Exposition of the Whole Bible

with milk and honey; and having the houfe and ° worfhip of God in it; and where were the fymbols of his prefence, and his word and ordinances; and therefore fhould have excelled them: in true religion, devotion and holinefs, and fet an example to them. The ews generally underftand this of the natural fituation of Ferufalem. archi interprets it, of the middle of the world; as if it was mathematically placed in the center of the earth. Kimchi fays, it was in the midft of the continent; and fo its air was better than others; and thefe fort of writers * often fpeak of the land of J/rae! being in the navel or center of the earth; they fay °, that the Sanhbedrim fat in the middle of the world; and therefore is compared to the navel, Cant. vii. 1. becaufe it fat in the temple, which was in the middle of the world; but the former fenfe is beft; tho’ Feron gives in to the latter: and countries that are round about her; this is a propofition of itfelf; the former claufe being ‘diftinguifhed from it by the accent Atiuach; and fhould be rendered thus, and the countries are; or were round about ber?; on the eaft was Afa, on the weft Europe, on the fouth Africa and Libya, and_on the north Babylon, Scythia, Armenia, Perfia and Pontus; and.was more confpicuous, eminent and ‘honourable* than ‘them all, having greater privileges, prerogatives and excellencies; and therefore fhould* have -exceeded them in its regard to the laws and ftatutes of God, which fhe did not; hence this is faid, in order to upbraid her for her ingratitude, as ap- — pears by the following words.

y. 6. And foe hath changed my judgments into wickednefs, more than the nations, &e.) ~So they changed their glory for that which did not profit;

and the glory of the incorruptible God, into an _— image made like to corruptible man; and the truth of God: into a lie, Jer. ii. 11. Rom. i. 23,25. or, for wickednefs 1, for judgments and laws that were not good, and which to obferve was wickednefs. The word rendered changed, fignifies to rebel againft, or to tranfyrefs, and the fenfe may be, fhe, that is, Yerufalem, has rebelled againft judghoufe of Irael, from this barbarous murder of Gements, and tranjgreffed * them in a wicked manner,

ut improbe ageret, Cocceius.

even to a greater degree than the nations of the world. The Targum and Farchi interpret it changed,. as we do: and my ftatutes more than the countries that are round about her. udgments and fratutes are the fame laws and ordinances of worfhip, being juft and righteous, and firm and unalterable; unlefs it fhould rather be thought, that judgments belong to the moral law, being given forth by the Lord as a judge, and founded upon judement and tighteoufnefs; and /ratutes to the ceremonial law, being of pofitive inftitution and appointment, and to lait fo long as it was thé pleafure of the lawgiver: for they have refufed my judgments and my fiatutes, they refufed to comply with them, and to yield an obedience to them, and that with loathing, difdain and contempt, as the word * fignifies: they have not walked in them; they did not make them the rule of their walk and converfation; they fhewed no regard to them; they went out of the way of them, into crooked paths, with the workers of iniquity.

Having obferved their fins, and which are ftill enlarged upon, the Lord proceeds to denounce his judgments againft them: becaufe ye multiplied more than the notions that are round about you; not in numbers, nor in wealth and riches, or in bleffings and privileges, and therefore grew wanton and forgetful; tho’ this was true; but in fins and wickednefs, which abounded among them, and in which they exceeded the nations round about them; and fo the Jargum paraphrafes it, ‘* becaufe that «< ye have finned more than the people that are *< round about you:” and have not walked in my flatutes, neither have kept my judgments; which is repeated to’ fhew the certainty of fact, and how much the Lord réfented it: neither have done atcording to the judgments of the nations that are round about you. ‘The Syriac verfion leaves out the negative particle p>; and renders thé words thus, but ye have done the judgments of the nations which are round about you; and it may be obferved, that it is omitted in a parallel text, Ezek. xi. 12. and this is what the ews are often reproved for, that they followed the laws and cuftoms of the Gentiles, and worfhipped their gods; and the oppofition to the preceding claufe feemis to require this fenfe;

but the retaining the negative particle is confirmed by the Zargum, Mafora, and the Septuagint and Arabic verfions, and alfo by the Talmud *, which reconciles the paflage with the parallel text beforementioned, thus, ‘* according to thofe things which “* are right among them (the Gentiles) ye have “* not done; dut according to what areé corrupt ** among them, ye have done;” is, either that they did not walk according to the law and light of nature, which the Gentiles had, and attended to, Rom. ii. 14,15. or that they did not follow them in their conduct and behaviour; they were not fo zealous for the true God, as the heathens were for their idols; they were not fo tenacious of the laws and worfhip of the true God of [rael, as the Gentiles were of their fuperftitious tites and ceremonies; the Gentiles did not change their gods, and manner of worfhip, but retained what they received from their anceftors time immemorial; but the ews changed their glory for that which did not profit, Fer. ii..31. |

V8; Therefore thus faith the Lord God, bebols I, even I, am againft thee, 8c.) Or, bebold Jam again thee, event“ who atm the Lord God omnipotent, a great king, anda dreadful ones and a terrible thing it is, for a people to have the mighty God againft them; or. for any to fall ihto the hands of the living God: this is répeated to thew that it certainly was fo; and that the Lord was fet upon it, and determined to come forth againtt

‘them in the way of his judgments; as’ follows - and will execute judgments in the midft. of thee, in the fight of the mations, that is; infli@: punifhments upon them for their diftegard to his righteous Judgments, which fhould take *place in the midft of them, and confume them all around; -and fhould be fo manifeft, as to be feeh by all the nations about then.

¥..9. And I will do in thee, that which I bave not done, &c.] In any other nation, or to any other people; not in thé old world, When thé flood was brought upon the world of the ungodly; not in Sodom and Gomorrba, when they were de= firoyed by fire from heaven; not in Egypt, when he inflicted his plagues on Pharaoh and his people § nor among the Canaanites, when they were drové out of theif land for their abominations: and whereunto I will not do any more the likes at leaft, not of a long time; and befides, this may not only refer to the fiege of Ferufalem by the Chal= deans, but alfo by the Romans: becaufe of all thine abominations; the wickednefles of all forts that were committed among them, which were abominable to the Lord, and particularly their idolatries; thefe were the caufes why he would do, or fuffer to be done, things that were never feen, known of heard of before; and are as follow:

¥. 10. Therefore the fathers fhall eat the fons in the midft of thee, &c.] Which was long age thréatened by the Lord, and prophefied of by Mofes, Lev. xxvis 27. Deut. xxvii. 53, 55, 67. and was fulfilled at feveral timés in the people of J rael, as at the fiege of Samaria, 2 Kings vi. 28, 29. at the fiege of Ferufalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Lam. iv. 10. and at the fiege of the fame city by Zitas Ve/- pofian, as Fofepbus “ relates; for tho’ thefe inftanhces only fhew that mothers eat their children, yet no doubt the fathers took part with them; and if mothers, who are naturally more tender, could do this, it is much more reafonable to fuppofe that fathers did the fame: and the fons fball eat their fathers, this, tho’ no where recorded, yet doubtlefs was done; it being as reafonable to think that a fon might eat his father, as a father his fon; tho’ both monftroufly fhocking: ard I will execute and the meaning | judgments in thee; punifhments, fuch as. peftilence, famine and fword, aftet-mentioned: and the whole remnant of thee will I fcatter into all the winds; that is, thofe that remam, and are not cut off, by the above judgments, fhall be carried captive mto Babylon, or be difperfed into Egypt, Ammon, Moab, and other places: this had a full accomplifhment, in the difperfion of the ews into the feveral parts of the world, when they weré deftroyed by the Romans.; ¥. 11. Wherefore as’ I live, faith the Lord God, &c.} This is a form of an oath, and fhews that what is after-faid fhowld certainly.be done; God would not repent of it, nor revoke it: farely becaufe t T. Bab. San-

caufe thou haft defiled my fanétuary, with all thy deteftable things, and with all thine abominations, that is, with their idols and idolatrous worfhip, which were deteftable and abominable to the Lord; fo Manaffh not only built altars for Baal in the houfe of the Lord, but fet up in it a graven image of the grove, 2 Kings xxi. 3,.4, 7: therefore will I alfo diminifo thee; as they leffened his glory by fuch abominable aétions, fo he threatens that he would leffen their privileges and bleffings; as they took away from him the worfhip and honour that were due to him, fo he would take away from them their civil and church-ftate, his fanctuary, word and ordinances, and deprive them of every thing that was valuable and excellent. The Targum paraphrafes it, ‘* I will cut off the ftrength of thine ** arm;” weaken her power: xeither fhall mine eye Spare, neither will I have any pity, when in the greateft mifery and diftrefs. The Targum is, * my ** word fhall not fpare,” ec.

¥.12. A third part of them fhall die with the peftilence, &c.] This, with what follows, explains the divifion of the hair into the three parts, and what was done with them; and fhows, that the burning of one third part, denotes their being deftroyed by the peftilence, mentioned along with burning coals, Hab. iii. 5. and by famine, as follows: and with famine fhall they be confumed in the midjft of thee; and tho’ there is no account of the former, yet there is of the latter; and no doubt but the peftilence raged, as well as the famine, at the fiege of Ferufalem by Nebuchadnezzar: and a third part foall fall by the fword round about thee; fignified by the third part of the hair, fmitten with a knife; and intends fuch as perifhed by the fword of the Chaldeans at the taking of the city, and when they fied out of it; and fo are properly faid to fall round about it: and I will fatter a third part into all the winds, the greateft part of which were. carried into Babylon, and others into other’

parts; fee the note on ¥.2: and I will draw out a fword after them; particularly after them that went into Egypt. The Septuagint and Arabic verfions read a fourth part in each claufe, as before; and make it out thus, 2 fourth part of thee fhall be confumed with death (the peftilence); and a fourth part of thee fhall be confumed: with famine in the midft of thee, and a fourth part of thee I will featter to every wind, and a fourth part of thee fall fall by the fword round about thee; and I will draw out the [word after them.

¥. 13. Thus fall mine anger be accomplifbed, 8c. | Finifhed, perfected, confummated, by bringing the above judgments upon them, peftilence, famine his prophets, and had threatened to’ bring upon them, was faid in earneft, and arofe from a jealoufy for his own glory; this will be a clear cafe, and out of queftion: when I have accomplifbed my fury in them, by the utter deftruction of them, as follows: [ ¥. 14. Moreover I will make thee wafte, &c.] That is, their land; which being without inhabitants, lay untilled,; and fo became barren and unfruitful: and a reproach among the nations round about thee, in the fight of all that pafs by, who, feeing it in this defolate condition, fhall throw out their taunts and jeers upon.it, as in Lam, il. PES 1.66 ch, ¥.15. So it fhall be a reproach, and a taunt, &c.] The fubject of the reproaches and taunts of the enemy; fee Yer. xxiv. 9. this is repeated for the greater confirmation of it: az infirudtion; or difcipline, or correction x. The meaning is, that the Gentiles feeing the judgments of God upon the Fews, would hereby learn righteoufnefs, forfake their fins, amend their ways, and fear the Lord: and an aftonifbment unto the nations that are round about thee; being amazed that fuch judgments fhould fall upon a people that had been fo highly favoured of God; and at their ftupidity, hardnefs and incorrigiblenefs under them: when I fhail exe- ° cute judgments in thee, in anger, and in fury, and in furious rebukes; a heap of words, not only denoting the certainty of divine judgments, but the greatnefs and fiercenefs of divine wrath, in the’ execution of them; that thefe were not fatherly chaftifements, rebukes in love, but the effects of vindictive jultice: I the Lord have fpoken it; or thofe things, as the Arabic verfion; and as fure as I have fpoken, I will do. The Targum is, ‘* I the Lord *¢ have decreed in my word;” and fo in y. 13. where it is added, and I will confirm or accomlith. u ¥. 16. When I fhall fend upon them the evil arrows of famine, &c.] Either famine itfelf, which is as an arrow; it is taken out of the quiver of the Lord of hofts, and is -fhot by him; and moves fwiftly when it has a commiffion; and. is very deftructive: or arrows which bring on a famine, fuch as drought, exceffive rains, blafting, mildew, locufts, €¢. or arrows which the famine brings, as leannefs, faintnefs, blacknefs and death; and in either fenfe, are evil ones; and are fent of God for the following end: which shall be for their deftruétion, and which I will fend to deftroy you; God’s defign in fending them was to deftroy, and that was anfwered; and avery deftroying arrow famine is, and therefore called evil: and I will increafe the and fword, and by {cattering them to every wind: famine upon you, or gather’ it upon, or againft you;

what had been threatened long, and only fome drops of it were let fall in times paft, now was poured forth to the uttermoft: and I will caufe my fury to reft upon them; to continue and abide upon them, and not move, at leaft, for the fpace of threefcore and ten years; fee Zech. i. 12: and I «will be comforted, by taking vengeance on them; fo fatisfying his juftice, and eafing him of his enemies; fee //,i.24. a fpeech after the manner of men; who, when they have. been affronted, and have avenged themfelves, are eafy in their minds, and fatisfied: and they fhall know that I the Lord have fpoken it in my zeal; that is, they fhall find by experience, that what the Lord had fpoken by as if it was an army with bows and arrows: and will break your flaff of bread; take away the virtue from the little they had, that that fhould not nourifh and fatisfy; fee the note on ch. iv. 16. + y. 17. So will I fend upon you famine, and evil beafts, &c.| Famine is repeated for the further confirmation of it; and evil deafts are added, by whom are meant, not the Chaldeans, comparable to fuch; but literally, lions, wolves, bears, &e. which are threatened the Fews, in cafe of difobe- - dience, Lev. xxvi. 22. and which fometimes were fent, 2 Kings xvii. 24: and they shall bereave thee; that is, of her children, whom the evil beafts fhould deftroy; they not being able to defend ¥ copy FION famem congregabe rr themfelves againft them, as men can: and peffilence and blood fall. pafs thro’ thee, and I will bring the Jword upon thee; the peftilence, famine, fword, which is meant by blood, and evil beafts, are the

Lord’s four fore judgments; fee ch. xiv. at: f the Lord have {poken it; who was able to perform it, and did, both at the deftruction of Ferujalem by Nebuchadnezzar and. by Titus.

de: IS chapter contains a prophecy of the defolation of the whole land of J/rae/, and a promife that a remnant fhould. efcape, with a lamentation for the fad deftruction, fignified by fome geftures of the prophet. The order to the prophet to deliver out the prophecy, is in ¥. 1, 2. the feveral parts of the land of Tfrael_ or Fudea, to which the prophecy is directed, are fignified. by mountains, hills, rivers and valleys, on which the fword fhould be brought, ¥. 3. the defolation is defcribed, and the caufe of it fugeefted, the idolatry of the people, y. 4, 5, 6,7. the promife. of a remnant that fhould efcape, who fhould remem-_ ber the Lord, Joath themfelves for their. fins, acknowledge him, and that his word was not-in vain, is in ¥. 8, 9, 10..the lamentation, fignified by the prophet’s fimiting with his hand, and ftamping with his foot, for the fins of the people} and the judgments that fhould come upon them, is. in ¥. 11. a particular enumeration of thefe judgments follows, and’ of the places where they fhould. be executed, ¥,12. the end of them was to bring them to the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord, againft whom. they had finned and offended by their idolatry, as the, places where: their flain fell would thew, ¥. 13. and the. chapter. is concluded with a refolution to’ bring this defolation on them, y¥.\14.

¥.1., And the word of the Lord came unto me, faying.| That is, the word of prophecy from the Lord, as the Zargum; this, according to Funius, was delivered out by the prophet on a fabbathday, the twenty-firft of the fifth month, and. in the fixth year of king Feboiachin’s captivity; and fo was more than a year after the vifion at Chebar, ch. 1.1, 2.

¥. 2. Son of man, fet thy face towards the mountains of Ifrael, &c.) Or cities of T/rael, the inhabitants of them; not the ten ‘tribes, for they had been carried captive long before this time, even in the times of Hezekiah, unlefs it can be thought, that this prophecy is defigned to fhew the reafon of their captivity, which was their idolatry; or that it is direéted to thofe of them which remained in the land, and were mixed with the other tribes; but rather the land of Fudea is intended, in which were many mountains, and one part of it was called the hill-country, Luke i. 39, 65. and the mountains are mentioned, againft which the prophet is ordered to direct his face, and look unto; partly becaufe idolatry was much practifed upon them; and partly to fhew the ftupidity of the Fews, and the unfuccefsfulnefs of prophecy among them; that it was as well, or better, to fpeak to the mountains, than to them, for fince they had fo often put away the word of God from them, | they were unworthy of it; wherefore fuch a direction the {word fhould be upon them, and the high places, built upon them fhould be deftroyed: or unto them; direét the prophecy to them; fpeak to them as if they were capable of hearing: or concerning them, as the Syriac verfion; and io the Targum, concerning their defolation. ¥.3.. And fay, ye mountains of Ifrael, hear the word of the Lord God, &c.]. Since the people of the ews would, not hear the word of the Lord, the mountains are called upon to hear it; unlefs the inhabitants of the mountains are meant: thus faith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the bills, to the rivers, and to the vallies; thefe are addrefled, becaufe idols. were worfhipped here; as upon the mountains and hills, fo by rivers of water, and alfo in vallies, as in-the valley of Hinnom, idols were worfhipped"; upon mountains and hills, becaufe they thought themfelves nearer to heaven; by rivers, becaufe of purity; and in vallies, becaufe fhady and obfcure, and had fomething folemn and venerable in them: dehold I, even I will bring a fword upon you; that-is, upon the idolaters, which worfhipped. in| thefe places; otherwife different inflruments, as. pick-axes, Sc. would have been more roper, The Zargum paraphrafes it, ‘* them that ‘<< kill with’ the fword;” meaning. the Cha/deans, who doubtlefs are intended: aud I will deftroy your high places, the temples and altars, built on high places, and devoted to idolatrous worfhip, as follows. y. 4. And your altars fhall be defolate, &c.| Being pulled down; or becaufe the priefts and worfhippers would now be flain, and there would be none to attend them: and your images fhall be broken; the mages of the fun*. The word for images, has its derivation from heat; and were fo called, either from the heat of the fun, to whofe worfhip they were devoted; or from the heat of the love and affections of their worfhippers: and I will caft down your Slain men before your idols, before your dung, or your dunghil-gods <, for the word ufed has the fignification of dung, ch.iv.12. The Targum renders it, ‘¢ before the carcafe of your idols;”. where they committed idolatry, there they fhould be flain; which points at the caufe of their punifhment. ¥. 5. And I will lay the dead carcafes of the children of Ifrael before their idols, &c.] Which. is repeated. for the confirmation of it: and I will featter your bones round about your altars; which were reckoned a pollution of them; fee.2 Kings Xxili, 14, 16,20.

¥. 6. In all your dwelling places your cities shall be laid wafte, &c.] Which denotes that the defolation fhould be general, wherever they had cities and places to dwell in; the idolatry being univerfal, as is faid in Jer. ii. 28: and the high places fhall be defolate; meaning fuch as were in Cities; as before, fuch as were built upon mountains and hills; fee 2 Kings xxiii. 5: that your altars: mK ai laid wafte and defolate; as they mutt be, the cities being deftroyed in which they were fet up: and | your idols may be broken and ceafe, and your images may be cut down, fuch as were made ef gold and filver, or of wood and ftone; the fame words are ufed for them as in ¥. 4: and your works may be abolifoed; not only the works of their hands, but of their brain; whatever they had deviled, and was contrary to the pure word and worfhip of

¥.%. And the flain hall fall in the mid? of yom,

&c.] The word. for lai is in the fingular‘number, which perhaps is put for the plural; and io the Septuagint render it; unlefs ic fhould defign fome principal perfon that fhould be Main; but, as_ king Zedekiab was not flain when the city was taken, only his fons and his princes, it Yeerns beft to underftand it of the multitude that were flain in the midft of the land, not only in Ferujalem, but in all the cities of Fudea; and denotes how general and public the deftruétion would be: and ye foall know that I am the Lord; the only true God, and governor of the world; who only is to be worfhipped, feared and ferved, and not idols.

¥. 8. Yet will I leave a remnant, &e.] Not in Fudea, but in Babylon, and‘in the countries where they fhould be difperied, as follows: that ye may have fome that fhall efcape the fword among the nations; which was threatened to be drawn, and fent after them, ch. v. 2,12. but all’ fhould not perifh by it; fome fhould efcape; for this was not the time to make a full end of them: when ye foall be fcattered through the countries; that is, of Egypt, Ammon, Moab and Affyria, for this refpects their difperfion at the time of the Babylont h captivity, and not their prefent difperfion.

¥.9. And they that efcape of you fhall remember

me, &c.] Either my grace and mercy to them, as Farchi,; or the fear of me, as the Targum; and {fo return by repentance, and worfhip the Lord their God, being influenced by his kindnefs and, goodnefs to them: even when among the nations, whither they foall be carried captive; fo that their afflictions fhould be fanctified and made ufeful to them: in profperity men‘are apt to forget God; in adverfity they are brought to a fenfe of themfelves and duty; and happy it is, when chaftening difpenfations are teaching ones, and bring to God, and not drive from him: decaufe I am broken with their whorifh heart, which hath departed from me;

by committing {piritual adultery, which is idolatry.

The fenfe is, either that he was grieved at heart with their idolatry, which was the reafon of their being carried captive, which, when they were fenfible of, wrought repentance in them; or that he was full of compaffion towards them; his heart was tender and pitiful towards them, tho’ they departed from him in fuch a dreadful manner, juftly to be refented by him. ‘The Targum is, “ I have ** broken their foolifh heart;” and fo the Syriac and Vulgate Latin verfions, I have broken their whorifo heart; by affli€tive providences humbled | them, and brought them to repentance: and with their eyes which go a whoring after their idols, they committed fornication with their heart and eyes in a fpiritual fenfe, as wicked men ‘do in a natural ‘fenfe; fee 2 Pet. ii.14: and they fhall loath themfelves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations, abominable idolatry, 1 Pet. iv. 3. when men remember God, againft whom they