Verse 4
4. As for thy nativity The Hebrew nation, notwithstanding its boastfulness and contempt for the heathen ( goyem) is here declared to have come of heathen stock, with no original spiritual beauty or native endowment above other peoples. The ancestors of the Hebrews were idolaters, and in the Hebrew babyhood, first in Ur and then in Canaan, their parents gave them no spiritual culture or cleansing or training above their other children.
To supple R.V., “to cleanse.”
Not salted at all It was supposed in ancient times that to rub the newborn babe with salt was a healthful precaution. This is still done in Syria and Palestine. A native mother said of a European child, “Poor thing! It was not salted at all.” Dr. Fradenburgh makes it seem quite probable that this was a symbolic rite intended to consecrate the new life and bring it into visible covenant relationship with the tribe. All similar passages where salt is referred to in the Old Testament (see, for example, Numbers 18:19) are connected with covenant making, covenant confirming, consecrating, or devoting. (See Fradenburgh, in Methodist Review, November, 1898.)
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