service high and anthems clear, 
 
 As may with sweetness, through mine ear, 
 
 Dissolve me into ecstasies, 
 
 Aud bring all heaven before mine eyes.* 
 
 5—9. (5) shorter, or shortened." were higher, or "did 
 abate of these." (<!) not pillars, "the two iipper stories had 
 balconies standing out of them, the breadth of which was taken 
 out of the rooms themselves, and made them so much naj-rower, 
 bee. the weight of the balconies was not supported by pillars, as 
 the roojris over the cloisters of the outward court were, but only 
 by the wall." * (7) wall, or fence. (8) length, from N. to S. 
 (9) entry, or passage into the court. 
 
 IniiJrViiii and ihe li'ihJc. — An honest peasant surprised an 
 infidel the other day, who was jceriug him for believing the 
 Bible, by the reply. " We country people like to have two strings 
 to our bow." '• What do you mean .' " inqiiircd the infidel. 
 " Only this." rejoined the poor man. "that believing the Bible, 
 and acting up to it. is like having two strings to one's bow ; 
 for if it is not trup. I shall be a better man for living according 
 to it. and so it will be for my good in this life. — that is one string 
 to my bow ; and if it should be true, it will be better for me in 
 
Cap. xliL 10-16.] 
 
 EZEXTEL. 
 
 369 
 
 the next life, — that is another string, and a jDretty strong one it odorous, and 
 
 is. Bat, sir, if you do not believe the Bible, and on that account ''f^^f \""^ fl^''* 
 , ,,■••; ■ 1 i ^ • ^ , pie clusters sin a- 
 
 do not live as it requires, you have not one ytnng to your bow. i„g tbrough the 
 And oh! SU-. if its tremendous threatenings prove true, ohl leaves.' -/Jt-ec/jer. 
 think what then will become of you ! ' " I ' Ca^ughey. 
 
 10 — 12. (10) cliainbers, etc., better read, " breadthwise was 
 the wall toward the east."" (11) way before them, ap- 
 pearance to one looking at them froui the front. {12) to- 
 wards tlie south, this and prev. v. prob. describe the corre- 
 sponding set of chambers on the south side of the Ghrah, or 
 building behind the temple. 
 
 Tkc BWe. — As in Beethoven's matchless music there runs one 
 idea, worked out through all the changes of measure an^ of 
 key. now almo:?t hidden, now breaking out in rich, natural 
 melody, whispered in the treble, murmured in the bass, dimly 
 suggested in the prelude, but growing clearer and clearer as the 
 work proceeds, winding gradually back until it ends in the key 
 in which it began, and closes in triumphant harmony ; so 
 throughout the whole Bible there runs one great idea : man's 
 ruin by sin, and his redemption by grace ; in a word. Jesus 
 Christ, the Saviour. This runs through the Old Testament, 
 that prelude to the New, dimly promised at the fall, and more 
 clearly to Abraham ; typified in the ceremonies of the law ; all 
 the events of sacred history paving the way for His coming ; 
 His descent proved in the genealogies of Ruth and Chronicles ; 
 spoken of as Shiloh by Jacob, as the Star by Balaam, as the 
 Prophet b}'- Moses ; the David of the Psalms : the Redeemer 
 looked for by Job ; the Beloved of the Song of Songs. AVe find 
 Him in the sublime strains of the lofty Isaiah ; in the writings 
 bf the tender Jeremiah ; in the mysteries of the contemplative 
 Ezekiel ; in the visions of the beloved Daniel ; the great idea 
 growing clearer and clearer as the time drew on. Then the fuU 
 harmony broke out in the song of the angels, " Glory to God 
 in the highest ; on earth peace, goodwill towards men." And 
 Evangelists and Apostles taking up the theme, the strain 
 closers in the same key in which it began : the devil, who 
 troubled the first paradise, for ever excluded from the second ; 
 man restored to the favour of God ; and Jesus Christ the key- 
 note of the whole.* 
 
 13—16. (13) eat, etc., Le. s. 1.3. (14) there, i.e. in these 
 appointed places, within the specially holy precincts." (15) gate 
 . . east, i.e. the eastern gate of the outer court. (16) measuring 
 reed, whose length is given in ch. xli. 8. 
 
 rartiality for parts of the Bible. — There are men who go 
 through the Bible, taking out its promises — its joyous, hopeful, 
 cheering, comforting passages, and elect these things to them- 
 selves. They do not see that there is any controversy or conflict, 
 simply because they do not consider the other side at all. They 
 let it alone. As the disciples, when they walked through the 
 fields eating corn, rubbed the ears in their hands to get rid of 
 the chaff, so there are a great many people who take the 
 Scripture, and rub it in their hands, and cut out the part that 
 they like, and throw the rest away. Tlieref ore there are many 
 persons who talk about religion as being a life of supreme and 
 continuing joy, and for ever appeal to persons to become 
 
 VOL. IX. O.T. A A 
 
 as Comp. Eze. xU. 
 12. 
 
 "Kow, the Bible 
 is my book. I 
 own it, from 
 Genesis to Reve- 
 lation. Anil it 
 owns me. I have 
 a right to sit 
 down in ths 
 sanctuary of my 
 conscience, and 
 under the illumi- 
 nation" of the 
 Holy Ghost, and 
 read that Bible. 
 And if I win 
 take the conse- 
 quences of my 
 own faith, I have 
 a riKht to that 
 creed which my 
 understanding 
 gives me, with- 
 out asking you or 
 anybody else on 
 the face of thu 
 globe wh.ati may 
 belie ve."-/?crr/i(>r. 
 It is the faithful 
 mirror of God's 
 holy perfections, 
 an J of man's 
 miserable fail- 
 ings ; the more 
 you look into it, 
 the more you 
 will grow like 
 God, and be 
 changed from 
 glory to glory, 
 even as by the 
 Spirit of our 
 God. 
 b H. IT. Beecher. 
 
 a Le. xvi. 23. 
 " What a pin 
 is wlien the 
 diamond has 
 dropjjed from its 
 setting, that is 
 the Bible when 
 its emotive 
 truths have been 
 taken away." — 
 Brrcher, 
 
 •'Men's graces 
 must get the 
 better of their 
 faults as a far- 
 mer's crops do of 
 the weeds, — by 
 
370 
 
 g r o w t h."— 
 J:, n-h, r. 
 b Uccliri: 
 
 a Here meaning, 
 devoted to imly 
 common uses. 
 
 b " The lowness 
 of tlie wall ren- 
 ders it unlit for 
 the purpose of 
 defence. But its 
 square iorm is 
 tlie emblem of 
 the kins,'il()m that 
 cannot be 
 shaken, resting 
 on Prophets and 
 Apostle.s, Je.sus 
 Christ being the 
 chief corner- 
 stone. ' ' — Fit usset. 
 
 " What a babe's 
 clothes are when 
 tlie babe has 
 slipped out of 
 them into death, 
 and the mother's 
 arms clasp only 
 r.aiment, would 
 be the Bible if 
 the Babe of 
 Bethlehem and 
 the truths of 
 deep-heartedpess 
 that clothed His 
 life should slip 
 out of it." — 
 Beecher. 
 
 e Beecher, 
 
 a " The noise of 
 purling streams 
 is grateful, of a 
 roaring sea 
 dreadful." — Mat. 
 Jlrnry. 
 
 '• Nor is there in 
 the Word of God, 
 from begiuiiins 
 to end, any direct 
 instruction on 
 the subject of 
 art. Ai-t must 
 be evolved ac- 
 cording to its 
 own laws, and in 
 tlie best way 
 that the human 
 mind can find 
 o\it." — Beecher. 
 
 b Ambrose, 
 
 a " Their kings 
 advanced to 
 
 greater degrees 
 
 EZKKiEL. [Cap. xliii. 1-9. 
 
 Christians because it is eo joj^ful. Well, it is jo^-ful — in 
 spot.-:.'' 
 
 17—20. (17, IS) round about, i.e. includinj^ the precincts. 
 (ID, 20) profane place," i.i-. Jerusalem itself only called 
 yrofane, as not being specially consecrated.* 
 
 The. Bible to he leurucd bij the heart. — Bring doAvn from the 
 dusty garret an old file of papers, and while the venerable old 
 dame sits near the fire, almost unconscious of passing things, 
 read l^iere the simple names of two that long years ago were 
 married. They are nothing at all to the antiquarian reader, 
 a stranger, seeking more lore ; but how much thay are to the 
 aged one, who feels as if resurrection had dawned upon her 
 mind, and before whom all the long past rises up. brighter and 
 clearer the further it goes back towards childhood I For a 
 moment she sees all this in the residing of those words, and but 
 for a moment ; then they sink again under the ashes, and go out. 
 Even thus it is with the passages of God's AVord. On the sur- 
 face they are smooth and simple : but if your heart knows how 
 to plumb them, great depfe!is, and often unsearchable, there are 
 in them. But as the Bible is but a record of life, and as it 
 addi-esses itself to life again, so, for its comprehension, there 
 mu.sthave been life-experience. Dictionnries and grammars are 
 like keys to a house. A key can unlock the outward door, but 
 cannot introduce you to the pf'ople that live there, nor tell you 
 what they are. And so, though dictionaries and grammars, and 
 exegetical and hermeneufcical helps can introduce you into the 
 books of the Bible, your own heart must be your teacher after 
 that, or you will have none. If you have no depths, no wants, 
 no joys, no sorrows, Avith which to read, and through which to 
 understand, then j'ou cannot intei'pret this world-book. For the 
 Bible is the heart-book of the world. Only the heart can ever 
 tell its secret meanings ; for " with the heart man believeth unto 
 righteousness." " 
 
 CHAPTER THE FORTY-THIBD. 
 
 1 — 6. (1) gate . . east, the eastern gate of the priests' court. 
 (2) glory, etc., the visible token of God's coming to dwell in 
 this new temple. See for His forsaking the temple, ch. x. 19, xi. 
 2.3. voice ... waters, see Re. i. l.")." (8) vision, ch. i. 3, iii. 
 23. to destroy, i.e. to prophesy the destruction of. (4) came 
 . . house, returning to His place in the holy of holies. (5) 
 filled the house, comp. Ex. xl. 3-1, 35 : 1 Ki. viii. 10, 11. (G) 
 the man, who had been giving Ezekiel the measurements. 
 
 Fulne-t-i of the Bible. — The Bible is a sea, having its deep 
 senses, the fulness of proiAetic mysteiy into which many rivers 
 have run. But there are, besides this, SAvect and clear rivers, 
 fresh springs, that yield water unto eternal life ; good words, a 
 honeycomb, acceptable sentences, which may refresh the mind of 
 the hearers with spiritual drink, and delight them with the 
 sweetness of moral precepts. Various, therefore, are the streams 
 of the Bible. Thou hast what thou mayest drink first, what 
 thou mayest drink second, and what thou mayest drink last.* 
 
 7 — 9. (7) he said, this was the voice the Prophet heard from 
 the Glory, the place, better, " this is the place." throne , . 
 
Cap. Kliii. 10-17.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 371 
 
 feet, comp. Is. Ixvi. 1, 2. defile, by yielding to idolatries, and 
 bringing- into it idolatrous rites, in places, omit in, and read, 
 " the dead bodies of their kings, their high places," etc. (8) 
 their tliresholds, i.e. those of altars to their vain and corrupt 
 idols."^ (!)) carcases, by this severe word the idols are referred 
 to, as being withoat life and motion, and loathsome to God. 
 
 Writrrs of the BihJe. — Although good men wrote the Bible, 
 our faith in the Bible does not rest on the goodness of the men 
 who wrote it. The fatal facility with which men glide into the 
 worship of men may suggest another reason why some of the 
 channels chosen for conveying the mind of God were marred by 
 glaring deficiencies. Among many earthen vessels, in various 
 measures purged of their filthiness, may not the Divine Adminis- 
 trator in wisdom select for actual use some of the least pure, in 
 order by that grosser argument to force into grosser minds the 
 conviction that the excellency of the power is all of God ?— if no 
 Btain of sin could be traced on their character, no error noted in 
 their life, it is certain that the Bible would not have served all 
 the purposes which it now serves among men. It wculd have 
 been God-like, indeed, in matter and in mould, but it would not 
 have reached down to the low estate of man — it would not have 
 penetrated to the sores of a human heart. For engraving the 
 life lessons of His Word, our Father uses only diamonds ; but in 
 every diamond there is a flaw, in some a greater and in some a 
 less.* 
 
 10—12. flO) measure the pattern, so as to prove their 
 returning obedience by exactly cari-ying out the directions given. 
 (11) write it, so that they may carefully' study it. (12) wliole 
 limit, all embraced within the enclosing walls, and even the 
 mountain itself." 
 
 The temple of the future (r. 10). — This vision illustrates for us — 
 I. The characteristics of the kingdom of God ; it is sacred, it is 
 conspicuous, it is vast, it is complete, it is sacrificial, it is beautiful, 
 it is God-inhabited. II. The qualification for having to do with 
 this kingdom.* 
 
 13—17. (13) cubit, see ch. xl. 5. higher place, or back. 
 The edge was arranged to keep the blood from running on to the 
 pavement. It formed a kind of shooting and led into a drain. 
 (14) settle, or stage. " The narrowings, or in-benchings, of the 
 altar are here called .lettlen." (1.5) four horns, Ex. xxvii. 2." 
 (l(j) square, we should call it a cube : see Ex. xxvii. 1 ; Re. xxi. 
 IG. (17) settle, the lower one. stairs, or steps. 
 
 Variety in the Bihle. — Whether we look at the Old or New 
 Testament, the same richness and variety of form reveal them- 
 Belves, until it may truly be said, that out of the ground of this 
 paradise also the Lord God has made " to grow eveiy tree that is 
 pleasant to the sight and good for food ; " all that the earth has 
 fairest appearing here in fairer and more perfect form — the fable, 
 only here transformed into the parable — the ode transfigured into 
 the psalm — oracles into prophecies —histories of this world into 
 histories of the kingdom of heaven. Nor is tragedy wanting, 
 though for CEdipus we have the man of Uz ; nor epos, though 
 for " the tale of Troy divine," ours is the story of the New 
 Jerusalem, '"coming down out of heaven as a bride adorned for 
 her husband." I would willingly show how this also was need- 
 A A2 
 
 of idolatry, in 
 setting up altars 
 and images for 
 their idols in the 
 temple itself and 
 the courts before 
 it."— Lowtfi. 
 
 2 Ki. xvi. 14, xxi. 
 4, 5, 7; Eze. v. 
 11, viii. 6, 15. 
 
 In 1632 Baker 
 and Lucas pub- 
 lislied au edition 
 termed since 
 " The wicked 
 Bible," because 
 the little word 
 not was omitted 
 in the seventh, 
 c o m m andment. 
 The printers 
 were heavily 
 fined by the High 
 Commission, and 
 the wliole edition 
 destroyed. 
 
 6 Dr. Amot. 
 
 a Is. ii. 2, 3 ; ML 
 iv. 1, 2. 
 
 V. 10. Bp. WilS07i, 
 i. 155; F. D. 
 Maurice, Pro. and 
 Kgs. 464. 
 
 V. 12. R. Erskine, 
 
 V. 284. 
 
 b V. E. Tlwmas. 
 
 a " The altar re- 
 garded as to its 
 height is called 
 Har-El, the 
 Mount of God ; 
 an d in its 
 area, or upper 
 surface, is called 
 Arie , the lion of 
 God, or as some 
 render it, the 
 hearth of God, aa 
 consuming the 
 sacrifices." — 
 Wurdsworth. 
 
 " Lady Jane Grey 
 was once asked, 
 in a tone of sur- 
 prise, how she 
 could consent to 
 forego the plea- 
 sures of the 
 chase, which her 
 parents ever en- 
 joyed, and prefer 
 
■372 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xliii. 18-27. 
 
 Bitting at home, 
 reading the 
 Bible. Slie snii- 
 linply replied — 
 'All amusements 
 of that descrip- 
 tion are but a 
 shadow of the 
 pleasures which 
 I eujoy in read- 
 ing this book.' " 
 — ir. Nicholson. 
 h Trench. 
 
 a Ex. xxix. 3G ; 
 Eze. xlv. 18, 19. 
 
 6 Le. iv. 12 ; He. 
 xiii. 11. 
 
 e Le. iv. 27, 28, 
 30. 
 
 •' The truths of 
 the Biljle are 
 like gold in the 
 soil. Whole ge- 
 nerations walk 
 over it, and know 
 not what trea- 
 sures are hidden 
 beneath. So cen- 
 turies of men 
 pass over th^ 
 Scriptures, and 
 know not what 
 riches lie under 
 the feet of their 
 interpretation. 
 Sometimes, when 
 they discover 
 them, they call 
 them new truths. 
 One might as 
 well call golil, 
 newlv dug, new 
 
 gold." — //. jr. 
 
 Meechei: 
 d Chardin, 
 
 fl " In the second 
 temple no sacri- 
 fice was com- 
 plete without the 
 ■use of salt, and 
 the Rabbis tell 
 tis that there was 
 a great heap of 
 salt close to the 
 altar, always 
 ready for use, and 
 that the inclined 
 
 ful, if the book whereof we are speaking' should indeed leaven 
 the world, should offer nutriment, not merely for some men, but 
 for all men ; and, far from all tyrannous lopj ing of all to one 
 and the same length, should encourage in every man the free 
 development of whatever had been given him of God. Thus it 
 must needs have been, if the Si)irit by this "Word was to sanctify 
 all in every man which was capable of being sanctified : all 
 which, coming originally from God, could be redeemed from the 
 defilement of this world, and in purer shape be again restored 
 unto Him.* 
 
 18—22. (18, 19) young bullock, Le. viii. 14." (20) four 
 horns, r. 15. (21) appointed place, com2). Ex. xxix. \i.^ (22) 
 cleanse, by sprinkling the blood."^ 
 
 Thresholds. — " The Hindoos have a very solemn oath connected 
 with the threshold of the temple. If a man is accused of any 
 great crime, he goes to the temple, makes his prostrations, and 
 then approaches the threshold ; ho pauses, then steps over it, 
 declaring, at the same time, that he is not guilty of the crime 
 laid to his charge. It is therefore very common to ask a person 
 who denies anything he is suspected to have done, ' Will you step 
 over the threshold of the temple,'' The Lord, in His s&vere 
 denunciations, by the Prophet Zephaniah, against the Jews for 
 their idolatry, says, ' In the same day also will I punish all those 
 who leap on the threshold ; ' from which it appears that they 
 also used thus to take an oath, or to perform some other heathenish 
 ceremonies. But the threshold is also sacred in private houses : 
 it is not propitious for a person to remain on it. neither to eat, 
 sneeze, yawn, nor spit whilst there. Should they do so, the 
 peoi^le in the house will throw water upon them to prevent the 
 evil. I must not forget to notice the pointed observations of the 
 Prophet Ezekiel on the same subject. He beheld that ' the glory 
 of the God of Israel went up from the cherub, and stood over the 
 threshold of the house.' In the preceding chapter the Prophet 
 gives a fearful description of the idolatry of Israel, and that the 
 glory of the Lord had gone from the cherub, in contempt of their 
 idolatry : or to indicate its nature, shows that he is gone to the 
 threshold, and is about to depart from them. "WTien the glory of 
 God was about to return to the temple, the sin of Israel hindered 
 it, and the Prophet exhorted them to repentance, and the Lord 
 reproved them for ' setting their thresholds by His threshold.' 
 ' They have even defiled My holy name by their abominations.' 
 At length the judgments of the Lord were denounced against 
 Moab, Amnion, and A.<syria ; for the Prophet Zephaniah says, 
 ' Nettles and saltpits ' shall be amongst them ; that Nineveh shall 
 be like a wilderness, that flocks shall be in the midst of her, and 
 that ' desolation shall be in the thresholds.' "'' 
 
 23—27. (23) ram, comp. Ex. xxix. 31 ; Le. viii. 22. (24) cast 
 salt, Le. ii. 13 ; Mk. ix. 4!)." (25) seven days, the same sacri' 
 lices were to be offered on each of these days, except that a 
 bullock was offered on the first day. (26) consecrate them- 
 selves, according to Mosaic regulations. (27) peace offer- 
 ings, or thank offerings.* Mai. i. 11. accept you, oh. xx. 40, 
 41 : Ro. xii. I ; 1 Pe. ii. 5. 
 
 Thrc&hold.i. —Among the Tartars they never walk on the thresh- 
 old of princes, out of reepect to them (Bergeron, Voyage ds 
 
Cap. xliv. 1-3.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 373 
 
 Calpin, cap. 10). The caliphs of Bagdad obliged all who entered 
 their palaces to prostrate themselves on the threshold, whereon 
 they set a piece of the black stone of the temple of Mecca, to 
 render it more venerable ( Dllerbelot). '■ On entering the first 
 large hall we were stopped by a silver grating, where we were 
 obliged to take off our shoes ; and here we remarked the vene- 
 ration of the Persians for the threshold of a holy place, a feeling 
 that they preserve in some degree even for the threshold of their 
 houses. Before they ventured to cross it, they knelt down and 
 kissed it, whilst they were very careful not to touch it with 
 their feet. In writing to a prince, or a great personage, it is 
 common for them to say, Let me make the dust of your thresh- 
 old into surinch (coUyrium) for my eyes" (Morier"s Second 
 Journey through Persia). In a chapel adjoining to that in 
 which a saint lies, in which one of the late kings of that country 
 has a suijerb tomb, and is supjioied to lie interred, are seven 
 sacred songs written in large letters of gold, on a blue ground, in 
 so many distinct ]ianels, in honour of Aaly, Mohammed's son- 
 in-law, and the great saint of the Persians, as also the ancestor 
 of that female saint that lies entombed there. Among other 
 extravagant expressions of prai.se there is this distich in the 
 fourth hymn : — " The angelic messenger of the truth, Gabriel, 
 kisses every day the threshold of thy gate, because it is the only 
 way to arrive at the thi-one of Mohammed." 
 
 CHAPTER THE FORTY-FOURTH. 
 
 1 — 3. (1) otttward sanctitary, or court of the priests. 
 " Only a prince of the housa of David might sit down in the 
 pri^'sts' court." (2) shall be sliut, i.e. usually shut, and only 
 opened for one person, and on special occasions for him." 
 Lord . . entered, by the symbol of His presence passing in 
 that way.* (3) the prince, ch. xsxiv. 24. The head of the 
 nation regarded as the vicegerent and earthly representative 
 of God. eat bread, a custom connected with sacrifices." " A 
 relisi-ious feast made of the remainder of a sacrifice." 
 
 lie)noval of (jracetf. — When the king removes his court, nothing 
 is left behind' but bare walls and rubbish. So, if God removes 
 from a man's heart, wherein He has kept His court. His graces 
 will not stay behind. Then farewell, peace ; farewell, com- 
 fort : nothing is left behind but confusion and disorder. — 
 SJiuttlnt] the (into through mhich the hing has entered. — 
 Caron, in his Aecovnt of Japan, tolls us that whenever any 
 of the chief nobles builds a new palace, he causes an entrance 
 to be made for common u.se, and also one which is more elegant, 
 adorned with carvings from top to bottom, varnished and gilt. 
 This is covered over wfth planks, in order that it may not be 
 damaged either by the sun or by the rain ; and it remains thus 
 covered till the emperor goes to feast in the new-built palace. 
 As soon as he has passed in and out of it, it is again shut and 
 covered up. nor is it either opened or uncovered again, except 
 upon a like occasion, because no one may enjoy the honour of 
 treading on the same threshold with the emperor ; whilst at the 
 same time it would be considered as derogatory to his majesty to j 
 
 plaue to tlie.Tltar 
 was Icept covered 
 with salt."— 
 Edcrsheim. 
 
 b " Umler the 
 guidance of the 
 iClii.stle to the 
 Hebrews we can- 
 not fail to recog- 
 nise in this vision 
 the symliol ol 
 tlie purificatioa 
 of the Chiu-cli of 
 God by the 
 cleansing blood 
 of Christ, Victim 
 and Prie.st, Heb. 
 viii., i.x., '^."-Upk, 
 Com. 
 
 " They are called 
 in the niargia 
 til a Hk-offLi-iiigt, 
 bee. they were 
 offerings of 
 th anks givings 
 for mercies re- 
 ceived." — Lowlh, 
 
 a " In Persia, 
 
 wlien a nobleman 
 build3apalace,he 
 invariably has a 
 gate erected ex- 
 pressly for the 
 king, whom he 
 invites to a ban- 
 quet at the open- 
 ing of his palace. 
 Wlien the king 
 departs, the gate 
 is wjilled np, and 
 no one is ever 
 allowed to pass 
 through it after- 
 wards, unless the 
 king should 
 again visit the- 
 owner. Sir R. 
 Porter gives an 
 instance of a 
 gate at Bagdad, 
 by which the 
 Sultan Murad 
 had entered into 
 the city after hi3 
 victory over the 
 Per^ans, being 
 bricked up. and 
 kept so, as he 
 saw it." — Gddsby. 
 ('(iron says a 
 similar custom 
 prevails in .Tapaa. 
 b Kzc. xUU. 2, 
 
S74 
 
 LZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap, 3.1V. 4-14. 
 
 e 6e. xxxi. 54; 
 Ex. xviii. 12, 
 x.xiv. 11; 1 Co. X. 
 18. 
 
 a Be. iii. 26 ; 1 
 Pe. iv. 3. 
 
 6 Spk. Com, 
 
 e Le. iii. 16, xvil. 
 11. 
 
 d " Or, ' Ye have 
 not your.tflves 
 kopt tlie charge 
 of My lioly 
 tliing.-i, "but have 
 set others as 
 keejiors of My 
 charge in Wy 
 sanctuary for 
 yourselve s." 
 — Maurer. 
 
 "The more dili- 
 gently I pursue 
 my search into 
 these oracles of 
 eternal truth, the 
 Scriptures, I per- 
 ceive a wilier, a 
 deeper, an ever- 
 increasing fund 
 of spiritual trea- 
 sures." — Ihl-Vt'lJ. 
 
 e Uarmer. 
 
 a 2 Chr. XXXV. 
 11. 
 
 b Very few Le- 
 vi tes returned 
 from the cap- 
 tivity. See Kzra 
 ii. 4U— 42; Neh. 
 vii.43— 45:conip. 
 Ezr. ii. 3G-39, 
 and viii. 15, 18, 
 19. 
 
 " The gap in the 
 number of Le- 
 vi tes was filled 
 up by 220 Nethi- 
 nim (given ones), 
 prob. original 
 strangers and 
 cai)tives, who 
 Were held by the 
 Jews in lowest 
 repute." — £'Ufr- 
 i/ui/n. 
 
 e "To perform 
 the servile ofiices 
 belonging to My 
 temple and wor- 
 •hip."— Z,iiM7A. 
 
 pass over one that had been ■n'om. In the -words of the text^ 
 *• This gate shall be shut. It is for the prince." 
 
 4—8. (4) north gate, ch. xl. 20. glory, etc., comp. 1 Ki, 
 viii. 10, 11. (i)) entering . . going forth, these were carefully 
 arranged so as to secure that nothing profane or idolatrou.'- 
 should be admitted within the temple precincts. ((J) let i. 
 suffice," let the past suffice ; don't repeat it any more. 
 (7) strangers, here meaning unauthorised priests.' my 
 bread, the fat and the blood were regarded as peculiarly 
 appropriated to God.' (8) charge, Le. viii. 3."). for your- 
 selves, i.e. at your own pleasure, not according to the revealed 
 will and law.'' 
 
 The open gate. — Among other instances of the extreme distance 
 and profound awe with which Eastern majesty is treated, one that 
 is mentioned by Sir .John Chardin, in his account of Persia, 
 ai)pears very strange to us, yet may afford a lively comment on 
 a passage of the Prophet Ezekiel. Sir John tells us, •■ It is a 
 common custom in Persia, that when a great man has built a 
 jialace. he treats the king and his grandees in it for several days. 
 Then the great gate of it is open ; but when these festivities are 
 over, they shut it up, never more to be opened." He adds, '• I 
 have heard that the same thing is practised in Japan." It seems 
 surprising to us that great and magnificent houses within should 
 have only small entrances into them, which no one would sup- 
 pose would lead into such beautiful edifices : but such, he observes, 
 is the common custom there ; making no magnificent entrance into 
 their houses at all ; or, if they do, shutting them up after a little 
 time, and making use of some small entrance near the great 
 one, or, it may be, in some very different part of the building.' 
 
 9—14. (9) stranger, etc., of the sons of the stranger. 
 Comp. Nu. xvi. 9, 39, 40. (10) gone . . me, 2 Chr. xxxvi. 14. 
 Individuals among the Levites had proved unfaithful, bear 
 their iniquity, i.e. the due consequence of their iniquity. 
 (11) ministers, or attendants at the gates ; porters, slay, etc., 
 this was the work of Levites." The Levites mentioned were to 
 minister to the jiroper Levites.* (12) caused, better, were an 
 occasion to ; they led the people by their bad example. (18) near, 
 so as to be in actual contact with the holy things. (14) keepers, 
 i.e. doorkeepers and attendants.'' 
 
 Siipcrloritij of the Bihle. — This book is the mirror of the 
 Divinity — the rightful regent of the world. Other books are 
 planets shining with reflected lustre ; this book, like the sun, 
 shines with ancient and unbon-owed ray. Other books have, to 
 their loftiest altitudes, sprung from earth : this book looks down 
 from heaven high. Other books appeal to understanding or 
 fancy ; this book to con .-science and faith. Other books solicit 
 our attention, this demands it — it speaks with authority, and not 
 as the scribes. Other books guide gracefully along the cailh, or 
 onwards to the mountain summits of the ideal : this, and this 
 alone, conducts up the awful abyss which leads to heaven. 
 Other books, after shining their season, may perish in flames 
 fiercer than those which consumed the Alexandrian library' : tliis, 
 in essence, must remain pure as gold, and un ;onsumable as 
 asbestos, amidst the flames of general conflagratio:.. Other books 
 may be forgotten in the universe where Buns go down and 
 
Cap. xliv. 15—31.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 375 
 
 disappear like bubbles in the stream ; this book, transferred 
 to a higher clime, shall shine as the brightness of that eternal 
 firmament, and as those higher stars, which are for ever and 
 ever.'' 
 
 15—19. (15) sons of Zadok, ch. xl. 4G. xliii. 19. fat and 
 tlie blood, c. 7. (IG) sanctviary, the first chamber, known 
 as the holy place, table, or altar. (17) linen garments," 
 including the linen breeches, the coat, the girdle, aud the bonnet. 
 no ■wool, regarded as unclean,* i'. 18. (16 j bonnets, or caps. 
 (19) utter court, or outer court of the people, with tlieir 
 garments, i.e. while having on their special priestly gar- 
 ments. 
 
 Tho vse of a Bible. — It was cu:<tomaiy in Cromwell's time for 
 his soldiers to carry each a Bible in his pocket. Among others, 
 a iirofligate young man was ordered to attack some fortress. 
 During the engagement a bullet had perforated his Bible, and 
 gone so far as to rest opposite these words in Ecclesiastes : 
 '■ Rejoice, O young mau, in thy j'outh, and let thy heart cheer thee 
 in the days of thy youth, and walk in the waj's of thy heart, and 
 in the sight of thine eyes ; but know thou, that for all these 
 things God will bring thee into judgment." The words, so appro- 
 priate to his case, powerfully affected his mind, and jiroved by the 
 blessing or God the means of his conversion. He used to observe 
 that the Bible had been the happy means of saving both his soul 
 and bod^'."^ 
 
 20-25. (20) shave, etc.," Le. xsi. 5. grow long,* wh. 
 was an ordinary sign of mourning, poll,"^ cut and trim. 
 
 (21) drink wine, Le. x. 9. The prohibition refers to times 
 v^hen the pn-iests were actually engaged in holy service. 
 
 (22) widow, Le. xxi. 13. The Levitical law for the high priest 
 is extended to all priests. (23) teach, etc., Le. x. 10, xi.— xvi. ; 
 Mai. ii. 7. (24) controversy, i.e. when controversies or dis- 
 putes arise among the people. (25) dead person, Le. xxi. 
 1, II. 
 
 The duty of mlnhters (r. 23).— God's ministers are to be 
 public instructors. 1. They are to teach ; 2. Their instructions 
 to be specially addressed to Israel, "My peoi^le:" 3. Their in- 
 structions to have defined purpose, to show " the difference," 
 etc. : -1. Their method of instruction to be twofold, by example 
 aud by precept. 
 
 26 — 31. (26) cleansed, fr. the defilement ensuing in relation 
 to a dead body. Nu. xix. 11. (27) his sin offering, Le. iv. 3. 
 (28) it shall be, render r. " This shall be to them for an inhe- 
 ritance, that I am their inheritance." (29) eat, etc., for their 
 necessary support, dedicated, or devoted thing. Le. xxvii. 
 21.28. (30) first, chief, or best, oblation, or offering; gift 
 from the produce of the ground, dough , made from the new 
 corn. Nu. xv. 20. (31) dead of itself," Ex. xxii. 31 ; Le. 
 xxii. 8. 
 
 //iji(l''J.<iandfhe Bible. — Xomatter how infidel philosophers may 
 regaid the Bible : they may say that Genesis is awry, and that 
 the Psalms are more than half-bitter imprecations, aud the pro- 
 phecies only the fantasies of brain-bewildered men, and the 
 Gospels weak laudations of an impostor, and the Epistles only the 
 letters of a mad Jew, and that the whole book has had its day ; I 
 
 d G. Giljillan. 
 
 a " The material 
 
 of wh. the fdxir 
 Vestments of the 
 ordinary priests 
 were made was 
 I ' linen,' or more 
 I accurately, ' bys- 
 i sus,' the wliite 
 sinning cotton 
 stufl of Egypt. 
 These two qua- 
 lities of the bys- 
 sus are specially 
 marked as cha- 
 racteristic, and 
 on them part of 
 the symbolic 
 meaning depend- 
 ed." — &/ik. Com. 
 
 b " Wool soon in- 
 duces perspira- 
 tion in the sultry 
 E.,andsobecoraeB 
 uncleanly." — 
 Fa iissi't. 
 c J. Evans, 
 a " Jerome sup- 
 poses that the 
 Jewish priests 
 were forbidden 
 to shave their 
 heads, thereby to 
 distinguisli them 
 fi\ several of the 
 heathen priests, 
 particularly the 
 Eg. priests of Isis 
 au'l Serapis, who 
 hail their heads 
 shaved and un- 
 covered.'"- Lowlh, 
 b "Long hair was 
 a sign of effe- 
 minacy. 1 Cor. 
 xi. \i." — Words- 
 woiih. 
 s 2 Sa. xiv. 26. 
 
 a " The Moham- 
 medans are for- 
 bidden to eat 
 that wh. dieth of 
 itself, and blood, 
 and swine's 
 flesh, and that on 
 wh. the name of 
 any besiaes God 
 liath be'Ui in- 
 voked ; and that 
 wliich hiith been 
 strangle d, or 
 killed by a blow 
 or a fall, or by 
 the horns of 
 another beast ; 
 aud that wliicli 
 
370 
 
 [Cap, xlv.l— at 
 
 hath been torn 
 by a wild beast, 
 exc:'pb vv'.iab he 
 himself sliall kill; 
 anil that wliic i 
 hath been sacri- 
 fice! unto idolsl" 
 — (Jadsby. 
 
 h n. W. Beeclier. 
 
 shall cling' to it until they show me a better revelation. The 
 Bible emptied, eflEete, worn-out ! If all the wisest men of the 
 world were placed man to man, they could not souud the shal- 
 lowest depth of the Gospel of John. O philosophers ! break the 
 shell, and fly out and let ine hear how yo'i can siu,!|. 2sot of 
 passion, I know that already ; not of worliliy power, 1 hear that 
 everywhere ; but teach me, through your song-, how to find joy 
 in sorrow, strength in weakness, and light in darkest days ; how 
 to bear buHeting and scorn, how to welcome death, and to pass 
 through its ministration into the sphere of life ; and this, not 
 for me only, but for the whule world that groans and travails in 
 pain ; and until you can do this, speak not to me of a batter 
 revelation.* 
 
 Cn AFTER THE FORTY-FIFTH. 
 
 1 — 5. (1) by lot, or allotment, apportionment. Reference 
 hei"e is to the portion assigned to Jehovah, and used for His 
 sanctuary, priests, and Levites. oblation, Heb., hcare-offrrinri.'' 
 reads, this word is supplied by the translators, prob. correctly. 
 The reed was twelve feet long. The whole was a square of sixty 
 miles on each side.'' (2) sanotiiarj'-, including the entire 
 temple-area, suburbs, void places ; ground immediately about 
 the temple-walls, wh. might not be built on. (3) this mea- 
 sure, V. 1. (-1) for the priests, for their work, dwellings, 
 and maintenance. (5) twenty chambers, LXX. trans, better, 
 '■ for cities to dwell in.'''' 
 
 The Bible a imracle. — The Bible itself is a standing and au 
 astonishing miracle. Written fragmeni by fragment, throughout 
 ha f his^denni'te [ ^"^^ Course of fifteen centuries, under different states of so^^iety, 
 portion" of land and in different languages, by persons of the most opposite 
 instead of being ! tempers, talents, and conditions, learned and unlearned, prince 
 supported by the . j^^j peasant, bond and free ; cast into every form of instructive 
 contributions of ^ - ' ' •' 
 
 the people." — 
 Spk. Com. 
 
 e Nu. xxxr. 2. 
 
 « " So called bee. 
 when anythius 
 was offered to 
 God, the offerer 
 raised the hand." 
 — fausset. 
 
 Ex. xxT. 2, xxix. 
 
 24, 27. 
 
 h "This quantity 
 of land could not 
 be sim|)ly for 
 dwellings, and 
 was prob. in lieu 
 of tithes, just as 
 the 
 
 d Mwlagan. 
 
 composition and good writing", history, prophecy, poetrj', allegory, 
 emblematical representation, judicious interpretation, literal 
 statement, precept, example, proverb, disquisition, epistle, 
 sermon, prayer ; in short, all rational shapes of human discourse, 
 and treating, moreover, of subjects not obvious, but most difficult. 
 Its authors are not found, like other writers, contradicting one 
 another upon the most ordinary matters of fact and opinion, but 
 are at harmony upon the whole of their sublime and momentous 
 scheme."* 
 
 6 — 8. (G) possession . . city, or the portion to be occupied 
 by the city, for the whole house, i.e. it was to be regarded 
 as belonging to the nation, and free for the use of the entire 
 
 a " On either side 
 of tiie as.uoo 
 reeds a strip_ of | 
 land, runuiug i 
 westwards to the 
 
 the^Tonrairfora° ^ P'^.'^P^^ (^) fo^* the princo, for his palace and private estate.* 
 His portion is thus carefully defined to prevent future encroach- 
 ments, such a-5 there had been in the past.* (8) oppress, by 
 seizing on private property. 
 
 Siippoxrd Jd.is' of fhc Bihlr. — It was very early suggested that 
 the whole Bible had again and again been quoted piecemeal in 
 one book or other — that it had impressed its own image on the 
 , surface of hi;man literature, and had been reflected on its course 
 as the stars on a stream. But alas ! when lost, on investigation 
 
 ed the possession 
 of the prince." — 
 Spk. Com. 
 h 1 Sa. viii. 14, 
 etc. ; 2 Ki. xxiii. 
 35; Je. xxii. 
 
 A proud Indian 
 nabob, goitig 
 along: tlio streets 
 one day, wa3 at- 
 
 it was found as vain to expect that the gleam of starlight 
 
Cap. xlv. 9—17.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 377 
 
 ■would still remain mirrored in the water when the clouds had 
 veiled the stars themselves, as that the bright characters of the 
 Bible would remain retiected in the books oi; men when they had 
 been erased from the book of God. On iuspection, it was found 
 that every text, every ijhi-ase which had been quoted, not only in 
 books of devotion and theology, but in tho e of poetry aud 
 fiction, had been remorselessly expunged. Never before had I 
 had any adequate idea of the extent to which the Bible had 
 moulded the intellectual and moral life of the last eighteen cen- 
 turies, nor how intimately it had interfused itself with habits of 
 thought and modes of expression ; nor how naturally and exten- 
 eively its comprehensive imagery and language had been intro- ! 
 duced into human writings, and most of all where there had been 1 
 most of genius. A vast portion of literature became instantly 
 worthless, and was transformed into so much waste-paper. It i 
 was almost impossible to look into any book of merit, and read j 
 ten Images together, witout coming to some provoking erasures j 
 and mutilations, some hiatv.t raUIe dej! nidi, which made whole | 
 passages perfectly unintelligible. Many of the sweetest passages 
 of IShaktspeare were converted into unmeaning nonsense, from 
 the absence of those words which his own all but divine genius 
 had appropriated from a still diviner source. As to Milton, he 
 was nearly ruined, as might naturally be supposed. Walter 
 Scott's novels were filled with perpetual lacuiUB. I hoped it 
 might be otherwise with the philosophers, and so it was : but 
 even here it was curious to see what strange ravages the visi- 
 tation had wrought. Some of thp most beautiful and compre- 
 hensive of Bacon's aphorisms were reduced to enigmatical 
 nonsense." 
 
 9 — 12. (9) STifiice, ch. xliv. 8. exactions, « marg. cxjnd- 
 swnx, lit. cjectlon.1. such as Ahab's, 1 Ki. sxi. 19. (10) just . . 
 'bath, Le. xix. .35, 3(5: Pr. xi. 1. (11) bath, a meastire for 
 fluids.' homer, distinguish from omer, Ex. xri. 36. (12) gerahs, 
 Ex. XXX. 13. inaneh, orpound.'^ 
 
 Tlie ditty of tlic civil ridcr.t (v. 9). — 1. They were to impose a 
 check to passion, revenge, and wrong-doing : 2. To execute law 
 and justice without respect to persons ; 3. To abolish needless, 
 and reduce necessary, taxation ; 4. To institute uniform weights, 
 measures, and coinage : o. To do their personal share in the 
 matter of religious offerings. 
 
 13—17. (13) oblation, v. 1. (U) cor, prob. a sjoionym for 
 homer." (1.0) lamb, or kid. peace olierings, or thank- 
 ofverings. (lr>) for the prince, better, with the prince.'' 
 (17) prince's part, his special duty as the prince, prepare, 
 i.e. provide. 
 
 'J'hc Christian'' a htilivarh — The BihJe. — The Christian faith has 
 been, and is still, very fiercely and obstinatelj' attacked. How 
 many efi'orts have been and are still made ; how many books, 
 seriotts or frivolous, able or silly, have been and are spread inces- 
 Bantly. in order to destroy it in men's minds 1 "WTiere has this 
 redoubtable struggle been supported with the greatest energy and 
 Biiccess? and where has Christian faith been best defended? 
 There where the reading of the Sacred Book is a general and 
 assiduous part of pttblic wonship. there where it takes place in the 
 interior of families, and in solitary meditation. It is the Bible, 
 
 tracteil \>y the 
 sounds proceeil- 
 injj from a niis- 
 s-iuu- school, and 
 lie ilrew near to 
 listen. The boys 
 were reailing the 
 fifih chapter of 
 Matthew. The 
 eyes of the prince 
 flashed with \\n- 
 wouted fire ; and 
 when they had 
 finished their 
 lesson, he ex- 
 claimed, " Well, 
 if you Only live 
 'that chapter as 
 well as you read 
 it, I will never 
 say another word 
 against Chris- 
 tianity." 
 Uuring the per- 
 secution of the 
 K o nconformists, 
 in the reign of 
 James II.. one of 
 tliem copied out 
 the whole Bible 
 in shorthand for 
 his own use, fear- 
 ing the re-estab- 
 lishment of 
 popery, and the 
 suppression of 
 the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, 
 c //. Rogers. 
 
 a " Tour evic- 
 tions of My 
 peoiile."— Words- 
 wviilt. 
 
 bl Ki.vii. 2G,38; 
 2 Chr. ii. 10, iv. 
 5 ; Is. V. 10. 
 
 c 1 Ki. X. 17; 
 Ezr. ii. 69; Ke. 
 vii. 71. 
 
 a 1 Ki. V. 11 : 2 
 Chr. ii. 10, xsvii. 
 5. 
 
 6 "The prince 
 shall join with 
 the people ia 
 making these ob- 
 lations, whereas 
 those that follow, 
 in the ne.xt v., 
 are to be at the 
 sole charge of the 
 prince." — Loicth, 
 
378 
 
 E7XK1EI. 
 
 [Cap.lxvl. 1-4. 
 
 a " The offerings 
 here, and the 
 manner of ofTer- 
 in-; as to the 
 siirinkling of the 
 MdimI, etc., ililVor 
 in many respects 
 from the injunc- 
 tions of the 
 Levitical law." — 
 Vi'ofdsworlh. 
 
 b Dr. Beard. 
 
 " Do I cast away 
 the ISible? No. 
 But the Bible is 
 like a telescope. 
 If a man looks 
 through his tele- 
 scope, then he 
 sees worlds 
 beyond ; but if 
 he looks at his 
 telescope, then he 
 does not see any- 
 thing but that. 
 The Bible is a 
 thing to be 
 looked through 
 to see that which 
 id beyond ; but 
 most people only 
 look at it; andso 
 they see only the 
 dead letter." — 
 Beecher. 
 
 a "This worship 
 was offered l>y 
 bowing his head, 
 and bowing 
 down his face to 
 the earth, or fall- 
 ing down upon 
 the ground, as 
 the postiue of 
 Dios worship is 
 elsewhere de- 
 &crihGiX."—Loiclh 
 
 h " The prince 
 ocoipies an ana- 
 logous ])osition, 
 standing in front 
 of the porch of 
 the eastern gate 
 of the innir 
 court, while the 
 priests are sacri- 
 ficing before 
 him."— /S^/t. Com. 
 
 the Bible itself, which combats and triumphs most eHicaciously 
 iu the war between iucrediilily and belief. 
 
 18—21. (18) first month," sec Le. xvi. 16. (10) upon the 
 posts, etc., comp. ch. xiii). 20. (20) simple, or errs through 
 ignorance. (21) passover, Ex. xii., etc. 
 
 The Bihie. — You lind the liible the patriot's charter-book, the 
 child's dclij^fht, the old mans comfort, and the youn.o- niau>. 
 guide. Iu its pages the sick and weary find the solace which they 
 need, aud the tempted meet with timely succour. Its worda 
 whisper hope and peace to the dying, and minister daily food 
 to the healthy and vigorous household. With the X'ious music of 
 its sublime or plaintive songs echo the roofs of ten thousand 
 times ten thousand Christian temples, and the child's prayer, 
 night aud morn, is lisped forth in the simple and compre- 
 hensive words which were dictated by Him who is its central 
 light.* 
 
 22—25. (22) prepare, or provide. (23) seven, etc., comp. 
 Nu. xxviii. I'J— 24. (21) meat offering, etc, rr. 11, 1.5. hin, 
 sixth part of an ephah or bath. (2.")) feast . . days, Nu. xxix. 12. 
 
 Injiuence of the JJihle. — The Bible has been expelled for 
 centuries, by atheistic or sacerdotal hate, from the dwellings of 
 many of the European nations. As a matter of course, the 
 domestic virtues have declined ; the conjugal relation is dis- 
 paraged ; deception aud intrigue have supplanted mutual con- 
 fidence ; and society has become diseased to its very core. The 
 very best thing we can do — the only thing which will be eflicient 
 to arrest these evils, is to restore to those nations the Word of 
 God ; to replace in their houses that Bible of which they have 
 been robbed. Only do for France and Italy, Belgium and Spain, 
 Portugal and Austria, what has been attempted, and to a great 
 extent accomplished, for our country — put a Bible in every 
 family, and a mightier change will pass over Europe than can be 
 effected by all the diplomacy of her statesmen, or aU the revolu- 
 tions projected by her patriots. 
 
 CHAPTER TEE FORTY-SIXTH. 
 
 1—4. (!)■ gate, etc., ch. xliv. 2. 3. (2) worship . . gate," 
 comj). Sol.'s position at the dedication, 2 Chr. vi. 12, IS.' (3) 
 people . . land, standing behind their prince, and represented 
 by him. (■!) burnt offering, cidnjj. Nu. xxviii. 9. 
 
 Iteligious deeUion. — (Jonm\cv — I. The importance of religious 
 decision. Important because thus only can — 1. The hamionious 
 operation of all the powers of the soul be secured : 2. Every 
 ditliculty be successfully overcome ; 3. We obtain the full appro- 
 bation of God. II. The i)hilosophy of religious decision. To 
 serve the Lord demands the action of the will. 1. The will is 
 the controlling faculty of the soul ; 2. To be virtuous in its 
 action or volition it must be free ; 3. Its action is determined, to 
 a great extent, by the infiuenccs wliich are brought to bear upon 
 it. III. The urgency of religious decision. "This day," because 
 — 1. Procrastination is dangerous ; 2. Your advantages will never 
 be greater than they are now ; 3. It is criminal to hesitate to do 
 that which is so manifestly your reasonable duty. If you will 
 not decide while it is a day of grace, you must for ever perish.' 
 
Cap. xlvi. 5—24.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 879 
 
 Heathen, and Jen-is7i irorsTiip contrasted. — AVe have met "nuth a "^ P- L- Davics, 
 
 very curious engraving- in the Anti/jititc's d'Hrreulaneion, after ^"^' 
 
 an ancient painting- lound at Poiliei, representing the Eg-yjjtian I* would ba a 
 
 worship of Isis. Ihis -^-e have copied ; for while some allege "^^^ 'T/l'^r^.*!'?'^ 
 
 that the forms of the Hebrew worship resembled, essentially, bath iu' Leaven' 
 
 those of the Egvptians. and others contend that their forms were to have nii-sptut 
 
 designedly made as different as possible from those of Eg-ypt, it "'^' ^^'^\ ^^^^^^^ 
 
 is an advantage to ascertain the truth f^om the unexceptionable °" "" ' 
 testimony of an ancient painting.'' 
 
 5 — 8. (5) able to give, i.e. the amount i» to be settled by 
 hisi own ability and willingness. (6) new mDon, Nu. xxviii. 
 11, 15. (7) meat offering, v. 5. (8) that gate, v. 1. 
 
 Choose your God. — I. "What will you live for if not for God ? 
 1. Pleasure. And what does this promise you ? Live as you 
 like, it says ; but will it last 1 2. Wealth. But will your wealth 
 make you happy / Is a miser happy ' 3. Praise. Fame sa3-s, I 
 will blow my trumi^et loud over your grave. Over your grave ! 
 AViU you hear it ihen .' AVill you sleep the sweeter lor it .' At 
 God's bar it may be a heavy curse. 4. AfEection : friendship. 
 Kow, this in itself is beautiful. But earthly friends must die ; 
 and then they are not perfect. Ko, you want something better 
 than this. II. Vv'hy you should live for God. In Him — 1. You 
 have what nothing else can give ; 2. You may have aU the other 
 portions, too, as far as they are worth having." j 
 
 9—15. (9) over against it, i.e. by the gate on the opposite 
 side. (10) in the midst, as their representative. (11) able 
 to give, *-. 5. (12) voltmtary, etc., as an act and expression 
 of personal piety. (13) daily, etc., Ex. xxix. 3S. (14) con- 
 tinually, a daily solemn recognition that all things they had 
 were the Lord's. (15) prepare, or provide. | 
 
 The presence of tJie jirinee {r. 10). — I. He is in the midst of his | 
 people : 2. His presence is apprehended by his people ; 3. He is 
 accessible to his people : 4. His lu-esence is for ]>ractical purposes. 
 Apply : — (1) Live as in the presence of your Prince ; (2) Beware 
 of going where you cannot expect Him to follow ; (3) Be willing 
 to follow where He leads ; (4) So cherish His presence in life 
 that when you go out of this world He may still be with you. 
 
 16—18. (IG) give a gift, it could only be from his allotted 
 portion ; and to his sons, not to his servants. He must not alienate 
 any portion from his family. (17) year of liberty, jubilee 
 year, when property was restored." (18) take . . oppression, 
 ch. xlv. 8. 
 
 llie trumpet, the law, and the croTvn (r. 17). — T. The trumpet 
 of the year of liberty. 1. "When sounded ; 2. "Where sounded : 
 3. For what purpose sounded. XL The law of the year of 
 liberty; its duties are typical. 1. Unworldliness ; 2. Entire 
 devotion to God. . III. The crown of the year of liberty. 1. It 
 Epake of the joy of the recipient of special blessings ; 2. It spake 
 also of sympathy.* 
 
 19—24. (19) a place, for cooking the priests' food. (20) i „ jp„„^jj.,_ 
 boil, 2 Chr. XXXV. 13. bake, Le. ii. 4. 5, 7. (21) every corner I 
 a court, for cooking the flesh of the peace-offerings, of wh. i "The gTo\yth ot 
 the jicopie partook along with the priests." (22) joined, better, ' n^e a^iJiuliiTOwn 
 68 marg., '-had chimneys." (23) row of buildings, furnaces,! but Lke"au oaki 
 
 d Dr. Kitio. 
 
 a Dr. J. Ed- 
 
 mo7ids. 
 
 " Among all that 
 has been pnh- 
 lislied oil ethical 
 subjects, on 
 science, on 
 sociology.on phy- 
 sical ecoiuiiiiy, 
 can you find any 
 book tl.at so 
 iuj^pires coinage, 
 ami hope, and 
 correct judg- 
 njent, and love 
 of holiness. as the 
 Bible does ?"— 
 Bi'fcher. 
 
 "The Bible will 
 not be less, but 
 rather more, 
 
 prized by our 
 occasionally 
 turiiiiiglroiiiitto 
 c]iOii Hiiotlier and 
 equally divine 
 volume, to read 
 some pnges of the 
 Book of Kature." 
 — Dr. Guthrie. 
 
 a Sons may have 
 freehold rights, 
 but servants only 
 leasehold rights. 
 
 " The Jubilee 
 year was restored 
 after the cap- 
 t i V i t y." — Jo- 
 sejihus. 
 
 h Stems and Twigs, 
 
880 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. xlvil. 1--8, 
 
 wliicli increases 
 
 slowly iii'liu'd, 
 but surely. Many 
 suns, showers, 
 anil frosts pass 
 upon it before it 
 c lines to perfec- 
 tion; anil though 
 iu winter it 
 seems ilea-l. it is 
 g a t li e r i n g 
 streugLli at the 
 root." — Cowper. 
 b Dr. li, W. 
 {lamilton. 
 
 a " Tlie Prophet 
 Joel, taking oc- 
 casion of the fact 
 in nature, tliat 
 there was a foun- 
 tain under the 
 temple at Jeru- 
 salem, wli. par- 
 ried off the blood 
 of the sacriSoes, 
 and, carrying it 
 off, was inter- 
 mingled with 
 that blood— the 
 image of the All- 
 atoning Blood- 
 speaks of a 
 fountain flowing 
 forth from the 
 liouse of the 
 Lord, and water- 
 ing the valley of 
 Shittini, whither 
 by nature its 
 waters could not 
 flow." — I'li-iey. 
 a " The waters of 
 the sea will be 
 sweetened by the 
 stream flowing 
 into them." — 
 Mosheh lien She- 
 shelh. 
 
 " In its bitumi- 
 nous waters no 
 vegetable or ani- 
 mal life is said 
 to be found. Bat 
 now death is to 
 give plnce to Hfe 
 in JudiB.i, and 
 throughout the 
 world, as sym- 
 bolised by the 
 healing of those 
 Oeatli - pervaded 
 waters covering 
 the doomed 
 cities."--/v(H.«,5rf. 
 h " We find in it 
 only n spiritual 
 allegory, which 
 foreslialows mi- 
 raclua of mercy 
 
 etc. (24) ministers, or attendants. Distinguished from the 
 priests. 
 
 JJomcutlc relii/ion. — Let us consider— I. In -n-hat domestio 
 rolio-ion consists. 1. Piety : 2. Instruction : 3. Discipline ; -i. 
 E.^cmplary consistency. II. The benefit- that result from it. 
 1. It gives a deliuite aim to domestic ])lans; 2 It secures the 
 spirit of harmony and love : S. It is the ordinary means of con- 
 version to tho.se who reside ■within its circle : 4. It heightens all 
 our social enjoyments ; .5. It soothes the calamities which are 
 incident to our most intimate relations : (3. It strengthens and 
 raises the piety of all spiritually'' engaged iu it ; 7. It establishes 
 so many seats of holy iuflneuce and usefulness.* 
 
 CHAPTER THE FORTY-SEFENTH. 
 
 1 — 5. (1) waters, there was a fountain under the temple of 
 Jerusalem, and this suggests the fig. here used." toward the 
 east, looking eastward. The inner sanctuary was placed to- 
 ward the west. (2) on the right side, '• these were the spare 
 waters not used in the service of the temple." (;5) waters . . 
 ancles, stated as indicating their depth. (4) knees, gra- 
 dually increasing in depth. (.")) river, symbolical of the full 
 gifts of the Spirit in the later days. 
 
 The vhion of the hoJi/ vafns (rr. 1 — 12). — I. This river in the 
 place and character of its origin, in the gradual increase of it, 
 and also in the healing, vitalising properties of its waters, may 
 be regarded as a type of the gradual development of the plan 
 of salvation. II. They may be regarded as a figure of the rise 
 and progress of religion iu the soul. III. They suggest a 
 picture of our glorious Christianity in its origin, diffusion, and 
 general results. 
 
 6 — 8. (0) seen this, taken full and careful observation of 
 this. (7) many trees, the natural accompaniment of a fresh 
 flowing stream. (3) desert, or plain of the Jordan, sea, the 
 Dead Sea. healed," typical of the gracious work of God's 
 Spirit.* 
 
 yh-rs. — The laurel, firm, erect, and bold, expands its leaf of 
 vivid green. In spite of the united, the repeated attacks of 
 wind, and rain, and frost, it preserves an undismayed lively 
 look : and maintains its post, while withering millions fall 
 around. Worthy, by vanquishing the rugged force of winter, 
 worthy to adorn the triumphant couqiieror's brow. Kor must I 
 forget the bay tree, which scorns to be a mean pensioner on a 
 few transient sunny gleams, or. with a servile obsequiousness, 
 to vary its appearance in con form itj'' to the changing seasons : 
 by such indications of sterling worth, and staunch resolution, 
 reading a lecture to the poet's genius, while it weaves the 
 chaplet for his temples. These, and a few other ])lants, clad 
 with native verditre. retain their comely aspect in the bleakest 
 climes and in the coldest months. Such, and so durable, are the 
 accomplishments of a refined understanding and nn amiable 
 temner. The tawdry ornaments of dress, which catch the un- 
 thinking vulgar, soon become insipid and despicable. The 
 rubied lip and the rosy cheek fade. Even the sparkling wit. as 
 well as the sparkling eye, please but for a moment. But th» 
 
Cap. xlvii. 9—17.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 581 
 
 virtuous mind lias charms which survive the decay of every in- 
 ferior embellishment ; charms which add to the fragrancy of the 
 flower, the permanency of the evergreen. Such, likewise, is 
 the happiness of the sincerely religious ; like a tree, saj's the 
 inspired moralist, ' whose leaf shall not fall.' He borrows not 
 his peace from external circumstances, but has a fund within, 
 and is • satisfied from himself.' Even though impoverished by 
 calamitous accidents, he is rich in the possession of grace, and 
 riclier in the hope of glory. His joys are infinitely superior to, 
 as well as nobly independent of, the transitory glow of sensual 
 delight, or the capricious favours of what the world calls fortune." 
 
 9 — 12. (9) shall live, or be healthy and vigorous, every- 
 thing shall live, or, there shall be abundance of life. (10) 
 fishers, the sign of its being known as a river full of life. 
 En-gedi," Ge. xiv. 7. En-eglaim, on the E. side of Dead 
 Sea, where the Jordan falls into it.'' great sea, or Mediter- 
 ranean. (11) marislies, or marshy places ; from these salt was 
 obtained for commerce. These will not be healed because the 
 living stream will not reach them. (12) fruit, etc., comp. 
 Ee. xxii. 2. 
 
 The hoi II n-nters (v. 9). — I. The river the text specifies. 1. The 
 source from whence its i.-sues : 2. The direction in which it 
 flows : 3. Tlie plenitude with wlfich it abounds. II. The bless- 
 ings the text describes. 1. The Gospel, if healing in its virtue ; 
 2. Is abundant in its success ; 3. Is quickening in its power. 
 III. The instructions the text suggests. 1. The duty of gratitude 
 for Gospel blessings ; 2. The necessity of embracing Gospel 
 blessings ; 3. The blessedness of enjoying Gospel salvation. 
 
 13 — 17. (13) border, or, arrangement. A new allotment of 
 the land wfs necessary on the return from captivity, two 
 portions, Ge. xlviii. 5 ; Jos. xiv. 4. (14) one as another, 
 each receiving an e(iual portion, lifted, rfc, ch. xx. o, 6. fall 
 unto you, by Divine arrangement, so that a"bout it j-ou need 
 have no disputings. (1.")) Hetlilod, a place near Damascus; 
 ch. xlviii. 1." Zedad, Nu. xxxiv. 7, 8. (IG) Hamath, at the 
 foot of Mt. Hernion.' Berothah, 2 Sam. viii. 8. Sibraim, 
 unknown. Hazar-hatticon, or the middle Hazar, to dis- 
 tinguish it from Ifazar-cnan. Hauran,"^ the district S. of 
 Damascus. (17j Hazar-enan, or village of fountains. 
 
 Ej'pcrimcntal evidence of the Bible. — My next proof consists of 
 experimental evidence. In order to appreciate it, I would bid 
 the objector come with me to some sequestered glen amid the 
 hills and valleys of Scotland. I will take him to the patriarchal 
 occupant of a lonely cabin, where you may behold the grey-headed 
 man, amid intermingling smiles and tears, bending, morniug, 
 noon, and night, over one book — "the big ha' Bible." Let us 
 ask him, " How do you know that that book called the Bible is 
 the book of God .' You never read the writings of a Paley, the 
 analogy of a Butler : you never studied the credibility of Lardner, 
 nor the eloquent demonstrations of a Chalmers ; how came you 
 to believe it? " " Come to believe it ? " would the peasant say ; 
 " I have felt it in my heart and conscience to be the book of God ! 
 it has taught me the truths I never knew before, it has given 
 me a peace the world could never give : it has calmed my beating 
 heartj it baa etaunched my bleeding wounds, it has kicdled 
 
 in stoi-e for tha 
 whole woi"ld iax 
 more .'^tupeudors. 
 ...There is 
 another desert, 
 however, wh. He 
 will surely heal, 
 the desert of sin, 
 the sea of spiri- 
 tual death."—. 
 Thomson. 
 c Hervey. 
 
 a " South of En- 
 gedi tlie sea ia 
 contracted, by a 
 peninsula jutting 
 into the sea 
 northwards, so 
 as to give to the 
 w'jole southern 
 part of the sea 
 the appearance, 
 not of a broad 
 sheet of water, 
 but rather of a 
 long winding 
 bay, or the es- 
 tuary of a large 
 river when the 
 tide is out and 
 tlie shoals are 
 left dry."— Tio- 
 hiiisnn. 
 
 b So Hengsteri' 
 berg. 
 
 a "Prob. the de- 
 file between the 
 raiigesof Libanus 
 and ant i-L i- 
 banus, from the 
 sea to Hamatli." 
 — Spk. Com. 
 b 1 Ki. viii. 65; 
 Am. vi. 2, 14. 
 c Auranitis. 
 An Irish boy 
 being command- 
 ed by a jiriest to 
 burn his Bible, 
 reluctantly com- 
 plied ; but at 
 the same time 
 said, "I thank 
 God that j'ou 
 can't take from 
 me the twenty 
 chapters that I 
 have in my 
 mind." 
 
 '■ The Christian 
 graces are like 
 perfumes, the 
 more they are 
 pressed by afflic- 
 tion the sweeter 
 they smell ; or, 
 like the stars, 
 they appear best 
 in the darknesa 
 of trouble."— 
 /. BeaumoMi, 
 
382 
 
 EZEKTEL. 
 
 [Cap. xlvlil. 1—7. 
 
 d Dr. J. Cum- 
 miiij. 
 
 a Nu. xxxiT. 5. 
 
 We migrlit to look 
 ■with deep oar- 
 iifistness of spirit 
 into the Jloly 
 Pcriptures — tlie 
 mirror of God's 
 word, In order to 
 find out oar 
 faults, that tliey 
 may bpcorrocted; 
 in ordpr to find 
 (/liristian graces 
 therein which 
 mny be im- 
 proved ; in order 
 to find tlie 
 blessed doctrines 
 of our Saviour, 
 which we may 
 learn to adorn in 
 all things. 
 6 /'/of. Gaussen. 
 a " Foreigners 
 never before had 
 the privilege of 
 purchasing or 
 possessing any 
 inheritance 
 among t li e 
 Jews." — Lnwth. 
 Le. XXV. 10 ; Nn. 
 xxx-vi. 7 ; Do. 
 xxiii. 3. 
 
 * Bp. Tlwmson. 
 
 " Both are good 
 books, and both 
 are God's books ; 
 and he only looks 
 on this great 
 world aright 
 who, valuing it 
 for something 
 more valuable 
 than the goM 
 men draw from 
 its rockv bowels, 
 the flocks it 
 jiastures, tlie rich 
 freights borne on 
 its waves, and 
 the harvests that 
 wave on its 
 Celda. beholds 
 
 within me the love of God and hopas of g:lory. Not the book of 
 God ! I am as convinced of it as that I am here a living, breathing 
 man."'' 
 
 18—21. (13) east sea, i.e. the Dead Sea. (19) Tamar, or 
 Eng-edi. strife, or Meribah. De. xxii. 52. river of Egypt, 
 \]'iif///-cl-Ari.s'h.'- (20) great sea, Mediterranean. (21) so, 
 according to this ontline. 
 
 Inspiration of the wJwle Blhle. — We say that it is the whole 
 Scriptures that are inspired of God ; the historical books as well, 
 as the prophecies : the Gospels as well as the Song of Solomon ; 
 the Gospels of Mark and Lnke, as well as those of John and 
 Matthew ; the history of the shipwreck of St. Paul iu the waters 
 of the Adriatic, as well as that of the shipwreck of the old 
 world in the waters of the flood ; the scenes of JMamre beneath 
 the tents of Abraham, as well as those of the day of Christ in 
 the eternal tabernacles ; the prophetic prayers in which the 
 Messiah, a thousand years before Ilis first advent, cries in the 
 Psalms, " My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ? they 
 have pierced My hands and My feet, they have cast lots upon 
 JMy vesture, they look and stare at Me," as well as the narratives 
 of them given by St. John, St. Mark, St. Luke, or St. Matthew.* 
 
 22, 23. (22) strangers, foreigners dwelling with them as 
 proselytes." (23) sojournetll, or settles down. 
 
 Bible: self-perpctvatinrj. — It has a self-perpetuating and multi- 
 plying power. Infidels have written books : where are they ? 
 Where is Porphyry, Julian ? Fragments of them there are ; but 
 we are indebted even for this to Chi-istian criticism. Where is 
 Hume, Voltaire, Boliugbroke 1 It requires the world's reprieve 
 to bring a copy out of the prison of their darkness. Where is 
 the Bible ? Wherever there is light. Speaking the language 
 of heaven in seven score and three of the tongues of earth, and 
 giving the Word of God by forty millions of voices, to five times 
 as many million ears, and in tongues spoken by six hundred 
 millions of men ; and having swept its path of storm through all 
 time, it still walks triumphant, despite earth's dying malice and 
 hell's eternal wrath ; and, like the apocalyptic angel, though it 
 wraps its mantle of cloud around it, calo.ly looks out upon the 
 world with a face, as it were the sun encircled with the rainbow.* 
 
 CHAPTER THE FOETY-EIGHTH. 
 
 1 — 7. (1) Dan, taking the first allotment, with border to 
 Damascus. (2) border of Dan, icon his south side. (3—7) 
 These tribes are all to be on the northern side of the holy portion, 
 which is set in the very middle of the country. 
 
 Bible and nntnre. — The God of nature and the Bible is one. 
 He who inspired histories, and psalms, and prophecies, and 
 epistles, was He who made stars and flowers, and the works of His 
 hands never look so fair as when studied in the light of His 
 Word. Nature is not so much a book by which we can find out 
 God, as a book from which we may gather illustrations of what 
 God is, having learned His perfections from His revealed truth. 
 It is said of Archbishop Usher, when he grew old, and spectacles 
 could not help his failing sight, that a book M'as dark except 
 beneath the strongest light of the windows. And he aged man 
 
Cap. xlviii. 8—24.] 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 383 
 
 would sit against the casement, with his outspread volume 
 before him, till the sunshine flitted to another opening, when he 
 would change his place, and jiut himself again under the bril- 
 liant rays : and so he would move about with the light till the 
 day was done, and his studies ended. And truly we may say our 
 weak eyes will not suffice to make out the inscription on the page 
 of nature, unless we hold it up in a Divine light — unless we get 
 near the window of Scripture, where God pours in upon us the 
 radiance of His Spirit. And wherever it shines let us follow it, 
 knowing that nowhere but in its illumination can we study the 
 spiritual meanings of nature so well." 
 
 8—14. (8) offering, or portion devoted to God. (9) obla- 
 tion, ch. xlv. 1. (10) for them, for tlreir maintenance, 
 (llj sons of Zadok, the lawful line of priests, cliarge, 
 ward or ordinance. (12) most holy, regard as solemnly con- 
 secrated to God. (13) Levites, as previoiisly narrated, ch. 
 xlv. 7. (14) alienate, devoting any of it to common purposes. 
 
 IiiKprrat'iun of the Blhle. — The Bible must be the invention 
 either of good men or angels, bad men or devils, or of God. It 
 could not be the invention of good men or angels ; for they 
 neither would nor could make a book, and tell lies all the time 
 they were writing, saying. Thus saith the Lord, when it was 
 their own invention. It could not be the invention of bad men 
 or devils, for they could not make a book which commands all 
 duty, forbids all sin. and condemns their souls to all eternity. 
 "We therefore draw this conclusion — the Bible must be given by 
 Divine inspiration." 
 
 15—20. (1.5) profane, common, unsanctified : ch. xlii. 20. .(If?) 
 the measures, or measurements. (17) suburbs, or out- 
 skirts." (18) tlie increase, or produce, serve in the city, 
 porters, etc. (19, 20) foursquare, a square fig. is the emblem 
 of perpetuity, strength, and solidity.* 
 
 ravViammtarij cy^acfincnts a.i to ilic Scr'ipfvres. — At the request 
 of the Romish clergy, severe proclamations were issued by king 
 Henry VIII. against all who read, or kept by them, Tindal's 
 translation of the New Testament : so that a copy of this book 
 found in the possession of any person was sufficient to convict 
 him of heresy, and subject him to the flames. '-But the fervent 
 zeal of those Christian days," says the goal old martyrologist. Fox, 
 " seemed much superior to these, our days and times, as mani- 
 festly may appear by their sitting up all night in reading or 
 hearing : also by their expenses and charges in buying of books 
 in English, of whom some gave a load of hay for a few chapters 
 of St. James, or of St. Paul, in English.'"" 
 
 21—24. (21) for the prince, ch. xlv. 7. (22) from the 
 possession, i.e. measuring from." (23. 21) a portion, better, 
 one portion. Comp. Josefili's double portion. 
 
 Company of the Blhle. — By opening this volume we may at any 
 time walk in the garden of Eden with Adam : sit in the ark with 
 Noah : share the hospitality or witness the faith of Abraham ; 
 ascend the mount of God with Moses ; unite in the secret devotions 
 of David, or listen to the eloquent and impassioned address of 
 Paul. Nay, more, we may here converse with Him who spake 
 as never man spake ; participate, with the spirits of the just 
 made perfect, in the employment and happiness of heaven ; and 
 
 there, as in a 
 glorious mirror, 
 the wisdom and 
 power of God^ 
 tlie goodness 
 tli.it shiiips in 
 every sunbeam 
 and falls la 
 every shower." — 
 Dr. Gulhrie. 
 a J. Stoughton. 
 
 a D. Simpson. 
 We are not tO| 
 wish our Bible 
 to flatter us, as 
 some persona 
 love to be flat- 
 tered by their 
 mirror. The 
 Bible flatters 
 none ; it sliows 
 infirmity in the 
 strongest, de- 
 formity in the 
 fairest, defile- 
 ment in the 
 purest Christian. 
 
 a " The city 
 being 4,500 reeds 
 square, lenves 
 2S0 reeds north, 
 250 south, for 
 suburbs: the like 
 are marked oil on 
 the east and west 
 fr. the city land." 
 — Spk. Com. 
 
 b Ee. xxi. 16. 
 
 cR.T.a. 
 
 a " The prince'f 
 portion shall ex- 
 tend from the 
 boundary of 
 Judiih, on the 
 north of the Holy 
 Portion, to the 
 border of Ben- 
 jamin on the 
 south, so as to 
 flank the Holy 
 Portion on the 
 E. and AV.. and. 
 to till up 'n-hat 
 
384 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 [Cap. slviil. 25—33. 
 
 lies bptwrcn It 
 ami the .Ioril;in 
 on tlie K., and 
 bet. it aiui tlie 
 Jle.lit. on the 
 W."- Woi-dsirorlh. 
 h Dr. Pu'json. 
 
 In ISna the 
 bishop of AVin- 
 cliester bonvwed 
 a Bible, in two 
 volumes folio, 
 from a convent 
 in that city, giv- 
 ing a bond, 
 drawn up in a 
 most formal and 
 solemn manner, 
 for its due return. 
 This Bible had 
 been given to 
 the convent by a 
 former bi.-ihop, 
 and in considera- 
 tion of this gift, 
 and one hundred 
 marks, the monk 
 founded a daiiy 
 mass for the souj 
 of the donor. 
 
 a Dante. 
 
 a Re. xxi. 12. 
 
 b "Not that the 
 city will be called 
 so in mere name, 
 but that the 
 reality will be 
 best expressed by 
 this descriptive 
 title." — Fausset. 
 
 Je. iii. 17, xxxiii. 
 16; Zee. ii. 10; 
 Ee. xxi. 3, xxii. 3. 
 
 R. Cecil, M.A. 
 
 enjoy sweet commnnion with the Father of our spirits through 
 His Son Jesus Clirist. Such is the society to which tlie Scriptures 
 iutroduce us ; such the examples wliich they present to our 
 Imitation. 
 
 25 — 29. and by, etc., these trihcs were located on the further 
 or southern side of the Holy Portion. Ezekiel s arrangement is 
 manifestly an ideal rather than a jiractical one. 
 Thc^JJiblc fiometimi'K a chi.icd booh. — 
 
 'Men, thus at variance with the truth, 
 Dream, though their eyes be open; reckless some 
 Of error ; others well aware they err, 
 To whom more guilt and shame are justly due. 
 Each the known track of sage philosophy 
 Deserts, and has a by-way of his own : 
 So much the restless eagerness to shine, 
 And love of singularity prevail. 
 Yet this, offensive as it is, provokes 
 Heaven's anger less, than when the Book of God 
 Is forced to yield to man's authority, 
 Or from its straightness warp'd : no reck'ning made, 
 What blood the sowing of it in the world 
 Has cost ; what favour for himself he wins, 
 Who meekly clings to it. 
 
 ****** It 
 
 Christ said not to His first conventicle. 
 Go forth and preach impostures to the world : 
 But gave them Truth to build on ; and the sound 
 Was mighty on their lips ; nor needed they, 
 Beside the Gospel, other spear or shield. 
 To aid them in their warfare for the faith." 
 
 30—35. (30) goings out, or gates. Ways of entrance for 
 the various tribes from north and south of the Holy Portion. 
 (31) after the names, called after the names of the several 
 tribes." (32—34) Joseph, the name covers the tribes of 
 Ephraim andManasseh. (3.5) the Lord is there, Heb. Jehovah- 
 Shammah.'' 
 
 Tlie Lord in Zion (r. 35). — I. ^Miat is contained in the promise ? 
 II. What are the signs of this high privilege being annexed to 
 the Church at large, or to any individual therein.' Apply : — 1. 
 If the Lord be present in Zion, with what temper of mind should 
 we come to the house of God ? with what so enmity we should 
 remain there and return thence ? 2. We should learn a lesson of 
 charity ; 3. If it is our high privilege as Christians to be made 
 temples of the Holy Ghost, then let us say. Blessed be God, who 
 has given us strong consolation and good hope through grace."