Chxsrg—18. YERE MIAH.
fee Fob iii. 4, 7. let it not be faid on this occafion, as commonly is, we wifh you joy on your birthday, and may you fee many happy days of this kind. Abendana obferves, that fome of their Rabbins fay, that Jeremiah curfed the day of his birth, becaufe it was the ninth of 44, the day on which the temple was burnt.
¥. 15. Curfed be the man who brought tidings to my father, &e.] The word fignifies commonly good tidings, as the news of a child born, and efpecially a man-child, is to its parent. The Septuagint ufe the fame word the angel did, when he brought the tidings of the birth of Chrift, Luke ii, ro, 11. This was ftill more foolifh and finful, to curfe the man that carried the tidings of his birth to his father; who did a right thing, and what was acceptable, and perhaps might be a good man. Kimchi obferves, that there are fome that fay, it was known to Feremy that this man was Pa/bur the fon of Immer, and therefore he curfed him; but this is without any foundation. Saying, a man-child is born unto thee, making him very glad; as the birth of a man-child ufually makes glad its parent, whether father or mother; fee Yobn xvi, 21.
y. 16. And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew, &c.] In his fury, as the Targum and Septuagint add. Meaning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, who were utterly deftroyed, and were never recovered: and repented not; whote fentence God never repented of, nor revoked: this was very fevere and uncharitable, to with for fo fore a deftruction upon an innocent perfon. And let him hear the cry in the morning, and the fbouting at noon-tide; as foon as he is up in the morning, the firft thing that falutes his ears, let it be the noife of an enemy invading the city he dwells in; and by noon, let him hear the fhouting of him, having broke in, and gotten the victory, feizing the plunder.
¥. 17. Becaufe he flew me not from the womb, &c.]
As foon as he came out of it; that is, as foon as he was born; either becaufe God flew him not fo foon, as Kimchi; or the angel of death, as Jarchi: or rather the man that carried the tidings of his birth to his father, who is all along {poken of in the two former verfes; he curfes him for not doing that, which had he done, would have been exceeding criminal in him indeed; for not committing murder, even for not murdering an innocent babe. Or that my mother might bave been my grave; he wifhes he had died in her womb, and had never been brought forth; and fo that had been his grave, where he fhould have been at eafe and fafety: and her womb to be always great with me; or, her womb an everlafting conception ™; his wifh was, that fhe had been always conceiving, or ever big with child of him, but never bring forth, which was a more cruel and unnatural with than the former concerning the man, the carrier of the tidings of his birth; fince this was wifhing a perpetual, painful, and intolerable evil to his own mother. ‘ y. 18. Wherefore came 1 forth out of the womb to fee labour and forrow, &c.| Labour in performing his work and office as a prophet; and /orrow in fuffering reproach, contempt, and perfecution for it; which to avoid, he wifhes he had never been born: a fign of a very fretful and impatient fpirit, and of a carnal frame. archi thinks. this refers to the deftruction of the temple. That my days fhould be confumed with fhame; thro’ the bad ufage of him, the reproach that was caft upon him, and the contempt he was had in for prophefying in the name of the Lord. All this fhows that there is fin in the beft of men, and what they are when left to themfelves; how weak, foolifh, and finful they appear. And Feremy recording thefe his fins and failings, is an argument. of the uprightnefs and fincerity of the man, and of the truth of fcripture.
iG Besser chapter contains eremiah’s anfwer to king Zedekiah’s meffage to him; in which he affures him of the deftruction of the city of ferufalem, and gives advice both to the people and the king. The names of the perfons fent to him are mentioned, ¥. 1. and the errand they were fent upon, to defire the prophet to pray to. the Lord, that the king of Badylon might be obliged to depart from Ferufalem, ¥. 2. the anfwer from the Lord by him is, that their oppofition to the king of Babylon fhould be fruitlefs; that he fhould be fo far from quitting the fiege, that he fhould enter the city, ¥. 3, 4. yea, that the Lord himfelf would fight againft them, and deftroy, men and beaft with the peftilence.; and that fuch who “ efcaped the fword, famine, and peftilence, fhould fall into the hands of the king of Babylon, y. 5, 6, 7. and then fome advice is given to the. inhaditants of as aig to go out, and give up, themfelyes to the Chaldeans; which was the beft way to fave their lives, fince the city. would certainly fall into their hands, and be burnt by them, ¥i,8, 9, 16. and.as for the royal family, they are advifed to do juftice, and deliver the opprefled; the not doing of which, it is fugeefted, was the caufe of their ruin, ¥. 11, 12. and the chapter is. clofed with a denunciation of deftruction upon the city, notwithftanding the vain truft and confidence of the inhabitants of it; ¥..13, 14.
y¥.1. The word which came unto Feremiah from the Lord, &c.] This prophecy ftands out of its proper place, being made in the times of Zedekiah, and when Ferufalem was befieged by the king of Babylon; whereas, after this, there are prophecies which were delivered in the times of Feboiakim and Feconiah, who both reigned before Zedekiah, fee ch. xxii. 11; 78, 24. and/xxv. 1. We. when king Zedekiah fent unto him Pafbur the Jon of Meichiab; this was another Pa/bur from him that is fpoken of in the preceding chapter, and is called Magor-miffabib; he was the-fon of Immer; this of Melchiah he was of the -ixteenth courfe of the priefthood; this of. the fifth: and Lephaniab the Jon of Maafeiah the pritft;, who was of the twengyfourth courfe; fee 1 Chron. xxiv. 9,14, 18. in ch, lii, 24. -he is called the /econd prie/t 5 he was fagan, or deputy:to the high-prieft: they were both priefts; wherefore ejus uterus, conceptus perpetaus, Munfters et vulva ejus, conceptio perpetua, Pagninus; et vulva wherefore the Syriac verfion renders it in the plural number, prigfs. It may be obferved, that the foregoing chapter is concluded with the prophet’s cur=_ fing the day of his birth; and the laft claufe of it exprefies the /bame he imagined his days would be confumed in; and the next account we have is, of an honour done him by the king, in fending two priefts to him, with a meffage from him; whereby he tacitly owned him to be a true prophet of the Lord; as indeed he muft now be convinced by facts that he was. Princes and people who flight the minifters of God in time of profperity, fend to them, and are defirous of their affiftance in times of diftrefs: /aying; as follows, y. 2. Enquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us, &c.] Or, feek the Lord now for us”; feek the Lord by prayer and fupplication for me and my people, for this city and the inhabirants of it; intreat him that he would appear for us, and deliver us out of the hands of the enemy; for this they faid in the name of the king: that fent them, who knew that the prophet had an intereft at the throne of grace, and was a favourite of heaven; and therefore defired him to be an interceffor for them: for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war againft us, the fame that is elfewhere called Nebuchadnezzar, commonly called by the Greeks, Nebuchodonofor; he was now come up to Ferufalem, and was befieging it, as had been predicted: if fo be the Lord will deal with us according to all bis wondrous works; which he had done in times paft for that nation; as by bringing them out of Egypt; driving out the Canaanites before: them; delivering them out of the hands of their neighbours time after time, when opprefled by them; -and particularly by deftroying the Afyrian army -in Hezekiah’s time, which was befieging the city of Ferufalem, and caufing their king to depart and flee in hafte; and their prefent cafe being fimilar ‘to that, it is very likely, that that was more efpecially in view: that be may go up from us, namely, the king of Babylon; that he may rife up, and raife the fiege, and depart into his own country, as Sennacherib did.
¥. 3. Then faid Feremiah unto them, &c.] The two priefts, Pa/fbur and Zephaniah, after he had fought the Lord, and knew his mind and will: thus foall ye fay to Zedekiab; by whom they were fent.
¥. 4. Thus faith the Lord God of Ifrael, &c.] Who had been, ftill was, and would be, J/rael’s God, even the God of fuch who are J/raelites indeed; tho’ he fhould, as he would, give up the prefent generation to ruin and deftruction; they having. by their fins forfeited his care and protection of them; and therefore it was in vain to hope for it, from this charaéter which they bore: dehold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, fo that they fhould do no hurt to the enemy, but recoil upon themfelves. The meaning is, that they fhould be ufelefs and unferviceable; that they fhould neither be defenfive to them, nor offenfive to their enemies; but rather hurtful to themfelves. It feems to fuggeft, as if they fhould fall out with one another; and, like the Midianites, turn their fwords upon one another, and deftroy each other: wherewith ye fight againft the king of Babylon, and againft the Chaldeans which befieze you without the walls; by {hooting arrows at them from within the city; or by fallying out unto them with fword in hand: this fhews that the Cha/dean army, under the command of the king of Babylon, was now without the walls of Ferujalém befieging it: © and I will affemble them into the mridft of this «ity; either the weapons of war, as Yarchi, and others; which the Chaldeans, breaking into the city, fhould caufé to be brought ih to them ia the middle of the city, and there flay them with them: or Father the Chaldeans, as Kimchi; who, tho” now ‘without the walls, and which the ews thought a fufficient fecurity for them; yet fhould not be lang. stie: but the walls would be broken down, and d “y fhould enter the city, and rendezvous their whole army in the midft of it,
¥.5. And myfelf will fight againft you, &c.| So far from being intreated to do for them according to his wondrous works in times paft, as their friend; that he will fet himfelf againft them, as their enemy; and fad it is to have God for an enemy: if God be for a people, none can be againtt them to do them any hurt; but if he is againit them, it fignifies nothing who is for them: this muft be much more terrible to them than the whole Chaidean army, and the king of Babylon at the head of them: with an out-ftretched hand, and with a Strong arm fach as he had ufed formerly in delivering [rael out of Egypt, but now in delivering them into the hands of their enemies; and out of the reach of fuch an hand there’s no getting; and under the weight of fuch an arm there’s no fupporting; fee Exod. vi. 6. and Xili. 9: even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath, becaule of their fins and iniquities. This heap of words is ufed to fhew the greatnefs of his indignation: this was not the chaftifement of a father, but the rebuke of an enemy; not a correction in love, but in hot difpleafure; a punifhment inflicted in vindiétive wrath, by a righteous judge, appearing in a warlike manner;. te
¥.6. And I will {mite the inhabitants of this city, &c.]; With one or other of his arrows aftermentioned: or, them that abide im this city? that don’t go out of it, and furrender themfelves to the king of Babylon; fee ¥.9: both man and beat; the latter for the fin of the former; particularly fuch beafts as were fit for food are meant, whereby the famine would be increafed, and. fo the goed deftruction of men: they fhall die of a great pejtilence, both man and beaft; a difeafe which comes immediately from the hand of God; hence Hippocrates ufed to call it, ro Saiov, the divine difeafé: here it denotes a very uncommon one, which fhould fweep away large numbers; called great, both for quality, or the nature of it, and for the quantity of perfons that died of it. ° yh a = pte y¥.7. And afterwards, faith the Lord God, 8c.) After there fhould ‘be fo great a mortality among men and beatts: J wil] deliver Zedekiab king of Fudab, and his fervants; the king himfelf hall not éfcape; tho’ he fhall not die’ by the peftilence, ‘or famin or fword, yet he fhall fall into the hands of th Chaldeans, and alfo his fervants, his courtiers and counfellors: ‘and the people, and fuch as are Weft i this city, from the peftilence, from the fword, and from the famine; fach of the inhabitants Of the
Babylon; who was now with his army without the their enemies, and into thé hand of thofe that feek their life; the Chaldeans, who were their implacable enemies, and cruel, and whom nothing would fatisfy but their lives: be fhall fmite them with the edge of the fword; that is, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, or however the army under his command; for what was done by the one, is aferibed to the other: this is to be underftood of fuch that fell into their hands upon taking the city; and who endeavoured to make their efcape; fee ch, xxxix. 4, 5, 6: he fhall not fparé them, neither have pity, nor have mercy; they had no regard to rank or figure, to age or fex; the foris of the king were flain before his eyes; and then his eyes were put out; princes were hanged up by the hand; and no compaffion fhewn to old or young, man or maiden; fee ch. lii. 10, 11. Lam. v.12, 13. 2 Chron, xxxvi. 17. This verfe is remarkably long.
¥. 8. And unto the people thou fhalt fay, thus faith the Lord, &c.] Thefe are the words, not of the prophet to the meffengers of the king, ordering of advifing them what they each of them fhould fay to the people; for the meflage by them is finifhed; but they are the words of the Lord to the prophet, directing him what he fhould fay to the people at this critical juncture: debold, I fet before you the way of life, and the way of death, the way how to preferve their lives; and which, if they did not chufe to take, would be inevitable death. The allufion feems to be to a phrafe ufed by Mofes, when he gave the law; obedience to which would iffue in life, and difobedience in death, Deut. Xxx. 15, 19.
¥.9. He that abideth in this city, &c.] Imagining himfelf fafe there; not fearing its being taken by the king of Babylon; tho’ it was fo often foretold by the prophet of the Lord that it fhould: foall die by the fword, and by the famine, and by the peftilence, by the firft of thefe, in fallying out againft the enemy; and by the other two, which raged within the city: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that befiege you, be fhall live; not fall upon them, as the words may be literally rendered; fo it would defcribe fuch that went out of the city, and fallied upon them; whereas it defigns fuch who fhould go out of the city, and furrender themfelves unto the Chaldeans; fubmit to them, fo as to obey them, as the Targum adds; fuch fhall have their lives fpared: and his life shall be unto him for a prey; it fhall be like a fpoil or booty taken out of an enemy’s hands; it fhall be with difficulty obtained, and with joy poffeffed, as a prey or fpoil is.
y.10. For I have fet my face againft this city, &c.} Or, my fury, as the Targum, their fins had provoked the eyes of his glory; he was. wroth with them, and determined to cut them off; his mind was fet againft them, and upon their ruin; and there was no turning him from it: for evil, and not for good, faith the Lord; to bring the evil ‘of punifhment upon them for the evil of their fins, and not do any gocd unto them, they were fo ill deferving of: it fhall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon; come under his power and dominion, by the will of the Lord; for it was he that gave it into his hands, becaufe of the fins of the inhabitants of it: aud he fhall burn it with fire; as he did, both the houfe of the Lord in it, the temple, the king’s houfe or palace, the ftately
® Ecce ad te venio, Pagninus 3 fo Kimch houfes of the princes and riobles, ahd even the howfes of all the people; fee ch. lif. 13. eho
¥. 11. And touching the houfe of the king of Fudab, fay, &c.] Or, to the boufe of the king of Fudab *; that is, his palace, as Calvin underftands it; go to it, and there fay as follows, as itt ch. xxii: 1. and fome think that this part of the chapter belongs to that; and was not delivered at the time the former part of it was; but before the peremptory decree was gone forth, to deliver the city into the hand of the king’ of Baby'on to be burned with fire; fince upon a reforthation; fome hope of pardon and falvation is yet given. The Syriae verfion joins this claufe to the preceding verfe, and he fhall burn it with fire, and thé boufe of the king of Fudah; burn the city of Feru/alem, and particularly the kirig’s pala¢e 3 but by the boule of the king, is not meant his dwelling-houle, but his family, himfelf; his fons, his fervants, his courtiers and nobles, to whom the followitig peecl» is directed: hear ye the word of the Lord; and obey it; for not bare hearing is meant, but a reverent attention to, and a chearful and-ready performance of, ‘what is heard.
¥.12. O houfe of David, thus faith the Lord, &c.] This appellation is made ufe of to put them in mind of their defcent, and to obferve to them how much it became them to follow the example of fo illuftrious an anceftor, frori whom they had the honour to defcend; by doing judgment and Juttice as he did, 2 Sam, vill..1g, or othetwife; their being his feed would not fecure them from ruin and deftruction: execute judgment in the morning; be at it early, and difpatch it fpeedily; thew an hearty regard for it; prefer it to eating and drinking; and do not delay it to the prejudice of pers fons concerned. ‘The power of judgment with the Jews belonged to the king; he was fupreme judge in their courts; they judged, and were judged, the Fews fay 4, by whom judgraent was executed in a morning, and not in any other part of the day; and the cafe judged ought, as they fay, to be as Clear as the morning ': and deliver him that is J[poiled out of the hand of the oppreffor; that had any thing taken from him by force or fraud; that was either robbed or cheated of his fubftance: or was refufed what he had lent to, or entrufted another with; or was by any ways and means wronged and injured by another in his perfon or property: This fuggefts that things of this kind were not done, and were the réafon why the Lord would deliver them up into the hands of their enemies, or caufe his judgments to fall upon them: /e# my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it; or put a ftop to it, by all their prayers and intreaties, or by all that they can fay or do: decaufe of the evil of your doings; it is a fad thing when princes fet bad examples; it is highly provoking to God, whofe deputies they are’; and it becomes them to begin a reformation, and lead it on, or they cannot expect fafety for themfelves and their people.
¥.13. Bebold, Iam againft thee, &c.] Or, behold I unto thee*; to be fupplied either thus, - debold I fay unto thee‘, what follows; and therefore take notice of it, attend unto it: or, debdld; I come unto thee“; who bid defiance to all their enemies to come near them, as in the latter part of the verfe, The Targum is, ** lo, I fend my fury a+ gainft
‘¢ gainft thee;” and the phrafe denotes the Lord’s oppofition to them; his fetting himfelf againft them, and coming out unto them in his great wrath: O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, faith the Lord; a defcription of ferufalem; between the lower and highér part of which lay a valley, called Zyropeon, which divided the two hills, on which the city was built »; yea, the whole city was on high, on a rock, and around it a valley or plain; and becaufe it was built upona rock, and fortified with hills and mountains, the inhabitants of it thought themfelves fafe and fecure, and even impregnable; hence it follows: which fay, who foall come down againft us? who fall enter into our habitations 2 who of our neighbours dare to make a defcent upon us? or are fo weak and foolifh, as to attempt to break thro’ our fortifications, natural and artificial, and enter into our,houfes, and take away our perfons, and {poil us of our goods? we defy them.
y. 14. But I will punifh you according to the fruit of your doings, faith the Lord, &c.] ‘The fituation of their city, and the ftrength of its fortifications,
‘HIS chapter isa prophecy of what fhould T befal the fons of Jofiah, Fehoahaz or Shallum, Feboiakim and Feconiah. \t begins with an exhortation to the then reigning prince, Fehorakim, his family.and+ court, to do juftice, relieve the opprefled, and refrain from doing imjury to: any; with a promife of profperity upon fo doing, ¥. 1, 2,3, 4. but on the contrary behaviour, the king’s family, however precious they had been in the fight of the Lord, fhould be deftroyed, by perfons defcribed as fit for fuch work, which would oceafion others to enquire the caufe of fuch deftruction; when it would be told them, it was for their apoflacy from the Lord, their breaking covenant with them, as he here threatens to do; and w/t them, — as the word fignifies, in a way of wrath and juftice, according to the demerit»of their fins, exprefled by the fruit of their doings; their punith-
‘ment was the reward of their unrighteoufhefs, the effet of their finful. practices; and tho’ this was dreadful and terrible, they could not but own it was juft and equitable: and I will kindle a fire in the foreft thereof; not in the foreft of Lebanon, but in the city of Ferufalem, whofe houfes ftood as thick as trees in a foreft, and which many of them, at leaft the moft ftately, might be built or cieled with cedars from mount.Lebanon and its forefts tho’ fome. underftand this of the cities and towns about Ferufalem, and fo the Targum renders it, 1% its cities; and the Syriac verfion, its sows, but thefe feem rather meant in the following claufe: and it foall devour all things round about it; the mountains and trees upon them, the cities’ and towns hereafter mentioned. ‘This prophety was fome years before that in the preceding chapter, — tho’ it ftands here, It is indeed by fome thought to be repeated here on occafion of what is before faid, and for the confirmation of it, putting in mind of what he had. prophefied in former times; and they render the words, with which it begins, thus hath the Lord faid*; fo he faid to me years ago; which agrees with what is now delivered. «>
¥.2. And fay, bear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, &c.]. O Fehoiakim king of Fudab,; hear the word of the King of kings-; liften to it, and obey it, as kings ought to do; and it is for their good, as well as it is their duty fo todo: that
Shallum, who was then carried captive, it.is predicted that he fhould never return more, which was matter. of greater lamentation than the death of his father Fofiah, y. 10,11, 12. next Feboiakim, the prefent king on the throne, is reproved, and a wo denounced upon him for his injuftice, luxury, covetoufnefs, rapine and murders, ¥. 13,14, 15,16, 17. and it-is particularly threatened that he fhould die unlamented, and have no burial, ¥.18, 19. and then the people: of the land are called upon to mourning and lamentation, their kings. one. after another being carried. captive, ¥. 20, 21, 22, 23. alfo Feconiab the king’s fon, and who fucceeded him, -is. threatened with rejection from the Lord, and a. delivery of him.up into the hand) of the king of Babylon, with exile, in,a ftrange country, and death there, and: that without children; fo that Salomon’s line fhould ceafe-in him, ¥. 24, 25,26, 275 28, 29, 30.)
_.¥. 1. Dhus faith, the Lord, go down’ to the houfe of the king. of Fudab, &c.]. To the palace of Fe hoiakim, who was now the reigning king: the prophet.is bid to go, down to it, becaufe, as Kimchi thinks, he was. now)-upon the mountain. of the houfe, or in the temple, from whence.to.the king’s houfe. there was a defcent: and {peak there this word 3, of prophecy, relating to the feveral kings to put him in mind of his illuftrious. anceftor, whofe fucceffor he was, that he might be prompted to follow his examplesthou, and thy fervants, and thy people that enter ii by thefe gates; the-king and - his courtiers, his nobles. and privy-counfellors, that were continually waiting upon him, and'were frequently paffing and repaffing the gates of. the,pa> lace; for not the gates of the court in the-temple. are meant, as Kimchi fuggefts; and all other people, that either waited on, or came to the kings upon bifinefs, with their fuits, and to have their caufes heard: and. tried. 10) (fro Megs Thus foith the Lord, execute ye judgmént and rightéoufnefs, &e.} «Judge righteous judgment; give the caufe to whom. it belongs, without-refpect of perfons, and without a bribe or corruption; do no unrighteoufnefs. to\any, by withholding from them what is due unto them, which-was. w is prince was chargeable with, ¥. 13> andde | Spoiled out. of the hand of the oppreffors rebbed or wronged of his property. by one fup rior to;him: in power er cunning; dee t ch. xxi. 12: and:dowd wrong, do no violence to the Arranger, the fatherlefi, nor the widow; who are not in a fituation, and in fuch a condition and circum- frances as to defend thenfelves;| and whorn Ged has a peculiar regard unto; and therefore, they
| who are his deputies and vice-gerents, as Kings and
JEREMIAH... Chxxiiyrg however fufficient they might be thought to, keep
‘out an enemy from annoying them; yet it wag — impoffible to hinder the Lord’s coming among.
| make thee a wildernefi, and cities which are itot ine civil magiftrates are, ought to protect fuch perfons, and neither grieve and injure them themfelves, nor fuffer others to do it: either fhed innocent blood in this place; to grieve and wrong the above perfons js a very great.evil, but to fhed the blood of innocent perfons is a greater ftill; and this is aggravated by being committed by fuch who are fet over men to fecure and preferve their properties and their lives; and fuch heinous fins as thefe the prefent reigning king of Fudab was guilty of; which is the reafon of their being mentioned; fee p AE
¥.4. For if ye do this thing indeed, &c.| Or, in doing do this word”, diligently and carefully attend to this word of exhortation, and conftantly perform the duties required: then shall there enter in by the gates of this houfe, kings fittting upon the throne of David; or, upon the throne for David; in his room and ftead, as fucceffors of his; or of his lineage and defcent, as the Vulgate Latin verfion. The meaning is, that fhould the kings of Fudab do the duty of their office, before pointed at, there fhould never be any want of fucceffors of the feed of David; but there fhould be a race of kings defcending from him, and fitting on his throne in all after ages, who fhould dwell in the royal palace, and go in and out at the gates of.
it; and they fhould alfo live in great pomp and fplendor, in royal dignity, anfwerable to their chaacters: riding in chariots, and on horfes, be, and bis fervants, and bis people, the king, his nobles, and other his attendants; fome on one, and fome on another, when they went oyt or came in; fee ch. xvii. 25.
y. 5. But if ye will not bear thefe words, &c.)} Will give no attention, and yield no obedience to them: J f/wear by myfelf, and by a greater he cannot fwear; and that is the reafon why he {wears by himfelf, Hed. vi. 13. and, as when he {wears to a promife, it fhews the immutability of it, the certainty of its performance, and that it is irreverfible, and never repented of, nor revoked; fo it is when he fwears toa threatning. The Targum is, ** by my word I fwear:” that this houfe fhall become a defolation, meaning not the temple, nor the city, but the king’s palace.
¥. 6. For thus faith the Lord unto the king’s boufe of Judah, &c.| That is, to the family of the king of Fudab tho’ it may be rendered, coucerning the houfe of the king of Fudab*; and {io refer to his palace as before: thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon; or, tho’ like to Gilead (which was a very fruitful country) for wealth, riches, and all kind of valuable things; and like to the top of mount Lebanon +, being fet with tall cedars, for ftatelinefs. So the Targum is, ‘* altho’ thou art “¢ beloved before me more than the fanctuary, ‘«¢ which is high upon the top of the mountains:” or thou fhalt be as Gilead, and mount Lebanon, which belonged to the ten tribes of J/rae/, and are put for the whole kingdom of J/rae/, which was wafted by the king of Afyria; and in like condition fhould the royal palace at Feru/alem be, notwithftanding all its riches and grandeur, and fo the city and temple likewife; as follows: yet furely Pil
FASTIN AN WP wy CON 'D fi namque faciendo feceritis verbum hoc, Montanus, Schmidt.
babited; tho’ as fruitful as Gilead, yet fhall become like a barren defert; and tho’ full of children, courtiers, princes and nobles, yet fhall be like cities quite difpeopled: or, éf I do not make thee *, é&c. it is in the form of an oath, as Kinichi and Ben Melech obferve; and to be fupplied thus, if I do not do as I have faid, let me never be believed; let me be reckoned a liar, or not thought to be God, and the like. It fhews the certain accomplifhment of thefe things.
¥. 7. And I will prepare deftroyers againft thee, &c.] ~The Chaldeans, men of favage difpofitions, bent upon the deftruction of their neighbours; and who had already deftroyed many nations, and fo fit inftruments for fuch fervice, as after mentioned; and who yet did not come merely of themfelves, but were moved and dire¢ted to it by the powerful and all-wife providence of God, in confequence of a previous preparation and appointment of them by the Lord in his counfels aiid purpofes. It is in the original text, J will fanétify deftroyers *; and not only intends a purpofe and defign; but fuggefts, that what they fhould do by his will and order would be confiftent with his holinefs and juftice; and alfo that being prepared and ready, they might quickly expect a vifit from them: every one with bis weapons, of war, or flaughter-weapons, as in Ezek. ix.2: or, a@ man and bis weapons‘; not a fingle man only, as Nebuchadnezzar, but him and his army; every one of the deftroyers prepared with proper inftruments to do execution: aud they feall cut down thy choice cedars, and caft them into the fire, the fons of the king, the princes of the blood, the nobles of the land, and other perfons of rank and diftinétion, comparable to the tall cedars of Lebanon; fo the Targum, ‘* and they fhall “¢ flay the beauty of thy mighty ones, as the trees *¢ of a foreft are cut down, and caft into the fire;” or elfe the ftately palaces of the king and his nobles, and other beautiful buildings, which were lined and cieled with cedar, are here meant; and which the Chaldeans burnt with fire, ch. lii, 13.
¥. 8. And many nations fhall pafs by this city, &c.] After it is burned down and deftroyed; that is, people out of many nations travelling that way: and they fhall fay every man to bis neighbour; as in company together, paffing along the ruined walls of the city: wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? fo fortified and fo full of people; the metropolis of the whole nation; the greateft city in the eaft; yea, the joy of the whole earth; a city peculiarly dear to the Lord; greatly honoured by him with his prefence, worfhip and ordinances, and yet now in ruins; how comes this to pafs? they fee and acknowledge the hand of the Lord in it, having a better notion of things than the Fews themfelves had.
¥.9. Then they foall anfwer, &c.] Or, it frail be anfwered*; by fome in company, acquainted with the hiftory of this people: decaufe they have forfaken the covenant of the Lord their God; the Lord was the God of thefe people; he chofe them for his peculiar people, and diftinguifhed them by his favours from others; a covenant was made with them, ‘in which ‘many good things were pro= mifed them upon their *obedience;' this was’ kept by him,’ but forfaken and broken by them;° they forfook their covenant-God, his law and-his: worfhip; and that was the caufe of their ruin > ana worfbipped other gods, and ferved them, the ‘idols of the people, as the Targum, they left the. true God, who had done great and good things for them, and worfhipped thofe who were only gods by name, and not by nature; and ferved ftocks and ftones, the vanities of the Gentiles, who could not’ beftow one good thing on them; fuch were their ftupidity and ingratitude, and therefore very juftly given up to deftruction, ‘This feems to refer, as Cocceius thinks, not to the firft deftruction of the city by Nebuchadnezzar, when it had not fo clear and full anvaccomplifhment; but to the fecond deftruction of it by the Romans, and the times following that; when the gofpel being preached among the Gentiles, they’ had a better underftanding of the true God, and of his covenant, and of the vanity of idolatry, and of the ftate of the Fewifo nation, and the religion of it, and of the true caufes of their ruin.
¥.10. Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him, &c.] Not Jeboiakim, as farchi and Kimchi; but king Fefiah, flain by Pharaoh Necho; who, being a pious prince, a good king, and very ufeful, and much beloved by his people, great lamentation was made for him by them, and by the prophet alfo; but now he exhorts them to ceafe weeping, or at leaft not to weep fo much for him, it being well with him, and he taken away from evil to come; and efpecially fince they had other, and worfe things to lament; fee 2 Chron. xxxv. 24,25: but weep fore for him that goeth away; or, in weeping weep‘; weep bitterly, and in good earnett; there’s reafon for it; for him that was about to go, or was gone out of his own land, even Yehoahaz or Shallum, after-mentioned, who reigned but three months, and was put into bonds by Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, and carried by him thither, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 4: for he foall return no more, nor fee his native country; for he died in Egypt, 2 Kings xxiii. 34. Farchi inteprets the dead, in the firft claufe, of Feboiakim, who died before the gate, when they had bound him to carry him captive, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6. and him that goeth away, of Feconiah and Zedekiah, who were both carried captive; and fo Kimchi; but the former interpretation is beft. Some underftand this not of particular perfons, but of the people in general; fignifying that they were more happy that were dead, and lefs to be lamented, than thofe that were alive, and would be carried captive, and never fee their own country any more; fee Eccl. iv. 2. but particular perfons feem manifeftly defigned.
¥.11. bor thus. faith the Lord touching Shallum, &c.] ‘Not Shallum the fourth fon of Fofieh, 1 Chron. lil. 15. for it is not likely that he fhould immediately fucceed his father; nor Zedekiah, as Farchi; nor Feconiah, as Kimchi; but Feboabaz, as Aben Ezra, who feems to have had feveral names, as Fobanan, 1 Chron. iii. 15. and Shallum here: the Jon-of Fofah king-of Fudab, which reigned inftead of Fofiah bis father, the fame is faid of Fehoahaz,
2 Chron, xxxvi. 1: which went forth out of this | place 5 out of Ferwfalem, being put down theré'fron his throne by Pharaoh’ Necho, and” carried by hi into Egypt, 2 Chron, xxxvi. 3, 4° he! fall not res turn thither any more; he dicd in’ Egypt; or how> — ever out of his'own land; but “was @live® when this prophecy was delivered out, which was in the reign of his brother ‘Yeboiakim, as fome fallowing’ vertes fhow. FIO S SW3oF oF morn “F270 y..12. But he foal die in the placewhither’ they have led him‘ captive, &c.) Even in Egypt, where Pharach Necho.and-his army carried’ him ‘captives as before obferved: and he fhall fee bis land no tires the land of ‘udab, where he was ‘born}* and» over which he had been king: this is ‘repeated to fhew the certainty of it,’ and what -reafon ‘there was for the above lamentation; fince the people “might have been in hopes of the return of him, ‘but now they
-are affured they had no ground for ‘it;+who tho* he was not a good prince, yet perhaps ‘hor fo bad as his brother Febciakim who fucceeded him; who appears -by what follows, to have been @ very un- fore there was great’ occafion for mourning on the account of Shallum, who: very likely was more promifing. vd + Qn nae y.13. Wo unto him that buildetlh> his houfe ‘by unrighteoufne/s, and bis chambers*by wrong, em This refpects Fehoiakim, the then ‘reigning~ king who, not content with the palace’ the- kings o Fudab before him ‘had lived in, builtanother;-or however enlarged that, and made ‘great alterations in it; but this he‘did either with’ money ill gotten or perverted toa wrong ufe, which Ought to have been otherwife laid out; or by not paying: for the materials of whom they were bought, or the work-. men for their workmanfhip; and perhaps this may be the reafon why fo much notice is taken of the king’s houfe or palace in the former’ part of the chapter, and-why it is threatened with defolation, ¥. 1, 4,5, 6: that ufeth bis neighbour's fervice without wages, and giveth him not for his work; or, that ferveth himfelf of bis neighbour freely; or, makes him ferve freely®; and giveth him not bis work *; makes him work for nothing; gives him no wages for it, but keeps back the hire of the labourers; which is a crying fin in any perfon, and much more in a king; fee Fam. v. 4.
y¥. 14. That faith, I will build me a wide bhoufe, &c.] Or, @ boufe of meafures, or dimenfions*; a very large houfe, whofe length and breadth meafure much; confifting of many fpacious rooms, upper as well as lower; as follows: and large chambers; or, widened ones, very fpacious and roomy; or aired, or airy * ones; thro” which the wind blows, or into which much air comes; fo that they were good fummer-chambers, for which they might be built: and cutteth him out windows; to Jet in light and air, as well as for ornament. Some render it, and teareth my windows’; as if he had taken fome of the windows of the temple, and placed them in his palace, and fo was guilty of facrilége 5 but this is not very likely: and it is cieled with cedar; wainfcotted with it; or the roof of it was covered with cedar, as Yarchi; or its beams and rafters were made of cedar, as Kimchi, it might be lined throughout with cedar: and painted with vermilion, The Vulgate Latin yerfion renders ald
, 3 \DA deplorate deplorando, Schmidt; flete flendo, Pagninus, Montanus. DIM Ty WPA qui focium fuum fervire facit gratis, Schmidt; amici fui fervitutem exigenti gratis, Junius & Tremellius.) 4.
Sinopis;,fo called from Sinope, a city in Pontus, where it is found; of which Piiny fays ™ there are three forts, one red, another reddifh, and a third between them both: this is the fame with minium or vermilion. Strabo " fays, in Cappadocia the bett Sinopic minium or vermilion is produced, and which vies with that of Spain; and he fays it is called Sinopic, becaufe the merchants -ufed to bring it, to that place (Sinope) betore the commerce of the Ephefians reached the men of. this country,,Cappadocia; other verfions °,. befides the Vulgate Latin, fo render it here. Schindler ® renders the Hebrew word by this; and alfo by cinnabar, which is a red mineral ftone, and chiefly found in quickfilvermines; and may be thought to be quickfilver petrified, and fixed by means of fulphur, and a fubterraneous heat; for. artificial cinnabar is made. of a mixture of mercury and fulphur fublimed, and reduced into a kind of fine red glebe; and this is called by the painters, vermilion; and is made more beautiful by grinding it with gum-water, and a little fatfron; which two drugs prevent its growing black: and there are two kinds of vermilion, the one natural, which is found in fome filvermines, in form of a ruddy-fand, of a bright beautiful red colour; the other is made of artificial cinnabar, ground up with white-wine,.and, afterwards with the whites of eggs. There.are two forts of it that we have; the one of a deep. red; the other pale; but are the fame;.the difference of colour only proceeding from the cinnabar’s being more or lefs ground; when fine ground, the vermilion is pale, and is preferred to the coarfer and redder. It is of confiderable ufe among painters in oil and miniature 1; and here it may be rendered, anointed with minium or vermilion*; but it is queftionable whether this vermilion was known fo early. Kimchi here.fays, it is the fame which the Arabians call zingapher, or cinnabar. The Hebrew word is Shafbar, which Junius and Tremellius tranflate, indico.*; and obferve from Pliny‘, that there is a people in Jnaia called Sa/uri, from whence it is brought; but this is of a different colour from minium or vermilion; the one is blue, the other red; but be, it which it will, the painting was for ornament; and either colours look beautiful. ¥. 15. Shalt thou reign, becaufe thou clofeft thyfelf in cedar? &c.| Doft thou think that thou fhalt reign long, and thy throne be eftablifhed firm and fecure, becaufe of thy cedar wainfcot? as if that was a protection to thee, and were like the fortifications of a city or tower; when it may eafily be broke to pieces, or burnt with fire; and mutt be a poor defence againit a powerful enemy. The Targum is, ** doft thou think to be as the firft “ king?” as David; to be as great a prince, to keep as grand a court, and live in as iplendid a manner, as he? The Septuagint verfion, inftead of Ares a cedar, reads Abaz, and takes it for the proper name of a king of Fudab, and the Arabic -yerlion reads 4hab;, and fo the Alexandrian copy of the Sepiuagint; and both confound it with the next claufe; the former rendering the words thus, foalt thou reign, that thou provokeft in, or after the manner of Abaz thy father? and the latter thus, ‘* thou fhalt not reign, becaufe thou imitateft the “* original of Abad thy father;” but both wrong;
tho’ Grotius feems to.approve.of this reading: did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and Sufice? that is, Fofiah his father, who eat and drank in moderation, and lived. chearfully and comfortably; and. kept a good table like a prince, without fuch a magnificent palace as he his fon had built; and without oppreffing his fubjeéts, and detaining the hire of the labourer:; living in a grand manner, becoming a king, may be done. confiftent with doing juftice and judgment; let but that be done, and a prince will not be blamed. for living like himfelf, and for fupporting the dignity of his character and office, as Fofiah did: and, then it was well with him; or, therefore it was well with him" he was blefied of God, and was profperous and fuccefsful; he was happy himéelfas-a_prince, and his people under him, both enjoying peace and profperity; there are never better times than when juftice is done; by it the throne is eftablifhed.
¥.16. He judged the caufe of the poor and needy, &c.]. Who could. riot defend themfelves againtt the rich and the mighty;. he took: their, caufe in hand, and having heard it, determined it in their favour, and did them-juftice, as princes and civil magiftrates dught todo: shen it was well with him; this 1s repeated, not only to fhew the:certainty of it, but that it might be obferved, and his example followed: was not this to know me, faith the Lord? it is not by words only, but by. deeds. that men fhow that they know the Lord; for fome in words profefs..to. know him, who in works deny him; when princes do the duty of their. office, they thereby declare that they know and own the Lord, by,, and. under whom they reign; that they have the fear of.him before their eyes; this is a practical knowledge of him, and is well pleafing to him. The Targum is, ‘ is not this the knowledge ** with which I am well pleafed, faith the Lord?”
¥. 17. But thine eyes,, and thine heart are not but for thy covetoufnefs, 8cc.] He was wholly intent upon gratifying that luit; his -heart.was me-' ditating, contriving and forming, fchemes for that purpofe; and his eyes: were looking out) here and there for proper objects.and opportunities to exercife it: and for to fhed: innocent blood, in order to get their money, goods and poffeffions. into his hands; avarice often leads, to, murder: and for opprefion, and for violence to do it; by making incurfions, and feizing upon the properties of men, and converting them to his own ufe; fo true it is, that covetoufnefs or the love of money, is the root of all evil, 1 Zim. vi. 10.
¥.18. Therefore thus faith the Lord concerning Fehoiakim, &c.| This fhows who is before fpoken of and defcribed; Fehoiakim, the then reigning king in Judah, whole name was Eliakim, but was changed by Pharaoh king of Egypt, when he depofed his brother Feboabaz. or Shallum, and. fet him on the throne, 2 Kings xxiii. 34.: the fon of Jofiah king of Fudah; and who feems to have been his eldeft fon, though his brother Fehoahaz reigned before him; for he was but twenty-three years of age when he began his reign, and he reigned but three months; and Jeboiakim was twenty-five years old when he fucceeded him, 2 Kings xxiii. 31, 36. his relation to 7o/ah is mentioned, not fo much for his honour, but rather to his difgrace, and as an aggravation of his wickednefs, that having fo religious a parent, and fuch a religious education, and the advantage of fuch an example, and yet did fo fadly degenerate: and it alfo fuggefts, that this would be no fecurity to him from the divine vengeance; but rather provoke it, to deal more feverely with him. They /hall not Jament for him that is, his people, his fubjects, fhall not lament for him when dead, as they did for his father Fofab,; fo far from having any real grief or inward forrow on account of his death, that they fhould not fo much as outwardly exprefs ‘any, or ufe the common form at meeting together: faying, ab, my brother, or ab, fier, a woman meeting her brother, would not fay to him, O my brother, what bad news is this! we have loft our king! nor he reply to her, O fifter, it is fo, the lofs is great indeed! for this is not to be underftood of the funeral /efus at the interment of a king or queen; lamenting them under thefe appellations of brother or fifter, which is denied of this prince. Kimchi thinks it has reference to his relations, as that they fhould not mourn for him, and fay, ab, my brother; nor for his wife, who died at the fame time, tho’ not mentioned, ah, fffer; both fhould die unlamented, as by their fubjects, fo by their neareft friends and relations. They /hall not lament for him, faying, ab, lord, or ab, his glory, O our liege lord and fovereign, he is gone! where are his glory and majefty now? where are his crown, his fcepter, his robes, and other enfigns of royalty? So the Zargum, ‘* wo or alas, for the king; alas, ‘< for his kingdom;” a heavy ftroke, a forrowful] melancholy providence this! but nothing of this kind fhould be faid; as he lived not beloved, becaufe of his oppreffion and violence, fo he died without any lamentation for him.
¥. 19. He foall be buried with the burial of an afs, &c.} Have no burial at all, or no other than what any brute creature has; which, when it dies, is caft into a ditch, and becomes the food of dogs, and the fowls of the air. The af is mentioned, as being a fordid, ftupid creature; and fuch an one was this king. Drawn and caft forth beyond the gates of Ferufalem; as the carcafe of a beaft is dragged about by dogs; or as a malefactor, when executed, is dragged and caft into a ditch: this perhaps was done by the Chaldeans, who when he was flain, dragged him along, and caft him beyond the gates. of Ferufalem. So Fofephus ~ fays, that when Nebuchadnezzar entered Ferufalem, he flew the moft robuft and beautiful with ‘Feboiakim their king, and ordered hin to be caft without the walls unburied; and fo, tho’ he is faid to fleep with his fathers, yet not to be buried with them, 2 Kings xxiv. 6. Kimchi fays, that he died without Jerufalem, as they were carrying him into captivity a fecond time; and the Chaldeans would not fuffer him to be buried. ‘erom reports from the Hebrew hiftory, that he was killed by the robbers and thieves of the Chaldeans, Syrians, Ammonites, and Moabites. Some think, that as he was bound in chains in order to be carried to Babylon, that he was had there, and there died, and after his death ufed in this ignominious manner: and the words will bear to be rendered, caft forth far beyond the gates of Ferufalem*, even as far as Babylon; fee 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6.
¥. 20. Go up to Lebanon, and cry, &c.] Thefe words are directed to Ferufalem and its inhabitants, and to the people of the Yews; not to go up to the temple, as the Targum interprets it, fo called, becaufe made of the wood of Lebanon, as in Zech. xi. 1. or as the Raddins fay, becaufe it made white the fins of J/rael,; but the mountain of Le/anon, and from thence call to their neighbours for help in their prefent diftrefs, as the Af/yrians and Egyptians. And lift up thy voice in Bafban, another high hill in the land of J/rael. The Targum interprets this alfo of the gates of the mountain of the houfe; fo called, as Farchi thinks, becaufe made of the oaks of Bafban; or as Kimchi, becaufe there were beafts continually there for facrifice, as in Bajhan, a pafture for cattel; but the mountain itlelf is intended: And cry from the pafjages,; or from Abarim; a mountain of this name on the borders of Moab, Numb. xxvii. 12. Now thefe feveral high mountains are named, becaufe from hence they might look around them, and call to their neighbours, if any of them could help them + it is ironically fpoken, for it is fuggefted that none of them could; for all thy lovers are deftroyed; their frierds and allies, with whom they had not only entered into leagues, but had committed fpiritual fornication with them; that is, idolatry, as the Egyptians and Alfyriens; but thefe were now fubdued by Nebuchadnezzar, and were at leaft fo weakened and deftroyed by him, that they could give no affiftance to the Jews; fee 2 Kings xxiv. 7.
¥. 21. 1 fpake unto thee in thy profperity, 8&c.]} Or profperities, or tranquillities%, when it their greateft affluence, in the heighth of it; this he did, when he fent to them his fervants the prophets, as the Targum, and by them exhorted, reproved, and advifed them: but thou faidft, I will not hear; this was the language of their hearts and aétions, tho’ not of their mouths: zis hath been shy manner from thy youth; from the time they came out of Egypt, and firft became a church and body politic; whilft they were in the wildernefs; or when firft fettled in the land of Canaan: this was the infancy of their ftate; and from that time it was their manner and cuftom to reject the word of the Lord, and turn a deaf ear to it: that thou obeyeft not my voice; in his law, and by his prophets.
¥. 22. Lhe wind hall eat up all thy paftors, &c.} King, nobles, counfellors, priefts, prophets, and elders of the people; they fhall be carried away as chaff before the wind, or perifh as trees and fruits are blafted with an eaft-wind; to which Webuchadnezzar and his army are fometimes compared; fee ch. xviii. 17, The Targum is, * all thy go- ** vernors fhall be fcattered to every wind.” And thy lovers fhall go into captivity; the Affyrians and Egyptians, as before; fee ch. lii. 31, 32. Surely then thou foalt be afbamed and confounded for all thy wickednefs; being difappointed of all proteétion from their governors at home, and of all help from their allies abroad; and will then, when too late, be convinced of all their wickednefs, and afhamed of it. a
¥. 23. O inhabitant of Lebanon, 8c.] Ferufalem is meant, and the inhabitants of it, fo called, becaufe they lived near Lebanon, or in that land in which Lebanon was; or rather, becaufe 7 dwelt in houfes made of the wood of Lebanon; and which —
{tood as thick as the trees in the foreft of Lebanon;
and where they thought themfelves fafe and fecure,
* obey syed sor sdum & projiciendo procul ultra portas Hierofolyme, y am>u3 in tranquillitatibus tuis, Vatablus, Cocceius, Schmidt; felicitatibus
‘according to the next claufe; not but that there were inhabitants of the mountain of Lebanon, called Drufes; and there were towns and villages on it, inhabited by people, as theré are to this day. After four hours and a half travelling up the afcent, from the foot of the mountain, there is, as travellers * inform us, a {mall pretty village called Eden; and befides that, at fome diftance from it, another called Canobine, where there is a convent of the Maronites, and is the feat of their patriarch; and near it a valley of that name, full of hermitages, cells, and monafteries; but the former are here meant. That makeft thy nefts in the cedars, in towns, palaces, and houfes, covered, cieled, raftered, and wain{cotted with cedars; here they lived at eafe and fecurity, as birds in a neft. The Targum is, ‘* who. dwelleft in the houfe of the “¢ fanctuary, and among kings, nourifhing thy *¢ children.” How gracious fhalt thou be, when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail? that is, either thou wilt feek grace and favour at the hand of God, and make fupplication to him; thou wilt then be an humble fupplicant, when in diftrefs, though now proud and haughty #: or what favour wilt thou then find among thofe that come to wafte and deftroy thee? This refers to the calamity coming upon them by the Chaldeans, as the following words fhew.
y. 24. As J live, faith the Lord, &c.] The form of an oath, ufed to exprefs the greater certainty of what is after delivered: fwearing by his life, is fwearing by himfelf; fee Heb. vi. 13. Though Coniah the fon of Feboiakim king of Fudah, the fame with Feconiah, fo nick-named by way of contempt; and it may be to denote the diminution of his glory and kingdom, and the fhortnefs of his reign: were the fignet upon my.right band, ever fo near to him, or ever fo much valued by him, as he had been before, and fo conftantly cared for and regarded by him; as a ring, with any thing refpectable engraved on it, is conftantly wore by perfons, and greatly valued; efpecially fuch as had on them the image or picture of a perfon loved, as was ufual in fome countries, to which the allufion is by fome thought to be: fo the friends of Epicurus ufed to have his image engraved upon their rings, which they wore on their fingers in refpect to him, and as an omen of good to themfelves °; fee Cant. viii. 6. Jf xlix. 16. Hagg: ii. 23. Yet would I pluck thee thence; with great difpleafure and indignation: it defigns~his being removed from his throne and kingdom, and out’ of his native’ land, and carried, into: a far country, as follows.
¥. 25. And I will give thee into the hand of them that feek thy life, &c.| Cruel and blood-thirfty enemies, whom nothing would fatisfy but his life; fuch were the perfons following:' and into the band of them whofe face thou feareft; being a terrible favage people, to be dreaded ‘both for their number and. their cruelty; a ftrange change this, to be removed out of the hand of God, into the hand of fuch an'enemy: even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, fee the note on ch. xxi. 2: and into the hand of the Chaldeans, who were the mercilefs and formidable people’ before- mentioned: and. this was fulfilled within three-months after Feconiah or Fehoiachin began to reign, and when
¥. 26. And I will caft theé out, &¢e.J Out of his palace, out of the city of Ferufalem, and out*of the land of Judea: and thy mother that bare thee; who very probably was a bad woman, and had brought up her fon in an evil way, and had led him on, and encouraged him in it, by her own example; and had been a partner with him in his fins: her name was Nebujbta, a daughter of Elnathan of Ferufalem, and as it was here prediéted of her, fo it was accomplifhed, 2 Kings xxiy. 8, 15. it is very likely Feconiah had no children before the captivity, fince no mention is made of them, only of his mother that was caft out with him: into another country, where ye were not born; the land of Chaldea, which was not the native place neither of him nor his mother; being both, as it feems probable, born in Ferufalem, or however in Fudea: and there foall ye die; both he and his mother; and fo the Arabic verfion expreffes it, and there Shall ye both die; as no doubt they did, tho’ we have no particular account of. their death, as for Jeconiah, he lived a long time in captivity; it was in the ¢hirty-feventh year of his captivity, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon fhewed favour to him above all the captive kings that were with him, and continued it to his death; but how long dfter that was, is not known; fee Fer. lii. 31—
¥.27. But to the land whereunto they defire to return, &¢c.|] Or, lift up their foul to return®; eis ther by making fupplication to God for it, P/. xxv. 1. or buoying up themfelves with vain hopes, founded upon the declarations of the falfe prophets, that they fhould return; and to which no doubt they had a natural defire, and comforted themfelves with the hopes of it;, but all in vain: thither fhall they not return; for they were to die, as before predicted, in anothér country, as they did, and never faw their own any more.
y. 28. Is this man Coniah a defpifed broken idol? &c.] Or like an idol that is nothing in the world, and like a broken one, that whatever worfhip before was paid to it, has now none at all, but is defpifed’ by its votaries? he is fuch an one; tho’ he was idolized by his people when he firft came to the throne; but now his power and government being broken, and he carried captive, was defpifed by all; as his being called Coniab, and this man or fellow, fhow; which are ufed of him in a way of reproach and contempt. Is he a veffel wherein is no pleafure? he is. He’s like a veffel made for difhonour, or is ufed for the moft contemptible fervice; or like one that is cracked, or broken, or defiled, that no ufe can be made of it, or any de= light taken in it; it is not fit to fet up, to be looked at, or to be made ufe of. Wherefore are they caft out, he and his feed; which were in his loins, and were begotten by him in captivity; fee 1 Chron. iii. 17, 18. and fo faid to be caft out with him, when he was caft out of the land of Judea; juft as Levi paid tithes in ddrabam before he was born, Heb. vii. 9, 10: and are caft into a land which they know not? where they had. no friends and acquaintance; doubtlefs it was for his fins and tran - greffions, and thofe of his people. ‘ elevant animam fuam, Vatablus, Pagninus; tollunt animam fuam ut revertantur €o, Schmidt.
y¥. 29. O earth, earth, earth, &c.] Not Coniab himfelf an earthly man; but either the inhabitants of the whole earth, or of the land of J/rael; or rather the earth, on which men dwell, is here called upon as a witnefs to what is after-faid; to rebuke the ftupidity of the people, and to quicken their attention to fomewhat very remarkable and worthy of notice, and therefore the word is repeated three times. Some think reference is had to the land from which, and that to which the ews removed, and the land of I/rael, thro’ which they paffed. So the Targum, ‘* out of his own «© jand they carried him captive into another land; << © land of J/rael, receive the words of the Lord.” archi. mentions another reafon of this threefold appellation, becaufe the land of Irae! was divided into three parts, Fudea, beyond Yordan, and Galilee. Hear the word of the Lord; which follows.
y. 30. Thus faith the Lord, write ye this man childlefs, &c.| That is, Coniah or Feconiah, who tho’ ke had‘children in the captivity, yet they died in it, or however never fucceeded him in the throne. This, to fhew the certainty of the thing, the Lord would have written. The fpeech is directed, as fome think, to the angels, or to the prophets; tho’ the words may be rendered imperfonally, Jet this man be written childlefs, it may be fet down and taken for a fure and certain thing, «as tho” it was written with a pen of iron, that he fhall be alone and die without children, and have’ none to reign after him. 4 man that /hall not profper in bis davs - he fat but three months and ten days upon oi. throne, and all the reft of his days he lived in Captivity, 2 Chron. xxxvi. g. fo that he was a ve unfortunate prince. For xo man of bis feed foall profper, fitting on the throne of David, and ruling any more in Fudah; none of them were fo profperous and happy as to arrive to the royal dignity or to fit on the throne of David, and be kings or Fudah. Here ended the.race of kings of the houfe of David, until the king Meffiah came; for tho? there were of his line that were governors of Fudab as Zerubbabel, yet not kings. Moreover, Seconiab was the laft of the houfe of David im the line of Solomon. Salathiel, of whom was Zerubbabel governor of Fudah, was the fon of Neri, who defcended from Nathan the fon of David; fee Luke ill, 29, 31..compared with Maft.\i: ray and the notes on each paflages. 2.
HIS chapter contains -threatnings to the
Fewifh governors, and to their priefts and prophets, on account of their manifold fins; intermixed with gracious promifes to the Lord’s people, and particularly with a famous promife of the Meffiah. The paftors or governors of J/- ryael are charged with {cattering and driving away the Lord’s flock, for which they are threatened, y. 1, 2. and a promife is made of the gathering of the remnant of them, and of fetting up other fhepherds over them, under whom they fhould increafe, and be comfortable, ¥. 3, 4. particularly the Meffiah is promifed; as David’s righteous branch; as a profperous and righteous king; as the author of righteoufnefs to his people, under whom they fhould have falvation and fafety, ¥. 5, 6. fo that in comparifon of this falvation, the deliverance out of Egypt fhould not be fpoken of, ¥. 7, 8. and then follows a fad complaint of the priefts and prophets; of their prophanenefs, their adultery, fwearing, lying, hypocrify, and deception of the people; for all which they are feverely threatened, ¥. 9,.10, I1, 12, 13, 14, 15. wherefore the people are exhorted not to hearken to them, promifing them peace and fafety; whereas,.
by attending to the word of God, it might eafily be feen that a itorm of wrath was gone forth, and was ready to break, and would fall upon the head of the wicked, to the executing of the thoughts and purpofes of God’s heart, ¥. 16, 17, 18, 19, zo. and the Lord declares he had not fent thefe prophets, as might be known from their not turning the people from their evil ways, ¥. 21, 22. whofe conduét and behaviour could not be hid from the’ fight of the Lord, nor their prophecies trom his ears, which were no other than dreams, and the deceits of their own hearts; and there was as great a difference between them and the word of -the Lord, as between chaff and wheat; feeing his word in his hand is of great virtue and efficacy, whereas there was none’in theirs, ¥. 23, 24; 25, 26, 27, 28, 29. wherefore the Lord declares himfelf to be againft thefe prophets, for ftealing” his word from their neighbour; for making ule of his name, when they were not fent by him; and for caufing the people to err by their lies, ¥. 30, 31, 32. and both people, prieft, and prophet, are feverely threatened for jeering and feoffing at the word of the Lord, calling it the burden of the Lord; which phrafe they are forbid/to uf in a {neering way; and fhould they perfift.in it, they: are told that God would forfake and: forget them, and caft them out, and everlaftingly punith them, ¥. 33> 34s 35> 30 37, 385 39, 40. |
¥.1. Wo be unto the: paftors, &c.} Or, O ye Shepherds or governors, as the Targum; the civil rulers and magiftrates, kings and princes of the land of Hrael; fince ecclefiattical rulers, the priefts and prophets, are mentioned as diftiné from them in ¥..9. whofe bufinefs it was to rule and guide,’ protect and defend the people: but inftead of that, they were fuch that deftroy and fcatter the foeep of my pafture, faith the Lord God; fet them bad ex-! amples, led them into idolatry: and other fins,’ which were the caufe of\their ruin, and of their being carried captive, and fcatteréd in other coun-' tries; and their fin was the more aggravated, inafmuch.as thefe people were the Lord’s pafture-: fheep, whom he had: an intereft in, and’a regard unto, and had committed them to the care and. charge of thefe paftors or governors, ‘to be parti- 1 88
&c.] The covenant-God of that people; who are called his fheep, and the theep of his pafture; having made a covenant with their fathers, and provided a good pafture for them, the land-of Teel, where. they enjoyed_all bleffings, civil and religi-_ ous, and appointed perfons over them to feed them; but thefe did not do their duty, and therefore the Lord was againft them, as follows: againft the paftors that feed my people, whofe office it was to® feed, rule, and defend them; and-who pretended os. oh to do it, but did it not. Ye have fcattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not vifited them; they had been the means of ‘their being driven out of their dwellings, and ott of their own land, and of their being among the nations of the world, and took no care for the return of them, any more than they concerned themfelves for their welfare when over them; or they fuffered the enemy, like beafts of prey, to come in among them, which fcattered them, and drove them from their pafture, as fheep are by bears, dogs, and wolves; and took no care to preferve them from them, or to gather them together again to their pafture. The people of the ews, at the time when Chrift came, hereafter prophefied of, were fcattered as fheep without a fhepherd, and are called the loft fheep of the houfe of J/rael, Matt. ix. 36. and x. 6. and xv. 24. Bebold, I will vifit upon you the evil of your doings, faith the Lord; that is, punith them for their iniquities; fince they vifited not the flock in a way of mercy and kindnefs, as the duty of their office required, the Lord would vifit them in a way of juftice, and punifh them according to their deferts.
¥. 3. And Iwill gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries, &c.] Such of them as did not perifh by the fword, famine, and peftilence, or died not in captivity, and chofe not to remain in the kingdom where they were; for all did not return upon the edict of Cyrus: tho’ fome think this is to be underftood of the gathering of God’s eleét, the remnant according to the election of grace, the children of God that were f{cattered abroad, by the fufferings and death of Chrift, the Shiloh, to whom the gathering-of the people fhould be, hereafter prophefied of: whither I have driven them, this, which is before charged upon the paftors, is taken by the Lord to himfelf; becaufe this was not only permitted by him, namely, the difperfion and captivity of the Fews, but was inflicted by him as a’punifhment upon them for their fins, and the fins of their governors; but yet fuch was the mercy and goodnefs of God, as to return a remnant of them: and I will bring them again to their folds, to the city of Ferufalem, and their dwelling-houfes there, and in other places; an emblem of the Lord’s bringing his chofen remnant, whether ews or Gentiles, into a good fold and good paftures, to a gofpel-church-ftate, and the ordinances of it, Fobn x. 16: they fhall be fruitful and increafe; the remnant of the flock returned to their own land and dwellings, and there grow numerous, and increafe in wealth and riches; as Chrift’s fpiritual fheep, gathered into his fold, become fruitful in grace and good works, and increafe with the increafe of God.
y¥. 4. And I will fet foepherds over them, which frall feed them, &c.} Good fhepherds, rulers and governors, that fhall rule them with wholefome Jaws, and protect and defend them; fuch as Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, and others, after the captivity: or chriftian kings and princes, when the gofpel came to be publifhed and eftablifhed in many kingdoms and provinces, and the fheep of Chrift were gathered out of them. erom interprets thefe fhepherds of the, apoftles of Chrift; and it may include other minifters of the gofpel, who feed Chrift’s fheep with knowledge and underftanding, fee Fer. iii. 15. And they fhail fear no more, nor be difmayed, not the fhepherds, as Ferom underftands it, but the fheep. This looks as if this prophecy had refpect to more future times than thofe immediately following the return from the Badylonifh Captivity; fince the Yews were made to fear, and were difmayed by Sanballet and Tobiah, and in after-times by the Greeks and Romans; even to the times of Chrift, and the gofpel-difpenfation; ih which the faints receive not the fpirit of bondage again to fear, but thro’ the blood, righteoufhets, and facrifice of Chrift, have much {piritual peace and boldnefs of faith, and fear no enemy. Neither foall they be lacking, faith the Lord; not one of the fheep brought back, or of the remnant gathered, fhall be miffing or loft; this is exactly true of Chrift’s fheep,. ‘fobn x. 28. ¥. 5. Bebold, the days come, faith the Lord, &c.} Or, are coming *; and will foon be here, a few days, months, and years more; fo it was ufual © with the prophets to reprefent the coming of Chrift as near at hand, to comfort the faints, and keep up their faith and expectation of him, aid efpecially the latter prophets; fee Hagg. ii. 6, 7. Zech. ix. 9. Mal. ili. 1. as alfo to ufher in their prophecies of this fort with a debold, as a note of admiration, attention, and afleveration; fee Jf vii. 14. Zech. iii. 8. and vi. 12, That I will raife unto David a righteous branch; the Mefliah, fo it is explained by the Zargum, which calls him the Meffiah of the righteous; and by Kimchi and Ben Melech and by the ancient Fews * alfo; who is frequently by the prophets fpoken of as.a branch, If, iv..2, and xi. 1. Zech. ii. 8. and vi..12. which refpects his incarnation, his {pringing up and appearance in the earth, and the meannefs and weaknefs of it; and here, his defcent from the family of David, when that was in a low and mean condition, to be his fucceffor in his throne and kingdom, not in a temporal, but in a fpiritual fenfe; and is a branch and plant not of man’s raifing, but of the Lord’s, his human nature being formed without the help of man; and is that tabernacle which God pitched, and not’ man; and is therefore elfewhere called the branch of the Lord, and faid to be brought forth by him, // iv. 2. Zech, iii. 8, the epithet of righteous is given him, becaufe righteous in himfelf, and the author of righteoufnefs to others; a branch that brings forth and bears the fruits of righteoufnefs, from whence all thofe that are engrafted in him come to have righteoufnefs. And a king fhall reign and profper, the king Meffiah, the fame with David’s righteous branch, his fon and offspring; who was appointed by God the Father king over Zion, the church, from all eternity; was always promifed and fpoken of as a king, and came as fuch, tho’ his kingdom was not with obfervation, it being not of this. world; and when he afcended to heaven, he was declared Lord and Chrift; and now reigns on the fame throne with his Father, and will till all enemies are put under his footftool: and as he pro/pered in his prieftly office, by obtaining the redemption and falvation of his people, which is the pleajure of the Lord that was to profper in his hand; {o likewife in his kingly and prophetic offices, by going forth in his gofpel conquering and to. conquer; riding forth therein profperoufly, and fubduing his enemies, and caufing his minifters to triumph in him: or,. foall deal prudently ‘, as the word is rendered in Jf lii. 13. fee the note there. And fhall execute judgment and juftice in the earth; in his church, and among among his people, by governing them with righteous laws, and by protecting and defending them from-their enemies; for a// judgment is committed to the Son; who will judge one day the whole world in righteoufnels; fee Fobu v.22. Adis xvi. ‘91, J/- ik. 7.
y. 6. In his days Fudah fhall be faved, &cc.| In the days of the Meffiah, the righteous branch, and reigning profperous king; not only the people of the Fews, God’s elect among them, but all that truly embrace him, and confefs him, as Fudab’s name fignifies, fhall be faved from all their fins; from the law, its curfe and condemnation; and from wrath to come; and from all their fpiritual enemies. In the latter part of his days all J/rael fhall be faved, Rom. xi. 26: and Ijrael foal) dwell fafely; without any fear of enemies, being faved from them; being in that city, the church, which has falvation for walls and bulwarks; angels encamping about them; the Lord as a wall of fire around them; the Spirit lifting up a ftandard againft their enemies, when they come in like a flood; and the Meffiah their rock and refuge, and ftrong tower, their ftrength and righteoufnefs; as follows: for all the falvation and fafety of the Lord’s people are owing to the righteoulnefs of Chrift; the effect of which is peace, quietnefs and aflurance for ever: and this is his name whereby be shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS 3 becaule he is the author of righteoufnefs to his people, and is only fo; no creature could be the author of. it; unrighteous man cannot be the author of righteoufnefs; and the righteoufnefs of an angel is of no advantage to man;~and indeed neither of the other divine perfons is, the Lord our righteoufnefs; for tho’ they are both Fehovah, the Father and the Spirit, yet not our righteoufnefs: the Father appointed and fent Chrift to work it out; he approved and accepted of it, when wrought. out, and imputes it to his péople; but is not the author of it: fo the Spirit convinces of the need. of it; reveals it, and brings it near; works faith to receive it; and applies it, and pronounces a perfcn juttified by it; but is not the author of it; that the Son of Gad only is; who is become fo by his obedience to the law, and by bearing the penalty of it; and who having been delivered for our ‘offences, rofe again for our juftification: and this righteoufnefs which he has wrought out to the fatisfaction of law and juftice, becomes ours; it being defigned for us, and wrought out for us, by a free gift of it is given to us; ours, thro’ the imputation of it to us by the Father, and in virtue of our union to Chrift, and intereft in him; and thro’ the ap~ plication of it to us by the Spirit of God; who puts it upon us, and clothes us with it, and enables us to lay hold upon it, and claim intereft in it; and which may be meant by Chrift being called our righteoufne/s; for the meaning is, not that he fhould commonly go by this name; but only that he fhould be that unto us which it fignifies; and that we fhould by faith, even every true J/raelite, every believer call him our righteoufnefs; fay. that we have righteoufnefs in hini; make mention of that continually, and exprefs our defires to be found alone in it;'for fo the words may be rendered, and this is the name whereby be Jhall call him*, tHE phetas ipfos, Junius & Tremellius; ad prophetas guod attinet, Pifcator.
and the judgments approaching.
LorD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS; and a {weet name to a fenfible finner it is; to.one that has felt ithe guilt of fin in his confcience; feen-his need of a righteoufnefs, and the worth-of jt. ‘That the Meffiah is here meant is acknowledged. by the, Jews, ancient and modern *, Sree ee eee
¥.7. Therefore behold, the days, come, faith. the Lord, &c.| Or, are coming‘; and will begin to take place in a little time, even upon the, Jews return from Babylon; and reached to the times of Chrift, to which they have a fpecial regard;.and include the whole gofpel-difpenfation, even, the latter day-glory, when the, ews fhall return to, - and dwell in, their own land; as the following verfe thews: that they fhall no more fay, the Lord liveth; the people of J/rael in particular, or the Lord’s people in general, fhall no more fwear by the living God, defcribed as.follows; or, as the Targum, declare no more the power of.God, in the inftance next mentioned, they had been ufed to do: which brought up the children of Ifrael out of the land of Egypt; which, tho’ a wonderful deliverance, and never to be forgotten; yet not to be named with the redemption and falyation wrought out by Chrift the Lord our righteoufnefs; that being a deliverance from far greater and more powerful enemies, and from the far greater, bondage of fin, fatan and the law; nor with the reftoration of the ews in the latter day, which will be a moft wonderful and amazing event, Rom. xi. 15, 25, 26,
¥.8. But, the Lord liveth, &c.|] Or they thall fwear by the living God; or declare the power of the Lord, as the Yargum, in their redemption by the Meffiah: which brought up, and which led the Jeed of the houfe of Ifrael out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; which refpects not only the deliverance of the Fews from Babylon, which lay north of Fudea; but the converfion of many of the ten tribes, thro’ the preaching of the gofpel in the feyeral countries where jthey were, to which the apoftles of Chrift were fent with it; and alfo the gathering of them together at the latter day, when they fhall turn to the Lord, and return to their own land; as fol-
‘lows: aud they fhall dwell in their own land; which
has never been fulfilled as. yet of the feed of the houfe‘of J/rae/, or of the ten tribes; but will be when ‘all J/rael fhall be faved. This pafiage is. applied in the Ta/mud* to the days of the Meffiah; fee the notes on ch. xvi. 14,15. 5. k
¥..9. Mine heart within me. is broken, becaufe of the prophets, &c.] The falfe prophets, as the Zargum xvightly interprets it. The Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, to the prophets; and makes a ftop, there; which agrees with, the original '; fo thac it may be confidered as the title of what follows it being direéted to them by the prophet, to Jet them know his concern for them; to ste their fin, and reclaim them; who was fo ¢ Eek ith. their cafe, that, his deart within him was broke with grief and forrow,, becaute of their falfe trines and wicked lives; and becaufe of the chief they did the people, and the ruin they br upon them, and themfelves alfo: all nes foake;. with dread and horror, at the iis at id Farchi.