24 25 26 27 For he giveth you the former rain in just proportion, And I will restore unto you the years Which the locusts have eaten, The devouring-locust, the consuming-locust, and My great army which I sent among you. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: Hebr. eating and being satisfied. § Hebr. done with you so as to act wondrously. giveth] may be a participle, as v. 32. 23. -the former rain] It fell after autumn; and seems to be so called from jecit; because its season was post jactam sementem. 1. Bewuala ó. Sic bis reddiderunt : et sequitur hic " Secker. But fourteen MSS. read ". 66 66 ". Perhaps, bountifully. See Nold in "." Secker. Y cum sit liberalitas, verto large. Bahrdt. -the latter rain] This fell about harvest, towards the end of April. Hence its name, from up collegit. -as aforetime] Read N, with V. 6. Ar. Syr. and one MS. Chald. has, in the month Nisan. See Harmer. i. 34-40. 25. My great army] We have here a key to the grand and beautiful description which runs through these two chapters. And if we consider the note on v. 7, and the propriety of the adjuncts, as applicable to locusts, and often to locusts only, there can remain no doubt but that the prophet is to be understood in a literal sense as foretelling a plague of locusts. Every reader of taste must be struck with the poetical and sublime manner in which the allegory is conducted. There is not a more splendid piece of poetry extant. me. 26. never be ashamed] Provided they continue to serve 28 29 31 And it shall come to pass afterward Your young men shall see visions: And also upon the men-servants, and upon the handmaids, In those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth; Blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, 28. -afterward] But God has infinitely greater blessings in store for his people. The words t are very indefinite; and therefore admit of the rendering, or paraphrase, Acts ii. 17: in the last days: where codex regius Parisinus, Cyril of Jerusalem, and the Apostolical constitutions, add a Tava. -upon all flesh] Though the Jews only are enumerated, there is a latent reference to the effusion of the spirit on the Gentiles also, in the times of the gospel-dispensation. The two last hemistichs in this v. are transposed Acts ii. 17. It is more poetical to omit the copulatives, with the Hebrew, in the two last hemistichs: though in 6. Ar. Syr. Acts ii. 17. they are twice prefixed; and V. Chald. prefix them to the last hemistich. 29. servants-handmaids] 6. MS. A. and Ar. have my servants, my handmaids, as in Acts: and V. has servos meos. Syr. and Chald. agree with the Hebrew. Possibly was written contractedly for the plural ; and thus led to the rendering of my servants. For the fact, see 1 Cor. xii. 13. my spirit] In the Acts the words and they shall prophesy are added. But Beza's MS. and Jerom omit them. 30. in the heavens and in the earth] Some authority may be seen in Wetstein and Kuster for omitting avw and in the Acts. Blood] Very great slaughter, and the burning of many towns, and even of a part of Jerusalem itself, preceded the destruction of the city and the temple, and the total subversion of the Jewish polity, by the Romans. κατω 31. The sun-] These expressions must be understood of "the fearful sights and the great signs from heaven." Luke xxi. 11, which alarmed the minds of the Jews before the taking of Jerusalem by Titus. 32 1 2 Before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come. But it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be delivered: For in mount Sion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, As Jehovah hath said; Even among the remnant whom Jehovah shall call. CHAP. III. || FOR Behold in those days, and at that time, When I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and of Jerusalem, That I will assemble all the nations, And will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; And there will I execute judgment upon them for my people; And for mine heritage Israel, whom they scattered among the nations, And then divided my land: || Or, surely. 32. shall be delivered] This refers to the safety of the Christians during the Jewish and Roman war. "for among the inhabitants of Mount Sion and of Jerusalem, that is, by a synecdoche of the part for the whole, among the Jewish people, shall be deliverance: as Jehovah hath spoken by me and by other prophets." CHAP. III. 1. For-] As an earnest of this, my people shall be restored to their land, and their enemies shall be humbled. 2. all the nations] This must be restrained to the neighbouring nations. See v. 12. -the valley of Jehoshaphat] A valley in which a battle was to be won, most probably by Nebuchadnezzar, which would utterly discomfit the ancient enemies of the Jews, and resemble the victory which Jehoshaphat obtained over the Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites: 2 Chron, xx. 22-26. -execute judgment] See 2 Chron. xxii. 8. Ps. ix. 19. I will discomfit them before their enemies. There is an allusion to the word Jehoshaphat; which significs Jehovah judgeth. 3 Yea, they cast lots for my people: * And sold a damsel for wine to drink. 4 And what have ye also to do with me, O Tyre, 5 6 17 and Sidon, And all the borders of Palestine? Do ye requite me with retaliation? Soon and swiftly will I bring again your retaliation Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, The sons also of Judah, and the sons of Jerusalem, That ye might remove them far from their border; Whither ye have sold them; And I will bring again your retaliation on your own head: * Or, bartered. 3. for wine] "In Mingrelia they sell captive children for provisious and for wine." Sir John Chardin, in Harmer ii. 374. 4. O Tyre and Sidon] When the Babylonians, the appointed instruments of my vengeance, afflict my land, why do you also, and the bordering nations, assist them? Do you take this occasion of avenging the former victories of my people over you? If so, this your act of revenge shall be speedily punished. Soon and swiftly] See Isai. v. 26. Pocock understands both the words adverbially. 6. Grecians] Descendents of Javan. Gen. x. 2, 5. They trafficked with Tyre, and traded in slaves. Ezek. xxvii. 13. "Homerus passim, v Axv." Bahrdt. 7.- I will raise them] Grotius in loc. mentions that Alexander and his successors set at liberty many Jews who were slaves in Greece. Many also, on occasion of Cyrus's decree, might return to their country from such parts of Asia Minor and the Jonian islands as were subject to that monarch. on your own head] Ezek. xxv, xxvi, will furnish a comment on this passage. Nebuchadnezzar conquered the several countries there enumerated. See Jer. xxv. 15-29. The seacoasts of Palestine were also invaded by Alexander the Great. 8 9 10 11 12 13 And I will sell your sons and your daughters And they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a na- For Jehovah hath spoken it. Proclaim ye this among the nations: + Declare ye war, raise up the mighty ones; Let the weak say, I am strong. Collect yourselves and come, All ye nations round And assemble yourselves together; yet there doth Let the nations rise and come up To the valley of Jehoshaphat; For there will I sit To judge all the nations round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: + Hebr, sanctify. 8. —sons of Judah] This might happen on occasion of Judas Maccabeus's victories. 1 Macc. v. 3, 7, 15, 21. -afar off] See Jer. vi. 20. Matth. xii. 42. So Babylon is called a far country. Isai. xxxix. 3. 10. -the weak] Let even the unwarlike arm themselves on this occasion. הגהת 11. doth Jehovah bring low] Literally, "hath Jehovah brought low." What he will do, is spoken of as done. descendere fecit: in Chald. and Syr. dejecit, humiliavit. -thy mighty ones] Syr. renders, "your mighty ones:" and Chald." their mighty ones." 12. To judge] To punish by a signal overthrow. 13. Put ye in] immittite. So for To Siavov σ, Apoc. xiv. 15. Bahrdt. get ye down] Houbigant observes that 6. render TaTHσE, 177 "tread the grapes." This beautiful reading is confirmed by Ar Syr. Chald. |