Exposition of the Whole Bible

ae chapter relates the gifts Abafuerus gave, y. 4. to Ether and Mordecai, y. 1, 2. the fuit|wards Eber, &c. Efther made to him to reverfe the letters for the deftruction of the Fews, ¥. 3—6. which, though it could not be formally granted, was in effect done by letters fent to the Fews, giving them power tolaro rife in their own defence, and flay their enemies,

Then the king beld out the golden feepter tom As a token that the had not incurred his difpleafure by coming into his prefence without leave, and that fhe was admitted to fpeak and make her requeft; fee ch. v. 2, 3. /o Ether e and ftood before the king; fhe rofe from the ground on which fhe lay proftrate, and ftood upon her feet, in an humble manner to make her {peech, and prefent her petition to the king. And faid, if it pleafe the king, andif Ibave

¥. 7—14. the confequence of: which, and the advancement of Mordecai, were matter of great joy to the Jews, ¥. 15;°16, 17. XY. 5.

ound favour in his fight, and the thing feem right be» ore the king, and I be pleafing in his eyes, &c. This heap of phrafes, which fignify much the fame thing, are ufed to work upon the king’s affections, and to fhew how fubmiffive the was to his will: et it be written to reverfe the letiers devifed by Haman the fon of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which be wrote todefiroy the Fews which are in all the king’s provinces; fhe wifely takes no notice of any concern the king had in them, but fuggefts as that the looked upon them as forged by Haman, who puc the king’s name and feal to them, without his knowledge and confent. ¥. 6. For bow can I endure to fee the evil that Joall come unto my people, &c.] 1 can’t bear it; it will break my heart; I thall die to fee all my people maffacred throughout the realm; the thought of it is fhocking and fhuddering, to fee it intolerable: or how can I endure to fee the deftruGion of my kindred? the fame thing in different words, and fomewhat more exprefs and explanative; fhe ex- y. 1. On that day did the king Abafuerus give the houfe of Haman the Jews enemy, unto Bfther the queen, &c.] That and all the goods in it, and eftate belonging to it; which being confifcated to the king, he gave to E/ffber, who would have been the fufferer had his fcheme taken place; fo the Targum adds, * and the men of his houfe, and all his treafures, and all his riches:” and-Mordecai came before the king; was introduced into his prefence, became one of his privy counfellors, one of thofe that faw the king’s face, and fat firft in the kingdom, ch. i. 14. for Efther had told what he was unto ber; what relation he ftood in to her; her uncle, according to the Vulgate Latin verfion, and ‘fo Aben Ezra and Fofephus; but wrongly, for fhe was his uncle’s daughter; fo that they were brother’s children, or own coufins, fee ch. ii. 7

¥. 2. And the king took off bis ring which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai, &c.] Which, with the Perfans, was a token of the ftrongeft affection and ftricteft friendfhip*; the Targum calls it his fignatory ring, that with he figned laws, edicts, letters, patents, ce. and fo hereby made him keeper of the feals: and Efther Jet Mordecai over the bouje of Haman; appointed ‘bim her fteward of the eftate of Haman, the king plains the evil coming upon: her people of the utwhich, ter deftru€tion of them, not barely an oppreffion, but an extermination of them; and the makes ufe of a word expreflive of their relation to her, as more indearing, being her kindred; the and they being as it were of the fame family, and with had given her. whom fhe could not but fympathizein diftrefs.

¥.3. And Efther fpake yet again before the king, &c.| Went into his prefence, without being called for as before, with a new petition:

at bis feet, and befought him with tears; the more to work upon his affections, and move him to grant her requeft; which fhe might be the more encou-. raged to hope for, through the fuccefs fhe had already had: 40 put away the mifchief of Haman the Agagite, and bis device that he bad devifed againft the Jews; to revoke, abolifh, and make void aldo mifchievous fcheme Hamanhad deviled againtt the Jews, to root out the whole nation of them in the yt. 7. Then the king Abafuerus faid unto Efther the queen, and to Mordecai the Few, &c.] Who was and fell down prefent at the fame time, either at the defire of Efther, or by virtue of his office, being now one of thofe that faw the king’s face, ¥. 1. bebold I have given Efther the houfe of Haman; fee the note on y. 1. and him ther have hanged upon the gallows; which she had prepared for Mordecai, ch. vii. to. becaufe be laid bis hand upon the Fews; intended to fo, and had prepared for it, and wrote letters ordering their deftruétion on fuch a day; now as the king had fhewn favour to Eftber and Mordecai,

‘ @-»: 1 ‘ ‘ ane;: 172%, eS OAD Ch. vit. ¥. 8— and had punifhed Haman for contriving mifchief againft them and the Jews, which was publickly known, the people would be fearful of doing any thing againft them, left they fhould incur the king’s difpleatyre; and therefore might make themfelves eafy about this matter; but however to give them all the fatisfaction he could, he direéts them to racers, that ran {wiftly: and riders on mules, | mels, and young dromedaries; which were all ¢ rent creatures, and f{wift ones, according t verfion, efpecially the latter; fee Fer. ii. 23. wh were a kind of camels, bur fwifter, and woul morethan 100 miles aday*; and as Diodors dojeulus fays*, not lefs than 1500 furlongs: t as follows. it may be only one. fort are meant, namely mules, Se

¥.8. Write ye alfo for the ews as it liketh you, &c.] Whatever may be thought fit and proper for their fafety and fecurity:

were: for the-writing which is written in the king’s. name, and fealed with the king’s ring, may no reverfe; which is a reafon both for the writing fealing of the prefent letters in this manner, and why the former could not be reverfed; nor does it appear that they were, but that in virtue of the people had power. to rife and killthe ews the day appointed if they durft, or were fo difpofed; and thefe impowered the Fews to rife in their ownl defence, and kill all that made any attempts them, for which they had the royal anthority; and thefe letters coming after the other, though for the next word Abafhteranim in the Perfian lan- gm guage figuifies mules *, and fo Abea Ezra interprets — in the king’s name, andjit, and likewife Kimchi and Ben Melech; and ne laft as the former letters; words may be rendered fons of mares, fo David de Pomis, that is, fuch mules as are gendered by hemanjafles and mares; and fo the fame writer obferves, and that the word in the Arabic language fignifies. mares; and fuch mules that come from them he fays are ftronger than thofe that come from ‘fhethemjaffes; fo that the whole may be rendered to this onsfenfe, riders on mules, (which in the Perfian language are called Abafbteranim), namely, fuch as are oxs of mares; and which, according to Alianus* uponjand Péiny © are the {wifteft; though the Perfians had camels fwifter than are common elewhere,. theyjcalled revatrie, the goer, which trot as faft as an feal it with the king’s ring;

did not formally reverfe them, which might not be done, yet rendered them ineffectual. y. ut. y¥.9. Then were the king’s feribes called at that time, &c.] As they were to write the former letter, ch. iii. 12. 22 the 3d month, that is the month Sivan, on the. 23d day thereof; which anfwers to part of May, and part of Yue; this was two months and ten days after the writing of the former letters; long the Yews had been in diftrefs by reafon of them, and was a juft rebuke upon them for not returning to their own land when they might, as well as for other fins: and it was written (according to all that Mordecai commanded) to the ‘fews;

tated to the fcribes, and ordered what they fhould write; and which were fent to the Jews in the firft place, partly to eafe them of their prefent and partly that they might prepare againft time for their defence, for which they had fufficient time, it being now more than nine months to it: and to the lieutenants, and the deputies, and the rulers of the provinces, which are from India unto Ethiopia, 127 provinces; the letters were directed to the fame magiftrates, in the feveral provinces as the former, giving orders to them, that notwithftanding them they were to fuffer the ews to defend themfelves, and not punifh them for what fhould be done by them in felf-defence, fee ch. i. 1. and ii. 12. unto every province according to the avriting thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to, the Fews according to their writing, and according to their language; fome provinces fpoke the Perfian language, and ufed the character of it, others Chaldee, others Syriac, &c. in the ufual charaéters, as the Hews did in Hebrew, and in the charaéters of that language; and now thefe letters were written in the language and character of the people of the feveral provinces were fent to, that they might.be eafily read horfe can gallop ¢.

Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themfelves together, &c.} [n fome part of the city they fhould chufe, and remain in a body, being fufficiently armed: and fo /Pand for their life; to defend themfelves, and fight for their life, fhould any attack them, or attempt fojto take it away; in fuch Cafe they might aét offen- | fively, fogs to deftroy, to flay, and to caufe to perifh all the power of the people and province that would a/fault them; every army of them, or as many as thould join in a body,to attack them, any mighty Mordecai dic-jor powerful mob; and not men only, but both /ttle ones and women, and to take the fpoil of them for a prey; the fame words are ufed, and the fame diftrefs,)power is given them as were to their enemies, ch. thatjiii.13. not that they made ufe of it tothe utmoft extremity, it is certain they did notin one point, jin taking the fpoil, ch. ix. 10, 15, 16. and fince they {pared that, it is highly probable they {pared women and children.:

y. 12. Upon one day, in all the provinces of king 4hafuerus, namely, upon the 13th day of the 12th mouth, which is the month Adar;| The day appointed and fixed in the former letters for the deftruction of the Fews, ch. iii. 13. all y. 13. The copy of the writing for a commandment, to be givenin every province was publifbed to all people, &c.). A copy of the letters fent to the governors of provinces; the fum and fubftanceof them was publifhed by an herald, or fixed in public places, that all might know the contents thereof; and wrotejand take care not to affault the Jews, as it would — be to their peril: and that the Fews foould be ready » again/t that day to avenge them/elves on their enemies + dbendana thinks this is to be reftrained te thofe that they);were of the feed of malek, who were their; rinandjcipal enemies; but no doubt it includes all that underftood. fhould rife upagainft them, tee

_ yy. 10. And he wrote in the king Abafuerus bis name, and fealed it with the king’s ring, &c.| Which gave the letters authority, and made them fible, and for this Mordecai had the king’s order, y.14. So the pots that rode upon.mules and cam went out, &c.] Or on the mules, which i irrever- ee language were called Abafhteranim; deing bafiened and preffed on by the king’s Can ment; who gave them a fpecial orderto Be were hatte they could, that the Fews might haye

¥. 8. and fent letters by pofis; by runners or cou- ‘riers: 0” horfeback, that rode on horfes that prepare for their defence, and their enemies be the more intimidated: end the decree was given at Shu- lightfomenefs and chearfulnefs of fpirit, as explained by the two next words: and gladnefs and -

Joan the palace, the king’s counfellors agreeing to[ ey; at the good news of their deliverance, fo un- it, and perhaps figning it, as they did the former;

¥. 15. And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king, &c.| And walked or rode about in the city to fhew himfelf to his friends: i” royal appare! of blue and white; fuch as the Perfan kings wore, and were not allowed to any other, as Xenophon writes®: and with a great crown of gold; a coronet, fuch as princes and’ nobles wear; the latter ‘Targum calls it a great golden chain, and fuch the expected by them; thus light is explained by gladnefs, Pf. xcvil. 11. and honour’; among men; from their neighbours, who before were held in contempt, as a people doomed to deftruction.

¥. 17. And in every province, and in every city, whitherfoever the king’s commandment and bis decree came, &c.| As they did to every province in the realm, and to every city in the province, where there were any Jews: the Jews had joy and gladnels, a feaft and a good day, they. expreffed their eaftern kings ufed to give to their favourites; fee |joy on this occafion by keeping a feftival, which in

Dan. v.29. and with a garment of fine linen, and purple, this muft be an inner garment, fince it is diftin& from the royal robe ‘before mentioned; though as the word fignifies a wrap, or roll, it. may defign a turbapt, which was a roll of linen wrapped about the head; and fuch was the Perfian diadem, according to Curtius", which was of a purple co- Jour, mixed with white; and fo the Septuagint verfion is, and a diadem of fine linen, of a purple colour; and if fo, the.crown of gold was not worn on his head, nor is it likely it fhould be al- Jowed, but was carried before him, ‘fee the note on ch. vi. 8. and the city of Shufhan rejoiced and was glad; not only the Fews in it, but the native inhabitants of it, that had any fenfe of humanity, exprefied their joy at the fight of Mordecai thus arrayed; that io good aman was advanced at court, and fo bada man as Haman was difplaced and put to death; fee Prov. xxix. 2.0

¥. 16. And the Jews had light, &c.| Profperity, as oppofed to the darknefs of adverfity in which they had been,’ fee J/. vili. 22. and ix. 3, 2. or their language is called a good day; and fuch an one is annually kept by them unto this day, on account of their deliverance; of which fee ch. ix.

27, 28. and many of the people of the land became *

Jews; or were profelyted, as both the Zargums and Farchi interpret it; they embraced the Few religion, and fubmitted to the rites and ceremonies of it; were circumcifed, as in the Sep/uagint verfion, and fo were profelytes of rig¢hteoufnefs; and indeed no other could they be, dwelling in their own Jand; many of them very probably were ferious in it, obferving the wonderful manner in which the Jews were delivered; wherein manifeftly appeared to them the providence of God, the hand of the fupreme being, and from hence concluded their God muft be the true God, and they his favourite people, and their religion rightett; though others ~ might only do it to gain the favour of E/ther and Mordecai, who had now fuch ereat power and influence ‘at court: for the fear of the Fews fell upon them; left they fhould be flain by them, in virtue of this new edict.

N this chapter we have an account of the Hews fi gathering together on the day fixed for deftruétion to detend themfelves, which they did in all the provinces, and fmote their enemies; y¥.| 1—5. In Shufban the palace they flew the ten fons of Haman and 500 men on that day, ¥. 6—11. and at the requeft of the queen they were allowed the next day to hang up his fons, when they flew cree of the king; and notwithftanding the fecond, theirjthey might hope to have it becaufe of their fuperior numbers: though it was turned to the contrary, ¢hat the Fews had rule over them that hated them; it proved the reverfe, partly through the fecond decree in favour of the Hews, and partly through the fear of them that fell upon their enemies; becaufe the court was on their fide, and the officers

300 men more, y. 12—15,. in the provinces they flew 75,000, and thofe in one day only, and the following days they kept as a feftival, but every where, and efpecially their God filled them with courage, and their enemies with terror.

¥. 2. The Fews gathered themfelves together in their cities, throughout all the provinces of king Aba-

they in Shufhan kept the two days following; ¥.) 16—19. and which two days were eftablithed by! Ejther and Mordecai as feltivals, to be obferved as! fuch in future ages, by the name of the days werus, 8¢c.] Wherever they lived: to lay band on uch as fought their burt; who not only threatned ofthem what they would do on this day, but were

Purim, ¥. 2—32. rifen up in arms in queft of them: aad no man

. could withftand them, for the fear of them fell upon

‘ya. Now in the 12th month, that is the month all Adar, on the 13th day of the fame, &c.] Of which fee ch. iii. 13. when the king’s commandment and decree drew near to be put in execution even both his commandments and decrees, the one impowerpeople; when they underftood that Haman was hanged, and Mordecai the Few advanced, and that bis the queen herfelf was a Few, and that the Fews had the royal grant to act both defenfively and offenfively; and no doubt but the panic was of ing the enemies of the Jews on.that day to deftroy,;God. P them, and the other impowering the Fews to act] y. 3. And all the rulers of the provinces, and the both defenfively and offenfively againft their ene- lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, mies: in the day that the enemies of the Fews hoped, bleffed the Fews, &c.] Countenanced them and ento have power over ibem by virtue of the firft de Jooutiged them, and gave them all affiftance in their powers power; extolled them, as the word fignifies, them them up, and fpoke well of them, or praifed them, as the Targum: becaufe the fear of Mordecai was.upon them, he being now chief minifter, they might fear, if they took part with the enemies of lifted Shujhan, the number mutt be great in all the pro~ vinces: now what is thy petition? and at y granted thee: or what is thy requeft further 2 /bal/ be done; if this was not fufficient a tory, whatever elfe fhe fhould afk for ould be the Yews againft them, they might be turned out granted, ied Ae a of their places. ¥. 13. Then faid Efther, If it pleafe the king, * ¥. 4. For Mordecai was great in the king’s boufe,\8cc.] For fhe was all fubmiffion to his will: de &c.] Not only over E/fher’s affairs, but was one) be granted to the Fews which are in § +s for of the king’s counfellors, and was the chief mini-|no farther did the defire the grant to Kien ‘ {ter of ftate: and his fame went out throughout all the) to do to-morrow alfo according to this day's decree; provinces; what a favourite he was of the king, as}one Targum makes the requeft only that they might well as a relation of the queen, and how. wife and keep the morrow as a feftival, but the other more. juft his adminiftrations were: for this man Morde- rightly, to do according to the decree of this day cai waxed greater and greater; was more and more which was, to flay as many of their enemies as rofe in the king’s favour, and had offices of honour and up again{t them; and whereas many might flee and truft heaped upon him, and increafed both in hide themfelves, who were implacable enemies of wealth and power. the Jews, H/ther moves for a grant that the decree

¥. 5. Thus the Fews fmote all their enemies with the firoke of the fword,-and flaughter, and tion, &c.] Some with fwords, and others with the clubs and ftaves; as the Targum; and fuch like| flanghtering weapons of deftruétion: and did what they would unto thofe that hated them; entirely at their will, and under their power.

y. 14, makes mention of yo fons that Zerefh _ wife fled with: what have they done in the reff the king’s provinces?. that could not be faid;. but it might be concluded, that if fo many were flain in might be continued for the next day, that thefe defiruc- might be found out and flain; in which fhe fought glory of divine juftice, in their righteous detruction, and the peace of the people of God, and not private revenge, or to indulge malice: and let being then Haman’s ten’ fons be hanged upon the gallows; on which their father was; this was deferred, though they were already flain, for their greater reproach, and for a terror to others, not to injure the people 0f God; and it was ufual with the Perfiens to hang perfons on a gallows, or fix them to a crofs, after they were dead; as Polycrates was by Oroites', and Bagapates by’Paryfatiss..

y. 6. And in Shufban the.palace the Jews flew and defiroyed 500 men.| Not in the royal palace; where it cannot be thought the Fews had fo many enemies, or fuch’a bloody flaughter of them fhould be, made there; but in the city, where the palace was: and this may feem fomewhat wonderful, that there thould fo many rife there againft the Jews, fonear the court, now altogether in the intereft of the ews; but thefe were men no doubt of Haman’s faction, and enraged at his difgrace and death, headed by his ten fons, who took the advantage the decree to avenge his death; the Targum fays, thefe were princes of the houfe of Amalek.

¥: 14. dud the king commanded it fo to be done: and the decree was given at Shufban, Sec, That the ews might have leave to feck out and flay the reft andjof their enemies.in Shufoan, on the 14th-day, in offlike manner as they had on.the 13th: and they banged Haman’s ten fons; on the fame gallows very probably their father was-hanged; the Targum gives us the diftanee between each perfon hanged thereon. -!

y. 7. 8.9.10. And Parfoandatha, aud Dalphon, and A/paiha, and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, and Parmafbta, and Arifai, and Aridai, and\ Vajezatha, the ten fons of Haman the fon of Hammedatha;, the enemy of the. Fews, flew they, 8cc.] Along with the 500 men, at the head of which and they were: but on the Jpoil laid they not their bands; though they were allowed bythe edi& to do it, ch. viii. 1. but this they did not, that it might appear that they did not take away their lives from a co- _-vetous defire of their eftates, but purely in felf-defence; and they might do this, the more to ingratiate themfelves to the king, to whom the goods and eftates of thefe men would be confifcated.

y.15. For the Fews that were in Shufhan, gathered themfelves together, on the fourteenth day aljfo of the month Adar, &c.) As they had on the 13th: flew 300 men at Shufban; the Targum adds, of the family of Amalek;-but there is no reafon to confine it to them; it refpects all fuch as were the enemies of the Yews, and rofe up againftthem; {o that the whole number flain in Shufhan were 800 perfons, befides the fons of Haman: but on the prey they laid not their band; fee the note on ¥. to.

y. 16. But the other Fews that were in the king’s provinces, gathered themfelves together, &c.] Ina body, in their refpective provinces and cities: and ftocd for their lives; defended themfelves againit thofe that attacked them: and had ret from their enemies; that felf fame day; all being deftroyed by orjthem, and none daring to appear againft them: and flew of their foes 75,000 men; that is, in all the provinces put together: but they laid not their bands on the prey, fee the note, ¥. 10, y. 11. On that day the number of thofe that were iain in Shufhan the palace, was brought before the king.| Hither by order of the king, that he might know how many enemies the Fews had in the city, and how many of his fubjeéts had been lain; officioufly by others, with an intention to irritate the king againft the Fews.

y.12. And the king faid unto Eftber the queen, &c.] After the account had been brought in to him: The Fews have flain and deftroyed 500 men in Shufhan the palace, the Targum adds, of the of Amalek: and the ten fons of Haman; which very probably were all he had; though the Targum, in y. 17. Om the 13th day of the month Adar, &e.J This belongs to the preceding verfe; and the meanfeedjing is, that on this day the fews gathered toge— ther and flew fo many thoufand of their enemi before related: and on the 14th day of the fame, ~ hisirefted they, and made it a feaft of peace arts ofthat they were delivered out of the hand Of their — enemies, who hoped and expected on that day to have made an utter end of them; according to the

Jewife canons', mourning and fafting on this day were forbidden, but feafting and gladnefs were to be multiplied.

ioy, and from mourning unto a food day; for in this month Adar, on the 3th day. of it, they expected to have been all deftroyed, which had occafioned great

¥. 18. But the Jews that were at Shufhan affembled together on the 1 3th day thereof, and on day thereof, &c.] Of the month Adar; that is, they gathered together to defend themfelves, and deftroy their enemies, on both thefe days, having the decree renewed for the 14th they had for the 13th: and on the 15th day of the fame they refted, end made it a day of feafing and gladnefs. as the forrow and mourning in them; but beyond their the 14th expectation, in the fame month, and on the felffame day of the month, they had deliverance. and freedom from their enemies; which was matter of joy, and made this day a good day to them: shat they fhould make them days of feafing and joy, keep both the 14th and 1 5th days of the month as feftivals, eating and drinking, and making all tokens ews in the provinces did on the r4th.

of joy and gladnefs, though not in the Bacchana-

¥. 19. Therefore the Fews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwarled towns, made the 14th day of the month Adar a day of gladne/s and feafting, &c: Farchi oblerves that thofe in the villages, who are they that don’t dwell in walled towns, obferved the 34th, and they in towns furrounded with walls the 15th, as Shufhan, and this circumvallation, he fays, muit be what was from the days of ¥o/bua; according to the Fecwi/d canons, every place that was walled trom the days of Fefbua the fon of Nun, whether in the Jand of J/rae/ or out of it, though not now walled, they read (7. e. the book of Eiher on the 15th of Adar, and this is called a walled town; but a place which was not walled in the days of 7c/kua, though now walled, they read the 14th, and this is called a city; but the city Shujban, though it was not walled in the days of Fofbua, they read on the ‘15th, becaule in it was done a miracle"; and each of thefe was kept as a day of public rejoicing for their great deliverance and freedom from-their enemies: aad a good day; as the ews ufually call the feveral days of the paflover, pentecoft, and tabernacles: and of fending portions one to anotber; expreflive of mutual joy, and congratulating one another upon the happinefs they fhared in; fee Rev. xi 10. and particularly this may refpect fending gifts. to the poor, who had not that.to rejoice and make. merry with, others had; fee Neb. viii. 10. though thefe feem to be diftinc from them, ¥. 22. ¥. 24.

the city Sbufhan, and thofe that were at the greateft diftance from it; thefe were more efpecially the ian way, in which they now obferve them; for they fay", a man is bound at the feaft of Purim to \exhilarate or inebriate himfelf until he does not /know the difference between curfed be Hamay and blefled be Mordecai: and of fending portons one to another and thefe now-confitt of eatables and drinkables; and according to the ‘Fewi/b.canons®, a man mutt fend two gifts to.his friends at leaft; and they:hat multiply them-are moft commendable; and thofe are fent by men to men, and by women to women, and not on the contrary: and gifts to the poor; \alms money, as thé Targum, to purchafe food and drink with, nor may they ufe it to any other purpofe; tho” fome fay they may do what they will with inlit?; and a man muft not give lefs than two gifts to the poor; thefe are called the monies of Purim 7, y. 23. And the Jews undertook to do as they bad begun, and as Mordecai had writen unto them.) They engaged to keep thefe two days as feftivals annually, as they had at this time done; not in a religious but in a civil way, not as parts of religious worfhip, and as additions to and innovations of the law, but by way of commemoration of a civil benefic which they ‘had received; and yet we find in after times that this was {crupled by fome as an innovation; for we are told‘ thar there were &s elders, and more than 30 of them prophets, who were diftrefled about this matter, fearing it was an innovation.

Becaufe Haman the fon of Hammeda tha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devifed again/t the Fews to deftroy them,. &c.|. Had formed a defign to exterminate them from the whole Perfan empire in one day:.and bad caft Pur, (that is, ¢he lot) to confume them, and to deftroy them; had caft lots to find out what would be the moft lucky day in the year for him todo it on, and the moft fuch as were near unlucky and unfortunate to the Fews; and, according to the lot, the 1 3th of Adar was pitched upon; this and the following verfe give the reafons

¥. 20. And Mordecai wrote thefe things, &c.] The tranfactions of thofe two days, and the caufes of them, as well as the following letter; fome conclude from hence, that he was the pen-man of the book; and fo he might be, but it does not neceffarily follow from hence: and fent letters unto all the Fews that were in all the provinces of the king Abafuerus, both nigh and far.;

things he wrote. for obferving the above ‘two days as feftivals.

¥. 21. To flablifh this among them, &c.] That it might be a fettled thing, and annually obferved in all-future generations, what they had now done: that they foould keep the 14th day of the month Adar, and the 15th day of the fame, yearly; as the former had been obferved by the Yews in the provinces,| and both by thofe in Shujfhan, ¥. 17, 18, 19. as feftivals in commemoration. of their great deliverance 5 hence the 14th of Adar is called the day of Mordecai, being eftablifhed by him;’2 Maccad.

y. 26. But when Efther came before the king, &c.] To requeft of him her life, and the life of her people: be cormanded: by letters, that bis wicked ° device which he devifed againft the Fews, fhould return upon bis own bead; that wisereas his wicked cheme was to deftroy all the ews, the king, by his fecond letter, gave orders that the ews fhould have liberty to defend themfelves, and deftroy their enemies which rofe up againft them; and the friends and. party of Haman were entirely cut off;

XV. 37. mi, 7 and that he and bis fons foould be banged on'the gal-

¥. 22. As the days wherein the Fews refted from their enemies, 8cc.| Having flain all thofe that rofe up againft them, and affaulted. them: and the month which was turned unto them from forrow to lows; which he had prepared for Mordecai; not that they were ordered. to be hanged together, nor were they; Haman was hanged before on the 23d day of the month, but his fons not till

176 ESTO the law fhould.be omitted, and’ all commani fervice, than the reading this volume, that fo a might be acquainted with this wonderfi france, and keep itin mind, steps ¥. 29. Then Efther the queen, the daught of a bibail, and Mordecai the Few, wrote with all au-" thority, 8c. } Strongly preffing the ei. of this feftival; before, Mordecai only recommended it, but now the queen gave a fanction to it, and laid her obligation on the Fezws to obferve it; pe haps fome of the Fews were backward’ to i neglected to obferve it, and thereforeE fiber andM decai joined in a letter to. them, to prefs them ta it: the Jewi/> chronologer * fays, this was written the year following; the former Targum is, they wrote this whole volume, and the ftrength of the miracle, or fet the: miraculous deliverance in the ftrongeft light, with this view, to confirm this fecond letter of Purim; that it might have its weight and influence upon them, to engage them to keep it, as the latter Targum adds,; that when it was an iptercalary year, they might not read the Afegillab (or book of £fker) in the firlt Adar, but - in the fecond Adar.. ios

¥. 30. And he fent letters unto all the Fews, &c.] That is, Mordecai did, figned in the queen’s namic, thofe days) priefts, Levites, Nethinim, men, women, and profelytes, and fervants made free, and they train up little ones to read it:” as it foould not fail; of being obferved, fo as no man ‘fhould tranfgrefs it, or pafs it over: ¢het they feould keep thefe two days; the 14th and 15th of the month ddar or February: according to their writing; in this book, the book of E/ther,which was to be read, as Aden Ezra, written in the Hebrew character, as the Targum; that is, in the {rian character, as Farchi, the fquare character as they call it: and according to their appointed time every year; whether fimple or intercalated, as 4ben Ezra obferves: in an intercalary year, the Yews have two Adays, and though they keep the feaft of Purim on _ the 14h of the firft Adar, yet riot with fo mirth, and callit the lefier Purim; but in the 2d Adar, they obferve it with all its ceremonies‘; fo in their canon, they don’t keep Purim, but inAdar that is next to Nifan or March, that redemption might be near redemption; the redemption of Mordecai, near the redemption of Moj/es*, the time of them;

ingly thefe days are commemorated by them now, and by all their families, and all in their families capable of it; and thefe words, every province, and every cily, are ufed, as Aben Ezra obferves, left a man fhould think he was not bound to keep this feaft where there were no Yews; for let him be where he may, he is obliged to keep it: and that thefe days of Purim fhould not fail among the Fews; or the obfervance of them be neglected and ceafe: nor the memorial of them perifo from their feed, neither the Ifraelites,jand his own: to the 127 provinces of the i igdom ef Abafuerus; among which was Fudea, that was o|become a province, firft of the Chaldean, now of the Perfian empire, fee Ezra v. 8. to whom alfo thefe letters were fent, directing and ordering the Jews there to obferve thefe days, ‘who were alfo concerned in the deliverance wrought: with words of peace and truth, exhorting them to live in peace with one another, and their neighbours, and to conftancy in the true religion; or wifhing them all peace and profperity in the moft loving and. fincere manner. ee

¥. 31. To confirm thefe days of Purim im their times appointed, &c.] The 14th and 15th of Adar: according as Mordecai the Few, and Ether the queen much bad enjoined them, in the letters written and figned by them both: and as they had decreed for them- /elves, and for their feed; fee ¥. 27. the matters of their faftings and their cry; in commemoration of their deliverance from thofe diftreff’s and calamities which occafioned faftings and prayers during and to this fenfe is the former Targum; though it is certain the Fews obferve the 13th day, the day before the two days, as a,faft, | And accord-jand which they call the faft of E/fber”, and have prayers on the feftival days peculiar to them; but the fenfe en Ezra gives feems beft, that 4s the Yews had decreed to keep the fafts, mentioned in Zech. vii. 5. fo they now decreed to rejoice in the days of Purim. ae '

¥. 28. And that thefe days thould be remembered, and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, &c.)

¥. 32. And the decree of Efther confirmed thefe matters of Purim, &c.) As a feftival to be obferved by the Jews in future generations: and it was written in the book; either in this book o Efther; or in the public acts and chronicles of 4 memorial of them, nor of the reafon of keeping now.

kings of Perfia; or in a book by itfelf, now lof them; wherefore on thofe days they read the whole ers are,” book of E/fher, fairly written on a roll of parch- as aben Ezra thinks, as many others are, we re ment, and are careful that none omit the reading y¥. 26. Wherefore they called thefe days Purim, after the name of Pur, &c.| The lot; becaufe of the lots caft by Haman; {ee ch. iiin 1. Therefore for all the words of this letter, in'obedience to wha Mordecai wrote in his letter to the ews, and be- -caufe of the things contained in it: and of that which they had feen concerning this matter; with their own eyes, in the feveral provinces where their enemies rofe up to affault them, but were deftroyed by them: and what ‘had come unto them, by report; as the fall of Haman, and advancement of Mordecai, and the favours fhewn to Lfber and her people; all this belongs to the following verfe, containing the reafons ot the Yews appointment and engagement to obferve the days of Purim.

¥. 27: The Fews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their feed, and upon all fuch that joined themfelves unto them, &c.] Who became profelytes to their religion; that is, they appointed the above two days as_feftivals, and engaged for themfelves, for their children, and all profelytes, to oblerve them as fuch; and one of their canons ‘ runs thus; ‘ all are obliged to read the Megillah (the book of Ether, which they always read on of in {cripture, as the books of the Chronicles pees chapter is very fhort, and juft makes mention of a trioute /ba/uerus laid on his realm, y. 1. refers to the Perfian chronicles, both tor the greatnefs of him, and of Mordecai, and is clofed with the character of the latter, ¥. 3.

y..1. And the king Abafuerus laid a tribute on the land, and upon the ifles of the fea.| | Which include all his dominions, both on the continent, and on the fea, the Agzan fea; though Aven Ezra thinks it regards fuch as were not under his government, but ftood in fear of him, of whom he demanded tribute. If Aba/uerus was Xerxes, perhaps his exchequer might be drained by his wars with the Grecians, which put him upon this; though fome underftand this of his renewing the taxes and tribute, which he remitted upon his marriage with Ejiber, ch, i. 18.

y. 2. And all the aéis of bis power, and of bis might, 8c.) As Xerxes was avery mighty and powerful prince: and the declaration of the greatnels of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, the hiftory of that, and which tended not a little to the greatnefs, dignity and profperity of the king himfelf, and his whole kingdom: are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Perfia? to which the reader is referred by the writer of this book, the which were in being in his times, but now loft: had they been preferved, they might have been of great ufe to lead into the hiftory of the Medes and Perfians, which for want of them is,very dark and intricate; the writer of this book having nothing farther to do with it, than as it related to the affairs of the Fews.

¥. 3. For Mordecai the few was next unto Aba- Juerus, 8c.) The fecond man in the Kingdom, the principal of the counftllors, and prime minifter of ftate: and great among the Jews, highly refpected by them, in great honour and efteem with them, for which there was great reafon: and accepted of the multitude of his brecbren; or of many, of moft, of the greateft part of them; for let a. man be ever fo deferving, there are fome that will envy his greatnefs, cavil at every thing done by him, and {peak evil of him without any juft reafon: feeking the wealth of his people, their good, their welfare and happinefs, temporal and {piritual: and {peaking peace to all bis feed; not only to his family, but to all the ews who were of the fame feed with him, the feed of Abraham, either fpeaking to them in an humble and condefcending manner, being very humane, affable, and courteous; or fpeaking for them to the king, afking. of him for them what might conduce to their peace, profperity and happinefs. No mention is made in this hiftory of the death and burial, either of Mordecai or Efther; but the author of Cippi Hebraici fays*, that Mordecai was buried in the city of Shu/han, and that all the ews in thofe parts affemble at his grave on the day of Purim, and fing fongs, playing on tabrets and pipes, rejoicing that there was a miracle wrought; and the fame writer fays*, they do the like at that time at the grave of Ether, half a mile from Tzephat, read this book that bears her name, eat, drink and rejoice. Benjamin of Tudel@ fays*, they were both buried before a fynagogue, at a place called Hamdan. $ to love or defire, and fo it fignifies defire or delight, and is the fame with Dejiderius or Erafmus 5 hence Fob is called by Suidas ® revmobri]os, exceed~_ ing defirable; but Hillerus * deriving it from. the fame root, makes it to fignify juft the reverfe, without defire, or not defirable; and: fuppofes it to be a compound of 21? defire, and '® mot; but the generality of writers derive. it from 3%, to be at enmity, and fo it fignifies one that is expofed to. the hatred and enmity of men, or one thatis a hater and enemy of wicked men; or, as Schmidt® interprets it, a man zealous for God, and fhewing hatred to wickednefs and wicked men on his account, Who Yod was, it is not eafy to fay; not’ the fame with Fobabd, of the race of E/au, as eo Gen. xxxvi. 33. Arifteas * fays, be was a fon ofyou himfelf by his wife -Befara, and was fir called Fobam, nor the fame with od a fon of vi] char, Gen. xlvi. 13. nor was he a defcendant ob Abraham by Keturab; but rather fprung from Uz, the firft-born of Nabor, brother of 4braham,. Xxil. 21. who gave name to the country where Job lived, as Buz his brother did to that of which _ Elibu was, and as Chefed, dnother brother of Uz, — did to the Cha/dim or Chaldeans, who were both near to Fob. It is alfo not agreed in what time Job lived; Maimonides’ fays, of their writers fome_ place him in the times of the patriarchs, fome in the times of Mo/es, others in the times of David, and others fay, that he was of the wile men of Babylon; and fome add, that he was of them that came out of the captivity there, and had a fchool at Tiberias, as fay the Talmudits ", who give very different accounts of him: fome fay he was in the — times of the judges; others in the times of the — ueen of Sheba; and others in the times of Abafueie; but the more general opinion is, ‘a: the more probable, that he was born when the Ifraclites went down into Egyp/, and that he was dead when they came from thence": in ort, they place him almoft in all the ages from ae the Babylonif- captivity, and after its and even Luther ° was of opinion, that he lived in the per

PUIG? s2 HIS book, in the Hebrew co-: Coal J pies, generally goes by this se: name, from 70, who is however the fubject, if not the writer of it. In the Vulgate Y, Latin verfion it is called she book of Fob; in the Syriac ver~ AS ip fion, the writing of 7od; and in He trobie “the writing or book of Fob the jutt. In forhe Hebrew bibles it “ftands between the book of Proverbs and the Song of Solomon; but,, according to the Talmudifts*, it fhould ftand between the Pfalms of David and the Proverbs of Solomon. Some have made a queftion of it, whether there ever was fuch a man as Fob, and fuppote this book.not to be a real hiftory, or to contain matters of fact,” but to be written under fictitious names, and to be parabolical, and that it is defigned to fet forth an example of patience in fuffering; affliction; and fome of the Fewi/b writers ° affirm, that Yod never was in being, and that this book isa parable, apologue, or fable; and to this Maimonides * himfelf inclines; but this opinion is juftly rejected by Aben Ezra, Peritfol, and others; for that there was fuch a man, is as certain as that there were fuch men as Noab and Daniel, with whom he is mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel, ch. xiv. 14. and the teftimony of the apoftle Hames is full to this purpofe, who fpeaks of him as a perfon well known, and not to be doubted of; of whom, and of whofe patience,. the Fews he writes to had heard much, Jam. v. 11. befides, the names of the countries where he and] his friends lived, the account given of his family, and of his fubftance, both before and after his affiictions, fhew it to be a real hiftory. Learned men are not agreed about the fignification of his name; according to Ferom“, it fignifies a magician, taking it to be the fame with 3)N od; and fome Fewilb writers ° place him with Balaam and Jethro, as the counfellors of Pharaoh againft the Lraelites, for which he was, afflicted: the fame ancient father renders the word grieving and how!- ing; others, as Spanbeim‘, derive it from aN,

Ch. 1. ¥. Ie. ‘of Solomon, for which there is no more reafon than ’ for the reft:.it feems moft probable that he liyed before Mofes*, at leaft betore the giving of the law to him, fince no mention is made of it in this _ book, nor any reference to it; whereas there is to things more ancient, as the general deluge, the burning of Sodom, &c. the law concerning facri- — fices only-to be offered by priefts, was not as yet * given; for Fob offered facrifices as being the head ot his family, and fo did his three friends, ch. i. 5. and xlii. 8. The length of his life beft agrees with the times before Mo/es, for in his time the age of man was reduced to 70 years; whereas od mutt live 200 years or more, fince he lived 140 after his refloration: add to this, that this book feems to have been written before any idolatry was in the ‘ world, but the worfhip of the fun and moon, ch. xxxi. 25, 26. and before there were any writings divinely infpired, fince there is no appeal to any in the whole controverfy between od and his friends; but the appeal is made to men of years and wifdom, and to traditions of former times, ch. v.-1. and viii. 8, 9, 10. and xv. 18, and xxi. 29. According to Dr. Owen °, Fob lived 350 years after the difperfion at Badel, abour A.M. 2100. It is alfo greatly controverted who was the writer of this book; fome afcribe the writing of it to J/aiah the prophet; others to Solgmon, as Luther"; others to one of the prophets who was an Idumaean; but moft to Mofes, 1o the Jews * fay, that he wrote his own book, the fection of Balaam and Fob. Some think that he wroté it when in Midian, for the comfort and encouragement of the Hebrews afflicted in Egypt at that time, and who might hope to be delivered out of their afflictions, as this good man was deliyered out of his; and this, ’tis fuppofed, accounts for the ufe of many Arabic words in it; Mdian being in Arabia, where Mofes having lived fome years, had mixed their language with his own. Some are of opinion, that he met with this book when in thofe parts, which he found either in the Arabic or Syriac language, and tranflated it into Hebrew * for the ufe of the J/raelites; and others think it was written by 70d’s friends, and particularly by Ez, which is concluded from ch. XXxii. 15, 16. but it is moft probable that it was written by Fob himfelf, or at leaft compiled from his Diary or Adverfaria kept by him, or from thofe of his friends, or from both, and that it was written in the language it is now in: but be it written

N this chapter Hod, the fubject of the whole book, is defcribed by his native country, by his name, by his religious character, and by his family and his fubftance, ¥. 1 — 3. a particular relation is given of his children feafting together, and of 7od’s conduct during that time, y¥. 4, 5. of a difcourfe which paffed between God and fatan concerning him, the iflue of which was that fatan obtained leave of God to afflict od in his outward affairs, ¥. 6-—12. then follows an account of his feveral loffes, of his oxen, theep, camels, afies and fervants by the Sabe@ns, Chaldeans, and fire from heaven, and of his fons and daughters by the fall of the houfe in which they were, by whom it may, there is no doubt to be made of the divine authority of it; as appears from the fublimity of the ftile, the fubjeét-matter of it, its agreement with other parts of the facred writings, and particularly from a quotation of a paffage out of ch. v. 13. by the apoftle Paul, 1 Cor. iii. 19. fee alfo ch. y¥ 17. compared with Hed, xii. 52 The defign of it is not only in general to affert and explain the doctrine of providence, as Maimonides obferves; but in particular to thew, that though good men are afflicted, yet fooner or later they are delivered out of their afflictions; and that it becomes them to bearfthem patiently, and not murmur at them; nor complain of God on account of them, whofe ways and works are unfearchable, and who gives no account of his matters to men, but is fovereign, wife, and juft in all he does; and whatfoever is done by him iffues in the good of his people, as well as in his own glory, as the event fhews. This book may be confidered either as an hiftory of the life of ‘fob, in which an account is given of him in his profperity; of his afflictions, and how they came upon him; of a vifit paid him by his friends, and of the difcourfes that paft between him and them, and of his reftoration to greater affluence than he enjoyed before: or as a drama or dialogue confifting of divers parts, and in which various {peakers are introduced, as God, Satan, Fob, his wife and friends; or as a aifpute, in which Yod’s three friends are the opponents, himfelf the refpondent, Eibu the moderator, and God the umpire, who fettled and determined the point in queftion. It contains many ufeful things in it

‘concerning the Divine Being, and the perfections of his nature, his wifdom, power, juftice, goodnefs and fovereignty; concerning the works of creation and providence; concerning original fin, and the corruption of mankind; concerning redemption by Chrift, and good works to be done by men; and concerning the refurrection of the dead, and eternal life. Some think Fob was a type of Chrift in his afflictions and fufferings; in his patience under them, and deliverance out of them; in his exaltation to an high pitch of happinefs and profperity;. and in his interceffion for his friends. He is in many things worthy of imitation, though in others to be blamed, and not followed; and on the whole, this book of his may be read with great pleafure and profit.

throogh a violent wind, ¥. 13—19. and, the chapter is concluded with the agreeable behaviour of Fob in the midft of all this, ¥. 20—22.

y. 1. There was a man in the land of Uz, whofe name was Fob, &c.| Of the fignification of his name, fee the argument of the book. ‘The place where he dwelt had its name not from Uz, a de- {cendant of Shem, Gen. x. 23. butfrom Uz, a fon of Nabor, brother to Abrabam, Gen. xxii. 21, unlefs it can be thought to be {fo called from Uz, of the children of Seir, in the land of Edom; fince we read of the land of Uz along with Edom, or rather of Edom as in the land of Uz, or on the Pa of Armenia, but rather it is Arabia; and very probably it was one of the Aradias Fob lived in, either Petrea or Deferta, probably the latter; of which Uz or Aufitis, as the Septua,int and Vulgate Latin verfion read it, was a part; the fame with the Aifite of Ptolemy”, and it is faid to be near the land of Canaan”, for in Arabia Felix the Sabeans lived; and certain it is, that this country was near to the Sabeans and Chaldeans, and to the land of Edom, from whence Eliphaz the Temanite came: and as this very probably was a wicked and an idolatrous place, it was an inftance of the diftinguifhing grace of God, to call ob by his grace in the land of Uz, as it was to call Abrabam in Ur of the Chaldeans; and though it might be diftreffling and affliéting to the good man to live in fuch a country, as it was to Lot to live in Sodom; yet it was an honour to him, or rather, it was to the glory of the grace of God that he was religious here, and continued to be fo, fee Rev. ii. 13. and gives an early "proof of what the apoftle Peter obferved, that God is no refpeéter of perfons, but in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteoufnefs, is accepted with him, that is, through Chrift, 4s x. 34, 35. Fob, as he is defcribed by his name and country, fo by his fex, a man; and this not fo much to diftineuith his fex, nor to exprefs the reality of his exiftence as a man, but to denote his greatnefs; he was a very confiderable, and indeed an extraordinary man 5 he was a man not only of wealth and riches, but of great power and authority, fo the mean and great man are diftinguifhed in If, ii. 9. fee the account he gives of himfelf in ch, xxix. 4—10. by which it appears he was in great honour and efteem with men of all ranks and degrees, as well as he was a man of great grace, as follows: and the man was perf’&, in the fame fenfe as Noah, Abrabam, and Facob were; not with refpect to {an4tification, unlefs as confidered in Chrift, who is made fanétification to his people; or with regard to the truth, fincerity, and genuinenefs of it; or in acomparative fenfe, in comparifon of what he once was, and others are; but not fo as to be free from fin, neither from the being of it; which no man js clear of in this life, nor from the actings of it in thought, word; and deed, fee ch. ix. 20. 30, 31. or fo as to be perfect in grace; for though all grace 1s feminally implanted at once in regeneration, it opens and increafes gradually; there is a: perfection of parts, but not of degrees; there is the whole new man, but that is not arrived to the meafure of the ftature of the fulnefs of Chrift; there are all and every grace, but not one perfect, not knowledge, nor faith, nor hope, nor love, nor patience, nor any other: but then as to juftification, every good man is perfect 5 Chrift has compleatly redeemed his people from all their fins 5 he has perfeétly fulfilled the law in their room and {tead; he has fully expiated all their tran greffions, he has procured the full remiffion of them, and brought in a righteoufnefs which juftifies them from them all; fo that they are free from the guilt of fin, and condemnation by it, and are in the fight of God unblameable, irreproveable, without fault, all fair and perfeétly comely; and this was Fob’s cafe: and upright; to whom was fhewn the " uprightnefs of Chrift, or to whom the righteoufnefs of Chrift was revealed from faith to faith, and which was put upon him, and he walked in by ders of it, Lam. iv. 21. the Targem calls it the land faith, fee ch. xxiii. 2 3. moreover, Fob was t w Shalfhalet Hakabala, fol. 75. 2. Y Heraclides de Polis ad calcem right in heart, a right fpirit was renewed in; and though he was not of the nation of Trael, yer he was, in a fpiritual fenfe, an //raclite indeed, in — whom there was no guile, the truth of grace, and _ the root of the matter being in him, ch, xix. 28. and he was upright in his walk and converfation before God, and alfo before men; upright in all his dealings and concerns with them, in every relation he ftood, in every office and character he. bore: and one that feared God; not as the devils, who believe and tremble; nor as carnal men, when the judgments of God are in the earth, hide themfelves in fear of him; nor as hypocrites, whofe fear or devotion is only outward, and is taught by the precept of men; but as children affectionately reverence their parents: ob feared God with a filial and godly fear, which fprang from the grace of God, and was encouraged and increafed by his goodnefs to him, and through a fenfe of it, it was attended with faith and confidence of intereft in him, with an holy boldnefs and fpiritual joy, and true humility; and comprehended the whole of religious worfhip, both public and private, internal and external: and efchewed evil; or departed from ~ it *, and that with hatred and loathing of it, and indignation at it, which the fear of God engages unto, Prov. viii. 13. and xvi. 6. he hated it, as every good man does, as being contrary to the nature and will of God, abominable in itfelf, and bad in its effects and confequences; and he departed from it, not only from the groffer aéts of it, but abftained from all appearance of it, and ftudioufly fhunned and avoided every thing that led unto it; fo far was he from indulging to a finful courfe of life and converfation, which is inconfiftent with the grace and fear of God. *

¥. 2. And there were born unto bim, &c.) By his wife, in lawful wedlock, who was now living, and after mentioned: feven fons, and three daughters; next to his religious character, his graces, and fpiritual bleffings, and as the chief of his outward mercies and enjoyments, his children are mentioned; and which are indeed bleffings from the’ Lord, and fuch as good men, and thofe that fear the Lord, are fometimes blefled with, fee Pf CXXvii. 3, 4, 5. and cxxvili 3, 4. and to have a numerous offspring was always efteemed a very great favour and blefling, and as fuch was reckoned by 7od; who, having fo many fons, might hope to have his name perpetuated by them, as well as his fubftance fhared among them; and having fo many daughters, he might pleafe himfelf with the thought of marrying them into families, which would ftrengthen his friendfhip and alliance with them; juft the fame number of fons and daughters had Baccheus, the third king of Corinth *,? *

¥. 3. His fubftance alfo was 7000 foeep, 8ec.} For which he muft have a large pafturage to feed them on, as well as thefe would “produce mm wool for cloathing, and fleth for food;: his fubftance or pofléffions is mentioned Girt being the largeft, and moft ufeful and pro and 3000 camels; creatures fit to carry burdens, and travel with, and were greatly valued on that account, efpecially ‘in the ‘defarts of ia, near to which Fob lived; and that not only becat they were {trong for this\purpofe, but t could endure much thirft and want of wa tar Ny a long time; fee the note on Lev, xis 4. it feems by this, that, Yo carried on a commerce, and traded in diftant parts, whither he fent the produce of his lands and cattle,’ and trafficked with them: thefe camels might not only be he-, but the-camels alfo, according to. the Septuagint verfion, which might be kept for breeding, and for their milk: Ariffatle obferves*, fome of the inhabitants of the Upper Afia wied to have camels, to the number of 3000, the exact number here mentioned; and by. the number of thefe creatures the Arabians eftimated their riches, and. pofleffions*; and fo fheep are by the Greeks called wndx, as it is thought, from the Arabic word \Le, mala, to be rich” 5 the riches of other people, and of particular perfons, as of chiefly confilting of their focks, and alfo of their herds °, as follows: ad 500 yoke of oxen; to plow

*. t8e and trials, arid. the more remarkable his: patience under them.

We 4. ind bis fons went and feafted in their boufes every one his day, Sc.) Jt appears by this, that Yoo’s fons were grown up to men’s eftate; that they were from himy and were for themfelves,»and carried on a feparate bufinefs on-thetr own accounts, and had. houfes of their own; and perhaps iwere married;, and» being, at. fome diftance from each, other, they met by appointment at certain times in ' their own houfés; and had. friendly and family-entertainments in turn; for fuch were their fealts, not nefs, for then they would not have been encouraged, nor even connived at by ¥od; but to cherifh love and affection, and. maintain harmony and unity among themfelves, which mutt be very pleafing to their parént; fora; pleafant thing it is for any, and efpecially for parents, to behold brethren his land with, of which he mutt have a large quan- 0: tity to employ fuch a number in, fee 1 Kings xix, 19. and 500 foe-affes; which muft be chiefly for their milk; and no doubt. but he had a confiderable number of he-afles alfo, tho’ not mentioned, dwelling together in unity, Pf. CXKXIL. 1 befides, thefe feafts were kept, notin public houfes, much lefs in houfes of ill fame,. but in their own hotifes, among themfelves, at certain feafons, which they * which, as well as the others, were ufed to ride on, and alfo to plow with, in thofe countries; it may be rendred only affes.as by fome, and fo may include both: Arifieus, Philo, and Polybiftor * give the fame account of »¥od’s fubitance in the feveral articles as here: and a very great houfbold: this mutt be underftood, of, his fervants only, fince his children are before taken notice of; and the fame phrafe is rendered great flore of fervants, Gen. xxvi. 14. and in, the margin, 4u/bandry or tillage, large fields and farms; and the fenfe comes to much the fame, whether it is taken the one way or the other; if great ftore of fervants, he muft have large farms and many fields to employ them in; and if a large hufbandry, and much ground for tillage, he mutt have many fervants to manure and cultivate them: now thefe feveral articles are mentioned, becaufe, in thofe times and countries, as has been obferved, the fubftance of men chiefly lay in them, and according to them they were reckoned more or Jlefs rich; not but chat they had gold and filver alfo, as Abrabam had, Gen. xiii. 1. and fo had ob, ch. XXXi, 24. but thefe were the principal things: /o that this man was the greateft of all the men of the eaft; that lived in Arabia, Chaldea, and other eaftern countries; that is, he was a man of the greateft wealth and ‘riches, and of the greateft ‘power and authority, and was had in the greateft honour and efteem: now thele temporal bleffings are obferved, to fhew that grace and earthly riches are compatible, that they may, and fometimes do, meet in the fame perfon; as alfo to point at the goodnefs of God, in beftowing {uch bleffings on this good man, thereby fulfilling the promife made to godlinels and godly men, which reipects this life, and that which is to come; and they are mentioned chiefly igre fake of the lofs of thefe things after related, whereby the. greatneis of his lofs and of his affiictions would be the more eafily perceived, and his patience in bearing them appear. the more illuftrious; for by how much the greater was his fabftance, by fo much the greater were his lofles took in turn; and thefe were, either at their time of fheep-fhearing, which was a time of feafting, 1. Sam, xxv. 2. 36..or at the weaning.of a child, Gen. xxi. 8. or rather on each of their birth-days, which in thofe early times were obferved, efpecially thofe of perfons of figure, Gez. xl. 20. and the rather, as obs birth-day is called is day as here, Foo ili. 1. and fent and called for their three fifters, to eat and to drink with them; not to make a featt in their turn, but to partake of their entertainment; which, as is commonly obferved, fhewed humanity, kindnefs, tendernefs, and affection in them to their fifters, to invite them to take>part with them.in their innocent and focial recreations, and modefty in their fitters not to thrutt themfelves into their company, or go without an invitation; thefe very probably were with os, and went to the feafts with his leave, being very likely unmarried, or otherwife their hufbands would have been invited alfo.

‘y. 5. And it was fo, when the days of their feafting were gone about, &c.\ When they had been at each others houfes in turns when the rotation was ended: fomething like this is practifed by the Chinefe, who have their co-fraternities, which they call the brotherhood of the month, this confilts of thirty, according to the number of days therein, and in a circle they go every day to eat at one anothers houfe by turns; if one man has not convenience to receiye the fraternity in his own houfe, he may provide it at another man’s, and there are many public houfes very well furnifhed for this purpofe °; ‘Fob’s fons, probably began at the elder brother’s houfe, and fo went. on according to their age, and ended with the younger brother; fo when they had gone through the circuit, as the word ' fignifies, and the. revolution was over, and they had done feafting for that feafon, or that year, that Fob fent and fané&ified them not that he did or could make them holy, by imparting gtace, or infufing holinefs into them 5 at moft he could only pray for their fanétification, and give them rules, precepts, and inftruétions about holinefs, and exhortations to - it; but here it either fignifies, that being at fome diftance from them, he fent meflengers or letters to them, to fanétify and prepare themfelves for the facrifices he was about to offer for them; either by fome rites and ceremonies, as by wafhing themfelves, and abftinence from their wives, which were fometimes ufed as preparatory to divine fervice, Gen. xxxv. 2, 3. Exod. xix. 10, 11. 14, 15. or by. fafting and prayer; or perhaps no more is intended by it, than an invitation of them to come and attend the folemn facrifice which he, as the head of the family, would offer for them; fo, to {anétify people, is fometimes to invite, to call and gather them to holy fervice, fee Yoel ii. 15, 16. and fo the Targum renders it, ‘* Fob fent and invited them:” and rofe up early in the morning; of the laft of the days of feafting; he took the firft opportunity, and that as early as he could 5 which fhews the eagernefs of his fpirit for the glory of

God, and the good of his children, lofing no time for his devotion to God, and regard for his family; this being alfo the fitteft time for religions worfhip and fervice, fee Pf. v. 3. and was uted for facrifice, Exod.'xxix. 39. and offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all, either of his ten children, or only his feven fons, fince they only are next mentioned, and were the mafters of the feaft: this was before the law of the priefthood was in being, which reftrained the offering of facrifice to thofe in the office of priefts, when before, every head of a family had a right unto it; and. this cuftom of offering facrifice was before the law of Mo/es, it was of divine inftitution, and in ufe from the time of the fall of man, Gev, iii. 21. and iv. 3, 4. and viii. 20. and was by tradition handed down from one to another, and fo Yod had it 5 and which was typical of the facrifice of Chrift, to be offered up in the fulnefs of time for the expiation of fin; and Yob no doubt, by faith in Chrift, offered up thofe burnt-offerings for his fons, and one for each of them, thereby fignifying, that every one ftood in need of the whole facrifice of Chrift for the afonement of fin, as every finner does: for Fob faid, It may be that my fons have finned, not merely as in common, or daily fins of infirmity; for Fob fo full well knew the corruption of human nature, that a day could not pafs without fin in thought, word, or deed; but fome more notorious or {candalous fin; that in the midft of their feafting and mirth, they had ufed fome filthy, or frothy, and unfavoury, and unbecoming language; had dropped fome impure words or impious jefts, or done fome actions which would reflect difhonour on God and true religion, and bring an odium on themfelves and families: now od was not certain of this, he had had no inftruction or intelligence of it; he only furmifed and conjectured it might be fo; he was fearful and jealous left it fhould: this fhews his care and concern, as for the glory of God, fo for the fpiritual welfare of his children, though they were grown up and gone from him, and is to be confidered in favour of his fons; for by this it is evident, they were not addicted to any fin, or did not live a vicious courfe of life; but that they were religious and godly perfons; or otherwife Fob would have had no doubt in his mind about their conduct and behaviour: the particular fin he feared they might have been guilty of follows: and curfed God in their hearts; not in the groffeft fenfe of the wifh there was none, and conceive blafphemy in their hearts, and utter it with their lips; but whereas, to blefs God, is to think and fpeak well of him, and afcribe that to him which is his due; fo to curfe him, is to think: and {peak irreverently of him, and not to attribute to him»what belongs unto him; and thus ¥04 might fear, that his fons, amidft their feafting, might boaft of their plenty, and of the increafe of their fubftance, and attribute it to their own diligence and induftry, and not to the providence of God, of which he feared they ~ might fpeak flightingly and unbecomingly, as perfons in fuch circum{tances fometimes do, fee Deut. Xxxii. 15. Prov. xxx. 9. Mr. Broughton renders it, and little bleffed God in their heartsy not blefing him as they fhould was interpretatively curfing him: the Hebrew word ufed, properly and primarily fignifies to d/e/s *, and then the meaning is either, that his fons had finned, but took no notice of it, nor were humbled for it, but blefled God, being profperous and fuccefsful, as if they had never finned at all, fee Zech. xi. 1. Sanéius adds the negative particle mot, as if the meaning was, that they finned, and did not blefs God for their mercies as they fhould, Deut. viii. ro. but this is too daring and_venturous to make fuch an addition; though this is favoured by the Targum, as in fome copies, which paraphrafes it, ** and have not prayed in the name of the Lord in their hearts:” and becaufe the word is ufed at parting, and taking a farewel of friends, Cocceiws thinks it may be fo ufed here, and the fenfe to be, that they finned, and took their leave of God, and departed from him; but rather, as the word Elobim is ufed of ftrange gods, of falfe deities, Exod. xviii, 11. Jod’s fears might be, left his fons fhould have been guilty of any idolatrous action, at leaft of bleffing the gods of the Gentiles in their hearts, fince feafting fometimes leads to idolatry, Exod. xxxii. 6. but the firft fenfe feems beft, with which the Septaagint verfion agrees, ** it may be my fons in their mind have thought evil things againft the Lord:” thus did Fob continually; or all thofe days”; that is, after every fuch circuit and rotation of feafting, or after every feaft-day kept by them, he offered facrifices for them; or every year’, as fome interpret the phrafe, the feafts, and fo the fatrifices, being annual;' all this is obferved, partly further to defcribe the piety of cb, his affeétion for his family, and concern for their fpiritual good, and the glory of God, and partly as a leading ftep to an after event, ¥. 18, 19.

¥. 6. Now there was a day, when the fons of God came to prefent themfelves before the Lord, &c.] This is generally underftood of the angels, as‘in ch. xxxviii. 7.. who may be thought to be fo called; becaufe of their creation by the father of pirits, and wifdom, and being affectionate and) obedient and confirmation in Chrift beftowed upon them, as well as becaufe, in their embaffies and meffages to men, they reprefent God, and fo may be called Gods, and children of the Moft High, for a like reafon the civil magiftrates are, Pj. Ixxxii. 6. to which may be added, their conftituting with the-— faints the family of God in heaven andearth: thefe, » as they ftand before God, and at his right hand and left, as the hoft os heaven, in which pofture + - Micaiab