Job 7

Job proceeds still in the defence of his complaint, and of his wishes to see an end of so miserable a life; which at the best is full of toil and trouble. And, since his friends had so little consideration of him, he addresses himself to God, and hopes he will not be angry, if he ease his grief by representing to him the dolefulness of his condition, and expostulating a little with him about the continuance of it, and his release from it. • THE BOOK OF JUDITH. bound, or know and answer for the probity and integrity of this Ammonite chief. However that be, it is certain, that though they received him with humanity, and treated him with honour and respect, they were so careful as not to intrust him with any share of the administration of affairs, contenting themselves with having afforded him a safe retreat among them, and taking, without doubt, such wise precautions as not to be surprised through too easy a credulity. THE BOOK OF JUDITH. themfour-and-thirty days.] The Vulgate has, Cumque ista custodiaper dies vigintifuisset expleta, defecerunt cisternce: making the time to be only twenty days. Another more ancient Latin version has, diebus viginti et quatuor. The Syriae makes the siege to last two months and four days.

Job 7:1

jf S there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of a hireling?. Is not the whole life of miserable man a perpetual conflict with various troubles? And must he not at best undergo much toil, labour, and weariness? Ver.,2. As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as a hireling looketh for the reward of his work.] Why may I not then as passionately wish to see an end of it, as the slave in a hot day gasps for the refreshment of the shade? or the labourer longs for the evening, when he may rest, and be paid for his pains? JL take aforehand the ascents of the hill country.] The town of Bethulia is represented in the history as a place of prodigious strength, either by art or nature, or both, nor was to be attempted by assault, but by starving its inhabitants: what remains then or marks do we hear of from travellers of so wonderful a place? if time and wars have destroyed all the works of art, yet would not nature and situation still continue the same? its own natural strength, and the ever-memorable deliverance wrought at it, must, one would think, have distinguished it to posterity, and that there should have been some tradition at least among the inhabitants, or their neighbours, to lead us to it. The Phocian Thermopylae, the Porta: Caspiac, are known and distinguished now as heretofore; but has any man’s curiosity found out, or remarked here the passes, which gave it the command of the country, and made it the gate or key of Judea, as represented in this history? the place has been visited, and yet nothing extraordinarythis way is observed of it Mr. Maundrell, who was upon the spot, and whose accuracy and fidelity may be depended on, says only of it, that it stands upon a very eminent and conspicuous mountain, and is seen far and near, (p. 115.) He takes not the least notice of any grand defile or particular passes which commanded the entrance into Judea, which, if it had been so, could never have escaped his observation, who attended to every circumstance relative to the descriptions or allusions in Scripture. On the other hand, his ac9ount rather supposes the country to have been more a plain, or fiat all about it, than mountainous. To this it may be replied briefly, 1. That some works or remains of art, seme vestiges of foundations and ruins of edifices, are, according to Adrichomius and others, still visible; and if there were none, this would no more conclude against the quondam being of such a place, than against the existence of Babylon, Nineveh, Persepolis, and other once famous cities, which have little or no traces now remaining. 2. That however the surface of the country about Bethulia was, which authors have represented in a different manner; yet, as Bethulia is acknowledged to have been situated upon a very high and conspicuous mountain, the very situation itself, still to be discerned and admired, points out not merely the probability of its being there placed, but the propriety and importance of such a choice, which, as it was more tenable by its natural strength; so, 3dly,That it had uncommon difficulty of approach and access, either by one grand defile, or very strait and dangerous passages, appears sufficiently from its foiling so great an army as one hundred and eighty thousand men so long before it; nor does there seem any necessity or occasion to transmit as particular what a rocky and perpendicular situation naturally suggests.

Job 7:2

The army of the men of ivar tvas a hundred and, seventy thousand footmen and ttvelve thousand horsemen. The number of warriors varies very considerably in the Greek and Latin editions. It is not improbable that there is some mistake in the numbers in the different texts. The Vulgate has, Brant autem pedites bellatorum centum vigintl millia, &c. and indeed with so many only the army of Holofernes set forward from Nineveh; (see ii. 5.) but it had been increased by considerable reinforcements, which came from divers provinces of Assyria, and by an addition of auxiliary troops from the countries newly conquered, which might raise the number to that mentionedin the Greek, viz. one hundred and seventy thousand. There is also a difference between the Greek and Latin copies with respect to the cavalry. The Vulgate enlarges the number to twenty-two thousand, which probably is right; as Holofernes’s cavalry at this time had been augmented by ten thousand Assyrian horse. The difference in both accounts seems, in short, to have arisen from the flux state of the army increasing and decreasing from many accidental causes. *

Job 7:3

So I am made to possess montlts of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. I am sure my days are no less void of contentment than theirs; and in the night, when men are wont to forget their sorrows, I can do nothing but restlessly increase them. Jt O whom they said, We are of the sons of Nephthalim, which are captives in Nineveh.] This passage, which has been too hastily misrepresented by some writers, as containing a notorious falsehood, (see Raynold’s Prsel. torn, i; Prael. 46.) is capable of being very consistently explained; for it does not appear from the text, that the angel gave this answer rather than Tobias; secondly, as Raphael assumed the person of Azarias, it might very properly be spoken in both their names, as Ananias, from whom Azarias descended, was of that tribe, (v. 12, 13.) The like answer will account for the angel’s saying, that he was of the captivity of Nineveh; for so Azarias, whom he personated, really was. And they camped in the valley, near unto Bethiilia by the fountain, and they spread themselves in breqdth over Dothaim.] There is some difficulty with respect to the posts which are here assigned to Holofernes’s troops; the village of Dothaim, or Dothan, as it is sometimes called, was, it is objected, too far from Bethulia for them to extend to it in breadth, whether it is placed in the tribe of Zebulun* or of Simeon. It is urged, that it was at least eight or ten leagues from the sea of Tiberias, and, by consequence, about an equal distance from Bethulia, in the tribe of Zebulun, and more than thirty leagues from Bethulia, in the tribe of Simeon. If this be so, and the distance of Dothaim from the place of the siege was indeed so great, it is probable, that as there are many villages in this history wrongly placed (for the geography of it, it must be confessed, is far from being exact), so this of Dothaim is here erroneously inserted; or perhaps, by mistake, one name is put for another, and it is difficult, says Grotius, In Gratis adeo corruptis, ut est hie liber, locorum nomina restituere. But, on tho other hand, there aro authorities which give some reason to think, that the situation of Dothaim was contiguous to Bethulia, as is represented in the history. Adrichomius makes Dothaim to be, " Oppidum quod a monte Bethulia3 mifiario uno in terra campestri positum, utrinque montibus.cingitur." (Theatr. Teme Sanctae, p. 139.) The writer of Itinerarium Scripturse, p. 321. places Dothaim four miles from Bethulia, and at the like distance from the sea of Galilee. (See also Well’s Geography of the Old Testament, vol. iii. p. 197.) And in length from Bethulia unto Cy anion, which is over against Esdraelom.] tf Ea>c Kvafiwvoc Grotius conjectures the true reading here to be, avc X(Xfiwvog, which is confirmed by the Vulgate rendering. Esdraclon was a great plain extending itself from the cities of Megiddo and Aphec, to the sea of Gennesareth or Galilee. The camp of Holofemes was so great, that it took up all this plain, which contained sixteen miles in length. (Seeltiner. Sac. Script, p. 320.)

Job 7:4

IVJien J lie down, I say, When shall 1 arise, and the night be gone? and I am full oftossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day. I no sooner am laid down but I wish to be up again; and the night seems very tedious while I toss up and down, in unquiet and tormenting thoughts, calling for the morning.. Now the children of Israel, when they saw the multitude of them, were greatly troubled, &c] It may very pertinently be asked, why the Bethulians durst venture to oppose Nabuchodonosor. The truth is, that king was resolved not only to subdue the several nations from the Euphrates to Ethiopia, but intended likewise to oblige them to acknowledge him only to be God; (vi. 2.) and therefore the Bethulians, who could hot without impiety and a renunciation of their religion, submit to the dominion of such a king, had good reason to hope for success against a prince who had declared himself an enemy to the God of heaven.

Job 7:5

My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome. How can I do othcrways, when my body is nothing but ulcers, full of -worms, and crusted over with scabs; which have made such clefts in my skin, that I am loathsome to myself? Ver. G. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent ivithout hope.] All my happy days are run away in a moment, and there is no hope x should recover them. WJien they had kindled fires upon their towers, they remained and watched all that night.] This signal wasset up on the mountains, on the tops of which they made great fires. There were also large trees planted on purpose to spread anc\ display some ensign or colour, that they might be seen at a great distance. Centincls also, or watchmen, were generally placed in towers and on the tops of mountains, to sound the trumpet, or make some signal at tho top of a pole at tho approach of the enemy, to givo notice to the people to run to their arms. Sec Isa. xviii. 3. xxx. 17. Jer. vi. 1. where the prophet says, Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire inBeth-haccerem,for evil appeareth out of the north.

Job 7:7

O remember that [my life is wind; mine eye shall no more see good. O my God, remember how short the most pleasant life is, which when it is gone I cannot live over again. When he heard that Tobit was blind, he was sorrowful and wept.

Job 7:8

The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.* I can never return to my friends after I have left them: thou dost but frown upon me, and I vanish quite out of the world. And likewise Edna his wife, and Sara his daughter, wept.] Tobit’s blindness only is mentioned here as the cause of this great concern; the Vulgate and Munster’s Hebrew copy omit the occasion. It is probable that the tears which Raguel, his wife, and daughter, shed, had a mixture of joy as well as sorrow, arising from the eclaircissement or first discovery of Tobias to be their near relation; the former, from the agreeable reflection, that they had.now with them the only son of a father, whom the tics of nature and birth had endeared to them; and the latter, from a sense of their sad captivity, which had kept persons so nearly related so long at a distance from one another. And the additional circumstance of Tobit’s blindness, which must greatly add to his affliction, must in proportion also increase their concern.

Job 7:9

As the cloud, is coimtmed and vanisheth away; so he that goeth down to the grave shall come tip no more. Just as n cloud dissolves on a sudden before the sun, so ■doth man sink down into his grave, and appear no more.

Job 7:10

He shall return no more to his house, neitJier shall his place know him any more. He shall make his habitation there, for hither he cannot return; but others shall take his place, which will no longer acknowledge him the owner of it. For it is meet that thou shouldest marry my daughter, nevertheless I will declare unto thee the truth.] KaOfjKu aoi ttcuSiov fxov Xaj3av. In this and the three following verses, tjbc terras,used with respect to the marriageceremony are both proper and usual on the occasion. IIa<- 8(0 v Xaj3e7v is the same with 7ra£>a\aj3eu>, Matt. i. 20. which m A, COMMENTARY UPON [chap. vn. is the technical term for taking one to wife, and so it is used, Deut. xx. 7. and hath respect and relation to S<SJva<, which belongs to the father of the spouse, (sec ver. 11. 13.) because he, after the example of God in Paradise, (Gen. ii. 22.) delivers her into the bridegroom’s own hands, who was called petitor, or the suitor. St. Ambrose commends the great openness and frankness of Raguel in dealing so ingenuously with Tobias, in*a matter of such consequence, whilst others, upon a like occasion, arc equally as careful to conceal an objection. " Being a just man (says he), he chose rather that his daughter should continue unmarried, than to expose a husband to imminent danger for her sake. Though he was greatly importuned to give her in marriage, yet neither his parental tenderness, nor the great inclination which he must be supposed to have to settle his only child well, could prevail on him to conceal an accident from her lover, which he could not but imagine must contribute to break the match; however, he chose rather sincerely to declare to him the whole truth, than to appear to have an intention to deceive him by concealing the matter. Quam breviter absolvit omnes quastiones philosophorum, dum nee fili<e vitia celanda arbitratus est J How has he decided at once, in a compendious manner, all the disputes of moralists and philosophers on this head! with great gravity they can debate the question, and arc at some loss to determine it, whether. a person intending to sell a house, or any moveables, ought himself to discover the faults and imperfections of them; but this good man thought he could not in conscience conceal that which he knew wonld be an objection to his daughter, even from him who was at that time making court to her, but advises him for his own sake to lay all thoughts of her aside, and to be easy and satisfied without her." (Ambros. lib. iii. Offic. cap. 14.)

Job 7:11

Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Suffer me then to speak freely, and to give vent to my grief, by complaining a little of the inexpressible miseries which oppress me.

Job 7:12

Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?. Am I like a sea, or a whale (or wild beast), that must be shut up and confined under these insupportable sufferings, and by no means break through them? Take her from henceforth according to the manner, and the merciful God give you good success in all things.’] As God was the first institutor of marriage, and joined our first parents in that holy state, so he still presides over it, and all marriages ought to be concluded in his fear, and Avith a petition for his blessing on the undertaking. Thus Abraham comforts himself with relation to his son’s marriage, that the Lord God of heaven would send his angel to choose a wife for his son Isaac. (Gen. xxiv. 7.) And his servant, who was sent on that important commission, prays unto the Lord God, to send him good speed that day, and to shew kindness unto his master Abraham, in a particular that so nearly concerned his welfare. (See Prov. xix. 14. Ecclus. xxvi. 3.) Betrothing among the Jews was commonly performed about six months or a year before the wedding: but as Tobias’s marriage was agreed on, and consummated on the spot, it may be asked, how Sara’s parents came to comply so soon, as to give their daughter to Tobias the very same day that he arrived; the reasons probably were, — 1. Her parents’ desire of having her well married, and their hopes of seeing issue from her. 2. The circumstances and condition of her spouse. 3. His near relation, and legal right to her. 4. Raphael’s importunity and persuasion. Some questions may also pertinently be asked concerning Tobias, as, why he married on a journey, at a distance from and without the knowledge or consent of his parents: such a procedure seems not agreeable to the opinion which one entertains of his piety, and rather an instance of want of duty, and a proper deference to them; for is there any affair more important, or wherein children arc more obliged to consult their parents, and to receive their directions and advice, than ia the great concern of marriage? To this it may be* replied, that Tobias knew perfectly the intentions of his father on this head; that good old man had recommended to him before his journey to take a wife of his own tribe and family, (iv. 12, 13.) And it is observable, that Raphael reminds him (vi. 15.) of the instruction which his father gave him, to marry a wife of his own kindred: and, indeed, the law itself was sufficiently clear in this matter; for had he been indifferent, or so particular as to have refused what the known custom of the law required, Raguel could have compelled him to it, or obliged him to have renounced the right which he claimed of succession to his inheritance. Nor do we find that Tobit was at all surprised or troubled when his son, returning from his journey, brought with him a wife. After this it will be almost needless to inquire, whether Tobias was not guilty of some rashness and imprudence, in being so eager after a match, as solemnly to resolve neither to cat nor drink till it was concluded, which his intended father-in-law had kindly warned him against, and apprized him sufficiently of the danger attending it. But, besides the reason before given, that the nearness of the relation required this from him, Raphael assured Tobias that he had provided a remedy, effectually to secure him against the like accident, and to prevent his sharing the others’ fate. Let thy servants get into their hands the fountainof waterwhich isstteth forth of the foot of the mountain.

Job 7:13

Wlien I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint. If death may not come and put an end to them, one would have hoped at least to have found some intermission of them by sleep. Tlien he called his daughter, and he took Iter by the hand, and gave her to be wife to Tobias.] In the Vulgate it is, Raguel, the father of the bride, took her by the right hand, and joining it to Tobias’s right hand, said, May the, God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, be with you, and unite you by the sacred ties of marriage T and fill you both with his blessings. To this custom of giving away the bride by the hands of the father, or some relation or friend, St. Paul seems to allude, 2 Cor. xi. 2. and the Psalmist, Psal.xlv. 13. The reason of this, says a very judicious writer, was, " that in ancient times all women, which had not husbands or fathers to govern them, had tutors, without whose concurrence and authority there was no act which they did warrantable, and for this cause they were in marriage delivered unto their husbands by others. Which custom retained, hath still this use, that it puts women in mind of their duty, whereto the very imbecility of their sex doth bind them, viz. to be always guided and directed by others." (Hooker’s Ecclcs. Pol. b. v.) Whether this, or AYhatevcr be the cause of this custom, it is certainly most decent, that a woman, whose chicfest ornament is modesty, should rather be led or presented by the hand of another, than offer herself forwardly before the congregation to any one in marriage; and therefore the discretion of our church is herein much to be admired, which enjoins it to be asked, JVIiogiveth this woman to be married to this man? For all the inhabitants of Bethulia have their water thence*’] The Idumeans, or children of Esau, as they aro called, ver. 8. may be considered a$ brethren of the Jews, being descended from Esau the brother of Jacob; it may therefore seem not only very surprising but unnatural, that they should, by giving such pernicious counsel to Holofcrnes, betray the Israelites to the Assyrians, instead of protecting them as relations, and speaking, as Achior their chief did, in their behalf and favour. It should seem by this instance, as if they inherited Esau’s spleen against his brother: but however to guard against censure,- and to remain undistinguished and undiscovered, they chose to pass under the title of Ammonites. (Sec note on v. 5.) One may observe from hence, say Messieurs of Port-Royal, that false brethren, such as these proved to the Jews, are more to be feared than open and declared enemies, and that treachery is often more dangerous than force. As it does not seem probable that all the inhabitants of Bethulia should fetch their water at such a distance, or that this fountain at the foot of the hill should be sufficient for the general use of the city; and as neither the fountains mentioned ver. 7. could afford a competent supply, much less could their waters be conveyed up in any large quantity the steep sides of the hill, whose height is represented here to be very great; we must necessarily suppose cisterns for rain water likewise within the. city? or probably they might be assisted also by some, springs, as many high mountains are known to have, all of; which were either rendered useless by the enemy, or at last failed through the length of the siege. The Vulgate supposes the city to have been supplied by an aqueduct, whichto a place otherwise situated than Bethulia was, would have been a great convenience; but was it possible in so lofty a site to have received any advantage from thence,, except water should have forgot its own nature, and move up– wards?

Job 7:14

Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions. But then I am haunted with such frightful dreams, and such horrid apparitions. And called Edna his wife, and took paper, and did write an instrument, of covenants, and scaled it.] Here we have a contract between Tobias and Sara, drawn up, not by a public notary, as was generally usual, but by Ragucl the woman’s father. We may farther observe, that before the writing this contract, there was a formal giving

Job 7:15

So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life. That I had much rather die the most violent death, than carry this carcass any longer about with me.

Job 7:16

1 loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity. It is loathsome to me: I would not, if I might, live always in it. Dismiss me, therefore, since I have no pleasure in life, which of itself will end shortly.

Job 7:17

Wliat is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart \ipon him?. Is mortal man so considerable, that thou shouldest honour him so much as to contend with him, and set thyself against him 7

Job 7:18

And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?. That thou shouldest send new afflictions on him every morning; nay, try his strength and courage every moment? Then the children of Esau went up with the children ofAmmon y and camped in thejdll country,’] The Idumeans, being the posterity of Esau, bare an ancient grudge against tho Jews, upon account of their ancestor’s losing his right of primogeniture, and the subduing of Edom by David afterward. (2 Sam. viii. 14.) Upon both these accounts they took hold of all opportunities of venting their spite towards the Jewish nation; particularly see 2 Chron. xxviii. 17. For this theirbehaviour, they were often, reproved by the prophets. (See Ezek. xxv.12. xxxv. 5.) The ill-will that they bore thorn, not only appeared by the mischievous advice given by them, ver. 10 — 12. but by their being amongst tho foremost, and particularly instanced in hero as such, to encamp against them in the hill country. But the spite that they shewed towards them was most remarkable at the time of their captivity, as appears by those pathetical words of Psal, exxxvii. 7. Remember the children of Edom, O Lord, in the day of Jei*usalem; how tltey said, Down with it, down with it, even to the ground. The Ammonites too, though related likewise in blood to tho Jews, yet bore a constant hatred towards them, which they took all opportunities to shew when the Jews were under any distress, for which tbey are also often reproved severely by the prophets, and threatened with judgments. (Sec Ezek. xxi. 28. xxv. 2. 6. Zeph. ii.8. 10.) Ycr. 20. Thus all the company ofAssur remained about

Job 7:19

How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?. It is time to turn away thy displeasure from me; at least for so short a space, as to give me leave to breathe.

Job 7:20

1 have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou Preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against -thee, so that I am a burden to,myself?. I am not able to

Job 7:21

Oziat took him unto his house. Not bound or under guard as a prisoner, but probably watched a little and observed. Hence, when Judith returned in triumph to Bethulia, bringing Holofernes’s head, and all the people ran together to the sight, it is observable that Achior comes not till called and sent for, (xiv. G.) And made a feast.] How persons attacked by a power so formidable, and whom that fresh insult of the enemy, the sending Achior to be both a witness and sharer of their ruin, would rather, it should seem, have intimidated more than ever, should on the contrary be so fond of, and rejoice with, their new acquaintance, as to make a great feast for him at such a time, and in such circumstances, may probably be accounted for, without supposing, as some do, God to act upon and influence the hearts of the inhabitants thus to behave. For it would have been highly disgraceful to the people of God to have betrayed any sign of cowardice and fear in the presence of that stranger who was not himself afraid, even in Holofernes’s hearing, to dwell upon and extol the power of the Almighty God of Israel, and his frequent interposition in their behalf. Nor could they better or more effectually testify to Achior their sense of God’s former goodness, and their hopes and reliance upon his mercies at this perilous juncture, than by such an instance of uneoncernedness, as if they were confident of his favour and assistance. And the entertainment itself was, according to the Vulgate, that of sober and well-disposed persons; for it was made after they had fasted strictly all the day, and they continued, after the ending of it, the whole night in prayer. To the elders…] By elders we are here not to understand the priests only, nor ancient people as such, but certain appointed magistrates; for, according to Josephus, Moses appointed that every city should have a council of seven magistrates, men of exemplary virtue and lovers of righteousness; (Antiq. lib. iv. cap. 8. Seld. de Synedr. lib. ii. cap. G.) and this perhaps was the determinate number in his time. But anciently there seems to have been more, because Boaz mentions ten elders, who were probably the same with the judges in the city of Beth-Iehem. (Ruth iv. 2.)'

Now therefore call them unto you, and deliver the whole city for a spoil to the -people of Holof ernes, and to all his army. Polybius mentions many cities, otherwise well provided for a siege, that were obliged to surrender, by being deprived of a supply of water; and adds, that when matters come to that extremity, that the people are necessitated to be stinted, and to have it delivered out in very small quantity, the anxiety is the greater, as the appetite generally craves most what is not allowed, or cannot be come at. (Lib. vii. cap. 5.)

For it is better for us to be made a spoil unto them, than to die for thirst; for we will be his servants, that our souls may live, and not see the death of our infants before our eyes.] Josephus observes of the Arabians, that being in a miserable distress for want of water, four, thousand of them came out to Herod, and offered themselves to captivity and chains, to avoid the more insupportable calamity of a raging drought; and that the rest made a sally by consent, and attacked the besiegers, in which encounter seven thousand fell, choosing rather a present certainty of death, than to expose themselves to the lingering torment of it, for want of water. (Antiq. lib. xv. cap. 8.) But how sad would have been the condition of Bcthulia, and indeed of all Judea, if Ozias and the chief of the city had listened to the clamour of the people, and through impatience of thirst had surrendered themselves! In whatmisery would they have been involved, and what an opportunity of victory and triumph would they have lost! Lysimachns, king of Macedonia, was sensible of this too late, who, being choked with thirst in Thrace, surrendered with his whole army to the enemy, and when plentifully refreshed with water so much longed for, cried out, For what a small satisfaction and pleasure have I, from the state of a king reduced mrjself to be a slave!

We take to witness against you the heavens and the earth, and our God, and Lord of our fathers, which punishes us according to our sins, and the sins of our fathers, that he do not according as we have said this day.] Maprvp6fMi0a vfuv ttjv bvpavov koi tt\v yfjv, not rbv Qtbv rtfxuiv, koI Kvpiov twv irariptov rifiutv, oc IkSiku itytac Kara rac a/iapriag ripiuiv, koI tu hjiapTi)jiara tu>v irariptov 77/idJv, iva fxrj 7roi//aTp Kara ra prifiara raxrra Iv ry Vfiipq, rg (ro/iepov. The latter part of this verse is obscure, and the several versions and expositors understand it differently. Covcrdale, following the Vulgate, has, We take heaven and earth this day to record,- and the God of our fathers (which punislies us according to the deserving of our sins), and give you warning that ye give up the city now into the power of Holof ernes’ host, that our end may be short with the sword, which else sliall endure long for want of water, and for thirst. The GenevaBible, We take to witness against you the heaven and the earth, and our God, and Lord of our fathers, whichpunishes us according to our sins, and tlie sins of our fathers, that he lay not these things to our charge. The Syriae, Contestamurque adversus vos ccelum et terram, Dominumque Deum patrum nostrorum % qui vindictam exigit de nobis secundum ea qua dicta sunt hodierno die. Junius renders, Videte ut non facial quemadmodum diximus hodierno die. To which agree Grotius-and Bad well, who suppose an ellipsis here, as Gen. iii. 22. xxxyiii. 11. xlii. 4. Matt. xxv. 9. and’ make the sense to be, See that the calamity which we have mentioned, and warned ijou against, of seeing our wives and children perish before our eyes, come not upon us. Or, understanding it of Holofernes, as the margin does, See that he bring not upon us the evils which we have solemnly foretvarned you of this day. Calmethas, We conjuriyou before heaven and eartli, and the God of our fathers, that evil befal us not this day, the evil of seeing our wives and children die before our faces. And the Port-Royal comment, We call heaven and earth to witness the earnest supplication we made to deliver up the city to Holofernes, and to die instantly by the sword, rather than by thirst to undergo a lingering death. Ver; 29. Then there was great weeping with one consent in the midst of the assembly, and they cried unto the Lord Godivith a loud voice.’] There seems to be a sort of contradiction here with respect to the context, at least there is in the Vulgate: ver; 24:26, 27. they murmur against Ozias, and charge him with the evils they suffered, and beg importunately, that the city may be delivered for a spoil to the people of Holofernes, and that they may be his servants; and ver. 28. they call God to witness the sincerity of their desire: here they cried unto him in the words of the Vulgate, Miserere nostri, et noli tradere confitentes te populo, qui ignorat te, ut non dicant inter gentes, Ubi est Deus eorum? This irresolution and sudden change of sentiments will best be accounted for, probably, from their fear, which at different times suggested different means and motives of acting to them: at one time the thirst they laboured under induced them to wish and pray importunately, that they might live as captives among the Assyrians; at another time the reflection on Bolofernes’s cruelty, and a strong presumption that he would use them worse for daring to resist his power, threw them into despair, and, changing their minds on a sudden, they requested that they might fall into the hands of God, and not into the hands of men.

Then said Ozias to them, Brethren, be of good courage, let us yet endure Jive days, in the which space the Lord our God may turn his mercy towards us. See note on viii. 12. Sulpitius Severus makes the time fixed for the surrender to be fifteen days, " Quinto decimo die deditionis tempus constituit:" (Sacr. Hist. lib. ii. xxiv.) but this probably is a mistake; the true reading of the place seems to be, as Drusius conjectures, " Quinto demum die deditionis tempus eoristituit." We meet with a like instance^ 1 Sam. ii. 3. where, upon the threats of Jfanash, king of the children of Ammon, or, as others suppose, the captain of his host, the ciders of Jabesh Gilead desire a respite of seven days, to send messengers into all the coasts of Israel, and promise to surrender themselves, if in that time nono came effectually to their help and relief. And the event" answered’accordingly; for, as the text there says, the Spirit of the Lord stirred up Saul to come to their assistance within the expected time, and they proved victorious.

3 This verse is entirely omitted by the Vulgate, but is retained in the other versions.