I had fainted, unless, &c.— The words I had fainted, are not in the Hebrew. Dr. Hammond observes, that there is a very remarkable elegance in the original; which, by the use of a beautiful figure, makes an abrupt breaking off in the midst of the speech. He compares it to that celebrated threat of Neptune in Virgil:
Quos ego——Sed motos praestat componere fluctus; Whom I——but first I'll calm the waves again. PITT.
And he rightly adds, that the beauty of this figure, consisting in the abrupt breaking off, is wholly lost and spoiled by adding that which the divine poet purposely omitted or concealed. The Chaldee translation preserves this beauty; but all the rest, by filling up the break, or altering the sense a little, destroy it.