its own accord Levit. 25. 5. from those seeds which in the last reaping time were scattered here and there which were much more numerous now than in other years because God gave a special blessing to the sixth year whereby it did bring forth the fruit of 3 years Lev. 25. 21. and in years of so great plenty men are generally more negligent in their reaping and therefore the relicks are more and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard and with thy ‖ Or olive trees olive-yard x i. e. Thou shalt not prune nor dress them nor gather and appropriate to thy own use what they shall produce but shalt leave them to the poor 12 * chap. 20. 8 9 Deut. 5. 13. Luk. 13. 14. Six dayes thou shalt do thy work and on the seventh day thou shalt rest y This command is here repeated lest any should think the weekly rest might cease when the whole year was consecrated to rest There were three sorts of Sabbaths to the Jews 1. of days 2. of years to wit the seventh year 3. of weeks of years to wit the Jubilee and all these are types of the eternal rest in heaven that thine oxe and thy ass may rest and the son of thine handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed 13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect and * Deut. 12. 3. make no mention of the names of other gods z To wit with honour or delight or without detestation as fornication is not to be named among Saints Eph. 5. 3. Or not mention them in your worship or in oaths or in common discourse and without special occasion lest the frequent mention of them might keep up their memory or introduce their worship Hence the names of Idols and Idolatrous places were oft-times changed by the Israelites See Numb 32. 38. Ios. 23. 7. Compare Psal. 16. 4. Hos. 2. 17. Zech. 13. â—… neither let it be heard out of thy mouth 14 * chap. 24. 2â—… Deut. 16. 16. Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year 15 * chap. 13. 3. 34. 18. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread thou shalt eat unleavened bread as I have commanded thee in the time appointed of the month Abib for in it thou camest out from Egypt * Deut. 16. 16. Eccl. 35. 4. and none shall appear before me empty a This may be either 1. a precept as it is generally understood that none should ever come at those times without some offering or other for the support of the Levites and of the worship of God but the determination of this or what they would give was left to their choice Or 2. a promise to encourage them to come so oft from their remotest habitations to Ierusalem because they should never appear before God in vain i. e. to no purpose or without some benefit for so the word rekam oft signifies So it may be parallel to Isa. 45. 19. I said not unto the seed of Iacob seek ye me in vain But the former sence is more probable by comparing this with its parallel place Deut. 16. 16 17. 16 And the feast of harvest b i. e. Of wheat-harvest for barley-harvest was before this time This feast was otherwise called Pentecost the first-fruits of thy labours c How were these the first-fruits when a sheaf was offered to God in the feast of the Passeover Ans. That sheaf was generally of barly which was less considerable than their wheat but this was the first-fruits of their wheat which was their principal grain and they had no bread before this time from the growth of that year which thou hast sown in the field and the feast of in-gathering d To wit of all the rest of the fruits of earth as of the vines and olives This was called also the feast of booths and of Tabernacles See Levit. 23. 34. Numb 29. 12. Deut. 16. 13. All their three feasts had a respect to the harvest which began in the Passeover was carried on at Pentecost and was fully compleated and ended in this feast which is in the end of the year e Of the common or civil year which began in September as the sacred year began in March when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field 17 Three times in the year all thy males f To wit such as are of competent years and health and strength and such as were at their own dispose for that servants were not bound to this may seem probable because none of these concerned were to appear before the Lord empty or without an offering but the generality of servants had not any thing to offer And the care and management of their domestick affairs did require the presence and care of many of their males shall appear before the LORD God g i. e. In that place where God shall record his name Exod. 20. 24. as the Tabernacle or Temple 18 * Lev. 2. 11. Deut. 16. 3. Thou shalt not offer the bloud of my sacrifice with leavened bread h This and the following clause most understand of the Passeover by comparing this place with its parallel Exod. 34. 25. where the Passeover is mentioned But the words being here universal by the laws of interpretation they ought to be universally understood if they can bear that sence which here they may for both these clauses agree to other sacrifices For as every sacrifice had a Minchah or a meat-offering of flour attending upon it and offered with it so it was expresly cautioned that no leaven should be in that Minchah Lev. 2. 11. And the fat of every sacrifice was consecrated to God Lev. 3. 16. 2 Chron. 35. 14 c. and was presently to be burnt upon the Altar Lev. 7. 2 3. And for Exod. 34. 25. what hinders but what is here more generally prescribed may be there particularly applied to the Passeover and that seems more reasonable than to make that an idle repetition of the same thing And my sacrifice may be here put for my sacrifices by the common Enallage Moreover the two principal things which were offered to God in every sacrifice were blood and fat â—…v 17. 6 11 c. neither shall the fat of my †Or feast sacrifice remain untill the morning i This if understood of the Passeover may seem superfluous because nothing of it neither fat nor lean was to remain until the morning Exod. 12. 10. but all of it was to be eaten even the purtenance thereof ver 9. and that for ought I see without any exception of the fat as there was in other sacrifices Lev. 3. 16. And therefore in that parallel place Exod. 34. 25. where the Passeover is mentioned there is not a word of the fat but onely it is said in the general neither shall the
prevention thereof the LORD God sent him forth e Or expelled him with shame and violence and so as never to restore him thither For it is the same word which is used concerning divorced Wives from the Garden of Eden to till f To wit with toil and sweat as was threatned ver 17. the ground from whence he was taken g The ground without Paradise For he was made without Paradise and then put into it as was noted before 24. So he drove out the Man And he placed at the East of the Garden h Where the entrance into it was the other sides of it being inclosed or secured by God to preserve it from the entrance and annoyance of wild Beasts Or before the Garden i. e. Near to the Garden before any man could come at the Garden any way of Eden Cherubims i i. e. Angels so called from their exquisite knowledge and therefore fitly here used for the punishment of man who sinned by affecting divine knowledge and †Heb. The flame of a Sword a flaming Sword k In the Cherubims hands as it was upon other occasions Numb 22. 23. Ios. 5. 13. 1 Chron. 21. 16 27. And this was either a material Sword bright and being brandished shining and glittering like a flame of fire or flaming fire in the shape of a Sword Or flaming Swords because there were divers Cherubims and each of them had a Sword The singular number for the plural Or a two edged Sword which turned every way l Was brandished and nimbly whirled about by the Cherubims which posture was fittest for the present service to keep the way of the Tree of Life m The way that leads to Paradise and so to the Tree of Life that man might be deterred and kept from coming thither CHAP. IV. 1. AND Adam knew a This modest expression is used both in Scripture and other Authours to signifie the Conjugal act or Carnal knowledge So Gen. 19. 8. and 24. 16. Numb 31. 17. Matth. 1. 25. Luk. 1. 34. Eve his Wife and she Conceived and bare Cain b Whose name signifies a possession and said I have gotten a Man c A Male Child as Gen. 7. 2. which was most welcome from the LORD d Or By or with the Lord i. e. By vertue of his first blessing Gen. 1. 28. and special favour Or a man the Lord as the words properly signifie q. d. God-man or the Messias hoping that this was the promised Seed 2. And she again bare his Brother †Heb. Hebel Abel e Signifying vanity a vain mortal miserable man whereas she thought Cain to be more than an ordinary man or this name might prophetically design his miserable life and untimely and unnatural death and Abel was †Heb. a feeder a Keeper of Sheep but Cain was a tiller of the ground f Which was esteemed a more honourable calling than that of a Shepherd and therefore either chosen by the Elder Brother or allotted to him by his Father 3. And †Heb at the end of days Exod 2. 23. Or of the year 2 Sam. 15. 26. Neh. 13. 6. Isai. 24. 22. in * Exod. 2. 23. process of time g Either 1. In general at the return of the set time then appointed and used for the solemn service of God Or 2. At the end of the year when there might be now as there was afterward among the Jews more solemn Worship and Sacrifices The word Days being often put for a year as Levit. 25. 29 1 Sam. 1. 3. and 27. 7. Or 3. More probably at the end of the days of the week or upon the seventh and last day of the week Saturday which then was the Sabbath day which before this time was blessed and sanctified Gen. 2. 3. it came to pass that Cain brought h Either to the place appointed for the solemn Worship of God Or to his Father who at that time was both King and Prophet and Priest Or brought i. e. offered of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD 4. And Abel he also brought of the Firstlings i Either 1. The First-born which God reserved to himself both at this time and afterwards by an express Law Exod. 13. 2. Numb 3. 13. Or 2. The choicest and most eminent of the Flock For the best of any kind are oft called First-born as Ioh 18. 13. Ier. 31. 19. Heb. 12. 23. of his †Heb. Sheep or Goats Flock and of the fat thereof k Either 1. Properly the fat being properly now required by God as afterwards was expressed Ex. 29. 13 22. Levit. 3. 3. Or 2. The best of them as the word fat is often used as Gen. 45. 18. and 49. 20. Numb 18. 12. Nehem. 8. 10. Psal. 147. 14. And the LORD had * Heb. 11. 4. respect l Or looked to him with a gracious eye kindly accepted and owned him and his Sacrifice and testified this Heb. 11. 4. to Cain and all there present either by express word or by some visible sign probably by consuming his Sacrifice by Fire from Heaven as the Fathers generally think whereby also God did afterwards frequently signifie his acceptance of Sacrifices as Levit. 9. 24. Iud. 6. 21. 1 King 18. 38. 1 Chron. 21. 26. 2 Chron. 7. 1. unto Abel m Unto Abels person who was a truly good Man and then to his Sacrifice which was offered with Faith in Gods Mercy and in the promised Mediatour Heb. 11. 4. and to his offering 5. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect And Cain was very wroth n Partly with God who had cast so publick a disgrace upon him and given the preference to his younger Brother And partly with Abel because he had received more Honour from God and therefore was likely to have more respect and priviledge from his Parents than himself and his countenance fell o Whereas before it was lifted up and chearful now it fell down through sense of guilt disappointment of his hope shame and grief and envy at his Brother 6. And the LORD said unto Cain p That he might bring him to Repentance and the knowledge of his sin why art thou wroth and * Job 29. 24. why is thy countenance fallen q The cause of this dejectedness is not from me but from thy self 7. If thou doest well r Or for the future shalt do well i. e. repent of thy sin amend thy Life offer thy Offerings with a willing and chearful mind and honest heart in Faith and Love as Abel did shalt thou not ‖ Or have the excellency be accepted s Or pardoned received into favour Or exalted and either preserved in or restoredunto those rights of the First-born which thou art conscious to thy self that thou hast forfeited Or elevated in thy looks i. e. would not or should not thy
contented with multitudes of partners So this is properly said to be the name of God whereby he is known and distinguished from all other Gods is a * chap. 20. 5. jealous God 15 Lest thou make a covenant r For cohabitation or to suffer them quietly to live among you whom you should drive out with the inhabitants of the land and they go a whoring s i. e. Commit Idolatry which is oft called and compared to spiritual whoredom See Ier. 2. and 3. and Ezek. 16. after their gods and do facrifice unto their gods and one call thee and thou eat of his sacrifice t To wit of the parts or remainders of his sacrifices whereby thou wilt partake with him in an idolatrous worship because such feasts were a part of the Worship offered to the Idol and were accompanied with solemn benedictions and thanksgivings to the Idol See Numb 25. 2. Psal. 106. 28. Ezek. 18. 6. and 22. 9. 1 Cor. 10. 20. Rev. 2. 20. 16 And thou take of * 1 King 11. 2. their daughters unto thy sons and their daughters * Num. 25. 1 2. go a whoring after their gods and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods 17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods u Nor graven nor any other as it plainly appears both from the nature of the things and from many parallel Scriptures But he mentions molten because their late Idol was of that kind 18 The feast of * chap. 12. 15. c. 23. 15. unleavened bread shalt thou keep seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread as I commanded thee in the time of the month Abib for in the * chap. 13. 4. month Abib thou camest out from Egypt 19 * chap. 22. 29. Ezek. 44. 30. Luk. 2. 23. All that openeth the matrix is mine and every firstling amongst thy cattle whether oxe or sheep that is male x Heb. And for That is as the particle and is oft used the words following here and verse 20. being a particular explication of the general sentence in the beginning of this verse all thy cattle which a particle oft understood shall be born male as it is also explained Exod. 13. 12. the opening or whatsoever to wit of the male-kind openeth the matrix which word is fitly understood cut of the former member which is very usual of Ox or and put for or as it is oft done Sheep 20 But the * chap. 13. 13. firstling of an ass thou shait redeem with a ‖ Oâ—… â—…id lamb and if thou redeem him not then shalt thou break his neck All the first-born of thy sons thou shalt redeem and none shall appear before me * chap. 23. 15. 1 Sam. 9. 7 8. 2 Sam. 24. 24. empty y Either without a gift to me so it is a precept or without benefit to himself so it is a promise See Exod. 23. 15. 21 * chap. 23. 1â—… Deut. 5. 12. Luk. 13. 14. Six dayes thou shalt work but on the seventh day thou shalt rest in earing-time and in harvest thou shalt rest z Which times are expressed because the great profit and seeming necessity of working at that time was likely to be a powerful temptation to make men break the Sabbath 22 * chap. 23. 16. And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks a i. e. Which is numbred by weeks being just seven weeks after the Passe-over whence it is called Pentecost i. e. the fiftieth day to wit after the passe-over See Levit. 23. 15. and 25. 8. of the first-fruits of wheat-harvest b So this is a designation of the time and business of the feast of weeks and the feast of in-gathering c To wit of the fruits of the Earth at the †Heb. revolution of the year years end d So it was in regard of the jubilee and civil contracts 23 * chap. 23. 14 17. Deut. 16. 16. Thrice in the year shall all your men-children appear before the LORD God the God of Israel 24 For I will cast out the nations e So thou shalt have no intestine enemy to do thee or thine mischief This God promised to do but upon condition of Israels discharge of their duty in following God in this work of driving them out which they neglecting it was not fully done before thee and enlarge thy borders * Gen. 35. 5. Act. 18. 10. neither shall any man desire thy land f I will not onely tye their hands that they shall make no invasion upon you but I will take off their thoughts and affections from such an enterprize which it was very easie for God to effect many ways when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year 25 * chap. 23. 18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of passeover be left unto the morning 26 * Deut. 26. 2. The first of the first-fruits of thy land g Thou shalt not delay to do this but shalt bring the very first of them Or the first-fruits even the first-fruits of thy land Which limitation seems here conveniently added because they were not bound to bring thither all their first-fruits to wit those of their own bodies their children thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God Thou shalt not seethe a * chap. 23. 19. Deut. 14. 21. kid in his mothers milk 27 And the LORD said unto Moses Write thou these words h Object God saith I will write verse 1. Answ 1. Moses was to write the ritual precepts mentioned here above God wrote the Moral Law 2. Moses wrote what he wrote in a book See Exod. 24. 7. but what was written upon the Tables of stone was written by God himself not by Moses who had no graving instruments with him in the Mount and could not without them writeupon the stone for after the tenour of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel 28 And he was there with the LORD fourty days and forty nights i As he had been before being now to renew the broken covenant This forty dayes fast of his is mentioned four times Exod. 24. 18. and here and Deut. 9. 18. and 10. 10. but it is evident it was performed but twice as the occasion of it happened onely twice he did neither eat bread nor drink water and he * chap. 31. 18. and 34. 1. Deut. 4. 13. wrote k Not Moses but the Lord as appears from verse 1. and from Deut. 10 the relative pronoun being here referred to the remoter antecedent of which there are many instances as Gen. 10. 12. 1 Sam. 21. 14. and 27. 8. Psal. 99. 6. upon the tables the words of the covenants the Ten †Heb. words Commandments 29 And it came to pass when Moses came down from mount Sinai with
11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD to be accepted for you m That God may accept of you and bless you in the rest of your harvest on the morrow after the sabbath n i. e. After the first day of the feast of unleavened bread which was a Sabbath or day of rest as appears from ver 7. or upon the sixteenth day of the moneth And this was the first of those fifty days in the close whereof was the feast of Pentecost or Whitsuntide the priest shall wave it 12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he-lamb o Besides the daily morning and evening sacrifice which it was needless to mention here and besides one of those sacrifices to be offered every day of the seven ver 8. without blemish of the first year for a burnt-offering unto the LORD 13 And the meat-offering thereof shall be two tenth-deals p Or parts to wit of an Ephah i. e. two Omers whereas in other sacrifices of Lambs there was but one tenth deal prescribed Numb 15. 4. The reason of which disproportion may be this that one of the tenth deals was a necessary attendant upon the Lamb and the other was peculiar to this feast and occasion and was an attendant upon that of the sheaf or Corn and was offered with it in thanksgiving to God for the fruits of the Earth of fine flour mingled with oyl an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour and the drink-offering thereof q Drink-offerings were added to all burnt-offerings as we may see Numb 15. 5. shall be of wine the fourth part of an hin r The measure appointed for every Lamb Numb 15. 5. This also probably would have been doubled for the reason now mentioned had this been a thank-offering for the vintage as it was for the Harvest 14 And ye shall eat neither bread s Made of new wheat as the nature and reason of the Law sheweth nor parched corn nor green ears t Which were usual not onely for offerings to God as Levit. 2. 14. but also for mans food See Iosh. 5. 11. Ruth 2. 14. 1 Sam. 17. 17. Matth. 12. 1. until the self-same day u Good reason God should be first served and owned as the supream Landlord that ye have brought an offering unto your God it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings 15 And * Deut. 16. 9. ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath x i. e. From the sixteenth day of the moneth and the second day of the feast of unleavened bread inclusively See on ver 11. from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering †Or seven wâ—… seven sabbaths y i. e. weeks which are so called by a Synecdoche from the chief day of it both here and Luk. 18. 12. Acts 20. 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. shall be compleat 16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath z i. e. After seven weeks or forty nine dayes the morrow after which was the fiftieth day called also Peâ—…ecost shall ye number fifty dayes and ye shall offer a new meat-offering a To wit of new Corn made into loaves as it follows unto the LORD 17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations b i. e. Out of the Corn of your own land for which and for the fruits of it you are now to offer praises unto God And this also as well as the former sacrifice was brought out of the common charge and in the name of the whole nation whence it is said to be brought out of their habitations in the plural number Some conceive two several loaves were brought from every family or as others from every City or Town But this is easily conâ—…uted from ver 18. where we read that with the brâ—…ad to wit the two loaves were to be offered seven Lambs one bullock c. which doubtless was a common oblation and in the name of all two wave-loaves of two tenth-deals c In double proportion as before ver 13. they shall be of fine flour they shall be baken with leaven d Because these were not offered to God but wholly given to the Priests for food See on Levit. 2. 11. and 7. 13. they are the * Exod. 23. 16 19. and 34. 26. Num. 15. 20. and 28. 26. Deut. 26. 2. first-fruits unto the LORD 18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year and one young bullock and two rams e In Nâ—…b 28. 11 19. it is two young bullocks and one ram Either therefore it was left to their liberty to chuse which they would offer or one of the bullocks there and one of the rams here were the peculiar sacrifices of the feast-day and the other were attendants upon the two loaves which were the principal and most proper offering at this time And the one may be mentioned there and the other here to teach us that the addition of a new sacrifice did not destroy the former but both were to be offered as the extraordinary sacrifices of every feast did not hinder the oblation of the daily sacrifice they shall be for a burnt-offering unto the LORD with their meat-offering and their drink-offerings even an offering made by fire of sweet savour unto the LORD 19 Then ye shall sacrifice * chap. 4. 23. 28. one kid f In Levit. 4. 14. the sin-offering for the sin of the people is a bullock but here a kid c. the reason of the difference may be this because that was for some particular sin of the people but this onely in general for all their sins If it be said then this should have been the better sacrifice as being for far more and possibly greater offences it may be replyed that this is not the onely instance wherein the greater sins are expiated by smaller sacrifices and the smaller sins by greater sacrifices which was to instruct us that sins were not expiated by the sacrifices for any worth in them but onely in respect of Christ and that though all sins are not equal yet they are all expiated by one and the same price even by the blood of Christ. of the goats for a sin offering f In Levit. 4. 14. the sin-offering for the sin of the people is a bullock but here a kid c. the reason of the difference may be this because that was for some particular sin of the people but this onely in general for all their sins If it be said then this should have been the better sacrifice as being for far more and possibly greater offences it may be replyed that this is not the onely instance wherein the greater sins are expiated by smaller sacrifices and the smaller sins by greater sacrifices which was to instruct us that sins were not expiated
by the sacrifices for any worth in them but onely in respect of Christ and that though all sins are not equal yet they are all expiated by one and the same price even by the blood of Christ. and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of * chap. 3. 1. peace-offerings 20 And the priest shall wave them g i. e. Some part of them in the name of the whole and so for the two lambs otherwise they had been too big and too heavy to be waved So it is a synecdochical expression with the bread of the first-fruits for a wave-offering before the LORD with the two lambs * Num. 18. 12 Deut. 18. 4. they shall be holy to the LORD †Heb. â—…o for the priests h Who had to themselves not onely the breast and shoulder as in others which belonged to the Priest but also the rest which belonged to the offerer because the whole Congregation being the offerer here it could neither be distributed to them all nor given to some without offence or injury to the rest 21 And ye shall proclaim on the self-same day that it may be an holy convocation i A Sabbath or day of rest called Pentecost which was instituted partly in remembrance of the consummation of their deliverance out of Egypt by bringing them thence to the mount of God or Siâ—…i as God had promised and of that admirable blessing of giving the Law to them at that time and forming them into a Commonwealth under his own immediate Government and partly in gratitude for the further progress of their harvest as in the Passeover they offered a thank-offering to God for the beginning of their harvest unto you ye shall do no servile work therein it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations 22 And * chap. 19. 9. when ye reap the harvest of your land thou k From the plural ye he comes to the singular thou because he would press this duty upon every person who hath an harvest to reap that none might plead exemption from it And it is observable that though the present business is onely concerning the Worship of God yet he makes a kind of excursion to repeat a former Law of providing for the poor to shew that our piety and devotion to God is little esteemed by him if it be not accompanied with acts of Charity to men shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest * Deut. 24. 19. c. neither shalt thou gather any gleanings of thy harvest thou shalt leave them unto the poor and to the stranger I am the LORD your God 23 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 24 Speak unto the children of Israel saying in the * Numb 29. 1. seventh month in the first day of the month shall ye have a sabbath a memorial of blowing of trumpets l i. e. Solemnized with the blowing of trumpets by the Priests not in a common way as they did every first day of every moneth Numb 10. 10. but in an extraordinary manner not onely in Ierusalem but in all the Cities of Israel This seems to have been instituted 1. To solemnize the beginning of the new year whereof as to civil matters and particularly as to the Jubilee this was the first day concerning which it was fit the people should be admonished both to excite their thankfulness for Gods blessings in the last year and to direct them in the management of their civil affairs 2. To put a special honour upon this moneth For as the seventh day was the Sabbath and the seventh year was a Sabbatical year so God would have the seventh moneth to be a kind of Sabbatical moneth for the many Sabbaths and solemn feasts which were observed in this more than in any other moneth And by this sounding of the trumpets in its beginning God would quicken and prepare them for the following Sabbaths as well that of atonement and humiliation for their sins as those of thanksgiving for Gods mercies an holy convocation 25 Ye shall do no servile work therein but ye shall offer an offering m What that was see Numb 29. 2 c. made by fire unto the LORD 26 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 27 * chap. 16. 30. Num. 29. 7. Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement it shall be an holy convocation unto you and ye shall afflict your souls n With fasting and bitter repentance for all especially their national sins among which no doubt God would have them remember their sin of the golden Calf For as God had threatned to remember it in after times to punish them for it Exod. 32. 34. so there was great reason why they should remember it to humble themselves for it and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD 28 And ye shall do no work in that same day for it is a day of atonement to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God 29 For whatsoever soul it be o Either of the Jewish Nation or Religion Hereby God would signifie the absolute necessity which every man had of Repentance and Forgiveness of sin and the desperate condition of all impenitent persons that shall not be afflicted in that same day * Gen. 17. 1â—… he shall be cut off from among his people 30 And whatsoever soul it be that doth any work in that same day the same soul will I destroy from among his people 31 Ye shall do no manner of work it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings 32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest and ye shall afflict your souls in the ninth day of the month at even from even unto even shall ye †Heb. rest celebrate your sabbath p This clause seems to be added to answer an objection how this day of atonement could be both on the tenth day ver 27. and on the ninth day here The answer is it began at the evening or close of the ninth day and continued till the evening or close of the tenth day and so both were true especially if you consider that the Jews did take in some part of the sixth days evening by way of preparation for the Sabbath and therefore would much more take in a part of the ninth day to prepare and begin the great and solemn work of their yearly atonement And this clause may be understood either 1. Of this particular Sabbath called here your Sabbath in the singular number possibly to note the difference between this and other Sabbaths for the weekly Sabbath is oft called the Sabbath of the Lord because that was in a special manner appointed for the praising honouring and serving of God and celebrating his glorious works as also the other Sabbaths here mentioned were whereas this was
principally ordained for their need and for their good even to seek and obtain the pardon of their sins Or 2. Of all their Sabbaths and consequently of this The Jews are supposed to begin every day and consequently their Sabbaths at the evening in remembrance of the creation Gen. 1. 5. as Christians generally begin their days and Sabbaths with the morning in memory of Christs Resurrection 33 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 34 Speak unto the children of Israel saying * Num. 29. 12. The fifteenth day of the seventh moneth shall be the feast of tabernacles q i. e. Of Tents or Booths or Arbours This feast was appointed principally to remind them of that time when they had no other dwellings in the Wilderness as it is expressed ver 43. and to stir them up to bless God aswell for the gracious conduct and protection then afforded them as for their more commodioâ—… and secure habitations now given them and secondarily to excite them to gratitude for all the fruits of the year newly ended which were now compleatly brought in as may be gathered from â—… 39. Eâ—…od 23. 16. Deut. 16. 13 14. See â—…n insâ—…nce of this fâ—…st 〈◊〉 8. 1â—… for seven dayes unto the LORD 35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation ye shall do no servile work therein 36 Seven dayes ye shall offer an offering r A several offering each day which is particularly described Numb 29. 13 c. made by fire unto the LORD * Ioh. 7. 37. 2 chron 7. 9. on the eighth day s Which though it was not one of the days of this feast strictly taken nor is it here affirmed to be so but on the contrary is expresly said to consist of seven days ver 34 39. nor did they dwell longer in Tabernacles yet in a larger sence it belonged to this feast and is called the great day of the feast Ioâ—… 7. 37. And so indeed it was as for other reasons so because by their removal from their Tabernacles into more fixed and comfortable habitations it represented that happy time wherein their 40 years tedious march in the wilderness was ended with their introduction into and settlement in the land of Canaan which it was most fit and just they should acknowledge with such a solemn day of thanksgiving as this was shall be an holy convocation unto you and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD it is a †Heb. day of restraint solemn assembly t Heb. a day of conclusion because it was the end of the feast Ioh. 7 37. or of restraint because they were restrained from servile work and obliged to attendance upon Gods worship or of detention because they were yet detained before the Lord and kept together for his service and not suffered to return to their tents till this was over and ye shall do no servile work therein 37 These are the feasts of the LORD which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD a burnt-offering and a meat-offering a sacrifice u i. e. Another sacrifice to wit for a sin-offering as we shall find it Numb 29. 16 19 22 c. called by the general name a sacrifice because it was designed for that which was the principal end of all sacrifices to wit for the expiation of sin and drink-offerings every thing upon his day 38 Beside the sabbaths x i. e. The offerings of the weekly sabbaths by a Metonymy as the day is sometimes put for the actions done in it as Prov. 27. 1. 1 Cor. 3. 13. God will not have any sabbath sacrifice diminished because of the addition of others proper to any other feast And it is here to be noted that though other festival days are sometimes called sabbaths as here ver 39. yet these are here called the sabbaths of the Lord in way of contradistinction to other days of rest to shew that this was more eminently such than other feast-days which also sufficiently appears from the fourth Commandement of the LORD and beside your gifts y Which being here distinguished from free-will-offerings made to the Lord may seem to note what they freely gave to the Priests over and above their first-fruits and tithes or other things which they were enjoyned to give and beside all your vows and beside all your free-will-offerings which ye give unto the LORD 39 Also z Or rather surely as this particle is oft used For this is no addition of a new but onely a repetition of the former injunction with a more particular explication both of the manner and reason of the feast in the fifteenth day of the seventh moneth when ye have gathered in the fruit a Not the corn which was gathered long before but of their trees as vines olives and other fruit-trees which compleated the harvest whence this is called the feast of in-gathering Exod. 23. 16. of the land ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven dayes On the first day shall be a sabbath and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath 40 And ye shall take you on the first day the †Heb fruit boughs b Heb. the fruit i. e. fruit-bearing boughs or branches with the fruit on them as the word fruit seems to be taken 2 King 19. 30. Ezek. 19. 12. of goodly trees c To wit the olive myrtle and pine as they are mentioned Nehem. 8. 15 16. which were most plentiful there and which would best preserve their greenness or freshness branches of palm-trees and the boughs of thick trees d Fit for shade and shelter and willows of the brook e Which might do well to mix with the other and in some sort to bind them together And as they made their booths of these materials as is apparent from Nehem. 8. so it seems they did also carry some of these boughs in their hands as is affirmed by Iewish and other antient writers and ye shall rejoyce f Which joy they testified by feasting thanksgiving c. before the LORD your God seven dayes 41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven dayes in the year it shall be a statute for ever in your generations ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month 42 Ye shall dwell in booths g Which were erected in their cities or towns either in their streets or gardens or the tops of their houses Nehem. 8. 16. which were made flat and therefore were proper and fit for that use seven dayes all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths 43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt I am the LORD your God 44 And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD CHAP. XXIV 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying 2 Command
could have made all things at once was pleased to divide his work into six days partly to give us occasion more distinctly and seriously to consider Gods works and principally to lay the Foundation for the weekly Sabbath as is clearly intimated Gen. 2. 2 3. and Exod. 20. 9 10 11. 6. ¶ And God said * Psal. 136. 6. Jer. 10. 12. 51. 15. Let there be †Heb. expansion a Firmament q Or An Extension or a Space or place Extended or stretched out and spread abroad like a Tent or Curtain in the midst of the Waters r i. e. Between the Waters though not exactly in the middle place as Tyrus is said to sit or be situated in the midst of the Seas Ezek. 28. 2. Though it was but a little space within the Sea But of these things see more in the next verse and let it divide the Waters from the Waters 7. And God made the Firmament s The Firmament here is Either 1. The Starry Heaven so called not from its solidity but from its fixed durable and in a sort incorruptible and unchangeable nature Or 2. The Air called here The expansion or extension because it is extended far and wide even from the Earth to the third Heaven called also The Firmament because it is fixed in its proper place from whence it cannot be moved unless by force and divided the Waters which were under the Firmament from the Waters which were above the Firmament t The Waters under the Firmament are Seas Rivers Lakes Fountains and other Waters in the bowels of the Earth The Waters above the Firmament or above the Heavens as they are called Psal. 148. 4. are either 1. A Collection or Sea of Waters placed by God above all the visible Heavens and there reserved for ends known to himself Or rather 2. The Waters in the Clouds for the Clouds are called Waters Psal. 18. 11. and 104. 3. and are said to be in Heaven 2 Sam. 21. 10. Matth. 24. 30. and the production thereof is mentioned as an eminent work of Gods Creation Iob 35. 5. and 36. 29. Psal. 147. 8. Prov. 8. 28. which therefore it is not credible that Moses in his History of the Creation would omit which he doth if they be not here meant and these are rightly said to be above the Firmament i. e. The Air because they are above a considerable part of it and it was so u As God commanded and ordered it so it was done and setled 8. And God called the Firmament Heaven And the Evening and the Morning were the second day 9. ¶ And God said * Job 26. 10. 38. 8. Ps. 33. 7. 104. 9. 136 6. Prov. 8. 29. Jer. 5. 22. Let the Waters under the Heaven x Both the great Abyss or deep of Water which is shut up in the bowels of the Earth Gen. 7. 11. Ps. 24. 2. and 33. 7. and 136. 6. as also the Sea and Rivers all which are here said to be gathered together into one place because of their Communication and mixture one with another be gathered together unto one place and let the dry land appear y For hitherto it was covered with Water v. 2. 2 Pet. 3. 5. And it was so 10. And God called the dry land Earth and the gathering together of the Waters he called Seas z Not Sea but Seas because of the differing quantity and nature both of several Seas and of the Rivers and other lesser collections of Waters all which the Hebrews call Seas and God saw that it was good a The separation of the Waters was begun on the Second day v. 6. c. but not perfected till this Third day Therefore Gods approbation of that work is not mentioned there but here only 11. And God said Let the Earth bring forth b The sence is For the present let it afford matter out of which I will make grass as mans Rib afforded matter out of which God made Woman and for the future let it receive vertue or power of producing it out of that Matter which I have made and suited to that end †Heb. tender Grass Gr. Herb. Grass c That which groweth of it self without Seed or Manuring and is the food of Beasts the Herb yielding Seed d For the propagation of their several kinds to wit mature and perfect Herbs which alone yield Seed So afterwards God made man not in the state of Childhood but of grown and perfect Age. and the Fruit-tree yielding Fruit after his kind e i. e. According to the several kinds of Fruits whose Seed is f Now is by my constitution and shall be for the future in it self g i. e. In some part of it self either in the root or branch or leaf or bud or fruit The sence is Which is sufficient of it self for the propagation of its kind without any Conjunction of Male and Female upon the Earth And it was so 12. And the Earth brought forth Grass and Herb yielding Seed after his kind And the Tree yielding Fruit whose Seed was in it self after his kind And God saw that it was good h This clause is so often added 〈◊〉 â—…ew that all the disorders evil and hurtful qualities that 〈◊〉 are in the Creatures are not to be imputed to God who made all of them good but to mans sin which hath corrupted their Nature and perverted their Use. 13. And the Evening and the Morning were the third Day 14. ¶ And God said Let there be * Deut. 4. 19. Psal 136. 7. Lights i To wit more glorious Lights than that created the first Day which probably was now condensed and reduced into these Lights which are higher for place more illustrious for Light and more powerful for influence than that was Note here that Herbs and Trees were created before the Sun whose influence now is necessary for their production to shew that God doth not depend upon the means or upon the help of the Creatures in his operations in the Firmament of the Heaven to divide †Heb. between the Day and between the Night the Day k i. e. The artificial day reaching from Sun-rising to Sun-setting from the Night And let them be for Signs l For the designation and distinction of times as months weeks c. as also for the signification of the quality of the weather or season by the manner of their rising and setting Matth. 16. 2. By their Eclipses Conjunctions c. And for the discovery of supernatural and miraculous effects of which see Ios. 10. 13. Esa. 38. 8. Luc. 21. 25 26. Act. 2. 19 20. and for Seasons m By their Motions and Influences to produce and distinguish the four Seasons of the year mentioned Gen. 8. 22. And to shew as well the fit Times and Seasons for Sowing Planting Reaping Navigation c. as for the observation of set
as appears both from the example of the Lord Jesus who lived and died in an unmarried state and from his commendation of those who made themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of God Matth. 19. 12. And from St. Pauls approbation of Virginity 1 Cor. 7. 1 8 26 27 32 c. 3. It is here rather a promise or benediction than a command as appears both from v. 22. where the same words are applyed to the brute Beasts who are not subject to a command and because if this were a command it would equally oblige every man to exercise dominion over Fishes and Fowls c. which is absurd It is therefore a permission rather than a command though it be expressed in the form of a command as other permissions frequently are as Gen. 2. 16. Deut. 14. 4. and subdue it and have dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowl of the Air and over every living thing that †Heb. creepeth moveth upon the Earth 29. ¶ And God said Behold I have given you every Herb †Heb. Seeding Seed bearing seed which is upon the face of all the Earth and every Tree in the which is the fruit of a Tree yielding Seed * Chap. 9. 3. to you it shall be for meat q It is neither affirmed nor denied that Flesh also was granted to the first men for food and therefore we may safely be ignorant of it It is sufficient for us that it was expresly allowed Gen. 9. 3. 30. And to every Beast of the Earth and to every Fowl of the †Heb. Heaven Air and to every thing that creepeth upon the Earth wherein there is †Heb. Living Soul Life I have given every green Herb for meat And it was so 31. And God saw every thing that he had made And behold it was very good And the Evening and the Morning were the sixth day CHAP. II. 1. THus the Heavens and the Earth were finished and * Psal. 3. 6. all the Host of them a All the Creatures in Heaven and Earth are called their Hosts for their multitude variety order power and subjection to the Lord of Hosts Particularly the Host of Heaven in Scripture which is its own best interpreter signifies both the Stars as Deut. 4. 19. 17. 3. Esa. 34. 4. and the Angels as 1 Kings 22. 9. 2 Chron. 18. 18. Luke 2. 13. Who from these words appear to have been Created within the compass of the first six days which also is probable from Col. 1. 16 17. But it is no wonder that the Scripture saith so little concerning Angels because it was written for the use of men not of Angels and God would hereby take us off from curious and impertinent speculations and teach us to employ our thoughts about necessary and useful things 2. * Exod. 20. 11. 31. 17. Deut. 5. 14. Heb. 4. 4. And on the seventh day God ended b Or rather had ended or finished for so the Hebrew word may be rendred as all the Learned know and so it must be rendred else it doth not agree with the former chapter which expresly saith that all these works were done within six days his work which he had made And he rested c Not for his own need and refreshment for he is never weary Esa. 40. 28. But for our example and instruction that we might keep that day as a day of Religious rest on the seventh day from all his work which he had made 3. And God Blessed the seventh day d By conferring special Honours and Priviledges upon it above all other days that it should be a day of solemn rest and rejoycing and celebration of God and his Works and a day of Gods bestowing singular and the best blessings upon his Servants and Worshippers and sanctified it e Separated it from common use and worldly employments and consecrated it to the Worship of God that it should be accounted an Holy day and spent in Holy works and solemn exercises of Religion Some conceive that the Sabbath was not actually blessed and sanctified at and from this time but only in the days of Moses which they pretend to be here related by way of anticipation But this opinion hath no foundation in the Text or context but rather is confuted from them for as soon as the sacred Penman had said that God had ended his work and rested c he adds immediately in words of the same tense that God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it And if we compare this place with Exod. 20. we shall find that Moses there speaks of Gods blessing and sanctifying of the Sabbath not as an action then first done but as that which God had done formerly upon the Creation of the World to the end that men might celebrate the praises of God for that glorious work which as it was agreeable to the state of innocency so was it no less proper and necessary a duty for the first ages of the World after the fall than it was for the days of Moses and for the succeeding Generations because that in it he had rested from all his Work ‖ Because he would have the memory of that glorious work of Creation from which he then rested preserved though all Generations which God * Heb. Created to make Josh. 22. 26. Heb. Created and made †Either 1. Created in making i. e. made by way of Creation Or rather 2. Created out of nothing and afterwards out of that Created matter made or formed divers things as the Beasts out of the Earth the Fishes out of the Water He useth these two words possibly to shew that Gods Wisdom Power and Goodness was manifest not only in that which he brought out of meer nothing but also in those things which he wrought out of matter altogether unfit for so great works 4. ¶ These f i. e. These things mentioned in the 1. chap. are the Generations g i. e. A true and full relation of their Generations i. e. Of their Original or Beginnings of the Heavens and of the Earth when they were Created in the day h Not strictly so called but largely taken for the time as it is v. 17. Ruth 4. 5. Luk. 19. 42. 2 Cor. 6. 2. that the LORD God made the Earth and the Heavens 5. And every Plant of the Field before it was in the Earth i i. e. When as yet there were no Plants nor so much as Seeds of them there and every Herb of the Field before it grew k To wit out of the Earth as afterwards they did by Gods appointment for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the Earth and there was not a man to till the ground l The two great means of the growth of Plants and Herbs viz. Rain from Heaven and the labour of Man were both lacking to shew that they were now brought forth by
of parenthesis and now he returns to the story and sets down the last words which Moses spake to Pharaoh for a final parting Thus saith the LORD About Midnight will I go out g God is said to go out or go forth or come down c. by way of condescension to the custom and capacity of men when he doth any eminent act of power either in way of Justice or mercy into the midst of Egypt 5 And all the first-born of the land of Egypt shall die from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne h Either now actually ruling with his father as Solomon did even whilest David lived 1 King 1. 34. or more probably he that is to sit the present time for the future he whose right this is by the custom of Egypt and by the law of Nations even unto the first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill i The poor captive slave that was in the prison as it is chap. 12. 29. and there did grind at the Mill. In those times and places they had diverse Mills which were not turned about by wind or water as ours are but by the hands of their servants who for that purpose stood behind the mill and so with hard labour turned it about See Iudg. 16. 21. Isa. 47. 1 2. Lam. 5. 13. and all the first-born of beasts 6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt such as there was none like it nor shall be like it any more 7 * chap. 8. 22. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue k In stead of those loud cries of the Egyptian families there shall be so great a tranquillity among the Israelites that even the dogs which are sensible of and awaked and provoked by the least noise shall not be stirred up by them against man or beast that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel 8 And * ch 12. 31 33. all these thy servants l Thy Courtiers and great Officers who now are so insolent and obstinate shall come down unto me ‖ Both by their own inclination and necessity and in thy name and by thy command and bowe down themselves unto me saying Get thee out and all the people that †Heb. that is at thy feet follow thee m That are under thy conduct and command as this or the like expression is used Iudâ—… 4. 1â—… 1 King 20. 1â—… 2 King 3. 9. Isa. 41. 2. and after that I will go out and he went out from Pharaoh in †Heb. heat of anger a great anger n Not so much for the affront offered to himself as for his incurable rebellion against God Compare Mark 3. 5. 9 And * chap. 3. 19. the LORD said unto Moses Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you that * chap. 7. 3. my wonders may be multiplyed in the land of Egypt 10 And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh and the LORD hardened Pharaohs heart so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land CHAP. XII 1 AND the LORD spake a Had spoken before the three days darkness as may appear by comparing ver 3. and 6. of this chapter with chap. 11. 4. And the mention of it was put off by him till this place aswell that he might not interrupt the history of all the plagues as that he might give the whole institution of the Passeover together unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying 2 This month b The first moneth after the vernal Equinox called Abib Exod. 13. 4. and 23. 1â—… Deut. 16. 1. and Nisan Neh. 2. 1. Esth. 3. 7. containing part of our March and part of April shall be unto you the beginning c Heb. the head which I conceive notes not so much the order which is more plainly mentioned in the following words as the eminency of it that it shall be accounted the chief and principal of all moneths as the Sabbath hath been called by some the queen of days And justly must they prefer this moneth before the rest whether they looked backward to their prodigious deliverance from Egypt therein or forward to their spiritual redemption by Christ and to the acceptable year of the Lord Luk. 4. 19. for in this very moneth our Lord Jesus suffered Ioh. 18. 28. of months it shall be the first month of the year unto you d Heretofore your first moneth for all affairs hath been Tisri which in part answers to our September and is the first moneth after the Autumnal Equinox and so it shall be to you still as to civil affairs as it appears from Exod. 23. 16. and 34. 22. and Levit. 25. 8 9 10. but as to Sacred and Ecclesiastical matters this shall henceforth be your first moneth 3 Speak ye unto all the Congregation of Israel saying in the tenth day e Partly that they might have the lamb ready for the Sacrifice and might not be distracted about procuring it when they should be going to use it partly that by the frequent contemplation of the lamb as a sign appointed by God they might have their saith strengthned as to their approaching deliverance and afterwards might have their minds quickned to the more serious consideration of that great deliverance out of Egypt and of that more glorious deliverance from Hell by Christ the true Passeover which should be offered for them partly to teach the Church in all ages how necessary a thing preparation is to the solemn duties and exercises of Religion and partly to signifie that Christ should be first set apart and separated to the Ministry which was done 3 or 4 Prophetical days i. e. years before his death and afterwards offered Most of which reasons being perpetual it may seem this usage was so too and not for the first passeover onely of this month they shall take to them f Into their houses where the Iews tell us he was tied to the beds post every man a lamb g Or Kid ver 5. for the same word signifies both though a lamb was commonly used and a kid onely in case of the want of a lamb and the Chaldee and LXX do almost constantly translate the Hebrew word lamb And Christ is seldom or never typified by a kid but generally by a lamb as he is called Ioh. 1. 29. partly for his innocency meekness patience c. but principally with respect to this 〈◊〉 lamb in stead whereof he was in due time to be offered whence he is called our Passeover 1 Cor. 5. 7. according to the house of their fathers * Or kid a †A â—…amb was to be disposed of to every house or family according to its quantity or the numbers of persons in it as the next verse explains it The several families are called the
deliverance from Egypt and moreover of your redemption by Christ of which that is a Type as even the antient Iews understood it who also noted that Israel was to be redeemed in the days of the Messias upon the same day on which they were delivered from Egypt to wit upon the fifteenth day of the moneth of Nisan Upon which day our blessed Lord was crucified for the redemption of his people and you shall keep it a feast * You shall observe it for a solemn feast or festival time to the LORD throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever o i. e. So long as your state and Church continues or till the coming of the Messias This word doth not always signifie eternity but any long time as Prov. 29. 14. Dan. 3. 9. and oft elsewhere 15 * chap. 13. â—… and 23. 15. and 34. 18. Seven dayes p Besides and after the day of eating the Passeover which was a distinct feast and no part of the feast of unleavened bread shall ye eat unleavened bread q To remind them of their departure out of Egypt which was so sudden that they had not leisure to leaven their dough See more on ver 8. even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses For whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day untill the seventh day * Gen. 17 14 that soul shall be cut off from Israel r Either by excommunication or by death to be inflicted by the Magistrate and in case of his neglect by God himself Nor let any one think that this was too severe a punishment for what may seem no great offence For this was indeed a very great crime being a manifest contempt of God and a rebellion against Gods authority and express command which surely deserves as severe a punishment as is inflicted upon Rebels against their Prince especially considering that the Israelites were the people and subjects of God in a peculiar manner It was also a tacit renunciation of their Religion and of the covenant of God with them and of their interest both in that past deliverance out of Egypt and in the future deliverance by the Messias See more on Gen. 17. 14. 16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation s A solemn day for the people to assemble together and to attend upon the publick Worship and service of God in hearing his Word Prayers Praises and Sacrifices and in the seventh day t Because then Pharaoh and his host were drowned in the Sea as on the first day the first-born were killed So their deliverance was begun on the first and compleated on the seventh day and therefore those days deserved a special character of honour And indeed that there were seven days between those two miracles the Jews unanimously affirm and it seems probable from the account of their journies there shall be an holy convocation to you no manner of work u i. e. Of servile work Lev. 23. 7. shall be done in them save that which every †Heb. soul. man must eat x Herein as many think these days were inferiour to the Sabbath in which that was forbidden But of this see my notes on Exod. 16. 23. and 35. 3. that onely may be done of you 17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread for in this self-same day have I brought your armies y So called not from their Military force or courage but from their numbers and the order and manner in which they came forth See chap. 13. 18. out of the land of Egypt therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever 18 * Levit. 23. 5. Numb 28. 16. In the first month on the fourteenth day of the month at even ye shall eat unleavened bread untill the one and twentieth day z Inclusively For otherwise they were obliged to eat unleavened bread eight dayes viz. on the day of the Passe-over ver 8. and seven dayes after which is strictly and properly called the Feast of unleavened Bread because in them they were tyed to that ceremony onely except the two days of an Holy Convocation of the month at even 19 Seven dayes shall there be no leaven found in your houses for whosoever eateth that which is leavened even that soul shall be cut off from the Congregation of Israel whether he be a stranger a To wit a Profelite for strangers unconverted to the Jewish Religion were not obliged nor admitted to the celebration of the Passe-over or Feast of unleavened Bread Though I see no inconvenience if all Strangers though Heathens were forbidden to have or use any unleavened Bread at that time lest the Jews who conversed with them might be tempted to desire or partake of it with them or born in the land †To wit of Canaan which I have promised to you and to which I am now leading you which was so well known to all of them that it was needless to express it in this place 20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread 21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said unto them draw out and take you a ‖ Or kid lamb according to your families and kill the Passe-over 22 * Heb. 11. 28. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop b So the Hebrew word is rightly rendred as appears from Heb. 9. 19. and dip it in the blood that is in the bason and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the bason and none of you shall go out at the door of his house c i. e. Of the house wherein he did eat the Passe-over which oft-times was his Neighbours house See ver 4. until the morning d Till the beginning of the morning after midnight and after the slaughter of the Egyptians first-born which may reconcile those Scriptures that seem to contradict one another while some affirm they went out of Egypt by night and others by day for they went out in the morning very early when it was yet dark as it is expressed in a like case Iohn 20. 1. 23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two side-posts the LORD will pass over the door and * Ezek. 9. 6. Rev. 7. 3. and 9. 4. will not suffer e Heb. not give him license or commission the destroyer f i. e. The destroying Angel which whether it were a good or bad Angel is not agreed nor is it necessary to determine to come in unto your houses to smite you 24 And ye shall observe this thing g viz. The substance of the thing the Passeover and Feast of unleavened Bread though not all the Rites and Ceremonies whereof divers were peculiar
provision being wasted they might be obliged to the more entire dependence upon God And this is here mentioned as a reason why they gathered it in the morning 22 And it came to pass that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread e Considering Gods present providence in causing it to fall in double proportion and remembring that the next day was the Sabbath day which God had blessed and sanctified to his own immediate service Gen. 2. 3. and therefore was not to be employed in servile works such as the gathering of Manna was they rightly concluded that Gods commands delivered ver 16. 19. reached onely to ordinary dayes and must in all reason give place to the more antient and necessary Law of the Sabbath two Omers for one man and all the rulers of the Congregation came and told Moses f Either to acquaint him with this increase of the miracle or to take his direction for their practise because they found two commands seemingly clashing together and therefore needed and desired his advice 23 And he said unto them This is that which the LORD hath said g Either to Moses by inspiration or to the former Patriarks upon like occasions this practise is agreeable to the former word and law of God concerning the Sabbath as it follows to morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the LORD bake h The Manna was dressed these two ways Numb 11. 8. that which you will bake to day i These words to day are not in the original and possibly are better left out than taken in or if they be taken in they do not seem to me as they do to many others to prove that they were commanded to bake or seethe on the sixth day all that they were to eat both that day and upon the following Sabbath or that they were forbidden to bake or seethe it upon the Sabbath day for there is not a word here to that purpose and it is apparent from the whole context that the rest of the Sabbath is not opposed to their baking or seething of it but to their going out into the field to gather it Nay the contrary is here implyed because after they had baken and sodden what they intended to bake or seethe part of the Manna did as is here expresly added remain over and was reserved for the Sabbath days provision and that unbaken and unsodden otherwise it would not have been noted as a miraculous thing that it did not stink nor breed worms ver 24. and seethe k that ye will seethe and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning ‖ What you do not eat this day keep for the next days provision 24 And they laid it up till the morning as Moses bade and it did not stink neither was there any worm therein k As there was before ver 20. So great a difference there is between the doing of a thing upon Gods command and with his blessing and the doing of the same thing against his will and with his curse 25 And Moses said Eat that to day l These words were spoken upon the morning of the Sabbath day as appears from the foregoing verse for to day is a Sabbath unto the LORD m i. e. Wholly consecrated to his service and therefore not to be employed in servile works to day ye shall not find it in the field 26 Six dayes ye shall gather it but on the seventh day which is the Sabbath in it there shall be none 27 And it came to pass that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather and they found none 28 And the LORD said unto Moses n That he might speak it to the people How long o He signifies that this was an old disease in them to disobey Gods precepts and to pollute his Sabbaths refuse ye to keep my Commandments and my laws 29 See for that the LORD hath given you the Sabbath p Hath given to you and to your fathers that great command and priviledge of the Sabbath therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two dayes abide ye every man in his place let no man go out of his place q Out of his house or tent into the field to gather Manna as appears from the occasion and reason of the law here before mentioned For otherwise they might and ought to go out of their houses to the publick assemblies as appears from Lev. 23. 3. Act. 15. 21. and to lead their cattle to watering Luk. 13. 15. or to help them out of a pit Mat. 12. 11. And a Sabbath-days journey was permitted Act. 1. 12. on the seventh day 30 So the people rested r Or ceased to wit from gathering Manna by comparing this with ver 27. and consequently from all works of that nature on the seventh day 31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna and * Numb 11. 7. it was like Coriander seed s In shape and figure but not in colour for that is dark-coloured but this white as it follows here like Bdellium c. Numb 11. 7. white and the tast of it t When it was raw but when it was drest it was like fresh oil Numb 11. 8. was like wafers made with honey 32 And Moses said This is the thing which the LORD commandeth Fill an Omer of it to be kept for your generations that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt 33 And Moses said unto Aaron * 1 King 8. 9. Heb. 9. 4. Take a pot and put an Omer full of Manna therein and lay it up before the LORD u In the tabernacle and by the ark when they shall be built and at present in the place where you meet for the solemn worship of God to be kept for your generations 34 As the LORD commanded Moses so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony x i. e. Before the ark which is called the ark of the testimony Exod. 25. 16. and here by way of abbreviation the testimony or witness because in it were the tables of the covenant or the law of God which was a testimony of Gods authority and will and of mans subjection and duty or of the covenant made between God and man See Deut. 10. 5. and 31. 26. Quest. How could this be laid up before the Ark when the Ark was not yet built Ans. This text onely tells us that Aaron did lay it up but it doth not determine the time nor affirm that it was done at this instant but rather intimates the contrary and that it was done afterwards when the testimony i. e. the ark was built As the next verse also speaks of what was done in ' the following forty years to be kept 35 And the children of Israel
in the Ten Tribes and afterwards in the two Tribes upon whom the iniquity of their Fathers hath been visited now for many generations But he mentions them in particular partly because a parent may live so long and see the dreadful effects of his sin in his childrens children partly because so far the memory of a father may extend and be matter of imitation to his children and partly to shew the difference between his exercise of justice and mercy as appears by comparing the next verse of them that hate me a This word is opposed to the conceit that Idolaters at lest many of them have of themselves that they love God more then others do because they love and honour and worship the Creatures for his sake and for those excellencies that he hath wrought in them But this will no more excuse their Idolatry than it will excuse him that commits Adultery with his friends wife that he did it for his friends sake and from the love he had to his friend and for his Relations 6 And * Deut. 7. 9. Psal. 89. 34. shewing mercy unto thousands b To wit of their generations i. e. for ever whereas his punishment extended onely to three or four of them So far is Gods mercy exalted above his justice Compare Psal. 103. 17. of them that love me and keep my commandements c This conjunction is very observable both against those that falsly and foolishly pretend or insinuate that the inward affection of love to God is not absolutely and always necessary to Salvation and also against them who pretending inward love to God live in the customary breach of Gods known commands 7 * Lev. 19. 12. Deut. 5. 11. Math. â—… 33. Thou shalt not take ‖ Or not carry or not take or lift up to wit in or into thy mouth as the phrase is more fully expressed Iob 4. 2. Psal. 16. 4. and 50. 16. So men are said to take up a proverb or a lamentation Isa. 14. 4. Ezek. 26. 17. the name of the LORD d Not onely the proper name of the Lord but any of his Attributes Ordinances and Works by which God hath made himself known thy God in vain e Or unto vanity or vainly Either 1. Falsly or in a false Oath thou shalt not swear falsly by the name of the Lord or not lift up the name of God into thy mouth in an Oath to the confirmation of a lie Or. 2. In vain as we render it and as the word Schave is frequently used as Iob 7. 3. and 15. 31. Psal. 60. 11. and 89. 47. Isa. 1. 13. and You shall not use the name of God either in Oaths or in common discourse lightly rashly irreverently or unnecessarily or without weighty or sufficient cause Which being a duty enjoyned not onely in many places of Sacred Scripture but also in the Apocryphal Ecclesiasticus 23. 15 16 17. and even by Heathen authours as Plato in his book of Laws and it being evident by the light of nature to mans reason it were strange if it were not here understood especially considering that it is most reasonable to take these short Laws in the most comprehensive sense such as this not the former is for the prohibition of using it vainly and rashly doth certainly include that of swearing by it falsely but this latter doth not include the former Besides the former exposition restrains the words to swearing whereas the wâ—…s are now general and speak of any taking Gods name into their mouths either by Oaths or any other way And it becomes not us to set limits to Gods words where God hath set none It is also here to be observed as well as in the other commands that when this sin is forbidden the contrary duty is commanded to wit to use the name of God both in swearing and otherwise holily cautiously and reverently for the LORD will not hold him guiltless f Or Innocent i. e. free from guilt and the punishment of it the meaning is the Lord will look upon him as a guilty person and will severely punish him And so this or the like phrase is used 1 King 2. 9. And it is a common figure called Mâ—…iosis where more is understood than is expressed as 1 Sam. 12. 21. Psal. 25. 3. Prov. 10. 2. And this reason is here added because sinners of this sort are usually held innocent by men either because they cannot discover their fault when they forswear themselves or because they take no care to punish the abusers of Gods name by vain and customary Oaths Curses or Blasphemies q. d. Though men spare them I will assuredly punish them that taketh his name in vain 8 Reâ—…ber g This word is here very emphatical and 1. It re-minds us of a former delivery of the substance of this command to wit Gen. 2. 3. 2. It insinuates the great necessity of consideration and preparation of the Sabbath before it comes 3. It shews the singular importance of this command which is therefore placed in the heart and center of the rest to shew that the religious observation of this is the best way to secure our obedience to all the rest and that the neglect of this will bring in the violation of all the other as common experience shews the Sabbath day to keep it holy †i. e. To use it holily by a careful abstinence from servile works or wordly business and by a diligent employing of the day holy in thoughts words and exercises in the worship of God in publick and private and the celebration of his works and the furthering of our own and others sanctification and Salvation See Isa. 58. 13. 9 * chap. 23. 12. and 31. 14. Levit. 23. 3. Ezek. 20. 12. Luk. 13. 14. Six dayes shalt thou labour h This may be either 1. A command to employ those days in our worldly occasions yet so as God and Religion be not neglected on those dayes as many Scriptures teach us Or. 2. A permission to do so which I prefer 1. Because so it is a proper argument to enforce the observation of the Sabbath q. d. Grudge not me one day when I allow you six for it 2. Because the command of diligence in our callings would seem improperly placed here as being of a quite differing nature and belonging to the second table and being provided for in a distinct command as we shall see and do all thy work 10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD i Or To the Lord i. e. Consecrated to his use honour and service Hence God calls them my Sabhaths Levit. 26. 2. Isa. 56. 4. because they are commended by his example and enjoyned by his command thy God in it thou shalt not do any work k i. e. Any servile laborious common or worldly work tending to thy own profit or pleasure See Exod. 34. 21. Levit. 23. 7. Numb 28. 18. Isa. 58.
13. thou nor thy son nor thy daughter thy man-servant nor thy maid servant l This clause is added not as if children or servants were not immediately obliged by this command or were excused by God for the breach of this â—…aw at their masters commands which were to obey God rather than men contrary to St. Peters command and practice Act. 5. 29. and which were to limit the foregoing word thou and the law of the Sabbath onely to those that have children and servants which is an idle senceless and absurd as well as profane opinion but to restrain hard-hearted and covetous or ungodly persons that they should neither command nor suffer their children or servants to profane the fabbath so far as they can hinder it Which how far it concerns thousands of governours of families at this day they shall do well seriously and in time to consider nor thy cattle m Partly to teach us to exercise merâ—… towards the brâ—…te creatures compare Deut. 5. 14. partly because the use of cattel must have drawn along with it the attendance or employment of men and partly that by observing the rest of the cattel they might be more minded and quickened to the observation of this sacred rest nor thy stranger n i. e. The Gentile that sojourneth with thee lest their example should provoke the Israelites to imitate them and lest the Gentiles should have opportunity of gaining at that time when and by that thing whereby the Israelites were losers even by the religious observation of the Sabbath that is within thy gates o i. e. that dwells within thy cities which have walls and gates or within thy villages or territories So the word gates is oft taken as Gen. 22. 17. and 24. 60. and 2 Sam. 10. 8. compared with 1 Chron. 19. 9. 11 For * Gen. 2. 2â—… in six dayes p And neither in more nor less time as he could have done the LORD made heaven and earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested q i. e. Ceased from his creating works otherwise he worketh still Ioh. 5. 17. by his providence and grace and neither is idle nor weary Isa. 40. 28. but this rest is ascribed to him for our admonition and imitation the seventh day wherefore the LORD blessed r i. e. Made it a day of blessing as well of receiving blessings and praises from men as of conferring his blessings and favours upon those that religiously observe it The day is said to be blessed when men are blessed by it and in it by a common Metonymy as a mans field Gen. 27. 27. and basket and store Deut. 28. 5. and the work of his hands Iob 1. 10. are said to be blessed when a man is blessed in them the Sabbath day s It is remarkable the blessing and sanctification are not appropriated to the seventh day but to the sabbath day whether it should be the seventh day as to the Iews it then was or the first day as to us Christians now it is which change seems hereby to be insinuated and hallowed it t i. e. Separated it from the rest of the days and from all common employments and consecrated it to his own holy service and mans holy use 12 * Levit. 19. 3. Deut. 5. 16. Eph. 6. 2. Honour u Which word doth not onely note the reverence love and obedience we owe them but also support and maintenance as appears from Mat. 15. 4 5 6. and from the like signification of that word 1 Tim. 5. 3 17. which is so natural and necessary a duty that the Iews say a man is bound even to beg or to work with his hands that he may relieve his parents thy father and thy mother x The father is put first here and the mother Lev. 19. 3. to shew that we owe this duty promiscuously and indifferently to both of them Compare Exod. 21. 15 17. Deut. 21. 18. and 27. 16. Prov. 20. 20. and 30. 17. And because these laws are brief and yet comprehensive under these are contained all our Superiours and Governours that thy dayes may be long y Heb. that they i. e. thy Parents may prolong thy days or the days of thy life to wit instrumentally by their prayers made to God for thee and by their blessing in my name conferred upon thee though the active verb is commonly taken impersonally as Iob 7. 3. Prov. 9. 11. Luk. 12. 10. and so it may be here they prolong for be prolonged upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee 13 * Rom. 13. 9 Thou shalt not kill z To wit any man or woman without authority and without just cause which exception must necessarily be understood because many other Scriptures command the Magistrate to kill great offenders And this prohibition being delivered by God who made and searcheth and commands mens hearts must be extended not onely to the external act of killing but to all motions of the heart or tongue which tend that way as anger hatred envy malice strife blows and the challenges of Duellists which is clearly manifest by comparing this with other Scriptures as Mat. 5. 21. 1 Ioh. 3. 15. c. And here as in the rest is commanded the contrary duty of preserving the lives of our neighbours as much as lies in our power 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery a Here is mentioned one kind of uncleanness as being eminently sinful and unjust and pernicious to humane society But under this are comprehended and forbidden all other kinds of filthiness as beastiality Sodomy whoredom fornication c. and all means occasions and appearances of them as it â—…ears 1. from other Scriptures that forbid those things which â—…her belong to this command or to none of the ten which is very improbable 2. from the large extent of the other commands noted before 3. from our saviours explication Mat. 5. 27. And contrariwise all chastity and sobriety in thoughts affections words habits and gestures is here prescribed See 1 Thes. 4. 3 4. Heb. 13. 4. 15 Thou shalt not steal b i. e. Either by deceit or violence or without his knowledg and consent take away another mans goods Eph. 4. 28. but on the contrary shalt preserve and increase them as need requires and occasion is offered 16 * Deut. 19. 16. Thou shalt not bear false witness c Heb. not answer viz. when thou art asked in judgment Lev. 5. 1. 19. 16. or not speak a false testimony or as a false witness Which doth not onely forbid perjury in judgment but also all unjust censure slander backbiting scorning false accusation and the like and also requires a just and candid judgment of him and of his words and actions speaking well of him as far as truth and justice will permit and defending his good name against the calumnies and detractions of others against thy neighbour d No nor
or commandements to wit the ten commandements so called by way of eminency for these onely were written by God upon the stony tables as appears by Exod. 34. 28. the rest were written onely by Moses in a book above ver 4. which I have written that thou mayest teach them 13 And Moses rose up and his minister Joshua g Who did not go up with Moses to the top of the mount as is sufficiently implyed both here and above ver 1 2. but abode in some lower place waiting for Moses his return as appears from Exod. 32. 17. And there Ioshua abode 40 dayes not fasting all the while but having as the rest had Manna for his meat and for his drink water out of the brook that discended out of the mount as we read Deut. 9. 21. and Moses went up into the mount of God 14 And he said unto the elders Tarry ye here for us h i. e. For me and Ioshua and here i. e. in the camp where he was when he spake these words for it was where not onely Aaron and Hur but the people might come as it here follows and therefore not upon the mount untill we come again unto you and behold Aaron and Hur i Whom Moses had made joint-commissioners to determine hard causes which were brought to them from the Elders according to the order Exod. 18. 22. Some make Aaron the Ecclesiastical head and Hur the civil head But Aaron was not authorized for Ecclesiastical matters till chap. 28. are with you if any man have any matters to do let him come unto them 15 And Moses went up into the mount and a cloud covered the mount 16 And * Num. 14. 10. the glory of the LORD k i. e. The tokens of his glorious presence in the fire ver 17. Deut. 4. 36. abode upon mount Sinai and the cloud covered l From the eyes of the people it six dayes and the seventh day m So long God made Moses wait either to exercise his humility devotion and dependance upon God Or to prepare him by degrees for so great a work Or because this was the Sabbath day called therefore the seventh with an emphatical article And God might chuse that day for the beginning of that glorious work to put the greater honour upon it and oblige the people to a stricter observance of it So it was upon a Lords Day that St. Iohn had his Revelation delivered to him Rev. 1. 10. he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud 17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like * Deut. 4. 36. devouring fire n He saith like it for it was not devouring fire as appears by Moses his long abode in it Note here whatsoever the Elders of Israel saw before the people saw no similitude of God as Moses observes Deut. 4. 15. on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel 18 And Moses went up into the midst of the cloud o The God that called him enabling him to enter and abide there whereas when he was left to himself he could not enter into the Tabernacle Exod. 40. 35. and gat him up into the mount and Moses was in the mount forty dayes and forty nights p In which he did neither eat nor drink Exod. 34. 28. Deut. 9. 9 18. whereby it seems most probable the six days mentioned ver 16. were a part of these 40 days because Moses being in perpetual expectation of Gods call seems not to have had leasure for eating and drinking nor provision neither Besides he is not said to be in the midst of the cloud so long but onely in the mount where he was those six days ver 15 16. CHAP. XXV 1 AND the LORD spake a Having delivered the Moral and Judicial Laws he now comes to the Ceremonial Law wherein he sets down all things very minutely and particularly whereas in the other Laws he was content to lay down general rules and leaveth many other things to be by analogy deduced from them The reason of the difference seems to be this That the light of reason implanted in all men gives him greater help in the discovery of Moral and Judicial things then in Ceremonial matters or in the external way and manner of Gods Worship which is a thing depending wholly upon Gods institution and not left to mans invention which is a very incompetent Judge of those things as appears from hence because the wittiest men destitute of Gods revelation have been guilty of most foolery in their devices of Gods Worship unto Moses saying 2 Speak unto the children of Israel that they †Heb. take for me bring me an ‖ Or. heave offering offering * chap. 35. 5. of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering 3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them gold and silver and brass 4 And blue b Or Skie-coloured But here you must not understand the meer colours which could not be offered but some materials proper for the work and of the colours here mentioned to wit Wool or Threds or some such like things as appears from Heb. 9. 19. and from the testimony of the Jews and purple and scarlet and fine †Or silk linnen c Which was of great esteem in antient times and used by Priests and great Officers of state See Gen. 41. 42. Rev. 19. 8 14. and goats hair d Heb. Goats But that their hair is understood is apparent from the nature of the thing and from the use of the word in that sense in other places 5 And rams skins died red and badgers skins and Shittim-wood e A kind of Wood growing in Egypt and the Deserts of Arabia very durable and pretious See Exod. 35. 24. Numb 33. 49. Esa. 41. 19. Ioel 3. 18. 6 * chap 27. 20. Oyl for the light f For the Lamps or Candlesticks ver 〈◊〉 * chap. 30. 23 Spices for anointing oyl g Wherewith the Priests and the Tabernacle and the 〈◊〉 thereof were to be anointed and for * chap. 30. 3â—… sweet incense h Heb. Incense of Spices or Sweet-odors So called to distinguish it from the incense of the fat of Sacrifices which was burnt upon the Altar 7 Onyx-stones i Or Sardonyx-stones Note that the signification of the Hebrew Names of the several stones are not agreed upon by the Jews at this day and much more may we safely be ignorant of them the religious use of them being now abolished and stones to be set k Stones of fulness or filling or perfecting stones so called either because they did perfect and adorn the Ephod or because they filled up the ouches or the hollow places which were left vacant for this purpose in the * chap. 28. 4. Ephod and in the * chap. 28. 15. breast-plate l
is unto me verse 31. you shall account it holy as I do 33 Whosoever compoundeth any like it or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger n The word stranger is commonly used to note the Gentiles or such as were not of Israels race but sometimes it notes those that are not of the Priestly race as Exod. 29. 33. Levit. 22. 12 13. And so it seems to be here And if any of the Kings were anointed with this oil it was done by Gods special appointment who may dispence with his own Laws * Gen. 17. 1â—… shall even be cut off from his people 34 And the LORD said unto Moses take unto thee sweet spices stacte and onycha and Galbanum o The Jews themselves are not agreed what these were and it concerns not Christians much to know the use of them being abolished It is evident they were each of them sweet spices and therefore this Galbanum was not of the common kind which gives a very bad sent these sweet spices with pure frankincense of each shall there be a like weight p Heb. Alone shall be with alone i. e. Each of these alone shall be with another alone to wit in equal quantity Or it may note that each of these was to be taken and beaten a part and then mixed together Or it shall be alone alone i. e. absolutely and certainly alone the doubling of the word increasing the signification and thus it doth not belong to all the ingredients because the Hebrew verb is here of the singular number but onely to the Frankincense and the sense may be that whereas the other things shall be tempered together the Frankincense should be alone which may seem most agreeable both to the common use of Frankincense and to its differing nature from the other things mentioned two of them at least being confessedly liquid things 35 And thou shalt make it a perfume a confection after the art of the apothecary †Heb. salâ—… tempered together q Heb. Salted either 1. properly for salt was to be offered with all offerings Levit. 2. 13. And the Hebrew Doctors tell us that six eggshels full of salt were used or 2. Metaphorically well mixed together as salt was with things either offered to God or eaten by man pure r Of the best of each kind of drugs the most perfect and uncorrupted and holy 36 And thou shalt beat some of it s So much as is sufficient for the daily incense very small and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle †Heb. of 〈◊〉 ing of the congregation * chap. 29. â—… Lev. 16. 2. where I will meet with thee it shall be unto you most holy 37 And as for the perfume which thou shalt make ye shall not make to your selves according to the composition thereof it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD 38 Whosoever shall make like unto that to smell thereto shall even be cut off from his people CHAP. XXXI 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying 2 See I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri the son of Hur a He seems to be the same mentioned 1 Chron. 2. 20. of the tribe of Judah 3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God b Which was now necessary because the Israelites in Egypt wanted ingenuous education to learn these things and therefore needed inspiration in c Or with the following clauses being explicatory of the former shewing what gifts of the spirit God had filled him with to wit Wisdom c. wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship 4 To devise cunning works to work in gold and in silver and in brass 5 And in cutting of stones to set them and in carving of timber to work in all manner of workmanship 6 And I behold I have given with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan and in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted d That have wisdom and skil sufficient to do these things under the inspection and direction of Bezaleel and Aholiab the principal workmen I have put wisdom that they may make all that I have commanded thee 7 The tabernacle of the congregation and the ark of the testimony and the mercy-seat that is thereupon and all the †Heb. vessel furniture of the tabernacle 8 And the table and his furniture and the pure candlestick with all his furniture and the altar of incense e So called by way of eminency not onely because it was made of pure gold and was not defiled with blood for so some other things were but especially to mind the Priests of their duty in keeping it neat and clean it being more subject to defilement than other things 9 And the altar of burnt-offering with all his furniture and the laver and his foot 10 And * â—…h 39. 1. c. the clothes of service f Wherein the Ark and other sacred utensils were wrapped up when they were to be removed See Exod. 35. 19. and Numb 4. and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons to minister in the priests office 11 And the anointing oil and †Heb. incense of 〈◊〉 sweet incense for the holy place according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do 12 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel saying Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep g This precept is here repeated either 1. to shew the chief use of the Tabernacle and all this cost and trouble about it to wit that they might there acceptably serve God as in some measure upon every day so especially upon the Sabbath day Or rather 2. to restrain the time for the doing of the forementioned works q. d. Though the work of the Tabernacle and utensils be holy and for an holy use yet I will not have it done upon my holy day The sabbath was not made for them but they for it and therefore they shall give place to it for it is a sign between me and you h The sabbath is a fivefold sign 1. Commemorative of Gods creation of and Dominion over them and all other things to whom they do hereby profess their subjection 2. Indicative shewing that they were made to be holy and that their sanctification can be had from none but from God as it here follows and from the observation of Gods days and appointments 3. Distinctive whereby they owned themselves to be the Lords peculiar people by a religious keeping of those Sabbaths which the rest of the World grossely neglected and profanely scossed aâ—… 4. Prâ—…figurative of that rest which Christ should purchase for them to wit a rest from the burden of the ceremonial and from the curâ—…s and rigours of the moral Law as also from sâ—…n and the wrath of God for ever See
Heb. 4. 5. Confirmative both assuring them of Gods good will to them and that as he blessed the Sabbath for their sakes so he would bless them in the holy use of it with temporal spiritual and everlasting blessings as he declares in many places of Scripture and assuring God of their standing to that covenant made between God and them So that this was a mutual stipulation or ratification of the covenant of grace on both sides throughout your generations that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctifie you i That selecteth you out of all people and consecrate you to my self and to my service and worship a great part whereof is the observation of the Sabbath Or that sanctifieth you by my Word and Ordinances which are in more eminent and solemn manner dispensed upon the Sabbath day by the observation whereof you declare that you own me as your onely sanctifier And so we may observe the sabbath owns the Lord as our Creatour and as our Redeemer and as our Sanctifier and therefore it is no wonder God so severely enjoyns the sanctification of the Sabbath and punisheth the neglect of it it being a tacit renouncing or disowning of God the Father the Son and the holy Ghost 14 * chap. 20. 8. Deut. 5. 12. Ezek. 20. 12. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore for it is holy unto you every one that desileth it shall surely be put to death k Of which see an example Numb 15. 32. c. for * Num. 15. 35. whosoever doth any work l i. e. Servile work as it is explained Lev. 23. 7. c. therein that soul shall be cut off from amongst his people 15 Six days †Heb. shall be done may work be done but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest m Heb. the sabbath of sabbaths or of sabbaths i. e. the great and chief sabbath as the song of songs is the most excellent song the holy of holies is the most holy c. The Iews had many sabbaths or days of rest but this is here preferred before them all by this emphatical repetition of the same word and by this argument the foregoing duty is pressed upon them †Heb. holiness holy to the LORD whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day he shall surely be put to death 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath to observe the sabbath n Or shall keep the sabbath by observing or celebrating the sabbath i. e. by observing or celebrating it the antecedent being put for the relative as is frequently done So here is another most emphatical repetition to oblige us to the greater caution and diligence in this great duty and to shew what stress God lays upon it who hath therefore placed this in the midst of the commands of the Decalogue as the heart which gives life and vigour to all the rest Or it may be rendered thus shall observe the day of rest to celebrate the sabbath and so the phrase is like that in the 4th Command Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy So here Observe the sabbath i. e. watch its coming and approach consider attentively the nature and use of it and that not as a matter of idle speculation but of serious practise or so that you may do or celebrate the Sabbath i. e. perform all the duties of it Or thus shall observe the sabbath to make it a sabbath or day of rest and that no idle or carnal rest but a rest holy to the Lord as it is called in the foregoing verse throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant o Or by a perpetual covenant or it is a perpetual covenant i. e. condition or part of that agreement made between me and them they have solemnly covenanted or promised that they will do all that I commanded them Exod. 24. 7 8 among which this is a chief branch and I have covenanted to bless and sanctify them in so doing And this word perpetual as also the word for ever being added to it in the next verse may intimate that this hath a longer perpetuity than the câ—…remonies to which this phrase is sometimes ascribed the rather because the reason of this perpetuity given in the next verse is such as hath its force not only till Christ but even till the end of the World and it is fit and just that men should retain this monument or memorial of the Worlds Creation even till its dissolution 17 It is a sign p A sign of the covenant between us that I will be their God and they will be my people both which depends upon this amongst other duties and upon this in an eminent degree between me and the children of Israel for ever for * Gen. 2. 2. in six dayes the LORD made heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed q Not as if he had been weary with working which surely he could not be with speaking a few words nor can God be weary with any thing Isa. 40. 28. but it notes the pleasure or delight God took in reflecting upon his works beholding that every thing he had made was very good Gen. 1. 31. 18 And he gave unto Moses when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai * chap. 32. 16. Deut. 9. 10. 2 Cor. 3. 3. two tables of testimony r i. e. The tables of the law which was the witness of Gods will and Israels duty See Exod. 16. 34. tables of stone s Whereby was signified both the durable and perpetual obligation of the moral law whereas the ceremonial law was to end with the Iewish policy at Christs coming and the stoniness of mens hearts by nature in which the law of God could not be written but by a divine and omnipotent hâ—…d written with the finger of God t i. e. With the power or spirit of God by comparing Mat. 12. 18. not by any art of man but immediately by a divine hand CHAP. XXXII 1 AND when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount a Where he had now been for near 40 days the people b i. e. Most or some of the people as it is expressed 1 Cor. 10. 7. gathered themselves together unto Aaron c As the chief person in Moses his absence and said unto him * Act. 7. 4. Up make us gods d i. e. Images or representations of God whom after the manner of Idolaters they call by Gods name For it is ridiculous to think that the body of the Israelites who were now lately instructed by the Mouth and words and miraculous works of the eternal God should be so senceless as to think that was the true God which themselves made and that out of their own ear-rings much more that that was the God that brought them out of Egypt as they say ver
the two tables of testimony in Moses hand when he came down from the mount that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone l Quest. Why now and not when he came down from God before Ans. 1. Because now he obtained what he did not before to wit a glimpse of the Divine glory which though but very transient left its print upon his â—…ace 2. Now it was more necessary than before to procure the greater honour to Moses and to the law 2 Cor. 3. â—… 8 11. because of the late horrid violation and contempt of them which the Israelites had fallen into while he talked with him 30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses behold the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come nigh him 31 And Moses called unto them and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him m To the Tabernacle which was still at a distance from the camp though afterwards God being reconciled it was set up in the camp Exod. 40. 34. and Moses talked with them 32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai 33 †Heb. and Moses ceased from speaking with them and put a vail on his face And till Moses had done speaking with them he put * 2 Cor. 3. 13. a vail on his face n In condescension to their weakness 34 But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him he took the vail off until he came out and he came out and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded 35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses that the skin of Moses face shone and Moses put the vail upon his face again untill he went in to speak with him CHAP. XXXV 1 AND Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together and said unto them These are the words which the LORD hath commanded that ye should do them 2 * chap. 20. 9. Lev. 23. 3. Deut. 5. 12. Luk. 13. 14. Six days shall work be done but on the seventh day there shall be to you an †Heb. Holiness holy day a sabbath of rest to the LORD a This command of the sabbath is repeated here as also Exod. 31. 13. together with the instructions for the building of the Tabernacle and its utensils to shew that they were made for no other use than the service of God which was to be performed as every day so in an eminent and peculiar manner upon the sabbath day and to teach them the absolute necessity of minding that precept in and above all their ceremonial observations whosoever doth work therein shall be put to death 3 Ye shall kindle no fire b This command seems to be onely temporary and extraordinary during the present season and condition and not extending to succeeding generations For 1. There are instances of temporary precepts both in the Old and New Testament which yet are not in their places said to be so Such were some of the precepts concerning the Passeover Exod. 12. 11. as is confessed And such was that law of abstaining from things strangled and blood Act. 15. 2. This precept is nakedly proposed and not called a perpetual statute nor enjoyned to be observed in their generations as other precepts are to whom those or some like clauses are frequently added 3. The sabbath is rather a feast-feast-day than a fast-day And the Iews did make feasts and invited guests upon the sabbath-day which could not probably be without kindling a fire And which is more considerable Christ himself who fulfilled all righteousness and therefore would not have joined in the violation of the sabbath went to one of those feasts Luk. 14. And the Corinthians as they received the Lords Supper upon that day which none question so they had their feasts as is confessed and apparent from 1 Cor. 11. 21 22 c. 4. The kindling of a fire was no greater hinderance to the religious observation of the Sabbath than other things which were allowed upon that day such as the washing and dressing of themselves eating and drinking c. 5. This prohibition doth not seem to concern the dressing of meat as many understand it by comparing this with Exod. 16. 23. which place I humbly conceive is misunderstood as I have there intimated for that was lawful to be done upon their most solemn days Exod. 12. 16. but the service of the Tabernacle which is the subject of this chapter and the occasion of these words and the sence seems to be this You shall kindle no fire for any handy-work throughout your habitation no not for the service of this Tabernacle for the heating of any tools or the melting of any metals or other things belonging to it which being to be made for Gods service and deserving and requiring all expedition they might probably conceive that such work might be done upon that â—…y And here also as oft elsewhere under one kind all the rest are comprehended and forbidden throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day 4 And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel saying This is the thing which the LORD commanded saying 5 Take ye from amongst you an offering unto the LORD * chap. 25. â—… whosoever is of a willing heart c For God values not forced or grudged services 2 Cor. 9. 7. let him bring it an offering of the LORD gold and silver and brass 6 And blue and purple and scarlet and fine linnen and goats hair 7 And rams skins died red and badgers skins and shittim-wood 8 And oil for the light and spices for anointing oil and for the sweet incense 9 And onyx stones and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breast-plate 10 And * chap. 31. â—… every wise-hearted d i. e. Skilful artist for though God had prescribed the things yet it required Wisdom and skill to execute what God commanded among you shall come and make all that the LORD hath commanded 11 * ch 26. 1 â—… The tabernacle e i. e. The boards or structure of the Tabernacle as it appears because it is distinguished here from its tent and curtains whereas elsewhere the Tabernacle is put for all together his tent f The inward and finer curtains which covered the boards of it and his covering g The outward and courser coverings his taches and his boards his bars his pillars and his sockets 12 The ark and the staves thereof with the mercy-seat and the vail of the covering h i. e. Which was hanged before the Ark and Mercy-seat 13 The table and his staves and all his vessels and the shew-bread i But neither did God prescribe the making of the shew-bread amongst the other utensils Exod. 25. nor was this made by the
that day shall the priest make an atonement for you to cleanse you that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD 31 It shall be a sabbath of rest y Observed as a sabbath day by cessation from all worldly and servile works and diligent attendance upon Gods worship and service unto you and ye shall afflict your souls by a statute for ever 32 * And the priest whom he shall anoint z Heâ—… i. e. either God who commanded him to be anointed as men are oft said to do what others do by their command or the High-priest who was to anoint his successour Or the third person is here put indefinitely or impersonally for who shall be anointed chap. 4. 3 5 6. and whom he shall †consecrate to minister in Heb. fill his â—…d the priests office in his fathers stead shall make the atonement and shall put on the linen clothes even the holy garments 33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation and for the altar and he shall make an atonement for the priests and for all the people of the congregation 34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins * once a year And he Exod 30 10. â—…b 9. 7. did as the LORD commanded Moses CHAP. XVII 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying 2 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons and unto all the children of Israel and say unto them This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded saying 3 What man soever there be of the house of Israel that killeth a Not for common use or eating for such beasts might be killed by any person or in any place but for sacrifice as manifestly appears both from ver 4. where that is expressed and from the reason of this law which is peculiar to sacrifices ver 5. and from Deut. 12. 5 15. 21. an oxe or lamb or goat in the camp b In Canaan the city answered to the camp and so it forbids any mans doing this either in the city or in the country or that killeth it out of the camp b In Canaan the city answered to the camp and so it forbids any mans doing this either in the city or in the country 4 And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle c This was appointed partly in opposition to the heathens who sacrificed in all places partly to cut off occasions of Idolatry partly to prevent the peoples usurpation of the Priests office and partly to signify that God would accept of no sacrifices but through Christ and in the Church of both which the Tabernacle was a type See Heb. 9. 11. and according to his own prescript But though men were tyed to this law God was free to dispense with his own law which he did sometimes to the Prophets as 1 Sam. 7. 9. and 11. 15. c. and afterwards more fully and generally in the days of the Messiah Mal. 1. 11. Ioh. 4. 21 24. of the congregation to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD blood shall be imputed unto that man d He shall be esteemed and punished as a murderer both by God and by men See Isa. 66. 3. The reason is because he sned that blood which though not mans blood yet was as pretious being sacred and appropriated to God and typically the price by which mens lives were ransomed he hath shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people e By death either by the hand of God in case men do not know it or neglect to punish it or by men if the fact was publick and evident 5 To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they f Either 1. the Egyptians and other idolatrous nations which commonly sacrificed to Idols or Devils in fields or any places who are not here named but may be designed by the particle they in way of contempt as if they were not worthy to be named as that particle is used Luk. 14. 24. and 19. 27. Ioh. 7. 11. and 8. 10. Or rather 2. the Israelites now mentioned and plainly understood in the following they who before the building of the Tabernacle took the same liberty herein which the Gentiles did from which they are now restrained offer in the open field even that they may bring them unto the LORD unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation unto the priest and offer them for peace-offerings g He nameth these not exclusively to others as appears from the reason of the law and from ver 8 9. but especially because in these the temptation was more common in regard of their frequency and more powerful because part of these belonged to the offerer and the pretence was more plausible because their sanctity was something of a lower degree than others these being onely called holy and allowed in part to the people when the other are called most holy and were wholly appropriated either to God or to the Priests unto the LORD 6 And the priests shall sprinkle the blood h This verse contains a reason of the foregoing law because of Gods propriety in the blood and fat wherewith also God was well pleased and the people reconciled And these two parts onely are mentioned as the most eminent and peculiar though other parts also were reserved for God upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and burn the fat for a * Exod. 29. 18. chap. 4. 31. sweet savour unto the LORD 7 And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils i So they did not directly or intentionally but by construction and consequence because the Devil is the author of idolatry and is eminently served pleased and honoured by it And as the Egyptians were notorious for their Idolatry as appears by the testimony of Scripture and of all antient writers so the Israelites were infected with their leaven Ios. 24. 14. Ezek. 20. 7. and 23. 2 3. And the name of Devils is commonly given in Scripture to Idols yea even to those which seemed most innocent as to Ieroboams Calves 2 Chron. 11. 15. by which he and the people designed and professed to worship the true God as is manifest from the nature of the thing and from many places of Scripture and the worshippers of Idols are esteemed and called worshippers of Devils See Deut. 32. 17. Psal. 106. 37. 1 Cor. 10. 20. Rev. 9. 20. The Hebrew word rendred Devils signifies goats either because goats were eminently worshipped by the Egyptians as Herodotus Strabo and others note and diverse of the Idols of the Heathens were of that or a like form or because the Devil did oft appear to the Heathens in that shape as their own
from Proselytes from whom less might seem to be expected and in whom God might bear with some things which he would not bear with in his own people Yet even from those such should not be accepted much less from the Israelites shall ye offer the bread d i. e. The sacrifices See on Levit. 21. 8. of your God of any of these e i. e. So corrupted or defective Which clause limits the sense and kinds of offerings and cuts off another more general interpretation received by many to wit that he forbids the receiving of any offering whether blemished or perfect from the hands of a stranger remaining in Heathenism because their corruption is in them f i. e. They are corrupt vitious and unlawful sacrifices and blemishes be in them they shall not be accepted for you g Or from you O Priest to whom it belongs to offer You shall bear the blame of it for the strangers might do so through ignorance of Gods Law 26 And the LORD said unto Moses saying 27 * Exod. 34. 26. Deut. 14. 21. When a bullock or a sheep or a goat is brought forth then it shall be seven dayes under the dam and from the eighth day h See on Exod. 22. 30. and 23. 19. and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD 28 And whether it be cow or ‖ Or she-goat ewe ye shall not kill it * Deut. 12. 6. and her young both in one day i Because it savoured of cruelty See on Deut. 22. 6. 29 And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD offer it at your own will k i. e. What and when you please so the rules be observed Or for your acceptance as Levit. 1. 3. i. e. in such manner that God may accept it i. e. regularly chearfully c. 30 On the same day it shall be eaten up ye shall leave * chap. 7. 15. none of it until the morrow I am the LORD 31 Therefore shall ye keep my commandments and do them I am the LORD 32 Neither shall ye profane my holy name l Either by despising me and my commands your selves or by giving others occasion to profane it but * chap. 10. 3. I will be hallowed m Or sanctified either by you in keeping my holy commands or upon you in executing my holy and righteous judgments Levit. 10. 3. Isa. 26. 15. I will manifest my self to be an holy God that will not bear the transgression of my laws among the children of Israel I am the LORD which hallow you n By separating you from all the world unto my self and service by giving you holy laws and my holy spirit to enable and inâ—…line â—…ou to keep them and therefore you have the more reason to hallow me and keep my commands and are the more inexcusable if you transgress them 33 That brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God I am the LORD CHAP. XXIII 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying 2 Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them concerning the feasts of the LORD which ye shall proclaim a i. e. Cause to be proclaimed by the Priests See Numb 10. 8 9 10. to be holy convocations b Days for your assembling together to my worship and service in a special manner even these are my feasts c Which I have appointed and the right observation whereof I will accept 3 * Exod. 20. 9. and 23. 12. and 31. 13. and 34. 21. chap. 19. 3. Deut. 5. 13. Luk. 13. 14. Six dayes shall work be done but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest an holy convocation ye shall do no work d So it runs in the general for the sabbath day and for the day of expiation ver 28. excluding all works about earthly occasions or employments whether of profit or of pleasure but upon other feast dayes he forbids onely servile works as ver 7 21 36. for surely this manifest difference in the expressions used by the wise God must needs imply a difference in the things therein it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings e This is added to distinguish the sabbath from other feasts which were to be kept before the Lord in Ierusalem onely whither all the males were to come for that end but the Sabbath was to be kept in all places where they were both in Synagogues which were erected for that end and in their private houses 4 These are the feasts of the LORD even holy convocations which ye shall proclaim in their seasons f In their appointed and proper times as the word is used Gen. 1. 14. Psal. 104. 19. 5 * Exod. 12. 18. and 13. 3. and 23. 15. and 34. 18. Numb 9. 2. and 28. 16. Deut. 16. 1. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORDS passeover 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same moneth is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD seven dayes ye must eat unleavened bread 7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation ye shall do no servile work therein 8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven dayes g The matter and manner whereof see Numb 28. 18 c. in the seventh day is an holy convocation ye shall do no servile work therein 9 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 10 Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them * Exod. 23. 16. Num. 28. 26. When ye be come into the land h Therefore this obliged them not in the desert where they reaped no harvest c. which I give unto you and shall reap i i. e. begin to reap as it is expounded Deut. 16. 9. So he begâ—…t i. e. began to beget Gen. 5. 32. and 11. 26. and he built 1 King 6. 1. i. e. he began to build as it is explained 2 Chroâ—… 3. 1. the harvest thereof k To wit barly harvest which was before wheat harvest See Exod. 9. 31 32. and 34. 22. Ruth 2. 23. then ye shall bring a ‖ Or handful †Heb. an Omer sheaf l Heb. An omer which is the tenth part of an Ephah It seems here to note the measure of corn which was to be oâ—…ered For it is to be considered that they did not offer this Corn in the ear or by a sheaf or handful but as Iosephus 3. 10. affirms and may be gathered from Levit. 2. 14 15 16. purged from the chaff and dryed and beaten out and some adde ground into meal and sifted into fine flour though this may be doubted of because the meat-offering attending upon this was of fine flour ver 13. and because this offering is said to be of green ears of Corâ—… dried c. Levit. 2. 14. of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest
or the grapes of that year which are in this like the Nazarites hair not cut off by thee but suffered to grow to the use of the poor for it is a year of rest unto the land 6 And the sabbath h i. e. The growth of the Sabbath or that fruit which groweth in the Sabbatical year See on Levit 23. 38. where the word Sabbath is taken in the like sense of the land shall be meat for you for thee and for thy servant i For all promiscuously to take food from thence as they need it and for thy maid and for thy hired servant and for the stranger that sojourneth with thee 7 And for thy cattle and for the beast that are in thy land shall all the increase thereof be meat 8 And thou shalt number seven †Or weeks sabbaths of years unto thee seven times seven years and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years 9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet †Heb. loud of sound of the jubilee k Which signified the true liberty from our spiritual debts and slaveries to be purchased by Christ and to be published to the World by the sound of the Gospel to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month l Which was the first month of the year for civil and worldly affairs which were mainly concerned in the Jubilee And therefore it began in that moneth and as it seems upon this very tenth day when the trumpet sounded as other feasts generally began when the trumpet sounded * chap. 23. 27. in the day of atonement m A very fit time that when they fasted and prayed for Gods mercy to them in the pardon of their sins then they might exercise their Charity and kindness to men in forgiving their debts which is the true fast as is noted Isa. 58. 6. and to teach us that the foundation of all solid comfort and joy must be laid in bitter Repentance and atonement for our sins through Christ. shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land 10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year n By which it seems most probable that the year of Jubilee was not the forty and ninth year as some learned men think but precisely the fiftieth year Which may appear 1. Because the Jews account it so which is confessed by the adversaries of this opinion who say that the Iews erre in the computation of the Iubilee as they do in Christ the great end and antitype of the Iubilee But it is not probable that the Jews should universally erre in a matter of constant practise among themselves especially when there was nothing of interest or prejudice in the case as there was in reference to Christ. 2. Because it is expresly called the fiftieth year here and ver 11. that fiftieth year which was not true if it was but the nine and fortieth year It is said it is called so popularly and it was so if you take in the foregoing Jubilee But it must be remembred that there was not yet any foregoing Jubilee but the very first of the kind is expresly called the fiftieth year which in truth it was not if the Jubilee was ended ere the fiftieth year began 3. From the common course of computation The old weekly Sabbath is called the seventh day because it truly was so being next after the six days of the week and distinct from them all and the year of release is called the seventh year ver 4. as immediately following the six years ver 3. and distinct from them all And therefore in like manner the Jubilee must needs be called the fiftieth year because it comes next after seven times seven or forty nine years ver 8. and is distinct from them all From ver 11 12. where it is said ye shall not sow nor reap c. For it is the Iubilee c. which looks like a vain and useless repetition if this year were but one of the seven years for this very command was given concerning every seventh year ver 4. but if this year of Jubilee was as indeed it was a year distinct from and coming after the seven sevens of years then this repetition and application of that command to it was highly necessary because otherwise it might seem hard and unreasonable that they should forbear sowing and reaping two years together which hereby they are commanded to do Two things are objected against this 1. That the Jubilee was onely a revolution of forty nine years But that seems a great mistake for it is most expresly distinguished from them all and by way of distinction called the fiftieth year therefore surely none of the forty nine 2. The difficulty propounded v. 20. concerns onely the 7th year whereas it had been a greater difficulty if it had been extended to the Jubilee and the Jubilee had been another vacant year coming next after the seventh year But though the difficulty was greater for the Jubilee yet it was more frequent for the seventh year and the resolution of the one made the way plain for the satisfaction of the other For as God promised so to bless every sixth year that it should bring forth fruit for three years ver 21. so when the case was extraordinary as in the Jubilee it was but reasonable to expect an extraordinary blessing from God upon that sixth year which went next before the last of the seventh years or the forty ninth year that it should then bring forth fruit for four years and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof o Understand such as were Israelites principally to all servants even to such as would not and did not go out at the seventh year and to the poor who now were acquitted from all their debts and restored to their possessions it shall be a jubilee p So called either from the Hebrew word Iobel which signifies first a ram and then a rams horn by the sound whereof it was proclaimed or from Iubal the inventour of Musical instruments Gen. 4. 21. because it was celebrated with Musick and all expressions of joy unto you and ye shall return every man unto his possession q Which had been sold or otherwise alienated from him This Law was not at all unjust because all buyers and sellers had an eye to this condition in their bargains but it was necessary and expedient in many regards as 1. To mind them that God alone was the Lord and owner and proprietor both of them and of their lands and they onely his Tenants and Farmers a point which they were very apt to forget 2. That hereby Inheritances Families and Tribes might be kept entire and clear until the coming of the Messias who was to be known as by other things so by the Tribe and Family out of which he was to come And this accordingly was done by the singular
the day that the LORD commanded Moses and henceforward among your generations 24 Then it shall be if ought be committed by ignorance †Heb from the without the knowledge of the congregation that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt-offering r In Lev. 4. the bullock is for a sin-offering here it is for a burnt-offering either because they are different laws as hath been said or because here is added a new penalty to breed the greater caution and diligence in the Israelites who had given many instances and now a fresh and eminent instance of their heedlesness in observing the commands of God and so besides that bullock for a sin-offering which he leaves to be gathered out of Levit. 4. 14. he now requires another bullock for a burnt-offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD with his meat-offering and his drink-offering according to the ‖ Or Ordiâ—… manner and one kid of the goats for a sin offering 25 And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel and it shall be forgiven them for it is ignorance and they shall bring their offering a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD and their sin offering before the LORD for their ignorance 26 And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel and the stranger that sojourneth among them seeing all the people were in ignorance 27 * Lev. 4. 〈◊〉 And if any soul sin through ignorance then he shall bring a she-goat of the first year for a sin offering 28 And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD to make an atonement for him and it shall be forgiven him 29 Ye shall have one law for him that †Heb. dâ—… sinneth through ignorance both for him that is born amongst the children of Israel and for the stranger that sojourneth among them 30 But the soul that doth ought s Understand such things as ought not to be done and things relating to the worship of God †Heb. 〈◊〉 high hand presumptuously t Heb. with an high or lifted up hand i. e. knowingly wilfully boldly resolvedly deliberately designedly So this phrase is elsewhere used See Exod. 14. 8. Lev. 26. 21. Numb 33. 3. Iob 15. 26. Psal. 19. 13. whether he be born in the land or a stranger the same reproacheth the LORD u i. e. He sets God at defiance and exposeth him to contempt as if he were unworthy of any regard and unable to punish transgressors and that soul shall be cut off from among his people 31 Because he hath despised the word of the LORD and hath broken his commandment that soul shall utterly be cut off his iniquity shall be upon him x i. e. The punishment shall be confined to himself and not fall upon the congregation as it will do if they neglect to cut him off 32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man that gathered sticks on the sabbath day y This seems to be added as an example of a presumptuous sin for as the law of the sabbath was plain and positive so this transgression of it must needs be a known and wilful sin 33 And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron and unto all the congregation z i. e. To the Rulers of the congregation who as they represented and governed the congregation are called by the name of the congregation 34 And they a i. e. Moses and Aaron and the 70 Rulers last mentioned put him * Lev. 24. 〈◊〉 in ward because it was not declared what should be done unto him b i. e. In what manner he was to be cut off or by what kind of death he was to die which therefore God here particularly determines otherwise it was known in general that sabbath-breakers were to be put to death from Exod. 31. 14. and 35. 2. 35 And the LORD said unto Moses * Exod. 31 〈◊〉 The man shall be surely put to death all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp 36 And all the congregation brought him without the camp and stoned him with stones as the LORD commanded Moses 37 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 38 Speak unto the children of Israel and bid * Deut. 22. 12. Mat. 23. 5. them that they make them fringes b These were certain threds or ends of their garments standing out a little further than the rest of their garments left there for this use in the †Heb. wings borders c i. e. in the four borders or quarters as it is Deut. 22. 12. Heb. wings which is oft used for borders or ends as Ruth 3. 9. 1 Sam. 15. 27. and 24. 5 c. of their garments d i. e. Of their upper garment or that wherewith they covered themselves as is expressed Deut. 22. 12. This was practised by the Pharisees in Christs time who are noted for making their borders larger than ordinary Mat. 23. 5. and by Christ himself as may be gathered from Luk. 8. 44. throughout their generations and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband e To make it more obvious to the sight and consequently more serviceable to the use here mentioned Or of a purple colour as the Iewish writers agree whose opinion is the more considerable because it was matter of constant practise among them of blue f. 39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe g It i. e. the ribband shall be unto you i. e. shall serve you for the fringe to wit to render it more visible and notorious by its certain and remarkable and distinct colour whereas the fringe without this was of the same piece and colour with the garment and therefore less observable Or it i. e. the ribband shall be in your fringes or put to your fringes fastened to them that ye may look upon it and remember h That by looking upon it you may remember that your eye may affect your mind and heart all the commandments of the LORD and do them and that ye seek not i Or inquire not for other rules or ways of serving me than I have prescribed you after your own heart and your own eyes k i. e. Neither after the devices and inventions of your own minds or hearts as Nadab and Abihu did when they offered strange fire and as you now did when you pretended to serve and please me by going up the hill and towards Canaan without and against my command nor after the examples or inventions of others which your eyes see as you did when you were set upon worshipping a calf after the manner of Egypt after which ye use to go a whoring l i. e. To depart from me and to prefer your
especially the Blood of Christ from which this water and all other Rites had their purifying vertue heifer without spot wherein is no blemish d A fit Type of Christ who was such Heb. 7. 26. 1 Pâ—…t 1. 19. and upon which never came yoke e Whereby may be signified either that Christ in himself was free from all the yoke or obligation of Gods Command till for our sakes he took up our yoke and put himself under the Law or that Christ was not drawn or forced to undertake our burden and cross but that he did voluntarily chuse it See Iohn 1â—… 17 18. 3 And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest f Who was the second Priest and in some cases the Vicegerent or Deputy of the High-priest To him not to 〈◊〉 because this service made him unclean for a season vâ—…r 7. and consequently unfit for 〈◊〉 Ministrations whereas the High-priest was as far as 〈◊〉 he could to be preserved from all sorts of defilement and constantly fit for his high and holy work that he may bring her * Heb. 13. 1â—… forth without the camp g Partly because it was repâ—…ted an unclean and accursed thing being ceremoniously laden with the sins of all the people and partly to signifie that Christ should suffer without the Camp as he did Heb. 13. 12. in the place where malefactours suffered Levit. 24. 14 and one h A person appointed by Eleazar for this work shall slay her before his face 4 And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his singer and * Heb. 9. 13. sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle i Or Towards or over against the Tabernacle either 1. Near to it and so we must suppose that he took some of the blood in a basin and carried it from without the camp to the Tabernacle and then returned to this place again Which might be done though it be not here expressed And this seems to agree best with other places where this sprinkling seven times was performed in or near the Tabernacle as Lev. 4. 17. Or 2. Standing at a good distance from it even without the camp yet turning and looking towards it For here is no intimation that he went into the camp before this work was done but rather the contrary is implyed ver 7. And because being defiled by this work he could not come near to the Tabernacle it was sufficient for him to turn and look towards it Either way this posture signified his presenting of this blood before the Lord by way of atonement and satisfaction for his and the peoples sins and his expectation 〈◊〉 acceptance and pardon onely from God and from his mercy-seat in the Tabernacle of the congregation seven times 5 And one shall burn the heifer k To signifie the sharp and grievous sufferings of Christ for our sins in his sight * Exod. 29. 14. Lev. 4. 11 12. her skin and her flesh and her blood l All of it but what was spent in sprinkling with her dung shall he burn 7 And the priest shall take cedar-wood and hyssop and scarlet m All which are here burnt and as it were offered to God that they might be sanctified to this holy use for the future for of these kinds of things was the sprinkle made wherewith the unclean were sprinkled Levit. 14. 4. and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer 7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes and he shall bathe his flesh in water and afterward he shall come into the camp and the priest shall be unclean until the even n Partly to teach us the imperfection of the Levitical Priesthood in which the Priest himself was defiled by some parts of his work and the absolute necessity of a better and hosier Priesthood and partly to shew that Christ himself though he had no sin of his own yet was reputed by men and iudged by God as an unclean and sinful person by reason of our sins which were laid upon him 〈◊〉 53. 12. 2 Cor. 5. 21. 8 And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his flesh in water and shall be unclean until the even 9 And a man that is clean shall gather up * Heb. 9. 13. the ashes of the heifer and lay them up without the camp in a clean place and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel o i. e. For their use and therefore in a fit place or places whence any of them might easily procure it for a water p Or To the water i. e. to be put to the water or mixed with it of separation q i. e. Appointed for the cleansing of them that are in a state of separation who for their uncleanness are separated from the congregation it r Either the Heifer this managed or the water thus made and sprinkled is a purification for sin s Heb. A sin i. e. a kind of an offering for sin or rather a mean for the expiation or cleansing of sin The name of sin is sometimes given to the punishment of sin and sometimes to sacrifice or offering for sin 10 And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean untill the even and it shall be unto the children of Israel and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them t To wit a Proselyte not any stranger as some understand it For since it is confessed all the other ceremonial Laws do not oblige them and that where the name of stranger is put as here it is it generally speaks of a Proselyte it is more reasonable to take it so here than without any reason or evidence to make this a particular exception from the general rule for a statute for ever 11 * Lev. 21. 1. chap. 5. 2. Lam. 4. 14. Hag. 2. 13. He that toucheth the dead body of any †Heb. soul. man shall be unclean seven dayes u Whereas the touch of a dead beast made a man unclean onely till even Levit. 11. 24. 12 * chap. 31. 19. He shall purifie himself with it x i. e. With the water of separation on the third day y To Typifie Christs resurrection on that day by which we are cleansed or sanctified and on the seventh day he shall be clean z To teach us that our purification in this life is gradual and not perfect till we come to that eternal Sabbath which the seventh day respected but if he purifie not himself the third day then the seventh day he shall not be clean a But was first to purifie himself and four dayes after that to be clean 13 Whosoever toucheth b To wit if this transgression be done presumptuously for if it was done ignorantly he was onely to offer sacrifice Levit. 5. 3 6 17. the dead body of any man that
Levites which I have set over thee and commanded thee to observe in this and the like matters by the way after that ye were come forth out of Egypt 10 When thou doest †Heb. lend the loan of any thing to c. lend thy brother any thing thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge o To prevent both the poor mans reproach by having his wants exposed to view and the creditors insolence and greediness which might be occasioned by the sight of something which he desired and the debtour could not spare 11 Thou shalt stand abroad and the man to whom thou doest lend shall bring out the pledg p He shall chuse what pledge he please provided onely it be sufficient for the purpose abroad unto thee 12 And if the man be poor thou shalt not sleep with his pledg q But restore it before night which intimates that he should take no such thing for pledge without which a man cannot sleep since it were an idle thing to fetch it and carry it every day See on Exod. 22. 26 27. 13 * Exod. 22. 26. In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledg again when the sun goeth down that he may sleep in his own raiment and * Job 31. 20. bless thee r Instrumentally as ministers are said to convert and save sinners to wit bring down the blessing of God upon thee by his prayers for though his prayers if he be not a good man shall not avail for his own behalf yet they shall avail for thy benefit and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God s i. e. Esteemed and accepted by God as a work of righteousness or holiness or goodness and mercy which oft is called righteousness as Psal. 112. 9. Prov. 10. 2. Dan. 4. 27. 14 Thou shalt not oppress an hâ—…ed servant t Either by laying too grievous burdens of work upon him or by with-holding his wages from him as it follows that is poor and needy whether he be of thy brethren or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates 15 At his day u At the time appointed weekly or daily * Lev. 19. 13. Jer. 22. 13. thou shalt give him his hire neither shall the sun go down upon it x To wit after the day upon which it is due and desired or demanded by him for justice must not be denied nor delayed for he is poor and †Heb. he lifteth his soul unto it setteth his heart upon it u lest he cry against thee unto the LORD and it be sin unto thee y Heb. lifteth up his soul to it which notes his great desire and hope of it and his dependance upon it See Psal. 24. 4. Ier. 22. 27. 16 * 2 King 14. 6. 2 Chron. 25. 4. Jer. 31. 29 30. Ezek. 18. 20. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers z Understand it thus if the one be free from the guilt of the others sin and except in those cases where the soveraign Lord of Life and Death before whom none is innocent hath commanded it as Deut. 13. Ios. 7. 24. For this law is given to men not to God and though God do visit the fathers sins upon the children Exod. 20. yet he will not suffer men to do so every man shall be put to death for his own sin a Understand onely and not for any other mans sin 17 * Exod. 22. 21 22. Prov. 22. â—…2 Jer. 22. 3. Ezek. 22. 29. Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger nor of the fatherless b Nor of the widow which is to be supplied out of the last member nor indeed of any other person but he particularly mentions these partly because men are most apt to wrong such helpless persons and partly because God is pleased especially to charge himself and so to charge others with the care of those who have no other refuge See Isa. 1. 23. Ier. 5. 28. * Exod. 22. 26. nor take a widows raiment c To wit such an one as she hath daily and necessary use of as being poor as may appear by comparing this with ver 12 13. and with other places But this concerns not rich persons nor superfluous raiment to pledg 18 But thou shalt remember d To wit affectionately and practically and by thy compassionate sence of others miseries thou shalt make it evident that thou hast not forgotten thy own distresses and deliverances I having thereby authority to command thee and thou having obligations on that account both to obey me and to pity others in the same calamities which thou hast felt that thou wast a bond-man in Egypt and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence therefore I command thee to do this thing e. 19 * Lev. 19. 9. and 23. 22. When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field and hast forgot a sheaf in the field thou shalt not go again to fetch it it shall be for the stranger for the fatherless and for the widow that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands 20 When thou beatest thine olive-tree f With staves as they used to do to fetch down the olives †Heb. thou shalt not bough it after thee thou shalt not go over the boughs again it shall be for the stranger for the fatherless and for the widow 21 When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard thou shalt not glean it †Heb. after thee afterward it shall be for the stranger for the fatherless and for the widow 22 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man in the land of Egypt therefore I command thee to do this thing CHAP. XXV 1 IF there be a controversie between men a About criminal matters as it follows and they come unto judgment that the judges may judge them then they shall justify b i. e. Acquit him from guilt and false accusations and free him from punishment the righteous and condemn c Declare him guilty and pass sentence of condemnation to suitable punishments upon him the wicked 2 And it shall be if the wicked man be †Heb. a son of beating 1 Sam. 26. 16. worthy to be beaten d Which the Iews say was the case of all those crimes which the law commands to be punished without expressing the kind or degree of the punishment that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face e That the punishment may be duely inflicted without excess or defect which otherwise might easily happen through the executioners passion or partiality according to his fault by a certain number 3 * 2 Cor. 11. 24. Forty stripes he may give him and not exceed f It seems not superstition but prudent caution
* Exod. 16. 35. Manna ceased a Which God now withheld 1. To shew that Manna was not an ordinary production of Nature as by the long and constant enjoyment of it they might be prone to think but an extraordinary and special gift of God to supply their necessity 2. Because God would not be prodigal of his favours nor expose them to contempt by giving them superstuously or by working Miracles where ordinary means were sufficient on the morrow after they had â—…aten of the old corn of the land b i. e. On the seventeenth day neither had the children of Israel Manna any more but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year 13 And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho c Heb. In Iericho i. e. in the Countrey or Territory adjoyning to Iericho whither he went to view those parts and discern the fittest places for his attempt upon Iericho as Generals usually do that he lift up his eyes and looked and behold there stood * Exod. 23. 23. Zech. 1. 8. a man d One in the appearance of man over against him with his sword drawn e In readiness to fight not as Ioshua thought against him but for him and his people in his hand and Joshua went unto him and said unto him Art thou for us or for our Adversaries 14 And he said Nay f I am neither Israelite nor Canaanite but as †Captain of the ‡ Or Prince host of the LORD g Either 1. of all Creatures in Heaven and Earth which are Gods Hosts Or 2. of the Angels who are called the Host of Heaven 1 King 22. 19. 2 Chron. 18. 18. Luke 2. 13. Or 3. of the Host or people of Israel which are called the Lords Host Exod. 12. 41. The sense is I am the chief Captain of this people and will conduct and assist thee and them in this great undertaking Now this person is none other than Michael the Prince Dan. 10. 21. and 12. 1. not a created Angel but the Son of God who went along with the Israelites in this Expedition 1 Cor. 10. 4. not surely as an underling but as their Chief and Captain And this appears 1. by his acceptance of Adoration here which a created Angel durst not admit of Rev. 22. 8 9. 2. Because the place was made holy by his presence v. 15. which was Gods Prerogative Exod. 3. 5. 3. Because he is called the Lord Heb. Iehovah Josh. 6. 2. am I now come And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship and said unto him What saith my Lord unto his servant h I acknowledg thee for my Lord and Captain and therefore wait for thy Commands which I am ready to obey 15 And the Captain of the LORDs host said unto Joshua * Exod. 3. 5. Act. 7. 33. Loose thy shoe from off thy foot i In token of reverence and subjection See on Exod. 3. 5. for the place whereon thou standest is holy k Consecrated by my presence which when it was withdrawn it was no more holy than any other place the reason of its holiness being removed and Joshua did so CHAP. VI. NOW Jericho †was straitly shut up a Not only by night as before Iosh. 2. 5. but constantly and diligently because ‡ Heb. did shut up and was shut up of the children of Israel none went out and none came in 2 And the LORD said unto Joshua See I have given into thine hand Jericho and the king thereof and the mighty men of valour b Who are in it resolved and ready to defend it with their utmost strength 3 And ye shall compass the City all ye men of war and go round about the City once c At convenient distance out of the reach of their Arrows thus shalt thou do six days d Every day once This and the following course might seem ridiculous and absurd and is therefore prescribed and used by God that they might learn to take new measures of things and to expect success not from their own valour or skill or probable means but meerly from Gods appointment and blessing and in general not to judge of any of Gods Institutions by meer carnal reason to which divers of their Ceremonies would seem no less foolish than this action and that they might have a full Demonstration of the All-sufficiency of that God who can do what he pleaseth even by the most contemptible means 4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams horns e Or of the Iubilees i. e. such Trumpets wherewith they were to sound in the years of Jubile Lev. 25. 9. Either this or one of the other six was certainly a Sabbath-day and it is not material which was it for the Command of the Lord of the Sabbath was sufficient to legitimate any Action and the seventh day ye shall compass the City seven times and the Priests shall blow with the trumpets 5 And it shall come to pass that when they make a long blast f As is usual in the close of musical sounds with the rams horns and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet all the people shall shout with a great shout and the wall of the City g Not all of it which was not only unnecessary but inconvenient and might have given the people better opportunity of escaping but only a considerable part of it where the Israelites might fitly enter for Rahabs house was not overthrown v. 22. shall fall down †flat h Heb. under it i. e. below the place they stood in Or in its place it was not battered down with Engines which would have made part of it fall out of its place but it fell without any force and of its own accord and therefore in the place it did formerly stand in and the people ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 it shall ascend up every man straight before him 6 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said unto them Take up the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams horns before the ark of the LORD 7 And he said unto the people Pass on and compass the city and let him that is armed i God would have them armed both for the defence of themselves and the Ark in case the Enemies should make a sally upon them and for the Execution of the Lords vengeance upon that City pass on before the ark of the LORD 8 And it came to pass when Joshua had spoken unto the people that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams horns passed on before the LORD and blew with the trumpets and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them 9 And the armed men went before the Priests that blew with the trumpets and the †rereward k Which being opposed to the armed men may seem to note the unarmed people
where Ionathan and David met and the vessels n i. e. Either 1. their Garments or other Utensils for their Journey Or 2. Their Bodies for of them the Question was v. 4. and having now said that Women had been kept from them he infers that therefore their Bodies were Holy their Members were Undefiled Thus the word vessel is used 1 Thess. 4. 4. and in other Authors both Greek and Latine of the young men are holy and the bread is in a manner common o Heb. and this to wit the Bread which is easily supplied out of the former Verse because that was the thing about which the present discourse was and against the giving whereof the Priest started an Objection v. 4. to which David here giveth an Answer is in a manner or after a sort common i. e. Considering the time and our necessity this may be asked in a manner like common Bread and so is used by others For though for a season whilest it is to stand before the Lord it be so Holy that the Priest himself might not eat it yet afterwards it is eaten by the Priest and by his whole Family as their common Food and so it may be by us in our circumstances ‖ Or especially when this day there is other sanctified bread yea though it were sanctified this day in the vessel p If it were but newly put into the Vessel it must give place to the great Law of Necessity and Charity because God will have Mercy preferred before Sacrifice Or thus Especially when or The rather because this day there is other i. e. new Bread Sanctified in the vessel i. e. put into the Vessel which was made to receive this Bread Exod. 25. 29. and thereby Sanctified or Consecrated to God and therefore the former Shew-bread is now to be removed and employed for the common use of the Priest and his Family 6 So the priest * Mar. 2. 25. Luk. 6. 4. gave him hallowed bread for there was no bread there p To wit in the Tabernacle where David and the Priest now were but the shew-bread that was taken from before the LORD to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away q Which was done upon the sabbath-Sabbath-day Levit. 24. 8. For though they might not then kindle a Fire to heat the Bread in yet they might and did keep it hot iâ—… an Oven that had been heated before the Sabbath 7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day detained r Not by force from others but by his own choice he fixed his abode there for that day either because it was the Sabbath-day on which he might not proceed in his Journey or other business or for the discharge of some Vow or to beg direction and help from God in some great business before the LORD s i. e. At the Tabernacle and his name was * Psal. 52. title Doeg an Edomite t Either 1. by his Habitation and Conversation among those People for some considerable time as for the same reason Uriah is called the Hittite and Obed-Edom the Gittite Or rather 2. By his Birth and Nation but he was Proselyted to the Iewish Religion or took it up for Sinister Ends being advanced as here we read to a place of Trust and Preferment possibly upon this occasion the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul 8 ¶ And David said unto Ahimelech And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me u These he left behind him that he might with less suspition remove from place to place and hide himself from Saul and his Spies because the kings business required haste x The Message came to me when I was unarmed and the business required so great expedition that I could not go home to fetch my Weapons 9 And the Priest said The sword of Goliah the Philistine whom thou slewest in * Chap. 17. 2. the valley of Elah behold it is here wrapt in a cloth behind the Ephod y i. e. Behind that Holy place allotted for the keeping of the Sacred or Priestly Garments all which are here comprehended under the Ephod which as the chief of the kind is put for all the rest Here it was laid up as a Sacred Monument of God's Power and Goodness and that famous Victory related Chap. 17. if thou wilt take that take it for there is no other save that here And David said There is none like that z Because it not onely served him for his use for he was a Strong and Tall Man and one that could wield that Sword as we saw Chap. 17. but was also a Pledge of God's Favour to him and a great encouragement to his Faith give it me 10 ¶ And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul and went to * Abimelech Psal. 34. title Achish the king of Gath a A strange Action but it must be considered 1. That Saul's Rage was so great and implacable his Power also and diligence in hunting after him so great that he despaired of escaping him other way and it is not strange if a desperate Disease produceth a desperate Remedy 2. David might reasonably think that being Persecuted and Banished by Saul and the Israelites under his Command he should be welcome to the Philistines who would be glad not onely to be freed from all those Evils which he had from time to time done and was likely further to do to them but also to make him their Friend and oblige him by their kindness and to make him the more odious and irreconcilable to Saul and the Israelites Qu. But why did he go to these and not rather to some other neighbour Nation Ans. Because they were all at Peace with Saul and therefore would certainly have delivered him up upon Saul's Demands And the servants of Achish said unto him Is not this David the king of the land b Or of this land i. e. Of the Land of Canaan They call him King either more generally for the Governour as that Word is used Deut. 33. 5. for the most eminent Captain and Commander and as it were the King of the Israelitish Armies or rather more specially the king to wit The King Elect the Person designed to be King for by this time the Fame of Saul's Rejection and David's Destination to the Kingdom was got abroad among the Israelites and from them probably to the Philistines ears did they not sing one to another of him in dances saying * Chap. 18. 7. Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands c And therefore consider what to do and now thine and our great Enemy is in thy hand be sure thou never let him go alive 12 And David laid up these words in his heart and was sore afraid c Lest either their
that time So that this action cannot be drawn into a President for succeeding times and for other Kingdoms and set the rulers over hundreds k Of whom see Exod. 18. 25. Of these there were five which are named 2 Chron. 23. 1. And these were either 1. Civil or Military Officers But then such small Officers could not have stood him in much stead And why did he not rather engage Captains of thousands or greater Persons whom doubtless he might easily have brought into this Confederacy Or rather Priests or Levites of eminency as their work sheweth ver 5 6 7. and 2 Chron. 23. 1 2. and their distinction from the Captains and Guard with the captains l Or Princes or Nobles or Commanders such as he knew were weary of her Idolatrous and Tyrannical Government and Faithful to their King and the guard m Possibly those who had been the former King's Guard who had been displaced by Athaliah as persons whose fidelity she suspected and brought them to him into the house of the LORD n i. e. Into the Courts of that House which oft come under the name of the house or Temple of the Lord for into the House none but the Priests or Levites might enter and made a covenant with them o To restore the King to his Kingdom and Religion to its Purity and took an oath of them p For their Secrecy and Fidelity in the present Design in the house of the LORD and shewed them the kings son 5 And he commanded them saying This is the thing that ye shall do a third part of â—…ou q Either 1. A third part of you i. e. of the whole Number including those that come in and those that go out on the Sabbath even they that enter in on the Sabbath and so the two other Third parts were to consist of those that went out on the Sabbath as some gather from ver 6 7. Or rather 2. A third part onely of those that enter in on the Sabbath who seem to be plainly divided into Three Thirds here and ver 6. as those that went forth on the sabbath are expresly distributed into Two Parts ver 7. that enter in * 1 Câ—… 〈◊〉 25. on the sabbath r i. e. That come into the Temple on the sabbath-Sabbath-day For the understanding of this matter you must know That the Levites were in and from David's time distributed into Twenty four Courses which were to do the Work of the Temple successively and by turns each Course consisting of about a Thousand Men for his week of which see 1 Chron. 23. and 24. shall even be keepers of the watch of the kings house s Either 1. Of that Bed-chamber where the King now was But it is unlikely and without Example either that one Bed-chamber or the Temple or any part of it should be called the kings house And besides the King's Person is secured by other persons ver 7. Or rather 2. Of that part which leadeth to the King's Palace which Athaliah now Possessed and whence they might expect Opposition 6 And a third part shall be at the gate of Sur t The Chief gate of the Temple called the High-gate 2 King 15. 35. and the foundation-gate 2 Chron. 23. 5. and the east-gate Ier. 19. 2. and the middle-gate Ier. 39. 3. and the gate of the entrance Ezek. 40. 15. and a third part at the gate behind the guard u Either 1. The King's Guard Or 2. The Guard of the Temple for such a Guard there was and a Captain of the Guard called the Captain of thâ—…â—…le Act. 4. 1. and 5. 24. This Gate was in the South-â—…â—…d as some think is that which is called Sippim or the threshold-gate 2 Chron. 23. 4. so shall ye keep the watch of the house ‖ Or from breaking 〈◊〉 that it be not broken down x i. e. So you shall Guard all the Gates or Entrances into the House or Temple of God that neither Athaliah nor any of her Soldiers may break into the Temple and Defile it or Destroy it as she will doubtless indeavour to do Or and ye shall keep the watch of the house Massach as the LXX and other Interpreters render it who think this was the name of an House not far from the Temple in which or against which they were to keep a Guard 7 And two ‖ Or Companies ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath y i. e. Who having finished their Course and Week should have gone home but were detained 2 Chron. 23. 8. even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king z Whilest the rest guard the doors and entrances into the Temple these shall have a special Care of the King's Person part on his Right and part on his Left Hand 8 And ye shall compass the king round about a When you have set your Watches and Guards all the rest of you shall draw near to the King to preserve his Royal Person from all Assaults and Dangers every man with his weapons in his hand and he that cometh within the ranges b Or Fences i. e. the Walls wherewith the Courts of the Temple were Invironed See ver 15. Or your Ranks or Order If any of Athaliah's Guards shall attempt to break in upon you or within your Bounds let him be slain and be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in c Whether the King shall go out of the Temple to offend or subdue his Enemies or retire hither to Defend himself do you always accompany him 9 And the captains over the hundreds did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest commanded and they took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath with them that should go out on the sabbath and came to Jehoiada the priest 10 And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king Davids spears and shields d Offensive and Defensive Weapons which he gave to the Captains both for themselves and for all their Soldiers for they all came into the Temple unarmed to prevent suspition These are called David's either because they were such as he had taken from his Enemies which he had dedicated to God and laid up in the Temple as Monuments of God's goodness to him See 1 Sam. 21. 9. 2 Sam. 8. 7 11. 1 King 7. 51. Or because David had made a Sacred Armory in the Temple whence Arms might be taken upon extraordinary Occasions for the Defence of the Temple or City of God that were in the Temple of the LORD 11 And the guard stood every man with his weapon in his hand round about the king from the right ‡ 〈…〉 corner of the temple to the left corner of the temple e From the South-east to the North-east side along by the altar f The Altar of
relieved them which was done upon the Sabbath day see 2 Kings 11. 5 7. or that in which the Guard or Watchmen of the Temple kept their station or that under which the King used to sit to hear God's Word and see the Sacrifices which is called the covert of the Sabbath because the chief times in which the King used it for those ends was the Weekly Sabbath and other solemn days of Feasting or Fasting which all come under the name of Sabbaths in the Old Testament upon which the King used more certainly and solemnly to present himself before the Lord than at other times that they had built in the house and the kings entry without e By which the King used to go from his Palace to the Temple see on 1 Kings 10. 5 12. turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria f i. e. That he might ingratiate himself with the King of Assyria by his publick contempt and rejection of that Religion which had been the onely Partition-Wall between the Kings of Iudah and other Kings and which possibly the present King of Assyria did vehemently dislike and hate and therefore required these things from Ahaz 19 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah 20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead CHAP. XVII IN the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah ‡ Heb. reigned began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign a Quest. How can this be true seeing it is said that he reigned or began to reign in Israel in the twentieth year of Iotham chap. 15. 30. which was the Fourth Year of Ahaz as was there noted Ans. He usurped the Kingdom in Ahaz his Fourth Year but either was not owned as King by the generality of the People or was not accepted and established in his Kingdom by the Assyrian till Ahaz his Twelfth Year Or in his Eight First Years he was onely a Tributary Prince and the King of Assyria's Viceroy and after that time he set up for himself which drew the Assyrian upon him in Samaria over Israel nine years b To wit after his confirmation and peaceable possession of his Kingdom For in all he reigned Seventeen or Eighteen Years to wit Twelve with Ahaz who reigned Sixteen Years and Six with Hezekiah 2 Kings 18. 10. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD but not as the kings of Israel that were before him c For he neither worshipped Baal as many of his predecessors did nor compelled the People to worship the Calves one of them that of Dan being destroyed or carried away before as the Hebrew Writers affirm nor as some add hindred those by force who were minded to go to Ierusalem to worship And yet the measure of the Israelites sins being now full vengeance comes upon them without remedy Compare 2 Kings 23. 26. 3 ¶ Against him came up Shalmaneser d The Son or Successor of Tiglath-pileser The ancient Hebrew Writers make him the same with Sennacherib who Eight Years after this time invaded the kingdom of Iudah See chap. 18. 10 13. it being very frequent in the Eastern parts for one man to be called by several Names especially by the People of several Countries Iosephus affirms that he met with his Name in the Annals of the Tyrians which were extant in his days He came against him either because he denied the Tribute which he had promised to pay or that he might make him Tributary king of Assyria and Hoshea became his servant and ‡ Heb. rendred gave him ‖ Or tribute presents e Swore Fealty to him and engaged to pay him a Tribute 4 And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt f By Heathen Writers called Sua or Sabacus that by his assistance he might shake off the Yoke of the King of Assyria who now was and for many Years had been the King of Egypt's Rival See 2 Kings 18. 21. Ier. 37. 5. and brought no present to the king of Assyria as he had done year by year therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison g To wit after he had come up against him and taken him with Samaria the particular Relation whereof here follows 5 ¶ Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years 6 ¶ * Chap. 18. 10. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away into Assyria and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes h This is added to distinguish this place from the former which was either in Assyria or in the Mountainous and less inhabited parts of Media Hither he carried them partly to replenish his own Country and partly because these places were at so great a distance from Canaan that this would cut off all hopes and thoughts of returning to their own Country 7 For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt and had feared other gods 8 And walked in the statutes of the heathen i i. e. According to the Laws and Customs of the Heathen is the Worship of their Baals and other of their sins whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel and of the kings of Israel which they had made k i. e. Which the Kings of Israel had ordained concerning the Worship of the Calves and against their going up to Ierusalem to worship 9 And the children of Israel did secretly thâ—…e things that were not right against the LORD l This belongs either 1. to their gross Idolatries and other abominable practises which they were ashamed to own before others Compare Ezek. 8. 12. Or 2. to the worship of Calves And so the words are otherwise â—…ndered and that agreeably to the Hebrew Text thâ—…â—…ed or disguised or covered things that were not 〈◊〉 against or before or towards the Lord i. e. They 〈◊〉 their idolatrous worship of the Calves with fair preâ—…ences of necessity the Two Kingdoms being now divided and at enmity and of their honest intention of serving the true God and retaining the substance of the Iewish Religion from which they alledged that they differed onely in circumstances of Worship their God and they built them high places in all their cities from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city m In all parts and places both in Cities and in the Country yea in the most uninhabited and neglected parts
their Fathers 21 And Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was g To wit in the time of David as the following verse sheweth See ch 26. 1 2. 27. 2. porter h i. e. Chief Porter of the door of the tabernacle i i. e. Of the Door which led out of the Priests Court into the Tabernacle in which the Ark was placed 2 Sam. 6. 17. of the congregation 22 All these which were chosen to be porters in the gates were two hundred and twelve These were reckoned by their genealogy in their villages k Where their usual Residence was and whence they came to Ierusalem in their Courses whom * Ch â—…6 1â—… David and Samuel the * 1 Saâ—… 9 9. seer †Heb. 〈◊〉 did ordain l In the times of the Judges there was much Disorder and Confusion both in the Jewish State and Church and the Levites came to the Tabernacle promiscuously and as their Inclinations or occasions brought them But Samuel the best of Judges having some prospect and good hopes of deliverance from their Enemies and of an happy Settlement of the Israelitish Church and Nation and observing that the Levites were greatly increased he began to think of establishing some Order among the Levites in their Ministration about the Tabernacle And these Intentions of his probably were communicated by him to David who after Samuels death and his own peaceable Settlement in his Throne revived and perfected Samuels Design and took care to put it in execution in their ‖ Or 〈◊〉 set office m Heb. in their faith or faithfulness i. e. either 1. in their Office which is called faithfulness because this is required in that Office Or 2. In the Faithful discharge of their Duty and in obedience to the Will of God signified to them by Revelation or by the spirit as it is said of David 1 Chron. 28. 12. which they received by Faith and accordingly designed and David executed it And so this is added to shew that this was no Humane Invention as some might conceive but a Divine Appointment to which all ought to submit 23 So they and their children had the oversight n To wit in Davids time of the gates of the house of the LORD namely the house of the tabernacle o This is added to explain what he means by the House of the Lord not that Tabernacle which David had set up for the Ark but that more solemn Tabernacle which Moses had made by Gods express Command and most particular Direction which in Davids time was at Gibeon in which God was and would be worshipped until the Temple was built See 1 King 3. 2 c. 2 Chron. 1. 3 5 c. by wards p i. e. By Turns or Courses each of them at his Gate and in his appointed Time 24 In four quarters were the porters q i. e. The Chief Porters as this is explained v. 26. toward the east west north and south 25 And their brethren which were in their villages were to come r From their several Villages to the Place of Worship after seven days s Every Sabbath or seventh day the Courses were changed and the New Commers were to tarry till the next Sabbath-day See 2 Kin. 11. 5 7 9. from time to time with them t i. e. To be with them i. e. with the Chief Porters who always abode in the Place of Gods Worship and to minister to them 26 For these Levites the four chief porters were in their ‖ Or trust set office u i. e. These were constantly upon the place and in the execution of their Office that so they might oversee and direct the Inferiour Porters in their work Or as others render the words agreeably to the Hebrew Text For these i. e. their brethren v. 25. were under the charge or committed to the trust of the four chief porters who also were Levites as their Brethren were whereas the Chief of all of them was a Priest Either way these words contain a Reason of what was said v. 25. why the rest were to come to these and to be with them and were over the ‖ Or 〈◊〉 chambers and treasuries x In which the Sacred Utensils and other Treasures belonging to the Temple were kept of the house of God 27 And they lodged round about the house of God y Therefore they were obliged to constant Residence in the Place and were not permitted to dwell in the Villages as their Brethren were because the charge was upon them and †Heb. they were â—… the key Gr. the opening thereof every morning pertained to them 28 And certain of them had the charge of the ministring vessels that they should †Heb. bring 〈◊〉 iâ—… by tale 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bring them in and out by tale 29 Some of them also were appointed to oversee the vessels and all the ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instruments of the sanctuary and the fine flour and the wine and the oil and the frankincense and the spices 30 And ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some of the sons of the priests made * 〈◊〉 30. 2â—… the ointment of the spices z This is added to prevent a Mistake and to shew that although the Levites were intrusted with the keeping of this Ointment yet none but the Priests could make it See Exod. 30. 22 c. 31 And Mattithiah one of the Levites who was the first-born of Shallum the Korhite had the ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 set office over the things that were made ‖ Oâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the pans a i. e. was to take care that Fine Flour might be provided and 〈◊〉 saâ—…ly and well that when occasion required they might make Cakes in Pans to be offered to the Lord of which see on Lev. 2. 5. 32 And other of their brethren of the sons of the Kohathites were over the †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 shew-bread b Of which see Exod. 35. 13. to prepare it every sabbath 33 And these c i. e. Others of the Levites of whose several Offices he had spoken before are d Or rather were which is understood and all along in the foregoing and following verses and again in this very verse * 〈…〉 the singers chief of the fathers of the Levites who remaining in the chambers e Where they waited that they might be ready to come â—…hensoever they were called to the Service of God in the Taberâ—… were free f From all Trouble and Employment that they might wholly attend upon the proper Work for †〈…〉 they were imployed in that work g Either composing or ordering sacred Songs or actually singing or teaching others to sing thâ—… day and night h i. e. Continually and particularly in the Morning and Evening the two Times appointed for solemn Service and Offerings 34 These chief fathers of the Levites were
14. shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh and on all his servants and on all the people of his land for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them p Treating thy people with great scorn and contempt like slaves and beasts so didst thou get thee a name as it is this day 11 * 〈◊〉 â—… 8. 〈◊〉 12. â—… chapter 〈◊〉 14. 〈◊〉 And thou didst divide the sea before them so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps as a stone into the 〈◊〉 â—…5 mighty waters q i. e. The deep waters such as these were into which when a stone is thrown there is no hopes of seeing it again 12 Moreover thou * 〈◊〉 13. 〈◊〉 leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar and in the night by a pillar of fire to give them light in the way wherein they should go 13 * 〈◊〉 19. 〈◊〉 1. Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai and spakest with them from heaven and gavest them right judgments and †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 true laws r Not such laws as some of the heathen laws were which taught them fallhood superstition Idolatry and other errours but such as discover the truth and the true mind and will of God and the true and onely way to life good s Both in themselves and to us also being useful to reach and comfort and save us statutes and commandments 14 And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath t That holy and blessed sabbath-Sabbath-day which thou didst bless and 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 â—…n paradise Gen. 2. 3. commanding him and in him all his posterity to observe it which yet almost all people and Nations have quite forgotten yea so far as to mock at them Lam. 1. 7. thou didst graciously reveal unto thy people reviving that ancient law by another particular law about it given to us in the wilderness and commandedst them precepts statutes and laws by the hand of Moses thy servant 15 And * 〈◊〉 1â—… gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger and 〈◊〉 â—…6 〈◊〉 â—… 9 〈◊〉 broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst and promisedst them that they should 〈◊〉 1. â—… go in to possess the land 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which thou hadst â—…worn to give them 16 But u Notwithstanding all these singular and wonderful mercies which he hither to recounted to aggravate their sins which he now comes to confess and to lead them to a sincere and ingenuous grief and repeutance for their sins not onely for the mischief which they brought upon themselves but for the injury and indignity which they offered to God they and our fathers dealt proudly x i. e. Sinned presumptuously and with contempt of God as scorning to submit their wills to Gods and hardned their neck and hearkned not to thy commandments 17 And refused to obey y Persisted in their disobedience after many admonitions and invitations to repentance neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them but hardened their necks and in their rebellion †〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 appointed * 〈◊〉 14. 〈◊〉 a captain z i. e. designed proposed and resolved to do so Numb 14. 4. and therefore they are said to do so as Abraham is said to have offered up Isaac Heb. 11. 17. because he intended and attempted to do it to return to their bondage but thou art †〈◊〉 God 〈◊〉 a God ready to pardon * 〈◊〉 34. 6. 〈◊〉 1â—… 18. gracious and merciful flow to anger and of great kindness and forsookest them not 18 Yea 〈◊〉 32. 4. when they had made them a molten calf and said This is thy God that brought thee up out of Aegypt and had wrought great provocations 19 Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness a Where if thou hadst left them without thy conduct and comfort they had been utterly lost and undone the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead them in the way neither the 〈◊〉 13. 〈◊〉 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1â—… pillar of fire by night to shew them light and the way wherein they should go 20 Thou gavest also thy 〈◊〉 11. good spirit b Which thou didst graciously and plentifully impart unto Moses and then unto the seventy Elders Numb 11. 17 25 26. to the end that they might be able to direct and govern thy people wisely and in thy fear to instruct them and with-heldest not thy 〈◊〉 16. manna from their mouth and gavest them 〈◊〉 12. 〈◊〉 17. 6. water for their thirst 21 Yea * Deut. 2. 7. forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness so that they lacked nothing their * Deut. 8. 4. cloths waxed not old and their feet swelled not c Of which see the notes on Deut. 8. 4. 22 Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations and didst divide them into corners d Or into a corner But the singular number is very commonly put for the plural This is understood either 1. Of the Israelites to whom God divided by lot the Kingdoms and Nations last mentioned and gave them all the corners or sides or quarters for all these the word signifies of their land Or rather 2. Of the heathen Nations whom God in a great measure destroyed and the remainders of them he dispersed into corners that whereas before the Israelites came they had large habitations and dominions now they were cooped up into corners some of them into one Town or city and some into another in the several corners of their land as indeed we find them afterward whilest the Israelites dwelt in a large place and had the possession of their whole land some few and small parcels excepted Compare Deut. 31. 26. where the like phrase is used in the same sense so they possessed the land of Sihon * Numb 21. 21. c. and the land of the king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan 23 Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven and broughtest them into the land concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers that they should go in to possess it 24 So the children went in and possessed the land and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land the Canaanites and gavest them into their hand with their kings and the people of the land that they might do with them †Heb. according to their will as they would 25 And they took strong cities and a fat land and possessed houses full of all goods ‖ Or cisterns wells digged vineyards and olive-yards and †Heb. trees of food fruit-trees in abundance so they did eat and were filled and * Deut. 32. 15. became fat and delighted themselves in thy great goodness e i. e. In all these comforts and
5 Harim Meremoth Obadiah 6 Daniel Ginnethon Baruch 7 Meshullam Abijah Mijamin 8 Maaziah Bilgai Shemajahâ—… these were the priests 9 And the Levites both Jeshua the son of Azaniah Binnui of the sons of Henadad Kadmiel 10 And their brethren Shebaniah Hodijah Kellta Pelajah Hanan 11 Micah Rehob Hashabiah 12 Zaccur Sherebiah Shebaniah 13 Hodijah Bani Beninu 14 The chief of the people c i. e. Their elders or representatives acting in the stead and by the appointment of all the rest for it had been troubelsome and unnecessary for every one of the people to seal Parosh Pahath-moab Elam Zattu Bani 15 Bunni Azgad Bebai 16 Adonijah Bigvai Adin 17 Ater Hizkijah Azzur 18 Hodiah Hashum Bezai 19 Hariph Anathoth Nebai 20 Magpiash Meshullam Hezir 21 Meshezabeel Zadok Jaddua 22 Pelatiah Hanan Anajah 23 Hoshea Hananiah Hashub 24 Hallohesh Pileha Shobek 25 Rehum Hashabnah Maasejah 26 And Ahijah Hanan Anan 27 Malluch Harim Baanah 28 * Ezr. 2. 〈◊〉 And the rest d Those who did not write and seal with their own hands but onely by their deputies above mentioned of the people the priests the Levites the porters the singers the Nethinims and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God their wives their sons and their daughters every one having knowledge and having understanding 29 They clave to their brethren e They owned and ratified what the others had done in their names declaring their assent to it by their words or by the lifting up of their hands as the manner was their nobles and entred into a curse and into an oath f i. e. An outh bound with a curse or imprecation upon themselves in case they violated it to walk in Gods law which was given †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Moses the servant of God and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord and his judgments and his statutes 30 And that we would not give g To wit in marriage having sworn obedience to Gods Laws in the general they now do so to some particulars wherein they had lately transgressed or were most prone to transgress * Exod. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our daughters unto the people of the land nor take their daughters for our sons 31 * Exod. 〈◊〉 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deut. 5. 12. Chap. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath or on the holy day and that we would leave * Lev. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the seventh year h i. e. Leave the land at rest from plowing or tilling it in that year according to Gods command Exod. 23. 10 11. Levit. 25. 4. and the * Deut. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exaction of †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every debt i Heb. hand debts are called hands because they are commonly contracted or confirmed by a bill under the hand of the debtour 32 Also we made ordinances for us to charge our selves k i. e. Every particular head or person among us Which they had warrant to do both from the nature of the thing because this was necessary to be done for the upholding of Gods Worship and from the warrant of former examples in the like case 2. 〈◊〉 24. 5. yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God 33 For the shew-bread and for the continual meat-offering and for the continual burnt-offering l Formerly these things were provided out of the treasures of the Temple 1 Chron. 26. 20. And when those failed out of the Kings treasure 2 Chron. 31. 3. But how both these failing provision is here made for them another way * See 〈◊〉 28. 〈◊〉 of the sabbaths of the new moons for the set feasts and for the holy things m i. e. For the Sacrifices all which were holy and for the sin-offerings n Which are particularly mentioned as most necessary and suitable to their present state which was exceeding sinful and therefore miserable and calling aloud for atoning Sacrifices to make an atonement for Israel and for all the work of the house of our God 34 And we cast the lots amongst the priests the Levites and the people o To determine the time and order in which each of them should take the care of the business for the wood-offering p For the wood which was to be spent in great quantity being used in every Sacrifice and formerly had been supplied out of the Temples treasures or by the King which could not now be done to bring it into the house of our God q i. e. Into the place appointed to receive it in the buildings adjoyning or belonging to the Temple after the houses of our fathers r i. e. According to our several families which were to take the charge of it by course at times appointed year by year to burn upon the altar of the LORD our God * 〈◊〉 16. 12. as it is written in the law 35 And * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2â—… to bring the first fruits of our ground s i. e. Of the fruits of our ground All the particulars of the first-fruits are exactly and distinctly mentioned that none might pretend ignorance when they withheld any part of the Priests dues which at that time especially the people were very prone to do through poverty or covetousness or profaneness and that the Priests fights might be firmly assured to them and the first fruits of all fruit of all trees year by year unto the house of the LORD 36 Also the first born of our sons and of our cattle as it is written * 〈◊〉 13. 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 15 〈◊〉 in the law and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks to bring to the house of our God unto the priests that minister in the house of our God 37 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1â—… 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 12. c. 〈◊〉 1â—… 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. And that we should bring the first-fruits of our dough and our offerings and the fruit of all manner of trees of wine and of oil unto the priests to the chambers of the house of our God and * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3â—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the tithes of our ground unto the Levites that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage t i. e. The tithes of all the fruits of the ground belonging to our several Cities 38 And the priest the son of Aaron u i. e. Some Priest or Priests appointed to this work that so neither the people might wrong the Levites nor the Levites defraud the Priests of their dues shall be with the Levites * 〈◊〉 1â—… â—…6 when the Levites take tithes and the Levites shall bring up x At their own charges the
e. All the heathenish people with whom they had contracted alliances See ch 9. 2. And Ezra 10. 3. 4 And before †tiâ—…e this Eliashib the priest e The High-Priest ch 3. 1. Or some other Priest so called there being divers Eliashibs in or about this time Ezra 10. 6 24 27 36. Though the first seems most probable by comparing this verse with v. 28. and with ch 12. 〈◊〉 11. †Heb. being set over having the oversight of the chamber f â—… â—… Of the chamber as appears from the following verse and from â—… 9. where it is called chambers and from the nature of the thing the High-Priest having the chief power over the house of God and all the Chambers belonging to it The singular number for the plural of the house of our God was allied unto Tobiah g The Ammonite and a violent Enemy to Gods People So this is noted as a great blemish to Eliashib and as the cause of his other miscarriage noted v. 5. 5 And he had prepared for him a great chamber g By removing the things which were in it and uniting divers small chambers into one and furmshing it for the use of Tobiah when he came to Ierusalem whom he seems to have lodged there that he might have more free and secret communication with him this being in a place where the People might not come where aforetime they laid the meat-offerings the frankincense and the vessels and the tithes of the corn the new wine and the oil †〈…〉 which was commanded to be given to the Levites and the singers and the porters and the offerings of the priests 6 But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem h And Eliashib took the occasion of my absence to do these things supposing that I would no more return thither for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king i To wit from Ierusalem where he had been once and again and †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 after certain days k Heb. in the end of days or of a year as that word oft signifies ‖ Or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 obtained I leave of the king 7 And I came to Jerusalem and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God 8 And it grieved me sore l That so sacred a place should be polluted by one who in many respects ought not to have come there being no Priest a stranger an Ammonite and one of the worst of that People and that all this should be done by the permission and order of the High-Priest who by his Office should have punished and reformed these things in others therefore I cast forth all the houshold stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber 9 Then I commanded and they cleansed the chambers m By such means and rites as were then usual in such cases See Numb 19. 9. and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God with the meat-offering and the frankincense 10 And I perceived that * Maâ—… 3. â—… the portions of the Levites had not been given them n Which might be either 1. From this corrupt High-Priest Eliashib who took their portions as he did the sacred Chambers to his own use or employed them for the entertainment of Tobiah and his other great allies Or 2. From the People who either out of Covetousness reserved them to themselves contrary to their own solemn Agreement and Covenant ch 10. 37. or were so offended at Eliashib's horrid and manifest abuse of sacred things that they abhorred the Offering and Service of God as others did upon a like occasion 1 Sam. 2. 17. and therefore neglected to bring in their Tithes c. which they knew would be perverted to bad uses for the Levites and the singers that did the work were fled every one * Num. 35. 2. to his field o To his possession in the Country being forced to do so for a livelyhood 11 Then contended I with the rulers o I sharply reproved those Priests to whom the management of these things was committed for neglect of their duty and breach of their late solemn Promise and said Why is the house of God forsaken p You have not only injured men in with-holding their dues but you have occasiond the neglect of Gods House and Service And I gathered them together q To Ierusalem from their several Country possessions in which they were dispersed and set them in their †Heb. 〈◊〉 place r Restored them to the exercise of their Office 12 Then brought all Judah the tithe s Partly out of the respect which they had to Nehemiah and to his Command and partly because they saw they would be applied to their proper uses and not abused as they had been of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the ‖ Or 〈◊〉 houses treasuries 13 And I made treasurers over the treasuries Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe t The Ecclesiastical Scribe who was to keep the accounts of the Receipts and Disbursements and of the Levites Pedajah and †Heb. 〈◊〉 hard next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur the son of Mattaniah for they were counted faithful u By common Fame and the consent of those who knew them Such he now sought out the more diligently because he had late experience of the perfidiousness of the former Trustees and †Heb. it 〈◊〉 upon 〈◊〉 their office was to distribute unto their brethren x According to their several Families as the Law had prescribed 14 * 〈◊〉 â—…2 Remember me O my God concerning this y What I have done with an upright heart for thy House and Service be pleased graciously to accept and remember for my good according to thy promise and wipe not out my †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for the ‖ 〈◊〉 offices thereof 15 In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine-presses on the Sabbath and bringing in sheaves and lading asses as also wine grapes and figs and all manner of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day and I testified against them z I protested against the action and admonished them to forbear it in the day wherein they sold victuals 16 There dwelt men of Tyre also therein which brought fish a Which they might take in the Sea near Ioppa or bring from Tyre to Ioppa by Sea and thence to Ierusalem which was but a small Journey and all manner of ware and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah and in Jerusalem b The holy City where God's House and presence was and where the great Judicatories of the Nation were So this is added as an aggravation of their sin
that this was done with manifest contempt both to God and Men. 17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah c i. e. Their chief Men and Rulers whom he chargeth with this sin because though others did it it was by their countenance or connivance and they should and might have punished and restrained it and said unto them What evil thing is this that ye do and prophane the sabbath-day 18 Did not your fathers thus and did not our God bring all this evil upon us d Which you so well and sadly remember that I need not tell you the particulars and upon this city yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by prophaning the sabbath 19 And it came to pass that when the gates of Jerusalem * Lev. 23. 32. began to be dark e Which was about Sun-setting by reason of the Mountains which were round about and near Ierusalem Psa. 125. 2. before the sabbath I commanded that the gates should be shut and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath and some of my servants set I at the gates f Out of a diffidence in those to whom the keeping of the Gates was committed * â—…er 17. 21. that there should no burthen be brought in on the sabbath day 20 So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice 21 Then I testified against them and said unto them Why lodg ye †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 about the wall if ye do so again I will lay hands on you g I will punish you and seize your goods For this was a temptation 〈◊〉 or needy Jews that lived in or near the City to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of buying their commodities which then they might 〈◊〉 more advantage From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath 22 And I commanded the Levites that they should 〈◊〉 themselves h Partly because the work they were now set upon though common in its nature yet was holy in design of it and had respect unto the Sabbath and partly because the day in which they were to do this was the Sabbath day for the observation whereof they were obliged to prepare and purifie themselves and that they should come and keep the gates i Either 1. The Gates of the Temple But a particular command was superfluous in that case because it was their constant work and charge to do this both Sabbath-days and every day Or rather 2. The Gates of the City for of them he spake last v. 19. and not daring to trust the common Porters of those Gates not being able always to employ his men in that work he committeth the charge of them for the present season and upon the Sabbath-days to the Levites to whom the care of sanctifying the Sabbath did properly belong to sanctifie the sabbath-sabbath-day Remember me O my God concerning this also and spare me according to the ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 greatness of thy mercy k Whereby he intimates that though he mentioned his good works as things wherewith God was well-pleased and which he had promised to reward yet he neither did nor durst trust to their merit or his own worthiness but when he had done all he judged himself an unprofitable servant and one that needed Gods infinite Mercy and Indulgence to pardon all his sins and particularly those infirmities and corruptions which adhered to his good deeds 23 In those days also saw I Jews that †Or had made to dwell with them * Ezra 9. 2. had married wives of Ashdod l A City of the Philistines 1 Sam. 5. 1 2 c. of Ammon and of Moab 24 And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod and †Heb. they discerned not to speak could not speak in the Jews language but according to the language †Heb. of people and people of each people m Which their Mothers instilled into them together with their Principles and Manners 25 And I contended with them and ‖ Or reviled them cursed them n i. e. Caused them to be excommunicated and cast out of the society and priviledges of Gods people This and the following punishments were justly inflicted upon them because this transgression was contrary both to a very plain and express Law of God and also to their own late solemn Covenants and Promises of which see Ezra 10. Nehem. 10. 30. and smote o i. e. I caused them to be beaten with stripes according to the Law Deut. 25. 2. certain of them p Such whose faults were most aggravated by their quality or other circumstances to whom he added this punishment over and besides the former and pluckt off their hair q Or shaved them The hair was an Ornament and Ensign of Liberty amongst the Eastern Nations and baldness was a disgrace and token of slavery and sorrow See Isa. 3. 24. 15. 2. Ier. 48. 37. Ezek. 29. 18. and made them swear by God saying Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons nor take their daughters unto your sons or for your selves 26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things yet * 1 Kin. 3. 13. 2 Chr. 1. 12. among many nations was there no king like him who was * 2 Sam. 12. 24. beloved of his God and God made him king over all Israel * 1 Kin. 11 1. c. nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin 27 Shall we then hearken unto you r Shall we justifie your action by permitting or not punishing it God forbid to do all this great evil to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives 28 And one of the sons of Jojada s Said by Iosephus to be that Manasses who by Sanballats interest procured Liberty to build the Samaritan Temple in mount Gerizim to which those Priests who had married strange Wives or been otherwise criminal betook themselves and with or after them others of the people in the same or like circumstances the son of Eliashib the high priest was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite therefore I chased him from me t i. e. From my Presence and Court and from the City and Temple and all the priviledges of the Priesthood and from the whole Congregation and Church of Israel whereof I am a member 29 Remember them O my God †Heb for the defilings because they have defiled the priesthood and * Mal. 2. 4. the covenant of the priesthood u That Covenant made between me and his Progenitors for themselves and their Posterity whereby I promised to give them an everlasting Priesthood Numb 25. 12 13. and they covenanted with me that they would faithfully and holily execute that sacred Function according to the rules which I gave them whereby among other things they were enjoyned to keep themselves pure from all unlawful marriages and from all other things which might
hast redeemed this mount Zion k Which is oft put for the Temple or the Hill of Moriah on which it was built wherein thou hast dwelt 3 Lift up thy feet l i. e. Come speedily for our rescue and do not sit or stand still as hitherto thou seemest to do unto the perpetual desolations m Or rather Because of as this Prefix oft signifies the perpetual Desolations So it is a powerful Motive to God to come to their Help because otherwise our Destruction is everlasting and irrecoverable even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary n Or against thy Sanctuary Of which see v. 7. 4 Thine enemies roar o i. e. Make loud Out-cries Either from their Rage and Fuâ—…y against the Conquered and captivated Israelites now in their Power Or rather in way of Triumph for their Success and Victory in the midst of thy congregations p In the places where thy People used to assemble together for thy Worship whereby they designed to insult not onely over us but over thee also as if their God's had been too strong for thee they set up their insigns for signs q Or Trophees or Monuments of their Victories obtained over God and over his People as Conquerors used to do in like Cases 5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees r So the meaning is this The Temple was so noble a structure that it was a great Honour to any man to be imployed in the meanest part of the work though it were but in cutting down the Trees of Lebanon And this Translation may seem to be favoured by the opposition in the next Verse But now c. But others understand the Words thus translated in another Sence That every one of the Enemies got Renown accordingly as they shewed most barbarous Rage in destroying the thick Wood-work which in the next Verse is called the Carved work of the Temple But this seems not to suit well with the opposition between this work and that of the next Verse which is ushered in by But now The words therefore may be and in part are by some rendred thus It is known or manifest Heb. It will be known It will be published to all Posterity as matter of astonishment and admiration That as one lifteth up his Axe Heb. Axes the plural Number for the singular as it is elsewhere upon thick Trees to cut them down This is the first part of the similitude called the Proâ—…asis Then follows the latter part of it called the Apodosis in the next Verse So Heb. And. Which is sometimes put for a Note of similitude as in that passage of the Lords Prayer Mat. 6. 10. as it is in Heaven and oft in the Book of the Proverbs now For though this Psalm was Composed after the thing was done yet he speaks of it as if it were now in doing as the manner of the sacred Writers frequently is that it may be more Lively represented to mens Minds They break down the Carved work c. The meaning is they neither regard the Sacredness of the place noâ—… the exquisite Curiosity and Art of the work but cut it down as indifferently and rashly as men cut down the thick and intangled boughs of the Trees of the Forest. 6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once s See the Note on the former Verse with axes and hammers t It hath been ingeniously observed that these two Words are noâ—… Hebrew but Chaldee or Syriack Words to point out the time when this was done even when the Chaldaeans brought in their Language together with their Arms among the Israelites 7 * 2 Kin. 25. 9. †Heb. They have sent thy Sanctuary into the Fire They have cast fire into thy sanctuary they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground u First they polluted it and then they burnt it and broke it in pieces 8 They said in their heart Let †Heb. Break. us destroy them together x they have burnt up all the synagogues of God in the land y i. e. All the publick places wherein the Iews used to meet together to Worship God every Sabbath day as is noted Aâ—…t 13. 27. and upon other occasions That the Iews had such Synagogues is manifest both from these and other places of Scripture and from the Testimony of the Hebrew Doctors and other Antient and learned Writers who affirm it and particularly of Ierusalem in which they say there were above four hundred Synagogues and from the Nature and necessity of the thing For seeing it is undeniable that they did Worship God publickly in every Sabbath and other Holy times even then when they neither did nor could go up to Ierusalem both Conscience and Prudence must needs direct them to appoint Convenient places for that purpose ae Root and Branch one as well as another or all at once So they desired and many of them intended although afterwards it seems they changed their Counsel and carried some away Captives and left others to manage the Land 9 We see not our signs z i. e. Those Tokens of God's gracious Presence which we and our Ancestors formerly used to enjoy Either 1. Miracles wrought for us which are called Signs Psal. 78. 43. and 135. 9. Or 2. The Ordinances of God the Temple and Ark and Sacrifices and solemn Feasts all which were signs between God and his People * 1 Sam. 3. 1. Amos 8. 11. there is no more any prophet a Either 1. Any Teacher We have few or no Teachers left to us Or 2. Any extraordinary Prophet who can foretel things to come as the next Words explain it For as for Ezekiel and Ieremiah they might be dead when this Psalm was Composed and Daniel was involved in Civil affairs and did not teach the People as a Prophet and the prophetical Spirit which sometimes came upon him and made those great discoveries to him which we read in his Book might possibly at this time suspend his influences Besides it is not unusual in Scripture to say that there is none of a sort of Persons or Things when there is a very great scarcity of them But others make this their great Argument that this Psalm speaks of that Persecution in the time of Antiochus when indeed there was no Prophet at all neither is there among us any that knoweth how long b Either 1. How long their Captivity should continue For though seventy years were determined yet there might arise doubts among them as there now are among us whence they were to be Computed which might make their â—…nd uncertain Or 2. How long they should lye under Reproach as it follows v. 10. Which they really did and might foresee that they should even after the Expiration of their Captivity Nehem. 1. 3. 10 O God how
fulfil all his gracious promises and amongst the rest that of protection in dangers shall be thy shield and buckler 5 * Job 5. 19 c Prov. 3. 23. Isai. 43. 2. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night g When evil accidents are most terrible and least avoidable nor for the arrow h The Pestilence or any such common and destructive Calamity for such are frequently called Gods arrows as Deut. 32. 23 42. Lam. 3. 12 13 c. that fleeth by day i Which is the time for shooting of Arrows The sence of the Verse is He shall be kept from secret and open mischiefs at all times 6 Nor for the pestilence k This Verse explains the former and sheweth what that terror and arrow signifies that walketh l That spreadeth or maketh progress in darkness m Either invisibly so as we can neither foresee nor prevent it Or rather by night as v. 5. nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day n That like a bold Enemy assaults us openly and though discovered cannot be resisted 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side o At thy left side because this is opposed to the right side here following See the like Ellipsis Numb 9. 16. Psal. 84. 11. and ten thousand at thy right hand but it shall not come nigh thee p This and such like promises are not to be understood absolutely and universally as if no truly good man could be cut off by the Plague or other common Calamities which is confused both by other plain Texts of Scripture and by unquestionable experience but with due limitations and conditions either on mans part as if there be a defect in his Faith or Obedience or on Gods part when God sees that Death is more for his good than life as it apparently is when righteous men are taken away from the evil to come as is said Isa. 57. 1. In which case though God doth not give the thing promised yet he giveth a far greater mercy in stead of it and so fulfils his promise in the best sence and with most advantage As if one man should solemnly promise to another to give him his daily food every day he not onely might but ought notwithstanding this promise to deny and withdraw this food when his body is so distempered that in the judgment of the wisest Physicians the taking of his food would evidently endanger his life 8 Onely * 〈◊〉 â—… 34. with thine eyes shalt thou behold q Without any terrour or danger to thy self and with a delightful and thankful reflection upon Gods goodness to thee and see the reward of the wicked r The just recompence of their sins or the vengeance of God upon them 9 Because thou hast made the LORD which is my refuge even the most High thy habitation s Or as the words ly in the Hebrew and others render them Because thou O Lord art my refuge thou O my Soul which is easily understood out of the foregoing words and to which David oft suddenly turneth his speech hast made the most high thine habitation Which is the only ground and reason of that safety last mentioned As for the variation of persons that he sometimes speaketh to and of others and sometimes to and of himself nothing is more frequent in this Book nor doth it make any alteration in the sence 10 There shall no evil befal thee neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling t To wit so as to destroy thee as the next Verse limits and expounds it For surely this promise is not made to all his Children and Servants who may possibly be wicked men and so strangers from Gods Covenant and Promises How far this secures his own person see on v. 7. 11 * 〈◊〉 34. 7. 〈◊〉 4. 6. 〈◊〉 4. 10. For he shall give his angels u Those blessed and powerful and watchful spirits whom God hath appointed to mind the affairs of this lower World and to take care of the Heirs of Salvation Heb. 1. 14. charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways x In the whole course of thy life and in all thy lawful undertakings 12 They shall bear thee up ‖ 〈◊〉 with in their hands y Sustain or uphold thee in thy goings as we do a Child or a weakly man especially in uneven or dangerous paths Or shall carry thee aloft as upon Eagles Wings when it shall be needful for thee lest thou dash thy foot against a stone z So as to hurt thy foot or to cause thee to fall 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion a The Lyon shall lie prostrate at thy feet and thou shalt securely put thy feet upon his neck as the Israelites did upon the necks of the Canaanitish Kings Ios. 10. 24. and ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adder the young lion and the dragon b By which he synecdochically understands all pernicious Creatures though never so strong and fierce and subtil and all sorts of Enemies shalt thou trample under feet 14 Because he hath set his love upon me c This and the two following Verses are the words of God whom the Psalmist here as oft elsewhere introduceth as giving an account of the reasons of Gods singular care of all believing or pious persons therefore will I deliver him d I will abundantly recompence his love with my favour and blessing I will set him on high e In an high and safe place where no evil can reach him because he hath known my name f With a true and saving knowledge so as to love me and put his trust in me Gods name is here put for God himself as it is also Deut. 28. 58. Psal. 20. 2. and 115. 1. 15 * Psal. 50. 15. He shall call upon me g To wit in trouble which is expressed in the following clause As he knoweth and loveth me so he will offer up sincere and fervent Prayers to me upon all occasions and I will answer him I will be with him in trouble h To keep him from sinking under his burden I will deliver him and honour him 16 With †Heb. length of days long life i Either in this World when it is expedient for my service and for his benefit or at least in the next World where he shall live to Eternity in the blissful sight and enjoyment of God in glory will I satisfie him and shew him my salvation k Either here or hereafter PSAL. XCII A psalm or song for the sabbath-sabbath-day sabbath-a To be sung upon the Weekly Sabbath To which the matter of this Psalm very well agrees For it celebrates the works of God both that first and great work of Creation and that succeeding and no less wonderful work of his Providence by which he upholds and governs all his Creatures and especially that by which he ruleth all sorts
of men both good and bad and that by which he preserveth and manageth his Church and People 1 IT is a * Psal. 147. 1. good thing b It is a good work and a just debt to God to give thanks unto the LORD and to sing praises unto thy name O most High 2 To shew forth thy loving kindness in the morning and thy faithfulness †Heb. in the nights every night c To adore and celebrate thy goodness and truth continually and especially at those two solemn times of Morning and Evening which on every day and especially upon the Sabbath day were devoted to the worship and service of God 3 Upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the psaltery ‖ Or upon the solemn sound with the harp upon the harp †Heb. Higgaion with a solemn sound 4 For thou LORD hast made me glad through thy work I will triumph in the works of thy hands d Which thou didst create by thine Almighty power and dost still govern with infinite wisdom one instance whereof we have in the following Verses 5 * Psal. 40. 5. O LORD how great are thy works and * Rom. 11. 34. thy thoughts e Thy counsels and methods in the government of the World and of thy Church are very deep 6 * Psal. 94. 8. A brutish man f Who cannot or doth not seriously consider things whose mind is corrupted by his sensual and brutish appetites who is led by sence and not by reason and faith knoweth not neither doth a fool understand this g The depth of Gods counsels and works mentioned v. 5. or that particular work of God â—…escribed v. 7. 7 * Job 12. 6. Jer. 12. 1 2. Mal. 3. 15. When the wicked spring as †Heb. herbs Psal. 104. 14. the grass and when all the the workers of iniquity do flourish it is that they shall be destroyed for ever h Their present worldly prosperity is a presage and occasion of their utter and eternal ruine 8 But thou LORD art most High for evermore i So this Verse is added by way of opposition to the former They shall perish but thou shalt endure as is said in a like comparison Psal. 102. 26. they flourish for a season but thou rulest for ever to judge and punish them Or For as this Hebrew Particle is not seldom used whereof instances have been formerly given thou Lord art c. So this Verse gives a reason of the former as well as the first branch of it why God suffers the wicked to flourish so long because he is not like man of short and uncertain continuance here to whom a little time is long and tedious who therefore impatiently expects the time of vengeance and fears lest the offender should escape it whereas God is unchangeable and everlasting and therefore long-suffering without any inconvenience and the longest time of the prosperity of the wicked is but short and inconsiderable in his Eyes a thousand years being in his sight but as yesterday when it is past Psal. 90. 4. and they can never escape out of his hands as also of the latter branch of the Verse why the wicked shall be destroyed for ever because God lives and reigns for ever to execute that just sentence of everlasting punishment which he hath pronounced against them 9 For lo k He represents their destruction as present and as certain which the repetition of the words implies thine enemies O LORD for lo thine enemies shall perish all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered 10 But my horn shalt thou exalt l But as for me and other righteous persons of whom he saith the same thing v. 12. we shall be advanced to the height of honour and true and lasting felicity like the horn of an unicorn m Of which see on Deut. 33. 17. I shall be anointed n I shall have great cause of rejoicing and testifying my joy by anointing my self as the manner was in Feasts and all joyful solemnities with fresh oil o Sweet and uncorrupted 11 Mine eye also shall see my desire p To wit in the ruine of thine and mine incorrigible Enemies on mine enemies and mine ears shall hear q What I do not see my self I shall understand by the certain reports of others my desire of the wicked that rise up against me 12 * Hos. 14. 5. The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree r Which is constantly green and flourishing and fruitful Cant. 7. 8. and growing even when it is pressed down and so is a fit Emblem of a just mans person and condition See Revel 7. 9. he shall grow like a cedar s Which spreads it self wide and grows very high and strong and is very durable and in some sort incorruptible in Lebanon 13 Those that be planted t Whom God by his gracious providence and holy spirit hath planted or fixed there in the house of the LORD u i. e. In its Courts which are a part of the House and oft come under that name in Scripture And by this House he means the Church of God whereof all just persons are real and living members shall flourish in the courts x Which he mentions rather than the House because he speaks not here of the Priests but of all just men who were permitted to come no further than into the Courts of our God 14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age y When their natural strength decayeth it shall be renewed their last days shall be their best days wherein as they shall grow in grace so they shall increase in comfort and blessedness they shall be fat and †Heb. green flourishing 15 To shew that the LORD is upright z This glorious work of God in compensating the short prosperity of the wicked with everlasting punishments and of exchanging the momentany afflictions of the just with eternal glory and happiness doth clearly demonstrate that God is just and blameless in all the dispensations of his Providence in the World he is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him PSAL. XCIII This Psalm contains an assertion or declaration of Gods soveraign and universal dominion in and over the whole world Which is here set forth partly for the comfort of Gods Church and People against all the assaults of their numerous and potent Adversaries and partly to give an intimation and assurance of the accomplishment of that great Promise of the Kingdom of the Messias which was not to be confined to the Israelites but to be extended to all the Nations of the Earth which though wonderful in our Eyes the Supream and Almighty Ruler of the World could easily effect This and the six following Psalms according to the opinion of the Hebrew Doctors belong to the times of the Messias 1 * Psal. 96. 1â—… 97. 1.
like a land flood or brooks that will soon be dried up with drought see Iob 6. 15. but will be fed with a spring of blessing that will never fail a very significant Metaphor it being the nature of springs spontaneously and freely as it were to pour out their bowels to all that upon their wants come to receive it neither is ever scanty but flows still like fresh Milk to the Breast the more it is drawn hence God is called a fountain of goodness 12 And they that shall be of thee z i. e. Either 1. A remnant of thee among the Captivity that shall be as persons raised from the dead Or 2. Thy Posterity expressed thus because they sprang or proceeded from them * Chap. 61. 4. shall build the old wast places a Heb. wasts of eternity i. e. which have lain long waste For holam doth not alwaies signifie what is bounded by no time but what respects a long time looking either forward as Gen. 13. 15. Exod. 21. 6. or backward as here viz. the space of seventy years and so may truly be rendred the wasts of an Age. By wast places he means the City and Temple with Cities and places adjacent turned as it were all into a wast or wilderness void and untilled and which was done not onely by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon but by Sennacherib also and the â—…her Kings of Assyria They had lain so long desolate that the Foxes inhabited them instead of men Lam. 5. 18. And it was turned so much into a Desert that they were forced to fight with the Beasts that possessed it to get their food Lam. 5. 9. thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations b Either the foundations that were laid many generations ago as those of Ierusalem which was not only built but was the head of a Kingdom in the daies of Melchizedek who was King thereof in the daies of Abraham as appears Gen. 14. 18. If that Salem were Ierusalem as is generally agreed and Iosephus writes lib. 1. antiquit cap. 10. who was born about the 300th year after the Flood the superstructures were now destroyed viz. of Ierusalem and divers other Cities or that shall continue for many generations yet to come and thou shalt be called c Thou shalt be honoured with this Title as we use to say the Father of our Countrey i. e. deservedly so called because thou art so the like phrase chap. 48. 8. The repairer of the breach d Breach is put here collectively for Breaches which were made by God's Judgments breaking in upon them in suffering the walls of their Towns and Cities to be demolished and their State broken chap. 5. 5. the restorer of paths e Such an one was Moses Psal. 106. 23. And this tends to the same sense with the former expression because men were wont to make paths over those Breaches to go the nearest way or it may more particularly point at the recovering of the Ancient paths and bringing them into their wonted course which were either those chief Streets through the Gates of the Cities or other Lanes out of those Streets which were now forgotten and lost partly by being covered with rubbish and partly by those shorter paths that were trod and made over the Breaches such a Restorer of paths was Nehemiah Neh. 6. 1. And we read of the several Repairers he made use of Neh. 3 Or those paths that led from City to City which being now laid desolate and uninhabited were grown over with grass and weeds for want of Travellers or safety of travelling of something a like case we read in the time of the Judges Iudg. 5. 6. 7. and so lost as in a wilderness wherein there is no way and by building up those Cities again the several paths leading to them would be restored to dwell in f These accommodations being all recovered their ancient Cities might be fit to be re-inhabited 13 If thou turn away thy foot g This is taken either properly i. e. if thou take no unnecessary journeys or do any servile works either of hand or foot that are forbidden on the Sabbath day the instrument being here put for the work or Metaphorically i. e. if thou keep thy mind and affections clear and restraining thy self from whatever may prophane it as David did concerning the word Psal. 119. 101. Feet are often put for the Affections Eccl. 5. 1. because the mind is moved by the affections as the body is by the feet if we do not let our thoughts be extravagant either upon impertinencies or unlawful things The sum is if thou be careful not to break the Sabbath from the sabbath h Or for the Sabbath's sake whether we understand it more largely of the occasional Sabbath in solemn humiliations or otherwise set apart for sacred services which is called a Sabbath Lev. 16. 31. and 23. 32. Days of this nature were set apart before the captivity Ch. 22. 12. Ier. 36. 9. and also in the Captivity Zech. 7. 5. And thus it may be pertinent to the occasion of this discourse v. 3. And further though Sabbath be here only mentioned yet it may take in every institution of God that they were in a capacity of observing during their captivity Thus I conceive it is understood ch 56. 1 2. Or whether we take it more particularly for the weekly Sabbath such a carriage doth God expect as doth become it from doing thy pleasure i Satisfying thy lusts and the corruption of thy will on my holy day k i. e. on my Sabbath which is an holy day and call the sabbath a delight l Full of delights in thy Judgment not looking on it as a burthen and Practice performing the duties of it with cheerfulness delighting in the ordinances of it and so the Sabbath by a Metonymy is put for the works of the Sabbath the time being put for the things that ought to be done in that time Therefore Calling here is not only a verbal but affectionate calling the understanding assenting the will consenting and the actions conforming thereto this delight appears in the Saints of God in their breathings after it as it did frequently in David Psal. 27. 4. 36. 8. 42. 1. with many more the holy of the LORD m Or to the Lord. i. e. dedicated to him consecrated to his service The Jews had a law that no man might take from the Sabbath to add to the prophane days but he might on the contrary honourable n viz. the chief of days worthy of all honour and therefore honourable because holy and so shall honour either it i. e. the day or him i. e. the Lord whose day it is For to sanctify God and to sanctify his day is all one compare ch 8. 13. â—…with Exod. 20. 8. thus esteem it an honour as well as a pleasure and shalt honour him not doing thine own ways o Or
the quarters of the World see the Latin Synopsis and the English Annot. large discourses of these particular places to all Nations that had never before heard of God or his true Worship that have not heard my fame neither have seen my glory and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles r And they shall every where preach the Gospel and set up my Gospel-Ordinances and Institutions This was eminently made good upon the Apostles leaving the Jews and turning to the Gentiles Act. 13 46. and more fully after the destruction of Ierusalem when the Believers among the Jews as well as the Apostles went about publishing the Gospel to all People which was the declaring of the Lords glory n By sign here some understand an Ensign as the word signifies Psal. 74. 4. which is a military sign to gather people together by this may be understood Christ Luk. 2. 34. See Isa. 11. 10. or as others the ministry of the Word attended with miracles often called signs these were set up amongst the Jews first then among the Gentiles Others but less probably understand by sign a mark of distinction like that mentioned Ezek. 9. 4. so as saith he some shall escape and not be destroyed and for those that shall escape I will send them to 20 And they shall bring all your brethren s Those who are the Children of Abraham not considered as the Father of the Jewish Nation onely but considered as the Father of many Nations and as the Father of the Faithful or who are the Children of God being believers and receiving Christ and so are your Brethren how contemptible soever you judge them shall be brought out of all Nations for an offering to the Lord God will have no more offerings of Bullocks and Rams or Lambs but of Men and Women reasonable services Rom. 12. 1. he will have an offering up of the Gentiles Rom. 15. 16. for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses and ‖ Or câ—…hes in litters and upon mules and upon swift beasts t And because the Gentiles are many of them far off from Ierusalem and as yet further off from God Eph. 2. 17. God will find out fit means for this end as Horses and Litters and Mules and swift Beasts are to bring Meâ—… and Women long Journeys to my holy mountain Jerusalem saith the LORD u And they shall be brought into the Church which began at Ierusalem and this you may be assured of for the Lord hath said it who cannot ly nor repent as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel unto the house of the LORD x And they shall come with as much joy and gladness with as much sincerity and holiness as the Godly Jews use and exercise when they bring their offerings in clean vessels 21 And * Ex. 29. 6. Ch. 61. 6. 1 Pet. 2. 9. Rev. 1. 6. I will take of them for priests and for Levites y Leâ—…t the Jews being assured that the Tribe of Levi which God anciently chose to minister before him was among them should say Alas if the Gentiles should be brought in where would they have Priests or Levites God here by his Prophet tells them he would provide Priests he would take of them of these converted Heathens for Priests and Levites that is for Gospel-Ministers to teach and to instruct People which was the Priests work of old Deut. 33. 10. 2 Chron. 17. 7 9. Mal. 2. 6. for they are mightily mistaken that think the Priests amongst the Jews had nothing to do but to sacrifice and burn incense which work is ceased saith the Prophet God will find amongst the converted Gentiles those who though they be not of the Tribe of Levi or House of Aaron yet shall they do the true work of Priests and Levites saith the LORD 22 For as * Ch. 65. 17. 2 Pet. 3. 13. Rev. 21. 1. the new heavens and the new earth z The new state of the Church to be raised up under the Messias which I will make shall remain before me saith the Lord so shall your seed and your name remain a As I intend that shall abide so there shall be a daily succession of true Believers for the upholding of it for if Believers could fail from the Earth the Church made up of them onely as the true Members of it must fail also This whole verse is onely a promise of the perpetuity of the Gospel Church and the not failing of the additions to it of such as shall be saved till the World shall have an end 23 And it shall come to pass that from †from new moon to his new moon and from sabbath to his sabbath Zech. 14. 16. new moon to another and from one sabbath to another b In the Gospel-Church there shall be as constant and settled a course of Worship though of another nature as ever was in the Jewish Church Christians are not bound to keep the Jewish Sabbaths or New-moons Gal. 4. 10 11. Col. 2. 16. But New Testament Worship is often expressed by Old Testament Phrases The Jews were onely obliged to appear Three times in a year at Ierusalem but saith the Prophet the Gospel-Church shall worship God from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before me saith the LORD 24 And they shall go forth c Either the Gentiles or the sincerer part of the Jews shall go forth from their places or from Ierusalem or go out of their graves at the last day and look upon the carkasses of the men that have sinned against me d And look upon the vengeance I have taken upon these vile Idolaters and Formalists for their satisfaction Psal. 58. 10. they shall see none of them alive but they shall see their carâ—…asses for their * Mar. 9. 44 46 48. worm shall not die neither shall their fire be quenched e For the worms that feed on their slain carcasses shall not suddenly dye and the Enemies fire burning up their Habiâ—…ions shall not go out till they be wholly consumed and after this Life and at the day of Judgment they shall go into eternal torments See Mar. 9. 44 46 48. where they will feel a worm of Conscience that shall never die and a fiery Wrath of God upon their Souls and Bodies that shall never go out and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh THis first Volume of the Annotations being now finish'd and the Learned Divines that have undertaken to perfect the said work upon the whole Bible having made considerable progress in the same there are now Proposals made for the second Volume which are to be had gratis at the Shops of T. Parkhurst D. Newman I. Robinson B. Aylmer T. Cockerill and B. Alsop FINIS
Spiritual Promises and especially that of the Messiah coming out of his Loins and assuring it by a special Covenant Sealed by Circumcision the Church began now to take Root and to be imbodyed in Jacob's Family under the name of Israel and here God undertook the protection of his People and Worship by the visible presence of Christ her Head that Angel of the Covenant going continually with them Comforting and Defending them till they came into Aegypt where the Church continued until Joseph's Death where this Book ends CHAP. I. IN * 〈◊〉 â—…6 102. 〈◊〉 â—… 146. 6. 〈◊〉 24. Jer. 〈◊〉 51. 15. 〈◊〉 12. 1. Acts 〈◊〉 1â—… 17. 24. 〈◊〉 11. 3. the beginning a To wit Of Time and Things in the first place before things were distinguished and perfected in manner hereafter expressed Or the sense is this The beginning of the World was thus And this phrase further informeth us that the World and all things in it had a beginning and were not from Eternity as some Philosophers dreamed God Created b Made out of nothing the Heaven and the Earth c Either 1. The Heaven and Earth as now they are with their Inhabitants So this verse is a sum in or brief of what is particularly declared in the rest of this Chapter Or 2. The substance and common matter of Heaven and Earth Which seems more probable by comparing this verse with the next where the Earth here mentioned is declared to be without form and the Heavens without Light as also with Gen. 2. 1. Where the Heavens and the Earth here only said to be created are said to be finished or perfected Yet I conceive the third Heaven to be included under the Title of the Heaven and to have been created and perfected the first day together with its blessed Inhabitants the Holy Angels as may be collected from Iob 33. 6 7. But the Scripture being written for men and not for Angels the Holy Ghost thought it sufficient to comprehend them and their dwelling place under that general term of the Heavens and proceedeth to give a more particular account of the visible Heavens and Earth which were created for the use of man In the Hebrew it is The Heavens and the Earth For there are three Heavens mentioned in Scripture The Aereal the place of Birds Clouds and Meteors Matth. 26. 64. Rev. 19. 17. 20. 9. The Starry the Region of the Sun the Moon and Stars Gen. 22. 17. The highest or third Heaven 2 Cor. 12. 2. the dwelling of the Blessed Angels 2. And the Earth e The same confused mass or heap is here called both Earth from its most solid and substantial part and the deep from its vast bulk and depth and Waters from its outward face and covering See Psal. 104. 6. 2 Pet. 3. 5. was without form and void f i. e. Without order and beauty and without furniture and use and darkness was upon the face g The surface or uppermost part of it upon which the light afterward shone Thus not the Earth onely but also the Heaven above it was without light as is manifest from the following verses of the deep and the Spirit of God h Not the Wind which was not yet Created as is manifest because the Air the Matter or Subject of it was not yet produced But the Third Person of the Glorious Trinity called the Holy Ghost to whom the work of Creation is attributed Iob 26. 13. as it is ascrib'd to the Second Person the Son Ioh. 1. 3. Col. 1. 16 17. Heb. 1. 3. and to the first Person the Father every where moved upon the face of the Waters * i. e. Upon the Waters To cherish quicken and dispose them to the production of the things after mentioned It is a Metaphor from Birds hovering and fluttering over and sitting upon their Eggs and young Oaes to cherish warm and quicken them 3. And God said i i. e. Commanded not by such a word or speech as we use which agreeth not with the spiritual nature of God but either by an act of his powerful will called the Word of his Power Heb. 1. 3. Or by his substantial Word his Son by whom he made the Worlds Heb. 1. 2. Psal. 33. 6. who is called The Word partly if not principally for this reason Iohn 1. 1 2 3. 10. * 2 Cor. 4. 6. Let there be Light And there was Light k Which was some bright and lucid Body peradventure like the fiery Cloud in the Wilderness giving a small and imperfect Light successively moving over the several parts of the Earth and afterwards condensed encreased perfected and gathered together in the Sun 4. And God saw l i. e. Observed with approbation the Light that it was good m i. e. Pleasant and amiable agreeable to Gods purpose and mans use and God divided †Heb. Between the Light and between the Darkness the Light from the Darkness n Made a distinction or separation between them in place time and use that the one should succeed and shut out the other and so by their vicissitudes make the day and the night 5. And God called the Light Day and the Darkness he called Night †Heb and the Evening was and the Morning was c. and the Evening and the Morning o It is acknowledged by all that the Evening and the Morning are not here to be understood according to our common usage but are put by a Synecdoche each of them for one whole part of the natural day But because it may be doubted which part each of them signifies some understand by Evening the foregoing day and by the Morning the foregoing night And so the natural day begins with the Morning or the light as it did with the antient Chaldeans Others by Evening understand the first night or darkness which was upon the face of the Earth ver 2. which probably continued for the space of about twelve hours the beginning whereof might fitly be called Evening and by Morning the succeeding light or day which may reasonably be supposed to continue the other twelve hours or thereabouts And this seems the truer opinion 1. Because the darkness was before the light as the Evening is put before the Morning v. 5 and 8. and afterwards 2. Because this best agrees both with the vulgar and with the Scripture use of the terms of Evening and Morning 3. Because the Jews who had best opportunity of knowing the mind of God in this matter by Moses and other succeeding Prophets begun both their common and sacred days with the Evening as is confessed and may be gathered from Levit. 23. 32. were the first day p Did constitute or make up the first Day Day being taken largely for the natural Day consisting of 24 hours These were the parts of the first Day and the like is to be understood of the succeeding days Moreover God who
of his own mâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their 〈◊〉 as he promised to do and 〈◊〉 the hopes and design of their enemies of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 7. 6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath f i. e. Took it from the Iews who had noâ—… long since taken it chap. 14. 22. It lay in the land of Edom upon the Red Sâ—…a very conveniently for navigation of which see on 1 Kings 9. 2â—… to Syria and drave the â—…ews from Elath and the Syrians came to Elath and dwelt theâ—…e unto this day 7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria saving I am thy servant and thy son g I 〈◊〉 my self to thee as thy Vassal to serve and obey 〈◊〉 and pay thee Tribute upon condition thou doest assist me â—…ainst my enemies come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria and out of the hand of the king of Israel h For though they were now gone from â—…erusalem yet he justly concluded they would return again and from time to time moâ—…est and vex him which rise up against me 8 And Ahaz * Chap. 12. 18. took the silver and the gold that was sound in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the kings house and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria 9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him for the king of Assyria went up against ‡ Heb. Dammeseâ—… Damascus i The Metropolis of the Syrians and the head of that Kingdom Isa. 7. 8. and took it and carried the people of it captive k As was prophesied Amos 1. 5. to Kir l Not Kir of Moab Isa. 15. 1. but a part of Media which then was subject to the King of Assyria and slew Rezin 10 ¶ And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria m To congratulate his Victory and acknowledg his favour and help and to beg the continuance of it and saw an altar n Of an excellent structure upon which the Syrians used to offer to their Idols see 2 Chron. 28. 23. that was at Damascus and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar and the pattern of it according to all the workmanship thereof 11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus o So he complied with the King's command against his own 〈◊〉 and against the express command of that great God to whom the King and he both were subâ—…ect so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus p He made haste and delayed not to do it to please the King and advance himself 12 And when the king was come from Damascus the king saw the altar and the king approached to the altar and offered thereon q To wit a Sacrifice and that not unto God but unto the Syrian Idols as appears from 2 Chron. 28. 23 24. to whom that altar was appropriated Whether he offered this by himself or by a Priest is not certain 13 And he burnt his burnt-offering and his meat-offering and poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of ‡ Heb. which were his his peace offerings r For the Heathens and Ahaz in imitation of them offered the same sorts of Offerings to their false gods which the Israelites did to the true the Devil being noted to be Gods Ape in his Worship upon the altar 14 And he brought also the brazen altar s Of Burnt-Offerings made by Solomon and placed there by God's appointment which was before the LORD t i. e. From before the Lord's House See on Lev. 1. 3. from the fore-front of the house from between the altar and the house of the LORD u Or rather from between his Altar c. or that Altar c. His new Altar was at first set below the brazen Altar and at a further distance from the Temple This he took for a disparagement to his Altar and therefore most impiously and audaciously takes that away and puts his in its place and put it on the north side of the altar x Or of that Altar or of his Altar as before So he put God's Altar out of its pâ—…ce and use 15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest saying Upon the great altar y i. e. This new Altar which was greater than Solomon's either in quantity or in his estimation burn * Exod. 29 39 40 41. the morning burnt-offering and the evening meat-offering and the kings burnt-sacrifice and his meat-offering with the burnt-offering of all the people of the land and their meat-offering and their drink-offerings and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt-offering and all the blood of the sacrifice z Whatsoever is offered to the true God either in my name for possibly he did not yet utterly forsake God but worshipped Idols with him or on the behalf of the people shall be offered upon this new Altar Which he seems to prescribe not onely to gratifie his own humour but also in design to discourage and by degrees to extinguish the worship of the true God for he concluded that the Worshippers of God would never be willing to offer their Sacrifices upon his Altar and the brazen altar shall be for me to enquire by a That shall be reserved for my proper use to enquire by i. e. at which I may seek God or his favour or enquire of his will to wit by Sacrifices joyned with prayer when I shall see fit He saith onely to seek or to enquire not seek the Lord or to enquire of the Lord as the Phrase is more largely expressed elsewhere but he would not vouchsafe to mention the name of the Lord whom he had so grosly forsaken and despised 16 Thus did Urijah the priest according to all that king Ahaz commanded b Having once began to debauch his conscience he could not now make an honourable retreat and therefore proceeds to execute all the King's Commands 17 ¶ And king Ahaz cut off * 1 Kings â—… 27 28. the borders of the bases and removed the laver from off them and took down the * 1 Kings â—… 23 25. sea from off the brazen oxen that were under it and put it upon a pavement of stones c Which he did either to express his contempt of them or to render them inconvenient for the uses to which they had been designed or to dispose of them or of the Brass of them in some other place and way as best suited with his fancy or for the King of Assyria as it follows in the next Verse 18 And the covert for the sabbath d The form and use whereof is now unknown It is generally understood of some Building or Covert either that where the Priests after their weekly course was ended abode until the next course came and