10. Declare ye it not at Gath--on the borders of Judea, one of the
five cities of the Philistines, who would exult at the calamity of the
Hebrews
(2Sa 1:20).
Gratify not those who exult over the falls of the Israel of God.
weep ye not at all--Do not betray your inward sorrow by outward
weeping, within the cognizance of the enemy, lest they should exult at
it. RELAND translates, "Weep not in Acco," that is, Ptolemais, now
St. Jean d'Acre, near the foot of Mount Carmel; allotted to Asher, but
never occupied by that tribe
(Jud 1:31);
Acco's inhabitants would, therefore, like Gath's, rejoice at Israel's
disaster. Thus the parallelism is best carried out in all the three
clauses of the verse, and there is a similar play on sounds in each, in
the Hebrew Gath, resembling in sound the Hebrew for
"declare"; Acco, resembling the Hebrew for "weep"; and
Aphrah, meaning "dust." While the Hebrews were not to expose
their misery to foreigners, they ought to bewail it in their own
cities, for example, Aphrah or Ophrah
(Jos 18:23;
1Sa 13:17),
in the tribe of Benjamin. To "roll in the dust" marked deep sorrow
(Jer 6:26;
Eze 27:30).
JFB.
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