The Pulpit Commentary — Habakkuk — Section 29

but generally ended in drunkenness'' double or ambiguous me11.nings (comp, Pro\', (Rawlinson,' Ano. Mon.,' iii. 450, edit. 1865). i. 6). Septuagint, Ilp&/3,1,71µa. ,is 3nh'l""' Neither lhe 1-'-cphrngint, nor the Syriao, nor a~Tov. Woe (Nah. iii. 1). 'l'hi~ is the first the Coptic Ycrsion has any mention of of the five "woes," which consist or three wine in this passage. The Septuagint verses each, arranged in strophical form. gives, d ~- ICaTo,oµ,vos ,ca.l 1Ca.TacppoV1JT1IS, Iucreaseth that which is not his. He co::.- "the arrogant and the scorner." He is a tinues to add to his oonqueets and posses- proud man, neither keepeth he at home ; sions, which are not his, beccmse they nre a liaugl,ty man, he resreth not. His pride acquired by injustice and violence. '!'his is is always impelling him to new raids and the first denunciation of the Ohaldeo.ns for conquet!ts. This is quite the character of their insatiable rapacity. Xow long 1 The the Inter Chaldea.ns, and is consistent with 9,nest~onoomes in inte_rjectionnlly-How long the la.tt.er part of the verse. The comparison, 18 this state of thrngs to continue un- then, is this: As wine raises the spirits and punished (comp. Ps. vi. 3; xc. 13)? That excites men to great efforts which in the end ladeth himself with thick clay; Septuagint, deoeive them, so pride rouses these men to fJa.pvvo,v TOV 1t,\01ov airroti tTTt{Ja.pws, "who go on their insatiate course of conquest, loadeth his yoke heavily;" Vulgate, aggra- • which shall one day prove their ruin. The 1Jat c,:,ntra se den.mm lutum. The renderings verb translated "keepetb at home" bas the of the Anglican and Latin Versions signify secondary sense of "being decorous;" hence that the riches and spoils with which the the Vulgate gives, Sic erit 'Vir superbm, et conquerors load themselves are no more non decorabitur; i.e. as wine first exhilarates than burdens of clay, which are in them- e.nd then makes a man contemptible, so selves worthless, and only harass the pride, which begins by exalting a man, bearers. The Greek Version seems to point ends by bringing him to ignominy. Othel1! to the weight of the yoke imposed by the. take the verb in the sense of " con tinueth Chaldeans on them; but Jerome explains it not," explaining that the destruction of differently," Ad hoe tan tum sievit ut devoret Babvlon is here intimated. But what et iniquitatis et priedarum onere quasi fol.lows makes against this interpretation. gravissima torque se deprimat." The diffi- The LXX. gives, 'Ain,p liM(,l,v, 0116.v µ:q culty lies in the ll1ra.( 7'<')'0µ,vov abtit, 1r,pri"?7, which Jerome, combining with it which forms an enigma, or dark saying, his own version, paraphrases, "Sic vir because, ta.ken as two words, it might pass superbus non decorabitur, nee voluntatem current for "thick clay," or "a ma.se of snam perducet e.d finem; et jurla Symma- dirt," while regarded as one word it means chum, o~,c ,/11rop71tTu, hoe est, in rernm "a mass of pledges," "ma.ny pledges." omninm erit pennria." Who enlargeth his That the latter is the signification primarily desire as hell; Hebrew, Sheol. Hell is intended is the view ol' many modern com- called insatiable (Prov. xxvii. 20; xx.x. 16; mentators, who explain the clause thus: Isa. v. 14). Is ae death, which seizes all The quantity of treasure and booty amassed creatures and spares none. People ; peoples. by the Cbaldeans is regarded as a mass of pledges taken from the conquered nations Vere. 6-8.-§ 8. The destru,r,i,ion of the a burden of debt to be discharged one day Babyloniane u a,ifWfl,nced by the mouth, of with heavy retribution. Pusey, ... He does the 1Janquuhed natione, who utter ji,fJe '!.OOU in trn th increase against himself a strong against thefr oppressor. T/1,(J first tDOe : /or pledge, whereby not others are debtors to their rapacity. him, but he is a debtor to Almighty God, who ca.reth for the oppressed (Jer. xvii.11)." Ver. 6.-All these. All the nations and Ver. 7.-That shall bite thee. As thou peoples who have been subjugat.ed and hast cruelly treated others, so shall they, barbarously treated by the Babylonians like fierce vipers (Jar. viii. 17), bite thee. (comp. lea. xiv. 4). A parable. A senten- Henderson, Delitzsch, Keil, and others see tiollil song (see note on Micah ii. 4). A in the word a. double entendre connected ta11llti.Dg proverb. The Anglican Version with the meaning of "lending on interest," combines the two Hebrew words, which so the " biting " would signify " ex11cting e. stand unconnected, into one notion. So the debt with usury." Such a term for usury Vulgate, loquelam amigma,tum. The latter is not unknown to classical antiquity; thus of the two generally mes.as "riddle," (quoted by Henderson) Arietoph., • Nub.,' "enigma;" the other word (melitzah) is by 12- some translated, " a derisive satirical song," Ll.a.ttv&µ.,vos or " an obscure, dark saying ; " but, as Keil 'T,rl, T~s 3a.1r&V'f/s ,cal Tijs ,p&.,.,11,s 1ta.l Tw11 XP•"'"· and Delitzsoh have shown, ie better under- "By the expendituro deep bitten, stood of a bright, cl~ar, brilliant speech. And by the manger and the debts." So the two terms signify "a speech con- taiuing cnigmW<," or a Boug which has Lucan., 'Phare.,' i. 181," Hin<' Uijura vorax, Oil. JI. 1-20.] THE BOOK OF HABAR'.I(UK. 25