rked
out by the contrast of the highest and lowest portions. According to
_Ewald_ and _Umbreit_, it is intended to refer to the dashed pieces of
the altar; but nothing has been said about the destruction of the
altar. In Ezek. ix. 2 likewise, the altar is mentioned, not because it
was to be destroyed, but only because there the guilt is heaped up. The
casting down does not, in itself, imply the _breaking_, _dashing into
pieces_; it does so only by its being connected with the following
[Hebrew: braw]. The passage in Jer. xlix. 20 is analogous: "He shall
make their habitation desolate over them;" instead of: "He shall thus
make it desolate that they are buried beneath its ruins;" [Pg 372]
compare Jer. l. 45. [Hebrew: braw], properly understood, does not mean
"_upon_ the head;" the head is rather represented as the receptacle of
the tumbling ruins; they fall into their heads and crush them; compare
Ps. vii. 17. In what precedes, there is no definite noun to which
[Hebrew: klM] refers. This is to be explained by the dramatic character
of the whole representation which arises necessarily from the opening
phrase: "I saw." The same reason accounts for the peculiarity of
[Hebrew: hK] being employed without any designation of person. In his
inward vision, the prophet sees the whole people assembled before the
Lord at the threshold of the temple. The Lord appears before him as the
judge, at the place of the transgressions, at the side of the altar. At
His command, the whole assembled multitude are buried under the ruins
of the temple. From this also it is evident that a destruction of the
temple in a literal sense cannot be entertained; for how could a whole
people be buried under its ruins? The same appears also from [Hebrew:
raiti] at the commencement. This, then, shows that we have here before
us a symbolical representation, corresponding altogether to that which
we have in vii. 1, 4, 7, viii. 1. Hitherto, the Lord speaking to some
one, had given him the commission of destruction. He now continues
with: "I will kill." This also shows that the one who is addressed is
the Angel of the Lord. The same occurrence takes place in the greater
number of the passages in which the Angel of the Lord is spoken of. In
the action there is constant alternation; it is ascribed, at one time
to Him, at another, to Jehovah.--Several interpreters (_Marckius_, _De
Wette_, _Rueckert_, and others) explain [Hebrew: ahrit] by "posterity;"
others, after