least his Law should upon that occasion be exposed to contempt 22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled r But notwithstanding this great respect which God hath to his Law and to his people for the sake of his Law it is apparent that God hath severely scourged you for your sins and therefore take heed that you do not provoke him by your obstinate infidelity lest he cast you off for ever ‖ Or in snaring all the young men of them they are all of them snared in holes and they are hid in prison-houses s They are or have been taken in snares made by their own hands and by Gods just judgment delivered into the hands of their enemies and by them cast into Pits or Dungeons and Prisons they are for a prey and none delivereth for a †Heb. a treading spoyl and none faith Restore t None afford them either pity or help in their extremites 23 Who among you will give ear to this will hearken and hear †Heb. for the who after-time for the time to come u O that you would learn from your former and dear-bought experiences to be wiser for the future and not to provoke God to your own total and final ruine 24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers did not the LORD x he against whom we have sinned for they would not walk in his wayes neither were they obedient unto his law z Do not flatter your selves with a conceit of impunity because you are a people whom God hath favoured and endowed with many and great priviledges which the Iewes were very prone to do as we see Ier. 7. 4 c. and elsewhere for as God hath punished you formerly doubt not but if you continue to sin he will proceed in punishing you more and more for your sins 25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battel y Most grievous Judgments and it hath set him on â—…ire round about yet he knew not z They were secure and stupid under Gods Judgments neither fearing them when threatned nor truly sensible of Gods hand in them and of the causes of Gods displeasure against them and of the means of cure and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart CHAP. XLIII 1 BUt now thus saith the LORD a But notwithstanding thy gross insensibleness under former judgments for which I might justly send far heavier ones upon thee yet I will deal mercifully with thee that created thee b That made thee his people and that in so miraculous a manner as if he had created thee a second time out of nothing and thâ—…refore he will be gracious to his own workmanship O Jacob and he that formed thee O Israel Fear not for I have redeemed thee c From the Egyptians and divers other enemies and therefore I will redeem thee again I have called thee by thy name d By the name of Gods People which was as proper and peculiar to them as the name of Israel thou art mine 2 When thou * Psal. 66. 12. passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee e Though I will chastise thee for thy sins yet I will not suffer thine enemies utterly to destroy thee Compare Ier. 30. 11. 3 For I am the LORD thy God the holy One of Israel thy saviour I gave Egypt for thy ransom f This was fulfilled either 1. When God smote the Egyptians both first-born and others in Egypt and drowned Pharoah and his Host in the Red Sea for the safety and benefit of his people Or 2. When the King of Assyria either Sennacherib as many think or rather Esarâ—…haddon who designed to revenge his Fathers disgrace and loss before Ierusalem upon the Iews but was diverted and directed by God to employ his Forces against Egypt and Ethiopia and Seba as it follows See the Notes upon Isa. 20. 1 c. Ethiopia and Seba g The Sabaeians who were confederate with the Ethiopians or Cushites for thee 4 Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honourable and I have loved thee h â—…o the sence is From that time that I chose thee for my precious and peculiar treasure and People I have had a great esteem and affection for thee But the words may well be and by some are rendred thus since that or For that or Because Thou wast precious in my sight thou wast honourable the same thing repeated in other words and I love thee therefore will I give men for thee i As I did give up the Egyptians and so I am ready to give up others to save thee as occasion requires and people for thy ‖ Or person †Heb. soul. life 5 * Chap. 44. 1 2 Jer. 30. 10. 46. 27. Fear not for I am with thee I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west k Although the Iews shall for their sins be carried captives out of their own Land Northward and Eastward into Babylon and the adjacent Countries and others of them shall flee Southward and Westward and shall there pine away in their iniquities as I threatned yet their posterity I will bring back into Canaan from all the places where they are dispersed 6 I will say to the north Give up l Thou who hast so long had and held my people in Bondage resign them to me and permit them to return to their own Land He speaks either to the Countries themselves by a Prosopopaeia Or to the Inhabitants of them and to the south keep not back bring my sons m Do not onely permit but assist and further their return from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth 7 Even every one that is called by my name n They are called by my Name I own them for my People and Children and therefore what kindness or cruelty you exercise to them I take it as done to my self So it is an argument to move those people to let their Captives go Or it is an argument to confirm the faith of Gods People that God would deliver them because they are his own for * Psal. 100. 3. Chap. 29. 23. Joh. 3. 4 5. 2 Cor. 5. 17. Eph. 2. 10. I have created him for my glory o And therefore I will glorify my Power and goodness and faithfulness in delivering them I have formed him yea I have made him p I have not onely created them out of nothing as I did all other people but I have also formed and made them my peculiar People 8 Bring forth the blind People that have eyes * Chap. 42. 19. Ezek. 12. 2. and the deaf that have ears
be no witness against her x For if it was witnessed she was to die for it Lev. 20. 10. Deut. 22. 22. neither she be taken with the manner 14 And the spirit of jealousie y i. e. A strong opinion or suggestion or inward motion of that kind whether from a good or evil spirit Thus we read of the spirit of wisdom Isa. 11. 2. of perverseness Isa. 19. 14. of fornicaâ—…ion Hos. 4. 12. of fear 2 Tim. 1. 7. of slumber Rom. 11. 8. come upon him and he be jealous of his wife and she be defiled or if the spirit of jealousie come upon him and he be jealous of his wife and she be not defiled 15 Then z She persisting in her denial and her husband requiring her submission to this way of tryal shall the man bring his wife unto the priest and he shall bring her offering a Which was partly because none were to appear before God empty Exod. 23. 15. partly by way of solemn appeal to God whom hereby she desired to judge between her and her husband and partly by way of atonement to appease God who had for her sins stirred up her husband against her and sent an evil spirit between them See 1 Sam. 26. 19. for her the tenth part of an Ephah of barley meal he shall pour no oyl upon it nor put frankincense thereon b Both because it was a kind of sin-offering from which these were excluded Levit. 5. 11. and to testifie her sorrowful sence of the hand of God and of her husbands displeasure and because she came thither as a delinquent or one suspected of delinquency and under an ill fame and unpleasing both to God and men as one that wanted that grace and amiableness and joy which oyl signified and that acceptance with God which frankincense designed Psal. 141. 2. for it is an offering of jealousie an offering of memorial bringing iniquity to remembrance c Both to God before whom she appeared as a sinner and to her own conscience if she were guilty and if she were not guilty of this yet it reminded her of her other sins for which this might be a punishment 16 And the priest shall bring her d i. e. The woman But of her he speaks ver 18. or it i. e. the offering which is last spoken of so the feminine gender is put for the masculine or the neuter of both which we have instances near and set her before the LORD e i. e. Before the Sanctuary where the Ark was 17 And the priest shall take holy water f Either water out of the holy laâ—…er Exod. 30. 18. or rather the water of purification appointed for such kind of uses Numb 19. 9. This was used that if she were guilty she might be afraid to adde profaneness and the pollution of holy things to her other crime in an earthen vessel g Either to signify that frailty and vileness of which she stood accused or express her sorrowful and shameful condition or because after this use it was to be broken in pieces that the remembrance of it might be blotted out as far as was possible Compare Lev. 6. 28. and 11. 33. and 15. 12. and of the dust h An emblem of vileness and misery as appears from Iob 2. 12. Psal. 22. 15. Lam. 3. 29. and the serpents food Gen. 3. 14. very proper for her who had been seduced to folly by the serpents instigation that is in the floor of the tabernacle i Which made it holy dust and struck the greater terrour into the woman if she were guilty the priest shall take and put it into the water k To make it more unpleasant and bitter which was suitable to one in that sorrowful state 18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD l Before the Tabernacle with her face towards the Ark. and uncover the womans head m Partly that she might be made sensible how manifest she and all her ways were to God and that she might be more visible to the congregation that her shame might be greater if she were guilty partly in token of her sorrow either for her sin or at least for any cause of suspicion which she had given partly as a sign that she was after a sort deprived of the help and protection of her husband which the covering of the womans head signified 1 Cor. 11. 5 6 7 10. and that she was neither virgin nor loyal wife for the heads of both these used to be covered and put the offering of memorial in her hands n That she her self might offer it and therefore call God to be witness of her innocency which is the jealousie-offering and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter o So called either from the bitter rast which the dust gave it or from the bitter effects of it upon her if she were guilty Compare Exod. 32. 20. water that causeth the curse p Not by any natural power but by a supernatural efficacy ordained and wrought by God for her punishment and for the terrour and caution of others 19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath q To answer truly to his question or to declare by oath whether she be guilty or no and after such oath shall say as follows and say unto the woman If no man r To wit except thy husband as is manifest from the whole context or no other man the word another being understood here as it is thought to be also Gen. 14. 1. and 36. 6 Exod. 22. 20. have lien with thee and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness ‖ Or being in the power of thy husband †Heb. under thy husband with another s Or with him i. e. the man now mentioned So it is an Ellipsis easily supplied out of the Text. instead of thy husband be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse 20 But if thou hast gone aside to another in stead of thy husband and if thou be defiled and some man have lien with thee beside thine husband 21 Then the priest shall charge the woman with an Oath of cursing and the priest shall say unto the woman The LORD make thee a curse and an oath t i. e. A form of cursing or imprecatory oaths that when they would curse a person they may wish that they may be as cursed and miserable as thou wast upon this occasion See the like phrase Isa. 65. 15. Ier. 29. 22. and compare Gen. 48. 20. Ruth 4. 11 12. among thy people when the LORD doth make thy thigh u A modest signification of the genital parts used both in Scripture as Gen. 46. 26. Exod. 1. 5. and other authours that the sin might be evident in the punishment to †Heb. to â—…all rot x Heb. to fall i. e. to die or wast away as the
because thy soul longeth to eat flesh thou mayest eat flesh whatsoever thy soul lusteth after 21 If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee ‖ In which case being obliged to carry their sacrifices to the place of worship that the blood might be there poured forth c. they might think themselves obliged for the same reason to carry their other cattel thither to be killed They are therefore released from all such obligations and left at liberty to kill them at home whether they lived nearer to that place or further from it onely the latter is here mentioned as being the matter of the scruple and as containing the former in it then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock which the LORD hath given thee as I have commanded thee l In such manner as the blood may be poured forth as above ver 16. and below ver 24. and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after 22 * Verse 15. Even as the ro-buck and the hart m As common or unhallowed food though they be of the same kind with the sacrifices which are offered to God is eaten so thou shalt eat them the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike n Because there was no holiness in such meat for which the unclean might be excluded from it 23 * Verse 16. Onely †〈◊〉 bestrong be sure that thou eat not the blood for the blood is the †〈◊〉 soul. life o Of which see on Gen. 9. 4. Lev. 17. 11. The animal life depends upon the blood and thou mayest not eat the †〈◊〉 soul. life with the flesh 24 Thou shalt not eat it thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water 25 Thou shalt not eat it that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD 26 Onely thy holy things p Mentioned before ver 6. 12 17. which thou hast consecrated to God which thou hast and thy vows thou shalt take and go unto the place which the LORD shall chuse 27 And * Lev. 1. 5 9 13. thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings the flesh and the blood upon the altar of the LORD thy God and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God and thou shalt eat the flesh q Excepting what shall be burned to Gods honour and given to the Priest according to his appointment 28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee for ever when thou dost that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God 29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee whither thou goest to possess them r Of which phrase see Deut. 9. 1. and 11. 23. and thou †Heb. inheritest or possessest them succeedest them and dwellest in their land 30 Take heed to thy self that thou be not snared s Drawn into their sin and ruine †Heb. after them by following them after that they be destroyed t i. e. By following the example they left when their persons are destroyed from before thee and that thou inquire not after their gods u Through curiosity to know their Gods and the manner of the worship lest thy vain and foolish mind be seduced by its speciousness or newness saying How did these nations serve their gods even so will I do likewise 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD x Either 1. Not offer him that indignity and injury to worship other Gods together with him Or rather 2. Not worship him in such manner as they worshipped their Gods to wit by offering thy children to him as they did to their gods as it here follows or by thy own devises or superstitions as is implied ver 32. thy God for every †Heb. 〈◊〉 of the abomination to the LORD which he hateth have they done unto their gods for * Lev. 18. 21. and 20. 2. chap. 18. 10. Jer. 32. 35. even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods 32 What thing soever I command you observe to do it * chap. 4. 2. Josh. 1. 7. Prov. 30. 6. Rev. 22. 18. thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it CHAP. XIII 1 IF there arise among you a i. e. One of your nation for such might be both seduced and afterward seducers a prophet or a dreamer of dreams b One that pretends himself to be one to whom God hath revealed himself either by visions or dreams See Numb 12. 6. and giveth thee a sign or a wonder c i. e. Shall foretell some strange and wonderful thing to come as appears from ver 2. as the true prophets used to do as 1 Sam. 10. 2 And * See chap. 18. 22. Jer. 28. 9. Mat. 7. 22. the sign or the wonder come to pass d Which God may suffer for the reason after mentioned whereof he spake unto thee saying e This word is to be joyned with the beginning of verse 1. If there arise among you a prophet or dreamer of dreams saving what here follows and giveth thee a sign c. to confirm his doctrine such transpositions are frequent Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known and let us serve them 3 Thou shalt not hearken to the words of that prophet e Not receive his doctrine though the sign come to pass For although when such a sign or wonder foretold did not follow or come to pass it was a sign of a false prophet as is said Deut. 18. 22. yet when it did come to pass it was no sufficient or infallible sign of a true one especially in such a case when he brings in new Gods The reason of the difference is because many causes must concurre to make a thing good and true but any one failure is sufficient to make a thing bad or false And particularly there are many signs yea such as men may think to be wonders which may be wrought by evil spirits God so permiting it for divers wise and just reasons not onely for the trial of the good as it here follows but also for the punishment of ungodly men who would not receive Divine Truths though attested by many evident and unquestionable miracles and therefore are most justly exposed to these temptations to believe lies or that dreamer of dreams for the LORD your God * 1 Cor. 11. 19. proveth you f i. e. Tryeth your faith and love and obedience examineth your sincerity by your constancy See Mat. 24. 24. 2 Thes. 2. 11. Rev. 13. 14. See on Gen. 22. 1. Deut. 8. 2 7. to know g That he
Ancestors or by the Reports of the Hebrews when he ‡ Or deluded them had wrought ‖ Or reproachfully wonderfully among them * Exod. 12. 31. did not they let ‡ Heb. them the people go and they departed 7 Now therefore make a new cart o As David did for the same use â—… Sam. 6. 3. in Reverence to the Ark. and take two milch-kine on which there hath come no yoke p Partly in Respect to the Ark and paâ—…ly for the better Discovery because 〈◊〉 untamed 〈◊〉 are wanton and apt to wander and keep no certain and constant paths as Oxen accustomed to the Yoke do and therefore were most unlikely to keep the direct Road to Israels Land and tie the kine to the câ—… and bring their calves home from them q Which would stir up Natural Affection in their Dams and cause them rather to return Home than to go to a strange Countrey 8 And take the ark of the LORD and lay it upon the cart r Which God winked at in them both because they were ignorant of Gods Law to the contrary and because they had no Levites to carry it upon their Shoulders and put the jewels of gold which ye return him for a trespass-offering in a coffer by the side thereof s For they durst not presume to open the Ark to put them within it and send it away that it may go 9 And see if it goeth up by the way of his own coast s Or Border i. e. the way that leadeth to his Coast or Border viz. the Countrey to which it belongs to Bethshemesh then ‖ Or it he hath doâ—…e us this great evil t Which they might well 〈◊〉 if such Heifers should against their common use and natural instinct go into a strange path and Regularly and constantly proceed in it without any man's Conduct but if not then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us it was a chance that hapned to us u This Evil came to us from some Influences of the Stars or other unknown Causes Which was a weak and Foolish Inference depending upon a meer Contingency it being uncertain whether God would please to give them this Sign and probable that he would deny it both to punish their Superstition and to harden their hearts to their further and utter Destruction But wicked Men will sooner believe the most uncertain and ridiculous things than own the visible Demonstrations of Gods Power and Providence 10 ¶ And the men did so and took two milch-kine and tied them to the cart and shut up their calves at home 11 And they laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods 12 And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh x i. e. Leading to Bethshemesh a City of the Priests Ios. 21. 16. who were by Office to take care of it and went along the high way lowing as they went y Testifying at once both their Natural and Vehement Inclination to their Calves and the Supernatural and Divine Power which over-ruled them to a contrary Course and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left and the lords of the Philistines went after them z Under pretence of an honourable dismission of it but in truth to prevent all Imposture and to get assurance of the truth of the Event All which Circumstances tended to their greater Confusion and Illustration of God's Glory unto the border of Bethshemesh 13 And they of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat-harvest in the valley and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark and rejoiced to see it 14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua a Bethshemite and stood there where there was a great stone and they a Not the Lords of the Philistines but the Bethshemites to wit the Priests that dwelt there clave the wood of the cart and offered the kine a burnt-offering unto the LORD b There may seem to be a double Error in this Act. First that they Offered Females for a Burnt-Offering contrary to Levit. 1. 3. and 22. 19. Secondly That they did it in a forbidden place Deut. 12. 5 6. into which they might easily be led by excess of Joy and eager desire of returning to their long-interrupted course of Offering Sacrifices And some think these Irregularities were partial Causes of the following Punishment But this case being very extraordinary may in some sort excuse it if they did not proceed by ordinary Rules As for the first though they might not chuse Females for that use yet when God himself had chosen and in a manner Consecrated them to his service and imployed them in so Sacred and Glotious a Work it may seem tollerable to offer them to the Lord as being his peculiar and improper for any other use And for the latter we have many instances of Sacrifices offered to God by Prophets and Holy Men in other places besides the Tabernacle upon extraordinary occasions such as this certainly was it being fit that the Ark should at its first return be reâ—…eived with Thanksgiving and Sacrifice and this Place being Sanctified by the presence of the Ark which was the very soul of the Tabernacle and that by which the Tabernacle it self was Sanctified and for whose sake the Sacrifices were offered at the door of the Tabernacle 15 And the Levites took down c Or For the Levites had taken down for this though mentioned after was done before the Sacrifices were offered the ark of the LORD and the coffer that was with it wherein the jewels of gold were and put them on the great stone and the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the LORD 16 And when the five LORDS of the Philistines had seen it d To wit that prodigious return of the Ark to its own Countrey and the entertainment it found there they returned to Ekron the same day 17 And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the LORD for Ashdod one for Gaza one for Askelon one for Gath one for Ekron one 18 And the golden mice according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords both of fenced cities and of countrey villages e This is added for explication of that foregoing Phrase all the cities either to shew that under the Name of the five Cities were comprehended all the Villages and Territories belonging to them in whose Name and at whose Charge these presents were made or to express the difference between this and the former present the Emerods being onely five according to the five Cities mentioned v. 17. because it may seem the Cities onely or principally were pestered with that Disease and the Mice being many more according to the number of all the
Isa. 27. 1. crooked serpent e By which he understands either 1. all the kinds of Serpents or Fishes or Monsters of the Sea Or 2. the most eminent of their kinds particularly the Whale which may be here not unfitly mentioned as it is afterwards more largely described amongst the glorious Works of God in this lower World as the garnishing of the Heavens was his noblest Work in the superiour visible parts of the World Or 3. an Heavenly Constellation called the great Dragon and Serpent which being most eminent as taking up a considerable part of the Northern Hemisphere may well be put for all the rest of the Constellations or Stars wherewith the Heavens are garnished Thus he persisteth still in the same kind of God's Works and the latter Branch explains the former And this sense is the more probable because Iob was well acquainted with the Doctrine of Astronomy and knew the nature and names of the Stars and Constellations as appears also from Chapter 9. 9. and 38. 31. 14. Lo these are parts f Or the extremities but small parcels the outside and visible work How glorious then are his invisible and more inward Perfections and Operations of his ways g i. e. Of his Works but how little a portion is heard of him h i. e. Of his Power and Wisdom and Providence and Actions The greatest part of what we see or know of him is the least part of what we do not know and of what is in him or is done by him but the thunder of his power i Either 1. of his mighty and terrible Thunder which is oft mentioned as an eminent work of God as Iob 28. 25. 40. 9. Psalm 29. 3. 77. 18. Or 2. of his mighty Power which is aptly compared to Thunder in regard of its irresistible force and the terrour which it causeth to wicked men This Metaphor being used by others in like cases as among the Grecians who used to say of their vehement and powerful Orators that they did thunder and lighten and in Mark 3. 17. where powerful Preachers are called Sons of Thunder who can understand CHAP. XXVII 1. MOreover Job †Heb. 〈◊〉 to take 〈◊〉 continued a When he had waited a while to hear what his Friends would reply and perceived them to be silent his parable b His grave and weighty but withal dark and difficult discourse such as are oft called Parables as Numb 23. 7. 24. 3 15. Psal. 49. 4. 78. 2. Prov. 26. 7. and said 2. As God liveth c He confirms the truth and sincerity of his Expressions by an Oath because he found them very hard to believe all his professions who hath taken away my judgment d Or my right or my cause i. e. who though he knows my Integrity and Piety towards him yet doth not plead my cause against my Friends not will admit me to plead my cause with him before them as I have so oft and earnestly desired nor doth deal with me according to those terms of Grace and Mercy wherewith he treateth other men and Saints but useth me with great rigour and by his soveraign Power punisheth me sorely without discovering to me what singular cause I have given him to do so and the Almighty who hath †Heb. 〈◊〉 my 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vexed my soul 3. All the while my breath e Which is the constant Companion and certain sign of Life both coming in with it Gen. 2. 7. and going out with it 1 Kings 17. 17. Psal. 146. 4. Or my Soul or Life is in me and ‖ That is 〈◊〉 breath 〈◊〉 God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the spirit of God f That Spirit or Soul which God breathed into me Gen. 2. 7. and preserveth in me Or rather the breath of God i. e. which God breathed into me which eminently appears in a mans nostrils is in my nostrils 4. My lips shall not speak wickedness nor my tongue utter deceit g I will speak nothing but the truth with all plainness and impartiality neither defending my self and cause by vain and false Professions of those Virtues or Graces which I know I have not nor yet in compliance with your desire and design falsly accusing my self of those crimes wherewith you charge me whereof I know my self to be innocent 5. God forbid that I should justifie you h i. e. Your opinion and censure concerning me as one convicted to be impious or hypocritical by Gods unusual and severe dealing with me till I die * 〈◊〉 â—… â—… I will not remove i To wit declaratively as real words are frequentlâ—… understood or by renouncing or denying my Integrity of which God and my own Conscience bear me witness I will not to gratifie you say that I am an hypocrite which I know to be false my integrity from me 6. My righteousness I hold fast k Heb. I have held fast i. e. I have not only begun well but continued in well doing which is a plain Evidence that I am no hypocrite Or the past tense is put for the future as is usual I will 〈◊〉 fast declaratively as before I will maintain it that howsoever you calumniate me I am a righteous person and will not let it go my heart l i. e. My Conscience as the 〈◊〉 is oft used as 1 Sam 24. 5. 25. 31 Ezek. 14. 5. 1 Iob. 3. 20 21 shall not reproach me m Either 1. with betraying my own cause and innocency and speaking what I know to be false to wit that I am an hypocrite Or 2. for my former impiety or hypocrisie wherewith you charge me †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so long as I live n Heb. From or for or concerning my days i. e. the time of my Life whether past or to come Or the course of my Life days or times being put here as it is elsewhere for actions done in them by a Metonymy 7. Let mine enemy be as the wicked o I am so far from loving and practising wickedness whereof you accuse me that I abhor the thoughts oâ—… it and if I might and would wish to be revenged of mine Enemy I could wish him no greater mischief than to be a wicked man and he that riseth up against me p Either 1. You my Friends who instead of comforting me are risen up to torment me Or rather my worst enemies as the unrighteous 8. * 〈◊〉 16. 26. For what is the hope of the hypocrite though he hath gained q There is no reason why I should envy or desire the portion of wicked men for though they oft-times prosper in the World as I have said and seem to be great gainers yet death which hasteneth to all men and to me especially will shew that they are far greater losers and die in a most wretched and desperate condition having no hope either of continuing in this life which they chiefly desire or of
patient and merciful to thee that he gives thee liberty to demand of him any Signal or miraculous Work whereby thou mayst be assured of the Truth and Certainty of this Promise thy God u Both by right of Dominion and by vertue of his gracious Covenant made with all Israel of whom thou art a Member and King and by thy own Profession for he still worshipped God together with his Idols and by the continuance of his Care and Kindness to thee and to thy People notwithstanding all your Wickedness whereof this Promise and Offer is a clear Demonstration ‖ Or make thy pâ—…on deep ask it either in the depth or in the heighth above x Demand some Prodigie to be wrought either in Earth or in Heaven at thy pleasure 12 But Ahaz said I will not ask y This Refusal proceeded not from the strength of his Faith but from his contempt of God and total distrust and disregard of his Word and inward Resolution to take another Course as is manifest both from the following words and from the History of Ahaz 2 Chron. 28. neither will I tempt the LORD z Either 1. by asking a Sign as if he questioned the Truth of his Word So this was deep Hypocrisie Or 2. by neglecting any means necessary for my preservation which were indeed a tempting of God And therefore I shall not sit still and relie upon God till I be destroyed which will be the effect of thy Counsel but I shall do as becometh a wife King seek for Succour from Potent Allieâ—… such as the Assyrian is So this is flat Rebellion against God 13 And he said Hear ye now O house of David a Of which see above v. 2. He reproveth them all because they were the Kings Counsellors and promoted the Design of sending for the Assyrian Succours Is it a small thing for you b Is not that Wickedness more than enough Must you add more to it to weary men c To vex God's Prophets and People and the generality of your Subjects with your Oppressions and horrid Impieties but will ye weary my God also d By your cursed Ingratitude and Unbelief and Disobedience to his Commands He saith my God i. e. the God whose Servant and Prophet or Messenger I am to intimate that this heinous Offence was not committed against a weak and foolish Man such as they might think the Prophet to be but against God himself who sent the Message Compare Exod. 16. 8. 14 Therefore e Because you despise me and the Sign which I now offer to you God of his own free Grace will send you a more honourable Messenger and give you a nobler Sign to try whether that will cure you of your Infidelity Or Nevertheless as this Particle seems to be understood Isa. 30. 18. Ier. 16. 14. 30. 16. Although you deserve no Sign nor Favour yet for the comfort of those few Believers which are among you and to leave you without excuse I shall mind you of another and a greater Sign which God hath promised and will in his due time perform which also â—…s a Pledge of the certain Accomplishment of all God's Promises Or Surely as this Particle is sometimes used as Gen. 4. 15. Ier. 2. 33. 5. 2. Zech. 11. 7. the Lord himself shall give you a sign f To wit of your Deliverance Qu. How was this Birth of a Virgin which was not to come till many Ages after a Sign of their Deliverance from the present Danger Answ. 1. Because this was a clear Demonstration of God's infinite Power and Goodness and Faithfulness and consequently of the certain Truth of all God's Promises from time to time which can never fail so long as those Attributes of God stand And mens Faith is either strong or weak as they believe them or doubt of them Of which see Psal. 77. 8. 78. 19 20. Rom. 4. 20 21. And so this was a proper Remedy for Ahaz his Disease which was a secret Suspicion that God either could not or would not deliver them 2. Because that Promise I say not onely the actual Giving which was long after but even the Promise of the Messiah which had been made long since and oft renewed and was universally believed by all the People was the Foundation of all God's Mercies and Promises unto them 2 Cor. 1. 20. and a Pledge of the Accomplishment of them 3. Because this promised Birth did suppose and require the Preservation of that City and Nation and Tribe in and of which the Messiah was to be born and therefore there was no cause to fear that utter Ruine which their Enemies now threatned to bring upon them 4. This is one but not the onely Sign here given as we shall see at v. 16. * Maâ—… 1. 2â—… Luk. 1. â—…1 Behold g You who will not believe that God alone is able to deliver you from the united Force of Syria and Israel take nocice for your full satisfaction that God is not onely able to do this Work but to do far greater and harder things which he hath promised and therefore both can and will accomplish a virgin h Strictly and properly so called The Iews that they may obscure this plain Text and weaken this Proof of the Truth of Christian Religion pretend that this Hebrew Word signifies a young woman and not a virgin But this corrupt Translation is easily confuted 1. Because this Word constantly signifies a virgin in all other places of Scripture where it is used which are Gen. 24. 43. compared with v. 15. Exod. 2. 8. Psal. 68. 25. Cant. 1. 3. 6. 8. To which may be added Prov. 30. 19. the way of a man with a maid or a virgin For though it be supposed that he did design and desire to corrupt her and afterwards did so yet she may well be called a virgin partly because he found her a Virgin and partly because she seemed and pretended to others to be such which made her more careful to use all possible Arts to preserve her Reputation and so made the discovery of her impure Conversation with the Man more difficult whereas the filthy Practices of Common Harlots are easily and vulgarly known 2. From the scope of this Place which is to confirm their Faith by a strange and prodigious Sign which surely could not be that a young Woman should conceive a Child but that a Virgin should conceive c. shall conceive and bear i Or rather bring fâ—…rth as it is rendred Mat. 1. 23. and as this Hebrew Word is used Gen. 16. 11. 1â—… â—…9 Iudg. 13. 5. a son and ‖ Or thou O virgin 〈◊〉 alâ—… call shall call k The Virgin last mentioned shall call Which is added as a further Evidence of her Virginity and that this Son had no Humane Father because the Right of Naming the Child which being a Sign of Dominion is primarily in