Imatges de pàgina
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And the house of Joseph a flame;

And the house of Esau for stubble:

And they shall kindle them and devour them;

And there shall not be any remaining of the house

of Esau.

For Jehovah hath spoken it.

And they of the south shall possess the mountain of Esau;

And they of the plain, the Philistines:

And they shall possess the field of Ephraim,
And the field of Samaria:

And Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

And the captivity of this host of the sons of Israel,
Which is among the Canaanites, shall possess unto
Sarepta.

And the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in
Sepharad,

Shall possess the cities of the south.

And deliverers shall go up to mount Sion

To † rule the mount of Esau:

And the kingdom shall be Jehovah's.

+ Hebr. judge.

18. for stubble] This refers to the conquest of Edom by the Maccabees. 1 Macc. v. 3, 4, 5, 65, 2 Macc. x. 15—23: And again by Hyrcanus. Jos. Ant. xiii. ix. 1, p. 659. Haverc.

19. they of the plain] From Eleutheropolis to the sea. See Le Clerc. Zech. vii. 7. Jer. xvii. 26.

-Gilead] Edom lay to the south; the Philistines, to the west; Ephraim, to the north; and Gilead, to the east. Those who returned from Babylon were to extend themselves every way. 6. read," And Benjamin, and Gilead."

20. this host] Three MSS. read. But Houbigant inge niously conjectures that we should read, And this captivity. -among the Canaanites] Houbigant and Chald. ready. -Sepharad] Lightfoot's conjecture, that this was part of Edom, is the most probable of any that I have met with. Those who were captives among the Canaanites should possess the country of the Canaanites; and those whom the Edomites had enslaved should possess the cities of their masters. See Mr. Lowth's commentary.

-deliverers] The Maccabees. 6. read yw servati; meaning the Jews who were to be restored.

THE BOOK OF

HAGGA I.

CHAP. I.

1 IN the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of † Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and unto Joshua the son of Josedec, the high priest, saying:

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Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts, saying:
This people have said, The time is not come,
Even the time that the House of Jehovah should

be built.

But the word of Jehovah hath come

By

Haggai the prophet, saying;

Is it time for you, O ye people,
To dwell in cieled houses:

And shall this House lie waste?

* Hebr. by the hand of. † Otherwise, Salathiel. ‡been. By the hand of. 1. Haggai] The first prophet sent to the Jews, after their return from the Babylonish captivity.

-Darius] The son of Hystaspes, king of Persia. Blair places the second year of his reign 520 years before Christ.

-Zerubbabel] Son of Salathiel, son of Jechoniah king of Judah. Matth. i. 12. σε 4. λέγων· Ειπον προς· ό.” Secker.

-Joshua] Son of Josedech, son of Seraiah, high priest when Jerusalem was taken, and slain at Riblah. 1 Chron. vi. 14. 2 Kings xxv. 18—21.

So

4. O ye] Houbigant conjectures. An venit vobis tempus? &c. Possibly ny now. "An vestrum tempus est, ut domos vestros contabulatas habitetis? Sana sunt omnia. lent nempe Hebræi in sermone concitatiori repetere pronomen ejusdem personæ quæ præcedit. Confer Gen. xxiv. 27. Deut. xviii. 14, &c." Dathius.

-cieled] vs. Aquila. Laqueatis. Vulg.

-waste] Its foundations had been laid perhaps fifteen years

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And now thus saith Jehovah God of hosts:
Consider your ways.

Ye have sown much, and the increase is little:
Ye eat, but not till

ye be full:

Ye drink, but not † in plenty:

Ye clothe yourselves, but not so as to be warm thereby.

And he that earneth wages, earneth § them for a bag with || holes.

Thus saith Jehovah, God of hosts:

* Consider your ways.

Go up to the mount, and bring word,

And build the House; that I may have pleasure therein,

And be glorified; saith Jehovah.

Ye look for much, and behold it cometh to little :
And when ye have brought it home, I have blown

upon it.

Hebr. Set your heart on.

wages.

* to fulness. pierced through.

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before, in the second month of the second year after the return of the Jews from Babylon. Ezra iii. 8.

6. the increase] Literally, id quod proveniens est. But the versions seem to have read ye have brought in.

Ye eat] The verb, and also in and was, and v. 9, are in the infinitive mood, used as a noun substantive. There is to eat: or, There is eating.

-for a bag with holes] They are soon required of him. The present scarcity demands them.

8. the mount] Mount Moriah, on which the temple was built.

"Jon. conscendite montes. Capiendum est collective. Nam de Libano aliisque montibus petenda erant ligna unde templum extrueretur." Babrdt.

9. brought it home] This line may very well be translated: And ye have brought an offering to the House, and I have snuffed at it.

See c. ii. 14. Ezra iii. 3, 8, 10, 11. v. 2; and the verb Mal. i. 13: where Houbigant has rejicitis. It seems to be a metaphor taken from beasts when they refuse provender. According to our English version of the text before us, must signify to blast, or, blow away.

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Why? saith Jehovah God of hosts.

Because of mine House, which lieth waste;
And ye run every man to build his own house.
Therefore over you

The heavens are stayed from dew;

And the earth is stayed from her produce.
And I have called for a drought upon the land,
and upon the mountains;

And upon the corn, and upon the choice wine, and
upon the oil;

And upon whatever the ground bringeth forth;
And upon man and upon || beast;
|

And upon all the labour of the hands.

Then Zerubbabel the son of * Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high-priest, and all the residue of the people, hearkened unto the voice of Jehovah their God, and unto the words of Haggai the prophet, according as Jehovah their God had sent 13 him: and the people feared before Jehovah. Then spake Haggai, the messenger of Jehovah, by a message from Jehovah, unto the people, saying: I am with you, saith Jehovah.

14 And Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit. of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high-priest, and + Otherwise, Salathiel.

Hebr. cattle.

*Otherwise. Salathiel.

10. "the heaven over you. For your sake the heaven."

Secker.

.מטל <<

Sic 6. Syr. Vulg. Ch. cum tamen alias semper activam coercendi significationem obtineat, quin et in hoc ipso versiculo. Videtur ortum a præcedente." Secker. 11. —the mountains] See 2 Sam. i. 21. The clouds, which usually rest on them, supply them with moisture.

-whatever the ground] 6. MS. Pachom. read nai ımı marla oca, with Syr. Ar. Chald. fourteen MSS. and another in the margin. And upon every thing which the ground bringeth forth.

12.

unto the words] you is used with by, Jer. xxiii. 16. It is also used with , ns, and 2,

WN. Videtür Syr. legisse WN." Secker.

the spirit of all the residue of the people; and they came and did work in the House of Jehovah 15 Lord of hosts, their God: on the four and twentieth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

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CHAP. II.

IN the seventh month, on the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of Jehovah by § Haggai the prophet, saying: Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of || Shealtiel, governor of Judah; and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high-priest; and to [all] the residue of the people; saying: Who is there left among you

That saw this House

In its former glory?

And what do ye see it now?

Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah :
And be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the
high-priest:

And be strong, O all ye people of the land, saith
Jehovah;

And work: for I am with you,

Saith Jehovah God of hosts;

According to the word which I covenanted with

+ Or, executed.

§ Hebr. the hand of.

Otherwise, Salathiel.

2. all the residue] So. 6. Ar. Syr. and one MS.

you

3. left] Seventy years elapsed from the destruction of the former temple, before Christ 587, to its complete restoration, about four years after the time when this prophecy was delivered. See Ezra vi. 15, and Blair's tables.

-as nothing] An elegant Hebraism. Sicut illud, [sc. templum posterius] sic nihil. See Nold. §. 17. See Nold. §. 17. Ten MSS. and four editions read. Josephus says that this temple, through the poverty of its builders, was inferior to the former. Ant. xi. iv. 2.

5. According to] See л Nold. §. 19. God promised to be with Moses. Ex. iii. 12. See c. i. 13.

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