Chapter 17 – Chapter 19

Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

1 Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, put forth an enigma and utter a proverb to the house of Israel;

3 And say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, A mighty eagle, with great wings, long feathers, and full of plumage, Of various colors, came to Mount Lebanon, And took the highest branch of a cedar;

4 He cropped off the top of its young twigs, And carried it into the land of the merchant; He planted it in a city of merchants.

5 He took also of the seed of the land, And put it in a fruitful field; He planted it near many waters, like a willow.

Note 339. Newcome adopts the rendering of the Septuagint and Cocceius, “with much care,” curatio, observatio, but quotes Dathe and Golius, page 1362, for the Arabic, in the same sense as Calvin, “a willow.”

6 Then it grew and became a luxuriant vine, low of stature, So that its branches turned towards the eagle, And its roots were under him; and it became a vine, And brought forth branches, and sent out boughs.

7 There was also another large eagle, of great wings and of copious plumage, And lo! this vine bent its roots towards him, And sent forth its branches towards him, That he might water it from the beds of his plantation.

Note 340. See vol. 2, p. 192, note.

8 In a good soil near many streams was it planted, That it should produce leaves and bring forth fruit, So as to be a magnificent vine.

9 Say you, Thus says the, Lord Jehovah, Shall it prosper? Shall not one pluck up its roots and cut down its fruits, And dry up all its branches, that it may wither? Then it shall not be for a great arm or much people To take it away from its roots.

Note 341. See vol. 2, p. 193, note.

10 Yet, behold, when planed, shall it prosper? Shall it not completely wither when the east wind has touched it.? Upon the beds of its plantation shall it wither.

11 Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

12 Say, I pray thee, to the rebellious house, Know you not what this means? Say, Lo! the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, And has taken away its king and its elders, and carried them with him to Babylon;

13 Then he took from the royal seed, and struck an agreement with him, And made him descend to an oath; Then he took also the mighty of the land;

14 That the kingdom should be low, and not raise itself up, And keep its agreement and stand in it.

15 But he rebelled against him, by sending his ambassadors To Egypt, that horses and much people might be given him: Shall he who doeth these things prosper and escape? Shall he who breaks the treaty get off?

16 As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, if he shall not die In the place of the king who made him reign, Whose oath he has despised, and whose treaty he has made vain, In the midst of Babylon.

17 Neither with a mighty army nor a great host Shall Pharaoh meet with him in battle, By throwing up a mound and by building a tower, to cut off many souls.

18 Through breaking the covenant he has despised his oath, And, behold, he has stretched forth his hand, And has done all this, and shall not escape.

19 Besides, thus says the Lord Jehovah, As I live, If I do not recompense on his own head My oath which he has despised, and my covenant which he has broken,

20 Then I will stretch my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare; And I will lead him to Babylon, and will plead with him there, Concerning the transgression which he has transgressed against me.

21 And all his fugitives,. with all his forces, shall fall by the sword; And the remnant shall be scattered to every wind; And you shall know that I Jehovah have spoken.

22 Thus says the Lord Jehovah, I will take from the top of the lofty cedar, And I will tear off a tender branch from its twigs and will set it: And I will plant it on a lofty and elevated mountain;

23 On a lofty mountain of Israel will I plant it; And it shall bring forth a bough and bear fruit, and shall be a tall cedar; Then every bird shall dwell under it; Every winged thing shall shelter itself under the shadow of its branches.

Note 342. See vol. 2, p. 208, note.

24 Then all the trees of the field shall know that I am Jehovah, Who humble the high tree and raise aloft the low tree; I dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree fruitful I Jehovah have spoken and have done it.

Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

1 Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

2 What mean you by using this proverb about the land of Israel, Saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge?

Note 343. Saying or apothegm; vol. 2, p. 213, note.

3 As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, You shall not hereafter Use this proverb any more in Israel.

4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, So the soul of the son is mine. The soul which has sinned shall die itself.

5 But if a man have been just, and done judgment and justice,

6 And have neither eaten upon the mountains, nor raised his eyes To the idols of the house of Israel, and have not polluted His neighbor’s wife, nor approached a female when separated;

7 If he have not afflicted any one, and have restored to the debtor his pledge, Have not seized the prey, have given his bread to the hungry, And have covered the naked with a garment:

8 Have not given upon usury, and have taken no increase, Have withdrawn his hand from iniquity, And have done justice faithfully between man and man;

9 Have walked in my statutes, and kept my judgments, to do the truth He is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Note 344. Conduct himself faithfully; vol. 2, p. 219, note.

10 But if he beget a son, who is a robber and a shedder of blood, And who doeth to his brother any one of these things,

Note 345. See vol. 2, p. 231, note.

11 And has not done all these precepts of the law, But has eaten on the mountains, and defiled his neighbor’s wife;

12 Has oppressed the poor and needy, has spoiled by violence, Has not restored the pledge, has lifted up his eyes unto idols;

13 Has done abomination, has given on usury and taken increase; Shall he live? He shall not live; he has done all these abominations; He shall surely die: his blood shall be on him.

14 And lo! if he beget a son, and he see all the wickedness which his father has committed, And feared, and hath not done according to them;

15 Has not eaten upon the mountains, and has not raised his eyes To the idols of the house of Israel, and has not defiled his neighbor’s wife; Hath oppressed no one, has not taken a pledge,

16 Hath not spoiled by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, And has covered the naked with a garment;

17 Has withdrawn his hand from the poor, Has not received increase and usury, has done my judgments, Has walked in my decrees; he shall not die Through the ]iniquity of his father; he shall surely live.

18 His father, — because by oppressing he has oppressed, And has snatched the prey from his brother, And has done that which is not good in the midst of the people, — Behold, he shall die in his iniquity.

19 And you say, Why? shall not the son bear his father’s iniquity? Because the son has done judgment and justice, And has kept all my statutes and has done them, Therefore shall he surely live.

20 The soul which has sinned, that shall die. The son shall not bear the father’s iniquity, And the father shall not bear the son’s iniquity; The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, And the impiety of the impious shall be upon him.

21 Then, if the wicked man shall withdraw from all the wickedness which he has done, And have kept all my sayings, and have done justice and judgement, He shall surely live — he shall not die.

22 All the transgressions which he has committed Shall not come into memory to him; But in his righteousness; which he has done shall he live.

23 Do I earnestly desire the death of the wicked, says the Lord Jehovah? Do I not desire that he turn from his evil ways and live?

24 Then, if a just man turn aside from his justice, And do iniquity, according to all the abominations Which the wicked man has done, shall he live? All his righteous deeds shall not come into remembrance? In the transgression which he has transgressed, And in the wickedness which he has wickedly done, In them shall he die — yet you have said —

Note 346. See vol. 2, p. 249, note.

25 The way of the Lord is not upright. Hear you then, O house of Israel, is not my way upright? Are not your ways perverse?

Note 347. Accurately balanced: vol. 2, p. 252, note.

26 If the just man has turned aside from his justice, And has done iniquity, and has died in it, In his own iniquity which he has committed shall he die.

27 And if the wicked man has turned aside from the wickedness which he has done, And has done judgment and justice, he shall preserve his soul alive.

Note 348. See vol. 2, p. 256, note.

28 Then, if he have seen and have turned away from all the wickedness Which he has done, he shall surely live — he shall not die.

29 Yet, the house of Israel have said, The way of the Lord is not upright. Are not my ways upright, O house of Israel? Are not your ways perverse?

30 Wherefore I will judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel, says the Lord Jehovah. Turn you, and depart from all your transgressions, And let not iniquity be your snare.

31 Cast away from you all your iniquities whereby you have transgressed; And make you a new heart and a new spirit: For why will you die, O house of Israel?

32 Since I do not delight in the death of the dying, Says the Lord Jehovah — wherefore turn you, and live.

Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

1 Wherefore take you up this mournful strain against the princes of Israel,

2 And say, Why did thy mother — a lioness — Lie down among lions? she brought up her whelps In the midst of lions.

3 Then she bore one of her whelps, and he was made a lion: Then he learnt to seize his prey, and he devoured men.

4 Then the Gentiles heard of him; he was taken in their pit, And they led him in chains into the land of Egypt.

5 Then she saw what she had hoped for, and how her hope had perished; And she took another of her whelps, and made him a lion.

6 Then he walked in the midst of lions, and became a lion; And he learnt to seize the prey, and devoured men.

7 Then he harassed their palaces and destroyed their cities; And the land was rendered desolate, and all its fullness, By the voice of his roaring.

8 Then the nations set themselves against him From all sides and regions, and spread their net over him. He was taken in their pitfall: and they put him in ward,

9 And brought him in chains to the king of Babylon. They led him into strongholds, that his voice Might be no longer heard in the mountains of Israel.

10 Thy mother, when she bore thee, was planted like a vine near the waters: She was fruitful and branching beside many waters.

Note 349. Calvin translates with the authorized version in tuo sanguine, “in thy blood,” and explains it as above, dum peperit. Capellus and Pradus, by a slight alteration of the Hebrew letters from בדמך, bedemek, to כרמן, keremen, translate “like a pomegranate.” Doederlein, in his Annotations on Grotius, prefers this sense; but Jerome, Rab. Solomon, and Rab. David, take it as Calvin does. Both Rosenmuller and Newcome discuss the point with ability.

11 And the rods of her strength were for scepters for rulers, And her stature was elevated, and appeared aloft In the multitude of her branches.

12 Then she was torn in fury, and cast on the ground; And the east wind dried up her fruit; Her strong rods were broken off and dried up; The fire consumed them; and now she is planted

13 In the desert, in a land of dryness and thirst.

14 Then a fire went forth from the rod of her branches, and devoured her fruit; And there was not a rod of strength in her — a scepter for ruling. This is the lamentation, and shall be for a wailing.