17 And the loftiness of man | shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be laid low and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

18 And the idols 3he shall utterly abolish.

8 ver. 11. 3 or, shall utterly pass away. art of painting was much known among the Hebrews, it is not now possible to determine. To a certain extent it may be presumed to have been practised; but the meaning of this place is, that the Divine judgment should rest on all that was designed for mere ornament and luxury; and, from the description in the previous verses, there can be no doubt that such ornaments would abound.

17. And the loftiness, &c. See Note ver. 11. The repetition of this makes it strongly emphatic.

19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly 'the earth

4 or dust.

t Hag. 2, 6, 21. He. 12, 26, 27.

six hundred men hid himself from Saul in the sides of it. 1 Sam. xxiv. Sometimes caves or dens were artificially constructed for refuge or defence in danger. Judges vi. 2. 1 Sam. xiii. 6. Thus, "because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds." Judges vi. 2. To these they fled in times of hostile invasion. "When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed), then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits." 1 Sam. xiii. 6. Comp. Jer. xli. 9. Mahomet speaks of a tribe of Arabians, the tribe of Thamud, who

18. And the idols. Note ver. 8. Abolish. Heb. Cause to pass away or disappear. He shall entirely cause their worship to cease. This prediction was most remarkably fulfilled."hewed houses out of the mountains to Before the captivity at Babylon, the Jews were exceedingly prone to idolatry. It is a remarkable fact that no such propensity was ever evinced after that. In their own land they were entirely free from it; and scattered as they have been into all lands, they have in every age since kept clear from idolatry. Not an instance, probably, has been known of their relapsing into this sin; and no temptation, or torture, has been sufficient to induce them to bow down and worship an idol. This is one of the few instances that have occurred where affliction and punishment have completely answered their design.

19. And they shall go. That is, the worshippers of idols. Into the holes of the rocks. Judea was a mountainous country, and the mountains abounded with caves that offered a safe retreat for those who were in danger. Many of those caverns were very spacious. At Engedi, in particular, a cave is mentioned where David with

secure themselves." Koran ch. xv. and xxvi. Grots or rooms hewed out of rocks for various purposes are often mentioned by travellers in Oriental regions. See Maundrell, p. 118, and Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, and particularly Laborde's Journey to Arabia Petrea. Such caves are often mentioned by Josephus as affording places of refuge for banditti and robbers. Ant. B. xiv. ch. 15, and Jewish Wars, B. i. ch. 16. To enter into the caves and dens, therefore, as places of refuge, was a very natural image to denote consternation. The meaning here is, that the worshippers of idols should be so alarmed as to seek for a place of security and refuge. Comp. ver. 10. T When he ariseth. This is an expression often used in the Scriptures to denote the commencement of doing any thing. It is here derived, perhaps, from the image of one who has been in repose—as of a lion or warrior, rousing up suddenly, and putting forth mighty efforts. ¶ To shake terribly the earth

20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made

6 the idols of his silver.

An image denoting the presence of God, for judgment or punishment. One of the magnificent images which the sacred writers often use to denote the presence of the Lord is, that the earth shakes and trembles; the mountains bow and are convulsed 2 Sam. xxii. 8: "Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved, because he was wroth." See also vs. 9-16. Judges v. 4. Hab. iii. 6-10: "The mountains saw thee and trembled." Heb. xii. 26: "Whose voice then shook the earth." The image here denotes that he would come forth in such wrath that the very earth should tremble, as if alarmed at his presence. The mind cannot conceive more sublime images than are thus used by the sacred writers.

each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

21 To go into the clefts of the

8 or, for him.

the bark of trees, and flies only in the
night. They resemble each other, and
are used here in connection, because
both dwell amidst ruins and in obscure
places; both are regarded as animals
of the lowest order; both are of the
same genus, and both are almost blind.
The sense is, therefore, that the idols
which had before been so highly vene-
rated, would now be despised, and cast
into obscure places, and amidst ruins,
as worthless. See Bochart's Hieroz.
p. 1, Lib. iii. p. 1032, Ed. 1663.
¶ And to the bats.
"The East may

be termed the country of bats; they
hang by hundreds and thousands in
caves, ruins, and under the roofs of
large buildings. To enter such places,
especially after rain, is most offensive.
I have lived in rooms where it was
sickening to remain, on account of the
smell produced by those creatures, and
whence it was almost impossible to
expel them. What from the appear-
ance of the creature, its sunken dimi-
nutive eye, its short legs, (with which
it cannot walk,) its leather-like wings,
its half-hairy, oily skin, its offensive
ordure ever and anon dropping on the
ground, its time for food and sport,
darkness, makes it one of the most dis-
gusting creatures to the people of the
East. No wonder, then, that its name
is used by the Hindoos (as by the
prophet) for an epithet of contempt.
inhabitants, on account of being haunt-
When a house ceases to please the

20. In that day. That is, in the time when God would come forth to inflict punishment. Probably the day to which the prophet refers here was the time of the captivity at Babylon. A man shall cast, &c. That is, all who have idols, or who have been trusting in them. Valuable as they may be made of gold and silver; and much as he may now rely on them or worship them, yet he shall then see their vanity, and shall cast them into dark, obscure places, or holes where are moles and bats. To the moles. 1. Probably this should be read as a single word, and it is usually interpreted moles. Jerome interpretsed, they say, give it to the bats.

it mice, or moles, from hhâphăr, to dig. The word is formed by doubling the radical letters to give intensity. Similar instances of words being divided in the Hebrew, which are nevertheless to be read as one, occur in 2 Chron. xxiv. 6. Jer. xlvi. 20. Lam. iv. 3. Ezek. xxvii. 6. The mole is a well known animal, with exceedingly small eyes, that burrows under ground, lives in the dark, and subsists on roots. The bat lives in old ruins, and behind

Alas! alas! my wife and children are dead; my houses, my buildings are all given to the bats.' People ask, when passing a tenantless house, 'Why is this habitation given to the bats?"" Roberts. The meaning is, that the man would throw his idols into such places as the bats occupy-he would so see their vanity, and so despise them, as to throw them into old ruins and dark places.

21. To go. That is, that he may

exists only while he breathes, and his breath is in his nostrils. It may soon cease, and we should not confide in so frail and fragile a thing as the breath of man. See Ps. cxlvi. 3, 4, 5:

Put not your trust in princes,

Nor in the son of man in whom there is no help.
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish.

help.

Whose hope is in the Lord his God.

go. Clefts of the rocks. See Note on ver. 19. Into the tops, &c. The tops of such rocks were not easily accessible, and were therefore deemed places of safety. We may remark here, how vain were the refuges to which they would resort-as if they were safe from God, when they had fled to the places in which they sought Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his safety from man. The image here is, however, one that is very sublime. The earth shaking; the consternation and alarm of the people; their renouncing confidence in all to which they had trusted; their rapid flight; and their appearing on the high pro- | jecting cliffs, are all sublime and terrible images. They denote the severity of God's justice, and the image is a faint representation of the consternation of men when Christ shall come to judge the earth. Rev. vi. 15, 16, 17.

22. Cease ye from man. That is, cease to confide in or trust in him. The prophet had just said (vs. 11, 17), that the proud and lofty men would be brought low-that is, the kings, princes and nobles would be humbled. They in whom the people had been accustomed to confide should show their insufficiency to afford protection. And he calls on the people to cease to put their reliance on any of the devices and refuges of men, implying that trust should be placed in the Lord only. See Ps. cxlvi. 3, 4. Jer. xvii 5. Whose breath is in his nostrils. That is, who is weak and short-lived, and who has no control over his life. All his power

The Chaldee has translated this verse, "Be not subject to man when he is terrible, whose breath is in his nostrils; because to-day he lives and to-morrow he is not, and shall be reputed as nothing." It is remarkable that this verse is omitted by the LXX, as Vitringa supposes, because it might seem to exhort people not to put confidence in their rulers. For wherein, &c. That is, he is unable to afford the assistance which is needed. When God shall come to judge men, what can man do, who is weak, and frail, and mortal? Refuge should be sought in God. The exhortation of the prophet here had respect to a particular time, but it may be applied in general to teach us not to confide in weak, frail, and dying man. For life and health, for food and raiment, for home and friends, and especially for salvation, we are dependent on God. He alone can save the sinner; and though we should treat men with all due respect, yet we should remember that God alone can save us from the great day of wrath

CHAPTER III.

1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem, and from Judah, the stay and the "staff, the whole stay of bread, and the

ch. 36. 12. Jer. 38. 9. to Lev 26. 26.

1. For. This is a continuation of the previous chapter. The same prophecy is continued, and the force of the argument of the prophet will not be seen unless the chapters are read together. See the Analysis prefixed to ch. ii. In the close of the second chapter (ver. 22), the prophet had cautioned his countrymen against confiding in man. In this chapter a reason is given here why they should cease to do it-to wit, that God would soon take away their kings and princes.

whole stay of water.

2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient.

y 2 Kings 24. 14.

the princes and mighty men on whose counsels and aid the nation was resting for defence. See vs. 2, 3. ¶ The whole stay of bread. We use a similar expression when we say that bread is the staff of life. The Hebrews ofter expressed the same idea, representing the heart in man as being supported, or upheld by bread. Gen. xviii. 5 (margin). Judges xix. 5 (margin). Lev. xxvi. 26. Ps. cv. 16. Stay of water. He would reduce them from their luxuries introduced by commerce (ch. ii.), to absolute want. This often occurred in the sieges and wars of the nation; and in the famines which were the consequence of the wars. The reference here is probably to the invasion of the land by Nebuchadnezzar. The famine consequent on that invasion is described in Jer. xxxviii. 21, xxxviii. 9. Lam. iv. 4: "The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst; the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them."

The Lord. 8. See Note on ch. i. 24. The Lord of hosts. See Note ch. i. 9. The prophet calls the attention of the Jews particularly to the fact that this was about to be done by JEHOVAH of hosts-a title which he gives to God when he designs to indicate that that which is to be done implies peculiar strength, power and majesty. As the work which was now to be done was the removal of the mighty men on which the nation was depending, it is implied that it was a work of power which belonged peculiarly to the God of armies; the Almighty. Doth take away. Is about to remove. In the Hebrew the word here is a participle, and does not mark the precise time. It has reference here, however, to the future. ¶ From Jerusalem, &c. Note ch. i. 1. The stay. In the Hebrew the words trans-original-p-properly means a di lated stay and staff are the same, with viner, or a soothsayer. But it is somethe exception that the former is in the times used in a good sense. See Prov. masculine, and the latter in the femi- xvi. 10, margin. The Chaldec under nine gender. The meaning is, that stands it of a man who is consulted, or God would remove all kinds of sup- whose opinion is asked, in times of per port, or every thing on which they re- plexity or danger. The word was origiHed. The reference is undoubtedly tonally applied to false prophets, diviners,

2. The mighty man. The hero. The idea expressed is not simply that of personal strength and prowess, but the higher one of military eminence or heroism. Prof. Alexander. This was fully accomplished in the time of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Kings xxiv. 14. And the prudent. This word in the