9

10

11

And I will destroy it from off the face of the earth.
Yet I will not utterly destroy

The house of Jacob, saith Jehovah.

For, behold, I will command,

And I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations,

As one that sifteth corn with a sieve:

And a grain shall not fall upon the ground.

But all the sinners of my people shall die by the

sword,

Who say, Evil shall not draw near, nor come t suddenly, on our account.

In that day I will raise up the fallen tabernacle
of David,

And I will close up the breaches thereof:
And I will raise up its ruins,

And I will build it as in the days of old:

9. --sift] Or shake together, and toss to and fro, so as completely to mingle.

"Pro

---one that sifteth] For the idiom see on Jon. iii. 7. test excidisse ante vel post 3. Sola Vulgata frumentum habet." Secker.

---a grain] One signification of the Arabic root in Cast. lex. is frustrum rei: 18th sense.

Though I will thus mix the Israelites with distant nations, yet there shall be a general restoration of them to their own land. 10. ---all the sinners] The most secure and presumptuous sinners of the Israelites shall fall by the sword.

11. day] When I prevent a grain from perishing. Acts xv. 16, "In that day" is changed into Mera Tura avasida nai avold w is an Hebraism equivalent to, I will raise up, i. e. I will build again. The second hemistich," And I will close up the breaches thereof," is omitted. Ka avowow auty is a rendering of

as in the days כימי עולם and the two following words : ובניתיה

of old, are omitted.

---tabernacle] Elegantly, for the kingdom of David.

---breaches thereof] Read with V. 6. Ar. and Houbigant y and again. See the collated MSS. for the insertion of the former and of the second in this latter word.

12

13

That the residue of men may seek Jehovah,
And all the heathen § who are called by my name;
Saith Jehovah who doeth this.

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah,

That the plougher shall draw near to the reaper; And the treader of grapes, to the sower of the seed: § Hebr, over whom my name is called.

12. men] The true reading is, according to ó. Arab. Acts xv. 17. some MSS. of Syr. and Eusebius. See Kenn. diss. gen. §. 67. 81.

όπως

--seek Jehovah] The Alexandrine MS, of 6. hàs orwg av, and as Acts xv. 17: and Ar. has TOKU. The Aldine ed. of 6. and MSS. Pachom. have os xow Me : and thus discover how the genuine reading has been lost. In the present text N remains: the Aldine represents : and this, written contractedly, was substituted for : See on Jon. i. 2.

---doeth this] There is good external authority Acts xv. 17. for omitting avla.

On the restoration of the Jews after their captivity, the Messiah came, and the Gentiles [or the rest of mankind besides the Jews] were admitted into his church: and on the future grand restoration of the Jews, the borders of the Christian church will be enlarged among the Gentiles. Rom. xi. 12, 15.

13. draw near to] It is a lively way of expressing that the harvest and vintage should be copious and long in gathering. Professor Michaelis observes that ó. MS. A. Ar. and Syr. make this passage parallel to Lev. xxvi. 5. "The threshing shall reach unto the vintage." He proposes to read

triturans vindemiatorem, giving w the Arabic sense terere, conterere." Mr. Woide. I prefer 7 : Assequatur tritura vindemiam: or 7 : Assequatur triturans vindemiatorem. Harmer thinks that the perfect quiet and freedom from disturb.. ances in the country are also implied. The corn and grapes shall not be gathered in a state of immaturity, from fear of enemies. i. 90.

sower] Literally, the drawer forth of the seed out of the

basket.

---mountains--hills] These were the proper places for vine

yards.

Apertos

Bacchus amat colles.

Vir. Georg. ii. 112.

14

15

And the mountain shall drop sweet wine;
And all the hills shall melt.

And I will bring again the captivity of my peo-
ple Israel;

And they shall build the desolate cities, and shall inhabit them;

And they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof;

They shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit thereof.

And I will plant them upon their land;

And they shall no more be rooted up

From the land which I have given them,

Saith Jehovah thy God.

--sweet wine] From the trodden grape. See Harmer i. 386. Or, expressed from rich fruits. See Cantic. viii. 2. We have a parallel line Joel iii. 18.

---melt] They shall flow, as it were, with the abundance of wine produced on them. Joel iii. 18.

14. vineyards] See the contrast c. v. 11.

---the fruit thereof] Read with Houbigant and fourteen

פריהן .MSS

15.plant] This image is beautifully taken up from the foregoing verse.

---no more] This part of the prophecy will receive its completion on the future restoration of the Jews to their land. ---thy God] 6. Ar. read : which seems preferable. One MS. read so originally, "Saith the God Jehovah."

THE BOOK OF

HOSE A.

CHAP. 1.

I THE word of Jehovah which came to Hosea, the Son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz,

1. in the days] If we suppose that Hosea prophesied during the course of sixty-six years, and place him from the year 790 before Christ to the year 724, he will have exercised his office eight years in the reign of Jeroboam the second, thirtythree years in the reign of Uzziah, the entire reigns of Jotham and Ahaz, and three years in the reign of Hezekiah: but will not have survived the taking of Samaria.

Hosea is concise, sententious, and abrupt. It is his manner to omit the connexive and adversative particles; an observation which we should recollect when we observe them occasionally supplied by versions or manuscripts. These are among the causes of that obscurity for which he is remarkable: but the greatest difficulties arise from the corrupt readings which deform the printed text.

He chiefly addresses Israel; but introduces frequent mention of Judah. He not only inveighs against the vices of the people, but sharply arraigns the conduct of their kings, princes, and priests. Like many of the Hebrew prophets, he tempers denunciations of God's vengeance against an idolatrous and vicious people with promises of abundant mercies in store for them and his transitions from one of these subjects to the other are rapid and unexpected.

He abounds with short and lively comparisons: and, like the best Greek and Roman writers, often omits the particle of similitude. These comparisons he sometimes accumulates; in the spirit of that poetry which is most admired. See c. vi. 3, 4. ix. 10. xi. 11. xiii. 3. xiv. 5, 6, 7.

He has often a great force of expression. See c. i. 7. ii. 3, 18, 21, 22. iv. 2. vi. 5. xi. 4, l. 1. xii. 1, l. 1.

He is sometimes highly animated. See c. iv. 14. v, 8. viii. 1. ix. 5, 14. xiii. 10, 14.

Many beautiful passages occur in this prophet: as in the similies throughout: in the allegories c. ii. 2.-20. c. vii. 11, 12, c. viii. 7, 1. 2, 3, 4. c. x. 11, 12, 13. c. xiii. 15: in the pa

2

and Hezekiah, kings of Judah; and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel.

The beginning of the word of Jehovah by Hosea. And Jehovah said unto Hosea:

Go, take unto thee a wife of fornications, and children of fornications:

For the land hath committed great fornications in departing from Jehovah.

And he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim and she conceived, and bare him a son. And Jehovah said unto him:

thos: c. xi. 3, 1. 1, 2. and v. 8. 9: in the figures: c. xiii. 12. xiv. 2, 1. 5.

There are also some parts which are truly sublime: as c. v. 14, 15. viii. 7, l. 1. x. 8, l. 2. 3. xiii. 7, 8. 2. by Hosca] is used c. xii. 6. translators read.

God

Or, to Hosea: as 6. MS. Al. Syr: and as But perhaps, in the passage before us some "By or to. Numb. xii. 1-6." Secker. -a wife of fornications] A wife from among the Israelites, who are remarkable for spiritual fornication, or idolatry. was, as it were, an husband to Israel; and this chosen nation owed him the fidelity of a wife. See Ex. xxxiv. 15. Deut. xxxi. 16. Judg. ii. 17. Isai. liv. 5. Jer. iii. 14. xxxi. 32. Ez. xvi. 17. xxiii. 5, 27. c. ii, 5. See also Rev. xvii. 1, 2. He therefore says with indignation: Go, join thyself in marriage to one of those who have committed fornication against me and raise up children who, by the power of example, will themselves swerve to idolatry. c. v. 7.

-for the land-] I may justly use this language. For the land hath committed, or committeth, &c. "For the land is perpetually playing the wanton, forsaking Jehovah."

-to whore whores. This construction, in which the finite verb is connected with its own infinitive, for the most part expresses the perpetual repetition of the action, as a matter of daily practice and habit.

"Buxtorf's distinction, that when the infinitive is put first, this construction expresses the greater certainty and evidence of the thing; but when the infinitive follows, the continuance and frequent practice, seems to me to have no foundation. I think that, in either position of the infinitive, greater certainty, or greater frequency may be expressed, as the subject matter may require." Horsley.