The word יוצר (or רצוי), is by the Jew changed into אוצר (or רצוא) the alteration of a letter being all that is required to substitute _the treasury_, in the room of _the potter_. But he cannot deny, that the word means potter in the original, and the Christian will find no occasion to alter it, to make sense of the passage. The objection, that the potter could not be at work in the temple, which was urged by the Jew, has been answered in the exposition. Ver. 17. הוי רעי האליל—_Woe to the idol shepherd._ The _idol_ might be rendered, as Mr. Lowth observes, _worthless_, or of no value, as it is, Job xiii. 4, and so the Jew renders it. Though a shepherd, in the singular number, is here spoken of, yet a succession of such shepherds is clearly to be understood; and it is probable that the chiefs and rulers of Israel are intended here, as well as the false Messiahs who have from time to time arisen, and partially misled the people, being alike false guides, who have contributed to the destruction of the flock. A history of the false Messiahs, amounting to not less than twenty, who have at different times made their appearance; with an account of the numbers and destruction of their infatuated followers, being too long for insertion here, may be found by the reader in Dr. Jortin’s Remarks on Eccles. Hist.; presenting a lamentable picture of the blindness and infatuation of this wretched people. THE RABBI’S TRANSLATION. CHAPTER XI. 1. Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 2. Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled; howl, ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. 3. There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds, for their glory is spoiled; a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. 4. Thus saith the Lord my God, Feed the flock of the slaughter. 5. Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty, and they that sell them, say, Blessed be the Lord; for I am rich; and their own shepherds pity them not. 6. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord; but, lo! I will deliver the men, every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king, and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. 7. Yea, I fed the flock of the slaughter, truly an afflicted flock it was, and I took unto me two staves; the one I called Pleasant, and the other I called Painful, and I fed the flock. 8. And when I had cut off three shepherds in one month; then my soul loathed them, and their souls also abhorred me. 9. Then said I, I will not feed you; that that dieth, let it die; and that that is missed, let it be missed; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. 10. And I took my staff, the Pleasant, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made (for them) with all the nations.