shall
then be removed.--The words, "I will bring them together," etc.,
indicate equally the faithfulness of the great Shepherd, who gathers
His dispersed flock from all parts of the world, and the unexpected and
wonderful increase of the flock; compare Jer. xxiii. 3: "And I will
gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither I have
driven them, and lead them back to their pasture-ground, and they are
fruitful and increase;" and xxxi. 10: "He that scattereth Israel will
gather him and keep him as a shepherd does his flock."--Bozrah we
consider to be the name of a capital of the Idumeans in Auranitis, four
days' journey from Damascus. The great wealth of this town in flocks
appears from Is. xxxiv. 6 (although a slaughter of men is spoken of in
that passage, yet evidently the wealth of Bozrah in natural [Pg 437]
flocks is there supposed), and can with perfect ease be accounted for
from its situation. For, in its neighbourhood, there begins the
immeasurable plain of Arabia, which, on one side, continues without
interruption as far as _Dshof_, into the heart of Arabia, while,
towards the North, it extends to Bagdad, under the name of _El Hamad_.
Its length and breadth are calculated to amount to eight days' journey.
It contains many shrubs and blooming plants; compare _Burkhardt_ and
_Ritter_.[4] Several interpreters consider [Hebrew: bcrh] to be an
appellative, and assign to it the signification "sheepfold," "cote."
But there is no reason whatsoever in favour of such a meaning of
Bozrah, while there is this argument against it, that the probable
signification of [Hebrew: berh] as the name of a town is "_locus
munitus_" = [Hebrew: mbcr] or [Hebrew: bcrvN]. It can hardly be
supposed that the word should at the same time have had the
significations of "fortress" and "fold." It is, moreover, more in
harmony with the prophetical character to particularize, than to use a
general term. As is shown, however, by the last member (with which,
according to the accents, the words, "As [Pg 438] a flock on their
pasture," must be connected), the point of comparison is not the
assembling and gathering, but the multitude, the crowd,--"As the sheep
of Bozrah" being thus tantamount to, "So that in multitude they are
like the sheep of Bozrah." [Hebrew: hdbrv], from [Hebrew: dbr], is,
contrary to the general rule, doubly qualified, both by the article and
by the suffix. This has been accounted for on the ground that the
little suf