Exposition of the Whole Bible

=. oe about feven or eight years, invaded Yudea, and took. the fenced cities of Fudah in Hezekiah’s time, in which Micab prophefied. LHe is come unto the gate of my people, even to Ferufalem; Sennacherib king of Afyria having taken the fenced cities, came up to the very gates of Yerujalem, and befieged it, where the courts of judicature were kept, and the people reforted to, to have juftice done them; and Micah being of the tribe of Fudab, calls theth his people, and was the more affected with their

¥. 10. Declare ye it not at Gath, &c.]) A city of the Philiftines, put for all the reft: the phrafe is borrowed from 2 Samm. i. 20. where the reafon is given, and holds good here as there; and the fenfe is, not that the deftruction of J/rael, or the invafion of Fudea, or the befieging of Ferufalem, could be hid from the Piii/tines; but that it was a thing defirable, was it poffible, fince it would be matter of rejoicing to them, and that would be an aggravation of the diftrefs of J/rael and Fudah: weep ye not at all; that is; before the Philiffines, or fuch like enemies, left they fhould laugh and {coff at you; tho’ they had reafon to weep, and did and ought to weep in fecret; yet as much as in them lay, it would be right to. forbear it openly, becaufe of the infults and reproach of the enemy. The learned Reland ‘ fufpects that it fhould be read, weep not in Acco; which was another city in, Palefiine, to the north from the enemy, as Gath was to the fouth; and obferves, that theré is a like paronomafia * in the words, as in the places’ aftermentioned.. Acco is the fame with Pfolemais, mentioned in 4s xxi. 7. fee the note there. It had this name from Ptolemy Lagus king of Egypt, who enlarged it, and called it after his own name: but Mr. Maundrel® obferves, ‘* now fince it hath been ** in the poffeffion of the Turks, it has, according ** to the example of many other cities in Turky, caft off its Greek, and recovered fome femblance of its old Hebrew name again,. being called Acca or cra—As to its fituation, he fays, it enjoys “< all poffible advantages, both of fea and land; on its north and eaft fides, it is compaffed with. a fpacious and fertile plain; on the weft it is ‘© wafhed by the Mediterranean fea, and on the fouth by a large bay, extending from the city ‘* as far as mount Carmel.” In the houfe of Aphrab roll thyfelf in the duft; as-mourners ufed to do, fit in the duft, or cover their heads with it, or wallow in it; this is allowed to be done privately, in houfes or in towns diftinét from the Philiftines, as Aphrab or Ophrah was, which was in the tribe of Benjamin, Fofo. xviii. 23. called here Apbrab; to make it better agree with 4phar, duft, to which the allufion is: and it may be rendered, in the hou/e of duft, roll thyfelf in the duft, having refpec&t to the condition houfes would be in at this time, mere heaps of duft and rubbith, fo that they would find enough eafily to roll themfelves in!, Here isa double reading; the Keri or marginal reading, which’the Mafora directs to, and we follow, is, roll thy/eif: but the Ceéid or writing: is, [have rolled myfelf *; and fo are the words of the prophet, who before fays, he wailed and howled, and went ftript and naked; here he fays, as a further token of his forrow, that he rolled himéelf in’ duft;: and’as’ an ex-

ample for J/rae! to do the like. This place was a village in the times of Yerom *, and was call Efrem; it was five miles from Besbel to the eaft. y. 11. Pals ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, &c.] A village, according to Eujebius', between Eleutheropolis and Afckelon, perhaps the fartie with Sephoron, it is mentioned among the citiés of F#- dab, in the Greek verfion of o/b. xv. 48. Calmet = conje€tures, the prophet intends the city of Sephoris or Sephora in Galilee. Hillerus * takes it to be the fame with Parab, mentioned with Opbrab, Foo. xviii. 23. fo called from its ornament, neatnefs, beauty, and elegance, as both words fignify, to which the prophet alludes: now every one of the inhabitants of this place are called upon to prepare to go into captivity to Babylon, which would certainly be their cafe, tho’ they dwelled in fine buildings, neat houfes, and ftreets well paved. Ia the margin it is, thou that dwellef fairly °; which fome underftand of Samaria; others of Fudea; and particularly Yeru/alem, beautifully fituated, yet fhould go into captivity: having thy fhame naked; their city difmantled, their houfés plundered, and they

‘ftript of their garments, and the fhame of their nakednefs difcovered; which muft be the more di- ‘ftreffing to beautiful perfons, that have dréfled

| neatly, and lived in handfome well-built houfes, and elegantly furnifhed, and now all the reverfe, The inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourn- fterity of Azel, of the tribe of Benjamin, dwelt, Hillerus ® fafpeéts it to be the fame with Moza, Joh. xviii. 26. fo called from Moza, the great grandfather of.4zel, 1 Chron. viii. 37, 38. Capellus takes it to be the fame with Azel in Zech. xiv, 5. This place being taken and plundered by the enemy, occafioned great mourning among the in+ habitants: and it feems to have been taken firft, xv. 37. and is here read Sennan by Aguila, the inhabitants of which did not come forth, in which there is an allufion to its name‘, either to he’

them in their diftrefs, or to condole them; they being in fear of the enemy themfelves, and in arms in their own defence, expecting it would be their turn next, and that they fhould fhare the fame fate with them. Some think, that’ under the’ name of Beth-exel, is meant Bethel; and of Zaanan, Zion, and that the fenfe is, that when’ Bethel, Samaria, and the ten tribes, were in diftrefS, they of Zion and’ Fudea did not come to give them any’ relief; and when’ they were carried captive, did’ not mourn’ with them,’ were not affected with their cafe, nor troubled themfelves about them. He /ball receive of him bis landing either the enemy, as R. Fofeph Kimchi, thall receive of the inhabitants of Zaanan his ftanding; that is, he fhall make them’

and ftay fo'long before their city ere he could take’ it; for all his lofs of time, men, and money, in’ befieging it; by demolifhing their city, plsndeing their houfés, and carrying them ‘captive; who re— mained, he put to death by the fword. ben Ezra’ interprets the word ‘receive, of doétriné or learn-— ing, as in Prov. iv. 2. and renders it, be foal learn’; either Beth-ezel,° or rather Zaanan thall before Zaanan perhaps the fame with Zenan, Joh. - ing of Beth-ezel; or howl of Azel, where the po-, dearly pay for ftopping‘him, for making him ftand learn, by the cafe of Beth-ezel, and other neigh- 2.

Chii. ¥. r2—14. me GS A aE < 531 bouring places, what would be his own cafe, whether he fhould itand or fall.. ¥. 12. For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good, &c.| Or tho’ they waited for good*; expected to have it, yet the reverfe befel them: or verily they were grieved for good*; for the good things they had loft, or were likely to lofe, and which they had no more hope of, when they faw Ferufalem in diftrefs. Grotius thinks, by tranfpofition of letters, Ramoth is intended by Maroth, or the many Ramabs which were in Fudab and Benjamin; but Hillerus ‘is of opinion, that Farmuth is meant, a city of Fudab, Fofh, xv. 35. the word Maroth, fignifies dittermefs; fee Ruth i. 20. and according to others, rough places; and may defign the inhabitants of fuch places that were in great ’ bitternefs and trouble becaufe of the invafion of the enemy, who before that had promifed themfelves good things, and lived in the expectation of them: but evil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Ferufalem; meaning the Afyrian army under Sennacherib, which came into the land of. Judea by the order, direétion, and providence of God, like an overflowing flood; which fpread itfelf over the Jand, and reached. to the very gates of Ferujalem, which was befieged by it, and threatned with deftruction: or decaufe evil came down, &c. that is, becaufe of that, the inhabitants of Maroth grieved, or were in pain, as a woman in travail. ‘ yx. 13. O thou inhabitant of Lachifh, bind the chariot to the fwift beaft, &c.| Horfes, camels, dromedaries, or mules. Some" render the word fwift horfe or, horfes, poft horfes; others dromedaries ¥; and fome mules*: the two latter feem more efpecially to be meant, either dromedaries, as the word is tranflated in 1, Kings iv. 28. which is a very fwift creature: I/dorefays’, the dromedary is one fort of camels, of a leffer ftature, yet fwifter, from whence it has its name, and is ufed to go more than a hundred miles a day; this is thought to be what the Zewws 7” call a flying camel; which the glofs fays is a fort of camels, that are as. fwift in running as a bird that flies; they are lighter made than a camel, and go at a much greater rate; whereas a camel goes at the rate of ten leagues a day, the dromedary will perform.a journey of forty leagues in a day; they make ufe of them in the Indies for going poft, and expreffes frequently perform a journey of eight hundred miles upon.them in the fpace of a week *: this may ferve the better to illuftrate Fer. ii. 23. and improve the note there: but whether thefe were ufed in chariots I don’t find; only Bochart ’ takes notice of a kind of camel, that has, like the dromedary, two bunches on its back, which the Arabians call Bochet, and put to chariots: or elfe mules are meant, for by comparing the above text.in 1 Kingsiv. 28. with 2 Chron. ix. 24. it looks as if mules were there intended; and fo the word here ufed is rendered in Eth. viii. 10, \14. and by their being there faid to be ufed for, pofts to ride on exprefles, it appears to be a fwift creature. 2lianus « makes mention of mules in India of a red colour, very famous for running; and mules were ufed in the Olympic games, and many riders of them got the victory; and that thefe were ufed in chariots, there is no | doubt to be made of it: Homer ¢ {peaks of mules “> mules yoked together, and drawing a chariot’ inftead of horfes;and the Septuagint verfion of If. Ixvi. 20, inftead of in litters and on mules, renders it, in Hitters or carriages of mules: but be they one or the other that are heré meant, they were creatures well known, and being fwift were ufed in chariots, to which they were bound and faftened in order to draw them, and which we call putting [to this the inhabitants of Lachih ‘ are bid to do, in order to make their efcape, and flee as faft as ‘they could from the enemy, ‘advancing to befiege them; as they were befieged by the army of Sennacherib, before he came. to Ferufalem, 2 Chron. ‘XXxil. 1, 9. Or thefe words may be fpoken in an ironical and farcaftic way, that whereas they had abounded in horfes and chariots, and frequently rode about their ftreets in them, now let them make ufe of them, and get away if they could; rand may fugegeft, that inftead of riding in thefe, they fhould be obliged to walk on foot into. captivity. Lachi/b was a city in the tribe of Judah, in the times of Ferom®,; it was a village feven miles from Eleutheropolis, as you go to Daroma or the fouth. She is the beginning of the fin to the daughter of Zion; lying upon the borders of the ten tribes, as Lachih did, it was the firft of the cities of Fudab that gave into the idolatry of Fereboam, the worfhipping of the calves; and from thence it fpread itfelf to Zion and Feru/alem; and being a ringleader in this fin, fhould be punifhed for it: tho’ fome think this refers to their confpiracy with the citizens of Ferufalem againtt. king Amaziah, and the murder of him in this place, now punifhed for it, 2 Kings xiv. 18, 19: for. the tranfgreffions of Ijrael were found in thee, not only their idolatry, but all other fins, with which it abounded it was a very wicked place, and therefore no wonder it was given up to deftruction,,The Zargum is, ‘* for the tranfgreffors of J/rael were found. ** in thee.” ir y. 14. Therefore fhalt thou give prefents to Morefbeth-Gath, &c.] Since Lachifb was the caufe of leading Yudab into idolatry, and was a city fo very, wicked; therefore it fhould be reduced to fuch di-. ‘ftrefs, as to fend meffengers with prefents to_ the Philiftines at More/beth-Gath, a place near to Gath, of the Philifines, and may include that and other. cities of theirs, -to come and help them againft the, Affyrians: the houfes of Achzib thall be a lie to. the. kings: of Ifrael, a city of Judah, Fob. xv. 44. or of Aer, Fofb. xix. 29. the fame with Chezib, Gen. Xxxvill. 5. and called Ecdippa by Fofepbus*, Pliny, and Ptolemy *, The Fewifh writers commonly call, it Cezib, of which they ' fay many things about that, and the land unto it, being fubjeét to tithes, the laws of ‘the feventh year, and the like. Mai-, monides and Bartenora fay ™, it is the name ofa, _, place.

place which divided between the land of J/rael, which they poffeffed who came out of Badylon, and that land which they enjoyed who came out of Egypt; but the Zews are not agreed about the fituation of it. One of their writers * places it to the north-eaft of the land of J/rae/: but another ° obferves, and proves from one that refided in thofe parts fome time, and diligently enquired into, and made his obfervation on places, that Cezid, and alfo Aco and Amana, frequently mentioned with it, were all on the weftern fea of the land of J/rael, that is, the Mediterrenean fea, in which he was right, without all doubt: the place is now called Zib by contraction, of which Mr. Maundrel? gives this account, ‘‘ having travelled about one hour “ in the plain of cra, we pafled by an old town “© called Zid, fituate on an afcent clofe by the fea- “fide; this may probably be the old chzibd, << mentioned Fo. xix. 29. and Fudg, i. 31. called “ afterwards Ecdippa; for St. Ferom* places Ach- «¢ zib nine miles diftant from Ptolemais (or Aco) “© towards Tyre, to which account we found the “€ fituation of Zid exaétly agreeing.” Now the houfes, or families that dwelt in this place; or the idols temples there, as fome, and the idolatry exercifed therein, fhould be a lie unto, or difappoint the expectations of the kings of J/rael,; which, according to Kimchi, is put for Judah, who placed confidence in them, and had dependence on them: there is an elegant paronomafia between Achzib and alie'. The Targum is, ‘‘ thou fhalt fend gifts to *¢ the heirs of Gath; the houfes of Achzid thall “© be delivered to the people, becaufe of the fins *¢ of the kings of J/rae/, who worthipped idols in Se chem,

¥. 15. Yet will I bring an beir unto thee, O inbabitant of Marefhab, &c.| Another city in the tribe of Fudab, mentioned with Achzib in Fob. xv. 44. and is by many thought to be the birth-place of this prophet; and if fo, his faithfulnefs may be obferved, in declaring the whole counfel of God, tho’ againft his own native place; and this muft be an aggravation of the fin of the inhabitants of it, that they had fuch a prophet that arofe from them, and they regarded him not. There is a beautiful allufion in the word heir to Mare hab *, which fignifies an inberitance, and here were an heir or heirs for it, as the Jargum; not the Perfians, as fome in Aven Ezra, and in an Agadab mentioned by archi, who defcended from Elam the firft-born of Shem, and fo had a right of inheritance, as thofe interpreters fuppofe; but the king of Affria, who fhould invade the land, and feize upon this place among others, and poffefs it, as if it was his by right of inheritance, having obtained it by conqueft; and this being by the permiffion, and according to the will of God, he is faid to be brought by him to it. Capellus thinks on the contrary, that Hezekiah and his pofterity are meant: be Jhall come unto Adullam the glory of Ifrael, another city in the tribe of Judah, a royal one, Fob. xv. 35. faid by Ferom to be in his. time no fmall village, and to be about ten miles from Eleutheropolis, called the glory of I/rael, having been a royal city in Fofbua’s time, Fofp. xii. 15. anda fenced city in the times of Reboboam, 2 Chron.

xi. 7, and Eu/ebius fays it was a large town; and Ferom fays it was not a fmall one in his time; tho’ fome think Yeru/a’em is meant, the metropolis of the nation, //rael being put for Fudab, as in the preceding verfe; and to be read, 4e that is the - enemy and heir, frall come to Adullam, yea to the glory of Irael*; even to Ferufalem, the mott glorious city in all the tribes; tho’ others are of opinion, that this is the character of the enemy or heir that fhould come thither, called fo by way of. contradiction, as coming to the reproach and difgrace of J/rael; or ironically, whom J/rael before gloried in, when they had recourfe to him for help. The margin of our bible reads, the glory of Irael Jhall come to Adullam; that is, the great men, the princes and heads of the people fhall flee to the cave of Adullam “, to hide them from the enemy, where David was hid from Saul; fee 1 Sam. xxii. t. Burkius “, a very late commentator, takes Adullam for an appellative, and with Hillerus * renders it, the perpetuity of the yoke; andthe whole thus, at the perpetuity of the yoke, the glory of Ifrael foall come; that is, when all things fhall feem to tend to this, that the yoke once laid on J/rael by the Gentiles fhall become perpetual, without any hope of deliverance, then fhall come the deliverer, that is Jefus, the glory of J/rae/,; and adds he, God forbid we fhould think of any other fubjeét here; and fo he interprets the 4e/r in the preceding claufe of the Meffiah; and which is a fenfe far from being defpicable. = y. 16. Make thee bald, and poll thee fer thy delicate children, &c.] Which is faid, either with refpect to Marefbab, or to Adullam, or to the whole land, as Kimchi obferves; rather to the latter; and that either to I/rael, or to Fudah, or both; the prophecy in. general being concerning them both, y¥. 1. making baldnefs, whether by plucking off the hair, or by fhaving it, was ufed in token of mourning, Fob i. 20. Fer. vii. 29. and fo it is defigned to exprefs it here: the inhabitants of the land are called to lamentation and weeping for their children taken from them, whomi they dearly loved, and brought up in a delicate mannér. The Targum is, ** pluck off thy hair, and caft it upon ‘¢ the children of thy delight;” and Sanéius obferves, that it was a cuftom with the Gentiles to cut off their hair, and caft it into the graves of their kindred and friends at their interment, to which he thinks the prophet alludes: enlarge thy baldne/s as the eagle; when it moults, and cafts off all its feathers, as it does in old age, and fo renews its youth; to which the allufion feems to be in Pf. ciii. 5. J. xl. 31. or every year, as birds of prey ufually do at the beginning of the fpring. The Fewyh writers ” fay, this happens to it every ten years; when finding its feathers heavy and unfit for fying, it makes a tour to the fun with all its force it can, to get as near it as poffible;” and having heated its plumage exceffively, it cafts itfelf into-the fea for cooling, and then its feathers’ fall off, and new ones fucceed; and this it does until it-is:an hundred years old; and to its then’ ftate of baldnefs, whilit it is moulting, is the al¥’ lufion here; unlefs it can be thought any refpect is had to that kind of eagle which is called the bald

4 De locis Hebr, fol. 88 J. FXIDN & Fy 4 Ad Adullam veniet gloria eel oy

; ¥, He publifhed Annotations on the Twelve minor prophets at. Heilbronn, 1753, which he calls a Gnomon, wrote in} imitation of Bengelius’s Gnomon of the New Teftament, whofe fon-in-law it feems he is, and by whom his work i 4

Y Saadiah Gaon apud Kimchi & Ben Melech in Pf. cili. 5. & Mal gy 9 one. In Virginia there are three forts of eagles; one is the grey eagle, about the fize of a kite; another the black eagle, refembling thofe in England; and a third the bald eagle, {fo called becaufe the upper part of the neck and head are covered with a fort of white down: but the former fort of baldnefs feems to be intended, which is at certain. {tated times, and not what always is, and is only partial; for it denotes fuch an univerfal baldnets to be made, as to take in all the parts of the body where any hair grows; as expreflive of the general devaftation that fhould be made, which would be the caufe of this great mourning: for they are gone

N this chapter complaint is made of the fins of the people of J/rae/, and they are threatened with punifhment for them. ‘The fins they are charged with are covetoufnefs, oppreffion and injuttice, which were premeditated, and done deliberately, ¥. 1, 2. therefore the Lord devifed evil againft them, they fhould not efcape; and which would bring down their pride, and caufe them to take up a lamentation, becaufe they fhould not enjoy the portion of land that belonged to them, ¥.3,4, 5. they are further charged with oppofing the prophets of fhe Lord, the folly and wickednefs of which is expofed, y. 6, 7. and with great inhumanity and barbarity, even to women and children, ¥. 8, g. and therefore are ordered to expect and prepare for a removal out of their land, y. ro. and the rather, fince they gave encouragement and heed to falfe prophets, and delighted in them, y¥. 11. and the chapter is concluded with words of comfort to the remnant among them, and with precious promifes of the Meffiah, and the bleffings of grace by him, y. 12, 13.

¥. 1. Wo to them that devife iniquity, &c.| Any kind of iniquity; idolatry, or worfhipping of idols, for the word is ufed fometimes for an idol; or the fin of uncleannefs, on which the thoughts too often dwell in the night-feafon; or coveting of neighbours goods, and opprefling the poor; fins which are inftanced inthe next verfe; and every thing that is vain, foolifh and wicked, and in the iffue brings trouble and diftrefs: now a wo is denounced againft fuch that think on fuch things, and pleafe themfelves with them in their imaginations, and contrive ways and means to commit them: and work evil upon their beds; when the’ fenfes being lef engaged, the thoughts are more free; but fhould not be employed about evil; but either in meditating on the divine goodnefs, and praifing the Lord tor his mercies; or in examining a man’s heart, ftate and ¢afe, and mourning over his fins, and applying to God for the remiffion of them; but inftead of this, the perfons here threatened are {aid to work evil on their beds, when they fhould be afleep and at reft, or engaged in the above things; that is, they plot and contrive how to accomplifh the evil they meditate; they determine upon doing it, and are as fure of effecting it, as if it was aétually done; and do act it over in their own minds, as if it was real; fee P/’ xxxvi. 4: when the morning is light, they praétife it, they with and into captivity from thee; that is, the delicaté children of [rael and Fudab, and fo were as dead untae them, or worfe: this was accompliftied in J/rae/ or the ten tribes, partly by Tig/ath- Pilefer, and more completely by Sa/manefer, kings of Ajyria; 2 Kings XV. 29. and xvii. 6. and in Fudah or the two tribes, when Sennacherib catne and took their fenced cities; and doubtlefs fome of the inhabitants and their children were carried captive by him, tho’ not Ferufalem; and therefore cannot be addrefied here, as fome do interpret the words, unlefs the prophecy is to be extended to the deftruction of Ferufalem by the Babylonians;

‘wait for the morning-light, and as foon as it appears they rife; and inftead of blefling God for the mercies of the night, and going about. their lawful bufinefs, they endeavour to put in practice with all vigour and diligence, and as expeditioufly as they can, what they have projected and fchemed in the night-feafon: decaufe it. is in the power of their band; to commit it; and they have no principle of goodnefs in them, nor fear of God before them to reftrain them from it: or, decau/e their band is unto power ”; it is ftvetched out, and made ufe of in the commiffion of fin to the utmoft of their power, without any regard to God or man. The Vulgate Latin verfion is, because their hand is againfi God; their hearts are enmity to God, and therefore they oppofe him with both their hands, and care not what iniquity they commit; they are rebels againft him, and will not, be fubject to him. The Septuagint and Arabic verfions are, becaufe they lift not up their bands. to God;' they don’t pray to him, and therefore are bold and daring to perpetrate the groflelt iniquity, which a praying man durft not do; but the Syriac: verfion is the reverfe, they do lift up their hands to God; make a fhew of religion and devotion, when their hearts and their hands are deeply engaged in finning; which fhows their impudence and hypocrify; but the paflages in Gea. xxxi. 29. Deut. xxxii. 28.° Prov. iii. 27. favour and confirm. our verfion, and the fenfe of it; fo the Targum. ¥. 2. And they covet fields, and take them by violence, &c.] ‘The fields of their poor neighbours, which lie near them, and convenient for them; they wifh they were theirs, and they contrive ways and means to get them into their poffeflion; and if they can’t get them by fair means, if they can’t perfuade them to {ell them, or at their price, they’!l either ufe fome crafty method to get them from them, or they’ll take them away by force and violence; as bab got Naboth’s vineyard from him; and houfes, and take them away; they covet ‘the houfes of ‘their neighbours alfo, and take the fame courfe to get them out of their hands, and add them to their own eftates: fo they oppre/s a. man and bis boufe, even a man and bis heritage; not only difpoftefs him of his houfé to dwell. in, but.of his paternal inheritance, what he received from his anceftors, and fhould have tranfmitted to his pofte~ rity, being unalienable; and fo diftrefled a man and his family for the prefent, and his pofterity after him. The Vulgate Latin verfion is, they carues. lummniate lumniate a man and his houfe; which feems. to be defigned to make it agree with the ftory of Abad, 1 Kings xxi. 13. _ yt. 3. Therefore thus faith the Lord, bebold, againft this family do I devife an evil, &c.] Becaufe of thofe evils of covetoufnefs, oppreffion and injuftice fecretly devifed, and deliberately committed; the Lord, who neither flumbers nor fleeps, declares, and would have it obferved, that he had devifed an evil of punifhment againft the whole nation of SJfrael, the ten tribes particularly, ameng whom their fins greatly prevailed; even an invafion of their land by the Affrians, and the carrying of them captive from it into foreign parts: from which ye foall not remove your necks; that is, they fhould not be able to deliver themfelves from it; they would not be able to ftop the enemy in his progrefs, having entered their land; nor oblige him to break up the fiege of their city, before which he would fit, and there continue till he had taken it; and being carried captive by him, they would never be able to free themfelves from the yoke of bondage put upon them, and under which they remain unto this day. The allufion is to beafts flipping their necks out of the collar or yoke put upon them: thefe fons of Belial had broke off the yoke of God’s commandments, and now he'll put another yoke upon them, they fhall never be able to caft off until. the time of the reftitution of all things, when all J/rael fhall be faved: neither foall ye go haughtily; as they now did, in an erect pofture, with necks ftretched out, and hands lifted up high, and looking upon others with fcorn and contempt; but hereafter it fhould be otherwife, their heads would hang down, their countenances be dejected, and their backs bowed with the burdens upon them: for this time is evil; very calamitous, afflictive and diftrefling; and fo nota time for pride and haughtinefs, but for dejection and humiliation; fee Eph. v. 16.

¥. 4. In that day fhall one take up a parable againft you, &c.) Making ufe of your name, as a bye-word, a proverb, a taunt, and a jeer; mocking at your calamities and miferies: or, concerning you *; take up and deliver out a narrative of your troubles, in figurative and parabolical exprefiions, which Kimchi thinks is to be underftood of a falfe prophet, finding his prophecies and promifes come to nothing; or rather a ftranger, a ftander-by, a Spectator of their miferies, an infulting enemy, mimicking and perfonating them; or one of themfelves, in the name of the reft: and lament with a doleful lamentation, or, lament a lamentation of lamentation *, avery grievous one: or, @ lamentation that is, or fball be, or is done*, areal one, and which will continue: and /ay, we be utierly fpoiled; our perfons, families and friends; our eftates, fields and vineyards; our towns and cities, and even our whole land, all laid wafte, fpoiled and plundered: he hath changed the portion of my people; the land of J/rael, which was the portion of the people of it, given unto them as their portion by the Lord; but now he, or the enemy the Afyrian, or God by him, had changed the poffeflors of it; had taken it away from J/rael, and given it to others: how bath he removed it from me! the land that was my portion, and the portion of my people; how