that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus on the waters, saying, “Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide!”
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 2. Ambassadors. Hebrew “images,” (Bochart) in honour of Adonis; (Saint Cyril) or rather Ezechias, or Tharaca send to demand troops. Calmet.—Bulrushes. Lit. “paper.” Bible.—Formed of rushes which grow on the banks of the Nile. Pliny vii. 56. and xiii. 11.—Angels. Or messengers.—Pieces. With factions after the death of Sabacon, or by the inroads of Sennacherib.—Other. He derides the vanity of the Egyptians. Calmet.—Expecting the overflowing of the Nile. Bible.—Hebrew “of line,” ( Calmet.) with which they marked out each person’s property, after the waters had subsided. Strabo 17.—Foot. They worked their dough with their feet, and sent swine to trample on the seed, which required no more cultivation. Herod. ii. 14. and 36.—Spoiled. The Nile made considerable alterations.