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14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and d1 Kings 22. 22, 23.

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4 spirit of perverseness.

they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.

New Translation.

14. JEHOVAH hath mingled in the midst of them a spirit of giddiness, And they have caused Egypt to err in all her works,

As a drunkard staggereth in his vomit.

is coming upon the nation. Let them foresee the evil and take proper measures to meet and remove it; and they will then demonstrate that it would be proper for Pharaoh to repose confidence in them.' But if they could not do this, then he should not suffer himself to be deluded, and his kingdom ruined, by their counsels.

13. The princes of Zoan, ver. 11. This repetition is intensive and emphatic, and shows the deep conviction of the prophet of their folly. The design is here to show that all the counsellors on which the Egyptians depended were fools. The princes of Noph. The Vulgate, the LXX, and the Chaldee, render this Memphis, and there is no doubt that this is the city intended. The name Memphis may have easily arisen from Noph. It was written also Moph, and hence Memphis. It is called Menouf by the Copts and Arabians. According to Plu tarch, the name Memphis means the port of the good. The situation of Memphis has been a subject of considerable dispute, and has afforded matter for long and laborious investigation. Sicard and Shaw fix its site at Djezeh or Gizeh, opposite to old Cairo. Pococke, D'Anville, Niebuhr, and other writers and travellers, place Memphis more in the direction of Metrahery, about fifteen miles further south, on the banks of the Nile, at the entrance of the plain of the mummies, at the north of which the pyramids are placed. It was the residence of the ancient kings of Egypt until the time of the Ptolemies, who commonly resided at Alexandria. Memphis retained its splendor until it was conquered by the Arabians about A. D. 641. It then declined; principally because the Fatimite Caliphs built another city which they called Caherah ; "the victorious," the present Grand Cairo, on the eastern shore of the Nile. The consequence was, that Memphis declined; ceased to be a city; and its present site is not certainly known. They have also seduced Egypt. That is, they have by their counsels caused it to err, and have led it into its present embarrassment. The stay, &c. Heb. pinnâ-the corner; i. e. the support, or those who

15 Neither shall there be any work | for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.

New Translation.

15. Nor shall there be any work for Egypt,

Which the head or tail, the branch or rush, may perform.

should have been the support.

So the word is used to denote the

head or leader of a people in Ps. cxviii. 22, Isa. xxviii. 16, Zech. x. 4, 1 Sam. xiv. 38, Judges xx. 2, 14.

Hath mingled. The word

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14. The LORD. Jehovah. mâsăkh to mingle, is used commonly to denote the act of mixing spices with wine to make it more intoxicating. Prov. ix. 2, 5, Isa. v. 22. Here it means, that JEHOVAH has poured out into the midst of them a spirit of giddiness; that is, has produced consternation among them. National commotions and calamities are often thus traced to the overruling providence of God. See Note ver. 2. Comp. ch. x. 5, 6. The meaning is, that God had suffered them to fall into divided and foolish counsels, and that he had permitted them to bring these evils upon themselves. A perverse spirit. Heb. A spirit of perverseness. The word rendered perverse is derived from or perverted; to err, &c. Here it means, that unwise, and such as tended to error and ruin. ders it, "a spirit of drunkenness"-vertiginis. foolish counsel; to pursue unwise and unstable plans. ¶ In every work thereof. In all their plans and doings. As a drunken man, &c. This is a very striking figure. The whole nation was thus unstable; reeling to and fro; unsettled in their counsels, as a man so intoxicated as to reel and to vomit. Nothing could more strikingly express (1) the fact of their perverted counsels and plans, and (2) God's deep abhorrence of the course which they were pursuing. The Chaldee renders this," as a drunken man staggers, and is rolled in his own vomit."

âvâ to be crooked their counsels were The Vulgate renTo err. To take

15. Neither shall there be any work, &c. Any plan, design, or undertaking, which they shall be able to accomplish. The sense is, that there shall be such discord and want of counsel that no man, whether a prince, a politician, or a priest, shall be able to give any advice, or form any plan for the national safety and security which shall be successful. ¶ Which the head or tail. High or low;

16 In that day shall Egypt be lke unto women; and it shall be afraid and fear, because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it.

e Jer. 51. 30. Nahum 3. 13.

1 17 And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt: every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it.

New Translation.

16. In that day Egypt shall be like women

It shall tremble and be afraid

At the shaking of the hand of JEHOVAH of hosts,
Which he shall shake over it.

17. And the land of Judah shall be a terror to Egypt;
Every one that maketh mention of it shall tremble,
Because of the counsel of JEHOVAH of hosts

Which he hath counselled against it.

strong or weak; those in office and those out of office; all shall be dispirited and confounded. Rosenmüller understands by the head here, the political orders of the nation, and by the tail the sacerdotal ranks. But the meaning is, the highest and the lowest ranks-all the politicians, and priests, and princes on the one hand, as the prophet had just stated (vs. 11-15); and all the artificers, fishermen, &c. on the other, as he had stated (vs. 8-10). This verse, therefore, is a summing up of all he had said about the calamities that were coming upon them. ¶ Branch or rush. See these words explained

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16. In that day. That future time when these calamities shall come upon them. Shall Egypt. The Egyptians. So the LXX and the Chaldee. T Like unto women. Timid; fearful; alarmed. The Hebrews often by this comparison express great fear and consternation. Jer. li. 30, Nahum iii. 13. ¶ Because of the shaking, &c. The shaking of the hand is an indication of threatening or punishment. Note ch. x. 32, xi. 15.

17. And the land of Judah. Or the events which are taking place in the land of Judah. The fear and consternation of Egypt shall be increased when they learn what events are occurring there, and what JEHOVAH has purposed in regard to it. TShall be a terror. Shall be an occasion of fear and trembling; or shall cause terror to the Egyptians. This cannot be understood to mean that they were in danger from an invasion by the Jews, for at that time they were not

18 In that day shall five cities in of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of

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8 lip.

the land of Egypt speak the language g Zeph. 3. 9. 9 or, Heres, or, the sun.

hosts: 9 one shall be called, The_city of destruction.

New Translation.

18. In that day shall there be five cities in the land of Egypt
Speaking the language of Canaan,

And they shall swear to JEHOVAH of hosts;-
One shall be called the city of Deliverance.

And the passage

at war, and Judah had no power to overrun Egypt. does not require this interpretation. Jarchi and Kimchi suppose that the passage means that the Egyptians would hear what had occurred to the army of Sennacherib on its overthrow, and that they would be alarmed as if a similar fate was about to come upon them. But the more probable interpretation is that which refers it to the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib. The Egyptians would know of that. Indeed the leading design of Sennacherib was to invade Egypt, and Judah and Jerusalem were to be destroyed only in the way to Egypt. And when the Egyptians heard of the great preparations of Sennacherib, and of his advance upon Judah, and how the cities and towns yielded to him (see ch. x. 28-31), and knew that his design was to invade them, "the land of Judah" would be "a terror," because its distance was small from Egypt, and they apprehended that he would make a rapid descent upon them. Vitringa, however, supposes that the sense is, that the Egyptians in their calamities would remember the prophecies of Jeremiah and others of which they had heard respecting their punishment; that they would remember that the prophecies respecting Judah had been fulfilled, and that God was a God of truth, and that thus Judah would be a terror to them because those predictions had come out of Judah. This is plausible, and it may be the correct explanation. Which he hath determined against it. Either against Judah, or Egypt. The Hebrew will bear either. It may mean that they were alarmed at the counsel which had been formed by JEHOVAH against Judah and which was apparently about to be executed by the invasion of Sennacherib, and that thus they feared an invasion them. selves, or that they learned that a purpose of destruction was formed by JEROVAH against themselves, and that Judah became thus an object of terror because these prophecies were uttered there, and because the prophecies which were spoken there were certain of being fulfilled.

The latter is the interpretation given by Vitringa; and perhaps this is the most probable.

18. In that day. In that future time. The word "day" is used in the Scripture in a large signification as including the whole period under consideration; or the whole time that is embraced in the scope of a prophecy. In this chapter it is used in this sense; and evidently means that the event here foretold would take place somewhere in the period that is embraced in the design of the prophecy. That is, the event recorded in this verse would occur in the series of events that the prophet saw respecting Egypt. See ch. iv. 1. The sense is, that about the time, or following the time of the calamities which had been foretold (ver. 4-17.), the event here described would take place. There would be an extensive fear of JEHOVAH, and an extensive embracing of the true religion in the land of Egypt. Shall five cities. The number five here is evidently used to denote an indefinite number, in the same way as seven is often used in the Scriptures. See Lev. xxvi. 8. Here it means, that several cities in Egypt would use that language, one of which only is specified. In different parts of the land of Egypt.

In the land of Egypt. The language of Canaan.

Marg. Lip of Canaan. So the Hebrew, but the word often means language. The language of Canaan evidently means the Hebrew language; and it is called "the language of Canaan" either because it was the language of the original inhabitants of the land of Canaan, or more probably because it was the language spoken by the Hebrews who occupied Canaan as the promised land; and then it will mean the language of the land of Canaan, or which is spoken in the land of Canaan. The phrase here used is employed probably to denote that they would be converted to the Jewish religion; or the religion of the Jews would flourish there. A similar expression, to denote conversion to the true God, occurs in Zeph. iii. 9: "For there I will turn to the people a pure language, that they may call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent." And swear to the LORD of hosts. That is, they shall devote themselves to him; or they shall bind themselves to his service by solemn covenant. Comp. Deut. x. 20, Isa. xlv. 20, where conversion to God, and a purpose to serve him, is expressed in the same manner by swearing to him, i. e. by solemnly devoting themselves to his service. ¶ One shall be called. The name of one of them shall be, &c. Why one particularly is designated is not known. The city of destruction. There has been a great vaVOL. II.*

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