Exposition of the Whole Bible

ufage of his people; as he will on myftical Badylon, Rev. xviii. 20. and xix. 2: ond I will mot — meet thee as a man; in an humane way, with lenity, tendernefs, and compafiion, but with inflexible wrath and fury; not with human ftrength, which is but weaknefs, but with the ftrength of the mighty God; as is faid of myftical Babylon, trong is the Lord God that judgeth ber, Rev. xviii.

8. or it may be rendered, J will not meet a man®;

or a man fhall not meet me, to ftop or hinder me, by ftrength or might, or by prayers and intreaties. So fome give the fenfe, ‘‘ I will not receive ‘¢ the interceffion of any man for thee;” which is obferved by Kimchi. The Targum is, * I will “< change thy judgment from the children of men;” which agrees with the firft fenfe. ¥. 4. As for our Redeemer, &c.) Or, faith our Redeemer, as it may be fupplied‘*: or, ‘our Redeemer will do this; infli€t this punifhment on Babylon, even he who has undertook our caufe, and will deliver us from the Babylonifb yoke, and return us to our land: thefe are the words of the Lord’s people, expreffing their faith in the things foretold of Babylon, and in their own deliverance: the Lord of bofts is bis name; and therefore able to. redeem his people, and deftroy his enemies, being the Lord of armies,above and below, and havi all at his command: the holy one of Ifrael; the fanétifier of them, their covenant-God, and therefore will fave them, and deftroy their enemies, being hateful to him, becaufe unholy and imure. 5 y. 5. Sit thou filent, &c.] Here the fpeech is directed again to Babylon, which ufed to be a place. of noife and hurry, as well as famous and much talked of all the world over; but now there fhould be a deep filence in it, no voice to be heard, the inhabitants being gone, and no difcourfé concerning it; no more talked of and celebrated for its magnificence and authority, trade and riches, but buried in oblivion. It is’ reprefented as fitting in filence, either as a mourner, or as one that is free among the dead, remembered no more: and get thee into darknefs, Q daughter of the Chaldeans; meaning either captivity or imprifonment, prifon-houfes being dark; or into the ftate of the dead, which is a ftate of darknefs: for thou fhalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms, the miftrefs or governefs of them, as fhe had been, having fubdued many kingdoms and nations, and added them to her monarchy, which now would be at an end. Thus myftical Babylon, or Rome, has reigned over the kings of the earth, and has been miftrefs over many nations; but the time is coming, when fhe will fit in filence, and no voice will be heard in her; and when the kingdom of the beaft will be full of darknefs, Rev. xvii. 15, 18. and xviii. 22; 23. and xvi. 10.

y. 6. I was wroth with my people, &e.] The people of J/rae/, for their fins and tranfgreffions, particularly their idolatries. Here begin the reafons and caufes of the deftruction of Babylon, and the firft mentioned is their cruelty to the people of God; for tho’ he was angry with them himéfelf, yet he refented their being ill ufed by them: Ihave polluted mine inheritance; the Jews, who as they were his people, were his portion and inheritance, as he was theirs: thefe he is faid to pollute, by fuffering the heathen to enter into the land, and defile their city and fanctuary, and carry them captive into an unclean and idolatrous country: avd given them into thine hand; to correct and chaftize, but in meafure, not to kill and deftroy: whereas thou didft fhew them no mercy, uled them very cruelly, and exceeded the commiffion given: upon the ancient haft thou very heavily laid thy yoke; whofe age fhould have commanded reverence and “refpect, and whofe weaknefs and infirmities called for compaffion; but nothing of this kind was fhewn; they were. not fpared becaufe of age, but had infupportable burdens laid upon them; and if not they, then much lefs young men; fee Lam. v. 12. ¥. 7. And thou faidf, I fhall be a lady for ever, &c.] That her monarchy would continue in a fucceffion of kings, that fhould rule over all nations to the end of the world. So myftical Badylon, when near her ruin, will fay, I ft a queen— and foall fee no forrow, Rev, xviii. 7: fo that thou didft not lay thefe things to thy heart; neither the fins fhe had been guilty of, particularly in acting the cruel part towards the people of God; nor the evils foretold fhould come upon her; thefe fhe did not confider of and think upon, fo as to repent of the one, and prevent the other: either didjt remember the latter end of it; or, thy latter end‘; either her own latter end;,the end of her wickednefs which fhe had committed, as Zarchi; the end of her pride, that fhe fhould be humbled, as Aven Ezra and Kimchi; or her ruin and deftruétion, the end fhe fhould come to at-laft,; this fhe never thought of, but put this evil day far from her: or fhe remembered not the latter end of Jerufalem, who, tho’ a lady too, fell by her own hand; which fenfe Kimchi takes notice of: or fhe did not confider what would befal the Fews in the latter day; that God would put an end to their calamities, and deliver them out of Bady/on, as he had foretold. _ ¥. 8. Therefore, hear now this, thou that art given zo pleafures, &c.|. To. carnal, lufts and pleafures; gratifying her fenfual appetite, indulging herfelf in every thing that was agreeable to the fenfes; abounding in delicacies, and living delicioufly; as is faid of myftical, Babylon, Rev. xviii. 4,.7.. particularly given to venereal pleafures. Curtis fays *, '_.** no city was more corrupt in its manners, or *¢ furnifhed to irritate or allure to immoderate “ pleafures, Parents and hufbands fuffered their ‘¢ children and wives to proftitute themfelves to.* ftrangers, fo that they had but a price.” | Yea, every woman was obliged by a law to do this once in life, and that in a public manner, in the temple of Venus; the impurities of which are at large defcribed by Herodotus * and Strabo’: that dwelleth carelefsly 5. in great confidence and fecurity, being fearlefs of danger, and infenfible of any: _ that fayeft in. thine heart, Iam, and none elfe befides me; fole monarch of the world, emprefs of the whole univerfe; no competitor with me, none that can rival me, Thefe words are fometimes ufed by the eternal and unchangeable Jehovah-of himfelf, and indeed they fuit with none -but him; and it is the _height of infolence and blafphemy in a creature to vufe them of itfelf; they fitly exprefs that fovereignty, fupremacy, infallibility, and even deity, which myftical Babylon affumes and afcribes to her

SPP Ms noviflimi tai, Vatablus; who obferves a various reading. In fome copies hy is followed by the Valgate Latin..

73 PS cindibe maleficiorum tuorum, Munft head: I fhall not fit as a widow, neither fhall I know the lofs of children; not be without an head, king, or monarch, which is as an hufband to the ftate; nor without numerous fubjects, which are as children. The like myftical Babylon fays, I fit a queen, and am no widow, Rev. xviii. 7. ¥. 9. But thefe two things fhall come to thee in a moment on one day, &c.] Suddenly, at once, at one and the fame time. The deftruétion of Babylon was very fudden; the city was taken by-furprize, before the inhabitants were aware of it, while the king and his nobles were regaling themfelves at a feaft; that very night Belbazzar was flain, and Darius the Mede took the kingdom, Dan. v. 30, 31. and fo thofe two things fhe boafted of would never be her lot, came upon her together and at once; the lofs of children, and widowhood, bereaved of her king, and the whole royal family, and of her people in great numbers, who were either flain, or carried captive; or however, the kingdom was transferred from them to another people. When Babylon was taken by Cyrus, according to Xexephon *, not only the king was flain, but thofe that were about him; and orders were prefently given to the inhabitants to keep within doors, and to flay all that were found without. Tho’ Dr. Prideaux ' thinks this prophecy had its accomplifhment when Babylon was befieged by Darius, who, to fave provifions, flew all their own women, wives, fifters, daughters, and all their children, referving only one wife and maid-fervant to a man; and when it was taken, Darius ordered three thoufand of the principal inhabitants to be crucified. _And in much fuch language is the deftruction of myftical Babylon exprefied, when God fhall kill her children with death; 2er plagues hall come in.one day, death, and mourning, and famine, Rev. li, 23. and xvii, 8: they fhall chme upon thee in their perfection; thofe evils and calamities fhall be fully accomplifhed, not in part only, but in whole; fhe fhould have no king to govern, nor any thing like one; fhould have no fhare of government; and her children or fubjects fhould be entirely deftroyed: for the multitude of thy forceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments; which the Chaldeans were very famous for; this is another reafon given for their deftruction; fee Dan. il. 2. or, 7” the multitude of thy forceries™, ec. notwithftanding thefe, her deftruction fhould come upon her, which her forcerers and enchanters could neither forefee nor prevent. Sorceries are afcribed to myftical Baéylon, and as the caufe of her ruin, Rev. iX..21. and xviii. 23. ¥. 10. For thou haft trufted in thy wickednefs, &c,] In wealth and power wickedly obtained; in political fchemes wickedly contrived; in her ambition and pride, tyranny and cruelty; and efpecially in her wicked arts of aftrology, divination, and magic: thou haft faid, none feeth me, lay her fchemes of policy, which fhe thought fo deeply laid, as not to be difcovered; perform her magic arts, which were fecretly done, and other her wicked actions done in the dark; but nothing can be hid from the omnifcient God: shy wif/dom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; her high opinion of her own wifdom and knowledge in political affairs, or in magic arts, deceived her, and turned is JPY", thy latter end; which Clio five, 1. 1. ¢. 199.

turned her from right to wrong ways, which iffued in her ruin. This rightly defcribes the jefuits and other emiflaries of the church of Rome, who truft in their wickednefs, their craft and cunning, which none can penetrate into, but there is an all-feeing eye upon them, which difcovers their intrigues, blaits their defigns, and brings them into confufian: and thou haft faid in thine heart, Iam, and none élfe- befides me; none fo wife and knowing as mylelf. This is what the oracle faid of the Cbaldeans.", “© the Chaldeans and the Hebrews are the ‘* only wife.” This is repeated, to obferve the haughty and infolent boafts of themfelves.

y. 11. Therefore foall evil come upon thee, &c.] The evil of punifhment, a great calamity; fo Nebuchadnezzar foretold, as Abydenus relates °, that, acalamity fhould come upon the Babylonians; a day of evil, becaufe of the above fins Babylon was guilty of: thou fhalt not know from whence it rifeth; from what quarter it will come, little dreaming of Cyrus, with whom the Chaldeans had had no quarrel. So myftical Badylon will not know from whence her ruin will come; little thinking that the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication with her, and have given their kingdoms to her, will hate her, and burn her flefh with fire: or, thou fhalt not know the morning of if°; that is, on what day, or at what time it will be. Babylon was taken when it was not thought of, as appears from the book of Daniel, and prophane hiltory. Ariffotle? reports, that it was faid, that the third day after Babylon was taken, one part of thé city did not know that it was taken. Or the fenfe is, this day of evil and calamity fhould be fuch a dark and gloomy day, there fhould be no light in it, it fhould be as the night, and therefore its morning or light fhould not be known, fo Aben Ezra: and smifchief fall fall upon thee; contrived for others; the pit dug for others, fhe fhould fall into herfelf: tho’ the phrafe feems to denote the mifchief coming from above, by the hand of heaven, and fuddenly and irrefiftibly; which fhould fall with weight and vengeance upon her, to the crufhing and utter deftruction of her: thou fhalt not be able to put it off; or, 40 expicte it", and atone for it, either by prayers and intreaties, which God will not regard, y. 3. or by gifts, or-by ranfom-price, by gold and filver, which the Medes and Perfians were no lovers of, ch. xiii. 17: and defolation fhall comé upon thee fuddenly, which thou foalt not know that. is, before-hand; neither the perfons from whom, nor the time when it fhall come; notwithftanding their a- {trologers, diviners, and monthly prognofticators, pretended to tell what would come to pafs every day; but not being able by their art to give the Jeaft hint of Badylon’s deftruction, as to either time or means, the Chaldeans were in great fecurity, quite ignorant of their ruin at hand, and which therefore came fuddenly and unawares upon them, as will the deftruction of myftical Babylon.

¥, 12.. Stand ‘now with thine enchantments, and s%th the multitude of thy forcertes, 8cc.] An ironi- cal-expreffion, deriding thofe evil arts, bidding deof the flame; from thofe dreadrul cala:

ing, which a man is not aware of till he fees it.

fiance to them, calling upon the mafters of them’ to do their utmoft by them: wherein thou baft la> + boured from thy youth; from the infancy of their {tate; as foon as their monarchy was founded, or — they became a people, they were given to thefe~ practices, and were famous for them; and in which,” no doubt, many among them were brought up’ from their youth; and to gain the knowledge of which they were at great labour and expence; and” yet it was all in vain, and to no purpofe: #f fo be thou foalt be able to profit, if fo be thouw mayeft prevail; if fkill in thefe things can be of any advantage to keep off the impending Sarees” and fortify again{ft the. powerful enemy that will quickly furprize thee; try if by thine art thou canit forefee the danger, and prevent it. vor Die * ¥. 13. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counjels, 8cc.| ‘Taken of aftrologers, diviners, and foothfayers; who were never able to give any fatis- ° factory anfwers to queftions put to them, or to give good advice in cafés of emergency; ‘as ap~ pears from Nebuchadnezzar’s confultation with them’ about his dream; and Be//bazzar’s about the hand=-" writing upon the wall, which was the very night that the city was taken, Dam. ii. 2, 10. and y. 7, 8, 30: let now the aftrologers, or, viewers of the heavens * not that look upon them, and confider them as thework of God’s hands, in order to glorify him; but that examine the face of the fkies, i the pofition of the heavenly bodies, their conjun tions with, and afpects on each other, in order to foretel what fhall be below: or, the dividers of the heavens‘, as it may be rendered, from the ufeof the word in the Arabic language; who divide the ' heavens into fo many parts or houfes; who, as” Kimchi», from the fame ufe of the word, fix and» determine things according to the ftars 5 and who ' next are called she ftar-gazers; that look at them, © and according to their pofition, conjunétion, afpett; and influence, judge what will come to pafs: amon men. So Cicero obferves *, that the Chaldeans, by long obfervation of the ftars, were thought to have formed a fcience, whereby they could foretel whats - fhould happen to every one, and what fate he was” born to: the monthly prognofticators, ot that make” known months, or for the months *, what fhall ‘be in every month; what weather it will be, and what» things fhall happen fuch as our almanack-makers. » Let thefe now all meet together, and fland up and’ fave thee from thofe things that fhall come upon thee 5 which they were never able to do; for if they could: not foretel thefe things by their art, it could not’ be thought they could give any directions how tow efcape them, or put upon any methods that would fecure from them. Le SSG ¥. 14. Bebold they fhall be as fiubble, the fire foall burn them, &c.| That is, thefe aftrologers and dis» viners fhall be like ftubble; weak as that, as the» Targum, they fhall be no more able to ftand be= fore the fire of divine wrath, or before the judg ments of God, by the hands of the Mes Perfians, than ftubble can ftand before a confuming fire: they hall not deliver themfelves from the power

‘3. Pet shell Fe id id cl fhall-come upon them like flames of fire; and if they, can’t deliver themfelves by their art.and flkill, how) fhould they deliver others? there fhall not de a coal'ta warm, nor fire to fit before it; ftubble, when burnt, leaves no coals to warm a man with; and tho’ it gives a blaze for a fhort time, while burning, it is quickly out, and gives no light nor heat for a man to fit by, fo that there is little or no. profit by it; which fignifies, that there were no hope, or help, or comfort, to be expected from thofe forts of perfons.

v.15. Thus foall they be unto thee, with whom thou haft laboured, &c.| In training them up in thofe arts, and in confulting with them in cafes of difficulty; in which they were of no fervice, and now in time of danger as ufelefs as ftubble, or a blaze of ftraw: even thy merchants from thy youth, either the above aftrologers and diviners, who» had been with them from the beginning of their ftate; and whe had made merchandize of them, and were become rich as merchants by telling fortunes, and predicting things to come by the ftars; which fenfe our verfion leads to by fup- r i \HE prophefy of this chapter is concerning the deliverance and falvation of the Yews, and is addreffed unto them; who are defcribed by their natural defcent and lineage, and by their hypocrify in religious things, ¥, 1, 2, By their obitinacy and impudence, and. by their pronenefs to idolatry, and to afcribe that to idols which belonged to God; which were the reafons why the Lord foreteld all former things to them, before they came to pafs, ¥. 3, 4,5. And for the fame reafons alfo he declared unto them what fhould be hereafter, particularly the deftruction of Babylon; and their deliverance by Cyrus, ¥. 6,75 8. From which account of them it would clearly appear, that ic was not for any merits of theirs, but for his own name’s fake, for his own glory, that he chofe them, purified, and faved them as gold: tried in the fire, v.9, 10, 11.' He obferves his own perfections, his eternity and immutability, and power difplayed in creation, to engage their faith in the promife of deliverance, ¥. 12, 13. and points out the deliverer Cyrus, a type of Chritt, whom he loved, called, fent, and made him profperous, ¥. 14, 15,16. Then he directs them: to walk in his: ways, with promifes of peace and profperity,, ¥..17,/18, 19. And the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to go out of Babylon with joy, publifhing where-ever they came their redemption; and who would be fupplied with all neceffaries in their return to their own land; only it fhould be obferved, that there was no peace or happinefs for the wicked, y¥. 20, 21, 22.

y. 1. Hear ye this, O boufe of Facob, &c.] Who were of the houfe and family, of Facob, his defcendants and, pofterity; and who! were of the houfé of the God of Facob, had a name and a lace there, at leaft in profeflion: which are called ca, name of Ifrael; a name given to Facob, becaufe of his prevalence with God in prayer, but thefe had only the name, not the thing, however not as yet; they were neither praying Zacobs, nor previ ig Tracks 5 they were not I/raelites indeed

plying the word even; or rather merchants in. a literal fenfe, which Babylon abounded with from the firft building of it; it being the metropolis of the empire, and. the mart of nations: thefe upon the deftruction of the city /hall wander every one to bis quarter,, or pafage’; to the country from whence they came, and to the paflage in that part of the city which led unto it; or to the paflage over the river Euphrates, which ran thro’ the city; or to the next port, from whence they might have a paflage by fhipping to their own land: it denotes the fright and fugitive ftate in which merchants, from other countries, fhould be in, when this calamity fhould come upon Badylon; that they fhould leave their effects, flee for their lives, and wander about till they got a paflage over to their native place, and be of no fervice to the Chaldeans, as follows: none shall fave thee, neither aftrologers nor merchants; fo the mer= chants of myftical Babylon will get without the city, and ftand afar off, and lament her fad cafe, but will not be able to help her, Rev. xviii. 15.