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court of the people, as L’Empereur thinks #; where what the others could not contain might be put, and into which court the priefts might come; and there were alfo receptacles under ground, as well as upper rooms, where much might be laid up; add to all this, that Dr. Lightfoot » fuggetts, that thefe tithes were treafured up in’ the chambers by the gates of the temple, and were at leaft a part of the treafuries of the houfe of God, which the porters at the gates had the care of, 1 Chron: ix. 26. and xxvi. 20. and particularly that the houfe of Afuppim, at which were’four porters, was a’ large piece of building, containing divers rooms for the treafuring up things for the ufe of the temple; fee Fudith xi. 13. That there may be meat in my boufe; in the temple, for the fuftenance of the priefts and Levites: fo the Targum, ‘* the prophet faid, bring “¢ all the tithes into the treafury, that there may ** be food for them that minifter in the houfe of “¢ my fanctuary:” and prove me now herewith, faith the Lord of bofts; by bringing in all their tithes; when they would find by making this experiment or trial, that the curfe would be removed from them, and bleffings be largely and liberally beftowed upon them by him, who is the Lord of hofts, and fo able to perform any promife he makes; and here one is implied, and is as follows: if J will not open you the windows of heaven; which had been fhut and ftop’d up, and let down no rain upon their land, which brought a fcarcity of provifions among them; but now, upon a change in their conduct, it is fuggefted, that thefe windows or flood-gates fhould be opened, and rain let down plentifully upon them, which only could be done by the Lord himfelf; for the key of rain, is one of the three keys, the Jews fay ', which God has referved for himfelf, and never puts into the hands of a minifter: and pour you out a blefing; give abundance of rain to make the earth fruitful, and bring forth its increafe in great plenty, which is a bleffing; and not deftroy the earth, and the fruits of it, as in the times of Noah, when the windows of heaven were opened, and a curfe was poured out upon the earth: shat there fhall mot be room enough to receive it; and fo Kimchi fays his father interpreted this claufe, that there would not be a fufficiency of veffels “ and ftore-houfes. Some render the words, as Funius, fo that ye foall not be fuffcient, either to gather in the increafe, or to confume it. The Targum is, “* until ye fay it is «* enough;” and fo the Syriac verfion. The phrafe, which is very concife in the original text, and may be literally rendered, unto not enough ', denotes great abundance and fulnefs of good things, fo that there fhould be enough and to fpare; and yet, as Gufetius obferves, not enough to anfwer and exprefs the abundance of mercy and goodnefs in the heart of God.
y¥. 11. Avd I will rebuke the devourer for your fakes, &c.] Or eater ™; the locuft or caterpillar, or any fuch devouring creature, that eats up the herbage, corn, and fruits of trees; every fuch creature is under the reftraint of providence, and by a nod, a rebuke, they are eafily prevented doing the mifchief they otherwife would; thefe are not deftroy the fruits of your ground: as he has done; by eating all green things, as the locuft, caterpillar, and canker-worm do, grafs, corn, atid trees: neither foall your vine caft her fruit before the time in the field; which fome underftand of the devourer or locuft, that that fhould not caufe the vine to be: abortive, or caft its fruit before its time, or be+ reave it of it; but it feems beft to interpret it of the vine itfelf not cafting its fruit, as an untimely birth, by blighting and blafting winds: /aith the Lord of bofts; who holds the winds in his fifts, and will not fuffer them when he pleafes, any more than the locufts, to hurt the trees of the earth; Rev. vil. 1, 3. andix. 4.;
¥. 12. And all nations foall call you bleffed, &c.]
When they fhall fee the land freed from the devouring locuft, and other hurtful creatures; thé former and the latter rains given in their feafon, and the earth yielding a large increafe: for ye hall be a delightfom land, faith the Lord of bofis, or a defireable" one; not only pleafant to themfelves, being fruitful, but wifhed for by others, by theif neighbouring nations; who feeing their profperity; could not but defire to dwell with them; or delightfome to the Lord of hofts: thus Farchi interprets it, the land that I delight in; and fo Aben Ezra; to which agrees the Targum, ‘* and all na- ** tions fhall praife you, becaufe you dwell in the ‘* Jand of the houfe of my Shekinab or rnajefty, *¢ and do my will in it;” and the Syriac verfion renders it, the land of my delight;? fee If. xii. 4.
¥.13. Your words have been fiout againft me; faith the Lord, &c.| Hard and ftrong 3 they bore very hardly upon him, were exceeding impudent and infolent; murmuring at his providence; arraigning his juftice and goodnefs; and defpifing his word, worfhip, and ordinances. ben Ezra fays; this is a prophecy concerning the time to come, that is, the times of rhe Mefiah; and fo it defcribes the Jews in his times: Yet ye fay, what have we {poken fo much againft thee? or what have we fpoken againft thee? as if they were not guilty in any refpect, and as if nothing could be proved againit them; and as tho’ the Lord did not know what they had faid in their hearts, feeing they had not fpoken it with their mouths: tho’ the fupplement of our tranflators, /o much, is confirmed by the Zargum, which is, ‘* and if ye fay, how (or in ‘¢ what) have we multiplied fpeech before thee?” and fo Kimchi obferves, that the form in which the Hebrew word is, denotes much and frequent fpeak~ ing: and Abarbinel agrees with him, tho’ he rather thinks it has this fenfe, what are we fpoken of to thee? what calumny is this? what accufation do they bring againft us to thee? what is it that is reported we fay again{t thee? thus wiping. their mouths, as if they were innocent and harmiefs.
¥. 14. Ye have faid, it is vain to ferve God, &c.]
This they faid in their hearts, if not with their lips, that it was a vain thing for a man to ferve God; he got nothing by it; he had no reward for it; it fared no better with him than the wicked; nay, the wicked fared better than he; and therefore who would be a worfhipper of God? fee Fob xxi. 15. Abarbinel underftands this alfo with refpeét the Lord’s great army, which he can fend and call off as he pleafes, Foe/ i. 4. and ii. 25: and he foall to God, who is worfhipped; to whom worthip, fay thefe men, is no ways profitable; nor does he
5 943 “Ty adeo ut non fint vobis fufficientia vata, Pag-
! Eoufque ut nunquam fit fatis, nempe a parte datoris, Guffetius. So De Dieu, regard it; fee fob xxxv. 7. and therefore it is in vain to ferve him, fince neither he, nor we, are the better for it: and what profit is it, that we have kept his ordinance; or his obfervation", that is, have obferved that which he commanded to be obferved; this refpeéts not any fingle and particular ordinance, but every ordinance of God: the Sadduces of thofe times feem defigned, who denied were the hard and ftout words which they fpoke againft the Lord.:
¥. 16. Then they that feared the Lord fpake often one to another, &c.| Abarbinel thinks this is a continuation of the fpeech of the wicked; obferving, that whilft they that work wickednefs were fet up, and they that tempted God efcaped punifhment, they that were religious, and feared God, were de- the refurre€tion of the dead, and a future ftate of flroyed one with another, particularly by the plague;
rewards and punifhments, and fo might well conclude it in-vain to ferve God: and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of bofts? or in black °; which is the habit of mourners; fee P/: Xxxviii. 6, with an humble fpirit, as Zarchi interprets it; or with humiliation (or congrition) of fpirit, as the Zargum, which paraphrafes the whole verfe thus, “* ye have faid, he gains nothing who “¢ worfhips before the Lord; and what mammon “< (or riches) do we gain, becaufe we have. kept the obfervation of his word, and becaufe we have walked in contrition of fpirit before the Lord of hofts??? Aben Ezra and Abarbinel feem to underftand this laft claufe of their being afflicted and fuffering for the fake of religion, and which they endured in vain, feeing they were not refpected and rewarded for it; but the other fenfe is beft, which reprefents them as fincere penitents, and humble worfhippers of God in their own account, and yet were not taken notice of by him: it feems to defcribe the pharifees, who disfigured their faces, and affected down looks and forrowful countenances °.
¥. 15. And now we call the proud happy, &c.] Or therefore now *; fince this is the cafe, that the worfhippers of God are not regarded, and there is nothing got by ferving him; they that are proud and haughty, that neither fear God, nor regard men, are the happy perfons; even prefumptuous finners, as the word‘ fignifies, that ftretch out their hands againft God, and ftrengthen themfelves againft the Almighty; thefe enjoy all worldly happinefs, while they that ferve the Lord are mourning in fackcloth, and are in the utmoft diftrefs. The Targum explains it of the ungodly, and as it is explained in the following claufe: yea, they that work wickednefs are fet up, or built up* or seeing, becaufe, or for they that work‘, &c. they are increafed with children, by which their houfes or families are built up; they are in a well fettled and eftablifhed condition; they abound in riches. and honours; they are fet ia high places, and are in great efteem among men, even fuch who make it their conftant bufinefs to commit fin: yea, they that tempt God; or, yea, they tempt God, by their wicked words and actions, and try whether he will caufe his judgments to fall upon them, which he has threatened to fuch finners; fee J, v. 18, 19: are even delivered; or, and are delivered; from the punifhment threatened; they efcape it, and go on with impunity: from which obfervations thefe perfons reafoned, that there was no God of judgment, or that judged in the earth; that there was no providence concerned about human affairs;
fo he would have the word 1453) rendred, which we tranflate, /pake often one to another; in which fenfe he obferves that root is ufed in Hof. xiii: 14. Pf, xlvii. 3. 2 Kings xi. 1. but rather ‘this is oppofed unto what they faid, by fuch, who at the time referred to (which feems to be between the time of Chrift’s coming, fpoken of in the beginning of the chapter, and the deftruction of Ferufalem after-mentioned) feared. the Lord, and ferved him; embraced the Meffiah, and profeffed his name; for the fear of God takes in the whole of religious worfhip, both internal and external; and defcribes fuch, not that have a dread of the majefty of God, and of his judgments and wrath, or diftruft who have a filial and holy fear of God, a fiducial and fearlefs one, a reverential affection for him, and are true and fincere worfhippers of him: thefe Jpake often one to another, of the unbelief, impiety, and profanefs of men, with great concern and Jamentation; and of the great and good things they — were led into the knowledge of; the everlafting love of the Father’ in the choice of them, and covenant with them in Chrift; of redemption by the Son; of the glories of his perfon, and the fulnefs of his grace; of the work of the Spirit of God upon their fouls; and of the various truths of th everlafting gofpel; and of the gracious experiences they were indulged with; and all this they faid for the glory of God’s grace, and for the comforting and ftrengthening, and edifying of each other’s fouls: it follows, and the Lord bearkened, and heard it; what they faid one to another = this is fpoken after the manner of men, and does not fo much regard the omnifcience of God, who hearkens and hears every thing that is faid by wicked men, as by good men; as his fpecial regard unto, peculiar notice he takes of, and the approbation he has of | his people, and of their words and aétions, and even of their thoughts; as is afterwards intimated: and a book of remembrance was written before bims in allufion to kings that keep regifters, records, annals, and chronicles, as memorials of matters of moment and importance; fee Ezra iv. 15. Ef. ii, 23. and vi. 1. otherwife there is no forgetfulnefs in God; he bears in his own eternal mind a remembrance of the perfons, thoughts, words, and aétions of his people, and which he’ll difclofe and make mention of another day; even our Lord Jefus Chrift, who is God over all, and who will let the churches and world know, that he is the fearcher of hearts, and trier of the reins of the children of men: for them that feared the Lord, as before, and that thought upon his name; either the and that there was nothing in religion; and thefe ' name of the Father; not any particular name of 2 NADA obfervationem ejus, Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator, Drufius; obfervantiam ejus, Cocceius. 1 +h map atrate, Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator; fo Stockius, p. 926. pullati, Tigurine verfion; atrati, Cocceius.? The word is