f

5 Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest. 6¶ The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it "come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall "that be done any more.

17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the "imagination of their evil heart.

18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have "given for an inheritance unto your fathers.

19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a "pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away "from me.

20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.

21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.

22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.

23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.

24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daugh

ters.

25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

ye

be

8 Psal. 86. 15, and 103. 8,9.

13 Or, to. 14 Or, caused your
17 Heb. from after me.

5 Chap. 2. 20. 6 Or, fame. 7 Heb. in falsehood. 1 Or, it be magnified. 12 Or, stubbornness. 16 Heb. an heritage of glory, or, beauty. Verse 2. "As the Arabian in the wilderness"-The strongest possible idea of vigilant and eager watching is conveyed by this figure, derived from the practice of the desert Arabians, when in wait for their prey on caravans and travellers. Their avidity, acuteness, and perseverance, on such occasions, are equally surprising. They never relinquish their object from delay in its attainment, nor until they feel assured that ultimate success is hopeless. While out on this pursuit, they are continually turning their regards to every quarter, raising themselves occasionally upon their horses to extend their view, and scouring about in all directions thus endeavouring to discover some indication whether people have passed over the ground, or are within their reach. For this purpose the slightest and most distant indi

9 Chap. 23. 4. fathers to possess. 18 Heb. friend.

10 Heb. come upon the heart.
15 Heb. land of desire
19 Hos. 14. 1.

cation of smoke or dust, and the faintest track on the ground, is instantly perceived, and conveys to them the information they desire. With like eagerness and zeal did Israel watch in her corruptions.

24. "Shame;" better definitely, "the shame," or "the confusion." The Hebrews, when repentant or abhorring idolatry, avoided pronouncing even the name of Baal, but substituted for it, when an allusion was necessary, bosheth, shame," or "confusion." Guided by this understanding, Blayney translates That thing of shame;" and Boothroyd, "That shameful idol." The word occurs in the same sense in ch. xi. 13, and Hos. ix. 16.

Chap. 1. 13, 14, 15, and 6. 22.
9 Isa. 1. 16. 10 Chap. 8. 16.

18 Heb. the walls of my heart.

25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; "yet will I

not make a full end.

every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks:

14 Chap. 5. 18.

31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

15 Heb. eyes.

Verse 11. "A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness."-Blayney's translation, "A wind that scorcheth the plains in the wilderness," is doubtless preferable, both as regards the interpretation of the original, and the nature of the phenomenon to which it refers. This will appear from the account of the simoom which we have given in the note on Isa. xxxvii.

17. "As keepers of a field," &c.-We have on former occasions mentioned the single keeper and his lodge. When a field or plantation is extensive, several men are employed, as the season of fruition approaches, to prevent the encroachment of cattle and other marauders. These guards are most numerous near frequented roads, and fewer in remote districts. They keep an easy watch on the borders of the ground, and sometimes tend a few sheep, or amuse the time with some other light employment. They sleep together at night in some such frail lodge or shed as we have formerly described.

30. "Rentest thy face with painting."-For " face," read "eyes," as in the margin. The word yp kara, "to rend" or "tear," is probably here to be understood in the sense of tearing open, or distending, and perhaps refers to the effect of the operation of painting the eyes. Large eyes are much affected in the East; and the black border, by its contrast to the white of the eye, does certainly give a much enlarged appearance to that organ. The process of painting the eyes has already been noticed in this work; and we take the present opportunity of introducing an engraving which will illustrate the observations we have made on this subject. The figure also shows one form in which the women of the Levant are fond of exhibiting blue marks, formed by puncture, upon their hands, arms, faces, and bosoms

Heb. are

strong.

1 Isa. 9. 13. Chap. 2. 30.

2 Or, deserts. 7 Deut. 28. 49. Chap. 1. 15, and 6. 29. 8 Levit. 26, 16. Deut. 28. 31, 33. Isa, 6.9. Matt. 13. 14 John 12. 40. Acts 28. 26. Rom. 11. 8. 12 Heb, heart.

25¶Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.

26 For among my people are found wicked men they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch

men.

27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.

28 They are waxen "fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they

15 Or, they pry as fowlers lie in wait.

16 Or, coup.

17 Deut. 32. 15.

20 Chap. 14. 14, and 23. 25, 26. Ezek. 13. 6.

Verse 1. "Broad places."―This, no doubt, means the market-places, and other spacious areas in the city, where citizens used to meet for doing business with each other.-Blayney.

10. "Take away her battlements,” &c.—Instead of "battlements," the Vulgate, followed by Blayney and others, read "branches," that is, particularly vine branches, which is certainly the usual meaning given to the word. But as the sense is better sustained by a reference to the walls of Jerusalem, Houbigant and others conclude in favour of that reading which the Seventy must have found in their copies when they translated, "Leave her foundations, for they are the Lord's;" so also the Syriac and Arabic. This perhaps produces a clear sense; and it is a fact that the Babylonians did leave the foundations. The same sense may indeed be elicited from our version; for a command to destroy the battlements, because they were not the Lord's, may be understood as equivalent to an order to leave the foundations, because they were the Lord's.

CHAPTER VI.

1 The enemies sent against Judah 4 encourage themselves. 6 God setteth them on work because

of their sins. 9 The prophet lamenteth the judgments of God because of their sins. 18 He proclaimeth God's wrath. 26 He calleth the people to mourn for the judgment on their sins.

judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;

31 The prophets prophesy "falsely, and the priests "bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

27. "A cage is full of birds."-There is no intimation in Scripture that the Hebrews kept singing birds in cages; although it might be hazardous, from the mere silence of Scripture, to affirm that they did not. That nothing of the kind is here intended, is evident from the fact that the cage is described as full, which would not be the case were the birds kept to amuse by their singing. From this it is possible that the cage was one which birds intended for food were kept to be fattened, or what we call a penn; and it was thus understood by the Targum, which renders," a house or place of fattening." It may however signify a cage in which birds taken by snares or hawking were put till it was full; and the Seventy, by rendering it a snare, seem to understand that it was a kind of decoy in which birds were put to ensnare others, until, with those already in it and those thus taken, it became full. One of these two last senses seems favoured by the context, and by the manner in which the illustration is applied. The word rendered “cage” is the same as the basket" of Amos, viii. 1, 2; and, in fact, the cages used in the East are a sort of baskets, usually made from the mid-rib of the palm-leaf.

66

18 Isa. 1. 23. Zech. 7. 10. 19 Or, astonishment and filthiness. 21 Or, take into their hands.

Or, pour out the engine of shot.

5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces. 6 For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye_down trees, and 'cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst

of her.

7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.

8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul 'depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.

9

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.

10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their 3ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

$ Isa, 57, 20. Heb. he loosed or disjointed. 5 Chap. 7.96.