and in favour]

myself known among them, when I have judged thee.

12 And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.

13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.

14 Thus saith the Lord God; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.

15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD. (N)

CHAP. XXXVI.

ALSO, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:

2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha! even the ancient high places are our's in possession:

3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made you desolate, and swallow

CHAP. XXXV.

[of Israel. ed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people :

4 Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, aud to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;

5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GoD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.

6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen.

7 Therefore, thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.

8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye

(N) Ezekiel resumes his prophecy against Edom.-Edom is here distinguished by the name of Mount Seir, which was the heritage of Esau, where he dwelt; (See Deut. ii. 5.) God had already (ch. xxv. 12.) devoted Edom to destruction on account of its "perpetual hatred" against Israel, as we have before observed; for though other nations, as well as the Jews, are promised

the recovery of their freedom after the fall of Babylon, no such favour is in reserve for Edom. Accordingly the nation has been annihilated; many thousands of them being destroyed by Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc. v.); and by this they were so weakened, that Hyrcanus, his nephew, compelled them to embrace the Jewish religion; after which we hear no more about them. (See Bishop Newton on the Proph. Diss. III.)

CHAP. XXXVI. Ver. 2. Ancient high placesthat is, Zion and Jerusalem. Boothroyd.

Ver. 3. Ye are taken up, &c.-Heb. "Are madeto come up on the lip of the tongue;" i. e. because ye are made the theme of talkers, or gossippers. See chap. xxxiii, 30.-—And are an infamy-Newcome, "And in the defaming of the people;" i. e. the common topic of the slanderer.

Ver. 5. With the joy, &c.-See chap. xxxv. 10, 12. Ver. 6, 7. Behold, I have spoken, &c.-Abp. Newcome says these verses may be thus pointed; " Behold I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury. Because ye have borne the shame of the heathen, therefore thus saith the Lord," &c.-I have lifted up mine hand-that is, "I have sworn."

Promises of] . shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.

9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown :

10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded.

11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and he shall know that I am the LORD.

12 Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no inore henceforth bereave them of men.

13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations;

14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord GOD.

15 Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither

CHAP. XXXVI.

-

[restoration shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord GOD. (O)

¶ 18 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed

woman.

18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:

19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.

21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.

22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake,

(0) Ver. 1 15. Farther Judgments against Edom and Judah, with the latter's restoration.-The Edomites (or Idumeans), during the Babylonish captivity, appear to have taken possession of the mountainous parts of Judea, and the fortified places on its borders, intending to exclude the Jews from returning at the conclusion of their captivity. The Prophet therefore uses the bold figure of prosopopoeia (or personification), and ascribing to them feelings similar to his own, congratulates them on the prospect of being rid of their tyrannical and idolatrous possessors, and of re

turning to their former state of fruitfulress and verdure, of which the crimes of the people had deprived them.

As we are now about to consider the final restoration of the Jews, a question here arises, whether their conversion is to take place before or after their return to their own land? But as it is promised even in this chapter, that when the children of Israel return to the Lord it shall be with one heart, and that a new heart, and under divine influences, we conceive this to be scarcely reconcileable with their coming back in a state of impenitence and unbelief. But see Rom. xi. 25, &c.

Ver. 8. At hand to come - that is, to come back from Babylon.

Ver. 12. No more bereave them of men-that is, by thine idolatries.

Ver. 13. Thou land devourest up men.-See Num. viii. 32.

Ver. 15, The shame-Newcome," The reproach."

Ver. 20. To them - Newcome," Concerning them." The Hebrew admits of both scuses: they were doubtless pointed at by the heathen, and reproached, not only with their captivity, but with their idolatry, as the cause of it.

Ver. 23. In you-Boothroyd, "By you."

to the house]

which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

291 will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.

31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe your

[of Israel. selves in your own sight for your iniquities, and for your abominations.

32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.

33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.

34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.

35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.

36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.

37 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.

38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men and they shall know that I am the LORD. (P)

CHAP. XXXVII.

THE hand of the LORD was upon

me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.

(P) Ver. 16-38. Israel's conversion and restoration. - We have above expressed our opinion that the Jews will return to their own land a converted people; and indeed we scarcely know any other motive that could induce them to return. The rich among them are the money-merchants of Europe, and have no taste for agriculture, nor wish to change their situation: the poor are reduced to the most sordid and mercenary habits: and by their own accounts, a great part of both rich and poor are sunk into principles of infidelity,

and weary of waiting for their Messiah. Nothing, therefore, short of the influences of God's Holy Spirit, vouchsafed in some remarkable inauner and degree, can be sufficient to excite them to brave the danger and fatigue of returning from the most distant parts of the world.

We must remember also, that this return implies a cordial and complete reconciliation with the converted Gentiles; for the blessings here promised are to the spiritual seed of Abraham and of the promise. (Rom, ix. 6-8.).

9 I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.

10 Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.

11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.

12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.

13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters, neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.

14 Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD.

15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I small smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD.

16 This is the lamentation where with they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

17. It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the

[against Egypt.

famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.

19 Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised,

20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.

21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.

22 Ashur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:

23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.

24 There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.

25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in

the midst of them that be slain.

26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.

27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncir

Ver. 9. Ver-Heb. "Provoke." Ver. 14. Rivers to run like oil—that is, clear and smooth.

Ver. 15. Destitute, &c.- Heb. "Desolate from the fulness thereof."

Ver. 17 Of the month- that is, "of the first month." Newcome.

Ver. 19. Whom dost thou pass (or surpass) in

beauty?-This we think best agrees with ver. 2 and 18 in the preceding chapter. Abp. Newcome, and others, however, on the authority of some ancient versions, render this line very differently; C down from the pleasant waters," meaning those of the Nile, which were the boast of Egypt.

Ver. 21. The strong, &c.-Compare Isa. xiv. 918. Ver. 27. The uncircumcised. The priests and

cumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads; but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.

29 There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.

30 There be the prir.ces of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.

CHAP. XXXII.

[watchmen.

31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.

32 For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD. (K)

CHAP. XXXIII.

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

2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:

3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

4 Then whosoever heareth the sound

(K) A Lamentation for Pharaoh and for Egypt.-Pharaoh is here compared to the liou, the monarch of the forest; aud to the crocodile, the tyrant of the Nile: it is yet declared that he shall be taken in the snare of the Almighty (for even lions and crocodiles may be snared), and his flesh given to the meaner beasts;—that is, his kingdom divided into petty states, and his riches plundered by the roving tribes of Arabia, properly compared to birds of

prey.

The king of Babylon is, however, the primary instrument of this judgment, and his army is described as consisting of "the terrible among the nations ;" and such is the terror inspired by them, that not only is the country immediately deserted, both by man and beast, but the lights of heaven are poetically represented as extinguished, and the skies clothed with blackness.

In another prophecy, introduced ver. 17., the fall of Egypt is related in terms very similar to those used by Isaiah (ch. xiv.) in describing the subsequent fall of Babylon. This lamentation opens in terms very similar to those in the preceding chapter (ver. 2); "Whom art thou like in thy greatness?" So here "Whom dost thou pass (that is, surpass) in beauty?" However great, however beautiful, "Go down " to the grave, "and be thou laid with the uncircumcised" in the field of battleunpitied and unburied.-The king is then introduced below the grave, into the region of shades, to take his station among the mighty shades of former ages; where their weapons of war, now done with, are laid in silence beneath their heads. But wherefore are they here deposited? Is it not as the witnesses of their crimes.? They "bear their shame," and their iniquities lie "upon their bones" till the great day of retribution.

principal persons among the Egyptians, it may be recollected, practised circumcision. They are gone down to heil (Sheol) with their weapons of war -Heb. The weapons of their war;' "the proper depository of such weapons!

Ibid. They have laid their swords under their heads." In Mingrelia" (which Bochart considers