YER EWI
come a fpoil to the enemy, and be plundered of all its riches and treafures; not only Babylon principally, but the whole country it was the metropolis of: all that {poil her fhall be fatisfied, faith thé Lord, for tho’ fpoilers are generally infatiable, yet fo great fhould be the riches found in Babylon, and in Chaldea, that they fhould have enough, and defire no more; fee Rev. xvii. see,
¥. 11. Becaufe ye were glad, becaufe ye rejoiced; O ye deftroyers of mine heritage, 8c.] ‘This is addrefied to the Chaldeans, who deftroyéd Ferufalem and the land of Yudea, once the heritage of the. Lord, when they rejoiced at the deftruétion of God’s people, and infulted them in their miferies; and which is the caufe and reafon affigned of their ruin; for tho’ they had a commiffion to deftroy, yet they exceeded that, and efpecially by exulting at the ruin of that people, which fhowed great inhumanity. So the Papiffs will rejoice at the flaying of the witneffes, but will be repaid in their own coin, Rev. xi. 10. and xviii. 20. Becaufe ye are grown fat as the heifer at grafs, which feeds all the day, and fo grows fat. Some copies read, as the heifer that treads out * the corn; which, according to the law, was not to be muzzled, and fo was continually feeding, and grew plump and fleek; and fo thefe Chaldeans, having enriched themfelves with the fpoils of udec, and other nations, gave themfelves up to eafe and luxury; and it was at one of their feftivals their city was taken, to which there may be fome allufion: and bellow as bulls; or, neigh as horfes'; having got the victory; of which war-horfes are fenfible; or it miay denote their impetuous luft after women, whom they forced and ravifhed, when taken captives by
X. 12. Your mother fhall be fore confounded, &c.] The monarchy of the Chaldeans, fo the Targum and Farchi, your congregation; or rather their metropolis, their mother-city, the city of Babylon; which would be confounded when taken, none of her fons being able to defend her: the fame will be true of myftical Babylon, the mother of harlots, Rev. xvii. 5: jhe that bare you fhall be afbamed; which is the fame as before, in different words: behold, the hindermoft of the nations fhall bé a wildernefs, a dry land, and a defert; or, as the Vulgate Latin verfion, fhe fhall be the laft among the nations; fhe that was the head of them, fignified by the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar’s image, fhall now be ‘the tail of them, and become like a dry land and defert, without inhabitants, having neither men nor Cattel in it; fee ¥. 3. or as Farchi and Kimchi, their end, the latter end™ of the kingdom of Babylon or what fhould befal that people in their laft days, would be, that theit land fhould become a wildernefs, the inhabitants being flain, and none to till it; or Babylon is called the laft of the nations; becaufe her punifhment, in order of time, was laft, as Guffetins ® thinks; fee ch. xxv. 26. Bh
¥. 13. Becaufe of the wrath of the Lord, it foal not be inbabited, &c.| That is, Babylon, which the Targum exprefies, “ be¢aufe thou, Babylon, hatt ‘«< provoked the Lord;” by their idolatry, luxury, ill-ufage of his people, and prophanation of the veffels of the fanctuary; therefore it fhould be deftroyed, and left without an inhabitant in it: but it
Heopy aw x) que ew yd tropa oSmyN hinniftis ficut fortes (equi); "3 INN fnis fen extiemitas gentiam, Vatablus, it fall be wholly defolate, as it now is. Paufanias fays °, in his time there was nothing but a wall remaining; and Ferom” fays, he had it from a brother Elamite or Perfian, that Babylon was then a park or place for royal hunting, and. that beafts of évery kind were kept within its walls: of my- {tical Babylon, fee Rev. xvi. 19. and xviii. 2. Every one that goeth by Babylon fhall be aftonifoed, and bifs at all her plagues; any traveller that had {een it in its glory, would now be aftonifhed to fee the defolation of it; and by way of fcorn and derifion, hifs at the judgments of God upon it, and rejoice at them, and fhake the head, as the Zar- um. $ y. 14. Put yourfelves in array againft Babylon round about, &c.] This is directed to the Medes and Perfians, to difpofe of their army in proper places round about the city of Babylon, to befiege it; and to order their inftruments of war, fit for that purpofe, in a convenient manner; fince they might be fure of victory, the Lord being wroth with it, and having fo feverely threatened its ruin: all ye that bend the bow, fhoot at her, {pare no arrows; the Elamites or Perfians, as before obferved, were well fkilled in archery; and, as Xenophon 4 reports, Cyrus had in his army, when he came to Babylon, a great number of archers and flingers, and the archers are called upon to draw the bow, who were expert at it, and not {pare their arrows, fince they would every one do execution, as in y. g. and the flingers to caf their ftones at her *, for fo it may be rendered; and thus it is interpreted by Farchi and by Kimchi, of cafting either arrows or ftones: for jhe bath finned againft the Lord; which brought the wrath of God upon her; and chiefly the ill treatment of his people was the fin againft him he refented.
y¥. 15. Shout againft her round about, &c.] As foldiers do when they make an affault upon a place, to encourage one another, and difmay the befieged; juft as the J/raelites did, when they furrounded 7ericho: foe hath given her hand; fubmitted to the conqueror, and fued for mercy. The Targum is, “¢ fhe is delivered into her hand;” the hand of the Perfians, by two princes of Babylon, who went off to Cyrus, and fhewed him how to take the city; or father it was delivered by Zopyrus into the hands of Darius: her foundations are fallen, ber walls are thrown down; not at the taking of it by Cyrus, but afterwards by Darius; for this refpects the eonclufien of its deftruction, which was progreffive and gradual: for tt is the vengeance of the Lord; which he decreed, threatened, and took, and that on account of his people, who had been ill-treated here; fo the Targum, “* for it is the vengeance of ‘* the people of the Lord:”. and her enemies are called upon to take vengeance upon ber, as fhe bath done, do unto her; that is, to execute the Lord’s vengeance, of which the Perfians were the inftruments; and who were,to go according to the law of retaliation, which is a juft one; to do to Babylou, as fhe had done to Ferufalem, and other places, fhe-had utterly deftroyed. Thefe words feem to be referred to, and much the fame are ufed of myftical Babylon, Rev. xviii. 6.
¥. 16. Cut of the fower from Babylon, and him that bandleth the fickle in the time of harveft, &c.
Both fower and reaper: the walls of Babylon took in a large compafs of land, where there were corn-
| was delivered. T hefe two fields; and which, as Curtizs * obferves, would yield, a fufficiency to hold out a fiege againft an enemy; but being taken, the hufbandman would not be fpared, as ufed to be, but fhould. be cut off, and fo none to till the ground, or to reap what was upon it; and thus, in courfe, would be defolate, as before threatened. The Targum underftands this in a figurative fenfe, ‘‘ deftroy the king out of “¢ Babylon, and take hold of the fword im the time ‘* of flaughter;” and Cocceius interprets the fower of any doctor or bifhep in mytftical Babylon, and the reaper of fuch that gather.the. fruits, and exact obedience; fee Rev. xviii. 14,22: for fear ofthe opprefing fword, of the Medes and Perfians: they fball turn every one to his people, and they foall flee every ofte to bis own land, not thofe of other nations, as the Fews, who were detained captives there, as Kimchi thinks; for thefe were not in fuch fear of the Perfians, nor did they flee becaufe) of them; but were let go by them, and fent into their own land honourably: but either fuch, who of other nations were come to traffick at Babylem; or rather the auxiliaries of other nations, who were either hired or forced into the fervice of Babylon; thefe finding the city taken, would make. the beft of their way into their own country. Pia
¥. 17. Jfraelis a {cattered fheep, &c.| Or like a fheep that is frighted, and drove from the fold, and is difperfed, and wanders about here and there; J/rael includes all the twelve tribes: the lions have driven him away, from his own land, and carried him captive, and fcattered him among the nations; thefe lions are afterwards interpreted of the kings of Afpria and Babylon: fo the Targum, ‘* kings have removed them;” comparable to lions for their ftrength, fiercenefs, and voracioufnels: Jirft the king of Alpyria hath devoured him, eat up his flefh; meaning Salmanefer king of Affria, who carried captive the ten tribes, that never returned, and therefore faid to be devoured: aud loft this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon bath broken bis bones; or, boned bim*; took out his bones, all his ftrength and fubftance; or took the fiefh off of them, ftripped him of all his wealth and riches, reduced him to his bones, made a mere fkeleton of him: we, with Kimchi and Ben Mélech, and others read, broke his bones, to get the very marrow out, that nothing may be left of him: he took Ferujalem, burnt the temple, and carried captive the two tribes of Fudab and Benjamin, the ftrength of Trael; fo, between the one and the other, all Jrael were like a fcattered fheep, difperfed among the nations. Nebachadrexzar was the then reigning king in Babylon, when this prophecy was delivered, and therefore called this Nebuchadrezzar.
¥. 18. Therefore thus faith the Lord.of hops, the God of Ifrael, &c.| Becaufe of this cruel treatment of his people, whofe God he was; and being the Lord of hofts, and. able to avenge himfelf on their enemies, he threatens, as follows: debold, I will punifo the king of Babylon and bis land; not Nebuchadnezzar, but a fuccefior of his, Befhazzar, who was flain the night Babyloxz was taken: as J have punifoed the king of Afjyria; not Salmanefer, that carried the tribes captive; but a fucceffor of hi Chynilidanus, the lat king of Afpria; whe killed when Niniveb was taken, the metre Affria, and which was done before this prophecy __ kings alge erase defign the Turk and Pope, who will both be deftroyed at, or juft before, the converfion of the
Fews, and their return to their own land; which is
_ prophefied of in the two following verfes.
_ ¥. 19. And I will bring Ifrael again to bis habitation, &c.| Or fold", or place of pafturage; for the metaphor of theep is ftill continued. » J/rae defigns not the tribes of Yudab and Benjamin, and the Levites, and-a few of the other tribes mixed with them only, but all Z/rae/, together with Fudab, as appears from the ‘following verfe; and fo this prophecy had not its full accomplifhment at the ‘ews return from the Badylonifh captivity; but refpects their future converfion, when all J/rae thall be faved, and they will return to their own land. Kimchi fays, this refers to time yet to come; which he prefers to the other fenfe he mentions, of the return of the captivity of Babylon. And be fhall feed on Carmel and Bafoan, and bis foul foall be fatisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead, which, as they were all fruitful places, and had good pafturage, fo they belonged to the ten tribes; which fhows that it refpects the return of them, and the fulnefs of bleffings, both temporal and. {piritual, they fhall then enjoy..
y¥. 20. In thofe days, and that time, faith the Lord, &c.} When myftical Badylon fhall be deftroyed, and the Yews will be converted and brought into their landy and be in poffeffion of every temporal and fpiritual mercy; it will then moft clearly appear, that they are the favourites of heaven, and all their fins are forgiven them, as follows: the iniquity of Ifrael foall be fought for, and there foall be none, and the fins of Fudah, and they foall not be found, not that they will be wholly free from fin, or there will be none inthem; or none committed by them; or that their fins are no fins; ‘or that God has no fight or knowledge of them; but that they will not be found upon them, fo as to be charged on them in a judicial way; having been removed from them to Chrift, and fatisfaction made for them by him; who has finifhed them, and made an end of them, fo as that no condemnation or punithment can be inflicted on them for them; wherefore, fhould they be fought for by fatan, or by the law and juitice of God, they will never be found,
- fo as to be brought againft them to their condemnation. The reafon is, for I will pardon them whom I referve; the remnant, according to the ele€tion of grace, whom God has chofen in Chrift, preferved in him, and referved for himfelf, for his own glory, and for eternal happinefs; thefe are pardoned freely for Chrift’s fake; and being pardoned, no fin is imputed to them; all is removed from them, as far as the eaft is from the weft; covered out of the fight of God; hid from: the eye of avenging juftice; blotted out as a debt-book, which is not legible, or as a cloud which is no moore; caft by the Lord behind his back, and into the depths of the fea, and entirely forgotten; never remembered or feen more, but buried in everlafting oblivion and obfcurity; fee Rom, xi. 26, 27. Numb. xxiii. 21.
¥. 21. Go up againft the land of Merathaim, 8&c.] Thought to be the country of the Mardi, which lay part of it in Afyria, and part of it in Armenia, -exprefied in the dual number, becaufe one part of it lay on one fide the Tigris, and the other on the other fide. Cyrus, with his army of Medes and Perfians, is here called upon; who, according to Herodotus, pafled thro’, Ajria to Bebylon: and fo it may be agreeably rendered, go dy the land of Merathaim, or the country of the Mardi. Many interpreters take it for.an appellative, and not the proper name of a country. The Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, the land of rulers; and the Targum, ** the land of the rebellious people;” and fo Kin:- chi”: and to the fame fenfe Yarchi, the land “ that ‘* hath exafperated me, and prévoked me to an- *¢ ger;” meaning the land of the Chaldeans, which had ruled over others, rebelled again{t the Lord, and provoked him to wrath againft it. The word being in the dual number, may in the myftical fenfe, refpeét the two antichrifts, the eaftern and weftern, that have ruled over the nations, and rebelled againft God, and provoked him; the Turks and Papifts, thofe two rebels, the beaft and falfe prophet, Rev. xix. 20. againft whom the chriftian princes will be bid to goup. Even againft it, and againft the inhabitants of Pekod, the name of a place in Afyria; fee Ezek. xxiii. 23, by which alfo Cyrus might go up to Babylon, fo Farchi; and the Targum takes it to be the name of a place: but Kimchi and others take it to be an appellative; and fo it may be rendered, the inhabitants of vifitation*; becaufe the time was come to vifit and punith them for their fins;\and may particularly defign the inhabitants of Babylon, the city to be vifited for its iniquities; and efpecially myftical Babylon, which fhall come up in remembrance before God, Rev. xvi. 19. Wafte and utterly deftroy after them, faith the Lord; either after the deftruction of the places before-mentioned; or purfue after thofe that flee,. and make their efcape from thence, and deftroy them; or rather their pofterity, the remnant of them, as the Zargum: and do according to all that I have commanded thee, either Gyrus, according to all the Lord commanded him by the prophet Jaieb, as Farchi; or the feven angels, that are to pour the vials of wrath on antichrift, the kings of the earth, who are to fulfil the will of God upon the man of fin, Rev. xvi. 1. and xvii. 16.
¥. 22. A found of battel is in the land, &c.] In the land of the Chaldeans, as it is expreffed in the - Septuagint and Arabic verfions; the noife of warricrs, the clafhing of arms, and found of trumpets, both of the enemy-entered into the land, and of the Chaldeans arming themfelves in their own defence: and of great deftruction;, in the fame land; or in Babylon, as Abarbinel fupplies it; this is the confequent of the former.
¥. 23. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut afunder and broken? &c.|} The Targum is, ** how ** is the king cut down and broken that moved «¢ the whole earth?” The king of Babylon, or the kingdom of Babylon, which was like an hammer for its hardnefs and ftrength; and being an inftrument, in the hand of God, of beating to pieces and deftroying the kingdoms and nations around it; but is now deftroyed itfelf. Thefe are the words either of the prophet, or rather of the people of other nations, wondering how this deftruction came about, and rejoicing at it. How is Babylon become a defolation among the nations? this ex~- plains who and. what is meant by the hammer of the earth, and by its being cut afunder and broken, even
.Syn YAN by contra terram rebellantium, = pd Ivy habitatores vifitationis, Vatablus, even the utter deftruction of the city and kingdom of Babylon., y. 24. Ihave laid a fnare for thee, and thou art alfo taken, O Babylon, &c.] Referring to the ftratagem that Cyrus ufed, in draining the river Eupbrates, and marching his army up thro’ it into the midft of the city of Babylon, and took it by furprize, whilft the inhabitants at night were feafting and revelling; this is faid to be a fnare laid by the Lord, becaufe it was according to the counfel of his will, and thro’ his directing and over-ruling providence: and thou waft not aware; of what the enemy had done, of his march into the city, and taking of it; for, as Herodotus and Ariftotle report, one part of the city was feized and taken, before the other knew any thing of it: thou art found, and alfo caught; as wild beafts in a net, or birds in a fnare. The Targum is, * thy fins are fought, << and are found, and alfo thou art taken:” decaufe thou baft firiven again? the Lord; as perfons litigate a point with each other in courts of judicature, or as warriors ftrive againft each other in battel; fhe finned againft the Lord, and offended him, not only by her idolatry and luxury, but by her oppreffion of his people, and prophaning the vefiels of his houfe; as Bel/hazzar did, the night Babylon was taken. The Targum is, ‘* for with “* the people of the Lord thou haft ftrove.”
y. 25. The Lord bath opened his armoury, &c.| Alluding to the manner of kings, who have fome particular edifice built for an armoury; fee Cant. iv. 4. wherein are provided and laid up all forts of armour, fmall and great; which are fetched out from thence, in time of need. This armoury is to be underftood of Media and Perfia, and other parts, from whence a mighty army, well accoutred, was brought by the powerful providence of God; and indeed, the whole world is his armoury, from whence he can raife up inftruments to do his will at pleafure; or, bis treafury’; fo the Targum, and fome think this is faid with reference to the treafure of the Lord’s houfe the king of Babylon had feized upon, and now by way of retaliation the Lord would open his treafury to his ruin: and hath brought forth the weapons of bis indignation, as a king, when he goes to war, opens his armoury, and takes out armour of every kind, both offenfive and defenfive, fwords, {pears, fhields, &c, fo the Lord would now bring the Medes and Perfians, well armed, to be the inftruments of his wrath and vengeance on Babylon: or, the veffels of his indignation*; having fome view to the veffels of the fanctuary, as fome think, the king of Babylon had taken away and prophaned; thefe may well be applied to the vials of wrath poured out on the antichriftian, ftates by the angels, called forth out of the temple, Rev. xv. 1, 8. and xvi. 1: for this is the work of the Lord God of hofts in the land of the Chaldeans, which he decreed and ordered to be done; and which, without his power and providence, could never have been done: compare with this Rev. xviii. 8.
¥. 26. Come againft her from the utmoft border, &¢.] Or, from the end*; from the end of the earth 5 from the Perfian gulf, and the Ca/pian fea, on which the Perfians and Medes bordered; from fians, who are here called unto, brought others along with them in their army from places ftill — more remote; for this is not to be underftood with the Targum, of entring into Babylon on one fide; or with Farchi, of beginning at one end of the city, that it might not be known,’ and be taken fuddenly: open her ftoreboufes; where her gold, filver, jewels, and other precious things lay: or, her barns or granaries °, as the Targum and Kimchi; where the fruits and increafe of the earth were laid up; and may figuratively defign her cities and fortified places full of inhabitants, as well as of riches and ftores of all kinds: caf her up as heaps; as heaps of rubbifh to make a caufe-way of, and then tread upon them to make it fmooth: or, as heaps, or /heaves * of corn; tread upon them as oxen do, and thereby threfh them out; fo Yerchi interprets it, ‘* threfh her as grains of wheat;” and to’ this fenfe the Targum reters, ** confume her fubftance “¢ as they confume heaps of wheat;”* fee Rev. xviii. 12, 13,14: and deftroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left, of the city of Babylon, its inhabitants, wealth and riches; fo complete fhould the deftrues tion be, Rev. xviii. 8, 21,22, 23. 21019
¥.27. Slay all her bullocks, 8c.) Or, all ber® mighty ones, as the Targum and Vulgate Latin vers fion; her princes and great men, as Yarebi, Kim* chi and Abarbinel,; compared to bullocks for their {trength, fatnefs and fiercenefs; fee P/ xxii. 12, 13s this may well be applied to the flaughter of kings, captains and mighty men at the battel of Armageddon, Rev. xix. 18: let them go down to the Slaughter; to the place of flaughter, as oxen do infenfible, and whether they will or no: wo unto them; for their day is come, the time of their vifitation; the time of their deftruction, of vifiting or ~ punifhing them for their fins, appointed’ by the’ Lord, which they could not pafs; and fo was a woful and dreadful time to them.
y. 28. The voice of them that flee and efcape out of the land of Babylon, &c.| ‘The Fews that were captives in Babylon, upon the taking of it, took that opportunity to flee out of it, and make their efcape to their own land, which fome of themmight do before the proclamation of Gyrus; whofe voice declaring to their brethren in Fudea what God had done to Babylon, and rejoicing at it, was as if it was heard by the prophet in vifion, or under a fpirit of prophecy; this alfo is true of them, who will be called out of myftical Babylon, and efcape from thence, juft before its deftruétion, Rev. xviil. 4: 40 declare in Zion the vengeance of thé Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple, the vengeance which God took on the Chaldeans for their ill-ufage of his people, and for plundering and burning his temple; this the Yews, when they came to their own land, declared to their brethren there with joy and pleafure; and a like joy will be exprefled when God fhall avenge his people on antichrift, for his blafphemy againft him, his name, his tabernacle, — and them that dwell in it, Rev. xiii. 6. and xviii. 20. and xix. 1, 2. ‘ y¥.29. Call together the archers againft Babylo &c.] The Medes and Perfians, who were well {killed in archery, efpecially the Elamites, fee xxii. 6. hence Horace ‘ makes mention of Medi the moft diftant countries; for the Medes and Per- Y AN thefaurum faum, Vulg. Lat.
under his,command fixty thoufand men that wore, fre iz his cities, and it fall devour all round about targets, and were archers; fee the note on yk 9. Some render it, many, as the Targum; and the fenfe is, either gather many together againft Babylon, a large army; or caufe many to hear the vengeance again{t Babylon, publith this good news; fo the word ufed by the Targum fignifies; and this will be done by gofpel-preachers, with refpect to myftical Babylon, Rev. xiv..6, 8: all ye that bend the bow camp againft it wound about, let none thereof e/cape; furround it, on, every fide; befiege it fo clofely that none may be able to efcape: recompence her according to her werk: according to all that fhe hath done, do unto ber; which is the law of retaliation; fee the note on ¥.15. and with it compare Rev. xvill. 6: for fhe hath been proud againft the Lord, againft the holy one of Ifrael, behaved haughtily and contemptuoufly towards the -Lord and his people; burning the city and temple of Ferujalem; profaning the veflels of it, and. illtreating the captive Jews; fo the Targum, “ be- “* caule fhe hath fpoken ill againft the people of ** the Lord, faying words which were not right “* before the holy one of J/rael;” which may fitly be applied to antichrift the man of fin, fitting. in the temple of God, fhewing himfelf as God; opening his mouth in. blafphemy againft him and his faints, 2 Theff. ii..4. Rev. xiii. 5, 6. y¥..30. Therefore. foall ber young men fall in the fireets, 8cc.| Or furely ‘; it is the form of an oath, according to Farchi. Cyrus when he took Badylon, ordered proclamation to be made that the inhabitants fhould keep within doors; and that whoever were found in the ftreets fhould be put to death °, as doubtlefs many were: and all ber men of war foall be cut off in that day, faith the Lord, as Bel- _feazzar and his guards were"; fee Dan. v. 30. compare with this Kev. xix. 18. ¥. 31. Bebold, I am againft thee, O thou moft proud, faith the Lord God of hofts, &c.] Or, O pride, O man of pride!; intolerably proud, fuperlatively fo, as the kings of Babylon were, as Nebuchadnezzar, and Belazzar \ikewife, the prefent king; fo the Yargum interprets it of a king, ‘‘ be- *¢ hold, I fend my fury againft thee, O wicked «< king;” and is applicable enough to the man of fin, that monfter of pride, that exalts himfelf above all that is called God, or is worfhipped, 2 Theff ii. 4. and therefore it is no wonder that the Lord is againft him, who refifts all that are proud; and wo to him and them that he is againft: for the day is come, the time that I will vifit thee; in a way of vindictive wrath and juftice, for pride and other fins; ee. e727, ¥. 32. And the moft proud fhall fumble and fall, &c.] Or pride, as before; the man of pride, who is fo proud that he may be called pride itfelf. The Targum,.as before, interprets it a wicked king; and Abarbinel underftands it, of Belhazzar particularly, who was flain the night that Babylon was taken. It may be underftood of the whole kingdom and monarchy of Babylon, which was a fuperb ftate;. but all its grandeur and glory were brought down and laid in the duft at once, as myftical Badylon will, when it will be faid, Babylon the great, the proud and the haughty, is fallen, Rev. xviii. 2: and none foall raife bim up; the kingdom of Baby- Jon fhall not be reftored again, nor the king of it have any fucceffor, nor the city be rebuilt; compare with this Rev. xviii. 21: and I will kindle @ him, in Babylon, the metropolis of the kingdom, and in all others round about it: it denotes the _ utter deftruétion of the whole monarchy, It may be applied to the burning of Rome with fire, and the ruin of its whole jurifdiction; for when that is deftroyed, the cities of the nations all around thall fall, which belong unto it; fee Rev. xviii. 8. and XVi. 19..
¥.33. Thus faith the Lord of hofts, &c.| Thisisa preface to another prophecy, detached from the former, refpecting the redemption of the Lord’s people by the Meffiah; and is ufed to excite the attention to it, as well as to affure the truth of it: the children of I/rael, and the children of ‘Judah were oppreffed together; which can’t be well underftood of the ten tribes of J/rael, and of the two tribes of Fudab and Benjamin, or the whole body of the Fews/h people; fince thefe. were not oppreffed at one and the fame time, nor by one and the fame monarch or monarchy. The children of J/rael, or the ten tribes, were carried captive by Salmanefer the Afyrian monarch; and the children of ‘fudah by Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian monarch, a hundred and fifty years after; to fay that fome of the ten tribes were mixed with the children of Fudab, at the time when carried captive into Babylon, and fo opprefied together with them, can hardly be thought to anfwer the import of the phrafe, the children of Ifrael; which feems to defign the body of that people. It is better therefore to underftand it of the whole myttical J/rael of God, as in their nature-ftate oppreffed by fin and fatan, being under their dominion; or as labouring under the oppreffions and perfecutions of antichrift; or elfe of the Fewifh people in their prefent captivity, who will be redeemed from it, and converted, and all J/rael thall be faved: and all that took them captives, held them faft; they refufed to let them go; as the Afyrians and Chaldeans took and held faft literal J/rae/ and Fudab; fo the elect of God, the //rael he has chofen for himfelf, are taken captive by fin and fatan, and are held by them, till they are {natched from them by powerful and efficacious grace; and as many of God’s J/rae/ are taken and held captive under the antichriftian yoke; and as the Fews to this day are in a ftate of exile and captivity, from which they cannot. free themfelves.
¥. 34. Their redeemer is ftrong, the Lord of hos is his name, &c.] And feeing his name is the Lord of hofts or armies, and has all the armies of heaven and earth at his command; and efpecially fince he is Jehovah, the everlafting and unchangeable I AM; he muft be ftrong and mighty, yea the almighty, and fo able to redeem his //rae/, as" the Meffiah was, who is here intended; from fin, fatan and the world; from the law, its curfe and condemnation; from death, and hell, and wrath to come; as well as to deliver his people from the Romifh yoke, and to avenge them on all their enemies: he fhall thoroughly plead their caufe, with God and man; he that is the redeemer of men, is their advocate with the Father; with whom he pleads on their behalf his blood, righteoufnefs and facrifice, for all bleffings of grace and glory; and to all charges of law and juftice, and their own hearts, and the condemnings of them; and he pleads their caufe with men, and rights their wrongs, and
‘avenges the injuries done them by antichrift and others, Rev. xix. 2: that he may give reft to the land;
land not to the land of Fudea only, but to the whole world; which will be at reft and in peace upon the deftruction of myftical Babylon, and the converfion of the ews, and their return to their own land; as well as the Meffiah will give {piritual reft to all the redeemed ones here, and eternal reft, which remains for the people of God here- ‘after: ond difguiet the inbabitants of Babylon, by the deftruction of it and them; and rendring tribulation to them that trouble his people; and by punifhing antichrift with the vials of his wrath, | and with everlafting damnation, the fmoke of whofe torment fhall afcend for ever and ever, 2 Theff i. 6, 7,9. Rev. xiv. 11. ahd xvi. 9, 10, 11, 21.
¥. 35. A fword is upon the Chaldeans, faith the Lord, &c.] Or, foail be *; or, O fword, be thou on the Chaldeans’; that is, the fword of the Medes and Perfians; thofe that kill with the fword, as the Targum; in the myftic fenfe, the chriftian princes that fhall draw the fword againft the antichriftian {tates: and upon the inbabitants of Babylon, the metropolis of Chaldea; the common people in it, as diftinguifhed from thofe of high rank and degree following: and upon her princes; Belfhazzar and his nobles, who-were flain the night Badylon was taken: and upon her wifemen; prime-minitters, politicians and counfellors of ftate; neither high bitth nor great wifdom can fecure from the fword of the enemy, when it has a commiffion from God, as it had here.
¥. 36. A fword is upon the lars, &c.| Some render it, dars™, as the word fometimes ficnifies; ‘and interpret it of great men, who are the ftrength and fecurity of cities and commonwealths; but thefe are mentioned both before and after. ‘The Targum renders it, diviners; and fo Farchi and Kimchi interpret it"; of which there were many among the Chaldeans, who were a lying fett of men, who impofed upon, and deceived the people;. thefe with their divinations and foothfayings could not fave the land, nor themfelves, from the devouring the caufe of the ruin of it; fee I/ xlvii. 9, 12, 13. Rev. xviii. 23: and they fhall dote; or, that they may become foolifh°; be infatuated, and act a mad part, and be at.their wits end; not knowing what courfe to take for their own fafety, and much lefs be able to give direction and advice to others: a fword is upon her mighty men, and they hall be difmayed; the foldiers and their officers, the moft valiant and courageous of them; thefe would be in the utmoft fright and confternation at the approach of the enemy; efpecially when they perceived the _ city taken, and the carnage made of the king and his nobles. | ¥. 37. A fword is upon their horfes, and upon their chariots, &c.| Upon the horfemen, and thofe that rode in chariots; upon the whole cavalry, which fhould fall into the enemies hands, and be cut to pieces; fee Rev. xix. 18: and upon all the mingled people, that are in the midft of ber; thofe of other nations that fojourned in Babylon, or came thither for merchandife; the word having, as Kimchi ob- “ferves, fuch a fignification; or rather her auxilianies, troops confifting of other people that were her allies, or in her’pay and fervice: and they fhall become as women’; timorous, faint-hearted, quite