5 The table deckt-the watch set-eat, drink*-— Rise, princes! gripe the oiled shield." 6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Come, let him that standeth on the watch-tower report what he seeth. 7 And he seeth one-drawn-in-a-car (7) with a pair of riders, Drawn by an ass, drawn by a camel. And he hearkeneth out with great diligence. 8 And he crieth, My Lord, I am a [very] lion; Standing on the watch continually all the day, 'And fixed upon my station every night.' I have endeavoured to imitate the somnambular phraseology of the original. 5 Literally, anoint the shield.' I suppose these shields were of leather, not overlaid with metal like the shields of Homer's heroes; and were oiled to preserve the toughness of the leather, which otherwise growing hard and brittle, would have been apt to split with the stroke of a dart, and to give a passage to the weapon, Compare 2 Sam. i, 21. Or they might be oiled, though covered with metal, to make the surface slippery, that the weapons of the enemy might slide upon them. 9 And behold, hither cometh 6 The man drawn in a car with a pair of riders : And all the graven images of her gods are dashed 10 O my thrashing, and the corn of my floor! What I have heard from Jehovah of hosts The God of Israel, I have reported unto you. CHAP. XXII. I agree with Houbigant that the prophecy contained in the first fourteen verses of this chapter relates to the siege and capture of Jerusalem in the reign of Zedekiah. The infidelity and impenitence of the Jewish people mentioned in the 11th and 13th verses, and the utter ruin threatened in the 14th, suit not the times of Hezekiah, nor the event of Sennacherib's expedition. The measures of de swereth,' often signifies only that the speaker speaks in reference to a certain subject, or upon a certain occasion, expressed, or to be collected at least, from the preceding discourse. fence described in the 9th, 10th, and 11th verses, are such precautions as would naturally be used at any time when a siege was apprehended, and cannot be understood to mark the times of Hezekiah in particular, notwithstanding what the sacred history records of his preparations for a siege. Verse 3.-" they are bound by the archers-are bound." For D, in both places, read, with Hou-"they are fled from the bow-are fled." Bishop Lowth. ,הסרו,bigant and Bishop Lowth Verse 5.-"breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountain." Mr Parkhurst's translation of this passage deserves attention:" of confused justling, or hurly-burly, and of shouting on the mountain." See his Lexicon, P, I. and PP. Verse 6.-" with chariots of men and horsemen." For, read, with Houbigant and Bishop Lowth, ארם And Elam takes up the quiver; On chariots with riders [comes] the Syrian, The Cyræan uncovers the shield. Verse 8. "And he discovered the covering of Judah;" rather, "And the veil of Judah shall be [or was] taken off." See Parkhurst, P. Verse 14. Notwithstanding the difficulty which Bishop Lowth finds in this passage, it seems to me very similar to 1 Sam. ii, 27, and iii, 21; and I am persuaded no emendation is necessary. "Jehovah is revealed;" that is, the purpose of Jehovah is revealed. Verse 16. " as he that heweth, &c.a rock." Literally, "hewings on high are his sepulchre, cuttings in the rock his habitation." That is, his sepulchre is hewn out on high, his habitation is cut out in the rock. Verse 17. " will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee." The expressions in the original are of very doubtful interpreta tion. Verse 18. "He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball." Castalio has rendered the original with more exactness, I think, than any other interpreter: "Convolutum tanquam pilam versando rotabit." 17, 18. Upon considering the separate senses of ,namely ,צנף and ,עטה or עט נטל or טל the roots טל or, to cast forth, to project; y or by, to hurry away, to toss away;', to cause to spin like a ball in the air,' I suspect that the verses should be thus divided: הנה יהוה מטלטלן טלטלה גבר ועטר עטה צנוף : וצנפך צנופה כדור אל ארץ רחבת ודים: 17 Behold Jehovah is about to cast thee forth with a giant's force, And he will toss thee a spinning toss. 18 He will send thee spinning like a round ball Into a wide open country. . CHAP. XXIII. That the first capture of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar is the particular subject of this prophecy, is evident from the general tenor of it, the calamity predicted being described as the first the Tyrian state had endured, and in particular from the 12th verse. The prophet however confines not himself to the fortunes of the single town of Tyre, but he touches upon the general blow given to commerce by the destruction of that universal mart, and upon the sufferings of the Tyrians in their distant colonies, under the irresistible arms of the Babylonian conqueror. 1 The burthen of Tyre. |