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Michael, according to 10:11-14. Cuap. 89. These four, i.e. the four archangels. Mentioning Noah as that white bullock, as if he had been spoken of before, is surprising. The author knew he would be immediately recognized by the context. But as a bullock cannot build a vessel, i-e. an ark, Noah becomes a man. The three that lived with him are his sons. Covered, cf. Gen. vii. 16 and En. 67:2.—2. As men are symbolized as animals, the earth is consistently called a yard, and the heavens above, a high roof. Seven, cf. 77:4.—4. The deluge.—6. And all the animals, i.e. all the real animals.—7. Other abysses were opened, to receive the mass of water, as verse 8 shows.—8. Darkness, cf. verse 4.—9. The white bullock is, as is interpolated in one MS. Shem, the patriarch of the Israelites as a link in the theocratic chain. The red one is Japheth, the black one Ham. The white bullock went away, i.e. Shem became isolated as the bearer of the theocratic idea—10. The origin of the different anti-theocratic nations from the three sons of Noah. The white bullock that was born is Abraham.—11. The first clause is unintelligible, but may refer to Gen. xiv. 1 sqq. The wild ass is Ishmael, the white bullock, Isaac. In the following verses, 13 and 16, the Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael, are called wild asses; cf. Gen. xvi. 12.—12. The black wild boar is Esau, the white sheep is Jacob.—The name sheep for Jacob can scarcely indicate a decrease in faith towards Jehovah, but was probably suggested by his profession. —13. One of them, ice. Joseph. Asses, i.e. the Midianites, one of the tribes of Arabia. Wolves is the constant name for the Egyptians.—15. The oppression of the Israelites in Egypt—16. Moses.—18. Another sheep, i.e. Aaron.—20. Beat refers to the plagues.—22. His face was shining refers to the cloud of fire —28. Commenced to see must, according to the usus loquendi in this and the next chapter, be interpreted according to Ex. xiv. 31; Hos. ii. 15; Jer. ii. 229. Sinai, cf. Ex. xix—30. Powerful is about GTR—31. With reference to Ex. xx. 18 sqq.; Deut. v. 19 sqq. That sheep is Moses, the other sheep is Aaron.—32. Ex. xxiv. 12 sqq. and xxxii. sqq. and Book of the Jubilees, chap. 1—34. It, i.e. Moses.—35. Cf. Ex. xxxii. 26-29.—36. This sheep, i.e. Moses, becomes a man for the same reason that Noah did, vs. 1 and 9, for he here builds the tabernacle, which became the centre of Israel’s worship.—37. The death of Aaron (the phase form verse 18) and of the older generations in the desert. The stream of water is the Jordan.—38. Cf. Deut. xxxiv.—39. Crossing the Jordan, and the rule of the judges.—40. Palestine; cf. also 26:1. Satisfied, cf. Deut. xxxii. 14, 1541. Their religious condition during the period of the judges to the time of Samuel—42. The dogs are the Philistines (cf. vs. 46 and 47), the wild boars are the Edomites (cf. vs. 12), the foxes, probably the Amalekites. The lately discovered Greek fragment of verses 42-49 has 42® as two clauses as follows: GTR. The Ethiopian translator, by uniting the subjects, makes the sentence smoother and avoids the unnecessary repetition of GTR, and, besides that, is more definite in its haranja hakel, i.e. wild boars, than the Greek with its indefinite GTR. According to most MSS. 42 would read: till another sheep was raised to the Lord of the sheep. This senseless statement is fully cleared up by the better Greek text, which reads: GTR,—43. Wars of Saul against his enemies. The Ethiopic is somewhat abbreviated, but it is questionable whether the many of the Greek is, in view of verse 49, and that the Hebrew frequently uses all for many, e.g. Gen. xli. 57, a better reading than the all of the Ethiopic.—44. There is no reason to think that the Greek reading which says that the eyes of the sheep were opened, and not the eyes of Samuel, is better than the Ethiopic. Although the expression is generally used of a return to God and his covenant, it is manifestly used here in the modified sense of learning the true character of Saul. Samuel, too, had been deceived in Saul, hence his eyes were opened. And, besides, we have no evidence whatever that Israel became more faithful and theocratic after discovering Saul’s wickedness. In fact, Samuel suits better as subject, as it is to furnish a motive for his mission described in the following —45. Samuel anoints David. In this and the two next verses the Greek and Ethiopic are virtually the same.—48, 49. Small sheep, i.e. Solomon. The account in vs. 49 is, beyond all doubt, a description of the reign of David, and not of Solomon, Hoffmann therefore proposes to change the place of this verse. The Greek solves the enigma, as there vs. 49 is immediately joined to 482.—50. The tower is, beyond all doubt, the temple; but what is the house? It might seem from vs. 36 and 40 thatit is the tabernacle, but if we notice that in vs. 66 sq. and 72 sq. this house is mentioned as still existing, even after the Exile, when there was Cuap. 88. Rufael binds Azazel, 10:4-8.—2. The work of Gabriel described in chap. 10:9, 10.—3.