This plant grows in the muddy banks of the Nile, as it requires an abundance of water for its nourishment. Parkhurst supposes that the word wja achu, which we render flag, is the same with that species of reed which Mr. Hasselquist found growing near the river Nile. The Egyptians make ropes of the leaves . They lay the plant in water , like hemp, and then make good and strong cables of them. This is the first place in which the word hypocrite occurs, or the noun Pnj chaneph, which rather conveys the idea of pollution and defilement than of hypocrisy .
Hypocrite is a very improper translation of the Hebrew.
Mr. Good renders, Thus shall their support rot away. The foundation on which they trust is rotten, and by and by the whole superstructure of their confidence shall tumble into ruin . This is all allusion to the spider. When he suspects his web, here called his house , to be frail or unsure, he leans upon it in different parts, propping himself on his hinder legs, and pulling with his fore claws, to see if all be safe . If he find any part of it injured , he immediately adds new cordage to that part, and attaches it strongly to the wall.