Exposition of the Whole Bible

nature and life; and: the! helinefs’ of both ‘is! it puted’ to thofe’ that are in this way;/ all “in ‘way ‘are fanified by the Spirit and grace of Gods this ways leads to perfect holinefs “in heaven and none but holy perfons walk heré: falvation by Chrift no ways difcourages the practice of holinefsj butis the greateft motive and incentive to it, Chriftleads his people in paths of righteoufnefs, in the 'p of truth, of ordinances, and of worfhip, public and private, all which are holy 5 and if i of gofpel-converfation ‘and godlinef$ + this"way is fo holy, that rhe unclean fhall not pafs over ital men are unclean by nature; fome are cleanfed by the grace of God and blood of Chrift; ‘and 'th as fanétified, they are not free from’ fin, and the pollution of it, ‘yet as juftified, they are the wnde fled in the way; and none but fuch’ can pafs Over, or pafs through this way to heaven, Rew, xxi. Pye but it fhall be for thofe; for holy men, not'for the unclean; for [/rael only, as Kimchi, for fuch who are IDjraelites indeed;' for thofe who are before+ mentioned, ¥. 5, 6. as Farchi; itis for thofe to walk in, who have been blind, but'now fee, ‘and thefe are led in a way that they knew not before + for the deaf, who now hear the voice behind them, faying, this is the way; for the lame man; that leaps like a hart, to walk and run in; for ‘the dumb, now made to fing, and go on in it rejoicing’; it is for the redeemed to walk in, as in the follow ing verfe. This claufe may be rendered, and he fhall be with them*, that is, God fhall’ be with them; they fhall have his company arid gracious prefence in the way; he will be with them,’ to guide and direct they, to fupply all their wants, and furnifh them with every thing convenient’ for them; to fupport and ftrenethen them; on whom they may lean and ftay themfelvées; to guard’and protect them from all their enemies; and being with them,’ they’ fhall not mifs their way, or-fail of coming to the end. Hence ‘it follows, 7hée wayfaring men; tho fools, foal not err therein $ or travellers; fuch the ‘faints are, they are ftrangers, pilgrims, and fojourners here; they have’ no*con+ tinuance here’; they are’ like wayfaring ‘men, ‘that abide but for a night; they are bound for another country, 2 better, even an ‘heavenly one, and at laft fhall arrive thither: now thefe, tho’ they. have been fools in their unregenerate’ ftate, with refpect to fpiritual things; or tho’ they may not have that fharpnefs of wit, and quicknefs of natural parts, as fome men have; and tho’ they may not'have that clear and diftinct knowledge’ of gofpel-truths’ ‘as others, at leaft of fome of them, yet fhall not érr as to thé way of falvation; and tho” they may-err or miftake in fome things, yet not in the main, not fundamentally, nor finally; thé way of falvation by Chrift is fo plain a way, that he thar has any fpiritual underftanding of it fhall not err 3p «ta ers s; ¥. 9. No lion foall be there, &c.] That is, in the way before decribed; no wicked perfons, comparable to lions for theit favage and ¢ uel difpofitions towards the people of Gods for thofe > have been as fuch,’ as Saul before’ convers when brought ‘into this way, become’ Jambs. ©The Targum interprets ‘it of ty ‘kings and princes, ‘* there’ fhail’not be: there a king doing evil, nor an hiro vernor; ‘and Farchi applies it to Nebuchadnezzar, as in Fer— ‘iv. 7. and the fenfe may be, that when this way dpc rue cd ot Stitt” TSAT RG oe thal fhall. be|anore, known,on, earth, injthe,latter day, there; will be no,perfecutor,ef the church and peopleof;God.: or elfe fatan, the roaring lion, is here meant, who has no,part nor Jot in this way of falwation; and all that,are in it are out of his reach.; and tho’ he may difturb,in the paths of duty and ordinances, yet he can_never deitroy thofe who are inChiift the ways,sor any ravenous beast foall go up-thereon wpon.the high way; the fame may be intended as before: it foall not be found there; walking, ravaging, and deftroying: but the redeemed foell walk there; without tear, as Kimchi adds, fince no.lion, or any beaft of prey, fhall be found upon it: the, redeemed are the redeemed of the Lord, and by him, and, are peculiarly his, being bought with his precious blood, redeemed | from among men, and unto God, and from fin, the, lai, its curfe,, and condemnation; thefe avalk.in the wayof life and falvation by Chrift, in confequence of their being redeemed; which fuppoles iife, ttrength, and wifdom, which are given them, and a proficiency or going forward: they JLall walls, here; tho’ they have been, blind, their eyes fhall be opened to fee this way; and tho’ weak, they fhall have ftrength to walk in it; and tho’ foolifh, they fhall have wifdom to guide their feet with difcretion; and tho’ they may. ftumble] and fall, they fhall rife again, and fhall keep on which, oil,.of. gladnefs.is. poured. upon them, and diffufed all over them, like the ointment on daron’s head; and. this is everla/ting;. not as.to the, exercife of it, which,is,often interrupted by fin, temptation, and defertion; but asto the ground and foundation of it, the everlatting love of..God, the everlafting covenant of his grace, and the everlafting righteoufnefs and falvation by Chritt;.,and.as.to the: principle and habit of it, which can never be loft, nor any man take it away; they hall obtain joy. and gladne/s; by having the prefence of God, and communion with him; thro’ his love being fhed abroad in their shearts,;, by being favoured with views of Chrift, and intereft in him,. and with the gracious influences of the bleffed Spirit: and forrow: and ghing shall flee away;.which before attended them, thro’ convictions of fin,.but, now removed by the ball | difcoveries and applications of pardoning grace and mercy; or what was occafioned by want of the divine prefence, now enjoyed; being come to.Zion, they are made joyful in the houfe of prayer, and are fatisfied with the marrow, and fatnels of gofpelordinances; and continually hear the joyful found of the gofpel itfelf: all this may.be applied to the ftate of the faints in heaven; for the high-way before defcribed not-only leads to Zioz the.church below; but to. the Zion above, to. the heavenly glory;, and all the redeemed, all that walk in this walking to the end. way, fhall come thither; at death their fouls re-

¥.10. And the ranfomed of the Lord fhall return, &c.] The fame with the redeemed in y¥. 9. thefe foall return, or be converted, as the Vulgate Latin verfion; they are in the fame ftate and condition with other men by nature, but by virtue of their being ranfomed by Chrift, they are by the grace of God turned from darknefs to light, from the power of fatan unto God; they are returned from the paths in which they had been ftraying to Chrift, the fhepherd and bifhop of fouls, in order to walk in his ways: ead come to Zion with fongs, being called, by grace, and. converted, they turn their backs on the world, and the men. of it, and afk the way to. Zion, with their faces thitherwards, even to the church of God; and they find their way, being: dire€ted and brought there by the Lord himfelf;.where they, come. readily and, willingly, not only to hear the gotpel, but to, fubmit toyall.ordinances, and become members. of a gofpel-church; | ~ fee Heb, xii, 22. and hither they come, with songs, for electing, redeeming, calling, juftifying and pardoning grace; eyery, one of which bleffings requires a fong, and with which they are now affected, feeing their intereft in them, and can’t forbear fpeaking of them to the glory of divine grace: and everlajting joy upon their heads, {een in their counteturn to,God that gave them, and.are in immediate happinefs with Chrift; and in the refurrection fhall return from their dufty beds, and fhall appear before God in Zion above, and with fongs to Father, Son, and Spirit, for what.each have done for them, in election, redemption, and converfion; and for perfevering grace, and for being fafely brought over Yordan’s river, and from the grave; fee 1 Cor, xv. 54—57. they fhall then enter into joy; which will never end; there will be nothing to interrupt it to all eternity; it will be everlafting joy indeed 5 and this will be upon their beads, vifible and manifeft, and be upon them as a crown of life, righteoufnefs, and glory, that fhall never fade away; they fhall then obtain joy and-gladne/fs, in all the fulnefs thereof, their joy in the Lord will be complete; which thefe feveral words and phrafes ufed are expreflive of; and then there will be no more orrow, and fighing, for there will be. no more fin and unbelief,.or any other, corruption of nature; no more darknefs and defertion;. no more of any of fatan’s temptations; no more diftreffes, inward or outward; and fo no. more fighing within, nor forrowing without; all tears will be wiped away, The Fews ° apply this paffage to the world. to come, nances, and by the lifting up of their heads; and

N_ this chapter we have an.account of the king of Ajjyria’s invafion. of Fudea, and of the railmg fpeech of Raljbakeb his general, to difcourage the minifters. and fubjects of the king of Judah, for war, inthe king of Egypt, and in his chariota and horfemen, and even in the Lord himfelf, pretending that he came by his orders to deftroy the land, ¥. 4, 5, 65 75 8, 9, 10. The other part is di-

‘The time and fuccefs of the invafion are obferved in..1+-the meflenger the former king fent to the latter}, and from whence, and with whom, he conferred, y..2, 3. the {peech of the meffenger, which eonfifts of two parts; the firft part is directed to the minitters.of Hezekiah, fhewing. the vain confidence of their prince in his couniels and ftrength rected to the common people on the wall; he refufing to fpeak in the Syrian language, as defired, ¥.-11, 12. diffuading them from hearkening to Hezekigh to their own deception; perfuading them to come into.an agreement with him for their own fafety and good; obferving to them that none.of the Gods of the nations could deliver them out of his mafter’s hands, and therefore it was in vain for them to “expect deliverance from the Lord their God,*y..13, 14, 15,16, 17, 18, 19, 20. to which neither minifters nor people returned any anfwer 5 “but the former went with their clothes rent to Hexekiah, and reported what had been faid, ¥. 21, 22.

Mur. Now it came to pals in the fourteenth year ‘of king Hezekiah, &c.] The following. piece of *hiftory is inferted from the books of Kings and Chronicles, as an illuftration of fome preceding prophecies, and as a confirmation of them; fee 2 Kings Xviii.'13: 2 Chron. xxxii. 1. that Sennacherib king of Afpria came up againft all the defenced cities of Fudah 5 who in Tovit i. 18. is faid to be the fon of Salmanefer, as he certainly was his fucceffor, who in the fixth year of Hezekiah, eight years before this, took Samaria, and carried the ten tribes captive, 2 Kings xviii. 10, 11. he is called Sennacherid by ‘Herodotus «, who fays he was king of the Arabians, and the Affyrians; who yet is blamed by Fofephus *, for not calling him the king of the Affyrians, only of the Arabians, whereas he ftiles him “both; and the fame Yo/fephus obferves, that Berofus, a Chaldean writer, makes mention of this Semmacherib as king of Alfyria; the fame came up in a military way againft the fortified cities of Fudab, which were the frontier towns, and barriers ef their country: and took them; that is, fome of them, not all of them; fee chap. xxxvii. 8. he thought indeed to have took them to himfelf, this was his intent, °2 Chron: xxxii. 1. but was prevailed upon to’ defift, by a payment of 300 talents of filver; and 30 talents of pold to‘him, by the king of “Fudah, 2 Kings xviii. 14, 13, 16: *

* y. 2. And the king of Affyria fent Rabjhakeb from Lachifh to: Ferufalem, unto king Hezekiah with a great army, &c.|] Notwithftanding he had taken Hexekiah’s money to withdraw his army out of his country, yet fends it out to his very capital; along with “this Rab/bakeb he fent two other generals, Tartan and Rabfaris, 2 Kings xviii..17: tho’ they aré not mentioned, only Rabfhakeb, becaufe he was | thé principal perfon, ‘however the’ chief fpeaker. Lachifo was a city in the tribe of ‘fudab, Fofb. xv. 39.-which Sennacherib was now befieging, 2 Chron. xxxii..g. This meffage was fent, bifhop Uber fays, +threeyears after the former expedition: and he ftood by the conduit of the upper pool, in the high-way of the fuller’s field, where they fpread their clothes, as the Targum, having wafhed them in the pool, of which fee ch. vii. 3. Ben Melech thus defcribes the pool, conduit, and high-way: the pool is a ditch, built with ftone and lime,.where rain -water was collected, or where they drew water from the fountain, and the waters were gathered into this pool; and there was in this pool a hole, which they ftopped, until the time they pleafed to. fetch water out of the pool: and the conduit was a ditch near to the pool, and they brought water out of the pool into the conduit, when they chofe - to drink, or wafh.garments: the:high-way was a way paved with ftones, “fo thar they: could walk upon it in ‘rainy days;-and_ here’ they ftood afd. Arength for war, as’ he’had, he wafhed their garments imthe waters“6f the conduit, and in the field ‘they {pread thenr to’ the fun.) This pool lay withourithe’city, yet-juft by the walls. of ity. which fhewed 'the*daring: infolence of \Rab/bnkeb to Vatablus; commonefaciens/ Montanus;.@ memoria, Junius &" hiorum, Montanus; vel, fermo labiorum, Vatablus. f eloquence in addreffing his foldiers, rides, as well as what follows: I

come fo very nigh, for he was in the he. the men upon the walls, y. 12,.this Ra by the Yewifh writers thought to be an apo Jew, becaute he fpoke in the Fews language; and ~ fome of them, as Yerom fays, will have im to be a fon of the prophet J/aiah’s, but mh ope dation. Procopius, in 2 Kings xviii, thinks it probable that he was an Hebrew, who either had on his own accord to the Afyrians, or was

¥. 3. Then came forth unto him, 8c.) We fent by Hezekiah; for otherwife Rab/bakeb h. impudence to call to him, in order to. pai treat with him about the furrender of the city. as this was not thought either fafe or honout for the king to go in perfon, his following mini- {ters went; fee 2 Kings xviii, 18: Elickim, Hilkiab’s

Jon, which was over the boufe,; not over the houle of the Lord, the temple, as fome, but the king’s ~ houfe, being high-fteward of it, or major domo. This is the fame perfon as is mentioned in chy-xxii-

20: and Shebna the feribe;° not of the book of the

Jaw, a copier, or interpreter of that, but fecret of ftate; he had been treafurer, but now rer ch. xxii. 15: and Foab Afaph’s fon, thé recara the mafter of requefts, or the remembrencer *, whi as the Targum, was appointed over. thin pal rable; whofe bufinefs it was to take notice of things worthy of memory, write them down, and di them in order; perhaps the king’s hiftortographer., y. 4. And Rabfhakeh faid unto them, &c.| The three minifters above mentioned: fay ye wow £0 Hezekiah, tell him what follows; he does not cail him king, as he does his own mafter: thus faith the great king, the king of Afyria, this he faid boaftingly of his mafter, and in order to. terrify Hezekiah and his fubjects; whom he would repre fent as little in comparifon of him, who had fubdued many kingdoms, and aimed at univerfal monarchy 3 fo the eaftern kings ufed to be called, as now the grand Signior with the Turks, and the French call their king the great monarch; but. thi title of a great king’ fuits beft with God himfelf, Pf. xcv. 3: what confidence is this, wherein thos truftet? meaning, what was the ground and foundation of his confidence? what was it th in high fpirits, that he did not at once fub the king of Afyria, and furrender the city of | rufalem to him? ao iat ¥.5. I fay (fayeft thou) but they are but onie words, &c.|) Or, word of lips’; meaning the fol, lowing, which he fuggefts were only the fruit ¢ his lips, not of his heart; or were vain and fool. ith, and’without effect, and {tood for nothing; the firft part of ‘the words are Hezekich’s, £ fk them; tho’ they may be underftood as Hezekiak or what he is. made to fpeak by Rab/hakeb, ground of his confidence, namely, word of that is, prayer to God, as Kimchi ¢ ing them to fight, either’ of which to confult, and was capable of plan, and wife fchemes, and of f execution, and of heartening me.

put’ his confidence in thele ings

gefted;"2 Chron. xxxii. 3—8, the words may be rendered, but counfel and firength are for war*; what fignifies words to God, or eloquence with men? this is all lip-labour, and of ‘little fervice; wifdom and counfel to form plans, and power to execute them, are the things which are neceflary to carry on a war’with fuccefs, and which, it is intimated, were wanting in Hezekiah; and therefore he had nothing to ground his confidence upon, within himéfelf, or his people: now on whom doft thou truft, that thou rebelleft againft me? which it does not ap- ar he had, having paid the money agreed to for the withdrawment of his army; but this was a pretence for the fiege of Ferufalem.

¥.6. Lo, thou trufteft in the flaff of this broken reed, on Egypt, &c.|) His ally and auxiliary; and which is rightly called the jtaff of a broken reed, if trufted to, and leaned upon, being weak and frail, and an infufficient ground of confidence to depend upon; the allufion feems to be to the cane or reed which grew upon the banks of the river Nile in Egypt: whereon if a man lean, it will go into bis hand, and pierce it, the fplinters of the broken reed being leaned on, will enter into 2 man’s hand, and do him mifchief, inftead of being a help to him to walk with: /o is Pharaoh king of Egypt to ail that truft in him pernicious and hurtful, inftead of being ufeful and helpful.

. ¥.7. But of thou fay to me, we truft in the Lord our God, &c.| ‘In his promifes, providence, power, and protection, and not in human counfels and ftrength; not in allies and auxiliaries, as Pharaob king of Egypt; thould this be replied, Rabjbakeb has fomething to fay to that; having fhewn the vanity of trufting in the above things, he now proceeds to beat them off of all truft in the Lord their God: is it not be whofe high places, and whofe altars Hezekiah bath taken away? the queftion might eafily be anfwered in the negative; no, ‘he has not; the high places and altars which Hezekiah took away, were the high places and altars of heathen gods, of falfe deities, and not of the true God of J/rael, and which was to his honour and glory; but Rabfbakeh would make a crime of it, and ignorantly fuppofing that thefe were the altars and high places of the God of J/rae/, would infinuate that the taking of thefe away mutft be difpleafing to him, and confequently Hezekiah and his people could not hope for any protection from him, whom he had {0 highly afironted; but all this talk was the fruit of ignorance, as well as of malice; and faid to Fudab, and to Ferufalem, ye foall worfhip before this altar? the altar of the Lord, in the temple at Yeru/jalem, and before that only, confining their religious worfhip to one place, and their facrifices to one altar; which was fo far from being difpleafing to God, as he would infinuate, that it was entirely agreeable to his will; and therefore there was no weight or ftrength in this kind of reafoning.

¥.8. Now therefore give pledges to my mafter the

‘king of Aria, &c.| Or, hoftages®; that thou wilt not rebel agrinlt him, but be faithful to him, and he will withdraw his army; or give fecurity for the horfes after promifed: or mingle thy elf with dim; agree the matter with him, give pledges for future fidelity; or join in battel with him, come out and fight him, if able: and Iwill give thee two

5 sind PVN PY confilium & fortitudo ad prelium, Montanus; fed confilio & fortitudine opus ad przlium, inus, i i “YHVI da obfides, Vatablus; pacifcere cum domino meo,

thoufand horfes, if thou be. able on thy part ta fet riders on them; thus fcoffing at him, as if he had not fo many foldiers to bring out againft him; or fo many men in his kingdom as har ill enoygh to ride a horfe; in his bravado he fignifies, that if he would come out and fight him, he would lend him fo many horfes, if he could put.men upon them, to affift him; this he faid as bogfting of his mafter’s ftrength and power, and in {corn and des tifion at Hezekiah’s weakttel$.. oiens mom uly tin

¥.9. How then wilt thou turn away. the face af one captain of the leaft of my mafter’s fervants, &c.

Be able to refift him; or be a match for him or caufe him to flee; the leaft captain or general in the army having, as Kimchi fays, two thouiand men under him; and therefore, if Hezekiah could not produce two thoufand mea, to fit upon fo many hories offered, he could not be a smasch for, or hope to conquer, or caufe to flee, the leaft officer in the army, who had the feweft men under him, and much lefs conquer, or caufe to flee, the whole Afyrian army. Some think Rad/bakeb means himfelf; but that does not feem_ likely, that. Sennacherib fhould fend an inferior officer, or a perfon of a low character, and in a low ftation, or that fuch an.oneé fhould be the principal fpeaker; nor does, it fuyit with the imperious and haughty difpofition of Rabfeoakeb to fpeak in fuch.a manner of himfelf: and put. thy truft on Egypt for cheriots,.and for borfemen? for to what purpofé was it to feck and fend to Egypt for chariots and horfes, fince he had not a fufficient number of men to put upon them, but mutt be obliged to have men, as well as hories and chariots; and which, as before obferved, it was a vain thing to truft to, and was quite needleis, when he might have enow from his matter, the Afjriaz king, would he agree with him.

y.10. And am 1 now come up without the Lord againft this land to deftray it? 8&c.] He would in« finuate that he had a commiffion from the Lord God, and that it was by his will and order that he came up to deftroy the land; which he faid to intimidate Hezekiah and his fubjects, as knowing that nothing was more likely to do it than that: fo far it was true, that he did not.come up without the knowledge of the Lord, nor without,his will to chaftife, but not to deftroy, as the event fhewed: the Lord faid unto me; by the impulfe-of his Spirit, or by one of his prophets, as he would fuggeft: go up againft this land, and deftroy it; which was a lie of his own making; he knew that the Lord had faid no fuch thing to him, nor had fent him on fuch an errand; unlefs he concluded it from,his fuccefs in taking the fenced cities ot Fudab, and from Samaria, and the ten tribes, being delivered up in time paft into the hands of the king of A/jyria, and fo was confident this would be the fate of Fudah and Ferufalem.

y¥.11. Then faid Eliakim, and Shebua, and Foah unto Rabfhakeh, &c.| That is, one of them addrefled him in the name of the reft;. for the verb is fingular; and what follows confirms it; perhaps Eliakim was the fpeaker: fpeak, I pray thee, uuto thy fervants in the Syriac language; which was fomewhat different from the Hebrew, in which he {poke, and which was not underftood by the common people, and.for that reafon defired: for we wnderfiand it; or hear it; could hear it, fo as,to underftand i 3 it; it being common in all courts, as the French tongue now; the Arian empire being very large, and fo had been learned by thefe courtiers, for the fake of negotiation or commerce, when the common people had no concern with it: and {peak not to us in the Fews language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall; the wall of the city, where the cominiffioners were, who would not venture themfeélves out of the city, in the hands of fo perfidious an enemy; and the men on the wall were fuch, who either were placed there to defend the city, and fo were foldiers, or people that were gathered together to fee the embaffadors of the king of Afjria, and to hear, as much as they could, what pafled between them and the minifters of Hezekiah, and as this fpeech of Elakim’s fhewed reat fubmiffivenefs in ‘praying and intreating Radfeakeb to fpéak to them in another language, and a mean, abject fpirit, in faying’ they were his fervants, fo a great degree of timoroufnefs in them, and diffidence of the people, Jeft they fhould. be terrified, and be for giving up the city at once into the hands-of the enemy; this looks like a piece of bad policy, and fome think that Shebya was the contriver of it, and the advifer to it, in. order to give Reb/hakeh a hint of their fears, and.

of the difpofition ofthe people, and put him in higher fpirits, and on railing the more, and thereby. ftill work. the more on the peoples fears; however, it had this effect on him, as follows.

y¥. 12. But Rabfhakeh faid, hath my mafter fent me to thy mafter, and to thee, to {peak thefe words? &c.] That is, to them only, that he fhould ufe a langtiage only underftood by them: hath he not fent me 40 the men that fit upon the wall; and therefore it is proper to fpeak ina language which they underftand, and to let them know, that if they will not furrender up the city, but will attempt. to hold out a fiege, they'‘muft expect, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own pifs with you? fuggefting that they muft expect a clote fiege, which would not ‘be broke up until the city was ‘taken; the confequence of which would be fuch a famine, that they would be reduced to fuch extremities. ‘The Fews have fubftituted other words ‘in the margin, inftead of thofe in the text, as more cleanly, and lefs’offenfive; for dung they put ex- ‘erement, and for pi/s'they read the waters of the feet; and had we in our verfion put excrement and urine inftead’ of thefe words; it would” have been more decent. Le bt

¥.13. Then Rablbakeh ftood, and cried with a loud voice in the Fews language, &c.| In which he fpoke before; but now he raifed up himfelf, and elevated his voice, and ftrained himfelf, to the utmoft, that all'the people might hear, and that he might ‘{trike:a terror into them, and ftir them up to mutiny and rebellion, and oblige their governors to give up the city into the hands.of the Afyrians; this ufe he made of the requeft of Hezekiah’s minifters, perceiving hereby their fears, and the. difpofition of the people: and faid, hear ye the words of the great kings*the king of Affyria, as in y. 4. fee the note there.. mt

¥. 14. Thus faith the king, &c.] °'The king of Afpria, whom he perfonated, whofe general and embaflador he was; fo he fpake to command the greater awe'of the people, and the more to terrify them: Jet not Hezekiah deceive you; with fair words, promifing protection and fafety,, making »prepara- army: or make a bleffed peace with es eee = ail

‘to bé underftood of every oné’ having he

Ps at dD A cntasiy edwopps tions for the defence of the city, and to oblige he! befiegers to break up the yet of it: for he foal” not be able to deliver you; but if he was not his”

God, whom he ferved, and in whom he truftedy “” was able to deliver them, and ‘did.deliver'them’ “*”

¥..16. Hearken not to Hezekiah, peel: exhortations and perfuafions to truft int nor would he have'them obey hiny th things Givil, any more than. hearken ‘to’ him in things “facta,” ” tho’ their liege lord and fovereign; for hiS view” and endeavour were to ftit’them up’ to mutiny and” rebellion; and fo the: Targum, “do not’ obey He- “© zekiah;”? or receive any" 6rdeis “drm fim, or

‘ Ae eS ride ey GaN: Ores pay any regard to them: ‘for\Jhus "/@B Tee kine oF Afjria, make an agreement with ine WH apes rae or, make a bleffing with me‘; either tend ‘Htatde’ and liberal gift to fecure his favour, and their hapt pine} a molt infoleit and‘ unrighteous demand this, when he had already received 360 talents of filver, and 3o talents of gold; to withdraw his that it would turn ‘mere to their actount té giv up themfelves to hirn, than to be in the condition — they were; fo the Yargum, ‘© make" peace with “ me;” this fenfe Ben Melech aives carey x tuagint verfion is, if ye would be bléfed 26r happy, come out to me; forfake your king, threw off. your allegiance to him, furrender yourfelves “and city to me: and eat ye every one of his Vine, and every one of his fig-tree: and drink ye everyone the waters of his own cifern; promifing liberty. and property, but does not tell them how long they © fhould enjoy thém; ‘he fignifies that ea enjoy every thing that was neceffary, convenient,, and delightful; vines and fig-trees are mentioned, — becaufe common in Fudee, and all had cifterns near them for their ufe's unlefs this lat “claufe is j wives 5 fee Prov. v. 15: as the other claui defign the enjoyment of their eftates “and fions, without any moleftation or inffir

X17. Until I come and take yon away Wa like your own land, &c.] Some have thought, as erom obferves, that the land of Media was meant, which bore fome likenefs to the land of Fudea in, fituation and fruitfulnefs. Maimonides thinks thar Africa is intended’. ‘Rabfbakeh names no land, | nor could he name any like, or equal to, the land of Canaan he could not conceal -his intention to

remove them from their own land to, another; this having been always done by the King of 4/-

Jpria to people conquered by him, and as was uftal.

for conquerors to do, that fo the conquered might

€ BO.expectation or opportunity of recovering ie rts Bind: @ land ris and wine, a land of bread and vineyards 5 Corn tor bread, and vineyards for wine, and,both for food and drink; fiich a land was the land of Judea.. The defcription agrees with Deut, vil. 8...Rabjhakeh was. well acquainted with the land of,‘7udea, and this {eems to confirm the conjecture of the ews, that he was one,of their people, fince he could fpeak their Janguage, and defcribe their land fo well; all this he Paris footh and perfuade. them to a voluntary farrender.... ~;

¥..48, Beware Jeff Hexckiah perfuade you, &c.] To truft in the Lord; ftand up in your own defence, and not liften to thefe propofals; or, Je? he deceive, you™. with vain words; whom he. would reprefent not only as not being their lawful king, and therefore never gives him that title, but alfo as a deceiver and impoftor, of whom they fhould be cautious, and guard. againft: /aying, the Lord will deliver us, and _theretore is not fear the boafts and threats, the force and fury. of the enemy: bap any of the gods of the nations delivered his land; byer whom he prefided, and to whom the people of it were devotees: out of the band of the king of Afpria? this reafoning would have had fome weight in it; had the Lord God of Jjrael been like the gods of the nations, but he is not; he is the former and maker of all things, and fits in the heavens, and does whatfoeyer he pleafes in heaven, and in earth; -and- therefore; tho’ they could not deliver their nations that worfhipped them,,it did. not follow that. the God of Jrael could not deliver Hezekiah and his people.

¥.19. Where ate the Gods of Hamath and Arphad? &c.], What is become of them? where are they to be found? where’s their power to protect and defend the people they prefided over? thus they might be juftly derided, but not fo the God of J/rael; thefe places are mentioned in ch. x. 9.. Hamath was a city in Syria, thought by fome to be the fame, afterwards called Autiochia and Epiphama, from. Antiochus Epiphanes: Arphad is joined with it in Fer. xlix. 23. asa city of Syria; perhaps originally founded and inhabited by the “Arvadite, mentioned with the Hamathite, in Gen. x. 18: where are the gods of Sepbharvaim? another place in Syria, the city Sippobre; not the Sipphara of Plolemy" in’ Mefopotamia, or that near Babylon, Abydenus ° makes mentions of, but a city in Syro- Phenicia, 2 Kings xvii. 24: and bave they delivered Samaria out of my band? the gods of the above places, which were worfhipped in Samaria, or the Gods peculiar to that place; tho’ Samaria was not taken by the prefent king of Afpria, Sennacherid, but by a predeceflor of his, Salmanefer, 2 Kings xvii.

3, 6. which yet is here boafted of a3 a conqueft of

¥. 20. Who are they amongft all the gods of thefé lands, that have delivered their land out of my band? &c.] Not one of them, it is fuggefted 5 wherefore then fhould it be thought practicable, that the Lord foould deliver Ferufalem out of my hand? thus blafphemoufly fetting the Lord God of Irae! upon a level with the fictitious gods of the Gentiles; tho” thefe could not, the Lord could, being the Lord God Almighty, If Ratfhakeh was an apo- {tate Few, he muft have known better; but the malice of fych is ufually the greateft.

W.21. But they held their. peace, and: anfwered him not a word, &c.| The three minifters of Hezekiah; not as confounded, and unable to return: an anfwer; they were capable of faying. many. things in proof that the Lord God was: greater than the gods of the nations, and in favour of their king Hezekiah, whom he had treated’ in a fcurrilous manner; and could have objected to him the king of 4ffyria’s breach of faith and honour, but thefe things they waved, and {aid nothing of 3!' no. doubt they faid fomething to him, had fome: conference with him, or otherwife what were they fent as commiffioners about? but they made no anfwer to his blafphemies. and, menaces: for:the king’s commandinent was, faying, anfwer him not s with refpect to the above things; when he fent them, he might be aware that he would behave in fuch a rude, infolent, and blafpheming manner, and therefore the king gave them inftrudctions how to conduct themfelves, fhould this be the cafe. Mufculus thinks the king was on the wall, and heard all himfelf, and gave orders to his minifters to make no reply; but this does not feem likely; what is here faid of the minifters, is alfo faid of the people, 2 Kings xviii. 36.

¥. 22. Then came Eliakim that was over the houfoold, &c.| The firft of the commiffioners fent) to Rabjbakeh: and Shebna the feribe, and ‘Foab the fon of Afaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah; by which it feems that he could not be with them on the wall, but was all the while in his own palace, whither they came to him, to report the iffue of their conference with Rabjbakeh’: with their clothes rent; which was done perhaps not in the prefence, and within the fight of Radhakeb, but as they came along; and that partly on account of the blafphemies ipo had heard, Matt. xxvi. 65. and partly thro’ the grief of heart, for the diftrefs and - calamity they might fear were coming on themfelves, their king, their city, and country, Zoe ii. 13: and told him the words of Rabfhakeh, what he had faid againft him, ‘and againft the God of J rael, his menaces and his. blafphemies; they made a faithful report of the whole, as meffengers ought to do. What effeét this had upon the king, we have an account of in the following chapter.

N this chapter are contained Hezekiah’s meflage I to Yaieh, defiring his prayer for him and his people, in this time of fore diftrefS, ¥. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. the comforting and encouraging anfwer returned by the prophet to him, ¥. 6, 7. the king of Ajyria’s letter to Hezekiah, to terrify him into a furrender of the city of Ferufalem to him, y. 8—13. which Hezekiah fpread before the Lord, and prayed unto him for deliverance, ¥. 14—20. upon which he received a gracious anfwer by the hand of the prophet, promifing fafety and deliverance to him, and deftruction to the king of Afyria, of which a fign was given, ¥. 21—35. and the chapter is clofed with the flaughter of the Affyrian army by an angel, the flight of the king, and his death by the hands of his fons, ¥. 36, 37, 38. ° y. 1. And it came to pafs, when king Hezekiah heard it, &c.] The report that his minifters made to him, of the blafphemies and threatenings.of Rabfhakeh, the general of the Affyrign army: that he rent his clothes, and covered bimfelf with fackcloth; the one becaufe of the blafphemies he heard; the other becaufe of the ‘deftruction he and his people were threatened with: and went into the houfe of the Lord, the temple, to pray to him there: he could have prayed in his‘ own houfe, but he chofe rather to go to the houfe of God, hot fo much on account of the holinefs of the place, but becaufe there the’ Lord promifed, and was ufed to hear the prayers of his people, 1 Kings Vili. 29, 30. as alfo becaufe it was more public, and would be known to the people, and fet them an example to follow him in. Trouble fhould not keep perfons from, but bring them to ‘the houfe of God; here the Lord is to be enquired of, here he is to be found; and from hence he fends deliverance and falvation to his people. Nothing is more proper than prayer in times of af-" fiction; it is no ways unbecoming nor leffening the greateft king on earth, to lay afide his royal robes, to humble ‘himfelf before God, in a time of diftrefs, and pray unto him. Hezekiah does not fit down to confider Rab/hakeh’s fpeech, to take it in pieces, and give an anfwer to it, but he applies unto God.

¥.2. And he fent Eliakim, who was ‘over the houfbold, and Shebna the fcribe, &c.} ‘Two of the commiffioners fent to Rab/bakeb, and who heard his infolence and blafphemy, and were capable of giving a full account. of it, to I/aiah the prophet: and the elders of the priefts, as the chief of thofe that were concerned in civil affairs, fo the chief of thofe that were employed in facred things, were fent: this was a very honourable embaffy; and it was fhowing great refpeét to the prophet, to fend fuch perfonages to him: covered with Jackcloth; as the king himfelf was, following his example; and this is to be under{tood not of the elders of the priefts’ only, but of EHliakim and Shebna alfo. Thefe, fo clad, were fent by the king unto Iaiah the prophet, the fon of Amoz; to give him an account.of the prefent fituation of affairs, ofthe diftrefs he was in, and to defire his prayers, a very proper perfon to apply to, a prophet, one highly dear to God,’

lifelefs idols of the Gentiles:

A H. ‘Chexixvii. WD By ater brat; XXXVIL. oe and honoured by him, had near accef& tanto him; and knew much of his mind. © y¥. 3. And they faid unto bim, &c.] The mefiengers to the prophet: thus faith Hezekiah; this is the meflage he has fent us with; this is what he would have us lay before thee, and has given us in charge to fay unto thee: this day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blafphemy; it was a day of trouble to Hezekiah and his people, becaufe it was a day of rebuke, in which God rebuked them for their fins; or of reproach and reviling, as the J: ar~ gum and Septuagint, in which the Afyrians reviled and reproached both God and them; and efpecially, becaufe it was a day of blafphemy againft God: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not ftrength to bring forth; which is to be underftood not of the reformation within themfelves, happily begun and carried on, but now hindered from being brought to perfection, by the Afprian army being fo near them; nor of their attempt to caft off the Affyrian yoke, which was thought to be juft upon finifhing, but now defpaired of, unlefs divine affiftance be given; nor of their inability to unifh the blafphemy that fo much affected them; but of the deplorable condition they were now in. Hezekiah compares himfelf and his people to a woman in travail, that has been fome time in it, and the child is fallen down to the place of the breaking forth of children, as the word ufed fignifies, but unable to make its way, and fhe having neither ftrength to bear it, nor to bring it forth, nature being quite exhaufted, and itrength gone, thro’ the many pains and throws endured: and juft fo it was even with him and his people, they were in the utmoft pain and diftrefs; they could not help themfelves, nor could he help them; and therefore muft perifh, unlefs they had immediate affiftance and relief. ‘farchi interprets the children, of the children of Jrae/, the children of God.

y. 4. It may be, the Lord thy God will bear the words of Rabfhakeb, &c.| He had heard them; but the fenfe is, that it might be that he would take notice of them, and refent them in a public manner, and punifh for them; and this is faid, not as doubting and queftioning whether he would or no, but as hoping and encouraging himfelf that he would: and it may be obferved, that Hezekiah does not call the Lord, my God, or our God, becaufe he and his people were under the chaftening: hand of God for their fins, and were undeferving of fuch a relation; but thy God, whofe prophet he was, whom he ferved, and to whom he was dear, and with whom he had an intereft; and the it might be hoped his prayer to him would be heard and accepted, and that thro” his interpofitiom God would be prevailed upon to take notice of the railing fpeech of Rabjhakeh: whom the king of Afyria his mafter bath fent to reproach the leving God; who has life in and of himfelf, and is the fountain, author, and giver of life to all others; him he reproached, by fetting him on a level with the and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath beard, Feprove_ him for his words, take vengeance upon him, or

PAU ID a WAU. fregit, confregit— matrix, vel os matricis, quod partu frangi videtur, vel a frangentibus partus fic di&tum, Guffet. Ebr. Comment. p- 824. AWD “IW, ufque ad anguttias uteri, Vatablus. So Ben Melech interprers punith him for the blafphemous words fpoken by him againft the Lord, and in his ‘hearing: to this fenfe is the Targum, and fo the Syriac and Arabic | verfions: «wherefore lift.ap thy prayer for the rem- art In prayer, to God in heaven, pray eat: | neftly andyfervently for thofe that are left; the.

two tribes of Fydeb.and Benjamin, the other ten having been carried captive fome time ago; or the inhabitants of Feru/alem particularly, the defenced cities of Fadeb having been already taken by the Afprian king. ‘The tewnefs of the number that rémained, feems to be made ufe of as an ar- Bug, OF) prayer in their favour. In times of diitrefs, men fhould not only pray for themfelves, but get others to pray for them, and efpecially men, of eminence in religion, who have nearnefs of aceeis to God,.and intereft in him.

“3. 5.50 the servants of king Hezekiah came to dfaiah.| And delivered the above meffage to him from the king: thefe fervants are mentioned y. 2. Mujenlus thinks, that the third and fourth verfes are the words of the king to the meflengers, and hot of the mefiengers, to the prophet; and that the firft claufe of the third verfe fhould be rendered, that they might Jay unto bim, &c. and having receiyed their initruétions,, here is an account of their going to the prophet with them, which they delivered to him, and which it was not neceflary to repeat. The dradic verfion reads this verfe in connexion with the following, thus, when the fervants of king Hezekiah came to Ifaiah, Taiah faid to.them, &c.

¥. 6. And Taiah faid unto them, thus fhall you fy unto your mafter, &c.| Or, your Lord 4; king Hezekiob, ‘whofe minifters and mefilengers they were: thus faith the Lord, be not afraid of the words thou baft beard; be not terrified by them, ' they are but words, and no more, and will never Become facts: wherewith the fervants of the king of Alyria have blafphemed me, by reprefenting him as no better than the gods of the Gentiles, and as unable to deliver out of the hands of the king of Affyria the city of Ferufalem, when he had faid. he would. The word for fervants fignifies boys, lads, young men; fo Rad/hakeb.and his two companions, Kabjaris and Tartan, are called, by way of contempt, they acting a weak and childifh part, as well as a wicked one.

¥. 7. Bebold, 1 wiil fend a blaft upon bim, &c.| The king of Afyria; a peftilential one, as he afterwards did, which deftroyed his army: - or, J will] put a fpirit into him*, a fpirit of fear and dread, which will oblige him to defift from his purpofes, and flee; tho’ fome jnterpret it only of an inclination, a will* in him, to return: it may be under-. ftood of an angel, a miniftring fpirit, and be rendered, I will fend a fpirit againft him, an angelic fpirit, as he did, which cut off his army in one night: and be foall bear a rumour, of the fudden and total deftruction of his army; tho” fome refer this ° the rumour of the king of Ezbiopia coming out f. make war againft him, y. 9. but upon this he did n6t return’ to his own land, nor was he flain with the fword, as follows: and return to bis own land, as hé did, immediately upon the flaughtet of f is army by, the angel: and I will cauje bim seabreset Wis ee s POODAN He, ad dominum veftrum, Montanus.

¥. 8. So Rabfbakeb returned, &c.| To the king of Afyria his mafter, to give him an account how things went at Yerufalem, and that he could get n direct anfwer from the king of Fudab, and to confult with him what was proper to be done in the prefent fituation of things; leaving the army before Ferufalem, under the command of the other two generals: For that he fhould take the army with him, does not feem reafonable, when Hezekiab and his people were in fuch a pannic on account of it; befides, the king of Afyria’s letters to Hezekiah, clearly fuppofe the army to be ftill at Ferufalem, or his menacing letters would have fignified nothing; and after this, the deftruéction of the Afyrian army before Ferufalem is related: and found the king of Affyria warring againft Libnab, a city in the tribe of Judah, Fob. x. 29. and xv. 42. and lay nearer to Ferufalem than Lachifh, where Radjhakeb left him; fo that he feemed to be arawing his army towards that city, on which his heart was fet. ‘Fofephus » makes him to be at this time befieging Pelufium, a city in Egypt, but wrongly; which has led fome into a miftake, that Libnab and Pelufium are the fame: for be had heard that be was departed from Lachifb, where he was, when he fent him to Feru/alem, ch. xxxvi. 2. having very probably taken it.

¥. 9. And he heard fay concerning Tirbakab king of Ethiopia, &c.| Not Rab/bakeb, but the king of Afria heard a rumour of this Ethiopian king coming out to war againft him: his name, in Fo/ephus “, is Tharfices; in the Septuagint verfion it is Tharaca,; and by Africanus * he is called Taracus; and is the fame, who, by Strabo ’, out of Mega/- thenes, is named Tearcon the Ethiopian: the Ethiopia of which he was king, was either the upper Ethiopia, or that beyond Egypt; to which agrees the Arabic verfion,. which calls him Zharatha king of the Abnffines; but others take it for Cu/b, or rather Ethiopia in the land of Midian,. or Arabia, as Bochart; which lay nearer to Fudea than the other Ethiopia. Now the report that was brought to the king of Afjria of him was, be is come forth to make war with thee; not by affifting the Egyptians, as Fofepbus, but rather the Jews; or by making an irruption into the king of Afyria’s country in his abfence: this fome think to be the rumour predicted, vow: and when he beard it, he fent meffengers to Hezekiah; with terrifying letters, to frighten him into an immediate furrender of the city, that he might withdraw his army, and meet the king of Erhiopia with the greater force; and the rather he difpatched thefe meffengers in all hafte to Hezekiah, that his letters might reach him before he had knowledge of the king -of Ethiopia making a diverfion in his favour, which would encourage him to hold out the fiege the longer: faying, as follows, yv. 10. Thus fhall ye fpeak to Hezekiah king of Fudab, faying, 8cc:] This was the direction, and thefe the inftructoins he gave to his mefiengers, in which he gives Hezekiah the title of king, and owns him to be king of Fudeh, which was more than Rabjhakeb his fervant would do: Jet not thy God in whom thou trufteft deceive thee; than which

194 IS A Ph A HH Choeexiiiyorrct nothing could be more’ devilifh and fatanical, to " feprefent the God’ of truth, that cannot Hie, liar and deceiver: in this the king of Ajjria outdid Rabfbakeh himfelf, he had reprefented Hezekiah as an impoftor and a deceiver of the people, and warns them againft him as fuch; and here Sennacherib reprefents God himfelf as a deceiver, and cautions Hezekiah againft trufting in him: nothing is more oppolite to fatan and his inftruments, than faith in God, and therefore they labour with all their might and main to weaken it; however, this teftimony Hezekiah had from his enemy, that he was one that trufted in the Lord; and a greater charaéter a man cannot well have: /aying, ‘ferufalem foall not be given into the hand of the king of Afpria; and fo the Lord had faid it; fee ‘ch. rares, the Syrians being wfed to derive not af ‘as r their words from the reeks: and ertain itis, that there is now'a village called den on mount”: banon, which Thevenot® mentions; and an as Damajcus, Mr. Maundrel” {peaks of, fee mos ie ia 5, and Tyre in Phenicia is called Ed ny Breck, xxviii. 13. « baqod” od ae a y. 13. Where is the king of Hamathyan ‘the kin of Arphad, and the king of the city of & ph &c.] The fame, as fome think, with the ge idols of thofe places, as in ch. Xxxvi. 19. | note there; tho’ it may be the princes that *Puled over thofe cities are meant, who were eithe “fl I or become tributary to the king of Affiria. added, Henab and Ivab, which fome take to “be the names of the gods or kings of Sepharvai xxxviii, 6. and.by fome means or another Senna- but rather, fince Sepharveim is of the dual number, cherib had heard of it; and there was nothing he dreaded more, than that Hezekiah fhould believe it, ‘which would encourage him, he feared, to hold it was a double city, the river Lupbrates *pafiin between them; and thefe, as Mu/eulus conjectures, were the names of them; or it may bet re out the fiege. diftin& cities from that, but what or where they y. 11. Bebold thou haft heard what the kings of Afyria have done to all lands, by deftroying them utterly, &c.] He boafts of the atchievements of himfelf and his anceftors, and of more than was true; and which, if it had been true, was more to their difgrace than honour, namely, utterly to deftroy kingdoms, and their inhabitants, to gratify their lufts; but tho’ many had been deftroyed by them, yet not all, not Ethiopia, whofe king was come out to make war with him, and of whom he | “ of feems to be afraid; nor Egypt, which was in confederacy with Ethiopia, nor Fudea, he was now invading; but this he faid in a vaunting way; to terrify Hezekiah: and fhalt thou be delivered? cantt thou expect it?-furely thou ‘canft not. Is it probable? yea, is it poffible thou fhouldeft be delivered? it is not; as fure as other lands have been deftroyed, fo fure fhalt thine.

y. 12. Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have deflroyed, &c.] ‘They have not. But what then? is the God of J/rae/ to be put upon a level with fuch dunghil gods? fo Sennacherib reckoned him, as Rab/hakeb before in his name, ‘ch. xxxvi. 18, 19, 20: as Gozen, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden, which were in Telafjar. Gozan was the fame, it may be, with the Gaufanitis of Ptolemy *, which he makes mention of in his defcription of Me/opotamia; and were, is not certain. Ptolemy makes mention of « a place called Jngine, near Gaufanitis or Goxany fappofed to be Henab; tho’ others rather’ think it be Ange, which he places in Arabia ', wh is not fo probable. Jvab perhaps is the fan Avab, in 2 Kings xvii. 24. The Targum does no take them for names of places, but tranflates then ‘* hath he not removed them, and carriéd them ‘‘ captive?” and fo Farchi’s note is, ** the'kkting fyria hath moved, and overthrown them, ** and deftroyed them, and removed them out! of “ their place;” referring to the other cities, > y.14. And Hezekiah received the letter from the band of the meffengers, and read it, 8c.) Or books *, in which the above things were written, and every. one of thefe he read, as Kimchi interprets it}: tho” the Targum is, ‘‘ he took the letters from the hand “ of the meflengers, and read one of them” ‘that is, as Kimchi’s father explains it,*in which ‘was'the blafphemy againft God; this he read over carefully — to himfelf, obferved the contents of it, anc: did with it as follows: and Hezekiah cent up-ainto the houfe of Ged, the temple, the outward court of it, further than which he could not! go s0:and fpread it before the Lord; not’ to read it, ‘asviewhad done, or to acquaint him with the contents ‘offic, which he fully knew; but as it chiefly him, and affeéted his honour and glory,’

he laid ic the rather, fince Haran or Charran was a city of before him, that he might take notice of it) and vindicate himfelf, and avenge his own caufé; he Ptolemy by the name of Carr#*; and who alfo, brought it as a proof of what he had to! f y to in the fame place, makes mention of Rezeph, un- him in prayer, and to fupport him in his allegader the name of Rhefcipha; tho’ he likewife {peaks of another place in Palmyrene in Syria, called Rhefapha *, which fome think to be the place here intions, and as a means to quicken’ himfelf Gneth difcharge of that duty. | a Smt

¥. 15. And Hezekiah prayed unto the L tended. Eden was alfo in Mefopotamia, in the;

ing,| He did not return railing for r eaftérn part of which was the garden of Eden, committed himfelf and his caufe to him and this Ze/affar, inhabited by the children of Zden,.

eth righteoufly; he did not write an was a city in that country, which is by P/olemy « called Thelde; tho’ Hillerus * is of opinion, ‘that the city Thalatha is meant, which is placed * near the river Tigris, a river of paradife. A very learned‘ man is of opinion, that the den, [aiab here _ fpeaks of, belongs either to Syria of Damajcus, and to the Lebanon and Paneas, from whence Fordan arofe; letter himfelf, but lays it before prays him to anfwer it, who was nt reflected on init. © = 8 y. 16. O Lord of hofts, God of irael, ef between the cherubim, &e.} C ry of the cherubim'; which were over the the refidence of the Shekinab’ or t or-to Syro-Phienicia, and the Mediterranean fea, the fymbol of the divine prefenc which the name Tbalaffar fhews, as if it was 9a- 'of holies; a title which #

\ Lierd of armies in heavenand, earth bears, and becaufe they were idols of wood or ftone; but it able to do whatfoever was defired, and more abun-

» diftinguifhes. him, from all other.gods, and. which; did not therefore follow,, that they were a match -feveral titles carry in them arguments to ftrengthen faith in prayer; being the Lord of hojls, he was for the God of Urael, the true and, the. living God.) _¥. 20. Now therefore, O Lord our God, fave us dantly.,. being) the God of Trael, their covenant- God, it might be hoped and expected he would] from bis hand, &c.] The hand of the king of 4/- yria. The Lord had promifed that he would, and protect and defend ‘them; and fitting detween the cherubim, on the mercy-feat, great encouragement might be had that he would be gracious:and merciful, and hear-and help: thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; this is oppofed to the conceit of Sennacherib, that he was only the God of the Yews, and had no concern with other kingdoms and nations; whereas all belong to him, and him only; they are all under his jurifdiction and dominion, and: at his will and controul: thou hajt made heaven and earth; and fo has*an indifputable right to the government of the whole world, and to the difpofal of all things in it.

¥. 17. Incline thine ear, O Lord, and bear, &c.] The prayer. which Hezekiah was now prefenting to him, as alfo the reproach of the enemy: open thine eyes, O Lord, and fee. the letter he {pread before him, and take notice of the blafphemies in it, and punifh for'them. Both thefe claufes are to be underftood after the manner of men, and in a way becoming the being and perfections of God, to whom ears and eyes are not properly to be afcribed, and fo likewife the bowing of the one, and the opening of the other; but both denote the gracious condefcenfion.of God, to take notice of things on earth; and vindicate the caufe of his people, which is his own: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he bath fent to reproach the living God; the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic verfions, underftand it of the words which Sennacherih fent in the letter to reproach the Lord; but in 2 Kings xix. 16. it is, which hath fent him, the meflenger, Rabjbakeb, or whoever was the perfon, that brought the letter to Hezekiah. The Targum paraphrafes the latter part thus, ‘* to re- ‘* proach the people of the living God;” both God and his people were reproached, and both carry in them arguments with the Lord to hear and avenge himfelf and them; and the king prays that he would hear, take notice of, and obferve ai] the words, and give a proper anfwer, by inflicting juft punifhment.

y¥. 18. Of a truth, Lord, &c.| This is a truth, and will be readily owned, what the king of A/jria has faid, that his anceftors have deftroyed all lands, or at leaft have endeavoured to do it, and have had it in their hearts to doit: the kings of Affyria have laid wafte all the nations, and their countries; or, all the lends, and their land™,; the Targum is, ‘¢ all provinces, and their lands;” ‘the countries, and towns and villages in them, or the chief cities and villages round about them.

¥. 19. And have caft their gods into the fire, &c.] And burnt them; and it may well be afked, where are they? ch. xxxvi. 19>. for they were no gods, but the works of mens hands, wood and ftone, they were made of wood or of ftone, and therefore could not be called gods; nor could they fave the _ nations that worfhipped them, nor themfelves from ithe fire: therefore they have deftroyed them; the | Affrian kings were able to do’ it, and did do it,

TI TWN. que precatus es, Vatablus; quod attinet ad id quod oravifti, Pifcator.

Hezekiah believed he would; but he knew that for this he would be enquired of by him, and he pleads covenant-intéreft in him, and intreats for falvation upon that account, as well as for the reafon following: that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only, by doing that which other gods could not do; they could not fave the nations that worfhipped them from the hand of the Affyrians, if therefore the God of J/~ rael faved his people from them, this would be a proof to all the world, that he is God, and there is none befides him. ’ y¥. 21. Then lfaiah the fon of Amoz fent unto Hezekiah, faying, &c.] Iaiah, by a fpirit of prophecy, was made acquainted by the Lord, both with the prayer of Hezekiah, and the Lord’sanfwer to it; and therefore immediately fent to the king, who was either at the temple praying, jor was returned to the palace, to let him know the mind of the Lord in this matter. The Septuagint and Syriac verfions render it, and Ifaiah the fon of Amoz was fent to Hezekiah, but this does not agree with the Hebrew text; I/aiah tent meflengers to the king, and by them informed him what the Lord had faid in anfwer to: his prayer. Why he went not himfelf, cannot be faid: thus faith the Lord God of Ifrael, Hezekiab had been praying to him under that title and character, ¥. 16: whereas thou haft prayed to me againft Sennacherib king of Alfyrias or, what thou haft prayed, &c*. the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic verfions fupply, I have beard. It is bad for any to have the prayers of good men again{ft them. ¥.22. This is the word which the Lord bath [poken concerning him, 8&c.] The fentence he has pronounced upon him, the punifhment he has determined to inflict on him, in anfwer to Hezekiah’s prayer againft him: the virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath defpifed thee, and laughed thee to feorn, that is, the inhabitants of Zon, particularly of the fort of Zion, called a virgin, becaufe it had never been forced, or taken; and to fhew that it was a vain thing in Sennacherib to attempt it, as well as it would have been an injurious one, could he have accomplifhed it; fince God, the father of this virgin, would carefully keep her from fuch a rape; and he, who was her hufband, to whom fhe was efpoufed as a chafte virgin, would defend and protect her; and the whole is defigned to fhew the impotent malice of the king of dfjyria; otherwife, at the time when thefe words were fpoken, the daughter of Zion was in a fearful and trembling condition, and not in a laughing frame; but this declares what fhe might do now, and would do hereafter, for any thing that he could do againft her. The Targum paraphrafes it, “ the kingdom “ of the congregation of Zion;” the whole nation. Some reftrain this to the inhabitants of the upper part of the city of Feru/alem, as what follows, to thofe of the lower part: she daughter of Ferufalem hath foaken her head at thee; or, after thee°®; by way of fcorn and derifion; that is, when he fled; which fhows, that that’tho’ thefe things are fpoken as if they were | paft, after the manner of the prophets, yet were to comé, and would: be, when Sennacherib fled, upon the deftraétion of his army. Of this phrafe, as expreffive of {corn, fee P/ xxii. 7. and cix. 25.

Lam. ii. 15. The Targum is, the people that dwell in Ferufalem, 8c.

\ ¥. 23. Whom baft thou reproached and blafphemed? &c.] A creature like thyfelf? no, but a God, and not one like the Gods of the nations, the idols of wood and ftone, but the living God: aud againjt whom haft thou exalted thy votce; alluding to Rabfeakeh’s crying with a loud voice, ch. xxxvi. 13: and lifted up thine eyes on high? as proud and haughty perfons do, difdaining to look upon thofe they treat with contempt: even againft the holy one of Lfrael; that is, Z/rael’s God, and will prote&t him; a holy one, and of purer eyes, than to behold with, pleafure fuch a proud blafpheming creature, and cannot look upon him but with indignation; for againft fuch he fets himfelf; thefe he refifts, pulls down, and deftroys.

¥.24, By thy fervants haft thou reproached the Lord, &c.} Particularly by Rabfhakeh, and. the other two that were with him, who, no doubt, affented to what he faid; not content to. reproach him himfelf, he fet his fervants to do it likewife; he made ufe of them as inftruments, and even fet them, as well as himfelf, above the Lord: and haft faid, by the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains; not only with his foot-foldiers, but with his chariots, and a great number of them, he had travelled over hills and mountains, as Hannibal over the Alps, and was now upon the high mountains which were round about Feru/alem, and very near the mountain of the Lord’s houfe; of which archi interprets the words: to the fides of Lebanon; meaning either the mountain of Ledanon, which was on the borders of the land.of J rael, famous for cedars and fir-trees after-mentioned; or the temple made of the wood. of Lebanon, near which his army now lay; fo the Tazgum and Farchi underftand it: and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof, to. make way for his army, and to fupport himfelf with materials for the fiege; to make tents with for his foldiers to lie in, or wooden fortrefles from whence to annoy the city... The, cedars. of Lebanon -were very large and tall. Mr. Adaundrel » fays, he meafured one of the largeft, and ‘‘ found it fix. and ** thirty feet and fix inches thick; its branches ‘* fpread an hundred and eleven feet; its trunk ‘“* from the ground was about fifteen or fixteen ‘* feet, and then divided into five branches, each ‘“* of which would make a large tree.”. -Monfieur Thevenot * fays, row there are no more nor lefs than twenty three cedars.on mount Lebanon, great and fmall: or.it may be, thefe. metaphorically. intend the princes, and nobles, and chief men of the Jewifo nation, he threatens to deftroy; fo the Targum, “ and I will kill the.moft. beautiful: of. their ‘* mighty ones, and the choiceft.of their. princes.:” and I will enter into the height of bis, border; fome think the tower of Lebanon, which ftood on ‘the eaft part of it towards Syrig, is meant;,but. it feems rather to defign Yeru/alem, the metropolis, of the nation, which he thought himfelf fure of entering into, and taking pofiéffion of; and. this was