dit igitur arcum suum,) et (copula hic abundat;) ne parcatis electis ejus, interficite
JEREMIAH AND LAMENTATIONS
But he adds, And shall make empty her land, that is, the land of Babylon. He says that the whole country would be so plundered, that nothing would be left remaining.
And he confirms this declaration, because they shall be, he says, around her. By this expression he intimates that there would be no escape for the Chaldeans.
It often happens that men stealthily escape, when pressed by their enemies; for though enemies may watch all passages, yet they often do not find out all hidingplaces. But the Prophet says, that their enemies would so surround them, that the
Chaldeans would not be able to take with them anything which they might save from their enemies' hands. He adds, in the day of evil. By this phrase he intimates again, that the Chaldeans were already devoted by God to destruction. It is, then, the same thing as though he had said, that as soon as her enemies came, it would be all over with Babylon and the whole nation, --- how so? for it would be the day of her utter ruin. It follows, ---
Jeremiah 51:3
3. Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
3. Ad tendentem qui tendit arcum suum {}ידרךest hic vox supervacua, qui tendit igitur arcum suum,) et (copula hic abundat;) ne parcatis electis ejus, interficite omnem exercitum ejus.
Interpreters give various expositions of this verse. Some understand a soldier of light armor by him who bends the bow; and by him who elevates himself in his coat of mail, they understand a heavy-armed, soldier, There is also another difference; some take {,}אלal, for {,}לאla, when it is said {,}ואל{ }יתעלveal itol, because a copulative follows; and the words seem not to be well connected, if we read thus,
to him who raises himself up in his coat of mail, and spare ye not,'' etc.; and hence they take negatively the particle {,}אלal, instead of {}לאla, ``and he may not raise up himself in his coat of mail.'' But it is probable that the copulative in the second place is redundant The simple meaning would therefore be, As to him who bends the bow, and who raises himself up in his coat of mall 441
I do not, indeed, give such a refined interpretation as some do, respecting the light and heavy armed soldiers. I doubt not, then, but that he points out the archers, and those clad in mail. If, however, any one prefers the other explanation, let him enjoy his own opinion. As to the main point, it is evident that the Prophet exhorts the Persians and the Medes not to spare the young men among the Chaldeans, but to destroy their whole army, so that no part of it should be left remaining.
PRAYER
Grant Almighty God, that since thou wert formerly so solicitous respecting the salvation of thy people as to undertake war, for their sake, against a most powerful nation, --- O grant, that we also, at this day, may know, that we shall be safe and
441It is singular that {{אלis omitted in the Sept. and the Syr., and retained in its negative sense in the Vulg. and the
Targ., which makes no sense consistently with the context. There is evidently {}אשרunderstood before the first verb, as is often the case when the verb is in the future tense. Then the literal rendering would be this, --- At him who bends let the bender bend his bow, And at him who glories in his coat of mail; And spare ye not her chosen men, Utterly destroy all her host. There is here perfect consistency. They who take {}אלas a negative say, that the first part is addressed to the Chaldeans, and the second to their enemies; but this would be strangely abrupt. --- Ed.