Gods Almighty power and word 6. ‖ Or a mist which went up from c. But there went up n To wit from time to time by Gods appointment a mist o Or Vapour or Cloud which going up into the Air was turned into â—…ain and fell down again to the Earth from whence it arose from the Earth and watered the whole face of the ground p Whereby the Earth was softned and disposed both to the nourishment of those Plants or Trees that were Created and to the production of new Plants in a natural and ordinary way But these words may be otherwise understood the Copulative and here rendred but being put for the Disjunctive or as it is Exod. 21. 15 17. Iob 6. 22. and 8. 3. and in other places Or the Negative particle not may be understood out of the foregoing clause as it is usual in the Hebrew Language as Psal. 1. 5. and 9. 17. and 44. 19. and 50. 8. and Isa. 28. 27 28. And so these words may be joyned with the foregoing and both Translated in this manner There was no Rain nor a Man to Till the ground or or nor for both come to one thing so much as a mist which went up from the Earth and watered as afterwards was usual and natural the whole face of the ground 7. And the LORD God formed man †Heb. dust of the ground of the * 1 Cor. 15. 47. dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils q And by that door into the Head and whole man This is an emphatical phrase sufficiently implying that the Soul of Man was of a quite differing Nature and higher extraction and original than the Souls of Beasts which together with their Bodies are said to be brought forth by the Earth Genesis 1. 24. the breath of Life r Heb. Of Lives Either to shew the continuance of this breath or soul both in this Life and in the Life to come or to note the various degrees or kinds of Life which this one breath worketh in us the Life of Plants in growth and nourishment the Life of Beasts in sense and motion and the Life of a Man in Reason and Understanding and * 1 Cor. 15. 45. Man s Who before this was but a dull lump of Clay or a comely Statue became a living Soul t i. e. A living Man The Soul being oft put for the whole Man as Gen. 12. 5. 13. and 46. 15 18. 1 Pet. 3. 20. c. 8. And the LORD God Planted u Or had planted viz. on the third day when he made the Plants and Trees to grow out of the ground a Garden x A place of the choicest Plants and Fruits most beautiful and pleasant East-ward y From the place where Moses writ and the Israelites afterwards dwelt in Eden z Eden here is the name of a place not that Eden near Damascus in Syria of which see Amos 1. 5. but another Eden in Mesopotamia or Chaldea of which see Gen. 4. 16. 2 King 19. 12. Esa. 37. 12. Ezek. 27. 23. There are many and tedious disputes about the place of this Paradise of which he that listeth may see my Latin Synopsis It may suffice to know that which is evident that it was in or near to Mesopotamia in the confluence of Euphrates and Tigris And there he put the man whom he had formed a To wit in another place 9. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every Tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for Food the Tree of Life b So called either symbolically and sacramentally because it was a sign and seal of that Life which man had received from God and of his continual enjoyment of it upon condition of his Obedience Or effectively because God had planted in it a singular vertue for the support of Nature prolongation of Life and the prevention of all Diseases Infirmities and decays through age also in the midst of the Garden * Or within the Garden as Tyrus is said to be in the midst of the Seas Ezek. 28. 2. Though it was but just within it and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil c So called with respect either 1. To God who thereby would prove and make known mans Good or Evil his Obedience and Happiness or his Rebellion and Misery Or rather 2. To Man who by the use of it would know to his cost how great and good things he did enjoy and might have kept by his Obedience and how evil and bitter the fruits of his disobedience were to himself and all his posterity So it seems to be an ironical denomination you thirsted after more knowledge which also the Devil promised you and you have got what you desired more Knowledge even dear bought experience 10. And a River d Or Rivers by a common Enallage went out of Eden e The Country in which Paradise was where those Rivers either arose from one spring or met together in one channel to water the Garden and from thence ‖ i. e. From the Garden it was parted and became into four heads f It was divided into four principal Rivers Concerning which there are now many disputes But it is no wonder if the rise and scituation of these Rivers be not now certainly known because of the great changes which in so long time might happen in this as well as in other Rivers partly by Earth-quakes and principally by the general Deluge And yet Euphrates and Tigris the chief of these Rivers whereof the other two are branches are discovered by some learned men to have one and the same original or spring and that in a most pleasant part of Armenia where they conceive Paradise was See my Latin Synopsis 11. The name of the first is Pison g An eminent branch of the River Tigris probably that called by others Pasi-tigris or Piso-tigris that is it which compasseth h i. e. With many windings and turnings passed thorough as this word is used Ios. 15. 3. Mat. 23. 15. the whole Land of Havilah i Either that which is in those parts of Arabia which is towards Mesopotamia so called from Havilah the issue of Cham Gen. 10. 7. Or that which is nigh Persia and in the borders of India so called from another Havilah of the Posterity of Sem Gen. 10. 29. To either of these the following description agrees well where there is Gold 12. And the Gold of that Land is * 2 Chron. 3. 5. good k i. e. Better than ordinary there is Bdellium l Which signifies either a pretious gumme of which see Numb 11. 70. or Gems and Pearls Once for all observe that many of the Hebrew words or names of Stones Trees Birds and Beasts are even to the Hebrew Doctors and others both antient and modern Interpreters of uncertain signification and that without
for relief but in vain O LORD I am oppressed x By my Disease which like a Serjeant hath seized upon me and is haling me to the Prison of the Grave ‖ Or ease me undertake for me y Stop the Execution and rescue me out of his hands 15. What shall I say z I want words sufficient to express my deep Sense of God's dealings with me He did foretel it by his Word and effect it by his Hand This Clause and Verse is Either 1. a Continuance of his Complaint hitherto described God hath passed this Sentence upon me and hath also put it in Execution and to Him I must submit my self Or 2. he hath both spoken unto me and himself have done it a Transition or entrance into the Thanksgiving which is undoubtedly contained in the following Verses So the Sence is God hath sent a gracious Message to me by his Prophet concerning the prolongation of my Life and he I doubt not will make good his Word therein And this Sence seems the more probable 1. Because here is mention of his years to come whereas in his sickness he expected not to live to the end of a day 2. Because the Chaldee Paraphrast and the Seventy and Syriack and Arabick Interpreters expound it so in their Versions 3. Because this suits best with the context and coherence of this Verse both with the former and with the following Verse For as he endeth the foregoing Verse with a Prayer to God for longer Life so in this Verse he relates God's gracious Answer to his Prayer And if this Verse be thus understood the next Verse hath a very convenient Connexion with this whereas it seems to be very abrupt and incoherent if the Thanksgiving begin there I shall go softly b I shall walk in the course of my Life Either 1. humbly with all humble thankfulness to God for conferring so great a Favour upon so unworthy a Person Or 2. easily and peaceably with leasure not like one affrighted or running away from his Enemy Or 3. by slow and gentle paces as Men commonly spin out their Days by degrees unto a just length which is not unfitly opposed to his former state and time of Sickness wherein his days were swifter than a weavers shuttle and than a post as Iob complained upon the same occasion Iob 7. 6. 9. 25. and were cut off like a weavers Web as he complained ver 12. all my years in the bitterness of my soul c Arising from the remembrance of that desperate Condition from which God had delivered me For great dangers though past are oft-times very terrible to those that seriously reflect upon them But the Words may be rendred upon or after as this particle is rendred Isa. 18. 4. the bitterness of my soul after the deliverance from this bitter and dangerous Disease Which may be compared with ver 17. where he saith For or after peace I had great bitterness as here he presageth and assureth himself of the contrary That he should have Peace after his great bitterness The Chaldee Paraphrast renders the Words Because of my deliverance from bitterness of Soul bitterness being put for deliverance from bitterness as five is put for lack of five as we render it Gen. 18. 28. and fat for want of fat Psal. 109. 24. and fruits for want of fruits Lam. 4. 9. And other such like Defects there are in the Hebrew which is a very concise Language 16 O Lord by these things d By vertue of thy gracious Word or Promise and powerful Work by thy Promises and thy performances of them mentioned in the foregoing Verse This place may be explained by comparing it with Deut. 8. 3. Man doth not live by bread but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. The Sence is Not I onely but all Men do receive and recover and hold their Lives by thy Favour and the Word of thy Power And therefore it is not strange That one Word of God hath brought me back from the very jaws of Death men live and in all these things is the life of my spirit e And as it is with other Men so hath it been with me in a special manner for In these above all other things is the life of my Spirit or Soul i. e. either the comfort which is sometimes called Life of my Spirit or rather That Life which is in my Body from my Spirit or Soul united to it so ‖ Or hast recovered me and made me forer c. wilt thou recover me and make me to live f Or and or for thou hast recovered me c. to wit by these Things 17. Behold ‖ Or on my peace came great bitterness for peace I had great bitterness g My Health and Prosperity was quickly changed into bitter Sickness and Affliction Or as others render it My great bitterness was untâ—… peace was turned into Prosperity or became the occasion of my safety and further advantages For that drove me to my prayers and my prayers prevailed with God for a gracious Answer and the prolonging of my Life but †Heb abou hast loved my soul from the pit thou hast in love to my soul h In kindness to me the soul being oft put for the Man This is an emphatical Circumstance For sometimes God prolongs mens dayes in anger and in order to their greater misery delivered it from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back i Thou hast forgiven those sins which brought this evil upon me and upon that account hast removed the punishment of them which sheweth that thou didst this in love to me The phrase is borrowed from the custome of men who when they would accurately see and observe any thing set it before their faces and when they desire and resolve not to look upon any thing turn their backs upon it or cast it behind them 18 For k In this and the following verse he declares Gods design in delivering him that he might praise him in his Church which if he had died he could not have done the †Heb. Hell * Psal. 115. 17. grave cannot praise thee e death cannot celebrate thee they that go down into the pit connot hope for thy truth m They cannot expect nor receive the accomplishment of thy promised goodness in the Land of the Living l The dead are not capable of glorifying thy Name among men upon Earth which I desire and determine to do See the like expressions Psal. 6. 5. and 30. 9. and 88 10. c. The Grave is put for the persons lodged in it by a Metonymy 19 The Living the living he shall praise thee n They are especially obliged to it and they onely have this priviledge as I do this day the father to the children shall make known thy truth o They shall not
he was perfectly innocent it pleased God for other just and wise Reasons to punish him he hath put him to grief p God was the principal cause of all his sorrows and sufferings although mens sins were the deserving cause ‖ Or when his soul shall make an offering †If thou shalt make his soul sin 2 Cor. 5. 21. 1 Pet. 2. 24. when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin q When thou O God shalt make or have made thy Son a Sacrifice by giving him up to death for the attonement of mens sins His Soul is here put for his Life or for himself or his whole humane nature which was sacrificed his Soul being tormented with the sense of Gods Wrath and his Body crucified and Soul and Body separated by Death Or the words may be rendred When his soul shall make or have made itself an offering for sin whereby it may be implied that he did not lay down his Life by force but willingly he shall see his seed r His death shall be glorious to himself and highly beneficial to others for he shall have a numerous issue of Believers reconciled to God and saved by his death he shall prolong his days s He shall be raised to immortal Life and shall live and reign with God for ever he shall die no more Rom. 6. 9. and of his Kingdom there shall be no end Luk. 1. 33. and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand t Gods gracious decree for the redemption and Salvation of Mankind shall be effectually carried on by his Ministry and Mediation 11 He shall see u He shall receive or enjoy as this word commonly signifies of the travel of his soul x The comfortable and blessed fruit of all his hard labours and grievous sufferings and shall be satisfied y He shall esteem his own and his Fathers Glory and the Salvation of his People an abundant recompence for all his Sufferings by his knowledg z Either 1. Actively by that knowledg of Gods Will and of the way of Salvation which is in him in its highest perfection and which by him is revealed unto men and by his Spirit is imprinted in the Minds and Hearts of his People so as to produce Faith and Obedience in them Or 2. Passively by the knowledg of him as my fear and thy fear are put for the fear of me and of thee Psal. 5. 7. Ier. 32. 40. Knowledg being here as it is most frequently in Scripture taken practically for that kind of Knowledge which worketh Faith and Love and Obedience to him So the sense is the same in both cases shall * Ch. 42. 1. 49. 3. my righteous servant a Which title is here given to Christ partly to vindicate him from those false imputations of wickedness which were fastened upon him by his Adversaries and which found the more belief because of his most grievous and unexampled Sufferings both from God and Men and partly to shew his fitness for this great work of justifying sinners because he was exactly holy and harmless and undefiled Heb. 7. 26. and fulfilled all righteousness according to his duty Mat. 3. 15. and therefore his person and performance must needs be acceptable to God and effectual for the justification of his People which was the great design of his coming into the World justifie b Acquit them from the guilt of their sins and all the dreadful consequences thereof For Iustification is here opposed to condemnation as appears from the following clause and from many other passages in this Chapter and as it is used in all places of Scripture one or two at most excepted where it is mentioned And Christ is said to justifie sinners meritoriously because he purchaseth and procureth it for us as God the Father is commonly said to do it authoritatively because he accepted the price paid by Christ for it and the pronunciation of the sentence of Absolution is referred to him in the Gospel Dispensation many c Which word is seasonably added partly by way of Restriction to shew that Christ will not justifie all but only such as believe in him and obey him and partly by way of Amplification to declare that this blessed priviledge shall not now be as hitherto it had in a manner been confined to Iudoea and the Jews but shall be conferred upon an innumerable company of all the Nations of the World for he shall bear their iniquities d For he shall satisfie the Justice and Law of God for them by bearing the punishments due to their sins and therefore by the principles of Reason and Justice they must be justified or acquitted otherwise the same debt should be twice required and paid 12 Therefore will I e God the Father the spectator and Judge of the Action or Combat divide him f Give him his share Or impart or give to him for this word is oft used without respect to any distribution or division as Deut. 4. 19. 29. 26. and elsewhere a portion g Which is very commodiously supplied out of the next clause where a word which answers to it the spoil is expressed with the great h Or among the great such as the great and mighty Potentates of the World use to have after a sharp Combat and a glorious Victory Though he be a very mean and obscure person as to his extraction and outward condition in the World yet he shall attain to as great a pitch of the Glory as the greatest Monarchs enjoy and he shall divide the spoil with the strong i The same thing is repeated in other words after the manner of prophetical Writers The sense of both clauses is That God will give him and he shall receive great and happy success in his glorious undertaking he shall conquer all his Enemies and lead Captivity Captive as is said Eph. 4. 8. and set up his universal and everlasting Kingdom in the World because he hath poured out his soul unto death k Because he willingly laid down his Life in Obedience to Gods Command Ioh. 10. 17 18. and in order to the Redemption of Mankind Death is here called a pouring out of the Soul or Life either because the Soul or Life which in living men is contained in the body is turned out of the Body by Death or to signifie the manner of Christs Death that it should be with the shedding of his Blood in which the Life of Man consists Levit. 17. 11 14. and he * Mar. 15. 28. Luk. 22. 37. was numbred with the transgressors l He was willing for Gods Glory and for Mans Good to be reproached and punished like a Malefactor in the same manner and place and betwixt two of them as is noted with reference to this place Mark 15. 27 28. and he bare the sin of many m Which was said v. 11.
of Noah And of them was the whole Earth overspread c A Truth which the old Heathens were not ignorant of though they changed the Names and mixed their Fables with it for they tell us that Saturn and his three Sons divided the World among themselves And it is apparent that their Saturn was no other than our Noah because they tell us he was the common Parent and Prince of all mankind also an Husbandman and Vine-dresser all which Noah was They say he was born of the Sea because Noah came out of the Waters That he devoured all his Children except three because Noah condemned and foretold the destruction of all the rest of the World 20. And Noah began to be an Husbandman d i. e. Was an Husbandman as he had been before The Verb to begin doth oft abound and is applied to him that continueth or repeateth an action begun before Thus Christ is said to begin to cast out Mark 11. 15. and to begin to speak Luk. 12. 1. For which in the parallel places he is said only to cast out Matth. 21. 12. and to speak Matth. 16. 6. and he planted a Vineyard 21. And he drank of the Wine and was drunken e Either through ignorance and inexperience of the nature and strength of that Liquor or through the infirmity of the Flesh which was tempted by its great and to him new pleasantness and by the refreshment he found in it under the weary labours of his Body and the sad thoughts of his mind for the desolate condition of the World and he was uncovered f Either to releive himself against the heat of the Climate and Season or from his negligence and carelessness which might easily happen because mens garments at that time were loose as they were in the following ages when breeches were not in common use and therefore were peculiarly prescribed to the Priests Exod. 28. 42. Ezek. 44. 18 19. within his Tent. 22. And Ham g Whose grown age was a great aggravation of this sin the Father of Canaan h This is here added as a reason of Canaan's Curse ver 25. saw the nakedness ‖ i. e. The secret parts oft so called as Levit. 18. and elsewhere of his Father and told his two Brethren without * i. e. Who were then without the house or room where their Father lay in that posture whom he invited to that prospect 23. And Shem and Iapheth took a Garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and went backward and covered the nakedness of their Father and their faces were backward and they saw not their Fathers nakedness 24. And Noah awoke from his Wine †i. e. From his drunkenness or from his sleep the effect of it and knew i Either by the information of his Sons Or by divine inspiration what his younger Son k Or His little Son either Ham mentioned ver 22. or Canaan mentioned in the next verse by comparing of which places it may be gathered that Canaan first saw it and told his Father Ham of it and he told it to his Brethren The latter seems here principally intended 1. Because the curse following is appropriated to him 2. Because of the title of younger or little Son which seems not to be so properly added if Ham was meant both because it doth not appear that he was the youngest for wheresoever these three Brethren are mentioned he is always put in the middle place and because that addition seems to be unnecessary and impertinent to the present business which if Canaan be intended is proper and pertinent by way of distinction to shew that he spake of his Grandson oâ—… his Sons Son Object He calleth him his Son Answ. Grand-children are frequently called their Grand-fathers Sons in Scripture as Gen. 29. 5. 2 Sam. 19. 24. 1 Chron. 1. 17. had done unto him 25. And he said l Not from the passion of revenge but by divine inspiration and the Spirit of Prophesie Cursed m i. e. Hateful to God abhorred by men miserable in his person and posterity be Canaan n Quest Seeing Ham committed the crime why is the curse inflicted upon his Son Canaan Answ. 1. When Canaan is mentioned Ham is not exempted from the curse but rather more deeply plunged into it whilest he is pronounced accursed not only in his person which is manifestly supposed by his commission of that sin for which the curse was inflicted but also in his posterity which doubtless was a great aggravation of his grief As on the contrary Ioseph is said to be blessed when his Children are blessed Gen. 48. 15 16. 2. It seems therefore very probable from these words and the Hebrew Doctors and others affirm it that Canaan did partake with his Father in the sin yea that he was the first discoverer of his Fathers shame 3. Canaan is particularly mentioned by the spirit of Prophesâ—…e in regard of the future extirpation of that people and this is here remembred for the encouragement of the Israelites who were now in their expedition against them 4. This may be an ellipsis or defect of the word Father for such relative words are oft-times omitted and understood in Scripture as Matth. 4. 21. Iames of Zebedee for the Son of Zebedee Ioh. 19. 25. Mary of Clâ—…opas for the wife of Cleopas Act. 7. 16. Emmor of Sychem for the Father of Sychem as our English Translation rightly supplies it from Gen. 33. 19. Thus Goliah is put for Goliahs Brother as is evident by comparing 2 Sam. 21. 19. with 1 Chron. 20 5. So here Canaan may be put for the Father of Canaan as the Arabick Translation hath it that is Ham as the seventy here render it And though Ham had more Sons yet he may be here described by his relation to Canaan because in him the Curse was more fixed and dreadful reaching to his utter extirpation whilst the rest of Hams posterity in after ages were blessed with the saving knowledge of the Gospel a Servant of Servants o i. e. The vilest and worst of Servants as vanity of vanities is the greatest vanity Eccles. 1. 2. and great wickedness Hos. 10. 15. is in the Hebrew wickedness of wickedness and King of Kings is put for the chief of Kings shall he be unto his Brethren 26. And he said Blessed be the Lord God of Shem p Quest. What is this to Sem For it is not Sem but God who is here blessed Answ. 1. Shem also is here blessed and that in the highest degree because the Lord hath here declared himself to be Shems God Now for God to be said to be any mans God is every where mentioned as the height of blessedness See Gen. 17. 7. Psal. 144. 15. Ier. 31. 33. Matth. 22. 32. But the phrase is here justly varied The curse is fixed upon Ham because man alone is the Author of his own sin and the cause of his ruine
Which was an inferior kind of Wife taken according to the common practise of those times subject to the Authority of the principal Wife and whose Children had no right of inheritance but were endowed with gifts See Gen. 21. 14. and 25. 6. whose name was Reumah she bare also Tebah and Gaham and Thahash and Maachah m A name common both to Man as 2 Sam. 10. 6. and Woman as 1 King 15. 13. CHAP. XXIII 1. AND Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old these were the years of the life of Sarah a This is the peculiar honour of Sarah the Mother of the faithful 1 Pet. 3. 6. to have the years of her life numbred in Scripture 2 And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba b Or The City of Arba so called probably from a giant or great man called Arba who lived and ruled in those parts See Ios. 14. 15. and 15. 13. the same is Hebron c It is objected against this Scripture that this City was not called Hebron till Ioshua's time Ios. 14. 15. but this is a mistake Ioshua doth not say so but onely that the name of Hebron before or in old time as this very particle is rendred Deut. 2. 20. and elsewhere So the sense is The most antient name of it was Kiriath-Arba Nor doth Ioshua there give any account or reason of this change of the name at that time or upon that occasion as the sacred Writers use to do in such cases but rather supposeth that Hebron was the name of it before he came thither and how long before that time he doth not express in the land of Canaan and Abraham came ‖ Into Sarah's Tent. See Gen 18. 6 9. to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her d According to the laudable custom of all ages and nations to manifest their sense of Gods hand upon them and of their own loss See Gen. 50. 3. Deut. 34. 8. c. 3 And Abraham stood up from before his dead e To shew his moderation in sorrow and to take care for her burial according to his duty and spake unto the sons of Heth saying 4 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you give me a possession of a burying-place f The priviledge of burial hath been always sought and priz'd by all Nations whom nature and humanity teacheth to preserve the bodies of men which have been the Temples of reasonable and immortal souls from contempt and violation so especially by Christians as a Testimony and Pledge of their future Resurrection See Numb 33. 4. Deut. 21. 23. Iob 5. 26. For which cause Abraham desires a distinct burying place separated from the Pagan people with you g In Canaan There he and after him other Patriarchs earnestly desired to be buried upon this account that it might confirm their own and their Childrens Faith in Gods Promise and animate their Children in due time to take possession of the Land See Gen. 25. 9. and 47. 29 30. and 50. 13 25. Exod. 13. 19. Heb. 11. 22. that I may bury my dead out of my sight h So she that before was the desire of his eyes Ezek. 24. 16. is now being dead become their torment 5 And the children of Heth answered Abraham saying unto him 6 Hear us my LORD i Here is a conjunction of the plural and singular number because though but one person spake yet he spake in the name of the whole community thou art †Heb. a prince of God a mighty prince k Heb. A Prince of God Great and excellent persons or things are oft expressed by adding the name of God See Gen. 13. 10. Or by Prince of God they understand a Prince favoured and beloved of God amongst us in the choice of our sepulchres l For each Family had a distinct Sepulchre bury thy dead none of us shall with-hold from thee his sepulchre but that thou mayest bury thy dead 7 And Abraham stood up and bowed himself m i. e. Shewed a civil respect to them in testimony of his thankfulness Religion allows and requires civility and those gestures which express it to the people of the Land n To the Governours of the people who managed all publick affairs in the peoples name and stead and for their good even to the children of Heth o So called from Heth the Son of Canaan Gen. 10. 15. 8 And he communed with them saying if it be your mind p Heb. If it be with i. e. agreeable to your soul that is your will or good pleasure For so the Soul is sometimes taken as Deut. 23. 24. Psal. 27. 12. and 41. 2. that I should bury my dead out of my sight hear me and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar 9 That he may give me the cave of ‖ Or double cave Machpelah q Which seems to be the proper name of the place ver 17 19. so called from its duplicity because the cave was double either one for Men and another for Women Or the one served onely for an entrance into the other which was the burying place which he hath which is in the end of his field for †Heb. full money as much money as it is worth r Heb. For full money 1 Chron. 21. 22 24. i. e. for money of full weight answerable to its worth he shall give it me for a possession of a burying-place amongst you 10 And Ephron dwelt s Heb. Did sit to wit at that time as one of the chief oâ—… rulers of the People 〈◊〉 so the word sitting is oft used as we shall see hereafter amongst the children of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the * Heb. â—…rs audience of the children of Heth even of all that went in at the gates of his City t Either where he was born or at least where he lived saying 11 Nay my Lord hear me the Field give I thee and the cave that is therein I give it thee in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee bury thy dead 12 And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land 13 And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land saying But if thou wilt give it u It is a short speech and something must be supplyed Either if thou wilt give or resign it to me Or if thou be the Man of whom I speak For though Abraham knew his name he might not know him by face nor that he was then present I pray thee hear me I will give thee money for the Field x He prudently chose rather to buy it then to receive it as a gift partly because it would be the surer to him and his ver 17 20. and partly because he would not have too great obligations to his Pagan Neighbours take it of me and I will bury my dead
my hire because I have given my maiden to my husband o Thus she mistakes the answer of her prayers for a recompence of her errour and she called his name ‖ That is an hire Issachar 19 And Leah conceived again and bare Jacob the sixth son 20 And Leah said God hath endued me with a good dowry now will my husband dwell with me because I have born him six sons and she called his name ‖ That is dwelling * called Matt. 4. 13. Zibulon Zebulun 21 And afterwards she bare a daughter and called her name ‖ That is judgment Dinah 22 And God remembred Rachel and God hearkned to her and opened her womb 23 And she conceived and bare a son and said God hath taken away my reproach p Barrenness was then accounted a great reproach especially in that race because it was a kind of curse whereby such persons were excluded both from the first and general blessing of fructification given to all mankind Gen. 1. 28. and from the special blessing given to Abraham for the multiplication of his feed and from all hopes of being the progenitors of the blessed Messias 24 And she called his name ‖ That is adding Joseph and said The LORD shall add to me another son 25 And it came to pass when Rachel had born Joseph that Jacob said unto Laban send me away that I may go unto mine own place and to my country q Canaan which he calleth his Country in regard both of his former and long habitation in it and of the right which he had to it by Gods promise See Gen. 28. 13. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served thee and let me go for thou knowest my service which I have done thee 27 And Laban said unto him I pray thee if I have * chap. 39. 21. found favour in thine eyes tarry for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake 28 And he said Appoint me thy wages and I will give it 29 And he said unto him Thou knowest how I have served thee and how thy cattle was with me r How carefully it was managed and how greatly improved by my care and industry 30 For it was little which thou hadst before I came s Comparatively to what now it is and it is now †Heb. broken forth increased unto a multitude and the LORD hath blessed thee †Heb. at my foot since my coming t Heb. at my foot i. e. upon my coming since my feet entred into thy house Or by my foot i. e. by my ministery and labour as this phrase is used Deut. 11. 10. and now when shall I provide for mine own house also u According to my duty which also is thy interest 31 And he said what shall I give thee and Jacob said Thou shalt not give me any thing If thou wilt do this thing for me I will again feed and keep thy flock 32 I will pass thorow all thy flock to day removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle x Which may seem to be thus distinguished speckled with little spots and spotted with greater spots or stains both of divers colours from the rest of the body Or the speckled may be the same with the ring-streaked by comparing this with ver 35. and all the brown y Or black or dark-coloured for the Hebrew word signifies also great heat which produceth such a colour cattle among the sheep and the spotted and speckled among the goats and of such shall be my hire z Or then shall be my hire and for then as is frequent in Scripture The sense is Then when the speckled and spotted and brown are separated and none but white remaining my hire shall be out of those white ones and that in such manner as is expressed in the following verse all the white young ones shall be thine and the speckled and spotted and brown which shall be brought forth by those white ones shall be mine 33 So shall my righteousness answer for me a When the cattle shall contrary to their natural and usual course bring forth young ones of a contrary colour to their own it will hereby be evident that this is the work of God who hereby pleads my righteous cause against a cruel and unjust master Or thus when thou shalt accuse me of doing thee injury I shall have this manifest and undeniable evidence of my Righteousness or Innocency that I have no Cattle but of that colour which is by agreement appropriated to me †Heb. to morrow in time to come when it shall come for my hire before thy face b When it i. e. my righteousness shall come to or upon my reward i. e. when my righteousness shall appear in the very colour of that Cattle which is allotted to me for my reward or hire before thy face i. e. thou being present and diligently observing whether I have any Cattle of another colour But the Hebrew word Tabo is also of the second person and so the sense seems to be this When thou shalt come upon my hire or reward to wit to observe and see whether I have any other cattel than what belongs to me And so these words come in by way of parenthesis and the following words before my face are to be joyned to the former words thus so shall my Righteousness answer for me in time to come when thou shalt come upon my hire before thy face This I prefer before the other because the phrase of coming upon his hire seems more properly to agree to a person than to his Righteousness every one that is not speckled and spotted amongst the goats and brown amongst the sheep that shall be counted stollen with me 34 And Laban said Behold I would it might be according to thy word c Laban trusted to the course of nature whereby cattle usually bring forth their young of their own colour and Iacob reâ—…ied upon the providence of an Almighty God and his gratious father 35 And he removed that day the he-goats that were ring-straked d Which had lines or strakes like bands about them of divers colours from the rest of their body and spotted and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted and every one that had some e This word is oft understood in other texts of Scripture and here it is so necessarily as appears both from the thing it self as it is related and from the phrase for he saith not that was white but that â—…ad white in it to wit mixed with other colours white in it and all the brown amongst the Sheep and gave them into the hand of his sons 36 And he set three days journey f Understand it of the journeying or travelling of sheep not of men betwixt himself and Jacob g Leâ—…t either Iacob should mingle
example in the worship of Idols * chap. 34. 13. Num. 33. 52. Deut. 7. 5 35. 12. 3. but thou shalt utterly overthrow them s i. e. The people lest thou be ensnared by their counsel or example and quite break down their images t Or statues or pillars or any thing else erected in honour to their false Gods See Gen. 28. 18. and 35. 20. 25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God and * Deut. 28. 5 8. he shall bless thy bread and thy water u i. e. Thy meat and thy drink that they shall be able to nourish thee and giâ—…e thee comfort which without my blessing they will never be able to do and * chap. 15. 26. Deut. 7. 15. I will take sickness away from the midst of thee 26 * Deut. 7. 14. There shall nothing cast their young nor be barren x Here was a double mercy God gave them strength both to conceive and to retain the conception till the natural and proper time of bringing forth came in thy land the number of thy dayes I will fulfill y I will preserve thee so as thou shalt live as long as the course of nature and temper of thy body will permit when evil men shall not live out half their days Psal. 55. 23. 27 I will send my fear z i. e. A great terrour or a terrour wrought by me See Exod. 33. 2. Iosh. 24. 12. before thee and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come and I will make all thine enemies turn their †Heb. necks backs unto thee 28 And I will send Hornets a Properly so called as may be gathered from Ios. 24. 12. Deut. 7. 20. Hornets are of themselves very troublesome and mischievous but these it is very probable were like those Egyptian flies Exod. 8. 21. of an extraordinary higness and perniciousness Nor is it strange that such creatures did drive many of these people from their habitations for many heathen writers give us instances of some people driven from their seats by frogs others by mice others by bees and wasps of which see Herodotus Diodorus Plin. Aelian Iustin c. before thee which shall drive out the Hivite the Canaanite and the Hittite b He names these three people either for all the rest because they were the most potent about the time of Israels first entrance into Canaan and gave them most trouble or because these three were more infested with Hornets than the other Nations as being more numerous and dangerous from before thee 29 * Deut. 7. 22. I will not drive them out from before thee in one year lest the land become desolate c Void of inhabitants in a great measure because thy present number is not sufficient to occupy and manage their whole land and the beast of the field multiply against thee 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee until thou be increased and inherit the land 31 And * Josh. 1. 4. I will set thy bounds d Compare this place with Gen. 15. 18. Numb 34. 3. from the Red-sea even unto the sea of the Philistines e i. e. The Mediterranean or Mid-land sea upon whose coast the land of the Philistines lay and from the desert f Of Egypt or Arabia whereof see Gen. 16. 7. Exod. 15. 22. unto the river g To wit Euphrates as it is expressed Deut. 1. 7. and 11. 24. which is oft called the river by way of eminency All within these bounds were given them by God but upon conditions which they manifestly broke and therefore were for the most part confined to a much narrower compass for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand and thou shalt drive them out before thee 32 * chap. 34. 15. Deut. 7. 2. Thou shalt make no covenant with them nor with their gods h To worship them as they made a covenant with Iehovah to worship him The sence is Thou shalt not engage thy self either to the people or to their Gods but shalt root out both 33 They shall not dwell in thy land lest they make thee sin against me for if thou serve i Or for thou wilt serve this will be the fruit of thy cohabitation with them thou wilst thereby be drawn to Idolatry their gods * chap. 34. 12. Deut. 7. 16. Josh. 23. 13. Judg. 2. 3. 1 Sam. 18. 21. Psal. 106. 36. it will surely k Or and assuredly this will be a snare l An occasion of further sin and utter ruine unto thee CHAP. XXIV 1 AND he said unto Moses Come up a After thou hast gone down and acquainted the people with my will and received their answer then come up again This sence is gathered from the repetition of this command after that was done ver 12. unto the LORD thou and Aaron Nadab and Abihu b Aaron and his two eldest sons whom by this special honour and favour he prepared for that office to which they were to be called chap. 28. and seventy of the Elders of Israel c Not the seventy governours which were chosen after this time as appears from Num. 11. 24. compared with Numb 33. 16. but seventy persons selected by Moses out of those rulers chosen and mentioned Exod. 18. 25. and possibly these were the chief heads of those several families which went with Iacob into Egypt which were about 70. See Gen. 46. 26 27. and worship ye afar off d Though they may come up into the mount further than the people yet do thou and let them especially keep their distance and what worship either thou or they shall offer to me shall be performed afar off from the top of the mountain whither thou onely shalt be admitted and that not to pray to me but onely to receive laws and oracles from me See ver 2. 2 And Moses alone e i. e. Without the persons now mentioned though not without Ioshua his minister as some conceive from ver 13. though even there Moses seems to ascend into the mount without Ioshua shall come near the LORD but they shall not come nigh neither shall the people go up with him f To any part of the mount as Aaron and Nadab c. did but they shall tarry at the bottom See Exod. 19. 12. 3 And Moses came g Down from the mount to the people after he had received the laws from God and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments and all the people answered with one voice and said * chap. 19. 8. Ver. 7. Deut. 5. 27. All the words which the LORD hath said will we do h This they so readily and rashly promise because they were not sensible of their own weakness and because they did not understand the comprehensiveness and spirituality and strictness of Gods law but
blood of the trespass offering and put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed and upon the thumb of his right hand and upon the great toe of his right foot 26 And the priest shall pour of the oyl into the palm of his own left hand 27 And the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oyl that is in his left hand seven times before the LORD 28 And the priest shall put of the oyl that is in his hand upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed and upon the thumb of his right hand and upon the great toe of his right foot upon the place of the blood of the trespass offering 29 And the rest of the oyl that is in the priests hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed to make an atonement for him before the LORD 30 And he shall offer the one of the turtle doves or of the young pigeons such as he can get 31 Even such as he is able to get the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt-offering with the meat-offering And the priest shall make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the LORD 32 This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosie whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing 33 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying 34 When ye be come into the land of Canaan which I give to you for a possession and I put the plague of leprosie in a house of the land of your possession 35 And he that oweth the house shall come and tell the priest saying It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house 36 Then the priest shall command that they c i. e. The possessours of the house ‖ Or prepare empty the house before the priest go into it to see the plague that all that is in the house be not made unclean d It is observable here that neither the people nor the houshold stuffe were polluted till the leprosie was discovered and declared by the Priest to shew what great difference God makes between sins of ignorance and sins against knowledge and conscience and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house 37 And he shall look on the plague and behold if the plague be in the walls of the house e This was an extraordinary judgment of God peculiar to this people either as a punishment of their sins which were much more sinful and inexcusable than the sins of other nations or as a special mean and help to Repentance which God afforded to them above other people or as a document of the mischievous nature of sin typified by leprosie which did not onely destroy persons but their habitations also see Zech. 5. 4. with hollow strakes f Such as were in the bodies of leprous persons Levit. 13. 3. greenish or reddish which in sight are lower than the wall 38 Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house seven dayes 39 And the priest shall come again the seventh day and shall look and behold if the plague be spread in the walls of the house 40 Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is and they shall cast them into an unclean place g Where they used to cast dirt and filthy things without the city 41 And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about and they shall pour out the dust h The mortar or other rubbish that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place 42 And they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones and he shall take other morter and shall plaister the house 43 And if the plague come again and break out in the house after that he hath taken away the stones and after he hath scraped the house and after it is plaistered 44 Then the priest shall come and look and behold if the plague be spread in the house it is a fretting leprosie in the house it is unclean 45 And he shall break down the house the stones of it and the timber thereof and all the morter of the house and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place 46 Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even 47 And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes 48 And if the priest †Heb in coming in shall come in c. shall come in and look upon it and behold the plague hath not spread in the house after the house was plaistered then the priest shall pronounce the house clean because the plague is healed 49 And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds and cedar-wood and scarlet and hysop 50 And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water 51 And he shall take the cedar wood and the hysop and the scarlet and the living bird and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and in the running water and sprinkle the house seven times 52 And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the running water and with the living bird and with the cedar-wood and with the hysop and with the scarlet 53 But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields and make an atonement for the house and it shall be clean 54 This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosie and * chap. 13. 30 scall 55 And for the leprosie of a garment and of an house 56 And for a rising and for a scab and for a bright spot 57 To teach i To direct the Priest when to pronounce a person or house clean or unclean So it was not left to the Priests power or will but they were tied to plain rules such as the people might discern no less then the Priest †Heb in the day of the unclean and in the day of the clean when it is unclean and when it is clean this is the law of leprosie CHAP. XV. 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying 2 Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them * Num. 5. 2. when any man hath a †Or running of the reins running issue out of his flesh a His secret parts called flesh Levit. 6. 10. and 12. 3. Ezek. 16. 26. and 23. 20. because of his issue he is unclean 3 And this shall be his uncleanness in his issue whether his flesh run with his issue or his flesh be stopped from his issue b Or if it have run and
historical Books is lost not being a Canonical Book and therefore not preserved by the Iews with the same care as they were so the sun stood still b Here is no mention of the Moon because the Suns standing was the only thing which Ioshua desired and needed and the Moons standing he desired only by accident to prevent irregularity in the Motions of those celestial Lights Some take this to be but a Poetical Phrase and Relation of the Victory that Ioshua did so many and such great things in that day as if the Sun and Moon had stood still and given him longer time for it But the frequent Repetition and magnificent Declaration of this Wonder manifestly confutes that fancy That the Sun and Moon did really stand still is affirmed Habak 3. 11. and Sirach 46. 5 6. And if it seem strange to any one that so wonderful a Work observed by the whole World that then was should not be mentioned in any Heathen Writers he must needs be satisfied if he considers that it is confessed by the generality of Writers Heathens and others that there is no certain History or Monument in Heathen Authors of any thing done before the Trojan Wars which was a thousand years after Ioshua's time and that all time before that is called by the learnedst Heathens the uncertain unknown or obscure time in the midst of ‡ Or the 〈◊〉 rigâ—…t heaven c Not Mathematically in the very Meridian or middle part of that Hemisphere but morally and with some Latitude when it had begun a little to decline the consideration whereof seems to have given Ioshua occasion for his desire and hasted not to go down about a whole day d i. e. For the space of a whole day Understand an artificial day between Sun-rising and Sun-setting for that was the day which Ioshua needed and desired a day to give him light for his work 14 And there was no day like that e To wit In those parts of the World of which he here speaks and about which the Comparison is here made vain therefore is that Objection that the days are longer near the Northern and Southern Poles where they are constantly longer at certain seasons and that by the order of nature whereas the length of this day was purely contingent and granted by God in answer to Ioshua's Prayer as is here added Obj. In Hezekiah's time and at his Prayer there was a day which may seem to have been longer for the Sun went backward ten Degrees in ten hours and then returned again ten Degrees in ten hours and so it was 20. hours longer than a common day and so longer than this Ans. It is not certain either that each Degree designed an hour and not rather half an hour or a quarter as others think or that the Sun returned those ten Degrees as slowly as he went down before or after Besides it was now near Summer Solstice when the day was longest and about 14. hours and that being doubled the artificial day was 28. hours and because there is not the least evidence that Hezekiahs day was longer but rather of the contrary it is much more reasonable to believe this Scripture-assertion than to deny or question upon meer Suppositions or idle Conjectures before it or after it that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man f To wit in such a manner to alter the Course of nature and of the heavenly Bodies that a man might have more time to pursue and destroy his Enemies for the LORD fought for Israel g This is added as the reason why God was so ready to answer Ioshua's Petition herein because he was engaged and resolved to fight for Israel and that in â—… more than ordinary manner 15 ¶ And Joshua returned h Not immediately or upon that same day but after he had dispatched the matter which here follows as appears by v. 43. where the very same words are repeated to shew that that was the meaning of them And they are put here to close the general discourse of the fight which begun v. 10. and ends here which being done he particularly describes some remarkable Passages and closeth them with the same words and all Israel with him unto the camp to Gilgal 16 But these five kings i Named above v. 3. fled and hid themselves in a cave k As a place of most secrecy or security but there is no escaping the eye or hand of God who here brought them into a Net of their own making at Makkedah l Heb. in Makkedah not in the city for that was not yet taken but in the Territory of it as in Gibeon v. 10. 17 And it was told Joshua saying The five kings are found hid in a cave at Makkedah 18 And Joshua said Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave and set men by it for to keep them 19 And stay ye not m Lose not your opportunity by your sloth or negligence but pursue after your enemies and †smite the hindmost of them n Their rereward all whom you can overtake Heb. cut off tail suffer them not to enter into their cities o Whereby they will recover their strength and renew the War for the LORD your God hath delivered them into your hand p Your work will be easie God hath already done the work to your hands 20 And it came to pass when Joshua and the children of Israel q i. e. Ioshua by the Children of Israel or the Children of Israel i. e. a Party of them by the Command Direction and Encouragement of Ioshua for Ioshua himself went not with them but abode in the Siege before Makkedah v. 21. had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter till they were consumed that the rest which remained of them entred into fenced cities 21 And all the people returned to the camp r To the body of the Army which were encamped there with Ioshua to besiege that place to Joshua at Makkedah in peace * Exod. 11. 7. none moved his tongue s Not so much as a Dog as it is expressed Exod. 11. 7. Not onely their men of War could not find their hands but they were all so confounded that they could not move their Tongues in way of Insultation or Reproach as doubtless they did when the Israelites were first repulsed and smitten at Ai but now they were silenced as well as conquered they durst no more provoke nor injure the Israelites against any of the children of Israel 22 Then said Joshua Open the mouth of the cave and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave 23 And they did so and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave the king of Jerusalem the king of Hebron the king of Jarmuth the king of Lachish and the king of Eglon. 24 And it came to pass when they brought out those
by killing many of their Persons as is sufficiently implied here v. 10. and smote them ‡ Hebr. in the seats 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with * Psal. 78. 66. emerods p A Disease mentioned only here and Deut. 28. 27. it was in the hinder parts It is needless to enquire into the Nature of it It may suffice to know that it was a very Sore Disease and not only very Vexations and Tormenting but also Pernicious and Mortal even Ashdod and the coasts thereof 7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so they said The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us for his hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon our god 8 They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them and said What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel And they answered Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath q Supposing that this Plague was confined to Ashdod for some particular Reasons or that it came upon them by Chance or from some bad Influence of the Air or of the Stars or for putting it into Dagon's Temple which they resolved they would not do And they carried the ark of the God of Israal about thither 9 And it was so that after they had carried it about the hand of the LORD was against the city with ‖ Or a 〈◊〉 great 〈◊〉 a very great destruction and he smote the men of the city both small and great and they had emerods in their secret parts r Or in their hidden parts to wit in the inwards of their hinder parts Which is the worst kind of Emerods as all Phisicians acknowledge both because its Pains are for more sharp and keen than the other and because the Malady is more out of the reach of Remedies 10 ¶ Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron and it came to pass as the ark of God came to Ekron that the Ekronites cried out saying They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us to slay us s Not that they intended this but because this would be the event of it and our people 11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it go again to his own place that it slay us not and our people for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city t To wit the City of Ekron during its short stay there Or in every City to wit where the Ark of God came for it came also to Gaza and Askelon and produced the same Effects there as may be gathered from chap. 6. 4 17. though for brevity sake it be here omitted the hand of God was heavy there 12 And the men that died not u Either of some other Plague or Ulcer as may be thought from v. 6. or of the Emerods which Infested and Tormented even those whom it did not kill were smitten with the emerods and the cry of the city x Or of that City where the Ark was and the City is put for the People Inhabiting it went up to heaven CHAP. VI. AND the ark of the LORD was in the countrey of the Philistines seven months a So long they kept it as loth to lose so great a Prize and willing to try all ways to keep it and yet free themselves from the Mischiefs aecompanying its presence 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners b Whose Art was in great esteem with Heathen Nations and especially with the Philistines and their Neighbours the Canaanites and Egyptians saying What shall we do to the ark of the LORD Tell us wherewith c In what manner and with what Gifts for to send it they had Decreed before chap. 5. 11. we shall send it to his place 3 And they said If ye resolve to send away the ark of the God of Israel send it not empty d i. e. Without a present which they judged necessary from the common Opinion and Practice both of Iews and Gentiles but in any wise return him a trespass-offering e Thereby to acknowledge our Offence and obtain his Pardon then ye shall be healed and it shall be known to you f You shall understand what is hitherto doubtful whether he was the Author of these Calamities and why they continued so long upon you Compare verse 7 8 9. why his hand * Or was not is not removed from you 4 Then said they What shall be the trespass-offering g They desire particular Information because they were ignorant of the Nature and Manner of the Worship of Israel's God and they might easily understand that there were some kinds of Offerings which God would not accept which we shall return to him â—… They answered Five golden emerods h i. e. Figures of that part of the Body which was the seat of the Disease which by its swelling or some other way Represented also the Disease it self Which they Offered not in contempt of God for they sought to gain his Favour hereby but in Testimony of their Humiliation that by leaving this Monument of their own Shame and Misery they might obtain Pity from God and Freedom from their Disease and five golden mice i Which Marred their Land as it is related v. 5. by Destroying the Fruits thereof as the other Plague Afflicted their Bodies according to the number of the lords of the Philistines for one kind of plague was on ‡ Heb. them you all and on your lords 5 Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods and images of your mice that * Chap. 5. 6. mar the land and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel k The Glory of his Power in Conquering you who seemed and pretended to have Conquered him of his Justice in Punishing you and of his Goodness if he shall Relieve you peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you and from off your gods l They so speak either because not only Dagon but their other gods also were thrown down by the Ark though that be not related or because the Plural Number in that Case was commonly used for the Singular and from off your land 6 Wherefore then do ye harden m Or should ye harden the Future Tense of the Indicative Mood being put potentially as is not unusual They express themselves thus either because they perceived that some opposed the Decree of sending home the Ark though the most had consented to it or because they thought they would hardly send it away in the manner prescribed by giving Glory to God and taking Shame to themselves your hearts * Exod. 7. 13. and 8. 15. and 14. 17. as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts n Which they might easily learn either by Tradition from their
15. 29. and more fully 2 King 17. 6. because they have made their groves h For the Worship of their Idols Exod. 34. 13. Deut. 16. 21. God having before condemned the making and worshipping of the Calves by which they designed or pretended to Worship the True God he now takes notice that they were not contented with the Calves but as it is the nature of Idolatry and all sin to proceed from evil to worse were many of them fallen into another and a worse kind of Idolatry even their worship of the Heathenish Baals which they commonly exercised in Groves See on 1 King 18. 19. provoking the LORD to anger 16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam who did sin and who made Israel to sin i To wit by his invention and making of the occasion of their sin the Calves by his example by encouraging those and onely those that worshipped the Calves and by his Authority requiring and compelling them to do it This is mentioned as a monstrous aggravation of his wickedness that he was not content with his own sin but was the great Author and chief cause of drawing others into sin and of corrupting and undoing the whole Kingdom which therefore God would never forgive him nor forget him but upon all occasions mentions him with this Eternal brand of infamy upon him 17 ¶ And Jeroboams wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah k An Ancient and Royal City Ios. 12. 24. in a pleasant place Cant. 6. 4. where the Kings of Israel had a Palace chap. 15. 33. and 16. 6 8 23 24. whither Ieroboam was now removed from Shechem either for his pleasure or for his Sons recovery by the healthfulness of the place and when she came to the threshold of the door l To wit of the Kings House which probably was upon or by the Wall of the City and near the Gate which was the place of Judicature See v. 12. the child died 18 And they buried him and all Israel mourned for him according to the word of the LORD which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet 19 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam how he warred and how he reigned behold they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel m Heb. in the book of the words or things of the days c. By which you are not to understand that Canonical Book of the Chronicles for that was written long after this Book but a Book of Civil Records the Annals wherein all remarkable passages were Recorded by the Kings command from day to day out of which the Sacred Penman by the direction of Gods Spirit took out those passages which were most considerable and useful for Gods Honour and Mens Edification 20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years So he lived till Asa's second year chap. 15. 25. and he ‡ Heb. lay down slept with his fathers o Either First He was Buried with his Ancestors But their Sepulchre seems to be too mean and improper for a great King and Kings use to be Buried in peculiar Sepulchres Or Secondly He died as his Fathers did and Nadab his son reigned in his stead 21 ¶ And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah 2 Chr. 12. 13. Rehoboam was forty and one years old p Therefore he was born a year before Solomon was King as appears from 1 King 11. 42. This is noted as an aggravation of Rehoboam's folly that he was old enough to have been wiser when he began to reign and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem the city which the LORD did chuse out of all the tribes of Israel to put his Name there and his mothers name was Naamah an Ammonitess q A People Cursed by God and shut out of the Congregation of his People for ever Deut. 23. 3. Neh. 13. 1. This is observed as one cause both of Gods displeasure in punishing Solomon with such a Son and of Rehoboam's Apostacy after his three first years 2 Chron. 11. 17. 22 And Judah did evil r After a little time 2 Chron. 11. 17. in the sight of the LORD and they provoked him to jealousie with their sins which they had committed above all that their fathers had done 23 For they also s They followed the example of the Israelites although they were better instructed and had the Temple in their Kingdom and liberty of access to it which was denied to the Israelites and the priviledge of Worshipping God in his own way and the Counsels and Sermons and Examples of the Priests and Levites to teach and stablish them and the dreadful example of Israel's horrid Apostacy to caution and terrify them built them high places t Which was unlawful and now especially when the Temple was Built and ready to receive them unnecessary and therefore expressed a greater contempt of God and his express Command to the contrary and ‖ Or standing images or statues images and groves u Not only after the manner of the Heathens and Israelites but against a direct and particular prohibition on every high hill and under every green tree x The People were universally corrupted which is a prodigious all things considered and is a clear evidence of the greatness and depth of the Original corruption of Mans nature which without Gods Grace is ready to break forth into all sorts of wickedness 24 And there were also Sodomites y i. e. Males who prostitured their Bodies to the filthy Lusts of others of whom see on Deut. 23. 17. who also did this in the worship and to the honour of their Idols as also the Women did Numb 25. 1 2. And this might be one occasion of so great a spreading of Idolatry among the Lustful Israelites And on the other side God doth frequently punish Idolatry with Corporal uncleanness Rom. 1. 21 28. See 1 King 15. 12. and 22. 46. 2 King 23. 7. in the land and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel 25 ¶ And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam z Presently after his and his Peoples Apostacy which was not till his fourth year when the Apostatical Israelites enjoyed Peace and some kind of Prosperity at first for many Years together of which difference two reasons may be given First That Iudah's sins were committed against clearer Light and more powerful means and remedies of all sorts and therefore deserved more severe and speedy Judgments Secondly That God discovered more Love to Iudah in chastizing them speedily that so they might be humbled and reformed and so graciously preserved as it happened and more anger against Israel that he spared them and by their impunity hardned and ripened them to that total destruction which he intended to bring upon
am wholly thy Creature and Workmanship made by thee and for thee yet thou dost destroy me s Or swallow me up to wit without cause or any eminent provocation of mine as if thou didst delight in doing and undoing in making and then destroying thy Creatures which doth not become thy Wisdom or Goodness 9. Remember I beseech thee that * Gen. 2â—… 3. 19. thou hast ‖ Or 〈◊〉 made me as the clay t i. e. Of the Clay the Note of similitude here expressing the truth of things as it doth Iohn 1. 14. and elsewhere as hath been before observed Or as a Potter maketh a Vessel of the Clay and so this may note both the frailty of man's Nature which of it self decaies and perisheth and doth not need such violent shocks and storms to overthrow it and the Excellency of the Divine Artifice commended from the meanness of the Materials out of which it was made which is an Argument why God should not destroy it and wilt thou bring me into dust again u Wiltst thou now causleslâ—… and violently destroy thy own Work But the words are and may be read without an Interrogation And thou wilt bring me into duâ—…l again out of which I was made I must die by the course of Nature and by the sentence of thy Law and therefore whilest I do live give me some ease and comfort 10. * Ps. 139. 14. 15 16. Hast thou not poured me out as milk and crudled me like cheese x Thus he modestly and accurately describes God's admirable Work in making Man out of a small and liquid and as it were Milky substance by degrees congealed and condensed into that exquisite Frame of Man's Body 11. Thou hast clothed me y i. e. Covered my inward and more noble parts which as Philosophers and Physicians observe are first formed So he proceeds in describing Man's Formation gradually with skin and flesh and hast †Heb. 〈◊〉 fenced me with bones and sinews z Which are the stay and strength of the Body and some of them as the Skull and Ribs enclose and defend its vital and most noble parts 12. Thou hast granted me life a Thou didst not onely give me a curious Body but also a living and a reasonable Soul Thou didst at first give me life and then maintain it in me both when I was in the Womb which is a marvellous Work of God and afterward when I was unable to do any thing to preserve my own life and favour b Or benignity or borâ—…ty or mercy or kindness which is here as ost elsewhere put for its fruits or effects Thou didst not give a meer Life but many other Favours necessary or convenient or belonging to it such as Nourishment by the Breast Education Knowledge and Instruction c. and thy visitation c i. e. The Care of thy Providence watching over me for my good and visiting me in mercy as God's visiting is understood Exod. 4. 31. Luke 1. 78. though elsewhere it is an Act of Punishment hath preserved my spirit d i. e. My Soul or Life which is liable to manifold Casualties and Dangers if God did not watch over us and guard us every day and moment Thou hast hitherto done great things for me given me Life and the Blessings of Life and daily Preservations and Deliverances And wiltst thou now undo all that thou hast done And shall I who have been such an eminent Monument of thy Mercy now be made a Spectacle of thy Vengeance and that without cause 13. And these things hast thou hid in thine heart e This place may be understood either 1. of Iob's present Afflictions So the sense is this Yet in the midst of all those Manifestations of thy Grace and kindness to me thou didst retain a secret purpose of changing thy course and carriage towards me and of bringing these dreadful Calamities upon me Or rather 2. of his former Mercies these things to wit last mentioned thou hast hid them in thy heart i. e. thou dost exactly remember them as this phrase is used Psalm 119. 11. Luke 2. 51. So the Argument is this Let the remembrance of thy former great Favours vouchsased to me move thee to give me further Blessings and a speedy Deliverance For this is usual both with God and Men to choose aâ—…d delight to do more good to those to whom they have done much good already which is the ground of that known passage Mat. 13. 12. To him that hath shall be given I know that this is * 〈◊〉 59. 〈◊〉 with thee f i. e. In thy mind and heart thou hast not forgot it So the same thing is here repeated in other words 14. If I sin g If I commit the least sin as who is there that liveth and sinneth not then thou markest me h Thou doest not wink at or pass by my sins as thou usually doest other mens but doest severely and diligently observe them all that thou mayest punish them Compare Chap. 14. 16. 31. 4. and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity i I perceive thou art resolved to punish me with rigour and that thou wiltst not pardon and pity and help me Words of great impatience and distrust 15. If I be wicked k i. e. An ungodly Hypocrite as my Friends esteem me wo unto me l Then I am truly and extremely and must be eternally miserable and if I be righteous m i. e. An upright and good man So whether good or bad all comes to one I have no relief yet will I not lift up my head n Or yet caâ—… I not c. The Future Tense being used potentially Yet I have no comfort nor confidence or hopes of any good Lifting up â—…he head or face is oft mentioned as a sign of comfort and confidence as Psalm 3. 3. Luke 21. 28. As on the contrary Grief and Shame are described by its dejection or casting down I am full of †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confusion o Or 〈◊〉 from my Friends and from others Chap. 30. 1 c. and from God too who â—…asts me off and makes me contemptible I have abundance of shame in the disappointment of all my hopes and the continuance and aggravation of my misery notwithstanding all my prayers to God to remove or mitigate it And I am confounded within my self not knowing what to say or do Let my extremity move thee to pity and help me therefore see thou mine affliction 16. For it encreaseth thou * 〈◊〉 3â—… 13. 〈◊〉 huntest me as a fierce lion p Which hunteth after his prey with great eagerness and when he overtakes it falls upon it with great fury and again thou shewest thy self marvellous upon me q Heb. And thou returnest and shewest thy self marvellous upon or in or against me The â—…ion tears its prey speedily and so ends its torments but
is in his Presence and under his Providence So far am I from imagining that God cannot see through a dark Cloud as you traduced me Chap. 22 13. that I very well know that even Hell it self that place of utter darkness is not hid from his sight k i. e. The place of destruction as it is also used Prov. 15. 11. by a Metonymy of the Adjunct l To wit such as to keep it out of his sight 7. * Chap. 9. 8. Psal. 104. 2 c. He stretcheth out the North m i. e. The Northern Pole or part of the Heavens which he particularly mentions and puts for the whole visible Heaven because Iob and his Friends lived in a Nothern Climate and were acquainted only with that part of the Heavens the Southern Pole and parts near it being wholly unknown to them The Heavens are oft and fitly said to be spread or stretched out like a Curtain or Tent to which they are resembled over the empty place n To wit the Air so called not Philosophically as if it were wholly empty but popularly because it seems to be so and is generally void of solid and visible bodies and hangeth the earth upon nothing o Upon its own Center which is but an imaginary thing and in truth nothing Or upon no Props or Pillars but his own Power and Providence Which is justly celebrated as a wonderful Work of God both in Scripture and in Heathen Authors 8. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds and the cloud is not rent under them p This also is a miraculous Work of God considering the nature of these Waters which are fluid and heavy and pressing downward especially being oft-times there in great abundance and withal the quality of the Clouds which are thin and loose bodies of the same nature with Fogs and Mists upon the Face of the Earth and therefore of themselves utterly unable to bear that weight and to keep up those Waters from falling suddenly and violently upon the Earth 9. He holdeth back q i. e. To wit from our view that its lustre and glory should not reach us and so dazle our sight he covereth it with a Cloud as the next words explain it Or He holdeth fast or binds together or strengthens it that it may be able to bear that burden the face of his throne r Either 1. this lower Air which is as the Face or open part of the Heavens which is often called God's Throne as salm 11. 4. Isa. 66. 1. Amos 9. 6. Or 2. the appearance or manifestation of the Heaven of Heavens where he dwelleth whose light and glory is too great for mortal eyes which therefore by Clouds and other ways he hides from us and spreadeth his cloud upon it 10. * Ps. 33 7. 104 9. He hath compassed the waters s To wit of the Sea for of the upper Waters coming out of the Clouds he spake before with bounds t Which are partly the Rocks and Shores and principally God's appointment made at the first Creation and renewed after the Deluge Gen. 9. 11. 15. that the Waters should not overwhelm the Earth See Iob 38. 8 10 11. Psalm 104. 3. Ier. 5. 22. †Heb. until the end of light with darkness until the day and night come to an end u i. e. Unto the end of the World for so long these Vicissitudes of Day and Night are to continue Gen. 8. 22. 9. 9 c. Ier. 5. 22. 31. 35 36. 11. The pillars of heaven x Either 1. those Mountains which by their height and strength may seem to reach and support the Heavens as the Poets said of Atlas for this is a Poetical Book and there are many Poetical expressions in it These tremble sometimes by force of Earthquakes or by God's glorious appearance in them as Sinai did Or 2. Holy Angels but they are not subject either to trembling or to God's rebuke Or 3. the Heavenly Bodies as the Sun and Moon and Stars which as they may seem in some sort to support so they do certainly adorn the Heavens And we know Pillars are oft made not for support but only for Ornament as the two famous Pillars of the Temple Iachin and Boaz 1 Kings 7. 21. And these oft-times seem to tremble and be astonished as in Eclipses or Tempests and terrible Works of God in the Air by which they are frequently said to be affected and changed because they seem so to us and many things are spoken in Scripture according to appearance See Isa. 13. 10. 24. 23. Ioel 2. 10 31. Mat. 24. 29. c. Either 1. when God rebuketh them for God is sometimes said in Scripture to rebuke the lifeless Creatures which is to be understood figuratively of the Tokens of God's anger in them Or 2. when God reproveth not them but men by them manifesting his displeasure against sinful men by Thunders or Earthquakes or prodigious Works tremble and are astonished at his reproof y. 12. * Isa. 51. 15. He ‖ Or stilleth Chap. 38. 11. divideth the sea z He speaks either 1. of God's dividing the Red-sea for the Israelites to pass over And consequently the Hebrew word Rahab which here follows and is translated pride or the proud is meant of Egypt which is oft called Rahab as Psalm 87. 4. 89. 10. Isa. 51. 9. But it seems most probable that that Work was not yet done and that Iob lived long before Israels coming out of Egypt Or rather 2. of the common Work of Nature and Providence in raising Tempests by which he breaketh or divideth the Waves of the Sea by making deep Furrows in it and casting up part of the Waters into the Air and splitting part of them upon the Rocks and Shores of the Sea with his power and by his understanding a i. e. By his wise Counsel and administration of things so as may obtain his own glorious ends he smiteth thorough †Heb. pride the proud b Either 1. the Whale which is called King over all the children of pride Job 41. 34. and which is sometimes by force of Tempests cast upon the shore Or rather 2. the Sea which is fitlâ—… called proud as its Waves are called Iob 38. 11. because it is lofty and fierce and swelling and unruly which God is said to smite when he subdues and restrains its rage and turns the storm into a calm 13. By his * Psal. 33. â—… spirit c Either 1. by his Divine Vertue or Power which is sometimes called his Spirit as Zach. 4. 6. Mat. 12. 28. Or 2. by his holy Spirit to which the Creation of the World is ascribed Gen. 1. 2. Iob 33. 4. Psalm 33. 6. he hath garnished the heavens d Adorned or beautified them with those glorious Lights the Sun and Moon and Stars his hand hath formed the †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bâ—…r
PSAL. XLIII The ARGUMENT This Psalm seems to have been Composed by the same Author and upon the same Occasion with the former 1. JUdge me a Or Iudge or give Sentence for me as this Phrase is used Psal. 26. 1. and elsewhere O God and plead my cause against an ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ungodly b Or unmerciful i. e. Cruel or inhumane for it is a Meiosis nation c So he calls the Company of his Enemies for their great Numbers and because they were the far greatest part and almost the whole Body of the Nation O deliver me 〈◊〉 from a 〈◊〉 deceit †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the deceitful and unjust d Who covereth his wicked Designs with fair and false Pretences Which sort of men are hateful to thee and to all good Men. man e Either Saul Or rather Achitophel or Absalom For he speaks of the holy Hill of Zion v. 3. which was not so till after Saul's time Or Man may be put Collectively for the Men of that time 2. For thou art the God of my strength why dost thou cast me off * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 9. Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy 3. O send out f i. e. Actually impart and discover them for at present thou seemest to Conceal and with-hold them from me i. e. Thy Favour or the Light of thy Countenance and the Truth of thy Promises made to me as God's Mercy and Truth oft go together as 2 Sam. 15. 20. Psal. 61. 7. and 89. 14. c. Or this may be a Figure called Hendiaduo whereby Light and Truth is put either for the Light of Gods Truth Or rather for true Light the Illumination of Gods Spirit and the direction of his gracious Providence whereby he might be led as it follows in the right way which would bring him to God's holy Hill thy light and * 〈◊〉 57. 3 thy truth g let them lead me let them bring me unto thy holy hill h To wit of Zion the place of God's Presence and Worship and to thy tabernacles i i. e. Tabernacle Which he calls Tabernacles Either 1. Because there were now two Tabernacles one at Zion where the Ark was and another at Gibeon 1 Chron. 16. 37. 39. Although he here seems to speak but of one of them even of that which was upon God's holy Hill Or 2. Because of the several parts of it the most Holy and the Holy place and the Church These indeed were in that of Gibeon but not in that of Zion Or rather 3. By a meer Enalâ—…age of the Number the plural for the singular which is frequent as in other Words so in those which belong to this Matter as Tabernacles Psal. 46. 4. and Sanctuaries Levit. 26. 31. Psal. 73. 17. c. and 74. 7. Ier. 51. 51. Nay the most Holy place though but one simple part is by the Greeks called Holies So in other Authors we Read the Rivers of Nilus of that one River and Right hands for one Right hand and many like Phrases 4. Then will I go unto the altar of God k To offer Sacrifices of Thanksgiving for my Deliverance unto God †Heb. the gladness of my joy my exceeding joy l The principal Author and Matter of all my Joy and Comfort yea upon the harp will I praise thee O God my God 5. * Psal. 42. 5. 11. Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my Countenance and my God PSAL. XLIV The ARGUMENT There is no certainty either Concerning the Author or the particular occasion of this Psalm This is evident that it was Composed with respect unto the Calamitous Condition of the Church and People of Israel whom it supposeth to be in a state of Captivity and Persecution But whether it was made by David who foresaw and foretold by the Spirit of God their future Captivity and framed this for their use in that â—…state or by some other holy Man of God when they were actually in this Condition is not determined nor necessary to know for the understanding of it To the chief musician for the sons of Korah Maschil 1. WE have heard with our ears O God our fathers have told us what work thou didst in their days a They alledge their former Experiences as Encouragements to their Faith and Motives to God to continue to be gracious to them in the times of old 2. How * Exod. 15. 17 Psal. 78. 55. 80. 8. thou didst drive out the heathen b The Canaanites with thy hand and plantest them c To wit our Fathers easily understood both from the Matter and from v. 1. where they are expressed the Pronoun being referred unto the Remoter Antecedent as it is Gen. 10. 12. and 19. 13. Psal. 18. 15. and oft elsewhere So them must be the People or 〈◊〉 But because the Comparing of this Branch of the Verse with the former Plantedst them to which this Answers and withthe following they makes it more than probable that this them belongs to the Fathers this is to be otherwise rendred Either 1. Thus send them out to wit free or Manumitted out of Egypt of which this same Verb is used Exod. 5. 1. and 12. 33. And then the foregoing People are the Egyptians not the Canaanites Which yet seems not to agree with the foregoing and following Passages both which speak of the Canaanites onely nor with the order of the Words in this Verse it being improper to mention their coming out of Egypt after their being planted in Canaan Or rather 2. Thus make them send or shout forth to wit Branches as it is more fully expressed Psal. 80. 11. Ezek. 17. 6. Where this Verb is used And this most Naturally and Properly follows upon and after their Planting mentioned in the former Clause how thou didst afflict the people and cast them out 3. * Deut. â—… 〈◊〉 Josh. â—…4 〈◊〉 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword d i. e. By their Arms or Valour neither did their own arm save them but thy right hand and thine arm and the light of thy countenance e i. e. Thy Favour as the next Words explain it Thy gracious and glorious Presence which went along with us because thâ—… hadst a favour unto them 4. * Psal. 74. 12. Thou art my King f Iacob's or Israel's King in a peculiar manner The whole People speak like one Man as being united together in one Body O God command g i. e. Effectually procure by thy Commanding Word deliverances for Jacob. 5. Through thee will we push down h Heb. Smite with the Horn i. e. Subdue and destroy The Phrase is taken from Deut. 33. 17. and is borrowed from horned Beasts Comp. 1 Kings 22. 11. our enemies through thy name i
poetically said and with a manifest Allusion to Solomon's glorious Garments and Palaces By these ivory Palaces he may mean either 1. His humane Nature in which Christ dwelt as in a Tabernacle as the Greek word signifies Ioh. 1. 14 in which all these fragrant Vertues were and from whence they were diffused every where Indeed the Body is called a Temple Ioh. 2. 19. and an House or Tabernacle 2 Cor. 5. 1 2. and so it might be called a Palace But why it should be called Palaces and that of Ivory seems not so plain Or rather 2. Those glorious and heavenly Mansions Ioh. 14. 2. which may not unfitly be called ivory Palaces as elsewhere in the same figurative manner they are said to be made of or adorned with Gold and Precious stones Revel 21. 18 19. from which Mansions Christ came into the World Ioh. 3. 13. and into which Christ went and where he setled his abode after he went out of the World Ioh. 13. 1. Act. 1. 11. and from whence Christ poured forth all the fragrant Gifts and Graces of his Spirit into the World and Church Act. 2. 33. Although there is no necessity to strain every particular Circumstance in such poetical Descriptions nor to find out some particular thing in Christ to which it agrees for some Expressions may be used onely as Ornaments in such Cases as they are in Parables and it may suffice to know and say that the Glories and Excellencies of the King Christ are described by such things in which earthly Potentates do place their Glory whereby k Or from which Either 1. From place or Palaces Or rather 2. From which thing i. e. From the sweet smell of thy Garments out of those ivory Palaces or from the Effusion of the Gifts and Graces of thy Spirit from thy Fathers right hand in Heaven which as it is a great Blessing and Comfort to those who receive them so doth it rejoyce the Heart of Christ both as it is a Demonstration of his own Power and Glory and as it is the happy Instrument of doing much good in the World and of bringing Souls to God which is Christs great work and delight they have made thee glad l i. e. Thou art made glad such Phrases being oft used indefinitely and impersonally as Luk. 15. 32. and in many other places 9. Kings daughters were among thy honourable women m i. e. Amongst them that attend upon thy Spouse as the manner was in Nuptial Solemnities as men attended upon the Bridegroom whence they were called Friends Ioh. â—… 29. In reference to Christ as the Spouse or Queen is the Church in general so these honourable Women are particular Believers who are daily added to the Church Act. 2. 47 and submit themselves to it And although the Church is made up of particular Believers yet she is distinguished from them for the Decency of the Parable as the whole is oft distinguished by our Minds from the parts of which it Consists and as the Daughters of Ierusalem are distinguished from the Spouse in the Book of the Canticles though the Spouse be wholly made up of them And these Believers may be said to be Kings Daughters Either because amongst others many Persons of Royal or Princely Races did embrace the Faith as was Prophecied of them Isa. 49. 7. and 60. 10 11. c. or because they are in a spiritual Sence King 's unto God Revel 1. â—… upon thy right hand n The most honourable place next to the Kings See 1 Kings 2 19. Mat. 26 64. did stand o Which is the posture of a Servant to shew that as she is a Queen she is also his Subject to serve and obey him Or is placed or seated Which seems more agreeable to the Person of a Queen 1 Kings 2. 19. and of a Spouse at the Nupâ—…l Solemnity the queen in gold of Ophir p Clothed in the richest Garments made of the choicest Gold By which he designs the Graces wherewith the Church is accomplished 10. Hearken q These Worâ—…â—…poken Either 1. In the Person of the Attendants upâ—… 〈◊〉 Bride or Bridegroom Or 2. Of the Bridegroom 〈◊〉 rather 3. By the Prophet himself who having hitherto spoken to the Bridegroom or King now addresseth his Speech to the Bride or Queen O daughter r So he câ—…lls her Partly in token of his Respect and Affection to her and Partly because she is supposed to be young and beautiful and therefore the Prophet speaks like an Elder and graver Person and as her spiritual Father and Counsellor and consider and incline thine ear s He useth several Words signifying the same thing to shew his serious and Vehement desire of her good and the great importance and difficulty of Practising the following Counsel forget also thine own people and thâ—…â—…ers house t Not simply but Comparatively so far as they oppose or hinder the discharge of thy Duty to thy Husband or so far as they are Corrupted in Doctrine or Worship or Practise He alludes to the Law of Matrimony Gen. 2. 24. and to what Solomon did say or should have said to Pharaohs Daughter to 〈◊〉 her from the Idolatry and other Vices of her Fathers house But this as well as the rest of the Psalm respects Christ and is a seasonable and necessary Advice and command to all Persons that desire to come to Christ whether Iews or Gentiles that they would cast off all their inveterate Errorâ—… and Prejudices all those Superstitious or Idolatrous or wicked Opinions or Practices which they had received by long and antient and therefore venerable Tradition from their Fathers and intirely give up themselves to Christ to be instructed by him and to receive his Doctrine though it would seem new to them And by these Words he seems to intimate and tacitly to foretel that not onely the Superstitious inventions and Traditions of Men but even the legal Worship appointed by Moses and delivered to them from their Parents successively for many Generations should be relinquished by the believing Iews and abolished by Christ's coming 11. So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty u So doing thou shalt be amiable and acceptable to thy Husband which will abundantly recompence thee for the loss of thy Fathers house for he is thy Lord x As he is thy Husband and also as he is thy King and God as he was called v. 6 And this is added as a Reason not of the last Words why the King would desire her Beauty but of the Advice given to her v. 10. and worship thou him y By which he implies that her Husband was no meer Man but God also and therefore might be adored without any Violation of that known and immutable Precept of worshipping God onely 12. And the daughter of Tyre z i. e. The people or Citizens of Tyre as the Daughter of Zion or Ierusalem or â—…abel c. are put for
it is very Proper to this place and usual in other places of Scripture to invite the Gentile World to the Contemplation and Celebration of God's Works to and for his People See Deut. 32. 43. 1 Chron. 16. 23 24. 2 Sing forth the honour of his name make his praise glorious b i. e. Praise him in an extraordinary and Eminent degree so as he may have much Glory from you 3 Say unto God How terrible art thou in thy works c To wit to thine Enemies as it follows through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies ‖ Or yield seigned Obedience †Heb. Lye submit themselves unto thee d Heb. Lye unto thee i. e. Profess subjection to thee not sincerely and freely but by Constraint and out of a servile Fear 4 All the earth shall worship thee and shall sing unto thee e Many People of divers Nations shall be so affected with thy stupendious Works that they shall Worship and Praise thee for them and all People should do so and shall have just cause to do so and the time will come when all Nations will actually do so to wit in the days of the Messias they shall sing to thy Name Selah 5 * Psal. 46. 8. Come and see f Consider them wisely and seriously for God's Glory and for your own good the works of God he is terrible in his doing toward the Children of men g To all his Enemies whom he calls the Children of Men Partly in way of Contempt to shew how unable they are Either to avoid or resist the great God and Partly in opposition to his own People who are frequently called the Children of God 6 * Exod. 14. 21. He turned the sea into dry land * Josh. 3. 17. they went through the flood h Or River to wit Iordan on foot there did we i i. e. Our Nation or our Ancestors in whose Loyns we then were and the Benefit of which Antient Deliverance we at this day enjoy See the like Expressions Psal. 81. 5. Hose 12. 4. The whole People of Israel are oft Considered as one Body continued through all succeeding Generations United in the Bound of the same Covenant and Worship and in the Possession of the same Promises and Priviledges and Blessings and Acted by one and the same Spirit and therefore several and contrary things may reasonably be ascribed to them in regard of their several Parts and Ages and what was done in one Age may be imputed to another by Vertue of their strict Conjunction with the same Body rejoyce in him 7 He ruleth by his power for ever i The same Power which God had and put forth for his People in Antient time he still hath in as great Vigour as ever and is not at all weakened by Age and is as able and ready to Act for them now as ever he was which he hath shewed by this Late and Glorious instance * Psal. 11. 4 his eyes behold the nations k He sees all their secret and subtil Devices and can and will defeat them when he sees fit let not the rebellious exalt themselves l Lift up their Hands against God or against his People Or the Rebellions i. e. Those People which Rebel against this Almighty God and his Laws shall not exalt themselves as they Vainly hope and Design to do but shall be brought down and destroyed as is hereby implyed Selah 8 O bless our God ye people m Of other Nations that have served or yet do serve other Gods and make the voyce of his praise to be heard 9. Which †Heb. 〈◊〉 holdeth our soul in life n Who by a Succession of Miracles of Mercy hath kept us alive in the midst of a thousand Deaths to which we were exposed and hath restored us to Life when we were like Dead men and dry Bones scattered at the Mouth of the Grave and suffereth not our feet to be moved o To wit so as to fall into Mischief and utter Ruin as our Enemies designed 10 For p Or Yet or Nevertheless Though thou hast hitherto helped us and now delivered us yet for a season thou hast sorely afflicted us * Psal. 17. 3. thou O God hast proved us thou hast tryed us as silver is tryed q i. e. Severely as if it were in a burning Furnace and with a Design to try our sincerity and to purge out the Dross or the wicked from among us 11 Thou broughtest us into the net r Which our Enemies laid for us and which could never have taken or held us but by the Permission and Disposal of thy Providence which gave us into their hands thou laidst affliction upon our loyns 12 Thou hast caused men s Weak and Mortal and miserable Men as the Word signifies no better nor stronger then we if thou hadst not given them Power over us to ride over our heads t To Ride upon our Shoulders By thy Permission they have used us like Slaves yea like Beasts to carry their Persons or Burdens Compare Isa. 51. 23. we went through fire and through water u i. e. Through various and dangerous Tryals and Calamities See Psal. 32. 6. and 69. 2. Ezek. 15. 7. and 30. 8. but thou broughtest us out into a †Heb. Moist 〈◊〉 68. 6. wealthy place x Heb. Into a moist or Well-watered place such as Canaan was both in a Proper Sence and figuratively as being replenished with Divine Graces and Blessings 13 I will goy into thy house with burnt-offerings I will pay thee my vows 14 Which my lips have †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 uttered and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble 15 I will †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 offer unto thee burnt-sacrifices of †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fatlings with the incense of rams z With the fat of Rams which in these Peace-offerings was burnt upon the Altar and so vanished into Smoke like Incense and which is no less pleasing to God than Incense I will offer bullocks with goats Selah y Hitherto he spoke in the plural Number but now he begins to speak in the singular Number but still the Speech is continued of the same Person or Persons onely sometimes the whole Body speaks and sometimes one Man speaks in the Name of all the rest 16 Come and hear all ye that fear God a Whether Israelites or Gentiles proselyted to them Let every Israelite take notice of what God hath done for the Nation in general and let the Gentiles observe God's goodness to the Children of Israel and I will declare what he hath done for my soul b Which he hath held in Life as he said v. 9 in the greatest dangers of Death 17 I cryed unto him with my mouth c With a loud Voyce and great Fervency Or it is a Pleonasme as Psal. 44. 1. We have heard with our Ears and
instantly but * Num. 11. 33. while their meat was yet in their mouths 31 The wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them r The most healthy and strong who probably were most desirous of this food and fed most eagerly upon it and grew fatter by it and least suspected their own danger and †Heb. Made to 〈◊〉 smote down the ‖ Oâ—… young 〈◊〉 chosen men of Israel 32 For all this * Nâ—…m 14 〈◊〉 16 and 17. they sinned still and believed not his wondrous works 33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity s In tedious and fruitless marches hither and thither sometimes forward and sometimes backward which they knew would never bring them in their own persons to their promised and much desired land and their years in trouble t In manifold Diseases Dangers Perplexities and Horrors of their own minds and consciences 34 When he slew them then they sought him u They prayed to him to deliver them from their deadly dangers which even Pharaoh frequently did and they returned x To wit from their Idols unto the outward worship of God or being moved with fear they ceased for the present from their grosly wicked courses which they might easily do without a dram of true repentance or hearty conversion to God and enquired early after God y Speedily and earnestly sought to God for ease and safety and comfort as wicked men in such cases frequently do 35 And they remembred that * Deut. 32. 4. God was their rock and the high God their redeemer z They considered that God and God alone had preserved them in all their former exigencies and that he onely could now help them and not those Idols or Creatures which they had preferred before him and therefore being driven by absolute necessity they fled to him for relief 36 Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth and they * Hos. 11. 12. lied unto him with their tongues a They made glorious but false professions and protestations of their sincere resolutions of future obedience if God would spare them 37 For their heart was not right with him b All their confessions and petitions were but hypocritical and forced and did not proceed from an upright heart truly grieved for their former offences and firmly resolved to turn unto the Lord. neither were they stedfast in his covenant c They discovered their hypocrisie by their Apostacy from God as soon as their danger was past 38 But he being full of compassion †Heb. Attoned oâ—… expiated Psal. 65 3. forgave their iniquity d Not simply and absolutely for so it is undeniably certain from the Holy Scriptures that God pardons none but true penitents such as these were not but respectively and so far as not to destroy them at that time which he threatened and was about to do as the next words limit and explain it He remitted their punishment for iniquity is oft put for the punishment of it Heb. He expiated their iniquity He accepted of their attonement or of their professed repentance so far as to comâ—…ensate it 〈◊〉 a removal of this outward and present affliction as he did 〈◊〉 to wicked â—…hab upon his hypocritical humiliation 1 King 2â—… 29. And this God doth for the encouragement of all true penitenâ—…s who may hence learn how much greater and better recompences they may expect and shall receive from God and destroyed them not yea many a time turned he his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath e But set bounds to iâ—… and though he chastened them yet he would not utterly destroy them as they deserved 39 For * Psal. 103 â—…4 he remembred that they were â—…ut flesh f Which here notes either 1. The corruption of their natures which was perpetually inclining them to sin and consequently exposing them to God's wrath which must needs have consumed them utterly and speedily if God had let loose his anger upon them See the same argument used to a like purpose Gen. 8. 21. Or rather 2. The frailty or infirmity of their natures as the next clause interprets this which is such that if I should not restrain my wrath I should quickly cut off the body oâ—… this wicked people and their children with them whom I have promised to carry into Canaan Numb 14. 31. a wind that passeth away and cometh not again g That are quickly cut off and when once they are dead they never return to this life 40 How oft did they ‖ Or rebel against him provoke him in the wilderness and grieve him in the desert 41 Yea * Num. 14. 2â—… they turned back and tempted God and limited the holy one of Israel h They limited either 1. God's power as above Vers. 19 20. Or 2. God's will directing and prescribing to him what to do and when and in what manner and murmuring at him if he did not always grant their particular and various desires 42 They remembred not his hand i The great and glorious works of his hand on their behalf nor the day k Nor that remarkable and never to be forgotten day that self same day as it is called Exod. 12. 41. which God had fixed four hundred years before Gen. 15. 13. in which God delivered them from their greatest enemy the tyrant Pharaoh when he delivered them ‖ Or from affliction from the enemy 43 How he had †Heb set wrought his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Zoan 44 * Exod. 7. 20. And had turned their rivers l The several branches and streams of the river Nilus and those many rivuleâ—…s which they brought from it into blood and their floods that they could not drink 45 * Exod. 8. 24 He sent divers sorts of flies among them which devoured them m Or destroyed them which they might do by their cruel and numerous stings for these flies were doubtless extraordinary in their nature and quantity and poysonous and hurtful qualities And the like is to be thought concerning the frogs here following who also might destroy the people by infecting the air with their stink and corrupting their meats and drinks and * Exod. 8. 6. frogs which destroyed them 46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar and their labor n The herbs and grains which were come up by their care and diligent labour * Exod. 10. 13. unto the locust 47 * Exod. 9. â—…3 He †Heb. killed destroyed their vines with hail and their sycomore-trees o Or wild Fig-trees which were there in great plenty Under these and the vines all other trees are comprehended And this hail and frost did destroy the fruits of the trees and sometimes the trees themselves with ‖ Or great â—…ail-stones frost 48 †Heb. He shut up He
men have theirs but from all Eternity Or thou art or wast O God 3 Thou turnest man to destruction f But as for man his case is far otherwise his time is short and though he was made by thee an happy Creature and should have been immortal yet upon and for his sin thou didst make him mortal and miserable and sayest g Or didst say i. e. pronounce that sad sentence here following Return O men to the dust out of which you were taken Gen. 3. 19. Psal. 146. 4. Eccles. 12. 7. Return ye children of men 4 * 2 Pet. 3. 8. For a thousand years h If we should now live so long as some of our Progenitors well-nigh did As he compared mans duration with Gods in respect of its beginning v. 2. so here he compareth them in respect of the end or continuance in thy sight i In thy account and therefore in truth which is opposed to the partial and false judgment of men who think time long because they do not understand Eternity Or in comparison of thy endless duration are but as yesterday ‖ Or when he hath passed them when it is past k Which is emphatically added because time seems long when it is to come but when it is past and men look backward upon it it seems very short and contemptible and men value one hour to come more than a thousand years which are past and as a watch l Which lasted but for three or four hours for the night was antiently divided into three or four Watches See Iudg. 7. 19. Mark 6. 48. and 13. 35. Luk. 12. 38. in the night m Which also hath its weight for the silence and slumbers of the night makes time seem shorter than it doth in the day 5 Thou carriest them n i. e. Mankind of whom he spake v. 3. away as with a floud o Unexpectedly violently and irresistibly universally without exception or distinction * Psal. 73. 20. they are as a sleep p Short and vain as sleep is and not minded till it be past Or like a Dream when a man sleepeth wherein there may be some real pleasure but never any satisfaction or some real trouble but very inconsiderable and seldom or never pernicious Even such an idle and insignificant thing is humane life considered in it self without respect to a future state in which there is but a meer shadow or dream of felicity onely the calamities attending upon it are more real and weighty in the morning * Psal. 103. 15. they are like grass which ‖ Or is changed groweth up q Heb. which is changed either first for the worse which passeth away as some render the word Which having generally affirmed here he may seem more particularly to explain in the next Verse Or rather secondly for the better as this word is sometimes used as Iob 14. 7. Isa. 40. 31. which sprouteth out of the Earth and groweth more apparent and green and flourishing And this interpretation is confirmed from the next Verse where this same word is used in this sence where also the morning is again mentioned and that as the time not of its decay but of its flourishing 6 In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up in the evening it is cut down and withereth r The whole space of mans life is compared to one day and his prosperity is confined to a part of that day and ended in the close of it 7 For we s Either 1. we men or rather 2. we Israelites in this wilderness are consumed t Either naturally by the frame of our bodies or violently by extraordinary judgments Thou dost not suffer us to live so long as we might by the course of nature by thine anger u Caused by our sinful state and lives and by thy wrath are we troubled 8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee x Thou dost not now cover or blot out or pass by our sins as thou hast usually done to thy people but thou dost diligently search them out and accurately observe them as a severe but righteous Judge and art now calling us to an account for them our secret sins y Thou dost not onely punish us for our notorious and scandalous sins which thine honour may seem to oblige thee to do but even for our secret lusts the murmuring and unbelief and Apostasie and Idolatry of our hearts which though hid from the eyes of men thou hast set before thine eyes and brought them to light by thy judgments †Heb. at the luminary of thy countenance in the light of thy countenance 9 For all our days are †Heb. turned away passed away z Or turn away themselves or their face from us They do not continue with us but quickly turn their backs upon us and leave us in thy wrath we spend our years ‖ Or as a meditation as a tale that is told a Which may a little affect us for the present but is quickly ended and gone out of mind Or as a word as Iob 37. 2. which in an instant is gone and that irrevocably Or as a thought or a sigh or a breath All which come to one sence 10 †Heb. as for the days of our years in them are seventy years The days of our years b Either 1. of the Israelites in the desart who being twenty years old and some thirty some forty some fifty years old when they came out of Egypt and dying in the Wilderness as all of that age did Numb 14. 29. a great number of them doubtless died in their seventieth or eightieth year as is here implyed Or rather 2. of the generality of mankind and the Israelites no less than others in that and all following Ages some few persons excepted amongst whom were Moses and Caleb and Ioshua who lived an hundred and twenty years which is therefore noted of them as a thing singular and extraordinary This sence suits best with the following words and with the scope of Moses which was to represent the vain and transitory condition of men in this life and how much mankind was now sunk below their Ancestors who commonly lived many hundreds of years and that the Israelites though Gods peculiar people and endowed with many priviledges yet in this were no better than other men All which may be considered either as an argument to move God to pity and spare them or as a motive to awaken and quicken the Israelites to serious preparations for death by comparing this with v. 12. are threescore years and ten c Which time the antient Heathen Writers also fixed as the usual space of mens lives and if by reason of strength d i. e. By the strength of their natural constitution which is the true and common cause of longer life they be fourscore years yet is their strength e Their
false and perverse constructions upon all my words and actions or by endeavouring to overthrow and destroy me or to turn me out of the way of thy precepts without a cause but I will meditate in thy precepts i All their wicked attempts against me shall never drive me from the study and love and practice of thy precepts 79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me k Either 1. turn their eyes to me as a spectacle of Gods wonderful mercy or rather 2. turn their hearts and affections to me which have been alienated from me either by the artifices and calumnies of my adversaries or by my sore and long distresses which made them prone to think that either I had deceived them with false pretences or that God for my sins had utterly forsaken me Which doubtless was a very grievous burden to David who had a far greater esteem and affection for such persons than for all other men and desired above all things to stand right in their opinions and those that have known l i. e. Loved and practised them as words of knowledge are oft used thy testimonies 80 Let my heart be †Heb. persect sound m Heb. persect or entire that I may love and obey them sincerely constantly and universally in thy statutes that I be not ashamed n To wit for my sins which are the onely just causes of shame and for the disappointment of my hopes following upon them CAPH 81 * Psal. 84. 2. My soul fainteth o With longing desire and earnest expectation and hope deferred and hitherto disappointed for thy salvation but I hope in thy word 82 * Ver. 123. Mine eyes fail p With looking hither and thither and to thee for help for thy word saying When wilt thou comfort me 83 For I am become like a bottle in the smoke q Hung up in a smoaking chimney My natural moisture is dried and burnt up I am withered and deformed and despised and my case grows worse and worse every day yet do I not forget thy statutes 84 How many are the days r Either 1. the days of my life as the word days is commonly used Gen. 6. 3. Iob 7. 1 6. Psal. 39. 5 6. I have but a little while to live in the world give me some respite before I die and help me speedily otherwise it will be too late or rather 2. the days of my misery as the next clause implies and as days are taken Psal. 37. 13. 116. 2. and elsewhere How long Lord shall my miseries last for ever of thy servant when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me 85 * Psal. 35. 7. The proud have digged pits for me s Have sought to destroy me by deceit and treachery as well as by violence which t Either 1. which men have no respect to thy Law which forbids such things Or rather 2. which thing to wit to dig pits for me an innocent and just man is not agreeable to thy Law but directly contrary to it are not after thy law 86 All thy commandments are †Heb. faithfulness faithful u They are in themselves most just and true and they require justice and faithfulness from men promising many blessings to those that perform it and severely forbid all fraud and falseness threatning grievous punishments to those that use it and such promises and threatnings are true and shall certainly be executed they persecute me wrongfully help thou me 87 * Ver. 109. and 143. They had almost consumed me upon earth x As to my present life and all my happiness upon earth whereby he implies that his immortal Soul and eternal happiness in Heaven of which he speaks Psal. 16. 11. 17. 15. and elsewhere was safe and out of their reach but I forsook not thy precepts 88 Quicken me after thy loving kindness so shall I keep y Heb. and I will keep I will testifie my gratitude to thee by my obedience the testimony of thy mouth LAMED 89 * Psal. 89. 2. For ever O LORD * Ver. 152. 160. thy word is setled in heaven z Although many things happen upon earth which seem contrary to thy word and at which men take occasion to question the truth of thy word yet in Heaven it is sure and certainly true In heaven either 1. with thee in thy heavenly habitation or in thy breast as thy nature is unchangeable so thy word is infallible Or rather 2. in the heavenly bodies which are not subject to those changes and decays which are in this lower world but constantly continue the same in their substance and order and courses and this by virtue of that Word of God by which they were made and established in this manner and therefore Gods word delivered to his people upon earth which is of the same nature must needs be of equal certainty and stability This sence best suits with the following verses and with other Scriptures wherein the certainty of Gods word is set forth by comparing it with the stability of the Heaven and the Earth as Mat. 5. 18. and elsewhere 90 Thy faithfulness is †Heb. to generation and generation unto all generations a Every age gives fresh proofs of the truth of thy Word thou hast established the earth and it ‖ Heb. standeth abideth b In that place and state in which thou didst establish it See Eccles. 1. 4. 91 They c The Heaven and the Earth last mentioned †Heb. stand continue this day according to thine ordinances d As thou hast appointed and by virtue of thine appointment for all are thy servants e All things are subject to thy power and pleasure and none can resist thy will or word 92 Unless thy law had been my delights I should then f At the very instant I could not have outlived one stroke of thine afflicting hand have perished in mine affliction 93 I will never forget thy precepts for with them thou hast quickned me g Revived and cheared me when my heart was ready to sink and die within me 94 I am thine h By Creation and Redemption and manifold obligations as also by my own choice and designation I have devoted my self to thy service and committed my self to thy care save me for I have sought thy precepts 95 The wicked have waited for me to destroy me but I will consider thy testimonies i As my best comforters and counsellers and defenders against all the assaults and designs of mine enemies 96 I have seen an end of all perfection k I have observed by my experience that the greatest and most perfect accomplishments and enjoyments in this world the greatest glory and riches and power and wisdom are too narrow and short-lived to make men happy but thy commandment l Thy word one part of it being
Philosophers have oft observed Others render it good success Which seems not to suit well with the following words in the sight of God i Grace or favour with God and that understanding which is good in God's sight i. e. truly and really as a truly good Man is called good before God in the Hebrew Eccls. 7. 26. and man 5. Trust in the LORD k Wholly and securely rely upon God's Promises and Providence for help and relief in all thine affairs and dangers with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding l Think not to accomplish thy designs by the strength of thine own Wit without God's Blessing Under this one kind of camal confidence which is most frequent and most plausible he understands and forbids all other considences in bodily strength wealth friends c. 6. * 1 Chr. 28. 9. In all thy ways m Designs and undertakings for the things of this Life or of the next acknowledge him n Heb. know him to wit practically or own him his Wisdom in following his counsels his power and goodness in expecting success from him his Soveraignty in managing all thy Affairs so as to please and glorify him and he shall direct thy paths o Assust and bless all thine endeavours and keep thee from the paths of sin and destruction 7. * Rom. 12. 16. Be not wise in thine own eyes p Be not puffed up with a vain conceit of thine own Wisdom as if that were sufficient for the conduct of all thine affairs without direction or assistance from God or without the advice of others fear the LORD q This he adds because the reverence and dread of the Divine Majesty will make a man when he compareth himself with God little and vile in his own eyes Reverence God's Wisdom and thou wilt despise thine own and depart from evil 8. It shall be †Heb. medicine health to thy navel r i. e. To thy Body which is signified by the Navel which is a noble and useful part of the Body by which the Infant receives nourishment in the Womb and which is the ligament or bond by which the bowels a principal part of the Body are united together and preserved and †Heb. watering or moistning marrow s Which is the nourishment and strength of the bones and a great preserver and prolonger of life as the decay of it is a chief cause of the weakness and driness and decay of the Body The sense of the Verse is This Wisdom or fear of God is not onely useful to the Salvation of the Soul but also to the health and welfare of the Body both as it prevents those Diseases and Distempers which are oft procured by sinful Lusts and Passions and as it giveth us an Interest in all God's promises and putteth us under the care of his special Providence to thy bones 9. * Exod. 23. 19 34. 26. Deut. 26. 2. c. Mal. 3. 10. c. Luk. 14. 13. Honour the LORD with thy substance t Or with thy Riches Lay out thy Estate not onely to please and advance thy Self or Family but also to glorify God which is done by the payment of all those offerings and dues which God hath required by giving according to thy Abilities whatsoever is necessary for the support and advancement of God's Worship and Service in the World by free and liberal Contributions to those whom God hath made his Deputies and as I may say the Receivers of his Rents to wit faithful Ministers and good Christians and all others who need and require thy help The performance of these Duties is here called an honouring of God partly because that word is sometimes used for giving of gifts as 1 Tim. 5. 17. and elsewhere and partly because it is a Testimony of our respects to God of our obedience to him as our Soveraign Lord and that in hard and costly Duties of our thankfulness to him as our chief Benefactor and the Donor of all that we have and of our belief of his Promises made to the faithful practices of this duty which if they were believed the most covetous Persons would be the most charitable and with the first-fruits u Or with the chief or best or first which answers to the first-fruits under the Law of all thine increase 10. * Deut. 28. 8. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty x This is not the way to diminish thy estate as covetous and profane Persons alledge but rather to increase it and thy presses shall burst out y Shall be so filled that they would burst out if not carefully prevented with new wine 11. * Job 5. 17. Psa. 94. 12. 13. Heb. 12. 5. Rev. 3. 19. My son despise not z Either 1. by making light of it or not being duly affected with it and so this is one extream opposed to the other in the next clause Or rather 2. by accounting it an unnecessary and useless and troublesome thing but rather esteem it as a priviledg and favour from God and a benefit to thy self for such Negatives do oft imply the contrary Affirmatives by a common figure called Meiosis as Prov. 17. 21. and oft elsewhere And this sense seems to agree better both with the following Clause which repeats the same thing with some aggravation after the manner and with the reason used to enforce this and the following command v. 12. which concerns not such as are insensible but rather such as had too deep a sense of the evil of affliction the chastning of the LORD neither be weary of his correction a Neither esteem it tedious and intollerable but endure it with patience and chearfulness 12. For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth b Afflictions are not infelicities but benefits and comforts because they are Testimonies of God's love which is infinitely more desirable than any evil can be terrible They shew God's purpose and desire and care to purge us from our sins and to make us fit for his Presence and Kingdom This and the former Verse seem to be here inserted in the midst of his commendations of Wisdom to remove an objection against the excellency and happiness of wise or pious men taken from those many Calamities to which such Persons are frequently exposed the reason of which Providence he here giveth * Deut. 8. 5. even as a Father the son in whom he delighteth 13. Happy is the man c Notwithstanding all his afflictions that findeth d Which supposeth his diligent searching for it expressed Chap. 2. 4. wisdom and †〈…〉 the man that getteth e Heb. that draweth out Which expression implies two things 1. that Man hath it not naturally in himself but must have it from another even from God and his word 2. that men should labour for it as those do that dig and draw forth Metals out of
an occasion of despair or idleness or dissoluteness as some abuse this Doctrine but that by the consideration of his Soveraign and irresistible power in the disposal of all Persons and things as pleaseth him men should learn to trust in him to submit to him to fear to offend or rebel against him and more carefully and industriously to study to please him 15 That which hath been is now and that which is to be hath already been l Things past present and to come are all of the same nature and all ordered in the same manner by one constant counsel and settled course in all Parts and Ages of the World There is a continual return of the same mâ—…tions and influences oâ—… the Heavenly Bodies of the same seasons of the Year and a constant succession of â—…ew Generations of Men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all of the same quality The same thing in substance was said before Ch. 1. 9. and God requireth m i. e. Reneweth as this word is used Iob 3. 4. †Heb. that which is drivers away that which is past n Thâ—…t time and those things which are irrecoverably gone in themselves but are as it were recalled because others of the same kind arise and come in their stead Heb. that which is driven away with a mighty force as time present is violently thrust away by that which comes after it 16 And moreover o This is mentioned either 1. as another vanity to wit the vanity of Honour and Power which is so ofâ—… an instrument of injustice and oppression Or rather 2. as another argument of the vanity of worldly things or an hindrance of that comfort which men expect in this life because they are oppressed by their Rulers I saw p I perceive it by information from others and by my own observation under the sun the place of judgment q In the Thrones of Princes and Tribunals of Magistrates where Judgment should be duely executed that wickedness was there r Judgment was perverted the guilty acquitted and the innocent condemned and the place of righteousness s In which Righteousness should be found and should dwell if it were banished from all other places that iniquity was there 17 I said in mine heart t Mine Heart was sorely grieved at this disorder but I quieted it with this consideration God shall judg the righteous and the wicked u Absolving and saving the just and condemning the wicked for there is * Ver. 1. a time x Fixed by God's unalterable Decree He implies that as this life is the Sinners time in which he doth whatsoever seemeth good in his own Eyes so God will have his time to reckon with them and rectifie all these disorders there y In the presence or at the Judgment Seat of God which is easily understood out of the foregoing words the relative being put for the antecedent as it is Numb 7. 89. Esth. 9. 25. Iob 1. 21. Psal. 14. 5. 114. 2. Or it may be rendred then as this Particle is used Psal. 14. 5. Hos. 2. 15. and as it is usual in other Authors for Adverbs of place to be put for Adverbs of time for every purpose and for every work z For the examining and judging not onely all mens practices or open actions but also all their secret Thoughts and Purposes all the evil which they either did or designed or desired or endeavoured to do The design of this Verse is partly to strike a terrour into oppressing Potentates and partly to satisfy the doubts and support the Spirits of good men who are oppressed in this life 18 I said in my heart a And further I considered with my self concerning the estate of the sons of men b Concerning their condition and deportment in this present World ‖ Or that 〈◊〉 might 〈◊〉 God and see c. that God might manifest them c God suffers these horrible disorders among men expressed v. 16. that he might discover men to themselves and by permitting these actions shew what strange Creatures they are and what vile Hearts they have which men would not otherwise understand or believe See 2. Kings 8. 13 14. and that they might see that they themselves are beasts d Heb. that they are Beasts to themselves either 1. one to another devouring and destroying one another Or 2. in their own judgment or themselves being Judges that although God made them Men or reasonable Creatures yet they have made themselves Beasts by their brutish practices and that men considered onely with respect unto the present life which is the onely thing valued and regarded by most men and the vanity whereof is the Principal subject of this Book are as vain and miserable Creatures as the Beasts themselves the great differences between Men and Beasts being such as respect the other life For men seem here to be called Beasts in both these respects and the latter he prosecutes more largely in the following Verses 19 * Ps. 49. 12. 20. Ch. 2. 16. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts e They are subject to the same Diseases pains and casualties even one thing befalleth them as the one dieth so dieth the other f As certainly and no less painfully yea they have all one †Heb. Spirit breath g One breath of life which is in their Nostrils one and the same living Soul by which the Beasts perform the same vital and animal Operations For he speaks not here of Man's rational and immortal Spirit nor of the future Life so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast h In respect of the present life and sensible things Nay the Beasts have quicker senses than men and therefore enjoy more pleasure in those things and that with less dangers and mischief than men do for all is vanity 20 All go unto one place i To the Earth as it is expressed v. 21. out of which they were both taken * Gen. 3. 19. all are of the dust and all turn to dust again k Which is meant onely of their Bodies as it is explained Eccles. 12. 7. 21 Who knoweth l It might be objected that the condition of men and beasts are vastly differing because Man's Spirit goeth upward to God Ch. 12. 7. but the spirit of a beast goeth downward together with its Body and perisheth with it To this he answers Who knoweth this Which is not to be understood as if no Man did know it or as if the thing were utterly uncertain and unknown for he knew it and positively affirms it Ch. 12. 7. but that few know it as the same manner of expression is understood Prov. 31. 10. Who can find Isa. 53. 1. Who hath believed c Which note the scarcity or difficulty but not the nullity or impossibility of the thing Besides he seems here to speak not so much of
and that with great Honour and Advantage This is added to prevent an objection and to quicken us to the duty enjoined after * Deut. 15. 10. 〈◊〉 19. 17. Mat. 10. 42. many days c Not immediately but in due time and when you least expect it So you must be content to wait for it with Patience as the Husbandman doth for the fruits of the Earth 2 * Pâ—… 112. 9. 〈◊〉 6. 30. Give a portion f A part of thy Estate or Provisions He alludes to the ancient custom whereby the Master of the Feast did distribute several parts to each Guest and withal sent portions to the poor of which custom see 2 Sam. 6. 19. Neh. 8. 10 12. Est. 9. 22. to seven and also to eight g To as many as thou art able a certain number for an uncertain as Mic. 5. 5. and oft elsewhere for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth h Great calamities may come whereby thou maist be brought to poverty so both utterly lose that blessed opportunity of doing good which now thou hast in thine hands whereby thou maist gain unspeakable Honour and Comfort and Advantage to thy self and moreover need the Charity of others which thou maist comfortably expect either from Men or at least from the powerful Providence of God disposing the hearts of men to pity and help thee if thou hast been kind and merciful to others as on the contrary they can expect no Mercy from God or Men who have shewed no Mercy to others Thus he not only answers but retorts the Argument by which the covetous man excuseth his uncharitableness because he must lay up against a rainy day 3 If the clouds be full of rain they empty themselves upon the earth i Learn O man the practice of liberality from the very lifeless Creatures from the Clouds which when they are filled with water do not hoard it up or keep it to themselves but plentifully pour it forth for the refreshment both of the fruitful field and of the barren wilderness and if the tree fall toward the south or toward the north in the place where the tree falleth there it shall be k These words contain either 1. An Argument to persuade Men to Charity because they must shortly fall or die and then all opportunity of being charitable will be lost and they must expect certainly and eternally to reap whatsoever they have sown whether it hath been Mercy or Unmercifulness Or rather 2. An Answer to a common Objection against it because we are not certain whether the person who desires our Charity doth really need it or be worthy of it To this he answers As a Tree when it falls either by the violence of the wind or being cut down by its owners order it is not considerable whether it falls Southward or Northward for there it lies ready for the Masters use so thy Charity though it may possibly be misapplied by thee or abused by the Receiver yet being conscientiously given by thee it shall assuredly return to thee and thou shalt reap the fruit of it 4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap l He who neglects or delays the necessary works of sowing and reaping because the weather is not exactly suitable to his desires may possibly lose his Harvest Whereby he intimates what is easily understood out of the foregoing verses that Men will never do good here which is expressed by sowing Psal. 112. 9. 2 Cor. 9. 6. and consequently not receive good hereafter which is called reaping Gal. 6. 7 8. if they be discouraged and hindred from it by every doubt or difficulty such as covetous worldlings object to themselves that others either do not want their Charity or will abuse it that they may possibly need it hereafter 5 As thou knowest not what is the way ‖ Or of the wind Joh. 3. 8. of the spirit m Of the Spirit or Soul of Man how it first comes into the Body of the child in the Womb whether from God by Creation or from the Parents by Propagation nor how it is united with and so fixed in the Body that it cannot get out of it when it would nor how and whether it goes out of the Body all which things are great mysteries Others translate it of the wind whence it cometh and whither it goeth as is observed Iob. 3. 8. or how violently it will blow or how long it will last But the former Translation seems to agree better with the following clause nor * Ps. 139. 14 15. how the bones n i. e. The whole Body which is elsewhere signified by the Bones as Psal. 34. 20. 35. 10. because they are a principal part and the very foundation and support of the Body do grow in the womb o How it comes to pass that one and the same small quantity of seed should diversifie itself into skin and flesh and sinews and veins and bones and intrals or how it receiveth nourishment and growth of her that is with child even so thou knowest not the works of God p What God is doing and will do with thee or others the Counsels and Methods of Gods Providence in the future time of thy Life what evil God will send upon the Earth v. 2. or what weather he will send of which v. 4. how long or how little a while God will continue thy Life or Estate and how soon God will call thee to an account These and many other future events thou canst not foresee and therefore thy Wisdom and Duty is to cast off all distracting cares and distrustful fears about them and chearfully to commit thy self and all thy affairs into the Hand of God in well-doing who maketh all 6 In the morning q Early and late in all seasons and occasions do it speedily and continually be not weary of it sow thy seed r Do all good works and especially that of Alms-giving as sowing is understood 2 Cor. 9. 6. Gal. 6. 7. and in the evening q Early and late in all seasons and occasions do it speedily and continually be not weary of it with-hold not thine hand s From working or giving for thou knowest not whether †Heb. shall be right shall prosper t Which shall prosper most as the next clause explains it the positive Degree being put for the comparative or the Superlative which is not unusual in the Hebrew Text. Which shall best answer thine end or do most good to others or which shall tend most to the comfort of thy great and last account for thy Morning-Alms may possibly be given to an unworthy person or to one who did not need it and will abuse it and thy Evening-Alms may fall upon a person of eminent worth yea upon an Angel in humane shape which is remembred as a motive to Hospitality Heb.
when they are very old keep much at home and have neither strength nor inclination to go abroad Or rather 2. Allegorically as all the other clauses are understood And so the doors are either 1. The outward Senses which as doors let in outward Objects to the Soul Or rather 2. The Mouth or the two Lips here expressed by a word of the dual number which are oft called a door both in Scripture as Psal. 141. 3. Mich. 7. 5. and in other Authors which like a door open or shut the way which leads into the streets or common passages of the Body such as the Gullet and Stomach and all the Bowels as also the Wind-pipe and Lungs which also are principal instruments both of speaking and eating And these are said to be shut not simply and absolutely as if they did never eat or drink or speak but comparatively because Men in extream Old-age grow dull and listless having little or no appetite to eat and are very much indisposed for discourse and speak but seldom when the sound of the grinding is low p Or because the sound c. So this may be added not as a new Symptom of Old-age but only as the reason of the foregoing Symptom The sense is When or because the Teeth called the grinders v. 3. are loose and â—…ew whereby both his speech is low and the noise which he makes in eating is but small And this is one great cause of his indisposedness both to eating and to speaking Some understand this of Concoction which after a sort doth grind the Meat in the stomach and in the other parts appointed by God for that work But that is transacted inwardly and without all noise or sound and he shall rise up q To wit from his Bed being weary with Lying and unable to get sleep at the voice of the bird r Either 1. Upon the smallest noise Which doth not consist with that deafness incident to old Men and described in the next words Or rather 2. As soon as the Birds begin to chirp which is early in the morning whereas Children and Young Men can lie and sleep long in the morning and all the daughters of musick s All those Senses or parts of the Body which are employed in Musick and Song as well those which make it as the parts of and within the Mouth as those which receive it to wit the Ears shall â—…e brought low t Shall be cast down from their former excellency they are become incapable either of making musicit or of delighting in it 5 Also when they shall be afraid u The passion of Fear is observed to be most incident to old Men of which divers Reasons may be given of that which is high x Either 1. Of high things lest they should fall upon them Or rather 2. Of high places of going up hills or stairs which is very irksom to them because of their weakness and weariness and giddiness and danger or dread of falling And this clause together with the next may be rendred thus and that agreeably to the Hebrew Text Also they shall be afraid and terrified Two words expressing the same thing which is very frequent in the Hebrew of that which is high in the way When they walk abroad they will dread to go up any high or sâ—…eep places and fears shall be in the way y Lest as they are walking they should stumble or fall or be thrust down or some infirmity or mischief should befall them and the almond-tree shall flourish z Their heads shall be as full of gray Hairs as the Almond-Tree is of white Flowers Such Metaphors are not unusual in other Authors Hence Sophocles calls a gray or hoary Head flowry and again covered with white flowers and the grashopper shall be a burden a If it doth accidentally hop up and rest upon them They cannot endure the least burden being indeed a burden to themselves But the words may be and are by others rendred the locust as the ancient Interpreters and many others render it or as ours and some others the grashopper which comes to the same thing for these two sorts of insects are much of the same nature and shape shall be a burden to itself And by the locust or grashopper may be understood either 1. The old Man himself who bears some resemblance to it in shape by reason of the bones sticking out in the constitution of the Body which is drie and withering and in the Legs and Arms which are slender the flesh being consumed Or 2. The Back which fitly follows after the Head upon which the Almond-Tree flourished in which the strength of the Body lay and which formerly was able to bear great burdens but now through its weakness and crookedness is a burden too heavy for itself And some of the Jewish and other Interpreters understand this word which others render locust or grashopper to be some part of the Body either the Back-bone or the head of the Thigh-bone or the Ankle-bone any of which may well be said to be heavy or burdensome to itself when it moves slowly and listlesly and not without difficulty and trouble and desire b To wit of Meats and Drinks and Musick and other carnal Delights which are vehemently desired by men in the heat of their Youth but are unsavoury to old men of which see an Instance 2 Sam. 19. 35. It is true the former Expressions are metaphorical but the two next following are proper and to be understood literally and so may this clause also shall fail because man goeth c Is travelling towards it every day nearer to it than other to his long home d From this place of his pilgrimage into the Grave from whence he must never return into this world and into the state and place of the future Life which is unchangeable and everlasting and the mourners e Either such as were hired to that end of whom see on Ier. 9. 17. Mat. 9. 23. 11. 17. or true Mourners near Relations and dear Friends accompany the dead Corps through the streets to the Grave go about the streets 6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed or the golden bowl be broken or the pitcher be broken at the fountain or the wheel broken at the cistern f This verse is to be understood either 1. Literally of the ornaments of Life such as Chains and Jewels and vessels of Gold and Silver and of the instruments by which the necessary Provisions and supports of Life are conveyed to us such as fountains of water and Pitchers c. which may be said to be loosed or broken because they are neglected as useless things to the dead man Or rather 2. Allegorically of those inward parts of Mans Body which are the chief Instruments of Life or Sense and Motion and of the vital or animal operations whether such from which they first proceed or in
u Or yet there is none i. â—… Few Psa. 14. 3. they are not to be discerned among the multitude that calleth x Such as call upon thee as they ought 〈◊〉 Iacob and Moâ—…es and David c. did which often prevents the 〈◊〉 of a state or kingdom it points out the universal Apostacy of the â—…ast times of the Jewish state for which they were cut off upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee y Either to stay thee from departing from us see Lâ—…k 24. 28 29. or to fetch thee back when departed Ier. 12. 7. or it is an Allegorical allusion to one struck down and still smitten but never stirs to lay hold on the arm that smites him ch 27. 5. it notes their great sâ—…oathfulness and carelesness and some refer it to their lukewarmness and dead heartedness relying upon their priviledges before they went into 〈◊〉 and so a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their approaching Judgments for z Or 〈◊〉 so the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iob 5. 21. Psa. 75. 2. thou hast hid thy face from us and hast †Heb. 〈◊〉 consumed us a Or mâ—…lted our sins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fire of thy wrath that we are melted with it because of our iniquities b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of our iniquities i. e. Either in the place of our iniquities the land wherein they were Committed or into the hands of our iniquities to be punished by them and as it were 〈◊〉 or melted down or our strength exhausted by them as wax before the fire Lev. 26. 39. Ezek. 33. 10. or as we translate it our iniquities being the procuring cause of it 8 But now O LORD thou art our Father c An argument or pathetical plea for pity or notwithstanding all this thou art our Father both by Creation and by Adoption therefore pity us thy Children * Ch. 29. 16. 4â—… 9. 〈◊〉 1â—… 6. Rom. 9. 20 21. we are the clay d A Metonymy of the matter clay for the vessels made of clay Or we are clay pointing at our Original matter Or it may relate to their state that God framed into a Body Civil and Ecclesiastical out of a confused multitude they plead at the same time their own frailty why they would be pitied and God's Covenant-interest in them why he should pity them and thou our potter and we all are the work of thy hand e Another argument of the same nature with the former Psal. 138. 8. not onely as men but as a Body of men made thy peculiar People 9 Be not * Psal. 79. 8. wroth very sore O LORD neither remember iniquity for ever f viz. Thou hast been angry with us a long time be not so for ever but deal with us as may best consist with a Father's bowels It hath reference boâ—…h â—…o Quantity and Time that it might not be very great noâ—… of long durance See on Psal. 79. 8. behold see we beseech thee we are all thy people g Thy peculiar People Chap. 63 19. Another argument to back the former Petition Psal. 28. 9. Though we are very bad in our selves and very badly handled by our Enemies thou sufferest in our sufferings for thou hast no people in Covâ—…nant but us and wilt thou noâ—… leave thy self a People in the world 10 Thy holy cities h Either Sion and 〈◊〉 being thâ—… Cities they instance in q. d. Thy holy Cities viz. Sâ—…on and 〈◊〉 Or rather other Cities also in the Land of 〈◊〉 besides those two called Hâ—…ly Either 1. Because they were built upon God's â—…nheritance Chap. 63 17. Or 2. Because they were inhabited by the Iâ—…ws who were an holy People Deu. 7. 6. Daâ—… 12. 7. Or 3. Because God had his Synagogues in them Psal. 74. 8. For all which reasons also they are called Thy Cities are a wilderness Zion is a wilderness Jerusalem a desolation i Utterly waâ—…t not onâ—…ly the ordinary Cities but even Ierusâ—…lem and Sion themselves the one called the upper 〈◊〉 or the City of David because it was built upon Mount Sion the other the 〈◊〉 City because it lay under the Hill of Sion in the Valley he particularizeth Sion and 〈◊〉 though he had mentioned the other Cities before because the chiefest of the Cities it being usual notwithstanding the mentioning of generals in which all the particulars or individuals are included to name the particular again as and from the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 Psal. 18. title 11 Our holy and our beautiful house k The Temple Châ—…p 6â—… 7. q. a. Not onely our Cities and our Principal Cities but 〈◊〉 our 〈◊〉 which we thought sacred and inviolable in which we have gloriâ—…d because it was Thinâ—… and our Father's and Ours the place where thy holy service was performed and thy Glory and Presence was 〈◊〉 where our fathers l Not 〈◊〉 to mention themselves they had beâ—…n so every way abominable but their 〈◊〉 praised thee is burnt up with fire and all our pleasant things are m The King's 〈◊〉 and the houses of the Nobles and other pâ—…ces of State and Magnificence 2 King 25. 9. Lam. 1. 7 10. Or their Syâ—…agogues Or those stately pieces about the Temple laid wast 12 Wilt thou refrain thy self for these things n viz That are done by the 〈◊〉 do none of these things move thee to take vengeâ—…nce on them O LORD Wilt thou hold thy peace o Wilt thou be as one that regards not Wilt thou be still and suffer them and afflict us very sore p See vers 9. For these our sins or for these our sufferings shall we feel the smart of it that have done no such things but have been sufferers under the Babylonians to which God answers in the next Chapter CHAP. LXV 1 I * Rom. â—… 24 25 26. 10. 20. Eph. 2. 12 13. am sought a The word signifies properly a diligent enquiry in things relating to God 2 Chr. 14. 4. Psal. 34. 4. Ier 37. 7. I am diligently enquired of by them of them that asked not for me b That in times before made no enquiry after me as the Gentiles and not being without God in the world Eph. 2. 12. as seeking may more strictly relate to Prayer as the word is used Isa. 55. 6. so this word translated asked may also be so taken and is so 1. Sam 1. 20. 1 Sam. 22. 13. but possibly it is better interpreted more generally I am found c Yea I was found of them before they sought me those who formerly did not seek me now seek me but they were found of me before they sought me I prevented them by my Grace sending my Son to preach pâ—…ace to those that were afar off Eph. 2. 17. and my Apostles to intreat them to be reconciled to God 2 Cor. 5. 20. and my Spirit to convince the woâ—…ld of Sin Righteousness and Iudgment Joh. 16. 8. of them that sought