Hanging by the hand (v. 12).-No punishment is more common than this in the East, especially for slaves and refractory children. Thus, has a master an obstinate slave; has he committed some great offence with his hands; several men are called, who tie the offender's hands, and hoist him to the roof, till he beg for forgiveness. Schoolboys who are in the habit of playing truant are also thus punished. To tell a man you will hang him by the hands, is extremely provoking. See, then, the lamentable condition of the princes in Babylon; they were "hanged up by their

hands" as common slaves."

16-18. (16) crown, fig. for the glory of the nation. (17) this, our calamity rather than our sin. (18) foxes, or jackals, creatures that frequent desolated cities, and live among ruins." On a tear.

Oh, that the chemist's magic art
Could crystallise this sacred treasure!
Long should it glitter near my heart,
A secret source of pensive pleasure.
The little brilliant, ere it fell,
Its lustre caught from Chloe's eye;
Then, trembling, left its coral cell-
The spring of sensibility!

Sweet drop of pure and pearly light,
In thee the rays of virtue shine
More calmly clear, more mildly bright,
Than any gem that gilds the mine.
Benign restorer of the soul!
Who ever fliest to bring relief,
When first we feel the rude control
Of love or pity, joy or grief.

The sage's and the poet's theme,
In every clime, in every age;
Thou charm'st in fancy's idle dream,
In reason's philosophic page.

That very law which moulds a tear,
And bids it trickle from its source,
That law preserves the earth a sphere,
And guides the planets in their course."

19-22. (19) remainest, etc., Ps. ix. 7. (20) for ever, comp. the next sentence, for so long time. (21) turn us, Je. xxxi. 18. (22) thou hast, better, for wilt Thou? "Wouldst Thou utterly reject us?"

Genuine conversion (v. 21).- The text teaches that-1. It is a turning of the soul to the Lord, not to creeds, not to churches; 2. It is a turning of the soul to the Lord, by the Lord; no one can turn the human soul to God but Himself."

Various tears.

There is a tear that spots the cheek,

And speaks more than the tongue can speak,

In words without a name,

That tells of many a pang within,

Of many a foul and deadly sin-
It is the tear of shame.

of the people of Ekron, 'The chief

priests and noblemen I put to death, on stakes all round the city I hung their bodies; the people of the city with their wives I gave to slavery."

-Spk. Com. b Roberts.

a "They were prob. first at

tracted thither by the bodies of the slain, of which they are particularly fond."- Hender son.

There is a tear that through the soul
Causes compassion's tide to roll
In full but placid flow,
That shows the holy maxim true
How man is born his guilt to rue-
It is the tear of woe.

There is a tear whose mute appeals
Tell all the conscious bosom feels,
With thrilling eloquence,

That wrings the sympathetic sigh
Where ne'er a drop had dimm'd the eye-
The tear of penitence.

There is a tear that trickles still,
Announcing all the worst of ill,
Too bitter for relief,

That when by some dire mis'ry curst,

Swells the stretch'd heart-strings till they burst-
It is the tear of grief.

There is a tear that dims the eye,
When answer'd by the stifled sigh,
That speaks of woe within,
Ploughing a channel down the face
As if were there its resting-place-
It is the tear of sin.

There is a tear that fiercely starts,
And to the haughty eye imparts
A glance, by guilt supplied,
That falls not o'er the moisten'd lid-
To flow by fierce disdain forbid-
It is the tear of pride.

But there's a tear that gently flows,
And, like the dewdrop on the rose,
Refreshes all things near-
In which the sky of purest blue
Reflects its own celestial hue-
It is religion's tear."

THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL.

I. Author. EZEKIEL (God will strengthen, or prevail) the son of Buzi, was, like Jeremiah, a priest as well as a prophet; "but with the priestly character more largely developed, and also one step farther removed from the ancient Prophets, inasmuch as he is the first in whom the author and the writer entirely preponderates over the seer, the poet, and the statesman (Stanley). Carried captive with Jehoiakim by Nebuchadnezzar, B.C. 599, eleven years before the destr. of Jerus. II. Time, B.C. 595-574. Place. All his prophecies were delivered in Chaldæa, on the river Chebar (Khabûr), which falls into the Euphrates at Carchemish, about 200 miles north of Babylon. Here he resided (i. 1, viii. 1), and here his wife died (xxiv. 18). Tradition says that he was put to death by one of his fellow exiles, a leader among them whose idolatries he had rebuked and in the middle ages what was called his tomb was shown, not far from Bagdad. III. Characteristics. His writings show remarkable vigour, and he was evidently well fitted to oppose "the people of stubborn front and hard heart" to whom he was sent. His characteristic, however, was the subordination of his whole life to his work. He ever thinks and feels as the prophet. In this respect his writings contrast remarkably with those of his contemporary, Jeremiah, whose personal history and feelings are frequently recorded. IV. Canonicity. Until recently the prophecies of Ezekiel have always been acknowledged as canonical, nor was it ever disputed that he was their author. The Jews, indeed, say that the Sanhedrim deliberated for a long time whether his book should form part of the sacred canon. They objected to the great obscurity at the beginning and end of his prophecy, and to what he says in xviii. 20, which, they urged, was contrary to Moses (Exod. xx. 5). But it is worthy of remark that Moses himself says the same thing as Ezekiel (Deut. xxiv. 16) (Calmet). V. General subject. The central point of his predictions is the destruction of Jerusalem. They were delivered partly before and partly after that event. Before that event his chief object was to call to repentance those living in careless security, and to assure them that the destruction of their city and temple was inevitably and fast approaching. After this event his principal care was to console the exiled Jews by promises of future deliverance and restoration to their own land, and to encourage them by assurances of future blessings (Angus).

(According to Hengstenberg.)

The First Cycle

The Second Cycle..

The Third Cycle

The Fourth Cycle...

Foreign Nations

Synopsis.

.i.-vii. .viii.-xix.

.XX.-xxiii.

......xxiv.

Words of Comfort ......xxiii. 21-xxxix.
The Restoration ..............xl-xlviii.

(According to Litton.)

I. Relating to the destruction of
Jerusalem. Ezekiel's call (i.—iii.).

Symbolical representations of siege and capture of Jerusalem (iv.-vii.). Vision of Jerusalem, exhibiting the idolatry of the people (viii.-xi.). Reproofs and warnings addressed to contemporaries (xii-xix.). Another series, warning of the approaching calamity (xx.-xxiii.). Announcement of the commencement of the siege by the King of Babylon (xxiv.).

II. Relating to heathen nations (XXV.-
xxxii.).

III. Relating to the restoration of the
Jews (xxxiii.—-xlviii.).

The Book is divided by Havernick into nine sections, and it seems probable that the arrangement was made by Ezekiel himself (Angus).

CHAPTER THE FIRST.

1-3. (1) now it came, better," and it came." A discourse in Hebrew is usually begun with the particle vau or and. thirtieth year, this was the age at which Levites were called to their office. Ezekiel was a priest, v. 3. captives, or people of the captivity. Chebar," the same as Chabor, 2 Ki. xvii. 6; 1 Chr. v. 26. visions of God, sublime, mysterious, majestic visions. (2) Jehoiachin's captivity, 2 Ki. xxiv. 12. (3) expressly, a "phrase_marking strongly that it was in truth a heaven-sent vision." Ezekiel, Heb. Jehezkel. hand.. him, indicating that he felt sensible impressions of God's power resting upon him.

The Divine government of the world (v. 1).—Note the subject, period, scene, and purpose of this vision. I. The subordinate agencies of the Divine government. 1. Here is the intelligent; 2. The non-intelligent. II. The leading features of the Divine government. 1. The idea of vastness; 2. Of complication; 3. Of intelligence; 4. Of progressiveness; 5. Of harmony. The wonderful Head of the Divine government."

III.

a Nu. iv. 23, 30. These 30 years are variously reckoned. They seem to refer to the Prophet's own age. Usher, and other learned men,reckon them from the time all the people of

when Josiah and

Judah entered

into the solemn

Covenant, 2 Ki. xxii. 3. From this time the 40 years of Judah's transgression may be reckoned: see Eze. iv. 6.

b "It flows into

the Euphrates near Carchemish, miles N. of Babyor Circesium, 200 lon."-Fausset.

c 1 Ki. xviii. 46.

v. 1. A. Fuller,

"While we view,
amid the noon-
tide walk, a
limpid rill gush
through the
tickling herbage,
to the thirst of
summer yielding
the delicious
draught of cool
refreshment; o'er
shines not
the mossy brink
surface clearer,
and the

The river Chebar (v. 1).—“The Khabour flows through the richest pastures and meadows. Its banks were now covered with flowers of every hue, and its windings through the green plain were like the coils of a mighty serpent. An uncontrollable emotion of joy seized all our party when they saw the end of their journey before them. The horsemen urged their horses to full speed; the Jebours danced in a circle, raised their coloured 516; F. D. Maukerchiefs on their spears, and shouted their war-cry; the Tizari rice, Pro. and sang their mountain songs and fired their muskets into the air. Kgs. 432. Trees in full leaf lined the water's edge. We rode through ad Dr. Thomas. mass of flowers, reaching high above the horses' knees, and such as I had never before seen, even in the most fertile parts of the Mesopotamian wilderness. We had passed several tels and the double banks of ancient canals, showing that we were still amidst the remains of ancient civilisation. Flocks of sheep and herds of camels were spread over the meadows on both sides of the river. On the morning after our arrival we crossed the Khabour on a small raft, and pitched our tents on its northern bank, near the ruins of Arban, which consist of a large artificial mound of irregular shape, washed by the river. From the top of the mound the eye ranged over a level country bright with flowers, and spotted with black tents, and innumerable flocks of sheep and camels. During our stay at Arban the colour of these great plains was undergoing a continual change. After being for some days of a golden yellow, a new family of flowers would spring up, and it would turn almost in a night to a bright scarlet, which would again as suddenly give way to the deepest blue. Then the meadows would be mottled with various hues, or would put on the emerald green of the most luxuriant of pastures. The glowing descriptions I had so frequently received from the Bedouins of the beauty and fertility of the banks of the Khabour were more than realised. The Arabs boast that its meadows bear three distinct crops of grass during the year, and the wandering tribes look upon its wooded banks and constant green

the

waves with sweeter music murmur

as they flow?" Akenside.

"The river Rhine,

it is well known, doth wash your city of Cologne ;

but tell me, nymphs, what powers divine shall henceforth Rhine ?"-Colewash the river ridge.