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shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his ini■quity.

17 All hands shall be feeble and all = knees shall be weak as water.

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18 They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.

19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall : not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them.

21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.

CHAP. VII.

[irreversible.

22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.

23 Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.

24 Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled.

25 Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.

26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.

27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD. (H)

EXPOSITION.

= (H) The desolation of the country and defilement the sanctuary. This chapter, which forms another distinct prophecy, foretells the final desolation of the land of Israel or Judah, (for after the captivity of the teu tribes these terms are often used for the Jews in general,) on account of the heinous sins of its inhabitants, and the great distress of the small remnant that should eventually escape. The temple itself, which they had polluted with idolatry, is devoted to destruction, and the Prophet is directed to make a chain, as a type of their being led, both king and peo

ple, in bonds of captivity to Babylon. The whole chapter abounds in bold and beautiful figures, flowing in an easy and forcible stream of poetical language.

The higher classes of the Jews, as appears by the prophetic writings, were generally the most criminal. Their gold and silver became their snare; partly by fostering their pride, and partly by supporting their idolatry. Thus riches become "the stumbling block of their iniquity." Our punishment often arises out of our pride; and those things in which men place their confidence and their glory, are sometimes made to them objects of horror and detestation.

NOTES.

Ver. 17. Be weak as water - Heb. "Go into water." Newcome," Flow (with) water." See Joel

in. 18.

Ver. 19. Their gold shall be removed-Hebrew, "Shall be for a separation;" shall be abhorred as an unclean thing, as being not only useless but detrimental, by bringing upon them the vengeance of their enemies.

Ver. 20. As for the beauty of his ornament — Newcome," Of their ornaments." He set it in pride-Newcome, "They turned it to pride."Therein rather, "thereof." The sense appeara

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The image]

CHAP. VIII.

EZEKIEL.

AND it came to pass in the sixth

year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.

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2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.

3 And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.

4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

5 Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the

[of jealousy.

house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.

7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.

8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.

10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.

11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.

13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

NOTES.

CHAP. VIII. Ver. 2. As the appearance of fire. For ash," fire." the LXX read ish, (or aish) "a man," which makes this verse nearly synonymous with chap. i. 26, 27. Secker, Newcome, Boothroyd, &c. consider this the true reading, and it seems implied in the following sentence, "From the appearance of his loins, &c.

Ver. 4. According to the vision, &c.--See chap. i. 28; iii. 22, 23.

Ver. 5. At the gate of the altar-"Probably so called from the time of Ahaz." 2 Kings xvi. 14, 15.

Ver. 6. That I should go-that is, to provoke me to go; so Vulgate and Chaldee: or, that they should go," (or be driven) from my sanctuary, LXX. and Syriac. See chap. ix. 3.

Ver. 7. A hole in the wall.-Mr. Maurice conrs this as the description of a cavern temple, its mystic cells; such as are to be found in the

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CHAP. VIII.

[idolatry.

17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.

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18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. (I)

EXPOSITION.

(1) Ezekiel shown the image of Jealousy -the chambers of imagery, &c. - Here begins a section of prophecy extending to chap. xii. In this chapter the Prophet is conveyed by the spirit to Jerusalem, and there shown the idolatries committed by the rulers of the Jews, even within the temple. In the beginning of the vision, Idolatry itself is personified as an idol, the resemblance probably of Baal or Moloch, and the image sublimely called, from the provocation it gave to the God of Israel, the Image of Jealousy. (ver. 5.) The Prophet then proceeds to describe the three chief idolatries of the times: the Egyptian, the Phoenician and the Persian; giving the principal features of each; and concluding with declaring the abhorrence with which they were all viewed by the eye of God.

1. The sacred rites, or mysteries of the Egyptian idolatry, above referred to, were performed by the most ancient and honourable of the people, who alone were admitted to be present; and who offered incense in a mystic cell or subterraneous vault, called by the Prophet a hole or chamber in the wall, on which were pourtrayed the creeping things and abominable beasts they worshipped: such as serpents, dogs, cats, &c. with Apis, (the sacred bull,) and, as Mr. Faber thinks, a variety of monstrous forms borrowed from the symbols of astronomy: such as have been described by M. Belzoni, and other modern travellers. Bp. Warburton understands the description from ver. 6 to 13, as relating to the rites of Isis and Osiris, under the form of a male and female calf, which rites were celebrated and attended only by princes and persons of the first rank and consequence.

2. Among the Phoenicians, the god whom they supposed to preside over the fruits of the earth, was believed to suffer when those fruits were cut down; and therefore, in sympathy with him, the women mourned for several days every year, at the end of harvest. "To this rite of Phoenician idolatry, (says Dr. J. Smith,) the Prophet alludes when he speaks of the women mourning for Tammuz: a rite well known in the mythological fables of the Greeks and Romans, under the title of Venus weeping for the death of Adonis."-3. The Persian worship, as performed by the priests or Magi, consisted chiefly in adorations to the sun, with the faces of the worshippers directed to the East, as described by the Prophet. This also was adopted by the Jewish leaders, and in so doing, of course they turned their backs upon the temple, which was behind them.

It has been a matter of debate among commentators, whether these scenes were presented to Ezekiel in vision only, or whether he was really transported from Babylon to Jerusalem. That the prophets were sometimes locally removed is certain from the instance of Elijah, who was wont to be thus removed: (See 1 Kings xviii. 12.; 2 Kings ii. 16 :) as was also Philip the evangelist, under the New Dispensation. (See Acts viii. 39.) So we have understood the removal of Ezekiel to Tel-abib; (ch.iii. 14, 15;) and not only does there seem nothing absurd in a literal exposition of the passage now before us, but the text itself (ver. 3) appears to us to lead to such an interpretation. Was not the hand which raised him by the hair, one of the hands of the man in glory? And does not his being borne up "between the earth and the heaven,"

NOTES.

Ver. 16. Between the porch and the altar.- See Joel ii. 17.-About five and twenty men—" Probably the priests and Levites of the weekly service, with the high priest at their head." Faber, quoted in Townsend ii. 543.

Ver. 17. They put the branch to their nose.-The Persians, in their worship, held in their left hand a bunch of twigs of different trees, called the harsom. Rosenmuller. See Orient. Lit. No. 1013,

Angels of judgment]

CHAP. IX.

EZEKIEL.

HE cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.

2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.

3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;

4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:

[and of mercy.

6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctu ary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.

7 And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.

8 And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem ?

9 Then said he unto me, The inquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverse ness for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth: not.

10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.

11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, have done as thou hast commanded me. (K)

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of the pious few, and the destruction of the others.-The vision in this chapter intended to denote the general destruction of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, except the few pious individuals just referred to, who, in order to be delivered from the general calamity, were marked, in allusion perhaps to a very ancient eastern custom, or rather to Exod. xii. 22, 23. The persous introduced ver. 2, are evidently superna

NOTES.

CHAP. IX. Ver. 1. He cried-that is, the Lord. Ver. 2. Destroying weapon Heb. "Weapon of his destruction."Which iieth-Heb." Which is turned." A slaughter weapon-Heb. "A weapon of his breaking in pieces." By his side-Heb. "Upon his loins. Dr. Shaw mentions that the Easterns wear their inkhorns suspended from their rdles, (Travels, tol. p. 293.) Pococke says they used in sealing as well as writing. (Trav. i. p. 186.) r. 3. From Literally," From above the b," where the shechinah had been accustomed ide, in the most holy place.

r. 4. Set a mark - Heb. "Mark a mark," or 4, for Tau signifies a mark; but the Jews have

from hence inferred, that the mark consisted in this
letter, the last of the Hebrew alphabet. Some of
the Christian fathers also pleased themselves in dis
covering that one of the most ancient forms of the
Samaritan Tau resembled the Roman cross! The
Bramins, it seems, distinguish the worshippers of
Veeshnu and Sheva by marks of different colours
(red or yellow) on their foreheads. Maurice's Ind
Antiq. vol. v. p. 82.

Ver. 6. Slay utterly-Heb. "To destruction."
Ver. 9. Perverseness - Margin, Wresting of

judgment."

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Ver. 11. Reported the matter-Heb. "Returned

the word."

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THEN I looked, and, behold, in

the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

2 And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.

3 Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.

4 Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD's glory.

5 And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.

6 And it came to pass, that when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels.

[cherubim repeated.

his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it, and went out.

8 And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under their wings.

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9 And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone.

10 And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel.

11 When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went.

12 And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.

13 As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel!

14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, 7 And one cherub stretched forth and the fourth the face of an eagle.

EXPOSITION.

tural or angelic; one appointed to be an angel of mercy, the other five angels of destruction, to execute the sentence of the Almighty on the idolators.

To indicate likewise, that God was soon to forsake the Temple, the Shechinah, or

symbol of his presence, is seen to remove from the inner sanctuary to the threshold or door of the temple, ready to depart. The Prophet intercedes in behalf of his people: but God refuses to be entreated for them. The door of mercy was shut against them.

NOTES.

CHAP. X. Ver. 1. In the firmament.-See Notes on chap. i. 22, 26.

Ver. 2. Between the wheels the word "even," supplied in Italies, would be. perbaps, better omitted. Newcome remarks, "The wheels were below the cherubim, and the firmament above."- Fill thine hand-Heb. "The hollow of thine hand."

Ver. 4. Went up-Heb. " Was lifted up."
Ver. 5. As the voice of the Almighty God-that is,

thunder. See Ps. xxix. 3-9.

Ver. 7. Stretched-Heb. "Sent."
Ver. 12. Body-Heb. "Flesh."

Ver. 13. Hearing-Heb. "Ears."—O wheel!

It is observable, two words are here used. As for the wheels-Hebrew, Ophenim. This word is plural, and though used for chariot wheels, more properly signifies a sphere, as we kave remarked on chap. i; and so, Mr. Maurice says, the Targum of Jonathan there renders it, "A sphere within a sphere." But the second word (Hagalegal) is used in reference to any rolling body; and Mr. Parkhurst here explains it as implying a command to revolve.

Ver. 14. Fuce of a cherub that is, of an ox. Compare ver. 22, with ch. i. 10. The whole of this description so far resembles that, as to need little distinct remark.

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