Exposition of the Whole Bible

inhabitants, and in the name of tlie Lord thus befpeak them: howl ye; ye Egyptians, and alfo ye Ethiopians, and all others after-named, which fhould fhare in the deftruction of Egypt; this is faid to give them notice of it, and prepare them for it: wo worth the day; or, alas for the day*; O the unhappy day! what a fad difmal day is this! O that we fhould ever live to fee fuch wretched times! ¥. 3. For the day is near,.&c.] The day of Egypt's deftruction, the time fixed for it: even the day of the Lord is near, the day appointed by him, and in which he would make himfelf known by the judgments he executed: Kimchi obferves, that the fame year this prophecy was delivered, Egypt was given into the hands of the king of Babylon: a cloudy day or, a day of cloud*; which was feldom feen in Egypt in a literal fenfe, rarely having any rain, their country being watered by the Nile; but now, in a figurative fenfe, the clouds would gather thick and black, and threaten with a horrible tempeit of divine wrath, and of ruin and deftruction: it foall be the time of the heathen; both when the heathen nation of the Chaldeans fhould diftrefs and. conquer others; and when heathen nations, as the Egyptians, Ethiopians, and others, fhould be deitroyed by them. The Targum is, “ it fhall be «¢ the time of,the breaking or deftruction of the “© people.” ¥. 4. And the fwerd fhall come upon Egypt, &c.] The {word of the Chaldeans fhall come upon the Egyptians, by which they fhould be cut off; it having a commiffion from the Lord for that purpofe: and great pain fhall be in Ethiopia, when the flain feall fall in Egypt, Ethiopia being a neighbouring nation to Egypt, fhall be in a pannic, when it fhall hear of the {word of the Chaldeans being in Egypt, and of the ravages made by it, of the multitudes flain with it; fearing it will be their turn next to fall into the fame hands, and in the fame manner; and the rather, not only as they were neighbours, but allies: and they jhall take away her multitude, that is, the Chaldeans fhall carry captive vaft numbers of the Egyptians, fuch as fell not by the fword, fhould not efcape the hand of the enemy, but be taken and carried into other lands. Egypt was a very populous country; according to Agrippa’s fpeech in ‘Fofephus §, there were in it 7,500,000 perfons from Ethiopia to Alexandria, befides the in-. habitants of the latter, as might be gathered from the tribute each perfon paid, hence they are compared to the trees of a foreft that can’t be fearched, and to grafhoppers innumerable, Fer. xlvi. 23. but now their numbers fhould be leffer: and her foundations foall be broken down, either in a literal fenfe, the foundations of the cities, towers, and fortified places ‘in Egypt, fhould be undermined and deftroyed, and confequently the buildings on them muft fink and fall; or in a figurative fenfe, her king, princes, magiftrates, laws and government, which are the fupport of a ftate, fhould be removed, and be of no more fervice.

y. 5. Ethiopia, Lybia, and Lydia, &c.} Or, Cufo, Phut, and Lud. Cufh and Phut were both fons of Ham, from whom Egypt is fometimes called the land of Ham, and Lud or Ludim was the fon of Mizraim, the fon of Ham, the common name of Egypt in feripture,; Gen. x. 6, 13. Cub is by tis rendered Ethiopia; and is thought by fome to be a part of Arabia, which lay near to Egypt. Phut and Lud are properly enough rendered Lydia and Lydia; and both thefe; with Ethiopia, are reprefented as the allies and confederates of Egypt, ‘fer. xlvi. 9. And all the mingled peoples the Syriac verfion renders it, al] Arabia; and fo Symmachus, ac+ cording to Ferom; tho’ others think they are the Carians, TIonians, and other Greeks, which Pharaoh Apries got together to fight with Amafis®: and Chub, or Cub; the inhabitants of this place are thought to be the Cobit of Prolemy*, who dwelt in Mareotis, a country of Egypt; though fome, by a change of a letter, would have them to be the Nzbians, a people in Africa; and fo the Arabic verfion here reads it. Of thefe’ Strado ' fays, on the left of the ftream of the Nile dwell the Nubians, a large nation in Lydia; and which he afterwards mentions along with the Troglodytes, Blemmyes, Megabarians, and Ethiopians, that dwell above Syene: and fo Prolemy * {peaks of them along with the Megabardians, and as inhabiting to the weft of the Avalites: and Pliny' calls them Nubian Ethiopians, whom he places near the Nile: and a late traveller ™ in thofe parts informs us, that the confines of Egypt and Nubia are about eight leagues above the firft cataract (of the Nile); Nubia begins at the villages of E//-Kalab/che, and of Teffa; the firft is to the eaft of the Nile, and the fecond to the weft. And the men of the land that is in league fhall fall with them by the fword; all the nations abovementioned, with whomfoever fhould be found that were confederates with Egypt, fhould fhare the fame fate with them. The Septuagint render it, and thofe of the children of my covenant, as if the Yews were meant that were in Egypt, who are fometimes called the children of the covenant, and of the promife, Aas ili. 25. Rom. ix. 8. and fo fome interpret the place; but it takes in all the allies of Egypt, and does not defign the Yews, at leaft not them only.;

¥. 6. Thus faith the Lord, they alfo that uphold Egypt foall fall, &c.| That is, by the fword; either their allies and auxiliaries without, that fupported the Egyptians with men and money; or their principal people within, their nobles that fupported their ftate with their eftates, their counfellors with their wifdom, their foldiers with their valour and courage: and the pride of ber power Jhall come down; or the power they were Pk of, the dominion and grandeur they boafted of; the greatnefs of their king, and the largenefs of their empire, with the wealth and riches of it: /rom the tower of Syene fhall they fall in it by the fword, faith the Lord God; or rather, from Migdol to Syene, fo the Septuagint and Arabic verfions, from one end of Egypt to the other; the fword would ravage, and multitudes fall by it, in all cities and towns, between the one and the other; which denotes the general flaughter that fhould be made; fee the note on ch. xxix, 10.

y. 7. And they fhall be defolate in the midft of the countries that are defolate, &c.]| Or among them, fhall be ranked with them, and be as defolate as they are; as Judea and other countries, ravaged by the fame enemy: and der cities hall be in the St g of the cities that are wafted, undergo the fame fate as they have done, as Feru/alem and others. The cities of Egypt were very numerous; Diodorus Stculus *fays, that in ancient times Egypt had cities and villages of note, more than 18,000,. Herodotus ° writes, that it was faid, that under king Amafis there were 20,000 cities in it; and the firft mentioned writer? fays, under Ptolemy Lagus they were reckoned more than 30,000; and according to Theocritus *, under Ptolemy Philadelpbus they were 332339:

y¥. 8. And they fhall know that I am the Lord, &c.} The Egyptians fhall know the Lord to be the true God, and acknowledge him to be omnifcient and omnipotent, that fhould fo exactly foretel their deftruction, and accomplifh it: when I have fet a Jire in Egypt, a war there; the heat of battel, very devouring and confuming, as well as very grievous and terrible, as fire is. The Targum is, ‘* when *¢ J fhall give (or fet) people that are ftrong as ** fire againft Egypt;” the army of the Chaldeans: and when all ber helpers fhall be defiroyed, her auxiliaries, the neighbouring nations in alliance with them, before-mentioned. é

¥. 9. In that day fhall meffengers go forth from me in foips, ®c.| Either by the river Nile, or by the Red-Sea, to Arabia Felix, which fome think is meant by Eikiopia. Cu/b or Ethiopia was encompafied about with water, fo that there was no coming to it but by fhips; fee Gen. ii. 13.. compare with this // xviii. 1, 2. the meflengers here were either {uch who under a divine impulfe, or however by the providence of God, were directed to.

go to Erbiepia, and tell them the news of the deitruction of Egypt; or thefe were meffengers fent by the king of Babylon, to demand a furrender of their country to him; or it may defign him himfelf, and his army, who marched thither to fubdue that country alfo, after the conqueft of Egypt. So the Zargum, ‘* at that time meflengers fhall go ‘¢ forth from before me with legions;” and becaufe all this was by the appointment and providence of God, they are reprefented as meflengers fent by him: to make the carele/s. Ethiopians afraid, with the news of the fall of Egypt their confederate, and of a mighty army coming againft them; who had dwelt fecurely and confidently, at eafe and unconcerned, without any fenfe of danger, or fear of any enemy: and great pain fhall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt; either as of old, when the plagues were on Egypt, and efpecially when they were drowning in the Red-Sea; or as of late, when the fword was in Egypt, and ravaging there: for lo it cometh; the fame day was coming on them, as came on Egypt, the day of the Lord, a cloudy one, and the time of the heathen; it was certain, juft at hand, and there was no efcaping it; fee ¥. 35 4

¥. 10. Thus faith the Lord God, I will make the multitude of Egypt to ceafe, &c.| The vaft numbers of people that inhabited Egypt; fome of its cities were very populous, efpecially the city No after-mentioned; but now the numbers fhould be greatly leflened, and the whole land fadly depopulated: or the noife*, tumult, and hurry of it; which is very great where there are large numbers of people,:

and which ceafes when they are cut off. The Syyiac verlion renders it, the riches of Egypt. Now of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; the then greateft monarch in the world. ‘i

‘¥. 11. He and his. people with bim, &c.) He and his army, confifting chiefly of Chaldeans; tho” there were of other nations among them, as were in his army when he befieged Ferufalem, as feems. to be fuggefted in the next claufe: the terrible of the nations fhall be brought to deftroy the land; the Chaldeans, the moft fierce, cruel and terrible of all people, and others the moft terrible that could. be collected out of all nations under the yoke of the king of Babylon; and all of them tertible to the nations againft whom they: camé, as. now againft Egypt, to deftroy it; fee Hab. i. 6,7: and they fool draw their fwords againft Egypt, and fill the land with the flain; go thro’ the land with their drawn {words, and kill all they meet; and not put them up, till they have quite depopulated the land, and filled it with dead carcafes.

¥. 12. And I will make the rivers dry, 8ec.] Egypt was a country that abounded with rivets, however with canals cut from the river Wile; its wealth and riches very much depended; hereon, partly on account of the multitude of fifhes taken out of them, and the paper-reeds that grew upon their banks; but chiefly becaufe the whole land was watered by them, and made exceeding fruitful, rain being not fo common in it; fo that to dry up the rivers, was in effect to take away their fub- {tance and dependence; befides, hereby the way was made eafy and pafiable for the enemy; there was nothing to obftruét him, he could over-run and ravage the land at pleafure: and fell the land into the band of the wicked; the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, who were wicked idolaters, men of flagitious lives, and of mercilefs and cruel difpofitions; who would fhew no favour to the inha-. bitants of the land, when delivered up to them, which is called a felling it; for as things fold are delivered to the buyer, fo fhould this land be to them; which tho’ they had no right to it before, yet by the event of war, and difpofal of divine providence, came to have a property in it, given them by him who is the proprietor of all lands'; and after them into the hands of the’ Perfans, under Cambyfes and Ochus; who were very wicked and cruel princes, and may be reckoned among the terrible or violent ones of the nations, in the preceding verfe; and then into the hands) of the Grecians, Romans, Saracens, Mamalucks, and now the Turks, all very wicked people: and 1 will make the land wajfle, and all that is therein by the hand of firangers; the Babylonians, people of another country and diftant, of another language, and with — whom they had no commerce, alliance, and friendfhip, and fo would not fpare them, and their land, when in their poffeffion; and fo all the reft abovementioned, into whofe hands they fucceffively fell: I the Lord have fpoken it; determined it, prophefied of it; and it fhall come to pafs, as it did accordingly. tba

¥. 13. Thus faith the Lord God, I will alfo de- Stroy the idols, &cc.] With which Egypt abounded, making an idol of all forts of creatures, rational and irrational, animate and inanimate, and in which they trufted; wherefore thefe being deftroyed, they. had nothing to put their confidence in: I will cauje their images to ceafe out of Noph, called Moph, the inftrument God would make ufe of to do all | Ho this, is mentioned by name, as follows, dy the hand. ix. 6. and which we there rightly render Ademphis, as many verfions do here, and was very fa-

mous for idolatry: here ftood the temple of Serepis, and the temple of other idols; here Jfs and Ofris were worfhipped; and it was in Ferom’s time, as he fays, the metropolis of the Egyptian fuperftition. It was built by Menes*, the Mizraim of the fcriptures, the firft king of Egypt; tho’ Diodorus Siculus* makes Uchoreus to be the founder of it. Some interpreters take this city to be the fame with what is now called “kair or Grand Cairo; or however, that this is built upon the fame fpot, or near the fame place that was, in which I have followed them on Jf xix. 13. Fer. ii.

have continued entire quite down to this time. | The Septuagint verfion calls it, Dio/polis, or the city of Fupiter, as does the Arabic verfion, that is, of ‘Fupiter Hammon; the city of Thebes where he was worfhipped; as it is in a following verfe called Hammon No; tho? Hillerus y thinks neither of thefe places are meant, neither Mexandria nor Dio/polis; but Memphis, as it is rendered by the Septmagint in the next verfe; fee the note on Nabunt iii. 8. ¥.15. And I will pour out my fury upon Sin, the Strength of Egypt, &c.] Either the city Sais, as the Septuagint and Arabic verfions; or rather Pelu-

16. whereas Cairo ftands right over-again{t old ium, as the Vulgate Latin verfion, fo called from

Memphis, the Nile being between them, on the ea{t-fide of it, and Memphis on the weft; as is clear from Herodotus“; and from the charts of Dr. Shaw, and Mr. Norden; and who obferve, that fome take the place of it to have been where a village now ftands, Dr. Shaw calls Geeza, and Mr. Norden, Gize: and there fall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt; that is, a nation of that country; or that fhould rule over the whole of it, and in that grandeur the kings of Egypt had before; or however, not dwell in Memphis, which was the feat of the kings of Egypt, but now fhould be fo no more: when Egypt was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, it was under the Babylonians; and then under the Perfans; and then under the Greeks; and afterwards under the Romans; fince under the Saracens and Mamalucks; and now in the hands of the Turks; fo that it never recovered its former glory; and indeed after Neéfanebus was driven out of it by Ochus king of Perfa, it never after had a king: and I will put a fear in all the land of Egypt; a pannic in all the inhabitants of it; as foon as they fhall hear of the king of Badylon entering into it; their courage, bravery and fortitude fhall at once leave them, and they fhall be difpirited, and have no heart to defend themfelves, and oppofe the enemy. x. 14. And I will make Pathros defolate, &c.]} A country in Egypt; fee the note on ch. xxix. 14. perhaps it was the firft place that Nebuchadnezzar entered, and fo went from place to place in the order. hereafter mentioned: and I will fet fire in Zoan or Tanis, a famous city in Egypt in the times of Mofes, Numb. xiii. 22. Pf. \xxviii. 12, 43. The Targum and Septuagint verfion call it Tamis here; and from hence a nome in Egypt was called the Tanitic nome.. This city was burnt down by the king of Babylon: the place now built on the {pot is called Manfourah, as Dr. Shaw “ fays: and I will execute judgment in No. ‘The Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, Alexandria, and fo does the Targum, of which place Farchi, Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; and fo does Yerom; which, tho’ built after thefe times by Alexander, and called fo after his name, yet is fuppofed to be built on or near the place where ancient No ftood.. The city is now called Scauderoon, or Scanderea; the Turks calling Alexander, Scander: here the judgments of God were executed in the deftruction of it- by the Chaldean army; and great devaftations have been made in it fince it was rebuilt by Alexander, by the Saracens, who deftroyed all places where they came; fo that, as Dr. Shaw * obferves, it is fomewhat extraordinary that the greateft part of the ancient walls, together with their refpective turrets, fhould

Pelos, which fignifies clay in the Greek language 3 and the fame Sim fignifies in the Chaldee, Pf. xvitis 43. and is now called Tineb, from yt) clay: it had a very fine haven, and may be called the ftrength of Egypt, it lying at the entrance of it; and having a {trong fortified tower, it was difficult to enter into it; but could not ftand before the wrath and fury of the Lord of hofts, when he fent the Chaldeans to it. It is thought by fome to be the fame with Pithom, built by the firft of the paftor-kings of Egypt, and fortified by him, Exod. i, 11. according to Manetho *, he put into it a garrifon of two hundred and forty thoufand men; and the fame writer fays, it contained ten thoufand acres of land; according to Adrichomits *; it was twenty furlongs in compafs, and near it was a vait hollow, which extended to mount Caffius, and which made the way into Zgypt on that fide difficult; and is now, as he fays, called campus de Gallo; in which he is miftaken, as well as Tevenot, and others, who take it to be the fame with Damieta: and 1 will cut off the multitude of No; the numerous inhabitants of it; hence called Populous No, Nab. ili. 8. or Hamon No; fee the note on ¥. 14. here, as before obferved, the Septuagint verfion renders it, Memphis; as does alfo the Arabic verfion. Some take it, as before, to be the Egyptian Thebes, where was a temple dedicated to Fupiter Hammon, and which city, Paufanias ® fays, was reduced to nothing v.16. And I will fet fire in Ezypt, &c.] Kindle a war there, which fhall confume it; fee ¥. 8: Siz Joall have great pain, as a woman in travail, feeing its deftruction is juft at hand; the fame with Pelafium, as before: and No fhall be rent afunder, the walls of it fhall be broken down by the enemy, or a breach fhall be made in it, like the breach of waters which were about it; fee Nahum, iii. 8: and Noph fhall have diftreffes daily, that is, Memphis, as before; enemies fhall furround it daily, as the Targum, fhall befiege and diftrefs it, until it is taken: or, in the day time; their enemies fhould not come as thieves in the night, but openly in the day. dsendana interprets it, of their unfortunate day, their ftar being unlucky.

¥. 17. The young men of Aven, and of Phi-befeth frail fall by the fword, &c.] Aven is the fame with On, of which Potipherab was prieft in Fo/eph’s time, and whofe daughter he married, Gen. xli. 45. the fame with Heliopolis or Beth-/bemefb, the city of the

‘fun, Jer. xliii. 13. fee the note there; where was the temple of the fun, and where it was worthipped; and fo it is rendered by the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin and Arabic verfions. It is called here Aven or vanity, becaufe of the vain and idolatrous

worthip hete performed. Phi-de/eth is the Bubaftis of Herodotus, and called by other writers Bubajtus; hence there was a nome or province in Egypt called the Bubaftice nome, mentioned by Ptolemy °, and others. In this city was a temple built to the honour of Diana, where fhe was worfhipped; and Heredotus * fays, that Budaftis in the Greek tongue is Diana; here fhe was worfhipped in the form of a cat; and Stephanus ° obferves, that the Egyptians call a cat Buba/ftus, and it is alfo faid that dead cats falted were buried in this city, as being facred: according to Diodorus Siculus *, it was built for the fake of Js; and THillerus * fays, that in the Ady/- fine language it was called Phy’ mly’ fith; that is, the portion of the wife, namely of J4s married to Ofiris, by whom this city was built to the honour of her; as appears by the pillar of Js, on which thefe words are infcribed, “* for me the city of ‘s¢ Bubaftia is built; be glad, be glad, O Egypt, ‘¢ which brought me up.” This place is now called Bifbbefh, according to Dr. Shaw": now the young men of both thefe places, tho’ they might exert themfelves in the defence of them, yet fhould fail therein, and fall by the fword of the Chaldeans: and thefe cities foall go into captivity, the reft of the inhabitants of the cities of Aven and Phi-be/eth, that fhall not fall by the fword, fhall be carried captive into other lands. “Yo/eph Kimchi fupplies women inftead of cities; and thinks, that as the males are mentioned before, the females are underftood here. The Targum is, “* they that ferved “<¢ them fhall go into captivity;” that ferved the idols worfhipped in thefe cities.

y. 18. At Tebaphnehes alfo the day fhall be darkened, &c.] The fame with Hanes in Jf, xxx. 4. and Tabapanes in Fer. ii. 16. and Tabpanhes, Fer. xiii. 7,8, 9. it was a royal feat of the kings of Egypt: there was in So/omon’s time a queen of Egypt of this name, and perhaps it might be fo called from her, 1 Kings xi. 19,20. It is generally thought to be the Daphne of Pelufium, it being near that city; tho’ Junius takes it to be a place in another part of Egypt, at a’great diftance, which Herodotus * calls Tabcompfo, an ifland encompafied by the Nile; and by Ptolemy * called Metacompfo: now at this place the day fhould be darkened; or fhould refrain ', as it may be rendered; that is, its light; it fhould be a calamitous and mournful time with the inhabitants of it: when I fhall break there the yokes of Egypt; the yokes they put upon the necks of others, who now fhould be freed from them: or, the feeptres of Egypt, as the Vulgate Latin verfion renders it; the regalia of their kings, which might lie in this place; it being a royal feat where Pharach had a houfe, as appears from er. xliii. g: and the pomp of ber ftrength foall ceafe in her; all that grandeur and magnificence which appeared in the courts of the kings of Egypt in this place: as for her, a cloud foall cover ber; as for this city, a cloud of calamity fhall cover it, fo as its glory fhall not be feen. The Targum is, “* a king with ** his army fhall cover her as a cloud afcends and “* covers the earth:” and ber daughters fhall go into bitants of them round about this city; it being ufual to reprefent a city as a mother, and its villages as daughters; and fo the Targum, Farchi and Kimchi interpret it, “a (nd

¥. 19. Thus*will I execute judgments in Egypt, &c.] In the feveral provinces, and in the feveral cities of it before-mentioned, and in all other places; even the judgments of fire, famine, fword and captivity: and they fhall know that I am the Lord, God omnifcient and omnipotent, by the judgments executed; and own the fame: this more efpecially they did, when the gofpel was preached among them, and many were converted by it in the times of the apoftles.

&c.] Of Zedekiah’s reign, and Feboiachin’s captivity; fome little time after the prophecy in ch. xxix. 1. here the prophecies come into their order again, being interrupted by thofe of a much later date, at the end of the preceding chapter, and the former part of this: is the firft month, in the feventh day of the month; the month Nifan, which anfwers to part of March, and part of April; the feventh day muft be about the twenty-ninth of March; but according to bifhop Uber ™, it was on the twenty-fixth of pril, on the third day of the week (Tue/day), in the year of the Fulian period 4126, and before Chrift 588: this was given out three months and two days before Ferujalem was taken: that the word of the Lord came unto me, faying; as follows:

¥. 21.- Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, &c.] Not Pharaob-necho king of Egypt, whofe army was overthrown at Carchemi/h by the king of Badylon, in the fourth year of Fehoiakin; when the latter took from the former all that belonged to him between the river of Egypt and the river Euphrates; by which he was fo weakened and difpirited, that he could not ftir any more out of his own land, Fer. xlvi. 2. 2 Kings xxiv. 7. and of him Yarchi and Kimchi interpret it; but Pharaoh-hophia ox Apries, who was defeated by the Cyreneans, and faved himfelf by flight; fee the note on ch. xxix. 4: and lo, it fhall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it; a metaphor-taken from chirurgeons, who having fet broken bones, put on a bandage or rollers of linen, or fuch like fluff, to keep them tight; but nothing of this kind fhould be done; hereby fuggefting, that Hgyp! fhould receive fuch a blow or wound, as would be incurable; fee Yer. xlvi. 11: to make it ftrong to hold the fword, which it fhould not be able to do, or to make war any more, at leaft with fuccefs, or to defend itfelf.

y. 22. Therefore thus faith the Lord God, bebold, Iam againft Pharaoh king of Egypt, &c.] The or Apries, Fer. xliv. 30: and I will.break bis arms, the firong, and that which was broken;.both his arms, the found and the broken one, his whole power, ftrength and dominion; meaning that that ove part of his kingdom which lay between the two captivity; which may be taken either in a literal fenfe for the daughters of the inhabitants of this place, which muft be a great affliction to their tender parents, to have them forced away by rude foldiers, and carried captive into diftant lands; or rivers of Egypt and Euphrates, that had been taken; away by the king of Babylon, fhould remain fo; and the other part of his kingdom fhould fall a prey to him alfo: and I will caufe the fword to fall out of bis hand; fo that he fhould be fo far from in 4 figurative fenfe, for the villages and the inha-

¥.20. And it came to pafs in the eleventh year, then prefent king of Egypt, whofe name was Hophra’

being able to make ufe of the fword, that he thould not be able to hold it; it fhould drop out of his hand; nor fhould he be able to take it up again, and make war, either offenfive or defenfive.

¥.23. And I will featter the Egyptians among the nations, &c.| Among the feveral provinces of Babylon, and other places, where the Chaldeans fhould carry or fend them: end will di/perfe them thro’ the countries; the fame thing repeated in different words for the confirmation of it.

yr. 24. And I will frengthen. the arms of the king of Babylon, &c.] Give him a commiffion to make war; direct his councils; fupply him with all neceflaries; animate and encourage his foldiers; and give him fuccefs in all his enterprizes: aud put my fword in his hand; which confirms the above fenfe, that he fhould have power and authority from the Lord to attack the king of Egypt, and fhould gain a victory over him; fince it was not his own {word he drew, but the fword of the Lord of hofts; which coming from him, and having his commiffion, cannot fail of doing execution: dut will break Pharaoh's arms; as before in ¥; 21, 22: and he-foall groan before him, with the groanings of a deadly wounded man; that is, before the king of Babylon; by whom, as an inftrument, his arms fhall be broken, and his power deftroyed; and he be like a man in the agonies of death, juft ex-

Boe: i643 piring, not able to-fpeak, but groaning out his life under the inexpreffible anguifh of broken bones, and none to fet them.

¥.25. But Iwill ftrengthén the arms of the king of Babylon, &c.] Which is repeated for the fake of confirmation: and the arms of Pharaoh fpall fall down as when a man’s arms are broken; and he fhall not be able to lift them up and defend himfelf: and they fhall know that F am the Lord; namely, the Egyptians, as in ¥.19: when I fhall have put my fword into the hand of the king of Babylon; and he fhall ftretch it out on the land of Egypt; that is, when he fhall have a commiffion to carry the war into Egypt; and he fhall {pread defolation over all the land, cutting off the inhabitants of it every where, as before defcribed in this chapter.

¥.26. And I will featter the Egyptians among the nations, and difperfe them among the countries, &c.} Of which they might affure themfelves, fince the Lord had before fpoken it, and here again repeats it: and they fhall kuow that I am the Lord; whofe name alone is Fehovab, and does whatfoever he pleafes; fets up kings, and puts them down, ftrengthens and weakens kingdoms juft as feems good in his fight; none having any power but what is given by him, and which he can take away when he thinks fit.

HIS chapter contains a confirmation of thé preceding prophecy, of the ruin of the king of Egypt, by the example of the king of Afpria, to whom he was like in grandeur and pride, and would be in his fall. The time of the prophecy is obferved, ¥. 1. the prophet is ordered to give the following relation to the king of Egypt, ¥.2. in which the king of Afyria is compared to a large and flourifhing cedar, for the extent of his dominions, the profperous ftate of his empire, and_ his exaltation above all other princes, which drew upon him their envy, ¥. 3, 45/55 63°75 8, 9. wherefore becaufe of his pride, his heart being lifted up with thefe things, ¥. 10. ruin came upon him; which is defcribed by the inftruments and manner of it, and the effects following it; mourning and fear in fome, folace and comfort to others, and. deftruction to his affaciates, ¥. 14, 12, 13, 14,:15,.16, 17, wherefore Pharach is called: upon to confider all this, who was like to him in greatnefs and pride, and fhould have the like fate with him; ‘nor could his. greatnefs any more fecure him, than it did the Affyrian monarch, ¥. 18.5 ° sit 3

¥. 1. And it came to pafs in the eleventh year, 8c.

Of Zedekiah’s reign, and Feconiah’s captivity: in _the third month, in the firft day of the month, the month Sivan, which began on the twentieth:of our May, and anfwers to part of Mey, and part of Fune this was about feven weeks after the former prophecy, and about five: weeks before the deftruétion of Yerufelem; according to bifhop Ufler », this was on the nineteenth of Fune, on the firft day of the week, in the year of the Fulan period 4126, -and before Chrift 588: that the word of the Lord came unto me, faying; as follows: ¥.2. Son of man, {peak unto Pharaoh king of

Egypt, &e:] To Pharach-hopbra, the then reigning king; not to him perfonally, by word of mouth, for the prophet was now in Chaldea; but by delivering out a prophecy concerning him, and which he ntight have an opportunity of fending to him: aud to bis multitude, the multitude of his fubjeéts, of which he boafted, and in whom he trufted: whom art thou like in thy greatnefs? look over all the records of time, and into all the empires, kingdoms and {tates that have been; draw a comparifon between thyfelf and the greateft potentate that ever was; fanfy thyfelf to be equal to him’; this will not fecure thee from ruin and deftruction; for as they have been humbled, and are fallen, fo wilt thou be: pitch for inftance on the Affyvian monarch, whofe empire has been the moft ancient, extenfive and flourifhing, and yet now crufhed; and as thou art like him in greatnefs, at leaft thou thinkeft fo, fo thou art in pride, and wilt be in thine end; to affure of which is the drift of the following account of the king of 4/- fyria.; ¥. 3. Bebold, the Affyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, &c.] Here grew the talleft, moft ftately, broad. and flourifhing ones. The fenfe is, that he was as one of them; comparable to one, for his exaltation and dignity; for the largenefs of his dominion, the flourifhing circumftances of it, and its long duration; that empire having lafted from the times of Nimrod, unto a few years of the prefent time; for this is to be underftood, either of the monarchy itfelf, or of Ejar-haddon; or rather of Chynilidanus, or Saracus the laft king of it. The Septuagint and Arabic verfions render it, the cyparifs in Lebanon, but not that, but the cedar grew there, and which beft fuits the comparifon: with fair branches, meaning not children, kine es;

bles, nor fubjeéts; but provinces, many and large, which were fubjeét to this monarch: and ‘with a foadowing forowd; power, dominion, authority, a mighty army fufficient to protect all that were under his government, and fubject to it: and of an bigh ftature; exalted above all the kings and kingdoms of the earth: and bis top was among the thick boughs; his kingly power, headfhip and dominion was over a multitude of petty princes and ftates, comparable to the thick boughs and branches of atree: or, among the clouds, as the Septuagint and Arabic verfions render it; above the heights of which the 4fjrian monarch attempted to afcend, If. xiv. 14. fee Dan. iv. 10, 11, 12.

y. 4. The waters made him great, &c.] The waters of the river Tigris, near to which ftood the city of Niniveb, the metropolis of the A/yrian monarchy; the traffic brought by which river made it rich and great, and the whole empire, and the king of it: the deep fet him up on high, with her rivers running round about his plants, the vatt trade by fea, the profits and commodities of which, were conveyed thro’ various rivers, which ran about the provinces of the empire, which were as plants in a field; and by which they were enriched, and the whole empire, and the king of it were raifed to a prodigious pitch of wealth and power: and /fent out little rivers to all the trees of the field; fo that the common people, comparable to the trees of the field for their number and ufefulnefs, all received profit and advantage hereby: or elfe by waters and the deep, may be meant the multitude of people, as in Rev. xvii. 15. which increafed his kingdom; filled his provinces; fupplied his colonies, and enlarged his power and riches.’ The Zargum is, ‘* by the people he was multiplied; by “«* his auxiliaries he became ftrong; he fubjected ** kings under his government; and his gover- ** nors he appointed over all the provinces of the <* earth:”

¥. 5. Therefore bis bight was exalted above all the trees of the field, &c.| His majefty, grandeur and glory were advanced above all princes, nobles and people; all ranks and degrees of men, let them be compared to trees taller or lower: and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long; the provinces of his empire became more numerous, and were fpread far and near, and reached to di- {tant countries: becaufe of the multitude of waters, when he foot forth, either the vaft number of people, which were daily increafing, and were fent out to people diftant colonies, newly fubdued or planted; or becaufe of the great traffic whith was carried on in different parts, and the advantages arifing from it. The Targum is, ** therefore he «* was lifted up in his ftrength above all the kings of the earth, and his army was multiplied, and his auxiliaries prevailed over many people thro’ his victories.” ¥.6. All the fowls of the heavens made their nefts in his boughs, &c.} People from all parts of the world, under the whole heavens, flocked to his dominions, and fettled themfelves in one province or another; promifing themfelves protection, profperity. and peace under his government: and under his branches did all the beafts of the field bring forth ther young; even people of a more favage difpofition, being either conquered by him, and placed in his provinces; or coming thither of their own accord, took up their refidence there, built houfes, planted vineyards, married wives, begat children, and fettled their families there: and under bis foadow dwelt all great nations; under his protection, care and government many large kingdoms and ftates were; yea all were either fubject to him, or fought to be his friends and allies: this explains the above figurative expreffions. The Targum is, “ by his “army he fubdued all the ftrong towers; and ** under his governors he fubjected all the pro- ** vinces of the earth; and in the fhadow of his ‘* kingdom dwelt all the numerous people.”

¥. 7. Thus was he fair in his greatnefs, 8ec.] Amiable, lovely, delightful to look upon in the greatnefs of his majefty, in his royal glory and dignity: in the length of bis branches in the extent of his empire, and the provinces of it: for his root was by great waters; his kingdom was well eftablifhed, firmly rooted among a multitude of people; from whom he had a large revenue to fupport his throne and: government, and the dignity of it; by tribute, taxes, cuftoms and prefents; and thro’ the large trade and traffic of his fubjeéts in different parts, from whence he received great profit and advantage. The Targum is, ‘* and he ‘* became victorious by his. auxiliaries, by the-mul- ‘* titude of his mighty ones, fo that his terror was ** upon many people.”

¥. 8. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him, &c.] That is, could not rife fo high as this cedar, and over-top him, and obfcure his glory; even thofe that were moft excellent, which grew in Eden, near to which Babylon ftood, and where a mighty king dwelt. The fenfe is, that the greateft kings and potentates in the whole world, which is like a garden planted by the Lord, were not equal to the king of /yria, and much lefs exceeded him in grandeur, wealth and power: the Jir-trees were not like his boughs; \effer kings and princes, comparable to fir-trees for the beauty, regularity, order and flourifhing condition of their kingdoms; yet thefe were but petty ftates, and not to be compared even with the provinces of the king of Afpria: and the chefnut-trees were not like his branches, \effer ftates ftill; which, tho’ well fet, and well fpread, and full of people, yet nor anfwerable to fome countries that were in the provinces that belonged to the A/yrian-empire: not any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty; no king, prince or potentate whatever in the whole world was to be compared to him for royal majefty and greatnefs. The Yargum is, ‘¢ mighty kings could not prevail againft him, becaufe of the ftrength of his power, which he had from the Lord; rulers could not ftand before his army, and mighty men could not prevail againft his auxiliaries, becaufe of the ftrength of power he had from the Lord; there is none like to him in his ftrength.”

¥.9. Ihave made him fair by the multitude of bis branches, &c.] Or provinces, the extenfivenefs of his dominions: all his power and ftrength, riches and wealth, grandeur and glory, and the vaft dominions he was pofiefled of, were all from the Lord; as whatever kings have are, tho’ they are too apt to afcribe it to themfelves; but all are from him, by whom kings reign: fo that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him; all the kings of the earth, tho’ they dared not openly {peak againft him, or oppofe him; yet they inwardly grieved at, and fecretly grudged his grandeur and majefty, fuperior to theirs, and wifhed themfelves in his ftead; and could gladly have done any thing, were it in their power, to eclipfe his glory, and bring him lower, This is the of all that are in any eminence, or are confpicuous to others, or in any exalted ftation above others, be it what it will; whether they have fuperior gifts and endowments of mind; or greater riches, and larger poffeffions; or are in high places of honour, tru{t and profit. The Targum is, “* I have made “ him beautiful by the multitude of his mighty *¢ ones; and all the kings of the eaft trembled “© before him, becaufe of the ftrength of his power, *¢ which he had from the Lord.”

¥. 10. Therefore ‘thus faith the Lord God, &c.] Having defcribed the greatnefs of the Afprian monarch; now follows the account of his fall, and the caufe of it, pride: becaufe thou haft lifted up thyfelf in height, this is either an addrefs to Phgvaoh king of Egypt, who tho’ he did not rife up fo high as the Afprian monarch in glory and grandeur; yet he lifted up himfelf, and thought himfelf fuperior to any; for which reafon he mutt be brought down: or the words are directed to the Affyrian monarch, by a change of perfon frequent in fcripture; who, tho’ he was raifed by the-Lord to the height of honour and dignity he was, yet afcribed it to himfelf: and he hath fhot up his top among the thick boughs, the multitude of provinces, over which he became head and governor; fee the note on y¥.3:+ and bis heart is lifted up in bis height; with pride, infolence and contempt of God and men; of which fee the inftances in J: x. 8— 15. and xxxvi. 18, 19, 20. and xxxvii. 10, 11, F273 y. 11. I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen, &c.] Or, into the hand of the mightieft of the nations °; the mightieft prince among them. Some underftand this of Arbaces the Mede, by whom Sardanapalus had been defeated long before this time: others of Merodach-baladan king, of Babylon, by whom E/farhaddon the Afyrian monarch was vanquifhed; or rather Nebuchadnezzar, who was called Nabopolaffar; who, in the firft year ° of his reign, in conjunction with Cyaxares king of Media, took Nineveb the metropolis of the Afyrian monarchy; and this was by the appointment of God, and under the direction of his providence, and thro’ the fuccefs he gave to the arms of thefe princes, according to his own decrees and prophecies.. Some render it, into the hand of the god of the nations 1, yet meaning either Cyaxares or Nebuchadnezzar, fo called becaufe of their great power and might, and which they had from the Lord: be /hall furely deal with him; or, in doing be fhall do to him; he fhall do with him as he pleafes; -he fhall eafily manage him, tho’ fo powerful; and deal with him according to his deferts; or, as the Targum, he fhall take vengeance on him, as he did: J bave driven him out for his wickedne/s, out of his court and palace; out of his royal city Niniveh; out of his kingdom and dominions; and he fhall refide and reign no more there; and all this for his wickednefs, pride and oppreffion, and other fins: when God {firips men of their honour, riches, power and dominion, it is becaufe of their abufe of them; for fome fin, or fins, or wickednefs they have been guilty of, both againft him and men; and therefore it is but juft and righteous in him to dethrone fuch princes, and drive them from their feats.

y. 12. And ftrangers, the terrible of the nations