themselves to all the Ordinances of Moses as the Jewes themselves did which they would not have been suffered to doe if they had not observed so much as they did And from these Proselytes were they also which observed as much as they did called Proselytes of the Gate though they lived not among the Iewes but lived elsewhere because they were under the same condition such was Naaman the Syrian the Eunuch Cornelius c. The other kinde of Proselytes were such as were circumcised and tooke upon them the observation of the whole Law of Moses and these were called Proselites of the Covenant and were accounted almost for priviledges and observances as Jewes such were Vriah the Hittite Achior in the booke of Judith c. Note here againe that though in the first sense these Gentiles afore mentioned are here invited to joyne themselves to the Lord and worship him as Proselytes yet in the second and more sublime sense This is a Prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles to the Church of Christ where the Jews and Gentiles are made both one Ephes 2. vers 14. Come ye to the waters i. e. Come ye to that knowledge which will satisfie your desires as waters satisfie the thirst of him which is thirsty By waters he meaneth metaphorically the true knowledge of the true God in which knowledge there is that true content to be had which no other knowledge can afford and will satisfie a mans desire as waters will quench his thirst And he that hath no mony q. d. Yea let him come that is poor and hath no mony This he saith in opposition to those which desired to learn humane Arts and Sciences which he that desired to learn had need to have been rich because the Masters of those Arts and Sciences would not teach them without great rewards But they which would learn the knowledg of the Lord need not to have been rich the poor might learn it as well as the wealthy he that had no mony as well as he that had for the Lords servants taught the knowledge of the Lord freely Come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk c. The Prophet is not content to call the knowledge of God waters but he calls it also wine and milk because it did not onely satisfie the desire as waters satisfie and quench the thirst but it doth also feed the Soul as wine and milk do feed and nourish the body yea it is as the chiefest delicates to the Soul For by these two to wit wine and milk the Scripture doth not onely signifie food necessary for the sustenance of life but dainties and delicates too as Gen. 49.12 Without mony and without price This is said in opposition to those who gave great sums of mony to their Masters to learn humane Arts and Sciences q. d. Ye need not take care for mony or agree for a price for learning the knowledge of God as you use to take care for mony and agree for a price with your Masters of humane Arts and Sciences but this knowledge shall be taught you freely 2. Wherefore do ye spend your mony for that which is not bread q. d. Wherefore do you give so much mony to the Masters of the Arts to learn of them those Arts which bring no fruit or profit at all with them He persists still in his Metaphor whereby he likened the knowledge of God to meat and drink which nourish and refresh the body because this knowledge is the onely food of the Soul q. d. Wherefore do ye spend mony for that which is not so much as bread which is the necessary sustenance of mans life much less is it wine or milk which are the dainties and delicates thereof Which satisfieth not Supple Your hunger This is a repetition of those words Which is not bread Eat ye that which is good q. d. Eat ye not that which is not fit to nourish you but eat ye that which is good not onely to nourish you but to make you fat He persists still in his Metaphor and compares the knowledge of God to that which is good to nourish yea to fatten the body and humane science to that which is but bran or hulks and hath not any nourishment in it And let your Soul delight it self in fatness i. e. And delight your selves in that which will not onely feed you and nourish you but make you fat The Soul is put here for the whole man by a Synecdoche Fatness is put here for food which will fatten per Metonymiam Effecti 3. Encline your ears He alludes here to the manner of men which bow their heads toward him which speaketh when they desire to hear distinctly what he saith Come unto me He that cometh to the Servants and Prophets of the Lord cometh to the Lord. See Luk. 10.16 Hear i. e. Hear my words and keep them and obey them And your soul shall live i. e. And ye shall live q. d. And your lives shall be preserved yea ye shall live happily and plentifully He still alludeth to bread and wholesom food which preserve the life and keep men fat and in good liking which bran and hulks cannot do I will make an everlasting Covenant with you That is oftentimes called Everlasting which lasteth onely a long time as the Priesthood of Aaron was called everlasting although it was to last but during the Law and was to be abolished by the death of Christ Exod. 40.15 Even the sure mercies of David q. d. And I will even give you by that Covenant the sure mercies of David That these words I will give you are here to be understood we may learn from Acts 13.64 But what are those which are here called the mercies of David The mercies which are here called the mercies of David are those mercies and blessings which David so often speaks of in the Psalms and which are there promised in the Name of God to all which serve and fear him and lead a godly life whether they be Jews or Gentiles as Psa 34.15 and 37. v. 4 11. and 84.11 c. where the Promises being made in general terms to them which fear God and lead a godly life are made as well to the Gentile as to the Jew as we may gather from St. Pauls arguing from that general word Whosoever Rom. 10.11 But why are these called the mercies of David Ans Because they are so often repeated in the Book or Psalms of David and because they were made upon the particular occasion of Davids fear and trust in God and because David had had often experience of them But why are they called the sure mercies of David Ans Because they shall be certainly performed for God who hath promised them is faithful in his Word and will therefore perform them because he hath said it Note here that the Apostle Paul preaching of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead brings this as an argument to prove that God raised
of Israel but destroyed the first-born of the Egyptians 6. Turn ye to him Turn ye therefore unto him O ye inhabitants of Jerusalem From whom the children of Israel i. e. From whom the men of Judah I take Israel here for the two Tribes of Judah and Benjamin as cap. 1.3 which two Tribes go often under the name of the men of Judah because Judah was the chief of the two and they two onely of all the Tribes of Israel were faithful to the heirs of David King of Judah Have deeply revolted By forsaking him and seeking to Egypt vers 1. 7. For in that day i. e. And in that day Supple That the Assyrians shall distress you and besiege you For is put here for And. Every man shall cast away his Idol i. e. Let every man cast away his Idols He puts a future tense of the Indicative mood for an Imperative See Cap. 30. vers 22. For a sin q. d. Whereby ye have sinned against God This Particle For is a sign not of the intent but of the event 8. Then shall the Assyrian i. e. Then shall the Assyrians which besiege Jerusalem He puts the Assyrian for the Assyrians the singular for a plural number Not of a mighty man Supple But of an Angel See 2 King 19.35 Not of a mean man Supple But of a mighty Angel When he saith neither of a mighty man nor of a mean man he excludeth all sorts of men But he i. e. But Sennacherib himself King of Assyria Sennacherib was not come to Jerusalem he was coming when the Angel destroyed his Army but was no further then Nob cap. 10.32 He puts a Relative here without an Antecedent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sennacherib himself was not slain by the Angel as appears 2 King 19.36 but escaped and fled into Assyria with fear and shame enough which to a generous nature was worse then death it self From the Sword Supple Of the Angel And his young men i. e. And his Court attendance or they which wait upon him Or by his young men may be meant that part of his Army which did attend him which certainly was of the most able bodyed men though the Commanders thereof might be old and such are young men 2 Sam. 2.14 Shall be discomfited i. e. Though they brag and boast and are very lustie shall be discouraged and become so heartless as that they shall tremble and be afraid at the moving of every leaf 9. And he shall passe over to his strong hold for fear i. e. And Sennacherib himself shall run and not stay for fear till he gets to Nineveh that strong City and to the Castle of that City 2 Kings 19.36 And his Princes i. e. And his Nobles and chief Commanders of that part of his army which was with him Shall be afraid of the Ensign i. e. Shall be afraid if they do but see an Ensign thinking when they see it that some company of their enemies are nigh at hand or do pursue them Whose fire is in Sion i. e. Who hath fire in Sion wherewith to destroy the adversaries thereof or thus whose Altar is in Sion whereon the fire burneth continually to burn the Burnt-offerings which are offered to him Or thus who dwells in Sion for where a man keeps his fire there is his habitation If God have fire in Sion he will use it against the enemies of Sion if he be honored by sacrifice in Sion he will preserve Sion for his honors sake If he dwells in Sion he will not suffer the Assyrians to cast him out of his house but will defend his dwelling place In Sion i. e. In Jerusalem A Synecdoche of the part for the whole And his furnace at Jerusalem By his furnace may be understood his dwelling place by a Metaphor from such tradesmen which use a furnace in their Trade which furnace for their more convenience they have at their dwelling houses yea whatsoever is meant by fire before may be meant by the furnace here because a furnace is of no use without fire and so these may be a repetition of the former words ISAIAH CHAP. XXXII BEhold a King shall reign in righteousness By this King he meant Hezekiah King of Judah whose praises he here declareth but in a more sublime sence is meant Christ Jesus who was King of righteousness and of whom Hezekiah was a Type Note that this cohereth with the former Chapter and containeth a reason why the Lord would destroy the Assyrians namely for Hezekiahs sake See the same reason of the same thing cap. 9.6 and cap. 10.27 and cap. 11.1 Note that as the Lord did destroy the Assyrians which were the enemies of Jerusalem and delivered the Jews for Hezekiahs sake So doth the Lord destroy the spiritual enemies of his Church redeem his faithful people for Christs sake yea and through Christ In righteousness i. e. With righteousness administring Justice equally to every man And Princes By Princes he meaneth such as this King to wit Hezekiah should make Princes that is Judges and Magistrates in the Land In judgement i. e. With Justice 2. And a man c. He repeateth here what he said before and whereas he said a King before he saith a man here but meaneth the same man viz. Hezekiah As an hiding place from the wind i. e. Shall be as a place in which a man may hide himself or keep himself from the blustring wind What is meant by this we shall shew in the latter end of the Verse A covert from the tempest i. e. A covert in which a man may hide or save himself from the tempest As rivers of water in a dry place Rivers of water must needs be a great comfort to Travellers which travel in dry places where they may have the waters of those Rivers to quench their thirst withall As a shadow of a great rock in a weary Land A shadow or shady place is a great refreshing to those which travel in the Summer time in a hot scorching wilderness when they are even scorched with the heat of the Sun He mentioneth the shadow of a rock rather then of a tree because he speaks of a wilderness where there are more rocks then trees In a weary Land i. e. In an hot scorching wilderness which tireth and wearyeth those which travel in it Metonymia Effecti By all these Metaphorical expressions the Prophet meaneth that Hezekiah should right those that suffer wrong and be a great comfort to those that are afflicted in their misery 3. The eyes of them that see By them that see he meaneth Judges and Magistrates whom he called Princes vers 1. whose duty is to see and look though not upon persons yet into the Causes which are brought before them and that throughly too before they give sentence Shall not be dim Their eyes shall not be dim because they shall look acutely into the Causes which are brought before them they shall not be blinded either with ignorance or affection or
alwayes Phil. 4.4 and which the Psalmist useth I le sing unto the Lord as long as I live I will sing praise unto my God while I have my being Psal 104.33 I le call upon him as long as I live Psal 116.2 which kinde of phrases contain a Hyperbole and signifie onely frequent and often acts In the bitternesse of my soul i. e. Because of the grief of my soul which grief I have conceived from that that I have offended so gracious a God as the Lord is Note that Tò In is put here for Tò Because of for the Hebrews use this Preposition In instead of many other Prepositions Note also that bitterness is put here by a Metaphor and Metonymy of the cause joyned together for griefe because bitter things are grievous to the taster 16. By these things men live i. e. By such things as these are which thou hast done for me and promised to me many men which are never so dangerously sick and nigh unto death recover their health again and live Note here that the Hebrews have no Potentiall Mood but use an Indicative for a Potentiall and so an Indicative is here taken for a Potentiall men live for men may live and by men are understood men in any dangerous condition of life Per Synecdochen Generis And in all these things is the life of my spirit By all these things which thou hast done for me and promised me shall I certainly be revived and live who was neer unto death and therefore afflicted with grief and sorrow He puts my spirit for me a part for the whole man by a Synecdoche and a Present for a Future Tense By all these things he means the visitation whereby God did visite him in mercy by his Prophet the promise which God made to him of adding fifteen years to his dayes vers 5. the promise of delivering Jerusalem from the hand of the King of Assyria v. 6. God giving him a sign to confirme what he promised v. 7 2. His apointing a plaister of figs for his recovery v. 21. c. So wilt thou recover me q. d. As thou hast said so wilt thou recover me from my sickness 17. Behold for peace I had great bitternesse i. e. Behold for health I had a great sicknesse He puts peace for health and peace may signifie health per Synecdochen Generis for after the Hebrew manner of speaking peace signifies all prosperity and all good things under which health is contained Again peace may signifie health because in health the humors of the body rage not neither do they so disquiet a man as they do in sickness and there is a great harmony and concord between the elements and the qualities of the body in health which is not in sicknesse And he puts bitternesse for sicknesse by a Metaphor because as bitternesse is grievous to the pallat so is sicknesse to the whole body To my soul i. e. To me A part is put here for the wholeman by a Synecdoche Delivered it i. e. Delivered my soul that is delivered me From the pit of my corruption i. e. From the grave in which the dead bodies corrupt and putrifie For thou hast cast all my sinnes behind thy back i. e. For thou hast forgiven me all my sinnes In these words there is contained an elegan◠Metaphor for because we cannot see those things which are behind our backs he saith thou hast cast all my sinnes behind thy back for thou beholdest not my sinnes and those sinnes which God seeth not nor beholdes he is said to pardon See Psal 51.9 Note that in the Scripture phrase God is said to forgive a man his sinnes when he takes away any punishment from him which he either feareth or suffereth by reason of his sinnes And here because he took away that grievous sicknesse which he had inflicted upon Hezekiah for his sins he is said to cast all his sins behind his back or to forgive him all his sins See Notes Cap. 33.24 18. For the grave cannot praise thee i. e. For the dead which lye in the grave cannot praise thee He puts the grave for the dead which lye in the grave per Metonymiam Subjecti or Continentis These words shew the end or finall cause why God did forgive Hezekiah his sinnes and deliver his soul from the pit q. d. And therefore didst thou cast all my sinnes behind thy back and deliver my soul from the pit of corruption that I might praise thee for they which are dead cannot praise thee c. Death cannot celebrate thee i. e. The dead cannot celebrate thee He puts death for the dead per Metonymiam Adjuncti They that go down to the pit i. e. The dead which are carried to the grave and there buried Cannot hope for thy truth q. d. Cannot so much as hope for thy truth much lesse can they declare it and praise thee for it The truth of God is to be taken here for the goodnesse and mercy of God shewn to men But the goodnesse and mercy of God in relation to some former promise and to be performed according to that promise Hence we read goodness and truth and mercy often joyned together as Gen. 24.27 and 32.10 and Psal 115.1 why could not they which went down to the pit hope for the Lords truth Answer Because all their thoughts perished Psal 146.4 The living the living he shall praise thee q. d. But the living the living both can and shall praise thee Supple For this thy mercy which thou hast shewed me Note that this Particle He is redundant here as it is often elsewherr and that by an Hebraisme The father to the children shall make known thy truth q. d. Fathers shall make known unto their children the goodnesse and mercy which thou hast shewed to me and shall praise thee for it Thy truth i. e. Thy mercy and goodnesse which thou hast shewn to me in restoring me to my health I said that the truth of God is taken for the mercy and goodness of God but the mercy and goodnesse of God as it is shewed in relation to some former promise v. 18. To what promise therefore doth this relate Answer It relateth to that v. 5. I will adde unto thy dayes fifteen years or it may relate to that promise which God made to David 1 Kings 2.4 For by this mercy of God whereby Hezekiah was redeemed from the grave came Hezekiah to have a Son who succeeded Him in the Thron according to the promise of God made to David 20. The Lord was ready to save me q. d. When I was sick unto death the Lord was ready to save me We will sing i. e. I and my people or I and the fathers and their children v. 19. will sing My songs i. e. The songs which I have made or shall make in the praise of the Lord for his goodnesse and mercy shewed to me In the house of the Lord. i. e. In the Temple 21. For Isaiah
c. The Prophet therefore prophesying that Christ should beare sorrowes and carry griefes did by consequence prophesie that he should take away our sicknesses and diseases and all other miseries which befell us by reason of our sins And our Saviour Christ that he might assure us that it was He which should take away all our miseries and sicknesses and distresses and sinne which was the cause of all according to this Prophesie of Isaiah would give us as it were a pledge thereof in this That he healed many which were sick and cast out devils while he yet lived upon the earth And hence it is that St. Matthew used this prophesie as he did Mat. 8.16 17. But Note here that though St. Matthew had alleadged this Prophesie sufficiently to his purpose if he had taken them in the same generall Sense as the Prophet spake them yet because the words also which the Prophet useth will in a particular manner serve his purpose he useth them in a particular manner for that end and makes this the particular sense of them Himselfe took our griefes and carried our sorrowes Or Himselfe took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses As if he said Himselfe took away the Infirmities and sicknesses with which we were vexed contracting the generall Sense of the words to a particular conteined in the Generall We observed a passage not much unlike to this Cap. 9.1 To take infirmities and to beare sicknesses signifieth in St. Matthews sense to take away infirmities and sicknesses and that by a Metaphor taken from a man which when he taketh away any filth or sweepings of a House or Stable puts them in a basket and takes the basket and setteth it upon his shoulders and so beareth it away Yet we did esteeme him stricken smitten of God and afflictâ—d Supple For his own sins as though he had been some transcendent sinner whom Gods vengeance would not suffer to goe unpunished 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions q. d. But he was not smitten and afflicted for his own sins but he was wounded for our transgressions for if we had not sinned he had not been wounded He was bruised for our iniquities This is a Repetition of the former Sentence The chastisement of our peace was upon him q.d. He was chastised That is He was wounded and bruised that he might purchase our peace and make peace between God and us which were at enmity before See Ephes 2. v. 16 17. And with his stripes are we healed Supple Of our sins which are the wounds and diseases of our soule See 1 Pet. 2.24 6. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all i. e. And the Lord hath laid on him the punishment which was due to us all for our iniquities Iniquity is put here Per Metonymiam Efficientis for punishment which is the effect of iniquity The Lord is said to have laid on Christ the iniquity That is the punishment due to us all for our iniquities though he was crucified by the hands of men because they which crucified Christ and tormented him did no more then God had determined that they should do Acts 4. v. 27 28. 7. He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth This speakes the great meeknesse and patience which Christ should shew in the midst of all his sufferings Read 1 Pet. 2.23 8. He was taken from prison and from iudgement i. e. He was taken from the Prison That is from the Judgement seat Supple and was carried to Golgotha the place of execution See John 19. v. 13 14 15. We reade not that Christ was any otherwise in Prison then that he was in the custody of Souldiers sometimes in one place and sometimes in another the last in which he was thus Prisoner was at the Judgement seat Iohn 19.15 c. Wherefore I take the Conjunction And here for a note of declaration and Judgement for the Judgment seat or place where men accused were wont to be judged as Cap. 3. v. 14. And that by saying And from Judgement He declareth what he meaneth by saying from prison For who shall declare his generation i. e. And who can tell of the men of that age in which he lived To wit how wicked they were and maliciously bent against him For he was cut out of the Land of the living q.d. For though the Judge had pronounced him innocent John 18.38 And he had done no violâ—nce neither was any deceit found in his mouth yet did they put him to death For the transgression of my people was he stricken i. e. Through the transgression and wickednesse of my people was he slain for becaâ—se they were malitiously bent against him therefore did they slay him See Acts 2.23 Note that the Fathers doe for the most part understand those words And who shall declare his Generation of the eternall and divine Generation of Christ And it will agree very well with the Context if we take And for Yet and the For following for And. q.d. Yet who can declare his eternall Generation That is Yet for all this was he God eternally begotten of the Father by a divine and eternall Generation which no tongue is able to declare And he was cut out of the Land of the living c. When a man heareth such things as these are concerning Christ except he be deeply rooted in the faith of Christs divinity he will be ready to stagger at the beliefe of Christs Godhead Therefore it may be very opportune here to mention his eternall Generation and to say in the sense of the Fathers Yet who can declare his Generation 9. And he made his Grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death i. e. And when he was dead he was buried in the Vale which lay at the Foot of Golgotha where the Malefactours which were publikely pâ—t to death were wont to be buried or cast out And he was buried in the Sepulcher of Joseph of Arimathea who was a rich man Matth. 27.57 Matth. 27.70 whose Sepulcher was hewen oâ—t of a rock in a part of that Vale though remote from that particular part of that Vale where the Malefactors were either cast out or buried Adriâ—homius in his description of Hierusalem and the places adjacent maketh Golgotha where Christ suffered a Mount And in one part of the Valley which lieth at the foot of that Mount He saith The Malefactors which were put to death on Golgotha the place of publike execution were either cast out or buried And in another part thereof he placeth the Sepulcher in which our Saviour was buried So that Christ may be said to be buried with the wicked in that he was buried in the same Vale in which the Malefactors were buried though he was not buried just in that place of the Valley in which they were buried And he may be said to be buried with the rich because he was buried in the Sepulcher of Joseph of Arimathea who was