[1] In verse 29 is an instance of what seemed to Lowth's
classical taste a corrupt reading--"They shall be ashamed
of the oaks which ye have desired." But this variation of
the persons of the verb is not unusual in Hebrew, and
certainly no corruption. Indeed, if we look at Psalm xci.,
which is very artistically constructed, we shall see reason
to think that what jars so harshly on a classically trained
ear was a beauty to the Hebrew poets.--_Strachey._
"Which ye have desired." He was speaking of "the sinners,"
he suddenly turns round to the men of his own generation,
and says, "_You_ are the men who are thus storing up shame
and confusion."--_Kay._
[2] In the judgments and the restoration which the prophet
foretells, he declares that the people shall learn the
worthlessness of the idols which they have been worshipping
under the oak-trees, and in the sacred groves and gardens.
The worship of the high places was partly a local worship
of Jehovah, which only became irregular and blameable in
later times; but there was also a widespread worship of
Baal, Astarte, and Molech, the old gods of the Canaanites
and other nations, in sacred groves and gardens, as well as
on the hill-tops--a worship of impersonated and defiled
sensuality and cruelty--which sometimes even established
itself within the precincts of the temple itself, and was
still more readily blended with, or substituted for, the
worship of Jehovah in the high places. And this idolatrous
worship was going on in Judæa during the reigns of Uzziah
and Jotham, at the same time with the temple services, as
appears from 2 Kings xv. 3, 4, compared with 2 Chron.
xxvii. 2. In the day of judgment and restoration, says the
prophet, these men who have been flourishing in their sin
like the oaks, and living in pleasures like those of their
well-watered gardens, shall find that the idols to which
these oaks and gardens are dedicated have no power to save
them from a destruction which shall make them "as an oak
whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water,"
images which will be the more forcible if we remember that
in a southern climate trees fade rather from excessive heat
than from seasonable cold, and a garden without water is a
mere desert of sand. Then shall the strong, the mighty, and
the unjust ruler become tow, and his idols, the work of his
hands, a spark; and shall both burn together, and no man
shall quench them.--_Strachey._
[3] The interpretation of verse 31 on which the above outline
is based is that of Calvin and the earlier Protestant
commentators. That which in modern days has been almost
universally adopted, is given in the preceding extract from
Strachey, and the homiletic use to which it may be put is
indicated in the next outline: "The Tow and the Spark." We
are persuaded, however, that the earlier interpretation is
that which is most in harmony with the scope of the whole
passage. All the ancient versions treat חָסֹן as an
abstract, meaning _strength,_ and Dr. Alexander admits that
"this agrees well with its form, resembling that of an
infinitive or verbal noun." Latterly it has become the
fashion to translate it "strong man," but the harmony of
the whole passage is best maintained by rendering it
_"their strength,"_ that is, that which the idolaters have
regarded as their "strength," the deity in whose protection
they have trusted.
[4] O sirs! do wicked men purchase their present pleasures at
so dear a rate as eternal torments, and do we envy their
enjoyment of them so short a time? Would any envy a man
going to execution because he saw him in a prison nobly
feasted, and nobly attended, and bravely courted? or
because he saw him go up the ladder with a gold chain about
his neck, and a scarlet gown upon his back? or because he
saw him walk to the execution through pleasant fields or
delightsome gardens? or because there went before him drums
beating, colours flying, and trumpets sounding? &c. Surely
no! Oh, no more should we envy the grandeur of the men of
the world, for every step they take is but a step to an
eternal execution.--_Brooks,_ 1628-1680.
What reason have we to envy the wicked in their riches and
prosperity? If a man be standing firmly on a river's bank,
and sees another gliding gaily but inevitably down to a
tremendous precipice below, shall he be envious of the
pleasant sail that intervenes before the dread catastrophe?
Shall he stand and envy him, and wish to exchange places
with him? Oh no, but let him rather cry aloud, and warn him
of his danger. Let him hasten to the rescue; throw out his
arms with right good-will, and if it may be, save a soul
from death.--_Nason._