wholly afflicted; _for_ the vineyards of Heshbon are withered, the vine of Sibmah, the grapes of which intoxicated the lord of the nations," etc. Then, ver. 9, "Therefore I weep with Jaeser for the vine of Sibmah." If there be no more grapes, neither are there any more grape-cakes. The destruction of the vineyards is therefore the cause of the howling for the cakes. That such cakes, moreover, were prepared in many places in Moab, sufficiently appears from the name of the place Dibhlathaim, _i.e._, town of cakes. It may be remarked further, that we are not entitled to assume a sing. אשיש as given by lexicographers along with דבלה ;אשישה likewise forms the plural דבלים. Ver. 2. "_And I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer of barley, and a lethech of barley._" Compare the explanation of this verse, p. 195 sqq. Ver. 3. "_And I said unto her. Thou art to sit for me many days: thou art not to whore, and thou art not to belong to a man; and so I also to thee._" The sitting has the accessory idea of being forsaken and solitary, which may be explained from the circumstance, that he who is not invited to go with us is left to sit. Thus, _e.g._, Gen. xxxviii. 11: "Sit as a widow in thy fathers house, until Shelah [Pg 279]my son be grown;" Is. xlvii. 8, where Babylon says, "I shall not _sit_ as a widow," etc. The Fut. in this and the following verses must not be taken in an imperative sense, as meaning, thou shalt sit for me, thou shalt not whore; the explanation given in ver. 4, and in the parallel passage in chap. ii. 8, 9, are alike opposed to it. The husband will not subject his wife to a moral probation, but he will lock her up, so that she must _ sit_ solitary, and _cannot_ whore. With reference to this. _Manger_ strikingly remarks: "There is, in that very severity, the beginning of leniency; 'sit for me,' _i.e._, I who have been so unworthily treated by thee, and who yet am thy most affectionate husband, and who, though now at a distance from thee, will not altogether forget thee." The לי indicates that the sitting of the wife must have reference to the prophet. Quite similar is Exod. xxiv. 14: "And he said unto the elders, שבו לנו, Sit ye here for us until we return to you." The phrase itself, which must not be explained by "to sit in expectation of some one," does not indicate in what way the sitting has reference to him. The issue of the whole proceeding, described in ver. 5, clearly shows, however, that it is not inflicted by him as a merited punishment, as an effect of his just indignation, but rather that we must think chiefly of his compassionate love, which makes use of these means in order to render the reunion possible.--The distinction between "to whore," and "to belong to a man," is obvious: the former denotes _vagos et promiscuus amores_; the other, connubial connection with a single individual; compare, _e.g._, Ezek. xvi. 8; Lev. xxi. 3. But the question is,--Who is to be understood by the