Exposition of the Whole Bible

HIS is a prophecy concerning Chrift, and redemption by him; and of the enlargement of the church in the latter day, by the converfion of Fews and Gentiles; which the ifles, and people afar off, are exhorted to liften and hearken’ to, delivered out by the prophet, in the perfon of Chrift; who gives an-account of his call to his office, and the time of it! of what the Lord did for him, and faid unto him, y¥. 1, 2, 3. then follows a complaint of his labouring in vain, and a correction of it, ¥. 4. and a further declaration of his call and appointment to office, and of the feveral parts of the work affigned him, with encouragement to it, ¥. 5, 6. Chrift is again ‘reprefented under difcouraging circumftances, as’ defpifed of mens abhorred by the nation, and a fervant of rulers; who is encouraged by divine promifes, that. kings fhould rife up before him, and worthip him; that Ged would be faithful to’ his promife to him, and yet chufe him, hear and help him at a proper time; preferve him, and give him for a covenant to the people, to the eftablifhment of the earth, and making it habitable, ¥. 7, 8. for the releafé of prifoners, and feeding, leading, and guiding of them, and removing all difficulties out of the way, ¥. 9, 10, 11. when the calling of the Gentiles is foretold, which would occafion great joy in the world, ¥. 12, 13. yet the church is introduced as complaining that fhe was forfaken of God, y. 14.° which is denied, and the contrary afirmed; being dear tothe Lord as a fucking child to its mother, and more fo; never forgotten by him, and always under his care, ¥. 15, 16. and for her comfort, fhe is affured, that thofe who had deftroyed and made her wafte, fhould be removed-; and that fhe fhould have converts. that would be an ornament to her, and thefe numerous, infomuch that the place of their habitation would be too ftrait and narrow, and which would be matter of ‘aftonifhment to her, ¥. 17,18, 19, 20,

- 91. and befides thofe that would be converted in the land of Judea, there would be great numbers in ‘the Gentile world converted, by the power of God accompanying his gofpel, fet up as a ftandard there, kings and queens countenancing and encouraging the intereft of Chrift, y. 22, 23. and yet ftill it is queftioned, whether the church fhould ‘be delivered from her oppreffors, ¥..24. to which it is anfwered, that-fhe fhould be delivered, and her perfecutors deftroyed; by which it would be known, that the Lord is the Redeemer and Sa: viour of his people, ¥. 25, 26.

¥. 1. Liflen, O ifles, unto me, &c.) Thefe are not the words.of Cyrus, as Lyra mentions; nor ‘of the prophet [aiah, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and “other Fewi/h writers think; but of Chrift, calling upon the inhabitants of the ifles to hearken to him; by whom are meant’the inhabitants of iflands ‘properly fo called, as ours of Great-Britain, and ~may be chiefly defigned, being a place where the gofpel of Chrift came early, and has ‘been long; or all fuch that dwell in countries beyond the fea, ‘it being ufual with the Fews, to call all fuch coun- Vitringa, You. 1. N°. 9, tries ifles that were beyond fea to them; Chrift is the great prophet of his church, and is alone to be hearkened unto, and in-all things, Mit. xvii. 5. Heb. ii. 7: and héarken, ye people, from far; that were afar off fromi'the land of Fudea, as well as afar Off from God and Chrift, and the knowledge of him, and of righteoufhefs and falvation by him; the Gentile nations are meant; fee Eph. ii. 12,°13. for this is ‘to’ be underftood of kingdoms afar off, as the 7 argum paraphrafes it; and not of diftant and future things to be accomplifhed hereafter, as Aben Ezra, taking this to be the fubjet they are required to hearken to, and not as defcriptive of perfons’ that are to hearken': thé Lord ‘hath called me from the womb, to the office of 'a-Médiator; to be’ prophet, ’ prieft, ‘anid kine; to be the Saviour and Redeemer of men; he did not affume this'to himfelf, -but was called of God his) Father;>Heb. v4, 5, 10. and that not only from the womb of his mother Mary, or as foon as he was conceived and born of her; but from the womb of eternity, from the womb of eternal purpofes and decrees; for he was fet forth, or foreordained in the purpofes of God, to be the propitiation for fin; and was predeftinated' to be the Redeemer before the foundation of the world, even before he had a being in this world as man. So the Targum, ‘* the Lord, before I was, prepared “* or appointed me';” he prepared a body for him, and appointed him to be his falvation. The Syriac verfion joins the words from far to this claufe, as do the Septuagint and Arabic verfions, contrary to the* accents, and renders them, of @ dong time the Lord hath called me, from the womb; even from eternity: from the bowels of my mother hath be made mention of my name; Farchi interprets this of [ aiah, whofe name was fixed and given him by the Lord, whilft he was in his mother’s bowels, fignifying that he fhould prophefy of falvation and comfort; but it is much better to underftand it of Chrift, whofe name Fe/us, a Saviour, was made mention of by the Lord, whilft he was in his mother’s womb, and before he was born, Matt. i. 20, 21. Luke i. 31) 35. and ii. 10, 11. for the words may be'rendered, before the womb, and before the bowels of my mother *, that is, before he was in them. yi 2. And he bath made iny mouth like a fharp fword, &c.} Or, ** he hath put his words in my ‘* mouth -as a fharp fword,” as the ‘Targum; namely, the fword-of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and is’ fharper than a two-edged fword, and is faid'to come out of the mouth of Chrift, Epb.-vi. 17. Heb iv. 12. Rev. i. 16. -with which he pierces into and cuts the hearts of men, and. lays open all their fin and unrighteoufhe(s, and cuts down the worft and beft in men, and flays all his enemies; fo his mouth was as a fharp fword in the days of -his fleth, to inveigh againtt the fins, and to refute’ the errors of the Scribes and Pharifees; as it will be in the latter day, to {mite the nations of the earth, Rev. xix. 15, 21: ‘in the foadow of bis band hath he bid me; in his ‘counfels and purpofes of old, and in his providence; ‘‘ in the fhadow of his power hath he pro- ** tected

* teed me,” as the Targum; thus he hid and protected him from Hered’s cruelty in his infancy; and from the rage and malice of the Scribes and Pharifees, who fought often to lay hands on him, and take away his life before his time. The ‘ews talk very much of the Mefliah’s being hid under the throne of glory..dben Ezra’s remark, that the phrafe, be bath bid me, anfwers to the fcabbard of afword, before mentioned, is not amifs: and made mea polifbed foaft, or, choice arrow*; which being polifhed at the point, or well oiled, and fhining, pierces the deeper,. So the doctrines’ of Chrift, the words of his mouth, are compared to bright andtharp arrows, which make cutting work, and) give great pain where they come; as they fometimes do like arrows, fwiftly, fuddenly, and with great force and power, Pf xlv. 5. Kimchi obferves, that he fpeaks of a fharp fword with re- {pect to the Fews that’ were near, where a fword could reach them; and of a polifhed fhaft or arrow with refpect to the Gentiles afar off, which mutt be caft after them: in bis quiver hath be hid me; meaning his fecret purpofes, and his powerful protection, as before; which he compares to a quiver, a cafe in which arrows are put, becaufe mention had been made of a polifhed fhaft or arrow before.;

¥. 3. And faid unto me, &c.] Both in the ever- Jafting council, and when he made a covenant with him in eternity; when he found him, and anointed him, and laid help on him; and alfo when he brought him, his firft begotten, into the world, at his incarnation: thou art my fervant; of his chufing, appointing, calling, fending, bringing forth, and fupporting; fo he was as Mediator, efpecially in his eftate of humiliation, when he appeared in the form of a fervant, and came not to be miniftred unto, but to minifter, and give his life a ranfom for many; thereby to obtain redemption, which was the great work and fervice he was appointed to; which he readily undertook, and willingly and chearfully engaged in, and diligently and faithfully performed; to whom juftly belong the characters of an obedient, diligent, prudent, and faithful fervant; in anfwering which he fhewed his regard to his Father’s will, his love to his people, and his great humility and'condefcenfion: O J/rael, a name of Chrift, and which properly belongs to him, being the antitype of Facob or J/rael; the head and reprefentative of the whole J/rae/ of God; who was of J/rael according to the flefh, and an J/raelite indeed in a fpiritual fenfe, and was only fent to the loft fheep of the houfe of Jrael.’ I/rael is a name of the church, often given to it in this prophecy; Chrift and his church, by virtue of the union between them, have the fame names; as fhe is fometimes called by his names, Chrift, and the Lord our righteoufnefs, fo he is here called by her name Lrael, 1 Cor, xii. 12. Fer, xxiii. 6.'and xxxiii. 16: in whom I will be glorified; this is Jehovah’s end in all he does in nature or grace; and is what Chrift had in view in working out our falvation; and all the divine perfections are glorified’ in it by him, the wifdom, power, faithfulnefs, holinefs, juttice, love, grace, and mercy-of God. Some render the words actively, ia thee or in whom I will glory *; as his own Son, in whom he is well pleafed, being the brightnefs of his glory, and the exprefs image of his perfon; and in whom alfo all the feed of

Tirael glory, as well as are juftified.. Or, as others;+., Jjrael is he, of whom by thee I will glory, or glorify*.;\.4 meahing, that it was the fpiritual and myftical J -, 5 rael, the church, whom he would fave by his Son _, and fervant, the Meffiah, and bring to glory.» 44 ¥. 4. Lhen I faid, &c.J The Meffiah faid, by way of objection, in a view of what treatment he, fhould meet with, or when entered on, his.work, and which he found by experience, what. follows: I have laboured in vain; this is_not to, be; unders,.

ftood. of jthe travail of his foul, or of his fufferings, and death, -which were, not in vain, but iffued, im, the redemption and falvation of his people; but of, his miniftry.and miracles, and fatiguing journeys among the ews; which, with, refpect, to, them,, were in Vain; as to their,converfion and reforma-, _ tion; they rejecting the Mefiiah, flighting his doce.. trines. and miracles, refufing to be gathered by ‘him, being a faithlefs and perverfe generation; J have fpent my flrength for nought, and in vain, by frequent preaching and working of miracles, and travelling from place to.place: the fame thing is. defigned as before, repeated in other words, to exprefs the certainty of it, to fhew the ingratitude and wickednefs of the people, and.to utter the complaints of his mind: yet /urely.my judgment is with the Lord; or is manifeft before.the Lord, as. the Targum the Lord knew that he had called him to his office; how prudently, diligently, and faithfully he had executed. it; and what was his right and due, and which would be given him 3 and with this he corrects his former complaint, and makes himfelf eafy, and. quiets and fatisfies, his mind; aad my work with my God; or the reward of my works is before my God, as the Targunt, _ and before: himfelf alfo,, J, xl. 10..as his work was affigned him by the Lord, fo his reward was promifed him, and which he knew he fhould have; and having done his work, he afked>for his reward, and had it, Fobn xvii. 4, 5. Phil. i...gs

10. i (oe Sd Ua y..5. And now faith the Lord, &c.} Jehovah the Father, in confirmation of the call, office, and work. of Chrift, which he had declared, y. 1,.3:, that formed me from the womb to be bis fervant; who pre-ordained him to this fervice before the world began, and prepared him for it from the womb of his mother Mery, by filling him» with grace and wifdom, and with the Spirit without.meafure; anointing him with the oil of gladnefs above his fellows, and fo fitting him as man and Mediator for, the preaching of the gofpel, and every, other fer- _ vice he called him to: ¢o bring Facob again to bims the loft fheep of the houfe of J/rael; God's eleé& among the Jews, which were as ftraying fheeps or all his chofen people, whether Jews or Genteles, which were fcattered abroad, and were afar off from - God, whom Chrift was to bring back again, and bring nigh unto God, and did: though Sra be not gathered; Pangan only a remnant, according to the eleCtion of grace, the greater part fing to be gathered minifterially pe Sit rulers not fuffering the common. people to. at on his miniftry, Matt. xxiii. 37, It m y ferved, that there is a marginal reading of the He brew, different from the written. text; inftead, o m> not, it is 15 to him; and may be rendred th

Which the words are conneéted, and not with the following, as the accent Athnach fhows, thus; the Lord appointed and formed me to be his feryant to bring back Facod, and that J/rael might be gathered to him as all the Jrae/ of God, all the elect of God were by the fufferings and death of Chrift; fee Eph. i. 10. The marginal reading, and the writing, may be both retained as in fome other places, thus, amd fhall not Ijrael be gathered to him? fince he has formed me to bring back Jacob to him? verily he fhall. The marginal reading is followed by the Yargum, and the paflage paraphrafed thus, ‘ to return the houfe of Facod ** to his fervice, and J/rael fhall be brought nigh *« to his fear.” And fo it is by Farchi, Aben Ezra and Kiincbi, and by the Septuagint, Syriac and Arabic-verfions, and by Aquila: yet fhall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord; or I fhall be glorious, &c. as he was at his baptifm and transfiguration on the mount; by the wonderful things done in heaven and on earth at the time of his death, at his refurrection from the dead, his afcenfion to heaven, and exaltation at the right-hand of God, far above all principalities and powers, angels, authorities and powers, being fubjeét to him; and by the miniitration of the gofpel in the Gentile world, and eae re! when he fhall reign glorioufly in the attéer day, and in the new ‘eru/alem-church-ftate: and my God fhall be my Jirength; to keep up his fpirits under all difcouragements; to protect him from his enemies; to fupport him in his work as man; to carry him through it, and enable him compleatly to perform it as he promifed he would, and as he did, ¥. 8. fee P/. Ixxxix. 21. and - Does:

the Lord his God that called, appointed, and ftrengthened him for his fervice: it 25 a light thing that thou fbouldeft be my fervant to raife up the tribes of Facob, and to refiore the preferved of Ifrael; the tribes of Facob, and the preferved of Ifrael, are the elect of God among the Yews; though the characters agree with all the chofen of God of other nations, who are diftinguifhed from the reft of the world, and are preferved in Chrift, Fude 1. where they are preferved before they are redeemed and called; not from falling in Adam with the reft of mankind, nor from the general corruption of nature, nor from actual fins and tranfgreffions; yet from the condemnation of the law, the damning power of fin, and the fecond death; the ground of which is, their being in the love of God, in the covenant of grace, and in the hands of Chrift: and yet notwithftanding this, they are in a moft milerable condition as the defcendants of Adam, and in a ftate of nature; they are fallen creatures, which is fuppofed by the reiing them up by Chrift, whofe work it is they fell in Adem, and are fallen from a ftate of honour, friendfhip and communion with God; from the glorious image inftamped on man in his creation; from righteoufneis and holinefs, into fin and mifery, poverty and bege into a very low eftate indeed, and are not able to raifé up themfelves, being feeble and without - ftrength, yea, dead in trefpafies and fins; they are gone back from God, and out of the good

_ way, and are gone aftray like loft fheep, which is’

ay sing the reftoring of them: now it is Chrift’s work to raife up, reftore or return thefe; he raifes them to’a ftate of juftification and acceptance with God, toa better righteoufnefs than they fell from,

Pe oY 267 and to greaterjriches, honour and glory; in-confequence of redemption by Chrift, they are.raifed to a. ftate of race here, and to glory hereafter; they are brought nigh to God, from whom they were departed, fo as to have accefs unto him, and fellowfhip with him.now,, and to. be with him for evermore. Now. to do all. this, is faid to be a light thing; it was not fo in itfelf, it was a great thing, famous and excellent, to be a fervant of the Lord, and to be employed, in fuch work as this; and fo. the Septuagint and Arabic verfions render it; but this is.to,be underftood either by way of interrogation, as by the Targum, Kimchi, Ben Melech, and. {fo the Syriac. verfion,.is it.4 matter, of Jmall moment that thou fhouldeft be my fervant? 8c. furely it is not; or if it,is, I’ll. find. thee-other work to do; or elfe it is to be.underftood comparatively, the elect of God among the Jews), being few, in comparifon.of thofe among the Gentiles; wherefore it was not. work enough, nor honour enough,. only to. be employed in the redemption of them:, and therefore it follows, J will al o give thee for a light to the Geutiles,, which fuppotfes the Gentiles to bein.a ftate of darknefs, as they were before the coming of.Chrift;, and. the. mini- {tration of. the gofpel to them; they were in the dark about,the divine being, the unity of God, and the perions in the Godhead; about the worfhip of God; about a future ftate, and about their own fltate and condition; and about revelation, the truths, doctrines, and ordinances of it: and this exprefles, that. Chrift fhould be a Uight to them, as he has. been, not only in a way of nature, as he is to every man, but ina way of fpecial grace, through the miniftry of the word; not in his own.perfon, for he only preached in Fadea, but by his apoftles, by whom. he went and preached peace to them afar off; and particularly he was fo to them by his. fpirit, as a fpirit of illumination; and fo they came to.have light in divine things, and which. is a gift of the free grace of God. Simeon has refpect to this paffage, Luke ii. 32. and the apoftle Pawi cites it, and applies it, to gofpel-times, As xiii. 47. it follows, that thou mayeft be my falvation unto, the end of the earth, Chrift was given, that he might be the author of that falvation, which God had chofen and appointed his people to, and provided for them in covenant; and that being the dalvation of his own people, he calls it his own falvation; and which fhould reach to them all every. where, in the feveral parts.of the world, and the.corners.and ends of it, eaft, weft, north. and. fouth, where-ever. they were. Kimchi refers this to. the faving.of the Gentiles, after the war of Gog and Magog, yet to come and with it compares J/. Ix. 3. and Ixvi..23.

¥.7. Thus faith the Lord, the redeemer of Ijrael, and bis bely one, &c.].. Thefe, are. all,the-titles of the Father of Chrift, who is the Jebevah,, the felfexiftent being, and from whom all have their being; theredeemer of I/rael, being concerned with his Son in the redemption,of his people, in the. contriving and fettling the. method of it, and bringing it about; and his holy one,.or the holy one of J rael, the fanctifer of them, together with the. bleffed Spirit; who fpeaks the following words, not to the prophet J/aiab, as Aben Ezra, nor to the people of — the Fews, as the Targum, Farchi and Kimchi, but to Chrift: to Lim whom man defpifeth, whom the Jews defpifed, becaufe of the meannefs of his de- ‘feent, parentage and ‘education; becaufe of his: doctrines, doétrines, difciples and followers,; and becaufe his kingdom: was ‘not of this world, and came not with ‘obfervation: or whom a foul defpifeth, or. is defpifed in foul™ 5 heartily defpifed, as Chrift was; or who defpifeth his foul*, or life; as-Chrift did his, for the fake of his people, for whom he freely laid his life down, and made his foul an offering for fin: to him whom the nation abborreth, the nation of the Yews abhorred Chrift, his perfon, doétrine and miracles; they hated him, and would not have him to rule over them; they perfecuted him, and fought to flay him, and at laft delivered him up to the Romans to be crucified: to @ fervant of rulers; of Yewifh rulers, in fubjection to them, being made under the Jaw; and of Gentile rulers, paying tribute to Ce/ar, and’when fcourged by Pilate, and crucified by his order, which was’ the ufual death of fervants or flaves. - But tho’ he was fo ill ufed, defpifed and abhorred, ~ he is encouraged by his divine Father, and great glory andhonour are promifed him + kings fhall fee and arife, princes alfo fhall worjoip, they fhall fee the glory and majefty of Chritt, and rife up in reverence of him, and fall down before him, and worfhip him; which has had its accomplifhment ‘in part in Conflantine, Theedofius, Valentinian and other chriftian princes, and will have a further fulfilment in the latter day; fee y¥. 23. and ch. lx. 3. and Pf lxxii.10, 11. This paflage is interpreted by the ews of the Meffiah ’: becaufe of the Lord that is faithful, to his promifes to him, in raifing him from the dead, and giving him‘ glory; in exalting him at his own righthand; in giving him gifts for men, which he beftowed on them; in fpreading and fucceeding his gofpel in the Gentile world; and in the enlarge—

‘ment of his kingdom and intereft in it; all which obliged, and will oblige the kings and princes of the earth to own him, and pay homage to him: and the holy ‘one of Ifrael, and he foall chufe thee; or make it appear that he has chofen thee to be the faviour and redeemer of his ‘people, the head of the church, and the judge of the whole world.

¥.8. Thus faith the Lord, &c.] \Thefe are the words of God the Father to his Son continued; the Fews themfelves interpret them of the Meffiah?: in an acceptable time have 1 heard thee; this was the time when Chrift-was here on earth, when he became incarnate, and fuffered and died for his people: this was an acceptable time to God the Father; his very fufferings were acceptable; his facrifice was of a fweet {melling favour; his righteoufnefs was well pleafing to him; for by all this his perfeétions were glorified, his purpofes were anfwered, his covenant and promifes fulfilled, and his people faved: it was acceptable to men, the things that were now done and procured; as pardon of fin, peace and reconciliation, a juftifying righteoufnefs and compleat falvation; which is worthy the acceptation of all that are loft and undone, and fee themfelves fo, and that nothing they can do will fave them: or i a time of good- ‘will *; fuch was the time of Chrift’s firft coming, it was good-will to men, Lwke ii. 14. God fhewed his good-will to men by the perfon whom he fent to fave them, his own, only and beloved Son; _and by fending him to fave finners, the chief of

* W53 Mad ad eum-quem contemnens eft anima cujufque, Glaffius; ad phi x * @avmGola tw ux avle, Sept. ad contemptorem anime fu

finners, even enemies; and this time was fi and féttled by the good-will and pleafure of G and during this time the Lord heard Carift; h always heard him interceding for*himfelf, and for his people; he heard him in the garden, and on the crofs, and at all-other times; fee”

A and'in a day of falvation have I belped thee, at the time when he wrought out the falvation of his people, then he helped him in it, and through it, as he promifed him, and as Chrift believed he woul ch. xlii. r. and 1.7, 9. This isto be Underito of him as man and ‘mediator, and to fhew ‘the greatnefs of the work of falvation, and the concern of God in it; otherwife as Chrift is the mighty

God, he needed no help, and his ‘own arm brought falvation to him: and I will preferve thee, as he did, from his enemies in life, in his infancy, and when grown up, that ‘his life might not be taken’ away ‘before his time; from being overcome by his enemies in the garden, and on the crofs;_ from the power of death and the grave, by eo Wes up from thence; he preferved him to his kingdom and glory, and now retains him in heaven until the time of the reftitution of all things; and will preferve his feed, and his throne, his caufe and intereft, to the end- of time: and give thee for a covenant of the people; Fews and Gentiles, all that are given to him, and whom he redeems by his blood, whom the Spirit fan¢tifies, and applies the bleffings and promifes of the covenant to; which is to be underftood of the covenant of grace: Chrift is faid to be given for it unto them, he being a covenantee in it; the reprefentative of thefe people in it; the furety of it for them; the mediator and meflenger of it-to them;°and the ratifier and confirmer of it; and as he is the great blefiing of it, the fum and fubftance of it; and as‘all the bleflings and promifes of it are in him 5 and this may refpect the conftitution of the covenant from everlafting, and the manifeftation of it-in time; and this is a gift of God honourable to Chrift, of free grace to his people, very comprehenfive and unfpeakable. Kimchi fays, this refers to the times of the Meffiah: and the end of all this is to effablifh the earth; not the land of YFadea, but the whole earth; which, were it not for Chrift, and his covenant and furetyfhip-engagements for his people, and for the fake of them, and their falvation, would long ago have been diffolved and broke to pieces; but he bears up the pillars of it; and when he has gathered in all his people, will deftroy it: or the end in his being given for a covenant, was to raife up the fallen inhabitants of the earth, for fo the word” may be rendered; or to raife up the elect of God unto life, who were obnoxious to death; or to eftablifh, fettle and confirm the church of God on earth; fee P/ Ixxxi

36, 37. The Targum is, to raife up the righ: that he in the duff, referring it to the ref of the dead: to caufe to inherit the defolate’ the defolate cities of Sudab, or the Ger which was like a defolate wildernefs:

fhould become comfortable and flow thing the numerous converfions of Fews and Genii: es the fruit and effect of the covenant of grace m with Chrift; in which the heathen wer 2 his inheritance, and the uttermoft parts of the earth forhis pofleflion, P/. ii. 8, 9. fee J xlix. 19.

¥.9. That thou mayeft fay to the prifoners, go forth, &c.] - God’s covenant-people, whilft unconverted, are prifoners; they are in the prifon of fin, under the power and dominion of it, and under the guilt of it, and obligation to punithment for it; and they are in the prifon of the law, they are tranfgreffors of it, and are accufed and conviéted by it, and are condemned, and put in prifon, and held there; and they are alfo fatan’s prifoners, and are held and led captive by him at his will; and by virtue of the covenant, and the blood of it, thefe prifoners are fet free; and Chrift in the gofpel fpeaks unto them, and proclaims liberty to them; and by the knowledge of the truth they are made free, and are brought into the liberty of the children of God; and are ‘bid to go forth; and they are brought forth from their prifon-houfes; and bid to go to the houfe of God, and walk at liberty, enjoying all the privileges and ordinances of the gofpel: to them that are in darknefs; in a ftate of nature and unregeneracy, which is a ftate of infidelity and ignorance; when. men are in the dark, and know not themfelves, nor their loft ftate and condition; nor the exceeding finfulnefs of fin; nor Chrift, and the, way of falvation by him nor the Spirit and the operations of his grace; nor the fcriptures, and the dottrines of them: /hew yourfelves; among the people of God, in his houfe and. ordinances, when called, converted and enlightned by Chrift; or be revealedor manifefted, when they are known to be, what they were not known to be before, the people and children of God. The Zargum is, “ be revealed to «< the light;” fuch are called to partake of the light of grace, and to enjoy the light of comfort and communion: they fhall feed in the ways; not in the broad road and highways of fin, but in the ways of God, in the word and ordinances: this denotes the publicknefs and pleafantnefs of them, and the plenty of provifions in them; and yet where it might not be expected, and where expofed to enemies: the allufion is to cattle, that are drove from place to place, and as they pafs ' along feed in the ways upon fuch pafture as they there find; and fuggefts, that the faints are travellers, and as fuch have food provided them by the way: and their paftures fhall be in all high places; on hills and mountains, which are often barren and unfruitful. The Targum is, * in or ** by rivers of water fhall be the place of their <¢ habitation.”

x. 10. They fhall not hunger nor thirft, &c.] Being fed in the ways and high places of gofpel-ordinances with the love of God,, with covenant-mercies and precious promifes, with Chrift, the bread of life, and his grace the water of life, and with the doétrines of the gofpel; they don’t defire carnal things as formerly, but fpiritual ones, which they have and are fatisfied with, and defire no other food: it fignifies, that there fhall be no famine of the word, nor want of fpiritual provifions,; it is applied to the new Ferufalem-ftate, Rev. vii. 16. and fo the following claule, neither fhall the heat nor fun mite them, not the fun of perfecution, nor the heat of fiery trials and afflictions, particularly in the latter day; nor the heat of a fiery law and divine wrath, or of fatan’s fiery darts; not how: ever in the above-mentioned ftate, or in the ultimate glory: for he that hath mercy on them, fhall lead them, Chrift, the great and good fhepherd of the fheep, who had mercy on them in eternity, and therefore undertook to feed them; and in time, and therefore laid down his life for them 5 and now in heaven, and fympathizes with him; and at the laft day they fhall find mercy with him: thefe he leads out of a ftate of nature, from the wildernefs, where he finds them; out of their finful ways, and from the paftutes of their own righteoufnefs; and he leads them in paths they had not known, in which they fhould go, in the way of truth, faith, and holinef$; in right, though fometimes rough ways; he leads them to himfelf, his blood, righteoufnefs and fulnefs; into his Father’s prefence, and to his houfe and ordinances; into gofpel-truths, and from one degree of grace to another, and at laft to eternal glory; all which he does. gradually, foftly, gently, in proportion to their ftrength, and as they are able to bear: even by the forings of water fall he guide them. or fountains of water’; even of living water; which are no other than God himfelf, and the plenty of his grace and mercy; Chrift, and the fulnets of grace that is in him; the covenant of grace, and the bleffings of it; the gofpel, and its ordinances; fee Rev. Vii. 17. ¥.11, And I will make all my mountains a way, 8c. ] Or for, or into a way‘; fignifying, that they fhould be dug through or levelled, and a way made thro’ them, over them, or upon them, for his people to pafs: very probably the allufion is to the mountains that lay between Bablyon and Fudea; and which the Lord calls his, becaufe of his making and fettling, and was therefore able to make them a way, or paffable: though the words are not to be literally underftood, but denote the removing of all impediments, obftructions and difficulties in the peoples return from captivity; which was typical of redemption by Chrift, which had its difficulties, which he only could get over; he came leaping over thefe hills and mountains, and they became a plain before hie, the great Zerubbabel, fuch as the affumption of a finlefs nature, to make atonement in for fin, which only could: be produced in an uncommon and extraordinary way; the fulfilling of a broken law, fatisfying divine juftice, engaging with many enemies who were to be conquered, fin, fatan, the world arid death; bearing the wrath of God, and fubmitting to an accurfed death: and fo in the converfion of the Gentiles, which may here be referred to, and of any finner, there are many mountains of difficulties in the way of it, which the Lord only can remove; great oppofition is made by the men of the world, to the preaching of the gofpel, the means of it; to the work itfelf by fatan, who is loth to lofe a fubje&t of his kingdom; and by men themfelves, whofe carnal minds are enmity to God, and all that is good: difficulties arife from the ftate of deadnefs, darknefs and hardnefs of heart men are in before converfion; from the corruptions of their nature, and ftrong habits of. fin; 4 $9 VID, onlov vdcluv, Sept. fontes fin; fromthe’ general depravity of all the powers and faculties of the foul; from the bad company they have ‘got'into; or from their own -felf-righteou{nefs, they are loth to part with: and’ when men ‘are called, and a work, of God is begun, there are many mountains appear in their way of coming to Chrift; as their numerous and ageravated fins, and doubts about the willingnefs of Chrift to receive fuch finners; but when God works, nothing can let. Many are the obftrudtions the faints meet with in their. paffage through this world, by reafon of a body of fin, fatan’s temptations, the world’s perfecutions, afflictions of various kinds, {trait circumftances of life, loffes, crofiés and difappointments; unbelief of itfelf is a mountain, and raifes. many others; but the Lord makes a way for his people through all: it may be, fome refpe¢t may be had to the fpread of the gofpel in the world, and the introducing of latter day-glory, and the difficulties in the way thereof, which the Lord has been removing, and will remove. Rome pagan is one mountain which God has removed; and Rome papal is another he will remove, with all the antichriftian powers; and the Turkifp empire is another: and my bigh ways fhall be exalted; Chrift is the great high way of all, and next his word and ordinances, which are ways of holinefs and righteoufnefs; thefe may be faid to_be exalted, being confpicuous and vifible; and like caufe-ways, or high-ways:caft up, that are above, and carry over the mire and dirt; fo thefe _ carry over the mire and dirt of fin and corruption; ‘ and may be faid to be fowhen made ufe of, approved and valued; or the words: may be rendered, ‘bey foal be, or let them be exalted on my high ways' 5.

that is, his people, being in the exercife of faith, and in the difcharge of their duty; fee P/- xviii. 33. Hab. iii. 17, 18, 19. with thefe words compare J/. xl. 3, 4. perhaps this paflage may be beft explained by Rev. xvi. 12. where mention is made’ of the drying up of the river Euphrates, or of the deftruGtion of the Ottomax empire, to make way for the converfion of the Ea/erz nations, prophefied of among others, in the following verte. y. 12. Behold, thefe fhall come from far, &c.] This is a prophecy of the converfion of the Jews, or of the Gentiles, or of both, in the latter day, in the feveral parts of the world; who fhall come to Chrift, and to his churches, and join in fellowfhip with them: the allufion is to the return of the ‘fews from their captivity in Babylon, and from all other parts at that time; fome are faid to come from far, from the -eaft, as-it is generally interpreted, from the feveral eaftern nations, as Perfia, Judea lying weft from them, on the weftern or Mediterranean fea: and lo, thefe from the north, from Media, as fome;, or rather from Babylon, which lay north of Fudea: and from the weft, or from the fea, the Mediterranean fea, and the countries beyond it, which lie weft of Judea: and thefe from the land of Sinim. The Targum and Vulgate Latin verfion render it, from the land of the fouth, with which Farchr and Kimchi agree, where dwelt the Stnites, which were af the children of Canaan, Gen. x. 17. as the latter obferves; and where were the wildernefs of Siz, and mountain of Sinai, according to the obfervation of $erom.

jection, as fome think, to the

Pista That eh Ch: xlix. ytd, is defigned; perhaps Sin, as others aré of opinion, called the flrength of Egypt, Exek..xxx. 15. the fame city the Greeks called Pelufium; and R. Sa~ adiah, in Kimchi, fuppofes it is here intended, which is moft likely; the Pelufote are meant. Manaffeh ben Ifrael® will have it, thatthe Chine are intended: China is indeed called, by Prolemy», the country of the Sinites; and if this is defigned, which is not probable, it cannot be fo called from the family of Gina, as Martinius + thinks, fine that family was not in being till two or three hunidred years after this prophecy; and if it concerns them, it will have its accomplifhment, when ‘the kingdoms of this world fhall become Chrift’s, Reo. xi. 15. compare with this Adest. viii. 12: yeas th are faid to have received the gofpel in the fi times of it, by the means of the apoftles, Thcmas, or Bartholomew *. ‘The Septuagint verfion renders it, from the land of the Perfians; and the Arabic verfion, from the land of Perfia; and the Syriac verfion, from the fea of Senjam. it mM ¥. 13. Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, &c.] Which may be underftood of the’ heavens, and the earth, by a profopopeia, a figure ufual in {cripture, to exprefs the greatnefs of the benefit received, and to raife thankfulnefs and admiration in the hearts of God’s people; fee Pf xe. 11, 12. If. lv. 12, or by the heavens, may be meant the angels in heaven, who, as they rejoice at the’con+ verfion of a fingle finner, will much more rejoice at fuch numerous converfions among Fews and Gentiles, here prophefied of, Luke xv, 10, and by the earth, the faints on earth, the excellent in it, who have a more immediate concern in, and mutt be affected with the cafe here reprefented: and break forth, into finging, O mountains; fach as are in high office either in the ftate, as chriftian kings and princes, ¥. 23. or in the church, as pro and apoftles, Rev. xviii. 20: The reafon of all this is, for the Lord bath comforted bis people; with the difcoveries of his love and grace; by his’ gracious prefence among them; by the coming of Chrift unto them in a fpiritual way; by fendir his Spirit, and renewing the face of things, ‘a reviving his work in the midft of them; by the pure and powerful preaching of the gofpel,’ and comfortable adminiftration of gofpel-ordinances; and by large additions of converts made unto them: and will have mercy upon his affliiled; or poor, or ‘meek and bumble ones, as the words ' may be rendered: the Lord’s people is a poor and afflicted people, poor in a temporal and fpiritual fenfe; the church and intereft of Chrift is in a poor and lew * condition; the Lord’s people are afflicted outwardly and inwardly, and fo become meek, and are kept humble; thefe the Lord, in the latter day, will raife from a low and diftreffed condition, to a more exalted and comfortable one; which will be an inftance of his. mercy and compaffion, and be matter of joy unto them. oitogs glorious and comfortable times; fhe being now in — avery difconfolate condition, and could not t how to take it in, how it fhould thus be, when the cafe was with her as it was; though I rather think the words fhould be rendered, for Zion bad ~—

Aben Exra thinks Egypt is meant, which lay fouth faid and which is mentioned to fhew the uncom- _ condition fhe had been in, and to obferve of Fudea, and conjectures that Sinai, a place in it, fortable the method the Lord took to comfort her, as -he before promifes. Reference» may be had to the Fews in the times of the Badylonifh captivity, mentioned’under the name of Zion, becaufe, as Kimchi fays, that was the chief city of the kingdom of

Hrael, who, becaufé of the length-of their -captivity, might think themftlves forfaken and forgotten by the Lord: yet, by Zion,°is meant the church under the gofpel-difpenfation;® the faints ‘that meet at mount Zion, the hundred and forty and four thoufand, with the Lamb there, Heb! xii, 22. Rev. xiv. ve: the\Lord hath forfaken me, and my Lord bath forgotten me’; fo the church might be tempted to conclude, during the perfecutions under Rome pagan, and the long reign of antichrift not yet at an end, and becaufe of lis oppreffions and cruelties; and becaufe of the low and declining ftate of the intereft of Chrift, as it now is; few being con- -yerted by the miniftry of the word’; great oppofition made to the truths of ‘the gofpel with fuccefs; the ordinances of it perverted or neglected; the prefénce of God ‘in ‘them very little ‘enjoyed, great indifference and lukewarmnefs among:profeffors of religion, and.difeord and diffénfions in churches. And.fo it is with particular believers, when they don’t enjoy the prefence of God as formerly, either in private, or in’ public ordinances, have not had a promife for 4 long time; nor are favoured with the difcoveries of the love of God, or with any vifit from him; then they are apt to fay they are forfaken by the Lord, tho’ they can’t give up their intereft im him, and therefore call him my Lord. a

¥. 15. Can a woman forget ber fucking child, that foe foould not have compaffion on the fon of ber womb? é&e.]. This is the Lord’s anfwer to the church’s

~ complaint, inftancing in the care and affection of a mother to her child, thereby illuftrating his love to his people; he inftances in a woman, the tender fex; in a child of hers, an infant, not one grown up, from which her affections might be alienated by difobedience; her fucking child, fhe had in her arms, and on her knees, and whom her breatts would put her in mind of; and fince one that is not an own’ child may be fuckled, it is called the fon of her womb, and is it poffible for fuch an one to be forgotten? yea, they may forget; thro’ inadvertency, want of affection, a cruel difpofition, hurry of bufinefs, ficknefs, public calamities, &c, Lam. iv. 3,4, 10. Deut. xxviii, 57. fach montters in nature there may be, tho’ rare: yet well I not forget thee; he cannot forget, becaufe of his nature, on which forgetfulnefs cannot properly fall; he will not, becaufe of his promife, which never fails; he may feem to his people to have forgotten them, and he may be thought to have done fo by others, he forgets their fins, but not their perfons; he can’t forget his love nor his covenant with them, nor his’

romifes made to them; nor does he forget their ce: to him, nor their works, words, and thoughts; the righteous are had by him in everlafting remembrance. All this fuggefts, that the Lord ftands in the relation of a parent to his people, and they ftand in the relation of children to him; they are born of him, and are as it were pieces of himifelf, and: little images of him, and dear to him as the apple ‘of his eye; they are like fucking children, that fuck in the milk of his word, and fuck at the breafts of his ordinances; and they are ufed by him» in the moft tender manner, as infants are; they are ee by him, and dandled on the knee;

they are Ied by him, atd taught t6 g05; he delights in them when they begin to {peak ‘in prayer or praife, tho’ ina lifping and ftammering manner; all their little a€tions are engaging, their works done by them, tho” imperfect, and a great deal of childifhnefs in them; when any thing ails them, he fympathizes with them, he takes care of them, and ‘provides for them; and étris a concern to him whenever he’s obliged to chaftize them, an can he therefore forget them? ¥. 16. Bebold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my bands, &c.] Not upon his thick clouds, the clouds of heaven under him, always in view, as R. Saadiah Gaon, mentioned by Farchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi: much better the Targum, “ lo, as ** upon the hands thou art engraven before me;” fignifying that his people were always in his fight, his eyes were ever upon them, and never withdrawn from them; as any thing held in the hdnd, or tied to or wore upon it, as a fignet or ring that has the name of a perfon on it, to which the allufion may be; which fhows how near and dear they are to him, what affection he has for them, and care ‘of them’; fee Cant. viii. 6. Some think refpeét is had to the wounds in the hands of Chrift, which being on their account, are looked upon and remembred by him; or however, to their being in his hands, out of which none can pluck them, Fohn'x.'28, 29: thy walls are continually before me, not the walls of Ferufalem to rebuild, tho’ there may be an allufion to them; but either the walls of their houfes where they dwell; his delights being in the habitable parts of his earth, where his faints are; or rather the walls of the church of God, for the ereéting and eftablifhing of which he is concerned. The metaphor feems to be taken from an architect that has the plan of a building, a houfe, or a city and its walls, in his hand, or lying before him. The phrafe denotes the conftant care and concern of Jehovah, for the prote¢tion and fafety of his church and. people; who places angels about them, falvation for walls and bulwarks to them, yea, he himfelf is a wall of fire about them, J/ xxvi. 1. Zech, ie seilec teue axis 207

¥. 17. Lhy children fhall make bafte, &c.] Regenerate perfons, young converts, fuch as are born again of incorruptible feed by the word; thefe fhall flock to the church, as doves to the windows, join themfelves to her, and fubmit to gofpel-ordinances, and make bafte, and delay not, to keep the Lord’s commandments; which is no finall pleafure, joy, and comfort to the church of God. Some render it, thy builders ™ /hall make hafte; gofpel-minifters, who are wife mafter-builders under Chrift; thefe hall come with all readinefs and chearfulnefs, and build in the temple, the church of God, and rebuild her walls, and repair her breaches: thy defiroyers, and they that made thee wafte, foall go forth of thee; tyrants and perfecutors of the church fhall ceafe, and be no more; and falfe teachers, that corrupt the minds of men, fubvert their faith, and deftroy their fouls, as antichrift and his misifters, fhall be drove out of the church, and deftroyed by Chrift, the head of it; fee Rev. xi. 18. 1 ‘Fobn ii.

‘hold the flocking converts from all parts; fee on

The words are fpoken to the church, and for her comfort; and fo the Zargum, ‘* lift up *¢ thine eyes round about, O Ferujalem, and fee all

-* the children of the people of thy captivity ’:”

all thefe gather themfelves together, and come to thee;

tho’ of different nations, and come. from different quarters, yet coalefce together, make one body, and join themfelves with the church, in,»which they center, and are incorporated: as J live, faith the Lord, this is the form of an oath, fometimes ufed by the Lord, to denote the importance,and_ certainty of a thing, and to affure his people of it: thou fhalt furely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament. as childrens children are the crown of old men, Prov. xvii. 6. fo, young converts are the crown, glory, and ornament of the church; even fuch who are beautified with the graces:of the Spirit, and whofe converfations are as become. the gofpel of Chrift: and bind them on thee asa. bride doth; her clothes, the attire of her head, and her jewels.. So in the latter day, when the Yews.are converted, and the fulnefs of the Gentiles brought in, the marriage of the Lamb will be come,.and the church made ready, as a bride, for ‘her hufband, and be very beautiful and comely in his fight, as well as very comfortable and-glorious in herfelf; and which will be matter of joy to-all the faints, Rev. xix. 7, 8. The Zargum is, << all thefe ‘* fhall be unto:thee as a.garment of glory,.and ** their works in the midit of thee as the orna- ** ment of a bride.”

-¥. 19. For thy wafte and thy defolate places, and

the land of thy deftruétion, 8cc.|. Or thy land of de-

Jtruction, ox thy deftroyed land”;, laid wafte and defolate by the enemy, without inhabitants; fuch countries in which there were few profefiors of the true religion: /hall even now be too narrow, by rea- Jon of the inhabitants; becaufe of the multitude of them; an hyperbolical expreffion, fetting forth the great numbers of chriftian converts every where: this ftraitnefs will not be on account of ftrangers or enemies having taken poffeffion; but on account of thofe who are true and proper pofiefiors: for it follows, and they that fwallowed. thee up hall be far away; from the church; the Heathen, the Gentiles, or Papifts, fhall now perifh out of bis, Jehovah’s, land; finners fhall be confuned out of the earth, and the wicked be no more, P/. x. 16. and civ. 35. Antichrift and his abettors, which /wallowed up the people, their riches, and fubftance, like deafis of prey, to which he is compared, fhall go into perdition, and never difturb the church any more, Rev. xXili..1, 11.,,and xvii. 3, 8. and XIX. 20. _ ¥..20. Lhe children which. thou fhalt have after thou haft loft the other, &c.]. Which other lofi, are not the ews, the broken branches, rejected and cut off for unbelief; and the children after them not the Gentiles converted, which took their place; but the other are fuch who have been deftroyed by the heathen perfecutions,. and efpecially by the antichriftian cruelties;. and the children after, the great numbers of converts. upon the fall of antichrift. The words may be rendered, the children of thine orbity°, or childlefs fate; fach as were born _unto her in an uncommon, extraordinary, and unexpected way, when the church feemed to be in a widowhood-eftate, or like a*woman that is paft bearing children: shall fay again in thine ears; or, Soall yet fay”; that is, hereafter, in time to come:

*} accede mihi & habitabo, Montanus 5 contrah te for this is a prophecy of what fhould be faid i in the church’s hearing, and fuch as had never be faid before; and therefore improperly. ren ‘ again; tor there never has been as yet fucha time as this, or fuch a large number of.converts, as. to fay, the place is too ftrait for me to dwell in; there is not room enough for us, as in 2,Kangs vi. 4: give place to me that I may dwell, one and anot of the children or converts fhould fay,.1 room for me, and.for me, that I may have a.nan a place among you,.and dwell with, yo! bide in. the houfe of the Lord, and partake.o privileges and ordinances of it: but the word. fignifies drawing nigh, and not giving way, moving; and. fhould.rather be.rendered,.. nigh to methat I may dwell, or, and I foall dw or fit; come clofe to one another, and we fhall all and dwell comfortably together; juft. as_w, houfe is..well filled with agreeable Ae there is an unwillingnefs to part with or lofe any, they are defired.to fit clofe.together, that. there may be room for all: and this is, and will be the cafe, with the church and her members; they,wi be defirous to fit regularly, and clofe together, in gofpel-order, that every one may be comfortable, and partake of the benefit of communion, and none be obliged to. depart: and to: this fenfe Gu/- Jetius* interprets the phrafe. Jibs aialie y. 21. Then fhalt thou fay in thine heart, 8c.) Ina way of admiration, fecretly within herfelf, aftonifhed at the numerous crowds flocking in: who hath begotten me thefe? not.their natural parents, nor they themfelves; for they-are not dorz of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the qwill of the fle; nor minifters of the gofpel, tho” they are inftruments, yet not efficients; but God only, Father, Son, and Spirit, to whom regeneration. is only afcribed: regeneration is a wonderfu work of God; it is unaccountable to the. natural man; it is amazing to. the faints.themfelyes; and itis matter of aftonifhment to the church of God, efpecially when on a fudden, and without means, and in great numbers, men are born again; and particularly when thefe come from among the Geztiles, which feems ‘to be the cafe here; feeing I have loft my children;. by captivity and the fword, by the tyranny and cruelty of the man of fin; end am defolate; or alone, as if without an hufband, or any to take tare of her: this reprefents the church in the wildernefs, during the reign of antichriit, Rev. xii, 14, while the feems to be forfaken of the Lord her hufband, tho’ fhe is not: gad 4 captive; to the Romih antichrift; fee Rev. xiii. 10;. and removing.to and fro; being forced to flee from place to place, by reafon of perfecution: there is, no doubt, an allufion in all this, to the cafe of the Jews in the Babylonih captivity: and who hath brought up thefe? the fame that begot them, eve the Lord himfelf; who nourifhes' and his children with the’ milk of the gofpel, breafts of gofpel-ordinances;, fo that they brought up. from children to young me young men to fathers, till they become perfect mer even the church in the wildernefs, with her childre are nourifhed by him, for a time, and half a time, Rev. xii. 14. which i bebold I was left alone, feemingly or children, in a defolate and wildernefs-ftate: thefe, where had they been? in the ruins of Adam's fall; in a ftate of darknefs; in the graves of fin; ina pit, wherein is no water; ‘in the hands of fatan, and among wicked men; even in Babylon ittelf, but now called out; “fee Rev. xviii. 4.

¥. 22. Thus faith the Lord God, &c.] In anfwer to the queftions, where had thefe children been? -and from whence did they come? who begot them, and brought them up? and by what means was all this done, or would be done?,J will lift up wine band té the Gentiles, ‘beckning them to come unto him, directing and ordering them what to'do; or rather exerting the power of his grace in the converfion of them. The Targum is, ** 1 «« will reveal ‘my power among the Gentiles,” his efficacious grace attending the miniftry of the word, whereby it becomes the power of God unto falvation, for when that hand is lifted’ up or exerted, the word comes not iz word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghoft, and is effectual to faving purpofes: and fet up my flandard to the people, meaning ‘Chrilt, the enfign of the people; who, in the miniftration of the gofpel, is fet up as a ftandard, to gather perfons to him, as an enfign or ftandard is fet up ‘by a general of an army to colle& foldiers to: him, to come and enlift, and fieht under his banners’; fee J/ xi. 10, 12: and they hall bring thy fons in their arms or, bofom *, fuch as are regenerated by the Spirit and grace of God under the word, are to be tenderly dealt with by the minifters of the gofpel, as they! are by Chrift, Z/ xl. 11. and to’ be encouraged to come and join themfelves to the church, and be directed and affifted by them in that fervice: and thy daughters foall be carried on their fooulders; meaning the fame as before, only perhaps weaker converts, dealing with them according to their infirmities; carrying them with as much eafe, care, and tendernefs, as young children are carried on the fhoulders of their parents or others. It may be, thefe expreffions are defigned to fhow, how affifting and encouraging the chriftian Gentiles will be to the Yews, when converted in their feveral countries, both to admit them into gofpel-churches, and bring then into their own land; fee Jf Ixvi. 19, 20.

¥. 23. And kings fhall be thy nurfing fathers, and their queens thy nurfing mothers, &c.| Who fhall fhow favour and refpect to the church and _ people of God, grant them liberty, and proteét and defend them in their religious privileges: for this is to be underftood not figuratively of apoftles and apoftolical men, as YFerom, who are kings and priefts unto God, and who feed the church with the milk of the word, and the breafts. of ordinances; but literally of the kings and queens of the earth; and is thought to have had its’ fulfilment, at leaft, in part, in Cyrus, Abafuerus, Efther, and others; but more fo in chriftian kings and queens, as Conftantine and Helena, Theodofius and Placilla, and others; and will have a far greater accomplifhment in the latter day-glory; fee If Ix. 3, 11, 16: they foall bow down toward thee, with their faces toward the earth; which exprefies the great veneration and refpect thefé great perfonages’ fhall have for the church of God, and their entire fubmiffion and fubjeétion to. the gofpel of Chrift, and the or; dinances of it, and to. the laws and difcipline of his houfe for they fhall now become members of the chriftian church, and_be entirely under the government ‘of it, as to religious things; fee Rev. iil 9. and xxi. 24: and lick. up the duft of thy feets the allufion is to the eaftern nations, eff ecially the Perfians, who, in the adoration of ie, ufed to kifs the ground they ftood on, and feemed_ to lick, if they did not, the duft that was about them; and it expreffes the very low. fubmiffion of kings and princes-to the church, ahd their high veneration of it; their willingnefs to do the meaneft office for the good of it, and their great regard and affection for the meaneft of its: members, the duft of Zion; fee Pf, Ixxii. 9. and cii..14: and thou oalt know that I ain the Lord, the King of kings, and, Lord of lords, who has the hearts of all men, even of kings, in his hands, and can turn them, and _brin them to a thorough fubmiffion to his- will;: a who is able to accomplifh all his promifes, and is true and faithful to them; this will be known and owned by the church, when the above things have their accomplifhment: for they /ball not be afhamed that wait for me; or for my falvation, as the Zargum; for favours from him; for the light of his countenance; for the difcoveries and application of pardoning grace; for the performance: of promifes; for anfwers of prayer; for his -fpiritual coming, and for eternal glory and happinefs; thefé fhall not be afhamed of him for whom they wait, nor of their hope and expectation of him, nor at his coming. — ¥. 24. Shall the prey be taken from, the -mighty, &c.]. This is an objection to the accomplifhment of what is predicted and promifed above, taken from the power of the enemy, and his, right to detain the people; and are either the words of, the nations ainong whom the Fews were, according to Kimchi, boafting of, and prefuming upon, and oppofing to what is faid, both their might and right, to keep the people in their own hands, bidding as it were defiance to any to attempt to take. them from them; or the words of ‘the prophet, in the name of the people, as Aben Ezra, objecting to their deliverance, doubting the effecting of it, or admiring at it: it may be applied to the taking of the Lord’s people out of the hands of fatan, who may be faid to be mighty or firong, as, he: appears to be from his nature, a {pirit; from, his names, the. ftrong man armed, a roaring lion, the great red-dragon, Leviathan, the piercing ferpent, &c. and from his power and dominion over the evil angels, and over men, both their bodies and fouls; and to whom the Lord’s own people are a prey, whilft they are in a ftate of nature, as all mankind, and every unconverted man, be; a difficult thing, it is to take any out of his hands, and a wonder of grace it is when it is done: or the Jawful captive delivered? juftly and lawfully taken captive in war, as the Jews were by the Babylonians: or, the captivity of the righteous be delivered‘, that is, either the righteous who were taken. captives;. or thofe that took them, who were fo in their opinion,’ at leaft with refpect to the taking of them, doing ‘as they judged: what was lawful, and jutt.;. i Werte ‘ ig ur en ni « bne * YIN. & xcaww, Sept. in gremio, Tigurine verfion; in finu, Munfter, Montanus. But Ben Melech interprets it the arm. ba Dome Ps ae TON) et an captivitas jufti evadet, Montanus; vel liberabitur, Muntter 5 captiva turba, jufti, -Vitringa,. And by the righteous, Guffetius * unde God the Father, who is righteous as a judge, exercifing, vindictive juftice; and from him another pesfon delivers us, namely, God the'Son, the Mefiah. ~A fenfe truly-evangelical. — Rear * Ebr, Comment, ps 709, Veer. GyiiN iggicis sity siti. cavifions |

The people of God are in their ftate of nature led captive by fatan at his will, and are BM tives in the judgment of him and‘his principali- ‘ties; and are in reality taken in war by him, and not only led captive by him at his will, but with their own will, and are juftly given up unto him. Perhaps all this may be better referred to the people of God being a prey to the Romifh antichrift, and detained as a lawful captive by’him, and to the difficult and wonderful deliverance of them from him in the latter day; fee Rev. xiii. 4, 7, 10. and xviii. 4. The Targum interprets this and the following verfe of the captives of Efeu and I/pmael, by whom feem to be meant the Pope and Turk.))

y. 25. But thus faith the Lord, &c.| In anfwer to the above objection, being mightier than the mighty, and f{tronger than he by whom his people are detained, being the almighty: eves the captives of the mighty fall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible fhall be delivered, or, the prey of the violent one*, which is an anfwer both as to might and right; as to might, tho’ they are the captives of the mighty, yet they fhall be taken away from them by him that is mightier than they, even the mighty God; and as to right, they are the prey of perfons that have by force and violence ufurped a power over them, and therefore fhall be delivered; as the Lord’s people are out of the hands of fatan; both in redemption by Chrift out of the hands of him that is ftronger than they; and in converfion by him who is ftronger than the ftrong man armed; and enters into their hearts, the palace of the devil, fpoils his goods, takes his armour from him, overcomes and binds him, and delivers them from his power; fo that he fhall not have dominion over them, and much lefs deftroy them, tho’ he may fometimes be terrible to them by his temptations, Yer. xxxi. 11. Luke xi. 21, 22. This will have a further accomplifhment, in the deliverance of the Lord’s people from the mighty and terrible beaft of Rome: for I will contend with them that contend with thee; the Babylonians literally; fatan and his principalities figuratively; and alfo

"Teta chapter is a prophecy of the rejection of the Fews, for their negleét and contempt of the Meffiah; and of his difcharge of his office as Mediator, and fitnefs for it!’ The rejection of the Fews is fignified by the divorce of a woman from her hufband, and by perfons felling their children to their creditors; which is not to be charged upon the Lord, but was owing to their own iniquities, ¥. 1. particularly their difregard of the Meffiah, and inattention to him, as if he was an infufficient Saviour; whereas his power to redeem is evident, from his drying up the fea and rivers below, and clothing the heavens above with black clouds, and eclipfing the luminaries thereof, ¥. 2, 3. his fitnefs for his prophetic office is expreffed in ¥. 4. his obedience to his Father, and his patience in fufferings, whilft performing his prieftly office, ¥. 5, 6. and his faith and confidence in the Lord, as man and Mediator, that he fhould be helped, ‘carried thro’ his work, and acquitted; and not be confounded, overcome, and condemned, ¥. 7, 8, 9. and the chapter is clofed