against the Lord. 2 Chron. 28.22 The whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint He proves here that though the men of Judah should be smitten yet they would revolt more and more And he proves it from former experience for experience shewed that though God had smitten them that they should amend yet for all that they were not the better for it And where men grow not the better they grow worse and worse The Prophet compareth the people of Judah here to the body of a man and the calamities and plagues which God had laid upon them to wounds and bruises and putrifying sores and other sicknesses By the head of this body are meant the King and Princes and Judges and other the Rulers of the Common-wealth and by the heart he meaneth the Priests and Levites 6. From the soal of the foot even to the head Here he includes all the members of the naturall body and by them he understands all the members of the body Politique q. d. There is none from the highest to the lowest in all the Kingdome or Common-wealth of Judah which hath not been smitten by the hand of God There is no soundness The soundness here spoken of is opposed to the wounds bruises and putrifying sores spoken of in the next words In it That is In the body Note that this Relative It is put here without an Antecedent And indeed it is usuall with the Hebrewes to put a Relative without an Antecedent and to leave the Antecedent to be gathered by the Circumstances of the place But wounds and bruises and putrifying sores These are opposed to the soundness spoken of just before And by these are meant all the calamities and plagues which had been of late inflicted upon the Jewes They have not been closed These words relate especially to the wounds before spoken of and by closing here is meant the â—queezing of the lips of the wounds together that the crude and raw bloud which is in them might be got out that they might heal the better Note that this praepositive Pronoune They is put for the Subjunctive Which q. d. Which have not been closed Neither bound up Supple with swathes and clothes as wounds and bruises and sores use to be bound up by Chyrurgians to keep them from the aire and to keep them warm Neither mollified with ointment Neither suppled with ointment Wounds and sores cause a hardnesse or stiffness in the adjacent parts through the afflux of humours which hardnesse or stiffness is mollified and supled with fit ointment Note that the Prophet is not curious in observing the method of Chyrurgians in this place For the binding up of wounds or sores is the last thing which the Chyrurgians do though here it be put before mollifying them with oyntment Those wounds and bruises and putrifying sores which have not been closed nor bound up nor mollyfied with ointment must needs be grievous And by these is meant that the plagues and miseries which the Lord had brought upon the Jewes were still grievous and lay heavie upon them even at this time when he spake Note that the Prophet leaves somewhat here to be understood to complete the sense And it is this Viz And yet ye are never the better but rather worse and worse and revolt more and more 7. Your Country is desolate Understand here yet neverthelesse q d. But though ye will revolt more and more if ye be stricken and are never awhit the better for all the calamities which have been brought upon you yet neverthelâ—ss ye shall undergoe more calamities and ye shall be stricken againe for your Country shall be desolate A Country is said to be desolate when it is spoiled of its Inhabitants which should manure it And when the Cities and dweling places thereof are ruined and the Vineyards and Gardens cut down and laid waste Note that the Prophet useth a present tense in this place for the future And so do Prophets use to do often to signifie thereby that that which they speak of shall as certainly come to passe as if it were already come The desolation and misery here prophesied of was that which the King of Syria and Israel brought upon the land of Judah 2 Chron. 28. Verse 5. c. A Question might here be asked why God said Why should ye be stricken any more ye will revolt more and more And yet for all that did strike them againe Answer When God tells them here that they wâ—ll revolt more and more if they be stricken he doth it for this end that they might not revolt And herein he imitates a careful Father which asketh an untowardly son why he should scourge him and tells him he will be never the better for scourging And this he doth that his son may be the better for he scourgeth him for all that that he may reclaim him Secondly Though God doth see the meanes which he useth will do but little good yet neverthelesse he will use them that it may appear that not He but man is the cause of his own perdition Thirdly Though the greatest part were like to revolt more and more upon the Lords striking them againe yet it was likely that some few of the best of them would returne and repent and for these few sakes the Lord might strike them Your Cities are burnt with fire Here he puts againe a Present or a Praeterperfect tense for a Future and so he doth throughout this and the next Verse Your land strangers devoure it q. d. Your land and whatsoever is therein strangers shall devoure Note that the Relative Pronoune It is often redundant as it is here in this place In your presence i. e. before your face which will cause the greater grief And it is desolate as overthrown by strangers That desolation is the greatest which is made by strangers For strangers do more waste a Country by warrs than inhabitants of the Country do For strangers have not that love of a Country which the natives and inhabitants thereof have neither do they hope for that good from it in times to come as the inhabitants do therefore they spoile it and devoure it so that they may either enrich themselves for the present or hurt their enemies for the future 8. And the daughter of Sion Sion was a famous hill within the walls of Hierusalem upon which the Palace of the Kings of Judah was built and that which was called the City of David 2 Sam. Chap. 5. Vers 7. But by a Synechdoche it is here taken for Hierusalem it self By the daughter of Sion or the daughter of Hierusalem is meant the City of Sion or the City of Hierusalem as we say the City of London For the Hebrewes do usually speak of a City as of a woman by a Metaphor or Prosopopeia and because among the sex of women the Daughters that is the young Maides and Virgins are commonly the fairest therefore they do call a City sometimes a Daughter sometimes
company And thus might their Judges be called Companions of Theeves because they did take away other mens goods as Theeves did For the spoile of the poor was in their houses Chap. 7. Vers 14. Againe by Theeves may be meant not onely Theeves but all kind of evill doers whatsoever by a Synecdoche And these Judges may be called Companions of Theeves and of evill doers because Theeves and evill doers resorted to them to bribe them that they might be acquitted in Judgement when they were appealed for their villany And they themselves did privily resort to theeves and evill doers againe that they might make the better bargaine with them and sell their absolution at the dearer rate And thus Theeves being often in their company and they againe often in the company of Theeves might be called the Companions of Theeves Or thirdly They might be called the Companions of Theeves because their companions presuming of their favour and connivance became no better than Theeves in their Actions by defrauding and oppressing and taking from other men Every one Supple Of them Loveth gifts and followeth after rewards By which gifts and rewards they are corrupted and drawn to do injustice See Ex. 18.21 and 23.8 They judge not the Fatherlesse i. e. They will not give the Fatherlesse a day of hearing nor judge their cause when it depends before them But delay it and put it off from Time to Time and day to day because they have no friends to make to them nor gifts to give them See Verse 17. Neither doth the cause of the widdow come unto them q. d. And the câ—use of the widdow is kept off and cannot come unto them to be heard for the causes of great men He speakes of the widdowes cause as of a Person by a Prosopopoâ—ia And puts an Indicative for a Potâ—ntial Mood for the Hebrewes have no Potential Mood 24 The mighty one of Israel i. e The God of Israel which excelleth in strength might and power I will ease me of mine adversaries i. e. I will ease me of these rebellious Princes and Judges which are now a trouble to me and anger me He calls these rebellious Princes and Judges his Adversaries because they refuse to keep his Commandements And the carnall mind is enmity against God Rom. 8. Vers 7. But how will God ease himself of these his Adversaries Answ By cutting them off or destroying them out of the City For note that this is spoken of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and revenge useth to ease yea to be sweet to the mind of an angry man And avenge me of mine enemies This Particle And may be taken for a Note of Explication here and declare how God will ease himself of his Adversaries to wit by Avenging himself of them 25. And I will turn my hand upon thee i. e. For I will take thee in hand O Hierusalem And is put here for For a Copulative for a Causall Note that because we must turn our hand to a thing before we can take that thing in hand Hence by putting the Antecedent for the Consequent turning the hand to a thing is put for taking a thing in hand Or I will turne my hand upon thee signifieth I will afflict thee or punish thee and that from the End for which He will turn his hand upon her And purely purge away thy drosse i. e. And clean purge away the drosse Or purge away thy drosse from thee so as that thy silver shall be pure silver What is meant by dr sse See Vers 22. And take away all thy Tinn Tinn and Dresse signifie here one and the same thing viz Vnrighteousnesse Yet Tinn seemeth to signifie Vnrighteousnâ—ssâ— as it is vailed with a mask of Righteousnesse For Tinn sheweth like silver though it be not silver The Lord did purge away the Drâ—sse and take aâ—ay the Tinn that is the Vnrighteousnessâ— â—hich was in Hierusalâ—m either by destâ—oying the Unrighteous Judges or amendâ—ng them The Question will here be how and when God did ease himself of these his adversâ—ries and avenge himself of these his enemies and purge away the drâ—sse c. Answ He did it in thâ— dayes of Hezekiah and by the hands of Hezekiah who as he reformed the Temple of God when he came to the Crowne 2 Kings 18.4 So did he no doubt reform the Common-wealth also and did accordi g to that saying of his Father David I will early destroy all the wickâ—d of the Land that I may cut off all the wicked doers from the City of the Lord Psal 101.8 Hezekiah therefore did cut off these wicked Judges either by the sword which was a naturall death or by banishment which was a civill death And they being banished and turned out of Hierusalem were taken and destroyed by the hands of the Assyrians under Sennacharib when they came against Judah and Hierulem See Notes Cap 22. Vers 18. 26. And I will restore thy Judgeâ— as at the first i. e. I will make thy Judges such as the were heretofore in the dayes of David Salomon Asa and Jehoshaphat Note here that it is not the Prophets meaning that all thâ—se Judges which were corrupt should become good for most of them were incorrigible and so destroyed But his meaning is that many of them should amend their faults and in the places of those which would not amend others which were just and righteous should be put â—or although these last were several Persons or individua distinct from those into whose places they were put Yet he speaketh of them as if they were the same men because they did succeed one another in the same place of judicature As in the beginning i. e. As heretofore An Hyperbole Thou shalt be called the City of Righteousnesse i. e. Thou shalt be a righteous City The Prophet useth the word to be called for to be For it is not the Prophets meaning that this shall be the proper name of Hierusalem Viz. the righteous City But that Hierusalem should be a righteous City and men may truly so call it The like manner of speech he useth Cap 7.14 and Cap. 9. Vers 6. c. The City of Righteousnesse i. e. the Righteous City or City wherein Justice is truely administred He puts a Substantive of the Genitive case for an Adjective The faithfull City See Vers 21. 27. Zion shall be redeemed with judgement q. d. When the Assyrians shall come under Sennacharib against Judah and Hierusalem Hierusalem shall be redeemed out of their hands because of the Judgement and Righteous Justice which shall be administred in her Zion i. e. Hierusalem See vers 8. And her Converts i e. And such of her Judges and Princes which were Unrighteous but shall turne from their unrighteous dealing With Righteousnesse i. e. For their Righteousnesse What is meant by Judgement and Righteousnesse See Vers 21. 28. And the destruction of the Transgressors and of the sinners shall be together i. e. But the Judges which have
of Sennacherib wherewith he should march toward Hierusalem to besiedge it or rather to strengthen the siedge thereof that he might thereby set forth the danger into which the Inhabitants of Hierusalem should come and afterwards shew what a deliverance they should have in being delivered from him He is passed to Migron Of Migron we read 1 Sam. 14.2 That was also in the Tribe of Benjamin in the uttermost parts of the Territories of Gibeah This is spoken in the person of another Messenger or Scout At Michmash he hath laid up his carriages Supple That he might march with the more speed Michmash was a City in the Tribe of Ephraim in the uttermost parts thereof neer the Tribe of Benjamin This is spoken in the person of another Messenger or Scout 29. They are gone over the passage By This Passage is meant that Passage which was called the passage of Michmash of which you may read 1 Sam. 13.23 and 14. v. 4 5. Note the Enallage here of the number he speakes in the Plurall number here whereas he spoke in the Singular before because Sennacherib marched with a great part of his Army in this march of his They have taken up their lodging at Geba i. e They intend to quarter at Geba this night Geba was in the Tribe of Benjamim not farre from Ramah as the next words shew Ramah is afraid i e. The Inhabitants of Ramah are afraid Supple because of the approach of Sennacherib and the forces which he had with him Ramah was a City of Benjamin Josh 18. v. 25. Gibeah of Saul is fled i. e. The Inhabitants of Gibeah of Saul are fled for fear of Sennacherib Gibeah was seated in the Tribe of Benjamin and was called Gibeah of Saul because Saul who was the first King of Israel dwelt there Of this you may read 1 Sam. Cap. 11. v. 4. 30. Lift up thy voyce O Daughter of Gallim q. d. Cry aloud for sorrow and grief O ye Inhabitants of Gallim because the Assyrians are come so near you O Daughter of Gallim i. e. O City of Gallim The Hebrews call their Cityes by the name of Daughters See Chap. 1. v. 8 The Prophet puts here the Cityes themselves for the Inhabitants of the Cityes per Metonymiam Subjecti or Continentis Cause it to be heard i. e. Cause thy voyce to be heard in mourning and lamentation This is spoken not to Gallim but to Anathoth It is a Relative without an Antecedent but the Antecedent may be understood from the former words Vnto Laish Some think that this Laish was a Citty in the Tribe of Benjamin But others take it for that Laish which was in the Tribe of Dan and which was the utmost City one of them of the Land of Canaan Northward of which Judg. 18. So that by bidding them cry and cause their voyce to be heard to Laish he bids them cry exceeding loud O poor Anathoth This City was in the Tribe of Benjamin and was the City of the Prophet Jeremy Jer. 1.1 He calls it poor Anathoth out of pitty pittying the case thereof because of the Assyrians approach towards it 31. Madmenah is removed i. e. The Inhabitants of Madmenah have left their City for fear of Sennacherib Madmenah was a City of Benjamin The Inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to fly Supple For fear of the Assyrians Gebim was a City of Benjamin 32. As yet he shall remaine at Nob that day q d. Yet for all this his speed which he makes to come to Hierusalem he shall not come to Hierusalem he shall come no farther than Nob there he shall remaine and there he shall be that day Supple in which he shall march from Geba in which he lodged v. 20. These words are somewhat defective and have an Ellepsis in them which I have made up Note that whereas the Prophet spoke in the four former verses in the person of Messengers and Scouts here he speakes in his own person and prophesieth of the speedy destruction of Sennacherib's Army which shall be before Sennacherib can get himself to Hierusalem to trench against it As yet i. e. Yet for all this He. That is Sennacherib Nob. This Nob was a City of the Priests 1 Sam. 22.19 And it was in the Tribe of Benjamin That day He meaneth the day in which Sennacherib removed from Geba where he lodged v. 29. He shall shake his hand against the Mount of the daughter of Sion the hill of Hierusalem i. e. When he is come to Nob from whence he may see Hierusalem he shall shake his hand against Hierusalem and threaten it But he shall not come to Hierusalem to cast up any Bankes or raise up a Fort against it Note here that it is most probable that though Hierusalem was besiedged by Sennacherib's Army yet Sennacherib was not there himself in person though he was comming thither but that Rabshake or some other great Officer of Sennacherib's had the chief command of the siedge till Sennacherib himself should come For it is said of Sennacherib himself Cap. 37. v. 33. and 2 Kings 19.32 That he should not come against Hierusalem with Shields nor cast a Bank against it He shall shake his hand i. e. He shall if he will shake his hand Shake his hand i. e. Threaten They which threatâ—n a man doe usually hold up their hand and shake it against him whom they threaten Hence to shake the hand is put here for to threaten by a Metonyâ—ie Against the Mount of the Daughter of Sion i. e. Against Mount Sion whereon the City of David was built 1 Kings 8.1 and whereon were strong holds 2 Sam. cap. 5. v. 7. The Daughter of Sion is as much to say as the City of Sion See Chap. 1. v. 8. The hill of Hierusalem i. e. Mount Sion which was within the walls of Hierusalem This is a Repetition of the former words 33. Behold i. e. But behold Shall lop the bough He puts bough here Collective for boughs By the Boughes he meaneth the Souldiers of Sennacherib's Army For here he compareth Sennacherib and his Army to a Tree whereof Sennacherib is the Body on which the Boughes depend and the Souldiers are the Boughes of that Body Yet note that some take the Bough here simply and singularly for some eminent bough and think that Rabshake was meant thereby of whom we read Cap. 36. and 37. who Commanded in chief at this time in which the siedge was layd against Hierusalem With terrour i. e. After a terrible manner And the high ones of stature i. e. And the Tall trees By which are Metaphorically meant the Captaines and chief Officers of Sennacherib's Army See v. 18. In the former words he likened Sennacherib to a Tree and the Souldiers of his Army to the boughes of that tree The Captaines and chief-Officers to the upper and the common Souldiers to the lowâ—r boughs But here he likeneth Sennacherib's Armie to a forrest as he doth also v. 18. And his Captaines and
v. 5. The howling thereof unto Eglaim and the howling thereof unto Beer-Elim i. e. The cry and lamentation of Moab is heard to Eglaim it is heard to Beer-Elim These two Toâ—â—es Eglaim and Beer-Elim were in the uttermost Coasts of the land of Moab Thereof i. e. Of Moab i e. Of the Moabites Moab is put by a Metonymie for the Moabites or Children of Moab 9. For the waters of Dimon shall be full of bloud The Prophet alludes to the name of Dimon which is derived from Bloud signifieth Bloudy And saith that Dimon shall be filled with the bloud of the Moabites which shall be slaine at this time It is thought by comparing this place with that of the second of Kings Cap. 3. v. 20. c. that this Dimon was that River which came by the way of Edom into the Land of Moab by the meanes of Elisha when the King of Israel and the King of Judah and the King of Edom went together against Moab to battle and they and their Armies were distressed for want of water And that it was called Dimon that is Bloudy First because the Moabites when they saw the Sunne shine upon the water as red as bloud said this is Bloud Secondly because the waters of that River were coloured with the bloud of the Moabites which were slain there close by that River or those waters at that time Note that this sentence must be referred as the former were to those words My heart shall cry for Moab v. 5. For I will bring more upon Dimon i. e. For I the Lord will bring more streames of bloud upon Dimon q. d. When the three Kings of Israel Judah and Edom warred against Moab The Lord slew so many of the Moabites as that whole streames of their bloud ran into Dimon and raised the waters thereof and as the Lord did then so will he do now againe he will slay so many of the Moabites as that more streams of their bloud shall run into Dimon and encrease the waters thereof therewith Note that the Prophet speakes here in Person of God Lions upon him that escapeth of Moab i. e. I will also bring for these words are here to be repeated or understood Lions upon that Moabite which escapeth the sword and they shall devoure him And upon the remnant of the Land i. e. And upon them that remaine alive in the land of Moab after the desolation and destruction here spoken of The like judgement of this by Lions we read of 2 Kings 17.25 Note that this Prophesie and that which followeth in the next Chapter were not delivered at one and the same time but yet they concern one and the same judgement of the Moabites for the Prophets did often repeat one and the same Prophesie as they were moved thereunto concerning the fulfilling therefore of this Prophesie we shall speak at the end of the next Chapter ISAIAH CHAP. XVI SEnd ye the Lamb to the Ruler of the Land c. For the understanding of this place we must know that David made warre upon the Moabites and overcame them he put two parts of them to the sword and one part of them he spared upon this condition that they should become his servants and acknowledge him for their Lord and pay him a yearely Tribute 2 Sam. 8.2 This Tribute was yearely to be an hundred thousand Lambes and an hundred thousand Ramms with the wooll 2 Kings 3.4 Now when the Kingdome of David was rent in twaine in the dayes of Rehoboam his grand-child the Moabites payd this Tribute to the Kings of Israel as having the greater part of that divided Kingdome and therefore being the strongest as they thought And the payment thereof they continued untill the dayes of Ahaz 2 Kings 3.4 But now the Prophet adviseth them to pay this Tribute to Hezekiah as due to him he being of the lineage of David and his right Heire and so much the rather because now the Kingdome of Israel was utterly ruined by Salmaneser but the Kingdome of Judah did increase in power and strength and flourish under Hezekiah Send ye the Lamb. q. d. O ye Moabites send ye the Tribute of Lambes and of Ramms which ye owe to David and his Successours He speakes here to the Moabites And by the Lamb he meaneth the Lambes putting a Singular number for a Plurall And by the Lambes he meaneth the whole Tribute of Lambs and Ramms which the Moabites owed to David and his Successours by a Synechdoche by part of the Tribute understanding the whole To the Ruler of the Land i. e. To Hezekiah King of Judah who is the Supream Lord of your Land and so your Lord. By the Land he meaneth the Land in which they lived that is the Land of Moab But how could Hezekiah be called the Ruler or Lord of the Land of Moab Answer Because he was the right Heire of David For because he was the right Heir of David he was by right of Inheritance Lord and Ruler of the Land of Moab For the Moabites covenanted with David to be his Servants and by consequence the Servants of his Heires and lawfull Successours 2 Sam. 8.2 And if they covenanted to be his Servants then was he by consequence their Lord. From Sala to the wildernesse These words depend upon the Pronoune Ye So that the sence of the words and order thereof is this O ye Moabites Supple which dwell from Sala to the wilderness send ye the Lambs to the Ruler of the Land Sala was a City scituate on the South and the wildernesse here mentioned was a wildernesse lying on the North of the Land of Moab the west part of which wildernesse bordered upon Jordan these therefore were two of the bounds of that Land And by these two bounds the whole Land of Moab is to be understood Vnto the Mount of the daughter of Sion i. e. To Hierusalem which is the head City of the Kingdome of Judah and where is the Throne of David and Pallace of Hezekiah By the Mount of the daughter of Sion he meaneth Hierusalem see Chap. 1. vers 8. These words Vnto the Mount of the Daughter of Sion depend upon the word send q. d. Send ye the Lambs unto the Mount of the Daughter of Sion When he bids them send the Lambs to the Ruler of the Land he tells them the Person to whom and when he bids them send them to the Mount of the Daughter of Sion He tells them the Place whether they should send them 2. For it shall be c. i. e. For otherwise it shall be Understand otherwise here A wandering bird cast out of the nest By a wandering bird cast out of the nest he meaneth a young Bird which while a man commeth to take the whole nest getteth out of the nest But when it is out of the nest wandereth up and down peeping and crying knowing not which way to take or what to do haveing no Damme to feed it and to guide it and
put their Shields or Bucklers when they had no use of them and out of which they took them when they made use thereof 7. And it shall come to passe that thy choicest vallies shall be full of Charets c. i. e. And it shall come to passe that thy Suburbs and thy Vallies which are without thy walls shall be full of the Charets of the Assyrians O Jerusalem Here the Prophet speaks again to Jerusalem in his own person and fore-tells the doome which shall befall her by Sennacherib And note that the Prophet did here interrupt Jerusalem before she could give a full answer to the doubts or questions which he moved to her in the first second and third verses and upon occasion of those words And Elam bare the Quiver with Charets of men and with horsemen c. Foretold that the Assyrians should bring the like misery upon her under Sennacherib as they and their complices the Medes and Elamites had done upon the Kingdom of Israel under Salmaneser At the gate i. e. At thy gates A Singular for a Plural number He seemeth to have pointed to the gates of Jerusalem when he said The gate shewing thereby what gate he meant 8. And he discovered the covering of Judah i. e. And Sennacherib King of Assyria shall demolish and beat down the fenced Cities of Judah See this fulfilled 2 Chron. 32.1 And 2 Kings cap. 18. vers 13. He puts here a Relative without an Antecedent and a Praeterperfect or Praeterimperfect tense for a Future The covering of Judah By the covering may be meant any wall or fort or fortification or place of defence whereby men defended themselves from their enemies in the time of War and that by a Metaphor from a covering which is spread over any thing to keep it safe from dust and soile and any thing which may marre it And to discover the covering signifieth properly to take away the covering from off the thing which is therewith covered and metaphorically to beat down any wall or fort or fortification or place of defence which metaphoricall signification is the signification of this place But being that by the covering may be meant any wall or fort or fortification or place of defence what is that which is called the covering of Judah Answer By the covering of Judah is meant the walls and fortifications of the fenced Cities of Judah which were broken down and laid waste by Sennacherib 2 Kin. 18.13 The covering therefore is put for the coverings a singular for a plural number The discovering of the covering of Judah that is The beating down and taking of the fenced Cities of Judah did neerly concern Jerusalem wherefore Jerusalem when Sennacherib began to encamp against them and to take them began to look and provide for her self as it is here prophesied 2 Chron. 32. vers 2 3. c. And thou didst look in that day to the Armour of the house of the Forrest i. e. And at that time when Sennacherib shall begin to discover the coverings of Judah that is To fight against the fenced Cities of Judah and to take them thou wilt look to the Armour which thou hast laid up in thy Armorie or Magazin of Arms to see that it be in good plight and in a readiness that thou maist use it to defend thy self He puts a Praeterimperfect tense for a Future Of the house of the Forrest i. e. Of the house of the Forrest of Lebanon This house of the Forrest of Lebanon was the Armorie of the Kings of Judah and it was scituate in Jerusalem 1 Kings 7.2 Here were the golden Targets and Shields kept which Solomon made 1 Kings 10.17 And hence were those Targets Shields taken by Shishak King of Egypt when he came up against Jerusalem 1 Kings 14. vers 25.26 It was called the house of the Forrest of Lebanon either from that house which some affirm from 2 Chron. 8.6 Solomon built in the Forrest of Lebanon for the same use as this was built viz. to be an Armorie or Magazine or because of the great number of Cedar-pillars and great store of Cedar-wood which were used about that house which Cedars and Wood vvere brought from Lebanon which was famous for Cedars which pillars were so many and store of Wood so great as that the whole Forrest of Lebanon seemed to have been cut down to make pillars and yeeld materials for that house See 1 Kings 7.2 Or it might be called the house of the Forrest of Lebanon because it was pleasantly seated and planted about with trees and groves Eccles 2. v. 4.5.6 which were no lesse pleasant then the Forrest of Lebanon it self for it is not unusuall for a like place to give denomination to a like Wherefore as all Universities were called Academies from that famous place of Learning in or neer to Athens called the Academie so might every pleasant grove or place of trees be called Lebanon from that renowned Forrest of Lebanon and this house because it stood among such trees might be called the house of the Forrest of Lebanon 9. Ye have seen also the breaches of the City of David that they are many q. d. Ye will also view the City of David to see what reparations it wanteth and ye shall finde that the breaches thereof are many and that it wanteth much repaire Of the City of David The fort or strong hold which was built upon Mount Sion in Jerusalem which the Iebusites hold and which David won from them was called the City of David 2 Sam. 5.7.9 In this Fort or strong Hold there were many breaches and ruinous places which came by the neglect which long peace bringeth with it And ye gathered together the water of the lower poole i. e. And ye will gather together the waters of the lower poole into hollow places and ditches which ye shall make for that end They gathered together these waters that they might have plenty of waters neer at hand wherewith to temper the mortar which they should use in building and repairing the breaches of the City of David and for such other ends as the waters of the old poole were gathered for of which verse 10. 10. And ye have numbred the houses of Jerusalem i. e. And ye will make choice of a certain number of houses in Jerusalem as many as will serve your turn that you may pull them down and have the materialls thereof wherewith to repaire the City of David It was a case of necessity which made them to pull down houses for the materials therof because the materials thereof were neer at hand and ready fitted in a manner for the building which they could not have elsewhere in so short a time the Assyrian being in the Land when the counsell of the King of Hezekiah advised him to repair the City of David 2 Chron. 32.2 3. Of Jerusalem Jerusalem seemeth to be opposed here to the City of David and therefore to be taken for the lower Citie of
would without fear Far Supple From Jerusalem where they were shut up and as it were imprisoned Of the earth By the earth he meaneth the Land of Judah per Synecdochen Integri as cap. 24.17 c. 16. In trouble i. e. When the Assyrians afflicted and distressed them Have they i. e. The just and righteous men which were in Jerusalem Have they visited thee i. e. Have they come into thy Temple which is thy house and there visited thee and offered up their prayers to thee See 2 Kings 19. v. 14 15. He speaks here of things then to come as if they had been then already past and that for the certainty of them 17. Like as a woman with child that draweth neer to the time of her delivery is in pain and crieth out in her pangs so have we been Supple In great paine and anguish of heart and so have we cryed out for very grief because of the oppressions wherewith the Assyrians do oppresse us Note here how he changeth persons from the third to the first 18. We have been with child q. d. Yea we have been yet more like to women with child for we have been as it were with child with the hopes of deliverance from the distresse wherewith the Assyrians do distresse us We have been in pain i. e. We have been in pain and anguish of spirit because of our oppressions from which we desired to be delivered We have as it were brought forth wind But yet when after all our pain and anguish of spirit we thought we should have brought forth deliverance according to our hopes we did not bring forth deliverance as we hoped To bring forth wind is to bring forth that which is contrary or at least not according to our hopes and expectation The Prophet seemeth here to allude to those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or those windy egges which naturalists speak off of which cometh no bird nor chick but they prove addle Nor doth it hinder the allusion that in the former part of this similitude he alludes to a woman with child who is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Not such a one as layeth egges but bringeth forth her young alive for the Prophet doth often mingle Metaphors and Allegories and allude now to one thing now to another in the same sentence We have not wrought any deliverance in the earth i. e. We have not hitherto procured from thee any deliverance from the oppression of the Assyrians which oppresse us in our Land He sheweth here what he meaneth by the fore-going words and what it was with which they were with child they were with child with hope of deliverance and with hope that the Assyrians should be destroyed but they brought not forth this child The means by which they would have wrought this deliverance was by prayer which hitherto God had not heard Note that the Prophâ—t leaveth his former allegory here which if he had followed he should have said we have not brought forth deliverance In the earth He takes the earth here for Judea as verse 15. Neither have the Inhabitants of the world faln Neither hast thou as yet smitten the Assyrians which now vex us as thou didst the Egyptians and Moabites which vexed our fore-fathers that they might fall The Inhabitants of the world By the Inhabitants of the world he meaneth the Assyrians per Synecdochen Integri And the Assyrians might be called at this time the Inhabitants of the world rather then any other people because of their large dominions in the world 19. Thy dead men shall live This is the answer of God to that complaint which the Prophet made just before in the person of the just nation Thy dead men i. e. Thy men which are but as dead men in thy esteem and in the esteem of the world because no man can see how they can possibly escape the sword of the Assyrians Shall live i. e. Shall live again i. e. Shall escape death and flourish again He persists in the allusion to dead men Together with my dead body shall they arise i. e. Together with my holy City Jerusalem which is accounted but as a dead carcase shall they arise from the dead He speaks here of Jerusalem as of a woman which first he calls His in respect of the love which he did bear to her for he loved the gates of Sion more then all the dwellings of Jacob Psal 87.2 Yea in respect of the marriage by which he had married her for he was her husband Cap. 54.5 Then he calls her his dead body in respect of the opinion of men which made no other account but that the Assyrians would destroy her as they had destroyed other Cities of Judah their power being so great and their wrath so hot against her and in allusion to that that Jerusalem was to God as a Wife and as his Love these words my dead body sound somewhat amorously or love-like This which is here spoken of was fulfilled when God destroyed the Army of the Assyrians which did sorely distresse Jerusalem and the men within her by which they in Jerusalem were relieved Ye that dwell in the dust By them that dwell in the dust are meant dead men whom he describeth by that that they dwell in the dust because the dead are bruied in the dust of earth And by dead men he meaneth metaphorically those Jewes which were in Jerusalem when Sennacheribs Army besieged it whom he cals dead men because every one thought them to be in so great danger of death as that they could not possibly escape it and Jerusalem was then but as a Grave or Sepulchre because the Jewes while they were besieged therein could no more go out nor were they like to go out thence any more then a dead man could or was likely to go out of his Grave or Sepulchr The Lord therefore cals them dead men not in his own sense for he knew how to deliver them but in the sense of others See the like cap. 41.14 Thy dew is as the dew of herbs i. e. The blessing which shall light upon thee shall be as the dew which falls upon herbs for as the dew which falls upon herbes refresheth them and makes them to flourish so shall the blessing which shall light upon thee refresh thee and make thee flourish again He calls the blessing of God here by the name of dew because it should be like unto dew and he calls it her dew because it should light upon her i. e. Upon Jerusalem as he calls the dew which falls uon the herbes the dew of herbes And the earth shall cast out the dead i. e. And ye which are accounted as men which are dead shall rise out of the earth where ye are buried He seemeth here to compare the earth or the grave to the wombe which concurreth actively and vigorously to the casting out of the dead child which is therein These words are
27 28 29. is the same for sence with that which he said Vers 24 25 26. For as there he shewed that the Husbandmans works were not always the same but that he wrought sometimes after this manner sometimes after that so doth he here And as he left us there to understand That if God gave men such wisdom and discretion as to work variously and to perform their works after different manners then much more did he himself know how to work variously So doth he here Who is wonderful in counsel i. e. Who is wonderful in his Wisdom and inventing or contriving businesses He speaks of God as of a man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Excellent in working i. e. Excellent in His Works ISAIAH CHAP. XXIX WO to Ariel to Ariel c. Ariel signifieth by interpretation the Lion of God or the strong Lion and it is a name given to he Altar of Burnt Offerings by a Metaphor Ezech. 43.15 Because that Altar did devoure the Beasts which were sacrificed thereon as a strong Lion devoureth his prey from this Altar the whole City of Jerusalem is here called Ariel by a Synecdoche The City where David dwelt This is a Periphrase of Jerusalem for David when he had took the strong hold of Sion which is in Jerusalem from the Jebusites he dwelt in it and called it the City of David 2 Sam. 5.7 9. And there he reigned three and thirty yeares 1 Kings 2.11 The Prophet gives this Periphrase of Jerusalem that it might be the better known what he meant by Ariel Add ye year to year q.d. Add ye yearly feast to yearly feast one yearly feast to another as the feast of weeks to the feast of Vnleavened Bread and the feast of Tabernacles to the feast of weeks and keep them with joy and mirth one after another The year is put here by a Metonymy for the yearly feast or feast which is kept once every year As the new Moons are taken for the solemnities as I may call them which were wont to be used the first day of every month at the change of the Moon Cap. 1.14 Three times in the year were all the Males of Israel to appear before the Lord in the place which he should chuse in the feast of Vnleavened Bread and in the feast of weeks and in the feasts of Tabernacles Deut. 16.16 And of these doth the Prophet seem here to speak and it is likely that he denounced this prophesie against Ariel at one of these feasts at which time the people were full of mirth and joy not without confidence of their outward performances and observations of these feasts though inwardly they were full of wickedness Note that the Prophet useth an Ironical concession in these words the like whereof you may read cap. 50.11 Some interpret these words thus adde ye a year to a year as if it had been the Prophets intent to shew that after a year and a year that is after two years the calamity which is here prophesied against Ariel should befall Ariel Let them kill sacrifices q. d. Kill ye your Sacrifices and make ye merry He speaks especially of the sacrifices of Peace-Offerings the flesh whereof they were to eat and to rejoyce before the Lord Deut. 27.7 Note here the Enallage of the person from the second to the third I will distresse Ariel i. e. The Prophet speaks here in the person of God and what he speaks here was fulfilled when Jerusalem was besieged by Sennacheribs Host The Prophet did often prophesie of this siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib as he did also of other things which he did the more to shew the providence of God And there shall be heavinesse and sorrow Supple In Ariel that is in Jerusalem And it shall be to me as Ariel i. e. And I will make it as Ariel By Ariel may be meant here the Altar of Burnt-offerings which was in Jerusalem for the reason given v. 1. And the sense of this place may be this q. d. And as in a day of solemnity many Carcases of Beasts which are to be sacrificed lye dead upon the ground about the Altar of Burnt-offerings so shall many carcases and dead bodies of men lye about Jerusalem Many carcases of dead men might lye about Jerusalem when it was besieged by the Assyrians because many of the Hierusalomitans which were set to defend the wals might be slain with arrows and slings c. upon the walls and many again might be slain upon sallies out of the City upon the enemy Moreover many dead bodies might lye about Jerusalem because many which dwelt in the Towns and Villages about Jerusalem and the suburbs thereof which were friends to Jerusalem and were now sacrificing and making merry at Jerusalem might be slain by the Assyrians in their several towns and villages about Jerusalem and in the suburbs thereof whose deaths might be as grievous to the men of Jerusalem as the deaths of their own Citizens Or by Ariel we may understand a strong Lion for so this word Ariel signifies by interpretation and the sense of this place may be this q. d. And as a strong Lion when he is percâ—ived to approach neer to the sheepfold or pastures where cattle feed is compassed about and set upon by a company of Shepheards and Countrey-men so shall Jerusalem be encompassed and environed by the Assyrians who shall set upon it and besiege it that they may take it and this interpretation very well agreeth with what followeth 3. And I will camp against thee He useth an Apostrophe here to Ariel that is to Jerusalem Round about i. e. On every side of thee and that so close as that none can escape out of thee With a Mount i. e. With a Bulwarke or heap of earth cast out of a Trench such as besiegers use to cast up therewith to save themselves against the shot of the besieged and to hinder the besieged from fallying out upon their Quarters and from making an escape out of the place which they besiege God is said to do here what the Assyrians did by his providence and guidance But it may be here objected That this is contrary to what is said cap. 37.33 For there the Lord said concerning the King of Assyria He shall not come into this City nor shoot an arrow there nor come before it with shields nor cast a banck against it and yet here he saith I will campe against thee round about and will lay siege against thee with a mount c. Which Prophesie was fulfilled by Sennacheribs Host Answer Sennacherib King of Assyria sent Tartan Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lackish to King Hezekiah with a great Army against Jerusalem and they went up and came to Jerusalem cap. 36. v. 2. and then did they camp against Jerusalem round about and lay siege against her with a mount and raise forts against her and fulfill this Prophesie But while these Princes lay before Jerusalom Sennacherib himselfe was with another part of
in Jerusalem For the better understanding of this place note that the destruction which the Lord threatned against those which went down to Egypt for strength the Lord brought upon those men by the Assyrians whom he brought so suddainly upon them as that their destruction is said to have come upon them suddenly at an instant vers 13. And so being suddainly surprized and unprovided they became a prey to the sword of their enemies But though the Lord intended to bring ths Assyrians against Jerusalem as wel as against other parts and Cities of Judah yet he brought them not so suddainly against her as against other Cities and places for after the Assyrians came and entred into Judah and encamped against the fenced Cities thereof the men of Jerusalem had time to take counsel and to fortifie their City and to hunble themselves and in a solemn manner to commend themselves to Gods protection and rely upon him for safety before the Assyrians pitched against her 2 Chron. cap. 32. ver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. By which means they were able to hold out against the Assyrians untill the Assyrians themselves were destroyed Therefore because the Lord brought not the Assyrians so soon against the men of Jerusalem as he did against other the men of Judah but staid untill the men of Jerusalem had exceedingly well fortified their City and had humbled themselves and in a solemn manner committed themselves to the Lords protection The Lord is said here to waite And therefore c. Note that And is put here for Yet notwithstanding for he opposeth here the condition of the faithfull in Jerusalem to the condition of those which he hitherto spoke of Will the Lord waite i. e. Will the Lord stay till ye have fortified your City and put your selves in a solemn manner under his protection before he brings the Assyrians against you To waite is put here for to stay or to tarry because they use to stay and tarry which use to waite for any one That he may be gracious unto you i. e. That he may shew favour unto you for it was Gods favour and mercy to keep off the Assyrians from the men of Jerusalem till they had fortified their City and solemnly committed themselves to the Lords protection otherwise they might have been destroyed by the Assyrians as well as other the men of Judah Will he be exalted i. e. Will he defer his punishment intended against you that is He will defer the bringing of the Assyrians against you c. This sense this place requireth for this is a repâ—tition of the former sentence but how 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To be exalted should come to signifie to defer a punishment is a question Some think that the Prophet alludes to a man correcting his son or his servant with a rod who stretcheth out his arm and lifteth up his whole body and standeth on tip-toe that he may fetch the greater stroke but the higher he lifteth up himself and the further he stretcheth out his arm the longer he is before he strikes from whom to be exalted or to exalt himself may be taken say they for to defer a punishment or to be long before he strikes by a Metaphor Others say thus When God is about to punish he is said to come out of his place which is heaven as cap. 26.21 and Mic. 1.3 That therefore he might punish this people he came as it were out of heaven but because he would not then punish them but spare them a little longer he returned on high into Heaven to his place again Hence to be exalted that is to return on high or to go up to Heaven signifieth they say to deferre a punishment and to spare a while Others say thus When God doth any notable thing he is said to be exalted and glorified Per Metonymiam Effecti Because he doth that for which he may justly be exalted and glorified See cap. 12.4 and cap. 26.15 Now because God was willing to shew his long-suffering and forbearance a while longer to his faithful people which must needs redound to the praise and glory of God The Prophet saith he will be exalted for he will suffer them and spare them a little longer Per Metonymiam Effecti That he may have mercy upon you i. e. That ye may not be destroyed by the Assyrians This as I said is but a repetition of the former sentence already expounded For the Lord is a God of judgment i. e. For the Lord is a God of mercy and compassion Judgment is taken here for mercy or compassion and so it is taken Jer. 10.24 where it is said O Lord correct me but in thy judgment not in thine anger c. Where judgment is opposed to anger and is taken for mercy or pitty or compassion Or judgment may be taken here for discretion and God may be called a God of judgment because he knoweth how to punish one and how another how to shew favour to some and how to deny it to others That waite for him i. e. That waite for his aide and for his mercy and deliverance and run not to Egypt for strength c. 19. For the people Supple That waite for the Lord that is for the aide and mercy of the Lord at this time He makes good that here which he said in the former verse to wit Blessed are they which waite for him and he speaks of the faithful of Jerusalem here in the third person to whom he spoke a little before in the second Shall dwell in Sion at Jerusalem i. e. Shall dwell in safety at Jerusalem Supple when the Assyrians destroy all the Land besides Shall dwell in Sion Sion was an impregnable Fort in Jerusalem as appears 2 Sam. 5. v. 6 7 c. Wherefore to dwell in Sion may proverbially signifie to dwell in safety Thou shalt weep no more Supple After a while The Prophet turneth his speech again to the people of Jerusalem which did waite for the Lord. He will be very gracious unto thee i. e. The Lord will be very gracious unto thee and shew thee a great deal of favour At the voice of thy cry i. e. When thou criest to him for help against the Assyrians When he shall hear it i. e. When he shall hear thy cry that is when thou shalt cry unto him He will answer thee For God to answer us when we cry or pray is in the Scripture phrase for God to grant our request 20. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity i. e. Wherefore though the Lord give you the bread of adversity c. And for Wherefore Though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction q. d. Though the Lord suffer you to be besieged in Jerusalem by Sennacheribs Army during which time ye shall have but a little bread and a little water allowed you a is usuall in besieged Cities where every one hath his bread and his
perhaps any part should stick thereunto whereupon to shake the hand of or from such a thing comes to signifie by a Metaphor and Metonymy together to hate that thing That stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood i. e. Which will by no means hear of any counsel or perswasion which tends to the shedding of innocent blood Blood is put here for a counsel or perswasion to shed innocent blood per Metonymiam Objecti And shutteth his eyes from seeing evil i. e. That shutteth his eyes that he may not be delighted with the sight of evil that is which detesteth all manner of injustice Seeing is put here for seeing with delight 16. He shall dwell on high i. e. He shall dwell in safety notwithstanding the devouring fire and everlasting burnings and be as safe as he which dwelleth in a Castle founded upon an high rock which no force can approach to He shall dwell on high i. e. He shall dwell as it were on high and so safely for high places are safe His place of defence shall be the munition of rocks i. e. The place and City of defence where he is shall be against the Assyrians as strong as any place which is fortified and environed with inaccessible and impregnable rocks His place of defence i. e. The fenced City wherein he is By this place of defence or fenced City is meant Jerusalem as will appear as by other circumstances of the Text so by that that the sinners which asked the question vers 14. dwelt in Sion and asked it concerning those which dwelt in Sion For who amongst us say they that is who amongst us which dwell in Sion or in Jerusalem shall dwell safely with devouring fire c. The munition of rocks i. e. As a place fortified and environed with rocks He puts munition here for a place munited that is fortified An Abstract for a Concrete per Metonymiam Adjuncti Bread shall be given him i. e. He shall not be starved out of his strong hold as many are who though they are in such Castles and Forts and strong holds as no Enemy can approach unto yet are fain to yield at length for want of victuals He prevents an Objection here For they might say Though the Assyrians cannot take Jerusalem by force yet may they in time starve out the men thereof His water shall be sure i. e. His water shall not fail This he saith because many who have been besieged in strong places have been fain to yield for want of water whom no power could hurt 17. Thine eyes c. He useth an Apostrophe here to the faithful in Jerusalem which were such as he described Vers 13. Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty i. e. Thou shalt see King Hezekiah in his glory again He says thine eyes for thou by a Synecdoche of a part for the whole The glory of King Hezekiah was obscured when Jerusalem was besieged by the Assyrians and he did lay aside his royal robe and put on sackcloth 2 King 19.1 but when the Assyrians were destroyed his glory appeared greater then ever They shall behold i. e. Thine eyes shall behold i. e. Thou shalt behold The Land that is very far off q. d. Though thou art besieged for a while and shut up in Jerusalem by the Assyrians yet after a while when they are destroyed by the Angel thou shalt be at liberty to go whither thou wilt thou mayst then if thou wilt visit the parts of the Land which are far distant from Jerusalem Here he prevents another Objection which they might make For they might object and say Suppose that Jerusalem could not be taken by force nor the men thereof starved out yet will the Assyrians always besiege it and so the King will live in a sordid condition and the rest of the people will live as prisoners and such a life is little better then death 18. Thine heart shall meditate terror i. e. Thou shalt think upon the fear which the Assyrians did put thee in by his threats 2 King 18.17 c. Supple with a great deal of joy and pleasure It is a great deal of joy and delight for a man to think in what danger he was or hath been in when the danger is perfectly past Thine heart i. e. Thou He puts a Synecdoche of the part for the whole man Shall meditate Supple With joy and delight Terror i. e. The terror and frights thou wert in by the threats of the Assyrians Where is the Scribe c. q. d. Thou shalt insult over the Assyrians and say Where is the Scribe For the Angel of the Lord shall destroy them all and then thou mayst insult and ask where they are for they shall not be any where to be found Where is the Scribe c. By the Scribe may be meant the Secretary of Sennacheribs Army It is believed that Saint Paul alludes to this place in 1 Cor. 1.20 and most likely it is that he doth so but he alludeth onely to the words not to the sence a thing usual with all sorts of men to allude to the words of an Author or Writer and yet not to the sence of those words Where is the Receiver By the Receiver may be meant he which received the Pay to pay the Army Where is he that counted the Towers By him that counted the Towers may be meant the Master of the Engines who gives out and takes in and keeps an Account of all the Engines of War by tale For in old time they used movable Towers which went upon wheels and other devices which they could drive to the walls of a Town either to scale them or do some other mischief to the Town And by this one kinde of Engine may synecdochically be understood all other kindes of warlike Engines whatsoever Or by him that counted the Towers may be meant he which counted the Towers which stood upon the walls of Jerusalem that he might proportion strength and Engines thereto for the taking of them 19. Thou shalt not see a fierce people i. e. For after a while thou shalt not see the Assyrians which are a fierce people besieging thee and warring against thee for the Angel of the Lord shall destroy them A people of deeper speech then thou canst perceive i. e. A people whose language thou canst not understand By this he also means the Assyrians whose language the Jews understood not 2 King 18.26 Of a stammering tongue i. e. A people of a strange tongue By a stammering tongue is meant a strange tongue for Outlandish men seem to them which understand not their language to stutter and stammer See Cap. 28.11 This Verse contains a reason of what was said in the former Verse that is a reason why the people of Jerusalem might insult over the Assyrian and say Where is the Scribe where is the Receiver where is he that counted the Towers For they might thus insult over the Assyrian when the Assyrian was not to be
laughed thee to scorn i. e. Shall despise thee and laugh thee to scorn A Preterperfect for a Future Tense The Jews might well despise Sennacherib when all his Army was slain and his forces and strength destroyed and laugh at him when he fled for fear to his strong Holds See cap. 31.8 9. and cap. 33.18 The Daughter of Jerusalem i. e. Jerusalem See cap. 1.8 Hath shaken her head at thee i. e. Shall deride thee and mock thee He alludes to the gesture of those which mock and deride who shake their head at those whom they deride and mock as Mat. 27.39 And he puts a Preterperfect Tense for a Future 23. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed c. He giveth a reason here in this and the six verses following why the condition of Sennacherib should be made both despicable and ridiculous and the reason is this to wit because Sennacherib had reproached and blasphemed the Lord and arrogantly assumed that to himselfe which was the Lords doing and had boasted that he would take Jerusalem by force which the Lord had said that he would preserve for which reasons the Lord would pull him down and make him an object of contempt and laughter This speech is directed to Sennacherib by an Apostrophe And lifted up thine eyes on high i. e. And carried thy selfe proudly He alludes to the gesture of proud men who lift up their eyes and their head and scornfully look upon those whom they despise Even against the Holy One of Israel i. e. Even against the Lord the only God whom the Children of Israel worship as the holy and onely God 24. By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord c. i. e. By Rabshakeh and his companions whom thou sentest to Hezekiah hast thou reproached the Lord. And hast said What followeth in this and the next verse is spoken in the person of Sennacherib by a Mimesis By the multitude of my Charets am I come up to the height of the mountains c. Sennacherib speaks here as he did cap. 10.13 attributing that which he had done wholly to himselfe and not acknowledging the hand of God therein though what he did he did by the hand of God as Gods instrument which was a reproach to God and a blaspheming of his name By the multitude of my Charets am I come up to the height of the mountains q. d. I am come up to the height of the Mountaines by mine own power and strength which is great and which none is able to resist To the height of the mountains Judea was very mountainous and hilly and most of the Cities thereof were seated upon hills and mountains By the height of the mountaines therefore we may understand either the most inaccessable places of Judea or 〈◊〉 may understand the Cities thereof and in particular Jerusalem which was the chiefest City of that Land and the greatest seated as is probable To the sides of Lebanon q. d. Yea to the Walls of Jerusalem Lebanon was a famous Forrest in the North of the Land of Canaan which was set not onely with ordinary Trees but was famous also for tall Cedars and choice Firre-trees And from this Forrest is Jerusalem here called Lebanon by a Metaphor Because Jerusalem was inhabited by much people as Lebanon was beset with many ordinary Trees and because the King and the Nobles and the Princes of the Land most of them dwelt there as many tall Cedars and Firre-trees grew on Lebanon Therefore doth he liken Jerusalem to Lebanon For it is usuall to compare a City to a Forrest and the multitude of the people to the multitude of the ordinary trees and the King and Nobles to the tallest trees thereof Aad I will cut down the tall Cedars thereof and the choice Firre-trees thereof i. e. Of Lebanon q. d. And I will destroy the Nobles and Princes of Jerusalem I will enter into the height of his border i. e. I will enter into the very highest part of Lebanon i. e. of Jerusalem Note that these words The height of his border are as if he should say The very height of his highest part For The Border signifieth the utmost part of a thing On the highest places of Jerusalem stood the Temples of the Lord and the Pallace and stately buildings of the Kings of Judah which Solomon built for they were built upon Mount Sion Into the Temple therefore and into the Pallace of the King of Judah doth Sennacharib threaten to enter or boast that he will enter when he saith I will entter into the height of his Border And into the Forrest of his Carmel He saith And into the Forrest of his Carmel For And into the Carmel of his Forrest By an Hypallage or Hyperbaton And the sense of this place is q. d. I will enter into the height of his Border yea into the Carmel of his that is of Lebanon's Forrest That is into the Carmel of Lebanon which is a Forrest Note here that And is put for Yea and is a note of asseveration or confirmation of what he said just before Carmel was a most excellent and pleasant Hill of which see cap. 33. v. 9. and cap. 35. v. 2. And it is here taken figuratively for Mount Sion which was scituate within Jerusalem and on which the most pleasant objects of Jerusalem were seated as the Temple the Kings Pallace and nigh unto that those goodly Gardens and Orchards which the Preacher speaks of Eccles 2. ver 4 5. I say Carmel is taken here figuratively for this Mount Sion as Lebanon is taken for Jerusalem it self a little before Of his border of his Carmel The Antecedent to this Relative His is Lebanon and His is as much as It s and the Carmel of his or its Forrest is no more then His or Its Carmel For the Forrest of Lebanon is but a periphrafis of Lebanon which was a Forrest 25. I have digged and drunk water q. d. For so great an Army have I as that when I have come into dry places where there hath bin no more water to be had I have digged Wells by the multitude of my Soldiers and have come at water enough to suffice me and my whole Army for drink and other necessaries Sennacherib may seem here obliquely to slight that policy of Hezekiah in cutting off the waters about Jerusalem hereby to distresse him when he came to besiege it 2 Chron. 32. v. 3 4. And with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the Rivers of besieged places Understand this place so that Sennacherib boasteth here that whensoever he came to besiege any place he came with so great a number of Soldiers as that they did presently drink all the Rivers of the place dry as if he should say So soon as ever I come to besiege any place and set my foot neer to the rivers thereof I have with the multitude of my men drunk them up dry immediately A Thrasonicall expression With the sole of my feet
Cap. 4.5 And see Cap. 52. v. 12. where he saith to the Jews The Lord will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rearward For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it i. e. For the Lord hath spoken it who cannot lye and therefore what he hath spoken shall come to pass The Prophet speaks of the Lord as of a man by a Prosopopoeia and puts the mouth which is but part for the whole man by a Synecdoche 3. The voyce of him that cryeth in the wilderness What is meant by these words as they are taken in the first sence and as they concern the Redemption of the Jews out of Babylon ye have heard Now in the second and more sublime sence by the voyce of him that cryeth in the wilderness the Holy Ghost meaneth John the Baptist Mat. 3.3 For as the Cryer here cryeth to the people to prepare the way of the Lord so did John the Baptist cry to the people of his time to repent and so to prepare a way for the coming of the Lord Christ And as the voyce of this Cryer was heard in the wilderness which lay between Babylon and Judea so was the voyce of John heard in a wilderness too to wit the wilderness of Judea Matt. 3.1 Where note that as by the captivity of the Jews in Babylon is signified our spiritual captivity and misery under sin and Satan so by the deliverance of the Jews out of that their captivity is signified our spiritual Redemption by Christ Jesus In the Prophecy therefore of the deliverance of the Jews out of the captivity of Babylon there be many passages which as in a first sence they concern things which appertain to the deliverance of the Jews so in a second sence they concern things which appertain to the Redemption which was wrought by Christ Jesus 6. The voyce said Cry i. e. A voyce said to me Cry And he said what shall I cry i. e. And I said what shall I cry The Prophet speaks of himself here in a third person The like may you read of one speaking of himself in the third person cap. 21. vers 12. All flesh is grass and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field i. e. And the voyce said unto me cry and say with a loud voyce thus All flesh that is all men which are made of flesh are as the grass and all their glory and goodliness is as the flower of the field The Note of similitude is here left to be understood 7. The grass withereth and the flower fadeth because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it As when a red burning wind bloweth upon the grass or upon the flower the grass withereth and the flower fadeth because thereof Even so for the Apodosis is left to be understood when God is angry with all or any kinde of flesh that is when he is angry with any men whatsoever they are he can easily consume them even with the breath of his nostrils and they shall perish By the Spirit of God is meant the wind which he brings out of his treasures when he would have it blow Psal 13.7 and yet not any wind but that which the Country-man calls a red wind which bliteth Trees and Herbs and Flowers Surely the people is grass q. d. Surely therefore the people that thou art afraid of even the people of the Babylonians are as grass 8. But the Word of our God shall stand for ever q. d. But the Word of our God shall never fail And therefore the Word whereby he hath spoken comfort to you and promised you deliverance out of the Babylonish captivity shall stand firm and come to pass maugre the Babylonians You may gather by what hath been said what coherence these three last Verses had with the former The coherence is this In the five first Verses the Prophet prophecyeth to the Jews Deliverance out of the Babylonish captivity but the Jews being at this time sore oppressed and seeing themselves weak and the Babylonians strong and mighty in power were like to give but little credence to the Prophets words and despair of ever being delivered That therefore they might lift up their heads and hope for deliverance according to the Word of God and might not fear the strength and mighty power of the Babylonians the Lord did for their sakes by way of prevention shew the Prophet a Vision in which the voyce of the Lord bids the Prophet to tell his Country-men that all flesh and the Babylonians as well as others were as grass therefore they need not fear them or any other men 9. O Sion that bringest good tydings i. e. O Jerusalem that bringest good tydings to the other Cities of Judah c. This seems to begin a new Sermon Sion is taken here for Jerusalem a part for the whole And he speaks to the material Jerusalem as if she were a person indeed as he doth often elsewhere by a Prosopopoeia The good tydings which Sion here brings are mentioned in the tenth and eleventh Verses Get thee up into the high mountain Supple and there proclaim the good tydings which thou bringest that they may be the Father-head O Jerusalem that bringest good tydings c. This is a repetition of the former sentence with which repetition the Prophet is much delighted Say unto the Cities of Judah i. e. Say unto other the Cities of Judah He speaks here of the Cities of Judah as of women by a Prosopopoeia as he did of Sion or Jerusalem Behold your God i. e. Behold your God cometh unto you See Vers 3. 10. Behold the Lord will come with a strong hand Behold the Lord himself will come with a strong hand against the Babylonians who hold us captive and will deliver us out of their hands And his arm shall rule i. e. And he shall now rule He shall rule over us as a King over his Subjects though till now the Babylonians have had dominion over us And he shall rule over the Babylonians as a Lord over his Vassals and a Conqueror over his Enemies though hitherto they have reigned as Conquerors and Lords themselves He speaks here of God as of man by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and puts a part to wit the arm for the whole man by a Synecdoche the arm I say wherein the strength of man is most seen For him These words are redundant by an Hebrew elegancy Behold his reward is with him Supple To reward all such of his people as have waited for him And his work i. e. And his reward Work is put here for the reward of a work by a Metonymy And this is a repetition of the former sentence Is before him i. e. Is in a readiness See Cap. 62.11 11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd q. d. He shall bring his people out of Babylon into their own Cities And while he bringeth them he shall be to them as a shepherd is to
take darkness for prisons the meaning of these words are Come ye out of prison out of the prison which was dark and wherein no man could see you into the light where ye may be seen They shall feed in the ways c. Between this and that which went immediately before we must understand these or the like words For the Jews which are prisoners in Babylon shall come forth out of their prisons and they which are there in darkness shall shew themselves and shall return into their own Land to inherit the desolate heritages thereof and as they go they shall feed in the ways home-ward c. The Prophet sheweth here how plentifully the Lord will provide for the Jews in their return out of captivity into their own Land See the like cap. 48.21 They shall feed i. e. They shall have abundance of food whereon to feed He alludeth here to the feeding of sheep or cattel but speaks of the Jews themselves They shall feed in the ways And if God provideth food for them in the ways they need not go out of their way nor slack their journey for want of food And their pastures shall be in all high places q. d. And though they travel over Hills and Mountains which are usually dry and barren yet shall all the Hills and the Mountains over which they travel yield them pastures in abundance He alludeth still to the feeding of sheep or cattel 10. They shall not hunger and thirst Supple By the way which they go though their way be through the desarts See cap. 48.21 Neither shall the heat nor the Sun smite them q. d. Though they are to travel through an hot scorching Wilderness as they travel from Babylon to the Land of Judah yet shall not the heat nor the Sun hurt them or offend them Neither the heat nor the Sun i. e. Neither the heat of the Sun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For he that hath mercy on them shall lead them i. e. For the Lord who hath mercy on them shall lead them Supple as a careful and skilful shepherd leadeth his flock The Lord speaks here of himself in the thiâ—d person and alludes to a shepherd leading his sheep for shepherds were wont not onely to follow their sheep and drive them but also to go before them and lead them See Psal 80.1 Even by the springs of waters shall he guide them He persists still in the Metaphor of a shepherd Where springs of waters are there are waters enough to quench and keep from thirst there are pastures for food adjoyning to the springs by reason of the moysture and there are vapors arising from the springs to allay the extremity of heat with their coolness and Willows growing thereby to shadow from the scorching beams of the Sun 11. And I will make all my mountains a way i. e. And I will pull down all my mountains by which they are to go and make them low that I may make away over them yea an easie way for the Jews to pass See cap. 40.4 The meaning of this phrase is That the Jews shall find nothing to hinder them in their way home-ward no not in the mountainous Wilderness The Lord speaks here of himself in his own person though he spoke of himself in the third person in the Verse before He speaks also of himself as of a way-maker which maketh a way for a King and his Court or for a General and his Army whereas he spoke of himself before as of a shepherd And my high-ways shall be exalted And my high-ways or Causey-ways Supple which lie through the valleys shall be exalted that the mountains being pulled down and the high-ways or causey-ways of the valleys exalted the whole way from Babylon to Judea may be plain and even without Hill or Dale In valleys because the grounds are for the most part moorish and rotten they use to make a way of stones and the like higher then the surface of the ground which therefore he calls an High-way and we usually a Causey Behold these shall come from far q. d. And moreover behold these Jews which are now in the East shall come from the East to their own Land By these he meaneth the Jews which were in the East after the Land of Judah was wasted by the Babylonians whom he nameth not because he doth as it were point at them with his finger From far i. e. From the East for so doth the Context require that we should interpret it The Prophet therefore useth a Synecdoche generis and putteth a far place in general for the East in special And lo these from the North i. e. And lo these Jews which are now in the North shall come from the North to their own Land And from the West i. e. And these which are in the West shall come from the West c. And these from the Land of Sinim i. e. And these which are in the South shall come from the South c. The Land of Sinim Sinim is the name of a people which are also called Sinites Gen. 10.17 These dwelt in the South of Judea about the Wilderness of Sin Wherefore their Land in particular is put here for any Southern Land in general Though when the Babylonians invaded Judea they carryed away most of them which escaped the sword captives into Babylon yet many escaped into all the quarters of the Earth where they lived as Exiles until they heard of the delivery of their Countrymen out of Babylon and of Cyrus's favor to them at the hearing of which they also returned to their own home again 13. Sing O Heaven and be joyful O Earth He speaks to the material Heaven and the material Earth as though they had sense and reason by a Prosopopoeia as he doth cap. 1.2 The Prophet speaketh here in his own person and having shewed his authority from God and Gods respect to him in order to his Ministry in the former part of this Chapter he doth here begin to tell the message which God gave him in charge to tell and which was part of his Ministry For God hath comforted his people i. e. For God will comfort his people the Jews which have suffered much misery and sorrow by reason of the Babylonians He puts here a Preterperfect for a Future tense Vpon his afflicted i. e. upon his afflicted people the Jewes The comfort and mercy which is here promised consisted in bringing the afflicted Jewes home to their own Land yea even to Hierusalem after the Babylonish captivity 14. But Sion i. e. But Hierusalem Hierusalem was the mother of the Jewes as St. Paul intimates Gal. 4.25 By Sion is meant Hierusalem and the materiall City of Hierusalem is brought here in the person of a woman yea of a mother speaking and complaining c. by a Prosopopoeia as Cap. 40.9 And under the feigned person of Sion is shewed the State and condition of the Jewes at the time here spoken of But Zion said
highly honour him and reward him But if you would know what particular honour and reward the Lord gave his Sonne and Servant Christ Iesus read among other places Ephes 1. v. 20 21 22 23. and Phil. 12. v. 1.81 91 101.11 But for the understanding of this That these words I will devide him a portion with the great signifie no more than this I will highly honour him and reward him know this that those places of Scripture which carry two senses in them are Historicall as I may call it and a Mysticall though they carry the Historicall sense word for word yet they carry the Mysticall sense for the most part but in Grosse though here and there there be sometimes such sentences interserted as apperteine according to the words themselves not onely to the Historicall but also to the Mysticall sense of which I spake more at large in the Preface And he shall divide the spoile with the strong This is the same for sense with former words Because he hath poured out his soul unto death i. e. Because he hath not spared his life but parted with it to the uttermost By His soule is here meant His life by a Metonymie for Life is nothing else but the Union of the soule with the body which Union is mainteined by the apt dispositions of the body to reteine it When he saith he hath poured out his soule he useth a Metaphor taken from the powring out of water out of Buckets He saith He hath poured out his soule unto death in pursuance of that Metaphor Of powring out of water out of a Bucket where the water is so poured out to the last drop as that there is not a drop thereof remaining And he was numbred with the transgressours i. e. And because he was accounted as a Transgressour though he were innocent and was put to death amongst Transgressours This was fulfilled when he was crucified between two Thieves Mark 15. v. 27 28. And he bare the sinne of many i. e. And he bare what the malice of the Jewes and the Gentiles under Pontius Pilate could lay upon him See Acts Cap. 4.27 By Sinne understand here the Torments and Afflictions which were the effect of the sinne That is of the malice and envy of the Jewes c. By a Metonymie And made intercession for the transgressours i. e. And because he made intercession for these who through envy and malice did put him to death ISAIAH CHAP. LIV. SIng O barren thou that didst not bear i. e. Sing for joy O Sion or O Jerusalem thou which hast been like a barren woman and bore no children He prophecyeth here of the joyful deliverance of the Jews out of the Babylonish captivity as he did cap. 49.51 52. and elsewhere And he speaks to the material City of Sion or Ierusalem as to a woman by a Prosopopoeia whom he calleth barren and one that did not bear because all the time of the Babylonish captivity she was empty of Jews which were to her as children for they were all carryed away into Babylon and there was none left in her to encrease the Nation See cap. 49.21 Cry aloud Supple For joy Thou that didst not travel with childe This is a repetition of those words Thou that didst not bear For more are the children of the desolate i. e. For more shall thy children be O thou which wast desolate and as a widow and as one forsaken of her Husband during the Babylonish captivity c. He changeth the person here and speaks of Sion or Jerusalem in the third person to whom he spoke in the foregoing words in the second and he useth a present for a future tense Sion or Jerusalem was called desolate and as one forsaken of her Husband because God who was her Husband vers 5. and cap. 62.5 had forsaken her cap. 50.1 And therefore as a woman which is desolate and forsaken of her Husband beareth not children so was Ierusalem barren and without children while God had forsaken her who might be called her Husband as in other regards so in this that while he had a favor to her he did encrease her children within her as a woman multiplyeth her children by her Husband Then the children of the marryed wife i. e. Then thy children were when thou hadst an Husband any time heretofore and wast a marryed Wife The meaning is that Jerusalem though she had been afflicted and brought into captivity by the Babylonians and had her Children or Citizens carryed away from her yet now she should be more populous then ever she was at any time before that her captivity Note that when he saith More are the children of the desolate then the children of the marryed woman he speaks as though he spoke of two several persons but he speaks but of two several states or conditions of the same person So we say of a man that is changed from what he was that he is another man though not his substance but his condition onely is changed This which I have given is the first sence of this place But Sion here as she became fruitful after her widowhood was a Type of the Church of Christ So that in the second and sublime sence this place is to be understood of the Church of Christ as will appear Gal. 4.27 For as Sion while God had put her away from being his Wife and had given her over to be spoyled by the hands of the Babylonians was barren and brought forth no children but when he took her to him to Wife again she encreased in children as the Stars of Heaven for multitude So the Church of Christ while she was a stranger to the bed of Christ and was without the seed of his Word that is while all Nations were suffered to walk in their own ways Acts 14.16 and were given over to the god of this World to be blinded by him Acts 17.30 brought forth no children unto God But when Christ took her to his bed Ioh. 3.29 and redeemed her out of the hand of Satan and gave her the seed of his Word she so encreased in children as that all the ends of the Earth were full of her issue So that she far exceeded the Synagogue of the Iews when it was most populous Note here that Sion as she was considered before the Babylonish captivity was a Type of the Synagogue of the Iews but as she was considered after the Babylonish captivity was a Type of the Church of Christ As therefore Sion was more populous after the Babylonish captivity then ever she was before so was the Church of Christ more populous then ever the Synagogue of the Iews was Wonder not that I make Sion a Type of the Synagogue and the same Sion a Type of the Church upon divers considerations For Saint Paul makes her a Type of the Synagogue Gal. 4.25 and a Type of the Church Rom. 9.33 It may be objected here That the Church of Christ was not the Church
Kings 14.9 Psal 22.12 Ezech. 31.3 Shall come unto thee i. e. Shall be brought unto thee For what purpose the Cedar should be brought he tells towards the end of this verse Note that this is another reason why the gates of Ierusalem should stand open continually and hereby is intimated also that the Syrians which possessed mount Lebanon should be subdued by the Jewes or at least should so farre either stand in feare of them or respect them as that they should furnish them with all things for the use of the Temple which their Country could afford For it must be either by the good will or by a conquest of this people that the Jewes could have these Trees brought to Jerusalem but Strabo relates that the Jewes did subdue this people by the sword To beautifie the place of my sanctuary i. e. To adorne my Temple for the Temple was adorned by the wood of these Trees being curiously wrought And I will make the place of my feet glorious i. e. For I will make my Temple glorious The place of my feet By the place of Gods feet is meant the Arke then by the Arke which stood in the Sanctum Sanctorum is meant the Temple Per metonymiam contenti The Arke is called the place of Gods feet as appeareth 1 Chron. 28.2 And therefore was it called the place of Gods feet because in the two ends of the mercy seat which covered the Arke there were two Cherubins of gold looking one towards another and spreading out their wings one towards another and by the spreading out of their wings making as it were a seat to sit upon Upon the wings of the Cherubins so stretched out was the Lord supposed to sit in shape of a man and to rest his feet upon the Arke And therefore was the Arke called the place of his feet See Exod. Cap. 25. v. 17 18 19 20 21 22. 14. The sonnes also of them which afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee q. d. So glorious also shalt thou be that not onely they which were thy friends but they also which afflicted thee as enemies shall be moved with thy glory and come and honour and reverence thee if not for love yet for feare and sâ—e to thee for thy favour and for thy friendship This is another reason why the gates of Hierusalem should stand open continually to wit because the sonnes of them that had afflicted Sion should come bending to thee The sonnes of them which afflicted thee i. e. The children of those that afflicted thee Or they themselves which afflicted thee O Sion For the Hebrewes put the sonnes of such and such for such and such themselves Shall come bending unto thee Supple In token of honour and reverence towards thee See this fulfilled in part Ezra 4. v. 1.2 Shall bow themselves at the soles of thy feet i. e. Shall bow themselves down even to the ground in most humble manner in signe of the greater respects to thee And they shall call thee the City of the Lord q. d. And when they speake unto thee and call thee they shall say O thou City of the Lord And this they shall say to shew the great esteeme which they have of thee and that they greatly reverence thee Sion or Jerusalem might be called the City of the Lord aswell in regard of the love which the Lord had to her as of the Temple which was scituate in Jerusalem which was the Lords house The Sion of the holy one of Israel i. e. The Sion of the Lord who is the holy One of Israel 15. Forsaken Supple Of me as of thine husband and of thy children thinâ— Inhabitants during the Babylonish captivity Anâ— hated Supple Of me as of thine husband against whom thou hast plaid the whore And of the Babylonians as of my Instruments which I called to pâ—nish thee who out of hatred to thee have laid thee waste and desolate So that no man went through thee i. e. So that no man went through thy Streets I will make thee an eternall excellence i. e. I will make thee most excellent and glorious for a long time to come The Hebrewes when they would signifie a thing in the Superlative degree They use an Abstract for a Concrete so here when the Prophet would signifie that Sion should be most excellent saith that she shall be an excellency An eternall excellency i. e. Most excellent a long time The Hebrewes are somewhat hyperbolicall in their expression of time and duration and that that shall be eternall and everlasting which shall last onely a long time A joy of many generations i. e. Such a one as in which many generations successively shall rejoyce Note that joy is put here per Metonymium objecti for the thing in which we joy and many generations for the men of many generations per Metonymiam Efficientis When the Lord made Jerusalem an eternall excellency and a joy of many generations then did all men flock to her and tread her streets though none went through her before Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles i. e. Thou shalt draw the riches of the Gentiles to thy selfe and be enriched by them He useth a Metaphor taken from a sucking child milking his Nurses breasts and resembleth Riches to the milk which he drawes by sucking And shalt suck the breasts of Kings Hee persists in the Metaphor of a sucking child In the 49 Chapter vers 27. The Prophet saith That Kings shall be their i. e. the Jewes nursing fathers and that the same with this Thou shalt suck the breast of Kings Whe he saith The breast of Kings his Metaphor is Catachresticall For children use to suck not the brests of men but of women And thou shalt know i. e. For thou shalt know and that by experience And is put here for for Thy Saviour and thy Redeemer Supple which will save thee and redeem thee out of the hands of the Babylonians The Mighty one of Israel i. e. The mighty God whom Israel worshipped and who loved Israel By Israel may be here meant either Jacob himselfe who was named Israel Gen. 32.28 or the Jewes â—he children of Jacob. The Lord addeth this viz. The mighty God of Israel to shew that what he hath said here should surely be effected for there be but two things required to bring any thing to passe A power and a will to doe God sheweth his power in that he calleth himselfe the Mighty one his will in that he calls himselfe the Mighty one of Israel for by that he sheweth his love to the children of Israel 17. For Brasse I will bring Gold c. q. d. whereas now thou art poore I will make thee exceeding rich so as Gold shall be as plentifull with thee then as Brasse is now c. Thus rich God made Sion by the Gentiles whom he made as Conduit-pipes to convey these his favours to them so as these words are an explication of those Thou shalt
our Potter i. e. And thou art the Potter which made us thy vessels We are all the work of thine hands This is a repetition of the former Sentence We are the Clay and thou our Potter we are all the work of thine hands Supple therefore forsake us not forsake not the works of thine own hands Psal 138.8 Be not wroth Supple with us Neither remember iniquity for ever i. e. Neither remember our iniquity Supple to punish us for it for ever We are all thy people Save us therefore we beseech thee Save thy people and lift them up for ever Psal 28.9 Thy holy Cities are a Wildernesse i. e. Thy Cities even the Cities of Judah which is the land of thine inheritance are made as a wildernesse by the Babylonians who have cast them down and left none to build them up again and inhabite them He calls the Cities of Judah the holy Cities because they were the Cities standing upon Gods own Inheritance for the land of Judah was Gods inheritance Cap. 63.17 Or because they were Cities appertaining to Gods people the Jewes which were an holy people Deut. 7.6 Or because there were Synagogues therein erected for Gods service Psal 74.8 Sion is a wildernesse By Sion is meant the City of David which was built upon the hill Sion which was also called the upper City of Hierusalem Jerusalem a Desolation i. e. Jerusalem is utterly desolate He puts desolation for utterly desolate an Abstract for a Concrete And by Hierusalem he meaneth that part of Hierusalem which lay under the hill of Sion in the valley and which was called the lower City Note that he maketh particular mention of Sion and Hierusalem here because they were the chiefest and most holy of all the Cities and note that is not an unusuall figure in Rhetorique 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. for a man to make speciall mention of one particular amongst the rest even then when he maketh mention of all in generall as Strabo noteth lib. 8. 11. Our holy and our beautifull house where our fathers praised thee is burnt up with fire q. d. Thy beautifull Temple which was the place to which we and our fathers resorted to worship thee is burnt up with fire All our pleasant things are laid wast By pleasant things may be meant the Kings Palaces and the Palaces of the Nobles with all other the stately houses of their great men and the Orchards Gardens and places of delight thereunto appertaining Or by their pleasant things may be meant Those rare peeces of workmanship which were about the Temple Or else thereby may be meant their Synagogues wherein their fathers delighted to meet for Gods service 12. Wilt thou refrain thy selfe for these things q. d. And they which did these things were the Babylonians wilt thou therefore refraine thy selfe from taking vengeance of the Babylonians for doing these things Wilt thou hold thy peace q. d. Wilt thou hold thy peace at the Babylonians which did these things and wilt thou not rebuke them And afflict us very sore q. d. And wilt thou afflict us very sore who have not done any such things as these are but suffered all this at the hands of the Babylonians He layeth open the sins and outrages of the Babylonians that he might provoke God to punish them because by their punishment the Jews were like to speed the better as the event shewed For when God punished the Babylonians by Cyrus the Jews obtained their freedom again ISAIAH CHAP. LXV I Am sought of them that asked not for me This hath good connexion with the former Chapter and this Verse containeth the gracious Answer of God to that prayer which was there made to him in person of a Jew which was in captivity For here he tells him that he hath them that shall do all his pleasure in punishing the Babylonians and in redeeming his people the Jews which was the chief subject of that prayer I am sought of them that asked not for me i. e. They have light upon my will and pleasure to do it that never enquired after it as if they had enquired after it Note first that God is put here by a Metonymy for the will and pleasure of God As when we say Abraham obeyed God for Abraham obeyed the will of God c. Note secondly that he saith I am sought for I am found out or my will is found out or they have light upon will and pleasure as if they had sought for it per Metonymiam Antecedentis For seeking goeth before finding out So is this word seeking also taken for to get Eccles 3.6 by the same figure Now if ye ask who they were which sought that is which found out and light upon the will and pleasure of God as if they had sought it I say that it was Cyrus and the Medes and Persians under him For thus doth God say of Cyrus He shall perform all my pleasure Cap. 44.28 If you ask what this will and pleasure of God was The answer is That it was that Cyrus should tread down the Babylonians Isai 41.25 And that he should redeem the Jews out of captivity Cap. 45.4 And that he should build up the Temple Cap. 44.28 If you ask whether Cyrus knew that this was the determinate will of God or no when he light upon it I answer At first it is probable he did not but before he had performed all the Lords pleasure he did as appeareth 2 Chron. 36.23 Ezra 1.1 2 c. And Josephus in the eleventh Book of his Antiquities cap. 1. reports that Cyrus read what was written of him in Isaiah Cap. 45. whereby Cyrus was stirred up to perform the Lords will in subduing Babylon redeeming the Jews and building the Temple c. That asked not after me i. e. That enquired not what my will was Cyrus and the Medes and Persians under him which did perform the pleasure of God did not ask what the pleasure and will of God was that they should perform it for they did not so much as know God at the first Isai 45.4 And afterwards when the Priests of the Lord acquainted Cyrus with the will and pleasure of the Lord concerning him they did it without his asking for he did not so much as dream of any such thing I am found of them that sought me not This is an illustration of the former sentence as also a repetition thereof with which kinde of repetition our Prophet is much delighted I said Behold me behold me to a Nation that was not called by my Name q. d. I said to a Nation that I owned not and took not for a peculiar people as I did the Jews Behold me Supple For I will bless thee and make thy way prosperous Behold me Supple For I will bless thee and make thy way prosperous The Nation or Nations here spoken of for Nation may be put for Nations collectivè were they which served Cyrus in his expedition against Babylon whom God blessed
by Salmaneser because of the league which the Syrians had there with the ten Tribes against Assyria 2 Kings 18.9 c. Is taken away for being a City i. e. Shall be destroyed and be no City but an heap of rubbish He puts a Preterperfect for a Future tense as Prophets are wont And it shall be a ruinous heape i. e. And it shall be reduced to a heape of stones and rubbish 2. The Cityeâ— of Aroer are forsaken i. e. The Câ—tyes of Aroer shall be forsaken and left desolate because the Inhabitants shall either flie away or be slaine or carried into Captivity Aroer Aroer was a Tract of land by the brink of the River Arnon which the Reubenites and Gadites and Manassites did possesse of which Deut. 2.36 And of this Aroer do some interpret this place thinking it to have been held by the Syrians at this time Others had rather take it of a Tract of land in Syria called also by the Hebrews Aroer by Ptolomie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They shall be for flocks i e. Sheep and other Cattle shall feed and lodge there They shall lie down Supple Quietly And none shall make them afraid Because there shall be left none of those Cityes to disquiet them 3. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim i. e. Samaria also shall be taken away from the ten Tribes of Israel which was the Royall City of that Kingdome By the Fortresse is meant Samaria which he calleth a Fortresse from the strength and Fortifications thereof For it was as strong and as well fortified as if the whole City had been a Fortresse so strong and well fortified it was as that Salmaneser besiedged it three yeares before he took it 2 Kings 18.9 10. By Ephraim he meaneth the ten Tribes of Israel See Cap. 7.2 Because Ephraim and Syria joyned in their sin they are here joyned in their punishment and are both so distressed as that the one is not able to help the other And the Kingdome from Damascus So that Damascus shall not be a Royall City and head of a Kingdome as before And the remnant of Syria Supple So that none of the Syrians which shall be left shall come to be Kings of Syria or of the Syrians They shall be as the glory of the Children of Israel i. e. The Syrians though they are very many for number glory of their multitude yet they shall be as the glory or multitude of the Children of Israel that is they shall be brought low and diminished as the Children of Israel shall That is q. d. The Syrians and the Children of Israel though now they are exceeding many for number yet both of them shall be brought low they shall become few in number The glory of a Nation consisted in the multitude of a People And that most commonly the Prophet calls a Nations glory either because they gloried in it themselves or were renowned abroad for it by others That therefore that the Prophet saith here is this as I said viz. that the great multitudes of the Syrians shall become as the great multitudes of the ten Tribes of Israel If you ask what became of the great multitudes of the ten Tribes of Israel he will tell you in the next following verses that they were diminished and brought to a small number Note that the Prophet gives a reason here why he said the remnant of Syria q. d I said the remnant of Syria for the great multitudes and glory of the Syrians shall be as the glory of the Children of Israel it shall be diminished and brought to a remnant as they shall Note that there is no formall Antecedent here going before this Relative They but the Antecedent may easily be understood 4. And in that day it shall come to passe For In that day it shall come to passe c. He puts And for For For he sheweth here in what he likened the Syrians or the glory of Syria to Children of Israel or the glory of Isra l. In that day i. e. At that time in which the Lord wiil scourge the Israelites by Salmaneser The glory of Jacob shall be made thinn i. e. The great multitude of the ten Tribes of Israel shall be diminished and brought low and left as but a remnant This is the sense of these words but the Prophet useth a Metaphor here and puts Jacob the Father for the ten Tribes of Israel which were the Children of Jacob by a Metonymie As Jacob therefore was a single man so doth he there speak of all the ten Tribes as if they were but one single man yet a bigg fat and corpulent man and the multitude and great numbers of the ten Tribes he likeneth to the corpulency and fatnesse of that man For as a man groweth big by his corpulency and the fatnesse of his flesh So doth a Nation or Kingdome by the multitude of its People And as a man growes thin and slender when the corpulency and fatnesse of his flesh abateth So is a Kingdome or Nation diminished and brought low when the multitude of its People is destroyed The glory of Jacob. By the Glory of Jacob is here meant the Corpulency and bignesse of the naturall body of Jacob by which as I said is meant the multitude of the politique body of the people of Israel which multitude is a Peoples glory And the fatnesse of his flesh i. e. And the fatnesse of Jacob's flesh by which he meaneth the multitude of the children of Israel as he did by the glory of Jacob. For as man groweth big by the fatnesse of his flesh so doth a People wax great by their multitude Shall be made lean i. e. Shall be diminished or brought low 5. And it shall be as when the harvest man gathereth the Corn and reapeth the eares with his arme i. e. And the glory that is the multitude of the Children of Israel shall be as when the harvest man gathereth the corn and reapeth the eares with his arme For as the harvest man gathereth the corn and reapeth the eares with his arme that he may carry them out of the field into the barne So shall Salmaneser gather the great multitude of the Children of Israel and fetch them from their severall dwellings to carry them out of their own land into Assyria Note that the Antecedent to this Relative It is the glory or multitude of Israel likened to the glory or fatnesse of Jacobs flesh v. 4. For the Prophet often passeth from the thing signifying to the thing signified Note that these two Phrases gathereth the Corn and reapeth the Eares Are but repetitions and signifie the same thing for the Prophet loves to repeat the same thing by diverse words Or if they signifie divers things by gathering of the corn is meant the gathering and grasping of the standing corn with the left hand in reaping that he may the better cut or reap it with the right hand And by the reaping of the eares is meant the
number and fort for forts Note here the Enallage of the person and number for he speaks to Moab by an Apostrophe in the singular number whereas he spoke of the Moabites just before in the plural number Shall he bring down i. e. Shall he cast down or break down 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ISAIAH CHAP. XXVI IN that day i. e. At that time in which the Assyrians shall be destroyed by the Angell of God This song shall be sung i. e. Let this Song bee sung for the Hebrews use a Future tense for an Imperative Mood or this Song may be sung We have a strong City He meaneth Jerusalem Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks i. e. God will appoint salvation it selfe in stead of walls and bulwarks to defend it and protect it And where salvation it self is in stead of walls and bulwarks that City must needs be safe Salvation may be taken here either actively or passively or neutrally if actively then by salvation may be meant Gods saving power which is the cause of salvation per metonymiam efficientis If passively or neutrally then by salvation is meant that by which a thing is said to be formally safe and which way soever it be taken he speaks here of salvation either as a person by a Prosopopoeia or at least as of a thing by it selfe subsistent Note that he useth a Future for a Praeterperfect tense 2. Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in q. d. O ye Citizens of Jerusalem open ye the gates of your City and take in those godly men and constant professors of the truth which come to you for a refuge against the Assyrians The righteous Nation He meaneth by these those godly Jewes which lived in other Cities and Towns of Judah and Benjamin and ran to Jerusalem to save themselves from Sennacheribs Armie and would not comply with Sennacherib and forsake their Religion to save themselves as others did and he saith the righteous nation for those of the nation which are righteous by a Synecdocâ—e Integri Note that those which were righteous and upright in heart when they heard that God had appointed salvation for walls and bulwarks to Jerusalem that is that God would defend Jerusalem and preserve it against the Assyrian they believed Gods Word and hasted thither for safety Note also that though this song was to be sung after the Assyrian was destroyed by the Angell yet he speakes of those things which went before it as though they were then to come the better to set out what he speaks of to the life A thing usuall in such subjects Which keepeth the truth i. e. Which are constant in the profession of their Religion which is the true Religion and change it not to curry favour with the Assyrians May enter in And so be safe from the fury and violence of the Assyrians 3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is staid on thee He useth here an Apostrophe to God Although these words are occasioned by that peace and safety in which God kept the Inhabitants of Jerusalem and others which relying upon Gods protection ran thither for relief against Sennacherib Yet I take the words generally of Gods presering all which trust in him for the Divine Singers use to arise from Particulars to Generalls in the praises of God as may be observed in the Song of Hannah 1 Sam. 2. verses 8 9. And in the Song of the Virgin Mary Luke 1.50 c. In perfect peace i. e. In perfect safety The Hebrews by the word peace mean all and every kinde of prosperity or good Whose mind is staied on thee i. e. Who trust in thee and rely upon thee The minde is put for the whole man and in the word staied there is a Metaphor from a man leaning upon a staffe which staies him up that he falls not 4. Trust ye in the Lord for ever This is an Apostrophe to the men of Judah and Jerusalem drawn as an inference from and used by occasion of those words Thou O God wilt keep him in perfect peace whose minde is staied on thee because he trusteth in thee q. d. Being therefore that the Lord will keep him in perfect peace whose minde is staied on him because he trusteth in him Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength Supple And therefore he is able to save you and preserve you alwayes 5. For he bringeth down c. i. e. For he casteth down c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The connexion is q.d. Trust in the Lord trust not in the strength of any fenced City for he bringeth down c. Them that dwell on high i. e. Those which dwell in Castles and Forts which are built upon rocks and high places and which are built with walls and so are both by nature and art more impregnable then others by reason of which they trust more in the strength of the place then they do in God The lofty City he layeth it low i. e. The City which is built upon an high rock or mountain or the City which is fortified and encompassed about with high walls and towers and so maketh the Inhabitants thereof more to trust in the strength thereof then in God he demolisheth and bringeth to ruine This Relative It is redundant The foot shall tread it down even the feet of the poor i. e. They which are weak and of no account for warlike forces shall cast it down as easily as a man treads down a flower of the field with his foot The foot c. The foot is put here for the whole man by a Synecdoche and the foot rather then any other part because with that we tread c. Shall tread it down i. e. Shall easily and without much adoe beat it down a Metaphor The poor By the poor he meaneth by a Metaphor those which are contemptible and contemptible in particular in the matter of warlike strength And the steps of the needy By steps he meaneth the feet per Metonymiam Effecti This is a repetition of the former Sentence 7. The way of the just is uprightnesse i. e. The actions of the just man are upright c. The Prophet useth here again his Apostrophe to God which he interrupted in the two former verses by an Apostrophe to the men of Judah and Jerusalem And by the just man he meaneth those godly and religious men which were in Jerusalem when Sennacheribs Army did besiege it as appears by the next verse whom he called the righteous nation vers 2. These he sheweth here to be no hypocrites but truly godly and religious men whose sincerity he here mentioneth that he may shew that they are such as are worthy of the salvation of God The way i. e The actions The Hebrews often put the way for the actions of man by a Metaphor because we
the Lord hath forsaken me c. In the former verse it was said that God would comfort his people and would have mercy upon his afflicted but Zion when she heard of it did hardly believe it but saith she here surely that is not so for the Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me And this she saith in a kind of despaire having been sorely oppressed by the Babylonians But it may be asked what it concerned Zion to heare that God would comfort his people and shew mercy upon his afflicted and what she should be the better for it that she should say when she heard of it in despaire Surely it will not be so for the Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me Answ The comfort and mercy which is here spoken of was the bringing in of the afflicted Jewes into their own Land again and to Sion the holy City And if they were once brought into their own Land again and to Sion the holy City then should Sion have joy in their prosperity as a mother in the prosperity of her children and then should her walls and her houses which the Babylonian had broken down be builded up again And then should her inhabitants be to her again as the ornament of a bride V. 18. But Zion said c. But Zion hath said heretofore and saith still c. This word said denoteth a continuall saying and signifies not onely the time past but also the present time by a Syllepsis The Lord hath forsaken me aad my Lord hath forgotten me i. e. The Lord hath cast me off and will take no more care of me nor any way pitty me How then can he comfort his peoplâ— and have mercy upon his afflicted for their comfort is my comfort and their joy is my joy When the Lord hath cast any one off so that he will take no more care of him or shew him any pity he is said in the Scripture-phrase to have forsaken him and forgot him 15. Can a woman forget her sucking childe The Prophet speaketh this in the person of God and answereth to the complaint of Sion and sheweth that the Lord hath not forgotten her Or the Sonne of heâ— wombe i. e. Or her Sâ—cking child which is a Sonne and a Sonne of her owne wombe Yea they may forget q. d. Verily though it be unlikely yet women may forget their Sucking children and the Sonnâ—s of their wombe Note here the Enallage of the numbâ—r how he passeth from a Singular to a Pâ—urall number 16. I have graven thee upon the palmes of my hands i. e. I have writ Sion upon the palme of my hands that it may bâ— to me as a memoriall of thee and so often as I see or read it I may remember thee By this he would shew that he is alwayes mindfull of Sion And he alludeth to those who that they may remember some one thing or businesse which they would not forget put some signe or memoriall thereof upon their hands which some doe by tying a thred about their fingers Others by writing the thing or name of the thing which they would remember upon some part of the hand either backe or palme c. See Exod. 13.9 I have graven c. That is I have written thy name upon the palmes of my hand so that it cannot be blotted out He useth a Metaphor from a Graver in Stone or Brasse or the like whose engravings are not easily blotted out or defaced Thee i. e. Thy name viz. Sion Thy walls are continually before me i. e. Thy ruined walls are continually in my thoughts yea in my sight and it pittieth me to see them in the dust 17. Thy children shall make hast q. d. Therefore thy children which shall build up thy walls againe shall make hast to come unto thee By the children of Sion are meant the Jewes which were in Captivity in Babylon or else where in exile Thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall goe forth of thee i. e. The Babylonians which destroyed thee and laid thee waste shall goe forth of thee and give place to thy children Note that when the Iewes were carried away Captive into Babylon many Babylonians inhabited their Cities either of their own private voluntary minde or by the publike authority of their King who when he conquered a Countrey and carried away the Inhabitants thereof sent other of his own Subjects to Inhabit there And these saith the Lord to Sion shall goe forth of thee 18. Cast up thine eyes round about i. e. Looke towards the East and towards the West towards the North and towards the South He speakes still to Sion And behold He speakes as though the Jewes which were scattered abroad by the comming of the Babylonians into Judaea were even then gathering themselves together to returne into Judaea againe in kenne of eye All these gather themselves together and come to thee q. d. All these whom thou seest are Jewes which gather themselves together to come to thee He speakes as though he pointed at them with his finger In the former verse he said to Sion that her children should make hast to come to her here he saith that they are comming already Thou shalt surely cloth thy selfe with them all as with an ornament q. d. They shall all come and when they are all come they shall be as great an Ornament and a glory to thee by reason of their multitude as the Robe is to a King or Queene He alludeth to a glorious Robe wherewith a King or Queene is clothed when he saith Thou shalt cloth thy self with them all as with an Ornament When he saith Thou shalt surely cloth thy selfe with them all as with an Ornament He speaketh not so much of their quality as of their number as may appeare by the content For the glory of a City consisteth also in the number and multitude of the Inhabitants And binde them on thee as a Bride doth Supple Her Jewells or Bracelets or her head attire q. d. And they shall be as great an Ornament to thee by reason of their number as the Jewells or Bracelets or Head attire which shee bindes on her are to a Bride These are the same for sense with the former words only the Metaphor or Allusion is different 19. For thy waste and thy desolate places and the Land of thy destruction shall even now be too narrow by reason of the Inhabitants q. d. For they which shall come and inhabite thee shall be so many in number and their multitude shall be so great as that thy waste and thy desolate places and the Land of thy destruction shall even now be too narrow to containe the Inhabitants thereof because of their number and multitude Thy waste and desolate places i. e. Those places which lay waste and desolate in thee for want of Inhabitants The Land of thy destruction i. e. Thy Land which is destroyed by the Babylonians He saith the
Land of thy destruction for thy Land which is destroyed putting a Substantive of the Genitive Case for an Adjective or a Participle after the Hebrew manner Even now i. e. So soon as ever they to wit thy children which gather themselves together to come to thee shall be come to thee And they that swallowed thee up i. e. And the Babylonians which destroyed thee and now dwell in thee c. See verse 17. He saith swallowed thee up for destroyed thee by a Metaphor from a Lion or Beare or some such ravenous Beast or other which is wont to swallow downe his prey And they that swallowed thee up shall be farre away Read these words as with a Parenthesis 20. Thy children which thou shalt have i. e. These words have their immediate connexion with the formost words of verse 19. viz. with those Thy wast and thy desolate places and the Land of thy destruction shall even now be too narrow by reason of the Inhabitants And are for sense the same with them The children which thou shalt have Supple Even now He speakes as though the Jewes which were in Captivity in Babylon and dispersed elsewhere were even now comming to Sion or Hierusalem their mother After thou hast lost the other Supple Which thou hadst before the Babylonians besieged thee who slew some and carried others of thy children away Captive and made others to flye into forraigne Lands Shall say againe in thine eares i. e. Shall say againe to thee or in thine hearing Againe This relates to such time or times before the Babylonish Captivity in which Hierusalem was very populous so that many of the people thereof were faine to dwell in other Cities and Villages of Judah For they which did so did in effect say The place is too straight for mee The place is too straight for me i. e. The place wherein we dwell is too little for us we must seeke us a dwelling elsewhere For me i. e. For us For here is an Enallage of the number The Singular being put for the Plurall Give place to me that I may dwell q.d. Give me a place elsewhere that I may have a place to dwell in 21. Then shalt thou say in thine heart i. e. Then when thy children shal come to thee and they shall be straightned for want of roome to dwell in thee thou shalt wonder to see that they are so many and shalt say within thy selfe Who hath begotten me these i. e. By whom have I these so many children Seeing I have lost my children Supple Which I had Shee lost her children when the Babylonians slew many of them made many to flye away for feare of their lives and carried the rest away Captive into Babylon And am desolate i. e. And am without an husband The Lord was her husband and had married her but had put her away Cap. 50.1 So that shee was at this time desolate and without an husband A Captive and removing to and fro And shee which is a captive removing to and fro hath but little propension to the procreation of children A Captive Supple to the Babylonians Removing to and fro Conquerours use to hurry their Captives from place to place and City to City at their pleasures and seldome suffer them to abide long in one place Ob. It may be here objected that Sion being a City could not remove from place to place to and fro Ans What is said in this Chapter of Sion and attributâ—d to her is spoken of her and attributed to her by a Prosopopoeia by which figure shee may be made aswell to remove from place to place to and fro as to speake But what is spoken of Sion in this Chapter and attributed to her is spoken of her and attributed to her to set forth the condition of the Jewes as it was at that time as I said before And who hath brought up these And who hath nourished and brought up all these Behold I was left alone Supple without children and none of them all were with me therefore I could not nourish them and bring them up These where they had been q. d. Where have all these been wheresoever they have been they have not been with me so that I could not bring them up 22. Thus saith the Lord God behold I wil lift up mine hand to the Gentiles q. d. Moreover thus saith the Lord God Behold c. In the 18 19 20 verses the Lord assured Sion that her children should come to her to comfort her Here that he may yet further comfort her and shew her how mindfull he was of her she sheweth the manner how they shall come to her and how happy she shall be when she hath received them I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles i. e. I will call the Gentiles to me He alludeth to one man beckning to another with his hand to come to him And set up my Standard to the people i. e. And I will gather the people or Nations together For what end he will call the Gentiles to him and gather the Nations together he sheweth in the next following words This phrase is the same for sense with that which went immediately before but he alludes herein to a Captaine which sets up his Standard for his souldiers to come together and to be in a readinesse for what march or service he shall appoint them And they shall bring thy sonnes in their armes i. e. and they shall bring thy sonnes to thee in their armes as nurses use to carry their little ones And thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders i. e. And they shall carry thy daughters to thee upon their shoulders Supple on soft beds or pallate as they which are weak were wont to be carried Mark 2.3 The meaning is that the Gentiles shall carefully provide and accommodate the Jewes with all things necessary and convenient for their return from Babylon and other parts of the world to their own Land How this was fulfilled in part read Ezra 1. 23. And Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and Queens thy nursing mothers i. e. And after thy sonnes and daughters are brought to thee Kings and Queens shall be as carefull to provide and shew kindnesse to thee as nursing fathers and nursing mothers are to their Foster-children Kings shall be their nursing fathers This was fulfilled in Cyrus Darius Artaxerxes whose good deeds to the Jewes are mentioned in the book of Ezra and Nehemiah and Assuerus of whom we read Esther 8.7 c. And Alexander the Great and his successors and especially Demetrius whom Josephus writeth of All which were exceeding good to the Jewes and to Hierusalem and to the Temple and gave them many gifts and priviledges And thâ—ir Queens thy nursing mothers This was fulfilled in the Queenes of some of those forementioned Kings and particularly in Ester as may be seen in the book which beareth her name They shall bown down to thee with their face towards the
mother by a Prosopopoeia Thy God reigneth God is said to reign in general when he doth shew by any act worthy his greatness that he is King and in particular here he is said to reign because he shewed his Kingly Power in the delivery of his people out of the hands of their Enemies the Babylonians That which Isaiah speaketh here of a Messenger bringing good news of peace and salvation befaln the Jews in Babylon Saint Paul speaks of the Apostles and Ministers of Christ preaching peace and salvation by Christ and this may both do Isaiah in the first Saint Paul in the second and sublime sence For as I have often said as the temporal miseries of the Jews under their Enemies were a type of our spiritual miseries under Sin and Satan that grand Enemy of mankinde so were the Deliverances of the Jews out of those miseries types of our deliveries by Christ and of that Salvation which we have by him And the Holy Ghost doth often so order the words of the Prophets that they shall signifie as well one as the other word by word in particular 8. Thy watchmen shall lift up the voyce i. e. Thy watchmen which shall stand upon thy towers shall lift up their voyce and cry and shout aloud for joy O Sion He alludeth to the Watchmen which use to stand upon the Towers of great Cities to give notice of any danger or any great company approaching to the City See cap. 21.5 Why these Watchmen shall lift up their voyce he tells a little after viz. because they shall see when the Lord bringeth again Zion But why doth hâ— mention the Watchmen here rather then any other Ans Because they shall see when the Lord bringeth Siâ—n again before any other as being placed in the high Towers and set purposely to watch what companies approach to the City With the voyce together shall they sing i. e. They shall sing with a loud voyce Together This word signifieth All. For they shall see Supple From the Towers whereon they stand They shall see eye to eye i. e. They shall see very plainly and evidently and not be deceived in their sight When the Lord shall bring again Sion The Preposition To is here to be understood as also it is left to be understood in the Hebrew Text cap. 35.10 and cap. 51.11 though it is there expressed in our Translation and not here The sence therefore of this place is this When the Lord shall bring again to Sion that is When the Lord shall bring his people back again out of Babylon the place of their captivity to Sion their own City Here is such an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in those words cap. 49.8 To cause to inherit the desolate heritages Yet by Sion may be here meant the Jews the children and inhabitants of Sion either as the same Jews are called Jacob because they are the children of Jacob cap. 41.14 Or as Kir is taken for the Citizens and Inhabitants of Kir cap. 22.6 9. Ye waste places of Jerusalem See cap. 51.3 The Lord hath comforted his people Supple Which were in captivity in Babylon by setting them free again He hath redeemed Jerusalem Supple Out of her captivity For she also was a captive vers 2. and cap. 49.21 He speaks of the City of Jerusalem as of a captive He speaketh also as if the Lord had comforted his people and redeemed Jerusalem already at this time And so do the Prophets often speak before the thing they speak of is come to pass to signifie that it shall as surely come to pass as if it were already come 10. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm i. e. The Lord hath shewed his peerless power viz. in overthrowing the Babylonians whose power was thought invincible and in delivering and bringing back again his people out of captivity Note here that the arm of the Lord is put for the power of the Lord and therefore is it put for the power of the Lord because the Prophet speaks here of the Lord as of a man by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the strength and power of a man is seen in his arm Again because that a man when he would shew his arm must strip up the sleeve of the arm and make it bare he puts the making bare of the Lords arm for the shewing of his power His holy arm i. e. His matchless arm his peerless power For the word holy signifieth that which is separated from other things by way of excellency See Notes cap. 6.3 And all the ends of the Earth i. e. All they which dwell at the ends of the Earth that is All the Heathen Shall see the salvation of our God i. e. Shall see the Salvation which our God hath wrought for his people which were captive to the Babylonians by Cyrus 11. Depart ye depart ye This is spoken in particular to the Levites which were in Babylon intimating that they might go freely thence out of captivity and it is spoken as if Cyrus had already subdued Babylon and vanquished the Babylonians and given the Jews leave to depart thence to their own Land Go ye out from thence i. e. Go ye out from Babylon Here is a Relative put without an Antecedent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Touch no unclean thing q. d. Touch no unclean thing thereby to defile your selves and make your selves unclean The unclean things here mentioned were such as caused legal uncleanness in those that touched them or such as those were which we read of Levit. 11.24 25 26 c. and Lev. 22.4 c. which uncleanness was not to be upon the Levites when they did any way minister about the vessels of the Lord that is about the vessels of the Temple or Sanctuary because they were holy things Go out of the midst of her i. e. Go out of her that is out of Babylon Be ye clean i. e. If ye are clean keep your selves clean If ye are not clean but are defiled by touching some unclean thing be ye cleansed and purified that ye may be clean That bear the vessels of the Lord. i. e. O ye Levites By the vessels of the Lord are here meant the vessels of the Sanctuary or of the Temple which were consecrated to the service of the Lord which kinde of vessels the Levites were appointed to carry Numb 1.50 and 2.8 c. By these therefore which bore the vessels of the Lord are meant the Levites which were appointed to carry those vessels See Ezra 8.30 Note here that when the Babylonians had taken Jerusalem Nebuzaradan one of the Captains of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon carryed the vessels of the Temple away into Babylon 2 King 25. vers 14 15 c. These vessels there continued during all the time of the Jews captivity and when Cyrus delivered the Jews out of captivity he gave them also these vessels of the house of the Lord which were brought from Jerusalem to carry to Jerusalem back