Nebuchadnezzar having taken Tyre after thirteen years' siege,* and when every head was become bald, and every shoulder peeled,† proceeded to Egypt, and conquered and lay waste the whole of that country, and then took captive those Jews who had fled with Johanan into that kingdom;‡ and returning to Babylon with his spoils, had his dream of a great tree, which was interpreted by Daniel,§ who concluded with the following earnest appeal; Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.|| Being at peace with all the world, the greater part of which he had conquered, this mighty monarch set himself to improve and beautify his metropolis of Babylon; a minute description of the extraordinary splendour and strength of which may be seen in Prideaux.¶ Inflated with pride, and forgetful of his dream, and the warning admonition of the prophet, this proud monarch, while walking in the palace, or rioting in the luxury of greatness, exclaimed, Is not this Babylon that I have built, for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying; O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; the kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet * Prid. i. 24. † Ezek. xxix. 18. + Prid. i. 127. Con. i. 129-142. . with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.* At the end of seven years, upon being restored to his reasonable faculties, he gave God the glory due to his name; of which no better evidence can be offered, than the desire expressed by himself, that this wonderful transaction should be made known to the nations of the earth: Nebuchadnezzar, the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the High God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs, and how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will, in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time, my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, and extol, and honour the King of Heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride, he is able to abase.t Zedekiah's name is not mentioned after his apprehension : and, therefore, he most probably died in confinement at Nebuchadnezzar having taken Tyre after thirteen years' siege,* and when every head was become bald, and every shoulder peeled,† proceeded to Egypt, and conquered and lay waste the whole of that country, and then took captive those Jews who had fled with Johanan into that kingdom;+ and returning to Babylon with his spoils, had his dream of a great tree, which was interpreted by Daniel,§ who concluded with the following earnest appeal; Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.|| Being at peace with all the world, the greater part of which he had conquered, this mighty monarch set himself to improve and beautify his metropolis of Babylon; a minute description of the extraordinary splendour and strength of which may be seen in Prideaux.¶ Inflated with pride, and forgetful of his dream, and the warning admonition of the prophet, this proud monarch, while walking in the palace, or rioting in the luxury of greatness, exclaimed, Is not this Babylon that I have built, for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying; O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; the kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet * Prid. i. 24. + Ezek. xxix. 18. + Prid. i. 127. Con. i. 129-142. with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.* At the end of seven years, upon being restored to his reasonable faculties, he gave God the glory due to his name; of which no better evidence can be offered, than the desire expressed by himself, that this wonderful transaction should be made known to the nations of the earth: Nebuchadnezzar, the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the High God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs, and how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing and he doeth according to his will, in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time, my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, and extol, and honour the King of Heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride, he is able to abase.† Zedekiah's name is not mentioned after his apprehension : and, therefore, he most probably died in confinement at phets, rising early and sending them, saying; Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.* But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods. Wherefore, my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day. Therefore, now thus saith Jehovah, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain; in that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse, and a reproach, among all the nations of the earth? Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you, and before your fathers. Therefore, thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah. And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt, to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword, and by the famine; they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword, and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach. For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: so that none of the remnant of Judah, which "A fine anthropopathia." A. CLARKE. |