That drink wine in bowls— See the note on Psalms 75:8. Proverbs 23:31.Song of Solomon 8:2. Upon a review of which it may be doubted, whether the drinking wine in bowls above spoken of is to be understood of the quantity drunk, or of the magnificence of the vessels made use of. The other particulars seem rather to refer to the magnificence of their repasts, than the quantity consumed; and St. Jerome, on Proverbs 21:17., speaks of a shell, the porcelain of those ancient times, as a piece of luxury in drinking; which he calls sorbitiunculae delicatae, and contrita olera, opposing this implement to a cup. May not then the prophet's complaint be similar to that of this father of the Christian. church, and relate rather to the magnificence of the drinking vessel, than to the quantity which they drank? Erasmus, in his notes on St. Jerome, tells us, that Virgil speaks of the like piece of grandeur:
Ut concha libat, et sarrano indormiat ostro:
To drink in bowls which glitt'ring gems enchase, To loll on couches, &c. DRYDEN.
Though the common reading is gemma, a gem, instead of concha, a shell. "I have seen," says the author of the Observations, "very beautiful and highly valued vessels, made of shells; and the Red Sea, which is celebrated for producing some of the finest sea-shells in the world, being near Judaea, gave an opportunity to the ancient Jews of introducing vessels of this kind among their other precious utensils. Nor are they now esteemed only by our European virtuosi; the people of the East also value them. Thus shells were sent along with fruit, for a present to Dr. Pocock, when at Tor, near mount Sinai." See Observations, p. 194.
But they are not grieved, &c.— "They are not touched with compassion for the evils and misfortunes of their brethren. They can behold without concern the sufferings wherewith the poor are burthened. They themselves, rioting in the midst of luxury, feel none of those pressures which lie so heavy on the necks of the indigent and mean." The prophet alludes to the sufferings of Joseph, which his brethren not only occasioned, but disregarded. See Calmet.