veh, ii. 4—iii. 19, very impressive. The author possesses originality, or characteristic peculiarities. Comp. i. 10. ii. 4–9. iii. 17. His language is pure without any foreign admixtures, unless it be the word or in iii. 17, a name applied to certain of the Assyrian

magistrates.

[a). Lowтn, De Sacra Poesi Hebræorum, Præl. xxi. p. 287. ed. Ox. 1775, has given a still more favourable opinion of the style of Nahum. "Ex omnibus minoribus Prophetis nemo videtur æquare sublimitatem, ardorem, et audaces spiritus Nahumi; adde quod ejus vaticinium integrum ac justum est poema; exordium magnificum est et plane augustum; apparatus ad excidium Ninivæ, ejusque excidii descriptio et amplificatio, ardentissimis coloribus exprimitur, et admirabilem habet evidentiam et pondus." To this judgment ROSENMUELLER, Schol. III. 245, fully accedes. Tr.]

§ 117. Age of Nahum.

Nahum is called the Elkoshite wp, (i. 1.), not to designate his family, for this would require pbs 2. the son of Elkosh, but from the place of his nativity; comp. Mic. i. 1. Jer. xxix. 27. I Ki. xvii. 1. There is a city of this name in Assyria, three hours distant from Nunia, (a village on the site of the ancient Nineveh,) where the sepulchre of the prophet is pointed out. See ASSEMAN. Bib. Orient. T I. p. 525., and T. III. P. I. p. 352. NIEBUHR Reiseb. Th. II. S. 352. The more ancient writers make no mention of this place, but speak of an Elkosh in Galilee. See JEROME Proœm. in Nahum, and EUSEBIUS in Onomasticon sub voce Exxɛσε Nahum therefore was a Galilean, who, upon the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel, passed over into that of Judah, where he obtained his surname, the Elkoshite, from the place of his birth. This affords a sufficient reason for the preservation of his prophecies in the kingdom of Judah, which it would not be easy to account for, if he had written in Assyria.[a]

Some authors have attempted to infer the prophet's age from iii. 8-10 supposing that the siege of No-Amon, that is,, Thebes or Dios polis in Egypt, by the Assyrians, when Tartan in the reign of Sargon conquered Ashdod, is referred to.[b] But the siege men

tioned by Nahum can hardly be assigned to a definite age, neither is it of this that Isaiah speaks in c. xx.-) -Nevertheless, it is evident from Nah ii. 3. that the ten tribes had already been carried away into captivity; it may be inferred from i. 11-13, ii. 1, 14, that Sennacherib's invasion had already taken place; it is clear from ii. 1, that no very considerable time had elapsed since that invasion; and lastly, ii. 2, 3, shows that the kingdom of Judah had indeed been reduced to a low state, but was again to struggle through its difficulties, which happened afterwards under Josiah. Nahum, therefore, exercised his prophetic office before the reign of Josiah, yet not long after the irruption of Sennacherib, consequently, in the last years of Hezekiah.

[a) MICHAELIS, Uebersetz. d. A. T., XI. Th. S. 138., EICHHORN, Einleit. IV. S. 389. ff., and others, embrace the opinion, that the prophet's birth-place was in Assyria. ROSENM. Schol. in V. T. III. p. 242., DE WETTE, Einleit. S. 328., and BERTHOLDT, S. 1652. ff., agree with Jahn. The striking agreement between the writings of Nahum and those of the other Hebrew prophets noticed by EICHH. S. 391, although not so used by him, is strong in favour of this last opinion. Tr.]

[6) So EICHH. Th. IV. S. 383. ff. ROSENM. Schol. III. 243, and DE WETTE, S. 327. Tr.]

§ 118. Contents of the Book of Habakkuk.

Habakkuk, papɔŋ, begins his work by complaining, i. 2—4., that his prayers against injustice, violence, and oppressions are not heard, and obtains the divine answer, i. 5—11. that the Chaldeans are to avenge these crimes. The prophet at length discerning in vision the slaughter to be effected by that people, beseeches God, i. 12-17, to restrain those cruel enemies. The answer is given, that destruction is hanging over the Chaldeans also, and that however it may be deferred, it will certainly follow, ii. 2-20. This is succeeded by an ode, in which the prophet celebrates the deliverances wrought by the Almighty for his people in past times, and prays for a similar interference now to mitigate the coming distresses of the nation, which he describes, representing the land as already waste and desolate, and yet giving encouragement to hope for a return of better times, c. iii.

§ 119. The Style of Habakkuk.

The elegance and sublimity discernible in the style of this prophecy may place it in competition with any of the others.

kuk has some things indeed in common with other sacred poets, as ii. 12. with Mic. iii. 10., and ii. 14. with Isa. xi. 9; but he makes even these his own by his peculiar manner His figures are all great, happily chosen, and properly drawn out. The ode in the third chapter is particularly excellent. [a]

[a) The animated description of the style of Habakkuk given by ЕICнн. Einleit. Th. IV. S. 410. ff. is well worth perusal. Jahn in his German work, declares that the language of Habakkuk is throughout free from foreign words. Eichhorn gives a considerable number of words which he considers as peculiar to this prophet, but as DE WETTE, Einleit. S. 332, observes, ‘his list needs sifting.' ¡pp, ii. 16. is, however, an unexceptionable instance.- Additional instances of borrowed ideas occur iii. 19., comp. Ps. xviii. 34.; and ii. 6., comp Isa. xiv. 4.-Eichhorn, Rosenmüller, and De Wette, are loud in their praises of the style of Habakkuk. LowтH, de Poes. Hebræor. p. 287. says only "Poeticus est Habbaccuci stylus; sed maxime in oda, quæ inter absolutissimis in eo genere merito numerari potest." Tr.]

§ 120.

.

The Age of Habakkuk.

The opinions respecting the age in which Habakkuk lived are various. That he prophesied during the first years of king Manasseh is shown by the commencement of the prophecy, i. 2-4, which points to the early years of that king; for it is impossible to explain this, as some have endeavoured to do, of the Chaldeans because they are spoken of, i. 5—11, as the agents by whom the iniquitous persons mentioned in i. 2-4, were to be chastised, and it is not to be supposed that the prophet would have offered the prayers contained in i. 12-17, for the Chaldeans. The sublimity of the composition is in character with this period, being such as could not be expected from a more recent age.- -Finally, the Chaldeans are represented, i. 6. as a people just forming themselves into a body and seeking a new habitation, which, as has been already observed, they

did during a considerable interval of time, as early as the reigns of Hezekiah and Manasseh, long before they established their authority in Babylonia. Comp. Isa. xxiii. 13. [a]

[a) WAHL, Ueber. des Habakkuk, S. 16, coincides with Jahn. But EICHн. Th. IV. S. 401. ff. places the age of Habakkuk subsequently to the reign of Joiakim, in the commencement of the oppression of the Hebrews by the Chaldeans. DE WETTE, Einleit. S. 330., after CLEMENT of ALEXANDRIA, Strom. I. 142, places it still later, making the prophet a contemporary of Jeremiah. ROSENMUELLER, Schol. in Min. Proph. III. 341. s. supposes c. i. to have been written under Joiakim, c. ii. under Jeconiah, and c. iii. during the three years' siege of Jerusalem under Zedekiah.All, however, acknowledge the precise date to be exceedingly uncertain. Tr.]

§ 121. Contents of the prophecy of Obadiah.

Obadiah, ỳ, or, as the translators of the Septuagint and Vul

gate pronounce the word, Abdiah, y, who has left nothing but

the fragment of a prophecy against the Edomites, upbraids them, like Amos, c. i. 11, Jeremiah, c. xlix. 7—22. [Lam. iv. 21, 22.] Ezekiel, c. xxv. 12-14, and the author of the 137th Psalm, with their hostile intentions towards the Hebrews, and warns them not to add to the evils of these their brethren, because they themselves are to experience the same lot. Zion will be hereafter restored, and the Hebrews, even the ten tribes, will again receive their country, and take possession of Edom and also Philistia. This took place 125 years before Christ, under John Hyrcanus. Comp. Archæol. P. II. Th. I. § 104. p. 479.

§ 122. Style of Obadiah.

The style of this writer shines with various beauties, yet it does not equal that of the more ancient prophets. His interrogations in particular are too frequent, and they are not always very happily introduced. Comp. v. 8.

§ 123. Age of Obadiah.

Many men of the name of Obadiah are mentioned in the Bible, as in I Chron. iii. 21. ix. 16. II Chron. xvii. 7. I Kings xviii. 3.[a] It is impossible to determine whether the prophet is to be identified with any one of these, or with him who, II Chron. xxxiv. 12. assisted in superintending the repairs of the temple under Josiah. His age also is uncertain. It is clear however from v. 20. that in his time Jerusalem was subject to the Chaldeans, and that many of the citizens had been carried away captive; so that Obadiah must have prophesied after the removal of Jehoiachin, or the seventh year of the captivity, that is, subsequently to the year 599 B. C., or 376 after the division, II Kings xxiv. 8-17. That he exercised his prophetic of fice before the destruction of Jerusalem, appears from v. 12—14, where he admonishes the Edomites not to continue their hostilities against the Jews.

As Jeremiah, c. xlix. 7—22, has many expressions similar to others in Obadiah, it is a question which of the two has borrowed from the other. Opinions vary on this subject, and there is not much preponderance of evidence on either side, except that as Jeremiah has used the works of other prophets in his other predictions against foreign nations, this fact renders it more probable that he had read Obadiah, than the reverse. The following table of the parallel passages will enable the reader to form his own judgment.

(a) This name, like the Arabic Abdallah, which has the same signification, (the servant or worshipper of GOD,) is very common.]

[6) DE WETTE, Einleit. S. 321., who agrees with Jahn, supposes that the want of arrangement, the compression, and alteration of these passages in Jeremiah, exhibit a still stronger proof that he has borrowed them from Obadiah. ЕICHн. Th. IV. S. 327. f. is of the same opinion. Comp. however, VERSCHUIRII Opuscula, p. 191. s. (Traj. ad Rhen. 1810.) where several arguments are drawn from the subject to prove the contrary. Tr.