Exposition of the Whole Bible

have finned, and confider how grieving fin is te him; and when they are broken for it themfelves; they then loath their fins and themifelves for it and where all this is, there is trué repefitance. ¥.10. And they fhall know that I am the Lord, &c.] As in ¥.7: and that I have not faid in vin; either within himfelf, in his own purpofes and decrees; fo the Targum, ‘* I have not in vain ** decreed in my word;” or by the mouth of the prophets: that I woxld do this evil anto them; iis carrying them captive, and difperfing them in other jahds’;' for this is not the evil of \in, but the evil of punifhment, or of affliction. © (i) SET ¥. 10. Thus faith the Lord God, fmite with thine hand, and flamp with thy foot, 8c.) Thele ate eeftures of perfons in ‘diftrefs and azony, who, to thew their trouble and grief, fmite one hand apainft the other, or fmite with the hand upon the t oe as in Fer. xxxi. 19: and flretch out, or make a dij~ tenfion with the foot *; as it is in the Hebrew texts extend their thighs; throw out their feet; ftamp with them; beat the earth, and make it fhake, as the Syriac verfion; all expreffive of anguith and forrow: and fay, alas! for all the evil abominations of the boufe of Ifraei, the word alas or wo, as the Targum, Farchi and Kimchi, an interjection of | mourning and lamentation, explains the above geftures; and what follows fhews the caufe of all, namely, the fins and abominations committed by the houfe of J/rael; which, they being” infenfible of, and unconcerned about, the prophet is ordered to take fuch a method to awaken them out’ of their ftupidity and lethargy; and the rather, finee the heavieft of judgments were coming wpon them = for they fhail fall by the fword, by the famine, and by ‘the peftilence; which are threatened in ‘ch. v, 125 16,17. and the perfons on whom they fhould be feparately executed, are mentioned in the following verte. dahon y.12. He that is far off hall die of the peftilence, &c.]\. That flies from the enemy into the wildernefs, or into other countries, thinking himfelf fafe there, the plague fhall feize him, ‘and he fhall die of that; there’s no fleeing from God, and efcaping, his hand; when he refolves to punifh for fin, he has various ways to execute his wrath: and he that is near foall fall by the fword, that is, out of the city, and near it, attempting to get away; but within the reach of the enemy, ‘fhall be flain b him: and he that revmaineth, and is befieged, Pak die by the famine, that abides in the city, and does ‘not attempt to go out; but continues in thé fiege, hoping the enemy will be obliged to depart, fhall perith by the grievous famine. The Terguts is, ** he that remains, and goes into the Cities oF “ fiege, fhall die with famine:” thus will I ae. complifh my fury upon them, which before had been gradually, by little and little, falling upon them), in order to bring them to repentance; but being incorrigible, wrath is brought upon them to the uttermoft; and God fulfils the whole’ counfel 6F his will in their deftruétion. o Dia <a ¥. 13. Then foall ye know that I am the Lord, &c.] Whom they had denied, by ferving other gods; but now by thofe punifhtnents my = would be opened to ‘fee, and be obliged to ledge that there was no God’ but the Lord: wher their flain men fball be among their idols round ebout their altars; as is threatened ¥. 5. by which it will appear, that the idols whom they worfhipped, coul

;), ai ‘arial 1 ale ‘ TIM. YP extende pede tuo, Pagninus, Montanus, Polanus; fac diftenfionem cum pede tuo, Munfter; divarica pedes not fave them; fince they fhould fall juft by them, round about the altars on which they facrificed unto them; which idols were placed, and altars for their worfhip built, upon every bigh bill, in all the tops of the mountains: mountains and high hills were ufual places of idolatry among the heathens, in which the Fews imitated them; and particularly Hercdotus * {ays of the Perfians, that going up to the higheft parts of mountains, they offered facrifice to Fupiter; fo they called the whole circle of the heavens: avd under every green tree, and under very thick oak, fee 1 Kings xiv. 23. 2 Kings xvi. 4. Fer. ii. 20. and iii. 6. here their flain were to fall, where they committed their idolatry: even in the place where they did offer fweet favour to all their idols, or dunghil-gods; yet, tho’ they were fuch, {weet favour or incenfe was offered to them; wherefore in righteous judgment, here their carcafes fhould fall and lie, and rot and ftink.

x. 14. So will 1 ftretch cut mine band upon them, &c.] Not unto them, in a way of mercy; but upon, or againft them, in a way of judgment. The Yargum paraphrafes it, ‘‘ and I will lift up « the ftroke of my power upon them;” his mighty hand of vengeance: and make the land defolate, by deftroying the inhabitants of it: yea, more defolate than the wildernefs towards Diblath, in all their babitations; fo the Syriac verfion renders it, and I will make this land more defolate than the land of Diblath; but other verfions, I will make the land

defolate from the wildernefs of Diblath; to which the Targum agrees; or, fromthe wilderne/s to Diblath. Kimchi and Ben Melech think this is the fame with Riblath; as Deuel is put for Reuel in Numb. i. 14: and ii. 14. which was in the land of Hamath, and which, Yerom fays, was in his times called Epiphania in Syria here it was that Nebuchadaexzar brought Zedekiah, and flew his fons before him; Fer. XXXix. 5, 6. this, tho’ in Hamath in Syria, was on the borders of the land of J/rael, Numb. xxxiv. 8, 11. fo that hence from the defert of Diblath, as the Arabic verfion renders it, even to Ferufalem, as may be fupplied, takes in the whole land, and fhews that it fhould be utterly defolate. There is a Beth-diblathaim mentioned: in Fer. xlviii. 22. as in Moab and there is alfo Almon-diblathaim, which was one of the ftations of the J/raelites, and. feems to be in Moab, or on its borders, Numb. xxxiii: 46, 47. and appears by the places named with it, to be the fame as that in Feremy,; and fo was part of that terrible wildernefs thro’ which the J raelites pafled; and to which the defolation of the land of L/rael by the Chaldeans is compared; and which ferves to confirm our verfion, which makes the defolation to be greater than that: and they fhall know that I am the Lord; the true God; the one and only Lord God; who never changes his purpofes 3 fulfils his promifes and threatnings; and there’s no efcaping his mighty hand.

HIS chapter contains a prophecy of the fpeedy deftruction of the Fews, as being juft at hand; of the particular judgments that fhould come upon them; of the horror that fhould feize them; and the diftrefs that all ranks of men among them fhould be in, a few only efcaping, who are defcribed as in mournful circumftances. The deftruction in general is denounced as being very near; the end being come, which is often repeated; and as it is reprefented as fudden, fo. without mercy; which is declared ¥. 1, 2, 3,°4, 5, 65 7, 85 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. the particular judgments, fword, peftilence and famine, are mentioned in ’ y. 15. aiid the few that fhould efcape are compared to mourning doves, ¥. 16. the trembling, horror and fhame that fhould be upon all are intimated in y. 17, 18. the unprofitablenefs of their gold and filver to deliver them; and the unfatisfying nature of thefe things are expreffed, y. 19. the profanation and deftruéction of their temple are prophefied of, ¥. 20, 21, 22. and for their murder, rapine and oppreffion, ’tis threatened that their houfes fhould be poffefied by the worft of heathens, and their holy places defiled; and one calamity fhould come upon another; when their application to prophets, priefts and ancient men for counfel, would be in vain, ¥. 23, 24, 25, 26. and king, prince and people fhould be in the moft melancholy and diftvefled circumitances, y. 27.

_ x. 4. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, faying.| Or again, as the Arabic verfion; for this is a diftinét prophecy from the former, tho’ of the fame kind with it; and was delivered out, either immediately upon the former; or however, fome time between that and the following in the next chapter, which has a date to it. The Targum calls it, the word of prophecy from the

¥.2. Alo thou fon of man, thus faith the Lord God unto the land of Irael, 8c.]. The inhabitants of it; not the ten tribes, who were already carried captive; but the two tribes of Fudah and- Benjamin, and thofe that were with them, who dwelt in the land. The mountains, hills, rivers and vallies were before addreffed; now the land itfelf: what the Lord by the prophet faid unto the land, or the people of it, follows: a end: for here a colon is to be placed; that is; the end of God’s patience and forbearance; he would bear with them no longer, at leaft but a very little while; the time of vengeance was coming upon them, and an ut+ ter confumption fhould' be made of them; fee Lam. iv. 18: she end is come upon the four corners of the earth, or land; for not the whole world, and the end of that, as in Matt. xxiv. 3. are meant; but the land of Fudea, and the deftruction of it, which fhould be general; upon the four wings of it, as in the Hebrew text; that is, in all parts of it, eaft, weft, north and fouth. The Targum is, “ the “* punifhment of the end, or the punifhment de- “* termined to come upon the four winds of the “ earth;” fee Rev. vii. 1. and this punifhment was juft going to be inflicted on them for this prophecy was in the fixth year of king Zedekiah; and in the ninth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar befieged Ferufalem, and inthe eleventh year took it, 2 Kings xxv. 1, 2.:

¥. 3. Now is the end come upon thee, &c.] This is repeated for the confirmation of it, and ive Oe fake of application of it to the people of [rael, of whom he had before fpoken in the third perion; but now in the fecond, in order to aroufe them and excite attention.: aud I will fend mine anger upon thee, the token of it, the punifhment of their fins: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, pafs fentence, and execute it, as their evil ways and practices deferved: and I will recompenfe, or put upon thee‘, all thine abominations; caufe them to bear as a burden, the juft punifhment of their deteftable iniquities; which would be more than they would be able to bear, though not more than they deferved, y.-4.. And mine eye fhall not fpare thee, neither will I have pity, &c.] Tho’ the punifhment will be heavy, and the lamentation will be great; fee ch. v.11: but I will recompenfe thy ways upon thee; the evil of punifhment, for the evil of fin, the righteous demerit of their actions: and thine abominations foall be in the midft of thee, not taken away, unatoned for, and indeed unrepented of. The Targum is, ‘* and the punifhment of thine <¢ abominations fhall be in the midft of thee:” end ye foall know that Iam the Lord, to whom vengeance. belongs; who takes notice of finful actions, and punithes for them; to whom appertain the perfections of omnifcience, omnipotence, and punitive juttice.

¥. 5. Thus faith the Lord God: &c.| Here fhould be a ftop, a colon, requiring attention to what follows, it being fomething awful and terrible: an evil, an only evil, behold it cometh, meaning the deftruction of the city and temple; which, tho’ but one, was fuch an one, as was never known before, nor was there any like it. The Zargum is, ‘* evil after evil, lo it cometh;” one evil after another; when one evil is gone, another comes, asin y. 26. The Syriac verfion is, bebold evil for evil comes, the evil of punifhment, for the evil of fin.

¥. 6. An end is come, the end is come, &c.] Thefe words, fo often repeated, fhow the eagernefs and concern of the prophet’s mind; the fpeed and hafte deftruction was making; and the great ftupidity of the people, which required fuch a frequent repetition: ¢t watcheth for thee, that is, their damnation flumbered not, but was awake, and waited till the time was up, which was juit at hand, for it to take place; fee 2 Pet. ii. 3: behold it is come; either the end, or rather the evil before-mentioned; it was juft at the door; it denotes the certainty of it, and its near approach.

¥. 7. Ihe morning is come upon thee, O thou that dwelleft in the land, &c.| ‘That is, early ruin was come, or was coming, upon the inhabitants of Fudea, which before is faid to be awake, and to watch for them; and now the day being broke, the morning come, it haftened to them. Some, becaufe this word * is ufed in Jf xviii. 5. for a crown or diadem, think a crowned head, a king, is here meant; particularly Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the inftrument of the deftruétion of Ferufalem. So the Targum, ‘ the kingdom is re- ‘* vealed upon or againft thee, O inhabitant of the ‘* Jand.” ‘archi interprets it of the morning fetting as the fun does, its light and glory difappearing; and fo denotes a dark and gloomy day. Te time is come, the appointed time of. Feru/alem’s ruin, the time of her vifitation: the day of trouble, or noise, is near; either Of the Chaldean army, its chariots and horfes, and of their armour; or of the howling and lamentation of the Jews: and not the founding again of the mountains; not like the echo of a man’s voice between the mountains, which is only imaginary, but this is real; fo Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it: or this was not like the fhoutings of the vintage, which were joyful ones, //. xvi. 9, 10. but this the voice of Jamentation and forrow, doleful founds. Farchi fays, the word fignifies the cry of the voice, preclaiming or calling on perfons to fly to the tops of the mountains, which now fhould not be; and fo the Targum, ‘* and there is no fleeing or efcaping to ‘*¢ the tops of the mountains.”.

¥. 8. Now will I fhortly pour out my fury upon thee, &c.] It might be very well faid to be fhortly, or near at hand, that the Lord would bring down his yuadgments upon this people; fince it was fome time in the fixth year of king Feboiachin’s captivity that this prophecy was delivered; and it was in the ninth year that Nebuchadnezzar came up againtt Ferufalem, fo that it was but about three years, ere God would begin to pour out his fury on them: and accomplifb mine anger upon thee; not only fend it, and begin to exprefs it, but go on to finifh it, till he had fpent all his fury upon themr he meant and threatened, and their fins deferved - and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and 1 will recompenfe thee for all thine abominations; which is repeated from y. 3. for the confirmation of it, and to fhew the certainty of it, that nothing would prevent it.

¥. 9. And mine eye foall not fpare, &c.] This verfe is the fame with y. 4. only inftead of J wil] recompenfe thy ways upon thee, here it is, I will recompenfe thee according to thy ways; which have both the fame fenfe, fhewing the equity and jutticée of the divine proceedings: and to the claufe, and ye foall know that I am the Lord, *tis added, that Jmiteth, with the red of his anger, infliéts punifhment for fin. The Syriac verfion is, that fimiteth them; the Fews, by fuffering them to be carried captive: and fo the Targum, ** I am the Lord ‘«¢ that bringeth upon you a fmiting,” or the blow; the fenfe is, that when it came, they fhould be fenfible that it was the Lord’s doing, ° y. 10. Behold the day, behold it is come, 8zc.} That is, the day of trouble and diftrefs, faid to be near, ¥. 3: the morning is gone forth; fee the note on y.7: the rod hath bloomed, pride hath budded;.

both thefe phrafes may be underftood of Nebuchadnexzar; he was the rod, with which the Lord {mote his people, as the 4fyrian monarch is called the rod of his anger, Jf x. 5. and was a very proud prince, and had budded and-bloffomed, and had brought forth much bad fruit of that kind; fee Dan. ili. 15. and iv. 30, 37. or thefe may be feparately confidered; the rod may be interpreted ot Nebuchadnezzar, which had been growing up, and preparing for the chaftifement oF the people of the Yews, and now was juft ready to be made ufe of; and pride may refpect the fin of that people, which was the caufe. of their being {mitten with this rod, as the following words feem to indicate. ‘The Targum is, ** a ruler hath budded, a ** wicked one hath appeared.” a y. 11. Violence is rifen up into a rod of da nefs, &c.] Some underftand this of the Chaldeans,

‘ t;: who > mii f poy SPUN ponam fuper te, Pagninus; dabo fuper te, Montanus; reponam fuper te, Junius & Tremellius, se who came with great violence againit the Jews, and:

were a rod in the hand of the Lord, to fcourge them for their wickednefs; and this feems to be the fenfe of the Targum, ‘ fpoilers are rifen up to *¢ vifit the wicked;” but rather the violence, oppreffion, and rapine of the Yews are meant, and mentioned as the caufe of their punifhment; for this their oppreffion of the poor and needy, the widow and the fatherlefs among them, God fuffered the king of Badylon, a wicked prince, to come and chaitife them: none of them thall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs meaning not the Chaldean army, as if they came not of themfelves, but of God, and much lefs were cut off, for they returned to their own land again; but the Fews, who either, fhould die in the fiege with the famine and peftilence, or be put to death by the fword, or be carried into captivity:. etther thall there be wailing for them; the deftruction fhould be fo general, that there would bé but few eft to mourn; and thofe that were left, would be ftruck with iuch a ftuper and amazement at the calamity, that they would not be capable of mourning; or,with fuch a dread of the enemy, that there would be no place for lamentation over their dead friends and relatiofis. mi ¥. 12. The time is come, the day draweth near, &c.] According to the Targum, the time of the recompence of iniquities, and the day of punifhment of fins; of the fins of the Jews, by the Chal- écan army, which no doubt is true; but it feems chiefly to refer to what follows: and the {fenfe is, the time was coming on, in which Jet not the buyer rejoice, nor the feller mourn, it is ufual for the buyer of houfes or lands to rejoice, becaufe an addition is made to his eftate, and efpecially when he has made, as he thinks, a good purchafe; and the feller, he mourns, becaufe he is obliged to part with his eftate to pay his debts, and fo is reduced in his circumftances; but now the time was coming, when the ene would have no occafion to rejoice, nor the other to mourn; not the buyer rejoice, becaufe being carried captive, he can’t enjoy his pofleffions; nor the feller mourn, becaufe if he had not fold his houfe or field, he muft have left it: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof, upon the whole body of the Yewi/2 nation, high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, buyer and feller; thofe that are in good circumftances, and thofe that are in bad ones; fo that hereby they were all upon a level, in the fame cafe and condition. v.13. For the feller foall not return to that which is fold, 8c.] Inthe year of jubilee, becaufe he fhall be in captivity: according to the law in Lev. xxv. 13. when a man had fold his poffeffion, he returned to it again, if alive, in the year of jubilee; let it come fooner or later, within thirty, or twenty, or ten years after the fale, be it as it will: now the Babylonifh captivity being feventy years, in that time there muft be a jubilee; and yet thofe that had fold their eftates, -being captives in another land, could not return to them: although they were yet alive; eiiher tho’ what they have fold is in being, and in good condition; or rather, tho’ they that have fold them are in the land of the living, but not being in their own Jand, can’t poftels: for the vifion is touching. the whole multitude thereof, -the prophecy of the deftruction of the Yews is general, and refpects the whole body of the people; men of all ranks and degrees, the buyer and the feller, the rich and the poor: which foall not return’, void and of no effect, but fhall be

; 7 es 3t fully aecomplifhed; fee Jf lv. rr. tho’ fome thinlg this refers not to. prophecy, but to the people, who did not upon it return by.repentance;. in this fenfe it is taken by Yarchi and Kimchi; and fo the Targum, ‘¢ for the prophets prophefied to the whole ‘© multitude of them to return by repentance, and “¢ they returned not:” meiter fhall any firengtben himfelf in the iniquity of his life, either fecure himfelf from danger by his unrighteous mammon, his ill-gotten goods; or think, to efcape by his daring impiety, and vicious courfe of life, continued in without repentance,

¥.14. They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready, &c.] That is, the ews, when ‘they underftood that the enemy was approaching, blew the trumpet, to give the inhabitants -of their {everal cities and towns warning of it; that they might gather together, provide themfelves with ars mour, and put themfelyes in a pofture of defence, or go forth to meet the enemy, and ftop his pro+ grefs: or, blow ye the trumpet, fo the Sepiuagint and Arabic verfions; and fo may be confidered as an irony or farcafm; blow the trumpet, as “an alarm of war, and fee what will be the effect of it: but none goeth to. the battel, not having courage enough to face the enemy, but inftead of that fled to the fortified cities, and particularly to Yerufalem: the reafon of this timidity and cowardice was,

for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof; the

intention of God was to deftroy them all by one means or another; and therefore a heart was not given them to defend themfelves, or oppofe the enemy.

¥. 15. Lhe fword is without, &c.| Without the city, where the enemy was befieging; fo that thofe that went without, in order to make their efcape, fell into their hands: and the peftilence and the famine within, within the city; fo that fuch who thought themfelves fafe in their own houfes, died by thofe judgments: him that is in the field shall die by the fword, by the hands of the Chaldeans: and he that is in the city, famine and peftilence foall devour him; and he fhall die by the hand of God,

¥. 16. But they that efcape of them, foall efcape, &c.] Some few fhould efcape the peftilence, famine, and {word, and flee to the mountains, where they fhould live a very miferable and uncomfortable life; fo that this is no contradiction to the wrath of God being upon the whole multitude, y. 12,14, as it follows: and fhall be on the mountains; whither they fhall flee, when the city is broken up and taken; and fo the Syriae verfion reads it, in connexion with the preceding words, and they that efcape of them shall efcape to. the mountains; barren and defert places, where they fhall find no fubfiftence, nor have any agreeable company and converfation, but live in folitude and diftrefis: like doves of the vallies, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity; like doves that live in vallies, or gather together there, and hide themfelves in the holes of the rocks, on the fides of the vallies, from birds of prey; or are fo called, to diftinguifh them from wild doves, which when they have loft their mates, make a very mournful noife, though not loud and clamorous. _So thoie Fews that efcaped, being in fuch an uncomfortable condition, turned out of houfe and home, and de~ prived of their fubftance, fhould lament their fate, not in loud cries, left they fhould be heard by the enemy and taken, but in fecret fighs, and in a mournful tone; acknowledging to God, and to one another, their fins, they now became fenfible of, which brought. thefe calamities upon them. So God’s people, the remnant according to the election of grace, who e/cape the general ruin fin has brought on mankind, are for the moft part upon - the mountains, in an afflicted and perfecuted ftate; they are like doves for their harmleffnefs, amiablenefs, cleannefs, modefty, chaftity, fociablenefs, and timorous difpofition; and like doves of she vallies, in a low eftate, thro’ corruption, temptation, defertion, affliction, and perfecution; and mourn over their own iniquity, the fin of their nature, their unbelief and various tranfgreffions, being committed againft a God of love, ¢ontrary to his grace, grieving to his Spirit, and difhonourable to his go- {pel; and being what break their peace, bereave them of comfort, and ‘deprive them of communion with God.

¥. 17. All hands fall be feeble, &c.| No ftrength in them, to Jay hold on weapons of war to defend themfelves, or fight the enemy; no heart nor courage in them, to go forth and meet him; and even afraid to lift up their voice in mourning, left they fhould be heard, and purfued, and taken: and all knees foall be weak as water, tremble and beat one againft another, for fear of the enemy; or, ‘* fhall flow with water,” as the Targum, either with fweat or urine, which are fometimes both caufed by fear.

¥. 18. They fhall alfo gird themfelves with fackcloth, &c.] As a token of mourning, Gen. xxxvii. 34: and horror foalt cover them, either the horror of a guilty confcience, or the perpetual dread and terror of the enemy: and fhame fhall’be upon ail faces; becaufe of their fins and tranfgreffions, which they fhall now be convinced of; or becaufe of their defolate condition, their fins had brought them into: and baldnefs upon all their beads, thro’ the plucking off of the hair of their heads in their diftrefs; for to make baldnefs as a token of mourning for the dead, was forbidden the Yews, Deut. xiv. I.

¥. 19. They fhall caft their filver in the ftreets, and their gold foall be removed, &c.| As being of no ufe unto them to preferve them from famine and peftilence, and as being an hindrance to them in their flight from the enemy. Kimchi obferves, that this may be interpreted of their idols of gold and filver, which fhall now be had in contempt b them, and caft away, when they fhall find they cannot fave them from ruin; fee J/ ii. 20. Their filver and their gold fhall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; thefe can neither deliver from temporal judgments, nor from wrath to come; fee Prov. x. 2. and xi. 4. nor idols made of them: they /hall not fatisfy their fouls, nor fill their bowels; gold and filver cannot be eaten; thefe will not fatisfy the craving appetite, nor fill the hungry belly: the words fhew, that the famine would be fo great, that bread could not be got for any money; and therefore gold and filver would be of no avail; fince they could not be fed upon, or give any fatisfation to a famifhing foul; nor could idols of gold and filver neither: becaufe it is the ftumbling-block of their iniquity, what. was the occafion of their iniquity, covetoufnefs, and idolatry, at which they ftumbled, and fell into fin, and fo into punifhment for it.

¥. 20. As for the beauty of bis ornament, he fet it in majefiy, &c.] Or, for pride’. The gold, filver, jewels, riches, and treafure, which the Lord gave to this people, they made a bad ufe of; and inftead of contributing to the fupport of his worfhip and intereft, and of giving liberally to the poor, they converted it to their own pride and luxury: or rather the temple, as archi and Kimchi interpret it, is meant; which was a beautiful ftructure, and adorned with gifts, and fet for glory, majefty, and excellency by the Lord; yea, where his excellent majefty dwelt himfelf: but they made the images of their abominations, and of their detefiable things therein, or, of it*; that is, of their gold and filver, which is another bad ufe they put their riches to: or rather, i# 7¢!; that is, the temple; where having made their idols, they placed them; fee Fer. vii. 30: therefore have I fet it far from them; that being deftroyed, and they being carried away captive into a ftrange land, far from that.;

y. 21. And Iwill give it into the bands. of the frrangers for a prey, &c.] The Babylonians, who lived in a foreign country, and were ftrangers to | the commonwealth of J/rael,; the temple was fuffered of the Lord to fall into their hands as‘a prey; who fpoiled it of all its riches and glory, and carried away the vefiels of gold, of filver, and of brafs, and other valuable things; fee Fer. lit. 17 —23: and to the wicked of the earth for a fpoil; meaning the fame perfons, and the fame thing, and the fame ufe they fhould make of it; for not the wicked of the world in general are meant, but of the land, or.¢bis land; the land of Babylon, where the prophet was: and they fhall pollute it 5 by entering into it and {poiling it, by pillaging and burning it.

¥. 22. My face will I turn alfo from them, &c.4 Deny them his prefence, and withdraw his protection from them; fhew them no favour, nor afford them any help and fuccour in their diftrefs, when they cry unto him; fo the Zargum, “* I will “¢ caufe my Shekinab to remove from them?” anlefs the Chaldeans are meant, as fome think, whofe robberies and ravages the Lord would wink at, and not reftrain, but fuffer them, to plunder and fpoil at pleafure: fince it follows, and they fealt pollute my Jecret place; the holy of holies, by going into it, which none but the high-prieft might do, and he but once a year; tho’ the Targum underftands this of the Yews, and makes it to be a reafon of what is threatened in the preceding claufe,. rendering it thus, “* becaufe they have prophaned “* the land of the houfe of my Shekinah:” for the robbers fhall enter into it, and defile it; as did the king of Babylon and his army; and afterwards, in the fecond temple, xtiochus, Pompey, and Titus Vefpafian.: 4%

¥. 23. Make a chain, &c.] To bind them; not — the robbers, the Chaldeans, but the ‘ews; in order either to bring them to the bar to be tried for capital crimes hereafter-mentioned, or to be led bound in chains into captivity; fee Neh. iii. 10: for the land is full of bloody crimes; or, judgment of bloods ™; capital crimes, fuch as are deferving of death, particularly murder, or Shedding of innocent blood; fo the Targum interprets it of fins of murder:. the city is full of violence, rapine, oppreflion, and injury done to the poor, the widow, and the fa therlefs; meaning the city of Feru/falem, where