15

16

Repenting is hidden from mine eyes.
Though he was fruitful among his brethren,
There shall come an eastwind, a
* mighty wind
shall come up from the desert;

And his spring shall become dry,
And his fountain shall be † dried up.

As to him, the treasure of all his ‡ pleasant vessels
shall be spoiled:

Samaria shall be made desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God:

They shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces; and their women with child shall be ripped up.

* Hebr. a wind of Jehovah.

Or. exhausted.

vessels of desire.

Syr. has stimulus, from opy, and Ar. spina, see Cast. lex. 7, and Vulg. morsus: but how they read, the true notion of of which, according to Cast. lex. is excisio, confractio tua, I cannot conjecture. Perhaps, they transposed the clauses. vix, or vin, victory, is a general idea implied in op.

St. Paul naturally applies to the resurrection what the prophet says of future national happiness.

Repenting] Change of purpose; my veracity being con

cerned.

15. was fruitful] One MS. reads ing may have been . The word

: and the true readN is derived from

to be fruitful. The versions either read ' separated, or, as Pocock thinks, gave the sense of the Arab. ¬ secuit. Because Ephraim set up a different worship, there shall come, &c. But the former reading makes the passage much more beautiful.

There shall come] "6. legebantxa Kuglog" Secker.
And his spring-] V. 6. Är. Syr, render:

And shall dry up his spring,

And shall exhaust his fountain.

Seventeen MSS. and one edition read " which may be pointed in Hiphil, as may also nm.

-him] Ephraim.

-his pleasant vessels] 6. Ar. supply the pronoun, and read non, of his desire. "Cum in oriente rarissimæ essent aquæ vivæ et scaturientes, fons aquarum poetis erat imago summæ felicitatis et abundantia rerum optimarum," Bahrdt.

CHAP. XIV.

TURN, O Israel, unto Jehovah thy God;
For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

1

2

Take with you words,

And turn unto Jehovah,

3

4

1.

Say unto him all of you:

Pardon iniquity: let us receive good:
That we may render the fruit of our lips.
Assyria will not save us:

We will not ride on horses:

And we will no more say, Ye are our Gods,
To the work of our hands.

For from thee the fatherless obtaineth mercy.
I will heal their turning away from me, I will
love them freely:

§ Or, by.

iniquity] Ten MSS. and two editions ready, as ó. 2. Say] Five editions and many MSS. read with V. Syr. 17281. -all of you] This is Houbigant's way of pointing the sen

tence.

-let us receive] Houbigant reads p. See Chald.

-the fruit of our lips] The phrase, as it stands, is not Hebrew; because the calves should be in statu constructo. Jos. Mede, p. 282, and Le Clerc on Hebr. xiii. 15, read Unown, fruit from our lips. 6. Ar. read the fruit of our lips, and Syr. the fruit of your lips, as if they omitted. See Hebr. xiii.

15.

3. We will not ride] Three editions and many MSS. read by, and upon, with Syr. The kings of the Israelites were forbidden to multiply horses: Deut. xvii. 16. See Isai. xxxi. 1. -from thee] So Noldius. A te auctore.

-the fatherless] Such might the Israelites be justly called in their captivity.

4 I will heal-] From these words to the end of v. 8, Jehovah graciously answers the prayer of his people, supposed to be addressed to him during their captivity. And the dramatic turn, from v. 1. to the close of the chapter, is very beautiful.

-turning away] V. 6. read plurally their turnings away a. This was done by the captivity. The Jews have not been idolaters since. "Michaelis reads fracturam eorum.” Mr. Woide. "I will restore their conversion. I will love them

5

6

7

For mine anger is turned away from him.
I will be as the dew to Israel:

He shall blossom as the lily:

And he shall strike his roots as Lebanon.
His suckers shall spread,

And his glory shall be as the olive-tree,

And his smell as Lebanon.

They that will sit under his shadow shall return:
They shall revive as corn,

They shall break out as a vine,

The scent of which shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

Heb. memorial.

gratuitously; for mine anger is departed from me." Horsley's ver. Note. "I take conversion as a collective noun, for converts; like captivity, for the captives, and dispersion, for the dispersed. The converted nation God promises to restore to his favour, and to a situation of prosperity and splendour." Horsley.

5. strike] . Baru. See also Ar. Syr. and Cast. lex. Houbigant ingeniously conjectures D and he shall extend. The sense is, He shall be as firmly rooted as a mountain. Sub ipsis radici bus montium consedit. Sal. B. Cat. §. 57.

Mare montis ad ejus
Radices frangit fluctus.

Lucretius of Etna, vi. 695.

6. —as Lebanon] Though cedars have a fragrant smell, I prefer reading, as frankincense, with Chald.

7. -as corn] Perhaps 17 which, when committed to the ground, seems to die. 6. have (noovlai nai pebuobncarlas : which may be considered as a double rendering, one translator having read and another . This latter reading suggests for 17: "they shall be watered as a garden." The exigence of the place seems to require a comparison. One MS. adds win. They shall live on corn and choice wine."

-wine of Lebanon] Il seroit difficile de trouver ailleurs du vin plus excellent que celui qu'on nous presenta; ce qui nous fit juger, que la reputation des vins du Liban, dont il est parlé dans un Prophete est très bien fondé. La Roque Itiner. Syr. & Liban. p. 18. Quoted by Manger loc. "They shall return. Sitting under his shadow, they shall abound in corn. They shall germinate like the vine, [and] be famous as the wine of Lebanon." Horsley's ver.

20

9

What hath Ephraim to do any more with idols? I have heard him; and I have seen him as a flourishing fir-tree.

From me is thy fruit found.

Who is wise, that he may understand these things?
And prudent, that he may know them?

For the ways of Jehovah are right,
And the just will walk in them:

But transgressors shall fall in them.

Ephraim. what hath he to do.

. מה לו Lege

At Jon. et

8. What hath Ephraim—] I read ei for mihi, with ở Arab. 68 14. avt ó. 1. Recte." Secker. Syrus supplent. "Ephraim dicet: quid mihi &c.,' Bahrdt. I have heard him] We may better read the Hebrew thus: "I have heard him, I have seen him, &c. as ó MS. A. For the punctuation see Syr. Chald. "Ephraim! What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered him. And I will make him flourish, like a green fir-tree. From me thy fruit is supplied." Horsley's ver.

.עניתיו אשורכו

9. and the just] "For straight and even are the ways of Jehovah, and in them shall the justified proceed, but revolters shall stumble." Horsley's ver. Note. " is properly a forensic word, and signifies a person found not guilty, acquitted, and justified upon a trial. Hence in a theological sense, it is a person found innocent in the sight of God. The plural y except where the matter of the discourse is relative to mere secular transactions, signifies the justified,' those that are justified by faith in the Redeemer coming, or to come, and clothed with his righteousness." Horsley.

fall in them] They shall stumble and fall in the midst of that light, those directions or commandments, which ought to have guided them.

The five last lines are spoken in the prophet's own person; and form an apt conclusion to his prophecies.

THE BOOK OF

МІСАН.

CHAP. I.

1 THE Word of Jehovah which came to Micah the Morasthite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah: which * came unto him in a vision concerning Samaria and Jerusalem,

2

Hear, O yet people, all of you:

Hearken, O land, and all § that are therein.

Hebr. he saw. + peoples. + them. § and her fulness.

1.-Micah] Of the kingdom of Judah, as he only makes mention of kings who reigned over that country. I suppose that he prophesied further on, in the reign of Hezekiah, than Hosea did: though c v. 5, was written before the captivity of the ten tribes, which happened in the sixth year of Hezekiah.. It is plain, from c. i. 1, 5, 9, 12, 13, that he was sent both to Israel and to Judah. Like Amos and Hosea, he reproves and threatens a corrupt people with great spirit and energy. See c. ii. 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10. iii. 2, 3, 4. vi. 10-16. vii. 2, 3, 4. And, like Hosea, he inveighs against the princes and prophets with the highest indignation. See c. iii. 5-7. 9-12. vii. 3. And the reader will observe that these similar topics are treated of by each prophet with remarkable variety and copiousness of expression.

Some of his prophecies are distinct and illustrious ones: as c. ii. 12, 13. iii. 12. iv. 1—4. 10. v. 2, 3, 4. vi. 13. vii. 8, 9, 10. We may justly admire the beauty and elegance of his manner: ii 12, 13. iv. 1, 2, 3, and particularly the two first lines of v. 4. His animation: i. 5, l. 3, 4. ii. 7, 10, l. 1. iv. 9.

His strength of expression: i. 6, 8. ii. 3. l. 3, 4. iii. 2, 3, 12. vii. 1, 2, 4. l. 1. 19. l. 2.

His pathos i. 16. ii. 4.

His sublimity. i. 2, 3, 4. iii. 6, 12. iv. 12. l. 3. 13. v. 8. vi. 1, 9-16. vii. 16, 17.

Morasthite] Sec v. 14, 15. Maresha is placed in Judah. Josh. xv. 44. 2 Chron. xi. 8.

-which came] "Which was delivered to him in a vision.” Dr. Wheeler,

2. land] Of the Hebrews.