that distemperature departed the world which himself had so oft distempered Vers 22. A merry heart doth good like a medicine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So the Septuagint render it And indeed it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that makes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All true mirth is from rectitude of the mind from a right frame of soul When Faith hath once healed the conscience and grace hath husht the affections and composed all within so that there is a Sabbath of Spirit and a blessed tranquillity lodged in the soul then the body also is vigorous and vigetous for most part in very good plight and healthful constitution which makes mans life very comfortable For si vales bene est And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Go thy waies saith Solomon to him that hath a good conscience eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a merry heart Eccles 9.7 8 9. sith God accepteth thy works Let thy garments bee alwaies white and let thy head lack no ointment Live joyfully with the wife of thy youth c. bee lightsome in thy cloaths merry at thy meats painful in thy calling c. these do notably conduce to and help on health They that in the use of lawful means wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not bee weary they shall walk and not faint Isa 40.31 But a broken spirit drieth the bones By drinking up the marrow and radical moisture See this in David Psal 32.3 whose bones waxed old whose moisture or chief sap was turned into the drought of Summer his heart was smitten and withered like grass his daies consumed like smoak Psal 102.3 4. his whole body was like a bottle in the smoak Psal 119.83 hee was a very bag of bones and those also burnt as an hearth Psal 102. Aristotle in his book of long and short life assigns grief for a chief cause of death And the Apostle saith as much 2 Cor. 7.10 See the Note there and on Prov. 12.25 All immoderations saith Hippocrates are great enemies to health Vers 23. A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosome i. e. closely and covertly as if neither God nor man should see him The words may bee also read thus Hee that is the corrupt Judge taketh a gift out of the wicked mans bosome there being never a better of them as Solomon intimateth by this ambiguous expression Stapleten Rain is good and ground is good yet ex corum conjunctione fit lutum So giving is kind and taking is courteous yet the mixing of them makes the smooth paths of justice foul and uneven Vers 24. Wisdome is before him that hath understanding Or Vultut index animi Profecto oculis animus inhabitat Plin. the face of an understanding man is wisdome his very face speaks him wise the government of his eyes especially is an argument of his gravity His eyes are in his head Eccles 2.14 hee scattereth away all evil with them Prov. 20.8 Hee hath oculum irretortum as Job had chap. 31. and Joseph had oculum in metam which was Ludovicus vives his Motto his eye fixt upon the mark hee looks right on Prov. 4.25 hee goes through the world as one in a deep muse or as one that hath haste of some special businesse and therefore over-looks every thing besides it Hee hath learned out of Isa 33.14 15. that he that shall see God to his comfort must not onely shake his hands from taking gifts as in the former verse but also stop his ears from hearing of blood and shut his eyes from seeing of evil Vitiis nobis in animum per oculos est via saith Quintilian Quintil. declam sin entereth into the little world thorow these windows and death by sin as fools finde too oft by casting their eyes into the corners of the earth suffering them to rove at randome without restraint by irregular glancing and inordinate gazing In Hebrew the same word signifies both an eye and a fountain to shew saith one that from the eye as from a fountain flows both sin and misery Shut up therefore the five windows that the house may be full of light as the Arabian Proverb hath it Wee read of one that making a journey to Rome and knowing it to bee a corrupt place and a corrupter of others entred the City with eyes close shut neither would hee see any thing there but Saint Peters Church which hee had a great mind to go visit Alipius in Austin being importuned to go to those bloody spectacles of the gladiatory combats resolved to wink and did But hearing an out-cry of applause looked abroad and was so taken with the sport that hee became an ordinary frequenter of those cruel meetings Vers 25. A foolish Son is a grief to his Father See the Note on chap. 10.1 and 15.20 Vers 26. Also to punish the just is not good The righteous are to be cherished and protected as those that uphold the state Semen sanctum statumen terrae Isa 6.13 What Aeneas Sylvins said of learning may bee more properly said of righteousness Vulgar men should esteem it as silver Noble-men as gold Prines prize it as pearls But they that punish it as persecutors do shall bee punished to purpose when God makes inquisition for blood Psal 9. Nor to strike Princes for equity Righteous men are Princes in all Lands Psa 45. yea they are Kings in righteousnesse as Melchisedec Indeed they are somewhat obscure Kings as hee was but Kings they appear to bee by comparing Mat. 13.17 with Luk. 10.24 Many righteous saith Matthew many Kings saith Luke Now to strike a King is high-treason Daniels Hist 198. And although Princes have put up blows as when one struck our Henry the sixth hee onely said Forsooth you do wrong your self more than mee to strike the Lords annointed Another also that had drawn blood of him when hee was in prison hee freely pardoned when hee was restored to his Kingdome saying Alass poor soul hee struck mee more to win favour with others than of any evil will hee bare mee So when one came to cry Cato mercy for having struck him once in the Bath hee answered that hee remembred no such matter Likewise Lycurgus is famous for pardoning him that smote out one of his eyes yet hee that shall touch the apple of Gods eye as every one doth that wrongeth a righteous man for equity especially shall have God for a revenger And it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10. Vers 27. Hee that hath knowledge spareth his words Taciturnity is a sign of solidity and talkativeness of worthlesness Epaminondas is worthily praised for this saith Plutarch that as no man knew more than hee so none spake less than hee did And a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit Or of a cool spirit The deepest Seas are the most calm Where river smoothest
off from his body now a meal and then a meal which they roast before his eyes searing up the wounded place with a fire-brand to staunch the bloud to the unutterable aggravation of his horrour and torment Such a Lion Rampant was Nero 2 Tim. 4.17 I was delivered saith St. Paul out of the mouth of the Lion Tertullian calls him The Dedicator of the condemnation of the Christians whom he used as bad almost as the Spaniards at this day doe the poor Indians under pretence of converting them to the faith Their own Writers tell us that within the space of forty years twenty seven millions of people were destroyed and that with such cruelties as never were heard of before Let every good man blesse himself out of the pawes and jaws of these bloudy Catholicks more savage and fierce than the wild beasts as they soon shew when armed with power as were easie to instance See the Babylonian cruelty Graphically described Jerem. 51.34 and see whether it be not matched and overmatched by mystical Babylon The ranging Lion and ravening Bear is nothing to that Man of Sin that hath dyed all Christendome with the bloud of Gods Saints and dunged it with their carcases This Ostrich can digest any metal especially money witnesse his incredible exactions here in England anciently called the Popes Asse This Cannibal is a Pickrel in a Pond or Shark in the Sea devours the poorer as they the lesser Fishes Not unlike that cruel Prince mentioned by Melanchton who to get money of his miserable Subjects used to send for them and if they refused to furnish him with such sums of money as he demanded he would first knock out one of their teeth and then another threatning to leave them none at all Vers 16. The Prince that wanteth understanding As every Tyrant doth Psal 14.4 though they think they deal wisely as Pharaoh Exod. 1.10 for they usually come to untimely ends as most of the Caesars till Constantine Ad generum Cereris sine caede c. and as our Richard the third and Queen Mary whose reigns are the shortest of all the Kings since the Conquest Bloudy and deceitful men live not half their daies or if they doe it is for a further evil unto them Isa 65.20 But he that hateth Covetousnesse Covetousnesse in the original hath its name from peircing or wounding and fitly both in respect of others Prov. 1.19 and himself 1 Tim 6.10 Vers 17. A man that doth violence unto the bloud The Hebrew word Adam here rendred Man Baxtâ—rf hath one letter in the Original less than the rest to shew that a bloud-shedder is not worthy to be called a man Shall flee to the pit let no man stay him i. e. Let him dye without mercy let no man mediate for him lest he pay down as Ahab did life for life People for People 1 King 20.42 lest he draw upon the Land guilt of bloud Numb 35.33 34. and hinder the Man-slayer from repentance to salvation never to bee repented of To blame then are the Papists that open Sanctuaries to such and if a Cardinal put his red hat upon the head of a murderer going to execution he is delivered from death See Deut. 19.13 with the note there Vers 18. Who so walketh uprightly shall bee saved See the Note on chap. 10.9 Shall be saved A little word but of large extent It properly noteth the privative part of a mans happiness deliverance from evil but is put here and every where almost for the positive part too fruition of good as well as freedom from evil it comprehendeth 1 Malorum ademptionem 2 Bonorum adeptionem But he that is perverse in his wayes Heb. In his two wayes shall fall in one of them Evil shall hunt the wicked man to destroy him and albeit hee may shuffle for a season from side to side as Balaams Asse did to avoyd the Angels sword yet he shall not escape mischief Let our Politick Professors look to it that can tune their Fiddle to the base of the times that can shift their sayls to the sitting of every wind that like the Planet Mercury can be good in conjunction with good and bad with bad Vers 19. He that tilleth his land shall have plenty At fugiens molam fugit farinam Men must earn it ere they eat it and not think that bread and other good things will drop out of the clouds to them as Towns were said to come in to Timotheus his toyls while he slept Plut. in Sylla See chap. 12.11 Shall have poverty enough As the Prodigal had Luk. 15. and Pythias who in a bravery entertained Xerxes his whole Army but was so poor at length that he perished through want of meat Vers 20. A faithful man shall abound in blessings God will blesse him and all that blesse him Gen. 12.3 See the note there Men also shall rise up and call him blessed saying as Deut. 33.29 Happy art thou O Israel who is like unto thee O People saved by the Lord the shield of thy help c. Stars though we see them sometimes in a puddle in the bottom of a Well nay in a stinking Ditch though they reflect there I say yet they have their situation in Heaven So Gods faithful servants though in a low condition yet are they fixed in the region of happinesse See Lev. 26. and Deut. 28. But he that maketh haste to bee rich shall not bee innocent Nevessan a better Lawyer than good Christian was wont to say He that will not venture his body shall never be valiant he that will not venture his soul shall never bee rich But let their money perish with them that Shimei-like by seeking their servants lose their souls or Jonas-like care not to bee cast over shipboard so the ship of their worldly wealth may be in safety Francis Xaverius counselled John the third King of Portugal to meditate every day a quarter of an hour on that Divine sentence What shall it profit a man to win the whole world and lose his own soul See 1 Tim. 6.9 with the note What a woful Will was that of rich but wretched Hubertus I yeeld said hee my goods to the King my body to the Grave my soul to the Devil Vers 21. To have respect of persons is not good See the note on Chap. 24.23 For for a piece of bread For a trifle he will transgresse and sell his soul dog-cheap for a groat or lesse money Cato in Gellius hits M. Caelius in the teeth with his baseness that for a morsel of bread hee would sell either his tongue or his silence And the false Prophets in Ezekiels days would doe the like Ezek. 13.19 Vers 22. He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye He is sick of the lust of the eye 1 John 2.16 for all sinful lusts are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sicknesses coveting his neighbours goods envying his prosperity and begrudging him every bit he eats at his
times of the Gospel imported the same Notion And the Government shall be upon his shoulders The Power and Majestie of the Kingdom is committed to him by his Father chap. 22.22 with Matth. 28.18 and he hath strength enough to manage it Princeps est hajulus Reip. The Hebrews call a Prince Nassi because Atlas-like he is to bear up the Common-wealth and not to overload his Subjects Christ both as Prince of his Church and as High-Priest also beareth up and beareth out his people helping their infirmities Rom. 8.26 See the Note And his Name shall be called Heb. He shall call his Name 1. God his Father shall or every true Believer shall call him and count him all this And sure it is had we but skill to spell all the Letters in this Name of Christ Prov. 18.10 it would be a strong Tower unto us better then that of David builded for an Armoury and compleatly furnished Cant. 4.4 Compare this Text with 1 Cor. 1.30 and see all our doubts answered Are we perplexed He is our wonderful Counsellour and made unto us of God Wisdom Are we in depths of distress He is the mighty God our Redemption Want we Grace and his Image He is the Everlasting Father our Sanctification Doth the guilt of sin sting us He is the Prince of peace our Righteousness Wonderful Heb. A Miracle or Wonder viz. in all his Counsels and Courses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Symmach Ipsa admirabilitas A Lap. especially for his Glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders Exod. 15.11 Counsellour The Septuagint here calleth Him the Angel of the great Counsel Rev. 1.13 He is set forth as cloathed with a garment down to the foot which is the Habit of Counsellors at Law who are therehence called Gentlemen of the long Robe See Rev. 3.17 Prov. 8.14 Jer. 32.19 But because Counsellors are but Subjects it is added in Christs stile The mighty God Able to effect his own Counsels for the behoof of his Subjects Saint Paul calleth him the great God Tit. 2.13 and God above all to be blessed for ever Rom. 9.5 God the Potentate so the Sept. render this Text God the Giant so Oecolampadius The Everlasting Father The Father of Eternity the King Eternal Immortal 1 Tim. 1.17 Ferdinand the Emperour on his death bed would not acknowledge the Title Invictissimus but commanded his Counsellour to call him Ferdinand without more addition Christ is also the Author of Eternity to all his people whom he hath begotten again to an Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for them 1 Pet. 1.3 4. The Prince of peace Pacis omnimodae of all kinds of peace outward inward of countrey and of conscience temporal and eternal Of all these he is the Prince as having full power to bestow them for he is son to the God of peace Rom. 16.20 He was brought from Heaven with that song of peace Luc. 2.14 He himself purged our sins and made our peace Heb. 1.3 Eph. 2.14 Returned up to Heaven with that farewel of peace Joh. 14.27 Left to the world the Gospel of peace Eph. 2.17 Whose Ministers are messengers of peace Rom. 10.15 Whose followers are the children of peace Luk. 10.6 c. Wherefore Christ doth far better deserve then our Hen. 7. did to be stiled the Prince of peace Especially since Ver. 7. Of the increase of his government there shall be no end Here the Mem final in the middle of the word Lemarbeh hath occasioned some to give many guesses at the reason of it yea to conceit many mysteries where wiser men can find no such matter It is a good note which One giveth here viz. that the more Christs government increaseth in the soul the more peace there is See chap. 32.17 Psal 119.136 To establish it Or support it uphold it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A King hath his name in Greek from being the foundation of the people This King of Kings is only worthy of that name he is not maintained and supported by us our Subsidies but we by him and by the supplies of his Spirit Philip. 1.19 All our springs are in him Psal 87.7 Non amat qui non zelat The Zeal of the Lord of hosts i. e. the philanthropy Tit. 3.4 and free grace of God Dilexisti me Domine magis quam te saith a Father Let us reciprocate by being zealous of good works fervent in spirit serving the Lord. And when Satan telleth us of our no merits tell we him that the Zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do it notwithstanding Ver. 8. The Lord fâ—râ— a word into Jacob He sent it as a shaft out of a bow that will be sure to hit God loveth to premonish but woe be to those that will not be warned The Septuagint render it The Lord sent a plague or Death into Jacob and indeed after the white horse followeth the red and the black Revel 6.2 4 5. Like as Tamerlan that warlike Scythian displayed first a white flag in token of mercy and then a red menacing and threatning blood and then lastly a black flag the messenger and ensign of death was hung abroad And it hath lighted upon Israel 1. They were not ignorant of such a word ver 9.2 They could neither avert nor avoid his wrath Ver. 9. And all the people shall know Know it they do already but they shall know it by wofull experience He that trembleth not in hearing shall be crushed to pieces in feeling said Mr. Bradford Martyr That say in pride and sloutness of heart The Poet could say of his Ajax 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His pride undid him so doth it many a man especially when come to that height that it fighteth against God as here When earthen pots will needs be dashing against the Rock of ages and doing this or that al despito di Dio as that profane Pope once said whether God will or no divine vengeance doggs at heels such Desperado's Ver. 10. The bricks are fallen down Not thrown down by Providence but fallen down by Fate or blind fortune God is not so far honoured as once to be owned by these Atheists who think they can make their party good against him and mend what he had marr'd whether he would or not Thus this giantlike generation and the like impiety is in the corrupt nature of us all For as in water face answereth to face so doth the heart of a man to a man saith Solomon Prov. 27.19 The Sycomores are cut down c. Another proverbial speech to the same purpose Sycomores were then very common in that countrey and little set by 1 King 10.27 Now they are not to be found there saith Hierom as neither are Cedars in Lebanon Ver. 11. Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin in whom ye trust He shall shortly be destroyed by the Assyrian 2 King 16.9 and then your hopes
were her Walls and Bulwarks that she feared no irruption of the enemy and so bold she bore her self upon her twenty years provision laid in aforehand that she feared no famine by the straitness of a long siege Herodotus telleth us Herod lib. 1. Arist Polit. lib. 3. that when Babylon was taken by Cyrus some part of the City knew not of their condition till the third day after the suddenness of their surprisal must needs be very dreadful They shall every man i.e. All her Confederates and Presidiaries Ver. 15. Every one that is found shall be thrust thorow This maketh them flye for it Quis enim vult mori prorsus nemo Life is sweet and men will rather flie then dye Every one that is joyned unto them Or that is decrepid worn out with old age See 2 Chron. 36.17 Ver. 16. Their children shall be dasht in pieces c. As had been prayd and prophecyed long before Psal 137.9 and this was but lex talionis See 2 Chron. 36.17 Lam. 5.11 Their houses shall be spoyled and their wives ravished As those three Commandements Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not steal are ranked together in the Law so they are commonly violated together in the lawless violence of war Ver. 17. Behold I will stir up the Medes together with the Persians under the conduct of Darius and Cyrus Which shall not regard silver sc For a ransom but shall kill all they meet though never so rich and able to redeem their lives as Pro. 13.8 Jer. 41.8 Incredibilis sanguinis aviditas in milite bacchabiâ—â—r Ver. 18. Their bowes also shall dash the yong men They shall double destroy them O Barbaram crudelitatem And they shall have no pitty on the fruit of the womb Quamvis adhuc teneri essent fructus novelli ripping up their mothers as Am. 1.13 as at the Sicilian Vespers and as in the late Parisian and Irish Massacres which were the most prodigious horrid villanâ—es that ever the Sun saw Their eye shall not spare children In the Massacre of Paris a bloody Papist having snatcht up a little child of one of the Protestants in his arms the poor Babe began to play with his beard Act. Mon. and to smile upon him But he more mercyless then a Tiger stabbed it with a dagger and so cast it all gore-gore-blood into the River Ver. 19. And Babylon the glory of Kingdoms Those four great Monarchies of the world had their times and their turns their rise and their ruine The Roman Empire can scarce stand on its feet of clay and by the death of the late Emperour no King of Romans being nominated is like to suffer great concussions Shall be as when Gid overthrew Sodom The destruction whereof was the greatest and most stupendious that ever we read of Hiâ— Babylonia contermini Ver. 20. Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there The Scenites or vagrant Shepherds of Arabia deserta that oft flitted for better pasture shall shun Babylon as haunted with wild beasts or rather with Dragons and Devils in the Revelation all this is applyed to and shall be verified of Rome cap. 18. Ver. 21. But wild beasts of the Desart Heb. Ijâ—m Ochim c. These are names of wild creatures unknown to us in these parts And Satyrs Or Devils in borrowed shapes and hideous apparitions Ver. 22. And the wild beasts of the Islands Heb Ijim i. e. desolate places and far remote And her time is near to come Though two hundred year hence and more ere it commence So Babylon is fallen is fallen Rev. 19.2 that is certo cito penitus surely shortly utterly O mora Christe veni CHAP. XIV Ver. 1. FOr the Lord will have mercy upon Jacob And therefore destroy Babylon as chap. 13. Such is his Love to his Church that for her sake and in Revenge of her wrongs Bern. he will fall foul upon her enemies Si in Hierosolymis fiat scrutinium quanto magis in Babylone And the strangers shall be joyned with them Proselyted especially when made partakers of the grace of the Gospel Ver. 2. For servants and for hand-maids Their Converts shall be willing to lay their hands under their feet as we say and glad to do them any service like as Cyprian was for Caecilius whom be called novae vitae parentem and Latimer for Bilney whom he called Blessed Bilney See Isa 49.23 Ver. 3. That the Lord shall give thee rest c. The Church hath her Halcyons here neither is she smitten as those are that smote her but in measure in the branches c. God stayeth his rough-wind Isa 27.8 that is such afflictions as would shake his plants too much or quite blow them down Yea whether South or North-wind bloweth all shall blow good to them Cant. 4. ult Blow off their unkindly blossoms and refresh them both under and after all their sorrow fear and hardship Ver. 4. That thou shalt take up this Proverb Or taunting speech Carmen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this exultatory and insultatory song which upon the fall of Babylon shall be in every mans mouth How hath the Oppressour ceased q. d. This is wonderful and beyond all expectation The golden City Or Gold-thirsty City Aurata vel auri avida Ver. 5. The Lord hath broken the staffe Wherewith these Exactors cudgelled men as so many beasts into subjection and obedience And the Scepter Or Rod of the Rulers who ruled with rigour Ver. 6. He that smote the people in wrath c. This is the Tyrants Epitaph Aurel. Victor there is at their death a general joy as was when the world was well rid of Tiberius Caligula Nero Heliogabalus c. When Domitian dyed the Senate decreed that his name should be razed that all his Acts should be rescinded and his memorial abolished quite for ever When Caligula was cut off his monies were all melted by the decree of the Senate like as King Richard the thirds cognizance Speed the white Bore was torn from every sign that his memory might perish Ver. 7. The whole earth is at rest and is quiet Quievit conticuit All 's husht 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. that was used to be set in an uproar by these restless Ambitionists They break forth into singing By a wide opening of the lips and lungs as the word signifieth Ver. 8. Yea the Fir-trees rejoyce at thee A notable Metaphor whereby sense and speech is attributed to sensless creatures the trees once afraid to be felled are now freed from that fear This Tyrant was the terrour of things on earth and things under earth Hence men and trees are said to rejoyce Hell to be in an hurry c. No feller is come up against us As was wont to do for thy Shipping Buildings Warlike Engines c. Ver. 9. Hell from beneath is moved for thee Infernus ab inferendo Shaeal from its unsatiableness and
tempora O mores Weeping all along as he went O deep dissimulation and Crocodiles-tears That creature having killed some living beast lyeth upon the dead body washeth the head thereof with her warm tears which she afterwards devouteth together with the body Tears saith the Author of the Turkish History speaking of Andronicus another Ishmael by nature were ordained to expresse the heavinesse of the heart flowing from the eyes as showers of rain from the clouds In good men the most certain signs of greatest grief and surest testimonies of inward torment but in Andronicus you are not so Turk Hist fol. 56. you proceed of joy you promise not to the distressed pitty or compassion but death and destruction How many mens eyes have you put out how many have you drowned how many have you devoured Thus He and much more to like purpose Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam This he saith fraudulently like Sinon in the Poet that he might fish and find out how they stood affected to Gedaliah whom he so deadly hated that he slaughtered these poor folk for once owning him or owing him any service Ver. 7. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them This hell-hound having once as other hounds dipt his tongue in blood can put no period to his unparalleld cruelty He and the men that were with him His slaughter-slaves his Assassines to help him for he alone could not have done this bloody execution unlesse he had taken as much time thereunto as that Popish villain did in doing to death those poor Protestants of Calabria Anno 1550. For as Ishmael here brought these Eighty innocent men into the midst of the City as into a pound and there slew them so Eighty-eight poor Professours of the truth according to godlinesse being all thrust up in one house together as in a sheep fold the Executioner comes in saith Mr. Fox and among them takes one and blindfolds him with a muffler about his eyes and so leads him forth to a larger place where be commandeth him to kneel down which being done he cutteth his throat and so leaving him half dead and taking his butchers knife and muffler all of gore blood Act. Mon. â—59 commeth again to the rest and so leadeth them one after another till he had dispatcht them all Ver. 8. But there were ten men found among them Qui miro astu sibi ab indigna morte provident who pleaded for their lives were spared Slay us not for we have treasures in the feild And these we will willingly part with for the redemption of our lives They knew that Souldiers would do much for mony and what is wealth in comparison of life Wicked worldlings would say the like to Death if their tale might be heard Henry Beauford Cardinal Bishop of Winchester Fox Mart. vol. 1. p. 925. and Chancellour of England in the reign of Henry the sixt perceiving that he must dye murmured at death that his riches could not reprieve him till a further time So he forbare and slew them not Ambition and Covetousnesse strove for mastery in this man and here covetousnesse conquereth cruelty This also was it that put him upon carrying his poor country-men captive as hoping to make prize of them Ver. 9. Now the pit was it which Asa the King had made for fear of Baasha He had made it for some unknown use in the wars and now is was filled with the dead bodies of men for a punishment say some of his confederating with Benhadad King of Syria Vt semper impiorum foedera confilia nobis sint suspecta Ver. 10. Then Ishmael carried away captive Auri sacra fames quid non mortalia cogit Pectora Even the Kings daughters His own kinswomen whom the Babylonian had spared It may be he meant to marry one of them as our Richard the third would have done his neice Elizabeth and so to have reigned in her right And all the people that remained in Mizpah Who found lesse favour from a false brother then they had done from a professed enemy so hath the Church ever done from hereticks then from heathens Ver. 11. But when Johanan the son of Kareah and all the Captaines heard of all the evil Ishmael did what he could to conceale the wickednesse till he had gotten away with his prize but Rumour outran him even Fama malum quo non aliud velocius â—llum Ver. 12. Then they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael This act of theirs carrieth the commendation of fortitude of charity and of piety like as did that of Abraham in rescuing Lot of Gideon and Jehosaphat in delivering the Israelites from their barbarous and blood-thirsty enemies of Scanderbeg Hunniades Gustavus King of Sweden c. Unlesse Ismael and Johanan did as Ismael the Persian King and Selymus the great Turk who fighting for the Empire of the East Turk hist 515. masked their aspiring thoughts under the veile of zeale to their Religion It well appeareth now to the world that neither of them were right whatever they pretended And they found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon Where in Davids dayes those youngsters of Helkath-hazzurim had sheathed their swords in their fellows bowels 2 Sam. 2.16 Ver. 13. Then they were glad God when he pleaseth can suddenly and beyond all hope exhilarate men in the midst of miseries and give deliverance Turk hist 269. The like hereunto befell the poor Christian captives when Hunniades had overthrown Mesites the Turks General Ver. 14. So all the people cast about and returned Their hearts were with Johanan before the battle as the Athenians were with Flamimus the Roman General who came to rescue them though their bodies were detained by the tyrants within the walls of their City Ver. 15. But Ismael the son of Nethaniah escaped But with what honour with what conscience could this Judas live among the Ammonites surely this defeat could not but be more shame to him before the King of Ammon and more vexation to his proud heart then death it self The like befell Stukely the English traitour in Spain Ver. 16. Then took Johanan all the remnant This evil act of theirs doth quite overturn the glory of the former whilest against the ancient command of God the Covenant made with the Chaldees and the consent of the Prophets they will needs down to Egypt to lean upon that broken reed that never did them good but evil Ver. 17. And they departed They roused from place to place but being out of Gods precincts they were also out of his protection and could expect no good And they departed and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham which is by Bethlehem Where it seemeth that David or Solomon 1 King 2.7 had given him some lands which he called by his own name as men love to do Psal 49.11 Goruth Chimham Josephus saith there is a village near Bethlehem that is still so called See 2 Sam. 19.38 To go
of their solitary and forlorn condition Jam jacet in viduo squallida facta toro And her teares are on her cheeks Haerent perennant seldom or never are they off As hinds by calving so she by weeping cast out her sorrows Job 39.3 Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her Optimum solatium sodalitium saith one And Affert solatium lugentibus suspiriorum societas saith another Father It was no small aggravation of Jerusalems misery that her confederates proved miserable comforters and her allyes kept aloof off so that she had none to compassionate her This is also none of the smallest torments of the damned Ghosts that they are unpittied of their best friends and nearest relations All her friends have dealt treacherously with her The Edomites and Moabites Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and Johanan the son of Kareah c. Every sinner shall one day take up this Lamentation And why they have forsaken the fountain of living waters and hewed them out broken cisterns that can hold no water Jer. 2.13 Ver. 3. Judah is gone into captivity But with no good will God hath driven them out for their cruel oppressions and hard usage of their poor brethren that served them Thus the Chaldee Paraphrast and not amisse Others thus Judah i. e. the inhabitants of the Kingdom goeth away i. e. willingly leave their country goods and dwelling sc before the desolation of Jerusalem because of affliction Jun. Udal i. e. extremity of trouble and great slavery c. She dwelleth among the heathen Where she can get nothing better then guilt or grief She findeth no rest No more then did the dove in the deluge Gen. 8.9 All her persecutors took her in the straits i. e. At the most advantage to mischief her a term taken from hunters or high-way-men The Chaldees took the City when it had been first distressed with famine and then the Jews that went down to Egypt for succour and shelter after Gedaliahs death they caught there as mice in a trap as this Prophet had foretold them chap. 42.43 and 46. but they would not be warned Mâ—tsraim proved to be their Meâ—sarim i. e. Egypt their pound or prison Ver. 4. The wayes of Zion do mourn So they seem to do because unfrequented overgrown with grasse and out of their kindly order Her Priests sigh For want of employment The virgins were afflicted Or discomfited those that are usually set upon the merry pin and were wont to make mirth at those festivities And she is in bitternesse Zion is but for nothing so much Cultus Dei desertus est omnia luctifica Jun. as for the decay of religion and the losse of holy exercises when this befalleth all things else are mere Ichabods to good people See Zeph. 3.18 Ver. 5. Her adversaries are the chief Heb. are for the head This was threatned Deut. 28.13 14 43 44 This when it falleth out is a great grief to the godly Therefore the Prophet Nahum for the comfort of Gods Israel is wholly in setting forth the destruction of their enemies the Assyrians Her enemyes prosper See Jer. 12.1 they prevaile and do what they list so that there seemeth to be neither hope of better nor place of worse For the Lord hath afflicted her Not so much her adversaries and enemies Cavet scriptura ne haec potestas detur adversariis Oecolamp or her oppressours and haters as the words properly signifie that is those that oppresse them in action and hate them in affection Her children are gone into captivity Those that were able to go for the rest were slain chap. 4. Before the enemy Driven before them as cattle Ver. 6. And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed Her glory as Esa 5.14 that is chiefly the Temple and the service of God in it It is now Ichabod with her The beauty and bulwark of a Nation are Gods holy ordinances Her Princes are become like harts i. e. Heartlesse bereft of courage they dare not make head against an enemy Before the pursuer R. Solomon here observeth that the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is written at full so as it is scarce anywhere else to note the fulnesse of the persecution Ver. 7. Jerusalem remembred in the dayes of her afflâ—ction Misery is the best art of Memory Then those priviledges we prized not in prosperity we recount with regret Bona à tergo formosissima Magis carendo quam fruendo the worth of good things is best known by the want of them and as we see things best at a distance so here Afflictions are pillulae lucis that do notably clear the eye-sight The adversaries saw her sc With a spiteful and scornful eye And did mock at her Sabbaths Calling the Jews in contempt Sabbatarians and jearing them as those that lost more then a seventh part of their time that way and telling them in scorn that now they might well awhile to keep a long Sabbath as having little else to doe Juvenal thus describeth a Jew cui septima quaeque fuit lux Satyr 5. Ignava partem vitae non attigit ullam Paulus Phagius telleth likewise of a black-mouthed Egyptian who said that Christians were a colluvies of most loathsom lecherous people that had a foul disease upon them and were therefore fain to rest every seventh day Perpetuo assidue graviter peccavit Ver. 8. Jerusalem hath grievously sinned Heb. hath sinned sin hath sinned sinningly doing wickedly as she could Jer. 3.4 and having many transgressions wrapped up in her sins and their circumstances Levit. 16.21 And this is here acknowledged as the true cause of her calamity Prophane persons lay all the blame in this case upon God as He in the Poet O patria O divûm domus Ilium inclyta bello Maenia Dardanidum ferus omnia Jupiter Argos Virg. Aeneid 2. Transtulit Postquam res Asiae Priamique evertere gentem Immeritam visum superis c. Therefore she is removed Heb. therefore is she unto removing or wandering as Cain was Ad modum Cain fraetricidae Figuier when he went to live in the land of Nod or as a menstruous woman is separated from the society of others Nidah for Niddah All that honoured her When her wayes pleased the Lord. Because they have seen her nakednesse Her infamous wickednesses for which she hath done pennance as it were and is therefore despised Or else it is a term taken from a naked captive woman Yea she sigheth and turneth backward sc To hide her nakednesse from publick view Or going into captivity she looked her last look toward her dear country and fetcht a sigh Ver. 9. Her filthinesse is in her skirts Taxat impudextiam insignem She rather glorieth in her wickednesse Paschasius then is any whit abashed of it a Metaphor from a menstrous woman that is immodest Oh quam vulgare hoc hodiè malum See Isa 3.9 But whence this
Hos 4.13 Neither hath lift up his eyes to the idols As every Papist doth daily and is therefore no righteous person such as is here described Neither helpeth it that they are the idols of the house of Israel and not the idols of the Nations Neither hath come near to a menstruous woman Though his own wife Levit. 18.19 20.18 Adulter enim est uxoris propriae ardentior amator said an Heathen There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing Eccles 3.5 Ver. 7. And hath not oppressed any Either by force or fraud Hath given his bread to the hungry Negative goodnesse alone is little worth Men must not only not rob the hospital as we say spoil the poor by violence but draw forth their souls and their sheaves both to the hungry and cloth the naked with a garment or they cannot have the comfort and credit of just men Ver. 8. He that hath not given forth upon usury Of this sin see what I have said elsewhere Exod. 22.25 Psal 15.5 Neh. 5.10 Nihil interest inter funus funus nihil inter mortem distat sortem Ambros Neither hath taken any increase Interest we call it now after the French who first helped us to that fine word But let the Patrones of usury consider that what distinctions soever they bring for it God alloweth here of no usury but condemneth both Neshec the biting and Tarbith the toothlesse usury as equally naught That hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity Whether it be injury to another revenge raking together riches of unrighteousnesse reaching after honours c. Hath executed true judgement Without partiality or passion whether he be a Judge or an Arbitrator Ver. 9. Hath walked in my statutes Quilâ—ges juraque servat It is as if the Prophet had said There are many more characters of a righteous man but I shall shut up all with this He that is right in his obedience for matter manner motive and end he 's the man I meane he shall suerly live Effractor Ver. 10. If he beget a son As he may for grace is not hereditarty Heroum filii noxae That is a robber A breach-maker whether upon the Laws of God or of men one that is a postilent son as the Sept. here have it a plague to his Parents and to his Country And that doth the like to any one of these things Or that doth to his brother besides any of these as there are mille artes nocendi Ver. 11. And that doth not any of these duties Bare omissions may undo a man Not robbing only but the not relieving of the poor was the rich mans ruine Ver. 12. Hath committed abomination Such is every of the sins here instanced whatsoever some can say in defence of them Hath given forth upon usury and all Ver. 13. He hath done all these abominations Or if he have done but one of them and undo it not again by true repentance He shall surely dye Neither shall his fathers righteousnesse priviledge him or prevail at all for him His blood shall be upon him He is felo de se his own deaths man and his mends he hath in his own hands as they say Ver. 14. Now loe if he beget a son that seeth And withal sigheth his eye affecting his heart with grief and dislike And considereth Viz. Of the ill consequents of those courses cavet pavet Ver. 15. That hath not eaten See on ver 6. Ver. 16. See on ver 7. Ver. 17. See on ver 8 9. Ver. 18. Spoiled his brother by violence A man had as good deal with a Cossack or a Cannibal as with a truly covetous caytiffe They hunt every man his brother with a net Mic. 7.2 And did that which is not good among his people It should be every mans care to be some way serviceable to God and profitable to Men. Let no man turn himself into a cipher nay into an excrement that lives in the world to no purpose yea to bad purpose Oh its good to do something whereby the world may be the better and not to come hither meerly as rats and mice only to devour victuals and to run squeaking up and down Ver. 19. Yet say ye Why doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father Thus these unreasonable refractaries will not be said but continue chatting against God quasi dicant certè tu non potes negare c. Some are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Piscat 2 Thes 3.2 they have no Topicks there 's no talking to them they will not be set down with right reason When the son hath done that is lawful and right What a meek sweet and satisfactory answer doth God make to these importunate complainers against him Here we have their Replication and his Duplication as ver 25. we have their Triplication and His Quadruplication Oh the infinete Patience of our good God! Ver. 20. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father The innocent son shall not unlesse it be in temporals only and that in some cases Turk Hist Deut. 24.16 2 Kings 14.6 2 Chron. 15.4 It was the cruel manner of Vladus Prince of Valachia together with the offender to execute the whole family Act. Mon. yea sometimes the whole kindred A like cruelty was used in Scotland by the Popes appointment upon the kindred of those that had slain David Beton in revenge of the death of that butcherly Bishop Lavater telleth us here out of the Annals of the Suitzers his Country-men Lav. in Loc. that when Albertus the son of Rodolphus Caesar was slain by his nephew John Habsparg and some other Nobles his children Duke Leopold and Agnes Queen of Hungary put to death not the murtherers only but their children and kinsfolk also not a few and utterly overturned diverse strong-holds in Suisser-land But this was not the way of God nor did it prosper in their hand Cruelty calleth aloud for vengeance The righteousnesse i. e. It shall be well with the righteous and woe with the wicked Isa 3.10 11. Ver. 21. But if the wicked will turn c. That is saith Theodoret so far am I from punishing one for the sins of another that I am ready to receive a returning sinner how far or how fast soever he hath run out And keep all my statutes For the best and rightest repentance is a new life saith Luther Ver. 22. All his transgressions So true is that of an Ancient Quem poenitet peccasse poenè est innocens Penitence is near as good as innocence Piscat In his righteousnesse Or for his righteousnesse tanquam ob causum sine quae non ob promissionem Dei not of merit but mercy and free grace Ver. 23. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should dye No verily for then he should do nothing but do and undo make a world and unmake it again sith we provoke him continually but he
shake Or the waves or the boats which they throw out of the ship See on chap. 26.10 Of the cry of thy Pilots At their Conclamatum est but why did they then steer no better Here we see all covet all loose Ver. 29. And all that handle the â—ar That have escaped to land with their lives Ver. 30. To be heard against thee Or for thee or over thee ver 31. Rev. 18. 11 15 16. Ver. 31. And they shall make Maerebunt induti saccis inducto calvitio If this had been for sin as it is offensivum Dei aversivum à Deo then it had been right Ver. 32. What City An elegant Mimesis Like the destroyed Quae obmutuit like her that lost her voyce and life together Ver. 33. When thy wares Good things are fairest on the back-side the worth of them is best known by the want of them Our eye seeth not things but at a distance Ver. 34. In the depths of the waters i. e. In the overflowing of the wars ver 26. Ver. 35. They shall be troubled in their countenance i. e. Appaled and dispirited Ver. 36. The Merchants shall hisse at thee Either as astonied at thee A Lapide or rather as deriding thee like as he who seeth another fall into the dirt first pittieth him and then jeareth him See the like Jer. 19.8 49.17 Thou shalt be a terrour Because God hath hanged thee up in gibbets as it were Or thou wast a terrour once but now a scorn And never shalt be any more See on chap. 26.14 CHAP. XXVIII Ver. 1. THe Word of the Lord See on chap. 18.1 Ver. 2. Say unto the Prince of Tyre Princes must be told their own as well as others It was partly by flattery that this Prince was so high-flown His glory wealth and wit also had so blown him up that he forgat himself to be a man Tabael Josephus out of Berosus calleth him Diodâ—rus Siculus Ithâ—baal others Ethbaal A most proud and presumptuous person he was and a type of the devil who is the King of all the children of pride Job 41.34 Here he holdeth himself to be wiser then Daniel ver 3. yea to be the sum and perfection of all wisdom ver 12. to excell the high-Priest in all his ornaments Os humerosque Deo similis ver 13. yea to be above Adam ib. above the Cherubims ver 14. lastly to be God himself and to sit in his feat ver 2. O Lucifer out-devild And yet as there were many Marii in one Caesar so by nature there are many Ethbaals in the best of us for as in water face answereth to face so doth the heart of a man to a man Prov. 27.19 Julius Caesar suffered Altars and Temples to be dedicated unto him as to a god and what wonder when as his flatterers told him that the freckles in his face were like the stars in the firmament Sueton. Valladerius told Pope Paul the fifth and he beleeved it that he was a god that he lived familiarly with the Godhead that he heard predestination it self whispering to him that he had a place to sit in council with the Divine Trinity c. Prodigious blasphemy Is not this that man of sin that Merum scelus spoken of by Paul 2 Thes 2.4 see more of this there Was it not he that made Dandalus the Venetian Embassadour roul under his table and as a dog eat crusts there and that suffered the Sicilian Embassadours to use these words unto him Domine Deus papa miserere nostrum O Lord God the Pope have mercy upon us And again O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world grant us thy peace In the midst of the seas Where none can come at me Yes Nebuchadnezzar could and did though after thirteen years siege as Josephus writeth a hard tug and hot service he had of it but yet he did the deed as did afterwards also Alexander the great who never held any thing unfeisible Ver. 3. Behold thou art wiser then Daniel That oracular man who was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as one saith of Homer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most wise and knowing man alive His name was now up at Babylon and Ezekiel his Contemporary commendeth him So doth the Baptist Christ and Peter Paul 2 Ep. 3. though there had been a breach between them Gal. 2.14 there was no envy But such another Braggard as this in the text was Richardus de Sancto Victore a Monk of Paris who said that himself was a better Divine then any Prophet or Apostle of them all Paraei hist sac medul Moral 17. But How much better saith Gregory is humble ignorance then proud knowledge Ver. 4. With thy wisdom thou hast gotten thee riches Which yet is not every wise mans happinesse Aelian observeth that the wisest and best of the Grecians were very poor as Socrates Aristides Phecion Ephialtes Epaminondas Pelâ—pidas Var. hist lib. 2. Eumolpus Lamachus and others Fortuna fere favet fatuis nescio quomodo bona mentis soror est paupertas saith he in Petronius Piety goeth oft yoked with poverty Ver. 5. Thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches Like as the higher the flood riseth the higher also doth the boat that floateth thereon A small blast will blow up a bubble so will a few paltry poundâ—s puffe up a carnal heart By thy great wisdom Here God did nothing And such for all the world saith Oecolampadius are our free-will men with their ego feci this I did Such Feci's are no better then faeces saith Luther that is dregs and drosse Ver. 6. Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God Thou thinkest thy wisdome to be Divine and thy self the only one The Tyrians were famous for their great wisdom Zach. 9.2 and they are said to be the inventers of many arts yet should they not have overweened themselves in this sort which because they did let them hear their doom Ver. 7. Behold therefore I will bring strangers upon thee Who shall not at all regard thy great wisdom but grasp after thy wealth and suck thy blood for it Neither will they favour thee the more because thou art a King but slay thee the rather and say Hunc ipsum quaerimus This is the right bird as that souldier said who slew the most valiant King of Sweden at the battle of Lutzen Ver. 8. They shall bring thee down to the pit There shall lye the greatnesse of the god of Tyre And thou shalt dye the deaths Death will make no difference betwixt a Prince and a pesant a Lord and a lozel The mortal sithe is master of the royal scepter Ver. 9. Wilt thou say before him that slayeth thee I am a god That will prove a poor plea and thou wilt soon be confuted as afterwards great Alexander confuted his flatterers when being wounded in fight he shewed them his blood Ver. 10. Thou shalt dye the death of the uncircumcised