60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me. 61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O LORD, and all their imaginations against me; 62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day. 63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick. 64 Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. 65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. 66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD. (0) CHAP. IV. HOW is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. 2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. CHAP. III. [estate bewailed. 4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. 5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets; they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dung hills. 6 For the punishment of the ini quity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. 7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: 8 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. 9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. 10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. 11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce EXPOSITION. (0) Calamities bewailed, mercies acknowledged, and deliverance implored.-lu this chapter the prophet exhibits himself as an example of severe afflictions and painful sufferings; and by enumerating his trials, and at the same time expressing his confidence in God notwithstanding, encourages his people to the like resignation and trust in the divine and never-failing mercy. He vindicates the goodness of God in all his dispensations, and the unreasonableness of murmuring under them, especially under the consideration that we all are sinners. He recommends self-examination, repent ance and humiliation: and theu, from the experience of former deliverances, he en courages them to look for pardon for their sins, and retribution to their enemies. The complaints of this chapter are interspersed with the most beautiful and pious sentiments, particularly ver. 22-33." He (God) doth not willingly (or from his heart) afflict the children of men." NOTES. CHAP. IV. Ver. 3. Sea monsters- Marg. "Sea calves," or seals. The ostriches.-See Job xxxix. 14-16, and Note. Ver. 6. No hands stayed on her: Boothroyd, Ver.1. Her Nazarites-Blayney, "Nobles." The d imply a vow, but is sometimes used for any tinguished persons, as in this verse. Ver. 8. Blacker than a coal-Marg. "Darker than blackness; Blayney, "Than the dawn," which is more literal and accurate. Ver. 10. The pitiful - Blayney," Tender-hearted." Compare chap. ii, 20, anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, f and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. 12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. 13 For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her; 14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the hea then, They shall no more sojourn there. 16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders. 17 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us. 18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is CHAP. IV. [estate bewailed. near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come. 19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven; they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. 20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen. 21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. 22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins. (P) CHAP. V. REMEMBER, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. 2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. 3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. 4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. EXPOSITION. (P) Zion deeply bewails her situation, and laments her sins. Edom is then threatened, and Zion comforted.-"The prophet contrasts, in various affecting instances, the wretched and deplorable circumstances of the Jewish nation with the flourishing state of their affairs in former times; and ascribes the unhappy change, principally to the profligacy of their priests and prophets, which had drawn upon them the universal abhorrence of God and man. The whole people proceed with lamenting their hopeless condition; and, in a particular manner, the captivity of their sovereign. The judgment of Edom is at length foretold, together with a final cessation of Zion's calamities." (Dr. Blayney.) NOTES. Ver. 14. So that men could not touch their garments-Boothroyd, "So that their garments could not be touched." The meaning appears to be, that they ran frantic through the streets, slaying, or beating, all they met, and when they were overpowered by any, they touched them, which made them polluted, Ver. 15. It is unclean — or, "Ye are unclean." The sense seems to be, that they behaved so wicked, and so frantic, that the very heathen would not suffer them to "sojourn " with them. This regards the false prophets and apostate priests. Ver. 17. Our eyes as yet failed, &c.-Blayney, "Our eyes failed (with looking) for our help; in vain on our watch-tower have we watched for a nation that cannot save ;" namely, Egypt. Ver. 18. They hunt our steps.—See 2 Kings xxv. 4-6. Ver. 20. The breath of our nostrils—that is, their only hope, Zedekiah, under whom they expected still to subsist as a nation. Ver. 21. Rejoice-an ironical address, like Eccles. xi. 9. Make thyself naked.-It was a natural consequence of drunkenness in a hot country, where they wore loose garments, to strip themselves when heated with wine. Ver. 22. He will discover thy sins-Marg. "Carry thee captive for thy sins," which is agreed to be the sense. [estate berailed 14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick. 15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourn ing. 16 The crown is fallen from our head woe unto us, that we have sinned! 17 For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim. 18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. 19 Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation. 20 Wherefore dost thou forget for ever, and forsake us so long time? 21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. 22 But thou hast utterly rejected us: thou art very wroth against us.(Q) EXPOSITION. (Q) Zion's complaint and prayer to God. "In the Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate versions this chapter is entitled The Prayer of Jeremiah; but no such title appears, either in the Hebrew or the Septuagint it is rather a memorial, representing, in the name of the whole body of Jewish exiles, the many and grievous hardships they groaned under, and humbly entreating God to commiserate their wretchedness, and to restore them once more to his favour, and to their ancient prosperity. The whole may be considered as an epilogue or conclusion, well adapted to the contents of the preceding chapters. NOTES. CHAP.V. Ver. 4. Is sold unto us-Heb. "Cometh for price;" i. e. they were obliged to purchase, not only wood, but water also. Ver. 5. Our necks are under persecution-Heb. "On our necks are we persecuted!" i. e. we are under the yoke of foreigners. Ver. 6. We have given the hand-i. e. submitted. See Jer. 1. 15. Ver. 9. The sword of the wilderness-that is, the Arabian free-booters, to which they were probably exposed, in seeking for wood, &c. Ver. 10. Our skin was black-that is, scorched, or burnt, by the heat of the climate, with the want of drink and food. See Job xxx. 30; Jer. iv. 8; vii.. Ver. 12. Princes are hanged by their hand-e tied up by one hand and left to perish: a cruel mode of execution, sometimes practised. Ver. 13. Under the wood-that is, under the bar. dens of wood they were compelled to carry. Ver. 16. The crown is fallen from our head-Heb "The crown of our head is fallen." Ver. 20. So long time-Heb. "For length of days.” Ver. 22. But thou hast, &c.-Marg. Wilt thou utterly reject us?" END OF THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. "WE have now come to the prophecies of Ezekiel, which were addressed to the captives at Babylon, before and after the captivity of Zedekiah, and the destruction of the temple. They must therefore be delivered at the same time, and against the same crimes against which Jeremiah was denouncing the judgments of God at Jerusalem. Both prophets predicted the same events, promised to the faithful the same consolations, and threatened the disobedient and idolatrous among their countrymen with the same punishments. Both prophets united in denunciation against the false prophets, and in anticipations of the ultimate restoration of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity." Ezekiel, as himself tells us, (chap. i. 3.) was a priest, as well as Jeremiah, though of a different family, he was carried captive from Jerusalem at the same time with Jehoiachin, and stationed on the borders of the river Chebar, where he continued statedly to reside. In the fifth year of this captivity, the era from which he dates his prophecies, Ezekiel began his office, which he exercised about 25 years. The commencement of this period falls on the year before Christ 595, and 34 years after Jeremiah had begun his office; so that the last eight years of Jeremiah coincide with the first eight of Ezekiel. The design of this prophet seems to be, chiefly, to convince his fellow captives in Babylon, that they were mistaken in supposing that their brethren, who still remained in Judea, were in happier circumstances than themselves: for this end, he describes the awful judgments impending over that country, with the complete destruction of Jerusalem, both city and temple; and inveighs against those heinous sins which were the cause of such calamities. As to the style of the prophet Ezekiel, Bishop Lowth, the most unquestionable judge of Hebrew composition, thus describes it: "Ezekiel is much inferior to Jeremiah in elegance; in sublimity, he is not even excelled by Isaiah : but his sublimity is of a totally different kind.-He is deep, vehement, tragical; the only sensation he affects to excite, is the terrible; his sentiments are elevated, fervid, full of fire, indignant," &c. He is generally charged with being obscure; but his obscurity is that necessary to the sublime; and the great critic just quoted remarks, "His diction is sufficiently perspicuous; all his obscurity consists in the nature of the subject."+ In our Introduction to Isaiah we have remarked, that the prophets frequently made use of actions as well as words, in the delivery of their predictions; and this was particularly the case with Ezekiel," who delineates the siege of Jerusalem on a tileweighs the hair of his beard in balances-carries out his household stuff-and joins together the two sticks of Judah and Israel. By these actions, the prophets instructed the people in the will of God, and conversed with them in signs: but where God teaches the prophet, and in compliance with the custom of that time, condescends to the same mode of instruction, then the signification is generally changed into a vision, either natural or extraordinary, as (in the prophet Ezekiel) the ideal scene of the resurrection of dry bones."‡ *Townsend's O. Test. arranged, vol. ii, p. 529. + Lowth's Lect. xxi.. See Bp. Warburton's Divine Legat, vol. iii. bk. 4. ¿. 4. quoted Townsend's O, T. arran, vol. ii, p. 597. EZEKIEL. In our humble Exposition of this sublime prophet, beside the general commentators referred to on preceding books, we have constantly consulted, and frequently referred to, Archbishop Newcome's scarce and valuable work on this prophet. That learned prelate fully justifies the character given of him by Bp. Lowth, and vindicates the sublimity of his style, in reply to some eminent foreign critics. CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT of Ezekiel's prophecies, according to Archbishop NEWCOME. CHAP. I. NOW it came to pass in the thirti , eth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity, 3 The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him. 4 And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. 5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appear ance; they had the likeness of a man. 6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. 7 And their feet were straight feet; the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. NOTES. CHAP. I. Ver. 1. In the thirtieth year-that is, of the prophet's life, as it is generally understood; but Calmet thinks these years must rather be dated from the revival of religion, and the covenant made with God in the time of king Josiab.-The river of Chebar.-The station here referred to, is supposed to have been about 200 miles north of Babylon. See ch. iii. 15. Ibid. Among the captives-Heb. "In the midst of the captivity." Ver. 2. The fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity, was also the 5th of Zedekiah's reign, who immedi ately succeeded him, 2 Kings xxiv. 17. and as the city and temple were destroyed in the 11th year of Zedekiah, 2 Kings xxv. 2. the prophet, of course, had this vision six years before that event took place. Ver. 3. The hand of the Lord was there upon him-that is, he was under prophetic influence. See Kings xviii. 46; 2 Kings iii. 15, &c. er. 4. A fire infolding-Heb. "Catching itself." r. 5. Four living creatures Chap. x. 20, the prophet says he knew them to be the cherubim; but gives no farther information. The Editor is perfectly aware of the different systems of interpre tation advanced on this subject, and particularly that of the ingenious Mr. Hutchinson, who supposed them intended to represent the several offices and relations of the persons of the Trinity. But to this he has two most decided objections: 1. The Jews were utterly forbidden to make any representations of the Deity. See Exod. xx. 4; Deut. iv. 12, 16, &c. 2. These living creatures are represented as wor shipping the great Being he supposes them to represent. Isa. vi. 3; Rev. v. 8, 14. Ver. 6. Every one four wings. The seraphim in Isaiah had each six wings, and so the living crea tures in Rev. iv. 8. But in both places it may be recollected they are described as in the act of wor ship. Comp. Isa. vi. 2. Ver. 7. Straight feet-Heb. " A straight font." This description supposes the body of each covered by its two lower wings, and terminating in one straight and round foot, like a calf's. See Parkh |