Ver. 30. — But it shall not be so, etc. This is a case in which the accentuation must most decidedly be deviated from; it implies a faulty view of the word rendered in the Autho- rized Version, " his lies." But the rendering of our version is neither in itself tenable nor is it that intended by the accentuation. The rendering suggested by the latter is " his praters " (i.e. soothsayers), as the word, no doubt, must be taken in ch. 1. 36 ; Isa. xliv. 25. But it is much more natural to render thus: "And the untruth of his pratings [t.e. of his boastings] ; the untruth that they have wrought." In his words and in his works (and a word is equal to a work before the Divine Judge) Moab was essentially "untrue." Truth, in the Bil)lical sense, is to know and serve the true God.
Ver. 31. — Based upon Isa. xvi. 7. There- fore. Moab cannot escape the catastrophe, for his moral basis is utterly insecure. "Therefore," etc. Will I howl. It is at first siglit strange that the prophet should speak thus sympathetically after the strong language in ver. 26. But the fact is that an inspired prophet has, as it were, a double personality. Sometimes his human feelings seem quite lost in the consciousness of his message; sometimes (and especinlly in Jere- miah) the natural, emotional life refuses to be thus restrained, and will have itself expressed. All Uoab ; i.e. Moab in all its districts, both north and south of the Amon, or, at any rate, the fugitive populations. Mine heart shall mourn. The Authorized Version effaces one of the points of dif- ference between Jeremiah and his original. The former leaves the subject indefinite — one shall mourn. For the men of Kir-heres. Isa. xvi. 7 has " for the raisin-cakes of Kir- heres " (i.e. for the cakes of pressed grapes, for which Kir-heres was specially famous) — a mucli more expressive phrase. Jeremiah, or his scribe, has changed ashJshe into dnshe, and the Targum and Septuagint have adopted this weak reading iu Isaiah, l.o.
Ver. 32. — Shortened from Isa. xvi. 8, 9. With the weeping of Jazer ; rather, more than (he weeping of Jazer. This may mean eitlier "more than I weep for Jazer" (which is favoured by the insertion of " for thee ") or " more than Jazer weeps " (for the de- vastated vineyards of Silnnah); comp. Isaiah, I.e. The site of Jazer is placed by Seetzen between Bamoth (Salt) and Heshbon, whern
some ruins called Sir are now found. " Bib- mah," according to St. Jerome, was no< more than liall' a mile from Heshbon. King Mesha is thought to refer to it under tlie form Seran, miswritten for Sebaii (Sebam — so the form should be read — is an Old Testament version of the name ; see Numb, xxxii. 3) ; see inscription on Moabite Stone, line 13. It appears to have been famous for its vineyards ; and Seetzen telld us that grapes and raisins of specially gooJ quality are still carried frum the neigh- bouring Salt to Jeiusalem. Thy plants are gone over the sea; rather, thy shoots passed over the sea. The prophet here describes the extensive range of these vines. The northern limit of their culture was Jazer. its southern or western the further shore • 'f " the sea," i.e. the Dead Sea. By a touch of poetic hyperbole the prophet traces the excellence of vines such as those of En-gedi (on the western bank of the Dead Sen) tu a Moabitish origin. The reference to the sea of Jazer throws the whole passage into confusion. There is no lake or large pool at present to be found at Jazer, and the simplest explanation is that a scribe re- peated the word "sea" by mistake. The true text will then be simply, " they reacheil unto Jazer." The spoiler. Isa. xvi. 9 has the more picturesque expression, "the sliouting," i.e. the wild battle-cry.
Ver. 33. — Nearly identical with Isa. xvi. 10. The plentiful field ; rather, the garden- land ; i.e. land planted with " noble " plants, especially vines and olives. Wine. Here clearly sweet and unfermented wine (comp. Amos ix. 13, 14). None shall tread with shouting. This involves a very harsh construction of the Hebrew, and it is better (considering the numerous other errors of the same kind in the received text) to correct in accordance with Isa. xvi 10, " the treader shall not tread." Their shouting sh all be no shouting. " Shouting " (Hebrew, heddd) may be taken in two senses : (1) the cheerful, musical cry with which "the treaders " pressed out the juice of the grapes (comp. ch. XXV. 30); (2) the wild cry (ch. li. 14) with which the enemy " fell upon the summer fruits and upon the vintage " (ver. 32), reducing the inhabitants to abject misery. In Isa. xvi. 9, 10 an allusion is made to this double meaning, and so, per- haps, it may be here ("There shall be shouting, but not that of the peaceful vintagers at their work"). Or, as others, we may explain "no shouting" as equivalent to "the opposite of shouting," t.e. either silence or lamentation (comp. Isa. z. IS, "not-wood' equivalent to "that which is specifically different from wood ;" and xxxl. 3, "not God," equivalent to "the Terj opposite of Divine ).
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THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. [0=- JCLvin. 1—47.