Divinations of]

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sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer. 12 Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.

13 Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? It shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.

14 Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.

15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied; ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.

16 Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

17 I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest I the LORD have said it.

18 The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,

[the king of Babylon.

19 Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.

21 For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.

22 At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rains against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.

23 And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.

24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that

Ver. 13. Because it is a trial-Newcome, "For it is tried."The rod-that is, the sceptre, as ver. 10. It shall be no more-Newcome, “It shall not remain;" i. e. the regal succession shall be cut off from the time of Zedekiah to the coming of Messiah. Ver. 14. Smite thine hands together.-Heb. The palm of the hand to the palm of the hand.". Let the sword be doubled the third time - Heb. "Double the sword, yea treble it.—The sword of the slain-Newcome, Of great slaughter.”

Ver. 15. The point-Newcome," The terror."Their ruins-Newcome, "Their overthrown."Wrapped up-Newcome, "Furbished." Ver. 16 Get thee one way or the other-Newcome, "Diferent ways,' "" -on the right, &c.; either, and or, may be omitted. -Whithersoever thy face-meaning, the face, or edge of the sword-is set. Ver. 17. I will also smite "the palm," &c. See ver. 14.—My fury to rest-that is, on thee.

Ver. 19. Choose thou a place-Heb." A hand." It is clear from other passages that the Hebrews were wont to erect monuments in the form of a hand. See Notes on 1 Sam. xv. 12; 2 Sam. xviii. 18. And from this place it should appear, that these hands were sometimes used as directing posts, and pointed two ways; the way to Rabbab and to Jerusalem. Ver. 20. To Judah in Jerusalem - Newcome, "Towards Judah, against Jerusalem."

Ver. 21. At the parting of the way-Heb. "The mother of the way." Any point of a road from which

two ways parted, was considered as the mother of them both. To use divination—that is, by arrows, which St. Jerome thus explains: They wrote en several arrows, the names of the cities they intended to make war against, and then putting them promiscuously into a quiver, they had them drawn out in the manner of lots, and the city whose name was on the arrow first drawn, was the first assaulted." Orient. Cust. No. 314.

one of

Ibid. He made his arrows bright - Pococke and Newcome," Mixed his arrows," Dr. Pococke says, the Arabs usually took three arrows, on which was written, “My Lord hath commandel,” and on the other, My Lord hath forbidden me." and the third was blank. If the third happened to be first drawn, the arrows were again mingled, and a fresh drawing made, till one of the others gave a decisive answer. Consulted with images — Heb. Teraphim-that is, oracular images, in the human form. 1 Sam. xix. 13-16.He looked in the liver

that is, of the sacrifices, to predict thereby. See Potter's Antiq. of Greece, vel. i. bk. 2. ch. 14 and 16. Ver. 22. To appoint captains--Heb. Rams;" i. e. battering rams, as in the next clause, and in ch. iv. 2. -To open the mouth.-The ancients generally attacked with loud shouts and cries. Jer. i. 14.--To cast (i. e. to cast up) amount.-See Jer. vi. 6, and N.

Ver. 23. To them that have sworn oaths- that is, to them that have taken the oath of allegiance to the king of Babylon.

in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

25 And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,

26 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.

27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn it and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

28 And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:

29 Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked

CHAP. XXI.

[threatened.

whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.

30 Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.

31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.

32 Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it. (Y)

CHAP. XXII.

MOREOVER the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.

3 Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may

(Y) The Prophet with a heavy heart continues his denunciations against Jerusalem and Judea. The sword of Justice is unsheathed, and, as often happens in national calamities, destroys the righteous with the wicked. The king of Babylon, the great agent in this judgment, is represented as preparing for the expedition by consulting his diviners. He is described as standing at the parting of the roads leading to the respective capitals of the Jews and Ammonites; and, doubting which to attack first, he commits the decision to the art of divination by arrows. This was performed by mingling arrows in a quiver, which were inscribed with the names of the different cities intended to be attacked, and drawing them promiscuously; they marched against that city whose name was written on the arrow first drawn. In this case the name Jerusalem comes forward,

and therefore he first proceeds against that city. The perjured Zedekiah and his nobles are then declared to be given up of God, and his kingdom utterly destroyed, for his breach of faith and violation of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. The last five verses form a distinct prophecy relating to the destruction of the Ammonites, who like the Jews took part with Egypt against Babylon. This prophecy was fulfilled about. five years after Jerusalem was destroyed. These, as well as the Jews, were deceived, as it should seem, by their false prophets and diviners.

The oracle concerning Judah concludes, as we conceive, with a most important prophecy concerning the Messiah. The kingdom of Judah was now overturned, and was from this time the subject of perpetual changes and revolutions till he came whose right it is,-the Son of David and of God. See Acts ii. 30-36, compared with Gen. xlix. 10.

Ver.24. With the hand--that is, without difficulty. See Nam. xi. 32.

Ver. 25. Wicked prince-that is, Zedekiah. Ver. 26. This shall not be the same, &c.-Newcome, Hath not this (i. e. Babylon) abased the exalted, and exalted the abased?"

come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.

4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.

5 Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed, 6 Behold the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.

7 In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.

8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. 9 In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.

10 In thee have they discovered their father's nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.

11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God. 13 Behold, therefore I have smitten

[transgressions.

mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thoi hast made, and at thý blood which hath been in the midst of thee.

14 Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.

15 And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.

16 And thou shalt take thine inhe ritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD,

17 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.

19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GoD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

20 As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.

21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.

22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.

23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ver. 3. That her time may come - that is, her idolatries will be sure to hasten her destruction, as in

the next verse.

Ver. 5. Infamous, &c.-Newcome, "Whose name is defiled, and (who art) much troubled."

Ver. 6. To their power - that is, to the utmost of their power-Heb. "Arm."

Ver. 9. Men that carry tales- Heb. "Men of slander."

Ver. 10. Uncovered, &c.- that is, "By defiling his wife." Newcome.

Ver. 13. I have smitten mine hand. See chap, xxi. 14, 17.

Ver. 16. And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself-Newcome, "I will be profaned of thee in the sight," &c. So Margin.

Ver. 18. Become dross, &c.-See Jer. vi. 28–30. Ver. 19. Jerusalem - is here considered as the crucible.

Ver. 24. Unto her-that is, Jerusalem. Ver. 26. Her priests.-Compare Zeph. in. 4. Ver. 28. Daubed them.-Comp, cb. xii. 10–12 Ver. 29. Wrongfully-Heb. Without right." Ver. 30. Make up the hedge. See Jer. v. 1, and chap. xiii. 5.

-

24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither bave they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GoD, when the LORD hath not spoken.

29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for

CHAP. XXII.

[her priests and prophets.

the land, that I should not destroy it : but I found none.

31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GoD. (Z)

CHAP. XXIII.

[Omit in Family Reading.] · THE word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: 3 And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whorebreasts pressed, and there they bruised the doms in their youth: there were their teats of their virginity. 4 And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jethey bare sons and daughters. Thus were rusalem Abolibah. 5 And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her blue, captains and rulers, all of them deneighbours, sirable young men, horsemen riding upon

6 Which were clothed with

horses. 7 Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols

she defiled herself. 8 Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her. Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the

(Z) The sin and punishment of Jerusalem recapitulated. The corruption is stated to be universal, including all classes, princes, prophets, priests and people; and the ruin is stated to be no less so. Those who conspire together to work wickedness must expect to be classed together in their sufferings, when God arises to execute judgment. The case of Judah appears in this instance

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to have been worse than that of Sodom, which was destroyed for the want of ten righteous here were not half the number: "I sought for a man (says God), but I found none" for the few faithful prophets who might have interposed were persecuted and imprisoned. Her punishment was also worse than that of Sodom, Lam. iv. 6. For it is better to fall into the hand of God than into the hand of man. (2 Sam. xxiv. 14.)

Assyrians, upon whom she doted. 10 These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her. 11 And when her sister Aholibah saw this she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms. 12 She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. 13 Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way, 14 And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermillion, 15 Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity: 16 And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them, 18 So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister. 19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. 20 For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. 21 Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth. 22 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord Gov; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side; 23 The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them de

[and Samaria.

29

sirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses. 24 And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judg ments. 25 And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose, and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. 26 They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels. 27 Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more. 28 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated: And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms. 30 I will do these things unte thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols. 31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup, deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much. 33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and de solation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria. 34 Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. 35 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; cause thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy hack, therefore bear thou

Ver. 16. Pourtrayed upon the wall.-Mr. Maurice says, this exactly answers to the manner in which their idols were painted and decorated; and so the Brahmins of India dress themselves and their idols to the present day. Ind. Antiq. vol. v. p. 233, &c. Ver. 15. In dyed attire, &c.-This alludes to their beautiful and flowing turbans.

Ver. 20. Flesh of asses.... horses-that is, very hardy and very lustful.

Ver. 22, Thy lovers, &c.-This refers to the Chaldeans, whom she had offended by her rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar.

Ver. 23. Pekod and Shoa-names of places. See Jer. 1. 21. All the Assyrians.-The Assyrians were now under the Babylonians, and served in their armies. Newcome.

32

Be

Ver. 24. With chariots, wagons, and wheels — Newcome," With scythed cars, chariots, and (wheel) carriages." So Boothroyd. Cars with scythes attached to their wheels, were terrible instruments of destruction in war, before the invention of gunpowder.

Ver. 25. Take away thy nose and thine ears-St. Jerome mentions this as a common punishment of adulterers. See also Martial and Virgil. Orient Lit. No. 1024.

Ver. 27. Fair Jewels- Heb. “Instruments of thy decking."

Ver. 34. Thou shalt even drink, &c.—This is very strong language, and intimates, after drinking fram the cup, that she should break the cup, and tear her breasts with its fragments.