nnme appenre 11e that of a son or Eean (Gen. Ver. 15.-The sin of the Philistines ia :uxvi, 11). In Jeremiah (loc. cit,) Teman ie virtually the same as that of the Edomites. nnmed as famous for its wisdom. Declan is They also had a perpetual hatred. Cen- 11nmed os n gre.ndson of Oush in Gen. x. 7, tury after century they had been, with nnrl of Abro.he.m by Keture.h in Gen. xxv. 3. various fortunes, the enemies of Israel- It hno been inferred from this tho.t there defeated (to confine ourscl ves to more recent wc1·e two bro.nches of the nation, one on the history) by Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. xvii. 11) shores of the Persian Gulf, nomadic and and Uzziah (2 Chron. xxvi. 6), formidable fro.ding, as in the "travelling companies" of under Jehoram (2 Chron. xxi. 16) and Ahaz Dedo.nim (Isn. xxi. 13; eh. xxvii. 15, 20); (2 Chron. xxviii.18), repressed by Hezekiah the other settled in the territory of the (Isa. xiv. 31), combining with Amalek, and Edomites (' Diet. Bible'). The latter ie Ammon, and Tyre, and ABilyria against the.t to which Ezekiel refers. A various J emsalem (Ps. lxxxiii. 7). punctuation gives, with a bett.er sense, "From Ver. 16.-The Cherethims. The name I:eman even unto Dede.n they shall fall by appears, coupled with the Philistines, in the sword." Zeph. ii. 5, and has been supposed to be Ver, 14.-By the hand ofmy people Israel, connect~d with Crete as the region from The words received e. fulfilment in the con- which they ea.me, or in which they afterwards quest of Edom by John Hyrce.nus, who settled. By many writers both names a.re compelled its people to receive circumcision identified with the Cherethites and Peleth- (Josephus, 'Ant.,' xiii. 9. 1). In Amos ites, who appear as David's body-guard in ix. 12 its subjugation is connected with the 2 Sam. vil'i. 18; xv. 18, et al., and who are Messianic prophecy that the fallen to.bemaole snpposed to represent e. body of mercenary of David should be raised up. There is or subject troops formed out of the two an obvious emphasis in the repetition of nations. Both Ezekiel and Zephaniah con- tho word vengeance. The law of a Divine nect the Cherethims with a pe.ronomasia, the retribution will work out its appointed pUl'- verb I will cut off being almost identical in pose-vengeance to those who sought ven- sound with it. (For other prophecies, see geance. They (the Edomites) shall reap as Isa. xi. H; xiv. 29-31; Jer, xlvii.; Joel they have sown, and sholl know that the iiL 4; Amos i. 6-8; Zeph. ii. 4-7 ; Zech. vengeance of Jehovah is more terrible than ix. 4-7.) their own.
HOMILETICS. Ver, 1.-The Judgment of the nations. This verse introduces a new series of prophecies, which contain successive utterances of judgment against foreign nations, extending over-the following chapters to the end of the thirty-second. The whole series is deserving of consideration, both for the sake of its common character and in order to note the distinctions of the several parts. I. Goo RULES OVER THE WHOLE EARTH. 'l'he prophet has not ended his mission when he has delivered his message to the Jews. He has a new oracle to utter. The word of God comes to him again with fresh, full, distinct declarations, and the whole of these declarations concern foreign nations. Seven nations are specified. The number is suggestive; the typical number of completeness, it implies that the nations named aro not the only ones over whom God exercises jurisdiction, but that those nations, being the nearest to Israel, a.re selected as prominent specimens. The Hebrew prophets repeatedly extended their gaze far beyond the hills of Palestine. The Mon.bites might regard Jehovah as the tribal God of Israel, in the same sense in which Chemosh was their God (see the Moabite Stono), and Jephthah might use language which appeared to recognize this position (Judg. xi. 24), but the inspired prophets m11de no such mistake. They knew that the one God was Lord over the whole earth. God is now concerned with the heathen. He is also concerned with the godless at home. Men may ignore, renounce, or oppose him, but they cannot elude his notice or escape from his authority. JI. GOD EXEROISEB HIS JUl>GMENTB AGAINST WICKEDNESS OVER THE WHOLE EARTH. Those seven nations were called to account by God, chnrged with wickedness, 11nd threatened with destruction. They were heathen nations, but that fact did not exone- rate them from blo.me or protect them against just punishment. Christ announced a judgment of all the nations to follow that of Israel (Matt. xxv. 32). St. Paul spoke to tho Athenians of God's judgment of all men (Acts xvii. 30, 31), and pointed out 52 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [oH. xxv.1-17,