Exposition of the Whole Bible

the fecond by the Romans under Titus the Romam, emperor, as ‘fo/ephus ‘relates: and all our pleafamt. things are laid wafte, their pleafant land, and pleaz fant cities, and efpecially Ferufalem, the palaces of their princes and nobles, and. all the: riches and.

grandeur of them, the temple, and all the rich vefiels and utenfils in it.. - 2. St vyiiieteeniat

¥.12. Wilt thou refrain thyfelf for thefe things, O Lord? &c.] From delivering us out of our troubles and miferies, and taking vengeance on our enemies, and fhewing thy zeal for thine own glory; or, as Kimchi paraphrafes_ it, {< how. canft thou “* contain thyfelf for. thefe things, and not have ‘¢ mercy?” how canft thou bear to fee Judea, and all its cities, a wildernefs; feru/alem, and the teme ple of it, in ruins?. wilt thou hold thy peace? ony be filent, and not plead thine own caufe, and the caufe of thy people? and afli® us very fore? exceedingly, even to extremity; or, for ever, as the Targum, thinking it long, as. well as heavy: Ferom obferves, that the Jews fay thefe words in their fynagogues every day; which fhew that they cook upon this prophecy to refpect their prefent cafe. crbey ator it to that cafe, Rom. x. 20. and is here mentioned as an ageravation of the fin of the Jews, in. rer jecting Chrift, when the Gentiles received him; and was the reafon of their being rejected of God, and the gofpel being taken away from them, and given to another people, and of the Lord’s removing his prefence from the one to the other. The Gene tiles are defcribed as thofe that aed not for Chrift, or after him, as the apoftle fupplies it; they, had not afked for him, nor after him, nor any thing about him; nor of him defore this time, as the Vulgate Latin verfion renders it; they were without Chrift, the pramifes and prophecies concerning him; and fo had no knowledge of him, nor made any enquiry about him, who or what he. was, they did not afk after his coming, or for it; did not defire it, or him, and were in no expectation of it; they afked no favour of him, nor faw any need of him, or worth in him; and yet now he was foixbt of them; or, as the apoftle has it, was made manifeft unto them; and fo the Septuagint verfion; that is, he was manifefted to them in. the gofpel, and by the miniftry of it; which is ar velation of him, of falvation by him, of juftif. cation by his righteoufnefs, of peace and. pardon by his blood, of atonement by his facrifice, and of eternal life thro’ him; and the words will bear to be rendered, J was preached unto them; for from this word are derived others *, which fignify AD expounder, and an interpretation, or, exp A 5 and this was matter of fact, that Chrift y ed to the, Gentiles upon the Fews rejectior which is one branch of the myftery of goc 1 Zim. iii. 16. and uponthis he was fought ¢ they fought him early and is and ae to have him and his gofpel preached to them again and again, fs xiii. 42-—48. they fought after, the knowledge of him, and for an intere tin k m, and els, falvation and? orient gla < MEANEM 20" 12 domas fants noir, ot A lis tap. GR Se Se is a fermou 5 ey the Aame of eternal life; and for all the fupplies of grace, as all fenfible finners do; this they did as foon as he was made manifeft to them by the word, and efpecially as foon as he was revealed in them, or manifeft in their hearts by his Spirit: J am found of them that fought me not, that had not fought him before the gofpel came to them; they fought the world, and the things of it, for after all thefe things do the Gentiles feek, they fought after the ‘wifdom of the world, the vain philofophy of it; the Greeks feek after wifdom, and at mott and beft they only fought after morality and outward righteoufneis, but not after Chrift, till he was fet up in the gofpel as an enfign to them, J. xi. 10. but being preached in it, they were fet a feeking after him, and found him in it, of whom it is tull; in the doétrines, promifes and ordinances of it; in whom they found righteoufnefs, life and falvation, food, and plenty of it, reft fpiritual and eternal, and everlafting glory and happinefs: J faid, bebold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name; which {till defcribes the Gentiles, who formerly were not called the people of God, even thofe who now are, Hof. ii. 23. 1 Pet. ii, 10. this Chrift fays to them in the goipel, whofe eyes he opens by his Spirit, to behold the glory of his perfon, the riches of his grace, his wondrous love and condefcenfion, the abundance of bleffings in him, and the compleat falvation he has wrought out for finners; and the words are repeated to fhew that Chrift is only to be beheld, ana is always to be looked unto; as well as it declares the heartinefs of Chrift, and his willingneis that finners fhould look unto him, and be faved; and all this is a proof of the preventing grace of God in the converfion of men, he is frit in it; before they

_ afk any thing of him, or about him, or his Son, he manifefts himfelf; he reveals Chrift, beitows his grace, and prevents them with the bleffings of his goodnefs. A. Mo/es the prieft, as Aben Ezra obferves, interprets this of the nations of the world; and that the fenfe is, ‘* even to the Gentiles that *< are not called by my name I am preached;* which agrees with the apoftle’s fenfe of them; {ee the note on Rom. x. 20.

y.2. I have fpread out mine hands all the day unto a rebellious people, &c.] Meaning I/rael, as the apoftle explains it, Rom. x. 21. whom he calls @ dijobedient and gain -Jaying people; who believed not in Chrift, obeyed not his gofpel, but contradicted and blafphemed it; and were rebellious againft him, would not have him to reign over them, nor fubmit to his ordinances; though he moft affectionately invited them, earneftly prefled and urged them, and that daily and frequently, to attend his miniftry; and ufed all human methodes to gain audience of them, and acceptance with them, but all to no purpofe; fee Mate. xxiii. 37. they remained obftinate and inflexible, and fo they did under the miniltry of his apoftles; for notwithftanding their ill ufage of him, he ordered the gofpel co be iirft preached to them, as it was, till hey treated it with fuch indignity and contempt, that the apoftles turned away trom them to the Gentiles, as they were bid; fee dis xiii. 46, 47. The Targum is, ** 1 fent my prophets every day,” &c. which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; in their own way, of their own devifing, chufing and approving, and which was lows the marginal ® reading; as do the Targum, Aben Ezra, Farchi and Kimchi; but the written text is, a ped *, or piece, or pieces, of abominable things; both may be retained in the fenfe a wicked one; and after their own imaginations and inventions; after the traditions of the elders, the doétrines and commandments of men; and fter-a righteouffefs of their own, which they fought by the works of the law, and fo fubmitted not to, but rejected the righteoufnets of Chrift. _¥.3. A people that proveketh me to anger continually to my face, &c.] They committed their fins openly, without any fear of the divine being, and in defiance of him, not at all awed by his omnifcience and omniprefence; they committed them in the open ftreets, and even in the temple, the place of the divine refidence; and thefe they did conftantly, which provoked him to anger and wrath againft them; particularly the following fins: that facrificeth in gardens; to idols, as the Targum, placed there, as they were under every green-tree; » or in groves, where idols were worfhipped. £ortunatus Scacchus * thinks this refers to their having their fepulchres in their gardens, where they confulted the dead; which is favoured by a claufe in the next verfe: and burneth incenfe on altars of brick; or, upon bricks*, Kimchi fays, when they made bricks, they put upon them incenfe for idols; Or, “pon tiles; upon the roofs of their houfes, which were covered with tiles; fee Fer. xix. 13. when incenfe fhould only have been burnt upon the golden altar erected for that purpofe, Exed. xxx. 1, 3. not that thefe idolatrous actions were committed by the Jews in the times of Chrift and his apoftles, the times preceding their laft deftruction; for after their return from the Babylonifs captivity, they were not guilty of idolatry; but thefe were the fins of their fathers, which God would recompence ‘into their bofoms, according to ¥.7. they now filling up the meafure of their iniquities, Matt. xxiii. 32. ¥.4. Which remain among the graves, &c.} In order to practife necromancy, to confult the dead, where they imagined demons and departed fpirits haunted, and of whom they fancied they might get knowledge of future things: and lodge in the monuments; whole nights for the fame purpofes. The Vulgate Latin verfion is, that fleep in the temples of idols, after the manner of the heathens, who ufed to fleep there in order to obtain dreams, whereby they might be able to foretel things to come, as they did in the temple of #/culapius; or, in defolate places *, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; where they expected to meet with daemons and noxious fpirits, to give them knowledge of things to come. The Yargum paraphrafes both claufes thus, ‘‘ who dwell in houfes built of the “* duft of graves, and lodge with the corpfe of the *< children of men;” fo corpfe, according to Yarchi, are exprefied by this word, which fignifies kept, or preferved ', as in ch. xlix. 6. becaule they are put in.a ftrait place, from whence they cannot get out; tho’ fome think idols are meant, called fo by way of derifion, becaufe kept for fear of being ftolen, or becaufe they cannot keep themfelves, nor their votaries: which eat [wines flefh; forbidden by-the law, Lev. xi. 7: and broth of abo~ minable things is in their veffelss or pots; broth made of fwines flefh, and of other forts of flefh which were unclean by the law. Our verfion fol- of the paffage; flices of flefh unclean, and fo abominable by the law, were put into their pots and ftewed, and made broth of, which they drank. Spencer © thinks the milk in which kids were boiled is meant, which the Zadians kept in veffels, and fprinkled on the trees in their gardens, to make them more fruitful; hence mention is made. of idolatrous praétices in gardens, in the preceding verte.

¥. 5. Which fay, ftand by thyfelf, &c.] According to ben Ezra, Farcht and Kimchi, thefe are the unclean perfons that did the above things; who fay to the righteous, draw near to thyfelf?; fo the words are, go to thine own place, or to thine own company: and come not near to me; keep off at a diftance, as unworthy of fuch company: for I am holier than thou, but this is the language of a felf-righteous man, of a Pharifee that ftri€tly obferved the rituals of the law; and fitly defcribes fuch who lived in the times of Chrift; ‘and exactly agrees with the characters of fuch, who not only would have no dealings with the Samaritans, but wafhed themfelves when they: came from market, or any public place, left they fhould be defiled with the common people of their own nation; and even with religious perfons, would not ftand near them whilft praying; but defpited them, if they had not arrived to that pitch of out- ftant remembrance, and punifhment for themwas” determined by him, written in the book of his de— crees: I wall not keep filence; but threaten with deftruction, and not only threaten, but execute; ‘plead againft them really, as well as verbally, with. fore judgments: dut will recompence, even. recompence into their bofom; full and juft recompence.of.punifhment for all their tranfgreffions,\ as it follows. The Targum is, ‘* I will recompence to them the “* vengeance of their fins, and deliver their bodies *¢ to the fecond death.” o best srt ¥.7. Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together (faith the Lord), &c.] That: is, the punifhment both of the one, and of the other; thefe being alike, and continued from. father to fon, and approved of, and-committed by one generation after another, till the meafure was filled up; and then the recompence of reward is given for all of them together at once: which have burnt incenfe upon the mountains, and blafpbhemed me upon the bills; where they offered incenfe, and other facrifices to idols, which was interpreted by the ord as a blafpheming and reproaching of him; fee ch. lvii. 7. Fer. 2.20. and ii. 6: therefore wall I meafure their former work into their bofom; punith them for their former fins, as well as their latter ones and both together. ¥.8. Thus faith the Lord, as the new ward fanétity they had; fee Zobn iv. 9. Mark vii. found in the clufter, &c.] Now, left the truly

4. Luke xviii. 9, 11, 12. The phrafe may be rendered, do not touch me’; and the Pharifees would not fuffer themfelves to be touched by the common people, nor would they touch them. Maimonides ' fays, ‘* if the Pharifees touched but the garments *< of the common people, they were defiled all ‘© one as if they had touched a profluvious perfon, ** and were obliged to dip themfelves all over;” fo that when they walked in the ftreets, they ufed to walk on the fides of the way, that they might hot be defiled by touching them’. So £piphawins‘ relates of the Samaritan Fews, that when they touch one of another nation, they dip themfelves with their clothes in water; for they reckon it a defilement to touch any one, or to touch any man of another religion; and of the Dofitheans, who were another fect of the Samaritans, the fame writer obferves", that they ftudioufly avoid touching any, for they abhor every man. A certain Arabic geographer of note ”, makes mention of’ an ‘ifland called-the ifland of the Samaritans, inhabited by fome Samaritan Fews, as appears by their faying to any that apply to them, don’t touch; and by this. it is known that they are of the ‘ews who are called Samaritans; and this fame arrogant fuperftition, as - Scaliger obferves *, continues in that people to-this day, as thofe relate who have converfed with them thefe are a f/moke in my nofe, a fire that burneth all the day; very offenfive to the divine being, as fmoke is to the eyes and noftrils; very abominable to him, and whofe proud and vain conduct raifed indignation in him, and kindled the fire of his anger, which was continually exercifed on them; fee Luke xvi. ¥5. The Targum is, ‘* their vengeance is in hell, where the fire “ burns all the day.” x

¥. 6. Behold, it is written before me, 8ec.| This account of their fins; it was in his fight and con- and fo fays the Son, being godly and gracious among thefe people fhould be diftreffed at fuch denunciations of wrath and deftruction, it is fuggefted that thefe few, this remnant according to the election of grace, fhould be faved from the general ruin; as when men are about to cut down a vine, or pluck it up, or prune the unfruitful branches of it, a fingle clu- - iter of grapes is obferved upon it, in which new wine is fuppofed to be: and one faith, defiray it not, for a blefing is in it; one that ftands by, perhaps the owner of the vine feeing it, fays to his fervant, fpare the vine, don’t cut it down; or don’t cut off the branch on which the clufter is; for there is life and fap in it, and it may grow, and ‘bring forth much fruit: /o will I do fer my Jervants Jake, that I may not defroy them all; as formerly he fpared Noah at the deluge; of whom the Targum paraphrafes the former claufe; and Lot at the burning of Sodom; and Fofbua and Caleb, when all the reft that came out of Egypt perifhed in the wildernefs; fo there would be, and werea few, whom God called by his grace, among ithe Jews, brought to the knowledge of Chrift, and into a gofpel-church-ftate in Ferufalem, and theie he preferved from the deftruction of it, of which they had previous warning, and were direéted to Pella, where they were fate: and fo, wherever the truth of grace is, fuch fhall not be deftroyed; and which is a bleffing, and a blefled, work in the: heart of man, and is a new thing there; and- ne’ wine, delightful to God and man; and like w in the clufter, all grace, and all fpiricual bleffing: are with it; and which muft be tried by affitions to be brought into exercife, as the clufter is prefiéc and which is found but in a few, ‘like wi fingle clufter, concerning whom the Fat deftroy them not, being loved and c

“a 5 t | Chilxv..v9—1 Le yf S A esandithe fame'fays the’ Spirit, being ‘regenerated and “fandtified by his’ grace; ‘and fuch being the fersyantsof the Lord, and partakers of his grace, he Sewill not foffer any of them to be deftroyed; but ‘encompafits them with his favour; holds - them ‘with his right-hand; fuffers no enemy to do them wrotig, and guards them with his power. eweog.' And [will bring forth a feed out of Facob, &e.) Ferom fays, moft underftand this of Chrift; and who indeed is called the feed of the woman, the feed of Abraham, the feed of David, and fprang from’ Facob or Lrael, and came out of the tribe ‘of ‘Fudab; and may be fitly fignified by the clufter;’ in’ which new wine, and a bleffing were, whiclt feed here is explanative of; fince the clufters ‘of ‘all’ divine perfections, of all the bleffings of race,’ and of ‘all the promifés of it, are in him; and’ fince he is that feed in whom all the nations of the earth are blefieéd, and with whom the covenant of grace was made, Gal. iii. 16. but others, the above ancient writer obferves, underftood it of the apoftles; ‘and it feems to defign the firft that believed in Chrift, who were of the ‘few#/h nation, the'apoftles and others; for tho’ the generality of that people rejected the Meffiah, there were a few that’ believed on him, a remnant according to the election of grace, whom the apoftle calls a feed, the Lord left’ among them, and referved for himfelf, Rom. ix. 29. and xi. 4, 5. fuch who received the feed of thé word into their hearts, and were born again of incorruptible feed, and which remained in them; thefe were diftinguifhed by the Grace ‘of God from the reft of the people, and were called and brought forth from among them: and out of Fudah an inberitor of my mountains, this alfo is true of Chrift, who not only came out of the'tribe of Fudah, as was foretold he fhould, and as it is manifeft he did, hence he is called the lion of that tribe; but he is alfo an heir or inheritor of the mountains of God; he is indeed heir of all things)” Hebi. 2. as he is the Son of God, he is heir by nature -of all the Father has; and as mediator, “he is heir by appointment of all perfons and things; he has all perfons for his inheritance, and in his’ pofféffion,’ and “at shis difpofe, angels and men’; and he is poffefled of all things, of all -bleffings of goodnefs, natural’ and temporal, fpiritual and ‘eternal’; “and his chofen people are joint heirs: with ‘him’, and who may be here meant; filich as are the feéd of the Lord, are fons and heirs; they are heirs of God, being the fons of God; heirs of his covenant, the bleffings and promifes* of ‘it, which is as a mountain, firm and immoveable; they are’ heirs of the grace of life, and ‘of the kingdom; ‘heirs of righteoufhels, life and falvation; of ‘eternal glory, the heavenly Canaan, fienified by the mountains ofthe Lord; alluding to the mountainsion which the temple and Ferufalem ftood, or to thofe about Ferdfalem, or in the land of "Fudea'in general: and mine lett hall inberit it; Chrift is God’s firft and chief elect, and his ‘people are chofen’in hit thro” 'gracé to glory; and thefé are'the feed and heirs that do inherit race, and hall inherit glory; for this is to be un- Gerftood not literally‘of the land of Yudea, which was'not long inherited by any after'the times of Chrift-and his apoftles; to! which this’ prophecy refpects; unlefs it can be thought to belong to the of the heavenly country: avd my fervants-hall dwel there; my righteous fervants, as the Targum;, thefe are the fame with the feed, the. inheritor, and.the ele&t, who become the fervants of God, thro’ the power of his grace, and ferve him chearfully, willingly, and without felfith ends and views; to.this they are chofen, and for this purpofe become: a fpiritual feed; nor is this inconfiftent with their being heirs; and who fhall receive the inheritance in a way of grace, and poflefs it for ever; they fhall dwell in the church below, and enjoy all the privileges of it, and fhall dwell upon their eftate for ever; for their inheritance is an eternal,one, referved in the heavens.. bil ¥. 10. And Sharon fhall be a fold of flocks, 8c: ] This was a champain country about Joppa and Lydda, in which were rich paftures for herds, and flocks, 1 Chron. xxvii. 29. it feems to be a prophecy of the converfion of fome in thofe parts, which had its accomplifhment in the times of the apoftles, Aé#s ix. 35. here Chrift had his theep, and here was a fold for them; or however, this may be expreffive of the word and ordinances, which are like Sharon, green and fat paftures, for. the flocks of Chrift to be folded and fed in: and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in; which, Aben Ezra {ays, was round about 7erufalem, but it was the valley in which Achan was ftoned, and becaufe of the trouble he gave to Jrael, and had himfelf, it was called the valley.of Achor, Fofo. vii. 26. this the Lord promifes fhall be given for a door of hope, Ho/. ii. 15. and fuch the word and ordinances are, where Chrift caufes his church and people to lie down and reft, Caz. i. 7,8. Pf. xxiii. 2, and which are an earneft and pledge of future glory and happinefs, and give hope thereof; are the firft fruits of it, as the valley of Achor is faid to be the firft place the children of Tfrael {et footing on, when they had paffed over Fordan; it lay to the north of Fericho, over againft Ai: for my people that have fought me; with their whole hearts, being firft fought and found by him, fee the note on y¥. I. ¥. 11. But ye are they that forfake the Lord, &c.] Here the Lord returns to the body of the people again, the unbelievers and rejecters of the Meffiah, -who turned away from him, would not hear his doétrine, nor fubmit to his ordinances; they~ forfook the worfhip of the Lord, as the Targum; yea fome that profeffed to be his difciples, and followed him for a while, left him, and walked no more with him, ohn vi. 60, 66: that forget my holy mountain; mount Zion, the city of the living God, the ‘heavenly Yeru/falem, the gofpel-church, to which the feed or heirs, the chofen of God, and the “fervants of the Lord among the Yews came, and enjoyed the immunities of it, and worfhipped the Lord there; but thefe men forgot it, and either never came, or if any of them did, they foon forfook the affembling of themfelves together, as the, manner of fome was, ‘Hed. xii, 22. and x. 25 3, that prepare a table for that troop, or, for a troop x a troop of idols worfhipped; or, for Gad, which fome take to be the name of a ftar; and R. Mofes ° the prieft fays,. it, is the name. of the flar Fupiter, in the’ Arabic language, a. lucky ftar, The Fulgate Latin verfion renders it, for fortune, and the word is ufed by the Fewi/h writers.’, for the god-

- Tatter day, when the. ¥ews will be converted, and defs fortune, or good luck, and who make men- return to it; but figuratively of mount Ziox,. or eee od aedhatt F tion of the bed of fortune *., a-beds which they fay,

4s prepared for a ftar, and no man’ may fleep on, it; and a table alfo, which they might not ufe but} for that ftar, the fame with the table here; for they uied beds or couches at their tables, or at eating.’ And Ferom on the place fays, it was an old cuftom in E£eypt, particularly in Alexandria and other cities, on the laft day of the year, to prepare a table, with all kind of provifions for eating and drinking, by way of thankfulnefs for the fertility of the Jaft year, and in order to obtain it in the year following; and this the [/raelites did. Table feems to be put for an altar, on which facrifice was offered to idols. Mention is made by Herodotus +, of the table of the fun among the £thiopians. And that furnifh the drink-offering unto that number; or, to a number; to a number of deities, which were as numerous as their cities; Fer. ii. 28. and according to the number of them, they provided drinkofferings, or a mixture of wine and water; and alfo according to the number of the priefts that facrificed, they filled cups of wine, as archi obferves; or according to the number of letters in a perfon’s name they wifhed well to, as many cups they drank, to which Sanéfius thinks the.allufion is; or to Meni, which R. Mofes takes to be the name of a {tar; fome interpret it of a number of ftars, the feven planets particularly; and others of the ftar Mercury. Some think itis the name of an idol, either of an idol of the Arabians, as Pocock”; or of the Armenians, as others, Armenia being called Minni, Fer. li. 27. The Yargum interprets both claufes of idol-deities; and fo in the Glofs on the Talmud“, they are. both faid to be the names of idols. Byneus* feems to me to have advanced the beft notion of Gad and Meni, tranflated that troop, and that number, which is, that the one fignifies the fun, and the other the moon, which he fup ports with many reafons; fo Vitringa: and yet there is a difficulty in the words, how they are to be applied to the Yews in the times of Chrift and the apoftles, when they were not guilty of fuch idolatrous practices; unlefs this is to be underftood of the fins of their forefathers vifited on them, as in ¥. 3, 4. 7. tho’ this is. faid of the fame perfans that forfook the Lord, and forgot his mountain; wherefore I am inclined to think, that fome thing like this is the fenfe of the words; that the evil charged upon this people, and of which they were guilty, was, that they regarded the ftars, and attributed their cafe and circumftances to the influences of them, or to fate and fortune, rather than to the providence of God; or trufted in their troops and numbers, and fo defied and defpifed the Roman army that befieged them, which was their ruin.

¥. 12. Therefore will I number you to the fword, &c.] There is an elegancy in the expreffion, alluding to Meni, that number, they furnifhed a drink-offering for, or trufted in; and {ince they did, God would number them, or appoint a number of them to the fword; or fuffer them. to be flain in great numbers, even’ from one end of their Jand to another, Fer. xii. 12. they fhould be numbered and told out, or care taken that none of them fhould efcape the fword of the Romans, or not be taken by them: and ye hall all bow down to the laughter; be obliged to fubmit to the-congueror, and lay down their necks to be: facrificed by him: ecaufe when I called, ye did not anfwer;

‘water of life, of which they. may drink. freely oallinejnicas. in, Chitty tashing hope of the glory of God by him: but ye shall be

when I fpake, ye did not hear; when Chrift called unto them perfonally, to come and hear him, they turned a deaf ear to this charmer, charming fo~ wifely, and would not attend upon his miniftry, Prov. i, 24. Mati. xxiii. 37. and when he called to them in the miniftry of his apoftles, they rejected him and his word with contempt; they put it away from them, contradicting and blag in; it, Ads xii. 45, 46. The Zargum is, “ b ‘* J fent my prophets, and ye turned not; they ‘* prophefied, and ye did not receive them:” dut did evil before mine eyes, and did chuje that wherein 1 delighted not; adhered to the traditions of the el-. ders, and taught for doétrines the commandments of men; and which they chofe and preferred to the word of God, and the gofpel of Chrift; and thefe were things the Lord delighted not in, yea abhorred; and their embracing and cleaving to them were evil in his fight; fee Matt. xv. 3—g9. ¥. 13. Therefore thus faith the Lord God, &c.] This being the cafe, the following contraft is formed between thofe that believed in Chrift, and thofe that rejected him: debold, my fervants fhall eat, but ye foall be hungry; which has been verified in a literal fenfe; for the chriftians, the Lord’s righteous fervants, as the Targum in the feveral clautes calls them, were, as Eu/ebius © relates, by a divine warning, directed to leave Ferufalem, before the deftruction of it; when they removed to a place called Pella, beyond Yordan, where they had proper accommodations; while the unbelieving Jews were penned up in the city, and were ftarved, and multitudes of them died by famine; and in a figu-. rative fenfe they had a famine, not of bread, or of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord; the gofpel being taken from them, and fent to another people, who received it, and eat it, and were nourifhed by it; which is bread that ftrengthens, meat that is favory, milk that nourifhes, honey that is {weet to the tafte, delicious fruit, and all that is wholefome and healthful; Chrift in the word particularly, who is the Lamb of God, the fatted calf, the hidden manna, the bread of life and fpiritual meat, as his flefh is, is the food which believers eat by faith, and feed upon, and are nou-, rifhed with; whilft others itarve, feeding upon. afhes and hufks, on that which is not bread. Kimchi interprets this and the following claufes fix guratively, of the reward of the world to come, and of the delights and pleafures of the foul, fignified by eating and drinking; and fo, he fays,, their Rabbins interpret it; fee Luke xiv. 15. Behold my fervants fhall drink, and ye foall be thinfty, which has the fame fenfe as before, the fame thing, in different words. Particularly true, believers in, Chrift drink of his blood by faith, which is drink indeed; and of the grace of Chrift, which is the of the gofpel of Chrift, which is as wine a milk, and as cold water to a thirfty foul; the love of Chrift, which is better than wi they fhall drink of new wine with him in the dom of his Father; while the wicked after their fins and lufts now, and have no fatis- - faction in. them, and hereafter will w of water to. cool their Soret A rn fulnefs; in his righteoufi afbamed, of their vain confidence; of their truft in their own righteoufnefs, in their temple, and the fervice of it; in their troops and numbers, particularly when taken and carried captive; and more efpecially this will be their cafe at the great day of judgment, when they fhall fee him whom they have pierced.

| dy the God of truth; when an oath is neceffary on any account, and it is proper to appeal to the fupreme Being for the truth of any thing, this, in gofpel-times, fhould be done in the name of Chrift; he, who is the Amen ‘and faithful witnefs, is to

¥. 14. Bebold my fervants fhall fing for joy of be appealed unto, who is God omnifcient, the dif- heart, &c.] The fongs of electing, redeeming, and calling grace, with which they come to Zion now, and will hereafter; having their hearts filled with joy unutterable, and full of glory, under a fenfe of the great things which God has done for them: dwt ye frall cry for forrow of heart, and foall howl for vexotion of fpirit; under the fore judgments of God upon them, the fword and famine; more efpecially during the fiese of Ferufalem, and when wrath came upon them to the uttermoft, in the deftruction of their city, temple, and nation, and they fell into the hands of the Romans, who carried them captive, and difperfed them in various places; and as the wicked will in hell to all eternity, where is nothing but weeping, wailing, and gnafhing of teeth.

¥. 15. And ye foall leave your name for a curfe unto my chofen, &c.| Execrable and abominable to them, as the name of a Few is to this day, and in all places; for their unbelief and impenitence, for their perfidy and infincerity, for their tricking and covetoufnefs, and other crimes they are’ addiéted to; fee Fer. xxiv. 9: for the Lord God fhall Slay them, by the {word of the Romans, and by his jedgments, which continue upon them; the Targum {ays with the fecond death; and fo farchi interprets it of eternal death, which is the juft wages of fin: and call bis fervants by another name, a new name, as the Septuagint and Arabic verfions; the name of the’people of God, the Gentiles formerly were not ‘called by; but now all that believe in Chrift, whether ‘ews or Gentiles, are his people; the name of the fons of God, a name better than that of fons and daughters of the greateft potentate; the name which the mouth of the Lord calls, Hephzibah and Beulah, being delighted in by the Lord, and married to him; or rather the name of chriftians, firft given to the difciples of Chrift at Antioch, and ever fince continued, fs xi. 26.

y¥. 16. That be who bleffeth himfelf in the earth, &c.] That is fenfible he ftands in need of bleffings, and wifhes for them, and prays he might have them; or that takes notice that he is bleffed with them, and acknowledges them, and is thankful for them: fhall blefs himfeif in the God of truth, thall. pray to him for bleffings he wants, and afcribe what he has unto him, and give him the praifé and glory of them; by whom is meant, either God the Father, in oppofition to idols, the fictitious deities of the Gentiles, thofe lying vanities, which were not gods by nature, and to whom the God of truth, or the true God, ‘is often oppofed, and whom the Targum here calls the living God; or rather the Mefiiah; our Lord Jefus Chrift: for the words may be rendered, fhall blefs himfelf in God Amen ‘; that is, in God, who is the “Anen, which ors of the names of Chrift, Rev. iii, 14. in om believers are bleffed with all fpiritual blef-

, and reckon themfelves bleffed in him, and afcribe bleffing to him for them; in whom all the promifes of God are yea and Amen, and who is 73 tee) Sf: 4

, Fe mts Saale benedicet fibi in Deo Amen, Pagninus, Montanus, Vitringa; benediflurus fit in Deo Amen, Cocceius. |: