Exposition of the Whole Bible

to break the peace that fubfifted between them, but always did the things which pleafed:his Father, and had peace in what he did;.and he walked with him i# equity or righteoufnefs, fulfilling his righteous law, and bringing in an everlafting righteoufnefs: and did turn many away from iniquity; doétrinal and praétical; which is to be underftood, not of a bare reformation only in principle and practice, but of true, real converfion; of which there were many inftances under the miniftry of his forerunner ‘ohn the Baptif, and under his. own miniftry when in perfon on earth; and under the miniftry of his apoftles, attended with his Spirit and power, both in Fudea, and in the Gentile world. y. 7. For the priefts lips foould keep knowledge, &c.} Or jhall keep knowledge, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions; or do keep knowledge, as the Arabic verfion; and fo the Syriac verfion, for. the lips of the prieft drop knowledge; all this is true of Chrift our great high-prieft; for as it was predicted of him, that his lips fhould keep knowledge, fo they have kept it, and do keep it; not concealing it, but preferving it, and communicating it freely and openly; as he did to his difciples and followers when here on earth, and by them. to others; and ftill does by his Spirit, giving to. men the knowledge of themfelves and ftate; the knowledge of himfelf, and the way of falvation by him, and of the truths of the gofpel: and they fhould feek the law at bis mouth; not the law of Moj/es, but the doétrine of grace, and any wholefome inftruction and advice; which he is greatly qualified to give, being the wonderful counfellor: it may be rendered, they fhall feek, or do feck; and which has been fulfilled, efpecially in the Gentiles, and in the iles that waited for his law or doctrine, J/ xi.-10. and xlii. 4: for he is the meffenger of the Lord of hofts; or angel”; he is the angel of God’s prefence, and of the covenant, J/. Ixiii. 9. Mal.iii. 1. which name he has from being fent, for. he came not of himfelf, but his Father fent him; he was fent asa prieft to atone for the fins of his people, and to be their Saviour; and as a prophet,.to inftrué&t and teach them; and. therefore. they fhould feck to him for knowledge, and attend his will and ordinances, and implore his Spirit and grace. y. 8. But ye are departed out of the way, &c.] Of truth and righteoufnefs,.of life and) peace, of eternal falvation and happinefs, pointed to by Chrift and his forerunner, and by-his apoftles’ and. minifters that followed him, and which was clearly fhewed in the preaching of the gofpel:, this was the character of the chief priefts, fcribes and pharifees in Chrift’s time, to which the prophet feems to have refpeét; who not only failed in their obfervance of legal iacrifices, complained of in the former chapter, but left that way of atonement and falvation they directed to,’ and led others out of the way with them: ye have caufed many to fiumble at the law; at the doétrine of juftification by the righteoufnefs of Chrift; which was the ftumblingftone they fell at, feeking for righteoufnefs, and directing others to feek for it; not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, Rom. ix. 32, 33: e have corrupted the covenant of Levi, faith the

. Lord of hofts that which was fhadowed out by the Levitical priefthood and covenant, namely, the co-

7 aD. CD Moved) et accepittis faciem in lege, acclpitis faciem, Cocceius 5 et ferentes faciem in lege, Burkius.

of his difpenfations towards him); he did nothing; venant of biomes difpenfed under the.gofpel-difpenfation by the miniftry of the word and ordi-, nances;, which they rejected, defpifed, and fet at nought, and as much as in them lay;endeavoured to make void, by not attending to. thefe. things, nor. fuffering others, but doing all they could to bring them into difufe, contempt, and.difgrace, ¥.9. Therefore have I alfo made you contemptible and bafe, 8ec.], When their city and temple were deftroyed. by the Romans, and they were carried. captive by them, and became a taunt’and a proverb.in all places where they came; before all the people; the nations of. the world, among whonz they were fcattered; according as ye-bave:not kept my ways; neither thofe which..the law, direéted to, either) moral or ceremonial; nor what»the gofpel, directed to, the ordinances.and inftitutions of Chrift, particularly baptifm, which the ews rejected a- | gaint themfelves, Luke vii. 30: but. have been partial in the law; in the obfervance of. it,, attending to the leffer, and taking no notice of the weightier, matters, of.it, as the Fews are charged by |Chrift, Matt. xxiii. 23. and in the:interpretation-of jit, re- {training its ienfe only to outward actions, for which they.are reproved,. Matt...v..-orsreceived faces, or accepted perfons in the.law*, in matters of the law. they were concerned in, they had:refpect to the perfons, of men, by giving the fenfe. of it, and pronouncing judgment, in favour of fome, to, the prejudice of others, wrongly. ¥.10. Have ye not all one father? &c.}.:Whether this is underftood of Adam the firft man, of whofe blood all nations of the earth~are..made, and who in the fame fenfe.is the father of -all living, as Lve-was the. mother of all living or of Abrabam the father of the Fewifh people, of whom, as their father, they ufed to ‘glory; or, of Facob; as Kimchi.and Aben Ezra interpret it, whom the Jews. ufed to callour father Zacob; or;of: God,’ who,is.the Father: of all men by creation, and of the Fews by national adoption of them.; and who may the rather be thought to be meant,, ince it follows, bath not one God created us? either.as men, or formed Us as a body politick;, which may ferve to explain what is meant by. their having. one father: which ever is the fenfe of thefe words, the argument from henceiis.,ftrong;, that there ought oe no partiality ufed in the law, or, any refpect had to perfons,;in, that the rich and, the.poor-have all one father and one,creator; fee Fem. ii.E-8 why do we deal treacheroufly every. man ageintbts brother 5. by perverting, juttice, ‘having ‘refpect:ta -perfons, favouring one to the.prejudice, of another, as it follows:. 2y prophaning. the covenant of nour fathers? the covenant made with them.at Sing, as | Farchi explains it; the law that was, then: enjoined them, particularly fuch as forbid. refpedh,ot:perfons, Lev, xix..15. Deat. xvi. 19..Jome,think, as Aben Ezra, that a new fection here begips,..and that the prophet proceeds, to.a new sreproot,; and for. another. fin thefe: people. were, guilty,,of - in marrying wives of another nation, contraty tothe law. in: Exod... xxxiv..15.,. which owas, dealing. treacheroufly with one another, and, profaniag the.covenant of; their fatherse—fiarcn livin odd trreere: 2 ¥..11. Judah hath dealt treacherauflys 8c. } Not only every man againft his,brother,;,by being, partial in the law; or againft.the women of their nation, by marrying others; or againft their wives, by putting them away; but againft Chrift the Son of God, by betraying and delivering him up into the hands of the Gentiles, to be mocked, and fcourged, and crucified: and an abomination 1s committed in Ifrael, and in Ferufalen, which was the taking of the true Meffiah with wicked hands, condemning him and putting him to death, even the fhameful and accurfed death of the crofs; which was done in the land of J/rae/, and in and near the city of Ferufalem: for Fudab hath profaned the holine[s of the Lord, which he loved; Chrift, who is the Lord’s holy- one, holinefs itfelf, the moft holy, and holinefs to the Lord for his people; and who is his dear Son, the Son of his love, whom he loved from everlafting, continued to love in time amidft all his meannefs, forrows, and fufferings, and will love for evermore; him the Jews profaned by blafpheming him, falfely accufing him, and condemning him; by {pitting upon him, buffetting, fcourging, and crucifying him: fome interpret this boline/s of the foul of Fudah, which was holy before the Lord, and loved, as the Targum; fo Farchi of Fudab himfelf, or L/rael, who was holinefs to the Lord; and others of the holy place, the fanctuary, and all holy things belonging thereto; and others of the holy ftate of marriage, fince it follows: and hath married the daughter of a firange god, which the Targum paraphrafes thus, *‘ and they were pleafed to take to them ** wives, the daughters of the people;” the Gentiles, fuch as Moabites, Ammonites, and the like: and this fenfe is followed by moft interpreters, tho’ the phrafe feems rather to be expreffive of idolatry; and fo the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic verfions interpret it of their being intent upon, and ferving ftrange gods; and as the Fews rejected the Son of God, and his word, ordinances, and worfhip, they had not the true God, nor did they worfhip him, but became guilty of idolatry; and befides, as they rejected the king Meffiah from being their king, fo they declared they had no king but Ce/far, an idolatrous emperor, and joined with the idolatrous Gentiles in putting Chrift to death, Fobn xix. 12, 15. Ais iv. 27.

v.12. The Lord will cut off the man that doth this, &c.] That is guilty of fuch treachery, wickednefs, and idolatry: or to the man that doth this’; all that belong to him, his children and fubftance: it denotes the utter deftruétion, not of a fingle man and his family only, but of the whole Fewifo nation and its polity, civil and ecclefiaftical, as follows: the mafter and the {cholar out of the tabernacles of Facob; the Targum paraphrafes it, “© the fon, and fon’s fon, out of the cities of Fa- *¢ cob;” agreeable to which is Kimchi’s note, * it “© is as if it was faid, there fhall not be left in ** his houfe one alive; that there fhall not be in ** his houfe one that anfwers him, that calls by ‘© name.” Inthe Hebrew text it is, him that is awake, and him that anfwers*; which the Talmudits * explain, the former of the wife men or mafters, and the latter of the difciples of the wife mien; to which fenfe our verfion agrees: but by bim that waketh or watcheth, according to Cocceius, is meant the civil magiftrate, who watches for the good of the commonwealth, and fo may defign the elders and rulers of the people; and by him that anfweretb, the prophet, who returns anfwers when he is confulted-in things belonging to the law of God, and fuch were the fcribes and lawyers. And him that offereth an offering unto the Lord of hofts; the prielt, that offered facrifice for the people; fo that hereby is threatened an entire. deftruction, both of the civil and ecclefiaftical polity of the ews, that there fhould be no prince, prophet, and prieft among them; all fhould be removed out of the tents of Facob, or cities of J/- rael; fee Hof. iii. 4. na

¥. 13. And this have ye done again, &c.) Or ix the fecond” place; to their rejection andvill-treatment of Chrift, they added their hypocritical prayers and tears, as follows: covering the altar of. the Lord with tears and weeping, and withtrying out; for the Mefliah they vainly expect, pretending great humiliation for their fins: tho’ fome, as Kimchi and Aben Ezra, make the firft evil to be their offering illegal facrifices on the altar, complained of in the former chapter; and this fecond, their marrying ftrange wives, on account of which their lawful wives came into the houfe of God, and wept over the altar before the Lord, complaining of the injury that was done them: in/omuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand; which exprefles an utter rejection and abrogation of legal facrifices; and which fome make to.be the reafon of their covering the altar with tears and weeping: or the altar is reprefented as weeping, becaule facrifice is nomore offered upon it; fee Dam, ix. 27. Hof. iii. 4.

y. 14. Yet ye fay, wherefore? &c.]: What’s: the meaning of the’ women covering the: altar with tears? as if they knew not what was the reafon of it, when they were fo notorioufly guilty of breach of covenant with them; which is an -inftance of their: impudence, as Abardinel obferves: or, if ye fay, wherefore? as the Targum and Kimchi interpret the words; fhould you fay, what’s the reafon why the Lord will not regard nor receive our offerings? the anfwer is ready, decau/e the Lord hath been witnefs between thee and the wife of thy youth; when efpoufed together in their youthful days, the Lord was prefent at that folemn contrat, and faw the obligations they were laid under to each other, and he was called upon by both parties to bea witnefs of the fame; and at the prefent time’ he was a witnefs, how agreeably the wives of the J/- raehtes had behaved towards their hufbands, and how-treacheroufly they had’ acted towards them; he faw and knew, that whatever pretenfions they made, they did not love them, nor behave as they — fhould towards them; and therefore had juft caufe of complaint again{ft them, and muft be a witnefs for the one, and againft the other: this: fin of hating and divorcing their wives, or of marrying others: befides them, which: prevailed ‘much in our Lord’s time, is particularly mentioned, tho’ they were guilty of many other fins, as a reafon of the Lord’s not accepting their offerings: the aggrava - tions of it are, that they had broken ‘a -contraé God was witnefs to, and dealt injurioufly: with | wives they had efpoufed in the days of their youth; fee Prov. ii. 17. and v. 18: againft whom thou haft dealt. treacheroufly; by divorce or polygamy: the - Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, whom thou baft defpifed: and the Septuagint and Arabic econ; | ge,

Ch. never g. whom thou hajft left; divorced and took others, which arofe from hatred and contempt of their former: other aggravations follow: yet is fhe thy companion, or and fhe is, or tho’ fhe is thy companion ®; has been fo in time pait, and ought to be fo fill, and fo accounted: the wife is a part of a man’s felf, is one flefh with him; a partaker of what he has; a partner with him in profperity and adverfity; a companion in life, civil and religious, and ought to remain fo till death part them; for whom God has put together, let no man put afunder: and the wife of thy covenant; wherefore either to divorce her, or marry another, was a breach of covenant; for by covenant is not meant the covenant of God made with the people of J/rae/, in which they both were; but the covenant of marriage made between them, and which was broken by fuch practices.

¥. 15. And did not he make one? &c.| That is, did not God make one man, and out of his rib one woman? did he not make man, male and female? did ke not make one pair, one couple, only Adam and Eve, whom he joined together in marriage? or, rather, did he not make one woman only, and brought her to Adam to be his wife? which fhows that his intention and will were, that one man fhould have but one wife at a time; the contrary to which was the then prefent practice of the Jews: yet had he the refidue of the Spirit; it was not for want of power that he made but one woman of Adam’s rib, and breathed into her the breath of life, or infufed into her a human foul or fpirit; he could have made many women at the fame time; and as the Father of fpirits, having the refidue of them with him, or a power left to make * as many as he pleafed, he could have imparted {pirits unto them, and given Adam more wives than one: and wherefore one? what is the reafon why he made but one woman, when he could have made ten thoufand, or as many as he pleafed? the anfwer is, that he might feek a godly feed, or a feed of God* a noble, excellent feed; a legitimate offfpring, born in true and lawful wedlock;— fee 1 Cor. vii. 14. a feed fuitable to the dignity of human nature, made after the image of God, and not like that of brute beafts, promifcuous and uncertain: therefore take heed.to your fpirit; to your affections, that they don’t go after other women, and be led thereby to take them in marriage, and to defpife and divorce the lawful wife, as it follows: and let none deal treacheroufly with the wife of bis youth, by marrying another, or divorcing her: thefe words are differently rendered and interpreted by fome; but the fenfe given feems to be the true one, and moft agreeable to the fcope of the place. Some render the firft claufe, bath not one made * 2 that is, did not the one God, who is the only living and true God, make one man or one woman? and then the fenfe is the fame as before; or did not that one God make, conftitute, and appoint, that the woman fhould be the man’s companion, and the wife of his covenant, as in the latter part of the preceding verfe? or, did not one do '? that is, fo as we have done, take another wife befides the wife of his youth? and {6 they are the words of the people to the prophet, juftifying their practice by example; by the example of Abraham, whom fome of the Fewi/h writers think is intended by the one, as in Jf li, 2. Ezek. xxiii. 24, The Targum is, “* was not one Abraham alone, from “* whom the world was created,” or propagated? Kimchi gives it as his own fenfe, in thefe words; “* Abraham, who was one, and the father of all ** that follow him in his faith, did not do as ye ** have done; for he did not follow his luft, nor “* even marry Sarab, but fo that he might caufe ** the feed of God to remain;” yet he mentions it as his father’s fenfe, that they are the words of the people to the prophet, expreffed in a way of interrogation, faying, did not our father Abraham, who was one, do as we have done? who left his wife, and married Hagar his maid, tho’ he had the refidue or excellency of the Spirit, and was a prophet; to whom the prophet replies, and what did that one feek? a godly feed; which is as if it was faid, when he married Hagar, it was to feek a feed, becaufe he had no feed of Sarah his wife. A feed was promifed him, in which all nations of the earth were to be bleffed; he fought not to gratify his luft, but to obtain this feed, the Meffiah, to whom the promifes were made, as the apoftle argues, Gal. ili. 16. be faith not, and to feeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy feed which is Chrift; called here the godly feed, or the feed God ®, as fome chufe to render the words; that is, that feed which is God, who isa divine perfon, God and man in one perfon; or which is of God, of his immediate production, without the help of a man; which the Jews call the feed that comes from another place, and which they ufe as a periphrafis of the Mef= fiah. So on thofe words in Gen. iv. 25. fhe called his name Seth, for God hath appointed me another feed, ** fays R. Tanchuma, in the name of R. Sa- ‘© muel, the has refpect to that feed which comes *¢ from another place, and what is this? this is *¢ the king Meffiah*.” And the fame Raddi elfewhere * obferves, on thofe words in Gen. xix. 32. that we may preferve feed of our father; ** it is not ‘* written, that we may preferve a fon of our fa- “* ther, but that we may preferve feed of our fa- ‘© ther; that feed which is he that comes from an- ** other place, and what is this? this is the king *¢ Meffiah.” Now as Abraham had the promife of a fon, and his wife was barren, he took the method he did that he might have one, the fon of the promife, a type of the Meffiah, and from whom ‘he fhould {pring; and this is fufficient to juftify him in it: befides, he did not deal treacheroufly with Sarah his wife, for it was with her good will, and by her authority he did this thing; but do you take heed to your fpirit, that no one of you deal treacheroufly with the wife of his youth, to leave her, and marry the daughter of a ftrange God: and much the fame fenfe ‘Yarchi takes notice of, as the Agadah, or the interpretation of their ancient Rablins. Some render the words, and not one does this; that is, deals treacheroufly with the wife of his youth, that has the refidue of the Spirit,

£ Et ne unus fecit? Pagninus, Montanus; et unus ille (Abramus) ita egit? Grotius; annon unus hoc fecit? Tigurine verfion, rit, or the leaft {park of the Spirit of God in him 3. and how fhould any one do it, feeking a godly feed? therefore take heed to your fpirit, &c. fo

De Dieu. But according to others the fenfe is,

*< there is not one of you that does according to

‘¢ the law; whofe fpirit remains with him that is

«* not mixed with the daughter of a ftrange god;”

which is 4den Ezra’s note. But according to Abarbinel the ienfe is, not one only has done this, committed this evil, in marrying more and ftrange women; not fome only, and the reft have the Spirit with them, and keep it pure from this fin; fo that a godly feed cannot be procreated from you;

therefore take heed to your {pirit.

y¥. 16, For the Lord the God of Ifrael faith, that he hateth putting away, &c.] The divorcing of wives; for, tho” this was fuffered becaufe of the hardnefs of their hearts, it was not approved of by the Lord; nor was it from the beginning; and it was difagreeable, and even hateful to him, Mazs, xix. 8. inthe margin of fome bibles the words are rendered, if he hate her, put ber away; and fo the

Targum, ‘* but if thou hateft her, put her away;”

to which agree the Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, and Arabic verfions; and this fenfe is made mention of in both Falmuds, and is thought to be agreeable to the law in Deut. xxiv. 3. tho’ the law there ipeaks of a fact that might be, and not of what ought to be; wherefore the former fenfe is beft;

and this other feems to have been at firft calcu-

Jated to favour the practice of the Fews, who put away their wives thro’ hatred to them. The Fews were very much inclined to divorce their wives upon very trivial occafions; if they did not drefs their food well, were not of good behaviour, or not fo. modeft as became the daughters of J/rael; if they did not find favour with their hufbands, and efpecially, if they had entertained an hatred of them: fo fays R. Judah“, “ if he hate her, let « him put her away:” but this is by fome of them reftrained to a fecond wife; for of the firft they fay, ‘¢ it is not proper to be hafty to put ** away a firft wife; but a fecond, if he hates her, *¢ let him put her away ':” and R. Eleazer fays™, whoever divorces his firft wife, even the altar fheds tears. for him, referring to the words in ¥. 13. and divorces of this kind they only reckon. lawful among the J/raelites, and found it upon this paffage; for fo they make God to fpeak ‘after this manner", ‘¢ in J/rael I have granted: divorces; ** among the nations of the world I have ‘not granted divorces. R. Chananiah, in the name of R. Phinebas, obferves, that in every: other fection it is: written, the Lord of hofts; but here it is written, the God of Jfrael, to teach thee that the holy bleffed God does not put his name to divorces. (or allow them) but in J/rael only. * R. Chayeh Rabba fays, the Gentiles have no di- ‘* vorces.”» But fome of them have better under- Randing of thefe words, and more truly give the fenfe of them thus, as R. ‘fochanan does; who interprets them, “ the putting away of the. wife is ‘* hateful; it is fo to.God, and ought not to be done by men, but in cafe of adultery, as our Lord has taught, Matt. v. 32. and xix. g. and which was the doétrine of the fchool. of Shammai in Chrift’s time, who taught, ‘* that no man *¢ fhould divorce his wife, unlefs he found inher *¢ filthinefs;” 7. e. that the was guilty of adultery;

tho’ this Maimonides reftrains to the firft wife, as before: but the houfe of H//e//, who lived in thefame time, was of a different mind, “and taught that ** if fhe burnt his food;”? either over dreffed, or over falted it, according to Deut. xxiv. 1. R. Akiba fays, if he found another more beautiful than her, according to Deut. xxiv. 1. he might divorce her’: of the form of a divorce, fee the note on Matt. v. 31.» Fhofe interpreters among chriftians that go this way, don’t look upon this as an approbation of divorce, on account of ha* tred; but that fo to do is better than to retain them with hatred of them, feeing it was connived at, or than to take other wives with them. | For one covereth violence with bis garment, or on bis garment, faith the Lord of hofts; as he that puts away his wife does her an open injury, which tho’ he may cover, pretending the law, which connives at divorces 3 yet the violence done to his wife is as manifeft as’ the garment upon his back: tho? thofe who think the former'words are an inftruétion to... put’ away wives. when-hated, confider this ag a reafon why they fhould do fo; becaufe by retaining them, and yet hating them,‘ and taking other wives to them, is doing them a real injury; whatever cover or pretence may be ufed; becaufe, if difmified, they might be loved by, ‘and married to, other men. Aben Ezra feems to have hit the fenfe of thefe words, when he makes this to be the object of God’s hatred,’ as well as the former’; “his note is, ** the Lord hateth him that putteth away ‘© his wife that is:pure, and he hates him that co- *¢ vereth; or God fees his violence which is done “< in fecret.” Mr. Pocock propofes a conjecture, which is very ingenious and probable, that as the words will bear the conftruction ben Ezra gives, that God hates putting away, and hates that one fhould put violence upon or over his garment; by garment he thinks may be meant a man’s lawful wife, which is as a garment to him; ‘and by violence a fecond wife, or other wives, taken to the injury, hurt, and vexation of the former; and the covering, or fuperinducing violence over the garment, is marrying an unlawful wife, over or with, or above his lawful one: and the fenfe is, that as God hates divorce, fo he hates polygamy: therefore take heed to your {pirit, that you deal not treacheroufly; fee the note on the preceding’verfe. * y. £7. Ye have wearied the Lord with your words;

| &c.] As well as with their actions; fee Jf xiii.

24. this is faid after the manner of men, they faying thofe things which were difpleafing and provoking to him, and which he could’not’ bear to | hear; or otherwife wearinefs, properly cannot be attributed to God: yet ye Jay, wherein have we wearied’ him? as if they were clear and innocent;or as the'Targum, if ye foould fay, though they might not expre{s themfelves in words in fuch an impudent manner; yet’ fhould they fay fo in their hearts, or fuppofing they fhould ‘utter fuch’ words with their’ lips, out of the abundance of their evil’ hearts, the anfwer is ready’: cohen ye fay, every one that doth evil, is good in the fight of the Lord, and he. delighteth in them, which they concluded from the profperity of the wicked, and the afflictions of the righteous’; fo murmuring: at, and complaining of, the providence of God ~he acting as if he delighted in wicked men, and as if that did evil were the moft grateful and: acceptable © Cl noms? (er? wtreey 8 trigeria ea

Ch. it, ¥. 1. to him: or, if this was not the cafe, where is the “God of judgment? why does he not arife and fhew ~himfelf to bea God that judgeth the earth, by taking vengeance on the wicked, and granting profperity to his people? De Diew takes thefe lait words to be the words of the prophet, and thinks that 98 is a particle of exclamation, and fhould be rendered O; and that the prophet exprefies his wonder at the patience and long-fuffering of God, in bearing fuch impiety and blafphemy as before delivered. The Septuagint and Arabic verfions are, where is the God of righteoufnefs? either God the

“HIS chapter begins with a prophecy of Fobn the Baptift, the forerunner of Chrift; and of the coming of Chrift, and the effects and confequences of it, with refpect both to the righteous and the wicked; and it contains accufations and charges of fin againft the Fews, intermixed with exhortations to repentance. ‘fcehn the Bapti t is promifed to be fent, and is deicribed by his office as a meffenger, and by his work, to prepare the way of the Lord; and the Meffiah is prophefied of, who is defcribed. by his characters; with refpect to himfelf; the Lord and mefiengeér of the covenant; with refpeéct to the truly godly among the Jews, as the object of their defire and delight; whofe coming is fpoken of as a certain thing, and which would be fudden; and: the place is mentioned he fhould come into, ¥..1. and this his coming is reprefented as terrible to the wicked, ‘and ‘as trying and purifying to the righteous, expreffed by the various fimilies of a refiner’s fire, and fuller’s foap; and the end anfwered by it, their offering a righteous offering to the Lord, ¥. 2, 3, 4. but with refpec to the wicked he declares, he fhould be a fwift witnefs againft them, whofe charaéters are particularly given, and this affured from his immutability; the confequence of which to the faints is good, being their fecurity from deftruction, ¥..5, 6. and next a charge is commenced againft the wicked Yews, as that in generai they had for a long time revolted from the’ ‘Lord, and were guilty of fins of omiffion and commiffion, and are therefore exhorted to return to the Lord, ‘with a promifé that he’ll return ‘to them, and yet they refufe, ¥.°7. and in particu- Jar, that they were guilty of facrilege, and fo accounted, even the whole nation, in withholding ‘tithes and facrifices, which they are exhorted to bring in to which they are encouraged with promifes of ‘bleffings of ‘profperity and ’protection, ¥. 8, 9, 10; -¥1,°12. and that they had fpoken impudent: and blafphemous words againft the Lord; which ‘tho’ excepted to, is proved, by ‘producing their own words, y. 13, 14, 75: and by the contrary behaviour of thofe that feared the Lord, who were taken notice of by him,’ andwere dear unto ‘him, ¥. 16,017. wherefore it is fuggefted, that the