and glowing, in lines of beauty, like a precious stone. Dr A. Clarke, who follows Dr Blayney in rendering gizrahtham 'their veining' (instead of 'their polishing,' as in A. V.), remarks upon this metaphorical description:-"Milk will most certainly well apply to the whiteness of the skin; the beautiful ruby to the ruddiness of the flesh; and the sapphire, in its clear transcendent purple, to the veins in a fine complexion." It is not pretended that abstinence alone will bring about this corporeal appearance, but the Nazarites were a race typical of the physical qualities to which such temperance always predisposes, and which it will help to produce when associated with a judicious regimen, actively persevered in. It is frequently affected to be despised as 'a mere negative,' but when we remember that it is a complete negative and nullifier of the most common and fashionable source of all kinds and all degrees of disease, mental and bodily,—a negative upon a liquid which fosters general debility by tainting the blood and irritating the nervous system,—it may be truthfully regarded as no inconsiderable friend to human health and length of days. Universally adopted, it would elevate the sanitary level of society, and lower the rate of mortality, in excluding a noxious element, by which the one is seriously depressed and the other correspondingly raised. It was the surest sign of the havoc produced by the desolation of Judah, that the Nazarites, who had been so prominent for their healthy and handsome appearance, should become dark, haggard, and shriveled through hunger and thirst. Historically, this notice of the Nazarites is valuable as showing that Nazaritism, as an institution, continued to flourish down to the period of the captivity (B. c. 588). CHAPTER IV. VERSE 21. Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. THOU SHALT BE DRUNKEN, AND SHALT MAKE THYSELF NAKED] Hebrew, tishekeri ve-thithahri, 'thou shalt be drunken, and shalt uncover thyself'; Lxx., methustheesee kai apocheeis, 'thou shalt be drunken and cast down '; V., inebriaberis atque nudaberis, 'thou shalt be made drunk and nude.' What in a sober state is concealed, from modesty or prudence, is, in a state of inebriation, made bare, and the very power of maintaining propriety or selfprotection is taken away. Edom, which had rejoiced over Judah's downfall, should drink of the same cup of calamity, and be despoiled by the enemy, like a drunken man stripped by the robber who had stricken him down. THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [EZEKIEL IS BELIEVED TO HAVE PROPHESIED B. C. 595-574-1 CHAPTER VIII. VERSE 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. THE BRANCH] Hebrew, haz-zěmorah, 'the branch' or 'vine-branch.' [See Note on Numb. xiii. 23; Isa. xvii. 10.] Gesenius thinks the reference is "to the Persian custom of worshipping the rising sun, holding in their left hand a bundle of the twigs of the plant called Barsom." CHAPTER XII. VERSES 18, 19. 18 Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness; 19 And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD, of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. Bread and water are here conjoined as the staple means of sustenance, and for these to be consumed with fear and trembling would be a sign of the devastation and insecurity about to befall the once prosperous and happy land. CHAPTER XV. VERSES 2, 6. Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? 6 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. V. 2, 6. THE VINE TREE] Hebrew, atz hag-gephen, 'a tree of the vine.' The vine is chiefly valuable for its fruit, not for its wood, which is used as fuel only. God here declares, therefore, that Jerusalem, having ceased to be a fruitful vine, was now fit for the burning to which He would consign it. CHAPTER XVII. VERSES 6-8. 6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. 7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation. 8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine. V. 6, 7. VINE] Hebrew, gephen. V. 8. A GOODLY VINE] Hebrew, gephen ad-dahreth, ‘a vine ample' (= wide. spreading). For 'goodly' the Lxx. has megaleen, the V. grandem, ‘great.' CHAPTER XIX. VERSE 10. Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. LIKE A VINE IN THY BLOOD] Hebrew, kag-gephen bě-dahmkah, 'as a vine in thy blood.' The obscurity of this passage has caused some learned commentators to give to dahm the signification of likeness,-'thy mother is as a vine in thy likeness' like thee. Calmet conjectures the true reading to be kag-gephen karmekah, 'as a vine of thy vineyard.' This is not improbable, since & in Hebrew resembles k, and d resembles r; but it is not a conjecture supported by any ancient version, and only by two known Hebrew MSS. The LXX. has 'thy mother (is) as a vine, as a flower in a pomegranate.' So the Arabic. The T. of Jonathan has 'Israel was like a vine planted near fountains of waters.' Henderson, following Piscator and Hävernick, reads, 'in thy quietude'-from dum, 'to be quiet, -understanding a reference to the quiet and prosperous times of the Jewish monarchy. CHAPTER XXIII. VERSES 31-34. 31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand. 32 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much. 33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria. 34 Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. V. 33. THOU SHALT BE FILLED WITH DRUNKENNESS AND SORROW] Hebrew, shikkahron vě-yahgon timmalai, 'drunkenness and sorrow shall fill thee.' WITH THE CUP OF ASTONISHMENT AND DESOLATION] Hebrew, kos shammah ushěmahmah, 'the cup of desolation and astonishment.' These two nouns have substantially the same meaning, but if an objective and a subjective sense are to be given them, it is more natural to take first the literal objective sense of ‘wasting' or 'desolation,' and then the subjective sense of 'astonishment' as the result of the desolation beheld. V. 34. THOU SHALT EVEN DRINK IT AND SUCK IT OUT] Literally, 'thou shalt drink it and suck it up.' [See Notes on Psa. lxxv. 8, and Isa. li. 17.] The LXX., "Drink thy sister's cup, a deep and broad one [Codex A adds, ‘it shall be for laughter and for scorn'], and filled to the brim, to cause complete drunkenness (metheen), and thou shalt be filled with exhaustion; and the cup of destruction, the cup of thy sister Samaria, drink thou it!" The V., "Thou shalt drink thy sister's cup, deep and broad, with derision and scorn-them who are most capacious. Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of grief and sadness, with the cup of thy sister Samaria; and thou shalt drink it, and shalt drink it up even to the dregs, and the fragments of it thou shalt devour"-alluding, say the Douay editors, to the fact that drunkards sometimes bite their cups in their rage. Samaria, the kingdom of Israel, had been punished by sword, famine, and captivity, and such a cup of misery was now to be given to Judah, who would be compelled to drain it as her sister kingdom had done before. Surely the ingredients of such a cup are not identical, as one and the same kind of wine, with the contents of a 'cup of blessing'! CHAPTER XXIII. VERSE 42. And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads. This verse, as it stands in the A. V., is not free from difficulty, and much uncertainty rests upon the meaning of the clause-and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness.' For 'the common sort' the margin gives multitude of men,' and for 'Sabeans' it has 'or, drunkards.' The word 'Sabeans' has particularly perplexed copyists and translators. The first three Hebrew letters are s v b, and the Masorite pointing gives the whole word the pronunciation of sahv-vah-im; but the Masorite doctors, not satisfied with the word as thus pointed, suggested a correction which would make the initial letters s b (and not s vb), and so permit the word to be taken as sobaim or sovaim, as if derived from sah-vah, 'to tipple,' 'to drink to excess.' Sahv-vah-im yields no intelligible sense unless taken as a proper name-Sabeans; yet who were these Sabeans? Not those mentioned by Isaiah, xlv. 14, for they were a people of Ethiopia, whose name is without a v; and not the Arabian Sabeans, a name of which the initial letter is sh, not s. If the Masorite correction be accepted, reading sovaim or sobaim, we arrive at the sense of 'soakers,' 'tipplers,' or 'bacchanals,' which agrees very well with the context. On reference, however, to the ancient versions, fresh difficulties start up. Codex B of the Lxx. has no equivalent for 'brought,' and reads, heekontas ek tee: eremou, 'coming out of the desert'; and the V., which has adducebantur, 'were brought,' agrees with Codex B in the next clause, et veniebant de deserto, and they were coming from the desert.' Lxx., Codex A, however, has oinōmenous, 'winebibbers from the desert.' We may conclude that the MSS. followed by the Vulgate read by m, and not svby m; in which case v would be taken for 'and,' and b → y m (boim) for 'coming.' It follows, then, that the present initial s was either dropped from those MSS. by mistake, or it was added by mistake to the other MSS. that give the received reading s v by m. The Masorite doctors propose to retain the s and drop the v, while the Vulgate keeps the v and drops the s. We can, perhaps, more easily account for the erroneous addition of the s than of the v. The final letter of the previous word is m, and when m is the final letter (unelongated) of a Hebrew word, it very closely resembles s. A copyist might repeat this final m by mistake, and the next transcriber, seeing it made no sense, might conclude that it was an error for s, and accordingly put s in his copy, joining it to the next v, thus changing v by m (vě-boim 'and those coming ') into sav-bahim, or sahv-bah-im as we now have it. Such an error creeping into a MS. of credit would vitiate all subsequent transcripts, while the transcripts made from correct copies would, of course, continue to represent the other reading. On the other hand, this resemblance between final m and s might lead to the omission of the s by a copyist, and have thus originated the reading of vě-boim followed by the Vulgate; but the fact that no one can give any intelligible sense to sahv-bah-im is in favor of the Vulgate, unless we carry out the rule that the most difficult reading is always to be preferred. The difference between Codices A and B is a proof that the Hebrew MSS. varied as far back, at least, as the second century of our era. Dr Henderson gives—“And there was the noise of a careless multitude in her, and to men of the common sort drunkards were brought from the desert; and they put bracelets on their hands, and a splendid crown upon their heads." = Aholah (Samaria) and Aholibah (Judah) are represented as lewd women who send for their lovers to a distance; and the prophet represents a miscellaneous company as coming up from the wilderness (or, as it may be rendered, 'the plain,' or 'pastures' the open country), many of whom are attired after the manner of revelers, and all ready to indulge in any intemperance or other excess that may be proposed. This seems to be an account of an idolatrous festival, perhaps that of Bacchus, in which a riotous and drunken multitude assembled, adorned with bracelets and chaplets, accompanied with music, songs, and dances. [See Note on Amos vi. 4-6.] CHAPTER XXVII. VERSE 18. Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool. IN THE WINE OF HELBON] Hebrew, be-yayn Khelbon, with wine of Helbon'; LXX., oinos ek Chelbon; Symmachus, oinos liparos, 'thick (fat) wine'; so the V., in vino pingui, 'with fat (rich) wine,'-taking khelbon not as a proper name, but as an adjective noun 'wine of fatness.' The Syriac rendering is the same. The T. of Jonathan has bakhamar khailath mevashal, 'with rich wine boiled.' According to Strabo, the wine of Helbon had so great a reputation that it was exported for the use of the kings of Persia. Helbon, which still exists under the |