Job 30:29, Psa 44:19, Isa 13:22, 34:13, 35:7 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 29. I am a brother to dragons ] By my mournful and continual cry I resemble tannim , the jackals or hyenas . And a companion to owls. ] benoth yaanah , to the daughters of howling : generally understood to be the ostrich ; for both the jackal and the female ostrich are remarkable for their mournful cry, and for their attachment to desolate places.- Dodd .

‏ Job 30:29

Verse 29. I am a brother to dragons] By my mournful and continual cry I resemble tannim, the jackals or hyenas.

And a companion to owls.] benoth yaanah, to the daughters of howling: generally understood to be the ostrich; for both the jackal and the female ostrich are remarkable for their mournful cry, and for their attachment to desolate places.-Dodd.

‏ Psalms 44:19

Verse 19. Thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons] Thou hast delivered us into the hands of a fierce, cruel, and murderous people. We, as a people, are in a similar state to one who has strayed into a wilderness, where there are no human inhabitants; who hears nothing round about him but the hissing of serpents, the howling of beasts of prey, and the terrible roaring of the lion; and who expects every moment to be devoured.

‏ Isaiah 13:22

Verse 22. In their pleasant palaces-"In their palaces"] bealmenothaiv; a plain mistake, I presume, for bearmenothaiv. It is so corrected in two MSS., the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate.

πουλυποδεςδενεμοιθαλαμαςφωκαιτεμελαιναι

οικαποιησονταιακηδεαχητειλαων

HOM. Hymn. in Apol. 77.

Of which the following passage of Milton may be taken for a translation, though not so designed:-

"And in their palaces,

Where luxury late reigned, sea monsters whelped,

And stabled." Par. Lost, xi. 750.

This image of desolation is handled with great propriety and force by some of the Persian poets:-

[Arabic] [Arabic]

"The spider holds the veil in the palace of Caesar;

The owl stands centinel on the watch-tower of Afrasiab."

On this quotation Sir W. Jones observes, [Arabic] noubet is an Arabic word, signifying a turn, a change, a watch; hence [Arabic] noubet zudun in Persian signifies to relieve the guards by the sounds of drums and trumpets. Their office is given by the poet to the owl; as that of [Arabic] purdeh dar, or chamberlain, is elegantly assigned to the spider.

‏ Isaiah 34:13

Verse 13. And thorns shall come up in her palaces] vealu bearmenotheyha; so read all the ancient versions.

A court for owls.] yaanah, the ostrich, from anah, to cry, because of the noise it makes. "They roar," says Dr. Shaw, "sometimes like a lion-sometimes like a bull. I have often heard them groan as if in the utmost distress."

‏ Isaiah 35:7

Verse 7. The parched ground-"The glowing sand"] sharab; this word is Arabic, [Arabic] as well as Hebrew, expressing in both languages the same thing, the glowing sandy plain, which in the hot countries at a distance has the appearance of water. It occurs in the Koran, chap. xxiv.: "But as to the unbelievers, their works are like a vapour in a plain, which the thirsty traveller thinketh to be water, until, when he cometh thereto, he findeth it to be nothing." Mr. Sale's note on this place is, "The Arabic word serab signifies that false appearance which in the eastern countries is often seen on sandy plains about noon, resembling a large lake of water in motion, and is occasioned by the reverberation of the sun beams: 'by the quivering undulating motion of that quick succession of vapours and exhalations which are extracted by the powerful influence of the sun.'-Shaw, Trav. p. 378. It sometimes tempts thirsty travellers out of their way; but deceives them when they come near, either going forward, (for it always appears at the Same distance,) or quite vanishing." Q. Curtius has mentioned it: "Arenas vapor aestivi solis accendit; camporumque non alia, quam vasti et profundi aequoris species est."-Lib. vii., c. 5. Dr. Hyde gives us the precise meaning and derivation of the word. "Dictum nomen Barca habberakah, splendorem, seu splendentem regionem notat; cum ea regio radiis solaribus tam copiose collustretur, ut reflexum ab arenis lumen adeo intense fulgens, a longinquo spectantibus, ad instar corporis solaris, aquarum speciem referat; et hinc arenarum splendor et radiatio, (et lingua Persica petito nomine,) dicitur [Arabic] serab, i.e., aquae superficies seu superficialis aquarum species." Annot. in Peritsol., cap. ii.

"Shall spring forth"] The he in rebitseh seems to have been at first mem in MS. Bodl., whence Dr. Kennicott concludes it should be rebitsim. But instead of this word the Syriac, Vulgate, and Chaldee read some word signifying to grow, spring up, or abound. Perhaps paretsah, or paretsu, or parats hachatsir, as Houbigant reads.-L.