Fi * More Nevochitny Par!’ IIL,
had been inftructed in the law and worfhip of commit here? could thefe things, which are fuch
God, fhould ever go into it. Gujfetius © thinks, that Bacchus the god of wine is meant; and gives feveral reafons for it; and among the -reft obferves, that in the fourth month, called Tammuz from him, the vine was forming in ripe grapes; near the beginning of a fifth month, it was prefied out, and tunned up; and by the next month, having done hiffing, it was {topped up, which reprefented him buried; and for which the weeping was in this month.
¥.15. Then faid he unto me, haft thou feen this, O fon of man? &c.| This fhocking piece of idolatry, women weeping for Tammuz: turn thee yet again, and thou shalt fee greater abominations than thefe, or, great abominations befides thefe*.
¥.16. Aud be brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s houfe, &c.| The court of the priefts, where they offered facrifice, and into which none might come but themfelves: and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar; the porch that led into the temple, and the brazen altar, the altar of burnt-offerings, which was a very facred place, and reckoned more holy than the court of the priefts *: were about jive and twenty men; the number, more or lets, not being exactly known; who they were, whether the priefts or princes of the people, is not certain; probably fome of both: with their backs towards the temple of ihe Lord; that is, the moft holy place, which they were obliged to, in order to do what is afterwards. affirmed of them; for the fanctuary was built to the weft, that in their worfhip the Zews might not look to the eaft, as the Gentiles did; wherefore thefe men, that they might imitate the Gentiles in their idolatry, turned their backs to the moft holy place; which is an aggravation of their impiety; cafting, the utmoft contempt on God, his worfhip, and the place of it: gud their faces towards the caft; when the fun rifes: and they worfhipped the fun towards the eaft; as many nations did, tho’ forbidden. the ews by an exprels law of God, Dewé. iv. 19. and xvil. 25 3.) yet this they fell into, and had horfes and chariots devoted. to. this. idolatry’; fee 2 Kings xxiv 3, 5. and xxiil. 5, 11.. The word rendered worfbipped, is compounded of two words; one fignifying to corrupt, the other to worfbip; fhewing, that by worfhipping the fun, they corupted themfelves, and the houfe of God; and fo the Targum renders it, * and lo, they corrupted, themfelves,. worfhipping «© in the eaft the fun.;” and. fo it is explained in the Ferufalem Talmud, ‘* they corrupted the tem- © ple, and worfhipped the fun,” but Kimehi thinks, the word * confifts of the verb in the paft tenfe, and of the participle; and that the fenfe is, when the prophet faw the men worfhipping the fun to the eaft,.as amazed at it, put this queftion to thofe that went in, do.yeworfbip alfo'? {o Ben Melech.
¥. 17. Lhen.he faid unto me, haft thou feen this, O fon of man? &c.] Took notice of, and confidered this piece of idolatry, worfhipping the fun toward theveatt: is it alight thing to the houfe of Judah, that. they commit the abominations which they abominationes magnas preter iftas, Calvin.
dreadful abominations, committed here in the temple, be reckoned light things by them, as furely they cannot; yet thefe are not all that they have done: for they have filled the land with violence; with rapine and oppreffion; doing injury to the poor and needy, the widow and the fatherlefs, in all places: and have returned to provoke me to anger; by other inftances of idolatry: and lo, they put the. branch to their nofé; a laurel, or olive, or vinebranch, which idolaters carried in their hands, and put to their nofe, in honour of the idol they wor- {hipped; in like manner as they kifiéd their hand at the fight of the fun, (fod xxxi. 26, 27. and which the ‘fews did in imitation of the heathen. This is one of the eighteen places in which there is Jikkus Sopherim, or a correétion of the fcribes; who, inftead of my nofe, direct to read their nofe, hence the words are differently interpreted by the Fewi/> commentators; who, by Payot rendered branch, think an ill fmell is meant; arifing either from their pofteriors, their back parts being towards the temple; or from the incenfe which they offered up to their idols; fo Kimchi and. Menachem in Farcht; agteeable to which Fortunatus Scacchus * underftands this, not of any branch ufed by idolaters, which they put to the nofe of their idol, or their own, for the honour of that; but of the cenfer whicl the J/raelites ufed, conttary to the command of God, and which they put to their nofe, to enjoy but Guffetius' gives another fenfe of the words, rendring them, they fend forth a braztch to their anger; the Ifraelztes are compared to a vine, as in!
If. y. t. fending forth bad branches, idolatrous | actions as here m this chapter; and to thefe bad /branches they. fent forth or added another,- even anger againft God, the prophets, true believers, and right worfhippers of God; and therefore he \alfo would deal in fury and wrath, as in’ the next iverfe; fo Dr. Lightfoot ™ renders it, “‘ they fend the \** branch to my wrath, or to their own wrath, that is, to what they have deferved; as if it was faid, in the fame manner, that any one puts wood to the fire, the branch of the wild vine, that it may the quicklier be burnt; fo do thefe put the branch to my wrath, that it may burn the more fiercely;. hence’ it follows, sherefore will I alfo deal in fury,” &c. The Targum is, and loy they bring. fhame (ov confufion) to their faces’; what they do; turns to theit own! ruin and deftruétion, as follows:
¥. 08. Therefore will I alfo deal in fury, 8c.) Being, provoked by fuch abominable: idolatries, and’ fuch horrid infolence, and moft contemptuous treatment: mine eye foal not' fpare; neither will I have pity; fee chev. 14. and viit 4, 9: and tho’ they cry in mine ears with a loud voice; very preffingly and earneftly for help, being in great diftrefs: yet wa /
I not bear them; as they turned: their backs on him, he’ll turn’a deaf ear to them, and not regard their cries.. The Targum is, ‘‘ they fhall’ pray be- ‘< fore me with a great voice, and Iwill not res ‘¢ ceive their prayer.”
N this chapter is contained a vifion, reprefenting the deftruction of the idolatrous ‘ews, and the _ prefervation of the godly that were among them, in which different perfons were employed; they that were concerned in the deftruétion of the idolaters, are defcribed by their office; they had charge over the city; by their form and appearance, men; by their number, fix; by the quarter from whence they came, the way of the higher gate northward; and by the weapons they had in their hands, flaughter-ones; and by their place and pofture, ftanding befide the brazen altar, ¥. 1, 2. among thefe were one clothed in linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his fide; to whom the glorious God of Ifrael, who was removed from the cherub to the threfhold of the houfe, gave orders to go thro’ the city of Ferufalem, and mark thofe that mourned over the abominations of it, ¥. 3, 4. and the reft he ordered to go thro’ the city, and flay all of every age, and fex, and ftate, except thofe that had the mark; beginning at the fanctuary, and filling the courts with the flain; which orders were obeyed, y. 5, 6, 7. upon which the prophet expoftulates with the Lord, and intercedes for the people; but is not heard, becaufe of the abounding of iniquity among them; their frequent fhedding of blood; their perverfion of juftice; and their abominable infidelity and atheifm; for which reafons he was determined to fhew them no mercy, ¥. 8,9, 10. and the chapter is clofed with a report made by the man clothed with linen, that he had done as was commanded him, y. 11.
y.1. He cried alfo in mine ears with a loud voice, &c.] That is, the glory of the Lord God of Ifrael, whom the prophet faw in the temple, and who directed him from place to place, and fhewed him all the abominations committed there: this loud voice of the Lord, was not fo much to excite the attention of the prophet, as to call together the minifters of his vengeance; and to fhew the greatnefs of his indignation, and the vehemence of his wrath, which was ftirred up by the fins of the people: /aying, caufe them that have the charge over the city to draw near; or, ‘* who were <¢ appointed over the city,” as the Targum;, that is, the city of Ferufalem;, by whom are meant, either the miniftring angels, who had been the guardians of it, but now were to be employed another way; or the princes of the Chaldean army, who had a charge againft the city to deftroy it; fee If. x. 6. Fer. xxxiv. 21. | The Syriac verfion is, draw near ye avengers of the city, and the Septuagint and Arabic verfions are, the vengeance of the city draws nigh: even every man with bis deftroying weapon in bis band; weapons of war, as bows and arrows, {word and fpear; fee Yer. vi. 22, 23.
“ ftruction, breach and confumption:” came from the way of the higher gate. Kimchi obferves from the Rabdins, that this is the eaftern gate, called the higher or upper gate, becaufe it was above the court of the I/raelites. Maimonides ° fays, the upper gate is the gate Nicanor; and why is it called the upper gate? becaufe it was above the court of. the women; fee 2 Kings xv. 35: which lieth toward ~ the north, where were the image of jealoufy, and the women weeping for Tammuz, and other idolatrous practices were committed; which were the caufe of the coming of thefe deftroyers: moreover, the Chaldean army with its generals came out of the north; for Babylon lay north, or northeaft of Ferufalem, and fo this gate, as Kimcbi fays, was north-eaft; and he adds, and Babylon was north-eaft of the land of J/rael; fee Fer. i. 13, 14. and iv. 6,7: and every mana flaughter-weapon in his hand as ordered y. 1. a different word is here - ufed; it fignifies‘a hammer, with which rocks are broke in pieces, as the above-mentioned Fewi/h writer obferves. The Septuagint render it, an ax or hatchet: and one man among them; not one of the fix, but who made a feventh. The ews fay this was Gabriel »; but this was not.a created angel, as they; nor the holy Spirit, as Coccetus; but the Son of God, in an human form; he was amon the fix, at the head of them, as their leader an commander; he was but one, they fix; one Saviour, and fix deftroyers: was clothed with linen; not in the habit of a warrior, but of a prieft; who, as. fuch, had made atonement for the fins of his people, and interceffion for them; and this may alfo denote the purity of his human nature, and his unfpotted righteoufnefs, the fine linen, clean’ and white, which is the righteoufnefs of the faints: and with a writer’s ink-horn by his fide; or at bis. loins 4, not a flaughter-weapon, as the reft; but a writer’s ink-horn; hence Kimchi takes him to be the king of Badylon’s {cribe; but a greater is here meant; even he who took down the names of God’s eleét in the book of life; and who takes an’ account, and keeps a book of the words, and even thoughts, of his people; and alfo of their fighs, groans and tears; fee Mal: iii. 16. Pf lvi. 8. but now his bufinefs was to mark his people, and’ diftinguifh them from others, in a providential way; and keep and preferve them from the general ruin and deftrudtion that was coming upon Ferufalem: or, @ girdle on his loins, as the Septuagint, Syriac and Arabic verfions render it; -and'fo was prepared and fit for bufinefs;_ which fenfe of the word is approved of by Ca/fell*; and he afks, ‘what has an’ ink-Horn to do at a man’s loins? but it fhould be obferved, that it was the cufton: of th _eaftern people to carry ink-horns at their fides, “and par ticularly \in their girdles, as the’ Tarks "do nov who not only fix their knives and poniards in shes as Dr. Shaw * relates; but the Hojias, that is,.. writers and fecretaries, hang their ink-horns in them; and by whom it is obferved,* of thefe ink-horns which paffes bet and the tunic, and holds. their pens, i: flat; but the veffel for the ink, which e girdle, is fquare, with a lid to clafp over it: and they went in; to the temple, all feven: and ftood befide the brazen altar; the altar of burntoffering, {fo called to diftinguifh it from the altar
_ of incenfe, which was of gold; here they ftood, not to offer facrifice, but waiting for their. orders, to take vengeance for the fins committed in the temple, and at this altar; near to which ftood the image of jealoufy, ch. viii. 5.
¥. 3. And the glory of the God of Ifrael was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, &c.| That is, the glorious God of J/rael, or the glorious Shekinah, and divine majefty, which dwelt between the Cherubim over the mercy-feat, in the moft holy place, removed from thence, as a token of his being about to depart from the temple, which in a fhort time would be deftroyed. The Targum is, «¢ the glory of the God of J/rael departed in the ** cherub on which he dwelt, in the houfe of the ** holy of holies;” the cherubim removed with him, and were his chariot in which he rode; fee ch. x. 18. and xi. 22: #0 the threjbold of the houfe; of the holy of holies, as Farchi interprets it; and fo was nearer to the brazen altar, where the feven men ftood, to give them their orders; of which an account follows’ aud he called to the man clothed with linen, &c. he being the principal perfon, is called firft; and his bufinefs being to preferve the Lord’s people, fhews that this was the firft care of
¥.4. And the Lord faid unto him, &c.] This fhews that a divine perfon is meant by the glory of the God of J/rael: go thro the midft of the city; that is, as it is next explained, thro’ the midjt of Ferufalem, the city, the fix men had the charge over, or againft, y.1: and fet a mark upon the foreheads, not the Hebrew letter 7, as fome fay, becaufe in the form of a crofs, and fo fignifying falvation by the crofs of Chrift; for this letter has no fuch form, neither in the characters ufed by the Fews, nor by the Samaritans, at leatt, in the prefent character; tho’ Origen and erom on the. place fay, that.the letter Yau had the form of a crofs in the letters the Samaritans ufed in their time; and this is defended by Walton‘, who obferves, that Azariah in his Hebrew alphabet gives a double figure, one like that which is in prefent ufe, and another in the form of a crofs, called St. Andrew’s crofs, and, as it appears in fome fhekels; and in the Vatican alphabet which Angelus E Roccha puablifhed, the laft letter has the form of a crofs; as have the Ethiopic and Coptic alphabets, which, it is certain, fprung from the ancient Hebrew; and fo Montfaucon {ays *, in fome Samaritan coins, the letter Thau has the form of a crofs; which, if Scaliger had met with, he fays he would never have oppofed the teftimonies of Origen and Ferom; tho’, after all, it feems to be no other than the form of the Greek X; and fo the Talmudifts fay ”, the highprieft was anointed on his forehead in the fame form: fome think this letter was the mark, becaufe it is the firft letter of the word Py) NM che law; as if it pointed out fuch who were obedient to it; or of the word nn thou fhalt live. It is a Rabbinical fancy, mentioned by Kimchi *, that Gabriel had orders to write the letter m in ink upon the foreheads of the righteous, and in blood upon the foreheads of the wicked; in the one it fignified Ss nn thou foalt live, and in the other myn thou
Joalt die; but, as Calvin obferves, rather, if this