AND UPON THE CORN, AND UPON THE NEW WINE, AND UPON THE OIL] Hebrew, ve-al had-dahgan, vě-al hat-tirosh, vè-al hay-yitzhar, and upon the corn, and upon the vine-fruit, and upon the olive-and-orchard-fruit'; Lxx., siton, oinon, elaion; V., triticum, vinum, oleum.

The entire structure of the verse shows that the prophet has in his mind, not an artificial preparation, but the growing produce of the soil.

CHAPTER II. VERSE 12.

If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.

=

Three out of the four articles named here-lekhem (bread), yayin (wine), and shemen (oil)—are preparations from the substances named in chap. i. 11; while 'anything made ready for eating' any meat, answers to 'upon that which the ground bringeth forth,' over and above the class of productions separately named. The word for 'pottage,' nahzid, signifies anything boiled or cooked, probably including roots and herbs of any kind. Lxx., oinon; V., vinum.

CHAPTER II. VERSE 16.

Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.

THE PRESSFAT] Hebrew, hay-yèqèv, the wine-press'; Lxx., to hupoleenion, 'the wine-vat'; V., torcular, 'press.' Henderson notes, "The word purah, which is used for the wine-press itself (Isa. lxiii. 3), is here employed to denote a liquid measure in which the wine was drawn out." But another reading is open to us. [See Prel. Dis. p. xxvi.] The 'heap' may be referred to the corn, and the 'fifty' to the expected clusters in the grape-vat, when there were but 'twenty' in the whole building (purah, or 'fruit-house ').

The disappointment of the proprietor is graphically depicted. Expecting to realize twenty measures of wheat from the threshed corn, and the yield was but ten; looking for fifty measures of wine or clusters of grapes in the press, and twenty only could be found!

CHAPTER II. VERSE 19.

Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.

THE VINE] Hebrew, hag-gephen, 'the vine.'

THE BOOK OF

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH.

[ZECHARIAH IS BELIEVED TO HAVE PROPHESIED 520-518 B. C.]

CHAPTER III. VERSE IO.

In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.

THE VINE] Hebrew, gephen, ‘a vine.'

CHAPTER VIII. VERSE 12.

For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

THE VINE SHALL GIVE HER FRUIT] Hebrew, hag-gèphèn titān piryah, 'the vine shall give her fruit.' So Lxx. and V.

CHAPTER IX. VERSE 15.

The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.

AND THEY SHALL DRINK, AND MAKE A NOISE AS THROUGH WINE] Hebrew, ve-shahthu hahmu kě-mo yahyin, and they drink, (and) make-a-noise (=rage) as wine (does).' Hahmah is rendered 'raging' in A. V. of Prov. xx. I, where it is applied to shakar, 'strong-drink.'

AND THEY SHALL BE FILLED LIKE BOWLS, AND AS THE CORNERS OF THE ALTAR] LXX., Codex B, renders, and they shall swallow them as wine, and fill the bowls as the altar'; but Codex A reads, and they shall swallow their blood as wine, and fill the altar as bowls.' The V., ‘and drinking they shall be inebriated as by wine, and they shall be filled as vials and as the horns of the

altar.' The Syriac, and they shall drink confusion as wine, and they shall be fired as mixed (wine), and as the horns of the altar.' The T. of Jonathan reads, 'and they shall be satiated by them, like those who drink wine, and their soul shall be filled with delicacies as a vial when it is filled with oil.'

CHAPTER IX. VERSE 17.

For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! com shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

CORN SHALL MAKE THE YOUNG MEN CHEERFUL, AND NEW WINE THE MAIDS] Hebrew, dahgan bakhurim vě-tirosh yenovāv běthuloth, corn shall make the youths to grow (to thrive), and vine-fruit the maidens.' Lxx., for if he has anything good, and if he has anything fair, to the young men (is) corn, and fragrant wine (oinos euōdiazōn) to the virgins.' The V., for what is his goodness, and what is his beauty, unless the corn of the elect ones (frumentum electorum), and growing-wine (to) the virgins?'—vinum germinans virgines. The Syriac, 'how good and how useful is corn to the young men! and wine renders the virgins joyful.' The Arabic, 'for if anything is from him, and if any beauty is from him, (appropriate) corn to the young men, and wine brings a sweet odor to the virgins.' The Targum spiritualizes the text.

In referring to the nutritious qualities of corn and vine-fruit, the prophet assigns the 'corn' to the youth of one sex, and the 'vine-fruit' to the youth of the other sex, not because their food was respectively confined to corn or grapes, but because, in making a difference, the bloom and lusciousness of the vine-clusters better harmonized with the beauty and sweetness of the Jewish virgin than with the masculine attributes of the rougher sex. Archbishop Newcome renders, 'the harvest gladdeneth the young men, and the vintage the maidens'; but in a note he takes yenovāv in the sense of abounding, and proposes to read, 'the corn aboundeth for the young men [to gather it], and the choice wine for the maidens [to prepare it].' Dr Henderson's note is a remarkable instance of the dangerous conclusions to which false premises will conduct good and learned men. It is as follows:-"The drinking of must by young females is peculiar to this passage; but its being here expressly sanctioned by Divine authority provides an unanswerable argument against those who would interdict all use of the fruit of the vine. Tirosh, new wine or must, so called from yahrash, 'to take possession of,' because, when taken to excess, it gains the mastery over the person who indulges in it." But (1) "those who would interdict all use of the fruit of the vine" are nowhere to be found; they are phantoms of the imagination; (2) the derivation of tirosh from yahrash does not in the least involve the idea of any intoxicating quality in tirosh [see Prel. Dis.]; (3) the good Doctor is evidently not quite at ease with the free use of an intoxicating drink by 'young females' being 'expressly sanctioned by Divine authority,' since in all ages, and even in British society where alcoholic liquor is used, its employment to make young females 'thrive' would not be ventured upon. Did Dr H. recommend a free use of wine to his daughters or other young Christian females? The apposition of 'corn' with 'tirosh' might have suggested to him a revision of his exegesis, especially when, in Micah vi. 15, he had been compelled to translate tirosh, not by 'new intoxicating wine,' but by the grape of the new wine.'

CHAPTER X. VERSE 7.

And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.

AND THEIR HEART SHALL REJOICE AS THROUGH WINE] Hebrew, vè-sahmakh libahm ke-mo yahyin, 'and their heart shall be glad like (those who drink) wine.' The word 'through' is not justified by the Hebrew, kemo expressing not causation but comparison. The rejoicing may, of course, refer either to the gladness and cheerfulness arising from an abundance of innocent wine, or to the effect of the inebriating cup. In any case, there is no more a sanction of the agent wine, or the act of drinking it, than a sanction of war is involved when the Spirit of Truth is likened to a two-edged sword. Lxx., 'and they shall be as the warriors of Ephraim, and their hearts shall rejoice as with wine'; 'and Ephraim shall be as a mighty (one), and their heart shall be delighted as with wine.'

CHAPTER XII. VERSE 2.

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

A CUP OF TREMBLING] Hebrew, saph räal, a bowl of reeling' that makes to reel or stagger. A. V. gives in the margin, 'or, slumber, or poison.' Lxx., prothura saleuomena, 'trembling door-posts'; V., superliminare crapulæ, ‘an upper lintel (of a door) of intoxication.' T., 'a bowl filled with strong drink' (marvai), or 'drunkenness.'

CHAPTER XIV. VERSE 10.

All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses.

UNTO THE KING'S WINEPRESSES] Hebrew, ad yiqvai ham-mèlèk, 'to the wine-presses of the king.'

THE BOOK OF

THE PROPHET MALACHI.

[MALACHI FLOURISHED ABOUT THE YEAR 400 B. C.]

CHAPTER III. VERSE II.

And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground: neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.

NEITHER SHALL YOUR VINE, ETC.] Hebrew, vě-lo tishakkāl lahkem hag-gephèn bas-sahdeh, and the vine in the field shall not be abortive (= sterile) to you.' Lxx., and the vine which is in the field shall surely not be weakly (or sick)'— ou mee astheneesee. V., 'nor shall the vine (or vineyard = vinea) in the field be sterile (sterilis),'

The gephen sahdeh, 'vine of the field,' was a species of vine suffered to run untrained in the open country (see Note on 2 Kings iv. 29); hence the promise that even the wild vine should cease to be barren, and should bear fruit worthy of the name, was a striking assurance of the Divine blessing upon the land of Judea.