Ver. 8. This drastic, ample punish- ment, though executed by subordinates in xvii. 16, 17, is here (as in 5, 20) re- garded on its divine side. God is strong, as well as guilty, glorious Rome (ver. το, cf. on vi. 15); and his strength is mani- fested in the huge shocks of history, as well as in creation (iv. 11, v. 13)., Rome’s proud disregard of all that was mutable in human conditions is visited with condign retribution. The prophet sees not a decline and fall but a sudden collapse (το, 16, το).
9 Vy. g-20: the wailing on earth, by kings (ο, το), merchants (at length, rr- 16), and seafaring men (17-20), imi- tated from the finer and more elaborate
458
h xiv. 11.
i proximus ucalegon ardet?
, k Cf. on ver. **Odat, οὖαί, 16.
x a , > A κ. , ς / x x καπνὸν τῆς πυρώσεως αὐτῆς, 1Ο. ἀπὸ µακρόθεν ἑστηκότες διὰ τὸν ᾿φόβον τοῦ βασανισμοῦ αὐτῆς, λέγοντες, * a πόλις ἡ | µεγάλη,
1 xvi. 19. Βαβυλὼν ἡ πόλις ἡ ™ ἰσχυρά,
πι Ῥώμῃ @ a σ 3 ε ’ ” robur ὅτι pid ὥρα ἦλθεν ἡ κρίσις σου. (Bgl.); A ¢ η 3 ~ lol [ή iY ~ > 3 > / see II. καὶ ot ” ἔμποροι τῆς γῆς κλαίουσι καὶ πενθοῦσιν ἐπ᾽ αὐτήν, below, ω πμ Lge rier Sch > , ee / ~ ver.21. ὅτι τὸν ᾿Ὑόμον αὐτῶν οὐδεὶς ἀγοράζει οὐκ ETL” 12. Ὑόμον χρυσοῦ
n Isa. xlvii. κ ats , Nop ce Ῥ ’ ‘ a ‘ , ‘ 15: kat ἀργύρου kat ) λίθου Ῥτιμίου καὶ μαργαριτῶν καὶ βυσσίνου καὶ
“*merch-
A , 9 ~ i. ‘ ants,""not ? πορφύρας καὶ ᾿σιρικοῦ καὶ “KoKKivou’ Kal πᾶν ξύλον θύϊνον καὶ
I λ. ~ ~ ~ - . “pedlars πᾶν 'σκεῦος ἐλεφάντινον καὶ πᾶν σκεῦος ἐκ ξύλου τυµιωτάτου καὶ = fol 4 os Beck Χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδήρου καὶ " µαρµάρου ᾿ 13. καὶ ” kwvdpwpoy καὶ ἅμω-
(Sir. xxvi. ‘ Swe Le τικ Cee .
ate pov καὶ θυµιάµατα Kat “ μύρον καὶ *AtBavov καὶ οἶνον καὶ ἔλαιον ο “Ship's 4 /. A A ‘ , ‘ / as 2 a
freight” και σεμίδαλιν και σιτον και κτηνη και πρόβατα και ιππων και
(Ac. xxi. 5 i) ἱ a
3), “‘wares”’. p See xvii. 4; cf. Plin., H. N. xxxvii. 12. q Friedlander, iii. 46 f. Tac,
Ain. ii. 33, Verge, Georg. ii. 121. sxvii.4. _t =‘‘article”. u Fried., iii. 65-66. v Prov.
vii. 17, Lucan, x. 165f., En. xxx. 3. w Jo. Xi. 2; xii. 3,5. x Matt. ii. 11. y Genitive
depend. on youor (sc).
passages in Ezek. xxvi.-xxviii, where kings (xxvi. 15-18), traders (very briefly and indirectly, xxvii. 36), and mariners (xxvii. 29-36) are all introduced in the lament over Tyre’s downfall. Contrast the joy of the three classes in ver. 20. A triple rhythm pervades (cf. 2, 3, 6, 8, 14, 16, 19) but does not dominate this grim doom-song, somewhat after the well- known structure of the Semitic elegy. But the three laments are all character- istic. The kings are saddened by the swift overthrow of power (10), and the reverse of fortune; the merchants (11, 16) by the loss of a profitable market, the mariners by the sudden blow inflicted on the shipping trade (ver. το).
Ver. 12. βυσσίνου (sc. ἱματίου) =‘‘ of fine linen”; from βύσσος the delicate and expensive linen (or cotton) made out of Egyptian flax (Luke xvi. 10); σιρικοῦ =‘‘silk,” muslin, or gauze, chiefly used for women’s attire (Paus. iv. 110 f.); πᾶν ξύλον @vivov=‘‘all citron (citrus)- wood,”’ a fragrant, hard, dark brown, ex- pensive material for furniture, exported from N. Africa. Note the extensive range of Roman commerce to supply the needs of luxury (interea gustus elementa per omnia quaerunt, Juv. xi. 14; pearls, e.g-, from Britain as well as Red Sea), also the various demands in order : orna- ments, wearing apparel, furniture, per- fumes (for personal and religious use), food, and social requirements. Wetse cites a rabbinic saying: decem partes diuitiarum sunt in mundo, nouem Romae et una in mundo uniuerso.
Ver. 13. ‘‘Cinnamon,’”’ an aromatic spice (the inner bark of the tree) ex- ported from E. Asia and S. China; ἅμωμον, aromatic balsam for the hair, made from the seeds of some Eastern shrub (Verg. Ecl. iv. 25, ‘‘assyrium uolgo nascetur amomum; from Harran, Jos. Ant. xx. 2, 2)—for the form, ef. Levy’s die Semit. Fremdworter im Griech. (1895), Ρ. 37; θυµιάµατα, “incense,” in its in- gredients of aromatic spices; λίβανον -- ‘*frankincense,” a fragrant gum-resin exported from S. Arabia (Isa. lx. 6, Jer. vi. 20); enormous quantities of perfume were employed by the Romans, chiefly in the care of the body, but also to mix with wine at their banquets (e.g., Juv. vi. 303, etc.; E. Bi. 5320); σεµίδαλιν -- ‘fine flour,” wheaten meal (LXX for