THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET HABAKKUK. [HABAKKUK'S PROPHESY IS REFerred to abouT 600 B. C.] CHAPTER II. VERSE 5. Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people. YEA ALSO, BECAUSE HE TRANSGRESSETH BY WINE] Hebrew, vè-aph ki hayyayin bogād, 'now, in truth, the wine is defrauding’— is a defrauder, a deceiver. The Lxx. reads, 'but the arrogant man and the scorner, the boastful man, shall not finish any thing'; the V., et quomodo vinum potantem decipit, and in like manner as wine deceives the drinker.' The T. has 'behold, as one wanders by wine.' Henderson's translation, 'moreover, wine is treacherous'-(so Benisch);— and in a note he remarks "that the prophet has his eye upon the intemperance to which the Babylonians were greatly addicted, there can be no doubt. How strikingly was the deceptive character of wine exemplified in the case of Belshazzar!" Newcome reads, moreover, as a mighty man transgresseth through wine.' Wine (that is, the wine that intoxicates) is here distinctly described as a secret spoiler one that secretly plunders; and this characteristic of wine is made the ground of a comparison between it and a 'strong man' (geber) who is 'proud, and does not rest, who enlargeth his desire (or soul) as sèhol (the under-world).' The verdict of Solomon, lätz hay-yayin, 'a mocker is the wine,' and the confirm. atory verdict of Habakkuk, hay-yayin bogad, 'the wine is a defrauder,' affix for ever upon the wine that intoxicates, a stigma which no colors of social flattery can conceal, and no force of sophistry expunge. CHAPTER II. VERSE 15. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! It is worthy of note that the 14th verse, which speaks of the millennial glory when the earth shall be 'full of the knowlege of the Lord,' should be followed by this woe, as if indicating the love of strong liquor to be the great and primary obstacle to that spiritual jubilee. WOE UNTO HIM THAT GIVETH HIS NEIGHBOR DRINK] Hebrew, hoi mashqā rüahu, 'woe to him-giving-drink-to his neighbor.' THAT PUTTEST THY BOTTLE TO HIM] Hebrew, mèsapāakh khamathkah, 'pouring out thy inflaming drink.' [On KHAMAH, see Prel. Dis., and Notes upon Deut. xxxii. 35; Psa. lviii. 4; Isa. li. 17; Jer. xxv. 15; li. 39; Hos. vii. 5.] Grotius renders khamath ‘hot wine'; Parkhurst, ‘hot inflammatory liquor'; Archbishop Newcome, 'gall, poison.' AND MAKETH HIM DRUNKEN ALSO] Hebrew, vě-aph shahkar, 'and even making him drunk.' It is a beginning of badness to give bad drink for sensual purposes-bad to give at all the brain-disturbing khamah, the emblem of God's anger-and the consummation of wickedness is reached when dead-drunkenness ensues. The Lxx. renders the whole verse, O ho potizōn ton pleesion autou, anatropee tholera kai methuskōn, hopōs epiblepee epi ta apeelāia autōn, 'woe (to him) who gives his neighbor to drink from the turbid subversion [or, thick dregs], and makes him drunk, so that he may look upon their secret parts.' The Barberine codex has cholou sou, 'of thy fury'; Symmachus, ton thumon heautou, ‘his own rage'; the V., væ qui potum dat amico suo mittens fel suum et inebrians et aspiciat nuditatem ejus, 'woe (is) to him who gives drink to his own friend, presenting his own gall, inebriating (him), that he may gaze upon his nakedness'; the Syriac, 'Woe to him who gives his companion to drink the dregs of fiery (wine), and inebriates him, that he may gaze on their nakedness.' The T. has, 'Woe to him who gives his companion to drink, and covers him with heat, that he may drink and be intoxicated and expose his shame.' Dr Henderson's version is as follows: "Woe to him that giveth drink to his neighbor, Dr Benisch has, "Woe unto him that giveth his fellow drink, pouring forth thy fury to make also drunk, that thou mayest look on their nakedness." An able version of Habakkuk's prophesy appeared in the Christian Spectator of 1865 (p. 94), from which we give this passage:— (15) "Woe to him giving his neighbor drink, Pouring out his poison, and even making drunk, In order to gaze upon his nakedness. (16) "Thou shalt be satiated with shame rather than glory; There shall be passed to thee the cup of Jehovah's right hand, That is an extraordinary kind of argument which infers, from the mention or prohibition of an extreme sin, the rightfulness of the intervening and causative steps. Here, however, all the stages and agencies are denounced and condemned-the poisoned potion, the giving of it, and the final result. †The Lxx., V., Syriac, and Arabic, followed by Rabbi Kimchi and others, read this clause as if by a slight transposition of the Hebrew,-the verb haahral, be thou uncircumcised,' should be converted into harahal, 'reel or stagger,' in keeping with the phrases employed in Isa. li. 17, and Zech. xii. 2. (Vide Notes.) This cup is also khamath,-though the word is not here repeated-the hay-yayin hay-khemah which Professor Nordheimer, in his Critical Grammar, rightly translates, 'the maddening wine.' CHAPTER II. VERSE 16. Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. The cup of riot shall be followed by the cup of retribution. Sensuality entails shame; and those who assist in the degradation of others are adopting the most effectual means of their own ignominious exposure. The woe pronounced in ver. 15 is thought by some, not to attach to those who hold out the cup of inflaming drink for gain, yet not purposely to make others drunken; but that a portion of their condemnation is associated with every part of the procedure, no intelligent Christian can doubt. It is no excuse for the fool who casts lighted brands about, to cry, 'I am in sport'; and to deal out (whether by the barrel or the bottle) inflaming and polluting draughts, for the sake of 'filthy lucre,' does not render the act innocuous, nor the agent blameless. Even when the motives are not mercenary, and the intentions even kind, there must be a heavy responsibility for the sanction given to the circulation of dangerous drinks, and the persuasions used in pressing their use on others. CHAPTER III. VERSE 17. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. NEITHER SHALL FRUIT BE IN THE VINES] Hebrew, vě-ain yevul bag-gp hahnim, and no produce in the vines.' 31 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH. [THE DATE OF THIS PROPHESY is referred to 630 B.C.] CHAPTER I. VERSE 12. And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. SETTLED ON THEIR LEES] Hebrew, haq-qophim al shimrāihem, drawn up (coagulated) upon their lees.' LXX., and I will bring judgment upon the men who despise their defences' (phalagmata). Liddell and Scott give to phalagmata here the sense of commandments.' The V., et insitabo super viros defixos in facibus suis, and I will look down the men settled upon their own lees.' CHAPTER I. VERSE 13. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof. AND THEY SHALL PLANT VINEYARDS, BUT NOT DRINK THE WINE THEREOF] Hebrew, ve-nahtu kerahmim vě-lo yishtu eth yaynahm, and they have planted vineyards, and shall not drink their wine.' LXX., for 'wine,' has oinon; V., vinum. THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET HAGGAI. [THIS PROPHET PROPHESIED IN OR NEAR THE YEAR 520 B. C.] CHAPTER I. VERSE 6. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. = Ye drink, but ye are not FILLED WITH DRINK] Hebrew, shahthu vě-ain lishahkrah, 'ye have drunk, but not to-be-full' ➡fulness. So Henderson. The previous clause reads, 'ye eat, but not to-be-satisfied' (esahvah to fulness of food). This comparison, and the obvious reference of the prophet to a state that was to be deplored, show that shahkar is here used in its primary and innocent sense of 'to be filled.' The same sense must, therefore, be attached to the Lxx., eis metheen, 'to repletion'; and to the V., non estis inebriati, 'ye are not filled.' The concluding clause, "and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes" (or pierced), has been fitly applied in illustration of the folly which expends on intoxicating liquors ninety millions of pounds in the United Kingdom, upwards of one-third of which comes out of the pockets of the working classes. Wages so wasted may well be said to be put into bags with holes, with the melancholy difference, that not only does the money run out, but miseries innumerable spring up from the misappropriation. The money loss, enormous as it is, is but the first loss, and the precursor of other losses-in regard to personal and domestic comfort, mental improvement, and religious growth,— that keep the nation out of its noblest rights and loftiest enjoyments, by wasting its splendid opportunities of progress. CHAPTER I. VERSE II. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands. |