sidered as inferior in both respects to that of Isaiah. Jerome objects to him a certain rusticity of language, " cujus equidem," says Bishop Lowth, fateor nulla me deprehendisse vestigia (m)." The writings of Jeremiah are principally characterized by precision in his descriptions, and by a pathos calculated to awaken and interest the milder affections, but not admitting of that loftiness of sentiment and dignity of expression, which we meet with in several of the prophets. At the same time, many of his invectives against the ingratitude and wickedness of his countrymen are delivered in an energetic strain of eloquence, and in his predictions he frequently rises to a very high degree of sublimity. His historical relations are written with great simplicity, and the events, of which he was himself witness, are described with animation and force. About one half of the book, chiefly in the beginning and at the end, is written in metre. The 51st chapter concludes in this manner: Thus far are the words of Jeremiah;" and thence it appears that the 52d, being the last chapter, was not written by that prophet. It is supposed to have been compiled by Ezra, principally from the latter part of the second book of Kings, and from the 39th and 40th chapters

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(m) Prælect. 21,

chapters of this book, as a proper introduction to the Lamentations.

The Lamentations of Jeremiah were formerly annexed to his prophecies, though they now form a separate book. Josephus, and several other learned men, have referred them to the death of Josiah; but the more common opinion is, that they are applicable only to some period, subsequent to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. But though it be allowed, that the Lamentations were primarily intended as a pathetic description of present calamities, yet, while Jeremiah mourns the desolation of Judah and Jerusalem during the Babylonian captivity, he may be considered as prophetically painting the still greater miseries they were to suffer at some future time; this seems plainly indicated by his referring to the time, when the punishment of their iniquity shall be accomplished, and they shall no more be carried into captivity (n). The Lamentations are written in metre, and consist of a number of plaintive effusions, composed after the manner of funeral dirges, They seem to have been originally written by their author as they arose in his mind, and to have been afterwards joined together as as one poem. There is no regular

(n) Ch. 4. v. 22.

arrangement

arrangement of the subject, or disposition of the parts; the same thought is frequently repeated with different imagery, or expressed in different words. There is, however, no wild incoherency, or abrupt transition; the whole appears to have been dictated by the feelings of real grief. Tenderness and sorrow form the general character of these elegies; and an attentive reader will find great beauty in many of the images, and considerable energy in some of the expressions. This book of Lamentations is divided into five chapters; in the first, second, and fourth, the prophet speaks in his own person, or by an elegant and interesting personification introduces the city of Jerusalem as lamenting her calamities, and confessing her sins; in the third chapter a single Jew, speaking in the name of a chorus of his countrymen, like the Coryphæus of the Greeks, describes the punishment inflicted upon him by God, but still acknowledges his mercy, and expresses some hope of deliverance; and in the fifth chapter, the whole nation of the Jews pour forth their united complaints and supplications to Almighty God.

Ezekiel, like his contemporary Jeremiah, was of the sacerdotal race. He was carried away captive to Babylon with Jehoiachim king of Judah, 598 years before Christ, and was placed with VOL. I.

I

many

many others of his countrymen upon the river Chebar in Mesopotamia, where he was favoured with the divine revelations contained in this book. He began to prophesy in the fifth year of his captivity, and is supposed to have prophesied about twenty-one years. The boldness with which he censured the idolatry and wickedness of his countrymen is said to have cost him his life; but his memory was greatly revered, not only by the Jews, but also by the Medes and Persians. This book may be considered under the five following divisions: the first three chapters contain the glorious appearance of God to the prophet, and his solemn appointment to his office, with instructions and encouragements for the discharge of it. From the 4th to the 24th chapter inclusive, he describes, under a variety of visions and similitudes, the calamities impending over Judæa, and the total destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, occasionally predicting another period of yet greater desolation, and more general dispersion. From the beginning of the 25th to the end of the 32d chapter, the 'prophet foretels the conquest and ruin of many nations and cities, which had insulted the Jews in their affliction; of the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Edomites, and Philistines; of Tyre, of Sidon, and Egypt; all

of

of which were to be punished by the same mighty instrument of God's wrath against the wickedness of man; and in these prophecies he not only predicts events which were soon to take place, but he also describes the condition of these several countries in the remote periods of the world. From the 32d to the 40th chapter he inveighs against the accumulated sins of the Jews collectively, and the murmuring spirit of his captive brethren; exhorts them earnestly to repent of their hypocrisy and wickedness, upon the assurance that God will accept sincere repentance; and comforts them with promises of approaching deliverance under Cyrus; subjoining clear intimations of some far more glorious, but distant, redemption under the Messiah, though the manner in which it is to be effected is deeply involved in mystery. The last nine chapters contain a remarkable vision of the structure of a new temple and a new polity, applicable in the first instance to the return from the Babylonian captivity, but in its ultimate sense referring to the glory and prosperity of the universal Church of Christ. Jerome observes, that the visions of Ezekiel are among the things in Scripture hard to be understood. This obscurity arises, in part at least, from the nature and design of the prophecies themselves; they were delivered amidst