John Gill, Exposition of the Whole Bible

Jarchi in Yaiam,

57% nourifhed by one in her infancy, and turned into one at her death; hence thofe creatures became facred in Afyria, and were not fuffered to be touched and killed, as Philo obferved at Afcalon, fee the note on Hof. xi. 11. and Lucian ’ at Hieropolis in Syria; where he fays, of all birds they think the dove moft holy; fo that they count it very unlawful to touch them, and if by chance they do, they reckon themfelves unclean that whole day; hence you may fee them frequently in their houfes, converfing familiarly with them, generally feeding on the ground, without any fear; and he alfo fays *, the Affjrians facrifice to a dove, and which he muft have known, fince he himfelf was an Affjrian, as he tells us; but whatever thefe graven and molten images were, it is here prediéted they fhould be utterly demolifhed. The fenfe is, that whereas Sennacherib’s ‘empire fhould be deftroyed, and his capital taken; the temple where he worfhipped would be defaced, and all ’ his gods he gloried of, all his images, both graven and molten, would be cut to pieces, falling into the conqueror’s hands, as was ufual in fuch cafes, thefe would not be able to defend him or his, or fecure them from the vengeance of God, whom he had blafphemed: J will make thy grave, for thou art vile; the Targum is, ‘* there will I put “« thy grave;” that is, in the houfe of thy. god, as Aben Ezra, farchi, Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; where he was flain by two of his fons, as before obferved; and this judgment came upon him by the will of God, becaufe he was a loofe, vile creature; becaufe he had vilified the true God,.and reproached him, as unable to deliver Hezekiah and his people out of his hands. The Yargum paraphrafes it, ‘* becaufe this is eafy before me;” what the Lord could eafily do, make his idoltemple his grave; or however, take away his life, and lay his honour in the duft: or it may be rendered, I will put upon thy grave, that thou art vile*; he, who thought to have a fuperb monument over his grave, and an epitaph infcribed on it to his immortal honour, as kings ufed to have; this fhall be the fepulchral infcription, ‘* here lies *< a vile, wicked and contemptible man;” fo Abarbinel. ‘There was a ftatue of this king in an Egyptian temple, as Herodotus” relates, according, as many think, with this infcription on it, ** who- <¢ foever looks on me, let him be religious;” tho’ I rather think it was a ftatue of Sethon the prieft of Vulcan, and laft king of Egypt. Here ends the firft chapter in fome Hebrew copies, and in the Syriac and Arabic verfions, and in Aben Ezra.

¥. 15. Bebold upon the mountains, &c.] Of the

HIS chapter gives an account of the deftruction of the city of Nineveh; defcribes the inftruments of it, as very terrible and powerful, and not to be refifted, ¥. 1, 2, > aa he manner of taking it; the flight of its inhabitants; and the fpoil of its riches and treafures, ¥. 5—10. and the king and the princes thereof compared to a lion, and a lion’s whelp, are infulted as being without a den or dwelling place, becaufe of their cruelty and ravening, for which the Lord was aland of Drael, as the Targum, or thofe about Ferufalem: the feet of him that bringeth good things; fee how they come one after another with the news of the havock and flaughter-made in the army of

Sennacherib by an angel in one night; of his flight, » and of the death of him by the hands of his two fons; and after that, of the deftruction of Nineveh, and of the whole Afyrian empire; all which were good tidings to the Fews, to whom the Afyrians were implacable enemies, and whofe power the Fews dreaded; and therefore it muft be 1 news to them to hear of their defeat and ruin, and the meffengers that brought it muft be welcome to them: that publifbeth peace, to the Fewifh nation, who might from hence hope for peaceable and profperous times: like expreffions with thefe are ufed in Jf lii. 7. on account of the return of the Fews trom the Babylonifh captivity; and are applied by the apoftle to gofpel-times and gofpelpreachers, Kom. x. 15. as thefé may alfo, and exprefs the good tidings of victory obtained by Chrift’

over fin, fatan, the world, hell and death; and of falvation wrought out, and peace made by him; it being ufual for the prophets abruptly and at once to rife trom temporal to fpiritual and eternal things, particularly to what concern the Meffiah, and the gofpel-difpenfation; fee the note on Jf lii. 7: O Judah, keep thy folemn feafts, of the paflover, pentecoft and tabernacles; which had been interrupted, or omitted thro’ the invafion of the land, and the fiege of Ferufalem, by the enemy; but now he being gone and flain, they had full liberty, and were at leifure to attend thefe folemnities: perforn thy vows; which they had made when in diftrefs, when the enemy was in their land, and before their city; promifing what they would do, if it pleafed God to deliver them out of his hands, and now they were delivered; and therefore it was incumbent on them to make good their promifes, and efpecially to offer up their thankfgivings to God for fuch a mercy; fee P/ 1. 14. and Ixvi. 13, 14. Eccl. v. 4, 5: for the wicked fhall no more pafs thro? thee, he is utterly cut off; or Belial, the counfellor of Belial, as in y. 11. the king of Afpria; who, tho’ he had paffed thro’ their land, had invaded it, and made devaftation in it, fhould do fo no more; being dead, cut off in a judicial way, thro? the juft judgment of God, fuffering his fons to take away his life whilft in the midft of his idolatrous worfhip; and this may reach, not only to him, and his feed after him being wholly cut off, but to the whole Afyriax empire, who fhould none of them ever give any further trouble to Fudab.:

gainft them, and threatened them with utter ruin, which he brought upon them, ¥. 11, 12, 13. $ y. 1. He that dafbeth in pieces is come up before thy face, &c.] O Nineveh, or land of Affria; for this is not to be underftood of Sennacherib’s coming up againft Ferujalem, as Kimchi; but of

Nebuchadnezzar againft Nineveh, as Aben Ezra, not Nebuchadnezzar the Great, who, the Fewilb chronologers fay *, took Nineveh in the firlt year of his reign; but his father, Neduchadnezzar the Firft, called Nabopolafar, who, with Cyaxares or Abefuerus the Mede, joined their forces againft Nineveb, and took it, Tobit xiv. 15. and thefe together, the Chaldeans and Medes, are the dajfber in pieces; or, the hammer“, as the word may be rendered; and fo Babylon, over which one of thefe Kings reigned, is called the hammer of the whole earth, Fer. 1, 23. thefe came up openly, boldly, to the face of the king of Affria, attacked him in his metropolis, not fearing his ftrength and numbers: keep the munition, this and what follow are {poken ironically to the Afyrian king, and inhabitants of Nineveh, to take care of their towers and garrifons, and fortify them, and fill them with foldiers: and watch the way; in which the enemy came; fecure the pafles and avenues that lead to their city; ftop his march; and prevent his accefs: make thy loins frrong; put on armour, gird on the fword, prepare for war: fortify thy power mightily; increafe thine army, exert all thy ftrength and courage, and do all that is in thy power to do, to oppole the enemy, and defend thyfelf; and when all is done, it will be in vain. ¥.2. Lor the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Facob, as the excellency of Tfrael, &c.}, Or, will render a recompence for, or revenge ¢he pride of Jacob °; all that infolence, and thofe injuries done in a proud and haughty manner by Sennacherib king of Afjria to the two tribes of Fudab and Benjamin; invading their land, taking their fenced cities, and befieging their metropolis; and in an audacious manner threatning them with utter deftruction, unlefs they furrendered; and alfo by Salmancfer, another king of Affyria, who had befieged and took Samaria the capital city of I/rael or the ten tribes, and had carried them captive; and now Ajjjria, tho’ it had been the: rod of God’s anger, and the inftrument of his chaftifement and correction of his people, muft in its turn fuffer and {mart for all this: for the emptiers have emptied them out; the Afjyrians, partly by their exactions and tributes they demanded, and partly by their fpoil and plunder, had {tripped J/rael and Fudah of ‘all, or the greateft part of ‘their fubftance, wealth and treafure: aud marred their vine-branches; their children, their fons and daughters, flaying them, or carrying them captive. J/rael and Fudab are often compared to’ a vine, and. fo their pofterity to branches: or corrupted ‘ them, with fuperttition and idolatry. The Yergum interprets it of their renowned cities; thefe, and towns and. villages, being to the land as branches to the vine; and which had been, ranfacked and pillaged by the 4jjrians, and now they fhould. be. paid in their own coin. et ts _ ¥. 3. The fhield of bis. mighty.men is made red, &c.] The fhields of the foldiers in the armies, of the Babylonians and Medes, thofe dafhers in pieces that would come up againft Nineveh thould be red; either with the blood of the flain, or thus coloured ‘on purpofe to inject terror to their enemies: or this may exprefs the luftre of. them, which being gilded, or made of gold or brafs, in the rays of the-fun glittered, and looked of a fiery red; fee 4, Maccab, vi..39): the valiant men are in fearlet;

the generals and other officers of the army were clothed in fearlet; partly to thew their greatnefs and noblenefs, and partly to {trike their enemies with terror; and to hide their blood fhould they ° be wounded, and fo keep up their own fpirits; and not encourage their enemies: the chariots hall be with flaming torches in the day of bis preparation; that is, when the Medes and Chaldeans, under their refpective commander or commanders, fhall prepare for the fiege of the city, and to make their onfet and attack upon it; the chariots ufed by them in war, which was common in thofe times, would have flaming torches in ‘them; either to guide them in the night, or to fet fire to houfes or tents they fhould meet with, or to terrify the enemy: or the chariots’ thall be as flaming torches ®; they fhould run with fuch fwiftnefs, that the wheels being of iron, or cafed with it, fhould ftrike fire upon the ftones in fuch quantities, that they fhould. look like torches flaming: aud the fir-trees foall be terribly fhaken; with the motion of the chariots; or this may be interpreted of fpears and lances, and fuch like inftruments of war made of fir; which fhould be in fuch great numbers, and with fo much activity ufed againft the Ninevites, that it would look like fhaking a foreft of fir-trees. The Targum interprets thefe of the great men and generals of their armies, glittering in dyed garments; and Kimchi’s father, of the princes and great men of the city of Nineveh, who would be feized with terror; and reel about like drunken men; and fo all that follows in the next verfe.

y¥. 4. The chariots fhall rage in the ftreets, &c.] In the ftreets of Nineveh when taken; where they fhall be drove in a furious manner from place to place, the men in them breathing out flaughter and death wherever they came. Kimchi under-

| {tands this of the chariots of the Ninevites; who fhall drive about in them in the ftreets of the city like mad men; not daring to go out to fight the enemy, being mightier and more numerous than they. They shall jufile one againft another in the broad ways; becaufe of their numbers, and the hafte they fhall make to {poil and plunder the city; or the Ninevites fhall juftle one againft another, in their hurry-and confufion, to make their efcape. They foall feem like torches; either the chariots of the Medes and Chaldeans, for the reafons given in the preceding verfe; or they themfelves, becaufe of their fiercenefs and cruelty; or the faces of the Ninevites, being covered with fhame, fo Kimchi; fee If. xiti. 8. They frall run like the lightnings; exceeding fwiftly, with irrefiftible force and power: the above writer interprets this of the Ninevites alfo, running from one end of their city to the other in the utmoft confufion, not knowing what to do; but the whole of thefe two verfes feem to be a defcription of their enemies. ¥. 5. He foall recount bis worthies, &c.] Either the dafher in -pieces, ¥. 1. the kings of Babylon and Media, fhall call together their general officers, and mufter the forces under them, and put them in, mind of. their duty, and recount the aétions of their anceftors in former times, in order to animate and encourage them to the fiege and attack of the city of Nineveh; or the king of Afjria fhall

fiall recount and mufter up his nobles, and the troops under them, to fally out againft the enemy, afd meet him in the field, and give him battel: they fall fumble in their walk, being many, and in hafte to obey the orders of their commander, (hall ftumble and fall upon one another; or elfe the Ninevites in their march out againit the enemy fhall be difcomfited and flee before him, or be difpirited and flee back again: they fhall make bafte to the wall thereof; of Nineveb; that is, the Medes and Chaldeans fhall make hafte thither to break it down or fcale it; or the Ninevites failing in their {ally out, fhall betake themfelves in all hafte to their city-walls, and defend themfelves under the protection of them: and the defence shall be prepared; or the covering; the word * ufed has the fignification of a booth or tent, to cover and protect here it fignifies fomething that was prepared, either by the befiegers to cover them from the darts and ftones of the befieged, as they made their approaches to the walls; or which the befieged covered themfelves with; from the affaults of the befiegers; rather the former.

y. 6. The gates of the rivers foall be opened, 8c.) OF Diava and Adiava, or Lycus and Caprus, between which, according to fome writers *, Nineveh. was fituated; or the gates of the city, which lay neareft to the river Tigris, are meant; or that river itfelf, the plural for the fingular, which overflowing, brake down the walls of the city 20 furlongs, and opened a way for the Medes and Chaldeans to enter in; of which fee ch. i. 8: and the palace fhall be diffolved; by the inundation, or deftroyed by the enemy; meaning the palace of the king, which might be fituated near the river; or the temple of Nifroch the Afyrian deity, or Fapiter Belus, for the fame word * fignifies a temple, as well as palace.

y. 7. And Huzzab fall be led away captive, &c.| The Targum tranflates it, the queen; and Farchi and Aben Ezra, after R. Samuel, take it to be the name of the queen of Affyria; fo called, as every queen might, from her ftanding at the king’s right-hand, Pf. xlv..9. who, when the royal palace was deftroyed, was taken out, and carried captive with the reft, who before was in a well- fettled and tranquil ftate and condition: or perhaps the king himfelf is defigned, who may be reprefented as a woman, as follows, for his effeminacy; converfing only with women; imitating their voice; wearing their apparel; and doing their work, fpinning, €@c. which is the ‘character hiftorians ‘ give of thelaft king of the Afprians: fome ™ take it to be the ‘idol Venus, worthipped by the Ninevites: tho’ it may be meant either*of the:palace itfelf, as Kimcbi’s father, which was firm and ‘well eftablithed; or rather Nineved itfelf, thought tocbe ftable and fecure, the inhabitants of which fhould be carried into a ftrange land: joe foall be brought up the queen, or the “king, out of ‘the palace’ or private retirement, ‘where they were in peace and fafety; or Nineveb,' and ‘the inhabitants of it, out of their fecure ftate and condition: and her maids foall lead ber; her maids of honour, fupporting her on the tight hand and ‘left, ready tofink and ‘faint under her misfortunes: ‘this may alfo’be underftodd of towns and villages, and the inhabitants of them, that fhould go into captivity along with Ni-.