thy <laughters. In tho other clauses of the the fielth" (' Biblical Ilesearchcs,' iii. 03). verso tile verb is iu the siogular, the subject Ha reserveth unto us, etc. ; Ii tcrn.11 y, he beiog the hostile 011,tion. They sh11,ll im- 1reepelh for us the weeks-the statute, of poverish, etc. ; mther, it shall batter . . . harvest; i.e. the weeks which aro tho ap- 1vith weapons of war (so rightly Payne pointee! conditions of harvest. 'fho proph•:t Swith); kherebh, commooly rendered means the seven weeks which elapsed from "B\"l"ord," is applied to aoy cutting iostru- the second day of the Passover to tho "Feast meot, Buch as a razor (Ezek. v. 1), a mason's of Harvest," or "Feast of Weeks" (Penlc- tool (Exod. x.x. 25), and, 11,s here and Ezek. cost) (Exod. xxiii. 16 ; xxxi v. 22 ; Dcu t. xxvi. 9, weapons of war in geoeral. xvi. 9, 10). Vere. 19-29.-J udo.h's own obstioacy and Ver. 25.-Have turned away these things. flagrant disobedience are the causes of this "These things" a.re the benefits meutiooecl sol'O judgment. in the preceding verse (comp. eh. iii. 3; Ver. 19.-Like as ye have forsaken me, etc. xii. 4). Thus the ju<lgment is not eotirely The Jaw of correspondence between sin and future; a foretaste of it has alrea<ly bccu punishmeot pervades Old Testament pro- given (comp. l Kingil xvii.; Amos iv.). phecy (comp. Isa. v.). As the Jews served Ver. 26.-They lay wait, etc.; rather, foreign gods io Jehovah's land, they shall they spy (literally, one spieth), lU fowlers lie become the slaves of foreigners in a land in wait. A. trap j literally, a destroyer; i.e. which is not theirs. o.n iostrument of destruction (comp. Isa. Ver. 21.-Without understanding; lite- !iv. 16, where "tbo waster" (or destroyer) rally, tcithout heart, This seems e.t first probably means the weapon referred to sight incoosistent with ver. 23, where the previously). people is described e.s having indew a Ver. 27.-A. oage. The Hebrew word "heart," but one hostile to Jehovah. The k'lub is used in Amos viif. 1 for a Lasket explanation is that a c.iurse of deliberate such as was used for fruit; it seems to Lo sin perverts a m11,n's moral perceptions. • the parent of the Greek word K/I.OJ,9os, used The prophet first of all states the result, aud in the •Anthology' for 11 bird-cage. Tbe root then the cause. So in Ezek. xii. 2, "Which means to plait or bro.id ; hence some sort ha.Te eyes and see not," etc. ; " for they are of basket-work seems to ho meant. Con- a rebellious house." necting this with the prece<ling verse, Hitzi~ Ver. 22.-Fear ye not me? The Hebrow seems 1·ight in inferring that the "cage" places "me" emphatically at the beginning wo.s at the same time a trap (comp. Ecclus. of the sentence. By a perpetual deoree. '!'his xi. 30, " Like o.s B partri<lgo taken in a cage is one of the evidences, few but sufficient, [ iv Kap-r&/1.11.<t>, a peculiar kiud of basket], so is of the recognition of natural fows by the the heart of the proud"). Canon TristrllDl Biblical wliters; of laws, however, which are suggests that there is an nllusion to decoy- but the description of the Divine mode of birds, which are still much employed in working," covenants" (oh, xx.xiii. 20; comp. Syria, nnd are carefully trained for their Gen. ix. 18) ma.de for man's good, but capable office (' Natural History of the Bible,' of being annulled (Isa. !iv. 10). Comp. Prov. p. 163). But tl.tis seems to go beyood the viii. 29; Job x:u:viii. 8-12. text. Deceit ; i.e. 11.ie goods obtained by Ver. 23.-A. revolting and a rebellious deceit. heart. The heart is the centre of the moral Ver. 28.-They overpass tho deeds of the life virtually equivalent to" the will;" it is wioked j ra.ther, they overpass the common "revolting" when it "turns back" (so measure of wiclcedness (literally, tho cases of literally here) from God's Law and service, toickedness); or, o.s others, they exceed fo nnd "rebellious" when it actively defies and deeds of wickedness. Yet they prosper; opposes him. rather, eo that they (the fatherless) might Ver. 2-1.-That giveth rain, etc. The prosper; or, that they (the ricl,) might make eecond appeal ie to the regularity of the it to prosper. rains. Dr. Robinson remarks that there are Ver. 29.-A repetition of ver. 9 in tho not at the present day in Palestine "any manner of a refrain. particular periods of rain, or succession Vere. 30, 31.-The result of the prophet's of showers, which might be regarded 68 examination of the moral condition of tho distinct raioy seasons," nnd that, unless people. there ho.s been some change in the climate Ver. 30.-A wonderful and horrible thing, of Palestine, the former and the latter rains etc. ; rather, a11 appalling ancl horrribla seem to correspond to " the first showers of thing liath happened in the land. The word autumn, which revived the parched and rendered "appalling" (or stupefying) !tns thirsty earth and prepared it for the seed, a peculiar force. It ooly occurs o.gniu in o.od the later showers of spring, which con- eh. xxiii. 14, though a coguBte o.cljcctivo is tinued to refresh and forward both the found in eh. xviii. 13 (comp. ou eh. ii. 11). ripening crops nnd tbe vernal products of Ver. 31. -The prophets • • . the priests. 116 THE DOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. [cu. v, 1-31.
(Seo on eh. ii. 2G.) Bear rule by their to have it so. Sometimes the prophote moans; rather, rule at their beolc (literally, speak as if the governing classes alone were at their hands, comp. oh.xxxiii. 13; 1 Chron. respo~sjhle for ~ho sins o.nd consequent xxv. 2, 3; 2 Chron. xxiii. 18). An example ce.lnm1ties of their country. But Jeremiah or this inteferenco of the false prophets with here expressly declares that the governed 1ho priestly office is given by Jeremiah were e.s much to blame os tlieir governors, himself (eh. :uix. 2f-26). 11!.7 people love