Exposition of the Whole Bible

to enter into an alliance, or requeft help, without of the country of Egypt, into which they went, the knowledge; leave, and,confent, and indeed order, of the king, under which character they went, _ as appears from the following claufe: aad bis embajaaers came te Hanes; thele are the fame with the princes, for fuch were fent on this embaifly, both tor the honour of the kingdom, and for the more eafy obtaining of their end; the two’ places mentioned, to which they went, were two principal cities in, Agypt; where probably the king of Egypt was,, andyhis court kept, fometimes at one»place, and fometimes at another. Zoan is the fame with Y@uis, the metropolis of one of the nomes or. provinees of Egypt, called from it the Tanitic nome; andfo.the Targum here renders it, Zanes; and the Ssepiuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions, Tanis.; fee the, note on ch. xix. 11. The Fews ® fay there: is nota more excellent place in all Egypt than Zoan, becaufe kings were brought up in it, as it is here faid, 418 princes were at Zoan; the other here called Hanes,.is the fame with Tabapanes in Fer. ii. 16. and Yakpanbes, chy xliii. 7, 8,9. and fo the Targum here,calls it; it is thought*to be the fame with Dephne Pelufie; here Pharaoh had a houfe or palace; fee Fer. xliii. g. and this is the reafon of the embafiadors going thither.

wig. Lhey were all afhamed of a people that could not profit them, &c.|. The princes, the embaffadors that were fent-unto them, and the king or people, or both, that fent them, who hoped for, and expected great things from them, but being difappointed, were filled with fhame;° becaufe either the 'Lgypiians, who are the people here meant, either could not help them, or would not, not daring to engage with fo powerful an enemy as the Affyrian monarch, which is illuftrated and confirmed by repeating the fame, and ufing other words: xo? be an kelp, nor profit, but a foame, and alfo a reproach; fo far from being of any advantage to them, by helping and affifting them againft their enemy, wariting either inclination or capacity, or both, that it not»only turned to their fhame, but even was ‘matter of reproach to them, that ever they made any application to them, or placed any confidence in:them for help.

¥.6. The burden of the beafts of thexfouth, &c.] Some think this begins a new. prophecy, and this the name and infcription of it. The Septuagint verfion is, ‘* the vifion of the four-footed beafts *¢ in the wildernefs;” and Kimchi’s note is, ‘* this “¢ prophecy, which he prophefied, that the beafts ** of the fouth fhould go out, meaning the beatts “* of the wildernefs, and. devour thofe that went “* to feck help from Egypt;” but it refpects the fame thing as before, as appears by what follows; namely, the meflengers going down to Egypt, which lay fouth of Fudea, as Farchi and Kimchi, Ben Melech and Abarbinel obferve, with beafts carrying riches thither, either for fafety, or to obtain help from them: into a land.of trouble and anguifh, as it had been to their fathers formerly, and would be no otherwife to them now, notwithftanding their high raifed expectations of affiftance from them; _ there may be an allufion to its name Mizraim:

from whence come the young and old lion, the viper, and fiery flying serpent, creatures with which Egypt abounded, as hiftorians relate, and where fome of them, at leaft,,were worfhipped, and where alfo men dwelt comparable to thefe creatures, as for craft, and cruelty; tho’ fome underftand this not ac wnt 2 bel

1 PINT STN vecavi ad hanc, Montanus; ad iftam clamo, Catftalio, ae but of the defert of Arabia, which lay between Judea and Egypt, thro’? which they went; which was a land of trouble and anguifh, for want of water, and becaufe of thefe noxious creatures, of which it was full; fee Deut. viii. 15: they will carry their riches upon the fooulders of young affes which were much ufed in Judea to carry burdens on, and which were laid chiefly on their fhoulders; and this-denotes the great quantity of riches that would be, and were carried into Egypt, either by the ambafladors, as prefents to the Egypiians, to gain their friendfhip and affiftance; or elfe by fome of the principal inhabitants of Feru/alem and Judea, who upon hearing of the invafion by Sexnacherib, gathered. up their riches, and fled to Lgipt with them for, fafety, niaking ufe of young affes and camels, -as follow: and their treafures upon the bunches, of camels; much ufed in travelling thro’ the deferts of radia, and which have fome one, fome two bunches on their backs, whereby they are better fitted to carry burthens. The word is of the fingular number, and only ufed in this\place;, and has the fignification of honey, as the camels bunch is fo called, as Farchi from the Talmud.” fays, becaufe when hurt, it is healed by anointing it with honey; and upon thefe they carried their money and jewels they had treafured up: ¢o.@ people that feall not proft them; the Egyptians, who were of no fervice to the Fews, to free them from thé invafion of the Affyrians.

¥.7. For the Egyptians fhall help in vain, and to no purpofe, &c.] Not fending fuccours in time, or fuch as did no fervice; tho’ they made a thew of help, and attempted to help them, or feemed to do fo, yet failed to do it: therefore cave I cried; proclaimed or publifhed, either the Lord by the prophet, or the prophet in the name of the Lord, which is much the fame: concerning this, their firength is to fit fill; either concerning. this embafly, that it would have been better for the embafladors to have {pared all their toil, and labour, and ftrength, in going down to Egypt, and have remained quiet and eaify in their own country; or,

I cried, or called, to this ', this city of Ferufalem, ’ and the inhabitants of it, and declared to them, that it was beft for them quietly to truft in the Lord, and depend upon his protection, and fit ftill in Ferufalem, and not attempt to flee from thence to Egypt for fafety, and they fhould fee the falvation of God, as in Exod. xiv. 13. to which fome think there is an.allufion; not but that they might be bufy, and employ themfelves in preparing for their defence, by providing themfelves with arms, and repairing their fortifications; but it was not right to go out of the city, and feck a foreign aid or fafety. The word for /trengih is Rabab, one of the names of Egypt, Pf. \xxxvil. 3. Tf. li. g. and fo the fenfe may be, their Rabab, their Egypt, or what they expect from-thence, namely, protection and fafety, is to fit ftill, and abide quietly at Ferufalem. ‘archi refers this to Egypt, I bave called to this, to Egypt, they are of a proud {pirit, the people ceafe, and are proud without caule; or according to another expofition he gives, their pride ceafeth, or it is fit it fhould. De Dieu interprets it alfo of Egypt; and fo does Gufetius *, but in a different manner, thus, the Egyptians are ftrength as to reft, they will ftrongly reft, while J/rae ftrongly hopes they will help them.

-¥.8. Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, &c.] Meaning their fins, their rebellion againft God, their truft in an arm of flefh, and contempt of the divine word; or the prophecy of their deftruction, for thefe things; and both may be meant; which the Lord orders to be written before their eyes, in fome public place, as in the temple, upon a table, a table of wood covered with wax, on which they formerly wrote, and then hung it up againft a wall, that it might be read by every one; and he would have him alfo engrofs it ina book, that it might be kept for time to come: now what God would have thus written and engroffed, muft be fomething confiderable, and of confequence; and, as it may refer to the fins of this people, may denote\the blacknefs and deteftablenefs of them, as being what they had reafon to be afhamed of, when thus fet before them; and, as it may refer to their punifhment, it may fignify the certainty of it: that it may be for the time to come, for ever and ever; and fo continue to their eternal infamy, and for the juftification of God in his proceedings again{t them, and be cautions unto others. The Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, for a teftimony for ever, a witnels for God, and againft the Yews; and fo the Targum, “ and it fhall be in the day of judgment for “© a witnefs before me for ever.”

¥.9. That this is a rebellious people, &c.| This, with what follows, is what the Lord would have written and engroffed, and remain for ever; or this is a reafon why he would have it, for fo the words may be rendered, for, or becaufe, this is a rebellious people's rebellious againft God and his commands; they are called rebellious children before, ¥.1. and as it follows, Jing children; falfe fpurious ones, only called, not truly the children of God, and lied when they called themfelves fo, and were guilty of lying alfo, not only to.God, but to one another: children that will not bear the law of the Lord; etther read, or- explained, at “leaft, not fo as to be obedient to it; and fuch muft be rebellious ones, and deferve not to be called the children of God. The Yargum is, ‘* children that like ** not to receive the doctrine of the law of the “Lords: 5

¥.10. Whigh fay to the feers, fee not, &c.] The fame with the prophets in the next claufe, which explains this: aud to the prophets, prophefy not unto us right things; things agreeable to the mind and will of God, and which ought to be done; not that they, in fo many words faid this, but this was the language of their hearts and actions. The Zargum is, ** who fay to the prophets, prophefy not, “* and to the teachers, teach us not the doctrine “< of the law:” /peak unto us fmooth things, that peace and profperity fhould attend them, tho’ they. went on in their finful courfes: prophefy deceits; for to prophefy peace to them, when deftruction was at hand, was to deceive them; and yet they chofe rather to be told the one than the other.

y. 11. Get ye out of the way: turn afide out of the path, &c.| Theie two expreffions mean one and the fame thing; either that the prophets would. go out of their uiual way of threatening ruin and deftru€tion; or that they would go out of the way of the people, and not ftand in it to hinder them purfuing their own lufts and pleafures; or that m S95 TDD ficut raptura cadens, Montanus, Cocceius, De Dieu. Ben Melech obferves, that a breach is after the boil is fallen; for the breach dogs not fall, but it is faid on account of the end of it, or what it is at laft, as in Ii. xivii, 2. gi yay

‘it fhall be broken and may refer to they would go out of the right way, as the Tar=)

gum, which is God’s way, and join with thems: or, at leaft, connive at, and indulge them, in their’

ways: caufe the holy one of Irael to ceafe from bes fore us; don’t fo often make mention of his name, or come to us with a thus faith. the Lordy let us’ hear no more of him, or mefiages from him; and efpecially under:this: character of the Jrael, who is by nature holy, loves holinefs, and: requires it, and hates fin. The Targum is, ‘© e+ ‘** move far from us the word of the holy one*of “* Trael;” let us hear. no more of that. 9) 9 ¥.12. Wherefore thus faith the holy one of Ifrael, &c.] The prophet introduces his meflage with the phrafe they objected to: minifters of the word muit not feek to pleafe men, nor fhould they be deterred from the ufe of phrafes, becaufe difliked: — by natural men: as in our days, men don’t love’ to hear the name of Chrift fo often mentioned; or’ his gofpel, or. the glorious truths of it; but the ufe of them fhould not be left off on that account, but rather they fhould be the more ineuleated, as’ we find this phrafe was; fee ¥. 15: becaufe ye de> [pife this word; either this name of the Lord, rhe holy one of Ijrael, or this prophecy that was de= - livered unto them, which reproved them for their’ confidence in Egypt, and exhorted them to fit ftill at home, and truft in the Lord; but inftead of that they trufted in what was very bad, as follows? but truji in oppreffion and perverfenels, and fray there~ on either in oppreffors, and perverfe perfons, as the Egyptians were, or in their wealth, got by oppreffion, rapin, and fraud, which they carried to Egypt, and on which they depended for fuccour and relief; and in that perverfe difpofition of mindy contradicting the Lord {peaking by his prophets,’ refolving to take their own way, not doubting but that they fhould have fuccefs.

¥.13. Therefore this iniquity foall be to you as a breach ready to fall, &c.| Or, as a falling breach *;° contempt of the word of God, and trufting in wickednefs, reje€ting the counfel of God, and placing confidence in the creature, thefe would be the caufe of ruin; which ruin is fignified by the breach of a falling wall, or by.a breach ina wall, by reafon of which it is in danger of falling, and is juft ready to fall: /welling out in a high wall; like a wall that bellies out and bulges, and which, when it once.begins to do, fuddenly falls; and the higher it is, it comes with more foree, and the greater is the fall: whofe breaking cometh fuddenly, and at an inftant, and fo it is fuggefted fhould be the ruin of this people; the high towering confidence they had in Lgypt would fall with its own weight, and they with it, and be broken to pieces in a moment; and which is further illuftrated by another fimile. s A ~ y.14. And be foall break it as the breaking of the potters veffel, 8c.) ‘That is, their confidence in an arm of flefh, and they that place it there; and this either God fhall do, of the enemy, and God by him; or rather it may be rendered itr which the ruin of this people is eliotn when it falls fhall be broke to’ pieces, | veflel is when it falls upon a pavement, id againft any thing, or ftruck with a rod of iron:

that is broken in pieces, he foall not {pare; or ne a yt eR is broken in pieces without mercy, as the Targum, no pity fhall be fhown by the enemy, nor mercy from the Lord: fo that there hall not be found in the burfting of it a foerd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal ont of the pit; as poor people are wont to do, to take fire from the hearth, and water out of a well, in a piece of a broken pitcher ™; but this veffeél fhould be broke into fo many fhivers, that there fhould not be fuch a piece left of it as could be made ufe of for fuch purpofes. This denotes the utter and irreparable ruin and deftruétion of thefe people, which tho’ it was not at this time, yet afterwards by the Babylonians, and efpecially by the Romans.. ‘yw. 15. For thus faith the Lord God, the holy one of irae, &c.| This is ftill repeated, tho’ difpleafing to the carnal Fews, who notwithftanding their ill behaviour to the Lord, condefcends to give them the beft advice, as follows: in returning and reft foall ye be faved, or may be faved; this is the right, and the only way, namely, by returning from their evil ways, particularly their purpofe of going to Egypt for help, and by returning to God by repentance and reformation, and to his worfhip and ordinances; and fo the Targum, “ if ye return “to my law;” and by refing quietly at home, and repofing their truft in the Lord: in quietnefs and confidence fhall be your firength; in a quiet fubmiffion to the wfll of God, and in quietly waiting upon him for the iffue and event of things, abiding in their own houfes, and not in a hurrying tumultuous manner, running here and there for help; and in a holy and humble confidence in the Lord, and in the power of his might, where they fhould find fuch ftreneth and fecurity, as Pharaoh king of Egypt could not give them: and ye would not, “would not be-periuaded.to keep at home, and from going down to Egypt; would not take the advice given, but purfue their own meafures and methods of falvation. This is the literal fenfe of the words; and if they can be accommodated to. fpiritual and eternal falvation, it may be done in this way: repentance may be meant by returning, and faith by ref; or, by returning and refi, may be defigned returning to reft, that is, to Chritft, who is the only reft to weary fouls: guietne/s may _ intend peace of confcience, arifing from the blood and righteoufnefs of Chrift,; and confidence faith, and an affurance of it, which make men ftrong chriftians; tho” their ftrength does not barely lie in thefe graces, but in the object of them: now faith and repentance are bleffings of the covenant of grace, gifts of God, and graces of the fpirit, which go together in the doétrine of falvation, and have a concern in it; tho’ they are not meritorious procuring caufes, nor conditions of it; yet in this way God brings his people to falvation, and they enter into, and are defcriptive of, the character of fuch that are faved; there is fo clofe a connection between thefe and falvation, that none are faved without them; and it may be obferved, that this way of faving men thro’ faith and repentance, and by oing to Chrift alone for reft, and by placing condence in, and deriving all peace and comfort from him, is difagreeable to unregenerate men; which is a proof of the wretched depravity, and corruption, and perverfenefs of the will of man.

_ ¥. 16. But ye faid, no, but we will flee upon horfes, &ec.| Hither and thither, to get help and affiftance; go down to Egypt for it on them,. ot thither for them, as fome'render it; and then face the enemy, and if we can’t conquer him, will flee from him, and fo provide for our fafety; this is man’s way of falvation, as oppofed to God’s way; fee Hof. i. 7. and xiv. 3, or this may defign their fleeing on horfes and camiels with their niches into Egypt, both for the fécurity of them and their perions, ¥. 6: therefore fhall ye flee; on horfes from the enemy, and be purfued and taken by him; this was fulfilled long after, when the city was taken by the Chaldeans, fee 2 Kings xxv. 4: and we will ride upon the fwift; horfes or camels, to the fwiftnefs of which they trufted, and doubted not to get off fafe, but would find themfelves. miftaken: therefore fhall they that purfue you, be fwift; yea fwifter than the horfes and camels they rode on, and overtake them, and either put them to death, or carry them captive. The Chaldeans aré reprefented as very fwift, ‘er. iv. 13. Hab. i. §.

¥.17. One thoufand fhall flee at the rebuke of one, &c.] A troop of horfe, confifting of a thou, fand men, fhall flee upon the attack and onfet of a fingle perfon, fo difpirited fhould they be, and fo poffefied of the fear of the enemy; what was promifed to them with refpeét to their enemies, is here turned againft them, Zev. xxvi. 7, 8. Deut. XXXil. 30:, at the rebuke of five fhall ye flee, being attacked by a very fmall number, the whole, army fhould run away: this denotes with what eafe they fhould be routed, and put to flight; and is to be underftood, not of what would be at the prefent time, but of what fhould come to pafs hereafter, when the Chaldean army fhould come againft them: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain; or, asthe maft of a fhip, fo the Septuagint, and other verfions. ‘farchi fays it fignifies a high tree, or tal] piege of wood fixt in the earth, like a fhip’s maft », fet up to give warning of an enemy’s approach, and when, and where, fometimes fires ufed to be kindled; hence the Targum is, * till ye are ‘¢ Jeft as a burning torch on the top of a moun- “¢ tain.” The Syriac verfion renders it, as a wild afs, folitary and alone; and as an enfign on an bill, erected as a trophy of victory. The défign of the metaphors is to fhew that there fhould be few that fhould efcape falling into the enemy’s hand, here and there one, that fhould be fcattered about, and be very thin, as beacons and enfigns are, and fhould be warnings to others of purfuing the fame foolifh and finful methods and practices. - y.18. And therefore will the Lord wait, that be may be gracious unto you, &c.| Or yet %, or meverthelefs; tho’ fuch an utter deftruction fhall be made, there are a few that the Lord has a good wil! unto, and therefore waits till the fet time comes to arife and have mercy on them; he has taken up thoughts and refolutions of grace and favour concerning them, and has fixed the time when he will thew it; and he is, as it were, panting and longing after it, as the word * ufed fignifies, as fome have obferved; until itis up; he waits for the fitteft and moft proper time to fhew mercy; when things are brought to the worft, to the’ greateft extremity, and when his people are brought to a fenfe of their Se ds OE danger,

® Vid. Mifn. Sabbat. cap. 8. §.7.. * YUN fervaremini, Piftator, Gataker. P So Ben Melech fays, it is a high pee of wood in a fhip, on which they. hang an enfign or flag;, ahd fo he interprets. the enfign in the next danger, and. of their. fins, and to repentance for them, -and to fee their need of his ees and falvation, and ‘to implore it, and to depend upon him for it; then, in the mount of difficulty, and in the moft feafonable time, does the Lord appear; and hereby the mercy is the fweeter to them; and his grace is the more magnified towards them: fo he waits ‘to be gracious to his people in converfion; he is gracious before; he is of a gracious difpofition; he is inclined, nay refolved, to fhew favour to them; yea he has done various acts of grace before, fuch as their election in Chrift, the pro- Vifion of a Saviour for them in the covenant, putting all grace into his hands for them, the tedemption of them by him, and the adoption of them into his family; but in converfion there is an open exhibition and difplay of the grace of God; much grace is then fhewn in applying pardoning grace, a juftifying righteoufnefs, and falvation by Chrift unto them; by many love-vifits, and by opening the treafures of his grace unto them, as well as by implanting much grace in them, as faith, hope, love, and every other: now there is a fixed time for all this; and until that time comes, the Lord Waits to be gracious; this is his long-fuffering towards his elect, which iffues in their falvation; he don’t cut. them off in their fins; he bears much and long with them, and, as it were, longs till the time comes to unbofom himfelf to them, and beftow his favours on them; and fo after converfion, he waits and obferves the fitteft time to deliver them out of afflictions, temptations, &c. and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy on you; or, will exalt himfelf*; raife up himfelf, who feemed to be afleep, and carelefs of his people, and rife up againft their enemies, and in defence of them, which is fhewing mercy to them; or be exalted on his throne of grace, that he may give, and they may find, grace and mercy to help them in-time of need: or, be will exalt, or lift up; that is, his fon; fo he was lifted up onthe crofs, that his people might be drawn after him, and faved by him; and he has alfo exalted him at his right-hand, to be a prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto J/rael, and forgivenefs of fins; and he is now lifted up as the ferpent on the pole in the miniftry of the word, that whofoever believes in him, fhould have-everlafting life; fo that thefe exaltations, or liftings up, are in order to have mercy; and his waiting to be gracious, is by the ews‘ interpreted of his defire after the Meffiah’s coming, and his waiting for that: or, be will be exalted, in, or by, having mercy on you" the glory of God is difplayed in fhewing mercy to his people; they are engaged and influenced hereby: to glorify God for his mercy, both in things temporal and fpiritual. The word.,, in the radic language, as Schultens obferves “, fignifies to defire *,; and this will make the words run fmoothly in agreement with the former; and therefore, or neverthele/s, will he defire to have mercy on you; which denotes the Lord’s good will to his people, and how much his heart, and the defires of it, are towards them: for the Lord is a God of judgment, of, tho’ he is a God of judgment ¥, of ftrict jultice, judges in the earth, and will judge the world in righteoufhelS; fee Mal. ii, 17: his grace,-amerey;* and juftice agree together, in 'redenyptiony juftificas! tion, pardon of fin, and falvation: or of modes? ration, clemency, and grace to cérreét his people 5’ he correéts them not in wrath, -and hot difpleatare;* but in judgment, in a tender and fatherly waysand> manner, Yer. Xx. 24. and he is 4 God) of diferetion;: Pf. cxii. 5. of wifdom and knowledge, and does: all things after the counfel of his will; she has’ fixed upon the proper time, and he knows which; is the beft time, and he waits that time to thewr grace and mercy to his people: d/e/ed are val’ the} ibat wait for kim that don’t run here andothere’ for help, and are tumultuous, reftlefs, and impa-' tient, but wait God’s own time to do them good; that wait for his gracious prefence, and the difeoveries of his love, for the performance of hispro= mifes, for anfwers of prayer, for all bleflings tem+ poral and fpiritual, and for eternal glory and hap-' pinefs; thefe are happy perfons, all and every one of them; they ehjoy much now, and it can’e be faid, nor conceived, ‘what God has prepared for them hereafter; fee ch. xlix. 25. and lxiv. 4.9) ¥.19. For the people fhall dwell in Zion at Fe~ rufalem, &c.] Or, for the people of Zion * fhe dwell in Ferujalem, thofe that belonged to the: f of Zion, fhould dwell in Yerifulem; or abide theres both they and the inhabitants of it, at leaft, many of them, fhould quietly continue there, ‘waiting the Lord’s time to appear for them, and not ru here and there, and pafticularly to Egyp¢ for help or fhelter. Seeing there ate many things in the following verfes which have refpect to gofpel-times, and beft fuit with them, this may be underftood of the fafe and comfortable dwelling of the chil+ dren of Zion, or regenerate perfons, in a gofpel= church-ftate, which. is often called Feru/alem, both in the Old and New Teftament: thou /halt weep no more; or, in weeping thou halt not weep*; tho* they had been weeping, becaufe of the enemy’s invafion of their land, and befieging their city, yet now all tears fhould be wiped away from their eyes, being delivered from him; this may’ very well be accommodated to gofpel-times: he will be very gracious unto thee, at thé voice of thy cry 5 thelé are the words of the prophet, declaring that the Lord would be gracious to his people at the voice of their prayer and fupplication to him in their diftrefs, as he was to the voice of Hezekiab’s ory and fupplication to him: when he Jhall hear it, be will anfwer thee; he always hears the prayers of his people, and he always anfwers them, fooner or later, in his own time, and in his own way; fee ch. lxv. 24. taints ¥. 20. And tho” the Lord give you the bread of adverfity, and water of affliction, &c.] Either at this prefent time, when the city was befieged by Sennacherib; or when it fhould be befieged by the Chaldeans, when adverfity was their bread, and affliction their water; or when they had only bread and water in their adverfity and affliétion; or a famine of bread ahd water, as is common in times of a fiege. It may refer to the poor, and mean, and afflicted ftate of the people of God, in the firft times of the gofpel efpecially: yer hall not teachers be removed into @ corner any mare 3 Or, thy

é wsa ty populus Sion, Voie a

‘rain®, as fome interpret it; one and the fame word fignifies both rain and a teacher, becaufe doctrine from, the mouth of a teacher, drops like, rain upon the tender herb, and as fhowers on the grafs; and isto be underftood, not. merely in a literal fenfe, of rain and fruitfulnefS by it, in oppofition to penury and famine for want of it; but of rain of fpiritual. doctrine; and |fo the fenfe is much the fame, as if it was rendered teachers; that tho’ the people of God fhould be attended with afflictions, yet, they fhould have {piritual confolation; and tho’, they -might have a famine of bread and water, yet, not of hearing the word of the Lord; their teachers! fhould not be removed from them, as theyohad, formerly been, perhaps in the time of Abaz: ot take wing *, and fly away from them, as the word fignifies, being fcared by perfecutors; fo-the prophets in the time of bab were forced to fly; and were hid by fifty in a cave, The word here ufed, has in the /radic language the fignification of hiding, as Maimonides + from Aben Ganach has obferved; and fo may be read, thy teachers foal] not be hidden any more; things being hidden under wings, fee Pf xvii. 8: but thine eyes j agree the comments of ben Exra, Farchi, and Kimchi; tho’ the Arabic and Syriac verfions following the Septdagint, reprefent them as the words of feducers, directing to a wrong way: but the words are a promife of being led right, and not a threatning of being led wrong: when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left; thro’ ignorance or inadvertency, thro’ the prevalence of corruption, or force of temptation; and as it is promifed there fhould be fuch a voice, 6 they fhould have ears to hear, their ears erect to attend to what is. faid, to obferve it, and act according to it,.

¥.22. Ye fhall defile alfo the covering of thy graven images of filver, &c.| Images made of folid filver, covered with rich and coftly garments; or images covered and decorated with plates of filyer; fee Jer. X. 4, 8. thefe they not only pulled down and defaced, but defiled, to fhew their contempt and abhorrence of them: and the ornament of thy molten images of gold images made of maffy gold, covered with an Ephod, as the word here ufed fionifies 5 fuch an one as the high-prieft wore, and Micah made for his houfe of idolatry, Exod. xxviii. 6. Fudg. xvii. 5: thon fhalt caft them away, as a men- fall fee thy teachers; in their proper place, doing fruous cloth, which is not only filthy and loath- the: work of their office: it denotes not a bare feeing them with their bodily eyes; but a: feeing them with pleafure and delight, a wifhly looking at. them, and. a diligent and attentive obfervdnce of what they faid. Some underftand. thefe teachers of Hezekiah and his princes, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Abendana;, others of the priefts and prophets. in his time, the principal of which was Jaiah; others of the prophets a little before, in, and after the Babyloni/h captivity; it may be applied to Fobu the Beptij?;, Chrift, and his apoftles, and other gofpel-minifters: Farchi interprets it of God himfelf;. who teaches to. profit; and who would not hide his face from his people; the Targum of the Shekinah not removing from the fanctuary, but being feen there 5. and being in the plural number, may denote all the three perfons, A: x21. And thine ears fhall hear a voice behind thee, &c:] Which may be faid in reference to the backfliding and declining ftate of the people, ¥. 11. and is thought by fome to be an allufion to {ehoolmatters; who ftand behind their fcholars, or at their backs; to guide, teach; and inftruct them; and by others to fhepherds following their flocks, who, when they obferve any of the fheep going out of the way, call them back; or to travellers, who, coming to a place where are feveral ways, and being. at a lofs.which way to take, and inclining to turn to the right or left, are called to by perfons behind them, and directed in the right way, This voice bebinds is by the Fews* interpreted. of Bath Kol and by others of the voice of confcience; but it rather intends the fpirit of God, and his grace; tho’-it feems beft to underftand it of the fcriptures of truth, the word of God, the only, rule of faith and practice; the language of which is, jaying, this.is the way, walk ye in it; it-directs. to Chrift. the way, and who is the only way of life and falvation, to be walked in by faith, anid to all the lefler paths of duty and doétrine, which to. walk in,, is both pleafant. and profitable, and which is the right way; fo the Targum paraphrafes it, “ this is the right way;” to which fome, but defiling, whoever touched it were unclean by the law for a while; or as a woman in her monthly courfes, who, during that time, was to be feparate from her hufband, Lev, xv. 19. &e. this is ufed to exprefs the pollution and naufeoufnefs of idols, and of the utter rejection of them: thou foalt fay unto it, get thee hence; Kimchi obferves that fome fay the word fignifies dung; thou Jhalt fay to it; thou art dung, and only fit for the dunghil, and to it thou fhalt go; and at the fame time caft it out, declaring abhorrence of idols, repentance for worfhipping them, and fignifying that they would have nothing more to do with them. ‘This fhews thé efficacy of the word of God, when it comes not in word only, but with the power and fpirit of God; it was fulfilled in fome mea{ure in Hezekiah’s time; fee 2 Kings xviii. 4. 2 Chron. xxix. 16. and xxxi. 1. and after the Babylonifh captivity, when the Fewws left off idolatry; and never more returned to it; and when the gofpel prevailed ii the Roman pagan empire, and at the time of the reformation, and will be more largely accomplifhed, when popery fhall be utterly de- {troyed through the powerful miniftration of the gofpel.. ~¥.23. Then fhall he give thee raiit of thy feed, that thou fhalt fow the grotind withal, &c.} Or, rain to thy feed‘, that is, when the feed is fown in the earth, the Lord will give the former rain, and caufe it to take root, and fpring up: and bread of the increafe of the earth, the earth being watered with rain, fhould give its increafe of corn, of which bread fhould be made; fo that there would be feed to the fower, and bread to the eater, as in ch. ly. 10: and it foall be fat and plenteous, or fat and fat; very fat and rich, exceeding good bread, and plenty of it; and after the ftege of the city by Sennacherib’s army was broke up, and that was deitroy- /ed, for years following there was great fruitfulnefs in the land, as was foretold, J/ xxxvii. 30, and this may denote the great fruitfulnefs of the gofpel, }and the excellency of the {piritual food of it, and of the bleflings of grace that come by it: i# that. day pluvia tua, fome in Munfler, Calvin; fo Bea Melech interprets it} and the fame in the next claufe, dat avolabit, Pifcator; ad verb. alabitur, Forerius.

day foall thy cattel feed in large paftures, fignifying that there fhould be paftures for cattel, in the feveral parts of the country, and thefe large ones, where cattel fhould feed, and enjoy great plenty. This claufe belongs to the next verfe, and fhould of right begin it. The Zargum interprets it thus, << and the righteous fhall be nourifhed with their

“< cattel at that time, with the fat of tender and}

“* fat things;” as the earth would be fruitful, the cattel would be well fed; and fo there would be plenty of provifion for man and beat.

¥. 24. The oxen likewife and the young affes that ear the land, &c.J Or till it; for tho’ thefe might not be joined together in a yoke, yet they were made ule of feparately in plowing land, Deut. xxii. 10: foall eat clean provender; the word for provender fignifies a mixture, fuch as cattel eat, efpecially horfes, as beans, oats, barley, and _fitches, and of which there fhould be fuch plenty, that the cattel fhould eat of it; not of the chaff and hufks of thefe, nor thefe in their hufk and ftraw, but as cleanfed from them, as follows: which bath been winnowed with the fhovel and with the fan; with the former of which the corn was raifed up and fhook, and with the latter fanned. | Now this is expreffive of great plenty, that cattel fhould feed on winnowed corn,. The Septuagint indeed render it, ‘° they fhall eat chaff mixed with winnowed “* barley;” but if they were to eat chaff with it; there would be no need. to winnow it. This may be myftically underftood of apoftles, and apoftolical men, as Ferom, and of all gofpel-preachers, efpecially in the latter day, who labour in the word and doétrine, and feed upon the pure food of the gofpel themfelves, and bring it to others; fee 1 Cor. ix. 9,.10. 1 Tim. v. 17, 18.. ¥.25. And there foall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, &c. | Whichwere round about Jerufalem, and in other parts of Fudea: rivers and fireams of water; fach abundance of rain, that it fhould flow in ftreams like rivers, from the higher to the lower lands, and water them. This may in a fpiritual fenfe be underftood of the great plenty of the miniftry of the gofpel, in all the kingdoms of the world, great and fmall, fignified by mountains and hills; and which may alfo intimate the open and public miniftrations of it in them, Zech. xiv. 8. Yoel ili. 18. or of the bleffings of grace, and the graces of the Spirit communicated every where; fee J/. xli. 18. and xliv. 3. Fobn vii. 38, 39. This is applied to the times of the Meffiah by the Yews « themfelves, and refpects the latter part of thofe times: in the day of the great flaughter; not of Sennacherib’s army by the angel, as many Yewi/h and chriftian interpreters underftand it; nor of the Babylonians, at the taking of Babylon by Cyrus; but of the antichriftian kings, and their armies, Rev. xix. 17—21. So the Targum paraphrafes it, ‘* for “* the ruin of kings, and their armies, in the day “* of the great flaughter;” and a great flaughter it will be indeed: when the towers fall; not the batteries and fortifications raifed in the Afjrian camp, at the fiege of Yerufalem, which fell when they were deftroyed by the angel; or the great men and princes in that army, which then fell; tho’ towers fometimes fignify great perfons, fuch as princes; fee ch. ii. 5. and fo the Targum interprets it here; and may be true of the antichriftian princes; for of the fall of the great city of Rome, and of other cities of the nations, with the towers