Exposition of the Whole Bible

fprinkling the blood of Chrift upon them, and by applying his pardoning grace and mercy to them: pardon of fin is peculiar to God; none can forgive it, but he againft whom it is committed; forgivenefs of fin is with him, promifed by him in covenant, proclaimed in Chrift, by him obtained and publifhed in the gofpel: and paffeth by the tran/-

&reffion of the remnant of bis heritage; the people of God are his portion, his lot, and his inheritance; they are a remnant according to the election of grace, chofen of God, taken into his covenant; redeemed by Chrift, and called by grace, and brought to repent and believe; thefe God forgives, even all their tranfgreffions, fins, and iniquities of every kind; which is here expreffed by another word, paffing them dy, or paffing over them: fin is a tranfgreffion or pafling over the law, and pardon is a paffing over fin; God taking no notice of it, as if he faw it not; not imputing it to his people, or calling them to an account for it; or condemning and punifhing them according to the defert of it, but hiding his face from it, and covering it: he retaineth not his anger for ever; that which he feemed to have againft his people, and appeared in fome of the difpenfations of his providence, is not continued and lengthened out, and efpecially for ever, but it difappears; he changes the courfe of his providence, and his conduct and behaviour to his people, and fhews them his face and favour, and manifefts his forgiving love; which is a turning himfelf from his anger; fee P/ Ixxxv. 2, 3. If, xii. 1: becaufe he delighteth in mercy; which is natural to him, abundant with him, and exercifed according to his fovereign will and pleafure, very delightful to him; he takes pleafure in fhewing mercy to miferable creatures, and in thofe that hope in it, Pf cxlvii. 11. this is the {pring of pardon, which ftreams through the blood of Chritt.

¥. 19. He will turn again, &c.] From his anger, and fhew his face and favour; which is not inconfiftent with. his everlafting and unchangeable love; for anger is not oppofite to love, and is only a difplicency at fin, and not at the perfons of his people; and properly fpeaking is not in God; is rather in appearance than in reality; when, his people fin againft him, he fhows himfelf as if he was angry; he turns away from them, and withdraws his gracious prefence and fenfible commu-

}nion from them; but when they are brought to a fenfe of fin, and acknowledgment ‘of it, he returns to them, manifefts his love to them again, ‘and. applies his pardoning grace, which is the thing believed would be done; it is only another expreffion of that, as all the reft that follow are: the prophet, or the church, dwells on this article of erace, and heaps up words to exprefs. it ‘by, as if. they could never fay too much of it, or fufficiently explain it. The Targum is, “ his word fhall “return.” He will have compaffion upon us, the

Lord is naturally compaffionate; he is full of compaffion, he has bowels of compaffion; thefe are tender mercies, and never fail, and which are exercifed in a fovereign way; pardon of fin flows from hence; every manifeftation of it is a difplay thereof: fin brings afflictions on the faints, and then the Lord -pities them, and is afflicted with them; fin grieves them, and he is as it were grieved for them; it wounds them, and then, as the good and compaffionate Samaritan, he pours in the oil and wine of pardoning grace, and heals them; they are, whilft in this ftate, in fuch circumftances often, as need his compaffion, and they may be aflured of it, Pf: Ixxviii. 38. He will fubdue our iniquities; which may be underftood alfo, as a further explanation of the grace of pardon: fin is an enemy to God and his people; it is too ftrong and mighty for them, it reigns over them in a ftate of nature; they are under the power of it, and can’t get rid of it, its influence, guilt, and punifhment; Chrift has conquered it, made an end of it, and took’it away: God tramples upon it, as a conqueror does upon the necks of his enemies; it is fubdued by him, and is under his feet; which he treats with contempt, difdains to look upon, keeps it under, fo that it fhall never rife again to the condemnation of his people; he overcomes the provocation of it, removes the guilt by pardon, and fecures from the punifhment of it: or this may be confidered as the effect of pardon; as what is done in confequence of it, by the Spirit and grace of God in fanctification; when not only the deeds of the body are mortified thro’ the Spirit, or the outward converfation reformed, but the inward power of fin is weakened; it is laid under the reftraints of efficacious grace, and is kept under by it; fo that it fhall not, and cannot have the dominion over the faints again, of which they may be confident, Rom. vi. 14. And thou wilt caft all their fins into the depths of the fea; never to be feen any more; tho’ they are feen with the eye of omnifcience, and taken notice of by the eye of providence, yet not beheld with the eye of avenging juftice, that being fatisfied by Chrift; befides, all the fins of God’s people have been removed from them to Chrift, and by him carried away into the land of oblivion; fo that they are no more to be feen on them, who are thro’ his blood and righteoufnefs without fault, fpot, or wrinkle, or any fuch thing; and being out of fight, they are out of mind, never remembred any more, and like things caft into the fea, deftroyed and loft: perhaps there may be fome allufion to the Egyptians drowned in the Red-/ea; and what is eaft into the fea, efpecially into the depths of it, is irrecoverable, not to be fetched up again, nor does it rife more; and fo it is with the fins of God’s people, forgiven for Chrift’s fake, even a/] of them; for they have all been bore by Chrift, and are covered, blotted out, and pardoned, not one remains unforgiven; fee J/ xxxvili. 17. This is an apoftrophe of the prophet unto God. The Targum is, “<< and he will caft into the depths of the fea all “* the fins of J/rae/;” and it may denote their being loathfome and abominable to him, and therefore here caft by him. It is very common in Fewifh writings, to fay of any thing that it is ufelefs, abominable, accurfed, and utterly rejected, that

¥ Oratio 2. pro Sexto Rofcio.

* Sufcipit, O Gelli, quantum non ultima Thetis, Nec genitor lympharum abluit Oceanus.

is to be caft into the falt-fea. For inftance, Aquila the profelyte divided an inheritance with his brother (a Gentile), and he caft the profit of it into the falt-fea: three doctors there were, one faid, the price of the idol he caft into the faltfea; another faid, he caft the price of his part of the idol into the falt-fea; and the other faid, “he caft the idol itfelf into the falt-fea ».” Again it is faid“, ‘‘’a fin-offering, whofe owner is dead, “* goes into the falt-fea.” The heathens ufed feawater for the purgation and expiation of fin; hence the poet *, to aggravate the wickednefs of a very wicked man, obferves, that the ocean itfelf’ could not wafh away his fins. And Cicero’, fpeaking of the law of the Romans for the punifhment of parricides, which ordered that they fhould be fowed up alive in facks, and caft into the river, obferves the wifdom and propriety of it s they would not, fays he, have them caft naked into the river, left when they fhould be carried into the fea, they fhould pollute that by which other things that are defiled are thought to be expiated. So Iphigenia is made to fay *, that the fea wathes away all the fins of men. Thefe are the Fewifh and. heathenifh notions; whether there is any allufion to them, may be confidered; however, certain it is, that nothing fhort of the fountain opened for fin and uncleannefs, or the fea of Chrift’s blood, can wath away fin; that cleanfes from all fin; and’ happy are they whofe fins are caft in thither, or are expiated and purged away thereby! ‘

¥. 20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Facob, &c.| That is, the promife made to Facob, the Lord would faithfully perform and make good to his pofterity, natural and fpiritual, efpecially to thofe who are J/raelites indeed: and the mercy to Abrabam; the gracious promifes made to him, which fprung from mere grace and mercy; all refpecting his natural and {piritwal feed; and efpe- - cially the promife of the coming of the Meffiah, that feed of his in which all nations of the earth were to be bleffed; and which is the eminent in- {tance of the mercy and grace of God to Fews and Gentiles, that walk in the fteps of Abraham; fee Luke i. 68, 72, 73: which thou haft fworn unto our fathers from the days of old; or the promifes both of multiplying the feed of Abrabam, and of giving them the land of Canaan, and of the Meffiah {pringing from them, were confirmed by an oath, Gen, xxii. 16, 17, 18. The Targum is, ‘* thou wilt give the truth of Yacod to his fons, as thou haft {worn to him in Bethel; the goodnefs of Abraham to his feed after him, as thou haft {worn to him between the pieces; thou | wilt remember to us the binding of J/aac, who was bound upon the altar before thee; thou wilt ‘* do with us the good things which thou haft ‘* {worn to our fathers, from the days of old;”» which Kimchi interprets of the three fathers, Aéraham, Ifaac, and Facod.) yf

|i Sikes edited & aekees Annee |" 8

HIS book is called in the Vulgate Latin verfion, the prophecy of Nahum; and in the Syriac and Arabic verfions, the prophecy of the prophet Nahum and in ch. i. 1. it is called the book of the vifion of Nahum; which is very fingular; and from whence we learn of what place this prophet was; but of this more will be faid on that verfe. His name fignifies’ con/olation, and tho’ the fubjeét of his prophecy chiefly relates to the deftruction of the Afjrian empire, and of Nineveh, the chief city of it; yet this was a comfort to the people of the Zews, that an enemy fo powerful, and who was fo troublefome to them, and whom they dreaded, fhould one day be deftroyed. In what age Nabum lived, is not faid; and writers very much difagree about it. Some make him to be the moft ancient of all the prophets; who fuppofe him to prophefy of the deftruction of Nineveh, before the reigns of Foafh king of Fudab, and Febu king of Irael, as Huetius * obferves; and others bring him down as low, placing him after Ezekiel, in the times of Zedekiab, as Clemens of Alenandria »; neither of which is likely. The Yewi/e chronologers * generally make him to live in the times of Manaffeb, and fo Abarbinel; but Fofephus *, with more probability, puts him in the times of Fotham; tho’ perhaps what the greater number of interpreters give into may be righteft; as that he lived in the times of Hezekiah, and was cotemporary with J/aiah, Hofea, Amos, and Micab; and that this prophecy was delivered out after the ten tribes were carried captive

Bata chapter begins with the title of the book, fhéwing the fubject-matter of it; and detcribing the pen-man of it by his name and country, ¥. 1. which is followed with a preface to the whole book; fetting forth the majefty of a jealous and revenging God; the power of his wrath and fury; of which inftances are given, in exciting tempetts; drying up the fea and the rivers; making the moft fruitful mountains barren, which tremble before him; yea even the whole world, and the inhabitants thereof, his indignation being intolerable; and yet he is flow to anger, good to them that truft in him, whom he knows, and whofe protection he is in a time of trouble, ¥. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Next the deftruction of the Afyrian empire, and of the city of Nineveh, is prophefied of; and is repretented as an utter and an entire deftruétion, and which would come upon them fuddenly and unawares, whilft they were in their cups, by the king of Afpria, which was in the fixth year of Hezekiah, and before Sennacheril’s invafion of Fudea, and fiege of Ferufalem, which was in the fourteenth year of his reign; and which is thought to be referred to in the fir# chapter of this prophecy. Mr. Whifton * places him in A. M. 3510, and of the Fulian period 3988, and before the era of Chrift 726; and fays, that he foretold the deftruction of Nineveh 115 years before it came to pafs, fo fays Fofepbus ‘. How long this prophet lived, and where he died, and was buried, is uncertain. P/eudo-Epiphanius « fays, he died and was buried in Begabar. Ifdore» fays, it was in Bethafarim; both which are to be corrected by Dorotheus, who calls the place Bethabara, as Huetius ‘ obferves; the fame where Yobn was baptizing, Fobn i. 28. but Benjamin of Tudela * fays, his grave was to be feen in a place called Ein-fipbia, in the land of Chaldea, and fpeaks of a fynagogue of this prophet in the province of Afyria!; but on thefe things we cannot depend. Of the authority of this prophecy there need be no doubt, as appears from the infcription of the book, the fublimity and majefty of the ftile, and its agreement with other prophets; fee ch. i. 15. compared with Tf. lii. 7. and the accomplifhment of the prophecies contained in it, which refpect the ruin of the Afyrian empire, and particularly Nineveh, the metropolis of it; the caufe of which were their fins and tranfgreffions, the inhabitants thereof were guilty of, and are pointed at in it.

y. 8,9, 10. - A particular perfon among them is fpoken of, defcribed as a defigning wicked man, an enemy to the Lord and his people, thought to be Sennacherib king of Afyria, y. 11. from whofe evil defigns, yoke and bondage the Yews fhould be delivered; and he and his pofterity be cut off, becaufe of his vilenefs, ¥. 12, 13, 14. and the > chapter is concluded with tidings of joy to Fudah, who are exhorted to keep their feafts, and perform their vows on this occafion, ¥. 15.

y. 1. The burden of Nineveh, &c.} Of the city of Nineveh, and the greatnefs of it, fee the notes on Yonah i, 2. and iii. 3. Fonab was fent to this city to threaten it with ruin for its fins; at that time the king and all his people humbled themfelves and repented, and the threatened deftruction was averted; but they relapfing to their former iniquities, this prophet foretels what would be their certain fate; very rightly therefore the Targum, and fome other Yewi/h writings ™ obferve, that Yonah prophefied againft this city of old; and that Nabum prophefied after him a confiderable time, perhaps at an hundred years diftance. This prophecy is called a burden, it was taken up by the prophet at the command of the Lord, and was carried or fent by him to Nineveb; and was an hard, heavy, grievous and burdenfome prophecy to that city, predicting its utter ruin and defolation; and which, as Fo/ephus " fays, came to pais 4145 years after this prophecy; and which event is placed by the Jearned Ufber ° in the year _ of the world 3378, and of the Yulan period 4088, and which was 626 years before Chrift; and by others ® in the year of the world 3403, of the flood 1747, before Chrift 601; but by Dean Prideaux * and Mr. Whiffen ', in the year before Chrift 612: the book of the vifion of Nahum the Elkofhite; no other prophecy is called a 4a0% but this, as Abarbinel oblerves; and gives this reafon for it, becaufe the other prophets immediately declared their prophecies, as Jonah; but Nahum never went to the Ninevites, but wrote his prophecy in a book, and dent it to them. It is called the book. of the vifien, what it contains being made known to him by the Lord in a vifion, as was common;, hence the prophets are called feers; and the prophet is defcribed by the place of his birth, an Elkofhite; tho’ fome think he is fo called from his father, whofe name was He/kef, and faid to be a prophet too, as Ferom relates; and with this agrees the Targum, which calls him Nabum of the houfe or family of Koi; but Farchi fays, that Elko/h was the name of his city; den Ezra and Kimchi are in doubt which to refer it to, whether to his city, or to bis anceftors; but there feems no reafon to doubt, but that he is fo called from his native place; fince Ferom * fays, that there was a village in Galilee called Helkefi in his days, and which he had feen; tho’ {carce any traces of the old buildings could be difcerned, it was fo fallen to ruin, yet known to the Yews; and was fhewn him by one that went about with him; and which is, by He/ychius* the prefbyter placed in the tribe of Simeon. This is another inftance, befides that of ‘onah, difproving the affertion of the Fews, that no prophet rofe out of Galilee, Fobn vii. 52.

¥. 2. God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth, &c.] He is jealous of his own honour and glory, and for his own worfhip and ordinances; and will net give his glory to another, nor his praife to graven images; and therefore will punifh all idolaters, and particularly the idolatrous Afprians; he is jealous for his people, and cannot bear to fee them injured; and will avenge the affronts that are offered, and the indignities done unto them: the Lord revengeth, and is furious; or, is mafer of wrath”; full of it, or has it at his command; can reftrain it, and let it out as he pleafes, which man cannot do; a furious and paffionate man, who has no rule over bis fpirit. The Lord’s revenging.is repeated for the confirmation of it; yea it is a third time obferved, as follows; which fome of the JFewifh writers think has refpect to the three times the king of Afyria carried the people of J/rael captive,.and for which the Lord would be revenged on him, and punith him: the Lord will take vengeance on his adverfaries; on all his adverfaries;— particularly the Afjrians are here meant, who were both the enemies of him, and of his people. The Targum explains it, ‘** that hate his people:” vengeance belongs to the Lord, and he will repay it fooner or later; if not immediately, he will hereafter; for it follows: and he referveth wrath for his enemies; and them for that; if not in this world, yet in the world to come; he lays it up among his treafures, and brings it forth at his The word: wrath is not in the text; it is not faid what he. referves for the enemies of himfelf and church; it is inconceivable and inex-

¥. 3. The Lord is flow to anger, &c.] He is.

not in hafte to execute it; he takes time for it, and gives men fpace for repentance. Nineveh had had a proof of this when it repented at the preaching of Youab, upon which the Lord deferred the — execution of his wrath; but left they fhould prefume upon this, and conclude the Lord would always bear with them, tho’ they had returned to their former impieties; they are let to know, that this his forbearance was not owing to want of power or will in him to punifh: fince he is great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked; he is able to execute the wrath he threatens, and will by no means clear the guilty, or let them go free and un-, punithed; tho’ he moves flowly, as he may feem ~ in the execution of his judgments, yet they fhall furely be brought on his enemies, and be fully accomplifhed: the Lord hath bis way in the whirlwind, and in the ftorm, and the clouds are the duft of bis feet; he {poke to od out of the whirlwind; he defcended on mount Sinai in a ftorm and tempeft; and the clouds are his chariots; in which he rides fwiftly; and which, for their appearance and number, are like the duit raifed by a multitude of horfemen riding full fpeed. The wrath of God may be compared to a whirlwind, and a ftorm, which is fometimes haftily and fuddenly executed upon men: refpect feems to be had to the armies of the Medes and Chaldeans againtt the Affyrians; who, as the Babylonians againft the Fews, came up as clouds, and their chariots as the whirlwind, Jer. iv. 13. and the figures beautifully defcribe the numbers of them, the force with which they ° came; and in an elegant manner reprefent the vaft quantity of duft raifed by an army in full march; at the head of which was the Lord himéfelf, ordering, dire&ting and fucceeding, before whom none can ftand..

y. 4. He rebuketh the fea, and maketh it dry,

&c,] As he did the Red-fea, when the children of J/rael paffed thro’ it as on dry land; which fhows his power and fovereignty over it; that it is at his command, as a fervant at his matfter’s; and fince the wind and fea obey him, what is it he cannot do? fee // 1. 2. and li. 10: and drieth up all the rivers; that is, he can do it if he will; as he divided the waters of Jordan, thro’ the midit of which the J/raelites pafled on dry ground; and will dry up the river Euphrates, to make way for ° the kings of the eaft; and as for Tigris, on the ~ banks ot which the city of Nineveh ftood, of which the inhabitants boafted, and in which they trufted for their fecurity, he could dry up, and make way for the enemy to enter in; or make that their enemy, and overflow them with it, as he did; fee ‘y. 8. ch. ii. 8. By the fea and rivers may be meant the whole 4fyrian empire, and many nations and people, as Farchi and Abarbinel interpret it, of whom it confifted; fee Fer. li. 36. Rev. xvii. 15: Bajhan languifbeth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languifbeth; when the Lord reftrains the heavens from giving rain, then Bahan famous for its fat paftures and fruitful meadows, and Carmel for its rich corn-fields, and Lebanon for its tall fhadowy cedars, thefe, and the glory of all, wither and fade away, being parched and dried up for want of moifture. Thefe were places in the land of J/rael, but may be put for like flourifhing and fruitful hills and countries in the land of Afyria, which fhould become defolate; fee Pf cvii. 33, 4.: ¥. 5. The mountains quake at him, and the bills melt, &c.| As Sinat of old did, when the Lord defcended on it, Exod. xix. 18. Fudg. v. 5. Mountains may figuratively fignify kings and princes; and Jills large countries, as Farchi and Abarbinel obferve, and the inhabitants of them; particularly the kingdoms and nations belonging to the 4/jrian empire, which would tremble and quake, and their hearts melt with fear, when they fhould hear of the deftruction of Nineveh their chief city; and of the devaftation made by the enemy there and in other parts, under the direction of the Lord of hofts; his power and providence fucceeding him: and the earth is burnt at his prefence; either when he withholds rain from it, and fo it becomes parched and burnt up with the heat of the fun; or when he rains fire and brimftone on it, as he did on Sodom and Gomorrah; or confumes any part of it with thunder and lightning, as he fometimes does; nay, if he but touch the mountains, they fmoke; fee Pf. civ. 32: yea, the world, and all that dwell therein; as in the laft day, at the general conflagration, when the world, and all the wicked inhabitants of it, will be burnt up; fee 2 Pet. iii, 10.. y. 6. Who can ftand before his indignation? &c.] No creature whatever; no man nor body of men; not Nineveh, and the inhabitants of it; nor the whole Afprian empire: and who can abide in the fiercenefs. of bis anger? not the great men of the earth; not kings or generals of armies; not kingdoms and nations, ever fo numerous and powerful; but all muft be confumed by him, who is a confuming fire; fee Fer. x. 10. Rev. vi. 15, 16, 17: bis fury is poured out like fire; or like metal that is melted by fire, and poured out by the force of it; or like fire of lightning poured out of the heavens, which is quick, powerful and penetrating, and there is no refifting it: and the rocks are thrown down by him, by the Lord, by his wrath and fury; kingdoms that feemed as ftrong and immoveable as rocks, and mountains are thrown down; as fuch have been by the force of fire burfting from the midft of them, as #tna, Vefuvius, and others. y¥. 7. The Lord is good, &c.} To Irael, as the Targum adds; to Hezekiab and his people, that betook themfelves to him, and put their truft in him; whom he defended and preferved from the king of Afjria, to whom he was dreadful and ter- ple, and is their patron and advocate.

rible, deftroying his army in one night by am angel; and fo delivered. the king of ‘fudah, and - the inhabitants of Yeru/alem from that terror that had feized them, and that danger they were expofed unto; ‘and fo the Lord is good in himfelf, in the perfeétions of his nature, in the works of his hands, in all his perfons to his people, that fear him, truft in him, and feek him, and wait for him, and on him: a Strong hold in the day of trouble; or, he is good for a ftrong bold ™, 8c. it was a day of trouble, rebuke and blafphemy with Hezekiah and his people, when they were befieged by the army of Sennacherib king of Afjria, and had received from Rabjbakeb by his orders a railing and reproaching letter; and then the Lord was a {trong hold to them, to whom they betook themfelves, and he proteéted and defended them. The whole time ‘of this life is a time of trouble to the faints, tho’ it is but a day, a fhort time; in which they meet with much from their own corrupt hearts, and the fin that dwells in them; from {atan and his temptations; from carnal profeflors,. their principles and practices; and from a profane and perfecuting world; and from the Lord himfelf, who fometimes lays his afflicting hand upon them, and hides his face from them; and yet he is their rock and their refuge, their ftrong tower and place of defence; where they find fafety and plenty in all their times of diftrefs and want: and he knoweth them that truft in him; in his word, as the Targum; and they are fuch that know him, and are fenfible of the vanity of all other objects of truft; who betake themfelves to him for fhelter and protection; lean and ftay themfelves upon him, and commit all unto. him, and expect all from him.: thefe he knows, loves, and has the {trongeft affection for; he approves of them, and commends their faith and confidence; he takes notice of them, vifits them, and makes himfelf known unto them, even in their adverfity; he owns and acknowledges them as his own, claims his right in them now, and will confefs them hereafter; and he takes care of them that they perifh not, whoever elfe do; fee Pfi. 6. 2 Tim. i. 18, 1g. he knows the neceffities of thofe that truft in him, as Ferchi; he knows them for their good, takes care of them, provides for them, and watches over them, as Kimchi. The ancients formerly had their yowsnpes and pwxlas, notores *, fuch as knew them, ‘and were their patrons and defenders; as when a Roman citizen was condemned to be whipped or crucified in a province where he was not known, and claimed the Roman privileges, fuch perfons were his witnefles and advocates; and thus the Lord is reprefented as one that knows his peo- The goodnefs of God exprefied in this text, is fet off with a foil, by the terriblenefs of his wrath and vengeance againft his enemies. | y¥. 8. But with an over-running flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, &c.] Of Nineveh, againft whom this prophecy was, and upon whom it lay as a burden, ¥. 1. and now, tho’ the Lord was good to them that truft in him, and a ftrong hold to them in a time of trouble; yet he was determined to deftroy their enemies the Afyrians, and - Nineveh their chief city; and that by the means of a powerful army, which, like a flood or inundation of water breaking in, over-runs and carries ries all before it; and very fitly may the Medes and Babylonians, who joined together in an expedition againft Nineveh, be compared to fuch a flood for their number and force; fince, as the hiftorian tells ’ us, they were no lefs than four hundred thoufand men: tho’ this may be literally underftood; for as the fame writer 7 obferves, *¢ there was an oracle received by the Ninevites ‘© from their anceftors, that Nineveh could never ** be taken by any, unlefs the river (on which it ** ftood) firft became an enemy to it; and fo it “* was, that in the third year of the fiege, the “* river being fwelled with continual rains, over- ‘« flowed part of the city, and broke down the “* wall for the fpace of twenty furlongs; hence

“* the king concluded the oracle was fulfilled, and -

“* gave up all hopes of fafety; and thro’ the ** breach of the wall the enemy entered, and took “* the city;” and an mutter end was made of it, and of the place of it, infomuch that hiftorians and geographers difagree about it; forme fay it was fituated upon the river Euphrates, others upon the river Zigris, which is the righteft,; fome fay on the eaft of that river, others on the weft; fome will have it to be above the river Lycus, and others below it: fo true is that of Lucian *, that Nineveh is now entirely loft, and no traces of it remain; nor can one eafily fay where it once was; and travellers in general, both ancient and modern, agree that it lies wholly in ruins, and is an heap of rubbifh. Benjamin Tudelenfis », who travelled into thefe parts in the twelfth century, relates, that between A/mozal or Moful, and Nineveh, is only abridge, and it (Nineveh) is a wafte, but there are villages, and many towers. Haitho an Armenian *, who wrote more than an hundred years after the former, fays, ‘* this city (Nineveh) ** at prefent is wholly deftroyed; but by what yet ‘* appears in it, it may be firmly believed that it ** was one of the greateft cities in the world.” Monfieur Thevenot ¢4, who was upon the fpot in the laft century, obferves, ‘¢ on the other fide of ** the river (Zigris, from that on which Mo/u/ ‘* ftands) at the end of the bridge begins the “* place, where, in ancient times, ftood the fa- ** mous city of Nizeveh.—There is nothing of it, ‘ (adds he) now to be feen, but fome hillocks, ‘ which (they fay) are its foundations, the houfes * being underneath; and thefe reach a good way “* below the city of Mo/ul:? and darknefs feall purfue his enemies; the enemies of God and his peo: ple, who would make fuch a devaftation of Nineveh; even he would caufe all manner of calamities, often fignified in fcripture by darknefs, to follow and overtake them; fo that they fhould be brought into the moft uncomfortable and diftreffed condition imaginable.

¥.9. What do ye imagine againft the Lord? &c.] O ye Ninevites or Affyrians; do you think you can fruftrate the defigns of the Lord, refift his power, and hinder him from executing what he has threatened and has determined to do? or what mifchief is it you devife againft his people, which is the fame as againft him{elf? can you believe that you fhall profper and fucceed, and your fchemes be carried into executie, when he, the all-wife and all-powerful being, oppoles you? be will make an utter end; of you, | as before declared, and will fave his people; which may be depended on will certainly be the cafe: afjittion foall not rife up the fecond time, either this fhould be the laft effort the Qjrienxs would make, upon the Fews, which they made under Senzacherib, and this the laft time they would afflict them; or rather their own deftru@ion fhould be fo complete, that there would be no need to re~ peat the ftroke, or give another blow; the bufinefs would be done at once. a notion of fome hiftorians and chronologers, who fuppofe that Nineveh was deftroyed at two different times, and by different perfons of the fame nations; and fo the whole A/yrian empire was twice. ruined, which is not likely in itfelf, and feems contrary to this paflage; for tho’ fome afcribe ig to Arbaces the Mede, and Belefis the Babylonian, as

Diodorus Siculus *; and others to Cyaxares the Mede, as Herodotus‘, and to Nebuchadnezzar the firlt, or Nabopolafjar the Babylonian, in a later period: fo Tobit * fays, it was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, and Ahafuerus the fame with the Cyawares of Hero-. dotus; yet all feem to agree that it was taken b the conjunét forces of the Medes and Babylonians; and there are fome things fimilar ” in all thefe accounts, which fhew that there was but one deftruction of Nineveh, and of the Aifyrian empire, y. 10. For while they be folden tagetber as thorns, &c.] Like them, ufelefs and unprofitable, hurtful and pernicious, fit only for burning, and being bundled together, are prepared for it; and which is not only expreffive of the bad qualities of the Ninevites, and of the danger they were in, and what they deferved; but of the certainty of their ruin, no more being able to fave themfelves from it, than a bundle of thorns from the devouring fire: and while they are drunken as drunkards; dead drunk, no more able to help themfelves than a drunken man that is fallen; or who were as eafi] thrown down as a drunken man is with the leaft touch; tho’ there is no need to have recourfe to a figurative fenfe, fince the Ninevites were actually drunk when they were attacked by their enemy, as the hiftorian relates ‘; that the king of Afpria being elated with his fortune, and thinking himfelf fecure, feafted his army, and gave them large quantities of wine; and while the whole army were indulging themfelves, the enemy having notice of their negligence and drunkennefs by deferters, fell upon them unawares in the night, when difordered - and unprepared,_and made.a great flaughter among them, and forced the reft into the city, and in a little time took it: they /hall be devoured as fiubble fully dry; as eafily, and as inevitably, and irrecoverably. Pa y. 11. There is one come out of thee, &c.] That.

is, out of Nineveh, as the Targum explains it; meaning Sennacherib, who had his royal feat and palace there; or Rab/hakeh, that was fent from hence by him with a railing and blafpheming letter ~ to the king of Fudah, and the inhabitants of Ferufalem. This is faid to be at the prefent time of © writing this prophecy, tho’ it was after it, becaufe of the certainty of it, as is ufual in prophetic lan-— guage; unlefs it can be thought that this prophecy was delivered out exactly at the time when Sennacherib had entered Fudea, and was before the walls of Ferufalem, but not yet difcomfited, as.

after predicted: that imagineth evil againft ihe Lord, againft the people of the Lord, “as the Targum; formed a icheme to invade the land of Fudea, ‘take the fenced cities thereof, and feize upon igkAy the metropolis of the nation, and carry the king, 5, and all the people captive, as Salmane/er is father had carried away the ten tribes: a wicked counfellor; or, a counfellor of Belial*; who, by Rabhakeb, advifed I/rae/ not to regard their king, nor truft in their God, but furrender themfelves up to him, 2 Kings xvill. 29, 30, 31. ¥. 12. Thus faith the Lord, tho’ they be quiet, and likewife many, &c.|~ The Afprian army under Sennacherib before Ferufalem, tho’ they were quiet and fecure, and thought themfelves out of all danger; not at all fearing that the befieged would fally out againft them, they being fo numerous, and therefore betook themfelves to fleep and reft: yet thus fhall they be cut down, or fhorn', wool is fhorn off the back of, a fheep with fheers; or grafs or corn is mowed with a fcythe; or elfe as the hair of a man’s head and beard are fhaved with a razor; which fometimes was done, not only in a way of ignominy and contempt, as Davia’s fervants were ferved by Hanun, 2 Sam. x. 4. but as a token of fervitude; hence thofe words of the poet ™, ‘* after thou art a fervant, doft thou let *¢ thy hair grow?” upon which it is obferved », that it belongs to freemen to let the hair grow; and fo the philofopher fays °, to let the hair grow, or to nourith it, is commendable with a Lacedemonian, for it is a fign of liberty; for it is not for him who lets his hair grow to do any fervile work; and it was ufual with conquerors to fhave the conquered, and fuch as were carried captives?, which fome think is referred to in Deut. xxxii. 42. and render the latter claufe of that verfe, ‘‘ and ** there fhall be captivity, by reafon of the head ** of nakednefs of the enemy;” that is, there fhould be captives whofe heads fhould be made bare, or fhaved by the enemy the conqueror *, hence the king of Aria when a conqueror, is compared to a fharp razor, that fhould fhave the head, and feet, and beard, even all forts of people, Jf vii. 20, but now he and his army fhould be fhaved themfelves; that is, conquered, flain, or taken captives, and become flaves, and treated with contempt; all which may be taken into the fenfe of this phrafe, and ferve to illuftrate it: when he foall pafs thro’; when the angel fhould pafs thro’ the camp of the 4fyrians, then were they cut down by him in great numbers, a hundred and fourfcore and five thoufand flain at once, 2 Kings xix. 35: tho’ I have afflicted thee, I will afflitt thee no more; or any Jonger*; tho’ the Lord had afflicted the people of the Fews by the Afyrian king, the rod of his anger, again and again, yet after this he would affi& them no more by him; for otherwife they were afflicted afterwards, yet not by the Affyrians, but by the Babylonians, Syrians and Romans. Some underftand this, as before, of the Ninevites and Affyrians, that fhould be utterly deftroyed at once, and their affliction fhould not be a fecond time; fee ¥. 9. fo Abarbinel: or, I will a byb5 yy confulens Belijahal, Montanus; confiliarius Belijaal, Burkius. ™ Emeile dyla duros wy xomny exess 5 not bear thee any more *; as he did formetly, when they repented at the preaching of Yonah.

¥.13. For now will I break bis yoke from off thee, &c.| The Afprian yoke ftom off the Fews, who had been obliged to pay tribute, or fend prefents to the king of Avia, from the times of Abaz; and were in bondage, whilft fhut. up and befieged by his army, and the country all around laid under contribution; from all which they were delivered, when his army was in that dreadful manner deftroyed: and will burft the bonds in funder; and fet thee entirely free from the bondage of the enemy, and all fear of it; a type of that freedom. from the yoke of fin, fatan, and the law, which the people of God have by Jefus Chrift.

¥. 14. And the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee, &c.| ‘This is directed to Sennacherib king of Afpria, as the Targum exprefies it; and fo Farchi and Kimchi; and fignifies the decree of God concerning him, what he had determined to do with him, and how things would be ordered in, providence towards him, agreeable to his defign and refolution: that no more of thy name be fown; which is not to be underftood, that he fhould have no fon and heir to fucceed him; for Efarhaddon his fon reigned in his ftead, 2 Kings xix. 37. and after him, according to Ptolemy’s canon, Saofduchinus and Chyniladanus; but the memory of his name fhould not be fpread in the earth; or the fame of it, with any marks of honour and glory, but of fhame and difgrace. So the Targum, ‘* neither fhall be any memory of “* thy name any more:” out of the houfe of thy gods will I cut off the graven image, and the molten image; called the houfe of Nifroch bis god, 2 Kings xix. 37. where he was flain; and fome fay, that after that it ceafed to be a place of worfhip, being polluted with his blood. Fofephus' calls it his own temple, where he ufually worfhipped, for which he had a peculiar regard, and for his god Nij roch;

but who this deity was, is not certain. Selden fays *, he knew nothing, nor had read any thing of him, but what is mentioned in the fcripture. Some of the Yewi/h writers “ take it to be a plank of Noah’s ark; and Mr. Ba/nage * is of opinion, that it is anus reprefented by Noab’s ark, who had two faces, before and behind; a fit emblem of Noah, who faw two worlds, one before, and another after the food. Some fay Dagon the god of the Phili/tines is meant, which is not likely; fee the note on J/. xxxvii. 38. but be he who he will, there were other idols befides him, both graven and molten, in this temple, as is here exprefitd; very probably here ftood an image of Be/ws or Pul, the firft Afyrian monarch, and who was deified; and perhaps Adrammelech the god of the Sepharvites was another, fince one of Sennacherid’s fons bore this name; and it was ufual with the 4fjrians, Chaldeans and Babylonians to give the names of their gods to their princes, or infert them in theirs: here alfo might be the Afprian Venus, Derceto, Semiramis, and others: fifhes alfo were worfhipped by the Affyrians, in honour of Derceto; and doves in remembrance of Semiramis, faid to be