on his way from Egypt to the Euphrates. At this time the Chal dean power had not yet risen to formidable proportions. Carchemish fell into the hands of this same Necho soon afterward, and no human sagacity could foresee that the Chaldeans from the north country would ever overpower and desolate the cities of the Philistines. Their danger seemed to lie in the opposite direction, i. e., from Egypt on the south. These circumstances suggest a pertinent reason for this note as to the point of time before which the prophecy was revealed.

2. Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.

3. At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;

A flood of waters, coming down with the power of a deluge, is a common and pertinent figure for an invading and conquering army. Here it refers to the Chaldeans. So terrible will be the tramp of his cavalry and the thunder of his chariots, that under the general consternation, fathers in their flight will not look back after their children, being consciously too feeble to afford them any protection or help.

4. Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.

This verse incidentally involves a deep question as to the origin of the Philistines, who are said here to be "the remnant of the country of Caphtor." The word rendered "country" indicates a maritime region, i. e., either an island or country bordering on the sea. The identity of Caphtor is in grave dispute, opinions being divided between Cappadocia, the Island of Crete, Cyprus, and some portion of Egypt. The historical data are too few and too dim with the darkness of the unhistoric ages to justify positive conclusions. I incline to accept Crete as the ancient Caphtor.This "day that comes to spoil all the Philistines, and cut off helpers from Tyre and Zidon," looks primarily to the conquests made by the Chaldean power, the first installment of which fell on those principalities in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. At that time Nebuchadnezzar subjected Syria and most of the sovereignties of Western Asia. His armies were there again at the final destruction of Jerusalem B. C. 588, near which time he besieged

Tyre for thirteen years, mainly destroying the ancient city. To these conquests our verse has primary reference. All those cities of the Philistines, together with Tyre and Zidon, suffered severely from the arms of Alexander the Great about B. C. 332. To this scene of war and devastation the prophecies of Zechariah (chap. 9:5-7) specially refer. They form a part of the fulfillment of this prophecy.

5. Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?

Gaza is one of the oldest cities known to history. It appears Gen. 10: 19 as one of the border cities of the Canaanites; it is standing to-day with more population than Jerusalem. It has a record in New Testament history (Acts 8: 26); it figured conspicuously during the crusades; and since the days of Abraham has never ceased to be a city of very considerable strength and importance. The prophet here does not say it "shall be rooted up," as was said of Ekron (Zeph. 2: 4), of which, therefore, no trace has been seen for ages; but "baldness comes upon Gaza," by which some commentators understand that she was literally shorn of her beauty by the ravages of war. Others take baldness, plucking off the hair, as a token of great mourning. Either construction amounts to about the same thing, since her public mourning must imply the desolations of war as its occasion. If the last clause, "How long wilt thou cut thyself?" be explained as another indication of bitter grief, it strengthens this latter view of the word "baldness." (Compare 1 Kings 18: 28.). -Ashkelon, the most western among the great cities of the Philistines, close on the sea-coast, is spoken of as suffering severely, "being cut off." Little of it remains to this day, though its site is known with reasonable certainty. It has long since "been cut off" as to any political power or importance.

6. O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.

7. How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea-shore? there hath he appointed it.

This bold apostrophe to the sword of the Lord is exquisitely beautiful. The prophet sees in the future a series of fearful devastations coming on those doomed cities of the Philistines; his poetic genius conceives of the Lord's instrument as itself living, conscious, and responsible, and he cries out, "O thou sword of the Lord, why not desist from that work of slaughter? How long ere thou wilt rest? Betake thyself to thy scabbard, rest, and be still." Then the spirit of prophecy shuts off the possibility of this,

and the prophet gives us his outlook into the future in these expressive words, "How can it rest, seeing the Lord hath given it a commission against Ashkelon and the cities along the sea-shore? It must execute the will of God!"-The poetic beauty and indeed the moral power of these verses have rarely been surpassed by any of the old Hebrew prophets.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

This chapter predicts the judgments of God on Moab. This ancient people, descendants of Lot, occupying the country north of Edom and east of the Dead Sea, appear often in sacred history, and usually in hostile attitude to the people of Israel.This chapter is remarkably parallel with Isa. 15 and 16, not only in its general course of thought, but in its particular phrases. Some have supposed that both Isaiah and Jeremiah copied largely from some common source, a prophecy against Moab older than either; but as nothing is known of any such older prophecy, or of its author, this opinion can be nothing but a theory. It seems to me that too little is actually known to justify a very high degree of confidence in it. The plea for it, that those two chapters of Isaiah (15 and 16) are not in his style, and, therefore, must not be accepted as original with him, assumes to know more of his possible and impossible variations of style than can be known from the data now existing.- -Since Isaiah wrote about one hundred years before Jeremiah, there is no difficulty in admitting that the latter borrowed his phraseology to some extent from his elder brother. The point has no vital importance. I pass it without

further notice.

1. Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.

2. There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.

The first two words are the caption, stating the subject-"Concerning Moab."- -Nebo is a well-known mountain on the east of Jordan. (See Deut. 34: 1.) Kiriathaim, Misgab, Heshbon, and Madmen were cities of Moab. Heshbon, her capital, seems to be thought of as already in the hand of the enemy, who is now devising plans to subjugate the whole country..

3. A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.

4. Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.

5. For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.

6. Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.

The outcries of warriors spoiling her cities, and the bitter wails of the spoiled and fleeing people, are heard throughout the land. Luhith, on the side of the mountain as the fugitives ascended, and Horonaim, on the other side where they descended, are here named in connection to say that this sorrowful troop wept as they went up, and wailed as on the other side they went down."The heath in the wilderness is here (as in chap. 17: 7) the naked one, robbed, stripped, and fleeing with absolutely nothing but life.

7. For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.

8. And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.

9. Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.

Moab had probably trusted in her great exploits and in her accumulated treasures. Therefore is she doomed to be taken forcibly by her enemies. Chemosh was the national god of Moab (see 1 Kings 11: 7, and 2 Kings 23: 13,) whose worship Solomon introduced and Josiah exterminated.- -That the god himself with his priests and princes together goes into captivity, is a triumph of Jehovah over them to show all people their utter vanity.

10. Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.

The word rendered "deceitfully" is rather remissly, with slack hand. The case contemplated is not that of one who pretends to do the work better than he actually does, but of him who fails to do it vigorously and effectually, as the last clause being parallel shows "who' through false pity "restrains his sword from

blood." The spirit of the Lord and consequently of his prophet is fired with the sense of justice and its now inexorable demands. The Moabites must fall, and woe to him whom God appoints as his executioner if he shrink from his work! The passage reminds us of Judges 5: 23: "Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord; curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty."

11. Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.

12. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.

A nation reposing quietly in its own homes and country and not ousted by resistless invaders, is here compared to wine standing long on its lees and not racked off into other vessels. As wine so standing acquires a bad flavor from its foul sediments, so a nation at ease becomes vain in its national pride, and may be radically benefited in national character by being racked off into captivity.

-Therefore, saith the Lord, I will send upon Moab, not wanderers" but emptyers, who shall turn up his vessel and pour off the wine into other vessels pure and clean. So the word rendered "wanderers" properly means. This word looks to the figurative and not to the literal sense as the last clause of this verse does also; "empty his vessels," etc.

13. And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.

"Chemosh" was the national god of Moab. See notes on v. 7. They shall be ashamed of this god, losing all confidence in his power to help; or rather confounded by the sore disappointment of their confidence in his protection, even as the house of Israel found all their reliance in Bethel utterly vain.

14. How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?

15. Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

16. The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.

17. All ye that are about him bemoan him; and all ye