"And all this people shall also go to their place in peace." (Exod. xviii. 23.) "All the people," even he that is condemned in judgment. And our rabbies, of blessed memory, have interpreted bow of reconciliation, for it is said, "What sort of judgment is that in which there is peace? They answered, That of arbitration."* VENDI is pointed with pathach, because it is in regimen.

"In your gates."-For that was the seat of the elders; as it is said in the law, "To the gate to the elders." (Deut. xxv. 7.)

17. "And let none of you imagine evil against his neighbour."-The same is said above (vii. 10), and there it is interpreted.

"And love no false oath."-And afterwards he says, "That I hate ;" that is to say, Do not ye love that which I hate.

"For all these are things."-Imagining evil against a neighbour and false oaths, and that which is the opposite of the former things; i. e., Truth and peace. Therefore he says, "All these things."

18. “And the word of the Lord came to me."—If ye will do these things which I have commanded you, the God of hosts says, that the fasts concerning which ye have asked whether ye shall fast on those days, ye shall not fast, but ye shall rejoice in them, because of the abundance of good which shall be to you.

19. "The fast of the fourth month."-This is Tammuz in which they fasted in captivity, on the 17th of the

* i. e., Where the parties are brought to agree by means of arbitration. The whole passage is found in Sanhedrin, fol. 6, col. 2 :-" R. Judah ben Korcha says, it is a commandment to put an end to a suit by arbitration; for it is said, 'Judge truth and the judgment of peace in your gates.' (Zech. viii. 16.) But how can there be peace in a place where there is judgment; or in a place where there is peace, how can there be judgment? The difficulty is solved by considering what sort of judgment is here intended: it is that of arbitration."

month, the day on which a breach was effected in the

city.

"The fast of the fifth month."-This is Av, in which they fasted on the 9th day.†

"The fast of the seventh month."-This is the fast of Gedaliah, as we interpreted above.

"The fast of the tenth month."-This is the tenth of Tevath, on which day the King of Babylon invested Jerusalem.

"Shall be."-Every one of them shall be to the house of Judah during the second temple, for the ten tribes have not returned.

Therefore love the truth and peace."—And on condition that ye love the truth and peace, as I have commanded you.

20. "Thus saith the Lord people."―There shall yet be a come, and this will be in the

there shall come

time when the people shall days of Messiah. Ti has "It is yet

, עוֹד הַיּוֹם גָּדוֹל the same signification as in

high day" and again,

is, "I will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles" (Hcs. xii. 10, English 9): and other similar passages.

21. "I will go also."-According to its Targum, "One shall say to the other, I will go also."

22. "Yea, many people and strong nations.” — Strong in number: and we find this sense of in Jer. xv. 8: "Their widows are strong (are increased) to me above the sand of the seas." It here refers to the matter of quantity. The same sentiment is repeated in different words. The Targum of Jonathan has "great kingdoms." 23. "Thus saith the Lord in those days that ten men shall take hold."-This that I have said to you shall happen in those days when they shall take hold. And afterwards these words, "even shall take hold," are * See the notes above on chapter vii. 3.

,אם באמת

repeated on account of the length of the intervening sentence, as the words, a DN, "If truly and sincerely," are repeated in Judges ix. 16-19. There are many such passages.

"Ten men."-Ten is not to be taken strictly, but it is a round number, like "Ten women shall bake your bread," and other similar passages. And according to the Drash, "Ten men out of all languages of the nations" means 700 to each skirt of the Arbah Kanphoth* (four corners).

So the Jews call that particular garment on which they wear the fringes commanded in Numbers xv. 38, 39.

82

CHAPTER IX.

1. "The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach."-This prophecy refers to the land of Hadrach and Damascus, for there shall be its resting-place; or, the interpretation is, The prophecy of the Lord shall yet be in the land of Hadrach as in the land of Israel, for it shall be (a part) of the land of Israel, and thus Damascus shall be his resting-place, i. e., the Shechinah (habitation) of his glory and his prophecy. We find in the words of our rabbies, of blessed memory, that "R. Benaiah says, that, Hadrach, is the Messiah, who is sharp, T, to the Gentiles, and tender, 77, to Israel. R. Jose, the son of a Damascus woman, said to him, How long wilt thou pervert the Scriptures against us? I call heaven and earth to witness, that I am from Damascus, and there is there a place, of which the name is Hadrach. He said to him, And what do I establish by the words, Damascus shall be his resting-place?' I establish this, that Jerusalem shall yet extend as far as Damascus, for it is said, 'His resting-place,' and he has no rest but Jerusalem, as he says, 'This is my rest for ever and ever.' (Ps. cxxxii. 14.) He said to him, And what do I establish by the words, And the city shall be built upon her heap?' (Jer. xxx. 18.) He said to him, That she shall not be moved from her place. He said to him, And what do I prove by the words, 'It was made broader, and went round still upward?' (Ezek. xli. 7.) That Jerusalem shall be enlarged and extend on all sides, as this fig-tree, which is narrow underneath, and broad above, and the gates of Jerusalem shall yet extend to Damascus, and so it is said, 'Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon, that looketh towards Damascus,' and the captivities come

and encamp in the midst of it, as it is said, And Damascus his resting place.'

"For to the Lord the eye of man."-For in those days the eye of all mankind shall be to the Lord, not to idols and images; therefore the land of Hadrach and Damascus, and the other places near the land of Israel, such as Tyre, Sidon, and Hamath, and the cities of the Philistines, shall be included among the cities of Judah, and shall be in the faith of Israel.

"And all the tribes of Israel," and, á fortiori, the tribes of Israel shall have their eye and their heart toward the Lord. Or, the meaning of it may be, The eye of man shall be to the Lord, and to all the tribes of Israel to walk in their ways, as is said above, "We will go with you."

2. "And Hamath also."-He says, "And Hamath also; " for it is a great city, as is said, "Hamath Rabbah,” and it is outside the border of the land of Israel, for it is one of the borders of the land of Israel; and he says that, at that time Hamath shall be within her border, and that is what is said, "And Hamath also shall border in her, Tyre and Zidon, though it be very wise." And thus, also, Tyre and Zidon, which are also in her vicinity, shall be in the midst of her border. "Although she be very wise," refers to Tyre, as is mentioned in Ezekiel's chapter about Tyre (xxvii), and the meaning is, " Although she was wise in her own eyes in former days, her wisdom did not profit her. But in the days of Messiah she shall not trust in her wisdom, but shall humble herself before Israel."

3. "And Tyre did build herself a strong hold."For although a strong hold was built for her in ancient days, and she heaped up silver as dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets, all this did not profit her.

* This rabbinical interpretation is to be found with some slight variations in the Yalkut Shimoni, part i. fol. 258, col. 2.