He showed him an ephah, which is a measure, to signify that God had measured out to them measure for measure; for, according as they had done by continuing many days in their wickedness, from the day that the kingdom was divided until the day that they were led away captive; and as they had not had one out of all their kings, who turned them to good, but, on the contrary, they all walked in an evil way; according, I say, as they had continued long in evil, so they shall be many days in captivity: this is measure for measure, therefore the prophet saw an ephah, which is a measure.

"He said moreover, This is their eye in all the earth.” Again the angel interpreted tọ him, and said, "This is their eye; that is to say, this ephah, which thou seest, teaches, that there is an eye upon them, which sees their deeds, and which also sees in all the earth; as he said above, The eyes of the Lord that run to and fro through all the earth.

"Their eye."-The eye that seeth them, i. e., the eye of the Lord.

7." And, behold, a talent of lead lifted up."-Was lifted up.

"In the midst of the ephah.”—, talent, is feminine, "One loaf of bread" (Ex. xxix. 23) ; A?? ̈¬?? ¬wy, “Ten talents of silver." (2 Kings v. 5.) And a talent of lead is to teach us, that it was to make it heavy, and to sink it in captivity.

"And this is one woman sitting in the midst of the ephah."-To whom does this woman refer? She is the ten tribes, who were included in one kingdom, and walked one way to evil, therefore, he calls her one woman; and she is sitting in the midst of the ephah, for she receives the measure which she meted withal.

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8. "And he said, This is the wickedness.”—The angel said to the prophet, this ephah is the wickedness that was

E

in Israel, and that is, the ten tribes who made the calves, and began the service of Baal.

"And he cast her into the midst of the ephah.”Therefore God, blessed be He, cast her into the midst of the ephah, for he measured to her according to her

measure.

"The mouth

And he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof." To sink her in captivity many days. thereof," means the mouth of the ephah.

a substantive or an adjective.

may be

9. " Then I lifted up mine eyes — and beheld two women."-As we interpreted 66 one woman to mean the ten tribes, so we will interpret the two women of Judah and Benjamin, who had been carried captive to Babylon. Although they had long since gone up from the captivity, when this vision happened, he showed him the vision for the sake of those who remained in Babylon, who were lazy to go up to Jerusalem, even after the building of the house had begun. And he said that he saw these two women going forth in captivity.

"And the wind in their wings," i. e., They were very quickly carried captive to Babylon.

"For they had wings like the wings of a stork," that is to say, wings long and broad like the stork's.

"And they lifted up the ephah."-They lifted it up upon their wings, to show them that their captivity was in equity and in measure, as God measured to them for their evil deeds. The words, "between earth and heaven," are very plain; for he that flies, flies between the earth and the heavens, in the firmament of the heavens; and show that these two are not like the first woman, for upon her he cast a talent of lead to sink her in the earth, in the place of her captivity. But of these he did not speak to sink them in the earth, but they are suspended in the air, until the time that they returned to

their land after the seventy years. The reason why he saw Judah and Benjamin as a vision of two women, and the ten tribes as one woman, is, because the tribe of Judah was kept distinct on account of the kingdom; and the tribe of Benjamin was joined with them more than the other tribes, because their portion was like one, and they were both carried captive together, therefore he says, "Two women." That great wise man, the Rav, our rabbi, Moses, the son of Maimon, may his memory be blessed, has interpreted the two women of angels, whom he saw in the likeness of women, as he had also seen them in the likeness of horses, because the power of prophecy was languid in his time.*

10." And I said whither do these bear the ephah?"He did not ask this in the first vision (but now), because he saw them bearing it away quickly. And what is the meaning of this, that the woman bore away the ephah? It is to show, that they caused the blessed God to pay them according to their measure. And it is as if he

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said, They carry themselves away captive."

11. "And he said, to build her an house in the land of Shinar.”—The in, is rapheh. This is what Jeremiah sent to them, saying, "This captivity is long, build ye houses, and dwell in them." (Jer. xxix. 28.)

"And it shall be established, and set there upon her own base."--Their habitation shall be established there, that is to say, they have built houses there, and established their habitation there; and it is said, "Set these upon her own base," that is to say, the base that she has made for herself, because by the building of houses and planting of vineyards, they are lazy to go up from Babylon, who have remained there after that Ezra went up, and they did not wish to go up even after the building

* In the Moreh Nevuchim, part i., chap. 49.
It might have a mappik. (See Michlal Jophi.)

of the house was begun.

the Hiphil, and

is a compound form , the Hophal.

from And the reason of the composition is, that at first, when she was carried into captivity, man, she was placed there without her will, and afterwards, n, she placed herself there, i. e., she tarried there according to her own will, and was lazy to go up to Jerusalem.

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CHAPTER VI.

1. "And I turned four chariots going forth from the two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of brass."-Visions of the four monarchies, which he had seen twice. Again he turned, and saw them a third time more clearly than on the former occasions. And a chariot. is a team of four horses,* to show the strength of each in its time, when it ruled in the world, and each of them did evil to Israel. And again he saw them, that they were going forth between the two mountains: and this teaches us, that their strength was as the strength of mountains. And the mountains were mountains of лn, and that is the cutting iron, that is called atsir† in profane tongues. There are similar expressions in the Bible, and one of them is, " Walking with slander, brass and iron."‡ (Jer. vi. 28.) The meaning is, that it is stronger than stone, for it cuts and graves stone; and it was to represent the strength more forcibly, that he showed him that they were mountains of brass (or steel). And again, nwn is mentioned, because it is a noun,

"I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake." (Gen. xxx. 27.) And by the hand of the four kingdoms Israel was proved and tried.

* The rabbies infer that, signifies a team of four horses, or a four-horse chariot, because it is said in 1 Kings x. 29, " And a chariot came up, and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels, and an horse for an hundred and fifty." The price of the chariot is here four times that of the horse.

Acero is the Spanish for steel; Kimchi thinks that no signifies not brass, but steel. In Buxtorf's Bible this word is written wyn, but in the Michlal Jophi it stands thus, x, which is more correct.

On this passage of Jeremiah, Kimchi also says, that no signifies steel, but he says, that it is a mixture of brass and iron,