jus, Monianus, Forerius,
bitants of the earth, of angels, and of men 5 who, tho’ in our nature, in his ftate of humiliation, was brought very low, yet is now highly exalted;
-and which exaltation of his is feen and’ known, as it is here foretold it fhould be, by his judgments inflicted on the Fewi/h nation, for their contempt and rejection of him; fee P/- ix. 16; fo Kime interprets judgment, of the judgment which ° Lord would infli& on the ungodly of Jrael: thus Chrift’s exaltation is feen in their humiliation, and his kingdom and power in their deftruction: amd God that is holy, Chrift is truly and properly Go God over all bleffed for ever; and he is holy, a as God and man; as God, he is effentially and » perfectly holy; and as man, without fin original or aétual; he is the holy one of God, and the holy one of J/rael, and of him it is faid, he /oall be fan&ified in righteoufnefs, or be declared to be holy; by the obedience and righteoufnefs of his lite wrought out for his people, whereby he becomes their fanétification and righteoufnefs; and by his juftice, in punifhing his and his peoples enemies. Were all this to be underftood of Febovab, the Father, it might very well be interpreted as it is by Cocceius, of his being exalted and honoured by the condemnation of fin in the flelh of Chriit; and of his being glorified, as the Arabic verfion renders it, by'the obedience and righteoufhels of his fon, whereby his juftice is fatisfied, and his law magnified, and made honourable; and by the faith of his people, laying hold on that righteoufnets, and, receiving it to the glory of God; in all which the purity, holinefs, and juftice of God appears. ~~ ¥. 17. Then foail the lambs feed after their man-~ ner, &c.] That is, the people of God, the difciples of Chrift, either apoftles and minifters of the gofpel, whom he fent forth as lambs among wolves, Luke x. 3. who fed the flock of Chrift atter their ufual manner, and as direéted by him; even with knowledge and underftanding, by the miniftry of the word, and adminiftration of ordinances; or the people of God fed by them, who. are comparable to lambs, for their harmleffhefs: and innocence 5 and who feed in green paftures, according as they. are led; as the word ufed may be rendered‘; or according to their word, the doctrine of the mini- {ters of the gofpel, by whom they are inftruéted and directed to feed on Chrift, as he is held forth © in the word and ordinances. ‘The Targum is, ** and ** the righteous fhall be fed as is faid of them;” and fo Farchi and Kimchi interpret it of the righteous: and the wajfte places of the fat ones foall fitran-— gers eat; that is, the Gentiles, who are aliens from the commonwealth of J/rae/, and ftrangers to the covenants of promife; the other fheep ‘that were not of the Fewifh fold, Eph. ii. 12. Fohn x. 16. thefe fhall come in the room of the fat ones of the land of Fudea, the rulers, elders, Scribes and Pha~ rifees; and feed on thofe paftures which were de fpifed, and left defolate by them; enjoy the: they put away from them, and the ordinan it, which they rejected. The Targum is, ‘* they fhall be multiplied, and the fub ‘* the ungodly fhall the righteous poffefs.” ¥. 18. Wo unto them ihat draw iniquity with of vanity, 8c.) The prophet returns to the again, and goes on with the account of t and punifhment; and here defcribes fuch, not: are drawn into fin unawares, thro’ the prevalencs the temptations of fatan, the {nares of the world, or the perfuafions of others; but fuch who draw it to themfelves, feck after it, and willingly commit it; who rufhand force themielves. into it; who folicit it, and feek, and take all occafions and opportunities of doing it; and, take a great deal of pains about it; and make ufe of all. arguments, reafonings, and pretences. they can devife, to engage themfelves and others in the practice’ of it; which are all cords of vanity, fallacious -and deceitful. And fin as it were with.a cart-rope; ating all diligence, wifdom, policy and ftrength; labouring with all might and main to effect it... Some by iniquity and jin, underftand punifhment,, as. the words ufed fometimes fignify; and that. the. fenfe is, that fuch perfons, deicribed by their, boldnefs and impudence in finning, by their impenitence and hardnefs of heart, and by adding fin to fin, draw upon themfelves fwift deftruction, and the greater damnation. The Zargum interprets it, of fuch that begin with leffer fins, and increafe to more ungodlinefs; paraphrafing it thus, ‘‘ wo to them that “¢ begin to fin a little, and they go on and increafe ¢¢ until that they are ftrong, and ¢heir. fins are as “* a cart-rope;” to which agrees that faying in the Talmude, ‘* the evil imagination or corruption of “ nature at firft is like a fpider’s thread, but at “¢ Jaft it is like to cart-ropes; as it is faid, wo to
<< them that draw iniquity, &c.” ¥. 19. That fay, let him make fpeed, and hajten his work, &c.| Lither the, punifhment of their fins, threatned by the prophets; which, becaufe not fpeedily and immediately executed, therefore they did not believe it ever would; and in a daring and infolent manner, call. upon God to inflict it: that we may fee it, or feel it; for as for words or threatnings, they regarded them not; thus defiding God and his judgments, and difbelieving both, like the mockers in the laft days, defcribed in 2 Pet. iii. 3, 4. and in contempt of him, don’t fo much as mention his name; tho’ the Syriac verfion expreffes the word Lord, and the Arabic verfion Ged: or rather, the great work of redemption and falvation by the Meffiah; for as they did not believe Jefus to be the Meffiah, fo they ridiculed and defpifed falvation by him, mocking him asa Saviour, and calling upon him in a farcaftic way, to haften and do his work, he pretended to come about; fee Mart. xxvii. 42. for.to the ews in Chrift’s time, this prophecy belongs. The Targum interprets it, bis miracle; the Fews were always for figns and miracles; they fought them of 7e/us of Nazareth, they urged the doing of them; they were very folicitous and importunate, and in hafte to have them done, that they might fee and believe, as they pretended; and exprefied themfelves in almoft the fame words as here, what /ign heweft thou then, that we may fee and believe thee? what doft thou work? Fobn vi. 30. this is an inftance of their drawing iniquity and fin in the manner before complained of: and let the counfel of the holy one of Tfrael draw nigh and come, that we may know it, not that they believed him to be the holy one of J rael, but becaufe the prophet had made mention of this title, chap. i. 4. as he often does in this prophecy afterwards, and applies it to the redeemer; therefore they ufe it: fo the Fews put an if upon Chrift being the king of Jrael, Matt. xxvii. 42. wherefore in a daring, jeering, and ironical manner, urge that what is faid to be in the purpofes and decrees wee 2. NY. 1.
of God, or what was agreed upon between him and the Meffiah, who faid he was the fon of God, in the council and covenant of grace and peace, as pretended, might fpeedily come to pafs; all which exprefies their blafphemy, impiety, and unbelief; and fhews that they did not believe, but derided any counfel or decree of God, refpecting {piritual and eternal {alvation by the Meffiah, efpecially by Fefus of Nazareth: or the converfion of the Gentiles, or the {pread of the gofpel, and the enlargement of the kingdom and intereft of Chrift in the world, are. meant, » Kimchi, on the text owns, that thefe words belong to the Fews in the prefent day, and makes this confeffion, “‘ it appears that our ‘* prophets faid the truth, for now we believe pi oa
¥.20. Wo unto them. that call evil good, and good evil, Scc.]. That call evil actions good, and good actions evil; that excufe the one, and reproach the other; or that call evil men good, and good men evil; to which the Targum agrees. Some underftand this of. falfe prophets rejecting the true worfhip of God, and recommending falfe worfhip; others of wicked judges, pronouncing the caufes of bad men good, and of good men evil; others of fenfualifts, that fpeak in praife of drunkennefs, gluttony, and all carnal pleafures, and flefhly lutts, and treat with contempt the fear, worfhip, and fer-' vice of God. It may very well- be applied to the Scribes and Pharifees in Chrift’s time, who preferred the evil traditions of their elders, both to the law of God, that is holy, juft, and good, and to the gofpel, the good word of God, preached by Fohn.the Baptift, Chrift and his apoftles, and ‘to the ordinances of the gofpel-difpenfation: that put darknefs for light,.and light for darknefs, that put bitter for fweet, and fweet for bitter, for calling good evil, and evil good, is all one as putting thefe things one for another; there being as great a difference between good and eyil, as between light and darknefs, fweet and bitter; and it fuggefts, as if the perverfion of thefe things was not merely thro’ ignorance and miftake, but purpofely and wilfully againft light and knowledge: fo the Fews acted when. they preferred the darknefs of their rites and ceremonies, and human traditions, before the light of the glorious gofpel of Chrift; which fhowed they loved darknefs rather than light, Fobn iii. 1g. and chofe that which would be bitter to them in the end, than the fweet doctrines of the grace of God; the bitter root of error, rather than the words of Chrift’s mouth, which are fweeter than the honey, or the:honey-comb. The Targum is, “* wo to them that fay to the wicked who ‘¢ profper in this world, ye are good; and fay to the meek, ye are wicked: when light cometh to the righteous, fhall it not be dark with the wicked? and fweet fhall be the words of the law to them that do them; but bitternefs (fome read rebellion) fhall come to the wicked; and they fhall know, that in the end fin is bitter to them that commit it.” Abarbinel interprets this of. the ten tribes preferring the worfhip at Dan and Bethel, before that at Ferufalem, y. 21. Wo unto them that are wife in their own eyes, &cc,] And yet betray fuch ftupidity and fottifhnefs, as to call things by their wrong names; and make fuch a perverfe judgment of them, as before defcribed. This is a true defcription of the Scribes and Pharifees in Chrift’s time; who faid, doft thou teach us? are we blind alfo? Fobn ix. 34—40: and prudent in their own fight, being wife above what was written; leaving the word of God, and following the traditions of the elders.
-'y. 22. Wo unto them that are mighty to drink wine, &c.} That can bear a great deal, and not be overcome and intoxicated with it; that try their ftrength this way with others, and get the maftery and glory in it: not ees to fight their enemies, as Kimchi-obferves, and’ detend their country, «but to drink wine; by which their ftrength was weakened:. wherefore fome think foldiers aré particularly defigned, given to drinking, who are derided and mocked, as being valiant in the warfare of Bacchus, and not of Mars: and men of firength, to mingle ftrong drink, in the cup, and then drink it: or men of war; the fame with mighty before. The Targum interprets it, men of riches; who can afford to drink wine and ftrong drink; which carries the fenfe not to’ the ftrength of their bodies, but of their purfes: the former fenfe feems beft. The Scribes and Pharifees loved the cup and the platter, and to be at feafts, and to have the uppermott feats there, Matt. xxiii. 6,25. and that thofe that fat in Mojes’s chair are intended, appears ‘from the followings words.
¥. 23. Which juftify the wicked for reward, &c.] This is either fpoken of judges, and civil magiftrates, who gave the caufe in favour of the wicked, that bribed them, contrary'to law, Deut. xvi, 19. or rather of the Scribes’ and’ Pharifees, who pronounced the wicked righteous men; provided they kept the traditions of the elders, and paid tithes of all they poflefled, and gave them money for their ‘long prayers, Matt. xxii. 14, 23: and take away the righteoufne/s of the righteous from him; by condemning them as unrighteous perfons: fo the Fews did Chrift and his apoftles; they pronounced them wicked, and condemned them to death; and as. much as in them lay took away their righteoufnefs from them, by taking away their character from them as righteous perfons among men; tho’ their righteoufnefs itfelf could not be taken away, it being an everlafting one.
iy. 24. Therefore as the fire devoureth the ftubble, &c.] Or tongue of fire"; meaning the flame, the fame as in the next claufe; becaufe it is in the form of a tongue; fee Adis ii. 3: and the flame confumeth the chaff; which is done eafily, fpeedily, and entirely; the metaphors denote, that their deftruction would be eafy, fwift, fudden, irrefiftible, and irrecoverable. Reference may be had to the burning of Ferufalem, literally underftood: fo their root fhall be rottenne/s; and fo utterly perifh; meaning their fathers, as Aben Ezra and Abarbinel think; or their chief and principal. men, before mentioned; or their riches and fubftance, and whatever they gloried of, or trufted in; fee Matt. iii. 10: and their bloffom fhall go up. as duft; before the wind; either their children, or whatever was excellent or valuable with them; fo Yarchi interprets it, of their grandeur, pomp, and glory; it feems to exprefs an utter deftruction of them, root and branch, as in Mal. iv. 1: becaufe they bave caff away the law of the Lord, or doétrine of the Lord; that is, the gofpel; which the Fews blafphemed, contradiéted, and put away from them, and judged themfelves unworthy of everlafting life: the preaching ofa crucified Chrift, and falvation by him, and juftification by his righteoufnefs, were a ftumbling black to them: this is to be underftood not of the law of works, but of the law or doétrine of faith: and defpifed the word of the holy one of Ifrael; meaning either the fame as before; expreffing their great contempt of the gofpel, and the reafon why they rejected it, becaufe they loathed, abhorred,
}and defpifed it: or elfe Chrift, the effential word- of God; fo the Targum, “ they rejected the word, “< the holy one of J/rael;” as the Meffiah, and re— ceived him not; and this their rejection of him, and ill treatment of his gofpel and minifters, ‘were, the caufe of the burning of Ferufalem, and of their. utter ruin and deftruction, Matt. xxii. 4, 5,6, 7.
¥.25. Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled againft bis people, &c.] His profefling people; which character, as it aggravated their fin in re-. jeCting and defpifing the word of the Lord, fovit. increafed his anger and indignation againft them:- and be kath firetched forth his hand againft them, | and hath [mitten them, which fome underftand of | paft judgments and afflictions upon: them, under. Foufh, Amaziah, and Abaz and others of future.
ones, under Salmanefer and Nebuchadnezzar: and~ the bills did tremble, which Farchi interprets of their kings and princes; or it may be only a figurative exprefiion, fetting forth the awfulnefs of the difpenfation: and their careaffes were torn inthe miaft of the fireets. The Targum renders it, were as dung; fo the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic verfions; being flain there; and lying unburied, » were trampled upon, and trodden down like clay, - as the Syriac verfion; or like the mire of the ftreets.. For all this, his anger is not turned away; this being abundantly lefs than their fins deferved; which fhows how great were their fins, and how much the Lord was provoked to anger by them: but his hand is firetched out frill, to inflict yet forer jude— ments. The Targum is, “ by all this they turn’ ‘¢ not from their fins, that his fury may turn from: ‘* them; but their rebellion grows ftronger, and: “ his ftroke is again to take vengeance on'them;” which expreffes their impenitence and hardnefs of heart, under the judgments of God, which caufed him to take more fevere methods with them.
¥. 26, And he will lift up an enfign to the nations
for they were not nations, but one nation, and were a people near; but to the Romans, who confitted of many nations, and were afar off, and extended their empire to the ends of the earth; thefe,.. by one providence or another, were ftirred up to make an expedition into the land of Judea, and befiege Ferufalem: and this lifting up of an enfign, is not, as fometimes, for the gathering and enlifting of foldiers, or to prepare them for the battle, or to give them the fignal when to begin the fight y but as a direction to decamp and proceed on a) journey, on. fome expedition: and will bifs unta them from the end of the earth, or to him‘; the king, or general of them, wherever he is, even tho’ at the end of the earth: and the phrafe denotes the fecret and powerful influence of divine providence, in moving upon the hearts of the Ro- from far, &c.) Not tothe Chaldeans or orice: ¥ mans, and their general, to enter upon fuch’a de- — fign againft the Yews; and which was as eafily done, as for one man to hifs or call to another; — or, as for a fhepherd to whiftle for his fheep; to which the allufion feems to be; the Lord come with peed fwiftly; or he foall come; with his army; and fo the Targum paraphrafes it; ‘ ‘:
the hearts of all in his hands, and ark as he pleafes, to do his will: and bebold, cr vara te aid behold, a king with ‘his arty ‘hall come’
“< fwiftly,*as light clouds;” this fhews ‘the: fwift and fudden ‘deftruction that fhould come upon ‘the Jews; and is ah anfwer to their fcoffs, ¥. 19.
y. 27. None foall be weary, nor flumble amongft them, &c.] ‘Tho’ they fhould come from far, arid make fone marches, yet none fhould be Weary by the way, but go on with great chearfulhefs and freneth; and tho’ they fhould make fuch ‘haite, they fhould’not ftumble at any thing by the way, nor rufh one againft another, but proceed with great order in their feveral ranks: sone fhall flumber ner fleep;, day nor night, in any fixéd, ftated times, as men ufually do: neither fhall the girdle of ‘their loins be loofed, with which they fhould bé irded both for {trength and greater expedition, this they fhould not unloofe, in order to lie down and take fleep: nor the latchet of their fhoes be broken, which might hinder their journey; they never plucked off their fhoes: all the expreffions fhow their indefatigablenefs, diligence, intenfenefs, and refolution, and the good order obferved by them; fee Foe ii. 7, 8.
¥. 28. Whofe arrows ate foarp, and all their bows bent, &c.|] Ready to fhoot their arrows upon any occafion; and which being fharp, penetrated deep, and were deadly. ‘This includes all kind of warlike inftruments, with which they fhould come furnifhed, ard ready ~prepared to do’ execution: their borfes hoofs foall be counted like flint; by thofe who rode upon them; who’ knowing how ftrong and firm théy were, and that they were not worn out, nor hurt by the length of the way they came, would not fpare to make hafte upon them: and their wheels like a whirlwind; that 1s, thé wheels of their chariots, they ufed in battle, as Aben Ezra, Farchi, and Kimchi interpret it; and fo the Sepruagint and Arabic verfions render it: this metaphor denotes both ‘the fwiftnefs with which they fhould come, and the noife and rattling they fhould make, and the power and force in bearing down all Bes fore them. The Targum is, ** and his wheels fwift *< ‘as a tempeft.”” riridleeide,
_¥. 29. Their roaring foall be like a lion, &c.} When engaged in war, juft feizing on their prey. The. phrafe denotes their fiercenefs and cruelty, and the horror they fhould injeét into the hearts of their enemies: they fhall roar like young lions’ that are hungry, and almoft famifhed, and in fight of their prey; fee Fob iv. 10: yea, they fhall roar; and lay bold of the prey, feize it with great noifé and greedinefs: and fhall tarry it away fafe; into their own den, the country from whence they come: and none fhall deliver it, this fhows that re- [pect is had not to the Babylonifh captivity, from whence there was a deliverance in a few years; but the Roman captivity, from thence there is no deliverance as yet to this day.
¥. 30. And in that day they foall roar againft them like the roaring of the fea, &c.] ‘That is, the Romans againtt the Fews; whofe attacks upon them fhould be with fo much fiercenefs and power, that it fhould be like the roaring of the fea, which is very dreadful, and threatens with utter deftruction; the roaring of the fea and its waves, is mentioned among the figns preceding Ferufalem’s deftruction by the Romans, Luke xxi. 25: and if one look unto
‘the land, the land of Fudea, when wafted by the
Romans, or whilft thofe wars continued between them and the Fews; or into it*: bebold darknefs; great affliction and tribulation being fignified by darknefs and dimnefs; fee ch. viii. 21. and ix. 1. alfo forrow or diftre/s, great ftraits and calamities: and or even; the light is darkened in the beavens thereof; in their civil and’ church-ftate, the kingdom being removed from’ the one, and the priefthood from the other; and: their principal men_ in both fignified’ by the darknefs 3 the fun, moon, and ftars, Matt. xxiv. 29.