To the mountains, &c.— Every part of the country had been defiled with idolatry. The altars built for idol worship were generally placed upon mountains and hills: the shady valleys and river-sides were also used for the same purpose, particularly for the sacrificing of children to Moloch: so that the prophet denounces a general judgment against the whole defiled and idolatrous country. By the mountains of Israel, says Houbigant, we are to understand the whole country. The reader will observe the great similarity of the denunciations in this prophet with those in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. See particularly Deuteronomy 12:2.Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 3:6. Ezekiel 18:6. Philippians 2 king of Macedon, in his expedition against Sparta, sacrificed to the gods on each of the hills, one of which was called Olympus, and the other Eva. Polyb. l. v. p. 372. ed. Casaub. Cyrus, just before his death, offered sacrifices to Jupiter, the sun, and the other gods, επι των ακραν. Cyropaed. l. viii. p. 647. ed. Hutchinson. 4to.

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