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CHAPTER XXI.

1 ALSO the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying: Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word against the holy places, and prophesy against 3 the land of Israel; and say unto the land of Israel, Thus saith [the Lord] Jehovah :

Lo, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous 4 and the wicked. Seeing then that I cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north. And all flesh shall know that I Jehovah have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath: it shall not 6 return any more. Thou therefore, O son of man, sigh;

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In this chapter, as in c. vii, we have an instance of Ezekiel's forcible and animated manner.

2. — Jerusalem—the holy places-the land of Israel.-These expressions correspond to the three Hebrew words which denote the south, c. xx. 46.

-the holy places.—Three MSS. read Dwp, their sanctuary, with ó. Ar. Syr. Two MSS. read 'wp my sanctuary. But see ps. lxviii. 35, and five or six other passages in the concordances. Different divisions of the temple were holy in different degrees.

3. Jehovah.-ó. MS. Al. Syr. V. 16 MSS. 2 edd. supply "the Lord Jehovah."

4.

-the righteous and the wicked.-A plain reference to the green and dry tree, c. xx. 47: on which see the note.

from the south to the north.-See these words c. xx. 47. Four MSS. and perhaps two more, read 15.

5.

-all flesh &c.-Parallel to the beginning of c. xx. 48.

-it shall not return.-Into its scabbard. So, c. xx. 48, the fire was not to be quenched. One MS. 6. MS. Al. Syr. read 1, "and it shall not return."

with the breaking of thy loins, and with bitterness, shalt 7 thou sigh before their eyes. And it shall be, when they shall say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt say, For the * rumour, because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall fail, and all knees shall flow with water : lo, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord Jehovah.

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ALSO the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying:

9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith [the Lord] Jehovah: Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also 10 furbished. It is sharpened that it may make a sore slaughter, it is || furbished that § it may glitter: alas! the sceptre of my son is destroyed: it despiseth every tree.

* Or, report.

† Or, brightened.

H. slay a slaughter.
Or, brightened.

§ H. that there may be a glittering to it.

6. —with the breaking of thy loins.—Ut latera dirumpas. Houb. See Isai. 21. 3. Invidiâ rumpantur ut ilia Codro. Virg.

10.

read

is added in MSS. edd. V. ó. MS. Al.

—it is furbished.—17, 3 MSS. as v. 9: though more MSS.

in Pyhal.

-alas! &c.-The text is plainly corrupt. For 18, if there be no such particle of exclamation or admiration, we may read " or 78. ww in Syr. is debilitatus, infirmatus est. Cast. lex. See also DD ib. Du, from Dow, Hebr. is direptus, spoliatus est. Houbigant reads wwnet dejiciet, from the Syr. ww. Dathius renders ut dejiciat; and thinks that the ancient interpreters read a word derived from ww or DD, either of which, according to him, signifies in Arab. debilitari, infirmari. See DD, sign. 14. Cast. lex. Observe that in Chald. 'D) is perturbatus, and the substantive perturbatio, afflictio.

As ó. render w 18 eis Tapáλvow, and Syr. 1, ad exagitan

And it is given to be * furbished that it may be handled ; this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it 12 into the hand of the slayer. Cry and howl, son of man; for this cometh to pass among my people, this cometh to pass among all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword are among my people: therefore smite upon † H. holden in the palm of the hand.

* Or, brightened.

dum, luxandum, elevandum, efferendum, Cast. lex. it is probable that the former read a substantive with, as op ad direptionem; and the latter a verb with, as wins ad extirpandum, destruendum, or ad auferendum.

w

Vulg. renders, qui moves sceptrum filii mei, succidisti omne lignum: which Capellus understands of Nebuchadnezzar, who took away the sceptre and overturned the kingdom. If the participle were equi

valent to, I would read it in the text on this authority, and render the Hebrew, "O thou that swayest the sceptre of my son, it [the sword] despiseth every tree." One MS. reads ', and the latter w in ww is on a rasure in two MSS. According to this MS. the rendering may be, "Alas! for the prince, for the sceptre of my son."

-the sceptre.—This seems the true rendering, rather than the tribe; on account of the following clause, and of c. xix. 11.

of my son.-See the people of God so called, Exod. iv. 22, 3. Hos. xi. 1. The Hebrew may be so pointed as to admit of rendering my sons.

it despiseth.—Easily felling it. лDRID, 14 MSS. See also MSS.

v. 13.
11. And it is given.-Et dedit quis eum, i. e. datus est is gladius.
V. Houb. 1 "And I have given."

But

-to be furbished.—The Hebrew may signify by a different punctuation, ad expoliendum eum, ut expoliat quis eum; the affix being added to the infinitive mood.

-this sword.-17 is omitted in 1 MS. and it seems a marginal note, supplying the noun which governs N.

12. -for this cometh to pass.-Understanding 7777.

may be supplied:

princes of Israel.”

חרב But

For it falleth upon my people, it falleth upon all the

-among my people.-For , with, 2 MSS. and 1 ed. read upon. The true reading of the whole clause seems to be,

מגורי חרב היו את [אל or] עמי

13 thy thigh. * For it is tried: and what if it also despise the sceptre? It shall not remain, saith the Lord Jehovah. 14 Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together; and ‡ bring the sword twice, yea, bring it thrice it is the sword of the slain; the sword of great 15 slaughter; it entereth into their chambers. That their

.

Or, For there hath been a trial of

it.

+ H. the palm of the hand to the palm of the hand. H. double the sword, yea treble it.

אל-חרב if we read מגורים may have been written for מגורי" ,Or

.אל-חרב may not be in statu constructo before מגורי

But see c. xxxii. 15, na 'aw; whence a question may arise whether

-smite &c.-See Jer. xxxi. 19. Il. 'M. 162. '0. 113, 397. 'II. 124. Here the action is expressive of grief.

13. -For it is tried.—"Otɩ ηpeúvnσev. Aq. Quia probavit quis eum gladium. Or 12, (for so 5 MSS write it here, and 10 MSS. Isai. xxviii. 16) may be a substantive: Quia probatio fuit. The sense may be: For the firmness of the sword has been proved: and what if it destroy not only the common branches, but even the rod of the sceptre? [v. 10. c. xix. 11.] Will not this be just vengeance? It [the sceptre] shall not remain. The regal succession shall end in Zedekiah. V. reads

כי בחונה

"and it remain not." Houbigant proposes N "Quippe hic probatus fuit, et sceptrum, cum ei non pepercerit, non erit amplius." Dathius prefers 7, agreeably to ó. MS. Al. "Immo tunc gladius iste operam suam mihi probaverit, si virgam illam ita everterit ut non amplius extet."

14. smite thine hands.—A sign of grief, c. vi. 11: of rage, Numb. xxiv. 10 of astonishment, c. xxii. 13: but many think it here, and v. 17, a gesture of encouragement to the victorious Chaldeans.

-and bring the sword &c.—I render

1, "et duplicabis." Two

MSS. read ww, and V. Syr. supply the connexive particle. If "et triplicabis eum," the sense will be

ושלשתה therefore we read

clear.

-slaughter.—I suppose with Houbigant that n is occisio, a substantive omitted in lexicons.

-it entereth into their chambers.—“Conclavia penetrans eis;" or, as 12 or 14 MSS. and 1 ed. read, □ vobis. I think this more elegant than 1, the reading of one MS. even if this word could signify in Kal terrens, terrorem afferens, as Houbigant renders it, and were used

*

heart may melt, and their overthrown may be multiplied, I have set the terror of the sword against all their gates. Ah! thou that art prepared for glittering, that art fur16 bished for slaughter, get thee different ways, go to the right hand, go to the left hand, whithersoever thine edge

*Or, the terrible sword.

with. If we follow the ancients in reading a word which expresses the notion of fear, seems preferable: trepidationum eis.

The sword is to be brought thrice; and three clauses describing the sword follow.

15.

—may melt.—Perhaps 11, or 2107. See Syr. and ó. MS.

Α1. ὅπως θραυσθήσηται πᾶσα καρδία, 23 55.

their overthrown.-Pointing the word as Jer. xviii. 23.

-the terror of the sword.-Exterminium gladii; the wasting sword. See Cast. lex. Mucronem gladii. Houb. Potestatem gladii. De Dieu: from 28 Æth. potestatem dare. the slaughter, ó. Chald. y or ♫ conturbationem. Vulg. See Dathius.

D slayers.

-that art furbished.-One MS. reads 12, F., i.e. пYID, "set, appointed:" from 7. Dathius observes that y Arab. is manu prehendit, and y Arab. glabrum, lævem esse.

16.

-get thee different ways.

1 MS. and perhaps 3 more, in Kennicott's collations; 3 MSS. and 1 originally, in De Rossi's; from alius: which seems an elegant verb. Aιaпорevον, ó. MS. Al.

nuda te, seems the reading of Chald. who renders unsheath thyself. V. and ó. render ỏέúvov, from 777 in Hithpael; for in this version, and in Arab. we have two renderings of the same Hebrew word. This is likewise the rendering of Syrus Hexaplaris, as De Rossi observes. Dathius follows Syr. strenue age; and observes that 78 Arab. in the seventh and eighth conjugations signifies unitus fuit, in unum coaluit.

-go to the left hand.—'D' is wanting in one MS. I suspect that this word is an imperfect writing of, inserted in some ancient MS. and not expunged for fear of deforming the copy. But it is difficult to assert that "dextrorsum-vade, pone te" may not be an Hebraism for pone te ut dextrorsum vadas:" as 1, with a verb, expresses a repeated action. Two MSS. have 'w, which may be rendered lay waste. Chald. understands the right hand and the left of south and north. See on c. xvi. 46.

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-thine edge.-F. T thine edges; with which , or