Explanatory Notes upon the Old and New Testaments

The scattering the coals of fire upon the city, ver. 1-7. The removal of the glory of God from the temple, ver. 8-22.

2. He - That sat on the throne. Scatter - That it may take fire in all parts, and none may escape.

3. The right side - The north-side, the side towards Babylon, from whence the fire came which consumed the city. The man - Christ, the Lord of angels, who now attend his coming and commands. The cloud - As the sign of God's presence. The inner court - The court of the priests, who were chief in the apostacy.

4. The glory - The visible token of the presence of the God of glory. Went up - In token of his departure from the temple. And stood - Shewing his unwillingness to leave, and giving them time to return to him, he stands where he might he seen, both by priests and people, that both might be moved to repentance.

5. Was heard - As a mighty and terrible thunder.

6. And stood - Either as one that deferred execution, to try whether the city would repent, or as one who was to give some farther order to the angels, that were to be the ministers of his just displeasure.

7. One Cherub - One of the four. And took - As a servant that reaches what his master would have. Went out - Out of the temple.

9. Looked - Attentively viewed. Beryl stone - Of sea-green.

10. They - The wheels. This intimates the references of providence to each other, and their dependences on each other: and the joint tendency of all to one common end, while their motions appear to us intricate and perplexed, yea, seemingly contrary.

11. When - The wheels moved by the cherubim, or that spirit of life, which moved the living creatures. They went - They were so framed, that they could move on all four sides without the difficulty and delay of turning. Head - Of the living creatures.

12. And - Now he describes both the cherubim and wheels as full of wisdom, and as governed by an excellent wisdom. The wheels - Which the four cherubim had to move, govern, and direct.

13. The wheels - As to their frame and motion. It was cried - Still there was one who guided, as by vocal direction. Unto them - To each of them.

14. Everyone - Of the living creatures, chap. i, 6.

17. For - There is a perfect harmony between second causes in their dependence on, and subjection to, the one infinite, wise, good, holy, and just God. The spirit of God directs all the creatures, upper and lower, so that they shall serve the divine purpose. Events are not determined by the wheel of fortune, which is blind, but by the wheels of providence, which are full of eyes.

18. And stood - On the right side of the house, where the cherubim were in the inner court.

19. And every one - The glory, the cherubim, the wheels, all stood, respiting execution, and giving opportunity of preventing the approaching misery. The east gate - The last court, the court of the people.

20. I knew - Either by special assurance as a prophet, or by comparing them with those which he had often seen in the temple.

God's message of wrath to those who remained secure at Jerusalem, ver. 1-13. A message of comfort to the dejected captives at Babylon, ver. 14-21. The glory of God removes farther, ver. 22, 23. The vision disappears, of which Ezekiel gives an account, ver. 24, 25.

1. Jaazaniah - Not him that is mentioned chap. viii, 11. Pelatiah - Named here for that dreadful sudden death, whereby he became a warning to others.

2. He - The Lord sitting on the cherub.

3. It - The threatened danger and ruin by the Chaldeans. The caldron - This is an impious scoff, yet mixt with some fear of the prophet, Jer. i, 13.

6. Ye - Many murders have you committed yourselves, and you are accountable to God for all those whom the Chaldeans have slain, seeing you persuaded them, thus obstinately to stand out.

7. Bring you forth - Not in mercy, but in wrath, by the conquering hand of Babylon.

9. Deliver you - Defeating all your projects for escape.

10. Will judge - My just judgments shall pursue you, whithersoever you fly.

11. Your caldron - The place of your sufferings; greater are reserved for you in a strange land. Judge you - I will do more against you at Riblah, where the captive king had his children, and others with them, first murdered before his eyes, and then his own eyes put out; Riblah is called the border of Israel: for Syria was adjoining to Israel on the north, and Riblah was on the frontiers of Syria.

13. Pelatiah - Mentioned ver. 1, a principal man among the twenty-five princes, who made all the mischief in Jerusalem. It should seem this was done in vision now, (as the slaying of the ancient men, chap. ix, 6,) but it was an assurance, that when this prophecy was published, it would be done in fact. And the death of Pelatiah was an earnest of the compleat accomplishment of the prophecy. A full end - By slaying all, as this man is cut off.

15. Thy brethren — thy nearest kindred, which it seems were left in Jerusalem. Their degeneracy is more noted in the repetition of the word brethren. Gone far - Ye are gone far from the Lord; as much as the Heathens accused the Christians of atheism.

16. Say - In vindication of them. Although - The obstinate Jews at Jerusalem will call them apostates; but I the Lord sent them thither, and will own them there. Scattered - Dispersed them in many countries which are under the king of Babylon: yet they are dear to me. A little sanctuary - A little one in opposition to that great temple at Jerusalem. To him they shall flee, and in him they shall be safe, as he was that took hold on the horns of the altar. And they shall have such communion with God in the land of their captivity, as it was thought could be had no where but in the temple.

18. They - They who assemble upon Cyrus's proclamation first, and then upon Darius's proclamation, shall overcome all difficulties, dispatch the journey, and come safely to their own land. Take away - They shall abolish superstition and idolatry from the temple.

19. One heart - Cyrus shall give them leave, and I will give them a heart to return; and on their way shall there be great utility; and, when come to Jerusalem, they shall own me, and my laws, and with one consent, build Jerusalem and the temple, and restore true religion. The stony - That hard, inflexible, undutiful, incorrigible disposition.

21. Heart - Soul and affections. Walketh - Either secretly adhere to, or provide for the service of idols, called here detestable things.

23. Went up - The glory of the Lord removes now out of the city, over which it had stood some time, waiting for their repentance. The mountain - Mount Olivet. He removed thither, to be as it were within call, and ready to return, if now at length in this their day, they would have understood the things that made for their peace.

24. The spirit - The same spirit which carried him to Jerusalem, now brings him back to Chaldea. Went up - Was at an end.

The prophet by removing his stuff, and quitting his lodgings is a sign of Zedekiah's flight out of Jerusalem, ver. 1-16. By eating his meat with trembling, he is a sign, to set forth the famine and consternation in the city, ver. 17-20. An assurance that these things shall be fulfilled, ver. 21-28.

2. Eyes to see - They have capacity, if they would, to understand, but they will not understand, what thou speakest.

3. Stuff - Vessels or instruments, wherein thou mayest put what is portable.

4. In their sight - Before 'tis quite night, that they, who should learn by this sign, may see and consider it.

5. Dig - Come not through the door, but as one who knows there is a guard upon the door, get to some back part of thy house, and dig there thyself, either to make the greater haste, or to keep all secret; for all will be little enough for them that must act what thou dost represent. Carry out - Through the hole thou hast dug.

6. Bare it - In testimony of the servitude they shall be reduced to, who then must do what servants or beasts were wont to be employed in. Cover thy face - As unwilling to be seen or known. For - I have set thee for a sign to them, and thou shalt tell them the meaning of these things in due time.

7. I brought forth - Here is a transposing of his actions, and rehearsal of that in the first place, which was acted in the second place.

10. Say - Though they inquire not, yet tell them what I mean hereby, that this prophecy is a burden which the kingdom shall groan under. The prince - Zedekiah.

11. I am your sign - My person is the emblem of yours, and my actions of that you shall do. And the like shall be done to you, O inhabitants of Jerusalem. We cannot say concerning our dwelling place, that it is our resting place. For how far we may be tossed from it before we die, we cannot foresee.

12. The prince - Zedekiah. Shall bear - Disguised, as a servant, in hope to conceal himself, chuses the twilight as the time that would best favour his design. They shall dig - This was fulfilled when they broke down the wall to fly, Jer. xxxix, 4. Cover his face - Zedekiah did by this aim at concealing himself.

13. It - Neither the land nor the city; for his eyes will be put out at Riblah.

16. Declare - By relating those sins, for which God was justly angry, and for which he punished them, though they were his own people. Thy - The Chaldeans. See how God brings good out of evil! The dispersion of sinners, who had done God much dishonour and disservice in their own country, proves the dispersion of penitents, who shall do him much honour and service in other countries!

19. The people - Thy fellow captives. And of the land - Those that dwell in the countries round about Jerusalem. Her land - Jerusalem's land, so called because it was the head city thereof. Desolate - Because it shortly shall be laid waste, emptied of inhabitants, wealth and plenty. Violence - Injustice, oppression and tyranny of the Jews toward one another.

22. That proverb - That short saying commonly used. Days - Of wrath and vengeance, are to come a great while hence. Every vision - Threatening vision, which Jeremiah and Ezekiel would fright us with, comes to nothing.

25. I will speak - There has been and shall be a succession of God's ministers, by whom he will speak, to the end of the world. Even in the worst times, God left not himself without witness, but raised up men that spoke for him, and spoke from him.

The prophet shews the sin and punishment of the false prophets, ver. 1-16. Of the false prophetesses, ver. 17-23.

2. That prophesy - Out of their own deceiving hearts, not from God.

3. Foolish prophets - Foolish prophets are not of God's sending: for whom he sends, he either finds fit, or makes fit. Where he gives warrant, he gives wisdom. Their own spirit - Not the spirit of God. Seen nothing - God hath shewed them no vision.

4. Thy prophets - Thy prophets, not mine. Like the foxes - Hungry, and ravening, crafty, and guileful. In the deserts - Where want makes them more eager after their prey.

5. Ye - Vain prophets. Gone up - As in a besieged city, whose wall is broken down, a valiant soldier would run up into the breach to repel the enemy; so true prophets partly by prayer, and partly by doctrine, labour to preserve God's people. Hedge - The house of Israel is the Lord's vineyard, through the hedge whereof many breaches are made. To stand - Not with arms, but with fasting, prayer, and repentance.

6. Vanity - Things that have no foundation.

9. Mine hand - My power striking them. In the assembly - Have no seat among the rulers, nor voice among the counsellors. Written - Not registered among those that return, Ezra ii, 1, 2. Enter - They shall never come into the land of Israel. They shall not be written in the book of eternal life, which is written for the just ones of the house of Israel, saith the Chaldea paraphrast.

10. Peace - They told sinners, no harm would happen to them. And those are the most dangerous seducers, who suggest to sinners that which tends to lessen their dread of sin, or their fear of God. These are compared to men who build a slight tottering wall, which others daub with untempered mortar; sorry stuff, that will not bind, nor hold the bricks together: doctrines not grounded on the word of God.

14. Ye shall know - Those that deceived others, will in the end be found to have deceived themselves. And no doom will be more fearful, than that of unfaithful ministers.

15. Accomplish - Fulfil what my prophets foretold.

18. Sew pillows - A figurative speech, expressing the security, which they promised to every one that came to them. Kerchiefs - Triumphal caps, which were made by these prophetesses, and put upon the head of every who one consulted them, and by these they were to interpret, as a promise of victory over the Babylonians. Stature - That is, of every age, whether younger or elder, which usually is seen by their stature. To hunt - All this is really spreading a net, as hunters do, to catch the prey. Will ye save - Can you preserve them alive, whom you deceive by your promises?

19. Pollute me - Pretending my name for what I never spake. My people - My own people. Handfuls of barley - For a mean reward. To slay - You denounce evil to the best, whom God wilt keep alive. To save - Declaring safety, to the worst, whom God will destroy.

20. There - At Jerusalem. Grow - You promise a flourishing, growing, state to all inquirers; and this is the net with which you hunt souls. Tear them - With violence, and suddenness.

23. See no more vanity - They shall see all their predictions vanish, which shall so confound them, that they shall pretend no more to visions.

The elders of Israel come to inquire of the prophet, ver. 1-5. They are ordered to repent, or not to pretend to inquire of God, ver. 6-11. Tho' Noah, Daniel and Job were to pray for the people, yet they would not prevail, ver. 12-21. Yet a remnant shall escape, ver. 22, 23.

1. Elders - Men of note, that were in office and power among the Jews, who were come from Jerusalem.

3. Set up - Are resolved idolaters. The stumbling block - Their idols which were both the object of their sin, and occasion of their ruin.

4. According - According to his desert, I will give answer, but in just judgment.

5. Take - That I may lay open what is in their heart, and discover their hypocrisy, and impiety. Through their idols - It is always through some idol or other, that the hearts of men are estranged from God: some creature has gained that place in the heart, which belongs to none but God.

7. The stranger - Every proselyte. I the Lord - He shall find by the answer, 'twas not the prophet, but God that answered: so dreadful, searching, and astonishing shall my answer be.

8. A sign - Of divine vengeance.

9. The prophet - The false prophet, who speaks all serene, and quiet, in hope of reward. Have deceived - Permitted him to err, or justly left him in his blindness.

13. When - At what time soever.

14. Noah - Who 'tis probable prevailed with God to spare the world for some years, and saved his near relations when the flood came. Daniel - Who prevailed for the life of the wise men of Chaldea. Job - Who daily offered sacrifice for his children, and at last reconciled God to those that had offended.

17. That land - What land soever it be.

19. In blood - In death and destruction, not by the sword.

21. How much more - If they could not be able to keep off one of the four, how much less would they be able to keep off all four, when I commission them all to go at once.

22. Their way - Their sin and their punishment. Comforted - In this proof of the truth of God.

23. Comfort you - That is, you will be comforted, when you compare their case with your own: when they tell you how righteous God was, in bringing these judgments upon them. This will reconcile you to the justice of God, in thus punishing his own people, and to the goodness of God, who now appeared to have had kind intentions in all.

God by the similitude of a vine, foreshews the utter destruction of Jerusalem, ver. 1-8.

2. The vine-tree - Israel is here compared to a vine, which, when fruitless, is utterly unprofitable. This the prophet minds them of to humble them, and awaken them to fruitfulness. A branch - One branch of a tree in the forest is of more use than the whole vine- tree is, except for its fruit.

3. A pin - Will it afford even a pin to drive into a wall or post, on which you may safely fasten any weight.

4. For fuel - When for its barrenness it is cut down, it is fit only to burn.

6. Given - Doomed for food to the fire.

8. Because - They have been so perpetually trespassing, that it seems a continued act.

The mean beginning of the Jewish church and nation, ver. 1- 5. The many favours God bestowed upon them, ver. 6-14. Their treacherous and ungrateful requital, ver. 15-34. Terrible judgments threatened, ver. 35-43. An aggravation of their sin and of their punishment, ver. 44-59. A promise of mercy to a remnant, ver. 60-63

3. Jerusalem - The whole race of the Jews. Thy birth - Thy root whence thou didst spring. Thy father - Abraham, before God called him, (as his father and kindred) worshipped strange gods beyond the river, Josh. xxiv, 14. An Amorite - This comprehended all the rest of the cursed nations.

4. In the day - In the day I called Abraham to leave his idolatry. Salted - Salt was used to purge, dry, and strengthen the new-born child. Nor swaddled - So forlorn was the state of the Jews in their birth, without beauty, without strength, without friend.

5. To the loathing - In contempt of thee as unlovely and worthless; and in abhorrence of thee as loathsome to the beholder. This seems to have reference to the exposing of the male children of the Israelites in Egypt. And it is an apt illustration of the Natural State of all the children of men. In the day that we were born, we were shapen in iniquity: our understandings darkened, our minds alienated from the life of God: all polluted with sin, which rendered us loathsome in the eyes of God.

6. When I passed by - God here speaks after the manner of men. Live - This is such a command as sends forth a power to effect what is commanded; he gave that life: he spake, and it was done.

7. Thou art come - Thou wast adorned with the choicest blessings of Divine Providence. Thy breasts - Grown up and fashioned under God's own hand in order to be solemnly affianced to God.

8. When I passed - This second passing by, may be understood of God's visiting and calling them out of Egypt. Thy time - The time of thy misery was the time of love in me towards thee. I spread my skirt - Espoused thee, as Ruth iii, 9. Entered into a covenant - This was done at Mount Sinai, when the covenant between God and Israel was sealed and ratified. Those to whom God gives spiritual life, he takes into covenant with himself. By this covenant they become his, his subjects and servants; that speaks their duty: and at the same time his portion, his treasure; that speaks their privilege.

9. Washed - It was a very ancient custom among the eastern people, to purify virgins who were to be espoused. And I anointed - They were anointed that were to be married, as Ruth iii, 3.

10. Broidered - Rich and beautiful needle-work. Badgers skin - The eastern people had an art of curiously dressing and colouring the skins of those beasts, of which they made their neatest shoes, for the richest and greatest personages.

11. A chain - Of gold, in token of honour and authority.

14. My comeliness - "That is, thro' the beauty of their holiness, as they were a people devoted to God. This was it that put a lustre upon all their other honours, and was indeed the perfection of their beauty. Sanctified souls are truly beautiful in God's sight, and they themselves may take the comfort of it. But God must have all the glory for whatever comeliness they have, it is that which God has put upon them."

15. Playedst the harlot - Thou didst go a whoring after idols. Thy renown - Her renown abroad drew to her idolatrous strangers, who brought their idols with them. Pouredst out - Didst readily prostitute thyself to them; every stranger, who passed thro' thee, might find room for his idol, and idolatry. He it was - Thy person was at the command of every adulterer.

16. Thy garments - Those costly, royal robes, the very wedding clothes. High places - Where the idol was. With divers colours - With those beautiful clothes I put upon thee. The like things - As there was none before her that had done thus, so shall there be none to follow her in these things.

17. Images - Statues, molten and graven images. Commit whoredom - Idolatry, spiritual adultery. And possibly here is an allusion to the rites of Adonis, or the images of Priapus.

18. Coveredst - Didst clothe the images thou hadst made. Set mine oil - In lamps to burn before them.

19. For a sweet savour - To gain the favour of the idol. Thus it was - All which is undeniable.

20. And those - These very children of mine hast thou destroyed. Sacrificed - Not only consecrating them to be priests to dumb idols; but even burning them in sacrifice to Molech. Devoured - Consumed to ashes. Is this - Were thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou hast proceeded to this unnatural cruelty?

21. For them - For the idols.

24. In every street - Idol temples were in every street; both in Jerusalem and her cities.

25. At every head of the way - Not content with what was done in the city, she built her idol temples in the country, wherever it was likely passengers would come.

26. Great of flesh - Naturally of a big, make, and men of great stature.

30. How weak - Unstable, like water. An imperious woman - A woman, that knows no superior, nor will be neither guided nor governed.

31. Not as an harlot - Common harlots make gain of their looseness, and live by that gain; thou dost worse, thou lavishest out thy credit, wealth, and all, to maintain thine adulterers.

34. Contrary - Here we may see, what the nature of men is, when God leaves them to themselves: yea, tho' they have the greatest advantage, to be better, and to do better.

38. Blood - Thou gavest the blood of thy children to idols in sacrifice; I will give thee thine own blood to drink.

42. My jealousy - The jealousy whereto you have provoked me, will never cease, 'till these judgments have utterly destroyed you, as the anger of an abused husband ceases in the publick punishment of the adulteress. No more angry - I will no more concern myself about thee.

44. The mother - Old Jerusalem, when the seat of the Jebusites, or the land of Canaan, when full of the idolatrous, bloody, barbarous nations. Her daughter - Jerusalem, or the Jews who are more like those accursed nations in sin, than near them in place of abode.

45. Thou - The nation of the Jews. Thy mother's daughter - As much in thy inclinations, as for thy original. Loatheth - That was weary of the best husband.

46. Thine elder sister - The greater for power, riches, and numbers of people. Her daughters - The lesser cities of the kingdom of Israel. Thy left hand - Northward as you look toward the east. Thy younger sister - Which was smaller and less populous. Thy right hand - Southward from Jerusalem.

47. Not walked after their ways - For they, all things considered, were less sinners than thou. Nor done - Their doings were abominable, but thine have been worse.

49. This was - The fountain and occasion of all. Fulness of bread - Excess in eating and drinking. Strengthen - She refused to help strangers.

51. Hast justified - Not made them righteous, but declared them less unrighteous, than thou; of the two they are less faulty.

52. Hast judged - Condemned their apostacy, and hast judged their punishment just.

53. When - Sodom and Samaria never were restored to that state they had been in; nor were the two tribes ever made so rich, mighty, and renowned, though God brought some of them out of Babylon: the words confirm an irrecoverably low, and despised state, of the Jews in their temporals. Then - Then, not before.

54. A comfort - Encouraging sinners like those of Sodom and Samaria.

56. Not mentioned - The sins of Sodom, and her plagues, were not minded or mentioned by thee.

57. Before - The time of her pride was, when they were not yet afflicted, and despised by the Syrians. And all - The nations that were round about and combined in league against the house of David. Her - Syria, the chief whereof were the Philistines.

58. Thy lewdness - The punishment thereof.

59. In breaking the covenant - So will I break my covenant with thee.

60. Nevertheless - The Lord having denounced a perpetual punishment to the impenitent body of the Jewish nation, doth now promise to the remnant, that they shall be remembered, and obtain covenanted mercy. My covenant - In which I promised I would not utterly cut off the seed of Israel, nor fail to send the redeemer, who should turn away iniquity from Jacob. With thee - In the loins of Abraham, and solemnly renewed after their coming out of Egypt, which is the time, called the days of thy youth, Isaiah xliv, 2. Establish - Confirm and ratify. It shall be sure, and unfailing. An everlasting covenant - Of long continuance, as to their condition in the land of Canaan, and in what is spiritual, it shall be absolutely everlasting.

61. Then - When that new covenant shall take effect. Receive - Admit into church-communion, the Gentiles, now strangers, but then sisters. Thine elder - Those that are greater and mightier than thou; that by their power, wealth and honour are as much above thee as the elder children are above the younger. Thy younger - Thy lesser or meaner sister. For daughters - As daughters hearken to, and obey, so shall the Gentiles brought into the church, hearken to the word of God, which sounded out from Jerusalem. But not - Not by that old covenant which was violated; nor by external ceremonies, which were a great part of the first covenant, but by that covenant which writes the law in the heart, and puts the fear of God into the inward parts.

63. Open thy mouth - Neither to justify thyself, or to condemn others, or to quarrel with thy God. Because of thy shame - Such a confusion for thy sin will cover thee. Indeed the more we feel of God's love, the more ashamed we are that ever we offended him. And the more our shame for sin is increased, the more will our comfort in God be increased also.

The parable of two eagles and a vine, ver. 1-10. The application of it, ver. 11-21. A promise to raise the house of David again, ver. 22-24.

2. A riddle - A dark saying. The house of Israel - The remainders of the house of Israel, whether of the ten, or of the two tribes.

3. A great eagle - Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is compared to a great eagle, the king of birds, swift, strong, rapacious. Great wings - Mighty provinces on each side of his kingdom. Long winged - His kingdom was widely extended. Full of feathers - And full of people. Divers colours - Who were of divert nations, languages and manners. Lebanon - Jerusalem the chief city of the country where this great, fruitful and pleasant hill was. And took - Took, captive and carried away with him the king of Judah, Jehoiachin. The cedar - The nation.

4. The top - Both the king of Judah, now eighteen years old, and the nobles and chief of the land. Into a land - Babylon, which was a city of mighty trade.

5. The seed - Mattaniah, whom he called Zedekiah. Planted - Settled him on the throne of Judah. As a willow - The prophet compares this new made king to a willow, which grows no where so well as near great waters.

6. Of low stature - They grew and flourish, while they owned their state tributary to Babylon. Toward him - Nebuchadnezzar as their protector, and sovereign Lord. The roots - All the firmness, fruitfulness, and life of this state, was in subjection to him.

7. Another - The king of Egypt. This vine - Zedekiah, his nobles and people. Did bend - Sought his friendship. Shot forth - Sent ambassadors, and trusted to the power of Egypt. Water it - That they might add to their greatness, as trees grow by seasonable watering them. By the furrows - Alluding to the manner of watering used in Egypt, by furrows or trenches to convey the water from the river Nile.

8. Was planted - By Nebuchadnezzar, in a very hopeful condition, where it might have been fruitful, and flourished.

9. Say - Tell them what will be the issue of all this, and tell it to them in my name. It prosper - Shall Zedekiah and his people thrive by this? Pull up - Utterly overthrow this kingdom. Cut Off - Put to the sword the children of Zedekiah, and of the nobles. The leaves - All the promising hope they had shall vanish. Without great power - The king of Babylon shall do this easily, when it is God that sends him. For God needs not great power and many people, to effect his purposes. He can without any difficulty overturn a sinful king and kingdom, and make no more of it than we do of rooting up a tree that cumbers the ground.

10. Yea - Suppose this vine were planted by the help of Egypt. The east wind - When the king of Babylon, who like the blasting wind comes from the northeast, shall but touch it, it shall wither. In the furrows - Even amidst its greatest helps, to make it flourish.

15. He - Zedekiah. Shall he break - Can perjury be the way for deliverance?

18. Given his hand - Solemnly confirming the oath.

20. Plead - I will punish him.

21. All - Not strictly, but the greatest part.

22. The highest branch - Of the royal seed; of the highest branch that is heir to the throne; namely, the Messiah. An high mountain - Upon Mount Zion. Eminent - Not for outward splendour, but for spiritual advantages.

23. In the mountain - In Jerusalem. All fowl - All nations. In the shadow - There they shall find peace and safety.

24. The trees - The great ones on earth. The high tree - The kingdom of Babylon, which was brought low indeed, when overthrown by Darius and Cyrus.

God reproves a corrupt proverb, ver. 1-4. It shall be well with the righteous, ver. 5-9. but ill with the wicked man, tho' he had a good father, ver. 10-13. It shall be well with a good man, tho' he had a wicked father, ver. 14-18. Therefore God is righteous, ver. 19-20. It shall be well with penitents, but ill with apostates, ver. 21-29. An exhortation to repentance, ver. 30-32.

2. The land of Israel - The two tribes, not the ten. The fathers - Our fore-fathers. Have eaten - Have sinned. The childrens - We their children, who were unborn, suffer for their sins.

4. Behold - There can be no colour of partial judgment in the proceedings of God, who is equally God to all. All souls - All persons. The soul - The person, whether father or son, shall die, shall bear his own punishment.

6. Hath not eaten - Hath not committed idolatry, offering sacrifice, and eating of the things sacrificed to idols; whose temples and altars were on mountains, chap. 20. & 28. Hosea iv, 13.

8. Increase - Illegal interest. Iniquity - Injustice of every kind.

9. Shall live - Shall be delivered from famine, pestilence, and sword, and shall see good days.

13. His blood - Hebrew. 'Tis plural, bloods; both the blood of the innocent which he murdered, and his own blood which thereby he forfeited; the blood of his own soul and life: that is the whole blame of his misery in time and eternity, shall lie upon himself.

17. Hath taken off - Withdrawn his hand from hurting or wronging the poor, tho' he had power to do it securely.

20. Shall not bear - This is a most unquestionable truth; and tho' perhaps it may seem otherwise in some cases, yet could we see perfectly the connection between persons and persons; could we see the connection of sins and sins, and how easily, secretly, and undiscerned men become guilty of the same sins, we should see father and son, though perhaps one of them might not do the evil, both guilty, and neither punished for the sin farther than if it was his own: nor do the scriptures, Exod. xx, 5 Deut. xxviii, 18, doom persons to punishment for sins from which they are wholly free; but if children shall follow their fathers in sin, then if they die for those sins, 'tis because these are their own, not as they are their fathers. The righteousness - It shall be well with the righteous, for he shall eat the fruit of his doing, he shall be rewarded as a righteous one. The wickedness - The reward of wickedness. "The son shall not die, not die eternally, for the iniquity of the father, if he do not tread in the steps of it: nor the father for the iniquity of the son, if he do all he can to prevent it.

22. Not mentioned - Not to him.

25. The way - His whole management of affairs. Not equal - Not right, or consistent with his own declaration, and law.

28. He shall surely live - "That is, he shall be restored to the favour of God, which is the life of the soul."

31. Make you a new heart - Suffer me to do it in you.

32. I have no pleasure - Sinners displease God when they undo themselves; they please him when they return.