6 Ho! Ho! | flee From the land of the north, saith Jehovah. O thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon, 8 For thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: After the obtaining of glory hath he sent me For he that toucheth you Toucheth the apple of his eye. 9 For behold, I will shake mine hand * upon them, 10 And they shall be a spoil unto their † servants: And ye shall know that Jehovah God of hosts hath sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Sion: For, behold, I will come, Hebr. and flee. * Or, over. + Or, slaves. 6. towards the four winds] Five MSS. and two ed. read לארבע and two more copies read so originally, Syr. has : בארבע V. in quatuor ventos. 7. flee-escape] The Jews, who still remained in Persia, Chaldea and Babylon, are called on to hasten into their own land. See Ezra vii. viii. "Prideaux thinks this exhortation relates to the siege of Babylon under Darius Hystaspis." Secker. 3. After the obtaining of glory] Syr. renders the Hebrew literally post honorem. The Latin translator in the London polyglot gives his sense of this; ad prosequendum honorem. Chald. has: post honorem quem vobis adducturum se dixit. The other versions represent the Hebrew as it now stands. Houbigant reads in, He who possesseth glory. For Secker proposes ; v. 5. "I will be glory. He hath sent &c." The best sense which I can make of this obscure place is; Jehovah hath sent me to follow after glory; i. e. for the purpose of acquiring glory to his people in restraining and humbling their enemies. A great calamity was soon to befal Babylon, when Darius the son of Hystaspes besieged and took it. -his eye] "Mine eye:" Vulg. reading y. 9. unto their servants] As the Babylonians to the Medes and Persians, who were subdued by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. See on Haggai ii. 23. 1 And I will dwell † within thee, saith Jehovah. And shall be my people. And I will dwell within thee, and thou shalt know And will again choose Jerusalem. Be silent, O all flesh, before Jehovah : CHAP. III. * AND he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Jehovah : and † Satan stand2 ing at his right hand to be his adversary. And [the angel of] Jehovah said unto Satan, + Or, in the midst of. Hebr. unto me for a people. Hebr. land of holiness. *the habitation of his holiness. 10. Or. in the midst of. † the adversary. dwell within thee] As thy mighty defender. See v. 5. be joined unto Jehovah] Many were made proselytes to Judaism. The Edomites were converted in the time of John Hyrcanus. 12. -will possess] He will again be worshipped in his temple at Jerusalem; and hereafter will gloriously display himself in his holy city. Rev. xxi. 3, 11, 23. 13. Be silent] God's interposition in behalf of his people shall be manifest, strike their adversaries dumb, and impress all with awe and wonder. CHAP. III. 1. -he shewed] the angel mentioned in the former part of c. ii. 3. But ó. Ar. V. render, " And the Lord shewed me." This may be accounted for by supposing that the text stood ,, that is, " And Jehovah shewed me." 2. the angel of Syr. adds the word angel: and I think that it ought to be admitted into the text. Compare Jude 9. said unto Satan]" It appea s to me the most probable, that by Satan, or the Adversary, is here meant the adversaries of the Jewish nation in a body, or perhaps some leading person among them, Sanballat for instance, who strenuously opposed the rebuilding of the temple, and of course the restoration of the service of the sanctuary, and the reestablishment of Joshua in the exercise of his sacerdotal ministry." Blaney. 3 Jehovah rebuke thee, O Satan; Even Jehovah, who chooseth Jerusalem,rebuke thee, Is not this man a firebrand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, 4 and standing before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those who stood before him, saying; Take the filthy garments off him. Then he said unto him; See, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from 5 thee, and will clothe thee with goodly apparel. And 6 he said: Let them set a fair mitre on his head. And they set a fair mitre on his head; and clothed him with garments. And the angel of Jehovah stood by. And the angel of Jehovah testified unto Joshua, saying: Or, pure. -a firebrand] May not Joshua, and those who returned with him from Babylon, be compared to firebrands with difficulty preserved from the fire? And shall God permit a flame to be again kindled to devour them? 3. with filthy garments] Appeared in the vision clothed with the squalid and polluted garments of a captive. -before the angel] "Ayy. Addit Copt. Kug, sicut Syr." Mr. Woide. Arab. has the same addition. 4. he answered] The angel of Jehovah. See v. 2. -those who stood before him] Other attendant angels. -thine iniquity] The effect, or punishment, of national iniquity; which partly consisted in the cessation of sacred rites. So v. 9. -will clothe thee] V. Syr. Chald. translate in the first person, ,חלבשתיך which I prefer to ; ואלבש and read with Houbigant because nineteen MSS. and one ed. read N. goodly apparel] Bishop Lowth translates the word "embroidered robes." Isai. iii. 22. The Arabic root in Cast. lex. signifies Bonus et exquisitus fuit, bene habuit. The vision imports that the priestly office was to be resumed, and exercised with decency and splendor. 5. And he said] "Sic. Syr. Vulg. Omittunt ó. et vau voci sequenti præfigunt. Sed Ch. dixi, licet versio habeat dixit.” Secker. 6. tant truth. testified] Strongly affirmed, as a witness does an impor 1 Thou and thy companions who dwell before thee; For behold, I will bring forth my servant, The Hebr. of wonder, or, of a sign. 7. —keep mine ordinance] Discharging all the duties required of thee as high priest. See Deut. xi. 1. Lev. viii. 35. -judge mine house] Thou shalt be a judge, or ruler, over my family, or people. -keep my courts] Have the charge of the sacred courts; the temple being rebuilt. מהלכים -places to walk] The original word may be a substantive, and may signify goings, paths, ways. Thus it may be understood either of Joshua's entrance into the Holy of Holies where the Cherubim were, or of his future entrance into heaven, or of both, Or may be a participle. "I will assign thee, as guardians and protectors, some of those that walk among the angels who stand near me." Chald. paraphrases in the former sense; and the rendering of V. ó. Ar. Syr. favours the latter sense. " And I will appoint thee ministers among those that stand by." Blaney, understands by the ministers, "not the angels attending upon God's throne, but some of the subordinate priests who attended on Joshua." 8. thy companions] Thy countrymen, who returned with thee from captivity. -to be wondered at] On account of their extraordinary deliverance from Babylon. See v. 2. Or, types of a great future restoration. -The Branch] Zerubbabel: C. vi. 12, 13: So called because he was the grandson of Jehoiakim, or Jechoniah, king of Judah; Matth. i. 12; and heir to the throne of Judah. "Neither here nor vi. 12. is Zerubbabel named; nor is there any reasonable ground to conclude that he is designed in either place by "The Branch." It is true he was a descendant ,צמח the title of from David, and appointed under the authority of the kings of Persia to be a subordinate governor of the Jews who returned from Babylon, and in that capacity he presided, and took an active part with Joshua the high priest, and with the chief of the fathers in forwarding the building of the temple. But there surely does not appear in what we know of his character and performances any thing to merit the particular notice imagined to be here taken of him. The same person must needs be intended here, as is spoken of under the same title, Jer. xxiii. 5. nor is it conceivable that terms so magnificent, as those used in this latter place especially, can be applicable to one of so limited power and authority as Zerubbabel enjoyed. Besides it is evident, that the Branch is promised as one that was to come or be brought forth, and not as one that had already his estate, such as it was, for many years past. In short for these and for many other reasons, it may be concluded against Zerubbabel, and, I think against any other of less consequence than the great Messiah himself, through whom alone, iniquity is put away, and the reign of perfect peace and righteousness is to be established. Compare Ps. cxxxii. 17. Is. iv. 2. Jer. xxxiii. 15, 16." Blaney. 9. the stone] Stones, such as were used in rebuilding the temple, were represented before Joshua in this vision. -which I have placed before Joshua] "It seems as if the prophet saw in his vision a stone or rock set before Joshua, with seven y fountains springing out of it, which God says were opened by himself. The Hebrew y signifies a fountain as well as an eye, and there seems to be a plain allusion here to the rock, which Moses smote in the wilderness, and brought waters out of it for the refreshment of the people of God; and "that rock was Christ." 1 Cor. x. 4 In speaking of which transaction, the Psalmist says, "He opened, пn, the rock, and the waters gushed out." Ps. cv. 41. Observe the same verb is used as here ANN MNED "7" Behold I open the opening, or door thereof;" that is the hole or orifice through which the fountains shall flow, Vid. Is. 41. 18. and Chron. xiii. 1. "In that day &c." This was spoken of the gospel times; and in like manner it is here said of the same," And I will remove or take away the iniquity of the land in one day." There cannot surely remain a doubt of what is intended, nor that must signify fountains of living waters issuing from Christ. The living waters are the doctrines of the gospel, and the fountains the dispensers of them, the |