that time which was between the building of the Temple and the deliverance out of the Babylonish Captivity was the middle time which is the most flourishing time of life For from the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt which time was as I may so call it the time of Israels birth for while Israel was in Egypt he was but as it were an embrio in the womb but when the Lord brought him out of Egypt he made him a People and Commonwealth of himself I say from the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt to the building of the Temple by Solomon were 480 years from the building of the Temple by Solomon to the end of the Babylonish captivity were 452 years from the end of the Babylonish captivity to the Incarnation of Christ 525 years So that that shame which he calls the shame of her youth here I take to be the same with the reproach of her widowhood mentioned in the next sentence for our Prophet is frequent in such repetitions And it is called the shame of her youth because it happened to her in her youth And shall not remember the reproach of thy Widdow-hood This is a repetition of the former sentence And what he calls the shame of her youth there he calls the shame of her Widdow-hood here Because this shame and reproach befell her when God had put her away from him from being his wife Cap. 50.1 which was all the time of the Babylonish captivity 5. For thy maker is thy Husband And therefore will doe the office of an Husband to thee in protecting thee and delivering thee and in givâ—ng thee children by which thy shame and â—eproach shall be taken away Ob. If the Lord were Sions Husband how could Sion be a Widdow Ans The Lord had married Sion and afterwards put her away and then tooke her to wife againâ—â— So that betweene the Lords putting her away and taking her againe Sion was a Widdow Ob. But a man when he had put away his wife and she became another mans could not take her for his wife again Deut. 24.4 Ans What man could not doe which was under the Law God might do which was above the Law Therefore thus we read Jer. 3.1 They say If a man put away his wife and she goe from him and become another mans shall he returne to her againe shall not that land be greatly polluted But thou hast played the Harlot yet return again to me saith the Lord. The Lord of Hosts is his name The Lord of Hosts is He And therefore he is able to subdue the Babylonians which cause thy feare and thy shame Thy Redeemer the Holy one of Israel i. e. And the holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer who as he is able so also is willing to Redeeme thee oâ—t of the hands of the Babylonians and to take away thy reproach because he is the Holy One That is because he is the God of Israel The God of the whole earth shall he be called To wit because he will make it manifest by his power which he will shew in your Redemption that he is Lord of all the earth and that he can doe therein whatsoever he pleaseth 6. For the Lord hath called thee i. e. For the Lord hath called thee Supple to his Bed or to be his wife againe These words relate to those words thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth and shalt not remember the â—eproach of thy Widdowhood any more vers 4. As a proofe thereof as the fifth verse was As a woman forsaken i. e. Who wa st or when thou wast as a woman forsaken of all her friends How Sion was forsaken See Lament 1.2 Note that this Particle As is not to be taken here as a note of Similitude but of Identity as it is often taken For Sion was not onely as a woman forsaken but a woman forsaken indeed And grieved in spirit i. e. And who wa st or when thou wast as a woman grieved in spirit and mourning because she was afflicted and had none to comfort her And a wife of youth i. e. Yea who wa st or when thou wast as a wife which had plaid the Harlot in her youth The Prophet may call her a wife of youth which is naught and played the Harlot in in her youth by the like Metonymie as he calleth the waters which drowned the world in the dayes of Noah the waters of Noah v. 4. A wife which is naught and playeth the Harlot in her youth proveth the most notorious strumpet of all For lust reigneth in her more than it doth in the aged and her affections are hotter and more unbrideled When thou wast refused i. e. When the Lord had refused thee and cast thee off from being his wife and therefore thou couldst not expect to be taken to be his wife againe That the Lord should call Sion when she was as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit speakes the great goodnesse and loving kindnesse of the Lord to her for such a woman seldome findeth friends But that he should call her again and make her his wife when she had played the Harlot in her youth and he had put her away for her whoredomes speakes yet his greater goodnesse and loving kindnesse And as to say that the Lord called her as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit And a woman of youth when she was refused speakes the loving kindnesse and goodnesse of the Lord to Sion So may it cheere Sion and make her more confident of the goodnesse and loving kindenesse of the Lord. For otherwise she had good cause to doubt whether the Lord would look upon her and call her to his bed when she was as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit And when she had played the Harlot in the dayes of her youth and had beene divorced for her whoredomes 7. For a small moment have I forsaken thee It was seventy yeares that the Lord forsook Sion Jer. 25.11 Yet this is but a small time and but as a very little moment in regard of that time in which he had or would have had mercy upon her if she had kept his Covenant v. 10. Have I forsaken thee Supple And given thee over to be afflicted by the Babylonians But in great mercy will I gather thee This is spoken in relation to the Jewes the children of Sion which as they were scattered here and there in many Countreyes in the time of their Captivity so did the Lord gather them together out of those Countreyes when he brought them back to Sion See Cap. 44.18 Note here that he speakes of the Jewes as of Sion her selfe And of Sion her selfe as of the Iewes when he saith I will gather thee And that because of the great relation and Iove which was between Sion and her children So Christ saith Saul Saul Why persecutest thou me Acts 9.4 when he persecuted onely those that believed in Christ because of the great affection and love which was
wooll A Question may be here asked How sin can be said to be white as snow or wooll when as sin is so essentially evill as that it cannot be good Answ Sinne may be here taken for the sinner per Metonymiam adjuncti that is By putting the Quality for the person in which the Quality is inherent Now though sin can never be made white that is good yet the sinner may Or we may say that this is an Allegoricall or Proverbiall kind of Phrase And such kind of Phrases are many of them to be glanced upon onely with a quick eye not too exactly to be pried into 19. If ye be willing Supple To obey me and keep my Commandements And obedient i. e. And are actually obedient to me Ye shall eat the good of the land i. e. Ye shall eat the good and pleasant fruits of the Land wherein ye dwell The enemy shall not destroy them and take them away from you Nor shall the sword destroy you and take you away from them 20. But if ye refuse Supple To obey me and keep my Commandements And rebell i. e. And be indeed disobedient to me Note that the Prophet opposeth Refusing here in this Verse To be willing to obey in the former Verse And to rebell in this Verse to to be obedient in the former Verse Ye shall be devoured with the sword Supple of Rezin King of Syria and Pekah King of Israel He speakes of the sword here Metaphorically as of a ravenous beast For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it i. e. For the Lord hath spoken it and therefore it shall come to passe For the Lord cannot lye and what he saith he is able to make good The prophet speakes here of God as of a man per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and puts the mouth which is but a part for the whole man by a Synechdoche And the mouth rather than any other part here because with the mouth we speak 21. How is the faithfull City become an Harlot How is Hierusalem which was once faithfull as a wife to her husband become now as an harlot committing adultery with her lovers The faithfullnesse here spoken of alludes to the faithfulnesse of a wife to her husband The Scriptures under the Metaphor of Adultery and Fornication do often signifie peculiarly the sin of Idolatry And under the Metaphor of an Whore or an Harlot an Idolater And so it may be here taken especially if we understand Also In the following words q. d. How is the faithfull City become an Harlot It was Also full of Judgement c. For the Prophet upbraids them with their Idolatry Vers 29. c. But as by the Metaphor of Fornication and Adultery the particular sinne of Idolatry is often understood So also may we by the same Metaphor understand disobedience and sinne against God in generall as may appear James 4.4 For the promise of obedience which the Jewes made to God either in their Forefathers as Exod. 20.19 Deut. 5.27 Or by themselves either in their Circumcision Galat. 5.3 or at any other time as 2 Chron. 15. Vers 12 15. and 2 Chron. 23.16 may be compared to the promise of a wife which she makes to to her husband at her marriage to be obedient to him and true to his bed And for this reason doth the Lord say to Sion that He is her husband Chap. 54. Vers 5. Wherefore as a Wife so long as she keepeth the promise which she made to her Husband is accounted Faithfull but if she breaketh that promise and falls in love with other men and followeth them becommeth a Whore or an Harlot So might Hierusalem be accounted Faithfull so long as she was obedient to God according to her promise But when contrary to promise she became disobedient to God and followed her own lusts she might be counted of as an Harlot and so be called by a Metaphor And thus not onely Idolatry but any other particular sinne may be called Adultery and not onely the Idolater but any other sinner be called an Adulterer And he which walketh uprightly according to his Covenant that is according to the Law of God which he promised to keep might be called Faithfull and among the rest He who executed judgement without respect of persons For which cause Sion also may be called Faithfull in this place How is the faithfull City c. This question speakes admiration and sorrow Note that this is the beginning of a new Prophesie Or a new Propheticall Sermon It was full of judgement By Judgement is meant Upright dealing in Courts of Justice and equall administration of Justice without partiality Righteousnesse lodgeth in it Righteousnesse signifieth the same as Judgement did And this is a repetition of the former sentence He speaketh of Righteousnesse as of a Person by a Prosopopocia Lodged in it i. e. Took sweet repose and rest in it To lodge in a place as it signifieth sweet repose and rest so it signifieth but a short abode and as it were but for a night But now Murderers i. e. But now unrighteous and unjust Judges who have put Righteousnesse out of her lodgings He calls Vnrighteous and unjust Judges which oppresse and wrong the poor in Judgement Murderers by an Hyperbole because they deprived the poor of their meanes which was their life and gave it away from them by their unrighteous sentence to them to whom it did not belong By reason of which many did perish not onely through griefe of mind but also through famine and hunger having no meanes left them to buy bread to sustaine nature 22. Thy silver is become drosse Under the Metaphor of silver understand Righteousnesse under the Metaphor of drosse understand Vnrighteousnesse q. d. The Righteousnesse in Judgement is turned into Vnrighteousnesse The Prophet useth an Apostrophe here to Hierusalem to whom he speaks as to a woman by a Prosopopoeia Thy Wine is mixt with water He speaks of wine so mixt with water as that it hath lost all its virtue by that mixture By Wine understand Justice By Water respect of persons or whatsoever is contrary to true Justice q.d. Thy Justice is mixed with respect of persons and is now so corrupted from that sincerity which once it had as that it is no more Justice 23. Thy Princes c. i. e. Thy Judges For Judges are Princes and Chief men in a Common-wealth per Metonymiam Generis Are Rebellious i. e. Are disobedient to the Commandements of the Lord who hath given this Commandement to Judges saying Ye shall not respect persons in Judgement But ye shall hear the small as well as the great Deut. 1.17 And Companions of Theeves They may be called Companions of other men which either did or suffered the like as other men did or suffered So saint John writing to the seven Churches in Asia called himself their Companion in Tribulation Rev. 1.9 Because he suffered like tribulation as they did though not with them or in their
his people the Jews with all cruelty when they were in captivity and upon whom he poured out vengeance when he delivered his people by Cyrus Before she travelled she brought forth i. e. The Jews which were in captivity were delivered out of captivity and brought back to Sion sooner then any one could expect This is the meaning of the words which are proverbial and where Sion is compared to a teeming woman yea to a woman bringing forth before her pains came upon her and the Jews which were in captivity and brought home again to the children brought forth by such a woman Note that by she is meant Sion or Jerusalem of which he speaks as of a woman by a Prosopopoeia But the Relative She is put without an Antecedent which is a thing ordinary with the Hebrews Before her pain came she was delivered of a man-childe This is a repetition of the former words Of a man-childe The birth of a man-childe makes the joy the greater Joh. 16. vers 21. But whom doth he mean by this man-childe Ans He meaneth the whole people of the Jews for he speaks often of a people as of one individual man as Cap. 17.4 Or a man-childe may be taken collectivè for men-children q. d. Before her pain she was delivered of many men-children 8. Who hath heard such a thing q. d. Who ever heard or saw such a thing Who hath seen such things i. e. Supple as this That a woman should bring forth before she travelled and that she should be delivered before she was in pain as Sion was that is That a City should be so suddenly redeemed out of so great captivity and so suddenly filled with people which was so utterly desolate before as Jerusalem was when she was redeemed by Cyrus Shall the Earth be made to bring forth in one day i. e. Shall a Land be made to bring forth in one day people enough to inhabit it The whole Earth is put by a Synecdoche for one Land and Country Or shall a Nation be born at once Or shall a whole Nation be suddenly born at one birth For as soon as Sion travelled she brought forth her children i. e. Yet Sion did all on the sudden bring forth all these her children which are more then enough to inhabit her cap. 49.20 By this Metaphor of Sion travelling and bringing forth the Prophet meaneth that Jerusalem was replenished in a moment with inhabitants which was desolate before multitudes of people returning on a sudden out of Babylon into her as if a whole Nation had been born in her in one day For is put here for Yet A question may here be asked How he can say As soon as Sion travelled she brought forth when as he said vers 7. Before she travelled she brought forth Ans These two phrases are both proverbial To bring forth before she travelled and To bring forth as soon as she travelled and both these may signifie one and the same thing viz. To bring forth of a sudden And this is all which is intended by this place to wit to shew the suddenness of Sions bringing forth her children And therefore he may say As soon as Sion travelled and Before Sion travelled she brought forth without any contradiction or contrariety So Cap. 65.24 The Lord saith Before they call I will answer and while they are yet speaking I will hear By which phrases is onely meant that the Lord would be forward to help them when they stood in need of him So we read Matt. 10.10 that our Saviour whâ—n he sends forth his Disciples bids them carry no staves yet Mark 6.8 our Saviour tells them that they should take nothing for their journey save a staff onely in which words there is no contradiction if we look to the sence for by both phrases our Saviour intendeth that his Disciples should have nothing but what was necessary for the present and that Matthew signified when he said no staves for every poor man hath a staff And Mark when he said nothing save a staff onely for he that hath onely a staff hath nothing superfluous 9. Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth q. d. Shall I cause Sion to conceive and shall I perfect her fruit within her and bring it to the birth and shall I not cause her to bring it forth that is Shall I give Sion hopes of having her children return to her out of captivity and shall I not bring it to pass Shall I cause to bring forth and shut the womb q. d. Shall I cause all mothers to bring forth and be fruitful and shall I shut the womb of my beloved Sion so that she shall not bring forth No I will not but I will open her womb and make her more fruitful then any mother in the world besides for I will make her very populous Or thus q. d. Shall I say that I will cause Sion to bring forth and yet shut her womb I will not do it To cause to bring forth in this last interpretation is taken for To say that he would cause to bring forth and To shut her womb for To suffer her womb to be shut 10. Rejoyce ye with Jerusalem and be glad with her all ye which love her Supple Because of the happiness and prosperity which she shall enjoy He speaks to the captive Jews which sought the Lord and served him who therefore loved Jerusalem because the Lord had chosen it for the place of his worship And hereby he prophecyeth both of theirs and of Jerusalems prosperity All ye that mourn for her Supple Now in the time of her affliction and desolation because she lieth waste and desolate without Altar and without Temple to serve God in 11. That ye may suck and be satisfied with the brest of her consolation i. e. For though ye be now afflicted ye shall be partakers of her comfort This phrase is Metaphorical and alludeth to children which when they cry and weep the mother to quiet them and comfort them layeth them to the brest to suck Note that the Particle that signifieth here as often elsewhere either the connexion and consequence or else the cause of rejoycing That ye may milk out i. e. For ye shall milk out of her brests abundance of glory And be delighted with the abundance of her glory i. e. Ye shall eat and be delighted with the abundance of her glory that is of her prosperity and happiness By glory he meaneth prosperity and happiness per Metonymiam Effecti or Adjuncti because prosperity and happiness make him glorious who hath them And he compareth this glory that is this prosperity and happiness here to the milk of the brest 12. I will extend peace to her like a river i. e. I will give her that is Jerusalem abundance of prosperity and happiness The word peace signifieth in the Hebrew language all manner of prosperity and happiness And the word extend noteth abundance and continuance of