Exposition of the Whole Bible

which fhewed great condefcenfion to her, the notice he took.of her, the love he had to her, and his well-pleafednefS. in her, and histatcepedles of her prayer through Cérif; fhe rejoiced not im her hufband, nor in the wealth andwriches they were poffefled of, nor in any creaturé-enjoyments, but in the Lord, the giver of ail; nor in her religious fervices and facrifices, but in the Lord Orif,. thro’ whom her duties were acceptable to God, and who was the antitype of the facrifices offered; and it is inthe perfon, offices, and grace of Cbri/l,, that we fhould alone rejoice;, fee Phil. iv. 4. and ili. 3. this joy of Hannab’s was not worldly, but fpiritual; not outward, but inward; not hypocritical which fuppofes that fhe had been in a low eftate, was creft-fallen; and her horn was defiled in the duft, as Fob fays was his cafe, ch. xvi. 15. when God had fhuc up her womb, and her ‘adverfary upbraided her with it, and provoked and fretted her; and when fhe was fo full of gtief, that the fhe could not eat her food, and prayed in the bitternefs of her foul; but now fhe could lift up her ‘horn and her head, as horned creatures, to whom the allufion is, do, when they are lively and ftrong; now fhe could look pleafant and chearful; and even triumph, being raifed to an high eftate; and greatly. favoured of the Lord, to whom fhe afcribes this change of her ftate and citcumftances: it was owing to his power and grace that fhe was thus ftrengthened and exalted; as it is: owing to. the fame, that the people of God, who are in a'] eftate by nature, are raifed out of it in converfion, and brought into an open {tate of grace and favour with God, and put into the poffeffion of rich bleffings and mercies, and have hope of eternal glory, on account of which they can exult and. triumph: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; meaning Peninnab, and thofe that provoked her, and upbraided her with her barrennefs, to whom fhe was not able to make any reply; but now her mouth was opened, and fhe could fpeak largely, and did; not in 2 way of reproach and reviling, in retaliation for what fhe had met with from others; but in prayer to God; to whom fhe could come with open mouth, and ufe freedom and boldnefs, and plead with importunity, fervency; and in faith, and in praife and thank{giving to him for the great and good things he had done for her, and would now freely and largely fpeak of them to others, to fome, her friends,to their joy and pleafure; and to others, her enemies, to their grief and confufion: becaufe I rejoice in thy falvation, not only in temporal falvation wrought by the Lord for her, whereby fhe was delivered from the reproach of barrennefs, thro’ a fon being given unto her;- but in fpiritual and eternal falvation, through the Meffiah, fhe had knowledge of, and faith in, as appears from x. 10. as all believers in him do, as it is contrived by the wifdons of God, wrought out by Chrift, and applied by his Spirit; it being fo great, fo fuitable, fo perfeét and complete, entirely free, and of an everlafting duration t fee Pf xx. 5. I/. XXV. 9.

the confideration of what the Lord had done for her; which had filled her heart and mouth with joy and praife, fhe is led to celebrate the perfections of God, and begins with his holinefs, in which he is glorious, and which appears in all his ways and works; he is effentially, originally, independently, perfectly, and immutably holy, as others are not. Angels are holy, but not of themfelves ¢ their holinefs is from the Lord; nor is it perfect in comparifon of his, and therefore they cover their faces while they celebrate that perfection of his; nor immutable, at leaft not naturally fo, as the lofs of it in thofe that fell, demonftrates. Of men, fome under the legal difpenfation were holy, not truly, but in a typical and ceremonial fenfe; fome are only outwardly and hypocritically holy, and only fo in the fight of men, not in the fight of God; and thofe that are truly holy, being called to holinefs, and have the prin- e mw teal and hearty: mine born is exalted in the Lord;

ciple of it implanted in them, and -live holy lives atid eirerteetbns 3. yet ee thee a hi ‘ of the'holinefs of God in them, being: made f takers of the divine nature; it is far from an equa~ lity to it; for the holinefs of the beft imperfeét; they are not without fin in them, ‘nor without fin committed by them, and perfection is. difelatmed by them all; but the Lent is wit ut iniquity, jutt and true ig he; none in’ hi

‘nor in any of his works, not the leaft fhadow — thereof: for there is none befides thee; ther is no:

God befides him; no being but what is of him, and none is holy but by himn; the holinefs of angels is front him; the holinefs of 4dam in innocence was of him; and all the holinefs of his © chofen ones comes from him, to which they are, chofen by him, and which is fecured in that choice unto them, and are fanétified by God the Father, in Chrift, and through the Spirit: weither is there any rock like our God; the word rock is ufed. for deity, and fometimes for a falfe one, Deut, xxxii. 31. and fo it may here, and the fenfe be, there is no god like to our God; there is indeed none befides him; there are fictitious gods, and nominal ones, as the idols of the Gentiles, and who are fo in an’ improper and figurative fenfe, as magi-— {trates; but there is but one true and living God; nor is there any like him for the perfections of his nature, and the bleffings of his goodnefs, whether in providence or grace. Under this metaphor of a rock, our Lord Jefus Chrift is often fignified; he is the rock of J/rae/, the rock of refuge, and of falvation; and there is fo rock can do what he does, hide and fhelter from the juftice of God; there is no rock like him for ftrength and duration; none like him for a foundation to build upon, or for fafety and protection from the wrath of God, and the rage of men, fee P/- xviii. 31. ¥. 3. Talk no more fo exceeding proudly, &c.} At fuch an high rate; in fuch an over-bearing manner, as if above every one; this may have refpect to Peninnab, and all that joined with her to provoke Hannah to anger, and make her fret, infulting and triumphing over her, becaufe fhe had not children, as they had; but now their mouths would be ftop-_ ped, and their talk over; and not give themfélves the haughty airs they had done, at leaft there would be no occafion for them: /et not, arrogaucy come out of your moute, arrogating to themfelves, and to their merits, what they enjoyed, as children, riches, €?¢. when all come from the Lord; or what is hard ', intolerable, which bears fo hard on thofe to whom it is faid, that it can’t be bore with; or what is cid *, and trite, old fayings concerning barren wo= men, as if of no ufe in the world, and difagreeable to God, and as having no fhare in his favour. The Yargum renders the word by reproaches, or blafphemies: for the Lord is a God of. f ledge; or knowledges’; of perfect knowledge; he knows all perfons and things; he knows himfelf, his perfections, purpofes, thoughts, Words and works;_ he knows all his creatures, animate and inanimate, rational and irrational, angels and men; the hearts”

of all men; all that they fay, all their hard fayings, all their proud, haughty, over-bearing expreffions, calumnies and reproaches, as well as all they think, and all they do, good or bad; and. God will fooner or later convince them of, and pu-.

nifh them for their hard fpeeches againf€ his peo ple: and he is the author of all knowledge, natu=_ ral, civil, fpiritual and evangelical: aétions are weighed; his own actions; his works ad intra; his‘ purpofes and decrees, the counfels ‘of his will, and the thoughts of his heart, the things his mind is fet upon; all his appointments and defigns, his whole will and pleafure; all are pondered by him, and are formed with the utmoft wifdom, and for the beft ends and purpofes: ‘all his a€tions and works without, whether of creation, providence and grace; all are weighed and done according to infinite wifdom, unerring juftice and truth; all refpecting things temporal or ritual, what relate to the outward eftate of men, or to their everlafting happinefs: all the actions of men, as they are known unto him, they are weighed and examined by him, whether they proceed|cea from a right principle to a right end or no; upon which, many actions, thought to be good, are not found to#be fo, and others, though good, yet not found perfect before God; fo that there is no juftification nor falvation by the beft: or the fenfe is, fuch actions as are done well, they are direcfed to him™; as they are ordained by him that men fhould walk in them, they are for his ufe, and are done with a view to his glory. There is a double reading of thefe words; the marginal, which follow, is ¢o or dy bim actions are directed or ed; but the textual reading is a negative, a/ions are not weighed", or numbered; the works of God can’t be comprehended, or the actions of men not difpofed and-ordered without his will and pleafure, or can’t be performed unlefs he wills or premits; and all are difpofed of, over-ruled and directed to anfwer his own ends and purpofes.

¥. 4. The bows of the mighty men are broken, &c.] Hannah, from relating gracious experiences, celebrating the divine perfections of holinefs, nifcience and fovereignty, pafles on to take notice of the dealings of God with men in providence grace; dow are here put for all military arms, which men of might and war make ule of, and which God can eafily break in pieces, and fo make to ceafe in the earth, and hinder warlike men from doing what they defign and attempt; they are enfeebled and weakened by him, and their hands cannot perform their enterprizes: fo the bows of fatan, and his principalities and powers, are broken, and his fiery darts are quenched, and the people of the Lord enabled to ftand againft him, and wreftle with him and them, being ftrong in the Lord, and in the. power of his might, as it follows: and they that fumbled are girt with ftrength, who through weaknefs are ready to ftumble at every thing they meet with in the way; yet being girded with ftrength by the Lord, are able to do great exploits, as David did, that being his cafe, P/> xviii. 29, 32. fo fuch as are weak in grace, in faith, knowledge, and ready to ftumble at every trial and exercife, let it come from what quarter it will; yet being girded oY the Lord with ftrength, are able to exercile grace, perform duty, go through every fervice they are called to, whether in a way of doing or fuffering, to bear the yoke and crofs of Chrift, to oppofe every enemy, to walk on in the ways of God, and to perfevere in faith and hoand by bim!'to hire themfelves out to perfond to labour under them for their bread. Hannah has either refpect to fome inftances fhe had known, or prophefies of what would be hereafter, ‘and was fulfilled in the T/raels ites, when in the hands of the Egyptians and Afyriazs, Lam. iv. 6 and may be exemplified in the cafe of the prodigal fon, Luke xv, 13-16. and andjis true of fuch who have large gifts but not grace, and which they exercife for lucre-fake, and are mere hirelings 5 and of f-lf-righteous perfons who are full of themfélves, of their goodnefs and righpi-jteoufnefs, purity and power; are quite mercenary, do all they do for gain, work for Jife, and labour for perifhing meat, and for that which is not bread, and is unfatisfying: and they that were hungry ed; that is, from being hungry, being filled with good things, having a large and fufficient fupply to fatisfy their craving defires, Luke i. 53. Such are the changes fometimes in providence, that thofe who have lived in great plenty and fulnefs, are obliged to work for their bread; and, on the other hand, fuch as have been ftarving, and in famithing circumftances, have been brought into very plentiful and affluent ones. The hungry, in a fpiritual fenfe, are fuch who hunger and thirft wejafter Chrift, and his righteoufnefs, for juttification weigh- before God; after him and his blood for the remiffion of their fins, and the cleanfing of their fouls; after him, and falvation by him, in whom arejalone it is to be had; after a view of intereft in him, and a greater degree of knowledge of him; and after more communion with him in his word and ordinances; and after the enjoyment of them for that purpofe: now when they enjoy what. they are craving after, they ceafe to hire out themfelves andjfor bread, as others do; they don’t ceafe from om-!working, but from dependence on their works, on which they can’t feed and live, having found and got andjother and better bread to feed upon; they ceafe to be hungry, for they are filled and fatisfied with the love of God, with the righteoufnefs of Chrift, warjwith the bleflings of grace, and falvation by him, with the goodnefs of his houfe, and with all the fulnefs of God and Chrift; and fo having what fatisfies them, they defire no other food, fhall have no more want, or be in a ftarving condition any more, efpecially this will be the cafe hereafter: /a that the barren hath barn feven; meaning herfelf,wha had born many, even five children befides Samuel, y..20, 21. which either was the cafe before this fong was delivered; or rather what fhe believed would be the cafe after Eli had bleffed her, and prayed for the children by her; feven being a number put for many, Prov. xxiv. 16. If. iv. 1. and /be that hath many children is waxed feeble, and un- \capable of bearing more, and ftripped of what fhe injhad; this may be underftood otf Peninnab, concerning whom the Fews have this tradition °, which ‘farchi relates, that when Hannah bore one child, Pexinnab buried two; and whereas Hannab had five, Pexinnah loft all her ten children. This may be applied to the cafe of the Gentile and Fewi/h churches, under the gofpel-difpenfation, when more were the children of the defolate or barren, the Gentiles, then of the married wife, the Jews, 7, linefs to the end. liv. 1.

¥. 5. They that are full have hired out themfelves or bread, &c.] Such as have been full of the) good things of this life, have been ftripped of all, and reduced to fuch circumftances as to be obliged y. 6. The Lord killeth, and maketh alive, &c.] Which is true of different perfons; fome he takes away by death, and others he preferves and continues in life; and of the fame perfons, whom God

- both are of God, he is the great difpofer of, life’

-tommiftion from him, - there is no refifting it; and removes by death, and_reftores them to life gain, of which there are inftances both in the Old and New Teftament; and be they which they will, and death. Death is of him; it is by his appoint: ’

let it be brought about by what means. it will, ftill it is of God: and life is-of him; it is firft given by him, and it is preferved by him;.and though taken away, it fhall be reftored at the refurrection of the dead; of which fome interpret this claule,

2s Kimchi and Ben, Gerfom obferve: and what, is here faid is true, in a fpirituak fenfe; the Lord kills by the law, or fhews men that they are dead in fin, and in a Jaw-fenfe; and he makes alive by his Spi: rit, thro’ the Gofpel, quickening fuch who were dead in trefpaffes and fins; which is his own work, and the effect of divine power and grace; fee the note on Deut. Xxxii. 39. be bringeth down to the grave, ang bringeth up; he bringeth fome very near.to the grave, to the very brink of it; fo that in their own apprehenfions; and in the opinion of their friends, they are juft dropping into it, and no hope of. recovery ‘Yeft; when he fays to them return, and: brings them back from the pit, and delivers them from going into it, fab xxxiil. 22, 28, 30. P/.xc. 3. and even when they are laid in. it, he brings up.out of it again, as in the cafe of Lazarus, and which, will be the cafe in the refurreétion, Fobu v. 28, 29.

¥. 7. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich, &c.} Which is true in.a natural fenfe of.the fame perfons, as might be exemplified in the cafe of ‘Fob, and of different perfons, as in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus; for both. poverty and riches are of God, fee Prov. xxii. 2. and xxx. 8. Poverty is of God; for though it is. fometimes owing to a man’s own conduct, yet that there is fuch a difference among men in general, that fome fhould be poor, and others rich, is owing to the wife providence of God, that men may be dependent onvone another. Riches are of God, and are the gifts of his bountiful providence; for though they are oftentimes the fruits of induftry and diligence, as means, yet not always; and whenever they are, fhey are to be afcribed to the bleffing of God attending the diligent hand. This is alfo true ina fpiritual fenfe; for though fpiritual poverty is owing to the fall of Adam, and to the. actual fins and tranfgreflions of men, whereby they become poor and miferable, yet all this is not without the knowledge and will of God; and it is he that makes men fenfible of their poverty, and then makes them rich in fpiritual things, with. his.own grace, and the bleffings of it, with the. riches of grace here, and of glory hereafter; all which flow from the good-will of God, who has laid up much for his people, beftowed much on them, and entitles them to more; and which come to them through the poverty of Chrift, who, though he was sich, became poor, that they through his poverty might be made rich, 2 Cor, viit. 9. be bringeth: low, and lifteth up; which has been verified in the fame perfons, as in Fob, Nebuchadnezzar, &c. and in different perfons, for he puts down one, and. raifes up another; fo he rejected Seu} from being kin them out, of the horrible pit of 1 fupported; but thefe are no other» hem up by his fon out of their miferable eftate, ‘and, by his {piri nature, fi ftate of grace; fets.them upon: erock Chri makes their mountain ito Aa prefied. Literally. fuch poor as° are beggars, 2 thofe that’are extremely poor, that fit’ia the d and.beg, and have nothing but a dungh to Hie on; yet God is able to:raife and lift up perfons da fuch ai, extremely low condition toa: very*high one: Jpiritually;: fuch are the poor, who are poor ih ipirits and {piritually poor, and are fenfible of it, and they,.and they only, are beggars} ~Forall that are poor, as. they areinot fenfible of their-povetty, fo they beg not; but fome are and begs they knock at the door of grace and mercy 5: their’ uage is petitionary, they. intreat the grace and mercy Of God's their pofture:is flanding, and waiting tillthey have an, anfwer;-they are.importunate, andy eafily take a-denial 3 and they-obferve all’ opportu nities, to-get relief, andiare thankful for every thing: that is. given them. » Their condition, in’ which they are, is reprefented by the duff and-wanghill, which in general denotes, that they @rein a mean eftate, -in a finfulione, and in.a very polluted and loathfome one; invthis condition the Lord finds them,: when he calls.them by his grace; and from this he raifes-and: lifts them up by his Spirit and grace; out of which they could never-have’ raifed themfelves; and in which ftate of fin and mifery they muft have lain, had he not exerted his power+ ful efficacious grace,.in bringing them into a glo- princes; the people of God called By grace, who are the fons of the King of kings by: adoption; manifefted in their regeneration and faith; have a princely fpirit, the fpirit of adoption; a free, generous and bountiful one; live and look like princesy are well fed and clothed, and attended; have the’ riches. of princes, and are heirs of ‘a kingdom‘: and to be fet among them, is to be made one; and church, and among the people of God; to fit down with ‘them at the table of the Lord, and have communion with them:, and to make them ‘nberit the throne of glory; eternal glory and happinefs, which as it is fignified by a kingdom and crown; fo by a throne, and is the fame with Chrifs, Rev. iii, 24. and therefore muft be a glorious one; and this is had by way of inheritance; not oar by induftry, nor purchafed with money; but come adoption-grace, and belongs only to ¢) bequeft: of our heavenly Father, and comes thro”

the death of Chrift the a 5 and this phrafe unto, but the poffet denotes not barely the right fion of this happinefs and glory: for tbe of the earth are the. Lord’s, and he bath fet world upon them; the earth has’ its ZOU on which it is laid, and its pillars t i and took David from the: fheepfold; debafed Haman, and raifed Mordecai to great dignity ¢ and in a fpiritual fenfe, the Lord fhews men the low eftate and condition they are brought into by fin, humbles them under a fenfe of it, brings down their proud {pirits to fit at the feet of Jefus, and to fubmit to him, and to. his righteoufnefs; and he lifts and providence of God; otherwife the earth i upon nothing, in the open, circu and that God can and does do t be thought, and to do all the above: th providence and grace, related in the pi verfes; in the fupport, and for the of 1 this is obferyed. he heh the pillars o:

ranked as fuch; to havea place and aname in thé « earth may defign the princes of the world, the fupreme rulers of it, and civil magiftrates, who are fometimies called corner-ftones, and the fhields of the earth, Zi becaufe they are the means of ‘cementing, fupporting and protecting the people of the earth, and of preferving their peace and property. Likewife good men may be meant in a figurative fenfe, who as they are falt of the earth, are the pillars of it,.

for whofe fake it was made, and is fupported, and continued in being: the church is the pillar and ground of truth; and every good man is a pillar in the houfe of God, and efpecially minifters of the Gofpel; fee Rev. iii. 12. 1 Tim, iit. 15. Gal. un. 9. Prov. ix. 1. ¥.9. He will keep the feet of bis faints, &c.] Now follow promifes and prophecies of future things refpecting the J/rael of God, either in a literal or fpiritual fenfe. By his faints are meant not angels, though they are his holy ones, but men, and a body of them; who though unholy in themfelves, nor can they make themfelves: holy, yet are made fo by the grace of God, in confequence of electing grace, by which they are chofen to be holy, from Chrift the fource and fpring of all holinefs, by the Holy Spirit of God, ‘as the efficient caufe, and which is done in effectual vocation; hence they live holy lives and convertations, though not altogether without fin in the prefent ftate. The word alfo fignifies fuch to whom God has been kind and gracious, and on whom he has “beftowed bleffings of goodnefs, ‘and who are bountiful and beneficent to others. Thefe are the Lord’s, whom he has fet apart for himfelf, and has fanctified in Chrift, and by his Spirit; and of thefe he is keeper, not angels, nor minifters of the word, nor themfelves; but the Lord himfelf is the keeper of them; and who is an able, faithful, tender and compafiionate, conftant and ever- Jafting keeper of them; and particularly he keeps their feet: he indeed keeps their whole perfons, their bodies and fouls; the members of their bodies, and the powers of their fouls, their head, their heart, their affections, from turning afide from him; he guides, directs and orders all. their actions and goings; he keeps their feet in his own _ ways, where he has guided them; he keeps them ~ in Chrift the way, and in all the paths of faith, ‘truth, righteoufnefs and holinefs, and in the way _ everlafting ¢ he keeps them from falling; for.tho’ they are liable to fall into fin, and by temptation, and from a lively exercife of grace, yet not totally ‘and finally; they are fecured from it by his love ‘to them; the promifes he has made them; his power exerted on their behalf; their being in the hands of Chrift, and the glory of all the three perfons concerned herein: and the wicked shall be filent in darknefs; fin has fpread darknefs over all human nature; every man is born and brought up in darknefs and walks in it: a ftate of unregeneracy is a ftate of darknefs, in which wicked men continue; and they are in the dark about God, the perfections of his nature, his mind and will, word and worhhip; about Chrift, and the way of life, peace and falvation by him; about their own {tate and condition by nature, and the danger they are in; about the nature and neceffity of regeneration; and about the fcriptures, and the doctrines of the gofpel; and living and dying in fuch a ftate, darknefs, blacknefs of darknefs is their portion for ever: fo the Targum, ** the wicked in hell in darknefs fhall be judged:” and it is faid they fhall be /i ent in it;

they are quiet, eafy and content in the ftate of na- Yots Ha<«N°. "13. ‘.

tural darknefs, in which they are; they neither do, nor will underftand; they don’t care to come to the light, but fhun the means of light and knowledge; they have nothing to fay of God, of Chrift, of the Spirit of God, or of divine things; they can talk enough of evil things, and pour them out in great plenty, but not of any good; and when their evils are charged upon them by the law, their mouths are ftopped, and they pronounced guilty, and have nothing to fay why juftice and judgment fhould not take place; and fo they will be filent and fpeechlefs at the great day of judgment, Some interpret it, they fhall be cut of in darknefs; fo Kimchi and Ben Melech; that is, by death, -by the hand of God, by the fword of juftice: for by firength fhall no man prevail; which is a reafon both why God will keep his faints, and why the wicked fhall be filent, or cut off and perifh: with refpect to good men, they are not faved, kept and preferved by their own ftrength; they are not faved without a righteoufnefs, without regeneration, without repentance towards God, and faith in Chrift'; neither of which they can perform in their own ftrength: nor can a faint keep himfelf from, or prevail over his fpiritual enemies of himfelf}*not over fin, nor fatan, nor the world; but it is» by the power of God that he is kept through faith unto falvation: and with refpeét to wicked men, thefe fhall not prevail by their ftreneth over good men, or the church, who are built upon a rock, againft which the gates of hell cannot prevail; nor can the wicked fo prevail by their ftreneth as to hinder their being cut off, and caft into outer darknefs., they have no power over the fpirit to retain it in the day of death; and whether they will or no, they fhall be caft into hell, and go into everlafting punifhment.

¥. 10. The adverfaries of the Lord fhall be broken to pieces, &c.] Or Fehovab, Father, Son and Spirit, fball break in pieces thofe that contend with bim; with the Lord, or with his people, or with Samuel particularly; for this may be confidered as a prophecy of Hannah concerning her fon, what God would do for him againft his enemies, that fhould rife up, contend, and fight with him, as the Pdiliftines; of whom Ben Ger/fom interprets it,whom the Lord difcomfited and broke to pieces; fee the literal fulfilment of this prophecy in ch. 7. in a fpiritual fenfe all wicked men are the enemies of God, and of his people, and fooner or later fhall be broken to pieces. Some, in a good fenfe; when they. are {mitten with the words of his mouth, cut to the heart, and made contrite; are humbled and brought into fubjection to him, and their enmity flain and abolifhed, and they filled with loveto him; and are fo broken to pieces, that they have nothing to depend upon, or truft in for life or falvation, but apply to Chrift alone for it. Others, in an ill fenfe; and the meaning is, that the wicked hall be utterly deftroyed by the Lord, with an everlafting deftruction, with an incurable and irreparable one; fhall be broken in pieces like a potter’s veflel, which can never be put together again, fee P/ ii. g. Rev. ii. 27. out of heaven foall be thunder upon them; as the Lord did upon the Péiliftines in the times of Samuel, when Jrael were engaged in war with them, ch. vii. ro. And the laft vial of the wrath of God, poured out upon his adverfaries the.antichriftian {tates, will be attended with thunders and lightenings, Rev. xvi. 17, 18. it. denotes the terrible manner in which God will deftroy his adverfaries; the Septuagint verfion is, the Lord afcended to heaven and thundered; hence Pracopius ivine perfon, the’Son of God; who phefied of the taking up of the Saviour, and of afcribed to a di+ ie this = the miffion of the Holy Ghoft, and of the preach- lor tile from his being anointed, not with mateing of the apoftles, and of the fecond. coming of rial oil; but with the oi! of gladnefs, with the Holy Chrift, as follows: the Lord fhall judge the ends of |Ghoft; and his gifts and graces without meafure;

the earth; not of the land ot J/rael by Samuel, as fome interpret it, fee ch. vii. 15-17. but of the whole world, and may tefer to the. government of and who is called the Lord’s anointed, becaufe he was anointed by his Father to be prophet, prieft and. king, or invefted by him with thofe offices even frony it in general by the Lord, or to the judgment of eternity, fee Pf ii. 6. Prov. viii. 22,23. and which it by his Son; for he judges none, but has committed all judgment to him; who at his farft coming judged the world, by the miniftry of the word in Judea and in the Gentile world, by fetting up ordinances, and by qualifying and confticuting ‘perfons to aét in the government of his church under him; and at his. fpiritual coming he will take to himfelf his great power and reign, and judge the whore of Babylon 5 and at his laft or fecond coming he will judge the whole world, quick and dead, righteous and wicked: and be fhall give frrength unto his king, either who was made king in the times of Samuel, Saul, who was the firft of the kings of Jfrael, or David, whom.Samuel anointed and it is true of them both, that.the Lord gave them {trength to. fight with and conquer their enemies; or rather the king Mefiiah, who in the next claufe is called the Lord’s anointed, or Meffiah: and exalt the horn of his anointed, and fo the Targum paraphrafes the words, ‘‘ he fhall give ftrength to his king, and enlarge the kingdom of his Meffiah;” with which Kimchi agrees, and fays, the thing is doubled or repeated, for the king is the Meffiah; and to him the words are applied by other Fewi/h writers?, ancient and modern. Chriit is king over all, angels'and men, particularly he is king of faints; he is Jehoyah’s king, fet up and anointed by him from everlafting;. was in time promifed as fuch, and in the fulnefs of time came in that character, and at his afcenfion to heaven was made and declared Lord and Chrift; and thro’ the fuccefs of his gofpel in the world has appeared yet more fo, and will be ftill more manifeft in the latter day, when he fhall be king over all the earth, and efpecially in his perfonal reign. Now when Strength is faid to be given him, this mutt be underftood either of ftrength given to him in human nature, to perform the great work of our redemption and falvation, which required great ftrength; as a divine perfon he needed none, as man he did; or of that ftrength communicated to, him as mediator, to give unto his people, in whom they have both righteoufnefs and ftrength; or rather of that power and dominion given him as king particularly; all power in heaven and in earth were given him at his refurrection, and will appear more fully hereafter, when his kingdom will be from fea to fea, and his dominion from the river to the ends of the earth, fee Dan. vii. 13, 14. And the fame thing is meant by 4or”, which is an emblem of ftrength, power, dominion and glory; hence: he was more manifeftly declared at his birth, his baptifm, and afcenfion to heaven; fee Luke ii. 40, 52. dés X~ 37, 38. and ii. 36. 2 Bao ¥. 11. And Elkanah went to Ramab to his boufe, &c.} Of which fee ch. i. 19. This was after he had offered the facrifices at the feaft, worfhipped the Lord, and Haunab had delivered her prayer or fong. of praife, and both had committed Samuel. to the care of £/i, and left him with him: and the child did minifter unto the Lord before Eli the prieft; he not only read in the-book of the law, but learned to fing the praifes of God vocally, and to play upon an-inftrument of mufic ufed in the fervice of God in thofe times, and to light the lamps in the _ tabernacle, and open and fhut the doots of it, and the likes’ which were fuitable to his age, and which might not be quite fo tender as fome haye thought; or this may relpeét fome fimall beginnings in the miniftry of the fanctuary, in which he gradually increafed. under the infpection, guidance and in- {truction of E4, which is meant by miniftring before him; the-Targum is, “in the life of EA the prieft;”’ he began his miniftration before his death.: y. 12. Now the fons of Eli were fons of Belial, &c.] Not that £4 their father was Belzal, a wicked man; but though they had fo good a father, they were very wicked men, unprofitable, abandoned wretches, that caft off the yoke of the law of God, and gave themfelves up to all manner of wickednels: they knew not the Lord; not that they had no knowledge of God in theory, or were real athiefts, but they were fo practically; they denied him in works, they had no love to him, nor fear of him, and departed from his ways and worfhip, as much as if they were intirely ignorant of him 3 fo the Targum, ‘* they did not know to fear before © the Lord,” or ferve him; or, as Kimchi, * they did not know the way of the Lord,” that is, practically.;. ¥. 13. And the priefts cuftom with the people _ was, &c.] Not what was according to the will and law of God, but which the fons of £7 had intro. duced; and in which they were followed by the reft of the priefts, and fo it became an eftablifhed cuftom, and had the force of a law, ftatute, or _ judgment, as the word fignifies: that when any man offered facrifice; not any fort of facrifice, for — if it was a burnt-offering, it was wholly confumed by fire, and in that the following cuftom could — not take place; and if ic was a fin-offering, that himfelf is called the horn, of David, and the horn of falvation; it is a name and title given to kings, Dan. vii.24. Rev. xvii. 12. in allufion to the horns of beafts, in which their. ftrength lies to defend themfelves, and annoy their enemies; and the exaltation of him prophefied of, may refpect and include his refurreétion from the dead, afcenfion to heayen; feffion at the right-hand. of God, the judgment of all committed to him, and the glorious the gg exercife of his kingly office in the fpiritual and perfonal reigns. This is the firft time we meet with tabernacle, as afterwards in the temple: witha fleh-book of three teeth in bis band; with a three was eaten by the priefts, and fo there wasnoneed of taking fuch a method, as after related; but a — peace-offering, part of which belonged to the Lord, - the fat that was burnt, and the breaft and fhoulder to the prieft, and the reft to the owner, whomade __ a feaft of it for his family and friends: the prief’s __ Jervant came while the flefo was in feething, that is, while thofe parts were boiling for the owner and —- his family; which was done in fome part of)

forked inftrument, with which he was fent by order of the prieft that flew «he facrifice, and offered itr, to whom belonged the parts before-mentioned, allowed him by the law; but not content with thefe, he fent his fervant, while the reft were boiling, with fuch an inftrument as here defcribed, to draw up more out of the boiling-pot. py y. 14. And he ftrook-it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot, &c.] Whatever vetlel was made ufe of, larger or leffer, according to the quantity of fiefh the owner boiled for himfelf and friends, the trident the prieft’s fervant brought with him, he ftruck into the boiler to the bottom of it: a// that the flefo-hook brought up, the prieft took for himfelf; as his own property; whereas no part of it at all belonged to him, he haying had the breaft and fhoulder delivered.to him in the firft place; and yet by this method, all that he could drag up with this three-forked inftrument he ¢claimas his own; which might be much, that would hang upon three teeth of it, or in which they were fattened; and, according to Abardinel, each of them would bring up a pound of flefh, and perhaps more: fo they did in Shilob, unto all the Ifraelites that came thither; to offer their facrifices, which was the proper place for them, the tabernacle and altar being there; and men of all ranks and degrees were treated alike, princes and people, rich and poor; the cuftom univerfally obtained, and all forts of men met with the fame ufage.

¥. 15. Alfo before they burnt the fat, &c.]) Which belonged to the Lord, and was to be offered to him by fire, in the firft place, as it ought to be; and the order of facrificing required, that he fhould have his part firft before the prieft or the owner: but fo impious were the priefts become, that she prices fervant came, and faid to the man that facrificed; not to the prieft that offered, but ta the man that brought his facrifice to be offered by the prieft: give fielh to roaft for the prieft; meaning, not what was his by law, as the breaft and shoulder, though for thefe he ought to have ftayed until the fat was offered to the Lord; but other parts of the peace-offering, which he had no right unto, for roafting or boiling, and yet in an imperious manner demanded it by his fervant: for he will not have fodden flefo of thee, but raw tho’ this was not the only reafon of this demand, becaufe he liked roaft meat better than boiled; but becaufe the three-forked flefh-hook did not always bring up the beft pieces out -of the boiling-pot; and therefore he refolved to have flefh raw, that he might have the beft, as well as drefs. it to his own liking.

¥. 16. And if any man faid unto him, let them not fail to burn the fat prefently, &c.] Or ftay till they have offered the fat, as the Targum; let that be done in the firft place, which may be quickly done, in a very little time, and Jet as much hafte be made as can be to doit: and then take as much as thy foul defireth; by which it appears that the men that brought the facrifice, had more religion at heart, and were more concerned for the honour and glory of God than the prieft; being willing to fuffer in their property, but could not bear that the Lord fhould be difhonoured, and fo rudely treated; they were willing the priefts fhould take what they pleafed of theirs, though they had no right to any; only they defired the Lord might be ferved firft, which was _ but reafonable: then be would anfwer him, nay, but thou fhalt give it me now, and if not, I will take

395. fat was burnt; and the Lord had his portion; but he would have it direétly; and if he would not give it him freely, he would take it whether he would or no; to fuch a height of infolence and impiety were the priefts arrived, as to put it in the power of their fervants to make fuch wicked demands, and treat God, and thofe that brought their facrifices to him, in fuch a contemptuous manner. * oe ee Aigit Boao piek 3 y. 17. Wherefore the fin of the young men was very great before the Lord, &c.| That is, the fons of Eli; for they were the ring-leaders who fet thefe bad exanrples, which other priefts followed; and therefore the fin is afcribed to them; and which was fadly aggravated by taking what was not thei? own, and by taking it in a forcible manner; and before the Lord had his part in the offering, and all this done in the tabernacle, in the prefence of God; which plainly fhowed, that they had, not the fear of God before their eyes, nor any fenfe of his omnifcience and omniprefence, any more than of his holinefs and juftice: for men abborred the offering of the Lord; it was irkfome and difagreeble to them to bring their facrifices, when they faw the law of God was not attended to, and the rules of facrificing were.not obferved; fuch contempt of God, fuch abufe of facrifices, fuch injury done to the facrificers; and fuch covetoufnefs and fenfuality in the priefts, that it even fet the people againtt facrifices, and made them loath them, and neglect to bring them. And this aggravated the fin of the young men, though the facrificers were not excufed hereby, ¥. 24.. eis y. 18. But Samuel miniftred before the Lord, &c.] The miniftration of Samuel, though a child,. is obferved both before and after the account of the ill behaviour and wickednefs of E/i’s fons; partly to the fhame and difgrace of them, and as ferving to aggravate their fin, and make it appear the more black and heinous; and partly to his honour and reputation, that he was not corrupted and turned afide from God by their evil practices. The phrafe here ufed is different from that in ¥. 12. there he is faid to minifter before £7, under his direétion and guidance, but here before the Lord; being now engaged in higher fervices, and which he could perform without the affiftance of E#, as in the prefence of God more immediately; it feems to have refpect to him, when more grown in age, ftature, knowledge, and experience, though here related: yet ftill being @ child; not got out of his childhood, or arrived to manhood: girded with a linen ephod, fuch as priefts ufed to wear, but not Levites in common, nor extraordinary perfons on extraordinary occafions, fee 1 Sam. xxii. 18. 2 Sam, vi. 14. This feems to be a peculiar favour, and | a fpecial honour which Ef granted to Samuel when fo very young, on account of the grace of God beftowed on him in a wonderful manner; and becaufe brought up in the tabernacle as a holy perfon, and a Nazarite,; and becaufe his birth was foretold, and he afked of God, as his name fignified, as Procopius Gazaeus obferves.

y¥. 19. Moreover, bis mother made him a little coat, &c.} Suitable to his ftature, this was an outer coat to’ wear over others, and this alfo was fuch an one as the priefts wore; it is the fame word that is wled for the prieft’s robe, Exod. xxviii. 4. and this it is very likely was altogether of her own fpinning, and weaving, ‘and making up; which were works women did in thofe times: and this Hannah did partly out of her great love to her it by force; fignifying, he would not ftay till the fon Samuel, and partly to leffen the expence that

396, Eli, or the congregation, were at in the maintenance of him; and the Ta/mudifts * obferve, that a prieft might wear a garment, and minifter in it, if his mother made it; and they give inftances of priefts, Jomael and Eleazar, for whom their mothers made garments: and brought it to him from year to year; tor it feems this was only to be worn at feftivals, and not on common days; and therefore fhe did not leave it with him, but took it home with her, and brought it again at the returning feftival: wben foe came up with her bufband to offer the yearly facrifice; whether at the paflover, or at pentecoft, or at the feaft of tabernacles; and it is very probable fhe came with her hufband at them all, yearly; for though fhe was not by the law obliged thereunto, yet her religious zeal and devotion, and her great defire to fee her fon as often as fhe could, induced her to come. are y¥.20. And Eli bleed Elkanah and bis wife, &c.) Not only the firft time they brought Samuel to him, and left him with him; but every year they came to worships as-the ‘few7/h commentators moftly interpret it: aud faid, the Lord give thee feed of this woman; children by her, year after year: for the loan which is lent to the Lords; inftead of Samuel, who was afked of the Lord, and given to him again; and as they were thereby in fome meafure deprived of him, and could not always enjoy him, and be delighted with him, #/ prayed for them, and gave them his benediction as a prieft, that they might be favoured with other children, who might be of delight and fervice to them when in old age: and they went unto their own home; at Ramab, as in ¥. 11. or ¢o bis place’, Elkanab’s;, hence Kimchi concludes, that Hannah was of another city originally; but the Zargum is, ‘‘ to their place;” and indeed, what was now the place or home of the one, was of the other.

yi. 21. And the Lord vifited Hannah, &c.| In a way of mercy, approving and confirming the blefling of Ei; or rather granting the bleffing he "prayed for, by giving her power to conceive, bear, and bring forth children, as the following words ‘explain it: fo that jhe conceived and bare three fons and two daughters; whereby the prophecy of Hannab was fulfilled, ¥. 5. and was no doubt matter of great joy to her; though of thefe children we no where elfe read, nor even of their names. fephus * fays, Elkanah had other fons by Hannah, and three daughters; which agrees not with the text: and the child Samuel grew before the Lord; in’ age and itature, in grace and goodnefs, and improved much in the worfhip and fervice of God, both in the theory and practice of it; or became great with him, high in his efteem and favour, and was bleffed with much of his prefence, and with large gifts of his grace.

y. 22. Now Ek was very old, &c,] It is very probable he was now about go years of age, fince when he died he was 98, ch. iv. 15. which is obferved to fhew his incapacity for the difcharge of his office, and infpection into public affairs; which gave his fons an opportunity of a¢ting the wicked part they did without reproof, and with impunity, £li knowing nothing of it; and accounts in fome meafure for the gentle reproof he gave them, when he did know of it; for being old, he was not fo full of fpirit and vigour, and more propenfe to tendernefs and mercy; befides, his fons.were grown

SAMUEL. Chit 20-29) them; though he ought to have confidered him@lf not as a father only; but asan high-prieft and judge. of I/rael, and peformed his office as fuch;

however, it mu(ft be a great affliction to him in his old age, and added to the weight’ of it, that his fons fhould behave fo unworthily as they did: and heard all that bis fons bad done unio Ifrael; who befides what was by the law allowed them,’ took fiefh out of the pot as it was boiling, and demanded raw flefh to roaft before the fat was effered to the Lord; and in this manner they ufed all without diftinétion, that came with their facrifices: and how they lay with the women that affembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, not that they lay with them at the door in a public — beaftly manner; but the women that came thither they decoyed into their own apartments, or into: fome of the courts of the tabernacle, and there debauched them: who thefe women were, and what their bufinefs at the tabernacle, is not eafy to fay; fome think, they came about bufinefs which belonged to women to do there, as to wafh and clean the rooms, to fow and fpin, and the like; but one would think, that thefe latter works fhould be done, not at the door of the tabernacle, but in fome apartment in it, or rather at their own houfes, for the ufe of it: the Zargum is, that they there affembled to pray, which is more likely, and that they were devout women; who came there in large numbers, for the word ufed has the fignification of armies; to perform religious exercifes in fafting, and praying, and bringing facrifices to be offered for them; though they don’t feem to be fuch, as was Auna the prophetefs, Luke ii. 37.°who made their abode in the tabernacle, and ferved God night and day with faftings and prayers, fince thefe were only at the door of. the tabernacle; nor were there in the tabernacle conveniences for fuch perfons as afterwards in the temple. The Yews, for the moft part, by thefe underftand lying-in-women, who came with their offerings for purification, attended with many other women, their relations, friends, and neighbours, and which efpecially, when feveral met together on fuch an occafion, made a croud at the door of the tabernacle; and fome are of opinion, that thefe men did not lie with them; or debauch them, according to the literal fenfe of the word; but that they delayed the offering of their nefts of doves they brought, fo that they were forced to ftay all night, and could not return home; and becaufe by this means they were re- {trained from their hufbands, it is reckoned as if © thefe men had Jain with them ‘; and which they » think is confirmed, in that the man of God fent to E/i, after mentioned, takes no notice of this leudnefs of theirs, only of their ill: behaviour as to facrifices; but the text is fo exprefs for their debauchery, that it cannot be denied. 9»

¥.23. And he faid unto them, why do ye fuck things? &c.] As to impofe upon the people, that bring their offerings, by taking more than is due, and in a very indecent and imperious manners and:

efpecially to defile the women when they came to worfhip: thefe were very fcandalous fins, and de-. ferved a more fevere reprimand, and indeed a greater chaftifement than by mere words; Zi fhould have: rebuked them more fharply, and laid open the evil of their doings, and as a judge punifhed them for them: for I bear of your evil doings

| yall this up and married, and he had lefs authority over! people; the inhabitants of Shiloh, or "ier thither to worfhip, who were continually inaking them, aid befeech the Lord to be propitious and their complaints to £7; which ftill fhows his backwardnefs to reprove them in the manner he did, until he. was obliged to it by the continual remonftrances of the people againft the practices of his merciful to them? who on earth will do it? fuch perfons are fcarce and ‘rare, few care to ftand up in the gap between God and finners; in fome cafes they ought not, in others they cannot. Eli fug- fons; he did not attend to the information he hadjgefts by this queftion, thar he could: not, even from a few perfons, until it became general. v.24. Nay, my fous, &c.] This feems to be too foft and fmooth an appellation, too kind and endearing, confidering the offence they were guilty of, and were now reproving for; rather they de- for his own fons; and who in heaven can or wil! do it? not faints departed, who know nothing of what is done below, nor angels, only the Lord Jefus Chrift; he is the only mediator between God and men, who has engaged his heart to approach ferved to be called fons of Be/ial, the children of unto God, and interpofe between him and finful the devil, than fons of EZ, or brutes’ and fhamelefs wretches, and fuch like hard names: for it is no good report that I bear; a very bad one; far from being good, fcarce any thing worfe could have been faid of them; to rob perfons of the flefh of their offerings, when there was a fufficient al- Jowance made for them by law, and to be fo im- men, and has made peace and reconciliation by his blood, and is become the propitiation for fin, and ever lives to make interceflion for tranfereffors, and is always prevalent and fuccefsful. in his mediation and interceffion; excepting him, there is none to intreat for thofe that have finned againft the Lord, fee 1 Fobn ii. 1,2. In anfwer to this queftion, who pious as to require what was not theirdue, and even /hall intreat for him? the Fews fay*, repentance before the Lord had his; and to debauch the wo-

_.men that came to religious worfhip, and that in the facred place of worfhip, they alfo being priefts of the Lord, and married men; fins very fhocking, and fadly aggravated, and yet Ei treats them in this gentle manner: ye make the Lord’s people. to tranfgrefs, by caufing them to forbear to bring their facrifices, becaufe ufed in fuch an injurious and over-bearing way; and by decoying the women into uncleannefs, and by fetting examples to others: or ¢o cry out, as in the margin of our bibles, to exclaim againft them for their exorbitant and leud practices; fo the Zargum, ‘* the people of the Lord murmur becaufe fo ill ufed by them:”. this claufe may be read in connexion with the former, it is no good report that I bear, which ye caufe to pafs through the Lord’s people; ye occafion the people to fpeak ill of you every where, in, the camp of Jfrael, throughout the whole nation; the report as it is bad, it is general, isin every one’s mouth; fo Maimonides” interprets it; with which Jarchi and others agree ”. /;

y¥. 25. If one man fin againft another, the judge frail judge him, &c.| When one man does an injury to another in his perfon and property, the cafe is brought before the judge, he hears it, examines into it, and determines upon it, and does jutftice, orders that the injured perlon have fatisfaction made him, and fo the matter is ended: but if a man fin ogainft the Lord, who foallPatreat for him? all fin is in fome fenfe againft God, as it is contrary to his nature, anda breach of his law, and efpecially bold, daring, prefumptuous fins; but there are fome fins that are more immediately and particu- and good works; but thele are infuficient adyocates for a finner, without the atoning facrifice of Chrift, who is thé only propitiation for fin, and upon which a plea for pardon can only be founded: notwithftanding they hearkened not unio the voice of their father; to his reproofs and counfels, his reafonings and expoftulations; though his rebukes were fo gentle, and this laft reafoning of his fo clofe and ftrong, fo nervous and ftriking: becaufe the Lord would flay them; it was his purpofe and decree, his will and pleafure, to cut them off for their wickednefs; wherefore he gave them up toa judicial blindnefs, and hardnefs of heart, as he did Pharaoh, fo that they were proof againit all advice, admonitions, and arguments ufed with them: fome chufe to read the words, therefore the Lord would flay them’, becaufe they were difobedient to the voice of their father; but the former fenfe is beft; for his will to deftroy them was not fo much for their difregard to the reproofs of their father, in which he bimfelf was culpable, as for their breach of his laws.

y¥. 26. And the child Samuel grew up, &e.|. Increafed in ftature and in grace, grew more and more in all refpects, and better and better, whilft El’s fons grew worfe and worfe; the contraft between thefe make the one to fhine and appear illuftrious, and the other to look the blacker: or he went on, and grew, and was good*; as he proceeded on in years, and grew in ftature, he appeared more and more to be a good man, a virtuous, holy and gracious perfon.: and was in favour both with the Lord, aud alfo with men, the Lord was pleafed to give him fome tokens of his favour, that he de-

Jarly againft God, as fins againit the firft table of lighted in, him, that he was well-pleafing in his the law, which relate to the worfhip of God, and fight, and that his perfon and fervices were a¢cept- fuch were the fins of £4’s fons in the affair of able to him; and the more Ef’s fons difgufted the facrifices; all fin againft God is aggravated by the pertections of his nature, and made tremendous, as being againft a God of ftrict juftice, of unfpotted purity and holinefs, and who is omnifcient, omniprefent, and omnipotent; and by the relation people by their ill lives and conduct, the greater efteem among them did Samuel obtain, by his becoming life and converfation.; all. admired him, {poke well of him, and thanked God that in fuch bad times he was raifing up.one among them, of and connexion there is between God and men, he is their creator and preferver, the God of their whom they had the moft hopeful profpect of ufefulnefs to them.

dives and mercies, and of all the bleffings they en-

¥.27. And there came a man of God unto Eli,

joy, and yet fin againft him! who will intreat the favour of God. for fuch perfons, afk pardon for &c.]. A prophet, as the Targum; he had gifts and graces beftowed on him by the Lord, qualifying him for that office; he came from God, and fpoke in his name, as prophets ufed to do: who this was is not faid, nor can it bé known with certainty; many conjectures are made; fome think he might be Phinebas, as Ben Gerfom and Abarlinel 4, which is not at all likely; it is not probable that he was living, for if he had been alive, hi would not have been high-prieft: the more ancient Fews fay t, he was Elkanah, the father of Samuel; and foferchi; and he is faid in the Targum on ch. 1. 1, to be one of the difciples of the prophets, and was reckoned by them among the 200 prophets that prophefied in J/rae]*; but of his prophecy we no where read in feripture, or that he was one: think he was Samuel himfelf, who through modeity conceals his name; but he was now a child, as in the preceding verfe; indeed, fome are of opinion, that what follows is recorded in this chapter by way of anticipation, and properly belongs to, and is a part of the meflage fent from the Lord by Samuel to Ei, in the following chapter: and faid unto him, thus faith the Lord; ufing the language prophets in after-times did, who ipake not of themfelves, but in the name of the Lord; and from whence it appears that this was not a divine perfon, the Son of God in human form, fince he never ufed|al to fpeak in this manner when he appeared: did J plainly appear to the houfe of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaobk’s boufe? he did; this was evident and certain, and a wonderful inftance of condefcending goodnefs: the houfe of his father, is the houfe of Aaron, who, and all his fons, were born in Egypt, from whofe youngeft fon Jshamar, Eli defcended; and to whom the Lord appeared when in Egypt, and fent him to meet Mo/es, whofe fpokefman he appointed him to be; and who prophefied in Egypt, and reproved the [/raelites, which is recorded in Ezekiel, ch. xx. as fay the Fews*.

¥. 28. And did I chufe him out of all the tribes of Ifrael to be my prieft, &c.| He did; of all the tribes of J/rael the Lord chofe the tribe of Levi to place the priefthood in, and of all the families of that tribe he chofe the houfe of-daron, Eli’s anceftor, to minifter in the prieft’s office, fee xxviii. 1. to offer upon mine altar, burnt-offerings, fin-offerings and peace-offerings; this is the altar of burnt-offering, which ftood in the court of the tabernacle: ¢o burn incenfe; on the altar of incenfe, which was in the holy place, and on which incenfe was burnt morning and evening: to wear an ephod before me? in which was the brealt-plate, with the Urim and Thummim, with which the highprieft went into the moit holy place, where was the ark, the fymbol of the divine prefence, and where he enquired of the Lord by the above things: and did I give unto the boufe of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of I did; the priefts who were of the houfe of 4aron had not only the fin-offerings, and part of the peace-offerings, but even of the offerings made by fire, the burnt-offerings; the fkin of them was the prieft’s, and the meat-offerings that went along with them, fee Lev. vi. 25, 26. and vii. 8, 9, 10, 33> 34, 35. Numb. xviii. 8, 9, 10. which were given them for their maintenance. Now thefe inftances of God’s goodnefs to the family of Aaron, are thentioned to aggravate the fins of Hii and his tarion, &c.} To be offered in the tabernacle, where — the Lord had his dwelling; which they might be ~ faid to kick and {purn at, defpifing them, as if — there were not enough of them, nor the’ beft them given to them for their maintenance; a me+ © taphor taken from cattle well fed and fat, which kick and fpurn with their feet at even the owners” and feeders of them. The Targum is, * why do ye ufe force with the holy offerings?” that is, take them away by force, when there was fuch a fuflicient quantity allowed them for their fupport. Some underftand this of their driving away fuchs that before ufed to bring their facrifices to be ofothers “fered, but being fo ill treated, refrained from bringing them: and honoureft thy fons above me; by fuffering them to take their part of the facrifices, and even what did not belong to them, before God had his part, or before the fat was burnt; and by continuing them in their office, to the difhonour of God, his name and worfhip, when they ought to have been turned out by him and punifhed; but by this he preferred the honour of his fons before — the honour of God, and chofe rather that he fhould be difhonoured, than that they fhould be cenfured: to meke yourfelves fat with the chiefeft of the offerings of I/rael my people; they took the beft pieces of the peace-offerings from them by force, having no right unto them; and this they did to indulge their luxury and fenfuality, which B/# connived at; and it is highly probable took part of the roafted meat his fins provided for themfelves, out of the choiceft pieces of the offerings of the people; fince he himfelf is included in this claufe, zo make your/elves fat, as his fons might be, and it is certain he himfelf was, ch. iv. 18. ~ a _ y. 30. Wherefore the Lord God of Ijrael faith, &c.] This being the cafe, fo much contempt caft upon his facrifices, and difhonour on himfelf: J faid indeed, that thy houfe, and the houfe of thy father should walk before me for ever; or minifter in the prieft’s office before him: if the houfe of Aaron in general is meant, it did continue fo to doin one branch or another of it, as long as the Mo/aic Exod.) difpenfation lafted, which is meant by the phrafe for ever; but fince it is afterwards denied that it /fhould, rather the houfe of Ithamar, or of the immediate parent of EZ, is meant, and this faid when the priefthood was tranflated from the family of Eleazar to the family of Jthamar; when, and on what account that was done, we no where read. It. is a tradition’, that it was in the time of the Zevite’s concubine; and becaufe Phinehas, and the other priefts, did not go from city to city, and re= prove the J/raclites for the’ many fins they were’ fallen into, that the priefthood was taken away out of the family of Eleazar, and tranflated to th rael? helof Ithamar: but now the Lord faith, be it far from me; to continue the priefthood in the line of /tbamar; which argues no change in the purpofes or promifes of God, this being not a decree of his, but a declaration of his will; that if the houfe of — /thamar behaved well in the difcharge of the office * of the high-prieft, it fhould continue with them to the end of the Mofaic difpenfation, but if not, it fhould be taken from them, and reftored to thé family of Eleazar; as it was in Solomon's time: for shem that honour me, Iwill honour; as Phimebas the fons. fon of Eleazar did at Shittim, where he fhewed his

¥. 29. Wherefore kick ye at my facrifice, and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my badizeal for the Lord of hofts, and had the promife of the everlafting priefthood, and which con tinued in his family until the Badylonifh captivity, excepting the interval in which it was in the family of Ithamar, and for what reafon is not known: and they that defpife me, fhall be lightly efteemed as the pofterity of Eli, whofe fons defpifed the Lord, and his offerings, as appeared by their conduct; and thefe were killed in battle in one day, and in the times of Solomon, Abiathar, of the pofterity of Eli, was thruft out of the priefthood, and Zadok, of the line of E/eazar, was put in his room, 1 Kings li, 279 36.

¥. 31. Behold, the days come, &c.| Or are coming ®; and will quickly come, in a very little time the things, after threatened, began to take place, even in the days of E/i’s fons, and the whole was accomplithed in about 80 years after: that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s houfe; that is, the ftrength of him, and them, as the Zargum, the ftreneth of a man for doing bufinefs lying in his arm; meaning by it not long life, as Kimchi, who-concludes this fenfe from what fol lows; but rather power and authority, or the exercife of the office of high-prieft, which gave him and his family great efteem and power; or it may be beft of all, his children, which are the ftrength of a man, and the fupport of his family, fee Gez. xlix. 3. that there fhall not be an old man in thine houfe; as there were none when he died, and his two fons, the fame day; and the children they left were very young, and /4hitub, who was one of them, could not die an old man, fince Abimelech his fon was prieft in the time of Sau/, who with 85 priefts were flain by his order; and /diathar his fon was deprived of the priefthood in the time of Solomon; though fome underftand this not of an elder in years, but in office; and that the fenfe is, that there fhould be none of his family a fenator, or a member of the great Sanbedrim, or court of judicature; and fo it is interpreted in the Talmud», with which agree Ben Gerfom and Abarbinel.

¥. 32. And thou fhalt fee an enemy in my babitation, &c.) Either the Piliftines in the land of J - rael, where God chofe to dwell, who quickly after made war againft J/rae/, and pitched in Apbhek, ch. iv. 1. or, as in the margin of our bibles, and other verfions', thou fhalt fee the affliction of the tabernacle; as he did when the ark of God was taken, at the news of which he died, ch. iv. 17, 18. and fo the Targum underftands it of affliction and calamity, yet not of the houfe of God, but of his own houfe; paraphrafing the words thus, ‘‘ and thou fhalt fee the calamity that fhall come upon the men of thine houfe, for the fins which they have committed before me in the houfe of my fanctuary:” but it feems beft to interpret it of a rival, which not he in his own perfon fhould fee, but whom his pofterity fhould fee high-prieft in the temple; as they did in Solomon’s time, when Abiathar, of the family of £4, was thruft out, and Zadok, of the family of Eleazar, was put in; for, as Kimchi obferves, when a man has two wives, they are rivals or adverfaries to one another, jealous and emulous of each other, as E/- kanab’s two wives were, and of one of them, the fame word is ufed as here, ch. i. 6. fo when one high-prieft was put out, and another taken in, the one was the rival or adverfary of the other, as in when this fhould be, even when God did well ro Jrael, gave them great profperity, wealth and riches, quietnefs and fafety, a famous temple built for the worfhip of God, and every thing in a flourifhing condition, both with refpect to temporals and fpirituals, as was in the days of Solomon, fee 1 Kings iv. 20, 25. and x. 27. and then it was amidit all that plenty and profperity, and when the high priefthood was moft honourable and _profitable, that £/’s family was turned out of it, and another put into it: and there fhall not be an old man in thine boufe for ever; fee the note onthe preceding verfe; this is repeated for confirmation, and with this addition, that this would be the cafe for ever. t

¥. 33. And the man of thine. &c.] Of his family, which fhould {pring from him: whom I foall not cut off from mine altar; from ferving there: who though he fhall not be an highprieft; but a common prieft,.as all the defcendents of Aaron were, fhall be to confume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart, that is, the eyes and heart of his pofterity; who though they fhould fee of their family miniftring in the prieft’s office, yet fhould make fo poor a figure on account of their outward meannefs and poverty, or becaufe of their want of wifdom, and intellectual endowments, or becaufe of their fcandalous lives, that it would fill their hearts with grief and forrow, and their eyes with tears, fo that their eyes would fail, and be confumed, and their hearts be broken: and all the increafe of thine houfe foall die in the flower of their age; or die men", grown men, not children; when it would not be fo great an affliction to part with them; but when at mans eftate, in the prime of their days, perhaps about thirty years of age, the time when the priefts entered upon their office to do all the work of it; the Targum is, * fhall be killed young men:” it is more than once faid in the Talmud', that there was a family in Feru/alem, the men of which died at eighteen years of age; they came and informed Fuchanan ben Zaccai of it; he faid to them, perhaps of the family of Ei are ye, as it is faid, 1 Sam. ii. 33.

¥. 34. This fhall be a fign unto thee, &c.] A confirming one, that all which had been now {aid would be fulfilled: that fhall come upon thy two Sons, Hophni and Phinebas; which Eli would live to fee fulfilled on them; and when it was, he might be affured the reft would be moft certainly accomplifhed, and it was this: i one day they hall die both of them; as they did in battle with the PAiliftines, ch. iv. 11.

¥. 35. And I will raife up a faithful prieft, &c.] Not Samuel, as fome, for he was not of the feed of Aaron, and of the prieftly race; nor had he a fure houfe, for his fons declined from the ways of truth and juftice; but Zadok, as it is commonly interpreted, who was put into the office of the high-prieft by Solomon when he came to the throne, in the room of Abiathar, of the line of Eli; who was an upright man, and faithfully difcharged his office, and anfwered to his name, which fignifies righteous, fee Ezek. xliv. 15. that Jhall do accord- \ing to that which is in my heart, and in my mind; according to the fecret will and pleafure of God, as revealed in his word; do every thing relating the cafe referred to: in all the wealth which God to the office of an high-prieft, according to the foall give Ifrael; which points exactly at the time laws of God refpecting it; fo the Targum, “ that fhall