and Bizjothjah 29 Baalah and lim and Azem 30 And Eltolad and Chesil and Hormah 31 And Ziklag and Madmannah and Sansannah 32 And Lebaoth and Shilhim and Ain and Rimmon all the cities are twenty and nine r Obj. Here are 37 or 38 Cities named before how then are they only reckoned 29 Ans. There were only 29 of them which either 1. Properly belonged to Iudah the rest fell to Simeons Lot or 2. Were Cities properly so called i. e. walled Cities or such as had Villages under them as it here follows the rest being great but unwalled Towns or such as had no Villages under them with their villages 33 And in the vale Eshtaol and Zoreah and Ashnah 34 And Zanoah and Engannim Tappuah and Enam 35 Jarmuth and Adullam Socoh and Azekah 36 And Sharaim and Adithaim and Gederah * Or or and Gederothaim fourteen cities s Obj. There are 15 numbred Ans. Either one of them was no City strictly called or Gederah and Gederothaim is put for Gederah or Gederothaim so called possibly because the City was double as there want not instances of one City divided into two parts called the old and the new City So the conjunction and is put for the disjunctive or whereof examples have been given before with their villages 37 Zenan and Hedashah and Migdal-gad 38 And Dilean and Mizpeh and Joktheel 39 Lachish and Bozkath and Eglon 40 And Cabbon and Lahmas and Kithlish 41 And Gederoth Beth-dagon and Naamah and Makkedah sixteen cities with their villages 42 Libnah t Heb. Libnah See Ios. 10. 29. and Ether and Ashan 43 And Jiphta and Ashnah and Nezib 44 And Keilah and Achzib and Mareshah nine cities with their villages 45 Ekron u Here and in the following Verses are contained all the Cities of the Philistines among which are Gath and Askelon which peradventure are here omitted because they were not at this time places of such Power and Eminency as afterwards they were but were the Daughters of some of these following Cities though afterwards the Daughter might overtop the Mother as is usual with her †Towns x Heb. Her Daughters i. e. lesser Cities or great Towns subject to Ekrons Jurisdiction and her villages ‡ Heb. Daughters Numb 21. 25. y i. e. Lesser Towns or Hamlets 46 From Ekron even unto the sea all that lay †near Ashdod with their villages ‡ Heb. by the place of 47 Ashdod with her †towns and her villages Gaza with her * Heb. Daughters * Heb. Daughters towns and her villages unto the river of Egypt and the great sea and the border thereof z i. e. The Sea-Coast and all other Cities Towns and Villages upon it 48 ¶ And in the mountains a i. e. In the higher grounds called Mountains or Hills in comparison of the Sea-Coast Shamir and Jattir and Socoh 49 And Dannah and Kirjath-sannah which is Debir b Which also is called Kiriath-sepher above v. 15. So this City had three Names 50 And Anab and Eshâ—…emoh and Anim 51 And Goshen c See Ios. 10. 41. and Holon and Giloh eleven cities with their villages 52 Arab and Dumah and Eshean 53 And * Janum and Beth-tappuah and 〈◊〉 Janus Aphekah 54 And Humtah and * Chap. 14. 15. Kirjath-arba which is Hebron and Zior nine cities with their villages 55 Maon d Of which see 1 Sam. 23. 25. and 25. 2. Carmel e Nabals Country 1 Sam. 25. and Ziph f Which gave its name to the Neighbouring Mountain 1 Sam. 26. 1. and Juttah 56 And Jezreel and Jokdeam and Zanoah 57 Cain Gibeah and Timnah ten cities with their villages 58 Halhul Bethzur and Gedor 59 And Maarath and Beth-anoth and Eltekon six cities with their villages 60 Kirjath-baal which is Kirjath-jearim and Rabbah two cities with their villages 61 ¶ In the wilderness g So the Hebrews call places either uninhabited by men or having but few Inhabitants Beth-arabah Middin and Secaâ—…ah 62 And Nibshan and the city of salt h So called either from the Salt Sea which was near it or from the Salt which was made in it or about it and Engedi six cities with their villages 63 As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jeruâ—…em i For though Ierusalem was in part taken by Ioshua before this yet the upper and stronger part of it called Zion was still kept by the Iebusites even until Davids time and it seems from thence they descended to the lower Town called Ierusalem and took it so that the Israelites were forced to win it a second time yea and a third time also for afterwards it was possessed by the Iebusites Iudg. 19. 11. 2 Sam. 5. 6 7. the children of Judah could not drive them out k Namely because of their unbelief as Christ could do no mighty work because of the peoples unbelief Mark 6. 5 6. Mat. 13. 58. and because of their Sloth and Cowardise and Wickedness whereby they forfeited Gods help and then they must needs be imporent but this inability was wilful and brought upon them by themselves but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem l The same things which are here said of the children of Iudah are said of the Benjamites Iudg. 1. 21. Hence ariseth a question To which of the Tribes Ierusalem belonged whether to Benjamin as is gathered from Gen. 49. 27. Deut. 33. 12. Ier. 6. 1. or to Iudah as is implied here and Psal. 78. 68 69. Some think that being in the Borders of both it was common to both and promiscuously inhabited by both and it is certain that after the Captivity it was possessed by both Neh. 11. 4. But for the present though it did belong to Benjamin yet the Children of Iudah being possibly very active in the first taking of it by Ioshua as they certainly were after his Death Iudg. 1. 8. they might thereby get some right to share with the Benjamites in the Possession of it It seems most probable that part of it and indeed the greatest part and main body of it stood in the Tribe of Benjamin and hence this is mentioned in the List of their Cities and not in Iudah's List and part of it stood in Iudah's share even Mount Moriah on which the Temple was built and Mount Sion when it was taken from the Iebusites unto this day m When this Book was written whether in Ioshuah's Life and Old Age which continued many years after the taking of Ierusalem or after his Death when this Clause was added here and elsewhere in this Book by some other man of God which must needs be done before Davids time when the Iebusites were quite expelled and their Fort taken CHAP. XVI AND the lot of the children of Joseph a i. e. Of Ephraim and the half Tribe of Manasseh which are here put together in one not because they had but one Lot for
womb is his reward o Not a reward of debt merited by good men but a reward of grace of which we read Rom. 4. 4. which God gives them graciously as Iacob acknowledgeth of his children Gen. 33. 5. And although God give children and other outward comforts to ungodly men in the way of common providence yet he gives them onely to his people as favours and in the way of promise and covenant 4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man p When they are shot out of a bow by a man of great strength against his enemy which are of great use and power both to offend the enemy and to defend himself so are children of the youth q Children begotten in youth as an husband or wife married in their youth are called an husband or wife of youth Prov. 5. 18. Isa. 54. 6. Ioel. 1. 8. and as a son begotten in old age is called a son of old age Gen. 37. 3. And these he prefers before other children in this point partly because such are commonly more strong and vigorous than others and partly because they live longest with their parents and to their comfort and support whereas children born in old age seldom come to any maturity of years before their parents death 5 Happy is the man that †Heb. hath filled his quiver with them hath his quiver full of them r Who hath a numerous issue which as it is a great blessing in it self so Solomons want of it made it more valuable in his eyes they shall not be ashamed s Such parents fear not the reproach of barrenness which was grievous especially among the Jews of which see Luke 1. 25. nor any other shame from their enemies but they ‖ Or shall subdâ—… as Psal. 18. 47. or destroy shall speak with the enemies in the gate t They shall couragiously plead their cause in Courts of Judicature which were in the gates Deut. 21. 19. 25. 7. not fearing to be crushed by the might of their adversaries as weak and helpless persons frequently are PSAL. CXXVIII A song of degrees This Psalm contains a description of the blessedness of good men 1 BLessed is every one that feareth the LORD that walketh in his ways 2 * Isai. 3. 10. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands a Thy labour shall not be vain and fruitless and the fruit of thy labours shall not be taken away from thee and possessed by others as God threatned to the disobedient Deut. 28. but enjoyed by thy self with comfort and satisfaction happy shalt thou be and it shall be well with thee b Both in this world and in the world to come as even the Chaldee Paraphrast explains these words 3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine c Like the vine for fruitfulness or like that sort of vines known by this name for its eminent fruitfulness as some trees amongst us are for the same reason called the great bearers by the sides of thine house d Where the vines are commonly planted for support and other advantages Which being applied to the wife may signifie either 1. the wife's duty to abide at home Tit. 2. 5. as the harlot is deciphered by her gadding abroad Prov. 7. 11 12. or rather 2. the legitimateness of the children which are begotten at home by the husband and not abroad by strangers thy children like olive-plants e Numerous growing and flourishing good both for ornament and manifold uses as Olive-trees are round about thy table f Where they shall sit at meat with thee for thy comfort and safety 4 Behold that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD 5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion g From the Ark in Zion and with those spiritual and everlasting blessings which are to be had no where but in Zion and from the God who dwelleth in Zion and with all other mercies which thou shalt ask of God in Zion and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem h The prosperity of that City to which thou belongest and which is the onely seat of Gods special presence and of his Worship whose felicity therefore is very delightful to every good man and upon whose peace the peace and safety of every member of it depends as every seaman is concerned in the safety of the ship in which he is all the days of thy life 6 Yea thou shalt see thy childrens children and * Psal. 125. 5. peace upon Israel i Not onely upon Ierusalem and the parts adjacent but upon all the Tribes and people of Israel PSAL. CXXIX A song of degrees This Psalm contains a joyful and thankful remembrance of the Churches former and manifold calamities from barbarous enemies and of Gods wonderful mercy in delivering them out of their hands 1 ‖ Or much MAny a time have they a Mine enemies or oppressors which is easily understood both from the nature of the thing and from v. 3. where they are expressed under the name of plowers afflicted me from my youth b From the time that I was a people when I was in Egypt and came out of it which is called the time of Israels youth Ier. 2. 2. Ezek. 23. 3. may * Psal. 124. 1. Israel now say 2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth yet they have not prevailed against me 3 The plowers plowed upon my back c They have not onely thrown me down and trod me under foot but have cruelly tormented me wounded and mangled me and had no more pity upon me than the plowman hath upon the earth which he cuts up at his pleasure He saith upon my back either because they did literally scourge the Captives upon their backs with such cords as are mentioned v. 4. although we do not read that the Israelitish Captives were thus used by any of their enemies or by way of allusion to that usage which made a sort of furrows in their backs upon which they used to lay on their strokes they made long their furrows d They oft repeated their injuries and prolonged my torments 4 The LORD is righteous e Faithful or merciful as that word is frequently used he hath cut asunder the * Psal. 140. 5. cords f Wherewith the plow was drawn by which means they were stopped in their course So he persists in the same Metaphor of a plough By these cords he understands all their plots and endeavours of the wicked 5 Let them all be confounded and turned back g Forced to retreat with shame and disappointment that hate Zion 6 Let them be as the grass upon the house-tops h Which there were flat and therefore more capable of grass or green corn growing between the stones than ours are which withereth afore it groweth up i Which having no deep root never comes to maturity
they have imagined to do 7. Go to let us m i. e. The blessed Trinity See Gen. 1. 26. go down and there confound their Language n By making them forget their former Language and by putting into their minds several Languages not a distinct Language into each person but into each Family or rather into each Nation that they may not †Heb. hear understand one anothers speech o And thereby be disenabled from that mutual commerce which was altogether necessary for the carrying on of that work 8. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the Earth p Thus they brought upon themselves the very thing they seared and that more speedily and more mischievously to themselves For now they were not only divided in place but in Language too and so were unfitted for those Consederacies and Correspondencies which they mainly designed and for the mutual Comfort and Help of one another which otherwise they might in good measure have enjoyed And they left off to build the City 9. Therefore is the Name of it called ‖ That is confusion Babel because the LORD did there confound the Language of all the Earth and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the Earth 10. * Chap. 10. 32. 1 Chron. 1. 17. These are the Generations of Shem q Not all of them as appears both from the next verse and from the former Chapter but of those who were the seminary of the Church and the Progenitors of Christ. Shem was an hundred years old and begat Arphaxad two years after the Flood 11. And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years r So that he lived almost all the time of Abraham which was a singular blessing both to himself who hereby saw his Children of the tenth Generation and to the Church of God which by this means enjoyed the Counsel and Conduct of so great a Patriarch and begat Sons and Daughters 12. And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years and begat Salah 13. And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years and begat Sons and Daughters 14. And Salah lived thirty years and begat Eber. 15. And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years and begat Sons and Daughters 16. * 1 Chro. 1. 19. And Eber lived four and thirty years and begat * called Luk. 3. 35. Phalec Peleg 17. And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years s So that he was the longest liv'd of all the Patriarchs which were born after the Flood and begat Sons and Daughters 18. And Peleg lived thirty years and begat Reu. 19. And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years and begat Sons and Daughters 20. And Reu lived two and thirty years and begat * Luk 3. 35. Saruch Serug 21. And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years and begat Sons and Daughters 22. And Serug lived thirty years and begat Nahor 23. And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years and begat Sons and Daughters 24. And Nahor t The first Patriarch who fell to Idolatry lived nine and twenty years and begat * Luk. 3. 34. Thara Terah 25. And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years and begat Sons and Daughters 26. And Terah lived seventy years and * Josh. 24. 2. 1 Chro. 1. 26. begat u i. e. Began to beget as Gen. 5. 32 Abram x Who is first named in order of Dignity for which cause Shem is put before Ham and Iapheth and Moses before Aaron not in order of time which seems to be this Haran probably was the eldest because Nahor married his Daughters Nahor the second and Abram certainly was the youngest because Terah Abrams Father lived two hundred and five years ver 32. and Abram after his Fathers Death Acts 7. 4. went out of Haran when he was seventy five years old Gen. 12. 4 5. therefore he was not begotten in Terahs seventieth year when Terah began to beget his Sons as here is said but in his one hundred and thirtieth year and so there remains seventy five years precisely to Abrams departure And Sarai Harans Daughter was but ten years younger than Abram Gen. 17. 17. and therefore Haran was Abrams Elder Brother Nahor and Haran 27. Now these are the Generations of Terah Terah begat Abram Nahor and Haran And Haran begat Lot 28. And Haran died before his Father Terah y i. e. In the presence and during the Life of his Father in the Land of his Nativity in Ur of the Caldees 29. And Abram and Nahor took them Wives The Name of Abrams Wife was Sarai and the Name of Nahors Wife Milcah the Daughter of Haran z Such Marriages of Uncles and Nieces being permitted then Exod. 6. 20. as in the beginning of the World the Marriages of Brethren and Sisters were though afterwards the Church being very much enlarged they were severely forbidden Levit 18. 12 14. the Father of Milcah and the Father of Iscah a Who is either Sarai as the Jews and many others think or rather another person For 1. Why should Moses express Sarai thus darkly and doubtfully Had he meant her he would have added after Iscah this is Sarai according to his manner in like cases Gen. 14. 2 7. and 35. 6. He elsewhere calleth her the Daughter not of his Brother as he should have done had she been Iscah but of his Father by another Mother 30. But Sarai was barren she had no child b See Gen. 16. 1 2. and 18. 11 12. 31. And Terah took Abram his Son c See Ios. 24. 2. Nehem. 9. 7. 1 Chron. 1. 26. Being informed by his Son of the command of God he did not despise it because it came to him by the hands of his inferiour but chearfully obeyeth it and therefore he is so honourably mentioned as the Head and Governour of the Action and Lot the Son of Haran his sons son and Sarai his daughter in law his Son Abrams wife and they went forth with them †i. e. Terab and Abram went with Lot and Sarâ—…i as their Heads and Guides from * Neh. 9. 7. Act. 7. 4. Ur of the Caldees to go into the Land of Canaan and they came unto Haran d Called Charran Act. 7. 4. and by the Romans Carrae a place in Mesopotamia strictly so called in the way to Canaan and near to it well known by Crassus his defeat there See Gen. 24. 10. and 28. 10. and 29. 4. and dwelt e Or rested or abode being detained there for a season peradventure by Terab's disease which begun there for the next verse tells us of his death there 32. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years and Terah died in Haran CHAP. XII 1.
†Heb. and the Lord said c. NOW the * Act. 7. 3. LORD had said a To wit in Ur of the Chaldees by comparing Gen. 11. 31. with Act. 7. 3 4. or did say again i. e. renewed the command in Haran whilest Abram might possibly linger there as afterwards Lot did in Sodom longer than he should But the former interpretation is more probable because Moses speaks here of that command of God which came to Abram before he was gone from his kindred and fathers house and therefore before he came to Haran And this command was given to Abram either immediately or by Sem then the Governour of God's Church unto Abram Get thee out of thy countrey * Chap. 31. 3. and from thy kindred and from thy fathers house b From the Family of Nachor which was now become idolatrous Gen. 31. 30. Ios. 24. 2. and consequently their society was dangerous and pernicious and therefore God mercifully snatcheth him as a brand out of the Fire unto a land that I will shew thee c Which as yet he nameth not for the greater tryal and exercise of Abrams faith and patience Compare Isa. 41. 2. Heb. 11. 8. 2. And I will †Heb. make thee a great Nation make of thee a great Nation and I will bless thee d With all my blessings spiritual temporal and eternal See Deut. 7 13. and 28. 2 c. and Eph. 1. 3. and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing e i. e. Both a pattern and an instrument of blessedness to others to thy posterity who shall be blessed for thy sake to thy Servants and Friends who shall be blessed by thy instruction and help and to all the world as it follows 3. And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee f Those that are Friends or Enemies to thee shall be the same to me A marvellous condescension and priviledge * Chap. 18. 18. and 22. 18. Acts 3. 25. Gal. 3. 8. and in thee g i. e. In thy seed as it is explained Gen. 22. 18. and 26. 4. and 28. 24. i. e. in and through Christ Act. 3. 25. Gal. 3. 9 16 28 29. or for thee as the Chaldee hath it i. e. for thy sake or by thee i. e. by thy means or with thee by comparing this with Gal. 3. 8 9. i. e. in the same way and manner in which thou art blessed that is by a fruitful Faith Compare Rom. 4. 11 12 16. shall all families h i. e. All Nations which is to be limited to the Believers of all Nations by the whole current of the Scriptures All that shall be blessed shall be blessed by this means and no other way of the Earth be blessed â—… 4. So Abram departed k First from Ur and after his Fathers death from Haran as the Lord had spoken unto him and Lot went with him and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran 5. And Abram took Sarai his Wife and Lot his Brothers Son and all their substance that they had gathered and the souls l i. e. The persons as the word Souls is oft used as Gen. 14. 21. and 17. 4. Exod. 12. 15. Levit. 2. 1. Numb 23. 10. Deut. 24. 7. Mark 3. 4 c. that they had gotten m Heb. made i. e. either 1. begotten for though Abram had yet no Children Lot had and both their servants had Children by their fellow-servants born in their house which might well be numbred among Abrams and Lots persons because they had an absolute dominion over them Or 2. Instructed i. e. turned from Idolatry and taught in the true Religion as the Chaldee expounds it for such were most proper for Abram to take along with him out of his Fathers house in this expedition Or 3. Gotten i. e. procured either by conquest or purchase or any other lawful and usual way in Haran and they went forth to go into the Land of Canaan and into the Land of Canaan they came 6. And Abram passed through the Land unto the place of Sichem n Heb. Sechem a place afterwards so called in the Mountains of Ephraim Ios. 21. 21. Iudg. 8. 31. and here so called by anticipation unto the plain of Moreh And the Canaanite o Properly so called that cursed cruel impious and idolatrous Nation See Zach. 14. 21. This is added as an aggravation of Abrams faith and obedience that he durst and did profess the true Religion in the midst of such a people which could not be without great danger both of his Estate and Life was then in the Land p As a settled inhabitant to continue there for a long time whereas now in Moses his time he was forthwith to be expelled out of it 7. And the LORD appeared unto Abram q To encourage and comfort him against his wicked neighbours and said * Chap. 13. 15. Unto thy seed will I give this Land r See Geâ—… 13. 15. and 15. 18. and 17. 8. and 24. 7. Deut. 34. 4. and there built he an * Chap. 13. 4. altar s A place for Sacrifice and other parts of Divine Worship erected by him both to keep his Family in the true Religion and to separate himself and them from that idolatrous neighbourhood unto the LORD who appeared unto him 8. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the East of Beth-el t A known place which afterwards was called Beth-el but now Luz Gen. 2â—… 19. An usual prolepsis or anticipation as before v. 6. and pitched his tent having Beth-el on the West u Or On the Sea which is all one because the Sea was on the West part of the Land See Gen. 13. 14. and 28. 14. Num. 3. 23. Deut. 3. 27. and Hai x or Ai as it is called Ios. 7. 2. Ier. 49. 3. Isa. 10. 28. on the East and there he built an altar unto the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD 9. And Abram journeyed y Removing from place to place still hoping to meet with better Neighbours and to free himself from that perpetual vexation which he had in beholding their wickedness †Heb. in going and journeying going on still towards the South z i. e. the Southern part of the Land of Canaan towards Egypt 10. And there was a Famine in the Land a Or In that Land of Canaan a Land eminently fruitful Deut. 8. 7 8. This was partly to punish that peoples sins Psal. 107. 34. partly to try Abrams faith and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there for the famine was grievous in the Land 11. And it came to pass when he was come near to enter into Egypt that he said unto Sarai his Wife Behold now I know that thou art a fair Woman to look upon b Qu. How could she
little unkindness which we expressed to thee Or it may be a wish if thou makest this covenant with us be thou now the blessed of the Lord we heartily wish thy blessings and prosperity may increase 30 And he made them a feast and they did eat and drink 31 And they arose up betimes in the morning x Partly for the dispatch of their journey and business and partly because then their minds were most vigorous and sober and fit to perform so sacred an action as an oath was and sware one to another and Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace 32 And it came to pass the same day that Isaacs servants came and told him concerning the well which they had digged and said unto him We have found water 33 And he called it ‖ That is an oath Sheba therefore the name of the City is ‖ That is the well of the oath Beer-sheba y This name had been given before either to this or a neighbouring place by Abraham Gen. 21. 31. But was now buried in oblivion as his wells were and the wells being revived he revives and renews the name which proved now a lasting name unto this day as here follows which is not added Gen. 21. 31. because then the name though given by Abraham was soon forgotten and neglected by others unto this day 34. And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite z Both Hittites the worst of the Canaanites Ezek. 16. 3. Which from his Grand-father Abrahams severe charge Gen. 24. 3. he must needs know would be highly displeasing both to God and to his Parents And as Esau had several names being called also Edom and Seir so it seems these women and their Parents had by comparing this with Gen. 36. 2. which was usual in those times and places Or Esau had more Wives then these 35 Which * chap. 27. 46. were †Heb. bitterness of spirit a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah a Because to their Idolatry and other wickedness they added obstinacy and incorrigibleness despising their persons and godly counsels whereby they invited them to Repentance CHAP. XXVII 1 AND it came to pass that when Isaac was old a About one hundred and thirty seven years old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see b Which was ordered by Gods wise providence not onely for the exercise of Isaacs patience but also as a means to transfer Esaus right to Iacob he called Esau his eldest son and said unto him My son And he said unto him Behold here am I. 2 And he said Behold now I am old I know not the day of my death 3 Now therefore take I pray thee thy weapons thy quiver †Or As the 〈◊〉 and Hebrew Doctors render it thy Sword a weapon no less necessary for an hunter of Beasts than a Bow and thy bowe and go out to the field and †Heb. 〈◊〉 take me some venison 4 And make me favoury meat such as I love and bring it to me that I may eat c Quest. Why doth he require this before he bless him Answ. 1. That being refreshed and delighted therewith his Spirit might be more chearful and so the fitter for the giving of this prophetical benediction for which reason also the Prophet Eliha called for a minstrel ere he could utter his Prophesie 2 Kings 3. 15. 2. By the special direction of Divine providence that Esaus absence might give Iacob the advantage of getting the blessing that my soul may bless thee d He speaks not here of a common and customary blessing which Parents may bestow upon any of their Children as and when they please but of the last solemn extraordinary and prophetical benediction whereby these holy Patriarchs did by Gods appointment and with his concurrence constitute one of their sons heir not onely of their inheritance but of Abrahams covenant and all the promises both temporal and spiritual belonging to it As for the oracle delivered to Rebecca which transferred this blessing upon Iacob chap. 25 23. either Isaac knew not of it not being sufficiently informed thereof by Rebecca or he did not throughly understand it or he might apprehend that it was to be accomplished not in the persons of Esau and Iacob but in their posterity or at this time it was quite out of his mind or he was induced to neglect it through his passionate affection to his son Esau. before I die 5 And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son and Esau went to the field to hunt for venison and to bring it 6 And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son saying Behold I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother saying 7 Bring me venison and make me savoury meat that I may eat and bless thee before the LORD e Solemnly as in Gods presence in his name and by his Authority and with his leave and favour which I shall heartily pray for thee So he signifies that this was more than an ordinary blessing which he now intended to give him before my death 8 Now therefore my son obey my voice according to that which I command thee 9 Go now to the flock and fetch me from thence two good Kids of the goats f It is observable that as Iacob deceived his Father by a Kid so his Sons deceived him by the same Creature Gen. 37. 31 32 33. and I will make them savoury meat g Out of their most tender and delicate parts Wherewith it was not difficult to deceive Isaac partly because of the likeness of the flesh especially being altered by convenient sawce and partly because the same old age which had dimmed Isaacs sight had also dulled his other senses for thy Father such as he loveth 10 And thou shalt bring it to thy father that he may eat and that he may bless thee before his death 11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother Behold Esau my brother is an hairy man and I am a smooth man 12 My father peradventure will feel me and I shall seem to him as a deceiver g I shall appear to him to be indeed a deceiver one that abuseth his age and blindness The particle as sometimes signifies not the likeness but the truth of the thing Ioâ—…n 1. 14. 2 Corthians 3. 18. and I shall bring a curse upon me h Which is due to every one that deceiveth the blind Deut. 27. 18. especially his Father and especially in a religious concern Ier. 48. 10. Mal. 1. 14. such as this was and not a blessing 13 And his mother said unto him Upon me be thy curse i She saith so out of an assured confidence in the Divine oracle and promise my son onely obey my voice and go fetch me them 14 And he went and fetched and brought
forty years with the wonderful raising up of Moses who together with Aaron were to be instruments of their deliverance and accordingly after the inflicting ten dreadful Plagues upon Pharaoh brought them into the Wilderness through the Red Sea wherein Pharaoh his heart being hardned under all these Plagues and all his host pursuing of them were drowned God having first instituted the Passeover as an abiding Sacrament to bring to their remembrance in after times this great deliverance In their conduct through the Wilderness God gave them the signal mark of his presence in the pillar of a Cloud and the pillar of fire who notwithstanding their great and reiterated murmurings gave them food both bread and flesh from Heaven and drink out of the rock and when they were come to mount Sinai he there gave them the Moral Law beside other both Politick and Ecclesiastical Ordinances Afterwards the breaking of the Tables being occasioned by the Idolatry of the golden Calf God graciously renewed his Covenant with them There being also a Tabernacle and Ark and other things to be made by God's command the bounty of the People in order to the making and furnishing thereof is here set down which being finished the Tabernacle is anointed and filled with the glory of God CHAP. I. 1 NOW these are the names of the * Gen. 46. 8. Exod. 6. 14. children of Israel which came into Egypt a This list is here repeated that by comparing this small root with so vast a company of branches as grew upon it we may see the wonderful Providence of God in the fulfilling of his promises every man and his houshold b His Children and Grandchildren as the word house is taken Ruth 4. 11. 2 Sam. 7. 11. 1 King 21. 29. came with Jacob. 2 Reuben Simeon Levi and Judah 3 Issachar Zebulun and Benjamin c Who though the youngest of all is placed before Dan Naphtali c. because these were the Sons of the handmaidens 4 Dan and Naphtali Gad and Asher 5 And all the souls that came out of the †Heb. thigh loyns of Jacob were * Gen. 46. 27. seventy souls d Including Iacob and Ioseph and his two Sons See Gen. 46. 26 27. and Deut. 10. 22. Or if they were but sixty nine they are called seventy by a round number of which we shall have many instances for Joseph was in Egypt already 6 And Joseph died and all his brethren and all that generation e i. e. All that were of the same age with Ioseph and his brethren 7 * Act. 7. 17. And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied f Here are many words and some very emphatical to express their incredible multiplication and waxed exceeding mighty g This may relate either to their numbers which greatly added to their strength or to their constitution to note that their off-spring was strong as well as numerous Atheistical wits cavil at this story and pretend it impossible that out of seventy persons should come above six hundred thousand men within two hundred and fifteen years Wherein they betray no less ignorance than impiety For to say nothing of the extraordinary fruitfulness of the Women in Egypt who oft bring forth four or five Children at one birth as Aristot. notes Hist. animal 7. 4. nor of the long lives of the men of that age nor of the plurality of Wives then much in use nor of the singular blessing of God upon the Hebrews in giving them Conceptions and Births without Abortion All which are but very reasonable suppositions the probability of it may plainly appear thus suppose there were only 200 years reckoned and onely fifty persons who did beget Children and these begin not to beget before they be twenty years old and then each of them beget onely three Children Divide this time now into ten times twenty years In the first time of 50 come 150. In the second of 150 come 450. Of them in the third come 1350. Of them in the fourth 4050. Of these in the fifth 12150. Of these in the sixth 36450. Of them in the seventh 109350. Of them in the eighth 328050. Of theâ—… in the ninth 984150. And of them in the tenth 2952450. It it be objected that we read nothing of their great multipâ—…tion till after Iosephs death which some say was not above 50 years before their going out of Egypt it may easily be replyed 1. This is a great mistake for there were above 140 years between Iosephs death and their going out of Egypt as may appear thus It is granted that the Israelites were in Egypt about 210 or 215 years in all They came not thither till Ioseph was near 40 years old as is evident by comparing Gen. 41. 46. with Gen. 45. 6. So there rests onely 70 years of Iosephs Life which are the first part of the time of Israels dwelling in Egypt and there remain 145 years being the other part of the 215 years 2. That the Israelites did multiply much before Iosephs death though Scripture be silent in it as it is of many other passages confessedly true cannot be reasonably doubted But if there was any defect in the numbers proposed in the first 55 years it might be abundantly compensated in the 145 years succeeding And so the computation remains good and the land was filled with them 8 Now there arose up a new King g i. e. Another King one of another disposition or interest or Family for the Kingdom of Egypt did oft pass from one Family to another as appears from the History of the Dynaâ—…es recorded in antient writers over Egypt which knew h Or acknowledged not the vast obligations which Ioseph had laid not onely upon the Kingdoms of Egypt and the King under whom Ioseph lived but upon all his Successors in regard of those vast additions of wealth and power which he had made to that crown This phrase notes his ungrateful disowning and ill requiting of Iosephs favours For words of knowledge in Scripture commonly include the affections and actions as men are oft said not to know God when they do not love nor serve him and God is said not to know men when he doth not love them not Joseph 9 And he said unto his people * Psal. 105. 24. Behold the people of the children of Israel are moe and mightier than we i This was not a true but an invidious representation and aggravation of the matter the better to justifie the severities which he designed 10 Come on * Act. 7. 19. let us deal wisely with them lest they multiply and it come to pass that when there falleth out any war k Which was not unusual in that countrey they joyn also unto our enemies and fight against us and so get them up out of the land l Which they might easily learn from some of the Hebrews that they were in
wanting of far more large and capacious Buildings than this that have been supported only by one Pillar Particularly Pliny in the 15th Chapter of the 36th Book of his Natural History mentions two Theaters built by one C. Curio who lived in Iulius Cesar's time each of which was supported only by one Pillar or Pin or Hinge though very many thousands of People did sit in it together And much more might Two Pillars suffice to uphold a Building large enough to contain Three thousand persons which is the number mentioned v. 17. Or the Pillars might be made Two in the lower part meerly for Ornament-sake which might easily be so ordered as to support a Third and Main Pillar in the Middle which upheld the whole Fabrick 30 And Samson said Let ‡ Heb. my soul me die with the Philistines r i. e. I am contented to Die so I can but therewith contribute any thing to the Vindication of Gods Glory here trampled upon and to the Deliverance of Gods People This is no example nor encouragement to those that wickedly Murder themselves for Sampson did not desire nor procure his own Death voluntarily but only by meer force and necessity because he did desire and by his Office was obliged to seek the destruction of these Enemies and Blasphemers of God and Oppressors of his People which in these circumstances he could not Effect without his own Death and his Case was not much unlike theirs that in the heaâ—… of Battel run upon the very mouth of the Canon or other evident and certain danger of Deatâ—… to execute a design upon the Enemy or theirs who go in a Fire-ship to destroy the Enemies best Ships though they are sure to Perish in the Enterprize Moreover Sampson did this by Divine Instinct and Approbation as Gods Answer to his Prayer manifests and that he might be a Type of Christ who by voluntarily undergoing Death destroyed the Enemies of God and of his People and he bowed himself with all his might and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were therein so the dead which he slew at his death were moe than they which he slew in his life 31 Then his brethren s Either First Largely so called his kinsmen Or Secondly strictly â—…o called Sampson's Parents having had other Children after him as it was usual with God when he gave an extraordinary and unexpected Power of procreating a Child to continue that strength for the Generation or Conception of more Children as in the case of Abraham Gen. 25. 1 2. and Anna 1 Sam. 2. 21. and all the house of his father came down and took him and brought him up and buried him t Which they adventured to do partly because the most barbarous Nations allowed Burial even to their Enemies and would permit this oft-times to be done by their friends partly because Sampson had taken the blame of this Action wholly to himself for which his innocent Relations could not upon any pretence be Punished and principally because they were under such grief and perplexity and consternation for the common Calamity that they had neither heart nor leisure to Revenge themselves of the Israelites but for their own sakes were willing not to disquiet or offend them at least till they were in a better posture to resist them between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying-place of Manoah his father and he judged Israel twenty years t This was said before Iudg. 15. 20. and is here repeated partly to confirm the Relation of it and partly to explain it and to shew when these Twenty years ended even at his Death as is here Noted CHAP. XVII AND there was a man a The things mentioned here and in the following Chapters did not happen in the order in which they are put but much sooner even presently after the Death of the Elders that over-lived Ioshua Iudg. 2. 7. as appears by divers passages as First because the place called Mahaneh-Dan or the camp of Dan Iudg. 13. 25. was so called from that which was done Iudg. 18. 12. Secondly Because the Danites had not yet got all their Inheritance Iudg. 18. 1. which is not credible of them above 300 Years after Ioshuah's Death Thirdly because Phinehas the son of Eleazar was Priest at this time Iudg. 20. 28. who must have been about 350 years old if this had been done after Sampson's Death which is more than improbable of mount Ephraim whose name was ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Micah 2 And he said unto his mother The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee about which thou cursedst b i. e. Didst Curse the Person who had taken them away and that in my hearing as it follows and spakest of also in mine ears behold the silver is with me I took it c The fear of thy Curse makes me acknowledge mine Offence and beg thy Pardon And his mother said Blessed be thou of the LORD d I willingly consent to and beg from God the removal of the Curse and a Blessing instead of it Be thou free from my Curse because thou hast so honestly restored it my son 3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother his mother said I had wholly ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 fied dedicated the silver unto the LORD e In the Hebrew it is Iehovah the incommunicable name of God Whereby it is apparent that neither she nor her Son intended to forsake the true God or his Worship as appears from his rejoycing when he had got a Priest of the Lords appointment of the Tribe of Levi Iudg. 17. 13. but onely to Worship God by an Image which also it is apparent that both the Israelites Exod. 32. 1 c. and Ieroboam afterwards designed to do from my hand for my son f Either First for the honour and benefit of thy self and Family that you need not be continually going to Shiloh to Worship but may do it as well at home by these Images Or Secondly that thou mayest cause these things to be made to which end she restored all the Money to him as it here follows to make a graven image and a molten image g Many think this was but one Image partly Graven and partly Molten But it seems more probable that they were two distinct Images because they are so plainly distinguished Iudg. 18. 17 18. where also some other words come between them It is true the graven image alone is mentioned Iudg. 18. 20 30 31. not exclusively to the other as appears from what is said just before but by a common Synecdoche whereby one is put for all especially where that one is esteemed the chief now therefore I will restore it unto thee h To dispose of as I say 4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother i Though his Mother allowed him to keep it yet he persisted in his resolution
Prophet q Because he did discern and could discover things secret and unknown to others And these are the words Either First Of some later Sacred Writer which after Samuel's Death inserted this Verse Or Secondly Of Samuel who being probably 50 or 60 Years Old at the Writing of this Book and speaking of the state of things in his first Days might well call it before-time Or rather Thirdly Of Saul's Servant who might be now stricken in Years and might speak this either by his knowledge of what was in his Juvenile Years or upon the Information of his Father or Ancestors And so it is a fit Argument to perswade Saul to go to the Man of God that he might shew them their way and where the Asses were because he was likely to inform them for the Prophets were Anciently called Seers because they knew and could reveal hidden things And the meaning is that Anciently they were not Vulgarly called Prophets but Seers only whereas now and afterwards they were called Seers yet they were more commonly called Prophets was before time called a Seer r. 10 Then said Saul to his servant ‡ Heb. thy word is 〈◊〉 Well said come let us go so they went unto the city where the man of God was 11 ¶ And as they went up ‡ Heb. the ascent of 〈◊〉 city the hill to the city they found young maidens going out r i. e. Out of the City and down to the bottom of the Hill where the Fountain or River was to draw water and said unto them Is the Seer here 12 And they answered them and said He is behold he is before you make haste now for he came to day to the city s She so speaks though this was his own constant habitation because he had been travelling abroad possibly in his Circuit described 1 Sam. 7. 16 17. and was now returned to his own House in Ramah as he used to do and so she implies they come in a good and seasonable time to meet with him for there is a ‡ Or feast sacrifice t Otherwise Feast but it seems to be understood of a Sacrifice First Because so the Hebrew word signifies most properly and most frequently Secondly Because this Eating was in the High place which was the common place for Sacrifices but not for private Feasts Thirdly The Prophets presence was not so necessary for a Feast as for a Sacrifice of the people u So this Sacrifice is called because this was a publick Solemnity and possibly the New Moon when the People brought several Sacrifices to wit Peace-offerings whereof part fell to the Offerer's share and of these parts united together they here made a common Feast not without Samuel's direction who being forewarned the day before by God of Saul's coming made this Feast more Solemn for his entertainment v. 22 23 24. to day in the high place x Upon the Hill mentioned v. 11. and near the Altar which Samuel built for this kind of use 1 Sam. 7. 17. by Divine Dispensation as was there Noted Otherwise to Sacrifice in High places was forbidden by the Law after the Building of the Tabernacle 13 Assoon as ye be come into the city ye shall straightway find him y At Home and at leasure before he go up to the high place to eat z The Relicks of the Sacrifices according to the manner for the people will not eat until he come because he doth bless the sacrifice a i. e. Either First The Meat left of the Sacrifice which is the matter of the following Feast as this is commonly understood Or rather Secondly The Sacrifice it self for what reason is there to depart from the proper signification of the Word For that the Sacrifices under the Law were accompanied with Confession or Petition or Thanksgiving may be gathered from divers places of Scripture as Levit. 5. 5. and 16. 21. Numb 5. 7. Luk. 1. 10. And who so proper to perform this work as Samuel an eminent Prophet And the Blessing of this Sacrifice seems to have consisted both of Thanksgiving this being a Thank-Offering and of Prayer to God for his acceptance Psal. 20. 3. and afterwards they eat that be bidden Now therefore get ye up b With speed lest he be sat down before you come for about ‡ Heb. to day this time ye shall find him 14 And they went up into the city and when they were come into the city behold Samuel came out c Out of his own House just as they passed by against them for to go up to the high place 15 ¶ * Chap. 15. 1. Act. 13. 21. Now the LORD had ‡ Heb. uncoâ—…ered the ear â—…f Samuel told Samuel in his ear d i. e. Secretly a day before Saul came e That he might prepare himself for Saul's reception saying 16 To morrow about this time I will send thee a man f I will by my secret Providence so dispose of matters and of the Hearts of Saul and his Father that Saul shall come to thee though with another Design out of the land of Benjamin and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines g For though they were now most pressed with the Ammonites as we read chap. 12. 12. yet they looked upon these as a Land-Flood which thâ—… hoped would be soon up and soon down again but the Philistines their constant inveterate and nearest Enemies they most dreaded And from these Saul did in some measure save them and should have saved them much more if his and the Peoples manifold Sins had not hindred it for I have looked upon my people h To wit with Compassion and Resolution to help them An usual Synecdoche because their cry i i. e. Their earnest Prayers to me for help is come unto me 17 And when Samuel saw Saul the LORD said unto him k In his Ear as before v. 15. by secret instinct so as none but he could hear it Behold the man whom I spake to thee of this same shall ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 in c. reign over my people 18 Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate l The Gate either Frst Of Samuel's House But he was come out thence before v. 14. Or rather Secondly Of the City for the word Gate being put by its self according to reason and common use must be understood of the most eminent in its kind which the Gate of the City is And through this Gate Samuel seems now to have been passing to go to the High-Place which probably was without the City and there he makes a stand to hear what these Persons now approaching to him were about to speak and said Tell me I pray thee where the Seers house is 19 And Samuel answered Saul and said I am the Seer Go up before me
was †Heb. opened spread out * Psal. 1. 3. Jer. 17. 8. by the waters and the dew lay all night upon my branch s I was continually watred by divine favour and blessing as a tree which is constantly supplied with moisture both in its root and branches and consequently must needs be fruitful and flourishing 20. My glory was †Heb. new fresh t The reputation which I had gained by my just and virtuous Life was not decaying but growing and every day augmented with the accession of new honours in me u Heb. with me and my * Gen. â—…9 24. bow x i. e. My strength which is signified by a Bow Gen. 49. 24. 1 Sam. 2. 4. because in ancient times the Bow and Arrows were principal instruments of War was †Heb. hanged Isa. 40. 31. renewed y Heb changed itself i. e. grew as it were a new Bow when other Bows by much use grow weak and useless Oâ—… changed its strength which word may be here understood as it is expressed Isa. 40. 31. i. e. hath got new strength in my hand 21. Unto me men gave ear and waited and kept silence at my counsel z Expecting till I spoke and silently listening to my Counsel which they were confident would be like the Oracle of God wise and just and good and preferring it before their own Judgment 22. After my words they spake not again a Either to consute them as false or to add to them as lame and imperfect and my speech dropped upon them b To wit as the rain as the next Verse explains it which when it comes down gently and droppingly upon the earth is most acceptable and beneficial to it not so when it comes in great and violent showers 23. And they waited for me as for the rain c As the Earth or the Husbandman waiteth for the rain to wit the former rain of which see Deut. 11. 14. because the latter rain is here opposed to it See Iam. 5. 7. and they opened their mouth d To receive my words and therewith to satisfie their thirst as the dry and parched Earth gapes or opens its mouth to receive the Rain for me as for the latter rain 24. If I laughed on them e Or sported or jested with them i. e. carried my self familiarly and pleasantly with them they believed it not f It was so acceptable to them to see me well-pleased with them that they could scarce believe their Eyes and Ears that it was so Compare Gen. 45. 26. Psalm 126. 1. and the light of my countenance they cast not down g My familiarity did not breed contempt or presumption in them to say or do any thing that might grieve me or make my countenance to fall as it doth in case of shame or sorrow Gen. 4. 5. They were very cautious not to abuse my smiles nor to give me any occasion to change my Countenance or carriage towards them 25. I chose out their way f They sought to me for my advice in all doubtful and difficult Cases and I chalked out their Path and directed them what methods they should take to accomplish their desires and sat g As a Prince or Judge whilest they stood waiting for my counsel chief h Or Head as their Head or Ruler and my mind and word was as a Law or Oracle to them and dwelt as a king in the army i Whose presence puts life and courage and joy into the whole Army And no less acceptable was my presence to them as one that comforteth the mourners k As I was able and ready to comfort any afflicted or sorrowful persons so my Consolations were always grateful and welcom to them Or when he to wit the King comforteth the mourners i. e. his Army when they are under some great Consternation or Dejection by reason of some great loss or danger but are revived by the presence and speech of a wise and valiant King or General CHAP. XXX 1. BUT now a My Condition is sadly changed for the worse they that are †Heb. Of fewer days than I. younger than I b Whom both universal custom and the light of Nature taught to reverence their Elders and betters have me in derision c Make me the Object of their contempt and scoffs Thus my glory is turned into shame whose fathers I would have disdained d Or rather I might have disdained i. e. Whose condition was so mean and vile that in the opinion and according to the custom of the World they were unworthy of such an employment to have set with the dogs of my flock e To be my Shepherds and the Companions of my Dogs which watch my Flocks Dogs are every where mentioned with contempt as filthy unprofitable and accursed Creatures as 2 Sam. 16. 9. 2 Kings 8. 13. Phil. 3. 2. Revâ—… 22. 15. 2. Yea whereto might the strength of their hands profit me f Nor was it strange that I did or would or might refuse to take them into any of my meanest services because they were utterly impotent and therefore unserviceable in whom old age was perished g Or bost either 1. because they never attain to it but are consumed by their lusts or cut off for their wickedness by the just hand of God or men in the midst of their days Or 2. because they had so wasted their strength and spirits by their evil courses that when they came to old age they were feeble and decrepit and useless for any labour Or 3. because they had not that prudence and experience which is proper and usual in that age by which they might have been useful if not for work yet to oversee and direct others in their work But the words may be thus rendred In whom vigorous age was perished i. e. who were grown impotent for service For the word here rendred old age is used only here and Iob 5. 26. where also it may be so rendred Thou shalt come to thy grave in a vigorous or mature age having the vigour of youth even in thine old age and until thy death as Moses had And if this word do signifie old age yet it signifies not every but only a flourishing and vigorous old age as the Hebrews note and the word may seem to imply Whence the seventy Interpreters also render it perfection to wit of age and of the endowments belonging to age 3. For want and famine h Brought upon them either by their own sloth or wickedness or by God's just judgment Heb. In want and famine which aggravates their following solitude Although want commonly drives persons to places of resort and company for relief yet they were so conscious of their own guilt and contemptibleness and hatefulness to all persons that they shunned all company and for fear or shame fled into and lived in desolate places
strongest and most vigorous old Age. Or their excellency or pride that old age which is their glory and in which men do commonly glory labour and sorrow f Filled with troubles and griefs from the infirmities of age the approach of Death and the contingences of humane life for it g Either our age or our strength is soon cut off h It doth not now decline by many degrees and slow steps as it doth in our young and flourishing age but decayeth apace and suddenly fleeth away and we flee away i We do not now go to Death as we do from our very Birth nor run but flee swiftly away like a Bird as this word signifies 11 Who knoweth k Few or none sufficiently apprehend it or stedfastly believe it or duly consider it or are rightly affected with it For all these things are comprehended under this word knoweth the power of thine anger l The greatness and force and dreadful effects of thine anger conceived against the Sons of men and in particular against thine own people for their miscarriages even according to thy fear m i. e. According to the fear of thee as my fear is put for the fear of me Mal. 1. 6. and his knowledge for the knowledge of him Isa. 53. 11. According to that fear or dread which sinful men have of a just and holy God These fears of the Deity are not vain Bugbears and the effects of ignorance and folly or Superstition as Heathens and Atheists have sometimes said but are just and built upon solid grounds and justified by the terrible effects of thy wrath upon mankind so is thy wrath n It bears full proportion to it nay indeed doth far exceed it It cannot be said of Gods wrath which is said of Death that the fear of it is worse than the thing it self But this Verse is by many both antient and later Interpreters rendred otherwise and that very agreeably to the Hebrew Text who knoweth the power of thine anger and thy wrath according to thy fear i. e. either 1. according to the fear of thee or so as thou art to be feared or answerably to thy terrible displeasure against sin and sinners Or 2. so as to fear and dread thee in such manner and measure as sinful Creatures ought to fear the infinite and offended Majesty of God their Creator and Judge and Soveraign and thereby to be moved to humble himself before thee and fervently to seek thy face and favour which is the onely true wisdom for which he prayeth in the next Verse 12 * Psal. 39. 4. So teach us o By thy spirit and grace as thou hast already taught us by thy word Or Teach us rightly as this word is used Numb 27. 7. and 2 Kings 7. 9. to number c. as it follows to number our days p To consider the shortness and miseries of this life and the certainty and speediness of Death and the causes and consequences thereof that we may †Heb. cause to come apply our hearts unto wisdom q That we may heartily devote our selves to the study and practice of true wisdom which is nothing else but piety or the fear of God And why so Not that the Israelites might thereby procure a revocation of that peremptory sentence of death passed upon all that Generation nor that other men might hereby prevent their death both which he very well knew to be impossible but that men might arm and prepare themselves for death and for their great account after death and might make sure of the happiness of the future life Of which this Text is a plain and pregnant proof 13 Return O LORD r To us in mercy for thou seemest to have forsaken us and cast us off how long s Understand wilt thou be angry or will it be ere thou return to us and let it repent thee concerning thy servants t i. e. Of thy severe proceedings against us and change thy course and carriage to us 14 O satisfie us early u Speedily or seasonably before we be utterly consumed with thy mercy that we may rejoyce and be glad all our days 15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein we have seen evil x Our afflictions have been sharp and long let not our prosperity be small and short 16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children y Let that great and glorious work of giving thy people a compleat deliverance which thou hast long since designed and promised be at last accomplished and manifested unto us and in the sight of the World 17 And let the beauty of the LORD z i. e. His favourable countenance and gracious influence and glorious presence our God be upon us and establish thou the work of our hands upon us a Or in us Do not onely work for us but in us And because the glorious work of thy hands is hindered by the evil works of our hands be thou pleased by thy holy spirit to direct or establish for this Hebrew word signifies both the works of our hands that we may cease to do evil and learn to do well and turn and constantly cleave unto thee and not revolt and draw back from thee as we have frequently done to our own undoing yea the work of our hands establish thou it PSAL. XCI The Penman of this Psalm is uncertain The occasion of it seems to have been that great Pestilence recorded 2 Sam. 24. 1 HE that * Psal. 27. 4 5 31. 20. dwelleth in the secret place a Or hiding place He that makes God his habitation and refuge as he is called below v. 9. resorting to him and relying upon him in his dangers and difficulties of the most High shall †Heb. lodge abide under the shadow of the Almighty b He shall not be disappointed of his hope but shall find a quiet and safe repose under the Divine protection A shadow in Scripture phrase commonly signifies protection See Gen. 19. 8. Iudg. 9. 15. Psal. 17. 8. c. 2 I will say of the LORD He is my refuge c Upon that ground I will confidently commit my self and all my affairs to God and my fortress my God in him will I trust 3 Surely * Psal. 124. â—… he shall deliver thee d O thou believing pious Soul who after my example shale make God thy refuge thou shalt partake of the same priviledge which I enjoy from the snare of the fowler and from the noisom Pestilence e From the Pestilence which like a Fowlers snare taketh men suddenly and unexpectedly and holdeth them fast and commonly delivers them up to Death 4 * Psal. 57. 1. He shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust his truth f Whereby he is obliged to
appears to us more dissonant from the Hebrew then any other yet most of the Quotations of the Old Testament which we have in the new are apparently from that Version which learneth us that it is not every private Ministers work to make a new Version of the Scripture but he ought to acquiesce in the Version which God hath provided for the Church wherein he lives and not ordinarily or upon light grounds to enter into a dissent to it and if in any thing he sees it necessary to do it yet not to do it as to a particular text without great modesty and a preface of Reverence This Translation of the Scriptures into a Language understood by all people in that Country into which the Church came was lookt upon so reasonable and necessary as it was opposed by none till the Papists had patched up a Religion for the upholding of which it was necessary for them to maintain That Ignorance was the mother of Devotion after which it was very difficult in any places where these Spiritual Tyrants had a dominion to get the Scriptures translated into the Language of that Country Not to instance in other places I shall give some short account of England Our Records tell us of a Translation of some part of them into the Saxon Language which was then a great part of ours within 700 years after Christ and of the Translation of the whole into the same Language by Beda within 40 years after Beda was himself a Papist but the mystery of iniquity grew up gradually to its height Soon after Bibles which the people could understand were very scarce commodities in England and thus it continued for 600 years Wickliff who lived in the time of Richard the 2d and died 1384. being the first we know of afterward who Translated the Scriptures into a Language understood by any who were not skilled in some or other of the three learned Languages That great man easily understood that without the Scriptures in their own Language the people must take all for the Will of God that their Priests told them was so and that the Popish Priests were generally of ignorance and impudence enough to entitle God to any of their own blasphemies and superstitions But within thirty years after the death of Wickcliff Anno viz. 1414. The Council or Conventicle rather of Constance Decreed all Wickliffs Books to the Fire and though some were spared yet the battel was so hard that there were very few that escaped This was our state till the year 1527 in all which years the poor people of the Land of our Nativity were without a teaching Bible as to the common people and indeed without a teaching Priest yea and for sometime after this as we shall hear In the year 1527. God put it into the heart of Mr. Tindall to Translate the New Testament into English as also 1527. the Five Books of Moses he being then an exile in Germany for his Religion but he lost all his papers upon a Shipwrack in his passage to Hamborough and had his work to begin again which yet that faithful and most unwearied servant of God did accomplish adding some Prefaces to the several Books and some Notes to the particular chapters and verses The publishing of which much netled the Popish Bishops in England and all means were then used to suppress it Amongst others the then Bishop of London advised with one Packington a Merchant of that City concerning the most accommodate mean to that design The Merchant could think of none so probable as with a summe of money to buy up the whole impression The Bishop approving it furnished him with a round summ to that purpose which the Merchant being more a Friend to Mr. Tindal then the Bishop knew sent to Mr. Tindall and had the Impression sent him some few Copies being as we must Sculteti Annales in anno 1532. imagine first sold off with this mony Mr. Tindall supported himself in his exile and was also inabled to go on with his Translation of the other part of the Bible and to prepare a perfect English Bible In the mean time a passage happened so pleasant that I shall think it worth the while here to relate it Sir Thomas More being Lord Chancellor and having several persons accused for Heresie and ready for execution offered to compound with * George Constantine one of them for his Life upon the casie terms of his discovery to him who they were in London that maintained Tindall beyond Sea After that the poor man had got as good a security for his Life as the Honour and Truth of the Chancellour could give him he told him It was the Bishop of London maintained him by sending him a summe of mony to buy up the impression of his Testaments The Chancellour smiled saying that he believed he said true Thus was this poor Confessors Life saved But to return to our story In the year 1536. Mr. Tindall was Martyred at Villefort in Flanders For Translating into English the New Testament and part of the Old saith Sir Richard Baker but his great adversary Sir Thomas More was the year before gone Bakers Chron. p. 282. to his own place being executed for Treason Mr. Tindall and Mr. Coverdale as Mr. Fox telleth us before Mr. Tindalls death had translated the whole Bible But it came out after his death under the name of Thomas Matthews with the addition of the Apocrypha Translated by John Rogers The Lord Cromwel with Archbishop Cranmer presented it to the King and obtained an order from His Majesty for leave for any of his Subjects to read it but this was not without the great regret of the Bishops About thirteen years after this or not so much the Lord Cromwel obtained Letters from King Henry 8. for a subject 1540. of his to Reprint at Paris the Bible in English the King also wrote a Letter to Bonner at that time his Embassador in France to further it Grafton and Whitchurch undertook the work upon what seeming encouragement from Bonner may be read in Mr. Foxes 2d vol. of his Martyrology pr. 1641. p. 515. 516. But how it came to pass I cannot tell though Bonners Treachery was suspected in the case when it was upon the point finished the Copies were seized and ordered to be burnt and the work had wholly ceased but for the Covetousness of the Officer who sold four great dry fatts filled with them to an Haberdasher to lay Caps in By this means having recovered some Copies they came to London and there made a new impression But after this my Lord Cromwel being put to death the Bishops and Popish-party made so great complaint to the King whose warmth for the Reformation much abated in the latter part of his Life That the Sale of the English Bible was again prohibited and the Printer imprisoned and altho the Bishops promised the King they would make a more correct Translation
and that all the difference which was between him and consequently between other good men and the wicked progeny of Cain was not from the nature which they received from Adam but from the grace infused into them by God and called his name Seth. 4. * 1 Chron. 1 â—… c. And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years And he begat Sons and Daughters k Whose names and numbers are here passed over in silence as not belonging to the Genealogy of Christ nor to the following History 5. And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years l The long lives of men in ancient times here noted are also mentioned by Heathen Authors And it was wisely so ordered by God both for the more plentiful encrease of mankind in the first age of the world and for the more effectual propagation of true Religion and other useful knowledge to the World And many natural reasons might be given why their lives were then longer than afterwards and he died 6. And Seth lived an hundred and five years and begat Enos 7. And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years and begat Sons and Daughters 8. And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years and he died 9. And Enos lived ninety years and begat †Heb. Kenaâ—… Cainan 10. And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years and begat Sons and Daughters 11. And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years and he died 12. And Cainan lived seventy years and begat †Gr. Maleleel Mahalaleel 13. And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years and begat Sons and Daughters 14. And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years and he died 15. And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years and begat †Heb. Iered Iared 16. And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Iared eight hundred and thirty years and begat Sons and Daughters 17. And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years and he died 18. And Iared lived an hundred sixty and two years and he begat Enoch 19. And Iared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years and begat Sons and Daughters 20. And all the days of Iared were nine hundred sixty and two years and he died 21. And Enoch lived sixty and five years and begat †Gr. Mathusala Methuselah m Whose name is thought by some learned men to contain a prophesie of the flood which was to come a thousand years after for it signifies He dies and the dart or Arrow of Gods vengeance comes Or He dies and the sending forth of the Waters comes 22. And Enoch * Chap. 24. 40. Psal. 16. 8. 116. 9. walked with God n i. e. He lived as one whose eye was continually upon God whose care and constant course and business it was to please God and to imitate him and to maintain acquaintance and communion with him as one devoted to Gods service and wholly governed by his will he walked not with the Men of that wicked age or as they walked but being a Prophet and Preacher as may be gathered from Iude v. 14 15. with great zeal and courage he protested and preached against their evil practises and boldly owned God and his ways in the midst of them Compare Gen. 6. 6. Ier. 12. 3. Mic. 6. 8. after he begat Methuselah three hundred years and begat Sons and Daughters o Hence it is undeniably evident that the state and use of Matrimony doth very well agree with the severest course of Holiness and with the office of a Prophet or Preacher 23. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years 24. And * Heb. 11. â—… Enoch walked with God And he was not p i. e. He appeared not any longer upon Earth or amongst mortal Men. The same phrase is in Gen. 42. 36. Ier. 31. 15. for God took him q Out of this sinful and miserable World unto himself and to his heavenly Habitation See Luke 23. 43. And he took either his Soul of which alone this phrase is used Ezek. 24. 16. or rather both Soul and Body as he took Elias 2 King 2. 11. because he so took him that he did not see death Heb. 11. 5. 25. And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years and begat †Heb. Lemech Lamech 26. And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years and begat Sons and Daughters 27. And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years r The longest time that any man lived But it is observable that neither his nor any of the Patriarchs lives reached to a thousand years which number hath some shadow of perfection and he died s But a little before the Flood came being taken away from the evil to come 28. And Lamech t Not that wicked Lamech mentioned Chap. 4. for he was of the Family of Cain but this was descended from Seth. lived an hundred eighty and two years and begat a Son 29. And he called his name †Gâ—… Noe. Noah u Which signifies rest saying x By the Spirit of Prophesie this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands y i. e. Concerning the hard labour and manifold troubles to which we are sentenced ch 3. 19. And this he did either 1. By the invention of instruments of husbandry whereby Tillage was made more easie Or 2. By removing in some part the curse inflicted upon the Earth and reconciling God unto mankind Possibly he might suppose that this was the Messias or promised Seed and the Saviour of the undone World As it was frequent with the antient Fathers through their earnest desire of the Messias to expect him long before he came and to mistake other persons for him Or 3. By preserving a remnant of mankind from that deluge which he by the spirit foresaw would come and re-peopling the emptied Earth with a new Generation of men and by restoring and improving the art of Husbandry See Gen. 9. 20. because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed 30. And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years and begat Sons and Daughters 31. And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years and he died 32. And Noah was five hundred years old And Noah begat z i. e. He began to beget God in mercy denying him Children till that time that he might not beget them to the destroyer that he might have no more than should be saved in the Ark. Or having before that time begotten others who were now dead and having the approaching Flood in his view he began again to beget a seminary for the World Of these three Sons here following the eldest
c. or in general other rare and excellent things In those dayes men gave portions for their wives as now they have portions with them 54 And they did eat and drink he and the men that were with him and tarried all night and they rose up in the morning and he said * Vers. 56. and 59. send me away unto my master 55 And her brother and her mother said let the damsel abide with us ‖ Or a full year or ten months a few days at the least ten s Others thus a year or at the least ten months the word days being put for a year as elsewhere But it is very improbable that they would demand or expect such a thing from this man whom they saw bent so much upon expedition after that she shall go 56 And he said unto them hinder me not seeing the LORD hath prospered my way send me away that I may go to my master 57 And they said we will call the damsel and inquire at her mouth t i. e. Understand her mind by her words not so much concerning the marriage it self in which she resigned up her self to the disposal of her Parents and Friends and to which she had given an implicit consent by her acceptance of those presents which were made to her for that end as concerning the hastiness of her departure 58 And they called Rebekah and said unto her wilt thou go with this man And she said I will go 59 And they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse u Deborah by comparing chap. 35. 8. In this corrupt Family the Mother and the Nurse are two distinct persons but in Abrahams pious Family there was no such principle or practise See Gen. 21. 7. and Abrahams servant and his men 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her Thou art our sister x i. e. Our near Kinswoman distance of place shall not alienate our affections from thee but we shall still own thee as our sister and as far as we can be ready to perform all the duties of brethren to thee be thou the mother of thousands of millions and * Chap. 22. 17. let thy seed possesse the gate of those which hate them 61 And Rebekah arose and her damsels and they rode upon the camels and followed the man and the servant took Rebekah and went his way 62 And Isaac came from the way of the * Chap. 16. 14. and 25. 11. well Lahai-roi for he dwelt in the south-country y In the Southern part of Canaan as Gen. 12. 9. at Beersheba whither it seems Abraham returned after Sarahs death 63 And Isaac went out to ‖ Or to pray meditate z To converse with God and with himself by pious and profitable thoughts and ejaculations and fervent prayers as for other things so particularly for Gods blessing upon this great affair and so his prayers are eminently answered in the field a He chuseth a solitary place wherein he might more freely attend upon God without any interruption or distraction at the even-tide b That as he had begun the day with God so he might close it with him and commit himself to his protection Compare Psal. 55. 17. and he lift up his eyes and saw and behold the camels were coming 64 And Rebekah lift up her eyes and when she saw Isaac she lighted off the camel c As a testimony of her respect to him whom by the servant she understood to be her Lord and Husband Compare Ios. 15. 18. 1 Sam. 25. 23. 65 For she had said unto the servant what man is this that walketh in the field to meet us And the servant had said It is my master therefore she took a vail and covered her self d In token of modesty reverence and subjection See Gen. 20. 16. 1 Cor. 11. 10. 66 And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done 67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarahs tent e Partly to give her possession of it and partly to consummate the Marriage Women then had their tents apart from Men. See Gen. 18. 10. and 24. 67. and 31. 33. and took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her and Isaac was comforted after his mothers death f A sorrowful sense whereof he yet had retained though she died three years before this time CHAP. XXV 1 THen a After Sarahs death and Isaacs Marriage again Abraham took b Not from any inordinate lust which his age and eminent grace may sufficiently evince but from a desire of more Children and of accomplishing Gods promise concerning the great multiplication of his seed a wife c A secondary Wife or a Concubine as she is called ver 6. and 1 Chron. 1. 32. and her name was Keturah d A distinct person from Hagar as appears from ver 6. and 12. and as it seems of better quality and younger for Hagar was now eighty years old and not likely to be a mother of six Children 2 And she bare him e Quest. How could Abraham being now about one hundred years old have so many Children when his body was dead in his hundredth year Answ. Because that renewed strength which was miraculously conferred upon him did still in a great measure remain in him being not a temporary action but a durable habit or power Zimran and Jokshan and Medan f These persons were the heads of several people dwelling in Arabia and Syria where we shall find evident footsteps of their names amongst antient Geographers onely a little changed which could not be avoided in their translation into another Language and Midian g The Father of those Midianites of whom we read Gen. 36. 35. Iudg. 6. 2. Isa. 10. 26. and Ishbak and Shuah h From whom Bildad seems to be descended Iob 2. 11. 3 * 1 Chron. 1. 32. And Jokshan begat Sheba and Dedan And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim 4 And the sons of Midian Ephah i Of whom see Isa. 60. 6. and Epher k From whom some think Africa received its name and Hanoch and Abidah and Eldaah all these were the Children of Keturah 5 And Abraham gave l Which before he purposed and promised to give Gen. 24. 36. And now actually gave all that he had m Except that which is excepted in the following verse and except the use and enjoyment of his estate during his own life unto Isaac 6 But unto the sons of the concubines n Hagar and Keturah Concubines are sometimes called Wives as Gen. 16. 3. Iudg. 19. 1 2 3. 29. but their Children had no right to the inheritance For though the Children of Iacobs Concubines did equally partake of the inheritance with the other Children that was done by divine appointment and Iacobs voluntary act and upon special reason because of the vast inheritance promised and
crime would be the more apt to suspect him and deal more severely with him 31 And they took Josephs coat and killed a kid of the goats and dipped the coat in the bloud 32 And they sent the coat of many colours and they brought k They brought it by a messenger whom they sent Men are commonly said to do what they cause others to do it to their father and said This have we found know now whether it be thy sons coat or no. 33 And he knew it and said It is my sons coat an * chap. 44. 28. evill beast hath devoured him Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces 34 And Jacob rent his clothes and put sackcloth l i. e. A course and mournful habit This is the first example of that kind but afterwards was in common use upon these occasions See 2 Sam. 3. 31. 1 King 20. 31. and 21. 27. c. upon his loins and mourned for his son many days 35 And all his sons and all his daughters m Dinah and his daughters in law and his sons daughters rose up to comfort him but he refused to be comforted and he said For I will go down into the grave n This Hebrew word Sheol is taken sometimes for hell as Iob 11. 8. Prov. 15. 11. but most commonly for the grave Or the place or state of the dead as Gen. 42. 38. and 44. 29 31. Psal. 6. 5. and 16. 10. c. And whether of those it signifies must be determined by the subject and the circumstances of the place here it cannot be meant of Hell for Iacob neither could believe that good Ioseph was there nor would have resolved to go thither but the sense is I will kill my self with grief or I will never leave mourning till I dye unto my son o Or For my Son so the preposition El is oft used for Al as 1 Sam. 1. 27. and 4. 19 21 22 and 2 Sam. 21. 2. mourning thus his father wept for him 36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar an †Heb. Eunuch But the word doth signifie not only Eunuchs but also chamberlains Courtiers and Officers officer of Pharaohs and †Heb. chief of the slaughter-men oâ—… Executioners ‖ Or chief Marshall captain of the guard p Whose office it was to apprehend and punish criminal persons See Gen. 40. 3. Ier. 39. 9. Mark 6. 27. CHAP. XXXVIII 1 AND it came to pass at that time a This story is not without difficulty if we consider how little time is allowed for all the events of this chapters there being not above twenty three years between Iudahs marriage and the birth of Pharez yea and the birth of his sons too Esrom and Hamul who are said to go into Egypt with Iacob Gen. 46. 12. But there are two ways proposed for the resolution of it as the phrase at that time may be understood two ways either 1. More largely for the time since Iacobs return from Padan to Canaan and so the History may be conceived thus Iudah was married some years before the selling of Ioseph though it be here mentioned after it and so out of its place as being the foundation of all the following events which are here placed together because they followed the selling of Ioseph Iudah and Er and Onan and afterward Pharez are supposed each to marry and have a Child at fourteen years old which though unusual wants not examples both in sacred and prophane Writers And they that will quarrel with the Scripture and question its authority for some such uncustomary occurrences which it relates shew more of impiety then wisdom in it and shall do well to consider that God might so order things by his Providence and record such things in his word upon the same account on which he hath put several other difficult passages in Scripture partly to try and exercise mens Faith Humility and Modesty and partly to punish the evil minds of ungodly men and for their sins to lay an occasion of stumbling and cavilling at the Scriptures before them that greedily seek and gladly catch at all such occasions Or 2. More strictly for the time following the sale of Ioseph which seems the more probable way and so the story lies thus Iudah was now about twenty years old when he married and the three first years he hath three sons Er Onan and Shelah The two first marry each when they were about seventeen years old Three years after both their deaths and when Shelah had been marriageable a year or two and was not given to Tamar Iudah lies with Tamar and begets upon her Pharez But as for Esrom and Hamul they are said to go into Egypt with Iacob as also Benjamins ten sons are said to go with him thither to wit in their fathers loins because they were begotten by their Father in Egypt whilest Iacob lived there of which more in its proper place that Judah went down from his brethren b Probably in discontent upon occasion of quarrels arisen among them about the selling of Ioseph whereof Iudah was a great promoter if not the first mover and turned in to a certain Adullamite c Of the City of Adullam Of which see Ios. 12. 15. and 15. 35. whose name was Hirah 2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite d Whom he married against the counsel and example of his Parents But when Iudah had committed so great a crime as the selling of his Brother and God had forsaken him no wonder he adds one sin to another whose name was * 1 Chron. 2. 3. Shuah e The name not of the daughter but of her father ver 12. and he took her and went in unto her 3 And she conceived and bare a son and he called his name Er. 4 * Num. 26. 19. And she conceived again and bare a son and she called his name Onan 5 And she yet again conceived and bare a son and called his name Shelah and he was at Chezib f A place near Adullam called also Aâ—…zib Ios 19. 29. Mich. 1. 14. when she bare him 6 And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born whose name was Tamar 7 And * Num. 26. 19. Er Judahs first-born was wicked in the sight of the LORD g i. e. notoriously wicked Compare Gen. 10. 9. and 13. 13. and the LORD slew him h In some extraordinary and remarkable manner as ver 10. 8 And Judah said unto Onan Go in unto thy brothers wife and marry her i This as also divers other things was now instituted and observed amongst Gods people and afterwards was expressed in a written law Deut. 25. 5 6. See also Numb 36. 6 7. Ruth 1. 11. Mat. 22. 24 and raise up seed to thy brother k Beget a child which may have thy brothers name and inheritance and may be reputed as his child So
being ridiculous to say the Scepter departed from Iudah under him by whom it first came into that Tribe having been till Davids time in other Tribes But the great difficulty is how this was accomplished for if the event fully agrees with this Prophesie the cause of the Jews is lost and Christ must be owned as the true Messias The Scepter was for a time in other Tribes as in Moses of the Tribe of Levi in divers of the Judges who were of several Tribes and lastly in the Tribe of Benjamin under Saul but the Scepter departed from all these But this is prophesied as Iudahs priviledge that when once the Scepter or Government came into that Tribe which it did in Davids time it should not depart from it till Christ came and then it should depart And thus it came to pass Concerning the time from David unto the Captivity of Babylon there is no dispute there being a constant succession of Kings in that Tribe all that time For the time of the Babylonish Captivity wherein there may seem to be more difficulty it is to be considered 1. That the Scepter or Government was not lost or departed from Iudah but onely interrupted and that but for seventy years at most which in so long a space of time as above a thousand years is little to be regarded As none will say the Kingdom was departed from the house of David because of those inter-reigns or interruptions which sometimes fell out in that Family Adde to this that God had given them an absolute promise and assured hope of the restauration of Iudahs Scepter so that this was rather a sleep then the death of that Government 2. That within these seventy years there were some remainders and beams of Iudahs Soveraignty in Iâ—…hoiachin 2 King 25. 27. in Daniel who was of that Tribe Dan. 2. 25. and 5. 13. and of the Kings seed Dan. 1. 3. and in the successive Heads or Governours of the exiles of whom the Jewish Writers say so much and they affirm that they were always of the house of David and were more honourable than the Governours of the Jews which were left in the Land of Israel 3. All that was then left of the Scepter of the Jews was in the Tribe of Iudah nor was the Scepter departed from Iudah to any other Tribe and that is the thing which seems especially to be respected in this Prophesie For Iudah is here compared with the rest of the Tribes and it is here signified that the Power and Dominion which was in Iudah when once it came thither should not shift from tribe to tribe as it had done but whilst there was any Scepter or supreme Government among the Iews it should be in that tribe even till the coming of the Messias But if there should happen any total but temporary intercision or cessation of the Government among all the Tribes which now was the case that was no preiudice to the truth of this promise nor to the priviledge granted to Iudah above the rest of the Tribes After the captivity the state of the Iews was very various Sometimes they had Governours put in by the Persian King as Zoroâ—…abel who was also of the Tribe of Iudah and as it is supposed Nephew of Ieâ—…ojachin and Nehemiah whom Eusebius affirms to have been of the Tribe of Iudah And though he may seem to be numbred among the Priests Nehem. 10. 8. yet a diligent reader will find that he is even there distinguished from them by his Title the Tirshatha ver 1. and the word priests ver 8. relateth onely to the rest there mentioned besides him especially if this be compared with chap. 9. 38. where the Princes among whom surely Nehemiah was the chief are distinguished from the Priests And sometimes the people chose Governours or Captain-generals as the Maccabees and others But under all their vicissitudes after their return from Babylon the chief government was evidently and unquestionably seated in the great council called Sanhedrim or Synedrium wherein though some of the Tribe of Levi were mixed with those of the Tribe of Iudah yet because they together with other members of that Council had their power both from that Tribe by which they were chosen and in it and for it the Scepter did truly remain in the Tribe of Iudah even as it was rightly called the Roman Empire when Trajan a Spaniard or other forreigners administred it or as we call it the Kingdom of Poland when they chuse a King of another Nation How great and venerable the authority of this Council was among the Iews may easily be gathered 1. from the divine institution of it Numb 11. 16 whereby indeed it was at first to consist of persons indifferently chosen out of all the Tribes but now the other Tribes being banished and dispersed in unknown places and Benjamin and Levi being as it were accessions to the Tribe of Iudah and in a sort incorporated with it it now becomes as it were appropriated to the Tribe of Iudah as acting in its name and by its authority and the whole land is called Iudâ—…a and all the people Iews from the predominancy of that Tribe above the rest 2. From the great power and priviledges antiently granted to it Deut. 17. 8. c. 2 Chron. 19. 8 11. Psal. 122. 5. 3. From the testimony of Iosephus and other Iewish writers which is most considerable in this argument who largely describe and magnifie the power and authority of it who tell us that the power of their King was subject to that of this Council and therefore one of them addressing his speech to that Council where also the King himself was present first salutes the Senatours and after them the King They affirm also that the power of making War or Peace was vested in that Council and that Herod was tried for his life by it If it be said that the power of this Council was in a great measure taken away which the Iews confess Ioh. 18. 31. and that the Scepter of Iudaea was in the hand of the Romans and by them given to Herod who was no Iew but an Idumaean and this before the coming of the Messias which is the onely remaining difficulty to this many things may be said 1. That this hapned but a few years before the coming of Christ when Christ was even at the doors and about to come and therefore might well be said to be come especially in the Prophetical stile whereby things are oft said to be done which are near doing 2. That the Iewish Senatours did long struggle with Herod about the Government and did not yield it up to him till his last year when they took an oath of fealty to him which was after Christ was born Nor indeed was the Scepter quite gone from them then for that Council still had the power though not of life and death yet of Civil and Ecclesiastical matters See Ioh. 18. 31. So that if the Scepter
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
devoted which shall be devoted of men y Not by men as some would elude it but of men for it iâ—… manifest both from this and the foregoing verses that men here are not the persons devoting but devoted Quest. Was it then lawful for any man or men thus to devote another person to the Lord and in pursuance of such vow to put him to death Ans. This was unquestionably lawful and a duty in some cases when persons have been devoted to destruction either by Gods sentence as Idolaters Exod. 22. 20. Deut. 23. 15. the Canaanites Deut. 20. 1â—… the Amalekites Deut. 25. 19. 1 Sam. 15. 3 26. Benhadad 1 King 20. 42. or by men in pursuance of such a sentence of God as Numb 21. 2 3. and 31. 17. or for any crime of an high nature as Iudg. 21. 5. Ios. 7. 15. But this is not to be generally understood as some have taken it as if a Iew might by vertue of this Text devote his child or his servant to the Lord and thereby oblige himself to put them to death which peradventure was Iepthe's errour For this is expresly limited to all that a man hath or which is his i. e. which he hath a power over But the Iews had no power over the lives of their children or servants but were directly forbidden to take them away by that great command thou shalt do no murder And seeing he that killed his servant casually by a blow with a rod was surely to be punished as is said Exod. 21. 20. it could not be lawful wilfully and intentionally to take away his life upon pretence of any such vow as this But for the Canaanites Amalekites c. God the undoubted Lord of all mens lives gave to the Israelites a power over their persons and lives and a command to put them to death And this verse may have a special respect to them or such as them And although the general subject of this and the former verse be one and the same yet there are two remarkable differences to this purpose The verb is active ver 28. and the agent there expressed that a man shall devote but it is passive ver 29 and the agent undetermined which shall be devoted to wit by God or men in conformity to Gods revealed will 2. The devored person or thing is onely to be sold or redeemed and said to be most holy ver 28. but here it is to be put to death and this belongs onely to men and those such as either were or should be devoted in manner now expressed shall be redeemed but shall surely be put to death 30 And * Gen. 28. 22. Num. 18. 21 24. Mal. 3. 8. 10. all the tithe of the land z There are divers sorts of Tithes but this seems to be understood onely of the ordinary and yearly tithes belonging to the Levites c. as the very expression intimates and the addition of the fifth part in case of redemption thereof implies whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree is the LORDS it is holy unto the LORD 31 And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof 32 And concerning the tithe of the herd or of the flock even of whatsoever passeth under the rod ‖ Either 1. the tithers rod it being the manner of the Iews in tithing to cause all their cattel to pass through some gate or narrow passage where the tenth was marked by a person appointed for that purpose and reserved for the Priest Or 2. the shepherds rod under which the herds and flocks passed and by which they were governed and numbred See Ier. 33. 13. Ezek. 20. 37. the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD 33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad neither shall he change it and if he change it at all then both it and the change thereof shall be holy it shall not be redeemed 34 These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai ANNOTATIONS ON NUMBERS The ARGUMENT THis Book giveth us an History of almost forty years travel of the children of Israel through the Wilderness where we have an account of their journeys and what happened to them therein with their Government and how they were managed thereby Called Numbers by reason of the several Numbrings of the people as at the offerings of the Princes and at their several journeys c. But especially two One Chap. 1. Out of which the Priests and Levites were excepted but numbred by themselves viz. in the second year after they were come out of Egypt in the first month whereof the Passeover was instituted with the order about the Tabernacle both of the Levites and People and their several marches encampings and manner of pitching their Tents the Priest's maintenance and establishment by the miraculous budding of Aarons rod with the several impediments in their marches both among themselves by several murmurings seditions and conspiracies and from their enemies viz. the Edomites Canaanites over whom having obtained a victory and afterwards murmuring they were stung with fiery Serpents and cured by the brazen one Amorites whose Kings Sihon and Og they overcame and slew and Moabites where by the allurements of Balaam who was hired by Balak to curse Israel they joyned themselves to Baal-peor and are plagued for it that openly opposed them The other chief numbring is in Chap. 26. where they are found almost as many as the first though among them were none of the first numbring according to what God had threatned Chap. 14. save Moses Joshua and Caleb by reason of their desire to return back into Egypt upon the discouraging report of ten of those twelve that Moses sent to spy out the Land whereupon they were forced to wander above 38 years in the wilderness where he gave them several Laws Civil Ecclesiastical and Military as also particular directions about women's inheriting occasioned by the case of Zelophehad's daughters and concerning vows And then brings them back to the borders of Canaan where after divers victories obtained against their enemies they were directed how the Land of Canaan was to be divided among the Tribes and what portion the Levites were to have among them together with six cities of Refuge set apart for the Man-slayer At length Aaron being dead and Eleazar placed in his stead and Moses also having received the sentence of Death doth by God's appointment deliver up the people unto the charge and conduct of Joshua CHAP. I. 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai a Where now they had been a full year or near it as may be gathered by comparing this place with Exod. 19. 1. and 40. 17. and other places in the tabernacle b From the mercy-seat of the congregation on the first day of the second month in the second year after they
the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal CHAP. X. AND after Abimelech there arose a Not of himself but either chosen by the People or rather raised by God as the other Judges were to ‖ Or deliver ‡ Heb. save desend Israel b Or to save which he did not by fighting against and overthrowing their Enemies but by a prudent and pious Government of them whereby he kept them from Sedition and Oppression and Tyranny as also from Idolatry as may be gathered from v. 6. which if not restrained and purged out would have brought certain Ruine upon them Tola the son of Puah the son of Dodo a man of Issachar and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim c Which was in the very heart and midst of the Land 2 And he judged Israel twenty and three years and dyed and was buried in Shamir 3 ¶ And after him arose Jair a Gileadite d Of Gilead beyond Iordan and judged Israel twenty and two years 4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts e Because Horses were scarce there and were not to be multiplied by the King himself Deut. 17. 16. Hence their Kings and Kings children used to ride upon Mules 2 Sam. 13. 29. and 18. 9. 1 King 1. 33 38 44. Compare Iudg. 5. 10. and 12. 14. and they had thirty cities which are called ‖ Or the villages of â—…air Havoth-jair f Object These Villages were called so before this time from another Iair And Numb 32. 41. Deut. 3. 14. Answ. They are not said to be now first called by that Name but to be still so called because the old Name was revived and confirmed upon this occasion As Sheba is said to be called Beersheba upon an occasion mentioned Gen. 26. 33. though it was so called before upon a more ancient occasion Gen. 21. 33. Possibly this Iair had enlarged or fortified these Towns and so they were justly denominated from him no less than from the former unto this day which are in the land of Gilead 5 And Jair died and was buried in Camon 6 ¶ And * Chap. â—… 〈◊〉 and 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. 1. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 13. 1. the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD and served Paalim and ‡ Chap. 〈◊〉 Ashtaroth and the gods of Syria and the gods of Zidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the children of Ammon and the gods of the Philistins and forsook the LORD and served not him g He shews how they grew worse and worse and so ripened themselves for the Ruine which afterward came upon them Before they Worshipped God and Idols together now they utterly forsake God and wholly cleave to Idols 7 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel and he * 1 Sam. 12 〈◊〉 sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the children of Ammon h The one on the West the other on the East so they were molested on both sides 8 And that year they vexed and †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oppressed the children of Israel eighteen years i Or That year they had vexed and oppressed the children of Israel eighteen years Or They vexed them in that year that was the eighteenth year to wit of that Vexation This was the eighteenth year from the beginning of that Oppression And these eighteen years are not to be reckoned from Iair's Death because that would enlarge the time of the Judges beyond the just bounds as may appear from 1 King 6. 1. Nor from Iephtha's beginning to Reign because he Reigned but six years and in the beginning thereof put an end to this Persecution but from the fourth year of Iair's Reign so that the greatest part of Iair's Reign was contemporary with this Affliction And although this Oppression of the Ammonites and Philistines and the cause of it the Idolatry of the Israelites be not mentioned till after Iair's death because the Sacred Pen-man would deliver the whole History of this Calamity entirely and together yet they both happened before it and Iair's death is mentioned before that only by a Prolepsis or Anticipation than which nothing is more frequent in Scripture The case of Iair and Sampson seem to be much alike For as it is said of Sampson that he judged Israel in the days of the Tyranny of the Philistines twenty years Judg. 15. 20 by which it is evident that his Judicature and their Dominion were Contemporary the like is to be conceived of Iair that he began to judge Israel and endeavoured to reform Religion and purge out all abuses but being unable to effect this through the backwardness and baseness of the People God would not inable him to deliver the People but gave them up to this sad Oppression so that Iair could only perform one half of his Office which was to determine Differences amongst the Israelites but could not deliver them from their Enemies all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorite which is in Gilead 9 Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim so that Israel was sore distressed 10 ¶ And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD saying We have sinned against thee both because we have forsaken our God and also served Baalim k Because not contented to add Idols to thee we have preferred them before thee and rejected thee to receive and worship them 11 And the LORD said l unto the children of Israel Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites m Both Sihon and Og and their people Numb 21. and other Kings of the Amorites within Iordan Iosh. 10. 5. from the children of Ammon n Who were confederate with the Moabites Judg. 3. 13 14. and from the Philistines o See Iudg. 3. 31. k Either by himself the Son of God appearing in a visible shape which then was usual or by some Prophet whom he raised and sent to this purpose or by the High-Priest who was consulted in the case 12 The Zidonians p For though we do not read of any oppression of Israel particularly by the Sidonians yet there might be such a thing as many things were said and done both in the Old and New Testament which are not Recorded there Or they might ioyn their Forces with the King of Mesopotamia Judg. 3. 8. Or with some other of their Oppressors for it is certain these were left among others to prove Israel Judg. 3. 1 2 3. also and the Amalekites q Of whom see Iudg. 3. 13. and 6. 3. and Maonites r Either First those who lived in or near the Wilderness of Maon in the South of Iudah 1 Sam. 23. 25. and
suffer him to execute his own Daughter and not rather hinder him by force as they afterwards did Saul when he had sworn the Death of Ionathan These and other such difficulties I confess there are in the case but something may be truly and fairly said to allay the seeming Monstrousness of this fact 1. These were times of great and general ignorance and corruption of Religion wherein the Israelites had Apostatized from God and learnt and followed the practises and worships of the Heathen Nations Iudg. 10. 6. whereof this was one to offer up Humane Sacrifices to Moloch and although they seem now to have repented and forsaken their Idols Iudg. 10. 16. yet they seem still to have retained part of the old Leaven and this among the rest That they might offer Humane Sacrifices not to Moloch as they had done but unto the Lord. And whereas some of the Iewish Writers pretend that Phinehas was alive at this time and tell a fine Story concerning him and Iepthah That both stood upon their Terms and neither would go to the other to advise about the matter yet it is more than probable that Phinehas was dead long before this time and whosoever was the High-Priest then he seems to be guilty either of gross ignorance or negligence so that a late Learned Writer concieves that this was the reason why the Priesthood was taken from him and from that line and translated to the line of Ithamar which was done in the time of the Judges as may be gathered from 1 Sam. 2. 35 36. Moreover Iepthah though now a good man may seem to have had but a rude and barbarous Education having been banished from his Fathers House and forced to wander and dispose himself in the utmost Borders of the Land of Gilead beyond Iordan at a great distance from the place of Worship and Instruction Nor is it strange That the Priests and People did not resist Iepthah in this Enterprise partly because many of them might lye under the same ignorance and mistake that Iepthah did and partly because they knew Iephtha to be a stout and resolute and boisterous man and were afraid to oppose him in a matter wherein he seemed to be so peremptory and their Persons and Families were not much concerned 2. This mistake of Iepthah's and of the rest of that Age was not without some plausible appearance of Warrant from the Holy Text even from Levit. 27. 28 29. wherein it is expresly provided That no Devoted thing whether Man or Beast should be redeemed but should surely be put to Death a place which it is not strange that a Soldier in so ignorant an Age should mistake seeing even some Learned Divines in this knowing Age and Capellus amongst the rest have fallen into the same error and justified Iepthah's action from that place and though I doubt not they run into the other extreme as men commonly do those words being to be otherwise understood than they take them of which see my Notes on that place yet it must be granted that place gave Iepthah a very colourable pretext for the Action and being pushed on by Zeal for God and the Conscience of his Vow he might easily be induced to it and though this was a Sin in him yet it was but a Sin of Ignorance which therefore was overlooked by a gracious God and not reproved by any Holy men of God It is probably conceived that the Greeks who used to steal Sacred Histories and turn them into Fables had from this History their relation of Iphigenia which may be put for Iephtigenia Sacrificed by her Father Agamemnon which is described by many of the same circumstances wherewith this is accompanied and she knew no man b To wit carnally she died a Virgin and it was a ‖ Or oâ—… 〈◊〉 castom in Israel 40 That the daughters of Israel went ‡ Heb. iâ—… days to days yearly c To a place appointed for their meeting to this end possibly to the place where she was Sacrificed ‖ Or to 〈◊〉 with to lament the daughter of Jephthah d To express their Sorrow for her loss according to the manner Or to Discourse of so the Hebrew Lamed is sometimes used the Daughter of Jepthah to celebrate her Praises who had so willingly yielded up her self for a Sacrifice the Gileadite four days in a year CHAP. XII AND the men of Ephraim ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 called gathered themselves together and went northward a Over Iordan so Northward towards Mizpeh where Iepthah was Iudg. 11. 34. and which was in the Northern part of the Land beyond Iordan and said unto Jephthah b Through Pride and Envy conrending with him as they did before with Gideon Iudg. 8. 1. Wherefore passedst thou over c Not over Iordan for there he was already but over the Borders of the Israelites land beyond Iordan as appears by comparing this with Iudg. 11. 29. where the same Phrase is used to fight against the children of Ammon and didst not call us to go with thee We will burn thine house upon thee with fire 2 And Jephthah said unto them I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon and when I called you d Hence it appears that he craved their assistance which they denied though that be not elsewhere expressed ye delivered me not out of their hand 3 And when I saw that ye delivered me not I put my life in my hand e i. e. I exposed my self to utmost danger as a man that carries a brittle and precious thing in his hand which may easily either fall to the ground or be snatched from him The same Phrase is used 1 Sam. 19. 5. and 28. 21. Iob 13. 14. Psal. 119. 109. and passed over against the children of Ammon and the LORD delivered them into my hand Wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day to fight against me f Why do you thus requite my kindness in running into such hazard to preserve you and yours 4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim because they said Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites g According to this Translation these words are a scoffing and contemptuous expression of the Ephraimites concerning the Gileadites whom they call Fugitives of Ephraim the word Ephraim being here taken largely as it is elsewhere as Isa. 7. 2 5. so as it comprehends the other Neighbouring Tribes of which Ephraim was in some sort the head or chief and especially their Brethren of Manasseh who lived next to them and were descended from the same Father Ioseph by reason whereof both these Tribes are sometimes reckoned for one and called by the name of the Tribe of Ioseph And this large signification of Ephraim may seem probable from the following words where instead of Ephraim is put
the Ephraimites and the Manassites By Gileadites here they seem principally to mean the Manassites beyond Iordan who dwelt in Gilead as appears from Deut. 3. 13. Iosh. 17. 1 5 6. And although other Gileadites were joyn'd with them yet they vent their passion against these principally because they envied them most partly because they seem to have had a chief hand in the Victory Iudg. 11. 29. And partly because they were more nearly related to them and therefore more obliged to desire their Conjunction with them in the War These they here opprobriously call fugitives i. e. such as had deserted their Brethren of Ephraim and Manasseh and for some worldly advantage planted themselves beyond Iordan at a distance from their Brethren and were alienated in Affection from them and carried on a distinct and separate Interest of their own as appears by their Monopolizing the glory of this Success to themselves and excluding their Brethren from it According to the Hebrew the words lie and may be rendred thus Therefore so chi is oft rendred they said Fugitives of Ephraim are ye i. e. Ye Ephraimites are meer run-aways for the words next foregoing are the men of Gilead smote Ephraim And having told you what they said because the Pronoun they was ambiguous he adds by way of Explication who said it even the Gileadites and they said it when they had got the advantage over them and got between them and home as the next verse shews being between Ephraim and Manasseh i. e. Having taken the passages of Iordan as it follows which lay between Ephraim and that part of Manasseh which was beyond Iordan Or these latter words may be rendred thus And the Gileadites were between Ephraim and Manasseh So there is only an Ellipsis of two small words which are oft defective and to be understood in Scripture Or thus And the Gileadites were in the midst of the Ephraimites and in the midst of the Manassites to wit those Manassites who ordinarily lived within Iordan who possibly were confederate with the Ephraimites in this quarrel And so the meaning is they followed close after them and overtook them and fell upon the midst of them and smote them and they sent a party to intercept them at the passages of Iordan as it here follows 5 And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites and it was so that when those Ephraimites which were escaped h Heb. The fugitives of Ephraim as before for the Hebrew words are the same Which may make the latter Exposition of the foregoing words more probable to wit that it is not the Gileadites but the Ephraimites who are there as well as here so called because they were smitten before Iepthah and fled from him said Let me go over that the men of Gilead said unto him Art thou an Ephraimite If he said Nay i To avoid the present danger 6 Then said they unto him Say now Shibboleth k Which signifies a stream or river which they desired to pass over so it was a word proper for the occasion and gave them no cause to suspect the Design because they were required onely to express their desire to go over the Shibboleth or River and he said Sibboleth l It is well known that not only divers Nations but divers Provinces or parts of the same Nation who use the same Language differ in their dialect and manner of pronunciation for he could not frame to pronounce it right m Or rather he did not frame or direct himself to speak so or to speak right i. e. So as he was required to do it The Hebrew Text doth not say that he could not do it but that he did it not because he suspecting not the design of it uttered it speedily according to his manner of Expression Then they took him and slew him at the passages of Jordan and there fell at that time n Not in that place at the passages of Iordan but in that Expedition being slain either in the Battel or in the Pursuit or at Iordan of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand 7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years then died Jephthah the Gileadite and was buried in one of the cities o Heb. In the cities The Plural Number put for the Singular as Gen. 19. 29. where Lot is said to dwell in the cities i. e. one of the Cities And 1 Sam. 18. 21 the twain is put for one of the twain and Iudg. 18. 14. Houses for house and Ionah 1. 5. The sides for one of the sides of Gilead 8 ¶ And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem p Either that in Iudah of which Matt. 2. 6. Or that in Zebulun Iosh. 19. 15. judged Israel 9 And he had thirty sons and thirty daughters whom he had sent abroad and took q i. e. Took them home for Wives to hip Sons See Gen. 24. 67. and 31. 50. Deut. 21. 12. 2 Sam. 11. 27. in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons And he judged Israel seven years 10 Then died Ibzan and was buried at Bethlehem 11 And after him Elon a Zebulonite judged Israel and he judged Israel ten years 12 And Elon the Zebulonite died and was buried in Ajelon in the country of Zebulun r This is added to distinguish it from other Asalons of which see Iudg. 1. 35. 1 Chron. 6. 69. and 8. 13. 13 ¶ And after him Abdon the son of Hillel a Pirathonite judged Israel 14 And he had forty sons and thirty ‡ Heb. Sons sons nephews that * Chap. 5. 10. and 10. 4. rode on threescore and ten ass colts and he judged Israel eight years 15 And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim in the mount of the Amalekites s So called from some remarkable Exploit done either by or upon the Amalekites in that place CHAP. XIII AND the children of Israel ‡ Heb. added to commit c. * Chap. 2. 11. and 3. 7. and 4. 1. and 6. 1. and 10. 6. did evil again in the sight of the LORD and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years b To be computed not from Abdon's death but before that time as is evident both from v. 5. where it is declared that Israel was under the Power of the Philistines and from Iudg. 15. 20. where only twenty of these Years are said to have been in Sampson's days And it is probably conceived that that great slaughter of the Ephraimites made by Iephthah did greatly encourage the Philistines to rise against Israel when one of their chief Bulwarks was so much weakned and therefore that the Philistines began to domineer over them not long after Iepthah's death a i. e. Fell into Idolatry c. not now after the death of Abdon the last Judge but in the days of the former Judges 2 ¶ And there was a certain
I repent of and hereby retract for them that honour me a That Worship and serve me with Reverence and Godly Fear and according to my Will which I esteem as an Honour done to me I will honour b I will advance them to Honour and maintain them in it and * Mal. 2 9 they that despised me c Not formally and directly for so Eli's Sons did not despise God but indirectly and by consequence by presumptuous disobedience of my Commands by defiling and disgracing my Worship and Ordinances either by transgressing the Rules I have given them therein or by their ungodly and shamefull Conversation and by making my service contemptible and abominable to others through their Scandals all which are manifest Arguments of contempt of God and are so called as Numb 11. 20. 1 Sam. 12. 9 10. Mal. 1. 8. and all which were eminently found in Eli's sons shall be lightly esteemed d Both by God and Men. 31 Behold * King â—… â—…7 â—…4 â—… â—… 11 â—… â—… 〈◊〉 the days come that I will cut off thine arm e i. e. I will take away thy strength which is oft signified by the arm as Iob 22. 8. Psal. 37. 17. or all that in which thou placest thy confidence and security either 1. The Ark which is called Gods strength Psal. 78. 61. and was Eli's strength who therefore was not able to bear the very ridings of the loss of it Chap. 4. 18. Or 2. His Priestly dignity or employment whence he had all his Honour and Substance Or rather 3. His Children to whom the words following here and in the succeeding Verses seem to consine it who are the strength of Parents see Gen. 49. 3. Deut. 21. 17. Psal. 127. 4 5. and the arm of thy fathers house f i. e. Thy Childrens Children and all thy Family which was in great measure accomplished 1 Sam. 22. 16 c. that there shall not be an old man in thine house g They shall generally be â—…ut off by an untimely Death before they be old 32 And thou shalt see ‖ Or the 〈◊〉 of the Tabernacle for all the wealth which God would have given Israel an enemy in my habitation in all the wealth which God shall give Israel h So the sense is Thou shalt see not in thy Person but in thy Posterity it being most frequent in Scripture to attribute that to Parents which properly belongs to their Posterity onely as Gen. 17. 8. and 27. 29 40. an enemy i. e. thy Competitour or him who shall possess that place of high Trust and Honour which now thou enjoyest such persons being through Mans corrupt Nature esteemed as a mans worst Enemy in my habitation i. e. in the Sanctuary And then he adds by way of Aggravation that this sad Accident should happen in all the wealth which God shall give Israel i. e. In a time when God should eminently bless Israel and make good all his Promises to them which was in Solomon's days when Abiathar of Eli's Race was put out oâ—… the High-Priesthood and Zaâ—…ck was put in his place 1 King 2. 27 35. when the Priesthood was most glorious and most Profitable and comfortable and therefore the loss of iâ—… more deplorable But the words may be otherwise rendered as is noted in the Margent of our English Bibles Thou shalt see to wit in thy own person the affliction or oppression or calamity of my habitation i. e. either of the Land of Israel wherein I dwell or of the Sanctuary called the habitation by way of Eminency whose greatest glory the Ark was 1 Sam. 4. 21 22. and consequently whoâ—…e greatest Calamity the loss of the Ark was for or instead of all that good wherewith God would have blessed Israel or was about to bless Israel having raised up a young Prophet Samuel and thereby given good grounds of hope that he intended to bless Israel if Thou and thy Sons had not hindred it by your Sins which God was resolved severely to Punish So this clause of the Threatning concerns Eli's Person as the following concerns his Posterity And this best agrees with the most proper and usual signification of that Phrase Thou shalt see and there shall not be an old * See Zech. 8. 4. man in thine house for ever i i. e. As long as the Priesthood continues in thy Family or as long as the Levitical Priesthood lasts 33 And the man of thine k i. e. Those of thy Posterity whom I shall not cut off from mine altar l i. e. From attendance upon mine Altar whom I shall not destroy but suffer to live and wait at the Altar shall be to consume thine eyes and to grieve thine heart m Shall be so forlorn and miserable that if thou wast alive to see it it would grieve thee at the very heart and thou wouldst consume thine Eyes with weeping for their Calamities So the Phrase is like that of Richel weeping for her children Jer. 31. 15. which were slain long after her Death and all the increase of thine house n i. e. Thy Children shall die ‡ Heb. Men. in the flower of their age o About the Thirtieth year of their Age when they were to be admitted to the plenary Administration of their Office Num. 4. 3. then they shall die 34 And this shall be a sign unto thee p To wit of the certain truth of all those sad Predictions that shall come upon thy two sons on Hophni and Phinehas in one day they shall dâ—…e both of them q And so they did chap. 4. 11. 35 And I will raise me up * Ezek. 4 〈◊〉 a faithful priest r To wit of another Line as is necessarily implied by the total removal of that Office from Eli's Line before threatned The Person designed is Zadok one eminent for his Faithfulness to God and to the King who when Abiathar the last of Eli's Line was Deposed by Solomon was made High-Priest in his stead 1 King 2. 27 35. 1 Chron. 29. 22. that shall do according to that which is in my heart s And shall not dishonour or disobey me to gratify his Sons as thou hast done and in my mind and I will build him a sure house t i. e. Give him a numerous Posterity as that Phrase is used Exod. 1. 21. 2 Sam. 7. 11. 1 King 11. 38. and confirm that sure Covenant of an everlasting Priesthood made to Phinehas of Eleazar's Line Numb 25. 13. and interrupted for a little while by Eli and his of the Line of Ithamar unto him and his Children for ever And this was manifestly verified until the Babylonish Captivity Ezek. 44. 15. and there is no reason to doubt of its continuance in the same Line till Christ came and he shall walk u i. e. Minister as High-Priest before mine anointed x Fither First Before King Solomon who was Anointed King 1
had been ended by an amicable agreement which might have been made that very morning if he had so pleased surely then ‡ Heb. from the morning in the morning the people had ‖ Or gone away gone up every one from following his brother 28 So Joab blew a trumpet and all the people stood still and pursued after Israel no more neither fought they any more o Either First At that time Or rather Secondly In any pitcht Battel 29 And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain and passed over Jordan and went through all Bithron p Otherwise called the Mountains of Bether Cant. 2. 17. which were beyond Iordan Or some other Countrey now not known by that name which is the case of hundreds of places and they came to Mahanaim 30 And Joab returned from 〈◊〉 Abner and when he had gathered all the people together there lacked of Davids servants nineteen men and Asahel 31 But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin and of Abners men so that three hundred and threescore men died 32 ¶ And they took up Asahel and buried him in the sepulchre of his father which was in Bethlehem and Joab and his men went all night and they came to Hebron at break of day CHAP. III. NOw there was long war a For five Years longer for it is probable that Ishbosheth was made King presently upon Saul's death to give them countenance for their Rebellion against David and the other Tribes did not submit to David before seven Years were expired between the house of Saul and the house of David but David waxed stronger and stronger and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker 2 ¶ And * 1 〈◊〉 3. 1. unto David were sons born in Hebron And his first-born was Ammon of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess 3 And his second Chileab b Called also Daniel 1 Chron. 3. 1. of Abigail ‡ who had been wife of Nabal the Carmelite and the third Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur c A part of Syria Northward from the Land of Israel Deut. 3. 1â—… Ios. 12. 5. See 2 Sam. 13. 37. and 14. 13. and 15. 8. Her he Married as it may seem in policy that he might have a powerful Friend and Ally to assist him against Ishbosheth's party in the North whilst himself opposed him in the Southern parts But he paid dear for making Piety give place to Policy herein as the History of Absalom sheweth There were other Geshurites Southward from Canaan whom David invaded 1 Sam. 27. 8. and it is not impossible but they were a Colony of those in the North. 4 And the fourth Adonijah the son of Haggath and the fifth Shephatiah the son of Abital 5 And the sixth Ithream by Eglah Davids wife d This is added either because she was of obscure Parentage and was known by no other title but her relation to David or to distinguish her from some other person of that name who possibly might be of no goood fame or because this was his first and most proper Wife best known by her other name of Michal who though she had no Child by David after she scoffed at him for Dancing before the Ark chap. 6. 23. yet might have one before that time And she might be named the last of these here because she was given away from David and Married to another man when David took the other Wives and therefore though she had been first yet now she was become the last of them Or this Title being put in the last place may belong to all the rest of the Women above-mentioned by a Figure called Zeâ—…gma to distinguish them from his Concubines 2 Sam. 5. 13. 1 Chron. 3. 9. these were born to David in Hebron 6 ¶ And it came to pass while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David that Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul e He used all his endeavours to support Saul's House Which is mentioned to shew the reason of his deep resentment of the following aspersion Or he strengthned himself in the House of Saul i. e. he so managed all Affairs as to get all the riches and power into his own hands which made Ishbosheth suspect that he aimed at the Kingdom and sought to Marry the Kings Concubine in order to it as the manner was See 2 Sam. 12. 8. and 16. 21. and 1 King 1. 17. 7 And Saul had a concubine whose name was * Chap. 21. 〈◊〉 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah and Ishbosheth said to Abner Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my fathers concubine f Either First To satisfy thy own Lust. Or rather Secondly By that pretence to take away my Crown first For this was that which stirred up his Jealousie and Rage and caused him to speak that to Abner which otherwise he neither would nor durst But whether Abner were guilty or no it is not evident from the following words for if it were true great men cannot endure to be told of their faults though they be true and great 8 Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ish-bosheth and said Am I a dogs head g i. e. A vile and contemptible creature as a Dog was See Deut. 23. 18. 1 Sam. 24. 14. 2 Sam. 9. 8. and 16. 9. Iob 30. 1. Eccles. 9. 4. And a Dogs head is put for a Dog by a Synecdoche usual both in the Hebrew and in other Languages as the Head is oft put for the whole Man in the Latin Tongue which against h So the Particle Lamed is well rendred as el which among the Hebrews is confessedly of the same nature and use is used Eccles. 9. 14. Ier. 34. 7. Ezek. 13. 9 20. Amos 7. 15. Judah do shew kindness this day unto the house of Saul thy father to his brethren and to his friends and have not delivered thee into the hand of David i Which I could oft and easily have done that thou chargest me to day with a fault concerning this woman k Either that thou accusest me falsly concerning this matter or that thou canst not wink at so small a fault for so he esteemed it as conversation with this Woman who whatsoever she formerly was is now so impotent and inconsiderable that she can do thee no service as I have done 9 * Ruth 1. 17. So do God to Abner and more also except as the LORD hath sworn to David l Whence it appears that this wicked wretch did all this while fight against his own knowledge and conscience and against God himself even so I do to him 10 To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah from Dan even to Beersheba 11 And he could not answer Abner a word again m Because he durst not provoke Abner further lest he should
of their Expedition out of Egypt into Canaan Nor doth the difference between the Hebrew Praepositions Lamed and Beth which a Learned Man objects hinder this sence for as Beth signifies as he saith after so also doth Lamed Gen. 7. 4 10. Numb 33. 38. 2. That whereas the times of the Judges do chiefly cause this difficulty there are many things which will relieve us therein as 1. That divers of the years there mentioned belong to one and the same time as is evident from Iairs 22 years within which fell out as divers Learned Chronologers agree the 18 years of the Oppression of the Ammonites and several years of the Philistine Tyranny who oppressed Israel in the West whilest the Ammonites vexed them in the East and the like might be observed in other cases 2. That the years of Rest are not necessarily to be understood of so many distinct years besides those of War and Servitude and those words which are generally rendred the land had rest forty or eighty years or the like may be thus rendred and that very agreeable to the Hebrew The land had rest or began to rest or recovered its rest in the fortieth or in the eightieth the Cardinal Numbers being frequently put for the Ordinal especially where the Number exceeds Ten year to be computed from some remarkable time and so that Phrase doth not note how long time or till what time the Rest continued but at what time it began As for instance in Iudg. 3. 11. the land had rest not forty years as it is in our Translation but in the fortieth year to wit from and after their first Rest in or quiet Possession of the Land of Canaan which Ioshua gave them which time may very probably he made up of the days of Ioshua after he had setled them in a state of Rest and of the elders that out-lived him Iudg. 2. 7. and the time of their Corruption after the Death of those Elders and the Eight years of Servitude under the King of Mesopotamia So Iudg. 3. 30. The land had rest in the eightieth year to wit from and after the rest which Othoniel obtained for them ver 11. And Iudg. 5. 31. It rested in the fortieth year to wit after that Rest got by Ehud Iudg. 3. 30. And Iudg. 8. 28. It rested in the fortieth year to wit from the last Rest got by Deborah And thus the computation of Years is more plain and certain being thus made from Rest to Rest than theirs that proceed the other way And this is the more considerable because it was the Opinion of that famously Learned and Pious Bishop of Armagh All which considered it will be very easie to contain all the parts and passages of Sacred Story from the coming out of Egypt to this time within the compass of 480 Years of the several parcels whereof See my Latine Synopsis And as for other Scriptures which some conceit to be contradictory to this I shall by God's help Vintlicate them in their several places in the fourth year of Solomons reign b His three first Years being spent partly in settling the Affairs of his Kingdome without which neither Civil nor Ecclesiastical Concerns could have any Consistency and partly in making necessary Preparations for the Work over Israel in the month Zif which is the second month that he ‡ Heb. built began to bâ—…ild c For so it is expressed 2 Chron. 3 1. And so it is explained here below ver 37. The foundation of the house was laid though in the Hebrew it be onely he built Thus active words are oft understood of the beginning of the Action as Gen. 5. 32. and 11. 26. the house of the LORD 2 And the house d Properly so called as distinct from all the Walls and Buildings which were adjoyning to it to wit the Holy and Most Holy Place which king Solomon built for the LORD the length thereof e From East and to West And this and the other Measures may seem to belong to the inside from Wall to Wall was threescore cubits f Cubits of the Sanctuary of which See on Gen. 6. 15. and the breadth thereof twenty cubits and the height thereof g To wit of the House for the Porch was 120 Cubits high 2 Chron. 3. 4. So that all the measures compared each with other were harmonious For 60 to 20. the length to the breadth is triple or as 3 to 1 And 60 to 30 the length to the height is double or as 2 to 1 And 30 to 20 the heighth to the breadth is Sesquialter or one and a half as 3 to 2. Which are the Proportions answering to the Three great Concords in Musick commonly called a Twelfth an Eighth and a Fifth Which therefore must needs be a graceful Proportion to the Eye as that in Musick is graceful to the Ear. thirty cubits 3 And the porch before the temple of the house h In the Front of or Entrance into the house 2 Chron. 3. 4. Being a Peristilium or Portico a Walk or Gallery at one end of the Building from side to side And the measures of this were Harmonious also For 20 to 10 the length of the Portico to the breadth of it is double or as 2 to 1. And if the height within be the same with that of the House that is 30 it will be to the length of it as 3 to 2 and to its breadth as 3 to 1. Or if we take in the whole height mentioned 2 Chron. 3. 4. which is a 120 there is in this no disproportion being to its length as 6 to 1 and to its breadth as 12 to 1 especially when this height conveniently divided into several Galleries one over another each of which had their due Proportions twenty cubits was the length thereof according to the breadth of the house and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house 4 And for the house he made ‖ Or windows broad within and narrow without or skewed and closed windows of narrow lights i Narrow outward to prevent the inconveniencies of the Weather widening by degrees inward that so the House might better receive and more disperse the Light Or for prospect i. e. to give light yet shut i. e. so far closed as to keep out Weather and let in Light 5 ¶ And ‖ Or upon or joyning to against the wall k Or upon it or joyning to it for the Beams of the Chambers were not fastned into the Wall but leaned upon the Buttresses of the Wall of the house he built ‡ Heb. Floor chambers l For the laying the Priests Garments and other Utensils belonging to the Temple or to the Worship of God therein See 2 King 11. 2. 1 Chron. 28. 12. Ezek. 42. 13 14. round about against the walls of the house round about m Not simply for there were none on the East-side and it may seem that there were
servant Zimri captain of half his chariots h i. e. Of all his Military Chariots and the Men belonging to them the Chariots for carriage of necessary things being put into other and meaner hands conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza ‡ Heb. which was over c. steward of his house in Tirzah i Whilst his Forces were elsewhere imployed ver 15. which gave Zimri advantage to execute his Design 10 And Zimri went in and smote him and killed him in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his stead 11 ¶ And it came to pass when he began to reign assoon as he sat on his throne that he slew all the house of Baasha he left him * 1 Sam. 25. 22 not one that pisseth against a wall ‖ Or both his kinsmen and his friends neither of his kinsfolks k Heb. avengers to whom it belonged to Revenge his Death See Numb 35. 12. nor of his friends l His confidents and familiar Acquaintance such as were most likely to hinder his Settlement in the Throne and to Avenge their Friends Quarrel 12 Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha according to the word of the LORD which he spake against Baasha m i. e. Thus fulfilling God's Threatning but either without his knowledge oâ—… meerly for his own ends ‡ Heb. by the hand of c. by Jehu the prophet 13 For all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his sons by which they sinned and by which they made Israel to sin in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities n i. e. Idols oft called vanities as Deut. 32. 21. 1 Sam. 12. 21. Ier. 14. 22. because they are but imaginary Deities and meer nothings 1 Cor. 8. 4. having nothing at all of a God in them and nothing of Power to do either good or hurt 14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel * See above 14. 19. 15 ¶ In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah and the people were encamped against Gibethon which belonged to the Philistines o Which had been Besieged before Chap. 15. 27. but it seems was then relieved or afterwards recovered by the Philistines taking the advantage of the Disorders and Contentions which were among their Enemies 16 And the people that were encamped heard say Zimri hath conspired and hath also slain the king wherefore all Israel made Omri the captain of the host king over Israel that day in the camp 17 And Omri went up from Gibbethon and all Israel with him and they besieged Tirzah 18 And it came to pass when Zimri saw that the city was taken that he went into the palace of the Kings house and burnt the kings house over him p Or and he burnt c. Either 1. Omri burnt it over Zimri for Pronouns sometimes respect more remote Nouns Or rather 2. Zimri to whom both the foregoing and following words apparently belong who burnt it upon himself that neither himself nor the Royal Palace and Treasures might come into the hands of his insulting Adversary with fire and died 19 For his sins q i. e. This befel him for his Sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD in walking in the way of Jeroboam r Which he might do either before his Reign in the whole course of his Life which is justly charged upon him because of his Impenitency or in the Seven days of his Reign in which he had time enough to publish his Intentions or Decrees about the continuance of the Worship of the Calves or to Sacrifice to them for his good Success either already obtained or further desired and in his sin which he did to make Israel sin 20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and his treason that he wrought are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel * See Chap. 14. 19. 21 ¶ Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts s Fell into a Civil War yet neither this nor any other of God's dreadful Judgments could win them to Repentance which is an evidence of their Prodigious Impiety and Incorrigibleness and how ripe they were for Ruine half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath to make him king t Disdaining that the Soldiers should Usurp such a Power over the whole Kingdom and half followed Omri u Because they approved the Person though not the manner of his Election 22 But the people that followed Omri prevailed x Partly because they had the Army on their side and principally by the appointment and judgment of God giving up the Israelites to him who was much the worst ver 25 26. against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath so Tibni died y A violent Death in the Battel and Omri reigned 23 ¶ In the thirty and one year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel twelve years z i. e. And he Reigned Twelve Years not from this 31 year of Asa for he died in his 38 year ver 29. but from the beginning of his Reign which was in Asa's 27 year ver 15 16 So he Reigned four years in a State of War with Tibni and Eight years peaceably six years reigned he in Tirzah 24 And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver and built a To wit the City and especially a Royal Palace because that at Tirzah was burnt ver 18. on the hill and called the name of the city which he built after the name of Shemer owner of the hill ‡ Heb. Shemeron * See Chap. 13. 32. Samaria 25 ¶ But * Mic. 6. 16. Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD and did worse than all that were before him 26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam b i. e. Did not onely promote the Worship of the Calves as Ieroboam and all his Successors hitherto had done but did also imitate all Ieroboam's other sins which doubtless were many and great and peradventure he added this to the rest that together with the Calves he Worshipped Devils i. e. other Idols of the Heathens as may be thought from 1 Cor. 10. 20. 20. where his Worship of the Devils and of the Calves is distinguished Besides though he did no more for the substance of the Action than his Predecessors did yet he might justly and truly be said to do worse than they because he did it with greater Aggravations after so many terrible Examples of Divine Vengeance upon the Kings and People of Israel for that Sin or because he made seveâ—…er Laws concerning the Calf-Worship whence we
4. That by his very outward Habit he might Represent Elias in whose Spirit and Power he came and he said It is Elijah the Tishbite 9 Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty and he went up to him and behold he sat on the top of an hill and he spake unto him Thou man of God k So he calls him in way of Scorn and Contempt q. d. Thou that vauntest as if thou wast more than a meer Man the king hath said Come down l The King Commands thee to come 〈◊〉 him which if thou refusest I am here to carry thee to him by Force 10 And Elijah answered and said unto the captain of fifty If I be a man of God then let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty m Which desire did not proceed from a carnal and malicious Passion but from a pure Zeal to vindicate God's Name and Honour which was so horribly abused and from the motion of God's Spirit as is evident from God's miraculous Answer to his desire And therefore Christ doth not condemn this Fact of Elias but onely reproves his Disciples for their perverse Imitation of it from another Spirit and Principle and in a more unseasonable time Luke 9. 54 55. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his fifty 11 Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty and he answered and said unto him O man of God Thus hath the king said Come down quickly n Wherein he discovers more Petulancy and Impudence than the former and shews how little he was moved or affrighted by the former Example 12 And Elijah answered and said unto them If I be a man of God let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fiâ—…ty And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty 13 ¶ And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty and the third captain of fifty went up and came and ‡ Heb. bowed fell on his knees before Elijah and ‡ Heb. prayed unto him besought him o Expressing both Reverence to his Person and a belief of his Power and a Dread of God's Judgments and said unto him O man of God I pray thee let my life and the life of these fifty thy servants be precious in thy sight 14 Behold there came fire down from heaven and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties therefore let my life now be precious in thy fight 15 And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah Go down with him be not afraid of him And he arose and went down with him unto the king p Not fearing the rage of the King nor of Iezabel nor of all their Forces Wherein he gives an eminent Example of his Faith and Obedience and withal of his growth in Grace since that time that he fled for fear of Iezabel 1 King 19. 3. 16 And he said unto him q To his very Face Nor durst the King lay hands upon him being daunted with the Prophets presence and great courage and confidence and affrighted by the late dreadful Evidence of his Power with God and over Men and withal struck with a Divine and extraordinary Terror Thus saith the LORD Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal zebub the god of Ekron is it not because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up but shalt surely die 17 ¶ So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken and Jehoram r His Brother Chap. 3. 1. for he had no son to Succeed him as it here follows reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah s Other Passages of Scripture seem to close with this as that Ahaziah who reigned but two years begun his Reign in Iehoshaphats seventeenth year 1 King 22. 51. and therefore this Iehoram must begin his Reign in Iehoshaphats Nineteenth Year and therefore before the Reign of Iehoram Iehoshaphat's Son and that Iehoram the son of Iehoshaphat began to reign in the fifth year of Ioram Ahabs son 2 King 8. 16. Answ. These difficulties are easily resolved by this consideration That it was an usual Practise among Kings in former Ages to make their Sons sometimes their Viceroys and Deputies in the Administration of the Kingdom and sometimes formally Kings in Conjunction with themselves and whilst they lived whereof there are instances both in Prophane History among the Persians Greeks and Romans and in the Sacred Scripture as in David 1 Chron. 23. 1. and 29. 22. in Uzziah 2 Chron. 26. 21. and to come close to the point in Iehoshaphat 2. King 8. 16. who in his Seventeenth year when he went to Ahab and with him to Ramoth-Gilead appointed his Son Iehoram his Vice-roy and in case of his Death his Successor In the Second Year from that time when Iehoram was thus made Vice-King in his Fathers stead and absence this Iehoram Ahab's son began to Reign and in the fifth year of the reign of this Ioram son of Ahab which was about the Twenty fourth Year of Iehoshaphat's Reign Iehoram the son of Iehoshaphat was formerly made king of Iudah together with his Father or whilest Iehoshaphat lived and was king of Iudah also And â—…o all the places agree To which some add that this Verse or this part of it wherein the difficulty consists is wanting in some ancient Copies and is omitted by the LXX Interpreters which is far more prudent and pious to grant than upon such Chronological difficulties to question the Truth and Divinity of the Holy Scriptures because he had no son 18 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel CHAP. II. AND it came to pass when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal a This he desires Either 1. That he being left alone might better prepare himself for his great Change Or 2. Out of his Humility and Modesty he desired no Witnesses of his Glorious Removal and no Fame and Glory from it Or 3. Out of Indulgence to Elisha that he might not be overwhelmed with Grief at so sad a sight Or 4. That he might trie his Love and whet his desire to accompany him it being highly convenient for God's honour and the Churches good which Elijah sought above all things that there should be Witnesses of so glorious a Translation 2 And Elijah said unto Elisha Tarry here I pray thee for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel b Which was truth but not the whole truth for he was to go a far longer Journey But he was first to go
the baseness and cowardise of their King but meerly from the Righteous and Dreadful Judgment of God who was now resolved to reckon with them for their filthy Apostacy are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel 9 And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers and they buried him in Samaria and Joash his son reigned in his stead 10 ¶ In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah o By which compared with v. 1. it may be gathered that Iehoahaz had two or three Years before his death made his Son Iehoash King with him which is very probable because he was perpetually in the state of War and consequently in danger of an untimely death and because he was a Man of valour as is implied here ver 12. and declared 2 Chron 25. began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria and reigned sixteen years 11 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat who made Israel sin but he walked therein 12 And the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel 13 And Joash slept with his fathers and Jeroboam sat upon his throne and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel 14 ¶ Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died and Joash the king of Israel came down unto him and wept over his face p Noâ—… for any true Love and Respect to him for then he would have followed his counsel in forsaking the Calves and returning to the Lord but for his own and the Kingdoms inestimable loss in him and said O my father my father the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof q See 2 King 2. 12. 15 And Elisha said unto him Take bow and arrows And he took unto him bow and arrows 16 And he said to the king of Israel ‡ Heb. Make thine hand to ride Put thine hand upon the bow And he put his hand upon it and Elisha put his hands upon the kings hands 17 And he said Open the window east-ward r Either towards Syria which lay North-East-ward from the Land of Israel or towards the Israelites Land beyond Iordan which lay East-ward from Canaan and which was now possessed by the Syrians Either way this Arrow is shot against the Syrians as a token what God intended to do against them and he opened it Then Elisha said Shoot and he shot And he said The arrow of the LORDS deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek s Not in the City but in the Territory of it where it seems there was a great Battel to be fought between the Israelites and Syrians Of Aphek see 1 Sam. 4. 1. and 29. 1 1 King 20. 30. though it is possible there might be several Cities of that name Or as in Aphek i. e. thou shalt smite them as they were smitten in the City and Territory of Aphek i. e. utterly destroy them See 1 King 20. 26 29 30. the Particle as being oft understood as hath been formerly and frequently proved till thou have consumed them t i. e. The Syrians not all that people but their Armies or at least that which was to be at Aphek where a dreadful Battel was to be fought Or if this be meant of all the Syrian Armies this is to be understood conditionally if he did not hinder it by his unbelief or neglect signified in the following Verses 18 And he said Take the arrows and he took them And he said unto the king of Israel Smite upon the ground u The former sign portended Victory and this was to declare the number of the Victories and he smote thrice and stayed 19 And the man of God was wroth with him and said Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice x Quest. Wherein was Iehoash his fault or why was the Propher angry with him Ans. The Prophet himself did not yet know how many Victories Iehoash should obtain against the Syrians but God had signified to him that he should learn that by the number of the Kings strokes And he was angry with him not simply because he smote onely thrice but because by his unbelief and Idolatry he provoked God so to over-rule his heart and hand that he should smite but thrice which was a token that God would assist him no further Although his smiting but thrice might proceed either from his unbelief or negligence For by the former sign and the Prophets Comment upon it he might clearly perceive that this also was intended as a sign of his success against the Syrians and therefore he ought to have done it frequently and vehemently 20 ¶ And Elisha died and they buried him y In or near Samaria and the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year z In the Spring when the Fruits of the Earth grew ripe 21 And it came to pass as they were burying Or were about to bury as that Particle is oft used in the Hebrew Tongue a man that behold they spied a band of men a Coming towards them but at some distance and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha b Not daring to carry the dead Corps further to the place appointed for his burial they made use of the next burying-place where Elisha was buried and there they removed some Stone or opened some Door and hastily flung down their dead Corps there and when the man c i. e. The mans dead Body or the Coffin in which he was put ‡ Heb. went down was let down and touched the bones of Elisha d Which might easily be the Coffin and Linen in which Elisha's Body was put and the Flesh of his Body being now consumed for this was some considerable time after his death he revived and stood up on his feet e Which Miracle God wrought there partly to do honour to that great Prophet and that by this Seal he might confirm his Doctrine and thereby confute the false Doctrine and Worship of the Israelites partly to strengthen the Faith of Ioash and of the Israelites in his promise of their success against the Syrians and partly in the midst of all their Calamities to comfort such Israelites as were Elisha's followers with the hopes of that Eternal life whereof this was a manifest pledge and to awaken the rest of that people to a due care and preparation for it 22 ¶ But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz 23 And the LORD was gracious unto them and
king of Judah the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah at Beth-shemesh and came to Jerusalem x Commanding entrance in Amaziah's name and with his consent which he durst not deny and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim y Which led to Ephraim unto the corner-gate four hundred cubits z Which was done partly in scorn and contempt and partly that he might re-enter and re-take it if they should attempt to renew the War 14 And he took all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the kings house and hostages a To assure their peaceable carriage towards him and returned to Samaria b He did not keep Ierusalem nor seek to gain the possession and dominion of that Kingdom partly because he thought he could not keep it considering the difficulty he found in keeping his own from such potent and near Enemies as the Syrians were and the great affection which 〈◊〉 Iudah bare to David's House and partly because God so inclined his heart that he might make good his promue to David and his Family 15 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did and his might and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel 16 And Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead 17 ¶ And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years 18 And the rest of the acts of Amaziah are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah 19 Now * 2 Chr. 25 27. they i. e. The People or the Princes and chief men among them possibly those whose Sons he had delivered up as Hostages to Iehoash with the connivence if not approbation of the People as appears because the desigâ—… was carried on openly and steddily and irresistibly as the following words shew made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish c A strong City in Iudah towards the Philistines Of which see Ios. 10. 31. and 15. 39. 2 King 19. â—… but they sent after him d Either secret Murderers or rather bands of Soldiers for this Rebellion was carried on by strong hand and open force Compare 2 King 12. 20. and 15. 10 15. to Lachish and slew him there 20 And they brought him on horses e Or with horses to wit in a Chariot and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David 21 ¶ And all the people of Judah took * Chap. 15. 13. 2 Chron. 26. 1. he is called Uzziah Azariah which was sixteen years old and made him king in stead of his father Amaziah f Which they did either in opposition to the conspirators or to shew their affection to the House of David and that their quarrel was onely personal against Amaziah whom they looked upon as the Author of all their late Calamites This Azariah is called Uzziah 2 King 15. 30. 2 Chron. 26. 1. both names signifying the same thing for substance that Gods help and this Gods strength 22 He built Elath g i. e. Repaired and Fortified it for it was built before Deut. 2. 8. and restored it to Judah h From whom it had revolted with the rest of Edom in which Land this place was upon the Red-Sea after that the king i i. e. His Father Amaziah who did not perfect his Conquest of Edom but left some work for his Son slept with his fathers 23 ¶ In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria and reigned forty and one years 24 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin 25 He restored the coast of Israel from the entring of Haâ—…nath k Which was the Northern border of the Kingdom of Israel Numb 13. 21. and 34. 8. unto the sea of the plain l i. e. Unto the dead Sea which once was a goodly plain Gen. 13. 10. which was their Southern border according to the word of the LORD God of Israel which he spake by the hand of his servant * Matth. 22. 39 40. called Jonas Jonah m Or Ionas one of the small Prophets though this Prophecy of his be not Recorded there and thereâ—…re it is remembred here the son of Amittai the prophet which was of Gath-Hepher 26 For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel that it was very bitter n Whereby he was moved to pity and help them though they were an unworthy people for there was not any shut up nor any left o See of this Phrase on Deut. 32. 36. 1 King 14. 10. and 21. 21. nor any helper for Israel 27 And the LORD said not o i. e. Not yet he had not yet declared this as afterwards he did by the succeeding Prophets though not in those words See Hos. 1. 5 6 9. that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash 28 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did and his might how he warred and how he recovered Damascus and Hamath which belonged to Judah ‡ For Israel p These were Cities of Syria but were taken from the Syrians by David and Solomon 2 Sam. 8. 6. 2 Chron. 8. 3. and probably by them incorporated with and added to the possessions of their own Tribe to which from that time they belonged but afterwards they were re-taken by the Syrians and were now recovered by this Ieroboam are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel 29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers even with the kings of Israel and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead CHAP. XV. IN the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel a Quest. How can this be true seeing Amaziah the Father of this Azariah lived onely till the 15th Year of Ieroboam's Reign chap. 14. 2 23 Ans. This might be either First Because Ieroboam was made King by and Reigned with his Father eleven or twelve Years and afterwards Reigned alone and so there is a twofold beginning of his Kingdom by the former this was his 27 Year and by the later his 15th Year Or Secondly Because there was an inter-Reign for eleven or twelve Years in the Kingdom of Iudah either through the prevalency of that Faction which cut off Amaziah the Father and kept the Son out of his Kingdom or because Azariah was
the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin 25 But Pekah the son of Remaliah a captain of his conspired against him and smote him in Samaria in the palace of the kings house with Argob and Arieh ‖ Who might be either Pekah's Partners in this Treason or the Kings Courtiers or Officers who were now slain with him and ‡ 〈◊〉 were with him fifty men of the Gileadites y Who assisted him in the execution of his Treason and he killed him and reigned in his room 26 And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah and all that he did behold they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel 27 ¶ In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah * 〈◊〉 7. 1. Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria and reigned twenty years 28 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin 29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came * â—… Chr. 5. 26. Tiglath-pileser z Or Tiglath-pilneser 2 Chron. 28. 20. called in Heathen Authors Phulasar or Phul-Assur the Son of that Pul or Phul above v. 9. king of Assyria and took Ijon and Abel-beth-maachah a Of which see 1 King 15. 20. and Janoah b A City of Ephraim Jos. 16. 6. and Kedesh and Hazor c Two Cities of Napthali Jos. 12. 22. and 19. 36. and Gilead d All the Land beyond Iordan which was nigher to the Assyrian than the rest and Galilee e To wit the upper Galilee as may be gathered from the following words all or even all the land of Naphthali which seem to be added by way of explication or restriction to shew what Galilee he meant even the upper in which Naphthali's lot fell See the Notes on Isa. 9. 1. all the land of Naphtali and carried them captive to Assyria 30 And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah and smote him and slew him f Which he did more easily effect because the people were enraged against Pekah as the Man who by his murder of King Pekahiah the Son of Menahem whom the Assyrian Monarch set up and favoured and by his unnecessary War with Ahaz had brought the Assyrian upon them and caused the loss of one half of that Kingdom and reigned in his stead in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah g Quest. How could this be when Iotham Reigned onely 16 Years below v. 33 Ans. The meaning is That he began his Reign in the twentieth Year after the beginning of Iotham's Reign or which is the same thing in the fourth Year of Ahaz Son of Iotham as appears from chap. 16. 1. But the Sacred Writer having not yet maâ—…e mention of Ahaz thought it more proper to number Hoshea's Years by Iotham of whom he had spoken than by Ahaz Besides as Iotham did Reign divers Years in his Fathers life so might Ahaz in Iotham's life and Iotham might for divers reasons which it is needless heâ—…e to enquire resign up the Administration of the Kingdom wholly into Ahaz his hands some Years before his death and therefore might be said to Reign but 16 Years though he lived longer 31 And the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did behold they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel 32 ¶ In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began * 2 Chr. 2â—… 1. Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign 33 Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign h To wit properly and alone for he had Reigned before this as his Fathers Deputy and Vice-Roy and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem and his mothers name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok 34 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done 35 ¶ Howbeit the high places were not removed the people sacrificed and burnt incense still in the high places he built the higher gate of the house of the LORD i Not of the Temple properly so called but of one of the Courts of the Temple probably that which led to the Kings Palace 2 Chron. 23. 20. called also the new gate Jer. 26. 10. and 36. 10. 36 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah 37 In those days k i. e. Towards the end of Iotham's Reign the LORD began to send l i. e. Disposed their hearts to unite their Forces together and to make preparation for a War against Iudah which yet they did not execute till Ahaz his Reign against Judah * Isa. 7. 1. Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah 38 And Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead CHAP. XVI IN * â—… Chr. 28. 1. the seventeenth year of Pekah a Of which see on ch 15. 30. the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign 2 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign b Of the difficulty hence arising see the Notes on chap. 18. 2. to which it more properly belongs and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God like David his father 3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel yea and made his son to pass through the fire c Either 1. by way of lustration to pass hastily thorow it so as to be scorched and as it were baptized with it Or 2. by way of oblation so as to be utterly consumed and offered for a burnt-offering which was the practise of Heathens and of some Israelites in imitation of them of which see 2 Kings 21. 6. Psal. 10â—… 36. Ier. 7. 31. which seems best to agree with 2 Chron. 28. 3. where it is said he burnt his children i. e. some of them first one as is here noted and afterwards others of them as is there observed Of these practises see more on Lev. 18. 21. and Deut. 18. 10. according to the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel 4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places and on the hills and under every green 〈◊〉 d After the manner of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hos. 4. 13. 5 ¶ Isâ—… 7. â—… Then Reziâ—…â—…ing of 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Remalâ—…ah king of Israel 〈◊〉 up to Jerusalem to war and they besieged 〈◊〉 but could â—…ot overcome 〈◊〉 Because God
it not good if peace and truth be in my days k Which he speaks not as if he were careless and unconcerned for his Posterity which neither the common inclinations and affections of Nature in all Men nor that singular Piety and Charity which was eminent and manifest in Hezekiah can suffer us to believe or for the Church and People of God for whose welfare he was so solicitous and industrious in the whole course of his Life but because it was a singular favour that this Judgment did not immediately follow his sin the cause of it but was suspended for a longer time 20 ¶ And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made a pool and a conduit and brought water into the city are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah 21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead CHAP. XXI MAnasseh * â—… 〈◊〉 33. 1. was twelve years old when he began to reign and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem a In which time the Years of his Imprisonment are comprehended 2 Chron. 33. 11. and his mothers name was Hephzi-bah 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD b Partly by the instigation of the wicked Princes of Iudah who in Hezekiah's time were secret Enemies to his Reformation and now when their Fetters were knock't off by Hezekiah's death break forth into open Hostility against it and corrupt the Kings tender years with their wicked counsel and principally by his own vicious inclination after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel 3 For he built up again the high places * 〈◊〉 18. 4. which Hezekiah his father had destroyed and he reared â—…p altars for Baal and made a grove as * 1 〈◊〉 16. 33 did Ahab king of Israel and worshipped all the host of heaven c The Stars which the Gentiles had transformed into gods See on Deut. 4. 19. and served them 4 And * 〈◊〉 32. 34. he built altars in the house of the LORD d i. e. In the Temple its self in the Holy-place because this is distinguished from the courts of the house ver 5. of which the LORD said * 2 Sam. 7. 13. 1 〈◊〉 8. 29. 〈◊〉 9. 3. In Jerusalem will I put my Name e That place I have peculiarly Consecrated to my Worship and Honour which made it the greater Injustice and Impiety and Sacriledge to Alienate it from God and to Dedicate it or any part of it especially the Temple to the service of Idols whom God abhorreth 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts f The one of the Priests the other of the People 1 King 6. 36. of the house of the LORD 6 And * Lev. 18. 2â—… and 2â—… â—… he made his son pass through the fire g Of which see the Notes on Lev. 18. 21. and 2 King 16. 3. and observed times h i. e. Lucky or unlucky days or seasons for the dispatch of businesses according to the superstitious practise of the Heathens See Esth. 3. 7. See also Lev. 19. 26. Deut. 18. 10 11. and used inchantments and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger 7 And he set a graven image of the grove i Either First The Image of that Baal which was worshipped in the Grove Or Secondly A representation of the Grove as may seem by comparing chap. 23. 6. Or Thirdly The Graven Image of Asherah a god or goddess so called possibly the same called elsewhere Ashtaroth See Iudg. 6. 25 28. 2 King 23. 6. 2 Chron. 15. 16. that he had made in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son * 2 Saâ—… â—… 1â—… 1 King â—… 〈◊〉 and 9. 3. Chap. 23. 27 Psal. 1â—… 13. In this house and in Jerusalem which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel will I put my Name for ever 8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land k They shall no more be carried Captives into a strange Land as it had happened before which I gave their fathers onely if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them 9 But they hearkened not and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel l Partly because they were not contented with those Idols which the Canaanites worshipped but either themselves invented or they borrowed from other Nations many new Idols and kinds of Idolatry and partly because as their light was far more clear their obligations to God infinitely higher and their helps and antidotes against Idolatry much stronger than the Canaanites had so their sins though the same in kind were unspeakably worse in respect of these dreadful aggravations 10 ¶ And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets saying 11 * Jer. 15. 4. Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites m i. e. The Canaanitish Nations all so called from one eminent part of them See on Gen. 15. 16. did which were before him and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols n By his Example Encouragement Counsel Authority and Command 12 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel Behold I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah that whosoever heareth of it both * 1 Sam. 3. 11. his ears shall tingle o By the great commotion which such terrible reports shall cause in the hearts and heads of the hearers See on 1 Sam. 3. 11. Ier. 19. 3. 13 And I * Isa. 34. 11. will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria p She shall have the same measure and lot i. e. the same Judgments which Samaria had The line is oft put for ones lot or portion as Psal. 16. 6. 2 Cor. 10. 16. because mens portions or possessions used to be measured by Lines Psal. 78. 55. Amos 7. 17. Or it is a Metaphor from workmen who mark out by Lines what parts of the Building they would have thrown down and what they would have stand See Isa. 34. 11. Lam. 2. 8. Amos 7. 7 8. Zech. 1. 16. Or it is an allusion to that fact of David who destroyed the Moabites by a measuring Line 2 Sam. 8. 2. ‡ Heb. over the House of Manasseh and the plummet of the house of Ahab and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish ‡ Heb he wipeth and turneth it upon the face thereof wiping it and turning it upside down q As men do with a
Sacred Treasures for future Occasions there being mention of the great treasures left by David even in other Authors But some Learned Men make these Talents far less than those in Moses his Time and they conceive that as there were two sorts of Shekels both of Gold and Silver the common and the sacred Shekel whereof the latter is commonly thought to be double to the former so also there were Talents of divers kinds and values For the Hebrew word kikkar which is rendred a Talent properly signifies onely a Mass or a Piece as it is used Exod. 29. 23. 1 Sam. 2. 36. Zech. 5. 7. So it may indifferently denote either a greater or a lesser Piece And this is certain and observed by two Ancient and most Learned Writers 〈◊〉 and Pollux and by others that a Talent among the Greeks and Romans sometimes notes but a small quantity and that a Talent of Gold contains onely six Drams And Homer in his Ileads amongst other things of no great value which are propounded as Rewards to the Conqueror at a solemn and publick Exercise a Bondwoman an Horse and a Pot mentions two Talents of Gold which plainly shews that in his Time which was after the building of this Temple Talents of Gold were very far Inferiour in quantity and price to what they had been in former Ages And Iosephus a Iew and therefore the more Competent Judge of these things speaking of this very thing for 100000 Talents of Gold here mentioned he puts 10000 and for 1000000 Talents of Silver he puts 100000 either because the Talents in Moses his time were of ten times more Bulk and Price than in Davids and Solomons time and therefore these Talents reduced to them amounted to no greater Sum or because he read so in his Copy of the Hebrew Bible And certainly it is infinitely more tolerable and reasonable to suppose that there is a mistake here in the generality of the present Copies of the Hebrew Bible through the Errour of the Scribe which being onely in a numeral and historical Passage might happen without Impeachment to the Care of Gods Providence which hath so miraculously preserved all the most Important and Substantial parts of Scripture as hath been formerly said than upon such Pretences to deny the Truth and Divine Original and Authority of the Holy Scriptures Add to this that all the Gold then used was not of equal worth and purity as appears both by the special Commendation given to some sorts of Gold in divers parts of Scripture and particularly by the Difference observed in this very History between the Gold and Gold which David gave for this use whereof one little part being distinctively called pure Gold and refined Gold 1 Chron. 28. 17 18. it is sufficiently implied that all the rest of the Gold was not refined nor pure which might greatly diminish the Worth of it for in what degree it was impure or allayed with other things in those Times and Places we cannot know at this Distance And therefore we cannot make a true Estimate what those Talents of Gold did amount to in our Value and a thousand thousand talents of silver p Just as much in Silver as in Gold for this is known and agreed that the Proportion of Gold to Silver is Ten to One. and of brass and iron without * As 〈◊〉 3. weight for it is in abundance timber also and stone have I prepared and thou mayest add thereto 15 Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance hewers and ‖ That is ma sons and carpenters workers of stone and timber and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work 16 Of the gold the silver and the brass and the iron there is no number Arise therefore and be doing q To wit when thou shalt come to the Throne in my stead and the LORD be with thee 17 David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son saying 18 Is not the LORD your God with you and hath he not given you rest on every side for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand and the land is subdued before the LORD and before his people r Either 1. It is brought under the Command of God and of you his People all the Enemies of God and of Israel in it or near it being now perfectly subdued Or 2. It is really subdued whereof both God and your own Eyes are Witnesses 19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God arise therefore and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD CHAP. XXIII 1 SO when David was old and full of days he made * 1 Kin. 1. 33. 39. Ch. 28. 5. Solomon his son king over Israel a Not that he did resign the Kingdom to him but that he declared his Mind concerning his Succession into the Throne after his death As David himself is called King 1 Sam. 16. 1. because he was appointed and anointed to be King after Sauls death though till then he was onely a Subiect 2 And he gathered together all the princes of Israel with the priests and the Levites b Partly to declare Gods Mind and his own Will that Solomon should be his Successor and so to cut off the Claims and Pretences which others of his Sons might make to the Crown and partly to acquaint them with those Directions which he had received from God by the Spirit as appears from ch 28. 11 c. concerning the Establishment of a new Order and Method in the Ministration of the Priests and Levites in the Temple 3 Now the Levites were numbred from the age of * Numb 4. 3. thirty years and upward c Not onely till fifty as it was appointed Num. 4. 2 3. but even till their Death For that was but a Temporary Law grounded upon a special Reason because the Levites were employed in carrying the Tabernacle and Sacred Vessels from place to place and therefore God would have them freed from those Burdens when they came to feel the Infirmities of Age Which Reason wholly ceasing upon the Building of the Temple and their Work being far easier than it had been and their Service being more a Priviledge than a Burden their time of Service is justly and fitly prolonged and their numbers by their polls man by man was thirty and eight thousand 4 Of which twenty and four thousand were ‖ Or or to oversee to set forward the work of the house of the LORD d i. e. To take care that all the Work of the Temple about Sacrifices and other Parts or Means of Gods Service should be punctually and diligently performed either by themselves or others Which they were not to do all at once but by Courses 1000 at a
Kingdom of the Ten Tribes for an hundred talents of silver 7 But there came a man of God to him saâ—…ing O king let not the army of Israel go with thee for the LORD is not with Israel c He hath forsaken them and for their sakes will cursâ—… thy Forces if thou joynest thy self with them to wit with all the children of Ephraim 8 But if thou wilt go do it be strong for the battel d Take Courage and strengthen thy self as much as thou canst It is an Ironical Concession like that Go and prosper God shall make thee fall before the enemy for God hath power to help and to cast down 9 And Amaziah said to the man of God But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the †Heb. hand army of Israel And the man of God answered The LORD is able to give thee much more than this 10 Then Amaziah separated them to wit the army that was come to him out of Ephraim to go †Heb. to 〈◊〉 place home again wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah e Because they were both disgraced by this Rejection and disappointed of that Prey and Spoil which they hoped to gain whereas now they were sent away empty for the 100 Talents probably were given to their Officers onely to raise Men for this Service that Sum being otherwise too small to be distributed into so many hands and they returned home †Heb. in heaâ—… of anger in great anger 11 And Amaziah strengthened himself and led sorth his people and went to the valley of salt and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand 12 And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry captive and brought them away unto the top of the rock and cast them down from the top of the rock that they were broken all in pieces 13 But †Heb. the sons of the band the souldiers of the army which Amamaziah sent back that they should not go with him to battel fell upon the cities of Judah from Samaria even unto Beth-horon f To wit Beth-horon the Lower which was in the Tribe of Benjamin and from thence to Samaria either 1. to the City of Samaria for the Kings of Judah had taken divers Places within the Kingdom of Israel Or 2. To the Kingdom of Samaria Beth-horon and all other Places between that City and their own Kingdom and smote g i. e. Killed as that word is generally understood three thousand of them h Not 3000 Cities but 3000 Persons dwelling in them who possibly opposed them in taking the Spoil which was the Thing they sought and took much spoil 14 Now it came to pass after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites that he brought the gods of the children of Seir and set them up to be his gods and bowed down himself before them and burned incense unto them 15 Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah and he sent unto him a prophet which said unto him Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand i Therefore thou art not onely ungrateful and impious but also ridiculously foolish in offending that God whose Power and Goodness thou hast now found and in worshipping such gods of whose Impotency thou hast had late Experience 16 And it came to pass as he talked with him that the king said unto him Art thou made of the the kings counsel k Who art thou that presumest to direct and govern my Affairs without my Commission forbear why shouldest thou be smitten l Provoke me no further lest I cause thee to be killed for thy Sawciness Then the prophet forbare and said I know m This he might know either by the plain and positive Rules of Gods Word as Prov. 29. 1. or by the Suggestion of Gods Spirit that God hath †Heb. counselled determined to destroy thee because thou hast done this and hast not hearkned unto my counsel 17 Then * 2 Kin. 14. 8. Amaziah king of Judah took advice n i. e. About the Injury which the Israelites had done to his People v. 13. and how he should repair it But of this and the following Verses see on 2 King 14. 8 c. and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu king of Israel saying Come let us see one another in the face 18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah saying The ‖ Or furbush or thorn thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon saying Give thy daughter to my son to wife and there passed by †Heb. a beast of the field a wild beast that was in Lebanon and trode down the thistle 19 Thou sayest Lo thou hast smitten the Edomites and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast abide now at home why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt that thou shouldest fall even thou and Judah with thee 20 But Amaziah would not hear for * Ch. 22. 7. it came of God o Who gave him up to his own Errour and Passion in order to his Ruine that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies because they â—…ought after the gods of Edom. 21 So Joash the king of Israel went up and they saw one another in the face both he and Amaziah king of Judah at Beth-shemesh which belongeth to Judah 22 And Judah was †Heb. smitten put to the worse before Israel and they fled every man to his tent 23 And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz at Beth-shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to †Heb. the gate of it that looketh Ch. 26. 9. the corner-gate four hundred cubits 24 And he took all the gold and the silver and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edom p i. e. With Obed-edoms Posterity to whom the Custody of the Sacred Treasures was committed See 1 Chron. 26. 15. and the treasures of the kings house the hostages also and returned to Samaria 25 And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years 26 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah first and last behold are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel 27 Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away †Heb. from after from following the LORD they †Heb. conspired a conspiracy made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish but they sent to Lachish after him and slew him there 28 And they brought him upon horses and buried him with his fathers in the city
â—… c. was twelve years old when he began to reign a This and the following Verses to v. 11. are taken out of 2 King 21. 1 c. and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem 2 But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD like unto the * 〈◊〉 1â—… â—… abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel 3 For †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had * 2 Kin. 〈◊〉 Ch. 30. 14 31. 1. broken down and he reared up altars for Baalim and * Deut. 16. 21. made groves and worshipped * Deut. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all the host of heaven and served them 4 Also he built altars in the house of the LORD whereof the LORD had said * Deut. 12. 〈◊〉 1 Kin. 8. 29. 9. 3. Ch. 6. 6. 7. 16. In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD 6 And he * Lev. 18. 21. Deut. 18. 12. 2 Kin. 21. 1â—… caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom also he observed times and used inchantments and used witchcraft and * 2 Kin. 〈◊〉 â—… dealt with a familiar spirit and with wizzards he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger 7 And he set a carved image the idol which he had made in the house of God of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son In * Psal. 13â—… 14. this house and in Jerusalem which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel will I put my Name for ever 8 * 2 Sam. 〈◊〉 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses 9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to erre and to do worse than the heathen whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel 10 And the LORD spake to Manasseh and to his people but they would not hearken 11 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host †Heb. which were 〈◊〉 of the king of Assyria which took Manasseh among the thorns b In some Thicket where he thought to hide himself from the Assyrians till he could make an escape as the Israelites formerly used to do 1 Sam. 13. 6. Or with hooks a Metaphorical Expression Or in his Forts i. e. in one of them and bound him with ‖ Or 〈◊〉 setters and carried him to Babylon c Either therefore Esarhaddon Sennacheribs Successor had recovered Babylon from Merodach-Baladan Or rather the King of Babylon is here called the King of Assyria because by this time he had added Assyria to his Empire who having been informed by his Ambassadours of the great Riches which were in Hezekiahs Treasures at Jerusalem which he was desirous to enjoy and withall being assured of Manasseh his degeneracy from the Piety and Vertue of his Father and from that God whose Power alone made Hezekiah formidable he thought this a Fit Season to invade Manasseh's Kingdom which he did with Success 12 And when he was in affliction he besought the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers 13 And prayed unto him and he was intreated of him and heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God c i. e. He was convinced by his own Experience of Gods Power Justice and Goodness that Jehovah alone was the True God and not those Idols which he had worshipped by which he had received great Hart and no Good 14 Now after this he built a wall d He repaired and strengthened that Wall which Hezekiah had built ch 32. 5. and which possibly the King of Assyria when he last took Jerusalem had caused to be thrown down either wholly or in part without the city of David on the west-side of Gihon e On the West-side of the City of David to which Hezekiah had brought this Water-course down chap. 32. 30. into the great Pool which he had made to receive it and possibly this Wall was built to secure the Free Use of it to the Citizens when they should be distressed or besieged by an Enemy in the valley even to the entring in at the fish-gate and compassed about ‖ 〈…〉 Ophel f With a Wall Of Ophel see before ch 27. 3. and raised it up a very great height and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah 15 And he took away the strange gods and the idol out of the house of the LORD and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem and cast them out of the city 16 And he repaired the altar of the LORD and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and * 〈…〉 thank-offerings and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel g That thereby he might as far as he could repair the Injuries which he had done to God by his Impious Commands v. 9. 17 Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places yet unto the LORD their God onely 18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and his prayer unto his God and the words of the * 〈◊〉 5. 9. seers that spake to him in the Name of the LORD God of Israel behold they are written in the books of the kings of Israel h i. e. Of Judah oft called Israel as hath been noted before He speaks not of that part of the Canon called the Book of Kings for these things are not mentioned there but of their Publick Records where all things were particularly mentioned and whence the most important things were taken by the Prophets and put into those Canonical Books 19 His prayer also and how God was intreated of him and all his sin and his trespass and the places wherein he built high places and set up groves and graven images before he was humbled behold they are written among the sayings of ‖ 〈…〉 the seers i Or rather of Hosai a Writer so called For when the Sacred Pen-men make a Reference they constantly refer us to some particular Book or certain Author as to the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel or Iudah to the Prophecy of Ahijah or Oded c. 20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers and they buried him in his own house k i. e. In his Garden of which see on 2 King 21. 18. and Amon his son reigned in his stead 21 * 〈◊〉 21. 19. Amon was
Bebai Jehohanan Hananiah Zabbai and Athlai 29 And of the sons of Bani Meshullam Malluch and Adajah Jashub and Sheal and Ramoth 30 And of the sons of Pahath-moab Adna and Chelal Benajah Maasejah Mattaniah Bezaleel and Binnui and Manasseh 31 And of the sons of Harim Eliezer Ishijah Malchiah Shemajah Shimeon 32 Benjamin Malluch and Shemariah 33 Of the sons of Hashum Matanai Mattathah Zabad Eliphelet Jeremai Manasseh and Shimei 34 Of the sons of Bani Maadi Amram and Uel 35 Benajah Bedejah Chelluh 36 Vaniah Meremoth Eliashib 37 Mattaniah Mattenai and Jaasau 38 And Bani and Binnui Shemei 39 And Shelemiah and Nathan and Adajah 40 ‖ Or 〈◊〉 â—…bai according to some copies Machnadebai Shashai Sharai 41 Azareel and Shelemiah Shemariah 42 Shallum Amariah and Joseph 43 Of the sons of Nebo Jehiel Mattithiah Zabad Zebina Jadau and Joel Benajah 44 All these had taken strange wives and some of them had wives by whom they had children c Whereby he implies that most of their Wives were barren Which came to pass by Gods special Providence partly to manifest his displeasure against such matches and partly that the practice of this great and necessary duty might not be encumbred with too many difficulties NEHEMIAH THis Book seems not to have been written by Ezra because it is written in a quite differing and more plain and easy stile and without that mixture of Chaldee or Syriack words which is in the Book of Ezra but by Nehemiah ch 1. 1. who writ an account of his own Transactions as Ezra did of his But whether this be the same Nehemiah who came up with Zerubbabel Ezra 2. 2. Nehemiah 7. 7. may be questioned the same name being oft given to divers Persons And for the name of Tirshatha which is used both Ezra 2. 63. Nehem. 7. 65 70. that seems to be the Title of his Office and so belongs to any Governour whether it was Zerubbabel or Nehemiah or any other CHAP. I. 1 THe words a Or rather the acts or deeds as the word oft signifies of which he here treats of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah And it came to pass in the month * Zech. 7. 1. Chisleu b Which is the 9th month containing part of November and part of December in the twentieth year c Of Artaxerxes ch 2. 1. as I was in Shushan d The Chief and Royal City of Persia Esth. 3. 15. the palace 2 That Hanani one of my Brethren e Of my Family or Tribe or Nation came he and certain men of Judah and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped f Out of the slavery which they indured in strange Lands which were left of the captivity g The remnant of those numerous Captives and concerning Jerusalem 3 And they said unto me the remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province h i. e. In Iudea which was now made a province under the Persian Monarchs see the Notes on Ezra 5. 8. are in great affliction and reproach i Despised and distressed by the neighbouring Nations the wall of Jerusalem also * 2 Kin. 25. 10. is broken down and the gates thereof are burnt with fire k i. e. The walls and gates continue in the same woful plight in which Nebuchadnezzar left them the Jews not being yet in a condition to rebuild them nor having Commission from the Kings of Persia to do so but onely to build the Temple and their own private houses And this made their enemies scorn them who also would have ruined them but for fear of offending the Persian King 4 And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sate down and wept and mourned certain days and prayed before the God of heaven 5 And said I beseech thee * Dan. 9. 4. O LORD God of heaven the great and terrible God * Exod. 20. 6. that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments 6 Let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant which I pray before thee now day and night for the children of Israel thy servants and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against thee both I and my fathers house have sinned 7 We have dealt very corruptly l Or we have wholly corrupted to wit our selves and our ways and thy Worship against thee and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes nor the judgments which thou commandedst thy servant Moses 8 Remember I beseech thee the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses to deliver to us saying * 〈◊〉 26. 39. 〈◊〉 4. 25. â—… if ye transgress I will scatter you abroad among the nations 9 But if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them * 〈◊〉 30. 4. though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of heaven yet will I gather them from thence and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there 10 Now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand 11 O LORD I beseech thee let now thine ear be attentive unto the prayer of thy servant to the prayer of thy servants †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who desire to fear thy name and prosper I pray thee thy servant this day and grant him mercy in the sight of this man m The King who though a God by Office is but a man by Nature and therefore his heart is wholly at thy disposal For I was the kings cup bearer n Whereby I had opportunity to speak to him and some Favour and Freedom with him which encouraged me to make this Prayer and to hope for some success CHAP. II. 1 And it came to pass in the month * 〈◊〉 3. 7. Nisan a Which was four months after he had heard those sad ridings The reason of this long silence and delay might be manifold either because he thought fit that some time should be spent by himself and possibly others of his brethren in seeking God by solemn Prayer and fasting for Gods blessing and the good success of this great affair or because he could not take so long and dangerous a journey in the depth of Winter or because his turn of attending upon the King did not come to him till that time or because till then he wanted a fit opportunity to move it to the King by reason of the Kings indisposition or occasions or multitude of attendants among whom there probably were diverse enemies to the Jews who he feared might hinder his design and desire in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes b Artaxerxes Longimanus the Son of the great Xerxes who reigned both with his Father and after his death alone whence the years of his reign are
computed two ways one from the death of Xerxes and the other from his first entrance upon the administration of the Kingdom which was committed to him in the 5th year of Xerxes when he began the Grecian war and left his Son King or Viceroy in his stead as the manner of the Persians was It may seem doubtful and is not much material which way of computation is here used Others understand this of Artaxerxes Nemon the king that wine was before him and I took up the wine and gave it unto the king Now I had not been before-time sad in his presence 2 Wherefore the king said unto me why is thy countenance sad c His fasting joyned with inward grief had made a sensible change in his very countenance seeing thou art not sick this is nothing else but sorrow of heart Then I was very sore afraid d Partly being daunted by the Majesty of the King and the suddenness and sharpness of his question partly fearing lest there was arising some jealousy or ill opinion in the King concerning him partly because it was an unusual and ungrateful thing to come into the King of Persia's presence with any badges or tokens of sorrow Esth. 4. 2. and principally from his doubts or fears of disappointment because his request was great and invidious and odious to the most of the Persian Courtiers and might be represented as dangerous and might seem improper for a time of feasting and jollity 3 And said unto the king 〈◊〉 â—… 31. 〈◊〉 2. 4. 〈◊〉 Let the king live for ever e My sadness comes not from any discontent with my own condition or any disaffection to the King for whom my hearty Prayers are that he may live for ever but from another cause why should not my countenance be sad when the city the †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 place of my fathers sepulchers f Which by all Nations are esteemed sacred and inviolable and honourable He saith not a word of the Temple or of Religion for he wisely considered that he spake before a heathen King and Court who cared for none of those things lieth wast and the gates thereof are consumed with fire 4 Then the King said unto me For what dost thou make request so I prayed to the God of heaven g To direct my thoughts and words and to incline the Kings heart to grant my request 5 And I said unto the king If it please the king h My request whatsoever it is I humbly and wholly submit it to the Kings good pleasure being resolved to acquiesce in it and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight i I pretend no merit but am an humble suppliant for thy grace and favour whereof having received some tokens I am thereby emboldened to make this further request that thou wouldest send me unto Judah unto the city of my fathers sepulchers that I may build it 6 And the king said unto me the †Heb wife queen also sitting by him k Which is here noted partly as an unusual thing for commonly the Kings of Persia dined alone and their Queens seldom dined with them as Historians note and peradventure because the Queen expressed some kindness to him and promoted his request with the King For how long shall thy journey be and when wilt thou return l This question shewed the Kings respect and affection to him and that he was not willing to want his attendance longer than was necessary So it pleased the king to send me and I set him a time m Either that 12 years mentioned ch 5. 14. 13. 6. or rather a far shorter time for which cause among others he built the walls with such dispatch even in 52 days ch 6. 15. and probably not very long after that returned to the King by whom he was sent a second time with more ample Commission and for the Kings service and the Government of that part of his dominions 7. Moreover I said unto the king If it please the king let letters be given me to governours beyond the river that they may convey me over n That they may safely conduct me through their several territories till I come into Judah 8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper †Heb. of the kings orchard So Gr. of the kings forrest o Of the forest of Libanus famous for pleasure and for plenty of choice trees that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house p To wit of the Kings palace which was adjoyning to the house of God Or of the Tower or sence belonging to the house of God to wit for the gates of the Courts of the Temple for though the Temple was built the Courts and other buildings belonging to the Temple might yet be unfinished and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall enter into q Wherewith I may build an house in which I may dwell whilst I am there and which I may dispose of as I see fit And the king granted me * Ezr. 7. 9. according to the good hand of my God upon me 9 Then I came to the governours beyond the river and gave them the kings letters Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me 10 When Sanballat the Horonite r So called either from his family or from the place of his birth or rule which is supposed to be Horonaim an eminent City of Moab Isa. 15. 5. Ier. 48. 3. and Tobiah the servant s So called probably from his servile original or condition from which he was advanced to his present power and dignity which also may be mentioned as one reason why he now carried himself so insolently and perversly towards the Jews it being usual for Persons suddenly raised from a mean to an high estate so to demean themselves the Ammonite heard of it it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel 11 So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days t Resting my self after my long journey and enquiring into the state of the City 12 And I arose in the night u Concealing both his intentions and actions as far and as long as he could as knowing that the life of his business lay in secrecy and expedition I and some few men with me neither told I any man what God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem neither was there any beast with me save the beast that I rode upon x To prevent noise and the notice of what I did 13 And I went out by night y The footmen which accompanied him directing and leading him in the way His design was to go round about the City to observe the compass and condition of the Walls and Gates that he might make sufficient provisions for
And so here to strip the naked is by stripping them to make them naked 7. Thou hast not given water o Surely thou hast been so hard hearted as to deny a Cup of cold Water to those that needed and desired it Water was oft times scarce and precious in those hot Countries and was appropriated to particular persons without whose leave other persons might not take it to the weary p i. e. To him who by reason of hard labour or Travel is weary and thirsty So this word is used Prov. 25. 25. to drink and thou hast with-holden Bread from the hungry q To whom it was due by Gods Law Prov. 3. 27. which also was known to Iob by the light of Nature Hereby he intimates the greatness of this Sin of Uncharitableness by ranking it with heinous crimes whereas Iob as he thought esteemed it but a small fault if any 8. But as for †Heb. 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 the mighty man he had the Earth r Heb. And or but the man of Arm or Strength or Power to him was the Earth or the Land i. e. he had the firm possession or free enjoyment of it Which is meant either 1. Of Iob of whom he speaks invidiously in the third person The mighty man Iob possessed and enlarged and enjoyed his Estate without any compassion to the poor Or rather 2. Of other rich and potent men who had the Earth or Land either 1. By Iob's judicial Sentence which was generally given in favour of the rich and against the poor Or 2. By Iob's kindness and courtesie The rich were always welcom to him his house was open to them his Land was before them when the poor were driven away from his House and Territories and the †Heb. 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Kings 5. Isa. 3. 3. honourable man dwelt in it s Either by thy sentence or permission he had a peaceable and sure possession of it He repeateth the same thing in other words 9. Thou hast sent Widows t Whose helpless Estate called for thy pity Exod. 22. 22. Deut. 24. 17 19. away empty u Either by denying them that Relief which their poverty required or that right which their cause deserved or by spoiling them of their Goods because thou knewest them to be unable to oppose thee or to right themselves and the Arms x i. e. All their supports and comforts and rights An heinous sin but falsly charged upon Iob. of the Fatherless have been broken 10. Therefore y For these and the like crimes The cause of thy ruine is not secret from Gods soveraign Power and unsearchable Judgments as thou pretendest but plain and manifest even thy own crying sins Snares are round about thee z Thou art encompassed with dangers and calamities and sudden fear a Beside thy present miseries thou art tormented with the dread and expectation of further and sorer Judgments troubleth thee 11. Or darkness b Either 1. A darkness and confusion of mind so great that thou canst not discern the true cause and use of all thy sufferings Or 2. Grievous Calamities which are oft called darkness which are such that thou canst see no way nor possibility of escaping Either thou art troubled with fear of further evils as it is said v. 10. or with the gross darkness of thy present state of misery that thou canst not see and abundance of Waters c i. e. Plenty and variety of sore afflictions which are frequently compared to Waters as Psal. 18. 16. 66. 12. Isa. 43. 2. cover thee 12. Is not God in the height of Heaven d Surely he is and from that high Tower he looketh down upon men Psal. 14. 2. to behold and govern and recompense all their actions whether good or bad And therefore O Iob thou art grosly mistaken in thinking that all things in this lower world are managed by chance and without any regard to Justice or to just men and not by the wise and holy Providence of God For this is the genuine Consequence of thy great Principle that good men suffer as deeply as any others whilest the vilest of men are exalted and flourish and behold †Heb. 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 Sâ—… the height of the Stars how high they are e Yet God is far higher than they and from thence can easily spy all men and things here below as the highest places afford the best prospects 13. And f Or Therefore From this true and certain principle thou drawest this false and wicked Conclusion Or Yet notwithstanding this undeniable Argument thou sayest g Thou reasonest thus within thy self as it may seem by thy discourses ‖ Or 〈◊〉 how doth God know h i. e. God cannot discern and therefore doth not mind things so far below him and distant from him * Psal. 〈◊〉 â—…9 â—… 73. 11. 〈◊〉 7. can he judge through the dark Cloud i i. e. Through those immense and innumerable Clouds which lie between the Heaven and the Earth although our eyes see but few of them 14. Thick clouds are a covering to him that he seeth not and he walketh in the circuit of heaven k His conversation and business and delight is in the higher and heavenly World which is worthy of his care but he will not disparage nor burden himself with the care of this contemptible spot of earth which was the opinion of many heathen Philosophers and as they fancied was Iob's opinion also 15. Hast thou marked the †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 way So old way l Heb. The way of antiquity i. e. of men living in ancient times or former ages By this way is here meant either 1. their course or common practice Or 2. their end or success as the way is taken 1 Sam. 9. 6 8. and as death which is and is called the end of all men Eccles. 72. is also called the way of all the earth Jos. 23. 14. 1 Kings 2. 2. which wicked men have troden 16. Which were cut down out of time m i. e. Before their time who died a violent and untimely death †〈…〉 whose foundation was overflown with a floud n Who together with their foundation to wit the earth and all their supports and enjoyments in it were destroyed by the general Deluge which doubtless was very well known to them because they lived not long after it and which was most proper for this Argument Or whose foundation i. e. all their power and riches and policy upon which they build all their hopes and happiness was like a flood poured forth which made a great shew and noise for a time but speedily vanished and came to nothing 17. * 〈…〉 Which said unto God Depart from us and what can the Almighty do ‖ 〈…〉 for them o He reports Iob's words Chap. 21. 14 15. where they are explained but to a contrary
enjoying a better Life which they never regarded But I have a firm and well grounded hope not of that temporal restitution which you promised me but of a blessed immortality after death and therefore am none of these hopeless Hypocrites as you account me when God taketh away r Or expâ—…lleth Or plucketh up which notes violence and that he died unwillingly Compare Luk. 12. 20. when good men are said freely and chearfully to give themselves or their Souls unto God his soul 9. * Psal. 18. 41. â—… 109. â—… 〈◊〉 1. 28. â—…â—…8 9. 〈◊〉 1. 15. Ezek. 8. 18. 〈◊〉 3. 4. Joh. 9. 31. 〈◊〉 4. 3. Will God hear his cry s An hypocrite doth not pray to God with comfort or any solid hope that God will hear him as I know he will hear me though not in the way which you think when trouble cometh upon him t When his guilty Conscience will fly in his face so as he dare not pray and accuse him to God so as God will not hear him 10. Will he delight himself in the Almighty u Will he be able to delight and satisfie himself with God alone and with his Love and favour when he hath no other matter of delight This I now do and this an hypocrite cannot do because his heart is chiefly set upon the World and when that fails him his heart sinks and the thoughts of God are unfavoury and troublesom to him will he always call upon God x He may by his afflictions be driven to Prayer but if God doth not speedily answer him he falls into despair and neglect of God and of Prayer whereas I constantly continue in Prayer notwithstanding the grievousness and the long continuance of my Calamities 11. I will teach you ‖ Or being in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. by the hand of God y i. e. By Gods help and inspiration as God is said to speak to the Prophet with or by a strong hand Isa. 8. 11. I will not teach you my own vain conceits but what God himself hath taught me Or concerning as the prefix Beth is oft used as Exod. 12. 43 44. Psal. 63. 6. 87. 3. Prov. 4. 11. the hand of God i. e. his Counsel and Providence in governing the World or the manner of his dealing with men and especially with wicked men of whose portion he discourseth v. 13 14. c. shewing how far the hand of God is either for them or upon them and against them that which is with the Almighty z i. e. What is in his Breast or Counsel and how he executes his secret purposes concerning them or the truth of God the Doctrine which he hath taught his Church about these matters will I not conceal 12. Behold all ye your selves have seen it a I speak no false or strange things but what is known and confirmed by your own as well as others experiences why then are ye thus altogether vain b In maintaining such a foolish and false opinion against your own knowledge and experience Why do you obstinately defend your opinion and not comply with mine for the truth of which I appeal to your own Consciences 13. This c That which is mentioned in the following Verses In which Iob delivers either 1. the opinion of his Friends in whose person he utters them and afterwards declares his dissent from them Or rather 2. his own opinion and how far he agreeth with them for his sense differs but little from what Zophar said Ch. 20. 29. is the portion of a wicked man with God d Either laid up with God or in his Counsel and appointment or which he shall have from God as the next words explain it and the heritage of Oppressors e Who are mighty and fierce and terrible and mischievous to mankind as this word implies whom therefore men cannot destroy but God will which they shall receive of the Almighty 14. * Deut. 28. 41. Hos. 9. 13. If his children be multiplied it is for the sword f That they may be cut off by the Sword either of War or of Justice and his off-spring shall not be satisfied with bread g Shall be starved or want necessaries A Figure called Meiosis 15. Those that remain of him h Who survive and escape that Sword and Famine shall be buried in death i Either 1. Shall die and so be buried Or 2. Shall be buried as soon as ever they are dead either because their Relations or dependents feared lest they should come to themselves again and trouble them and others longer or because they were not able to bestow any funeral Pomp upon them or thought them unworthy of it Or 3. Shall be in â—… manner utterly extinct in or by death all their hope and glory and name and memory which they designed to perpetuate to all ages shall be buried with them and they shall never rise again to a blessed Life whereas a good man hath hope in his death and leaves his good-name alive and flourishing in the World and rests in his Grave in assurance of Redemption from it and of a glorious Resarrection to an happy and eternal Life and * Psal. 78. 64. his Widows k For they had many Wives either to gratifie their Lust or to encrease and strengthen their Family and Interest shall not weep l Either because they durst not lament their death which was entertained with publick joy or because they were overwhelmed and astonished with the greatness and strangeness of the Calamity and therefore could not weep or because they also as well as other persons groaned under their Tyranny and cruelty and rejoiced in their deliverance from it 16. Though he heap up silver as the dust and prepare raiment as the clay m i. e. In great abundance 17. He may prepare it but the just shall put it on n Either because it shall be given to him by the Judge to recompence those Injuries which he received from that Tyrant Or because the right of it is otherwise transferred upon him by divine Providence and the innocent shall divide o Either 1. To the poor he shall distribute that which the oppressors hoarded up and kept as wickedly as he got it So this suits with Prov. 28. 8. Eccles. 2. 26. Or 2. With others or to himself He shall have a share of it when by the Judges sentence those ill-gotten goods shall be restored to the right owners the silver 18. * Chap. 8. 15 He buildeth his house as a moth p Which settleth itself in a Garment but is quickly and unexpectedly brushed off and dispossessed of its dwelling and crushed to death and as a booth that the keeper maketh q Which the Keeper of a Garden or Vineyard suddenly rears up in Fruit-time and as quickly and easily pulls it down again See Isa. 1. 8. Lam. 2. 6. 19. The rich man shall
Sea for Tarshish though Properly the Name of a Maritine place in Ciâ—…icia Ezek. 27. 25. 〈◊〉 1. 3. is usually put for the Sea as 1 Kings 10. 22. 2 Chron. 9. 21. Psal. 72. 10. Isa. 2. 16. Ier. 10. 9. are broken with an East-wind Albeit the Enemies of Ierusalem which are Compared to the raging Waters of the Sea in Psal. 46 2 3. may as fitly be Compared to Ships upon the Sea 8. As we have heard so have we seen q The predictions of the Prophets Either 2 Chron. 20. 14. or 2 Kings 19. 20. c. have been verified by the Events Or We have had late and fresh Experiences of such wonderful works of God as before we onely heard of by the Report of our Fathers in the city of the LORD of hosts in the city of our God God will establish it for ever r From this miraculous Deliverance we plainly see that God hath a singular Love to it and Care of it and therefore will defend her in all succeeding Ages against all her Enemies And so God would have done if Ierusalem had not forsaken God and forfeited his Favour and Protection Selah 9. We have thought of s It hath been the matter of our Serious and deep Meditation when we have been Worshipping there in thy Temple For when the Priests were offering Incense or Sacrifice the Religious People exercised themselves in holy Meditation or secret Prayer to God as may be gathered from Luk. 1. 10. and many other places of Scripture and from the Nature of the thing Or We have silently or Patiently waited for as some Anâ—…ient and other Interpreters â—…ender it thy loving kindness O God in the midst of thy temple 10. According to thy name O God so is thy praise t For this and such like glorious Actions thou art praised and acknowledged and Evidently proved to be such an one as thou hast affirmed thy self to be in thy Word God Almighty or Al-sufficient the Lord of Hâ—…sts the King of thy Church 〈◊〉 People and a strong Tower to all that trust in thee and all other things which thou art called in Scripture Thy Name is not an empty Title but is filled up with honourable and Praise-worthy Works answerable to it unto the ends of the earth thy right hand is full of righteousness u i. â—… Of righteous Actions by which thou discoverest thy Justice and Holiness in destroying the Wicked and incorrigible Enemies of thy People and in fulfilling thy Promises made to thy Church 11. Let mount x Synecdochically put for Ierusalem Zion rejoyce let the daughters of Judah y i. e. The other and lesser Cities and Towns or Villages i. e. all the People of Iudaâ—… for such are commonly called Daughters in Respect of the Mother City to which they are Subjects See Ios. 15. 45 and 17. 16. Psal. 45. 12. and 137 8. He mentions Iudah onely and not all Israel Partly because they were more immediately and Eminently concerned in Ierusalems Deliverance and principally because ten of the Tribes of Israel were now cut off from Ierusalem and from the Kingdom of David's House and possibly carried away Captive 2 Kings 18. 9 10. 11. be glad because of thy judgments z Upon thine and their Enemies At which they were glad not simply but because it was highly Conducible to God's Honour and to the Preservation and Enlargement of Gods Church in the World 12. Walk about Zion and go round about her a He speaketh Either 1. To the Enemies as Triumphing over them Or rather 2. To the People of that City and Kingdom who had been Eye Witnesses of this glorious work of God as appears from the following Verses tell the towers thereof b He bids them â—…ark well her â—…owers Bâ—…warks and Palaces here and v. 13. not with vain Ostentation or Carnal Confidence for he had said that God onely was their Refuge v. 3. but with thankfulness to God when they should find upon Enquiry that not one of them was demolished or â—…ny way defaced by so potent an Enemy 13. * 〈◊〉 sâ—…t your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark ye well her bulwarks ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 consider c Or Exalt or Admire her palaces that ye may tell it to the generation following d That they may be excited to continue their Praises to God for this Mercy by which they hold and enjoy all their Blessings and to trust in God in the like Difficulties for the Future 14. For this God e is our God for ever and ever he will be our guide even unto death f Who hath done this great Work i. e. Whilest we have a being Birth and Life â—…nd the several Ages of Life and Death are oft ascribed to Churches and Commonwealths both in Scripture and in other Authors This Promise was made to the Old and earthly Ierusalem upon Condition of their Obedience wherein they failing so grossly lost the benefit of it but it is absolutely made good to the New and Heavenly Ierusalem the Church of Christ. PSAL. XLIX The ARGUMENT This Psalm is Penned upon the same Occasion with Psal. 39. and 73. to wit upon the Contemplation of the afflictions of Gods People and of the Prosperity and Glory of ungodly Men. The design is to justifie Gods Providence in this dark Dispensation and to shew that all things being Considered good Men have no cause for immoderate Dejection of Spirit nor wicked Men for glorying in their present Felicities To the chief musician a Psalm ‖ Or of for the sons of Korah 1. HEar this all ye people a Heb. All People Iews or Gentiles For all are concerued in this Matter as being apt to stumble and murmur at it give â—…ar all ye inhabitants of the World 2. Both * Psal. 6â—… 9. low and high rich and poor tother 3. My mouth shall speak of wisdom and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding b It concerns you diligently to attend to me for I am about to speak not of Vulgar and Trivial tâ—…ngs or 〈◊〉 as come suddenly into my Mind and rush as 〈◊〉 out of my Mouth but of such things as are the râ—…sult oâ—… my most 〈◊〉 and considerate thoughts and such aâ—… iâ—… 〈◊〉 obâ—…rve them and lâ—…y them to Heart will make you truly 〈◊〉 and keep you from those Errors and Follies and 〈◊〉 which the generality of Mankind for want of a right understâ—…g do run into 4. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 13. 3â—… I will incline mine ear c This is another Argâ—…ment to perswade them to hâ—…rken to him I will hearken what God by his Spirit speaks to me and that and nothing else will I now speak to you and therefore it is well worth your hearing I also shall joyn with you in attending to it that whilst I â—…each you I my self may learn the same Lesson For as Ministers now teach themselves whilst they teach
men have theirs but from all Eternity Or thou art or wast O God 3 Thou turnest man to destruction f But as for man his case is far otherwise his time is short and though he was made by thee an happy Creature and should have been immortal yet upon and for his sin thou didst make him mortal and miserable and sayest g Or didst say i. e. pronounce that sad sentence here following Return O men to the dust out of which you were taken Gen. 3. 19. Psal. 146. 4. Eccles. 12. 7. Return ye children of men 4 * 2 Pet. 3. 8. For a thousand years h If we should now live so long as some of our Progenitors well-nigh did As he compared mans duration with Gods in respect of its beginning v. 2. so here he compareth them in respect of the end or continuance in thy sight i In thy account and therefore in truth which is opposed to the partial and false judgment of men who think time long because they do not understand Eternity Or in comparison of thy endless duration are but as yesterday ‖ Or when he hath passed them when it is past k Which is emphatically added because time seems long when it is to come but when it is past and men look backward upon it it seems very short and contemptible and men value one hour to come more than a thousand years which are past and as a watch l Which lasted but for three or four hours for the night was antiently divided into three or four Watches See Iudg. 7. 19. Mark 6. 48. and 13. 35. Luk. 12. 38. in the night m Which also hath its weight for the silence and slumbers of the night makes time seem shorter than it doth in the day 5 Thou carriest them n i. e. Mankind of whom he spake v. 3. away as with a floud o Unexpectedly violently and irresistibly universally without exception or distinction * Psal. 73. 20. they are as a sleep p Short and vain as sleep is and not minded till it be past Or like a Dream when a man sleepeth wherein there may be some real pleasure but never any satisfaction or some real trouble but very inconsiderable and seldom or never pernicious Even such an idle and insignificant thing is humane life considered in it self without respect to a future state in which there is but a meer shadow or dream of felicity onely the calamities attending upon it are more real and weighty in the morning * Psal. 103. 15. they are like grass which ‖ Or is changed groweth up q Heb. which is changed either first for the worse which passeth away as some render the word Which having generally affirmed here he may seem more particularly to explain in the next Verse Or rather secondly for the better as this word is sometimes used as Iob 14. 7. Isa. 40. 31. which sprouteth out of the Earth and groweth more apparent and green and flourishing And this interpretation is confirmed from the next Verse where this same word is used in this sence where also the morning is again mentioned and that as the time not of its decay but of its flourishing 6 In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up in the evening it is cut down and withereth r The whole space of mans life is compared to one day and his prosperity is confined to a part of that day and ended in the close of it 7 For we s Either 1. we men or rather 2. we Israelites in this wilderness are consumed t Either naturally by the frame of our bodies or violently by extraordinary judgments Thou dost not suffer us to live so long as we might by the course of nature by thine anger u Caused by our sinful state and lives and by thy wrath are we troubled 8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee x Thou dost not now cover or blot out or pass by our sins as thou hast usually done to thy people but thou dost diligently search them out and accurately observe them as a severe but righteous Judge and art now calling us to an account for them our secret sins y Thou dost not onely punish us for our notorious and scandalous sins which thine honour may seem to oblige thee to do but even for our secret lusts the murmuring and unbelief and Apostasie and Idolatry of our hearts which though hid from the eyes of men thou hast set before thine eyes and brought them to light by thy judgments †Heb. at the luminary of thy countenance in the light of thy countenance 9 For all our days are †Heb. turned away passed away z Or turn away themselves or their face from us They do not continue with us but quickly turn their backs upon us and leave us in thy wrath we spend our years ‖ Or as a meditation as a tale that is told a Which may a little affect us for the present but is quickly ended and gone out of mind Or as a word as Iob 37. 2. which in an instant is gone and that irrevocably Or as a thought or a sigh or a breath All which come to one sence 10 †Heb. as for the days of our years in them are seventy years The days of our years b Either 1. of the Israelites in the desart who being twenty years old and some thirty some forty some fifty years old when they came out of Egypt and dying in the Wilderness as all of that age did Numb 14. 29. a great number of them doubtless died in their seventieth or eightieth year as is here implyed Or rather 2. of the generality of mankind and the Israelites no less than others in that and all following Ages some few persons excepted amongst whom were Moses and Caleb and Ioshua who lived an hundred and twenty years which is therefore noted of them as a thing singular and extraordinary This sence suits best with the following words and with the scope of Moses which was to represent the vain and transitory condition of men in this life and how much mankind was now sunk below their Ancestors who commonly lived many hundreds of years and that the Israelites though Gods peculiar people and endowed with many priviledges yet in this were no better than other men All which may be considered either as an argument to move God to pity and spare them or as a motive to awaken and quicken the Israelites to serious preparations for death by comparing this with v. 12. are threescore years and ten c Which time the antient Heathen Writers also fixed as the usual space of mens lives and if by reason of strength d i. e. By the strength of their natural constitution which is the true and common cause of longer life they be fourscore years yet is their strength e Their
punishment upon himself either from God or Men. shall suffer punishment for if thou deliver him q If either a Parent or another person provoked by him forbear to punish him He turneth his speech to the party as is usual in Scripture and in other Authors yet thou must †Heb. add do it again r Heb. thou must add to wit to deliver him again and again as oft as he shall offend or thou wilt add or encrease to wit his wrath which thou shouldst subdue 20 Hear counsel receive instruction that thou mayest be wise in * Psal. 55. 23. thy latter end s Before thy Death come Which he adds not exclusively as if he ought not to be wise before but Emphatically to shew that how foolishly soever he had spent his former and younger years it highly concerned him to be wise before it was too late or before Death came 21 * Job 23. 13. Psal. 33. 10 11. Chap. 16. 1 9. Isa. 46. 10. Heb. 6. 17. There are many devices in a mans heart t Understand out of the opposite Clause which shall not stand but be disappointed nevertheless the counsel of the Lord u His eternal and unchangeable and most wise Decree which oft-times contradicts and always over-rules the designs and purposes of men that shall stand x i. e. Be certainly fulfilled as this Phrase is used Ier. 44. 28 29. and elsewhere 22 The desire of a man y Either 1. of any or every Man All men desire and it is desirable to be in a capacity of being kind and bountiful to others whereby they gain love and honour and many other great advantages Or 2. of the poor man expressed in the next Clause The hearty will or desire of being kind or liberal to others in necessity is all the kindness which a poor Man can shew and is accepted by God and should be owned by men as a real kindness Compare 2 Cor. â—… 12. Or 3. of the rich Man as may be gathered from the opposition of this Man to the poor Man in the following Clause such Ellipses being very common in this Book as hath been noted again and again So the sense may be this There be a sort of rich men all whose kindness and charity consists in good desires and well-wishes to Persons in misery saying to them depart in pâ—…ace be ye warmed and filled but not giving them those things which are needful as it is expressed Iam. 2. 16. And this sense seems to agree very well with the following Clause But being singular in this exposition I submit it to the judicious Reader is his kindness and a poor man z Who is not able to give what he desires to do is better than a liar a Than a rich Man who feeds the poor with good words and fair promises but doth not perform what he pretends and is able to do 23 The fear of the LORD tendeth to life and he that hath it shall abide satisfied b shall want nothing and shall be fully contented with God's favour and blessing With any destructive affliction he shall not be visited with evil c. 24 * 〈◊〉 1â—… 1â—… 〈◊〉 13. 15. A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom d Either to keep it warm in cold Weather Or to give it rest being loth to oppress it with the labour of any action It is a sarcastical Hyperbole and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again e To wit to feed himself he expects that the Meat should drop into his Mouth 25 * 〈◊〉 21. 11. smite a scorner f An obstinate and impudent Transgressor who rejects and scorns all admonitions and therefore is to be taught with blows and the simple g Who sin through ignorance and imprudence and infirmity being possibly drawn to sin by the scorners evil counsel or example †〈◊〉 will be 〈◊〉 will beware and reprove one that hath understanding and he will understand knowledg h A verbal reproof will be more effectual for his reformation than the severest punishments will be to a scorner 26 He that wasteth his father i i. e. His Fathers estate by unjust or riotous courses and chaseth away his mother k Causeth her to avoid and abhor his presence and society and to go from the House where he is is a son that causeth shame and bringeth reproach l Both to himself and to his Parents and Family But this Verse may very well be rendred otherwise the last words being made the subject of the Proposition as is usual in Scripture A Son that causeth shame and bringeth reproach upon himself and his friends by wicked ways wasteth his Fathers estate and health and comfort and chaseth or driveth away his Mother These are the effects of his wickedness 27 Cease my son to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledg m If thou hast formerly yet do not now any longer hearken to those false Doctrines or evil counsels which tend to withdraw thee from the belief or practice of God's holy Word 28 †〈◊〉 a witâ—… of Beliâ—…l An ungodly witness scorneth judgmen n Hath no reverence to the place of Justice nor to the presence of God there nor to that Sacred and Solemn Work of executing Judgment but in spight of all gives in a false Testimony and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity o Uttereth wickedness with as great greediness and delight and ease as they swallow down delicious Meats and Drinks Compare Iob 15. 16. 29 Judgments are prepared p Either by men or at least by God although they be deferred for a time yet they are treasured up for them and shall infallibly be inflicted upon them for scorners and stripes for the back of fools CHAP. XX. 1 WIne is a mocker a Wine immoderately drunk makes men mockers or scoffers at God and men Compare Hos. 7. 5. strong drink is raging b Makes men full of rage and passion and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wiâ—…e c Is a Fool or a mad Man because he depriveth himself of the use of his reason 2 * Ch. 16. 14. 19. 12. The fear of a King d Passively taken the terror which the wrath of a King causeth by comparing this with Ch. 19. 12. is as the roaring of a lion whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul e Exposeth himself to manifest danger of Death 3 * Ch. 17. 14. It is an honour to a man to cease from strife f Either to prevent it or if it be begun to put an end to it which although proud and profane Persons esteem dishonourable to them is indeed their glory because it is an evidence of their great wisdom and power over their passions and of their respect and obedience to their Soveraign Lord in
to be found in pleasures So this is added as a reason why he gave over the thoughts of Pleasures and directed them to another object and why he so confidently asserted their vanity from his own particular Experience because he had made the best of them and it was a vain thing for any private man to expect that from them which could not be found by a King and such a King who had so much Wisdom to invent and such vast Riches to pursue and enjoy all imaginable delights and who had made it his design and business to search this to the bottom that cometh after the king o That succeeds me in this enquiry ‖ Or in those things which have been already done even that which hath been already done p As by others in former times so especially by my self They can make no new discoveries as to this point 13 Then I saw q Or Yet I saw For this is added to prevent an Objection or mistake †Heb. that there is an excellency in wisdom more than in folly c. that wisdom excelleth folly r Although Wisdom is not sufficient to make men truly and perfectly happy yet it is of a far greater use and excellency than vain Pleasures or any other follies as far as light excelleth darkness s i. e. Vastly and unspeakable Light is very pleasant and comfortable and withal of great necessity and singular use to discover the differences of persons and things to prevent mistakes and dangers and to direct all a mans paths in the right way whereas Darkness is in itself doleful and leads men into innumerable Confusions and Errours and Miseries 14 * Pro. 17. 24. Ch. 8. 1. The wise mans eyes are in his head t In their proper place and therefore they can see which they could not do if they were out of his head He hath the use of his Eyes and Reason and sees his way and orders all his affairs with discretion and foresees and so avoids many dangers and mischiefs but the fool walketh in darkness u Manageth his affairs ignorantly rashly and foolishly whereby he sheweth that his Eyes are not in his head but in his heels or as it is expressed Prov. 17. 24. in the ends of the earth and x Or Yet notwithstanding this excellency of Wisdom above folly for our conduct in the matters of this Life yet at last they both come to one end I my self perceived also that * Ps. 49. 10. Ch. 9. 2 3. one event happeneth unto them all y Both are subject to the same calamities and to death itself which utterly takes away all difference between them 15 Then said I in my heart As it happeneth to the fool so it †Heb. happen 〈◊〉 to me 〈◊〉 to me happeneth even to me and why was I then more wise z What benefit have I by my Wisdom Or To what purpose did I desire and take so much pains for Wisdom Then I said in my heart That this also is vanity 16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever a Their Name and Memory though it may flourish for a season among some men yet it will not last for ever but will in a little time be worn out as we see in most of the wise men of 〈◊〉 ages whose very Names together with all their Monuments are utterly lost as hath been oft observed and bewailed by learned Writers in several Ages seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten and how dieth the wise man as the fool b He must die as certainly as the fool and after death be as little remembred and honoured 17 Therefore I hated life c My Life though accompanied with so much Honour and Pleasure and Wisdom was a burden to me and I was apt to wish either that I had never been born or that I might speedily die because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me d All humane designs and works are so far from yielding me that satisfaction which I expected that the consideration of them encreaseth my discontent for all is vanity and vexation of spirit 18 Yea I hated all my labour which I had †Heb. laboured taken under the sun e All these Riches and Buildings and other fruits of my labour were the matter of my Repentance and aggravations of my Misery because * Ps. 49. 10. I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me f Because I must and that everlastingly part with them and leave them all behind me 19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool g Who will undo all that I have done and turn the effects of my Wisdom into instruments of his Folly and occasions of ruine Some think he had such an Opinion of Rehoboam yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured and wherein I have shewed my self wise under the sun This is also vanity 20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair h I gave my self up to despondency and despair of ever reaping that satisfaction which I promised to my self of all the labour which I took under the sun 21 For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom and in knowledg and in equity i Who useth great Industry and Prudence and Justice too in the management of his affairs and therefore might as confidently expect Gods blessing and the comfort of his labours as any other man yet to a man that hath not laboured therein k So as I have done who hath spent his days in sloth and folly shall he †Heb. giâ—…t .. leave it for his portion This also is vanity and a great evil l A great disorder in itself and a great disgrace to this World and a great torment to a considering mind 22 * Ch. 1. 3. 3. 9. For what hath man m What comfort or benefit remains to any man after this short and frail Life is once ended Or what advantage hath he by all his labours above him who never laboured and yet enjoyeth all the fruits of his labours of all his labour and of the vexation of his heart wherein he hath laboured under the sun 23 For all his days are * Job 14. 1. sorrows n Or Though all his days were sorrows i. e. full of sorrows For this seems added to aggravate the evil mentioned in the foregoing verse Though he took great and unwearied pains all his days yet after death he hath no more benefit by it than another man hath and his travel grief o The toils of his Body are or were accompanied with the vexations of his Mind yea his heart taketh not rest in the night p Either because his mind is distracted and his â—…leep broken
13. 2. or upon one in extream necessity who might possibly have perished both in Soul and Body if thou hadst not comforted and relieved him Or one time thou maist give with more sincere Intention and with more tender compassion than another time and so one will be more right and more acceptable to God than the other either this or that or whether they both shall be alike good u Equally successful to the receiver or to the giver 7 Truly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun x It cannot be denied that this present Life which is called light Iob 3. 20. 33. 30. Psal. 56. 13. and which is expressed Synecdochically by seeing the Sun Eccl. 6. 5. 7. 11. is in itself a great blessing and very desirable but it is not perpetual nor satisfactory which is here implied and expressed in the nexâ—… verse 8 But if a man live many years y Which is a priviledge granted but to few persons comparatively and rejoice in them all z And suppose he enjoy all the comforts and escape all the imbitterments of humane Life all his days which also is a great rarity yet let him remember a It is his Duty and Interest seriously to consider the days of darkness b Of death or of the state of the dead which is oft expressed by darkness as Iob 10. 21. Psal. 88. 12. c. and here is opposed to the foregoing Light for they shall be many c i. e. Far more than the days of this short Life especially if to the time of lying in the Grave be added that greater and utter darkness which is reserved for impenitent sinners and which is everlasting Mat. 22. 13. 25. 30. 2 Pet. 2. 17. Iud. v. 13. And this is added for the caution of mankind that they may not rejoice excessively in nor content themselves with the happiness of the present Life but may seek for somthing more durable and more satisfactory All that cometh d All things which befall any man belonging only to this Life whether they be comfortable or vexatious they are but vain and inconsiderable because they are short and transitory is vanity 9 Rejoice e This verse is to be understood either 1. As a serious Advice to this purpose seeing Life is short and transitory improve it to the best advantage take comfort in it whilest you may only do it with moderation and the fear of God Or rather 2. As an Ironical concession such as are usual both in Scripture as 1 Kin. 18. 27. 22. 15. Ezek. 28. 3 4. Mat. 26. 45. and in other Authors For this agrees much better with the context and with the Expressions here used And so the sense is I foresee what evil use some men will make of what I have now said Things being thus Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we shall die as they also reasoned 1 Cor. 15. 32. O young man f He speaks to young Men particularly because they have both the greatest ability and the strongest Inclinations to pursue sensual pleasures and are most impatient either of Restraint or Admonition in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee g Indulge thy frolick and jolly humour and take thy fill of delights in the days of thy youth and walk in the way of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes h Whatsoever thine Eye or Heart lusteth after deny it not to them as this Phrase is taken Num. 15. 39. nor is it ever used in a good sense Compare Iob 31. 7. Psal. 81. 12. Ier. 18. 12. 2 Pet. 2. 14. 1 Ioh. 2. 16. but know thou i But in the midst of thy feastings and jollity it will become thee if thou art a reasonable Creature to consider thy reckoning and whether thou dost not purchase thy Gold too dear that for all these things k For all thy â—…ollies and sinful Lusts which thou sleightest as tricks of youth God will bring thee into judgment l Will force thee to appear before his Judgment-seat to give a serious account of all thy youthful and exorbitant courses and to receive that sentence which thy own Conscience will then say thou dost justly deserve And if thou likest thy sensuality upon these terms much good may it do thee I do not envy thee nor desire to partake of thy delicates 10 Therefore remove ‖ Or anger sorrow m i. e. Sensual and disorderly Lusts which he elegantly and emphatically calls sorrow with respect to the foregoing words to intimate that although such practices do at present gratifie and delight mens Senses and vain Minds yet they will shortly and certainly bring a man to intollerable and eternal sorrows which it is thy Wisdom to prevent m Or as it is rendred in the margent and by divers others anger a passion to which men are most prone in the heat of youth Whereby he may understand either anger against him for this sharp admonition or rather against God who hath laid such severe restraints upon them and threatens such punishments to them for following their own natural Inclinations So the sense is do not quarrel with thy Judge but submit and make thy Peace with him by declaring War against all thy Sins from thy heart and put away evil n All evil Concupiscences or Lusts which though now they seem good to thee will another day appear to be very evil and bitter things from thy flesh o From thy bodily members Which he mentions not exclusively as if he would allow them their spiritual evils but emphatically because young men to whom he is here speaking are most given to fleshly or bodily Lusts. for childhood and youth are vanity p i. e. Most vain either 1. In their temper and dispositions Young men are frothy and foolish and inconsiderate whereby they run into manifold dangers and therefore they shall do well to hearken to the Counsels of those who by their greater Wisdom and Experience are more capable Judges of these matters Or 2. In their condition The time of Youth is vanishing and transitory and old-Old-age and Death will speedily come against which every man in his wits will take care to lay in solid provisions and comforts CHAP. XII 1 * Pro. 22. 6. REmember a To wit practically or so as to fear and love and faithfully serve and worship him which when men do not they are said to forget God Psal. 9. 17. 106. 21. and in many other places now thy Creator b The first Author and continual Preserver of thy Life and Being and of all the perfections and enjoyments which accompany it to whom thou hast the highest and strongest obligations to do so and upon whom thou hast a constant and necessary dependance and therefore to forget him is most unnatural and inhumane and disingenuous in the days
of thy youth c For then thou art most able to do it and thou owest the best of thy Time and Strength to God then thou hast opportunity to do it and thou maist not live till old-Old-age then it will be most acceptable to God and most comfortable to thy self as the best evidence of thy sincerity and the best provision for old-Old-age and Death and then it is most necessary for the conquering those impetuous Lusts and Passions which drown so many Thousands of young Men in perdition both in this Life and in thaâ—… to come while the evil days d The time of old-Old-age which is evil i. e. burdensome and calamitous in itself and far more grievous and terrible when it is loaded with the sad remembrance of a mans youthful Follies and Lusts and with the dreadful prospect of approaching Death and Judgment which makes him see that he cannot live and yet dare not die and with the consideration and experience of the hardness of his heart which in that age is rarely brought to true Repentance and so generally expires either in vain presumption or in hellish desperation come not nor the years draw nigh * See 2 Sam. 19. 35. when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them old- e My Life is now bitter and burdensome to me and worse than death which is frequently the condition of Old-age 2 While the sun or the light or the moon or the stars be not darkned f Heb. While the sun and the light and the moon c. That clause and the light seems to be added to signifie that he speaks of the darkning of the Sun and Moon and Stars not in themselves or in their own Bodies but only in respect of that light which they afford to men And therefore the same clause which is expressed after the Sun is to be understood after the Moon and Stars as is very usual in Scripture in like cases And those Expressions are to be understood either 1. Literally of the dimsightedness of old men by reason whereof the light of the Sun c. seems dark to them Which seems not to agree with the Context partly because the dimness of their sight is expressed in the next verse and partly because both this and the following verses are wholly Allegorical Or rather 2. Figuratively and that either 1. Of the outward parts of the Body and especially of the Face the Beauty of the Countenance the lightsom and pleasant complexion of the Cheeks the liveliness of the Eyes which are compared to the Sun and Moon and Stars and which are obscured in Old-age as the Chaldee Paraphrast understands it Or 2. Of the inward parts of the mind the Understanding Phancy Memory which may not unfitly be resembled to the Sun and Moon and Stars and all which are sensibly decayed in most old Men. For it may seem improbable that Solomon in his description of the infirmities of Old-age should omit the decays of the most noble part of Man which are commonly incident to Old age And yet with submission to those worthy persons who think otherwise it seems not necessary that he should here speak of those inward decays partly because they are not so general in old Men as the decays of the Body are partly because he here directeth his Speech to sensual men who are more affected with corporal than with intellectual maladies and partly because both the foregoing and following passages concern the state of Mens Bodies and their outward condition Or rather 3. Of external things and of the great change of their joy and prosperity which they had in their youthful time into sorrow and manifold calamities which are usually the companions of Old-age For this interpretation seems best to agree both with the foregoing verse in which he describes the miseries of Old-age and with the following clause which is added to explain and determine those otherwise ambiguous Expressions and with the Scripture use of this Phrase which is the best key for the understanding of Scripture for a state of Comfort and Happiness is oft described by the Light of the Sun c. as Iudg. 5. 31. 2 Sam. 23. 4. Isa. 30. 26. 60. 20. and a time and state of great trouble is set forth by the darkning of the Light of the Sun c. as Isa. 13. 9 c. 24. 23. Ioel 2. 10. 3. 15. Mat. 24. 29. and oft elsewhere nor the clouds return after the rain g This Phrase notes a perpetual Succession and Reciprocation of Rain and Clouds bringing Rain and then Rain and Clouds again and so without end Whereby he expresseth either 1. The Rheums or Defluxions which do abundantly and incessantly flow in and from old Men for want of natural heat and strength to prevent or remove them Or rather 2. The continual vicissitude of Infirmities Diseases and Grieâ—…s in old Men one deep calling upon another and one Affliction beginning at the end of another whereas in young Men after Rain the Clouds are dispersed and fair weather succeeds 3 In the day when the keepers of the house h i. e. Of the Body which is oft and fitly compared to an house as Iob 4. 19. Psal. 119. 54. 2 Cor. 5. 1. Whose keepers here are either 1. The Ribs and Bones into which they are fastened which are the Guardians of the inward and vital parts which also are much weakned and shaken by Old-age Or rather 2. The Hands and Arms which are mans best instruments to defend his Body from the assaults of Men or Beasts and which in a special manner are subject to this trembling by paralitical or other like distempers that are most incident to old Men. shall tremble and the strong men i Either the Back or the Thighs and Legs in which the main strength of the Body doth consist which in old Men are very seeble and unable both for the support of the Body and for motion shall bow themselves and ‖ Or 〈◊〉 â—…ders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they grind little the grinders k The Teeth those especially which are commonly so called because they grind the Meat which we eat cease l To wit to perform their Office because they are few m Heb. because they are diminished either 1. In strength Or 2. In number being here one and there another and not united together and one directly against another and consequently unfit for their work and those that look out of the windows n The Eyes By windows he understands either 1. The holes in which the Eyes are fixed Zech. 14. 12. Or 2. The Eye-lids which like windows are either opened or shut Or 3. Those Humours and Coats of the Eyes noted by Anatomists which are the chief Instruments by which the Eye sees be darkened 4 And the doors be shut in the streets o Or towardâ—… the streets which lead into the streets This is understood either 1. Literally because men
not expressed in the Hebrew Text and therefore may be either way supplied The sence is Damascus shall still continue to be the Capital and Chief City of the Kingdom of Syria and therefore Ierusalem shall not be taken nor become a part of Rezin's Dominion but he shall be kept within his own Bounds and be King of Damascus onely and not as he hopes of Ierusalem Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin and within threescore and five years q To be computed either 1. from the Prophecy of Amos who prophesied in the days of Uzziah two years before the earthquake Amos 1. 1. which the Iews affirm to have hapned about the time of his Usurpation of the Priests Office and being smitten with Leprosie 2 Chron. 26. 16 c. which though it be not proved yet may be admitted because it cannot be disproved And it is more than probable that that Action and Accident was divers years before his death during which time Iotham acted as his Viceroy 2 Chron. 26. 21. And the Prophecy of Amos being express and full concerning the Destruction of the People and Commonwealth of Israel being also fresh in the memory of many now living the Prophet Isaiah might well have respect to it So the sence is as if he had said There shall be but 65 years between the Delivery and the Execution of that Prophecy And so the number of years may be thus made up Fix the beginning of them Ten years before Uzziah's death add the 16 years of Iotham's Reign and then the 16 years of Ahaz his Reign and then Six of Hezekiah's Reign in which Israel was carried Captive 2 Kings 18. 10. these make up 48 years And for the 17 years which yet remain of the 65 they may be taken out of the rest of Hezekiah's Reign For although the Transportation of that People began in the Sixth year of Hezekiah yet it might be continued or repeated divers years after and compleated 17 years after Ier. 52. 28 29 30. Or rather 2. these years may be computed from the time of this Prophecy of Isaiah And whereas it may be objected against this Opinion That the Judgment here threatned was executed in the Sixth year of Hezekiah as was before noted and therefore within 18 or 19 years of this Prophecy which was delivered in the third or fourth year of Ahaz Two things may be answered 1. That the Israelites were not transported in the Sixth year of Hezekiah For although Samaria be said to be taken in the Sixth year of Hezekiah 2 Kings 18. 10. and the Transportation of the Israelites be mentioned immediately after it v. 11 yet it doth not thence follow that it was done immediately and at that one time because this is not unusual in Scripture in Historical Relations to mention those things together which were done at a considerable distance of time one from another as it is recorded Act. 7. 15 16. Iacob died hâ—… and our fathers and were carried over into Sychem and laid in the Sepulchre of Abraham c. although it was above 200 years ere all which is said in those few words was done And other Instances of like nature might easily be produced 2. That this Work of Transportation was not done at once but successively and by degrees Thus it certainly was in the Transportation of Iudab which was begun in Nebuchadnezzar's Seventh year continued in his Eighteenth year and perfected in his Three and twentieth year Ier. 52. 28 29 30. And thus it might be and probably was in this Transportation It might be begun presently after the taking of Samaria and afterwards continued until at last the whole Body of the People was removed And as soon as that was done and not before the King of Assyria brought into their place those new Colonies mentioned 2 Kings 17. 24. Which that it was not done at the time of the taking of Samaria but many years after it seems to me evident because those Colonies were not brought thither by Shalmanezer who took Samariâ—… 2 Kings 18. 10. no nor by Sennacherib his next Successour but by Esarhaddon as is affirmed Ezra 4. 2. who was the Son and Successour of Senacherib 2 Kings 19. 37. and reigned above Fifty years for he seems to have begun his Reign about the Fourteenth year of Hezekiah's Reign by comparing 2 Kings 18. 13. 19. 35 36 37. and so he reigned with Hezekiah about Fifteen years and with Manâ—…sseh above Forty years as the Learned Sir Iohn Marsham affirms in his Chronicus Canon c. pag. 496. And this Work of Transporting the Remainders of the Israelites and bringing the new Colonies might not be done till towards the end of his Reign Which delay might be occasioned by his Wars or other great Affairs And lest this should seem to be onely my own private Conjecture if the Reader consult Sir Iohn Marsham's fourth and last Chronological Table inserted after pag. 589. of his Work he will find that Learned Chronologer to be of the same mind and to make above Fifty years distance between the taking of Samaria and the Translation of the new Colonies into those Parts And thus these Sixty five years might well be accomplished in his time And so this Place agrees with other Scriptures and the Difficulties objected against other Interpretations seem to be avoided shall Ephraim be broken †Heb. from a people that it be not a people 9 And the head of Ephraim is r Or either shall be and the sence is the same as in the foregoing Verse Samaria shall continue to be the Chief City of the Kingdom of Israel and Pekah shall not conquer Ierusalem as he hoped and designed to do Samaria and the head of Samaria is Remaliahs son * See 2 Chr. â—… 20. ‖ Or Do ye 〈◊〉 believe 〈◊〉 is because â—…e are not staâ—… or shall 〈◊〉 be established If ye will not believe surely ye shall not be established s If you do not believe this and the other Promises of God but in distrust of God shall seek to the Assyrians for Succour to which I perceive you are inclined in stead of that Deliverance and Settlement which you expect you shall be distressed and consumed thereby the Accomplishment of which Threatning is recorded 2 Chron. 28. 20. And by this Threatning he implies That if they did rely upon God's Word and Help they should be established Onely he delivereth it in the form of a Threatning rather than of Promise partly because he foresaw that they would chuse the worse part and bring the Judgment threatned upon themselves and partly because this was most necessary for them to affright them out of their present Security and Infidelity 10 †â—…eb And the LORD added 〈◊〉 speak Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz saying 11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD t I perceive thou dost not believe God's Word and Message now delivered by me yet God is so
in a peculiar manner being chosen by me and consecrated to my Use and Service and inâ—…bited by 〈◊〉 People and upon my mountains g In my Mountainous Country for such 〈◊〉 was Deut. 8. 9. Psal. 133. 3. Ezek. 6. 2 3. 39. 2 â—… 17. especially about Ierusalem Psal. 125. 2. upon some of which probably his Army was lodged tread him under feet then shall his yoke depart from off them and his burden depart from off their shoulders h Which Words are â—…peated from Isa. 10. 27. where they are explained 26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth i Upon this vast Empire now in the hands of the â—…rians and shortly to come into the hands of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The whole earth is put Synechdochically for a great part of it and this is the hand k The Providence of God executing his purpose that is stretched out upon all the nations 27 For the LORD of hosts hath * â—… Châ—… â—… 6. Jâ—…b 9. 12 2â—… 1â—… Psal. 33. 11. Irov 19. 21. 21. 30. Chap. 43. 13. Dan. 4. 31 32 35. purposed and who shall disanul it and his hand is stretched out and who shall turn it back 28 In the year that * 2 Kâ—… 16. 20. king Ahaz died was this burden l This following burdensom Prophecy 〈◊〉 the Philistins who in Ahaz his time made an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and took divers of their Cities and Villages 2 Chron. â—… â—… 29 Rejoyce not thou whole Palestina because the rod of m Most understand this of Uzziah who did then much mischief 2 Chron. 26. 6. But he was dead Thirty two years before this time and therefore their Joy for his Death was long since past Others understand it of Ahaz But he was so far from smiting them that he was smitten by them as was noted on v. 27. It seems better to understand it more generally of the Royal Race or soregoing Kings of Iudah who had been a terrible Scourge to them whose Rod might be said to be broken because that Scepter was come into the hands of slothful and degenerate Princes such as Ahaz was who had been lately broken by the Philistins and who probably was alive when this Prophecy was delivered because he here speaks of Hezekiah not as a present but as a future King It is said indeed that this burden was in the year that Ahaz died But so it might be though it was before his Death him that smote thee is broken for out of the serpents root shall come forth a ‖ Or addâ—…r cockatrice and his fruit shall be a fiery slying serpent n From the Root and Race of David shall come Hezekiah who like a Serpent shall sting thee to death as he did 2 Kings 18. 8. 30 And the first born of the poor o The People of the Jews who are brought to extreme Poverty by thy Cruelty and the Malice of other Enemies The First-born were the chief of all the Children Hence the Title of first-born is given to Persons or Things which are most eminent in their Kind as to the People of Israel Exod. 4. 22. to David Psal. 89. 27. to a grievous Death Iob 18. 13. and here to Persons eminently poor shall feed p Shall have plenty of Provisions in spight of all thine Attempts against them and the needy shall lie down in safety and I will kill thy root q I will utterly destroy thee both Root and Branch so that there shall not be a Remnant of thy People reserved as it follows It is a Metaphor from a Tree which for want of Nourishment is dried up by the Roots with famin and he shall slay thy remnant 31 Howl O gate r The gate is put either 1. Metaphorically for the People passing through the Gates or for the Magistrates and others who used to meet in the Gate for Judgment or upon other Occasions or 2. Synechdochically for the City as gates are commonly put as Ier. 22. 19. and as it is explained in the next Words cry O city s City is here put collectively for their Cities of which see 1 Sam. 6. 17. thou whole Palestina art dissolved t Heb. melted Which may be understood either 1 of the fainting of their Spirits and Courage as Exod. 15. 15. Iâ—…s 2. 9 24 c. or 2. of the Dissolution of their State for there shall come from the North u Either 1. from Iudea which lay Northward from some part of the Philistins Land But in truth Iudea lay more East than North from Iudah and therefore the Phâ—… are said to be on the west Isa. 11. 14. and never so far as I remember on the North Or 2. from Chaldaea as may be gathered 1. from the Scripture use of this Phrase which generally designs that Country as Ier. 1. 14 15. 6. 1 22. c. 2. from Ier. 47. where Destruction is threatned to the Philistins from the North v. 2. which all understand of the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar And whereas it is speciously objected That this suits not with the next Verse which speaks of Zions Safety at the time of this Destruction of the Philistins whereas Zion and the Land and People of Iudah were destroyed together with the Philistins by Nebuchadnezzar I humbly conceive it may be answered That that Verse is added to express the far-differing Condition of God's People and of the Philistins in the Events of that Babylonian War and that whereas the Philistins should be irrecoverably and eternally destroyed thereby and no Remnant of them should be left as was said v. 30. God's People though they should be sorely scourged and carried into Captivity yet they should be strangely preserved and after some years delivered and restored to their own Land and Temple whereby it would appear that Zion stood upon a sure Foundation and albeit it was grievously shaken yet it could not be utterly and finally overthrown a smoke x A grievous Judgment and Calamity which is oft signified by smoke as Gen. 15. 17. Deut. 29. 20. Iâ—…el 2. 30. either because Smoke is generally accompanied with Fire or because it causeth a great Darkness in the Air for Afflictions are frequently described under the names of fire and darkness and ‖ Or he shall not be alone none shall be alone in his ‖ Or assemblies appointed times y When God's appointed time shall come for the execution of this Judgment not one Person of all that numerous Army which is signified by the smoke last mentioned shall retire and desert his Colours or lag behind the rest But they shall march with great unanimity and alacrity and none of them shall withdraw his hand till the Work be finished till the Philistins be utterly destroyed 32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation z What shall a Jew say to the People of other Nations who shall either be
way that he came by the same shall he return and shall not come into this city saith the LORD 35. For I will * 2 Kin. 20. 6. defend this city to save it for mine own sake and for my servant Davids sake 36. Then the * 2 Kin. 19. 35 angel of the LORD went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand and when they arose early in the morning behold they were all dead corpses 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh 38. And it came to pass as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword and they escaped into the land of †Heb. Ararat Armenia and Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead For the understanding of this and the foregoing Chapter the Reader is desired to consult my Notes upon 2 Kings 18. 19. part of 20. CHAP. XXXVIII 1. IN * 2 Kin. 20. â—… 2 Chr. 32. 24. those days was Hezekiah sick unto death and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him and said unto him Thus saith the LORD †Heb. give charge concernning thy house Set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live 2. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed unto the LORD 3. And said Remember now O LORD I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight and Hezekiah wept †Heb. with great weeping sore 4. Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah saying 5. Go and say to Hezekiah Thus saith the LORD the God of David thy father I have heard thy prayers I have seen thy tears Behold I will add unto thy days fifteen years 6. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria and I will defend this city 7. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken 8. Behold I will bring again the shadow of the degrees which is gone down in the †Heb. degrees by or with the sun sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward so the sun returned ten degrees by which degrees it was gone down 9. The writing of Hezekiah a Who was a good Man and full of the Holy Ghost and inspired by him to Write this both as a Testimony of his own Gratitude to God and for the Instruction of after Ages king of Iudah when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness 10. I said b To and within my self I Concluded it in the cutting off of my days c When my days were cut off by the Sentence of God related here ver 1. I shall go to the gates of the †Heb. hell Mat. 16. 18. grave d I perceive That I must die without any hopes of prevention The Grave is called a Man's long home Eccles. 12. 5. and The house appointed for all living Men Job 30. 23. and Death opens the gates of this House We read also of the gates of death Psal. 9. 13. 107. 18. I am deprived of the residue of my years e Which I might have lived according to the common course of Nature and of God's dispensations and which I expected and hoped to live for the Service of God and of my Generation 11. I said I shall not see the LORD f I shall not enjoy him for seeing is put for enjoying as hath been frequently noted even the LORD in the land of the living g In this World which is so called Psal. 27. 13. 116. 〈◊〉 â—…sa 53. 8. in his Sanctuary Which Limitation is prudently added to intimate That he expected to see God in another place and manner even in Heaven Face to Face I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world h I shall have no more Society with Men upon Earth 12. Mine age is departed i The time of my Life is expired and is removed from me as a shepherds tent k Which is easily and speedily removed I have cut off l To wit by my Sins provoking God to do it Or I do declare and have concluded That my Life is or will be suddenly cut off For Men are oft said in Scripture to do those Things which they onely declare and pronounce to be done as Men are said to pollute and to remit and retain sins and the like when they onely declare Men and Things to be polluted and Sins to be remitted or retained by God like a weaver m Who cutteth off the Web from the Loom either when it is finished or before according to his pleasure my life he n The Lord who pronounced this Sentence against him will cut me off ‖ Or from the â—…rum with pining sickness o With a consuming Disease wasting my Spirits and Life Some render this Word from the thrum from those Threds at the end of the Web which are fastned to the Beam So the similitude of a Weaver is continued from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me p The Sence is Either 1. this Sickness will kill me in the space of one day Or rather 2. thou dost pursue me night and day with continual Pains and wilt not desist till thou hast made a full End of me so that I expect that every day will be my Last day 13. I reckoned till morning q When I was filled with Pain and could not Rest all the Night long even till Morning my Thoughts were working and presaging That God would instantly break me to peices and that every moment would be my last and the like restless and dismal Thoughts followed me from Morning till Evening But he mentions onely the time before Morning to aggravate his Misery that he was so grievously Tormented when others had sweet Rest and Repose that as a lion so will he break all my bones from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me 14. Like a crane or a swallow r Or a crane and â—…llow the conjunction and being here as it is Hab. 3. 11. and elsewhere understood as is manifest from Ier. 8. 7. where it is expressed with these very words so did I chatter s My complaint and cry was like to the noise of a Swallow quick and frequent and like that of a Crane loud and frightful And this very Comparison is used of Mourners not onely in Scripture but in other Authors concerning which the Learned Reader may consult my Latine Synopsis I did mourn as a dove t Whose mournful Tone is observed Isa. 59. 11. Ezek 9. 16. and elsewhere mine eyes fail with looking upward u Whilst I lift up mine Eyes and Heart to God
4 Surely * Mat. 8. 1â—… he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows m And whereas it may seem an unreasonable and incredible thing that so excellent and glorious so innocent and just a person should meet with this usage it must be known that his griefs and miseries were not laid upon him for his own sake but wholly and solely for the sake of sinful men in whose stead he stood and for whose sins he suffered as it here follows yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted n Yet our people the Jews were so far from giving him the Glory and Praise of such a prodigious condescension and compassion that they made a most perverse construction of it and so great was their prejudice against him that they believed that he was thus disgraced and punished and at last put to death by the just judgment of God for his Blasphemy and other manifold Wickednesses 5 But o But this was a most false and unrighteous Sentence he was ‖ Or tormented * Rom. 4. 25. 1 Cor. 15. 3. wounded p Which word comprehends all his pains and punishments and his Death among and above the rest for our transgressions q Not by them which is expressed by another particle not by the wickedness of the Jews but for or because of them as this particle commonly signifies for the guilt of their sins which he had voluntarily taken upon himself and for the Expiation of their sins which was hereby purchased and procured of God for Men. Which Interpretation is confirmed 1. By the opposition of this truth to the false opinion mentioned in the foregoing clause that he was smitten of God for the guilt of his own sins 2. By the following clause as we shall see 3. By the nature of the thing this being evident from Scriptures both of the old and new Testament that Christ was not to suffer for his own but for other mens sins See Dan. 9. 24 26. he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace r Those punishments by which our Peace i. e. our reconciliation to God and Salvation or Happiness was to be purchased was upon him s Was laid upon him by Gods justice with his own consent and with his * 1 Pet. 2. 24. †Heb. bruise stripes we are healed t By his sufferings we are saved from our sins and from the dreadful effects thereof 6 All we t All mankind the Jews no less than the Gentiles like sheep u Which are simple and foolish Creatures and exceeding apt to straggle and lose themselves have gone a stray x From God and from the way of his Precepts in which he put our first Parents and in which he commanded us to walk we have turned every one to his own way y In general to the way and course of sin which may well be called a mans own way as sins are called mens own Lusts Jam. 1. 14. 2 Pet. 3. 3. and elsewhere because sin is natural to us inherent in us born with us and very dear to us and in particular to those several paths of divers Lusts which several men chuse and follow according to their differing Opinions Inclinations Occasions and Circumstances and the LORD †Heb. hath made the iniquities of us all to meet on him hath laid z Heb. hath made to meet as all the Rivers meet in the Sea on him the iniquity a Not properly for so he knew no sin 2 Cor. 5. 21. but the punishment of iniquity as that word is most frequently used as Gen. 4. 13. Lev. 20. 17 c. That which was due for all the sins of all his people whether Jews or Gentiles which must needs be so great and heavy a load that if he had not been God as well as Man he must have sunk under the burden of them This was actually verified in Christ. And both this and divers other passages here do as manifestly and fully point at Christ as if they were not a prophetical Representation of things to come but an historical Relation of them after they were done Nor do I see how they can be excused from a fearful wresting of the Scripture that expound these places of the Prophet Ieremiah or any other person but Christ. of us all 7 He was oppressed and he was afflicted b He was sorely punished for our sins But there is another Translation which seems to be more emphatical and more agreeable to the Hebrew Text It to wit our iniquity last mentioned or the punishment of all our sins was exacted or required as this word most properly and frequently signifies of which see my Latin Synopsis Gods Justice expected and required satisfaction from us for our sins which alas we could not make to him and he was afflicted or punished he bore the guilt and punishment of our sins in his Body upon the tree as is said 1 Pet. 2. 24. or as others render this last word and he answered i. e. became our surety or undertook to pay the debt and to suffer the Law in our stead and for our sake yet * Mat. 26. 63. 27. 12 14. Mar. 14. 61. 15. 5. Act. 8. 32. he opened not his mouth c He neither murmured against God for causing him to suffer for other mens sins nor reviled men for punishing him without cause nor used Apologies or endeavours to save his own Life but willingly and patiently accepted of the punishment of our Iniquity he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb d Bears the loss of its fleece or Life without any such clamour or resistance as other Creatures use in such cases so he openeth not his mouth 8 ‖ Or he was taken away by distress and judgment but c. He was taken from prison and from judgment e and who shall declare f Who can declare it The future being taken potentially as it is frequently no words can sufficiently express it his generation g Either 1. His Age or the continuance of his Life So the sense is That he shall not only be delivered from death and all his punishments but also shall be restored to an inexpressible or endless Life and to an everlasting Kingdom Thus great Interpreters understand it with whom I cannot comply because I do not find this Hebrew word to be ever used in Scripture of the continuance of one mans Life Or rather 2. His Posterity and so this word is unquestionably used Gen. 15. 16. Exod. 20. 5. Deut. 23. 2 3 8. and in many other places And so the sense of the place is this That Christs death shall not be unfruitful and that when he is raised from the dead he shall have a spiritual seed as is promised v. 10. a numberless multitude of those who shall believe in
mine hand 15 Now thereâ—…ore let not Hezekiah deceive you nor perswade you on this manner neither yet believe him for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand and out of the hand of my fathers how much less shall your God deliver you i Seeing I have destroyed so many Nations and some of them stronger than you in spight of all their gods it is not probable that your God should defend you which none of the rest could do for their People out of mine hand 16 And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God and against his servant Hezekiah 17 * 2 Kin. 19. 9 He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel and to speak against him saying As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand 18 * 2 Kin. 18. 28. Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall to affright them and to trouble them that they might take the city 19 And they spake against the God of Jerusasem as against the gods of the people of the earth which were the work of the hands of men 20 * 2 Kin. 19. 15. And for this cause Hezekiah the king and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz prayed and cried to heaven 21 * 2 Kin. 19. 35 c. And the LORD sent an angel which cut off all the mighty men of valour and the leaders and the captains in the camp of the king of Assyria so he returned with shame of face to his own land And when he was come into the house of his God they that came forth of his own bowels †Heb. made him fall slew him there with the sword 22 Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all other and guided them on every side 23 And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem and †Heb. precious things presents to Hezekiah king of Judah so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations k Or of all those Nations which were not very remote from Canaan and heard these matters from thenceforth 24 * 2 Kin. 20. 1. Isa. 38. 1. In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death l Of which see a more particular Account 2 King 20. 1 c. and prayed unto the LORD and he spake unto him and he ‖ Or wrought a miracle for him gave him a sign 25 But Hezekiah rendred not again according to the benefit done unto him for his heart was lifted up m For that prodigious Victory over the Assyrians above v. 21. and for his miraculous Restauration from Sickness and the confirmation of that Work by a strange and supernatural Motion of the Sun and by the Honour since done him by an Embassy from the great and potent King of Babylon All which probably raised in him too great an Opinion of himself as if these things were done if not by his Power yet at least for his Piety and Vertues And instead of walking humbly with God and giving the Glory of all intirely to him he took the Honour to himself and vain-gloriously shewed his Riches and Precious Treasures to the Babylonish Ambassadors 2 King 20. 12 c. therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem n Who might justly be punished for Hezekiahs Sin because they followed him in it as they confess in the next verse 26 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for †Heb. the lifting up the pride of his heart both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah 27 And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour and he made himself treasuries for silver and for gold and for precious stones and for spices and for shields and for all manner of †Heb. instruments of desire pleasant jewels 28 Store-houses also for the increase of corn and wine and oil and stalls for all manner of beasts and cotes for flocks 29 Moreover he provided him cities o Heb. he made c. Either he purchased them to himself by his Gold or Silver Or he repaired and fortified and beautified them for the honour and safety of his Kingdom But the former Sence seems to agree better with the following Words and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance for God had given him substance very much 30 This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper water-course of Gihon p A Rivulet near Jerusalem consisting of two Streams the upper which was brought into one Pool called the upper Pool Isa. 7. 3. and the lower which was brought into another called the lower Pool Isa. 22. 9. The former he diverted and brought by secret Pipes into Jerusalem which was a Work of great Art and Labour and Policy and therefore is here commended and brought it straight down q Whereas before it fetched a compass and thereby might have been beneficial to the Assyrian Host. to the west-side of the city of David And Hezekiah prospered in all his works 31 Howbeit in the business of the †Heb. Interpreters embassadours of the princes of Babylon who * 2 Kin. 20. 12. Isa. 39. 1. sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land God lest him r To wit to himself and his own Impotency and Corruption God withdrew from him those Supplies and Assistances of his Spirit which would certainly and effectually have kept him from that sin and suffered Satan to tempt him and him to fall into the sin of Pride and Ostentation to try him that he might know s Either 1. That God might know it So it is spoken of God after the manner of Men whereof we have had many Instances Or 2. That Hezekiah might know that he had Infirmities and Sins as well as Vertues and therefore that the great Mercies which he had received were not the Effects of his owa Merits as he might be prone to believe but of Gods free Grace all that was in his heart 32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his †Heb. 〈◊〉 goodness behold they are written in * Isa. 36. 37. 38. 39. the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz and in * 2 Kin. 18. 19. 20. the book of the kings of Judah and Israel 33 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers and they buried him in the ‖ Or 〈◊〉 chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead CHAP. XXXIII 1 MAnasseh * 2 Kin. 21.