ful resemblance. In 2 Es. i. 30, we read, " 7 gathered yon together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings :" in ver. 32, " / sent unto you My servants the prophets, whom ye have taken and slain, and torn their bodies in pieces, whose blood I ivill require of your hands, saith the Lord :" in ver. 33, " Thus saith the Almighty Lord, your house is desolate" That book of Esdras is greatly esteemed by many, amongst whom of ourselves are found Schickardus on Tarich,1 p. 135, and Hain- lin, in his Sol2 Temporum ; and this quotation in the Gospel gives very great weight to it. J. C. Scaliger says (Exerc. 308), " I possess an admirable and divine compendium of the books of Esdras, composed in the Syrian language ; they contain far more valuable sentiments than the harangues of their base calumniator." That Syrian composition, which Scaliger calls a compendium, may have been a translation of the original He brew work, the longer Latin paraphrase of which may have many apocryphal additions. Such appears to be the case of the books of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, which at one time show evident signs of a Hebrew origin, and at another have a purely Greek character. — a<ro<rriXXw, / send} The present tense. God's messengers were sent when wickedness was most widely preva lent among His people. — <rpo<p ?ira$, prophets) Who are taught by special revelation, as David. These alone are mentioned with reference to the past ; see ver. 30. Now wise men and scribes are added. — ffotpovg, wise men) who have an habitual sense3 of the true and the good, corresponding with the Hebrew D3H, wise, derived from in, the palate, or sense of taste ; such as was Solo mon. These are midway between prophets and scribes. — ypa//,- 'i'g, scribes) who edit and illustrate the remains of the pro
1 The title of the work in full, as edited by Schickardus, is, " TARICH ; h. P. series regum Persiae db Ardschir — Babekan usque ad Jasdigerdem a chaliphis cxpulsam, ex fide MS. vol. authentici ; vcstita comm., etc., authorc W. S. 4°. Tubingen, 1632."— (I. B.)
2 A chronological work, the full title of which is, " Sol Tempontm seu chronologia mystica et elenclius chronologicus per totam S. Scripturam deductus." It was published in folio at Tubingen, A. D. 1646. The author is described as " Ecclesise Derendingensis Pastor, et Vicinarum Superinten- dens."— (I. B.)
s The word used by Bengel is gustwn, the original and literal sense of which is, taste. — (I. B.)