Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 5. Mouth. I have ordered my prophets to denounce death unto them, and to treat them roughly, like a piece of marble designed for a statue. Septuagint and so forth “I have slain thy prophets,” and so forth by Elias, Jehu, and so forth The former sense is preferable.—Thy judgments, or condemnation. Calmet.—Hebrew “and thy judgments light shall go forth.” Bible.—Pocock labours hard, but in vain, to explain this; as all the old versions, except the Vulg. have, “my judgments as the light,” and so forth Hebrew letters may probably have been ill joined, (Kennicott) as Meibomius suspects they have been also. Jeremiah 23:33. Here umospoti caur, “my judgments as the light,” and so forth is exchanged for umishpatec or. This would be very easy when words were written undivided, as in ancient MSS. Bible.—“Some transcriber upon hearing umishpatecaor, from the person dictating to him, writ umishpateca or instead of umishpate caor. Kennicott, Diss. 1.