Verse 3
The children are come to the birth - The Jewish state is here represented under the emblem of a woman in travail, who has been so long in the pangs of parturition, that her strength is now entirely exhausted, and her deliverance is hopeless, without a miracle. The image is very fine and highly appropriate.
A similar image is employed by Homer, when he represents the agonies which Agamemnon suffers from his wound: -
Οφρα οἱ αἱμ ' ετι θερμον ανηνοθεν εξ ωτειλης·π
Λυταρ επει το μεν ἑλκος ετερσετο παυσατο δ ' αἱμα,π
Οξειαι οδυναι δυνον μενος Ατρειδαο·π
Ως δ ' ὁταν ωδινουσαν εχῃ βελος οξυ γυναικα,π
Δριμυ, το τε προΐεισι μογοστοκοι Ειλειθυιαιπ
Ἡρης θυγατερες πικ ρας ωδινας εχουσαι·π
Ὡς οξει ' οδυναι δυνον μενος Ατρειδαο.
Il. xi., ver. 266.
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