Montanus, Beza, Schmidt.
¥. 14. Yet bis meat in bis bowels is turned, Bcc.) Or bis bread’, to which fin is compared, being — what the finner lives in, and lives upon; what he ftrengthens himfelf in and with, and by which he is nourifhed unto the day of flaughter, and by means of which he grows and proceeds to more ungodlinefs, though in the iffue he comes into ftarving and famifhing circumftances; for this is bread of deceit, and proves to be afhes and gravel ftones; it promifes pleafure, profit, liberty and — impunity, but is all the reverfe; as meat turns in a man’s ftomach when it don’t digeft with him, or rather his ftomach turns againit that, and inftead of its being pleafant and agreeable to him, it diftreffes him and makes him uneafy; fin being compared to meat in the bowels, denotes the finifhing of fin after it has been conceived in the mind, and compleated in the act: it is the gall of ajfps within him; which is bitter, though not poifon; which yet Pkny*{uggetts, but it feems ‘it is not faét. Sin is an evil and bitter thing, and produces bitter forrow, and makes bitter work for repentance in good men, Fer. ii. 19. Matt. xxvi. 75. and fills” with diftrefs inexpreffible and intolerable in wicked men, as in Cain and Fudas in this world, and with black defpair, weeping and, gnafhing of teeth, and dreadful horrors of confcience in the world to come to all eternity; the effect of it is eternal death, the fecond death, inevitable and everlafting ruin and deftruction. ¥.15. He hath fwallawed down riches, &c.] Not his own, but another’s, which he has {fpoiled him of and devoured, with as much eagerne{s, pleafure and delight as a hungry man fwallows down his food; having an exceflive and immoderate love of riches, and an infatiable defire after them, which make him ftick at nothing, though ever fo illicic to obtain them; and when he has got them into his poffeffion, thinks them as fafe as the food in his belly, and never once dreams of refunding them, which yet he muft do, as follows: and be Jball vomit them up again; that is, make reftoration of them, not freely but forcedly, with great reluctance, much pain of mind, and gripes of confcience: God fhall caft them out of bis belly; he fhall oblige him to caft them up again, by working upon his heart, making his mind uneafy, loading his confcience with guilt, fo. that he fhall have no reft nor peace until he has done it; though they are as meat in his belly within him, they fhall not remain with him; though they are in his houfe, in his coffers, or in his barns, they fhall be fetched out from thence. ¥.16. He fhall fuck the poifon of afps, 8ec.| Or the bead of afps"; for their poifon lies in their heads, particularly in their ¢eeth”; or rather is a liquor in the gums, yellow like oil *; according to Pliny", in copulation the’ male puts his head into the mouth of the female, which fhe fucks and gnaws off thro’ the fweetnefs of the pleafure, then conceives her young, which eat out her belly: this is to be underftood not of the man’s fin, then it would haye been exprefied either in the paft or prefent tenfe, as if~ that was {weet unto him in the commifiion of it, fucked in like milk from the breaft, or honey from the honey-comb; fuch were his contrivances and — artful methods, and the fuccefs of them in getting — riches, but'in the iflue proved like the poifon o ‘ afps, of anis ej a ae t Scheuchzer, en? ‘Sets vi Pheer.; Bin afps, pernicious and deadly to him, which caufed him to vomit them up again; for poifon excites vomiting: but of the punifhment of his fin; for putting men to death by the poifon of afps, was a punifhment inflicted by fome people upon malefactors; and however, it is certain death, and immediately and quickly difpatches, and without fenfe; fo the wages of fin is death, and there is no avoiding it, and it comes infenfibly on carnal men; they are not aware of it, and in no pain about it, until in hell they lift up their eyes as the rich man did: the viper’s tongue foall flay bim; though it is with its teeth it bites, yet when it is about to bite, it puts out its tongue, and to it its poifon is fometimes afcribed; though it is faid * to be quite harmlefs, and therefore not to be underftood in a literal fenfe, but figuratively of the tongue of a detractor, a calumniator and falfe accufer, fuch an one as Doeg; but cannot be the fenfe here, fince the fall of the perfon here defcribed would not be by any fuch means; but the phrafe, as before, denotes the certain and immediate death of fuch a wicked man; for the bite of a viper was always reckoned incurable, and iffued in fudden death, fee 4s xxviii.3—6.
y.17. He fhall not fee the rivers, &c.] Of water, or meet with any to affuage his thirft, which poifon excites, and fo thakes a man wifh for water, and defire large quantities; but this fhall not be granted the wicked man; this might be illuftrated in the cafe of the rich man in hell, who defired a drop of cold water to cool his tongue, but could not have it, Luke xvi. 24. though rather plenty of good things is here intended, fee J/. xlviti. 18. as alfo by the following expreffions: zhe floods, the brooks of boney and butter; or creams, which are hyperbolical expreffions, denoting the great profufion and abundance of temporal bleffings, which either the covetous rich man was ambitious of obtaining, and hoped to enjoy, feeking and promiling great things to himfelf, which yet he fhould never attain unto; or elfe the fenfe is, though he had enjoyed fuch plenty, and been in fuch great proiperity as to have honey and butter, or all temporal good things flowing about him like rivers, and floods, and brooks; yet he fhould fee them xo more, fo Broughton reads the words; and perhaps Zopbar may have refpect to the abundance ‘od once pofiefled, but fhould no more, and which is by himfelf expreffed by fuch like metaphors, ch. xxix. 6. yea even fpiritual and eternal good things may be defigned, and the plenty of them, as they often are in feripture, by wine, and milk, and honey; fuch as the means of grace, the word and ordinances, the bleflings of grace difpenfed and communicated thro’ them; fpiritual peace and joy, called the rivers of pleafure; the love of God, and the ftreams of it, which make glad his people; yea, eternal glory and happinefs, fignified by new wine in the kingdom of God, and by a river of water of life, and atree of life by it, fee J lv.1. and Ixvi, 12. Yoel iit. a8. Pf. xxxvi. 8. and xlvi. 4. Rev. xxii. 1, 2. which are what carnal men and hypocrites fhall never fee or enjoy; and whereas Zopbar took Fob to be fuch a man, he may have a principal view to him, and object this to the beatific vifion of God, and the enjoyment of eternal happinefs he promifed himfelf, ch. xix. 26,27. Bar Tzemach obferves, that thefe words are to be read by a tranfpofition thus, be Joall not fee rivers of water, floods of honey, and brooks of butter..
9.18. That which be laboured for foall be reftore; &c,]. This explains what was before figuratively expreffed by vomiting; ¥. 15. and is to be interpreted either of that which another laboured for; fo the Targum paraphrafes it, ‘* another’s labour;” and Mr. Broughton renders it, be fhail reffore what man’s pain gat; and then the fenfe is, that that which another got by his labour, coming by fome means or another into the hand of this rapacious, covetous, wicked man, he fhall be obliged to reftore to him again; or the hire of the labourer being detained in his hands, he fhall be forced to give it to him, as the kgypiians by lending the Ifraelites their jewels of gold and filver, reftored to them the wages due to them for all their labour among them for many years; or elfe this is to be underitood of what the wicked man himfelf had laboured for, who with much toil and labour, as well as trick and artifice, had got the wealth of others into his, hands; but fhould be obliged to make reftoration of it again, and along with that alfo what he had laboured for, and had got even in an honeft and Jawful way, the mammon of unrighteoufnefs corrupting and marring his whole fubftance: and fhall not fwallow it downs or not have time to devour it, as Mr. Broughton; he fhall be obliged fo foon to reftore it, that it fhall be as if he had never had it; he fhall have no enjoyment of it, at leaft no comfort, pleafure and fatisfaction in it: according to his fubjtance fhall the reftitution be; the law of Moj/es required, in fome cafes, fourfold, in others, five-fold; and fometimes feven-fold was exacted; and if a man had not fufficient to pay, all his {ubftance was to go towards payment, and by this means what he lawfully got, went along with that which was obtained in an illicit way, as before, fee Exod. xxii. 1. Prov. vi. 31. and be shail not rejoice therein; not in the reftitution he is forced to make, it being greatly againft his will; nor in his ill-gotten fubftance, at leaft but for a little while, as in ¥. 5. he fhall neither enjoy it, nor have delight and pleafure in it, nor glory of > it, as-‘men are apttodo; Mr. Broughton reads this in connexion with the preceding claufe thus, ‘¢ and never rejoice in the wealth for which he muft make recompence.”
y¥.19. Becaufe he hath oppreffed, and forfaken the poor, &c.| Having oppreffed, crufhed and broken the poor to pieces, he leaves them {fo without pity and compaffion for them, and without giving them any relief; he firft by oppreffion makes them poor, or however poorer ftill, and then leaves them in fuch circumftances; for this does not fuppofe that he once was a favourer of them, and alforded them affiftance in their neceffities, and afterwards forfook them; but rather, as Ben Gerfom gives the fenfe, he does not leave the poor until he has oppreffed and crufhed them, and then he does; Mr. Broughton’s reading of the words agrees with the former fenfe, be oppreffeth and leaveth poor: becaule he hath violently taken away an boule which be built not; an houfe which did not belong to him, he had no property in or right unto, which, as he had not bought, he had not built; and therefore could lay no rightful claim unto it, and yet this he took in a violent manner from the right owner of it, fee Mic. ii. 2. or and, or but fhall not build it*, or buildeth it not; he took it away with an intention to pull it down, and build a itately palace in in the room of it; but either his fubftance was! taken from him, or he taken away by death before he could finifh it, and fo either through negleé&t, or want of opportunity, or of money, did not what he thought to have done. ¥. 20. Surely be foail not feel quietnefs in bis belly, &c.] Or happinefs in his children, fo fome in Bar Tzemach; rather fhall have no fatisfaction in his fubftance, though his belly is filled with hid treafure, it thal] give him no contentment; he fhall be a ftranger to that divine art, but ever have a reftlefs craving after more, which is his fin; but rather punifhment is here meant, and the fenfe is, that he fhall have no quiet in his confcience, no peace of mind becaufe of his fin, in getting riches in an unlawful way: he fall uot fave of that which he defired; of his defirable things, his goods, his wealth, his riches, and even his children, all being gone, and none faved; refpect may be had par-| ticularly to Fob’s cafe, who was itripped of every, thing, of all his fubftance and his children. ‘yar. There foall none of bis meat be left, &c.] Not in his belly, all fhall be caft up; none of his, fubftance left for himfelf or others; none of his riches for his children or heirs, all being confumed: or this may refpect either the profufenefs or niggardlinefs of his living, that he fhould live in great luxury himfelf, but take no care of the poor; or elfe keep fo mean a table, that there would be nothing left for the poor, not fo much as a few crumbs to fall from it; but the firft fenfe feems beft; though fome render the words, ¢here hall be none left for his meat’, or his fubftance; he fhall Jeave no children, have no heirs, all his family fhall be cut off, fee ch. xviil. 19. therefore fhall no man look for bis goods; for there fhall be none to look for them; or rather there fhall be none to look for, all being gone: a man in good circum- ie fo Broughton, * the hand of the injured or grieved;* fuch as he had been injurious to, and had grieved by his oppreffions of them; or rather every troublefome wicked man, the hand of every thief or robber; refpect feems to be had to the hand of the Sabeans and Chaldeans, that had been on Yod and his fubftance.
y.23. When he is about to fill bis belly, Bec.) Either in a literal fenfe, when he is about to take an ordinary meal to fatisfy nature; or-in a figurative fenfe, when he is feeking to increafe his worldly riches, and his barns and coffers, and endeavouring to get fatisfaction therein: God fhall caf the fury of kis wrath upon him, or fend it out om him’; out of the treafutes of it, which are laid
{cience, and fill him with a dreadful fenfe and apprehenfion of it, and that with’ great force and violence, and caft it, and pour it on him like fire, or any fcalding liquor, which is very terrible and This intends the indignation of God. againft fin, and his juft punifhment of it, aecording to the rigour of his juftice; fometimes it is only a little wrath and difpleaiture he fhews, he does not ftir up all his wrath; but here it is threatened — he will caft it, and pour it in great plenty, even the fury of it, in the moft awful and terrible manner: and foall rain i upon him while beis eating, fignifying, that the wrath of God fhall be revealed from heaven againft him, from whence rain comes; that it fhall fall on him from above, unfeen, fuddenly, and at an unawares, and come with a force and violence nat to be refifted, and in great abun-= dance and profufion. The allufion feems to be to the rainmg of fire and brimftone on Sodom and Gomorrah, the inhabitants of which were indulging themfelves in gratifying the flefh, when that judgment came upon them, Lwke xvii. 28, 29. and ftances of life, his heirs expect to enjoy much at his death, but when he is ftript of all, as ob was, his relations and friends are in no expectation of any thing at his death; and therefore don’t think it worth their while to look out, or make an enquiry fo it was with the J/raelites, when they finned againftGod in the wildernefs, P/ Ixxviii.30, 31. perhavingjhaps Zepbhar may glance at ‘fod’s children being flain while they were eating and drinking in their elder brother’s houfe.
whether there is any thing for them or no, fee
Some render it, upon bis food" his meat, a curfe going along with it, whilft he is eating it, his table becoming a fnare unto
¥.22. In the fulnefs of his fufficiency be foall be him; or upon his wealth and riches, he is endea- in fraits, &c.] For though he may not only have vouring to fill his belly, or fatisfy himfelf with;
a {ufficient competency to live upon, but even ajand others, upon bis flelh, as the Targum, or into fulnefs of temporal bleffings, have as much as heart can wifh, or more, even good things, and bis fiefb, as Broughton, and fo many of the FewiS commentators *; meaning his body, filling it with plenty of them laid up for many years; yet amidft difeafes, fo that there is no foundnefs in it, but is it all fhall be reduced to the utmoft ftraits and difficulties, either through fear of lofing what he has, in pain, and wafting, and confuming; and Fod’s cafe. may be referred to, his body being full of infomuch that his abundance will not fuffer him to boils and ulcers.
fleep in the night, nor to enjoy an hour’s pleafure in the day; or being fo narrow-{fpirited, notwith-
¥.24. He fhall flee from the iron weapon, &e.] The fword, for fear of being thruft thro’ withit; the ftanding his fulnefs, that he cannot allow himfelf flaming fword of juftice,~God fometimes threatens to eat of the fruit of his labours, and rejoice therein; or fearing, notwithftanding all his plenty, that he fhall come to want and poverty; or rather whilft he is in the moft flourifhing circumftances, and in the heighth of his profperity, he is on a fudden as Nebuchadnezzar was, difpoflefled of all, and reduced to the utmoft extremity; the Targum is, *“when his meafure is filled, he fhall take vengeance on him:” every band of the wicked fhall come upon bim or of the labourer, as the Targum, the hire of whofe labour he has detained, or has taken away from him, that which he laboured for; and
» HONS Hy TN non erit fuperftes heres qui ejus bonis