Exposition of the Whole Bible

ferve Ferufalem and Samaria from being taken by him. ’: ¥. 11. Shall I not; as I bave done to Samaria; and her idols, &c.| Kimchi obferves, that what is faid in the preceding verfes, was faid before Samaria was taken, but this after it was taken: /o do to Ferufalem, and ber idols; he had taken Samaria, and carried the ten tribes captive, and now his eye was upon Fudab and Ferufalem; and fuch was his infolence, impiety, and blafphemy, that he reckons the true God, whom the Fews worfhipped, among the idols of the Gentiles, and upon a level with them, if not inferior to them, efpecially to his own idol; and thought himfelf fuperior to him.

¥. 12. Wherefore it fhall come to pafs, 8¢c.] It fhall furely be; what God has purpofed in his heart, and publifhed in his word, fhall certainly be fulfilled: that when the Lord bath performed bis whale work upon mount Zion, and on ferufalem; in correcting, chaftifing, and humbling the inhabitants thereof, by fuffering them to be befieged by the Afprian army. God fometimes makes ule of wicked men, to chaftife his people; this is his work, and not theirs; and when he begins, he goes on, and finifhes it; and when he has done, punifhes the inftruments he ufes ¥’ after he has fcourged his children, he takes the red, and breaks it to pieces. I will punifh the fruit of the ftout heart of the king of Affyria, and the glory of bis high looks; that is, he would punifh him for his wicked aétions, which were the fruit of the:haughtinefs of his heart, and the pride of his eyes; or for that pride which filled his heart, and fhewed itfelf in his lofty looks. Kimchi joins this to the preceding claufe, and makes the fenfe to be, that God would punith the Africa for his pride, in mount Zion, and in Ferufalem, for there his army died, or near it, being {mitten by the angel. The Targum is, “ and it thall be, when *¢ the Lord hath finifhed to do all that he hath ‘¢ faid in mount Zion, and in Ferufalem.”

¥. 13. For he faith, by the ftrength of my hand I have done it, 8c.| Meaning either that by the power of his army, which was under his command, or by his own perfonal valour, he had fubdued kines} taken their kingdoms and chief cities, and afcribes nothing to the power and providence of God; and if fuch arrogance and haughtinefs, in things of a civil nature, is an inftance of vanity, and is refented by the Lord, then much more fuch conduct in things of a religious nature, when men afcribé regeneration, converfion and falvation, to the power of their free-will, and’ to thé works of their hands and not to the power and grace of God: and by my wifdom, for I am prudent; attributing his conquefts partly to his power, and partly to his fkill and prudence in marfhalling his army, making ufe of ftra~ taseins to decoy the enemy, and get an advantage of him; whereas ftrenpth and power, and fo wifdom and prudence are from the Lord; as he gives fafety, vidtory, and falvation to kings, fo he teaches their hands to war, and their fingers to fight; which they ought to acknowledge, and will, unlefs vain and proud: and I have removed the bounds of the people, by fubduing kingdoms, and adding them to his own, fo that they were no more diftinct governments; and by tranfplanting the inhabitants of them-to other places; and making new colonies and taking that to himfelf which belongs to God, who has determined the times before appointed, ane the unds

60 TC L.A KA See a ~ bounds of mens habitations: and bave robbed their treafures, laid up in palaces, temples, fepulchres, and private houies, for time to come, which are ufually plundered when cities and towns are taken; the Targum renders it, ‘‘ their laudable cities: and Ihave put down the inbabitants like a valiant man; from their greatnefs, from their feats of honour and dignity; or I have put down many in- ‘habitants, as Zarchi, and reduced great numbers to a low and mean eftate. The Targum is, ‘‘ I have “* brought down with, ftrength they that dwell in “ fortified places;” and fo Aben Ezra and Kimchi explain it, they that dwell, in a ftrong place or palace. ~ ¥o14. And my hand hath found as a neft. the riches of the people, &c.] With that eafe as a man finds a neft of birds, and takes them: and as one gaihereth eges that are left; by the bird, who -not fitting upon them, there is none to protect them; whereas, when they are fat upon by the bird,, fhe will flutter with her wings, and ftrike with her bill, and preferve them. as well as fhe can: have I gathered all the earth; the kingdoms and inhabitants of it, there being none to refift, or that dared to do it, as follows: and there,was none that moved the wing; as a bird will do, when its young or eggs are raking away from it: or opened the mouth, or peeped, chattered, clucked, or exprefied any orief, uneafinefs,, or refentment,; the Zargum.is, ‘* that *¢ opened, his mouth, and) fpoke a word.”

y. 15. Shall the.ax boaft itfelf again bin that heweth therewith, &c.] Hitherto are the words. of the Affyrian; monarch;, and here begin the words of the prophet, rebuking him for his - pride, and deriding his vain boafting, in attributing that-to himfelf, to his, wifdom and.power, who was but.an inftrument, which belonged. to God,, the fole, governor and;wife orderer of all things; which was all one, as/if,an ax,fhould afcribe the cutting down of trees to itfelf, and -infift on it that ane man that ‘cut with it had no fhare in the action, nor was it to be.afcribed to him; than which nothing is. more abfurd.. The fenfe is, that the king of Afpria, in taking cities, and conquering kingdoms, and adding them to his own, was only an inftrument in the hand: of God, like an ax.in the, hand.of one that hews.dowa HEPES and therefore..it..was vain and. ridiculous.to. take that to himfelfwhich ‘belonged. to the Lord,)-on whom he depended as an infirument,,as:to motion, operation,» and. effect; from whom, he had all power:to act, all fitnefs for it, and efficacy in it, asthe. ax has com the perfon that makes and, ufes.it, or any other inftrument, as follows:, or foal the. Jaw. magnify itfelf againft him that haketh it;, or, draws it,,to and. fro; which is the fenfe of, the. 7 argum, Septuagint, and. Vulgate Latin verfions, and others; and which further expofes the,vanity and, arrogance.of the Ajjrian mo-' narch,.who had no more,concern in the fpoiling of nations, and deftruétion of kingdoms, than the fay. has.in cutting of timber that is hewn; which has its form, its fharp teeth, not of itfelf, but from the maker and when thus made, and fit for ufe, can’t draw itfelf to and fro, and cut. trees in pieces, and made a very plendid and glittering fho which are felled by the ax, but muft be moved by of which the Ajjriaz monarch glo: ed;- this a rm} the Fews fay was deftroyed by fire, sd that th was not his act, but its, own, is not more abfurd baste of. om men et. oI a ee i ch ie than what this haughty prince was guilty of, in boafting of his power, wifdom, and prudence, the above-mentioned things: as if the rod “Poul Joake itfelf againft them that lift it up™ 5 riesior was the king of A/yric, he was no other than rod of the Lord’s anger, y. 5. and which he rsh eid up, and with it chaftifed his people 5"

him to behave haughtily againft the Piers and arrogate that to himfelf, which was the Lord’s« was as if a rod fhould fhake itfelf againft him that lifts it ups or, as if a rod’ foould shake. thofe that lift it up; as if there were more power in the rod, ‘than in them that take it up, and ftrike with its: yea, that even the rod moves them, and not they the rod, which is wretchedly abfurd:: or as if the ftaff. ‘Mhould. lift up itfelf, as if it was no wood"; but fomething more than wood, an animate creature, wood; or as if a fraff fhould lift up itfelf againft that which is. mot wood, like itfelf, but is a mans that can move himfelf and that too; or as if a flaff foould lift up that which is not wood 5 attempt to bear, carry, move, and direct that which is not material like itfelf, but is a fpirit, infinite, eternal, even the almighty God. -De Dieu thinks that ton is not.a verb, but a noun of the plurak number, of 3S}. @ mountain; and. renders»it, as if a rod fhould foake thofe that lift it up, and as ifva Laff were mountains, and not wood... The Largum ‘is, ‘¢ when a rod is lifted up to fimite,<iteis not “* the rod that {mites, -but he that fimites with it.’ | The fenfe is, that. the 4fjrien monarch was only, a rod and ftaff in the hand of the Lord, and only moved and acted as ufed by him; whereas, according to his. vain boaft,! he was this fole. agent, and all-was done by his:own power and»prudences and was fo far from being moved and direéted by. the power and providence of Ged, that he was the director of him; which ‘is infinisely more abfurd than the things jnftanced i in..09 y. 16; Therefore fhall ike Lord, the loed of ho cs &c.], Becauie of the pride, and arr vain boafting of the. dfhrian monarch, which, a refented. by the Lord, he is. threatened. with what follows; andin decal to humble him; and to fhew that God is above him, thefe titles are ufed; the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, and,the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords; the digi of bofts, of armies above and.below, of more and greater armies than what the king of Afhria waslord of 5 and therefore he: might. be’ affured,. that, what is hereafter threatened, would: be {nlile caaanelys fend, among bis: fat, ones, leannefss argum is. among, his princes,, who’ abounded in sighs 1 honours or his; army, and the, chiefs ia i mighty-and ftrong;\,and.dy Jeannefi,i ds meant © {truction and death,. which ‘came, upon ih and the, great men.of,it, immediately m Ben Melech obferves, chat this is to be underftood of the bleffed God; and the te fame way of {peaking as in Jofh. xxiv. 19. the holy Gods is be. » Guffetius:: an(wer to the above.quettions, /rali the ax boaft itfelf, &c? fball the faw magnify itfelf, er howd, as foake itfelf, &c. ju in like manner as that does, and fo by lifting up -itfelf, ceafes’ to be wood ‘te eing

‘spoken; carries in it a ftrong negative, that the ax and faw hhould not glory, or wi dhe es, ‘and na = of Affyria. Vid. Comment. Ebr. p. 360, a rational agent, whereas it is nothing elfe but

Ch.xev17—21, JS A untouched; but Yarchi interprets this glory of their garments, which give a man glory, and fays thefe were burnt; the Yargum calls them their veflels of glory; perhaps meaning their glittering arms, which were burnt along with them.:

¥.17. dud the light of Irael foall be for a. fire, &c.] That is; the Lord, who is the light of his people; who enlightens them by his word and fpirit, and by his grace effectually calls them out of darknefs into marvellous light, to the light of grace here, and to the light of glory hereafter; and who comforts and refrefhes them with his gracious prefence, and with the light of his countenance when in affliction and diftrefs, which is fometimes fignified by darknefs; and the fame, Lord, who is as light to his people, and gives light and comfort to them, is as a confuming fire to others: and his boly one for a flame, that is, the holy one of J rael, the God of J/rael, who is holy in himfelf, andthe fanctifier of others; the Syriac verfion reads, /is holy ones; {0 ‘archi obferves it as the fenfe of fome, that the rightcous of that generation are meant; the Targum is, ** and there fhall be the Lord, the * light of IJ/rael, and his holy one; and his word “* ftrong as fire, and his word as a flame”. fee

Fer. xxiii. 29: fo Farchi interprets it of the law Hezekiah ftudied: gtd it fhall burn and. devour bis thorns and bis briers in one day, the Targum interprets it, his rulers and governors; and fo Farchi, his princes and mighty men; the chief in the 4/jrian army, called briers and thorns, becaufe michievous and hurtful, and caufed grief; but rather the multitude of the common foldiers is defigned, who were all deftroyed in one night, 2 Kings xix.

35. by an angel; who, according to dben Ezra, is the light and holy one of I/rael here fpoken of.

¥. 18. And fhall confume the glory of bis forefty

&c.] The Afjrian army is compared to a foreft, for the number of men in it; and for the mighty men in it, comparable to large and tall trees, {uch as oaks and cedars; and like a wood or foreft a numerous army looks, when ih rank and file, in proper order, and with banners, and>having on their armour, their fhields, fpears, bows and arrows; and the g/ory of it, intends either the princes and nobles that were in it, the principal officers, generals and captains; or the riches of it, the plunder of the Egyptians and Ethiopians, as Kimchi obferyes, which were all deftroyed at once: both foul and body, or from the foul even to the fleh°.; which denotes the total confumption of them, nothing of them remaining; the Zargum is, “‘ the glory of “ the multitude of his army, and their fouls with «< their bodies it fhall confume;” and fo fome underftand this of the eternal deftruction of foul and body in hell: the Rabdins are divided about the manner of the confumption of the A/yrian army; fome fay their bodies and fouls were both burnt, which thefe words feem to favour; and others, that their fouls were burnt, and not their bodies, their - lives were taken away, and their bodies unhurt; which they think is fayoured by ¥. 16. where it is faid, under bis glory, and not bis glory?: and they foall be as when a flandard-bearer fainteth, who when he falls, the whole company or army is thrown into confufion, and flees; and fo the Zargum, “ andhe fhall be broken, and flee.” Some render it, as the duft of the worm that eats wood*;

fo. Farchi; fignifying that they: fhould be utterly deftroyed, and become as finall as the duft that falls from a worm-eaten tree; which fimile is ufed, a foreft being made mention of before... «;

X. 19. Aud the reft of the trees of his. fore foall be few, &c.| Which, were. left unconfumed, that efcaped. this deftruction,, thofe of the A/jrian army that; fled with Sennacherih their king; which, the

Rabbins fay", were no more-than_ ten,; as Farchi and Kimchi obferve; yea,,fome fay there were but ‘five left who efcaped, and name them, Sennacherib and. his two fons, Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuzaradan: that a child may write>thems,. count them, and take down their names; and it may be: underftood of a military mufter,. and the fenfe be, that the army fhould be reduced to fo. {mall a number by this ftroke upon them, that there would be no need of an able mufter-mafter to take the account of them, a child would be equal to fuch atafk. The Targum is; ‘‘ and the reft of his. war- ‘* riors fhall fail, that the people fhall be a, mall

*« number, and fhall be reckoned a weak king- *< dom.” ¥..20. And it fhall come to pafs.in that-day, 8c. ] Here begins a prophecy relating to the people of Tfrael, and concerns things that thould befal them after the deftrudtion of the Baéylonifh monarchy, which after Nebuchadnezzar did not lait long; there were but two'kings after him mentioned in fcripture, Evil-merodach, and Beljbazzar; fo that its tall trees, its kings, were very few, fo few that a child might count them; and what is after faid, is for the comfort of that people, and feems to refer to the times of the gofpel, as, appears by fome words in the context cited by the apoftle Paul: that the remnant of Ifrael, and fuch as are efcaped of the boufe of Facob; who fhould return from the Babylonifh captivity, and be fettled in their own land: jhall no more again flay upon him that fmote them; either on the kings of Egyp/, who were originally their oppreffors, and in whom they. had been fo foolifh as to put their truft and confidence, they being but a broken ftaff and reed, J/. xxx. 2, 3. and xxxi. 1. or on the king of Afjria, in the time of Abaz, who made him pay tribute, and afterwards fought againft him: dut /ball fay upon the Lord, the holy one of Ifrael, in truth; that is, upon Chrift, the Lord of all, and King of faints 5 the Lord their righteoufnefs, and from whom they have their holinefs: to ftay or lean on him, is expreflive of faith in him, of reliance and dependance on him, and truft in him.; which is done in fin-. cerity and uprightnefs of foul, unfeignedly, and without diffimulation; not in profeffion only, but in reality, and as nakedly revealed in the gofpel, without type and figure; for this refpects gofpeltimes, in which the fhadows of the law are gone, and Chrift, as the object of faith, appears unveiled, being come an high-prieft of good things to come. The Targum is, they ‘ fhall no more lean on the “< people whom they ferved; but they fhall lean ‘* upon the word. of the Lord, the holy one of ‘© Jjrael, in truth;”. that is, on the effential word, the Meffiah; this was the cafe of a few of them, a remnant according to the election of grace, as the following words fhew.. y.21. The remnant shall return, 8c.) This is faid in allufion to Shear-jafbub, the name of vag on, fon, ch. vii. 3. which fignifies, the remnant fhall return, and was impofed on him, to give affurance of it; ‘meaning, either that they fhould return from the Babylonif captivity as they did, or to God by repentance; or rather the fenfe is, they fhall turn to the Lord, be converted to Chrift, to the faith and obedience of him, as fome of them were when he came, a few, not all, only a remnant, as it is explained in the next claufe: even the remnant of Facob, to the mighty God; the Meffiah, fo called, ch. ix. 6. The Targum is, ** the remnant which “¢ have not finned, and are turned from fin; the “© remnant of the houfe of ‘acod fhall return to “¢ worfhip before the mighty God.”

y. 22. For though thy people Ifrael be as the fand of the fea, &c.| Thefe words are fpoken either by the Lord to the prophet, calling Jj/rael his people; or by the prophet to Hezekiah, as Farchi and Kimchi think; or they may be rendered thus, for tho” thy people, O Ifrael, be as the fand of the fea*; that is, innumerable, as was promifed to Abraham, Gen. xxii. 17. fee Hof. i. 10: yet a remnant of them fhall return; or be converted in itt, to the Meffiah; or be faved, as the apoftle interprets it, Rom. ix. 27. fee the note there; a remnant is a few, as Kimchi explains it, out of a great number: it fignifies, that the majority of the Yew/h nation fhould reject the Meffiah, only a few of them fhould believe in him; and thefe fhould certainly believe in him, and be faved by him; and that for the following reafon, becaufe, the confumption decreed fball overflow with righteoufne/s; that is, the precife and abfolute decree, concerning the falvation of the remnant, God will caufe to overflow, or abundantly execute, in a righteous manner, confiftent with his divine perfections; and fo it makes for the comfort of the remnant of the Lord’s people, agreeable to the intent of the apoftle’s citation of it, Rom. ix. 28. fee the note there; tho’ fome underftand it of God’s punitive juftice, in confuming and deftroying the greater part of the Fewi/b people, the ungodly among them, and faving a remnant, which return and repent; and to this fenfe are the Zargum, and the Fewi/h commentators.

¥. 23. For the Lord God of hojts fall make a con- Jumption, &c.] Not of the land of Fudea, as at the deftruction of Ferufalem, but the meaning is, that he that is Lord of all, who does what he pleafes in the armies above and below, will execute and accomplifh a precife and abfolute decree of his, concerning the falvation of the remnant of his people; which is his decree of ele€tion, and that ftanding fure, not upon the foot of works, but his own fovereign will; hence their falvation is fure and certain, and not precarious: even determined in the midft of all the land; that is, the determined decree fhould be executed in the feveral parts of the land of Fudea, where this remnant was; for which reafon the gofpel was preached in the feveral cities of Judah, in order to accomplifh it, both by Chrift and his apoftles.

~¥. 24. Therefore thus faith the Lord God of hofts, &c.] Since there is fuch a decree, and this will certainly be executed: O my people, that dwelleft in Zion, the inhabitants of Yerufalem; fach of them efpecially as feared the Lord, and worfhipped him, and ferved him in the temple: Je not afraid of the Afprian, the king of Affyria; neither Sennacherib, that threatened them with ruin, having taken the cities of Fudab, and laid fiege to Ferufalem; nor Jo foall be lift it up after the manner of Egypt, ar

L-A A Chix ¥22-2260 Nebuchadnezzar, who carried them captive, “fince” he would not be able utterly to deftrdy them, they” would return and dwell in the land again; for there was a decree concerning the falvation of a remnant, which would tertainly take place; and till that was executed, it was impoffible the ‘nation fhould ~ be deftroyed. He fhall fimite thee with a rod, be an inftrument of chaftifing and correcting, but not” of deftroying; archi interprets it of {miting with - the rod of his mouth, by means of Rabjbekab reproaching and blafpheming: and jhall lift up bis” Staff againft thee, after the manner of Ezypt, which Kimchi explains of the tribute the Affyrians exatted © of them, in like manner as' the Egyp/ians fet tafk~ mafters over them, and afflicted them with hard bondage, in Egypt: the fenfe is, that tho’ the 4” fprians fhould annoy and diftrefs them, yet fhould. not utterly confume them; there would be an end’ of their oppreffion, and a deliverance out of it;~ even as when they were in Egypt, and opprefied there, the Lord appeared for them, * and fupported them, and at length faved them, and fo he would now: Mention is made of a rod and a ftaff, in allufion to what the Afyrian is faid to be in the hand of the Lord, y. 5. ¥. 25. For yet a very little while, &c.) Within a few days; for in a very fhort time after Sennacherib was come up againft ‘Yerufalem, his army was deftroyed by an angel: and the indignation foall ceafe, the indignation of the Lord againft his people Jrael, fhewn by bringing the Afyrian monarch again{t them, of which he was the ftaff or inftrument, ¥.5: and mine anger in their deftruétion; not in the deftruéction of the¥ews, but the Ayrians: the fenfe is, that the anger of God towards the people of the ews, for the prefent fhould be difcontinued, when the Affjrian army was deftroyed. The Targum is, “¢ for yet a very little while, and the curfes fhall’ ** ceafe from you of the houfe of Facob; and mine “¢ anger fhall be upon the people that work ini- ‘© quity, to deftroy them;” that is, the Afjrians. ¥. 26. And the Lord of hofts fhall flir up a feourge for bim, &c.] The Afprian monarch; this feourge ftirred up or awakened by the Lord, with which that monarch was, feverely fcourged, is no other than the angel that was fent of God to deftroy his army, 2 Kings xix. 35: according to the flaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; this refers to the deftruction of the Midianites in the time of Gideon; and fuggefts, that the flanghter of the Afprians fhould be like that, as it was; for as that was in the night, and very general, and immediately from the hand of the Lord, and was unthought of, and unexpected, and fuch of their princes that fled, were taken and flain, particularly Ored, at the rock which took its name from him; for not mount Horeb, and the rock there fmitten by Mofes, are meant, which is written with different letters; fee the hiftory of this in ‘fudg. vii. 1g—25. fo it was in the night, when the Affrian army was deftroyed, and that wholly; and not by the J/raelites, but — by the angel of the Lord; and at once, at an un-— awares; and tho” Sennacherib fled and efcaped, he was flain by his own fons, in his own city, in the — temple of his God, 2 Kings xix. 35, 36, 37: and as his rod was upon the fea; ing to Mofes's tod, which was lifted up, by the order of the Lord, — over the red-fea, when the Egyptians were drowned: and deftroy the Afyrians, in like manner as he deftroyed the Lgyptians, allat once. »

¥.:27. And it foall come to pafs in that day, that his burden fhall be taken away from off thy fhoulder, &c.] The tax or tribute impofed upon Hezekiah by the king of Affria, 2 Kings xviii. 14: and bis yoke from off thy neck; the fame with the burden; unleis it means alfo the fubjection of the cities. of Judah, which were taken by the Afyrian; and indeed it may be extended further, and be confidered as a prophecy not merely of deliverance from the prefent diftrefs, but from the future captivity in Babylon;, and which was a type of the deliverance and redemption by Chrift, when the Lord’s people were delivered from the burden of fin, the guilt and punifhment of it; from the yoke of the law, the yoke of bondage; and from the tyranny of fatan, and out of the hand of every enemy; and this feems to be hinted at in the next claufe: and thy yoke fall be: deftroyed, becaufe of the anointing; or be corrupted, becaufe of fatnefs"; thro’ the: multitude of riches and honours, with which the 4/- fprian monarchy abounded; which fill with pride, introduce luxury, and fo bring ruin on a {ftate. Farchi and Kimchi interpret the anointing of Hezekiah, the anointed king of J/rael, for whofe fake the Affyrian yoke was ‘deftroyed. The Rabbins fay, that this deliverance was wrought, on account of the large quantity of oil which Hezekiah confumed in the ichools and fynagogues, for the ftudy of the law, and the explanation of it; but the Targum much better refers it to the Meffiah, ‘‘ the people *¢ fhall be broken from before the Meffiah;” who was anointed with the oil of gladnefs above his fellows, and for whofe fake, and by whom the yoke of fin, fatan, and the law, has been deftroyed. Vitringa interprets it of the Spirit of God, and his powerful operations, whofe gifts and graces are often compared to oil and ointment; and makes the words parallel to Zech. iv. 6.

¥. 28. He is come to Ajath, &c.| In this, and the following verfes, is prophetically defcribed the expedition of Sennacherib to Ferufalem, when he either went from Afyria, or returned from Egypt thither; and the feveral places are mentioned, thro’ or by which he paffed, or near to which he came, the tidings of which greatly diftrefled the inhabitants of them; and the firft that is named is 4azh, thought to be the fame with 4, which was befide Beth-aven, and on the eaft fide of Bethel, Fo d. vii.

2. and tho’ it was burnt, and made defolate by Fofoua, Fofo. viii. 28. yet it was afterwards rebuilt, for it was in being in Nebemiab’s time; or at leaft there was a.place of this name, which was upon or near the {pot where this ftood, fince it is mentioned with Geba, Michmafh, and Bethel, Nek. xi, 31. according to the ancient Fewi/b writers », it lay three miles from Jericho. ‘Ferom * calls. it Agai, and fays that in his time there was fcarce any remains of it, only the place was fhewn. THe is paffed to Migron; this place, as the former, was in the tribe of Benjamin; mention is made of it, as in the uttermoft part of Gibeab, 1 Sam. xiv. 2. Sennacherib feems not to have ftayed either in this or the former place: at Michmajh he hath laid up bis carriages; here was a paffage, called the paffage of Michmajh, where was the garrifon of the Philjbines; and on each fide of it were two rocks,

TAY H. 6§ one called Bozez, and the other Sexeb: one of which fronted Michma/h to the north, and the other Gibeah to the fouth, 1 Sam. xiii. 23. and xiv. 4, 5, 31. by Fofepbusy it is called Mechmas a city; and fo it is in 1 Mace. ix. 73. in Ferom’s time it was a very large village, who fays, it was nine miles from Ferujalem *: mention is made of it in the Mi/na*, as famous for the beft fine four; and this the king of Afjria made his magazine, and in it laid up his provifions and warlike ftores, from whence he might. be fupplied upon occafion. The words may be rendered, he hath laid up his arms; and Kimchi thinks he left the greateft part of his arms here, and went in hafte to Ferufalem, imagining he fhould have no occafion for them, but fhould eafily take it. The Targum is, “ at Mic- ** mas he-fhall appoint the princes of his army;” the generals of it: perhaps the fenfe is, that here he made a mufter of his army, examined the arms of his foldiers, appointed the proper officers, and gave them their inftructions.

¥. 29. They are gone over the paffage, &c.] Or from the paffage*; not of Fordan, as the Targum; but rather of Michmajh, 1 Sam. xiii. 23. this is to be underftood of the king of Afyria with his army: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; or Geba was their lodging; that is, for a night only; not that they continued here for any time, as our verfion feems to fuggeft. » This was a city in the tribe of Benjamin, Fofb. xxi. 17. called Geba of Benjamin, i Kings xv. 22. Ramah is afraid; the inhabitants of it, as the Targum, at the report of the march of the king of Afjria and his army, and their being near to them. Ramah was in the tribe of Benjamin, Fofb. xviii. 25. it is mentioned with Gibeah in Hof. v. 8. upon which place Ferom fays it was feven miles from Ferufalem; but elfewhere ¢ he fays it was but fix, and was to the north againft Bethel. See Fudg. xix. 13. Gibeah of Saul is fled; that is, the inhabitants of it fled, upon hearing, that the king of Afyria with his army was coming that way. ‘This was alfo a city of Benjamin, and is called Gibeah of Benjamin, 1 Sam. xiii. 2. and Gibeah of Saul, 1 Sam. xi. 4. as here; either becaufe he was born there, as Ferom * affirms; and certain it is, that he was of the tribe of Benjamin; or becaufe he built it, or at leaft a palace in it to dwell in, as Kimchi thinks; and it is plain he dwelt here, for “it is called his home, 1 Sam. x. 26. the name of the place with Fo/epbus ° is Gabath-faoula, which he makes to be thirty furlongs from Ferufalem, and fays it fignifies Sazl’s bill, and that it was fituated in a place called the valley of thorns.

y¥. 30. Lift up thy voice, O. daughter of Gallim, &c.] In a mournful and lamentable manner, and yet with fuch a clear loud voice, as to be heard afar off: the word is fometimes ufed for making a joyful found, and of the neighing of horfes. The inhabitants of Gallim are meant by its daughter; of this place was Phalti, who married Michal, Saul’s daughter; very probably it was in the tribe of Benjamin. Ferom' makes mention of Accaron, a village, which was called Gallim. Caufe it to be heard unto Laifh, if this was the place the Danites. took, and called it Daz, it was on the northern border of Judea, in the furthermoft part of the land; hence the phrafe, from Daz to Beerfheba s It