to him through the Mediatour and sincerely repenting of and turning from his former sins unto the serious practice of righteousness and true holiness and therefore must needs be favourable to him as he hath declared and ingaged himself to be in such cases 27. ‖ 〈…〉 He looketh upon men u Either 1. the sick Man shall look upon and converse with Mankind his Friends or others as he did before and shall say as the following word is and may be rendred I have sinned c. i. e. He shall confess to them that God was not to be blamed but that he by his own sin and folly did bring that evil upon himself And then he shall acknowledge God's great goodness to him and shall add what follows in the next Verse He hath delivered my Soul c. and my life c. as they render it Or rather 2. God diligently observes all Mankind and their several carriages especially in sickness and distress and if any say I have sinned x If there be any Man that sincerely saith thus God hears it and will pardon and heal him as it follows and perverted that which was right y Either 1. I have judged perversly of the just and right ways of God censuring his proceedings against me as too severe and rigorous whereas in truth I only was to be blamed Or 2. I have perverted God's righteous Law by bending it and making it comply with my crooked ways Or I have swerved from the right and good way of God's commands or I have made crooked paths So he repeats in other words what he said in the former branch of the Verse I have sinned and it profited me not z I got no good by so doing as I vainly promised my self but I got much hurt by it even diseases and griefs and extreme dangers This was the just fruit of my sins It is a Meiosis whereby less is said and more is understood of which we have seen many examples before 28. ‖ 〈…〉 He a i. e. God whose work alone this is will deliver his soul b Himself or as it follows his life from going into the pit and his life c See on v. 18. shall see the light d i. e. Shall enjoy either 1. prosperity which is oft called light as darkness is put for affliction or 2. the light of the living as it follows v. 30. the light of this World i. e. His life which was endangered shall be restored and continued This is opposed to his going down into the Pit in the former branch 29. Lo all these things worketh God e All these ways and methods doth God use to awaken and convince and save sinners †〈…〉 oftentimes with man f Either severally one way with one and another way with another or with the same Man trying several means one after another to bring him to repentance and prepare him for deliverance 30. * 〈◊〉 â—…6 13. To bring back his soul from the pit to be enlightned with the light of the living g i. e. That he may enjoy the light of life and continue in the Land of the Living out of which he was going 31. Mark well O Job hearken unto me hold thy peace h Attend to what I have further to say to thee with patience and silence and I will speak 32. If thou hast any thing to say i answer me speak for I desire to justifie thee k For thy own justification or in answer to the charge that I have already brought against thee k To wit as far as may consist with Truth and Justice I do not speak with evil design or a bitter mind or as one resolved to condemn thee whatsoever thou sayest and I shall be glad to hear any thing from thee which may make for thy just vindication 33. If not hearken unto me hold thy peace and I shall teach thee wisdom l i. e. What thy wisdom and duty is in thy circumstances CHAP. XXXIV 1. FUrthermore Elihu answered and said 2. Hear my words O ye wise men a Who are here present do you judge of the truth and reason of what I have said and am further to say for I am willing to submit all to the judgment of the truly wise and give ear unto me ye that have knowledge 3. * Chap. 6. 30. 12. 11. For the ear trieth words b i. e. Man's mind judgeth of things spoken and heard The ear the sense of Discipline is put for the mind to which things are conveyed by it See the note on Iob 12. 11. as the †Heb. palate mouth tasteth meat 4. Let us choose to us judgment c i. e. Justice and Equity judgment being oft synecdochically used for just judgment as Iob 8. 3. 19 7. 32. 9. Psal. 37. 28. Let us not contend for victory but only for Truth and Justice This shall be my only care and business Let us lay aside all prejudices and animosities which I perceive have had too great an influence upon thee and thy friends and impartially consider the naked truth and right of the cause let us know d i. e. Let us discover or make it known one to another among our selves what is good e Who hath the best cause 5. For Job hath said * Chap. 〈◊〉 I am righteous f Either 1. I am perfectly righteous But this Iob did not say but the contrary Iob 9. 2 3. 14. 4. Or 2. I am a sincere Person no Hypocrite as my Friends make me But this Elibu doth not deny or 3. I am so far righteous and have been so holy and blameless in my life that I have not deserved not had any reason to expect such hard usage from God And this Iob had oft intimated and Elihu doth justly blame him for it that he blazoned his own righteousness with tacit reflections upon God for dealing so severely with him and my God hath taken away my judgment g For so Iob had said Ch. 27. 2. i. e. He denies me that which is but just and equal to give me a fair hearing to suffer me to plead my Cause with or before him to shew me the reasons of his contending with me and what sins besides common infirmities I have been guilty of whereby I have deserved such extraordinary judgments Which Elihu justly taxeth him with as a very irreverent and presumptuous expression 6. Should I lie against my right h So Iob had said in effect Ch. 27. 4 5 6. Should I falsly accuse my self of such sins of which I am no way conscious to my self Should I betray mine own cause and deny my integrity and say that I deserved worse than I have done †Heb. mine Arrow Chap. 6. 4. 16. 12. my wound is incurable without transgression i i. e. Without any great or hainous or crying sin as
me not I said Behold me behold me unto a nation d I invited whole Nations by the preaching of my Gospel to behold me and I invited them with importunity doubling my words upon them and this I did unto a Nation not call'd by my name with whom I was not in Covenant and which did not profess any relation to me which none of the Gentiles could pretend unto The Prophet speaks of a thing to come many years after as if it were a thing then done to signifie the certainty of it God doth the same thing yet in every soul that is converted But the Text is manifestly to be interpreted of the conversion of the Gentiles that was not called by my name That in the primary sense of this Text is a Prophecy of the Conversâ—…on of the Gentiles upon the rejection of the Jews for their 〈◊〉 and crucifying of 〈◊〉 cannot be 〈◊〉 by any who will not arrogatâ—… to themselves a greater ability to interprâ—… the Prophesies of the old 〈◊〉 than Paul had who Rom. 10. 20. expresly so interpreteth it and applâ—…th it which sheweth the vanity of the Jews in their other interpretations of it 2 I have spread out my hands e Applied to the Jews Rom. 10. 21. I have stretched out my hands that is I have used all probable means to reduce them I have stretched out the hands of a passionate Orator to persuade them of a tender Mother to protect and defend them of a liberal Benefactor to load them with my Benefits this I have done continually in the whole course of my Providence with them yet all the day long to a rebellious people f They are a rebellious people Paul expoundeth it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a People not persuaded not believing but contradicting the will of God which walketh in a way that was not good g That walketh in a way that is not good that term is not good often signifies what is very bad see 1 Sam. 2. 24. Prov. 28. 21. 24. 23. Psal. 36. 5. Though all sins be not equal yet what is not good is bad after their own thoughts h After their own thoughts What is here called after their own thoughts is elsewhere called a walking after the imaginations of their hearts an ordinary Phrase by which sin especially sins in the matter of the Worship of God are expressed eight times in the Prophet Ieremiah sinning is thus expressed Ier. 3. 17. 7. 24. 9. 14. 11. 8. 13. 10. 16. 12. 18. 12. 23. 17. so also Deut. 29. 19. Errours in matter of Worship are ordinarily thus expressed certainly to let us know that all Worship must be according to Gods revealed Will and of such errours this Text seemeth by what followeth to speak though indeed the reason of all sin is mens fondness of their own imaginations in opposition to Gods revealed Will whence it is that self-denial is made the Law of a Discipleship to Christ. 3 A people that provoketh me to anger i That the Jews are the People here intended is without question the Prophet speaking of the calling of the Gentiles upon their rejection reckons up their sins which were the causes For though their rejection and crucifying of Christ was that sin which was the proximate cause yet God did but visit on that Generation their Iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together they having by that act filled up their measure They had provoked God continually to anger to his face continually to my face k Either in his Temple the place where he used to manifest himself or considering what followeth more probably the Phrase signifieth their impudence not taking notice of Gods Omnipresence and Omniscience that sacrificeth in gardens and burneth incense ‖ Or upon brick upon altars of brick l The particular provocations instanced in are deviations in the matter of divine Worship Sacrificing in gardens is one thing instanced in and burning incense on brick or altars of brick is another Deut. 12. 13. there was a particular Altar of Gold appointed for Incense Exod. 40. 5. God commanded Exod. 20. 24 25. That his Altars should be made of Earth or rough stone This people transgressed both these Laws sacrificing in gardens for which the Prophet reflected on them ch 1. 29. and again ch 66. 17. whether in gardens consecrated to Idols or in such Gardens as the Heathens worshipped Idols in is not much material for us to know and burning incense upon altars of brick directly contrary to the divine Rule Their Worship was doubtless Idolatrous and these Phrases signifie committing Idolatry but the expressing that sin by these Phrases lets us know that the doing contrary to the direction of the Divine Rule in Gods Worship is a great part of the sinfulness of Idolatry 4 Which remain amongst the graves m They remained amongst the Graves either there expecting Revelations by dreams or there consulting with Devils who were thought to delight in such places or to practice Necromancy all which were forbidden Deut. 18. 11. ch 8. 19. and and lodge in the monuments n And they lodged in the Monuments the Hebrew word here used gives advantage to Interpreters to vary in their senses The word signifying onely places kept or observed some interpret it of Idol Temples some of Caves and Denns in which the Heathens used to worship their Idols some of Tombs or Monuments for dead persons besides the Idolatry of the thing there was in it a sinful imitation of the Heathens and a swerving from the Rule which God had given them which eat swines flesh o They also are Swines flesh contrary to the divine Law Lâ—…v 11. 7. Deut. 14. 8. and they indured in their vessels and ‖ pieces broth of abominable things p Broth of abominable things so the word is used Iud. 6. 19 20. others read it parts or pieces of abominable things that is broth or pieces of such flesh as was to the Jews unclean by the Law Levit. 11. Every Creature of God is good but Gods Prohibition had made the flesh of divers Creatures an abominable thing to the Jews they might not touch their flesh Lev. 11 28. but they taking the measures of their duty from their Appetite or from their Reason concluding from natural Principles made no Conscience of the positive Law of God This was their iniquity which is further aggravated in the next verse in their vessels 5 Which say Stand by thy self come not near to me for I am holier than thou q Though they were so exceedingly guilty yet they pretended to a singular Sanctity so as they would not suffer others to come near or touch them The Samaritans are usually charged with this uncharitableness and the use of this form of Words but as some do more excuse the Samaritans than the other Jews as to this rigour so it may be questioned whether they
weighty causes which the inferiour Judges cannot determine as it is explained ver 22. where they need and seek direction from God there thou shalt be as a mediatour between God and them to bring their matters to God as it here follows and to receive directions and commands from him See Numb 15. 33 34. and 27. 5 6. that thou mayst bring the causes unto God 20 And thou shalt teach them Ordinances and Laws u Thou alone shalt deliver and explain Gods laws to them which they may apply to their particular causes and occasions and so end their differences among themselves without giving thee any trouble and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk and the work that they must do 21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people * Deut. 1. 16. and 16. 18. â—… Chro. 19. 7 9. able men x Heb. men of might not for strength of body but for greatness resolution courage and constancy of mind which is the best preservative against partiality and corruption in judgement to which men of little minds or narrow souls are easily swayed by fears or hopes or gifts such as fear God y Which will restrain them from all injustice even when they have ability and opportunity to do wrong so cunningly or powerfully that they may escape the observation and censure of men men of truth z Or of faith or faithful such as love the truth and diligently labour to find it out in all causes and then pass a true and righteous sentence not at all respecting persons but onely the truth and right of their causes such as hate lies and slanders and will severely rebuke and punish them hating covetousness a This though included in the former is particularly expressed because gifts and bribes are the great corrupters of Judges and judgments and place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds rulers of fifties and rulers of tens 22 And let them judge the people at all seasons and it shall be that every great matter they shall bring unto thee but every small matter they shall judge so shall it be easier for thy self and they shall bear the burthen with thee 23 If thou shalt do this thing and God command thee so b If God approve of the course which I suggest to whose wisdom I submit my opinion For Iethro might well think that Moses neither would nor might make so great an alteration in the government without consulting God about it and expecting his answer Others render the place thus both God will give thee his commands i. e. thou wilst have leisure to ask and take his counsel in all emergencies which now thou hast not and thou wilst be able to endure then thou shalt be able to endure and all this people shall also go to their place c To their several habitations which are called mens places Iudg. 7. 7. and 9. 55. and 19. 28 29. where their calling and business lies from which they are now diverted and detained by fruitless and wearisome attendances in peace d Orderly and quietly having their minds much eased by this course and their contentions soon ended 24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law e This is one evidence of that meekness for which Moses is justly magnified that he disdained not to receive advice from one so much his inferiour in Wisdom and Learning and knowledge of the things of God And God would have this wise Counsel to come from Iethro not from Moses himself to shew how variously he distributes his gifts and to teach all men not to think too highly of themselves nor to despise the counsels even of their inferiours and did all that he had said f Not immediately but after he had received Gods approbation Numb 11. 16. and the peoples consent Deut. 1. 14. 25 And Moses chose g Not solely but together with the people as appears from Deut. 1. 13. able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people rulers of thousands rulers of hundreds rulers of fifties and rulers of tens 26 And they judged the people at all seasons the hard causes they brought unto Moses but every small matter they judged themselves 27 And Moses let his father in law depart h i. e. Dismissed him honourably See Numb 10. 29. and he went his way into his own land CHAP. XIX 1 IN the third month a Heb. Third new moon called Sivan including the latter part of May and the former part of Iune when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt the same day b Heb. in that day to wit when the moneth or new-moon began and when they departed from Rephidim to note that there was no Station between these two This is set down thus accurately because it gives an account of the original of the feast of Pentecost because the giving of the Law which was 3 or 4 days after this time was 50 days after the Passeover whereof 46 or 47 were past at their first coming to Sinai reckoning from the 15th day of the first moneth when they came out of Egypt to this time * Num. 33. 15. came they into the wilderness of Sinai 2 For they were departed from Rephidim and were come to the desert of Sinai c i. e. To that part of the desert which adjoyned to mount Sinai as Rephidim from whence they came was in that part of the wilderness adjoyning to Horeb which was another part of the same mountain See Exod. 17. 6. So they seem to have fetched a large compass and to have come from one side of the mountain to the other and had pitched in the wilderness and there Israel camped before the mount 3 And * Act. 7. 38. Moses went up to God d Into the mount of God to the place where God had now fixed his cloudy pillar and where he was about to manifest himself in a glorious manner So it is an anticipation and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain saying Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel 4 * Deut. 29. 2. Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I bare you on Eagles wings e i. e. safely out of the reach of danger and strongly against all opposition Compare Deut. 32. 11. Isa. 63. 9. Rev. 12. 14. and brought you unto my self f Into my presence and favour and fellowship to be my peculiar people to serve and worship me as your onely Lord and King 5 Now * Deut. 5. 2. therefore if ye will obey my voice indeed g Heb. obeying ye will obey i. e. if ye will obey me sincerely diligently and constantly and keep my Covenant then * Deut. 4. 20. 7. 6. anâ—… 14. 2. 26. 〈◊〉 3â—… 8 9. Psaâ—… 135. 4. Canâ—…
for thy neighbour but he saith against both because such perjuries slanders c. are most commonly designed against them and because this is a great aggravation of the sin when a man not only speaks evil and fâ—…lshood but doth this from malice and ill will But under this kind are contained other sins of a like though less sinful nature as in the other commands d A mans neighbour here is not onely the Israelite as some would have it but any man as plainly appears 1. because that word is frequently used in that sence not only in the New as all agree but also in the Old Testament as Gen. 11. 3. Lev. 20. 10. Esth. 1. 19. Prov. 18. 17. 2. because it is so explained Luk. 10. 29 36. Rom. 13. 9. compared with Mat. 22. 39. 3. from the reason of the thing which is common to all unless a man will be so hardy to say that he may bear false witness against a stranger though not against an Israelite and in like manner that when God forbids a man to commit adultery with his neighbours wife Lev. 20. 10. he may do it with a strangers wife and that though a man be commanded to speak the truth to his neighbour Zech. 8. 16. he may tell lies to a stranger 4. because the great law of love and charity which is the life and soul of this and all the commands and binds us to all binds us and bound the Israelites to strangers as appears from Exod. 23. 4. and Lev. 19. 33 34. 17 * Acts 20. 33. Rom. 7. 7. Thou shalt not covet e The coveting here forbidden is either 1. the inward and deliberate purpose and desire of a deceitful or violent taking away of another mans goods But this is forbidden in the eighth commandment And it is hard to conceive that St. Paul should think that this command did not forbid such a practise Rom. 7. 7. which even the better sort of heathens esteemed a sin whose words are that they who are with-held from incest or whoredom or theft onely from a principle of fear are guilty of those crimes especially seeing the Old Testament Scriptures which doubtless he diligently studied do so plainly condemn evil purposes of the heart as Lev. 19. 17. Deut. 9. 4 5. and 15. 7 9. c. or 2. the greedy desire of that which is another mans though it be without injury to him Thus Ahab sinned in desiring Naboths vineyard though he offered him mony for it 1 King 21. 2. or rather 3. those inward motions of the heart which from the fountain of original corruption do spring up in the heart and tickle it with some secret delight though they do not obtain the deliberate consent of the will For seeing this law of God is spiritual and holy Rom. 7. 12 14. and reacheth the thoughts intents and all the actual motions of the heart as is apparent from the nature of God and of his law and seeing such motions are both the fruits of a sinful nature and the common causes of sinful actions and are not agreeable either to mans first and uncorrupted nature or to Gods law they must needs be a swerving from it and therefore sin And this is the reason why this command is added as distinct from all the rest thy neighbours house thou shalt not * Job 31. 9. covet thy neighbours wife nor his man-servant nor his maid-servant nor his oxe nor his ass nor any thing that is thy neighbours 18 And * Heb. 12. 18. all the people saw the thunderings f i. e. Heard them One sence is oft put for another as seâ—…ing Gen. 42. 1. for hearing Act. 7. 12. and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoaking and when the people saw it they removed g From the bottom of the mountain where it seems they stood and stood afar off 19 And they said unto Moses * Deut. 5. 24. 18. 16. Heb. 12. 19. Speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die h This they speak from a sence of their own guilt and of the greatness and holiness of the Divine Majesty to whom they durst not approach but by a Mediatour See Deut. 5. 28. and 18. 16. Gal. 3. 19. 20 And Moses said unto the people Fear not for God is come to prove you i Or try or search you whether you are innocent and such as delight in my presence or conscious of your guilt and therefore afraid of my appearance whether you have such a righteousness as can abide the trial of a severe Judge or whether you are such as have cause to fear my wrath and to flee to my grace and mercy which of you are sincere and upright and which are hypocrites and ungodly persons or to try whether this terrible appearance will produce in you that reverence fear and obedience which I call for or to give you a law by which you will be proved whether you do indeed love and fear me as you pretend you do or whether you do not and that his fear may be before your faces k Gods fear is properly in mens hearts but here the sence seems to be this That his fear i. e. this dreadful manifestation of his Majesty and justice the act being here put for the object may be now and ever before your eyes and in your memories as an effectual preservative from sin that ye Sin not 21 And the people stood afar off and Moses drew near unto * chap. 19. 1â—… 1 King 8. 12. the thick darkness where God was 22 And the LORD said unto Moses Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel Ye have seen l i. e. Heard as ver 18. He may use the word seen here to intimate that this was all they could see of God to wit his voice and speech and that they saw no Image of him as is expressed in a parallel place and therefore should make no resemblances of him as it here follows that I have talked with you * Deut. 4. 36. from heaven m i. e. From the lower heaven to wit the air or the clouds which were over the top of mount Sinai Deut. 4. 36. Neh. 9. 13. and so the word heaven is oft understood as Gen. 1. 20. Iob 35. 11. Psal. 79. 2. And so this place may be reconciled with Heb. 12. 25. where this is said to be spoken upon earth 23 Ye shall not make * 1 Sam. 5. 4 â—… 2 King 17. 3â—… Ezek. 20. 39. 〈◊〉 43. 8. 2 Coâ—… 14 15 16. with me n i. e. To worship together with me I will allow no companion or to me as it follows unto you and ver 24. unto me and the particle eth is sometimes used for el or lamed as 1 Sam. 22. 14. 2 King 22. 14. or for me either to represent my person by comparing this with the parallel
place Deut. 4. 15 16. or to worship me by as it is apparent that the Israelites afterwards did intend to worship Jehovah in the golden Calf and therefore Aaron calls the feast of the Calf a feast to Iehovah Exod. 32. 5. and that with the approbation of the people whom he then complyed with and durst not resist gods o i. e. Idols or images to whom you may give the name and worship of Gods of silver p And consequently not of any other materials as wood or stone It is a Synecdoche neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold 24 An Altar of earth thou shalt make unto me q For thy present use or whilest thou art in the wilderness This he commanded partly that they might easily and readily erect an altar upon all occasions which it might be hard for them to do there of better materials partly to mind them how much more God regarded the inward holiness than the outward pomp of their devotions partly because God would make a conspicuous difference between them and idolaters who used much cost and curiosity about their Altars partly that the Altars might after they left them fall down and moulder away and not remain as lasting monuments which might be afterward abused to Idolatry by any persons that came thither partly because they were uncertain of their stay any where except at Sinai and therefore must raise such Altars as they could suddenly do But this command onely concerned their wilderness-state for there were better and more durable Altars in the Tabernacle and Temple and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings and thy peace-offerings * Lev. 1. 2. thy sheep and thine oxen in all places r Therefore there is no need of building any stately Altar in a certain place as if my presence were fixed there and not to be enjoyed elsewhere where I record my Name s Or cause my name to be remembred by you i. e. Not in every place which you shall invent but in all such places as I shall appoint for the remembrance or celebration of my name or for the service of my Majesty whether it be in the wilderness and in divers parts thereof or in the Tabernacle and Temple I will come unto thee and I will bless thee 25 And * Deut. 27. â—… Josh. 8. 31. if thou wilt make me an Altar of stone t Which in those rocky parts might be as easie for them to make as one of earth thou shalt not †Heb. build â—…em with hewâ—…ng build it of hewen stone u Which would require both time and cost and art The reasons of this precept are in part the same with the former ver 24. for if thou lift up thy tool upon it thou hast polluted it x By thy disobedience to my express command now given and howsoever they think to gratifie me by this curiosity I shall not look upon it as a sacred thing by which the sacrifices offered on it shall be sanctified but as a prophane thing which will defile them So little doth God value or approve the inventions of men in his worship how colourable soever they be 26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps y He seems to mean the steps of Ladders or others of the same nature which could suddenly be made and were proper for their present condition where there was danger of the following inconvenience For afterwards God appointed an Altar ten cubits high 2. Chron. 4. 1. Though some conceive they weâ—…t not up to that by steps but by an insensible ascent upon the ground raised by degrees for that purpose But if the Priests did go up to it by steps God provided against the indecency here mentioned by prescribing linnen breeches to them in that service unto mine Altar that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon z For these linnen breeches were not yet appointed and the manner then and there was for men to wear long coats or gowns like women God would remove all appearance or occasion of immodesty especially in sacred persons and things and the rather to shew his detestation of that impudence and filthiness which was very usual in some of the solemnities and worships of the heathen CHAP. XXI 1 NOW these are the Judgments a 〈◊〉 the judicial Laws by which thou and the Judges before mentioned shall govern thy self and the people in civil and criminal causes which thou shalt * chap. 24. 3 4. set before them 2 * Deut. 15. 12. If thou buy an Hebrew servant b Of which practise see Ier. 34. 14. This was allowed in two cases 1. when a man for his crimes was condemned by the Judges to be sold. Of which see Exod. 22. 3. 2 King 4. 1. Mat. 18. 25. 2. when a man pressed by great poverty sold himself or his children Of which see Lev. 25. 39 40. six years he shall serve and in the seventh year c Which is to be numbred either 1. from the last Sabbatical year or year of release which came every seventh year and then the sence of the place is not that he shall always serve six full years but that he shall never serve longer and that his service shall last onely till that year comes Or rather 2. from the beginning of his service for 1. it were a very improper speech to say be shall serve six years of one who possibly entred into his service but a month before the year of release 2. In the law of the Sabbatical year there is no mention of the release of servants as there is of other things Lev. 25. Deut. 15. and in the year of Iubilee when servants are to be released it is expressed so as Lev. 25. 54 55. he shall go out free for nothing 3 If he came in †Heb. with his â—…dy by himself d i. e. With his own person onely not with a wife as the opposite branch sheweth he shall go out by himself if he were married then his wife shall go out with him 4 If his master have given him a wife and she have born him sons or daughters the wife and her children shall be her masters e That being a true rule and approved both by Scripture and by heathen Authors that the birth follows the belly Gen. 21. 10. Gal. 4. 24 25. and he that owns the tree hath right to all its fruit and he shall go out by himself f Quest. How was this separation of man and wife agreeable with the first institution of marriage by which that bond is made indissoluble Ans. 1. That bond was not necessarily dissolved by this law both because the separation was at the mans choice who might have stayed there if he so pleased and because the distinction of their habitations might consist with the right and use of matrimony which the master also would probably permit for his own advantage Ans. 2. God might
peace-offerings which she or her husband offered which otherwise she might have done and if she be a Priests wife she shall not eat any of the â—…ithes or first-fruits or part of the hallowed meats which at other times she together with her husband might eat nor come into the sanctuary until the dayes of her purifying be fulfilled 5 But if she bear a maid-child then she shall be unclean two weeks as in her separation and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six dayes h The time in both particulars is double to the former not so much from natural causes because the purifications in female births are longer and flower which if it were true yet doth not extend to any such time as here is mentioned as for moral reasons either to be as a blot upon that sex for being the first in mans transgression 1 Tim. 2. 14. or to put an honour upon the Sacrament of Circumcision which being administred to the Males did put an end to that pollution sooner than otherwise had been or to shew the priviledge of the man above the woman and that the women were to be purified sanctified and saved by one of the other sex even by the man Christ Jesus without whom they should have still continued in their impurity 6 And when the dayes of his purifying are fulfilled for a son or for a daughter i For the birth of a son or of a daughter but the purification was for her self as appears from the following verses she shall bring a lamb of the †Heb. son of his year first year for a burnt-offering and a young pigeon or a turtle-dove for a sin offering k Either because of her ceremonial uncleanness which required a ceremonial expiation or for those particular sins relating to the time and state of child-bearing of which she is justly presumed to be guilty which might be many ways unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation unto the Priest 7 Who shall offer it before the LORD and make an atonement for her and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood This is the Law for her that hath born a male or a female l For though there was a difference in the time of her uncleanness for the one and for the other yet both were to be purified one and the same way to note that though all sins and sinners were not equal yet all were to be cleansed by the same means to wit by Christ and by faith See 1 Cor. 7. 14. Gal. 3. 28. 8 * Luk. 2. 24. And if †Heb. her hand find not sufficiency of she be not able to bring a lamb then she shall bring two turtles or two young pigeons the one for the burnt-offering and the other for a sin offering and the priest shall make an atonement for her and she shall be clean CHAP. XIII 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron saying 2 When a man shall have in the skin a For there was the seat of the Leprosy of his flesh a ‖ Or swilling rising a scab or bright spot b Shining like the sâ—…ale of â—… fish as it is in the beginning of a Leprosy and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy c A distemper most frequent in Egypt and Syria c. known also among the Greeks who note that it was not so properly a disease aâ—… a defilement or distemper in the skin whence Christ is not said to heal but to clearse the Lepers that came to him And this distemper is here provided against not because it was worse than others but because it was externally and visibly filthy and because of its infectious nature that hereby we might be instructed to avoid converse with such vitious persons who were likely to infect us * Deut. 17. 8. and 24. 8. then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest d Not to the Physitian because as was now said it needed not so much healing as cleansing and was rather a ceremonial pollution than a disease and because it belonged to the Priest to cleanse him and therefore to search and discover whether he was defiled and needed cleansing The Priest also was â—…o admit to or exclude from the Sanctuary and therefore to examine who were to be excluded And the discovery of this distemper was not so difficult that it required the Physitians art but the Priest by experience and the observation of those rules might easily make it or unto one of his sons the priests 3 And the priest shall look on the plague e i. e. The sign or appearance of the plague of leprosy And it is observable that the same signs of it are given by Moses here and by the learned Physitians in their works in the skin of the flesh and when the hair in the plague is turned white f And when the Leprosy came to its height not the hair onely but also the skin was turned white as Exod. 4. 6. Numb 12. 10. And this change of colour was an evidence both of the abundance of excrementitious humours and of the weakness of nature as we see in old and sick persons and the plague in sight is deeper than the skin of his flesh g For the Leprosy did consume both the skin and the flesh as appears from 2 King 5. 14. it is a plague of leprosy and the priest shall look on him and †Heb. polluâ—… him pronounce him unclean h Heb. make him unclean i. e. ministerially and declaratively in which sense ministers are said to remit siâ—…s Mat. 16. 19. and to destroy nations Ier. 1. 10. 4 If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh and in sight be not deeper than the skin and the hair thereof be not turned white then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague i For greater assurance to teach Ministers not to be rash nor hasty in their judgments and censures but diligently to search and examine all things before-hand The plague is here put for the man that hath the plague as pride is put for a proud man Ier. 50. 31. and dreamers Ier. 27. 9. seven dayes 5 And the priest shall look on him the seventh day and behold if the plague in his sight be at a stay k This translation is justified by the following clause which is added to explain it Otherwise the words are and may be rendred thus stand or abide in its own colour the Hebrew word being used for colour as well as for sight and the plague spread not in the skin then the priest shall shut him up seven dayes more 6 And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day and behold if the plague be somewhat dark l Which is opposed to the white colour of the leprosy But the word may be rendred have contracted it self
Either greater or smaller sacrifices all being comprehended under the two most eminent kinds See on Levit. 22. 20 21. wherein is blemish or any evil-favouredness for that is an abomination b i. e. Abhominable as Deut. 18. 12. unto the LORD thy God 2 * chap. 13. â—… If there be found among you within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee man or woman c The weakness and tenderness of that Sex shall not excuse her sin nor prevent her punishment that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God in transgressing his covenant d i. e. In Idolatry as it is explained v. 3. which is called a transgressing of Gods Covenant made with Israel partly because it is a breach of their faith given to God and of that Law which they covenanted to keep and principally because it is a dissolution of their matrimonial Covenant with God a renouncing of God and his worship and service and a chusing other Gods 3 And hath gone and served other gods and worshipped them either the * chap. 4. 1â—… sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven e Those glorious creatures which are to be admired as the wonderful works of God but not to be set up in Gods stead nor worshipped as Gods see Iob 31. 26. By condemning the most specious and reasonable of all Idolatries he intimates how absurd a thing it is to worship stocks and stones the works of mens hands which I have not commanded f i. e. I have forbidden to wit Exod. 20. Such negative expressions are oft emphatical and imply the contrary as Prov. 10. 2. and 17. 21. and 24. 23. 4 And it be told thee g By any person thou shalt not sleight so much as a rumour or flying report of so gross a crime and thou hast heard of it and enquired diligently ‖ By sending messengers examining witnesses c. and behold it be true and the thing certain that such abomination is wrought in Israel 5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman which have committed that wicked thing unto thy gates even that man or that woman and * Lev. 2â—… â—… shalt stone them with stones till they die 6 * Num. 35. 30. Chap. 19. 15. Matth. 18. 16. Joh. 8. 17. â—… Cor. 13. 1. 1 Tim. 5. 19. Heb. 10. 28. At the mouth h i. e. Upon the Testimony delivered upon oath before the Magistrates of two witnesses or three witnesses i To wit credible and competent witnesses The Jews rejected the Testimonies of Mad-men Children Women Servants familiar Friends or Enemies persons of dissolute lives and evil fame shall he that is worthy of death be put to death but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death 7 * Chap. 13. 9. The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him k Either laid upon his head to design the person or stretched out to throw the first stone at him God thus ordered it partly for the caution of witnesses that if they had through malice or wrath accused him falsely they might now be afraid to imbrue their hands in innocent blood partly for the security and satisfaction of the people in the execution of this punishment to put him to death and afterward the hand of all the people l Who being all highly and particularly obliged to God are bound to express their zeal for his honour and service and their detestation of all persons and things so highly dishonourable and abominable to him so thou * Chap. 13. 5. shalt put the evil away from among you 8 * Jer. 32. 27. 2 Chro. 19. 10. †Heb. If a matter be bidden from thee chap. 30. 11. 2 Sam. 13. 2. If there arise a matter too hard for thee m He speaks to the inferiour Magistrates who were erected in several Cities as appears by the opposition of these to them at Ierusalem If faith he that thou hast not skill or confidence to determine so weighty and difficult a cause in judgment between blood and blood n i. e. In capital causes in matter of bloodshed whether it be wilful or casual murder whether punishable or pardonable by those laws Exod. 21. 13 20 22 28. and 22. 2. Numb 35. 11 16 19. Deut. 19. 4 10. between plea and plea o In civil causes or suits between plaintifs and defendants about words or Estates and between stroke and stroke p i. e. Either 1. In Ceremonial causes between plague and plague between the true leprosie which is oft times called the plague and the seeming and counterfeit leprosie which was oft times hard to determine And under this as the most eminent of the kind may seem to be contained all ceremonial uncleannesses But this seems not probable 1. Because the final determination of the matter of leprosie is manifestly left to any particular Priest Levit. 13. and 14. 2. because the person suspected of leprosie was not to be brought to Ierusalem to be tryed there but was to be shut up in his own city and house Levit. 13. 4 5. and the Judges at Ierusalem neither could nor would determine his case without once seeing the person 3. Because the case of leprosy was not hard or difficult as those causes are said to be but plain and evident and so particularly and punctually described that the Priest needed onely eyes to decide it Or rather 2. In Criminal Causes concerning blows or wounds inflicted by one man upon another and to be requited to him by the sentence of the Magistrate according to that law Exod. 21. 23 24 25. wherein there might be many cases of great difficulty and doubt about which see the Annotations there being matters of controversie q i. e. Such things or matters of blood and pleas and strokes being doubtful and the Magistrates divided in their opinions about it for if it was a clear cause this was not to be done Some make this an additional clause to comprehend these and all other things thus as if he had said and in general any words or matters of strifes or contentions within thy gates then shalt thou arise and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall chuse r To wit to set up his Worship and Tabernacle or Temple there because there was the abode both of their Sanhedrim or chief Councel which was constituted of Priests and civil Magistrates who were most able to determine all controversies and of the High-Priests who were to consult God by Urim Numb 27. 21. in great matters which could not be decided otherwise 9 And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites s i. e. Unto the great councel which it is here denominated from because it consisted chiefly of the Priests and Levites as being the best Expositors of the Laws of God by which all those Controversies
m See on Deut. 17. 9 12. and observe that the controversies both here and there referred to and to be determined by the Priests and Judges are onely between man and man and not doctrines of faith and manners as the Papists for their own advantage pretend which shall be in those dayes 18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition and behold if the witness be a false witness and hath testified falsly against his brother 19 * Prov. 19. 5 9. Then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother * chap. 13. 5. and 17. 7. so shalt thou put the evil away from among you 20 And those which remain n i. e. The rest of the people See Deut. 13. 11. and 17. 13. shall hear and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you 21 And thine eye shall not pity but * Exod. 21. 23. Lev. 24. 20. Mat. 5. 38. life shall go for life eye for eye o What punishment he intended or the law allotted to the accused if he had been convicted the same shall the false accuser hear Of this law see on Exod. 21. 24. Lev. 24. 20. tooth for tooth hand for hand foot for foot CHAP. XX. 1 WHen thou goest out to battel a Upon a just and necessary cause as upon great provocation or for thy own defence against thine enemies and seest * Psal. 20. 7. Isa. 31. 1. horses and chariots and a people more than thou be not afraid of them for the LORD thy God is with thee which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt 2 And it shall be when ye are come nigh unto the battel that the priest b An eminent Priest appointed for this work and to blow with the holy trumpets Numb 10. 9. and 31. 6. shall approach and speak unto the people c Either successively to one regiment of the army after another or to some by himself to others by his brethren or deputies which accompanied him for that end 3 And shall say unto them Hear O Israel ye approach this day unto battel against your enemies let not your heart †Heb. be tender faint d Heb. be soft or tender Softness or tenderness of heart towards God is commended 2 King 22. 19. but towards enemies it is condemned here and ver 8. Levit. 26. 36. 2 Chron. 13. 7. Isa. 7. 4. fear not and do not †Heb. make haste tremble neither be ye terrified because of them 4 For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you 5 And the officers shall speak unto the people saying What man is there that hath built a new house and hath not dedicated it e Which was done by feasting and thanksgiving to God See the title of Psal. 30. and Nehem. 12. 27. Heb. hath initiated it i. e. entred upon it taken possession of it dwelt in it let him go and return to his house f Least his heart be set upon it and thereby he be negligent or timerous in the battel to the scandal and prejudice of others lest he die in the battel and another man dedicate it g And so he should lose and another get the fruit of his labours which might seem unjust or hard And God provides even for mens infirmities But this and the following exceptions are to be understood onely of a War allowed by God not in a War commanded by God not in the approaching war with the Canaanites from which even the Bridegroom was not exempted as the Iewish writers note 6 And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard h This and the former dispensation were generally convenient but more necessary in the beginning of their settlement in Canaan for the encouragement of those who should build houses or plant vineyards which was chargeable to them and beneficial to the commonwealth and hath not yet †Heb. made it common See Lev. 19. 23 24. eaten of it i Heb. made it common to wit for the use of himself and family and friends which it was not till the fifth year Levit. 19. 23 c. Ier. 31. 5. let him also go and return unto his house lest he die in the battel and another man eat of it 7 * chap. 24. 5. And what man is there that hath betrothed k Which was done by a solemn and mutual promise but not by an actual contract See Gen. 19. 14. Deut. 22. 23. a wife and hath not taken her let him go and return unto his house lest he die in the battel and another man take her 8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people and they shall say * Judg. 7. 3. What man is there that is fearfull and faint-hearted let him go and return unto his house lest his brethrens heart †Heb. melt faint as well as his heart 9 And it shall be when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people that they shall make captains of the armies †Heb. to be iâ—… the head of the people to lead the people l Or rather as the Hebrew hath it they shall set or place the captains of the armies in the head or front of the people under their charge that they may conduct and manage them and by their example incourage their souldiers But it is not likely they had their captains to make or chuse when they were just going to battel 10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it then * 2 Sam. 20. 18. proclaim peace unto it m This seems to be understood not of the cities of the Canaanites as is manifest from ver 16 17 18. who were under an absolute sentence of utter destruction Exod 23. 32 33. Deut. 7. 1 2. whence they are blamed that made any league or peace with them Iudg. 2. 2. but of the cities either of other nations who injured or disturbed them or commenced war against them or aided their enemies or oppressed their friends and allies or of the Hebrews themselves if they were guilty or abettors of Idolatry or Apostacy from God or of sedition or rebellion against authority or of giving protection and defence to capital offenders See Gen. 14. Iudg. 20. 2 Sam. 20. c. 11 And it shall be if it make thee answer of peace and open unto thee then it shall be that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee and they shall serve thee n By their purses and by their labours too as appears from 1 King 9. 15. 2 Chron. 8. 7. 12 And if it will make no peace with thee but will make war against thee then thou shalt besiege it 13 And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hand thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edg of the sword o
wife of his bosom and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave 55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat because he hath nothing left him in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates 56 The tender and delicate woman among you which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness her eye shall be evill r i. e. Unmerciful she will desire or design their destruction for her food towards the husband of her bosom and towards her son and towards her daughter 57 And towards her †Heb. after-birth young one s Heb. after-birth that which was loathsome to behold will now be pleasant to eat and together with it she shall eat the child which was wrapt up in it and may be included in this expression that commeth out from between her feet and towards her children which she shall bear t Or which she shall have born i. e. her more grown children for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates 58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful Name u i. e. Thing or Person to wit this glorious God Names are oft put for things as 1 King 5. 3. Psal. 20. 1. and 115. 1. Act. 4. 12. Eph. 1. 21. and for persons as Act 1. 15. Revel 3. 4. THE LORD THY GOD 59 Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful and the plagues of thy seed even great plagues and of long continuance and sore sicknesses and of long continuance 60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the * Chap. 7. 1â—… diseases of Egypt which thou wast afraid of and they shall cleave unto thee 61 Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law them will the LORD †bring upon thee until thou Heb. cause to ascend be destroyed 62 And ye * Chap. 4. 27. shall be left few in number whereas ye were * Chap. 10. 22. as the stars of heaven for multitude because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God 63 And it shall come to pass that as the LORD rejoyced over you to do you good and to multiply you so the LORD * Pro. 1. 26. Isa. 1. 24. will rejoyce over you to destroy you x His just indignation against you will be so great that it will be a pleasure to him to take vengeance on you For though he doth not delight in the death of a sinner in it self yet he doth doubtless delight in the glorifying of his justice upon incorrigible sinners seeing the exercise of all his attributes must needs please him else he were not perfectly happy and to bring you to nought and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it y Which was no ordinary land but a most pleasant land a land of promise a token of Gods favour and a pledge of their eternal inheritance which was a great aggravation of their loss of it 64 And the LORD * Lev. 26. 33. Neh. 1. 8. Jer. 16. 13. shall scatter thee among all people from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth and there thou shalt serve other gods which neither thou nor thy fathers have known even wood and stone 65 And * Amos 9. 4. among these nations shalt thou find no ease neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest z Ye shall have no settlement in the land whither you are banished but there you shall be tossed about from place to place and sold from person to person or Cain-like wander about like a Vagabond but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart and failing of eyes and sorrow of mind 66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee a Either because thou art in the hands of thy enemies that have power and want not will to destroy thee or because of the terrors of thy own mind and the guilt of thy conscience making thee to fear even where no great cause to fear is and thou shalt fear day and night and shalt have none assurance of thy life 67 * Job 7. 4. In the morning thou shalt say Would God it were even and at even thou shalt say Would God it were morning for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see 68 And the LORD * Jer. 44. â—… Hos. 8. 13. and c. 3â—… shall bring thee into Egypt again b Whence he hath now so gloriously delivered thee as repenting of all his kindness to thee and resolved to undo what he hath done for thee And the remembrance of what they endured in Egypt could not but make the thoughts of returning thither again very terrible to them with ships c Which was literally fulfilled under Titus when multitudes of them were carryed thither in Ships and sold there for Slaves as Iosephus relates And this expression seems to mind them of that time when they went over the Sea without ships God miraculously drying up the Sea before them c. which now they would have occasion sadly to remember by the way d Or to the way the Hebrew Bâ—…th here signifying to as it doth Gen. 11. 4. Levit. 16. 22. Psal. 19. 5. and 91. 12. Isa. 9. 8. And the way seems hot to be meant here of the usual road-way from Canaan to Egypt which was wholly by land but to be put for the end of the way or journey even the land of Egypt for to this and not to the road-way between Canaan and Egypt agree the words here following whereof I spake unto thee thou shalt see it i. e. Egypt no more again And so that way is put for to that land in a place parallel to this where the very same words are used Deut. 17. 16. to which this place palpably alludes whereof I spake unto thee * Chap. 1â—… 16. Thou shalt see it no more again and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bond-men and bond-women and no man shall buy you e Either because the number of you captives shall be so great that the market shall be glutted with you or because you shall be so loathsome and contemptible that men shall not be willing to have you for slaves And this was the condition of the Iews after the destruction of Ierusalem as Iosephus the Iew hath left upon record CHAP. XXIX 1 THese are the words of the covenant a These are the terms or conditions upon which God hath made i. e. renewed Covenant with you
and of succeeding Generations and consequently a great scandal to the true Religion and the professors of it and a mean to discourage others from embracing it as the Gibeonites had done Quest. Why did not God punish Saul 〈◊〉 he was alive for this fault but his innocent Children and David and the Israelites of this age Ans. First God did severely punish Saul for this and his other sins Secondly As God may justly inflict Temporal punishments upon any offender either in his person or in his posterity when he pleaseth so it is meet he should take his own time for it and it is folly and wickedness in us to quarrel with God for so doing Thirdly The Israelites might sundry ways make themselves guilty of Saul's sin tho it be not particularly mentioned in Scripture advising or encouraging him to it or by assisting him in the execution of it or by conniving at it or by rejoycing in it for some worldly advantage which they received or expected from it or by not repairing the injuries which Saul had done them as far as they might And some of these ways David himself might be involved in the guilt although indeed this evil fell principally upon the people And whereas many of the people probably were innocent of that crime yet they also were guilty of many other sins for which God might punish them though he took this occasion for it And it may be further observed That God is pleased many times severely to punish lesser delinquents and to suffer the greater for the present to go unpunished and that not onely to manifest his own Sovereign power and liberty but also to give the World thereby assurance of a future Judgment and Punishments reserved for the next life 2 And the king called the Gibeonites and said unto them now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel but * Josh. 9. 3 16 17. of the remnant of the Amorites and the children of Israel had sworn unto them and Saul sought to slay them d i. e. He fought occasions and pretences how he might cut them off with some colour of Law or Justice diligently searching out and aggravating their faults and punishing them worse than they deserved oppressing them with excessive labours and openly killing some of them and intending by degrees to wear them out in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah e Conceiving or rather pretending that it was not for the honour nor comfort nor advantage of Gods people to nourish any of that viperous brood in their Bosoms and that howsoever Ioshua and the Princes which then were had by their fraud been drawn into an Oath to preserve them Iosh. 9. 15. yet in truth that Oath was contrary to Gods command Exod. 23. 32. Deut. 7. 2. and therefore as he thought not to be observed This was his pretence but how little Zeal he had for God or for the publick good of his people is evident by the whole course of his life and therefore it is more than probable he had some particular motive or design in the case either because some of them had highly provoked him for whose sake he would be revenged of the whole race or because they being cut off their Estates might be forfeited to the Crown or for some other reason now unknown 3 Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites f To some of the chief of them who were to impart it to the rest What shall I do for you g What satisfaction do you expect or require for the injuries formerly done to you and wherewith shall I make the atonement that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD h That by your acknowledgment of satisfaction received the guilt and curse may be removed from the Land and People of God and by this means as also by your Prayers God may be reconciled and may restore his Blessing of plenty to us which hitherto he hath denied us 4 And the Gibeonites said unto him ‖ Or It is not silver nor gold that we have to do with Saul or his house neither pertains it to us to kill c. We will have no silver or gold of Saul nor of his house neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel i Except Saul's Family as it here follows And he said What you shall say k To wit in any reason and as far as Gods Law will permit that will I do for you 5 And they answered the king The man that consumed us and that ‖ Or 〈◊〉 us off devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel l That we should be either killed or banished from the Land of Israel which is as bad as death to us because here and here onely God is truly worshipped and enjoyed Whereby it seems divers of them were hearty Proselytes and Godly persons and therefore God is more severe in punishing the injuries done to them Compare 1 Sam. 26. 19. 6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us and we will hang them up unto the LORD m To vindicate his honour which was injured by Saul's violation of the Oath and Covenant of God and to appease his wrath in Gibeah of Saul n Saul's Countrey 1 Sam. 10. 26. and 11. 4. for their greater shame ‖ Or chosen of the LORD whom the LORD did chuse o This is added to 〈◊〉 Saul's offenâ—…e that it was committed not onely against them but also against the Lord who had chosen and advanced him and therefore did little deserve this from Saul's hand to have his Laws broken and his Name dishonoured by perjury And the king said I will give them p Having doubtless consulted God in the matter who as he had before declared Saul's Bloody House to be the causes of this Judgment so now commanded that Justice should be done upon it and that the remaining Branches of it should be cut off as sufficiently appears from hence that God was satisfied and well pleased with the action which he would not have been if David had done it without his command for then it had been a sinful action of David's and contrary to a double Law of God Deut. 21. 23. and 24. 16. which none but God himself could dispence with 7 But the king spared Mephibosheth q For the Gibeonites desiring onely such a number without designing the persons it was at David's choice whom to spare Or he prevailed with the Gibeonites that they did not demand him and with the Lord that he might not be one of those who were devoted to destruction the son of Jonathan ‖ This is expresly added to distinguish him from the other Mephibosheth v. 8. the son of Saul because of * 1 Sam. 18. 3. and 20. 8 42. and 23. 18. the LORDS oath that was between them between David and Jonathan the son of Saul 8 But
32. to Jerusalem 2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer b Of whom see 1 Kin. 16. 1 2. went out to meet him and said to king Jehoshaphat shouldest thou help the ungodly and * Psal. 139. 21. love them that hate the LORD c Was this agreeable to thy Duty and Love which thou proâ—…essest to God and Godliness that thou hast entred into so strict an Alliance and Friendship with wicked Ahab my sworn Enemy and given such Assistance to him therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD d Therefore God is angry with thee and will chastise thee for this Miscarriage Which he did partly by stirring up the Moabites and others to invade him ch 20. partly by permitting his Eldest Son Jehoram to kill all his Brethren ch 21. 4. and principally by bringing that sore and almost general Destruction upon his Grandchildren by Jehu 2 King 9. 27. and 10. 13 14. which was the proper Fâ—…uit of his Alliance with Ahab 3 Nevertheless there are * Ch. 17. 4. 6. good things found in thee e i. e. Good Works proceeding from an Honest Heart which God more regards than this particular Errour and therefore though he will chasten thee yet he will not utterly destroy thee in that thou hast taken away the gâ—…oves out of the land and hast prepared thine heart f Or directed or set thy heart i. e. Thou hast sought and served God with all thy Heart and not feignedly as many others do And this work of preparing or directing his heart is here ascribed to Jehoshaphat as elsewhere it is attributed to God Prov. 16. 1. Phil. 2. 13. because it is mans Action but performed by Gods Grace preventing enabling and enclining him to it to seek God 4 And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem and †Heb. he returned and went out he went out again through the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim h i. e. Through his whole Kingdom whereof these were the two Bounds and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers i Such of them as had revolted from God to Idols he reclaimed by his good Counsel and Example and by the Instructions of the Levites and Priests whom doubtless now he carried with him as he sent them before with his Officers of State g Once he went by his Officers ch 17. 7 c. Now he went in his own person 5 And he set Judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah city by city k In every City for it self and the Country adjacent that Justice might be administred with the most ease and convenience to the People and they might not all be forced to go up to Jerusalem 6 And said to the judges Take heed what ye do for * Deut. 1. 17. ye judge not for man but for the LORD l You represent Gods Person to whom Judgment belongeth and you have your Commission and Power from God and not from Man onely and your Administration of Justice is not onely for Mans good but also for Gods Honour and Service * Psal. 82. 1. Eccles. 5. 8. who is with you m Both to observe your Carriage and to 〈◊〉 you against all those Enemies whom the Impartial Exercise of Justice may provoke †Heb. in the matter of Iudgment in the judgment 7 Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you take heed and do it for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God nor * Deut. 10. 17. Job 34. 19. Act. 10. 34. Rom. 2. 11. Ephes. 6. 9. Col. 3. 25. 1 Pet. 1. 17. respect oâ—… persons n And therefore you are in Gods stead and do his Work and must give an Account to him must imitate God here Of respect of persons see Deut. 10. 17. job 34. 19. Act. 10. 34. nor taking of gifts o So as to pervert Judgment for them by comparing this with Exod. 23. 8. Deut. 16. 19. Prov. 17. 23. 8 Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites and of the priests and of the chief of the fathers of Iâ—…rael p Who were not Priests and Levites but such persons of other Tribes as were most Eminent for their Dignity Ability and Integrity But whether these persons made up one Court called the Sanhedrim by which all Causes Ecclesiastical and Civil were decided or there were two distinct Courts the one Ecclesâ—…astical consisting of the Priests and Levites the other Civil consisting of the Chief of the Fathers of Israel belongs to another place to determine and requires more words than the Nature of this Work can permit for the * Deut. 16. 18. judgment of the LORD q i. e. For Sacred matters concerning the Laws and Worship and Service of God and for controversiâ—…s r For Matters of Difference between Man and Man †Heb. and they returned whâ—…n they returned to Jerusalem s i. e. When Jehoshaphat and his Company were returned to Jerusalem then he made this Order â—…ing establishing Judges there But so this last Clause may seeâ—… superfluous and tautological being more than implyed in the beginning of the Verse Or rather when they i. e. the Causes and Controversies last mentioned shall return or be returned tâ—… Ierusalem i. e. When the Causes shall be so difficult that the Judges ordained in every City cannot determine them or when your Brethren that dwell in every City shall come to you as it is expressed v. 10. appealing from their City-courts to the great 〈◊〉 or Councel at Jerusalem Of which see on Exod. 18. 26. 〈◊〉 1. 17. 17. 8. As for the Phrase not onely Persons but Thingâ—… are said to return or be returned as Blood 1 King 2. 33. and Clouds Eccles. 12. 2. and Reproach Hos. 12. 14. If it be further objected that these Causes were never brought to Jerusalem before and therefore cannot be properly said to be returned thither That may be answered both from the usage of our Law wherein sucâ—… Causes are said to be returned to Westminster which never were there before and from the use of Scripture wherein sinners are commonly said to return to the Lord though they had never been with the Lord in that Sence before but were estranged from God even from the Womb till the Time of their Conversion And tâ—…e Dust i. e. Mans Body is said to return to the Earth Eccles. 12. 7. though it was never there before 9 And he charged them saying Thus shall ye do in the fear of the LORD faithfully and with a perfect heart t Passing such Sentences with your Mouths as your own Minds and Consciences upon the hearing of the Parties shall judge to be Just and not acting against your own Consciences for 〈◊〉 Motives as Corrupt Judges do 10 And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities between blood and blood u Of
the pity of others to do what they could to prevent it and partly that by this means it might come to the Queens ear 2 And came even before the kings gate for none might enter into the kings gate b And therefore he might not sit there as he had hitherto done clothed with sackcloth c Left is should give the King any occasion of grief or trouble 3 And in every province whithersoever the kings commandment and his decree came there was great mourning among the Jews and fasting and weeping and wailing and †Heb sackcloth and a his were laid under many many lay in sackcloth and ashes 4 So Esthers maids and her †Heb. 〈◊〉 chamberlains came and told it her Then was the queen exceedingly grieved and she sent raiment to cloth Mordecai d That so he might be capable of returning to his former place if not of coming to her to acquaint her with the cause of that unusual sorrow and to take away his sackcloth from him but he received it not 5 Then called Esther for Hatach one of the kings chamberlains †Heb. whom he had set before her whom he had appointed to attend upon her and gave him a commandment to Mordecai to know what it was and why it was 6 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city which was before the kings gate 7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him and of the sum of mony that Haman had promised to pay to the kings treasuries for the Jews to destroy them 8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them to shew it unto Esther and declare it unto her and to charge her i Not only in his own name to whom she manifested a singular respect though his relation to her was yet unknown but also in the name of the great God that she should go in unto the king to make supplication unto him and to make request before him for her people 9 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai 10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach and gave him commandment to say unto Mordecai 11 All the kings servants and the people of the kings provinces do know k By common â—…ame of this received custom and law that whosoever whether man or woman shall come unto the king into the inner court l Within which the Kings residence and throne was in This was decreed partly to maintain both the Majesty and the safety of the Kings person and partly by the contrivance of the greater officers of state that few or none might have access to the King but themselves and their friends And many such severe laws there were in the Persian Court which profane Historians relate as that if any person looked upon one of the Kings Concubines or wore any of his own clothes or drunk of that water which he had appropriated to himself and other such like things he was punished with death who is not called there is one law of his to put him to death m except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter that he may live but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days n Which gives me just cause to suspect and fear that the kings affections are alienated from me and therefore that neither my person nor petition will be acceptable to him 12 And they told to Mordecai Esthers words 13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther Think not with thy self that thou shalt escape in the kings house o i. e. Being or because thou art in the Kings house and an eminent member of his family more than all the Jews 14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time then shall there †Heb. respiration enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place p From another land and by another means which God can and I am fully persuaded will raise up but thou and thy fathers house shall be destroyed q By the righteous and dreadful judgment of God punishing thy cowardize and self-seeking and thy want of love to God and to his and thy own people and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this r It is probable God hath raised thee to this honour for this very season and therefore go on couragiously and doubt not of the success 15 Then Esther bad them return Mordecai this answer 16 Go gather together all the Jews that are †Heb. found present in Shushan and fast ye s And pray which was the main business to which fasting was only an help and an handmaid for me and neither eat nor drink t To wit so as you use to do either deliciously or plentifully Leave off your common meals dinners by day and suppers at night and eat and drink no more than meer necessity requires that so you may give your selves to constant and servent prayers for which your ordinary repasts will unfit you For it is not likely that she would impose the burden of absolute fasting so long upon all the Jews which very few of them were able to endure And so the like phrase is taken Act. 27. 33. where he saith This is the fourteenth day that ye have continued fasting having taken nothing three days night or day I also and my maidens u Which she had chosen to attend upon her person and were doubtless either of the Jewish nation or proselyted by her or others means to that Religion will fast likewise x Which may belong either 1. To the thing only that as they did fast so she would Or rather 2. To the time of three days and three nights for so she might do though she went to the King oâ—… the third day For the fast began at evening and so she might continue her fast three whole nights and two whole days and the greatest part of the third a part of a day being reputed a day in the account of Scripture and other Authors of which see on Mat. 12. 40. Yea she might fast all that day too for it is probable she went not to the King till he had dined when she supposed she might find him in the most mild and pleasant humour and then returned to her apartment where she fasted till the evening and so will I go in unto the king which is not according to the law y Which is against the law now mentioned and if I perish I perish z Although my danger be great and evident considering the expressness of that law and the uncertainty of the Kings mind and that severity which he shewed to my predecessor Vashti yet rather than neglect my duty to God and to his people I will go to the King and cast my self chearfully and resolutely upon Gods providence
1. 53. 1 thoughts o He hath no serious thoughts of not regard unto God or his word which ought to command him or his Threats and Judgments which should keep him in awe Or all his thoughts are there is no God to wit no such God as minds the Affairs of the World and the Actions of Men and punisheth Sinners He was a Deist and owned a God at least in words but denied his Providence 5. His ways are alwayes grievous p His whole course and carriage is vexatious to all that are within his reach but especially to the poor who cannot right themselves and to just and good Men whom he hateth and persecuteth Or His ways i. e. his designs and enterprizes at all times are prosperous or successful or do bring forth for this Verb signifies as the pains and trouble so also the success and comfort of child-bearing or the bringing forth Children as Psal. 20. 9. Isa. 54. 1. Ier. 4. 31. And the accomplishment or disappointment of designs is frequently expressed by this Metaphor of which see 2. Kings 19. 3. Psal 7. 14. Isa. 59. 4. c. And this sence seems best to suit with the Context * Prov. 24. 7. thy judgments q Either 1. Thy Laws which are oft called Iudgments Or rather thy Threatnings denounced against and Punishments inflicted upon Sinners are far above out of his sight r Either 1. He doth not feel them thou removest them far from him which indulgence of thine is the cause of his insolency Or rather 2. He doth not discern nor regard nor fear them nor think of them but goes on securely and resolvedly in his wicked courses He hath not so much Faith nor Reason as to apprehend or consider them but like a brute-Beast looks onely downward to the Earth and minds not things above him And thus it seems best to agree with the foregoing and following Clauses His Devices succeed and therefore he neither fears God's Judgments nor the power of his Enemies but fancies his Happiness to be unchangeable as it follows v. 6. i. e. He despiseth them being confident that he can blow them away with a Breath This is a Gesture of contempt or disdain both in Scripture as Psal. 12. 5. Mal. 1. 13. and in other Authors as in Plautus where one speaks thus to a proud and bragging Captain Thou hast blown away whole Legions with thy Breath as Leaves are blown away by a wind as for all his enemies he puffeth at them s. 6. He hath said in his heart t He thinketh or perswadeth himself I shall not be moved u Or removed to wit from my place and happy state for I shall †Heb. unto generation and generation never be in adversity x Or because I am not in adversity therefore I never shall be in it His present prosperity makes him secure for the future Comp. Revel 18. 7. Or yea for this particle sometimes hath no other signification or use but onely to amplify or aggravate as it is also taken 1. Sam. 15 20 24. 11. I shall never be in evil So the sence of the place is I shall not onely be kept from total ruin or a removal from my place and estate but I shall not meet with the least cross or trouble For this evil is not the evil of Sin as some here understand it in which he knew that he was and was resolved ever to continue but the evil of Punishment which was the only thing that he feared or regarded 7. * Rom. 3. 1â—… His mouth is full of cursing y Either 1. Of Oaths and Blasphemies against God Or 2. Of reviling and execration of other men especially those that are good or those that stand in his way and hinder his wicked designs Or rather 3. Of Oaths and Imprecations against himself of which this word is used Numb 5. 21. Deut. 29. 12 21. Neh. 10. 29. By which he indeavours to gain Credit and to make his Neighbours secure and so to make way for the deceit and fraud which here follows For this wretched Man is represented both here and in the succeeding Verses as one that doth not act with open Violence and Hostility but with subtil and secret Artifices using all cunning Insinuations and Flatteries and Lies and among others Oaths of which an atheistical Politician said that Men were to be deceived with oaths and Children with Rattles or Toyes and †Heb. 〈◊〉 deceit and fraud z Two words signifying the same thing to note the greatness and frequency of his Deceits Or one word may signify the deceit lurking in his heart and the other the manifestation of it in external Frauds and Stratagems under his tongue a Either 1. In his Heart which is under the Tongue Or rather 2. Under his fair and plausible Speeches the Mischief here following is hid and covered Withal he seems to allude to Serpents whose poison lies hidden under their Tongue or within their Teeth is mischief and ‖ Or 〈◊〉 vanity b Or rather iniquity as this word is oft rendered or injury the vexation or oppression of other men which he covers with these fair pretences 8. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages c Not within the Villages which is not a fit place for lurking but about them in the ways bordering upon them or leading to them as Robbers use to do * Heb. 3. 〈◊〉 in the secret places d That he may avoid the shame and punishment of Men which is the onely thing that he fears doth he murder the innocent his eyes †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are privily set e Heb. Are hid The sence is either 1. He winketh as men do when they shoot their Arrows at a mark Or rather 2. He watcheth and looketh out of his lurking-place to spy what passengers come that way He alludes still to the practices of Robbers against the poor 9. He lieth in wait †Heb. 〈◊〉 secret places secretly as a lion in his den f Where he lurks and waits for prey he lieth in wait to catch the poor he doth catch g Or snatch or seize upon to wit with violence and to devour or destroy him the poor when he draweth him h Or by drawing him or after he hath drawn him He layeth Snares for him and when he takes him tears him in pieces into his net 10. †Heb. be breaketh 〈◊〉 He croucheth and humbleth himself i Like a Lion for he continues the same Metaphor which gathereth himself together and lies close upon the ground partly that he may not be discovered and partly that he may more suddenly and surely and fiercely lay hold upon his prey But for this Translation because this and is not in the Hebrew and there is another and there prefixed to the first Verb some joyn that first Verb to the end of the tenth Verse
Fear See Levit. 26. 36. Deut. 28. 65. Iob 15. 21. Prov. 28. 1. They who designed to secure themselves from all Fear and Danger by their Contempt of God and by the Persecution of good Men and by other wicked Courses were by those means filled with the Terrors which they sought to avoid for God hath scattered the bones c Hath not onely broken their Bones i. e. Their strength and force which is oft noted by the Bones as Psal. 6. 2. and 31. 10. and 51. 8. but also dispersed them hither and thither so as there is no Hopes of a Re-union and Restauration of him that encampeth against thee d i. e. Against my People expressed v. 4. or Israel or Zion as it is in the next Verse thou e Thou Oh Zion or Ierusalem which they besiege hast put them to shame f For the great and strange disappointment of their Hopes and Confidence It was a great Reproach to them for such numerous and mighty Forces to be baffled and Conquered by those whom they thought to swallow up at a Morsel because God hath despised them g Or Rejected them Cursed them Therefore it is no wonder if they could not stand before thee 6. †Heb. who will give Salvations c. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion when God bringeth back the captivity of his people Jacob shall rejoyce and Israel shall be glad PSAL. LIV. To the chief musician on Negiroth Maschil a Psalm of David * 1 Sam. 23. 6 26 1. when the Ziphims came and said to Saul Doth not David hide himself with us a Of which he speaks 1 Sam. 23. though they did seek to betray him a second time 1. SAve me O God by thy Name b i. e. By thy own strength as the next Words explain it because I have no other Refuge Or for thy Name i. e. For thy own Glory which is concerned in my Deliverance and judge me c i. e. Judge or give Sentence for me or plead my Cause as this Phrase is oft taken as we have seen by thy strength 2. Hear my prayer O God give ear to the words of my mouth 3. For * Psal. 86. 14. strangers d The Ziphites whom though Israelites he calls Strangers in regard of their Barbarous and perfidious Disposition and Carriage towards him by which they shewed themselves to be estranged from God as the wicked are said to be Psal. 58. 3. and from the Common-wealth of Israel and from all the Laws of Piety and Humanity For which Causes he calls such Persons Heathens Psal. 59. 5. and elsewhere are risen up against me and oppressors seek after my soul they have not set God before them e They cast off all Regard to thy Presence and Authority and all Fear of thy Judgements Selah 4. Behold f Consider it and see the Vanity of all your wicked Practices against me God is mine helper * Psal. 118. 7. the LORD is with them that uphold my soul g He fights for them and on my behalf and therefore against all mine Enemies 5. He shall reward evil unto †Heb. those that 〈◊〉 me mine Enemies cut them off in thy truth h Or for or according to thy Truth whereby thou art engaged to fulfil thy Promises made to me and thy Threatnings denounced against thine and mine implacable Enemies 6. I will freely i Not by Constraint as many do because they are obliged to it and cannot neglect it without Shame and Inconvenience to themselves but with a willing and Cheerful mind which thou lovest in and above all Sacrifices sacrifice unto thee I will praise thy name O LORD for it k Either thy Name Or rather to Praise thy Name is good l i. e. An act of Justice and Piety and Gratitude 7. For he hath delivered me out of all trouble and mine eye hath seen m He speaks of it as a thing already done Either to express his assurance of it Or because this Psalm was made after it was done his desire n Or thy Vengeance Which may be understood out of v. 5. But there is no necessity of any Supplement the Words in the Hebrew run thus Mine eye hath looked upon mine Enemies Either with Delight as this Phrase signifies Psal. 22. 17. and 27. 4. and elsewhere Or without Fear or Shame I shall not be afraid to look them in the Face having God on my side upon mine Enemies PSAL. LV. The ARGUMENT This Psalm was certainly Composed by David when he was greatly distressed and Persecuted Either by Saul or rather by Absalom and betrayed by some pretended or former Friend To the chief musician on Neginoth Maschil a Psalm of David 1. GIve ear to my prayer O God and hide not thy self a Turn not away thy Face and Ear as one resolved not to hear nor Help from my supplication 2. Attend unto me and hear me I mourn in my complaint and make a noise b For my Misery is very great and sorceth Tears and bitter Cries from me 3. Because of the voyce c i. e. Their Clamours and Threats and Slanders and insolent Boastings all which are hateful to thee as well as Injurious to me of the enemy because of the oppression of the wicked for they cast iniquity upon me d The Sence is Either 1. They make me the great Object of their wicked and injurious and mischievous Practises Or 2. They lay many Crimes to my Charge or falsly as if by my Wickedness I was the cause of all my Calamities and in wrath they hate me e Their Anger and Rage against me is no sudden and Transitory Passion but is boyled up into Malice and Hatred 4. My heart is sore pained f With pains like those of a Travelling Woman as the Word signifies My Heart which hath commonly supported me in my Distresses is now ready to sink within me Therefore Lord Pity and Help me within me and the terrors of death g Either deadly Terrors such as seize upon Men in the Agonies of Death or Fear of Death which is the more grievous to me because my Death will reflect Dishonour upon thee and bring many Miseries upon the People are fallen upon me 5. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me and horror hath †Heb covered me overwhelmed me 6. And I said O that I had wings like a dove h Which being fearful and pursued by Birds of prey flyes away and that very swiftly and far and into solitary Places where it hides and secures it self in the Holes of the Rocks or in some other secret and safe place All which fitly represents David's present Disposition and Desire Or that I might or where I might be at Rest or dwell in some settled and safe place and be delivered from those uncertainties and wandrings to which I am now exposed
42. 8. which is the fountain of the promises and his blessing Psal. 133. 3. which is the fruit of his promises and deliverances 44. 4. which are the things promised And therefore it is not strange if the promises be sometimes called Commandments are truth 152 †Heb. I knew of old from thy precepts So Gr. ver 89. Psal. 111. 7. 8. Concerning thy testimonies I have known of old q By my own long experience ever since I arrived at any knowledge in those matters that thou hast founded them for ever r That thou hast established them upon sure and everlasting foundations RESH 153 Consider mine affliction and deliver me for I do not forget thy law 154 * Psal. 35. 1. Mich. 7. 9. Plead my cause and deliver me quicken me according to thy word 155 Salvation is far from the wicked for they seek not thy statutes s And therefore on the contrary I trust that thou wilt save me because I do seek them My wicked enemies shall certainly be destroyed by which means I shall be delivered 156 ‖ Or many Great are thy tender mercies O LORD quicken me according to thy judgments t According to the manner of thy administrations towards thy people as v. 149. 157 Many are my persecutors and mine enemies yet do I not decline from thy testimonies u Though they tempt me to do so and persecute me because I will not do it 158 I beheld the transgressors x I observed and considered their ungodly courses and was grieved because they kept not thy word 159 Consider how * Ver. 132. I love thy precepts y Which was the cause of my grief for their violation of them quicken me O LORD according to thy loving kindness 160 †Heb. The beginning of thy word is true Thy word is true from the beginning z Either from the beginning of the world or ever since thou hast revealed thy mind by thy word to the sons of men all thy words have been found to be true and certain and so they will be to the end of the world as is implied in the next clause Or as it is in the margent the beginning or as others render it the summ as this very word is used Exod. 30. 12. Numb 26. 2. 31. 26. to wit the whole of it there is not the least part of it which is not so of thy word is true and * Ver. 89. every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever SCHIN 161 Princes a Who had power to do it and who ought to have used their authority to protect me whom they knew to be innocent and injured have persecuted me without a cause but my heart standeth in awe of thy word b But I feared thine offence and displeasure more than their wrath 162 I rejoice at thy word as one that findeth great spoil 163 I hate and abhor lying c Or falshood either 1. in my speech and actions all hypo crisie and deceit which is the common practice of mine enemies and of all godless Politicians or 2. in doctrine and worship as this word seems to be used v. 29. because both there and here it is opposed to Gods Law but thy law do I love 164 * Ver. 62. Seven times d Many times that definite number being oft taken indefinitely as Levit. 26. 28. and elsewhere a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments 165 Great peace e Either outward prosperity and happiness which God in his Law and expresly promised to good men or at least inward peace satisfaction and tranquillity of mind arising from the sence of Gods love to them and watchful care over them in all the concerns of this life and of the next have they f Heb. is to them or shall be to them for the Verb being not expressed it may be understood either way Although they may meet with some disturbance yet their end shall be peace as is said Psal. 37. 37. which love thy law and †Heb. they shall have no stumbling block Prov. 22. 5. nothing shall offend them g Heb. they shall have no stumbling block to wit such at which they shall stumble and fall into mischief and utter ruine as ungodly men have before whom God doth oft lay stumbling blocks or occasions of sin and destruction as it is affirmed by God himself Ier. 6. 21. Ezek. 3. 20. Rom. 9. 33. out of Isa. 8. 14. 166 * Gen. 49. 18. LORD I have hoped for thy salvation and done thy commandments h Thus performing the condition which thou hast required I justly and confidently hope for thy mercy promised 167 My soul hath kept thy testimonies and I love them exceedingly i I have not onely obeyed thy commands which an hypocrite may sometimes and in part do for worldly ends but I have done it with my very soul and from an hearty love to them 168 I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies for k Or because This is added either 1. as the reason or motive of his obedience which was the consideration of Gods Omniscience and his desire to approve himself and his ways to God or 2. as a proof and evidence of it Whereas this and all his former professions of his piety were charged by his enemies with deep hypocrisie and might seem to savour of pride and vain-glory here in the close of them he makes a solemn appeal to that God who knew his heart and all his ways and whether these things were not true and real which if they were not he tacitly imprecates Gods judgment upon himself all my ways * Or were are before thee TAU 169 Let my cry come near before thee l Which at present thou seemest to shut out as the Church complained Lam. 3. 8. O LORD give me understanding m Whereby I may both know and perform my duty in all particulars according to thy word 170 Let my supplication come before thee deliver me according to thy word 171 * Ver. 7. My lips shall utter praise when thou hast taught me thy statutes 172 My tongue shall speak n Heb. shall pour forth freely and abundantly like a fountain of thy word o In praise of it for its righteousness as it here follows its truth and purity and other excellencies for all thy commandments p Even those which to men of corrupted minds seem harsh and unjust are righteousness 173 Let thine hand help me for * Josh. 24. 22. Prop. 1. 29. I have chosen thy precepts q For my guide and companion and chief joy and treasure 174 I have longed for thy salvation r Either 1. for deliverance from my present straits and calamities that I may serve thee with more freedom and may glorifie thy Name in a more solemn and publick manner or 2. that thou wouldest
deceit in my words and carriage towards God or men give me z This is his second request which may seem to have some reference to the former Poverty being commonly the occasion and temptation to the sin of Lying and Riches being the great occasions and inticements to vanity Thus as his first Petition was against the sins themselves so this latter is against the occasions of them neither poverty nor riches * Matt. 6. 11. feed me with food †Heb. of my allowance convenient for me a moderate and suitable both to my Natural necessities and to that estate and condition of Life in which thou hast put me and to that work and service which thou hast for me to do And this mediocrity of Estate is so amiable that it hath been oft desired by wise Heathens as more eligible than a state of the greatest plenty and glory 9 * Deut. 8. 12. 32. 15. Hos. 13. 6. Lest I be full and †Heb. bely thee deny thee b By trusting to Riches which is a denial of God Iob 31. 24 28. by unthankfulness for and abuse of his mercies and by rebellion against him and divers other courses and common practices of rich men whereby God is denied in truth and in works even when he is owned in words and in shew and say who is the LORD c That I should obey or serve him I do not need him I can live of my own without him Lest by degrees I should arrive at down right Atheism or infidelity which is most incident to rich and great men as is manifest from Experience or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain d Use false Oaths either to vindicate my self when I am suspected or accused of Theft and my Oath is required according to the Law Exod. 22. 8 11. or to gratifie others for filthy lucre as poor men frequently do 10 †Heb. hurt 〈◊〉 with thy 〈◊〉 Accuse not e To wit maliciously rashly or without just and sufficient cause for otherwise in some cases this may be not only lawful but a duty as when a servant lives wickedly or robs his Master or the like a servant f Whose condition is in itself mean and miserable and therefore thou shouldst not make it worse without great and apparent necessity unto his Master lest he curse thee g Desire God to curse and punish thee which though it may be sinful in him yet being deserved by thee thou hast reason to fear and expect and thou be found guilty h By God who is ready to plead the Cause of the afflicted and upon strict search shall find thee guilty and punish thee accordingly 11 There is a generation i A sort of men abominable both to God and men which is implied concerning these and the following kinds of sinners v. 12 13 14. that curseth their father k And Mother too as it follows ungrateful and unnatural monsters and doth not bless their mother 12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness l Who not only pretend to others but conceit within themselves that they are truly religious persons when they live in a course of wickedness 13. There is a generation O how * 〈◊〉 6. 17. lofty are their eyes and their eye-lids are lifted up k Who are proud and insolent advancing themselves and despising all others in comparison of themselves and shewing the Pride of their Hearts in their countenances and carriages 14 * Joh 29. 17. 〈◊〉 â—…2 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. 〈◊〉 12. 18. There is a generation whose teeth are as swords and their jaw-teeth as knives to devour the poor l Extortioners and cruel oppressors who grind the Faces of the poor from off the earth and the needy from among men 15 The horse-leach m An insatiable Creature sucking blood till it be ready to burst hath two daughters n Which are either 1. The two forks into which her Tongue is divided and wherewith she sucks But those who have more accurately observed and described the frame of that Creature tell us that they have no Tongue and that they suck either by three little teeth or several parts of the mouth gathered and compressed together Or rather 2. The following things which resemble the Horse-leach in its insatiableness nothing being more ordinary than to call those persons or things the Sons or Daughters of those whose examples they imitate And whereas it is objected that they are not only two but three yea four as is said in the next clause the Answer is easie that though he begin with two yet he proceeds from thence to three and four all which are said to be the Daughters of the Horse-leach if the words be rendred commodiously and as they are in the Hebrew as we shall presently see crying Give give o Never filled and always craving and ready to receive more and more There are three things p Or yea which may be understood in this as it is in our Translation of the next clause they to wit the Daughters of the Horse-leach are three that are never satisfied q Which is added partly to explain the former clause give give and to shew the cause of that excessive desire of more because they were not contented with what they had and partly to give the reason why he calls them the Daughters of the Horse-leech yea four things say not r Or yea they the daughters forementioned are four which say not †〈◊〉 wealth It is enough 16 †Heb. hell 〈◊〉 27. 20. 〈◊〉 2. 5. The grave and the barren womb s For as the Israelitish Women did generally and vehemently desire many Children for diverse reasons elsewhere mentioned so those who were barren amongst them were most eager in those desires as we see in Rachel Gen. 30. 1. and as in all other cases persons most prize and thirst after those good things which they want the earth t Which when it is dry thirsts for rain and in a litte time sucks up great quantities of water and gapes for more that is not filled with water and the fire u Which continually burns as long as there is any combustible matter left for it that saith not It is enough 17 The eye that mocketh at his father u He that scorneth or derideth his Parents though it be but with a look or gesture and much more when he breaks out into opprobrious words and Actions and despiseth to obey his mother the ravens of ‖ Or the 〈◊〉 the valley shall pick it out x He shall die an unnatural and untimely and ignominious death and after death shall lie unburied and so be exposed to the Birds and Beasts of Prey and amongst others to the Crows or Ravens who use to feed
that wherein God delighted not God accounts that those do not heaâ—… who do not obey his will but they did evil before mine Eyes and chose that in which I delighted not 5 Hear the word of the Lord you that * V. 2. tremble at his word s The Prophet turneth his discourse from denâ—…uncing judgment against the Idolaters and formalists amongst the Jews to such as feared God whose religion is described by a trembling at his word as v. 2. such a turning of the Prophets discourse was ch 50. 10. ch 51. 1. 7. The same words belong not to Saints and presumptuous Sinners your brethren t Your Brethren by Nation or by external profession in Religion tho â—…alse brethren Gal. 2. 4. Thus Paul calls all the rejected â—…ews Brethren Rom. 9. 3. that hated you that cast you out u That either shut you out of their intimate society or which is more probable excommunicate and cast you out of their Synagogues or cast you out of their City and some of you out of the world Iohn 9. 35. 22. Iohn 16. 2. for my names sake x i. e. For my sake for your owning me and adherence to mâ—… law said said * Ch. 5. 1â—… Let the Lord be glorified y Either mocking you as the Jews did Christ 〈◊〉 hanging upon the cross Mat. 27. 43. Luke 23. 35. thus they mocked at David Psal. 42. 3. Or Let the Lord be glorified thinking they did God good service Ioâ—…n 16. 2. but he shall appear to your joy and they shall be ashamed z There will come a day when God shall appear and let them know his judgment concerning their violence and rage then you shall have joy and they shall be ashamed 2 Thes. 4. 16 17 18. 6 A voice of noise from the city a The expression of a Prophetical extasy as much as methinks I already hear a voice of noise rather a sad and affrighting noise then the noise of Triumphers as some think yea it comes not from the City only but from the Temple wherein these formalists have so much gloried and reposed so much confidence there is a noise of Soldiers slaying and of the Priests or poor people fled thither shrieking or crying out a voice from the temple a voice of the Lord that rendreth recompence to his Enemies b A voice of the Lord not in thunder which is sometimes called so Psal. 29. 3 4 5 c. but that rendreth recompence to his enemies Thus the noise of Soldiers the roaring of Guns the sounds of Drums and Trumpets are the Voice of the Lord. Thus the Prophet seemeth to express the destruction of the Jews by the Roman Armies as if a thing at that time doing 7 Before she travailed she brought forth before her pain came she was delivered of a man-child c The whole verse is expressive of a great and sudden salvation which God would work for his Church like the delivery of a woman and that of a man-child before her travel and without pain The onely doubt is whether it referreth to the deliverance of the People out of Babylon or the worlds surprizal with the Messiah and the sudden and strange propagation of the Gospel and it is a question not easily determined The delivery of the Jews out of Babylon indeed was without struglings or any pain not like their deliverance from Egypt after the wasting of their enemies by ten successive Plagues but by the kind Proclamation of Cyrus but it seems not to have been sudden only as to the day hour manner for Daniel understood by Books that the time was come Dan. 9. 2. and the people had a prospect of it 70 years before Ier. 25. 12. 29. 10. The Prophecy therefore seems rather to refer to the coming of Christ and the sudden propagation of the Gospel The Popish Interpreters applying it to the Virgin Mary bringing forth Christ is like other of their â—…ond dreams 8 Who hath heard such a thing d The Prophet calls either to the whole world or to such as feared God amongst the Iews to admire God in his stupendious works of Providence either in the easie manner of the deliverance of the Jews out of the Captivity of Babylon without any pain without so much as one throw or else in the erecting of his Gospel Church into which all the Jews that received Christ were gathered as well as the Gentiles making both one Eph. 2. 14. who hath seen such things e Which seems to be meant by the Earths bringing forth in one day as great a work of Providence as if all the women in the world should have brought forth in a day or as if all the plants of the Earth had brought 〈◊〉 their flowers and fruit in one day shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day or shall a Nation be born at once for as soon as Zion travelled she brought forth children f As soon as the Church of the Jews began to move out of the Captivity of Babylon God put it into the hearts of multitudes to go up Exod. 1. 5 ch 2. 1 2 c. Or as soon as the voice of the Gospel put the Church of the Jews into her Travel in Iohn the Baptists Christ's and the Apostles times it presently brought â—…orth In Iohn Baptist's time the Kingdom of Heaven suffered violence and the violent took it by force Mat. 11. 12. and it continued so as 3000 were converted at Peters Sermon Acts 2. The Gentiles were the Children of Zion being planted into their stock the law of the Gospel first going out of Zion 9 Shall I bring to the birth and not ‖ Or 〈◊〉 cause to bring forth saith the Lord g The work before spoken of seemeâ—…h not after the manner of men who do things that are great gradually nor in an ordinary course of nature whose motions also bring things by degrees to their perfection but you must consider who it is that speaketh saith the Lord now as is the God so is his strength Again men may undertake things and for want of power not bring them to perfection but shall I do such a thing I have by many prophecies and promises secured you in the expectation of such a thing and shall I not by my Providence effect it I that in the ordinary course of my providence use to give a birth to Women to whom I have given a power to conceive shall I not give a birth to Zion to my people whom by my 〈◊〉 and promises I have made to conceive such hopes and expectations shall I cause to bring forth and shut the womb saith thy God h Nor shall Zion once only bring â—…rth but she shall go on teeming her womb shall not be shut she shall every day bring forth more and more children my presence shall be with my Church to that end to the end of the world 10 Rejoyce