League with persons of a false Religion 14 And when Abram heard that his Brother was taken Captive he ‖ Or led forth armed his ‖ Or instructed trained t i. e. Whom he had disciplined and instructed both in Religion and in the Military Art too both which were necessary to make them good Souldiers that they might both fight with skill and courage and also rely upon God and engage his assistance which was now especially necessary when so small a party were to engage against so numerous an Army Servants born in his own house three hundred and eighteen and pursued them unto Dan u This is commonly thought to be a Town then called Leshem Ios. 19. 47. or Laish Iudg. 18. 7. and afterwards Dan. See Iudg. 18. 7 29. So it is an anticipation But it may be doubted whether this was a City or if it were whether it were not another Town called by the same name which was frequent in those parts And some think this is not a Town but the very Fountain of Dan whence Iordan had its Name 15 And he divided himself x i. e. His forces into several parties that coming upon them from several quarters he might strike them with greater terrour whilst they thought his Army far more numerous than it was against them he and his Servants by night and smote them and pursued them unto Hoba which is on the left hand of Damascus 16 And he brought back all the goods y Which the victorious Kings had taken from the Princes and People mentioned before in this Chapter and also brought again his Brother Lot and his goods and the Women also and the People 17 And the King of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and of the Kings that were with him at the Valley of Shaveh which is the * 2 Sam. 18. 18. Kings dale z So called either upon this occasion of the meeting of divers Kings here Or because King Melchizedek either had his Habitation or was much delighted with it and conversant in it See 2 Sam. 18. 18. 18 And * Heb 7. 1. Melchizedek a Quest. Who was this Answ. 1. Sem as the Jews and many others think who probably was alive at this time and no doubt a great Prince But neither is it probable that Sem should be a King among the cursed race of Ham nor will this agree with the Apostles description of Melchizedek Heb. 7. 3. Without Father and Mother c. Whereas Sems Parents and the beginning and end of his days are as expresly mentioned by Moses as any other 2 A Canaanitish King by the Divine Providence made both a King over men and Priest unto the true God brought in here in this unusual manner without any mention of his Parents Birth or Death for this end that he might be an illustrious Type of Christ. Of this matter see more upon Heb. 7. 3. King of Salem b i. e. Of Ierusalem called elsewhere Iebus and Salem Psal. 76. 2. brought forth Bread and Wine c Not for Sacrifice to God for then he had brought forth Beasts to be slain which were the usual and best Sacrifices But partly to shew the respect which he bore to Abram and principally to refresh his weary and hungry Army according to the manner of those times See Deut. 23. 3 4. and 25. 18. Iudg. 8. 5 6 15. 1 Sam. 17. 17. And he was the Priest d Thus in succeeding Ages the same persoâ—…s were often both Kings and Priests as the learned note out of Virgil and other Authours And this clause is here added as the cause and reason not for his bringing forth or offering Bread and Wine as some would have it for that is ascribed to him as a King as an act of Royal munificence but of the following benediction and decimation of the most High God e For in those times God had his remnant scattered here and there even in the worst Places and Nations 19 * Or Therefore as the particle is oft taken i. e. because he was a Priest of God he i. e. Melchizedek blessed him Abraham which was one act of the Priestly Office See on Heb. 7. 6 7. And he blessed him and said Blessed be f So it is a prayer for him that God would confirm and increase the blessing which he had given him Or Blessea is So it is an acknowledgement of Gods blessing conferred upon Abraham both formerly and in this late and great victory Or blessed shall be So it is a prediction concerning his future and further blessedness whereof this was only an earnest Abram of the Most High God possessour of Heaven and Earth 20 And blessed be the Most High God which hath delivered thine Enemies into thy hand And he gave him * Heb. 7. 4. Tithes g Not Melchizedek gave to Abram as some Jews foolishly understand it for Abram swears that he would not keep nor take any of the recovered Goods of the Kings of Sodom or his Brethren ver 23. But Abram gave to Melchizedek as appears both from Heb. 4. 7. and from the nature of the thing For the Tithes confessedly belong to the Priest such as Melchizedek and not Abram as is here described to be of all h Not of all the recovered Goods but of all the spoils taken from the Enemies 21 And the King of Sodom said unto Abram Give me the †Heb. souls persons and take the Goods to thy self 22 And Abram said to the King of Sodom I have lift up my hand i i. e. Swore for this was the antient manner of swearing See Exod. 6. 8. Numb 14. 30. Deut. 32. 40. Ezek. 20. 5 6. unto the LORD the Most High God the possessour of Heaven and Earth 23 That I will not take k Heb. If I shall take Understand God do so and so to me which is expressed 1 Sam. 14. 44. A defective manner of Swearing used amongst the Hebrews either to maintain the reverence of Oaths and the dread of Perjury seeing they were afraid so much as to mention the Curse which they meant or to shew that they were willing to submit to any punishment which God should inflict upon them without exception if they violated their Oaths from a thred even to a shoe-latchet ‖ i. e. Any thing though never so small or mean and that I will not take any thing that is thine lest thou shouldst say I have made Abram rich l i. e. Lest thou shouldst claim a share with God in the honour due to him to whose blessing alone I do and I will owe my riches Or lest thou shouldst say Abraham is enriched with my spoiles and however he pretended kindness and charity yet indeed it was his covetousness that put him upon this work 24 Save onely that which the young men have eaten and the portion of the
a matter And very grievous to her because Womens Affections use to be vehement and it is irksome to them to have them restrained or denied shall be ‖ Or subject to thy Husband to thy Husband and he shall rule * 1 Cor. 14. 34. over thee n Seeing for want of thy Husbands rule and conduct thou wast seduced by the Serpent and didst abuse that power I gave thee together with thy Husband to draw him to sin thou shalt now be brought down to a lower degree for he shall rule thee not with that sweet and gentle hand which he formerly used as a guide and Counsellour onely but by an higher and harder hand as a Lord and Governour to whom I have now given a greater Power and Authority over thee than he had before which through thy pride and corruption will be far more uneasie to thee than his former Empire was and who will usurp a further power than I have given him and will by my permission for thy punishment rule thee many times with Rigour Tyranny and Cruelty which thou wilt groan under but shalt not be able to deliver thy self from it See 1 Cor. 14. 34. 1 Tim. 2. 11 12. 1 Pet. 3. 6. 17. And unto Adam he said because thou hast hearkned unto the voice of thy Wife o i. e. Obeyed the word and counsel contrary to my expresse command and hast eaten of the Tree of which I commanded thee saying Thou shalt not eat of it * Isa. 24. 5 6. Rom. 8. 20. cursed is the ground p Which shall now yield both fewer and worse fruits and those too with more trouble of mens minds and labour of their bodies for thy sake q i. e. Because of thy sin or to thy use or as far as concerns thee in sorrow r Or with toil or grief shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life 18. Thorns also and Thistles a And other unuseful and hurtful Plants Synecdochically contained under these shall it †Heb cause to bud bring forth b Of its own accord to thee c Not to thy benefit but to thy grief and punishment And thou shalt * Psal. 104. 14. eat the Herb of the Field d In stead of those generous and delicious Fruits of Paradise which because thou didst dispise thou shalt no more tast of See Gen. 1. 29. 19. In the sweat of thy face f i. e. Of thy Body He mentions the Face because there the sweat appears first and most Or with labour of Body or Brain Eccles. 1. 13. and vexation of mind shalt thou eat Bread g i. e. Get thy food and livelihood Bread being put for all nourishment as Gen. 18. 5. and 28. 20. till thou return unto the ground for out of it wast thou taken for dust thou art i As to the constitution and original of thy Body See Gen. 18. 27. Iob 1. 21. Psal. 103. 14. and unto dust shalt thou return k Though upon thy obedience I would have preserved thy Body no less than thy Soul from all mortality yet now having sinned thou shalt return unto dust in thy Body whilst the immortal Spirit shall return unto God who gave it Eccles. 12. 7. Thus thy end shall be as base as thy beginning 20. And Adam called his Wives name †Heb. Chavâ—… Eve m Which signifies either Living or the giver or preserver of Life because she was the Mother of all living n Though for her sin justly sentenced to a present death yet by Gods infinite Mercy and by vertue of the promised Seed was both continued in Life her self and was made the Mother of all living Men and Women that should be after her upon the Earth who though in and with their Mother they were condemned to speedy Death yet shall be brought forth into the state and Land of the Living and into the hopes of a blessed and eternal Life by the Redeemer whose Mother or progenitor she was 21. Unto Adam also and to his Wife did the LORD God p Either by his own word or by the Ministry of Angels make coats of skins q Of Beasts slain either for Sacrifice to God or for the use of man their Lord and owner and clothed them r Which he did partly to defend them from excessive heats and colds or other injuries of the Air to which they were now exposed Partly to mind them of their sin which made their nakedness which before was Innocent and Honourable now to be an occasion of sin and shame and therefore to need covering And partly to shew his care even of fallen man and to encourage his hopes of Gods mercy through the blessed Seed and thereby to invite him to Repentance 22. And the LORD God said s Either within himself or to the other persons of the Godhead Behold the Man is become t i. e. Adam and Eve both are become such according to the Devils promise and their own expectation This is an Holy Irony or Sarcasm like those 1 King 18. 27. Eccles. 11. 9. q. d. Behold O all ye Angels and all the future Generations of men how the first man hath over-reached and conquered us and got the Divinity which he affected and how happy he hath made himself by his Rebellion But this bitter scorn God uttereth not to insult over mans misery but to convince him of his sin folly danger and calamity and to oblige him both to a diligent seeking after and a greedy embracing the remedy of the promised Seed which God offered him and to a greater watchfulness over himself and respect to all Gods commands for the time to come as one of us u i. e. As one of the Divine Persons of infinite Wisdom and Capacity Here is an evident proof of a plurality of persons in the Godhead compare Gen. 1. 26. and 11. 7. If it be said God speaks this of himself and the Angels besides that as yet not one word hath been spoken concerning the Angels it is an absurd and unreasonable conceit that the great God should level himself with the Angels and give them a kind of equality with himself as this expression intimates to know Good and Evil x To know all things both good and evil and now lest he put forth his hand y The speech is defective and to be supplyed thus or some such way But now care must be taken or man must be banished hence lest he c. and take also a i. e. As he did take of the Tree of knowledge of the Tree of Life and eat and live for ever b i. e. And thereby prophane that Sacrament of Eternal Life and fondly perswade himself that he shall live for ever This is another scoffe or irony whereby God upbraideth mans presumption and those vain hopes wherewith he did still feed himself 23. Therefore d For
both which cases it is a Metonymy of the Adjunct are like a shadow that declineth r Or that is extended or stretched out to its ulmost length as it is when the Sun is setting when it speedily and totally vanisheth And just so the hopes of our restitution which sometimes we have are quickly cut off and disappointed and I am * Isai. 40. 6. Jam. 1. 10. Psal. 109. 13. withered like grass 12 But * Lam. 5. 19. thou O LORD shalt endure for ever s But this is my comfort although we dye and our hopes vanish yet our God is everlasting and unchangeable and therefore invincible by all his and our enemies constant in his counsels and purposes of mercy to his Church stedfast and faithful in the performance of all his promises and therefore he both can and will deliver his people and * Psal. 135. â—…3 thy remembrance t Either 1. the fame and memory of thy wonderful works Or rather 2. thy name Iehovah mentioned in the former clause which is called by this very word Gods remembrance or memorial and that unto all generations Exod. 3. 15. Thus this clause exactly answers to the former and both of them describe the Eternity of Gods existence whereby the Psalmist relieves and supports himself under the consideration of his own and his peoples frailty and vanity unto all generations 13 Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion u Upon Ierusalem or thy Church and People for the time to favour her yea the set time x The end of those 70. Years which thou hast fixed of which see Ier. 25. 12. and 29. 10. Dan. 9. 2. is come 14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones and favour the dust thereof y Thy people value the dust and rubbish of the holy City more than all the Palaces of the Earth and passionately desire that it may be rebuilt 15 So the Heathen shall fear the name of the LORD and all the kings of the earth thy glory z Which was in some sort fulfilled when the rebuilding of the Temple and City of God was carried on and finished through so many and great difficulties and oppositions to the admiration envy and terrour of their Enemies as we read Nehem. 6. 16. Compare Psal. 126. 2. but much more truly and fully in building of the spiritual Ierusalem by Christ unto whom the Gentiles were gathered and the Princes of the World paid their acknowledgments 16 When the LORD shall build up Zion he shall appear in his glory a His glorious power and wisdom and goodness shall be manifested to all the World 17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute b i. e. Of his poor forsaken despised people in Babylon and not despise c i. e. Will accept and answer their prayer 18 This shall be written d This wonderful deliverance shall not be lost nor forgotten but carefully recorded by thy people for the generation to come e For the instruction and incouragement of all succeeding Generations The singular number put for the plural as is ordinary and * Psal. 22. 31. the people which shall be created f Which may be understood either 1. of the Jews which should be restored who were in a manner dead and buried in the grave and meer dry bones Isa. 26. 19. Ezek. 37. and therefore their restauration might well be called a Creation or as it is elsewhere a resurrection Or 2. of the Gentiles who should be converted whose conversion is frequently and might very justly be called a second Creation See 43. 1 7 15. and 65. 18. Eph. 2. 10 15. shall praise the LORD 19 For he hath looked down g To wit upon us not like an idle Spectator but with an eye of pity and relief as the next Verse declares from the height of his sanctuary h From his higher or upper Sanctuary to wit Heaven as the next Clause explains it which is called Gods high and holy place Isa. 57. 15. from Heaven did the LORD behold the earth 20 * Psal. 79. 11. To hear the groaning of the prisoner to loose †Heb. the children of death those that are appointed to death i To release his poor Captives out of Babylon and which is more from the Chains and Fetters of Sin and Satan and from eternal destruction 21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem k That they being delivered might publish and celebrate the name and praises of God in his Church 22 When the people are gathered together and the kingdoms to praise the LORD l When the Gentiles shall gather themselves to the Jews and join with them in the praise and worship of the true God and of the Messias This Verse seems to be added to intimate that although the Psalmist in this Psalm respects the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon yet he had a further design and a principal respect unto that greater and more general deliverance of his Church and People by the Messias 23 He m To wit God to whom he ascribes these Calamities v. 10. to whom therefore he addresseth himself for relief †Heb. afflicted weakned my strength in the way m Either 1. in the midst of our expectations Whilest we are expecting the accomplishment of thy promise either of bringing us out of Babylon or of sending the Messias we faint and one of us perish after another and our hope is like the giving up of the Ghost Or rather 2. in the midst of the course of our lives Which sence is confirmed 1. from the following Clause Which after the manner explains the former he shortned my days as also from the next Verse where he begs relief from God against this misery in these words take me not away in the midst of my days 2. From the use of this word way which is used for the course of a mans life Psal. 2. 12. and which comes to the same thing for the course of a journey as it is opposed to the end of the journey Gen. 24. 27. Exod. 23. 20. and elsewhere the life of man being oft compared to a journeying or travelling and death to his journeys end And the Psalmist here speaks as other sacred Writers do elsewhere and as all sorts of Writers frequently do of the whole Commonwealth as of one man and of its continuance as of the life of one man And so this seems to be the matter of his complaint and humble expostulation with God O Lord thou didst chuse us out of all the World to be thy peculiar people and didst plant us in Ganaan and cause a glorious Temple to be built to thy name to be the onely place of thy publick and solemn worship in the World and didst make great and glorious promises that thine eyes and heart should be upon it perpetually 1 Kings
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
which the Poor would therefore sooner embrace and the Rich more likely to oppose Or 3. The Poor in Spirit unto the meek he hath sent me to bind up q Now follow several particular expressions to describe the same thing that he mentioned before more generally a Metaphor taken from Chirurgions that carefully and tenderly roll up a broken bone Hos. 6. 1. and this relates to Christs Priestly Office the broken-hearted r The heart dejected and broken with sorrow I am sent to ease their pains whose Consciences are wounded with a sense of Gods wrath to proclaim liberty to the captives s Those Captives in Babylon but principally to Satan that they shall be delivered and this appertains to Christs Kingly Office whereby he proclaims liberty from the Dominion and Bondage of sin and from the Fear and Terrour of Hell See ch 42. 7. and the opening of the prison to them that are bound t i. e. Supposing them to be in chains and fetters yet they should be delivered though in the greatest bondage the further explication of these things will be found upon Luke 4. 18. Because there are some passages expresly mentioned here 2 To proclaim u To declare as it respects the Jews that their liberty is at hand the acceptable x Viz. the happy age of Gods grace either which will be grateful and welcome news to them or acceptable to God a time wherein it pleaseth him to favour them but this must be understood of a farther extent than to Babylon and rather unto Mankind in Jesus Christ. Gal. 4. 4. and Tit. 3. 4. called a time of Gods good will in that Angelical song Luke 2. 14. On the account of those good tidings which the Angel brought v. 10. 11. called so possibly from the arbitrariness and good pleasure of God having no respect to any satisfaction from man year y Not precisely as if Christ preached but one year the mistake of some Ancients mentioned and râ—…uted by Irenaeus lib. 2. ch 38. But for time indefinitely and may include the whole time of preaching the Gospel See Rom. 10. 15. which I take to be the meaning of that now 2 Cor. 6. 2. and probably hath a pertinent allusion to the year of Iubile which was a general release proclaimed by sound of Trumpet which relates also here to the word Proclaiming Lev. 25. 10. of the LORD and the day of vengeance z Viz. on Babylon it being necessary that where God will deliver his People he should take vengeance on their enemies but mystically and principally on the enemies of his Church and the Spiritual ones chiefly viz. Satan Sin and Death of our God to comfort all that mourn a Either by reason of their sufferings or of their sins Mat. 11. 28. Or the miseries of Sion See on ch 57. 18. 3 To appoint b Supple it Viz. Comfort or Joy or else it may refer to those Accusative cases following Beauty Oyl Garments unto them that mourn in Zion c Put by a Metonymy for the Jews q. d. among the Jews and they for the Church of God or according to the Hebrew For Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes d By ashes understand whatever is most proper for days of mourning as Sackcloth sprinkled with Ashes and these ashes which were sprinkled on their heads mixing themselves with their tears would render them of a woful Aspect which was wont to be the habit of Mourners as by Beauty whatever may be beautiful or become times of rejoycing the oyl of joy for mourning e The sense is the same with the former he calls it Oyl of joy in allusion to those anointings they were wont to use in times of joy Psal. 104. 15. and also the same with what follows viz. Gladness for heaviness gladness brings forth Praise to God and it is called a Garment in allusion to their Festival Ornaments for they had Garments appropriated to their conditions some suitable to times of rejoycing and some to times of mourning or else an allusion to comely garments and the spirit of heaviness because heaviness doth oppress and debase the Spirits It is all but an elegant description of the same thing by a three-fold Antithesis the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that they might be called f That is that they may be so as it is usually expressed Ch 58. 12. 60. 18. they shall be acknowledged so v. 9. trees of righteousness g He ascribes Righteousness to Trees understanding thereby Persons by a Metaphor by which he means that they shall be firm solid and well rooted being by faith engrafted into Christ and bringing sorth fruit suitable to the Soil wherein they are planted that had been as dry trees see on Isa. 56. 3. viz. the Church the Vineyard of God and the hand by which they were planted as in the next words the planting of the LORD h Planted by the holy Lord who being himself holy and righteous would plant none but such which notes also their soundness and stability an allusion to that passage in Moses his Song Exod. 15. 17. that he might be glorified i Either in that glory which he should conser upon them or that glory he may expect and receive from them that so it may be evident whose handy work it was See ch 60. 21. 4 And they shall * Chap. 58. 12. build the old wasts they shall raise up the former desolations and they shall repair the wast cities the desolations of many generations k See ch 58. 12. As it is applied to Gospel times the meaning may be that Gentilism which was as a wilderness overgrown with Briars and Thorns shall be cultivated and those Cities and Provinces of the Gentiles that lay as it were wast void of all true Religion shall now by the Ministry of the Word be edified in the true worship of God 5 And strangers l Viz. Gentiles such as are not of the natural race of the Jews but Gentile Converts Or such as shall have no more then an outward profession strangers to the true work of Grace shall stand m Ready to be at thy service a like expression ch 48. 13. and feed your flocks n The Churches with the word of God and the sons of the alien o The same with strangers or their successours shall be your plowmen and your vine-dressers p As the words describe the prosperous estate of the Jews the meaning of them is that they should be in such a flourishing and prosperous condition that without their own labour they should have all inferiour offices executed either by slaves taken in War or by Persons hired for reward which they should have Riches and Wealth enough to accomplish But as they principally relate to the spiritual State of the Church so probably by Strangers we may understand Converted Gentiles with their Successors