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
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
it seemeth to use and wear mantles about their shoulders especially in cold weather and in journeys as many Eastern women doe at this day And the crisping pins With which they used to crisp and curle their hair 23. The glasses i. e. The Looking-glasses wherein they did contemplate and behold their beauty and dresse and prank themselves 24. Instead of sweet smells caused by the Spices and Perfumes which they carried about them There shall be stink Caused by noysome scabs and putrified Sores Or rather through want of change of clothing and good lodging for from the bodies of such proceedeth a noysome and stinking smell Instead of a girdle a rent Observe the Antithesis here a girdle is an Ornament added to and the above the whole and compleat garment A rent is a deformity and taking from the garment which was whole and compleat Well-set hair i. e. Hair set orderly and trimly by trim dressing Baldnesse This baldnesse might be caused either by some disease or scab which God might bring upon them Or by themselves tearing their hair off of their heads through grief and impatience Or by the Babylonians their enemies if at least they were wont to shave those which they conquered and made Captives as the Romans did Or by the servile work and the burthens which they bore on their heads in their captivity of which see Ezek. 29. v. 18. A stomacher Which useth to be more pretious and costly than any part of the garments beside A girding of sackcloth i e. Sackcloth girt upon their stomack Sackcloth as it is the coursest of clothes so is it also a badge of mourning Psal 30. v. 11. and 35.13 And burning i. e. A Face burnt with the Sun He puts an Abstract here for a Concrete Or by burning is meant Deformity and Vgliness caused by the burning of the Sun per Metonymiam Efficientis 25. Thy men shall fall by the Sword Viz. By the Sword of the Babylonians For the Judgements here threatned were performed by the Babylonians when Nebuchadnezzar came against Hierusalem and took it and carried the Jews into captivity The Prophet doth by an Apostrophe turn his speech to Hierusalem And thy mighty i. e. And thy strong and valiant men 26. And her gates i. e. And the Gates of Hierusalem He changeth the Person here speaking of Hierusalem in that third Person to whom he spoke in the 25. Verse in the second Person Her gates shall lament and mâ—run He useth a Prosopopoeia or a Metaphor here attributing that to inanimate creatures which is proper to man Note that within the Gates of the City not of Hierusalem onely but of other Citys also there were wont to be large and fair roomes where publique Assemblies of the Citizens used to be kept for matters of the Common-wealth that is for justice and judgement and the like Gen. 34.20 Deut. 17.5 and 22.15 and 25.7 Ruth 4.1 11 c. Now because the Gates being destinated and appointed for these Assemblies would have been glad and rejoyced when they were frequented by them but lamented and mourned at the slaughter and carrying them away which were wont to assemble there if they had had sence and understanding Hence it is that he saith here Her Gates shall lament and mourn because the Judges and Lawyers and others which used to meet there and frequent those places should be either slain by the sword of the Babylonians or carried away into captivity And she being desolate i. e. And Hierusalem her self being left as a widdow without an husband and a mother spoiled of her children Shall sit upon the ground Viz. As mourners were wont to do Ezra 9.3 Job 2.13 2 Sam. 12.16 He speaketh here by a Prosopopoeia or a Metaphor of Hierusalem as of a Mother or Matron full of grief and heavinesse Jeremie useth the same manner of speech concerning Hierusalem Lament 1. Vers 1. and our Prophet of Babylon Chap. 47.1 ISAIAH CHAP. IIII. AND in that day Supple In which God shall make such a desolation as is spoken of in the third Chapter This doth depend upon the foregoing Chapter And the Prophet here sheweth that there should be so few men left after the desolation and destruction there spoken of as that many women should scarce be able to get one man to be their husband Seven women i. e. Many women He puts a certaine number for an uncertaine Shall take hold of one man As having an earnest sute or request to him And as though they would not let him go untill he had condescended to their request The request that they should make to him is that he would be their Husband and marry them We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparrell The Husband was to find his Wife with food and raiment Exod. 21.10 Least therefore this man should deny their request and put them off with this that he was not able to find food and raiment for them therefore he would not be their husband They prevent him and tell him that they will not put him to that trouble and charge but will find their own food and their own apparrell Onely let us be called by thy name i. e. Onely let us be thine that is thy wives To be called by a mans name or to have a mans name called on a thing signifieth to be a mans own For every thing which is owned is called by the name of the owner as Davids Wife Salomons Sonne Pauls Cloak To take away our reproach â—t was a reproach and a shame among the Hebrews for a woman to be of ripe yeares and not to be married So also it was to be without issue Luke 1.25 Gen. 30 23. This reproach was one part of it certainely taken away and the other likely to be taken away by marriage 2. In that day Here is a Râ—lative put without an Antecedent But what day he speaketh of may be gathered from the fourth Verse It is the day or time when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the Daughter of Sion â—â—d shall have purged away the bloud of Hierâ—â—â—â—â—â— and so shall bring the residue of his Peâ— out of their Captivity Here the Prophet prophesiâ— of joyfull things for the comfort of those which were righteous after those grievous things which he foretold for the terror of the wicked Here should this fourth Chapter have begun Shall the branch of the Lord. The Prophet supposeth here that the Branch of the Lord would spring up as fore-seeing it in the Spirit therefore he speakes not of that that it shall spring up but cometh directly to speak of the Glory and Beauty and Excellency of it when it shall spring up Or else he includeth both by a Sylepsis q. d. And in that day there shall spring up a Branch of the Lord and that Branch of the Lord shall be beautifull c. The branch of the Lord. By the Branch of the Lord is meant the Salvation which God wrought for the Jews
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
concerns Esar-hadhaddon and other the Children of Sennacherib v. 21. How hath the Oppressour ceased q. d. How is it come to passe that the King of Babylon who was wont to Oppresse all kind of people and make warre against them onely that he might place his own Subjects in their Land or make them his Tributaries I say how is it come to passe that this man ceaseth so suddainly from his Oppression whereas he had so mighty a power to Oppresse The golden City ceased q. d How hath the City which was enriched with gold which was extorted from all nations by way of tribute and exactions ceased so suddainly to exact her Tribute Or thus How hath the Oppressour ceased The golden City ceased i. e. How is the Oppressour perished How hath the golden City been destroyed For those things which perished and are destroyed are said to cease Supple from being whether they be men or inanimate Creatures The golden City By the golden City he meaneth Babylon which he calleth the golden City by a Mimesis because the Babylonians in their pride were wont so to call it because of the abundance of gold and riches which were therein as being the City in which the Nobles and most wealthy men dwelt Or else he calls it the golden City because that thither the Tributes were carryed and there payd which the King of Assyria exacted of the Nations round about and so it abounded with gold and silver Some perhaps may here aske how it was against Sennacherib to tell of the fall of Babylon when as Sennacherib was dead before Babylon was overthrown Answer The Prophet useth a kind of Poesie in all this Proverbe which he hath against the King of Babylon and in Poesie the dead are brought in with like affections as if they were living Againe as in the Parable of Dives and Lazarus our Saviour brings in Dives when he was in Hell taking care for his brethren and their well doing which were upon the earth Luke 16.28 So might the Prophet bring in Sennacherib when he was dead taking care for the wellfare of his Children and as touched with their losses and with their death and spoke of him as if it were grievous to him whatsoever was grievous to them This Question is the Question of one admiring and insulting Admiring at what was done and insulting over those to whom it was done 5. The Lord hath broken the staffe of the wicked i. e. The Lord hath broken the power of the Oppressours so that they cannot any more oppresse By the Oppressours are meant Sennacherib and his sonnes or Sennacherib and his ancestors or Sennacherib and his Ministers who were his Instruments to oppresse The Prophet gives an Answer here to that Question How hath the Oppressour ceased And this he amplifieth and continueth to the end of the 22. verse and then in the 23. verse he gives an answer to the other Question How is the golden City ceassed The Staffe By the Staffe he meaneth Metaphorically the Power which Sennacherib and his Sonnes and Ancestors and Ministers used to oppresse other nations For as men use a Staffe to beat Doggs or Slaves c. So did they use their power to oppresse all people Of the wicked i. e. Of the Oppressours Synechdoche generis For all Oppressours are wicked men though all wicked men are not Oppressours And the Scepter of the Rulers This is a repetition of the former words The Scepter was an Ensigne of Majesty which Kings were wont to bear Yet it was but a Stick or a Staffe though happily trimly adorned Homer Iliad α. vers 234. with this also were Kings wont to strike in their anger those with whom they were offended So did Agamemnon strike Thersites with his Scepter Hom. Iliad α. v. 265. By the breaking therefore of the Scepter may be meant the breaking of the Power and Empire of the Assyrians 6. He who smote the People in wrath with a continuall stroke i. e. He which did continually vex and oppresse the People Here he comes to speak peculiarly against Sennacherib and by his smiting he meaneth Metaphorically his Oppressing With a continuall stroke i. e. With continual strokes A Singular for a Plurall number By his continuall strokes he meaneth his continuall Oppressions He is persecuted Sennacherib was persecuted by an Angel of God by which also his Army was destroyed from Judaea to Niniveh 2 Kings 19.35 36. And when he was there he was also persecuted and slaine by his own sonnes as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his God 2 Kings 19.37 And none hindereth i. e. And none are willing to hinder this his persecution but rather rejoyce in it None hindred it because he was at last slaine by them which persecuted him The prophet â—â—â—graphically describeth the Persecution of Sennacherib as though he were then in persecution when he spoke it 7. The whole earth is at rest and is quiet q. d. Sennacherib is slaine and now that Sennacherib is slaine the whole earth is quiet from warres with which he was wont to vex it This is to be understood as if Sennacherib were but newly slaine and this spoken so soon as ever he was dead By the whole earth he meaneth the Inhabitants of the whole earth by a Metonymie and he useth here a Synechdoche integri by putting all for part onely of the Inhabitants of the earth They break forth into singing Supple For joy that Sennacherib is dead who was wont to vex them with warres or tributes or both 8. Yea the Firr trees rejoyce at thee The Prophet makes an Apostrophe here to Sennacherib and useth a most elegant Prosopopoeia or Metaphor by which he makes the trees of Lebanon to rejoyce because being that Sennacherib was dead who delighted in war they should now stand and be cut down no more to make warrelike Engines and Fortifications as before Rejoyce at thee i. e. Rejoyce to hear that thou art dead Since thou art laid down i. e. Since thou art dead He useth a Metaphor here from trees which being cut down lye along upon the ground No feller is come up against us Supple To cut us down 9. Hell from beneath is mooved for thee i. e. Hell is moved as a Town and City is moved when a great King is brought Prisoner thither and every one runs out of his house to see him I say Hell is moved to hear that thou art dead and comming thither that it might meet thee By Hell he meaneth the Graves or the lower parts of the earth in which the Graves are made The Prophet useth here the like Metaphor or Prosopopoeia as he did before in the Firr trees And moreover in this description he alludes to some great Prince taken in war and brought Captive to some Town or City there to be kept like a Prisoner For thee i. e. To meet thee as the next words explaine it or for thee i. e. At the report of thee and of thy comming It
Land That is because thou hast destroyed the people of thy Land He puts the Land for the People thereof by a Metonymie But how did Sennacherib destroy the People of his Land Answer Perhaps Sennacherib was such a one as Nero was which delighted or sported himself in the death of his People Or therefore might Sennacherib be said to destroy his People because by his pride and blasphemy he provoked God to cut off his mighty Army by an Angel in which Army he had so many of his people as that the Aethiopian said of the Assyrians at that time that they were a Nation scattered and peeled to wit by reason of the great multitude of men which Sennacherib had taken out of Assyria and carried with him to invade Judea Cap. 18. v. 2. And indeed it is a Tradition among the Jewes that Sennacherib's Subjects were extreamly incensed against him for that losse especially they which had any Fathers or Sonnes or Brothers or any near Kinn therein Any of these Reasons may be reason enough to a rabble to ransack the Sepulchres of the dead and to draw out the body of a Tyrant or such as they were incensed against from thence to use it reproachfully The seed of evill doers See Chap. 1. v. 4. Shall never be renowned i. e. Shall never be had in that memory as the righteous shall Psal 109. v. 15. 21. Prepare slaughter for his Children q. d. O yee Medes prepare your selves and come and slay the Children of Sennacherib This Apostrophe is to the Medes who as I said about this time did break in pieces the Empire of the Assyrians of which Sennacherib was late King Note here that he of whom the former part of this Proverb was made was dâ—ad before God called to the Medes to prepare slaughter for his Children and before Babylon was destroyed as will appear to those that attentively read this Proverb or Song And so was Sennacherib He therefore is the subject of the former part of this Proverb or Song and to none doth it agree so well as to him For the iniquity of their Fathers i. e. For the iniquity of Sennacherib their Father Salmanaser their Grand-father and Tiglah-Pilesar their great Grand-father who had grievously oppressed as other people so especially the Children of Israel That they doe not rise Supple To that power and glory which their Father Sennacherib once had Nor possesse the Land Supple Which their Fatheâ— possessed Nor fill â—he 〈◊〉 of the world with Cities i e. And that they build not Cities upon the face of the earth as their Fathers have done Proud Tyrants though they pulld own and destroy Cities in some places yet they build again in other that they may become famous thereby to present and future ages And for the most part they call the Cities which they build after their own names as Alexander Caesarea Antiochia were called from Alexander Caesar and Antiochus 22. The name i. e. All which are called by his name as being of his bloud He puts the name for the party named by a Metonymie And remnant i. e. And those which remain alive of his bloud It is likely that many of Sennacherib's house and race were slain in his warres as it often happeneth to the Kinred and Children of other Princes and therefore he saith the remnant supple of Sennacherib's Kinn And Son and Nephew Supple Of Sennacherib 23. I will make it also a possession for the Bittern i. e. I will also make Babylon it self a place for the Bittern where it may haunt and abide quietly and not be de disturbed by any man A Bittern is a solitary fowl or bird which delighteth in fenny places and waters And pooles of water Babylon stood in a marish and fenny ground yea where Babylon stood it was at first all water called a Sea as Eusebius reporteth in the latter part of the ninth Book of his Evangelicall Preparation out of Abydenus very likely therefore it is that a great part of it if not all lay so low as that it was fain to be defended from the inundation and overflowing of the River Euphrates and other waters by banks which banks being broken down by the Medes Babylon or at least a great part of it must needs become a pool or pooles of water And I will sweep it with the Besome of destruction i. e. And I will utterly destroy every man out of it He alludes to a maide which sweepeth her house that she may purge it and cleanse it from all the dirt and dust and filth that is therein For as such a one so sweepeth her house as that she leaves not the least piece of dust or dirt or filth in it So saith the Prophet will the Lord so cleanse Babylon of the wicked and filthy Inhabitants thereof as that he will leave none in it but destroy them all The besome of destruction i. e. The destructive besome or a besome which shall destroy them He puts a Substantive of the Genitive case for an Adjective as the Hebrews are wont and takes destruction actively Note that this Verse containes an Answer to that Question which was moved vers 4. How is the golden City ceased For here he answers that Babylon the Golden City ceased through the Power of God who made it a possession for the Bittern and Pools of water who also swept it with the besom of destruction Here ends the Proverb which he began v. 5. 24. The Lord of Host hath sworn saying c. This is a Prophesie distinct from that which went before which yet seemes here to be added because it concerns Sennacherib as the former part of this Chapter did As I have thought Supple To do So shall it come to passe Supple Which I have thought of It shall stand A purpose is said to stand which we alter not till we have effected what we purposed 25. That I will break the Assyrian This is that which the Lord thought and shall come to passe And which he purposed and shall stand The Assyrian By the Assyrian he means Sennacherib first who was King of Assyria by way of excellency Then he meanes Sennabherib's Army by a Metonymie In my land i. e. In Judaea Why Judaea was called the land of the Lord See v. 2. And upon my Mountaines id est Upon the Mountaines of Judaea my Land Judaea was a Mountainous Countrey and Hierusalem was encompassed with mountaines Psal 125.2 on which Sennacherib's Army was slaine This was performed 2 Kings Chap. 19.35 Then shall his yoake i. e. The yoake of Sennacherib the Assyrian which he hath put upon the necks of the men of Judah the People of God What he meanes by the yoak See Cap. 9.4 and 10.27 From off them i. e. From off the men of Judah but especially of Hierusalem He puts here a Relative without an Antecedent and seems to point at them of whom he speaks And his burden depart from off their shoulders This is the same for
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
saith the Tabernacle of David for the House or Pallâ—ce of David And he so saith either in allusion to that that David was once a Shepheard and Shepheards live abroad in Tents and Tabernacles Or he saith it to signifie that the Pallace of David should be as a refuge to all that were oppressed with wrong as a Tabernacle is a refuge to those which are beaten with a storm or parched with the heat Cap. 4. vers 6. And indeed the Pallace of a righteous King should be a Sanctuary and refuge to all that are oppressed see Cap. 32. v. 2. Or he saith the Tabernacle of David for the House of David because the most ancient dwellings were in Tents and Tabernacles Of David David may be taken here per Mâ—tonymiam Efficientis for the Kings of Judah which were the Sonnes and Heires of David Judging Supple All causes which are brought before him And seeking judgement i. e. And seeking the truth and uprightnesse of a Cause that he may give sentence accordingly And hasting righteousnesse i. e. And hasting the decision of the Causes which are brought before him and the administration of Justice Not delaying or spinning out Sutes to the vexation of the Poor Righteousnesse is taken here for that which we commonly call Justice which consists in judging and deciding controversies c. That Hezekiah should sit upon the Throne administring Justice after this manner was a sign that he should be rid of the sword of the Assyrians for Silent Leges inter Arma War makes Justice silent and the Laws dumb It was a sign also that his Kingdome should be established and flourish again For the Throne is established by Righteousnesse Prov. 16. v. 12. 6. We have heard of the pride of Moab The sense is as if he should say But I speak to them which aâ—e deaf It is but lost labour to admonish them For according as we have heard the Moabites are full of pride and wrath And pride and wrath stop the eares against all good counsell Moab is put here for the Moabites or children of Moab Even of his haughtinesse and his pride and his wrath q. d. We have heard I say even of their haughtiness and their pride and their wrath Because of their haughtinesse and pride the Moabites despised Judah And therefore they would not hear to become Hezekiah's servants and to pay Tribute to him And because of their wrath against the people of Judah they would not hear to relieve them when they were persecuted or to let them dwell with them when they were forced to flee from their own homes But his lies shall not be so q. d. But though they are now proud and angry and their speech is haughty and tumultuous yet ere long be their pride shall be pull'd down and their wrath abated and their speech shall be humble and calm The meaning is that ere long be they should fall into their enemies hands And then their speech to them should be humble and lowly and meek and calm The speech of Captives to their Conquerour is called lies for Captives which are taken in warrs use to invent lies that they might please their Conquerours and procure favour of them Hence in the Hebrew Phrase to tell a lie signifieth to be subdued and overcome as Deut. 33.29 Thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee Thou shalt subdue thine enemies and Psal 81.15 Whereas we read the haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him In the Hebrew it is they should have lied unto him and Psal 66. vers 3. Where we read through the greatnesse of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee in the Hebrew it is shall lie unto thee And Captives when they tell their lies they tell them with all lowlinesse and meeknesse even to basenesse In allusion to which the Prophet may here say of Moab his lies shall not be such i. e. His lies shall not favour of haughtinesse and pride and wrath But yet these words may be otherwise expounded thus q. d. But yet their great braggs and threats which they give out against the men of Judah shall not be so that is shall not fall out so as they would have them In this sence he puts Lies for Braggs and Threats which he calls lies because their braggs and threats shall not come to passe in reallity as they thunder them out in words This last exposition is most generally given of this place but I leave the Reader to his choice but for mine owne part I approve most of the former exposition we may read these words but his lies shall not be so as with a Parenthesis Therefore Moab shall howle for Moab i. e. Therefore because the Moabites are so proud and haughty and angrie as that they will not hearken to my counsell nor follow it therefore the miseries of the Moabites shall be such as that one Moabite shall weep and lament for another Moabite by reason of the misery which shall come upon him they shall mutually bewaile one anothers miseries For the Foundations of Kirhareseth i. e. For Kirhareseth The part is put here for the whole Kirhareseth was a City so strong that the Kings of Judah Israel and Edom besiedged it and yet could not take it 2 Kings 3. v. 25. He here sheweth the matter of their grief and the cause why every Moabite shall howle Shall ye mourn Supple O ye Moabites Here is an Enallage of the Person for he changeth the Third into the Second person Surely they are stricken Surely they shall be stricken and so stricken as that they shall be overthrown by Rams and other warlike Engines He useth a Preterperfect tense here for a Future 8. For the fields of Heshbone languish i. e. Moreover the fields of Heshbone shall languish and faint away He puts For for Moreover as Cap. 7. Verse 16. And a Present for a Future tense The fields of Heshbone are here said to languish because all the grasse and corn and green hearbs and plants thereof are broken or trodden down and so withered Note that the word languish is a Metaphoricall word taken from those who through infirmity of body pine and are ready to faint away for want of Spirits What he spoke here of Heshbone he would have us also to understand of Elealeh as appeares by the next following Verse by a Sylepsis And these two Heshbone and Elealeh he joynes together in the 15. Chapter vers 4. The like Sylepsis we have Matth. 5. v. 14. Where our Saviour saith to his Apostles Ye are the light of the world A City that is set on a hill cannot be hidd neither do men light a Candle and put it under a bushell Where these words are omitted and left to be understood by a Sylepsis Viz. Ye are a City set on a Hill For the full sentence should run thus Ye are the Light of the world ye are a City set on a Hill A City that is set on a
were wont to worship and sacrifice to Idols in the groves and therefore he would not have them have respect to them as thinking to have any benefit by committing Idolatry therein But the Scripture doth sometimes take Groves also for Images See Cap. 27.9 and so may they be here taken 9. And in that day See Verse 7. His strong Cityes i. e. The strong Cityes of Jacob. This Verse hath its immediate connexion with the fift verse and is an amplification of what was there said And the Prophet speakes particularly what shall befall the strong Cityes least any should think that what he spoke might onely befall those which lived in Villages and weaker Townes His strong Cityes shall be as a forsaken bough and an uppermost branch which they left The meaning is that the strong Cityes of Israel shall be laid desolate and though they be full of Inhabitants yet shall their Inhabitants be so consumed or carried away as that there shall be few left therein As the fruitfull bough or uppermost branch of an Olive tree or the like though it be full set with Olives or other fruit when the gatherer comâ— to gather the Olives or fruit thereof yet there is but little fruit and few Olives left thereon when he leaves it or forsakes it and comes away A forsaken bough That is called a forsaken bough which the gatherer forsaketh when he hath gathered all the fruit thereof which well he can or which he intendeth to gather And an uppermost branch which they left i. e. And as an uppermost branch of an Olive or other fruit tree which they which gathered the fruit thereof left when they had gathered it so near as they could well gather it The utmost boughes and uppermost branches of a tree bear most and most fair fruit as having the most benefit of the Sunne Therefore doth the Prophet make choice of these here to intimate the most and best sort of People of Israel lived in the Cityes Because of the Children of Israel i. e. Because of the iniquity of the Children of Israel The meaning is that this desolation shall befall the strong Cities of Israel for the iniquity of the Children of Israel which dwelt therein because they have forsaken their God And there shall be desolation i. e. For there shall be desolation throughout the whole Land as well in the strong Cities as in the Villages and weaker Townes Because thou hast forsaken c. This relates not to what went before but to what followeth 10. The God of thy Salvation i. e. God thy Saviour O Israel Of the Rock of thy strength i. e. Of thy strong Rock A Substantive of the Genitive Case is put here for an Adjective A Rock is put here Metaphorically for a Protector or Defender and that either because a Rock is a Refuge for the Coney who hath her holes therein when she is persecuted Psal 104. v. 18. Or because they which are on an high Rock are safe from the assault of an enemy Psal 27. v. 5. Therefore shalt thou plant pleasant Plants i. e. Therefore though thou shalt plant pleasant Plants c. And shall set it i. e. And shall set thy ground Here is a Relative without an Antecedent With strange Slipps i. e. With Slipps or Plants which are brought out of another Countrey We bring not out of forreign Countries any thing but that which is rare and excellent Wherefore strange Slipps may be taken for choice rare and excellent Slipps 11. In the day i. e. And in the day supple in which thou shalt plant thy Slipps and Plants Thou shalt make the Plant to grow i. e. Thou shalt water thy Plants which thou hast planted that they may grow And by this thy paines thou shalt make them grow He puts Plant for Plants a Singular for a Plurall number And in the morning i. e. And in the day following The morning is put here for the whole day by a Synechdoche and the day following for a great while after Shalt thou make thy seed to flourish i. e. Shalt thou water thy seed and use all care and diligence that it may grow up and flourish And by this thy paines and care thou shalt make it grow up and flourish But the Harvest i. e. Yet the fruit which cometh of the Plant or of the seed through thy labour The Harvest signifieth not onely the time in which fruit useth to be ripe and gathered but the fruit it self also and so is it here taken Shall be an heap i. e. Shall be as an heap The note of Similitude is often left to be understood But why should the Harvest or Fruit coming of that Seed or those Plants be as an heap Answer Because as an heap supple of Corn would be presently devoured by such an Army as Salmaneser had So should the fruit or those plants be devoured Or Because as an heap supple of dung is troden under the feet of those which walk in the streets So should the Fruit coming of those Plants or Seeds be beat down and trod under the feet of the Assyrians In the day of grief i. e. In the day in which Salmaneser shall cause thee to grieve because of the miseries which he shall bring upon thee And desperate sorrow He calls it desperate sorrow because there was no hope of joy to succeed it or lessen it 12. Woe to the multitude of many People By these People understand those which joyned with the Syrians at the time that Salmaneser made war against them For no doubt but the Syrians had many which dwelt about them to aid them at that time and had many kind of People in their Army and that they did put much confidence in the strength and greatnesse of these their Associates Which make a noise like the noise of the Sea The more men there be in an Army the greater noise they make This therefore sheweth the greatnesse of the Syrians Army And to the rushing of Nations i. e. And woe to the rushing Nations i. e. to the Nations which make a great noise as they go or march along He putteth the rushing of Nations for the Nations that rush or that make a rushing per Metonymiam adjuncti That make a rushing like the rushing of many waters i. e. That make a great noise as they goe or march along like the noise of many waters which are carried with a violent stream down some steep place Note that this latter part of the verse is but a repetition of the former And that to rush or make a rushing signifieth to make a great noise as they goe or march along 13. The Nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters i. e. The Nations which are gathered together in the Syrians Army shall come on boldly upon their enemies and set upon them with a noise like the noise of many waters falling down a steep Rock c. We may understand the twelfth verse of the noise which this people
judgement was wont to be executed in the morning Psal 101.8 Je. 21.12 Being therefore the morning may be put for judgements and the night doth commonly signifie calamities as Micah 3.6 The sence of this place may be this judgments and calamities are come upon Babylon and they are coming upon us for note that the words of this place may be rendred out of the original word for word thus the morning and the night are come But thirdly may not the morning be taken for the East because it dawneth from the East and riseth in the East And may not the night be taken for the West because the Sun which causeth the night by its setting setteth in the West And may not the morning and the night that is the East and the West be taken for the people of the East and the people of the West If so then the sense of this place may be this The people of the East and also of the West having joyned themselves with the Medes and overthrown Babylon are coming against us And this might the souldier conceive of the Army of the Medes that it consisted of all people of the world through fear for if fame speak that Army great fear would speake it greater Quisque pavendo dat vires Famae Lucan If ye will enquire enquire ye When the Ismaelite or Souldier which came from Babylon told the Edomite and those which were with him that Babylon was destroyed by the Medes and that the Medes had sent out their Armies to conquer all which were confederates with Babylon from the River Euphrates to the River Nilus they would not beleeve it but made as if they would go towards Babylon to enquire whether it were so or no which when the Ismaelite understood he bid them in a kind of Ironicall manner go and enquire if they would saying if ye will not beleeve me but will enquire whether it be so or no what I have told you Go enquire Return When the Edomite and they that were with him had gone a little way towards Babylon as though they would have gone to enquire the truth of what the Ismaelite told them they stood at a stand as men doubting whether they should go any further or no which the Ismaelite perceiving calls to them to come back again saying Return come Come This word may be taken as a word of exhortation and he may exhort them to return lest the Medes should meet with them by the way and slay them Or he may hereby exhort the Edomites to joyn with the Ismaelites in a common defence so that they might if possible defend themselves against their common enemies seeing Babylon was destroyed and the Assyrians in whom they trusted were overcome 13. The burthen upon Arabia i. e. The burthen which shall fall or be laid upon Arabia What is meant by the burthen See verse 1. By Arabia is meant Arabia Petraea In the Forrest in Arabia shall ye lodge O ye travelling companies of Dedanim Some take Dedanim for a City of Arabia Petraea others and they the greatest part for a people called Dedanim or the Dedanites which were the children of Dedan which was the son of Jockshan the son of Abraham by Keturah Gen. 25.3 Those Dedanim or Dedanites the children of Dedan inhabited part of Arabia Petraea and are here put by a Synecdoche for all the Arabians of that Arabia And that which the Prophet here saith of them is that they shall be faine to fly away out of their Cities and dwellings and to lodge and sculke in the Forrests of Arabia deserta among the trees and woods and rocks and holes therof to hide themselves there from the fury of the Assyrians under Sennacherib who shall persecute them and destroy their Cities It is beleeved that when Sennacherib intended to march against Judah he took Arabia Petraea in his way and did first subdue that and make it desolate and that is that which Isaiah doth here prophesie of In Arabia i. e. In Arabia Deserta whither they shall flee out of Arabia Petraea to save themselves O ye travelling companies of Dedanim I conceive that he calls them travelling companies because they were given to merchandize and to travel in companies from one noted place of traffique to another as the Ismaelites and Midianites did of which we read Gen. 37. vers 25.28 Or he may call them travelling companies from this occasion that they were faine to flee away in companies and to travel through Forrests and desolate places to save their lives from the Assyrians by a prolepsis 14. The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirstie c. q. d. Ye shall be oppressed with hunger and thirst while ye flee through Arabia Deserta and be glad if the inhabitants of that land will bring you bread to eat and water to drink lest otherwise ye perish Note here the Enallage of the person and number for the Prophet changeth the person here speking of the travelling companies in the third person whereas he spoke to them in the second person just before He speaks also here as of One in the Singular Number whereas in the former verse he spoke to them as to many in the Plural Number Note also that he useth here a Praeterperfect tense for a Future The inhabitants of the land of Tema The Land of Tema was in Arabia Deserta and had its denomination from Tema the Son of Ismael which was the Son of Abraham by Agar Gen. 25.15 And by the Land of Tema is meant all Arabia Deserta by a Synecdoche The inhabitants of the Land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty they prevented with bread him that fled Note that the Prophet intends not by these words to commend the charity of the Arabians of Arabia Deserta but to set forth the misery of the Arabians of Arabia Petraea which should be such as that if it were not for the Arabians of Arabia Deserta which were a poor people in respect of them and whose countrey was barren in respect of theirs they should perish by Famine and therefore should be glad of a little bread and a little water from their hands They prevented with their bread him that fled They shall meet you with bread when ye flee from the face of the Assyrians lest otherwise ye should perish for want of food before ye could come to ask it 15. For they fled from the sword i. e. For ye shall flee from the sword of the Assyrians c. He continues still the third person but changeth the Singular number again into a Plural and useth a Praeterperfect tense for a Future as before He gives a reason here why he said Him that fled and shews withall that the travelling companies of Dedanim shall have need of bread and water because they shall be forced to flee from the sword and shall take no victuals with them to sustain them in their flight as having not time
and all the honourable men of Tyre shewed that the pride of all the glory and all the honourable men of the whole earth could be pulled down as easily and therefore that their lofty estates were but fickle and uncertain which was a blot and a staine to them and made them contemptible and to be despised Here he sheweth not onely that this affliction of Tyre was from God but the end also why he afflicted her 10. Passe through thy Land as a River O Daughter of Tarshish These words are Ellyptiall or defective and thus to be made up q. d. Passe through the sea from Tyre to thine own land with all speed O Daughter of Tarshish As a River i. e. Speedily for a River is speedy in its course and stayeth not O Daughter of Tarshish i. e. O ye Citizens of Tartessus He speaks to such Tartessians as were in Tyre when it was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar By Tarshish he meaneth Tartessus as before vers 1. and 6. And by the Daughter of Tarshish he meaneth the City of Tartessus as cap. 1. v. 8. And by the City of Tartessus the Citizens and Merchants thereof as Kir is taken for the Inhabitants of Kir Cap. 22.6 So that by the reason of the Merchants of Tartessus which were at Tyre the daughter of Tartessus might be said to be at Tyre and be admonished to flee from thence as Tyre by reason of her Inhabitants might be said to travell a farre off upon her feet to sojourn abroad v. 7. There is no more strength Supple Left in Tyre to withstand or drive away her enemies and so by consequence it will not be safe to stay there We may guess by this that Tyre and her friends the Tartessians made all the strength they could to oppose the Babylonians and did encounter them but in the encounter were worsted yea broken to peeces and not able to make any head against them again 11. He stretched out his hand over the Sea Supple To smite it By He is meant the Lord of Hosts by the Sea is meant Tyre as vers 4. and so the Tyrians And when he saith he stretched out his hand over the sea he alludes to a man which stretcheth out his hand that he might strike He shooke the Kingdoms i. e. He shall make the neighbouring Kingdomes which shall hear what he doth to the Tyrians to shake and tremble for fear for they seeing or hearing what God doth to Tyre the strength of the sea shall justly fear lest the like should befall them The Lord hath given a Commandement against the Merchant City to destroy the strong Holds thereof God is brought in here as a General or Commander in chief commanding such and such a Regiment or Companie of Soldiers to storme or pull down such and such Forts of the enemy What Commandement God gave here he gave to the Babylonians which he sent against Tyre which yet is not so to be understood as though God gave them any open or express command for this speech is but metaphoricall but onely so as that God by his secret providence did direct the Babylonians to the pulling down of these strong Holds of Tyre and enable them for it The Merchant City i. e. Tyre The strong holds thereof i. e. The strong Holds and Walls and Bulwarks thereof 12. Thou shalt no more rejoyce i. e. Thou shall not rejoyce yet a while Note that the Hebrews are often very Hyperbolicall in their expressions of times as was observed cap. 2. v. 2. And so is the Prophet here for though these words may seem to signifie as much as never and to exclude all time yet they signifie only not for a while and exclude but onely some time as may appear by the seventeenth verse So we read 2 Kings 6.23 That the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel yet in the very next verse it followes And it came to passe after this that Benhadad King of Syria gathered all his Host and went up and besieged Samaria which was the chief City of the Land of Israel Virgin He calls Tyre Virgin either because of her worldly beauty and glory by a Metaphor from Virgins which are the fairest and most beautifull of their Sex Or because she was never subdued and ravished as it were before with Forreign forces The Daughter of Sidon By the daughter of Sidon he meaneth Tyre which he calls the Daughter of Sidon because it came as it were out of the bowells of Sidon as the Daughter doth out of the bowells of her Mother For Tyre was a Colonie of the Sidonians built by the Sidonians and peopled at first by the people which came out of Sidon Where note that the Daughter of Sidon signifies otherwise here then when it is said the Daughter of Tarshish vers 10. and the Daughter of Sidon cap. 1.8 and the Daughter of Jerusalem cap. 37.22 Passe over to Chittim i. e. Passe over the sea to Cyprus Chittim is Cyprus so called from Chittim the Son of Javan See verse 1. He mentioneth Chittim because of thr neer alliance which was before the Cypriots and Tyrians There also shalt thou have no rest q. d. But there shall thou have but little rest and quiet These words shew that the former were spoken by a Rhetoricall concession q. d. Go passe over to Chittim thy dear friend that there thou maist be at quiet but for all that when thou comest thither thou shalt have but little rest The Babylonians had taken Cyprus at the time here prophesied of and Lorded it there which was the reason that the Tyrians could have no rest or joy there 13. This people Supple Which once dwelt in the Wilderness but now dwelleth in that Land to wit the Land of the Caldeans Was not Supple In the Land of the Caldeans where now they dwell Till the Assyrians founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness i. e. Till the Assyrian gave it to them which dwelt in the Wilderness to dwell in who now dwell in it and inhabit it There is a Metaphor in the word founded for because a house is built and the foundations thereof laid that it might be an habitation for man Therefore is the Assyrian said here to found that is to lay the foundations of the Land of the Caldeans for these men to dwell in because he provided it for them and gave it to them for a dwelling place Note that it was the manner of the Assyrians when they vanquished any Land to remove the old Inhabitants thereof out of it into some remote Countries and to bring farre dwellers to dwell there See 2 Kings cap. 17.24 The Assyrians therefore when they had vanquished the Land of the Caldeans did remove the antient Inhabitants thereof and brought them which dwelt in the Wilderness before to dwell there in their roome Them that dwell in the Wilderness i. e. Them which dwelt in the Wilderness Dwell is put here for dwelt By these words
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
because they maintain his Cause The needy i. e. He to wit the poor 8. But the liberal i. e. But he which is liberal in his actions and nature as well as in his appellation and title Deviseth liberal things i. e. Deviseth such things as are beseeming him which is liberal in his actions and nature as well as in his appellation and title and so by consequence those things which are beseeming a truly upright and honest Judge And by liberal things i. e. And because he deviseth liberal things He shall stand i. e. He shall keep his place and office and shall not be put out of it What is here spoken from the first verse of this Chapter hitherto was fulfilled when Hezekiah came to the Crown who was himself a pious and a just King and reformed not only the house of God and Religion but the Kingdom also and the Courts of Justice and the Magistracy putting out those which were corrupt and putting honest and just men in their roome 9. Rise up ye women that are at ease Here the Prophet beginneth a new Prophecy Rise up He bids them rise up either to denote thereby their lasie posture for delicate women were wont to sit yea sometimes to ly along on their Couches and beds of ease Or because he would have them the more attent to what he speaks for we are more attent to what is spoken when we stand up then we are when we sit or lye along or he bids them rise up because he would have them reverence the Word of God which he had to tell them for they were wont to rise up in reverence to the Word of God when a Message was brought them from the Lord. See Judg. 3.20 That art at ease i. e. That take your ease and pleasure Ye careless daughters i. e. Ye women which take care for nothing This word Daughters though it be a Relative terme yet the Hebrews do often use it for an Absolute viz. women This Prophesie is peculiarly against the women of Judah by reason of their pride and ease and fulness of bread Many dayes and years i. e. Before many dayes and years I understand the Preposition Tò Before here for the Hebrews leave the Prepositions sometime to be understood as appeareth cap. 33.14 where these Prepositions Amongst and With are left to be understood in the Original though they be expressed in the translation This Prophesie was fulfilled when Sennacherib entred with his Army and depopulated Judea For the Vintage shall cease i. e. For ye shall have no Grape-gathering for the Assyrians shall spoile your Vine-yards and your Vintage The gathering Supple Of your Grapes and other fruit 11. Tremble viz. Because of the miseries which shall come upon you Be troubled To wit In minde through grief Strip you To wit Of your brave and delicate Apparel Gird sackcloth upon your loins q. d. Put on sach-cloth and gird it about your loins Sackcloth was the garment for mourners 12. They shall lament c. Observe the Enallage of the person here how he passeth from the second to the third for by They he means the careless women which he spoke to in the former verses For the Teats Take the Teats here metaphorically for the pleasant Fields and fruitful Vines as the Prophet seems to interpret them in the next words for as the Infant is nourished by the two Teats of the Mother so was this people by the pleasant Fields and fruitful Vines one affording meat and the other drink For the Teats i. e. For want of the Teats For the pleasant Fields i. e. For want and miss of the pleasant Fields For the fruitful Vine i. e. For the want and miss of the fruitful Vines 13. Vpon the Land of my people i. e. Upon the Land of Judah where the Jews which are my people dwell He speaks in the person of God or if he speaks in his own person he calls the Jewes his people because they were his Brethren Shall come up thorns and briars See cap. 7.24 Vpon all the houses i. e. Upon all the ground where the houses stand or upon all the houses which shall be ruined that is Upon the ruines of all the houses The houses of joy i. e. The joyous houses He calls them joyous houses or houses of joy because the Inhabitants thereof were wont to make merry in them In the joyous City i. e. In the Cities of Judah which are wont to be full of joy and mirth He saith City for Cities a Singular for a Plural number 14. Because the Pallaces shall be forsaken q. d. I say that upon all the houses of joy in the joyous City thorns and briars shall come up because the Pallaces and all the Houses in the Cities shall be forsaken This is Causa sine qua non as the Logicians speak of that which he said in the former verse to wit of that that upon all the houses of the joyous Cities should come up briars and thornes By Pallaces may be meant here not only the Houses of Kings but also the Houses of Nobles and meaner men which he may call Pallaces because they were like the Pallaces of Princes for stateliness Shall be forsaken viz. Of their Inhabitants and that either because the Inhabitants shall run into Forreign Lands for fear of the enemy at home or shall be slain by the sword of the enemy or shall be carried away captives into the enemies Land The multitude of the City i. e. The Cities which are inhabited with a multitude of men He useth an Hypallage here and saith the multitude of the City or Cities for the City or Cities of the multitude that is The City or Cities which are inhabited with a multitude or very great number of people He also puts City for Cities by an Enallage as before v. 13. Shall be left i. e. Shall be forsaken of that multitude which doth inhabite it For Forts and Towers shall be for Deus i. e. The Forts and Towers shall be beaten down and the ruines thereof shall be for Dens for wild Beasts When Forts and Towers or any other Buildings are beaten down there happeneth often times to be hollow places caused by cross-falling of the timber these places he saith shall be for Dens of wilde beasts For ever i. e. For a time An Hyperbole usual with the Hebrews yet it may be that many of those places which the Assyrians ruinated were never built up again A joy of wilde Asses i. e. Places in which the wilde Asses will rejoyce Metonymia Adjuncti A Pasture of Flocks i. e. Places in which Flocks of Sheep and other Cattle may feed without fear They might feed there because Grasse should grow therein and they might feed without fear because there should be no man left to make them afraid 15. Vntill the spirit be powred upon us i. e. Untill the love and goodness of God be poured upon us in its effects that is Untill God sheweth his love and
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
And the Land of the Unicorns and the Lambs and the Goats and the Rams the Land of the Bullocks and Bulls By this Land is meant Idumea for by these beasts are meant the Edomites by a Metaphor With blood i. e. With their blood And their dust i. e. And the earth or ground of their Land With fatness i. e. With the fatness which shall distill from the dead carcasses of them which shall be slain or with the fatness which it shall gather from the blood and putrefaction of the dead bodies of them which shall be slain which things make ground very fat 8. For it is the day of the Lords vengeance i. e. For the day or time in which this shall come to pass shall be the day or time in which the Lord will avenge himself of the Edomites for all the injuries which they have done to his people the Jews and therefore he will not spare them at that time And the year of recompences i. e. And the year or time in which he will recompence the people of Idumea for the injuries which they have done to his people the Jews For the controversie of Sion i. e. For the wrongs and injuries which the Edomites have done to the Jews Sion was an hill in Jerusalem and is put here first for Jerusalem by a Synecdoche of a part for the whole then Jerusalem is put for the inhabitants of Jerusalem by a Metonymy of the Subject or Continent Then the men of Jerusalem are put for all the Jews by a Synecdoche of the part By the controversie of Sion he meaneth the controversie which Sion hath with the Edomites and by a Metonymy of the Subject he meaneth the wrongs and injuries which the Edomites have done to Sion which was the cause and matter of that controversie In which phrase the Prophet alludes to the nature of men which when they have any wrong or injury offered will have a controversie with them which offered the injury concerning the wrong or injury which they offered that is will go to Law with them for that injury Thus when the Israelites had offended the Lord the Lord is said to have had a controversie with Israel Hos 4.1 And when Judah had sinned against God God is said to have had a controversie with Judah Hos 12.2 and so again Miâ— 6.2 In this sence doth our Saviour say If thou remember that thy brother hath ought against thee Matt. 5.23 that is hath any controversie with thee or Suit or Action against thee for If thou remembrest that thou hast wronged thy brother 9. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch i. e. And the streams and rivers of their Land that is of the Land of Idumea shall be turned into burning pitch c. That which the Prophet meaneth by this and what followeth in this Verse is this That all Idumea that is all the Cities and Towns and Villages of Idumea shall be set on fire by the Ethiopians and be and appear in a light flame no otherwise then if the streams and rivers of Idumea were all turned into burning pitch and the dust into burning brimstone yea as if the whole Land were become burning pitch In which expression the Prophet useth an Hyperbole 10. It shall not be quenched night nor day i. e. That burning pitch into which the Land shal be turned shall burn night day Or by It is meant the fire thereof For a Relative is often put by the Hebrews without an Antecedent q. d. The fire of their Land or the fire with which their Land shall burn shall burn night and day and shall not be quenched For ever i. e. For many days or a great while together An Hyperbole When Towns and Cities are set on fire and burned down the fire and smoke thereof continue for a long time From generation to generation it shall lie waste i. e. Idumea shall lie waste and desolate a very long time The Hebrews as we have often observed are Hyperbolical in their expressions of times None shall pass through it i. e. No man shall pass through Idumea For ever i. e. For a long time An Hyperbole 11. The Cormorant and the Bittern shall possess it The Cormorant and Bittern are solitary birds which delight most in solitary places and places not frequented by men It That is Idumea The Owl and the Raven shall dwell in it The Owl and the Raven are solitary birds as the Cormorant and the Bittern are but the Cormorant and the Bittern delight most in the waters the Owl and the Raven in the dry places And he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness q. d. For the Lord shall mete it and measure it out for destruction and desolation and shall destroy and make it desolate accordingly And is put here for For and by He is meant the Lord and by It Idumea When he saith The Lord shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness he speaks metaphorically and borroweth his Metaphor from a Mason or a Carpenter to which here he likeneth the Lord which when he is to pull down any part or piece of an old building he usually measureth the height and the length and bredth of what he is to pull down He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion i. e. He shall measure it with the line of confusion When we measure any thing with a line we stretch out the line with which we take measure upon the thing which we measure hence he puts here the stretching out of the line upon Idumea for the measuring of Idumea with the line The line of confusion This line he calls the line of confusion because it is to mete or measure out that which is to be confounded or pulled down This Genitive is Genitivus finis The stones of emptiness i. By stones he may mean rules such rules as Carpenters and Masons were wont to measure their work withall which he calls stones because they were perhaps made of some certain polishable stones though they were but short and of no great length Or by stones he may mean the Plummet which Carpenters and Masons use to have tyed at the end of a line wherewith they take the measure or height of any wall or building These Plummets now adays are usually made of Lead though then they used stones in stead thereof He puts therefore stones for a Plummet per Metonymiam Materiae and a Plummet for a line with a Plummet at the end of it per Metonymiam Adjuncti These stones or this line he calls the stones or the line of emptiness in relation to the Land of Idumea which was to be layd waste and to be made empty of the Cities and Towns and Inhabitants thereof rather then to any buildings to be pulled down to which the stones or lines here mentioned are usually applyed For as I have observed before Cap. 30.28 the Prophet in
Hostility against that City yet he came not thither he came no farther then Nob Cap. 10.32 And there he heard of that destruction of his Army which lay before Hierusalem which turned him with all haste and feare towards his owne Land and he staied not till he came to Nineveh v. 37. And return Supple upon hearing of that rumour Into his owne Land He returned to Nineveh verse 37. which was the chief City of Assyria And I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land Sennacherib was slaine with the sword by his two sons Adramelech and Sharezer as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his God v. 38. 8. So Rabshakeh returned c. This relates to the 21 or 22. verse of the former Chapter Note that though Rabshakeh returned himself yet he left his Armie before Jerusalem Against Libnah Libnah was a City of the Tribe of Judah belonging to the Priests Josh 21.13 9. And he heard say i. e. And the King of Assyria heard say He is come forth to make war with thee Tirakah King of Ethiopia came forth out of his own Countrey with an Armie not to encounter Sennacherib in Judea but to set upon Assyria the Kingdome of Sennacherib in Sennacherib's absence See cap. 18. He sent Messengers saying Sennacherib did not onely send a Message by those Messengers by words of mouth but he sent by them a Letter also to Hezekiah though it be here omitted for brevity sake verse 14. Sennacherib used all meanes possible to terrifie Hezekiah to a Surrender when he heard of the march of Tirakah King of Ethiopia that he might the better attend the motion of Tirakah's Armie 10. Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah c. The Assyrian doth repeat here and beat upon what he said Cap. 36.14 He doth not mention the weakness and perfidiousnesse of Egypt nor the scarcity of Souldiers in Jerusalem As he did Cap. 36. v. 6 8. because now he understood that Hezekiah did rely onely upon God and therefore he doth endeavour to afright him from that by telling him with what ill Successe others had relied upon their Gods Gozan By Gozan he meanes the people which lived near to the River Gozan which was a River of the Medes 2 Kings 17.6 Haran This seemeth to have been a City of Media near the River Gozan 1 Chron. 5.26 Though some make it a City of Mesopotamia Gen. 11.31 Rezeph There is no other mention of Rezeph in the whole Scripture but here and in the same Story 2 Kings 19.12 And therefore it is not easie to determine where it was seated Some therefore place it in Syria some in Mesopotamia others in Arabia The Children of Eden i. e. The People of Eden Eden was a Region of Mosopotamia in which Paradise was planted Gen. 2.8 Which were in Telassar It can hardly be gathered from Scripture where this Telassar was situate But it seemeth to have been a Region either of Syria or Mesopotamia Here upon some occasion or other did the people which were born in Eden dwell at this time 13. Where is the King of Hamath c. See Cap. 36.19 Henah This is thought to have been a City of the Medes Ivah This is thought to have been a Region of the Assyrians 14. And spread it before the Lord. Hezekiah did spread Sennacheribs Letter before the Lord for the Lord to seâ— it and to read it because the Contents thereof were chiefely against the Lord that he being moved with the blasphemies and indignities therein contained might take vengeance upon Sennacherib and defend his owne people against him And Hezekiah did this because the Lord doth often accommodate himselfe to the fashion of men and men are eagerly stirred up to revenge when they see that which offends them before their eyes 16. That dwellest between the Cherubins In the two ends of the Mercy-Seat there were two Cherubins or Angels made of Gold of beaten work And these Cherubins did stretch forth their wings on high and their faces did look one towards another Exod. 25. v. 18 19 20. Between these two Cherubins was the Lord wont to manifest his presence and to sit Exod. 25. ver 22. Numbers 7.29 Hence was the Lord said to dwell between the Cherubins Psalm 80.1 And to sit between the Cherubins Psal 99.1 Thou art the God even Thou alone of all the Kingdomes of the earth This acknowledgement or confession doth Hezekiah here make in opposition to the many gods of the Nations which Sennacherib mentioned Cap. 36.18 and Cap. 37.12 And in full beliefe of this doth he make his prayer to the Lord. Thou hast made heaven and earth By Heaven and Earth understand also all things which are therein contained by a Metonymie He sheweth by this that the Right and Title to all the Kingdoms of the earth is the Lords and there is no God truely so called but the Lord onely 17. And heare Supple The blasphemous words which Sennacherib hath written against thee It is likely that Hezekiah did not onely spread Sennacherib's letter before the Lord for the Lord to see the blasphemy therein written but did also read it himselfe unto the Lord and therefore he desireth the Lord to hear it while he reads it And see Supple The blasphemous words which Sennacherib hath written in this Letter And heare Supple And see q. d. yea hear I say and see c. The living God i. e. Thee Here is an Enallage of the Person 18. Of a truth Lord the Kings of Assyria have laid waste all the Nations c. i. e. Hezekiah confesseth it here to be true which Sennacherib said v. 12. but draws a better conclusion from thence then Sennacherib did Laid waste the Nations This phrase is like that Cap. 24.6 viz. They that dwell therein are desolate Look therefore upon the Notes there 20. Now therefore O Lord our God save us from his hand that all the Kingdomes of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord even Thou onely It might be known to all the Kingdomes of the earth that the Lord God of Israel was the onely Lord God if he would but save his people out of the hands of the Assyrians out of whose hands no God was able to save his people For all the Kingdomes of the earth were perswaded that the God of every people would do his uttermost to save his people whereas therefore other Gods did not save their People and the God of Israel did save his they would conclude that he was God alone That thou art the Lord. i. e. That thou onely art the onely Lord and God 22. This is the word which the Lord hath spoken i. e. This is the word which I the Lord have spoken He puts the third for the first person by an Enallage The Virgin the daughter of Sion So Cap. 1.8 He cals Sion or Jerusalem a Virgin for the same reason that he calls her a Daughter that is for her beauty Hath despised thee and
i. e. So soon as ever I came Supple To places which I have besieged The Hebrews use to put the foot for coming for see Gen. 30.30 Where Jacob saith thus to Laban Jehovah hath blessed thee at my foot the meaning is this Lord hath blessed thee by my coming and this Preposition With signifies often the time or instant in which any thing is done as Cum diluculo abij I went away with the morning light that is I went away so soon as ever it was morning To dry up therefore with the sole of my feet may very well be rendred To dry up so soon as I came So then the sense of this verse is q. d. When I have come to besiege any place where there hath bin no water I have not wanted water for I have come with such a mighty Army of men as that my men could dig wells presently which should afford me water enough And on the contrary when I have come to besiege any place which aboundeth with rivers of water so numerous is my Army as that I have drunk all those rivers dry After this there is an application left to be understood q. d. What therefore is there that I cannot do by my strength and what places are there that I cannot subdue by my power Note here that we do not read these reproachfull words among Rabshakehs reproaches above mentioned yet were they spoken by him but were there omitted for brevities sake because they were here to be rehearsed 26. Hast thou not heard long agoe that I have done it c. i. e. Hast thou not heard long agoe that I did contrive it and determine it If thou hast not heard of it thou mightst have heard of it It the Antecedent to this Relative is to be understood from the latter part of this verse and it is this viz. That thou shouldst be to lay wast defenced Cities into ruinous heaps q. d. Hast thou not heard long ago that I contrived it and determined it that thou shouldst be to lay waste defenced Cities into ruinous heapes Two questions do here arise first how this hangs together with Sennacheribs speech Secondly how Sennacherib could come to hear that he should be to lay waste defenced Cities into ruinous heaps Answer To the first question I answer That this doth not relate to the words of Sennacherib which went immediately before but to those words which are mentioned cap. 36. v. 18 19 20. and repeated cap. 37.13 For those words are here to be understood though they are here omitted for brevity sake because they were there mentioned as the words which went immediately before were there omitted because they were to be mentioned here To the second question I answer That God said of Sennacherib that he was the rod of his anger and that the staffe in his hand was his indignation Cap. 10.5 And this he said because he intended to use him as an instrument to punish and destroy Cities and Countries and as he said this so might he have said more then this by his Prophets though their Prophecies came not to our hands by which Sennacherib might understand that what he did he did but as the instrument of the Lord and not as a supream and independent cause as he boasted Long agoe i. e. Heretofore Hyperbole That I have done it i. e. That I have contrived it A Metaphor from a Potter as in the word formed for I have done it is q. d. I have made it And of ancient times that I have formed it This is a repetition of the former sentence and for sense the same therewith Of ancient times i. e. Before now An Hyperbole That I have formed it i. e. That I have contrived it and determined it The word formed is metaphoricall taken from a Potter or some such like artist who makes some rude matter into some handsome forme See the like phrase Cap. 22. v. 11. Now I have brought it to passe i. e. And now I have brought to passe what I contrived and determined before to wit That thou shouldst be to lay waste defenced Citieâ— c. That thou shouldst be to lay waste defenced Cities into ruinous heapes i. e. That thou shouldst destroy and lay desolate those Cities though they be defenced Cities and well fortified which have sinned against me 27. Therefore their Inhabitants were of small power q. d. And therefore because I contrived it and determined it that thou shouldst lay waste defenced Cities into ruinous heapes and because I would at this time bring to passe what I determined and contrived were the Inhabitants of those Cities of small power and fainted at thy coming against them for I struck a feare into their hearts who otherwise would not have been so dismayed and easie to be overcome by thee They were as the grasse of the field Supple Which withereth if the wind bloweth upon it See cap. 40. vers 7 8. that is They were weak and fainted away and were not able to resist nor stand before thee As grass on the house tops Which withereth with a little heat of the Sun for want of root 28. But I know thy abode i. e. But I know what thou doest when thou abidest at home and sittest even in thy Closet and what thou dost meditate there against me Metonymia Adjuncti And thy going out and thy coming in i. e. And what thou doest or meditatest when thou goest out or comest in These speeches seem to be proverbiall and to signifie all the actions and counsells of a man both publique and private And thy rage against me q. d. And I know how mad thou art against me and how thou reproachest my power and threatenest me as though I were an idol as thou didst cap. 36.20 and cap. 37.10 and 24. 29. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears i. e. Because I have heard thy outragious and ruffling words which thou hast belched forth against me Thy tumult i. e. Thy tumultuous and ruffling words Therefore will I put my hooke in thy nose He alludes here to Fisher-men who having struck the hooke with which they fish into the nose of the fish draw him which way they will in the waters And my bridle in thy lips He alludes to Horsemen who by putting a bridle into the horses mouth turne him which way they please James 3.3 I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest This is a proverbiall kinde of speech signifying as we say that he should go as he came or he should go without his errand That which is signified by the hooke and by the bridle and that which turned Sennacherib back was the rumor of the slaughter of an hundred fourscore and five thousand of his Army which were slaine by the Angel as they lay in siege before Jerusalem for when Sennacherib heard of this he returned in hast to his own place 30. And this shall be a sign unto thee He useth
an Apostrophe here to Hezekiah and speaks to him This shall be a sign unto thee Supple By which you may know when Sennacherib shall return home that it was I which drave him or turned him hence Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of it self i. e. Thou O Hezekiah and thy people shall eat this year such corn and grain c. as grow of themselves without either plowing or sowing This year He meaneth that present year in which he spoke in which year they must have either eaten that which grew of it selfe or have pinched for it for it was so late in the year before the Assyrians Army was destroyed and they which were besieged in Jerusalem were delivered that seed-time was past and for any corn which grew formerly the Assyrians had destroyed all and cut down all the fruit-trees of the Land And the second year that which springeth of the same i. e. And the year next following this ye shal eat that corn which springeth of that which shall grow of it self this year for from the corn which shall grow of it self this year shall many grains fall which shall spring up and yield abundantly so that all the people shall be satisfied therewith Why they should eat that which grew of it self the first of these two years we have told before to wit because seed-time would be past before they should be delivered from the siege of the Assyrians Now the reason why they should eat the second year of the two that which grew of the same was because it was the seventh year in which the Lord said There should be a Sabbath of rest unto the Land a Sabbath to the Lord thou shalt neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard Levit. 25.4 And the third year sow ye and reap They could not reap what they sowed in the third year untill the end of the year therefore miraculous it was that those threâ— years so much corn should grow of it selfe as should suffice all the people Sow ye and reap c. i. e. Ye shall sow and reap and shall be no more hindred by the Assyrians or any other enemies from sowing and reaping as ye have bin though ye might fear lest that Sennacherib should recruite his Army and come upon you againe It augments the former miracle that they had enough not only for bread to eat but also for seed to sow And eat the fruit thereof i. e. And ye shall eat the fruit thereof your selves though of late the Assyrians have eaten the fruit of what ye have sowne and planted 31. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah i. e. For the remnant of the house of Judah which is escaped out of the hands of the Assyrians And for For. Shall take root downward and bear fruit upward i. e. Shall flourish again and multiply exceedingly and sow and reap He alludes to a Tree which being in good proof shooteth forth its roots downwards and its branches upwards on which it bringeth forth much fruit 32. Out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant i. e. A remnant of the house of Judah which saved themselves from the Assyrians by being in Jerusalem shall go out of Jerusalem when Jerusalem is freed from those which besieged her into all parts of the Land of Judah and inhabite and overspread it and sow it and reap the fruit thereof And they that escape Supple The hands of the Assyrian Out of Mount Sion i. e. Shall go out of Mount Sion into other parts of the Land and there live in peace and multiply By Mount Sion is meant Jerusalem and this is a repetition of the former sentence The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall doe this i. e. The Lord of Hosts will do this for the ardent love which he beareth both to his owne honour and to David his servant See v. 35. This. Supple which is here mentioned from the 29 verse 33. Therefore thus saith the Lord c. This relates to the 29 verse and followeth that as an inference from thence He shall not come into this City q. d. Sennacherib shall not force the gates of the City and so enter in and take it Nor shoot an Arrow there i. e. Nor shoot an Arrow at those which stand upon the Wall that he might drive them away and so scale the wals Nor come before it with shields q. d. Neither shall he assault it with armed men When they which besiege a City and would assault it cannot drive away the souldiers that are set to defend the Walls with shooting they assault it and scale the Walls with men armed with shields and such defensive Armour which may defend them from the Arrowes and Darts of them which are upon the wals Nor cast a bank against it When they that come before a City and are resolved to take it cannot take it by storm or by assault that they may starve it out they trench and cast a bank against it round about so that they which are besieged cannot come out or have any provision brought in unto them The meaning then of this place is that Sennacherib shall not take Jerusalem by force neither shall he assault it with armed men or closely besiege it with Trenches c. Which understand of Sennacherib himselfe For he was not himselfe before Jerusalem though he threatned to assault it and besiege it untill he had taken it and to uâ—e all manner of hostility against it and for that end was comming himself with that part of his Army which was with him when his Army which was before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Angel But though Sennacharih did not entrench against it himselfe yet part of his Armie did cap. 29.3 But neverthelesse it used not that hostility nor did it besiegâ— Jerusalem with such eagernesse as Sennacherib threatned and would have done if he had come himselfe and presently after this it was destroyed 34. By the way that he came by the same he shall returne q. d. He shall goe as he comes or he shall return without his errand This is a proverbiall kinde of phrase as I said v. 29. 35. For I will defend this City to save it q. d. For I will defend this City that I may save it Or I will defend this City and save it For mine owne sake For mine honours sake Because I have made choice of that City to be the place of my Sanctuary and my Worship As also because that I would shew that I am the onely Lord God v. 20. which I should not doe if I suffered Sennacherib to take Jerusalem And for my servant David's sake q d. And for the love which I bore to David thy Father and because of the promise which I made to him that I would establish the Throne of his Kingdome 1 Kings 2.3 and 2 Chron. 7.18 which would come to nought if Jerusalem should be destroyed at this time 36. The Angel of the Lord went forth Supple
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
with him To these therefore doth the Lord speak here averring that he would make it good which he had spoken concerning the Delivery of his people though they would not be induced to believe it Ye stout-hearted i. e. Ye whose hearts are so stout as that they will not submit to the truth of Gods Promise to believe it To believe is a kinde of submitting and captivating the understanding 2 Cor. 10. vers 5. That are far from Righteousness i. e. Which are far from performing your promise and therefore ye think that I am as false as your selves By righteousness is here meant fidelity or faithfulness in keeping promise The Jews the children of Israel did often promise to obey the Lord and to keep his Commandments as Deut. 5.27 28. Psal 78.34 2 King 23.3 But they did not do according to their promise but sinned against the Lord therefore he calls them here men far from righteousness 13. I bring neer my righteousness i. e. The time is neer at hand in which I will fulfil the promise which I have made of redeeming my people out of captivity By righteousness is here meant the things promised and performed according to promise the performance whereof is from the righteousness that is from the truth and fidelity of the promise per Metonymiam Efficientis of which he here speaketh as of things then existent and subsistent but onely afar off And my salvation i. e. And the Salvation which I will work for my people which are in captivity at Babylon I will place salvation in Sion i. e. I will make Sion a place of safety where my people shall dwell safe when I have brought them out of Captivity By Sion is meant Jerusalem He speaks of salvation as of a corporeal and visible thing or as of a person set to guard or protect a place by a Metaphor or Prosopopoeia For Israel i. e. For the Jews sake or for the good of the Jews which are the children of Israel My glory The Jews are here called Gods glory per Metonymiam Materiae because the Lord would get himself great glory by saving and delivering them out of captivity ISAIAH CHAP. XLVII COme down and sit in the dust O Virgin Daughter of Babylon By the Daughter of Babylon is here meant the City of Babylon of which kinde of phrase see Cap. 1. Vers 8. He speaks here to the City of Babylon yea the material City as to a woman yea as to a Queen by a Prosopopoeia and prophecyeth here of the overthrow thereof And he speaks of it as of a Queen because the Babylonians had the Empire at this time Come down From thy Throne or Chair of State Sit in the dust To sit in the dust or on the ground is a posture of those which are in misery and sorrow Sit on the ground This is a repetition of those words sit in the dust The Imperative mood here is put for a Future tense q. d. Thou shalt come down and sit in the dust O Virgin Daughter of Babylon thou shalt sit on the ground There is no Throne O Daughter of the Caldeans i. e. There is no Throne or Chair of State to wit for thee to sit on O Babylon for Cyrus hath taken it away O Daughter of the Caldeans Babylon was seated in Caldea and therefore is called the Daughter of the Caldeans after the Hebrew manner of speaking who call a City a Daughter See cap. 1.8 For thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate i. e. For thou shalt not be any more tender and dainty but shalt now be used to much hardness Be called tender and delicate i. e. Be tender and delicate for the Hebrews use to be called very often for simply to be Note that these words For thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate relate not to those that go immediately before viz. to those There is no throne O Daughter of the Caldeans but to those Sit in the dust O Virgin Daughter of Babylon sit on the ground 2. Take the milstones and grinde meal q. d. Prepare thy self for servile works such as Conquerors put their slaves and captives to To grinde corn was wont to be the work of slaves and of the baser sort of servants not of such as were tender and delicate See Exod. 11.5 Take the milstones i. e. Take hold of the mill The milstones are put here for the whole mill by a Synecdoche Vncover thy locks that is Cast away thy Diadem and precious covering which thou wearest upon thy curled locks and go bare-headed with thine hair about thine ears q. d. Thou hast now a Diadem upon thine head and a precious covering for thy locks but thy Diadem and thy precious covering shall be pull'd off from thy head by the Persian Soldiers and thou shalt go bare-headed with thine hair about thine ears Make bare the leg i. e. Take off the ornaments of thy legs q. d. The Persian Soldiers shall pillage thee of thy stockens and of the ornaments of thy legs so that thou shalt have neither shooe nor stocken to wear but shalt go bare-legged Vncover the thigh i. e. Lay aside your long-trained Robes and put on Coats which will not reach to thy knees q. d. The Persian Soldiers shall take away thy Robes and long Gowns and shall give thee a poor short Coat in stead thereof In these expressions he alludes to the manner of Soldiers which if they take an Enemy well apparelled do pillage him and strip him thereof and give him poor vile garments or none at all in stead thereof So that these phrases Vncover thy locks make bare the legs uncover the thigh are passively to be understood though they be actively expressed Pass over the Rivers i. e. Go through thick and thin yea through Rivers and waters too if need be q. d. You would not adventure to set the sole of your foot to the ground for fear of wet heretofore but now you shall be made to wade through rivers and waters They that lead away captives into captivity when they come to waters stay not for the going of their captives one by one over a bridg but force them through the rivers on foot like so many beasts while they themselves go over the bridg or ride through the river on horseback 3. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered This is a repetition or explication of those words Vncover thy locks make bare thy legs uncover thy thighs q. d. Thy naked body shall be seen for want of clothing Yea thy shame shall be seen Yea which is yet more thy privy members shall be seen for want of clothes to cover them I will take vengeance Supple On thee as a God The Prophet speaks this in the person of God And will not meet thee as a man i. e. And in taking of vengeance I will not meet with thee as a man which is but weak flesh whose force may be resisted but as a God who is a Spirit and
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
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
Israel 1 King 18.17 So did the Jews think at this time of Jeremy And as our Saviour said to his Disciples that the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that â—e doth God service Joh. 16.2 So did the Jews think even now concerning Jeremy that they did God good service in persecuting and afflicting him yea they thought it a meritorious work and that God though he had threatened them with the sword yet he would give them peace for afflicting and persecuting him And with his stripes we are healed i. e. And by the stripes which we lay upon him shall we be healed that is shall we be delivered from the grief and fear which we conceive from that calamity which is threatened against us This is for sence the same with the foregoing words and as for the phrase and metaphor of healing we have the like Jerem. 6.14 6. All we like sheep have gone astray i. e. All we have erred from the Commandments of the Lord and have sinned against him The Law of the Lord is often likened to a way and the transgression thereof to a going astray and erring from that way We have turned every one to his own way i. e. Every one hath followed his own lusts and what liketh him best And the Lord hath layd on him the iniquity of us all i. e. And yet the Lord hath suffered us all to afflict him and smite him as though he were the onely sinner and we were all innocent And is put here for Yet The Lord hath layd on him i. e. The Lord hath suffered us to lay on him Note that Verbs Active do often carry with them the signification of permitting or suffering among the Hebrews The iniquity Iniquity is taken here for punishment and affliction proceeding from their iniquity that is proceeding from their hatred and malicâ— as the cause thereof and lighting upon Jeremy per Metonymiam causae 7. He was oppressed The Prophet speaks here again in his own person and he speaks of things to come as of things present or past after a Prophetique manner Yet he opened not his mouth To wit through impatience but bare all patiâ—ntly He is brought as a Lamb to the slaughter i. e. He was brought to his sufferings as a Lamb is brought to the slaughter for as a Lamb goeth quietly to the slaughter so did he to his sufferings shewing all meekness and gentleness of spirit therein Note here the confusion of tenses how the preterperfect and the present tense are confounded together and used as if they were the same tense As a sheep before the shearers is dumb Sheep though they are under the hands of the shearer are dumb and cry not though the shearers cut off their fleeces and take them away So be openeth not his mouth Viz. Through anger and impatience though his Enemies delt never so ill with him 8. He was taken from prison and from judgment Jeremy was put into prison to which he was condemned under a shew and pretence of justice by Zedekiah King of Judah Jerem. 32.2 and he was delivered thence by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon Jer. 39.11 12 13 14. From judgment i. e. From Imprisonment which he calls judgment because he was condemned to it as we said under a shew or colour of justice And who shall declare his generation i. e. Yet who can declare the men of his generation that is the men of his age amongst whom he lived to wit how wicked and malicious they were And is put here for Yet or But yet And by his generation is meant the men of his age amongst whom he lived as Matth. 11.16 Acts 13.36 And who shall declare is put here for who can declare the Future tense of the Indicative mood for a Potential For he was cut off from the land of the living q. d. For though the Babylonians did deliver him out of prison yet at length the Jews amongst whom he lived took him and put him to death in Egypt It is likely that the Jews which fled into Egypt and lived there had leave from the King of Egypt to exercise Authority and Jurisdiction among themselves and that by this Authority and Jurisdiction they did put Jeremy to death For the transgression of my people was he stricken i. e. He was slain through the wickedness of my Brethren and Country-men the Jews For is put here for Through See Vers 5. 9. And he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his deaâ—h i. e. And when he was dead he was buried among the wicked and among the rich Jeremy being condemned and put to death in Taphnes a City of Egypt as a Malefactor by the Jews who had leave from the King of Egypt to exercise Authority and Jurisdiction among themselves while they were in Egypt was no doubt buried by the Jews as a Malefactor among the Malefactors and so did he make his grave with the wicked But afterwards his body was removed and buried among the Kings of Egypt because of the high esteem which the Egyptians had of him by reason of his sanctity of life and of the gift of Prophecy which was in him Yea Alexander the great removed his bones from Taphnes to Alexandria and there adorned them with a rich monument And so did Jeremy make his grave with the Rich in his death Because he had done no violence neither was any deceit in his mouth i. e. Because he had not offended either in deed or in word For there was no violence in his actions nor fraud in his speech Note that these words relate to those which went immediately before to wit to those with the rich in his death as containing a reason why he was so honorably interred which was because he was a righteous and an holy man 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him q. d. Though he had not offended either in deed or in word yet it pleased the Lord to suffer them to bruise him To bruise him i. e. To suffer them to wit the Jews among whom he lived to bruise him See vers 6. He hath put him to grief i. e. He hath suffered them to put him to grief When thou shalt make his Soul an offering for sin q. d. Yet when thou shalt bruise him and put him to grief i. e. Yet when thou shalt suffer the Jews to bruise him and put him to grief The Prophet maketh an Apostrophe here to the Lord. His Soul i. e. Him Here is Synecdoche partis for a part is put for the whole man An offe ing foâ— sin Note here that the word in the Original which is here rendered an offering for sin is ASCHAM which signifiâ—th properly and primarily sin but by a Metonymy it may signifie sometimes an offering for sin sometimes a punishment for sin and sometimes him which is afflicted or punished for sin yea by a Catachrestical Metonymy it may not onely signifie a punishment for sin and him that is punished
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
enemies q.d. Although I have heretofore given the meat which thou hast taken paines for to the Assyrians and to the Babylonians and other thine enemies yet now I will doe so no more The sonnes of the stranger shall ntt drink of thy wine for which thou hair laboured i. e. Strangers such as the Assyrians and the Babylonians are shall not take away thy wine which thou hast laboured for by force and drinke wtthout thee 9. But they that have gathered tt shall eate it i. e. But they that have been at the cost or at the paines to sow the corne and to reape it and to gather it into the Barne shall eate it Haâ—e gathered it By gathering the corn into the Barne understand by a Syllepsis all other costs and paines necessary for the having of corne It i. e. The corne v. 8. Shall eare it Supple In the courts of the Lords house to wit the Temple See Deut. 14. v. 23. But note that the Tithe onely of the corne c. was to be eaten before the Lord in the court of his house but their eating of the Tithe there according to the Lords command was as it were an earnest that they should peaceably eate the whole harvest at their own places And praise the Lord Supple For his bounty and goodnesse in giving them corne to eate They that have brought it together i. e. They that have brought the wine together into their cellars and store-houses out of their severall Vineyards c. It That is the wine v. 8. Shall drink it in the courts of my holinesse i. e. Shall drinke it in my courts as I have commanded Deut. 14.23 In the courts of my holinesse i. e. In my courts Gods holinesse is put here Per metonymiam adjuncti for God himselfe so that in the courts of my holinesse is q.d. In the courts of me that is in my courts 10. Goe thorow goe thorow the gates q.d. Make hast make hast and goe yee into your own Land O yee Jewes which have been held here in Babylon captives This is spoken in the person of Cyrus or some from Cyrus to the Jewes which were in captivity and signifieth to them that they might goe out of their captivity so soon as they would Prepare yee the way of the people i. e. Prepare yee the way of the Jewes by which they are to passe from Babylon to Judea that their way may be without let or hinderance This is spoken to the way-makers or those which were set to see to it that the wayes were good See Cap. 40. v. 3. This sudden turning from persons to persons is done as if the Jewes were even then hastening to depart out of Babylon to their own home by which is signified the certainty of their returne Cast up cast up the highway See Cap. 57.14 Gather up tho stones Supple Out of the way in which they must goe that they may no way trouble or hinder them in their way Lift up a standard for the people This is spoken to other persons then before And the sense is q.d. call the Jewes together from the severall places of their captivity that they may goe together to their own Land He alludeth to the manner of Souldiers for whom when they were to meet together a standard was set up for them to meet at 11. Behold the Lord hath proclaimed untâ— the end of the world supple saying i. e. Behold the Lord hath sent out his proclamation into all even into the uttermost parts of the world saying The proclamation here mentioned may relate to that proclamation which Cyrus made 2 Chron. Cap. 36. v. 22.23 For what Cyrus did by motion from the Lord the Lord himselfe may be said to doe Say yee to the daughter of Sion i. e. Say yee to Sion By the daughter of Sion is meant Sion that is Jerusalem As Cap. 1.8 And he speakes to Sion as to a woman by a Prosopopoeia And the sense of those words say yee to the daughter of Sion is q.d. Let the daughter of Sion know for these words say yee are to be taken indefinitely This and what followeth is the substance of the proclamation which the Lord proclaimed Behold thy salvation commeth i. e. Behold thy Saviour commeth even he which will save thee out of the hands of the Babylonians Salvation is put here for Saviour Per Metonymiam effectus The Saviour here meant is the Lord who saved the Jewes out of the hands of the Babylonians by Cyrus Behold his reward is with him i. e. Behold he hath brought with him the reward with which he will reward those Jewes which are meek and mourne and have not departed from him but have put their trust in him in the midst of their affliction which they suffered in captivity See Cap. 40.10 And his worke before him i. e. And his reward is in a readinesse This is a repetition of the former sentence By worke is meant the reward due to the work pe Metonymiam efficientis When he saith his worke or his reward is before him It may be that the Prophet alludeth to some such games as the Apostle alludeth to 1 Cor. 9.24 Where they that came to be Judges of the victory had the garland which was to be given to the victor carried before them to the Stadium or place of exercise and when they were there they had it lying before them ready to bestow upon him who deserved it best And they shall call them the holy people i. e. And they to wit the Jewes which are now in captivity shall be called the holy people They shall call them is put here for they shall be called The holy people i. e. The people whom God hath severed from all the people of the earth and preferred above them all by his blessings See Cap. 4.3 The redeemed of the Lord i. e. The people whom the Lord redeemed out of the hands of the Babylonians And thou shalt be called sought out i. e. And thou O Sion or O Jerusalem shall be sought out What it is for one to be called so or so See verse 4. Sought out i. e. Shee which was lost like a lost sheep but now is sought out and found againe See Ezek. Cap. 34.16 A City not forsaken See vers 4. ISAIAH CHAP. LXIII WHo is this that commeth from Edom The Lord appearing to Isaiah in a vision like a man of warre comming from Edom Isaiah asketh him who he is who receiveth his answer to this and other questions which he maketh in this and the verses following By this vision is signified the victory which the Jewes should have over the Edomites their enemies which victory was atchieved by the Jewes under Judas Machabaeus of which you may reade 1 Mach. 5.3 The Edomites were a people which did alwayes rejoyce at the afflictions and miseries of the Iewes Psal 137.7 Therefore it was very materiall for the Iewes to be acquainted with this victory which they should have over the
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