Thy birth, and thy nativity, &c.— Thy root, or origin, and thy nativity, &c. As much as to say, "You dishonour the race of Abraham, whence you are descended; you deserve much rather the name of a Canaanite than of an Israelite." The Amorites and Hittites appear to have been the most corrupted of all the Canaanites: a more ignominious appellation could not be given to a Hebrew, than to call him of the race of Canaan. Isaiah calls the princes of Judah, rulers of Sodom; ch. Ezekiel 1:10 and St. John the Baptist calls the Pharisees, a generation of vipers. Heathen authors, in the transports of their enthusiasm, frequently expressed themselves in the same manner. Virgil makes Dido say to AEneas,
Nec tibi diva parens, &c. Perfidious monster! boast thy birth no more; No hero got thee, and no goddess bore. No!—thou wert brought by Scythian rocks to day, By tigers nurs'd, and savages of prey; But far more rugged, wild, and fierce than they. AEn. book 6: ver. 525, &c. WARTON.