This and (on) the earth, (on) the dead, thou wilt cause it to fall verse is in the strongest contrast with the one before it. To the ineffectual efforts of the people to save themselves, he now opposes their actual deliverance by God. They shall rise because they are thy dead, i e. thy dead people. Some supply a preposition (with my dead body), which construction is adopted in the English Version, but is now commonly abandoned as incongruous and wholly arbitrary. Neither the Prophet, nor the house of Israel, in whose name he is speaking, could refer to their own body as distinct from the bodies of Jehovah's dead ones. Awake etc. is a joyful apostrophe to the dead, after which the address to Jehovah is resumed. The reference to the dew is intended to illustrate the vivifying power of God. The obvious meaning of the words is an expression of strong confidence and hope, or rather of prophetic foresight, that God will raise the dead, that his life-giving influence will be exerted. The question now arises, what resurrection is referred to? All the answers to this question may be readily reduced to three. The first is, that the prophet means the general resurrection of the dead, or according to an old rabbinical tradition, the exclusive resurrection of the righteous, at the last day. The second is, that he refers to a resurrection of the Jews already dead, not as an actual or possible event, but as a passionate expression of desire that the depopulated land might be replenished with inhabitants. The third is, that he represents the restoration of the exiles and of the theocracy under the figure of a resurrection, as Paul says the restoration of Israel to God's favour will be life from the dead. The figurative exposition seems decidedly entitled to the preference. This national address to God could not be more suitably wound up, or in a manner more in keeping with the usage of the prophecies, than by a strong expression of belief, that God would raise his people from the dust of degradation and oppression, where they had long seemed dead though only sleeping. 20. Go, my poeple, enter into thy chambers, and shut thy doors after thee, hide thyself for a little moment, till the wrath be past. Having wound up the expectations of the people to a full belief of future restoration from their state of civil and religious death, the Prophet by an exquisite transition intimates, that this event is not yet immediately at hand, that this relief from the effects of God's displeasure with his people must be preceded by the experience of the displeasure itself, that it is still a time of indignation, and that till this is elapsed the promise. cannot be fulfilled. This painful postponement of the promised resurrection could not be more tenderly or beautifully intimated than in this fine apostrophe. The English Version (as it were) is incorrect. The period of suffering is described as very small in comparison with what had gone before and what should follow it, as St. Paul says (Rom. 8: 18) that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 21. For behold, Jehovah (is) coming out of his place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth upon him, and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. This is a reason both for expecting ultimate deliverance and for patiently awaiting it. The reason is that God has a work of chastisement to finish, first upon his own people, and then upon their enemies. During the former process, let the faithful hide themselves until the wrath be past. When the other begins, let them lift up their heads, for their redemption draweth nigh. This large interpretation of the verse is altogether natural and more satisfactory than those which restrict it either to the judgments upon Israel or to those upon Babylon. On the latter the eye of the Prophet chiefly rests, especially at last, so that the closing words may be applied almost exclusively to the retribution which awaited the Chaldean for the slaughter of God's people. The blood, which the earth had long since. drunk in, should as it were be vomited up, and the bodies of the murdered, which had long been buried, should be now disclosed to view. CHAPTER XXVII. THIS chapter is an amplification of the last verse of the one preceding, and contains a fuller statement both of Israel's chastisements and of Jehovah's judgments on his enemies. The destruction of the latter is foretold as the slaughter of a huge sea-monster, and contrasted with God's care of his own people even when afflicting them, vs. 1-5. Hereafter Israel shall flourish, and even in the mean time his sufferings are far less The former is visited than those of his oppressors, vs. 6, 7. in moderation, for a time, and with the happiest effect, vs. 8, 9. The latter is finally and totally destroyed, vs. 10, 11. This shall be followed by the restoration of the scattered Jews, 12, 13. VS. 1. In that day shall Jehovah visit, with his sword, the hard, the great, the strong (sword), upon Leviathan the swift (or flying) serpent, and upon Leviathan the coiled (or crooked) serpent, and shall slay the dragon which (is) in the sea. The leviathan and dragon of this verse are probably descriptive of a great oppressive power, with particular allusion to the Babylonian empire. Assuming this to be the general meaning of the verse, that of its mere details becomes either easy or comparatively unimportant. The word leviathan, which from its etymology appears to mean contorted, coiled, is sometimes used to denote particular species (e. g. the crocodile), and sometimes as a generic term for huge aquatic animals, or the larger kinds of ser pents, in which sense the corresponding term serpent is also used. They both appear to be employed in this case to express the indefinite idea of a formidable monster, which is in fact the sense now commonly attached to the word dragon. The second epithet means tortuous, either with respect to the motion of the serpent, or to its appearance when at rest. The only explanation of the other epithet which is fully justified by Hebrew usage is that of fugitive or fleeing, which may either be a poetical equivalent to fleet, or descriptive of the monster as a flying serpent. For the meaning of the phrase to visit upon, see above, ch. 13: 11. The sword is a common emblem for the instruments of the divine vengeance. 2. On the explanation of this verse depends that of a large part of the chapter. The two points upon which all turns, are the meaning of the Hebrew word translated sing, and the ref erence of the pronoun her. The only supposition which will meet the difficulties of the case, is the one adopted by most of the old writers, to wit, that the pronoun refers to Jerusalem or the daughter of Zion, i. e. to the church or people of God considered as his spouse (ch. 1: 21). : 21). This reference to a subject not expressly mentioned might be looked upon as arbitrary, but for the fact that the assumption of it is attended with fewer difficulties than the construction which it supersedes. As to the other word, tradition and authority are almost unanimous in giving it the sense of sing and regarding what follows as a song. To this exposition there are several objections. In the first place, no one has been able to determine with precision where the song concludes, some choosing one place for its termination, some another. This would of course prove nothing in a clear case, but in a case like this it raises a presumption that a song, of which the end cannot be found, has no beginning. But in the next place, it is easy to see why the end cannot be easily defined, to wit, because there is nothing in a the next three, four, or five verses to distinguish them as being any more a song than what precedes and follows, whether with respect to imagery, rhythm, or diction. In the third place, the presumption thus created and confirmed is corroborated further by the obvious incongruity of making the song, which the people are supposed to sing, begin with IJehovah keep it etc. Out of fifty-six cases in which the Hebrew word occurs, there are only three in which the sense of singing is conceivable, and of these three one (Ps. 88: 1) is the enigmatical title of à Psalm; another (Ex. 32: 18) is so dubious that the one sense is almost as appropriate as the other, and the third is that before us. On such grounds the assumption of the meaning sing could hardly be justified, even if it were far more appropriate to the context than the common one. But in the last place, while the supposition of a song, as we have seen, embarrasses the exposition, the usual meaning of the verb is perfectly appropriate. This meaning is to afflict, and especially to afflict in an humbling and degrading manner. This may seem to be utterly at variance with the context as it is commonly explained; but the common explanation rests on the supposititious meaning of the verb, and cannot therefore be alleged in favour of that meaning. On the usual hypothesis, the verse exhorts the people to sing to the vineyard or the church; on the one now proposed, it challenges her enemies to do their worst, declaring that God still protects her. This explanation of the verse agrees well with the distinct allusions to the punishment of Israel in vs. 4, 7, 8, 9, which would be comparatively out of place in a song of triumph or gratulation. Against this explanation of the verse lies the undivided weight of tradition and authority, so far as I can trace the exposition of the passage. So unanimous a judgment might be looked upon as perfectly decisive of the question but for two considerations; first, that the proposed interpretation removes a variety of difficulties, not by forsaking usage but by returning to it; and secondly, that none of the |