Exposition of the Whole Bible

only have refpeét to various kingdoms and nations then in being and dourithing, when they ¥ were given out, and fhew for what fins, and by what means, they bees 5 come to deftruétion, which are now no more; as the Egyptians, Affjrians, Babylonians, Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites, and Phil; iftines, and others; but they have in a peculiar manner a regard to the people of the Fezws; predict their captivity in Babylon, and their deliverance from thence; their after-fufferings under Antiochus Epiphanes; in the times of the Maccabees; their ftate and condition before, and at the coming of Chrift, their deftruction by the Romans; their difperfion throughout the nations of the world; and their conyverfion in the latter day: and they not only defcribe the feveral monarchies that have been, the Babylonian, Perfian, Grecian, and Roman, and fettle the feveral fates of them, but) plainly point at the fall of the Ostoman empire; the rife and ruin of antichrift, and all the antichriftian {tates; and foretell things that fhall be to the end of the world. The duties of. religion they inculcate; the exhortations, cautions and reproofs they abound with, cannot fail of being Ssiafal: for the direction and improyement of every good man in his life and converfation, that ferioufly confiders them; and every evangelic truth is to be illuftrated and confirmed.by them, particularly the great doétrines of juftification by the righteoufnefs of Chrift, and pardon:thro’ him, and eternal life and falvation by him;. for the righteoufnefs of God, which is revealed in the gofpel from faith to faith, tho’ it is without the law, yet it is witneffed to by the law and prophets; and this teftimony they all bear, that through the name of Chrift, whoever believes in him fhall receive the remiffion of fins, Rom. iii. 21. As x. 43..and indeed, the apoftle Pau! affures us, that he faid none other things, throughout his miniftry, than what Mofes and the prophets did fay foould come, namely, {uch as refpect the fufferings, death, and refurrection of Chrift for into thefe two things may the diftribution be made, of what the Spirit of God in the prophets. teftified before-hand, even the fufferings of Chrift, and the glory that foould follow. Jefus of Nazareth, the true Meffiah, is he of whom Mojfes in the law, and the prophets did write, he, in his perfon, office, and grace, isthe fum and fubftance of thefe writings; fee Afs.xxvi. 22, 23. 1 Pet is 10, 11.,Fobmie 4. And the ews * themfelves fay, that the prophets prophefied not, but of the days of the Meffiah, and of redemption:and falvation by him.; with which agrees what Zechariah fays, that he was {poken’ of dy the mouth of the holy propbets which have been fince the world began, Lukei. 70. With what pleafure muft a man, to whom Chrift is precious, read thofe facred pages, where in one place he’ll obferve him to be {poken of as the mighty God, the everlafting Father, and prince of peace; and in. the fame place, as the child to be born, and the fon given; and,inanother, he’ll read of his wonderful and myfterious incarnation of a virgin. One prophet points out the place by name, where he was to have his birth, Bethlehem pbratab; and another where his converfation would chiefly be, Galilee of the Gentiles; and another deferibes his public entry into Feru/alem, as riding upon an afs, upon.a colt the fole of an.afs, meek and lowly, and having falvation, Some of thefe prophecies reprefent him as mean and-defpicable; as.a man of forrows, and acquainted with griefs; as {mitten and ftricken for the fins of his people; as cutoff, but not for himfelf; as pouring out his foul unto death, and being numbered among the tranfgreffors; and as having his grave,made with the'wicked, and with the rich in his death; and others-reprefent-him, as to’ rife_on the third day; and as triumphing over death and the grave, and redeeming his people-from them, and, from all their fins; and as the Lord their richteoufnefs, by whom they. fhould be faved,.and under whom they fhould dwell fafely: and it feems acer difficult tafk,-by joining at leaft the book of,P/alms with the prophets, to extract out of them. a narrative of the perfon, character, birth, life, actions, -fufferings, and death of Chrift; his burial, refurreétion, afcenfion, and feffion at, the right-hand of God, and fecond coming, to judgment. Something of this-kind:I attempted to do many years ago, in a Treatife, entitled, ‘‘ The ‘* prophecies of the Old Teftament, refpecting the Meffiah confidered, and proved to be literally «¢ fultilled in Jefus;” this was wrote in anfwer to the author of 4 difcourfe of the grounds and reafous of the chriftian religion, &c. and of The fcheme of literal prophecy confidered, 8c. who is generally known. to be Anthony Collins;,E{q; which occafioned a famous controverfy,on this fubjeé, and brought out many excellent. defences,of the chriftian, religion, The very learned Fabritius of Hamburgb, has given a liltof the writers in that controverfy, for or againft, fo far as he had knowledge of them, and which is pretty extenfiye, in a volume. he: fince gublithed, in favour of, the truth of chriftianity, called, Salutaris lux evangelit, 8cc “., The, crafty author of the Grounds, &c. and of literal prophecy, &e, plainly Jaw that chriftianity was founded on prophecy,;/ at leaft that, this, was, tho’ not the only, yet a principal proof and. evidence of jit 5;which, he endeayoured to undermine and remove, by fhewing that! the. prophecies had. another meaning, and did not refpeét a Meffiah, and much lefs our Jefus, and were mifapplied by the writers, of the,New Tefamentis but, the contrary has been fully:made to x POOR a ae Oe ee appear, and the prophecies to be a glorious confirmation of the truth of divine revelation, and which is a continual and increafing one; for, as Dr. Newton of late moft truly obferves, ‘ this is one great “© excellency of the evidence drawn from prophecy for the truth of revelation, that it is a growing “evidence; and the more prophecies are fulfilled, the more teftimonies there are, and confirmations © of the truth and certainty of divine revelation.”

IT mutt be owned, that there are fome things in the prophets difficult and hard to be underftood; but the knowledge, fenfe, and meaning of them, are in a good meafure attainable by prayer, meditation and reading, and by comparing fcripture with {cripture, efpecially with the writings of the New Teftament, ‘and particularly the book of the Revelation, and there are fome general rules, which, if attended to, will greatly facilitate the underftanding of them. The learned Vitringa, in his Tj ‘ypus Dotirine Prophetice, has laid’ down feveral rules or canons, very ufeful and helpful in inveftigating the true fenfe of the prophets; which I fhall not think it too much labour to tranfcribe; and are as

follow: 1. In all interpretation of prophecies, care and pains muft be taken, and means ufed, in the firft Bae, that the fubjecét of the prophecy may be truly known; whether the prophet fpeaks of himfelf, or of others; and whether of things in his own time, or of things to come; and of thefe, “whether he fpeaks of them properly and literally, or improperly and figuratively; fee As viii. 34.— 2. That we may come to an accurate and diftinét knowledge of the fubject, we fhould diligently at- “tend to all the attributes and chara¢ters which are applied to that fubje¢t in the prophecy: for, if the ‘fubje& is not mentioned by name, it may be found out by the characteriftics of it; fuch are many of ‘the prediétions concerning Chrift, and if it is exprefsly named, it fhould be enquired, whether it is to “be taken properly or myftically; or partly properly, and partly myftically; as when any one by name is fpoken of, asa type of the Meffiah.— 3. From the literal fenfe of the fubjeét, when called by its own proper ‘name, we muft never depart; if all the attributes, or the more remarkable, noted and principal ones, agree with the fubject of the prophecy, this rule is of confiderable ufe in the prophecies ‘concétning Ifrael, Fudah, Babylon, Egypt, Tyre, and others.— 4. If the attributes by no means agree with the fubje&t expreffed-in prophecy by its own name, we muft think-of another fubject anfwerable to it, which is myftically’ called by this name, becaufe of the agreement between the type and the “antitype;"examples of this are in Edom, If \xiii. 1. in David, Fer. xxx. 20. Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24. in Elijah, Mal. iv. 5:— 5. If, in prophecies, the fubject is treated of under its exprefs name, fo that it svill bear both the proper and myftical interpretation; and the attributes of the prophetic difcourfe ‘are fuch, that fome of them more rightly agree with the fubject myftically taken; and others are more rightly predicated of it, in a literal and grammatic fenfe; we muft take the fubject of the prophecy ‘not’'to'be fimple, but complex; and that the prophet, being aéted and illuminated by the Spirit, fo fpeaks, as that he would be underftood of both; and the reader is to be advifed of the myftical or allegorical fenfe, as wrapped up in the literal fenfe: thus, in many of the prophecies concerning Egypt, Babylon, Tyre, and Edom, there are fuch auguft and magnificent things, which, if properly taken, will admit but of a very poor and barren expofition; and therefore it muft be prefumed, that the Holy Ghoft defigned fomething more, and to lead our minds to fpiritual Egypt, 8c. and fo fometimes, fuch grand things are faid of the people of the Yews returning from the Badylonifh captivity, ‘and of fuch ‘bleffings beftowed upon them, as_ neceffarily oblige us to look out for a further accomplifhment in redemption by Chrift, and the fpiritual bleffings of grace beftowed upon the people of God under the gofpel-difpenfation; {pecimens of which may be feen in J/ lii. 1, 2, 3. Yer. iii. 14, 15, 16.— 6. In continued prophecies, which are not diftinguifhed one from another by titles or infcriptions, we fhould carefully attend both to the beginning and end of the prophetic fermons; both to the epocha of the time in which the fcene of the prophetic vifion is fixed, and the terminus in which it ends; the former of thefe efpecially has its ufe in the fermons of J/aiah, which follow the fortieth chapter of that book.—. 7. It is probable, that thofe prophecies, whofe /erminus a quo demonttrates the beginning of the time of Chrift’s kingdom, and the terminus ad quem the end of that time, give a narration of the chief things that fhall befal. the church in a continued feries, unlefs any thing hinders, which obliges us’ to go back to former times. The interpretation of the prophecy of Taiaby from ch. liv. ‘1. #0 ch. Ix.22. depends on this foundation. The beginning of this prophecy, without all doubt, is to be applied to the beginning of the kingdom of Chrift: the term or end falls upon the moft Hlourifhing ftate of that kingdom, which is to follow the converfion of the Fewi/h nation, and the vin-~ dication of the affli€ted church; of which J/ lix. 19, 20, 21. which flourifhing ftate of the kingdom

of Chrift, is defcribed throughout the whole intermediate, treats of the affairs or fates of ixtieth chapter. It is very likely therefore, that what is both terms.— 8. Yet itis to be obferved, that fome pro-

phecies, whofe context is continued, admit of refumptions, repetitions of fayings, and -réttograde leaps and fkips, or fcattered or detached pieces, belonging to fuperior times, which are inférted into the context, for the fake of illuftrating this or that part of the prophecy; examples of which are in Zech. xiii. 7. and in J ch. xl. xli. xlii—_ 9. To thefe alfo may be rightly referred the excurfions and digreffions, in which the prophets, whilft they really have before their eyes fome object of more remote time, fuddenly leave it, and by way of excurfion turn themfelves to men of their own time, or the next; that from the fubjeét of their prophecy, they may admonifh, exhort, and convince them; which when they have done, they refume the thread of their prophecy; an inftance of which is in Joel iii. from ¥. 4. tox. 9.— 10. That interpretation of the word of God, and efpecially of the prophecies, is to be accounted the beft, which attends to, purfues, and demonftrates the greateft emphafis of the oration or fpeech, and the wifdom of the Holy Ghoft; a good and fure rule, and yet to be applied prudently to the fubject-context of the prophecy.— 11. A fure key for the interpretation of prophecy is, a true underftanding of Chrift Jefus, and of righteoufnefs to be procured by him for the church, and of the fpiritual kingdom to be founded by him in the world; according to that of the apoftle, Rom. xii. 6. let us prophefy according to the proportion or analogy of faith; for the prophets prophefied. chiefly of the Meffiah and his kingdom, and of the times and prerogatives of it—- 12. Wherefore, when there is-a twofold method of -interpreting prophecies, the one barren, the other liberal; of which, thofe that follow that, with difficulty, and more rarely, find Chrift Jefus and his kingdom; and thof who adopt this, more frequently -find Chrift, and things’ that belong to him: it feems not to be doubted of, but the latter is to be preferred to. the former. This is.a rule of great ufe and profit; certainly the Spirit, which was in the prophets, either is not Chrift’s, or he directly fpeaks of Chrift; if he fpeaks dire¢tly and clearly of Chrift, it is the bufinefs of a good interpreter, firft indeed to feek diligently after Chrift in the prophetic word; then, if occafion. favours, to demonftrate it; but never to fhun any opportunity, when it offers itfelf, but willingly take it 13. Since it is not only probable, but certain, that there are in the prophetic part of ‘the word, diftinét delineations of ‘the whole courifel of God, interpreters act rightly, who in prophecies, which, ’tis plain, treat of the kingdom of Chrifts and the affairs of it, induftrioufly attend to the events of thechurch of Chrift, known from hiftory, and produce them from the fame; fo that it is done without offering any violence to the fcripture; fince God does nothing but he reveals his fecret to his fervants the prophets, Amos iii. 7... 14. The inter4 pretation of the word of prophecy made by Chrift, and ‘by the apoftles, and by the Holy Ghoft, in the Revelation, is a rule and key of rightly explaining the prophecies which they have touched upon; who can doubt of this? fince every one is the beft interpreter of his own words; fo it fhould be thought that the Holy Ghoft, in more recent ‘prophecies, alludes to ancient ones; yea, often ufes the fame words, phrafes and images, and the like, which he did formerly; defigning thereby,’ to lead us by the hand to the true underftanding of thofe oracles— 15. Whatfoever excellently, glorioufly, emphatically, characterittically, is predicted of fome certain perfon, not called by his own name, in the prophecies, or in-the pfalms, fo that the fingular predicates can be demonftrated in no fingular fubjeé& _ of that or any other-time,~it Mmuft be taken as faid, and predicted of the Meffiah. This ‘rele will deceive no man.— 16. In prophecies, which treat of Chrift and his kingdom, that fenfe is the beft, which is the moft fpiritual. This'canon hath a certain and eafy demonftration; for the kingdom: of Chrift is no other foretold in prophecies, than it is manifeft in time; but that'is not of this world, it is fpiritual, Yobu xviii. 36. ‘Rom. xiv. 17. therefore no interpretation is of avail, none is right and good, which underftands thofe things corporally, which are ‘predicated of a:thing fpiritual; for the attributes and predicates of a fpiritual thing are fpiritual.—' 17. In prophecies, in:fome places prudently to be diftinguifhed, there’obtains an usegoy’ medley 5 fo thaton which we muft:dwell, fhould be put in the laft place, that it may be carried on without interruption’ to the end.— 18. The writers of the New Teftament, in confirmation of their doétrines from’ the prophetic writings, oftentimes borrow words from one prophet, and take the thing from another.+="1r9. In things future, we muft not-indulge our conjeétures, but’ as: it ‘becomes ‘the faith and modefty of chriftians; what are indefinitely faid, and not: determined by parallel prophecies, we muft’reckon that God wills thofe things ‘fhould be put in his: own Sante as to. pees ee se places, and rimget dsl’!;

NOWs nest far thie titccing: Expofition of the vedi comports arte ehefe canons ae “ie mutt be left to!the judgment of thet intelligent reader. I am very fenfible, that befides the fpiritual means. before-mentioned, of: prayer, teditation, ahd comparing» fcripture: with {cripture, there are other things requifite to the right interpretation of prophecies; as knowledge.of the language in’ which the prophets wrote, and of its fifter dialects; the Arabic, Syriac, and Chaldee; as well as of hiftory,. philofophy, geography, geometry, chronology,, &c, in Peep ae all wb, Thave pier ia xii PROSE WA A been fearful I have undertaken a work I am not equal to; however, being engaged in it, with what affiftance I have obtained, I have done as well as I could, = hope it will be candid} y received.

I greatly regret the learned Vitringa’s large and excellent commentary on J/aiah not falling into my ~ hands fooner; I had finifhed my expofition of that prophet, before Ihhad the favour of feeing his; however, before mine went to the prefs, I obtained a copy of his; and have been able to make forme references to it, efpecially to his verfion; and have extracted fome few things from it, and improved fome paffages of mine by it; and, upon the whole, think myfelf happy, that I agree with fo great a man, in fo many things I do, when unknown to me; and had I been more early acquainted with him, I fhould not have thought fit to have followed him in a// things; but in many fhould have fteered the courfe I have taken; tho’ his commentary mutt be allowed to be the beft that is written on that

POOL ’s Synopfis Criticorum, 1 expected great advantage from, with refpect to the various verfions and tranflations. I thought I fhould have had no more trouble than to have felected from thence fuch of them as I fhould judge would be of moft ufe in the interpretation of paflages; but the quota+ tions of them in that work are fo blended together, or included in fo many parenthefes, that it is very difficult, if poffible, to diftinguifh and affign them to their proper authors; fo that I foon found, I fhould be led into many miftakes, if I trufted to that collection; and therefore was obliged to have recourfe to the verfions and tranflations themfelves, which has been no fmall fatigue unto me; not but that that performance has been ufeful and beneficial on more accounts than one; and I cannot but wonder, that fo learned and laborious a work, fhould be fo much neglected, as it feems to be, by fuch who are ftudious of the facred writings.

IN the preface to my Expofition of the New Teftament, I have given an account of the Fewifh writings quoted and referred to in that work; and therefore fuch of them as are made ufe of in this, I have no need to fay much concerning, efpecially the Talmud and Targums, which are there largely treated of. The former of thefe is but fparingly made ufe of in this work. In the Expofition of the: New Teftament, I confulted that, and other Yewi/h writings, purely for the fake of phrafeology, rites, cuftoms, and ceremonies, which might ferve to illuftrate any part of it, or paflages in it; but in this I have had chiefly to do with it, only for the interpretation of {cripture itfelf; but the fenfe it gives of it, is for the moft part fo foreign, barren, and impertinent, that it has furnifhed me with very little of any avail or worth; only this I obferve, that the fcriptures are quoted in it with fearce any variation, if any at all, from the prefent copy of the Hebrew text in common ufe; which is no inconfiderable proof of the antiquity of it; for, tho’ according to Buxtorf ', the Ferufalem Talmud was not finifhed until. the year of Chrift 230; and the Babylonian Talmud, not till the year 500 ®3 yet boty confift of reafonings, difputations, and decifions on paffages of fcripture, quoted by men that lived in and about the times of Chrift, or quickly after, and.even of forme before; and give their fenfe, and not the fenfe of the compilers of them; and, I fuppofe, no copy or manufcript can be produced of an earlier date; and which fhows the Zews, however blind and ignorant they be in the underftanding of the Old Teftament; a veil being over their hearts in the reading of it, as the apoftle fays *; yet the oracles of God being committed to them, as the fame infpired writer obferves ’, they have: been faithful keepers of them and we are much indebted to the Majorites, for the ftri&t care they have taken to preferve the whole intire and incorrupt, both with refpect to words, letters and points; and here I can’t forbear tranfcribing a paffage from the celebrated Vitringa, in his preface to the reader, before the firft. volume of his commentary on J/aiab: “ I am verily of opinion ({ays he) that no

<¢ mortal man, tho’ ever fo well verfed in the Hebrew language, has fuch fharpnefs of wit, fkill, and “< quicknefs of underftanding, as that he could give the true genuine fénfe of our prophet (Jaiab) «¢ in very many places; unlefs the reading of the ancient fynagogue had been preferved by tradition «* in the fchools of the Hebrews, as'we have it now exprefied by the Wa/oretic points; whofe ftudy << and labour therefore no man can fufficiently commend; for what pleafure we take in this delight- «* ful garden, we owe it to them, men fo learned, and very judicious. An inftance of this we have “¢ in the Greek interpreter:of Alexandria, who came forth under the name, and in the number of the ~ “* Septuagint; who being unacquainted with the Feru/alem reading, has very often, by his unhappy << arid unlearned verfion, fo deformed the prophet’s ioe a in the more obfcure: ape that you can’t ee Tfaiab again in T/aiah” afi x tielt tga

THE Targum on the prophets, tho’ it is uncertain with fome chriftian writers, whd he was that wrote it, and in what age he lived; yet the Yews unanimoufly afcribe it to Fonathan Ben Uzziel *; who lived and wrote about the times of Chrift: of him I have given an account in the preface to my Expofition of the New Teftament, to which I refer the reader; only would obferve, that this paraphrafe of his is free from the fables and traditionary fenfes, with which that upon the pentateuch abounds, which is falfly afcribed to him; that he interprets many paffages concerning the Meffiah, which truly belong to him, and may be improved againft the ews; that he is very. happy in a multitude of places,, inséxplaining figurative phrafes and expreffions; and»may very well be thought to tranfmit to us the: fénfe of the ancient fynagogue in many-things. \./itringa, in the: place juft now referred: to, calls him, @ learned mans There is no Targum on the book of Daniel, great part of that being written in the Chaldean language’s"and'the book Of Lamentations not being placed among ‘the prophets by the ews, is paraphrafed not: by2Fonathan, butqby another; -but,-by whoin, is not’ certain.» The'Sews themfelves'are at a lof about the author of “the paraphrafe ‘of /that book, ‘and the reft oft the AZegillot, Ruth, Eftber, Canticles; and Ecclefiaftes. It is wrote in the Ferufalem diale&t,and abounds with Talmudic fables, and is the laft of the Targums; in it mention is-made of places; as of Conftantinople, and others; which fhew it to be of later date: than ‘the reft.

THE Fewifh commentators I have: moft frequently: made mention of if this ‘Expofition, are; Farchi, Abeu Ezra, and Kimchi; and fince they are writers whofe names the Engl/b reader is not much ufed to, I fhall give fome fhort account of them. They all lived in: the twelfth century: R.Solomon Farchi, as he is commonly called, and by abbreviation Ra/hi; tho’ his trué name was R. Solomon: Ben Ifaack, was born, in France; hence he ufes many Freach words in his writings... The Fews extol him very highly; they fay, there never rofe up one in the kingdom of: France like him '; he wrote commentaries on the whole Bible. His ftile is fomewhat obfeure, having a concife way of writing, and ufing many exotic words; and being converfant with the Talmud, frequently goes) according to that, and indulges too much to fable; tho’ there are many things in him affifting and ufeful.>: Lyra frequently makes mention of him, and follows him in many places in his Expofition of the Bible. Aben Ezra matt be allowed to be a much better writer, and has obtained with the Fews the name of toDn the wife; he was a natiye of Toledo in Spain; he lived fome time in the city of Rhodes, where he finifhed his commentary on Dawie/, in the year 4916; that is, in the year of Chrift 1157; from whence it appears, that he,lived in the middle of the ¢we/ftb century. _He wrote upon the:whole Bible; and father Simon fays ", no man among the Jews ever interpreted fcripture fo literally, and, fo wifely; he was well fkilled in the Arabic language, as appears by his frequent ufe of it in his commentaries, by which he interprets many paflages of fcripture; he was a very great grammarian, aftronomer, philofopher, poet, and phyfician; and wrote various things in each fcience. KR, David Kimchi lived in the fame century; and was the fon of R. Ja/eph Kimchi, a Spaniard alfo; whofe interpretation of fcripture his fon often makes mention.of-in his commentaries. He had a brother named Mo/es, a very great grammarian, as he himfelf was; which two brothers are reckoned the principal of that fort among the Fews. David wrote on the greateft part of the Bible, ina clear ftile; free from every thing’ of the fabulous kind; and very happy, for the moft part, in his fenfe of fcripture. The Jews “havea faying of him, that Kimchi’s meal, alluding to his name, is fine flour; and there is no. bran in-his words. Vatablus often quotes him, by this defcriptive title only, doéfus inter Hebreos, the learned Few. I have made but very little ufe of Abarbinel, a Portuguefe Few, of the fifteenth century; fince he only, or for the moft part, collects the fenfes of others, particularly of the above; and rejects better fenfes than he fubftitutes in their room. The author I fometimes mention. by the name of Ben Melech, is R. Solomon Ben Melech, a Spanifh Few, who lived in the fixteenth century; he wrote a commentary on the | whole Old Teftament, a literal and grammatical one, collected from the beft interpreters among. the Fews, efpecially David Kimchi, of whom he is a ftrict and clofe follower; his work being taken very much out of his commentaries, grammar, and lexicon.

THE ews have a common and frequent faying °, as has been before obferved, that from the time the latter prophets died, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the Holy Ghoft removed from J/rael; that is, as a fpirit of prophecy; they being the laft of the prophets in the canon of the Old Teftament; for tho’ our Lord fays, the law and the prophets were until Fobn, Luke xvi. 16, His meaning is not, that there were prophets in a fucceffion down to his-time; only that until his time, the writings of the

XIV PE RE Sew 6 oe law and the prophets were the only ones the Yews had; for certain it is, that after Malachi, to the times of Fohn, there arofe none under the character of prophets; hence, in the Ixxivth P/alm, which’ feems to be penned either about, or at leaft on occafion of, or however has refpect unto the times of the Maccabees, in ¥. 9. it is complained of ‘by the people of God, we /ee mot our figns; there is no more any prophet, neither is there among us any that knoweth bow long; which was matter of concern unto them; prophets and prophecy from the Lord being accounted a {pecial and peculiar favour; but when this favour was withdrawn, that either there were no prophets, or no vifion feen by them, it was a token of fad and melancholy times; hence Feremizh laments the ftate of the church in captivity, after this manner, the /aw is xo more, her prophets alfo find no vifion from the Lord, Lam. ii. 9. and this is threatened as a fore evil to the people of the Fews, that the time fhould come when they fhould feek a vifion of the prophet, but the law fhould perifh from the prieft, and counfel from the ancients, Ezek. vii. 26. but then we are not to underftand this, as tho’ prophecy entirely ceafed in-Malach?, and never revived more; for Yobn the Baptift is exprefsly called the prophet of the higheft, yea more than a prophet; and it is faid, that among thofe that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than hes Luke i, 76. and vii. 26, 28. who foretold in his miniftry, that the kingdom of heaven, or of the Meffiah, or gofpel-difpenfation, was at hand, juft ready to take place; and our Lord himielf was the great prophet that Mo/es fpake of, that fhould be raifed up unto J/rael, like unto him; and for whom the people, when they heard his doctrinés, and faw his miracles, blefied God, that a great prophet was rifen up among them, Deut. xviii. 15. Luke vii. 16. and who not only preached the gofpel as none ever did before or fince, but he foretold things to come, particularly his fufferings, and death, and refurrection; and tho’ he is faid to feal up vifion and prophecy, Dan. ix. 24. the meaning is not to put an end to it, but to fulfil and accomplifh it; and certain it is, that-he gave gifts to men, whereby they were qualified to be prophets; which feem to be a diftinét fort of perfons, as from apoftles, fo from ordinary paftors and teachers; and who not only had the gift of prophefying, or explaining feripture, and preaching the word, but of foretelling things to come; fuch there were in the firft’ chriftian churches at Ferufalem and Antioch; as particularly Agabus, who, by the Spirit, fignified the dearth that fhould be in all the world, and which came to pafs in the days of Claudius Cefar, fee Epb. iv. 11- Aéts Xi. 27, 28. and xiii. 1. and what is the book of the Revelation, but a prophecy of future events, to be accomplifhed in the world and church, from the firft ages of chriftianity, to the fecond coming of Chrift? and is exprefsly called a prophecy; and the things in it, the fayings of the prophecy of this book; and the words of the book of this prophecy, Rev. i. 3. and xxii. 7, 18, 19. and tho” we are not to expect, at leaft with any frequency, a fpirit of prophecy to defcend on men under the prefent difpenfation; nor are we ever to give credit to pretended prophecies and revelations, which are not agreeable to, but apparently contradic the word of God; or that propofe to us new doétrines and modes of worfhip; every thing of this kind being fettled in the facred fcriptures, to continue to the end of time; yet God may vouchfafe to make known fometimes to certain holy good men, his fecrets, what he is about to do in the world, before it comes to pafs; of which our bifhop Ujfer is a remarkable inftance; but things of this nature are not in common to be looked for; we have a fure word of prophecy, the teftimony of Jefus, which is the fpirit of prophecy, fufficient to direét us in all things neceffary to faith and practice; and have abundant reafon to blefs God for the writings of both Teftaments, Old and New.

I have nothing more to add, only to obferve, that I have feveral other commentaries on other parts of the Old Teftament, particularly on what are commonly called the poetical books, finifhed in the fame manner as thefe; which I purpofe to publifh, fhould thefe volumes meet with acceptance from the public; and which I now commit to the bleffing of God, to make them ufeful, for the increafe of fpiritual light and knowledge; for the better underftanding of the holy fcriptures; and for the glory of his name; giving him praife for all the gifts of nature and grace beftowed upon me for fuch fervice.