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uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may
not make mention of the name of the Lord.” These verses and the context refer to the mortality which should result from the pestilence and famine (in consequence of the sins of the people); and to the BURNING ! of the bodies. The number “ TEN" probably refers to many, as that is a common expression in the East to denote many. I believe the whole alludes to the custom of burning human bodies, and to that of gathering up the half-calcined bones, and to the putting them into an earthen or other vessel, and then to the carrying back these fragments to the house or into some out BUILDING, where they are kept till conveyed to a sacred place. In India this is done by a son or a near relation ; but in case there is not one near akin, then any person who is going to the place (as to the Ganges) can take the fragments of bones and thus perform the last rites. Dr. Boothroyd takes the same view as to the PLACE where the bones have to be kept till they are removed, because he translates 6 room of the house." “ Hold thy tongue,” finds a forcible illustration in chap. viii. 3., where it is mentioned that there were “dead in every place ;” and where it is said, they were to cast them forth with silence.” When the cholera or any other pestilence has carried off many of the people, the relations cease to weep or speak; they ask, “ What is the use of wailing ?” 't is over,“ hold thy tongue.”
IX. 1.-“ I saw the Lord standing upon the altar.”
Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.” 3.—“ And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them.” 4.-—" And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it
shall slay them.” What altar is this upon which Jehovah was standing ? Dr. A. Clarke says, “ As this is a continuation of the preceding prophecy, the altar here may be one of those either at Dan or Beer-Sheba.” See, then, the Divine Majesty trampling on their most sacred places. In these verses we have some most pointed allusions to the idolatry of the Assyrians, which had been adopted by the Jews; and as the triad of the Hindoos was, I believe, taken from that mother nation of idolaters, I think it refers to the celebrated dispute for supremacy amongst the three gods. Siva assumed the form of a pillar of fire; and Vishnoo went down to the lower regions, called the seventh world, to find out its foundation, but could not: then Brahma assumed the form of a swan, and soared height above height, but could not find out its summit. But Jehovah could drag them from the depths and bring them down from the heights. Though they concealed themselves in Carmel or the sacred mount Mearu or Hima-laya, as did the two gods of the triad, yet could his hand bring them forth. “ Though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea! thence will I command the serpent ! and he shall bite them;" for THERE (in the sea) the second deity resided, and rode on the SERPENT ! athe-sealshan with his thousand heads “ and though they go into captivity,” as did the gods, yet the Lord could find them out. For (v. 5.) “ The Lord God of Hosts is He that toucheth the land, and it shall melt;” not like Siva's pillar of fire: for He by a touch could melt the
• In that valuable work on "The Worship of the Serpent,” by the Rev. John Bathurst Dean, he says, “ The chronicles and histories of the gods and heroes of Japan, are full of fabulous stories of this animal. They believe that it dwells at the bottom of the sea as its proper element. They represent it in their books as a huge, long, four-footed snake.” – Page 73.
earth, and cause all that dwell therein to “mourn.” For he, the Supreme (v. 6.), “ Buildeth his stories ” (Hebrew, ascensions) into the loftiest regions of his eternal mansion : his throne is not the sacrED HIMALAYA. “ He cometh forth out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the Earth; and the MOUNTAINS shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft as wax before the fire.” v. 6. He “ calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth.” Not like the fabled Ganges flowing from the head of Siva, the sea obeys his high behest. “ The Lord is his name.” Here is grandeur ! Human language cannot heighten the scene, and the mind recoils into its own littleness.
“ A God, a God, appears!
Chap. I. verse 5. " Then the mariners were afraid,
and cried every man unto his god.” Here again we are at home (to speak royally): never was there a more natural description of the conduct of a heathen crew, in a storm, than this. No sooner does danger come, than one begins to beat his head, and cry aloud, Siva, Siva; another piteously shrieks, and beats his breast, and says, Vishnoo; and a third strikes his thigh, and shouts with all his might, Varuna. Thus do they cry to their gods, instead of doing their duty. More than once have I been in these circumstances, and never can I forget the horror and helplessness of poor
7. — “ And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and
let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause
15. 66 The sea ceased from her raging."
16. “ Offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.” In a storm, the heathen mariners always conclude that there is some one on board who has committed a great crime, and they begin to enquire, “ Who is the sinner ?” Some time ago, a number of native vessels left the roads of Negapatam, at the same hour, for Point Pedro, in the Island of Ceylon : they had not been long at sea before it was perceived that one of them could not make any way; she rolled and pitched and veered about in every direction; but the other vessels went on beautifully before the wind. The captain and his crew began to look ! at the passengers, and, at last, fixed their eyes upon a poor woman, who was crouched in a corner of the hold; they enquired into her condition, and found she was in a state of impurity: “ Let down the canoe,”
was the order, “and take this woman ashore:" in vain she remonstrated, she was compelled to enter, and was soon landed on the beach.
66 After this the vessel sailed as well as any other !” When the storm rages, they make vows to their gods; one will go on a pilgrimage to some holy place, another will perform a penance, and a third will make a valuable present to his favourite temple. “ Offered a sacrifice:" this is generally done when they get safe to shore, but I have been on board when they have offered cocoa nuts and other articles with the greatest earnestness. To interfere with them is not always prudent; because, were it not for the hope they have from such offerings, they would cease to work the vessel.
IV. 6. — “ And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and
made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief.” The margin has instead of “gourd,”
Kikajon, or Palmecrist !” Dr. A. Clarke asks, “ But what was the Kikajon ? the best judges say the ricinus or Palma-Christi, from which we get what is vulgarly called castor oil.” The Tamul translation has, instead of “ gourd," Amanaku, i. e. the PalmaChristi! It is believed, also, the verb is in the preterperfect tense had prepared, which may be another instance of the verb as illustrated under Isa. xxi. 9. The Palma-Christi is most abundant in the East, and I have had it in my own garden to the height of fourteen feet. The growth is very rapid. v. 7. “ God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered," i. e. the Palma-Christi till it withered. This tree, in the course of a very short period, produces the “rough caterpillar,” respecting which, I have written under Jer. li. 27., and in one night (where the caterpillars are abundant) will they strip the tree of its leaves, and thus take away the shade. But there is another worm in the East, called the kuruttu