Elijah the Tishbite bursts upon
us with the suddenness of the whirlwind in which he disappears. From first to last
he is a man of mystery. Who was his father? Who was his mother? These questions
must remain unanswered. Perhaps, like Melchizedek, he had no parents at all. Where
did he come from? From Gilead. That much seems certain. But that renders his designation
of the Tishbite unintelligible. For no such place as Tishbeh is known of in Gilead,
that is, in the mountainous district east of the Jordan. The only name resembling
it is Thisbé in Naphtali, which is mentioned in
The Hebrew name of the prophet, 'Yahweh is God,' is so appropriate to the cause he maintained that it looks as if it may have been assumed by himself, or assigned to him by the popular voice, as significant of his teaching, rather than borne by him originally. If it was so borne, it would seem to show that he came of a stock already devoted to the same cause. Perhaps it was given to him in the Schools of the Prophets.
Elijah's first appearance on the scene is in the capacity of a great rain-maker, claiming as the mouthpiece of Jehovah to have control over the weather—'As the Lord, the God of Israel, liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.' It is implied, in accordance with the prophetic view of nature and history, that the rain is withheld on
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Ethbaal was a priest of Astarte, who obtained the throne of Tyre by slaying Pheles, who himself had purchased by fratricide a reign of eight months.1 He reigned for thirty-two years and was succeeded by his son and grandson, who between them only occupied fifteen years. To the latter succeeded Pygmalion, who, according to the historian of Tyre, lived fifty-six years and reigned forty-seven. It was in his seventh year, according to the same authority, that his sister founded Carthage. Thus it would appear from Menander that Ethbaal's daughter, whom Ahab married, was an elder contemporary of Dido, and presumably of the same family, since Pygmalion can hardly be supposed to have usurped the throne at the age of nine. If Pygmalion was the son of his predecessor Metten, then Jezebel must have been grand-aunt, and her daughter Athaliah first-cousin once removed, to Eliza, who is known to us as Dido.
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Isabel or Jezebel, the daughter of the priest of Astarte, was as zealous for her own religion as Elijah for his, and no less ruthless in her manner of supporting it. They were both ready to slay or to be slain. In their two persons the war of the faiths took visible shape—Jehovah on the one hand, on the other Baal and Ashteroth; on the one hand the austere son of the desert in his shaggy mantle, on the other the queen in her vestures of fine linen, with all the power of the state behind her. For Ahab ruled the state and Jezebel ruled Ahab. Ahab, had he been left alone, might have tolerated both creeds and have given the 'still, small voice' a chance of being heard: but that would have pleased neither the imperious and fanatical queen nor yet the champion of the 'jealous' God. It was literally war to the knife. Either Baal or Jehovah was God, and one only was to be worshipped. Of how much bloodshed has an incomplete alternative often been the cause
Jezebel began the duel by cutting off the prophets of Jehovah on that occasion when Obadiah saved one hundred of them alive in a cave. When this event took place we are not told. It lies behind the narrative, like one of those dark and terrible deeds which are 'presupposed in the plot of a tragedy instead of being represented on the stage.'
There was good reason then for Elijah's going into hiding at the brook Cherith, where he was fed morning and evening by the ravens. Some commentators have tried to get rid of the ravens from the story by so pointing the consonants of the Hebrew word as to turn it into 'Arabs' or 'merchants.' But many pointless things may be done by a careful manipulation of points. This is only a mild piece of Euhemerism, a discredited tendency of thought, which, wherever it encounters a picturesque marvel, would substitute for it some prosaic possibility, less alluring, but equally imaginary.
The next episode in the story is the pleasing and pathetic one of the widow of Zarephath. After the brook Cherith had dried up, the prophet was sent to Zarephath, where he was supported by a poor widow, one of the countrywomen of the fierce queen from whom he was flying, and rewarded her hospitality with the miraculous replenishment of her barrel of meal and cruse of oil. To this incident we have a partial parallel in pagan legend, in the wonderful thing that happened at table, when Baucis and Philemon were entertaining
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Interea, quoties haustum cratera repleri
sponte sua, per seque vident succrescere vina
attoniti novitate pavent, manibusque supinis
concipiunt Baucisque preces, timidusque Philemon.
—Ovid Met. VIII 679–682.
The moral of the two stories is the same, though conveyed in very different language—
Cura pii Dis sunt, et, qui coluere, coluntur.
This moral is brought home still more powerfully in the story of Elijah by the restoration to the widow of her son after the breath had left his body. So in Greek legend Heracles rewards the hospitality of Admetus by restoring to him his wife. But the poet's imagination there conjures up a struggle with Death on the brink of the grave. This we feel to be unreal. It is not the thews and sinews of the strong man that can avail to recall 'the fleeting breath.' But the Jewish story has nothing in it that repels belief. Who can measure the powers of the strong soul?
From this benigner aspect of Elijah we turn at once to the grim episode of the
contest with the prophets of Baal, on the grandeur of which we need not dilate:
it is generally felt that it is one of the finest stories in all literature. As
the result of his victory Elijah slays the prophets of Baal with his own hands (
Ahab is represented as accepting this measure with indifference. He would no doubt regard it as the legitimate outcome of Elijah's challenge to a trial by fire. Not so however the zealot queen. 'So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life like the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time' was her answer to the prophet.
This leads on to the next episode, in which Elijah retires to the sacred mount
of Horeb, where the worship of Jehovah began. Here he may have taken up his abode
in that very 'cleft of the rock' (
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In the next episode, which is that of Naboth's vineyard, the prophet of Jehovah
stands forth as the champion of civil justice, and denounces the tyranny of the
weak ruler and his wicked wife. As the conscience-stricken king cowered beneath
his curse, there stood one behind his chariot, who, years afterwards, took up the
quarrel of Elijah against Jezebel and the house of Ahab, and destroyed Baal out
of Israel (
Athaliah, the daughter of Jezebel, whose methods were even more drastic than her mother's, did her best to establish Baal-worship in Judah, but Jehoiada the priest rallied the Levites, and the foreign cult was suppressed there also, and finally extirpated under Josiah. Racine, it will be remembered, availed himself of this subject for his grand tragedy of Athalie. His would be a daring genius that should attempt to dramatise the story of Elijah and Jezebel. While more sublime than the other, it does not lend itself so well to the unities of time and place.
So far in the story of Elijah there is no sign of any mixture of documents. But
some critics think that the episode of the three captains (
The last episode, namely, that of the translation of Elijah, is treated with great reticence by Josephus. His words are as follows (Ant. IX 2 § 2)—'At that time Elias disappeared from among men, and no one knows unto this day how he came by his end. But he left a disciple Elisha, as we have shown before. Concerning Elias however and Enoch, who lived before the Flood, it is recorded in the
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The proposition 'All men are mortal' is the type of universality to the intellect,
but the heart is ever seeking to evade its stringency. 'He cannot be dead' and 'He
will come again' are the words that rise to men's lips, when some grand personality
is taken away. The Old Testament, as we arrange it, closes with the prediction—'Behold
I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord
come'—and the New Testament begins with his coming in the person of John the Baptist
(
Elijah arose as a flame, and his word like a lamp did burn:
Famine did walk in his train and the land to weakness turn.
In the word of the Lord he stayed the heavens that they sent not rain,
And he called down fire from above, yea twice, and once again.
How wert thou honoured, Elijah, in thy wondrous deeds of might!
Never again like thee shall another arise in our sight.
Thou didst raise up the dead from death, and his soul from Sheol didst call:
For the word of the Lord Most High in thy mouth could accomplish all.
Thou didst bring down kings to the dust and the mighty from their seat:
Yet in Sinai heardest rebuke and in Horeb judgement meet.
It was thine to anoint earth's kings, when the Lord would vengeance take;
And the prophets that followed upon thee—them also thou didst make.
Thou wert rapt to heaven at the last in a whirl of blazing flame;
The car and the steeds of fire from the skies to take thee came.
Is it not written of thee that thou shalt reprove at the end,
Lulling the wrath of God, that men their ways may mend,
So that the father's heart may be turned to the son once more,
And Israel's tribes again may stand as they stood before?
Blessed are they that saw thee—the sight could blessing give—
But, as thou livest, Elijah, we too shall surely live.
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1. 'Haewv: a transliteration from the Hebrew, instead of the Grecised form'HTias, which is sometimes used. Mal. 44 ace. 'AXlav: Lk, hz, 426, 954 (A.S.M.)'HAtas. -b Wpo41fjT'qs: not in the Hebrew. It serves to soften a little the abruptness of Elijah's appearance on the scene. -fK 0eWPcuv: the word which in the R. V. is rendered I of the sojourners' was taken by the Greek translator as the name of a town in Gilead. Josephus (Ant. VIII 13 § 2) was of the same opinion-?K aAews eEQpfJY'hs TiS raXaa8(r:8os XcSpas.'AXn&(3: the name is taken to mean brother of his father,' i.e. probably 'like his father. '-Zlj gvptos: a Hebrew mode of introducing a solemn asseveration. Cp. 1810. Is: iv A. 22. In addressing a superior gyp" ~ y GvXh cou may be added or substituted. i A. 1%, 2bs: Judith 124. - 0 9Eas rCov 64.
2Wewv: not in the Hebrew. r(Zv 8uvcL Aewv represents the Hebrew word which in 1815 and elsewhere is rendered ° of hosts.' - i arapirrrp ivbnwv airTOO: § 69. - it 1~rrat: there shall not be. § 101. - Td eTl Tafrra: during the years that are to come.-fiTL it ILA: § 110. - 8&d cT6Waros : a verbal rendering of the Hebrew idiom. R. V. according to.'
2. wpbs 'H)LEV0f1 : Hebrew, ° unto him.' 'Hae~ou here seems to have arisen out of a misreading of the Hebrew, and srpbr to have been put in to make sense.
3. KpdP19v : passive in middle sense. Cp. 181. § 83. -Xopp48: Hebrew Cherith. The particular ravine is not known, but, as it appears to have been east of Jordan, it was presumably in Elijah's own country of Gilead.
4. ff f,rav: § 17. 85
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7. p,,TdilpAPas: §8g.-XErWBppovs: i A. 1746 n. Here we have the Attic, instead of the later shortened form. So in 1846, Nb. 346, and other passages.
8. E4pemra rSjs Eev&cuvias: Zare= phath lay between Tyre and Sidon in the country from which Jezebel came. - ro0 8varp_~ew cE: genitive infinitive for the latter of two verbs. We had the simple infinitive above in verse 4.
li. AfjW4rp: jussive future. § 74. -+(uia6v: a word as old as Homer, which occurs a dozen times in the LXX. It means simply ' morsel.' Its dim. Pw1A1o;,, which does not occur in the LXX, is the word rendered I sop' in Jn. 13r6· 27· 6° (= bread in Mod. Greek).
12, Zip 'Rupws KTh.: the woman,though a Gentile, is made to swear by Elijah's God; not by her own. - _vKpv+(as: Ex. 1289n.-8p6g: handful. Cp. Gen. 377 n. Josephus also uses 8pdi; in this context (Ant. VIII 13 § 2). The word occurs some eight or nine times in the LXX, and its proper meaning seems to be that of the hand regarded as a receptacle. Is. 401s T lr _W_rpr)oev . . . a&Qav rev y~v 8paKl ; In iii Mac. 52 there is a dative plural BpdKevL, as though from Spdrcos.-Ka+6,Kp: cp. 1714.16, 196 Kaq,dKa~s irEaros: Judith 106 Ka1PdK?7v _Aatov. The word is also spelt KappdKqs and is connected with Kd p,¢a = Latin capsa. It was perhaps a bottle cased in wicker work. Josephus (Ant. VIII 13 § 2) here uses KEpd/LGOY.-JvdGpLa: the diminutive of ~Aov firewood occurs only here in LXg.- TOLs T4KY01S : 80 in
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15 rh r4KVa, but in 17 d nibs, as though there were but one. The Hebrew has the singular throughout.
13. IV ,rpwrovs: like Latin inprinais. -arotr1cov . . . Kal igo(cEVS: § 74.tir' _o·Xhrov : here merely afterwards. In Swete's text Zr~ ZaXb,ry is read in Dt. 430, 139 : ii K. 2425: Sir. 1212, 132, 301°, 3422; h' &xdcTOV in Is. 4128: Jer. 2320, 2519: EA. 388: Dan. 01 828, 1014.
14. il 58pia Too 8hE4pov: cp. 12. From meaning a waterpot, as in 18$4, the meaning of this word has been generalised, so as to cover any kind of vessel. -Aarrovjo-EV: AarTOVeiv=be less, ZTarTOVOV"v in 16 = make less.
15. KaL IaotlwEV : after this the Hebrew has I according to the word of the Lord.'
16. Iv XEVpL: a Hebraism = by means of. Cp. 2028: iv K. 1928.
17. ilppwo-rrja·EV : d ppmQTEiv in the LXX has dislodged vooEiv, which occurs only in Wisd. 178, and is there used metaphorically. Cp. iv K. la.
18. o avApwsros roO BEOir: nominative for vocative. § b0. - ro4 twapvIo-aL: genitive infinitive of purpose. § 59.
19. IV cal . . . lKEt: § 87. - &OttLLTEY here = laid . Cp. ii K. Ss.
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20. abvEJU'hPEV 'HJ1Ew4: Hebrew, he cried unto the LORD.' The words unto the LORD ' in Hebrew might easily be taken for' Elijah.' - b WbpTVs its Xfjpas : here the Greek departs from the Hebrew, and is not very intelligible. 3 tcdprus seems to be nominative for vocative, in apposition with KGpLE, like KuptE d 6e6s wov in 21. A agrees with B here, which is surprising in view of the general conformity of A to the Massoretic text.
21. lvE~va-qvEV rye 7rae8apGu: he breathed into the child. R.V. 'he stretched himself upon the child.'
22. K0.1 lylYETO KTk.: this verse isshorter in the Greek than in the Hebrew. Cp. R.V.-aveP6,qo~EV: this word , seems to have crept in here from verse 20, in place of dvEplwvEV, which Josephus (Ant. VIII 13 § 2 ) employs in this context. A has
E3''Y~QEY.1. WEB hp,Ipas yrokk4is: § 86. Josephus (Ant. VIII 13 § 4) says xpbvou d' Alyov 8LEXB5vTOS.-rv T~ rwauT~ T~ TpIT((1: presumably explanatory of AEB' syp.Ipas rroUds, and so three years after the miracle just recorded.
3. 'ApEEEOV : Hebrew 'Obadyahu, Vulgate Abdias, English Obadiah.. ;lv, ~opovpEVOS: analytic form of im-
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perfect. Here due to imitation of the Hebrew.
4. _v &pT4: § 91.li. AEOpo· Kal sLWwMv: this gives a better sense than the Hebrew, I Go.' -_,rl . . . _,rf: over the land, to look for. -_joXoApEV6fjo-ovrav: Ex. 826 n. Isrb rcuv o-KSwiov: A has here x-rqvmv, for which aK?7vwv seems here to have been written by mistake.
6. T;lv bE6v: Hebrew, 'the land? - wLqi . . . aXXII: for the classical etXaV *v . . . hXXp U. § 39. After p,.p^, the Hebrew adds ° alone? On the other hand the Greek here inserts u6yos twice, where it is not in the Hebrew.
7. Kal'AP&Ew'v go-aEVO·ev: Hebrew,and he knew him.' - Et a·v E2 abi*literally, Art thou he ,a The el represents the Hebrew interrogative prefix - Latin -ne. § 100.
10. 3 8ebs o-ov : Obadiah is not disowning the worship of Jehovah on his own part, but acknowledging the higher religious standing of the prophet. Cp. i K. 16w: iv K. 19¢.o$: = d. § 34.- Ka1 Mrtpqo-4V VA.: here the Greek differs from the Hebrew. Cp. R.V. ' And when they said, "He is not here," he took an oath from the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.'
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12. Kal 1?Tal KTX.: § 41.-Ets rilv yt>v 'qv obK ot8a: Hebrew, Ito where I know not' A omits rev.-_crev ~o po4Wsvos: the Hebrew has simply the participle, to which the , copulative verb is supplied by the translator.
13. ?oV T(~ Kvplq) pov: the vot seems to be inserted by the translator for clearness, since otherwise I my lord' might be supposed to refer to Ahab. dvd riov arpo~rlTiav: the h1rS here represents a Hebrew preposition having a partitive meaning. § 92 .-dvd,revrijKovTa: if the translator had been in his most literal mood, he would here have given us 7revrhKOVra aevrhKOVra. § 8b.
15. Zn K16PLOS . . . 8 Ti : § 101 .16. ovvavrfw : used again in iv A. 215, 526. In all three places A has Quvavr17QCV. Cp. iii K. 208 hravr~v. -_J_8paphv'AXads Ka1 _rops69q : Hebrew, ° Ahab went.'
17. 0 8iao-Tp_~cuv : R.V. ° thou troubler.' The reference is apparently to the drought, with which Ahab taxes Elijah.
18. STV dW j: § 109 . - KaraXyWdvew : Gen. 3918 n. - K a1 _iropedArls
for the irregularity of construction cp. ii Jn.2 Sid rev dXfiBelav rev wivovcav iv 9'J/A.LV, Kai IWO' 1;lA,iuv EQTaL EtS TdY at(i7va. -rdv K$peov 6edv irpcov: Hebrew, ° the commandments of Jehovah.'-Baa-
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hEtp,: the Hebrew plural of Baal, which originally meant only owner or master. Each Canaanite community gave this name to the god of its own special worship, sometimes with a distinctive addition, as Baal-zebub at Ekron (iv K. 12).
18. dpos rd gappihwv : Jos. Ant. VIII 13 § 5 rb KapphXcov gpos.-rAs ato-X4vris: substituted for cof Baal ' here and in 25, but in 22 we have BdaX, as in the Hebrew throughout. -T6ov 4iho·auv : Hebrew, ' of the Ash6rah.' Jos. Ant. VIII 13 § 6 Tots Twv daQ_wv apo¢,iTas: Yulg, prophetasque lucorum. It is generally agreed now that an asherah was a sacred pole or treetrunk set up beside the altar in Canaanite places of worship (Jdg. g2s). It seems certain however from Second Kings 217 (cp. First Kings lbl$) that there was also a goddess named Asherah. I The Asherah' occurs in Jdg.
825: i K. 1688 : ii K. 136, 239A 18. The plural occurs in two forms -Asheroth., Jdg. 37 ; A sherim, Ex. 341$ : i K. 141s ii K. 2314.-4u9fovTas rpdwEjav: the use of the accusative here is a Hebrar ism. Cp. Dan. A 11$ riuv _cBGvrwv T~v rpdrerap Tog ftavA_ws, where has Tots _cBlovras dab Tov" ISacWKOV" 8efavov.
21. irpooyyayEV': intransitive, drew nigh. This use occurs in Xenophon, and probably originated in military language. Cp. v. 30.-XwkavsfrE W d,y.~Tlpavs Tats iyvbavs: will ye be larvae on both legs. R. V. 'halt ye between two opinions.' 'Iyvda occurs only here in the LY%. 22. laov6rraros : for the superlative cp. Jdg. 32° : ii K. 1322,88, 172 : iii K. 839, 1910~ 14, 2281 : iv K. 1028, 1718 i Mac. 101°. -KaL of Wpo+ATav Tofl &Xa'ovs rerPQK45VL0& : not in the Hebrew.|
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23. iiEALO'&TwO'av: dismember. A sacrificial term. Cp.33, Lev. 16 yeXaouom adrJ Karl 4M7. It occurs also in Jdg. 1.y29, 206: i K. 117 : Mic. 38.-,roLfjo·w: will dress, i.e. make ready for burning. Cp. 2bs6· 29: Jdg. 619. See Jdg. 1316 n.
24. lv arup(: § 91 . 25. iaurois: § 13.26. & arpwlAev : § 34. - d B4aknominative for vocative. A transcript from the Hebrew, and at the same time in accordance with popular usage in Greek. § 50.
27. 4pvKrApv(rev: a rare word outside the LXX, but familiar to us through its use in Gal. 6'. Cp, iv K.
1921. -0 OETpEI"$ : not in the Hebrew. - &8oXEO-Xfa : this word is used in classical Greek, not only for sidle chatter,' but also for I subtle reasoning.' The latter meaning appears to have originated out of the former in connexion with the discourses of Socrates, and we have the key to the transition in Crat. 401 B, where Plato ironically takes up the term c£8oVQx?js, which had been flung at Socrates (Ar. Nub. 148b). Hence d8oXeQxta adT4i &7-w becomes possible as a translation of the same Hebrew, which is rendered by the Revisers 'he is musing.'-Wfj 'ROTE: haply. Gen. 431 n.-XpIWart-
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gEt: R. V. ° he is gone aside'; cp. German Abtritt. After this the Hebrew has ' or be is on a journey,' which Josephus (Ant. VIII 18 g b) also read -peyb.Xp boy KaXeiv adrods EKeXEVE T06S Beous, J y&p drro8r7/miv afrroJs ij KaBevEetv.
28. cetpop&ovats : ctpoud,arip or cetpo,uka'r-qr is literally a pit-searcher, and then used for a kind of lance; see L. & S. The word occurs also in Nb. 267: Jdg. 68 (A) : iv K, 1110 : Joel 310. Josephus also uses it in this context.
29. Aapo+ilTSVa-av : § 19. - Yws o0 sralAkeEV Td setXtvav: until the afternoon was gone by. These words seem to correspond to those rendered in the R.Y. 'when midday was past.' But there is some difference in the order of the words here between the text of the Seventy and our Hebrew. Elsewhere in the LXX rd EetXtv6v, when used of time, is adverbial-Gen. 38: Ex. 29~41: Lvt. 820 : Susannah 017. In i Esd. 649 we have oaoKavrtS1tara gvpltp rd apwtvJv
Kat ra sEAtvsv. - w s d Katpas KTk. : cp. i Esd. 889 esKaBh,uqv sreplNumos _ws rids 8etJttvi7s Buolas. - KaL 1XGXqcEV . . . &srfyk9ov : the Greek here departs altogether from the Hebrew, as may be seen by a comparison with the R. V. - irpocoX9t4rp&Twv: offences, a substitution for I Baal, ' like rqs aZcxdv,Zs in 19. SO in 1188, 1682 Kal gcrala'ev Bvotacrfiptov rip BcfaX iv oCKtp rrop arpoooXBtcttQrwv afrrov (R.V. yin the house of Baal'). Op. iv K. 231$ Tj 'Acr4prp srpoaoXBIcpart BtEwvlwv Kal rtti %aWvrs apoao7rBlouctrt Mwd,6 Kal rip MoaxdX PSeXuyuart vtiw'A1cWwv.-3XoKairrwya: very common in the LXX, in which it does duty for five different Hebrew words.
30. IIpoo'ay6yEre : v. 21 n.31. 'Icrpafik: Hebrew, · of the eons of Jacob.'
32. 26caro: for this use of Zdcaro we may compare Nehemiah 4s (ii Esd. 142) in the Oxford text of the Vatican Ms. Kal cJNmpov ltEvovrat rots alBovs, where the R: V. has ° will they
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revive the stones?' The words relating to the repair of the altar come in the Hebrew at the end of verse 30.- 6laaaa·av: ep. verses 35, 38. A&Xacoa in these passages means 'trench.' They are the only ones in which it is employed to translate the particular word here used in the Hebrew. Josephus (Ant. VIII 13 § b) uses 8e~aaev~ in this connesiop.-86o WETpr~T6S: this represents a dual form in the Hebrew, which the Revisers render in the margin ° a two-seah measure.' - KvKh6AEV : this and KUKXW in 35 are renderings of the same Hebrew original. § 97.
33. EPTOtflaCEY: he piled. Cp. Lvt. 17 bamroydvovcm ~Aa dal rJ rvp: also Lvt. 812: Josh. 28: Cant. 26. -oxt8aKas: oXtE4 - Qxlra, Latin scindula, a piece of cleft wood, occurs in the LXX only here and inverse 38. -la1 rd 6vav"pvov 8 hrotrio-EV: not
in the Hebrew. -Ildheo-EV: verse 23 n.34. AIVTEpGSPGTf: a word confined to Biblical Greek, and perhaps coined to translate the particular Hebrew word here used. See Gen. 4182 n. - Tp1P?Gl?0.TE: probably another coinage to suit this particular passage. - &ptcoevo·av : A has irpmcmcav. T picvedew occurs without variant in i Ii. 2019 20 in the sense of ° doing a thing a second time.' Aevrepedew in the four passages in which it occurs in the LXX means ~to be second,' e.g. Esther 48 'Apdv b ZteVTepEt147Y r~ PaPAeC.
35. K4rAtp : verse 32 n.-V,rMio-av: Hebrew, ° he filled:
36. K0.L aLYEP6tIa'ev MEV0V et9 r6v oLpav6v: different from the Hebrew. Cp. BY. -hr&KOVO·bv p ,ov . . . Ev erupt: not in the Hebrew. -yvlurcocav a&s b dads ovros : R. V. ' let it be known this day.'
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37. yvCurcu: in 38 ywbTwa-av. The difference is not due to the Hebrew, which has the plural here.
38. Kat rd G8wp ra _v Tb eaX4a-0m: in the Hebrew this comes more naturally at the end of the verse. -XoOv: dust, as generally in the LXX. Cp. Mk. gll and see Ex. 816 n.-_F&LEev: = E'~AE4EY. Nb. 224 n.
41. rtv sroSfav: an unexpectedly poetical turn. Hebrew, ~ of abundance.'
43. asav T* 6a1.6,QQIs: towardsthe sea, a Hebraism. Op. Dt. 119 d5dv 5povs roO 'A/aoppalov: Mt. 416 bEdv Ba Adcc77s. -_ar(arpe*ov . . . d«6a^rpE*ov: R.Y. ° Go again seven times.' -_,rr6K&: A has _srrarces here and in verse 44.
44. Ixvos: used in the LXX, not only for the sole of the foot, as in Josh. 1$ aBs d rdsros _¢~ 8v &,v isrcPire rip CXret rwv sro5wv vp@v, but also for the palm of the hand. i A. 64: iv A. 966 rd Cxv>) rcuv Xecpwv. Jos. Ant. VIII 13 § 16 o6 as_ov C7wovs dvBpmxlvou. - I tvtiyovPa Map - not in the Hebrew.
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45. lws cruse KaL i&e: a Hebraism, literally until thus and thus. Here the context gives the force of meanwhile. - I KXaev : Hebrew, ° rode.' How IKaaev comes here is not plain, and the usual L%Y form is &Xa:ev, which A has. -'Io-pniik: a mistake for ° Jezreel.' So also in the next verse and in chapter 20. Jos. Ant. VIII 13 § 8 Kat o Op cis ~lecpdqXav sr6Xtv aapayfve-
Tal.48. orov(o-+vy6ev: this compound, which is not to be found in L. & S., occurs also in Ex. 3829: Lvt. 87 : Dt. 167. -its 'Io-paiia : a distance of about sixteen miles.
1. yvvavKL aiTOO: not in the Hebrew.
2. Et o;r . . . 'Iegfipik: not in the Hebrew. -Td8s . . . Ka1 T4Ee 7rpoa·Aeii: a Hebraism. Op. Ruth 117: i K. 1444, 2018, 2622: ii K. 39· 85, 1918: iii K. 228, 211 : iv K. 631. - 0 beds : the verb being plural, the R.Y. has here ° the gods.'-gTV: (know) that, etc. § 107 .
3. K0.Td Tiiv +vXilv lavTOO : R. V.for his life.' A Hebraism.-y1v 'Iod8a : in apposition to B77pob,pee, but the genitive would be more appropriate. The specification of Beer-Sheba as belonging to Judah has been thought to stamp the story of Elijah as emanating from the Northern Kingdom. If so, it must have been written before the capture of Samaria in s.o. 722.
4. `Pa9wdv: here the translator has|
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found himself at a loss, and left the word before him untranslated, which. gives it the appearance of being a proper name. There is something wrong, as the consonants do not correspond with the Hebrew. The R. V. gives I juniper tree' with a marginal alternative broom'-rip +vXilv a$ Tov": R. V. I for himself.' A Hebraism. -`IKavovc8cu: cp. Nb. 167: Dt. 16, 28, 326 : iii K. 1226, 2111: 1 Chr. 2116 : Ezra 446, 459. - K peto·cwv . . . Sap : § 94 .
5. +vTdv: the Hebrew here is the same as that which was transliterated `PaBOv, so that the translator is aware that it means a plant of some kind. Josephus (Ant. VIII 13 § 7) has rrpds -rut s9vapy. - its : Hebrew, I an angel.'
6. 'MeLov : not in the Hebrew. - _vKpv~tas : Ex. 129 n. - o wpe4rIs
made of rye. Gen. 4016 n. For 4vKpu¢las davpelT7Ir the R.Y. has ° a cake
baken on the coals' - K a+G,Krls : 171 s n. 7. 'Av6wTa : § 32 .8. Gpovs Xwp91p: Hebrew, ' Horeb, the mount of God.' Jos. Ant. VIII 13 § 7 eh rb Ecvaiov KaW,uevov gpos. On Horeb see Es. 31, 176, 338. The Jahvist is supposed to represent Sinai as the sacred mountain and the Elohist Horeb. The length of time assigned for the journey indicates geographical ignorance nn the part of the writer.
9. TL o-,rAkaLov: so also in the Hebrew, though the English has here I a cave.' The reference is evidently to some place known in the writer's time, haply the spot which had been identified with the da~ 7-$s a9Tpas of Ex. 3322. Josephus (Ant. VIII 13 § 7) has QrhXacdv TL KoiXov.
10. T~ Kvptq) IIavroKpG<ropv: for Jehovah the God of hosts. The word which is here rendered rravToKpb,T&rp
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was in 1816 translated by rap 8uvk.,vswv. aavroKpLtrwp occurs first in the LXX in ii B. 610, after which it becomes very common.-ci: Hebrew, L thy covenant.'
il. C60PLOV : not in the Hebrew. - 1v rqr srvE4WaTV gvp(ov : the Oxford text here gives the reading required - odK 1vT~ srveGparL Kdpaos.-o-uvo-ettrpbs
there are ten occurrences of this word in the LXX, of which three are before us. Zeeh. 146 is the only passage in which it corresponds to the same Hebrew original as here.
12. +auvil aGpas kEwrijs : R.V. margin L a sound of gentle stillness.'
13. ~.,l~orr~: sheepskin, a kind ofcloak. The word occurs in the 1XX five times (iii K. 1918,19: iv K. 2a> ls,14), always as a transliteration of the same word, and always in connexion with Elijah. Hence we may infer that its use in Hb. 1187 contains a tacit reference to him. Cp. Clem. i Cor. 171
ML/L7/Tal 'yEYW/.VEBa K(iKEFYwY OYTLYfS tw 89puaQLV alyeloes Kat ,a??awrais srepLerrLE-r,~oav. In Zech. 134 the same Hebrew word is translated Eippvs TpLxlvn.
14. Lr4: this is not wanted here, as c'yKarALSrov ought t0 govern rev 8La8$rc?Jv Qov. In verse 10 it was substituted for it. -usroXEXypav : = u 7ro71AeLWWaL in verse 10. § 37.
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15. Ka1 ijgaS e1s.Tiw oS6v: not in the Hebrew.
16. r6y vLbv Elov vio"v Napsw9etHebrew, ° Jehu the son of Nimshi.' A comparison with iv K. 92 viJv 'IwQar ¢dB Mob utou Napeooel, Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Ni7nshi, makes it seem likely that 'Iwoa¢ciB has dropped out here before Jehu.
17. Ka1 T3v wwYdWsvov . . . 'Ekevo-aie: Josephus (Ant. VIII 13 § 7) has suppressed this, or else did not find it in his copy.
18. K4T0.XEI1IlEtS: Hebrew, I I will leave.'- wK%aQ-av y6vu: the repetition of ybvu is not due to the Hebrew, but apparently to a feeling that the first aorist must be transitive. In 854 the perfect participle dKTarcWr is used in-
transitively. The word is used only in these two passages of the L%%, but is quite classical.
18. 'EhucacA: Hebrew Elisha' _God is salvation.' -,jporpfa: Jdg. 1418n.-s&sEKa tEVy,t KTa.: Josephus (Ant. VIII 13 § 7) explains that there were other persons ploughing with Elisha. Twelve oxen yoked to one plough have been seen within living memory on Beachy Head, but bwEsrca reGy,? would be double this number.
20. KaTa~vfto-au . . . aKOXovBit4rau the former is aoriat subjunctive, the latter future indicative. -SrL wfrro(,tKG a·oi : R.V. I for what have I done to thee ?' The Greek translator has neglected the interrogative, and so left the words without a meaning, unless we
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read gr9, and render for anything I have done to thee.
1. Kal lLp.'RE11d1Y : the connecting formula ° And it came to pass after these things' is absent from the LXX, which brings in the chapter about Ben-hadad after and not before this. -Ets: § 2.-'I4rpajhs4rM: Jezreetite. 1845 n. - r~ dk1, : Hebrew, ° the palace.' On Ams see § 8.
2. Vara pot, its: § 90 .-1yytaov:§ 12. - ayaAdv irsrEp a$Tdv : § 94. - Kul . . . haXdvauv : not in the Hebrew.
4. KCLL 4yEVETO KTA. : the Greek in this verse is much shorter than the Hebrew. Op. R. V. - ?LYEKGX11I1fY
R.V. 'turned away.'Ji. O4K Et c'v Eo~6t(uv : analytical form of the present, as in English, art thou not eating bread? § 72.
6. Karipovop,fav sraTipouv pav : Hebrew, I my vineyard.'
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13. Ka1 _K&9Wav : the greater part of verse 10 and the whole of 11 and 12 are omitted in the LXX. This is perhaps a deliberate piece of compression on the part of the Greek translator. - _K4Azcav : intransitive. - HvXdylKas : the Hebrew word for this is neutral in sense, meaning originally to say good-by to. It is used both of blessing and cursing. Here the translator has chosen the wrong sense, as in Job 111. Jos. Ant. VIII 13 § 7 irr rbv Beds ,re eCq PXac¢IOUsfcas Kai TbP 6acrALfa.
15. 8s : here the translator has chosen the wrong case for the inde-
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clinable Hebrew relative. The sense requires gv.
18. Kal dylvETO . . . o'dkKOV: these words, which represent Ahab as feeling a temporary repentance, are not to be found in the Hebrew. Josephus (Ant. VIII 13 § 8) represents Ahab as bounding from his bed with joy.
18. bsrawriiv: dsravr$ = dadv-rolots seems to be confined to the LXX, where it occurs frequently, but hardly ever without the other form as a variant. Cp. 1818 Quvavrhv.
18. 'Sts o-v . . . Std ToOro : the Greek here diverges slightly from the
Hebrew. Cp. R.V. -'Ev ffewl r6ary the aavrl here has nothing to corre spond to it in the Hebrew, nor is it easy to assign a meaning to it. - 4not Greek at all, but the result of literal translation. - K al of Kfives : not in the Hebrew. - K al at a6pvae . . . aYp,aTI o~ov : not in the Hebrew at this point. Yet in 2288, where the fulfilment of the prophecy is recorded, there are words corresponding to these, which have been enclosed in brackets by the Revisers. Their presence there seems to show that the Hebrew, and not the Greek, is at fault in this passage.
20. Et ev'PIJKCts IM: § 100. -d EXApds pov: nominative for vocative. § 50. - wdr,lv : not in the Hebrew, but in keeping with its spirit. MdTvv has here the implication of folly and wickedness which so often attaches itself to /Adratos. - srapopyta-aL a&Tbv : not in the Hebrew,
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21. i:cKafroros b:rfaos rov: R. V. ' will utterly sweep thee away.' The Greek translator is here more faithful to his original than the English. -o8poewa wph,roCXov : every male. A Hebraism. The omission of the article is due to following the Hebrew. Op. i K. 2fiA84: iii K. 1410 : iv K. 98. -:cal WWX6ptV0V KTJ1.: R.V. 'him that is shut up and him that is left at large.' It is in the Hebrew manner to offer two categories under one or other of which everything is supposed to be included. So in Dt. 291s ~ the moist with the dry' is Intended to be exhaustive. The same Hebrew phrase as here occurs at the end of Dt. 3280, and in iv K. 1490, in both which passages it is obscured by the Greek translation. In III K. 1410 we have iX6Aevov Kat *1'yKaraJlea:,u0vov : in iv K. 98 the rendering is exactly as here. 'EvKaraXeXe:,uuitrov, however, does not give the required sense of 'left at large.'
22. Uwe: a.V.'I will make.' AHebraiem.-'Iaposoblr-:-Hebrew Tar& b'am. The form of the name in our Bible is due to the Vulgate through the L%%. -adr asapbpywat : t rv must be taken as standing for ots, but attracted into agreement with its antecedent. The R. V. has 'provoked me,' but in the omission of any object after rapc5pywas the Greek is following the Hebrew. - i Mvdv 'Iopafjk: a Hebratsm. § 84. ,
28. 'Iopa fih : = Jezreel. 1846 n.25. irkfiv p,ara£aus KTh.: this and the neat verse manifestly interrupt the narrative. Hence they are enclosed in brackets by the Revisers. The Greek here departs slightly from the Hebrew, and may be rendered as follows: But Ahab did foolishly in the way he let himself be sold to do evil before the LORD, according a8 Jezebel his eotfe disposed him.
28. iP&XfiXA,i : behaved abominably. Cp. Ps. 131 8:E¢Bevpav Kat EsdoMxNaar iv &nT,#Eedpav:v : Cp. fiBQ iP8AdXBtjvar h, drouiaus.
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27. Ka1 $rrEp rov" Myov: here again the Greek diverges from our Hebrew. It may be rendered thus: And when Ahab, owing to what was said, was smitten with remorse before the face of the LORD, he went weeping, etc. - KarEVVyri : Cp. Acts 287 d,KOGQavres E_
KaTEVdyvoav T~v KapEfav. - E t(ocaro
0'l4KKOV : Jos. Ant. VIII 13 § 8 Kai
oaKKlov _v8vccf/AEVOS yupvo%s rois moot Syyev.-Kal 'REp6EpG,kET0 ?iKIfOV . . ._,ropEV6q : these words are not in the Hebrew. They look like a marginal note referring to verse 16. -_,ropE49-q
went about in it.28. KaL 1y_vero : in this and the following verse again the Hebrew original of the Greek translators seems to have differed somewhat from ours. The Hebraism _v xEapl is hardly likely to have been inserted gratuitously.
29. KarEVUyri : R. V. ° humbleth himself.'
1. iiA_r,)cev . . . iv : d,BETE%v is a favourite word in the LXX, being used for no less than seventeen Hebrew originals. The primary meaning of the word is to set aside, disregard. It may be followed by a simple accusative, as in Is. 12 adrol E_ fcE 32B&,)-
?aY: Mk. gzs OUK JBA'n?EV a6T~Y TLBET7JQac. For b,BEreiv 9v Tm ep. iv K. 35,7, 18m : ii Chr. 1019 Kai f B_T'I70'EV 'Icpa~X
_v T~ orKy oaW.2. 'OXogE(as: = Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, who succeeded his father after the latter had been slain in battle (iii K. 224°).-jppCoo·rtlU.EV: iii K. 1717 n. - 8 LKrvwro "v : lattice-window . Cp. Ezk. 4116 BuplEES EMUwraf. In
Jdg. 526 A has 8~d r$s dvKTUwrjs (ac.BuptEos). The phrase 9pyov BLKTVwr6v is used in Ex. 274, 3824 (4) ; Cp. Aristeas § 31 E&KruwTtv t`Xovo-a T~v apbcoyv. The Hebrew is nowhere else the same as here. Josephus (Ant. IX 2 § 1) says
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that Ahaziah had a fall in descending from the roof of his house. -A,ryqrfjcare Iv: for 6rLNTEIY ?v ep. 3: Sir. 4028 odK 9477-LP 4ayqTifcat & avr~ Po$ Betav.-B&aA WuCav: - Baal-zebub or
Fly-lord.' Professor Cheyne suggests that this is only a contemptuous Jewish modification of the *true name, Baal-zebul, I lord of the high house.' Cp. Mk. 322. - 8s6v: a regard for grammar would require Bed. § b7.-'AKKapw: i K. 1762 n.-d,ppwcTfas: iii K. 1717.-Kat 4WopE69'qcav . . . 8i afro"v: not in the Hebrew.
3. iK6.Xf?fv . . . X6ywv: Hebrew ' said to.' - Ka1 ouX ofrTws : a misreading of the word meaning therefore at the beginning of the next verse. So
again in verses 6 and 18 and 1932 odx ovrws.
4. `H KXivrJ KT11.: the syntax is Hebrew, but intelligible in any language-As to the bed to which thou hast gone up thither, thou shalt not come down from it.-if q's . . . CKEL: § 60. - 9avhrp G,aro9avj: § 81. - Kal st,rsv wpbs nirro6s : not in the Hebrew.
6. rj B&ak: cp. verse 18 : i K. 74 (rds BaaAefN,) : ii Chr. 247 (rais Baaaelw, but in 338 Tois B.) : Hos. 28, 131: Zeph. 14 : Jeremiah passing; Tobit 16: Rom. 114 (where r,"a Bb,aa is used notwithstanding the presence of the masculine article in the passage quoted, namely, iii K. 198). Josephus (Ant. IX 2 § 1) expressly tells us that the
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deity in this case was a female one - Kal vocfioavra srE/inpae spas r~v'AKKapwv Beav Muiav, roO-ro pip 3w dvopa, Ti BED. He was apparently unaware of the ingenious explanation which is now offered of the variation of gender, namely, that the feminine article does not denote the sex of the deity, but indicates that the word aicxuvm is to be substituted for the name in reading. Cp. iii A. 1819 n. - obX ofrrws: 3 n. -Sre o>'r KaralMo-j: the insertion of bT: seems to be due to the fact that the words of Elijah are being repeated.
?. fi Kpfavs: Jdg. 131 n.8. Sark: hairy, shaggy. Jos. Ant. I% 2 § 1 lEvBpwrov (Xeyov SaaJv Kal j'wqr xeplen>)pIJvov 8ep#arlvTv. The
Hebrew expression may mean ° owner of a shaggy coat,' an interpretation which is carried out by what is said of John the Baptist, who was regarded as a reincarnation of Elijah. Mk. 18 JP U 'IwkvvIs &BeEvP6os rplXas rcauhWov Kal r&vnv 8eppaxEvrw wept rev dc¢Jn adrov"".
9. 'IrerrriKdwrapXov urn.: Josephus has raZIapXoV Kal srEVrhKOYTa daAEras. -iKGXf?EY PE, KQTCtpnAG: R.V. the king bath said, Come down:
11. Wpoc&ro . . . Ka1 &ir4arEaEVHebrew, ° returned and sent' = sent again. The use of srpoo-rlBEvac is very common in the L%%, but this passage and verse 13 differ from the others in the Hebrew which underlies it.
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12. KaTIPq a0p: instead of I fire,' as before, the Hebrew here has I fire of God:
13. ilyo4pAvov: Hebrew, ° prince of fifty' = aevr7)K6vrapXov. 'Hyougevos is a generic term for a ruler. Op. Hb. 137 ls· u : Clem. i Cor. 1$ daoravc6Aevoe rois fiyovpgvoa vp,iuv. -4vT&WauejTw: a rare word occurring in the LXX only in this content.
lli. twrdwpoc(o-trov akrCov: Hebrew, before his face.'
18. Kat lhbl,lo-EV . . . 'Mew4 : Hebrew, ' and he said unto him,' 172 n. -o4X oYrTws : before these words the Hebrew haA the clause which is rendered in the R.V.- I Is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?' On oLx o°urws see 3 n.
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1. o-vva-wo-14: iii K. 1911 n. R.. V. ' whirlwind: The Hebrew is the same as in 11. - &s its: so in verse 11, but there is nothing in the Hebrew to justify our assigning a qualifying force to irs, which may in both passages be devoid of meaning. -'IepsLX~a : Hebrew Gilgal. Verse 4 shows that the LXX is wrong. The Gilgal from which Elijah started is supposed to have been the place now called Jiljxliyeh, about seven miles north of Bethel.
2. 'I&ov 8ij: this represents a particle of entreaty in the Hebrew.-
KS,Aov : § 33. - Zi S.dpws : § 101.- qWev: Hebrew, ° they went down.'3. Et Eyvws : § 100. - hr4ivwAEV from above. Cp. Jdg. 1620: ii K. 1120> 24, 2021: iii K. 153. § 98.
5. _ahvwAEV : the Hebrew is the same as for dalvwBev in verse 3. R.V. ' from.'- B.aI ye _yw Eyvwv : the Hebrew is the same as for KdyW i<yvwKa in verse 3. The translator is trying to impart a little variety to his style, whereas a set formula is in accordance with the genius of the Hebrew language.
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7. Kat go-rqo-av : Hebrew, I went and stood.' It looks as though &oped B,~o-av had dropped out in the Greek owing to its presence in the preceding sentence.
8. 4v IpJph: R.V. ° on dry ground: The Greek rendering would be possible in another contest.
8. SwAn iv irveipaTt cov: a double share in thy spirit. Elisha is not asking for twice as much prophetic power as Elijah, but for the inheritance of the first-born (Dt. 2117) in his spirit.
10. 'Hks4ov: not in the Hebrew. -'EcKXfjpvvas To"v atTjo·aw8av: Hebrew literally thou bast made hard to
ask. R. V. ° Thou bast asked a hard thing.'
11. Yimos: Hebrew, 'horses.'12. IM-rep . . . tarareifs afrro4: in 1314 the same words are put into the mouth of King Joash on the occasion of the death of Elisha. The meaning in both places seems to be that the prophet had been a bulwark to his country. -ApWa: the singular in the Hebrew has a collective force, chariotry,-i,r,rsvs: Hebrew, 'horsemen.' The translator seems to have put it into the singular to accompany 6tp/Aa. - atwroO: referring to Elisha. § 13.
13. 6ltvd9EV : R.V. 'from him.'|
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-'E)Leuo·acE: nominative to inywaev, but not in the Hebrew. After this the Hebrew has land went back.' -Xs(kovs: the use of XeiXor for a bank or brink, besides corresponding to the Hebrew, is also good Greek. Cp. Hdt. II 70 fat roO XELXEOr TOU 7rOTG,(AOU.
14. ao'v o 9eos HXsiob : Hebrew,Where is Jehovah the god of Elijah ?' - 8~+1u : a transliteration from the Hebrew. Translate even he.
15. Kal of : the omission of Kai here would bring the Greek into accordance
with the Hebrew. - wvavrfjv : iii A. 1818 n.
16. _v riu 'IopS4vp 4: not in the Hebrew.-9v . . . Iva: etr for Iris is due here to a literal following of the Hebrew. § 2. - S ouvwv : from Hdt. IV 199 it has been inferred that this word is of Cyrenaic origin. It is condemned by Phrynichus as non-Attic (Swete Introd. p. 296).
18. KaL a&Tbs _K&9,iro : before this the Hebrew has ° and they came back to him.'
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THE prayer of a righteous man availeth much' - such is the moral of the story of Hezekiah and Sennacherib. This story is a favourite one in the Old Testament, being told in Kings, in Isaiah, and in Chronicles. The account given by the Chronicler (ii Chr. 32'--'3) is obviously a late echo of the other two. But it might admit of argument whether the passage in Kings (ii K. 1813-19~') is borrowed from Isaiah or the passage in Isaiah (chs. 36 and 37) borrowed from Kings. The differences between the two are merely verbal, and are almost invariably in the direction of greater fulness on the part of Kings. Hence Professor Driver infers that the narrative belonged originally to the Book of Kings and was adopted in a slightly abridged form by the compiler of Isaiah. One thing seems certain, namely, that the account does not come from the prophet Isaiah himself. It was written at a time when the imagination could already give play to itself among the events of a past age. A contemporary, as Professor Driver points out, would not have attributed to Sennacherib the successes against Hamath, Arpad, and Samaria, which were, in fact, achieved by Tiglath-Pileser or Sargon. Moreover, it was only the foreshortening of the perspective caused by time that could enable the writer to regard the murder of Sennacherib in his own country as following close upon his invasion of Judaea, when the two events were actually separated by a space of twenty years (n.c. 701-681). Hezekiah's own death (s.c. 697) took place sixteen years before that of Sennacherib. In the Book of Tobit it is said that Sennacherib was slain by his two sons within fifty days from the time when he ~ came flying from Judaea' (Tob.118· n). This book indeed is pure romance, but it serves to show that the Jews read the story of Sennacherib as indicating that a speedy judgement overtook the king' on his return to his own country.
More even than David, Iiezekiah has been fixed upon by the 291
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Jewish writers as the type of the pious king. I He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him' (ii K. 18h. Such is the verdict of the writer of Kings, and the Chronicler (ii Chr. 311~ 1) is equally enthusiastic. In Eeclesiasticus also (Sir. 48~') the smiting of the camp of the Assyrians is said to have been due to the fact that Hezekiah did that which was pleasing to the Lord. That piety meant prosperity was a rooted idea in the Jewish mind, so that, as Hezekiah was admittedly pious, it was a logical consequence that he should prosper. I And the Lord was with him; whithersoever he went forth he prospered' (ii K. 187: op. ii Chr. 31n). These words stand in curious contrast with the Assyrian records. This is how Sennacherib tells the story -
' And Hezekiah of the land of Judah, who did not submit himself to my yoke -forty-sig of his strongest towns, fortresses, and small towns without number in their territory were captured with battering-rams (?) and attacked with instruments of war, in the storming of the infantry, with mines, breeching-irons,, and (-?). I besieged and conquered them. 200,150 persons, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, asses, camels, oxen, and small cattle without number, I caused to come out from them and counted them as booty-' Hezekiah himself I shut up like a caged bird in Jerusalem, his royal city; I fortified entrenchments against him, and those who came out of the gate of his city I punished [or I I turned back's for his transgression. His towns, which I had plundered, I separated from his land, and gave them to the Mitinti, king of Ashdod, to Pade, king of Ekron, and Silbel, king of Gaza, and I diminished his territory. To the earlier tribute, their yearly payment, I added the tribute which is suitable to my lordship, and imposed it on them. Hezekiah was overpowered by the fear of the splendour of my lordship;
the UrbiQ and his valiant warriors, whom he had brought thither for the defence of Jerusalem, his royal city, laid down their arms. Be-
t Rogers History of Babylonia and Assyria II, p. 199, says: ° These inhabitants were not carried away into captivity. They were marched out from their cities and compelled to give allegiance to Assyria. The usual Assyrian expression for taking away into captivity is not used here.'
Perhaps mercenary soldiers.|
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sides 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver,' I caused to be brought after me to Nineveh, the royal city of my lordship, for payment of the tribute, precious stones, shining stones, great stones of lapis-lazuli, ivory conches, thrones of elephant-hide and ivory, ivory, precious woods, all manner of things, a vast treasure, and his daughters, his palace-women and musicians and singing-women; and he sent his envoys to do homage to me.' (Rosenberg Assyrische Srrrachlehre.)
There is no mention here of any disaster or ignominious retreat; rather Sennacherib represents himself as returning laden with spoils; but then the historiographers royal of Assyria were doubtless not in the habit of dwelling upon untoward incidents. Let us therefore call in the evidence of a third party.
There was a priest of Hephaestus, named Sethon, who became king of Egypt, and who slighted the warrior-caste and deprived them of their lands. Therefore when Sanacharibos, king of the Arabians and Assyrians, marched a great army against Egypt, the warriors refused to fight. So the priest, being at his wits' end, went into the temple and bewailed before the image of the God the dangers that threatened him. As he wept, sleep stole over him; and the God, appearing to him in a dream, promised to send him helpers. So the king went out to Pelusium with such rabble as would follow him. There, as the army of the invaders lay encamped at night, a multitude of field-mice poured in upon them and devoured their quivers, their bow-strings, and the handles of their shields, so that next day they fled defenceless before their enemies. Thus was Egypt saved by the prayers of its priestly king, a stone image of whom still stood in the days of Herodotus in the temple, holding in its hand a mouse, and with an inscription conveying the moral of the tale -I Whoso looketh upon me, let him be pious' (Hdt. II 141).
If either the Jewish or the Egyptian story stood alone, one might be inclined to set them down as the invention of national vanity
but their concurrence seems to favour the idea that Sennacherib did meet with some sudden reverse, which both Jews and Egyptians turned to the praise of their own God and king.
The account of the matter, as given by Josephus (Ant. X 1 § 1), contains nothing incredible. The Jewish historian tells us that
$ ii A. 1814 says 300 talents. ' Brandis has attempted to show that the 300 Hebrew talents - 800 Assyrian.' - Rogers ibid. p. 200.
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Sennacherib left Rabshakeh and his associates to sack Jerusalem, but himself went off to make war on the Egyptians and Ethiopians. He was engaged for a long time on the siege of Pelusium, and was about to deliver the assault, when he heard that Thersikes (=Tirhakah, ii K. 199) was coming with a large force to the aid of the Egyptians and meant to cross the desert and invade Assyria. Accordingly he suddenly abandoned the siege and rejoined the force under Rabshakeh at Jerusalem. But on the first night of his siege of this city, God sent the plague upon his army, which expedited his return to Nineveh. There, after a short time, he was murdered by his two eldest sons Adramelechos and Sarasaros. Josephus quotes Herodotus and goes on to quote Berosus the Chaldaean historian, but unfortunately there is a lacuna at this point in his work. It is worth noticing that 14Iegasthenes, according to Strabo (XV, pp. 686, 687), speaks of Tearkon the Ethiopian as a great warrior, like Seaostris, who reached the Pillars of Hercules. The historical aspect of the story however must be left to others. Suffice it to say, that those who have studied the question seem to be agreed that the chronology of the Bible is here at fault.
We are concerned with the story only as a piece of literature. Viewed from that aspect it is magnificent, being told with all the solemn dignity and splendour which mark the Hebrew genius. In the indication of the catastrophe which overtook the monarch who had presumed to defy the Holy One of Israel there is the vagueness which is of the very essence of the sublime. It takes a pdet to interpret poetry. ~ So let us close with a quotation from Byron-
' Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were seen; Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay withered and strown. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breath'd on the face of the foe as he pass'd ; And the eyes of the sleepers waa'd deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heav'd, and for ever grew still l'|
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13. FAvvaXilpEiW: Hebrew hS'anherdb. The form Sennacherib comes from the Vulgate. Josephua (Ant. % 1 § 1) EfvaxIptPos: Hdt. II 141 BavaXdpyos. - *1*46&: Is. 861 rig 'IovBalas.
14. 'EgEKfas: Grecized form of the name. Hebrew ,Hizqiyyah here, but more commonly Hizqiyyahu, as in verse 13. This difference is one of the signs that verses 14-16, which are omitted in Is. 38, come from a different source from the rest of the narrative. Josephus founds on them a charge of perjury against Sennacherib. -GYYAovs: not in the Hebrew.daXefs : Sennacherib was at this time besieging this stronghold with all his forces. It was in the lowlands near
2the country of the Philistines, and was strategetically a place of importance as lying on the high-road between Egypt and Syria. Recent investigations tend to show its identity with the mound of Tell-el-Hesy. One of the slabs discovered by Layard contains a record of its capture and a picture of the siege. The inscription has been deciphered as follows - ° Sennacherib, the mighty king, king of the country of Assyria, sitting on the throne of judgement before (or at the entrance of) the city of Lachish (Lakhfaha). I give permission for its slaughter.' Smith's Dict. of the Bible, s.ro. Lch chish.-8 UV: § 106.
18. Td EcrqpvYpAva: poets. Only here as a substantive.
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17. r6v ®av96v: Hebrew Tartan. In Is. 201 the Hebrew has Thartan and the Greek TavaBdv. It is not a name, but a title for the commanderin-chief of the Assyrian army.-rdv 'Pn*is: Hebrew Rab-Sdris, chief of the eunuchs. Cp. Jer. 398, where the LXX (Jer. 48s) has Napovvapels. Josephua (Ant. X 1 § 1) says of the two companions of the Rabshakeh-Tow rwv Urd dvdpara 9apard Kat'Avdxapts fjv.-Tbv `Pa*4iuriv: this also is a title. Hebrew Rabahdqeh, which is taken to mean I chief cupbearer,' Professor Cheyne holds that it is really Assyrian and means ° chief of the high ones.'-1v 6Wdpuya,pEiqv: Is. 382 /Aerd Evvd,,uewssroaa$r.-SSpaywy~: cp.202D: Sir. 248D: Is. 382, 4118. In the last passage the Hebrew is different from that in the rest.- KoavWhApas : this is the first of ten occurrences of the word in the LXX. It is used by Plato (Rep. 463 D) and by Plutarch (Moralia 902 E, Plac. IV 19) ; in N.T. by John (6a, 97).
18. 'EtiKIav : Hebrew ' the king.' The Words Kal t`#b9oav apds 'Ei'eKlav do not appear in Is. 388. Josephus (Ant.
X 1 § 2) gratuitously ascribes to cowardice the non-appearance of the king in person. -'EbLaKSLp,: Hebrew Elyakim, Vulgate Eliachra. Jos. Ant. X 1 § 2 rdv ris PaQWelar Eatrpomov 'EXutKo,uov Vvof/ia,-Xf11Kt0V: Hebrew Hilqiyyahit, Vulgate Helcim (gen.). Instead of vids XeAKlov the translator of Isaiah (38$) has the more classical d rou XeXKiov. - Edpvas : Is. 38$ 26pvas, Josephus Bopvaior, Hebrew S'hebnc2lc. See the denunciation of him in Is. 2215-2. The evils there predicted seem to have been only in part accomplished. -'Iwca~d,r: Hebrew Yoah ben-Asaph. In 28 he is called 'I6ar and in 37 'Iwas vtds Ba¢hv, which makes it look as if 'Iwo-a0d,r were here a mistake for'War aids la¢dv, helped out by the fact that there had been a previous recorder of the name of 'IwcaodB (ii K. 2024).b dvap,vp,vfja·Kwv: the recorder. Cp. ii K.2024'Iwva¢d8 vlJr'AxeeaoJB dvaEupv$cKwv: iii K. 246h Bacd WT 'AxetBb,eau &YajAL/AVh0-KC0V: 1 v K. 1887 'Was War Maqldv d $valacWv4crcwv : JOB. Ant. $ 1 § 2 'IwaXov rbp &1 T(OY 1171of4Y'IJ1Ad,r4lv. In Is. 38s we have 'IwdX b r*O 'AcdO d inro,uvrlparoypd¢os. This is mentioned
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by Strabo (XVII 1 § 12, p. 797) as the title of one of the native officials at Alexandria under Augustus and under the Ptolemies before him.
19. wevot9,lo-es: only here in the >;XX. The word is used by Josephus (Ant. X I § 4) and occurs six times in the N. T., e.g. ii Cor. hs. In Is. 384, instead of Ti j aeirotBoots, the same Hebrew is rendered by Ti srESrOlBcus el;
20. 116Y0& XEVMVIY: Hebrew, ° a word of the lips,' i.e. without reason behind it. The Greek here faithfully reflects the Hebrew, but there maybe something amiss with the latter. In Is. 38s the R.V. runs-11 say thy counsel and strength for the war are but vain words.' The Greek translator there gives -M~ & #ouXy Ka2 Myozs Xenlmv aapkraEcs ylper= -Does the battle depend upon counsel and words of the lips?-jAlerncas iv Ep,ot: cp. h n. In iv K. 187 and 241· 20 the Hebrew word is the same as in thin passage. The rendering in Is. 38s is duetBeis poi.
21. asfwozAas oavTiy 4st: no recog- nised Greek construction, but a mere following of the Hebrew. Is. 3ba xErozBws el &i. -os &v U"Mpy(6 fj 6vfjptreating this as Greek we might be led to suppose that here was a case of dtv for ldv, but really the dv4p is superfluous, being put in merely because the Hebrew has 'man' in the same place. Is. 38s 8s As, &zcrrtpzoep ~f atrr fiv.
22. KaL grz Elaas : and as for thy saying. The verb is plural in the Hebrew. Is 367 el 8~ ae4yere. -ofXL airsbs oirros : either oV has dropped out after these words or else they are a mistranslation, since a6rJs oLros ought not to refer to Hezekiah, but to Jehovah. Hezekiah's removal of the high places (184) is construed polemically as an attack upon Jehovah. It was in pursuance of the principle that the Temple at Jerusalem should be the sole centre of the national worship. It is interesting to notice that this verse is omitted in the Greek of Is. 38, but not in the Hebrew.
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23. W(XA,1TE: the sense required here is ° make a wager with,' but it is not clear how p,lXB,lre comes by that meaning. Mcyvdvac is quite a rare word in the LXX, occurring only six times. In Ps. 105 and Is. 388 the Hebrew is the same as here, the word being that from which dppa#cuv (ii Cor. 122, 56: Eph. 114) is derived. -8vo-Xh Movs fvmovs : Is. 38$ &o-XAlav Yarrov. Plural in the Hebrew.
24. Kal 'RODS KTl1.: this passage, though somewhat involved, corresponds very well to the original, except that I47I'00Tp1'7IlETE ought to be singular. The translator of Is. 389 has made nonsense out of the same Hebrew. - roardpXov : the word ToakpX,~s is common in Esther and Daniel; in Gen. 4184
it represents a different original from what it does here; it is used also by the translator of Isaiah (389). Cp. Gen. 4184 n. - rja1rmaS o'avrip _7s( : syn tax Hebrew, not Greek. Cp. verse 21.
26. EZ1fEV : for the singular verb followed by more than one subject cp. verse 37. § 49.-8KO4op,EV: - understand. A Hebraism. -ou kalfja·sLs
Is. 3811 W;l Xc£Xec. -'IovSaLwri : so in Isaiah. Josephus (Ant. X 1 § 2) 'E# paLo-Tl. -Yva Ti : Gen. 421 n. - 1v -rots wwlv: Is. 3811 els rcl (Bra.
27. _irl . . . wp6s. Is. 3612 srpds . . . srpGs. There is a corresponding difference in the Hebrew. -TOU ~aysCv KrX. : this coarse expression evidently contains a reference to the extremities of famine which the Rabshakeh thought
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the inhabitants of Jerusalem were likely to undergo, if they did not listen to him. Cp. what is said of the famine in Samaria (82b). For roO q5ayeiv the translator of Is. 3612 has Yva octyWo-t. He also omits atrriav after Kbapov and o6pov.
28. psyd,7lII: Is. 3818 Owvp psyd,TV. The omission of ¢WV j here is due to Greek idiom. § 46. - To"v pey&kov PacvEws'Ao-o-vptWV: Hebrew, I of the great king, king of Assyria,' a formula which is closely followed in Is. 361$ TOU PaQLVWS TOV /AeyftXOU, SaQLVWs 'AQQUpIWV.
29. 17ravp4TW . . . h6yovs: Is. 3614 daarb,TW . . . XbyoCs.30. 47feX'IrLt4TW : make you hope. This use of the word is classical, though not with wpbs following. - 'EAavpovpevos f4txEfTav: 5 81.
31. IIoya-nre . . . 7rpds 0: Is. 3818 Et PoAeoBe edXoyi7Bitvat, &aopeGeaBe srpJs A_. The translation here is more faithful to the original. -7rterav &vqp . . . ~ltyerav : Is. 3818 oetyecBe frcacros rev d,uaeAov airrov" Kat r&s ouKds. In the Hebrew aterat and octyeTat are expressed by one verb. -srtETav irswp . . . airrol1: Is. 3818 aEecBe "vaWp rov" XaXKOV" bpwv. On Xb,KKOS Bee Gen. 372° n.-&vijp : - t `Nao-TOS. A Hebraism. § 70.
32. _WS &BW : Is. 3817 JWS 8v fXBW. Ls yj SW6ov : Is. 3617 (IS fi yj dwiuv. Understand &rl. The yt following is attracted into agreement with this.yj _Was . . . y TOS : not in Isaiah either in the Hebrew or in the Greek. -Batas ikatov : this is the order of the Hebrew also, but our translators have inverted it for an obvious reason.
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33. Audpevm _pva'avro: Is. 3818 _ppdcavro.-9KncTOS: the Hebrew here is the same as for dv3Ep in 31, but dv~p would hardly do after Beol.
34. A1WdA Ka1 'Ap~S,X: Its. 3619 'EpdB Kai 'ApOdB. -Xesr+apovWbw
Is. 3819 riEs rrbXewr'Eaq5apouaEp,. After this the Hebrew here adds ' of Hena' and 'Ivvah,' but not so in Isaiah. - Ka1 gTV _jelXavTO: there is nothing in the Hebrew here to correspond to the Kai, though there is in Is. 3019. Translate-And (do you say) that they have delivered Samaria out o,/' my hand p In Is. 369 the rendering is wh _dGvavro pGcacBaz Kra.
35. yaicuv . . . yas : § $.-Kvp1 oS: Is. 3829 o Bebs. Hebrew, 'Jehovah.'
38. _KIo+EVO-av : cp. Jdg. 1612. The word occurs all together eleven times in the LXX.-_vroXil . . . h_ywv: § lll.
Is. 3621 did rD rrpoork¢ac rJv PactVa p,-1d_va daorcpOiEvac.
37.5 ypaWWarevs : Is. 3622 d ypap.paTeJs ris dvvcE1cews, without difference in the Hebrew. We may infer the translator's belief that the office of the Recorder was specially connected with the army.- 8uppilX6rss rd iWdTVa: Is. 3622 _QXmtc_voc rots xtrwvas. In classical authors the strong perfect Wppwya is used intransitively. The weak perfect dnppqXa is so employed in the LXX here and in ii X. 1499, 1522: i Mac. 514, 1346. It is only in the Epistle of Jeremiah (verse 30) that we find the classical form - 9xovres rots XzTwvas dzeppwybras.
1. &s rjKOVa-EV Pacvevs `EteKIas: Is. 371_v Ty"r aKOV"Cav r& P paou_a 'EreKlav. -0'r1KKOV : Hebrew saq, Latin saccus, English sack. Gen. 4227 n.
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2. 'HLratav : Hebrew Yesha'yah,u, Vulgate Isaias. From the opening words of the Book of Isaiah we learn that the visions of that prophet were seen ' in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.''ApAs : not the same name as that of the prophet Amos, though coinciding with it in Greek.
3. `Hpkpa . . . aVTq: Is. 378 'Hp,ipa Al~'Ews Kai dvELdLCELOir Kat AEypov" Kaldpyi7s h ohAEpov itpkpa, the Hebrew being the same. -,rapopyLCpo"v : provo cation. Cp. ii Esdr. 1918,26 Kai &olqoav aapopyLOpoJs /xEyd,Aovs, where the Hebrew is the same as here. The R. V. has there ' provocations,' here ° contumely.' - iiX8ov .'. . Turro40"p : Is. 378 lKEL j !'JbLV T'(J rivro6a-V, IO','YiSV U O6)( 9,Z,'EL TOO TEKELV. The R.V. gives the enact rendering.
4. it iron dwaitoiwvrat -. Is. 374 EloarcodoaL (opt.). -Ev : Is. 374 ous. The Hebrew relative may refer to the Rabshakeh himself or to his words. The translator of Fourth Kingdoms has taken one view and the translator of Isaiah the other.- PkaLLr4Priputv 1?v MyoLS : Is. 374 dVELELrELV abyovs (cogn. acc.) ; R.V. ° and will rebuke the words.' - )Lfjp,+jj . . . E SptcKOpJvov : Is . 374 Se>)"Q17 spas KdpLOV cou wept rap Kara-XeALWA9vwv ro67-wp. A's reading here of MgAaTOS (= XeluAaros) gives the right sense. AeiWELa occurs nowhere else in the LXX, but is found in Rom. lib.
6. aiv EPXaLr+fjWyjcav: Is. 378 As Lwel8LO-b,v ELE.-Td aaeSQLpea : Is. 378 0l apiopELS. The diminutive here expresses the scornful force of the original. In classical Greek we might here have veavlaL.
7. scsau Ev afirfp : Is. 377 IAPdXXw|
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Eis afrrbv. § 91. - Karapaaao abTav 4v kp+a.t¢: Is. 377 freveirac paxafp¢. The former is the more correct, as the Hebrew verb is causative. It is to be noticed that Isaiah's message contains no reference to the destruction of the host.
S. 17C4QTpE1IlEV : I$. 378 (f.7riQT poEY.Ev'pev : IS . KaTiXagev.-arokEps9vra iseL AoWvi: I8. aoaiopKOV"wra A6wav. The name of the place in the Hebrew is Libnah.-6m jKOVrEV: Is. Kal jKOVCEV. The drc reflects the Hebrew.
9. Kat ilKOVO·EV . . . 'ffloXEPECv p.Erd vo0: the translator of Isaiah throws this into the form of an historical statement-Kal 1EjaBev 9apdKa 6aaoaEJs A1Bc6amv aoatopKicac a6r6v· Kal dKOGcas da!`QTpoEV. - 0ap4 : Is. 379 AapCcKa, Hebrew Tirhaqah, Jos. Ant. % 1 § 4 9apcwfis.- SaoWEros At6vdarow
Hebrew, ° king of Cush.' =Xlywv : § 112. -srokElrefv p.Erd oo'v : to fight against thee. In Attic Greek the phrase would mean to fight on thy side. -64o-rpE+EV Kal &,r4cTE6EV: he sent
12 7' 7' EfEikavTO a$ros of BE v OL iraTEpes hcov rrjv TE rc4avagain. A Hebraism. - wpbs `EgEKtav ahcov : after this in the Hebrew come the words, ° Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying.' They are to be found also (all but the last) in Is. 3710.
10. &V ~ . . iv airr4: Is. 3710~¢' qT . . . tia airrip.-El$ XEfpa$: Is. 3710 & XEtpf. § 91.
11. t8ov cir 4uovo'as: Is. 3711 Qb ofiK 3fKOVCar . . . ;--abcav$ -rats y&ts: Is. 3711 adcav rO yip.-Toi ova&p,arfCav a$T&s : Is. ws dacAeaav. The construction in the Hebrew is what might be called a dative gerund, so that the choice of the genitive is prompted by Greek as known to the translator. § 60. To make a place a votive offering' to God implied its utter destruction. 'AvaBqcarfrEw occurs fourteen times in the L%%.
12, pil . . , o v : j Ah = num, od = nonne. A comparison with the Hebrew however and with Isaiah makes it seem certain that the right reading is o°us, with a comma after wov, but
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no question mark till the end of the sentence. -T(ov : the Assyrian province of Guzanu, which was on the river Habor (1711), a tributary of the Euphrates.- Xappdv : Haran, an ancient city in north Mesopotamia. 'P4+Ets : Is. 'Pd:¢EB, R.V. Rezeph. This is supposed to be identical with the modern Ruslfa, three and one-
.half miles southwest of Sura on the Euphrates, on the road leading to Palmyra. (Cheyne, Enc. Bib.) - vio'vs "EiiEp Toirs iv 0aEC6lv : Is . aY Etacv iv X Wp¢ AEE/AdB. Hebrew in both places ' and the children of Eden, which were in Telassar.' The children of Eden seem to correspond to the Assyrian Bit-Adini (cp. 'house of Eden' in Amos 16) ; Telassar has been thought to be Til-basere, a city in their country. The ruling house of Adini was subdued by Assurnasirpal (886860 B.C.) and finally set aside by Sal manassar II (869-82b).
13. MU : 1884 At1cd,B, Is. 371$ 'EtcdB, Hebrew Hicmath. Hamath had been
recently conquered by Sargon (721706 B.C.). -'Ap+U: 1884 'Ap¢Q.X, Hebrew Arpad. Subjugated by TiglathPileser III in 740. Arpad is now Tell-Erfad, thirteen miles from Aleppo to northwest (Enc. Bib.). - Ee++a povbw : 1884 BErroapouNQ.cv. -`AvE$ Kul Mod : Is. 371$ 'Avb,y, Otryavd, Hebrew Rend and 'Ivvah.
14. Td Pyla : Is . 3714 rd PePMov. Plural in the Hebrew. -dv4nr*V: Is. #voG~EV.-`EgEKta$: omitted in Isaiah, but occupying just this place in the Hebrew. - h awriov gvptov : after this I8. 3716 has Kat 71'p0?Wta70 'ErEKtaS 7rpdS gdpcov vywv, words which have their equivalent in the Hebrew also at this point.
15. 84pcE d 0E6s : op. 19 and the oft-recurring formula in St. Augustine's Confessions - Domine Deus mews. Is. 3718 has Bdpcos vapacbB d BEds'Icpa0. -XEpovSELv : i K. 1746 n.-Ev wdCauR pwtAEIQVQ rfp -ifs : Is. 3718 rrdcsts PaccXEtas Tits otrcouNkvns.
17. ore 1.kq9E(q : Is. 3718 W dJcv9stas|
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fi,Etw BEOS 'I~pa~jA ~ ~A apooyveco rpos ~.i.E 7rEpi YEVVaXqpeilu, 8ao-JC'C0q 'Ao-wpiwv?jrcovo-a.' 21ovTOS o Aoyos 06 EaaWqQEV Kirpcos EW airrov
"E f ov8 E" o~EV OE Kal Ej,cvxTnpc0-EV o-E aapBEl·os Bvyarqp Y.ECCOV Eat o-of rcE0aX7`7v a$Tr/s EKiIr>7a~EV BvyaT77p 'IEpovuak~M,. R2Tiva cweisio-as Kal EaXao-0rjjk77,Tas; ~ . . w . . ~ a Kal Esc Tim vocoa~as Ocw-qv Kal pas as vOos rov's o0BaX/COVs 0,ov; as To v aycov Tov 'Iapa7jX.ydp. - rd 16v71: Is. 3718 T fiv olrcovtdvyv dX,lv, the Hebrew also being different. After this the Hebrew has ' and their lands,' and Isaiah Kai Tfiv Xwpav atrrcuv, which does nut suit with the rendering of the preceding words.
18. NmKav . . . arirp: 1s. 3719 &E 19aXov rd eC3cuAa adrwv cis rb vv"p. The Hebrew is in both places ° gods ° - dW il : § 108. - K aL d,rCuXEa-av CLZT0162
Is. 3719 Kai dawvav-ro adrovs. These renderings are more literal, but leas faithful, than that of our veraion'therefore they have destroyed them.'
19. Eraocov iip.&s: the Greek neglects the particle of entreaty which is rendered in the English I I beseech thee.' -Ka1 yvc6oowra& . . . y 1s: Is. 3720 Yva yv4; mBQa )9accXEla rjs yils. -49TL 'v
o- gfipi,os b We pbvos - Is. 3720 gri cJ it 6Beds pbvos.-In the latter place the exact rendering of the Hebrew would be -dre aJ Kdpm Oros.
20. d7fi0'TEVkEV . . . kly0JY : Is . 3721 daecrdaiq . . . Kai ehrev, incorrectly. - AEds riov 8vvdp,Eaov: not in the Hebrew here or in Isaiah.
21. Kbpws : Is. 3722 d 8e6s, against the Hebrew. - W airr6v : Is . repi afrrov"", R. V. I concerning him.' = T 4ov 8&tlcEV : Is. 3722 'Eoa,Awev. Both i~ouEeveiv and i'iov8evou"v are common in the LXX. -iWvKTjpwEV : a favourite word with the writers of the LXX, being used to represent six different Hebrew originals. It occurs seventeen times in all. iii K. 1827 n.
22. lpkao-4HILsja·as : Is. 3728 aapw>;uvas. - Kat ,jpas KTX. : the translator of Isaiah here inserts a negative, Kal
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oi3K fipas, apparently from misunderstanding his original, the 'lifting up of the eyes,' denoting pride, not worship.
23. 1v xwpL 6yy&wv : Is. 3724 3i dyyAwv. On4v XeLpl see § 91. -Kbpv6v cov: the cod has no equivalent in the Hebrew, and is not in Isaiah.-'Ev r4 ,rkiiAw : Is. Tip srXhBet. There is another reading here in the Hebrew, meaning ' with the driving,' which has not been adopted either by the Greek or English translators.-ILsipofi:: Is. 3724 Kal els r5, IcXara, R. V. ~ innermost parts.' - 7KO+a : R. V. ° I will cut down.'-T3 &AeKTd Kvsraplo-frwv avro0 : Is. rd KdXaos rigs rcvsraplocov.4)L9ev : Is. eic$aBov, R. V. I I will enter.'
24. 14rvia : R. V. I I have digged.' With 94,vta cp. Jer. 67 ws oXet AdKKOs uEwp. The translator of Isaiah has here gone astray altogether. So again in his rendering of 28 (Is. 37n). -arepw X9is - the A.V. here has I Egypt' with
defence' as a marginal alternative. The Hebrew word which is thus ambiguous is rendered in the LXX ten times in all by the word irepioxfi. But reptoX fi itself is not univocal. In iv K. 2410,252, Jer. 199 it clearly means siege' ; perhaps so also in Nahum 316, Zech. 122, ii Chr. 320 : in the two remaining passages, Ps. 3021, b9"0, it is taken to mean · stronghold,' which is the prevailing meaning of the word in the LXX, e.g. in i K. 22s·6, i Chr. 116. The passage most akin to this is Nahum Sly v Ewp srepvoXjs &loxaaat ceavrp (R.V. ' Draw thee water for the siege'), from which perhaps we may infer that it is here intended in the sense of I siege: If so, the Greek translator agrees with the A.V. - ° and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.'
25. Y,rMca urn. : the translation of this verse is defective and unintelligible, whereas the corresponding pas.
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sage in Isaiah is not far from the original. The word olxecla is not known elsewhere.
26. ir&rrpa 8v4vavrW"K6T0$R.V. ' as corn blasted before it be grown up.' The word rendered adrr~lAa (a thing trodden) means blighted grain, and that rendered iQr1Jx6TOr means standing corn. The word represented by dsrivavrc means ° before' either of place or time. The Greek translator has mischosen the local instead of the temporal meaning.
27. KaA(8pav: Is. 3728 dvdrravccv. -lYvauv: Is. Epir isrlura,uac.
28. Ta o-rpfwbs Pov: Is. 3729 J acxpla oou. Erp$vos does not occur else-
where in the LXX, but is found in Rev. 18a.-9fjo-w . . . puKT,jpo·tvcov: Is. ippaXia ypJv els rev Aivd cov. - iv rots xeWveclv orov : Is. els Td xelAq cov.
28. aiWWara : Is. 378D d ttcaapxar erroneously. -Td di,varAkovra: Is. rb xardXcWwa,, R. V. ° that which springeth of the same.' -caropd . . . b.wweXlovmv
Is. caeipavres daycare Kai Ovredoare d,urreaivvas.
3.0. rav 8vacEa-awpEvov : here the subject has been turned into the object of the verb, which makes havoc of the sentence. Is. 3781 Kal gcovrac of xaraaeac1A/ct`voc iv rj'Iou8al¢, q5v~couocv bIrav xra.
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81. 1tEWPETav KaT0eyWa : Is . 378s gcovrac of KaTaaeAipA4vov, incorrectly. - 8vao-wtbp.EVOS : Is . of owoWEVOC. - Tfov 8vvdp.Ewv : Is . e·aftawB. The Hebrew equivalent is found in Isaiah, but is missing from the text here.
82. ovX oirrws: Is. 3786 8&d roVro, correctly. The translator of Fourth Kingdoms has fallen into this mistake before. 16 n. - apbs Pacv4a : Is . art i9acWa.- OVK EC?El1EG?fTGV : Is . Od pii CIOAft.-Ka1 0V TOtffiPlV _KEf P&O$: Is. odU Wii i9dXp 6~ ~ avr~v PAos.-o$ arpo+66cEe avTdv AvpE6s : Is . ofidi W~ &s#dXp ha' ak~v BvpEbv, R.V. `neither shall he come before it with shield.' ov Wii iKX4(p spas avTiw VP60-XCOILQ: Is. OW I.cfi KVKX050-17 i9f' adr~v xdpaKa, which is the spirit rather than the letter. Xe(paE= va((usn, apoaxwua. _ agger.
0* Opto S )P -av ro WPM, Ka& I 0V83. o$K EtcEWwETav : Is . 3764 od ,aJ E(cEABp.
84. varEpacwW drip: 6repacsr(j'ew occurs twenty-two times in the LXX. It is followed by drip again in 208 ; Zech. 128: Is. 316, 3766, 388.-Tj9 arbkEws raiTv: the Hebrew adds ` to save it,' which is represented in Is. 3785 by Tov" oc3cav ak4v.-So4kov: Is. srai8a.
85. Kal IylvEro vuKT6s: not in Isaiah. - lirhT*V !v KTA. : IL 3786 dveiXev arc ris aapeu/9oT7)s. Op. i Mae. 741 it$Mev 1(yyeX64 cov Kal EaQTaiev iv airrois iKarDv 6y8ojKOwra aivre xWdBas. - Kat ~upApvcav KTh. : R.V. " and when men arose early in the morning,' thus avoiding the bull which exists in the AN. -' and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.' The Greek translator of Isaiah escapes it thus -Kat dvdcTavres Td apwl efrpov srdvra rd cw/AaTa veKpcf.
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86. Ka1 &Wqpev KaL lWopEfiN Kal dvfcrpE*ev : Is . 3787 Kai daitMev diro?TpaoEl4, but the wealth of predicates faithfully reflects the original.
o-cv : this is consistent with any interval between the return of Sennacherib and his murder.
87. KaL 1y(vETO 64TOO rpooKVVOvrroq: Is. 3788 cat 4v riafrbv rpoccuveiv. -Ec8pAX : Is. NacapdX, Hebrew Nisrokh. No such god is otherwise known. Josephus (Ant. % 1 § 6)
understands the proper name to be that of the temple -Kai dvppieqr~ My vaip 'Apdcrcp Xeyota4v(p. -8EO0 abro>Z
Is. rbv rdTpapXov afirov"". § 57 . - of viol a8ro0: omitted in the Hebrew teat here, but appearing in Isaiah. Jos. Ant. X 1 § b doXo¢ovjBets vmb rwv rpeQ,Bvr1pwv iral8wv 'AdpapeAE71ov Kai Eapavdpov reasuTp", rbp Stov.-4v par Xa(p¢ : Is. ,uaxatpats.-Els yqv'Apap6t9: Is. cis 'ApAevlav.= Acops4v: Josephus 'AoapaX68bas, Hebrew 'Efarhaddon.
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1 Menander in Josephus Against Apion I § 18.
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