to, or towards my prepared; and not "from," which ought to have been " MYMECHONEE. "Like serene heat after sunshine." The

.as clear heat upon the herbage כחם צח עלי אור,original is

This is the true, the litteral translation; and it means, as the clear heat forwards the ripening of herbs; so will my attention have a like ́effect to mature the happy state of my prepared people Israel. "As the cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." As moisture and warmth causes a quick flourishing growth of the herbage, so will I cause the nation of Israel, my prepared, to come to its acme suddenly.*

Wishing to finish the subject. I proceed to verse 5.

"But while the harvest was passing away, when the bud had become perfect, and the blossom had changed into the juicy grape: He cut down the luxuriant branches with pruning hooks! he removed the standard vine! he cut in pieces!"

קציר כתם-פרח ובסר גמל יהיה נצה וכרת הזלזלים כי לפני

במזמרות ואת הנטישות הסיר התז:

For before the harvest, when the budding is finished, and the sour grape shall be striving to ripen, he will cut off the sprigs with pruninghooks, and the branches will he pull out, and chop off.

Explanation. For before Gog and his Allies will have ripened the execution of their plans; but still, when they are perfectly formed; as the grape is before harvest, large, full, but not ripe; that is, before they will have executed their purpose, their intention of distroying the Jews, when their views will be perfectly apparent, "He will cut off," he will execute Judgment on Gog and all his hosts. But our author

לפני קציר,translates

translates, LIFNY KATSEER While she harvest was passing away." Which the word LIFNY, will not allow of, it signifies Before or In the presence of, Before they execute their ultimate designs on the Jews: or at most, while they are in the act of executing them. But as our author has it, it would intend, when they had nearly accomplished the destruction of the nation.

"He will cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and the branches will he pull out, and chop off."

As before, when the plans of Gog and his army, are nearly ready for execution, he will destroy the tender sprigs with his pruning hooks; he will destroy Gog and his immediate army on the spot, and even the out spreading branches, the supporters, or luxuriant Lords,

*So says Jarchi, and he gives example ii. Kings iv. 39 mph LYLAKET HOROTH to gether herbs. To which I would add be in by TALIHORATH TALLECHA. Thy dew is the dew of herbs. Isaiah, xxvi. 19.

spiritual and temporal, will also be put down, choped from the stock of the vine. I would notice here, that the vine itself is not molested; only the sprigs and branches are to be destroyed, the stock is left to produce better fruit: nothing is to be destroyed except HAZALZALEM, the sprigs, which are close to the vine, and M HANTERSHOTH, the out spreading branches: the vine is only left bare, the bad growth is taken from it and destroyed; given up to the ravenous birds of the air, and beasts of the forest to prey on! The rulers, and clergy, either those who stay near home, or those who spread out on missions, and armies, drawing their support from the vine: those alone are doomed to destruction; but the stock, the vine itself, the nations of the world, are no otherwise threatened. But our author will have the whole vineyard is to be rooted up, he translates, "he removed the standard vine," he says, "It is designed to represent complete destruction of the vineyard. Nor root, nor branch of these degenerate plants, shall ever after, encumber and polute the ground, He cast them out of the vineyard." Is it not then apparent, he did not keep a steady eye on the prophet," neither "in his manner, nor in his expression as he promised to do.* Our author translates HANNETESHOTH, the standard vine. example to warrant the translation. NATASH, and means: 1st, to leave; forsake; relinquish ; permit, &c. 2d, to spread. 3d, a branch; because it spreads, example: Tre NYTESHOTHAIYECH, thy branches are gone over the sea.

Jeremiah, xlviii. 32.

I am bold to say he can find no
The root of the word is

"VERSE 6.

"They abandon them, promiscuously, to the eagle of the mountains, and to the beasts of the field. On HIM the eagle of the mountain is glutted, even on him all the beasts of the field insultingly riot."

The parts of this verse, erroneously translated, are 1st, the word

YINGAZYBU, they shall be forsaken. The word in the original is plural, and future: and he speaks of the army of Gog which will not receive burial for twelve months. And the word HYLAV, translated by our author, on HIM, should have been on it; also, the word AYET, translated by our author, eagle, should have been bird of prey; any bird of prey is called AYET. Ezekiel xxxix. 4. LYAYET TSEPAR KAL KANAF, to all kinds

לעיט צפור כל כנף

of Ravenous birds. The remark of our author, page 81, "Every Hebrew scholar knows, that this language has no appropriate present,

Introduction, page vi.

and strange as it may seem to those unacquainted with the original languages, their future performs this office, not only with sufficient precision, but with peculiar significance and force," shews the various reading of our learned author, and his complete knowledge of the language. The Hebrew has no appropriate present! We will examine the word as it occurs in the lexicon,

AZAV, to leave; forsake; take away, &c. Examples:

That he had left his garment. Gen. xxxix. 13.

.Wherefore is the house of God forsaken מדוע נעזב בית האלקים

Nehem. xiii. 11.

xxxii. 14.

The land also shall be left of them. Levit. xxvi. 43.

The multitude of the city shall be forsaken, Isaiah,
Thus we find that,

עזב עזב AUZYB

AAZAB, is past. EYZAB is present, EWZAB is future.

I must beg leave to apply to our learned author, what was said of M. Voltair, on the same subject, "We must forgive such little grammatical slips in a great man." The Hebrew has no appropriate present!! says our author, and so said Voltair, "The Hebrews never had but two moods for the verbs, the past and the future; the other moods are guess work." (Toleration,) To which the facetious authors of the Jews letters, have observed, "a real grammarian would havè said two tenses; for the past and the future are tenses, not moods." "To which may be added," says David Levi, (preface to Lingua Sacra,) "that the Hebrew has a present tense also, which is the participle of the present, called, " BENUNI, "Intermediate, i. e. between the past and the future." And in his grammar, prefixed to Lingua Sacra, page 182, speaking of the tenses he says.

"Second, BENUNEE PANGAL, the present tense, as it shews the action to be begun, and yet continues, and is therefore called BENUNEE, i. e. intermediate, between the past and the future. There is likewise PANGUL, called also, BENUNEE, and which is the participle of the preter and the present, and partakes of the nature both of a verb and an adjective."

I now take my leave of this wonderful message to the American Nation, and offer this review thereof, to the reverend republishers of that work for their consideration. They certainly are a body of most learned DIVINES, and theologians! reared in the schools of the pro

phets, [Universities,] of the United States! And well capable to support their work! (since by promulgating they adopt, and it becomes theirs;) No doubt they will defend the work! Nous Verons.

DEA'S LETTERS.

(Continued from page 355.)

EDT.

The next citation made by Saint Matthew, and said by him to be fulfilled, is the following. "And he came and dwelt in a city, called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene."* But as none of the Prophets declare any such thing, or have any such passage, nothing could thereby be literally fulfilled: for his dwelling in the city of Nazareth, could not denominate him a Nazarite; because this term denotes a person's being under a particular vow; † and none could be called by that name unless they were actually under the vow. Commentators puzzle themselves, and are at a loss to find out the place referred to, to make out the fulfilling mentioned by the Evangelist: to this end they have recourse to, and make such shifts, as shews their perplexities: the reading of which has often made me smile. As I am only shewing that the passages, or prophecies, said to be fulfilled in Jesus, are not literally applied; and none pretending that this is literally fulfilled; it is not my place to take notice, or make any remarks on what they say concerning this passage. But the solution of Doctor Echard, is certainly very curious, who after relating Jesus' return to his former habitation, adds, "which being a mean and despicable place, it afterwards gained Jesus the reproachful title of a Nazarene, according to the aim, and turn of several prophecies, as St. Matthew observes." But here the Doctor is mistaken, for the title of Nazarene was honourable, being the term, by which those under a special and religious vow were called, and which none despised, nor was it given by way of reproach. This he very well knew, as also, that his dwelling in Nazareth, could not denominate him to be what he was not, a Nazarene, or Nazarite: for we never heard that he was under that vow. Had the Evangelist cited, as fulfilled, any particular passage, declarative that Jesus should dwell in the city of Nazareth, he might then have called him Jesus of Nazareth, but to call him a Nazarene, because he dwelt in Nazareth, and for such circumstances, to say the prophecies are fulfilled, seems very extraordinary. I

*Mat. ch. ii. 23. Consult the vi. ch. of Num. Eclestiac Hist. vol. i. p. 7. Dea argues, as supposing Nazarene to be the feminine of Nazarite.

The next citation made by St. Matthew, concerns the preaching of John. "For this is he, that was spoken of by the Prophet Isaiah, saying: The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his path straight."* But the context of the text from whence this citation is taken, very evidently shews, that John was not the person spoken of. For it says, "Comfort, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplish 1, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lorus hands, double for all her sins." Which verses preceed that, cited by Saint Matthew. Now what comfort it was that John brought to the Jews and Jerusalem, has not yet been made out. How could their warfare be accomplished, when the greatest vengence was at that time to be poured out? how could their iniqities have been pardoned? when it is said, that at that very time they contracted the highest guilt? Or how could the Prophet declare that they had received double, for all their sins, when the greatest punishment was still to be inflicted on them? From which circumstances in the prophecy, it is plain that this passage is not literally cited, at least not litterally fulfilled. For the prophecy is according to its plain obvious meaning, declarative of times and circumstances, entirely different from those which came to pass at that time, therefore it could not relate to John.

The next citation made by St. Matthew, is to prove that Jesus' removal from Nazareth, and settling at Capernaum, was foretold, "This Jesus did, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah, the prophet, saying.

Matthew, chap. iv. 15.

"The land of Zebulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up."

Isaiah, chapt. ix. 1.

"Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulon, and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more greviously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined."

I have put the citation and text in different columns, that you may see the difference. The Prophet's plain meaning is, to declare the joy which the inhabitants of those regions should have, in the midst

Mat. ch. iii. 1-3. ↑ Isaiah, ch. xl. 1-2.