And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof:

Because they sell the righteous for silver,

And the needy in return for sandals:

They bruise the head of the poor in the dust of the earth,

And turn aside the way of the humble:

And a man and his father go in unto the same damsel,
To pollute † mine holy name:

And they stretch themselves on garments taken to
pledge.

Near every altar,

Hebr. the name of mine holiness.

been, that Pul invaded it in the reign of Uzziah; 2 Kings xv. 19; and that, in less than half a century after the first Assyrian invasion, it was subverted by Shalmaneser. 2 Kings xvii. 6.

---sandals] So c. viii. 6. Even for so inconsiderable a price as that specified.

7. bruise] Houbigant says that the true reading is from terere; that the has been introduced by eastern scribes from the Arabic form; and that it is marked with a circle above it in MSS. as a suspicious letter. Vulg. 6. Syr. render according to the sense of : and Ps. lvi. 1, 2. lvii. 3, ó. translate NW by aTaTaTv, as if it had that sense in the Hebrew. Sce also Vulg. ó. c. viii. 4. That some verbs are used with ≥, see c. iv. 11. ix. 13. Ez. xviii. 32, compared with v. 23.

---turn aside] From right and justice. See c. v. 12. Isai. x. 1. xxix. 21.

---the same damsel] Houbigant observes that ó. have go

αυτην παιδισκην.

προς την

To pollute] To treat me as if I was not a holy and fearful God. Ezek. xx. 39. Or, by giving occasion of reproach among the heathen. Ezek. xx. 9. For the change from the participle to the preter tense, see Isai. xxix. 21. Amos, v. 7,

12. vi. 6.

8. ---stretch themselves] Bow themselves down; in the force of the conjugation Hithpahel, which this Hebrew verb wants. See Ps. cxxv. 5, according to the Greek, Latin, and English versions: et deflectentes se. The sense is, that they recline at an idolatrous banquet. See Spencer de leg. Hebr. iii. c. vii.

---taken to pledge] Retained contrary to the law. Ex. xxii. 26, 7.

And drink the wine of men punished by unjust
fines,

In the house of their gods. (early alter v. 8
Yet destroyed I the Amorite from before them,
Whose height was as the height of the cedars,
And he was strong as the oaks:

Yet destroyed I his fruit from above, and his roots
from beneath.

Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
And led you in the desert forty years;

That ye might possess the land of the Amorite.
And I raised up of your sons for prophets,
And of your young men for Nazarites.
Is it not even thus,

O ye sons of Israel, saith Jehovah?
But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink:
And ye commanded the prophets,
Saying, Prophesy not.

Or, unjustly fined.

---punished by unjust fines] The law allowed of pecuniary amercements in some cases. Ex. xxi. 22. Deut. xxii. 19. But the prophet speaks of wine purchased with money arising from iniquitous mulets.

In this verse the future tense is twice affected by the dis

tant au.

9. The image is a grand and natural one:

Ηριπε δ, ως οτε τις δρυς ήριπεν, η αχερωνίς,

Με πιτυς βλωθρή, την τ ουρεσι τεκίονες ανδρες
Εξέταμον πελεκεσσι γεηκεσι, νηιον είναι.

Ille, mordaci velut icta ferro

Pinus, aut impulsa cupressus euro,
Procidit late.

Il. xiii. 359.

Hor. Od. L. iv. vi.

So virgil compares the destruction of Troy to the cutting down of an ancient ornus, or mountain ash; and the fall of Entellus to that of a pine. En. ii. 626. v. 447.

The prophet diversifies and continues the image with great beauty.

11. Nazarites] Persons separated to God by certain cercmonies: Numb. vi.: and particularly commanded to refrain frem wine. Ib. v. 3,

Therefore behold I will press your place,
As a § loaded corn-wain presseth its sheaves,
And flight shall perish from the swift,
Neither shall the strong establish his force;
And the mighty shall not deliver himself,
Neither shall be that handleth the bow stand;
And the swift of foot shall not deliver himself,
Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself:
And he that establisheth his heart among the mighty,
Shall flee away naked in that day, saith Jehovah.

§ Hebr. full.

13. ---press] I give pyn and pyn an active sense; as the word of the same form has in Syr. and Chald. See Cast. lex. See also the Syriac and Chaldee versions of this passage.

"Active sumitur in Hiphil, ut et py." Secker.

---your place] See the original word, Ex. x. 23. xvi. 29. Judges vii. 21. i Sam. xiv. 9. 2 Sam. vii. 10. Hab. iii, 16. Zech. xii. 6.

By a full corn-drag I understand one fully laden, so as to make it weighty.

The pronouns may be referred to y: sibi manipulos, i. e. suos manipulos: or we may suppose it redundant, as 15, Cantic. ii. 11. Hos. viii. 9. Isai. xxxi. 8, 7, ib. xl. 9.: or we may suspect its genuineness; as there is no trace of it in the versions or Chald.; and as it resembles the close of the foregoing word.

Our marginal rendering is, I will press your place, as a cart full of sheaves presseth. Quod plenum sibi est manipulis. And Houbigant renders, Ego igitur isum locum, ubi estis, ita calcabo ut calcat manipulos plenum plaustrum.

I am pressed---] "They are said to weary God. Isai. i. 14. xliii. 24. Mal. ii. 17. But there is no authority for using the word here passively. And the next verse being joined to this by makes it more natural that this should begin to express their punishment." Secker.

14. --swift] Here the swift is opposed to the strong; and v. 16, to him that rideth on a swift beast. I suppose that the four last verses of this chapter refer to the inextricable calamities caused by the earthquake. See c. i. 1.

---among the mighty] Syr. as the mighty
15. himself] One MSS. supplies wi.

22.

1

CHAP. III.

HEAR this word which Jehovah hath spoken concerning you, O ye sons of Israel; even || concerning all the family which I brought up from the land of Egypt; saying:

2 You only have I known

From among all the families of the earth:
Therefore will I visit upon you

All your iniquities.

3

Can two go together,

5

Unless they meet by appointment?

When he hath no prey?

Will the young lion utter his voice out of his den,
If he have not taken any thing?

Can a bird fall into a snare upon the earth,

1. O ye sons] The Ixx and Arab. read . "O house of Israel" which is the reading of many MSS.

---family] Used also for people or nation: Jer. viii. 3. Mic. ii. 3.

2.-known] Acknowledged by revealing myself to you, and protecting you.

3. Can two, &c.] As a journey, in which two engage, naturally supposes a settled meeting; so the denouncing of God's designs by his prophets shews that he has made himself known to them.

---meet] "

Tywgiowory cautas. ó. T." Secker.

4. roar] Naturalists assert that, when the lion sees his prey, he roars before he rushes on it: and that at this roaring many animals shew great fear. See v. 8. He likewise roars over his prey. The sense seems to be, As the lion roareth on account of his prey; so by my prophets I cry aloud against you, because ye are the objects of my vengeance.

See v. 8.

5. Can a bird, &c.] So I have prepared destruction against you; and the enemy shall not depart from you, till he have destroyed you. See the latter part of v. 6

Can---will] Shall---will? Perhaps, Will a snare rise, spring up? Secker.

9

of

na

d's

WW77

Publish it upon the palaces in Ashdod,
And upon the palaces in the land of Egypt:

And say:

6. Shall a trumpet, &c.] As the people run together through fear, when the signal of an approaching enemy is made; so let my warning strike the Israelites with terror.

---evil] Shall the evil of earthquakes, of unfruitful seasons, of hostile incursions, befal my people without my special appointment?

7. doeth] The Hebrew future has often the frequentative force: "is wont to do."

8. The lion, &c.] The awful admonitions uttered by the prophets are as natural a consequence of God's command, as fear is of the lion's roaring,

Fremitu leonis qualis audito tener

Timidum juvencus applicat matri latus:
At ille sævus, matre summota, leo
Prædam minorem morsibus vastis premens
Frangit, vehitque; talis e nostro sinu
Te rapiet hostis.

Sen. Troad. 794.

9. Lupon the palaces] i. e. the flat roofs of the palaces, the usual place of publishing events. Matth. x. 27. See Bishop Lowth on Isai. xxii. 1.

----in Ashdod] “Er Accugins ó n. Recte. ut videtur: nam sæpe Gay cum : et Azoto excidium prædictum fuit; c. i. 8." Secker.

--And say] I suppose this to be extra metrum. See c. viii. 5.