See under Ezek. xxxi. 3-9. Hosea describes revived Ephraim as saying "I am like a green fir-tree" (xiv. 8). Nahum, when predicting evil on the "excellency of Jacob," represents the mighty men as alarmed "The fir-trees shall be terribly shaken" (ii. 3). And Zechariah pictures all the great ones of the land as cedars of Lebanon, as fir-trees, and as the oaks of Bashan. As some of their number were stricken, the rest were to become alarmed :-"Open thy door, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. Howl, fir-tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down" (xi. 1, 2). Chapter xlii.-Christ and his people, represented as a complex person, are here introduced as the "Servant of Jehovah"-"Behold my servant whom I uphold: mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth." Among the figures used to point out the peacefulness of his kingdom and the tenderness of himself and people, are those contained in verse 3—“ A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth." See also under Exod. ix. 31, and Josh. ii. 6. "The application of these figures to the sparing of enemies, or the indulging of weak friends, or the sustentation of sincere but feeble faith, is too specific and conclusive. The verse continues the description of the mode in which the Messiah and his people were to bring forth judgment to the nations, or in other words, to spread the true religion. It was not to be by clamour or by violence. The first of these ideas is expressed in the preceding verse; the last in this. That such is the true import of the words is clear from the addition of the last clause, which would be unmeaning if the verse related merely to a compassionate and sympathetic temper. That this verse is included in Matthew's quotation (xii. 19), shows that he did not quote the one before it as descriptive of a modest and retiring disposition. The only way in which the whole quotation can be made appropriate to the case in hand, is by supposing that it was meant to be descriptive, not of our Saviour's human virtues, but of the nature of his kingdom and of the means by which it was to be established." It was not to be by the exercise of mere force, as one would rend asunder the crushed reed, which might yet live if healed; nor was it by rudely putting out the flame of the dimly-burning wick of flax, which might yet burn brightly if strengthened. The Saviour was the strong one and the strengthgiver; he was both health and the healer, and the people in him are called to be like him. They are to promote his glory, not by violence, but by peaceful endeavours. "They are not by brutal force to break the crushed reed or quench the dim wick, but to conquer by healing and imparting strength." Chapter xliii. 24.-As the people formed for himself, it should have been Israel's highest duty and privilege to show forth Jehovah's praise. The leading thought is, that just as in admiring a work of art we praise the artist, and give to him the merit of every touch of beauty; so, in being attracted to the loveliness of holy service rendered to God by his professing people, our admiration is really the ascription of glory to God himself, whose indwelling life makes his people equal to the living service. It was Israel's work to attract the eyes of the Gentiles to their God. This they would best do by giving proofs of their devotion to him in maintaining the completeness of the sanctuary services. This they had not done. They had been weary of God (ver. 22), and had shown that they were so by neglect of temple services: "Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burntofferings, neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices: I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities (ver. 23, 24). The "sweet cane" was the Indian fragrant beard-grass (Andropogon aromaticus, Calamus odoratus of some authors). That it was brought from a far country excludes all likelihood of its being the Egyptian sugar cane (Saccharum cylindricum). The same plant is noticed by Jeremiah in connection with a different state of religious feeling. Here the people did not pretend to continue faithful to God. In Jeremiah's day they added hypocrisy to prevailing sin :-"To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me" (vi. 20). The use of the sweet cane in the service of the sanctuary is referred to under Exod. xxx. 23—which see. Chapter xliv. 1.-Glorious promises are held out to "Jacob the servant of the Lord," and to "Israel his chosen one." That there might be no distrust on the part of the people, the wisdom, goodness, and power of Jehovah are pledged to the fulfilment of all his gracious words. To the church times of great revival are spoken of, and, as a chief result, the turning of many to God who were still alienated from him. Many among his people had become spiritually like weary ones parched with thirst, or as the soil cracked by long-continued heat. To them his Spirit was to be like "water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground." Rapid spiritual growth, accompanied by a cordial testimony to the glory of God's grace, was to be the fruits of this season of merciful visitation. "And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel (ver. 3, 5). "Willow," Heb. erev, occurs other four times. It is used by Isaiah as the name of a brook-"the brook of the willows"-Wady Kurâhy at the south-east corner of the Dead Sea (chap. xv. 7-which see). It is named among the "boughs of goodly trees" which the rejoicing Israelite was to take on the first day of the feast of tabernacles. Israel still, though separated from the true joy of this feast-time, hangs the willow branch in the synagogue, or uses it for making the tent in his courtyard or his garden-a melancholy imitation of the days of gladness gone by, and never to return until all Israel shall acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah promised to their fathers. See under Lev. xxiii. 40. Job describing the haunts of Behemoth, "chief of the ways of God," says: "He lieth under the shady trees, In the covert of reeds, and fens. Thick trees cover him with their shadow; Willows of the brook compass him about" (xl. 22). It was the willow of the brook on which the sorrow-stricken Jewish captive hung his harp when his spoilers called for mirth. See under Psalm cxxxvi. 2. In the texts referred to we have most likely three species noticed-the white willow (Salix alba), the osier (S. viminalis), and the weeping willow (S. Babylonica). The first is emphatically "the willow of the brooks," or, as here, "the willow of the watercourses." The second would shelter behemoth, as he wandered on the marshy edges of his favourite rivers. The third was the weeping willow, in whose drooping branches, and dark shadow reflected in the waters beside which they sat down, the captives of Israel would recognize something like evidences of sympathy with them in their grief. The willow belongs to the natural order Amentaceæ, or catkinbearers. It gives its name to the sub-order Salicineæ. There are one hundred and fourteen now generally reckoned as indigenous British plants. In all ages the willow has been noted in connection with religious rites, in poetry, and for the great variety of uses to which it has been applied. In religion we meet with it among the goodly boughs of the feast of tabernacles. "A sad tree," says Thomas Fuller, "whereof such as have lost their love make their mourning garlands; and we know that exiles hung their harps on such doleful supporters: " "When once the lover's rose is dead, Or laid aside forlorn, Then willow garlands round the head Bedew'd with tears are worn." Graham notices in characteristic lines, its social uses: "The basket's various forms For various purposes of household thrift, The rocking couch of sleeping infancy— These, with unnumbered other forms and kinds, Give bread to hands unfit for other work." When the waters are poured on the thirsty and the floods upon the dry ground-when the heritage of God are revived-then his people will grow as the willows, whose roots perennially come in contact with the fresh streams on the edges of which they stand. They shall grow as the willows do among the grass in moist places. "Willow-tree," Heb. tzaphzāphāh -see under Ezek. xxxvii. 5. In verse 8 the question is asked by Jehovah-"Is there a God besides me? yea there is no God; I know not any." This allusion to idols leads to a detailed contrast between God and the work of the image-carver (ver. 9-17). In this contrast reference is made to the trees chiefly used for making the vanities of the heathen-" He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest; he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it" (ver. 14). "Cedars" (Cedrus Libani)-see under Judges ix. 15; "Cypress" (Cupressus sempervirens)-see under Gen. vi. 14; "Oak" (Quercus robur)-see under Gen. xii. 6. The fourth tree from whose wood the idol was sometimes made, is here named "the ash,' Hebrew ōren. It occurs only in this place. Much difference of opinion obtains as to the kind of tree referred to. In the Septuagint the word is rendered by pitus, or pine-tree, and in the Vulgate translation by pinus, which also signifies pine-tree. This circumstance has led interpreters generally to regard ōren as one of the fir-trees. But this is not a satisfactory reason for giving up the rendering of our version. The root of the word may help to identify the tree. The root signifies graceful, and as the most beautiful Syrian forms of the fir-tree-cedar and cypress-have been named, it is most likely another species of a different family would be associated with them. The similarity of sound between the Latin "ornus" and the Hebrew "ōren" has suggested the flowering, or manna ash (0. Europaea) as the tree named by Ezekiel. Certainly so far as beauty goes, the conclusion is warranted. In summer its halfdrooping branches, bright green leaves, and numerous pretty white flowers give it a truly beautiful appearance. It is, however, more likely that, as with the cedar and cypress, the people chose the tree for image-making, which was associated with feelings having a strong resemblance to those which led to idol worship. The common ash (Fraxinus excelsior) one of the Oleaceae and the type of the sub-order Fraxinea, or ash-trees, answers most closely to all the requirements of the text. It has in all lands and in all times been noted for its beauty. Virgil refers to it as the tree "fairest in the groves (Fraxinus in sylvis pulcherrima," Ecl. vii. 65). The elegance of its whole form VOL. II. 3 Q |