cessity of supposing that he was the, inventor of the dial. It is sufficient to suppose that he was reputed to be the first who introduced it into Greece. He went from Babylon to Greece, where he taught astronomy first at Cos, and then at Athens, where one of his dials is still shown. Herodotus expressly says (lib. i. c. 109)," the pole, the gnomon, and the division of the day into twelve parts, the Greeks received from the Babylonians." This sun-dial was portable; it did not require to be constructed for a particular spot to which it should be subsequently confined; and therefore one ready-made might have been brought from Babylon to Ahaz. That he had commerce with these countries appears by his alliance with Tiglathpileser. 2 Kings xvi. 7, 8. And that Ahaz was a man who was desirous of availing himself of foreign inventions and introducing them into his capital, appears evident from his desire to have an altar constructed in Jerusalem, similar to the one which he had seen in Damascus. 2 Kings xvi. 10. The dial is now a well-known instrument, the principle of which is, that the hours are marked on its face by a shadow cast

from the sun by a gnomon. In order to the understanding of this miracle, it is not necessary to be acquainted with the form of the ancient dial. It will be understood by a reference to any dial, and would have been substantially the same whatever was the form of the instrument. The essential idea is, that the shadow of the gnomon which thus indicated a certain degree or hour of the day, was made to go back ten degrees or places. It may conduce, however, to the illustration of this subject to have before the eye a representation of the usual form of the ancient dial, and I therefore annex three forms of dials which have been discovered. "The engraving represents, 1, a concave dial of white marble, found at Civita, in the year 1762; 2, another concave dial, found at mount Tusculum, near Rome, in 1726; 3, a compound dial, preserved in the Elgin collection in the British Museum. It was found at Athens, supposed to have been used in marking the hours on one of the crossways of the city. The first two are considered to resemble, if indeed they be not identical with the famous dial of Ahaz."

In regard to this miracle, it seems only necessary to observe that all that is indispensable to be believed is, that the shadow on the dial was made suddenly to recede from any cause. It is evident that this may have been accomplished in several ways. It may have been by arresting the motion of the earth in its revolutions, and causing it to retrograde on its axis to the extent indicated by the return of the shadow, or it may have been by a miraculous bending, or inclining of the rays of the sun. As there no evidence that the event was observed elsewhere; and as it is not necessary to suppose that the earth was arrested in its motion, and that the whole frame of the universe was adjusted to this change in the movement of the earth, it is most probable that it was an inclination of the rays of the sun; or a miraculous causing of the shadow itself to recede. This is the whole statement of the sacred writer, and this is all that is necessary to be supposed. What Hezekiah desired was a miracle; a sign that he should recover. That was granted The retrocession of the shadow in this sudden manner was not a natural event. It could be caused only by God; and this was all that was needed. A simple exertion of divine power on the rays of the sun which rested on the dial, deflecting those rays, would accomplish the whole result. It may be added that it is not recorded, nor is it necessary to an understanding of the subject to suppose, that the bending of the rays was permunent, or that so much time was lost. The miracle was instantaneous, and was satisfactory to Hezekiah, though the rays of the sun casting the shadow may have again been soon returned to their regular position, and the shadow restored to the place in which it would have been had it not been interrupted. No infidel, therefore, can object to this statement, unless he can prove that this could not be done by Him who made the sun, and who is Himself the fountain of power. By which degrees it was gone down.

By the same steps, or degrees on which the shadow had descended. So the LXX express it; "so the sun reascended the ten steps by which the shadow had gone down." It was the shadow on the dial which had gone down. The sun was ascending, and the consequence was, of course, that the shadow on a vertical dial would descend. The "sun" here means, evidently, the sun as it appeared; the rays, or the shining of the sun. A return of the shadow was effected such as would be produced by the recession of the sun itself.

It is in

9. The writing of Hezekiah. This is the title to the following hymn-a record which Hezekiah made to celebrate the goodness of God in restoring him to health. The writing itself is poetry, as is indicated by the parallelism, and by the general structure. many respects quite obscure; an obscurity perhaps arising from the brevity and conciseness which are apparent in the whole piece. It is remarkable that this song or hymn is not found in the parallel passage in the Book of Kings. The reason why it was omitted there, and inserted here, is unknown. It is possible that it was drawn up for Hezekiah by Isaiah, and that it is inserted here as a part of his composition, though adopted by Hezekiah, and declared to be his, that is, as expressing the gratitude of his heart on his recovery from his disease. It was common to compose an ode or hymn of praise on occasion of deliverance from calamity, or any remarkable interposition of God. Notes ch. xii. 1, xxv. 1, xxvi. 1. Many of the Psalms of David were composed on such occasions, and were expressive of gratitude to God for deliverance from impending calamity. The hymn or song is composed of two parts. In the first part (vs. 10-14) Hezekiah describes his feelings and his fears when he was suffering, and especially the apprehension of his mind at the prospect of death; and the second part (vs. 15-20) expresses praise to God for his good

ness.

See

12. Mine age. The word which is here used, means properly the revolving period or circle of human life. The parallelism seems to demand, however, that it should be used in the sense of dwelling or habitation, so as to correspond with the "shepherd's tent." Accordingly, Lowth and Noyes render it habitation. So also do Gesenius and Rosenmüller. The Arabic word has this signification; and the Hebrew verb 1 also means to dwell, to remain, as in the Chaldee. Here the word means a dwelling, or habitation; that is, a tent, as the habitations of the Orientals were mostly tents. TIs departed.. The idea here is, that his dwelling was to be transferred from one place to another as when a tent or encampment was broken up; that is, he was about to cease to dwell on the earth, and to dwell in the land of silence, or among the dead. From me as a shepherd's tent. As suddenly as the tent of a shepherd is taken down, folded up, and transferred to another place. There is doubtless the idea here that he would continue to exist, but in another place, as the shepherd would pitch his tent or dwell in another place. He was to be cut off from the earth, but he expected to dwell among the dead. The whole passage conveys the idea that he expected to dwell in another state-as the shepherd dwells in another place when he strikes

day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to

¶ I have

his tent, and it is removed. cut off like a weaver my life. This is another image designed to express substantially the same idea. The sense is, as a weaver takes his web from the loom by cutting the warp, or the threads which bind it to the beam, and thus loosens it and takes it away, so his life was to be cut off. When it is said "I cut off," "P, the idea is, doubtless, I am cut off; or my life is cut off. Hezekiah here speaks of himself as the agent, because he might have felt that his sins and unworthiness were the cause. Life is often spoken of as a web that is woven, because an advance is constantly made in filling up the web, and because it is soon finished and is then cut off. THe will cut me off. God was about to cut me off. ¶ With pining sickness. Marg. "From the thrum." Lowth, from the loom." The word means properly, something hanging down or pendulous; any thing pliant, or slender. Hence it denotes hair or locks. Cant. vii. 6. Here it seems to denote the threads or thrums which tied the web to the weaver's beam. The image here denotes the cutting off of life as the weaver cuts his web out of the loom, or as he cuts off thrums. The word never means sickness. From day even to night. That is, in the space of a single day, or between morning and night—as a weaver with a short web accomplishes it in a single day. The disease of Hezekiah was doubtless the pestilence; and the idea is, that God would cut him off speedily, as it were in a single day.

Wilt thou make an end of me. Heb. Wilt thou perfect or finish me; that is, wilt thou take my life.

13. I reckoned. There has been considerable variety in interpreting this expression. The LXX render it, "I was

night wilt thou make an end of

me.

14 Like a crane, or a swallow, so did I chatter; I did mourn 'as

given up in the morning as to a lion. The Vulgate renders it," I hoped until morning," and in his commentary, Jerome says it means, that as Job in his trouble and anguish (ch. vii. 4) sustained himself at night expecting the day, and in the daytime waiting for the

night, expecting a change for the better, so Hezekiah waited during the night expecting relief in the morning. He knew, says he, that the violence of a burning fever would very soon subside, and he thus composed himself, and calmly waited. So Vitringa renders it, "I composed my mind until the morning:" Others suppose that the word here used,, means, I made myself like a lion, that is, in roaring. But the more probable and generally adopted interpretation is, I looked to God, hoping that the disease would soon subside, but as a lion he crushed my bones. The disease increased in violence, and became past endurance. Then I chattered like a swallow, and mourned like a dove, over the certainty that I must die.'-Our translators by inserting the word “that” have greatly marred the sense, as if he had reckoned or calculated through the night that God would break his bones, or increase the violence of the disease, whereas the reverse was true. He hoped and expected that it would be otherwise, and with that view he composed his mind.

As a lion so will he break all my bones. This should be in the past tense. 'He [God] did crush all my bones.' The connection requires this construction. The idea is, that as a lion crushes the bones of his prey, producing great pain and sudden death, so it was with God in producing great pain and the prospect of sudden death. From day even to night, &c. Note ver. 12. Between morning and night. That is, his pain so resembled the crushing of all the bones of an animal by the lion, that he could not hope to survive the day.

a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

7 ch. 59. 11.

14. Like a crane.

6 or, ease me.

The word used here (oo) denotes usually a horse. The Rabbins render it here a crane. Gesenius translates it a swallow; and in his Lexicon interprets the word which is translated a swallow (1) to mean whole phrase," as the circling swallow." circling, making gyrations; and the The Syriac renders this," as the chattering swallow." The Vulgate, "as the young of the swallow." The LXX simply 66 as the swallow." That two birds are intended here, or that some fowl is denoted by the word is manifest from Jer. viii. 7, where it is mentioned as distinct from the the crane—* the meaning of the words Bochart may be consulted. Hieroz. Lib. i. T. ii. p. 602. It is probable that the swallow and the crane are intended. The swallow is well known, and is remarkable for its twittering. The crane is also a well known bird with long limbs made to go in the water. Its noise may be expressive of grief. ¶ So did I chatter. Peep, or twitter. See Note on ch. viii. 19.

On . וְסוּס וְעָדוּר-e

The idea here, is doubtless that of pain that was expressed in sounds resembling that made by birds-a broken, unmeaning, unintelligible sighing; or quick breathing, and moaning. I did mourn as a dove. The dove from its plaintive sound is an emblem of grief. It is so used in ch. lix. 11. The idea is that of the lonely or solitary dove that is lamenting or mourning for its companion.

"Just as the lonely dove laments its mate."

¶ Mine eyes fail. The word here used (15) means properly to hang down, to swing like the branches of the willow; then to be languid, feeble, weak. Applied to the eye, it means that it languishes and becomes weak. With looking upward. To God, for relief and comfort. He had looked so long, and so intensely toward heaven for aid, that his eyes became weak, and feeble,