Chee ¥eas L¢
kings of Fudab; and in the days of Feroboam the fon of Foafo king of Ifrael, from whence it appears,. that Ho/za’ prophefied long, and lived to a great age; for from the laft year of erebcam, which was the fifteenth of Uzziab, to the firft of Hezekiab, nvutt be fixty-nine years; for Jeroboain reigned forty-one years, and in the twenty-feventh of his reign began Uzziah or Azariah to reign over Judch, and he reigned fifty-two years, 2 Kings xiv. 23. and xv. 1, 2. fo that Uzziah reigned thirtyfeven years after the death of Feroboam, thro’ which time Hofea prophefied; Fotbham after him reigned fixteen years, and fo many reigned dhaz, 2 Kings xv. 23. and xvi. 2. fo that without reckoning any part, either of Feroboam’s reign, or Hezekiah’s, he muft prophefy fixty-nine years, and no doubt did upwards of feventy, very probably eighty, the Hews fay ninety; and allowing him to be twenty-four or five years of age when he began to prophefy, or only twenty; for it is certain he was at an age fit to marry, as appears by the prophecy, he mutt live to be upwards of an hundred years; and in all probability he lived to fee, not only part of J - rvael carried captive by Tiglath- Pilfer, which is certain; but the entire deftruction of the ten tribes by Salmanefer, which he prophefied of. Feroboam king of J/rael is mentioned laft, tho’ prior to thefe kings of Fudab; becaufe Hofea’s prophecy is chiefly againft Jrael, and began in his reign, when they were ina flourifhing condition. It appears from hence, that [/aiah, Amos and Micah were cotemporary with him; fee J, i. 1. Amosi.1. Mic. i.t. within this compafs of time Hofea prophefied, lived Tycurgus the famous law-giver of the Lacedemonians, and Hefied the Greek poet; and Rome began to be built.
y¥. 2. The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hofea, &c.] Or, in Hofea', which was internally revealed to him, and was infpired into him by the Holy Ghoft, who firft fpake in him, and then by him; not that Ho/ea was the firft of the prophets to whom the word of the Lord came; for there were Mofes, Samuel, David, and others, before him; nor the firft of the minor prophets, for 7onab, ‘foel and Amos are by fome thought to be before him; nor the firft of thofe cotemporary with him, as the Fewi/h writers interpret it, which is not certain, at leaft not all of them; but the meaning is, that what follows is the firft part of his prophecy, or what it began with; by which it appears he was put upon hard fervice at firft, to prophefy againft J/rael an idolatrous people, and to do it in fuch a manner as muft be difagreeable to a young man: and the Lord faid to Hofea, go take unto thee a wife of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms., 2 woman given to whoredom, a notorious ftrumpet, one taken out of the ftews, and children that were fpurious and illegitimate, not born in lawful wedlock. Some think this was really done; that the prophet took a whore, and cohabited with her, or married her; which, tho’ forbidden an high-prieft, was not forbid to a prophet; and had it been againft a law, yet the Lord commanding it, miade it lawful, as in the cafes. of Abrabam’s flaying his fon, and the J/raelites borrowing jewels of the Egyptians, but this feems not likely, fince it would not only look like countenancing whoredom, which is contrary to the holy law of God; but muft be very difhonourable to the prophet, and render him contemptible to the people; and befides, would not anfwer the end propofed, to reprove the fpiritual adultery or idolatry of J/rael, but rather ferve to confirm in it; for how fhould that appear criminal and abominable to them, which was commanded the prophet by the Lord? others think that the woman he is bid to marry, tho’ before marriage an harlo:, was afterwards reformed; but this is direétly contrary td ch. iii: 1. and befides, the children born of her, whether teformed or not, yet in lawful wedlock; could not be called children of whoredom; nor would the above end be anfwered by it, fince fuchi a perfon would be no fit reprefentative of Jrael cominitting fpiritual adultery or idolatry, and continuing in it; and moreover, whether this or the former was the cafe, the prophecy muft be many years delivering; it muft be near a year before the firft child was born, and the fame fpace muft be between the birth of each; fo that here muft be a long and frequent intetruption. of the prophecy, which does not feem likely: nof is it probable, that he took his own wife, which is the opinion of others, and gave her the character of a whofe, and his children with her, and called them children of whoredom, in order to reprefent and reprove the idolatry of [/rael; what Maimonides * and the Few writers in general give into is more agreeable, that this was all done in the vifion of prophecy; that it fo feemed to the prophet in vifion to be really done, and fo he related it to the people; but this is liable to objection, that fuch an impure fcene of things fhould be reprefented to the mind of the prophet by the Holy Spirit of God; nor can the relation of it be thought to have any good effeé&t upon the people, who wotld be ready to mock at him, and reptoach him for it. It feems beft therefore to underftand the whole as a parable, and that the prophet in a parabolical way is bid to reprefent the treachery, unfaithfulnefs, and fpiritual adultery of the people of Z rael, under the feigned name of an unchafte woman, and of children begotten in fornication; and to fhew unto them, that their cafe was as if he had taken a woman out of the ftews, and her baftards with her; or, as if a wife married by him had defiled his bed, and brought him a fpurious brood of children. So the Zargum interprets it, ‘* go pro- ‘* phefy a prophecy againft the inhabitants of the <¢ idolatrous city, who add to fin:” for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord; or, ‘* for the inhabitants of the land erring, ‘< erred from the worfhip of the Lord,” as the Targum; that is, the inhabitants of the land of Tfraei had committed idolatry, which is often in {cripture fignified by adultery and whoredom; as an adulterous woman deals treacheroufly with her hufband, fo thefe people had dealt with God, who ftood in fuch a relation to them; fee er. ili. 1, 6,9. Ezek. xvi. 17, 26, 28, 29. this interprets the parable, and fhews the reafon of ufing the following fymbols and emblems.
v. 3. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, &c.] In the courfe of prophefying he made mention of this perfon, who was a notorious common ftrumpet; and fuggefted hereby, that they were juft like her; or thefe were fictitious names he ufed to reprefent their cafe by. Gomer fignifies both confummation and confumption '; and this harlot is fo called, becaufe of her confummate beauty, and her being completely miftrefs of all the ae of one; or being confummately wicked, a perfect whore, cominon to all;‘and becaufe her ruin and deftruction, perfifting in fuch practices, were inevitable, and fo a fit emblem of the prefent and future condition of J/rael. Diblaim’ may be confidered, either as the name of a man, a word of the fame form with Ephraim, or of a woman, the mother of Gomer; or elfe of a place, the wildernefs of Diblath, Ezek. vi. 14. and fignifies a cake of dried figs ™; which, in that country, was reckoned delicious eating; and fo denotes, either, that both the fin and ruin of this people were owing to their luxury or indulging themfelves in carnal pleafures, thro’ the great affluence they were poffefled of; or that their original was from a wildernefs, and for their fins fhould be reduced to a defolate ftate again: which conceived and bare him a fon, whofe name, and what he was. an emblem of, are declared in the following verfe. The Targum is, << and he went and prophefied over them, that if ** they returned, it fhould be forgiven them; but ‘“« if not, as fig-tree leaves drop off, fo fhould “* they; but they added, and did evil works.”
¥. 4. And the Lord faid unto him, call his name ezreel, &c.] Which fome interpret the feed of God, as Ferom, or arm of God, as others; and Kimchi applies it to Feroboam the fon of Foafh, who was ftrong and profpered in his kingdom; but it rather fignifies, God vill fow, or fcatter », denoting either their diffenfions among themfelves; or their difperfion among the nations, which afterwards came to pafs; and fo the Zargum, “ call their “© name /cattered;” and alluding alfo to the city of Fezreel, where fome of the idolatrous kings of Jfrael lived, and where much blood had been fhed, which fhould be avenged, as follows: for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of ‘fezreel upon the boufe of Fehus not the blood of Naboth the Fezreelite, that was fhed by Abad; but the blood of Yoram the fon of Ahab, and feventy other fons of his, and all his. great men, kinsfolks and priefts, fhed by ebu in this place; and tho’ this was done according to the will of God, and for which he received the kingdom, and it was continued in his family to the fourth generation; yet inafmuch as this was not done by him from a pure and hearty zeal for the Lord and his worfhip, and with a fincere view to his glory, but in ‘order to gain the kingdom, increafe his power, and fatiate his tyranny and Juft; and becaufe, tho’ he deftroyed one fpecies of idolatry, the worfhip of Baal, yet he continued another, the worfhipping of the calves at Dan and Bethel, and regarded not the law of the Lord, and fo his fucceffors after him; and were the means of caufing many to fin, and fo confequently of the ruin of many fouls,whofe blood would be required of them, which fome take to be the meaning here; this is threatened, fee 2 Kings ix. 24, 25. and x. 1—7, 11, 16, 28, 29, 30, 31..It_may be obferved, that God fometimes punifhes the inftruments he makes ufe of in doing his work; they either over doing it, exercifing too much cruelty; and not doing it upon right ‘principles,’ and’ with right views, as the kings of Affria and Babylon, Tf. x5, 7. Zech.i. v5. Jt is here faid to be but a little while ere this vengeance would be taken, it being at the latter end of Feroboam’s reign when this prophecy was delivered out; and ‘his fon Za- om Vox tas fignificat maffas ficuum compreffarum & ficcatarum, Rivetus, Tarnoviis. ~~ ° Theatrum Terre Sante, feminavit, diffeminavit, Schmidt.:
in this valley, which was not far from Same;
chariah, in whom the kingdom as in his family. ceafed, reigned but fix months, being confpired againft and flain by Shallum, who reigned in his ftead, 2 Kings xv. 8, 9, 10. The Targum is, ** for ‘* yet a little while J will avenge the blood of thofe “¢ that worfhip idols, which Febu fhed in Fezreel, ** whom he flew becaufe they ferved Baal; but “¢ they turned to err after. the calves which were “* in Bethel, therefore I will.reckon that innocent “< blood upon the houfe of Febu:” and will caufe to ceafe.the kingdom of the houfe of Drael; that is, in the family of Fehu; Zachariah the fon of the then reigning prince being the laft, and his reign only the fhort reign of fix months; unlefs this has reference to the utter ceffation of this kingdom as fuch in the times of Hofbea by Salmanefer king of Afpyria, 2 Kings xvii. 6—23.
¥. 5. And it fall come to pafs at that day, 8c.] When the Lord fhall take vengeance on the family of Febu, and deprive them of the kingdom of I/rael, and fhall punifh the idolatrous kings that fucceed: that I will break the bow of Ifrael in the valley of Fezreel, of which valley fee ofp. xvii. 16. Fudg. vi. 33. It is now called the plain of E/- draelon, as it is in Judith i. 8. the great plain of
_Efdrelom; according to Adrichomius °, it is two miles broad, and ten miles long; its foil exceeding fat and fruitful, and abounding with corn, wine and oil; all travellers agree they never faw the like: one fays? of this plain or valley, formerly the lot of the tribe of //achar, this is the moft fertile portion of the land of Canaan, where that tribe might. well be fuppofed to. have rejoiced in their tents, Deut, xxxiii. 18. at prefent indeed it is not manured, as another ‘traveller * obferves, and yet very fruitful; who fays, it is of a vaft extent, and very fertile, but uncultivated, only ferving the Arabs for pafturage; and according to the fame writer, the ancient river Ki/bon runs thro’ the middle of it: from the largenefs of it, it is frequently called by writers the great plain or valley; and fometimes from the places near it, or on it, the great plain of Legio, the great plain of Samaria, the great plain or valley of Megiddo, 2 Chron. xxxv. 22. and the great plain of E/draelon, and here the valley of Fezreel, Fezreel or Efdraela being fituated in this great plain or valley between Seythopolis and Legio, a very large village, as Ferom fays * it was in his days; and who alfo on this paffage obferves, that Fezree/, from whence this. valley had its name, is now near Maximianopolis, and was the metropolis of the kingdom of Samaria, near which were — very large plains, and a valley of a very great - length, extending more than ten miles: here Abad had a palace in his days, near to which was Naboth’s vineyard, and where God revenged his blood: this city is called by Fe/ephus *, Azare and Azarus, or Izarus; and in the times of Gulelmus Tyrius'*, it went by the name of little Gerinum. The 3 is put for all inftruments of war, and every thing in which confidence was put, which was ect or removed from them: this refers either to Menachem’s flaughter of Shallum, and wafting fome patts of the land of Jacl, 2 net XV. 14, or rather it may be to a battel fought be Hofhea king of Irael and Salmanefer king of Afy which the Former was defeateds,at id the ing the victory, proceeded. to Samaria, befieged and took. it, 2 Kings xvii. 6. tho’ of the aétion the {cripture is filent; but it is not improbable. _ The Targum is, ‘* I will break the ftrength of the war- ** riors of J/rae/ in the valley of Fezreel;” which feems to confirm the fame conjecture. Some render it, decaufe of the, valley..of Fezreel"; that is, becaufe of the idolatry, bloodfhed, and other fins committed there.
¥. 6. Aud fhe conceived again, and bare a daughter, &c.] One of the weaker fex; denoting the weaker ftate of the kingdom. of J/rael after Feroboam, as Kimchi thinks, Zachariah his fon reigning but fix months, and Shallum the fon of Jabe/b his fucceffor, reigned but one month, 2 Kings xv. 8,13: and God faid unto him, call her name Lo-rubamab, which fignifies, /he hath not obtained mercy; and what follows, explains it to the fame fenfe. The Targum is, ** and they added and did evil works; and he ** faid unto him call their. name, who obtained *< not mercy by their works:” for I will no more have mercy upon the houfe of Ifrael, as he had heretofore, fparing them time after time, though they continued to: fin againft him; but now he would fpare them no longer, but, deliver them up into the hands of their enemies, as he did a part of them, firft into the hands of Tiglath-Pilefer king of Affria, and then to Salmanefer, 2 Kings xv. 209. and xvii. 6. otherwife in the,latter day, mercy will be fhewn them again, efpecially in a {piritual way, when they fhall be converted, and believe in Chritt, and all J/rael thall be faved, as well as poffefs their own land again; fee ¥. 10,11. Rom. 11, 26: but I will utterly take them away; out of their land, from being a kingdom and nation, which was done by Salmanefer, another king of Afyria, 2 Kings xvii. 6. or, bringing I will bring into them, or againft them; that is, an enemy, the fame king of /jria: or, but forgetting I will forget them *, as fome render it, and remember them no more, till the fulnefs of time comes: or, thro’ pardoning I have pardoned, or {pared them”, that is, in times patft. The Targum is, ** but if they return, pardoning *< T will pardon them;” which will be done in the latter day.
y. 7. But I will have mercy on the boufe of Fudab, &c.|. The two tribes of Fudab and Benjamin, which retained the true worfhip of God among them; fee ch. xi. 12. and tho’ they often finned againft the Lord, he fhewed them mercy, and fpared them losger than the ten tribes; and tho’ he fuffered them to be carried captive into Babylon, he returned them again after feventy years: this is mentioned as an aggravation of the punifhment of Jfrael, that ‘fudab was fpared, when they were not; -and to fhew that God will have a people to feek and ferve him, and when he rejects fome, he’ll make a referve of others: and will fave them by the Lord their God, by his own arm and_ power, and not theirs, or any creatures; nor by any warlike means or inftruments whatever, as follows: and will not fave them by bow, nor by fword, nor by battel, by horfes, nor by borfemen; which may re- {pet either the deliverance of the ews from the invafion and fiege of Seanacheri’’s army; which was done without fhooting an arrow, or drawing the fword, or engaging in a pitched battel, or by a cavalry rufhing into his camp, difcomfiting his
® Saya pay adducam contra eos, oblivifear eorum, Vulg. Lat. Pagninus. ~.donando condonaverim eis, fo fome in Drofius.
propter vallem Jifreelis, Junias & Tremellius, ‘Pifcator. Mantter; importando importabo eis, Drufivs, fo Kimchi and Ben Melech. > ¥ Quamyis omnino condonaverim eis, Pifcator; quamvis hattenus con- army; and purfuing them; but by an.angel fent from heaven, which in one night deftroyed an hundred and fourfcore and five thoufand, 2 Kings xix. 35. or elfe refers to Cyrus being ftirred up by the Lord to-iffue forth a proclamation, giving liberty to the Jewi/b captives to go free, without price or reward; and fo was brought about, not by the might and power of man,. but-by the Spirit of the Lord; fee Ezra it. If. xly..13, Zecb. iv. 6, tho’ a greater falvation is pointed at, or at leaft fhadowed forth by this, even the fpiritual and eternal falvation of
‘God’s elect by Chrift; which is the fruit of mercy;
and not the effect of the merits of men; is obtained not by human power, or by man’s righteoufnefs; but by the Lord Jefus Chrift, who is Jehovah our righteoufnefs, the Lord God of his people; who ftands in a rélation to them prior to his being the Saviour of them; to which, work and office: he is equal, being the eternal Jehovah, and the true and living God. So the Zargum, “ and **“T will fave them by the word of the Lord their “¢ God;” the eternal word, that was with God, is God, and became incarnate, God in our nature. ¥. 8. Now when fhe had weaned Lo-rubamah, &e.] That is, when Gomer had weaned her daughter.of this name, ¥..6.. This fome, interpret of the. people. of J/rael being deprived of the word and, ordinances, compared to milk and breatts, having a famine of them; and fo were like children weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breaft.; tho’ others think, this is expreffive. of the patience of God in bearing with this people, after he had before threatened them with the fubverfion of their kingdom and. ftate; and even after the prophecy had took place in part, in caufing the kingdom to ceafe in the houfe of Fehu, he bore with them about forty years before they were entirely carried captive; fuckling and weaning before the conception and birth of another child, denoting fome ftop,and ftay; but rather this intends the taking away fome part of the land of J/rae/, as a child when weaning is taken away from its mother; and may refpect the carrying captive many of the Tfraelites in divers parts, particularly out of Gilead, Galilee. and Naphtali, by Tiglath-Pilefer king of Affyria, 2 Kings xv. 29. This cannot. be under- {tood of the captivity of the Fews in Babylon, as Cocceius; for this is a refumption and continuation of the prophecy concerning the ten tribes, after inferting a promife of the falvation of Fudab in the preceding verfe: /he conceived and bare a fon, according to Kimchi, as the weaning of Lo-rubamab points at the times of weaknefs, from Zachariah the fon of Feroboam to the times of Pekabiah, when the reigns were fhort and troublefome; fo this fon conceived and born réprefents the ftate of the nation in the times of Pekab; who reigned twenty years, and was too powerful for the kingdom of Fudab, flew multitudes of them, and carried others captive, and affifted Rezin king of Syria againft Abaz king of Fudab: but according to the feries of the prophecy, it feems beft to agree with the times of Hofbea king of J/rael, who was not fo bad as fome of his predecefiors; was a man of fpirit and courage; caft off the Afjrian yoke, and negleéted to give prefents to the king of Afjria; and Samaria in his time held out a three years fiege againft that king, 2 Kings xvii. 1—5. The Tar- ons * Lum ow OAS Nes awyg adducendo * Oblivifcendo gum is, ‘and the generation of them who are “ carried captive among the nations, are found <€ not to have obtained mercy by their works, but “© they added and did evil works.” ne
¥. 9. Then faid God, call his name Lo-ammi, &c.] Which Aden Ezra interprets of the children of the ten tribes born in captivity, who never returned; but it rather fignifies the ten tribes themfelves, who were carried: captive, and had this name given them for the reafon following: for ye are not my people; tho’ he had chofen them to be his people above all people, and had diftinguifhed them from others by various bleffings and _privileges; yet they did not behave as fuch to him; they did not ferve, obey and worfhip him, but the calves at Dau and Bethel, and therefore did not deferve the name of his people: hence he fays, and TI will not be your, or yours"; that is, as we fupply it, and fo Aben Ezra, your God; will not behave toward you as fuch; will not take you under my care and protection, or continue you in your land, and in the enjoyment of the bleffings of it; will not be your king, patron and defender, but give you up into the hands of your, enemies. This refpects the captivity of the ten tribes by Sa - manefer, 2 Kings xvii. 6. - THe ‘Targum is, “* for “¢ ye are not my people; becaufe ye donot con- “* firm the words of my law, my word fhall not ** be your help.”
¥. 10. 2et the uumber of the children of Ifrael frail be as the fand of the fea, which cannot ‘be meajured nor numbered, &c.| Tho’ called Lo-ammi, and rejected from being the people of God; yet there is a time when their number, according to the promife made to Abraham, “fhall be ‘as the fand of the fea, and the ftars of heaven; which, as the one cannot be meafured, the other cannot be numbered; which was to be,‘not at the return of the Fews from the Babylonifh captivity, when fome of the ten tribes of J/rael returned with them, as Theodoret, and others think; for they were but few that then returned: but rather at the firft times of the gofpel, when multitudes that came from feveral parts of the world were converted at the day of Pentecoff, and greater numbers, who were met with in the miniftry of the word, in ‘the feveral parts of the world, where they were difperfed, and the gofpel came, to whom Peter and Fames wrote their epiftles; and not thefe only are meant, but the vaft numbers of Gentiles, who were effectually called by grace every where, and were true Traclites, the f{piritual feed of ‘Abraham, and to whom the apoftle Paw? applies thefe words, producing them’ as a teftimony of the eleCtion and calling, not of the Fews only, but of the Gentiles alfo, Rom. ix. 24, 25, 26. and which will have a further accomplifhment in the latter day, when the fulnefs of the Gentiles will be’ brought in, the ews will be converted, and all Z/rael faved, Rom. xi. 25, 26, then the numbers of the J/rael of God, both of Fews and Gentiles, will be as the fand of the fea indeed! and it fhall come to pafs, that in the place where it was faid unto them, ye are not my people, there it fall be faid unto them, ye are the fons of the living God, that is, in fuch places where it ufed to be faid, here live Pagans, Turks, or Fews, who worfhip not the true God, ‘or at léaft fiot aright, nor believe in Chrift, and profefs his name; there it foall be faid to them, by the Lord himéelf, not only that they are the people of God, but have a fuperior privilege, a greater character, and an higher relation, the fons of the living God; the fons of God, not by nature, as Chrift; nor by creation, as angels, nor by office, as civil magiftrates; or by profeffion merely, as nominal chriftians; but by adopting grace; which exceeds all other bleffings, evén of fanctification and juttification; makes men honourable; is attended with various privi+ leges, and always continues. The epithet of the living God, is not without caufe put; it ftands in oppofition to dead idols before worfhipped by fome, who will now be the children of God; and who, as he has life in himfelf, gives it to others; to all natural‘ life and breath, and to his children piritual — and eternal life; and as he lives for ever, fo: fhall they his fons likewife. The Targum is, ** and it ‘¢ fhall be in the place where they have been car- “< ried captive, when they tranfgreffed the law; “< and ‘it was faid to them, ye are not my people; “< there they fhall be converted and increafed (or *« made great); and it fhall be faid to them, O “« ye people of ‘the living God.”
y. r1. Fhen fhall the children of Judah, and the children of Tfrael be gathered together, &e.] Not at the return from the ‘Badyloni/> captivity; for tho’ fome of ‘the ten tribes might be mixed with the ¥ews when'they went into captivity, and came: out with them, and others: might join them ‘from the feveral nations where they had been difperfed; yet they did not gather together with them ina body, only the tribes of Fudah and Benjamin, thofe were the chief; of the children of J/raé/, but few, Ezrai.5. Some refer this to the firft times - of the gofpel, when the Ga/ileans were gathered’ to Chrift by his miniftry, who inhabited the countries whetefome of the tribes of J/rael dwelt; and who might, at leaft fome of them,.defcend from them: and when’ thofe in ‘Yern/alem and in Fudea,. who alfo believed in Chrift, united with them in their profeffion of him, and in affection to one another; or to the time of “Chrift’s death, by which the whole J/rael of God, who were fcattered abroad, were ‘gathered together in one; and even Fews and Gentiles were made one body, and one new man in Chrift, the partition-wall being broken down: or to the times of ‘the apoftles, who'were fuccefsful in the ‘converfion and gathering of many of the Fewife nation, and alfo of the Samaritans; and of forming churches in “fadea and Samaria under one head, in whom they agreed; and likewife of many others, both Fews and J/raelites, in the feveral parts of the world, where they carried the gofpel; «and who coalefced with the believing Genféles in one church-ftate, under Chrift their head: tho’ it feems beft to interpret this of the latter day, when the - children of J/rael and Fudab fhall join together in_ feeking the Lord their God, and the true Meffiah, and fhall'be turned, ‘and gathered to him; when they fhall\be no more two’ kingdoms, or two na~ tions, but be one whder the’ Meffiah, who fhall be their king- and prince; when all their animofities fhall be laid afide, and they fhall no more. envy or vex one another; “but fhall meet together in the fame’ church-ftate, and worfhip the Lord with one fhoulder and confent, being of one ae and fentiment in religious things, and when a) Tfrael’ fall be faved,’ Fer. 1. 4, 5. Ezek. xxxvii. 19—22.. If. xi. 13. Zeph. iii. 9: and appoint them- by his Spirit witneffing their-relation to them, and by all good men, and even by the world Je/ves one béad; not Sennacherib, as Aben Ezra, very. ingeneral;!abfurdly; nor Hezekiah, nor Fofieb, as others;
nor Elijah the prophet, as fome in Kimchi; nor Zerubbabel, to which the Targum feems to incline, paraphrafing it, ** one head-of the houfe of David;” but better as Farchi, David their king; that is, the Meffiah, as Kimchi and Ben Melech exprefsly interpret it; and fo. 4barbinel», tho’ he underftands it of the Meffiah the fon of Yo/epb; and undoubtedly the fame is meant by the one head, as David their king and prince, ch. iil. 5. Ezek. xxxvii. 24, 25.) even Chrift, who is the head of angels, yea the!
head of every man, but ina {fpecial and peculiar’ fenfe the head of the body, the church; he is the federal and reprefentative head of his people, both in eternity, and’in time; and in fuch fenfe an head to them, as a king is head of his fubjects, an hufband of his wife, a father of his family, and a matter of his fervants; and alfo as a natural head ‘is to its body, of the fame nature with it; in union to it; lives the fame life; is’ above it, and more excellent than it: a perfect thead Chrift is, ‘there being nothing wanting in him as fuch; he has his eyes fet upon his people; his ears are open to their cries; he fells a-fweet favour of reft in their perfons and fervices; he taftes and eats their pleafant fruits,-and feels all their infirmities, troubles and afflictions; and has a tongue to fpéak a word jin feafon for them: there are ‘no vicious humours in this head to affect the body; no deformity in. it, and all fulnefs therein to fupply its wants; he is an everliving and.everlafting head, and the one, and only one; there is no other, neither the pope of Rome, nor any other; nor will true J/raelites acknowledge’ any other: and tho’ this head is of God the Father’s appointing, who has given him to be the head; fet him as king over Sion; raifed him up to be a prince and a Saviour; yet he is alfo of the faints choofing and appointing; they approve of him as fuch, embrace him, own him, and fubmit to him, as the ews will at the laft day, tho’ their forefathers have rejected him: and they shall come up out-of the land; not of Irael, as Schmidt, who interprets this of the apoftles going out from thence, and fpreading the gofpel in the world; but out of the feveral lands and countries where J/rae/ and Fudch have been difperfed, and return to their own land; fee Yer. ui. 18. Ezek. xxxiv. 13. and
HIS chapter is an explanation of the for;
mer, proceeding upon the fame argument in more exprefs words. The godly J/raelites are here called upon to lay before the body of the people their idolatry, ingratitude, obftinacy and ignorance of the God of their mercies; and to exhort them to repentance, left they fhould be ftripped of all their good things, and be brought into great diftrefs and difficulties; all their joy and comfort ceafe, and be expofed to fhame and contempt, y. 1—13. yet notwithftanding, many gracious promifes are made unto them, of their having “the alluring and comfortable word of the gofpel; of a door of hope; of falvation being opened to them; of faith in the Lord, and affection to him as their hufband; of the removal of all idolatry from them; of fafety from all enemies; of their.
open efpoufal to Chrift; of his hearing of their * prayers, and giving them plenty of all good things;
XXxvii. 21. So the Targum, “ and they fhall come “¢ up out of the land of their captivity:” or it may’ be underftood figuratively and fpiritually, of their coming up out of their captivity-to fin, fatan, the law and the world, as well as out of their prefent temporal captivity: and out of the earth %, as it were, as it may be rendered; out of their earthly ftate, from the graves of fin; leaving their earthly affections, and becoming fpiritual and_heayenlyminded; willing to quit all that is dear unto them, even the country in which they were born and long lived, to follow Chrift their head and king: for great foall be the day of Fezreel; or, tho’ great has been or is ¢he day of Fezreel*; tho’ it has been a great and long day of trouble and affliction to them, fignified by Fezreel; fee ¥. 4,-5. yet all thefe good things promifed fhall furely be accomplithed: indeed, the day of Fezree/ may be taken in a good fenfe, not for a time -of difperfion and diftrefs, but of great comfort, joy, and happinefs; the word fignifying, according to fome, the feed of God, or the arm of God: and Ferom applies it to Chrift, the feed of God; and the. whole gofpeldifpenfation may be called his day, the day of falvation, the joyful day the. Lord has made: or rather by Fezreel, the feed of God, are meant his {pritual ‘offspring, the children of Fudab and Irae!; who fhall now be gathered, by ¢he arm of God, his powerful and efficacious grace, and that in large numbers, fo that great will be their day; fo the Targum paraphrafes it, ‘* for great will be the day ‘* of their gathering.’2, It refpects the latter dayglory, when will be the converfion of the Jews, and the bringing in of the fulnefs of the Gentiles; when there will be great peace and profperity; great love and unity; great holinefs and purity; great light and knowledge; great enjoyment of God, and of the prefence of the Redeemer; great glory upon the churches, and upon that a defence: in fhort, all the great and glorious things fpoken of will now be compleated; perfec deliverance from all afflictions and troubles; an entire deftruction of all enemies; and a full enjoyment of the word and ordinances, in the purity of them; and large converfions every where.
y. 1. Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi, and to your fitters, Rubamab.| 'Thefe words are to be confidered either in connexion with the latter part of the preceding chapter, and’as directed to the fons of the living God, who had ‘not been, but now were, Ammi, the Lord’s people; and who had ‘not; but now have, Rubamab,, obtained mercy; whith grace and mercy fhewn them, it became them to {peak of one to another, to affect their hearts mutually with it, and to glorify God for it, Mai. iii. 16. as alfo to fpeak of it to their carnal relations, that fo if it was the will of God, it might be of ufe to them, to fhew them the ftate they were in, the danger of it, their need of the grace and mercy of God, and the hope there was by their own inftance and example of obtaining it; fee Kom. ix.
i, 2,3. and x. 1. or as directed to the converted Jews that appointed Chrift their head, and. believed in him; exhorting them to own the believing Gentiles as their brethren and fifters, fince they were the fpiritual feed of Abrabam their father, and walked in the fteps of his faith; and to call them Ammi aid Rubamah, fince they who were not the people of God, now were, and who had not obtained mercy, now have obtained mercy, 1 Pet. il. 10. or elfe they may be confidered as in connexion with the following words, plead with your mother; and that either as fpoken to the two tribes of udab and Benjamin, who were the people of God, retained the pure worfhip of God, and obtained mercy of the Lord, chap. i. 7. and xi. 12. “* O << ye Ammi and Rubamab, that are the Lord’s peo- “¢ ple, and he has had mercy on; ftir up and ex- ‘ hort your brethren and fifters of the ten tribes, * for fo they were, notwithftanding their fepara- “¢ tion, 1 Kings xii. 24. to contend with their mo- “ ther, the body of the nation, about idolatry “* and departure from God;” or as fpoken to the godly among the ten tribes, who were the real people of God, and fharers in his grace and mercy; the remnant’he referved for himfelf, who had not bowed ‘their knees to idols; or as the command of God by the prophet, to the people of J/rae/, to exhort one another to contend with their mother, who were, as yet, the Lord’s people, had mercy fhown them, when this prophecy was delivered out; though, in cafe of obftinacy and impenitence, they were threatened with a Lo-ammi and Lo-ruhamab, fo Schmidt, who thinks, that Ammi and Rubamah are put by way of appofition to your brethren and fifters, in which he feems to be right. Aben Ezra thinks the words are fpoken ironically, like thofe in Eccl. xi..g. and others, but without reafon. The Targum is, ** O ye prophets, fay to «© your brethren, and my people, and I will have <¢ mercy on your congregation;” but rather the words are fpoken to the ew converts who firft believed in Chrift, were his people, received grace and mercy from him, and ftood in the relation of brethren and fifters to one another, both in a natural and fpiritual fenfe, to ftir up one another to reprove their mother, the Yewi/h church, for rejecting Chrift, faying, as follows:
¥.2. Plead with your mother, plead, &c.| ‘The congregation of J/rae/, as the Targum; the body of the Yewifh nation, which, with refpect to individuals, was as a mother to her children; fee Matt. xxi. 37. that is,: lay before her her fin, in rejecting the Meffiah, the head and hufband of his true church and people; endeavour to convince “her of it; reprove her for it; expoftulate with her about it; argue the cafe with her, and fhew her the danger of perfifting in fuch an evil, as the apoftles did, Afs ii. 23,°36. and iii. 14, and vii. 52. and xiii. 27, 40. for fhe is not my wife, neither am I her bufoand; for tho’ there had been fuch a relation between them, yet it was now diffolved; fhe’ had broken the marriage-covenant and contract, and God had given her a bill of divorce, Fer. Xxxi. 32. If 1. 1. or however, as fhe behaved not as a wife towards him, fhewing love and affe€tion, honour and reverence, and performing duty, and yielding obedience; fo he would not carry it as an hufband towards her, nourifhing and cherifhing her, providing for her, and protecting and defending her; but leave her to