the Second Week after Easter
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Nova Vulgata
Ecclesiasticus 33:18
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- FaussetEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
Cor tuum meditabitur timorem : ubi est litteratus ? ubi legis verba ponderans ? ubi doctor parvulorum ?
Cor tuum meditabitur timorem:
ubi est litteratus? ubi legis verba ponderans?
ubi doctor parvulorum?
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
heart: Isaiah 38:9-22, 1 Samuel 25:33-36, 1 Samuel 30:6, Psalms 31:7, Psalms 31:8, Psalms 31:22, Psalms 71:20, 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, 2 Timothy 3:11
Where is the scribe: 1 Corinthians 1:20
receiver: Heb. weigher, Genesis 23:16, 2 Kings 15:19, 2 Kings 18:14, 2 Kings 18:31
where is he: Isaiah 10:16-19
Reciprocal: Psalms 48:12 - tell Isaiah 51:13 - where is Daniel 4:9 - no secret
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Thine heart shall meditate terror,.... shall recollect, and think of with pleasure and thankfulness, the terror they were formerly seized with, when surrounded and oppressed by their enemies, particularly at the time of the slaying of the witnesses, which will be a terrible time to the church and people of God; but when that is over, they will call it to mind with gratitude, for deliverance from it e. This is commonly understood of the terror and consternation the Jews were in when besieged by the Assyrian army; and so the following words,
Where [is] the scribe? where [is] the receiver? where [is] he that counted the towers? are taken to be either the words of the Jews in their distress, calling for such and such officers to go to their respective posts, and do their duty; as the "scribe", or muster master, to see that he has his full quota of men; the "receiver" or treasurer, and paymaster of the soldiers, to give the men money and wages, that they may be encouraged to fight; and "the counter of towers", or engineer, to take care of the fortifications, and give directions about them: or else, as now insulting the Assyrians after the defeat of them, inquiring where were now such and such officers in their army, whom before they dreaded, signifying they were all perished and gone. The apostle cites these words, or at least alludes to them, 1 Corinthians 1:20 when he says, "where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world?" triumphing over the wise doctors of the Jews, and the philosophers of the Gentiles, as not being able to face and withstand the power and wisdom of the Gospel; 1 Corinthians 1:20- :. So here, when the people of God will be recovered from their fright, and be brought out of their low estate, and will have ascended into heaven, or be come into a glorious church state, they will then triumph over their enemies, who will be no more, and say, where are the pope and his clergy? his cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, monks, friars, c. what are become of them? they are all gone, and will be no more. The Targum is,
"thine heart shall think of great things; where are the scribes? where are the princes? where are the counters? let them come, if they can count the numbers of the slain, the heads of mighty armies;''
which may well enough be illustrated by Revelation 11:13.
e So Ben Melech interprets it,
"thine heart, which was meditating terror before this.''
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Thine heart - The heart of the people of Jerusalem.
Shall meditate terror - This is similar to the expression in Virgil:
- forsan et haec olim meminisse jurabit.
AEn. ii. 203.
The sense here is, ‘You shall hereafter think over all this alarm and distress. When the enemy is destroyed, the city saved, and the king shall reign in magnificence over all the nation then enjoying peace and prosperity, you shall recall these days of terror and alarm, and shall then ask with gratitude and astonishment, Where are they who caused this alarm? Where are now they who so confidently calculated on taking the city? They are all gone - and gone in a manner suited to excite astonishment and adoring gratitude.’ ‘Sweet is the recollection,’ says Rosenmuller, ‘of dangers that are passed.’
Where is the scribe? - How soon, how suddenly has he vanished! The word scribe here (ספר sı̂phēr) evidently refers to some prominent class of officers in the Assyrian army. It is from ספר sâphar, to count, to number, to write; and probably refers to a secretary, perhaps a secretary of state or of war, or an inspector-general, who had the charge of reviewing an army 2 Kings 25:19; Jeremiah 37:15; Jeremiah 52:25.
Where is the receiver? - Margin, as in Hebrew, ‘Weigher.’ Vulgate, ‘Where is he that ponders the words of the law?’ The Septuagint, ‘Where are the counselors (ουμβουλεύοντες sumbouleuontes)?’ Probably the word refers to him who weighed the tribute, or the pay of the Soldiers; and means, doubtless, some officer in the army of the Assyrian; probably one whose office it was to have charge of the military chest, and to pay the army.
Where is he that counted the towers? - That is, who made an estimate of the strength of Jerusalem - either Sennacherib, or someone appointed by him to reconnoitre and report on the means which the city bad of defense (compare Isaiah 36:4).
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Isaiah 33:18. Where is the scribe? — The person appointed by the king of Assyria to estimate their number and property in reference to their being heavily taxed.
Where is the receiver? — Or he who was to have collected this tribute.
Where is he that counted the towers? — That is, the commander of the enemy's forces, who surveyed the fortifications of the city, and took an account of the height, strength, and situation of the walls and towers, that he might know where to make the assault with the greatest advantage; as Capaneus before Thebes is represented in a passage of the Phoenissae of Euripides, which Grotius has applied as an illustration of this place: -
Εκεινος ἑπτα προσβασεις τεκμαιρεται
Πυργων, ανω τε και κατω τειχη μετρων.
Ver. 187.
"To these seven turrets each approach he marks;
The walls from their proud summit to their base
Measuring with eager eye."
He that counted the towers - "Those who were ordered to review the fortified places in Judea, that they might be manned and provisioned for the king of Assyria. So sure was he of gaining Jerusalem and subduing the whole of Judea, that he had already formed all these arrangements." - Dodd's notes.
