od SR? Spee
| any, but efpecially in profeffors of réligion, as" were, and ought to be declaimed againft or were drunkards in a metaphorical fenfe; ei
? and.thefe now, whether in Afjria or im Heypt; of ¢ wherever they are, the gofpel-trumpet will reath. them, and encourage them to come; and»power= ful. efficacious grace accompanying it, will engage and caufe them to come firft to Chrift, »as poor periflting finners, and venture their fouls. on him for life and falvation; ‘they fhall come ‘to’ him in food, righteoufhefs, and life;: and then’ th come to-his churches, and give up themfelves unto them, to walk with them: and shall worfhip the ‘Lord in the boly mount at Ferufalem; in the gofpelchurch, fignified frequently by mount’ Zion and.
SFerufalem; fee Heb. xii. 22. where the Fewsfhalk come, when converted, and-join themfelvesy:and worfhip Ged internally andexternally, in fpixit and in truth: and it may be true of mount Zio, and of Ferufalem, in a literal fenfe; which»will be rebuilt, and inhabited by the ews, and. become a place of divine worthip.. hn eb ill pla $f ‘hint, gies XXVIIE. i deine nase aang or, O' crown of pride, O drunkards of Ephraiin; wie are both called upon, and a wo denounced! againft ‘them. Epbraim is put for the ten tribes; who were drunk either in a hteral fenfe, for to the fin of drunkennefs were they addicted, Hof? vii. 5: “imax vi. 6. The Fews fay ™ that wine of Prugiatha,
‘(which perhaps was a place’ noted for good wihe)
and the waters of Diomafit (baths), cut off the ten tribes from J/rael; which both Farché and Kimchi, on the place, make mention of; that is, as’ Bux torf * interprets it, pleafures and delights’ deftroyed the ten tribes. The inhabitants of Samaria) and the places. adjacent, efpecially were addiéted to this vice; thefe places abounding with excellent’ wires.
Sichem, which were in thefe’ parts, is thotight"té tbe called, from the drunkennefs of its inhabitants,
Sychar, Fobn iv. 5. this is # fin very un idolatry, the two calves being fet up*in Daw
' Bethel, which belonged to the ten tribes; th the kings of the earth are faid to be”
‘the wine of antichrift’s fornication, or thé idolatry of the church of Rome, Rev. xvii. '2. of ri ide and haughtinefs, being elated with the 4 nefs. of their country, their great affluence Seelaat and numbers of people; in all’ which théy'wér porns ‘and
| fuperior to the tribes of Fadab and Benjan in which. they piqued themfelves, and are’ therefore called the crown of pride; and efpecially their Ki n may be meant, who was lifted up with pridé, tha he ruled over fuch a country and people; orrathe the city of Semaria, the metropolis OfMt tribes, and the royal city. ° ‘Perhaps there an allufion to the crowns wore by’ drunk their revels, and particularly’ by fach™whe mighty to drink wine thaaieal drink; “arid ove came others, and triumphed in ‘it’ p and fen fuality are the vices condemned, ‘ant they! fer i together: whofe’ glorious Beauty) hich’ lay in “the numbers of their inhabitants, in their’wealth atid ading flower, not to be depended: ony*foony de of the fat vallies; meaning particularly the corn and wine, the harveft and vintage, with which the fruitful vallies being covered, looked very beautiful and glorious: very probably particular refpect: is’ had to Samaria, the head of the kingdom, and which was fituated on a hill, and furrounded with fruitful vallies; for not Ferufalem is here meant, as Cocceius; nor Gethfemane, by the fat vallies, as Ferom: of them that are overcome with wine; or fmitten, beaten, knocked down with it, as with a hammer, and laid proftrate on the ground, where they lie fixed to it, not able to get up; a true picture of a drunkard, that is conquered by wine, and enflaved unto it; fee ¥. 3.
y. 2. Bebold the Lord hath a mighty and ftrong one, cc.) That is, a powerful king, with a mighty army, meaning Sa/manefer king of Afjria; whom the Lord had at his beck and command, and could ufe at his pleafure, as his inftrument, to bring down the towering pride of Ephraim, and chaftize him for his fenfuality: which as a tempeft of hail, that beats down herbs and plants, and branches of trees, and men and beafts: and a deftroying ftorm, which carries all before it, blows down houfes and trees, and makes terrible devaftation wherever it comes: as a flood of mighty waters overflowing; whofe torrent is fo ftrong there is no ftopping it; fo this mighty and powerful prince, fhall caft down to the earth with the band, the crown of pride, the people of I/rael, and the king of it; he fhall take the crown from his head, and caft it to the ground with a ftrong hand, as the Yews interpret it, with great violence; or very eafily, with one hand, as it were, without any trouble at all. The Zargum is, ** fo fhall people come againft them; and re- ** move them out of their own land into another *¢ Jand, becaufe of the fins which were in their s¢ hands;” fee ch. viii. 7. ¥. 3. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, foall be trodden under feet.| Not only caft down with the-hand, but trampled upon with the feet; fhewing their utter deftruction, and the contempt with which they fhould be ufed, which, with their.character, is repeated, to point out their fins, the caufe of it, to denote the certainty of it, and that it might be taken notice of.
¥. 4. And the glorious beauty which ison the head of the fat valley, &c.] Meaning the riches and fruitfulnefs of the ten tribes, and efpecially of Samaria the head of them: jhall be a fading flower; as before declared, ¥. 1. and here repeated to fhew the certainty of it, and to awaken their attention to it: and as the hafty fruit before the fummer, the firft ripe fruit, that which is ripe before the fummer fruits in common are. The Septuagint render it the firft ripe fig; and fo the Targum and Aben Ezra: which while be that looketh upon it feeth it, that it is goodly and defirable, and fo gathers it, Mic. vii. 1: while it is yet in bis hand be eateth it up; and as foon as he has got it into his hand, he can’t keep it there to look at, or forbear eating it, but greedily devours it, and fwallows it down at once; denoting what a defirable prey the ten tribes would be to the A/yrian monarch, and how fwift, fudden, and inevitable would be their deftruction. yt. 5. And in that day fall the Lord of hofts be fer a crown of glory, &c.] Or, glorious crown ®;
ep ardor, concuifi einen din Actes: s.
furrounding, adorning, arid protecting his péople; granting them his prefence; giving them his Grace, and large meafures of it; caufing them to live foberly, righteoufly; and godly: this ftands oppofed to the crown of pride betore-meritioned; ‘and refers: to the time when that fhould be trampled under. foot, or when the ten tribes fhould be carried into’ captivity, which was in the fixth year of Hezekial’s reign, 2 Kings xviii. to. at’ which time) and. in’ whofe reign, as well as in-the reign of Fefab; this’ prophecy had. its accomplifhment: and for a dia~ dem of beauty; or,. a. beautiful diadem*?; the fame as before, exptefied by different words;:fot the confirmation and illuftration of it: ante the refidue of bis peoples the Arabic verfion adds, in Egypt} the people that reriained: there; when» the “others were carried captive, but without any foundation) Jarchi interprets it of the righteous that were lefe in it, in Samaria, or in Ephraim; in the ten tribes! before fpoken of; but it is to be underftood, as’ Kimchi obferves, of the other two tribes; Fudah and Benjamin, which remained in their own’ land, when others were carried captive; to whom God gave his favours, fpiritual and temporal, in the times of Hezekiah and Fofiah, and efpecially the former is meant, and who was a type of Chrift; to whom this paffage may be applied, who is the. glory of his people Jrae/; and fo the Targum paraphrafes it, ‘* in that day fhall the Meffiah of ** the Lord of hofts be for a crown of joy;” and Kimchi fays, their Rabbins expound this of the king Meffiah, in time to come; when both the kingly and prieftly glory fhould be reftored; the one being fignified by the crown of glory, the other by the diadem of beauty: | he ¥. 6. And for a {pirit of judgment to him that fitteth in gudgment; &c.|} That is, as the Lord would give honour and glory to the people in general, fo wifdom and prudence, a fpirit of judgment and difcerning, to the king in particular, who ‘fat on the throne of judgment to do juftice, and execute judgment among his fubjeéts: tho’ this need. not be reftrained to the king, but be applied to ali the judges and magiftrates in thé land, who fat. and heard caufes and complaints brought before them, for which they fhould be qualified by the Lord; fo Aben Ezra interprets it of the Sanbedrim 3 and for ftrength to them that turn the battel to the gate, as wifdom is promifed to the king and judges of the land, fo ftrength of body and mind, valour and courage, to the prince and his army; fo that they fhould turn.the battel, and caufe their enemies to fly before them, and purfue them -to the very gates of their cities, as Hezekiah did, 2 Kings xviii. 8. “The Syriac yerfion is, who turn the battel from the gate; who, when befieged, fally out upon the befiegers, and drive them from their gates; oblige them to break up-the fiege, and fly before them. ‘The Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, and Jtrength.to them that return from war to the gate; that come home victorious to their own houfes; and fo the Zargum, * that he may give victory to “them that go otit in war, to return them in “< ‘peace to their own houfes.” ‘Wifdom in the cabinet and courts of judicature, and courage in the camp, are two great bleffings to a nation, and ferve much to explain the glory and beauty before vino, Pagninus; pereuffi vino, fo fome in Vatablus; conavaffantur vel conculcantur 2 vino, Forerius; iu PY FAYY, pro corona decora,
_, Mop. But they alfo have.erred through wine, 8c.): Either. they that fat in judgment, and turned the batte] to the gate, as Jarchi interprets it: or ra- ‘ther, fince the Lord.was a fpirit of judgment and “ftrength to thofe, the two tribes of Fudeh and Benjamin, in, after-times are meant, in, the Jatter end of Hezekiah’s reign, or in the times of Manajfeh, or nearer the Badylonifh captivity; thefe tribes, which. profeffed the true religion, and who, had the word, and worfhip, and ordinances of God among them, even thefe were guilty of the fame fin of drunkennefs, as the ten tribes that had apoftatized; there were the drunkards of Fudah, as well as of Ephraim, who erred through wine; they erred and ftrayed from the rule of the divine word by exceffive drinking, and this led them on to other fins, as drunkennefs commonly does; and they were not only thro’ it guilty of errors in practice, but in principle alfo; they made fad miftakes, as in life and converfation, fo in doétrine, their memories, underftandings and judgments, being fadly affected and beclouded thro’ 'this fin: and thro’ ftrong drink are out of the way; of God and his word; out of the way of truth and godlinefs: it fignifies the fame as before, only expreffed in different words.. The Targum renders the word for Strong drink, which defigns any liquor that makes men drunk, by o/d wine, which is accounted the beft: the prieft and the prophet have erred through Strong drink; committed fin, by drinking to excefs, and made themfelves unfit for the duties of their.office, and were guilty of fad miflakes in the performance of it; the prieft finned by fo doing again{ft an. exprefs command, and made himfelf uncapable of diftinguifhing between the holy and unholy, the clean and the unclean, Lev. x..g, 10. tho’ this need not be reftrained to the prieft only, for the word Cohen fignifies a prince as well as prieft.; and it is not fitting for kings to drink wine, nor princes ftrong drink, to excefs, Prov. xxxi. 4, 5. civil as well as ecclefiaftical rulers may be here defigned, tho’ chiefly the latter, men that fhould fet the beft of examples to others; and the prophet, as Kimchi obferves, intends not. the true, but falfe prophets. The Zargum renders it a feribe; thefe and the priefts are frequently mentioned: together in the New Teftament, and were both»erroneous, and their errors here, both as to doétrine and. practice, are imputed to their drunkennefs; a very {candalous fin, efpecially in perfons of fuch a character: they are fwallowed up of wine; they not only greedily {wallowed it down, and were filled with it, but were fwallowed up, by it, drowned in it, and loft the exercife. of their fenfe and reafon, and. were ruined and deftroyed by it, and, made wholly unfit for fuch facred offices in which. they were: they are out of the way through firong drink; out of the way of their duty, by finning jin this manner; and out of the way of the performance of their office, being rendered uncapable of it: they err in vifion; thefe were the prophets, the feers, who pretended to, the vifions-of God, and related them to the people. as:fuchs but they miftook, the imaginations of their-crazy, heads,.-in= toxicated.with liquor, for the vifions, of God’; they erred in prophefying, which may be meant by vifion, they delivered out falfe prophecies, falfe doétrines, and grievous errors, of fatal confequence to the people; or as Kimchi farther interprets it, they erred zm feeing, they miftook in thofe things which were plain. and obvious to the eye of every one, in things clear and manifeft; drunkennefs affedts the eyes both of the body and -of the mind, «that
|a man can fee. clearly with neither, \ The» Targaa is, ‘* they turned after, or declined unte tweet ** meat;” as if they were guilty! of gluttony as well as drunkennefs; but it is not ufual for druakards to erave {weet meat, but rather what is relithing: they ftumble in judgment;-or reel! and itagger, as drunken men do: this refers to:the prieft, who, thro’ drunkennefs, made’ fadhobling work in expounding the law, and giving thelfenie of it, and in pronouncing fentence of judgment in matters of controverfy brought before: his,» to whom thofe things appertained, J/a/. ii 17,°8. Deut. xvii. 8, 9, 10, 11. “ty bevite ¥. 8. For all tables are full of vomit and flthinefs, &c:] The one fignifies what is fpued out of a man’s mouth, his ftomach being over-charged, and the other his excrements; and both ‘give a: juft, tho”
naufeous idea of a drunken man, This vice was become epidemiecal,; men of all ranks and degrees were infected with it, rulers and people; and:inoe wonder that the common people ran into ity when fuch examples were fet them; the tables ofothe priefts, who eat of the holy things in the holy place, and the tables of the prophets, whowpretended to fee vifions, and to prophely»of things to come, were all defiled thro’ this prevailing: fin; fo that there was vo place clean or free from vomit and filthinefs,: no table, or part of one, of prince, prophet, prieft, and people; the Tergum adds, “© pure from rapine or violence.”.R. Simeony vas De Dieu obferves,:makes teli Mekom tofignify without God, feeing God is fometimes withthe Fews called Makom place, becaute he fills all plices; and as if the fenfe was, their tables wereowithout God,.no mention being ‘made of him»at “their table, or in their table-talk, or whilft eatingyand drinking;~ but this does not feem to be. the fenfe of the paflage. Vitringa interprets»this of fchools and public auditories, where talfe doctrines were tauglir, comparable to vomit for filthinefs; hence sit'follows, * Loam ad lady ¥. 9. Whom fhall be teach knowledge?o&e:joNot the drunken prieft or prophet; who were -bethyanfit for teaching men knowledge; but eitherethe true and godly prieft or prophet: of thesLiord;ror the Lord himfelf before fpoken of, as a fpiritoof judgment, y¥. 6; namely, by his prophets and: minifters, the latter {eem rather intended; whommmay or can fuch an one teach the knowledgef God, and of themfelves; the knowledge of the law;iaind of the gofpel; the knowledge of divine truths, \of things neceflary to falvation,,and the conductiof human life; of Jefus Chrift, and»the:way of faivation by him, and of him; as-a foundation of the Lord’s, laying in Zion, hereafter:mentionéd dnithis chapter? who are capable vof ‘receiving fuchinftructions?. it intimates ‘the ftupidity andifottithnefs of the ¥ews, whofe«minds»were? fo impaired by exceffive drinking, than they -wereynot Able: ta take in 'the-knowledge of thefe «things amd <abom Soall he:maketo underftand dofrine?: ortheariapaatiie hearing of ‘the word,» or thexword heard, ithe ret port of the gofpel.;; fo. the wordvis-ufedsimeho iit; 1. this will never be underftood, believed, ceivéd,. ‘unlefs the’ arm. of» therLord uisieve: or his.power:be exerted.5 “prophets vatidt mini may {peak to the ears of nen, but theyscan’t give them.an under{tanding of divine thingsyeGod only
Ch. xxvittia ol AT NS LA TO.
teachablenefs of the people of the Fees, ‘being in the cireumttances they were,’ as’ appears’ by what ‘follows: them'that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breafts, fignifying, that one might ‘as’well take children from the breaft, fuch as are juft weaned, and inftruét them; as°to pretend to teach thefe people the knowledge of divine things, or caufe them to underftand found doétrine, that which is agreeable to law and gofpel; fo fottifh were they become thro’ exceffive drinking. Some underftand this as a ferious anfwer to the queftions, and of perfons in a metaphorical fenfe, whod defire ‘and thirft after the fincere milk of the word, as children juft taken from the breaft, and deprived of it do; and who are afflicted and diftreffed, and without the milk of divine comfort, and are Jike:weaned children, humble, meek, and lowly; fee Matt. xi. 25, 26. ‘archi makes mention of fuch an interpretation as this, them that are weaned from the milk, from the law, which is called milk: and drawn from the breafts; drawn from the difciples of the wife men. It may be underftood of fuch who departed from the fincere milk of the word, and embraced the traditions of the elders.
v.10. For precept mutt be upon precept, precept upon precept, &cc.] Signifying, that they muft be dealt with as children were, when firft inftructed in the rudiments! of a language, firft had one rule given them,’ and then another, and fo one after another till they had gone thro’ the whole:: Zine tipon line, line upon line; who are taught firft to write one line, and then another; or to draw one line, and write after that, and then another; or Where to begin one line, and when finifhed, where to begin another: for the allufion is to writing by line’; and not to’ a line ufed in building, as Kimvhi and Ben Melech think: bere a little; and there @little;-a {mall leffon out of one book, and a imal] leffon out of another;»a little one day, and a little on the next, and fo on; that their memories may not be over -burdened.
Wi11. For with fammering lips, and another tongue will he {peak to this people.) Or hath fpoken*; as parents and nurfes, in a lifping manner, and in a language and tone different from what they ufe in common, {peak unto their children, accommodating themfelves according to their capacities and weaknefs; and {0 it is a continuation of the method to be ufed in inftruéting the Fews, as being like children? or elfe thefe’ words are to be contidered as:a reafon'why, fince they refufed inftruction in this plain, eafy, and gentle manner, by the miniftry of the’prophets of the Lord, he would fpeak to them in a more fevere, and in a rougher manner, in’ his ~providences; and bring a people againft them of a ftrange language they underftood ‘not, and fo fhould not be able to treat and make peace with them, and-who would carry them captive into a ftrange land which was fulfilled by bringing the ‘Chaldeen army upon them, Fer. v. 15. fee 1 Cor. xiv.-21. and afterwards the Romans. “oye 12, To whom be faid, &ec.] Either the Lord himfelf, or the prophet J/aiah; or rather the Lord by him, and other prophets; fo the Targum, * to « whom the prophets faid;” that is, the true prophets:of the Lord faid to-the people, or to the riefts and other prophets; or Chrift and his apo- 3, as follows, this is the reff, wherewith ye may caufe ‘the weary to ref, and this is the refrefhing; that is, by teaching the word of God, the true knowledge of him, and the found do¢trines of the Monsidatiiut. > -; ’ # So Gataker.
ofpel, and thé dities of ‘religion’ “this would be the beft way of eafing and refrefhing the minds and conftiences 6f the people, burdened with a° fenfe of fin, or diftrefled and difconfolate thro’ afflictions and calamities upon them; and bé the ‘moit effeCtual method of continuing them in eafe and peace in theit own land, and of preferving them from captivity, and other judgments threatened with; fee Mart, xi. 28: yet they would not hear’, having no tegard tothe Lord and his prophets’, nor any compaffion to their countrymen, afflicted and diftreffed in mind or body; nor to the doctrine of Chrift and his apoftles." 9). — Xie
¥. 13. But the werd of the Lord was unto them, precept upon précept, &c.] Was defpifed and’ derided by them; they took the prophet’s words out of his mouth, and in a {coffins manner repeated them; which, in the Hebrew text, is in a rhiming form, and were fung and drawled out by them, Tfau latfau, Tfau latfai, Kau lakau, Kau lakau, this is all he can fay to us, and we have from him: precept upon precept, line upon line, &c. or the words may be rendered, and the word of the Lord was unto them, precept upon precept, &c. as it had been, fo it {till was; the fame method was continued to be taken with them, and they ‘till treated as children; and ’tis fuggefted that they fhould remain fo, and not be men in underftanding; and that they fhould be‘ ever learning like children, and never come to the knowledge of the truth.. Moreover, the words may be rendered, tho” thé word of the Lord was unto them, precept upon precept, 8c. tho’ it was delivered in fo plain and eafy a manner to them, and fuch methods of inftruction were ufed gradually and gently, to in- {til knowledge into them, yet fo ftupid were’ they as not to receive it, and fo perverfe and ftubbornh as wilfully to reject it; hence they were given up to judicial blindnefs and hardnefs, Rom. xi. 8, 11: that they might go and fall backward, and be broken, and [nared, and taken, go on in their own finful ways, backflide from God, and be broken by his judgments; and be enfnared and taken in the net of the Babylonians, and be carried by them into captivity; fee Ezek. xii. 13. compare with this Matt. xxi. 44. 1 Pet. ii. 8. or rather fall into the hands of the Romans, and be taken and difperfed by them among the nations.
y. 14. Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye feornful men, &c.} “Mei of fcorn and mockery, that {coffed and mocked “at the word of God, as in the preceding verfe; or at the threatenings of punifhment; and even made a jeft of death and hell, as in the following’ words: the word of the Lord they are called’ upon to hear, hearken, and atrend. to, is either the word of promife of the Meffiah, y. 16. or rather the word threatening them with ruin, ¥. 18. ‘or it may be both: that rule this people, that is in Ferufalem, which mutt not be underftood of the chief ruler’ Hezekiah, but rather of fome fubordinate rulers, fuch as Shebua and others; thefe fet a very bad “example to the common people: no wonder that irreligion and prophanenefs prevail, when civil magiftrates are {coffers at religion. It agrees beft with the rulers of the Jews people in the times of Chrift, who mocked at him and his miniftry, and that of his apoftles. — ‘ yiirs. Becanfé ye have faid, &c.} Within themfelves; ‘they thought fo, if they did not fay it in exprefs words; and their condué and behaviour fhewed ‘that thefe were the fentiments and prefump- tions of their minds: we have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at an agreement, as fate from death, and fecure from hell, or the grave, as if a covenant and compact had been formally entered into between them. ‘The phrafes are expreffive of their being fearlefs of them, and of their confidence and affurance that they fhould not be hurt by them. Some interpret this of their deadly enemies, as Sewnacherib king of Afyria particularly, with whom they had made peace, and had entered into a covenant of friendfhip and alliance, and fo had nothing to fear from the threatenings of the Lord by the prophet; but Vitringa better of the covenant and agreement with the Romans, which the Fewi/h rulers were caréful to obferve, and thought themfelves fafe on account of it; fee Rev. vi. 8: when the overflowing fcourge foall pafs thro’; when the judgments of God fhall come upon the earth, and pafs thro’ the whole world, as a chatftifement and correction of men for their fins, and as a punifhment for them, like a mighty torrent fpreading itfelf, and carrying all before it; or particularly when the Afyrian monarch with his army fhall pais thro’ the land of Fudea, fignified in ¥.2. by a tempeft of hail, a deftroying ftorm, a flood of mighty waters overflowing; or rather the Roman army invading Fudea: it fhall not come unto us; who were in the city of Yerufalem: for we have imade lies our refuge, and under falfbood have we hid ourfelves; not what they themfelves reckoned fo, but what the prophet J/ziahb, or the Lord by him, called fo, whofe words they ufed, and in whofe language they fpoke; meaning either their lying prophets, as Kimchi, and the falfe doctrines they | delivered to them, promifing them peace when deftruction was at hand; or their idols, as archi, which are falfhood, lying vanities, and work of errors; or their carnal policy, arts of diffimulation, finful compliances, and crafty methods of acting with their enemies, by which they hoped to de- | ceive them, and fecure themfelves from deftruétion, as others; or elfe their wealth and riches, got by lying and fraud, ‘which is the fenfe of fome inter-' preters; and perhaps all may be intended, in which they might put their truft and confidence, and on’
account of them expect fecurity from threatened evils, tho’ no other than lies and falfhood; and the fame may be obferved of all outward aéts of religion, rites and ceremonies, and works of righteoufnefs done by men, in which they place their truft, and hope to be faved by them from wrath to come.
¥. 16. Therefore thus faith the Lord God, &c.]
In order to fhew what is the true foundation of hope and truft for fecurity from death and hell, »and to convince men of their vain and falfe confidence, as well as to comfort the people of God, fuch as truly feared him in Feru/alem, who hearing the judgment denounced, might conclude that they were going to be cut off from being a nation, and that the family and kingdom of David would be at an end, and then where was the promife of the Meffiah? wherefore to relieve the minds of fuch, a promife of him is delivered out in the midft of a denunciation of judgment upon the wicked: ebold, a note of attention and admiration, as well as afieveration, J lay in Zion for a foundation, a ftone; Which the Targum interprets of a king; and Farchi of the king Meffiah, who undoubtedly is meant,
“OND.: datum; o fome in Vatablus; fundationem fandatiflimam, Junius & Tremellius; fandamentam folidum, Calyin Tigurine verfioa; fo Ben Melech interprets it a ftrong foundation, as is clear from Rom. ix. 33. 1 Pet. ii. 6. and not Hezekiah, as Kimchi, and others, who was now king, when this prophecy was made, and therefore can’t refpect him; but Chrift, who is frequently fpoken of, under the fimile of a ftone, Gen. xlix. 24. Pf. cxviii. 22. Dan, ii. 45: Zech. iit. g.-and may be compared to one for his ufetulnefs in the fpiritual building, being both foundation and corner-ftone, and for his great ftrength and durablenefs; and this is a ftone of the Lord’s layi which he had been laying in his eternal fei 4 and decrees, as the Mediator, Saviour, and Redeemer of his people; and who he was about to lay, by fending him forth in the fulnefs of ti to be incarnate, fuffer, and die for them; anc whom he lays as the foundation in effectual ealling for his people, to build their faith and hope upon, and this is done in Zion, in the church, which is built upon him, and where he is revealed and made known to be what he is, and as here defcribed: 4 tried fione, by the Old Teftament-faints, and by faints in all ages, who have ventured their i on him, and laid the whole ftrefs of their falvation upon him, and have been faved by him; and by fatan, and his principalities and powers, by his temptations of him in the wilderneis, and by his attacks upon him in the garden, and on the crofs, and found him to be-an immovyeable ftone, and were broken by him; and by his divine Father, who tried his faithfulnefs by trufting him with all his ele&t, and the falvation of them; and his great ftrength, by laying upon him ail their fins, and the punifhment due unto them. Some render it, a ftone of trial, or a- trying frome’, by which men are tried, and difcovered to be what they are, whether believers or unbelievers, fincere chriftians or hypocrites; which may be known by their conduét and behaviour to Chrift; if they come to him as a living ftone, and he is pretious to them, they are true believers; but if he is to them a ftone of ftumbling, and a rock of offence, they are unbelievers, and reprobate perfons, 1 Pet. ii. 4, 7, 8: @ pretious corner-flone, which, as it is both for the beauty and ftrength of the building, fo it knits; cements, and keeps the parts together; and of this ufe is Chrift in the fpiritual. building; angels and men are knit together in him,: Jems and Gentiles, Old and New Teftament-faints, faints above and faints below, faints in all ages, times, and places: and a pretious {tone he is, a pearl of great price; pretious to his Father, who loves him, and delights in him, and has chofen and Jaid him as the foundation of his church, and of every true believer; to whom alfo he is pretious, his perfon names, offices, and relations, his blood, righteoufnefs, and facrifice, his word, ordinances, and people, and every thing belonging to him: @ fare foundation; a well founded one “; which will never give way; a rock on which the church is built, and the gates of hell cannot prevail againft it; a {ure foundation of faith and hope, of. peace, joy and comfort, and of eternal, happinefs to all i build upon it; a foundation firm.and flrong, immoveable and everlafting; and fo is every thing that is laid or depends upon it, the covenant of grace, and the promifes of it, the perfons of the Lord’s people, and their falvation: eye lieveth, either thofe things, as the uNd 2 this promife and prophecy, tained therein; or in Chrift, the foundation laid, the tried and pretious corner-ftone, fo it is.explained in 1 Pet. ii. 6: fhall not make hafte; or be unpatient for the fulfilment of this prophecy, but patiently wait for it, knowing that. it is for an appointed time, and. will not. tarry y and that God will haften it in his own time; or will not make hafte to lay any other foundation, being fatisfied with this that is laid; nor make hafte to a ftrange God, to another Saviour, knowing there is falvation in him, and in no other.. The Zargum is, *< fhall not be moved when trouble comes;” «being founded upon this rock of ages, which is proof againft all ftorms and tempefts; fee Matt. vii. 24, 25. The apoitles Paul and Peter, agreeable to the Septuagint verfion, render it, fhall not be afbamed, or confounded, fee the notes on Rom. ix. 33. and x Pet. ii. 6, ¥.17. Judgment alfo will I lay to the line, &c.] A metaphor taken from builders, who in building uje the line and plummet, to carry on their work even and regular, retaining fuch {tones as agree thereunto, and rejecting fuch as do not; fignifying that in the fpiritual building, where Chrift is the foundation and corner-ftone, fuch as are built thereon, {hall continue and grow up regularly into an holy temple; but thofe that fet at nought this pretious ftone, and build upon the fandy foundation of their own righteoufnefs, betake themf{elves to a tefuge of lies, and cover themfelves in their own hiding places, as well as all fuch who go on in their fins, fhall be rejected by the;righteous judgment of God: and righteoufne/s to the plummet; meaning the fame as before; or, J «will lay judgment by the line, and righteoufne/s by the plummet”; the rule of the divine law, by which it will appear whether their actions are agreeable to it, or the ‘righteoufnefs they truft in, anfwerable to it; or the fenfe is, that at the fame time that God would preferve and fecure his own people upon the fure foundation Chrift, he would punifh others, according to the ftrict rules of juftice, as his righteous law required, and according to the juft demerit of fin. Kimchi interprets it, but very wrongly, of the juftice and equity that fhould take place in the reign of Hezekiah, which were wanting at the time of this prophecy; but the preceding prophecy regards Chrift, and not Hezekiah; and therefore is rather to be underftood of the right and equal diftribution of juftice and judgment in the adminiftration of government by him: and the hail fhall fweep away the refuge of lies; the lies they made their refuge, y. 1g. their lying prophets, their idols, their riches, their righteoufnefs, and every thing in which they placed: their confidence; for all refuges, be they what they will, are: lying ones, and will deceive, excepting Chrift and his: righteoufnefs all which are eafily, and at once fwept away, with the befom of avenging juftice,-when God takes it in hand. The phrafe denotes the facility;and fuddennefs of the. deftruction, and the entirenefs of it, which fhould be brought» about by «means of an hailftorm, the fame with that in y.2. which. defigns _. the Afjrian, or rather the Reman army, fince the ". prophecy preceding relates to the times of.Chrift; and it may be, by the refuge of lies may be meant ~ the temple, in which the Jews greatly placed their confidence, as Cocceius thinks: and the waters frail overflow the hiding place; the city of Ferufalem, where they hid, and thought themfelves fafe: a mighty army rufhing into.a city, and putting the inhabitants to the fword, or to flight, or obliging them to furrender, maybe fitly fignified by an inundation of water; fee ch. viii, 7, 8. very probably the army of the Romans wunder Ve/pafian, ~ | ¥. 18. And your covenant with death fhall be difanulled, &c.| Or, be befmeared *, or daubed over, as the ark was with pitch, Gen, vi. 14. where the fame word is ufed as here; fo that it fhall not be legible, as any writing that is blotted out by ink, or any other liquor, fo that it cannot be read; in like manner this their covenant with death fhould be fo obliterated, that the articles of it could not be made’ out, and fo of no force; thus the Targum renders it, ‘* fhall be made void;’ fee the note on ¥.15: and your agreement with bell frail not ftand, ox vifion, or provifion’; which they had made by compact, with the greateft care, caution, and forefight, to fecure themfelves from deftruction, would be found infufficient. The Targum is, ** and your peace, which was with the deftroyer, ** fhall not ftand;” fee the note on ¥. 15: when the overflowing feourge fhall pafs thorough; the land of Fudea, and the city of Ferufalem; fee the note as before: then fhall ye be trodden down by it; tho’ they flattered themfelves it fhould not come near them, yet it would; and they would not be able to ftand before it, but wouid be thrown down, and trampled upon by it, as the mire of the ftreets; fee Luke xxi. 24.. ¥. 19. From the time that it goeth forth, it fhall take you, &c.}] Or, as foon as it paffeth thro’, it feall take you away; as foon as it begins to overflow, and as it goes along, it fhall make clear work, and carry you away with it; you'll not be - able to refift it, to withftand its motion, and ftop its progrefs; but will be borne down by it, and carried away with it, either deftroyed by it at once, or carried into captivity; fo the Targum, ‘ in the ‘¢ time of its paffing over, it fhall carry you cap- “ tive:” for morning by morning foall it pafs over, by day, and by night; fignifying that it fhould come very early, before they were aware of it, and pre~ pared for it, and fhould be conftant and inceffant, day after day, day and night, continually, until it had done its work thoroughly, in the utter deftruc-. tion of them; which was true of the Afprian, but efpecially of the Roman army: and it fhall be a venation only to underftand the report; the fame, the rumour of the enemies coming, of his invafion of the land, of the devaftation he makes every where, and of his progrefs, and near approach to Yerufalem; the bare report of this only being made and confirmed, fo that there was reafon to believe it, would produce anguifh and diftrefs of mind, caufe a commotion, a fear and trembling, and fhaking of the joints, as the word * fignifies; and therefore, how dreadful muft the calamity itfelf be! or elfe this may be meant of the report of the prophets of the Lord, which before they would not believe; but now the judgments threatened coming. upon them, they would be made to underftand it; fo the Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, and only vexation alone foall give underftanding to the report, and to to this fenfe the Targum, ‘* and it fhall-be, before « the time of the curfe comes, that ye fhall under- “‘ ftand the words.of the prophets;” and when it was come, fhould know to their forrow,: and»by.
fad experience, the truth of what they, had faid. |
¥.20. For the bed is foorter, than that a man con frretch himfelf on it, €Zc.] When a bed is fhort, a man can’t lie at his full length, and at eafe: and the covering narrower, than that be can wrap bimfelf in it; when the bed-clothes are narrow, a man can’t cover himfelf with them, fo as to’be warm and comfortable.. Thefe proverbial expreffions are interpreted by Kimchi ot Ferufalem, when befieged by the Afyrian army, when the inhabitants of it were much ftreightened, diftrefied, and made uncomfortable; perhaps it may be better underftood of the fame city; when befieged by, the Romans, to which the Yews flocked from all parts, in. fuch numbers, for fhelter, that there was not room enough for them, at leaft, not provifion, and which was. the caufe of that great diftrefs, and miferable condition they were reduced to: in general, the defign of the words may be to fhew that all refuges and fhelters, all means made ufe of for fafety and protection, by which they endeavoured to cover and fecure themfelves, would be infufficient; and particularly fuch that laid themfelves at eafe on the bed of their own righteoufnefs, not fubmitting to Chrift and his righteoufnefs, and covered themfelves with the rags of their own doings, and not with the garments of his falvation, would find themfelves in a very uncomfortable and unfafe ftate.
¥.21. For the Lord fhall rife up as in mount Perazim, &c.| Where the Lord broke forth on Davia’s enemies the Philijtines, as the breach of waters; fee ¥.17. and deftroyed them, from whence the place had the name of Baal Perazim, 2 Sam. v. 20. The Zargum is, “‘ for as the mountain which ** moved when the glory of the Lord was revealed “* in the days of Uzzieh the king;” referring to the earthquake in his time, Amosi. 1. Zech. xiv. 5: he fhall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, Fofepbus Ben Gorion » makes mention of the valley of Gideon, where a battel was fought between Ce/fius the Roman general, and the Jews, in which the latter got the victory, and fays it was fifty furlongs from Ferufalem: here the Philifiines were fmitten, returning again after they had been vanquithed before, 1 Chron. xiv. 16, tho’ it is more generally thought, that this refers to the difcomfiture of the Canaanites, in the times of Fofbua, when alfo hailftones fell upon them, and deftroyed many; fee y. 17. and when the fun and moon ftood ftill tll Jjrael were avenged on their enemies, and which fhewed the power and prefence of God with them, Joo. x. 1o—13. and fo the Targum, which adds, ** and in the miracles which he (the Lord) did ** for Jo/bua, in the valley of Gideon;” and thefe inftances are mentioned as proofs. of the divine power and vengeance, and to affure the Fews that the Lord would rife up in the fame wrath and indignation againft them, and confume them: that he may do bis work, bis firange work, and bring to pafs bis aft, bis firange aé; which may be called fo, becaufe in the above-mentioned inftances. he fought for his people J/rael, but in this he would fight againft them; and becaufe this was a work and act of ftrict juftice, and awful feverity, and not fo agreeable to him as a¢ts of mercy, grace, and, goodneis, in which he delights; or rather, becaufe it was an unufual‘one, marvellous and far+ prifing, and would be fo to the Jews them andjeven.to their enemies, and to: alkthe as the deftruction of Feru/alem was, efpecially as by the Romans; fee Hab. i. 5, 6. Vitringa befides this, adds the calling of the Gentiles i of the inheritance of the world, and the. 3 of the kingdom of jatan in the Roman emit The Targum interprets this in'a very ¢ %. of fuch as do ftrange works, idolatry; for which > 0 pds they are confumed. ». 7 Diy a a ¥.22. Now therefore be ye not mockers® At the words of the prophets, and the judgments denounced by them, which is very common, when they are deferred, and not immediately executed ¢ this was the cafe before the’deftruction of Ferufalem by the Chaldeans, and one caufe of it, 2 Chron, xxxvi. 16. and alfo by the Romans; fee AGs xiii 41: left your bands be made firong; punifhment be-— come heavier, and more grievous; “and'fo the Syriac verfion renders it; as prifoners that attempt to make their efcape, have their bonds and»fetters made fafter, and fo are put to more pain and*di-~ ftrefs; to which the allufion feems to'be, fi: that by fcoffing and mocking at the word of God; they would bring upon themielves greater and forer punifhments, Heb. x. 29: for I have beard from the Lord God of Hofis; in a vifion from him; by & fpirit of prophecy, as a fecret commiunicated* by him; for whatever the Lord did, he ufually made ~ it known to his prophets; and it’might be depended upon what they faid, as being, what the: Lord had declared in their hearing; fee Amos iii. 72 a confumption even determined upon the whole earth 3 or, on the whole land, the land of Fudea; for this deftruction feems only to refpeét that; and*is the fame with the confummation, and that determinedy that fhould be poured upon the defolate, Dan. ix. 275° which manifeftly defigns the deftruéction of the Fews - by the Romens, which was an affair determined by”
the Lord, whofe counfel fhall ftand, and therefore - would furely come to pafs.:
¥. 23. Give ye ear, and hear my voice, 8e:} So faid the prophet, as the Targum introduces’ the” words; and becaufe what he was’ about to fay ' was of importance, and delivered in a parabolical- manner, and required attention, he makes’ ufe of a variety of words to the fame purpofe, to engage their attention: bearken, and hear my /peech, now about to be made; liften to it, and get the underftanding of it. wh oy
¥.24. Doth the plowman plow all day to fow? &c.}] Or, every day; he plows in order to fow; by plowing he prepares the ground for fowing, that is his end in plowing; and he may plow a whole day together, when he is at it, but he does ~ not plow every day in the year; he has other work to do befides plowing, as is after mentioned; fuch — as breaking of clods, fowing feed, and threfhing: - the corn after it is ripe, and reaped, and gathered,
The prophet fignifies thatthe Lord, like a plowman, had different forts of work; -he was not — always doing one and the fame thing; and’ par- ~ ticularly, that he would not be always admonif and threatening men, and making preparatio his judgments, but in a little time’ he would with a mallet or iron bar, or with the harrow; whereby the ground is made even, and fo for fowing. ‘The Targum interprets the whole ignified by after metaphors doth be open and break the clods of bis ground? he does.
a myftical fenfe, of the inftructions of the prophets thus, ‘‘ at all times the prophets prophefy to teach, ‘* if perhaps the ears of finners may be opened to “© receive inftruction;” and it may. be applied to the work of the fpirit of God upon mens hearts, by the miniftry of the word: the heart of man is and untruitful; the miniftry of the word is the plough, and minifters are the plowmen; but it is the fpirit of,God that makes their miniftrations ufeful, for the conviction of the mind, the pricking of the heart, and breaking it in pieces; fee Fer. iv. 3. and xxiii. 29.
¥.25. When be hath made plain the face thereof,’
&c.] By harrowing it, after it is plowed: doth be not cafi abroad the fitches, and fcatter the cummin, in fowing them in the ground, prepared for them; the former of thefe don’t feem to be the fame we fo call, but fomething elfe.. The Septuagint verfion calls it the little melanthion, the fame with the nigella « of the Latins, and is fometimes called gith*, as in the Vulgate Latin verfion here.. The Syriac and Arabic verfions render it anife, which is mentioned. along with cummin, as common with the Fews, and which, in Chrift’s time, were tithed, Matt. xxiii. 23. and both thefe in the text are by Kimchi faid to be the food of man: and caft in the principal. wheat, and the appointed barley, and the rye in their place? each in their proper place, or in foil fuitable for them; fome land being more fuitable for the one, than for the other, which the hufbandman underftands: wheat is the choiceft and moft excellent grain, and therefore called principal, or elfe becaufe it is fizjt fown, or fown in the beit and principal ground: darley is faid to be appointed, or to be fowed in a place appointed for it; or marked‘, referring either to places marked in the field, where it fhould be fowni; which fenfe the Targum, and the Fewi/h commentators favour; or to facks of it marked, in which the beft feed for fowing was put: and the rye in its border *, appointed for that. archi thinks this refers to the different places of fowing; the wheat was fown in the middle of the field; barley round about the mark or fign for that purpofe; and rye upon the borders. The Targum is, ‘* as wheat is fown in « an uncultivated field, and barley by the figns, “< and rye by the borders;” but the whole is intended to exprefs the wifdom of the hufbandman, in fowing different feeds, not in the fame field, which was forbidden by the law, Lev. xix. 19. but in eround fuitable to each of them; and in the myitical fenfe defigns the execution of divine judgments on men, in proportion to their fins, after they haye been admonifhed of them, and reproved for them; and may be applied alfo to the fowing of the feed of the word in the hearts of men, and iluftrated by the parable of the fower in Matt. xiil. 19 —23.- x. 26. For his God doth inftrudt him to difcretion, and doth teach him.| God gives the hufbandman inftruction and difcretion, how to fow his feed, at what time, and in a proper place; for this refers to.what goes before; tho’ fome think a new act is here intended, namely, threfhing or beating out of corn, rendering the words, and be (the hufbandman) deateth it out, according to the difcretion, or judgment, bis God teaches bim*; which is exprefied eynoa3 MMOD fpeltam in termino ejus, vel fuo, Pagninus, Montanus, illud ad eam rationem, guam Deus ipfius docet eum, Pifcator, Gataker; vel colligat, Se.
in general terms here, and is néxt particilarly in?
| filted on, in the following verfes.
¥.27. Kor the fitthes are not threfbed with a threfbing inflrument, &c.] A wooden fledge, dray, or cart; drawn on wheels; the bottom of which was {tuck with iron teeth, and the top filled with ftones, to prefs it down with the weight thereof, and. was drawn by horfés, or oxen, to and fro, over the fheaves of corn, laid in proper order, whereby the grain was feparated from the hufk; fee the note on 1 Cor, ix. 9. but fitches, the grain of them being more eafily feparated, fuch an inftrument was not ufed in threfhing them: zeither ts @ cart-wheel turned about upon the cummin, the cart-wheel of the above inftrument was not turned upon the cummin, that being alfo more eafily threfhed; or beaten out, and therefore another method was ufed with thefe, as follows: but the fitches are beaten out with a ftaff, and the cummin with a rod; in \iké manner as corn is with us, threfhed out with a flail; fo the Lord proportions the chaftifements and correétions of his people, td the grace and ftrength that he gives them; he afflicts them either more gently, or more feverely, as they are able to bear it; with fome he ules ‘his ftaff and rod, and with others his threfhing inftrument, and cart-wheel; fome being eafier, and others harder to be wrought upon by the afflictive difpenfations of providence; fee 1 Cor. x. 13. or this may point out the difference between the punifhment of wicked men, and the chaftifement of the faints. es
¥. 28. Bread-corn is bruifed, &c.]_ The corn which bread is made of, is bruifed and ground in a mill: decaufe, or therefore, he will not ever be threfoing it, tor there is another way of bringing it to flour, that fo it may be made bread, namely, by grinding it in a mill; and therefore the hufbandman ufes his difcretion in threfhing it; he won’t threfh it too much, nor too long, no thore than what is neceffary to get out the grain, but will take care that he does not bruife and break it; as follows: nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruife it with his horfemen, tho’ he makes ufe of the above threfhing inftrument, drawn upon wheels by horfes, or oxen, for the threfhing out of wheat, barley, or rye, corn of which bread is made; yet he takes care that it is not crufhed and fpoiled by the wheels of the cart, or the feet of the horfes, or oxen, going too often over it; by all which may be fignified the tender regard of God in afflicting his own people; he will not always be chiding, ftriving, and contending with them, or be always angry, and ever afflicting, and when he does afflict, it is in a tender and careful manner, Pf. ciii. 9; 13. and cxxv. 3. J/. xxvii.
¥.29. This alfo cometh from the Lord of Hofts, &c.] “All this wifdom the hufbanaman has, in manuring his ground, in fowing it with proper feed, and in threfhing it out in a manner fuitable to it. Agriculture or hufbandry, even among the heathens, is always aferibed to God, as an invention of his, and it was the firft work which God put man to, and inftruéted him in, Gen, iii. 23. and iv. 2. and as this, fo all other arts, and {ciences, and manufa¢tures, come from God, even all things in nature; providence, and gtace, “3 the the knowledge of them; wherefore he himfelf muft be infinitely wife and knowing; fee P/. xciv. 9, ro. and be as he is next defcribed: which 7s wonderful in counfel; in giving counfel to man, both with refpect to things temporal and fpiritual; and whofe counfel is always wife and good, and for the beft; and when taken, infallibly fucceeds. See an inftance of his wonderful counfel, Rev. iii. 18. and alfo he is wonderful, in forming wife plans and fchemes of operation; the wife plan of his works of creation and providence was formed in his vaft and infinite mind from eternity; the wife fcheme of our redemption and falvation by Chrift was concerted by him, wherein he has abounded
HIS chapter contains a prophecy concerning the deftruétion of the temple and city of Ferufalem by the Romans; the character and condition of the people of the Yews, previous to it; the calling of the Gentiles, by the preaching of the gofpel; the ruin of antichrift, and the converfion of the Fews, in the latter day. The fiege and deftruction of ‘ferufalem are defcribed in ¥. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. the difappointment of their enemies, notwithftanding their taking and deftroying it, y. 7, 8. the ftupidity, judicial blindnefs, and hardnefs of the Fews, which brought on their ruin, are predicted, y. 9, 10. the ignorance of their learned, as well as of their unlearned men, with refpect to the fcripture, and the prophecies of it, ¥.11, 12. their hypocrify and formality in worfhip, ¥. 13. a blaft upon all their wifdom and prudence, who thought to be wifer than the Lord, and too many for him, whofe folly and atheifm are expofed, y. 14, 15, 16. and a great change beth in Fudea and the Gentile world, by the removal of the gofpel from the one to the other, ¥.17: the effects of which are, deaf finners hear the word, dark minds are enlightened, and joy increafed among the meek and poor, ¥. 18, rg. the fall of the Zews, or elfe of antichrift, is foretold, ¥. 20, 21. and the chapter is clofed with a promife and prophecy of the converfion of the feed of Abraham and Facob, ¥. 22, 23, 24.
¥.1. Wo to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt, &c.| Many Fewifh writers by Ariel underftand the altar of burnt-offerings; and fo the Zargum, ‘* wo altar, altar, which was built in the “< city where David dwelt;” and fo it is called in Ezek. xiii. 15, 16. it fignifies the lon of God; and the reafon why it is fo called, the Fews fay * is, becaufe the fire lay upon it in the form of a lion; but rather the reafon is, becaufe it devoured the facrifices that were laid upon it, as a lion does its prey; tho’ others of them interpret it of the temple, which they fay was built like a lion, narrow behind and broad before *; but it feems better to underftand it of the city of ferufalem, in which David encamped, as the word ' fignifies; or encamped againft, as fome,; which he befieged, and took from the Yebufites, and fortified, and dwelt in sand which may be fo called from its ftrength and fortifications, natural and artificial, and from its being the chief city of fudab, called a lion,
Junius & T'remellius; caftra habuit, Pifcator. city in which David encamped; and he obferves, that fome fupply
1,2 towards us in all wifdom and prudence; and the manner, means, time, and place, of his a and effectual vocation of his people, are all wifely fixed by him; and he does all things after the counfel of bis will, Eph. i. 11. and therefore it follows: and excellent in working; both as to the mat= ter or things wrought by him, which are the moft excellent things in nature, providence, and grace, wrought out either by the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit; and as to manner of workil all being done well and wifely; and likewife with refpect to the end, his own glory, and the good of his people. oe
Fer. xlix. 9g. whofe ftandard had a lion ont, and from whence came the Meffiah, the lion of the tribe of Fudah, or rather from its cruelty in fhedding the blood of the prophets, and’was, asthe Lord fays, as a lion unto him that cried againft him, ‘Yer. xii. 8. and fo the words may be confidered as of one calling to Ferufalem, and lament: ing over it, as Chrift did, O Feru/alem, Ferufalem, thou that killeft the prophets, &c. Matt. xxiii, 37% and the mention of David's name, and of his dwelling in it, is not only to point out what city is meant, and the greatnefs and glory of it; but to fhew that this would not fecure it from ruin and deftruction™: add ye year to year; which fome un= derftand of two precife years, -at the end of which Ferufalem fhould be befieged by the army of Sennacherib; but that is not here meant. Cocceius thinks that a large meafure of time is meant, that one year is the length of time from David’s dwelling in Ferufalem, to the Babylonifh captivity; and the other year from the time of Zorobabel and Nehemiab, to the deftruction by the Romans, which is more likely; but rather the fenfe is, go on from year to year in your fecurity, and vain confidence; or keep your yearly feafts, and offer your yearly facrifices; as follows: Jet them kill facrifices; the daily and yearly facrifices; let the people bring them, and the priefts offer them, for the time is coming when an end will be put to them; the feajts foall be cut off, {0 the words may be rendered; the feftivals fhall ceafe, and be no more obferved; and fo the Targum, “ the feftivities fhall ceafe’;” or feafts being put for lambs, fo in P/. cxviii. 27. as Ben Melech obferves, the fenfe is, their h fhould be cut off *. | ores ¥. 2. Yet [will diftrefs Ariel, &c.] Or ftreighten it, by caufing it to be befieged; and this he would do, notwithftanding their yearly facrifices, and their obfervance of their folemn feafts, and other ceremonies of the law, in which they placed their confidence, and neglected weightier matters: and there frall be beavine/s and forrow; on account of the fiege; by reafon of the devaftations of the without, made on all the cities and towns in Fadea round about; and becaufe of the famine*and bloodfhed in the city: and it fhall be unto me as Ariel, the whole city fhall be as the altar; as that was covered with the blood and carcaffes ‘of flain beafts, fo this with the blood and carcaffés of men; fol. 37. 1. rn are rendered by Noldius, the copulative and; wo to Ariel, and to the city, &c. fo m them diitin&, which feems beft to agree with the accents, and may refpeét the deftruétion both of their ecelefiaitic and ciyil fate;
the temple being defigned by Arie/, and Jerusalem by the city. See Concord. Ebr, part. p. 183. N°. 842.
caftrametatus eft, Vatablus, wo to Ariel, to Ariel: tothe and fo the Targum, “ and I will diftrefs the city ‘¢ where the altar is, and it fhall be defolate and ** empty; and it fhall be furrounded before me with the blood of the flain, as the altar is furrounded with the blood of the holy facrifices on ‘* a folemn feaft-day all around;” fo Farchi and Kimchi.;
¥. 3. Iwill camp againft thee round about, &c.] Or as a ball or globe °; a camp all around; the Lord is faid to do that which the enemy fhould do, becaufe it was by his will, and according to his order, and which he would fucceed and profper, and therefore the prophecy of it is the more terrible; and it might be concluded that it would certainly be fulfilled, as it was; fee Luke xix. 43. and xxi. 20: and will lay fiege againft thee with a mount; raifed up for foldiers to get up upon, and caft their arrows into the city from, and fcale the walls; Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it a wooden tower. This can’t be underftood of Sennacherib’s fiege, for he was not fuffered to raife a bank againft the city, nor {hoot an arrow into it, J/. xxxvii. 33. but well rees with the fiege of Ferufalem by the Romans, as related by Fofephus?: and Iwill rat[e forts againft thee; from whence to batter the city; the Romans had their battering rams.
¥. 4. And thou fhalt be brought down, &c.] To the ground, and laid level with it, even the city of Ferufalem, as it was by the Romans; and as it was predicted by Chiift it would, Lwke xix. 44. tho’ fome underftand this of the humbling of the inhabitants of it, by the appearance of Sennacherid’s army before it, and of which they interpret the following claufes: and fhalt /peak out of the ground, and thy fpeech foall be low out of the dujt which fome explain of the fubmiffive language of Hezekiah to Sennacherib, and of his meflengers to Rabjhakeh, 2 Kings xviii. 14, 26. as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; but it is expreflive of the great famine in Ferufalem, at the time of its fiege by the Romans, when the inhabitants were’ fo reduced by it, as that they were fcarce able to fpeak as to be heard, and could not ftand upon their legs, but fell to the ground, and lay in the duft, uttering from thence their fpeech, with a faint and feeble voice: and thy voice foall be as one that hath a familiar fpirit, out of the ground, and thy fpcech fhall whifper out of the duft; or peep and chirp, as little birds, as Farchi and Kimcbi, as thofe did that had familiar fpirits; and as the heathen oracles were delivered, as if they came out of the bellies of thofe that fpoke, or out of caves and hollow places in the earth; and this was in juft retaliation to thefe people, who imitated fuch practices, and made ufe of fuch fpirits; fee J/- viii. 19.
¥. 5. Moreover, the multitude of thy ftrangers fhall be like fmall duft, &c.| Or of thofe that fan thee %, as the Vulgate Latin verfion; and fo the Targum, “< of thofe that {catter thee;” or of thine enemies, as others; meaning the Romans, who were a ftrange people to them, who got the dominion over them, and fcattered them abroad in the world: and the fimile of fmall dujt, to which they are compared, is not ufed to exprefs the weaknefs of them, but the greatnefs of their number, which was not to be counted, any more than the duft of the earth; fee Numb. xxiii. 10: and the multitude of the terrible ones foall be as chaff that paffeth away; defigning