even
a cloud in the sky.--We are not told in the historical books at what
place Israel was defeated by the Assyrians. _Jerome_, in his remarks on
our passage, says that it took place in the valley of Jezreel. It is
very probable, however, that this is only an inference clothed in the
garb of history. But even apart from the passage under review, the
matter is very probable. The valley of Jezreel or Esdrelon "is the
largest, and at the same time the most fertile, plain of Palestine. The
brook of Kishon, which is, next to Jordan, the most important river of
Palestine, waters and fructifies it, and, [Pg 209] with its
tributaries, flows through it in all directions." (_Ritter_, S. 689.)
In all the wars which were carried on within the territories of the ten
tribes, especially when the enemies came from the North, it was the
natural battle-field. "It was, in the first centuries, the station of a
legion ([Greek: mega pedion legeonos]); it is the place where the
troops of Nebuchadnezzar, Vespasian, Justinian, the Sultan Saladdin,
and many other conquering armies were encamped, down to the
unsuccessful expedition of _Buonaparte_, whose success in Syria here
terminated. _Clarke_ found erected here the tents of the troops of the
Pacha of Damascus. In later times, it was the scene of the skirmishes
between the parties of hostile hordes of Arabs and Turkish pachas. In
the political relations of Asia Minor, it is to this locality that
there must be ascribed the total devastation and depopulation of
Galilee, which once was so flourishing, full of towns, and thickly
populated." (_Ritter_, _Erdk._ 1 _Ausg._ ii. S. 387.) We may add, that,
in the same plain also, the battle was fought in which Saul and
Jonathan perished (for the plain of Esdrelon is bounded on the
south-east by the mountains of Gilboa), and so likewise was the battle
between Ahab and the Syrians. To it also belonged the plain near the
town of Megiddo, where Josiah, in the battle against Pharaoh-Necho, was
mortally wounded. Compare _Rosenmueller_, _Alt._ ii. 1, p. 149.

Ver. 6. "_And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And He said to
him, Call her name Lo-Ruhamah_ (_i.e._, one who has not obtained
mercy): _for I will not continue any more to have mercy upon the house
of Israel; for I will take away from them._"--Interpreters ask why the
second child was a female; and this question is by no means an idle
one, since the prophet everywhere else adheres closely to the