Ver. 22.— Behold, he shall come up . . . Bozrah. Eepeated from ch. xlviii. 40, with the substitution of "Bozrah" for "Moab," and tlie adilitiou of " and he shall come up " from ver. 19. For " Bozrali," see on ver. 13. And at that day. Kepeated from oh. xlviii
41 (latter half), with the exception that
« Edom " stands for " Moab."
Vers. 23—27. — The heading Concerning Damascus is too limited (like that of the partly parallel prophecy in Isa. xvii. 1 — 11); for the prophecy relates, not only to Damascus, the capital of tlie kingdom of south-eastern Aram (or Syria), but to Ha- math, the capital of the northern kingdom. (The third of the Aramsean kingdoms, that of Zobah, had ceased to exist.) Damascus had already been threatened by Amos (i. 3 — 5), and by Isaiah (xvii. 1 — 11). We may infer from the prophecy that Damascus had provoked the hostility of Nebuoliadnezzar, but we have as yet no monumental evidence as to the facts.
Ver. 23. — Hamath. Still an important city under the name of Hamab, situated to the north of Hums (Emesa), on the Orontes. It formed nominally the boundary of the kingdom of Israel (Numb, xxxiv. 8 ; Josh, xiii. 5), was actually a part of the empire of Solomon (2 Chron. viii. 4), and was con- quered for a short time by Jeroboam II. (2 Kings xiv. 25). Under Sargon it was fully incorporated into the Assyrian empire (comp. Isa. X. 9); rebellious populations were repeatedly transplanted into the terri- tory of Hamath. Arpad. Always men- tioned together with Hamath, whose fate it appears to have shared (Isa. x. 9). A tell, or hill, with ruins, about three (Ger- man) miles from Aleppo, still bears the name Erfad (Zeitschrift of the German Oriental Society, xxv. 655). There is sor- row on the sea, etc. ; i.e. even the sea par- ticipates in the agitation of that troublous time : somewhat as in Hab. iii. 10 the sea is represented as sympathizing in the terror produced by a Divine manifestation. But by the slightest possible emendation (viz. of eaph into beth) we obtain a more natural sense—" with an unrest a^ of the sea, which cannot be quiet." In Isa. Ivii. 20 we read, "For the ungodly are like the troubled sea, for it cannot be quiet ; " and it can hardly be doubted that Jeremiah is alluding to this passage. If lie altered it at all, it would be in the direction of greater smoothness rather than the reverse. Not a few manu- scripts of Jeremiah actually have this cor- rected reading, which should probably be adopted.
Ver. 25, — How is the city of praise not left, etc. 1 A difficult passage. The construction, indeed, is plain. " How is not," etc. 1 can only mean " How is it that the city of praise is not," etc. ? (comp. 2 Sam. i. 14). The difBoulty lies in the nrord rendered " left." The ordinary meaning of the verb, when applied to pities, is certainly " to leave without inhabitants;" e.g. oh. iv. 29; Isa. vii. 16; \xxii. 14. ThiB, however, doe*
CH. xi,ix. 1—39.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH.
253
not Biilt the context, which shows that " the daughter of Damascua" personiSed is the speaker, so that ver. 25 ought rather to mean, "How is it that the city of praise m [not, ' <» not •] forsaken ? " Either, then, we must suppose that "not" has been inserted by mistake — a too arbitrary step, seeing that there is no negative in the context to account for the insertion (the case is different, therefore, from Job xxi. 30 ; xxvii. 15, where such an insertion is at any rate justifiable) ; or else we must give 'Szzehhdh the sense of "let go free" (comp. Exod. xxiii. 5; Deut. xxxii. 36 ; Job x. 1). It is the obstinate incredulity of love which refuses to admit the possibility of the destruction of the loved object. The eity qfpraUe. The city which is my « praise," or boast. Tew cities, in fact, have had so long and brilliant an existence as Damasons.
_ Ver. 27. — ^And I will kindly, eto. A com- bination of clauses from Amos i. 14 and i. 4. Tlnee several kings of Damascus brre the name of Ben-hadad : one the contem- porary of King Baasha of Samaria ; another, of Ahab; a third, of Joash. (Ben-hadad, bow<)ver, should rather be Ben-hadar, agree- ably to the Assyrian inscriptions and the Septuagint.)
Vers. 28 — 33. — ^Against the nomad and partly settled Arabs — the former described under the name Kedar (see on ch. ii. 10), the latter under that of Hazor (connected with hazer, an un walled village; comp. Lev. XXV. 81). This use of Hazor is remarkable ; elsewhere the name denotes towns in Pa- lestine (Josh. xi. 1; XV. 23; Neh. xi. 33). There are two plainly marked strophes, vers. 28—30 and 31—33, both beginning with a summons to the foe to take the field.
Ver. 28. — Hazor (i.e. the settled Aral is) is said to have kingdoms. " King " is used in Hebrew in a wider sense than we are accustomed to (comp. oh. xxv. 24, " All the kings of Arabia "). The " kings " of Hazor would be mere sheikhs or emirs. Shall smite ; rather, smote. There is no justifica- tion whatever for the future. The statement is obviously a later addition, to show that the prophecy was fulfilled. On the form " Nebuchadrezzar," see on ch. xxL 2. The men of the east. A general designation of the inhabitants of all the countries in the east of Palestine (Gen. xxlx. 1 ; Judg. vi. 3 ; Job i. 3).
Ver. 29. — All the possessions of the nomad are here mentioned — first his tents and his flocks ; then the hangings of which the tent is composed (ch. iv. 20; x. 20), and the vessels which it contains; and finally the camels which the Arab rides, not to mention their other uses. All this shall be ruth- lessly appropriated by the Chaldean in- vaden Fear is on every side. Again Jere-
miah's motto recurs (see on ch. tL 25), It expresses here, not the war-cry itself, but the result produced by it.
Ver. 30. — The prophet turns to the Arabs in villages who have still more to tempt the cupidity of plunderers, and urges them to flee while there is still time. Dwell deep (see on ver. 8). Against yon. This is the reading of the Septu&gint (Alex. HS.), the Targum, the Vulgate, and many extant Hebrew manuscripts. The received text, however, has "against them." Such al- ternations of person have met ns again and again, and there is no occasion to doubt the ordinary reading.