upon the whole, I accede to the opinion of Dr. Blaney, that 66 a new section commences here, but not a new prophecy: for, as far as we can judge," he observes, "of a prophecy before its accomplishment, it appears to be a continuation of the same subject which was entered upon at the beginning of chapter the twelfth, namely, the alarming invasion of Judah and siege of Jerusalem, by a numerous body of heathen nations. This, however, was soon broken off, in order to relate the means by which God would compass the deliverance of his people, and the blessed consequences thereof. But now the prophet reverts back to the time of the invasion, and notices some distressing circumstances which would attend its commencement; the first of these is specified in the remaining part of this chapter, by which we find, that the war would be so destructive that two-thirds of the people would be cut off, but that the remains, after struggling through various difficulties, would at length become converts to the Christian faith, and be again taken into the covenant with God."

Such is Dr. Blaney's view of this difficult passage. He thinks that our Saviour refers to it as to a proverbial saying, laying it down as a matter of course, for "the followers to disperse when their leader was taken off." Who the leader and the flock may be in this prophecy of future times, it is not easy to say. It seems, most probably, to denote the restored Israel, either that part led through the desert, or that part found by the adversary at Jerusalem. The head of their state or community, it seems, is cut off, with two-thirds of the people. The remaining third, reduced by various suffering, is acknowledged as the people of God. The prophecy may, possibly, refer to the Gentile churches and the spiritual head of apostate

Christendom, marked as the aspiring rival of the good Shepherd: but I rather incline to the former conjecture, from a comparison of the other Scriptures which relate to the sufferings of Israel in the troubles of the last days, and at the last siege of Jerusalem, Psalms 1., Ixviii.; Isaiah, xlii. 22; Amos, ix. 10; Hosea, ii. 14, &c.; Jeremiah, xxxi. 2; Ezek. xx. 35, &c.

CHAPTER XIV.

1. BEHOLD a day cometh to Jehovah,

When thy spoil shall be divided within thee;

2. And I will gather all nations,

Against Jerusalem to war;

And the city shall be taken, and the houses plundered,
And the women defiled;

And a division of the city shall go into captivity,

But the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.'

We have here most clearly a detailed account of the circumstances of the last siege of Jerusalem, answering to the remoter view which several prophecies, already considered, took of this important crisis. * Jerusalem is in the very grasp of the enemy, and a division is actually sent into captivity after ransacking the city:- at this decisive moment, the expected Deliverer comes out of Zion:

"Si illi, qui post urbem expugnatam superstites erunt non delebuntur ex urbe, ergo ipsa urbs

non delebitur

ergo hæc relin

quenda sunt ad tempora redditûs Judæorum."- HOUBIGANT.

"Judæi hæc sub Gog dicunt

esse complenda. - HIERON.

* Isaiah, xxix. Compare chap. li. 12, &c. Micah, iv. 11, &c.

3. And Jehovah shall go forth and fight against those nations, As at the day when himself fighteth, in the day of conflict. 4. And his feet shall stand in that day

Upon the Mount of Olives,

Which is opposite to Jerusalem to the east:

And Jehovah, my Elohim, shall come,
And all his saints with him.

Thus Archbishop Newcombe renders the last two lines, on the authority of the versions and manuscripts mentioned in his notes: Dr. Blaney renders differently:

"And Jehovah, God of all saints, shall go

with thee."

He observes, "This is a literal translation of the text as it now stands, and affords a sense beyond exception or improvement. The address is here to Jerusalem, in the second person, and God, as the God of all holy ones,' will march with her as her Ally and Auxiliary." Here we clearly recognise the fulfilment of former oracles :

6

"Behold, the Lord cometh from heaven with his holy myriads," &c. &c.

And the Mount of Olives shall be rent through,
In the midst thereof, eastward and westward,
"So that there shall be" a very great valley:

And half the mountain shall recede towards the north,
And half of it towards the south.

5. And the valley of the mountains shall be choked up,'
For the valley of the mountains will reach near.

The Septuagint, Chaldee, and Arab. make the præter in niphal of the verb and. See

"shall be

Blaney, who renders
choked up." For x, compare
1 Sam. xx. 19.

As it was choked up by the earthquake,
In the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.'

I understand this to be a literal description of a convulsion of nature, acknowledging the presence of the Deity, when the great Redeemer first manifests himself at Jerusalem, and conceive it to be only a more circumstantial prophecy of what has been intimated by former oracles.

6. "And it shall come to pass in that day,

There shall not be a bright-light and darkness;*

7. But there shall be one day:

This is known unto Jehovah.

There shall not be day, and there shall not be night,
But it shall come to pass that at eventide there shall be light."

Such is the translation of Archbishop Newcombe. The meaning I take to be simply this: At the time predicted, as far as regards the holy mountains of the Lord's house, there shall no longer be the ordinary vicissitudes of day and night. "There shall not be brightening light, neither

The Scripture is altogether silent in respect to this earthquake, except that it is just mentioned as an era or date, Amos, i. 1. Josephus describes it as having taken place when Uzziah invaded the priestly office and was smitten with leprosy, and adds, " before the city, at a place called the Cleft, one-half of the mountain on the western side was broken off, and having rolled four furlongs towards the eastern mountain, stopped; so that the roads were choked up, and the king's gardens," &c.

shall there be condensing darkness," but all shall be one entire day; not day and night as now, or as then, perhaps, to the rest of the earth,- but at the time of even light shall still appear to shine, even the glory of Jehovah. This is parallel to what we have read before, Isaiah, lx. :—

19. It shall continue to be to thee the sun for a light by day,

Nor, on her shining, shall' the moon give light to thee:

Thy sun shall no more go down,

Nor shall thy moon be withdrawn ;

For Jehovah shall be to thee an everlasting light,

And the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

I may, therefore, venture to translate the two verses before us somewhat paraphrastically, as follows:

6. And it shall come to pass in that day,

There shall not be brightening light and condensing dark

ness;

6

7. But there shall be one continued' day,

It shall know'' the glory of Jehovah!

Not day' growing warm,' nor night involving in dark

But it shall be, that at eventide there shall be light.

To proceed:

8. And it shall come to pass in that day,

or

That running waters shall go out from Jerusalem;

A portion of them towards the eastern sea,
And a portion of them towards the western sea;
Bothin' summer and winter shall this be.

We have already anticipated the exposition of this

"Perceive," " acknowledge,"

recognise,""_" be conscious of," or "experience."

* See the radical meanings of

.ליל and יום