comp. Iso.. i. 2; !xiii. 16 ; E.xocl. iv. 22; noteworthy. It is far from provin"' that Hos. xi. 1.) the traditional text is correct; what it rlr,, s Vor. 20.-Buroly. The word acquires nn suggest ie th11t the writings of tl1e propl1<,ts odvel'so.tive sense from the context, ns in were at first written down in a very inseclll',· Ian. liii. 4, and is virtually equivo.lent to manner. The rendering of the Authoriz,.d "bnt surely." From her hneband; literally, Version is substantially that of Hitzig, whco from her friend or companion. 'l'he choice explains "the multitude of (the] moun- of the word seems to indicate the inner tains," as meaning "the multitude of go• ls hollowness of the mo.rried life. Tho worshipped on the mountains" -too force• l woman only sees in her husband the an expression for so simple a context. It companion, behind whose back she can seems most natural to suppose (with Ewald, follow her own inclinations. Graf, and Keil), a contrast between the wild, Ver. 21.-Another of those rapid transi- noisy cultus of idolatrous religions, and the tions so common in emotional writing like quiet spiritual worship inculcated by the Jeremiah's. The propht1t cannot bear to prophets. Compare by way of illustratiun, dwell upon the backsliding of his people. the loud and ostentatious demonstratioll, He knows the elements of good which still of llaal's ritual in 1 Kings xviii., wit;, survive, e.nd by faith sees them developed, the sober, serious attitude of Elijah in the: through the teaching of God's good provi- same chapter. The word rendered in th" dence, into a fruitful repentance. How Authorized Version" multitude" has a still graphic is the description ! On the very more obvious and original meaning, viz. high plaoea (or rather, bare, treeless heights "tum nit;" and probably the Targum is not or downs, as ver. 2) where a licentious far from the true sense in rendering, " In idolatry need to be practised, a sound is vain have we worshipped upon the hills, heard (render so, not was heard)-the and not for profit have we raised a. tumult sound of the loud and audible weeping of on the mountains." an impulsive Eastern people (comp. eh. vii. Ver. 24.-For shame; ro.ther, and the 29). For they have; this evidently gives Shame (i.e. the Baa.I). The words Boaheth the reason of the bitter lamentation; render, ("Shame") ancl Baal are frequently inter- becalL8e they ha oe. changed; so again in eh. xi. 13 (comp. Hos. Ver. 22.-Beturn, ye baoksliding children, ix. 10). So, too, Jerubbesheth stands fo,· etc. ; more literally, Turn, ye turned-away Jerubbaal (2 So.m. xi. 21; comp. Judg. vi- sons; I will heal your turnings ( ns Hos. xiv. 32) ; Ishbosheth for Eshba.o.1 (2 Sam. ii. 8 ; 4). It seems strange at fust sight that this comp. 1 Chron. viii. 33). Rath devoured verse does not stand before ver. 21. But the the labour of our fathers, etc. ; a condensed truth is that ver. 21 describes not so much wo.y of saying thnt Be.al-worship has brought the " conversion " of the J ewe ns their the judgments of God upon us, our flockd willingness to "convert" (nn archaism of and hercls, o.nd o.11 the other " l11bour " ( or King Jo.mes's Dible, which we mo.y well rather "weo.lth," i.e. fruit of lo.hour) of our regret), or "turn" to God. Christ must fathers, being destroyed ns the punishment touch, or at leo.st mllke his presence felt, in of our sins (comp. Deut. x.xviii. 30-32). order that the sick man mo.y be healed; o. Another view is that the "devouring " had specinl ooll of God must be heo.rd, in order to do with the sncrifices, but it is improbablo that the sinner mo.y truly repent. Behold, ihnt the sac1·ificio.l worship of Bo.o.1 had we come unto thee. Efficacious, and not developed to such o. portentous extent, nnd " irresistible " grace, is the doctrine of the the former expl11n1Ltion is in itself moro Old Testament. suitable to the context. Ver. 23.-Truly in vain, eto. An obscure Ver. 25.-We lie down; rather, Let us lid 1md (if corruption exists anywhere) corrupt down; snid in despo.ir, just as Hezekiah passage, which, however, it is hopeless to snys, "Let us enter the go.tee of Sheol" attempt to emend, as the corruption con- (Isa. xx.xviii. 10). A prostrate position is sists po.rtly in wrong letters, partly in the natural expression of deep sorrow (2 omitted letters or words (or both); o.nd, So.m. xii. 16; xiii. Sl; 1 Kings xxi. 4). moreover, the text employed by the Septuo.- Our confusion covereth ne; rather, Let our gint appears to hl\ve presented the so.me confusion (or reproach) cover ,11 ( lil,c u difficulty. The lo.tter point ia especially tieil) (comp. eh. li. 51 ; Ps. lxix. 7).
HOMILETIOS,
Ver. L-Filial, reminiscences of God. We are here brought ftom the view of God as a Husband to that of him as a Father, for only when we €onsider his various relatiou11 'l'HE 1300K 01~ 'l'HE l'ROPHE'r JER~MIAH. [cu. m. 1-25.