Exposition of the Whole Bible

that coming of his; and much lefs of his firkt coming in the flefh, to which they are weakly applied by Ferom and others; who, by the light cloud, underftand the Virgin Mary, as the chriftians of Syria 5 or the human nature of Chrift, as Sa/mera, who relates, that upon Chrift’s flight into Egypt, and entering into He/iopolis, and the temple there, in which were as many idols as days of the year, they all fell, and fo this prophecy was fulfilled:; but of the Lord’s coming to inflié punifhment on the Eeyptians; fo the Targum, ‘* and behold the ‘* Lord fhall be revealed in the cloud of his glory, ‘* to take vengeance on the Egyptians: and the Lord fhall come into Egypt, not by Sennache ib king of Affria, and his army, whom he fhould fend to invade it, and enter into it, as fome think; but rather by Caméyfes and Ochus, kings of Perfiay tho’ it feems that what is here foretold fhould be done, was done, not by means of any foreign power, but by the Lord himfelf, who did by his Own power and providence, or fuffer to be done, what was done: and the idols of Egypt hall be moved at his prefence; or tremble before him; thefe were many, the chief of them were Ofris and J/is, Apis, Serapis, Vulcan, Bubaftis, Sc. fome were living creatures, as cats, dogs, oxen, fheep, ec. who might move and tremble, in a literal ienfe; and fome were images, made with hands, as the Septuagint here render the word; and which, as the Targum paraphrafes it, fhould de broken: the fenfe is, that they could none of them fave the | Egyplians, or deliver them out of their diftreffes: ‘and the heart of Egypt foall melt in the midft of its ' like wax before the fire; even the moft courageous | among them, their foldiers, their army with their officers and generals; which were the heart of the people, and their defence, and who ufed to fight for them, and protect them, but now would be. difpirited,

¥. 2. And I will fet the Egyptians againft the Egyptians, &c.] Or mingle and confound them together; in which confution they fhould fall upon 'and deftroy one another, as the Midianites did: Ties, phrafe is expreffive of inteftine and civil wars, 'as the following words explain it; and which | fhew, that the calamities of Egypt fhould be brought | upon them, not by means of a foreign invafion, but by inteftine quarrels, and other means, which the Lord would in judgment fend among them: and they foall fight every one againft his brother; and every one againft his neighbour; and deftroy one anther: city againft city; of which there were great numbers in Egypt; in the times of Amajis; ”

tis faid *, there were twenty thoufand: and kingdom againft kingdom, for tho’ Egypt was but originally one kingdom, yet upon the death of Sethon, one of its kings, who had been a prieft of Vulcan, there being no fucceffor, twelve of the nobility. ftarted up, and fet up themfelves as kings, and divided the kingdom into twelve parts‘, and reigned in confederacy, for the {pace of fifteen years; when falling out among themfelves, they excluded P/ammiticus, one of the twelve, from any fhare of government; who gathering an army together, fought with and conquered the other eleven,

14. tho’ thefe words are not to be underftood of and feized the whole kingdom to himfelf, and who feems afterwards regarded in this prophecy all this happened in the times of Manaffeb king of Fudab, and {fo in or quickly after [/aigb’s~time 5 tho’ fome underftand this of the civil wars between Apries and Amafis, in the times of Nebuchadnezzar, The Septuagint verfion renders the phrafe here, sidme agcinft nome, for the whole land of Zzypr, by Se/sftris, one of its kings, was divided into thirty-fix * nomes, diftricts, “or provinces, whofe names are piven by Herodotus”, Pliny*, and others; for fo the words of that verfion*fhould be rendered, and not as they aré bythe Lavin interpreter, and in the Arabic verfion, which: follows it, law upon law. ae bm

“y: 3, “Vid tbe Spirit of Egypt foall fait in the’ midft theredf, 8cc.] Meaning not the fpirit of valour and courage,’ that is exptefitd before, ‘but of wifdom, pruderice, and underftanding’; the wifdom of Egypt, in which Moj/es -is faid to be brought up, Aés vii.

22. was famous all the world over; hither men of learning, as the ancient philofophers, Pythagoras, Plato, and other's, travelled, to improve in knowledge, and gain a larger acquaintance with things htman and divine; it was the mother and miftrefs of the libéral atts and ftiences'; but now what was before like a river full-of water, was ‘about to be emptied, \atid-dtained diy, as the word ¥ ufed fignifies:' aud I will defirey the counfels thereof; or fwallow theni up *, fo that they fhall be no. more feen, or take effect: this‘explains what is before ‘meant by thefpirit’ of Eyypt, and which is further enlarged on, and iluftrated in ¥,11,12,13: and they fhall feck to the idols; with which the land abounded, particularly to Ofris’ arid’ fs,’ to” Apis, Latona, and others’: ° aad’ to the’ charmers, that ufed incantations and ‘fpells; magicians and conjurers, that whifpered ‘arid muttered; for the word ufed has the fignification of fpeaking in a flow arid drawling manner. ‘The Targum renders it witches, but Farchi takes it to be thé name of an idol: ' and to them that ‘have familiar fpirits,' and to the wizards 5 se "| years. before; and befides, -was of fervice, and = fee the ‘ote’on ‘ch. viii. 19. Mi “yak And the Egyptians will T give over into’ the hauds.of. a cruel lord, &c.| Not.of Sennacherid king of Afyria, which way go many interpreters,” both Chriftian and Fewifh, as Aben Ezra,’ Farchi and

Kimebi; not of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, | as in “Yer. xlvi. 25, 26. but either of the twelve tyrants that rofe up after the death of Sethou abovementioned; for the word is in the plural number lords, tho’ the adjective rendered cruel is’ fingular;

of elfe Pfammiticus, the father of Pharoah Necho, that flew ‘Fofiah; -and who conquered the other | eleven tyrants, and ruled alone, for the fpace of fifty-four years, with great rigour; and’the fame is defigned in the next claufe: and a fierce king foall rule over them; it is reported of Pfamiitichus, ' that he gave fuch offence to his fubjyects, that two hundred thoufand of his foldiers left him, and went into Ethiopia*. Vitringa interprets this of the Per- Jian emperors, into whofe hands Egypt fell, as Cambyfes and Ochus; and who, according to ‘hiftorians, were very cruel princes. ‘That there might be no doubt of the fure and certain accomplifhment of this prophecy, it is added, /aith the Lord, the Lord of hofts; “of thé armies above and below;’ and who does, what he pleafes among the kings and kingdoms of the earth. ‘ ce Cale a There were ten of them in Thebais, the fame number in Del, Nand 66. le Nat. Hit be. eg: | Blo

¥. 5. Aud the waters foall fail from the fea, 8ec.] Which Kimchi underftands figuratively of the deftruction of; the Egyptians by the king of Afjria, compared to the drying up of the waters of the Nile; and others think that the fai ure © ‘thei trade by fea is meant, which brought great ‘reveries into the kingdom; but by what follows; it feems beft to take the words in a literal fenfe, the waters of the river Wile, which being « as in the néxt claufe, could not empty them into the fea, as they ufed,, and ‘therefore very pro the fingular, becdufe of the abundance of water in © it; of its feven ftreams, with other rivulets, derived from it. Some make the ¢bey here, to refe to thé kings of Egypt, and interpret the words | fomé projects of their's, by which the courfe of the river was ttirned to great difadvantage;° pai % cularly they underftand it of the twelve tyrants t reigned after Sethon, to. whom they afcribe the digging of the. vaft lake of Maris, the two pyramids: built-in the midft of it,.and a labyrinth near it, tho’ only thé labyririth was made by them; anc as for the lake, it was made by Meris, aking of. Egypt, from whom it had its name; fome hundred ¥ différvice, to, the Nile; for it received its water when it dverflowed too much, and it furnithed it with water by’ an outlet when it failed: rather therefore this paffage may be illuftrated by the attempt which Necus, the fon of P/ammiticus, whom. the feripture calls “Pharaoh Necho, made, to join the Nile and the'réd-fea together, by making a canal from the one to the other; in which work he j loft a hundred and twenty thoufand men, and de-. fifted from it without finifhing it‘; but it is a thought hereby the. river was greatly weakened: Pr. and thé brooks of defence fhall be emptied and dried up; as the river of Nile and its ftreams were the —.

defence of the land of Egypt, as well as made for the fruitfulnefs of it, for’ thefe muft make'it lefs _ acceffible to a foreign enemy; and ca lay their fhipping, which were their protection 5 and moreover, from hence brooks and courfes of — water might be derived and carried about theit fortified, cities, which added to the ftre them. | ‘The Targum renders it ag? 00 more were defigned, bat i bhopesdanaainn grt ging teen between the UPS | Tend. Gledptiph.~ ee i

BAS ed \ Py ef. 1o% above inftance or inftances will account for: the reeds and fiags fhall wither; which grew in ‘the brooks, and near them; and therefore much more the grafs and corn, and other trees, which were at a diitance; befides, thefe are mentioned, becaufe fhips were) made of the ftalk of the papyrus; and the Egyptian priefts wore fhoes made of it‘. It may be obferved, that paper was made of the pellicles or little fkins {tripped off of the infide of the ftem of the papyrus; which fhows with what proof the great ufefulnefs they were of; for of thefe they made fhips, barks and boats, and imatts for bedding, and nets, for fifhing; as alfo paper to write on, as follows, and which was a ftaple commodity with them; fee the note on ch, xviii. 2. ¥. 7. The paper reeds by the brooks, by. the mouth of the brooks, &c.] Not at the fountain or origin of the Vile and its ftreams, but by the fides thereof; on the banks of which grew a reed or, ruth, called by the Greeks, papyrus and biblus; from whence come the words paper and idle, or book, of which paper was anciently made; even. as early as the times of J/aiah, and fo, many hundreds of years before the times of Alexander the Great, to which fome fix the era of making it. ‘* According to

** Pliny.¢, its root is of the thicknefs of a man’s “* arm, and ten cubits long; from this arife a great number of triangular ftalks, fix or feven cubits high, each thick enough to be eafily fpanned. Its leaves are long, like thofe of the bullrufh; its flowers ftamineous, ranged in clufters at the extremities of the ftalks; its roots woody and knotty, like thofe of rufhes; and its tafte and fmell near a-kin to thofe,of the cyperus.—The manner of making the Egyptian paper was this: they began with lopping off the two extremes of the papyrus, viz. the head and root, as of no ufe in this manufaéture; the remaining ftem they flit lengthwife, into equal parts; and from each of thefe they ftripped the. thin fcaly coats or pellicles, whereof it was compofed, with a point of a penknife (or needle, as fome); the innermoft of thefe pellicles were looked on as the beft, and thofe neareft the rind or bark the wortt; they were kept apart accordingly, and conttituted different forts of paper. As the, pellicles were taken off, they extended them on a table; then two or more of them were laid over each other tranfverfely, fo as that their fibres made right angles; in this ftate they were glued together by the muddy waters of the Nilus. Thefe being next prefied to get out the water, then ‘dried, and laftly flatted and fmoothed, by beating them with a mallet, conftituted paper; which they fometimes polifhed further, by rubbing it with a hemifphere of glafs, or the like—— There were paper-manutactures in divers cities of Egypt; but the greateft and moft celebrated was that at Alexandria, where, according to Varro’s account, paper was firft made.——The trade and confumption of this commodity were in reality incredible. Vopifcus.relates, that the tyrant Lirmus, who rebelled in Egypt, publickly * declared, he would maintain an army only, pa- “ pyro &F glutine, with paper and glue*.” So that

the withering and drying up of thefe paper reeds, here threatened, muft be a great calamity upon the nation. And befides paper, of this rufh or reed were made fails, ropes, and other naval rigging, as alfo matts, blankets, clothes, and even

¢ Chamber's Cyclopedia, in the word paper. & YW ab Py nudari, inde “Vy pellis. i 1 yp wy is priety the word * for paper-reeds is here ufed, which comes from.a root which fignifies to ftrip or make bare, and from which alfo is derived a word which fignifies a fkin. And every thing fown by the brooks Shall. wither, be driven away, and be no more; all forts of fruitful plants, and grain of every kind, hemp and flax after-mentioned, and which are oppofed to reeds and rufhes, which grew of themfelves; and if thefe which were fown by the fides of brooks and rivers withered and came to nothing, then much more what was fown at a greater diftance. ¥. 8. The jfifhers alfo foall mourn, &c.| Becaufe there will be no fith to catch; the waters of the river being dried up, and fo will have none to fell, and nothing to fupport themfelves and families with; and this muft alfo affect the people in general, fifh being the common food they lived upon, fee Numb, xi. 5. not only becaufe of the great plenty there ufually was, but becaufe they: killed and eat but very few living creatures, thro’ a fuperftitious regard unto them; tho’ Herodotus fays *, the Egyptian priefts might not tafte of fifhes, yet the common people might;, for, according to that hiftorian ‘, when the river Nile flowed out of the lake of Meris, a talent of filver every day was brought into the king’s treafury, arifing from the profit of fifh; and when it flowed in, twenty pounds; nay, he exprefsly fays *, that fome of them live upon fifh only, gutted, and dried with the fun: and all they that caft angle, or hook, into the brooks feall lament, which defcribes.one fort of fifhermen, and way of catching fifhes, with the angle and hook, as the following claufe defcribes another fort: and they that fpread nets upon the waters foall languifo, be difpirited and enfeebled for want of trade and fubfiftence, and with grief and horror. ¥. 9. Moreover they that work in fine flax, &c.] Of which they made fine linen cloth, and yarn, and was much wore by the Egyptians, and was the commodity of the country, and for which other nations trafficked with them, 1 Kings x. 28. Ezek. XXVii. 10. but now would have no flax to work, that being withered and gone, which was fown by the fides of the brooks, ¥. 7, 15. and no linen cloth or yarn to fell, and confequently in great confufion and diftrefs, as they are here reprefented'!, The Targum renders the whole verfe thus, “* they fhall be confounded which work flax, which “«< they comb, and of. it weave nets;” and fo Farchi and Kimchi interpret it, not of perfons that wrought in flax, to make yarn or linen of it; but who combed it, to make nets of it, as follows: and they that weave net-works fhall be confounded, becaufe they would have no fale for their nets, the fifhermen having no ufe for them, the rivers being dried up. The word for net-works fignifies holes, becaufe nets are made with holes large enough to let the water through, and fo {mall that the fifhes may not get out. Some render the word white: works, f Herodot. Euterpe, five

; h Euterpe, five 1. 2. c. 37. by us rendered fine; and fo Ben Melech fays, in the Arabic language th tea and fineft linen is called owes and fo fays Kimchi in Sepher Shorafh; with which Schindler agrees,

Arab. DWN, fericum or muflin; but it is a queftion whether this is of fo early a date, and efpecial Dieu and Bochart think it denotes the colour of the linen, which was yellow, that being

rf not fit to make nets the beft; but others render works ™, white linen, white cloth, of which white garments are made, fuch as nobles and princes formerly wore; hence, in the Hebrew language, they are called by a name of the fame root and fignification; but the former fenfe feems beft.

¥. 10. And they foall be broken in the purpofes thereof, &c.| Meaning either the perfons that work in flax, or in making nets; who fhall be difappointed in. their views, expectations, and defigns, in bringing them to a good market, fince there will be no buyers. The word for purpo/es fignifies foundations, as in Pf xi. 3, and may defign dams and banks, that are made to keep in the water, which fhall be broken down, and be of no fervice to anfwer the end; but Kimchi obferves, that the word in the Za/mudic language fignifies wets, as it does"; and this feems to be moft agreeable to the context; and then the words may be rendered, and its nets fhall be broken’, fhall lie and rot for want of ufé: ‘all that make fluices and ponds for fib; or, ail that make an inclofure of ponds of Soul”; or for delight and pleafure; that is, not only fuch fhall be broken in their purpofes, afhamed and confounded, and be difpirited, mourn and lament, whofe bufinefs and employment it is to catch fith, or make nets for that end, and get their livelihood thereby; but even fuch who inclofe a confluence of water, and make fifh-ponds in their fields and gardens for their pleafure, will be difappointed; for their ‘waters there will be dried up, and the fifh die, as well as in the common rivers. The Septuagint verfion renders it; and all they that make zythum foall grieve, zythum was a fort of malt liquor of the ancients; and the word for /luices is of affinity with a word that is often ufed for ftrong drink; and fo the Syriac verfion here, ‘¢ and all they thall “* be humbled that make ftrong drink, for the “ drink of the foul;” or-for men to drink for pleafure.

y. 11. Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, &c.] Zoan was a very ancient city of Egypt, it was built within feven years of Hebron in the land of Fudab, Numb. xiii. 22. here it was that the Lord did thofe miracles, by the hands of Mo/es and Aaron, before Pharaoh and his people, in order to oblige him to let I/rael go, Pf. xxviii. 12, 43. by which it appears that it was then the royal city, as it feems to have been now; fince mention is made of the princes of it, who ufually have their refidence where the court is. The Targum, Septuagint, and Vulgate Latin verfions, call it Tanis, which was the metropolis of one of the nomes or provinces of Egyps, called from it the Tanitic nome’; near it was one of the gates of the Nile, which had from it the name of the Yawitic gate’; the princes of this place, the lords of this nome, tho’ they had princely education, acted a foolith part, in flattering their fovereign, as afterwards mentioned, and in putting him upon doing things deftructive to his kingdom and fubjects: the counfel of the wife counfellors is become brutifh; the men of whofe privy-council were efteemed very wife, and greatly boafted of, and much confided in; and yet the counfel they gave him were fuch, as made them look more like rutes than men: how fay ye unto Pharaoh; the then reigning prince, for Pharaoh was a name common to all the kings of Egypt. Some think their king Sethon is meant, faid to be avery foolith king:

others, Pfammiticus, which” feems more likely; tho’ there is no need to apply it to any particular king, they being ufed to fay what follows, to all their kings: Iam she fon of the wife, fuggelting that wifdom was natural and hereditary to him; tho’ this may not merely refpect his immediate anceftors, but remote ones, as Menes or Mizraim, the firft king of Egypt, to whom is attributed: the invention of arts and fciences; and his fon Thoth; ~ the fame with Hermes, the Mercury of the Egyptians: The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic verfions; make thefe words to be fpoken by the wife counfellors of themfelves, we are the fons of wife men, and fo the next claufe; likewife, Aben Exra and Farchi, alfe the Targum: the fon of ancient kings; according to.

thefe, it is fpoken to Pharaoh thus, and thou the fon of ‘kings of old, of Ham, Mizraim, Thoth, &ei the Egyptians boafted much of the antiquity of their kingdom and kings; and they fay, from their firft king Menes, to Sethon the prieft of Vulcan, who lived about the time of this prophecy, were three hundred and forty-one generations or ages of men, in which were as many kings and priefts; and three hundred generations are equal to ten thoufand years *; and fo many years, and more, their kings had reigned down to the prophet’s time; which was all vain boafting, there being no manner of foundation for it. Vitringa renders it the fon. of ancient counfellors; this, as the former, being fpoken by the counfellors, not of Pharach, but themfelves. ‘ y. 12. Where are they 2? where are thy wife men? &c.] The magicians and foothfayers, the diviners and aftrologers, who pretended, by their magic art and fkill in judicial aftrology, to foretel things to — come: this is an addrefs to the king of Egypt; who had fuch perfons about him, and encouraged them, by confulting them on occafion, and rewarding them: and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of hofts hath purpofed upon Egypt; or, againft it, \et them tell, if they can, and make known unto thee the purpofes of God’s heart, the things he has refolved upon, even the calamities and punifhments he will fhortly inflict upon the Egyptians, of which he has given notice by his prophets.; ¥. 13. The princes of Zoan are become fools, 8c.] Or infatuated, in their counfels to Pharaoh, an by giving heed to the magicians and diviners; fee the note on ¥. 11: the princes of Noph are deceived; called Moph in Hof. ix. 6. where our. tranflation renders it Memphis; and fo do the Septuagint and. Vulgate Latin verfions here; the Arabic verfion has, it Menpbis; the Syriac verfion Mophis; and the

Targuin Mephes;, the city of Memphis is no doubt intended, which was the chief of the firft of the nomes or provinces of Egypt, from whence it was called Memphites: it was the metropolis of Upper; _ Egypt, and the feat of their kings and princes; it.

was built by their firft king Menes ', or Mizraim,. and had in it the famous temple of Vulcan; it con—. tinues to this day, and goes by the name of M kairs.

or Grand Cairo: they have alfo feduced Egypt; the princes of the above places being deceived them- ~ felves by the diviners and aftrologers, deceived the. - common people that inhabited the nomes and pro-.- vinces where they dwelt; it being ufual with fuch — to follow their fuperiors in principle and practice:

even they that are thé flay of the tribes thereof, or, who are the corner of its tribes *, meaning the nomes ‘or provinces of Egypt, efpecially the Zavitic and Mempbitic nomes, whofe provinces are mentioned; thefe are called tribes by the prophet, in the Janguage of the Yews, which land were, divided. into tribes, as the land of Egypt was divided into nomes; and about this time it was divided into twelve kingdoms, as J/rael-was into, twelve tribes: now, the princes of. thefe tribes and kingdoms, who fhould have been.as corner {tones, to which civil magiftrates are compared, fee Pf cxviii. 22. Zech. x. 4. the. itay and fupport.of the people, and fhould have kept them right, thefe led them wrong, into miftakes and errors.

¥.14. Lhe Lord hath mingled a perverfe fpirit in the midji thereof, &c.| A {pirit of error, as the Largum, Sepiuagint, and, Arabic verfions; or of giddineis, as the Vulgate Latin: this he mingled in a cup for. them, and poured it out, and gave them ‘it to drink, and an intoxicating cup it was, fuch as men are made drunk with; to which the allufion is, as the. laft claufe of the verfe thews; fo that the infatuation and want of wifdom in their counfels were from the Lord; who, becaufe of the vain boafts of their wifdom, in righteous judgment, gave them up to judicial blindnefs, ftupidity, and folly: and they have caufed Egypt to err in. every work. thereof; both in religious and civil, affairs, leading them into fupertftition and idolatry, to which they were of. old inclined and addicted, and forming fuch fehemes and projects, and putting them upon fuch works, as were very detrimental to the nation. Some think this refers to the twelve tyrants, who difagreeing among themfelves, being acted by a perverfe {fpirit, greatly diftracted the people; tho’ rather it may refer to the times of Necho, and to his project in cutting a canal for the bringing of the Nile to the red-fea, before mentioned, in which he loft feveral thoufands of men, without accomplifhing it; and of his predeceflor, in befieging d/hdod twenty-nine years, e’re he took it": as a drunken man ftaggereth in bis vomit; who is fo very drunk, that his head is quite giddy, and can’t walk upright, but ftaggers as he goes, and vomits as he ftaggers, and falls down, and is rolled in it, as the Targum, jutt like fuch a man were the princes and governors of the Egyptian provinces.

y. 15. Neither fhall there be any work for Eg ypt, &c.], No trade or bufinefs to carry on; their rivers being dried up, there was no flax to work with, and fine linen was a principal commodity of Egypt; nor any fifh to catch, or rufhes to make paper of, as. before obferved: or it would not be in the power of their hands to deliver themfelves from the Affyrians that fhould come againft them; and that they fhould be deprived of wifdom and counfel, and be at their wits end, not knowing what to do, or what {tep to. take: which the head or tail, branch or, rujfo may. do, high or low, ftrong or weak, all ranks and orders of men, fhall have nothing to do;

all fhall be weak and difpirited, and void of counfel.

By the head and branch, may be meant the king and his nobles; and by the ¢a# and rujh, the common people; fee chap. ix. 14,15. The Zargum interprets the whole of their chief men thus, “ and “ the Zigyptians fhall have no king to reign, nor “< prince, noble, governor, or ruler.” Farchi explains. it of the magicians, aftrologers, and ftar- gazers of Leypt, who, with all their boafted knowledge and, wiidom, fhould not beable either, to forefee or prevent the eyil,coming upon them.

¥. 16.. ln that day foall Egypt be ike unto womens &c.] Weak and feeble, as the Yargum;. fearful and timorous, even, their military force; and, devoid. of wifdom, even. theirsprinces and nobles: and it foall be afraid and fear, becaufe of the faking of the hand of the Lord of Hofts, which. be. foaketh over it; which the Lord may be faid to do, when he lifts up his rod, and holds it over a people, and threatens, them with ruin and deftruction; perhaps this may refer to what was, done in Judea by Sennacherib’s army, which was an intimation to,the Egyptians that their turn was next; andwif. the fhaking of the Lord’s, hand over a people is. fo terrible, what muft the weight of it be? Some think there is an allufion to Mo/es’s thaking his rod over the. red-fea, when the Egyptians were drowned, in which the hand or power of the Lord was fo vifibly feen, and which now might be called to mind. Sen Melech obferves, that when one man calls to another, he waves his hand to him to. come to him; fo here it is, as if the Lord waved with his hand.to the enemy to come and. fight, againft Egypt, which caufed fear and dread.

¥.17. And the land of Judah foall be a terror unto Egypt, &c.] Not by reafon of war breaking out between them, they being in ftriét alliance with each other at this, time; but on account. of what they fhould hear had. befallen the Jand \of Fudea, and the cities of it, by the invafion of Sennacherib’s. army, which had taken and laid them wafte; the tidings of which being brought them, a pannic would feize them, fearing that they fhould next fall a facrifice to them, becaufe of their alliance with them, and nearnefs to them, there being only the land of the Phili/tines between them, and Egypt; and Fudea being invaded and, over-run, the way was open for the Arian army into. their country; and befides they might. reflect, that if the judgments of God fell fo heavy on his own people, what might they not expect? and. the. rather, as they had been the means. of drawing them into idolatry, which had provoked the Lord to come out again{ft them; as well as at the remembrance of the injuries they had formerly done them. Yarchi and Kimchi underftand this of the fall and ruin of Sennacherib’s army, at the fiege of Ferufalem, the rumour of which reaching Egypt, would fill them with terror; or, as fearing that the hand of the Lord, which was feen in that affair, would be next lifted up againft them; which fenfe is not probable; the former is beft. The word ufed for zerror, fignifies dancing, fuch, as is not thro’ joy, but fear, fee Pf. cvii. 27: every one that maketh mention thereof; or calls to mind, or thinks of it, or {peaks of it to others, what was done in the land of Fudea by the Ajprian army: joall be afraid.in him/elf, that this will be their cafe quickly in Egypt: becau/e of the counjel of the Lord of Hojts, which be hath determined againft it, or upon, it, or concerning ii*; meaning either fudea, which. was known by the prophets he fent unto it; of Egypt, who might conclude this from what hap~ pened to a neighbouring nation.

y..18. In that day fhall. five cities in the land of Egypt, Src} Here opens a {cence of mercy, @ prophecy of good things to the Egyptians in future, times; for this is not to be underftood of tS felf fame time, that the former calamities would come upon them; but of fome time after that 5 and not of Egypt, fpiritual or myftical, that is, Rome, or the antichriftian jurifdition, fo called, Rev. xi. 8. and of the five kingdoms that fhould revolt from it at the reformation, as Cocceius thinks; who interprets’ the above prophecy of the antichriftian ftate, and names the five kingdoms that fhould break off from it, and did; as Great-Britain, the uhited ftates of Holland, Denmark and Norway, Swedeland, the people of Germany, and thofe near them, as Bohemia, Hungary, Tranfylvania and Helvetia; but Egypt literally is here defigned; and its five cities either intend juft fo many principal ones,. as fome think, namely, Memphis, Tanis, Alexandria, Bubaftis and Heliopolis; -or rather it is a certain number for an uncertain; and to be underftood either of many, as five out of fix, fince afterwards one is mentioned, as to be deftroyed; or rather of a few, as five out of twenty thoufand, for fo many cities are’ faid to have been in Egypt’; and o this number is ufed in fcripture for a few, fee 1 Cor. xiv. 19. and the prophecy refpeéts the converfion of them, which fome think was fulfilled in fome little time -after; either by fome Hews fleecing to Egypt, when Fudea was invaded, and Ferufalem befieged by Sennacherib, who making known, and profeffing the true religion there, were the means, af converting many of the Egyptians; or, as the Fews* think, it had its accomplifhment when Sennacherib’s army was deftroyed, and what remained of them, confifting of Egyptians and other people, were difmifled by Hezekiah, and being ufed kindly by him, embraced the true religion, and carried it with them into Zgypt, and there profefled and propagated it; but it feems moft likely to refer to later times, the times of the gofpel, when it was carried and preached in Egypt by the evangelift Mark, and others, to the converfion of them, which is expreffed in the following words: /peak the language of Canaan, the Hebrew language, which continued from the time of the confufion in the pofterity of Shem, and in the family of Heber, from whom Abraham defcended; which was not the language of the old Cavaanites, tho’ that was pretty near it, but what the Yews.now at this time fpake, who dwelt in the land of Canaan: but tho’ this language is here referred to, and might be learned, as it is, where the gofpel comes, for the fake of underftanding the fcriptures in the original; yet that is not principally meant, but the religion of the chriftian and converted ews; and the fenfe is, that the Egyptians hearing and embracing the gofpel, fhould fpeak the pure language of it, and make the fame profeffion of it, and with one heart and mouth with them glorify God, and confefs the Lord Jefus: and when a finner is converted, he fpeaks a different language than he did before; the language of Canaan is the language of repentance towards God, faith in Chrift, love to them, and all the faints; it is felf-abafing, Chrift-exalting, and free-grace-magnifying language; it is the language of prayer to God for mercies wanted, and of praife and thank{giving for mercies received, and efpecially for Chrift, and the bleffings of grace in him; it is the language of experience, and what agrees with the word of God: and in common converfation it is different from others; not fwearing, or lying, or filthinefs, or foolith jefting, or frothy, vain, and idle talk, are this language; but what is favoury, and for the ufe of edifying: and /wear to the Lord of Hofis; not by him, but to him, which fometimes is put for the whole of religious worfhip, Deut. vi. 13. and fignifies a bowing, a fubmiffion, and fubjection to him; compare Jf xlv. 23. with Rom. xiv. 11. it is fwearing allegiance to him, owning him to be their Lord, kin and law-giver, and a refolution to obey him in ail his commands and ordinances, fee P/. cxix. 106: one fhall be called the city of deftruétion, not one of the five cities before mentioned; becaufe all fuchas believe with the -heart unto righteoufnefs, and with the mouth make confeffion agreeable to it, fhall be faved; but the fenfe is, that one and all,” and every one of thefe cities, and all fuch perfons in them,.as fpeak not the language of Canaan, who neither embrace the gofpel, nor become fubje& to Chrift, fhall be devoted to deftruction: tho’ there is a Keri and Cetib, of thefe words; it is written’ Heres, deftruction, but it is read Cheres, the fun; and there was a city in Egypt called Beth Sheme/h, the houfe of the fun, Fer. xliii. 13. and by the Greeks, Heliopolis*; and by the Latines, Solis Oppidum; and fo the Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, and one foall be called the city of the fun; that is, Heliopolis, where the fun was worfhipped, and from whence it had its name; and fo the words are a difplay of the grace of God, that in that city, which was the feat of idolatrous worfhip, there the fun of righteoufnefs fhould arife, and there fhould be a number of perfons in it, that fhould profefs his name. The Targum takes in both the writing and reading of this paffage, and renders it, ** the “< city of Beth Shemefb, which is to be deftroyed, *¢ fhall be called one of them.”

¥. 19. In that day there fhall be an altar to the Lord in the midft of the land of Egypt, 8c.] Fa- Jephus*, and other Yewi/h writers *, fuppofe this to be fulfilled, when Onias the fon of Simeon the juft, — fled into Egypt, and obtained leave of Ptolemy king of Egypt, and queen Cleopatra, to build a temple and an altar there, like thofe at Yeru/alem, in order to draw the Yews thither, which was about fix hundred years after this prophecy; and who did build both a temple and an altar in the nome of Heliopolis, about a hundred and fourfcore furlongs from the city of Memphis, and which continued three hundred and forty-three years; but not a material altar is here meant, but a figurative and {piritual one, and no other than Chrift, who is the altar that fanctifies every gift, and upon which the fpiritual facrifices of prayer and praife being offered up, are acceptable to God. The phrafe denotes 2 public profeffion of Chrift, and a fetting up of his worfhip; it is ufed in allufion to the patriarchs, who, wherever they came, fet up an altar to the Lord, and worfhipped him: and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord; in like manner as the patriarchs ufed to do, Gen. xxviii. 18. and xxxy. 1, 14. it fignifies not only that in the middle of the land, but upon the borders of it, the chriftian religion fhould be embraced and profeffed; fo that no fooner did a man ftep into it, but he fhould find that this was the religion profeffed there: it fignifies that here would be placed minifters of the gofpel, who are as pillars to hold forth and fupport the.doétrines of it; and a church-ftate, which. is the pillar and ground of it; and perfons con- verted, that fhould be pillars in the houfe of God, that fhould never geout; fee Prov. ix. 1. Gal. ii. 9. 1 Tim, ii. 15. Rev. iii. 12. ¥.20. And it foall be for a fign, and fora witnefs unto the Lord of Hofts in the land of Egypt, &c.

This refers either to what goes before, that the ‘altar and pillar were figns and witneffes that the Lord was believed in, profeffed, and, worfhipped there; or to what follows after, that the Lord’s hearing the cries of men, and anfwering them, by fending a great Saviour to them, ‘is a token) and teftimony for him of his great love unto them: for they fhall cry unto the Lord becaufe of the opprefors; as men awakened and convinced do, feel - ing the oppreffions of a guilty confcience, and a tempting devil, and an enfnaring wicked world: and-he foall fend them a Saviour, and a great one, and he fhall deliver them, this is Chrift, whom God fent in the fulnefs of time to be the Savieur of loft finners,; and he is a great one indeed, the great God, and our Saviour, Tif. ii. 13." who is the fon of God, the true God and eternal life, who has all. the perfections of deity in him; the creator and upholder of all things; and muft have therefore great and fufficient abilities to fave finners to the uttermoft; and thofe that come to God by him, he does fave and deliver from all their fins, and out of the hands of all their enemies, and from wrath, ruin, and deftruction.. Abarbinel * owns that the Meffiah is here meant, as undoubtedly he is; and not the angel that deftroyed Sennacherib’s army, as Kimchi; for the text fpeaks not of the Jews, but _of the Egyptians. Vitringa thinks that either lexander, called the Great, or elfe Ptolemy the fon of Lagus, who had the fame epithet, and who was alfo called Soter, the Saviour, is here meant. y¥.21. And the Lord fhall be known to Egypt, &c.] The means of knowing him would be -granted them; which*were partly thro’ the Bible being tranflated into the Greek language, at the requeft of Ptolemy king..of Egypt, which was then underftood in that country, and this was a confiderable time before the coming of Chrift; and chiefly thro’ the gofpel being brought hither by the evangelift Mark, and others, whereby many of them were brought to a f{piritual, experimental, and evangelical knowledge of Chrift: aud the Egyptians feall know the Lord; own and net oA bim, profefs faith in him, hope iof shappinefs by -him, love of him, and fubjection to him, his gofpel and ordinances: and Jhall do facrifice and oblation; not fuch facrifice and oblation as were enjoined by the ceremonial law, fince thofe would be now abrogated; but the fpiritual facrifices of prayer, praife, and good works, and of the prefentation of themfelves, as a holy, living, and acceptable facrifice to God, their reafonable fervice: under thefe ceremonial rites is fignified the whole fpiritual worfhip of the New Teftament: yee, they shall wow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it; Jay themfelves under obligation to ferve the Lord, and act according to it; fee £edl. v. 4, 5. and this is to be ~underftood not of legal vows, as that of the Na-. zarite, or any other, but of the fpiritual one of praife and thank({giving; fee Pf 1. 14. “and Jxv. 1. ¥.22. And the Lord fhall fmite Egypt, &c.] By one afflictive providence or another, which ‘hall awaken them to a fenfe of finand duty; or fimite their confciences with convictions of fin, thro’ the miniftry of the word by his fpirit: be /hall fmite and heal it, or fmiting and healing‘, as he {mites he fhall heal, by an application of pardoning grace and mercy, by {prinkling the blood of Chrift on their wounded confciences, and by pouring in the oil and wine of divine love into the wounds made by fin: and they fhall return even to the Lord, by faith and repentance; or to his worfhip, as the Targum, by an obedience to his will, and fhall cleave unto him: and he fhail be intreated of them, and be foall heal them, when wounded with a fenfe of fin, and pricked to the heart, they fhall cry unto him, and entreat his pardoning grace and

‘mercy, which being applied to them heals; for healing difeafes and forgiving iniquities dre orie and the fame thing; fee P/- ciii. 3 igh

¥. 23. In that day fall there be a high-way out of Egypt to Affyria, 8c.| It ignifies that there fhould be peace between them, all hoftilities fhould ceafe, free trade and commerce with each other fhould. be opened, and nothing fhould hinder communion, with one another; which fome think had fome fhew of accomplifhment in the times of Pfammiticus; but it chiefly refers to gofpel-times, and to t chriftian communion between one nation ahd another, that receive the gofpel, tho’ before implacable enemies, as the Egyptians and Affyrians were: and the Affyrian foall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Affyria; which is expreffive of entire concord and harmony between them, fuch as was among the firft chriftians: and the Egyptians fhall Jerve with the Affyrians; that.is, the Lord, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; they. fhall both ferve the Lord with one fhoulder and confent, unite in prayer to the Lord, in heating the word, and attending on other ordinances, Some render it, the Egyptians fhall ferve the Affyrians®,; not as being their lords and mafters, in a fervile way, but by love; as faints do, or flould ferve one another, doing all kind offices of love to each other; fee Gal, v.13. Pele jiaei Us:

¥.24. In that day fhall Ifrael be the third with Egypt; and with Afpria, &c.] There fhall be a triple alliance between them; Yew and Gentile thall be made one, the middle wall of partition being broken down; yea Jrael, or the ews, fhall be the third, or the mediator between them both, or the means of uniting the Gentiles together, fince the gofpel of peace was to go out from them, as it did. Perhaps there may be an allufion to the fituation of the land of J/rael between Egypt and Afpria: even a bleffing in the midft of the lands or of the earth, the whole world, being the means of conveying the bleffings of grace to the feveral nations of the world; the Meffiah, in whom all nations are bleffed, defcending from them, and the gofpel being fent out from them unto all nations, which publithes the bleffings of grace by Chrift, and is the means both of the knowledge; application, and pofleffion of them.

y¥.25. Whom the Lord of Hofts foall blefs, &c.} Not only J/rael, but Egypt and Afhria, even alk his chofen ones, whether among Fews or Gentiles: Jaying, bleffed be Egypt my people; as they mutt needs.be bleffed who are the Lord’s covenantpeople; forhe being their covenant God, his blefling is upon them, even life for evermore; they are blefféd with all the bleflings of the covenant, even all the fpiritual bleffings which are in Chrift; they are fecure of his love, and may depend upon his powef and protection; they are happy here, and -will be fo hereafter: and Affyria the work of my hands, not as creatures only, but as new creatures, having the good work of grace wrought in their hearts, of which God is the author; and therefore are called his workmanfhip, £p. ii. 20. and who muft be blefled, becaufe by this work of grace upon them, they appear to be the chofen of God, and pretious, to be his children, and dear unto him, whom he will not forfake, and who are formed

HIS chapter contains a prophecy of the dei ftruction of the Egyptians and Ethiopians by the Afyrians, which had been prophefied of fepa- “rately in the two preceding chapters, and now conjunétly in this: the time of it is given, ¥.1. the fign of it, the prophets walking naked, and barefoot, ¥. 2. the explanation and accommodation of @he fign to the captivity of Egypt and Erhiopia, ¥. 3, 4. the ufe of this to the Fews, and the effect it had upon them; fhame for their truft and dependance on the above nations, and defpair of deliverance from the Afyrians by their means, y. 5, 6.

¥.1. In the year that Tartan came unto Afbdod, &c.] Or Azotus, as*the Septuagint here call it; and which is its name in the New Teftament, Atis viii. 40. fee the note there. This Tartan, or whom the Septuagint names Tanathan, and the Arabic verfion Tathan, was one of Sennacherib’s generals, 2 Kings xviii. 17: (when Sargon the king of Affyria fent him),; to the above place to befiege it. This Sargon is generally thought to be the fame with Sennacherib, fince Tartan was one of his generals, who might have more names than one.

‘Ferom fays he had feven; the Fewi/h Rabbins* eight; tho’ fome think a predeceffor of his is meant, Sa/- manefer; and others his fon Efar-haddon, who in Tobit. i. 21. is called Sarchedon, which might eafily pafs by pronunciation into Sargon: and fought againjt Afhdod, and took it, which was held by the 4fjrians, till the time of P/ammiticus, and was fo ftrong a city, and fo well fortified, that it held out a fiege