Judah's Defection and Ingratitude
DR. W. M. THOMSON.—At Tiberias, as the droves of cattle and donkeys came down from the hills at night, I hurried after them, and no sooner had we got within the walls than the droves began to disperse. Every ox knew perfectly well his owner, his house, and the way to it, nor did he get bewildered for a moment in the mazes of these narrow and crooked alleys. As for the asses, they walked straight to the door, and up to their master's crib. I followed one company clear into their habitation, and saw each take its appropriate manger, and begin his evening meal of dry tibn. Isaiah says in all this they were wiser than their owners, who neither knew nor considered, but forsook the Lord, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.—The Land and the Book, Vol. II., p. 97,
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—The "lodge in the garden of cucumbers" may still be seen in many of these fields, erected to protect them chiefly from the wild animals, as the jackals, which are very destructive. It is a very rude affair. Four poles are stuck in the ground, rafters are bound across their top, and in these are entwined boughs, cut from the oleanders by the water-courses, as a sort of open thatch, while larger branches, and sometimes scraps of matting, are placed in a sloping direction against them to shelter the occupant. As soon as the crop is gathered and the lodge forsaken, as Dr. Thomson observes, the poles will fall down or lean every way, and the green boughs with which it is shaded will be scattered by the winds, leaving only a ragged, sprawling wreck—a most affecting type of utter desolation.—Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 442.
XENOPHON. —How in the name of the gods shall we offer sacrifice with cheerfulness, if we are guilty of impiety?—.Anab., V., 7.
PLAUTUS. —These wicked persons entertain a notion that they are able to appease Jupiter with gifts and sacrifices: they lose both their labor and their money; for no petition of the perjured is acceptable to him.—Rudens,. Prolog., v. 22.
CICERO.—Let not the impious man attempt to appease the gods by gifts and offerings.—Let impious criminals listen to Plato, that they may not dare to attempt to propitiate the gods with gifts; for he forbids us to doubt what feelings God must entertain towards such, when even a good man is not willing to receive presents from a wicked one.—De Leg., lib. ii., c. 9, 16.
PERSEUS.—
No; let me bring the immortals, what the race
Of great Messala, now depraved and base,
On their huge charger, cannot;—bring a mind
Where legal and where moral sense are joined,
With the pure essence; holy thoughts that dwell
In the soul's most retired and sacred cell;
A bosom dyed in Honor's noblest grain,
Deep dyed;—with these let me approach the fane,
And Heaven will hear the humble prayer I make,
Though all my offering be a barley cake.
—Sat. II., y. 29-69.
Oaks of Bashan
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—Those who have traveled through Gilead and Basilan are familiar with magnificent forests of all the three species of oak in the districts where man is rare.... There are splendid forests of this oak (Q. pseudo-coccifera) in Gilead, and more open park-like woods of it in Bashan. In Mount Gilead and Ajlun, north of the Jabbok, we rode for many miles through a dense forest of this tree, which yields on the mountain tops to the pine, and lower down to the deciduous oak.—Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 369.
Bats and Moles
Isa. 20.—In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each man for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats.
PROF. J. G. Wool), M. A., F. L. S.—The Bats, mentioned in Scripture, are exceedingly unpleasant creatures. They absolutely swarm with parasitic insects. They are in the habit of resorting to caverns, clefts in the rocks, deserted ruins, and similar dark places, wherein they pass the hours of daylight, and will frequent the same spots for a long series of years. In consequence of this habit, the spots which they select for their resting-place become inconceivably noisome, and can scarcely be entered by human beings, so powerful is the odor with which they are imbued. Bearing this fact in mind we shall better understand the force of the prophecy that the idols shall be cast to the Bats and the Moles.—Bible Animals, p. 12, 13.
IDEM.—The Mole of Palestine is the Mole-rat of zoologists. The Mole-rat is fond of frequenting deserted ruins and burial-places, so that the Moles and the Bats are really companions, and as such are associated together in the sacred narrative. Here, as in many other instances, we find that closer study of the Scriptures united to more extended knowledge are by no means the enemies of religion, as some well-meaning but narrow-minded persons think. On the contrary, the Scriptures were never so well understood, and their truth and force so well recognized, as at the present day; and science has proved to be, not the destroyer of the Bible, but its interpreter. We shall soon cease to hear of "Science versus the Bible," and shall substitute " Science and the Bible versus Ignorance and Prejudice."—Bible Animals, p. 89.
The Righteous and the Wicked
PLATO.—I say that an honest and good man or woman is happy; but an unjust and wicked one is miserable.—Gorgias, c. 26.
IDEM.—It is absolutely necessary that he who does well should be blessed and happy; but that the wicked, and he who does ill, should be wretched.—Gorgias, c. 62.
LIVY.—How detestable such proceedings were in the sight of the gods, Perseus would feel in the issue of his affairs; for the gods always favored righteous and honorable dealings.—Liv., XLIV., c. 1.
Personal Ornaments
Isa. 18-23:—In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tiers like the moon, the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings, the rings, and nose-jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins, the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hood; and the veils.
PLAUTUS—(Speaking of the extravagances of the females of his day.) There stands the scourer, the embroiderer, the goldsmith, the woolen manufacturer, retail dealers in figured skirts, dealers in women's under-clothing, dyers in flame-color, dyers in violet, dyers in wax-color, or else sleeve-makers, or 'perfumers; there stand the wholesale linen drapers, shoemakers, and slipper makers; there are the sandal-makers, and stainers in mallow color; hair-dressers and botchers make their demands; bodice-makers stand there, makers of kirtles here, etc.—Aulul., Act III., sc. 10.
PLINY.—Silver has succeeded to gold in the luxury of the females who form bracelets for their feet of that, since an ancient custom forbids them to wear gold.—Nat. Hist., XXIII., 12.
ASSYRIAN' TABLETS AND RELICS.—The magnificence of the Assyrians is very apparent in the sculptures and other remains. The remains comprise terracotta and alabaster vases of elegant forms, gold ear-rings, glass bottles, carved ornaments in ivory and mother-of-pearl, engraved gems, bells, etc.; necklaces, combs, mirrors, etc.; while the sculptures represent to us embroidered garments of the richest kind, splendid head-dresses, armlets and bracelets, parasols, fans, musical instruments, etc.—Layard's Nin. and Bab., chap. 8, 25.
PAXTON. —Besides ornamental rings in the nose and ears Oriental females wore others round the legs, which made a tinkling as they went. This custom has also descended to the present times; for Rauwolf met with a number of Arabian women, on the Euphrates, whose ankles and wrists were adorned with rings, sometimes a good many together, which moving up and down as they, walked, made a great noise. Chardin attests the existence of the same custom in Persia, in Arabia, and in very hot countries, where they commonly go without stockings, but ascribes the tinkling sound 'to little bells fastened to those rings. In the East Indies, golden bells adorned the feet and ankles of the ladies from the earliest times; they placed them in the flowing tresses of the they suspended them round their necks, and to the golden rings which they wore on their' fingers, to announce their superior rank, and exact the homage they had a right to expect from the lower orders; and from the banks of the Indus, it is probable the custom was introduced into other countries of Asia. The Arabian females in Palestine and Syria delight in the same ornaments; their bodies are covered with a long blue shift; upon their heads they wear two handkerchiefs, one as a hood, and the other bound over it, as a fillet across the temples. Just above the right nostril, they place a small button, sometimes studded with pearl, a piece of glass, or any other glittering substance; this is fastened by a plug, thrust through the cartilage of the nose. Sometimes they have the cartilaginous separation between the nostrils bored for a ring, as large as those ordinarily used in Europe for hanging curtains; and this pendant in the upper lip covers the mouth, so that, in order to eat, it is necessary to raise it. Very ponderous rings are also placed in their ears.—Bible Illustrations, In loco.
SIR JOHN CHARDIN. —"And nose-jewels."—It is the custom in almost all the East for the women to wear rings in their noses, in the left nostril, which is bored low down in the middle. These rings are of gold, and have commonly two pearls and one ruby between, placed in the ring. I never saw a girl or young woman in Arabia, or in all Persia, who did not wear a ring in this manner in her nostrils.—In Harmer's Observations, IV., p. 318.
REV. J. ROBERTS.—" The changeable suits of apparel."—The Eastern ladies take great pride in having many changes of apparel, because their fashions never change. Thus the net brocades worn by their grandmothers are equally fashionable for themselves.—Orient. Illust., In loco.
WILLIAM ALDIS WRIGHT, M. A.—The Hebrew women on coming out of Egypt probably brought with them mirrors like those which were used by the Egyptians, which were made of mixed metal, wrought with such admirable skill, says Sir G. Wilkinson, that they were susceptible of a luster, which has even been partially revived at the present day, in some of those discovered at Thebes, though buried in the earth for many centuries. The mirror itself was nearly round, inserted into a handle of wood, stone, or metal, whose form varied according to the taste of the owner. Some presented the figure of a female, a flower, a column, or a rod ornamented with the head of Athor, a bird, or a fancy device. Such mirrors are mentioned by Chrysostom among the extravagances of fashion for which he rebuked the ladies of his time; and Seneca long before was loud in his denunciation of similar follies. Mirrors were used by the Roman women in the worship of Juno. And in the Egyptian temples it was the custom for the women to worship in linen garments, holding a mirror in the left hand and a sistrum in the right; and the Israelites, having fallen into the idolatries of the country, had brought with them the mirrors which they used in their worship.—Smith's Dict. of Bible 4. 1969.
Judea Capta
REV. ALBERT BARNES.-It is a remarkable coincidence that in the medals which were made by the Romans to commemorate the captivity of Judea and Jerusalem, Judea is represented under the figure of a female sitting in a posture of grief under a palm tree, with this inscription,—Judea capta—a tender and affecting image of desolation.—Note, In loco.
The Upper Pool
REV. J. P. NEWMAN, D. D.—Seven hundred yards above the Yâffa Gate is the "upper pool” of Gihon. It is situated at what may be properly called the head of the valley, which spreads out into an almost level plain. Around it is the oldest Moslem cemetery in the environs of Jerusalem. Like its companion (the Lower Pool), it is a large tank, 300 feet long, zoo feet wide, and twenty feet deep, formed of hewn stones laid in cement, and coated with the same. The bottom is reached by two flights of stone steps. Near the top a stone spout projects from the northern wall, through which the waters that come down the inclined plains around it flow into the pool.... Ahaz was standing here when the intelligence reached him that Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, were approaching Jerusalem to war against him; and in that critical moment the Lord said unto Isaiah, " Go forth now to Ahaz, "etc.—Dan to Beersheba, p. 102.
Messiah
LUKE.—Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God.—Luke 1:34, 3534Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:34‑35).
MATTHEW.—Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is, God with us.—Matt. 1:22, 2322Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (Matthew 1:22‑23).
Isa, 9:6.—For unto us a child is horn, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
ASSYRIAN INSCRIPTIONS.—We learn from the Inscriptions that when a city or kingdom was subdued, however near it might have been to Nineveh, when not actually forming a part of the imperial district, a new ruler was appointed to it with the title of " King," written in the same cuneiform characters on the monuments as when applied to the head of the empire. This fact illustrates the passage in Isaiah, "Are not my princes altogether kings? "—Layard's Nineveh and Babylon, p. 541.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—In this passage the prophet describes the effect of Messiah's reign in producing peace and tranquility on the earth. The description is highly poetical, and is one that is common in ancient writings in describing a golden age. The two leading ideas are those of peace and security. The figure is taken from the condition of animals of all descriptions living in a state of harmony, where those which are by nature defenseless, and which are usually made the prey of the strong, are suffered to live in security.... This prophecy has been in part fulfilled. Wherever the gospel has spread, its effect has been just that which is predicted here. It has calmed and subdued the angry passions of men; changed their feelings and their conduct; disposed them to peace; and tended to mitigate national ferocity, to produce kindness to captives, and to those who had been oppressed. It has mitigated laws that were cruel and bloody; and has abolished customs, games, sports and pastimes that were ferocious and savage. It has often changed the bitter persecutor, as it did Saul of Tarsus, to the mildness and gentleness of a lamb; and it has spread an influence over nations tending to produce humanity and benevolence. It has produced mildness, gentleness and love in the domestic circle; changed the cruel and lordly husband to a companion and friend; and the character of the stern and inexorable father to one of paternal kindness and peace. Wherever it has spread in truth, and not in form merely, it has shed a mild, calming and subduing influence over the passions, laws and customs of men. But its effects have been but partially felt; and we are led, therefore, to look forward to future times, when the prophecy shall be entirely fulfilled, and the power of the gospel shall be felt in all nations.—Note, in loco
The Red Sea
EDWARD STANLEY POOLE, M. R. A. S.—The most important change in the Red Sea has been the drying up of its northern extremity. The land about the head of the gulf has risen, and that near the Mediterranean become depressed. The head of the gulf has consequently retired gradually since the Christian era. Thus the prophecy of Isaiah has been fulfilled, "And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea." This tongue of the Red Sea has dried up for a distance of at least fifty miles from its ancient head; and a cultivated and well-peopled province has been changed into a desolate wilderness. An ancient canal conveyed the waters of the Nile to the Red Sea, flowing through the Wadi-t-Tumeylat and irrigating with its system of water-channels a large extent of country; it also provided a means for conveying all the commerce of the Red Sea, once so important, by water to the Nile, avoiding the risks of the desert journey, and securing water-carriage from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. The drying up of the head of the gulf appears to have been one of the chief causes of the neglect and ruin of this canal. The country, for the distance above indicated, is now a desert of gravelly sand, with wide patches about the old sea-bottom, of rank marsh land, now called the "Bitter Lakes" (not those of Strabo). At the northern extremity of this salt waste is a small lake, formerly called the "Lake of Heroöpolis," but now the " Lake of the Crocodile," and is supposed to mark the ancient head of the gulf.—Smith's Dict. of Bible, p. 2685.
Babylon
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—The destruction of Babylon took place in the night. It came suddenly upon the city while Belshazzar was at his impious feast; and the alarm was so unexpected and produced such consternation, that no defense was attempted.—Note, In loco.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—This is one of the places in which the prophet specified by name the instrument of the wrath of God. Cyrus himself is subsequently mentioned (Isa. 44:2828That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. (Isaiah 44:28)) as the agent by which God would accomplish his purposes. It is remarkable also that the " Medes" are here mentioned many years before they became a separate and independent nation. For more than five centuries the Medes were subject to the Assyrians; but in the time of Tiglathpileser and Shalmanezer, they revolted, and by the destruction of the army of Sennacherib before Jerusalem—an event which was itself subsequent to the delivery of this prophecy respecting Babylon—they were enabled to achieve their independence. But Cyrus, under whom the prediction of Isaiah respecting Babylon was fulfilled, did not become king until about the year 556 B. C.... In looking at this prophecy, therefore, we are to bear in mind (1) the fact that when it was uttered, Media was a dependent province of the kingdom of Assyria; (2) that a long time was yet to elapse before it would become an independent kingdom; (3) that it was yet to secure its independence by the aid of that very Babylon which it would finally destroy; (4) that no human foresight could predict these revolutions, and that every circumstance conspired to render this event improbable. The great strength and resources of Babylon; the fact that Media was a dependent province, and that such great revolutions' must occur before this prophecy could be fulfilled, render this one of the most striking and remarkable predictions in the Sacred Volume.—Note, In loco.
BISHOP LOWTH.—Which shall not regard silver; and as for gold they shall not delight in it. It is remarkable that Xenophon makes Cyrus open a speech to his army, and in particular to the Medes, who made the principal part of it, with praising them for their disregard of riches:—" Ye Medes and others who now hear me, I well know, that you have not accompanied me in this expedition with a view of acquiring wealth."—Note, In loco.
DR. A. KEITH.—Cyrus reckoned that his riches belonged not any more to himself than to his friends (Cyro., VIII., 516). And he made, as well as pronounced, it his object to use and not to hoard his wealth, and to apply it to the reward of his servants, and in relief of their wants. So little did he regard silver, or delight in gold, that Crœsus told him that by his liberality he would make himself poor, instead of storing up vast treasures to himself (Cyro., VIII., 482). The Medes possessed, in this respect, the spirit of their chief, of which an instance recorded by Xenophon is too striking and appropriate to be passed over. When Cobryas, an Assyrian governor, whose son the king of Babylon had slain, hospitably entertained him and his army, Cyrus appealed to the chiefs of the Medes and Hyrcanians, and to the noblest and most honorable of the Persians, whether, giving first what was due unto the gods, and leaving to the rest of the army their portion, they would not overmatch his generosity by ceding to him their whole share of the first and plentiful booty, which they had won from the land of Babylon. Loudly applauding the proposal, they immediately and unanimously consented, and one of them said: "Cobryas may have thought us poor, because we came not loaded with coins; and drink not out of golden cups; but by this he will know, that men can be generous even without gold " (Cyro., V., 289).—Evidence from Prophecy, p. 198.
HERODOTUS.—The city of Babylon stands on a broad plain, and is an exact square, a hundred and twenty furlongs in length each way, so that the entire circuit is four hundred and eighty furlongs. While such is its size, in magnificence there is no other city that approaches to it. It is surrounded, in the first place, by a broad and deep moat, full of water, behind which rises a wall fifty royal cubits in width, and two hundred in height. In the circuit of the wall are a hundred gates, all of brass, with brazen lintels and side-posts. The city is divided into two portions by the broad and deep and swift stream of the Euphrates, which runs through the midst of it. The center of each division of the city was occupied by a fortress. In the one stood the palace of the kings, surrounded by a wall of great strength and size; in the other was the sacred precinct of Jupiter Belus, a square enclosure two furlongs each way, with gates of solid brass. In the middle of the precinct there was a tower of solid masonry, a furlong in length and breadth, upon which was raised a second tower, and on that a third, and so on up to eight. The ascent to the top is on the outside, by a path which winds round all the towers. On the topmost tower there is a spacious temple, and inside the temple stands a couch of unusual size, richly adorned, with a golden table by its side. The Chaldees declare that the god comes down in person into this chamber, and sleeps upon the couch. Below, in the same precinct, there is a second temple, in which is a sitting figure of Jupiter, all of gold. Before the figure stands a large golden table, and the throne whereon it sits, and the base on which the throne is placed, are likewise of gold. The Chaldeans told me that all the gold together was 800 talents' weight. Outside the temple are two altars, one of solid gold; the other a common altar, but of great size, on which they burn frankincense to the amount of a thousand talents' weight, every year, at the festival of the god.—Book I., c. 178-183.
PLINY.—Babylon, the capital of all the nations of Chaldea, long enjoyed the greatest celebrity of all cities throughout the whole world: and it is from this place that the remaining parts of Mesopotamia and Assyria received the name of Babylonia. The circuit of its walls, which were zoo feet in height, was 60 miles. These walls were also 50 feet in breadth; reckoning to every foot three fingers' breadth beyond the ordinary measure of our foot. The river Euphrates flowed through the city, with quays of marvelous workmanship erected on either side. The temple there, of Jupiter Belus, is still in existence. In all other respects it has been reduced to a desert.—Nat. Hist., VI., 30.
PROF: GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—With the conquest of Cyrus commenced the decay and ruin of Babylon. The "broad walls" were then to some extent broken down, and the high gates burned with fire. Twice in the reign of Darius, and once in that of Xerxes, it had risen against the Persians, and made an effort to regain its independence. After each rebellion its defenses were weakened, and during the long period of profound peace which the Persian Empire enjoyed from the reign of Xerxes to that of Darius Codomannus they were allowed to go completely to decay. Its public buildings also suffered grievously from neglect. Alexander found the great temple of Belus in so ruined a condition that it would have required the labor of 10,000 men for two months even to clear away the rubbish with which it was encumbered. The removal of the seat of empire to Antioch under the Seleucidæ gave the finishing blow to the prosperity of the place. The great city of Seleucia, which soon after arose in its neighborhood, not only drew away its population but was actually constructed of materials derived from its buildings. Since then Babylon has been a quarry from which all the tribes in the vicinity have perpetually derived the bricks with which they have built their cities. Thus " the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency was overthrown as had been Sodom and Gomorrah."—Smith's Dict. of the Bible, p. 219.
DR. ALEXANDER KEITH.—About the beginning of the Christian era, a small portion of the site of Babylon was inhabited, but the far greater part was cultivated. In the second century nothing but the walls remained. It became gradually a desert place; and, in the fourth century, its walls, repaired for that purpose, formed an enclosure for wild beasts, and Babylon was converted into a field for the chase—a hunting—place for the pastime of Persian monarchs. The name and the remnant were cut off from Babylon; and there is a blank, during the interval of many ages, in the history of its mutilated remains and of its mouldering decay.—Evidence from Prophecy, p. 216.
MAJOR KEPPEL. —The eye wanders over a barren desert in which the ruins are nearly the only indication that it had ever been inhabited. It is impossible to behold this scene and not be reminded how exactly the predictions of Isaiah and Jeremiah have been fulfilled, even in the appearance Babylon was doomed to present, that " she should never be inhabited."—Narrative, p. 234.
SIR ROBERT K. PORTER.—There are many dens of wild beasts in various part (of these ruinous mounds.) In most of the cavities are numberless bats and owls. These caverns, over which the chambers of majesty may have been spread, are now the refuge of jackals and other savage animals. The mouths of their entrances are strewed with the bones of sheep and goats; and the loathsome smell that issues from most of them is sufficient warning not to proceed into the den.—Travels, Vol. II., p. 342.
MAJOR KEPPEL. —The mound was full of large holes; we entered some of them, and found them strewed with the carcasses and skeletons of animals recently killed. The ordure of wild beasts was so strong that prudence got the better of curiosity, for we had no doubt as to the savage nature of the inhabitants. Our guides, indeed, told us " that all the ruins abounded with wild beasts: so literally has the divine prediction been fulfilled, that wild beasts of the deserts should lie there."—Narrative, Vol. I., p. 179, 180.
HON. AUSTEN H. LAYARD, M. P.—The mound of Babel is the first great ruin seen on approaching ancient Babylon from the north. Beyond it long lines of palms hem in the Euphrates, which now winds through the midst of the ancient city. To the vast mound of Babel succeed long undulating heaps of earth, bricks, and pottery. A solitary mass of brick-work, rising from the summit of the largest mound, marks the remains known to the Arabs as the Mujelibe, or the " Overturned." Other shapeless heaps of rubbish cover for many an acre the face of the land. The lofty banks of ancient canals fret the country like natural ridges of hills. Some have long been choked with sand; others still carry the waters of the river to distant villages and palm groves. On all sides, fragments of glass, marble, pottery, and inscribed brick are mingled with that peculiar nitrous and blanched soil, which, bred from the remains of ancient habitations, checks or destroys vegetation, and renders the sight of Babylon a naked and hideous waste. Owls start from the scanty thickets, and the foul jackal skulks through the furrows. Truly, " the glory of kingdoms, and the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency is as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Wild beasts of the desert lie there; and their houses are full of doleful creatures; and owls dwell there, and satyrs dance there. And the wild beasts of the island cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces, for her day has come. "—Nineveh and Babylon; p. 453.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—On this whole prophecy we may observe, (1.) That it was uttered at least an hundred and seventy years before it was fulfilled. Of this there is all the proof that can be found in regard to any ancient writings. (2.) When uttered, there was the strongest improbability that it would be fulfilled. The great strength and security of Babylon rendered it improbable. It was the capital of the heathen world; and if there was any city that seemed impregnable it was this. It was improbable that it would be overthrown by the Medes. Media, at the time the prophecy was uttered, was a dependent province of Assyria, and it was wholly improbable that the Medes would revolt, and subdue their masters. It was improbable that Babylon would become uninhabitable. It was in the midst of a most fertile country; and by no human sagacity could it have been seen that the capital would be removed to Susa, or that Seleucia would be founded, thus draining it of its inhabitants. How could mere human sagacity have foreseen that there would not be a house left in it? Can any man now tell what London, or Paris, or New York, or Philadelphia will be two thousand years hence? Yet a prediction that those cities shall be the residence of " the wild beasts of the desert," of " satyrs," and " dragons," would be as probable now as was the prediction respecting Babylon at the time when Isaiah delivered these remarkable prophecies. (3.) The prophecy is not vague conjecture. It is not a general statement. It is minute, and definite, and particular; and it has been as definitely, and minutely,, and particularly fulfilled. (4.) This is one of the evidences of the Divine Origin of the Bible. How will the infidel account for this prophecy and its fulfillment? It will not do to say that it is accident: it is too minute, and too particular. It is not human sagacity: no human sagacity could have foretold it. It is not fancied fulfillment: it is real, in the most minute particulars. And if so, then Isaiah was commissioned by JEHOVAH, as he claimed to be—for none but the Omniscient JEHOVAH can foresee and describe future events as the destruction of Babylon was foreseen and described. And if this prophecy was inspired by God, by the same train of reasoning it can be proved that the whole Bible is a Revelation from heaven.—Note, In loco.
HESIOD.— Last, Lucifer sprang radiant from the dawn-appearing morn, And all the glittering stars that girt the heaven.—Theog., v. 381.
DR. ALEXANDER KEITH.—Several deep excavations have been made in different places into the sides of the Mujelibe; some probably by the wearing of the seasons; but many others have been dug by the rapacity of the Turks, tearing up its bowels in search of hidden treasure,—as if the palace of Babylon were cast out of its grave. Several penetrate very far into the body of the structure, till it has become as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword. And some, it is likely, have never yet been explored, the wild beasts of the desert literally keeping guard over them. The mound was full of large holes—thrust through. Near to the Mujelibe, on the supposed site of the hanging gardens which were situated within the walls of the palace, the ruins are so perforated in consequence of the digging for bricks, that the original design is entirely lost. All that could favor any conjecture of gardens built on terraces are two subterranean passages. There can be no doubt that both passages are of vast extent; they are lined with bricks laid in with bitumen, and covered over with large masses of stone. This is nearly the only place where stone is observable. Arches built upon arches raised the hanging gardens from terrace to terrace, till the highest was on a level with the top of the city walls. Now they are cast out like an abominable branch—and subterranean passages are disclosed,—down to the stones of the pit.—Evidence from Prophecy, p. 230.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—This was fulfilled—pools of water were actually formed—by Cyrus' diverting the waters of the Euphrates from their channel when the pity was taken, and by the fact that the waters never returned again to their natural bed, so that the region was overflowed with water.—Note, In loco.
DR. JOHN KITTO.—Now since Babylon has fallen, and Chaldea has become a desolation, the inundation, left to its own course, has formed at Babylon and elsewhere—on the Euphrates and Tigris—pools and marshes on spots once populated. We have ourselves seen mounds and hills of ruin rising like islets above the waters, and forming the chosen resort of pelicans and numerous water-fowl of every wing.—Pict. Bib. In loco.
PROF. J. G. WOOD, M. A., F. L. S.—Extensive and dingy pools are the chosen habitation of the Bittern. It is a bird of rude nature, where the land knows no character save that which the untrained working of the elements impresses upon it; so that when any locality is in the course of being won to usefulness, the bittern is the first to depart, and when any one is abandoned, it is the last to return. "The bittern shall dwell there" is the final curse, and implies that the place is to become uninhabited and uninhabitable. It bears not the whistle of the plowman, nor the sound of the mattock; and the tinkle of the sheep-bell, or the lowing of the ox, is a signal for it to be gone. By day this bird is silent, but after the sun has gone down it utters its strange wild cry, a sound which exactly suits the localities in which it loves to make its habitation. No more powerful figure could be imagined for the desolation of Babylon than the prophecy, "I will make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water." —Bible Animals, p. 463-466.
Moab
Isa. 16:8-108For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea. 9Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. 10And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease. (Isaiah 16:8‑10).—The fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal Plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness; her branches are stretched out (Heh. plucked tip), they are gone over the sea. Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field, and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses: I have made their vintage shouting to cease.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—The places mentioned in this passage were all towns in the heritage of Reuben, stretching from Heshbon in a line towards Rabbah. Jazer is marked by the ruins of Szir, twelve miles from Amman (Rabbah); Sibmah has not been rediscovered, while the extensive ruins of Heshbon and Elal (Elealeh), surmounting hills, are well known. From all of them the vine and the summer fruits have utterly perished; no human habitation remains in the wide district; not a tree or a shrub varies the scenery except some terebinths near Szir; and it was with difficulty that we could trace here and there the undulating grass-grown ridges that mark the old vine terraces of this desolate region. The only vineyards now remaining east of Jordan are a few round Es Salt.—Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 405.
REV. JOHN KITTO, D. D., F. S. A.—This verse of course refers to Moab, to which it applies most exactly, as the country may be said to be abandoned, except by the Bedouins, who pasture their flocks on the wild herbage of the once-cultivated plains, where the traces of ancient cultivation may be still discovered. As fine pastures, and peculiar advantages with regard to water, are often found in the neighborhood of the ruined towns, these ancient seats of a busy population have literally become places where flocks lie down. (See Burckhardt's Syria, p. 364, etc.) The reader will not fail to notice the marked distinction that the desolation of Moab is denoted by the circumstance that flocks should lie down in its once cultivated and populated sites; while that of Babylon is expressed by " neither shall the shepherds make their folds there." The cause of this we have explained, the desolation of Babylon having extended to its soil, which affords no pasture. At a time when Babylon and Moab were both in a flourishing condition, who but God himself could thus nicely have discriminated the character of their future desolation? Here are no vague generalities. Scripture does not say merely that this or that place shall at a future time be desolate; but it says how it shall be desolate, and how its desolation shall be distinguished from the desolations of other places. This is evidence strong and beautiful, and we cannot understand the conditions of that man's mind who can rise from it doubtful or unsatisfied.—Pict. Bib. In loco.
PROF. J. L. PORTER, A. M.—We observed in wandering through Hebrân, as we had done previously at Kerioth and other cities, that the large buildings,—temples, palaces, churches, and mosques,—are now universally used as folds for sheep and cattle. We saw hundreds of animals in the palaces of Kerioth, and the large buildings of Hebran were so filled with their dung that we could scarcely walk through them. This also was foreseen and foretold by the Hebrew prophets: of Moab Isaiah saith, " The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid."—Giant Cities of Bashan, p. 89.
Egypt
Isa. 18:1, 21Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: 2That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! (Isaiah 18:1‑2).—The land... that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of but rushes upon the waters.
THEOPHRASTUS.—The papyrus (here translated bulrushes) is useful for many things. For from this they make vessels, or ships.—History of Plants, 4, 9.
PLINY.—The papyrus grows either in the marshes of Egypt, or in the sluggish waters of the Nile. The Egyptians construct boats of it, and of the outer coat they make sails and masts and ropes. A papyrus grows also in the river Euphrates.—Nat. Hist., XIII., 22.
IDEM.—The navigation from the continent of India to Taprobane (probably Ceylon) was formerly confined to vessels constructed of papyrus, with the tackle peculiar to the Nile.—Ib., VI., 24.
DIODORUS SICULUS.—After the abdication of Sabacon, there was anarchy in Egypt for two years; but the people falling into broils and tumults and slaughter of one another, twelve of the chief nobility took upon them the regal power and authority. Psammeticus, one of the kings, whose province was upon the seacoast, being envied by the others on account of the wealth which he derived from commerce, made war upon him; but he, having hired soldiers from Arabia, gained a victory over them. Some of the kings were slain, and the rest fled into Africa; and Psammeticus gained possession of the whole kingdom. —Diod. Sic., I., 5.
Sargon
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—A difficulty used to be felt with respect to "Sargon, king of Assyria," who is said to have taken Ashdod, by the hand of one of his captains. Sargon's name is not contained in the historical books of Scripture, nor is he mentioned by any of the classical writers, who speak of Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon. The occurrence of his name in Isaiah was thought to indicate an irreconcilable difference between the historical data possessed by that prophet and those of the writer of Kings. Even his existence was doubted, and different writers proposed to regard his name as a mere variant for those of each of the three princes just mentioned. The Assyrian Inscriptions have completely cleared up all this obscurity. Sargon is found to have been the successor of Shalmaneser; the predecessor and father of Sennacherib. He speaks of having captured Ashdod. All that Isaiah says of him is confirmed; and it appears to have been quite accidental that the writer of Kings, who more than once alludes to him, does not mention his name.— Modern Skepticism, p. 287.
CYLINDER OF SARGON, found at Nineveh.—In my ninth expedition to the land beside the great sea, I went to Philistia and Ashdod. Azuri, king of Ashdod. hardened his heart not to bring tribute, and sent enemies of Assyria to the kings round him, and did evil. I broke his dominion over the people round him, and carried off.... From that time Ahimiti son of.... his brother, I raised before his face, and appointed him over his kingdom. I appointed over him taxes and tribute to Assyria like that of the kings round him.—Smith's Assyrian Discoveries, p. 289.
Desert of the Sea
HON. AUSTEN H. LAYARD, M. P.—Our tents were pitched at the northern corner of Kouyunjik, near some earthern banks and embrasures. It was the season of the Sherghis, or burning winds from the south, which occasionally swept over the face of the country, driving in their short-lived fury everything before them. Their coming was foretold by a sudden fall in the barometer, which rose again as soon as they had passed. It required the united exertions of my workmen to hold the flapping canvas of the large tent, whilst the smaller were generally carried far away, and their contents hurled in every direction over the mound or the plain.—Nineveh and Babylon, p. 315.
IDEM. —The greater part of the country below ancient Babylon has now been for centuries one great swamp. It is, indeed, what the prophet foretold it should be, " a desert of the sea." The embankments of the rivers, utterly neglected, have broken away, and the waters have spread over the face of the land.— Ibid., p. 480.
Capture of Babylon
Isa. 21:4, 54My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me. 5Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield. (Isaiah 21:4‑5).—The night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.—Prepare the table, watch in the watch-tower, eat, drink: arise ye princes, and anoint the shield.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—There can be no doubt that the prophet here refers to the night of revelry and riot in which Babylon was taken.... Herodotus (I., 91), Xenophon (Cyro., 7, 5), and Daniel (v.) all agree in the account that Babylon was taken in the night in which the king and his nobles were engaged in feasting and revelry. The words of Xenophon are, " But Cyrus, when he heard that there was to be such a feast in Babylon, in which alp the Babylonians would drink and revel through the whole night, on that night, as soon as it began to grow dark, taking many men, opened the dams into the river; " that is, he opened the dykes which had been made by Semiramis and her successors to confine the waters of the Euphrates to one channel, and suffered the waters of the Euphrates again to flow over the country so that he could enter Babylon beneath its walls in the channel of the river. Xenophon has also given the address of Cyrus to the soldiers. " Now," says he, " let us go against them. Many of them are asleep; many of them are intoxicated; and all of them are unfit for battle." Herodotus says (I., 191), " It was a day of festivity among them, and while the citizens were engaged in dance and merriment, Babylon was, for the first time, thus taken."... Knowing that the city was given up to revelry on that night, they had agreed to imitate the sound of the revelers until they should assemble around the royal palace in the center of the city. They did so. When the king heard the noise, supposing it was the sound of a drunken mob, he ordered the gates of the palace to be opened to ascertain the cause of the disturbance. When they were thus opened the army of Cyrus rushed in, and made an immediate attack on all who were within. (And thus were fulfilled in the king of Babylon the words of the prophet, " The night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me. —Notes, In loco.
Key of the Gate
JOSEPH BONOMI, F. R. S. L.—At the end of the chamber, just behind the first bulls, was formerly a strong gate, of one leaf, which was fastened by a huge wooden lock, like those still used in the East, of which the key is as much as a man can conveniently carry, and by a bar which moved into a square hole in the wall. It is to a key of this description that the prophet probably alludes, "And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder;” and it is remarkable that the word for "key" in this passage of Scripture, muftah, is the same in use all over the East at the present time. The key of an ordinary street door is commonly thirteen or fourteen inches long, and the key of the gate of a public building, or of a street, or quarter of a town, is two feet and more in length.—.Nineveh and its Palaces, p. 150.
Tyre
PROF. CHARLES ROLLIN.—Nabuchodonosor laid siege to Tyre, at the time Ithobalus was king of that city; but did not take it till thirteen years after, or B. C. 572. But before it was conquered, the inhabitants had retired, with most of their effects, into a neighboring island, where they built a new city. The old one was razed to the very foundation, and has since been no more than a village, known by the name of Palœ-Tyrus, or Ancient Tyre.—Ancient History, Vol. I., p. 526 (Harper's Ed.)
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—" No entering in,"—No harbor, no port; where ships could remain, and with which they could continue to trade. Tyre was once better situated for commerce, and had greater natural advantages, than any port in the Mediterranean. Those advantages have, however, to a great extent passed away, and natural causes combine to confirm the truth of the Divine predictions that it should cease to be a place of commerce.—Note, In loco.
DR. ROBINSON.—The inner port or basin of Tyre, on the north, was formerly enclosed by a wall, running from the north end of the island in a curve towards the main land. Various pieces and fragments of this wall yet remain, sufficient to mark its course; but the port itself is continually filling up more and more with sand, and now-a-days boats only can enter it.—Biblical Researches, Vol. III., p. 397.
REV. ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, D. D.—"A mournful and solitary silence now prevails along this shore which once resounded with the world's debate." This sentence with which Gibbon solemnly closes his chapter on the Crusades, well sums up the general impression still left by the six days' ride from Beyrout to Ascalon; and in this impression travelers have felt a response to the strains in which Isaiah and Ezekiel foretold the desolation of Tyre and Sidon. The Phenician power which the prophets denounced has entirely perished.—Sinai and Palestine, p. 266.
Thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
HOMER.—
Freighted with precious toys of every sort,
A ship of Zidon anchor'd in our port.
—Odyss., XV., 415.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—This is an address to Tyre in view of her approaching destruction; and is designed to signify that when the city was destroyed its inhabitants would flee to its colonies, and seek refuge and safety there. As Tarshish was one of its principal colonies, and as the ships employed by Tyre would naturally sail to Tarshish, the inhabitants are represented as fleeing there on the attack of Nebuchadnezzar. That the inhabitants of Tyre did flee in this manner is expressly asserted by Jerome upon the authority of Assyrian histories which are now lost. "We have read," says he, "in the histories of the Assyrians, that when the Tyrians were besieged, after they saw no hope of escaping, they went on board their ships, and fled to Carthage, or to some islands of the Ionian and Ægean Sea" (Jerome, in loco). And again he says, " When the Tyrians saw that the works for carrying on the siege were perfected, and the foundations of the walls were shaken by the battering rams, whatever precious things in gold, silver, clothes, and various kinds of furniture the nobility had, they put them on board their ships, and carried to the islands. So that the city being taken, Nebuchadnezzar found nothing worthy of his labor." Diodorus (xvii., 41) relates the same thing of the Tyrians during the siege of Alexander the Great, where he says that they took their wives and children to Carthage.—Note, In loco.
STRABO.—After Sidon the greatest and most ancient city of the Phenicians is Tyre, which is a rival to Sidon in greatness, and luster, and antiquity.—Strab., lib. xvi., c. 2.
QUINTUS CURTIUS.—Tyre is a city remarkable to posterity both for the antiquity of its origin, and for its frequent change of fortune.—Quint. Curt, lib. iv., c. 4.
ARRIAN.—The temple of Hercules at Tyre was the most ancient of those which the memory of men have preserved.—Arr., lib. ii., c, 16.
BISHOP NEWTON.—Justin, the epitomizer of Trogus, hath expressly informed us, that the Sidonians being besieged by the king of Ascalon, went in ships and built Tyre. But though Tyre was the "daughter " of Sidon, yet the daughter soon, equaled, and in time excelled the mother, and became the most celebrated place in the world for its trade and navigation, the seat of commerce and the center of riches.—Disserts. on Prophs., p. 548.
VITRINGA'S TRANSLATION.—Behold the land of the Chaldeans; a people that was of no account... yet this people hath reduced her (Tyre) to ruin.
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—Nebuchadnezzar (the Chaldean), having called in the aid of Cyaxares, king of Media, led in person the vast army—composed of the contingents of the two nations—which marched to chastise the rebels. He immediately invested Tyre, the chief of the Phoenician cities, but finding it too strong to be taken by assault, he left there a sufficient force to continue the siege, and marched against Jerusalem.... Tyre meanwhile continued to resist all the efforts that were made to reduce it, and it was not until the thirteenth year from the first investment of the place that the city of merchants fell. Tyre seems to have capitulated in the year 585 B. C.—Rawlinson's Herodotus, Vol. I., Essay VIII., c. 14.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—The duration of the Babylonian monarchy was properly but seventy years. Nebuchadnezzar began his conquest in the first year of his reign, and from thence to the taking of Babylon by Cyrus was seventy years. And at that time the nations that had been conquered and subdued by the Babylonians would be restored to liberty. Tyre was, indeed, taken towards the middle of that period, and its subjugation referred to here was only for the remaining part of it. "All these nations," says Jeremiah, "shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years." Some of them were conquered sooner and some later; but the end of this period was the common time of deliverance to them all.—Note, In loco.
BISHOP NEWTON.—Tyre was taken by Nebuchadnezzar in the thirty-second year of his reign, and in the year 573 B. C. Seventy years from thence will bring us down to the year 503 B. C., and the nineteenth year of Darius Hystaspes. At that time it appears from history that the Ionians had rebelled against Darius, and the Phoenicians assisted him with their fleets: and consequently it is reasonable to conclude that they were now restored to their former privileges. Disserts. on Prophs., p. 154.
Isa. 23:57, 58.—And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the Lord shall visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, etc.... And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—After the seventy years of desolation, the city should arise from its ruins, and resume her commerce and her gains. And at a future period in its history—not immediately—the true religion would prevail there, and her wealth would be devoted to the service of the Lord. That the true religion did prevail at Tyre subsequently to its restoration and rebuilding there can be no doubt. The Christian religion was early established at Tyre. It was visited by the Savior and by Paul. Paul found several disciples of Christ there when on his way to Jerusalem. It suffered much under the Dioclesian persecution.—Notes, In loco.
EUSEBIUS.—When the church of God was founded in Tyre, and in other places, much of its wealth was consecrated to God, and was brought as an offering to the church, and was presented for the support of the ministry agreeable to the commandments of the Lord.—Hist., lib. x., c. 4.
JEROME.—We have seen churches built to the Lord in Tyre; we have beheld the wealth of all, which was not treasured up nor hid, but which was given to those who dwelt before the Lord. For the Lord hath appointed, that they who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel. And how liberally and munificently the bishops and clergy were at that time maintained, how plentifully they were furnished with everything, no man can want to be informed, who is ever so little conversant in ecclesiastical history.—Hieron., in Is., c. 23.
Affliction
ÆSCHYLUS.— Such as owned No god till now, awestruck, with many a prayer, Adored the earth and sky.—Pers., v. 497.
MAXIMUS TYRIUS.—Admonished by their calamities, the Syracusans became more moderate in their pleasures.—Diss., 31.
EGYPTIAN PAPYRUS.—Hail to the Osiris N! Thine individuality is permanent. Thy body is durable. Thy mummy doth germinate. Thou art not repulsed from heaven, or earth. Thy face is illumined near the sun. Thy soul liveth near to Ammon. Thy body is rejuvenated near to Osiris. Thou dost breathe forever and ever.... Thy soul doth breathe forever and ever. Thou dost renew thy form on earth, among the living.—Book of the Breaths of Life; See Records of the Past, Vol. IV., p. 122.
Jerusalem Besieged
ASSYRIAN INSCRIPTIONS.—And Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the city to hem shim in, and raising banks of earth against the gates to prevent escape.—Annals of Sennacherib, in Rawlinson's Historical Illustrations, p. 142.
Idumea
MR. GEORGE GROVE.—Bozrah was known to Eusebius, who speaks of it in the Onomasticon as a city of Esau in the mountains of Idumea. There is no reason to doubt that the modern representative of Bozrah is el-Busaireh, which was first visited by Burckhardt, and lies on the mountain district to the south-east of the Dead Sea, between Tûfîleh and Petra, about half-way between the latter and the Dead Sea.—Smith's Dict. of Bible, p. 322.
BURCKHARDT.—Bozrah (Busaireh) is situated in the open plain, and is at present the last inhabited place in the southeast extremity of the Houran; it was formerly the capital of the Arabia Prouincia, and is now, including its ruins, the largest town in the Houran. It is of an oval shape, its greatest length being from east to west; its circumference is three-quarters of an hour. It was anciently encompassed with a thick wall, which gave it the reputation of great strength; many parts of this wall still remain. The south, and southeast quarters, are covered with ruins of private dwellings, the walls of many of which are yet standing, but the roofs are fallen in. On the west side are springs of fresh water, of which I counted five beyond the precincts of the town, and six within the walls.—Travels in Syria, p. 226.
PROF. J. LESLIE PORTER, M. A.—In the seventh century, the Mohammedan conquest gave a death-blow to the commerce and prosperity of Edom. Under the withering influence of Mohammedan rule the great cities fell to ruin, and the country became a desert. The followers of the false prophet were here, as elsewhere, the instruments in God's hands for the execution of his judgments.—Smith's Dict. of the Bible, p. 663.
VOLNEY.—From the reports of the Arabs of Bakir, and the inhabitants of Gaza, who frequently go to Maan and Karak, on the road of the pilgrims, there are to the southeast of the Dead Sea, within three days' journey, upwards of thirty ruined towns absolutely deserted. Several of them have large edifices, with columns that may have belonged to the ancient temples, or at least to Greek churches. The Arabs sometimes make use of them to fold cattle in; but in general avoid them on account of the enormous scorpions with which they swarm. —Travels, Vol. II., p. 344.
SCETZEN.—I was told that at the distance of two days and a half from Hebron I would find considerable ruins of the ancient city of Abde, and that for all the rest of the journey I would see no place of habitation; I would meet only with a few tribes of wandering Arabs.—Travels, p. 46.
BURCKHARDT.—Eastern Edom may with great propriety be called a stony desert, although susceptible of culture; in many places it is grown over with wild herbs, and must once have been thickly inhabited, for the traces of many towns and villages are met with on both sides of the Hadj road between Maan and Akaba, as well as between Maan and the plains of Houran, in which direction also are many springs. At present all this country is a desert, and Maan is the only inhabited place in it.—Travels, p. 436.
DR. ALEXANDER KEITH.—" None shall pass through it forever and ever "Volney, Burckhardt, Joliffe, Henniker, and Captains Irby and Mangles, not only give their personal testimony to the truth of the fact which corroborates this prediction, but also adduce a, variety of circumstances, which all conspire in giving superfluity of proof that Idumea, which was long resorted to from every quarter, is so beset on every side with dangers to the traveler, that none pass through it.—Evidence from Prophecy, is. 147.
DR. ALEXANDER KEITH.—Of all the ruins of Petra, “the city of Edom," the mausoleums and sepulchers are among the most remarkable, and they give the clearest indication of ancient and long-continued royalty, and of courtly grandeur.—" Great," says Burckhardt, "must have been the opulence of a city which could dedicate such monuments to the memory of its rulers."—But the long line of the kings and of the nobles of Idumea has for ages been cut off; they are without any representative now, without any memorial but the multitude and the magnificence of their unvisited sepulchers.— Evidence from Prophecy, p. 154.
Isa. 34 :11, 13, 14, 15.—But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it.... And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beast of the desert also shall meet with the wild beasts of the island; and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.
BURCKHARDT.—The bird Katta (cormorant) is met with in immense numbers; they fly in such large flocks, that the Arab boys often kill two or three of them at a time, merely by throwing a stick among them.—Travels, p. 406.
IRBY AND MANGLES.—Eagles, hawks, and owls were soaring in considerable numbers above our heads, seemingly annoyed at any one approaching their lonely habitation.—Travels, p. 415.
BURCKHARDT.—The fields of Tafyle (in the immediate vicinity of Edom) are frequented by an immense number of crows (ravens).—Travels, p. 405.
VOLNEY.—The ruins of Edom swarm with enormous scorpions.—Travels, Vol. II., 344.
SHAW.—The wilderness, of which the land of Edom now forms a part, abounds with a variety of lizards and vipers, which are very dangerous and troublesome. —Travels, Vol. II., p. 105, 338.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—This seems to be addressed to the inhabitants of the land, or to any who might doubt, or be disposed to examine. They are invited to compare the prediction with the fulfillment, and see how literally all would be fulfilled-an examination which may be made now, and the prediction will be seen to have been accomplished with most surprising particularity and accuracy.—Note, In loco.
STEPHENS.—I would that the skeptic could stand as I did, among the ruins of this city among the rocks (Petra), and there open the sacred book, and read the words of the inspired penman, written when this desolate place was one of the grandest cities in the world. I see the scoffer arrested, his cheek pale, his lip quivering, and his heart quaking with fear, as the ancient city cries out to him in a voice loud and powerful as one risen from the dead; though he would not believe Moses and the prophets, he believes the handwriting of God himself, in the desolation and eternal ruin around him. How terrible is the death of a city.—Incidents of Travel, Vol. II., p. 76.
Times of Messiah
MATTHEW.—And Jesus went about all Galilee, healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people.—Chapter 4:5 23.
IDEM.—And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet, and he healed them; insomuch that the multitude wondered when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see; and they glorified the God of Israel.—Chapter 15:30, 31.
Invasion of Sennacherib
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—The annals of Sennacherib, son and successor of Sargon, contain a full account of the campaign here recorded.—See Hist. Illust., p. 142, and the Testimonies given under 2 Kings 18:1313Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. (2 Kings 18:13), etc.
HON. AUSTEN H. LAYARD, M. P.—The bas-reliefs (in this chamber) represented the siege and sack of one of the many cities taken by the great king, and the transfer of its captives to some distant province of Assyria. The prisoners were dressed in garments falling to the calves of their legs, and the women wore a kind of turban. Although the country was mountainous, its inhabitants used the camel as a beast of burden, and in the sculptures it was represented laden with the spoil. The Assyrians, as was their custom, carried away in triumph the images of the gods of the conquered nation, which were placed on poles and borne in procession on men's shoulders. “Hath any god of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? " exclaimed the Assyrian general to the Jews. “Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? “They had been carried away with the captives, and the very idols that were represented in this bas-relief may be amongst those to which Rabshakeh made this boasting allusion.—Nineveh and Babylon, p. 294.
Isa. 37:2929Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. (Isaiah 37:29).—Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
HERODOTUS.—In this way passed by the water-carriers. Next to them came Psammenitus' son, and 2,000 Egyptians of the same age with him—all of them having ropes round their necks, and bridles in their mouths—and they too passed by on their way to suffer death for the murder of the Mytilenæans who were destroyed, with their vessel, in Memphis.—Thulia, c. 14.
JOSEPH BONOMI, F. R. S. L.—Passing out of the Hall of Judgment, (at Khorsabad,) and turning to our right, we find other slabs. Before the king, who is attended by his cup-bearer, scepter-bearer, and a third person, are three prisoners, wearing the sheepskin garment, the foremost of whom is kneeling in supplication; they are all fettered, and have the ring in the lower lip, to which is attached a thin cord held by the king.... Further on is a scene containing twelve figures, of whom four are prisoners, two standing, and two kneeling to the king. As in former bas-relievi, they have rings in their lips; and it is not a little remarkable that when Sennacherib, a successor of the founder of this palace, invaded Judea, the prophetic message sent by Isaiah in reply to the prayer of Hezekiah should contain the metaphor here embodied, and probably enacted in these very chambers—" I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest." —.Nineveh and its Palaces, p. 172-174.
Plaster of Figs
PLINY.—Figs are applied topically in all cases where sores require to be brought to a head or dispersed.—Hist. Nat., XXIII., 63.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—The fig still maintains its repute in the East as the best poultice; and its use is familiar among ourselves as efficacious for gum-boils.—Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 352.
Merodach-Baladan
Isa. 39:21.—At that time Merodach-Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters, and a present to Hezekiah.
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—The Canon of Ptolemy, as it is called, gives us the succession of Babylonian monarchs, with the exact length of the reign of each, from the year B. C. 747, when Nabonassar mounted the throne, to B. C. 331, when the last Persian king was dethroned by Alexander. This document, which from its close accordance with the statements of Scripture always vindicated to itself a high authority in the eyes of Christian chronologists, has recently been confirmed" in so many points by the Inscriptions that its authentic character is established beyond all possibility of cavil or dispute. In this list, the fifth is Mardocempalus, a monarch to whom great interest attaches, for he is undoubtedly the “Merodach-Baladan " of Scripture. The Assyrian Inscriptions show that after reigning twelve years Merodach-Baladan was deprived of his crown and driven into banishment by Sargon, who appears to have placed Arceanus upon his throne.—Smith's Dict. of the Bible, p. 217.
The Harbinger
MATTHEW.—In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.—Chapter 3:1-3.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—It was the practice of Eastern monarchs, whenever they entered upon a journey or an expedition, especially through a barren or unfrequented and inhospitable country, to send harbingers, or heralds, before them to prepare the way. To do this, it was necessary for them to provide supplies, and make bridges, or find fording places over the streams; to level hills, and construct causeways over valleys, or fill them up; and to make a way through the forest which might lie in their intended line of march.—Note, In loco.
ARRIAN.—Alexander now proceeded to the river Indus, part of the army going before, which made a way for him, for otherwise there would have been no mode of passing through that region.—Hist., 1. iv., c. 30.
OVID.—Wherever she appears, sink down ye swelling mountains, and ye paths through the crooked valleys grow smooth.—Amor., lib. ii., eleg. 16.
JOHN.—I am the good shepherd. By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.—Chapter 10:5, 9, 11, 14.
MARK.—Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not. He took them up in his arms, and put his hands upon them, and blessed them.—Chapter 10:14-16.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM.—The Eastern shepherd is often laden with the young lambs which are too tender to follow with the rest. I have often seen a shepherd carrying a lamb under each arm, and two or three more in the hood of his cloak as he led the flock.—Natural History of the Bible, p. 140.
The Almighty Creator
ÆSCHYLUS.—Make a distinction between the deity and mortal beings. Do not think him like any other body. He is incomprehensible.—Apud. Euseb., Prœp. Evang., 1. xiii., c. 13.
SENECA.—No one knows God, though many entertain strange and preposterous opinions of him, God, the most high and powerful, upholdeth all things. The likeness of 'God cannot be made of gold, or silver, or any such things.— Epist., 31.
Isa. 40 :22.—It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.
DR. THOMAS DICK—When we take a leisurely survey of the globe on which we dwell, and consider the enormous masses of its continents and islands, the quantity of water in its seas and oceans, the lofty ranges of mountains which rise from its surface, the hundreds of majestic rivers which roll their waters into the ocean, the numerous orders of animated beings with which it is peopled, and the vast quantity of matter enclosed in its bowels from every part of. its circumference to its center, amounting to more than 260,000 millions of cubical miles—we cannot but be astonished at the greatness of that Being who first launched it into existence, who " measures its waters in the hollow of his hand, who weighs its mountains in scales and its hills in a balance;" and who has supported it in its rapid movements, from age to age.—Improvement of Society, Section VI.
DR. THOMAS DICK.—When we direct our views to the planetary system, we behold three or four globes, which appear only like small studs on the vault of heaven, yet contain a quantity of matter more than 2,400 times greater than that of the earth; besides these there are more than a hundred lesser globes, many of which even are larger than our world; also several hundreds of comets, of various magnitudes, moving in every direction through the depths of space. The Sun is a body of such magnitude as overpowers our feeble conceptions, and fills us with astonishment. Within the wide circumference of this luminary more than a million of worlds, as large as ours, could be contained. His attractive energy extends to several thousands of millions of miles from its surface, retaining in their orbits the most distant planets and comets, and dispensing light and heat, and fructifying influence to more than a hundred worlds. What an astonishing idea, then, does it give us of the power of Omnipotence, when we consider that the universe is replenished with innumerable globes of a similar size and splendor! For every star which the naked eye perceives twinkling on the vault of heaven, and those more distant orbs which the telescope brings to view throughout the depths of immensity, are, doubtless, Suns, no less in magnitude than that which enlightens our day, and surrounded by a retinue of revolving worlds. Some of them have been reckoned by astronomers to be even much larger than our Sun. And the number of such bodies exceeds calculation.
Sir W. Herschel perceived in that portion of the Milky Way which lies near the constellation Orion no less than 50,000 stars, large enough to be distinctly numbered, pass before his telescope in an hour's time; besides twice as many more which could be seen only now and then by faint glimpses. It has been reckoned that nearly a hundred millions of stars lie within the range of our telescopes. And if we suppose, as we justly may, that each of these Suns has a hundred worlds connected with it, there will be found ten thousand millions of worlds in that portion of the universe which comes within the range of human observation; besides those which lie concealed from mortal eyes in the unexplored regions of space, which may as far exceed all that are visible, as the waters in the caverns of the ocean exceed in magnitude a single particle of vapor!
Of such numbers and magnitudes we can form no adequate conception. The mind is bewildered, Confounded, and utterly overwhelmed when it attempts to grasp the magnitude of the universe, or to form an idea of the omnipotent energy which brought it into existence. The amplitude of the scale on which the systems of the universe are constructed tends likewise to elevate our conceptions of the grandeur of the Deity. Between every one of the planetary bodies there intervenes a space of many millions of miles in extent. Between the sun and the nearest star there is an interval, extending in every direction, of more than twenty billions of miles; and it is highly probable that a similar space surrounds every other system. And if we take into consideration the immense forces that are in operation throughout the universe—that one globe, a thousand times larger than the earth, is flying through the regions of immensity at the rate of 30,000 miles an hour; another at the rate of 70,000 miles, and another at 100,000 miles an hour; and that millions of mighty worlds are thus traversing the illimitable spaces of the firmament—can we refrain from exclaiming in the language of inspiration, "Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty! "or fail to perceive the truth and force and fitness of the words. “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? "saith the Holy One. Improv. of Soci., Sec. VI.
Character of Messiah
MATTHEW.—And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him; and, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.—
Chapter 3:16, 17.
JOHN.—For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.—Chapter 3:34.
LUKE.—The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.—Chapter 4:18.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—How well this agrees with the character of the Lord Jesus, it is not necessary to pause to show. He was uniformly unostentatious, modest, and retiring. He did not even desire that his deeds should be blazoned abroad, but sought to be withdrawn from the world, and to pursue his humble path in perfect peace.—Note, In loco.
MATTHEW.—I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.—Chapter 9:13.
IDEM.—Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.— Chapter 11:28.
JOHN.—Him that cometh to me I will in nowise cast out.—Chapter 6:37.
MATTHEW. —Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.—Chapter 4:17-19.
Divine Challenge
Isa. 43: 9.—Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and show us former (the order of) things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or, let them hear, and say, It is truth.
W. R. COOPER, Sec. of Sod. of Bib. Archœology.—From the monuments of Assyria come to us fresh confirmations of the Old Testament; that mighty empire has witnessed for the truth of the Bible in an unexpected manner, and with no uncertain voice. From the ruins of her palaces has her history been disinterred, and from the mutilated walls of her temples have her theology and poetry been restored. The conquest of Palestine is recorded in the annals of Sennacherib, and the cylinder of Tiglath-pileser describes his invasion of Palestine. The names of Jehu, of Amaziah, of Hezekiah, of Omri, Ahaz and Uzziah, have been made out. The very clay which sealed the treaty between the kings of Judah and Assyria, with the impresses of their joint seals upon it, is preserved in the Nineveh gallery. The library of Assurbanipal, in 20,000 fragments, contains, among other scientific treatises, such as astronomical notices, grammatical essays, tables of verbs, genealogies, etc., an historic geographical account of Babylonia and the surrounding countries. As far as these fragments have been translated, the district and tribal names given in the Bible correspond very closely with them.—Faith and Free Thought, is. 236.
Chaldean Shipping
HERODOTUS.—The Babylonian district, like Egypt, is intersected by a number of canals, the largest of which, continued with a southeast course from the Euphrates to that part of the Tigris where Nineveh stands, is capable of receiving vessels of burden.... The boats which come down the river to Babylon are circular, and managed by two men who stand upright in them, each plying an oar, one pulling and the other pushing. The boats are of various sizes, some larger, some smaller; the biggest reach as high as 5,000 talents' burden.—Clio, c. 193, 194.
STRABO.—The country of the Babylonians is intersected by many rivers, the largest of which are the Euphrates and the Tigris: the Tigris is navigable upwards from its mouth to Opis, and to the present Seleucia. Opis is a village, and a mart for the surrounding places. The Euphrates is navigable up to Babylon, a distance of more than 3,000 stadia.—Strab., lib. xvi., c. 1.
Vanity of Idols
Isa. 44:14, 1514He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. 15Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. (Isaiah 44:14‑15).—He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
HORACE.—
In days of yore our godship stood
A very worthless log of wood
The joiner doubting, or to shape us
Into a stool, or a Priapus,
At length resolved, for reasons wise,
Into a god to bid me rise.
—Hor., lib. i., Sat. 8.
PLINY.—We see resplendent with the same ivory, the heads of the divinities and the feet of our tables.—Hist. Nat., XII., 2.
Cyrus and His Capture of Babylon
HERODOTUS.—Cyrus took Babylon by laying the bed of the Euphrates dry, and leading his army into the city by night, through the empty channel of the river.—See Herod., lib: i., c. 190, 191.
XENOPHON.—Cyrus used to say,—That the business of a good herdsman, and of a good king, were very nearly alike; for a herdsman ought to provide for the welfare and happiness of the herd, and make use of them consistently with the happiness of those creatures; and that a king ought in the same manner, to make men and cities happy, and in the same manner to make use of them. Cyrop., VIII., 2.
MAXIMUS TYRIUS.—Cyrus governed the Persians as a shepherd governs his sheep.—Dissert., 40.
XENOPHON.—Cyrus, finding the nations of Asia sovereign and independent of each other, and setting forward with a little army of Persians, obtained the dominion of the Medes by their own choice, and voluntary submission; of the Hyrcanians the same. He conquered the Syrians and Assyrians, the Arabs, Cappadocians, both Phrygians, the Lydians, Carians, Phenicians, and Babylonians. He ruled the Bactrians, Indians and Cilicians; in like manner the Sacians, Paphlagonians, and Megadinians, and many others whose names one cannot enumerate. He ruled the Greeks that were settled in Asia; and descending to the sea, the Cyprians and Egyptians.—Cyrop, lib. i., c. 1.
HERODOTUS.—In the circumference of the wall of Babylon, at different distances, were a hundred massy gates of brass, whose hinges and springs were of the same metal. The city, which abounds in houses from three to four stories in height, is regularly divided into streets. Through these, which are parallel, there are transverse avenues to the river, opened through the wall and breastwork, and secured by an equal number of little gates of brass. If the besieged had either been aware of the designs of Cyrus, or had discovered the project before its actual accomplishment, they might have effected a total destruction of these troops. They had only to secure the little gates which led to the river, and to have manned the embankment on either side, and they-might have enclosed the Persians in a net, from which they could never have escaped. As it happened, they were taken by surprise.—Clio, c. 179-191.
XENOPHON.—They that attended Gadatas and Gobryas in military order, found the doors of the palace shut, and they that were posted opposite to the guards fell on them and slew them. As soon as the noise and clamor began; they that were within perceiving the disturbance, and the king commanding them to examine into the cause of it, ran out, throwing open the gates. They that were with Gadatas, as soon as they saw the gates loose, broke in, pressing forward on the runaways, and dealing their blows amongst them.—Cyrop., lib. vii., c. 5.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—None but an Omniscient Being could have predicted, a hundred and fifty years before it occurred, that such an event would take place; and this is one of the many prophecies which demonstrate in the most particular manner that Isaiah was inspired.—Note, In loco.
HERODOTUS.—(Harpagus to Cyrus.)—Son of Cambyses, Heaven evidently favors you, or you could never have thus risen superior to fortune.—Clio, c. 124.
IDEM.—When Cyrus considered the peculiar circumstances of his birth, he believed himself more than human. He reflected also on the prosperity of his arms, and that wherever he had extended his excursions, he had been followed by success and victory.—Clio, c. 205.
EZRA.—Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem.—Chapter 1:2.
Isa. 45:33And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. (Isaiah 45:3).—And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
XENOPHON.—Croesus said to Cyrus, Suffer me to speak to such of the Lydians as I think fit, and to tell them that I have prevailed on you not to plunder nor to suffer our wives and children to be taken from us; but have promised you that, in lieu of these, you shall certainly have from the Lydians of their own accord, whatever there is of worth and value in Sardis. For whenever they hear this, I know they will bring out whatever there is of value here, in the possession of man or woman.—Cyrop., lib. vii., c. 2.
IDEM.—Cyrus then set forward from Sardis, taking Crœsus with him, and a great many wagons loaded with abundance of rich effects of all kinds. And Crœsus came to him with an exact account in writing of what was in each wagon. Cyrus entered the Royal Palace (at Babylon), and they that conveyed the treasures from Sardis delivered them up there.—Cyrop., lib. vii., c. 4, 5.
PLINY.—Cyrus, when he had conquered Asia, found a booty consisting of 24,000 lbs. weight of gold, in addition to vessels and other articles of wrought gold, as well as leaves of trees, a plane-tree and a vine, all made of that metal. It was through this conquest, too, that he carried off 500,000 talents of silver, as well as the vase of Semiramis, the weight of which alone amounted to 15 talents, the Egyptian talent being equal, according to Varro, to eighty of our pounds.—Hist. Nat., lib. xxxiii., c. 15.
PINDAR.—It is not good to contend against Heaven.—Pyth., II., 162.
REV. THOMAS S. MILLINGTON.—The oracles of the heathen gave their answers in secret; uttering them from the depths of some dark cavern, and in such doubtful language as very often to deceive those who consulted them. The dark saying of the oracle to Crœsus may very properly be contrasted with the open speech of God's prophets; inasmuch as it has some connection with this part of Isaiah's prophecies. “Crœsus," relates Herodotus (I., 53-86), " sent to inquire of the oracle at Delphi whether he might proceed against the Persians, and whether he should require the help of any allies. The answer was, that if he prosecuted a war with Persia he would overthrow a mighty empire." He did so and was conquered.—" The Persians obtained possession of Sardis, and made Crœsus captive, when he had reigned fourteen years, and after a siege of fourteen days; a mighty empire, according to the prediction of the oracle, being thus destroyed."—Test. of Heath., p. 390.
CICERO.—Apollo, monarch of the sacred center of the great world, full of thy inspiration, the Pythian priestesses proclaim thy prophecies. Chrysippus has filled an entire volume with your oracles, many of which I consider utterly false, and many others only true by accident. Others again are so obscure and involved that their very interpreters have need of other interpreters; and the decision of one lot have to be referred to other lots. Another portion are so ambiguous that they require to be analyzed by the logic of dialecticians.—De Div., lib. ii., c. 56.
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—In the famous denunciation of Isaiah (46:1) against Babylon, Bel and Nebo are spoken of as the two great objects of worship, precisely as Sargon, who was the contemporary of Isaiah, uses the names of Bel and Nebo in the account of his Babylonian sacrifice. —Rawlinson's Herod., Vol. I., p. 512, Note.
COLONEL RAWLINSON.—The discovery which I have now to announce is, that within the last few days the workmen employed in the service of the British Museum have disinterred from the ruins of the southeast palace at Nimroud a perfect statue of the god Nebo, inscribed across the breast with a legend of twelve lines, which states that the figure in question was executed by a certain sculptor of Calah, and dedicated by him to his lord, Phal-luka, king of Assyria, and to his lady, Sammuramit, queen of the palace.—Athenœum, for April 15, 1854.
XENOPHON.—The standard, or ensign, of Cyrus was a golden eagle, held on the top of a long lance.—Cyrop., lib. vii., c. I.
IDEM.—As the army of Cyrus approached the borders of Persia, an eagle appearing to the right led the way before them.—Cyrop., lib. ii., c. i.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—How truly this was fulfilled needs not to be told to those who are familiar with the history of Babylon. Its power was broken when Cyrus conquered it; its walls were reduced by Darius; Seleucia rose in its stead, and took away its trade, and a large portion of its inhabitants, until it was completely destroyed, so that it became for a long time a question where it had formerly stood.— Note, In loco.
HERODOTUS.—After its conquest by Cyrus, Babylon alone had to raise subsistence for him and his army for four months in the year-(in other words, had to take the millstones, and grind meal).—
See Herod., lib. i., c. 192.
Isa. 47:8, 98Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: 9But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. (Isaiah 47:8‑9).—Therefore bear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children and widowhood; they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
HERODOTUS.—(In the revolt of the Babylonians against. Darius, in order to save provisions that they might not be compelled to submission by famine, they took this measure)—Having first set apart their mothers, each man chose besides out of his whole household one woman, whomsoever he pleased; these alone were allowed to live, while all the rest were brought to one place and strangled. The women chosen were kept to make bread for the men; the others were strangled that they might not consume the stores.... Darius, however, through the stratagem of a Persian named Zopyrus, again took the city. And having become master of the place, he destroyed the wall, and tore down all the gates; for Cyrus had done neither the one nor the other when he took Babylon. He then chose out near 3,000 of the leading citizens, and caused them to be crucified, while he allowed the remainder still to inhabit the city. Further, wishing to prevent the race of the Babylonians from becoming extinct, he provided wives for them in the room of those whom they had strangled to' save their stores. These he levied from the nations bordering on Babylonia, who were each required to send so large a number to Babylon, that in all there were collected no fewer than 50,000. It is from these women that the Babylonians of our times are sprung.—Herod, lib. iii., c. 150-159.
CICERO.—Among the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, a tribe who had this name, not from any art which they professed, but from the district which they inhabited, by a very long course of observation of the stars, are considered to have established a complete science, so that it became possible to predict what would happen to each individual, and with what destiny each separate person was born.
De Divin., lib. i., c. I.
Messiah
MATTHEW. —And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.—Chapter 7:28, 29.
IDEM.—And it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence: and when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?—Chapter 13:54.
JOHN.—The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.—Chapter 7:46.
JOHN.—Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head. And they smote him with their hands.—Chapter 19:1, 3.
MARK.—And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face.—Chapter 14:65.
MATTHEW.—They bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.—Chapter 27:29, 30.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—This was done by all the testimonials of God in Messiah's favor—by the voice which spake from heaven at his baptism—by the miracles which he wrought, showing that he was commissioned and approved by God—by the fact that even Pilate was constrained to declare him innocent—by the wonders that attended his crucifixion, showing that " he was a righteous man," even in the view of the Roman centurion—and by the fact that he, was raised from the dead, and was taken to heaven, and placed at the right hand of the Father—thus showing that his whole work was approved by God, and furnishing the most ample vindication of his character from all the accusations of his foes.— Note, In loco.
Retribution
Isa.23.—Behold I will put it (the cup of trembling) into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.
TACITUS.—Whilst the empire of the East was possessed by the Assyrians, next by the Medes and Persians, the Jews were held the most despicable of all the enslaved nations.—Hist., lib. v., c. 8.
Messiah's Sufferings
Isa. 53: 2.—For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—The idea in this passage is plain. It is that the Messiah would spring up as from an ancient and decayed stock like a tender shoot. He would be humble and unpretending in his origin, and would be such that they, who had expected a splendid prince, would be led to overlook and despise him,—" as a root out of a dry ground "—unattractive in appearance. " He hath no form nor comeliness,"—no robes of royalty; no diadem sparkling on his brow; no splendid retinue; no gorgeous array. "And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him,"—he does not appear in the form which we had anticipated; he does not come with the regal pomp and splendor which it was supposed the Messiah would assume; he is apparently of humble rank, has few attendants, and has disappointed wholly the expectation of the nation. Can anything be more strikingly expressive of the actual appearance of the Redeemer as compared with the expectation of the Jews? Can there be found anywhere a more striking fulfillment of a prophecy than this? And how will the infidel answer the argument thus furnished for the fact that Isaiah was inspired, and that his record was true?—Notes, In loco.
MARK. —Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary? And they were offended at him.— Chapter 6:3.
JOHN.—Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?—Chapter 8:48.
IDEM.—He came to his own, and his own received him not.—Chapter 1:11
IDEM.—When the chief priests, therefore, and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Away with him, away with him.—Chapter 19:6-15.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—" He is despised and rejected of men."—This phrase is full of meaning, and in few words states the whole history of man in regard to his treatment of the Redeemer. The name, THE REJECTED OF MEN, will express all the melancholy history: rejected by the Jews; by the rich; the great and the learned; by the mass of men of every grade, and age, and rank. No prophecy was ever more strikingly fulfilled; none could condense more significance into few words.—Note, In loco.
MATTHEW.—Jesus began to show unto his disciples how he must suffer many things and be killed.—Chapter 16:21.
MARK.—Being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.—Chap. 3:5.
LUKE. —He beheld the city, and wept over it.—Chapter 19:41.
IDEM.—Being in an agony, his sweat was as it were great drops of blood, falling down to the ground.—Chapter 22:44
JOHN.—He groaned in spirit, and was troubled.... Jesus wept.—Chapter 11:33, 35
MATTHEW.—He hath spoken blasphemy.... He is guilty of death.—Chapter 26:65, 66.
JOHN.—We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.—Chapter 19:7.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—" But he was wounded "—perforated, or pierced: applied to the actual sufferings of the Messiah, this refers undoubtedly to the piercing of his hands, and his feet, and his side. " He was bruised for our iniquities "—broken down, or crushed: the meaning is, that he was under such a weight of sorrows on account of our sins, that he was, as it were, crushed to the earth. How true this was of the Lord Jesus it is not necessary here to pause to show.—Notes, In loco.
LUKE.—I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!— Chapter 12:50.
MATTHEW.—Then said he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.—Chapter 26:38.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—" His stripes "—weals, the marks or prints of blows on the skin: the obvious and natural idea conveyed by the word here is, that the individual referred to would be subjected to some treatment that would cause such weals or stripes; that is, that he would be beaten or scourged. How literally this was applicable to the Lord Jesus it is unnecessary to attempt to prove.—Notes, In loco.
MATTHEW.—Then released he Barabbas unto them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.... And they took the reed and smote him on the head.—Chapter 27:26, 30.
Isa. 53: 6.—All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—So it was, and is, with man. The bond which should have united him to the Great Shepherd, the Creator, has been broken, We have become lonely wanderers, where each one pursues his own interest; forms his own plans; and seeks to gratify his own pleasures, regardless of the interest of the whole. If we had not sinned, there would have been a common bond to unite us to God and to each other. But now we, as a race, have become dissocial, selfish, following our own pleasures, and each one living to gratify his own passions. What a true and graphic description of man! How has it been illustrated in all the selfish schemes and purposes of the race! And how is it still illustrated every day in the plans and actions of mortals!—Notes, In loco.
MATTHEW.—When he was accused he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word.— Chapter 27:12-14.
MARK.—He held his peace, and answered nothing.—Chapter 14:61.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—" He opened not his mouth "—This means that he was perfectly quiet, meek, submissive, patient. He did not open his mouth to complain of God on account of the great sorrows which he had appointed to him; nor to God on account of his being ill-treated of man. He did not use the language of reviling when he was reviled, nor return on men evils which they were inflicting on him. How strikingly and literally was this fulfilled in the life of the Lord Jesus! It would seem almost as if it had been written after he Eyed, and was history rather than prophecy. In no other instance was there ever so striking an example of perfect patience; no other person ever so entirely accorded with the description of the prophet.—Note, In loco.
Isa. 53: 7.—He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—As a lamb which is led to be killed is patient and silent, so was he. He made no resistance. He uttered no complaint. He suffered himself to be led quietly along to be put to death. What a striking and beautiful description! How tender and how true! We can almost see here the meek and patient Redeemer led along without resistance; and amidst the clamor of the multitude that were assembled with various feelings to conduct him to death, himself perfectly silent and composed. With all power at his disposal, yet as quiet and gentle as though he had no power; and with a perfect consciousness that he was going to die, as calm and as gentle as though he were ignorant of the design for which they were leading him forth.—Notes, In loco.
REV. THOMAS SCOTT, D. D.—The chief priests and scribes did not cast our Lord into prison, and then after a time give him a fair trial, according to law and custom (from him were taken both); but, without delay, they delivered him to Pilate, and urged his immediate execution.—Note, In loco.
JOHN.—And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: where they crucified him.... When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.—Chapter 19:17-30.
HENGSTENBERG'S TRANSLATION: They appointed him his grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man after his death.
BISHOP LOWTH'S TRANSLATION: And his grave was appointed with the wicked, but with the rich man was his tomb.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—How remarkably was this fulfilled! As a matter of course, since Jesus Christ was put to death with wicked men, he would naturally have been buried with them, unless there had been some special interposition in his case. He was given up to be treated as a criminal; he was made to take the vacated place of a murderer—Barabbas—on the cross; he was subjected to the same indignity and cruelty to which the two malefactors were; and it was evidently designed also that he should be buried in the same manner, and probably in the same grave.—Note, In loco.
MAIMONIDES.—Those who are condemned to death by a judicial tribunal are not interred in the sepulchers of their ancestors, but two places of burial are appointed by the court—one for those stoned and burned, and another for those beheaded and strangled.—In Brown's Sufferings and Glories of the Messiah, p. 287.
JOSEPHUS.—Let him who blasphemes God be stoned, and then hanged for a day, and let him have a disgraceful and obscure burial.—Antiq., IV., c. 8, § 6.
DR. JOHN BROWN.—It is indeed highly probable that as the bodies could not, without a violation of the Mosaic law, hang on the cross all night, the common grave was already dug. His grave was prepared for him with the malefactors. But our Lord died sooner than was usual in such cases-died before the time fixed for taking the bodies down and burying them; and this gave opportunity for an application being made and granted, while it fulfilled the 'latter part of the prediction,—" But he was with a rich man in his dead state." —Sufferings and Glories of the Messiah, p. 287.
MARK. —And now when the even was come (because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counselor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate marveled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulcher, which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulcher.—Chapter 15:42-47.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—How different this from the interment of malefactors! How different from the way in which he would have been buried if he had been interred with them as it had been designed (and as had been the legal custom)! And how very striking and minutely accurate this prophecy in circumstances which could not possibly have been the result of conjecture! How could a pretended prophet, 700 years before the event occurred, conjecture of one who was to be executed as a malefactor, and with malefactors, and who would in the ordinary course of events be buried with malefactors, conjecture that he would be rescued from such an ignominious burial by the interposition of a rich man, and buried in a grave designed for a man of affluence, and in the manner in which the wealthy are buried?—Note, In loco.
PILATE.—Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man, touching those things whereof ye accuse him; no, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him.— Luke 23:13-1513And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: 15No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. (Luke 23:13‑15).
PETER.—Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.—1 Pet. 2: 21, 22.
MATTHEW.—My Soul, is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.—Chapter 26:38.
JOHN.—Now is my Soul, troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.—Chapter 12:27.
IDEM.—He bowed his head and gave up the GHOST.—Chapter 19:30.
MARK.—After the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.—Chapter 16:19.
LUKE.—But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, etc.... And the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.—Acts 2:14, 4114But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: (Acts 2:14)
41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:41).
JOHN.—After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. —Rev. 7:99After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; (Revelation 7:9).
MATTHEW. —Then were two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another On the left.—Chapter 27:38.
LUKE.—Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.—Chapter 23:34.
Additional Remarks on this Chapter.
THE COMPILER.—The predictions of Isaiah, according to the commonly received chronology, were delivered between the years 760 B. C. and 698 B. C. But if any doubt existed concerning these dates, other facts there are, undisputed and indisputable, that prove the long priority of the prophecy to the events it refers to. And so far as the argument with infidelity is concerned, it is immaterial whether it was written 700 years, or loo years before the events took place; is still a prophecy, and no less a proof of inspiration. The Book of Isaiah, in common with the rest of the Old Testament Scriptures, was quoted by various writers, and even translated into different languages, long before the Christian era. It was found both in the Chaldee and the Greek languages thus early. The work of translation into Greek was commenced at Alexandria, 280 B. C.; or more than three centuries before the commencement of the public ministry of Jesus. That this 53rd chapter of Isaiah, embracing so many marked particulars concerning the Messiah, was, therefore, written and delivered to the world centuries before the birth of Christ stands a demonstrated and admitted fact before the world.—See Stromata, lib. v.; Prœp. Evang., lib. xiii.; and Smith's Did., art. "Septuagint."
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—1. The first remark I make is, The minute accuracy of the statements, made in this chapter, as applicable to the Lord Jesus. While it is apparent that there has been no other being on earth, and no “collective body of men," to whom this can be applied, it is evident that the whole statement is applicable to the Redeemer. It is not the general accuracy to which I refer; it is not that there is some resemblance in the outline of the prediction; it is that the statement is minutely accurate. It relates to his appearance, his rejection, the manner of his death, his being pierced, his burial. It describes as minutely as could have been done after the events occurred, the manner of his trial, of his rejection, the fact of his being taken from detention and by a judicial sentence, and the manner in which it was designed that he should be buried, and yet the remarkable fact that this was prevented, and that he was interred in the manner in which the rich were buried.
This coincidence could never have occurred if the Lord Jesus had been an impostor. To say nothing of the difficulty of attempting to fulfill a prediction by imposture and the general failure in the attempt, there are many things here which would have rendered any attempt of this kind utterly hopeless. A very large portion of the things referred to in this chapter were circumstances over which an impostor could have no control, and which he could bring about by no contrivance, no collusion, and no concert. They depended on the arrangements of Providence, and on the voluntary actions of men, in such a way that he could not affect them. How could he so order it as to grow up as a root out of a dry ground; to be despised and rejected of men; to be taken from detention and from a judicial sentence though innocent; to have it designed that he should be buried with malefactors, and to be numbered with transgressors, and yet to be rescued by a rich man and placed in his tomb? This consideration becomes more striking when it is remembered that not a few men claimed to be the Messiah, and succeeded in imposing on many, and though they were at last abandoned or punished, yet between their lives and deaths and the circumstances here detailed there is not the shadow of a coincidence. It is to be remembered also that an impostor would not have aimed at what would have constituted a fulfillment of this prophecy. Notwithstanding the evidence that it refers to the Messiah, yet it is certain also that the Jews expected no such personage as that here referred to. They looked for a magnificent temporal prince and conqueror; and an impostor would not have attempted to evince the character, and to go through the circumstances of poverty, humiliation, shame and sufferings, here described. What impostor ever would have attempted to fulfill a prophecy by subjecting himself to a shameful death? What impostor could have brought it about in this manner if he had attempted it? No. It was only the true Messiah that either would or could have fulfilled this remarkable prophecy. Had an impostor made the effort, he must have failed: and it was not in human nature to attempt it under the circumstances of the case. All the claims to the Messiahship by impostors have been of an entirely different character from that referred to here.
We are then prepared to ask an infidel how he will dispose of this prophecy. That it existed 700 years before Christ is as certain as that the poems of Homer or Hesiod had an existence before the Christian era; as certain as the existence of any ancient document whatever. It will not do to say that it was forged—for this is not only without proof, but would destroy the credibility of all ancient writings. It will not do to say that it was the result of natural sagacity in the prophet—for whatever may be said of conjectures about empires and kingdoms no natural sagacity can tell what will be the character of an individual man, or whether such a man as here referred to would exist at all. It would not do to say that the Lord Jesus was a cunning impostor, and resolved to fulfill this ancient writing, and thus establish his claims—for as we have seen, such an attempt would have belied human nature, and if attempted, could not have been accomplished. It remains then to ask what solution the infidel will give of these remarkable facts. We present him the prophecy—not a rhapsody, not conjecture, not a general statement; but minute, full, clear, unequivocal, relating to points which could not have been the result of conjecture, and over which the individual had no control. And then we present him with the record of the life of Jesus—minutely accurate in all the details of the fulfillment—a coincidence as clear as that between a biography and the original—and ask him to explain it. And we demand a definite and consistent answer to this. To turn away from it does not answer it. To laugh does not answer it—or there is no argument in a sneer or a jibe. To say that it is not worth inquiry is not true, for it pertains to the great question of human redemption. But if he cannot explain it, then he should admit that it is such a prediction as only God could give, and that Christianity is true.—Notes on Isaiah, Vol. II., p. 292.
JOHN.—For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear WITNESS unto the truth.—Chapter 18:37.
ÆSCHYLUS.—God is not like mortals: beware how you deem him to resemble any other body.—Apud. Euseb. Prœp. Evang., XIII., 13.
PLUTARCH.—There is no manner of resemblance between God and a human being, either in his nature, his wisdom, his power, or his operations. If therefore he performs something which we cannot effect, and execute what with us is impossible, there is nothing in this contradictory to reason: since, though he far excels us in everything, yet the dissimilitude and distance between him and us, appears most of all in the works which he hath wrought.—Coriolan., c. 38.
The Wicked
PLATO.—The man who discovers in his own life much of iniquity is constantly starting in his sleep and full of terrors; and lives with scarcely a hope of the future.—De Re,., lib. i., c. 5.
ARISTOTLE.—The wicked have no stability; for they do not remain consistent ever with themselves.—Eth., lib. viii., c. 8.
CICERO.—Nobody can be happy without virtue.—De Nat. Deer., I., 18.
SENECA.—Conscience will not suffer the wicked to rest. He is punished who only expects punishment, and he who deserves it expects it. Even his dreams disturb him.—Epist., 105.
JUVENAL.—No bad man is ever happy.—Sat., IV., v. 8.
True Fast
Isa. 58:6, 76Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? (Isaiah 58:6‑7).—Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
LIVY.—(This ancient writer gives the following description of a national Fast at Rome on the occasion of a famine and pestilence which visited that city);—The doors were thrown open in every part of the city; everything was exposed in public to be used in common: passengers, whether known or unknown, were universally invited to lodgings: and even people who had been at variance, refraining from animosity and ill-language, conversed together with complaisance and kindness. During those days, too, such as were in confinement were set at liberty; and afterward people were deterred by a religious scruple from imprisoning those persons to whom the gods had brought such deliverance.— Liv., lib. v., c. 13.