Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the 2 chaff,

Before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you,

Before the day of the LORD's anger come upon you.
Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth,
Which have wrought his judgment;

Seek righteousness, seek meekness:

It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger.

Before the decree bring forth] The "decree" is God's purpose, the determined day of the Lord, and its " bringing forth" would mean, its giving birth to its contents or effects. This is rather unnatural language; a different construction would be more probable: Before the decree be brought forth, given birth to or revealed.

before the day pass as the chaff] Or, with R.V. marg., as a parenthesis: (like chaff the day passeth by). But it is not the passing by of the day that is the point but its advance; and on the other hand the advance of chaff before the wind is not a usual or suitable figure.

Instead of chaff (mts) Sept. read flower (nts), rendering the first two clauses of the verse, Before ye become as the flower that passes away. The reading flower is no doubt an error; with the substitution of "chaff" the passage would run: Before ye become like the chaff that passes by. This is a simple reading; how far it reflects the original text must remain uncertain.

The last clause, "day of the anger of the Lord," looks like an explanation of the more general words, "the fierceness of the anger of the Lord" in the previous clause. The Hexaplar Syriac translation indicates that the last clause was not original in the Sept.; on the other hand, a corrector in the Sinaitic MS. (Swete, &c. b) suggests omission of the preceding clause.

3. all ye meek of the earth] Though the exhortation to seek the Lord (Am. v. 6; Is. lv. 6) be addressed specially to the prophet's own people of Judah, there is no necessity for rendering, meek of the land. The "meek are those humble before Jehovah, cf. iii. 12; they are further described as those that do His judgment or ordinance, that is, obey in life the statutes of the Lord. They are exhorted to renew, or to continue more importunately, their seeking of the Lord in face of the approaching day of trouble.

It may be ye shall be hid] The figure is that of finding refuge from a

storm passing over, or a foe sweeping past. Is. xxvi. 20, "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers; hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast"; Job xiv. 13, "Oh that thou wouldst hide me in Sheòl, that thou wouldst keep me secret until thy wrath be past." Even amidst what looks like absolute certainty of the divine judgment, the prophets cannot renounce the idea of the possibility of the people's repenting and averting the impending wrath; cf. Jer. vii. 5-7, xxvi. 3, xxxvi. 3, 5; Am. v. 6, 15.

3

4

5

For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: They shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites!

The word of the LORD is against you;

O Canaan, the land of the Philistines,

I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.

4-15. THE judgment oF THE DAY OF THE LORD UPON

THE NATIONS.

The nations on whom the impending judgment shall fall are: (1) the Philistines (vv. 4—7); (2) Moab and Ammon (vv. 8—17); (3) Cush or the Ethiopians (v. 12); and (4) Assyria (vv. 13—15). In relation to Judah the four nations named lay respectively west, east, south, and north. The passage appears to be written in the rhythm of the kinah or Elegy, though in some verses the rhythm is imperfect. Comp. Ezekiel xix. Cambridge Bible, and more fully, Budde in the Zeitsch. für Alttest. Wissensch., 1882, to whom is due the merit of discovering the true nature of the Elegiac rhythm.

4. For Gaza shall be forsaken] The connecting word for appears to refer to the exhortation in v. 3: seek the Lord, it may be ye shall be hid, for many shall be overwhelmed. There is an assonance in the words "Gaza shall be forsaken" ('azza 'azûba) which cannot be reproduced. "Forsaken" is used probably as in Is. vi. 12, vii. 16, in the sense of depopulated. There is a similar paronomasia in "Ekron shall be rooted up" ('ekron teʻāķēr), which the Greek is able partially to imitate, Ακκαρὼν ἐκριζωθήσεται.

drive out Ashdod at the noon day] The expression at noon day occurs again Jer. xv. 8 (vi. 4 is different) and stands in parallelism with suddenly in the next clause. It is also curious that in Jer. xv. 8, "a spoiler at noon day," the term spoiler (shoded) would form an assonance with Ashdod. The idea meant to be suggested by the phrase "at noon day" is not clear. The usual explanation, to the effect that, as the hot noon was the time when men rested in the East, an attack at such an hour would be unexpected, is rather puerile (1 Kings xx. 16). The idea might rather be that Ashdod shall be stormed by sheer and open force. See Appendix.

The Philistine towns are enumerated in their order from south to north. The first three lay near the coast, while Ekron was somewhat further inland.

5. the sea coast] Or, the region by the sea. The reference is to the strip of territory belonging to the Philistines; Ezek. xxv. 16. The Cherethites are the Philistines, or at least those along the coast (1 Sam. XXX. 14). The word is supposed to have some relation to Crete, from which it is believed the Philistines migrated into Palestine. In Am. ix. 7, Deut. ii. 23, Jer. xlvii. 4 the Philistines are said to have come from

And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for 6 shepherds, and folds for flocks.

And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of 7

Judah;

They shall feed thereupon:

In the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening:

For the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.

Caphtor, which may be Crete. In 2 Sam. viii. 18 the Cherethites and Pelethites (Philistines?) appear as mercenaries among David's household troops. According to Josh. xiii. 3, 4 the territory of the Philistines was reckoned to the Canaanites.

6. The text of v. 6 is probably in disorder, as the rhythmical balance of the verse is quite obscured. The Sept. also read differently, the words the sea coast being wanting in their text. These words should probably be omitted as a marginal explanation of it, and the verse read, and it (land of the Philistines, v. 5) shall be....

dwellings and cottages for shepherds] R.V. pastures, with cottages, marg. or, caves. The word rendered "cottages" (k'rôth) is obscure. Bochart, whom Keil follows, suggested that the word was infin. of the verb 66 to dig," and rendered "for digging," supposing that the reference was to subterranean huts dug by the shepherds to escape the heat (hence R. V. marg., caves). The idea has no probability. The peculiar construction (which appears similar to that in Job xx. 17, the floods, the brooks of honey) suggests that "dwellings" and "cottages" are mere variant expressions, having the same meaning. So Hitzig: shall be for meadows of pastures for shepherds. The sense of pasture is seen, Is. xxx. 23, though the plur. is masc. Ps. lxv. 13, while in the present passage the word is fem. It is possible, indeed, that the word is a mere transcriptional duplicate of the preceding word, as the letters forming the two words are frequently confused. The term, however, stood in the text of the Sept., who rendered it Crete, i.e. the country of the Cherethites: and Crete shall be a pasture (n'vath) of shepherds. Either the order of words was different in the text the Sept., or they translated in entire disregard of Shemitic grammar. The verse with the necessary omissions may read :

And it shall be dwellings (or, pastures) for shepherds—and folds for flocks.

7. The promise of the surrounding countries to Israel as its possession is more common in later writings; Obad. v. 19 ff.; Zech. ix. 7; but comp. already Am. ix. 12; Is. xi. 14; Jer. xlix. 2.

turn away their captivity] R.V. bring again their captivity. The sense of the expression is not quite certain. Others render: restore their prosperity (Job xlii. 10), or, turn their fortunes, Hos. vi. II; Amos ix. 14. The phrase does not imply that the Exile had taken place.

8

I have heard the reproach of Moab,

And the revilings of the children of Ammon,
Whereby they have reproached my people,

And magnified themselves against their border.

Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel,

Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of
Ammon as Gomorrah,

Even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual
desolation :

8-11. MOAB AND AMMON.

8. I have heard the reproach of Moab] It is the Lord who speaks. The "reproach" or contempt of Moab is most likely that expressed in words, not that exhibited in insulting deeds; cf. Jer. xlviii. 27-29; Ezek. xxxv. 12. Is. xvi. 6, "We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is very proud;...the injuriousness of his boastings."

revilings of the children of Ammon] These revilings seem also to denote spoken obloquy (Ezek. xxi. 28), though the term is also used of opprobrious deeds, Numb. xv. 30, Ezek. xx. 27. Comp. Ezek. xxv. 3, 6, 8, "Because thou saidst, Aha! against my sanctuary, when it was profaned."

Whereby they have reproached my people] Rather : wherewith...and they have magnified. The phrase have magnified themselves, &c. is scarcely explanatory either of "reproach" or "revilings," but expresses an additional delinquency-they have presumptuously violated the border of Israel and seized his territory. The charge is an old one against Ammon: Am. i. 13, "They have ripped up the women with child of Gilead that they might enlarge their border"; Jer. xlix. 1, "Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth Milcom possess Gad ?" Moab also, whenever possible, overstepped what Israel regarded as its frontier and took possession of the territory of Reuben and Gad, as appears from the Moabite Stone. After Israel beyond Jordan was carried captive by Tiglath Pileser (B.C. 734), and especially after the fall of the northern kingdom (722), Moab and other peoples would naturally overflow the depopulated districts. For "their border" Sept. has "my borders"; cf. Jer. xlviii. 26, 42, "he (Moab) hath magnified himself against the Lord."

9. Jehovah's oath by Himself, as I live, is rare in early writings, but very common in Ezekiel.

Moab shall be as Sodom] The vicinity of the two peoples or at least of Moab to the Dead Sea may have suggested the threat that the fate of the cities of the plain shall overtake them.

the breeding of nettles] a possession of nettles, which overgrow uncultivated places, Prov. xxiv. 31; Job xxx. 7; Is. xxxiv. 13.

and saltpits] These were common around the Dead Sea: Deut. xxix. 23; cf. Is. xiii. 19; Jer. xlix. 18. The idea suggested is that of utter

The residue of my people shall spoil them,

And the remnant of my people shall possess them.
This shall they have for their pride,

Because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.

The LORD will be terrible unto them :

For he will famish all the gods of the earth;

And men shall worship him, every one from his place,
Even all the isles of the heathen.

barrenness. To sow with salt was a symbolical act, signifying to doom to perpetual unfruitfulness and desolation (Judg. ix. 45). Ezek. xlvii. II predicts that, though the waters of the Dead Sea shall be sweetened when Israel is finally restored, the miry places and marshes about it shall be used for salt.

shall spoil them] i.e. make a spoil of them, viz. Moab and Ammon. There is a certain inconsistency in the verse, which is not to be removed by drawing a distinction between the country of Moab and Ammon and the peoples themselves, and fancying that the country shall share the fate of Sodom, while the peoples become the servants of Israel (Hitzig). It is better to consider the prophet's predictions to be ideal, and to threaten two fates to Moab and Ammon, one, destruction like Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other, absorption by Israel.

remnant of my people] As R.V., my nation.

10. Comp. v. 8, Is. xvi. 6, Jer. xlviii. 29. In the last clause Sept. reads: magnified themselves against the Lord of hosts, omitting people. Jer. xlviii. 26, 42.

11. will be terrible unto them] lit. over them. Mal. i. 14, "I am a great king, and my name terrible among the nations." For "terrible " Sept. reads, will appear.

he will famish all the gods] lit., as marg., make lean (Is. xvii. 4). Hitzig, followed by Keil, thinks the meaning to be, that by destroying all the nations the Lord will make lean or enfeeble all their gods, for the vigour of the god is proportionate to the robustness and power of the nation. This kind of reflection is not likely to have passed through the mind of the prophet. His idea appears to be that by terrible deeds Jehovah will make Himself known to the nations, who will fear Him alone, perceiving the impotency of their former gods; comp. Is. ii. 20, Xxx. 22, and Ezek. xxv. ff. The use of the term make lean in regard to gods is certainly strange.

every one from his place] i.e. each individual person, not each nation. The phrase "from his place" seems to mean, everyone where he dwells, the idea being that, without making pilgrimages to Jerusalem (Is. ii. 3; Zech. viii. 22, xiv. 16), the peoples shall worship Jehovah, every man in his own land (Mal. i. 11). The prep. from might have a pregnant sense, each coming from his place, but this meaning is decidedly less natural.

the isles of the heathen] The term "isles"

appears to have been

ΤΟ

II