(10) Presses.--Or vats, into which the newly pressed juice flowed: the "winefat" of Mark 12:1. (Comp. the promise to follow upon payment of tithes, Malachi 3:8-12.)
Verse 10. - So shall thy barns be filled with plenty. The promise held out to encourage the devotion of one's wealth to Jehovah's service, while supplying a motive which at first sight appears selfish and questionable, is in reality a trial of faith. Few persons find it easy to realize that giving away will increase their store (Wardlaw). The teacher is warranted in bringing forward this promise by the language of Moses in Deuteronomy 28:1-8, whine, among other things, he promises that Jehovah will command a blessing upon the "storehouses" and industry of those who honour God. The principle is otherwise expressed in Proverbs 11:25, "The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be also watered himself;" and it is exemplified in Haggai 1:3-11; Haggai 2:15, 19; Malachi 3:10-12, and in the New Testament in Philippians 4:14-19; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8. Thy barns; asameykha, the only form in which asam, "a storehouse," "barn," or "granary," occurs. The Hebrew asam is the same as the Latin horreum (Vulgate) and the Greek ταμιεῖον (LXX.). With plenty (sava); Vulgate, saturitas; i.e. fulness, abundance, plenty. The root sava is "to become satisfied," and that richly satisfied. This expression and the following, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine, depict the greatest abundance. Thy presses (y'kaveykhu). The word here translated "presses" is, strictly speaking," vats" or "reservoirs," into which the must from the wine press flowed. The wine press consisted of two parts, the gath (equivalent to the Latin torcularium, torculum, or torcular; Greek, ληνός, Matthew 21:33), into which the grapes were collected from the surrounding vineyard, and there trodden underfoot by several persons (Nehemiah 13:15: Isaiah 63:3; Lamentations 1:15), whose movements were regulated by singing or shouting (Isaiah 16:10; Jeremiah 48:33), as among the Greeks (see 'Athen.,' 5. p. 199, a; Anacreon, 'Od.,' 17:1, 52; cf. Theocritus, 7:25) and Egyptians (Wilkinson, 'Man. and Cust.,' vol. 2. pp. 152-157); and the yekev, used here, which was a trough of corresponding size, dug into the ground, or cut out of a rack, at a lower level, to receive the must. The yekev corresponded with the Greek ὑπολήνιον, mentioned in Mark 12:l, and the Latin lacus (Ovid, 'Fasti,' 5:888; Pliny, 'Epist.,' 9:20; 'Colum. de Rust.,' 12:18): Cajeterus, indeed, reads, lacus torcularii. The word yekev is, however, used for the wine press itself in Job 24:11 and 2 Kings 6:27. Shall burst out (yiph'rotsu); literally, they shall extend themselves; i.e. shall overflow. Parats, "to break," is here used metaphorically in the sense of "to be redundant," "to overflow" (cf. 2 Samuel 5:20). It is employed intransitively of a people spreading themselves abroad, or increasing, in Genesis 28:14; Exodus 1:12. New wine (tirosh); Vulgate, Arabic, and Syriac, vino; LXX., οἴνῳ; properly, as in the Authorized Version, "new wine;" Latin, mustum (see Deuteronomy 33:28; Isaiah 36:17; Isaiah 55:1).
3:7-12 There is not a greater enemy to the fear of the Lord in the heart, than self-conceit of our own wisdom. The prudence and sobriety which religion teaches, tend not only to the health of the soul, but to the health of the body. Worldly wealth is but poor substance, yet, such as it is, we must honour God with it; and those that do good with what they have, shall have more to do more good with. Should the Lord visit us with trials and sickness, let us not forget that the exhortation speaks to us as to children, for our good. We must not faint under an affliction, be it ever so heavy and long, not be driven to despair, or use wrong means for relief. The father corrects the son whom he loves, because he loves him, and desires that he may be wise and good. Afflictions are so far from doing God's children any hurt, that, by the grace of God, they promote their holiness.
So shall thy barns be filled with plenty,.... With plenty of corn; so that there will be a sufficient provision of bread for the eater for the ensuing year, and of seed for the sower when the time of sowing returns; so far should they be, it suggests, from being losers by honouring the Lord with their substance, that they should be gainers by it; instead of having less, should have abundantly more;
and thy presses shall burst out with new wine; not that they should really burst (q) for then the wine would be spilled, which would be a loss; but that they should be so full, that they should be ready to burst or run over: and so the Targum, and the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "and thy presses shall overflow with new wine". As the former clause denotes plenty of eatables, so this of drinkables; and both fulness of all sorts of provisions, promised to the liberal man; and may be an emblem of the large provisions of grace and glory, which the Lord has made for and bestows upon such that honour him.
(q) A like figure see in Virgil. Georgic. l. 1. v. 49. "---ruperunt horrea messes".
and thy presses shall burst out with new wine; not that they should really burst (q) for then the wine would be spilled, which would be a loss; but that they should be so full, that they should be ready to burst or run over: and so the Targum, and the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "and thy presses shall overflow with new wine". As the former clause denotes plenty of eatables, so this of drinkables; and both fulness of all sorts of provisions, promised to the liberal man; and may be an emblem of the large provisions of grace and glory, which the Lord has made for and bestows upon such that honour him.
(q) A like figure see in Virgil. Georgic. l. 1. v. 49. "---ruperunt horrea messes".