of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath 22 taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? 9 3 CHAP. IX. 1-9. Lament continued. O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; That I might leave my people, and go from them! For they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. I am black] (compare Ps. Ps. xxxv. 14. Either (i) I am diseased, for which is quoted Job xxx. 28 xxxviii. 7); or better (ii) I am in mourning garb, 22. balm] Red balsam from Mecca was grown in Roman times in the gardens of Jericho. That meant here however was gum from (i) the terebinth or mastic tree or (ii) the opobalsamum. It is mentioned as early as Gen. xxxvii. 25. Gilead] a mountainous part of Palestine, east of the Jordan, south of Bashan, and north of Moab. is there no physician there?] Is there no priest or prophet, who can heal the sin of Israel or apply a remedy? why then is not...?] better, why is no healing gone up upon the daughter of my people? CHAP. IX. 1-9. LAMENT CONTINUED. 1. fountain] reservoir. See chap. ii. 13 and note. 2. a lodging place] a caravanserai, hospice, (khan), such as were found in lonely places. They differed from the inn in not having any resident host, or supplying food to the traveller. Shelter was all that they afforded. The most desolate spot, if it but sufficed to cover him, is to the prophet an object of yearning, that so he may escape the sights which thrust themselves upon him in Jerusalem. adulterers] See note on last words of chap. ii. 20. treacherous] faithless (towards God, chap. v. 11, but here) towards each other, as shewn by what follows. 3. tongues] tongue. like] which is. for lies] with lying. In the figure the bow represents the tongue and lying the arrow which fills it. The bow was strung by pressure from the foot, while the string was pushed up to the notch. But they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; And they know not me, saith the LORD. For every brother will utterly supplant, They have taught their tongue to speak lies, Through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD. Behold, I will melt them, and try them; But they are not valiant for the truth] And not according to faithfulness do they rule, i. e. those who in positions of power do not observe fidelity in their dealings with their fellow men. know] acknowledge. 4. Compare for the general sense Mic. vii. 5, 6. "The violence which had in the earlier period of the divided kingdom characterized the northern dynasty, in the reigns of Manasseh and Josiah penetrated the fortunes of Jerusalem also. It had become a mortal battle between two fierce parties. The persecution of the prophets by Manasseh had provoked the persecution of the idolatrous priests by Josiah. The mutual distrust, which had already in the time of Hezekiah broken up families and divided the nearest friends, and made a man's worst enemies those of his own household, had now reached the highest degree of intensity; Every man had to take heed of his neighbour and suspect his brother"" (Stanley, J. Ch. 11. 437). will utterly supplant] "It might be rendered, Every brother is a thorough Facob" (Sp. Comm.) Gen. xxvii. 36. will walk with slanders] slandereth. The present tense is best. Compare chaps. vi. 28 and xii. 6. 5. Here, as in the previous verse, the verbs had best be rendered in English by present tenses. weary themselves] Their will to do evil outstrips their power. 6. Thine] The people are still addressed, the sense being a repetition of the thought of ver. 4. Others make these words to be from God to the prophet, pointing out to him his danger; but this is not so good. Through deceit they refuse to know me] Their evil disposition towards one another leads to rejection of God. Compare 1 John iv. 20. 7. melt them, and try them] by the essay of affliction. Compare Is. xlviii. 10. The two operations, melting to remove the dross, trying, 5 6 7 For how shall I do for the daughter of my people? 8 Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit : One speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, But in heart he layeth his wait. ΤΟ II Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: 10-22. The calamity set forth in further detail. For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, Neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; Both the fowl of the heavens and the beast Are fled; they are gone. And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; in order to ascertain whether the metal is now pure, are brought together again in Zech. xiii. 9. how shall I do for ] how should I deal in regard to. The LORD justifies His course of action in bringing correction upon the nation. 8. an arrow shot out] better, a murderous arrow. 9. Repeated from chap. v. 9. 10-22. THE CALAMITY SET FORTH IN FURTHER DETAIL. 10. This and the following verses describe the desolation of the land, the exile of its inhabitants and the slaughter of children and young men in the cities. For] On account of, not upon. Although the latter is the primary sense of the Hebrew word, yet that it is not its meaning as used in this particular phrase, is shewn 2 Sam. i. 17, and elsewhere. habitations] better, pastures. wilderness] a sort of land which would not bear tillage, but was productive of grass. burnt up] through lack of any cultivation, which might have counteracted the scorching effect of the sun's rays. men] they. 11. dragons] jackals. There are two very similar Hebrew words, which have been confused in the English Version, but which have apparently quite distinct meanings. (i) Tannim, the word found here (also in chaps. x. 22, xiv. 6, xlix. 33, li. 37). It can hardly have the sense of serpent (dragon), for (a) it is often connected with the word for ostrich; (b) the animal is compared (xiv. 6) to the wild asses snuffing And I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. Who is the wise man, that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, For what the land perisheth And is burnt up like a wilderness, that none passeth through? 12 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law 13 which I set before them, And have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of 15 Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, up the wind; (c) its wailing is referred to Mic. i. 8, and probably Job xxx. 29. For this last reason specially it is identified with the jackal. (ii) Tannin, occurring chap. li. 34, where compare note. See Sm. Bibl. Dict. Art. Dragon. 12. Who is the wise man] meaning that there are none such found, with a hint at the would-be wise, the false prophets. For what the land perisheth] It is better to make this a new question, itself the explanation of "this." That which the truly wise and taught of God can alone understand and declare is the cause on account of which the ruin comes. Compare Hos. xiv. 9. Wherefore hath the land perished? 13. I set before them] Not referring so much to the first giving of the Law as to the constant enforcing of it by the prophets. We may (with Kimchi a Jewish commentator) compare Deut. xxx. 11—14, (quoted Rom. x. 6, &c.). therein] The gender in the Hebrew shews that law, not voice, is the thing referred to. 14. imagination] stubbornness. See note on chap. iii. 17. Baalim] See note on chap. ii. 8, 23. which their fathers taught them] The evil was not the growth of one generation. 15. The people shall be subjected to the bitterest woes, here likened to wormwood and water of gall. will feed] am feeding. It had already begun. wormwood] (absinthium) from a Hebrew root signifying to abuse, to curse. See note on xxiii. 15. 16 17 18 19 And give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: And I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they And send for cunning women, that they may come: And our eyelids gush out with waters. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! We are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, water of gall] See note on chap. viii. 14. 66 16. "I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you is found in Lev. xxvi. 33. This prophecy of long standing was now to be fulfilled, because the condition of its fulfilment, viz. the iniquity of the nation, was full. For the sword which was to pursue them in Egypt the land of their exile see the still more definite threatenings in chaps. xlii. 16, xliv. 27. till I have consumed them] not implying that every individual of the people should perish, for this would be contrary both to the fact and to such passages as chap. iv. 27. It is the dross, the impurity, that shall be wholly consumed on a foreign soil. 17, 18. Many are the dead, slain in battle and through the other horrors of war. Let the survivors bestir themselves and have the usual honours paid to the memory of the loved ones departed. "This custom continues to the present day in Judea, that women with dishevelled locks and bared breasts in musical utterance invite all to weeping.' St Jerome. "There are in every city and community women exceedingly cunning in this business. When a fresh company of sympathisers comes in, these women make haste' to 'take up a wailing' that the newly come may the more easily unite their tears with the mourners. They know the domestic history of each person, and immediately strike up an impromptu lamentation, in which they introduce the names of their relations who have recently died, touching some tender chord in every heart." The Land and the Book, p. 103. cunning] skilful. Compare Esau, a cunning hunter (Gen. xxv. 27); David, a cunning player on the harp (1 Sam. xvi. 18); Uzziah's engines, invented by cunning men (2 Chron. xxvi. 15). 19. forsaken] left. It was not a voluntary departure. |