Exposition of the Whole Bible

calt 32 Lhis is the wvordthet the Lord hath [poken concerning Moab, &e.}.‘Ebat-is, this prophecy now delivered out,.-is what’comes from the Lord; it is the word of the ‘Lord,, and «not.of.maa,. and'-fo fhall certainly come’ ‘to. pafs;; when this word was himfelf; or from the time that Moa was.in being; ora’ nation;:as others’;.or from the time ‘that Balak-hited' Balaam to curfe:d/rael, fo Farchi 3 or rather: fromthe time that the Lord made known his mind-and will, concerning this matter, to the prophet Voiah::. for it fhould be'renderedy this: is that word-which the Lord fpake ‘concerning Moab then’; that is, at the time or ’year in which bez died, ch. xiv.28..and is. obferved; ito diftinguith it from what the prophet {poke;on,.was: about to {peak,. now orfrom this timé,.concerning him, as in the nextsverferi:. i » ator! fo ft yo vp. But now the: Lord hath fpoken, -8c.] Something, elfe-» What: follows is a diftinct prophecy from ‘the former!and has a date annexed_to' it, when it! fhould: be fulfilled: » the former prophecy felatesito the utter deftruction. of the Moabdites by the Babylonians, in<the times, of Nebuchadnexzar sot whichsFereny,) Ch. xlviii.:prophefies, in much’ thei fame language as:d/jziah; and fo Farchi obferves; thatthe final deftraction of -AZoad. was by: the hand of: Nebuchadnezzar: but this was of a leffer_ nature, /and. to be accomplifhed; in a fhort time, either by Salmanefer;-or By’ Sennacherid king of Afyria, or Efar-haddon his- fon: faying, within thrée years; as the years of an bireling; that is, precifely’ and:exactly three. years; neither’ more nor fewWer} neither fooner- nor-later; as whatever time is'agreed upon by an hireling, as foon, ds ever it is out, which:he often! thinks of, and counts exattly, -he demands) his wages, and: his- freedom. Some think this prophecy! bears date: with the former, concerning the Phiiifines, which was the-year king Abaz died, ch. xXive 28. and:fo had: its accomplifhment in.the fourth year of Hezekiah, when Salmanefer came up againtt Samaria *> and.took Moab in his way, 2 Kings xviii: 9. others, that it was given out in the fourthyear of Hezekiah, when the Afprian befieged Semaria, and afteri three years took it, and then returned: and fell upon the Moabites.; others place it in the: eleventh year of Hezekiab, and fuppofe it to befulfilled in his fourteenth by Sennacherid, about the fame ‘time he came up and took’ the fenced cities-of Judab, and befieged

Serufalems. 2: Kings xviiid: 1g. ahdiwitlythis agree the ‘Fewi/h writers’, whofe rwords are thefe,» ‘* aften “* thofe things, and the eftablifhment thereof) Sens * nachertb king of Afyria came into Fudah,, 2 Obrom: “XXXiiols and at the fame time: tent Lerten, to, Afadod, A foxx ve who -over-ran sthe. 2iiinonites, sand Moabites;)who helped him whenshe befieged. ‘fe Samaria three years; that it might be.ful “what is faid J) xvi. 14. at the famertimeghe “king of Afjria: fent Rab/bekah from Lakifhard < Fernjfalem.” Upon which Kimcht obferves;asvan interpretation of the phrate,.as the\yeansyofvan, ihe Jing; “itis, as if it was faid, becaufe they helped “6 the king of s2fffria three\ years ‘againtt Samaria; “© it-was as if they hac) been hired;)cherefore thep “* fel by, his hand, and the-glory of Adeeb was ‘© ji¢ht inthe hand of the-king ef Afpria:’, -But jothers make ‘it\ to: be. three years after this timey

‘but verychikely it! might: be later fill, abour the taker thinks, who, imchis notes on-this place, vhas

‘collectédeall thefe fenfes; and made his obférva-

‘tions on them; and fo»had its accomplifhment in

‘fome expedition of Lfar-baddex, who greatly wéak-

‘enedcand 'impoverifhed the country of Moaby tho* jhe did not-deftroy it, and which was -anvearneft. jand pledge of the utter deftruction:of it beforespros

‘phefied of. Noldius renders it, after three years}

'andifo Grotius: it-was in the firft year of Hegzes jin the fourth year of his reign, Sa/manajerycame jagainft Samaria, and in-his way was: the beginning jof this deftruction, and:buta beginning ofsit,sas shevobferves; yet a pledge of the confummation by years.ot U/aiah.. And the glory of Moab jhall be con= temned with all that great multitude, of citiesvand.

teckoned weighty and heavy things; thefe wereac#

‘counted:light by the king of Ajpria, who fpoiled ithemy:or!at‘leaft greatly diminifhed them 3. and thé remnant fhalk-be very fmall and feeble; ox, notwmighty

‘or firong;thofe that were not cut off bythe vj

‘rian army, would be but few, and thefe weak and ftrengthlefs, being difpoffefled of their ‘cities,cand of their Wealth; tho’, in procefs of time, betweett this}, and: the fulfillment ofthe former prophecy, j}and that of Feremy, they recovered themfelvesy and.

‘'becamevery numerous and flourifhing»

\HIIS chapter contains a prophecy of the ruin ties; andyof their fields and vineyards, was their

. of Syria and J/rael, the ten tribes, who were in alliance; and. alfo.of the;overthrow of the Afyrian army, that fhould come againtt Judah: ‘The deftruction.of Damaftus,, the metropolis of Syria, and of other cities, is threatened; ¥. 1, 2: yea, of the whole kingdom of Syria; together with Ephraim or the ten tribes, and Samaria the head of them, ¥~3. whofe deftruction is expreffed by various fimilies, as by thinneis and leannefs; and by the reaping and igathering of corn, ¥. 4,5. and yet a rem’ nant fhould be: preferved,. compared to, gleaning grapes, and a few betries on an. olive-tree, who | fhould look to. the Lord, and not to idols, ‘ y..6;,

7, 8. and the reafon of the defolation of their ci< forgetfulnefs. of the Lord, y: 9, 10, rr. andi the chapter is clofed with a prophecy of therdefeatiof ‘the Afprian-army, who are compared for tHeifmmals titude and,noife to the feas; and to mighty waters, andthe noifé:and rufhing of them, your's. andwyer fhould be, at the rebuke of God, as chaff, or’ fmall light thing, before.a bluftering windy yrrgs and who, in the evening, would be a trouble to. the Jews, and be dead béfore morning;) which was to be the portion of the fpoilers and: plunderers of the Lord’s people, y. 14, 11 OF aR IT: ¥. ta The burden of Damafcus, 8c.) A heavy and grievous prophecy, concerning the of it; the Arabic verfion is, ‘* the prophecy of fubjec unto others, as it has been ever fince: they

“* Jjaiah concerning Damafcus 3? and the Targum is, ** the burden of the cup of curfing to give “ Damefeusto drink.” Bebold Damafcus is taken eway from being a city; a kingdom, as the Targum, it was the head of one, but now its walls were demolifhed, its houfes pulled down, and its inhabi- -tants carried captive; this was done by Tilgazhpilnexer king of Affyria, 2 Kings xvi. g. it had been avery ancient city, fee Ge. xv. 2. and the head of the kingdom of Syria, ch. vii. 8. and tho’ it underwent this calamity, it was rebuilt again, and was acity of great fame, when deftroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, Fer. xlix. 24, 25. after which it was raifed up again, and was in being in the apoftle’s time, and {till is, és ix. 2. 2 Cor. xi. 32: and it foall be a ruinous heap; or a heap of ftones, as the Zergum and Kimchi interpret it. A behold is pretixed to the whole, as being very wonderful and remarkable, unthought of, and unexpected. ¥. 2. The citres of Aroer are forfaken, &c.] The inhabitants of them being flain, or carried captive, or obliged to flee. Aroer was a city by the river Arnon, on the borders of Moab and Ammon, Deut. ii. 36..and ili. 12. it was originally in the hands of the Awmorites, and fometimes in the hands of the Moabites and Ammonites, it was given by Maojfes to the Reubenites and Gadites, from whom it was taken by the Syrians, and in whofe poffeffion it feems to have-been at, this time; fee 2 Kings x. 33. tho’ Farchi thinks it was now in the hands of Pekab king of I/rael, and faid to be forfaken, becaufe the Keudenites and Gadites were now carried captive. Ferom™ {ays it was feen in his time, upon the top of the mountain. Here it feems to defign a country of this name, in which were many cities. Grotius thinks it was a tract of land in Syria, ~ the fame with the Avera of Ptolemy". Vitringa is of opinion, that Dama/fcus itfelf is meant, which was a double city, like that divided by the river Chryforrbeas, as this was by Arnon. They shall be for fiecks which fhall lie down, inftead of houfes, there fhould be fheep-cotes and fhepherd’s tents, and inftead of men, fheep; and where ttreets were, egrafs would grow, and flocks feed and lie down; which is expreffive of the utter defolation of thefe cities, or this tract of ground: and none fhall make them afraid; the flocks of fheep, timorous creatures, eafily frighted; but fo great fhould be the depopulation now, there would be no man upon the fpot, or any pafs by, to give them any difturbance. ¥. 3. Ihe fortre/s alfo fhall ceafe from Ephraim, &c.] The ten tribes, now in confederacy with the Syrians, whofe metropolis or fortrefs was Samaria, which feems to be intended here; and fhould be dettroyed, at leaft taken out of the hands of the Ifraelites, and they be carried captive by Salmanefer king of Affria, 2 Kings xvii. 6. and this may be under{tood, not of that particular city and fortrefs only, but of all their ftrong holds, the fingular being put for the plural, The Targum is, the government shall cease from Ephraim, they thall have no more a king over them, nor have they to this day: and the kingdom from Damajcus, and the remnant of Syria; Damajfcus was the head-city of Syria, where the kings of Syria had their palace; but now that and the reft of Syria fhould ball be as the glory of the children of Ifrael, faith the Lord of hofts; that is, the Syrians, who were in alliance with J/rael, fhould fhare the fame fate; fhould be carried captive as they were; fhould have their metropolis and other cities, and’ their whole kingdom, taken from them, and be ftript of their grandeur and wealth, and have no more glory than they had; which was none at all, or at leaft very {mall, as the next verfe fhows.

¥. 4. And in that day it foall come to pafs, 8&c.} It being much about the fame time that both kingdoms were deftroyed by the Afjrians: that the glory of Facob fhall be made thin, the fame with Ephraim and [rael, the ten tribes, whofe glory lay in the fuperior number of their tribes to Judah; in the multitude of their cities, and the inhabitants of them; but now would be thinned, by the vaft numbers that fhould be carried captive: and the fatnefs of bis flelh fhall wax lean, like a man in 4 confumption, that is become a mere fkeleton, and reduced. to fkin and bones: the meaning is, that all their wealth and riches fhould be taken away; fo the Targum, ‘* and the riches of his glory hall ‘¢ be carried away.”

¥. 5. And it foall be as when the harveft-man gathereth the corn, &c.| The /randing corn, as in the Hebrew text: and reapeth the ears with bis arm; or, bis arm reaps the ears° 5 that is, with one hand he gathers the ftanding corn into his fift, and then reaps it with his other arm; and juft fo it fhould be with the people of J/rael: they were like a field of ftanding corn, for number, beauty, and glory; the Afjyrian was like an harvelt-man, who laid hold upon them, and cut them down, as thick and as numerous as they were, juft as a harvettman cuts down the corn, and with as much eafe and quick difpatch; they being no more able to ftand before him, than a field of corn before the reaper! this was done both by Tilgath-pilnezer, 2 Kings xv. 29. and by Salmanefer, 2 Kings xvii. 6. kings of Afyria: and it foall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim;, the Targum renders it, *¢ the valley of giants;” and fo it is tranflated Fob. xv. 8. and xvili. 16. mention is made of it in 2 Sam, v. 18, 22. and xxiii. 13. 1s was a valley not far from Ferufalem, as Fofephus * fays, who alfo calls it the valley of the giants: it is thought to have been a very fruitful place, where the ears of corn were very large and heavy, and fo, great care was taken in gathering and gleaning that none be loft: wherefore as the former fimile fignifies the carrying off the people of J/rae/ in great numbers by the above kings; this may fignify, as fome have thought, either the picking up of thofe that fled without, or the gleaning of them in after-times by Efar-haddon, Ezra iv. 2.

y. 6. Yet gleaning grapes fhall be left in it, &c.} In Ephraim or Facob; that is, in the ten tribes, a few of them fhould efcape, a remnant fhould be faved; comparable, for the fmallnefs of their number, to grapes that are gleaned after the vintage is got in: tho’ Kimchi interprets it of the inhabitants of ‘ferufalem, who were but few, in comparifon of the ten tribes, who were many; and Farchi explains it of Hezekiah and his company, in the midft of Ferufalem, who were but few; and obferves, that fome of their Rabdins underftood it of the few no more be a kingdom of itfelf, but fhould be) men that were left of the multitude of Sennacherib’s was-right to look unto, and offer facrifice upon! but. idol-altars, and idols. themfelves,, are. here: meant: and a good iman will not,look unto his good works as altars to atone for fin; he knows that nothing that a creature can do, can-expiate fin; that his beft works are fuch as are due to. God, and therefore can never atone for paft crimes; that Jefus Chrift is only the altar, facrifice,-and. prieft, to whom he looks for, and from whom he; receives the atonement; neither foal ref/pel that which his fingers have made, either the groves or the: images; both might be faid to be made by the) fingers of men, the former being planted; andthe latter carved and fafhioned -by them;.whether by! groves are meant clufters of trees, where idols andy altars were placed, or medals ftruck with fuch a) reprefentation on them, and.alfo, whatever images; are here defigned:: the word fignifies fun-imagesy: images made to reprefent the fun, or for the ho») nour and worfhip of it., dben Ezra fays;othey were images made according to the likenefs of cha-;' riots for the fun.. The Targum renders, it temples, fuch as were dedicated to the fun; tho’ fome underftand by it funny places, where their idols were. fet and fun-burnt, as diftinét from fhady groves, atmy, when it was deftroyed; but the firft fenfe is beft.;. and the fame thing is fignified by another fimile, as the /haking of an olive-trees with the hand, when the fruitis ripe; or, as the firiking 1 of it with a-ftafk, to beat off the berries, when there are left two or three berries in the top of the uppermoft bough: the word Amir is only ufed here, and in y: 9. and fignifies, as Kimchi fays, the upper bough or branch; and fo Aben Ezra interprets it, the higheft part of the olive; and obferves, that it fo fignifies in the language of Kedar, or the Arabic language; in which it is ufed for a king, a prince, an emperor, one that has the command and government of others ‘; and hence the word amiral or admiral comes: now two or three olive-berries being in the uppermoft bough are left, becaufe they can’t be reached by the hand of the gatherer, nor by the ftaff of the ftriker.. Kimchi applies this to Yerufalem, which was the higheft part of the land of Jae; and what was in it, the hand of the king of Ajjria could not reach: four or five in the outmoft fuitful branches thereof; which efcape the gatherer, fhaker, or ftriker, for the fame reafon. Thefe fimiles are very aptly made ufe of, fince the people of J/rael are frequently compared to grapes, and vines, and olives, Jf. v. 1, 7. Jer. xi..16. Hof ix. 10: faith the Lord God of Jfrael; this is added to confirm what. is faid, and to exprefs the certainty of it; and fhews that the J/raelites are meant, to whom the Lord was a covenant-God. The Targum applies the metaphors thus, ‘‘ fo fhall the righteous be “* Jeft alone in the world among the kingdoms, “¢ faith the Lord God of J/rael.”

yt... At that day foall a man look to his maker, &c.] The one only living and true God, who has made him, and not he himfelf, nor any other creature; that is, fuch as are left, as before defcribed, the remnant, according to the election of grace; thefe fhall look to God for help and affiftance, for fupply, fupport, and protection; and to Chrift particularly, whois the maker of all things, without whom was not any thing made that is made, for all {piritual bleffings; for righteoufnefs and ftrength, for peace and pardon, for food, and all comfort-. able fupplies of grace, for life and falvation; who is fet up to be looked unto for thefe things;. to whom men are directed and encouraged to look for them, both by-himfelf, and by his minifters; and to whom faints in all ages have looked, and have not been difappointed; and_ to this fenfe. the following words incline: and his eyes fhall have re- [peti to the boly one of Ifrael,; who in this prophecy is faid to be the Redeemer, Jf xliti. 14. and liv. 5. he is the holy one that fprung from literal J/rae, and is the fanctifier of myftical J/rael; to which agrees the Targum, ‘* and his eyes fhall hope for the word “* of the holy one of [/rael;” the word by whom all. things were made in the beginning, and who was, made flefh and dwelt among men.

¥. 8. And be fhall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, &c.] That is, to altars erected to the worfhip of idols, which are both the works of mens hands, fo as to ferve at them, and facrifice upon them. Kimachi obferves, that the latter claufe is not to be underftood as belonging to the former, but as diftinct from it, and fignifies idols which men have made; otherwife all altars, even the altars of God, were the works of men, which yet it their fingers have wrought, as groves to thelfer\ them from divine wrath and vengeance, or asridols, to bow down to, truft in, and depend upon for) falvation; but reject them, and look to Chrift only.:) ¥. 9. In that day fhall his firong cities be.as a form: faken bough, and an uppermaft branch, &c.} Meaning the ftrong cities of Ephraim or Facob, the ten tribes, which fhould be forfaken of their inhabi-«. tants, having fled from before the enemy, or, bes - ing flain or carried captive; like a bough of a tree, that is forfaken or ftripped of its leaves, and an: uppermoft branch of a tree that is dead and dry,. and has nothing on it: which they left; or as they: left, or were left: becaufe of the children of Irae 3s from the face of them, or for fear of them; that is, the fame cities which the Cancenites left; and as they left them, or were left by them, for fear of the J/raehites; the fame, and in the fame:manner, fhall they be left by the J/welites, for fear of - the Afprians; and fo the Septuagint verfion reads the words, ‘* in that day thy cities fhall. be for- “¢ faken, in like manner as the Amorites and Hi- “© vites left them, from the face of the children of “© Trael; and this fenfe is given by bem Ezra and Kimchi: tho’ fome interpret it of fome places being fpared and left for the remnant to dwellin;. but what follows ia this verfe, and in the next, | fhews the contrary fenfe: and there fhall be defolas. tion over all thofe cities, and in all the land5. tho’ Aben Ezra particularly applies it to. Samariay. the royal city. erem interprets the whole of the. cities of Fudea being forfaken of their inhabitants, when the Romans belieged Feru/alem, and made the land defolate; which calamity came upon them,» for their neglect and forgetfulnefs of Jefus the Sax. viour.

felvation, 8c.) Who had been the author of falvation to them many a time, in Zgypt, at the red=,. fea, and in various inftances fince; and yet they had forgot his works of mercy and goodnefs, and

9 PPT AID, ut ftrigura olew, Cocceius, * a0) imperator, princeps, dux qui ali's quomodo cumque preeft mperatque, Golius, col. 158 Caftel. col. rg0. tho’ the verb ‘in the Hebrew language is ufed in the fenfe of elevation or lifting

Good men will not look to their own works, what. - a2 é GL >\ y. 10. Becaufe thou baft forgotten the God of thy had left his worfhip, and gone after idols; and this was: the caufe of their cities being forlaken, and becoming a defolation: end haft not been mindful of the vock of thy firength or {trong rock, who hadfupplied and fupported them, protected and defended them: therefore fhalt thou plant pleasant plants; or plants of pleafant fruit *, or plants of Naomanim, and fo Aben Ezra takes it to be the proper name’ of a plant in the Aradic language, and which he fays «is a plant that grows very quick; perhaps she means ‘Anemone, which is fo called in that language‘, and is near to it in found, tho’ rathersnot any particular plant is meant, but all forts of pleafant plants, flowers, and fruit-trees, with which the land of J/rael abounded: and foalt fet it with firange flips, with foreign ones, fuch as are-brought from other countries, and are. fcarce and«dear, and highly valued; and by plants and fips, may be meant falfe and foreign doctrines, inculcating idolatry and fuperftition; which are pleafing to the flefh *.

your. In the dey thou fhalt make thy plant to grow, Scc.] Not that it is in the power of man to make it grow; but the fenfe is, that all means and methods fhould be ufed to make it grow; no coft nor pains fhould be fpared: and in the morning foclt. thou make thy feed to flourifo; which may denote both diligence in the early care of it, and feeming promifing fuecefs; and yet all fhould be in vain, and to no purpofe: ut the harve/ft fhall be @ heap in the day of grief, or, of inheritance when it was about to be poffefled and enjoyed, according to expectation, it fhall be all thrown together in a heap, and be fpoiled by the enemy: or, the barveft {hall be removed in the day of inbervitance™; jutt when the fruit is ripe, and going to be gathered in, the enemy fhall come and take it all away; and fo inftead of being a time of joy, as harveft ufually is, it will be a time of grief and trouble, avd of de/perate forrow too, or deadly; which will leave them in defpair, without hope of fubfiftence for the prefent year, or of having another harveft hereafter, the land coming into the hands of their enemies.

x. 12. Wo to the multitude of many people, &c.] Not as lamenting the people of the Fews with Hezekiah, as if they were the words of the prophet bemoaning their condition, faying, O the multitude, &e.onor intending the Syrians and I/raelites joined together againft Judah, but the Afyrian army under Sennacherib, which confifted of people of many nations, and was very numerous, who are either threatened or called unto. A new fubject is here begun, tho’ a fhort one. Which make a noife like the noife of the feas, in a ftorm, when they foam and rage, and overflow the banks; this may refer both to the noife made by the march of fuch a vait army, the rattling of their armour and chariotwheels, and pranfing of their horfes; and to the heétoring, bluftering, and blafphemous {peeches of Sennacherib and Rabjbekab: and to the rufbing of nations, or, riufbing nations, that make a rufhing like the rujfbing of mighty waters; which denotes the fury and force with which they come, threatening to bear down all before them, as an inundation of water does.

vel a colore fanguineo, vel quod ab illo adamaretur rege, Golius, col. 2409. _Caftel. col. 2346. “PPI TY “WYP I), recedit meffis in die herediratis five pofleffionis; fo fome in Vatablus, pulvis montium, a

¥.13. Lhe nations foall rufe like the rufbing of many waters, &cc.) With:great force and noife, and run over the whole: land, as the Afprienarmy did, till it came to Ferufalem, and: there it ftopped; fee If, vith. 7, 8: but God hall rebuke them as he did the waters, of the»red-fea,.P/ cvi. 9: and as Chrift rebuked the winds and fea, and made a calm, Matt. viii. 26. ‘The word God is not in the text, but rightly fupplied; for as none but he can rebuke the mighty waters of the fea, fo none but he could have deftroyed fuch an army inotheymanner it was, and wrought {uch a falvation for his people. he phrafe is expreffive both of his wrath and power. » dud they /ball fice afar off; from ‘fe~ rufalem to INiniveh, reckoned to be fix. hundred and eighty-four miles from..thence: or, be /oall flee afar off* 5 that is, Sennacherib, andthe few that efcaped with him, for his army was deftroyed;: fee 2 Kings xix. 36: and fhall be chafed as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, chaff upon the floor is eafily chafed away with the fan, and much more ealfily chaff upon the mountains. with. the wind; it was ufual with the Fews to threfh their corn, and winnow it on hills and mountains, to which the allufion is; fee 2 Chron. iii. 1. or, the dujt of the mountains, as fome’ render it, which is more expofed to the wind, than. that in the vallies. Kings and gteat men of the earth are but as duit with God;,and the higher they are, or they exalt themfelves, the moré they are expofed to the power of his wrath, and as eafily caft down as the duft is {cattered by the wind: and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind, ot, like a wheel*;.as the word is fometimes rendered; or, any round thing, as a round wifp of ftraw or ftubble,. which. is eafily, and {wiftly moved and rolled along, efpecially by a ftrong wind: archi interprets it of the flower of thorns; that is; the down of the thiftle, which when blown off, rolls up, and being exceeding light; is carried away at once; fee P/. Ixxxiii. 13. all which fhows what poor light things the greateft of men are in the hands of God, and with what eafe he can chafe them from place to place, and out of the world, when it is his pleafure.

¥. 14. And behold, at evening-tide trouble, 8cc.} Or terrey * and confternation; which fome underftand of that which was in the Afyrian army, when the angel of the Lord deftroyed it, taking evening for night, for it was in the night that that was done; fo Farchi interprets it of Shedim, a fort of {pirits or demons, that came againft the enemy, and troubled and frighted them: but it is beft to take it in the more common fenfe, of the trouble that Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Feru/alem were in, on the evening or night before their deliverance; the whole land ef Fudea round about them being laid wafte, their city befieged by a powerful army, and the enemy blafpheming, bluftering, and triumphing: and before the morning he is not; Sennacherib, the king of Affyria, he was not before erufalem, he was fled: or, it was mot>; the Afprian army was not, it was deftroyed by an angel in the: night, and in the morning were all dead corpfe, 2. Kings xix. 35. or trouble was not, that was all over, joy came in the morning; fee P/ xxx. 5: this is the portion of them that [potl us, and the let of them that rob us; thefe are the words of the prophet, and of the people of God, he perfonates, making obfervation upon, and ufe of the above difpenfation, though not confining it to that; and their "meaning is, that this is not the cafe of thefe fy- rians only, but of all the enemies of God’s peo-

HIS chapter is a prophecy of the defolation of a land or country, defcribed by the wings with which is was fhaded, and by the rivers by which it was fituated, v. 1. by its meffengers and meffage to another nation, which is alfo defcribed, ¥. 2. all the nations of the world are called upon to obferve the judgment about to be inflicted on it, ¥. 3. and a promife is made, that at the fame time God will take up his reft and dwelling among his own people, and refrefh and protect them, y. 4. and the time, and manner, and nature of the deftruction of the people before threatened, are metaphorically exprefled, ¥. 5, 6. and the iffue of all will be the glory of God, fince thefe people will be brought, in after-times, as a prefent to him in mount Zion, y. 7.

¥. ¥. Wo to the land foadowing with wings, &c.] Or, O land, as calling to it; fo Aben Ezra and Kimchi. It is very difficult to determine what land is here meant: fome think the land of Afjria is here defigned, as Aven Ezra and others, and fo it is a continuation of the prophecy concerning the deftruction of the Afprians, in the three laft verfes of the preceding chapter; the ftretching out of whofe wings is mentioned, ch. viii. 8. and thought to be referred to here: others are of opinion, that the land of Fudea is intended, which trufted under the fhadow of the wings of Egypt and Ethiopia, to whom the characters in the next verfe are fuppofed to belong: but the more generally received fenfe is, that either Egypt or Ethiopia themfelves are pointed at, defcribed as /hadowing with wings; not with the wings of birds, as archi interprets it, which flocked thither in great numbers, the country being hot, and fo fhaded it with their wings; but rather with mountains, with which E¢hiopia, at leaft fome part of it, was encompafied and fhaded; or elfe with fhips, whofe fails are like wings, and which reforting hither, in numerous fleets of them, and hovering about their coafts and ports, feemed to fhadow them; to which agrees the Septuagint verfion, wo to the land, the wings of foips; and. fo the Targum, ‘* wo to the land to «¢ which they come in fhips from a far country, *¢ whofe fails are ftretched out, as an eagle that ‘* flies with its wings;” fo Manajeb ben Ifrael« renders them, ‘* wo to the land, which under the ‘* fhadow of veils, fails beyond the rivers: of Ethio- “<< pia.” The word tranflated /hadowing, is ufed for a cymbal, 2 Sam. vi. 5. Pf. cl. 5. and f it is rendered here in the Vulgate Latin verfion, wo to the land, with the cymbal of wings: and fome think the fftrum is meant, which was a mufical. inftru- ple, who fooner or later come to deftruétion; and which is not by chance, but by the appointment

_and difpofition of God, who allots and portions out ruin unto them, as the juft reward of their works; fee Fob xx. 29. Pf. xi. 6.. ver ment ufed by the Egyptians in their worfhip of Ys; and which had wings to it, or had tranfverfe reds in the middle of it, which looked like wings, one of which may be feen in Pignorius+; and fo it defcribes the land of Egypt, famous for its winged cymbals: Minucius Felin* makes mention of the fwallow along with the fiftrum, which was a’ bird of Jfs; and which fome fay was placed over the ftatue of [/s, with its wings ftretched out. “With is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; the principal of which were Afaberas and Ajiapus*, and alfo Nile itfelf, which came out of Erhicpia into Egypt: or, which is on this fide of the rivers of Ethiopia® 5 and fo may intend Egypt, which bordered on this fide of it towards Fudea: or, which is befide the vivers

1 of Ethiopia*; and fo may denote Ethiopia itfelf, fituated by thefe rivers. ‘The Targum renders “at, “< the rivers of Judea.” Some would have it, that the rivers of Arabia Chufea are meant, which’ lay between Fudea and Egypt, as Befor, Rhinocorura, Trajan, and Corys; and Arabia feems rather to be meant by Cufh, than Ethiopia in Africa, fince that lay beyond the rivers of Egypt, rather than Agype beyond the rivers of ‘Ethiopia. ve _ y. 2. That fendeth embaffadors by the fea, Bec.} The red-fea, which wafhed the coafts of Heyprand Ethiopia, and which were united into one kingdom under Sabacus, or So the Hibicpian, called king of Egypt, 2 Kings xvii. 4. and this kingdom, or rather the king of it, is here defcribed as fend= ing embaffadors by fea to foreign courts, to make leagues and alliances, and thereby ftrengthen himfelf againft attempts made on him; tho’ fome un* derftand it of one part of Ezhiopia on one fide of the red-fea, fending to that on the other fide; and fome of Tirbekah the Erhiopian fending mefiengers to the king of Afyria, to bid him defiance, and let him know he intended to fight him; and vat the fame time fent to the Yews, that they might.depend upon his protection and fuccour, J/, xxxviil ° g. fome underftand this of the Egyptians fending to the E¢hiopians, to let them know of the Af rian expedition; and others, of their fending to the Fews, with the promife of a fupply; and the word for embaffadors fignifying images, ch. xlv. 4160 fome have thought it is to be underftood of carry= ing the head of Ofris, and the image of J/sy from place to place, in proper vefiels: even in vefjels of bull-rufhes upon the waters; or, upon the face of the waters'; where thefe light veflels floated without finking, not drawing the quantity of waters as veffels of wood did. Both the Egyptians and Ethio~ pians had fhips made of the papyrus *, or diblus ', a fort of rufh, that grew upon the banks of the h Que eft fecandum Alumina ZEthiopiz, Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator.

k Hence wamvpwa oxadn paper-fkiffs, in Plutarch, de If. et

Ofir. and wroa xarapwa fhips of reeds, which the Indians made and ufed, as Herodotus relates, 1. 3. five Thalia, ¢. 9%. and fo Diodorus Siculus {peaks of thips made of a reed in India, of excellent ufe, becaufe they are not liable to be eaten by worins,

Bibliothec. 1. 2. p. 104. to the Egyptian veffels of this kind, Lucan has refpect, when he fays,

Sic cum tenet omnia Nilus, Conficitur bibula Memphitis cymba papvro,

that the Erhiopian fhips were fo made,.as to; fold up, and be carried on their fhoulders, when they came to,the cataracts, Sayings £0, ye: fwift méffengers, the word /aying is not.in.the text, nor, is. it to be fupplied; for thefe are not the words,of the nation before deferibed, fending its mefiengers to another, nation after defcribed, either the ews: or the Afprigus,;but they are the words of.God to his. mefiéngers, angels or men, who were, fivift),to do his will, 'whom he fends to, denounce’ or. inflict judgment) upon, the {ame;nation. that ig; beforementioned,. with which agrees, £zek. xxx.| 9 3) t0.4 nation scattered,. that dwelt in towns, villages; and houtes, feattered about here and.theres or/who would. be {cattered and diffipated by their enemies: or, drawn out, and fpread over a large tract, of ground, as Athiopia was: and. peeled;\ of their hair, asthe, word fignifies; the Ethiopians living, inya hot county, had very little hair upon their bodies. Schultens.", trom the ufe ofthe word in the rabic language,venders it, ‘a nation ftrong. and inac-

“¢ ceflible:” to a people terrible from their beginning.

hitherto';for their black colour and grim looks, efpecially.in-fome. parts 3, and for the vaft armies they brouglit, into the field, as never were, by any other! people; fee 2. Chron, xii..3. and xiv. 9.) and they.might well be faid, to. be fo from the,beginning, fince, Nimrod, the mighty hunter, \was\the fon of Cu/>, from whence the Lrbiopians shave, the name of Cuj/bites, and is the name, Ethiopia is.called by in the preceding verfe:.@ nation meted out,, and trodden down; to whom) punifhment was. meafured by line,.in proportion to, their fins, and who in..a little time;would: be trodden,.under foot, by their enemies: whofe land the rivers have fpoiled; which muft not be underftood literally of Niger and, WVilus, of Afiapus and: Afiaboras,. which were fo, far; from, fpoiling the land, that it was much more.,pleafant and fruitful for them; but figuratively, of powerful princes.and armies, that-fhould come into, it, and fpoil and, plunder it 5 fee Jf \vili.. 7... archi and Kimchi interpret it of the kings of the nations. of. the. world;.and fo the Targum, ** whofe -land «* the-people fpoil.”,, Some underftand all this of the Afy«ians, whole army was | now fcattered, and its foldiers.exhaufted, who. had been, from. the beginaing).of their monarchy very terrible to ther neighbours, but now marked for deftruction;.and whom, the, Ethiopians, who dwelt by. the. rivers, defpifed,, as fome render the, words: and others interpret them: of: the ‘fews, as over-run by the 4/- frian atray like a mighty rivers; by whom they. were feattered, and peeled, and fpoiled, and plundered » who,from their: beginning had been very terrible, becaute.of the wonderful: things wrought for chem at the sed-fea, in the wildernefs, and.in the times of Fo/bua and the Judges; and. becaule.of the dreadful punifhments, inflitted on them) but the firft fenfe is beft. Véitringa interprets all this of the Egyptians, whofe country was drawn out or long, their bodies peeled or fhaved; a people terrible to their neighbours, ahd very fupertftitious, a nation of line and line, or of precept and pre- CODES uv ': ‘; } a 3q.Aiythe inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the etrths 86e.| Albthe: mem of the world aré here| called, wpony: either bythe Lord) or rather ‘by the prophet, «to 'bé eye and* ear) witnefits lof the Judgment! thar fhould:be inflicted: upon ‘the above nation; andcof the falvation of his ‘own people; which thould be formaitifeft, that all {hould! 12 ix; as eafilyoaspan enfign feriup on ‘a smountain'y) and’ theonetws:of rit fhould ring/thro* the earthy: ated be’ asplauily heard, as when:aitramper is'blownt0 un-’ lefs if, fhouldibe thought,!that*thefe.are the words: lof the mefléngers ferit to:the above nations! addref-: fing theminvfuch terms,caffutingythem, that how- ‘ever ftupidednd fecurethey were now,' they fhould i quickly feeithe: fign,: and hearothewalar eofwary it being ufual to calliany latge kingdom,:theavorld, andthe earths fee ye, avben be liftetbup am enfign on the mountains; or ye thall fee this!as\eléarly, as ‘when ‘a: flag-is)ifet\upson ai nhountain sror Fe hall | be fenfible sof this» judgmeicoming onyowhen'a jftandardyfhall be fet opsomithe «mountains, to -ga~ ither the people to war.ieVdringa interprets’ this? ‘of the) mountdins! of <fudea, \owhere'the djyrians’ would -fetup their banner$y aad blow their tram petsy\as\follows: and whem he blowethva trumpets hear yex ors ye foall shear » the trumpet founding,as. ancalarm of war,!by: which the: people? will be fammoned;;,and) come! to “execute the judément threatened» o The 'Targdmis, “*: ye fall ‘hear ‘the “¢ redemption s””. that is;.of W/rae/, in the rimesvof the Meffiah,./and in the: warvof Gogiand Magog’: ‘of which times, Farchi and' Kimcbi) interpret this wholexprophecy; sy TREN Long ov. 4; Bor fo the Lord faid untomey &ei}The /prophet f/aiah, both what’ goes before,’ and follows lafter.; J will take my reft; thefe are ‘not the words jof theprophet, as foie think, like thofe'of “Ha= bakkuk, chs ii. 1. butvof. thesLord) himfelf), figni- | fying that he would, as she-always did,» enjoy ‘him= felf, amidft all.the commotions that were tn ‘the | world:;or that he would take’ up’ his ‘refty aitiong his péople in Zion,' of whichvhe had efaid this is my reft: for évery Pf cxxxii.! 14: of ratherethat he would be ftithand: quiets and as‘one /afleep and at eft, that took no notice of! what was doing, nor interpofe between: parties: preparing for war,«and laying fchemes for the rum«of each other’ not help the one, nor hinder the other; but let. them go on awhile witl» their defigns:: avd L) will confider in my. dwelling place 5 in heaveh,. what is‘to:-bev done 3 for! tho’ the Lord: may ‘fet fometimies tortake no notice of what is: done on earch, «yet he feeseand knows, all things, and:conifiders in his*own' thind what\is\ fityrand) proper!that he fhowld ‘dog: who works all. things after the ¢ounfel of his own qilb# or, will look upon my dwelling place °3 ‘Serufilem, mount Zion, the templeythefandtuary, where “his Shekidab dwelt here he promifes to look m away of grace and favour;: with delight»and pleafure, 6 comfort -and refrefh his own people’; forthe Tar gum pataphrafes this’ and’ the preceding ‘chaufe,. *« I * willmakesmy people to reft, Powilbmakethem to reftyiand J-will delight in my? holychabitation *\ to do them good:” “like a clear heat upon berbs4 or, after rain, as Aben Ezra and Kimch1, fee 2 Sam. XXiii..4. when the fun fhines forth brightly after a fhower of rain, which revives the plants and herbs, and makes them grow: and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harveft; which is very defirable and welcome, which cools the air, refrefhes the earth, plumps plumps the corn, and is very grateful to the harveft man; and both metaphors may fignify how grateful is the appearance of God to and for: his people, his prefence with them, the light of his countenance on them, and his protection of them; fee Uf. iv. 5, 6. and fo the Targum, bleffings and “¢ confolations will I bring to them quickly, as <‘ heat burning by means of the fun, and as a <¢.cloud of dew in the heat of harveft:” tho’ the whole may be underftood in a very different fenfe, as:it is by fome, thus; that tho’ the Lord for a while may feem to take no notice of what is doing below, yet he in heaven beholds what is done, and looks in a way of wrath and anger upon his enemies, as the fun looks with its fcorching heat upon the herbs, and dries them up; and as a cloud which brings a large dew or rain with it, which is very hurtful in harveft-time; and this fenfe feems moft agreeable to the context.

‘y. 5. For afore the barveft, &c.] Or vintage: the above metaphor is carried on; before the defigns and fchemes of the people above defcribed are ripe for execution, who promifed themfelves a large harveft of their neighbours: when the bud is perfec; when the bud of the vine is become a perfect grape, tho’ unripe; when the fcheme was fully laid, and with perfect and confummate wifdom as imagined, tho’ not brought into execution: and the four grape is ripening in the flower; things go on and promife well, as if the iffe would be according to expectation, and there would be a good vintage. The jour grape may denote the temper and difpofition of the above people againtft their enemies, their ill-nature and enmity to them; or the fins and tranfgreffions, for which the judgment denounced came upon them: 4e fhall both cut off the [prigs with pruning hooks, and take away, and cut down the branches; as the vine-dreffer; or rather as one that has no good will to the vine, cuts it with pruning hooks, not to make it better, but worfe, and cuts off, not the dead withered and ufe- Jefs parts of it, but the fprigs that have buds and flowers, or unripe grapes upon them, and even whole branches that have clufters on them, and takes them and cafts them away, to be trodden under foot, or caft into the fire; fo the Lord, or the king of Aria, the inftrument in the hand of God, fhould cut off the Ethiopians, or the Egyptions, with the fword, both fmall and great, when their enterprize fhould fail, and their promifed fuccefs: or this is to be underftood of the deftruction of Sennacherib’s army by the angel, when he was big with expectation of taking Feru/alem, and plundering that rich city. ‘archi and Kimchi interpret it of the deftruction of the armies of Gog and Magog. The Targum is, “ and he fhall kill ** the princes of the people with the fword, and ** their mighty ones he fhall remove and caufe to “$* pafs over.”

¥. 6. They fhall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beafts of the earth, &c.] That is, both fprigs and branches, with the fruit of them, which being unripe, are difregarded by men, but fed upon by birds and beafts; the fruit by the former, and the tender fprigs and green branches by the latter; fignifying the deftruction of the Ethiopians or Egyptians, and that the princes and. the people fhould fall together; and: lie uns?” buried, and become a prey to birds and. beatts §' or, the deftruétion of the Afyricn army fain by the’, angel, as Aven Ezra and others; tho’ fome inter-) pret it of the army of Gag and Magog, as before obferved; fee Ezek. xxxix. 17—20. Rev. xix. 175% 18: and the fowls fhall fummer upon them, and all. the beafts of the earth foall winter upon them; nor» that the one fhould feed upon them in the fummer-* time, and the other in the winter; the fowls in. the fummer-time, when they fiy in large flocks, and. the beafts in the winter, when they go toge=» ther in great numbers, as Kimchi; but thesfenfel, is, that the carnage fhould be fo. great,» there would be fufficient for them both, ail the year long. tn0 - 4. In that time fhall the prefent be brought, unto the Lord of hofts, &c.) Not exactly at the time when this deftruction fhould be, but. fome time after, even in gofpel-times,; for to them this: part of the prophecy refers: of a people fcattered, and peeled, this explains what the prefent is, that; fhall be brought to the Lord; it is a people, and therefore not the fpoils of Sexnacherid’s army,) as” fome interpret it; nor yet the people of the Fews, ’ that fhall be brought by the Gevtiles out of all mations, in the latter day, as an offering to the Lord, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi, fee Jf, xi. 11. and Ixvis 20”. but the Ethiopians or Egyptians defcribed, y. 2. as here, who being converted, fhall ftretch out their hands to God, fubmit unto him, and prefent themfelves foul and body as an acceptable facrifice unto him; when thefe prophecies in Pf Ixviii. 31. Zeph. iti. 9, 10. fhall be fulfilled, and which began to be in the converfion of the Erhio~ pian eunuch, Ads viii. 27. and of which there were other inftances in the times of the apoftles, and in following ages: and from a people terrible from their. beginning hitherto, that is, fome of the people, not ~ all of them; the fame people are defigned as.before, only this Hebraifm is ufed, to fhew a diftinetion among them: @ nation meted out, and troddem under foot, whofe land the rivers have {poiled; thefe defcriptive characters, with thofe in the preceding - claufes, are retained, to fhew that the fame people are here meant, as in ¥. 2. and to magnify the | riches of God’s grace, in the converfion of a people to whom fuch characters belonged; which fhew that it was not owing to themfelves, or any deferts of theirs, but to the free favour and will of God: to the place of the name of the Lord of hofts, the mount Zion, hither the prefent was to be brought, and here the perfons to prefent themfelves to the Lord, even in the mount Zion, the church of God; where the name of the Lord is named and called upon, his word is preached, his ordinances are adminiftered, and where he dwells, and grants his prefence. — b oral

“Tehed, chapter contains prophecies of various * «calamities that fhould come upon Egypt in a fhort time, and of the converfion of many of thetn’ to Chrift in gofpel-times. The calamities are many; the Lord’s coming unto them, which their gods can’t ‘prevent, nor ftand before, nor fave them,*and at which the hearts of the Egyptians are difpirited; y.°t. inteftine wars among themfelves, y¥> 2iwant of counfel, which fends them to idols and wizards, but in vain, y¥. 3. fubjection to a craeb lord, 1. 4. drying up of their rivers and waters, fo that the paper-reeds wither, and fithes die; and hence no bufinefs for fifhermen, nor for workers in flax, or weavers of nets, ¥. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9} 10, 15. the ftupidity of their princes and wife counfellors, given up by the Lord to a perverfe fpirit, fo that they concerted wrong meafures, and deceived the people, ¥. 11, 12, 13, 14. a general confternation among them, becaufe of the hand and ‘counfel of the Lord; and becaufe of the Lord’s people; the Jews, who were a terror to them, y. 16, 17. and then follows the prophecy of their converfiom in after-times, which is fignified by their {peaking the language of Canaan, and {wearing to the Lord, ¥. 18. by~their erecting an altar, and a pillar to the Lord, which fhould be a fign and witnefs to him. and by their crying to him, and his fending them a Saviour, and a great one, y¥. 19320. by his being known unto them, by their offering facrifice to him, and by his fmiting and healing them, y¥. 21, 22. and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy of that harmony, and agreement, and fellowfhip, that fhall be between Few atid Gentile, between Egypt, Afyria, and I rael, xt ¥.1. The burden of Egypt, &c.| Ot a prophecy

‘concerning Egypt, as the Arabic verfion; a very Stievous one, declaring many calamities that fhould ‘come upon them. The Zargum is, ‘* the burden of the cup of curfing, to make the Egyptians «© drink.” The people of the Jews repofed great

‘confidence in the Egyptians their allies; wherefore, in order to break this confidence, it was neceflary they thould be acquainted with the deftruétion that was coming upon them, which is the defign of

‘this prophecy. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a fwift ~¢loud, or a light one *; denoting the {peed with which he came, he would come quickly, light

‘clouds move fwiftly; the fuddennefs and unex- » pectednefs of his coming; clouds being rarely feen in Egypt, where was no rain; and the irrefiftible power with which he would come, for who or what can ftop the clouds of heaven? not any thing on earth, not armies, nor caftles, and fortified syplaces.. The Lord is reprefented as riding in great ftate and majefty, as a general at the head of his army againft his enemies; or as a judge going to try and condemn criminals; he rides upon the heavens, walks on the wings of the wind, and the clouds are his chariot, P/. Ixviii. 4, 33. and civ. 3. fo Chrift is reprefented as coming in the clouds of heaven, and as fitting on a white cloud, when he whall come to judge the world, Rev. i. 7. and xiv.