Exposition of the Whole Bible

of the Perfians, after the death of Cambyfes; but called by his name than Afbur’s; and it feems moft

Smerdis was not an Affyrian, nor is the kingdom of Perfia here meant, but the land of Yudea; and the prophecy refpects the times of the Meffiah, who fhould appear there, and where would: be raifed up men to fupport his intereft: and if conjeCture may be allowed, as this may be under: ftood of the apoftles and firft preachers of the gofpel, the princes of the Meffiah, who were raifed up at the prayer and requeft of the church, to oppofe fatan and his emiffaries, in the firft times of the gofpel; by thefe may be meant the writers of the New Teftament, the four evangelifts, Matthew, Mark, Luke and Fobn, and the apoftles Peter, Fames and Fude, which make the feven fhepherds; and if you add to thefe the apoftle Paul, they will make eight principal men; or rather I fhould think the feven angels are pointed at, that fhall pour out the laft plagues on the antichriftian ftates; to which, if another angel is added, that will proclaim the fall of Badylon, the fame number will be made up; fee Rev. xvi. 1. and xviii. 1. and who will affift the Yews againft the Turks, when they fhall attempt to difpofiefs them of their Jand, they fhall again inherit.

¥. 6. And they fhall wafie the land of Affyria with the fword, &c.| Or feed * upon it with the fword, deftroy the inhabitants of it; either fpiritually fubdue the nations of the world to the obedience of Chrift, by the fword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; by the preaching of the gofpel, the miniftry of the apoftles, and others, in the Gentile worid; fee 2 Cor. x. 3, 4, 5. Eph. vi. 17. or literally, meaning that the angels of the vials, the chriftian princes fhall deftroy the Ostoman empire with the {word: and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof, the fame with Babylon, the empire of which was firft fet up by Nimrod, the beginning of whofe kingdom was Babel, Gen. x. 11. the fame with Nebredas, a name of Bacchus, and which is no other than Barchus the fon of Chus, as Nimrod was the fon of Cub, and Bacchus was a mighty hunter, as he was; all which Bochart ‘ has obferved: now his country was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneb, in the land of Shinar, that is, the land of Babylon, as the Targum of Onkelos and Terufalem in Gen. X. 10. render it; tho” fome think Nimrod extended his dominions into Afpria; and tranflate * the following verfe, ¥. 11. out of that land, he (i. ¢.Nimrod) went forth into Affria, and builded Nineveh, and the city Reboboth, and Calab, and the Targum of Yonathan is very exprefs for it, which paraphrafes the words thus, “ out of that ** Jand went forth Nimrod, and he reigned in A/- ‘© fyria, becaufe he would not bein the counfel ‘* of the generation of the divifion, and he left ** thefe four cities; and the Lord gave him a ** place (or Afyria) and he built four other cities, * Nineveh,” &c. hence fome * have thought, that the land of Affria, and the land of Niwrod here defign one and the fame country; but Aber in the text in Genefis, feems rather to be the name of a man than of a place; even of the fon of Shem fo called, trom whom the country of Afjria had its name; whereas, if it had been fo foon in the hands of Nimrod, and fo many cities had been built by him in it, it would rather haye. been reafonable to conclude, that the cities of Nineveh, &c. were built by the latter, and not the former; and the two countries of Affria and Nimrod, or Babylon, are very plainly in this text diftinguifhed from one another; tho’ they might at the time of this prophecy be united under E/ar-haddon, who was both king of Affria and Babylon; and at this. prefent time they are both in the hands of the Turks, and in all probability will be until this prophecy is fulfilled, in the deftruction of them by the chriftian princes: the fame thing is meant as before; and the word rendered, im the entrances thereof, may as well be tranflated, with its fword *; or, as the margin of our bibles, with ber own naked fwords; 10 Kimchi and Aben Ezra interpret it: thus fhall be deliver us from the Afyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when be treadeth within our borders; that is, the king Meffiah fhall work this deliverance, as Kimchi, and others * explain it; Chrift delivered his people from all their fpiritual enemies, when he made peace for them; and he will deliver thefn in the latter day from both Pepe and Turk, when he will deftroy the man of fin by the breath of his mouth, and dry up the river Au phrates; and caft both beaft and falfe prophet into the lake that burns with fire and brimftone; tho’ all that is faid in this and the preceding verfe may have had its accomplifhment already, at leaft in part, in the Saracens and their empire, which begun in the year 623, and who prevailed very much in Arabia, Paleftine, Syria, Perfia, Egypt and Africa, and even penetrated into Spain and France, in all which places were chriftian churches; and fo may be called our Jand, as the churches therein our palaces, which thefe people entered into, trod upon, profaned or deftroyed; and the feven or eight principal men raifed againft them may be the chriftian princes that fought with them, and drove them back, and deftroyed their land; fuch as Hugh the Great, brother to Philip king of France; Robert earl of Flanders; Robert earl of Normandy, brother to William the Conqueror, king of England, Stephen earl of Blois; Raymund earl of Tholoufe,; Godfrey duke of Lorrain, and his brothers Baldwin and Ewuftachius, and others. Thefe beginning at Nice, where once a famous chriftian council was held, and driving the army of Solyman from thence, in the fpace of four years fubdued many provinces

Comagena, and at length having put to flight the Turks, and ejected the Saracens, took Ferufalem, and made Godfrey of Bullein king of it’. Some * have interpreted it of the emperor of Germany, and the feven electors in the empire (for formerly they were no more) happily and with fuccefs carrying on a war againft the Turks, Tarters and Saracens, when they broke into Europe; but the former fenfe feems better; and it is beft of all to underftand the prophecy of the deftruction of the Turk or Ottoman empire in the latter day by the chriftian y¥. 7. And the remnant of Jacob foall be in the | midft of many people, &c.] The Fews, who will be converted in the latter day, the remnant of them according to the election of grace, as well as all true J/raelites, whether Fews or Gentiles, the

Lord’s chofen and peculiar people; who, tho” but; beafts, and keeps all oters in awe of him. Some a {mall number in comparifon of others, and mean and contemptible in the eyes of men, are fuch as!

God has made a referve of for himfelf; and thefe; tho’ not of the world, yet are in the world, and will be in the feveral parts of it, but a diftiné& people from it, and of no account in it; neverthelefs will be vifible in it, and wonderfully preferved in the midft of it: and will be as a dew from the Lord; both with refpect' to themfelves, being like to dew for the generation of it, which is ffom above, from heaven, and of God, as their regeneration is; and which fecretly and filently falls, as the grace of God in regeneration does; and for the number of the drops of it, which are not to be reckoned; and fo numerous are the people of God, at leaft they will be in the latter day, when Chrift fhall again have the dew of his youth; or fuch a number of converts, as will be like the drops of the morning-dew; as alfo for the favour, grace and bleffings of God upon them, which are as the dew; and which he himfelf is as that unto them, fo that they themfelves are as dew from him, being indulged with his favour; which, as the dew is entirely free, very foftening, cooling and refrefhing, as well as fructifying; and having the dews of his grace, or the bleffings of it falling upon them in plenty; fee Hof, xiv. 5, 6. and with refpect to others, among whom they are, and to whom they are as the dew, by their fpeech, their doétrine, the word miniftred by them, which diftils like the dew, Deut. xxxii. 2. and by their good works, which are profitable’ unto men; and by their foft and gentle behaviour towards them; and by reafon of the many outward bleflings they enjoy thro’ them, as Lasan did for the Vike of Facob, and Potiphar on the account of Fofepb: as the foowers upon the grafs; which revive, refreth it, and caufe it to grow and flourifh; or they are like grafs, on which the fhowers fall, and grow up as fuch in great numbers, and with great verdure and fruitfulnefs, Pf. Ixxii. 16: that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the fons of men, which feems to be connected with the dew, tho’ it agrees with both dew and rain, which ftay not for mens defires or deferts, but defcend according to the will ef God: and as this regards the people of God, either with refpect to themfelves; it fhows that as they are as the dew, or as fhowers and clouds full of rain, either of grace or doctrine compared thereunto; they are not of themfelves fo, or of men, but of God; and that their dependence is not upon the creature, but upon the Lord for fupport and fupply: and with refpect to others, to whom they are beneficial by their doétrine and works; that it is all from the Lord, and owing to his goodnels, which makes them a bleffing round about unafked.

and undeferved; fee Ezek. xxxiv. 26. It may have refpeét to plenty of gofpel-minifters, whofe doctrine is as the dew; and which being attended with the power and Spirit of God, waits not for any thing in man, but operates at once fecretly and powerfully.;

¥. 8. And the remnant of Facob fhall be amoug the Gentiles in the midjft of many people, &c.] The fame perfons are meant here as before; who are compared to dew and fhowers of rain, becaufe numerous, and full of bleffings in themfelves, and ufeful and beneficial to others: and here are faid to be as a lion among the beafts of the fore?, ftrong, mighty, powerful and courageous, and fuperior to their enemies, as the lion is ftrongeft among refer this to the times of the Maccabees, when Fudes and his brethren behaved with great fortitude and courage, and were victorious, and prevailed over the armies of dutiochus, and others; but it feems rather to belong to the latter day,- when the Jews fhall be fuperior to their enemies the Turks; who would difturb them in the pofleffion of their land: and fhall be a terror to them, as a young lion among the flocks of focep, fignifying that their enemies fhall be no more to them, and no more able to oppofe them, than a flock of fheep are to a young lion, or they to refift him. ‘The defign of the metaphor is, not to fignify the harmlefinefs and innocence of their enemies, but their weaknefs, and the ftrength and courage of them: who, if be go thro’; the flock: on whatfoever he feizes, oth treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver; brings it to the ground at once; tramples upon it, and tears it in pieces as its prey; and none in the flock, or to whom it belongs, can deliver out of his hand. This will be the cafe, when the ews fhall turn to the Lord, and the lion of the tribe of Fudab fhall be at the head of them; tho’ fome interpret this of the firft times of the gofpel, and take it to be fulfilled in the apoftles and firft minifters of the word, who were Fews; and who were valiant defenders of truth, and conquerors over the devil, and the world, and were the inftruments of bringing many into fubjection to Chrift; but it feems beit to apply it to the laft times, and not to the converted Fews only, tho’ in the firft place; but to all the fpiritual J rael of

God, the whole chriftian church, which wil] then be in fuch happy circumftances.

¥. 9. Thine hand fhall be lift up upon thine adverfaries, &c.] O remnant.of Faced or Ifrael, as the Targum; the church of God: now will be the time that it fhall prevail over all the antichriftian ftates; now will the chriftian princes pour out the vials of God’s wrath upon them, and they thall feel the ftrength and weight of their hand; which will fall heavy upon them, even to their utter deftruction: or thine hand, O Meffiah, the ruler in J/rae/, the man. the peace that fhall deliver from the Afyrian and who will be at the head of his church and people, the remnant of Facob, and deftroy their enemies with the fword that proceeds out of his mouth: and all thine enemies hall be cut off; all the enemies of Chrift and his church; all the kings of the earth that fhall gather againft them, the beaft and falfe prophet, with all their followers; fee Rev. X1X. 19, 20, 21.

¥. 10. And it fhall come to pafs in that day, faith the Lord, &c.] When the above things fhall be accomplifhed, even in the gofpel-day, made fo by the rifing of the fun of righteoufnefs; the gofpeldifpenfation, the latter part of it: that I will cut off thy horfes out of the midft of thee, and I will detroy thy chariots,; which fome take to be an apoftrophe to literal Bady/on, and to be fulfilled when Cyrus took poffeffion of it; but rather it relpects myftical Babylon, and the deftruction of that by Chrift, but it is beft of all to interpret it of the church of Chrift, all whofe carnal confidences and dependences fhall be cut off, and fhall truft alone in Chrift for falvation; particularly the Jews now converted, who have been ufed to put their truit in the flefh, and in fuch things as are here mentioned; but now fhall be made to fee the folly and vanity of fuch things, and fhall renounce and difclaim them; fee Ho/: xiv, 3. or the fenfe is, on fhall be no more war; horfes and chariots fhall be no more ufed in an hoftile way; but there fhall be ‘perfect peace, all enemies being deftroyed, which agrees with ch. ii. 3. and Zech. ix. 10. The Targum is, ** I will cut off the horfes of the people “¢ from the midft of thee, and deftroy their chamed 3°: f y¥. 11. And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy ftrong-holds.| The meaning is, they fhould not dwell in fortified cities and walled towns; they fhould have none of thefe to truft to, nor fhould they ftand in any need of them to defend them, their enemies being fubdued; and ‘befides, the Lord would be their ftrong-hold and place of defence, a wall of fire round about them, and the glory in the midft of them. The phrafes are exprefiive of the greateft tranquillity and fafety, and of living in an open air, free and undifturbed; fee Zech. ii. 4, 5. The Targum is, “* I will cut “* off the cities of the people out of thy land, «and deftroy all their ftrong fortreffes;”' thefe fhal] dwell no more there, and be no more offenfive and troublefome. ¥. 12. And I will cut of witchcrafts out of thine hand, &c.] Such as were formerly practifed among the Fews, tho’ forbidden them, and in myftical Babylon, or the antichriftian church, whofe forceries are mentioned, Rev. ix. 21. and xviii. 23. but nothing of this kind will be found in the chriftian church, confifting of Fews and Gentiles, in the latter day; all unlawful arts, cheating and juggling in religious matters will ceafe, and be no more: and thou foalt have no more foothfayers, or diviners, that caft a mift over peoples eyes, and deceived them with falfe appearances of things; that pretended to know times and feafons, when it was, Or was not a good day, to go abroad, or to make merchandife; that judged by the clouds, and by the pofition of the heavens, what would come to pafs hereafter; and tho’ fuch fort of men were formerly indulged, connived at, and careffed among the ews, they fhould be fo no more; nor fhould they apply to fuch perfons for advice and ‘counfel; nor would they need it, nor fhould they ufe it; fee Deut. xviii. 10, 11.

¥. 13. Thy graven images alfo will I cut off, and thy fianding images out of the midf¥ of thee, &c.] The former were fuch as were made of wood or ftone; the latter, ftatues, fuch as were molten or caft, and made of gold, filver or brafs; fuch as the Fews fometimes worfhipped, and are now found in the apoftate church of Rome; but will have no place in the chriftian churches, ‘or thofe ‘fo called, in the latter day. The Jews indeed have had no idols or idolatrous worfhip among them fince the ~

Babylonifh captivity; and the prophet here fpeaks, not of what would be found among them, and remeved at their converfion; but of what was in his time, or had been, or would be again, but fhould not be in future time, when they fhould turn to the Lord, and be like dew among the people; and fo we are to underftand fome followin paflages. The Yargum is, * I will cut off the ‘‘ images of the people, and their ftatues:” and thou foalt no more worfbip the work of thine bands, as not to fall down to idols and worfhip them, fo neither to truft in carnal privileges, ceremonial rites, obfervances of the traditions of the elders, or any works of righteoufnefs done by them, which they had been prone unto. y¥. 14. And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midft of thee, &c.] Planted for idolatrous wor- | ~ fhip, and which the Jews in the reigns of fome of their kings raifed, and made ufe of for fuch purpofes; fee 1 Kings xv. 13. and xvi. 33. and xviii. 1g. tho’ contrary to the law of God, Dewé. xvi. 21. but now there fhould be nothing of this kind, all idolatry being rooted out of the world. The Zargum is, ** 1 will root out the plantations of the “¢ people out of the midft of thee:” fo willl defirey thy cities, which fome underftand of cities given to idolatry; or rather it is to be underftood.

in the fame fenfe as in ¥. 11. tho’ by reafon of that, and as fomething diftinct from it, it is better to render the words with the Targum, ** I will de- ‘¢ {troy thine enemies *.”” 5: y.15. And I will execute vengeance in anger, and fury, upon the heathen, &c.|. Or uations ®; not the pagan nations only, but the papal and Mahometan ones, even all that are enemies to Chrift, and his church and people: fuch as they have not heard, fuch terrible judgments, and dreadful expreffions of divine wrath and fury, by earthquakes, hail-ftones, &c. as were never known or heard of in the world before; fee Rev. xvi, 18—21. or, which have not heard®; the people that have not heard and hearkened to the word of God, to the voice of Chrift in the gofpel, but have turned.a deaf ear to it, and defpifed it. So the Zergum, ‘* who have not received the: doétrine of the

*¢ Jaw;”? but it is much more agreeable to under- ~ ftand it of the dottrine of the gofpel difobeyed by men, and therefore juftly punifhed; fee 2 Theff. “wp ee on) to

TL FITS chapter contains reproofs of the peo- KR ple of Z/rael for their fins, threatning them with punifhment for them. to tell them of the controverfy the Lord had with them, which he did, ¥. 1, 2. and the Lord calls upon them to declare if they had any thing to object to his carriage towards them, y. 3. and then puts them in mind of the favours they had received from him, in bringing them out of Egypt, and giving them fuch ufetul perfons to go before them, lead and inftruét them, as he had, y. 4. and alfo reminds them of what paffed between

Balak king of Moab, and Belaam the foothfa “s the queftions of the one, and the anfwer of other; whereby the defigns of the former againft them were fruftrated, ¥. 5, 6, 7, 8. but fince the voice of the Lord by his prophet was difregar by them, they are called upon to hearken to, the voice of his rod, ¥. 9. which fhould be laid upon them for their fraudulent dealings, injuftice, oppreflion, lies and deceit, ¥. 10, 11, 12. and therefore are threatened with ficknefs and is and a deprivation of all good things, the

© CONT FW gentes Payow md swe quz non audierunt, Pagninus, Montanus; que non aufcultaverin

‘ftatutes of Omri, the works of Abab and their counfels were obferved by them, y. 16.

y. 1. Hear ye now what the Lord faith, 8cc.] Here begins a new difcourfe, and with an addrefs of the prophet to the people of J/rael, to hear what the Lord had to fay to them by way of reproof for their fins now, as they had heard before many great and precious promifes concerning the Meffiah, and the happinefs of the church in future time; to hear what the Lord now faid to them by the prophet, and what he faid to the prophet himfelf, as follows: arife; O prophet Micah, and do thine office; fit not ftill, nor indulge to floth and eafe; fhew readinefs, diligence, activity, zeal and courage in my fervice, and in carrying a meflage from me to my people:- contend thou before the mountains, and let the bills bear thy voice; open the caufe depending between me and my people; {tate the cafe between us before the mountains and hills; and exert thyfelf, and lift up thy voice loudly, and with fo much vehemence, that, if it was poffible, the very mountains and hills might hear thee, the Lord hereby fuggefts, that they would as foon hear as his people; thus upbraiding their ftupidity, as he elfewhere does; fee If, i. 2. Fer. ii. 12. and xxii. 29. Kimchi and Ben Melech render it, to the mountains, which is much to the fame fenfe with our verfion; caH and fummon them as witnefles in this caufe; let the pleadings be made before them, and let them be judges in this matter; as they might be both ‘for God, and againft his people: the mountains and hills clothed with grafs, and covered with flocks and herds; or fet with all manner of fruit-trees, vines, olives and figs;- or adorned with goodly cedars, oaks and elms; were witnefles of the goodnefs of God unto them, and the fame could teftify againft them; and had they mouths to fpeak, could declare the abominations committed on them; how upon every high mountain and hill, and under every green tree, they had been guilty of idolatry. The Targum, and many verfions? render it, with the mountains, and the Vulgate Latin verfion, and others, againft the mountains *, the inhabitants of Judea, that being a mountainous country, efpecially fome parts of it. Some by mountains underftand the great men of the land, king, princes, nobles; and by Aills, leffer magiftrates, with whom the Lord’s controverfy chiefly was; they not difcharging their offices aright, nor fetting good examples to the people. Some copies of the Zargum, as the king of Spain’s bible, paraphrafe it, ‘* judge or-contend with the *¢ fathers, and let the mothers hear thy voice;” which Kimchi thus explains, as if it was faid, let the fathers. Abraham, Ifaac and Facob, and the mothers Sarah, Rebeccab, Rachel and Leah, hear. what their children hath rendered to the Lord; let them be, as it were, called out of their graves to hear the ill requital made to the Lord for all his good- Meth s)

Thefe are the words of the prophet, obeying the divine command, calling upon the mountains,which are the ftrong parts of the earth, and the bottoms of them the foundations of it, to hear the Lord’s controverfy with his people, and judge between them: or, as fome think, thefe ate the perfons with whom; and againft whom the controverfy” was; the chief and principal men of the land, who’ were as pillars to the common people to fupport and uphold them: for the Lord hath a controver{y with bis people, and he will plead with Irael; his people J/rael, who were fo by choice, by covenant, by their own avouchment and profeffion: they had been guilty of many fins and. tran{greffions againft both tables of the law; and now the Lord had a controverfy with them for them, and was determined to enter into judgment, and litigate the point with them; and dreadful it is when God brings in a charge, and. pleads his own caufe with finful men; they are not able to contend with him, nor anfwer him for one of a thoufand faults com-

¥. 3. O my people, &c.| Thefe are the words of the Lord himfelf by the prophet, expreffing his {trong affection to the people of /rae/; of which his goodnefs to them was a full. proof, and this was,an aggravation of their ingratitude.to him; they were his people, whom he had chofen for himfelf above all people of the earth;;whom he had redeemed from the houfe of bondage,.had diftinguifhed them by his favours, and loaded them with his benefits, and yet they finned againft him: what have I done unto thee? what evil things, what injuries to provoke to fuch ufage? what iniquity have you, or your fathers found in me, to treat me after this manner? have I been a wilderne/s, or a land of darknefs to you? Fer. ii. 5, 31. have I withheld or denied you any thing that was for your good? The Targum is, “* O my people, what ** good have I faid I would do unto thee, and I *¢ have not done it?”? all that the Lord had promifed he had performed; not one good thing had failed he had fpoken of; how much good, and how many good things had he done for them»? nay, what good things were there he had not done for them? and what more could be done for them, than what had been done? and yet they finned againft him fo grofsly; fee J. v. 4: and wherein have I wearied thee? what heavy yoke have J put upon thee? what grievous commandments ‘have I enjoined thee? is there any thing in my fervice, any duty too hard, fevere or unreafonable? are the facrifices required burdenfome? have I cau/ed thee to ferve with an offering, and wearied thee with incenfe? is there any juft reafon to fay of thefe things, what a wearinefs is it? fee If. xliii. 23. Mal. i. 13: tefify againft me, declare it publickly, if any good thing has been wanting, or any evil thing done: thus the Lord condefcends to have the cafe fairly debated, and every thing faid that could be faid in their favour, or againft him: aftonifhing condefcenfion and goodnefs!

y. 4. Por I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, &c.] Inftead of doing them any wrong, he had done them much. good; of which this is one inftance, and he was able to produce more: this was a notorious, plain and full proof of his goodnefs to them, which could not be denied. It may be rendered, as it is by fome, furely I brought thee up *, &c. this is a certain thing, well known, and cannot be difproved; it muft be allowed to be a great favour and kindnefs, to be brought up out of a fuperftitious, idolatrous, heathenifh peo- ceius, Burkius. fo fome in Vatablus.

ple, enemies to God and true religion, and who had ufed them in a barbarous and cruel manner: and redeemed thee out of the houfe of servants, or, out of the boufe of bondage; as the fame words are rendered, Exod. xx. 2. that is, out of hard fervice, in which their lives were made bitter; out of cruel bondage and flavery; which made them cry to the Lord for help and deliverance, and he heard them, and fent them a deliverer; by whofe hand he redeemed them from this bafe and low eftate in which they were, and for which they ought ever to have been thankful, and to have fhewn their gratitude by their chearful and conftant obedience. Some take the houfe of fervants to be defcriptive, not of the ftate of the children of [rae] in Egypt, but of the character of the Egyptians themielves; who being the pofterity of Ham, were inheritors of his curfe, that he fhould be.a fervant of fervants; and fo it is an aggravation of the bleffing, that J/rae/ were redeemed from being fervants to the fervants of fervants. This fenfe is mentioned by Kimchi and Abarbinel: and I fent before thee Mofes, Aaron, and Miriam, not to bring them the news of their deliverance out of Egypt, before they came out of it, as Kimchi, but to be their guides, to conduét and direét them in all matters, civil and religious. Mo/es was their -law-giver, leader and commander; 4aron was their prieft to offer facrifice for them, and to intercede on their behalf; and Miriam was a prophetefs, and they were all very ufeful and beneficial to them; and a very great bleffing it is to a people to have a good conttitution, civil and ecclefiaftic, and to have good magiftrates, and good minifters of the word. ‘The Targum is, ‘‘ I fent before thee “*< three prophets, Mo/es to teach the tradition of ** the judgments, Aaron to make atonement for ** the people, and Miriam to inftruct the wo- ** men.” ¥.5. O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab confulted, &cc.} What a fcheme he had laid; what contrivances he had formed; what confultations he had with a foothfayer or diviner he fent for to curfe I/rael,; how he fought to get the God of J/rael on his fide, and to fet him againft them, that he might be rid of them, and they be ruined and deftroyed. The Moabites were the defcendents of Moab, a fon of Lot, by one of his daughters; when they firft fet up their king is not certain; nor who thei kings in fucceffion were before Balak: it appears there was a former king, whom the king of the Amorites fought with, and took away his land from him, Numb. xxi. 26. who probably was Zippor, the father of Balak, and whom he fucceeded; the kingdom being recovered by him, or by this his fon; however, he was on the throne when J/rae/ was upon the borders of his kingdom, which threw him into a pannic; upon which he fent meffengers to a neighbouring magician next mentioned, to advife with him what to do in this his extremity; and the Yews have a tradition, that becaufe of the multitude of facrifices he offered, he was worthy to have Ruth, the defcendent from him; who, they fay, was the daughter of Eglon, the grandfon of Balak king

The Fews fay he was firtta prophet; and fo the ~ apoftle Peter calls him, 2 Pet. ii. 16. and after-) they differ very much | about him, who he was, and trom whom he de-.

wards became a diviner ':

fcended. Beer his father is fometimes faid to be the fon of Laban"; and, at other times, Balaam himfelf is faid to be Laban the Syrian”, whofe — foul they fuppofe tranfmigrated into Balaam, as it

Some * take him to be the fame with Elibu, who interpofed in the difpute between od and his. friends; and others fay, that he was one of the eunuchs, counfellors and magicians of Pharaoh, both when Mo/es was a child, and when he wrought his miracles in Egypt; and that Fannes and Fambrés, of whom the apoftle Pau/ makes mention,. 2 Tim. iii. 8. were his two fons’: he was an inhabitant of Pethor, which was fituated on the river Euphrates, thought by Fanius to be the Pacoria of Ptolemy: he feems to have been a Me/opotamian, tho’ fome fay a Midianite; but whether one or the other, he did not live at any great diftance from. the king of Moab: he was flain by the fword of the children of J/rael, in the times of Fofbua, Fob. xiii. 22. and, as the Fews fay * he was, when he was but thirty-three or thirty-four years of age, they obferving upon it, that bloody and deceitful men do not live out half their days; but this does not feem fo well to agree with other things they — fay of him; however this foothfayer and forcerer

Balak fent for to curfe ZJ/rael,; whofe heart and.

tongue, tho’ a wicked man, and would fain have done according to Balak’s with and defire, were fo over-ruled. by the power of God, that inftead of curfing //rae/ he was obliged to blefs them, and to prophefy of their future happinefs and profperity, and of the Meffiah that fhould fpring from them; fee the hiftory of all this in Numb. ch. xxii. and xxiii. and xxiv: from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteoufne/s of the Lord; here fomething muft be fupplied to make fenfe of the. words; either, remember what good things I did for you *, from Shittim to Gilgal, the former was _ the place where the children of J/rael committed whoredom and idolatry, and was on the other fide Jordan; and the latter was the place they came to when they had paffed over Fordan, where the covenant of circumcifion was renewed, and the firft paffover kept; now they are called upon to re-: member the goadnefs of God unto them from one place to another, and what were done between them; how that at Shittim, tho’ they provoked the Lord to anger, yet he did not cut them all off, but fpared a number of them, to enter and Ege fefs the land of Canaan; and tho’ Mo/es died by the way, yet he raifed up o/bua to go before them, and in a miraculous manner led them thro’ the river Jordan, and brought them to Gilga/, favours ever to be had in remembrance. So the Targum, ‘* were not great things done for you in the plain - “ of Shittim unto the houfe of Gilga/, that the “« righteoufnefs of the Lord might be known?” both his juftice in punifhing offenders at Shittim, of| and his bounty and kindnefs, as well as his truth

Moab*: and what Balaam the fon of Beor anfwered and faithfulnefs, in fparing others; beftowing his

* Recordare qualia bona exhibuerim tibi, Munfter; memento eorum que qua contigerint tibi, Calvin; memento eorum que fecerim, Grotius; recordare quid evenerit tibi, Pifcator.

vailed among the heathens, which they had received by tradition from the times of 4dam and Noah, fee Numb, xxii. 41.

¥. 7. Will the Lord be pleafed with thoufands of rams? &c.| If fingle burnt-offerings of bullocks and heifers will not do, will rams and thoufands of them be acceptable to him? if they will, they are at his fervice, even as many as he pleafes; fuch Creatures as well as oxen were offered by Balaé, Numb, xxiii. 1, 2, 4, 29,30: or with ten thou- Sands of rivers of cil? for meat-offerings, as Farchi, in which oil was ufed: this is an hyperbolical expreflion, as Kimchi rightly obferves; fuggefting, that he was willing to be at any expences, even the moft extravagant, if he could but gain his point, and get the God of J/rae/ on his fide. Some render it, ten thoufands of fat vallies *, abounding with corn, and wine, and oil; the produce of which, had he fo many, he could freely part with, could he but.obtain his end; fee ‘fob xx. 17: hall I give my firft-born for my tranfgreffion, the fruit of my body tor the fin'of my foul? his fon, his. firftborn, his own flefh and blood, to make atonement for his fins and tranfgreffions; this betrays the perfon fpeaking. The people of J/rael, tho’ they were fometimes guilty of this horrid, unnatural and abominable fin, in the height of their degeneracy and apoftacy, as to facrifice their children to Moloch; yet when convinced of their fins, and humbling themfelves before God for them, even favours on them, and bringing them into the promifed land: or it may be.dupplied thus, as by fome, remember what Balak conjulted » from Shittim to Gilga/; that is, with Balaam, and what anfwer and advice he gave him; which was to fend beautiful women among the J/raelites, and fo tempt them to adultery, and by that means to idolatry; and which fcheme and confultation took place at Shittim, by means of which feveral thoufands were flain; and the device was to have continued the temptation even to Gilga/, which, had it not been prevented, in all likelihood would have iffued in the deftruction of that people; and therefore they had reafon to know, own and acknowledge the goodnefs and faithfulnefs of God unto them: or rather, taking the phrafe from Shittim to Gilgal to be a proverbial one ‘, of going from place to place, it may have refpect to Balak’s having Balaam from place to place, to take a view of the people, and curfe them; -or/how he might fet the God of J/rael againft them, and gain him over to him; and then the fenfe is this,.‘* remember how Balak confulted ** Balaam from place to place, and what anfwers *¢ he returned him; all which was done, that 4e “* (Balak) might know the righteou/ne/s of the Lord;” and fo the Syriac verfion renders it, and it will bear to be fo rendered: the thing which Balak chiefly confulted was, how he fhould get the God of I/rael on his fide; as it was ufual with heathen princes, when at war to attempt to get the gods of their enemies from them, and on their fide; and enquires of Balaam how this was to be effected; what righteoufnefs it was the Lord required; what duties of religion to be performed; what rites or facrifices were acceptable to him; and the fum of his queftions. on this head, and Bal/aam’s anfwer to them, are contained in the following verfes.

¥. 6. Wherewith hall I come before the Lord, &c.] Thefe are not the words of the people of J/rael God had a controverfy with, and now made fenfible of their fin, and humbled for it; and willing to appeafe the Lord, and make it up with him at any rate; for there are fuch things propofed by them, as do by no means fuit with perfons of fuch a character, nay, even fuppofe them to be hypocritical; and much lefs are they what were put into their mouths by the prophet to fay, as fome fuggeft; but they are the words of Ba/ak kine of Moab, which, and what follow, are queftions he put to Balaam, who had told him that he could do nothing without the Lord, nor any thing contrary to his word: now he afks what he mutt do to get the good-will of this Lord; in what manner, and with what he mutt appear before him, ferve and worlhip him, as the Targum; that. fo he might have an intereft in him, and get him to fpeak a word to Balaam in his favour, and againft J/rae/; fee Numb. xxii. 8, 18, 38. and xxiii. 12, 15, 26: and Low myfelf before the high God? the moft high God, the God of gods, whofe Shekinah or majefty is in the high heavens, as the Tarcum: his meaning is, with what he fhould come, or bring with him, when he paid his homage and obeifance to him, by bowing his body, or his knee before him; being willing to do it in the moft acceptable manner he could: hall I come before bim awith burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? as he had been ufed to offer on the high places of Baal to that deity. Sacrifices of this kind pretho’ but in an hypocritical way, could never be fo weak and foolith, fo impious and audacious, as to propofe that to God, which they knew was fo contrary to his will, and fo abominable in his fight, Lev. xviii..21. but this comes well enough from an heathen prince, with whom it was the. height of his devotion and religion, and the greateft facrifice he thought he could offer up to God; for there is a climax, a gradation in the words from leffer things to greater; and this is the greateft of all, and what was done among the heathens, 2 Kings xvii. 31. and was afterwards done by a king of Moab, 2 Kings iii. 26, 27. ’

y. 8. He hath fhewed me, O man, what is good, &c.] This is not the anfwer of the prophet to the body of the people, or to any and every one of the people of J/rael, but of Balaam to Balak, a fingle man, that confulted with him, and put queftions to him; particularly what he fhould do to pleafe the Lord, and what righteoufnefs he required of him, that would be acceptable to him; and tho’ he was a king, he was but a man, and he would have him know it that he was no more, and as fuch addreffes him; and efpecially when he is informing him of his duty to God; which lay not in fuch things as he had propofed, but in doing that which was good, and avoiding that which was evil, in a moral fenfe: and this the Lord had fhown him by the light of nature; which is no other than the work ot the law of God written in the hearts of the heathens, by which they are directed to do the good commanded in the law, and to fhun the evil forbidden by it; fee Rom. ii. 14, 15: and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do jufly; or judgment *3 to exercife public jJudgment and juftice, as a king, among his fubjects, uch | to do private and perfonal juftice between man and man; to.hurt no man’s perfon, property, and character; to give to every one their due, and do as he i nibh quid cogitaverit contra te Balac, & quid refponderit ci Balaam a Settim, &c. Ribera, fo Menochius, Tirinus, € See Bifhop Chandler's Defence of Chriftianity, p 290. € yy 9rd AVDA in decem millibus vallium

556: he would defire to be done by; which as it is agreeable to the law of God, fo to the light of nature, and what is fhewn, required, and taught by it: and to love mercy; not only to fhew mercy to miferable objeéts, to perfons in diftrefs; to relieve the poor and indigent; to clothe the naked, and feed the hungry; but to delight in fuch exercifes; and which a king efpecially fhould do, whofe throne is eftablifhed by mercy, and who is able, and fhould be munificent; and fome heathen princes, by their liberality, have gained the name of benefactors, Euergetes, as one of the Ptolemys did; fee Luke xxii. 25. fuch advice Daniel gave to Nebuchadnezzar, an heathen prince, ‘as agreeable to the light of nature; fee» Dan. iv. 27: and to walk humbly with thy God; his creator and benefactor, from whom he had his being, and all the bleflings of life, and was dependent upon him; and therefore, as a creature, fhould behave with humility towards his creator, acknowledging his diftance from him, _and the obligations he Jay under to him; and even tho’ a king, yet his God and creator was above.

him, King of kings, and-Lord of lords, to whom he owed his crown, fcepter, and kingdom, and was accountable to him for all his adminiftrations: and this walking humbly, is oppofed to walking in pride, which kings are apt to do; but God can humble them, and bring them low, as heathen kings have been obliged to own; fee Daa. il. 21. and iv. 37.

y¥. 9. The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, &c.] The Lord having bid his prophet call to the mountains and hills to hear his voice, and the prophet having obeyed his will, and the Lord having by him addreffed his people J/rae/, and expoftulated with them about their ingratitude, obiferving to them many inftances of his goodnefs; here informs them, that this voice of his, whether in his prophet, or in his judgments, was directed to the city, either Samaria or Ferufalem, or both, and even to all the cities of J/rael and Fudab, the fingular being put for the plural; that is, to the inhabitants of them. Cities being populous, and where perfons of the higheft rank and figure,.as well as of the beft fenfe, dwell, and generally very wicked, tho’ favoured with greater advantages; all which are reafons why the voice of the Lord, in his word and providences, particularly cries to them to repent of their fins, and reform from them, as might be expected from fuch perfons; and fo doing would fet a good example to thofe who live in the country. Some render it, the Lord’s voice crieth to awake; or to flir up; it calls upon men afleep, to awake out of fleep; to aroufe from their carnal fecurity; to attend to their fins, their danger, and their duty; to repent of their fins, and fo avoid the danger they were in thro’ them, and perform their duty they had neglected; fuch a voice as this, fee in Eph. v. 14. this reading of the words is mentioned by Kimchi. And the man of wifdom fhall fee thy name; not the mere natural man, or who is pofleffed only of natural wifdom, tho” he may have ever fo great a fhare of it; for as he fees not the things of the Spirit of God, the things of the gofpel, fo neither the name and perfeétions of God in his judgments on the earth; much lefs the man that is wife to do evil, full of wicked fubtlety, and makes a jeft of every thing

Pagninus, Montanus. novius.

religious and ferious; nor fuch as are wife in their own. opinion, or have only a fuperficial fhare of wifdom; but fuch who have a fhare of folid and fubftantial wifdom, a man of /ub/tance, as the word€ fometimes fignifies; fee Prov. viii. 21. fuch who have true wifdom in the hidden. part, that which comes from above, and is pure and peaceable, and makes men wife to falvation; fuch men fee and difcern the power and providence of God in all the judgments that are in the earth, his -attributes - and perfections; his feverity on fome, and good nefs to others; his {paring grace and mercy, and his fpecial loving-kindnefs, and even all his perfec+ tions, for he is’ known to‘fuch by the judgments he executeth; fee P/ ix. 16. and cvii. 43. and fuch fear his name alfo, as fome render the words.*; they not only fear the Lord and his goodnefs, »but have an awful fenfe of his judgments, and tremble at them. Some read the words, thy name fees that-which is, fo the margin of our bibles; that is, the Lord feeth that which is done in the’ city, tho’ ever fo fecret and private, and therefore his voice cries to it. Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it; thefe are the words of the man of wifdom, as Kimchi obferves; who feeing the name and _perfections of God in his judgments on the earth, calls upon others, and exhorts them to hear the voice of the rod, of the rod of correétion and affliction, the rod of judgment and vengeance, as held in the hand of God, and fhook over a city or ' nation; which has a voice in it to men, reproving them for their fins; commanding them to return from them; calling them to repentance and humi= liation; teaching and inftrucéting them in their duty; and giving eautions and warnings to others, left the like fhould befal them; and this is the voice that is to be attended to: and it fhould be confidered, that there is no affliction, calamity, or judgment, but is appointed by the Lord, the kind and nature, meafure and duration of it; what its end, iffue, and ufe; and he that has appointed it is all- wife and all-knowing, unchangeable and invariable, all-powerful and able to put his purpofes and decrees into execution; nor can they be fruftrated. The Targum of the whole is, ** with the ‘« voice the prophets of the Lord cry to the city; ** and teachers fear the name (of the Lord)’; hear, ‘* O king and rulers, and the reft of the people ss-of the land.”* #64; ¥. 10. Are there yet the treafures of wickednefs in the houfe of the wicked, &ec.] There ares: they continue there. This is the voice of the Lord by the prophet, and the language of the rod of correction to be heard, expofing the fins of the people, for ~ which the Lord had a cantroverfy with them; particularly their mammon of unrighteoufhefs, the vaft wealth, riches, and treafures, collected together by very wicked and unlawful ways and means; and which, inftead of reftoring them to the perfons they had defrauded of them, théy retained them in their houfes, notwithftanding the reproofs of the prophets, and the corrections of the Al-« mighty. Some render it, 2s there not fire, Bec *, that is, in the houfe of the wicked, becaufe of the treafures of wickednefs, that which confumes them; but Guferius’ interprets it of fornications and adulteries. ~ Others render it, is there yet a man, 8c ™, an honourable man, as Aben Ezra, who continues