"From Gebah to Rimmon."-From thence the plain shall commence, south of Jerusalem.

"It shall be lifted up," with an Aleph mobile, instead of the, the second radical, like the Aleph in iss, "a tumult shall arise" (Hos. x. 14), except that the Aleph here is quiescent. The meaning of

is, as we have written, that it shall be exalted, and high above all the earth.

"And inhabited in her place.", She shall be in her place, only that she shall be lengthened and widened.

שַׁעַר This is what is called in Jeremiah-. שַׁעַר הַפְּנִים , הַפְּפָה

"the gate of the corner," and there the tower of Hananeel is also mentioned (Jer. xxxi. 38.).

"The king's wine-presses."-The threshing-floor and the wine-press, and it was known to them that they were near the outside of the city. Jonathan has interpreted "To the king's pits."

11. "And men shall dwell in it."-The meaning is, They shall dwell in it for ever.

"And there shall be no more utter destruction."-It shall not become an anathema and desolation for ever, according as it is said in the prophecy of Jeremiah, “It shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever" (Jer. xxxi. 40.).

12. “ And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite Their flesh consume away." This is

the falling off of the limbs.

"While they stand upon their feet.”—That it should not happen after sickness, but whilst still standing upon his feet, his flesh and limbs should melt away.

"In their holes."-When their eyes consume away, their place will be a hole. Jonathan has interpreted "Their eyes shall melt away in their orbs." This plague is that which is said in the prophecy of Isaiah, “And I will set a sign amongst them, and I will send those that escape" (Isaiah lxvi. 19.).

13. "And his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour."-nby [means] his hand shall consume away, when he lays hold of the hand of his neighbour, as it is said, "Their flesh shall consume away.'

עָלָה like as a *, כַּעֲלוֹת בָּרִישׁ בְּעִתּוֹ is taken in this sense in

shock of corn cometh in in his season" (Job v. 26.). And

when the lying of the dew ,וַתַּעַל שׁכְבַת הַטָּל ,again

ceased" (Exod. xvi. 14.); and again,

?, "Her cities have ceased "* (Jer. xlviii. 15); and so Jonathan has interpreted, "His hand shall be torn off with the hand of his fellow."

14. "And Judah also."-The meaning is, Judah also, who came along with the Gentiles, and made war with them at Jerusalem, when they shall see the plague which the Lord will send amongst them, they shall gather their wealth, gold and silver, and apparel; as it is said, “They shall devour on the right hand and on the left." The expression N, "shall be gathered," means it shall be gathered by their hands first, and afterwards the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall go forth, and they shall also plunder. Jonathan has interpreted, "They also of the house of Judah," &c.

16. "And it shall come to pass, every one that is left." -Those that are left are they who have laid it to heart during the battle, and have turned to the Lord with all their heart.

"The King the Lord of Hosts."-For they have acknowledged him as king over all the earth.

"The feast of tabernacles."-According as the war has been at that time, and they have seen the wonders of the Creator, blessed be He, so they shall come from year to year to the remembrance of that day.

17. "And it shall be

-upon them shall be no rain." -Upon the land whose inhabitants will not go up, no rain shall descend in that year.

18. And if the family of Egypt-that have no rain.”

*So Kimchi explains these words.

-But upon them no rain descends any year, and they have no need of rain. If so, what will be their punishment? (Answer.) There shall be the plague wherewith the Lord shall smite all the heathen who come up against Jerusalem, as it is said, "Their flesh shall consume away.

"That come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.” -Because the children of Egypt come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles, they shall have this punishment, that the plague shall be upon them. Jonathan has interpreted, "The Nile shall not rise for them, but there shall be upon them the plague wherewith the Lord will smite," &c.

19. "This shall be the sin of Egypt, and the sin of all nations.”—The sin of Egypt is the plague, and the sin of all the nations is, that the rain shall not descend, as has been mentioned.

[sin] means punishment, that is to say, the punishment of sin; and in this way it is said, "The iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full;" that is to say, the punishment of the iniquity. Jonathan has interpreted

. פורענות it by

20. "In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness to the Lord."- nib are those that hang on the necks of the horses, and they are scales. These bells shall be holiness to the Lord, for they shall make of them pots wherein to boil in the house of the sanctuary. And as to these horses, some interpret that they are the horses which shall die in the plague, as has been said. And others interpret that they are the horses of those who go up from year to year to keep the feast of tabernacles, who will devote the bells of their horses in order to make pots of them, wherein to boil in the temple. And the meaning of "upon the bells," is, it shall be, as it were, written and engraved upon them, "Holiness to the Lord," so they shall be known that they are holiness, and no man will take of them for himself, not even one. And in the words of our rabbies, of blessed memory, it is said, "What is the meaning of upon the niby of the horses?"

R. Joshua, the son of Levi, says, the Holy One, blessed be He, will enlarge Jerusalem, until the hour when the horse runs and makes a shadow. (The meaning is, until midday, for then the horse makes a shadow underneath himself.) * R. Eliezer says, the bells which hang between the horses' eyes shall be holiness to the Lord.

"The pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls." -The meaning is, as many as the bowls, and so Jonathan has interpreted, "Many as the bowls," according as the bowls in the house of the Lord, for sprinkling the blood, shall be many, for the sacrificers shall be many. For all who come up to keep the feast of tabernacles shall bring sacrifices.

21. “ Yea, every pot."-They shall increase the pots, on account of the multitude of the sacrifices; for they. shall not have sufficient in those which are in the house of the Lord; but every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord, therein to boil the sacrifices of the peace-offerings. And when the Gentile sacrificers shall come, they shall take of them, and cook in them.

"There shall be no more the Canaanite.”—Jonathan has interpreted this, "There shall be no more he that maketh merchandise;" as "her merchants, y, are the honourable of the earth;" that is to say, her . That is to say, the house of the Lord shall no longer need a merchant to sell pots there, or brass whereof to make pots; for the voluntary devoters of property will be many. But my lord my father says, that this refers to the Gibeonites, for it is said of them that they were hewers of wood and drawers of water in the temple; but they shall not be there any more, for the great ones of the Gentiles shall serve the priests, and this is the meaning of the words, "I will take of them for priests and Levites."

* Pesachim, fol. 50, 1. See also Wagenseil. Tela Ig. on the last page of vol. i.

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