Interpreters Aquila and Theodotion render it And this suits exactly with the Hebrew words whereas in the other Translation the Noun and Verb governed by it are of divers Numbers which though somtimes it be allowed yet is not to be supposed without necessity But this I submit to the learned and judicious but among the * Ch. 21. 10. righteous y Who are so far from making a mock of sin or excusing it that they do not allow themselves to commit it there is favour z They find favour both with God and men as this very word thus generally expressed is used Prov. 11. 27. because they make conscience of ordering their lives so that they offend neither God nor men or if they offend either they heartily repent of it so far are they from excusâ—…ng it or pleasing themselves with it Or there is good will as the word properly and usually is taken they have a real love and are ready to do all Offices of kindness one to another and therefore neither sin against others nor rejoice in the sins of others 10 The heart knoweth †Heb. the â—…itterness of his Soul his own bitterness a The sense of the Verse is this The inward griefs and joys of mens Hearts though somtimes they may be guessed at by outward signs yet are not certainly known to any but a mans sâ—…lf Compare 1 Cor. 2. 11. The scope of the Parable may be to keep men from murmuring under their own troubles or envying other mens happiness and a stranger b Any other Person without or beside a Mans self doth not intermeddle with his joy c Doth not partake of it nor understand it 11 The house d Their dwelling and family of the wicked shall be overthrown but the tabernacle e Which is a weak and poor and unstable thing soon reared up and soon taken down and is here opposed to the large and strong and magnificent House of wicked men of the upright shall prosper 12 * Ch. 16. 25. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man f There are some evil actions or courses which men may think to be lawful and good either through gross and affected ignorance or through partiality or self-flattery or through want of necessary diligence in examining them by the rule of God's will or word all which are culpable causes of the mistake and therefore do not excuse the error but the end thereof is the ways of death g The event sheweth that they were sinful and destructive 13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful and * Chap. 5. 4. the end of that mirth is heaviness h The outward signs of joy are commonly mixed with or end in real and hearty sorrow The design of the Proverb is to declare the vanity of all worldly joys and comforts and to teach men moderation in them and to persuade us to seek for more solid and durable joys 14 * Psa. 44. 18 The backslider in heart i He who departeth from God and from the way of his Precepts with all his Heart which implies the doing it upon deliberation with free choice and full purpose and customary practice as ungodly men commonly do and is opposed to the â—…lips of humane frailty for otherwise every sin is a revolt from God shall be * Ch. 1. 31. 12. 14. filled with his own ways k With the fruit of his ways or doings the punishment of his sins and a good man shall be satisfied from himself l i. e. From his ways as appears by the opposition from the pious temper of his own Heart which cleaveth to the Lord when the hearts of sinners forsake him and from the holy and righteous course of his life from which he shall receive unspeakable comfort and satisfaction both here and hereafter to all Eternity 15 The simple m Either the harmless Man or rather a foolish Man because he is opposed to the prudent believeth every word n Is easily deceived with the smooth words and fair pretences of false and deceitful men but the prudent man looketh well to his going o Either 1. to his own going as this is generally understood he ordereth his conversation and dealings in the World with due circumspection not considering so much what other men say as what he ought to do Or 2. to the going of the deceiver whose the word in the former clause is suppos'd to be So the sense is he judgeth of mens words and professions by their conversations which is a good rule 16 * Ch 22. 3. A wise man feareth p Trembleth at God's judgments when they are either inflicted or threatned and departeth from evil q From sin which is the procuring cause of all calamities but the fool rageth r Fretteth against God or is enraged against his Messengers who bring the threatning or disquieteth himself in vain Or transgresseth as this Verb in its simple form and first conjugation commonly signifies or goeth on in sin constantly and resolutely according to the Emphasis which this conjugation commonly adds to the simple Verb. And this is most fitly opposed to departing from evil as being confident is opposed to fearing and is confident s Secure and insensible of his danger till God's judgments overtake him 17 He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly t His passion hurries him into many rash and foolish speeches and actions and a man of wicked devices u One who suppresseth his passion but designeth and meditateth revenge watching for the fittest methods and opportunities of executing it is hated x Both by God and men as being most deeply malicious and like the Devil and most dangerous and pernicious to humane Society whereas men that are soon angry give a Man warning and are quickly pacified and therefore pitied and pardoned 18 The simple inherit folly y They possess it as their Inheritance or portion holding it fast improving it delighting and glorying in it In like manner David took God's Testimonies for his Heritage Psal. 119. 111. where the word is the same Withal he may imply that folly is Natural and Hereditary to them but the prudent are crowned with knowledg z They place their honour and happiness in a sound and practical and saving knowledge of God and of their own duty and therefore earnestly pursue after it and Heartily embrace it 19 The evil bow before the good a Giving honour to them and supplicating their favour and help either for supply of their wants as being brought low for their sins or for counsel or comfort or for their prayers to God for them and the wicked at the gates b As Clients and Petitioners and Beggers use to wait at the Doors and Houses of Great and Potent men The sense is Good men shall have the preeminency over the wicked oft-times in this life when God sees
this Worlds good 1 Joh. 3. 17. from †Heb the owners thereof them to whom it is due g Heb. from the Lords or owners of it from those who have any kind of right to it either 1. by the Law of Justice and Equity prescribed both by the natural and written Laws of God and by the civil Laws of men So this place commands the payment of just debts and the restitution of things either found or committed to our trust or taken from others by fraud or violence Or 2. which seems to be chiefly intended by comparing this with the next Verse though the former is not to be excluded by that great and soveraign Law of Love or Charity which God hath written in the Hearts of men by Nature and frequently and severely injoyned in his word whereby every Man is obliged according to his ability and opportunity to pitty and relieve such as are in real want or misery who in that case are here called the Owners of our goods not in respect of men as if men in want might seize upon the riches of others but in respect of God who is the soveraign Lord and onely true Proprietary of all mens Estates who giveth them when and to whom he pleaseth and who doth not give away his right nor make men absolute Lords of them to dispose them as they will but onely allowes them the use and comfort of them upon such conditions and with such reservations and Rent-charges as I may call them as he hath appointed whereof this is one that men should readily and freely communicate them to other men who need and require their help And such actions though they be acts of Charity and Bounty to men yet as to God they are acts of Righteousness as they are called Prov. 11. 18. 2 Cor. 9. 9. and in many other places when it is in the power of thine hand to do it h Either 1. to withold it Or 2. to do good And this Clause may be added either 1. as a limitation to intimate that God expects from men according to what they have and not according to what they have not as is said 2 Cor. 8. 12. Or 2. as an argument to perswade them to take the present season to perform this duty when they are capable of so doing because by the changes of this World and the course of Divine providence they may be disenabled from the performance of this great and necessary duty and then they will be without excuse 28. * Lev. 19. 13. Deut. 24. 15. Say not i The former Verse forbad the denial and this forbids the delay of this duty unto thy neighbour k Unto any Man as the word Neighbour is commonly used in Scripture as hath been oft proved Go and come again and to morrow I will give l To wit what is thy due in manner before expressed or what thou needest for this word is generally used concerning free or charitable gifts and not concerning due debts when thou hast it by thee 29 ‖ Or practise no evil Devise not evil m Any thing injurious or hurtful Having commanded doing of good v. 27 28. he here forbids doing or designing any evil against thy neighbor seeing he dwelleth securely by thee n Relying upon thine integrity do not therefore betray thy trust which is hateful even to Heathens 30. Strive not o Either by words before the Magistrate or otherwise by thine actions with a man without cause p Without just and necessary cause if he have done thee no harm q Whereby he clearly implies that in case of injury a Man may by all lawful means defend himself 31. * Ps. 37. 1. Envy thou not †Heb. a man of violence the oppressor r For his impunity and success in his wicked designs and the Wealth which he gains by his unrighteous practices and choose none of his ways s For what men envy in others they seek to obtain for themselves 32. For the froward t Or perverse who walketh in crooked or sinful paths as the Oppressour last mentioned opposed to the upright Man who is called right or straight as Deut. 32. 4. Prov. 29. 27. is abomination to the LORD u God hates him and therefore sooner or later he must needs be extremely and eternally miserable * Ps. 25. 14. but his secret is with the righteous x They are God's Friends and Favourites to whom he familiarly imparts as men use to do to their Friends his mind and counsels or his secret favours and comforts to which other men are strangers Compare Psal. 25. 14. Ioh. 15. 15. Revel 2. 17. 33. * Levit. 26. 14 c. Mal. 2. 2. The Curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked y Not onely upon his own Person but also upon his Posterity and upon all his domestical concerns but he blesseth the habitation of the just 34. * Jam. 4. 6. 1 Pet. 5. 5. Surely he scorneth z He will expose them to scorn and contempt the scorners a Proud and insolent Sinners who make a mock at sin Prov. 14. 9. and at God and Religion also and despise all counsels and means of amendment Comp. Psal. 1. 1. Prov. 1. 22. but he giveth grace b To wit favour both with himself and with men as this Word and Phrase is used Exod. 3. 21. 11. 3. 12. 36. Eccles. 9. 11. Luk. 2. 52. c. unto the lowly 35. The wise shall inherit glory c Shall enjoy it not onely for a season as wicked men oft-times do but as an Inheritance constantly and to perpetuity but shame †Heb. exalteth the fools shall be the promotion of fools d In stead of that glory which they greedily seek they shall meet with nothing but ignominy Or as it is in the Margent shame exalteth or lifteth up fools i. e. it makes them manifest and notorious as this very word is used Prov. 14. 29. Or as the words lie in the Hebrew Text fools take or carry away as this word is here rendred by divers both ancient and modern Translators and as it is used Levit. 6. 10. 15. and oft elsewhere shame to wit as his proper Portion or Inheritance which is here very fitly opposed to the Portion or Inheritance of the Just. And although the Verb be singular yet it agrees well enough with the Noun plural because this is taken distributively such constructions being very usual in the Hebrew Text. CHAP. IV. 1. HEar ye children the instruction of a father a Of me your Teacher who have paternal authority over you and affection to you and attend to know understanding 2. For I give you good doctrine b Not vain or foolish or false or pernicious counsels but such as are true and profitable forsake ye not my Law c God's Law or Commands delivered
unclean see on chap. 7. 2. Levit. 11. 2. c. 21. And the Lord smelled †Heb. a savour of rest a sweet savour x i. e. Graciously accepted the Person and Faith and Praise-offering of Noah and was as well pleased therewith as men use to be with a sweet smell and the Lord said in his Heart y i. e. Determined within himself and expressed so much to Noah The Hebrew preposition el sometimes signifies in as Gen. 6. 6. 1 Sam. 27. 1. Others said to his Heart i. e. spake to the Heart of Noah who is mentioned ver 20. To speak to the Heart in Scripture use signifies to comfort I will not again curse the ground z i. e. The whole Earth with this kind of curse with another deluge Otherwise God doth not hereby tye his hands that he may not either destroy a particular Land by a deluge which hath been done since or destroy the World by Fire when he sees fit as he hath declared he will do any more for mans sake for the * Chap. 6. 5. Matth. 15. 19. imagination of mans Heart is evil a The reason is this since all mens Hearts are naturally corrupt and from that filthy spring wicked actions will be continually flowing forth into the World and consequently if I should be severe to punish men according to their sins I should do nothing but send one deluge after another Or these words may be joyned with the former and the sense may be this I will not again destroy the Earth with a deluge for mans sake or for mans sin or because the imagination c. i. e. because his heart is corrupt and his actions are agreeable to it which was the cause of the last deluge Or the particle chi may be rendred although as it is frequently taken as Exod. 5. 11. and 13. 17. and 34. 9. Ios. 17. 13. Psal. 25. 11. and 41. 5. and so the sense is plain I will not again destroy the Earth although the imagination c. i. e Although I have just cause to do so from his youth Neither will I again smite b i. e. Kill or destroy as the word smiting is taken Exod. 21. 18. Numb 14. 12. and 35. 16. Deut. 28. 22 27. Amos 4. 9. any more every thing living as I have done ‖ Or From his very childhood and infancy as the Chaldee and Greek interpreters Translate it 22. †Heb. as yet all the days of the Earth While the Earth remaineth c In this estate For though it seems probable that the substance of the Earth will abide for ever after the dissolution of the World by fire yet that will be in another manner and for other purposes and then there will be no need of Seed-time or Harvest c. Seed-time and Harvest and Cold and Heat and Summer and Winter and Day and Night d Which distinction in a manner ceased in the Ark the Heavens being covered and all its lights eclipsed by such thick and black Clouds as never were before noâ—… since shall not cease CHAP. IX 1. AND God blessed a i. e. Renewed the old blessing and grant made chap. 1. 28. which might seem to be forfeited and made void by mans sin and by Gods Judgment consequent upon it Noah and his Sons and said unto them * Chap. 1. 28. and 8. 17. be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth 2. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every Beast of the Earth and upon every Fowl of the Air upon all that moveth upon the Earth and upon all the Fishes of the Sea ‖ Before they loved and reverenced you as Lords and Friends now they shall dread you as Enemies and Tyrants into your hand are they delivered * For your use and service I restore you in part to that Dominion over them which you for your sins have forfeited 3. Every moving thing b Which is wholesome and fit for food and clean An exception to be gathered both from the nature of the thing and from the distinction of clean and unclean Beasts mentioned before and afterwards that liveth c This is added to exclude the use of those Creatures which either died of themselves or were killed by wild Beasts which is here forbidden implicitely and afterwards expresly See Exod. 22. 31. Levit. 22. 8. shall be meat for you d It is not a command that we must but a permission that we may eat of them A grant possibly given before the Flood but now expressed either because the former allowance might seem to be forfeited or because as men now grew more infirm and needed better nourishment so the Earth was grown more feeble by the Flood and its fruits yeilded less and worse nourishment even as the * Chap. 1. 29. green herb have I given you all things †Understand this with the limitation above mentioned The green Herbs were given before chap. 1. 29. 4. * Levit. 17. 14. Deut. 12. 23. Act. 15. 20. But Flesh with the †Heb. Soul Life thereof e i. e. Whilst it lives or taken from the Creature before it be quite dead Which was an antient practice and an effect either of luxury or cruelty which is the blood thereof f i. e. Which life or soul hath its seat in and its support from the blood and the spirits contained in it It is certain Blood is the thing which is here principally minded and forbidden and so the words may be thus translated and understood but flesh i. e. the Flesh of living Creatures hereby allowed you with the Life thereof that is to say with the blood thereof wherein its life consists Or But Flesh whilst it hath in it its Life or Soul or which is all one its Blood shall you not eat g God thought fit to forbid this partly that by this respect shewn to the blood of Beasts it might appear how sacred a thing the blood of man was and how much God abhorred the sin of Murther and principally because the Blood was reserved and consecrated to God as was the means of atonement for man which reason God himself gives Levit. 17. 11 12. and did in a special manner represent the Blood of Christ which was to be shed for the Redemption of mankind 5. And * Or For as the particle is oft taken This being the reason of the foregoing prohibition surely your blood of your †Heb. Souls Lives h Or Of your Souls i. e. Of your persons the word Soul being oft put for Person Or your Blood which is for your lives i. e. which by the spirits it generates is the great preserver and instrument of your lives and of all your vital actions and the great bond which ties your Souls and Bodies together The sense of the place is If I am thus carefull for the blood of Beasts
the Land of Moriah a place at a great distance and to which thou shalt go but leisurely ver 4. that thou mayst have thy mind all that while fixed upon that bloody act which other mens minds can scarce once think of without horrour and so thou mayst offer him in a sort ten thousand times over before thou givest the fatal blow and offer him there with thine own hands and cruelly take away the Life which thou hast in some sort given him For a burnt-offering wherein by the Law of the burnt-offering then known to Abraham afterwards published to all Israel his Throat was to be cat his body dissected into quarters his bowels taken out as if he had been some notorious Traitor and vile Malefactor and Miscreant and afterwards he was to be burnt to ashes that if possible there might be nothing left of him And thâ—… must be done upon one of the mountains which I shall tell thee of not secretly in a corner as if it were a work of darkness and thou wert ashamed or afraid to own it but in a publick and open place in the view of Heaven Earth God Angels and Men. Which horrid and stupendious act it may be easily conjectured what reproach and blasphemy it would have occasioned against the Name and Worship of God and the true Religion and what shame and torment to Abraham from his own self-accusing mind from the clamours of his Wife and all his Friends and Allies and what a dangerous and mischievous example this would have been to all future Generations That Faith that could surmount these and many more difficulties and could readily and chearfully rest upon God in the discharge of such a duty no wonder it is so honoured by God and celebrated by all men yea even by the Heathens who have translated this history into their Fables and get thee into the land of Moriah e Which signifies the vision of God the place where God would be seen and manifested And so it is here called by way of anticipation because it was so called afterwards ver 14. in regard of Gods eminent appearance there for Isaacs deliverance though it may also have a further respect unto Christ because in that place God was manifested in the Flesh. and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains f For there were divers Mountains there as is evident from Psal. 125. 2. and particularly there were two eminent Hills or rather tops or parts of the same Mountain Sion where Davids Palace was and Moriah where the Temple was built and whence the adjoyning Country afterwards received its name which I will tell thee of g By some visible sign or secret admonition which I shall give thee 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning h That he might execute Gods command without doubt or delay and sadled his ass i For greater expedition not waiting for his servant to do it and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son and clave the wood for the burnt-offering and rose up and went unto the place of which God had told him 4 Then on the third day ‖ Probably on the beginning of the third day It is true Moriah was not three days journey from Beer-sheba But it must be considered that the ass upon which he rid is a dull and slow Creature and that Abraham went no faster than the rest of his Company who for ought appears were on foot and that the provisions which they carried along with them both for their own and the asses subsistence and for sacrifice must needs retard them Abraham lift up his eyes and saw the place afar off 5 And Abraham said unto his young men abide ye here with the ass k Lest they should hinder him in the execution of his design and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you l For he knew that God both could and would for his promise sake either preserve Isaac from being sacrificed or afterward raise him from the dead as it is intimated Heb. 11. 19. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it upon Isaac his son m Who though called a lad ver 5. was now a grown man at least five and twenty years old and therefore well able to bear that burden and in this act he was an eminent Type of Christ who carried that wood upon which he was Crucifyed and he took the fire in his hand and a knife and they went both of them together 7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said my father n A compellation which might both wound Abrahams Heart and admonish him how unbecoming to a Father that action was which he was going about and he said †Heb. behold me Here am I my son o Which expression shewed that he had not put off Fatherly Affection to him and that his intention did not arise from any unnatural and barbarous disposition nor from any decay of Love to him but from an higher cause even the declared Will of God And he said Behold the fire and the wood but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering 8 And Abraham said My son God will provide himself a lamb p Either 1. Literally though I know not how for his Wisdom and Power are infinite Or 2. Mystically as Christ whose Type Isaac was is called a Lamb. Thus Abraham prudently reveals the matter to him by degrees not all at once for a burnt-offering so they went both of them together 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of and Abraham built an altar there q Made of Earth sleightly put together as God afterwards prescribed Exod. 20. 24. and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son r Partly because Burnt-offerings were to be bound to the Altar of which see on Psal. 118. 27. Partly to represent Christ who was bound to the cross And that Isaac might be the more exact Type of Christ he was bound by his own consent otherwise his age and strength seem sufficient to have made an effectual resistance It is therefore highly reasonable to think that Abraham having in the whole Journey prepared Isaac for such a work by general but pertinent discourses did upon the mount particularly instruct him concerning the plain and peremptory command of God the absolute necessity of complying with it the glorious reward of his obedience and the dismal consequences of his disobedience the power and faithfulness of God either to prevent the fatal blow or to restore his life lost with infinite advantage Upon these and such like reasons doubtless he readily laid himself down at his Fathers feet and yielded up himself to the Divine Will and * James 2. 21. laid him on the altar upon the wood 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son 11 And the
impostures and the real miracles wrought by Moses and Aaron as appears from the next verse and from chap. 8. 18. and from other passages And this is a great evidence of the truth of Scripture-story and that it was not written by fiction and design For if Moses had written these books to deceive the world and to advance his own reputation as some have impudently said it is ridiculous to think that he would have put in this and many other passages which might seem so much to eclipse his honour and the glory of his works with their inchantments 12 For they cast down every man his rod and they became serpents l Either 1. in appearance For the Scripture oft speaks of things otherwise then they are because they seem to be so And therefore as the Devil appearing to Saul in the likeness of Samuel is called Samuel so may these rods upon the same account be called Serpents because through Diabolical illusion they seemed to be so Or 2. really in manner expressed ver 11. but Aarons rod swallowed up their rods m By which it was evident either that Aarons rod was turned into a real serpent because it had the real properties and effects of a serpent viz. to devour or at least that the God of Israel was infinitely more powerful then the Egyptian Idols or Devils 13 And he †The Lord to whom this act of hardening is frequently ascribed both in this book and elsewhere hardened Pharaohs heart that he hearkened not unto them * chap. 4. 21. as the LORD had said 14 And the LORD said unto Moses * chap. 8. 15. 〈◊〉 1 20 27. Pharaohs heart is hardened n Is obstinate and resolved in his way so as neither my word nor works can make any impression upon him he refuseth to let the people go 15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning lo he goeth out unto the water o i. e. Nilus whither he went at that time either for his recreation or to pay his morning-worship to that river which the Egyptians had in great veneration as Plutarch testifies and thou shalt stand by the rivers brink against he come and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take into thine hand 16 And thou shalt say unto him The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee saying Let my people go * chap. 3. 12 18. 5. 1 3. that they may serve me in the wilderness and behold hitherto thou wouldest not hear 17 Thus saith the LORD In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD p Because thâ—… saidst 〈◊〉 is the Lord and I know not the lord chap. 5. 2. thou 〈◊〉 know him experimentally and to thy cost * chap. 4. 9. behold I will smite q viz. by Aarons hand who shall do it by my command and direction Thus Pilate is said to give Christs body to Ioseph Mark 15. 45. because he commanded it to be delivered by others to him The same action is ascribed to the principal and instrumental cause with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river r Nilus which was one of their principal Gods and therefore it was inexcusable in them that they would not renounce those â—…eeble Gods which were unable to help not onely their worshippers but even themselves nor embrace the service and commands of that God whose almighty power they saw and felt and they shall be turned * Rev. 16. 6. to blood s Which was a very grievous Plague to them both because it was an eternal dishonour to their Religion and because from hence they had both their drink Deut. 11. 10 11. Ier. 2. 18. and their meat Numb 11. 5. for greater and lesser cattel they would not eat Exod. 8. 26. And it was a very proper punishment for them who had made that river an instrument for the execution of their bloody design against the Israelitish infants Exod. 1. 22. 18 And the fish that is in the river shall die and the river shall stink and the Egyptians t Therefore the Israelites were free from this plague and those branches of Nilus which they used were uncorrupted when all others were turned into bloud shall loath u Or shall weary themselves in running hither and thither in hopes of finding water in some parts or branches of the river to drink of the water of the river 19 And the LORD spake unto Moses Say unto Aaron Take thy rod and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt upon their streams upon their rivers and upon their ponds and upon all their †Heb. gathering of their waters pooles of water x Not that he was to go to every pool to use this ceremony there but he stretched his hand and rod over some of them in the name of all the rest which he might signifie either by his words or by the various motions of his rod several ways that they may become blood and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone 20 And Moses and Aaron did so as the LORD commanded and he * chap. 17. 5. lift up the rod and smote the waters that were in the river in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants and all the * Psal. â—…8 44. and 105. 29. waters that were in the river were turned to blood 21 And the fish that was in the river died and the river stunk and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt 22 * Wisd. 17. â—… And the Magicians of Egypt did so with their inchantments y It was not difficult for the Devil to convey bloud speedily and unperceivably and that in great quantity which might suffice to infect with a bloody colour those small parcels of water which were left for them to shew their art in Qu. Whence could they have water when all their waters were turned into blood Ans. 1. It might be had either 1. by rain which at that time God was pleased to send down either for this purpose or to mitigate the extremity of the plague or for other reasons known to him though not to us For that rain sometimes falls in Egypt though not much nor often is affirmed by antient writers and late travellers Or 2. from Goshen which was not far from the Court or from some houses of the Israelites who dwelt amongst the Egyptians as appears from many places of this history and who were free from these Plagues See Exod. 8. 22. and 9. 26. and 10. 23. and 12. 13. c. Or 3. from the pits which they digged ver 24. Or 4. from some branch of Nilus or some vessels in their houses whose waters were not yet changed For this change might be wrought not suddenly
ye are all children of Israel q The Sons of that Holy man who for one filthy action left an Eternal brand upon one of his own Sons a People in Covenant with the holy God whose Honour you are obliged to vindicate and who hath expresly commanded you to punish all such notorious Enormities give here your advice and counsel 8 ¶ And all the people arose as one man saying We will not any of us go to his tent r i. e. His habitation to wit until we have revenged this Injury neither will we any of us turn into his house 9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah we will go up by lot against it 10 And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel and an hundred of a thousand and a thousand out of ten thousand to â—…etch victual for the people that they may do when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin accord ing to all the folly that they have wrought s That we may punish them as such a wickedness deserves in Israel t This is added as an aggravation that they should do that in Israel or among Gods peculiar People which was esteemed abominable even among the Heathen 11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city ‡ Heb. fellows knit together as one man 12 ¶ And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe u Heb. tribes Either the Plural Number for the Singular or rather tribe is put for family as was noted before as families are elsewhere put for tribes They take a wise and a just course in sending to all the parts and families of the tribe to separate the Innocent from the Guilty and to give them a fair opportunity of preventing their ruin by doing nothing but what their Duty Honour and Interest obliged them to even by delivering up those vile Malefactors whom they could not keep without horrid guilt and shame and bringing the Curse of God upon themselves of Benjamin saying What wickedness is this that is done among you 13 Now therefore deliver us the men the children of Belial which are in Gibeah that we may put them to death and put away evil x Both the Guilt and the Punishment wherein all Israel will be Involved if they do not Punish it from Israel but the children of Benjamin would not hearken y Partly from the Pride of their Hearts which made them scorn to submit to their Brethren or to suffer them to meddle in their Territory partly from a conceit of their own Valour and Military skill and partly from Gods just judgment to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel 14 But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah to go out to battel against the children of Israel 15 And the children of Benjamin were numbred at that time out of the city twenty and six thousand men that drew sword beside the inhabitants of Gibeah which were numbred seven hundred chosen men z Object This agrees not with the following numbers for all that were slain of Benjamin were 25100 men v. 35. and there were only 600 that survived v. 47. which make only 25700. Ans. The other thousand men were either left in some of their cities where they were slain v. 48. or were cut off in the two first Battels wherein it is unreasonable to think they had an unbloody Victory and as for these 25100 men they were all slain in that day i. e. the day of the third Battel as is affirmed v. 35. 16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men * Chap. 3. 15. left handed a Heb. shut up on their right hand i. e. using their left hand instead of their right every one could sling stones at an hairs breadth and not miss b An Hyperbolical expression signifying that they could do this with great exactness There are many Parallel Instances in Historians of Persons that could throw Stones or shoot Arrows with great certainty so as seldom or never to miss Of which see my Latin Synopsis And this was very considerable and one ground of the Benjamites confidence because in those times they had no Guns 17 And the men of Israel c To wit such as were here present v. 2. for otherwise it is most probable they had a far greater number of men being 600000 before their entrance into Canaan Num. 1. 2. beside Benjamin were numbred four hundred thousand men that drew sword all these were men of war 18 ¶ And the children of Israel d i. e. Some sent in the name of all arose and went up to the house of God e To wit to Shiloh which was not far from Mizpeh where they were and * Chap. 1. 1. asked counsel of God and said Which of us shall go up first to the battel f This they ask to prevent Emulations and Contentions but they do not ask whether they should go against them oâ—… no for that they knew they ought to do by the will of God already revealed nor yet do they seek to God for his help by Prayer and Fasting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all reason they ought to have done but were confident of Success because of their great Numbers and Righteous Cause against the children of Benjamin And the LORD said Judah shall go up first 19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah 20 And the men of Israel went out to battel against Benjamin and the men of Israel put themselves in aray to fight against them at Gibeah 21 And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men g Quest. Why would God suffer them to have so great a loss in so Good a Cause Ans. Because they had many and great Sins reigning amongst themselves and they should not have come to so great a Work of God as this with polluted hands but should have pulled the Beam out of their own Eye before they attempted to take that out of their Brother Benjamin's Eye which because they did not God doth it for them making them by this loss more clearly to see their own Sins and their need of Gods help without which their great Numbers were insignificant and bringing them through the Fire that they might be purged from their Dross it being probable that the great God who governs every stroke in Battels did so order things that their worst and rotten Members should be cut off which was a great Blessing to the whole Common-wealth 22 And the people the men of Israel incouraged themselves h Heb. strengthned themselves partly by supporting themselves with the Conscience of the Justice of their Cause and the hopes of success and partly by putting themselves in better order for
and so by preserving another Mans Name he should lose his own Or Secondly Because as his Inheritance would be but very little increased by this Marriage so it might be much diminished by being divided amongst his many Children which he possibly had already and might probably have more by Ruth redeem thou my right l Which I freely Renounce and Resign to thee to thy self for I cannot redeem it 7 * Deut. 25. 〈◊〉 Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing for to confirm all things m i. e. In all Alienation of Lands So that it is no wonder if this Ceremony differ a little from that Deut. 25. 9. because that concerned only one Case but this is more general Besides he pleads not the Command of God but only ancient Custom for this Practice a man plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbour n He who relinquished his right to another plucked off his own Shoe and gave it to him This was Symbolical and a significant and convenient Ceremony as if he said Take this Shoe wherewith I used to go and tread upon my Land and in that Shoe do thou enter upon it and take possession of it and this was a testimony in Israel o This was admitted for sufficient Evidence in all such Cases 8 Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz Buy it for thee so he drew off his shoe 9 ¶ And Boaz said unto the elders and unto all the people Ye are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelechs and all that was Chilions and Mahlons of the hand of Naomi 10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess the wife of Mahlon have I purchased to be my wife to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren and from the gate of his place p i. e. From among the Inhabitants dwelling within the Gate of this City which was Bethlehem-Iudah ye are witnesses this day 11 And all the people that were in the gate and the elders said We are witnesses The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah q Amiable and Fruitful Those two are singled out partly because they were of a Foreign and Heathenish Original and yet ingrafted into Gods people as Ruth also was and partly because of that singular Fertility which God vouchsafed unto them above their Predecessors Rachel and Leah Rachel is placed before Leah because she was his most Lawful and only Intended and Chosen and best-Beloved Wife which two did build the house r i. e. Increase the Posterity See Gen. 16. 2. Exod. 1. 21. of Israel and ‖ Or get 〈◊〉 riches or power do thou worthily in Ephratah s Two Names of one and the same Place of which see on Ruth 1. 2. and ‡ Heb. proclaim thy name be famous in Bethlehem s Two Names of one and the same Place of which see on Ruth 1. 2. 12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez t As honourable and numerous as his Family was whom though he also was Born of a stranger God so far Blessed that his Family was one of the five Families to which all the Tribe of Iudah belonged and the Progenitor of the Inhabitants of this City * Gen. 38. 〈◊〉 1 Chron. â—… â—… Matth. 1. 3. whom Tamar bare unto Judah of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman 13 ¶ So Boaz took Ruth u Which he might do though she was a Moabite because the Prohibition against Marrying such is to be restrained to those who continue in the Heathenish estate as is evident from the reason of it Whereas Ruth as a sincere Proselyte and Convert to the God and Faith of Israel and she was his wife and when he went in unto her x i. e. Had Conjugal Converse with her See Gen. 6. 4. the LORD gave her conception y i. e. Strength to Conceive and Retain Seed and in due time she bare a son 14 And the women said unto Naomi Blessed be the LORD which hath not ‡ Heb. caused to cease unto thee left thee this day without a ‖ Or redeemer kinsman z Which is understood Either First Of the Son new Born Or rather Secondly Of Boaz For the Name of Goel which is Translated Kinsman or Redeemer is never that I know of given to the Child Born but always to the Person Begetting him of his Brother's or near Kinsman's Wife And whereas it is Objected That there was no Cause for this Congratulation at this time in reference to Boaz because that was done divers Months before this time It may be Replied That the Memory of that generous Action was revived upon this occasion and therefore is fitly mentioned as the foundation of this Childs Birth and this happy effect justly leads them to the Cause and Original of it which was this that Boaz had shewed himself to be a Kinsman or Redeemer not only in Name and Title as the other Kinsman was v. 6. but in Truth and Reality The words may be rendred Which hath not made or suffered thy Kinsman to fail to thee i. e. To neglect or refuse the performance of his Duty to thee and thine as the other Kinsman did that his name may be famous in Israel a Heb. and his Name shall be famons in Israel for this Noble and Worthy Action wherein he gave so great an Example of Piety Charity Humility and self-Denial 15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life b i. e. Of the comfort of thy life which was in a great measure dead and gone and ‡ Heb. to nourish a nourisher of ‡ Heb. thy gray hairs thine old age for thy daughter in law which loveth thee which * 1 Sam. 1. 8. is better to thee than seven sons hath born him c To wit a Son the Pronoun for the Noun understood which is frequent in the Hebrew Tongue Or Hath born to him i. e. to thy Kinsman to wit a Son which is easily understood and so the Pronoun affix is put for the separate of which there are Instances as Ios. 15. 19. 1 King 19. 21. Iob 31. 37. Ezek. â—…9 3. 16 And Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom and became nurse unto it 17 And the women â—…er neighbours gave it a name d i. e. They gave her advice about the Name for otherwise they had no power or right to do so saying There is a son born to Naomi and they called his name Obed e A servant to wit to thee to nourish and comfort and assist thee which Duty Children owe to their Progenitors he is the father of Jesse the father of David 18 ¶ Now these are the generations of Pharez * 1 Chron. 2.
came to the king and told him and when he had called for Absalom he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king and the king kissed Absalom k In testimony of his thorough Reconciliation to him Which Absalom did very ill requite as the next Chapter manifesteth CHAP. XV. AND it came to pass after this that Absalom * 1 King 1. 5. prepared him charets and horses and fifty men to run before him a As being the Kings eldest Son now Amnon was dead for Chileab who was his eldest Brother 2 Sam. 3. 3. was either dead or manifestly uncapable of the Government And this course he knew would draw the eyes and minds of people to him and make them conclude that David intended him for his Successor 2 And Absalom rose up early b Thereby making a shew of self-denial and diligence and solicitude for the good of the publick and of every private person as he had opportunity and stood beside the way of the gate c Either First Of the Kings Palace Or rather Secondly Of the City for that was the place of Judicature or Iudgment for which these Men came and it was so that when any man that had a controversie ‡ Heb. to 〈◊〉 came to the king for judgment then Absalom called unto him d Preventing him with the offers of his assistance and said Of what city art thou e As if he were ready to make particular enquiry into the state of his cause And he said Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel f Or rather of one City which word is easily understood out of the foregoing question of the tribes of Israel i. e. of an Israelitish City either this or that of such or such a City 3 And Absalom said unto him See thy matters are good and right g Upon some very flight hearing of their case he approved it that he might oblige all but ‖ Or none will hear thee from the King downward there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee h To wit none such as will do thee Justice The other Sons and Relations of the King and the rest of the Judges and Rulers under him and them are wholly corrupted and swayed by favour or bribes or at least not careful and diligent as they should be and my Father being grown in years is negligent of publick affairs leaving them wholly to their conduct 4 Absalom said moreover O that I were made judge in the land i For the King had onely restored Absalom to favour but thought not fit to put him into any place of Power and Trust. that every man k I should refuse no man and decline no pains to do any man good So he pretends to a very publick spirit which hath any suit or cause might come unto me and I would do him justice 5 And it was so that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance he put forth his hand and took him and kissed him l Putting on the Garb of singular humanity and good will to all men For that seems to have been a Ceremony in frequent use in those times of shewing respect as pulling off the hat and bowing or imbracing is at this day with us 6 And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel m i. e. He secretly and subrilly undermined his Father and robbed his Father of the good opinions and affections of his people that he might gain them to himself by such insinuations into their affections by his plausible and over-civil carriage 7 ¶ And it came to pass after forty years n Quest. Whence are these to be computed Ans. Not from Absalom's Birth for he was Born in Hebron some considerable time after David had begun his Reign 2 Sam. 3. 3. much less from the time of his Vow made or of his return from Banishment but either first from the time of David's election or designation to the Kingdom 1 Sam. 16. 13. Or Secondly From the beginning of Saul's Reign which being a Solemn time and observable for the change of the Government in Israel might very fitly be made an Epocha from which the computation or account of times begin as the Greeks and Romans began their accounts in the same manner and upon the same ground Or rather Thirdly From the beginning of David's Reign who Reigned 40 Years and so the words may be rendred about or towards the end of forty years i. e. in the beginning of the fortieth Year And so this very Phrase is used Deut. 15. 1. At the end of every seven years i. e. in the seventh Year even from the beginning of it as is manifest and confessed So in a like expression After three days will I rise again Mark 8. 31. i. e. on the beginning of the third day when Christ did rise the number of three days being then compleated when the third day is begun And the 40 Years are here expressed as one motive or inducement to Absalom to Rebel because now his Fathers end grew near and one of the Hebrew Doctors affirms that there was a tradition or rumour or prediction that David should Reign but 40 Years And Absalom might easily understand that David intended to decline him and to make Solomon his Successor as well by the conscience of his own wickedness and unfitness for so great a trust as by that eminent Wisdom and Piety which appeared in Solomon in his tender Years and that great respect and affection which his Father must needs have and manifest to him upon this account and by that Promise and Oath given to Bathsheba concerning his Succession mentioned 1 King 1. 30. but made before that time which also might come to Absalom's ear Against this opinion two things are Objected First That David was in the time of this Rebellion a strong Man for he Marched on Foot v. 30. whereas in his last Year he was very infirm and bed-rid Secondly That after this Rebellion was ended divers other things happened as the three Years Famine 2 Sam. 21. 1. and other things following in the History But it may be Answered to the first That David might in the beginning of his last Year have so much strength and vigour left as to March on Foot especially when he did so humble and afflict himself as it is apparent he did v. 30. and yet through his tedious Marches and the tormenting Cares Fears and Griess of his Soul for Absalom might be so strangely and suddenly impaired as in the end of the same Year to be very feeble and bed-rid it being a very common accident especially in old Men and upon extraordinary occasions to languish and decline exceedingly and to fall from some competent degree of health and vigour to be very infirm and bed-rid
Behold my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian o A stranger and one of that Nation who are the implacable Enemies of Gods people whom therefore my Master should not have had so much regard to as to the Lords Prophets who better deserved and more needed the money which he offered than Naaman himself did in not receiving at his hand that which he brought but as the LORD liveth I will run after him and take somewhat of him p He Swears that he might have some pretence for the action to which he had bound himself by his Oath not considering that to Swear to do any wicked action is so far from excusing it that it makes it much worse 21 Sâ—… Gehazi followed after Naaman and when Naamaâ—… saw him running after him he lighted down from the chariot to meet him q Thereby testifying his great respect to the Prophet his Master and said ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 peace Is all well 22 And he said All is well my master hath sent me r This was a very unlikely Story but Naaman was not willing to question it but glad of the opportunity of shewing his gratitude to the Prophet saying Behold even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets give them I pray thee a talent of silver and two changes of garments 23 And Naaman said Be content take two talents and he urged him s Who at first refused it upon a pretence of modesty and obedience to his Masters command and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of garments and laid them upon two of his servants and they bare them before him 24 And when he came to the ‖ Or 〈◊〉 places tower t A safe and private place which he chose for that purpose and where possibly he hid and kept other things which he had got by such like frauds and artifices he took them from their hand and bestowed them in the house and he let the men go u Before they came within sight of his Master and they departed 25 But he went in and stood before his master and Elisha said unto him Whence comest thou Gehazi and he said Thy servant went ‡ Heb. not â—…ther or â—…ther no whither 26 And he said unto him Went not mine heart with thee x Did not my mind being enlightned by Gods Spirit discern what thou saidst and didst when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee Is it a time y Was this a â—…it season for this action I had but newly and obstinately refused his Gifts for great reasons of which see on ver 16. and now thou hast given him cause to think that I was a â—…sed and wicked Impostor who vain-gloriously refused in Publick what I inwardly and greedily desired and sought onely a sitter place and opportunity to take and that all our Religion is but an Imposture and that the God who owns such a vile wretch for his Prophet as thou hast represented me to him is not so Holy and Righteous as we pretend to receive money and to receive garments and oliveyards and vineyards and sheep and oxen and men-servants and maid-servants z Which Gehazi intended to purchase with this money and therefore the Prophet names them 〈◊〉 inform him That he exactly knew by Divine Inspiration not onely Gehazi's outward Actions but even his most secret Intentions 27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed for ever ‖ i. e. For some Generations or for a long time as that World is oft used and as may be thought by comparing this with Exod. 20. 55. and 34. 7. And he went out from his presence ‡ Being confounded with the sense of his guilt and shame and misery and banished from the company of others by God's Law Levit. 13. and 14. a leper as white as snow * Which is the worst kind of Leprosie and noted by Physitians to be incurable See Exod. 4. 6. Numb 12. 10. 2 Chron. 26. 19 20. Nor was this Punishment too severe for Gehazi's Wickedness which was great and various horrid Covetousness which is Idolatry the Prophanation of God's Name by a Wicked Oath downright Theft deliberate and impudent Lying and that to a Prophet which was in a manner a lying to the holy Ghost like theirs Acts 5. 3. A desperate contempt of God's Omniscience Justice and Holiness an horrible Reproach fastned upon the Prophet and his Religion and a mischievous Scandal given to Naaman and all other Syrians that might hear of it CHAP. VI. AND the sons of the prophets a Either at Bethel or Iericho or rather at Gilgal as may seem from its nearness to the River of Iordan ver 2. said unto Elisha Behold now the place where we dwell with thee b Or before thy face i. e. under thy inspection and direction where thou dost frequently dwell with us Or to thy face which may be joyned with the following Words and so the sense may be this It is apparent to thy view that this place is too strait for us is too strait for us c The number of the Prophets increasing by the gracious Providence of God and by the Ministry and Miracles of Elijah and Elisha 2 Let us go we pray thee unto Jordan d i. e. To the Woods near Iordan which were near to them See on ver 1. and take thence every man a beam e i. e. A piece of Timber for the Building Hence it may be gathered That although the Sons of the Prophets principally devoted themselves to Religious Exercises such as Prayer and Praising of God and the studying of Gods Word and Instructing of others and waiting for Divine Revelations yet they did sometimes employ themselves about Manual Arts which now they might be forced to through the Iniquity of the times and let us make us a place there where we may dwell And he answered Go ye 3 And one said Be content I pray thee and go with thy servants And he answered I will go 4 So he went with them And when they came to Jordan they cut down wood 5 But as one was felling a beam the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ax head f The Iron fell from the Wood. fell into the water and he cried and said Alas master for it was borrowed g He was the more concerned partly because he was now forced to be idle and useless to them in the common Work and partly because it was his Friends loss who now was likely to suffer for his kindness and as Justice obliged him to restore it so his Poverty disenabled him from it 6 And the man of God said Where fell it and he shewed him the place and he cut down a stick and cast it in thither and the iron did swim 7 Therefore said he Take it up to thee and he put out his hand
this great and strange emergency and Zeresh his wife unto him If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews e Which they were told and was generally supposed but they were not infallibly sure of it before whom thou hast begun to fall thou shalt not prevail against him but shalt surely fall before him f This they concluded either 1. By rules of policy because Hamans reputation and interest was hereby sinking and Mordecai whom they understood to be a man of great wisdom and courage and government of himself was now got into the Kings favour and thereby was likely to gain an opportunity of making his addresses to the King who being of a mild disposition might easily be moved to a dislike if not revocation of his own bloody decree and consequently to a detestation of that person who had procured it Or 2. By former experience and the observation of Gods extraordinary actions on the behalf of the Jews and against their enemies in this very Court and Kingdom Or 3. By instinct and inspiration to their minds either from God who might suggest this to them as he did other things to other wicked men Balaam Caâ—…aphas c. for his own greater glory and the good of his people or from the Devil who by Gods permission might know this and reveal it to them who sought to him in their superstitious and idolatrous methods 14 And while they were yet talking with him came the kings chamberlains and hasted to bring Haman g Who was now slack to go thither by reason of the great dejection of his own mind and the fear of a worse entertainment from the King and Queen than he had formerly received unto the banquet that Esther had prepared CHAP. VII 1 SO the king and Haman came †Heb. to drink to banquet with Esther the queen 2 And the king said again to Esther on the second day * Ch. 5. 6. at the banquet of wine a So it is called to note that it was not designed for a seast to fill their bellies but rather for a banquet to delight and please their palates with wine and other delicacies see on ch 5. 8. What is thy petition queen Esther and it shall be granted thee and what is thy request and it shall be performed even to the half of the kingdom 3 Then Esther the queen answered and said If I have found favour in thy sight O king and if it please the king let my life be given me at my petition b It is my humble and only request that thou wouldst not give me up to the malice of that man that â—…esigns to take away my life and will certainly do it if thou dost not prevent it and my people c And the lives which is easily supplied out of the foregoing branch of my people the Jews of whom I am descended at my request 4 For we are * Ch. 3. 9. sold d By the craft and cruelty of that man who offered a great sum of mony to purchase our destruction I and my people e For we are all given up to his malice and rage without any exception of my own person †Heb. that they should destroy and kill and cause to perish to be destroyed to be slain and to perish f She useth variety of expressions to make the deeper impression upon the Kings mind but if we had been sold for bond-men and bond-women I had held my tongue g Because that calamity had neither been irrecoverable nor intolerable nor yet unprofitable to the King for whose honour and service I should willingly have submitted my self and people to any kind of bondage although the enemy could not countervail the kings damage h His ten thousand talents if paid into the Kings treasury would not repair the Kings loss in the customs and tributes which the King receives from the Jews within his dominions 5 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen Who is he and where is he i The expressions are short and doubled as proceeding from a discomposed and enraged mind †Heb. wâ—…se heart 〈◊〉 â—…led him that durst presume in his heart to do so k i. e. To circumvent me and by subtilty to procure an irrevocable decree whereby not only my estate should be so much impaired and so many of my innocent Subjects be destroyed without mercy but my Queen also should be involved in the same danger and destruction 6 And Esther said †Heb. 〈◊〉 adversary The adversary and enemy is l Of the King and of my Person and People this wicked Haman Then Haman was afraid ‖ Or at the presence of before the king and the queen 7 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace-garden m Partly as disdaining the company and sight of so ungrateful and audacious a person partly to cool and allay his troubled and inflamed spirits and partly to consider within himself the hainousness of Hamans crime and the mischief which himself had done by his own rashness and what punishment was fit to be inflicted upon so great a delinquent and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen for he saw n By the violent commotion of the Kings mind and passions that there was evil determined against him by the king 8 Then the king returned out of the palace-garden into the place of the banquet of wine and Haman was fallen upon the bed o Or by or beside the bed on which the Queen sat at meat after the manner where he was fallen upon his knees and upon the ground at her feet as humble suppliants used to do and as the Queen did at the Kings feet ch 8. 3. whereon Esther was Then said the king Will he force the queen also p Will he now attempt my Queens Chastity as he hath already attempted her life His presumption and impudence I see will stick at nothing He speaks not this out of a real jealousy for which there was no cause in those circumstances but from an exasperated mind which takes all occasions to vent itself against the person who gave the provocation and makes the worst construction of all his words and action †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before me in the house q In my own presence and palace As the word went out of the kings mouth they r i. e. The Kings and Queens Chamberlains then attending upon them covered Hamans face s Partly that the King might not be offended or grieved with the sight of a Person whom he now loathed and partly because they looked upon him as a condemned person for the faces of such used to be covered 9 And * Ch. 1. 10. Harbonah one of the chamberlains t Who knew this either by his own observation or by the information of
and my Cause and not according to the rigours of his justice 16. If I had called p i. e. Prayed as this word is commonly used to wit unto my Judge for a favourable sentence as he now said and therefore it was neeedless here to mention the Object of his Calling or Prayer and he had answered me yet would I not believe that he had hearkned unto my voice q I could not believe that God had indeed granted my Desire though he had done it because I am so infinitely below him and obnoxious to him and still full of the tokens of his displeasure and therefore should conclude that it was but a pleasant Dream or Fancy and not a real thing Compare Psalm 126. 1. 17. For he breaketh me r This is the Reason of his foregoing Diffidence that even when God seemed to answer him in words yet the course of his actions towards him was of a quite contrary nature and tendency with a tempest s As with a Tempest i. â—… unexpectedly violently and irrecoverably and multiplieth my wounds without cause t Not simply without any desert of his or as if he had no sin in him for he oft declares the contrary but without any evident or special cause of such singular Afflictions i. e. any peculiar and extraordinary guilt such as my Friends charge me with 18. He will not suffer me to take my breath u My pains and miseries are continual and I have not so much as a breathing-time free from them but 〈◊〉 me with bitterness x My Afflictions are not only long and uninterrupted but also exceeding sharp and violent contrary to the common course of God's Providence 19. If I speak of strength y If my Cause were to be decided by power lo he is strong z i. e. stronger than I. and if of judgment a If I would contend with him in a way of right who shall set me a time to plead b There is no superiour Judge that can summon him and me together and appoint us a time of pleading before him and oblige us both to stand to his Sentence and therefore I must be contented to sit down with the loss 20. If I justifie my self c If I plead against God mine own Righteousness and Innocency mine own mouth shall condemn me d God is so infinitely wise and just that he will find sufficient matter of condemnation from my own words though spoken with all possible care and circumspection or he will discover so much wickedness in me of which I was not aware that I shall be forced to joyn with him in condemning my self if I say I am perfect e If I were perfect in my own opinion If I thought my self compleatly righteous and faultless it f i. e. My own mouth as he now said Or he i. e. God who is easily understood by comparing this with the former Verses where the same he is oft mentioned shall also prove me perverse 21. Though I were perfect yet would I not know my soul I would despise my life g i. e. Though God should acquit me in Judgment and pronounce me perfect or righteous yet would I not know i. e. regard or value as that word is oft used my soul i. e. my life as the soul frequently signifies as Gen. 19. 17. Iob 2. 6. Iohn 10. 15 17. and as it is explained in the following branch where life is put for soul and despising for not knowing and so the same thing is repeated in differing words and the latter clause explains the former which was more dark and doubtful according to the usage of sacred Scripture So the sense is Though God should give sentence for me yet I should be so overwhelmed with the dread and terrour of the Divine Majesty that I should be weary of my life And therefore I abhor the thoughts of contending with my Maker whereof you accuse me and yet I have reason to be weary of my life and to desire death Or thus If I say I am perfect as the very same Hebrew words are rendred v. 20. i. e. If I should think my self perfect yet I would not know i. e. not acknowledge my soul I could not own nor plead before God the perfection and integrity of my soul but would onely make supplication to my Judge as he said v. 16. and flee to his grace and mercy I would abhor or reject or condemn my life i. e. my conversation So the sense is I would not insist upon nor trust to the integrity either of my soul and heart or of my life so as to justifie my self before the pure and piercing Eyes of the all-seeing God 22. This is one thing h In the other things which you have spoken of God's greatness justice c. I do not contend with you but thi one thing I do and must affirm against you therefore I said it i I did not utter it rashly but upon deep consideration he de stroyeth the perfect and the wicked k God sends afflictions promiscuously upon good and bad men Compare Psal. 73. 2 c. Eccles. 9. 2. Ier. 12. 1 c. 23. If the scourge slay suddenly l Either 1. If some common and deadly Judgment come upon a people which destroys both good and bad Or 2. If God inflicts some grievous and unexpected stroke upon an innocent person as it follows he will laugh at the trial of the innocent m As he doth at the destruction of the wicked Psal. 2. 4. His outward carriage is the same to both he neglects the innocent and seems not to answer their prayers and suflers them to perish with others as if he took pleasure in their râ—…ne also But withal he intimates the matter and cause of this laughter or complacency which God takes in their afflictions because to them they are but trials of their saith and patience and perseverance which tends to God's honour and their own eternal advantage 24. The earth n i. e. The possession and dominion of men and things on earth is given o To wit by God the great Lord and disposer of it by his providence into the hand of the wicked p Into their power As good men are scourged v. 23. so the wicked are advanced and prospered in this world he covereth the faces of the Judges thereof q i. e. He blinds their eyes that they cannot discern between truth and falshood justice and unrighteousness He. Who Either 1. the wicked last mentioned who either by power or by gifts corrupts the Officers of justice Or rather 2. God whom the pronoun he designed all along this Chapter Who is oft said to blind the minds of men which he doth not positively by making them blind but privatively by withdrawing his own light and leaving them to their own mistakes and lusts Or by Iudges he may here mean
being fitly supplied out of the former branch of the Verse as is very usual in Scripture He would not use his power against me but for me by enabling me to plead my Cause and giving Sentence according to that Clemency and Benignity which according to his gracious Covenant he useth towards his Children Or He would put or sit his heart this very Verb of putting or setting being elsewhere used in this defective manner for putting or setting the Heart as Iob. 7. 17. Isa. 41. 10. as it is fully expressed Isa. 57. 1. Ezek. 40. 4. 44. 5. upon the Preposition Beth in being sometimes used for al upon as Neh. 2. 12. Isa. 21. 13. me to wit to hear me and all my reasons meekly and to judge favourably and to help and deliver me as that and the like Phrases commonly signifie in Scripture use 7. There n At that Throne of Grace as it is called Heb. 4. 16. where God lays aside his Majesty and Power and judgeth according to his wonted Grace and Clemency the Righteous o Such as I do and dare avow my self to be to wit in sincerity though not in perfection might dispute with him p Humbly and modestly propounding the grounds of their confidence and the Evidences of their Righteousness so q Upon such a fair and equal hearing should I be delivered for ever from my judge r Either 1. From the severe Censures of all corrupt and partial Judges such as you my Friends are Or rather 2. From the damnatory sentence of God for he is not only pleading before him but also with him He would give sentence for me and against himself This and some such Expressions of Iob cannot be excused from Irreverence towards God and too great a confidence in himself for which therefore God sharply reproves him hereafter and Iob abhorreth himself 8. * Chap. 9. 12. Behold I go forward s i. e. Towards the East which in Scripture is accounted the forepart of the world as the Hebrew name of it signifies because of the light of the Sun which ariseth there and draweth the Eyes of men towards it but he is not there t To wit so as I would have him as a Judge to hear and determine my cause of which he is here speaking For otherwise he knew and believed that God was essentially present in all places and backward u i. e. Towards the West So also the North is called the Left-hand and the South the Right-hand v. 9. because so they all are to a man who looks towards the East He names all the several parts of the World to shew his eager desire and restless endeavours to find out God and to present himself before him but I cannot perceive him 9. On the Left hand where he doth work x To wit in a special and peculiar manner more than in other parts of the World for so indeed God did work in those parts which were Northward from Iob because there Mankind among whom God delights to be and to work were most numerous and most ingenious to discern Gods works There also was the Seat of the Assyrian Empire which was eminent in Iob's time and afterwards of the other successive Empires In and by all which God did many great and glorious works But this Hebrew word is by others and that very properly and fitly rendred when or whilest he worketh to wit in an eminent manner So this is added to aggravate Iob's unhappiness We may certainly find any man when and where he is working But I saith he search for God even when and where he is working and yet cannot find him out but I cannot behold him he hideth himself y To wit from me He withdraweth his favour and will not afford me his presence and audience on the Right hand that I cannot see him z Either 1. I cannot discern his Counsels and Ways and the Reasons of his severe dealings with me Or rather 2. He doth not appear to me as a Judge to examine my Cause and Arguments but condemns me without hearing me 10. But a Though I cannot see him yet my comfort is that he seeth me and my heart and all my Actions Or For as this particle commonly signifies So this Verse contains a reason why he so vehemently desired that he might plead his cause with or before God he knoweth †Heb. the way that is with 〈◊〉 the way that I take b He cannot be deceived nor blinded either by the artifices of bold Accusers or Advocates or by his own misapprehensions or passions but he exactly knows the way that is with me i. e. the disposition of my heart and the whole course or manner of my Life when he hath tried me c If he would examine me throughly which above all things I desire I shall come forth as Gold d Which cometh out of the Furnace pure from all dross I would appear upon a fair hearing that I am free though not from all sin as he had confessed before yet from that hypocrisie and those gross enormities wherewith my friends charge me 11. My Foot hath held e his steps f i. e. Made a free and fixed choice and taken fast hold of them been firmly and strongly settled and resolved to continue in them as the word signifies his way have I kept and not declined g Either 1. Actively the steps or ways in which God himself walks the paths of Holiness Justice Mercy c. wherein he walked with or after God as the Phrase is Gen. 5. 24. 2 Kings 23. 3. following his Example Or 2. Passively the steps or paths which God hath appointed men to walk in as Ch. 21. 14. 12. Neither have I gone back h i. e. Not turned aside to any crooked or sinful path or course of Life human Infirmity excepted Heb. I have hid or laid it up as men do their best Treasures or what they most love and value The Phrase notes an high estimation of it an hearty affection to it and a diligent care to preserve it from the Commandment of his Lips †Heb. I have hid or laid up I have esteemed i the word of his Mouth more than ‖ Or my appointed portion my necessary food k Or my appointed food or my dayly portion i. e. that food or provision which is necessary for the support of my Life as this word is used Gen. 47. 22. Prov. 30. 8. 31. 15. which is more prized and desired than all the riches in the world 13. But he is in one mind l i. e. Notwithstanding all these Evidences of my sincere Piety and all my Prayers to him he still continues in the same mind and course of afflicting me Or But he is i. e. if he be against one or against any man as that word is oft used as he now setteth himself against me Or But he is one the
my House and the Gate Or to the City i. e. the Gate belonging to the City So Iob might live in the Country adjoining to it when I prepared my seat o When I caused the seat of Justice to be set for me By this and divers other Expressions it appears that Iob was a Magistrate or Judge in his Country in the street p i. e. In that void and open place within or near the Gate where the People assembled for the administration of Justice among them 8. The young men saw me and hid themselves q Either out of a profound Reverence to my Person and Dignity or out of a Conscience of their own Guilt or Folly which they supposed I might either understand by Information from others or discover by their countenances or carriages in my presence for which they knew I would reprove them and bring them to shame or other punishment and the aged arose and stood up r Whilest I either passed by them or was present with them See Levit. 19. 3â—… 1 Kings 2. 19. So great a veneration they had for my Person 〈◊〉 regard of that Wisdom and Justice and faithfulness which they discerned in me and in all my proceedings And therefore they judged quite otherwise of me than you now do 9. The Princes refrained talking s Either fearing that I should discern their weakness by their words or desiring to hear my words and sentence which they readily approved of and fully assented to Such an opinion had they of my Wisdom and did not think me such a foolish erroneous and impertinent Person as you fancy or represent me to be and laid their hand on their mouth t In token both of their wonder at Iob's wise Speeches and Sentences and of their resolution to be silent See Iob 21. 5. Prov. 30. 32. 10. †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was 〈◊〉 The nobles held their peace and their Tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth u It lay as still as if it had done so and they could not have spoken 11. When the ear heard me then it blessed me x i. e. Pronounced me to be a man blessed of God with eminent Gifts and Graces or heartily prayed for Gods Blessing upon me because of that Wisdom and Integrity which they saw in all my actions and of the satisfaction which I gave to all and the relief which I gave to the oppressed by my righteous and equitable decrees in all causes which were brought before me and when the Eye saw me it gave witness to me y When my appearance gave them occasion to speak of me they gave Testimony to my pious and just and blameless conversation So far was I from being or being thought to be guilty of those crimes wherewith you charge me of which see Ch. 22. 9. 12. Because * 〈◊〉 â—…2 12. 〈◊〉 â—…1 13. I delivered z From his potent oppressour They did not honour me for my great Wealth or Power but for my impartial Justice and pity to the afflicted and courage in maintaining their cause and right against their mighty Adversaries the poor that cried and the fatherless and him that had none to help him a None would own or help them partly because they were poor and unable to recompence them for it and partly because their Enemies were great and likely to crush both them and their helpers Which made Iob's virtue moâ—…e glorious 13. The blessing b Wherewith both he and others for his sake blessed me and begged that God would bless me of him that was ready to perish c To lose his Life or estate by the malice and tyranny of wicked men came upon me and I caused the Widows d Who are the common object of injuries and oppressions because for the most part they are unable either to offend those who molest them or to desend themselves from their Violence heart to sing for joy e For her great and unexpected deliverance 14. * Isa. 59. 17 Eph. 6. 14. 1 Thes. 5. 8. I put on Righteousness and it cloathed me f As a Garment covers the whole Body and is worn continually all the day long so I was constantly just in the whole course of all my administrations publick and private and never put off this Garment out of a partial respect to my self or to the persons of other men as the manner of many Judges is my judgment was as a robe and diadem g My judgments or decrees were so equal and righteous that they never brought shame and reproach upon me but always Honour and great Reputation 15. I was eyes h i. e. Instead of Eyes to instruct and direct and assist to the blind i Either 1. Corporally Or rather 2. Spiritually such as through Ignorance or weakness were apt to mistake and to be seduced or cheated by the craft and Artifices of evil-minded men These I cautioned and advised and led into the right way and feet was I to the lame k i. e. Ready to help him who was unable to help himself 16. I was a father l i. e. Had the care and bowels of a Father to them to the poor and the cause which I knew not m Either 1. Those which were not brought to my knowledge or Tribunal either through neglect or because the injured persons durst not complain I diligently enquired after Or 2. Those which were hard and difficult and possibly were made so by the frauds or arts of the oppressours or their advocates which the poor injured person could not find out I took pains to discover I searched out 17. And I brake †Heb. the jaw-teeth or grinders the jaws n Or the jaw-bones or the grinders the sharpest and strongest Teeth in the Jaw i. e. their power and violence wherewith they used to oppress others It is a Metaphor from Wild-beasts which break their Prey with their Teeth Compare Psalm 38. 57. 4. 58. 6. of the wicked and †Heb. cast pluckt the spoil out of his Teeth o i. e. Forced them to restore what they had violently and unjustly taken away 18. Then I said p i. e. I persuaded my self being thus strongly fortified with the Conscience of my own universal integrity and with the singular favour of God and of all men But although this was sometimes Iob's opinion vet at other times he was subject to fears and expectation of changes as appears from Chap. 3. 25 26. I shall die in my nest q Not a violent or untimely but a natural and peaceable and seasonable death sweetly expiring in my own Bed and Habitation in the midst of my Children and Friends leaving the pretious perfume of a Good-name behind me and a plentiful Inheritance to all my posterity and I shall multiply my days as the sand r Which is innumerable See Gen. 22. 17. 41. 49. 19. My root
my heart loose to covet and seek after forbidden things which mine eyes have seen which may design either 1. the lust of uncleanness But of that he had spoken v. 1. and reneweth the discourse v. 9. Or rather 2. the lust of Covetousness which is called the lust of the eyes 1 John 2. 16. partly because it is oft caused by sight as Ios. 7. 21. and partly because oft-times all the satisfaction it gives is to please the sight Eccles. 5. 11. And this sin is most legible in the following punishment v. 8. where his loss answers to this evil gain The Phrase notes the common method and progress of sin which is to enter by the eye to the heart Gen. 3. 6. Num. 15. 39. Eccles. 2. 10. 11. 9. and if any blot r Or blemish to wit any unjust gain If I have in my hands or possession any Goods gotten from others by fraud or violence which would be a great scandal and a blot to my reputation hath cleaved to mine hands 8. Then let me sow and let another eat s Let strangers enjoy the fruit of my labours according to God's Curse Levit 26. 16. Deut. 28. 30. yea let my off-spring t As this word is used Iob 5. 25. 27. 14. Or rather my encrease or growths or sprowts i. e. all my Plants and Fruits and improvements For 1. so the word properly signifies 2 So this latter Branch of the Verse explains the former as is most frequent in this and some other Books of Scripture 3. He had not now any Children to be rooted out be rooted out 9. If mine heart have been deceived by a woman u To wit by a strange Woman or rather by my Neighbours Wife as the next words limit it for of a Maid he spoke before v. 1. and this cannot be meant of his own Wife He saith by a woman i. e. either by gazing upon her Beauty so as to be enamoured with it and to lust after her or by her perswasions or allurements Or concerning a woman i. e. concerning impure conversation with a forbidden woman The Phrase is very emphatical taking from himself and others the vain excuses wherewith men use to palliate their sins by pretending that they did not design the wickedness but were meerly drawn in and seduced by the strong inticements and provocations of others All which Iob supposeth and yet nevertheless owns the great guilt of such practises even in that case as well knowing that temptation to sin is no justification of it or if I have laid weight at my neighbours door x Watching for a fit opportunity to defile his Wife Compare Prov. 7 8 9. 10. Then let my wife grind unto another y Either 1. let her be taken captive and made a slave to grind in other mens Mills which was a sore and vile servitude Exod. 11. 5. Iudg. 16. 21. Isa. 47. 2. Mat. 24. 41. Or rather 2. let her be defiled by another man as the next words expound it and as the Hebrews understand it and as this very Phrase is used by very ancient both Greek and Latine Authors Of which see my Latine Synopsis on this place And this is to be cautiously understood not as if Iob desired or would permit a requital in the same kind but onely that if in that case God should give up his Wife to such a wickedness he should acknowledge his justice in it and though with abhorrency of the sin accept of that punishment of it and let others bow down upon her z Another modest expression of a filthy action whereby the Holy Ghost gives us a Pattern and a Precept to avoid not only unclean actions but also all immodest expressions 11. For this a To wit Adultery whether committed by choice and design or by the sollicitation of the Woman v. 9. is an heinous crime yea it is an iniquity to be punished by the Judges b Heb an iniquity of the judges i. e. which belongs to them to take cognizance of and to punish and that with death and that not only by the â—…aw of Moses Deut. 22. 22. but even by the Law of Nature as appears from the known Laws and Customs of Heathen Nations in that case See also Gen. 38. 24. This is opposed to those secret and lesser sins which are only known to and punished by God 12. For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction c For this sin would be as a secret but consuming fire wasting my estate and Reputation and Body and Soul too provoking God and enraging the Husband and bringing down some extraordinary Vengeance upon me And therefore the fear of God kept me from this and such like wickedness and would root out all mine encrease d i. e. All my Estate Compare Prov. 6. 27. 13. If I did despise the cause of my man-servant e If I used my power over him to overthrow him or his just rights And seeing it is known that I was so just and kind to them over whom I had such unlimited power it is not probable that I should be guilty of such cruelty to others as you impute to me or of my maid-servant when they contended with me f Either for imposing heavier burdens than they could bear or for not providing for them those supports which their nature and necessity required or for any other plausible cause I heard them patiently and indifferently and did them right even against my self if by any mis-information or passion I had done them any Injury 14. What then shall I do when * Psal. 44 21. God riseth up g To wit to plead the Cause of the Oppressed against the Oppressor and to execute judgment as this Phrase is used Psalm 68 1. Zach. 2. 13. and elsewhere I used my Servant like one who was also my self a Servant and had a Master in Heaven Col. 4. 1. to whom I was to give an account of my carriage to my Servant and to all men and when he visiteth h i. e. When he shall call me to his Tribunal and severely examine all my actions and particularly the Cause between me and my servant what shall I answer him i What Apology shall I make for my self 15. * Chap. 34. 19. Prov. 14. 31. 22. 2. Mal. 2. 10. Did not he that made me in the womb make him k I considered that he was though my Servant yet my Fellow-creature made by the same God and therefore one of God's Subjects whom I could not abuse without the injury of his supream Lord. and ‖ Or did he not fashion us in one womb did not one fashion us in the womb l Heb. Did he not form us in one womb Not in one individual Womb but in a Womb of the same kind in an humane Womb with a Body and Soul of the same nature and quality a reasonable and immortal Creature and made after
tells him that he is not to judge of God by present appearance because though God may for a season hide his Face and delay to give him an answer yet he will certainly do him right yet judgment is before him d i. e. Before God or in his presence or at his Tribunal or in all his ways and administrations And judgment is put for Justice or just judgment as it is Job 8. 3. Psal. 37. 28. 99. 4. and oft elsewhere So the sense is God is and will shew himself to be just in all his ways and therefore thou dost wickedly in reflecting upon God justice Or yet judge thy self before him instead of accusing God condemn thy self acknowledge thy sins and then thou mayst hope for Mercy Compare 1 Cor. 11. 31. therefore trust thou in him e In stead of murmuring against him put thy trust in him Repent of what is past and humble thy self under God'â—… hand and do not despond for the future but waâ—…t upon God patiently in his way till deliverance come to thee for it will certainly come if thou dost not hinder it 15. But now because it is not so f i. e. Because Iob doth not acknowledge God's justice and his own sins and wait upon God in his way for Mercy according to the last advice given to him v. 14. ‖ That is God he g To wit God to whom this great work of visiting is ascribed every where in Scripture hath visited in his anger h i. e. Hath laid grievous afflictions upon him all which is too little to bring Job to compliance with God yet ‖ That is Job he knoweth it not i Job is not sufficiently sensible of it so as to be humbled under God's hand in great extremity k Or though which Particle is sometimes understood of which examples have been before in great extremity or abâ—…dance to wit of afflictions Though Job hath hitherto been and still is exercised with very sore Calamities yet they have not brought Job to the knowledge of God and of himself But this Verse is and may be rendred thus Aâ—…d now know that his i. e. God's angâ—…r hath visited thee little or nothing to wit in comparison of what thou hast deserved and mightest reasonably expect neither hath 〈◊〉 known i. e. judged or punished as this word is used Prov. 10. 9. and elsewhere thee in or according to as the prefix 〈◊〉 is sometimes used 〈◊〉 great abâ—…dance to wit of thy sins And therefore thy complaints against God are very unrighteous and unâ—…easonable 16. Therefore l Hence it is manifest doth Job open his mouth in vain m i. e. Four forth his complaints without any success and gets no â—…ase by â—…hem he multiplieth words without knowledge n Thereby discovering his ignorance of God and of himself CHAP. XXXVI 1. ELihu also proceeded and said 2. Suffer me a little a Give me thy patient attention but a little longer and I have done and I will shew thee †Heb. that there are yet words for God that I have yet to speak on Gods behalf b That I have not said all that can be said to justifie God's proceedings against thee 3. I will fetch my knowledge from afar c i. e. From remote times and places and things I will not confine my discourse to thy particular case but will justifie God by declaring his great and glorious works of Creation and Providence both in the Heaven and Earth and the manner of his dealing with men in other Parts and Ages of the World for these are the chief Heads of the following Discourse and therefore the best comment upon this general expression and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker d I will acknowledge that which is true that God is righteous He adds the words my Maker either 1. as an argument or evidence of God's righteousness partly because it is not likely that God should be unjust to his own Creatures since even men are not only just but kind to their own Works and Relations and partly because the Work of Creation gave unto God an absolute right and power to dispose of Job as he saw fit as the Potter hath power over the Clay Rom. 9. 21. and therefore there was no foundation for unrighteousness nor any temptation upon God to do it and partly because Man's Maker must needs be a Being of all possible perfection and therefore one of perfect righteousness Or 2. as a motive or obligation upon him to plead God's cause I do not engage my self in this Controversie out of a pragmatical or contentious humour nor out of any prejudice or ill will to thee but meerly from the sense of my duty to my blessed Creator Withal he reflects upon Job as guilty of great folly and ingratitude in contending with him in or by whom he lived and moved and had his being 4. For truly my words shall not be false e I will not speak any thing against my own Conscience nor against Truth either to flatter God or to vex thee as thou supposest thy other Friends have done Chap. 13. 7. and elsewhere * Ch. 37. 16. he that is perfect in knowledge is with thee f This is meant either 1. of God Thou hast to do with a God of perfect Knowledge by whom all thy words and actions are weighed and therefore hast need to be more wary and circumspect in thy expressions and behaviour Or rather 2. of himself as the former part of the Verse is And he speaketh of himself in the third Person for modesty's sake He speaks not of absolute but of comparative Perfection And whatsoever perfection of Knowledge he had he doth not ascribe it to himself but to God's Spirit Chap. 32. 8. And the meaning may be this Thou hast not to do with a Novice but with one who hath accurately considered and though God's grace doth fully understand these matters Therefore hearken to me But the word rendred perfect signifieth also sincere or upright or right And this may seem best to agree with the former Clause wherein he saith that he would not speak what he knew to be â—…alse and now he adds that he was and would be upright in the use of his knowledge or in the delivery of his Opinion in this matter and not be 〈◊〉 by any passion or prejudice either to speak otherwise than he thought or to judge otherwise than he should 5. Behold God is mighty and despiseth not any g His greatness doth not make him as it doth men to scorn or despise or oppress the meanest Though he may do what he pleaseth and none can hinder him yet he will not use it to do any Man wrong as Job seemed to inâ—…nuate Chap. 10. 3. 19. 7. 23. 13. * Chap. 9. 4. 12. 13 16. 37. 23. he is mighty in strength and †Heb. heart wisdom
glorious Majesty of his soveraign Power and Dominion over all men and things and of his accurate Inspection into all men and their actions here below which from that high Tower he can easily behold as it here follows the LORD'S throne p Where he sits to examine all Causes and to judge all Men and to give forth righteous Sentences according to every mans works which is my great Comfort and Joy is in heaven his eyes behold * Psal. 33. 13. 3â—… 15 16. 66. 7. his eye-lids try the children of men q i. e. He doth exactly and thoroughly discern all men and all that is in men their most inward and secret Actions Psal. 7. 9. And therefore he sees and will reward my Innocency notwithstanding all the Reproaches and Calumnies of mine Enemies and withal he sees all their secret and subtil and malitious Designs against me through all their cunning Pretences and will discover and defeat them n To whom I appeal from mens unjust Tribunals 5. The LORD trieth r Either 1. He examines them and knows them to be righteous and consequently approveth and loveth and will preserve and bless them which may be gathered from the contrary Condition of the Wicked whom God is supposed to try though that be not expressed and upon Trial finds them to be wicked and therefore hates and punisheth them as it follows The like Ellipsis of an whole Sentence see on Psal. 1. 6. Or 2. He tryeth and exerciseth them and their Graces by Afflictions or he corrects them for their Sins which is oft called trying as Psal. 66. 10. Zech. 13. 9. Iames 1. 12. 1. Pet. 4. 12. So this is spoken by way of concession and to remove the Offence which some men might take at David whose person and cause they might be apt to condemn because of his Troubles Therefore he saith God tries i. e. chastens even righteous persons yet still he loves them and therefore will in due time deliver them But as for the wicked let not them rejoyce in my Tryals for far worse things are appointed for them God hates them and will severely punish them the righteous but the wicked and him that loveth violence s By which Character he describes and brands his Enemies and aggravates their Malice because they chose and practised Violence against him not for any need which they had of it for David was a most peaceable and harmless man and neither pretended nor indeavoured to do any more than to defend himself and that as far as was possible without the Offence or Injury of any other man but meerly from their Love to Injustice and Violence and their implacable Hatred against goodness and good men his soul hateth t He hateth with or from his Soul i. e. inwardly and ardently 6. * Ezek. 38 22. Upon the wicked he shall rain u Which notes their Original to be extraordinary and from God's hand and withal that they should come plentifully swiftly and suddenly violently and unavoidably as Rain commonly doth fall from Heaven snares x i. e. Grievous Plagues or Judgments which are called Snares here as also Iob. 18. 9 10. and 22. 10. Isa. 8. 14. and 24. 17 18. Partly because wicked men are oft times surprized with them when they least expect them Luk. 21. 35. And partly because they cannot escape them nor get out of them but are held fast and destroyed by them fire and brimstone and ‖ i. e. Dreadful Judgments so called metaphorically and by allusion to the Destruction of Sodom and other places by these means But this he seems to speak not so much of present and temporal Calamities as of their future and eternal Punishments because he manifestly speaks of those Miseries which are peculiar to wicked men whereas David knew very well both by his own Experience and by the History of Iob and of Israel's Bondage in Egypt that all things here came alike to all men good or bad Eccles. 9. 2. and that good men had many times a greater share of worldly troubles than God's own people as David acknowledgeth and complaineth of it Psal. 73. an horrible tempest ‖ Or a burning 〈◊〉 this shall be the portion of their * Psal. 16. 5. cup y This is their portion and as it were the meat and drink appointed to them by God This shall certainly and unavoidably be their state or condition which is oft called a mans part or portion as Psal. 16. 5. and 63. 10. and 75. 8. Mat. 24. 51. He alludes to the antient custom of Masters of Families or of Feasts who used to distribute the several Portions of Meat to their Domesticks or Guests 7. For * So this is given as the reason why God hateth and punisheth wicked men so dreadfully because he loves righteousness and therefore must needs hate wickedness and punish wicked men Or But as this Particle is oft rendred For this seems to be added by way of Opposition to what he now said concerning the State of wicked men the †Heb. the LORD is righteous â—…e 〈◊〉 righteousness So Gr. righteous LORD loveth righteousness his countenance doth behold the upright z To wit with an eye of Approbation and true and tender Affection and watchful and gracious Providence which is oft signified by God's beholding or looking upon men as Exod. 2. 25. Ezra 5. 5. Psal. 25. 18. and 33. 18. and 34. 15. c. As on the contrary God is oft said to hide or turn away his Face or Eyes from wicked men PSAL. XII To the chief musician ‖ Or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eighth upon Sheminith a The same Title is prefixed to Psal. 6. a Psalm of David b This Psalm was composed in the time and upon the occasion of Saul's ill Government and his Persecution of David and other good men who favoured him 1. ‖ Or 〈◊〉 HElp c Or Save me and other good men from the Subtilty and Rage of wicked men Saul will not help us and other men cannot help therefore it is a sit season for thee to help Or kind or merciful as this word is oft used as Psal 30. 5. and 31. 24. and 86. 2. LORD for * 〈◊〉 5â—… 1. the godly d I and my Friends are sorely and causelesly persecuted banished from our Homes and Friends and which is worst of all from God's Sanctuary and yet few or none pity us all Mercy and Humanity is lost man ceaseth for the faithful sail e Men have lost not only serious Piety but even common Honesty in their words and dealings with men from among the children of men 2. They speak vanity f Or falshood which is a vain thing and wants the solidity of truth every one with his neighbour * Psal. 28. 3. with flattering lips and with †Heb. aâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an heaâ—…t a double heart g Pretending one Heart and that
that Occasion to break forth into Prayer which also he continues in the following Verses Onely as he prays there for justification or Pardon of sin so here he prays for Renovation or Sanctification So his meaning is this Therefore as the Particle and is oft used as hath been shewed in the hidden Part do thou make me to know Wisdom Or thus thoâ—… wouldest have me know for Futures are oft taken Potentially as Psal. 118. 6. and Mat. 12. 25. Compared with Mark 3. 24. and elsewhere And Verbs which signifie making or causing are sometimes understood onely of the Will or Command as Ieroboam is said to make Israel to sin 1 Kings 14. 16. because he Commanded them to do so Hos. 5. 11. This I propose with Submission but if this Sence be admitted the last Clause of the Verse answers very well to the former as it doth in the foregoing and following Verses and every where in these Books For this thou wouldest have me know Answers to that thou willest or desirest and in the hidden part Answers to that in the inward Parts and Wisdom is the same thing for Substance with Truth onely called by another Name wisdom y i. e. True Piety and Integrity which is called Wisdom Iob 28. 28. Psal. 111. 10. and in many other Texts as sin on the contrary is commonly called as it really is Polly And to know Wisdom is here meant of knowing it Practically and Experimentally so as to approve and Love and Practise it as Words oâ—… knowledge are most frequently taken in Scripture and in other Authors 7. * Lev. 14. 6. Numb 19. 18. Purge me with hyssop z Or as with Hyssop the note of similitude being frequently understood As Lepers and other unclean Persons are by the appointment purified by thy use of Hyssop and other things Levit. 14. 6. Numb 19. 6. so do thou cleanse me a most Leprous and polluted Creature by thy Grace and by the Vertue of that Blood of Christ which is signified by those Ceremonial usages and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be * Isa. 1. 18. whiter than snow 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness a Send me glad Tidings of thy Reconciliation to me and by thy Spirit seal the Pardon of my sins to my Conscience which will fill me with joy that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce b That mine Heart which hath been sorely Wounded and Terrified by thy dreadful Message sent by Nathan and by the dismal Sentence of thy Law denounced against such Sinners as I am now by this Occasion brought home to my Conscience may be revived and Comforted by the Manifestation of thy Favour to my Soul 9. Hide thy face from my sins c Do not look upon them with an Eye of indignation and Revenge but forget and forgive them and blot out d See v. 1. all mine iniquities 10. Create in me a clean heart e Seeing I have not onely defiled my self by these actual sins but also have a most filthy Heart corrupted even from my Birth v. 5. which nothing but God's Almighty and Creating Power can purifie do thou Effectually work in me an Holy frame of Heart whereby both my inward filth may be Purged away and I may be prevented from falling into such actual and scandalous sins O God and renew f That good Temper which before this Apostacy I had in some measure be pleased graciously to restore it to me with Advantage ‖ Or a constant Spirit a right g Heb. Firm or Constant or Stedfast that I may not be so easily shaken and cast down by Temptation as I have been but that my Resolution may be more fixed and unmoveable spirit h Temper or Disposition of Soul or Spirit as the Word Spirit is very frequently used in Scripture within me i Heb. In my inward Parts He wisely strikes at the Root and Cause of all sinâ—…ul Actions 11. Cast me not away from thy presence k i. e. From thy Favour and Care and gracious Communion with thee and take not thy holy spirit l Thy sanctifying Spirit by which alone I can have Acquaintance and fellowship with thee from me 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation m The Comfortable Sence of thy saving Grace and Help promised and vouchsafed to me both for my present and everlasting Salvation and ‖ Or lâ—…t 〈◊〉 free Or â—…ly Spirit uphold me uphold me n A weak and frail Creature never able to stand against Corruption and Temptation without thy powerful and gracious Succours with thy free o Or ingenuous or Liberal or Princely Which he seems to oppose to his own base and Illiberal and Dis-ingenuous and servile Spirit which he had discovered in his wicked and unworthy Practises and Desires a better Spirit even the Spirit of God which may free him from the Bondage of sin and inable and inâ—…line him freely and Cheerfully and constantly to run the way of Gods precepts See Exod. 35. 21. Psal. 110. 3. Rom. 8. 15 16. 2 Cor. 3. 17. spirit 13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways p Either 1. Thy Will and their Duty and the way to their eternal Happiness Or rather 2. The manner of thy dealing with Sinners whom thou dost so severely Chastise for their sins and yet so graciously receive to Mercy upon their Repentances Both which I will shew them in my own Example which I will declare unto them although I shall therewith publish my own shame which I shall most willingly bear that I may in some measure repair the Injury which I have done to thee and others by my publick and scandalous Crimes and sinners shall be converted unto thee q And I perswade my self that my Indeavours shall not want Success and that either thy Justice and severity or thy Goodness and Clemency will bring them to Repentance 14. Deliver me from †Heb. Bloods blood-guiltiness r Heb. from Bloods because he had been the Cause of the Death not onely of uriah but of others of the Lords people with him 2 Sam. 11. 17. O God thou God of my salvation and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness s Either 1. Thy Faithfulness in making good thy Promises Or rather 2. Thy Clemency and Goodness as that Word is frequently used 15. O LORD open thou my lips t Which are shut with shame and Grief and Horror Restore unto me the Opportunity and Ability and Liberty which formerly I had of speaking to thee with Freedom and Boldness and Familiarity as this Phrase signifies Ezek. 3. 27. and 24. 27. Eph. 6. 19 20. and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise 16. For * 〈◊〉 50. 8. 〈◊〉 1. 11. â—…er â—… 22. Hos. 6. 6. thou desirest not sacrifice u Which is not to be understood absolutely and Universally as appears from v. 19. but
as knowing remembring c. in Scripture used frequently comprehend affection and practice as hath been oft observed his works and his wonders that he had shewed them 12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their Fathers in the land of Egypt in the field t i. e. In the Territory or Jurisdiction not excluding City it self In the like sence we read of the field of Edom and of Moab Gen. 32. 3. 36. 35. Numb 21. 20. of Zoan u An ancient and eminent and the Royal City of Egypt See Numb 13. 22. Isa. 19. 11. and 30. 2 3 4. 13 * Exod. 14. 21. He divided the sea and caused them to pass through and * Exod. â—…5 8. he made the waters to stand as an heap 14. * Exod. 13. 21. and 14. 24. Psal. 105. 39. In the day time also he led them with a cloud x Which was very comfortable both for a shadow from the scorching heat of the Climate and season and for a companion and director in their Journey and all the night with a light of fire 15. * Exod. 17. 6. Numb 20. 11. Psal. 105. 41. 1 Cor. 10. 4. He clave the rocks y He useth the plural number because it was twice done once in Rephidim Exod. 17. 6. and again in Kadesh Numb 20. 1 11. in the wilderness and gave them drink as out of the great depths z In great abundance 16 He brought streams also out of the rock and and caused waters to run down like rivers a Which did miraculously follow them in all their travels even to the borders of Canaan See Deut. 9. 21. Psal. 105. 41 1 Cor. 10. 4. 17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness b Where they had such strong and singular obligations to obedience both from the great things which God had then and there done for them and from their dependence upon God's favour and help for their safety and subsistence This was a great aggravation of their sin and folly 18 And * Exod. 16. 2. they tempted c Desired a tryal and proof of God's power as the next Verse plainly sheweth See Numb 11. 4. God in their heart by asking meat for their lust d Not for their necessary subsistence for which they had Manna but out of an inordinate and luxurious appetite 19 * Num. 11. 4. Yea they spake against God they said Can God †Heb. 〈◊〉 furnish a table in the wilderness 20 * Exod. 17. 6. Numb 20 11. Behold he smote the rock that the waters gushed out e Which all things considered seems not so wonderful since fountains of water sometimes break forth unexpectly from or through Rocks But it is far more difficult to give us bread and flesh which we know not whether he can do Or at least we have just cause to doubt of his good will to us who hath made such a penurious provision for us and denies us these common blessings of bread and flesh which he gives to the worst of men and the streams overslowed can he give bread also can he provide flesh for his people 21 Therefore the LORD heard this and was wrath so a fire was f Either properly as it was Numb 11. 1. or figuratively the fire of God's anger as it follows kindled against Jacob and anger also came up against Israel 22 Because they believed not in God and trusted not in his salvation g That he both could and would save them from the famine and destruction which they feared 23 Though he had commanded †Heb. 〈◊〉 skiâ—… the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven h Which he compares to a Granary or Store-house whereof God keeps the key and either shuts or opens the doors of it either gives or with-holds provisions as he sees fit 24 * Exod. 16. 4 14. Psal. 105. 40. John 6. 31. 1 Cor. 10. 3. And had rained down manna upon them to eat and had given them of the corn of heaven i Which was made in heaven or the air and sent down thence to the earth 25 ‖ Or every oâ—… did eat the bread of the mighty Man did eat angels food k Manna so called either 1. because it was made by the Ministry of Angels or rather 2. Because of its excellency such food as might befit the Angels if they could eat food and such as hath some resemblance with the blessed Angels in regard of its heavenly originals its pure and spirituous substance its vigour and efficacy in preserving and nourishing those who used it according to God's appointment Or this place may be translated as it is in the Margent Every one did eat the bread of the mighty i. e. Even the common Israelites fed upon as delicious food as the greatest Nobles and Princes use to do he sent them meat to the full l Which may belong either 1. To the flesh mentioned in the following Verses which God gave them even to satiety or glutting which he threatned to do Numb 11. 18 19 20. Or rather 2. To the Manna of which he is here speaking which he gave them in such plenty that their desire of other food could not proceed from their necessity but merely from wantonness and lust 26 * Num. 11. 31. He caused an East-wind †Heb. To go to blow in the heaven and by his power he brought in the South-wind m Either He brought in first an Eastern and afterwards a Southern Wind or the wind was South-east from which Quarter these Quails might come as well as from the West where their more common abode is this Work being confessedly miraculous 27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust and †Heb. Fâ—…wl of wings feathered fowls n Heb. â—…inged Fowl which is noted to shew that it was a supernatural work whereby God took away from them the use of their Wings and made them to fall into the hands of the Israelites like as the sand of the sea 28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp o Heb. Of his camp either Israel's Camp or God's Camp for seeing Israel was God's people and he dwelt among them their Camp was his Camp round about their habitations 29 So they did eat aud were well filled for he gave them their own desire p What they desired both for quality and quantity 30 They were not estranged from their lust q The sence is either 1. Whilst their greedy appetite yet continued and was not fully satisfied before they began to loath it as they did afterwards Numb 11. 20. Or 2. Before they were deprived or destitute of their desired food whilst they enjoyed it and were still feeding upon it as the next clause explains this God's patience did not wait upon them till that food was spent but fell upon them
enemies but to their children who yet by the Law of God were not to suffer for their parents sins Deut. 24. 16. 1. HOld not thy peace a Do not neglect me but take notice of my extreme danger and misery and deliver me which thou canst do by the speaking of one word O God of my praise b The Author and matter of all my praises who hast given me continual occasion to praise thee whom I have used to praise and will praise whilst I live do not therefore now give me occasion to turn my praises into lamentations 2. For the mouth of the wicked and the †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 mouth of the deceitful c Of those who add hypocrisie and perfidiousness to their malice †〈◊〉 have oâ—… themâ—… are opened d They speak freely boldly and publickly without any fear or shame against me they have spoken against me e Or to or with me as this particle commonly signifies with a lying tongue f Either 1. with calumnies or false and malicious reports Or 2. with deep dissimulation and professions of friendship and kindness 3. They compassed me about also with words of hatred g Which though covered with specious pretences proceeded from deep malice and hatred and were designed to work my destruction and fought against me * 〈◊〉 69. 4. without a cause h Without any just provocation given them by me 4. For my love they are my adversaries i They require my love and good will with enmity and mischief as it is explained v. 5. but I give my self unto prayer k Heb. but I prayer i. e. I am a man of prayer or I betake my self to prayer Thus I peace is put for I am for peace as we render it Psal. 120. 7. and thy bread for the men of thy bread or that eat thy bread Obad. v. 7. The sence is whilst they reproach and curse me I pray either 1. for them as he did Psal. 35. 13. or 2. for my self I did not render unto them evil for evil but quietly committed my self and my cause to God by prayer desiring him to plead my cause against them and I had no other refuge 5. And * 〈◊〉 35. 12. 〈◊〉 20. they have rewarded me evil for good and hatred for my love 6. Set thou a wicked man l Heb. the wicked Which may be understood either 1. of some wicked Tyrant which may rule him with rigour and cruelty Or 2. of Satan who is mentioned in the next clause Let him be delivered over to Satan to be acted and ruled by him at his pleasure over him m Either 1. all mine enemies for the Singular number is sometimes used in like manner Or rather 2. one particular enemy who was worse than any of the rest more implacable and inexcusable whom he thought not fit to express by name nor was it in the least necessary to do so because he was speaking to God who knew his thoughts and whom he meant and let * 〈◊〉 3. 1. ‖ 〈◊〉 adver Satan stand at his right hand n Either 1. to molest and vex him and hinder him in all his affairs for the right hand is the great instrument of action Or rather 2. to accuse him for this was the place and posture of accusers in the Jewish Courts And as for his condemnation which is the consequence of this accusation that follows in the next verse 7. When he shall be judged o When he shall be called to an account and his cause examined before thy Tribunal let him †Heb. go out guilty or wicked be condemned and * Prov. 28. 9. let his prayer become sin p i. e. Be turned into sin or be imputed to him as his sin or be as unavailable with God for his relief as his sins When he makes supplication to his Judge as Iob speaks Iob 9. 15. for pity and pardon let him be the more provoked and enraged by it 8. Let his days q The days of his life Let him die an untimely death be few and * Act. 1. 20. let another take his ‖ Or charge office r Made void by his death He also implies that his enemy was a man of power and reputation 9. Let his children be fatherless s Whilst they are but children and so unable to provide for themselves and his wife a widow t Either made a widow by his death or constantly a widow all persons abhorring her who was related to so vile a miscreant 10. Let his children be continually vagabonds u Having no certain place of abode Which is a grievous curse in it self Gen. 4. 12 14. Isa. 16. 2. and beg x This increaseth their misery let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places y Into which they are fled for fear and shame as not daring to shew their faces amongst men 11. Let the extortioner z Or usurer or creditor catch a Heb. Ensnare which is an Emphatical expression i. e. take away not only by oppression and violence but also by cheats and cunning artifices whereby such persons entangle and so ruine their debtors all that he hath and let the stranger b Who hath no right to his goods and will use no pity nor measure in spoiling him spoil his labour c All the fruits of his labours 12. Let there be none to * Psal. 34. 10. extend mercy unto him neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children d Let him and his be unpitied and hated as the publick enemies of mankind 13. * Job 18. 19. Let his posterity be cut off and in the generation following e Heb. in another generation either in the third generation or in the second or that which next followed the generation of his fathers So in this clause he limits the time of that destruction which he imprecates or foretells in the former let their name be blotted out 14. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembred f Against him or punished in him as God hath threatned to deal with great delinquents Exod. 20. 5. with the LORD and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out 15. Let them g The sins of his parents last mentioned be before the LORD h In Gods sight and memory to provoke God to punish him let them not be covered or pardoned continually that he may * Job 18. 17. Psal. 34. 16. cut off the memory of them from the earth 16. Because that he remembred not i His duty to God and his obligation to me for my former kindness expressed v. 4 5. to shew mercy but persecuted the poor and needy man k My self who was desolate and miserable whose condition required pity and not additions of cruelty that he might even sâ—…ay the broken in heart
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
governing himself or others well and prudently 6. To understand a proverb and ‖ 〈◊〉 an eloâ—… speech the interpretation q i. e. The Interpretation of a Proverb by a Figure called Hendiaduo or the meaning and use of the wise sayings of God or of men to know this practically and for his direction and benefit for practice is the great design of this Book the words of the wise and their dark sayings r Such as are hard to be understood by inconsiderate and ungodly men but to be found out by diligent and humble enquiry 7. * Job 28. 28. Psal. 111. 10. Chap. 9. 10. Eccl. 12. 13. The fear of the LORD s Reverence and obedience to God or his Worship and Service as this word is commonly used is ‖ Or the principal part the beginning t Either the Foundation or the Top and Perfection or chief Point without which all other knowledge is vain and useless of knowledge but fools u Wicked men called Fools through this whole Book such as do not fear God despise wisdom and instruction x Are so far from attaining true Wisdom that they despise it and all the means of getting it Which fully proves what he now said that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom 8. My son y He speaks to his Scholars with paternal Authority and Affection to make them more attentive and obedient Teachers among the Hebrews and others were commonly called Fathers and their Scholars their Sons * Chap. 6. 20. hear the instruction of thy father z His good and wholsome Counsels but not such as are contrary to Gods Law Prov. 19. 27. and forsake not the law of thy mother a Those pious instructions which thy Mother instilled into thee in thy tender years See Prov. 31. 1. 2 Tâ—…m 1. 5. 3. 14 15. This he adds because Children when grown up are very prone to sleight their Mothers advice because of the infirmity of their Sex and because they have not that dependence upon and Expectation from their Mothers which they have from their Fathers 9. For they shall be †Heb. an adding an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains about thy neck b This will make thee amiable and honourable in the fight of God and of men whereas the forsaking of those good Counsels will make thee contemptible 10. My son if sinners c Eminently so called as Gen. 13. 13 Psal. 1. 1. 26. 9. such as sell themselves to work all manner of Wickedness particularly Thieves and Robbers and Murtherers as appears from the next verses as also Oppressors and Cheaters by comparing this with v. 19. entice thee consent thou not 11. If they say come with us d We are numerous and strong and sociable let us lay wait for blood e To shed Blood He expresseth not their words which would rather affright than inveigle a young novice but the true nature and consequence of the Action and what lies at the bottom of their specious pretences let us lurk privily f So we shall neither be prevented before nor discovered and punished afterward for the innocent g Harmless Travellers who are more careless and secure and unprovided for opposition than such Villains as themselves without cause h Though they have not provoked us nor deserved this usage from us h This Solomon adds to discover their malignity and baseness and so deter the young Man from association with them 12. Let us swallow them up alive as †Heb. hell Num. 16. 33. the grave i Which speedily covers and consumes dead Bodies See Psalm 55. 15. 124. 3. We shall do our work quickly easily and without fear of discovery and whole as those that go down into the pit k into some deep Pit into which a Traveller falls unawares and is utterly lost and never discovered 13. We shall find all precious substance we shall fill our houses with spoil l As our danger is little so our profit will be great 14 Cast in thy lot among us m i. e. Put in thy Money into our Stock Or rather thou shalt cast thy lot amongst us i. e. thou shalt have a share with us and that equally and by lot although thou art but a Novice and we Veteranes This agrees best with their design which was to allure him by the promise of advantage let us all have one purse n Or. we will have c. One Purse shall receive all our profits and furnish us with all expences So we shall live with great facility and true friendship 15. My Son * Ch. 4. 14. walk not thou in the way with them o Avoid their courses and their conversation and company refrain thy foot from their path p When thou hast any thought or inclination or temptation to follow their counsels or examples suppress it and restrain thy self as it were by force and violence as the word implies 16. * Isa. 59. 7. Rom. 3. 15. For their feet run q They make hast as it follows without considering what they are doing to evil r To do evil to others as was expressed v. 11 12. which also will bring evil upon themselves and make hast to shed blood s To shed innocent blood which is an inhumane and dangerous practice 17. Surely in vain the net is spread †Heb. in the eyes of every thing that hath a wing in the sight of any bird t The design of these words is to set forth the folly of these men by the similitude of a Bird which yet is very variously applied and understood by divers Interpreters But I shall not confound the Reader with the rehearsal of them This Clause in vain upon the understanding whereof the whole depends may be understood either 1. in respect of the Fowler So the sense is The Fowler who spreads his Net in the sight of the Bird loseth his labour because the Bird perceiving the danger will not be tempted to come to the Bait but flees away from it But or yet these as the first words of the next Verse may well be and by the Chaldee Translator are rendred are more foolish than the silly Birds and though they are not Ignorant of the danger and mischief which these evil courses will bring upon themselves which I have here represented yet they will not take warning but madly rush upon their own ruine Or 2. in respect of the Bird. So the sense is The silly Bird although it see the spreading of the Net yet is not at all instructed and cautioned by it but through the greediness of the Bait rusheth upon it and is taken by it And these men are not one jot wiser but albeit they know and find that by these practises they expose themselves to the justice of the Magistrate and to the vengeance of
to you by my mouth See on Chap. 3. 1. 3. For I was †Heb. a Son to my Father my fathers son d In a special manner his best-beloved Son and designed to be his Successor in the Throne * 1 Chr. 29. 1. tender e Young and tender in years and capable of any impressions and tenderly educated and onely beloved f Heb. onely or the onely Son Or rather because Bathsheba seems to have had other Sons 1 Chro. 5. 1. as an onely Son as dearly beloved as an onely Son in which sense this Title is given to Isaac Gen. 22. 2. 12 16. though he had another Son and to others And all these circumstances are mentioned to shew the necessity and great benefit of wholesome instruction which his Royal Parents would not neglect no not in his tender years and thereby to prepare and excite them by his example to receive instruction in the sight of my mother 4. * 1 Chr. 28. 9. He taught me also and said unto me g The following Verses at least as far as the Tenth Verse are propounded as the words of David that the Name of so great a King and Holy a Prophet might add the more Authority and Efficacy to his Counsels Let thine heart retain my words * Ch. 7. 2. keep my commandments and live h i. e. Thou shalt live It is a promise in the form of a command as Chap. 3. 25. 5. Get wisdom get understanding forget it not neither decline from the words of my mouth i From the belief and practice of my Word 6. Forsake her not and she shall preserve thee love her k He intimates that it is not enough to do what is good which may somtimes proceed from worldly or sinful Motives but that we must have a sincere and fervent love to it and she shall keep thee 7. Wisdom is the principal thing l The most excellent of all possessions therefore get wisdom and with all m Even with the price of all though it cost thee the loss of all which thou hast Or in or among all Whilst you labour for other things do not neglect this thy ‖ Or substance Ch. 23. 23. getting get understanding 8. Exalt her n Let her have thine highest esteem and affection and she shall promote thee she shall bring thee to honour o Both with God and men which Solomon knew by experience when thou dost embrace her 9. She shall give to thine head * Ch. 1. 9. an ornament of grace p i. e. An acceptable or beautiful ornament such as they used to put upon their heads ‖ Or she shall compass thee with a Crown of Glory a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee 10. Hear O my son and receive my sayings and the years of thy life shall be many 11. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom q Either 1. which precureth Wisdom Or 2. which Wisdom directeth thee to walk in I have led thee in right paths 12. When thou goest thy steps shall not be straitned r Thou shalt manage thine affairs with great facility and safety and success It is a Metaphor from those who walk in a strait and uneven path where they are apt to stumble and fall * Ps. 91. 11 12. Ch. 3. 23. and when thou runnest thou shalt not stumble s Not miscarry 13. * Ch. 3. 18. Take fast hold of instruction let her not go keep her for she is thy life t The conducter and preserver and comfort of thy life 14. * Ps. 1. 1. Ch. 1. 10. 15. Enter not into the path of the wicked u Avoid their courses and company and go not * in the way of evil men x Do not proceed further If thou hast unadvisedly entred into it do not persist in it but get thee speedily out of it 15. Avoid it pass not by it y Keep at a great distance from it Compare Iob 22. 23 Prov. 5. 8. turn from it z Shun all occasions of sin and pass away 16 For they sleep not a They cannot compose themselves to sleep with quietness and satisaction to their own minds except they have done mischief and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall b Into their own Snares either into sin or into mischief 17. For they eat the bread of wickedness c The sense is either 1. Wickedness is as necessary and as pleasant to them as their Bread Which suits well with the former Verse Or 2. They live wholly upon what they get by wicked courses Which gives the reason of what he last said why they could not sleep without prey and drink the wine of violence d i. e. Gotten by violence See on the former Clause 18. But the path of the just is as the shining light e The common course of their lives or actions is pure and spotless clear and certain safe and comfortable as light is that shineth more and more unto the perfect day f Just men do daily more and more grow in knowledge and grace and consolation until all be perfected and swallowed up in glory 19. The way of the wicked is as darkness g Full of gross ignorance and errour of uncertainty and confusion of wickedness of danger and misery all which come under the name of darkness in Scripture use and suit well with the context they know not at what they stumble h Heb. shall stumble Though they are always in danger yet they are always secure and do not discern their danger nor the cause or manner or time of their ruine till they be surprized with it 20. My Son attend to my words incline thine ear unto my sayings 21. * Ch. 3. 3 21. Let them not depart from thine eyes keep them in the midst of thine heart i Heartily love them and stedfastly retain them 22. For they are life unto those that find them and * Chap. 3. 8. †Heb. Mediâ—… health to all their flesh 23. Keep thy heart k Thy mind and thoughts and especially the will and affections which are the more immediate and effectual cause of all mens actions †〈◊〉 above 〈◊〉 keeping with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life l From thence proceed all the actions as of the natural so of the Spiritual life which lead to Eternal life and happiness as on the contrary all evil actions tending to Death spring from thence which is here implied 24. Put away from thee †Heb. frowâ—… of â—…th and 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 a froward mouth m All sorts of sinful words which proceed from and discover an evil Heart and perverse lips put far from thee 25. Let thine Eyes look right on n Direct all thine actions by a good intention to a right end and keep
answers or speaks considerately and conscientiously and therefore profitably or to the use and Edification of the Hearers but the mouth b Not the Heart for he is without Heart in Scripture account and he rashly speaks what comes into his mouth without the direction of his Heart or Conscience of the wicked poureth out evil things c Foolish and unprofitable and hurtful Speeches 29 * Psal. 34. 1â—… The LORD is far from the wicked d To wit when they pray to him as the next clause explains and therefore doth not hear nor regard them as he is said to be nigh to the righteous Psal. 34. 18. 145. 18. But this farness or nearness respecteth not Gods Essence which is every where but his gracious and helpful presence but * Psal. 145. 18 19. he heareth the prayer of the righteous 30 The light of the Eyes rejoiceth the heart e The light which we see with our Eyes and by the help of which we see many other pleasant Objects is a great comfort and refreshment Compare Eccles. 11. 7. Truly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the Sun which is a good Comment upon this place and ‖ Or goodness as Ch. 25. 25. a good report f Either 1. Glad tidings Or rather 2. A Good-Name which is a more lasting thing and makes deeper impression maketh the bones fat g Not only cheareth a man for the present but gives him such solid and stable comfort as doth both revive his soul and give Health and Vigour to his body So he compares two Senses together Seeing and Hearing with respect to their several Objects and prefers the latter before the former 31 The ear that heareth h The man that hearkeneth to it and delights in it the reproof of life i That Reproof and good Counsel which leads to Life abideth * Ver. 5. Chap. 12. 1. among the wise k Heb. shall or will abide c. Either 1. He will thereby be made wise and be esteemed one of that number Or rather 2. He seeketh and delighteth in the Company and Conversation of the Wise by whom he may be admonished as on the contrary Fools who hate Reproof do avoid and abhor the Society of Wise men and Reprovers Amos 5. 10. 32 He that refuseth ‖ Or correction instruction despiseth his own soul l Which hereby he exposeth to the danger of utter destruction whereby he shews his Folly but he that ‖ Or obeyeth heareth reproof †Heb. possesset an heart getteth understanding m Whereby he saveth his Soul Heb. possesseth an heart which the Hebrews make the seat of Wisdom 33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom n Doth instruct men in or lead them to true Wisdom whence it is said to be the beginning of Wisdom Prov. 1. 7. â—… 10. and * Chap. 18. 12 before honour is o i. e. It is the ready way to Honour both from God and from Men. humility p Whereby men submit to God and yield to Men which gains them Love and Respect whereas Pride procures them Hatred and Contempt from God and Men. CHAP. XVI 1 THe * Ver. 9. Ch. 19. 2â—… 20. 24. Jer. 10. 23. ‖ Or disâ—… preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the LORD a Men can neither think nor speak wisely and well of themselves or without divine assistance Or as many others both ancient and modern Interpreters render the verse The preparations or dispositions or orderings of the heart are in or from a man i. e. a man may consider and contrive in his own thoughts what he wills or designs to speak Which is spoken by way of concession yet not excluding mans dependance upon God therein which is evident both from many plain Texts of Scripture and from undeniable Reason but the answer or speech as this word is oft used of the tongue is from the Lord. Men cannot express their own thoughts without Gods leave and help and their tongues are oft over-ruled by God to speak what was besides and above their own thoughts as he did Balaam Numb 23. and Cajaphas Ioh. 11. 49 50 51. 2 * Chap. â—…1 All the ways of man are clean in his own eyes b Many Men can easily flatter and deceive themselves into a good opinion of themselves and of their own actions though they be sinful See below v. 25. and compare 1 Cor. 4. 4. but the LORD weigheth c i. e. Exactly knoweth as men do the things which they weigh and examine the spirits d The hearts of men from which both mens actions and the goodness and badness of them in a great measure proceeds their ends and intentions their dispositions and affections which are hid not onely from others but oft times from a mans self whereby he is unfit to judge in his own cause and easily mistaken if he do not use great diligence and fidelity In this last clause he intimates the reason why men deceive themselves in judging of their state and Actions because they do not search their own hearts 3 * Psal. 37. 5. â—… 55. 22. Mat. 6. 25. Luke 12. 22 〈◊〉 5. 7. †Heb. roll Commit thy works unto the LORD e Heb. roll c. as a man rolls a burden to another which is too heavy for himself imploring his help Refer all thy actions and concerns to God and to his Glory as the end of them and in the discharge of thy own duty depend upon Gods Providence for assistance and success and thy thoughts shall be established f Thy honest desires and designs shall be brought to an happy issue one way or other 4 The LORD hath made g Or hath wrought or doth work for the Hebrews express the present as well as the past time by this tense he ordereth or disposeth for this may be understood either of the works of Creation or of Providence all things h And especially all men for himself i For his own service and glory for the discovery and illustration of his own Wisdom Power Goodness Truth Justice and his other most glorious Perfections * â—…ob 21. 20. 〈◊〉 9. 22. yea even the wicked k Wilful and impenitent Sinners for the day of evil l For the time of punishment as this Phrase is used Psal. 49. 5. Ier. 17. 18. and elsewhere of which the Scripture frequently speaks both to warn sinners of their danger and to satisfie the minds of them which are amazed and disquieted with the consideration of the present impunity and felicity of wicked men Men make themselves wicked and God therefore makes them miserable 5 * 〈◊〉 6. 17. 〈◊〉 13. Every one that is proud in heart m Though he dissemble it in his outward carriage
others by it and therefore they most need this remedy 19 A brother offended r To wit by his Brothers unkindness or injury is harder to be won s Or is stronger which is sufficiently understood by the mention of a strong City to which he is compared such Ellipses being frequent in the Hebrew as hath been noted before than a strong city t Which is hardly to be conquered and their contentions are like the bars of a castle u Which are very strong and not to be broken and make the castle strong and hardly to be won The truth of this assertion is confirmed by the testimony of Aristotle and other learned Authors who affirm the same thing and the reason of it is evident because the nearness of the Relation greatly heightens the provocation and Love abused frequently turns to extream hatred 20 * Ch. 12. 14. 13. 2. A mans belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth x Wise and edifying discourses tend to the comfort and satisfaction of the Speaker as well as to the good of the Hearers and with the encrease of his lips shall he be filled 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue y Are brought upon men by the good or bad use of their tongues and they that love it z Either 1. The Tongue that love and use much talking which is oft censured as a sin and a cause of mischief See Prov. 10. 19. Iam. 1. 19. Or 2. The use of their tongue in either of those ways which are plainly supposed in the former clause of the verse they who do not only speak well which a wicked man may somtimes do or speak ill which a good man may possibly do but do love and therefore accustom themselves to speak well or ill shall eat the fruit thereof a Shall receive either good or evil according to the quality of their Speeches 22 * Ch. 19. 14. Whoso findeth a Wife b Either 1. Simply a Wife for a Wife though she be not the best of kind is to be esteemed a blessing being useful both for society of life Gen. 2. 18. and for the mitigation of a mans cares and troubles and for the prevention of sins Or 2. Good Wife one that deserves the Name and performs the duty of that Relation a wise and worthy Wife as this word may seem to imply being deduced from the Hebrew word isch which somtimes notes a man of Eminency And this limitation and explication of the word may be gathered both from the following commendations which would hardly be given to a bad Wife and from the usage of Scripture in which this Ellipsis is frequent as a path or way is put for a good path or way Psal. 119. 1. Prov. 15. 10. an answer for a good answer Prov. 15. 23. a King for a good King Prov. 16. 10. 29. 4. a name for a good name Prov. 22. 1. Eccles. 7. 1. c. findeth a good thing c A singular Blessing and obtaineth favour of the LORD d Obtaineth her not by his own Wit or Art or Diligence but by Gods good Providence towards him which ordereth that and all other events as it pleaseth him 23 The poor useth intreaties e Humbly begs the favour of rich men as his necessities and occasions require it but the rich answereth * Jam. 2. 3. roughly f Speaketh proudly and scornfully either to the poor or to others that converse with him being puffed up with a conceit of his Riches and of his self-sufficiency 24 A man that hath friends g Heb. A man of friends either 1. Who desires the friendship of others Or 2. Who professeth friendship to others must shew himself friendly * Ch. 17. 17. and there is a friend that sticketh closer h To him that desires and needs his help who is more hearty in the performance of all friendly Offices than a brother CHAP. XIX 1 * Chap. 28. 6. BEtter is the poor that walketh in his integrity a Who is upright in his words and actions than he that is perverse in his lips b That useth to speak wickedly which proceeds from a wicked heart and is usually attended with an evil Life and is a fool c Is an Hypocrite or a wicked man for this is opposed to the upright man in the former clause yea though he be rich which is implied from the same clause 2 Also that the soul d Which is the principal cause and director of all mens actions be without knowledg e Without Wisdom or Prudence to discern his way and what and how he ought to act in his several cases and concernments it is not good f It is very evil and pernicious and he that hasteth with his feet g That rashly and headily rusheth into actions without serious consideration So two vices are here censured the want of Knowledg and the neglect or diâ—…use of Knowledg in a mans actions sinneth 3. The foolishness of man perverteth his way h Either 1. enticeth him to sin Or rather 2. Crosseth and blasâ—…eth his designs and enterprises and brings losses and miseries upon him and his heart fretteth against the LORD i He ascribes his unhappiness not to his own sin and folly which is the true cause of it but to God and his Providence against which he unjustly murmurs 4 * Ch. 14. 20. Wealth maketh many friends but the poor is separated from his neighbour k Is disowned and forsaken by those who are most obliged to help him 5 * Ver. 9. Exod. 23. 1. Deut. 19. 16 19. Ch. 6. 19. 21. 28. A false witness shall not be †Heb. held innocent unpunished l Though he escape the observation and punishment of men yet he shall not avoid the judgment of God and he that speaketh lies m That accustometh himself to lying either in judgment or in common conversation shall not escape 6 Many will entreat the †Heb. face favour of the prince n Or as others of the liberal or bountiful man which comes to the same thing for Kings were antiently called Benefactors Luk. 22. 25. and every man is a friend o Not sincerely as daily experience shews but in shew or profession or in the outward expressions of it whereby they may oblige him to †Heb. a man of gifts him that giveth gifts 7 * Ch. 14. 20. All the brethren p His nearest and dearest Relations who are oft called Brethren in Scripture by a common Synecdoche of the poor do hate him q i. e. Despise and shun him as men do any thing which they hate and as the following words explain it how much more do his friends r His former companions who in his prosperity professed friendship to him go far from him he pursueth them with words
to it Whereby also he intimates the emptiness and dissatisfaction of mens minds notwithstanding all the abundance of Creature comforts †Heb. unto the place that the Rivers go thither they return to go unto the place from whence the rivers come q Either 1. unto the Sea from whence they are supposed to return into their proper Channels and then as it is expressed thither i. e. into the Sea they return again Or 2. unto their Springs or Fountains to which the Waters return by secret passages of the Earth as is manifest from the Caspian Sea and reasonably supposed in other places Or rather 3. unto the Earth in general from whence they come or flow into the Sea and to which they return again by the reflux of the Sea For he seems to speak of the visible and constant motion of the Waters both to the Sea and from it and then to it again in a perpetual reciprocation which agrees best with the former similitudes v. 5 6. thither they return again 8 All things r Not onely the Sun and Winds and Rivers which I have mentioned but all other Creatures are full of labour s Both subjectively as they are in continual restlesness and change never abiding in the same state or place and efficiently as they cause great and sore labour to men in getting and keeping and enjoying of them yea even in the study of them as is noted hereafter man cannot utter it t The labour is inexpressibly and unconceivably great the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing u As there are many things in the World troublesome and vexatious to mens senses and minds so even those things which are comfortable and acceptable to them are not satisfactory but men are constantly desiring some longer continuance or fuller enjoyment of them or variety in them and they never say It is enough I desire no more The Eye and Ear are here synedochically put for all the senses because these are most Spiritual and refined most curious and inquisitive most capable of receiving satisfaction because they are exercised with more ease and pleasure than the other senses whose satisfactions are oft attended with greater weariness and manifold dangers and inconveniences 9 * Ch. 3. 15. †Heb. what is it that hath been the 〈◊〉 that shall 〈◊〉 So Gr. The thing that hath been it is that which shall be and that which is done is that which shall be done and x There is nothing in the World but a continued and tiresom repetition of the same things the Nature and course of the beings and affairs of the World and the tempers of mens minds are generally the same that they ever were and shall ever be and therefore because no Man ever yet received satisfaction from any worldly things it is a vain and foolish thing for any Person hereafter to expect it there is no new thing y To wit in the nature of things which might give us hopes of attaining that satisfaction which things have not hitherto afforded For otherwise this doth not restrain the God of Nature who hath frequently done and still can do new and miraculous works and who can and doth discover to particular Persons new inventions when it pleaseth him under the sun 10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said see this is new z For the proof hereof I appeal to the consciences and experiences of all men it hath been already of old time a The same things have been said and done before though possibly we did not know it which was before us 11 There is no remembrance of former things b This seems to be added to prevent this Objection There are many new inventions and enjoyments unknown to former Ages To this he answers This Objection is grounded onely upon our ignorance of ancient times and things which is very great and which if we did exactly know or remember we should easily find Parallels to all present occurrences in former Ages neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after c This clause tends both to illustrate and confirm the former The sense is There are many thousands of remarkable speeches and actions done in this and the following Ages which neither are nor ever will be put into the publick Records or Histories and consequently they must unavoidably be forgotten and lost unto succeeding Ages and therefore it is just and reasonable to believe the same concerning former Ages seeing the same causes are most likely to produce the same effects 12 I the preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem d This Verse is a Preface to the following Discourse that by the consideration of the quality of the Speaker they might be induced to give more attention and respect to his words Having asserted the vanity of all things in the general he now comes to prove his assertion in all those particulars wherein men commonly seek and with greatest probability expect to find true happiness He begins with secular Wisdom And to shew how competent a judge he was of this matter he lays down his Character that he was the Preacher which implies eminent knowledge and ability to teach others or the Convert who had learnt by dear bought experience what he now taught them and a King who therefore had all imaginable opportunities and advantages for the attainment of happiness and particularly for the getting of Wisdom by consulting all sorts of Books and Men by trying all manner of experiments and many other ways and no ordinary King but King over Israel God's own and onely beloved People a wise and an happy People Deut. 4. 6 7. 33. 29. whose King he was by God's special and gracious appointment and furnished by God with singular Wisdom for the discharge of that great trust and whose Royal Palace and abode was in Ierusalem where were the House of God and the most wise and learned of the Priests attending upon it and the Seats of Justice and the Colledges or Assemblies of the wisest Men of their Nation of which see 2 Kings 22. 14. 1 Chron. 25. 8 c. Psal. 122. 5. All which helps concurring together in him which very rarely do in any other men makes the argument drawn from his experience more convincing and undeniable 13 And I gave my heart e Which Phrase notes his serious and fixed purpose his great industry and alacrity in it to seek and search out f To seek diligently and accurately by wisdom g Wisely or by the help of that Wisdom wherewith God had endowed me concerning all things that are done under heaven h Concerning all the works of God and Men in this lower World the works of Nature and their causes effects properties and operations the works of Divine Providence and God's counsels and ends in them the work and depths
of Religion to sin neither say thou before the angel x Either 1. the blessed Angels the Singular Number being put for the Plural who are present in the publick Assemblies in which these Vows were generally paid Psal. 66. 13. where they observe both the matter and manner of mens Religious performances as appears from 1 â—…or 11. 10. who as they rejoice in the conversion of a Sinner Luke 15. 10. So are displeased with the sins of men and especially such as are committed in or against the Worship of God that it was an errour y Or 2. Christ who in the Old Testament is frequently called an Angel as hath been oft noted before and the Angel of the Covenant Mal. 3. 1. because even then he acted as God's Messenger appearing and speaking to the Patriarchs and Prophets in his Fathers Name as a presignification of his future Incarnation and who is and was in a special manner present in all religious Assemblies and being Omniscient and Omnipresent exactly knew and observed all the Vows which men made and whethen they did perform or violate them Or rather 3. the Priest or Miâ—…ter of Holy things who was to require of the People the paymâ—… of their Vows to whom all Sacrifices for sins of ignorance or â—…rs about Vows or other things were to be brought Lev. 5. 4 5. For such Persons are oft called Angels or as this Hebrew word is commonly rendred Messengers as Iob 33. 23. Mal. 2. 7. Revel 1. 20. And this Title seems to be given to the Priest here not without some Emphasis because the Vow made to God was paid to the Priest as one standing and acting in God's Name and Stead and it belonged to the Priest as God's Angel or Ambassadour to discharge Persons from their Vows when there was just occasion so to do I did foolishly and unadvisedly in making such a Vow and therefore I hope God will excuse me and instead of that which I had vowed accept of a Sacrifice for my ignorance according to his Law for sins of Ignorance Levit. 4. 2. 5. 15. Numb 15. 26. wherefore should God be angry z Why wilt thou provoke God to anger at thy voice a Either 1. at the Vows which thou hast hastily uttered with thy Mouth as he said above Or rather 2. at these frivolous excuses wherewith thou deludest thy own Conscience and vainly imaginest that thou canst deceive God himself and destroy the work of thine hands b Blast all thy Contrivances and Labours and Estate gotten by thy Labours and particularly that work or enterprize for the success whereof thou didst make these Vows which being as thou thinkest finished thou refusest to pay thy Vows but know that God can quickly unto that which thou hast done and plentifully repay thine indignities and injuries offered to him into thine own Bosom 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities c There is a great deal of vanity and folly as in multitude of dreams which for the most part are vain insignificant so also in many words i. e. in making many vows whereby a Man is exposed to many snares and temptations but fear thou God d Fear the offence and wrath of God and therefore be sparing in making Vows and just in performing them Whereby he implies that this rashness in vowing and slackness in performing Vows proceeds from the want of a just reverence and dream of the Divine Majesty who is immediately concerned in these matters 8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor e Here is an account of another vanity and a soveraign Antidote against it and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province marvel not f As if it were inconsistent with God's Wisdom and Justice and Truth to suffer such disorders or a just cause for any Man to throw off that fear and service of God which I have now commended to thee †Heb. at the will or purpose at the matter for he that is higher than the highest g The most High God who is infinitely above the greatest of men and therefore if he saw meet could crush them in an instant regardeth h Not like an idle spectatour but like a Judge who diligently observes and records all these miscarriages and will so effectually punish them that neither they shall have any cause of triumph in their former successes nor good men to be grieved at the remembrance of them and there be higher than they i Either 1. the high and holy Angels who are employed by God in the Government of Kings and Kingdoms as we read in the Book of Daniel and elsewhere and for the defence of God's People Psal. 34. 7. 91. 11. Heb. 1. 14. Or 2. God and so it is an Emphatical repetition of the same thing which is frequent in Scripture there is an higher than they Or as the words are by others fitly rendred the most High for Plural words are oft understood of God singularly is above them and therefore can controul them and will certainly call them to an account 9 Moreover the profit of the earth k The fruits procured from the Earth by the skill and labour of the Husbandman is for all l Are necessary and beneficial to all men whatsoever The Wise Man after some Interruption returns to his former subject to discourse of the vanity of great Riches one argument or evidence whereof he seems to mention in this Verse to wit that the poor Labourer enjoyeth the fruits of the Earth as well as the greatest Monarch and that the richest Man in the World depends as much upon them as the poorest the king himself is served by the field m Is supported by the Fruits of the Field Or as many others render it serves or is a servant to the Field depends upon it is obliged to see that his Fields be tilled and dressed that he may have subsistence for himself and for his Servants and Subjects 10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver n The greatest Treasures of Silver do not satisfie the covetous possessor of it partly because his mind is insatiable and his desires are increased by and with gains partly because Silver of itself cannot satisfie his Natural desires and necessities as the Fruits of the Field can do and the miserable Wretch grudgeth to part with his Silver though it be to purchase things needful and convenient for him nor he that loveth abundance o Or that loveth it to wit Silver in abundance that desires and lays up great Treasures with increase this is also vanity 11 When goods increase they are increased that eat them p They require and are more commonly attended with a numerous company of Servants and Friends and Retinues to consume them which is a great torment to a covetous Man of whom he here speaks and what good