Exposition of the Whole Bible

mult from the Lord fball be among them; the Tar- j gum renders it, a great tumult, or noife of killing; and the Septuagint, an exftacy: it refers to the earthquake, and the flaughter of feven thoufand men of name, and the fright upon'that, Rev. xi. 13: and they fhall lay hold every one on the hand of bis neighbour, ‘and foall rife up againjt the hand of bis neighbour; there will be a revolution upon this tumult in feveral of the antichriftian ftates; and the kings of them fhall hate the whore, make her defolate, eat her flefh, and burn her with fire, Rev. xvii. 16. or, bis band fhall be cut off by the hand of his neighbour“, fee Zech. xi. 17. the power of antichrift fhall be deftroyed by neighbouring

¥. 14. And Fudab alfo foal fight at Ferufalem,

&c.] Thefe are the profefling people of Chrift, the armies in heaven, the chofen, called, and faithful, who will follow the Lamb, and attend him when he goes forth to make war with the antichriftian princes, and fhall overcome them, Rev. xvii. 14. and xix. 14: and the wealth of all the heathen round about fall be gathered together, gold and filver, and apparel in great abundance; by which are meant the riches of the papifts, called Gentiles or heathens, Rev. xi. 2, 18. which will fall into the hands of the followers of Chrift, at the time of Rome’s deftru€tion; and which are fignified by the fiefh of the whore, and by the flefh of kings, captains, and mighty men, which will then be eaten; they will be ftripped and fpoiled of all their fub- ~ ftance, Rev. xvii. 16. and xix. 18.

y. 15. And fo foall be the plague of the horfe, of the mule, of the camel, and of the afs, &c.] The fiefh of the horie is faid to be eaten, Rev. xix. 18: and of all the beafts that fhall be in thefe tents, as this plague; their beafts fhall perifh in like manner as themfelves.

¥. 16. And it fhall come to pafs, 8&c.| After the plague on man and beaft is over: that every one that is leftof all the nations which come againft Ferufalem, thefe are the remnant according to the ‘election of grace, who will have been among the ‘enemies of Chrift and his people, but preferved, when others will be deftroyed; and they will not only be affrighted at the general deftruction, but will be truly converted, and give glory to the God of heaven, Rev. xi. 13. and xix. 21: thefe ball even go up from year to year to worfbip the king, the Lord of bofis; the king Meffiah, as Aen Ezra and Abendana on the place obferve; the fame with the king over all the earth, ¥. 9. who is Lord of hofts, of all the armies in heayen, that will have followed him at this time, and:is to be -worfhipped by angels and.men; he is equal with God, the creator of both, the Redeemer of men, and king of faints; and to worfhip him, fhall the above perions preferved and called, go up to Ferufalem, the church of God, year by year, that is,.conftantly: and to keep the feat of tabernacles, not Jiterally, but {piritually; for as all the Fewih feafts shave been long fince abolifhed, having had their accomplifhment in Chrift, not one of them will’ sever be revived in the latter day. This feaft was originally kept in commemoration of the [raclites dwelling in tents in ‘the wildernefs, and was typi- ‘cal of Chrift’s incarnation, who was made flefh, and tabernacled among us; fo that to keep this feaft, is no other than to believe in Chrift as come in the flefh, and in the faith of this to attend to the gofpel-feaft of the word and ordinances; and whereas this feaft was obferved by drawing water with expreffions of joy, this may refpeé the pouring forth of the Spirit in the laft day, aiid thar fpiritual joy faints will then be filled with; to which may be added, that palm-tree branches ufed to be carried in their hands at the time of that featt; and fo the keeping of it now, may denote the victory that will be obtained over the beaft and his image, which palm-ttee branches are a token of; and this will iffue in the perpetual reign of Chrift, when the tabernacle of God shall be with men.

¥. 17. And it foall be, that whofoever will not come up, &cc.| This, tho’ it follows upon the former account, muft be underftood of times preceding the fpiritual reign of Chrift; for the rairi of the gofpel will be upon all the earth in the latter day-glory, and all nations will then ferve and worfhip the king, the Lord of hofts, even thofe that remain after the general deftruction of the antichri- {tian ftates; befides, exprefs mention is ‘hereafter made of Egypt, which defigns Rome, Rev. xi. 8. and the whole manifeftly refers to the time-of thé witneffes prophefying in fackcloth, who had power to fhut the heaven that it rain not, Rev. xi. 6: of all the families of ihe earth unto Ferufalem, to worfbip the king, the Lord of bofts; all of the antichriftian party, that refufe to worfhip the Lord with his true church, according to his revéaled will: even upon them foall be no rain; not literally, but fpiritually; and is to be underftood either of the love and favour of God, comparable to rain in its original, it being owing to the will of God, and not to the merits of men, and therefore is diftinguifhing and fovereign; ‘in its objects, perfons very undeferving; in the manner of its communication, it tarries not for the will and work’ of men, and comes in great abundance; and in its effects, it foftens, cools, refrefhes, and makes fruitful; and not to have this, is to be hated of God: or of the bleffings of divine grace; thefe are from above like rain, depend on the will of God, are free gifts, and given in abundance, and make fruitful; the contrary to thefe is curfing: or of the gofpel, which is of God, and from heaven, falls according to divine direction, and foftens, refrefhes, and revives; and not to have this is the foreft of judgments, Amos viii. 11. Jf v. 6.

¥. 18. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, &c.| To ferufalem, the church of God; don’t go thither to worfhip the Lord, attend ‘his ordinances, and keep them in their purity; nor walk as becomes the people of God: by the family of Egypt, are meant the papifts, fo called for their tyranny, cruelty, and idolatry, Rev. xi. 8: that | have no rain; have not the pure word of God, and © the ordinances thereof, only the traditions of men; yea, the doétrines of devils, and lies in hypocrify: the allufion is to the land of Egypt, which was watered, not fo much by rain, as by the overflowing of the river Ni/e: or it may be rendered, and upon them there foall be no rain™; or,that which is equivalent to it. So the Zargum paraphrafes it, «© the Nile fhall not afcend unto them.” The fenfe is, as they are without the pure gofpel of Chrift, they fhall continue fo, and be punifhed with that fore judgment of a famine, of hearing the word i a Ww sp Sy yr mandy) et fuccidetur manus ejus fuper manum amici fui, Pagninus. So Aben Ezra, and R, Sol.

the Lord. There foall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will fmite the heathen that come not up to keep the feaft of tabernacles; they fhall have the fame plague of want of water, a famine; for it is a vulgar miftake, that there is no rain in Egypt; it rains indeed but feldom, and only in fome places, but it does rain. Monfieur Thevenot * fays, ‘* it “¢ rains much at Alexandria, and Rofetta alfo, but “¢ at Cairo, which ftands higher, it rains lefs; and “* yet, fays he, I have feen it rain very hard every “< year, for two days together, in the month of “© December.” And Mr. Fuller’ fays, that Sir William Pafion, a patron of.his, and a well accomplifhed traveller, was ‘“‘ an eye-witnefs of much ‘© and violent rain at Grand Cairo, but fuch as ' © prefaged a great mortality, which enfued not *« Jong after.” But it fhould be obferved, that this is only true of the lower part of Egypt, for in the upper parts it rains not, at leaft not very commonly: for Herodotus * reports, that ‘‘ in the times ‘© of P/ammenitus, the fon of Ama/is, king of Egypt, ‘ avery wonderful thing happened to the Lgyp- << tians; it rained at Thebes in Egypt, which it never had before, nor has ever fince, as the.* Thebans fay, for it never rains in the upper part © of Egypt; but then it rained at Thebes in drops.” Yet Mr. Norden +, a late traveller in thofe parts, fays, that he “‘ experienced at Me/chie (a city in his ** travels to upper Egypt) a very violent rain, ac- <* companied with thunder, for the fpace of a ‘¢ whole hour;” tho’ in the fame place he fays, at Fe/chna, and beyond, in the upper Egypt, the fky is always ferene and clear. And in his travels from Cairo to Girge, capital of the upper Egypt, he relates, that at a certain place, as he went thither, they had little wind, and a great deal of rain, And in another place * he obferves, at.Menie (a place in upper Egypt) there was fo thick a fog, that we could perceive nothing at thirty paces diftant: wherefore, fince it does rain at times in fome places, the fame plague as before may be here meant; or want of provifions, as others, thro” a defect of rain; or the Ni/e not overflowing and watering the land, as Yarchi interprets it: but Kimchi gives another fenfe, and fo Aben Ezra, which is, that inftead of having no rain, which they need not, and do not defire; they fhall be {mitten with the plague, that the Lord will {mite all the nations with, that fight againit Yeru/alem, namely, their flefh fhall confume away, Ge. y. 12. ¥. 19. This foall be the punifhment of Egypt, &c.] Or fin“, as in the original text: rightly is the word rendered punifbment, as it is by the Zargum: and the punifbment of all nations that come not up to keep the feaft of tabernacles; which will be one and the fame; they fhall have no rain, or what an- {wers to it; they fhall all have a famine; or it will be different, Egypt fhall be punifhed with a confumption of their flefh, and the other nations with want of rain: the former fenfe feems beft. ¥. 20. In that day, &c.] After the deftruction ofantichrift, and all the antichriftian party; and

* Travels, part 1. ch. 72. * Travels in Egypt and Nu

f Aurea pectoribus demiffla monilia pendent, Tei auro, falvum mandunt-fub dentibus aurum. Frenaque bina meus, qua nunc habet aurea Pallas.

a new ftate of things will take place, either the fpiritual or perfonal reign of Chrift: /hall there be upon the bells of the borfes, bolinefs unto the Lord; as was upon the mitre of the high prieft, Em

XXVili. 36, to which there feems to be an allufion here: or, upon the trappings of the horfes*, as the Targum renders it; and this intends either the horfes flain in war, whofe bells or trappings fhould be devoted and applied to holy ufes; or the horfes that carried the people up to Yerufalem to worthip there, or horfes in common. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions render it, on the bridle of the borfe foall be holine/s to the Lord; that is, they fhould be devoted to his fervice, which fometimes were very richly adorned; yea,were of gold, as thofe defcribed by Virgil’, nay, they were adorned with precious ftones, with pearls, emeralds, and jacinths, infomuch that the Romans were obliged to reftrain this luxury by a law. The conceit of fome of the Fathers, that this refers to one of the nails in the crofs of Chrift, which Con/tantine put into his horfe’s bridle, is juftly ridiculed and exploded by moft commentators. It feems beft to render the word as we do, Zells, as Kimchi and Farchi interpret it; fince it is ufed of cymbals made of brafs, which were to make a found to be heard, 1 Chroz. xv. 19. Neh. xii. 27. and of the fame metal were the horfes bells made; tho’ thofe which the mules, ° at the funeral of Alexander, had at each jaw, were made of gold*; as were thofe 4arom had at the hem of his robe. The ufe of thefe bells on horfes, according to Guffetius ‘, in the eaftern countries, * where they travelled through deferts, and had no beaten track, was to keep them together, and that they might be known where they were when parted; and of like ufe are they now to horfes of burden, or pack-horfes,.with us; tho’ in common ufe they feem to ferve to give horfes a pleafure, and quicken them in their work: but the original of them feems to be, for the training of horfes for war, and therefore they hung bells to their bridles, to ufe them to a noife, and to try if they could bear a noife, and the tumult of war, fo as not to throw their riders, or expofe them to danger *; hence one that has not been tried or trained up to any thing, is called by the Greeks axoduus-G, one not ufed to the noife of a bell, by a metaphor taken from horfes, that have never been tried by the found of bells, whether they can bear the noife of war without fear': and fo it may fignify that thefe, and all the apparatus of war, all kind of armour, fhould no more be made ufe for fuch purpofes, there being now univerfal peace in the kingdom of Chrift; wherefore thefe, and the like, fhould be converted to facred ufes, juft as fwords, at the fame time, fhall be beat into plow-fhares, and fpears into pruning-hooks, for civil ufes, J/ ii. 4. or fince holinefs to the Lord is faid to be upon them, the fenfe may be, that holinefs will be very general among all men; all profeffing people will be righteous; it will appear in all their actions, civil as well as religious; it will Pe vifible as the bells upon the horfes, by their frequent going to the pe 7 | 8. Balle houfe of God; their conftant atteridance on public worfhip; their walking in the ways of the Lord, and their love to one another. And the pots in the Lord’s boufe foall be like the bowls before ihe altar, the pots in which they boiled the facrifices, fhall be like the bowls before the altar, which held the blood of the facrifices to be {prinkled; either like them for number; they fhall be many like them, as the Largum paraphrafes it; or for goodhefs, being made of the fame metal: and the whole denotes the number, holineis, and excellency of the faints in the latter day, who will direct all their actions to the glory of God, whether in eating or drinking, or in whatever they do.

y¥. a1. Yea, every pot in Ferufalem, and in Fudab, foall be bolinefs unto the Lord of hofts, &c.] Such will be the number of facrifices and. facrificers, that the pots in the Lord’s houfe will not be fufficient; wherefore every pot, in city or country, fhall be fanctified and devoted to holy ufes: and all they that facrifice foall come and take of them, and feeth therein; this denotes, as before, the general holinefs of the profeffors of religion in thofe times; and that there will be no difference in the veffels of the Lord’s houfe, or any diftinétion of Few and Gentile; but they will be all f{piritual worfhippers, and offer up the fpiritual facrifices of prayer and praife to the Lord: and in that day there foall be no more the Canaanite in the houfe of the Lord of ~bofts; the Targum paraphrafes it, << there fhall be no more a merchant in the houfe << of the fanctuary of the Lord;” in the temple, where were buyers and fellers of fheep, oxen, and doves, for facrifice, fuch as our Lord drove out; but now there fhall be no more of them, all legal facrifices being at an end. The word here ufed does fignify a merchant, and is fo rendered in Ho/. xii. g. Jf xxiii. 8. and by fome here ™: and the Fews * have a faying, that ‘ there are no Canaan- <¢ ites but merchants;” or the word. always fo fignifies, referring to the above places, and having quoted Fob xli. 6. but it is to be applied td another fort of merchants; to falfe teachers, that make merchandife of the fouls of men; to all meritmongers and papifts; and particularly to the greavmerchant of all, the pope of Rome, and to all inferior merchants under him, who fell pardons, in-. dulgences, ce, and are called the merchants of the earth, Rev. xviii. 3, 11, 12, 13. thefe are the heathen that fhall periftr out of the land, and the finners that fhall be no more; antichrift fhall no longer fit in the temple of God, fhewing himfelf to be God; nor will there be any in the fpiritual reign: of Chrift, that. will buy Rome’s merchandife’ any more. Moreover, a Canaanite may defign an impure perfon, an hypocrite; and tho’ there have been many fuch in the church of God in all ages, yet at this time there will be few or none comparatively fpeaking; and in the perfonal reign of Chrift there will be no wicked men at all: in the new heavens and new earth will dwell righteoufnefs, or only righteous perfons; all the wicked of the earth will be deftroyed before this ftate takes place; only raifed ones, the faints that partake of the firft refurreétion, will be there; they will be all holy and righteous perfons; nothing fhall enter into it that defiles or makes an abomination or a lie, only thofe that do the commandments of God; nor will there be any manner of fin or wickednefs there: fin, like the Canaanites of old, continues in the faints as long as they are in the prefent ftate; and tho’ it has not the dominion over them, yet is as grievous pricks and thorns unto them, and is left in them to prove them; but in this happy {tate there will be no more fin, no more this pricking briar and grieving thorn. That the word Cznaanite is here to be taken in a figurative fenfe is certain; for literally underftood there is no fuch perfon in the world now, nor has been for many hundreds of years, even an inhabitant of Canaan, or one fo called.

HIS. book in the Hebrew copies is called

| Sepher Malachi, the book of Malachi; in the Vulgate Latin verfion, the prophecy of Malachi; in the Syriac and Arabic verfions, the prophecy of the prophet Malachi. According to Laétantius *, Zechariah was the laft of the prophets; but the more commonly received opinion, and the trueft is, that Malachi was the laft; hence Aben Ezra calls him M33 HID the end of the prophets; and by Kimchi-he is faid to be 78 toa the lat of them; and fometimes by the Radbins, Dyan comin the feal of the prophets”; by whom they are all fealed up, concluded and finifhed. His name fignifies my angel, as is commonly faid; tho’ Hillerus * makes it to fignify the angel of the Lord; hence fome have thought that he was not a man,. but an angel; and fo the Sepsuagint render 29x55 W9 in the firft verfe, dy the hand of bis angel, and others have thought, that the book takes its name, not from the author of it, but from the mention that is made of the meflenger or angel of the Lord, Yobs the Bapiift, in ch, iii. 1. but the more prevailing opinion is, that Malachi is the name of a man, the writer of the book, about whom the Yews have been divided. Rab Nachman fays, Malachi was Mordecai, and that he was fo called, becaufe he was fecond to the king. R. Fofbua ben Korcha contradicts him, and affirms Molachi is Ezra; and to him agrees the Chaldee paraphrafe on ¥. 1. which fays, that Malachi, his name is called Ezra the {fcribe; but, as Kimchi obferves, Ezra is never called a prophet, as Malachi is, only a fcribe; wherefore in the Zalmud *, where this matter is debated, it is concluded thus; but the wife men fay, Malachi is his name; that is, it is the proper name of a man; there was a man of this name, that wrote this prophecy; not Mordecai, nor Ezra, nor Zotobabel, nor Nehemiah, as fome have thought; but

N this chapter the Lord declares:his love to the people of J/rae/, and proves it; and complains, that the honour due unto him, Was not given him; which he demonftrates by various inftances.. The infcription is in ¥. 1. fhewing- the name and nature of the prophecy; the author of it 3 the people to whom it was fent; and the name of the perfon by whom. In y. 2. the Lord affirms his love to the people of J/rael, which they called in queftion; and proves it to be real, fpecial, and diftinguifhing, by the inftance of Facob and E/au, two brothers; yet one, their anceftor,

Malachi: and if the accounts of Epiphanius * and Tfidore § are to be credited, this prophet was born’ at Sapbo, in the tribe of Zebulon; and had his name from his beautiful form, and unblemifhed life; and that he died very young, and was buried in his own field. The time of his prophefying is not agreed on: the Yews commonly make him cotemporary with Haggai and Zechariah, they fay ®, that Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, all of them prophefied in the fecond year of Darius; and Ganz their chronologer ", places the death of thefe prophets together in one year; but he feems to be later than they: Haggai prophefied before the building of the temple; Zechariah about the time of it; and Malachi after it, when the temple was rebuilt, and the worfhip of God reftored and fettled; and when both priefts and people were become very corrupt and degenerate, of which ‘he’ complains; fo that it is poffible that he might live’ a century after the other prophets, and about four centuries before the coming of Chrift, during which’ time prophecy ceafed; tho’ fome think he lived” not long before the times of Chrift, which is not’ probable. » Bifhop Ujber ' makes him cotemporary’ with Nehemiah, and places him in the year before the chriftian zra 416; and Mr. Whijfon* in the year 400; Mr. Bedford'in the year 424; however, this book has been always accounted ‘au-. thentic, and a part of the canon of the feripture; and is confirmed by the paffages cited oil of it, and the references made unto it, in the New Te- ~ ftament, Matt. xi. 10. Mark i. 2. Rom, ix. 13. Matt. xvii. 12. Mark ix. 11, 12.- Luke i. 17. The general defign of it is to reprove the Yews for their ingratitude to the Lord, their negleét and contempt of his worfhip, and breach of his laws; and to raife in the minds of the truly godly an expectation of the Meffiah, and his fore-runner Fobn the Bapti/t.

was loved, and the other hated; which latter is roved by the defolations made in his country, and by the fruitlefs attempts made to repair and rebuild; which was fo clear a proof of the Lord’s — indignation againft him, that the J/raelites could’ not but fee it, and would be obliged to confefs ir, to the glory of God, ¥. 3, 4, 5. hence he pafles on to obferve the honour and fear that were due to him as a Father and mafter, which were not fhewn him; but inftead thereof, he was defpifed, and even by the priefts themfelves, with which they are charged, y¥. 6. and which being objected — san thou loved us? the Targum renders it; and if ye ‘foould fay; and fo Kimchi and Ben Melech, which intimates, that tho’ they might not have exprefled themfelves in fo many words, yet they feemed dif pofed to fay fo; they thought it, if they faid it not; and therefore to prevent fuch an objection, as well as to. fhew their ingratitude, it is put in this form; and an inftance of his love is demanded, which is very furprizing, when they had fo many 5 and fhews great ftupidity and unthankfulnefs. Abarbinel renders the words, wherefore bhaft thou loved us? that is, is there not a reafon to be given for loving us? which he fuppofes was the love of Abrabam to God; and therefore his love to them was not free, but by way of reward to Abrabam’s love; and confequently they were not fo much obliged to him for it: to which is replied, was not Efau Facob’s brother, faith the Lord? Facob and Efau were brethren; they had one and the fame father and mother, J/aac and-Rebekab, and equally defcended from Abraham; fo that if one was loved for the fake of Abraham, as fuggefted, according to Abarbinel’s fenfe; the other had an equal claim to it; they lay in the fame womb together; they were twins; and if any could be thought to have the advantage by birth, E/aw had it, being born firft; but before they were born, and before they had done good or evil, what is afterwards faid of them was in the heart of God towards them; which fhows that the love of God to his people is free, fovereign, and diftinguifhing, Gen. xxv. 2. Rom. ix. 11, 12, 13: yet I loved Facob; perfonally confidered; not only by giving him the temporal birth-right and blefling, and the advantages arifing from thence; but* by chufing him to everlafting life, beftowing his grace upon him, revealing Chrift unto him, and making him a partaker of eternal happinefs; and alfo his pofterity, as appears by the above inftances mentioned; and likewife my- {tically confidered, for all the elect, redeemed, and called, go by the name of Facob and Irael in - {cripture frequently; for what is here faid of acob, is true of all the individuals of God’s people; for which purpofe the apoftle refers to this paf= fage in Rom. ix, 13. to prove the fovereignity and, diftin@tion of the love of God in their election, and falvation: and this is indeed a clear proof that the love of God to his people is entirely free from all motives and conditions in them, being before they had done either good or evil; and therefore did not arife from any gooduefs in them, nor from their love to him, nor from any good works done by them: the choice of perfons to everlafting life, the fruit of this love, is denied to be of works, and is afcribed to grace; it pafled before any were wrought; and what are done by the beft of men, are.the effects of it; and the perfons chofen or pafied by, were in an equal ftate, when both were done; which appears by this inftance: and by which alfo it is manifeft, that the love of God to men is diftinguifhing; it is not alike to all men; there is a peculiar favour he bears to his own peo- Which appeared of old, by chufing them above all people upon the face of the earth, to be his fpecial and peculiar people’; by beftowing peculiar favours and bleffings upon them, both temporal and fpiritual; by continuing them a people, thro’ a variety of changes and revolutions; and by lately bringing them out of the Badylonifb captivity, re- {toring their land unto them, and the pure worthip of God among them: “yer ye Jay, wherein haft ple; which is evident by the choice of fome, and not others; by the redemption of them out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation; by the effectual vocation of them out of the world; by the application of the bleffings of grace unto them; and by beftowing eternal life on them: and it may be further obferved, that the objects of God’s love have not always the knowledge of it; indeed they have no knowledge of it before pons iui to by them, is proved by offering polluted bread on his altar; and by polluting him, in faying ‘his table was contemptible; and by facrificing the blind, the lame, and the fick unto him; things which would be juitly refented, if offered to a temporal prince and governor, ¥. 7, 8. wherefore they are called upon by the prophet to pray to the Lord for grace and mercy for the people, feeing it was by their means (the priefts) that thefe things were done; tho’ it was queftionable whether the Lord would haye any regard to them, y. g. their fins being fo dreadfully aggravated; and particularly, inafmuch as they did not ferve in the temple, not fo much as fhut a door, or kindle a fire on the altar, for nothing, without being paid for it; hence the Lord declares he had no pleafure in them, nor would he accept their offerings; but would call the Gentiles by his grace, among whom his name would be great from one end of the earth to the other; and incenfe and pure offerings would be offered by them to him, ¥. 10, 11. and then he renews the charge againft them, that they had profaned his name, by faying that his table, and the fruit thereof, were polluted, and his meat contemptible; by expreffling a wearinefs in his worfhip, and a contempt of it; and by bringing the torn, the lame, and fick, as an offering to him, y. 12, 13. upon which fuch facrificers are declared deceivers, and pronounced accurfed, which they might affure themfelves was, and would be their cafe; fince he was a great king, and his name dreadful among the heathen, y. 14.

y. 1. The burden of the word of the Lord, &c.} By which is meant, the prophecy of this book, fo called, not» becaufe heavy, burdenfome, and di ftreffing, either for the prophet to carry, or the people to bear; for fome part of it, which refpects Chrift, and his fore-runner, was matter of joy to the people of God; but becaufe it was a meffage fent by the Lord, and carried by the prophet to the people; fee the notes on Zech. ix. 1. and xii. 1. and this was not the word of man, but of God, a part of {cripture, by divine infpiration. The Syriac verfion is, the vifion of the words of the Lord; and the Arabic verfion, the revelation of the word of the Lord; and the Septuagint verfion, the affumption of the word of the Lord, it was what was revealed, made known, and delivered by the Lord to the prophet, and taken up by him, and carried to J/- rael, which was the general name of all the twelve tribes, when under one prince; but when the kingdom was divided in Rebobcam’s time, it was peculiar to the ten tribes, as Yudah was to the two tribes of Benjamin and Fudah, but after the return of thefe two from the Babylonifh captivity, in which they were joined by fome of the other tribes, it was given unto them as here: by Malachi, or, by the hand of Malachi™; he was the inftrument the Lord made ufe of; the perfon whom he fent, and by whom. he delivered the following prophecy.

which is the oper time of love; and after converfion they have not always diftin& and appropriating views ot it; only when God is pleafed to come and manifeft if unto them,: y¥. 3. And 1 bated Efau, &c.) Or, rejected him, as the Zergum,; did not love him as Jacob: this was a negative, not pofitive hatred; it is true of him, perionally confidered; not only by taking away the birth-right and bleffing from him, which he defpifed; but by denying him his {pecial grace, leaving him in his fins, and to his lufts, fo that he became a profane perfon; fhared not in the grace of God here, and had no part in the eternal inheritance, with the faints in light; and likewife it is true of his pofterity, as the following inftances fhow: and laid his mountains and his heritage wafte; which, according to Grotius, was done by Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the captivity of the Yews, in fulfilment of the prophecy of eremiah, eh. xlix. 722. but this was done by the Nabatheans ": tain that Ejaw dwelt; in, Gen, xxxvi. 8. there might be more in his country; or this might have many tops, and therefore called mountains; and to this account of the wafte and defolate ftate of this country, agrees what is at prefent related of it, by a late traveller ° in thofe parts: ‘‘ if us, and purfue our phyfical obfervations into the land of Edom, we fhall be. prefented with a variety of profpects, quite different from thofe we have lately met with in the land of Canaan, or in the field of Zoan; for we cannot here be entertained with paftures clothed with flocks, or with vallies ftanding thick with corn, or with brooks of water, or fountains, or depths that {pring out of vallies and hills, Deut. viii. 7. here is no place of feed, or of figs, or of vines, or pomegranates, Numb. xx. 5. but the whole is an evil place, a Jonefome, defolate wildernefs; no otherwife diverfified than by plains covered with fand, and by mountains made up of naked rocks and precipices, Ma/. i. 3. neither is this country ever (unle{s fometimes at the equinoxes) refrefhed with rain; but the few hardy vegetables it produces, are ftunted by a perpetual drought; and the nourifhment which: the dews contribute to them in the night, is fufficiently impaired by the powerful heat of the fun in the day:” tho’ this country feems to have been originally more fruitful, and better cultivated, as may be concluded from Gen. xxvii. 39. Numb. xx. 17. but is become fo thro’ the judgments of God upon it: for the dragons of the wildernefs; fo called to diftinguifh them from fea-dragons, or the dragonfith; fuch as whales and crocodiles,which are fometimes expreffed by the fame word here ufed, Gen. i. 21. Ezek, xxix. 3. and thefe land-dragons are no other than ferpents of an enormous fize. In the Indies they ufed to be diftinguifhed into. three forts; fuch as were found in. the mountains; fuch as were bred in caves, or in the flat country; and fuch as were found in fens and marfhes.. The firft is the largeft of all, and are covered with cales as refplendent as polifhed gold; thefe have a kind. of beard hanging from their lower jaw; their eyebrows large, and very exactly arched; their afpect the moft irightful that can be imagined; and their mount Se7r was the famous moun- °

“< (fays he) we leave Paleftine and Egypt: behind |

| ery loud and fhrill; their creft of a bright yellow;

and a protuberance on their heads of the colour of a burning coal. Thofe of the flat. country differ from the former in nothing but having their fcales of a filver colour, and in their frequentin rivers, to whieh the former never come. Thoie that live in marfhes and fens are of a dark colour, approaching to a black, move flowly, have no creft, or any rifing on their heads?: thefe creatures commonly inhabit defert places. So Diodorus Siculus * {peaking of Ethiopia, fays, it is reported, that divers kinds of ferpents, and of an incredible bignefs, are feen near the defert, and in places inhabited by wild beafts; and 4iianus ‘ de- {cribes the dragon as dwelling in woods, and living on poifonous herbs; and preferring a defolate place to cities, and the habitations of men; and when in fcripture it is predicted of countries and cities that they fhall become cefolate, it is ufually obferved, that they fhall be the dwelling places of dragons, as in J/. xiii..22. and xxxiv. 13. Jer. xe 22. and xlix. 33. and li. 37. fo here it is foretold, dernefs of Sin, which might be very properly called the inheritance of dragons, were very dangerous and troublefome; not only our camels, but the 4vabs who attended them, running every moment the rifque of being bitten;* fo that, according to the prediction, it is now a place for fuch creatures, that not ferpents, but jackalls are here meant, which are a fort of wild howling beafts, that live abroad in defolate places; fee the note on Mic, i. 8. but whether they be the one, or the other, it makes for the fame purpofe, to denote what a defert place Edom would become; fince it fhould be inhabited by fuch creatures to dwell in, which denotes the utter defolation made. renders it, ato the wajftene/s of the defert; or into a wafte defert, where none but fuch fort of animals inhabit. render it, into the houfes, or cottages of the defert: and now, tho’ this was the.cafe of Fudea, that it was left defolate, yet it was but for a while; at the end of feventy years the Fews returned to their own land, and dwelt in it; but fo did not the Edomites, as appears by the following words; which fhows the regard God had to the pofterity of Facob; and not to the potterity of E/au.

A learned Few ‘is of opinion,