pass in this world: in this place, the course, tenor, or manner of life. The verb signifies, according to Castell," ordinatam vitam sive ætatem egit, ordinavit, ordine constituit." In Arabic, "curavit, adminis- travit." Ibid. —he was smitten to death] The LXX reads, εις θανατον. And so the Coptic and Sahidic versions from LXX, MSS. St. Germain de Prez. "Origen (contra Celsum, lib. i. p. 370. edit 1733), after having quoted at large this prophecy concerning the Messiah, tells us, that having once made use of this passage in a dispute against some that were accounted wise among the Jews; one of them replied, that the words did not mean one man, but one people, the Jews; who were smitten of God, and dispersed among the Gentiles for their conversion; that he then urged many parts of this prophecy, to shew the absurdity of this interpretation; and that he seemed to press them the hardest by this sentence; añо тWV ανομιών του λαου μου ήχθη εις θανατον. Now as Origen, the author of the Hexapla, must have understood Hebrew, we cannot suppose that he would have urged this last quotation as so decisive, if the Greek version had not agreed here with the Hebrew text: nor that these wise Jews would have been at all distressed by this quotation, unless their Hebrew text had read agreeably to ɛç lavarov, on which the argument principally 'depended: for, by quoting it immediately, they would have triumphed over him, and reprobated his Greek version. This, whenever they could do it, was their constant practice, in their disputes with the Christians. Jerom, in his preface to the Psalms, says, 'Nuper cum Hebræo disputans, quædanı pro Domino salvatore de Psalmis testimonia protulisti: volensque ille te illudere, per sermones fere singulos asserebat, non ita haberi in Hebræo, ut tu de LXX opponebas.' And Origen himself, who laboriously compared the Hebrew text with the LXX, has recorded the necessity of arguing with the Jews from such passages only, as were in the LXX agreeable to the Hebrew : ἵνα προς Ιουδαίοις διαλεγομενοι μη προφερωμεν αυτοίς τα μη κείμενα εν τοις αντιγράφοις αυτων, και ένα συγχρησώμεθα Tois pepoμevoiy taρ' ɛɛɛivoig. See epist. ad African. p. 15. 17. Wherefore, as Origen had carefully compared the Greek version of LXX with the Hebrew text; and speaks of the contempt with which the Jews treated all appeals to the Greek version where it differed from their Hebrew text; and as he puzzled and confounded the learned Jews, by urging upon them the reading as Javarov in this place; it seems almost impossible not to conclude, both from Origen's argument and the silence of his Jewish adversaries, that the Hebrew text at that time actually had, agreeably to the version of the LXX." Dr. Kennicott. 9. But with the rich man was his tomb] Among the various opinions which have been given on this passage, I have no doubt in giving my assent to that which makes the in radical, and renders it excelsa sua. This is mentioned by Aben Ezra, as received by some in his time; and has been long since approved by Schindler, Drusius, and many other learned Christian interpreters. The most simple tombs or monuments of old consisted of hillocks of earth heaped up over the grave: of which we have numerous examples in our own country, generally allowed to be of very high antiquity. The Romans called a monument of this sort very properly tumulus; and the Hebrews as properly, for that is the form of the noun in the singular number; and sixteen MSS., and the two oldest editions, express the word fully in this place, . "Tumulus et collem et sepulchrum fuisse significat. Potest enim tumulus sine sepulchro interpretatione collis interdum accipi. Nam et terræ congestio super ossa tumulus dicitur." Servius, in Æneid iii. 22. And to make the tumulus still more elevated and conspicuous, a pillar or some other ornament was often erected upon it: Τύμβον χευαντες, και επι στήλην εξυσαντες, And bigh above it rose the tapering oar." Odyss. xii. 14. Pope. The tomb therefore might with great propriety be called the high place. The Hebrews might also call such a tomb, from the situation; for they generally chose to erect them on eminences. The sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, in which the body of Christ was laid, was upon a hill, mount Calvary. See chap. xxii. 16. and the note there. "It should be observed, that the word " is not formed from the במותים the feminine noun; but from ,במה the plural of במות the truth is, that plural of the masculine noun, . This is noted, because, these two nouns have been negligently confounded with one another, and absurdly reduced to one, by very learned men. So Buxtorf, Lex. in v., represents, though plainly without any pronoun suffixed, as it governs the word following it, as only another form of: whereas and are different words, and have through the whole Bible very different significations., whether occurring in the singular or plural number, always signifying a place, or places, of worship:' and 'm always signifying 'heights.' Thus in Deut. xxxii. 13. Isa, lviii. 14. Amos iv. 13. and Mic. i. 3. P signifies the heights of the earth.' Isa. xiv. 14. ay ipa, the heights of the clouds; and in Job ix. 8., the heights of the sea,' i. e. the high waves of the sea, as Virgil calls a wave, præruptus aquæ mons.' These being all the places, where this word occurs without a suffix, the sense of it seems clearly determined by them. It occurs in other instances with a pronoun suffixed, which confirm this signification. Unluckily our English Bible has not distinguished the feminine nounDI from the masculine singular noun ; and has consequently always given the signification of the latter to the former, ways rendering it ‘a high place:' whereas the true sense of the word appears plainly to be, in the very numerous passages in which it occurs, a place of worship,' or a sacred court,' or 'a sacred enclosure;' whether appropriated to the worship of idols, or to that of the true God; for it is used of both passim. Now as the Jewish graves are shewn, from 2 Chron. xxxii. 33. and Isa. xxii. 16. to have been in high situations; to which may be added the custom of another eastern nation from Osbeck's Travels, who says, vol. i. p. 339. The Chinese graves are made on the side of hills:' his heights,' becomes a very easy metaphor to express his sepulchre."" Dr. JUBB. The exact completion of this prophecy will be fully shewn, by adding here the several circumstances of the burial of Jesus, collected from the accounts of the Evangelists: "There was a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrim, and of a respectable character, who had not consented to their counsel and act: he went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus; and he laid it in his own new tomb, which had been hewn out of the rock, near to the place where Jesus was crucified; having first wound it in fine linen with spices, as the manner of the Jews was to bury the rich and great." 10. -with grief] For, the verb, the construction of which seems to be hard and inelegant in this place, Vulg. reads, in infirmitate. Ibid. If his soul shall make-] For On, a MS. has On, which may be taken passively. "If his soul shall be made-" agreeably to some copies of LXX, which have dwrat. So likewise Syr. 11. —and be satisfied—] LXX, Vulg. Syr. and a MS., add the con .וישבע ; junction to the verb Ibid. —shall my servant justify] Three MSS. (two of them ancient), omit the word PTY; it seems to be only an imperfect repetition, by mistake, of the preceding word. It makes a solecism in this place: for according to the constant usage of the Hebrew language, the adjective, in a phrase of this kind, ought to follow the substantive; and TY PITY in Hebrew would be as absurd as "shall my servant righteous justify," in English. Add to this, that it makes the hemistich too long. 12. And made intercession—] For y, in the future, a MS. has , preterit; rather better, as agreeable with the other verbs immediately preceding in the sentence. CHAP. LIV. 1. Shout for joy, O thou barren-] The church of God under the Old Testament, confined within the narrow bounds of the Jewish nation, and still more so in respect of the very small number of true believers, and which sometimes seemed to be deserted of God her husband; is the barren women, that did not bear, and was desolate: she is exhorted to rejoice, and to express her joy in the strongest manner, on the reconciliation of her husband, see ver. 6. and on the accession of the Gentiles to her family. The converted Gentiles are all along considered by the prophet, as a new accession of adopted children, admitted into the original church of God, and united with it. See chap. xlix. 20, 21. 4. For thou shalt forget-] "Shame of thy youth; i. e. the bondage of Egypt: widowhood, the captivity of Babylon." SECKER. 7. In a little anger-] So the Chald. and Syr. either reading for y; or understanding the latter word as meaning the same with the former, which they both make use of. See Psal. xxx. 5. xxxv. 20. in LXX, where they render y by opyn. 8. I hid my face [for a moment] from thee] The word is omitted by LXX, Syr. and two MSS. It seems to embarrass rather than to 1 help the sentence. "Forte reponi debet pro y, quod potest a P errore scribæ originem duxisse." SECKER. 9. as in the days of Noah] D, in one word, in a MS., and some editions; and so Syr. Chald. Vulg. Sym. Theod. Abarbanel, Salomo b. Melec, and Kimchi, acknowledge that their copies vary in this place. 11, 12. Behold, I lay thy stones-] These seem to be general images to express beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of the eastern nations; and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutinized, or minutely and particularly explained, as if they had each of them some precise moral or spiritual meaning. Tobit, in bis prophecy of the final restoration of Israel, describes the New Jerusalem in the same oriental manner: "For Jerusalem shall be built up with ṣapphires, and emeralds, and precious stones; thy walls, and towers, and battlements, with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and stones of Ophir." Tob. xiii. 16, 17. Compare also Rev. xxi. 18-21. 15. —shall come over to thy side] For ", twenty-eight MSS. (eight ancient), have, in its more common form. For the meaning of the word in this place, see Jer. xxxvii. 13. CHAP. LV. 9. For as the heavens are higher—] I am persuaded, that 》, the particle of comparison, is lost in this place from the likeness of the particle immediately preceding it. So Houbigant, and Secker. And their remark is confirmed by all the ancient versions, which express it; and by the following passage of Psalm ciii. 11. which is almost the same: כי כגבה שמים על הארץ נבר חסדו על יראיו. "For as the heavens are high above the earth, So high is his goodness over them that fear him." Where, by the nature of the sentence, the verb in the second line ought to be the same with that in the first:, not Secker conjectured; referring however to Psal. cxvii. 2. : so Archbishop 12. The mountains and the hills-] These are highly poetical images, to express a happy state attended with joy and exultation. "Jpsi lætitia voces ad sidera jactant Intonsi montes: ipsæ jam carmina rupes, Virg. Ecl. v. 13. Instead of the thorny bushes-] These likewise (see note on the preceding verses, and on chap. liv. 11.) are general poetical images, expressing a great and happy change for the better. The wilderness turned into a paradise, Lebanon into Carmel: the desert of the Gentiles watered with the heavenly snow and rain, which fail not to have their due effect, and becoming fruitful in piety and righteousness: or as the Chaldee gives the moral sense of the emblem, “instead of the wicked shall arise the just, and instead of sinners, such as fear to sin." Compare chap. xxxv. 1, 2. xli. 19. Ibid. And instead of—] The conjunction ↑ is added, Л, in forty five MSS. and five editions; and it is acknowledged by all the ancient versions. The Masoretes therefore might have safely received it into the text, and not have referred us for it to the margin. CHAP. LVI. 5. —will I give them] For in the singular, it is evident, that we ought to read in the plural: so read LXX, Syr. Chald. and Vulg. 7. —shall be accepted] A word is here lost out of the text: it is supplied from the LXX, IT, εσovτaι. Houbigant. 9. O all ye beasts of the field—] Here manifestly begins a new section, The prophet, in the foregoing chapters, having comforted the faithful Jews with many great promises of God's favour to be extended to them, in the restoration of their ruined state, and of the enlargement of his church by the admission of the Gentiles; here, on a sudden, makes a transition to the more disagreeable part of the prospect; and to a sharp reproof of the wicked and unbelievers, and especially of the negligent and faithless governors and teachers, of the idolaters and hypocrites, who would still draw down his judgments upon the nation. Probably having in view the destruction of their city and polity by the Chaldeans, and perhaps by the Romans. The same subject is continued in the next chapter; in which the charge of corruption and apostacy becomes more general against the whole Jewish church. Some expositors have made great difficulties in the 9th verse of this chapter, where there seems to be none. It is perfectly well explained by Jeremiah; where having introduced God declaring his purpose of punishing his people, by giving them up as a prey to their enemies the Chaldeans, a charge to these his agents is given in words very nearly the same with those of Isaiah in this place : I have forsaken my house; I have deserted my heritage; I have given up the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies,― Jer. xii. 7. 9. Ibid. beasts of the forest] Instead of, three MSS. have without the preposition: which seems to be right; and is confirmed by all the ancient versions. 10. —dumb dogs, they cannot bark] See below, note on chap. Ixii. 6. Ibid. Dreamers] 'i, evvπviašoμevot, LXX. This seems to be the best authority for the meaning of this word, which occurs only in this place: but it is to be observed, that three MSS., and three editions, have ; and so Vulg. seems to have read; videntes vana. 12. —let us provide wine] For PX, first person singular, an ancient MS. has, first person plural; and another ancient MS. has p upon a rasure. So Syr. Chald. and Vulg. render it. CHAP. LVII. 2. He shall go in peace], the expression is elliptical, such as the prophet frequently uses. The same sense is expressed at large and Angl ואתה תבוא אל אבותיד בשלום .15 .in full terms, Gen. xv thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace." |