The first member of the verse gives no sense, but must have given a sense like that of the second member. 5. And also is not part of the poetic measure. The three couplets explain the occasion for the maledictions that follow, in the greed of the Chaldean ambition. The corrupt first couplet must be restored conjecturally. The word wine, which must be retained, gives the key to the emendation, and the first two couplets correspond to each other. The oppressor boasts like one filled with wine and still unsatisfied, and in the next couplet he is like Death who is ever greedy and never has food enough. There is here a partial quotation from Is. 514, Therefore Sheol enlargeth her desire. 3. A пD", Gåvareλeî, I apparebit. appears to have read N2" Ypa. Seb. emends to Dr. Brd., We. and Oort read п". Ehr. retains no, but reads y for y, and translates, The vision shall bear witness for time to come, and proclaim to the end; as y and no, are thus connected in Ps. 2712 Pr. 619 1217 1425 195.9, although mispointed no in Pr. on xb. 68 JT A and 40 mss. collated by Kenn. and de R. read .-4. The first member of this couplet is corrupt past safe reconstruction. Ο έαν ὑποστείληται οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου Ecce qui incredulus est, non erit A .נפשי and הן יעלף ey aire, reading recta anima ejus in semetipso, guessing at the meaning boy from -is inap הנעלף The emendation .עפלה for הָעַל We, emends הן עלף propriate, as it introduces a fainting, discouraged Jew, ready to apos- באמונתי 11, and in turn requires " to be retained, as in all Vrss., although rejected by textual critics. Br., Gie. and Bu. conjecture 1'Nɔ DDN1 for We. suspects concealed in ; Houtsma and Oort suggest 17. Less change is required, and a sense better parallel to the second member is secured if we read " (old form ɔɔ) as with wine (Zech. 915 107) and vocalise 2. For the impossible rd. thus ישבע and ירוה The two couplets ending with .יתיר or (יותיר) יתיר become parallel, one making the insatiable in drinking and the other in eating.-5. M yawı nhı. omits conj., which is better. THE MALEDICTIONS. 26-20. 6. Shall not they all of them take up a parable against him, its meaning a riddle to him, and say: FIRST MALEDICTION. 26b-8. b. Wo to him who taketh usury of what is not his; how long! And presseth heavily the yoke of his pledge! 7. Shall not they arise suddenly that exact usury of thee, And thou shalt be their prey? . For as thou had spoiled many nations, All the rest of the peoples shall spoil thee. [For the blood of men and the violence done to the land, 6a. RV. may be right in translating a taunting proverb instead of its interpretation a riddle. The meaning is not clear. As translated above it means that the Chaldeans could not believe such threats to be serious and dangerous.-6b. This couplet (but not what follows) is put in the mouth of the oppressed nations. The figure is of one who oppresses with usury (literally increaseth, as in RV.). The oppression of this usurer is such that he requires usury on what he has not lent. Also in the second member may be right, in which case the meaning will be, That maketh heavy on himself pledges; but it seems better to regard the burden of the yoke (for on himself) to be borne by the oppressed.-8b. It is perfectly evident that this couplet is out of place and has in some way been inserted from 17b. SECOND MALEDICTION. 29-11. ⚫. Wo to him that gaineth an evil gain to his house, To escape from the hand of evil. 10. Thou hast devised shame to thine own house; And brought guilt on thine own self. 11. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, And the brace out of the timber shall answer it [and say] 9 9-10. It is noticeable that these have three members, as in v. 7. In each case the third member is essential to develop the thought. One might think from v. that the wo was directed against Edom whose nest was in a high place, but v. 10 with its repetition of the multiplied conquests applies the malediction still to the Chaldeans.-11. The figure of a stone and a timber from the oppressor's house prophesying is a violent one, and it does not come naturally from the preceding verse; and we may suspect that this verse, with the next malediction, is a later addition. THIRD MALEDICTION. 212-14. 12. Wo to him 'that buildeth' a city 'by blood,' 13. Are not these the words of the Lord of hosts: 'And the people shall toil but for the fire, And the nations weary themselves for nothing.' 14. "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.' Here is a remarkable succession of quotations, definitely designated as such and depending on a previous collection of sacred books. We can hardly doubt that this malediction, with v." which introduces it, is the late addition of one who was not himself an original and authoritative prophet, but a scribe.-12. This passage from Mi. 310 was addressed to the oppressive Jewish rulers who were building Zion and Jerusalem by forced service, but is here applied to the Chaldean power under the figure of a house.-13. The first sentence in this verse is to be regarded as prose, to introduce a poetic quotation from Je. 558. The quota tion is not literal, but ad sensum, and arranged for the trimeter measure. In this case the quotation is apposite, as Jeremiah's prediction was against Babylon.-14. The quotation from Is. 11° is not metrical, nor has it any particular bearing on the subject, but is merely a pious reflection thrown in at hazard. FOURTH MALEDICTION. 215-17. 15. Wo to him that maketh his neighbour drunk from the cup of thy wrath. Even making them drunken, so as to look on nakedness. 16. [Thou art sated with shame for glory.] Drink thou too, and show thy uncircumcision. The cup of Yahweh's right hand shall come round to thee, And shame upon thy glory. 17. For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, And the destruction of the cattle shall affright thee. The irregularity of the metre in vv. 15-16 suggests that lines have been inflated, perhaps by the addition of the clauses from the cup of thy wrath, Even making them drunken and right hand.-15. The suffix in thy wrath disagrees with his neighbour, but the transition to 2 pers. sg. agrees with v. 16. For a similar use of the figure of the shame of uncovered nakedness see Na. 35. The story of Noah's drunkenness, and the care to keep his body covered, is one of many cases in OT. in which that sense of modesty is illustrated which Greek writers say characterised the Persians, and which also appears in Assyrian art, but is absent in Greek and Egyptian art.-16. The omission of the first clause is required, as it anticipates the cause of the shame in the next two members, and repeats the last member. Literally, be uncircumcised; a strong expression for show thyself uncircumcised, implying the double shame of personal exposure and also uncircumcision. -17. We cannot be certain what particular invasion of an enemy is referred to. From the earliest times the conquerors cut the timber of Lebanon, killed its cattle and hunted its wild beasts, as is narrated by various kings both of Babylonia and Assyria. There is progress in the description of ravage from the ruin of the forests to the slaughter of the cities. FIFTH MALEDICTION. 218-20, 18. [What is the profit of a graven image, that its maker hath graven it, the molten image and the teacher of lies, that its framer trusted in it to make dumb idols.] 19. Wo to him that saith to the wood, 'Awake, arouse thyself!' To the dumb stone, 'It shall teach!' Behold it is overlaid with gold and silver, Hush before him, all the earth! The entire malediction probably comes from a later editor who wrote long after the time of the Captivity. It is general against idolatry and has no special pertinency as against the oppressors. Certainly the prosaic v. 18 must be expunged. It is crudely composed, and appears to be such an outbreak as a scribe might have hastily jotted in the margin.-18. The expression, teacher of lies, applied to a molten image, seems to imply a certain residual belief in a real power of heathen gods. Literally, the framer of his frame trusteth in it, an inelegant redundancy.-19. Here gives us the true division. Both wood and stone are given as materials for idols, but it is the wood that is overlaid with gold or silver. Very small idols of gold have been found. The expressions are taken from Is. 44° sq.-20. The temple is represented as in full service. It is likely that from the last clause is drawn Zp. 17. 6. ". G have pl. So We., who omits ny, but the vocal balance of the two members requires it, as na corresponds to 2, .cor clouds abrod & .עליו 8 .עכטיט to עד מתי and עלו to לא לו also Oort emends .-8. The last couplet in this verse is rejected by De Goeje, We., et al. It has been intruded from v. 17, but is inappropriate here as confusing the thought of an usurer with that of slaughter. 10. We. remarks that np and son must be made to correspond in form, for n G has ovveπépavas, reading sp. So JT. Accordingly on must be corrected to nxun.-13. n. By consent of critics it should be pointed , to introduce the following quotations. -15. пDDD. We. emends pp after Zc. 122. This makes better sense and a good parallelism. Then was intruded by dittog. Some Vrss. make m a prep., but fail to understand no. Α ἐξ ἐκπεμψέως (οι επιρ |