Exposition of the Whole Bible

exprefled three times, has not refpect, as Kimchi thinks, to the three generations, in which the crown ceafed after the captivity, as thofe of Afr, Shaaltiel, Pedaiah, and in the fourth generation was reftored to Zerubbabel; for he was no king; nor was there any of David’s line after; nor were the Maccabees or Hafmoneans properly kings; but the phrafe denotes the utter abolition of the kingly power, and the certainty of it, which could not be reftored, notwithftanding the attempts made by Gedaliah and IJ/bmael, all their fchemes were overturned, and fo in fucceffive ages; and may alfo denote and include the troubles that were in the Fewifo ftate, not only during the captivity, but from that time unto the Meffiah’s coming; there were nothing but overturnings, overturnings till that time came: and it foall be no more; a kingdom governed by one of the feed of the then prefent family, or of the feed of David; there fhall be no more a king of his race; ‘as there was not till Shileh came, intended in the next claufe: until he come whofe right it is, the right of the crown and kingdom of J/rael; which belongs to Fe/us the IVieffiah, being defcended from a race of kings of the houfe of Fudah, and of the feed of David: or, fe whom the judgment is*; to whom the father hath committed all judgment, ohn v. 22. all power of judging, beth his church and people, and the whole world: and I will give it him; the crown and kingdom, which is his right; put him in the pofieffion of it, as he was at his refurrection and afcenfion; and which will more fully appear in the Jatter day, when all kingdoms will become his; efpecially he has, and will appear to have the throne of his father David, and of his kingdom there will be no end, Lwkei. 31, 32. This is underftood and interpreted of the Metfiah, by R. Abendana*, a modern Few.

¥.28. Aud thou, fon of man,. prophefy, and fay, &c.] Here begins a new prophecy, or rather an enlargement on part of the former; two ways being marked out for the fword of the Chaldeans to come in; the one leading to Feru/alem, the other to Rabbath of the Ammonites; the prophecy being finifhed concerning the former, here an account is given of the latter; how the fword fhould move that way, and what execution it would do: thus faith the Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; Nebuchaduezzar, agreeable to the above prophecy, having taken his rout to Feryfelem, as his divination direéted him, and deftroyed that, returned to Badylon, without making any attempt upon the Ammonites, which fo flufhed them, that they infulted the ews, and laughed at their deftruction, as if their God whom they ferved could not fave them, attributing their fafety and profperity to the idols they worfhipped; fee ch. xxv. 1—7. Zeph. ii. 8—10: even fay thou; the Jfword, the fword is drawn for the flaughter, the fame {word of the Chaldeans, which was drawn for the flaughter of the Yews, is now drawn for the flaughter of the Ammonites; and which is repeated for the certainty of it, and to injeét terror; and this, as Fofephus * fays, was accomplifhed five years after the deftruction of Ferufalem, in the twentythird year of Nebuchadnezzar: it is furbifbed to confume, becaufe of the glittering, being brightened and made fharp, it not only terrified with its glit-

* Not in Ben Melech, Miclol Yophi in loc.

¥.29. Whiles they fee vanity unto thee, while they divine a lie unto thee, &c.] The Ammonites had their feers, foothfayets, diviners, arid falfe prophets, which they are bid to be aware of, and are cautioned againft hearkening to, Fer. xxvii. 3, 9. thefe told them they were in the utmoft fafery, and that the king of Babylon would ot come againft them; or if he did; would not fucceed; when his {word was drawn and furbifhed for the deftruétion of them: to bring thee upon the necks of the flain, of the wicked, that is, of the Fews who were flain by the fword of the Chaldeans for their wickednefs; and thefe diviners by their vain divination and lies would bring the Ammonites into the fame condition, to be flain as they were; and as it were to fall upon their necks, as one flain perfon upon another; and fo the Targum, ‘* to deliver thy neck “ as the necks of the flain, of the wicked:” it may be rendered, to put thee to the necks of the Jain *; or, as Kimchi, with the necks of the flain; tho’ fome underftand it, as if the diviners by their lies, promifing peace and profperity, encouraged the Ammonites to infult the ews, and as it were to trample upon the necks of the dead: whofe day is come, when their iniquity fhall have an end, along with Zedekiab their king; a defcription of the Fews 5 fee the note on ¥. 27.

¥. 30. Shall I caufe it to return into his fheath? &c.] The drawn and furbifhed fword of the Chaldeans? no; I will not; it fhall never return or be put up until the Ammonites are utterly confumed. Some read thefe words in the imperative, as the Targum, ‘* return the fword to its fheath;” fo the Vulgate Latin verfion, return to thy fheath and fo may be confidered as a direction to the Ammonites to put up their fwords, and not ftand in their own defence, fince it would be to no purpofe; tho’ Ferom, and Grotius after him, take the words to

| be an apoftrophe to the drawn fword of the Chaldeans to fheath itfelf, having done its work upon the Yews and Ammonites; or to the Chaldeans to return to Babylon, and where they alfo fhould be punifhed; and fo interpret all that follows of the deftruction of the Babylonians by the Medes and Perfians; but the firft fenfe is beft: I will judge thee in the place where thou waft created, in the land of thy nativity; not in the place where their father Ammon was born, ‘which was at Zoar; but where they firft became a kingdom and ftate, a body politic; or where the prefent generation of them were born; they fhould not be carried out of their own’

land, but deftroyed in it. ¥. 31. And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, &c.] Like a mighty flood, which fhould fweep them away for their fins and tranfgreffions; and particularly for their reproaches of God and his people, which caufed his indignation to rife, and him to pour it out upon them in fuch a manner: I will blow againft thee in the fire of my wrath, as men put metal into a furnace, and then blow upon it, in order to melt it, and confume the drofs; and which fire fo blown, is exceeding fierce and very confuming; who can ftand againft fuch a blaft as that of the wrath of God, not only kindled, but blown with his breath like a ftream of brimftone? and deliver thee into the baud of brutifh MER + sso smn ut ponant te cum cervicibus interfectorum, Munfter, Tigurine verfion; applicando te ad cervices confoflorums men or burners*,; that burn with fierce anger, barbarous and inhuman, that would fhew no mercy nor compafiion, fuch. were the Chaldeans, Hab. 1. 6, 748, and. skilful to. defirey; tho’ like brutes or beafts of prey for their cruelty; yet, like men, rational, cunning and artful, to devife| ways and means to deftroy. men 3 well verfed in the art of war;-and thoroughly learned in all the leffons and methods, of violence and deftruction.

¥. 32. Thou fhalt-be for. fuel for the fire, 8c:) Eafily confumed, as briers and thorns caft into a furnace; fuch are wicked men to the fire of God’s wrath: thy blood fall bein the midft of the land;

fuch large numbers fhall be flain every where, that the land fhall flow with the blood of them; who. fhall lie unburied, and rot, and. putrify upon the ground: thou shalt be no more remembered; but lie in everlafting oblivion, as they do to this day; the name cf an Ammonite being no where mentioned and heard of: for I the Lord have {poken it; who never alters the thing that is gone out of his lips 5, and fooner fhall heaven and earth pafs away, than one word of his. The Targum is, * for I «© the Lord have decreed. by my word,” and his counfel fhall. ftand, and every purpofe and refolution of his fhall be accomplifhed,

N this chapter a catalogue or lift of the fins of the ews is given; -a comparifon of them to drofs is made, and they are dealt with accordingly; and a complaint is lodged againft all ranks and orders of men for their fins; on account of which, there being no interceffor for them, they are threatened with captivity and deftruction. The prophet is ordered to judge them, and lay before them their abominable fins, ¥. 1, 2. of which a long lift is given, as. murder, idolatry; contempt of parents; oppreffion of the ftranger, fatherlefs and widow; negligence of. holy. things; profanation of the fabbath; tale-bearing, lewdnefs and uncleannefs of various forts; bribery, ufury, extortion and difhoneft gain, ¥..3—13. for which the _ Lord threatens to deal with them in a manner that would. be intolerable to them; that he would carry them captive, and fcatter them among the heathen, ¥. 14, 15,16. they are compared to drofs, and as fuch fhould be gathered into a furnace, and melted down, ¥. 17, 18, 19,20, 21,.22. all ranks. and orders of men are complained of, becaufe of their fins, and threatened, ¥. 23,24. the prophets, fox their voracioufnefs, rapine, murder and lies, ¥. 25, 28. the priefts, for their violation of the law, neglect of holy things, and:profanation of the fabbath, ¥. 26. the princes, for their cruelty, murder, and difhoneft gain, ¥.27. the people of the Jand, for their oppreffion and robbery, ¥..29. and there being none to ftand in the gap for them, the Lord threatens to pour ont;his wrath upon them, and confume them, y¥..30, 31.

y.1. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, &c.] The word of prophecy from the Lord, as the Targum, another prophecy: /aying, as fol-

¥.2. Now thou fon of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the blocdy city? &c.]- Or, city of bloods ¥? the city of Ferufalem, in which was fhed the blood of the prophets fent unto her; the doubling of the word denotes the vehemency with which it was exprefied: wilt thou plead for and excufe fuch a city as this? furely no; fo fome: or wilt thon do thy work and office as a prophet? haft thou courage enough to do it? wilt. thou rebuke and reprove? as the Targum, wilt thou examine her. cafe, judge truly, and condemn her, as thou oughteft to do? haft thou an inclination to, take this affair in hand? then be directed to it, as follows: yea, thou foalt foew her all her abominations; \ay them before her; convict her of them; fhew her the evil of them, and the punifhment they deferve; every kind of fin fhe was guilty of; for, as for particular acts, it was impoffible to reckon them; thofe fins that were the.moft flagrant, and moft frequently committed, and which were abominable to the Lord, and rendered her fo in his fight, are intended.

¥. 3. Then fay thou, thus faith the Lord God, &c.] For tho’ the prophet was to fit as judge, yet in the name of the King of kings, under whofe authority he acted: the city fheddeth blood in the mid? of it; openly and impudently, in the face of all, and in great abundance; even innocent blood, as the Targum has it: murders were frequent and common, either thro” quarrels, or thro’ unrighteous judgments in courts of judicature; that her time may come; to fill up the meafure of her iniquity, and to receive the juft punifhment of her fins. So the Targum, ‘* the time of her deftrac- “tion: and maketh idols againft berfelf, to defile berfelf; being guilty, not only of murder, but of idolatry; fhe was an idol-maker and an idol-worfhipper.; and which was againft herfelf, as well as againft God; to her own ruin and deftruction, as well as to his difhonour; and it is no wonder fhe fhould be defiled with fuch dunghil-gods as. thefe were, as the word ufed fignifies. The Targum renders it, iz the midft of ber, and Kimchi interprets it, by er, or above her, upon the mountains and hills.

y¥. 4. Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou haft foed, &c.] Not only fhe contracted guilt by the innocent blood fhe fhed, but fhe was tried and found guilty; her guilt was notorious, plain and evident, as well as exceeding great, and much aggravated: and hat defiled thyfelf in thine idols, whicd thou baft made; fhe not only made them, in doing which fhe finned; but polluted herfelf with them, by worfhipping them; her mind and confcience were defiled with them; and which brought fuch a ftain and pollution, as could not be removed by any thing that fhe could do: there are both pollution and guilt in fin, and neither can be removed but by the blood of Chrift; and unlefs removed that way, punifhment mutt follow: and thou ' haft caufed thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years, to full age, to ripenefs for judgment; fhe had haftened by her fins her days of affliction

‘and diftrefs appointed for her, and was come to years of maturity to fuffer for her fins; the years of her captivity, which would foon take places years in which fhe would have no pleafure: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the ee | uta

and a mocking to all countries; who, inftead of praifing them for their idolatry, would deride them for leaving the God of their fathers, which they did not; and infult over them in their affliction and diftrefs, tho’ they joined with them.in idolatrous practices.

¥. 5. Thofe that be near, and thofe that be far from thee, foall mock thee, &c.| The neighbouring nations, as the Edomites, Philiftines, Moabites, and Ammonites; and diftant ones, as the Babylonians, Medes and Perfians; all that either hear of, or fee their mifery, fhall rejoice at it, and triumph over them: which art infamous and much vexed; of they fhall fay, O thou of an infamous name and character; who haft defiled thy namie, got a blot upon it, and loft thy credit by thy conduét and behaviour; and now fretting and vexing under the afflictions and calamities that lie upon thee: or whofe tumults are many, as the Targum, who haft been full of noife, and factions, and tumults; thou art now come to a righteous end.

¥. 6. Bebold, the princes of Ifrael, &c.] Thofe that belonged to the royal family, or the nobles of the land, or the members of the grand Sazhedrim of the nation: every one were in thee to their power _to fhed blood, every one exerted himfelf to the uttermoft, according to his ability, to fthed blood, or caufe it-fo be hed; every one ftrove, as it were, who fhould fhed moft, to exceed each other in this abominable fin.

¥.7. In thee have they fet light by father and mother, 82¢.| Thro’ whom. they received their being from God; by whom they were brought into the world, brought up and educated; and towhom they owed great refpeét, honour and obedience; but, on the contrary, they wanted affection to their perfons, fhewed great difrefpect to their commands,:

arid treated them with irreverence and contempt; a fin of a very heinous nature, of the firft magnitude; reckoned among the very heathens as next to contempt of God, and difobedience to him;, is directly contrary to a law of God, and threatened with a curfe, and a fevere punifhment, Exod. xx. 42. Deut. xxvii 16. Prov. xxx. 17. by the connexion of the words with the preceding, the princes of J/rael feem intended; the children of the nobles, and the fons and daughters of the king; who, it might have been thought, by the charaéter they bore, the ftation they were in, and the politenefs of their education, would have behaved in another manner; and) if this fin prevailed among them, no doubt it did among thofe of a lower clafs, who are always influenced by fuch examples: 7# the midft of thee have they dealt. by oppreffion with the Stranger 5 the profelyte, as the Septuagint, him that was converted to me, as the Syriac verfion; which is an aggravation of the fin, that it was not merely a ftranger that came about civil bufinefs, but one who came from foreign parts to worfhip the Lord at Ferufalem, as the Ethiopian eunuch did: now, to opprefs fuch an one, either by private frauds, or by injuftice in a court of judicature; to exact upon him for food or lodging; or circumvent and over-reach him in trade and commerce 5 or diftrefs him by vexatious law-fuits, when ignorant of the laws and cuftoms of the country; at a diftance from his friends, and in want of money, muft be a very great evil; and yet even the princes them- felves in Ferufalem were guilty of it: in thee have they vexed the fatherle/s and the widow; that were weak and helplefs, and had none to proteét them, father and hufband being dead; when, according to their firft rank and ftation as princes, they ought’ to have been the defenders of them; but inftead of that, diftrefled, afli&ted and grieved them.

¥.8. Thou haft defpifed mine holy things, &c.] The holy place, the temple, and the worfhip of it; holy perfons, the priefts that officiated there; holy factifices offered up by them; the holy word of God read and explained; and all holy ordinances there adminiftered. Thefe words are di-+ rected to Ferufalem the holy city, and to the inhabitants of it, who ought to have been holy men: and baft profaned my fabbaths, by doing their own work, and neglecting the fervice of God; and which was an inlet, as it ufually is, to all manner of fin.

¥.9. In thee are men that carry tales to fbed blood, 8&c.] Innocent blood, as the Targum; fuch who go from houfe to houfe, as pedlars do with their wares or fpices, as the word * fignifies; hence the Syriac verfion renders it, merchants; and carty tales and lies of innocent perfons, and ftir up others againft them to wrath, and revenge, and fhed their blood; or that go to the courts of judicature, and there accufe innocent perfons, and bear falfe witnefs againft them, to the taking away of their lives: ‘The Septuagint and Arabic verfions render it, ¢bieves; who commonly are murderers: and in thee they eat upon the mountains; that is, there were fiich in Yern/alem who ufed to go to the moutitains where idols were worfhipped, and eat the things that were facrificed to them; or pattook of the feaft made to the honour of them. So the Targum, “ in thee they ferved idols on the ‘¢’ mountains:” iz the midft of thee they’ commit lewdnefs; a general word for all manner of uncleannefs, as adultery, fornication, inceft, ce. of which fome particulars follow:

y. 10. In thee have they difcovered their father’s nakednefs, &c.] Or, be difcovered*, ot uicovered, it being in the fingular number; tho’ the Targum, Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental verfions read in the plural; this, tho’ committed, was done but by a few; it being a fin not fe much as named among men, as for a man to lie with his father’s wife, 1 Cor. v.1. as Reuben did, | Gen. Xxxv. 22. and which is exprefsly forbidden, | and is mentioned firft as the capital fin of uncleannefs, Lev. xvitt. 6: in thee have they humbled her that was fet apart for pollution, ravifhed and de- | flowered {uch women who had their menttrues;

to lie with fuch was prohibited by the law of God, Lev. xviii. 19. and xx. 18. fo that here was |a double fin committed; a rape of a woman, whether marriéd or unmarried, at the time of her purgation or ficknefs; and fuch a copulation, which at another time would be lawful, ought to be ab- {tained from at fuch a time, as prejudicial to themfelves, and to their pofterity, as well as contrary to the divine law., y¥. t1. And one hath committed abomination with bis neighbour’s wife, &c.] The fin of adultery, which is an abominable fin; it is fo to God, and it fhould be fo to man: or, @ man bath com-_ mitted *; fome man: of note, a gréat man; for this b ms revelavit, Montanus 5 © MYT GON & vir this fin prevailed among the princes and nobles: or every one; it being a general vice, which obtained among all ranks, high and low, rich and poor: azd another hath lewdly defiled his daughterin-law; his wife’s daughter, or his fon’s wife, contrary to Lev. xviii. 15, 17: and another in thee hath humbled his fifter, his father’s daughter; his own fifter, begotten ‘of the fame father, tho” it may be not born of the fame mother; yet the relation is too near for marriage; and befides, ’tis a rape that is here intended; and the uncovering of the- nakednefs of a fifter, whether by father or mother’s fide, whether born at home or abroad, is prohibited, Lev. xviii. 9. and fome have thought, that all thefe aéts of uncleannefs were committed in honour of their idols, and when théy worfhipped them on the mountains, y. 9.

¥. 12. In thee have they taken gifts to fhed blood, &c.] Innocent blood, as the Targum; judges upon the bench, whofe office it is to take the part of the innocent, and clear him from unjuft charges; and protect him from the violence of wicked and unreafonable men, that lay things to his charge, which, if true, would require blood; and yet men in fuch offices took bribes to bring in the innocent guilty, and pafs fentence of death on him; which is a moft fhocking iniquity indeed; to take bribes in pecuniary matters is very wicked; but to do it in cafes which affect life, is moft dreadfully cruel: or if it is to be underftood of fuch perfons who take bribes to bear falfe witnefs againft a man, “to the taking away of his life, it is a very heinous and deteftable fin; for, as for a fett of jury-men bribed to bring in a wrong verdict, which would be equally a moft enormous crime; fuch a cuftom to try caufes to be determined by a jury, did not obtain among the Yews: thou hajft taken ufury and increafe, and thou baft greedily gained of thy neigh- Dours by extortion; not content with moderate ufury and increafe, and even that were forbid the Yeaws among themfelves; fo greedy were they of gain at any rate, that they extorted it of their neighbours, in the moft violent and oppreffive manner. Kimchi, by her friends or neighbours, underftands the Afyrians and Egyptians; to whomthe gave gifts, extorted by oppreffion from her own people, to get help of them: and haft forgotten me, faith the Lord to eek for help from me; or they had forgotten his law, which forbids the above fins; they had forgotten the inftructions, cautions and directions he had given them. The Targum is, ‘ and ** haft forfook miy worfhip;” forgetfulnefs of God ris the caufe of all fin.

¥. 13. Bebold therefore, I have {mitten mine hand at thy difboneft gain which thou haft made, &c.| As one amazed at it; or as filled with indignation againft it; or as grieved and diftreffed at it; fo Farchi and Kimchi: or elfe as rejoicing at the punifhment going to be inflicted on them for it. So the Septuagint renders it, ** I will bring my hand ** upon them;” and the Zargum, “ behold, I will ‘* bring my vengeance upon thee for the fins of “* mammon,” Gc. Farchi and Kimchi obferve from their Radbins, that four and twenty fins are recited by Ezekiel; but the final fentence of punifhment is for rapine or difhoneft gain, which is the greateft evil of all, 1 Zim. vi.10: and at thy blood which hath been in the midft of thee; the innocent blood

fhed in the midft of her; not fo much by thieves and cut-throats, as under a pretence of juftice, which was very abominable indeed; againit, which the Lord exprefies juft and ftrong refentment.

¥. 14. Can thine heart endure, &c.| Or fland *; furely it muft fall within thee; become like water, and melt as wax, be it ever fo hard and adamantine: or can thine hands be firong in the days that I. Joall deal with thee? furely they muft become weak, and drop, and not be able to hold a weapon. for defence: and, if this would be the eafe, when God fhould deal with the ews for their fins, by fending the Chaldean army to befiege their city, and take it; how will it be with finners at the day of judgment, and to all eternity, when the awful fentence fhall be pronounced, go ye curfed, when the wrath of God fhall be poured out upen them ¥ when they fhall be caft into hell, where the worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched? this will be intolerable by the moft ftout hearted finner; no — heart will be ftrong enough to ftand up under it, or. hands to keep it off: J the Lord have fpoken it, and will do it; he who is the mighty God, the eternal and unchangeable Jehovah; he has faid it, that he will deal with impenitent finners in a way of wrath, and he'll be as good as his word; he will certainly accomplifh it; it is in vain for men to flatter themfelves to the contrary; or to put: away the evil day far from them it fhaJl furely be. The Zargum is, ‘* I have decreed by my ‘¢ word, and I will eftablith it.”

y¥.15. And I will fcatter thee among the heathen, and difperfe thee in the countries, &c.] Not only caufe them to be carried captive to fome one place, as Babylon; but to be feattered and difperfed throughout the feveral provinces of it, and in other na-~ tions, as chaff is by the wind; fignifying hereby the power by which it would be done; their weaknefs, who would not be able to hinder it; and the uncomfortable condition they would be in: and will confume thy filthine/s out of thee, by deftroying fome filthy perfons, and reforming others; by bringing them by means of thofe afflictions to a fenfe of their fins, and to forfake them; and fo would be refined as filver from its drofs in a furnace: it may have a particular reference to their idolatry, that filthy fin, which they were cured of, and purged from, by their captivity, and to which’ they returned no more.

y¥.16. And thou fhalt take thine inheritance in thyfelf in the fight of the heathen, &c.| No longer be the inheritance of God, but their own; and not have God to be their portion and inheritance, but themfelves; and a poor portion and inheritance that muft be, being in captivity, poverty and. diftrefs; enjoying neither their civil nor religious liberties, as heretofore; it would be now manifeft to the heathens, that they were forfaken of God, and left to themfelves. Some render it, aud thou foalt be profaned, or polluted in thyfelf*; thalt be known to be fo to thyfelf, as well as appear fo to others. The Zargum is, ** I will be fanétified in ‘*¢ thee before the people:” and thou fhalt know that I am the Lord; able to do what I fay; faithful to my word; omnifcient, omniprefent and omnipotent; and this thou fhalt not only know, but _ own and acknowledge, when thefe calamities take —

; edi fo noma & prophana effeéta in te, Junius & Tremellius, phana efficieris, Pifcator; & polluta eris in te, Grotius; & prophanata eris in te, Starckius; & prophanaberis in

- ¥.17. And the word of the Lord came unto me, &c.] The word of prophecy from the Lord, as the Targum: faying, as follows:

¥. 18. Son of man, the houfe of Ifrael is to me become drofs, &c.] Vile, defpicable, ufelefs and unprofitable; to which the wicked of the earth are compared, P/- cxix. 119. and here the Lord’s profefling people, they differing nothing from them, being fadly degenerated; formerly they were as filver, and fo they might be reckoned among themfelves; but to God, who is omnifcient, the fearcher of the hearts and reins, who faw all their aCtions, and knew the {pring of them, in his fight they were as drofs: a/l they are brafs, and tin, and iron, and lead in the midft of the furnace; or crucible‘, where they are put together, in order to be fet in the furnace, and melted down. It is not ufual to put fo many different metals together for melting, but feparately; but here it feems to intend a mix-, ture of them all together; and fo the Targum and Septuagint render it, ‘‘ all they as brafs, @c. are “¢ mixed;” feveral metals of the bafer fort are here mentioned, by a gradation from the better to the worfe; tin being not fo good as brafs, and iron of lefs value than either, and lead than any of them. Some think the different characters of the people are here defcribed, impudent perfons by Sra/s; hypocrites by ¢iz; cruel and favage ones by iron; and fuch as were fottifh and ftupid by lead; or, as others, covetous ones: they are even the drofs of filver; once they were like filver, precious and valuable, whilft they retained the true religion,»and the worfhip of God, and behaved agreeable to their chara¢ter in the performance of all good works, and were in outward flourifhing circumftances; but now degenerated from the pure worfhip of God, and funk into idolatry and wickednefs, and become poor and miferable.

¥. 19. Therefore thus faith the Lord God, becaufe ye are all become drofs, &c.| King, princes, nobles, prophets, priefts, as well as the common people; the apoftacy was general, in city and country; fcarce any exceptions to be made: therefore will I gather you into the midft of Ferufalem, from the ' feveral parts of the country; thinking they fhould be fafe there, when the defign of God by this providence was the deftruction of them in it.

¥.20. As they gather filver and brafs, and iron, and lead, and tin into the midft of the furnace, &c.

As refiners of metal do; tho’ not together, as here, but each metal apart. Silver is here mentioned, to denote that thofe who were truly good fhould fuffer in this calamity, and be tried and purified by it: to blow the fire upon it, and to melt it; the metal being covered with fuel; this is kindled and blowed upon; to caufe the greater heat, in order to melt it down; expreffive of the wrath of God, as follows: fo will I gather you in mine anger, and in my fury; from the feveral parts of the land unto the city of Ferufalem; this they thought was for their good and fafety, but it was in wrath, and in order to ruin: and I will leave you there, and melt you that is, I will leave you in the city of Ferufalem, to the fword, famine and peftilence, to be deftroyed by them; or with fire at the burning of the city: or, J will refe,; as the refiner does; having put his metal into the furnace, and blown the fire, fits ftill till all is melted.

¥.21. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you

in the fire of my wrath, &c.] Not only gather them in wrath, as before; but blow upon them in wrath, which is often compared to fire in feripture; and befides, the city and temple of ‘feru/falem were to be burnt, and were burnt with material fire, in confequence of God’s difpleafure again{t his people: and ye fhall be melted in the midft thereof, of the city of Ferufalem; be deftroyed by one judgment or another in it; or perifh in the conflagration of it.

¥. 22. As filver is melted in the furnace, fo shall ye be melted in the midft thereof, &c.] This is repeated for the greater confirmation of it; and the people might affure themfelves that it would verily be, as was threatened: and ye hall know that I the Lord have poured out nty fury upon jou; feel it upon them; be fenfible of it, and atknowledge it; and that it is the Lord’s doings, and righteoufly done; thefe are they who are meant by the filver, who, tho’ caft into the furnace, were not deftroyed, only purified, and made the better and brighter for their afflictions. |

¥. 23. And the word of the Lord came unto me, &c.] The word of prophecy from the Lord, as the Targum: faying, as follows:

¥. 24. Son of man, fay unto ber, thou land, &c.} Thou land of J/rael, as the Targum: thou art not cleanfed, from filthinefs, by the fire of divine judgments; or reformed from fins, by the inftructions, cautions and exhortations of the prophets; none of thefe things had any effect upon her to make her wifer and better. So the Targum, “‘ a land ** not cleanfed it is, and good works are not done ** im it, to protect it in the day of curfing:” zor rained upon in the day of indignation, no cooling fhower to quench the fire of divine wrath; nothing to avert or ftop the judgments of God; no refrefhment and comfort from the doétrines of the prophets, which fell like rain; it is a judgment upon a people to have no rain, either in a temporal or fpiritual fenfe; fee Zech. xiv. 17, 18. In the Talmud“, this text is brought to prove that the flood did not come upon the land of J/rael.

¥.25. There is @ confpiracy of ber prophets in the midft thereof, &c.] Not of the prophets of the Lord, but of her prophets; fuch as were agree - able to her, the falfe prophets. The Targum renders it, ‘* a company of fcribes;” the interpreters of the law; thefe entered into a confederacy together againft the true ptophets, atid agreed to prophefy the fame things, to flatter the people with peace and profperity, when fudden deftruction was at hand: /tke a roaring lion ravening thé prey, that roars when hungry, and wifile it is tearing the prey in pieces; fo thefe falfe prophets thundered out their menaces againft the true prophets, and thofe that adhered to them; clamouriig againft them as enemies to the ftate; and threatning them with accufations to it; and carrying on a judicial procefs againft them: they have devoured fouls; perfecuted men to death, that would not give credit to their prophecies; and deftroyed the iouls of thofe that did, with their falfe do¢trines and prophecies: they have taken the treafure and precious things, of thofe they deftroyed; or of others, for prophefying fmooth things to them; filthy lucre being the principal thing they had in view: they have made ber many widows in the midft thereof; by perfecuting their hufbands to death, for ‘not believing their prophecies; or by perfuading to hold wie the the fiege, under a notion of deliverance; whereby the lives of many were loft by the fword, famine, and peftilence, to whofe death they might be faid to be acceffary.

y. 26. Her priefts have violated my law, &c.) Or, forced it'; they gave a wrong explanation of it, made it fpeak what it fhould not; they wrefted the fenfe and meaning of: it, and did and taught things contrary to it; they broke it themfelves, who fhould have inftruéted others in it, and exhorted.them to have kept.it, and encouraged them by their own example: and have profaned my holy things; facrifices and oblations, which were only to be offered and eaten by holy perfons;. they made them common to others, who fhould not have partook of them: they bave put no difference between the holy and the profane,_ between holy perfons and things, and profane perfons and things; they made no difference in their practice between the one and the other; but promi{cuoufly converfed with holy and profane perfons, and ufed holy and profane things, without diftinguifhing one from the other: meither have they fhewed the difference between the unclean and the clean; they did not fhew to the people, as was the duty of their office, what was clean or unclean for facrifice; what was clean and allowed to be eaten, and what was unclean and forbid to be eaten; nor who were clean, and who were unclean perfons for converfation; who were to be kept company with, and who not: and have hid their eyes from my fabbaths; were not careful to obferve them themfelves, and connived at them that broke them; they might have feen men carrying burdens, and doing other fervile works on fuch days, but they turned their eyes another way, and would not look at them, and when they did fee them were filent, and would not reprove them: and 1 am profaned among them, for the law of God being profaned, his inftitutions profaned, and his fabbaths profaned, he himfelf was profaned; inafmuch as he was not fanctified by them, thro’ the juft obfervation of thofe things. The Targum is, ‘* my will is profaned among SF -thena.

¥. 27. Her princes in the midft thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, &c.} The king and his nobles, thofe of the firft rank and quality, who ought to have protected the perfons and. property of the meaner fort; thefe were’ like wolves themfelves, fubtle, voracious and cruel, preying upon harmlefs perfons, as thofe creatures do, upon, the fheep and lambs: to /hed bloods. innocent blood, as the Zargum: and to deftroy fouls,; take away lives, under a pretence of treafonable practices, and all with a view #0 get difboneft gain; that their. eftates may be forfeited, their goods confifcated, and got into their hands.

¥. 28. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered,morter, €Fc.| Palliated their fins, declared it to be right, to fhed the blood they did; and feize on the eftates ef men; but this, tho’ it might for a while fatisfy the confciences of thefe princes, and {top the clamours of the people againft them; yet would not laft long, but be like the building of a wall with bad ftuff, which will not ftand; and daubing it with morter, which wall foon wath off.. So the Targum, ‘* and the falfe. pro- ‘¢ phets which are in the midft of her, are like to “< thofe that build a wall, and daub it with mere “ clay, without ftraw;” fee the note on.ch. xiii.

“10. Seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, pretending vifions from God, when what they fee, of pretend to fee, is nothing but vanity and emptinefs, mere delufions; and prophefying good things, peace and profperity, when they are all lies; giving out they have meflages from God, and are or= dered to foretel that happy times will be, when it is all falfhood: faying, thus faith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not fpoken, herein mimicking the true prophets, who came in the name of the Lord, and ufually prefaced their prophecies with a thus faith the Lord; and fo did thefe falfe prophets, when the Lord faid nothing to them, and gave them no

| commiffion to fpeak in his name, or fay the things

¥. 29. Ihe people of the land have ufed oppreffion, &c.] The common people, the more powerful among them, fuch as were in greate{t authority in cities and towns, in neighbourhoods and families, the richeft among them; thefe oppreffed the poor; and thofe that were under them, the fervants of them, and tenants to them, and who were not able to defend themfelves againit them: the Septuagint and Syriac verfions underftand: this of the prophets ufing the people of the land ill: and exercifed robbery; fach who had not the power as others had, became thieves and robbers, went om the highway, and took mens money from them;, broke up houfes, and plundered them, and ftole away their goods: and have vexed the poor and needy; by their oppreffions, rapines, and robberies, when they fhould rather have relieved them: yea, they have oppreffed the ftranger wrongfully, or, with= cut right or judgment *; in a very unjuft manner, contrary to the due courfe of law, againft all equity and juttice; which the J/raelites were warned. and ordered not to do, in many paflages of fcripture, and for this reafon, becaufe they had been ftrangers in Egypt.

¥. 30. And I fought for a man among them, 8ce.} Among the princes, priefts, prophets, and people of the land, who acted the part as above deferibed; for otherwife, no. doubt, there were good people im the land, as Yeremiah, Baruch, and others, but nor among thefe: shat fhould make up the hedge; that was broken down, by the tranfgreffions of the people, who exceeded all bounds of law and juttice; one that would reftrain them from finning, and reform them, and fet them a good example; one as the Targum has it, ‘* whofe works were good;” a good man, that would endeavour by his influence to ftop the breaking in of fin, and the confequences of it: and ftand in the gap before me for. the land, that I fhould not defroy it; im the gap that fin had made, at which the Lord was entering as a man of war to deftroy the tranfgreffors; one that fhould prefent himfelf to the Lord on the behalf of the people; feek mercy for them, as the Targum, interpofe between God and them, and: act. the part of an interceffor; pray for them, as? Mojes did for the people of J/rae/, that he would: not deftroy them; fee Pf cvi. 23: but I found: none, no reformer of them, no repairer of the breach, nor reftorer of paths, to dwell in no ins terceflor for them, as Abrabam for Sodom, Mofes: for I/rael; or any, like Aaron, that ftood betwee the. living andthe dead to ftay the plague. = > yw. 31. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them, &c.| Like a mighty torrent, car-: rying all before it: I have confumed them with the fre

TOM"N WO vim faciunt Jegi mex, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; vim fecerunt, Cocceius, Starckius, pte Cres