18 19 20 And the destruction of beasts shall make thee afraid: For the blood of men, and violence done to the land, What profiteth the graven image, That the maker thereof hath graven it? Woe unto him who saith to the wood, Awake; Shall it teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold Neither is there any breath in the midst thereof. Be silent before him, All the earth. Hebr. cattle. § bloods. Or, fashioner. * Hebr. the fashioner of his fashion. + stone of silence. the temple of his holiness. 17. shall make thee afraid] I read 7, in Hiphil, with 6. Ar. Syr. Chald. Mr. Wintle also proposes this reading. מסכה and add it to ,צרו the | from 18. And the molten image] Dr. Durell proposes to remove Two MSS. read D, which Green approves of. But the hemistich is very elegant, and in the poetical manner, without the vau. There are many such passages: as Isai. xlii. 10, l. 1, 2. 22. 1. 3, 4. xliii. 19, 1. 3. 4. Ps. cxiv. 1. See v. 19. l. 1, 2. the teacher of lies] By oracles, which the statue was supposed to give; but which in fact were given by the artifice of the priest. "The image teaches lies, gives false notions of the Deity." Seeker. . the maker of his work] I suspect that y, or y', is su perfluous; as both may be participles. See Syr. Chald. They seem to be different readings. "MS. Copt. omits masas." Mr. Woide. 19. silent stone] is feminine, and therefore must be a substantive: lapidi silentii. See Isai, xlvii. 5. Sit thou in silence. Shall it teach?] So Vul. ry is understood, -laid over] I supply ry the wood. "Laid hold of, that is, enclosed:" says Tayl. conc.. -any breath] Sciendum, in quibusdam Hebr. voluminibus non esse additum omnis, sed absolute spiritum legi. Jerom: quoted in Kennicott's diss. ge. §. 84. 13. And Syr. omits . CHAP. III. 1 2 3 [A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.] O JEHOVAH, I have heard thy § speech; As the years approach, thou hast shewn it; God came from Teman, § Hebr. hearing. 1. A prayer-] The title seems a Jewish annotation of a later age: and the insertion of it interrupts the connection. -Shigionoth] The word is probably derived from the Syr. , mutavit, variavit: and thus may denote a musical instrument of great compass, with which the Jews accompanied this piece of poetry. 2.-thy speech] Which thou hast communicated to me: c. i. 5-11. ii. 4-20. See Obad. i. 1. -thy work] I have been struck with fear, because of the judgments denounced against Judah and Jerusalem. c. i. 5-11. ii. 4, 5, 8, 17. One MS. reads Thy, because of thy work. Jehovah, I have seen thy work." Dr. Wheeler. 66 He reads ' I have seen. 6. have αTEVONTA • and in MS. Pachom. and ed. Ald. we find Kugle, xaтevona. ---approach] Capellus prefers the reading of ó. and Aquila : εν τω εγγίζειν, εν τω παρείναι : 2. (www. -thou hast shewn it] Capellas ingeniously conjectures wn, shew it. I prefer n thou hast shewn it. ó. have w One MS. has at present 17, another perhaps 1, another ", which reading Jerom also found. Kenn. diss. gen. §. 84. 13. יות which word represents -Thou makest it known] One MS. reads yn, notam facies id. -thou rememberest] Observe the topics of consolation, c. ii. 4, 14 and the several woes denounced against Babylon. 3. God came-] Bishop Lowth observes that this is a sudden burst of poetry, in the true spirit of the ode; the concealed connection being, that God, who had formerly displayed such power in delivering the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, might succour their posterity in a like wonderful manner; and the enthusiasm of the poet leading him to neglect all obvious ways of 4 And the Holy One from mount Paran: [Selah.] And the earth was full of his praise. His brightness was as the light: Rays streamed || from his hand: And there was the hiding-place of his power. Hebr. to him from his hand. entering on his subject. Præl Hebr. xxviii. V. 3.-7. contain a sublime description of God, when he conducted his people to the land of Canaan. The grandest circumstances are selected; and the diction is as splendid as the subjects. "The Captivity brought to his mind the Exodus; and that he who had delivered could deliver. Lowth p. 257." Secker. Teman] First perhaps the name of an encampment, and afterwards of an Idumean city. Numb. xx. 21. Jer. xlix. 7. Job ii. 11. -Paran] See Deut. xxxiii. 2. A part of Arabia Petrea: Gen. xxi. 21. Selah] See Pol. syn. Ps. iii. 6. render the word daaλpa, which, says Suidas, is van, cantus immutatio. -glory] On mount Sinai, and in the pillar of fire. -praise] On account of his majesty and power. Bishop Lowth, ubi supr. renders the word splendor; and Green's version is, The verb And his glory filled the earth. in Hiphil signifies to shine. "And his praise filled the earth." Dr. Wheeler. 4. His brightness] 6. Ar. Syr. Chald. Houbigant read et splendor ejus. V. has splendor ejus. The vau may be consider-ed as conversive of n, and may be ommitted in an English translation. Rays] The verb signifies to shine: Ex. xxxiv. 29, 30, 35 and a pencil, or cone, of rays issuing from a point, diverges in the shape of a horn. See Deut. xxxiii. 2: "From his right hand issued streams of light:" the original word being TN, from TN in Syr. and Chald. to pour forth. See the learned Dr. Durell's note on the place. Twenty MSS. and one ed. read And rays. And there-] In the place whence the light proceeded he gloriously concealed his presence. Three MSS. originally, and V. Chald. read w, There. -of his power] Keri, many MSS. and some editions, read ay, or y, xvos autu. 6. 5 6 Before him went the pestilence: And flashes of fire* went forth after him. He stood, and measured the land; He beheld, and dispersed the nations: And the everlasting mountains were broken asunder; The eternal paths † were trodden by him. * Hebr. at his feet. † were his. Capellus understands the verse of the lightening on mount Sinai; but I rather refer it to the brightness which occasionally issued from the Shechinah. Ex. xvi. 7, 10. 5. the pestilence] See Numb. xi. 33. xiv. 37. xvi. 46. It was occasionally inflicted on the Israelites, for their guilt. -flashes of fire] quicquid volando adurit et inflammat. Cast. lex. Ardor vibrans ac coruscus. Schultens, on Job v. 7. See also Gussetius; who, by comparing Ps. lxxviii. 48, with Ex. ix. 29, collects that has the nature of us fire: but thinks it id, quod in igne vehementiori sese vibrat; flamma rubens. Lev. x. 2, Numb. xi. 1, xvi. 35, the Israelites were consumed by a fire which went out from Jehovah. And Lev. ix. 24, the burnt offering was consumed by a fire which came out from before Jehovah. —after him]" As it is translated Gen. xxx. 30. 1 Sam. xxv. 42, is quite parallel." Secker. 6. measured] Divided it out, like a conqueror. Ps. Ix. 6. Green. ó. have λon, and Chald. yys from movit. Hence Capellus conjectures 77; and Houbigant, et concussit, or, T et subjecit. Possibly T, and moved. -dispersed] One signification of the Arabic root in Cast. lex. is sparsit, dispersit; and in Syr. Chald. Arab. the word signifies defluxit, decidit. It may therefore be rendered in Hiphil defluere, vel decidere, fecit. -the nations] All who opposed his people; and particularly the seven nations. -mountains-hills] This may be understood of cleaving the rock for water: Ex. xvii. 6: and of God's wonderful display of his power on Sinai, when the mountain shook. Ex. xix. 18. eternal paths] Literally, God occupied the summit of the eternal mount Sinai; and led his people over the eternal mountains in Arabia Petræa. And this sense is preferable to the figurative one; that his ways, or doings, are predetermined from everlasting. 7 8 Thou sawest the tents of Cushan in affliction: Was thy wrath against the floods? Was thine indignation against the sea, When thou didst ride on thine horses, and on thy chariots of deliverance? 9 Thy bow was made bare, Hebr. under. Or, tent-curtains. 7. Thou sawest-] "I saw," supposing the prophet to speak, seems harsh. And therefore I propose n, Thou sawest addressed to God: as v. 12-15. in affliction] If pennn cannot signify in affliction, or, under the punishment of iniquity, we must have recourse to conjecture. Houbigant and Green adopt nnn; which may signify sruck with terror." Sub peccato esse reddi potest, puniri, succumbere scelerum affectibus." Bahrdt. -Cushan] That is, some say, of Chus or Midian. Compare Numb. xii. 1. Ex. ii. 16, 21. Numb. xxxi. 7, 8, &c. Others think that Judges iii. 10, vii. 1, &c. are referred to. Perhaps בשן כושן and for :חתת עוג we should read תחת און for Thou sawest the terror of Og; The tents of Bashan trembled; The curtains of the land of Median. Numb. xxi. 33. xxxi. 3. The curtains] V. pelles: deppers, vetustissimus liber majoribus literis exaratus. See the notes on this chapter in S. Quintus's edition of 6. That is, the coverings of their tents, made of skins. 8. floods] If the Red Sea only is referred to, and not Jordan, we should render, the floods. Ps. xvi. 6. Jon. ii. 3. Otherwise, translate rivers. ---and on thy chariots] Many MSS. supply the van twice: 72 and V. ó. Ar. Syr. represents it the beginning of the word. God is described as a mighty warrior, attended by his chariots, even thousands of angels. Ps. lxviii. 17. 9. made bare] Nudatione nudabatur, i. e. e theca educebatur; say some; and others, nudatione excitabatur. And Harmer informs us, from Sir I. Chardin, that the oriental bows were wont to be carried in a case hung to the girdle: ii. 513. If y does not signify nudare, we may read yn from у. Houbigant adopts the reading of V. suscitans suscitabis: "yn "yn. And ó. MS. A. and ed Ald. have every eyes. |