state is proved, by chemical analysis, to constitute one of the most perfect of alimentary substances-to be really food and drink in one, and therefore well worthy to rank with the "butter of kine, milk of sheep, fat of lambs, and the fat of kidneys of wheat." CHAPTER XXXII. VERSES 32, 33. 32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter : Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. 33 The Hebrew reads, ki mig-gephen Sědom gaphnahm, umish-shadmoth 'Amorah; anahvāimo invai rosh; ashkeloth meroroth lahmo; khamath tanninim yaynahm, v'rosh pethahnim akzar: "for of the vine of Sodom (is) their vine, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grape-bunches (are) grape-bunches of gall; (their) clusteredbranches (are) bitter to them; the inflaming-heat of serpents (is) their wine, and the virulent gall of vipers." The Lxx. is as follows:-ek gar ampelou Sodomōn hee ampelos autōn, kai hee kleematis autōn ek Gomorrhas. [Hee (Codex A)] staphulee autōn staphulee cholees, botrus pikrias autois. Thumos drakonton ho oinos autōn, kai thumos aspidōn aniatos: "for from the vine of Sodom (is) their vine, and their vine-branch from Gomorrah. Their grape (is) a grape of gall, a cluster of bitterness theirs. Their wine (is) fierceness of dragons, and the incurable fierceness of asps." The versions of Symmachus and Theodotion have been lost, and all that remains of Aquila's are the concluding words, kai kephalee basiliskōn asplanchnos-' and the unpitying head of basilisks' [a venomous species of reptile]. The V. runs thus :De vinea Sodomorum vinea eorum et de suburbanis Gomorrha; uva eorum uva fellis, et botri amarissimi. Fel draconum vinum eorum et venenum aspidum insanabile"Of the vineyard of Sodom is their vineyard, and of the district of Gomorrah; their grape (is) the grape of gall, and (their) clusters (are) most bitter. The gall of dragons (is) their wine, and the incurable poison of asps." All the Targumists give to the passage a figurative colouring. Onkelos has "even as the punishments of the people of Sodom will be their punishments, and their overthrow as (that) of the people of Gomorrah. Their torments (shall be) most grievous as the heads of adders, and the retribution of their works as poison. As the gall of dragons (shall be) the end of their revenge, and as the head of cruel asps." Jonathan reads, "Because the works of this people are like the works of the people of Sodom, and their counsels like the counsels of the people of Gomorrah—their thoughts are as evil as the heads of basilisks,—therefore their retribution shall be desolating, and with bitterness afflicting them. Behold, as the venom of serpents when they go forth from their wine; such shall be the bitter cup of malediction which they shall drink in the day of their vengeance, and as the heads of cruel basilisks." The Jerusalem T. reads, "Since the works of that people are like to the works of the people of Sodom, and their thoughts like to the thoughts of the people of Gomorrah, their works shall be made desolate, and with bitterness shall they afflict them. Since the poison of that people is like to the poison of serpents in the time when they drink wine, and their wrath is like the heads of cruel asps." To understand the Targumists' versions we must recollect that according to an ancient belief serpents were very fond of wine, the drinking of which rendered their poison more intense. V. 32. THEIR VINE IS OF THE VINE OF SODOM] The margin of the A. V. reads, or worse than the vine of Sodom'; and the Hebrew min readily takes either the conjunctive sense 'of'-'their vine is of [derived from] the wine of Sodom,'-or the disjunctive sense 'away from '-' their vine is away from [i. e. worse than] the vine of Sodom.' The former rendering seems more accordant with the succeeding clause, AND OF THE FIELDS OF GOMORRAH] The Hebrew shedamah (plural shadmoth) signifies land sown or planted. The rendering of the Lxx., kleema, 'offshoot' or 'vine-branch,' does not well agree with the context in most other passages2 Kings xix. 16; xxiii. 4; Isa. xvi. 8; xxxvii. 27; Jer. xxxi. 40; Hab. iii. 17. GRAPES OF GALL] The Hebrew rosh is translated in the Lxx. and V. by words denoting, specifically, 'gall,' and generically, 'poison.' Gesenius thinks it meant the poppy, but the connection implies some poisonous berry of a bitter taste. V. 33. THEIR WINE IS THE POISON OF DRAGONS] The Hebrew khamah, ‘heat,' obtains the force of 'poison, or that which burns the bowels' (Gesenius). See Notes on Psa. lviii. 5, and Hos. vii. 5. Figuratively, khamah designates ardent passion, such as 'rage,' 'fury,' 'wrath,' and is so applied in Gen. xxvii. 44; Job xxi. 20; Isa. li. 17; Jer. vi. 11, and xxv. 15. Tanninim, rendered ‘dragons' in the A. V., signifies any very lengthy animals = monsters, and here refers to huge venomous reptiles common in arid countries. THE CRUEL VENOM OF ASPS] Hebrew, rosh pethahnim akzar. It is hard to say why rosh, in verse 32, should have been translated 'gall,' and in verse 33 'venom'; perhaps it was in deference to the same inconsistency in the Lxx., which gives both cholee (gall) and thumos (fierceness or rage); and in the V., which has both fel (gall) and venenum (venom). What is more curious in authorities is (as the reader may see by looking back), that Aquila and the Targumists understood by rosh, in this place, not 'poison' at all, but 'head'—a translation which by no means imparts clearness to their versions. Probably the poisonous substance here called rosh received its name from the head (rosh) of the berry containing it; or (as some think) because the poison of the serpent is secreted in its head. By 'asps' are meant some species of deadly adder or viper, whose poison, because quickly fatal, is described as akzar, 'fierce,' or 'virulent.' The LXX. aniatos, and V. insanabile, 'incurable,' represent the effect rather than the quality of the poison. The A. V. 'cruel' is emphatic, but too expressively moral to be applied to a physical poison. On the phrases 'vine of Sodom,' 'their vine,' and 'their wine,' it may be remarked,― for ages. 1. There is no historical record concerning the kind of vine cultivated around Sodom and Gomorrah, but growing in such a bituminous soil it would probably possess peculiar qualities, the memory of which was handed down by tradition The vine of Sodom may even have survived the overthrow of the cities of the plain. Some commentators suppose a designed reference to the plant which bore the fruit known as 'apples of Sodom,' and described by Josephus as of a beautiful appearance, but crumbling to dust when plucked. Fruit of this sort, the inside of which an insect (tenthrado) reduces to dust, leaving the outside skin fair and attractive, has been found by modern travellers near the Dead Sea. 2. It is obvious that Moses, under the similitude of a Sodom-like vine, grapes of gall, bitter clusters, wine like serpent-poison and deadly adder's gall, furnishes a moral portraiture of Israel's rebellious state. The vine of Sodom marks their degenerate character, its bitter and poisonous fruit their vicious tempers, and its venomous wine their injurious conduct towards the saints and prophets of God; but it is extremely unlikely that such images would have been borrowed from merely traditional or fictitious objects. The entire passage appears to glance retrospectively at the manufacture and use of powerfully intoxicating compounds familiar to the people of Sodom, the knowledge of which may have been transmitted to much later times. The figures themselves are a tacit but striking warning against inflaming drinks : no innocent substances, no 'good (dietetic) creatures,' could have furnished such symbols to the poet-prophet of Israel. As the passage is part of a Hebrew poem, we may be permitted to convert it into English verse :— Their vine from Sodom draws its birth, Their wine huge-reptiles' poison makes, CHAPTER XXXII. VERSES 37, 38. 37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted; 38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink-offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. AND DRANK THE WINE OF THEIR DRINK-OFFERINGS] Hebrew, yishtu yayn nesikahm, and drank the wine of their libations.' So LXX. and V. The wine poured out before the heathen idols was figuratively supposed to be drunk by them; and Jehovah is represented as asking His faithless people what had become of those gods who had eaten and drunk (¿. e. accepted) their offerings, and then deserted them in the hour of their need. CHAPTER XXXII. VERSE 42. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy. The Hebrew reads, ashkir khitzai mid-dahm, 'I will satiate (drench) my arrows from blood'; the LXX., methusō ta belee mou aph'haimatos traumatiōn, ‘I will drench my darts from the blood of the wounded'; the V., inebriabo sagittas meas sanguine, 'I will inebriate my arrows with blood.' The T. of Jonathan gives 'I will drench my arrows in the blood of their slain.' The Hebrew ashkir comes from shahkar, 'to drink freely' of any sweet drink, and hence to be intoxicated if the drink is fermented. In this passage the figure is confined to the idea of repletion, the Divine arrows being described as made to drink till they are soaked with the blood of those who fell under them, so great should be the slaughter of the guilty. CHAPTER XXXIII. VERSE 28. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. THE FOUNTAIN OF JACOB] Hebrew, ain Yaaqov, 'the fountain (or eye) of Jacob.' As the same Hebrew word signifies 'eye' and 'fountain,' the versions differ. The Targumists take it in the sense of overflowing 'benediction.' UPON A LAND OF CORN AND WINE] Hebrew, el-eretz dahgan va-tirosh. This and the previous clause are rendered by the LXX. epi gees Iakōb, epi sito kai oino, 'upon the land of Jacob, upon corn and wine.' The V. has oculus Jacob in terra frumenti et vini, 'the eye Jacob in a land of corn and wine.' The Syriac gives the usual triad-'the fountain Jacob in a land of corn, and wine, and oil.' The Arabic reads, 'of expressed juice' (etzer). By fountain' many commentators understand 'offspring'—his posterity spread like the waters of a fountain. If we read 'eye,' then it is a figure of the patriarch gazing with delight on the fruitful land prophetically stretched out before him. F THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. CHAPTER V. VERSE II. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. UNLEAVENED CAKES] Hebrew, matzoth, 'unfermented cakes.' The phrase 'selfsame day' seems to indicate the eagerness with which the people, sick of the manna, desired to eat the fruits of this long-promised land. It is added, ‘And the manna ceased'; teaching us that miracles of feeding are not works of supererogation, but disappear when the ordinary supplies of Providence are available. For the right use of these natural supplies men are as responsible as for the miraculous gifts, and for their abuse (by changing them) as sinful as the discontented Jews who loathed 'the bread from heaven.' CHAPTER IX. VERSE 4. They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up. AND WINE BOTTLES] Hebrew, va-nodoth yayin, and bottles of wine'; Lxx., askous oinou, 'skin bottles of wine'; V., utres vinarios, wine-bags.' CHAPTER IX. VERSE 13. And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. AND THESE Bottles of wine] Hebrew, vě-alleh nodoth hay-yayin,' and these bottles of the wine'; the LXX., kai outoi oi askoi tou oinou, ‘and these skin bottles of the wine'; the V., utres vini, 'bags of wine.' |