Exposition of the Whole Bible

thereof, is this to be undetftood, even of my tical

¥. 26. Moreover, the light of the moon foall be as the light-of the fun, &c,.] An hyperbolical expreffion, ufed to fet forth the exceeding great light of the gofpel under the difpenfation of it, which would as far exceed the light of the former dipenens comparable to the moon, as the light of the fam exceeds the light of the moon; as alfo ieee degree of fpiritual joy and comfort, that Cb in thofe times, efpecially in the latter day: and the ‘ews themfelves apply this to the times of the Meffiah, and to the times after the war of Gog and Magog, after which they fay there will be no more forrow and diftrefs 5 fo Kimchi; and to thefe times it is applied in the Talmud", and Aben Ezra fays, that all interpreters underftand it of the time to

come: and the light of the fun fhall be feven fold,

as the light of feven days, as if the light of even days was collected together; or as if there were feven funs fhining together. ‘The Zargum and Farchi not only make it to be feven times feven, that is, forty-nine; but multiply forty-nine by feven, and make it three hundred and forty-three, or as the light of fo many days. Maimonides * thinlss it has refpect to the feven days of the dedication of the temple in Solomon’s time, when the people never had fuch glory, felicity, and joy, as at that time: with this compare the light of the new Yerufalemftate, Rev. xxi. 23; 24: in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of bis people, and bealeth the

Stroke of their wound, not only peace being made by the blood of Chrift, between God and his people, and they healcu by his ftripes, and Few and Gentile reconciled in one body on his crofs, and thro’ the preaching of the gofpel; but as will be in the latter day, the fulnefs of the Gentiles will be brought in, and all J/rae/ fhall be faved; and ail the Lord’s people will be one in his hands, and be entirely freed from all grievances and afflictions & the man of fin, who will now be deftroyed, an alfo will be in a found and healthful ftate and cendition. “This will be at’ the time of the rifing and afcending of the witneffés, Rev. xi. 11, 52.

x. 27. Behold the name of the Lord cometh from far, &c.] From hence, to the end of the chapter, is a very full account, by way of prophecy, of the deftruction of the Afyrian army by the Lerd; and which is to be confidered as a type of the deftrue+ tion of antichrift, by and at the coming of the Lord Jefus. It is introduced with a behold, as declaring fomething of moment and importance wor+ thy of attention, and even wonderful. The nage of the Lord, is the Lord himfelf; unlef& it is to be underftood of the angel that came in the name of the Lord, and deftroyed Sennacherib’s army; whe may be faid to come from far, becaufe he came from heaven; and from whence Chrift, the inere: angel, in whom the name of the Lord is, come to judge the world, and to take venge on al] his and his people’s enemies, antichrift all his followers: 4urning with bis re the Afprian monarch and his army. So our Lor when he fhall come forth to make war with the antichriftian kings of the earth, his eyes fi be as a flame of fire; and when he comes to judge dl world, he’ll defcend in flaming fire, Rev. xix, 12 2 Thef. i. 7. the day of the Lord will burn as an oven, Mal. iv. 1: and the burden thereof is heavy;

the punifhment inflicted, in his burning anger and —.; eed hot difpleafure will be heavy, even intolerable, heavier than it can be born, as the Targum paraphrafes it; fee Gen. iv.13: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire; the words he will utter, the fentence he will pronounce, will be dreadful, executed by the angel; fo the fharp fword that goes out of the mouth of Chrift, with which he will fmite the: nations; and fuch the awful fentence pronounced by him on the wicked, go, ye curfed, into éeverlafting fire, &c. fee Rev. xix. 15. Matt. xxv. 41. So the Targum, ** from before *¢ him goes out the curfe upon the ungodly, and ‘¢ his word as a confuming fire.”

y. 28. And his breath as an overflowing ftream, &c.] Which comes with great fwiftnefs and force, bearing all before it, breathing out nothing but the fire of divine wrath, before which there is no ftanding; nor could the Afyrian army ftand before it, but fuddenly, in a moment, was carried away with the force of it: thus our Lord will confume the man of fin with the fpirit or breath of his mouth, and deftroy him with the brightnefs of his coming, 2 Theff ii, 8: and this ftream /ball reach to the midft of the neck, which fhews the extreme danger the army would be in, as a man that is up to the neck in water, and can find no way of efcaping; and very aptly reprefents their ftate and condition, the whole body of the army being encompafied and deftroyed, by this overflowing {tream of divine wrath, only their head, their king Sennacherib, was faved; and he in a little time was cut off, when he had got into his country; as the Arian army ferved the Jews, they are ferved themfelves; fee ch. viil. 7, 8: to fift the nations with a fieve of vanity, that is, the breath, wind, or fpirit of the Lord, compared to an overflowing ftream, fhould be of this ufe, and have this effect, to fift the people of feveral nations, of which the Afprian army confifted, fo as to dafh them one againit another, and utterly deftroy them; for they were to. be fifted, not with a good and profitable fieve, which retains the corn, and fhakes out the chaff, or fo as to have fome taken out and fpared; but with a fieve that lets all through, and fo be brought to nothing, as the Vulgate Latin verfion; and thus will all the antichriftian nations be agitated, and fhakeh, and deftroyed, ’ere long: and

‘there fhall be @ bridle in the jaws of the people, canfing them to err; from the way they intended to go, namely, up to Ferufalem, and take and fack it, and obliging them to betake themfelves another way for their retreat and fafety; fee ch. XXXVil. 29.

y¥. 29. Ye foall have a song, &c.] That is, the ‘¥ews fhould have a fong, and fing it upon the ruin of the Afyrian army; as the J/raelites had, when Pharaoh and his hoft were drowned in the red fea; and fo will the chriftian church have one, at the fall of Babylon, Rev. xv. 1, 2, 3. and xix. 1, 2: as in the night, when a holy folemuity is kept, the

Fewifh feafts always began the even preceding, and were ufhered in with finging fongs and pfalms, efpecially the feaft of the paflover, which ’tis thought is alluded to here. It is acommon notion of the ews *, that the flaughter of the Affjrian army was on the night of the paffover; that it was in the night is certain, 1 Kings xix. 35. but that it was on the night of the pafiover is not certain; how- \ ever, the fongs fung on that night were not on this occafion, nor could this be fung fo foon; and it will be at evening-time, that the latter day-glory fhall break out, and fongs of joy be heard trom the uttermoft parts of the earth, Zech. xiv. 7: as when one gocth with @ pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord; the temple; it being ufual for perfons, that came from diftant parts of the land to the temple to worfhip, to bring pipes along with them in their hands, and play upon them as they were travelling, to divert them, and the company that were with them; fee Pf xlii. 4. Yarchi thinks the allufion is to the bringing up of the firft-fruits to the temple at Feru/clem, which was preceded with a pipe, as appears from the Mi/nab'!: to the mighty one of Ifrael, or, rock of Ifraéim; one of the names of the Meffiah, 2 Sam. xxiii. 3. towhom the fong of praife and triumph fhall be fung in the latter day, by thofe that ftand upon mount Zion with harps in their hands, having gotten thé victory over the beaft and his image, Rev. xiv. 1, 25.3, 4. and XV. 1,2, 2, 4.

¥. 30. And the Lord foall caufe bis glorious voice to be beard, &c.| Or, the glory of bis voice"; his majeftic voice, the voice of his word, as the Tarfum, giving orders for the deftruction of the Afyrian army; this was heard by the angel who obeyed it: and fuch a voice will be heard, ordering the deftruction of antichrift, and the antichriftian powers, in the pouring out of the vials by the angels, fitly fignified by the following emblems; fee Rev. xvi. 1. and xviii. 4—7.. This voice is commonly interpreted of thunder, which is the voice of the Lord, and a very majeftic one, Pf. xxix. 3, 4. Fob xxxvii. 4. and xl..g. and the deftruction of the Afyrian army. might be by thunder and lightening, and hail-ftones, and attended with fuch a tempeft as here defcribed, tho’ not mentioned in the hiftory: and fall foew the lighting down of his arm, or the ftrength of the arm of his power, as the Targum; his mighty arm, and the defcent of it; meaning what fhould defcend from heaven at the time of this tempeft, as thunderbolts, balls of fire, hail-ftones, &c. and by all which may be meant the heavy judgments of God, which fell upon his enemies, and were intolerable unto them: the metaphor is taken from the motion of a man in fmiting another, who lifts up his hand, when it falls with the greater might, and refts upon him: with the indignation of his anger; as when a man {trikes in great wrath and fury: the heaping up of words here, and as follows, fhews the vehemence and excels of anger: with the flame of a devouring — fire; or, of @ fire devouring; the Alprian army; which, the ews fay, burnt their fouls, deftroyed their lives, but not their, bodies. The Targum is, “¢ with the flame of fire, which confumes the gra- ‘© ven images.” The deftruction of myftical Babylon will be by fire, Rev, xviii. 8, 9. and xix. 3: with fcattering, and tempeft, and bail-ftones, with lightening, which rends things in pieces, and fcat~ ters them here and there, and with a violent ftorm of rain and hail; fee Rev. xvi, 18, 19, 20, 21.

¥. 31. For thro’ the voice of the Lord, fhall the Affyrian be beaten down, &c.| As any thing is by a ftorm of thunder, lightening, hail, and rain: or fear, or be affrighted, as the Vulgate Latin and Arabic verfions render it; Seanacherib, thé Affyrian

® Gye Says © 994D “TNT, gloriam vocis monarch, and that part of his army which efcaped, tho’ not deftroyed by it, were put into the utmoft confternation: this fhows, that the prophecy in the context refers to the overthrow of the Afprian army by the angel, when befieging Yerufalem in Heze- ‘ Riab’s time; tho’ the A/yrian is fometimes ufed for any énemy of God’s people at other times, particularly antichrift, and efpecially the eaftern antichrift, the Turk: which /mote with a rod; other na- ‘tions, particularly the Jews, whom the Afyrian is exprefsly faid to {mite with a rod; and becaufe he was an inftrument in God’s hand for the. chaftizing of that people, he is called the rod of his anger, ch. x. 5, 24. but now he that fmote fhall be {mitten himfelf; him whom God ufed as a rod to correct others, he’ll fmite with his rod, for his own correction: for this may be underftood of God, and be rendered thus, with a rod, he, that is, God, Jball [mite the Affyrian, as before; fo Aben Ezra and Kimchi. ‘The Targum interprets the red of dominion.; y¥. 32. And in every place where the grounded fiaff Joall pafs, &e.] The ftorm before-mentioned, the wrath and righteous judement of God, founded upon his unalterable purpofes and decrees; and wherever it came, would fall with great weight, fink deep, -ftick faft, and remain fixed and fure, like a rod or ftaff faftened in the earth: which the Lori! foall lay upon him, or, caufe to reft upon him, the Lord would lay his rod upon him, the Afyrian, and let it remain there, fo that it fhould be a founded rod or ftaff, as before; it fhould continue until it had done full execution, and utterly deftroyed him. The Targum is, “* and there fhall “be every paflage of their princes, and of their ** mighty ones, on whom the Lord fhall caufe to “< reft the vengeance of his power;” and fo the grounded flaff may be undetftood of the Afprian himfelf, that wherever he fhould be, this ftorm of vengeance fhould’ follow him, and reft upon him: if foall be with tabrets and harps, the allufion is to the ufe of thefe in war; but inftead of thefe, no other mufick would be ufed at this time, than what thunder, and rain, and hail-ftones made; unlefs this refers to the joy or God’s people, upon the deftruction of their enemies; fo the Targum, *¢ with tabrets and farps fhall the houfe of J/rae/ ¢¢ ‘praife, becaufe of the mighty war which fhall be “< ‘made for them among the people;” fee Rev. xv. 2: and in battels of foaking will he fight with it, the Afyrian camp; or as the Keri, or marginal reading, with them; with the Afyrians, with the men of the camp; the foldiers, as Kimchi explains it; that is, the Lord will fight with them in battels, by fhaking his hand over them in a way of judgment, and thereby fhaking them ‘to pieces, and utterly deftroying them; fee Rev. xix. 11. ¥. 33. For Tophet is ordained of old, &c.] ‘The place long ago appointed for the ruin of the Ajyrin army, which pitched here: this was a valley near Ferufalem, the valley of the fon of Hinnom, fo called, from the drums and tabrets beat upon heté, to prevent parents hearing the cries of their infants offered to Molech: into it was brought the filth and dung of the city; here malefactors were buried, *tis faid; and fuch as were condemned to burning, were burned here; and fuch as had no burial, were caft here; fo that it was an image and picture of hell itfelf: and the word Gebenna, ufedell, comes from Gebinnom, or the valley of Hinnom, the name of this place; and fome think that is here meant, which from all eterni appointed as the place of torment for wicked men. So the Targum, “ for hell is ordained from the “« worlds (or before the worlds) becaufe of their “ fins.” It is in the original, from yefterday, eng Yarchi interprets it of the fecond day of the ‘creation, which had a yefterday; on which day, the Jews fuppofe hell was made: and fo it™is interpreted in the Talmud®, where it is faid to be one of the feven things created before the world was, and is proved from this text; and faid to be called Tophet, becaufe whoever NHN is deceived by his imagination (or evil concupifcence) falls into it; fee the note on Matt. xxv. 41. with this compare Fude, ¥. 4: for the king it is prepared; for Sennacherib king of Affyria; that is, for his army, which perifhed here, tho’ he did not; or for kings, the fingular for the plural; for his princes, which, as he boaftingly faid, were altogether kings, ch. x. 8. and particularly for Rabhakeb, the general of his army, who might be fo called, and was eminently one of thefe kings. Underftood of hell, it may not only be interpreted of fatan, the king and prince of devils, for whom and his angels the everlaftin fire of hell is prepared, Matt. xxv. 41. but alfor of antichrift, the king of the bottomlefs pit, and — of all antichriftian kings; fee Rev. xi. 9. and xix. 20. Some render it, dy the king it is prepared; fo the Vulgate Latin verfion; by whom may be meant either Hezekiah, who cleared it from idols and idolatrous worfhip, and fo eventually prepared it to make room for the Afyrian hee i or elfe the king of kings. ‘So the Targum, “ the king “< of worlds (of all worlds) prepared it;” and he feems manifeftly defigned’in the next claufe: be hath made it deep and large; to hold the whole army alive, and to bury them when dead; and fo hell is large and deep enough to hold fatan and all his angels, antichrift and all his followers; yea, all the wicked that have been from the beginning of the world, and will be to the end of it: she pile thereof is fire and much wood, alluding to the burning of bodies in this place, and particularl of infants facrificed to Molech; and refers to the burning of the Arian army, either by lighténing from heaven, or by the ews when they foun them dead the next morning. In hell, the fire is the wrath of God; the wood or fuel ungodly men: the breath of the Lord like a ftream of brimftone doth kindle it, the pile of fire and wood. The Targum is, “* the word of the Lord like an overflowing ‘¢ torrent of brimftone fhall kindle it;” it hall done by his order, at his word of command. In hell, the wrath of God will be lke a contin ftream of brimftone, keeping up the fire of that it fhall ever burn, and never be quénched; hence it is called a lake burning with fre did Bl ftone; into which fatan, the beait, and falfe phet, and the worfhippers of antichrift, v caft, Rev. xiv. 10. and xix. 20. and xx. 10, 2 - xxi. 8. The allufion is to the fire and brimftone rained by, Jehovah, from Jehovah, | upon Sadom IMs,

HIS chapter denounces wo to thofe that trufted in the Egyptians; affures the Fews of God’s care and protection of them; calls them to repentance, and foretells the deftruction of the A/yrian army.. The fin of thofe that trufted in Egypt, with the reafons of their truft, and not looking to the Lord, and feeking him, is declared in y. 1. and their folly expofed in fo doing; fince the Lord is wife, powerful, and unchangeable, and the Egyptians frail and weak; fo that the helper and the helped muft fall before him, ¥. 2, 3. whereas protection might be expected from the Lord, as is promifed, whofe power is like that of the lion, and whofe tender care is like that of birds to defend their young, ¥. 4, 5. wherefore the Fews are called upon to return to the Lord by repentance, from whom they had revolted; which would be fhown by their deteftation of idolatry, the fin they had been guilty of, ¥. 6, 7. and the chapter is clofed with a prophecy of the ruin of the Arian army, and the flight of their king, ¥. 8, 9.

¥. 1. Wo to them that go down to Egypt for help, &c.] Or, O ye that go down, &c. what poor foolith creatures are you, and in the end what miferable _ and wretched ones will ye be? Such were the Fewi h rulers and people, who either went themfelves, or fent embafiadors to the king of Egypt, to fupply them with men and horfes againft the king of 4/- fpria, contrary to the exprefs command of God, which forbid them returning to Egypt; and which fhewed their unmindfulnefs of deliverance from thence, and their not having a due fenfe of that mercy upon them; as well as their fo doing, expofed them to the danger of being drawn into the fuperftitions and idolatries of that people: and fray on horfes, and truft in chariots, becaufe they are many, and in borfemen, becaufe they are very firong, having their dependance upon,’ and placing their confidence in, the ftrength and numbers of the cavalry of the Egyptians; -but they look not unto the boly one of Ijrael, neither feek the Lords, they did not look unto the Lord with an eye of faith, nor feek him by prayer and fupplication; or afk any counfel or inftruction of him, as the Fergum paraphrafes the faft claufe; fo that their fin lay not only in their confidence in the creature, but in their neglect of the Lord himfelf; and fo all fuch perfons are foolifh and miferable, that truft in an arm of fleth, that place their confidence in creature-acts, in their own righteoufnefs, duties, and fervices, and have no regard to the holy one of J/rae/, to the holinefs and righteoufnefs of Chrift, neglect that, and do not fubmit to it; thus the Targum interprets the former claufe, of the word of the holy one: of Jfrael, the effential word Chrift. ¥. 2. Let be ay? is wife, &c.] That is, God the holy one of J/rael is, whom they difregarded;, and wifer too than the Egyptians, to whom they fought for help, and who were thought to be a wife and litical people; and wifer than themfelves, who imagined they acted a prudent part, in applying to them; fo wife as to know all their fchemes, and able to confound them, as well as moft certainly and fully to compleat his own; and it would have evil of punifhment or affliction on wicked men, which he has threatened, and which they could in no wife efcape, by taking the methods they did: and will not call back his words; his threatenings, delivered by the prophets; thefe, as he does not repent of, he will not revoke or make void, but fulfil and accomplifh; what he has faid he’ll do, and what he has purpofed he’ll bring to pafs; and therefore it was a weak and an unwife part they acted, by applying to others, and flighting him: but will arife againjt the houfe of evil doers; not the ten tribes of J/rael, as Farchi and Kimchi interpret it; but rather the people of the Fews, or fome particular family among them; it may be the royal family, chiefly concerned in fending the embafly to Egypt, or in advifing to it; tho’ it may be the fingular is put for the plural, as the Septuagint and Arabic verfions render it the houfes; and fo may defign all thofe great families which joined in this affair, and are therefore called evil doers; as all fuch are, that put their confidence in the creature, and not in the Lord; and againft fuch he will arife, in an hoftile manner, fooner or later, againft whom there is no ftanding; fee Fod, ix. 4: and againft the help of them that work iniquity, that is, againft the Egyptians, the helpers of the Yews, who were workers of iniquity, and therefore their help and hope in it would be in vain; or elfe the latter part is defcriptive of the Egyptians their helpers, who were a wicked and idolatrous nation, and fo not to be fought unto for help, or trufted in, fince God being againft them it would be to no purpofe, as he is againft all workers of iniquity.

¥. 3. Now the Egyptians are men, and not God, &c.] Be it, that they are mighty, they are not almighty, as God is; and indeed they are but frail, feeble, mortal, and mutable men,: and therefore not to be trufted in, and depended on; or to be put upon an equality with God, and even to be preferred to him, as they were by the Fews; and of what ufe and fervice could they be unto them, feeing God was againft them? and their horfes fief, and not fpirit; only flefh, without an immortal foul or fpirit, which man has; and therefore a foolifh thing in man to truft in them, who muft be entirely guided and direéted by them; and much lefs angelic fpirits, or like them, which are incorcorporeal, invifible, and exceedingly mighty and powerful, which excel all creatures in ftrength, and are called the mighty angels; thefe are God’s cavalry, his horfes and chariots; fee P/- Ixviii. 17, Hab. iii. 8, 15. and what mighty things have been done by them, even by a fingle one? witnefs the deftruction of the Afyrian army in one night, by one of them; wherefore the Egyptian cavalry was not to be named with them ': when the Lord shall Stretch out bis hand, as {oon as he does it, before he ftrikes, and when he does this in order to it: doth he that helpeth foall fall, or ftumble, take a falfe ftep; meaning the Lgyptians, fent for and come forth to help the Fews; but {tumbling and failing themfelves, would be but poor affiftants to them. Aben Ezra interprets this of the king of Afvia deftroying the Egyptians, when he came to Ferufalem: and he that is holpen fhall. fall down, the been therefore the higheft wifdom to have fought ews, helped by the Egyptians, who fhould fall, to him, and not to men: oe tad and will bring evil; the '! and be dettroyed, tho’ not now; yet hereafter by

Q So Ben Melech interprets /pirit of an angel, as he does the word Ged in the preceding clauf.

the Chaldeans, as they were: ond they all fhall fall logether 5 both the Egyptians and the Fews.

¥. 4. For thus hath the Lord fpoken unto me, &c.] The prophet J/ziah, who had heard and received what follows from the Lord, and therefore it might be depended upon; and they are words of grace. and mercy, promifing prefervation and deliverance; and therefore it was a foolifh thing to fend to Egypt for help: Hike as the lion, and the young lion roaring on bis prey; Or muttering, or growling over bis prey"; for the lion roars when he is hungry, and wants a prey, and not when he has got. one; but when he has one, and is tearing it in pieces, and feeding upon it, he makes a lower noife, a growling one, efpecially when he apprehends any one near to difturb him: when a multitude of foepherds is called forth againft him; or, a fulnefs of foepberds*, the whole pofle of them, all that are in the towns and villages, or fields adjacent;. who, when:a lion has got a lamb or fheep out of the flock,. are alarmed and called together, to deliver it, if poffible, out of his hands; one not daring to venture, or being not fufficient to difturb him, or drive him away: or, when a multitude of.

foepherds meet him'*s with the prey in his jaws; or rather call to him, make a noife, in hopes to affright him, and caufe him to drop his prey, that being all they can do, not daring to go near him, which fenfe is confirmed by what follows: be will not be afraid of their voice, nor abafe himfelf for the noife of them; he will not leave and lofe his prey, or flee from it or them, for the yell aad confufed noife they make; nor move at all the fafter for them, not being in the leaft intimidated by them: fo feall the Lord of bofts come down to fight for mount Lion, and for the bill thereof; that is, he fhall come down from heaven by his angel, or in the difplay of his mighty power, and fight againft the Afyrian army, in favour of his people, the inbitants, of Zion or Ferufalem, and deliver them; and there will be no more withftanding him, or putting him off from his purpofe, or preventing his good defigns and refolutions, than the fhepherds are able to divert a lion from. his prey. The fimile is expreffive of the power of God, and of his certain accomplifhment of his purpofes and promiles. ¥. 5. As birds flying, fo will the Lord of hofts defend Ferufalem, &c.| As the preceding metaphor exprefies the mighty power of God, this his tendernefs and affection, as well as his fpeed and fwiftnefs in the deliverance of his people. As birds in the air, at.a diftance, efpecially the eagle, have their eye upon their nefts, and their young ones in them, and when in danger fly to their affiftance, and hover over them, and about them, to keep off thofe that would hurt them, or carry them away; fo the Lord, on high, fees his people when in diftrefs, and haftens to help them, and does furround, protect, and defend them: thus the Lord did, when Scnnacherib with his army befieged 7erufalem;, who boafted with refpeét to other nations, that he had found as a neft the riches of the people, and that here was none that moved the wing againtt him, Jf x. 14. to which ’tis thought the allufion is here: defending alfo be will deliver it, from ptefent diftrefs, the fiege of the Afjrian army: and pafing over he will preferve it; paffing over the rapa Sy ryarv ab PAs -muffitare. A colle&ion of them, as Ben Melech.

city of Ferufalem to the army of the king of AF fpria, that lay encamped againft it, and fmiting that. by an angel with a fudden deftruction, preferved the city trom the ruin it was threatened with. The allufion is rightly thought to be to the Lord’s pafling over the houfes of the Jaelites, whe deftroyed the firft-born in Egypt, Exod. xii, where the fame word is ufed as here, and now ] elfe. yee ¥. 6. Turn ye unto him, &c.] From the Egyg tians, to whom they fought for help, unto th Lord, they had negleéted', from evil ways anc practices, idolatry and impicty, by repentance and reformation; to the true worfhip of God, to hi word and ordinances, ftatutes and commands. The Targum is, “* turn‘to the law;” which # had rejected and broken. Thefe are the words of the prophet, a call of his to the people to repentance, to which they might be induced by the gracious declaration of the Lord unto them, in the preceding verfes, promifing them prefervation and fafety: from whom the children of Irael have deeply revolted; or, made deep a revolt“; had gone very far back from God, and deep into fin and ruin, that their recovery was difficult; and yet their Teturn was abfolutely neceflary, which ought to be done both fpeedily and heartily. Some think reference is had to the deep fchemes they had laid, thofe political ones, at leaft, which they en were fuch, in applying to Egypt for help, wher they, as it is faid ch. xxix. 15. fought deep to hide thety counfel from the Lord in doing which they deeply departed from him, and are here called to return to him. This is faid not of the ten tribes that were gone into captivity, but of the Fews, who were the pofterity of J/rae/ alfo; which is mentioned, to put. them in mind of their defcent, as an aggravation of their.fin, and as an argument for their return. 7 y..7. For in that day, &c.] When deliverance fhall be wrought; when men fhall be convince of the vanity and infufficiency of their idols to help them, and of their fin in worfhipping them; when they fhall be brought to repentance for it, and turn to the Lord as an evidence of it: eve man. foall caft away bis idols of filver, and bis idols of gold; with contempt and abhorrence of, them, as the word “ fignifies; every man Ais own idol, and even thofe that were of the greateft value, which were made of gold-and filver: which your own hands have made unto you for afin; their idols were the work of their own hands, and were made by them in order to commit fin with, the fin of idolatry; or fin may be put for the punifhment of fin, which is the iffue and confequence of fuch practices: or it may be rendered, which your hands of fin, or finful bands have made* it was a fin to make fuch idols, efpecially with a view to worfhip them; it was a fin to worfhip them; and the frur of it was deferved punifhment. oe oe ¥. 8. Theu fhall the Afhrian fell with the fword, not of a mighty man, &c.| That is, the 2 army under Senuacherib their king, whick Ferufelem in Hezekiah’s time; which, the people were brought to a fenfe of and repentance for it, and caft away the: a proof it, were utterly deftroyed; but not ir tel, not by the fword of Hezekiah, or any of valiant generals; and the fword not of a mean man, feall devour him; neither the fword of a general, nor of a private foldier, nor indeed of any man, but of an angel; fee 2 Kings xix. 35: but be shall flee from the fword; from the drawn {word of the angel, who very probably appeared in fuch a form as in 1 Chron. xxi. 16. which Senuacherib king of Ajpria feeing, as well as the flaughter made in his army by. him, fled from it; in the Hebrew text it is added, for himfelf’, he fled for his life, for his own perfonal fecurity; fee 2 Kings xix. 36: and his young men foall be difcomfited; his choice ones, the flower of his army: or melt away”, thro’ fear, or die by the ftroke of the angel upon them: the fenfe of becoming ¢ributary feems to have no foundation. t y¥. 9. And he fail pafs over to his firong hold for fear, &c.] This is faid of the king of Affyria, departing in hafte from the fiege of Ferufalem, to fome {trong hold in his own country, particularly his {trong city Niniveb, for fear of the angel, and deftruction following him; nor could he: think himfelf fafe, until he had got there. Some render it, and the original will bear it, and bis rock fhall pafs over for fear*; his mighty men, his men of valour, in whom he trufted, and put his confidence, who were his ftrength, on which he depended; thefe, as many as were left of them, fled away. So the Targum, ‘ his princes fhall flee for fear;” tho’ thefe are expreffed in the next claufe: and his princes fhall be afraid of the enfign; any enfign or ftandard they faw, fuppofing it to be a detachment of the Fews in purfuit of them; or not daring afterwards to face any enemy with their banners difplayed: or rather were terrified at the fight of the ftandard erected. by the angel in the air, and at the flaughter of their companies under them in the camp: faith the Lord, whofe fire is in Zion, and bis furnace in Ferufalem, who keeps houfe there, and therefore will defend it. Some, as Aben Ezra and others, think reference is had to the altar of the Lord, where the fire was kept continually burning, and facrifices were offered up to him, and therefore being the place of his worfhip, he would take ' care of it; but rather, it feems to denote, the fire of God’s wrath, to defend his people, and deftroy his enemies, Zech. ii. 5. The Targum is, ‘* whole ‘¢ Juftre is in Zion to them that do the law, and a ‘« burning furnace of fire to them that tranfgrefs ‘© his word.” The Yews, in their Talmud », ini: the fire of hell, and the furnace of the gate of hell.

HIS chapter contains a prophecy of the Meffiah; for however applicable it may be to Hezekiah, as a type of Chrift, it only has its full accomplifhment in him, and in his times; who is defcribed as a righteous king, and as having juft princes ruling under him, ¥. 1. and as a very great bleffing, protection, and comfort to his fubjects, ¥. 2. when follows: a prediction, of great light and knowledge, that fhould be in his days, ¥. 3, 4. and of the vilenefs, hypocrify, and covetoufnefs of the Fews, in his times, ¥. 5, 6, 7, 8. and of the deftruction of their country, becaufe of their fins, of which they feemed greatly infenfible, and were unconcerned about it, and are therefore called upon to lament it, ¥. 9, 10, 11, 12,13, 14. which fhould continue, until there would be a very great effufion of the Spirit, as fhould make the -world, comparable to a wildernefs, fruitful in grace and good works; the confequence of which is, great profperity, peace, and fafety, to the faints, ¥. 15, 16, 17, 18. and deftruction to their enemies, particularly the city of Rome, y. 19. and the chapter is concluded with the happinefs of the gofpelminiftration, and the-fuccefs of it, y¥. 20.

y. 1. Bebold, a king fall reign in righteoufnefs, &c.] Not Hezekiah, as the Fewi/h writers; at leaft only as a type, as fome writers interpret it; rather Chrift himfelf, who-is king not only of the whole world, and of the kings of it in general, but in particular is king of faints; and who reigns now in and over his church and people, being fet as king by his Father over his holy hill of Zion; and being exalted at his right hand, is made and declared Lord and Chrift, and where he does and will reign until all enemies are put under his feet, and e’re long will reign glorioufly before his an-

So Cocceius and Ben Melech; with which the verfion of Junius and Tremellius agrees.

cients in Ferufalem, ch. xxiv. 23. and his reign is in righteoufnefs; in a righteous manner, according to the rules of juftice and equity; all his laws are juft,; his ways and methods of adminiftration are right; his fcepter is.a fcepter of righteoufnefs; righteoufnefs is the girdle of his loins, and faithfulnefs the girdle of his reins: and princes fhall reign in judgment; the minifters of the gofpel, paftors of churches, who are fet over them in the Lord, and have the rule over them; and who rule well, and in judgment, when they rule according to the word of God; when they preach the gofpel, and adminifter ordinances, and do all the bufinefs of Chrift’s houfe, according to the inftructions, laws, and rules he has given. ¥.2. And aman foall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempeft, &c.] Or, that man; the king Meffiah before mentioned; who had agreed to become man, was promifed and prophefied of as fuch, had often appeared in a human form, was to be incarnate, and now is; tho’ he is not a mere man, were he, he could not be what is here faid of him, as an hiding place, and covert from the wind and tempeft, of his father’s wrath, raifed by fin; and which all men are deferving of, and on whom it mutt fall, unlefs fecured from it by Chrift; who has bore it in the room and ftead of his people, has turned it away, and delivered them from it, and all the effects of it, fo that nothing of it comes upon them; he has endured the whole force of the ftorm himfelf; and his righteoufhefs, blood, facrifice, and interceffion fcreen his people from it: he alfo hides and covers them from fatan’s temptations, the blaft of the terrible ones, which is as a ftorm againft the wall, fo as they fhan’t be deftroyed by them; by praying for them, fuccouring of them, fupplying them with his = TP DD, in his grace, and delivering from them in his own time: likewife he protects them from the rage and fury of their perfecuting enemies, when they come like a whirkwind to fcatter them; they have reft in him, when troubled by men; and fecurity by him, when thefe winds and waves beat upon them; and when they are toffed with the tempefts of afflictions of various kinds, he bears them up under them, and carries them thro’ them, and delivers out of them, and brings them at laft fafe to glory: as rivers of water in a dry place; which are very delightful, refrefhing, and fructifying. This denotes the abundance of grace in Chrift, and the freenefs of it, which flows from the boundlefs ocean of divine love, and which greatly comforts and refrefhes the fouls of the Lord’s people in this dry and barren land, and makes them chearful and fruitful, revives their fpirits, makes glad their hearts, and caufes them to go on their way rejoicing: as the fhadow of a great rock in a weary land, to travellers in it, who paffing thro’ a defert in hot countries and fultry climates, are glad when they find a rock which cafts a fhade, under which they can fit a while, fheltered from the {corching fun. Such a weary land is this world to the faints, who are wearied with fins, their own and others, with fatan’s temptations, with afflictions and troubles of various forts; Chrift is the rock that is higher than they, to whom they are directed and led when their hearts are overwhelmed within them; on whom not only their fouls are built, and their feet are fet, and he is a fhelter to them; but he cafts a fhadow, which is very reviving and refrefhing, and that is. the fhadow of his word and ordinances, under which they fit with delight and pleafure, and which makes their travelling thro’ this wildernefs comfortable.

¥. 3. And the eyes of them that fee, fhall not be dim, &c.] Not of the feers and prophets, or minifters of the word only, but of the righteous in general, as the Targum; even all fuch as are illuminated by the fpirit of God, who fhall have a clear difcerning of gofpel-truths, behold with open face, with eyes unveiled, the glory of them, and of 'Chrift in them, and not have their eyes covered, or fuch a dim, obfcure knowledge of them, as under the law; and not only the watchmen fhall fee eye to eye, all truths clearly and diftinétly, but even all, from the leaft to the greateft, fhall know the Lord, and the earth fhall be filled with the knowledge of him, as the waters cover the fea. It is a prophecy of the great increafe of {piritual light in the times of the Meffiah: and the ears of them that bear fhall bearken, very diligently and attentively to the word preached, and receive and embrace the doétrines of the gofpel, and fubmit to, and obey, the ordinances of it.

v. 4. The heart alfo of the rafh fhall underftand knowledge, &c.] Such who have been hafty and precipitant, as the word ‘-fignifies; who have not given themfelves time to confider what they have read or heard, or has been propofed unto them, and have haftily received every thing that has been fuggefted to them, efpecially by carnal fenfe and réaion, fhall now fit down, and cooly confider