Exposition of the Whole Bible

to work, and their good works don’t merit ity he.

acts freely, and in a fovereign way.

y. 45. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, faying,| Or the word of prophecy, as the Yargum. Here begins a new prophecy, and moft properly a new chapter fhould here begin; for the next chapter is of the fame argument with: this, and an explanation of it, and an enlargement upon it. And here Ben Melech begins one; and fo Fanius and Tremellius, Pifcator, and Caftalio.

¥. 46. Son of man, fet thy face toward the fouth, &ce.] The land of Fudea, which lay fouth of Babylon, where the prophet now was, as Babylon lay north of that, Jer. i. 14. and iv. 6. to /ét his face, was to fpeak freely and boldly, with courage and conftancy, and without fear and dread, to the inhabitants of it; and as a token of the Lord’s face being fet againft them for their fins. The Targum is, ‘* take a prophecy towards the way of the “« fouth.” And drop thy word toward the fouth, or prophefy, as the Yergum, doctrine or prophecy being compared to rain, and the delivery of it to the dropping or diftilling of rain; which falls gently, gradually, fucceffively, and oftentimes with weight, and to good purpofe; fee Deut. xxxii. 2. which ‘metaphorical phrafe is explained in the next claufe: and prophefy againft the -foreft of the fouth field; the city of Ferufalem, in the land of Fudea, which was very full of people, as a foreft of trees; but thefe barren and unfruitful, wicked perfons, comparable to beafts of prey, that haunt in woods and forefts. ¥. 47. And fay to the foreft of the fouth, &c.] To the inhabitants of Ferufalem and Fudea: hear the word of the Lord attend to it, and receive it, believe it, and take warning from it: #hus faith the Lord God, behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, in Ferufalem; meaning that he would fend great calamities among them, the fword of the ' Gbaildéen army, famine, and peftilence; and that at laft ir fhould be burnt with fire, and the remainder of the inhabitants be carried captive: and it Jhall devour every green tree, and every dry tree; all forts of perfons fhould be confumed by one or other of the above calamities, high and low, rich and poor, good and bads and if good men fhould fuffer, comparable to green trees, which fire will not fo eafily burn, not being fit fuel for it; then much more bad men, who were by far the moft numerous, comparable to dry trees, and fo fit fuel for the flames, and eafily confumed thereby: the flaming flame foall not be quenched; or, the flame, flame; or, the flame of flame°; fignifying either the fucceffion of thefe calamities one after another; or the force and {trength of them, which fhould not be abated, until the ruin of the city was completed: - and all faces from the fouth to the north, foall be burnt therein; which fome underftand of an utter deftruction of the Fews, either by fword, famine, and peftilence, or by captivity from Ferufalem or Fudea unto Babylon but rather the meaning is, that all the inhabitants thereof fhould fuffer, from one end of it to the other, from Beer-/beba to rege = ‘country lying in fuch a pofition.

¥. 48. And all flo fall fee, that ee eae kindled it, &c.] Not only the inhabitants of ¥erujalem and Judea fhould fee the hand of the Lord

h ftruction; but all th i | in their de on; but even ee on ‘ as the trees of the weod generally are; and a rendezvous of nations, the cafe was fo clear and plain, the matter fo vifible: it fhall not be quenched; no ftop put to it by all the art and power of man; {fo that it was a clear point, that it was the Lord’s doing.

r 49. Then faid I, ab, Lord God, &c.] The Septuagint verfion is, by no means, Lord, Lord; that is, let me not be fent on fuch an errand; at leaft, let it not be delivered in fuch figurative terms; or let not fuch a general calamity befal the people. The Targum is, ‘‘ receive my prayer, ** O Lord God;” the prophet here either complains of the ufage he had met with after delivering the above prophecy; or rather, of what he had met with before, and which he expected again; and therefore defired either that he might be excufed delivering the prophecy; or however, that it might be delivered not in obfcure and enigmatical terms, but in plain and eafy ones: ‘they fay of me, doth be not {peak parables? as before, of a lion and her whelps; and of a vine, and its rods and branches, ch. xix. and now here again,. of a fire, and.a foreft, and trees of it, green and dry; things not eafily underftood, and fo not attended to and regarded; as if they fhould fay, this man brings us nothing but parables, riddles, and enigma’s, and fuch fort of unintelligible ftuff, not worth minding; and rather appears as a man delirious and mad, thana prophet. Wherefore Ezekiel feems to defire, that he might be fent to them with a meffage more plainly exprefied; and which might excite their attention and regard, and not expofe him to their ridicule and contempt; and accordingly we find it is explained and expreffed in clearer terms in the next chapter.

HIS chapter contains an explanation of a prophecy in the latter part of the preceding chapter; and a new one, concerning the {word of the Chaldeans, and the deftruction of the Fews and Ammonites by it. The prophecy of the fire in the foreft is explained, ¥. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. upon which the prophet is directed to fhow his concern at it by fighing, in order to awaken the attention of the people to it, ¥. 6, 7. then follows a prophecy of a very fharp and bright fword, which fhould do great execution upon the people and princes of J/rae/; and therefore the prophet, in order to affect them with it, is bid to howl and cry, and fimite on his thigh, and fmite his hands together, and the Lord fays he would do fo; all which is defigned to fet forth the greatnefs of the calamity, and the diftrefs, ¥. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. next, the prophet is ordered to reprefent the king of Babylon as at a place where two ways met, and as at a lofs which way to take, and as determined by divination to go to Ferufalem firlt, y. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. and then Zedekiah, the then reigning prince of J/rae/, has his doom pronounced on him, and he is ordered to be ftript of his regalia; and an intimation is given, that there fhould be no more king over J/rael of the houfe of David, until the Meffiah came, ¥. 25, 26, 27. and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy of the deftruction of the Ammonites in their own land, which fhould certainly be, tho’ their diviners might fay the contrary, ¥. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32.

y¥.1. And the word of the Lord came unto me, faying,| Upon the above excufe or complaint about {peaking in parables; wherefore the prophet is ordered to fpeak in plainer language to the people. It is very probable, that the prophet delivered the prophecy recorded in the latter part of the preceding chapter, in the figurative terms in which he received it; and he here is bid to explain it to the people, or to repeat it to them in clearer expreffions.

¥. 2. Son of man, fet thy face toward Ferufalem, &c.] Which fhows that this city was meant by the fouth, ch. xx. 46: and drop thy word toward the holy places; which alfo are meant by the fouth in the paffage referred to, even the holy land, holy — city, and holy temple; or the temple itfelf is only meant, with the courts adjoining to it; or as con- Vou. I. N°. 26, fifting of three parts, as Kimchi, the porch, the temple, and the oracle; or the outward court, the holy place, and the holy of holies; and it may refpect all other places for facred worfhip, as their fynagogues, both in city and country; which were not to be fpared any more than the temple, nor were they, P/- Ixxiv. 7,8. archi thinks, that the deftruction both of the firft and fecond temple is here intended; and which fenfe Kimchi alfo mentions. And prophefy againft the land of Ifrael, by which it appears, that this is intended by the foref of the fouth field; even the numerous inhabitants of it in general, as well as the city of Ferufalem, ch. xx. 46.

¥. 3. And fay to thé land of Ifrael, &c.] The inhabitants of it, fignified by the fore/? of the fouth field, ch. xx. 47: thus faith the Lord, behold, Iam againft thee; and fad it is to have the Lord againft a people, a nation, a city, or a family, or a particular perfon; for there’s no contending with him, or ftanding before him; there is always a reafon for it, itis for fin, when God is againft a people, even his own profefiing people: and will draw forth my fword out of his foeath; bring the Chaldean army out of Babylon; which interprets what is meant by the fire he would &iudle in the land of Ifrael, ch. xx. 47. namely, the fword of the enemy, which he would bring upon it; or war, with all its defolating train of judgments: aad will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, meant by the green and dry tree, ch. xx. 47. who though they fhall not perifh everlaftingly together, yet may fall together in temporal calamities; the one may be chaftized, and the other condemned; or the one be carried captive for their good, as Ezekiel and Daniel, &c. and others be cut off by fword and famine; and fuch as were captives, never the better for their captivity. The Targum is, “ I ‘© will remove out of thee thy righteous ones, that ** I may deftroy thy wicked ones.” Some think that only fuch who were righteous in appearance, or in their,own fight, are here meant. R. Saadiah Gaon, as Kimchi quotes him, interprets them of fuch as were righteous to Baa/, and ferved hin continually, in diftinétion from fuch as were wicked - to him, and did not ferve him continually; and _ both were wicked before the Lord, and therefore ‘ juftly cut off.

by captivity; and upon the whole, none fpared, but the land left defolate: therefore foall my fword go forth out of bis foeath againft all fico, from the fouth to the north, the Chaldean army thall go out of their own land againft all the inhabitants of Judea, from Beer-foeba to Dan; this explains what is meant by all faces being burnt from the fouth to the north, ch. xx. 47. namely, the general deftruction of the Fews by the Chaldeans.

¥. 5. That all fielh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my feord out of bis foeath, &c.| The fame with kindling a fire in Fudea, ch. xx. 48. fee the note there: it fball not return any more; that is, into its fheath, until it has done’ all-its work; meaning that the Chaldean army fhould not then that I will cut off from thee the ther with fweat, or with urine, thro’ fear of righteous and the wicked, &c.] Some by the fword, |enemy = bebold it cometh, and foall be bros fome by famine, fome by peftilence, and others i the Lord Ged; \et no man day far from him, or treat'this report as an idle tale, or a thing at a diftance, and may never come to pais; for it is now a comin and in a very little time will be for the Lord has faid it, who cannot lie, whofe counfel fhall ftand, and he will do all his pleafure. ¥. 8, Again, the word of the Lord came unto me, fayinz,| Either this is a2 new prophecy of another fword, diftiné and different from that of the Cd deans, even of the fword of the Romans, as ( ceius thinks; or it is a further explanation of former, and an enlargement upon it. “s ¥. 9. Son of man, prophefy and fay, thus faith the Lord, &c.] Deliver out the following prophecy im return to their own land, until they had executed /oarpened, and alfo furbifoed; it is not only drawn the whole will of God upon the Fews; this is the fire that fhould not be quenched, ch. xx. 48. and here ends the explanation of the faid prophecy.

¥. 6. Sigh; therefore, thou fon of man, with the breaking of thy loins, &c.] As if thy loins were broke, and go as if they were, and figh as thou goeft; or as a woman in travail, having her hands upon her loins as ready to break, and in the utmoft diftrefS; or heave, and groan, and figh, tll the girdle of the loins is broke; and by thefe motions and. gefture fhow the miferable ftate of this people, and how much thou art affected with it: and with bitterne[s figh before their eyes; in the fight and hearing of the captives at Badylon; who would take care, by fome means or other, to inform their brethren at Ferufalem of it, how the prophet fighed and groaned, under an apprehenfion and affurance of a dreadful calamity coming upon them; ufing along with his fobs and fighs, and brinifh tears, doleful words, and bitter lamentations.

¥. 7. And it foall be, when they fay unto thee, wherefore figheft thou? &c.] Which he was to do for that purpofe, that they might be put upon afking him the reafon of it; whether it was on his own perfonal account, or on account of his family or particular friends? or whether on a public account, either becaufe of what fhould befal the captives there, or their countrymen in Judea and Ferufalem? that thou fhalt anfwer, for the tidings, or the report ®, becaufe it cometh; the report of the Chaldean army approaching and invading Fudea, and befieging Ferujalem, which he had from the Lord; and the thing itfelf was juft at hand, and would fhorily and certainly be; and that was the thing that affected him, and caufed fuch forrow and fighing = and every beart fhall melt; like wax, for fear of the enemy; even fuch, who then difbelieved the report, and laughed at it as an idle ftory: and all bands fhall be feeble; and not able to hold a fword, or ftrike a ftroke: and every foall faint; yea, fuch who had the greateft fpirits, and were the moft bold and undaunted, fhall be quite difpirited, having no heart nor to defend themfelves, or their country: and all knees foall be weak as water; they thall not be able to

3 hereby, the ftand upon their legs, and Soc tess ‘al thee Shae cane dab, t ee | Chem cheno ariceaay Sor own defence; nor even be to flee away, and make their efcape: or, fall flow with water*; €i-

IO Me oe og kien Set Ee ee 2 accitam 4D 7533577 Geent equis, Munfter, Tigarise verfion, fo Ben Meiech; -manabant ati Cafiaio; goedsamm, Glalies. =, oe i ioe out of its fheath, as before, but is made fharp and bright, and ready for ufe. It is repeated, either to {how the certainty of it, or to exprefs the terror and anguifh of mind on account of it; perfons in diftrefs generally répeating that which is the copes fion of it. The Tergum interprets it of two fwords, the fword of the Babylonians, and the fword of the Ammonites; firft the one was to be ufed, and then. the other: this latter, Jarchi and Kimchi obferve, if two diftin@ fwords are meant, think the fword of the Chaldeans, and the fwor of the Romans, are intended. Cocceius, as before obferved, interprets it only of the latter; but 2 dana both of the fword of the king of Babylon, and of the fword of the Romans. ' y. 10. It is foarpencd to make a fore laughter, &c.] To cut eafily, and wound deeply, and make a flaughter of men, like beafts for facrifie; 2 facrifice to the juftice of God for their fins, and fo acceptable to him; and it is he indeed that fharpens it, or prepares the inftruments of hi eben whether Chaldeans, or Romans, or both; and gives them might and courage to execute his will with great keennefs of wrath and fury: #35 furbifbed that it may glitter, and fo firike terror on thofe againft whom it is drawn, and for whom it is prepared, as glittering armour does: «we then make mirth? fing, and dance, and feaft, “and indulge ourfelves in all kind of mirth and jollity, when this is the cafe, a drawn, fharp, glitte {word hangs over our heads? no, furely! there i good reafon for you.to lament and figh, as IT do; you afk me the reafon of it, this is it; is there not a caufe? there is;-it is not a feafon for mirth, but for weeping and lamentation. The words may't ren or let us réeice*; that is, if * dered, it is the red of my Sen, it defpifeth every) tree*, this fword prepared, is no other than the rod 4e =, faith tke LordGod; it, the fcepter, fhall be taken of iron, which the Son of God makes ufes of to rule his enemies with, and break them in pieces; and no tree, high and low, can ftand before it; it cuts down all, and deftroys them, be they what they will; fee Pf. ii. 7, 8,9. Coccezus in the former claufe, or we foal! make ‘merry ‘, of the Father and of the Son, and of their delight and pleafure, whilft wrath was executed on their éne- Mies.

y. 11. And be bath given it to be furbifbed, that it might be bandied, &c.] Either Nebuchadnezzar, or rather God, or the Son of God, prepared and brightened the fword, that it might be handled and made ufe of, cither by the Chaldeens or Romans, to the deftruGion of the Jews. The Targum is, ** he gave their vengeance to be delivered into the “< hand of the king of Babylon.” The fword is foarpened and farbifhed, to give it into the band of the flayer, either the kine of Babylon, Nebachadnezzar, or the Roman emperor, Titus Vefpafian.

¥. 12. Gy, bowl, fom of man, &c.] Not’only fich, but cry; and not cry only, but howl; fignitying hereby, that this would-be the cafe of tiie Jews, when thefe calamities fhould come upon them; and in order to 2ffect,them with them before-hand, the prophet is ordered to act fuch a part, as well as to exprefs his fympathy with them: for st feall be upon my people; that is, the fword, or the calamity ficnified by it; this fhould be not upon other nations, but upon the Lord’s own people; fuch who profefied themfelves to be his people, arid whom he had diftinguifhed from all others; this is faid to affect the prophet the more, they being’ both the Lord’s people, and his alfo: and it foal be sepon all the princes of Ifrael,; who were flain in Ridlab by the king of Babylon, Fer. Vii. 10. the fword fpared neither people nor princes. Terrors by resfon of the fcord foall be upon my people, upon the rumour of the invafion, and when befieged in the city, and when attempting to make their efcape by flight: or, my people are fallen by the fwoord", as fome: fmite therefore upon thy thigh; as one grieved in fpirit, in great diftrefs and anguifh; fee Fer. XXXi. I9.

¥. 13. Becaufe it is a trial, &c.] As all affiictions and calamities are, efpecially to the people of God; they try their faith and patience, and every other grace; and alfo to wicked men, they try them, whether they will repent or no: and wwbat if the fword contemn even the rod? the fcepter; the king of Fudab, and his family;_ not only come upon, and cut off the people and the princes, but the royal family alfo; and even overturn the tribe of Fudab, as the word alfo fignifies; and fubvert the t of it, of which the rod or fcepter is an enfign; this would be a fore trial indeed, and yet it is intimated that fo it fhould be: # fall be no more, faith the Lord God; the rod 0} fhall be no more in one of David's line, of the tribe of Fudab, until the Meffiah comes, ¥. 27. I fhould chufe to render the words thus, for ## is a trial, but what~? what an one is it? or for what is it?- what will be the fruit, effect, and iffute of it? if alfo the fcepter defpifes; the king defpifes the trial, calamity, and is not brought to oral | pi decten = DOU yige repentance by it: it fall be no more, or it foall not away, and not reftored to the houfe of David, until the Meffizh comes. ¥. 14. Thou thereftre, fon of man, pr, ab Smite thine bands together, &c.] As tows the greateft agony for what is coming upon thy people: or, frike band to band?; clap them togetherg as encouraging the enemy with his drawn, tharp, and glittering fword, to make ufe of it, and do execution with it: aad let the fword be doubled the third time; fome think this has reference to the three captivities of Febsiakim, Feconiab, and Zedekiab: others to the threefold calamity in Zedekiak’s time; the firft, the taking of him; the fecond, the taking of the city; the third, the Carrying captive the refidue along with Gedaliah: or to the three times the Chaldeans came againft Fersjalem, after this prophecy; firft with Nebuchadzezzar, ini the eleventh year of Zedekiah, and took him and the city; then with Neduzaradan, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, and burnt the city and temple; and again in the twenty-third of Nebuchednexzar, and carried away the remnant of the people, Fer. hii. 5, 6,12, 30: the fword of the fain; by which many fhould be flain: it is the frord of the great men that are-flain; of the fons of the kings, and of the princes, and riobles of the land: which entereth into their privy chambers; where they fhould endeavour to hide themifelves from it, but in vain, none fhould efcape; their privy chambers could not fecrete nor fecure them: or, which remains with them; as that which is laid up, and referved in a privy chamber, as De Dien, from the ufe of the word in the Eshicpic language, renders it.: ¥. 15. Ibave fet the point of the Ford again? all their gates, &c.] The word rendered petnt, is no where elfe ufed, and is differently tranflated: by fome the fear of the fword *, as Menachem and Kimchi, by others the cry of the fword, or of thofe that are flain with it, as Farchi; and the Targum paraphrafes it, “* thofe that flay with the fword:” fome, 2s both Farchi and Kimchi, obferve, by an inverfion of the letters of the alphabet, called bbafb, render it, the fidughter of the fword; and De Dieu and Dr. Caffel, from the afe of the word in the Ethiopic language, the defruéfion of it, or the power of it. The meaning is; that the enemy with their fwords drawn, fhould be placed at every gate of the city of Ferufalem, or of their houfes, pointed towards them; which would be very terrible, and fure deftruction to them. That their hearts may faint’; fecing nothing but déath before theif eyes, and no way to efcape it: and their ruins be multiplied, of their familiés, and of their houfes. Ab, it is made bright; to tertify the more, as in ¥. 10. appearing as a flaming fword, and fo caufing fear; the prophet exprefiés his forrow and concern for it. The 7z is, ** wo, the fword is ‘¢ drawn out to kill.” if és wrapt up for flaughter; in its fheath or fcabbard, that it might not ruft or be blunted, it being furbifhed and brightened; but this feems contrary to its being drawn out of its fheath, as in ¥. 3, 5. Kimchi renders it therefore, foarpened,as in ¥.10. and fo the Targum, “ it is fharp- ** ened to deftroy;” the more eafily and fpeedily.; ’ + ag a - ¥. 16, e& flit me ile fpernit, wel que fpernit omne lignum, Tigurine verfion, Pifcator, the tsiohinall, Cocteaes. Peet Pak

- n ad: i Polanus; volam SON et eo oe Oe y. 16. Go thee one way or another, &c.] Go to fome one place: or, unite thy/elf*s to other fwords, or join other foldiers holding fwords; the addrefs is to the fword, to fteer its courfe fome one way and flay as it goes along, {paring none: either on the right, or on the left, or fouth, or north; fo the Targum, ** unfheath and flay on the fouth, and « deftroy on the north:” whitherfoever thy face is fet; or prepared, as the Targum, or appointed for deftruction; this is the ufual interpretation: but why may not the words be an apoftrophe to the prophet, to go alone or fingle, either to the right or left, fouth or north, as his face was fet, y. 2. fighing and crying, fmiting his hands together, in order to affeét the minds of the people with the fenfe of their calamities coming upon them?

y. 17. Iwill alfo finite my bands together, &c.] As well as the prophet was bid to do, ¥. 14. either exprefling a concern for the calamity of the people, or indignation at their fins; or rather, as encouraging their enemies to make ufe of the fword pointed at them, and as it were rejoicing at their deftruction for the honour of his juftice. The Targum is, ** and even I will bring vengeance upon “© vengeance:” and I will caufe my fury to ref, when the fword has done its bufinefs, and juft vengeance is taken, the fury of the Lord fhall ceate; it fhall proceed no further, it fhall be kept within due bounds, and no more or further rage: J the Lord have faid it; who is omnipotent, and can do all things, and will do every thing that he has faid, whether in a way of promife or threatening.

y. 18. Lhe word of the Lord came unto me again, &c.] Immediately after the former; for this refects the fame prophecy about the fword, and the way of its coming, and the caufe of it: /aying, as follows:

¥. 19. Alfo thou, fon of man, appoint thee two ways, that the fword of the king of Babylon may come, &c.] Defcribe or draw out upon a table or tile, as in ch. iv. x. or on the ground, two roads, fuch as are defcribed in maps; which it may be fuppofed the king of Babylon would take, either the one or the other, in order to make war again{ft _ fome king or another: doth twain fhall come forth out of one land; both ways muft be drawn as coming from one country, even Babylon: and chufe thou a place, chufe it at the head of the way to the city; fix upon fome fpacious place, where Neduchadnezzar may be fuppofed to bring his army, as a proper rendezvous for them to mufter them in; and let it be where two ways meet, that lead to cities, one to one city, and another to another: and it feems, that upon the defert of Arabia, through which the king of Babylon came, there was fuch a place, where two ways met, and one led to Ferufalem, and the other to Rabbath; and this is the place the prophet was to defcribe, and where in fact Nebuchadnezzar came.

¥. 20. Appoint a way, &c.] Mark out a way, defcribe a road, draw one out upon the ground, or point out one upon a table or tile: shat the fword may come; in which the fword will come; or thofe that kill with the fword, as the Zargum, even the Chaldean army under Nebuchadnezzar: to Rabbath of the Ammonites; which was the metropolis of the Ammonites, and is now called Philadelphia, as fevom writes; itis fo called, to diftinguifh it from others of the fame name; fee 2 Sam. xii. 26: and to Fudah in Ferufalem, the defenced city; which was fo both by nature and art; it had mountains round about it, and had been fortified by feveral kings from the time of David, as Solomon, Hezekiah, and —

Manaffeh. Fudah is {aid to be in it; tho’ it would feem more properly, that Zeru/alem was in Fudab, becaufe that people from all parts of Fudab, upon hearing of the king of Bady/on’s intention and near > approach to invade their land, fled to Feru/alem, being a fortified place, for fecurity. Now the prophet is bid to defcribe a way hither; not that one and the fame way led to Rabbath and Ferufalem, but he was to defcribe a way from the place where Nebuchadnezzar ftopped, which led to Rabbath, and another which led to Feru/alem.

y. 21. For the king of Babylon ftood at the parting of the way, at the bead of the two.ways, &c.] That is, he would ftand there; the prophet knew that it was certain it fhould be, and therefore reprefents it as if it was; he had, by a fpirit of prophecy, feen, that when the king of Babylon was come to fuch a place, on the borders of the defert of Arabia, where the road from Babylon parted, where two ways met, the one. leading to Feru/alem on the right, and the other to Raédath on the left; he fhould make a full ftop with his army, and confider which way he fhould take, whether that which led to Feru/falem, or that which led to Rad-> bath. Itis very probable, when he came out of Babylon, his fcheme was to make an attempt on both thefé important places, and take them; but he had not determined which to attack firft, and was {till doubtful; and now being come to the two roads, which led to the one and the other, it was neceffary to make an halt, confider and conclude, which courfe to fteer; to determine which, he thought proper /o u/e divination, which was performed in the following manner: be made his arrows bright; being made of iron or fteel; in the brightnefs of which diviners looked, and made their obfervations, and accordingly directed what was to be done; as they did by looking into the brightnefs of a man’s nails, as David Kimchi obferves; tho’ his father, Fo/eph Kimchi, was of opinion, that the word has the fignification of cafting of arrows, or caufing them to fly in the air; and fuppofes, that Nebuchadnezzar caft up arrows into the air, and obferved on which fide they fell, and fo judged which way to take; to this agrees the Targum, ** with a bow he caft out arrows;” fo the Syriac and Arabic verfions>.. Ferom fays, the way of divining by arrows was this: arrows, with the names of the cities infcribed upon them, were put into a quiver, and mixed together; and the city ~ upon the arrow which came out firft, was firft attacked. To this agrees the Vulgate Latin verfion, which renders the words, mingling the arrows: and Dr. Pocock * prefers this fenfe of the word, which he obferves fo fignifies in, the Arabic language; and who gives an account of the ufe of divination by arrows among the radians, who much ufed it; tho’ forbidden by Mahomet, as Schultens* obferves.’ Their cuftom was this; when a man was about to marry a wife, or go a journey, or do any bufinefs of importance, he put three arrows into a vefiel;

on one was infcribed, ‘‘ my lord hath commanded _

* me;” on another, ‘‘ my lord hath forbid me;” the third had nothing on it. If the firft he took out had the command upon it, then he proceeded with great alacrity; but if it had the prohibition, he defifted; and if that which had nothing in- feribed on it, he laid it’ by, till one of thé) othét two was taken out; and there is to this day a fort of divination by arrows ufed by the Turks; it is commonly for the wars, tho’ it is’ alfo_pertorined forall forts of things; as to know whether a man fhould undertake a voyage, buy fuch a commodity, or the like. The manner of doing it, as Monfieur Tbevenot © relates, is this; they take fous arrows, and place them with their points againft one another; giving them to be held by:two. perfons; then they lay a naked {word upon a cufhion before them, and read a certain chapter of the Alcoran, with that the arrows fight together for fome time, and at length the one fall upon the other: if, for inftance, the victorious have been named Chrijftians (for two of them they call Turks, and the other two by the name of ‘their enemy) it isa fign that the Chri/tians will overcome; if otherwife, it denotes the contrary. The Fews ‘ fay, _ that in the prefent cafe of «Nebuchadnezzar, that when he orhis diviner caft the arrow for Antioch, or for Tyre,-or for Laodicea, it was broke; but when he caft it for Ferufalem, it was. not broke; by which he knew that he fhould deftroy it. This is that fort’of divination which is called Belomancy: he confulted. with images; or Terapbim, images in which, as Kimchi fays, they faw things future; heathen oracles, from whence -refponfes were made, thefe were images for private ufe, fuch as were the Lares and Penates with the Romans, thefe Laban rad in his houfe, which Rachel ftole from him; and are fuppofed to be fuch as are made under certain conttellations, and their influences capable of fpeaking; fee Zech. x. 2. as Aben Ezra on Gen. xxi. 34. obferves, with which men ufed to confule about things future or unknown; and this is thought to be one reafon why Rachel took away thefe images from her father, that he might not, by confulting with them, know which way Facod fied *; with fuch as thefe the king of Babylon confulted, that he might know which way he fhould take: he looked in the livers, of a beatt flain, and made obfervations on that to direct him as ufed to be done by the 4ru/pices among the Romans. ‘This is thar fort of divination which is called Hepatofcopy, or infpection into the liver; for tho’ the Arufpices or Extifpices, fo called from their looking into the entrails of a beaft, and making their obfervations on them, ufed to view the-feveral inward parts, yet chiefly the liver, which they called the head of the inteftines; and if this was wanting, orithe head in it, the chief part of it, it was an ill omens thus, in the month that Claudius Cafar was poifoned, the head of the liver was wanting in the facrifice; or if the liver was livid, vicious; had any puftules upon it, or any purulent matter in it; or was touched, cut and wounded with the knife of the facrificer, it foreboded great evils and misfortunes; or if the extreme part of the liver, which is called the fibre, was fo placed, that from the loweft. fibre the livers were replicated, or there’was a double liver, this was a token fox good, and portended joy and happinefs *: more- over; they ufed to divide thé bowels of entrails into two parts, and fo the ‘liver; the one they called familiaris, by which they judged what would befal themfelves, and their friends; the other ho- tilis; what concerned their enemies; according to the habit; colour and pofition they were in, they concluded what would befal the one, and the other". Liucan * and Seneca! particularly have refpect to this: and the king of Babylon here hav* ing two people to deal with, the Ammonites and the ews; he infpects the liver of a creature flain for facrifice, that he might judge which was beft and fafeft for him to attacks which was lefs threatning, and more eafy to be overcome ™: this divina= tion ufed to be made with calves, kids and lambs *.

¥.22.. At his right-hand was the divination for Ferufalem, 8ec:) All his divinations, whether by arrows, or by images, or by liver, all directed him to his right-hand, to turn to that which led to Ferufalem, and thus, what appeared to him to be the effect of divination, was over-ruled by the pro~ vidence of God, to direct him to go and do what he defigned he fhould: to appoint captains to open the mouth in the flaughter; wpon which he appointed his feveral captains and officers their diftinct bodies of men they were to lead on to the fiege of Ferufalem; and give them the word of command when to inveft the place, fcale‘the walls, or make breaches in it, and fall uponothe enemy, and make a flaughter of them. ‘The word for captains, fignifies rams; and Fofeph: Kimchi interprets it, of battering-rams, to'beat down walls; but-thefe are after+mentioned; and’is both by Farchi and David Kimchi explained of general. officers ofthe army; and fo the Targum, -“* to appoint generals. to open ‘* the gates‘ that ‘the flayer: may enter. by them:” to lift up the voice with shouting; which is ufually done in fieges, when a fhout is made, anda place is {tormed both to animate the befiegers, and to terrify the befieged: to appoint battering-rams 4- gainft the gates; to break them down, or ‘break thro’ them, and fo ‘make way for the-army to enter in; thefe were engines ufed in fieges, to beat down walls, and make breaches in them, that the befiegers might enter; fo called from the iron heads of them, which refembled rams; and are thus de- {cribed by Fofephus°, ‘the ram is a huge beam, ‘“¢ not unlike the maft of a fhip; the top of it is *¢ capped with a thick piece of iron, in the form of a ram’s head, from whence it-has its’ name: this is hung by the: middle with ropes to another beam, which lies acrofs, fupported by a couple of pofts; and thus hanging’ equally balanced, is by a great number of.men violently *¢ thruft backwards and forwards, and fo beats the ‘¢ wall with its iron head; nor is there any towér ‘* fo ftrong, or wall fo broad, as to refift its re- “¢ peated ftrokes.” Vitruvius? fays, it’ was invented by the Carthaginians at the fiege of Cadiz; but Pliny ° affirms it was invented by pews at the fiege of Troy, but the firft mention of them is made by Ezekiel here, and in ch. iv. 2. and Diodorus Siculus * affirms, they were not known in the

: times & See Godwin’s Mofes

k Cernit tabe jecur madidum, venafque minaces, Hoftili de parte videt, &c. |! Hoftile valido robore infurgit. latus.

times of Sardanapalus, when Nineveh was taken by Arbaces. The Targum interprets it, of officers fet at the gates, as befote; and fo Farchi: to caft a mount, made up of earth, to raife their batteries upon: and to build a fort; to caft out theirarrows from thence, and protect the befiegers; fee the note on ch. iv. I.

y. 23. And it foall be unto them asa falfe divination in their fight, &e.] That is, the Fevws fhall laugh at this divination as a vain thing, as a heathenith practice, and of which nothing would come; and even at the prophet’s account of it, and his prophecy concerning the king of Babylon coming to invade them; they looked upon them all as of a piece, trufting to their falfe prophets, who affured them that they fhould not be delivered into his hands: to them that have fworn eaths, a defcription of the ews, who had with their king Zedekiah {worn allegiance to the king of Babylon; which oaths they had violated, taking others to the king of Egypt: or, becaufe they were bound by oaths to them’; meaning either the Egyptians, who had bound themfelves by oaths to protect the Fews; and therefore they feared nothing from this. pretended divination and prophecy, as they judged them to be, tho’ they had not kept faith with the Chaldeans themfelves; or the Fews, becaufe of the Egyptians who had entered into an alliance with them, confirmed by oaths; and this had made them fecure, on this they depended. The Zargum takes the words, as if they fignified, /evex times feven and gives this ftrange paraphrafe of them, accounting for the vain confidence of the Fews; ‘* and their divinations were lies in their ** eyes, and the inchantments with which he in- chanted. them; for they knew not that he had obferved forty-nine times (#. e. his arrows, - images and liver) and an anfwer was returned upon the word, till the time came to him in which they fhould be delivered into his hands:” but he will call to remembrance the iniquity; that is, Nebuchadnezzar would call to mind the perfidy and perjury of the king of Fudeb, in breaking covenant with him, and violating his oath. Some think that the Chaldeans that were with Nebuchadnezzar were not fatisfied at firft that it was a true divination that was made, they being fet upon the taking of Rabbath firft; but Nebuchadnezzar remembring and putting them in mind of the treachery of Zedekiab, reconciled them to it, and determined them in the expedition againft the Jews: that they may be taken; as birds in a fnare, or beafts in a net, and be carried captive.

v.24. Therefore thus faith the Lord God, &c.] Becaufe of their vain confidence, added to their perjury and perfidy: decaufe ye have made your iniguity to be remembered, their old fins, by committing new ones, both againft the Lord, and againft the king of Babylon: in that your tranfgreffions are difcovered, fo that in all your doings your fins do appear, both in their religious and civil aétions; in the worfhip of God, and in their covenants and agreements with men their fins were expofed and manifeft to all, not only to God, who was provoked thereby, but to men, to the nations. round about; particularly to Nebuchadnezzar, who was enraged by them: decau/e, I fay, that they are come to remembrance; both before the Lord, and the king of Babylon: ye jhall be taken with the hand, as eafily as a bird is, when in the fnare. The Targum is, ‘* ye fhall be delivered into the hand mond nivay *y Iu’ quia obftricti juramentis eis funt, Pifcator,

IE Ld. Ch. xxi. ¥.23—27. “ of the king of Babylon;” which is no doubt the fenfe of the paflage.

¥. 25. And thou profane wicked prince of Ifrael, &c.] Meaning Zedekiah, the then reigning prince; who: is fo called, becaufe he had profaned or vio-~ lated the oath and covenant he made with the king of Babylon, as well as becaufe of other fins he was guilty of; and his being a prince of J/rael was an ageravation of his crimes: now, tho’ it is not Jit in common, or for ordinary perfons, to fay to a king thou art wicked, and to princes ye are ungodly, Fob xxxiv. 18. yet a prophet from the Lord, and in his name may fay fo; and he ought, when he has a commiffion from God for it: whofe day 1s come, the time of his downfal and ruin; and fo the Largum, ‘* whofe day of deftruction is come:” when iniquity foall have an end, a {top put to the torrent of it, both in the king and his fubjeéts; they not having the opportunity and means of finning in captivity as before; or when the meafure of iniquity is filled up, then comes punifhment; or when the punifhment of iniquity fhall be completed. So the Zargum, ‘* the time of the recompence of his ** fins.”

¥. 26. Thus faith the Lord God, remove the diadem, and take off the crown, &c.] That is, from Zedekiah; and as thefe are the regalia and enfigas of royal dignity, taking them off fignifies the depofition of him as a king, the ftripping him of his kingly power and authority: an earthly crown is a corruptible and fading one, at moft it continues but during this life, and fometimes not fo long; it does not always fit firm; fometimes it is tottering and fhakes, and fometimes quite falls off to the ground; it is taken from the head of one, and put upon the head of another, by him who gives the orders in the text, and has the fovereign difpofal of crowns and kingdoms; who fets up one, and puts down another. The diadem was a royal tire of the head, wore in common; the crown was put on at certain times; both fignify one and the fame thing, royal dignity; tho’ the former is fometimes ufed as an ornament of the priefthood, as the latter of kingly power; hence the Targum, “¢ remove the diadem (or mitre) from Seraiab the ‘© high-prieft, and I will take away the crown from “ Zedekiah the king” but the latter is only meant; befides, as Kimchi obferves, it was not Seraiah, but Febozedek his fon that was carried captive with Zedekiah: this foall not be the fame; this royal dignity fhall not continue the fame; the kingdom halt not be in the fame luftre and glory, nor in the fame hands: exalt him that is low, either Feconiah now in captivity; and which was fulfilled when Evil-merodach litted up his head, and fet his throne above the thrones of the kings in Babylon, Fer. lii. 31, 32. or Zerubbabel of the feed of Feconiah, who was born in the captivity, and became prince of Judah; or rather the Mefliah, who was of a low extraction; born of mean parents; was as a root out of adry ground; appeared in the form of a fervant, poor and lowly; yet when he had done his work, was highly exalted at the right-hand of God; far above angels, principalities and powers, as well as fet upon the throne of his father David: and abafe him that is bigh; the then prince upon the throne, Zedekiah; who was high and lifted up, but fhould be pulled down and humbled, as he was. >

The crown and kingdom of Fudab; which being