n dear to thee, and
shall be willingly received again into thy favour, as soon as she shall
have reformed her life."--In the second half of the verse, there is a
verbal agreement with passages of the Pentateuch, so close that it
cannot certainly be accidental. Compare on [Hebrew: kahbt ihvh at-bni
iwral], Deut. vii. 8, [Hebrew: mahbt ihvh atkM],--an agreement which
undoubtedly deserves so much more attention, that we have already
established the relationship of the passage with ver. 2. On [Hebrew:
pniM al alhiM aHriM], compare Deut. xxxi. 18: "I will hide My face in
that day for all the evil they are doing, for they turn to other gods,"
[Hebrew: pnH al alhiM aHriM]--[Hebrew: awiwi enbiM], "grape-cakes,"
has, as to its substance, been already explained, p. 194 sqq. It is the
result of an entire misunderstanding, that some interpreters should
here think of the love of feasting and banqueting. Others (as
_Gesenius_) are anxious to prove that such cakes were used at the
sacrifices which were offered to idols. The grape-cakes are rather
idolatry itself; but the expression, "They love grape-cakes," adds an
essential feature to the words, "They turn to other gods." It points,
namely, to the sinful origin of idolatry. Earnest and strict religion
is substantial and wholesome food; but idolatry is soft food, which is
sought only by the dainty and squeamish. That which is true of
idolatry, is true also of the service of sin, and of the world in
general, which, in Job xx. 12, appears under the image of meat which
is, in the mouth, as sweet as honey from the comb, but which is, in the
belly, changed into the gall of asps. In the symbolism of the law,
honey signified the _lust_ of the world; compare my work _Die Opfer der
Heil. Schrift_, S. 44. It is only the derivation of [Hebrew: awiwiT],
the signification of which is sufficiently established by parallel
passages, which requires investigation. We have no hesitation in
deriving it from [Hebrew: aw], "fire;" hence it means properly, "that
which has been subjected to fire (compare [Hebrew: awh]) = that
which has been baked," "cakes." The derivation from [Hebrew: aww],
"to found," has of late become current; but the objections to it
are:--partly, that the transition from "founding," to "cake," is by no
means an easy one; partly and mainly, that there is not the slightest
trace of this root elsewhere in Hebrew. It is asserted, indeed, that
[Hebrew: awiwiM] itself is found in Is. xvi. 7,