| Ezekiel 4:5
| And I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
| Three, etc. St. Jerome says some "Vulgate," (Haydock) Latin, (Calmet) or rather incorrect Greek (Haydock) copies read 100, others 150. See Origen, etc. (Calmet) --- The Alexandrian copy has the former, (Haydock) the Roman edition the latter number; and is followed by Theodoret and Maldonat. (Calmet) --- But the more accurate Septuagint agree with the Hebrew, etc. The captivity of Israel must be dated from Phacee, (4 Kings 15:29.) to the end of the reign of Darius Memnon, who espoused Esther, and granted liberty "to all the Jews;" or rather from Manathem, (4 Kings 15:19.) to the 28th of the same king Assuerus. Thus God's "grace, we think, and we may so speak without arrogance, has enabled us to explain this difficulty, which no other has done." (St. Jerome) --- Many confound the duration of the iniquity of Israel with that of Juda, forming 430 years; and they explain it of the time during which the nation had prevaricated. But this seems unnatural. We may rather conclude, that the prophet speaks of a separate judgment, and dates from the destruction of Samaria and of Jerusalem. The former city was taken the year of the world 3283. If we add 390 years, we shall find the year 3673 the very year when Alexander [the Great] overcame Darius, and soon after granted the Jews full liberty to return, or live according to their own laws. This he granted to those in Babylon, and to the Israelites (Calmet) in Media. Josephus, Antiquities xi. ultra et contra Apion 1:--- Philadelphus afterwards liberated many in Egypt, (Josephus, Antiquities 12:2.) as Osee 11:11. had foretold. The chastisement of Juda must be dated from the destruction of Jerusalem under Sedecias, till Darius, the Mede, favoured the Jews about forty years afterwards. (Calmet) --- St. Jerome only allows forty years to have elapsed from the first of Jechonias till the first of Cyrus. The want of an exact chronology gives rise to many such difficulties. (Haydock) --- It is very hard to explain how the ten tribes were 390 and the two tribes 40 years in captivity, as it is certain that the latter were seventy year banished from their own country. (Worthington) --- Perhaps during the last thirty their condition was greatly ameliorated, after the decree of Cyrus, though the liberation was only perfect under Hystaspes and Esther. (Haydock) --- The iniquity of Israel, from Solomon to Salmanasar, lasted 390 years; and that of Juda, under the reign of Manasses, was most abominable for the space of forty years; (Tournemine) or it continued so long from the 18th of Josias till the 4th, after the city was destroyed, and the land became a desert. (Usher, the year of the world 3380 to 3420.) --- But how shall the reign of the virtuous Josias be included in this period? (Haydock) --- The action of the prophet lying 430 days, denoted the length of the siege of Jerusalem, during which extreme scarcity should be felt, and also the captivity of the people. Some have thought that he could not remain 390 days on one side, and that all passed in spirit. But what impression would that make upon the people? He was chained down, (Calmet) to represent their miserable condition. (Haydock) --- Praedo saw a fool who lay tied in one posture for above fifteen years. (Calmet) --- The remaining so long in one posture must have been painful to the prophet. (Tirinus)
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