Exposition of the Whole Bible

it was near to Ceferea or Paneas, from whence the the Arabic verfion, the nobles, the generals, and river Fordan took its rife, and was a great way off cither of Gallim or Anathoth, for the voice of them to be heard. O poor Anathoth! this was a city in the tribe of Benjamin, Fofb. xxi. 18. it was the native place of the prophet Yeremiah, Fer. i. 1. according to Fofepbus®, it was twenty furlongs from Ferufalem, and according to Ferom", three miles: it is called poor, becaufe 1t was but a poor, mean village; or becaufe it would now become fo, thro’ the rayages of the Ayrian army. y¥. 31. Madmenah is removed, &c.] That is, the inhabitants of it, who removed from thence upon hearing that the Affyriaw army had invaded the land, and was coming up to Ferufalem. Thete was a place called Madmannab, which lay in the fouthern part of the tribe of Fudah, Fofb. xv. 31. which “terom' fays, was then called Memris, and was near the city of Gaza; but whether the fame with this, is not certain. The inbabitants of Gebim gather them- Jelves to flee; of this place we have no account any where. Hillerus * thinks the whole name of the city was Fofoebe Haggebim, which we render the inhabitants of Gebim, and fuppofes it had its name from the ditches that were in it, or about it. ¥. 32. As yet fall be remain at Nob that day, &c.] The fame day he came from Gebim; and proceed no further as yet, but make a fhort ftay, and prepare himfelf and army to march to Feru/alem the next day: the Fews fay ', that he performed all his journeys in one day; the fame day he came to Ajath, he came to Nob, where he ftayed the remaining part of the day. - Nob was a city of the priefts, 1 Sam. xxii. 1g. and fo it is called in the Targum here; it was fo near Ferufalem, that as Ferchi and Kimchi fay, it might be feen from hence; wherefore here he ftood, in fight of Ferufalem, againft the wall of it, the Targum fays, and did as follows: he fhail foake his hand againft the mount of the daughter of Zion, the bill of Ferufalem;, threatening what he would do to it, and defpifing it as unable to hold out againft him; or the fenfe is this, yet a day, or in a day’s time, from the laft place where he was, he fhall come to Nod, and there fhall he ftop, and go no further: or, the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the bill of Ferufalem, foall Joake its band, bidding him defiance, infulting over him, or rejoicing at the fall of the Afjirian army. Wherefore it follows, ¥. 33. Behold the Lord, the Lord of bofts fhall lop the bough with terrer, &c.| Cut off the king of 4/- foria, and his army, in a moft terrible manner; the glory of it, asin y. 18. the word fignifies that which is the ornament, the’beauty and glory of the tree. The Septuagint render it, the glorious ones; and

HIS chapter is a prophecy of the Meffiah, and gives an account of his defcent, as man; of his qualifications for his office, as a judge and king; of his performance of it; of the peaceablenefs of his kingdom; of the fpread of it among the Gentiles, by the preaching of the gofpel; and of the laft and general converfion of the Fews. His original and defcent from David the fon of Feffe, under the titles of a rod and branch, is defcribed as mean and obfcure, exprefled by ftem principal officers of the army; the Targum is, ‘© behold the Lord of the world, the Lord of *< hofts fhall caft forth the flain in his'camp, as “* grapes that are trod in a wine-prefs.” 4nd the high ones of ftature foall be hewn down; the prince of Affyria, fo boafted of as kings, ¥. 8. comparable to tall trees, to oaks and cedars: and the haughty foall be humbled, who, like their monarch, boafted of their wifdom: and ftrength, ¥. 12, 135

14. but now both he and they will be broug very low. aes ¥. 34. And he fhaill cut dowu the thickets of the foreft with iron, &c.] The multitude of the common foldiers, the whole body of the army, by | means of one of his angels, that excel in ftreng for which he is compared to ‘ron; and which is explained in the next»claufe: and Lebanon feail fall by a mighty one, the Affyrian army is compared to the foreft of Lebanon; for the multitude of trees in it, and the tallnefs of its cedars, it abounding: not only with common foldiers, but with great men; fo it is compared to a foreft, and to Carmel, or a fruitful field, in y. 18. and the Afyrian monarch is faid to be a cedar in Lebanon, Ezek. xxxi. 3. which fell by the hands of one of the mighty angels, 2 Kings xix. 35. fome, becaufe of this laft

‘claufe, think that this, and the preceding verfe, are to be underftood of the calamities that fhould come upon the Fews, at the time of the Badylonifh captivity; for tho’ Sennacherib fhould ftop at Nod, and proceed no further, however fhould not be able to take Ferufalem, yet hereafter a fuccefdr of his fhould; and according to this fenfe, by the bough lopped may be meant Fechoniah or Zedekiab king of Fudah, by the high ones of ftature, and the 4aughty ones, his children, the princes of the blood, and the nobles of the land; and by the thickets of the foreft, the common people, who were either killed or carried captive; and by Lebanon, the temple, Zech. xi. 1. and by the mighty one, Nebuchadnezzar that burnt it. And fome of the ancient Fews interpret this laft claufe, of the des ftruction of the temple by Ve/pajfien; they obferve upon this paffage in one place *, there is no mighty one but a king, as in Yer. xxx. 21. and there is no Lebanon, but the houfe of the fanctuary, according to Deut. iii. 25. wherefore when a certain Few faluted Vefpafian as a king, and he replied that he was-no king; the Yew made anfwer, if thou art not a king, thou fhalt be one; for this houfe (meaning the temple) fhall not be deftroy.

but by the hands of a king, as it is faid, and Le+ banon foall fall by a mighty one". etek x & and roots, ¥. 1. his gifts and qualifications for his work, in general and particular, ¥. 2. the performance of it, both with refpect to _men and bad men, in the fear of the Lord, pete equity, righteoufnefs, and readinefS, ¥. 3, 4, 5: the peaceablenefs of his kingdom is figu ly exprefled, by the agreement of favage and tame — creatures, the former becoming es: presides lofing their malignant and hu nature, thr the efficacy of the gofpel, fpreading the know- ledge of Chrift all over the world, y. 6, 7,°8, 9. particularly among the Gentiles, comparable to thofe favage creatures, who, upon the exhibition of Chrift in the gofpel, fhould feek to him, and find reft in him, y¥. 10. which will be followed or accompanied with a collection of the Fews out of all lands, and the converfion of them; which will be brought about by the power and grace of God, all impediments being by him removed out of the way; the confequences of which will be, peace among themfelves, and obedience among the Gentiles, ¥. TY, F2, 13, ¥4, 15, 16.

the Meffiah; fee the note on ch: iv. 2. the word

Netzer, here ufed, is the name of the city of Na- zareth*; which perhaps was fo called, from the trees, plants and grafs, which grew here; and fo our Lord’s dwelling here fulfilled a prophecy, that he fhould be called a Nazarene, or an inhabitant of Netzer, Matt. ii. 23, The Yews* fpeak of one

Ben Netzer, who they fay was a robber, took cities, and reigned over them, and became the head of robbers, and make * him to be the little horn in

Dan, vii. 8. and wickedly and malicioufly fay * he was Fefus; and yet, under all this wickednefs, they tacitly own, that Fefus of Nazareth is the Netzer this prophecy fpeaks of; the defign of which is to fhow the meannefs of Chrift’s defcent as man, and that he fhould be as a root out of a dry ground, J/. hii. 2. or rather as a rod and branch

| ¥. 2. And the Spirit of the Lord fhall reft upon him, &c.] The rod and branch, the king Meffiah, fo qualifying him for his office, and the difcharge of it..This fhows that Chrift’s kingdom is of a {piritual nature, and adminiftred in a {piritual manner, for which he was abundantly furnifhed by the | Spirit of the Lord refting on him; by whom is meant

caufe created by him, for not any created fpirit is meant, but becaufe he proceeded from him; he is the one Jehovah with him, a divine perfon, truly /God, yet diftinét both from the Father and the Son; fo that here is a clear proof of the Trinity of perfons. Chrift was filled with the Spirit from the womb, and he defcended and refted upon him at his baptifm; he was anointed with him to be prophet, prieft and king, and received his gifts and graces from him without meafure, which abide with him, and are defigned in the following words: thé Spirit of wifdom and underftanding; which appeared in his difputation with the do¢tors; in his anfwers to the enfnaring queftions of the Scribes and Pharifees; in the whole of his miniftry; and in his conduc at his apprehenfion, trial, condemnation and death; as alfo in the wifdom, knowledge, and underftanding he imparted to his difciples, and does more or lefs to all his people: the Spirit of coun/el and might; of counfel, which fitted him to be the wonderful counfellor, and qualified him to give fuitable and proper advice to the fons of men; and of might or power, to preach the gofpel with authority; do miracles in the confirmation of it; bear the fins of his people, and the punifhment due to them; obtain eternal redemption for them; and engage with all their enemies, and conquer them: the Spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord; and fo as man had the knowledge of God the Father; of his mind and will, of the fcriptures, and things contained therein; of the Jaw and gofpel; all the treafures of wifdom and knowledge were hid in him, which he communicates ‘to his faints; and of the fear of the Lord, and fo had a reverence of him, a ftric&t regard to his will, and always did the things which pleafed him; fee Hed. v. 7. this verfe is alfo seiek to the Meffiah, both by ancient and mo- |

¥. 1. And there foall come forth a rod out of the ftem of Feffe, 8c.) By which is meant, not Hezekiab, as R. Mofes° the prieft, and others, fince he was now born, and mutt be at leaft ten or twelve years of age; but the Meffiah, as both the text and context fhow, and as is owned by many Fewi/h writers’, ancient and modern: and he is called a red, either becaufe of his unpromifing appearance, arifing out of the ftem of Jefe; from him in the line of David, when that family’ was like a tree cut down, and its ftump only left in the ground, which was the cafe when ‘7e/as was born of it: Feffe’s fax mily was at firft but a mean and.obfcure one; it becamefvery illuftrious in David's time, and in fome following reigns; from the Badylonifh captivity, till the time of Chrift, it was very low; and at the birth of Chrift was low indeed, his fuppofed father being a carpenter, and his real mother Mary a poor virgin, dwelling at Nazareth; and it feemed very unlikely, under thefe circumftances, that he fhould be the king Meffiah, and be fo great as was foretold he fhould; and have that power, authority, and wifdom he had; and do fuch mighty works as he did; and efpecially be the author of eternal falvation; and bring forth fuch fruits, and be the caufe of fuch bleflings of grace as he was: or elfe becaufe of his kingly power and majefty, the rod or branch being put for a fceptre, and fo a fymbol of that; to which the Targum agrees, paraphrafing the words thus, ‘‘ and *< a king fhall come forth from the fons of Yeffe:” and the fenfe is, that tho’ Feffe’s or David's family fhould be brought fo very low, as to be as the ftem or ftump of a tree, without a body, branches, leaves and fruit; yet from thence fhould arife a mighty king, even the king Meffiah, who is fpoken * of by fo many auguft names and titles, J/ ix. 6. and this is obferved for the comfort of the people of J/rael, when diftrefled by the Affyrians, as-in the preceding’ chapter; when thofe high ones, comparable to the loftieft cedars in Lebanon, and to the talleft trees in the foreft, fhould be hewn down, a rod fhould come out of Fefe’s ftem, which fhould rife higher, and fpread more than ever they did: and a branch fhall grow out of his roots, the roots of ‘Yeffe, out of his family, compared to the ftump of a tree; meaning either his anceftors, as Abraham, Ifaac, Facob, fudah, Boaz, and Obed; or his pofterity, as David, Fofeph and Mary; and fo the Targum, ** and the Meffiah fhall be a-

“ dren.” The dranch is a well-known name of

¥. 3. And hall make him of quick underftanding in chriftian ftates, and deftroy them, Rev. xix. 1,"

the fear of the Lord, 8&c.] Or caufe him to fmell the fear of the Lord”, that is, to difcern.in whom it was: this is one effect of the Spirit’s. refting upon him, and particularly as the Spirit of underftanding, and of the fear of the Lord,. whereby he has a quick and fharp difcerning of it;, not merely, of the grace of fear, fo as.to know what.that is, and what the exercife of it; or fo as.to make it the rule of his actions, tho’ all this is true; but fo as to difcern where and in whom it was, and was not; he could diftinguifh between him that feared God, and him that feared him not; he knew Nathaniel to be an Jjraclite indeed, in whom there was no guile, Yoha i. 47. and the Scribes and Pharifees to be hypocrites, Matt. xxii. 18. As the Fews * underftand this paflage of the Meffiah, and of his quick fmell, as the word ufed fignifies, or of his difcerning of good-and bad men,. they make this to be a rule of judging the Meffiah by; and accordingly made ufe of it, with one that fet up himfelf for the Meffiah, and took the name of Bar- Cochab, the fon of a ftar, referring to Numb.’ xxiv. 17. and tried him whether he could difcern a good man from a bad man; and becaufe he could not, they rejected him as a. falfe Meffiah, and called him Bar Coziba, the fon of a lie’: compare with this Luke vii, 39. where it may be feen, the fame notion obtained among the Fews in Chrift’s time: and he fhall not judge after. the fight of bis eyes; or according to the outward appearance, the external guife of fanctity and religion men might. put on; as the Scribes and Pharifees were outwardly righteous before men, but not to Chrift, who knew their hearts; they feemed to be fomewhat to others, but nothing to him, becaufe he judged not by appearances to the eyes: neither reprove after the hearing of kis ears; he needed no teftimony of men, for he knew. what was in men; nor did he regard the words of men, the boaftings of a Pharifee, any more than his outward actions; nor would he reprove. or condemn, ‘nor will he, upon an human teftimony.

¥. 4. But with righteoufnefs foall he judge the poor, &c.] The poor finner, that is fenfible of his fpiritual poverty, and comes and acknowledges his fins and tranfgreffions, and prays for pardoning grace and mercy, and hungers. and thirfts after righteoufhefs; fuch. Chrift juftifies with his. own righteoufnefs, acquits,and difcharges them from all fin and condemnation, as alfo protects and defends them againft all their enemies and oppreffors: and reprove with equity, for the meek. of the earth; that is, fhall take the part of the meek,, the lowly, and the humble, who under a. fenfe of their fins and unworthinefs, apply to him for grace, righteoufnefs, pardon, and eternal life; and for their fakes reprove wicked men that would diftrefs and crufh them; and in a juft and equitable manner, in a way of righteous retaliation render tribulation to them that trouble them: and be fhall [mite the earth with the rod.of bis mouth; that is, either he fhall {mite the confciences of earthly and unregenerate men, by the miniftration of his word, the rod of his ftrength, fo that they thall be convinced of fin, and humbled for it, and be brought to repentance towards God, and faith in himfelf; or ing the word preached, fhall become tame, ©

21: and with the breath of bis lips foall he flay the wicked; either by the words of his mouth, as be~ fore; fee Hof. vi. 5. fo that they become dead men. in their own. apprehenfions, have no hope of life” and. falvation by their own works, fee themfelyes dead in law, and liable to eternal death and dam- ‘nation;. or this is.to be underftood of the deftruction of the wicked at the lait day, by a fentence of condemnation pronounced upon them by Chrift;” and particularly of antichrift, the wicked and Jawlefs.’ one, the man of fin, and fon of perdition, whom, the Lord fhall confume with the fpirit of his mouth,” and deftroy with the brightnefs of his coming, 2” Theff. ii. 4, 8. in which place the apoftle feems to have refpect to this; nor is the Targum foreign’ from the fenfe given, which is,, “* he fhall {mite* ‘“‘ the finners of the earth.with the word of his ‘¢ mouth, and with the fpeech.of his lips he fhally “¢ flay the wicked Armillus.” Armillus feems to be a name hammered out of Romulus, and defiens the Romifh antichrift;. for elfewhere the Fews. exprefsly fay, that Armillus is he whom the nations. call an— tichrift*; by whom they fuppofe that Meffiah the fon of Yofeph fhall be flain, and afterwards he himfelf fhall be flain by Meffiah the fon of David; or it is the fame with EexyoreG, a deftroyer of the people, a name that well agrees with antichrift;; fee Rev. xi. 18. This whole verfe is applied tothe Meffiah, both by ancient and modern Fews *. ¥. 5. And righteoufnefs fhall be the girdle of bis loins, &c.| He fhall be adorned with it, ftrengthen— ed by it, and ready at all times to perform it; he: loved righteoufnefs, and did acts of righteoufnefs.

throughout the whole courfe of his life; and by his:

active and paffive obedience, wrought out an eyer= lafting righteoufnefs for his people; he is a king that reigns in righteoufnefs, rghteoufnefs is the fceptre of his kingdom. all his adminiftrations of government are righteous,, juft and true are all his ways: and faithfulne/s the. girdle of bis reins; he was faithful to God, that appointed him as king and head of the church; faithful as a prophet, ire declaring his mind and will; and is a faithful highprieft, as well as a merciful one. The Targum interprets this of righteous and faithful men, thus), ‘¢ and the righteous fhall be round about him, and, ‘¢ they that work (the work) of faith, thall draw ** nigh unto him;” but it is faid of a fingle perfon, of the Meffiah only, to whom it properly be~ longs. — BOS y 6. And the wolf alfo fhall dwell with the lamb, &c.] This, and the three following verfes, defcribe the peaceablenefs of the Meffiah’s kingdom; and. which the Zargum introduces in this manner, ** in ‘¢ the days of the Meffiah of J/rael, peace fhall be *¢ multiplied in the earth.’ The wild and tame creatures fhall agree together, and the former fhall. become the latter; which is not to be underftood literally of the favage creatures, as if they fhould lofe their nature, and be reftored, as it is faid, to their paradifaical eftate, which is fuppofed to be the time of the reftitution of all things; but figu-. ratively of men, comparable to wild creatures; who thro’ the power of divine grace, accompany meek, and humble; fuch who have been as tave- he fhall fmite the nations of the earth, the antinous wolves, have worried Chrift’s fheep, m a vock of them, breathing out flaughter and threatnings againft them, as did Saul, thro’ converting grace become as gentle and harmlefs as lambs, and take up their refidence in Chrift’s fold, and dwell with, yea, fome of them even feed, Chrift’s lambs and fheep, as the above-mentioned perfon: and the leopard foall lie down with the kid, fach who are like the leopard, for the fiercenefs of his nature, and the variety of his fpots; who can no more change their hearts and their actions, than that creature can change its nature and its fpots; are fo. wrought upon by the power of divine grace, as to drop their rage againit the faints, alter their courfe of life, and attend on the word and ordinances, lie down befides the fhepherds tents, where the church feeds her kids, or young converts: and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together, either dwell and feed together, or lie down together, or walk together, fince it follows: and a little child foall lead them; become thro’ the grace of God fo tractable, that they fhall be led, guided, and governed by the minifters of the gofpel, Chrift’s babes and fucklings, to whom he reveals the great things of his gofpel, and out of whofe mouths he ordains praife. Bohlius*interprets this little child of Chrift himfelf, by whom they fhould be led and directed, fee chap. ix. 6, and the following paflages are referred to the-times of the Meffiah by the Fewifh writers >; and Maimonides‘ in particular obferves, that they are not to be underftood literally, as if the cuftom and order of things in the world would ceafe, or that things would be renewed as at the creation, but in a parabolical and enigmatical. fenfe; and interprets them of the J/raelites dwelling fafely among the wicked of the nations of the world, comparable to the wild beafts of the field. ¥. 7. And the cow and the bear fhall feed, &c.] That is, together, in one church-ftate, at one table, or in one pafture, upon the wholefome food of the ofpel, the falutary doétrines of Chrift; who, tho’ ae of different difpofitions, the one tame and gentle, ufeful and profitable, difpenfing the milk of the divine word, and gracious experience; the other cruel and voracious, barbarous and inhuman, worrying the lambs and fheep of Chrift; but now of the fame nature, and haying no ill-will to one another, and being without fear of each other: their young ones fhall lie down together; thofe like thecalf and the young bear, fhall lie in the green paftures of gofpel-ordinances, and do no injury, the latter to the former, being of one mind, and agreeing in doctrine and practice: and the lion fhall eat. firraw like the ox; kings fhall be nurfing fathers to the church, and feed on the fame gofpel-provifions; and there fhall be a great agreement between them who were before comparable to lions for their ftrength, power, and cruelty, and minifters of the gofpel, who are compared to oxen, for their ftrength and laborioufnefs, 1 Cor. ix. 9, 10. fraw here denotes true doctrine, tho’ elfewhere falfe, fee 1 Cor. iii. 12. _. ¥. 8. And the fucking child fhall play on the bole of the afp, &c.| Without fear or danger: and the aveaned child fhall put his hand on the cockatrice den; and fuffer no damage: the meaning is explained in the next words, and to be underftood of regenerate perfons, both of new born babes, or juft born, and all fuch who are weaned from their own righteout-

Tes Ae, Fl. 67 nefs, and live by faith on Chrift, who fhall not be hurt by the poifon of falfe teachers, nor by the force of violent perfecutors, now no more.

¥.9. They foall not hurt, nor deftroy in all my holy mountain, &c.] In the church fo called, in allufion to the holy hill of Zion; in the latter day, after the deftruction of antichrift, there will be no more perfecution of the faints; they will be no more injured nor harraffed by wicked men, comparable to the above-mentioned creatures, either for their cruelty or cunning; the reafon follows: for the earth fhall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the fea; full of the gofpel, the means of conveying the knowledge of Chrift, and of God in-Chrift, of his perfon and office, of his grace and righteoufnefs, of peace, pardon, life, and falvation by him. ‘The phrafe denotes the abundance and depth of the knowledge of divine things, and the large {pread of the gofpel, and the multitude of perfons that fhall be blefféd with it, and a profound knowledge of it; fo that there will be none to moleft, difturb, and diftrefs the people of God, fee Had. ii. 14. this has had fome appearance of accomplifhment at feveral times; as at the firft times of the gofpel, when the found of it, by the apoftles, went into all the earth, and diffufed the favour of the knowledge of Chrift in every place; and in the times of Con/fantine, when paganifm was abolifhed, and the whole empire became chriftian, perfecution ceafed, and peace enfued, “as before de- {cribed; and at the reformation, when whole nations embraced the gofpel of Chrift; but the full accomplifhment of it is yet to come, when the angel fhall fly in the midft of heaven, having the everlafting gofpel to preach to all men, and the earth fhall be lightened with his glory; when men fhall run to and fro, and knowledge be increafed, and all fhall know the Lord, from the leaft to the greateft. This paffage is applied to the times of the Meffiah by the ews, antient and modern ¢.

¥.10. And in that day there foall be a root of Felfe, &c.] The Meffiah, fo called, either with refpect to his human nature, who was to {pring from Feffe; fo the Targum, “ and there fhall be “¢ at that time a fon of the fons of Feffe;” who, when incarnate, was like a root under ground, hidden to men, as to the glory of his perfon, and the fulnefs of his grace, and was mean, abject, and contemptible in their view; or rather with re- {pect to his divine nature, juft as he is called, the root and offspring of David, Rev. v. 5. and xxii. 16. the former as God, the latter as man; and fo the phrafe may denote his eternity, being before Ye/e, or any other man or creature whatever; and his being the creator and preferver of all, of Fefe, and of all others; and as mediator, he is the root from whom Feffe, and all the elect of God are; they have their being in him; they are rooted and grounded in him; and are bore by him as the branches by the root; and they have their life and nourifhment, their fruitfulnefs, holinefs, and perfeverance therein from him. This is underftood of the Meffiah, by antient and modern ews *: which frail fiand for an enfign of the people; in the mini- {tration of the gofpel, for the gathering of the people of God to him, to enlift in his fervice, and fight under his banner, where they may be fure of victory; an enfign fet up, a banner difplayed, is