17. All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.

17. Omnes manus solventur, et omnia genua ibunt aquae. [160]

He confirms the last sentence, that such should be the trembling, that those who were oppressed with all kinds of evil, dare not utter their complaints freely. He says, all hands should be loosened, and all knees should be unstable as water We know that this doctrine frequently occurs with the Prophets, by which God shows that men's hearts were in his hands. But since profane men are fierce against God, through trusting in their own wealth or fortitude, hence, on the contrary, God pronounces that they should be timorous and anxious, nay, almost vanishing away, and as it were lifeless, as if their knees were flowing away amidst water, and their hands were relaxed. It follows --

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Footnotes:

[160] A mark of similitude must be understood -- shall flow like water; for here to go' is taken for to flow.'