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illa dives illa luxuriosa et

again all the children born of me. But it must
appear strange in the highest degree that Tyre,
because it is situated in the sea, and lives from
the sea, should itself be called sea." And "I
have not brought forth," etc.," is something quite
different from "I have lost again my children." JE-
ROME takes the words "I have not travailed," etc.,
as words of the sea used metaphorically: "frustra
divitias comportavi,
populorum quondam gaudens multitudine, in qua nas-
cebatur turba mortalium, caterva puerorum, juventutis
examina, cujus plateae virginum ac juvenum
lusibus perstrepebant, nunc ad solitudinem
redacta est." But even according to this view a
meaning is artificially put upon the figurative
speech which is not necessarily contained in its
terms. I believe that a literal, and not meta-
phorical interpretation suits better both the
context and the words employed. Zidon comes to
Tyre, her daughter, to look around her. But
with shame must the mother behold the place
empty where her daughter with her many children
had dwelt. She sees nothing but the sea, and the
natural bulwark on which the waves of the sea
break, the bare rocks of insular Tyre. And the sea
together with the bulwark calls to Zidon, ashamed
at the sight: "I have not travailed," etc., i. e. thou
seekest children, but findest nothing else than
rock and sea, which do not travail nor bring
forth, nor nourish children. [ALEXANDER seems
to me to set forth in brief terms the correct view
of ver. 4: "The Prophet hears a voice from the
sea, which he then describes more exactly as
coming from the stronghold or fortress of the
sea, i. e., insular Tyre as viewed from the main-
land. The rest of the verse is intended to ex-
press the idea, that the city thus personified was
childless, was as if she had never borne chil-
dren."-D. M.]. Ver. 5. As Zidon is ashamed
after the fall of Tyre so Egypt is terrified.
Translate: "when the report comes to Egypt."
The concluding words of the verse seem to con-
tain an empty pleonasm. But this is not the
сазе. The Prophet intends to say: Egypt is af-
frighted, as the report (reaches, comes to) it,
namely, the judgment of Tyre. The terror will
correspond to the importance which the fall of
Tyre must have both positively and negatively
for Egypt. The words of the sixth verse I take
as a call uttered by those who have heard the
report concerning Tyre, first of all, by the Egyp-
tians. These are forthwith impressed by the
thought that nothing further remains for the sur-
viving Tyrians to do than to flee with howling
as far away as possible to the opposite end of the
earth, to Tarshish. There is yet another reason
why Tarshish is the place to which Tyre should
flee. There, according to ver. 1, its ships are
staying, which cannot return home, and which
are now the only property and refuge of the
mother country.

5. Is this your joyous no rest.-Vers. 7-12. These verses contain words of the Prophet. He contrasts what Tyre was once with what it is now. , etc., is a question. Must it so happen to you? Must this be your lot, as it were, the end of the song? And must such a conclusion follow the joyful beginning? We feel the antithesis between 7 and the condition to which I points. A joyous, because

glorious and powerful city was Tyre, and this
foundation of its joy was deep and broad. For
its origin ( principium, origo, in Isaiah
only here) dates from ancient time, and its power
extended to the most distant countries. HERO-
DOTUS, who was himself in Tyre, relates (11. 44)
that the priests in the temple of Hercules had de-
clared the age of the city and temple to be 2,300
AS HERODOTUS was in Phoenicia in the
years.
year 450 B. C., this would carry back the found-
ing of Tyre to the year 2,750 B. C., and MOVERS
(II. 1, p. 135) finds this quite credible. More-
over, this age in comparison with that of the
oldest Egyptian things of which we have ac-
counts, would not be a very high one. Comp.
STRABO XVI. 2, 22; CURT. IV. 4. Her feet car-
ried her afar (see on xxii. 3) to dwell. It
cannot be objected to our explanation that Tyre
reached by ship those distant places, and that
therefore not flight into regions beyond the sea,
but carrying away into captivity, therefore pain-
ful migration on foot is held out in prospect to
her. For it is unjustifiable to press the expres
sion "feet," and we dare not think on a future
migration to a distance, because such a thought
is here inept. It would be proper in ver. 6, and
also in ver. 12 it suits the connection; but in ver.
7 it makes the impression of tautology. Ver. 8.
But who is he who had the power to decree this
concerning the rich old Tyre of far-reaching
might? The Prophet in the following verses
shows a great interest in answering this question.
Tyre was not merely the wearer of crowns, but
also the bestower of crowns (y). This can
hardly mean that she herself had crowned kings.
(Comp. Hiram, 2 Sam. v. 11; 1 Kings vi. 1;
Jer. xxvii. 3). For many cities had these, which
are not for this reason called coronatrices.
must, therefore, think of dependent cities, either
Phoenician (therefore the king of Tyre is called
Great-king, comp. VAIHINGER in HERZOG'S, R.
Encycl. XI. p. 617 sqq.), or colonial cities. Of
Tartessus (HEROD. i. 163; Ps. lxxii. 10) Citium
and Carthage (originally) it is expressly stated
that they had kings. Comp. GESENIUS on this
passage, MOVERS, Phon. II. 1, p. 529 sqq.; es-
pecially p. 533, 535, 539. Jeremiah too mentions
besides the kings of Tyre and Zidon also

ז'

Jer.

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XXV. 22. Moreover, the rich and mighty metropolis had also in her midst citizens, who, though only merchants, equalled princes in wealth, pomp and power. How exactly too the Prophet distinguishes and D. can be seen from x. 8. The Phoenicians called their country and themselves Canaanites. But because they were the chief representatives of trade, merchants in general are called Canaanites; as at a later period Chaldean denoted an astrologer; Lombard, a money changer; and Swiss, stands for 'ly (comp. Gen. xv. 2, Damascus for a porter or body guard. Observe that here Damascene). Above all this pomp and power He the might of Jehovah is highly exalted. has decreed its destruction in order to profane (n) the pride of all glory.-This is to happen by delivering up and casting down into the mire of the earth. From the use of the expression

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meaning of ver. 12. Tyre had been called "joyous" ver. 7. But the rejoicing shall depart from her. She is now a poy a virgo compressa, vitiata (PUAL only here comp. lii. 4), and such a one does not rejoice. That Tyre is here called daughter of Zidon," i. e., Zidonian, is perhaps not merely a generalization of the name Zidon, but possibly at the same time a blow designedly given to the pride of Tyre, which named herself on coins the mother of the Zidonians" (comp. MOVERS, Phon. II. 1, p. 94, 119 sq.), and perhaps called herself so in the time of Isaiah. Tyre must be punished, must be destroyed.

Therefore the remnant are summoned to emi

grate to Cyprus, into the hitherto dependent
colony of Chittim, as the command had already
But Tyre arrives in Chittim, not as mistress, but
been given (ver. 6) to pass over to Tarshish.
excites in those who had been hitherto oppressed
as an exile without power; a situation which
Hence even there poor Tyre finds no rest.
by her the desire to revenge themselves on her.

6. Behold, the land is laid waste.Vers. 13 and 14. We had been told (vers. 11 and stroyed, and ver. 13 informs us regarding the 12) in general terms how Tyre should be departicular instrument, i. e., regarding the people that the LORD had destined to execute punishment. We receive from ver. 13 the impression that the prophetic vision is turned in another direction. It is as if his look were suddenly diverted from west to east. He sees suddenly before him to his own astonishment the land of the Chaldeans. The land of the Chaldeans, not the people! The people he might see every

"profane" the conclusion has not improperly been drawn that the Prophet had especially in his mind the famous, magnificent and ancient temples of Tyre (comp. HERODOTUS ut supra). Jehovah purposed further by the ruin of Tyre to humble all the proud (proudest) of the earth. An essential part of this humiliation is that the colonies hitherto drained of their resources for the benefit of the mother country, and kept under rigorous restraint, now become free. This is illustrated by the instance of the most remote colony Tartessus. Tarshish (ver. 10) is now told that she may be independent, and may dispose freely of her own territory and products. This verse has been explained in a great variety of ways by the old interpreters. (Comp. ROSENMUELLER). Since KOPPE the explanation which we have given is commonly adopted. As the Nile overflows Egypt (comp. Amos viii. 8; ix. 5) so shall Tarshish (daughter of Tarshish, comp. on xxii. 4) spread herself without restraint over her own land. This must have been previously prevented; and the phrase "there is no more girdle" must have a meaning that refers to this. The word is found besides only Ps. cix. 19. Of the same signification is ? Job xii. 21. Both words can only denote in these places the girdle. This meaning does not well suit the passage before us. But it seems to me that the Prophet by the word "girdle" intends an allusion which is unintelligible to us. Possibly an octroi-line restricting commerce for, the benefit of the lords paramount, a cordon or something of a like nature, was designated by a Phoenician term cognate with the Hebrew i. How, and by what means does the LORD execute His pur-where marching, fighting. The land he can bepose against Tyre? This is answered in ver. 11 in general terms. He sets the sea and the kingdoms of the earth for this purpose in motion. Here as little as in ver. 4 would I understand under "Sea," Tyre (HITZIG), or all Phoenicia (KNOBEL); nor do I take the expression he stretched out his hand, etc., as meaning that He simply reached His hand over the sea (DELITZSCH); for does the Prophet imagine Jehovah to be dwelling on the other side of the sea? But the expression "to stretch the hand over the sea" denotes here, as in Exod. xiv. 21 (which place the Prophet had perhaps before his eye), Fuch an outstretching of the hand as sets the sea in motion. And so denotes here not to put in terror, trembling; but to put in commotion in order that they may arise to execute what the LORD commands them (xiv. 16). The second part of the verse tells for what purpose the sea and kingdoms are put in motion. The Lord has given them a commandment ( as x. 6: the pronominal object being omitted, as often happens) against Canaan (Phoenicia, as the Phoenicians themselves gave the country this designation, comp. on ver. 8) in order to destroy (comp. on iii. 8) its bulwarks. The meaning of the whole verse is: Land and sea will conspire to destroy the bulwarks of Tyre. Tyre shall be successfully assailed both by land and sea. But Tyre shall be destroyed not merely for the moment, but permanently (although at first not forever, vers. 15 sqq.). This is the

T'

hold only in its own place. The very part of
the earth's surface where the country of the
Chaldeans lay, apart from its relation to Tyre,
was of great importance for the Prophet and his
people. Thence should the destroyer of Jeru-
salem come; there should the people of Judah
pass 70 years in captivity. And because the look
of the Prophet is here for the first time directed
to the Chaldeans, he is prompted to characterize
them in brief terms. He does this with two,
but with two very significant strokes. The first
describes the past, the second the future of the
people. He first declares-This is the people
that was not. He certainly does not mean to
say thereby, that the people of the Chaldeans was
not at all, or was not in the physical sense.
Could the Prophet have known nothing of Nim-
rod (Gen. x. 10), nothing of Ur of the Chaldeans,
the original home of Abraham? But prophecy,
in its grand style, confines, as is well known, the
whole history of the world to a few kingdoms;
if it were not.
and what does not belong to them is regarded as
But it was after the Assyrians
that the Chaldeans first came upon the theatre
of the world's history. Hence from the pro-
phetic view of history the Chaldeans appear to
us a people that hitherto was not. But why does
he say, the people? If he had said "a
people," this would not have been at all singular.
There were such nations without number. But
the Chaldeans do not belong to the common
nations. They were a leading nation. There
were then in the sense of prophecy only two

19

as

leading nations, i. e., representatives of the worldly | Accad (names of tribes and territories in South power. The one was Assyria; the other, the Babylonia) surrendered to his rule" (ibid. p. 42). Chaldeans, had not yet appeared. With the From the language of this inscription it is clear second stroke he describes the future that a Semitic people then dwelt in those regions. of the Chaldeans. I decidedly agree here with But this can have been none other than the peoPAULUS and DEL. who regard as the object C. Asurnasirhabal speaks of the mat Kaldu as ple of the Chaldeans. In the tenth century B. of D' placed absolutely before the verb. Ash- a part of his dominion (ibid. p. 44). Resting on ur-this has it (viz.: the Chaldean nation) set, all these grounds SCHRADER utters the following founded for the beasts of the desert.-This judgment: We can assume that since the Chalview alone suits the context. If we take Ashur as deans immigrated in the second or third millennium B. C. into these regions on the lower Euthe subject, then we must connect it with the old versions and some modern interpreters do, the proper ruling nation, the dominant one under phrates and Tigris, they were uninterruptedly but contrary to the Masoretic punctuation. "This all circumstances. On the other hand, they were people, which is not Assyria," will then signify either; this people will be more fortunate than certainly not aboriginal in the country. They the Assyrians (were under Shalmaneser against of Cushite or Turanian extraction, from whom found already there a highly cultivated people Tyre), or: this people, when it will be no more they borrowed the complicated cuneiform mode Assyrian, or: which is not civilized as the Assy- of writing. If the Chaldeans on the lower Eurians. This suffix in 70' is then referred by phrates and Tigris were not aboriginal, it is naall to Tyre. It is manifest that all these expla-tural after what has been said to assume that they nations of are arbitrary. But if we migrated from the territories at the source of the take according to the accents as subject of Euphrates and Tigris into the region at the mouth 10' then this will mean: แ Ashur has appointed of these rivers (comp. EWALD, Hist. I., p. 404 them to be dwellers of the desert, i. e., Ashur sq.). But it is a mere hypothesis derived from has transplanted them to the Babylonian plain, this passage, and entirely without evidence, to and made of mountaineers dwellers of the desert." assume a transplantation of the Chaldeans in later It is then assumed that the Chaldeans after their times by Shalmaneser. It is also very questionfirst migration from the Carduchian mountains, able whether Dy can denote inhabitants of the which event belongs to a very early time, were desert; for the only place which is adduced, Ps. subsequently strengthened by additional settlers lxxii. 9 ought to exclude the possibility of any sent by the Assyrian kings (So KNOBEL, ARNOLD other interpretation, in order to be able to counin HERZOG'S R.-Enc. II., p. 628 sqq.). It is cer- terpoise the weight of all other places where the tain that there were Chaldeans in Babylonia and word signifies "beasts of the desert." It is quesin the Armenian mountains. The first point tionable, too, whether the very fertile country of needs no proof; the second point is clear from Babylon could be described as before it was the narrative of XENOPHON (Cyrop. III. 1, 34; visited by the divine judgments (comp. xiii.; Jer. Anab. IV. 3, 4 sqq.; V. 5, 17; VII. 8, 25) and 1.). Many attempts have been made at conjecis determined by the statements of STRABO (xii. tural emendations of the passage. EWALD would 3, 18 sqq.), and of STEPHANUS BYZANTINUS (8. substitute Canaanites, and MEIER, Chittim for v. Xandaio), and is also generally acknowledged. Chaldeans. OLSHAUSEN (Emendations of the Old It is also quite possible that the Chaldeans sepa- Testament, p. 34 sqq.) would make much greater rated at a very early time, and that one part re- changes. But all these attempts are capricious mained in the old seats, i. e., in the Karduchian and unwarranted. I have already remarked that mountains, while another part, pursuing the nathe view proposed by PAULUS and DELITZSCH tural routes, i. e., the river valleys, migrated to (taking Ashur as the object of D' placed absothe south, and settled on the lower Euphrates. lutely before it) alone corresponds to the context. For according to the Assyro-Babylonian monu- Only in this way is something said of the Chalments, here lies the mat Kaldi or Kaldu. Acdeans that briefly, but completely, characterizes cording to them it extended to the Persian Gulf them. For they are then described as the people (comp. SCHRADER, Cuneiform Inscriptions, p. 44). that hitherto had not appeared as the great With this agree the classic authors who (as worldly power, but that will now supplant the STRABO XVI. 1, 6, 8) designate this border of Assyrians in this character. There is yet another the Gulf and the swamps in which the Eu- proof of the accuracy of our view. There are in phrates loses itself as lacus Chaldaici (PLINY VI. this paragraph various allusions to the ninth chap31; comp. STRABO XVI. 4, 1, rà êλn tà katà Xah-ter of Amos. Three times Amos employs in that dove). That these regions were even in very remote times peopled by the Chaldeans, is established by the fact that the ancient Ur of the Chaldeans, the home of Abraham, has been lately discovered in Mugheir, which lies south-east of Babylon on the right bank of the Euphrates. For upon all the clay tablets found there in great number, the name U-ru-u, i. e., occurs (comp. SCHRADER ut supra, p. 383 sq.). SCHRADER refers further to an inscription of king Hammurabi dating from the second millennium B. C., composed in the purest Assyrian, in which he states that "Il and Bel, the inhabitants of Sumir and

chapter the Piel 3 in the signification of "ap. point, order, command," in which meaning the (ver. 5) twice makes use of the comparison with word occurs here also (ver. 11). Amos again the overflowing Nile; comp. in our paragraph, ver. 10. In Amos ix. 6, as in "IØR, the object of the sentence is placed first absolutely, and then repeated by means of a feminine suffix attached to iD'. In the word Ashur the Prophet has before him the idea of the country and of the city rather than that of the people. Hence the feminine suffix to TD'. Such constructions Karà obve

.before us ציים

ow occur in Hebrew in the most varied forms.—a germ we have here. The words Dyn to D' is constituere, to found, to establish (Hab. i. p form a parenthesis which quite inci12; Ps. civ. 8). The Chaldeans, says Isaiah, dentally, in language brief and enigmatical, and make of Ashur, i. e., the country and city, but probably not understood by the Prophet himself, especially the city, as it were an establishment deposit a germ which even Nahum and Zephafor beasts of the desert, i. e., a place of residence niah have only partially developed. Not till the appointed for them as their legitimate possession time of Jeremiah and after the battle of Carand permanent property. Finally we inust point chemish, which determined Nebuchadnezzar's to Zeph. ii. 13 sq., as the oldest commentary on supremacy in the earth, could it be completely this passage. For not only does Zephaniah say unfolded. And if I assume that Isaiah could clearly what □" means, but we can also already prophesy the destruction of Nineveh by the Chaldeans, I must much more affirm that he regard his words as a proof of the accuracy of our could also predict the destruction of Tyre by view in general. For they show that Zephaniah, the same people. The Assyrian invasion untoo, understood this passage of the destruction of doubtedly gave occasion to this prophecy. The Nineveh. When Zephaniah (ii. 15) says of Ni- Assyrians had a design on Egypt. The taking neveh "This is the rejoicing city," had he not ver. of Samaria, and the attacks on Judah and on the 7 of our chapter in his eye? The words "and he countries lying east and west of it, were only will stretch out his hand” (Zeph. ii 13) recall means to that end. We perceive from vers. 3 "He stretched out his hand" (Isa. xxiii. 11). and 5 that Tyre then stood in close relation to Comp., too, in Zeph. ii. 13 73722 with the Egypt. The power of the Tyrians on the sea was If then there are clear traces that naturally of the greatest importance for Egypt. The Assyrians had therefore all the more occaZephaniah, when he wrote the second chapter of his prophecy, had beside other passages in Isaiah sion for depriving Egypt of this valuable ally. (xiii. 21; xiv. 23; xxxiv. 11) also this twenty- Let us add, that Isaiah had then to warn Judah third chapter in his mind, and if he gives in his most emphatically against forming an alliance prophecy a description of the ruined Nineveh, with Egypt. Would not Tyre also have been an object of the untheocratic hopes which the unwhich by the word ' connects itself with our believing Jews placed in Egypt the ally of Tyre? passage, and appears as a more detailed descrip- This would aptly explain to us the reason why tion of what is only slightly indicated by Isaiah, Isaiah lifted his voice against Tyre also. Israel may we not in such circumstances be permitted should trust in no worldly power, therefore not to affirm that Zephaniah understood the place even in Tyre. Tyre too is doomed to destrucbefore us as we do? Further, there is contained tion; but it will not be destroyed by the Assyin Zephaniah's reference to this passage the proof rians. This might then readily have been conthat it must have been already in existence in his jectured when the Assyrians were actually entime, consequently in the reign of king Josiah gaged in hostilities with Tyre. But it was a part (624 B. C.). If now Zephaniah did not hesitate of the task assigned to Isaiah to counteract the to understand this passage of the destruction of dread inspired by Assyria. He therefore deNineveh, we will not allow ourselves to be pre- clares expressly: another later nation that is not vented from doing the same, either by the objec- vet a people, namely, the Chaldeans will destroy tion of DELITZSCH that this would be the only Tyre. What follows (ver. 15 sqq.), agrees with place in which Isaiah prophesies that the worldly this. The 70 years are undoubtedly the years supremacy would pass from the Assyrians to the of the Chaldean supremacy. As we observed Chaldeans, or by the objections of others who re- already, the words Din ni to DS (ver. 13) are gard it as absolutely impossible that in the time to be treated as parenthetical. With Dp the of Isaiah a destruction of Tyre by the Chaldeans Prophet proceeds to describe the action of the should have been foretold. In regard to DEL- people of the Chaldeans, as the appointed instruITZSCH'S objection, I would wish it to be remarked ment for the destruction of Tyre. They set up that the prophecy of Isaiah is related to that of his watch-towers, i. e., the many set up the those who come after him, as a nursery is to the watch-towers belonging to the whole body (comp. plantations that have arisen from it. Do not the touching this change of number i. 23; ii. 8; vers. germs of the later prophecies originally lie to a 23, 26; viii. 20). With ver. 14 the paragraph large extent in the prophecy of Isaiah? Such closes as it began.

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15

b) The Restoration of Tyre.
CHAP. XXIII. 15-18.

And it shall come to pass in that day,
That Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years,
According to the days of one king:
After the end of seventy years
'Shall Tyre sing as an harlot ;

16 Take an harp, go about the city,

Thou harlot that hast been forgotten:
Make sweet melody, sing many songs,
That thou mayest be remembered.

17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years,
That the LORD will visit Tyre,

And she shall turn to her hire,

And shall commit fornication

With all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. 18 And her merchandise and her hire

Shall be holiness to the LORD;

It shall not be treasured nor laid up:

For her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD,
To eat sufficiently, and for "durable clothing.

1 Heb. It shall be unto Tyre as the song of an harlot.

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Ver. 15. On the form

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
comp. Ewald, ? 194 b.
Ver. 17. The H3 of the suffix is without Mappik.
Comp. EWALD, ? 247 d.

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Ver. 18. pny is är. Aey. [The word in Arabic means old and then excellent.-D. M.].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.

1. After 70 years, which will have a character of unity as the period of the reign of one king, the wish will be fulfilled in Tyre that is expressed in a well-known song which advises a forgotten harlot, by singing and playing in the streets of the city, to cause herself to be again remembered (vers. 15, 16). The LORD will again assist Tyre, she will renew her commercial intercourse, which is compared with amorous solicitation, with all the countries of the earth (ver. 17). But the gain of her harlotry will be consecrated to the LORD, and be assigned by Him to His servants for their rich enjoyment.

in a well-known song often sung by frivolous young people, is under a certain condition set forth in prospect to a courtesan who is no longer sought after, shall be fulfilled in the case of Tyre. She shall regain the lost favor. But the Prophet intends at the same time to say that Tyre must do as the harlot in order again to attain favor. Tyre shall, after 70 years, endeavor to recover the favor of the nations, and again employ her old commercial arts in order to form business connections. And the LORD will vouchsafe success. [The translation of the latter part of ver. 15, in the text of the E. V., cannot be fairly made out of the original Hebrew. The rendering in the margin is the right one. Ver. 16 is a snatch of the song of the harlot, and might have the

2. Vers. 15, 16. Regarding the expression In that day comp. on vii. 18. Seventy years shall Tyre be forgotten.-This is the duration of the Chaldæ in supremacy, which according to Jere-marks of a quotation. D. M.]. miah (comp. my remarks on Jer. xxv. 11), lasted from the battle of Carchemish to the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, consequently according to the information we now possess, from 605 (4) till 538 B. C., or 67 years. This period of 67 years may possibly, when we have more exact knowledge, be extended to quite 70 years or thereabouts. It can, however, be taken as a round number of 70 years, according to prophetic reckoning. Tyre will be so far forgotten, as it will be lost in the great empire of the world. This period of its being forgotten shall last 70 years according to the days of one king -The expression recalls xvi. 14; xxi. 16; but the meaning is different. Here the emphasis lies on 8. The Prophet intends to declare that this period will have for Tyre a character of unity. It will happen to Tyre under the successor as under the predecessor. The change of rulers will produce no alteration. This time of seventy years, during which Tyre will be forgotten, will bear as uniform a character as if the whole period were the time of the reign of only a single king. These words make the judgment heavier; there will be no alleviation of its severity. [This interpretation is preferable to the common one which makes king stand here for kingdom or dynasty.-D. M.]. After 70 years, what

17, 18. That commercial intercourse is compared 3. And it shall come-clothing.-Vers. with unchaste intercourse has its ground herein that the former serves Mammon and the belly (taken in the widest sense). But mammon and the belly are idols, and idolatry is fornication (comp. Nah. iii. 4). Tyre will return to her hire for harlotry (Micah i. 7), and will practise fornication with all the kingdoms of the earth. And her gain (ver. 3), or her hire as a harlot, will be holy unto the Lord.-It will not be kept by the gainers and laid up in the treasury (xxxix. 6), or concealed, hidden in the ground (on as a verb only here), but it will serve those who dwell before Jehovah (not stand, for to stand before the LORD marks the service of the priests in the temple, Deut. x. 8; Jud. xx. 28, etc.), i. e. the Israelites in general, because the territory in which they dwell is the holy land, which has the house of Jehovah for its all-dominating centre. We may ask here how it is conceivable that the LORD can restore a people on which He has inflicted judgment, in order that it may begin again its old business of fornication; and how the wages of prostitution can be consecrated to the LORD, as in Deut. xxiii. 18 it is expressly forbidden to

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