the Lots were promiscuously put together and out of which they were severally taken to Jehojaâ—…ib the second to Jedajah 8 The third to Harim the fourth to Seorim 9 The fifth to Malchijah the sixth to Mijamin 10 The seventh to Hakkoz the eighth to * Neh. 12. 4 17 Luke â—… 5. Abijah 11 The ninth to Jeshua the tenth to Shecaniah 12 The eleventh to Eliasâ—…ib the twelfth to Jakim 13 The thirteenth to Huppah the fourteenth to Jeshebeab 14 The fifteenth to Bilgah the sixteenth to Immer 15 The seventeenth to Hezir the eighteenth to Aphses 16 The nineteenth to Pethahiah the twentieth to Jehezekel 17 The one and twentieth to Jachin the two and twentieth to Gamul 18 The three and twentieth to Delajah the four and twentieth to Maaziah 19 These were the orderings of them in their service h In this Order and Method they were to come to perform the Offices of the Temple i. e. To come into the Temple every Sabbathday and to continue there all the Week long until the next Sabbath when they were relieved by others as the Manner was See 2 King 11. 5. 1 Chron. 9. 25. to come into the house of the LORD according to their manner i under Aaron their father k i. e. Under the Inspection and Direction of the High-priest whom he calls Aaron because he represented his Person and executed his Office and also came out of his Loyns and their father because of the Authority which by Gods Appointment he had over them and that Love Reverence and Obedience which they owed to him as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him 20 And the rest of the sons of Levi l Either such as were onely Levites and not Priests or rather such as were not named or numbred before in this or the former Chapter were these Of the sons of Amram * Ch. 23. 16 Shebâ—…el Shubael of the sons of Shubael Jehdejah m Who being as it seems an Eminent Person or having a very numerous Family was not reckoned with or under his Fathers Family but was accounted as a distinct Head of another Family 21 Concerning Rehabiah n The Son of Eliezer ch 23. 17. of the sons of Rehabiah the first o By Birth or Place was Jeshiah 22 Of the Izharite * Ch. 23. 18. Shelomith Shelomoth p Called also Shelomith ch 23. 18. of the sons of Shelomoth Jahath 23 And the sons of * Ch. 23. 19. 26. 31. Hebron Jeriah the first q Which word is fitly supplied both out of the rest of this verse the second third and fourth having a manifest reference to the first and out of 1 Chron. 23. 19. 26. 31. where it is expressed Amariah the second Jahaziel the third Jekameam the fourth 24 Of the sons of Uzziel Michah of the sons of Michah Shamir 25 The brother of Michah was Isshiah of the sons of Isshiah Zechariah 26 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi the sons of Jaaziah r The Son either of Mahli or rather of Mushi last named for Mahli's Posterity comes v. 28. Beno 27 The sons of Merari by Jaaziah Beno s Whose Name is here repeated with his Brethren because he was the First-born and Head of the rest who were all reckoned with and under his Family as if they had been Branches of it and Shoham and Zaccur and Ibri 28 Of Mahli came Eleazar * Ch 23. 22. who had no sons 29 Concerning Kish t Another of Mahli's Sons as appears from 1 Chron. 23. 21. the son of Kish was Jerahmeel 30 The sons also of Mushi Mahli and Eder and Jerimoth These were the sons of the Levites after the house of their fathers 31 These likewise cast lots over against their brethren the sons of Aaron u i. e. Answerable for Number and Order to those of the Priests so as there should be a several course of the Levites for each course of the Priests This is expressed concerning the Singers ch 25. and the like is implied concerning the Porters ch 26. and is here sufficiently intimated concerning those Levites which were employed in other Sacred Ministrations in the presence of David the king and Zadok and Ahimelech and the chief of the fathers of the priests and Levites even the principal fathers over against their younger brethren x The Lots of the Elder and Younger Brethren were promiscuously put together and the order was settled as the Lots came forth without any regard to the Age or Dignity or Number of the Persons or Families the youngest Family having the first Course if they had the first Lot c. CHAP. XXV 1 MOreover David and the captains of the host a Both of the Civil and Sacred Host to wit all the Princes of Israel with the Priests and the Levites whom David gathered together ch 23. 2. for this very end that in their Presence and with their Approbation and Consent all these things might be established who are here fitly called the Captains of the Host for the Princes were under David the Chief Captains or Commanders of the Militia or Trained Bands of the Kingdom and as the Levites are called an Host and the Lords Host Numb 4. 23. and elsewhere because of their Number and Order in Holy Ministrations so these Priests and Levites were the Captains and Governours of the rest separated b i. e. Distributed them into their several Ranks and Orders Which though chiefly done by David as a Prophet and by Divine Direction as hath been oft observed yet is here imputed in part to the Captains of the Host because it was done with their Concurrence and Approbation to the service of the sons of * Ch. 6. 33 39. 2 Chr. 29. 30. Asaph and of * ver 5. Heman and of * 2 Chr 35. 15. Jeduthun c i. e. To the Service of God under the Conduct and Command of these Persons who should prophecy d i. e. Praise God by singing the Psalms of David of which see on ch 16. 7. and other sacred Songs made by themselves who were Prophets in some sort or by other Prophets or Holy Men of God Or this Action of theirs is called prophecying because it had been formerly performed by the Prophets and the Sons of the Prophets of which see 1 Sam. 10. 5. 19. 20. 2 King 3. 15. 1 Chron. 15. 19. with harps with psalteries and with cymbals and the number of the workmen e Of the Persons employed in this Sacred Work according to their service was 2 Of the sons of Asaph Zaccur and Joseph and Nethaniah and ‖ Otherwise called Iesharelah ver 14. Asarelah the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph f i. e. Under his Oversight and Direction which prophesied †Heb. by the hands of the king according to the order of the king g In such Manner and Order as David appointed 3 Of
that which they bring in and it shall be * See Lev. 25 21. twice as much as they gather daily 6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel at even then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you l And not we by our own Authority or Counsel as you suggest ver 3. out from the land of Egypt 7 And in the morning then ye shall see the glory of the LORD m Either this glorious work of God in giving Manna Or rather the glorious appearance of God in the Cloud as is evident from ver 10. for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD And what are we that ye murmure against us 8 And Moses said This shall be when the LORD shall give you in the everning flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the full for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmure against him and what are we your murmurings are not against us but * See Luk. 10. 16. Rom. 13. 2. against the LORD 9 And Moses spake unto Aaron say unto all the Congregation of the children of Israel come near before the LORD n Either before the cloudy pillar where God was especially present or in the place of Gods Worship For though the great Tabernacle was not yet built yet it seems from Exod. 33. 7. there was a little Tabernacle For as the solemn and publick and Sabbath worship was among them before the Tabernacle was built So it was necessary there should be some place where they did assemble together and perform that worship which was proper to those times and there God was supposed to be present in a peculiar manner for he hath heard your murmurings 10 And it came to pass as Aaron spake unto the whole Congregation of the children of Israel that they looked toward the wilderness and behold the glory of the LORD o An extraordinary brightness suddenly appearing in the pillar of Cloud See Levit. 9. 6 23. * chap. 13. 21. appeared in the cloud 11 And the LORD spake p Or had spoken to wit before by comparing this with verse 7. unto Moses saying 12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel speak unto them saying At even ye shall eat flesh and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread q God chuseth the proper time for each kind of provision the evening for the quails which being brought from remote parts by their days flight about evening came thither and the morning for Manna which usually falls at that time and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God 13 And it came to pass that at even * Num. 11. 31. Psal. 105. 40. the quails came up and covered the camp and in the morning the dew lay r Heb. there was a bed of dew wherewith the Manna was covered ver 14. To this the hidden manna Revel 2. 17. alludes round about the host 14 And when * Num. 11. 7. Psal. 78. 24. and 105. 40. Wisd. 16. 20. the dew that lay was gone up s To wit into the Air or was vanished as the word ascend is used Ier. 48. 15. behold upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing as small as the hoar frost upon the ground 15 And when the children of Israel saw it they said one to another ‖ Or what is this or it is a portion it is Manna t Or what is this which best suits with the following reason for they wisâ—… not what it was Man signifies what in the Egyptian Tongue and it is not strange that the Israelites use one of their words being newly come out of their Land Hence this is called Manna but it is of a different nature from the ordinary Manna which now we use onely as physick for purging whereas this Manna was food and nourishing being prepared by the great God for this use for they wist not what it was And Moses said unto them * â—…oh 6. 31. 1 Cor. 10. 3. This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat 16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded gather of it every man according to his eating u i. e. As much as is sufficient for his eating an Omer x Which contains the tenth part of an Ephah and therefore was a very liberal allowance and such as might abundantly suffice a man of greatest strength and stomach It might seem too much but it must be remembred that it was a very light meat and easie of digestion nor was every one obliged to eat up his whole portion as we shall see †Heb. by the poll or head for every man according to the number of your †Heb. souls persons take ye every man for them which are in his tents 17 And the children of Israel did so and gathered some more some less y Either 1. According as their Families were more or less numerous Or rather 2. As the gatherers were more or less strong and active in gathering it 18 And when they did mete it with an Omer he that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no lack z All that was gathered by the members of one Family was put into an heap and then distributed to each person an Omer neither more nor less To which St. Paul alludes 2 Cor. 8. 13 c. they gathered every man according to his eating 19 And Moses said Let no man leave of it till the morning a viz. For the provision of the next day as distrusting Gods care and goodness in giving them more Not that every one was bound to eat all of it which certainly many of their stomachs could not bear but that they were to dissolve it or burn it as they did the remains of some sacrifices Exod. 12. 10. and 29. 34. or consume it some other way 20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses but some of them left of it b Either distrusting Gods providence for their future provisions Or out of curiosity to learn the nature of this Manna and what they might do when occasion required until the morning and it bred worms and stank c Not so much from its own nature which was pure and durable as from Gods judgement and Moses was worth with them 21 And they gathered it every morning every man according to his eating and when the sun waxed hot it melted d To wit as much of it as was left upon the ground This was not from its own nature which was so solid that it could indure the fire and was bruised by a pestel but from Gods wise providence partly that it might not be corrupted or trodden under foot or otherwise abused and so despised partly that it might not remain there to tempt any of them to gather more of it than they should and partly that all their stock of
that conspiracy it is added ver 18. And a fire was kindled in their company the flame burnt up the wicked As for Num. 26. 10. which seems to oppose this opinion we shall see more on that place if God permit and all their goods 33 They and all that appertained to them went down alive into †Heb. Hâ—…ll the pit r i. e. Into the earth which first opened it self to receive them and then shut it self to destroy them and transmit them to further punishments and the earth closed upon them and they perished from among the congregation 34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them for they said Lest the earth swallow up us also 35 And there came out a fire from the LORD s i. e. From the cloud wherein the glory of the Lord appeared ver 19. to give sentence in this cause and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense 36 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 37 Speak unto Eleazar t Rather than to Aaron partly because the troublesome part of the work was more proper for him and partly least Aaron should be polluted by going amongst those dead carcases for it is probable this fire consumed them as lightning sometimes doth others by taking away their lives and leaving their bodies dead upon the place the son of Aaron the priest that he take up the censers out of the burning u i. e. From among the dead bodies of those men who were burnt Burning put for those who are burnt as captivity for the captives Numb 21. 1. and poverty for the poor 2 King 24. 14. and scatter thou the fire x i. e. The cinders or ashes which are left in or near their censers yonder y i. e. Far from the altar and sanctuary into an unclean place where the ashes were wont to be â—…ast by which God shews his rejection of their services for they are hallowed z Either 1. by Gods appointment because they were presented before the Lord by his express order ver 16 17. Or 2. by Goâ—… jâ—…st judgment because they together with the persons that used them were accursed and devoted by God and therefore were the Lords and to be imployed in any profane or common use as appears from Lev. 27. 28. But the first reason is the chief and is rendred by God himself ver 38. 38 The censers of these sinners against their own souls a i. e. Their own lives who were the authors of their own death and destruction Compare 1 King 2. 23. Prov. 20. 2. This he saith for the vindication of Gods justice and his own ministry in this severe dispensation let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar b To wit of burnt-offerings which was made of wood but covered with brass before this time Exod. 27. 1 2. to which this other covering was added for further ornament and security against the fire which was continually burning upon it for they offered them before the LORD therefore they are hallowed and they shall be a sign c A monument or warning to all strangers to take heed of invading the Priesthood as it follows ver 40. unto the children of Israel 39 And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers wherewith they that were burnt had offered and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar 40 To be a memorial unto the children of Israel that no stranger which is not of the seed of Aaron come near to offer incense before the LORD that he be not as Korah and as his company d i. e. That he do not imitate them in their sin and therefore bring upon himself the same plague as the LORD said to him e i. e. To Eleazar These words belong to ver 38. the meaning is that Eleazar did as God bad him by the hand of Moses 41 But on the morrow f Prodigious wickedness and madness so soon to forget such a terrible instance of divine vengeance all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron saying ye have killed g You who should have preserved them and interceded for them have pulled down Gods wrath upon them for the maintenance of your own authority and interest the people of the LORD h So they call those wicked wretches and rebels against God which shews the power of passion and prejudice to corrupt mens judgments 42 And it came to pass when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron that they i i. e. Moses and Aaron who in all their distresses made God their refuge looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation and behold the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared 43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation k To hear what God who now appeared would say to him 44 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 45 Get ye up from among this congregation that I may consume them as in a moment and they fell upon their faces l To beg pardon and mercy for the people as they oft did thus rendring good to them for evil which the people required with evil for their kindness 46 And Moses said unto Aaron Take a censer and put fire therein from off the altar and put on incense m Which was a sign of intercession Psal. 141. 2. and was to be accompanied with it Luk. 1. 9 10. and go quickly unto the congregation n With the incense to stir up the people to repentance and prayer to prevent their utter ruine This he might do upon this extraordinary occasion having Gods command for his warrant though ordinarily incense was to be offered onely in the Tabernacle and make an atonement for them for there is wrath gone out from the LORD the plague is begun o In cutting off the people by a sudden and miraculous stroke 47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded and ran into the midst of the congregation p Hazarding his own life to obey God and to do this wicked people good and behold the plague was begun amongst the people and he put on incense and made an atonement for the people 48 And he stood between the dead and the living q Whereby it may seem that this plague like that fire Numb 11. 1. began in the uttermost parts of the congregation and so proceeded destroying one after another in an orderly manner which gave Aaron occasion and direction so to place himself as a Mediatour to God on their behalf and the plague was stayed 49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred beside them that died about the matter of Korah 50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and the plague was stayed CHAP. XVII 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses
the same power seems to have been continued and some kind of League made between the King of Babylon and Manasseh who thereupon was restored to his Kingdom 2 Chron 33. 13. and after him Iosiah who therefore was so zealous in his quarrel against the King oâ—… Egypt 2 Chron. 35. 20 c. Or Fourthly He did it in purseance of God's prediction concerning this action 1 King 13. 2. which in a matter so good and so agreeable to God's wiâ—… and word as the extirpation of Idolatry unquestionably was had the force of a warrant or command upon him to do it as God's prediction of the Conversion of the Gentiles by the Messias was a command to his Apostles to Preach to them Act. 13. 47. and the high place * 1 〈◊〉 which Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin had made both that altar and the high place z Which seems to have been some little Temple or House erected for that Worship or for the Priests attending upon it he brake down and burnt the high place and stampt it small to powder and burnt the grove 16 And as Josiah turned himself a Iosiah's care and zeal was so great that he would not trust his Officers with these things but would see them done with his own Eyes he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount and sent and took the bones out of the sepulchres and burnt them upon the altar and polluted it according to the * 1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed who proclaimed these words b 300 years before it was done 17 Then he said What title is that that I see c It was the manner then as now it is to set up little Pillars or Stones by or upon the Graves of the higher sort of Men upon which the name of the Person and some Remarkable passages relating to him were Engraven And the men of the city told him It is the sepulchre of * 〈◊〉 13. the man of God which came from Judah and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el 18 And he said Let him alone let no man move his bones so they let his bones ‡ 〈◊〉 escape alone with the bones of * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 13. the prophet that came d Which were now mixed together out of Saâ—…aria e The place of his Birth or former abode though now he were in Bethel 1 Sam. 13. 11. 19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria f By what Authority he did this see on ver 15. which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger Josiah took away and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el 20 And he ‖ 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 11. 18. slew all the priests of the high places g Either 1. The Priests which Ieroboam had made of the meanest of the People whom he â—…ew both for their Preâ—… Usurpation of that Sacred Office which of it self â—…as Punishable with Death by God's Law 〈◊〉 3. 10. and for their Idolatry Or rather 2. The Priests of Baalim by comparing this Verse with the former where speaking of these same High Places he â—…oth not say which Ieroboam made as is usual when he speaks of the High Places of the Calves but which the other kings of Israel made who were divers of them Worshippers of Baal and by considering the Parallel place 2 Chron. 34. 4. where it is said they brake down the altars of Baalim c. By this Relation it appears and from the nature of the thing and common practise in like cases it is more than probable that after the departure of the King of Assyria divers of the Israelites who had retired to other parts and kept themselves out of the Conquerors hands returned together with their Priests to their own Land and to their old trade of Worshipping Idols to whom peradventure they ascribed this their Deliverance from that Judgment which Iehovah had brought upon them that were there upon the altars h According to that Famous Prophecy 1 King 13. 1 2. and burnt mens bones upon them and returned to Jerusalem 21 ¶ And the king commanded all the people saying * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Keep the passover i Having abolished False Worship he now endeavours to set up the True Worship of the True God unto the LORD your God * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is written in this book of the covenant k In this Book which I have found wherein is contained the Covenant made between God and Israel and the terms of it 22 Surely there was not holden such a passover l i. e. Celebrated with such Solemn care and great Preparation and numerous Sacrifices 2 Chron. 35. 7 8 9. and universal Joy of all good men which was much the greater because of their remembrance of the former wicked and miserable times under Manasseh and Amon and the good hopes they now had of the happy Establishment of their Nation and the True Religion and of the prevention of God's Judgments denounced against them from the days of the judges m Or from the days of Samuel the last of the Judges as it is expressed 2 Chron. 35. 18. None of the Kings had taken such care to prepare themselves the Priests and People and accurately to observe all the Rites and diligently to purge out all uncleanness and to renew their Covenant with God so solemnly as Iosiah now did that judged Israel nor in all the days of the kings of Israel nor of the kings of Judah 23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem 24 ¶ Moreover the workers with familiar spirits and the wizards n Of which see on Levit. 19. 31. and 20. 27. Numb 22. 5. Deut. 18. 11. and the ‖ 〈◊〉 images and the idols and all the abominations o Three words noting the same thing to shew That all the Instruments and Monuments of Idolatry were Destroyed as God had Commanded that were spied p i. e. All that were discovered not onely such as were in the place and state of Worship but such as their Priests or Zealotâ—… had removed and indeavoured to hide and secure in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem did Josiah put away that he might perform the words of * 〈◊〉 â—…0 27. 〈◊〉 18. 11. the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD 25 And * Chap. 18. â—… like unto him was there no king before him q To wit for his diligent Study in God's Law and 〈◊〉 exact Care and unwearied Industry and fervent Zeal in rooting out of Idolaters and all kinds and appearances of Idolatry not onely
us in the mitigation of thy Judgments and hast given us such deliverances as this m So full so sudden and unexpected and amazing not onely to our enemies but also to our selves 14 Should we again break thy commandments n Was this a fit and just requital of all thy kindnesses or was this thy end and design in these actions or wilst thou take this well from our hands and joyn in affinity with the people of these abominations I wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us so that there should be no remnant nor escaping o Can we reasonably expect any thing from thee less than utter ruine 15 O LORD God of Israel thou art righteous p A just and holy God who dost hate and wilst infallibly punish sin and sinners Or thou art merciful as appears from hence that notwithstanding all our sins thou hast not utterly destroyed us but left a remnant of us The Hebrew word here rendred righteous is oft used for merciful as is well known to all the learned for we remain yet escaped q Or though we remain c. i. e. Though thou hast yet spared us in part yet thou art righteous and therefore wilt certainly punish and destroy us according to our deserts if we do not repent of and reform this great wickedness as it is this day behold we are before thee in our trespasses r We are here in thy presence and so are all our sins we are arraigning our selves before thy Tribunal acknowledging our selves to be vile offenders and thee to be just if thou destroy us for we cannot stand before thee s To wit in Judgment as that word is oft used as Psal. 130. 3. Compare Psal. 1. 5. we must needs fall and perish at thy presence as the phrase is Psal. 9. 3. because of this t Because of this our great guilt and the aggravations of it CHAP. X. 1 NOw when Ezra had prayed and when he had confessed weeping and casting himself down before the house of God there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children a Awakened by the words and example of this holy Priest and great Potentate So inexpressible is the good which is done by the good example and the evil which is done by the bad example of a great Person or of a Minister The fame of his great passion of grief and of his many and publick expressions thereof in the Court before the Temple being in an instant dispersed over all the City brought a great company together for the people †〈…〉 wept very sore b Being greatly affected with Ezra's prayer and with the common sin 2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel one of the sons of Elam answered and said unto Ezra We have trespassed c He saith we either 1. Because he was guilty in this matter Or rather 2. In the name of the people and their several Families and his own amongst the rest For this mans name is not in the following Catalogue but there we have his Father Iehiel and his Fathers Brethren five other Sons of his Grandfather Elam v. 26. It was therefore an evidence of his great Courage and good Conscience that he durst so freely and fully discharge his duty whereby he shewed that he honoured God more than his nearest and dearest Relations against our God and have taken d To wit into conjugal society with our selves strange wives of the people of the land yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing e In case of our repentance and reformation Therefore let us not sorrow like persons without hope nor sit down in despair but let us fall upon action and amend our errours and then trust to Gods mercy 3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to put away all the wives f Which though it may seem harsh yet is not unjust if it be considered 1. That Marriages made between some prohibited Persons as suppose between a Father and his Daughter a Brother and a Sister are not only unlawful but void Marriages and ipso facto null by the political laws of civil Nations And therefore these Marriages with Idolatrous and Heathen Women being expresly and severely forbidden by God might well be disannulled And it was one of good Theodosius his laws that those actions which were done against law should be accounted not only unlawful but null 2. That there were many peculiar laws given to the Jews concerning the Marrying and putting away of Wives as hath been observed before in their proper places and therefore it is not strange if there be something more in this case then is now usual with us 3. Supposing the matrimonial tye had continued yet they might be excluded from co-habitation with them as a just punishment upon them for the willful breach of a known and positive law of God and such as are born of them g This may seem harder than the former but many things may be said 1. Whatsoever evil befall either them or their Children they had all reason to accept it as the just and deserved fruit of their own sin 2. That Children may and sometimes do suffer at least temporal evils for their Parents sins or upon occasion of them is most evident both by the Scripture instances and by the laws and usages of Nations in some cases 3. This may seem to have been a necessary part of severity partly as a proper punishment of the Parents sin herein and to deter others more effectually from the like practices partly to prevent the corruption of their other Children by the conversation and society of this ungodly and Idolatrous brood and partly lest such Children being continually present with them and stealing into their affections might at last prevail with them to take their ejected Wives again 4. These Children were only cast out of the Families and Commonwealth of Israel but were not utterly forsaken and ruined but due care was probably taken by Authority that they should have some provision made for them some care taken about their Education in the Jewish Religion c. according to the counsel of my lord h Either 1. As thou counsellest and desirest us to do Or 2. Let us do it in such manner as thou shalt think fit and agreeable to the Law as it follows for it requires great caution as being a matter of no small difficulty and of those that tremble at the * 〈◊〉 â—… 2 3. commandment of our God i And of other serious and religious persons who may with thee consider and regulate the business and let it be done according to the law k This is meant either 1. Of the matter of the business let that be done which the Law requires let them be put away Or 2. Of the manner of it which must be
and exchange the sheep or the sheep by the contemplation of the diverse coloured ones should bring forth others like to them and Jacob fed the rest of Labans flocks 37 And Jacob took him rods h By divine appointment as will appear in the sequel which is sufficient for Iacobs justification of green poplar and of the hasel and chesnut-tree i Either because these trees were next at hand or because he saw these in the divine vision afterwards mentioned and would exactly follow his pattern and pilled white strakes in them and made the white appear ‖ By pilling off the rind which covered it which was in the rods 38 And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink that they should conceive when they came to drink k When by their refreshment and meeting together they were most likely to generate and conceive 39 And the flocks conceived l Heb. were heated i. e inflamed or excited and disposed to conceive and this in a more than ordinary manner by the divine disposal before the rods and brought forth cattle ring-straked speckled and spotted m This hath some foundation in nature because of the great power of imagination and there are divers instances in many authors both of Women and of Beasts who either by the strong fancying or by the actual and frequent contemplation of some certain objects have brought forth young ones exactly â—…f the same colour and complexion as one did an Ethiopian c. But the Providence of God was the principal cause of this effect without which the productions of that kind would neither have been so many nor so certain This policy of Iacobs could scarcely be excused from deceit and injustice if it were not manifest that it was done by the direction and authority of the sovereign Lord of all estates Gen. 31. 9 11 c. who may take them from one and give them to another as it pleaseth him who also observed Labans injustice and gave to Iacob no more than he abundantly deserved from Laban 40 And Jacob did separate the lambs n Such as were ring-straked and brown from the white as it here follows and set the faces of the flocks toward the ring-straked and all the brown o He caused them to go foremost and the white to follow them that by the continued beholding of them in the time of their conjunction they might have their colour more imprinted upon their fancies and thereby convey it to their young ones in the flock of Laban and he put his own flock by themselves and put them not unto Labans cattle p Which he did upon the same reason lest the constant beholding of them should make them bring forth the like i. e. single coloured ones 41 And it came to pass whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive q It is known that the cattle in those parts did conceive and bring forth twice in a year at spring and in Autumn and it is supposed that the stronger here mentioned are such as joyned in the spring and the feeble they that joyned in Autumn that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters that they might conceive among the rods 42 But when the cattle were feeble he put them not in so the feebler were Labans and the stronger Jacobs 43 And the man increased exceedingly and had much cattle and maid-servants and men-servants and camels and asses CHAP. XXXI 1 AND he heard the words of Labans sons saying Jacob hath taken away all that was our fathers and of that which was of our fathers hath he gotten all this glory a These riches which are called glory Gen. 45. 13. Psal. 49. 16. Isa. 66. 12. compared with Isa. 60. 6. because their possessours use to glory in them and by them gain glory and esteem from others 2 And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban and behold it was not towards him †Heb. as yesterday and the day before as before b And this change of his countenance argued a change in his mind and presaged some evil intentions in him towards Iacob 3 And the LORD said unto Jacob Return unto the land of thy fathers and to thy kindred and I will be with thee 4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah c Rachel is first named here as also Ruth 4. 11. because she was his chief and by right his first and onely designed wife And therefore it is observable that in the enumeration of Iacobs Wives and Children Gen. 46. Leah is onely mentioned by her name ver 15. but Rachel is called Iacobs wife ver 19. by way of eminency and in a peculiar manner to the field d Where they might more freely discourse of their business and without fear or interruption unto his flocks 5 And said unto them I see your fathers countenance that it is not toward me as before but the God of my father hath been with me e Either 1. Hath blessed me hath stood constantly by me when your father hath failed and deceived me Oâ—… 2. Hath appeared unto me as ver 13. 6 And ye know that with all my power f Both of my mind and body as I would have done for my self as became a faithful servant to do I have served your father 7 And your father hath deceived me and changed my wages * Neh. 4. 12. ten times g i. e. Oft-times as that certain number is commonly used as Levit. 26. 26. Numb 14. 22. 1 Sam. 1. 8. Iob 19. 3. c. but God suffered him not to hurt me 8 If he said thus The speckled shall be thy wages then all the cattle * All is here as oft elsewhere put for the greater or the better part as appears from chap. 31. 1 8. Or for all that Iacob desired to be such bare speckled and if he said thus The ring-straked shall be thy hire h Hence it appears that Laban through envy and covetousness did break his agreement made with Iacob and altered it as he thought meet and that Iacob patiently yielded to all such changes then bare all the cattle ring-straked 9 Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father and given them to me 10 And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived that I lifted up mine eyes and saw in a dream and behold the ‖ Or he-goats rams which leaped upon the cattle were ring-straked speckled and grizled i Which were marked with spots like hail in colour and proportion as the word signifieth 11 And the Angel of God spake unto me in a dream saying Jacob and I said Here am I. 12 And he said Lift up now thine eyes and see all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ring-straked speckled and grizled for I have seen all that Laban doth
the matter 10 And he said Now also let it be according unto your words he with whom it is found shall be my servant and ye shall be blameless f Thus he moderates the conditions which they proposed exempting the innocent and exchanging the deserved and offered death of the nocent into slavery 11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground and opened every man his sack 12 And he searched and began at the eldest g To take off all their suspicion of his fraud and left at the youngest and the cup h He found doubtless the money there but he accused them not about that matter both because they had an answer ready to that charge from his own mouth chap. 43. 23. and because the greater crime the stealing of the cup which Ioseph so much prized and used might seem to extinguish the less or at least cause him to neglect it was found in Benjamins sack 13 Then they rent their clothes and laded every man his asse and returned to the City i Being afraid and ashamed to go to their father without Benjamin concerning whom they had received so severe a charge and made such solemn promises and imprecations 14 And Judah and his brethren came to Josephs house for he was yet there and they fell before him on the ground 15 And Joseph said unto them What deed is this that ye have done wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly ‖ Or make trial divine 16 And Judah k Who speaks in the cause as being one of the eldest and a person of most gravity and discretion and readiness of speech and most eminently concerned for his brother said What shall we say unto my Lord what shall we speak or how shall we clear our selves God hath found out the iniquity l viz. This iniquity of which it seems some of us are guilty and God hath discovered it Or iniquity may be put for iniquities whether we are guilty of this fact or not we are certainly guilty of many other sins for which God is now punishing us to whose providence we therefore willingly submit of thy servants behold we are my Lords servants both we and he also with whom the cup is found 17 And he said God forbid that I should do so but the man in whose hand the cup is found he shall be my servant and as for you get you up in peace unto your father 18 Then Judah came near unto him m Made a little nearer approach to him that he might present his humble petitiâ—… to him and said O my Lord let thy servant I pray thee speak a word in my Lords ears n In thy hearing For this phrase doth not necessarily imply that he whispered in his ears as appears from Numb 14. 28. Deut. 32. 44. Iudg. 17. 2. and let not thy anger burn against thy servant for thou art even as Pharaoh o As thou representest his person so thou art invested with his Majesty and Authority and therefore thy word is a law thou canst do with us what thou pleasest either spare or punish us and therefore we do justly deprecate thine anger and most humbly intreat thy favourable audience and princely compassion to us 19 My Lord asked his servants saying have ye a father or a brother 20 And we said unto ray Lord we have a father an old man and a child of his old age a little one p So they call him comparatively to themselves who were much elder and withal to signifie the reason why he came not with them because he was young and tender and unfit for such a journey and his brother is dead and he alone is left of his mother and his father loveth him 21 And thou saidest unto thy servants Bring him down unto me that I may set mine eyes upon him q i. e. See him with my own eyes and thereby be satisfied of the truth of what you say Compare Gen. 42. 15 16. Elsewhere this phrase signifies to shew favour to a person as Ier. 39. 12. and 40. 4. But though that was Iosephs intention as yet he was minded to conceal it from them 22 And we said unto my Lord The lad cannot leave his father for if he should leave his father his father would die 23 And thou saidest unto thy servants * Chap. 43. 3. except your youngest brother come down with you you shall see my face no more r Quest. Why would Ioseph expose his father to the hazard of his life in parting with his dear child Answ. Ioseph supposed that to be but a pretence and might fear lest his brethren had disposed of Benjamin as they did of him and therefore could not bring him forth And as for his father the experience which he had of his continuance in life and health after the supposed untimely death of Ioseph gave him good assurance that his parting with Benjamin for a season and that under the care and charge of his brethren was not likely to make any dangerous impression upon him 24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father we told him the words of my Lord. 25 And * Chap. 43. 2. our father said Go again and buy us a little food 26 And we said we cannot go down if our youngest brother be with us then will we go down for we may not see the mans face except our youngest brother be with us 27 And thy servant my father said unto us Ye know that my wife s He calleth her so by way of eminency as Gen. 46. 19. because she onely was his wife by design and choice whereas Leah was put upon him by fraud and might have been refused by him if he had so pleased and the other two were given to him by Rachel and Leah bare me two sons 28 And the one went out from me and I said * Chap. 37. 33. surely he is torn in pieces and I saw him not since 29 And if ye take this also from me and mischief befall him ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave 30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father and the lad be not with us seeing that his life is bound up in the lads life t The death of the Child which upon this occasion he will firmly believe will unavoidably procure his death also 31 It shall come to pass when he seeth that the lad is not with us that he will die and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave 32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father saying * Chap. 43. 9. If I bring him not unto thee then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever 33 Now therefore I pray thee let thy servant abide in stead of the lad u Partly in
compassion to our aged father and partly for thy own advantage because I can be more serviceable to thee than he because of my greater strength and experience a bondman to my Lord and let the lad go up with his brethren 34 For how shall I go up to my father and the lad be not with me lest peradventure I see the evil that shall †Heb. find my father come on my father CHAP. XLV 1 THen Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him and he cryed cause every man to go out from me a Remove all the Egyptians out of my presence and chamber Which he did partly that he might maintain the honour of his place and not make himself cheap and contemptible to the Egyptians by his excessive tears and passions and by his free and familiar and affectionate converse with his brethren and partly to preserve the reputation of his brethren by concealing their fault from the Egyptians and there stood no man with him while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren 2 And he †Heb. gave forth his voice iâ—… weeping wept aloud b His tears and voice which had been hitherto kept in by main force now breaking forth with greater violence and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard * Some who were near with their own ears and others by report 3 And Joseph said unto his brethren * Act. 7. 13. I am Joseph Doth my father yet live c He repeats his former question Gen. 43. 27. either because he questioned the truth of their former relation or would be further satisfied in it it being usual with men to ask over and over again what they long to know or because he now desired a more particular relation of his fathers condition and how he did bear up under all his calamities And his brethren could not answer him for they were ‖ Or terrified troubled at his presence ‖ From a sudden and deep sense of their horrid guile and their just fear of some dreadful punishment 4 And Joseph said unto his brethren Come near to me d Be not afraid of me but come nearer to me with chearfulness and confidence that you may be assured that I am he and that we may more freely and privately discourse together so as none others may hear It is probable that Ioseph sate in state and that they hitherto kept a due distance from him I pray you and they came near and he said I am Joseph your brother whom ye sold into Egypt e i. e. Sold unto them that brought me into Egypt and sold me there See Gen. 37. 28. and 39. 1. So they sold him into Egypt occasionally and eventually 5 Now therefore be not grieved f To wit immoderately and for the injury which you did to me or for the danger which you have brought upon your selves Otherwise he doth not disswade them from a godly sorrow for their offence against God for the procurement of which he designed and used that strange and rough carriage towards them †Heb. neither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be anger it 〈◊〉 eyes nor angry with your selves g Neither excessively torment your selves with the remembrance of the fact neither break forth into contentions and wrath and upbraidings of one another that ye sold me hither * Chap. 50. 20. Psal. 105. 16 17. for God did send me h God by his wise powerful and gracious Providence overruled your evil intentions to an happy end before you to preserve life i Not onely your lives for the expression is here indefinite and general but the lives of all the people in this and the neighbouring Countries Which though it doth not lessen your sin yet ought to qualifie your sorrow 6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land and yet there are five years in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest k Neither sowing nor reaping except in a few places near Nilus because the people could not spare seed-corn and would not lose it understanding from Joseph that their cost and labour would be lost and that the famine would be of long continuance 7 And God sent me before you to †Heb. to put for yoâ—… a remnant preserve you a posterity l That you and your Children might be sustained and preserved in this time of â—…amine and afterwards abundantly multiplied as God hath promised Or for a gâ—…at 〈◊〉 or escaping i. e. that you who are now but an handful escaping this danger may grow into a vast mulâ—…ude The word â—…on or escaping is here put for the persons that do escape as it is 2 Chron. 30. 6. Isa. 10. 20. and as captivity is oft put for the Captives as it is Numb 21. 1. Deut. 21. 10. And so what was said in the former clause is repeated in this with an emphatical addition in the earth and to save your live by a great deliverance m. 8 So now it was not you that sent me hither but God n That I came to this place and pitch of honour and power is not to be imputed to your design which was of another nature but to Gods over-ruling providence which ordered the circumstances of your action so as I should be brought to this place and state Compare Gen. 50. 20. and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh o To advise him and to provide for him as fathers do for their Children and to have the authority respect and power of a father with him and Lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt 9 Haste you and go up to my father and say unto him Thus saith thy son Joseph God hath made me lord of all Egypt come down unto me tarry not 10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen p A part of Egypt bordeâ—…ng upon Canaan well watered and fit for cattel and therefâ—…e most propâ—… for the Israelites not onely for present use and to keep them at some distance from the inward parts of Egypt and from the Court but also that they might have Canaan always in their eye and mind and in Gods time might with least disadvantage march thither Iâ—…seph promiseth this place either because it was least inhabited being in the borders of the Land or because he justly presumed upon the Kings favour and knew that the growing Famine would give him opportunity to dispose of the people as he pleased and thou shalt be near unto me thou and thy children and thy childrens câ—…ildren and thy flocks and thy herds and all that thou hast 11 And there will I nourish thee for yet there are five years of famine lest thou and thy houshold and all that thou hast come to poverty 12 And behold your eyes see and the eyes of my brother Benjamin that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you q Because I
did eat Manna fourty years * Josh. 5. 12. Neh. 9. 15. untill they came to a land inhabited they did eat Manna untill they came to the borders of the land of Canaan y This Moses might well write for though he did not go in to Canaan yet he came to the borders of Canaan And though he did not see the cessation of the Manna yet he sufficiently knew both from the nature of the thing and by revelation from God that it would forthwith cease upon their entrance into Canaan 〈◊〉 36 Now an Omer is the tenth part of an Ephah CHAP. XVII 1 AND all the Congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin after their journeys a By divers stations recorded Numb 33. 12 13. c. but here omitted because there was nothing extraordinary hapned in them according to the Commandment of the LORD b Expressed either by word of mouth or by the motion or rest of the cloudy pillar Exod. 13. 21. and pitched in Rephidim and there was no water for the people to drink 2 Wherefore the * Numb 20. 4. people did chide with Moses and said Give us water that we may drink And Moses said unto them Why chide you with me Wherefore do ye * Psal. 78. 41. 1 Cor. 10. 9. tempt the LORD c By distrusting Gods power and providence and faithfulness and goodness upon such a small occasion by refusing to submit to Gods will and to wait upon him by humble and servent prayers for relief and in stead thereof quarrelling with me as if it were my fault and murmuring against God under my name 3 And the people thirsted there for water and the people murmured against Moses and said Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst 4 And Moses cryed unto the LORD saying What shall I do unto this people they be almost ready to stone me 5 And the LORD said unto Moses Go on before the people and take with thee of the Elders of Israel d That they may be eye-witnesses of this glorious work and may report it to the people and thy rod wherewith * chap. 7. 20. thou smotest the river e Either the Red-sea for an arm of the Sea is sometimes called a river or the river Nilas take in thine hand and go 6 * Numb 20. â—… Psal. 78. 1â—… 105. 41. Wisd. 11. â—… Behold I will stand before thee there f In my cloudy pillar which shall stand over that place upon the rock in Horeb g Horeb and Sinai are sometimes spoken of as the same place and sometimes as two differing places as here compared with Exod. 19. 2. The learned write that this was one long mountain whereof there were two eminent parts or tops the one at a considerable distance from the other and Horeb was the first part of it and near Rephidim and Sinai the more remote to which they came afterwards and thou shalt smite the rock and there shall water come out of it And Moses did so h i. e. Smote the rock and the waters flowed out plentifully and continually making a river which God caused to follow them to their several Stations See 1 Cor. 10. 4. in the sight of the Elders of Israel 7 And he called the name of the place ‖ That is tentation Massah and ‖ That is chiding or strife Meribah because of the chiding of the children of Israel and because they tempted the LORD saying Is the LORD amongst us i Viz. To protect and provide for us according to his word given to us Will God be as good as his word or will he not for it is to us very doubtful or not 8 * Deut. 25. 17. 1 Sam. 15. 2. Wisd. 11. 4. Then k When they were upon their march from Rephidim to Horeb Deut. 25. 17 18. came Amalek and fought with Israel l The ground of the quarrel was the prosecution of the old hatred of Esau against Iacob and the revenging of themselves and their father upon the posterity of Iacob for which they thought this the fittest season they being now a great and potent people Numb 24. 20. and Israel now weak and unarmed and dispirited with long servitude in Rephidim 9 And Moses said unto * Called Iesus Act. 7. 45. Joshua Chuse us out men and go m Out of the camp to meet the enemy out fight with Amalek to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill n Both to observe thy carriage and success or defeat that I may govern my self accordingly and that I may in that retirement pour out my soul â—…to the Lord of hosts that he may give thee victory with * chap. 4. 20. the rod of God o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having done so great exploits formerly doubt noâ—… of the same divine assistance to accompany it and make thee victorious in mine hand 10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him and fought with Amalek and Moses Aaron and Hur p A person of eminency both for wisdom and experience and for place and authority supposed to be the husband of Miriam See Exod. 24. 14. went up to the top of the hill 11 And it came to pass when Moses held up his hand q With the rod of God in it This gesture though fervent prayer was doubtless joyned with it seems not to have been the gesture of one praying which is the lifting up of both hands but of an Ensign-bearer or of one ready to smite his enemies Howsoever this was onely a sign whereby Moses strengthned his faith and quickned his prayers and heightned the courage of the Souldiers below and protested that he expected victory not from the skill and prowess of his Army but from the assistance of God that Israel prevailed and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed r God so dispensing his favour that the honour of the day and victory might be wholly ascribed to the rod and power of God not to Israel 12 But Moses hands were heavy and they took a stone and put it under him and he sat thereon and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands s Not that both hands were erected and joyned together which was not a fit posture for one holding a rod in his hand but that Moses shifted the rod out of one hand into the other when the former was weary and that Aaron and Hur did each of them with both hands hold up that hand which was next to them successively that they also might relieve one the other the one on the one side and the other on the other side and his hands were steady untill the going down of the Sun 13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people t Either 1. The King of the Amalekites and his people or 2. the people
sacrifice of the feast of the Passeover beleft until the morning And in that 2 Chron. 35. 14. where there is mention of the fat it is manifestly restrained to the burnt-offerings which are there distinguished from the Passeover ver 11 12. 19 The first of the first-fruits k This seems to be a general rule extending to all the fruits which the earth first produced in every kind of which the very first are here enjoyned to be offered unto God before they should presume to eat any of them It may seem to be repeated here where the year of rest is mentioned to teach them the first-fruits were to be given to God of all that the earth produced not onely by their labour and seed as might be thought from ver 16. but also of its own accord as is here implyed of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God * Deut. 14. 21. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mothers milk l He names one kind under which he understands a lamb or a calf c. according to the use of Scripture-stile This law many understand literally and that it is forbidden to them because the Idolaters had such a custome whereof yet there seems to be no sufficient proof nor if there were doth it seem to be a rite of that importance or probability to entice the Israelites to imitate it that there needed a particular law against this more than against an hundred such ridiculous usages which were among the heathen and are not taken notice of in the book of Gods laws The words may be rendred thus Thou shalt not seethe or rost for the word bashal signifies to rost as well as to boyl as it is evident from Deut. 16. 7. a kid being or whilest it is which is to be understood there being nothing more common than an Ellipsis of the verb substantive in his mothers milk which it may be said to be either 1. whilest it sucks its mothers milk and so it may admit of a twofold interpretation 1. that this is to be understood of the Passeover of which most conceive he had now spoken v. 18. in which they used either a lamb or a kid Exod. 12. 5. and then the word bashal must be rendred rost 2. that this speaks not of sacrifice to God wherein sucking creatures were allowed Exod. 22. 30. Levit. 22. 27. 1 Sam. 7. 9. but of mans use and so God ordained this partly because this was unwholesome food and principally to restrain cruelty even towards brute-creatures and luxury in the use of them Or rather 2. whilest it is very tender and young rather of a milky than of a fleshy substance like that young kid of which Iuvenal thus speaks Qui plus lactis habit quà m sanguinis i. e. which hath more milk than blood in it And it may be said to be in its mothers milk by an usual Hypallage when its mothers milk is in it i. e. whilest the milk it sucks as it were remains in it undigested and unconverted into flesh even as a man is oft said to be in the spirit when indeed the spirit is in him And what is here indefinitely prohibited is elsewhere particularly explained and the time defined to wit that it be not offered to God before it was eight days old And this interpretation may receive light and strength from hence that the law of the first-fruits which both here and Exod. 34. 26. goes immediately before this law doth in Exod. 22. 30. immediately go before that law of not offering them before the eighth day which implies that both of them speak concerning the same thing to wit the first-fruits or first-born of the cattel which were not to be offered to God while they were in their mothers milk saith this place or till they were 8 days old saith that place And consequently if they might not be offered to God they might not be used by men for food 20 * chap. 33. 2 14. Num. 20. 16. Behold I send an Angel m To wit Christ the Angel of the covenant as may be gathered both from the following words because pardon of sin which is Gods prerogative Mark 2. 7. is here ascribed to him and Gods name is in him and by comparing other Scriptures as Exod. 32. 34. Acts 7. 38 39. 1 Cor. 10. 9. See Exod. 13. 21. and 14. â—…9 before thee to keep thee in the way and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared 21 Beware of him and obey his voice provoke him not for he will not pardon your transgressions n i. e. He will severely punish you for them by a common Meiosis as Exod. 20. 7. Understand if you continue obstinate in your sins for my Name is in him o Heb. Is in his inward parts i. e. is intimately united to him according to Ioh. 10. 38. I am in the father and the father in me It not onely signifies that he acts in his name and by his power and authority which even the Apostles did and other Ministers of the Gospel do and therefore it is unreasonable to think no more is ascribed to this Angel but that his divine nature or essence is in him whence he is called the Lord our righteousness Ier. 23. 6. and God who will not give his glory to another Isa. 42. 8. hath given it to Christ that all men should honour the son even as they honour the father Ioh. 5. 23. which never was nor can be said of any Angel without blasphemy Add to this that the word name is oft put for the thing or being whether it be humane or divine as is manifest from Deut. 28. 58. Psal. 20. 1. and 115. 1. Isa. 30. 27. Act. 1. 15. Revel 3. 4. and 11. 13. And so it must be here because this name is not said to be given to him as it would be if it were properly taken but to be in him or in his inwards which agrees well to the Divine nature or essence but not to the meer name 22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice and do all that I speak p All that I have already commanded and shall further prescribe by him unto Moses * Gen. 12. 3. Deut. 30. 7. Jer. 30. 20. then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies and †Or I will afflict them that afflict thee an adversary unto thine adversaries 23 * Ver. 20. For mine Angel shall go before thee and * chap. 33. 2. bring thee in unto the Amorites and the Hittites * Josh. 24. 11. and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites and I will cut them off 24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods nor serve them q i. e. Give them neither outward worship with thy body nor inward with thy mind * Lev. 18. 3. Deut. 12. 31. Nor do after their works r i. e. Nor follow their
These be thy gods O Israel which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt 9 And the LORD said unto Moses * chap. 33. 3 Deut. 9. 13. Isa. 48. 4. I have seen this people and behold it is a stiff-necked people u Untractable wilful and stubborn incorrigible by my judgements ungovernable by mine or by any laws A metaphor from those beasts that will not bend their necks to receive the yoke or bridle 10 Now therefore let me alone x Do not hinder me by thy prayers which I see thou art now about to make on their behalf that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and * Num. 14. 1â—… I will make of thee y To come out of thy loins a great nation 11 * Deut. 9. 18. Ps. 106. 23. And Moses besought †Heb. thâ—… 〈◊〉 of the Lord. the LORD his God z Emphatically so called q. d. Moses had not lost his interest in God though Israel had and said LORD why doth thy wrath wax hot a So hot as to consume them utterly For though he saw reason enough why God should be angry with them yet he humbly expostulates with God whether it would be for his honour utterly to destroy them Or this is a petition delivered in form of an interrogation or expostulation as Mat. 8. 29. compare with Luk. 8. 28. against thy people b An ingenious retortion q. d. They are not my people as thou calledst them ver 7. but thy people which he proves in the following words which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand 12 * Num. 14. 13. Deut. 9. 28. and 32. 27. Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say For mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the mountains c i. e. In or at mount Sinai the plural number for the singular or in this mountainous desert and to consume them from the face of the earth Turn from thy fierce wrath and repent of this evil against thy people 13 Remember Abraham Isaac and Israel thy servants to whom thou swarest by thy own self and saidst unto them * Gen. 12. 7. 13. 15. 15. 18. 26. 4. 28. 13 48. 16. I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed and they shall inherit it for ever 14 And the LORD repented d i. e. Changed his sentence See on Gen. 6. 6. of the evil which he thought to do unto his people 15 And Moses turned and went down from the mount and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand the tables were written on both their sides e Not in the inside and outside which is unusual and unnecessary but in the inside onely some of the ten Commands being written on the right hand and others on the left not for any mystery but onely for conveniency of writing on the one side and on the other side were they written 16 And the * chap. 31. 18. tables were the work of God and the writing was the writing of God graven upon the tables 17 And when Joshua f Who had waited all this while upon the middle of the hill for Moses his return and so neither knew what the people had done nor heard what God had said to Moses heard the noise of the people as they shouted he said unto Moses There is a noise of war in the camp 18 And he said It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery g Heb. of a cry of strength i. e. of strong men or of the stronger and victorious party who use to express themselves with triumphant shouts neither is it the voice of them that cry for †Heb. weaknesâ—… being overcome h Heb. of a cry of weakness i. e. of weak and wounded and vanquished men who use to break forth into doleful cries but the noise of them that sing do I hear 19 And it came to pass assoon as he came nigh unto the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing and Moses anger waxed hot and he cast the tables out of his hands and brake them i Not through rash anger but by Divine instinct partly to punish their Idolatry with so great a loss and partly to shew that the covenant made between God and them so much to their advantage which was contained in those tables was by their sin broken and now of none effect and not to be renewed but by bitter repentance beneath the mount 20 * Deut. 9. 21. And he took the calf which they had made and burnt it in the fire and ground it to powder k Melted it either into one great mass or rather into divers little fragments which afterwards by a file or other instruments he by the help of many others might soon ground to powder or dust of gold and strawed it upon the water l Upon the brook which came out of the rock Horeb Exod. 17. 6. and made the children of Israel m Not all which would require long time but some in the name of the rest and most probably either the chief promoters of this idolatrous design or the chief rulers of the people who should by their power and authority have restrained the people from this wickedness to drink of it n Of the water into which that dust was cast partly to make them ashamed of their madness in worshipping a God which now must be drunk and cast out into the draught and partly to fill them with terrour and dreadful expectation of some ill effect or curse of God to come upon them either by this draught or by other means 21 And Moses said unto Aaron What did this people unto thee o What injury or mischief had they done to thee which thou didst so severely revenge that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them p The sin of the people is charged upon Aaron both because he did not resist and suppress their wicked suggestion ver 1. by his counsel and by the authority which Moses had left in his hand which he should have done even with the hazard of his life as the Rabbins say that Hur did whom they report to have been slain by the people whilest he disswaded them from their attempt and because he did not promote and direct and manage their enterprize ver 4 5. 22 And Aaron said Let not the anger of my lord wax hot thou knowest the people that they are set on mischief q Heb. are in evil i. e. are altogether wicked addicted to or bent upon wickedness so that it was impossible for me to stop or divert their course 23 For they said unto me Make us gods which shall go before us for as for this Moses the
25 And he took the fat and the rump and all the fat that was upon the inwards and the caui above the liver and the two kidneys and their fat and the right shoulder 26 And out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD he took one unleavened cake and a cake of oyled bread and one wafer and put them upon the fat and upon the right shoulder 27 And he put all * Exod. 29. 24. c. upon Aarons hands and upon his sons hands and waved them for a wave-offering before the LORD 28 And Moses took them from off their hands and burnt them on the altar upon the burnt-offering they were †Heb. fillings consecrations for a sweet savour it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD 29 And Moses took the breast and waved it for a wave-offering before the LORD For of the ram of consecration it was Moses * Exod. 29. 26. part l Who at this time administring the Priests office was to receive the Priests wages it being most just and reasonable that the work and wages should go together as the LORD commanded Moses 30 * Exod. 30. 30. And Moses took of the anointing oyl and of the blood which was upon the altar and sprinkled it upon Aaron and upon his garments and upon his sons and upon his sons garments with him and sanctified Aaron and his garments and his sons and his sons garments with him 31 And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons Boil the flesh m That which was left of the ram and particularly the breast which was said to be Moses his part ver 29. and by him was given to Aaron that he and his sons might eat of it in token that they and onely they should have the right to do so for the future at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and there * Exod. 29. 32. eat it with the bread that is in the basket of consecrations as I commanded saying Aaron and his sons shall eat it 32 And that which remaineth of the flesh and of the bread shall ye burn with fire 33 And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven dayes untill the dayes of your consecration be at an end for * Exod. 29. 30 35. seven dayes n In which the same ceremonies were to be repeated as the next verse implies and other rites to be performed shall he o Either God or 〈◊〉 for the words may be spoken by Moses either in Gods name or in his own Moses speaking of himself in the third person which is very common in Scripture consecrate you 34 As he hath done this day so the LORD hath commanded to do to make an atonement for you 35 Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the congregation day and night seven dayes and keep the charge of the LORD p What God hath commanded you concerning your consecration that ye die not q If the threatning seem too severe for the fault it must be considered both that it is the usual practise of Lawgivers most severely to punish the first offences for the terrour and caution of others and for the maintenance of their own authority and that this transgression was aggravated by many circumstances being committed by sacred and eminent persons and that in the presence of the people which made it a publick scandal and in Gods worship where he is very tender and jealous and against a plain and easie command of God and at a time when they were receiving high favours and priviledges from God Nor is sin to be esteemed or measured by the idle fancies of men of corrupt minds and lives whose interests and lusts easily blind their minds but by the Authority Majesty and Will of the great and wise and iust Lawgiver for so I am commanded 36 So Aaron and his sons did all things which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses CHAP. IX 1 AND it came to pass on the eighth day a To wit from the first day of his consecration or when the seven dayes of his consecration were ended chap. 8. 33 35. as appears from Exod. 29. 30. c. Ezek. 43. 27. The eighth day is famous in Scripture for the perfecting and purifying both of men and beasts See Levit 12. 2 3. and 14. 8 9 10. and 15. 13 14. and 22. 27. that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel b All the congregation were called to be witnesses of Aarons instalment into his office to prevent their murmurings and contempt which being done the Elders were now sufficient to be witnesses of Aarons first execution of his office 2 And he said unto Aaron * Exod. 29. 1. Take thee a young calf c Heb. A calf the son of a Bull or Cow Which may seem to be added purposely to intimate that it was not a young calf properly so called but a young bullock for that was the sacrifice enjoyned for the High-priests sin-offering Levit. 4. 3. Though it be not material if this be a young calf and that a young bull because the grounds and ends of these several sacrifices differ that Levit. â—… being for his particular sin and this for his own and families â—…ns in general and therefore no wonder if the sacrifices also differ for a sin offering d For himself and his own sins which was an evidence of the imperfection of that Priest-hood and of the necessity of another and a better and a ram for a burnt-offering without blemish and offer them before the LORD 3 And unto the children of Israel thou shalt speak saying * chap. 4. 23. Ezra 6. 17. Take ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering e For the people as it is expressed here ver 15. for whose sin a young bullock was required Levit. 4. 15. but that was for some particular sin but this was more general and indefinite for all their sins Besides there being an eye here had to the Priests consecration and entrance into his office it is no wonder if there be some difference in these sacrifices from those before prescribed and a calf and a lamb both of the first year without blemish for a burnt-offering 4 Also a bullock and a ram for peace-offerings to sacrifice before the LORD and a meat-offering mingled with oyl for * ver 23. to day the LORD will appear f See the fulfilling of this promise ver 24. Heb. Hath appeared He speaks of the thing to come as if it were past which is frequent in Scripture to give them the more assurance of the thing unto you 5 And they brought that which Moses commanded before the tabernacle of the congregation and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD g Before the Tabernacle where God dwelt 6 And Moses said This is the thing
shalt not make thy self guilty of his sin as thou wilst assuredly do if thou dost not perform thy duty of rebuking him for his sin which is a likely way and a course appointed by God to remove the guâ—…lt of his sin from him and consequently as it was his fault that he sinned and contracted guilt so it is thy fault that his guilt continues upon him Many things favour this sence 1. This is the proper and usual signification of the word Nasa 2. The same words are used in this sense Levit. 22. 9. Numb 18. 32. 3. The preposition al is oft used thus as Gen. 37. 8 34. Iudg. 9. â—… 1 Kinâ—… 16. 7. 4. This phrase of bearing sin or iniquity is constantly used in this book for being guilty and lyable to punishment And so the sense is here full and compleat and a very weighty reason here given to enforce the foregoing precept 18 Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge c Heb. nor keep either 1 The injury here supposed in thy memory So it is opposed to those who say they will forgive but not forget an injury Or 2. Anger or haâ—…ed in thy heart So this verb is used Ier. 3. 12. Naâ—… 1. 2. against the children of thy people * Mat. 5. 43. and 22. 39. Rom. 13. 9. Gal. 5. 14. Jam. 2. 8. but thou shalt love thy neighbour d By which he understands not the Israelites onely as some would perswade us but every other man with whom we converse as plainly appears 1. By comparing this place with verse 34. where this very law is applied to strangers 2. Because the word neighbour is explained by another man Levit. 20. 10. Rom. 13. 8. See more on Exod. 20. 18. as thy self e Either 1. My Laws So this is fitly promised because otherwise some of the following commands might seem triâ—…ing and obedience to them unnecessary Or 2. My Ordinances to wit of nature or the order which I have appointed in creatures as the word is used Iob 26. 10. and 38. 33. Psal. 148. 6. Prov. 8. 29. and therefore they shall not confound those things that I have distinguished which were in some sort to reproach and correct my works and which may seem to be done in some of the following instances I am the LORD 19 Ye shall keep my statutes f. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind g This was prohibited partly to restrain the curiosity and boldness of men who might attempt to amend or change the works of God Partly that by the restraints here laid even upon brute-creatures men might be taught to abhorre all unnatural and unlawful lusts Partly to teach the Israelites to avoid mixtures with other Nations either in Marriage or in Religion Which also may be signified by the following prohibitions thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed h See of this and the next Deut. 22. 9 10 11. neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee 20 And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman that is a bondmaid ‖ Or abused by aâ—…y †Heb. reproachedly or for man betrothed to an husband †Or reproached or despised and therefore forsaken of her husband For as his continuance with her in his and her masters family and service is mentioned as an evidence that he loved her Exod. 21. 5 6. So on the contrary his forsaking of her was a reproach to her and a sign of contempt and not at all redeemed nor freedom given her ‖ Or. thâ—… †Heb. there shall be a 〈◊〉 she shall be scourged i Heb. There shall be a scourging which may belong either 1. To her alone as the Jews understand it for the mans punishment follows ver 21 22. Or 2. To both of them for 1. Both were guilty 2. It follows they shall not be punished with death which may seem to imply that they were to be punished by some other common and considerable punishment which scourging indeed was but the paying of a ram was a small penalty and very unsuitable to the greatness of the offence And the offering of the ram as a trespass-offering for the sin against God is not inconsistent with making satisfaction other wayes for the injury done to men as we may see Livit. 6. 4 5 6. but onely added here as a further punishment to the man either because he onely could do this and not the Woman who being a bond-woman had nothing of her own to offer Or because his Sex and his freedom aggravated his sin they shall not be put to death k Which they should have been had she been free Deut. 22. 23 24. because she was not â—…ree l The reason of this difference is not from any respect which God leaves to persons for bond and free are alike to him but because bond-women were scarce Wives and their Marriages were scarce true marriages being neither made by their choice but by their masters authority nor continued beyond the year of release but at her Masters or Husbands pleasure Of which see Exod. 21. 4 c. 21 And * chap. 5. 15. he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation even a ram for a trespass-offering 22 And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath done and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him 23 And when ye shall come into the land and shall have planted all manner of trees for food then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised m i. e. As unclean not to be eaten but cast away and counted abhominable as the foreskins are three years n This precept was serviceable 1. To the trees themselves which grew the better and faster being early stript of those fruits which otherwise would have derived to themselves and drawn away much more of the strength from the root and tree 2. To men both because the fruit then was waterish indigested and unwholesome and because hereby men were taught to bridle their appetites a lesson of great use and absolute necessity in a godly life 3. To God who required and deserved the first-fruits which must be also of the best and so they could not be in this time shall it be as uncircumcised unto you it shall not be eaten of 24 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be †Heb. holiness of praise to the LORD chap. 23. 20. Numb 5. 8. Josh. 6. 19. holy o Consecrated to the Lord as the first-fruits and tithes were and therefore given to the Priests and Levites Numb 18. 12 13. Deut. 18. 4. yet so that part of them were communicated to the poor Widows and Fatherless and Strangers See Deut. 14. 28. to praise the LORD withal p To bless the
the crime to sin in the presence of the Judge and have wept before him saying Why came we forth out of Egypt o Why did God do us such an injury why did we so foolishly follow and obey him in coming forth 21 And Moses said * Exod. 3â—… 〈◊〉 chap. 1. 45. The people amongst whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen p Fit for war Exod. 12. 37. besides women children c. That Moses speaks this as doubting or distrusting Gods words is evident enough from ver 22 23. And that Moses was not remarkably punished for this as he was afterward for the same sin Numb 20. next to Gods good pleasure may be imputed to the different circumstances of this and that sin this was the first great offence of this kind and therefore more easily passed by that was after warning and against more light and experience This seems to have been spoken secretly in Moses his breast that openly and publickly before the people and to their scandal and therefore it was fit to be openly and severely punished to prevent the contagion of that example and thou hast said I will give them flesh that they may eat a whole month 22 Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them to suffice them q Will they be sufficient for them or where shall they have more or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them to suffice them 23 And the LORD said unto Moses * Isa. 50. 2. and 59. 1. Is the LORDS hand waxed short r i. e. Less able to work such great and glorious miracles as I have done thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not 24 And Moses went out s Out of the tabernacle into which he entred to receive Gods answers from the Mercy-seat Numb 7. 89. and told the people the words of the LORD and gathered the seventy men t Either they are called seventy from the stated number though two of them were lacking ver 26. as the Apostles are called the twelve Mat. 26. 20. when one of that number was absent or he is said to have gathered them when he gave command to gather them of the elders of the people and set them round about the tabernacle u Partly that the awe of God might be imprinted upon their hearts that they might more seriously undertake and more faithfully manage their high employment partly to gain them the more authority and respect from the people and principally because that was the place where God manifested himself and gave his blessings and therefore there he would bestow his spirit upon them 25 And the LORD came down in a cloud and spake unto him and took of the spirit that was upon him and gave it unto the seventy elders and it came to pass that when the spirit rested upon them x i. e. Not onely moved them for a time but took up his settled abode with them because the use and end of this gift was not temporary but perpetual they prophesied y i. e. Discoursed of the word and works of God in a singular and marvellous manner as the Prophets did So this word is used 1 Sam. 10. 5 6. Ioel 2. 28. Act. 2. 17. 1 Cor. 14. 3. Yet were they not hereby constituted Prophets or teachers but civil Magistrates and Rulers who together with the spirit of government which is here sufficiently implied received also the spirit of Prophecy as a sign and seal both to themselves and to the people that God had called them to that employment and would be with them in it as it was with Saul upon the same occasion 1 Sam. 10. 10. and †Gr. added or â—…ded no 〈◊〉 did not cease ‖ Either for that day they continued in that exercise all that day and it may be all the night too as it is said of Saul 1 Sam. 19. 24. or afterwards also to note that this was a continued gift conferred upon them to enable them the better to discharge their Magistracy which was more expedient for them then for the Rulers of other people because the Iews were under a Theocracy or the government of God and even their civil controversies were decided out of that word of God which the Prophets expounded and in their wilderness condition they had frequent occasions of seeking counsel from God which was the work of Prophets and they were to determine all things agreeably to the mind and will of God which therefore they were obliged to study Others translate the words and they added not so the sence is They prophecyed onely this day for an assurance of vocation to and due qualification for their work but afterwards they prophecyed no more the gift of prophecy ceased in them and onely the spirit of government rested upon them 26 But there remained two of the men in the camp z Not going to the Tabernacle as the rest did either modestly declining that high employment from an humble sence of their own insufficiency as Saul did 1 Sam. 10. 22. or not having sufficient or seasonable notice to repair thither or being detained in the camp and in their dwellings whether by uncleanness or sickness or some urgent occasion not without Gods special providence that so the Miracle might be more evident and their call and authority more unquestionable to all the people the name of the one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad and the spirit rested upon them and they were of them that were written a To wit in a book or paper by Moses who by Gods direction nominated the fittest and worthiest persons but went not out unto the tabernacle and they prophesied in the camp 27 And there ran a young man and told Moses b Fearing least his authority should be diminished by their prophesying and thereby as by the signal given at this time taking authority to themselves without his knowledge and consent and said Eldad and Medad do prophesie in the camp 28 And Joshua the son of Nun the servant of Moses one of his young men c Or one of his choice ministers a chosen or excellent person which may be emphatically added to note that even great and good men may mistake and mis-judge about the works of God Or from his youth as the words will bear and the Chaldee Syr. c. render it So it may be added as a reason why Ioshua above others was concerned for Moses his honour and authority answered and said * See Luk. 9. 49. My lord Moses forbid them d He seared either schisme or sedition or that by their usurpation of authority independently upon Moses and separately from him his power and esteem might be lessened as the next words shew 29 And Moses said unto him Enviest thou for my sake e Art thou grieved because the gifts and graces of God are imparted to others
besides me Compare Ioh. 3. 26. would God that all the LORDS people were prophets f He saith Prophets not rulers for that he knew was absurd and impossible and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them 30 And Moses gat him into the camp g Among the people to exercise the gifts and authority now or formerly received he and the elders of Israel 31 And there went forth a * Exod. 16. 1â—… Psal. 78. 26. and 105. 40. wind from the LORD h i. e. An extraordinary and miracuious wind both for its vehemency and for its effects and brought quails i A delicious and very nourishing food which considering their greedy appetite and the newness and plenty of it disposed them to surfets and other distempers of body and prepared the way for the following plague God gave them quails once before Exod. 16. 13. but neither in the same quantity nor with the same design and effect as now from the sea k Principally from the Red sea and both sides of it where by the report of antient heathen writers they were then in great numbers and no doubt were wonderfully increased by Gods special providence for this very occasion and let them fall by the camp †Heb. as it were weâ—… the way of a 〈◊〉 as it were a days journey on this side and as it were a dayes journey on the other side round about the camp and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth l Not as if the quails did cover all the ground two cubits high for a days journey on each side of the camp for then there had been no place left where they could spread them all abroad round about the camp as it is said they did ver 32. but the meaning is that the quails came and fell down round about the camp for a whole days journey on each side of it and that in all that space they lay here and there in great heaps which were oft-times two cubirs high 32 And the people stood up m Or rather rose up which word is oft used for attempting or beginning to do any business all that day and all that night n Some at one time and some at the other and some through greediness or diffidence at both times and all the next day and they gathered the quails he that gathered least gathered ten homers o i. e. Ten ass loads Which if it seem incredible you must consider 1. that the gatherers here were not all the people which could not be without great confusion and other inconveniencies but some on the behalf of all possibly one for each family or the like while the rest were exercised about other necessary things So the meaning is not that every Israelite had so much for his share but that every collector gathered so much for the family or others by whom he was intrusted 2. that the people did not gather for their present use onely but for a good while to come as we shall see and being greedy and distrustful of Gods goodness it is not strange if they gathered much more than they needed 3. that the word rendred homers may signify heaps as it doth Exod. 8. 14. Iudg. 15. 16. Hab. 3. 15. and ten is oft put for many and so the sence is that every one gathered several heaps If yet the number seems incredible it must be further known 4. that heathen and other authors affirm that in those eastern and southern countries quails are innumerable so that in one part of Italy within the compass of five miles there were taken about an hundred thousand of them every day for a moneth together and that sometimes they fly so thick over the sea that being weary they fall into ships sometimes in such numbers that they sink them with their weight as Varro and Solinus affirm And Athenaeus relates that in Egypt a country prodigiouâ—…ly populous as all agree they were in such plenty that all those vast numbers of people could not consume them but were forced to salt them and keep them for their future use So that there is no need at all that God should create innumerable quails for this purpose which yet if it were affirmed he did Atheists and Anti-scripturists have no occasion of triumph since they must either own the creation of the world which is a far greater miracle or ascribe the production of the world to a casual jumble of Atoms which is more senceless and ridiculous than all the fables of the Poets and they spread them all abroad for themselves p That so they might dry them and salt them and preserve them for their future use according to what they had seen and learned in Egypt round about the camp 33 And while the * Psal. â—…8 3â—… 31. flesh was yet between their teeth ere it was chewed q Heb. cut off to wit from their moutâ—… which is here understood and expressed Iâ—…t 1. 5. i. e. ere it was taken away as the flocks are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—… 1â—… when they are lost and perished The sence is before they had done eating their quails which lasted for a moneth as appears from ver 20. the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague r Whether it was leaâ—…ness sent into them Psal. 106. 15. whereby the food was deprived of its nourishing power which it hath onely from Gods blessing or 〈◊〉 â—… punishment most suitable to their sin and most likely to follow their intemperate desire and use of this food or the pestilence it is not much material but a great and sore plague unquestionably it was Quest. Why did God so sorely punish the peoples murmuring and complaining for lack of flesh here when he spared them after the same sin Exod. 16 Ans. Because this sin was a far greater sin than that and aggravated with worse circumstances as proceeding not from necessity as that did when as yet they had no food but from meer lust and wantonness when they had Manna constantly given them as committed after large experience of Gods care and kindness after God had pardoned their former sins and after God had in a solemn and terrible manner made known his laws and their duty to them 34 And he called the name of that place ‖ That is the graves of lust Kibroth-hattaavah s Heb. the graves of lust i. e. of the men that lusted as it here follows The abstract for the concrete which is frequent as poverty 2 King 24. 14. pride Psal. 36. 11. deceit sins Prov. 13. 6 c. dreams Ier. 27. 9. are put for men who are poor or proud or deceitful or sinful or dreamers And it notes that this plague did not sieze upon all that did eat of the quails for then all had been destroyed but onely upon those who were
inordinate both in the desire and use of them because there they buried the people that lusted 35 And the people journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah unto Hazeroth t Of which place see on Numb 33. 17. and Deut. 1. 1. and †Heb. they were in c. abode at Hazeroth CHAP. XII 1 AND Miriam and Aaron a Whom God permitted to murmur against their brother partly to exercise and discover the admirable meekness and patience for the instruction of after ages and partly that by this shaking Moses his authority might take the deeper root and the people might be deterred from all sedition and rebellion against him by this example Miriam seems to be first named because she was the chief instigatour or first mover of the sedition wherefore she also is more eminently punished spake against Moses because of the ‖ Or Cushite Ethiopian woman b Which was either 1. Zipporah who is here called an Ethiopian in the Hebrew a Cushite because she was a Midianite the word Cush being generally used in scripture not for Ethiopia properly so called below Egypt but for Arabia as some late learned men have evidently proved from 2 King 19. 9. 2 Chron. 21. 16. Ezek. 29. 10. and 30. 8 9. Hab. 3. 7. and other places If she be meant as it is commonly conceived I suppose they did not quarrel with him for marrying her because that was done long since but for indulging her too much and being swayed by her and her relations by whom they might think he was perswaded to make this innovation and to chuse seventy Rulers as he had been formerly Exod. 18. by which copartnership in government they thought their authority and reputation much diminished especially when no notice was taken nor use made of them in the choice but all was done by the direction of Moses and for his assistance in the government And because they durst not accuse God who was the chief agent in it they charge Moses his instrument as the manner of men is or 2. some other woman though not named in Scripture whom he married either whilest Zipporah lived or rather because she was now dead though that as many other things be not recorded For as the quarrel seems to be about his marrying a stranger so it is probable it was a late and fresh occasion about which they contended and not a thing done 40 years agoe And it was lawful for him aswell as any other to marry an Ethiopian or Arabian woman provided she were as doubtless this woman was a sincere proselyte which were by the law of God admitted to the same priviledges with the Israelites Exod. 12. 48. so there might be many reasons why Moses might chuse to marry such a person rather than an Israelite or why God so ordered it by his providence either because she was a person of eminent worth and vertue or because God intended that the government should not be continued in the hands of Moses his children and therefore would have some political blemish to be upon the family as being strangers by one parent And this they here urge as a blemish to Moses also whom he had married for * Exod. 2. 21. he had †Heb. taken married an Ethiopian woman 2 And they said Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses * Mic. 6. 4. hath he not spoken also by us c Are not we Prophets as well as he so Aaron was made Exod. 4. 15 16. and so Miriam is called Exod. 15. 20. See also Mic. 6. 4. And Moses hath debased and mixed the holy seed which we have not done Why then should he take all power to himself and rule and make rulers as he pleaseth without consulting us in the case And the LORD heard it d i. e. Observed their words and carriage to Moses 3 Now the man Moses was very meek e This is added as the reason why Moses took no notice of their reproach but was as one that heard it not and why God did so speedily and severely plead Moses his cause because he did not avenge himself Quest. 1. Did it become Moses thus to commend himself Answ. 1. The holy pen-men of Scripture are not to be measured or censured by other profane Writers because they are guided by special instinct in every thing they write and as they oft-times publish their own and their near relations greatest faults where it may be useful to the honour of God and the edification of the Church in after ages so it is not strange if for the same reasons sometimes they commend themselves especially when they are forced to it by the insolence and contempt of their adversaries which was Moses his case here in which case St. Paul also commends himself 2 Cor. 11. 5 c. and 12. 11 12. Which they might the better do because all their writings and carriage made it evident to all men that they did not this out of vain glory and that they were exalted above the affectation of mens praises and the dread of mens reproaches 2. This might be added as some other clauses were by some succeeding Prophet which was no disparagement to the authority of the holy Scriptures seeing it is all written by one hand though â—…ers pens be used by it Quest. 2. How was Moses so meek when we oft-times read of his anger as Exod. 11. 8. and 16. 20. and 32. 19. Levit. 10. 16. Numb 16. 15. and 20. 10 11. compared with Psal. 106. 32 33. Answ. 1. The meekest men upon earth are provoked sometimes yea oftner then Moses was 2. True meekness doth not exclude all anger but onely such as is unjust or immoderate or implacable Moses was and ought to be angry where God was offended and dishonoured as he was in almost all the places alledged above all the men which were upon the face of the earth 4 And the LORD spake suddenly f Partly to shew his great respect unto Moses and unto the grace of meekness and partly to stifle the beginings of the sedition that this example might not spread amongst the people who had too much of that leaven among them unto Moses and unto Aaron and unto Miriam Come out g To wit out of your private dwellings and from amongst the people both that you may not infect them by such scandalous words and partly that you may know my pleasure and your own doom ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation and they three came out 5 And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle h Where they stood wit hout not being admitted into the Tabernacle as Aaron used to be which is noted as a sign of Gods displeasure and called Aaron and Miriam and they both came forth 6 And he said Hear now my words if there be a prophet among you i If you be Prophets as you pretend yet know there
is a difference among Prophets nor do I put the equal authority and honour upon all of them I the LORD will make my self known unto him in a vision k Whereby God represents things to the mind of a Prophet when he is awake as Gen. 15. 1. and 46. 2. Dan. 8. 18. and 10. 8. and will speak unto him in a dream l By which God manifests his mind to them in a dream as Gen. 20. 3. and 28. 12. 7 My servant Moses is not so * Heb. 3. 2. who is faithful in all mine house m i. e. Whom I have set over all my house i. e. my Church and people and therefore over you and who hath discharged his office faithfully and not partially and self-seekingly as you falsly accuse him 8 With him will I speak * Exod. 33. 11. mouth to mouth n i. e. Distinctly by an articulate voice immediately not by an interpreter nor by shadows and representations in his fancy as it is in visions and dreams and familiarly This is called speaking face to face 2 Epist. of Iohn ver 12. and 3 Epist. ver 14. even apparently o Plainly and certainly and not in dark speeches p Not in parables similitudes riddles dark resemblances as by shewing a boyling pot an Almond Tree c. to Ieremy a chariot with wheels c. to Ezekiel and the similitude of the LORD q Not the face or essence of God which no man can see and live Exod. 33. 20. it being invisible Col. 1. 15. and never seen by man Iohn 1. 18 but some singular manifestation of his glorious presence as Exod. 33. 11 20 c. and 34. 5 c. Deut. 34. 10. Yea the Son of God appeared to him in an humane shape which he took up for a time that he might give him a forecast of his future incarnation shall he behold wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant r Who is so in such an eminent and extraordinary manner Moses 9 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them and he departed s From the door of the Tabernacle in token of his great displeasure not waiting for their answer and judging them unworthy of any further discourse 10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle t Not from the whole Tabernacle for then they must have removed but from that part of the Tabernacle whither it was come to that part which was directly over the Mercy-seat where it constantly abode and * Deut. 24. 9. behold Miriam became leprous u She and not Aaron either because she was first or chief in the transgression or because God would not have his worship either interrupted or dishonoured which it must have been if Aaron had been leprous white as snow x This kind of leprosie was the most virulent and incurable of all See Exod. 4. 6. 2 King 5. 27. It is true when the leprosie began in a particular part and thence spread it self over all the flesh by degrees and at last made it all white that was an evidence of the cure of the leprosie Levit. 13. 12 13. but it was otherwise when one was suddenly and extraordinarily smitten with this universal whiteness which shewed the great corruption of the whole mass of blood as it was here and Aaron looked upon Miriam and behold she was leprous 11 And Aaron said unto Moses Alas my lord I beseech thee lay not the sin upon us y Let not the guilt and punishment of this sin rest upon us upon her in this kind upon me in any other kind but pray to God for the pardon and removal of it wherein we have done foolishly and wherein we have sinned 12 Let her not be as one dead z Either naturally because part of her flesh was putrefied and dead and not to be restored but by the mighty power of God Or morally because she was cut off from all converse with others Levit. 13. 46. of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mothers womb a Like an untimely birth without due shape and proportion or like a still born child that hath been for some time dead in the womb which when it comes forth is white and putrefied and part of it consumed 13 And Moses cryed unto the LORD saying Heal her now O God I beseech thee 14 And the LORD said unto Moses * See Heb. 12. 9. If her father had but spit in her face b i. e. Expressed some eminent token of indignation and contempt which this was Iob 30. 10. Isa. 50. 6. should she not be ashamed c And withdraw her self from her fathers presence as Ionathan did upon a like occasion 1 Sam. 20. 34. So though God healed her according to Moses his request yet he would have her publickly bear the shame of her sin and be a warning to others to keep them from the same transgression seven dayes let her be * Lev. 13. 46. shut out from the camp seven dayes d The time appointed for cleansing the unclean See Numb 6. 9. and 31. 19. and after that let her be received in again 15 And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven dayes and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again e Which was a testimony of respect to her both from God and from the people God so ordering it partly least she should be overwhelmed by such a publick rebuke from God and partly least she being a Prophetess together with her person the gift of Prophesie should come into contempt 16 And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth f Where they abode as is said Numb 11. 35. for Miriams sake and pitched in the wilderness of Paran g i. e. In another part of the same wilderness as may be gathered from Numb 10. 12. See also Deut. 33. 2. It is possible they might have removed out of one part of that wilderness into another wilderness and then returned again into another part of it as we know the Israelites had many strange windings and turnings in their Wilderness travels And this part was more especially called Rithmah Numb 33. 18. and Kadesh-barnea Numb 13. 26. Deut. 1. 19. which were two noted places in that part both which seem to be comprehended within their camp or near adjoyning to it CHAP. XIII 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses a In answer to the peoples petition about it as is evident from Deut. 1. 22. And it is probable from the following story that the people desired it out of diffidence of Gods promise and providence though Moses liked of it as a prudent course to learn where or how to make the first invasion And God granted their desire for their trial and punishment as well knowing from what root it came saying 2 * chap. 32. 8. Deut. 1. 22. Send thou men b Do as
the people press thee to do that they may search the land of Canaan which I give unto the children of Israel of every tribe of their fathers c i. e. Which comes from their several parents or Patriarchs shall ye send a man every one a ruler d A person of wisdom and authority which might make his witness more considerable with the people among them 3 And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran all those men were heads of the children of Israel 4 And these were their names Of the tribe of Reuben Shammua the son of Zaccur 5 Of the tribe of Simeon Shaphat the son of Hori 6 Of the tribe of Judah Caleb the son of Jephunneh 7 Of the tribe of Issachar Igal the son of Joseph 8 Of the tribe of Ephraim Oshea e Called also Ioshua ver 16. the son of Nun. 9 Of the tribe of Benjamin Palto the son of Raphâ—… 10 Of the tribe of Zebulun Gaddiel the son of Sodi 11 Of the tribe of Joseph namely of the tribe of Manasseh f i. e. Of that part of the tribe of Ioseph which is peculiarly called the tribe of Manasseh 〈◊〉 the other part of it was called the tribe of Ephraim ver 8. The name of Ioseph is elsewhere appropriated to Ephraim as Ezek. 37. 16 19. Rev. 7. 8. here to Manesseh possibly to aggravate the sin of the ruler of this tribe who did so basely degenerate from his noble ancestor Ioseph Gaddi the son of Susi 12 Of the tribe of Dan Ammiel the son of Gemalli 13 Of the tribe of Asher Shether the son of Michael 14 Of the tribe of Naphtali Nahbi the son of Vophsi 15 Of the tribe of Gad Geuel the son of Machi 16 These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land and Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua g Oshea notes a desire of Salvation signifying Save we pray thee but Iehoshua or Ioshua includes a promise of Salvation that he should save or that God by his hands should save the people So this was a prophecy of his succession to Moses in the government and of the success of his arms 17 And Moses sent them to spie out the land of Canaan and said unto them Get ye up this way southward h i. e. Into the Southern part of Canaan which was the nearest part and the worst too being dry and desert Ios. 15. 1 3. Iudg. 1. 15. Psal. 126. 4. and therefore fittest for them to enter and pass through with less observation and go up into the mountain i i. e. Into the mountainous country and thence into the valleys and so take an exact survey of the whole land 18 And see the land what it is k Both for largeness and for nature and quality as is more particularly expressed ver 19 20. and the people that dwelleth therein whether they be strong or weak few or many 19 And what the land is that they dwell in whether it be good or bad l Healthful or unwholesome fruitful or barren and what cities they be that they dwell in whether in tents m As the Arabians did or in unwalled Villages which like tents are exposed to an enemy or in strong holds 20 And what the land is whether it be fat n Rich and fertile or lean whether there be wood therein or not And be ye of good courage o Doubt not but God will preserve you in this dangerous journey and be not dismayed nor discouraged if you find the people numerous and potent and well fortified and bring of the fruit of the land now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes 21 So they went up and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin p In the south of Canaan Numb 34. 3. Jos. 15. 3. differing from the wilderness of Sin which was nigh unto Egypt Exod. 16. 1. unto Rehob as men come to Hamath q i. e. From the South they passed through the whole land even to the Northern parts of it Rehob a city in the North-west part Ios. 19. 28. Iudg. 1. 31. and Hemath a city in the North-east part Ios. 19. 35. Ezek. 47. 17. And that they might more expeditiously and securely perform this office it is probable that they divided themselves into several small parties and informed themselves not onely by their eye but also by their ear and the information of persons of whom they enquired about the nature and condition of their land 22 And they ascended by the south r Here Moses having generally described their progress and course from South to North now returns more particularly to relate some memorable places and passages as that having entred the land in the southern parts they travelled then till they came to Hebron and came s Heb. He came to wit Caleb as appears from Ios. 14. 9 12 14. For as was now intimated the spies distributed their work among them and went either severally or by pairs and it seems the survey of this part was left to Caleb unto Hebron where * Josh. 15. 14. Judg. 1. 10. Ahiman Sheshai and Talmai the children of Anak t A famous giant so called whose children these are called either more generally as all giants sometimes were or rather more specially because Arbah from whom Hebron was called Kiriath-arbah was the father of Anak Ios. 15. 13. And this circumstance is mentioned as an evidence of the goodness of that land and soil because the giants chose it for their habitation were now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt t A famous giant so called whose children these are called either more generally as all giants sometimes were or rather more specially because Arbah from whom Hebron was called Kiriath-arbah was the father of Anak Ios. 15. 13. And this circumstance is mentioned as an evidence of the goodness of that land and soil because the giants chose it for their habitation u This seems to be noted to confront the Egyptians who vainly boasted of the antiquity of their city Zoan above all places 23 * Deut. 1. 24. And they came unto the ‖ Or Valley brook of Eshcol and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes and they bare it between two upon a staff x Either for the weight of it considering the length of the way they were to carry it or for the preservation of it whole and entire In those Eastern and Southern countries there are vines and grapes of an extraordinary bigness as Strabo and Pliny affirm and they brought of the pomegranates and of the figs. 24 The place was called the ‖ Or Valley brook ‖ That is a cluster of grapes Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence 25 And they returned from searching of
and procurement him †Heb. â—…cate a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites p i. e. Out of the true Original which was carefully kept by the Priests in the Sanctuary Deut. 31. 26. 2 King 22. 8. partly that it might be a true and perfect copy and partly that it might have the greater authority and influence upon him coming to him as from the hand and presence of God 19 And * Jos. 1. â—… it shall be with him and he shall read therein all the dayes of his life q i. e. Diligently and constantly neither the greatness of his place nor the weight and multitude of his business shall excuse or hinder him that he may learn to fear the LORD his God to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them 20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren r He intimates that the Scriptures diligently read and studied are a powerful and probable means to keep him humble because they shew him that though a king he is subject to an higher Monarch to whom he must give an account of all his administrations and actions and receive from him his sentence and doom agreeable to their quality which is sufficient to abate the pride of the haughtiest person in the world if he duly consider it and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left to the end that he may prolong his dayes in his kingdom he and his children in the midst of Israel CHAP. XVIII 1 THE priests the Levites and all the tribe of Levi * Num. 1â—… 〈◊〉 Chap. 10. â—… shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel they * 1 Cor. 9. 〈◊〉 shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire a By which phrase we here manifestly see that he means not burnt-offerings which were wholly consumed by fire and no part of them eaten by the Priests but other Sacrifices whereof part was offered to the Lord by fire and part was allotted to the Priests for their food and his inheritance b i. e. The Lords portion or inheritance which God had reserved to himself as Tithes and first Fruits and other oblations distinct from those which were made by fire and so these two branches make up the whole of that which belonged to God and was by him given to the Levites 2 Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren the LORD c i. e. The Lords part and right as was now said is their inheritance as he hath said unto them 3 And this shall be the priests due from the people from them that offer a sacrifice d To wit a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving or a Peace-Offering as appears from Levit. 7. 31 33. which is oft times called simply a Sacrifice as Exod. 18. 12. Levit. 17. 5 8. Numb 15. 3 Deut. 12. 27. whether it be ox or sheep and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the maw e Qu. How doth this agree with other Texts in which the shoulder and the breast and those parts onely are the Priests due not the cheeks and maw Answ. 1. Who shall tie Gods hands what if he now makes an addition and enlargeth the Priests commons Nothing more usual than for one Scripture to supply what is lacking in another and for a latter Law of God to add to a former 2. The Breast may be here omitted because it is comprehended under the Shoulder to which it is commonly joyned and with which it was waved before the Lord. 3. The Hebrew word here rendred Maw or Stomach which was reckoned among dainties by the Antients is not to my remembrance used elsewhere and therefore it may have another signification and some render it the breast others take it for the uppermost part of the stomach which lies under the breast 4 The * Num. 18. 12 24. first fruit also of thy corn of thy wine and of thy oil and the first of the fleece of thy sheep shalt thou give him 5 For * Exod. 28. 1. Num. 3. 10. the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes to stand to minister in the Name of the LORD f i. e. Either by Authority and Commission from him or for his Honour Worship or Service him and his sons for ever 6 And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel where he sojourned and come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the LORD shall chuse g Either for any private occasions or to sojourn there for a season or rather with full purpose to fix his abode and to spend his whole time and strength in the service of God as appears by the sale of his patrimony mentioned v. 8. It seems probable that the several Priests were to come from their Cities to the Temple by turns before Davids time and it is certain they did so after it But if any of them were not contented with this seldom attendance upon God in his Tabernacle or Temple and desired more intirely and constantly to devote himself to Gods service there he was permitted so to do because this was an eminent act of piety joyned with self-denyal to part with those great conveniencies which he could and did enjoy in the City of his possession and to oblige himself to more constant and laborious work about the Sacrifices c. 7 Then he shall minister in the Name of the LORD his God as all his brethren the Levites do which stand there before the LORD 8 They shall have like portions h To wit with their Brethren who were in actual ministration as they share with them in the work so shall they also in the incouragements to eat beside †Heb. his sales by the fathers that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony i Though he have an estate whereby he may subsist raised by the sale of his House in his City and his Cattel and other moveables yet you shall not upon this ground either deny or diminish their part of your maintenance The reason of this Law was partly because he that waited on the Altar ought to live by the Altar and partly because it was fit he should keep his money wherewith he might redeem what he sold if afterwards he saw occasion for it Heb. Besides his sales by the fathers i. e. Of that which came to him by his Fathers or according to his Fathers or his Fathers house and these words may be joyned not with the word immediately foregoing but with the former part of the verse the next word coming in by a kind of parenthesis in this manner and order Besides that which cometh by the sale of their goods they shall havelike portions to eat to what their Brethren have each of them eating according to
LORD he it is that doth go before thee he will be with thee he will not fail thee neither forsake thee * Josh. 1. 9. fear not neither be dismayed 9 And Moses wrote this law e Largely so called the whole Law or Doctrine delivered unto Moses contained in these five books and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi f That they might keep it carefully and religiously and bring it forth upon occasion and read it and instruct the people out of it which bare the ark g To wit sometimes in great solemnities as Ios. 3. 13 17. and 6. 12. 1 King 8. 3. though the Levites also might bear it as appears from Numb 3. and 4. and 10. 1 Chron. 15. 2. of the covenant of the LORD and unto all the elders of Israel h Who were Assistants to the Priests and overseers to take care that the Law should be kept and read and observed 10 And Moses commanded them saying At the end of every seven years in the solemnity of the * Chap. 15. 1. year of release i When they were freed from debts and troubles and cares of worldly matters and thereby fitter to attend upon God and his service in the feast of tabernacles 11 When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall chuse * Josh. 8. 34 35. thou shalt read k Thy self in part for the Jews tell us that the King was in person to read some part of it or at least thou shalt cause it to be read by the Priests or Levites for he could not read it himself in the hearing of all Israel but this was to be done by several persons and to the people met in several congregations See Nehem. 8. 1 c. this law before all Israel in their hearing 12 Gather the people together l Not into one place where all could not hear but into divers Assemblies or Synagogues men and women m Who hereby are required to go to Ierusalem at this solemnity as they were permitted to do in other solemnities when the Males onely were enjoyned to go Exod. 23. 17. and children n To wit such of them as could understand as appears from Neh. 8. 2 3. and thy stranger o i. e. The Proselytes though others also were admitted that is within thy gates that they may hear and that they may learn p That they may then certainly and constantly do so though they had also other opportunities to do so as upon the Sabbath-days Act. 15. 21. and other solemn feasts yea even in their private houses and fear the LORD your God and observe to do all the words of this law 13 And that their children which have not known any thing may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it 14 And the LORD said unto Moses Behold thy dayes approach that thou must die call Joshua and present your selves in the tabernacle q Either properly so called for though the Priests onely might ordinarily enter there yet others might go in upon a call and command from God which here they had or in the court of the Tabernacle at the door of which God stood in the cloudy pillar v. 15. the Court coming here under the name of the Tabernacle as elsewhere it comes under the name of the Temple of the congregation that * Num. 27. 19. I may give him a charge r Immediately from my self for his greater encouragement and to gain him more authority with the people And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation 15 And * Exod. 33. 9. the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle 16 And the LORD said unto Moses Behold thou shalt †Heb. lie down sleep s The death of men both good and bad is oft called a sleep because they shall certainly awake out of it by resurrection See Psal. 76. 5. Dan. 12. 2. 1 Thess. 4. 13 c. 2 Pet. 3. 4. with thy fathers and this people will rise up and go a whoring t God certainly foresees all things to come yea even those which depend upon the wills of men or contingencies of the things as this unquestionably did after the gods of the strangers of the land u i. e. Of the Canaanites who now are possessours but shortly will be turned out of their possessions and become as strangers in their own land This aggravates their folly to worship such Gods as could neither preserve their friends nor annoy their enemies whither they go to be amongst them and will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them 17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day and I will forsake them and I will * Psal. 104. 29. hide my face x i. e. Withdraw my favour and help from them and they shall be devoured and many evils and troubles shall befall †Heb. 〈◊〉 them so that they will say in that day Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not amongst us 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought in that they are turned unto other gods 19 Now therefore write ye this song y Which is contained Deut. 32. and is put into a song that it be better learned and more fixed in their minds and memories for you and teach it the children of Israel put it in their mouths z Cause them to learn it and sing it one to another to oblige them to more circumspection and watchfulness that this song may be a witness for me a Of my kindness in giving them so many blessings of my patience in bearing so long with them of my clemency in giving them such fair and plain warnings and my justice in punishing such an unthankful perverse and incorrigible people against the children of Israel 20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers that floweth with milk and honey and they shall have eaten and filled themselves and waxen fat * chap. 6. 10 c and 8. 10. and 32. 15. then will they turn unto other gods and serve them and provoke me and break my covenant 21 And it shall come to pass when many evils and troubles are befallen them that this song shall testifie †Heb. before against them as a witness for it shall not be forgotten b This seems not to be a precept that they should remember it but a prediction that God would give them sad occasion to remember it by bringing upon them the dreadful calamities mentioned in it out of the mouths of their seed
for all the rest He stood in the East and saw also Gilead which was in the Eastern part of the land and thence he saw the North and South and west and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh and all the land of Judah unto the utmost sea f i. e. The midland Sea which was the utmost bound of the land of promise on the west 3 And the south g i. e. The south quarter of the land of Iudah which is towards the salt sea which is described Num. 34. 3 4 5. Ios. 15. 1 2 3 4. as the western quarter of Iudah was described in the words next foregoing and the plain of the valley of Jericho h Or in which lies Iericho which was in the Tribe of Benjamin the city of palm-trees i i. e. Iericho so called both here and Iudg. 1. 16. and 3. 13. 2 Chron. 28. 15. from the multitude of Palm-trees which were in those parts as Iosephus and Straâ—… write From whence and the balm there growing it was called Iericho which signifies odoriserous or sweet smelling unto Zoar. 4 And the LORD said unto him * Gen. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 13. 1â—… This is the land which I sware unto Abraham unto Isaac and unto Jacob saying I will give it unto thy seed I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes k To wit by a miraculous power strengthning thy sight or making a clear representation of all these parts to thy view but thou shalt not go over thither 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab l i. e. In the land which Israel took from the Amorites which antiently was the land of Moab according to the word of the LORD 6 And he m i. e. The Lord last mentioned buried him either immediately or by the ministery of Angels whereof Michael was the Chief or Prince Iude ver 9. buryed him in a valley in the land of Moab over-against Beth-Peor but no man knoweth of his sepulchre n i. e Of the particular place of the Valley where he was buried which God hid from the Israelites to prevent their Superstition and Idolatry to which he knew their great proneness And for this very reason the Devil endeavoured to have it known and contended with Michael about it Iude ver 9. And seeing God would not endure the worship of the Relicks or Tomb of so eminent a person as Moses was it is ridiculous to think God would permit this honour to be given to any of the succeeding Saints who were so far inferiour to him unto this day 7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died his eye was not diâ—… nor his †Heb. 〈◊〉 natural force †Heb. 〈◊〉 abated o By a miraculous work of God in mercy to his Church and people 8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty dayes p Which was the usual time of mourning for persons of high place and eminency See Gen. 50. 3 10. Num. 20. 29. For others seven days sufficed so the dayes of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended 9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom q And other gifts and graces too as appears from the History but Wisdom is mentioned as being most necessary for the Government to which he was now called for Moses had laid his hands upon him r Which God had appointed as a sign to Moses and Ioshua and the Israelites that this was the person whom he had appointed and qualified for his great work See Numb 27. 18 c. compare Gen. 48. 10. Numb 8. 10. and the children of Israel hearkned unto him and did as the LORD commanded Moses 10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses s In the priviledges here following whom the LORD knew face to face t i. e. Whom God did so freely and familiarly and frequently converse with See on Exod. 33. 11. Numb 12. 8. Deut. 5. 4. 11 In all the signs u This is to be joyned either 1. with the words immediately foregoing as an eminent instance wherein God did know or acknowledge and own or converse so familiarly with Moses namely in the working of all his signs and wonders in Egypt where God spake to him so oft and sometimes even in Pharaohs presence and answered his requests so particularly and punctually whether he called for vengeance or for deliverance Or 2. With the more remote words there was none like unto Moses in regard of all the signs c. the words whom the Lord knew face to face coming in by way of parenthesis and the wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land 12 And in all that mighty hand and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel JOSHUA The ARGUMENT IT is not material to know who was the Pen-man of this Book whether Joshua as seems most probable from Chap. 24. 26. or some other holy Prophet It is sufficient that this Book was a part of the Holy Scriptures or Oracles of God committed to and carefully kept by the Jews and by them faithfully delivered to us as appears by the concurring Testimony of Christ and his Apostles who owned and approved of the same Holy Scriptures which the Church of the Jews did But this is certain that divers Passages in this Book were put into it after Joshua's death as Josh. 10. 13. compared with 2 Sam. 1. 18. and Josh. 19. 47. compared with Judg. 18. 1. and Josh. 24. 29 30. And such like Insertions have been observed in the five Books of Moses CHAP. I. NOW after the death of Moses a Either immediately after it or when the days of mourning for Moses were expired Ioshua was appointed and declared Moses his Successor in the Government before this time and therefore doubtless entred upon the Government instantly after his death and here he receives confirmation from God therein the servant of the LORD b This title is given to Moses here and v. 2. as also Deut. 34. 5. and is oft repeated not without cause partly to reflect Honour upon him partly to give Authority to his Laws and Writings in publishing whereof he only acted as Gods Servant in his name and stead and partly that the Israelites might not think of Moses above what was meet remembring that he was not the Lord himself but only the Lords Servant and therefore not to be worshipped nor yet to be too pertinaceously followed in all his Institutions when the Lord himself should come and abolish part of the Mosaical Dispensation it being but reasonable that he who was only a Servant in Gods house should give place to him who was the Son and Heir and Lord of it as Christ was See Heb. 3. 3 5
wroth with the whole congregation of Israel s With you for doing so and with us for suffering or not punishing it 19 Notwithstanding if the land of your possession be unclean t If you apprehend it to be so for want of the Tabernacle and Altar there as the following words imply if you now repent of your former choice in preferring the worldly commodities of that Country before the advantage of Gods presence and favour and more frequent opportunities of his Service then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD wherein the LORD's tabernacle dwelleth and take possession among us u We will readily resign part of our possessions to you for the prevention of this sin and mischief wherein they shew great zeal for Gods honour and great pity and charity to their Brethren but rebel not against the LORD nor rebel against us in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God u For all the tribes were united in one Body Politick and made one Commonwealth and one Church and each Tribe was subject to the Laws and Commands of the whole Society and of the Chief Ruler or Rulers thereof so its disobedience to their just commands was properly Rebellion against them 20 ‡ Chap. 7. 1 5. Did not Achan the son of Zerah x i. e. One of his Posterity Ios. 7. 17 18. commit a trespass in the accursed thing and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel and that man perished not alone y But brought destruction upon his whole Family and part of our Forces sent against Ai. in his iniquity z Or for his sin of which see Ios. 7. 24. 21 Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel a Either First properly each was a Governour of a thousand for there were among them divers Rulers some of Tens some of Hundreds and some of Thousands or rather Secondly improperly and indefinitely i. e. of the People of Israel which consist of so many Thousands more than you whose Authority therefore you owe a reverence to For by comparing v. 14. these seem to be greater Persons than those that were Rulers of thousands 22 The LORD God of gods b That Iehovah whom we no less than you acknowledge and adore as the God of gods infinitely superiour to all that are called Gods The multiplying of his Titles and the repetition of these words shew their zeal and earnestness in this matter and their abhorrency of the very thoughts of it the Lord God of gods he knoweth c To him we appeal who knoweth all things and the truth of what we are now saying and Israel he shall know if it be d Not onely our present words but our future and constant course shall satisfie all Israel of our perseverance in the true Religion d If this have been done by us with such design or in such a manner in rebellion or if in transgression against the LORD save us not this day e Thou O Lord to whom we have appealed and without whom we cannot be saved or preserved save us not from any of our Enemies nor from the Sword of our Brethren It is a sudden Apostrophe to God usual in such vehement speeches 23 That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD or if to offer thereon burnt-offering or meat-offering or if to offer peace-offerings thereon let the LORD himself require it f i. e. Call us to an account and punish us for it as that Phrase is oft used as Deut. 18. 19. 1 Sam. 20. 16. Iob 10. 6. Psal. 10. 13. 24 And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing saying ‡ Heb. tomorrow In time to come your children might speak unto our children saying What have ye to do with the LORD g You have no relation to him nor interest in him or his Worship God of Israel 25 For the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and you h To shut you out of the Land of Promise and consequently from the Covenant made between God and our fathers ye children of Reuben and Children of Gad ye have no part in the LORD i Nothing to do with him no right to serve him or expect favour from him See the like Phrase 2 Sam. 20. 1. Ezra 4. 8. Ioh. 13. 3. so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD 26 Therefore we said Let us now prepare to build an altar not for burnt-offering nor for sacrifice 27 But that it may be * Gen. 31. 48. Chap. 24. 27. vers 34. a witness between us and you and our generations after us that we might do the service of the LORD before him k That we and ours may have and hold our Priviledge of serving and worshipping God not upon this Altar but in the place of Gods presence in your Tabernacle and upon your Altar with our burnt-offerings and with our sacrifices and with our peace-offerings that your children may not say to our children in time to come Ye have no part in the LORD 28 Therefore said we That it shall be when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come that we may say again Behold the pattern l An exact representation and resemblance of the Altar of the LORD which our fathers made not for burnt-offerings nor for sacrifices but it is a witness between us and you m That we both serve one God and approve and make use of one and the same Altar 29 God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD and turn this day from following the LORD to build an altar for burnt-offerings for meat-offerings or for sacrifices besides the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle 30 And when Phinehas the priest and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him heard the words that the Children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake Heb. it was 〈◊〉 in their eyes it pleased them n They were fully satisfied with this answer 31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad and to the children of Manasseh This day we perceive that the LORD is among us o By his gracious presence and preventing goodness in keeping you from so great an offence and all of us from those dismal calamities that would have followed upon it because ye have not committed this trespass against the LORD ‡ Heb. then now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD p i. e. From the Wrath and dreadful Judgments of God by avoiding that Sin which would have involved both you and
a whoring after it l Committing Superstition or Idolatry with it or going thither to enquire the Will of God whereby they were drawn from the true Ephod instituted by God for this end which was to be worn by the High-Priest onely which thing became a snare m An occasion of Sin and Ruine to him and his as the next Chapter sheweth Though Gideon was a good man and did this with an honest mind and a desire to set up Religion in his own City and Family yet here seems to be many Sins in it 1. Superstition and Will-worship Worshipping God by a device of his own which was frequently and expresly forbidden 2. Presumption in wearing or causing other Priests to wear this kind of Ephod which was peculiar to the High-Priest 3. Transgression of a plain Command of Worshipping God ordinarily but at one place and one Altar Deut. 12. 5 11 14. and withdrawing people from that place to his 4. Making a fearful Schism or Division among the People 5. Laying a Stumbling-Block or an occasion of Superstition or Idolatry before that people whom he knew to be too prone to it unto Gideon and to his house 28 ¶ Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel so that they lifted up their head no more n i. e. Recovered not their former Strength or Courage so as to Conquer or Oppress others as they had done and the countrey was in quietness forty years o i. e. To the fortieth year from the beginning of the Midianitish Oppression see on Iudg. 3. 11. in the days of Gideon p i. e. As long as Gideon lived 29 ¶ And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house q Not in his Fathers House as he did before nor yet in a Court like a King as the People desired but in a middle state as a Judge for the preservation and maintenance of their Religion and Liberties 30 And Gideon had threescore and ten sons ‡ Heb. going out of his thigh of his body begotten for he had many wives 31 And his concubine that was in Shechem r She dwelt there and he oft came thither either to execute Judgment or upon other occasions she also bare him a son whose name he ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 called Abimelech s i. e. My Father the King so he called him probably to gratify his Concubine who desired it either out of Pride or Design 32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age t His long Life being Crowned with the continuance of his Honour Tranquility and Happiness and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrite 33 And it came to pass as soon as Gideon was dead that the children of Israel turned again u Whereby we see the Wicked temper of this people who did no longer cleave to God than they were in a manner constrained to it by the Presence and Authority of their Judges and went a whoring after Baalim x This was the general name including all their Idols whereof one here follows and made Baal-berith y i. e. The Lord of the Covenant so called either from the Covenant wherewith the Worshippers of this God bound themselves to maintain his Worship or to defend one another therein or rather because he was reputed the God and Judg of all Covenants and Promises and Contracts to whom it belonged to maintain them and to punish the violaters of them and such a God both the Grecians and the Romans had their god 34 And the children of Israel remembred not the LORD their God who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side 35 Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal namely Gideon according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel CHAP. IX ANâ—… Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his * Chap. â—… â—… mothers brethren and communed with them and with all the family of the house of his mothers father saying 2 Speak I pray you in the ears of all the men of Shechem ‡ What is good whether c. Whether is better for you either that all the sons of Jerubbaal which are threescore and ten persons reign over you a He supposeth that they would take that Government which their Father modestly refused and that the multitude of his Sons would occasion horrible Divisions and Confusions and Contests about the Sovereign Power all which they might avoid by chusing him King and so they might enjoy the Monarchy which they had long and oft desired or that one reign over you Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh b Your Kinsman of the same Tribe and City with you which will be no small Honour and Advantage to you 3 And his mothers brethren c i. e. Kinsmen as that word is oft used as Gen. 14. 16. and 29. 12. spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words and their hearts inclined ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 to follow Abimelech for they said He is our brother d They were easily perswaded to believe and follow what served their own Interest 4 And they gave him threescore and ten e Agreeably to the number of his Enemies Gideon's 70 Sons pieces of silver f Not Shekels as some fancy which were too small a Sum for this purpose but far larger pieces the exact worth whereof it is neither possible nor needful for us now to know out of the house of Baal-berith g Out of his Sacred Treasury for even they who were very parsimonious and base in their Expences about Gods Service were liberal in their Contributions to Idols having since Gideon's Death built this Temple which he would never have suffered whilest he lived and endowed it with considerable Revenues wherewith Abimelech hired * Chap. 11. â—… vain and light persons h Unsettled idle and necessitous persons the most proper Instruments for Tyranny and Cruelty which followed him 5 And he went unto his fathers house at Ophrah and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal i The onely persons who were likely to hinder him in establishing his Tyranny being threescore and ten persons k Wanting one who is here expressed And these Synecdochical expressions are frequent in Scripture See Gen. 35. 26. and 42. 13. Numb 14. 32 33. Ioh. 20. 24. 1 Cor. 15. 5. upon one stone l Whereby he would signifie that this was either 1. An act of Justice in cutting them all off in an orderly matter for some supposed Crime probably as designing Sedition and Rebellion Or 2. An act of Religion in avenging the dishonour and injury done to Baal by Gideon Iudg. 6. 27 28. upon his Children whom he offered up as so many Sacrifices to Baal upon this Stone which served for an Altar and for this reason it seems
the World upon them as burdens upon their shoulders See Isa. 9. 6. of the earth are the LORDS and he hath set the world upon them c Which the poor are said to embrace Lament 4. 5. 9 He * Psa. 91. 11. will keep the feet g i. e. The steps or paths their Counsels and Actions he will keep i. e. both uphold that they may not fall at least into Mischief or utter Ruine and direct and preserve from wandring and from those fatal Mistakes and Errors that Wicked Men daily run into of his saints and the wicked shall be ‡ Psa. 94. 17. silent h Shall be put to silence they who used to open their mouths wide against Heaven and against the Saints shall be so confounded with the unexpected disappointment of all their hopes and with Gods glorious appearance and operations for his People shall have their mouths quite stopped and sit down in silent Amazement and Consternation See Isa. 15. 1. Ier. 8. 14. and 47. 5 6. in darkness i Both inward in their own minds which are wholly in the dark perplexed by their own Choice and Counsels not knowing what to say or do and outward in a State of deepest distress and misery for by strength shall no man prevail k To wit against God or against his Saints as the wicked were confident they should do because of their great Power and Wealth and Numbers whereas Gods people were mean and impotent and helpless And particularly Peninnah shall not prevail against me by that strength which she hath or thinks to have from her numerous off-spring But it is to be observed that although Hannah takes the rise of this song from her own condition yet she extends her thoughts and words further even to the usual methods of Gods Providence in the Government of the World 10 The adversaries of the LORD l And of his People especially the Philistines who at this time were the chief Oppressors of Israel shall be broken to pieces m These and the following words are Prophetical of what God was about to do They who are now our Lords shall be subdued * Chap. 7. 1â—… out of heaven n i. e. Out of the Clouds or Air which is oft called Heaven shall be thunder upon them o As was done 1 Sam. 7. 10. the LORD shall judge p i. e. Shall condemn and punish as that Verb by a Synecdoche is oft used the ends of the earth q Or of the land to wit the Philistines who dwelt in the utmost borders of Canaan even upon the Sea-coast and he shall give strength unto his king r Either 1. Unto the Judge or Ruler whom he shall set up for the Protection and Deliverance of his People the word King being elsewhere so taken Or 2. The King properly so called And so she Prophecieth That Israel should have a King and that there should be a great difference between King and King between the Peoples King Saul whom they would obstinately and passionately desire by whom therefore they should have but little relief and Gods King David whom God would Chuse as a man after his own Heart and whom he would strengthen and assist so as by his hands to break all his Enemies to pieces and * 〈◊〉 89. 24. exalt the horn s i. e. Increase or advance the strength of his anointed t i. e. Of his King The same thing repeated in other Words Although it may have a Mystical sense and respect to Christ the singular Anointed one of God and the special King of his People whom all their other Kings did Typifie and Represent and from whom they received Authority and Power 11 And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house and the child did minister unto the LORD u In some way agreeable to his tender years as in Singing or playing upon Instruments of Musick as they used then to do in Gods Service or lighting the Lamps or some other way For I suppose Samuel was not brought to the Tabernacle in such tender years as some think of which see on 1 Sam. 1. 22. i. e. Under the inspection and by the direction and instruction of Eli. before Eli the Priest x. 12 ¶ Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial they knew not y To wit practically i. e. They did not acknowledge honour regard love or serve God for so words of knowledge are commonly used in Scripture see Rom. 1. 28. 1 Cor. 15. 34. Tit. 1. 16. the LORD 13 And the priests * Chap. 8. custome with the people was that when any man offered z i. e. Presented it to the Lord to be offered by the Priest sacrifice the priests servant came while the flesh was in seething a For as the Lords part of the Peace-offerings was burnt upon the Altar so the Priests and offerers parts were to be sodden with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand 14 And he strook it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot all that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took for himself b Not contented with the Breast and Shoulder which were allotted them by God Exod. 29. 27 28. Levit. 7. 31 c. They took also part of the offerers share and besides they snatched their part before it was heaved and waved contrary to Levit. 7. 34. so they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither 15 Also before they burnt the fat c And the other parts to be burnt with it See Levit. 3. 3 4 9. and 7. 31. So this was an additional injury for lest the fork should mistake and injure them they took such parts as they best liked whilest it was raw when it might be better discerned the priests servant came and said to the man that sacrificed Give flesh to roste for the priest for he will not have sodden flesh of thee but raw 16 And if any man said unto him Let them not fail to burn the fat ‡ Heb. as on the day presently and then take as much as thy soul desireth d We are content to relinquish our parts to thee onely let not God he wronged of his due then he would answer him Nay but thou shalt give it me now and if not I will take it by force 17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great e Because they violently took away both Mans and Gods Dues and this before their time and that with manifest contempt of God and Men and all this meerly for the gratifying of their sensual Appetite before the LORD f i. e. Even in the place of Gods special presence where he saw and observed all their miscarriages which argues the height of impiety and impudence for men abhorred the offering of the LORD g They neglected and abhorred the practise of carrying up Sacrifices to be 〈◊〉 â—…hich they knew would be so
and happiness of this People if they had had wit to know it or hearts to prize it And all the Infelicities of Israel under this kind of Government did not proceed from the Nature of the Government but from the ungovernableness and wickedness of the People which they might be sure would produce the same or greater Calamities under their Kingly Government Qu. First Did not God Reign over them when they had Kings Ans. Yes in a general way but not in such a peculiar manner as he did by the Judges who were generally raised and called by Gods particular Appoitnment Endowed and Sanctified by his Spirit directed and assisted by his special Providence upon all Emergencies whereas all things were for the most part contrary in their Kings Qu. Secondly Was it simply unlawful for the People to desire a King Ans. No as appears from Deut. 17. 14. but herein was their Sin That they desired it upon Sinful grounds of which see on v. 7. and in an Impetuous manner and at an unseasonable time and without asking Leave or Advice from God which in so weighty and difficult a Case they could not neglect without great Sin 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day wherewith they have forsaken me and served other gods so do they also unto thee p Thou farest no worse than my self This he speaks for Samuel's Comfort and Vindication 9 Now therefore ‖ Or obey hearken unto their voice ‖ Or notwithstanding when thou hast solemnly protested against them then thou shalt shew c. howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them q That if it be possible thou maist yet prevent their Sin and Misery and shew them the manner of the king r i. e. Of the Kings which they desire like the Kings of other Nations He speaks not of the just Authority or the right of their Kings but of their Practice as is evident from divers of the following particulars which are expresly forbidden and condemned in Scripture as we shall see that shall reign over them 10 ¶ And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king 11 And he said This will be * Chap 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the manner of the king that shall reign over you he * Chap 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will take your sons s To wit Inâ—…uriously and by Violence as this Hebrew word is oft used as Gen. 20. 3. and 27. 36. Iob 5. 5. and so it must be here because otherwise the King would have no more priviledge than any of his Subjects for any Man might take a Son with his own or Parents consent and appoint tâ—…m for himself for his charets and to be his horsmen t Or and for his Horses for so the Hebrew word Parosh sometimes signifies as Isa. 21. 7 9. and 28. 28. to ride his Horses and some shall run before his charets 12 And he will appoint him u Heb. To or for himself Emphatically i. e. for his own fancy or glory or conveniency or evil design and not only when the necessities of the Kingdom or Commonwealth require it as the Judges did And though this might seem to be no incumbrance as it is here represented but an honour and advantage to the Persons so advanced yet even in them that Honour was accompanied with great Dangers and Pernicious Snares of many kinds which those faint Shadows of Glory could not recompence and as to the publick their Pomp and Power proved very Burdensom and Oppressive to the People whose Lands and Fruits were taken from them and bestowed upon these for the support of their State as it follows below v. 14 15. captains over thousands and captains over fifties and will 〈◊〉 them to ear his ground and to reap his harvest x At his own pleasure and without their consent when possibly their own Fields required all their time and pains and to make his instruments of war and instruments of his charets y He will press them for all sorts of his work and that upon his own terms 13 And he will take your daughters z Which would be more grievous to their Parents and more dangerous to themselves because of the tenderness of that Sex and liableness to many injuries to be confectioners and to be cooks and to be bakers 14 And * 1 King 21. 7 he will take your fields a To wit by fraud or force as Ahab did from Naboth and your vineyards and your oliveyards even the best of them and give them to his servants b He will not only take the Fruits of your Lands for his own use but will take away your Possessions to give to his Servants 15 And he will take the tenth c Besides the several Tenths which God hath reserved for his Service and Servants he will when he pleaseth impose another Tenth upon you of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his ‡ Heb. Eunuchs officers d Heb. to his Eunuchs which may be properly understood and may imply a further injury that he should against the command of God make some of his People Eunuchs and take those into his Court and Favour which God would have cast out of the Congregation and to his servants 16 And he will take your men-servants and your maid-servants and your goodliest young men and your asses and put them to his work e By constraint and without sufficient recompence 17 He will take the tenth of your sheep and ye shall be his servants f i. e. He shall use you like Slaves and deprive you of that Liberty which you now enjoy 18 And ye shall cry out in that day g Ye shall bitterly mourn for the sad Effects of this inordinate desire of a King because of the king which ye shall have chosen you and the LORD will not hear you in that day h Because you will not hear him nor obey his Counsel in this Day Compare Prov. 1. 24 c. Zech. 7. 13. 19 ¶ Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel and they said Nay i i. e. These things shall never be these are but vain Suppositions to affright us from our purpose Thus they are not ashamed ot give Samuel the lye of whose Modesty Integrity and Prophetical Spirit they had so great assurance as if he had feigned those pretences meerly to keep the power in his own and his Sons hands but there shall be a king over us k We will have a King whatsover it cost us although all thy Predictions should be verified 20 That we also may be like all the nations l Woful Stupidity Whereas it was their Glory and Happiness that they were unlike all other Nations Numb 23. 9. Deut. 33. 23. as in other Glorious Priviledges so especially in this That the
time this Particle being used in some Latitude as is frequent for that this happened before and was the occasion of their desire of a King may seem from chap. 12. 12. Although it is possible that Nahash his preparation and declared intention of Warring against them might cause that desire and that Nahash did not actually come against them which is here related till their King was chosen Nahash the Ammonite b Either the same with him 2 Sam. 10. 2. or his Father and Predecessor came up c To War probably to revenge and recover their former great loss by Iephthah Iudg. 11. 33. and encamped against Jabesh-gilead d Which was beyond Iordan and near the Ammonites who dwelt in part of Arabia and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash Make a covenant with us e To wit upon good conditions so as we shall enjoy our Religion and Properties and we will serve thee f In other things we will be thy Subjects and Tributaties The occasion of this offer was that they saw no likelihood of relief from their brethren the Israelites in Canaan who were remote from them and then weak and divided and scarce able to defend themselves from the Philistines 2 And Nahash the Ammonite answered them On this condition will I ‡ Hebr. 〈◊〉 See Exod. 〈◊〉 32. Gen. 1â—… 18. Jer. 34. 1â—… make a covenant with you that I may thrust out all your right eyes g Partly for a Reproach as it here follows and partly to disable them from managing offensive weapons in Battel for their left Eye served onely or chiefly for Defence being covered by those large shields which then they used and held in their left hand He leaves them one Eye that they might be fit to serve him in any mean and base office and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel 3 And the elders of Jabesh said unto him ‡ Hebr. 〈◊〉 us Give us seven days respite h Which it is very probable and Iosephus and others Affirm That Nahash granted out of a foolish self-confidence and contempt of the broken condition of the Israelites which he thought utterly unable to give them any relief at least in so short a time that we may send Messengers unto all the coasts of Israel and then if there be no man to save us we will come out to thee 4 ¶ Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul i Partly because it was not far from them and partly because it belonged to the Benjamites who had a special obligation to take more care of that place from whence they had their Wives Iudg. 21. 10 c. And partly because Saul their new chosen King was there and told the tidings in the ears of the people and all the people lift up their voices and wept k Both in compassion towards them and for fear of themselves lest it should shortly be their own lot 5 And behold Saul came after the herd out of the field l For being onely Anointed King and not publickly inaugurated nor owned nor presented by the generality of the People nor having yet had any opportunity of doing any thing worthy of his Place he thought sit to forbear all Royal State and to retire to his former private and Country Life which howsoever despised in these latter vain ambitious and slothful Ages of the World was anciently in great esteem among the Greeks and Romans whose Princes and Generals did frequently exercise themselves in it Though some conceive that he now lived in some State and that he had been in the fields onely to recreate himself and that his coming after the Herd was but accidental and is mentioned onely to usher in what follows of the Yoke of Oxen. and Saul said What aileth the people that they weep and they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh 6 And the Spirit of God came upon Saul m Inspiring him suddenly with more than ordinary Courage and Zeal and Resolution to ingage himself and the people for their Rescue Compare Iudg. 3. 10. and 6. 34. and 11. 29. when he heard those tidings and his anger was kindled greatly n Against Nahash for so insolent and barbarous a Proposition 7 And he took a yoke of Oxen and hewed them in pieces and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel o Wisely considering that the sight of Mens Eyes do much more affect their Hearts than what they onely hear with their Ears by the hand of Messengers saying Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel p Whom he joyns with himself both because he was present with him as appears from v. 12. and that hereby he might gain the more Authority to his Command and strike the greater Terror into all despisers of it so shall it be done unto his oxen and the fear of the LORD q Either 1. A great fear great things being oft thus expressed as Cedars of God Mountains of God c. Or 2. A Fear sent upon them by God as Gen. 35. 5. that they should not dare to deny their help fell on the people and they came out ‡ Hebr. as one 〈◊〉 with one consent 8 And when he numbred them in Bezek the children of Israel were three hundred thousand r This great Terror drew so many forth which is not so strange to him that knows what none deny That the Land of Canaan contained vast Numbers of People in a little compass and the men of Judah thirty thousand s Who are numbred apart to their honour to shew how readily they to whom the Kingdom was promised Gen. 49. 10. submitted to their King though of another and far meaner Tribe and how willing they were to hazard themselves for their Brethrens Rescue although they might have excused themselves from the necessity of defending their own Country from their dangerous Neighbours the Philistines 9 And they said unto the messengers that came Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead To morrow t To wit the day after your departure hence or return home for it seems probable that some few days had been spent in the gathering and disposing of the Forces and bringing them towards those parts by that time the sun be hot ye shall have ‖ Or deliverance help And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh and they were glad 10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said To morrow we will come out unto you and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you u They did and might reasonably and justly understand their own condition before proposed v. 3. if none came to save them which they were not now obliged to repeat although they conjectured that their Enemies would understand it absolutely whose Error therein they were no more obliged to Correct than to prevent their Destruction Nor did they tell any lye herein but onely
would punish them for no fault we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered save to every man his wife and his children that they may lead them away and depart 23 Then said David Ye shall not do so my brethren f He useth his Power and Authority to over-rule them but manageth it with all sweetness calling them Brethren not onely as of the same Nation and Religion with him but as his fellow-Soldiers with that which the LORD hath given us g What he hath freely imparted to us we should not unkindly and injuriously with-hold from our Brethren who hath preserved us and delivered the company that came against us into our hand 24 For who will hearken unto you in this matter h What wise or just man will be of your opinion in this matter but * â—…ee Num. 31. as his part is that goeth down to the battel so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff they shall part alike i A prudent and equitable Constitution and therefore practised by the Romans as Polybius and others note The Reason of it is manifest because they were exposed to hazards as well as their Brethren and were a Reserve to whom they might retreat in case of a Defeat and they were now in actual Service and in the station in which their General had placed them 25 And it was so from that day ‡ Heb. and forward that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day 26 ¶ And when David came to Ziâ—…lag he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah k Partly in gratitude for their former favour to him and partly in Policy to engage their Affections to him now when he apprehended Saul's Death near even to his friends saying Behold a ‡ Heb. blessing present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD l He intimates that though he was fled to the Philistines yet he imployed not his Forces against the Israelites as no doubt Saul's Courtiers and Soldiers reported that he designed but onely against Gods Enemies 27 To them which were in Bethâ—…el m In Kiriath-jearim where the Ark was 1 Sam. 10. 3. and to them which were in * Iesh 19. 8. south-Ramoth n A City in the Tribe of Simeon Jos. 19. 8. so called by way of distinction from Ramoth in Gilead which was more Northward 1 King 22. 12. and to them which were in Jatter o Of which see Ios. 15. 48. 28 And to them which were in Aroer p Not that beyond Iordan Numb 32. 34. as many think which was too remote from David but another Place of that Name in Iudah where the rest of the Places here named were This being one of those places where David and his men were wont to haunt as is expressed v. 31. and to them which were in Siphmoth and to them which were in Eshtemoa 29 And to them which were in Rhachal and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites 30 And to them which were in Hormah and to them which were in Chor-ashan and to them which were in Athach 31 And to them which were in Hebron and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt q Or to go Whither they used to resort in the time of Saul's Persecution either to hide themselves in some of their Territories or to get Provision from thence CHAP. XXXI NOW * 1 Chron. 10. 1. the Philistines fought against Israel a Whilest David was Ingaged against the Amalekites So he returns to the History which had been interrupted to give an account of David's concerns and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell down ‖ Or wounded slain in mount Gilboa 2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons and the Philistines slew * 1 Chro. 8. 33. Jonathan b David's dear friend God so ordering it for the further exercise of David's Faith and Patience and that David might depend upon God alone for his Crown and receive it solely from him and not from Ionathan who doubtless had he lived would have speedily settled the Crown upon David's Head which would have in some sort Eclipsed the Glory of God's Grace and Power in this Work There was also a special Providence of God in taking away Ionathan who of all Saul's Sons seems to have been the fairest for the Crown for the preventing Divisions which have happened amongst the People concerning the Successor David's way to the Crown being by this means made the more clear and Abinadab c Called also Ishui 1 Sam. 14. 49. Ishbosheth was not here being possibly at home for the management of Publick Affairs there and Malchishua Sauls sons 3 And the battel went sore against Saul and the ‡ Heb. shooters men with bows archers ‡ Heb. found him hit him and he was sore wounded of the archers 4 Then said Saul unto his armour-bearer Draw thy sword and thrust me through therewith lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and ‖ Or mock me abuse me d Lest they take me and put me to some shameful and cruel Death But his armour-bearer would not for he was sore afraid therefore Saul took a sword and fell upon it e And died of the Wound as it follows 5 And when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead he fell likewise upon his sword and died with him 6 So Saul died with his three sons and his armour-bearer and all his men that same day together 7 ¶ And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley f To wit the Valley of Iezreel where the Battel was Fought and they that were on the other side Jordan g Or rather on this side Iordan for these were in the most danger and the Hebrew Preposition is indifferently used for on this side or for beyond saw that the men of Israel fled and that Saul and his sons were dead they forsook the cities and fled and the Philistines came and dwelt in them 8 And it came to pass on the morrow when the Philistines came to strip the slain that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa 9 And they cut off his head h As the Israelites did by Goliah and stripped off his armour and sent into the land of the Philistines round about to publish it in the house of their idols i To give them the glory of this Victory and among the people 10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth and they fastned his body to the wall of Beth-shan 11 ¶ And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead k Which was beyond Iordan for the people on this side Iordan were fled from their Cities as was
really execute what he supposed as yet he onely threatned because he feared him n As having a greater interest in and power with both the Army and the rest of the people than himself had 12 ¶ And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf o Who in his name and stead might treat with David concerning his Reconciliation with him Thus God over-rules the Lusts and Passions of wicked Men to accomplish his own Wise and Holy purposes And who then dare contend with that God who makes even his Enemies to do his work and destroy themselves saying Whose is the land p To whom doth this whole Land belong but to thee Is it not thine by Divine right Saul's Son is but an Usurper thou onely art the rightful owner saying also Make thy league with me q That thou wiltst pardon all past offences to me and to all Israel and thou wiltst receive me into thy grace and favour and behold my hand shall be with thee to bring about all Israel unto thee 13 ¶ And he said Well I will make a league with thee r To wit upon thy terms which all circumstances considered seems to be lawful to prevent the great effusion of Israelitish Blood which otherwise would certainly have been spilt And although the principle of this action of Abner's was base and wicked yet the action it self was Lawful and Commendable and no more than his Duty to God and David obliged him to and therefore David might well persuade and induce him to it but one thing I require of thee ‡ Heb. saying that is Thou shalt not see my face except thou first bring Michal Sauls daughter when thou comest to see my face 14 And David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth Sauls son s Whose consent was necessary both to take her away from her present Husband and to persuade her to return to David Hereby also David opened to him also a door of hope for his Reconciliation lest being desperate he should hinder Abner in his present design saying Deliver me my wife Michal t Who though she was taken from me by force and constrained to marry another 1 Sam. 25. 44. yet is indeed my rightful Wife Her David demands partly for the affection he formerly had and still retained to her partly to deliver her from the sin and reproach of Adultery with another Man who was not in truth and justice her Husband though he was so called and accounted and partly upon a politick consideration that she might strengthen his Right and Title to the Kingdom which I espoused to me * 1 Sam. 18. 25 27. for an hundred fore-skins of the Philistines 15 And Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband u For being forsaken by Abner he durst not deny David into whose power he saw he must unavoidably come and besides he supposed that she might be an effectual instrument to make his peace with David even from * 1 Sam. 25. 44. Phaltâ—… Phaltiel the son of Laish 16 And her husband went with her ‡ Heb. going and weeping along weeping behind her to Bahurim x A City of Benjamin upon the Borders of Iudah See 2 Sam. 19. 16. 1 King 2. 8. then said Abner unto him Go return And he returned 17 ¶ And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel saying Ye sought for David ‡ Heb. both yesterday and the third 〈◊〉 in times past to be king over you y Even in Saul's time you highly honoured him and prized his conduct and wished that the power were in his hands and great numbers of you went to him when he was in the Hold 1 Chron. 12. And after Saul's death you would gladly have advanced him to the Crown if your respect to Saul's Family together with my Authority and Influence had not diverted you 18 Now then do it z You shall have my free consent and utmost assistance in procuring it for the LORD hath spoken of David a He wickedly pretends Religion when he intended nothing but the satisfaction of his own pride and malice and fury against Ishbosheth saying By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines and out of the hand of all their enemies b It is very probable God spake these words but undoubtedly he spake the same sense by Samuel though it be not expressed before 19 And Abner also spake in the ears of Benjamin c To these he particularly applies himself because they might be thought most kind to Saul and his House and most loth to let the Kingdom go out of their own Tribe and therefore it was necessary that he should use all his art and power with them to persuade them to a compliance with his design and besides they were a Valiant Tribe and bordering upon Iudah and situate between them and the other Tribes and therefore the winning of them would be of mighty concernment to bring in all the rest and Abner went also to speak in the ears of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and that seemed good to the whole house of Benjamin 20 So Abner came to David to Hebron and twenty men with him and David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast d Which in those times was customary when Persons entred into Covenant See Gen. 26. 30. and 31. 44 46. 21 And Abner said unto David I will arise and go and will gather all Israel e i. e. The Elders and Chieftains of all Israel Representing and Ruling all the rest unto my lord the king that they may make a league with thee and that thou mayest reign over all that thy heart desireth And David sent Abner away and he went in peace 22 ¶ And behold the servants of David and Joab came from pursuing a troop f Of Robbers either Philistines or Edomites or some others who taking advantage of the discord between the Houses of Saul and David made inroads into Iudah as they had occasion and brought in a great spoil with them but Abner was not with David in Hebron for he had sent him away and he was gone in peace 23 When Joab and all the host that was with him were come they told Joab saying Abner the son of Ner came to the king and he hath sent him away and he is gone in peace 24 Then Joab came to the king and said What hast thou done g Thou hast committed a great oversight to dismiss so dangerous and mischievous a Person when he was in thy hands behold Abner came unto thee why is it that thou hast sent him away and he is quite gone 25 Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner that he came to deceive thee and to know thy going out and thy coming in h To search out thy counsels and secret designs and to make use of them against thee
Come in thou wife of Jeroboam i By which discovery he both reproves their folly who thought to conceal themselves or their designs from that God from whom they expected and desired the discovery of the most secret things and withal gives her assurance of the truth and certainty of that message which he was to deliver why feignest thou thy self to be another for I am sent to thee with ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 heavy tidings 7 Go tell Jeroboam Thus saith the LORD God of Israel Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people and made thee prince over my people k For so they were when Ieroboam was first set over them Israel 8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it thee and yet thou hast not been as my servant David l Who though he fell into some sins yet first he constantly persevered in the True Worship of God from which thou art revolted Secondly He heartily repented of and turned from all his sins whereas thou art obstinate and incorrigible who kept my commandments and who followed me with all his heart to do that onely which was right in mine eyes 9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee m Above all the former Kings of my People as Saul and Solomon and Rehoboam for thou hast gone and made thee other gods and molten images n Or other Gods to wit for so and oft signifies among the Hebrews as hath been formerly noted molten images namely the Golden Calves which he calls other gods not as if the Israelites esteemed the Calves made of their own Gold to be gods indeed which it is incredible should find belief with any man in his wits especially with the whole Body of the Israelites who knew that the Ark and Cherubims though made by Gods special direction were not Gods but onely Pledges of Gods presence c. Nor as if they thought them to be other gods in a strict and proper sense for it is apparent that they still pretended to Worship the God of their Fathers as the Iews at Ierusalem did though in a differing manner but onely because God rejected their whole Worship and howsoever they called or accounted it he reckoned it a manifest defection from him and a betaking of themselves to other gods or devils as they are called 2 Chron. 11. 15. by whose instigation they were led to such Idolatrous practises and whom alone they served and worshipped therein whatsoever pretences they had to the contrary to provoke me to anger o i. e. Whereby thou didst provoke me For otherwise this was not Ieroboam's design in it but onely to Establish himself in the Throne and hast cast me behind thy back p Despised and disregarded and forsaken me and my Commands and my Worship as we do things which we cast behind our backs 10 Therefore behold I * Chap. 15. 29. will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam * Chap. 21. 21. 2 King 9. 8. him that pisseth against the wall q Either so much as a Dog or any male Children Of which Phrase see the Notes on 1 Sam. 25. 22. and him that is shut up and left r Those who had escaped the fury of their Enemies invading them either because they were shut up in Caves or Castles or strong Towns or because they were left over-looked or neglected by them or spared as poor impotent helpless Creatures But now saith he They shall be all searched out and brought to destruction See more on Deut. 32. 36. in Israel and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam as a man taketh away dung s Which they remove as a loathsom thing out of their Houses and that thoroughly and universally till it be all gone 11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat t So both sorts shall die unburied for the LORD hath spoken it 12 Arise thou therefore get thee to thinâ—… own house and when thy feet enter into the city u Presently upon thy entrance into the City when thou art gone but a little way in it even as far as to the threshold of the Kings door v. 17. which possibly was near the Gates of the City And by the event of this branch judge of the Truth of the rest of my Prophecy the child shall die 13 And all Israel shall mourn for him x Either First For the loss of so worthy and hopeful a Person Or Secondly For the sad calamities which should follow his death which possibly his moderation and wisdom and vertue might have prevented whereof his death was a certain presage and evidence So they should mourn not simply for him but for their own loss in him and bury him for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave y Shall have the honour of Burial denied to the rest v. 11. because in him 2 Chr. 12. 12. and 19. 3. there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel z Some Pâ—…ous inclinations and intentions of taking away the Calves or of permitting or obliging his People to go up to Ierusalem to Worship if God gave him Life and Authority to do it and of trusting God with his Kingdom in that case in the house of Jeroboam a Which is added for his greater commendation he was good in the midst of so many temptations and wicked examples a good branch of a bad stock 14 Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king b Baasha chap. 15. 28. over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day c When he is so raised in the very beginning of his Reign chap. 15. 29. but what d But what do I say he shall raise as it were a thing to be done at a great distance of time he hath already raised him in some sort the man is now in being if not in power who shall do this this Judgment shall be shortly executed even now 15 For the LORD shall smite Israel e Because they obeyed Ieroboam's wicked command of Worshipping the Calves and that willingly Hos. 5. 11. as a reed is shaken in the water f Easily and variously hither and thither with every wind So shall the Kingdom and People of Israel be always in an unquiet and unsettled posture tossed to and fro by Foreign Invasions and Civil Wars by opposite Kings and Factions and by the dissentions of the People See 2 King 17. 18. and he shall * 2 Kin. 17. 23. root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers and shall scatter them beyond the river g To wit Euphrates oft so called by way of eminency as Gen. 15. 18. and 31. 21. 1 King 4. 21 24. This was accomplished in part 2 King
them o Which is not at all strange in them who had for a long time cast off the fear and sense of God and prostituted their Consciences and Religion to please their King and sold themselves to all manner of wickedness and could not now make a safe and honourable retreat and durst not disobey Iezabel's command by whom they knew the King was wholly governed and who could easily have taken away their Lives in the same manner if they had refused to kill Naboth and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them 12 They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth on high among the people 13 And there came in two men children of Belial and sat before him and the men of Belial witnessed against him even against Naboth in the presence of the people saying Naboth did ‡ Heb. bless So Gr. blaspheme God and the king Then they carried him forth out of the city and stoned * 2 Kin. 9. 26. him p And his Sons with him aâ—… it may be thought from 2 King 9. 26. that so the King might have an undisturbed possession for which they might pretend those examples Numb 16. 32. Ios. 7. 24. But these were examples of extraordinary vengeance and by special warrant from God and the Law of God was positively contrary to it Deut. 24. 16. with stones that he died 14 Then they sent to Jezebel q By whom they knew the Affairs of the Kingdom were managed and this Design contrived saying Naboth is stoned and is dead 15 ¶ And it came to pass when Jezebel heard that Naborth was stoned and was dead that Jezebel said to Ahab Arise take possession of the vineyard of Naboth r Either First By right of confiscation to repair the injury which he did to the King by blaspheming him Or Secondly By tyrannical Usurpation Or Thirdly By right of Inhesitanee for some say that Ahab was his next Kinsman his Sons being Dead which they judge more likely because his Land was next to the Kings the Jezreelite which he refused to give thee for money for Naboth is not alive but dead 16 And it came to pass when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it 17 ¶ And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite saying 18 Arise go down to meet Ahab king of Israel which is in Samaria s Either who now is there and about to depart thence to Iezreel or who commonly dwells there behold he is t Or rather he will be by that time that thou comest thither thou shalt find him there in the vineyard of Naboth whither he is gone down to possess it 19 And thou shalt speak unto him saying Thus saith the LORD Hast thou killed and also taken possession u Thou hast murdeâ—…ed an Innocent and Righteous man and instead of repenting for it thou hast added another piece of injustice and violence to it and art going confidently and chearfully to reap the Fruit of thy wickedness He ascribes Iezabel's Fact to Ahab because Iezabel did it by his Connivence and Consent and Authority and for the satisfaction of his inordinate Appetite And thou shalt speak unto him saying Thus saith the LORD â—…n the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood even thine x Quest. How was this fulfilled when Ahab's blood was not licked in Iezreel which was in the Tribe of Issachar but in the Pool of Samaria chap. 22. 38. which was in the Tribe of Ephraim Ans. First This was done though not in the same individual place yet in the same general place i. e. in the Territory of Samaria within which Iezreel was and in a place of the same nature a publick and common place for such was both the place of Naboth's Execution and the Pool of Samaria Secondly This was particularly accomplished in his Son Ioram as is affirmed 2 King 9. 25 26. whose blood is not improperly called Ahab's blood because Children are said to be born of their Parents blood See Ioh. 1. 13. Act. 17. 26. Obj. These words thy blood even thine shew that it is meant of Ahab's Person Ans. True the threatning was so directed and designed at first but afterwards upon his humiliation the punishment was transferred from him to his Son as is expressed ver 29. Obj. This is said to be fulfilled in Ahab's Person chap. 22. 38. Ans. Either that may be referred to some other Prediction or Commination not elsewhere mentioned or rather it intimates that it was in part and in some sort fulfilled in him though not so severely and opprobriously nor with such Characters of the Curse as it was in his Son whence he there mentions onely the thing without any regard unto the place here designed But it may further be observed That although upon Ahab's humiliation the Curse here threatned might seem to be wholly translated from his Person to his Posterity yet upon Ahab's return to sin in the next Chapter he brings back the Curse upon himself and so it is no wonder if it be in some sort fulfilled in him also Thirdly The Hebrew word rendred in the place where may be and is by some learned men otherwise rendred either thus Instead of this that that being frequently said to be done in anothers place which was onely done in his stead or like as or because that So it doth not design the place but the cause and reason of this Judgment And in this sense the same word is used Zech. 2. 10. 20 And Ahab said to Elijah y Upon and after his delivery of the message last mentioned which it was needless to repeat Hast thou found me z Dost thou pursue me from place to place Wiltst thou never let me rest Art thou come after me hither with thy unwelcome messages O mine enemy a That art always disturbing threatning and opposing me and expressing not so much Gods mind as thy own hatred and enmity against me Comp. ch 22. 8. And he answered I have found thee b The hand of God hath found and overtaken thee in the very act of thy sin because thou hast sold thy self c Thou hast wilfully and wholly resigned up thy self to be the bondslave of the Devil or Baal and of wicked Iezabel to do whatsoever they persuade thee to do as a man that sells himself to another is totally in his Masters Power and must employ all his time and strength for his service Compare 2 King 17. 17. See on Rom. 7. 14. to work evil in the sight of the LORD d i. e. Impudently and contemptuously Withal he minds him that although his sin was in a great measure hid from the eyes of men by Iezabel's cunning contrivance yet it was evident and known to God who would require it at his hands 21 Behold * Chap.
as it is expressed 2 Chron. 20. 36. and thenâ—…e 〈◊〉 Ophir as it here follows See more on 1 King 10. 〈◊〉 to go to Ophir d Of which See 1 King 9. 28. for gold but they went not for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber e Which was in Edom and consequently in Iehoshaphat's Territories 49 Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships but Jehoshaphat would not f Obj. It is said That he did joyn with Ahaziah herein 2 Chron. 20. 35 36. Answ. That was before this time and before the Ships were broken for the breaking of the Ships mentioned here ver 48. is noted to be the 〈◊〉 of his Sin in joyning with Ahaziah and of the 〈◊〉 consequent upon it 2 Chron. 20 37. And good 〈◊〉 being warned and chastised by God for this Sin 〈◊〉 not be perswaded to repeat it whereby he shewed the sincerity of his Repentance 50 ¶ And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead 51 ¶ Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat g By comparing this Verse with ver 41. it appears that Ahaziah was made King by his Father and Reigned in Conjunction with him a year or two before Ahab's Death and as long after it even as Iehoram the son of Iehoshaphat was made King by his Father in his Life-time as we shall see hereafter which possibly was done in compliance with Ahab's desire upon Marriage of his Daughter to Iehoshaphat's Son and it may be Ahab to induce and encourage him to do so gave him an Example of it and made his Son his Partner in the Kingdom king of Judah and reigned two years h Either after his Fathers Death or one before it and another after it over Israel 52 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam i Which Clause seems here added to shew how little the Authority and Example of Parents or Ancestors is to be valued where it is opposed to the Will and Word of God the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin 53 For he served Baal and worshipped him * By so 〈◊〉 and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel according to all that his father had done II. KINGS CHAP. I. THEN Moab a Which had been subdued by David 2 Sam. 8. 2. as Edom was and upon the division of this Kingdom into two Moab was adjoyned to that of Israel and Edom to that of Iudah each to that Kingdom upon which it bordered And when the Kingdoms of Israel and Iudah were weak and forsaken by God they took that opportunity to Revolt from them Moab here and Edom a little after it rebelled against Israel * Chap. 3. 5. after the death of Ahab 2 And Ahaziah fell down through a lattess in his upper chamber b In which the Lattess might be left to convey Light into the lower Room Which if it now seem absurd to be in a Kings Palace we must not think it was so then when the World was not arrived to that height of Curiosity and Art in which now it is But the words may be and are by some rendred through the Battlements or through the Lattess in the Battlements of the Roof of the House Where being first walking after the manner and then standing and looking through and leaning upon this Lattess which was grown infirm it broke and he fell down into the Court or Garden belonging to the House that was in Samaria and was sick and he sent messengers and said unto them Go inquire of Baal zebub c Properly the god of Flies An Idol so called because it was falsly supposed to deliver those people from Flies which were both vexatious and hurtful to them as Iupiter and Hercules were called by a like Name among the Grecians for the same reason And it is evident both from Sacred and Prophane Histories That the Idol-gods being consulted by the Heathens did sometimes through God's Permission and Just Judgment give them Answers though they were generally observed even by the Heathens themselves to be dark and doubtful the god of Ekron whether I shall ‡ Heb. live So 〈◊〉 recover of this disease 3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite Arise go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say unto them Is it not because there is not a God in Israel d Dost thou not by this action cast contempt upon the God of Israel as if he were either ignorant of the Event of thy Disease or unable to give thee any Relief and as if Baal-zebub had more Skill and Power than he that ye go to inquire of Baal zebub the god of Ekron 4 Now therefore e For this was a very hainous Crime to deny the Perfections of God and to transfer them to an Idol See Levit. 19. 31. and 26. 6 27. Deut. 18. 10. thus saith the LORD ‡ Heb. The bed whither thou 〈◊〉 gone up thou shalt not come down from it Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up but shalt surely die And Elijah departed f The Messengers not daring to Apprehend him as suspecting him to be more than Man because he knew the secret Message which the King delivered to them in his Bed-Chamber 5 ¶ And when the messengers turned back unto him he said unto them Why are ye now turned back g f Before you have been at Ekron which he easily knew by their quick return 6 And they said unto him There came a man up to meet us and said unto us Go turn again unto the king that sent you and say unto him Thus saith the LORD Is it not because there is not a God in Israel that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou are gone up but shalt surely die 7 And he said unto them ‡ Heb. What was the manner of the man What manner of man was he which came up to meet you and told you these words 8 And they answered him He was an hairy man h Either 1. As to his Body the hair of his Head and Beard being through neglect grown long and spread over much of his Face Or rather 2. As to his outward Garment which was rough and hairy such as were sometimes worn by Eminent Persons in Greece in ancient Times and were the proper Habit of the Prophets See Isa. 20. 2. Zech. 13. 4. Mat. 3. 4. Heb. 11. 37. and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins i As Iohn the Baptist also had Mat. 3.
where few or none dwell beside the Watchmen who are left there in Towers to preserve the Cattel and Fruits of the Earth or to give notice of the approach of Enemies 10 And they set them up ‡ Heb. statues images and * Exod. 34. 13. Deut. 16. 21. groves in every * Deut. 12 2. high hill and under every green tree 11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places as did the heathen n Not onely to the Lord which was practised and tolerated sometimes in the Kingdom of Iudah but also to the Idols or Baals of the Heathen whom the LORD carried away before them o For the same sins by whose Example they should have taken warning and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger p i. e. In despight and contempt of God and his Authority and Command as the next Verse shews 12 For they served idols * Exod. 20. 3 4. Deut. 5. 7 8. whereof the LORD had said unto them * Deut. 4. 19. Ye shall not do this thing 13 Yet the LORD testified against Israel q Disowned and gave testimony against their false Worship which they would fasten upon him and against all their impieties and against Judah ‡ Heb. by the hand of all by all the prophets and by all * 1 Sam. 9. 9. the seers r To whom he declared his mind by extraordinary Revelations and Visions and by whom he published it to you bearing witness from Heaven to their Doctrine by eminent and glorious miracles saying * Jer. 18. 11. and 25. 5. and 35. 15. Turn ye from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers s Whereby he accuseth them of partiality that they observed onely those laws of God which they might safely keep and lived in the constant breach of others which their Kings forbad them to observe and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets 14 Notwithstanding they would not hear but * Deut. 31. 27. hardened their necks t i. e. Refused to submit their neck to the Yoke of Gods Precepts A Metaphor from stubborn Oxen that make their hearts hard or stiff and will not bow to the Yoke see on Deut. 31. 27. like to the neck of their fathers that did not believe in the LORD their God 15 And they rejected his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and his testimonies which he testified against them and they followed vanity u i. e. Idols oft so called because of their nothingness impotency and unprofitableness and to shew the folly and madness of Idolaters and became vain x By the long worship of Idols they were made like them vain sottish and senseless Creatures and went after the heathen that were round about them concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them 16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD y They grew worse and worse from a partial disobedience to some of Gods Laws they fell by degrees to a total Apostacy from all of them their God and * Exod. 32. 8. 1 Kings 12. 28. made them molten images even two calves and made a * 1 Kings 14. 15 23. and 15. 13. and 16. 33. grove and worshipped all the host of heaven z The Stars as Saturn Iupiter Mars Venus c. See Deut. 4. 19. and served * 1 Kings 16. 31. and 22. 53. Chap. 11. 18. Baal 17 And they * Lev. 18. 21. Chap. 16. 3. caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire and used divination and inchantments and sold themselves to do evil a Of which Phrase see on 1 Kings 21. 21. in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight b i. e. Out of Canaan the onely place of God's solemn worship and gracious presence or out of his Church there was none left * 1 King 11. 13. but the tribe of Judah onely c And the greatest part of the Tribe of Benjamin and those of the Tribes of Simeon and Levi who adhered to them and were incorporated with them and therefore very fitly denominated from them See of this Phrase on 1 Kings 11. 13. 19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made d Iudah's idolatry and wickedness is here remembred as an aggravation of the sin of the Israelites which was not onely evil in it self but scandalous and mischievous to their Neighbour who by their examples were instructed in their wicked arts and provoked to an imitation of them See Hosea 4. 15. and compare Matth. 18. 7. 20 And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel e i. e. All the Kingdom or Tribes of Israel first one part of them chap. 15. 29. and now the rest But this extends not to every individual person of these Tribes for many of them removed into the Kingdom of Iudah and were associated with them as appears from 2 Chron. 11. 16. and many other places and afflicted them and delivered them into the hand of spoilers until he had cast them out of his sight 21 For * 1 Kings 11. 11 31. he rent Israel from the house of David and * 1 Kings 12. 20 28. they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king f Which action is here ascribed to the people because they would not tarry till God by his providence had invested Ieroboam with the Kingdom which he had promised him but rashly and unthankfully and rebelliously rose up against the house of David to which they had such great Obligations and set him upon the Throne without God's leave or advice and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD g He not onely disswaded but kept them by force from God's Worship at Ierusalem the onely place appointed for it and made them sin a great sin h So the worship of the Calves is called to meet with that idle conceit of the Israelites who esteemed it a small sin especially when they were forced to it by severe penalties which yet he shews did not excuse it from being a sin and a great sin too 22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did they departed not from them i But willingly and resolutely followed the wicked Examples and Commands of their Kings though contrary to God's express commands 23 Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight k They continued to the last obstinate and incorrigible under all the instructions and corrections which God sent to them and therefore were most justly given up by God into this dreadful captivity which all this foregoing discourse was designed to prove as he
it not good if peace and truth be in my days k Which he speaks not as if he were careless and unconcerned for his Posterity which neither the common inclinations and affections of Nature in all Men nor that singular Piety and Charity which was eminent and manifest in Hezekiah can suffer us to believe or for the Church and People of God for whose welfare he was so solicitous and industrious in the whole course of his Life but because it was a singular favour that this Judgment did not immediately follow his sin the cause of it but was suspended for a longer time 20 ¶ And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made a pool and a conduit and brought water into the city are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah 21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead CHAP. XXI MAnasseh * â—… 〈◊〉 33. 1. was twelve years old when he began to reign and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem a In which time the Years of his Imprisonment are comprehended 2 Chron. 33. 11. and his mothers name was Hephzi-bah 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD b Partly by the instigation of the wicked Princes of Iudah who in Hezekiah's time were secret Enemies to his Reformation and now when their Fetters were knock't off by Hezekiah's death break forth into open Hostility against it and corrupt the Kings tender years with their wicked counsel and principally by his own vicious inclination after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel 3 For he built up again the high places * 〈◊〉 18. 4. which Hezekiah his father had destroyed and he reared â—…p altars for Baal and made a grove as * 1 〈◊〉 16. 33 did Ahab king of Israel and worshipped all the host of heaven c The Stars which the Gentiles had transformed into gods See on Deut. 4. 19. and served them 4 And * 〈◊〉 32. 34. he built altars in the house of the LORD d i. e. In the Temple its self in the Holy-place because this is distinguished from the courts of the house ver 5. of which the LORD said * 2 Sam. 7. 13. 1 〈◊〉 8. 29. 〈◊〉 9. 3. In Jerusalem will I put my Name e That place I have peculiarly Consecrated to my Worship and Honour which made it the greater Injustice and Impiety and Sacriledge to Alienate it from God and to Dedicate it or any part of it especially the Temple to the service of Idols whom God abhorreth 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts f The one of the Priests the other of the People 1 King 6. 36. of the house of the LORD 6 And * Lev. 18. 2â—… and 2â—… â—… he made his son pass through the fire g Of which see the Notes on Lev. 18. 21. and 2 King 16. 3. and observed times h i. e. Lucky or unlucky days or seasons for the dispatch of businesses according to the superstitious practise of the Heathens See Esth. 3. 7. See also Lev. 19. 26. Deut. 18. 10 11. and used inchantments and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger 7 And he set a graven image of the grove i Either First The Image of that Baal which was worshipped in the Grove Or Secondly A representation of the Grove as may seem by comparing chap. 23. 6. Or Thirdly The Graven Image of Asherah a god or goddess so called possibly the same called elsewhere Ashtaroth See Iudg. 6. 25 28. 2 King 23. 6. 2 Chron. 15. 16. that he had made in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son * 2 Saâ—… â—… 1â—… 1 King â—… 〈◊〉 and 9. 3. Chap. 23. 27 Psal. 1â—… 13. In this house and in Jerusalem which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel will I put my Name for ever 8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land k They shall no more be carried Captives into a strange Land as it had happened before which I gave their fathers onely if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them 9 But they hearkened not and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel l Partly because they were not contented with those Idols which the Canaanites worshipped but either themselves invented or they borrowed from other Nations many new Idols and kinds of Idolatry and partly because as their light was far more clear their obligations to God infinitely higher and their helps and antidotes against Idolatry much stronger than the Canaanites had so their sins though the same in kind were unspeakably worse in respect of these dreadful aggravations 10 ¶ And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets saying 11 * Jer. 15. 4. Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites m i. e. The Canaanitish Nations all so called from one eminent part of them See on Gen. 15. 16. did which were before him and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols n By his Example Encouragement Counsel Authority and Command 12 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel Behold I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah that whosoever heareth of it both * 1 Sam. 3. 11. his ears shall tingle o By the great commotion which such terrible reports shall cause in the hearts and heads of the hearers See on 1 Sam. 3. 11. Ier. 19. 3. 13 And I * Isa. 34. 11. will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria p She shall have the same measure and lot i. e. the same Judgments which Samaria had The line is oft put for ones lot or portion as Psal. 16. 6. 2 Cor. 10. 16. because mens portions or possessions used to be measured by Lines Psal. 78. 55. Amos 7. 17. Or it is a Metaphor from workmen who mark out by Lines what parts of the Building they would have thrown down and what they would have stand See Isa. 34. 11. Lam. 2. 8. Amos 7. 7 8. Zech. 1. 16. Or it is an allusion to that fact of David who destroyed the Moabites by a measuring Line 2 Sam. 8. 2. ‡ Heb. over the House of Manasseh and the plummet of the house of Ahab and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish ‡ Heb he wipeth and turneth it upon the face thereof wiping it and turning it upside down q As men do with a
pollute them or the Priesthood and of the Levites 30 Thus cleansed I them from all strangers and * Ch. 12. 1. appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites every one in his business 31 And for the * Ch. 10. 34. wood-offerings at times appointed and for the first-fruits x And particularly I took care for these things because they had been lately neglected Remember me O my God for good ESTHER THis Book was constantly received for a part of the Canon of the Scripture by the People of the Iews whose authority herein is the more considerable because to them were committed the Oracles of God Rom. 3. 2. to keep them safely and transmit them carefully to Posterity And it is a very strong presumption that they were true to their trust that our blessed Lord and his holy Apostles who taxed the Iews with many faults both greater and less never charged them with unfaithfulness herein which if the Iews had been guilty they would certainly have done and by their Office were obliged to do it for the Instruction and Caution of the Christian Church whose Faith was built no less upon the Writings of the Prophets than upon the Doctrine of the Apostles The Pen-man of it is both by Iewish and Christian Interpreters ancient and modern thought to be Mordecai who was both an holy man of God and a principal Actor in this History And therefore who so fit and proper for it as himself CHAP. I. 1 NOw it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus a Qu. Who was this King Ans. It is confessed and manifest that this was one of the Kings of Persia But which of them it was is not yet agreed nor is it of any necessity for us now to know But it is sufficiently evident that this was either 1. Darius Hystaspis as divers both Jewish and Christian Writers affirm for his Kingdom was thus vast and he subdued India as Herodotus reports and one of his Wives was called Atossa which differs little from Hadassah which is Esthers other name Esth. 2. 7. Or 2. Xerxes whose Wife as Herodotus notes was called Amestris which is not much differing from Esther by whom all these things were transacted whilst he was potent and prosperous before his unhappy expedition against the Grecians Or 3. Artaxerxes Longimanus to whom the characters of Ahasuerus represented in this Book do not disagree And whereas it is objected that by this account Mordecai must be a man of about 140 Years and consequently Esther who is called his Uncles daughter ch 2. 7. must be too old to make a Wife for the King as for Mordecai it may be granted there being divers instances of persons of greater Age than that in sacred and prophane Historians and for Esther it may be said that she was his Uncles Grand-Daughter nothing being more frequent than for the names of sons or daughters to be given to more remote posterity this is Ahasuerus which reigned from India even unto Ethiopia over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces b So seven new Provinces were added to those 120 mentioned Dan. 6. 1. 2 That in those days when the king Ahasuerus sate on the Throne of his kingdom c i. e. Either was lately advanced to it or rather was settled in the peaceable possession of it which was in Shushan the ‖ Or chief city palace d Or the castle or the chief or royal city as both Jewish and Christian Interpreters render it Shushan might be the proper name of the Palace which thence was given to the whole City Here the Kings of Persia used to keep their Courts chiefly in Winter as ordinarily they were in Ecbatana in Summer 3 In the third year of his reign he made a feast unto all his Princes and his servants the power e i. e. The mighty men the chief Officers of State and Commanders of all his Forces whom by this splendid entertainment he endeavoured to oblige and assure to himself of Persia and Media the nobles and princes of the provinces being before him 4 When he shewed the riches of his glorious Kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days even an hundred and fourscore days f Making every day a magnificent Feast either for all his Princes or for some of them who might come to the Feast successively as the King ordered them to do The Persian Feasts are much celebrated in Authors for their length and Luxury 5 And when these days were expired the king made a feast unto all the people that were †Heb. found present g Both such as constantly resided there and such as were come thither upon their occasions of whatsoever condition or quality in Shushan the palace both unto great and small seven days in the court of the garden h The Persian Gardens were exceeding large and pleasant of the kings palace 6 Where were white green and ‖ Or 〈◊〉 blue hangings fastened with cords of fine linnen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble the beds i For in those Eastern Countries and ancient times they did not sit at Tables as we do but rested or leaned upon Beds of which we have many testimonies both in Scripture as Esth. 7. 8. Amos 2. 8. 6. 4. Ioh. 13. 23. and in all other Authors were of gold and silver upon a pavement ‖ Or of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 of red and blue and white and black marble 7 And they gave them drink in vessels of gold the vessels being divers one from another and †â—…eb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 royal wine in abundance †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 king according to the state of the king 8 And the drinking was according to the law none did compel k i. e. According to this Law which the King had now made that none should compel another to drink more than he pleased which the Persians and other loose and heathenish Nations used to do though that practice was connemned by the wise and sober Heathens and among others by this great Prince Or no man did compel another to drink according to the Law i. e. as by the Laws or Orders of the Persians prescribed and used in their Feasts they might have done if not restrained by this Law for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house that they should do according to every mans pleasure 9 Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women l Whilest the King entertained the men For this was the common custom of the Persians that Men and Women did not feast together but in several places in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus 10 On the seventh day when the heart of the king was merry with wine he commanded Mehuman Biztha Harbona Bigtha and Abagtha Zethar and Carcas the seven ‖ Or 〈◊〉 chamberlains m Or
the City of David 2. Sam. 5. 7 9. and made it the head of his Kingdom But in a more large and improper sence it is frequently put for the City Ierusalem Psal. 48. 12. 87. 2 110. 2. and for the Temple of Ierusalem Psal. 137. 3. Isa. 18. 7. Ier. 51. 10. which was built upon the hill of Moriah which was either a part of mount Sion or another hill adjoyning to it and for the Church of the Iews Psal. 65. 1. 69. 36. 97. 8. and for the Christian Church Heb. 12. 22. Revel 14. 1. And by these things it is plain why Sion is here called Gods holy Hill 7. I will declare z Or publish that all people concerned may take notice of 〈◊〉 and submit to it upon their peril Publication or promulgation is essential to all laws or statutes ‖ Or 〈◊〉 â—… deâ—… the decree a Or concerning the 〈◊〉 i. e. the will or pleasure and appointment of God concerning my advancement into the throne and the submission and obedience which the people here following shall yield to me the LORD hath said unto me * Act. 1â—… 33. Heb. 1. 5. Thou art my son b Which though it may in some sort be said to or of Dâ—…id who was in some respects the son of God and begotten by him as all believers are Iohn 1. 12. 1. Iohn 3. 9. Iâ—…m 1. 18. yet much more truly and properly belongs to Christ who is commonly known by this title both in the old and new Testament as Prov. 30. 4. Hose 11. 1. Mat. 2. 15. and 3. 17. and 4. 3. 6. and oft elsewhere and to whom this title is expresly appropriated by the holy Ghost who is the best interpreter of his own words Act. 13. 33. Heb. 1. 5. and 5. 5. and to whom alone the following Passages belong this day have I begotten thee c This is also applied by some to David and so this day is the day of his inauguration when he might be said to be begotten by God inasmuch as he was then raised and delivered from all his troubles and calamities which were a kind of death and brought forth and advanced to a new kind of life of royal state and dignity and so this was the birth-day tho not of his Person yet of his Kingdom as the Roman Emperors celebrated a double birth-day first the Emperor when he was born and then the Empires when he was advanced to the Empire But this is but a lean and far-fetched and doubtful Sence and therefore not to be allowed by the laws of Interpretation when the words may be properly understood concerning Christ. And so this may be understood either 1. Of his eternal generation This day from all eternity which is well described by this day because in Eternity there is no succession no yesterday no to morrow but it is all as one continued day or moment without change or flux upon which account one day is said to be with the Lord as long as a thousand years and a thousand years as short as one day 2 Pet. 3. 8. or rather 2. Of the manifestation of Christ's eternal Son-ship in time which was done partly in his birth and life when his being the son of God was demonstrated by the Testimony of the Angel Luke 1. 32. and of God the father Mat. 3. 17 and 17. 5. and by his own words and works but principally in his Resurrection which seems to be here mainly intended of which day this very place is expounded Acts 13. 33. When Christ was in a most solemn manner declared to be the son of God with Power Rom. 1. 4. And this day or time Christ might very well be said to be begotten by God the Father partly because the Resurrection from the dead is in Scripture called a regeneration or second birth Mat. 19. 28. as well it may being a restitution of that very being which mâ—…n received by his first birth and that by the peculiar and mighty power of God partly because in this respect Christ is called the first-begotten of the dead Revel 1. 5. and partly because of that common observation That things are oft said to be done in Scripture when they are only declared or manifested to be done of which see Instances Gen. 41. 13. Ier. 1. 10. Ezek. 43. 3. and elsewhere 8. * Psal. â—…2 8. Ask of me d Claim or demand it of me as thy right by my promise and thy birth and purchase and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance e To be possessed and enjoyed by thee in a manner of an Inheritance to wit constantly surely and perpetually and the uttermost parts of the earth f Either 1. the whole land of Canaan from one end of it to the other as this Phrase is used Psal. 61. 2. and 72. 8. which is but a very narrow sence and that was but a very small Kingdom and no way agreeable to those magnificent expressions here used Or rather the whole world not only the Jewish Nation but the Gentiles also as this phrase is almost universally used in the old Testament as Psal. 19. 4 and 22. 28. and 46. 10. and 65. 5. Isa. 40. 28 and 45. 22 c. And so these words declare the great amplitude of the Kingdom of the Messiah for thy Possession 9. * Rev. 2. 27. 19. 15. Thou shalt break them g i. e. Those people that will not quieâ—…ly submit to thee shall be crushed and destroyed by thee with a rod of Iron h With thy mighty power which they shall never be able to resist thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potters vessel 10. Be wise i Understand your true interest now k Whilest you have time and space for repentance and submission therefore O ye kings l You and your people But he speaks of and to Kings only partly because they most needed he admonition as presuming upon their own power and greatness and thinking it below them to submit to him partly because their authority and example could do much with their people and parâ—… to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 greatness of thiâ—… Monâ—…rch and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord of Lords be instructed ye judges m Or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Kings in the former branch of the earth 11. Serve the LORD with 〈◊〉 n i. e. with reverence and an awful sence of his great and glorious Majesty as very careful and diligent to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and affraid to offend him and rejoyce o Do not 〈◊〉 his yoke 〈◊〉 dishonour and grievance but know that it is a greater 〈◊〉 and happiness to be the subjects of this King than to 〈◊〉 Emperors of the greatest Empire and accordingly rejoyce in it and bless God for this inestimâ—…ble grace and benefit with trembling p This is added to express the quality of this joy to which he calls them and to distinguish
Fear See Levit. 26. 36. Deut. 28. 65. Iob 15. 21. Prov. 28. 1. They who designed to secure themselves from all Fear and Danger by their Contempt of God and by the Persecution of good Men and by other wicked Courses were by those means filled with the Terrors which they sought to avoid for God hath scattered the bones c Hath not onely broken their Bones i. e. Their strength and force which is oft noted by the Bones as Psal. 6. 2. and 31. 10. and 51. 8. but also dispersed them hither and thither so as there is no Hopes of a Re-union and Restauration of him that encampeth against thee d i. e. Against my People expressed v. 4. or Israel or Zion as it is in the next Verse thou e Thou Oh Zion or Ierusalem which they besiege hast put them to shame f For the great and strange disappointment of their Hopes and Confidence It was a great Reproach to them for such numerous and mighty Forces to be baffled and Conquered by those whom they thought to swallow up at a Morsel because God hath despised them g Or Rejected them Cursed them Therefore it is no wonder if they could not stand before thee 6. †Heb. who will give Salvations c. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion when God bringeth back the captivity of his people Jacob shall rejoyce and Israel shall be glad PSAL. LIV. To the chief musician on Negiroth Maschil a Psalm of David * 1 Sam. 23. 6 26 1. when the Ziphims came and said to Saul Doth not David hide himself with us a Of which he speaks 1 Sam. 23. though they did seek to betray him a second time 1. SAve me O God by thy Name b i. e. By thy own strength as the next Words explain it because I have no other Refuge Or for thy Name i. e. For thy own Glory which is concerned in my Deliverance and judge me c i. e. Judge or give Sentence for me or plead my Cause as this Phrase is oft taken as we have seen by thy strength 2. Hear my prayer O God give ear to the words of my mouth 3. For * Psal. 86. 14. strangers d The Ziphites whom though Israelites he calls Strangers in regard of their Barbarous and perfidious Disposition and Carriage towards him by which they shewed themselves to be estranged from God as the wicked are said to be Psal. 58. 3. and from the Common-wealth of Israel and from all the Laws of Piety and Humanity For which Causes he calls such Persons Heathens Psal. 59. 5. and elsewhere are risen up against me and oppressors seek after my soul they have not set God before them e They cast off all Regard to thy Presence and Authority and all Fear of thy Judgements Selah 4. Behold f Consider it and see the Vanity of all your wicked Practices against me God is mine helper * Psal. 118. 7. the LORD is with them that uphold my soul g He fights for them and on my behalf and therefore against all mine Enemies 5. He shall reward evil unto †Heb. those that 〈◊〉 me mine Enemies cut them off in thy truth h Or for or according to thy Truth whereby thou art engaged to fulfil thy Promises made to me and thy Threatnings denounced against thine and mine implacable Enemies 6. I will freely i Not by Constraint as many do because they are obliged to it and cannot neglect it without Shame and Inconvenience to themselves but with a willing and Cheerful mind which thou lovest in and above all Sacrifices sacrifice unto thee I will praise thy name O LORD for it k Either thy Name Or rather to Praise thy Name is good l i. e. An act of Justice and Piety and Gratitude 7. For he hath delivered me out of all trouble and mine eye hath seen m He speaks of it as a thing already done Either to express his assurance of it Or because this Psalm was made after it was done his desire n Or thy Vengeance Which may be understood out of v. 5. But there is no necessity of any Supplement the Words in the Hebrew run thus Mine eye hath looked upon mine Enemies Either with Delight as this Phrase signifies Psal. 22. 17. and 27. 4. and elsewhere Or without Fear or Shame I shall not be afraid to look them in the Face having God on my side upon mine Enemies PSAL. LV. The ARGUMENT This Psalm was certainly Composed by David when he was greatly distressed and Persecuted Either by Saul or rather by Absalom and betrayed by some pretended or former Friend To the chief musician on Neginoth Maschil a Psalm of David 1. GIve ear to my prayer O God and hide not thy self a Turn not away thy Face and Ear as one resolved not to hear nor Help from my supplication 2. Attend unto me and hear me I mourn in my complaint and make a noise b For my Misery is very great and sorceth Tears and bitter Cries from me 3. Because of the voyce c i. e. Their Clamours and Threats and Slanders and insolent Boastings all which are hateful to thee as well as Injurious to me of the enemy because of the oppression of the wicked for they cast iniquity upon me d The Sence is Either 1. They make me the great Object of their wicked and injurious and mischievous Practises Or 2. They lay many Crimes to my Charge or falsly as if by my Wickedness I was the cause of all my Calamities and in wrath they hate me e Their Anger and Rage against me is no sudden and Transitory Passion but is boyled up into Malice and Hatred 4. My heart is sore pained f With pains like those of a Travelling Woman as the Word signifies My Heart which hath commonly supported me in my Distresses is now ready to sink within me Therefore Lord Pity and Help me within me and the terrors of death g Either deadly Terrors such as seize upon Men in the Agonies of Death or Fear of Death which is the more grievous to me because my Death will reflect Dishonour upon thee and bring many Miseries upon the People are fallen upon me 5. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me and horror hath †Heb covered me overwhelmed me 6. And I said O that I had wings like a dove h Which being fearful and pursued by Birds of prey flyes away and that very swiftly and far and into solitary Places where it hides and secures it self in the Holes of the Rocks or in some other secret and safe place All which fitly represents David's present Disposition and Desire Or that I might or where I might be at Rest or dwell in some settled and safe place and be delivered from those uncertainties and wandrings to which I am now exposed
Ecclesiastical and especially for Civil affairs as the next clause explains it the thrones of the house of David k The Royal Throne allotted by God to David and to his posterity for ever and the inferior Seats of Justice established by and under his Authority See 2 Chron. 19. 8 9 10. 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem l In whose prosperity both your Civil and your Religious priviledges are deeply concerned they shall prosper m Or let them prosper the future being taken imperatively as is very frequent The Lord grant them prosperity and all happiness that love it 7 Peace be within thy walls n In all thy dwellings and prosperity within thy palaces o Especially in the Court and the dwellings of the Princes and Rulers whose welfare is a publick blessing to all the people 8 For my brethren and companions sakes p And this I desire not onely nor chiefly for my own security and for the glory of mine Empire but for the sake of all my fellow-citizens and of all the Israelites whom though my Subjects I must owne for my brethren and companions in the chief priviledges and blessings enjoyed at Ierusalem I will now say Peace be within thee 9 Because of the house of the LORD our God q Which is now fixed in this City I will * Neh. 2. 10. seek thy good PSAL. CXXIII A song of degrees This Psalm contains a description of the great agony and distress of Gods people and of their carriage under it 1 UNto thee a Unto thee onely because all other persons either cannot or will not help me lift I up mine eyes O thou * Psal. 115. 3. that dwellest in the heavens 2 Behold as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters b Either 1. for supply of their wants which comes from their masters hand or 2. for pity the hand being the instrument whereby masters commonly correct their servants and looking to the hand may express the posture of one supplicating for mercy or rather 3. for help and defence against their oppressors For servants were unable to defend themselves and were not allowed to wear defensive weapons but expected and had protection from their masters in case of injury For this phrase of having ones eyes towards another both in this and other sacred Books constantly notes expectation and desire of help from them as Psal. 25. 15. 69. 4. Isa. 17. 7. Ezek. 23. 27. and oft elsewhere And the phrase of Gods having mercy upon another doth most commonly signifie that act or effect of his mercy in helping and delivering him and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God until that he have mercy upon us c Until he graciously help and save us 3 Have mercy upon us O LORD have mercy upon us for we are exceedingly filled with contempt d With opprobrious words and injuries 4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of ‖ Or The â—…lent 2 Kings 9. 28. those that are at ease and with the contempt of the proud e With the scornful and contemptuous carriage of thine and our enemies who live in great ease and glory whilst we thy people are overwhelmed with manifold calamities PSAL. CXXIV A song of degrees of David This Psalm was composed by David in the name and for the use of all the Church and people of Israel as a thanksgiving for their deliverance from some eminent danger or dangers from proud and potent enemies Many such they had in Davids time but which of them is here intended is hard to determine and not worth the inquiry 1 IF it had not been the LORD who was on our side * Psal. 129. 1. now may Israel say 2 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side when men rose up against us 3 Then they had swallowed us up quick a They had speedily and utterly destroyed us as Korah c. were Numb 16. when their wrath was kindled against us 4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us the stream had gone over our soul. 5 Then the proud waters b Our enemies compared to proud waters for their great multitude and swelling rage and mighty force had gone over our soul. 6 Blessed be the LORD who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth c A Metaphor from wild beasts which tear and devour their prey with their teeth 7 Our soul is escaped * Prov. 6. 5. as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers the snare is broken and we are escaped 8 * Psal. 121. 2. Our help is in the name of the LORD who made heaven and earth PSAL. CXXV A song of degrees This Psalm was designed for the consolation and encouragement of Gods Church and people in all ages against all the plots and malice of their enemies 1 THey that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion which cannot be removed a Or overthrown by any winds or storms partly because of its own greatness and strength and partly because of the Divine protection afforded to it but abideth for ever 2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem b By which it was defended both from stormy winds and from the assaults of its enemies so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever 3 For the rod of †〈◊〉 wickâ—… the wicked c The power and authority of cruel Tyrants shall not rest d Not continue for ever nor too long upon the lot of the righteous e Upon the habitations and persons of good men lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity f Lest through humane frailty and the great weight or long continuance of their troubles they should be driven to impatience or to despair or to use indirect and sinful courses to relieve themselves 4 Do good O LORD unto those that be good g As thou hast promised to keep thy people from evil v. 3. be pleased also to vouchsafe unto them those blessings which are good for them Or thus Having declared Gods tender care of his people and his promise made to them he now prayeth for the execution of the said promises and to them that are upright in their hearts 5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways h But those hypocrites who either through fear of the rod mentioned v. 3. or â—…or other considerations shall turn aside from the ways of God which for a time they professed and seemed to owne unto sinful courses whom he opposeth to the upright v. 4. the LORD shall lead them forth i To wit unto punishment as malefactors are commonly led to the place of execution with the workers of iniquity k With the most obstinate and profligate sinners of whose plagues they shall certainly partake as they
Evening when the time prefixed by Saul was expired and took sheep and oxen and calves and slew them on the ground and the people did eat them * Lev. 7. 26. and 19. 26. Deut. 12. 16. with the blood a Not having patience to tarry till the blood was perfectly gone out of them as they should have done See Gen. 9. 4. Levit. 17. 14. Deut. 12. 16. So they who seemed to make conscience of the Kings Commandment for fear of the Curse make no scruple of transgressing Gods Command 33 ¶ Then they told Saul saying Behold the people sin against the LORD in that they eat with the blood And he said Ye have ‖ Or dealt treacherously transgressed b He sees their fault but not his own in giving the occasion to it roll a great stone unto me c That the cattel might be all killed in one place under the inspection of Saul or some other appointed by him for that work and upon the stone that the blood may sooner and better flow out this day 34 And Saul said Disperse your selves among the people and say unto them Bring me hither every man his oxe and every man his sheep and slay them here and eat and sin not against the LORD in eating with the blood And all the people brought every man his oxe d And his Sheep which is to be understood out of the foregoing words ‡ Heb. in 〈◊〉 hand with him that night and slew them there 35 And Saul built an altar unto the LORD e Either for a Monument of the Victory or rather for Sacrifice as the next words imply ‡ Heb. that â—…tar he begâ—… to build unto the LORD the same was the first altar that he built unto the LORD f Though he had occasion to do so oft ere this time So this is noted as another Evidence of his Neglect of God and his Worship It is true Saul 〈◊〉 befoâ—…e this as at Gilgal but that was upon an old Altar Erected by others 36 ¶ And Saul said Let us go down after the Philistines by night and spoil them until the morning light and let us not leave a man of them And they said Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee Then said the Priest g Remembring Saul's Contempt of Gods Ordinance the last time and the ill Consequence of it and perceiving Saul ready to run into the same Error again even though he had not now the same pretence of the necessity of haste as before and that the people were forward to comply with the motion he gives them this pious and prudent Advice Let us draw near hither h To wit to the Ark as above v. 18. unto God 37 And Saul asked counsel of God Shall I go down after the Philistines wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel but he answered him not that day i Either 1. Because he was displeased with Saul for his former neglect v. 18 19. where he began to ask advice of God but was so Rude and Impious as not to tarry for an Answer and therefore it was but a just Retaliation if when Saul did ask God would not vouchsafe him an Answer Or 2. To manifest his dislike of the violation of Oaths For although Ionathan might have a fair excuse from his invincible Ignorance and urgent Necessity and though Saul had done foolishly in making this Oath which also God would this way discover yet when once it was made God would hereby teach them that it should be observed and that they should abstain even from all appearance of the Breach of it 38 And Saul said Draw ye near hither all the ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 Judg. 20. 2. chief of the people k In the Name of all the People that you may be Witnesses and may see where the Fault lies and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day 39 For as the LORD liveth which saveth Israel though it be in Jonathan my son he shall furely die But there was not a man among all the people that answered him l None of those who either saw Ionathan Eating or heard of it informed against him partly because they were satisfied that his Ignorance excused him and that there was some other reason of Gods not answering and partly from their great Love to Ionathan whom they would not Expose to Death for so small an Offence 40 Then said he unto all Israel Be ye on one side and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side and the people said unto Saul Do what seemeth good unto thee 41 Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel ‡ Heb. Give Thâ—…mmim Deut. 33. 8. ‖ Or shew the innocent Give a perfect lot m Or declare for giving is oft put for declaring or pronouncing as Deut. 11. 29. and 13. 1 2. Prov. 9. 9. the perfect or guiltless person i. e. O Lord so guide the Lot that it may discover who is Guilty in this Matter and that it may clear the Innocent And Saul and Jonathan were taken but the people ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 forth escaped n To wit the Danger they were pronounced Guiltless 42 And Saul said Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son and Jonathan was taken m God so ordered the Lot not that he approved Saul's Execration v. 24. or his Oath that the Transgressor should die v. 39. nor that he would expose Ionathan to Death for he Designed so to rule the hearts of the People and of Saul also that Ionathan should not die but because he would have the whole matter brought to light partly that Saul's Folly might be chastised when he saw what Danger it had brought upon his Eldest and Excellent Son partly that Ionathan's Innocency might be cleared and partly to stablish the Authority of Kings and Rulers and the Obedience which Subjects owe to all their Lawful commands 43 Then Saul said to Jonathan Tell me what thou hast done And Jonathan told him and said I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand and lo I must die n I am Sentenced to Death for it which is hard measure He had another Answer That he knew not of his Fathers command but that being said before v. 27. it was needless here to repeat it 44 And Saul answered * Râ—…th 1. 17. God do so and more also o From this and other like expressions of Saul's some gather that he was exceeding prone to the vice of Swearing and Cursing for thou shalt surely die p Stange perversness He who was so Indulgent as to spare wicked Agag chap. 15. is now so severe as to destroy his own worthy Son he that could easily dispense with Gods Righteous and Reasonable Command will not bear the violation of his own rash and foolish command because his own Authority and Power is concerned in this and onely
Gods in the other Jonathan 45 And the people said unto Saul Shall Jonathan die who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel God forbid * â—… Sam 14. 14. â—… King 1. â—…2 as the LORD liveth there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground for he hath wrought with God q i. e. In concurrence with God or by Gods help he had wrought this Salvation God is so far from being offended with Ionathan as thou apprehendest that he hath graciously owned and assisted him in the great Service of this day this day So the people rescued Jonathan that he died not 46 Then Saul went up from following the Philistines r Partly because he was discouraged by Gods refusing to Answer him and partly because his delays had given them occasion to secure themselves and the Philistines went to their own place 47 ¶ So Saul took the kingdom s i. e. Recovered it and Resumed the Administration of it after he had in a manner lost it partly by Samuel's Sentence chap. 13. 14. and partly by the Philistines who had almost turned him out of it But now being encouraged by this success he returns to the exercise of his Kingly Office over Israel and fought against all his enemies on every side against Moab and against the children * Chap. 11. 11. of Ammon and against Edom and against the kings of Zobah t Which lay not far from Damascus See 2 Sam. 8. 5. and against the Philistines and whithersoever he turned himself he vexed them u Heb. He condemned them he treated them like wicked People and Enemies to God and his People or he punished them 48 And he ‖ Or wrought â—…ghtily gathered an host and * Chap. 15. 3. smote the Amalekites x Which is here mentioned onely in the general but is particularly described in the next Chapter and delivered Israel out of the hand of them that spoiled them 49 Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishui y Called also Abinadab chap. 31. 2. and 1 Chron. 8. 33. Ishbosheth Saul's other Son is here omitted because he intended to mention onely those of his Sons who went with him into the Battels here mentioned and who were afterwards slain with him and Melchishua and the names of his two daughters were these the name of the first-born Merab and the name of the younger Michal 50 And the name of Sauls wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz and the name of the captain of his host was Abner the son of Ner 〈◊〉 uncle 51 And Kish was the father of Saul and Ner the father of Abner was the son of * Chap. 9. 1. Abiel 52 And there was â—…ore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul and when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man * Chap. â—… 1â—… he took him unto him z Into his Service or Army CHAP. XV. SAmuel also said unto Saul * Chap. 9. 16. The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people a The Lord made thee King and therefore thou art highly obliged to serve and obey him over Israel now therefore hearken b Thâ—… hast committed one Error already for which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…verely rebuked and threatned now therefore maâ—… 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 â—…mer Error and regain Gods Favour by thy exact 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to what he now commands thou unto the voice of the LORD thy God 2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts I remember that which Amalck did to Israel c I seem to have forgotten but now I will shew that I remember and now will revenge those old Iniuries done 400 Years ago which now I will punish in their Children which was the more just because they continued in their Parents cruel Practices below v. 33. * Exod. 〈◊〉 Numâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how he laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt d When he was newly come out of cruel and lorig Bondage and were now weak and weary and faint and hungry Deut. 25. 18. and therefore it was Barbarous and Inhuman instead of that Pity which even Nature prompted them to afford to add affliction to the afflicted it was also horrid Impiety to fight against God himself and to lift up their Hand in a manner against the Lord's Throne as some Translate these words Exod. 17. 16. whilst they struck at that People which God had brought forth in so stupendious and Miraculous a way 3 Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have e Both Persons and Goods Kill all that live and Consume all things without life for I will have no Name nor Remnant of that People whom long since I have Cursed and Devoted to utter Destruction and spare them not f Shew no Compassion or Favour to any of them The same thing repeated to prevent mistake and oblige Saul to the exact performance hereof or to leave him without excuse in case of neglect but slay both man and woman infant and suckling g For their Parents Crime and Punishment which was not unjust because God is the Supreme Lord and giver of Life and can require his own when he pleaseth Infants also are Born in sin Psal. 51. 5. and therefore liable to God's wrath Eph. 2. 3. and to death Rom. 5. 12 14. Their death also was rather a Mercy than a Curse to them as being the occasion of preventing the vast increase of their Sin and Punishment ox and sheep camel and asse h Which being all made for Man's benefit it is not strange nor unjust if they suffer with him and for him and for the instruction of Mankind 4 And Saul called the people together and numbred them in Telaim two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah k Who are particularly Noted here as also chap. 11. 8. either as Select Persons of extraordinary Strength and Courage or to commend that Tribe which though the Kingdom had been promised to their own Tribe yet were forward in serving and obeying a King of another and that a far meaner Tribe 5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek l Their chief City where their King was as is probable from v. 8. and ‖ Or fought laid wait m Intending to draw them forth of their City by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like that of Ioshua Iâ—…sh 7. an I then to intercept them and so surprize their City which hapily they did though it be not here Recorded it being not worth whiâ—…e to mention all the minute Circumstances of such matters in the valley 6 ¶ And Saul said unto the Kenites n A People descending from or nearly related unto Ietâ—…o who anciently dwelt in Rocks near the Amalekites Numb 24. 21. and afterwards some of them dwelt in Iudah Iudg. 1. 16. whence it is probable they removed which dwelling in Tents they could easily do and retired to their