Exposition of the Whole Bible

God bef des-me? that is a true God many. fictitious and_falfe, tae bu for this an ee i mae ‘ ie ti be a bi tae xb “i there is 10 God, I know not any, or, there is no rock*, or, is there any? a word ufed for God, Deut. xxxii/ 4,°18, 30, 31. there is no rock to build upon for falvation, no rock for fhelter and fafety, but Chrift the rock of ages, on which the church is built, and the gates of hell can’t prevail againft it, Mart. xvi. 18. and if God, who is omnifcient, knows’none elfe, there can be no other. * Wig. Lhey that make a graven image are all of them vanity, &c.| They fhew themfelves to be vain men, by making fuch vain things, as graven images are; both images, makers, and worfhippers of them ‘are all vain, yea vanity itfelf: amd their delettable things fhall not profit, their idols made of gold and filver, or covered with them, and adorned. with precious ftones, and fo delightfal and defirable, are of no manner of profit and advantage, unlefs the matter they are made of, and the ornaments about them, ‘were converted to other ufes; yet not as gods, and’ worfhipped as fuch, who can be of no fervice to their worfhippers to help them in diftrefs, or fave them from ruin: and ‘they are their own witneffes; they fee not, nor know that they may be afbamed, they that made them muft be witneffes againft themfelves, and the idols they have made’; they muft be convicted in their own confciences that they can’t be pods; they muft be fenfible that they have no fight nor knowledge of perfons and things; that they can’t fee, nor know their worfhippers, nor their wants, and cannot give them relief; and this they ought to acknowledge to their own fhame that made them, and that the worfhippers of them might be others at Ephefus: let them ftand up, and plead for their gods, and fay all they can in the behalf of them: yet they foall fear, and they foall be afbamed ‘ogerder the light of the gofpel breaking forth in the miniftry of the apoftles and others, the minds of many were inlightened to. fee the folly of worfhipping idols, which brought them, and the makers of them, into contempt; who not being able to withftand the evidence and force of arguments brought againft them, were covered with fhame, and filled with fear, left, fhould the gofpel ftill get further ground, their trade of idol-making would come to nothing; or left the vengeance of heaven fhould fall upon them for their idolatrous practices. ~ y.12. The /mith with the tongs, &c.] Or, the worker of iron *; the black{mith, who had a concern in making of idols, for fome wete made of iron, Da. v. 4. or in making plates to cover them, or nails to faften them with, or inftruments which the carpenter made ufe of in cutting down trees, and fitting the wood for an image; fuch as the ax or hatchet, or plane, and which fome think is here meant, by the word tranflated song's, but is rendered an ax, er. x. 3. and is ufed for that, or an hatchet; or a plane, by the AG/nic * writers; fo the Targum renders it, “ the {mith out of iron ‘* makes an ax or hatcher:” both worketh in the coa/s; he puts his iron in the coals, and blows upon them, and fo makes it foft and malleable, and then takes it out: and fafbioneth it with hammers; beats it with hammers upon the anvil, and puts it into what form he pleafes: aud worketh it afhamed alfo. with the firength of bis arms; ules his utmoft

¥. 10. Who hath formed a god, &c.] Who | {trength ever made one? was fuch a thing ever known? or can that be a god which is made or formed? who fo mad, foolifh and fottifh, as to imagine he has made a god? or is it poffible for a creature to be the maker of a god? or any fo ftupid as to fancy he had made one? ‘yet fuch there were, fo void of underftanding and reafon, and even common fenfe > or molten a graven image, firft melted “it, and caft it into a mould, and then graved and polithed it, and called it a god? that 7s profitable for nothing? or feeing it is profitable for nothing, as a god; can’t fee the perfons, nor hear the prayers, nor relieve the diftrefles of thofe that worfhip and therefore it muft be great folly indeed to make an image for fuch a purpofe, which anfwers no to bring it into a form he is defitous of: yea, be is hungry, and his firength faileth, he drinketh no water, and is faint; he works at it with all his might and main, is earneft at it, and is eagerly defirous of finifhing his work; he works till he is hungry and thirfty, and for want of food is ready to faint and fink; and yet will not give himfelf time to eat and drink, being fo intent upon his work: or the fenfe is, tho’ he is hungry and thirfty, and faints for warft of provifions, yet the god he is making, or has made, cannot fupply him with any: this is faid to expofe the folly of idol-making, and of idol-worthip.

it; ¥. 13. The carpenter firetcheth out his rule, 8&c.] Or, the worker of trees*; that works in wood, or makes images of wood; having cut down a end. ‘“ tree, he ftretches out his rule or ie upon it, and

¥. 11. Bebold, all his fellows fhall be afbamed, &c.] Either fuch who join with them in the worfhip of the molten graven image, or god formed, when they find it is profitable for nothing; fo the Targum, * behold all their worfhippers fhall be ‘con- *© founded;” or their fellow-workmen, who took their’ feveral parts in’ making’ the image, and fo muft be confcious of the vanity and unprofitablenefs of it, and afhamed when upbraided with it: and the workmen they ate of men, or, of Adam”; they are the fons of Adam, fallen men, finful, frail, mortal creatures; they are not fo much ‘as of the angels in heaven, but of men on earth, and fo very unfit to be makers of a god: Jet them be gathered together; workmen and worthippers, as Demetrius, and the craftfmen or fhrine-makers, with takes the dimenfions of it, and meafures the length and the breadth of it, as much as is for his pur- 'pofe to make a’ god of: and then be marketh it out with a line; coloured with oaker, or chalk, which leaves a mark, by which he knows where to cut it, and fathion it to his mind: aud be fitteth it with planes; firft with the rougher planes, which. take off the Knotty and more rugged parts; and then with a fmoother plane, makes it even, and polifhes it: and he marketh it out with a compafs; where its head and body, and ‘legs and arms, and other parts muft be: and maketh it after the figure of @ man, with all the parts and proportion of a man: according to the beauty of a man, with the face and countenance of a man, with all the lineaments and juft fymmetry of a man; in the moft comely and beautiful manner he is capable of, that it may be the more ftriking and pleafing to the worfhippers of it. ‘Farchi’s note is, ‘ this is a wo- “* man, who is the glory of her hufband;” and fo the Targum, ‘ according to the praife of a wo- “man;” there being fhe-deities, as ‘Funo, Venus, Diana, and others: that it may remain in the boufe'; either in the temple built for it, whither its votaries repair to the worfhip of it; or in the dwellinghoufe, being one of the Lares or Penates, houfholdgods: it may be, this is faid by way of {corn and contempt; this god being made, is fet up in the houfe, from whence it cannot ftir nor move, to the help of any of its worfhippers.

y. 14. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypre[s and the oak, &c.| To make gods of, trees both pleafant and durable, but all untruitful: which he ftrengtheneth for himfelf among the trees of the fore?; taking a great deal of pains in feeking out fuch trees as were moft fit for his ufe, and a great deal of care in the growth of them, that they might anfwer his end, as well as exerting his {trength in cutting of them down: he planteth an afh, and the rain doth nourifob it, a tree that foon grows up, and which he plants for the purpofe to make a god of; and this being watered and nourifhed with rain, which God vouchfafes, tho’ defigned for an idolatrous ufe, grows, and is fit for what it was intended; and being fo, he cuts it down, and makes an image of it; which fhews his folly and madnefs, that a tree of his own planting, which he has feen the growth of, and yet be fo fottifh as to imagine that a god may be made of it. The word for rain, fignifies a dedy in the Syriac ® language, as Kimchi obferves, and for which he produces Dan, iv. 33. and fo Aben Ezra fays it fignifies in the Arabic language"; and the fenfe is, the body of the tree grew up, and being grown up, was cut down, and ufed as follows.

¥. 15. Then fhall it be for a man to burn, &c.| And which indeed is the proper ufe of it, but not all that this man puts it to; only the boughs, and what he cuts off as ufelefs to his purpofe, and the chips he makes, which he commits to the fire: for he will take thereof and warm him/felf; with fome part of it he makes a fire in his parlour, and warms himfelf when it is cold weather: yea, be kindleth it, and baketh bread; he heats his oven with another part of it, and bakes the bread he has made for himfelf and family to live on, and which is putting it toa good ufe: yea, be maketh a god, and worfhippeth it, be maketh a graven image, and falleth down thereto, the other part of the tree, and which is the better part, he makes an image of, and carves it, and calls it a god; and not only fo, but when he has done, falls down and worfhips it; than which, there cannot be a greater inftance of ftupidity and folly.

¥. 16. He burneth part thereof in the fire, &c.] To warm himfelf with, as before: with part thereof be eateth flefh; that is, with part of it he dreffes fiefh, and makes it fit to eat; unlefs the meaning is, with part of it he makes tables and trenchers to eat meat off of; but the former fenfe feems moft likely, and agrees with what follows: he roafteth roaji, and is fatisfied; he roafts his meat with it, and eats it when roafted, and is highly pleafed and

* The note of Ben Melech is, “ as it is the glory of a woman to abide in the houfe, and not go out of doors, fo a gr yen corpus, Luke iii. 22. 2 Cor, x. 10. Caftel. Lex, Polyglot col. 62 » So, according to Schindler,

‘* image abides in the houfe.” So in the Chaldee language.

delighted with it, and he eats of it to his fatisface tion: yea, he warmeth him, and faith, Aba, an expreffion of joy and delight, being before a good fire in winter-time: J am warm, I have feen the jire; have felt it, and enjoyed the. comfort of it, which has given a jenfible pleafure.

¥.17. And the vefidue thereof ke maketh a god, even his graven image, &c.] What remains of the tree, that is not confumed by making a fire to warm with, by heating the oven to bake bread with, and by ufing it in the kitchen to roaft meat with, this is made an image of, and being graved and carved, is called a god, and worfhipped; tho* it is of the fame matter, and of the fame nature, with that’ which was ufed for warming, baking, and roafting: he falleth down unto it, and worfhippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and faith, deliver me, for thou art my god; he bows unto it, falls down on his knees, and fpreads out his hands, and lifts them up, and ufes all the geftures of adoration 5 yea, makes a formal addrefs in prayer and fupplication, and particularly requefts that he would de+ liver him from prefent danger and diftrefles, of whatfoever kind he was attended with, declari at the fame time he was-his god, in whom he trufted, and from whom he expected relief and fuccour. Monftrous ftupidity!

Who the true God is, nor the worfhip that is due to him alone; they don’t know for underiftand divine and fpiritual things; nay, they have not the knowledge and underftanding of men; they want common fenfe that can do and fay fueh things as before-mentioned, both idol-makers and. idol-worfhippers: for he hath fout their eyes that they cannot fee, and their heart that they cannot underfland; either the devil, as fome think, the god of this world, that blinds their eyes from feeing the folly of fuch grofs idolatry, which he, deceiving them, leads them into; or rather God himfelf, who, becaufe they like not to retain him in their knowledge, gives them up to a reprobate and injudicious mind, to believe a lie, and worfhip a falfe god; this he permits, orders, and over-rules to fome good ends and purpofes: this is to be underftood of the eyes of the underftanding, which, as the word: fignifies, are daubed and plaiftered over, that there is no opening of them, and feeing with them; which is the judicial blindnef$ and hardnefs of heart, which God fometimes in righteous judgment gives up men unto; fee Rem. i. 28.

¥. 19. And none confidereth in his heart, S.] Or, and he does not return it to bis heart *®; he dees not come to himfelf again, or return to his right mind, but lives and dies under the infatuation; ~ never once revolving it in his mind, pondering within himfelf what he has done, or is doing, whether right or wrong: neither is there knowledge nor underftanding to fay; within himéelf, and reafon” matter in his own mind, and thus exprefs himifelf; I have burnt part of it in the fire; to warm with: yea, alfo I have baked bread upon the coa thereof; both heated the oven, and baked bread with it; and alfo upon the live coals have laid kneaded dough, and baked a cake on them: end I have roafted flefh, and eaten it; made a Srey another part of it, and roafted meat at it, aa it with great pleafure and fatisfaction: and hall I art my fervant, I have formed thee, thou art my make the refidue thereof an abomination? an idol, which is an abominable thing to God, and _to all men of fenfe and goodnefs: /hall I fall down to the Stock of a tree? or, the bud of a tree’; or that which is made out of it, a tree of my own planting, cutting down, and hewing, part of which has been ufed to the above purpofes; and the remaining lifelefs log, fhall I worfhip it as a god? and yet, tho’ fuch reafoning might be juftly expected from a. man that is a reafonable creature, fo fottith are idolaters, that they feem to be quite deprived of ‘their rational powers, or at leaft thefe are difufed by them.

¥. 20. He feedeth of afbes, &c.| That is, the idolater delights in his idol, pleafes himfelf with it, feeks comfort and fatisfaction from it, fills and feeds himfelf with hopes and expectations.of being helped and delivered by it; but this is all vain hope, a mere delufion; it is as if a man fed on afhes inftead of food; it is feeding on that which has no favour nor fubftance, can yield no nourifhment, but on the contrary is pernicious and hurtful; and it is like Ephraim’s feeding on wind, Ho/: xii. 1. or on chaff inftead of wheat, Fer. xxiii. 28. and fo fuch, who feed upon, and delight themfelves in finful lufts, or falfe doctrines, may be faid to feed on the fame fort of food; and here it may be true of the idol in a literal fenfe; part of the wood of which it was made being reduced. to afhes, to which fome refpect may be had, y. 15, 16. and that itfelf was capable of the fame fate. The Targum is, ‘‘ behold his God, part of it is «© afhes;” fo the Vulgate Latin verfion: a deceived heart hath turned him afide; from the true God, and the right worfhip of him, unto idolatry; the heart of man is deceitful, and defperately wicked; a man needs no other to entice him, and draw him away into any fin, and from the living God, than his own evil:heart; which being deceived itfelf, deceives him, and leads him to the commiffion of fuch things as are contrary to reafon and common fenfe: and he is fo infatuated with them, and pofleffed with a ftrong belief of them, shat he cannot deliver his foul, diveft himfelf of his erroneous and wicked principles, and leave his idolatrous practices, or be perfuaded that he is in the wrong: sor fay, is there wot a le in my right band? that the idol, which his right hand. has made, is a lie, a mere vanity, not to be depended upon, and trufted in: or which is in or a his right band, and worfhipped by him, and is highly efteemed, and loved as his right hand; this he can’t be perfuaded to believe, and fay that it is a falfhood, and a work of errors; fuch is the force and fafcination of idolatry, when once perfons are enfnared and entangled with it.

y. 21. Remember thefe, O Facob, O Tfrael, &c.] Remember thefe perfons, thefe idolaters before fpoken of; or thefe things, the grofs idolatries they were guilty of, and lothe and abhor them, fhun and avoid them, and not imitate them, and do the fame things: or remember that this was formerly your cafe, and admire the diftinguifhing ace of God, in turning you from idols to ferve im: for by facob and Jrael may be meant the fpiritual J/rae/ of God, or thofe from among the entiles called by the grace of God, and incorporated into chriftian churches; fee ¥. 5: for thou y bad ante id quod provenit ex arbore, Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator; germen ligni, Forerius,

Jervant; and therefore fhould ferve the Lord, and him only, and not idols; for no man can fervé two mafters; moreover, thefe were formed by the Spirit and grace of God in regeneration for his fervice, and therefore ought chearfully to engage therein, and abide in it, and never ferve any other: O Ijrael, thou fhalt not be forgotten of me; fuch as remember the Lord, and remember to ferve him, he will remember, and not forget them, his love to them, his covenant with them, and the promifes he has made them; he will not forget their perfons, nor their fervice, their work and labour of love, which they have fhewed to his name. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic verfions render it, do not forget me; and fo the Targum paraphrafes it, “¢ do not forget my fears;”° to fear, ferve, and worfhip the Lord, and him only; but Aben Ezra and Kimchi obferve, it fhould be rendered as it is by our tranflators,

¥. 22. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy tranferefions, and as a cloud thy fins, &c.] Sins and tranfgreffions are compared to clouds, for the number of them, they being many as the fleeting clouds of the air; and for the nature and quality of them: as clouds are exhalations out of the earth and fea, fo thefe arife out of the earthly and corrupt heart of man, which is as a troubled fea; and like the clouds they reach up to the heavens, and the cry of them calls aloud for vengeance from thence; they caufe darknefs, even all that darknefs, both in unregeneracy, and after converfion; they intercept the light of God’s countenance, and interpofe between God and the fouls of men, and caufe him to hide his face from them; they come between them and the fun of righteoufnefs, and cover him out of their fight; and by means of them, the light and comfort of the Holy Spirit are withdrawn; and they hinder the free paflage of prayer to God, at leaft as to the apprehenfion of God’s people; fee J/ lix. 2, Lam. iii. 44. and they portend a ftorm, and threaten with a tempeft of divine wrath and vengeance; but God gracioufly forgives them; which is meant by d/otting them out. Clouds are blotted out either by the wind diffipating and fcattering them; or by the fun breaking thro’ them, conquering, and difperfing them, which perhaps is alluded to here; and defigns not the fatistaction of Chrift for fin; by ~ which he has finifhed and made an end of it; but rather God’s act of pardon upon it, and the application of it to his people; or the difcoveries of it by Chrift himfelf, the fun of righteoufnefs arifing upon them with healing in his wings, that is, with pardon to their fouls; faying to them, thy fins, tho’ many, are forgiven thee: and they are fo blotted out and removed, as to be feen no more, and as if they had never been, as a cloud is; not only no more feen by the avenging eye of divine juftice, but fo removed from them as not to be feen by them, as to have no more confcience of them, or feel the load and burden of them; and tho’ other clouds or fins may arife, yet thefe alfo are blotted out in the fame way, and fhall never appear againft the faints to their condemnation. And as when clouds are blotted out, there is a clear fky, a ferene heaven, the fun fhines in its brightnefs, and every thing is pleafant and delightful; fo when fin is pardoned, or it appears fe be fo, then God is beheld as the God of all grace, as all grace and fove; the finner can go with an holy boldnefs to hin ood of Ch as being pardoned, and has fellowfhip with him; the evidences of intereft in Chrift become clear, and the comforts of the Holy Ghoft are enjoyed. And let it be obferved, that as no man can reach the clouds, and blot any of them out;' fo none can forgive fins but God, this is his fole prerogative, ch. xliii. 2%. Here is mention made of a ‘cloud, and a thick cloud; no clouds are fo thick but God can blot them out, and there are no fins fo great but he ¢an forgive them clouds, and thick clouds are blotted out, leffer and greater fins are forgiven by him. Some read the words thus, I have blotted out, wiped or wafhed away, as with @ thick cloud thy tranfereffions, and as with @ cloud thy fins", and give the fenfe thus, as’clouds pouring down with rain wath the ftreets from the filth of them, fo the Lord as with a'déluge of pardoning grace and mercy wafhes away the fins of his people; grace fuper-abounds abounding fin, and carries it all before it, and removes it clear away; now this bleffing of grace is mentioned, to attach the people of God to his fervice, as it follows: return unto me, for I have redeemed thee, this fuppofes them to have back-flidden from the Lord in heart or in practice, in life and converfation, or in both, and yet the Lord had forgiven them; and which was a reafon why they fhould return to him by repentance; as nothing is a greater motive to it, or more ftronely influences it, than a difcovery of pardoning grace; and then the people of God do | return to God as their Father, who gracioufly receives ‘them, and to Chrift as their ‘hufbahd, to whom they are married, tho’ back-flidden, and to their duty to both. So the Targum, ‘* return to <¢ my worfhip or fervice;” the reafon or argument enforcing it is very ftrong, for I have redeemed thee, from fin, and all its fad effects; from the law, and the curfes of it; and from death and hell, and wrath to come; and therefore need not fear any of thefe things, or fear coming to the Lord on account of them. Such, who are redeemed, need not doubt but they fhall be kindly received, tho’ they have back-flidden, and that no good thing will be withheld’ from them; for if God has given his Son to redeem them, he will give all things freely with him; befides, being redeemed, they are the Lord’s, and therefore ought to return to him, and glorify him with their bodies and fpirits, which are his; and as they are redeemed from a vain converfation, they fhould return from it, and not indulge one, or otherwife the end of redemption is not anfwered: and this being joined with the forgivenefs of fin in the preceding claufe, fhews that that proceeds upon the foot of redemption, or upon the foot of fatisfaétion made by Chrift; and both ee out arguments engaging to the fervice of sod.

¥. 23. Sing, Oye heavens, for the Lord hath done it, &c.] Done what he promifed, the forgivenefs of the fins of his people, and the redemption of them. So the Targum, ‘* becaufe the Lord hath ** wrought redemption for his people.” The Vulgate Latin verfion adds, mercy®; and fo the Septuagint verfion, becaufe God hath bad mercy on Ifrael”; and therefore the heavens are called upon to fing on this occafion, as the angels of heaven did when the Redeemer was born, and who rejoice at the falvation of God’s elect, Luke.ii. 13, 14. and xv.

m, thro’ the blood of Chrift,

to: fhout, ye lower parts of the earth’; the earth, which is low in comparifon of Stan 8 q habitants of it, efpecially the Gentiles, whith’ dy in the lower parts of the world, in“comparifon 6f ¥adea, which lay high’: break forth into finging ye mountains; kings and great men of ‘the éarth, like the ftrong and lofty mountains:' O foreft, and tree therein; the multitude of the common’ p fee ch. x. 18, £92 thef ate called upon, to their Jey for ef following reafon:: for ‘the Lord bath redeemed Facob, ana glorified bim/elf in I, which is to be underftood ‘not merely of t - demption from the Babylonifh captivity,’ but’ of redemption by Chrift, which the former was! a type of, and in which’ all God’s people in all nations are concerned, ‘and therefore have teafon to tejoice’; and in which all the ‘divine ‘perfeétions” are glorified, not ‘only the wifdom, power, goodnefs; grace, and mercy of God; but his holinefs and® ‘ieee and faints not only have reafon to’ rejoice,“ becaufe they are redeemed from fin and fatan, and the law, and ‘déath and hell; and’ all fpiritwal enemies, ‘Buc becaufé the glory of God is great in’ their fallva- ‘ HON: a vith eganobenehaedath y¥. 24; Thus faith the Lord, thy’ Redeemer, bce} Thefe aré the words of the Son of God, ‘of 'Chrift the Redeemer of his people; and’'the followin fhew him to be the mighty God, ‘and"fo able"to redeem them, and‘thetefore was appointed ‘to ‘this work, and undertook it: and he that formed thee from the womb, that formed thee in it;'and’brougl thee out of it, feparated thee from ‘it} and “Called thee by his grace: “I am the Lord that maketb all things; ‘that made all things out Of nothing at firft; for without Chrift was not any ‘thing made that was made; all ‘things in heaven, and éarth, and fea, were made by him; and he continues all creatures in their being, and provides for them, and governs all by his power; he works hitherto, and continues working with his ‘divine Father, Fobn i. 1,2, 3, and v. 17: that ftretcheth forth the heavens alone, that preadeth abroad the earth by myfelf; not to the exclufion of the Father and “th Holy Spirit, but of all creatures, angels and men} of himfelf, and by his own ‘ftrength and power, and without 'the help of thefe, he ftretched out the vatt fpace of the heavens as a curtain, and fpread out the earth in its lenoth and breadth, andthe large furface of it, to that great circumference which it has; a full proof of his proper’ deity? A man cannot ftretch out a curtain, or piece of tapeftry of any bignefs, without the help of another; and much lefS can a creature ftretch out the heavens and the earth. ' F

¥. 25. That fruftrateth the tokens of the ens S,

&c.] Struck dumb the oracles of the heathens, difappointed their lying priefts, and made void the figns and tokens they gave thé people fuch and fuch things would ‘come to ae? wi did not, and which proved them to be liars: am maketh diviners mad; foothfayers, altrologers, anc fuch fort of perfons, who pretended to foretell fu= ture events; but thefe not ie 9; dictions, they became mad, becaufe their ruined, and they loft their reward: that tit wife men backward, and maketh their k ifonefs; the wife philofophers among the Ge and their fchemes of philology lich wi confounded and deftroyed, and proved — thro’ the miniftration of the gofpel, 1 Cor. 20, 27. and iiizag. | net rc.

)¥. 26. Lhat confirmeth the word of bis servant, and performeth the counfel of:bis meffengersy Sc, ]. Who, ashe: confirmed the werd of Jaieb, and other prophets, and) fulfilled their predictions;concerning the captivity of the) Fets, and their, deliverance from it; fo he has confirmed.and eftablifhed the word preached by his férvants, the gofpel, which is the counfel,of God, delivered out by his, mefiengers, the apoitles, and firft preachers of its it being attended with the demonftration of the. Spirit, and of:power, ‘to the converfion of finners, and to the deftruction of idolatry andspagan worfhip.. By the Lord’s fervant, fomeunderitand Mo/es, as Farchi.;. others J/aiah, as. Kimchi and moft_ interpreters; and why not Paul, as Cocceius? tho’ the fingular feems rather to be put for,the plural, as the next claufe explains. it; and fo the Arabi¢ verfion rendersit, his fervants; to which the Targum agrees, paraphrafing it, ‘‘ confirming the words of his fer- *¢ vants the righteous: that. faith to Ferufalem, thou foalt be inhabited, and to the cities of Fudeb, ye forall be built, and I will raife up. the decayed places thereof, all which fuppofe that Jerufalem, which, in the prophet’s time, was full of.inhabitants, fhould be emptied of them, by the fword, famine, pettilence, and. captivity; yet, neverthelefs, there fhould be a return of the ews from.captivity, and this city fhould be peopled and inhabited: again; and alfo, that the cities of Fudab, which were now in good circumftances, fhould be laid wafte, and all the adjacent country be in a ruinous condition, all which thould be rebuilt and reftored to a flourifhing ftate-again. The Lord had faid it, and it fhould be done; as accordingly it was. This may be undetftood in a fpiritual fenfe, of the building up of the church of God,,and the fetting up and eftablifhing the intereft of Chrift, by the preaching of the gofpel. y¥..27. That faith to the deep, be dry, 8cc.} The Targum is, ** that faith to Babylon, be defolate;” and mott interpreters, Fewi/h and chriftian, underftand:it of Babylon, which was’ fituated in a watry place, by rivers of water, particularly the river Euphrates, and in alow valley: and I will dry up thy rivers; fome think the allufion is to the ftratagem of Cyrus, made ufe of, under a divine direction, to drain the river Euphrates, and make it paffable for his army; by which means he furprized the city of Badylon, and took it: tho’ others think it refers to the drying up of the Red-/ea

Jand the 4iver Jordan, which, are proofs of what God can do, and a periphrafis of his power. ¥. 28, That faith of Cyrus, be is my. foepherd, &c.] Or Coreh, as his name in the Hebrew language is;,and in the Perfien tongue fignifies the Jun, trom, whence he had his. name, as Ciefas and, Plutarch fay’; to,which the Hebrew word Cheress which, fignifies the fun, has fome affinity; tho’, Fo/2ph, Scaliger * would have the name of Cyrus to fignify food in the Perfian language, and which anfwers, to, his character.as a fhepherd... The father of this illuftrious perfon was Camby/es king of Perfia; his mother’s name was Mandane,, daughter of Ajiyages king of Media‘,. This prophecy, \con— cerning him, was near two, hundred. years, before he was born. | Fo/ephus fays *, that Cyrus read this prophecy himfelf, which J/aah had. delivered out two hundredand ten years before; and which is a proof both of God’s prefcience of future contingencies, and of the truth of divine revelation. The Lord honours him with the title and. character of his /bepherd, who was to lead his flock, the people of J/rael, out of the Babylonia captivity, and guide them into their own land. It.is very ufual, both in facred and. prophane writings, for kings to be called thepherds; and if Qyras fignifies food, as before obferved, his name and office agree.. fuflin” fays, he had this name given him, whilft he was among the fhepherds, by whom he was brought up, having been expofed in his infancy... Cyrus himfelf compares a king to a fhepherd, and obferves.a likenefs between them*: and joall perform all my pleafure concerning the deliverance of the ews from Babylon, and the encouragement of them to go. up to their own Jand, and rebuild, their city and temple; and many other things which he. did, agreeable to the fecret will of God, tho’ he knew it not;,and what he did, he did not do in obedience to his will,. but as over-ruled by the power and providence of God»; even faying to Ferufalem, thou jhalt be built; thefe are not the words of the Lord, as before, but of Cyrus, giving orders that Feru/alem fhould be built: and to the temple, thy foundation fhall be laid, with great propriety this is faid, fince only the foundation. was laid in his time; the Yews being difcouraged and hindered by their enemies from going on with the building in his reign, until the times of Darius king of Perfia. See Ezra ivt, 2, 3. and ili, 10. and iv. I—5.