[8]

people, and for my heritage Ifrael, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. 3 And they have caft lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and fold a girl for wine, 4 that they might drink. Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre and Zidon, and all the coafts of Palestine? Will ye render me a recompence? And if ye recompence me, fwiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head. 5 Because ye have taken my filver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant 6 things. The children alfo of Judah, and the children of Jerufalem have ye fold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border. 7 Behold, I will raife them out of the place whither have fold them, and will return your recompence 8 upon your own head. And I will fell your fons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they fhall fell them to the Sabæans, to a 9 people afar off; for the Lord hath spoken it. Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war 10 draw near, let them come up. Beat your plow

ye

fhares into fwords, and your pruning-hooks into II fpears; let the weak fay I am ftrong. Affemble

yourfelves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither caufe thy 12 mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the hea

then be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I fit to judge all the hea13 then round about. Put ye in the fickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get ye down, for the press is full, the fats overflow, for their wickedness is great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decifion * :

* Or the valley of threshing, or the valley appointed.

for

for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of de15 cifion. The fun and the moon fhall be darkened, 16 and the stars fhall withdraw their fhining. The

Lord alfo fhall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerufalem, and the heavens and the earth fhall fake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, 17 and the ftrength of the children of Ifrael. So fhall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then fhall Jerufalem be holy, and there fhall no ftrangers país through her 18 any more. And it fhall come to pafs in that day,

that the mountains fhall drop down new wine, and the hills fhall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah fhall flow with waters, and a fountain fhall come forth of the house of the Lord, and fhall water 19 the valley of Shittim. Egypt fhall be a defolation, and Edom fhall be a defolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they 20 have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah fhall dwell for ever, and Jerufalem from generation 21 to generation. For I will cleanfe + their blood that I have not cleanfed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.

*

In order to the right understanding of this Prophecy, let us first endeavor to find out who are meant by the northern army in verfe 20. of chap. ii. Now it is plain that this army can be no other than that defcribed in the fecond and following verses of this chapter-A great people and a strong, there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of generation and generation. A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of

Or be inhabited.

+ Or avenge.

Eden

Eden before them, and behind them a defolate wilderness, yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of borfes, and as horfemen fo fhall they run. Like the noife of chariots on the tops of mountains fhall they leap, like the noife of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people fet in battle array, &c. That this cannot mean the Babylonian, or Affyrian forces, is plain; because it is said to be a great and strong people, there hath not been ever the like, neither fhall be any more after it, even to the years of generation and generation, (as it is in the original) a phrase which fignifies throughout all generations, or for ever. But the Perfians, Grecians, and Romans, were not only equal, but greater and stronger than the Babylonians. Another reason why the Affyrians cannot be here meant, is what is faid, ver. 1. of the following chapter, For behold, in thofe days, and in that time, when I fhall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerufalem, I will gather all nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people, whom they have feattered among all the nations, and have parted my land; none of which circumftances did happen when they were brought back from the Babylonifh captivity. Add to this what is faid, ver. 19. chap. ii. I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen; and it will be evident to every un prejudiced reader, that the Babylonian or Affyrian forces cannot be here intended. If it be asked, of whom this northern army is to confift? I anfwer, that it feems to me, that the Turk, or

Qttoman

Ottoman empire is here meant, for the following reasons. First, Because the land was to be as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a defolate wilderness, which has been verified exactly by the invafion and conquefts of the Turks and Saracens in the land of Judea, which, before their depredations, was one of the most fruitful, though now a most barren and depopulated country. Secondly, The appearance of them was to be as the appearance of borfes, and as horsemen fo fhall they run. Now it is well known that the Turkish • armies confifted chiefly of cavalry, especially before the order of Janizaries was inftituted by Amurath the Firft. The Janizaries may be the guard of the court, but the Timariots, or horfe< men, holding lands by ferving in the wars, are "the strength of the government and these, as

Heylin affirms, are, in all, accounted between • feven and eight hundred thousand fighting men; 'fome fay that they are a million: and, befides thefe, there are Spahis, and other horfemen in the emperor's pay.'*

A parallel description of the Turks and Saracens we have in chap. ix. of the Revelation, where the fhapes of the locufts, by whom the latter are reprefented, according to the most judicious interpreters, are faid to be like unto horses prepared unto battle. And the former are afterward defcribed, ver. 16. as an army of Euphratean horsemen; And the number of the army of the horsemen were two

Newt. Diff. on the Proph. vol. iii. p. 121.

bundred

bundred thousand thoufand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I faw the borfes in the vifion, and them that fat on them, &c. So alfo does the following part of the description in Joel, Like the noife of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, harmonize with Rev. ix. 9. and the found of their wings was as the found of chariots of many borfes running to battle. It is also faid in the 6th ver. of the first chap. of this Prophecy, A nation is come up upon my land, ftrong and without number, whofe teeth are the teeth of a lion, exactly parallel to Rev. ix. 8. their teeth were as the teeth of lions. Upon all these accounts, there is no nation under heaven, that seems fo likely to be here intended, as that of the Turks, who originally came from the north, and who (if I understand the prophecies aright) are to make an unfuccessful attempt, to hinder the future restoration of the Jews. But that not the Turks only will be in this oppofition, appears probable from the first verse of chap. iii. I will gather all nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat, &c. which feems to imply, that all those nations at least, who have had a hand in scattering Ifrael, or parting his land, will come in for a fhare of thofe judgments. What ftill further proves the accomplishment of this Prophecy to be yet future, is what is faid in ver. 26, 27. My people shall never be ashamed. And ver. 17. So fhall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion my boly mountain: then shall Jerufalem be holy, and there fhall no ftrenger pass through ber any more.

And