FLAGONS OF WINE] Hebrew, ashishai anahbim, 'pressed cakes of grapeclusters.' So Henderson and Benisch. LXX., pemmata meta staphidos [Codex A, staphidōn], 'cakes (made) with raisins'; V., vinacia uvarum, ‘husks of grapes.' [As to ASHISHAH, see Prel. Dis., and Notes upon 2 Sam. vi. 19; 1 Chron. xvi. 3; Cant. ii. 5.]

CHAPTER IV. VERSE II.

Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

The Hebrew reads, zenuth, vě-yayin, vě-tirosh, yiqqakh lāv, 'fornication, and wine, and vine-fruit, captivate the heart.' LXX., porneian, kai oinon, kai methusma edexato kardia laou mou, 'the heart of my people has taken to fornication, and wine, and strong drink'; V., fornicatio, et vinum, et ebrietas auferunt cor, 'fornication, and wine, and drunkenness bear away the heart.' The T. of Jonathan reads, khamrah vě-ravyethah, 'wine and satiation (or drunkenness). '

The Westminster divines (1651) have a pithy annotation :-"The meaning of this verse is, that their abundance makes them run into all riot, in carnal, sinful pleasure." Now-a-days this verse is the last resource of those who hold that both yayin and tirosh denote the same species of intoxicating wine; but as the ground of this notion is the word yiqqakh (from lah-qakh, to take), nothing is easier than to show that the imaginary proof has no philological basis at all. Lah-qakh is never once used (unless it be so now for the first time) in the sense of intoxication; why, then, should it be assumed to bear that meaning here? The reasoning is in a vicious circle, thus:- Yayin and tirosh are intoxicating articles.' 'Why?' Because they are said to take away, that is, intoxicate the heart.' 'But why should "take away" be here suggested to mean intoxication?' 'Because yayin and tirosh were intoxicating drinks'! Now, since fornication does not literally intoxicate, why should it be necessary to presume intoxicating qualities in yayin and tirosh? Lah-qakh is used with a great variety and range of meaning, as, 'to take,' 'to fetch,' 'to lay hold upon,' 'to take away,' 'to occupy,' 'to seize,' 'to captivate,' etc. The sense of 'captivate' agrees best with the context of this passage, and is similarly applied to the noblest form of human effort (Prov. xi. 30), ‘And he that winneth (=enchaineth or captivateth) souls is wise.' Other objections lie against the common supposition. It would be absurd to associate the generic term 'wine' with the specific tirosh, as if they were different in the common quality of producing 'intoxication'! It violates a fundamental law of thought and composition to put the weaker element last; and the critics with whom we are now dealing will hardly deny that 'new wine' (mustum, as they would render tirosh) is weaker than 'old wine.' To speak of men being intoxicated with 'beer' and 'new beer' would be a form of speech not much improved by adding 'old' to the first term. Had the object of the prophet been to state anything about intoxication specifically, he would hardly have instanced two articles of the same class, differing only in age, still less have asssociated them with a third which had not the same quality at all. The force of the objection was clearly felt by the Lxx. and the V. translators, who simply evaded it by departing from their original, translating tirosh as if it had been shakar! The key of the passage, however, is in the first term, which critics have taken typically, while they foolishly forced upon the other two a merely physical sense! Yayin and tirosh, we conclude, are not neces

sarily intoxicating because they take away' the heart, or 'lay hold' of the affections; and the simple fact that they are here connected with 'whoredom' might have suggested to the critic that some other reason existed for the triple association than a property belonging only to two members of the triad. Nor is the line of the prophet's thought difficult to trace. (1) By 'whoredom ' is here to be understood, as throughout the prophecy, illicit worship rendered by the chosen people to heathen gods. This worship was spiritual fornication, and by it their hearts were captivated-literally, 'taken away' from that exclusive trust and allegiance which they owed to God as Jehovah of hosts and their covenant King. (2) By yayin, wine-the type of sensual gratification,-their hearts had also been captivated-drawn away' from that supreme affection which they owed to God as their Divine Redeemer and Benefactor. (3) By tirosh, the fruit of the vinethe type of natural, earthly good,—their hearts had been captivated—' taken away' from God as the infinite Goodness and the Fountain of spiritual joy. This was the threefold apostasy of which the children of Abraham had been guilty; they went after strange gods instead of the true God; their best affections centered in sensual pleasures instead of being fixed upon the Divine love; and their estimate of good was limited to earthly things (represented by tirosh, one of the most delicious of natural elements) instead of embracing Him 'from whom all blessings flow.' Or, taking the ascending scale, their understanding was darkened, for they esteemed temporal good above the eternal Giver of good; their affections were sensualized, by being excessively engaged with animal delights; and their spiritual nature was debased, by being prostrated before stupid idols. Intoxication, if at all implied, is comprehended under those lusts of the flesh which intoxicating yayin aggravates, and to which it adds a new lust unknown to the mere animal creation -the lust of alcoholic drink.*

CHAPTER IV. VERSE 18.

Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually : her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.

THEIR DRINK IS SOUR] Hebrew, sahr sahvahm, 'sour (is) their soveh.' [As to SOVEH, see Prel. Dis., and Note on Isa. i. 22.] Though a thick boiled and luscious drink, sovch was liable to be affected by sudden changes of temperature, and to become sour. Columella (lib. xii. cap. 20) says that defrutum (must boiled to one-half its bulk) was accustomed to become acid (solet acescere), however carefully made. The LXX. has the strange reading, he has vied with the Canaanites.' The V. is their feast has been divided.' The T., mistaking the pointing perhaps, reads, 'their princes multiply feastings with violence.' Henderson, who takes sahr in the sense of 'past,' renders, 'when their carousal is over '; Newcome, 'he is gone after their wine'; Benisch, 'their beverage is sour.'

Another interpretation may possibly be preferred by some readers. Around idolatry (spiritual whoredom) all the sins of Israel collected, and by association with idolatry, even that which was intrinsically good was magnetized with the evil, and became a confirmation of it. Lasciviousness and intemperance, it is certain, were closely and lavishly connected with heathen rites; and in the heathen temples supplications were made for all earthly blessings. Whoredom, therefore, i. e. idolatry, took away the hearts of the people; this was the primary captivity; but the use of wine (especially of an intoxicating kind), by way of ceremonial offering and indulgence at pagan rites, still further drew their hearts from God; and the prayers presented for the increase of their fruits -tirosh being named as one of their chief productions-carried them still further away from dependence upon the one God of heaven and earth. As to the connection of tirosh with idolatry, see Note on chap. vii. 14.

Horsley, Ewald, and others, take sahr as 'sour.' Instead of sahvahm one Hebrew MS. has sovim, 'drunkards'; another sevahim, 'Sabeans'; and a third tzevah-ahm, 'their host.'

The prophet, in illustrating the fall of Israel into idolatry, uses two striking comparisons-the turning sour of so sweet a drink as soveh, and the crime of adultery. As far removed as sourness was from sweetness, and fornication from marital fidelity, so vast was the difference between idolatry and the service of the God of Jacob.

CHAPTER VII. VERSE 4.

They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.

UNTIL IT BE LEAVENED] Hebrew, ad khumètzahtho, 'until its leavening.'

CHAPTER VII. VERSE 5.

In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.

IN THE DAY OF OUR KING THE PRINCES HAVE MADE HIM SICK WITH BOTTLES OF WINE] Hebrew, yom malèkkanu hekhelu sarim khamath miy-yayin, the day of our king, the princes made themselves sick (with) the heat of wine.' By 'the day of the king' is to be understood his coronation or his birthday—the high day or festival day when the event was commemorated. On such a day the princes made themselves sick with the khamath, heat of' wine. It is extraordinary that the translators of the A. V., who so often translated the word as 'poison,' 'heat,' and 'fury,' should have preferred the rendering of 'bottles,' seeing (1) that khamath, in the obsolete sense of 'bottle,' occurs in but one early chapter of the Old Testament,-Gen. xxi. 14, 15, 19; (2) that the construct or genitive case there (in ver. 14) is differently pointed from the pointing of this text; (3) that the noun khāmah and the verb khahmam are used repeatedly of the inflaming, poisonous influence of wine (Deut. xxxii. 33; Isa. li. 17; Jer. xxv. 15; li. 39); (4) that the khamath is clearly assigned as the cause of the sickness; and (5) that in ver. 7 of this very chapter the phrase yakhammu katannur is translated in A. V. 'they are hot as an oven. The LXX. has [Codex A, ai] heemerai tōn basileōn humōn, eerxanto oi archontes thumousthai ex oinou, (they were) the days of your kings; the princes began to rage with wine'; Syriac, 'in the day of our kings the great men began to be infuriated with wine'; the V., dies regis nostri; cœperunt principes furere a vino, (it was) the day of our king, the princes began to be mad from wine.' Benisch has 'officers made him sick with fury from wine.' Henderson reads, 'the princes are sick with the fever of wine'; Newcome, 'the princes began to be hot with wine.' Both the LXX. and V. take h-kh-l-u, not as Hiphil of khah-lah, 'to smooth,' 'become sick' or 'sad,' but as the Hiphil hakhělu of the verb khah-lal 'to pierce,' 'open,' ‘begin’—‘the princes began '; and they also take khahmath as an infinitive, 'to be hot' to be maddened. These readings supply a very good sense; but a still better sense will be obtained if khah-lal is taken in the

sense of 'to profane' or 'pollute,' as it is in Ezek. xxxix. 7,-'And I will not let them pollute My holy name.' Indeed, if khah-lah is retained, the sickness must be considered as moral, and not physical; so that the same result is arrived at. HE STRETCHED OUT HIS HAND WITH SCORNERS] The Hebrew for scorners is lotzětzim, those scorning' or 'mocking.' This is the verbal form of the word latz which occurs in the celebrated passage, Wine is a mocker' (lātz); and no wonder that this powerful 'mocker' should place the ruler of Israel among the number of mockers, betraying king and courtiers alike into open transgression. The LXX., exeteine teen cheira autou meta loimōn, 'he stretched out his hands with pests,' i. e. men who were like pests or plagues; the V., extendit manum suam cum illusoribus, 'he stretched out his hand with mockers'; the T., 'he drew to his own hand a crowd of liars'; the Arabic, 'he stretched out his hand with corruption'; the Syriac, they draw out their hands with the vile.' The passage is abrupt, but sententiously expressive, and the meaning may, perhaps, be conveyed in the following translation :—

(It was) the king's (high) day-the princes polluted themselves:

Inflaming heat (proceeded) from wine;

(Even) he (the king) drew out his hand with mockers!

As among the children of Judah the priest and the prophet erred through wine, among the children of Ephraim the king and the princes were numbered, through wine, among the impure and the scoffers. Some other consequences of this vinous indulgence are described in ver. 7, 8, 9:-"They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me. Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned [burnt and spoilt]. Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not." A striking resemblance exists between this language and that used in Prov. xxiii. 29-35.

CHAPTER VII. VERSE 14.

cried unto me with their heart, when they they assemble themselves for corn and wine,

And they have not howled upon their beds and they rebel against me.

THEY ASSEMBLE themselves FOR CORN AND WINE] Hebrew, al dahgan vè tirosh yithgorahru, 'for corn and vine-fruit they assemble themselves.' Gesenius thinks that the allusion is to meetings for supplicating the idols to grant fertility to the soil. LXX., epi sitō kai oinō katetemnonto, 'for corn and wine they have cut themselves' i. e. in order to propitiate their gods. So the Arabic. V., super triticum et vinum ruminabant, upon corn and wine they ruminate.' As God here adds, 'They have rebelled against Me,' this verse may throw light upon chap. iv. 11; for it might be said that both corn and wine had taken away their heart, since in order to obtain them, the people engaged in idolatrous worship.

CHAPTER IX. VERSE 2.

The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.

The LXX. reads, "the threshing-floor and the winepress (leenos) knew them not, and the wine deceived them,'-kai ho oinos epseusato autous. V., 'the (threshing) floor and the winepress (torcular) shall not feed them, and the wine shall deceive them,'-et vinum mentietur eis. T., 'from the threshing-floor and the press they shall not be nourished; the vine shall not suffice for them.'

WINEPRESS] Hebrew, yèqeb-the place where grapes were trodden and their juice collected; corresponding with goren-the place where grain was stored and winnowed.

AND THE NEW WINE SHALL FAIL IN HER] Hebrew, vě-tirosh yèkakhesh bah, 'and the vine-fruit shall fail (or decrease) in her.' Here the failure of tirosh represents the failure of all the fruits of the earth. Gesenius refers to this passage as an instance where the verb kakhash 'is used of the productions of the earth.'

CHAPTER IX. VERSE 4.

They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.

THEY SHALL NOT OFFER WINE OFFERINGS UNTO THE LORD] Hebrew, lo yessěku la-Yehoveh yayin, 'they shall not pour out wine to Jehovah.' Lxx., ouk espeisan tō Kurio oinon, they have not poured out wine to the Lord.' V., non libabant Domino vinum, 'they will not pour out wine to the Lord.'

CHAPTER IX. VERSE 10.

I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time; but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

LIKE GRAPES] Hebrew, ka-anahvim, 'like grape-clusters.'

CHAPTER X. VERSE I.

Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

AN EMPTY VINE] Hebrew, gèphen boqaq, 'a vine emptying' (itself). Lxx., eukleematousa, 'branching out well'; V., frondosa, 'leafy.' Henderson has 'luxuriant.' According to the A. V., the sense would be that Israel, having, for his own use, emptied himself of his fruit, had left nothing for the Divine husbandman. He was empty, or barren, God-wards.

CHAPTER XIV. VERSE 7.

They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.