told the children of Israel that he would not go up with them into the Promised Land. 711. Eleazar the priest and Joshua (Num. xxxiv. 17). 712. In Gen. xii. 3. "I will bless them that bless thee." 713. "All they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil; and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey" (Jer. xxx. 16). 714. Twenty years. 715. It should more probably be "the graven images," as the Septuagint renders it. These might have been erected there by the king of Moab. 716. The word in the original literally means "drops;" and it probably means in this place "ear-pendants." 717. Shiloh (Josh. xviii. 1). 718. (Abel-Mitzrayim) means "the mourning of the Egyptians." 719. Two thousand nine hundred and twentyfour years, from the Creation till the death of David. 720. Four hundred and sixty-six years, from the death of David to the decree of Cyrus for the restoration of the Jews. 721. Either from Eber the great-grandson of Shem and one of the ancestors of Abraham, or from Abraham having passed over the river Euphrates in coming from Ur of the Chaldees into the land of Canaan; from which circumstance he was called "the Hebrew", for the word y (Eber) means a passer over." 722. In the reign of Josiah king of Judah (Jer. i. 2). 723.py (Naomi) means "pleasant," (Mara) means "bitter," and she alludes to the circumstance, that although she had gone away from them with her husband and her children, she had returned childless and a widow. 724. His defeating the Midianites he compares to the "vintage of Abiezer" (of which place he himself was); and the pursuit of the Ephraimites afterwards he calls "the gleaning"; and he modestly gives them the preference, inasmuch as they had taken the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. 725. Six; namely, three in Palestine properly so called, and three in the territory on the other side of the Jordan (Josh. xx). 726. In the north, Kedesh in mount Napthali; in the centre, Shechem in mount Ephraim; and in the south, Hebron in the tribe of Judah (Josh. xx. 7). 727. In the north, Golan in Bashan, in the tribe of Manasseh; in the centre Ramoth-Gilead in the tribe of Gad; and in the south, Bezer in the wilderness in the tribe of Reuben (Josh. xx. 8). 728. Fourteen; besides the High-priests Eli and Samuel. 729. Hosea (Hosea, i, 1. and Amos, i, 1). 730. The captivity of the Ten Tribes, and their awful calamities; yet the book concludes with assurances that God would not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, but would raise it again to more than its former splendour and happiness: "And I will plant them upon their land; and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God" (Amos, ix. 15). 731. Malachi. 732. "My angel," or "my messenger”. 733. He says, "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the Law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts" (Mal. ii. 7.) 734. Jeremiah, ii. 22. The word used is n (berith) meaning "a purifier"; the same word, differently pointed, signifies a "covenant," a purifier in a spiritual sense. It is a purifying or cleansing herb, supposed to be the salt-wort, which is very common in Syria, Judea, Egypt, and Arabia. They burn it and pour water upon the ashes. This water becomes impregnated with a very strong lixivial salt, fit for taking stains or imperfections out of wool or cloth, and which was anciently used in connection with oil for washing clothes in different parts of the East, where it continues to be employed for the same purpose. 735. It was a custom to use much oil at rich feasts; and the words mean "Do not indulge in luxurious habits; for by such means a man is brought to poverty." 736. Against the Edomites, who, in their fancied security, exulted at the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. 737. The book of the prophet Jonah. 738. To teach us patience under our troubles and afflictions, from the doctrine of a Divine Providence that rules the destiny of man. 739. Seventy years. 740. Three hundred and fifty-two years. 741. Thirty years (Gen. xli. 46). 4th. The Exodus from Fgypt. 7th.--The Return of the Jews from 744. In the north of Palestine, about fifty miles from Jerusalem. ספר 745. The word av (shebet) rendered "pen in this passage, is not found with this meaning any where else in the Bible. The word D (sopher) certainly means "scribe;" but scribes had many offices to perform besides being merely writers. Thus we read in 2 Kings, xxv. 19, of "the principal scribe (sopher), who mustered the people of the land." The words should no doubt be rendered "the rod of the musterer;" and the passage would imply that those whose duty it was in the tribe of Zebulun to muster the people, came forward on this occasion with great readiness. 746. The wild ass. 747. Three hundred and fifteen years, from the death of Joshua till the death of Samson. 748. All these events are generally considered to have happened long before the time of SamThe chronological place of the five last son. |