9

10

O fortress of the daughter of Sion, thy time shall

come:

And the former dominion shall return,

Even the kingdom, to the daughter of Jerusalem.
And now why dost thou cry out loudly?

Is there no king in thee?

Hath thy counsellor perished?

*

For pangs, have seized thee, as a woman in travail. Be in pangs, and bring forth, O daughter of Sion, as a woman in travail:

For now thou shalt go forth from the city, and shalt dwell in the field:

And thou shalt go even unto Babylon; there shalt thou be rescued:

Hebr. crying out.

O fortress] See mention of Ophel, Neh. iii. 26, 27. xi. 21. 2 Chron. xxvii. 3. xxxiii. 14. Isai. xxxii. 14.

--of the daughter of Sion] Possibly, Belonging to the tribe of Judah.

-thy time] I read with Syr. ny for 7.

Syr. legerunt ny. Confer vii. 12." Secker.

-dominion] On the return from Babylon. Or, on the coming of the Messiah, and the future grand restoration; if Bethlehem be spoken of.

"This verse seems to say, that to the family of David, denoted first by the place from whence it sprang, then by the place where it settled, the former dominion should come and arrive, the kingdom to [or of, for so Syr. Chald.] the daughter of Sion. This agrees well with what is said of Christ Luke i. 32, 33. 6. add that this kingdom shall come from Babylon. See v. 10." Secker.

9. And now] ó. Ar. Chald. Houbigant, five MSS. and a sixth originally, read ny. But see c. v. 1.

loudly] Six MSS. and three editions read y, which may be the infinitive clangendo, as a Prov. xxiii. 1. The word may be used in a middle sense, for any cry; whether arising from danger, sorrow, or joy.

-no king] Jehovah is thy king. Jer. viii. 19.

10. bring forth] see Ps. xxii. 10..

-in the field] See Hos. xii. 9.

11

12

13

There shall Jehovah redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

And now many nations are gathered against thee:
Who say, Let her be defiled; and let our eye see
its desire on Sion.

But these know not the thoughts of Jehovah,
Neither understand they his counsel:

For he hath assembled them as a sheaf to the
threshing floor.

Arise and tread out the grain, O daughter of Sion:
Thine horn will I make iron,

And thine hoofs will I make brass.

And thou shalt beat in pieces § many || people;
And thou shalt devote the gain from them unto
Jehovah ;

And their substance, unto the Lord of the whole
earth.

-there] Eight or ten MSS. and Syr. read , and there, twice in this v. And ó. translate the second nat ExEDEV.

11. many nations] The Idumeans, Ammonites, Moabites, Philistines, Babylonians.

-eye see] So Ps. liv. 7. lix. 10. tions ready, with V. Syr. Chald.

Two MSS. and two edi

12. know not] See Isai. x. 7. All these are instruments in the hand of Jehovah; and shall be destroyed in their turn.

13. —O daughter of Sion] Some of these nations were subdued by the Maccabees. 1 Macc. v. 3, 6.

-horn] With which thou shalt push thy enemies. It is part of the allegory, which is beautifully taken up from the last line

of v. 12.

-thou shalt devote] The versions and Chald. read on. -the gain] "And thou shalt devote unto Jehovah their treasure." Dr. Wheeler.

сс

CHAP. V.

1 BUT now assemble thyself, O daughter, in *

2

troops:

They have laid siege against us:

They have smitten with a rod upon the cheek
The Judge of Israel.

And thou, Bethlehem-Ephrata,

Art thou too little to be among the leaders of Judah?

* Hebr. a troop.

1. But now] Houbigant observes that Ar. read Пny: so does one MS.

-O daughter] 6. MS. Ald. and Ar. add of Ephraim: and Chald. renders per turmas.

They have laid] Or, siege is laid. See on Jon. iii. 7. -upon the cheek] A great indignity. οταν επι κοῤῥης. Demosth. in Mid.

The Judge] Hoshea may be supposed to have suffered such contumely, when Samaria was taken: 2 Kings xvii. 6: or, Zedekiah, on the taking of Jerusalem: ib. xxv. 7.

2. And thou] Some: art thou: but no old version. Pocock in porta Mosis says, Fors, quæ minor fuisti quam ut &c. which seems the meaning of 6. But I find not in this sense, though D often. Parum est, te numerari. Cocceius. It may be translated: thou shalt, or art to be small. For is sometimes instead of a future. See Nold. Pocock proposes, after some Jews of great character, that yy may signify here, the contrary to its usual meaning; as he shews many words, especially in Arab. have the contrary meaning. But this might lead those Jews, who wrote Arabic, to think so here too easily.On the whole, there seems but slender proof of this contrary signification." Secker

-Ephrata] The Greek translator, quoted by St. Matthew, seems to have read Bethlehem-Judah, as Judg. xvii. 7. Or, in the haste of writing, a transcriber may have anciently substituted Judah for Ephrata; each word being properly and naturally subjoined to Bethlehem. See the Greek: Josh. xv. 59.

Art thou too little-] See Syr. which may be pointed interrogatively, Parva tu quæ sis? The question implies the negative; which is inserted Matth. ii. 6: and also in the Arabic version. "MS. Copt. x, non, addit." Mr. Woide. Houbigant conjectures that we should read » vys nequaquam minima es.

Out of thee shall come forth unto me
One who is to be a Ruler in Israel:

And his goings forth have been from of old, from the days of hidden ages.

This reading is favoured by the Arabic, non parva es. The note on 5 in Sixtus Quintus's edition of 6. Romæ MDLXXXVII, is, "Alii vero libri habent 5s, quod est apud Tertullianum & Cyprianum." And vers. ant. Itala has " nequaquam minima.” Kenn. diss. gen. §. 77. So Origen and Justin. ib. §. 80. 2. See also Dr. Owen on the Septuagint: p. 15. 6. ed. Pachom. have also 50s, on which rendering it must be observed that may be interrogative: as Matth. ix. 15.

of thousands in Israel, several times in Numb. and Josh. See also 1 Sam. xxiii. 23. x. 19." Secker.

Both the Hebrew, the Vulg. and the Greek, as they now stand, are capable of being pointed interrogatively.

-among the leaders] The vau in D may easily have been omitted, as Jer. xiii. 21, Gen. xxxvi. 30. Or, "among the thousands;" the large bodies governed by Chiliarchs. See Capellus: and 2 Chron. i. 2.

Out of thee] Two editions of St. Matthew, Erasm. 1. and Ald. read ex σ μ. Then follows in the gospel a double translation of bys and stove, and a periphrasis of in Israel.

"omittunt Matth. Syr. Præfigunt yag Matth. Arab." Secker. -his goings forth] See Hos. vi. 3. His appearance: his displays of power. See John i. 1. Col. i. 16. "Ny-used of a people coming originally from such a place. Deut. ii. 23. of a person's setting out from a place to found an empire. Gen. X. 11. Here it must have one or both of these two meanings. "Y-Y' signifies nativity Gen. xxv. 25, 26. xxxviii. 28, 29. Is. xxxix. 7. Gen. xvii. 6. xxxv. 11. 2 Chron. xxxii. 21. Here it seems related to the preceding . May it then signify the person's original descent from Bethlehem being ancient, i. e. in David's time? This depends partly on the following words; and taking them to signify only antiquity, it may be said of all men thus, that their N are ancient, i. e. from Adam. But ancestors of no name are counted for none. But it is observed that one going forth is spoken of as future and another as past, which suits none but Christ, who being yoT is properly But qu. where the scripture hints him to be so on any such account. thus joined means only words in the common sense, or intentions expressed. Chald. expresses

.שפתיו or מוצא פיו

S

4

Therefore will he † deliver them up, until the time when she that bringeth forth hath brought forth; And until the residue of their brethren shall be converted, together with the sons of Israel. And he shall stand, and shall feed his flock, in the strength of Jehovah;

In the § majesty of the name of Jehovah his God;
And they shall be converted: for now shall he be

great

+ Hebr. give.

the word thus, Whose name has been spoken, or foretold:" 6., Syr. singularly. If it signify simply nativity, the plural perhaps may denote the eminence of Christ's eternal generation. See Bp. Chandler's defence: p. 153, 154." Secker.

66

.Ps מעולם Hab. i. 12, and מקדם God is said to be מקדם עולם or קדם either בימי or מימי xc. 2. But he is never said to be

He is said to have formed a thing ' 2 Kings xix. 25: and as that doing was only purposing or foretelling, some think the

But we

מקדס of this person was his being foretold מוצאות

rightly translate that, of ancient time; which this phrase signifies Lam. i. 7. Is. xxiii. 7. and in this prophet vii. 20, and never any thing else; and so Ps. xliv. 2, and p Is. li. 9. And signifies the same, Ps. lxxvii. 11, and cxliii. 5, Is. xlv. 21. by is only here. But by Is. Ixiii. 9, 11. mean former time, and by as in former time, in this prophet vii. 14, and Am. ix. 11. Nor does by ever signify more, God indeed is said to be on Is xliii. 13." Secker.

3. will he deliver them up] Sc. God. Arab. reads,
Dann wilt thou deliver them up.

―their brethren] So ó. Ar. Chald.

-together with] See by Nold. §. 9. The sense is: God will not fully vindicate and exalt his people, till the Virginmother shall have brought forth her son; and till Judah and Israel, and all the true sons of Abraham among their brethren the Gentiles, be converted to Christianity.

"All the Jews whose writings we have apply this text to the Messiah; though it seems by Theophylact on 2 Matth. that some Jews formerly understood Zorobabel. Poc." Secker.

4. he shall stand] The Ruler, mentioned v. 2.

feed] Instruct and govern his followers.

-they shall be converted] The Jewish people. a one MS, See V, Syr. Chald. Here is an instance in which a MS.