Sermon Tone Analysis

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.

2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in zthe land of Shinar and settled there

Then Jacob went on his journey and came to kthe land of the people of the east. 2 As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered.

The stone on the well’s mouth was large, 3 and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.

4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?”

They said, l“We are from Haran.”

24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.”

(For they had golden earrings, xbecause they were Ishmaelites.)

He will raise za signal for the nations

and will assemble ithe banished of Israel,

and gather the dispersed of Judah

from the four corners of the earth.

13  jThe jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,

and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;

Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,

and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

14  kBut they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,

and together they shall plunder lthe people of the east.

They shall put out their hand magainst nEdom and oMoab,

and pthe Ammonites shall obey them.

15  And the LORD will utterly destroy2

qthe tongue of the Sea of Egypt,

and will wave his hand over rthe River3

with his scorching breath,4

and strike it into seven channels,

and he will lead people across in sandals.

16  And there will be sa highway from Assyria

for the remnant that remains of his people,

tas there was for Israel

when they came up from the land of Egypt.

The word of the LORD came to me: 2 w“Son of man, xset your face toward ythe Ammonites and prophesy against them.

3 Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD: zThus says the Lord GOD, Because you said, a‘Aha!’

over my bsanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, 4 therefore behold, I am handing you over to cthe people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst.

They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk.

5 I will make dRabbah a epasture for camels and Ammon1 ea fold for flocks.

vThen you will know that I am the LORD.

6 For thus says the Lord GOD: Because fyou have clapped your hands gand stamped your feet and hrejoiced with all the imalice within your soul against the land of Israel, 7 therefore, behold, jI have stretched out my hand against you, and kwill hand you over as plunder to the nations.

And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you.

Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Thus says the Lord GOD: Because lMoab and mSeir2 said, ‘Behold, the nhouse of Judah is like all the other nations,’ 9 therefore lI will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, oBeth-jeshimoth, pBaal-meon, and qKiriathaim.

10 I will give it ralong with the Ammonites sto the people of the East as a possession, tthat the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations, 11 land I will execute judgments upon Moab.

uThen they will know that I am the LORD.

And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind dlike the sand on the seashore, 30 so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all ethe people of the east fand all the wisdom of Egypt.

31 For he was cwiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.

32 gHe also spoke 3,000 proverbs, hand his songs were 1,005.

33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall.

He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish.

34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from iall the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

6 “Now therefore, xTattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, yand your2 associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away.

7 Let the work on this house of God alone.

Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site.

8 Moreover, zI make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God.

The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River.

9 And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, 10 that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven aand pray for the life of the king and his sons.

11 Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and bhis house shall be made a dunghill.

12 May the God cwho has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem.

I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”

Then Darius the king made a decree, and tsearch was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. 2 And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is uin the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. 3 In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained.

Its height shall be sixty cubits1 and its breadth sixty cubits, 4 vwith three layers of great stones and one layer of timber.

Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury.

5 And also wlet the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place.

You shall put them in the house of God.”

Therefore, if it seems good to the king, slet search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem.

And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, bthat the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so cthat he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and dhe has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel—ehe is the God who is in Jerusalem.

4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

9 zThe king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day.

And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to athe satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces bfrom India to Ethiopia, b127 provinces, cto each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language.

10 dAnd he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus eand sealed it with the king’s signet ring.

Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on fswift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud, 11 saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city gto gather and defend their lives, hto destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, iand to plunder their goods, 12 jon one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

13 kA copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies.

Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, wI have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows,1 because he intended to lay hands on the Jews.

8 But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, xand seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring ycannot be revoked.”

Then King Darius wrote to all dthe peoples, nations, and languages ethat dwell in all the earth: f“Peace be multiplied to you.

26 gI make a decree, that in all my royal dominion hpeople are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,

for ihe is jthe living God,

enduring forever;

his kingdom shall never be destroyed,

jand his dominion shall be kto the end.

27  He delivers and rescues;

he works lsigns and wonders

in heaven and on earth,

he who has msaved Daniel

from the power of the lions.”

King Nebuchadnezzar to all mpeoples, nations, and languages, nthat dwell in all the earth: oPeace be multiplied to you! 2 It has seemed good to me to show the psigns and wonders that the qMost High God has done for me.

3  How great are phis signs,

how mighty his pwonders!

rHis kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

rand his dominion endures from generation to generation.

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and pin you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”3

6  A multitude of camels shall cover you,

the young camels of iMidian and jEphah;

all those from kSheba shall come.

lThey shall bring gold and frankincense,

and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD.

What a transport of joy these wise men were in upon this sight of the star; none know so well as those who, after a long and melancholy night of temptation and desertion, under the power of a Spirit of bondage, at length receive the spirit of adoption, witnessing with their spirits that they are the children of God; this is light out of darkness; it is life from the dead

Now Ishmael is the son of Abraham and Hagar, Midian of Abraham and Keturah, Kedar the son of Ishmael, and Amalek the grandson of Esau, dwelling in Edom.

It is evident that the references are to the Syrian desert and in a general way to Arabia, especially its northern part, and to peoples like the Bedouin who kept camels and dwelt in tents, “houses of hair” (buyût shaʿr) as they are called by modern Arabs.