Exposition of the Whole Bible

that fuch judgments were, coming upon them, he had feen written in the roll, full of lamentations, mourning, and wo: in the heat of my /pirit; the

+ Yargum and Vulgate Latin render it, ix ihe indignation of my Jpirit; his {pirit was hot and angry, he was froward and unwilling to go on the errand, to prophefy fad and difmal things to his people: but the hand of the Lord was jfirong upon me; the Spirit of the Lord powerfully wrought upon him, and obliged him to go; and the hand of the Lord ftrengthened him, and remoyed his frowardnefs and perverfenefs of {pirit. "The Targum is, ‘* and pro-

*¢ me;” fo Kiichi interprets it of the hand of prophecy; the Spirit of the Lord, as a {pirit. of prophecy, came upon him, with great impulfe upon his fpirit, and’ he could not refufe going to his people, to declare it to them.

¥. 15. Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-Abib, &c.] For it feems the captive Fews were difpofed of at different places, and there were fome at this place; for this was the name of a place, as Farchi and Kimchi obferve; as were. Tet-melab, and Tel-barfa, Ezra ii. 59. Neb. vii. 69. it fignifies an heap of new fruit, and fo the Vulgate Latin verfion renders it: not that there were fuch at this time here; and the captives were beating out the ripe ears of corn, as Abid fignifies; whence the month 427 has its name, and which was the firft month with the Yews; whereas it was in the fourth month when Ezekiel was here, and there could be no ears of new corn, ch. i, 1. according to Funius, this Te/-Abib was a tract in Mefopotamia, reaching from mount Ma/ius to the river Euphrates, and lay between two rivers, Chebar and Saocoras; and he thinks the captive ews were placed here, partly that they might be fecured fafe from getting away,, or returning from their captivity; and partly that they might fecure and defend the place from enemies, it being thro’ inundations uninhabited, and fo expofed unto them: that dwelt by the river of Chebar;, fee the note on ch. i. 1: and I fat where they fat; there is a double reading here; the Cerid or writing is “wi, which Junius takes to be the name of a river the prophet calls Hae/ber, the fame with Saocoras, connecting it with the preceding claufe, that dwelt by the river of Chebar and Haefber; the Keri or marginal reading is Aux), and I fat or dwelt; but both fignify the fame thing, fince WN is from f4w, which in Chaldee fignifies to dwell *; and the Keri is confirmed by the Targum, which we follow. The fenfe is, that he placed himfelf among the captives, and remained there aftonifbed among them feven days, at the change of place and company; at the fad condition his people were in; and above all, at the dreadful things he had to deliver to them. The Yargum renders it, /ileat,; through grief and trouble. So many days 7od’s friends kept filence, when they came to vifit him, and faw his diftrefs, Zod ii. 13. Or he might be waiting all this time for orders ‘and inftructions to prophefy; or to prepare the people to attend with more reverence and earneftnefs, to hear what he had to fay when he fhould break filence. The Septuagint render it the reverfe, converfing in the midft of them.

y. 16. And it camé to pafs at the end of feven days, &¢.] Some think it was on the fabbath-day he had the following declaration made to him, ty and inftruions given him; but this is not certain; nor does it follow, or to be concluded, from fuch, a way of {peaking: that the word of the Lord came uito me, faying,; the Largum isy ‘* the.word ** of prophecy from before the Lord.”

. M. 17. Son of man, I have made thee, a watchman, unto the houfe of Ijrael,. &c.] Not ina civil fenfe, a watchman of a town or, city, or of the whole country, but in an ecclefiaftical fenie., So the Fargum renders it. by mon a teacher; whofe. bufinefs it was. to. inftruét the people in divine things, to warn them of their evil ways, and of the danger they expofed them to;. fuch were the prophets of old, and fuch.are the minifters of the New Teftament: the office is the fame with that of bifhops or overfeers; and lies in watching over the fouls of men, as fhepherds over their flocks, that they go into right paftures, and not. aftray, and fo preferve them from beafts of prey; and as watchmen of cities, to give the time.of night, and notice of approaching danger; to the difcharge of which office are necefiary quick-fight, diligence in looking out, fobriety and vigilance, courage, conftancy, and faithfulnefs: and they are fons of mew that are put into this office, and not, angels; fons of fallen Adam, finfal men; men fubject'to infirmity, weak, frail, mortal men, and oftentimes of a mean and low extraction, and greatly unworthy of fo high an honour; but Chrift counts them faithful, and puts them-into this office; they are not made and conftituted watchmen or minifters by themfelves, or by others, but by him; and they are given by him as fuch to the church of God: fon of man, I have given thee a watchman‘, 8c. they become watchmen thro’ gifts beftowed upon them, qualifying them for this office; and they themfelves are gifts to the churches over whom they are placed, fignified by the houfe of T/rael; for a church is an houfe of Chrift’s building, and where he dwells, and a family named of him, which he takes care of, and confifts of J/raelites indeed. Therefore bear the word at my mouth;, for-as the prophets of old, fo the minifters of the. gofpel,, are firft to hear what Chrift fays; and then deliver out his doctrine, called the doctrine of Chrift, and the wholfome words of our Lord Jefus.. So the Zargam, ‘* and *¢ thou fhalt receivé the word from. my word;” the word of prophecy, or the word of the gofpel, from Chrift the effential, word, And. give them warning from me; in his name and. itead, and as from his mouth, to take care of finning againft him,, difhonouring. his, name, and wounding their own fouls; that they live foberly, righteoufly, and godly, and adorn the doétrine of God their Saviour; that they avoid all appeararices of evil, and fhun the company ef wicked men: the houfe of Jfrael, or church of.,God, -are to be warned to be careful who they take into, their communion, and to exclude fuch that are bad in principle and practice; to beware of innovations in worfhip, and of falfe teachers and falfe doctrines; and that they do not forfake the word, worfhip, and ordinances of God’s houfe, but fill up their places, and perform all duties incumbent en them. The Largum is, *¢ and. thou fhalt warn them from finning before a = Me:

y..18. When I fay, unto the wicked, thou shalt furely die, &c.} Not.only a corporal, but an eternal death;.for this is-what the law threatens witty atid there the Lord fays this; and this is the wages,) are in, their laft eftate being worfe than the firft:

end, and iffue of fin, if grace prevent not: and thou giveft him not warning, of the evil nature of fin, and of the danger it expofes to: mor Jpeakeft to warn the wicked from bis wicked way, to abftain from it, and live another courfe of life: to fave bis life; for fuch warning, caution, exhortation, and doétrine, may be a means of converting a finner from the evil of his way, and of faving a foul from death, 1 Zim. iv. 16. Fam. v. 20: the fame wicked man fhall die in his iniquity, with the pollution and guilt of fin upon him, and fo be punifhed for it; fee Fobn vii. 24: but his blood will I require at thine hands; thou fhalt be anfwerable for him; his death fhall be laid to thy charge, and thou fhalt be chaftized for thy negligence; fee Afs xx. 26.

¥. 19. Yet if thou warn the wicked, &c.] Of his fin and danger; lay before him his evil, and fhew him the fad confequences of going on in a courfe of fin, and warn him to flee from wrath to come: and he turn not from bis wickednefs, and from his wicked way; does not repent of it, nor abftain from it: he fhall die in bis iniquity, and for it, and that very righteoufly: dut thou haft delivered thy foul, thou haft done the duty of thine office; thou art clear from the charge of negligence and floth, and from being anfwerable for the death of the finner; and fhalt fave thyfelf, tho’ not the wicked man; fee 1 Tim. iv. 16.

¥. 20. Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteoufnefs, &c.] This is to be under- {tood not of one that is truly righteous, or is juftified by the righteoufnefs of Chrift; for fuch can never turn from that*righteoufnefs, or be in an unjuttified ftate; feeing that is the righteoufnefs of

God, and an everlafting one; but of one that is!

denominated righteous, from 47s own righteoufnefs, from a righteoufnefs which he hath done, as is afterwards exprefied; one that is outwardly righteous before men, that is outwardly reformed, that has a righteoufnefs of his own, confifting of a little negative holinefs, and a few moral performances; from fuch a righteoufnefs a man may apoftatize, and zo into a vicious courfe of life: and commit iniquity; live in fin, make a trade of it; lead a life, the whole feries and courfe of which is nothing elfe but fin; in this fenfe, one that is born of God, and has the righteoufnefs of Chrift revealed from faith to faith unto him, and lives by faith upon it, cannot commit fin, 1 Fobm iii. 9: and I lay a ftumbling-block before him, the Targum renders it, the fiumbling-block of fins; which defigns either an occafion of finning, which God permits, leaving him to his own lufts, and fuffering him to fall thereby; and by this means he is difcovered to be what he is, not a truly righteous man, but only one in appearance; that looked like a righteous perfon, but fecretly a finner, and now the Lord by fuch means expofes him openly; fo Farchi, and other Fewifh Rabbins; but Kimchi’s father interprets this ftumbling-block of profperity in this world *: or rather the punifhment of fin is meant, as Kimchi himfelf obferves; and the Septuagint tender it, torment; fince this follows upon ‘his turning from righteoufhefs, and committing fin; and feems to be explained by the next claufe: he fhall die; the fecond death: decaufe thou baft not he foall die in bis fin, of apoftacy, and for it, being never to be recovered and brought to repentance: and his righteou/nefs which he hath done foall not be remembred; according to the Keri or marginal reading it is, his righteoufneffes; all his works of righteoufnefs which he hath done; and which reading is followed by the Targum, Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and the Eaffern verfions; thefe thali not be remembred, neither in this world, nor in that to come; no account fhall be taken of them, nor fhall they be reckoned as a righteoufnefs unto

him: but his blood will I require at thine band; tee

the note on y. 18., y¥. 21. Neverthelefi, if thou warn the righteous man, &c.] Every righteous man, that is foin a judgment of charity, whether truly righteous or no, which the event fhows; who fhould be warned not to truft in their own righteoufnefs, but to depend on the righteoufnefs of Chrift; that they be careful to maintain good works, to avoid fin, and live holy lives and converfations, as follows: thaf the righteous fin not; not that there is any juft man that does good, and fins not; the beft of men are often finning in thought, word, or deed; but he is to be warned that he does not continue in fin, ° and lead a finful courfe of life; which is contrary to his character, and to his faith in Chrift for righteoufnefs, which is attended with good works: and he doth not fin; the warning and exhortation given him having fo good an effect, through the power of divine grace, as to be a means of pre- furely live, fpiritually and comfortably now, and eternally hereafter: because he is warned, that being a means, and with the divine blefling taking effect: alfo thou haft delivered thy foul; fee the note on ¥. 19.

x. eH And the hand of the Lord was there upon me, &c.] At Tel-Abib, ¥. 15. The Targum interprets the hand of the Lord, of the fpirit of prophecy, which remained’ upon him there; but it feems to defign a frefh impulfe of the Spirit, a powerful motion of the Spirit upon his fpirit, ftirring up to attention to what might be faid unto him: and he faid unto me; the fame glorious perfon, the Lord Chrift, defcribed in ch. i. 26, 27, 28: arife, go forth into the plain; or, the valley”; the Arabic verfion renders it, the defert; a folitary place, free from noife and hurry, and from fit for retirement and contemplation, and for attention to divine orders. What plain this was, is not certain; Kimchi thinks it was the plain in which Babel was built, and where the Lord fhewed the prophet what he had in his providence done in this place formerly, in confounding the languages of men, and caufing their devices to ceafe. And I will there talk with thee; when alone, fedate, and compofed; fo God fometimes brings his people into alow and humble ftate and condition, into munion with himfelf; fee Hof. ii. 14. perhaps the ing fecrets to others in fields and deferts, and fuch like folitary places; fee Gen. xxxi. 4, 5*. — the company and converfation of men; and fo more allufion is to a cuftom among the Jews, of reveal- - the valley of humility, and there grants them com-.

¥. 23. Then I arefe and went forth into the plain, -

&c.] He was obedient to the heavenly vifion, given him warning, of the dreadful evil of apoftacy, and the fad eftate of apoftates, and the danger which was owing to the hand of the Lord being they! upon him; the power of the Spirit and grace of

¥ Pyar Ls in iftam convallem, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; in vallem ile a

God, influences and engages to obedience; he went forth where he was ordered, tho’ he knew not what would be faid to him, or what he fhould fee there: and behold, the glory of the Lord fiood there; the glorious perfon defcribed in ch. i. 26, 27,28: as the glory which I faw by the river of Chebar; ch. i. 2, 3, 28. which vifion was repeated for greater certainty, and to confirm the prophecies delivered to him, and to encourage him in the performance of his office: and I fell on my face; as he did before, when he firft faw this glorious object, ch. i. 28.

¥. 24: Then the Spirit entered into me, &c.] Again; the Spirit of God, that was in the wheels and living creatures; fee ch. ii. 2: and fet me upon my feet; as he had done before, when in the fame proftrate condition, ch. ii. 2: and fpake with me; either the Spirit that entered into him, and fet him upright; or rather the Lord Chrift, the glory of the Lord that ftood where he was, and appeared tohim: and faid unto me, go, fout thyfelf within thine houfe; this was not faid ironically, but in earneft; and the reafon either was, becaufe the people were not fit for reproof and correction, as Yarchi thinks, being a rebellious people; or that the prophet might receive further inftructions, and have all the words of his prophecy delivered to him, before he began to prophefy. Some think this fhutting up was an emblem of the fiege of Ferufalem. It may feem ftrange, that the prophet thould be bid to go into the plain, where the Lord promifed to. talk with him; and this is all that is faid to. him, to go home, and fhut himfelf up in his houfe: but it fhould be obferved, that this was not the only thing for which he went into the plain; he was to have, and had, a frefh view of the glory of the Lord, and of the vifion he had before, for the further confirmation of him; befides, this moving him from place to place, before he prophefied, might be partly to try his faith, and partly to preferve him from the violence of the people; who, had he delivered his meffage at once, might have been fo provoked, as to have falien upon him, and deftroyed him; as well as to prepare them to receive his prophefies with more refpect and reverence, when they faw he did not rafhly, and at once, deliver them out to them.

¥. 25. But thou, O fon of man, bebold, they fhall put bands upon thee, &c.}, Or, bands foall be put upon thee, either vifionally, or really; not by angels, but by the Yews, who taking the prophet for a madman by his motions and geftures, would bind him, ‘and keep -him within doors: or figuratively this may be underftood of the fins of the people, their rebellion and obftinacy, which hindered the prophet from prophefying among them, as yet; and fo this is obferved to conciliate his mind to the divine order, to fhut up himfelf for a while in his own houfe, and be filent: or elfe by thefe bonds may be meant the divine order _itfelf, which reftrained him from doing his office as yet. So the Zargum, ‘* behold, I have appointed. the ** words of my mouth upon thee, as a band of ** ropes with which they bind,” nd fhall bind thee with them; which fome think is emblematica] of the Hews being bound by the Chaldeans: and thou fhait not go out among thems to converfe with them, or prophefy unto them: The Septuagint verfion renders it, /halt not go out from the midjt of thems as if he fhould be taken out of his own houfe by the Fews, and be bound by them; and kept among thems; and not able to get away from them; but it is to be underftood of his being bound in his own houfe, and not able to go out of that to them; and may fignify, that in like manner, the Fews fhould not be able to go out of Ferufalem when befieged by the Chaldeans.

¥. 26. And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth; that thou foalt be dumb, &c.] Which is to be underftood not literally, as if he was really ftruck dumb, as Zechariah was; fee ch. iv. 9, 14. but that fuch filence fhould be charged upon him by the Lord, that he fhould be as if his tongue cleaved to the.roof of his mouth, as Kimchi interprets it, and as if he was a dumb man: and fo the Septuagint verfion renders it, I will bind thy tongue; lay an embargo upon it, that is, it fhall be filent;\ and this fenfe.is confirmed by what follows: and fhalt not be to them a reprover; which was in judgment to them, and a giving them up to their. own hearts lufts; for tho’ reproofs were difagreeable to them, and they chofe to be without’ them, yet they were neceffary for them, and might have been ufeful to them; but they provoking the Lord, he takes away his word from them, and commands his prophet to be filent, and let them alone, to go on in their fins without controul; which was a fore judgment upon them: for they are a rebellious houfe; tee ch. ii. 6.

¥. 27. But when I [peak with thee, 8c.) Either when I have made an end of fpeaking to thee, when I have told thee all my mind, and have given thee all the inftructions and prophecies thou art to deliver out; or when I fhall fpeak to thee again, and give thee orders to fpeak: J will open thy mouth; loofe thy tongue, caufe thee to break filence, and thou fhalt {peak freely and fully all that I command thee; fulnefs of matter, and freedom of fpeech, are both from the Lord; liberty and opportunity of fpeaking are at his pleafure; and when he {peaks his fervants muft prophefy, mos ili. 8: and thou fhalt fay unto them; thus faith the Lord, fo and fo, whatfoever he is pleafed to order to be fpoken; not that the following words are what were to be faid to the people; but they are faid to the prophet for his own ufe, that he might not be-uneafy at the unfruitfulnefs and unfuccefsfulnefs of his. miniftry: be teat heareth, let him bear; if any will hearken to what is fent to them, as few of them will, it is very well: and he that forbeareth, let him forbear, or, he that ceafeth, let him ceafe+, he that ceafeth from hearing, let him do fo, don’t mind it, or be dif+ couraged at it: for they are a rebellious houfe; fee the note on ch. ii, 5. The Targum is, ‘* he that “* receiveth, let him receive inftruction; and.he “ that ceafeth, let him ceafe from finning, for it *¢ is a rebellious people.”

audire, defiftet. So fome in Vatablus,

HIS chapter contains a prophecy of the fiege T of Ferufalem, and of the famine that attended it. The fiege is defcribed by a portrait of the city of Ferufalem on a tile, laid before the prophet, ¥. 1. by feveral actions, reprefenting a fiege of it, as building a fort, cafting a mount, and fetting a camp and battering-rams againit it, and am ironpan for a wall, between the prophet, the befieger, and the city, ¥.2, 3. by his gefture, lying firft on his left-fide for the fpace of 390 days, and then on his right-fide for the fpace of 40 days, pointing at the time when the city fhould be taken, ¥. 4,5, 6. and by fetting his face to the’ fiege, and uncovering his arm, and prophefying, ¥. 7. and by bands being laid on him, fo that he could not turn from’ one fide to the other, till the fiege was ended, y..8. the famine is fignified by bread the prophet was to make of various forts of grain and feeds, baked with mens dung, and eat by weight, with water. drank by meafure, which is ‘applied unto the people; it is fuggefted, that this would | be fulfilled by the children of J/rae?s eating defiled bread among the Gentiles, ¥. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. but upon the prophet’s concern about eating any thing forbidden by the law, which he had’ never done, cows dung is allowed inftead of mens, to prepare the bread with, y. 14, 15. and the chapter is concluded with a refolution to bring a fevere famine on them, to their great aftonifhment, and with which they fhould be confumed for their iniquity, ¥. 16, 17.

vy. 1. Thou alfo, fon of man, take thee a tile, &c.] Or brick*. The Targum renders it, a fone; but a tile or brick, efpecially one that is nor dried and burned, but green, is more fit to cut-in it the figure of a city. Some think that this was ordered, becaufe cities are built of brick; or to'fhew the weaknefs of the city of Ferufalem, how eafily it might be demolifhed; and Yerom thinks there was fome-defign to lead the Yews to’ refle& upon their making bricks in Egypt, and their hard fervice there; tho’ perhaps the truer reafon may be, becaufe the Babylonians had been ufed to write upon tiles. Epigenes * fays, they had celeftial obfervations of a long courfe of years, written on tiles; hence the prophet is bid to defcribe Ferufalem on one, which was to be deftroyed by the king of Babylon. And lay it before thee, as perfons do, who are about to draw a picture, make a portrait, or engrave the form of any ‘thing they intend: and pourtray upon. it the city; even Ferufalem; or engrave upon it, by making incifions on: it, and fo defcribing the form and figure: of “the city of Ferufalem.

¥>2.° dud lay fiege againft it, &c.] In hisiown ‘perfon, as: in ¥. 3. or draw the form: ofa fiege, or figure of an army befieging’ a city 5 or: rather: of the inftruments and means ufed in-a fiepe, as, follows: ond build a fort againft it; Kimchi interpreéts it.a wooden tower, built,over-againtt the-citys: to fubdue it; and Yarchi takes it to be an inftrument by which ftones were caft into the city; and fo the Arabic verfion renders it, machines to caft fiones; the Targum, a fortrefs; fo Nebuchadnezzar.: ' 3

Bijou wages te, atu 4 co So 3.4 Ve in reality did, what was here only done in type,. 2 Kings xxv. 1. where the fame word.is ufed as} here: and caft a mount about it, a heap. of eartht caft up, in order to look into the city, caft im darts, and ‘mount the walls; what the drench call a baftion, as Farchi obferves: fet the camp alfa: againft it; place the army in their tents about it » and fet battering-rams againft it round about; a warlike inftrument, that had an iron-head and horns like’a ram, with which in a fiege the walls of city were battered and beaten down. « Farchi, Kim= chi, and Ben Melech, interpret the word, of princes: and generals of the’.army, who watched art the fe~ veralcorners of the city, that none: might go in and out; fo the Targum feems to underftand it”. The Arabic verfion is, mounts to caft darts; fee the note on.ch. xxi. 22. > aGh ¥. 3. Moreover, take thou unto thee an irom pany &c.]. Which Kimchi thinks, for its metal,. reprefented the hardnefs of the hearts of the people of T/rael; and for its colour, the blacknefs of their fins; tho’ others‘are of opinion, this being a pan in which things are fried, it may fignify the miferies of the Yews in captivity; the roalting of Abad and Zedekiah in the’fire, and particularly the burning of the city: others, the wrath of God againft them, and his refolution to deftroy them: but rather, fince'the ufe of it was as follows,:.and_ fet it for a wall of iron between thee and the city, at feems. to reprefent alk fuch things as are made ufe of by befiegers to fkreen ‘them from the befieged; fuch as are now ufed are trenches, parapets, baftions, &c. for the prophet in this type is the befieger, reprefenting the Chaldean army {ecure fromthe an= noyance of thofe within the walls ofthe city: and Jet thy face again it, with a firm refolution to befiege and: take the city; ‘which denotes both the fettled wrath of God againft this'people, and the determined purpofe of the king of Badylomnot to move from it until +he had taken it: and it fhall

be befieged, and thou fhalt lay fiege againft wt, asan _

emblem of! the army of the Chaldeans befieging it, which is confirmed by the next claufe: sis fhall be a fign to the houfe of Ifrael,.of the city of Ferufalem being: befieged by the Babylonians; this was.

a fign reprefenting it, and giving them affurance ~ of it. | i Pr y. 4. Lie thou alfo upon thy left fide, 8c.) Some _ think. this was not in reality, but in vilion, as Kimchi obferves; and fo Maimonides 3 and.in like manner they underftand his eating and drinking by meafure, and preparing food, as he: is directed in

‘a following: part of this chapter: but others are of ‘opinion, ‘that all this was really done.” The reafons: given on both fides are not defpicable, It is urged againft the reality of the fact, thatthe pro- ‘pliet, without a miracle, could’ hever’ have lainfo long on ‘one fide; and befides} this feems: to be ‘contradi€ted by an after-account, ‘of his fitting in his houfe before the expiration of thole.dageg froni the fifth day of the fourth month of the fifth year, in which he began to sprophefy, ‘chi i..7, 25 and this order was feven days after that at ne ch. iii. 15. to the fifth day of the fixth month the fixth year, when we find him fitting, ch. viii. eae

- been no occafion of deprecating it.

t. were but four hundred and thirteen days; and if feven are taken out from thence, there are but four hundred and fix; whereas the whole time of his lying for J/rael and Fudab were four hundred and thirty; and it is further obferved, that it does not feem decent that the prophet fhould be obliged really to eat fuch bread as he was ordered to make. On the other hand it is obferved, that the order of pourtraying the fiege of Yeru/falem on a tile, and fetting an iron pan for a wall, feem to direct to the doing of real facts, and to that this order is fubjoined, without any mark of diftinétion; befides, the prophet was to have this portrait in view, whilft he was lying on-his fide, and uncover his arms, which feem to denote real faéts; and was to prophefy, not by words, for he was to be dumb, ch. iii. 26. but by faéts’; and he was to do all this in the fight of his people; and if the order to make a cake of bread was not to be really performed in the manner direéted, there would have The learned Witfius *, who has collected the arguments on both fides, is inclined to the latter; and obferves from others, that fome perfons have lain longer on one fide than the prophet, without a miracle;_particularly a certain paralytic nobleman, who lay fixteen years in fuch a manner: and as for the computation of time, Cocceius is of opinion, that the forty days for fudab, are included in the three hundred and ninety for J/rae?; and which indeed feem to be the whole number, ¥. 9. and which at once folves the difficulty; and befides, the force of the objection may be taken off by obferving, that the fifth year might be intercalated, and confift of thirteen months, which was common with the ews to have a Veadar or intercalated month: nor is it difhonourable nor unufual for the Lord to call his dear fervants fometimes to hard and difagreeable fervice, as both thefe cafes feem to be, when he has ends of his own glory, and the good of others, to be anfwered thereby. And the lying on the left fide for the fins of the houfe of J/rael was, as Farchi thinks, becaufe that Samaria, which was the head of the ten tribes, lay to the left of Ferufalem, fee ch. xvi. 46. or rather, becaufe the left hand is not fo honourable. as the right; it may fhew, that the Lord had not fuch an efteem for J/rae/ as for Judah, And lay the iniquity of the boufe of Ifrael upon it; not to atone for it, but to fhow what was the caufe of their captivity; for herein the prophet was no type of Chrift, but perfonated the people of J/rael,; who had been grievoufly finning againft God, during the term of time hereafter mentioned, and now would be punifhed for it; for by iniquity is meant the punifhment of it, which is often the fenfe of the word ufed; fee Gen. iv. 13. According to the number of the days that thou fhalt lie upon it, thou fhalt bear their iniquity,; which are particularly declared in the following verfe.

¥. 5. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, &c,| Or the iniquity which for fo many years they have been guilty of; that is, the punifhment of it: according to the number of the days, a day for a year, three hundred and ninety days; which fignify three hundred and ninety years; and fo many years there were from the revolt of the ten tribes from Rehoboam, and the fetting up the calves at Dan and Bethel, to the deftruction of Ferufalem, which may be reckoned thus: the apo- ftacy was in the fourth yeat of Rebdboam, fo that there remained thirteen years of his reign, for he reigned feventeen years; Abijah his fucceffor reigned three years; A/a forty-one; Febofhaphet twentyfive; Yoram eight; Abaziab one; Athaliah feven;

Joafo forty; Amaziah twenty-nine; Uzziah fiftytwo; Yotham fixteen;. Ahaz fixteen; Hezekiah fiab thirty-one; Jehcabaz three months; Fehoiakim eleven years; Feconiah three months and ten days; and Zedekiab eleven years; in all three hundred and ninety years. Tho’ Grotius reckons them from the fall of Solomon, to the carrying captive of the ten tribes by Salmanefer.

According to Ferom, both the three hundred and ninety days, and the forty days, were figurative of the captivities of Ifrael and Fudab. ‘The captivity of J/rael, or the ten tribes, began under Pekab king of S/rael, 1 Kings xv. 29. when many places in the kingdom were wafted; from whence, to the fortieth year of Abafuerus, when the Fews were entirely fet at liberty, were three hundred and ninety years*; and the captivity of Fudcb began in the firft year of Feconiah, which, to the firft of Cyrus, were torty years. The Fewi/h writers make thefe years to be the time of the idolatry of thefe people. In their Chronicle‘ they fay, from hence we learn that J/rae/ provoked the Lord to anger, from the time they entered into the land, until they went out of it, three hundred and ninety years. Which, according to Farchi and Kimchi, are to be reckoned partly in the times of the judges, and partly in the times of the kings of J/rael; in the times of the former, a hundred and eleven years; from Micab, till the ark was carried captive in the days of £/, forty years; and from the time of Feroboam to Hofhea, two hundred and forty; which make. three hundred and ninety-one: but the laft of Ho/bea is not of the number, fince it was in the ninth year of his reign the city of Samaria was taken, So Farchi, Kimcbi’s reckoning is different. Abarbdinel is of opinion, that thefe years defcribe the four hundred and thirty years of J/raei’s bondage in Egypt; tho’, he fays, they may be underftood of the time of the divifion of the kingdom under Reboboam, from whence, to the deftruction of Ferufalem, were three hundred and ninety years; which fenfe is beft, and is what is firft given. So fhalt thou. bear the iniquity of the boufe of I/rael, as many days as an{wer to thefe years; by the houfe of I/rael is meant not merely the ten tribes, who had been carried captive long before this time, but fuch of them alio as were mixed with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin..

¥.. 6. And when thou haft accomplifhed them, &c.] The three hundred and ninety days, by lying fo long on the left fide, bearing the fins of the houfe of J/rael in this way; or as Cocceius renders the words, and thou fhalt. accomplifo them, and thou foalt lie, &c*. that is, thou fhalt fo accomplith thefe days, that thou mayeft lie thro’ forty. days on the right hand, and then make bare thine arm, and prophefy againft Yerufalem, for he thinks the forty days are part of the three hundred and ninety, as before obferved: and fo Pifcator’s note is, when thou foalt accomplifh, 8c. namely, when there fhall remain yet forty days, as appears by comparing ¥. 9. with this and the fifth; fo Polenus interprets the paflage: then He again on thy right fide, that is, £ Seder Olam Rabba, c. 26. p.-73.

is, for ¥udab, which tribe, as Farcht obferves, lay. to the fouth, and fo to the right of Yeru/alem, fee ch. xvi. 46. or rather, the prophet lay on the right fide for ¥adab, becaufe more honourable, and in greater efteem with the Lord; nor were their fins fo many, or continued in fo long, as thofe of the ten tribes; and therefore they, and the punifhment of them, are borne a lefs time by the prophet, as follows: and thou fbalt bear the iniquity of the houfe of Fudab forty days, which fome think anfwers to the forty years of Manaffeb’s evil reign; others reckon from the thirteenth of Fo/fiah, to the end of Zedekiah; and others from the eighteenth of Fofah, to the defiruction of Ferufalem, which.

was five years after the carrying of Zedekiah captive: I have appointed thee each day for a year; which is not only the key for the underftanding of the forty days, but alfo the three hundred and ninety.

y. 7. Therefore thou fhalt fet thy face toward the fiege at Ferufalem, &c.| All the while he was lying either on the left fide or the right, his face was to be directed to the fiege of Ferufalem, pourtrayed upon the tile, and to all the preparations made for that purpofe, to fhew that all had reference to that, and that it would certainly be; for as the prophet reprefented the Chaldean army, the directing and fetting his face to the fiege, fhows their refolution and inflexiblenefs, that they were determined upon taking the city, and nothing fhould divert them from it: and thine arm fhall be uncovered; which was ufual in fighting in thofe times and countries; for, wearing long garments, they were obliged to turn them up on the arm, or lay them afide, that they might more expeditioufly handle their weapons, and engage with the enemy;

_in this form the foldiers in Zrajan’s column are figured fighting; and it is related, that the 4 7i- cons ufed to fight with their arms uncovered °; thus Scanderbeg.in later times ufed to fight the Turks. The defign of the phrafe is to fhow, how ready, diligent, and expeditious the Chaldeans would be, in carrying on the fiege. The Targum renders it, ‘¢ thou fhalt ftrengthen thine arm;” and fo do the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic verfions: and thou foalt prophefy againft it; meaning not fo much by words, if at all, but by thefe actions, geftures, and habit; for they all foretold what would certainly come to pais.

¥. 8. And bebold I will lay bands upon thee, &c.] Reprefenting either the befieged, fignifying that they fhould be taken and bound as he was; or rather the befiegers, the Chaldean army, which fhould be fo held by the power and providence of God, that they fhould not break up the fiege until they had taken the city, and fulfilled the whole will and pleafure of God; for thefe bands were an emblem of the firm and unalterable decree of God, refpecting the fiege and taking of Yerufalem; and fo the Targum paraphrafes it, ‘‘ and lo the decree ** of my word is upon thee, as a band of ropes;” andto this fenfe Farchi interprets it; and which is confirmed by what follows: and thou fhalt not turn thee from one fide to another, till thou haft ended the days of thy fege; fhewing that the Chaldean army fhould not depart from Yerufalem, until it was taken; for tho’ upon the report of the Egyptian army coming again{ft them, they went forth to meet it; yet they returned to Feru/falem, and never left the fiege till the city fell into their hands, according to the purpofe and appointment of God.

Kimchi obferves, that the word for /ege is in the plural number, and fignifies both the fiege of Samaria, and the fiege ot Ferufalem, but the former was over many years before this time: by this it appears, that the fiege of Feru/alem fhould lait three hundred and ninety days; indeed, from the beginning to the end of it, were feventeen months, 2 Kings xxv. 1—4. but the fiege being raifed by. the army of the king of Egypt tor fome time, Fer. XXXvii. 5. may reduce it to thirteen months or thereabout; for three hundred and ninety days are not only intended to fignify the years of //rael’s fin and wickednefs, but alfo to fhew how long the city, would be befieged; and fo long the prophet in this.

fymbolical way was befieging it.

The firft of thefe was commonly ufed to make bread of; in cafe of want and poverty, barley was ufed; but for the reft, they were for cattel, and never ufed for the food of men, but in a time of great fearcity; wherefore this was defigned -to denote the famine, that fhould attend the fiege of Ferufalem, fee 2 Kings xxv. 3: and put them in one veffel; that is, the flour of them when ground, in order to be mixed and kneaded together, and make one dough thereof; which mixed bread was a fign of afore famine: the Septuagint call it an earthen vefiél, a kneading trough feems to be defigned: and. make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou foalt le upon thy fide; the left fide, on which he was to lie three hundred and ninety days; and fo as much bread was to be made, as would fuffice for that time; or fo many loaves were to be made as there were days, a loaf for a day: three hundred and ninety days fhalt thou eat thereof; no mention is made of the forty days, perhaps they are underftood, a part being put for the whole; or they were included in the three hundred and ninety days. The Septuagint and Arabic verfions read only an hundred and ninety days.:

¥..10. And thy meat which thou foalt eat, thall be éy weight, twenty fhekels a day, &c.] To eat bread by weight was a fign of a grievous famine; fee Lev. xxvi. 26. a fhekel, according to Fo ephus', weighed four 4tic drams, or half an ounce, wherefore twenty fhekels weighed ten ounces; fo that the bread the prophet had to eat was but ten ounces aday: from time to time foalt thou eat it; at the certain time of eating, or but once a day; from a fet-time in one day, to the fame in another; as ~ from morning to morning, or from noon to noon, or from evening to evening; fee Fer. xxxvil. 28. y. 11. Thou fhalt drink alfo water by measure, &c.] Not wine, but water; and this not as much as he would, but a certain meafure; which fhows great want of it, and exprefles a very diftreffed condition; fee Lam. v. 4: the fixth part of an hin; an hin held twelve logs, or feventy-two egg-fhells, or about three quarts of our meafure; and the fixth part of one were two logs, or twelve eggfhells, and about a pint of our meafure; fo thar it was but a pint of water a day that the prophet was. allowed, as a token of the great fcarcity of it in the fiege of Ferufalem: from time to time fhalt thou drink; as betore.) ae ¥. 12, And thou alt eat it as barley cakes, Bcc. That is, the bread made of wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and fitches, was to be made in form of barley cakes, and to be baked as they; ~ ie a d ’

not in an oven, but under afhes; and thefe afhes not of wood, or ftraw, or turf, but as follows: and thou foalt bake it with dung, that cometh out of men, in their fight, the prophet was to take human dung, and dry it, and then cover the cakes or loaves of his mixed bread with it, and burn it over them, and with it bake it; which muft be a very difagreeable tafk to him, and make the food very nauieous, both to himfelf, and to the Fews, in whofe fight it was done; and this fhows fcarcity of fuel, and the feverity of the famine; that they had not fuel to bake with, or could not ftay till it was baked in an oven, and therefore took this method; as well as points at what they were to eat when carried captive, as follows:; ¥. 13. And the Lord faid, even thus /hall the children of Ifrael, &c.] Not the ten tribes only, or thofe who were among the other two, but all the Fews in captivity: eat the defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them; fo called, not ecaufe mixed, but baked in the above manner; which was a fymbol of the defilements which they fhould contract upon various accounts, by dwelling among the Gentiles; fo that this foretels their captivity; their pollution among the nations of the world; and that they fhould not be the holy people to the Lord they had been, and had boatted of. The ews * cite this paflage to prove, that he that eats bread without drying his hands, is as if he eat defiled bread. yv. 14. Then faid I, Ab, Lord God! &c.] The interjection 4h, is expreffive of fighing and groaning, as Farchi; or ot deprecation, as the Targum, which paraphrafes it, ‘‘ and I faid, receive my << prayer, O Lord God:” behold my foul hath not been polluted; not meaning that his foul had not been polluted with fin, or with an evil thought, as Kimchi interprets it; but by his /ou/ he means the inward part of his body, his ftomach and belly; which had not been defiled by taking in meats which were unclean by the law, as follows: for from my youth up even till now, have I not eaten of that which dieth of itfelf, or is torn in pieces; thefe were forbidden to be eaten by the law; and fuch that did were defiled, and obliged to bathing in water. Lev. xvii. 15, 16. and from thofe the priefts more efpecially were careful to abftain, as Kimchi obferves; and fuch an one was the prophet; fee Ais x. 14: neither came there abominable flefb into my mouth 5 corrupt or putrified, or whatfoever was unclean by law, as fwines flefh, or any other. The argument is, that fince he had never eat of any thing forbidden by the law of God; he could by no means think of eating that which was abhor-

HIS chapter is of the fame argument with the former; and contains a type of Feru/alem’s deftruction; an explanation of that type; what were the reafons of God’s judgments on that city; and the nature, rife and end of them. The type is in ¥. 1,2, 3,4. the explanation of that type is in ¥. 5. the reafons of the fevere judgments threatened, are changing the ftatutes of the Lord, and. not walking in them, and defiling the fanctuary with their abominations, y. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, II. an account of the judgments of God, anfwerable to the feveral parts in the type, ¥. 12. the ends rent to hature; as bread baked with mens dung was,

¥.15. Then he faid to me, &c.} The Lord hearkened to the prophet’s prayer and argument, and makes fome abatement and alteration in the charge he gave him: Jo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung; that is, allowed him to make ufe of the one inftead of the other, in baking his mingled bread: thou fbalt prepare thy bread therewith; having gathered cows dung, and dried it, he was to burn it, and bake his bread with it, which is meant by preparing it. In fome parts of our nation, where fuel is fcarce, cows dung is made ufe of; it is gathered and plaiftered on the walls of houfes, and being dried in clots, is taken and burnt.

¥. 16. Moreover he faid unto me, fon of man, &c.J What follows opens the defign, and fhews what was intended by the fymbol of the mifcellany bread, baked with cow-dung, the prophet was to eat by meafure, as well as drink water by meafure; namely the fore famine that fhould be in Feru/alem at the time of the fiege: bebold I will break the ftaff of ' bread in Ferufalem, that is, take away bread, which is the ftaff of life, the fupport of it, and which ftrengthens man’s heart; and alfo the nourifhing virtue and efficacy from what they had. The fenfe is, that the Lord would both deprive them of a fufficiency of bread, the nourifhment of man; and not fuffer the little they had to be nourifhing to them; what they ate would not fatisfy them, nor do them much good; fee Lev. xxvi. 26. J/- iii, 1: and they foall eat bread by weight, and with care; that they might not eat too much at a time, but have fomething for to-morrow; and to caufe their little ftock to laft the longer, not knowing how long the fiege would be: and they fhall drink water by meafure, and with aftonifhment; that fach a judgment fhould fall upon them, who thought themfelves the people of God, and the favourites of heaven.

¥. 17. That they may want bread and water, &c.]J Or, becaufe they fhall want', &c. therefore they fhall eat the one, and drink the other, by weight; or they fhall do this till there fhall be none to eat and drink: and be aftonifhed one with another, when they fhall find they can’t relieve one another; and not knowing what method to take for the fupport of nature: and confume away for their iniquity; their flefh upon them black thro’ famine, putrid and noifome; and they wafting, pining and confuming; reduced to fkin and bones; and difagreeable to look upon; and all becaufe of their fins and iniquities.

of thefe judgments are with refpect to God, the accomplifhment of his anger, and the fatisfaction of his juftice,; with refpect to the Fews, bringing them to an acknowledgment that he had fpoken in his zeal; and with refpect to the nations, their inftruction and aftonifhment, ¥. 13, 14, 15. and the chapter is concluded with an affurance that thefe judgments would be fent, y. 16, 17.

y.1. And thou, fon of man, take thee a foarp knife, &e.] Or fword™. ‘The word fignifies any fharp inftrument, by which any thing is cut off, or cut afunder; what is here meant is explained by the following: take thee a barber’s razor. The Septuagint and Arabic verfions read this in conjunction with the former, thus, take thee a knife, or fword, fharper than a barber's razor and fo the ‘Syriac verfion, take thee a fword fharp as a barber’s vazor;, this fharp knife, fword, or razor, fignifies, as Farchi interprets it, Nebuchadnezzar; and very rightly; fo the king of Afpria is called in J vii.

20: and caufe it to pals upon thine head, and upon thy beard, the head was a fymbol of the city of

Ferufalem, the metropolis of Fudea; the beard, of the cities, towns and villages about it; and the hair of both, of the common people; compared to hair for their numbers, for their levity and unfteadinefs, and for their being the beauty and ornament of the places where they lived; and the fhaving of them, denotes their difgrace and de- {truction, and mourning on account thereof: then take the balances to weigh and divide; the hair. The Syriac verfion adds, into three parts; fignifying, that feveral diftinct punifhments would be inflicted on them, and thefe according to the righteous judgment of God; balances being a fymbol of juftice.

¥. 2. Thou fhalt burn with fire a third part in the midft of the city, &c.] Of Ferufalem, as pourtrayed upon the tile, ch. iv. 1. for the prophet was now in Chaldea. ‘The burning of the third part of the hair with fire, denotes fuch who were deftroyed by the peftilence and famine during the fiege; fee Lam. v.10. or it denotes the burning of the city itfelf, when the fiege was over; fince it follows: when the days of the fiege are fulfilled; for when it was taken, it was burnt with fire, Fer. lii. 13: and thou shalt take a third part, and finite about it with a knife; which defiens thofe that fled out of the city when it was broken up, and were purfued after, and overtook by the Chaldean army, and cut off by the fword, Yer. lii..7,8: and a third part thou fhalt featter in the wind;. which intends thofe that fled, and were difperfed into feveral countries, as Moab, Ammon, and efpecially Egypt, whither many went along with Yohanan the fon of Kareab, ‘Fer, xliii. 5,.6, 7: and J will draw out a fword after them, and deftroy them; which,.as it was threatened, Fer. xlii. 16. and xliv. 27. fo it. was accomplifhed when Egypt was fubdued by Nebuchadnezzar. The Septuagint and Arabic verfions, in every claufe, read a fourth part, inftead of a third; but wrongly.

¥. 3. Thou fhalt alfo take thereof a few in number, &c.] Thefe are they that were left in the land of Fudea by Nebuzaradan, for vine-dreflers and hufbandmen, and fuch as returned out of Egypt into the land of Fudah, Fer. xliv. 28. and lii. 16: and bind them in thy frirts; in the pockets of them; fignifying both the very {mall number of them, and their prefervation. ‘Farchi and Kimchi interpret thefe of thofe that were carried captive to Babylon, and lived there, and were preferved, and returned again.

¥.4. Then take of them again, &c.| Of that fmall number preferved: and. caft them into the midft of the fire, and burn them in the fire; this was fulfilled in Gedaliah and the Fews that were with him, over whom the king of Babylon had made him governor, who were flain by Jhmael, Fer. xli. 1—7: for thereof fall a fire come forth into all the daliah and his men, judgment came upon all the houfe of J/rael; a war commenced between J/bmael and Yohanan the fon of Kareah; and afterwards Nebuzaradan carried captive great numbers of them that were left in the land. ‘The S,riac and Arabie verfions render it, from thefe fhall a fire come forth, &c. which Yarchi interprets of thefe intimations given the prophet, from whence judgments fhould come upon all the houfe of IJ/rae/. It may be underftood of thofe that were left in the land, and of fuch who returned from the captivity; for whofe fins, and thofe of their pofterity, the wrath of God came forth upon all the houfe of J/rae/, to the utter deftruction of their nation, city and temple, by Titus Vefpafian.

¥.5. Thus faith the Lord God, this is Ferufalem, &c.] A type or fign of it; it may refer both to the former and latter type. It is the city of Ferufalem that is defigned by the city pourtrayed upon the tile; and the fame is fignified by the head of the prophet that was to be fhaved; that being not only the chief city of Fudea, but of the whole world, as follows: I have fet it in the midft of the nations; as the chief of them; and diftinguifhed it from them by peculiar favours and» bleffings, natural and {piritual; being feated in a land flowing