8 In that day, saith Jehovah,

I will destroy the wise men from Edom,

And understanding from the mount of Esau.

9 Thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed;

Every one shall be cut off from the mount of Esau.

10 For slaughter and for oppression of thy brother Jacob shall shame cover thee,

And thou shalt be destroyed forever.

11 In the day when thou stoodest over against him,

In the day when strangers carried away captive his forces, And when foreigners entered his gates,

And when they cast lots upon Jerusalem,

Thou also wast as one of them.

12 But thou shouldst not have looked with delight on the day of thy brother in the day of his calamity;

Nor shouldst thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction,

Nor have spoken haughtily in the day of his distress. 13 Thou shouldst not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity,

Nor have looked with delight on their affliction in the day of their calamity,

Nor have laid hand on their substance in the day of their. calamity,

14 Nor have stood in the cross-way to cut off their fugitives, Nor have delivered up those that remained in the day of

distress!

15 For the day of Jehovah is near upon all the nations:
As thou hast done, so shall it be done to thee;
Thy dealing shall return upon thine own head.
16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain,
So shall all the nations drink perpetually,
Yea, they shall drink and swallow it down,
And they shall be as though they had not been.

17

But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and it shall

be holy;

And the house of Jacob shall regain their possessions.

18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire,

And the house of Joseph a flame,

And the house of Esau stubble,

And they shall kindle them and devour them.

And there shall be none remaining of the house of Esau; For Jehovah hath spoken it.

19 And they of the south shall possess the mountain of Esau, And they of the plain, the Philistines;

And they shall possess the fields of Ephraim,

And the fields of Samaria;

And Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

20 And the captives of this host of the sons of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites unto Sarepta,

And the captives of Jerusalem which are at Sepharad shall possess the cities of the south.

21 And saviors shall go up to mount Zion,

To rule the mount of Esau.

And the kingdom shall be Jehovah's.

NOTES.

NOTES.

NOTES ON JOEL.

ALL that we know of Joel by direct historical information is, that he was the son of a certain Pethuel. Some circumstances alluded to in his prophecy, however, have been supposed to indicate the time in which he lived. The prophecy relates to the kingdom of Judah. Hence it is probable that he was an inhabitant of that kingdom. It is also plain that the temple was standing when he wrote. See chap. i. 14; ii. 1, 14, 17. The enemies of the Jewish nation mentioned in this book are only the Egyptians, Idumæans, Philistines, and Phoenicians. Neither the Syrians nor Assyrians are alluded to, though he seems to have occasion to introduce all the enemies of his nation. Hence it has been inferred that he lived before the time of Isaiah, when the Syrians and Assyrians were the most formidable enemies of Judah. He alludes to the same enemies of his nation who are mentioned by Amos, and lays similar things to their charge; whence it has been inferred that he was a contemporary of that prophet. See iii. 2-7; comp. Amos i. 9-11. But as in the book of Amos the Syrians appear as the enemies of Judah, Joel is supposed to have written earlier; perhaps in the former part of the reign of Uzziah, or about eight hundred years before Christ. It is plain that the circumstances above enumerated are not in the highest degree conclusive; and in fact several different opinions have been maintained. But as it will be generally acknowledged that Joel is surpassed by none of the prophets in originality, or poetic excellence, it is well that he should stand at the head of the noble series.

Ch. I. 4.

-trans חָסִיל and וְיֶלֶק אַרְבֶּה נָזָס ,The Hebrew words

lated in the common version palmer-worm, locust, cankerworm, and caterpillar, undoubtedly denote either four species of locusts, for which we have no names in our language; or, as some suppose, the locust in four stages of its growth. The epithets given in the translation are suggested by the etymology of the Hebrew proper names. On the supposition that all the names denote locusts, the subsequent description becomes more true and striking. In order to perceive the correct