Ps. ciii. 16.—Truly the people, &c.

This line is not found in the Sep

tuagint version; it seems to interrupt the sense and the parallelism, and may be a gloss accidentally introduced from the margin into the text since the Septuagint version was made.

11. — nursing ewes. See Gen. xxxiii. 13. "Their flocks," says Sir J. Chardin, speaking of those who live in the East after the patriarchal manner, “feed down the places of their encampment so quick, by the great numbers that they have, that they are obliged to move them too often, which is very destructive to their flocks on account of their young ones, who have not strength enough to follow." Harmer, p. 126. 13.- searched out; lit. weighed.

15.

very little thing; lit. an atom.

19. - silver chains; i. e. for the purpose of supporting it, or fastening it to the wall.

22.-above the circle of the earth; i. e. surveying from the height of heaven the round flat surface of the earth, surrounded by water.

as a canopy or awning. "It is usual," says the Oriental traveller, Dr. Shaw, "in the summer season, and upon all occasions when a large company is to be received, to have the court sheltered from heat, or inclemency of the weather, by a velum, umbrella, or veil, as I shall call it; which, being expanded on ropes from one side of the parapet wall to the other, may be folded or unfolded at pleasure."

26. — faileth to appear. The heavenly bodies are represented as a vast army, assembled as for a military review.

27.

- passeth by ; i. e. he neglects it ;

My way; i. e. my condition. suffers it to pass by, without attending to it.

XLI. 1. — strength; i. e. in order to answer me. 7. — fastened it; i. e. the image, the idol.

9.

- led by the hand; lit. taken hold of. See v. 13. 15.-thrashing-wain. See Calmet's Dictionary upon the word Thrash. 27. — behold them! i. e. the returning exiles from Babylon.

28. —no man; i. e. who could predict the future. - counsel; i. e. respecting the future.

XLII. 1. — my servant; i. e. the Jewish church; the pious Israelites collectively; the better part of the people with the prophets at their head, as distinguished from the whole nation. Comp. ver. 18–22, xliii. 8, 10, xlix. 1–9, l. 4-10, lii. 13, liv. 17, xliii. 10; also the Introduction, pp. xlix. - lvi. -law. This term, in ver. 1, 2, 3, scems to denote the law included in the religion of Jehovah.

6.

—a covenant; i. e. a mediator. By a mediator is meant one who, like Moses, should be the medium of God's communications to his people, a restorer of the theocracy.

19.-blind, if not my servant, &c. Compare with verses 1-4. There is the same variation of language respecting the servant of God in these chapters, as there is in the New Testament respecting the Christian Church. Sometimes she is the pillar and ground of the

truth, and sometimes she has defiled her garments. So Israel, the servant of God, is sometimes described as he was meant to be, and as he should have been, as in xlii. 1–4, lii. 13-liii. 12; sometimes as he actually was. The name is sometimes given to the whole race, and sometimes to the faithful portion of it; sometimes to the real, sometimes to the nominal Israel. Comp. Rom. ix. 6.

21. — his goodness' sake: otherwise, for the sake of his salvation.

XLIII. 1. od. xxxi. 2.

-called thee, &c.; i. e. specially chosen thee. See Ex

3. Egypt for thy ransom, &c.; i. e. I will give such rich and powerful nations as Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sheba a prey to a conqueror instead of thee; as it were, for thy ransom. Rosenmueller, however, adduces several curious quotations from Arabic writers to show that the meaning is simply, that the Jewish nation was dearer to God than the above-mentioned nations.

10. And my servant, &c.; i. e. and ye are my servant, whom I have chosen for the express purpose of making known my laws and religion. Here the parallelism of the plural term witnesses with the singular servant is a strong confirmation of the opinion that the servant of God denotes a body of men, the Jewish church, the Israel of God. I am He; i. e. the Being described in the preceding verses, the only Being acquainted with future events, and possessing other attributes of Deity.

14.

enemy.

to the ships, &c.; i. e. in order to escape from the invading

20. —— shall honor me; i. e. on account of the unexpected fruitfulness of the wilderness, and the abundant supply of water.

27. — forefathers: otherwise, first father, referring to Jacob, or Adam.

XLIV. 5. The first clause may be rendered, Another shall write upon his hands, To Jehovah; i. e. I belong to Jehovah. See xlix. 16. call upon the name, &c.; i. e. look to the nation of Israel for help, as possessing the true religion, and being under the protection of Jehovah, &c. —praise the name; lit. address flatteringly the name, &c.

10. Who hath formed, &c. A question addressed to idolaters. 11.- all his fellows; i. e. all who assisted him to make the idol. 20.-toileth for ashes; lit. feedeth upon, &c.; i. e. pursues with delight that which will prove vain and unprofitable, like ashes instead of food.

XLV. 3. -treasures of darkness; i. e. long hidden in dark vaults. "Sardis and Babylon, when taken by Cyrus, were the wealthiest cities in the world. Croesus, celebrated beyond all the kings of that age for his riches, gave them up to Cyrus, with an exact account in writing of the whole, containing the particulars with which each wagon was loaded, when they were carried away; and they were de

livered to Cyrus at the palace at Babylon." Xenoph. Cyrop. Lib. VIII.

4. I have called thee, &c. I have called thee to thine honorable office, and that expressly by name. spoken to thee as a friend: more literally, I have addressed thee in a kind or friendly manner.

7. I form the light, and create darkness. It appears to me probable, notwithstanding the doubts of some eminent critics, that the prophet here alludes to the Persian doctrine of two independent principles, a good and an evil. "With reference to this absurd opinion, held by the person to whom this prophecy is addressed, God, by his prophet, in the most significant terms, asserts his omnipotence and absolute supremacy (in this verse); declaring that those powers whom the Persians held to be the original authors of good and evil to mankind, representing them by light and darkness as their proper emblems, are no other than the creatures of God, the instruments which he employs in the government of the world, ordained or permitted by him in order to execute his wise and just decrees; and that there is no power, either of good or evil, independent of the one Supreme God, infinite in power and in goodness. Lowth.

11. Ask of me, &c. Ye can ask me with success; with a prospect of having your wishes fulfilled. For I know and control the future. Ye may therefore commit your future destination with confidence to my care.

15. — hidest thyself; i. e. thy purposes.

19. — in secret, &c. ; i. e. I have by my prophets spoken publicly, freely, and plainly. It is not necessary to suppose that the prophet alludes to heathen oracles, or even to Jewish necromancers.

XLVI. 1. Bel. A Babylonian deity, the same as Baal of the Phonicians and Syrians. Some suppose that, according to the astrological mythology of the East, the sun, others that the planet Jupiter, is denoted. It was called by the Romans Jupiter Belus. Nebo, another Babylonian god, probably represents the planet Mercury, regarded as the scribe of the heavens. It was customary in ancient times, especially in the East, to carry the gods of vanquished nations into the country of the conquerors, not merely for the sake of their valuable ornaments, but from the belief that the destruction of the vanquished country was thereby rendered more complete. ye once bore: in sol

emn procession.

2. They cannot rescue the burden; i. e. the idols, considered as gods, cannot deliver their images.

13. - my glory; i. e. the glory which it is in my power alone to be stow.

XLVII. 2. Grinding with the hand-mill was the work of female slaves. See Ex. xi. 5. "It is extremely laborious," says Sir John Chardin, "and esteemed the lowest work in the house." the streams in flight from the enemy, or in going into captivity.

10. Thy wisdom, &c. ; i. e. thy state policy, of which thou art so vain.

11.—the dawn; i. e. the succeeding dawn, or remedy, or the preceding dawn, or origin. See viii. 20. to expiate; i. e. to avert or to escape by a sin-offering.

15.

The first clause of this verse may refer to sorcerers, &c., and the last to nations which had been connected in friendship and commerce with Babylon.

XLVIII. 14. Who among you; i. e. Who among the Chaldæan astrologers and wise men.

16. The first three lines of this verse seem to be the language of the Deity, the last that of the prophet. The words I have been there seem to imply that the event to which he refers, i. e. the expedition of Cyrus against Babylon, was to take place through the agency of the speaker, i. e. God, who was thus able to inform and commission the prophet. "A quo tempore illud fuit, i. e. existere cœpit, i. e. primi motus Cyri, qui jam cœperunt, et aliquamdiu durârunt." Vitringa.

XLIX. 3. Israel; i. e. Thou art the true, the genuine Israel, worthy of that honorable name. The faithful and pious Israelites, at the head of whom were the prophets with the writer, in distinction from the whole nation, ver. 5, are thus named. Comp. li. 7.

19.- my hands, &c.; i. e. for the sake of continual remembrance I have delineated, as with paint, the city of Jerusalem upon the palms of my hands. Bishop Lowth remarks: "This is certainly an allusion to some practice, common among the Jews at that time, of making marks on their hands or arms by punctures on the skin, with some sort of sign or representation of the city or temple, to show their affection and zeal for it. They had a method of making such punctures indelible by fire, or by staining. It is well known that the pilgrims at the holy sepulchre get themselves marked in this manner with what are called the ensigns of Jerusalem." Maundrell, p. 126, Amer. edit.

23. -lick the dust, &c.: a hyperbolical expression for prostrate themselves before thee, as thy suppliants. "It is well known," says Bishop Lowth, "that expressions of submission, homage, and reverence always have been, and are still, carried to a great degree of extravagance in the Eastern countries. When Joseph's brethren were introduced to him, they bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.' Gen. xlii. 6. The kings of Persia never admitted any one to their presence without exacting this act of adoration; for that was the proper term for it."

L. 1. This verse intimates that it was not from levity, caprice, passion, or necessity, that he had sent the Jews into captivity; that his conduct was wholly unlike that of a Jewish husband when he gave his wife a bill of divorcement, or a Jewish father when he sold his children to a creditor.

2.

— no man at hand; i. e. to attend to my admonitions. Jehovah came and called, when he sent his prophets.

למוּדִים,As the same Hebrew

4. — in the manner of the learned. As the same Hebrew term, is used in both parts of this verse, it is not probable that, in so close a connection, they have a different meaning, otherwise the term might be rendered learners or disciples, as in ch. xiii. 16; a rendering which at first view seems better suited to the connection. But the meaning may be, that I, without a regular education, may hear in the manner of the learned prophets. Comp. Amos vii. 14, 15; Is. liv. 13.

11. In reference to the walking in darkness, i. e. in calamity, in the preceding verse, the prophet denounces those who try to escape from the darkness by kindling lights of their own, by trusting to their own devices and resources, and rejecting the light from heaven, i. e. the counsels of the prophets.

LI. 1.—the rock; i. e. to Abraham and Sarah.

10. Rahab: a sort of poetical nickname for Egypt, rahab signifying arrogant. the dragon; i. e. the crocodile, a common emblem of the same country.

17.- cup of giddiness; i. e. the cup of the Divine anger, which causes to reel, makes giddy.

21. - drunken, and not with wine; i. e. reduced to a helpless condition by the cup of God's anger.

LII. 3. For naught; i. e. the nations gave no price for you, and have no right to retain you. Ye were delivered by me into their hands your sins.

on account of

6.- that said, Behold, here am I! i. e. that I it was, the true God, Jehovah, who promised my presence and aid, because I keep my promise. 7. How beautiful, &c. "The watchmen discern afar off, on the mountains, the messenger bringing the expected and much wished for news of the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity. They immediately spread the joyful tidings, ver. 8, and with a loud voice proclaim that Jehovah is returning to Zion to resume his residence on his holy mountain, which for some time he seemed to have deserted. This is the literal sense of the place.

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth glad tidings,' is an expression highly poetical for How welcome is his arrival! how agreeable are the tidings which he brings!"— Lowth. It is not necessary to inquire who is denoted by the messenger, and who by the watchmen. The principal thought in the passage is, that glad tidings were brought of the deliverance of the Jews, and it is a part of the poetical embellishment of the scene, that a messenger should be represented as seen running over the mountains to bring them, and that watchmen, stationed upon towers for the purpose of discerning whatever approached the city, should perceive his approach and exultingly pass to each other the news of his arrival.

8. — eye to eye; i. e. very near and plainly. See Numb. xiv. 14 — returneth to Zion. Comp. Zech. viii. 3; Joel iii. 21.