Exposition of the Whole Bible

means of which are declared;, and the fame, as is fuggelted, was the fin of Feru/alem; namely, prides which was the fin of the devils, and.the caufe of their ruin; the fin of our firft parents, by which they fell, and deftroyed themfelves, and their pofterity; and is the prevailing, governing, fin of human nature: it has been the ruin of kingdoms: and, ftates, of cities and particular, perfons.; a fin, hateful to God, and deftructiye to man: fulze s_ of.

bread; the land of Sodom.was very fruittul before it was deftroyed; it was like the garden of the: Lord, Gen. xii. 10, it; brought. forth, plentifully,. fo that, there. was great fulnefs of provifion, of all. forts of food, which is meant,by bread; this, con-, fidered in itfelf, was not finful, but a bleffing; it was the Lord’s mercy, and, goodnefs to them, that, they had fuch plenty; but it was. their. fin, that they abufed it; luxury and. intemperance, eating and drinking to, excefs, are here meant; which led on to that fin, and kindled the flames, of it, and were the fuel to it, which has its name from them; and. befides, this fulnefs of good things enjoyed by them,.was the fource of their pride, and ferved, to increafe that, as before-mentioned: end abundance of idlene/s was. in her, and in her daughters; or, peace of reff»; profperity and eafe, fecurity and* quietnefs, at leifure, andwithout labour; two words are ufed, to.exprefs the fame thing, and to denote, as Kimchi obferves, the abundance of it: floth and idlenefs, as they often arife from the goodnefs and fruitfulnefs of a country, and fulnefs of provifion, fo they are.the caufe of much fin and wickednefs; for if perfons are not employed in fome bufinefs or another, either of the, héad or hand,..they will be doing evil: neither did foe firengthen the hands of the poor and needy; tho’:fhe had {uch abundance of food to fupply them with, and fo much leifure to attend to their diftrefs; but her pride would not fuffer her to do it; and fhe was too idle and flothful to regard fuch fervice; perhaps more is intended than is exprefled; that the weakened the hands of the poor and needy, and cruelly opprefied them; which is.often done by proud men, in great affluence and at leifure, which they abufe to bad purpofes.

¥. 50..And they were haughty, &c.] Sodom and her daughters, the inhabitants of that place, and the cities adjacent; they lifted up themfelves above God and man; they were above regarding the poor and needy; and were elated and {welled with their plenty and profperity, and behaved very infolently, both to fellow-citizens and ftrangers; ee

Gen. XiX. 455,9: and committed abomination before me perhaps referring.to that fin, which. has its name from them; afin. abominable to God, and fcandalous to human nature; and which they committed openly and publickly, neither fearing God, nor regarding men; and are faid to be finners, before the Lord, Gen, xili..13: therefore I took them away as I faw good; both.as to time and manner, as he in his foyereignty thought moft fit and proper,” by raining fire and brimftone on them, and fetting them forth as an example of the vengeance of eternal fire: or, when J faw *; their fin and wickednefs, as foon as he faw it; fee Gen..xviii. 20, 21. The Vulgate Latin and Arabic verfions render it, as thou Jaweft, or baft feen;, appealing to the Fews themfelves, who were very well acquainted with the fact; for the deftruétion of Sodom was notorious and flagrant.

y. 51. Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy fins, &c.] The fins of Samaria, or the ten tribes, of which Samaria was the metropolis, were the worfhipping of the calves at Dan and Bethel; but the gods of 7udab were according to the number of their cities, and they even fet up their idols in the temple of Ferufalem, Fer. ii. 28. and vii. 30. Ezek. viii. 5, 10, 14, 16. and befides, their fins were aggravated by the benefits and privileges they enjoyed; having the temple, the right place of worfhip among them; the priefts of the Lord to officiate for them; the prophets to inftruct and teach them; and many good kings to rule over them, who encouraged them in the pure worfhip of God, and fet them examples; as alfo by their not taking warning at the captivity of the ten tribes, which were fome years before; fo that they were guilty of great ingratitude and obduracy: but thou baft multiplied thine abominations more than they; than Samaria, and her daughters, or the ten tribes; or than Sodom and Samaria, fince both are intended in the next claufe: and haft juftified thy Sifters in all thine abominations which thou haft done; juftified them in what they did; countenanced them in their wickednefs, by doing the fame abominations, and more, and much greater; faying, in effect, that they did right in what they did; and, by exceeding them in fin, made them to appear righteous in comparifon of them; and gave them an opportunity of faying, in excufe for themfelves, that the men of Fudab had been guilty of more and greater fins than they, and yet had not been punifhed as they had been.

¥. 52. Thou alfo which haft judged thy fifters, &c.] Sodom and Samaria, by cenfuring and condemning them for their fins; fee 2 Chron, xiii. 8, 9,10. in which fenfe archi and Kimchi interpret the word; or by defending and patronizing them, acquitting and abfolving them, by committing the fame fins, and more heinous ones: bear thine own foame for thy fins that thou haft committed more abominable than they; look upon thy fins, and blufh at them; confefs them with fhame and confufion of face; take fhame to thyfelf for them, in that thou haft cenfured and condemned thefe fins in others, thou haft been guilty of thyfelf; and the rather, fince thy fins are greater, and attended with more aggravating circumftances than thofe thou haft blamed in others; or this is a prophecy of their punifhment for their fins, when they fhould be carried captive, and be put to fhame before their neighbours: or, thou fhalt bear *; fhame is the fruit of fin, fooner or later: they are more righteous than thou, in comparifon of her; tho’ neither of them were righteous in the fight of God, yet comparatively one was more righteous than another, having committed fewer fins, and jeffer abominations: yea, be thou confounded alfo, and bear thy fhame, in that thou baft juftified thy Sifters; this is repeated in ftronger exprefiions, and with the reafons of it, to fhew the great confufion they fhould be brought unto, and the certainty of it, the more to ftrike and affect their minds

¥.55. When thy fifters, Sodom and her daughters, fhall return to their former eftate, 8&cc.| The Fews, as Ferom fays, are of opinion, that in the days of their vainly-expected Meffiah, Sodom will be reftored to its ancient ftate, and be as the garden of God, and as the land of Egypt; and Farchi interprets the bringing again the captivity of Sodom, in ¥. 53. by the Lord’s healing the land of brimftone and falt, and placing inhabitants in it; and it is afferted by the ews ‘, that Sodom and Gomorrah fhall be rebuilt in future times, in the times of the Meffiah, according to the fenfe of this paffage: but this is not to be underftood in a literal fenfe, of the rebuilding of Sodom and cities adjacent, and of reftoring them to their former fruitfulnefs and fertility, and of the inhabitants to their former profperity, and much lefs to their former ftate of wickednefs; but fpiritually, of the converfion of Gentile finners to their ancient and happy eftate inChrift: and Samaria and ber daughters fhall return to their former eftate; to the knowledge of the Meffiah, and the pure worfhip of God: then thou and thy daughters fball return to your former eftate; the converfion of Fudabh, and of Drael or the ten tribes, here meant by Samaria, is frequently prophefied of, as what will be at the fame time, Yer. xxiii. 6. and 1. 4. Hof. v. 11.

¥. 56. For thy fifter Sodom was not mentioned by ¢hy mouth, &c.] Or, was not for a bearing, or a — with it. report in thy mouth *; the deftruction of Sodom, tho”

¥. 53. When I fhall bring again their captivity, &c.] The captivity of Sedom and Samaria, as atter-mentioned: the captivity of Sodom and her it was fach an awful judgment of God, fo flagrant and notorious, was vifible and juft at hand; yet it was not taken notice of, nor talked of; it was daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and ber daughters; which fome underftand as what never will be, as it never yet has been: Sodom remains to this day a dead fea, and the ten tribes are not returned: then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midft of them; that is, it fhall never be brought again, according to the above fenfe; but rather this is to be underftood of the calling of the Gentiles, comparable to Sodom for their wickednefs, as the great city of Rome is, Rev. xi. 8. and of the calling of God’s elect among the ten tribes, fcattered up and down among the Gentiles, by the preaching of the apoftles; and when the fulnefs of the Gentiles is brought in, then will follow the converfion of the Fews, and all Tfrael will be faved, Rom. xi. 25, 26. for ’tis certain, thofe fifters Sodom and Samaria, were to be reftored, and received into the church, and given to her for daughters, ¥. 61. thus the converfion of the Gentiles is fignified by bringing again the captivity of Moab and Ammon, in Fer. xlviii. 47. and xlix. 6. e

¥. 54. That thou mayeft bear thine own foame, &c.] So long as the captivity remains; even until Sodom and Samaria, the Gentiles, and the ten tribes, are called and converted: and mayeft be confounded in all that thou haft done; or, for all that thou baft done *; for and becaufe of all the abominable fins they had been guilty of: ia that thou art a comfort to them; to Sodom and Samaria; countenancing them in their fins; juftifying their iniquities, and {trengthening their hands in their wickednefs, by doing the fame, and greater abominations; or in partaking of the fame punifhment with them, captivity; this being a kind of folace to them, that they were not punifhed alone; fo Farchi.

Ch xwiwugganr. fo oe EK AT a not the fubjec&t of converfation among ‘friends; it was not reported from father to fon, or heard of the one by the other; it was not regarded, nor was warning taken by it, which might have been, had it been more frequently mentioned; but they did not care, or neglected to fpeak of it; tho’ it was an enfample to thofe that fbould. after live ungodly; yet it was not for infiruciion to. them, as the Yergum paraphrafes it; they learned nothing by it; or Scdom was fo infamous for fin and punifhment, that they {corned to: make mention of its name; and yet they were as great or greater finners, and. deferving of forer punifhment: i the day of thy pride, or prides, or excellencies®; in the time of their profperity, in the days of David and Scleme#, and other kings of. Fudab. Profperity is apt to make men proud, and to lift them above themfelves; and to forget what they have been, and what they may be; and to neglect obferving the judgments of God on others, and to take venant, he, was under. no obligation by virtue of that to blefs and proteét them: which hath de[pifed the oath by bieaking the covenant, the covenant at mount Sizai; or which was made in the plains of 1402s, which had an oath annexed to it, Deus. xxix. 12. but by breaking the covenant, which \ they did by their many abominations, they de- {pifed the oath by which they were fworn to keep it; and therefore it was but juft with God to do with them as they had done with him and his covenant. The words are by fome rendered, I might even deal with thee as thou baft done’, &c. I fhould be juftified in fo doing, and you could not juftly complain of me; but I will not, as follows:

y. 60. Neverthele/s, I will- remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, &c.] The covenant made with them at Sinai, quickly after they came out of Egypt, when they were both as a body politic and ecclefiaftical in their infant« ftate$ for, as Kimchi {ays, all the while they were warning by them, in Egypt, and until they came into the land of

¥. 57. Before thy wickednefs was difcovered, &c.) By the punithment of it, by the judgments of God brought. upon them; then they were humbled, who before were proud and haughty; and might } fpeak and think. of the vengeance of God.on Sogom, which before they made no mention of,. It is a fad thing only to Know fin, and to have it difcovered only by the punifhment of it: as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, aid all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philiftines, this icems to refer to the times of Abaz, when the Syrians fmote the men of Fudab, and carried many of them captive; and the Péiliftines invaded the cities of the low country, and fouthern parts of Fudab, and took many of them, 2 Chron. xxviii. 5,18. at which time the wickednefs of the Fews was difcovered; and it was a plain cafe they had finned againft the Lord, by his fuffering their enemies to come upon them, and prevail over them; which was to their reproach. The Syrians reproached them,” and fo did the Piliftines: which defpife thee round about, they fpoiled and plundered them on all fides; and treated them with fcorn and contempt, who before were formidable and terrible to them: thus it is with a people when they are left of God, they are defpifed Canaan, were called the days of their youth; and to this covenant, which had the nature of a matrimonial contract, the prophet: refers when he peaks of the Jove of their e/pou/als, and the &indue/s of their youth, Fer. ii. 2. this covenant the Lord remembered, and made good his part, tho’ they neglected theirs; and it was particularly remembered when Chrift was made under this law, and became the fulfilling end of it to his people; yielding perfect obedience to it, and bearing the penalty of it in their room and ftead; for here begins a declaration of the grace and mercy of God to the remnant, according to the election of grace, which were among this degenerate people, and whom the Lord had a fpecial regard unto; aud I will eftablifh unto thee an everlafting covenant; the covenant of grace, made with the Meffiah and his fpiritual feed; which is confirmed of God in Chrift ordered in all things and fure; whofe promifes are yea and amen in Chrift;. and the bleffings of it, the fure mercies of David, a covenant that thall never be broken, made void, or removed; but will continue for ever. This is the new covenant, or the covenant of grace, as exhibited and adminiftered under the New Teftament; fee Hed. viii. 8—13.

by men. ¥. 61. Then thou fhalt remember thy ways, and bé

¥. 58. Thou haft borne thy lewdnefs, and thine abominations, &c.} Openly and publickly; their abominable iniquities were written as it were upon their foreheads, and were to be feen of all men; their fin was to be read in their punifhment, which is meant by bearing their lewdnefs and abominations; ‘namely, the punifhment due unto them: faith the Lord,; who always {peaks what is juft and true: this is added to denote the truth of what had been, and the certainty of what would be, as afbamed, '&c.| When covenant-grace is mani-. fefted and applied, it brings perfons to a fenfe of their fins, and to an ingenuous acknowledgment of them, with fhame and blufhing; they.remember their evil ways in which they have walked, and blufh at the thoughts of what they have been guilty of; and how they have finned againft a God of love, grace and mercy; and what vile, ungrateful creatures they have been: when thou /halt receive thy fifers, thine elder and thy younger;

¥.59. For thus faith the Lord God, &c.] And what he fays may be depended upon as truth, and what will certainly come to pafs: I will even deal with thee as thou heft done; reward them according to their works; or execute the:

upon them; and reject them, as they had rejeéted him; and caft them off from being his people, fince they had forfook him as their God; they being the aggreflors and tranfgreffors of the cojamin and Simeon, whofe part was in Judah, as Ben Melech; rather the Gentiles, even of all nations, ancient and modern, great and {mall, where the gofpel fhould come, and fuch of them as are law of retaliation called and converted by it; thefe, according to this prophecy, fhould be received into the communion of the church, to participate of all the privileges and ordinances of it, under the gofpeldifpenfation. The paffage refpects the calling of

28 E the Géntiles, and the incorporating of them into the gofpel-church-ftate. The Syriac verfion renders it, when I fhall receive thy fifters, &c. which the Targum interprets of greater and lefler provinces: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, to be nurfed up by the church, thro’ the miniftry of the word and ordinances, where they have a place, and a name better than that of fons and daughters; become members of the church, and fo daughters of Yerufalem, the mother of us all, Gal. iv. 26. to the laws, rules and ordinances of which they fubmit, and yield an obedience, as daughters to their mother. The Targum is, ‘* I

of the covenant of grace, Ter. XXX. 34.

¥.63. Ihat thou mayeft remember, and be confounded, 8cc.| ‘The more fouls are led into the covenant of grace, and the more they know of God in Chrift, and of him as their covenant-God and Father, the more they remember of their former evil ways, and reflect upon them with fhame and confufion: and never open thy mouth any mores againft God, and the difpenfations of his providence;. againft his gofpel, truths and ordinances; again{t his people, the followers of Chrift, and particularly the Gentiles; feeing they'll now fee

«¢ will deliver them unto thee for obedience.” The themfelves as bad and worfe than ever they were;

Septuagint renders it, for edification, to be built up on their moft holy faith: dut not by thy covenant; made with the J/raelites at Sinai, which genders to bondage, and under which the Fewi/h church with her children were in bondage, Gal. iv. 24, 25. but, by virtue of the covenant of grace made with Chrift; one article of which is, Z wa// be their father, and they fhall be my fons and daughiers, 2 Cor. vi. 18. or not on condition of obferving the rites and ceremonies of the law, under which the former covenant was adminiftered, the Gentiles being freed from that, the ceremonial law being abrogated by Chrift; or, not becaufe thou haft kept the covenant made with thee, therefore I give thee thofe; for that thou haft broken, but of my own meré grace and favour, fo Farchi: or I will give daughters to thee, which are not of thy covenant; of thy law, fo Kimchi, who are not of the fame religion, meaning the Gentiles; and fo the phrafe is the fame with that in Fobn x. 16. which are not of this fold. ‘There is an ancient expofition of the Fews, mentioned by Farchi, Kimchi and Abarbinel, which renders it, but not of thy patrimony; and explains it of the inheritance which God gave to Abraham between the pieces; as if the perfons intended by thofe who are given for daughters, did not belong thereunto.

¥. 62. And I will cftablifh my covenant with «thee, &c.] See on y¥. 60. and which is repeated for the comfort of the Lord’s people, being afhamed upon the remembrance of their evil ways; and to fhew the certainty of it, as well as becaufe it is a matter of the greateft importance: and thou fhalt know that I am the Lord; a covenant-keeping God; true and faithful to my promifes, and able to make them good: this is a principal bleffing for this may have a fpecial regard to the converfion of the ews in the latter day, when they fhall look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn, Zech, xii. 10. and remember the evil ways of their anceftors, and their own ftubbornnefs and infidelity, and be afhamed thereof; and fay not one word by way of complaint of the judgments of God that have been upon them as a nation fo long: becaufe of thy fhame; becaufe they will now be afhamed of their oppofition to Chrift and his gofpel; of their rejection and treatment of him; and of the evil things they have been guilty.

of: when I am pacified toward thee, for all that thou haft done, faith the Lord God; God may be faid to be pacified, or propitious, when he is at peace with men, his anger is turned away, his law and juttice are fatisfied, reconciliation and atonement are made for fin, and he fignifies that for Chrift’s fake; and efpecially when his pardoning love and grace is manifefted and applied: and this pacification is made, not by men themfelves, by their obedience, or repentance, or faith, but by the blood and facrifice of Chrift; which, when made known to the confcience; or when this atonement, propitiation and pacification is received by faith; or there is a comfortable fenfe of pardon thro’ the blood of Chrift, for all fins and tranfgreffions that have been committed in heart and life; it has fuch an effect, as to caufe men to remember and call to mind their former evil ways, and to fiJl them with fhame for them, and to put them to filence, fo as never more to open their mouths to excufe their fins; or commend themfelves and their own righteoufnefs; or to murmur againft God, or ceniure others. This is the nature of pardoning grace and mercy.

NDER the fimile of two eagles and a vine, are reprefented the kings of Babylon and Egypt, and the condition of the ews, who are threatened with ruin for their perfidy; and yet a promife is made of the raifing up of the houfe of Fudeb, and family of David, in the Meffiah. The prophet is bid to deliver a riddle or parable to the houfe of Jael, ¥. 1,2. Tlie riddle or parable is concerning two eagles and a vine, which is delivered, ¥. 3—10. and the explanation of. it is in. 11—15. and then‘ the deftruction of the ews is threatened for their treachery to the king of Babylon, ¥. 16—21. and the chapter is clofed with a promife of the Meffiah, and the profperity of his kingdom, y. 22, 23, 24.

¥.1. And the word of the Lord came unto me, faying.| After the prophet had been fent to charge the ‘fews with breaking the covenant with God, he is fent to rebuke and threaten them for breaking covenant with men, even with the king of Babylon; by whom they were in part carried into captivity, and another part remained in the land, as"

will be hereafter feen. é y.2. Son of man, put forth a riddle, &c.] A dark faying, but a {mart one: whet a whetting *, as in the Hebrew; fomething at firft ight dificulr to be underftood, yet amufing and entertaining; and when folved, very ufeful and inftructive: 4 fpeak a parable unto the houfe of Irael, or, concerning the houfe of Irael’, as the Targum vi as: Syriac

1 besye my by de domo Iraclis, Junius & Tremellius,

Syriac verfion; fomething relating to theni,; and what would apily defcribe and reprefent their cafe; for the prophet was bid to take fuch a method, not to hide things from them, but rather the more {trongly to reprefent them to them; feeing hereby their attention would be excited, and things would be more fixed in their memories, and they would be put upon ftudying the meaning of them; and when explained to them, and underftood, which was quickly done, they might be the more affected of which was king Feconiah, who was but young and tender, being but eighteen years of age when he began his reign, and this was within’ three months after; and who was no more able to withftand the force of the king of Babylon, than a tender twig fo ravenous a bird as an eagle, 2 Kings xxiv. 8. whofe fuperior power and ftrength is fignified by the cropping off of a tender twig: and carried it into a land of trafick; not into the land of Canaan, as the Septuagint, and fome other ver- with them.. fions, literally render it; but into Babylon; which y. 3. And fay, thus faith the Lord God, 8c.] The riddle is not the prophet’s, nor the parable his, but the Lord God’s;

y. 4: He cropt off the top of his young twigs, &c. By which are meant the princes of the land, or the feveral branches of the royal family; was become a place of great merchandife, thro’ the great concourfe of people to it, and the large and exceeding beautiful additions made to the empite: he fet it in a city of #erchants,; meaning the city of Babylon, perhaps in particular, as diftin@: from the country beforementioned: the word for merchants, fignifies apothecaries or druggifts ®; and may defign fuch merchants as traded in fweet {pices and aromatic drugs. The words may be rendered, and brought it out of the land of Canaan +4 out-of which Feconiah and his riobles were. carried by the king of Babylon; fo the particle 78s fometimes fignifies from, or out of, as in 4 Kings vill. 30. and others ', and in @ city of merchants he fet it, in Babylon; famous for merchants; whom the Fezws, being captives, were obliged to attend in a fervile manner.

and apt it is, to fignify the things defigned by it; the wifdom, of God is greatly difplayed in it: @ great eagle; which is Nebuchadnezzar king of Ba-) dylon, as it is explained, ¥. 12. who is compared to an eagle for his power and authority, that being the king of birds, and for his fwiftneis and voracity in conquering and fubduing kingdoms; fee Fer. xviii. 40: with great wings 5 fo the Babylonifo monarchy is fignified by a lion with eagle’s wings, Daa. vii. 4. and the two,parts of the oman empire, into which it was divided at the death! of Thecdofius, are called-two wings of a great eagle, Rev. xii. 14. and fo here it may denote, the large kingdoms and provinces which belonged to the Babylonian monarchy; fee E/th. i. 1: or having a long member™; meaning the body of the wing, which was long’; and fo as the wings fpread, may fignify the breadth of his dominion; this the length of them, and both their extenfivenefs: full of feathers, of cities, towns, people, armies, wealth, and riches: which had divers colours; or an embroidery"; like that of the weaver; only needle-work, confifting of various colours; and fo it alludes to fuch eagles as are called the golden eagle, and Aferias, from their golden colour, and their being {potted like ftars, and which are faid to be of the largeft fize, as Bochart, from #/lianus °, obferves; and may fignify people of divers Janguages, cuftoms, manners, and circumftances, fubject to the government of the king of Babylon: came unto Lebanon; the northern border of the land of Judea, and invaded it; where were the moun-} tain and foreft of Lebanon, famous for the cedars that grew there, from whence the whole land may here take its name, as being more apt for the allegory ufed: or the city of Ferufalem,.where were the temple built of the cedars of Lebanon, as many of its palaces and houfes alfo were; whither the king of Babylon came, and took it, and who came ¥. northward, as Babylon was:. and took the higheft branch of the cedar; by the cedar is meant, either the nation in general, or the royal family in particular; and by the highef branch, the then reigning king Yeconiab, with the princes and nobles of the land, who were taken and carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar; fee 2 Kings xxiv. 14, 15, 16. _

¥..5. He took alfo of the feed of the land, &c.] long winged; Of the land of ‘fudeas a native of it, nota ftranger; not one of another country, a Babylonian; not one of his own nobles or princes, did Nebuchadzezzar, the eagle, take and fet upon the throne of udea, but one of their owh, even one of the king’s feed, of the blood royal, as it is explained,

¥. 13. Mattaniah, the uncle of Feconiab, whom the king of Babylon called Zedekiah, and made him king in his room: and planted it in a fruitful field; in the land of Judea; and in Fern/alem the royak city: #e placed it by great waters; many people; Kev. xvil. 15. over whom he ruled, and by whom he was fupported im his royal dignity: and fet it as 4 willow-tree; which loves moift places, and grows up thick: unlefs it fhould be rendered, he fet it with, great circum/pection *, took a great deal of care and caution in placing him upon the throne; he made a covenant with him, took an oath of him, and hoftages for the performance of it, y. 13. The Targum is, ‘* a planted vine he fet it,” to make it agree with what follows; but the word in the Chaldee and Arabic languages fignifies a kind of willow, as we render it, as Ben Méelech obferves’. | 6: And it grew, &c.] King Zedekiah reigned and profpered, and the kingdom flourifhed under him: and became a fpreading vine of low frature; not fo fourifhing as it had been heretofore, in former reigns; it did not rife up to a cedar, as it had been, but was like a vine, which tho’ flourifhing, does not rife up high, but runs upon the ground, and is dependent on fomething elfe; fo | the king and kingdom of Fudah, tho’ in tolerable circumiftances, yet were humble and dependent on the top ee king of Babylon: whofe branches turned towards fpedliffime pofuit illud, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; cum magna circumfpeCtione, Pifcator; circumfpette, Cocceius, Starckius. t And fo it does; fee Caftel, col. 3220, 3221. and in this way Jarchi and Kimchi interpret the word, in which they are followed by many; fo R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 73: 1. neverthelefs, the fenfe of it here is difapproved of by Caftel, who obferves, what has a willow to do with a vine? col. 3222. and commends the Greek verfion, which renders it, eviCAcsromevov, con- Jpicuous, to be feen; and fo others tranflate it, in fuperficie, V. L. Grotius; yet the Safiaf of the Arabs, is a tree, by which they underftood the Abci/e or poplar-tree; fee Shaw’s Travels, p: 423. Ed. IL.

him; the eagle; Nebuchadnezzar, to whom the people of the ‘fews were tributary: and the roots thereof were under him, they were rooted and fettled in their own land, yet under the power, and at the difpofe of the Badylonifh monarch: fo it became a vine; a flourifhing kingdom in fome meafure, tho’ attended with fome degree of weaknefs and dependence as avine: and brought forth branches, and foot forth fprigs,; increafed in people and in riches; particularly the king had many children, ‘fo that there was a profpect of a fucceffion, and of a more flourifhing eftate, and a continuance of it, Fer. ii. 10. ¥. 7. There was alfo another great eagle, &c.] Hopbra king of Egypt, a very powerful prince, whom Herodotus" calls Apries; and fays, he was the moft happy and fortunate after P/ammitichus, of all the kings that were before; though not fo mighty as the king of Babylon; therefore all the fame things are not faid of the one as of the other: with great wings and many feathers; had large dominions, ‘but not fo extenfive as the former, and therefore is not faid to be Jog winged as he; ‘and had sany feathers, but not full of them, nor had it fucha variety; he had many ’people, and much wealth, and a large army, but not equal to the king of Babylon: and bebold, this vine did bend her roots towards him, Zedekiah, and the people of the Fews under'him; inclined to an alliance with. the king of Egypt, and gave him fome private intimations of it: and fhot forth her branches towards him {tent embafladors to acquaint him with it, ¥. 15: that he might water it by the furrows of ber plantation; Nebuchadnezzar had planted this vine, and made furrows for the watering of it, and by his means it was become profperous and flourifhing; but Zedekiah, not content with the greatnefs and glory he had raifed him to, fought to the king of Egypt to help him with horfes and people, in order to free himfelf from fubjection to the king of Baédylon, and to increafe his luftre and glory: the allufion is thought to be to the trenches and canals of the river Nile, by which the land of Egypt was watered: the words may be rendered, out of the rivulets of ber plantation”; which beft agrees with watering. ¥. 8. It was planted in a good foil, by great waters, &c.] As is expreffed in ¥. 5. this was done by the king of Babylon, who had raifed Zedekiah from a low eftate to a high one, and fet him on the throne of Fudah, over many people; and put him in fuch a condition, and in fuch circumftances, that he and his people might have been very happy, could they have been content: for his view was, that be might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine; that he and his people might grow numerous and rich, and be a profperous and flourifhing kingdom; this is mentioned to aggravate the ingratitude of Zedekiah, and the people of the Hews, in rebelling a- -gainft the king of Babylon, who had ufed them well, and of whom they had no reafon to complain. ¥. 9. Say thou, thus faith the Lord God, &c.] Tell Zedekiah and his people, in the name of the Lord, what will be the iffue of his ingratitude and treachery to the king of Badylon, and his vain confidence in the king of Egypt: jball it profper? the

Pifcator, Polanus, fo Ben Melech; or ditches and canals, fuch as tarii fui, Texelius, at fupra, p. 209.

w P=TVIO MY ex rivulis oct ix quo plantata eft, Guffetius, p. 642. fuch a between beds in gardens, of which this word is fometimes ufed; hence fome render it, ex areolis, Vatablus, Junius & vine, the kingdom of Zudah, and Zedekiah the king of it; can it be thought that profperity will attend fuch conduét as this? was it ever known that perfons guilty of fuch vices ever fucceeded? hall be not pull up the roots thereof? the firft eagle, Nebuchadnezzar, being provoked by the rebellion of the king of Fudab and his people; will he not come againft them, and utterly deftroy them, and root them up from being a people and a nation? and cut off the fruit thereof that it wither? the fons of the king, and of the nobles, and people of the land; fo that the kingdom fhall be ruined, and no hope left of its ever being reftored again; which is the cafe of a vine when withered:- it /hall wither in all the leaves of her fpring; whereas it had been a fpring-time with this vine, under the influence’ of the king of Babylon, its leaves were green and. flourifhing; but now fhould wither, not as leaves: do in autumn, which’ is ‘to be expeéted, but- in’ {pring, which muft be fatal; fignifying, that in the midit of their profperity, and when there was the greateft hope and expectation of a continuance and increafe of it, utter ruin fhould’ come: upon’ them: even without great power, or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof; fignifying with:

what eafe the king of Babylon would take Feru/qlem, and the land of Yadea, its king and its princes, and utterly deftroy them; he would have no need of a large army, or to employ all his ‘forces, a.

few were fufficient to do it; even as it doés not re~ quire many hands to pluck up a vine by a fingle perfon is equal to it.. ¥..10. Yea, bebold, being planted, &e.| Suppofing it ever fo well planted, as frit by Nebwchadnezzar; and ftill put into a better condition by the affiftance of the king of Egypt, as was ima-~ gined: jhall it profper? it fhall-not; their own {trength, with the help of the king of Egypt, will not be able to protect them from the rage of the king of Babylon: fhall it not utterly wither, when the eaft wind toucheth it? which is very hurtful to vines, and by which is meant the Chaldean army; for Babylon, as Kimchi obferves, lay north-eaft of the land of J/rael; and it fignifies how eafily the deftruction would be brought about, it would be only a touch of the eaft wind, and this vine would wither away at once: it /hall wither in the furrows where it grew; notwithftanding its being watered by Egypt, or the help and affiftance that could afford it; or amidft all its profperity, and the means of it, and the fpringing growing hope it had; or in the very country itfelf, where it had been planted, and had flourifhed; Zedekiab and his princes: were taken in the plains of Yericho, and his children and princes were put to death in Riblab, Fer. In?*&, ‘6; omer 1% y. 11. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, faying,| Here follows the explanation of the above riddle and parable, which the prophet from the Lord had orders to deliver. a re

¥. 12. Say now to the rebellious boufe, &e.] It had been a rebellious houfe to God, and to his prophets, before; fee ch. ii. 5, 6. and the notes’ there; and now befides this, was rebellious to the king of Babylon, to whom they rere 30 fome mea-— fure fubject, ¥. 15: know ye not what thefe things ‘mean? the riddle and parable concerning the two eagles and the vine; fuggefting that they mutt be.

were made out of the river Nile to water the land;

very inattentive, and very ftupid, if they did not know the meaning of them; for tho’ the things intended were delivered in an enigmatical and parabolical way, yet they were eafily to be underftood, by all that knew the affairs of the Fewi/b hation; being things that were lately tranfacted there, and were obvious to every one’s view: but if they were fo ftupid and blockifh as not to un-!

derftand them, the prophet had the following order to explain them to them; teil them, bebold the king of Babylon is come to Ferufalem, fo that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is meant by the firft eagle, and the land of ‘fudea, and particularly Ferufalem, by Lebanon, it came unto, ¥. 3. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic verfions, read this and the following veries in the future; as if thefe were things that were yet to come to pafs, whereas they are related as things already done; and fo the Zargum renders all in the paft fenfe, as the hiftory of them requires it fhould: end bath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon; the king of Fudea, and the princes of it; Feconiah and his nobles, who had been carried captive into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar; for Ezekiel was among thefe captives, ch. i. 2. fee 2 Kings xxiv. 12—16. fo that it appears, that by the ¢wzgs of the cedar, the princes of the land are defigned; and by the sop of them, king “Feconiak; and by the land of traffick, the land of Chaldea; and by the city of merchants, the city of Babylon, y. 4. whither they were carried. ¥. 13. And hath taken of the king’s feed, &c.] One of the royal family, fignified by the feed of the land, ¥. 5. Matianiah, fon of king Fofiah, and uncle to king Feconiah; whom Nebuchadnezzar took and made king of Yudea, and called him Zedekiab,, which fignifies the ju/tice of the Lord; to put him in mind of doing juftly, by obferving the covenant and oath after-mentioned, or that he muft expect vengeance: and made a covenant with bim, and hath taken an oath of him; he gave him the throne and kingdom upon certain conditions to be performed, and for the performance of which he made him fwear by the God of J/rael, fee 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13: he hath alfo taken the mighty of the land; or, the rams of the land*; the principal men of it for wifdom, riches, and valour, the princes and nobles of it; which he did, as to weaken the nation, that it might not be fo capable of rebelling againft him, fo to be hoftages for the performance of the covenant entered into; and this is meant by planting the feed with circumfpection, y¥. 5. y. 14. That the kingdom might be tafe, &c.] Low or humble; its king but a viceroy, a tributary to the king of Babylon; and the fubjects obliged to a tax, payable to him; and this is intended by the vine being of low flature, ¥. 6: that it might not lift up ifelf; above other neighbour- “ing kingdoms and ftates; and particularly that it might not rebel againft Nebuchadnezzar, but be kept in a dependence on him, and fubjection to ‘him: but that by keeping of his covenant it might ftand; continue 4 kingdom, and Zedekiah king of it; fo that it was for their good that fuch a covenant was made, and it was their intereft to keep it; for had it not been made, it would have ceafed to have been a kingdom, and would have become a province of the Babylonian monarchy, and have been put under the government of one of Nebu-

* ANTI tony arietes terre, Montanus. aftandum ei, Montanus; ad fervandum foedus

8 i chadnezzar’s princes or captains; and fhould thef break it, would endanger the ruin of their ftate; as the event fhewed. In the Hebrew text it is, to keep bis covenant, to make it fland; or, to ftand to it’; that is, as it fhould feem, to make the covenant ftand firm. ‘The Targum is, ** that it might ‘* keep his covenant, and ferve him;” WNedichadnexzar,

¥. 15. But be rebelled againft bim, &c.] Zedekiah rebelled againft the king of Badylon, broke the covenant he entered into, and.violated his oath: in fending his embaffadors into Egypt; to form an alliance with the king of it, and obtain help from him, to break off the Babylonian yoke; this is fignified by the vine bending its roots, and hooting forth its branches towards another great eagle, the king of Egypt, v. 7: that they might give him horfesand much people; with both which Zgypt abounded, 1 Kings x. 28. Jf. xxxi. 1, 3. but in Judea, there was a {carcity, as of horfes, fo of men, by means of the multitude of captives which the king of Babylon had carried away; wherefore Zedekiah fent to Lgypt for both, for recruits of men, and for horfes to form a cavalry, to free himfelf from the king of Babylon, and defend himfelf and people againft him: jhall he profper? fhall he efcape that doth fuch things? that is guilty of breaking an exprefs law of God, which forbids the kings of J/- rael multiplying horfes, and fending to Egypt for them, Deut. xvii. 16. and placing confidence in an arm of flefh, J/. xxxi. 1, 3. and xxxvi. g. and of fuch bafe ingratitude to the king of Babylon, who had fet him upon the throne, and put him in a comfortable and flourifhing condition: or /hall he break the covenant, and be delivered? fhall one guilty, as of the other crimes, fo of breach of covenant, and of perjury, efcape the vengeance of God and man? ‘he fhall not.

¥. 16. As I live, faith the Lord God, &c.] This is the form of an oath, as Kimchi and Ben Melech obferve; the Lord fwears in his wrath, by himfelf, by his life; this fhows how much he refented what Zedekiah had done, and how fure and certain his ruin was: /urely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king; in Babylon, where Nebuchadnexzar dwelt, that made Zedekiah king of Fudab; which is mentioned, to point out the ingratitude of. that prince to the king of Babylon: whofe oath he defpifed, whofe covenant he broke; the oath of fealty and allegiance, which Zedekiab took to Nebuchadnezzar; and the covenant entered into between. them, by which the former held the kingdom of Fudea of the latter: the oath he made light of, tho’ folemn, one made by the God of J/rae/; and the covenant he broke, tho’ ratified by an oath; in which things were given to him he could not claim, at leaft poffefs, but by the courtefy of the conqueror; thefe fins were difpleafing to God: oaths and covenants, tho’ made with conquerors, and with heathen princes, are to be kept: even with him; that is, with Nebuchadnezzar: in the midft of Babylon he foall die; when firft taken he was had to Rib/ah, and there his eyes were put out; and after that he was carried to Badylon, and put in prifon, and there died, Fer. lii. 9, 10, 11.

y. 17. Neither fball Pharach with his mighty army, and great company, make for him in the war, &c.] The king of Egypt, to whom Zedekiab ap~ plied for horfes and men to help him; yg = fhould come with a great army, and a large multitude of people, yet fhould be of no ufe to Zedekiah, nor do any hurt to Nebuchadnezzar, or hinder him from taking Yerufalem: by cafting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many perfons; that is, when Nebuchadnezzar fhould befiege Ferufalem, and raife mounts, and build fortifications, in order to take the city, and deftroy its inhabitants, as he did, Fer. lii. 4. the. Lgyptian army fhould not be able to hinder him going on with the fiege, and taking the city; for tho’ the fiege was broke up for a time, upon the approach of Pharaoh's army, yet Nebuchadnezzar having conquered the Egyptians, returned again to the fiege of Ferufalem, and took it; fee Fer. xxxvil. 5—10. y. 18. Seeing he defpifed the cath, by breaking the covenant, &c.] This is repeated again, to fhow the heinoufnefs of the fin Zedekiah had been guilty of, and what was the caufe of his ruin: when lo, he had given his hand, to the king of Babylon, to teftify his hearty agreement with him, and that he might depend upon the oath and covenant being facredly obferved by him... This was a rite or cuftom frequently and early ufed in different nations, when covenants and agreements were entered into; we find it ufed in the times of Homer”; and among the Romans. When Antoninus, Lepidus and Odavius made peace, the hiftorian fays *, they joined their hands together. Virgil® {peaks of the fame ceremony ufed by Auchifes'to Achemenides, for confirmation of friendfhip. ‘Tho’ fome underftand this of his giving the hand to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and entering into an alliance with him, and broke the covenant and oath made to the king of Babylon, and fo the Targum, “ and lo, he *¢ ftretched out his Hand to Pharaoh: and hath done all thefe things; been guilty of fuch and fo many crimes,. aS ingratitude, perjury, covenantbreaking, and vain confidence: he fhall not efcape; divine vengeance, juft and. proper punifhment’ for his fins. ¥. 19. Lherefore thus faith the Lord God, as I live, &c.] A repetition of the oath of God as before, expreffing his indignation at the king of Fudab, and the certainty of his ruin: furely mine oath that he hath defpifed, and my covenant that he hath broken; the Lord calls it his oath, becaufe.it was rnade and taken in his name, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13. and his covenant, becanfe it was agreeable to his will, and was made in his fight, and he was fo- Jemnly appealed to at the making of it; all which were an ageravation of Zedekiah’s fin in’ violating them, and made his punifliment the heavier:' even it will I recompence upon his own bead; he fhall perfonally bear the punifhment due to fuch crimes, The Targum is, ‘‘ 1 will revenge his way upon «his head.” archi thinks this refers to the putting out of his eyes; and Kimchi takes notice of the fame fenfe. ecg ¥. 20. And 1 will fpread my net upon him, and he foall be taken in my fnare, &c.} See the’ note on “ch. xii. 13. where the fame words are ufed, and of the fame perfon: ond Iwill bring him to Babylon, though, as it is faid in the place referred to, he fhould not fee it, his eyes being put out before he was brought thither: and will plead with him there, * for his trefpafs that he hath trefpaffed againft me; for tho’ it was breaking covenant and oath with an heathen prince, yet it was. a. trefpafs againft

Dat juveni atque animum prafenti pignore

| from Sbealtiel, the fon of Feconiab,

God, in whofe name they were made; and his being laid in prifon at Babylon, and kept there to the time of his death, was the Lord’s pleading with him, and judging of him; it was a reproof for his fins, and a condemnation of him and them.. _ ¥. 21. And all his fugitives, with all pis bands Shall fall by the fword, &c.] So thofe of his army that fled, and attempted to. make their efcape when the city of eru/alem was taken, as many as fell into the Chaldean army, which was round about the city, at leaft a great number of them, fell by the fword of the Chaldeans, Jer. lii. 7, 8: and they: that remain fhall be fcattered towards all winds; and fo it was, that fuch that efcaped the fword, ‘were either carried captive into Babylon, or fled fome one way, and fome another, even into all parts,. eaft, weft, north, and fouth: and ye foall know that I the Lord have fpoken it; the Targum adds, by my word, and will do it; who is the Lord God -omnifcient and omnipotent, juft and righteous;, faithful and true, as to his word of promife, fo of threatening. ee PS

¥. 22. Thus faith the Lord God, &c.] Left it fhould be thought by the above prophecies, that the tribe of Fudab fhould be utterly loft, and the family of David extinét, and the promife to him void, that he fhould have one of his feed to fit upon his throne for evermore, P/. cxxxii. 11, 12.. it is here in a figurative manner fignified, that of his feed, the Meffiah thould be raifed up, by whom. the church and kingdem of God would be brought into a flourifhing ftate and condition: 1 will alfo take of the higheft branch of the high cedar; Nebuchadnezzar had took. one of the family of David, and fet-him upon the throne, fignified by taking of the feed of the land, and planting it, ¥. 5. but. without fuccefs; wherefore the Lord here promifes. ‘that he will 2//o take one and plant it, which fhould. thrive and profper: by the high cedar is meant the Fewifo nation, which the Lord chofe and fet on high above all nations of the earth, diftinguifhing it with peculiar bleflings and favours; for which. reafon it may be compared to the high and fpreading cedar; fee Numb. xxiv. 5, 6. Deut. vn. 6, 7. and xxviii. 1. and by the highe/t branch of it, the tribe of Fudab, who prevailed above his brethren,, ‘becaufe from him came the chief ruler, ‘1 Obron. -v. 2. and from whence the Meffiah was to’ come, ‘and did, Gen. xlix. 10. Heb. vii. 14. Rev..v. 5 s. and fet it; namely, the flip taken from the higheft ‘branch of the high cedar; or one that fhould defeend from the ew nation, and particularly from. the tribe of Fudab, more fully deferibed in the next claufe: J will crop off from the top of bis young. twigs a tender one; and by the top and young twigs of the higheft branch of the cedar, or of the chief tribe in. Lael, are meant the houfe and family of David, the royal family, and the defcendents of it, the chief of the tribe of Judah; and by the, tender one is defigned the Meffiah; and fo Farché interprets it; and which interpretation is mentioned. by Rincbi, tho” he would have Zorobabel intended; and owns it.to be the fenfe of the Tar; is this, “* I will bring one of the kingdom | “honfé of David, which is like to a high ‘© and I will raife him up, an infant from his <¢ drens. children;” and fo Abendana ferve the King Meffiah, who fhall rule over all the we and under whom every bird of wing thall dwell. The Mefiiah is often called a dranch ‘in prophecy, Uf, iv. 2. and xi. 1. Fer. xxiii. 5. Zech. iii. 8. and vi. 12. and here a tender twig or branch, Jay in J - lili, 2. a tender plant; which is expreffive of the meannefs of his defcent, David's family being very Jow at the time of his birth, and of the contemptible appearance he made in the form of a fervant; having alfo all the finlefs infirmities of the human mature on him, as well'as was attended with poverty; griefs, and forrows of various kinds; and fo made a very unpromifing appearance of being ‘the great prophet, prieft, and king in J/rael: and now by the cropping off of this tender twig, feems to: be defigned ‘not the incarnation of the Meffiah, but his fufferings and death; ‘whereby he was cut off, not for himfelf, but for the fins of his people, and in which his divine Father had a confiderable hand, Jf. iii. 8, 10. and to which is’ owing the great fruitfulnefs of his kingdom and intereft, ‘fobn xii. 24. moreover, this may refpect not only the perfon of the Meffiah, and his mean appearance in the,world; but alfo his church and intereft, which were at firft like a little ftone cut out of the mountain, and like a grain of muftard-feed, the leaft of all feeds, Dan.- ji. 34, 35. Matt. xiii. 31, 32. the gofpel, which was the inftrument of raifing’ the church of God, was very contemptible, becaufe of its fubject, a crucified Chrift, and the firft preachers of it were mean and illiterate perfons; thofe that received it were the poor of this world, and thofe but a few, and they the offscouring of all things. And will plant it on a high mountain, and eminent, which may be expreffive not of the incarnation of Chrift, but rather of his afcenfion to heaven after his death, and refurreCtion from the dead; and the conftitution of him upon that as Lord and Chrift, or the fetting of him up as king over God’s holy hill of Zion, the church of God:: and no doubt but there is an allufion to mount Zion, and to Ferufalem, from whence the gofpel firft went forth, and where the firft gofpel-church was planted; and being faid to be on a mountain high and eminent, may denote both the: vifibility and ftability of the church of Chrift.

¥. 23. In the mountain of the height of Ifrael will I plant it, &c.} In the higheft part of the land of Jrael, as Ferufalem is faid to be by the Fewi/h writers; the land of J/rael, they fay, particularly Kimchi upon the place, was higher than all other lands, and Yerufalem was the higheft part of: that land. heye the Meffiah preached and wrought his miracles, even in the mountain of the Lord’s houfe, the temple; and here the firft chriftian church was planted and eftablifhed: and it fall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar, that is, the tender twig or branch cropped off, fet and planted as before defcribed; by the doughs or branches it brings forth, may be meant believers, who are as branches in ‘Chrift; are of the fame nature with him, united to him: have a commu-+ nication of life and grace from-him; are ‘fupported and ftrengthened by him; and fo'abiding in-him,’

perfevere to the end; fee Fobu'xv. 4, 5. and. the fruit it is faid to bear, may be defigned the perfons -of the chofen, redeemed, and called; who are the fruit of Chrift’s death, and of the miniftration of his gofpel, Fobn xii. 24. and xv. 16. or the bleffings of grace which are in him, come from him, and are communicated by him; even all fpiritual bleffings, ‘as juftification, pardon, adoption, fanctification, and eternal life, in ‘hort, both grace and glory; and thus -he becomes and appears to bea goodly cedar, in his perfon, office, and grace, to his- people, to whom he is: altogether lovely, being full of grace and truth, Cant. v. 16. ‘fobn i. 14. and'in-his kingdom and intereft, efpecially in the latter-day, when the kingdoms of this world fhall become his: and under it fhall dwell all fowl of every wing, in the foadow of the branches thereof

Jfoall they dwell; by whom are defigned converted finners of all-forts; arid of all ‘nations, Fews and Gentiles; compared to birds, becaufe weak, defencelefs, and timorous; expofed to danger, and wonderfully: delivered; are fubject: to wander and go aftray; and for their chirping’and warbling notes: now thefe may be faid to dwel// under the /hadow of the branches of this goodly cedar, Chrift and: his church; that is, under the miniftration of the word and ordinances, which isa very delightful and re- ii. 3. Hof? xiv. 7. J iv..6. and xxv. 4. and here faints chufe to dwell, and determine to abide and continue, as it is theif intereft and happinefs fo to do; and\what a flocking and tabernacling of. thefe birds here, will there be in the latter day, where they will chirp and fing in the height of Zion? If. \xvi. 4, 8. Fer. xxxi. 12. compare with this Maft. xiii. 31, 32. where our Lord is thought by fome-to allude to this paflage..

y. 24. And all the trees of the field fhall know, &c.] All the ‘nations of the world, and the great ones, and the mighty men of the earth, fhall know, own, ’and acknowledge, when the above things are accomplifhed: that [ the Lord bave brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourifo; fome by the high and green tree underftand Zedekiah, who was brought low; and by the low and dry tree, Feconiah, who was raifed by. the king of Babylon, Fer. lii. 11, 31, 32. this is Farchi’s fenfe, and is mentioned by Kimchi: others by the former, think Nebuchadnezzar and the: Babylonifh monarchy are intended, which were brought down; and by the latter; the houfe of David, and kingdom ‘of Fudab, which were exalted: tho’ rather by the one are: meant’ the’ people of the ‘fews, once the people of God, but now caft off; and by the other'the Gentiles, called by the grace of God, and received by him: tho’ it feems beft of all to interpret the ‘Aigh) and green tree of the mighty:kingdoms of this world)’ which ‘will be put down by Chrift; ‘and the Jow and dry tree of his’ kingdom and intereft,’ which fhall flourifh and fpread abundantly, and be an everlafting kingdom; fee Daz. Hi. 442° LD the Lord have: Spoken, and have done it, becaufe the ‘prophecy of it is fure, and becaufe of theicertainty of the fulfilment of it, it is faid to fame may be faid of particular churches';' and by: ‘be dorie’asfoon as it was fpoken of.