But even this is not sufficient: "No longer shalt thou have the sun for thy light by day; "Nor by night shall the brightness of the moon enlighten thee: "For JEHOVAH shall be to thee an everlasting light, "And thy God shall be thy glory. "Thy sun shall no more decline; "Neither shall thy moon wane; "For JEHOVAH shall be thine everlasting light; "And the days of thy mourning shall cease. 918 In another place he has admirably diversified the same sentiment : "And the moon shall be confounded, and the sun shall be ashamed; "For JEHOVAH God of Hosts shall reign "On Mount Sion, and in Jerusalem; "And before his antients shall he be glorified." On the other hand, denouncing ruin against the proud king of Egypt: "And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heavens, "And the stars thereof will I make dark; "I will involve the sun in a cloud, "Nor shall the moon give out her light. "All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, "And I will set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord JEHO These expressions are bold and daring: but the imagery is well known, the use of it is common, the signification definite; they are therefore perspicuous, clear, and truly magnificent. There are, moreover, other images from natural objects, which although in some measure common to other nations as well as the Hebrews, are nevertheless, from golden age, of which the prophets had acquired a knowledge from the Egyptians. Isaiah has expatiated very much upon this image, of which more in the notes to the ninth Lecture. 8 ISAI. IX. 19, 20. 10 EZEK. xxxii. 7, 8. M. 9 ISAI. xxiv. 23. 12 the situation and nature of the country, much better known and more familiar to them. There is no metaphor more frequent in the sacred poems, than that by which sudden and great calamities are expressed under the figure of a deluge of waters. This metaphor seems to have been remarkably familiar to the Hebrews, as if directly taken from the nature and state of the country. The river Jordan was immediately before their eyes," which annually overflowed its banks; for the snows of Lebanon and the neighbouring mountains being melted in the beginning of the summer, the waters of the river were often suddenly augmented by the torrents which burst forth from them. The whole country of Palestine indeed was watered by very few perennial currents; but being chiefly mountainous, was exposed to frequent floods, rushing violently along the valleys and narrow passages, after great tempests of rain, which periodically took place at certain seasons: and on this account Moses13 himself commends to the Israelites the country which they were about to invade, as being totally different from every thing they had experienced in Egypt, or in the desert of Arabia. This image, therefore, though known to all poets and adopted by most, may be accounted peculiarly familiar, local in a manner to the Hebrews, and of consequence we cannot wonder at its frequent introduction into their compositions. The prophet seems to have depicted the face of nature exactly as it appeared to him, and to have adapted it to the figurative description of his own situation, when from the banks of Jordan, and the mountains at the head of that river, he pours forth the tempestuous violence of his sorrow with a force of language and an energy of expression, which has been seldom equalled: 12 See SANDYs's Travels, B. III. 13 DEUT. viii. 7. xi. 10, 11, ECCLUS XXIV. 26, "Deep calleth unto deep, in the voice of thy cataracts, "All thy waves and thy billows have gone over me."14 It may not be improper to remark in this place, that though this metaphor is so usual in all the other sacred writers, whenever an occasion presents itself of introducing it, the author of Job, in the whole of that poem, which from the nature of the subject presented excellent opportunities of employing it, has not more than twice,1 and then but slightly, made the least allusion to it. Nature, indeed, presented a different aspect to the author, whoever he was, of that most noble poem, if, as many learned men conjecture, it was composed in some part of Arabia, for which, I confess, there is great appearance of argument, from that famous simile,16 in which he compares his friends with the perfidious brook; a comparison manifestly taken from the rocky parts of Arabia, and adorned by many images proper to that region. Finally, there is a species of imagery derived also from natural objects, altogether peculiar to the Hebrews. Among the mountains of Palestine, the most remarkable, and consequently the most celebrated in the sacred poetry, are Mount Lebanon and Mount Carmel. The one, remarkable as well for its height as for its age, magnitude, and the abundance of the cedars which adorned its summit, exhibiting a striking and substantial appearance of strength and majesty. The other, rich and fruitful, abounding with vines, olives, and delicious fruits, in a most flourishing state both by nature and cultivation, and displaying a delightful appearance of fertility, beauty, and grace. The different form and aspect of these two mountains is most accurately defined by Solomon, when he compares the manly dignity with Lebanon," and the beauty and delicacy of the female with Carmel. Each of 14 PSAL. xcii. 8. 15 See Joв Xxii. 11. xxvii. 20. 17 CANT. v. 16. vii. 5. them suggests a different general image, which the Hebrew poets adopt for different purposes, expressing that by a metaphor, which more timid writers would delineate by a direct comparison. Thus Lebanon is used, by a very bold figure, for the whole people of the Jews, or for the state of the church;18 for Jerusalem;19 for the temple of Jerusalem;20 for the king of Assyria" even, and for his army; for whatever in a word is remarkable, august, and sublime:22 and in the same manner whatever possesses much fertility, wealth, or beauty, is called Carmel. Thus too, by the fat rams, heifers, and bulls of Basan," by the wild beast of the reeds," or lion of Jor 23 18 ISAI. xxxiii. 9. xxxv. 2. 19 ISAI. xxxvii. 24. JER. xxii. 6, 23. JER. iv. 26. AMOS iv. 1. 25 PSALM lxviii. 31. Chaiah Kaneh, "The wild beast of the reeds," is a periphrasis for "the lion ;" and that by no means obscure, if we bestow upon it a little attention. The lions make their dens very commonly among the reeds. "Innumerable lions wander about among the reeds and copses " on the borders of the rivers in Mesopotamia." AM. MAR. Lib. xviii. c. 7. This is so familiar to the Arabs, that they have a particular name for the den or haunt of a lion, when it is formed among the reeds. BOCHART. Hieroz. Par. I. Lib. iii. c. 2. The river Jordan was particularly infested with lions, which concealed themselves among the thick reeds upon the banks. JOHAN. PHOCAS. Descrip. Loc. Sanct. c. 23. See also MAUNDREL's Travels, JEROME upon these words of ZECHARIAH Xi. 3. "The voice of the roaring " of young lions, for the pride of Jordan is spoiled." "With the river "Jordan (says he) which is the largest in Judea, and near which there are 66 many lions, the prophet associates the roaring of those animals, on ac"count of the heat of the climate, the vicinity to the desert, the extent of "that vast wilderness, the reeds and the deep sedge which grow about it." Hence in JER. iv. 7. the lion is said to go forth Me-sobechou (from his thicket;) and xlix. 19. "to ascend from the overflowing of Jordan."-In this place, therefore, (PSALM lxviii. 31.) the wild beast of the reeds, the herd of the strong, and the calves, are the lions, the bulls, and the beasts wantoring about, or in plain terms, the fierce and insolent tyrants: of whom, by a continuation of the metaphor, the prophet adds, " each of them eagerly" (for there is that force in the distributive in the singular number, and in the conjugation Hithpael) “striking with their feet, and disturbing the silver, or perhaps desirable, rivers," that is, destroying, and laying waste dan, are denoted the insolent and cruel tyrants of the Gentiles. In this and other imagery of the same kind, though the sacred writers presume to attempt what would the pleasant places of Judea. This very image is adopted by EZEKIEL, C. xxxii. 2. and again c. xxxiv. 18, 19. in which places the verb raphas thrice occurs in that sense; see also DAN. vii. 19. But whether rutz be spoken of the motion of the river, as in the Latin currere (VIRG. Georg. 1. 132.) so as to signify the river, is not altogether so plain. "This word (retzi) seems in the Arabic to convey the idea of water. "For there is a verb ruz, to afford plenty of drink; or to contain stagnant 66 water, as a fish-pond, or valley: and the noun rutz, a quantity of water "lying in the bottom of a lake, or cistern." H. A gentleman of great learning and genius has furnished me with another explication of this passage, which perhaps will attract the attention of the learned reader. This learned man interprets the whole verse in this manner :-"Consume "the wild beast of the reed; the multitude of those who are strong in the "calves of the nations; who excite themselves with fragments of silver: "disperse the people who delight in war." The wild beast of the reed is the Hippopotamus, which lives among the reeds of the Nile: under this metaphor the people of Egypt is properly delineated, which of itself opens the way to the explication of the whole verse. For the Egyptians are indeed alluded to through the whole of the passage: they were remarkable for the worship of calves, and that of Isis and Apis in the form of an ox; and for their religious dances before these idols to the music of timbrels. The Chaldee runs thus: "The assembly of the strong, who put their trust "in the calf-idols of the nations."- "Srong in the calves of the nations," is a phrase analogous to that, Era. vi, 10. “Be strong in the Lord,” and is an Hebraism. The manner of dancing in the worship of the Egyptian idols, is confirmed from Exod. xxxii. 6, 19. also both it and the use of the timbrel, HEROD. Lib. ii. The word van is totally different from D, which is also found in PROV. vi. 3. where the VULGATE renders it hasten thee, or better, excite thee, since it is in Hithpael. In the Chaldee it means to trample, in the Syriac to dance; in the Arabic to spurn; whence in this place, "excite or stimulate themselves to dancing." "With fragments of silver" (so literally ;) that is, with the small pieces or laminæ of metal round the timbrel, which produce the jingling noise when the instrument is beaten The timbrel was formerly a warlike instrument: "The Queen calls forth "the band with warlike timbrels," VIRG. Whence PROPERTIUS also opposes the Egyptian timbrel to the Roman trumpet in the battle of Actium (Lib. iii. ix. 43.) If we consider it in this light, it will serve much to clear up what follows: " disperse the people who delight in war." Thus we have not only a clear description of the Egyptians, but one that agrees admirably with the context: "princes come out of Egypt," &c. Author's Note. |