ked by most interpreters. Misled by the [Hebrew: tqTir],
which refers directly to the spiritual adulteress, they imagined that
the wearing of nose-rings, and other ornaments, in honour of the idols,
was here spoken of. A more correct view was held by the Chaldee who
thus paraphrases: "The Congregation of Israel was like a wife who
deserted her husband, and adorned herself, and ran after her lovers.
Thus the Congregation of Israel was pleased to worship idols, and to
neglect My worship." A great many false interpretations have had their
origin in the circumstance, that they could not comprehend this liberty
of the sacred writers, who at one time speak plainly of the spiritual
antitype, and at another time transfer to it the peculiarities of the
outward type. Had this been kept in view, it would not, _e.g._, have
been asserted, that David had, in Ps. xxiii. 5, relinquished the image
of the good shepherd, because he does not speak of a trough which the
actual good shepherd places before his sheep, but of a table, placed
before them by the spiritual good Shepherd. In the passage under
consideration, the [Hebrew: tqTir] denotes an action performed by her
who is an adulteress in a spiritual point of view. In the words, "She
puts on," etc., her conduct is described under the figure of that of
her outward type. The actual correspondence is to be found in her
efforts of making herself agreeable,--in the employing of every means
in order to gain her spiritual lovers. The putting on of precious
ornaments comes into view, only in so far as it is one of these
efforts, and, indeed, a very subordinate one. The burning of incense,
the offering of sacrifices, etc., are, in this respect, of far greater
importance. The correctness of our interpretation is confirmed by those
parallel passages also, in which the same figurative mode of expression
occurs. Thus, _e.g._, Is. lvii. 9: "Thou lookest upon the king (the
common translation, "thou goest to the king," cannot be defended on
philological grounds) in oil (_i.e._, smelling of ointment), and
multipliest thy perfume,"--evidently a figurative designation, taken
from a coquetish woman, to express the employing of all means in, order
to gain favour;--Is. iv. 30: [Pg 253] "And thou desolate one, what wilt
thou do? For thou puttest on thy purple, for thou adornest thyself with
golden ornaments, for thou rentest thine eyes with painting. In vain
thou makest thyself fair; the lovers despise thee, t