are comprehended under it either because of its eminency or because they were subject or subordinate to it as may seem probable from the History Gen. 14. wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein 25. That be far from thee to do after this manner to slay the righteous with the wicked and that the righteous shall be as the wicked that be far from thee * Job 8. 3. and 34. 17. Rom. 3. 6. shall not the judge of all the Earth r Now he clearly perceiveth that this person was no less than the Creator Governour and â—…udge of the World even the second person in the blessed Trinity to whom that Title and work is ascribed as Iohn 5. 22 27. Acts 10. 42. and 17. 31. do right s He speaks not this as if it were simply unjust for God to involve the righteous in the same temporal destruction with the wicked for he knew very well and by his own experience that there was not a just man upon Earth that did good and sinned not Eccles. 7. 20. and therefore no such just man who did not for his own sin deserve that death and destruction which is the proper wages of sin Rom. 6. last But he speaks not here of strict and rigorous justice but of that moderate and equitable way which God is pleased to use with the Sons of Men and of that right to temporal deliverances which by vertue of Gods gracious Covenant and Promise did accrue to Pious and Vertuous persons especially in the times of the Old Testament when temporal promises were more expresly and particularly made to good men 26 And the LORD said if I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the City then I will spare all the place for their sakes 27 And Abraham answered and said Behold now I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD which am but dust and ashes t In regard of the composition of my body which was taken out of the dust and shall return into it again See Gen. 3. 19. Iob 4. 19. Eccles. 12. 7. 1 Cor. 15. 47 48. 28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous wilt thou destroy all the City for lack of five u Heb. for five or because of five to wit which are lacking or wanting The same supplement we have also Psal. 109. 24. Lam. 4. 9. And he said If I find there forty and five I will not destroy it 29 And he spake unto him yet again and said Peradventure there shall be forty found there And he said I will not do it for forties sake 30 And he said unto him Oh let not the LORD be angry and I will speak Peradventure there shall thirty be found there And he said I will not do it if I find thirty there 31 And he said Behold now I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD Peradventure there shall be twenty found there And he said I will not destroy it for twenties sake 32 And he said * Judg. 6. 39. Oh let not the LORD be angry and I will speak yet but this once x Abraham in modesty could proceed no further and being a good man himself he had a charitable opinion of others and thought there certainly were so many good men in all those Cities especially including Lot and his Family No doubt Abraham remembered Lot in his Prayers but that large and generous soul could not content himself with Lots preservation but aims at the saving of the whole Cities which when he saw was doubtful and unlikely he prayed for his deliverance out of that common destruction as may be gathered from Gen. 19. 29. Peradventure ten shall be found there And he said I will not destroy it for tens sake 33 And the LORD went his way assoon as he had left communing with Abraham and Abraham returned unto his place CHAP. XIX 1. AND there came a Even those two which departed from Abraham Chap. 18. 22. and now were come to Lot the third yet staying and communing with Abraham two Angels b So they truly were though they be called Men chap. 18. to Sodom at even c Of the same day on which they departed from Abraham and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom d Where he sat either to observe the administration or corruption of justice there for the seats of Judicature were in the gates Or rather to wait for strangers to whom he might exercise kindness and hospitality and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground 2 And he said Behold now my Lords * Heb. 13. 2. turn in I pray you into your servants house and tarry all night and * Chap. 18. 4. wash your feet and ye shall rise up early and go on your ways ‖ And so this will be no hindrance to your occasions And they said * See Luk. 24. 28. Nay but we will abide in the street all night e This was no untruth but really intended by them in the present state of things and upon supposition that Lot should press them no further but they also intended if Lot was earnest with them to comply with him Their first denial was but decent and an act of civility and in them it was a design to discover Lots Piety and Hospitality and to manifest the great difference between him and the barbarous Sodomites and the reason and justice of Lots deliverance and their destruction 3 And he pressed upon them greatly and they turned in unto him and entered into his house and he made them a feast and did bake unleavened bread f Because that was sooner prepared that so they might eat it and after that go to Bed in due time and they did eat 4 But before they lay down ‖ To sleep of which this word is used Gen. 28. 13. Levit. 14. 47. and. 26. 6. the men of the City even the men of Sodom compassed the house round both old and young all the people from every quarter g Some to exercise villany and some to please themselves with the contemplation of it and some out of curiosity c. This is added to shew how universally corrupt they were and that there were not ten righteous men there 5 And they called unto Lot and said unto him where are the men which came in to thee this night bring them out unto us that we may know them h Either know who they are Or rather abuse them as Lots answer explains it and so that word is used Gen. 4. 1. Nâ—…b 31. 17. Iudg. 19. 22. And for the sin here committed see Levit. 18. 22. and 20. 13. Rom. 1. 26 27. 1 Câ—…r 6. 9. Iudâ—… vâ—…r â—… They openly and impudently profess their wicked intention for which they are branded Isa. 3. 9. and this intention of theirs is the more probable because
of the sacrifice in their hands as we find Exod. 29. 24. by that right putting them into their office and sanctifie them that they may minister unto me in the priests office 42 And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover †Heb. flesh â—… their nakedness their nakedness from the loins even unto the thighs g Including both Compare Exod. 20. 26. they shall †Heb. â—…e reach 43 And they shall be upon Aaron and upon his sons when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place that they bear not iniquity and die It shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him CHAP. XXIX 1 AND this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them to minister unto me in the priests office * Lev. 8. 1 â—… Take one young bullock and two rams without blemish a See Exod. 12. 5. Mal. 1. 13 14. 2 And * Lev. 6. 20. unleavened b To shew that the Priests should be and that Christ really was free from all malice and hypocrisie both which are compared to leaven Luk. 12. 1. 1 Cor. 5. 8. and that all the services offered to God by the Priests were to be pure and unmixed bread and cakes unleavened tempered with oyl and wafers unleavened anointed with oil of wheaten flower shalt thou make them 3 And thou shalt put them into one basket and bring them c To the door of the Tabernacle as it follows ver 4. in the basket with the bullock and the two rams 4 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and shalt wash them with water d Taken out of that laver Exod. 30. 18. This signified the universal pollution of all men and the absolute need they have of washing especially when they are to draw nigh to God And this outward washing was onely typical of their spiritual washing by the blood and spirit of Christ in order to their acceptance with God 5 And thou shalt take the garments and put upon Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breast-plate and gird him with * chap. 28. the curious girdle of the ephod e Not about the loins but about the paps or breast as Christ and his ministers are represented Rev. 1. 13. The linnen breeches are here omitted because they were put on privately before they came to the door of the Tabernacle where the other things were put on 6 And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head and put the holy crown f i. e. The plate of gold chap. 28. 36. as appears by comparing Lev. 8. 9. upon the mitre 7 Then shalt thou take the anointing * chap. 〈◊〉 oyl and pour it upon his head and anoint him g Which signified the gifts and graces of the holy ghost wherewith Christ was and the Priests ought to be replenished See Isa. 61. 1. 1 Ioh. 2. 27. But here ariseth a difficulty for this anointing is sometimes spoken of as peculiar to the High-priest as Lev. 21. 10. sometimes as common to all the Priests Exod. 30. 30. and 40. 14 15. which may be thus reconciled The oil was sprinkled upon all the Priests and their right ears thumbs and toes and their garments ver 20 21. Lev. 8. 30. but it was poured out upon the head onely of the High-priest Psa. 133. 2. who herein was a type of Christ who was anointed above his fellows Psal. 45. 7. Heb. 1. 9. 8 And thou shalt bring his sons and put coats upon them 9 And thou shalt gird them with girdles Aaron and his sons and †Heb. bind put the bonnets on them and the priests office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute h So long as the Iewish Pedagogy and Policy lasts and thou shalt †Heb. fill the hand of * chap. 28. 41. consecrate Aaron and his sons 10 And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation and * Lev. 1. 4. Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock i To signify that they offered it for themselves and for their own sins which the offerer performing this rite was to confess Lev. 16. 21. that they acknowledged themselves to deserve that death which was inflicted upon this innocent creature for their sakes and to testify their faith in the future sacrifice of Christ upon whom their sins were to be laid and by whose blood they were expiated and that they humbly begged Gods mercy in pardoning their sins and accepting them to and in their holy office 11 And thou k Moses who though no Priest yet for this time and occasion was called by God to this work shalt kill the bullock before the LORD by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation 12 And thou shalt take of the bloud of the bullock and put it upon * chap. 27. 2. and 30. 2. the horns of the altar l Not of incense as some would have it but of the burnt-offerings as may appear 1. because it was that altar at the bottom whereof the bloud was to be poured as it is here expressed but that was not done at the altar of Incense as is evident and confessed Compare Lev. 16. 18 c. 2. it was that altar upon which the parts of the sacrifices were burnt as it here follows ver 13. for there is no distinction here between the two altars It is true in the following sin-offerings of the Priests the blood was put upon the horns of the altar of incense Lev. 4. 7. But it must be considered 1. that the blood was not poured out at the bottom of that altar 2. because Aaron and his sons were not yet compleat Priests but private persons and therefore did this at the same altar which the people used in their sin offerings Lev. 4. 25 30. with thy finger and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar 13 And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards and ‖ It seemeth by anatomy and the Hebrew Doctors to be the midriff the caul that is above the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them m The parts which in all sacrifices were burned unto God Lev. 3. 3. and 4. 10. to signify either the mortification of their inward and most beloved lusts or the dedication of the best of all sacrifices and of their inward and best parts to God and his service and burn them upon the altar 14 But the flesh of the bullock and his skin and his dung shalt thou burn with fire without the camp it is a sin-offering n To wit for the high-priest as is plain from the whole context and therefore ought to be burnt by that law Lev.
Who inspired thee with this profound discourse of thine Was it by Divine Inspiration as thou wouldest have us to believe Or was it not a rash suggestion of thy own vain and foolish mind Or thus Whose spirit went out to wit of his body by an extasie of admiration for thee by reason of thy discourse I may be thought partial in my censure of it but thou mayst perceive none of our Friends here present admire it except thy self Or to or for whom the Particle eth being here understood out of the former Branch as is usual among the Hebrews did breath go out from thee i. e. didst thou speak For whose good or to what end didst thou speak this God needed it not I receive no edification or benefit by it 5. ‖ Or shall the dead be born under the waters So Gr. Dead things g Iob having censured Bildad's discourse concerning God's Dominion and Power as insignificant and impertinent to their question he here proceedeth to shew how little he needed his information in that Point and that he was able to instruct him in that Doctrine of which accordingly he gives divers Proofs or Instances Here he sheweth thaâ—… the Power and Proâ—…dence of God reacheth not onely to the things which we see but also to the invisible parts of the World not onely to the Heavens above and their Inhabitants and to Men upon Earth of which Bildad discoursed Chap. 25. 2 3. but also to such persons or things as are under the Earth or under the Waters which are under the Earth which are out of our sight and reach and might be thought to be out of the ken or care of Divine Providence This Hebrew word sometimes signifies Giants as Deut. 2. 11 20. 3. 13. and 1 Chron. 20. 8. Whence it may be translated to other great and as it were gigantick Creatures and more commonly dead men as Psalm 88. 11. Prov. 2. 18. 9. 18. 21. 16. Isa. 14. 9. 26. 14. 19. Whence it is supposed metaphorically to signifie also dead or lifeless things though there be no example of that use of the word elsewhere and it may seem improper to call those things dead which never had noâ—… were capable of life The next Hebrew Word or the Verb is primarily used of Women with Child and signifies their bringing forth their young Ones with travel or grievous pains as Iob 39. 3. Psalm 29. 9. Isa. 23. 4. 45. 10. and thence it signifies either to â—…orm or bring forth as below verse 13. Prov. 26. 10. Or to grieve or mourn or to be in pain Accordingly these words are diversly understood either 1. of dead or lifeless things such as Amber Pearl Coral Metals or other Minerals which are formed or brought forth to wit by the Almighty power of God from under the waters i. e. either in the bottom of the Sea or within the Earth which is the lowest Element and in the Scripture and other Authors spoken of as under the Waters this being observed as a remarkable Work of God's Providence that the Waters of the Sea which are higher than the earth do not overwhelm it and from under which may be repeated out of the former Clause of the Verse after the manner of the Hebrews the inhabitants thereof i. e. either of the Waters which are Fishes or of the Earth which are Men. Or rather 2. of the Giants of the old World which were men of great Renown whilest they lived Gen. 6. 3. and the remembrance of them and of their exemplary destruction was now in some sort fresh and famous who once carried themselves insolently towards God and men but were quickly subdued by the Divine Power and drâ—…ned with a Deluge and now mourn or grâ—…an from 〈◊〉 the waters where they were buried and from under the present Inhabitants thereof as before Or 3. of vast and gigantick Fishes or Monsters of the Sea who by God's infinite power were formed or brought forth under the waters with the other inhabitants thereof to wit of the Waters the lesser Fishes Or 4. of dead man and of the worst sort of them such as died in their sins and after death were condemned to further miseries for of such this very word seems to be used Prov. 2. 18. 9. 18. who are here said to mourn or groan from under the waters i. e. from the lower parts of the earth or from under those subâ—…erranean Seas of Waters which are by Scripture and by Philosophers supposed to be within and under the Earth of which see Deut. 8. 7. Iob 28. 4 10. Psalm 33. 7. and from under the inhabitants thereof i. e. either of the Waters or of the Earth under which these Waters are or with the other inhabitants thereof i. e. of that place under the Waters to wit the Apostate Spirits So the sense is that Gods dominion is over all men yea even the dead and the worst of them who though they would not own God nor his Providence whilest they lived yet now are forced to acknowledge and feel that power which they despised and bitterly mourn under the sad effects of it in their subterraneal and infernal Habitations of which the next Verse speaks more plainly And this sense seems to be favoured by the Context and scope of the place wherein Iob begins his discourse of Gods Power and Providence at the lowermost and hidden parts of the World and thence proceeds to those parts which are higher and visible Nor is it strange that Iob speaks of these matters seeing it is evident that Iob and others of the holy Patriarchs and Prophets of old did know and believe the Doctrine of the future Life and of its several Recompences to good and bad men Others understand this of the Resurrection of the dead The dead shall be born as this word is used Psal. 2. 7. Prov. 8. 24 25. i. e. shall be raised which is a kind of Regeneration or second Birth and is so called Mat. 19. 28. Act. 13. 33. from under the waters i. e. even those of them that lie in the waters Rev. 20. 13. that were drowned and buried in the Sea and devoured by Fishes c. whose case may seem to be most desperate and therefore they only are here mentioned and or eâ—…en this particle being oft used expositively the Inhabiants thereof i. e. those dead corps which lie or have long lain there are formed from under the waters ‖ Or will the iâ—…itants and the inhabitants thereof 6. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 8. 11 Heb. 4. 13 Hell h is naked before him i and destruction k As this word is frequently used as Iob 11. 8. Isa. 57. 9 c. And so it seems to be explained by the following word destruction i. e. the place of destruction which Interpreters generally understand of Hell or the place of the Damned Others the Grave the most secret and obscure places and things hath no covering l i. e. It
Heathen nations Philistins Syrians Ammonites Moabites c. who were stirred up partly by the overthrows which David had given some of them partly by their jealousie at Davids growing greatness and fear for themselves and partly by their hatred against the true Religion 10 All nations compassed me about but in the Name of the LORD †Gr. I did destroy them will I destroy them 11 They compassed me about yea they compassed me about k The repetition implies their frequency and fervency in this action and their confidence of success but in the Name of the LORD I will †Heb. cut them off destroy them 12 They compassed me about * Deut. 1. 44. like bees l In great numbers and with great but potent fury and to their own ruine as bees do when they fly about a man and leave their stings in him they are quenched m So this word is used Iob 6. 17. 18. 5 6. 21. 17. Or as the LXX and Chaldee render it they burnt or flamed i. e. raged against me like fire as it follows And this is supposed to be one of those Hebrew Verbs which have not onely divers but contrary significations as the fire of thorns n Which flameth out terribly and makes a crackling noise and burneth fiercely but quickly spends it self without any considerable or lasting effect for o Or but as this very particle is frequently used and here twice in this very phrase v. 10 11. So as the former part of the verse notes their hostile attempt this notes their ill success and utter ruine Here is an inversion of words in this last clause which is not unusual in the Hebrew Text. Although these words may be and are by a learned man of our own rendred as they lye in the Hebrew I trust which word may easily be understood out of v. 8. 9. in the name of the Lord therefore for so the Hebrew chi is oft rendred and is so taken by the Chaldee in this place I shall destroy them or cut them off in the Name of the LORD I will †Heb. cut down destroy them 13 Thou p O mine enemy and the head of all mine enemies Possibly he understandeth Saul whom for honours sake he forbears to name or some other chief Commanders of his enemies Or the singular word is here put collectively for all his enemies hast thrust sore at me that I might fall but the LORD helped me 14 * Exod. 15. 2 Psal. 12. 2. The LORD is my strength and song q The Author of my strength and therefore the just object of my song and praise and is become my salvation r i. e. my Saviour 15 The voice of rejoycing and salvation s Of rejoycing and thanksgiving for the salvation and deliverance which God hath wrought for me is in the tabernacles of the righteous t Partly because they clearly saw Gods hand in the work and therefore took pleasure in it and partly because all good men suffered great inconveniences under Sauls government as David complains in divers of the foregoing Psalms and expected and received singular benefits by Davids advancement both in their Civil and Religious concernments the right hand of the LORD doth valiantly u These are the words of that song of joy and praise now mentioned 16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted x Hath appeared evidently and wrought powerfully and gloriously on my behalf the right hand of the LORD doth valiantly 17 I shall not die y To wit so soon as mine enemies desire nor by their sword as they hope and endeavour but live and declare the works of the LORD z One branch whereof is the total destruction of mine enemies He implies that he did not desire life nor should employ it as his enemies did theirs but for the service and glory of God 18 The LORD hath chastened me sore a By the hands of mine enemies whom God used to that very purpose for my greater good and their own greater and surer ruine and confusion but he hath not given me over unto death 19 Open to me b O ye porters appointed by God for this work Or it is a figurative and poetical manner of expression whereby he speaks to the gates themselves as if they had sence and understanding Or by saying open he implies that they had been long shut against him in Sauls time the gates of righteousness c To wit the gates of the Lords Tabernacle the proper and usual place for the solemn performance of the duty here following which he calleth the gates of righteousness partly in opposition to the gates of death of which he speaks implicitly v. 18. and expresly Psal. 9. 14. 107. 18. which may be called the gates of sin or unrighteousness because death is the wages of sin partly because there the rule of righteousness was kept and taught and the sacrifices of righteousness as they are called Psal. 4. 5. were offered and divers other exercises of righteousness or of Gods service were performed and partly because those gates were to be opened to all righteous persons such as David had oft professed and proved himself to be upon which account he claims this as his just priviledge and onely to such for the unclean and unrighteous were to be shut and kept out by the porters 2 Chron. 23. 19. Compare Isa. 26. 2. I will go in to them and I will praise the LORD 20 This is the gate of the LORD into which the righteous shall enter d These may be the words either 1. of the Levites the porters returning this answer to the foregoing question This is the gate of the Lord which thou seekest and which shall be opened to thee according to thy desire and thy just priviledge for thou art one of those righteous ones to whom this of right belongs or 2. of David himself who stands as it were pausing and contemplating before he makes his entrance This this is that holy and blessed gate which I so long and earnestly thirsted for in my banishment and which is now very beautiful in my sight into which I will enter and all other righteous persons by my example and encouragement But as David was a Type of Christ and the Temple of Heaven so this place hath a further prospect thaâ—… David and relates to Christs ascending into Heaven and opening the gates of that blessed Temple both for himself and for all righteous men or believers 21 I will praise thee for thou hast heard me and art become my salvation 22 * 〈◊〉 21. 42. 〈◊〉 12. 10. 〈◊〉 20. 17. 〈◊〉 4 11. 〈◊〉 2. 4 7. The stone which the builders refused e The Commonwealth of Israel and the Church of God are here and elsewhere in Scripture compared to a building wherein as the people are the stones and the matter so the
usest to do unto those that love thy Name n As thou hast done in all former ages Do not deny me the common priviledge of all the faithful 133 Order my steps o By thy grace direct and govern all my motions and actions in thy word p In the way prescribed in thy Word Or by thy word Let thy Spirit accompany thy Word and ingraft it within me so that I may be guided and ruled by it and * Psal. 19. 13. let not any iniquity have dominion over me q And although I have evil inclinations and affections within me let them not bear sway in me nor withdraw me from the course of obedience 134 Deliver me from the oppression of man r As he prayed against the inward impediment of his obedience v. 133. so here he prayeth against an external impediment of it and a common temptation to sin so will I keep thy precepts 135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant s Look upon me with a pleased and favourable countenance Comp. Numb 6. 25. Prov. 16. 15. and teach me thy statutes 136 * Ver. 53. 158. Jer. 9. 1. 14. 17. See Ezek. 9. 4. Rivers of waters t Plentiful and perpetual tears witnesses of my deep sorrow for Gods dishonour and displeasure and for the miseries which sinners bring upon themselves and others run down mine eyes because they u To wit the wicked as before v. 126. who were not worthy to be mentioned for this Pronoun is oft used in way of contempt as Luke 14. 24. 19. 27. Ioh. 7. 11. 8. 10. Acts 16. 36. keep not thy law TSADDI 137 Righteous art thou x By thine essence and nature and therefore it is impossible that thou shouldest be unjust in any of thy Laws or Providences O LORD and upright are thy judgments 138 Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are †〈◊〉 righteâ—… righteous and very ‖ 〈◊〉 faithâ—… faithful y But this verse is otherwise rendred by all the ancient Interpreters and by divers others and that more agreeably to the order of the words in the Hebrew Text Thou hast commanded righteousness even thy testimonies or the righteousness of thy testimonies or thy righteous testimonies by a common Hebraism or rather righteousness in or by thy testimonies nothing being more frequent than the Ellipsis of the prefix beth which signifies in or by and truth or and true thy righteous and true testimonies although the other seems to be the better translation earnestly So the sence is Thou hast strictly and severely under the highest obligations and penalties commanded in thy Word that men should be just and true in all their actions And this agrees very well with the next foregoing verse wherein he affirmed that God is righteous and doth righteous things and then here he adds that he requires righteousness and truth from all men 139 * 〈◊〉 69. 9. 〈◊〉 2. 17. My zeal hath †〈◊〉 cut me 〈◊〉 consumed me z I am tormented and cut to the heart with grief and anger at it because mine enemies have forgotten thy words a i. e. Despise and disobey them which in Scripture use is oft called a forgetting of them as the remembring of them is oft put for loving and practising them 140 * 〈◊〉 12. 6. 〈◊〉 1â—… 30. Thy word is very †〈◊〉 30. 5. 〈◊〉 tryed or 〈◊〉 pure b Without the least mixture of any falshood or sin both which are frequent in the words or precepts of men therefore c Because of that exact purity and holiness of it for which very reason ungodly men either despise or hate it thy servant loveth it 141 I am small d Or a little one not for age but in respect of my condition in the world mean and obscure and despised yet do not I forget thy precepts 142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness e Constant and unchangeable the same in all ages and places and to all persons of eternal truth and justice never to be dispensed with nor to be made void and thy law is the truth f Nothing but truth or as true as truth it self 143 Trouble and anguish g Outward troubles and anguish of spirit or great anguish or distress have †〈◊〉 â—…ound 〈◊〉 taken hold on me yet thy commandments are my delights 144 * â—…er 106. â—… 160. The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting give me understanding and I shall live h I shall be kept from those sins which deserve and bring death KOPH 145 I cried with my whole heart hear me O LORD I will keep thy statutes 146 I criâ—… unto thee save me ‖ Or that may 〈◊〉 and I shall keep thy testimonies 147 * Psal. 5. 3. 130. 6. I prevented the dawning of the morning i Heb. the twilight to wit of the morning by comparing Psal. 88. 13. And so this word is used 1 Sam. 30. 17. and cried I hoped in thy word 148 * Psal. 63. 1 6. Mine eyes prevent the night watches k Heb. the watches which were kept onely by night And these watches were then three as hath been more than once observed And this is not to be understood of the first watch which was at the beginning of the night for the prevention thereof was very easie and frequent and inconsiderable but of the middle watch as it is called Iudg. 7. 19. which was set in the middle of the night and especially of the morning watch as it is called Exod. 14. 24. which was set some hours before the dawning of the day and so this is an aggravation and addition to what he said v. 147. that I might meditate in thy word 149 Hear my voice according unto thy loving kindness O LORD quicken me according to thy judgment l According to thy word which is oft called Gods Iudgment or according to thy custom or manner of dealing with me and with others of thy people as this word is taken above v. 132. 150 They draw nigh m To wit to me or against me as Psal. 27. 2. they are at hand and ready to seize upon me that follow after mischief they are far from thy law n They cast away far from them all thoughts of and respect to thy Law which forbids such wicked practices 151 Thou art near o To me Thou art as ready and present to succour me as they are to molest me O LORD and all thy commandments p Considered with the promises and threatnings which are frequently annexed to them Or the promises as this word seems to be used Psal. 111. 7. and elsewhere in this Psalm And God is said to command not onely his precepts or the observation thereof but also his Covenant Psal. 105. 8. 111. 9. which is a collection or body of the promises and his loving kindness Psal.
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
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
the matter 10 And he said Now also let it be according unto your words he with whom it is found shall be my servant and ye shall be blameless f Thus he moderates the conditions which they proposed exempting the innocent and exchanging the deserved and offered death of the nocent into slavery 11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground and opened every man his sack 12 And he searched and began at the eldest g To take off all their suspicion of his fraud and left at the youngest and the cup h He found doubtless the money there but he accused them not about that matter both because they had an answer ready to that charge from his own mouth chap. 43. 23. and because the greater crime the stealing of the cup which Ioseph so much prized and used might seem to extinguish the less or at least cause him to neglect it was found in Benjamins sack 13 Then they rent their clothes and laded every man his asse and returned to the City i Being afraid and ashamed to go to their father without Benjamin concerning whom they had received so severe a charge and made such solemn promises and imprecations 14 And Judah and his brethren came to Josephs house for he was yet there and they fell before him on the ground 15 And Joseph said unto them What deed is this that ye have done wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly ‖ Or make trial divine 16 And Judah k Who speaks in the cause as being one of the eldest and a person of most gravity and discretion and readiness of speech and most eminently concerned for his brother said What shall we say unto my Lord what shall we speak or how shall we clear our selves God hath found out the iniquity l viz. This iniquity of which it seems some of us are guilty and God hath discovered it Or iniquity may be put for iniquities whether we are guilty of this fact or not we are certainly guilty of many other sins for which God is now punishing us to whose providence we therefore willingly submit of thy servants behold we are my Lords servants both we and he also with whom the cup is found 17 And he said God forbid that I should do so but the man in whose hand the cup is found he shall be my servant and as for you get you up in peace unto your father 18 Then Judah came near unto him m Made a little nearer approach to him that he might present his humble petitiâ—… to him and said O my Lord let thy servant I pray thee speak a word in my Lords ears n In thy hearing For this phrase doth not necessarily imply that he whispered in his ears as appears from Numb 14. 28. Deut. 32. 44. Iudg. 17. 2. and let not thy anger burn against thy servant for thou art even as Pharaoh o As thou representest his person so thou art invested with his Majesty and Authority and therefore thy word is a law thou canst do with us what thou pleasest either spare or punish us and therefore we do justly deprecate thine anger and most humbly intreat thy favourable audience and princely compassion to us 19 My Lord asked his servants saying have ye a father or a brother 20 And we said unto ray Lord we have a father an old man and a child of his old age a little one p So they call him comparatively to themselves who were much elder and withal to signifie the reason why he came not with them because he was young and tender and unfit for such a journey and his brother is dead and he alone is left of his mother and his father loveth him 21 And thou saidest unto thy servants Bring him down unto me that I may set mine eyes upon him q i. e. See him with my own eyes and thereby be satisfied of the truth of what you say Compare Gen. 42. 15 16. Elsewhere this phrase signifies to shew favour to a person as Ier. 39. 12. and 40. 4. But though that was Iosephs intention as yet he was minded to conceal it from them 22 And we said unto my Lord The lad cannot leave his father for if he should leave his father his father would die 23 And thou saidest unto thy servants * Chap. 43. 3. except your youngest brother come down with you you shall see my face no more r Quest. Why would Ioseph expose his father to the hazard of his life in parting with his dear child Answ. Ioseph supposed that to be but a pretence and might fear lest his brethren had disposed of Benjamin as they did of him and therefore could not bring him forth And as for his father the experience which he had of his continuance in life and health after the supposed untimely death of Ioseph gave him good assurance that his parting with Benjamin for a season and that under the care and charge of his brethren was not likely to make any dangerous impression upon him 24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father we told him the words of my Lord. 25 And * Chap. 43. 2. our father said Go again and buy us a little food 26 And we said we cannot go down if our youngest brother be with us then will we go down for we may not see the mans face except our youngest brother be with us 27 And thy servant my father said unto us Ye know that my wife s He calleth her so by way of eminency as Gen. 46. 19. because she onely was his wife by design and choice whereas Leah was put upon him by fraud and might have been refused by him if he had so pleased and the other two were given to him by Rachel and Leah bare me two sons 28 And the one went out from me and I said * Chap. 37. 33. surely he is torn in pieces and I saw him not since 29 And if ye take this also from me and mischief befall him ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave 30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father and the lad be not with us seeing that his life is bound up in the lads life t The death of the Child which upon this occasion he will firmly believe will unavoidably procure his death also 31 It shall come to pass when he seeth that the lad is not with us that he will die and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave 32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father saying * Chap. 43. 9. If I bring him not unto thee then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever 33 Now therefore I pray thee let thy servant abide in stead of the lad u Partly in
it as we see Exod. 16. 13 14. â—…o the Manna lay hid as it were between two beds of dew Hence the phrase of hidden Manna Rev. 2. 17. 10 Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families every man in the door of his tent t To note that they were not ashamed of their sin and * Psal. the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly Moses also was displeased u Partly for their great unthankfulness partly foreseeing the dreadful judgments coming upon them and partly for his own burden expressed in the following verses 11 And Moses said unto the LORD Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight x Why didst thou not hear my prayer when I desired thou wouldest excuse me and commit the care and government of this unruly people to some other person See Exod. 3. 11. and 4. 10. that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me 12 Have I conceived all this people have I ‖ Or born them So Gr. begotten them y Are they my children that I should be obliged to provide food and all things for their necessity and desire that thou shouldest say unto me Carry them in thy bosom as a nursing father beareth the sucking-child z Which expression shews the tender care and affection that governours by the command of God ought to have towards their people unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers 13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people for they weep unto me saying Give us flesh that me may eat 14 I am not able to bear all this people a i. e. The burden of providing for and satisfying of them alone b Obj. How was he alone when there were others added to help him Exod. 18. 21 24 Ans. Those were onely assistant to him in civil causes and smaller matters but the harder and greater affairs such as this unquestionably was were brought to Moses and determined by him alone Exod. 18. 22. because it is too heavy for me 15 And if thou deal thus with me * See 1 King 19. 4. Jon. 4. 3. kill me I pray thee out of hand if I have found favour in thy sight and let me not see my wretchedness c Heb. my evil i. e. my intolerable anguish and torment arising from the insuperable difficulty of my office and work of ruling this people and from the dread of their utter extirpation which they will bring upon themselves and the dishonour which thence will accrue to God and to religion as if not I onely but God also were an impostour Seeing is here put for feeling as to see death Psal. 89. 48. Luk. 2. 26. is to suffer it and to see the salvation of God Psal. 50. 23. 91. 16. is to enjoy it 16 And the LORD said unto Moses Gather unto me * See Exod. 4. 29. seventy men of the elders of Israel d Of whom see Exod. 3. 16. and 5. 6. Levit. 4. 15. Deut. 16. 18. whom thou knowest to be the elders e Whom thou by experience discernest to be Elders not onely in years and name and place but also in wisdom and gravity and authority with the people of the people and officers over them and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation that they may stand there with thee 17 And I will come down f Not by local motion but by my powerful presence and operation See Gen. 11. 5. and Exod. 34. 5. and talk with thee there and I * Neh. 9. 20. will take of the spirit which is upon thee and will put it upon them g i. e. I will give the same spirit to them which I have given to thee But as the spirit was not conveyed to them from or through Moses but immediately from God so the spirit or its gifts were not by this means impaired in Moses The spirit is here put for the gifts of the spirit as it is Num. 27. 18. Ioel 2. 28. Ioâ—… 7. 39. Act. 19. 2 6. 1 Cor. 14. 12 32. and particularly for the spirit of prophesy v. 25. whereby they were enabled as Moses had been and still was to discern hidden and future things and resolve doubtful and difficult cases which made them fit for government It is observable that God would not and therefore men should not call any persons to any office for which they were not sufficiently fit and qualified and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee that thou bear it not thy self alone 18 And say thou unto the people Sanctifie your selves h i. e. Prepare your selves either to receive the miraculous blessings of God the flesh you desire or rather prepare to meet thy God O Israel in the way of his judgments and to receive the punishment which God will inflict upon you for it is evident from ver 20. that God answered them with a curse in stead of a blessing Prepare your selves by true repentance that you may either obtain some mitigation of the plague or whilest your bodies are destroyed by the flesh you desire and eat ver 33 34. your souls may be saved from the wrath of God Sanctifying is oft used for preparing as Ier. 6. 4. and 12. 3. and 51. 28. against to morrow and ye shall eat flesh for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD i Not secretly in your closets but openly and impudently in the doors of your tents ver 10. calling heaven and earth to witness your cries and complaints saying Who shall give us flesh to eat for it was well with us in Egypt therefore the LORD will give you flesh and ye shall eat 19 Ye shall not eat one day nor two dayes nor five dayes neither ten dayes nor twenty dayes 20 But even a †Heb. 〈◊〉 dayes whole month untill it come out at your nostrils k Which meat loathed and violently vomited up frequently doth and it be loathsome unto you l Being glutted with the abundance of it Thus God destroyes them by granting their desires and turnes even their blessings into curses whilest he deals much more favourably with Moses though he also fell into the same sin with the people i. e. impatience and murmuring But God will make a great difference between persons and persons and between Moses his sins of infirmity and the peoples presumptuous and oft repeated provocations because ye have despised the LORD m i. e. You have lightly esteemed his bounty and manifold blessings in Manna and other things and have preserred the leeks onions c. of Egypt before them all you have sleighted and distrusted his promises and providence after so long and large experience of it which is among you n Who is present and resident with you to observe all your carriages and to punish your offences This is added as a great aggravation of
discourses or diffamations against her and bring up an evil name upon her and say I took this woman and when I came to her I found her not a maid 15 Then shall the father of the damsel and her mother take and bring forth the tokens of the damsels virginity x i. e. The linnen cloth or sheet as is expressed v. 17. which in the first congress was infected with blood as is natural and usual But because this is not now constant the enemies of Scripture take occasion to quarrel with this Law as unreasonable and unjust and such as might oppress the innocent and hence take occasion to reject the Holy Scriptures It were much more reasonable for these men either to expound this place metaphorically of producing those proofs and testimonies of her virginity which should be as satisfactory as if that cloth were produced as some of the Iews understand it or modestly to acknowledge their own Ignorance in this as they are forced to do in many other things and not impudently to conclude it is insoluble because they cannot resolve it But there is no need of such general answers many things may be particularly said for the vindication of this â—…w 1. That it was necessary for that people because of their hard-heartedness towards their Wives and their levity and desire of change of Wives 2. That either this tryal or at least the proof of her Virginity was to be taken presently after the day of marriage and that proof was to be admitted afterwards upon occasion 3. That this Law was seldom or never put in execution as the Iews note and seems to be made for terrour and caution to Husbands and Wives as many other Laws have been in like cases 4. That that God who gave this Law did by his Providence govern all Affairs and rule the Tongues and Hearts of Men and therefore would doubtless take care so to order matters that the innocent should not suffer by this means which he could prevent many wayes 5. That there is a great difference in times and climates Who knows not that there are many things now by our Moderns thought uncertain or false which by the Antient Physitians were thought and affirmed to be true and certain in their times and Countreys and that many signs of Diseases and other things do generally hold true in those more Southernly and warmer parts of the World which are many times deceitful in our Northern and colder Climates 6. That this very way of tryal of Virginity hath been used not onely by the Iews but also by the Arabians and Egyptians as is affirmed by divers Learned Writers among whom yet it was more doubtful and hazardous than among the Iews who might promise to themselves that God would guide the execution of his own Law to a just and good issue 7. That this sign if it were uncertain in persons of riper years yet it may be reasonably thought certain and constant in Virgins of young and tender age and that the Jews did ordinarily marry their Daughters when they were about 12 or 13 years old as is confessed as making haste to roll away that reproach which they thought to be in an unmarried state unto the elders of the city in the gate 16 And the damsels father shall say unto the elders I gave my daughter unto this man to wife and he hateth her 17 And â—…o he hath given occasions of speech against her saying I found not thy daughter a maid and yet these are the tokens of my daughters virginity and they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city 18 And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him x Either 1. By the following muâ—…ct Or 2. By severe reproofs which that word oft signifies Or 3. By stripes as is expressed Deut. 25. 2 3. Which is not strange considering how pretious a thing ones good Name is of which he endeavoured to deprive his Wife 19 And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver and give them unto the father of the damsel y Because this was a reproach to his family and to himself because such a miscarriage of his Daughters would have been ascribed to his evil education because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel and she shall be his wife he may not put her away all his dayes z Which seems to have been his design in this false accusation and therefore that liberty of a divorce which is permitted to others Deut. 24. 1. shall be denied to him 20 But if this thing be true and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel 21 Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her fathers house and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die a Qu. Why should she die when her crime was onely Fornication which was not punished in a woman with death Exod. 22. 16 17 Answ. Because there was not onely Fornication in this case as Exod. 22 but this was accompanyed with deep dissimulation and injury to her Husband in the false profession of Virginity and it might be presumed that she committed this folly after she was betrothed to him and therefore so obstinately denyed it as knowing the danger of it in that case Or God ordered it thus for the honour and custody of the matrimonial bed from all defilement that she who being defiled before she was married or betrothed and therefore not punishable by death yet if she should presume to carry her defilement into the married estate with a pretence of Virginity she should then be put to death because she hath wrought folly in Israel to play the whore in her fathers house so * Chap. 13. 5. shalt thou put evil away from among you 22 * Lev. 20. 10. If a man be found lying with a woman marryed b If he be convicted of this fault though not taken in the very act to an husband then they shall both of them die both the man that lay with the woman and the woman so shalt thou put away evil from Israel 23 If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband c For by this betrothing she had actually engaged her self to another man and was in some sort his Wife and therefore is sometimes so called as Gen. 29. 21. Mat. 1. 20. and a man find her in the city and lie with her 24 Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city and ye shall stone them with stones that they die the damsel because she cried not d And therefore is justly presumed to have consented to it being in the city and the man because he hath humbled his neighbors wife so thou shalt put away evil from among you 25 But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field and the man ‖ Or take strong â—…old of heâ—… force her
that whatsoever good was in or had been done by their Progenitors was wholly from Gods free Grace and not for their own merit or righteousness as the Iews were very apt to conceit served other gods 3 And I took g I apprehended him by my grace and snatched him out of that Idolatrous and Wicked place and took him into Acquaintance and Covenant with my self which was the highest Honour and Happiness he was capable of your father Abraham from the other side of the floud and led him throughout all the land of Canaan h i. e. I brought him after his Fathers Death into Canaan Gen. 12. 1. and I conducted and preserved him in safety in all his Travels through the several parts of Canaan and multiplyed his seed i i. e. Gave him a numerous Posterity not only by Hagar and Keturah but even by Sarah and by Isaac as it follows and * Gen. 21. 2. gave him Isaac k By my special Power and Grace to be the Heir of my Covenant and all my Promises and the Seed in or by which all Nations were to be Blessed Gen. 12. 1. and 21. 2. 4 And I gave unto Isaac * Gen. 25. 24 26. Jacob and Esau and I gave unto * Gen. 36. 8. Esau mount Seir to possess it l That he might leave Canaan intire to his Brother Iacob and his Posterity Gen. 36. 7 8 * Gen. 46. 1 6. but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt m Where they long lived in grievous Bondage which God having delivered us from I shall now pass it over 5 * Exod. 3. 10. I sent Moses also and Aaron and I plagued Egypt according to that which I did n i. e. In such manner and with such Plagues as I inflicted and are recorded amongst them and afterward I brought you out 6 And I * Exod. 12. 37. brought your fathers out of Egypt and ye came unto the sea and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with charets and horsemen unto * Exod. 14. 9. the Red-sea 7 And when they cryed unto the LORD he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and brought the sea upon them and covered them and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt o He speaketh this to the Elders v. 1. who were so not only by Power and Dignity but many of them by Age and there being now not sixty years past since those Egyptian Plagues it is very probable that a considerable number of those here present had seen those things in Egypt and being not twenty years old were exempted from that dreadful Sentence of Destruction passed upon all who were then of more years standing Numb 14. and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season 8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorite which dwelt on the other side Jordan * Numb 21. 34. Deut. 2. 32. and they fought with you and I gave them into your hand that ye might possess their land and I destroyed them from before you 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor king of Moab arose and warred against Israel p Qu. How is this true when Balak did never fight against Israel Iudg. 11. 25 Ans. One Prince may commence a War against another though he never come to a Battel nor strike one stroke So Balak warred though not by open force yet by Crafty Counsel and Warlike Stratagems by Magical Arts by Wicked Devices by making bate betwixt them and God their Confederate or by Warlike preparations in case Balaam's Charms had succeeded as may be gathered from Numb 22. 11. or at least by design or intention things being oft said to be done both in Scripture and other Authors which were only designed or intended as here v. 11. Gen. 37. 21. Ezek. 24. 13. Mat. 5. 28. Ioh. 10. 32 33. And the old Lawyers note That he is rightly called a Thief or an Adulterer c. who wanted nothing but occasion to be so and * Numb 22. 5. Deut. 23. 4. sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you 10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam q Who hereby appears to have desired of God leave to Curse Israel and therefore it is not strange that God who permitted him simply to go was highly angry with him for going with so wicked an intent Numb 22. 20 22 32. therefore he blessed you still so I delivered you out of his hand r i. e. From Balaks malicious Design against you 11 And * Chap. 3. 14. ye went over Jordan and came unto Jericho and * Chap. 6. 1. and 10. 1. and 11. 1. the men of Jericho sought against you s Made opposition against you by shutting their Gates by endeavouring to cut off your Spies c. they Warred against you if not by an Offensive yet by a Defensive War the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite the Hivite and the Jebusite t To wit successively for in these few words he seems to comprise all their Wars which being so fresh in their Memory he thought it needless particularly to mention and I delivered them into your hand 12 And * Exod. 23. 2â—… Deut. 7. 20. I sent the hornet u Either siguratively i. e. Terrors and Plagues or other destroying Judgments Or 2. Properly so called See on Exod. 23. 28. And this being done before Ioshua's entrance into Canaan it is not strange if it be not mentioned in this Book or Record of Ioshua's actions before you which drave them out from before you even the two kings of the Amorites but * Psal. 44. 3 6. not with thy sword nor with thy bow x For though thou didst fight with them and prevail against them in Battel yet this was not because thou hadst more force or courage than they but because by my Hornet which I sent like an Harbinger before thee I had both broken their spirits and greatly diminished their numbers and particularly cut off those Giants or others who were like to give thee most trouble and difficulty whence it comes to pass that we read of so few Giants in that Land which was called the Land of Giants Deut. 3. 13. 13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour and * Deut. 6. 10 11. cities which ye built not y See on Ios. 10. 12 13. and ye dwell in them of the vineyards and olive-yards which ye planted not do ye eat 14 ¶ Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in truth z Either these two expressions note the same thing or sincerity is opposed to the mixture of false gods with the true as it here follows or of a false and corrupt worship of God with that which God appointed and Truth is opposed to dissimulation and falseness and instability of heart and put away the gods a
held their lamps in their left hands b That they might be thought to be a mighty Host having as many Troops or Companies as there were Trumpets and Lights and their trumpets in their right hands to blow withal and they cried The sword of the LORD and of Gideon 21 And they stood every man in his place c As if they had only been Torch-bearers to the several Companies round about the camp and all the host ran and cried and fled 22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets and * Isa. 9. 4. the LORD set every mans sword against his fellow d They slew one another either because they suspected Treachery and so fell upon those they first met with which they might more easily do because they consisted of several Nations as may be gathered from Iudg. 6. 3. and Iosephus affirms or because the darkness of the night made them unable to distinguish Friends from Foes or because the suddenness of the thing struck them with Horror and Amazement or because God infatuated them as he hath done many others Compare 1 Sam. 14. 20. 2 Chron. 20. 23. even throughout all the host and the host fled to Beth-shittah ‖ Or towards in Zererath and to the ‡ Heb. lip border of Abel-meholah Of which see 1 King 4. 12. and 19. 16. unto Tabbath 23 And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali and out of Asher and out of all Manasseh and pursued after the Midianites 24 ¶ And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim saying Come down against the Midianites and take before them the waters unto Beth-barah f i. e. The Passes over those Waters to which they are like to come and Jordan g The Foords of Iordan which River they must pass over into their own Countrey Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together and took the waters unto Beth-Barah and Jordan 25 And they took * Psal. â—…3 11. Isa. 10. 26. two princes of the Midianites Oreb and Zeeb and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb and Zeeb they slew at the wine-press of Zeeb and pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan h For Gideon in the pursuit had passed over Iordan as we read Iudg. 8. 4. which though mentioned after this may seem to have been done before it such transpositions being frequent in Sacred Story Or on this side Jordan for the Hebrew word is indifferent to both sides see Gen. 50. 10. And so this is opposed to what follows of his passing over Iordan Iudg. 8. 4. And then there is no anticipation here CHAP. VIII AND the men of Ephraim said unto him ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 thing is 〈◊〉 thou 〈◊〉 unto us Why hast thou served us thus that thou calledst us not a Why hast thou neglected and despised us in not calling us in to thy help as thou didst other Tribes These were a proud people Isa. 11. 13. puffed up with a conceit of their Number and Strength and the preference which Iacob by Divine direction gave them above Manasseh Gen. 48. 19 20. of which Tribe Gideon was who by this act had seemed to advance his own Tribe and to depress theirs when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites and they did chide with him ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 sharply 2 And he said unto them What have I done now in comparison of you b What was done was done by Gods immediate hand making them one to kill another what I have done in cutting off some of the Fugitive common Soldiers is not to be compared with your Exploit in destroying their Princes I began the War but you have finished is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim c What you have gleaned or done after me better than the vintage of Abiezer d i. e. Of the Abiezrites to whom he modestly communicateth the honour of the Victory and doth not arrogate it to himself as Generals commonly do 3 God hath delivered into your hand the princes of Midian Oreb and Zeeb and what was I able to do in comparison of you then their ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 anger was abated toward him when he had said that e His soft and humble Answer allayed their Rage and Envy see Prov. 17. 11. and 25. 15. 4 ¶ And Gideon came to Jordan and passed over f Or had passed over When he passed over see on Iudg. 7. 25. he and the three hundred men that were with him faint yet pursuing them 5 And he sent unto the men of Succoth g A place beyond Iordan Gen. 33. 17. Ios. 13. 27. Psal. 60. 8. Give I pray you loaves of bread unto the people that follow me for they be faint and I am pursuing after Zeba and Zalmunna kings of Midian h Where before this time were five Kings at once Numb 31. 8. who either reigned separately in divers parts of the Land or governed by common counsel and consent as sometimes there were two or three Roman Emperors together 6 ¶ And the princes of Succoth said Are the hands of Zeba and Zalmunna now in thine hand i Art thou so foolish to think with thy 300 faint and weary Soldiers to conquer and destroy an Host of 15000 men that * See 1 〈◊〉 25. 10. we should give bread unto thine army 7 And Gideon said Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zeba and Zalmunna into mine hand I will ‡ Heb. thresh tear your flesh with the thorns of the Wilderness k Which grow abundantly in the neighbouring Wilderness I will chastise or beat your naked Bodies with Thorny Rods even unto Death Or I will lay you down upon Thorns on the ground and bring the Cart-wheel upon you which will both tear your flesh and bruise you to death and with briers 8 ¶ And he went up thence to Penuel l Another City beyond Iordan of which see Gen. 32. 30. 1 King 12. 25. and spake unto them likewise and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him 9 And he spake also unto the men of Penuel saying When I come again in peace I will break down this tower m Your confidence in which makes you thus Proud and Presumptuous He implies that he would afterwards destroy their persons as is expressed v. 17. 10 ¶ Now Zeba and Zalmunna were in Karkor and their hosts with them about fifteen thousand men all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east for there fell ‖ Or an hundred and twenty thousand every one drawing a sword an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword n i. e. Persons expert and exercised in War besides the retainers to them Iudg. 6. 5. 11 ¶ And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents o i. e. Of the Arabians so fetching a compass and
ye are all children of Israel q The Sons of that Holy man who for one filthy action left an Eternal brand upon one of his own Sons a People in Covenant with the holy God whose Honour you are obliged to vindicate and who hath expresly commanded you to punish all such notorious Enormities give here your advice and counsel 8 ¶ And all the people arose as one man saying We will not any of us go to his tent r i. e. His habitation to wit until we have revenged this Injury neither will we any of us turn into his house 9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah we will go up by lot against it 10 And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel and an hundred of a thousand and a thousand out of ten thousand to â—…etch victual for the people that they may do when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin accord ing to all the folly that they have wrought s That we may punish them as such a wickedness deserves in Israel t This is added as an aggravation that they should do that in Israel or among Gods peculiar People which was esteemed abominable even among the Heathen 11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city ‡ Heb. fellows knit together as one man 12 ¶ And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe u Heb. tribes Either the Plural Number for the Singular or rather tribe is put for family as was noted before as families are elsewhere put for tribes They take a wise and a just course in sending to all the parts and families of the tribe to separate the Innocent from the Guilty and to give them a fair opportunity of preventing their ruin by doing nothing but what their Duty Honour and Interest obliged them to even by delivering up those vile Malefactors whom they could not keep without horrid guilt and shame and bringing the Curse of God upon themselves of Benjamin saying What wickedness is this that is done among you 13 Now therefore deliver us the men the children of Belial which are in Gibeah that we may put them to death and put away evil x Both the Guilt and the Punishment wherein all Israel will be Involved if they do not Punish it from Israel but the children of Benjamin would not hearken y Partly from the Pride of their Hearts which made them scorn to submit to their Brethren or to suffer them to meddle in their Territory partly from a conceit of their own Valour and Military skill and partly from Gods just judgment to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel 14 But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah to go out to battel against the children of Israel 15 And the children of Benjamin were numbred at that time out of the city twenty and six thousand men that drew sword beside the inhabitants of Gibeah which were numbred seven hundred chosen men z Object This agrees not with the following numbers for all that were slain of Benjamin were 25100 men v. 35. and there were only 600 that survived v. 47. which make only 25700. Ans. The other thousand men were either left in some of their cities where they were slain v. 48. or were cut off in the two first Battels wherein it is unreasonable to think they had an unbloody Victory and as for these 25100 men they were all slain in that day i. e. the day of the third Battel as is affirmed v. 35. 16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men * Chap. 3. 15. left handed a Heb. shut up on their right hand i. e. using their left hand instead of their right every one could sling stones at an hairs breadth and not miss b An Hyperbolical expression signifying that they could do this with great exactness There are many Parallel Instances in Historians of Persons that could throw Stones or shoot Arrows with great certainty so as seldom or never to miss Of which see my Latin Synopsis And this was very considerable and one ground of the Benjamites confidence because in those times they had no Guns 17 And the men of Israel c To wit such as were here present v. 2. for otherwise it is most probable they had a far greater number of men being 600000 before their entrance into Canaan Num. 1. 2. beside Benjamin were numbred four hundred thousand men that drew sword all these were men of war 18 ¶ And the children of Israel d i. e. Some sent in the name of all arose and went up to the house of God e To wit to Shiloh which was not far from Mizpeh where they were and * Chap. 1. 1. asked counsel of God and said Which of us shall go up first to the battel f This they ask to prevent Emulations and Contentions but they do not ask whether they should go against them oâ—… no for that they knew they ought to do by the will of God already revealed nor yet do they seek to God for his help by Prayer and Fasting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all reason they ought to have done but were confident of Success because of their great Numbers and Righteous Cause against the children of Benjamin And the LORD said Judah shall go up first 19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah 20 And the men of Israel went out to battel against Benjamin and the men of Israel put themselves in aray to fight against them at Gibeah 21 And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men g Quest. Why would God suffer them to have so great a loss in so Good a Cause Ans. Because they had many and great Sins reigning amongst themselves and they should not have come to so great a Work of God as this with polluted hands but should have pulled the Beam out of their own Eye before they attempted to take that out of their Brother Benjamin's Eye which because they did not God doth it for them making them by this loss more clearly to see their own Sins and their need of Gods help without which their great Numbers were insignificant and bringing them through the Fire that they might be purged from their Dross it being probable that the great God who governs every stroke in Battels did so order things that their worst and rotten Members should be cut off which was a great Blessing to the whole Common-wealth 22 And the people the men of Israel incouraged themselves h Heb. strengthned themselves partly by supporting themselves with the Conscience of the Justice of their Cause and the hopes of success and partly by putting themselves in better order for
Defence and Refuge to all that Flee to thee and Trust in thee as I have found by my experience 3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly l Thou Peninnah boast no more of thy numerous off-spring and speak no more insolently and scornfully of me as thou hast done She speaks of her in the Plural number because she would not expose her name to Censure but onely instruct and reprove her for her good * 〈◊〉 3. 13. let not ‡ Heb. hard arrogancy m Heb. hard speeches as those are called Iudg. v. 15. harsh heavy and not to be born Or the old Sayings either the old Proverbs concerning barren Women which thou appliedst to me or the old reproaches to which for a long time thou hast accustomed thy self come out of your mouth for the LORD is a God of knowledge n He knoweth thy heart and all that Pride and Envy and Contempt of me which thy own Conscience knows and all thy perverse carriages towards me and by him actions are weighed o i. e. He pondereth or tryeth all mens thoughts and Actions for the Hebrew Word signifies both as a just Judge to give to every one according to their Works and therefore he hath pitied my oppressed Innocency and rebuked her Arrogancy Or by him Councels or Actions or Events are disposed or ordered and not by our selves and therefore he brings many things to pass contrary to Mens expectations as now he hath done he maketh one Barren and another Fruitful when and how it pleaseth him In the Hebrew Text it is Lo the Adverb and so the words may be rendred thus his actions are not or cannot be directed or rectified or corrected by any others none can mend his Work he doth every thing best and in the best season as now he hath done Or weighed or numbred his wayes are unsearchable or thus are not his works right and straight who can blame his actions So Lo is for halo as it is 2 Sam. 13. 26. 2 King 5. 26. Iob 2. 10. 4 The bowes p This notes either 1. The strength of which they boasted See Psal. 44. 6. and 46. 9. Or 2. Their malicious or mischievous Designs See Psal. 7. 12. and 11. 2. and 37 14. Or 3. Their virulent Tongues which are compared to bowes that shoot their Arrows even bitter Words as it is said Psal. 64. 3. Compare Ier. 9. 3. Or 4. Their procreating Vertue which may well be compared to a bow both because it is called a Mans strength Gen. 49. 3. And because Children which are the Effects of it and are as it were shot from that bow are compared to Arrows Psal. 127. 4 5. And this seems best to agree with the following Verse of the msghty men are broken and they that stumbled q Or were weak or Feeble in Body and Spirit that had no strength to Conceive which was once Sarah's case Heb. 11. 11. Or to bring forth which was Israels condition under Hezekiah 2 King 19. 3. are girt with strength r Are enabled both to conceive and to bring forth as the Church was Isa. 66. 9. 5 * Psal. 34. 10. They that were full have hired themselves out for bread s Through extreme necessity into which they are fallen from their greatest plenty It is the same thing which is expressed both in divers Metaphors in the foregoing and following Verses and properly in the latter branch of this Verse and they that were hungry ceased t i. e. Ceased to be such to wit hungry the hungry failed there was none of them hungry or indigent so that the barren hath born seven u i. e. Many as seven is oft used She speaks in the Prophetick Style the past time for the future for though she had actually born but one yet she had a confident perswasion that she should have more which was grounded either upon some particular assurance from God or rather upon the Prayer or Prediction of Eli which though it be mentioned after this Song v. 20. yet in all probability was spoken before it even upon the Parents presentation of the Child to Eli Chap. 1. v. 25. it not being likely that she would sing this Song in Eli's presence or before he had given his answer to her Speech delivered Ch. 1. v. 26 27 28. there being nothing more frequent than such Transpositions in Scripture And the experience she had of the strange and speedy accomplishment of his former Prophecy made her confidently expect the same issue from the latter and * Jer. 15. 9. she that hath many children x i. e. Peninnah is waxed seeble y Either because she was now past Child-bearing and importent for Procreation or because divers of her Children which were her Strength and her Glory were dead as the Hebrew Doctors relate 6 * Deut. 32. 39. The LORD killeth and maketh alive z Either 1. Divers persons he killeth one and maketh another alive or 2. The same person whom he first killeth or bringeth very nigh unto death he afterwards raiseth to life Me who was almost overwhelmed and consumed with grief he hath revived The name of death both in Sacred Scripture and Profane Writes is oft given to great Calamities as Isa. 26. 19. Ezek. 37. 11. Rom. 8. 36. he bringeth down to ‡ Heb. hell the grave and bringeth up 7 〈◊〉 LORD maketh poor and maketh rich * Psal. 〈◊〉 â—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…low and lifteth up 8 â—…e Psa. 113. 7. raiseth up the poor out of the dust b i. e. Out of their low and miserable condition as this Phrase is used 1 King 16. 2. Psal. 113. 7. Compare Iob 16. 15. Psal. 22. 16. and liâ—…teth up the begger from the dunghil c From the most sordid place and mean Estate Compare 1 King 16. 2. Iob 36. 11. Psal. 7. 5. to * Job 36. 7. set them among princes and to make them inherit d Not onely possess themselves but transmit them to their Posterity as hath oft happened in the World or possess the throne of glory e i. e. A glorious Throne or Kingdom for the pillars f Either 1. The foundations of the Earth which God created and upholds and wherewith he sustains the Earth and all its Inhabitants as a House is supported with Pillars and therefore it is not strange if he disposeth of persons and things therein as he pleaseth Or 2. The Princes or Governours of the Earth which are called the corners or corner-stones of a Land or People Iudg. 20. 2. 1 Sam. 14. 38. Zeph. 3. 6. and are fitly called Pillars because they uphold the World and keep it from sinking into Confusion See Psal. 74. 2. Ier. 1. 18. Revel 3. 12. And these are here said to be the Lords by Creation and Constitution because he advanceth them to their State and preserves them in it Prov. 8. 15 16. and puts the world or the Kingdoms of
concealed part of their intentions to render their Enemy more secure and fit for Ruiâ—… which kind of Stratagems are usual and allowed by all persons 11 And it was so on the morrow that Saul put the people into three companies x That so Invading them on several sides with a great Force he might both strike them with the greater Terror and prevent their escape and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch y Having marched all the day and night before it and slew the Ammonites until the heaâ—… of the day and it came to pass that they which remained were scattered so that two of them were not left together 12 ¶ And the people said unto Samuel * Chap. 10. 27. Who is he that said Shall Saul reign over us z They did not say so in terms as we may see v. 27. but this was the design and consequence of their Speech as they rightly construe it * Luk. 19. 27. bring the men that we may put them to death a Which till this time they were not able to do because that infection was then almost universal 13 And Saul said * 2 Sam. 19. 22. There shall not a man be put to death this day for to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel b I will not destroy any of those whom God hath so graciously preserved nor sully the mirth of this glorious and comfortable Day with the slaughter of any of my Subjects and therefore I freely forgive them Wherein Saul shewed his Policy as well as his Clemency this being the most likely way to gain his Enemies and secure his Friends and stablish his Throne in the hearts of his People 14 Then c Whilest the people were together by Iabesh-Gilead wherein Samuel's great prudence and fidelity to Saul is evident He suspended the Confirmation of Saul at first whilst the generality of the people were disaffected and discontented at the meanness of his Person and now when he had given such eminent proof of his Princely Vertues and when the peoples hearts were unanimously and eagerly set upon him he takes this as the fittest season for that work said Samuel to the people Come and let us go to Gilgal d This place he chose both because it was near and to most of them in the way to their homes and because thither the Israelites on this side and beyond Iordan might more easily resort and because it was famous for publick Conventions there kept and particularly for the Covenant there renewed by Ioshua between God and the People and renew the kingdom there e i. e. Confirm our former choice to prevent all such Seditious Expressions and Actions as we had experience of at the former Election 15 And all the people went to Gilgal and there they made Saul king f i. e. They Recognized him or owned and accepted him for their King by consent for to speak properly Saul was not made or constituted King by the People but by the Lords immediate Act see chap. 8. 9. and 10. 1. before the LORD g Who was there present in a special manner both because the People of the Lord were there Assembled and because there was an Altar as the following Sacrifices shew The same Phrase is used chap. 10. 17. and 14. 18. in Gilgal and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings h Partly to Praise God for so glorious a Victory and for the firm Settlement of the distracted Kingdome and partly to implore the Presence and Assistance of God to the King and Kingdome in all their Affairs and Exigencies before the LORD and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoyced greatly CHAP. XII AND Samuel said unto all Israel a Whilst they were Assembled together in Gilgal And this is another instance of Samuels great Wisdom and Integrity He would not reprove the people for their Sin in desiring a King whilst Saul was raw and unweak and unsettled in his Kingdome and in the Peoples hearts lest through their accustomed levity they should as hastily cast off their King as they had passionately desired him and so add one Sin to another and therefore he chuseth this Season for it partly because Saul's Kingdome was now confirmed and illustrated by an eminent Victory and so the danger of rejecting him was out of doors which circumstance was also considerable for Samuel's Vindication that it might appear that his following Reproof did not proceed from any selfish respects or desires which he might be supposed to have of retaining the power in his own hands but meerly from the Conscience of his Duty and a Sincere desire of all their good and partly because the People rejoyced greatly as is said in the next foregoing Verse and upon this occasion applauded themselves for their desires of a King and Interpreted the success which God had now given them as a Divine Approbation of those desires whereby they were like to be hardened in their impenitency and might be drawn to many other inconveniencies Samuel therefore thinks fit to temper their excessive joys and to excite them to that Repentance and Holy Fear which he saw wanting in them and which he knew to be absolutely necessary to prevent the Curse of God upon their new King and the whole Kingdom Behold I have hearkned unto your voice in all that ye said unto me and have made a king over you 2 And now behold the king walketh before you b Goeth out and cometh in before you i. e. Ruleth over you as that Phrase signifies Numb 27. 16. Deut. 31. 2. 2 Chron. 1. 10. To him I have fully resigned all my Power and Authority and do hereby renounce it and own my self for a private Person and one of his Subjects and I am old and gray-headed c And therefore unable to bear the burden of Government and feel my self greatly at ease to see it cast upon other Shoulders and therefore do not speak what I am about to say from envy of Saul's Advancement or from discontent at the Diminution of my own Power and behold my sons are with you d Or among you in the same State and Place private Persons as you are if they have injured any of you in their Government as you once complained the Law is now open against them any of you may accuse them your King can punish them I do not intercede for them I have neither Power nor Will to keep them from receiving the just Fruits of their Misdemeanours and I have walked before you e i. e. Been your Guide and Governor partly as a Prophet and partly as a Judge from my childhood unto this day 3 Behold here I am witness against me f I here present my self before the Lord and before your King being ready to give an account of all my Administrations and to make satisfaction for any Injuries that I
and dissimulation which therefore many Princes have used for this very reason But saith he God needs no such Artifices he can do whatsoever he pleaseth by his Absolute Power and hath no need to use lyes to accomplish his Will partly to shew that Israel should be no loser by Saul's loss as he might vainly imagine because he had saved them from their Enemies on every side chap. 14. 47. For not Saul but God was the Strength and Protector of Israel and he would continue to save them when Saul was lost and gone and partly to assure Saul that God would Execute this Threatning because he wanted not strength to do it and none could hinder him in it * Num. 23. 19. 2 Tim. 2. 1â—… Tit. 1. 2. will not lie k nor repent l i. e. Nor ehange his Counsel which also is an effect of weakness and imperfection either of Wisdom or Power for he is not a man that he should repent 30 Then he said I have sinned yet honour me now I pray thee before the elders of my people and before Israel m Here â—…e plainly discovers his Hypocrisie and the true motive of this and his former Confession he was not solicitous for the Favour of God but for his Honour and Power with Israel and turn again with me that I may worship the LORD thy God 31 So Samuel turned again after Saul n Not to Worship the Lord with him for that he did not and therefore it is here mentioned that Saul onely Worshipped the Lord but for two other reasons First That the People might not upon pretence of this Sentence of rejection immediately withdraw all Respect and Obedience to their Sovereign whereby they would both have sinned against God and have been as Sheep without a Shepherd Secondly That he might rectify Saul's Error and execute Gods Judgment upon Agag and Saul worshipped the LORD 32 ¶ Then said Samuel Bring ye hither to me Agag the king ‡ Heb. of Amalek of the Amalekites and Agag came unto him delicately o Or in Delights or in his Ornaments i. e. He came not like an Offendor expecting the Sentence of Death but in that Garb and Gesture which became his Quality And Agag said p Or for Agag said This being the reason why he came so Surely the bitterness of death is past q I who have escaped Death from the hands of a Warlike Prince in the fury of Battel shall certainly never suffer Death from an old Prophet in time of Peace 33 And Samuel said * Num. b 14. 45. As thy sword hath made women childless r Whereby it appears that he was a cruel Tyrant and Guilty of many Bloody Actions and that towards Gods People though it be not related elsewhere And this seems to be added for the fuller vindication of Gods justice and to shew that although God did at this time remember and revenge a Crime committed by this Mans Ancestors 400 Years ago yet he did not punish an Innocent Son for his Fathers Crimes but one that allowed and persisted in the same evil courses so shall thy mother be childless among women And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces s This he did by Diâ—…ine instinct and in pursuance of Gods express and particular Command above v. 3. which being sinfully neglected by Saul is now executed by Samuel See the like example 1 King 18. 40. But these are no presidents for private Persons to take the Sword of Justice into their hands For we must live by the Laws of God and not by extraordinary examples before the LORD t Either before the Ark which it seems Saul carried with him in this as he did in his former expedition chap. 14. 18. or before Gods Altar or in the publick Assembly in Gilgal 34 ¶ Then Samuel went to Ramah and Saul went up to his house to * Chap. 11. 4. Gibeah of Saul 35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul u i. e. To visit him either in token of Respect or Friendship or to seek Counsel from God for him or to give Counsel to him Seeing is put for Visiting here and 2 King 8. 29. Otherwise he did see him afterwards chap. 19. 24. Though indeed it was not Samuel that came thither with design to see Saul which is implied in the Phrase here but Saul went thither to see Samuel and that accidentally until the day of his death nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul u i. e. To visit him either in token of Respect or Friendship or to seek Counsel from God for him or to give Counsel to him Seeing is put for Visiting here and 2 King 8. 29. Otherwise he did see him afterwards chap. 19. 24. Though indeed it was not Samuel that came thither with design to see Saul which is implied in the Phrase here but Saul went thither to see Samuel and that accidentally and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel x Partly for Saul's sake whose sad condition he lamented and partly for Israel's sake whose estate he feared might by this means be doubtful and dangerous CHAP. XVI AND the LORD said unto Samuel How long wilt thou mourn for Saul a And pray for his Restitution which the following words imply that he did seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel b The manifestation of my peremptory Will should make thee submit to my pleasure Fill thine horn with oyl c Which was used in the Inauguration of Kings as chap. 10. 1. and 1 King 1. 39. But here it is used in the Designation of a King though David was not actually made King by it but still remained a Subject as is evident from chap. 24. 6. And the reason of this Anticipation was partly the comfort of Samuel and other good men against their great fears in case of Saul's Death of which they expected every day to hear and partly the assurance of David's Title which otherwise would have been very doubtful For the prevention of which doubts it was very meet that the same Person and Prophet who had Anointed Saul might now upon Gods rejection of Saul Anoint David to succeed him upon his Death and because Samuel was now not far from his Death and was to die before Saul it was fit that David's Anointing should be hastned and done before its proper time and go I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have provided me ‡ Heb. for me a king d This Phrase is very Emphatical and implies the difference between this and the former King Saul was a King of the Peoples providing he was the Product of their inordinate and sinful desires they desired him for themselves and for their own glory and safety as they supposed but this is a King of my own providing one that I have spied out one of that Tribe to which I have allotted the Kingdom Gen. 49. 10. A
thoughts of Peace as knowing that his Father though he might dissemble yet would never forgive so foul and scandalous a Crime Yea they will Fight with greater Courage and Resolution when they are freed from the fear of thy Reconciliation which otherwise would make their Hearts saint and Hands slack in thy Cause But by this we may see the Character of Absalom's Party and how abominably wicked they were whom such a loathsome and Scandalous Action tied the faster to him whom for that very reason they should have deserted and abhorred And we may further learn how corrupt and filthy the Body of the People was and how ripe for that severe judgment which is now hastening to them then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong e. 22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house f To wit of the Kings Palace the very place from whence David had spied and gazed upon Bathsheba Chap. 11. 2. So that his Sin was Legible in the very place of his Punishment and Absalom * Chap. 12. 11. went in unto his fathers concubines g i. e. To one or some of them And by so doing did further make Claim to the Kingdom as his own and as it were take Possession of it It being usual in the Eastern Countries to account the Wives and Concubines of the late King to belong of right to the Successor See the note on Chap. 12. 8. in the sight of all Israel h Who saw him go into the Tent and thence concluded That he lay with them as he had designed to do 23 And the counsel of Ahitophel which he counselled in those days was as if a man had enquired at the ‡ Heb. word oracle of God i It was received by the People with equal Authority and Veneration and was usually attended with as certain Success Which is mentioned as the reason why a Counsel which had so ill a face should meet with such general approbation so was all the counsel of Ahitophel both with David k To whose Pious Disposition he â—…ted himself as Policy obliged him but being weary of it he takes this first occasion to Discover himself and Execute that Wickedness which before lay in his Heart and with Absalom CHAP. XVII MOreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom Let me now chuse out twelve thousand men and I will arise and pursue a I am so well assured of the goodness of this Counsel that I will venture my own Person and Life in the Execution of it after David this night a I am so well assured of the goodness of this Counsel that I will venture my own Person and Life in the Execution of it 2 And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed b Tired with a tedious March on Foâ—…t and destitute of Men and Military Provisions and disheartned by his own small Numbers and by the general Defection of his Subjects and will make him afraid and all the people that are with him shall flee and I will smite the king onely 3 And I will bring back all the people unto thee the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned c i. e. The Death of that Man whom thou seekest to destroy is no less considerable to thee than if all the People that follow him should desert him and return unto thee so all the people shall be in peace 4 And the saying ‡ Heb. was right in the eyes of c. pleased Absalom well and all the Elders of Israel 5 Then said Absalom Call now Hushai the Archite also and let us hear likewise ‡ Heb. what is in his mouth what he saith d A wonderful Effect of Divine Providence blinding his Mind and Influencing his Heart that he could not rest in Ahitophel's Counsel though it was so evidently Wise and Good and approved by the general consent of his whole Party and that he should desire Hushai's Advice though neither his Repuation for Wisdom was equal to Ahitophels nor had he yet given any one proof of his Fidelity to Absalom as Ahitophel had done nor was he so fixed by his Interest to him as Ahitophel was and though there wanted not just Cause to suspect him and his Counsel too But there is no contending with that God who can Arm a Man against himself and Destroy him by his own Mistakes and Passions without any other help 6 And when Hushai was come to Absalom Absalom spake unto him saying Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner Shall we do after his ‡ Heb. Word saying if not speak thou 7 And Hushai said unto Absalom The counsel that Ahithophel hath ‡ Heb. counselled given is not good at this time e Though at other times he generally gives most wise and admirable Counsel yet as he is a man he seems now to be under a mistake and not sufficiently to consider all the present Circumstances of this Business 8 For said Hushai thou knowest thy father and his men that they be mighty men f Of approved Courage and Strength therefore not so soon vanquished as Ahitophel supposeth and they be ‡ Hâ—…b bitter of soul. chafed in their minds g Heb. bitter of soul Inflamed with Rage Desperate and therefore resolved to sell their Lives at a dear rate as * Hos. 13. 8. a bear robbed of her whelps in the field g Heb. bitter of soul Inflamed with Rage Desperate and therefore resolved to sell their Lives at a dear rate and thy father is a man of war h A wise Prince and General who knowing of what Importance it is to secure his own Person and that your great Design is against his Life will doubtless use extraordinary care to keep out of your reach which he may easily do and will not lodge with the people 9 Behold he is hid now in some pit or in some other place i Having been oft accustomed to that course and well acquainted with all hiding-places from Saul's time In one of them unknown to us he will lurk with some of his chosen men and lie in Ambush for us and when they see a fit opportunity they will suddenly come forth and surprize some of our men when they least expect it and fall upon them with great fury and probably will at first put them to flight and it will come to pass when some of them k To wit of Absalom's men sent against David be ‡ Heb. fallen overthrown at the first l Implying that their good success at first would mightily animate David's men to proceed vigorously in the fight and intimidate Absalom's Army and consequently would be both a presage and an occasion of their total defeat that whosoever heareth it will say m They who first hear these ill tidings will propagate it and strike terror with it into the rest of the Army There is a
Jordan and I sware to him by the LORD saying * 2 Sam. 19. 23. I will not put thee to death with the sword a Quest. How then could David Lawfully engage Solomon to punish him for it And did David upon his death-bed beaâ—… malice against Shimei Ans. First David was not a private person who might remit such offences without any inconvenience but a publick Magistrate who for the honour and maintenance of Goverment was obliged to punish such insolent and opprobrious Speeches if the necessity of his Affairs had not then engaged him to pass it by Otherwise it appears from divers passages of the Psalms and of this History how free David was from a rancorous and revengeful spirit even towards his Enemies Secondly The following advice is not contrary to David's Oath both because that was onely personal that David would not kill him either at that time as Abishai desired him or whilst he lived and did not oblige his Successors and especially because it was not David's mind that Shimei should be put to death for that fault as is evident for then there was no need of Solomon's Wisdom to find out an occasion but onely of his Justice to punish him for the old crime but for some other competent crime which Solomon's Wisdom narrowly prying into all his actions would easily find out And if the condition which Solomon imposed upon Shimei v. 36 37. seem hard it must be remembred that David onely Swore that he would Pardon him as to life but not that he would exempt him from all punishment or consinement 9 Now therefore hold him not guiltless b Though I have desired his life do not treat him as an innocent Person neither let him go wholly unpunished for thou art a wise man c And therefore wiltst easily find out just occasions to chastise him especially considering his perverse and wicked disposition and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him d How to punish him not without just cause and yet without any violation of my Oath or reflection upon me or upon Religion for my or thy sake but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with blood e i. e. With the effusion of his blood with a bloody or violent death 10 * Act. 2. 2â—… and 13. 36. So David slept with his fathers f See of this Phrase Deut. 31. 16. 1 King 1. 21. and was buried in the city of David g i. e. In that part of Ierusalem which was called by his name because he took it from the Iebusites See 2 Sam. 5. 7. 1 Chron. 11. 5. 2 Chron. 5. 2. 11 And the days that David * 2 Sam. 5. 1 Chr. 25. 26 27. reigned over Israel were forty years seven years h More precisely 7 Years and 6 Months 2 Sam. 5. 5. but smaller sums are oft neglected in Scripture-computations reigned he in Hebron and thirty and threee years reigned he in Jerusalem 12 ¶ * 1 Chron. 29. 23. 2 Chron. 1 Then sate Solomon upon the throne of David his father and his kingdom was established greatly i Being settled upon him with universal consent and approbation and with the hearty affections of his People which all Wise men know to be a Prince's best and surest Establishment 13 ¶ And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon and she said Comest thou peaceably k Or with some Evil design upon me or my Son which she might well surmise knowing his ambition and envy at Solomon and his hatred against her as the chief occasion of his dejection and he said Peaceably 14 He said moreover I have somewhat to say unto thee And she said Say on 15 And he said Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine l Both by Birthright and by actual Inauguration It seems he could not yet forget his pretence to the Crown noâ—… his ambition for it but continues his claim Which it seems Solomon did apprehend and resent though Bathsheba did not the Wives and Concubines of the late King being reputed to appertain to the Successor See 2 Sam. 12. 8. and that all Israel set their faces on me that I should reign m They looked upon me as their King and David's Successor expecting that David should confirm my Election howbeit the kingdom is turned about n Translated from me to him by the vicissitude of human affairs and the changeable humour of the people and is become my brothers for * 1 〈◊〉 and 2â—… 5. it was his from the LORD o Either First By Gods Providence so disposing David's mind and the Peoples hearts Or rather Secondly By Gods appointment and particular designation wherein he would seem to acquiesce Which he mentions not that he made any Conscience of it or had any regard to it but onely that by this pretence he might deceive both her and Solomon as if he were far from any design of Usurping the Kingdom 16 And now I ask one petition of thee ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 not away my face deny me not p Heb. do not turn away my face i. e. do not send me out of thy presence sad or ashamed Compare 2 Chron. 6. 42. Psal. 132. 10. And she said unto him Say on 17 And he said Speak I pray thee unto Solomon the king for he will not ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 away my 〈◊〉 say thee nay that he give me Abishag the 〈◊〉 to wise q Which though it was against a positive Law of God Levit. 18. 7. yet either Adonisah might be ignorant of it being a man more studied in the Affairs of the Court than in the Book of God or might think her not concerned in it because David knew her not Chap. 1. 4. 18 And Bath-sheba said Well I will speak for thee unto the king 19 ¶ Bath sheba therefore went unto king Solomon to speak unto him for Adonijah and the king rose up to meet her and bowed himself unto her and sat down on his throne and caused a ‡ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seat to be set for the kings mother and she sat on his right hand r The most honourable Place next to the King 's See â—… Chron. 18. 18. Neh. 8. 4. Psal. 45. 9. Mat. 20. 21. 20 Then she said I desire one small petition s So she esteemed it because she did not perceive his Design in it and as for that Law Levit. 18. 7. the might apprehend that because David knew her not it was onely a Contract for Marriage and therefore no impediment of her Marriage to any other after his Death which also is the Opinion of some of the late Learned Hebrew Doctors of thee I pray thee say me not nay and the king said unto her Ask on my mother for I will not say thee nay t Supposing thy Request be but small as thou sayst it is and not unlawful nor injurious to my self or
and other Prophets when they were in company with others unto the prophet that brought him back d So he makes this Prophet publickly to call himself lyar and to pronounce a terrible Sentence against him to whom he professed so much kindness Indeed the Hebrew words are ambiguous and by others rendred thus to the Prophet whom he had brought back which agrees very well with the Hebrew Phrase and may seem to be the best Translation by comparing v. 23. where the very same Phrase iâ—… so rendred and ver 26. where this message is said to be spoken to him But these Arguments are not cogent not that from v. 23. because it is a common thing for the same Phrase in divers Verses and sometimes in one and the same Verse to be diversly used nor that from v. 27. for that may be rendred concerning him And Therefore our Translation is better as is manifest from v. 21. 21 And he cried e With a loud Voice the effect of his passion both for his own guilt and shame and for the Prophets approaching â—…sery and his unhappy influence both in procuring and iâ—… denouncing of it unto the man of God that came from Judah saying Thus saith the LORD Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth f i. e. The word of command coming out of his mouth A Metonymy of the Cause for the Effect of the LORD and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee 22 But camest back and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of the which the LORD did say to thee Eat no bread and drink no water thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers g i. e. Thou shalt not die a natural but a violent death and that in this journey before thou returnest to thy native habitatition and thy Carkass shall not be buried in the proper Sepulchre which was esteemed a kind of Curse and a note of Infamy as the contrary was reckoned an honour and blessing See chap. 14. 13. Isa. 14. 19 20. Ier. 22. 19. and 26. 24. 23 ¶ And it came to pass after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk that he sadled for him the ass That he might sooner come to his home and if possible escape the Judgment threatned But it is observable he doth not accompany him his guilty Conscience making him to expect and fear to be involved in the same Judgment with him to wit for the prophet whom he had brought back 24 And when he was gone a * Chap. 20. 36. lion met him h For there were many Lions in Iudea and this was brought hither by Gods special Providence by the way and slew him i Why doth God punish a good man so severely for so small an offence Ans. First His sin was not small for it was a gross disobedience to a positive command Obj. But he supposed and was told by another Prophet that God had repealed his command and so was deceived Ans. He had no sufficient discharge from the former command for he neither was assured that the old man was a Prophet nor that the message he delivered was from God but had reason to suspect the contrary or at least to enquire the mind of God in this doubtful point which he grosly neglected to do and willingly believed the message because it suited with his own inclination and necessity Add to this that he being a Prophet was obliged to the greater exactness in obedience to all Gods Precepts and therefore this sin was much greater in him than in another because hereby God was dishonoured and the Authority and Success of his message blasted and Ieroboam and the Idolatrous Israelites hardened in their wicked courses for the prevention whereof it was necessary that God should exercise severity towards him Ans. Secondly As his sin was not so small so his punishment was not so great as may be imagined For as to his outward man his Bodily death which was a Debt that he owed to God and Nature in this way was not so painful and terrible as many other kinds of death and as to his Soul God by giving him a Gracious admonition both of his sin and danger ver 21 22. awakened him to true Repentance which doubtless he practised and so was prepared for his death and by this sudden death freed from all the miseries of an evil time and world and speedily let in to Eternal Glory Ans. Thirdly As the world and all men in it were made for Gods Glory and all their Lives and Deaths ought to be laid out in his Service so it cannot seem strange nor harsh if God should bring his deserved Death upon him in this manner for the accomplishment of his own Glorious Designs as to vindicate his own Honour and Justice from the imputation of partiality to assure the Truth of his Predictions and thereby provoke Ieroboam and his Idolatrous followers to Repentance to justify himself in all his Dreadful Judgments which he intended to inflict upon Ieroboam's House and the whole Kingdom of Israel for their Cursed Apostacy and to warn all succeeding sinners not rashly to venture upon small sins and especially to take heed of greater sins for which they might expect far sorer punishments and his carcase was cast in the way k His Life and Soul being gone his Dead Body falls to the ground and lies there and the ass stood by it the lion also stood by the carcase l See on v. 28. 25 And behold men passed by and saw the carcase cast in the way and the lion standing by the carcase and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt 26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof he said It is the man of God who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion which hath ‡ Heb. broken torn him and slain him according to the word of the LORD which he spake unto him m Or rather concerning him for so the Particle Lamed is oft used as Gen. 20. 13. Psal. 3. 2. and 91. 11. compare with Matth. 4. 6. See the Notes on v. 20. 27 And he spake to his sons saying Saddle me the ass n Being secure as to himself because so many others had been there without any harm and because he perceived the Prophet's Death was a Judgment of God and that for special reasons And they saddled him 28 And he went and found his carcase cast in the way and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase the lion had not eaten the carcase nor ‡ Heb. broken torn the ass o Here was a concurrence of Miracles That the Ass did not run away from the Lion according to his nature and custom but boldly stood still as reserving himself for the carrying of the Prophet to his Burial that
when he was in distress and going to fight with Ieroboam 2 Chron. 13. though afterwards he did not perform his Vows nor bring in what he had Devoted whether because he was prevented by Death or because he afterwards relapsed to Idolatry as may seem probable from the 12 Verse of this Chapter and the things which himself had dedicated into the house of the LORD silver and gold and vessels 16 ¶ And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days u So long as they two Lived and Reigned together Which is not so to be understood as if there were a solemn and declared War continuing all that time for Asa was quiet in a great measure for his first ten years 2 Chr. 14. 1. till the Israelites had recovered themselves from that dreadful blow given them by Abijam 2 Chron. 13. and Baasha began to Reign in Asa's third Year but so that there were many private and particular Hostilities practised among them in which sense the same Phrase is used chap. 14. 30. 17 And 2 Chr. 16. 1. Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah x Perceiving Asa's great success of which see 2 Chron. 14 and 15. and the defection of many of his own Subjects to him upon that occasion 2 Chron. 15. 9. he began to bestir himself and commenceth a War against him and built y i. e. Repaired and Fortified Ramah z A City of Benjamin which either belonged to the Kingdom of Israel from the division as some other places of that Tribe are supposed to have done of which see on 1 King 11. 13. or belonged to Iudah but was now Invaded and taken by Baasha and Fortified that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah a Therefore he chose this place because it was in the way from his Kingdom to Ierusalem and as some add in or near the straits of the Mountains where they could easily discover and hinder all Passengers that way 18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left b These poor remainders which either Shishak had left at that time chap. 14. 26. or Abijam or Asa or others both of Israel and Iudah had dedicated which probably was not inconsiderable because Asa had got great spoils from Zerah 2 Chron. 14. and he and his numerous and prosperous People did at this time express a great Zeal for the House and Worship of God in the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the kings house and delivered them into the hand of his servants and king Asa sent them to * 2 Chr. 16. 2. Benhadad c Wherein he committed three great faults amongst many others First he Alienated things Consecrated to God without necessity Secondly He did this out of Carnal fear and distrust of that God whose Power and Goodness he had lately experienced Thirdly He did this for an ill intent to hire him to the breach of his League and Covenant with Baasha v. 19. and to take away part of that Land which by Right and the special Gift of God belonged to the Israelites the son of Tabrimon the son of Hezion king of Syria that dwelt at Damascus saying 19 There is a league between me and thee and between my father and thy father d Whereby it appears that albeit he was an adversary to Israel all Solomon's days chap. 11. 25. yet after the division of the Kingdoms of Israel and Iudah he was in League with both of them either because his designs lay upon the enlargement of his Empire other ways or rather because he thought it his Wisdom and Interest to leave them to themselves to undo one another by their intestine Wars and so to prepare the way to his Conquest of both whereas his Invading of either of them might have made up the breach and forced them to unite against their common Enemy And therefore as soon as he was free from this fear and one of them needed and earnestly desired his help against the other he gladly embraced the opportunity behold I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold come and break thy league with Baasha king of Israel that he may ‡ Heb. go up depart from me e That being called to defend himself he may be forced to depart from my Territories 20 So Ben-hadad hearkned unto king Asa and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel and smote Ijon and Dan and Abel-beth-maachah and all Cinneroth f The Northern parts of Baasha's Kingdom which were nearest to his own Kingdom of Damascus and most remote from those parts where Baasha was now employed which were in the most Southern parts of his Dominions with all the land of Naphtali 21 And it came to pass when Baasha heard thereof that he left off building of Ramah and dwelt in Tirzah g Now the Royal City of Israel See chap. 14. 17. There he abode to defend his own Kingdoms and durst not return to oppose Asa lest the Syrian King should make a second and worse Invasion So Asa met with success in his ungodly course as on the other side good men sometimes meet with disappointment in a good cause and course So there is no judging of Causes by Events 22 Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah none was ‡ Heb. free exempted All sorts of Persons were obliged to come except those who were disenabled by age or infirmity or absence or by the publick service of the King and Kingdom in other places and they took away the stones of Ramah and the timber thereof wherewith Baasha had builded and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah h i. e. Repaired and strengthned them for they were built before See Ier. 41. 9. Quest. Why did he not rather perfect the Fortifications of Ramah which Baasha had begun Ans. Because Baasha might have returned and recovered it afterwards and he thought it most convenient that there should be no City nor Fort in that place 23 The rest of all the acts of Asa and all his might and all that he did and the cities which he built are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah Nevertheless i Notwithstanding the great things which he had done and the glory and prosperity which he enjoyed he felt the effects of humane infirmity and of his own sins of which see 2 Chron. 16. 12 13. in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet 24 And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father and * 2 Chr. 1â—… â—… Matth. 1. 8. called Joâ—…phat Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead 25 ¶ And Nadab the son of Jeroboam ‡ Heb. reiâ—…d began to reign over Israel in the
Ahab and made a Garden 22 And it came to pass when Joram saw Jehu that he said Is it peace f Dost thou come to me with a Peaceable mind or in a way of Hostility For now when it was too late he began to suspect some Treachery which God hid from him before to prepare him for destruction Jehu And he answered What peace g What cause hast thou to expect Peace when thou hast so long abetted and dost still abet and allow thy Mother in her abominable practises so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts h Which are to be understood Either First Literally Spiritual Whoredom which is Idolatry being oft punished with corporal See ver 30. and witchcraft there was oft practised by Idolaters Or rather Mystically and Spiritually of her Idolatry which is oft called whoredom because it is a departing from God to whom we are all tied by many obligations and witchcraft either because it doth so powerfully bewitch and deceive mens minds or because it is a manifest entring into Covenant with the Devil For Idolatry being her chief sin and the cause of all the rest it seems improbable that Iehu would omit that in the Inditement which he drew against her He mentions not Ioram's but his Mothers sins partly because they were more notorious and infamous partly because they were the principal cause why God inflicted and he was come to execute these Judgments partly because by his connivence he had made them his own and partly because he could find no gross and odious matter wherewith to charge him except about the worship of the Calves which he forbore to mention both lest it should lose his Interest amongst his Officers and Soldiers who were devoted to that worship and because he himself intended to keep it up are so many 23 And Joram turned his hands i Either that therewith he might turn the Reins of the Chariot or that by this motion he might direct his Charioteer to turn it from Iehu and fled and said to Ahaziah There is treachery O Ahaziah 24 And Jehu ‡ Heb. filled his hand with a bow drew a bow with his full strength and smote Jehoram between his arms k Between his shoulders when he was turned or turning back the Chariot being probably open behind as many times they were and the arrow went out at his heart and he ‡ Heb. bowed sunk down in his chariot 25 Then said Iohn to Bidkar his captain Take up and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite for remember how that ‖ Or I and thoâ—… were with them that rode together when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father l Which might be when Ahab went in his Chariot attended with his Nobles or Chief Officers of which these were two to take a formal and solemn possession of Naboth's Land for then the Prophet Elijah met him and denounced this Judgment against him 1 King 21. 17 c. * 1 Kin. 21. 29. the LORD laid this burden m i. e. This grievous Prophecy for such are oft and truly called burdens as Isa. 13. 1. and 15. 1. Ier. 23. 33 34. Nah. 1. 1. upon him 26 Surely I have seen yesterday the ‡ Heb. bloods blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons n Who as it seems were killed with their Father by Iezabel's advice to make the possession of the Vineyard more sure to Ahab though it be not mentioned in its proper place 1 Kin. 21. 13. For it is not unusual to bring in such fragments of History in succeeding Writings which were neglected in the History of those matters Thus we read of the earthquake in the days of Uzziah Amos 1. 1. which was not Recorded in his History in the Books of the Kings or Chronicles Although he might well be charged with â—…aking away the lives of his Sons because he took away the necessary supports of their lives said the LORD and I will requite thee in this ‖ Or portion plat o Of which see the Notes on 1 King 21. 19. saith the LORD Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground p Where he shall lie unburied and be a prey to the Dogs or Fowls according to the prediction 1 King 21. 24. according to the word of the LORD 27 ¶ But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this he fled by the way of the garden-house q By some secret way hoping to escape whilst they were busie about Ioram and Jehu followed after him and said Smite him also r As you have done Ioram for he also is of the House of Ahab chap. 8. 18. in the chariot and they did so s They smote or wounded him but not mortally either supposing that the wound was mortal or being more remiss in executing Iehu's Sentence against him because they were not so much concerned in his as in Ioram's Death or because they had some kindness for him either for his own or for Iehoshaphat's sake at the going up to Gur which is by Ibleam and he fled to Megiddo and died there t Quest. How doth this agree with 2 Chron. 22. 9. He sought Ahaziah and they caught him for he was hid in Samaria and brought him to Iehu and when they had slain him c Ans. Either First Samaria is there to be understood not of the City but of the Kingdom or Territory so called 1 Kin. 13. 32. and elsewhere in which Megiddo was and so that may be noted to shew that he could not flee into his own Kingdom where he might have been safe but was forced to take up in another part of the Kingdom of Israel in the Territory of Samaria and there to hide himself Or Secondly If Samaria be the City then the History is briefly and imperfectly described here and the defects supplied there the Book of Chronicles being in great part written for that end to supply things omitted in the Book of Kings and out of both the History may be thus compleated He fled first to Megiddo and thence to Samaria where he was caught and thence brought to Iehu and by his Sentence was put to death at Megiddo either because Iehu was there at that time upon some occasion or for some other reason which at this distance of time we cannot understand 28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David u Which they did by Iehu's permission for Iehoshaphat's sake 2 Chron. 22. 9. 29 And in the eleventh year of Joram x Of this see the Note on chap. 8. 25. the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah 30 ¶ And when Jehu was come to Jezreel Jezebel heard of it and she ‡ Heb. put 〈◊〉 eyes in pâ—…ing painted her face and tired her head y
‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 gathered the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work that have the oversight of the house of the LORD 10 And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king saying Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book and Shaphan read it before the king 11 And it came to pass when the king had heard the words of the book of the law i i. e. The dreadful Comminations against them for the sins still reigning among the people Quest. Did Iosiah never see and read a Copy of this Book before this time If he did not how could he do so much towards the Reformation of Religion as he did before If he did why was he not sooner convinced and humbled by it Ans If Iosiah had not yet seen a Copy of this Book which is not impossible yet there was so much of the Law left in the minds and memories of many of the people as might easily persuade and direct him to all that he did till this time or if Iosiah had seen and read it before which seems more probable yet the great Reverence which he justly bare to the Original Book and the strange and remarkable and seasonable finding of it had very much awakened and quickened him to a more serious and diligent reading and attentive consideration of all the passages contained in it than he used before that he rent his clothes 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam the son of Shaphan and Achbor the son of Micaiah and Shaphan the scribe and Asahiah a servant of the kings k Who most constantly waited upon the Kings Person otherwise all of them were the Kings Servants saying 13 Go ye enquire of the LORD l Either what he intends to do with us or what we shall do to him to appease his wrath for me and for the people and for all Judah concerning the words of this book m Whether the Curses here threatned must come upon us without remedy or whether there be hope in Israel concerning the prevention of them that is found for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book to do according unto all that which is written concerning us 14 So Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam and Achbor and Shaphan and Asahiah went unto Huldah the prophetess n For we read of Women Prophetesses both in the Old and New Testament as Miriam Exod. 15. 20. Deborah Iudg. 4. 4. Hamah 1 Sam. 2. Elizabeth and the Blessed Virgin Luk. 1. and Philip's Daughters Act. 21. 9. Quest. But why did he send to this Woman and not rather to Zephaniah or Ieremiah who were Prophets in Iosiah's days Ans. Either First Because the Kings earnest affection in this business required great haste and she was in Ierusalem which is therefore noted in the following part of the Verse when Ieremiah might at this time be at Anathoth or in some more remote part of the Kingdom and the like may be said of Zephaniah who also might not be a Prophet at this time though he was afterward in the days of Iosiah which is all that is affirmed of him Zeph. 1. 10. Or 2. Because the King or his Courtiers had longer and greater experience of the eminency of her Prophetical Gifts than of Ieremiah's who began not to Prophecy till the thirteenth Year of Iosiah Ier. 1. 2. and being well assured of her Fidelity in delivering the Mind and Counsel of God to those that enquired of her they rightly concluded that it was much more considerable what Message God sent than by whom it was conveyed to them the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah the son of Harhas keeper of the ‡ 〈◊〉 garâ—… wardrobe now she dwelt in Jerusalem in ‖ 〈◊〉 in the 〈◊〉 part the colledge o Where the Sons of the Prophets or others who devoted themselves to the study of God's Word used to meet and discourse of the things of God and receive the Instructions of their Teachers Others both Ancient and Modern render it in another or the second part to wit of the City i. e. in the Suburbs which also were Fortified and Walled about by Hezekiah 2 Chron. 32. 5. and they communed with her 15 ¶ And she said unto them Thus saith the LORD God of Israel Tell the man that sent you to me 16 Thus saith the LORD Behold I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read 17 Because they have forsaken me and have burnt incense unto other gods that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands p Gods made with hands This she adds to aggravate their folly and contempt of God in preferring such vain and idle things before him therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place and shall not be quenched 18 But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD thus shall ye say to him Thus saith the LORD God of Israel As touching the words which thou hast heard 19 Because thine heart was tender and thou hast humbled thy self before the LORD when thou heardst what I spake against this place and against the inhabitants thereof that they should become a desolation and a curse and hast rent thy clothes and wept before me I also have heard thee saith the LORD 20 Behold therefore I will gather thee unto thy fathers and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace q i. e. In a time of publick Peace and the Tranquility of thy Kingdom or so as thou shalt not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place as the following words explain it for otherwise he died in Batttel chap. 23. 29. Besides he died in Peace with God and was by death translated to everlasting Peace and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place And they brought the king word again CHAP. XXIII AND * 2 Câ—…r 34. 30. the king sent and they gathered unto him all the elders a The chief Governors both of Church and State of Judah and of Jerusalem 2 And the king went up into the house of the LORD and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him and the priests and the prophets b Either Ieremiah Zephaniah Urijah or the Sons or Disciples of the Prophets and all the people ‡ Heb. from 〈◊〉 even â—…to great both small and great and he read c He caused to be read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD 3 ¶ And the king stood by the pillar d Of which see on chap. 11. 14. and 2 Chron. 34. 31. and made a covenant before the LORD
Persons then eminent for Birth and Quality for Wisdom and Knowledge and for the Profession of the true Religion being probably of the posterity of Abraham and akin to Iob and living in the same Country with him for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him 12. And when they lift up their Eyes afar off t To wit at some convenient distance from him whom they found sitting upon the ground either in the open Air or within his own House and knew him not u His Countenance being so fearfully changed and disfigured by his Boils they lift up their voice and wept and they rent every one his Mantle and sprinkled Dust upon their Heads toward Heaven x Either upon the upper part of their Heads which looks towards Heaven or cast it up into the Air so as it should fall upon their Heads as they did Act. 22. 23. See Ios. 7. 6. Nehem. 9. 1. Lam. 2. 10. 13. So they sat down with him upon the ground y In the posture of Mourners condoling with him Seven Days and Seven Nights z Which was the usual time of mourning for the Dead Gen. 50. 10. 1 Sam. 31. 13. and therefore proper both for Iob's Children who were dead and for Iob himself who was in a manner dead whilst he lived But we must not fancy that they continued in this place and posture so long together which no Laws of Religion or Civility required of them and the necessities of Nature could not bear but only that they spent a great or the greatest part of that time in sitting with him and silent Mourning over him And so such General Expressions are frequently understood as Luke 2. 37. and 24. 53. Acts 20. 31. Either 1. About any thing Or rather 2. About his Afflictions and the causes of them The Reason of this silence was partly the greatness of their grief for him and their surprize and astonishment at his Condition partly because they thought it convenient to give him some further time to vent his own Sorrows and partly because as yet they knew not what to say to him for though they had ever esteemed him to be a truly wise and godly Man and came with full purpose to comfort him yet the prodigious greatness of his Miseries and that Hand and Displeasure of God which they manifestly perceived in them made them at a stand and to question Iob's Sincerity so that they could not comfort him as they had intended and yet were loth to grieve him with those Convictions and Reproofs which they thought he greatly needed And here they stuck till Iob gave them occasion to speak their Minds and none spake a word to him for they saw that his Grief was very great CHAP. III. 1. AFter this opened Job his Mouth a He spake freely and boldly as this Phrase is used Prov. 31. 8 9. Eph. 6. 19. and elsewhere and cursed his day b To wit his Birth-day as is evident from v. 3. which is called simply a Mans day Hos. 7. 5. which also some others through the same Infirmity and in the same Circumstances have cursed as we see Ier. 20. 14. In vain do some men endeavour to excuse this and the following Speeches of Iob who afterwards is reproved by God and severely accuseth himself for them Ch. 38. 2. and 40. 4. and 42. 3 6. And yet he doth not proceed so far as to curse or blaspheme God but makes the Devil a Lyar in his Prognosticks But although he doth not break forth into direct and down right Reproaches of God yet he makes secret and indirect Reflections upon Gods Providence His Curse was sinful both because it was vain being applied to an unreasonable thing which was not capable of blessing and cursing and to a day that was past and so out of the reach of all Curses and because it was applied to one of Gods Creatures all which were and are in themselves very good and pronounced blessed by God and so they are if we do not turn them into Curses and because it casts a blame upon God for bringing that day and for giving him that Life which that day brought into the World He pronounceth that day an unhappy woful and cursed day not in it self but with respect to himself 2. And Job * Heb. 〈◊〉 spake and said 3. †Ch. 10. 1â—… 19 Iâ—… 20. 1â—… Let the day perish wherein I was born c Let the remembrance of that day be utterly lost Yea I heartily wish that it had never been Such Wishes are apparently foolish and impatient and yet have been somtimes forced from wise and good men in grievous Distresses not as if they expected any effect of them but only to shew their abhorrency of Life and to express the intolerableness of their grief and to give some vent to their passions and the night in which it was said d With Joy and Triumph as happy tidings Compare Ier. 20. 15. There is a Man-Child conceived e Or rather brought forth as this word is used 1 Chron. 4. 17. For the time of conception is unknown commonly to Women themselves and doth not use to be reported among men as this day is supposed to be 4 Let that day be Darkness f I wish the Sun had never risen upon that day to make it day or which is all one that it had never been and whensoever that day returns I wish it may be black and gloomy and uncomfortable and therefore execrable and odious to all men let not God regard it from above g i. e. From Heaven either 1. By causing the Light of the Sun which is in Heaven to shine upon it So it agrees both with the foregoing and following Branches of this Verse Or 2. By blessing and favouring it or by giving his Blessings to men upon it Let it be esteemed by all an unlucky and comfortless day Oh Let not God require it i. e. bring it again in its course as other days return in this sense God is said to require that which is past Eccles. 3. 15. Compare v. 3. 6. neither let the Light shine upon it 5. Let Darkness and the shadow of death h i. e. A black and dark shadow like that of the place of the dead which is a Land of Darkness and where the Light is Darkness as Iob explains this very Phrase Ch. 10. 21. 22. Or so gross and palpable Darkness that by its horrours and damps may take away mens Spirits and Lives ‖ Or 〈◊〉 stain it i i. e. Take away its beauty and Glory and make it abominable as a filthy thing Or challenge it i. e. take and keep the entire possession of it so as the Light may not have the least share in it let a Cloud dwell upon it * Or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it as 〈◊〉 who have 〈◊〉 â—… â—… let the blackness of the day terrifie it
Minds and turning their own Counsels to their ruine Of which see 2 Sam. 15. 31. 17. 14 23. Isa. 19. 11. 1 Cor. 1. 19. 18. He looseth the Bond of Kings n Either 1. Passively whereby they are bound He freeth them from Prison or restraint Or rather 2. Actively that wherewith they bind their Subjects to Obedience to wit their Power and Authority and that Majesty which God stamps upon Kings to keep their People in awe All which God can and oft doth take away from them and freeth the People from their Bonds when it pleaseth him Of which all Histories give Instances See Daâ—… 2. 21. and girdeth their Loins with a Girdle o Either 1. With a Girdle of Dignity and Glory which was put upon the Loins of men in great Honour and Authority as Isa. 11. 5. and 22. 21. Ier. 13. 1 2. So this Member of the Verse is opposite to the former and the sense of the whole is he either casteth down Kings or raiseth them up as he pleaseth But the Scripture no where mentions this Girdle as one of the Ornaments of Kings Or rather 2. With a servile Girdle For seeing all both the foregoing and succeeding passages do evidently nore acts of Judgment or punishments inâ—…icted upon them it seems improper to understand this alone of an act of Gods favour to them So the sense is He reduceth them into a mean and servile condition which is thus expressed because Servants did use to gird up their Garments which after the manner of those parts and time were loose and long that they might be fitter for attendance upon their Masters of which see Luk. 12. 37. 17. 8. And so this is an amplification of the former sentence He not onely deposeth them from their Thrones but brings them into Bondage and Slavery 19. He leadeth Princes p So this word which usually signifies Priests is oft used as Gen. 41. 45. 47. 22 26. Exod. 2. 16. 2 Sam. 8. 18. Compared with 1 Chron. 18. 17. away spoiled and overthroweth the mighty 20. * Chap. 32. â—… Isa. 3. 2. 3. He removeth away †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 the Speech q Either 1. By taking away or restraining the Gift of utterance from them that they should not be able to express their thoughts with such clearness and Power as they used to do which God oft doth to wise and eloquent men Or 2. By bringing them into such straits and troubles that they know not what to say or advise Or 3. By taking away their Understanding which should suggest and direct their Speech as it here follows Or 4. By permitting them to betray their trust and either not to speak when they should or to speak otherwise than they should and to use their Wit and Rhetorick not to direct but to deceive and so destroy a Prince of the trusty r i. e. Of those wise and eloquent Counsellors that were and for their great abilities might be trusted by the greatest Princes with all their affairs and taketh away the Understanding of the aged 21. * 〈…〉 He poureth contempt upon Princes s i. e. He makes them contemptible to their Subjects and others and ‖ Or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 weakneth t Heb. He looseth the Girdle Which Phrase signifies weakness as Isa. 5. 27. as the girding of the Girdle notes strength and Power as Isa. 22. 21. 45. 5. Both these Phrases being taken from the quality of their Garments which being loose and long did disenable a man for Travel or Work the strength of the Mighty 22. He * Chap. 23. 3. Dan. 2. 22. Mat. 10. 26. 1 Cor. 4. 5. discovereth deep things out of Darkness u i. e. The most secret and crafty Counsels of Princes which are contrived and carried on in the dark and bringeth out to light the shadow of death 23. * Psa. 107. 23. He encreaseth the Nations and destroyeth them x What hitherto he said of Princes he now applies to Nations and People whom God doth either increase or diminish as he pleaseth he enlargeth the Nations y He multiplies them so that they are forced to send forth Colonies into other Lands and †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 straitneth them again z Or leadeth them in or bringeth them back into their own Land and confineth them there 24. He taketh away the Heart a Which signifies either 1. Their Courage as Psal. 76. 12. or rather 2. Their Wisdom and Counsel as Iob 5. 13 Isa. 3. 4. as the following words shew of the †Heb. 〈◊〉 chief b Either for place and Power or for Wisdom and Conduct of the People of the Earth and * Psa. 107. 40. causeth them to wander in a Wilderness where there is no way c i. e. Fills them with confusion and uncertainty and perplexity of mind so that they know not how to govern themselves or their People 25. They grope d Like men that cannot see their way in the dark without light e Two Phrases expressing the same thing emphatically to express their proâ—…ound darkness and he maketh them to †Heb. 〈◊〉 stagger like a drunken man f Who reels hither and thither without any certainty So they sometimes take one course and sometimes another as resolving to try all experiments and indeed not knowing what to do CHAP. XIII 1. LO mine Eye hath seen all this mine Ear hath heard and understood it a All this which either you or I have discoursed concerning the infinite Power and Wisdom of God I know both by seeing it i. e. by my own Observation and Experience and by hearing it from my Ancestors so that I did not need your tedious and impertinent discourses concerning those matters 2. * Chap. 12 3. What ye know the same do I know also I am not inferiour unto you 3. * Chap. 23. 3. Surely I would speak to the Almighty b According to thy Wish Ch. 11. 5. I had rather debate the matter with God than with you I am not afraid of presenting my Person and Cause before him who is a Witness of my Integrity and would not deal so unmercifully with me as you do and I desire to reason with God 4. But ye are forgers of Lies c i. e. Authors of False Doctrine to wit that great afflictions are peculiar to Hypocrites and wicked Men. * Chap. 6. 21. 16. 2. ye are all Physicians of no value d Unfaithful and unskilful prescribing bad Remedies and misapplying good ones 5. O that ye would altogether hold your peace and it should be your Wisdom e For then your Ignorance and Folly had been concealed which is now manifest Compare Prov. 17. 28. 6. Hear f i. e. Attend to it and consider it more seriously than you have done now my reasoning and hearken to the pleadings of my Lips g i.
sowed together not upon my other garments but next to my skin as was done in great Calamities as 2 Kings 6. 30. So far am I from stretching out my hands against God whereof I am accused Chap. 15. 25. that I have humbled my self deeply unâ—…er his hand and defiled my horn in the dust q I have willingly parted with all my Wealth and Power and Glory as the horn oft signifies in Scripture as Psâ—…lm 75 5. 132. 17 Luke 1. 69. and been contented to lie in the dust and to endure the contempt which God hath brought upon me 16 My face is foul with weeping and on my eye-lids is the shadow of death r i. e. A gross and terrible darkness My sight is very dim and dark as is usual in case of fore Diseases or excessive grief and weeping Lamâ—…nt 2 11. and especially in the approach of death Compare Psalm 6. 7. 38. 10. Lament 5. 17. 17. Not for any injustice in mine hands s And all this is not come upon me for any injurious dealing with others by oppression or deceit or bribery wherewith I am implicitely charged Chap. 15 16 20 34. but for other reasons known to God onely for I cannot discover them also my prayer is pure t I do not cast off God's fear and service as I am accused to do Châ—…p 15. 4. I do still pray and worship God and my Prayer is accompanied with a sincere Heart and â—…defiled Conscience See Psalm 109 7. Prov. 28. 9. 1 Tim. 2. 8. So that I have lived inâ—…ffensively towards God and towards men And therefore your Assertion is both uncharitable and false that eminent Afflictions are peculiar to ungodly men 18. O earth cover not thou my bloud u So called not actively to wit his own blood but passively or obâ—…ctively i. e the blood of others shed by him and lying upon his Conscience The Earth is said to cover that blood which lies undiscovered and unrevenged Of which see on Gen. 4. 10 11. Isa. 26 21. But saith Iob. if I be guilty of destroying any one man by Murder or Oppression as I am traduced O Lord let the Earth disclose it let it be brought to light that I may suffer condign punishment for it and let my cry x Either 1. passively to wit the cries and groans which I have forced from others by my Oppressions Let those Cries have no place to hide them Or rather 2. actively the Cry of my Complaints to men or Prayers to God let them find no place in the Ears or Hearts of God or men if this be true Or no place i. e. no regard or no power or success in which sense God's Word is said not to have place in evil men Iohn 8. 37. And Esaâ—… not to find place of repentance Heb. 12. 17. i. e. All his Intreaties and Tears could not prevail with his Father to repent of and retract the Blessing given from him to Iacob have no place 19. Also now behold my Witness is in Heaven y Besides the Witness of Men and of my own Conscience God is Witness of my Integrity and my Record †Heb. in the high places is on high 20. My Friends z Who should defend me from the Scorns and Injuries of others †scorn me a So this word is used Psal. 119. 51. Prov. 3. 34. 19. 28. but mine Eye Heb. are my â—…orners poureth out tears unto God b I pour forth my Prayers and Tears to God that he would judge me according to my Innocency and plead my righteous cause against you 21. * Ch. 31. 35. Eccl. 6. 10. Isa. 45. 9. Rom. 9. 20. O that one might plead for a man * with God c O that either I or some faithful Advocate might be admitted to plead my Cause either with God or rather with you before God's Tribunal God being Witness and Judge between us But this Verse is and that very agreeably to the Hebrew Text otherwise translated and Interpreted either 1. With respect to Christ And he i. e. God last mentioned to wit God the Son Christ Jesus will plead for a man i. e. for me against whom you plead He modestly speaketh of himself in the third Person as is usual with God to wit with God the Father and the Son of man as Christ is oft called will plead for his Friend or Companion or Neighbour i. e. For a man whom he hath taken into that Relation to himself It is plain that the mystery of Mans Redemption by Christ was known to the ancient Patriarchs as hath been oft noted before and to Iob among others Ch. 19. 25. Or 2. as the matter for which he prayed and cried to God That so the Hebrew Vau is frequently used he i. e. God would plead or judge or give sentence for a man i. e. for me or in my cause with God i. e. with himself the Noun being put for the Pronoun as Gen. 2. 20. 4. 15. Lev. 14. 15 16. and elsewhere or at his own Tribunal to which I have appealed as a man pleadeth for his Friend or Neighbour with or before an earthly Judge and Tribunal This seems most agreeable to the scope of the place which was to maintain his own Integrity against his Friends before God as a man pleadeth for his ‖ Or friend Neighbour 22. When †Heb. years of number a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return d i. e. To the state and place of the dead whence men do not and cannot return to this Life The meaning is my death hastens and therefore I earnestly desire that the cause depending before God between me and my Friends may be searched out and determined that if I be guilty of these things whereof they accuse me I may bear the shame and blame of it before all men and if I be innocent that I may live to see my own Integrity and the credit of Religion which suffers upon this occasion vindicated that so I may die in peace with God and may leave the favour of a good name behind me CHAP. XVII 1. MY ‖ Breath is corrupt a i. e. It stinks as it doth in dying persons Or my Spirit is corrupted or spent or lost i. e. My vital Spirits and natural Powers are wasted my Soul is ready to leave the Body my days are extinct b The lamp of my Life is wasted and upon the point of going out and that in a Snuff Or my Spirit is spent the Graves c i. e. The Grave the plural number being put for the singular as Sepulchres 2 Chron. 21. 20. Cities Judg. 12. 7. Asses Zech. 9. 9. are put for one of each of these are ready for me d Open their mouths as ready to receive me The sense and scope of this Verse is the same with the former 2. Are there not Mockers with
Wherefore are we counted as Beasts c i. e. Ignorant blockish and stupid men Ch. 17. 4 10. and †Heb. hidden Lam. 4. 1. reputed vile d Heb. polluted or unclean i. e. not fit to be conversed or discoursed with or contemptible as such things are in your sight e Either 1. To your faces or in your own hearing Or 2. In thy sight or Judgment O Iob so he speaks of Iob in the plural number as he did v. 2. 4. He teareth †Heb. his Soul himself f i. e. Iob of whom he speaks in the third person for the second as Ch. 12. 4. 16. 7. Obad. 3 3. Or O thou that tearest thy self Thou complainest of us for vexing thee with our speeches when in truth thou art thy own greatest tormenter by thy own impatience and rage in his anger shall the Earth be forsaken g To wit by God Shall God give over the government of the Earth and Men and things in it and suffer all things to fall out by chance and promiscuously to good and bad men without any regard to his Truth or Wisdom or Justice Shall God forbear to rule the World righteously as he hath hitherto done in favouring good men and destroying the wicked for thee h i. e. For thy sake or to prevent thy Complaints and Clamours and shall the rock be removed out of his place i Shall the Counsels of God which are more firm and unmoveable than Rocks and the whole course of his Providence be altered to comply with thy fancies or Humours 5. Yea k The thing is true and certain notwithstanding thy dissatisfaction and opposition against it the light of the wicked shall be put out l All their Glory and Felicity shall perish and the spark of his fire m i. e. Their highest and brightest Glory which he calleth the spark c. because like a spark it shines briskly for a moment but is quickly extinct shall not shine 6. The Light shall be dark in his Tabernacle n i. e. In his Family In stead of his former splendour both he and his shall fall into extremity of misery and his ‖ 〈◊〉 Lamp Candle shall be put out with him o i. e. His Glory shall die with him and not descend to his posterity as he hoped and designed Or his Candle which was with him or shone upon him shall be put out 7. The steps of his strength p i. e. His strong steps by a vulgar Hebraism By steps he means his Counsels as the next branch explains it his attempts and actions and by steps of strength such of them as seem to be most firm and settled contrived with greatest strength of Understanding and carried on with great resolution and might shall be straitned q i. e. Shall be hindred and entangled He shall be cast into great difficulties and troubles and perplexities so that he shall not be able to proceed and to accomplish his Enterprizes but shall find himself ensnared by his own devices as the next words declare it This Phrase is used also Prov. 4. 11 12. and it is opposed to the enlarging of a mans way or steps which signifies success and prosperity as Psal. 4. 1. 31. 8. and his own Counsel shall cast him down r He shall be undone by his own contrivances either because God will give him up to dangerous and destructive mistakes of his way or because God will oppose him and turn his own devices against him which he can easily do by throwing in unexpected accidents 8. For he is cast into a Net by his own Feet s By his own choice and design and actions and he walketh upon a snare t And therefore must needs be entangled and destroyed 9. The * Chap. 5. 5. Grin shall take him by the heel u i. e. Take fast hold of him so as to keep him in those distresses and the Robber x When he is ensnared the Robber shall come upon him and take and spoil or kill him Or the horrible or terrible man the Huntsman that said the Snare for him A Metaphor from those who hunt for wild Beasts who first lay snares for them and then seize upon them in the snares shall prevail against him 10. The Snare is †Heb. hidden laid for him in the ground y Where he doth not expect nor discern it The former snare he laid for himself but this was laid for him by another and a Trap for him in the way 11. * Ch. 15. 21. Jer. 6. 25. 20. 3. 46. 5. 49. 29. Terrours z Both from men and from God and from his own unquiet Mind and guilty Conscience shall make him afraid on every side and shall †Heb. scatter him drive him to his Feet a Shall force him to flee hither and thither and he knows not whither being secure and safe no where but pursued by terrours from place to place 12. His strength b Either 1. His Children which are and are called a mans strength as Gen. 49. 3. Psal. â—… 27. 4 5. Or rather 2. His Wealth and Power and Prosperity shall be hunger-bitten c Or famished i. e. utterly consumed and * Ch. 15. 23. destruction shall be ready at his side d i. e. Shall follow him at the heels as a most diligent servant or constant companion 13. It shall devour the †Heb. bars strength of his skin e Heb. The bars or rather the branches of the skin i. e. either the veins and sinews which branch out themselves through the skin as well as elsewhere Or the fat and flesh which like Bars support the skin and adorn and beautifie it as branches do a Tree without which the skin is shrivel'd up and deformed even the first-born of death f i. e. A most remarkable and terrible kind of death The first-born was the chief of his Brethren and therefore this title is given to things eminent in their kind as Isa. 14. 30. Col. 1. 18. Heb. 12. 23. Rev. 1. 5. shall devour his strength 14. * Chap. 8. 14. 11. 20. Psal. 112. 10. Prov. 10. 28. His confidence g i. e. All the matter of his Confidence his Riches Children c. shall be rooted out of his Tabernacle h i. e. Out of his Habitation and it i To wit the loss of his Confidence shall bring him to the King of terrours k Either 1. Into extream Fears and horrours of mind Or 2. To Death which even Aristotle called The most terrible of all terribles And this it will do either because it will expose him to his Enemies who will kill him or because the sense of his disappointments and losses and dangers will oppress his Spirits and break his Heart 15. It shall dwell in his Tabernacle l It i. e.
which they intended to rob and the part of the house where they resolved to enter into it in the day-time * John 3. 20. they know not the light i i. e. Do not love nor like it as Verse 13. but abhor it as it follows 17. For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death k i. e. Terrible and hateful because it both discovers them and hinders their practises if one know them they are in the terrours of the shadow of death l If they are brought to light or discovered they are overwhelmed with deadly horrours and terrours Or as the words are and may very agreeably to the Hebrew be rendred thus But as the Hebrew Particle commonly signifies they know Heb. he knoweth every one of them knoweth i e. approveth and loveth the â—…errours of the shadow of death i. e. the grossest darkness of the Night which to other men is as terrible as the shadow of death but to these men is most acceptable So this Clause is fitly opposed to the former he hates the light and he likes darkness 18. He is swift †Heb. upon the face of the waters as the waters m In these words he describes either 1. the wicked man's disposition and deportment that such persons are light and frothy in their spirits or swift or hasty to do evil or unstable in their ways as the waters or upon the face of the waters i. e. like the foam or froath or any other light thing which swims upon the top of the waters Or rather 2. his miserable condition of which he manifestly speaks in the next words and in the two next Verses For though Iob constantly affirms and maintains it against his Friends that many ungodly men do prosper and escape punishment in this life yet withal he observes and asserts that God will certainly sooner or later punish them and that he sometimes doth it here cutting them off by cruel and untimely Deaths or otherwise inflicting some notable judgment upon them of which he also speaks Chap. 21. 17 c. So the sense is He is swift i. e. he quickly passeth away with all his glory as the waters which never stay in one place but are always hasting and running away or like a Ship or any other thing which swimmeth upon the face of the waters Though he seems to stand as firm and unmovable as a Rock and to have taken deep rooting in the earth yet he is suddenly and unexpectedly removed and pulled up by the roots their n Or his for he still speaks of the same person though with a change of the number which is most familiar in this Book and elsewhere in Scripture portion o Or part i. e. his Habitation and Estate which he left behind him is cursed in the earth p Is really accursed by God and is by all men who live near it or observe it pronounced accursed because of the remarkable judgments of God upon it and upon his Posterity or Family to which he left it and from whom it is strangely and suddenly alienated he beholdeth not the way of the vineyard q i. e. He shall never more see or enjoy his Vineyards or other pleasant places and things which seem to be comprehended under this particular 19. Drought and heat †Heb. violâ—…t ly take consume the snow-water so doth the grave those which have sinned r As the Snow though it doth for a time lie upon the ground yet at last is dissolved into water by the heat of the season and that water quickly swallowed up by the earth when it is dry and thirsty So ungodly sinners though they live and prosper for a season yet at last they shall go into the grave which will consume them together with all their hopes and comforts Their jolly life is attended with a sad and oâ—…t-times sudden and violent death not with such a death as the godly die which perfects them and brings them to happiness but with a consuming and never dying death 20. The womb shall forget him s His Mother that bare him in her Womb and much more the rest of his Friends shall seldom or never remember or mention him to wit with honour and comfort but shall rather be afraid and ashamed to own their Relation to one that lived such a vile and wretched life and died such an accursed death This he shall have instead of all that Honour and Renown which he thirsted and laboured for and expected should persume his Name and Memory the worm †Heb. is sweet to him Ch. 21. 33. shall feed sweetly on him t This proud and insolent Tyrant that preyed upon all his Neighbours v. 2. 3 c. shall himself become a prey and a sweet Morsel to the contemptible Worms he shall be no more remembred u To wit with Honour or so as he desired and hoped but his Name shall rot and scarce ever be mentioned but with Infamy and Execration and wickedness x i. e. The wicked man of whom he is here treating the Abstract being put for the Concrete of which many Instances have been formerly given shall be broken y Broken to pieces or violently broken down as the word signifies He shall be utterly and irrecoverably destroyed And this expression plainly sheweth that the former Clauses are not to be understood of the Sinner's happiness in an easie and comfortable death but of his cursed and miserable end as a tree z Which being once broken either by its own weight or by some violent wind or by the hand of man never groweth again 21. He a Either 1. God who is oft understood who having cut off his person and brought him to his grave continues his judgments upon his Wife or Widow and Family Or rather the Oppressor who is the principal subject of almost all that is said in this Chapter whose great and manifold wickedness Iob described from v. 2 to 18. where he proceeds to relate the judgments of God upon him for his sins which having done v. 13 19 20. he here returns to the declaration of his further wickednesses the cause of these judgments evil entreateth b Or feedeth upon or devoureth or breaketh in pieces for all these the word signifieth and all come to one and the same thing the barren that beareth not c Barrenness was esteemed a Curse and Reproach and so he added affliction to the afflicted whom he should have pitied and helped But because such had no Children and the Widows no Husbands to defend or avenge their Cause he exercised cruelty upon them and doth not good d Either 1. he did her much wrong and harm it being usual in Scripture under such Negative expressions to contain the Affirmation of the contrary as Exod. 20. 7. Prov. 17. 21. 28. 21. And so this Branch answers to the former of evil-entreating Or
2. he afforded her no help or advice or comfort in her Distresses And so he intimateth the greatness of Omission sins and that the common neglect or contempt of plain and positive Duties whether of Piety to God or of Charity to men is to be reckoned among high and hainous Crimes to the widow 22. He draweth e Either into his Neâ—… as Psalm 10. 9. or to his Party to assist and serve him in his Enterprizes also the mighty f Who are mighty in place or wealth or power He practiseth upon these as well as upon the poor with his power g Which being greater than theirs the soon forceth them to comply with his desires and demands he riseth up h To wit against any man as this phrase is used Psalm 18. 38. 44. 5. When he sets himself against a man and resolves to destroy him and ‖ Or he trusteth not his own life no man is sure of life i i. e. None of them whom he so opposeth can be secure or confident of holding his life but all such give up themselves for lost men as knowing they cannot resist his greater might Compare Deut. 28. 26. 23. Though it be given him to be in safety whereon he resteth yet ‖ That is God's Eyes his eyes are upon their ways k Heb. He giveth to him to be in safety or all things necessary for his safety c. This Verse is understood either 1. of the Oppressor If the Oppressor give a man his hand or promise that he shall live in safety by him or If the Oppressed give Gifts to the Oppressor to purchase his quiet and safety and as it follows he resteth upon that assurance given him yet his i. e. the Oppressors eyes are upon their ways he watcheth for their halting and seeks for all occasions to quarrel with them and to destroy them Or rather 2. of God and so the words are fitly rendred thus He i. e. God giveth or granteth to him i. e. to the Oppressor to be in safety i. e. to live a quiet and comfortable life and he resteth secure or he resteth or leaneth upon him i. e. upon God his former experience of God's Favour makes him confident of the continuance of it So he is not only happy in his present enjoyments but also in his freedom from distracting fears of future miseries and his i. e. God's Eyes are upon their ways i. e. God blesseth and prospereth him in all his undertakings as this phrase most commonly signifies as Deut. 11. 12. Ezra 5. 5. Psalm 33. 18. Or yet his eyes are upon their ways i. e. although God giveth them such strange successes this doth not proceed from his ignorance or regardlesness of their wicked actions for he sees and observes them all and will in due time punish them though not always in this life nor as soon as their sins are committed but in such time and way as he in deep wisdom seeth most â—…it 24. They are exalted for a little while l They live in honour and happiness but not for ever but only at best during this short and mortal life which lasteth but for a very little time and therefore their present happiness is not to be envied nor is it any reproach to God's Providence which hath time enough to reckon with them hereafter but †Heb. are not are gone m Heb. are not to wit in this World they die and brought low n As low as their graves Or after as the Particle Vau is elsewhere used as hath been observed before they have been brought low to wit by pining sickness or other grievous judgments they are †Heb. closed up taken out of the way o i. e Out of this World and way of living by death Or are restrained or shut up to wit in the grave the place of silence and impotency as all other p They can no more prevent or delay their death than the meanest men in the world and cut off q By Death's Sickle or by a violent Hand as the tops of the ears of corn r To wit in his greatest height and maturity when he is arrived at his perfect stature of worldly power and glory then God cuts him off and that suddenly and violently 25. And if it be not so now s To wit as I have discoursed if God doth not suffer wicked men to live long and prosperously in the World before he punisheth them and if good men be not sometimes sorely afflicted here if all things do not fall alike to all men in these matters who will make me a liar and make my speech nothing worth CHAP. XXV 1. THen answered Bildad a Not to that which Iob spake last but to that which stuck most in Bildad's mind and which seemed most reprovable in all his discourses to wit his bold censure of God's proceedings with him and his avowed and oft repeated desire of disputing the matter with him the Shuhite and said 2. Dominion b i. e. Absolute and sovereign power over all persons and things with whom to contend is both rebellion and madness and fear c Actively understood or terrour i. e. that which justly makes him dreadfull to all men and especially to all that shall undertake to dispute with him awful Majesty infinite knowledge whereby he knows men's hearts and ways far better than they know themselves and sees much sâ—…n in them which themselves do not discover and exact purity and justice which renders him formidable to sinners are with him d Emphatically spoken with him whom thou challengest with him who is not lightly and irreverently to be named much less to be contended with And therefore it is thy duty to humble thy self for thy presumptuous words and carriages towards him and quietly and modestly to submit thy self and thy cause to his pleasure This Clause as well as the following Verse seems to be added to prove what he last said of God's dominion and dreadfulness He keepeth and ruleth all persons and things in Heaven in peace and harmony and the order which he hath established among them The Angels though they be very numerous and differing in orders and ministeries do all own his Soveraignty and acquiesce in his Pleasure without any disputing and murmuring The Stars and heavenly Bodies though vaâ—…t in their bulk and various in their motions yet exactly keep their courses and the order which God hath appointed them And therefore it is great folly and impudence to exempt thy self from God's jurisdiction or to quarrel with the methods of God's dealings with thee he maketh peace in his high places 3. Is there any number of his armies e Of the Angels and Stars and other Creatures all which are his Hosts wholly submitting themselves to his Will to be and do what God would have them And therefore how insolent and unreasonable a thing is it for thee
these winds my Body is almost consumed and wasted and my heart is melted within me 23. For I know that thou wilt bring me to death s I see nothing will satisfie thee but my death which thou aâ—…t bringing upon me in a lingering and dismal manner and to the house appointed for all living t To the grave to which all living men are coming and hastening 24. Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the †Heb. heap grave though they cry in his destruction u There is great variety and difficulty in the sense and connexion of these words They may be joyned either 1. with the following Verse as describing Iob's compassion to others in affliction which by the Principles of Reason and Religion should have procured him some pity from God and men in his affliction And to that purpose the words are or may be translated thus But was not my prayers for them which words may be understood out of the following Clause when he stretched out his hand to wit against them to destroy them in his destruction or oppression understand it actively i. e. when God was about to destroy any other man or men was not the Negation being understood out of the former Branch of the Verse as is usual my cry for them the Feminine Gender being put for the Masculine as it is elsewhere or for these things the Feminine being put for the Neuter that is for those destructive Calamities which were upon them Or 2. with the foregoing Verse And so these words contain either 1. a Consolation against the evil last mentioned So the sense is Though God will undoubtedly bring me to the Grave by these Torments yet this comforts me that surely he will not stretch out his hand to wit to afflict or punish me further as this phrase is used Exod. 3. 20. Isa. 9. 12 13. in the grave though they i. e. the perishing persons cry or roar i. e. be sorely pained and tormented in his destruction i. e. whilest God is destroying them Or this last Clause may be read interrogatively Is there any cry in his destruction When a man is cut off or destroyed by death doth he then cry and complain No there is an end of all these Miseries Or rather 2 a Confirmation of what he last said For the whole Context shews that Iob is not taking any comfort to himself but rather aggravating his Sufferings I know saith he that I am a dead man and my Condition is desperate for surely he i. e. God will not stretch out his hand to wit to save or rescue me as this phrase is used Psalm 18 17. 144. 7. compared with Acts 4. 30. to or in the grave i. e. to a dead man such as I am in effect having not only one foot but in a manner both feet in the grave as being upon the very brink of the Pit though they cry to wit unto God i. e. though there be a great and a general Cry and Lamentation for him among his Friends or others and an earnest desire of him if possibly he might be restored to life again in his destruction i. e. when he is destroyed or dead yet all these Cries would be in vain 25. * Psal. 35. 13 14. Rom. 12. 15. Did not I weep †Heb. for him that was hard of day for him that was in trouble x Whence is it that neither God nor man shew any compassion to me but both conspire to afflict me and encrease my torments Doth God now mete out to me the same measure which I meted out to others Have I now Judgment without Mercy because I afforded no mercy nor pity to others in misery No my Conscience acquits me from this inhumanity I did not sleightly resent but bitterly mourn and weep over others in their miseries and therefore I had reason to expect more Compassion than I find was not my soul grieved for the poor y Even for him who was not capable of requiting my kindness in case of his recovery which shews that my sympathy was real and not seigned as it is in some who pretend great sorrow for the rich in their troubles hoping thereby to insinuate themselves into their favour and friendship and thereby to procure some advantage to themselves 26. When I looked for good then evil came unto me z Instead of the return of the like pity to me which I might justly challenge and expect whensoever I should stand in need of it I meet with a sad disappointment and my pity is recompensed with others cruelty to me and when I waited for light there came darkness 27. My bowels boiled and rested not a i. e. My inward parts boyled without ceasing The Bowels are the seat of Passion and of Compassion and therefore this may be understood either 1. of his Compassionate and deep sense of others miseries which is oft expressed by bowels as Isa. 16. 11. Col. 3. 12. and elsewhere of which he spake v. 25. to which he subjoyns the contrary usage which he met with v. 26. And then in this first part of v. 27. he renews the mention of his compassion to others and in the latter part he adds by way of Antithesis or Opposition that his mercy was requited with cruel afflictions Or 2. of the grievousness of his troubles which is sometimes expressed by the troubling or boyling of the Bowels or inward parts as Lam. 1. 20. the days of affliction prevented me b i. e. Came upon me suddenly and unexpectedly when I promised to my self peace and prosperity as the usual recompence which God promiseth and giveth to such as fear and please him as I have done 28. * Psal. 38. 6. 42. 9. 43. 2. I went c Or I walked hither and thither as I could Or I converse or appear among others mourning without the Sun d Spending my days in mourning without any Sun-light or comfort or so oppressed with sadness that I did not care nor desire to see the light of the Sun Heb. black not by the Sun My very Countenance is changed and become black but not by the Sun which makes many other persons black Cant. 1. 5. 6. but by the force of my Disease and deep Melancholy which oft-times makes a man's Visage black and dismal See Psalm 119. 83. Lam. 5. 10. And this he repeats in plainer terms v. 30. as an eminent token of his excessive grief and misery I stood up e Either because my Disease and pain made me weary of other postures Or that others might take notice of me and be moved with pity towards me and I cried f With a loud and dâ—…eful clamour through great and sudden anguish in the congregation g Where prudence and modesty taught me to forbear it if extream necessity and misery had not forced me to it 29. * Ps. 102. 6. I am a brother h To wit
of his Church he hath prepared t Or established by his immutable Purpose and his irrevocable Promise his throne for judgment 8. And * Psal. 96. 13. 98. 9. he shall judg the world u Not you onely but all the Enemies of his People and all the Men of the World in righteousness he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness 9. * Psal. 3â—… 39. 46. 1. 91. 2. The LORD also will be †Heb. At high place a refuge for the oppressed x God will not only judg the World at the last day and then give Sentence for his People against their Enemies but even at present he will give them his Protection a refuge in †Gr. 〈◊〉 times †Heb. Is trouble So Gr. of trouble 10. And they that know y i. e. That thoroughly understand and duly consider thy name z i. e. Thy Nature and Perfections thy infinite Power and Wisdom and Faithfulness and Goodness which make a Person a most fit and proper Object for Trust. The name of God is most frequently put for God as he hath manifested himself in his Word and Works as Deut. 28. 58. Psal. 7. 17. and 20. 1. Prov. 18. 10. c. will put their trust in thee for thou LORD hast not forsaken a The experience of thy Faithfulness to thy People in all Ages is a just ground for their Confidence them that seek thee b i. e. That seek Help and Relief from thee by fervent Prayer mixed with Faith or trust in God as is expressed in the former Clause 11. Sing praises to the LORD which dwelleth in Zion c Whose special and gracious Presence is there for there was the Ark at this time declare among the people d i. e. To the heathen Nations that they also may be brought to the Knowledg and Worship of the true God his doings 12. * Gen. 9. 5. When he maketh inquisition for blood e Heb. Bloods The bloodshed or murder of his innocent and holy ones which though he may connive at for a season yet he will certainly call the Authors of it to a very severe Account and avenge it upon them he remembreth them f Either 1. The Humble as it follows or the Oppressed v. 9. That trust in him and seek to him v. 10. Whom he seemed to have forgotten Or 2. The bloods last mentioned for that Noun and this Pronoun are both of the masculine Gender and then remembring is put for revenging or punishing as it is Deut. 25. 17 19. Neâ—… 6. 14. Ier. 14. 10. and 44. 21. and oft elsewhere he forgetteth not the cry of the ‖ Or Afflicted humble g Or â—…eek as this word which is used also Zech. 9. 9. is Translated Mat. 21. 5. Who do not and cannot and will not avenge themselves but commit their Cause to me as the God to whom Vengeance belongeth Or afflicted or oppressed ones 13. Have mercy upon me O LORD consider my trouble h To wit Compassionately and effectually so as to bring me out of it which I suffer of them that hate me thou that liâ—…test me up from the gates of death i From the Brink or Mouth of the Grave into which I was dropping being as near Death as a Man is to the City that is come to the very Gates of it And so the Phrase is used Psal. 107. 18. Isa. 38. 10. and in other Authors of whom see my Latin Synopsis Gates elsewhere signify Power and Policy because the Gates of Cities were places both of Counsel and Strength but the Gates of Death are never so taken in Scripture 14. That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates k i. e. In the great Assemblies which were usually in the Gates Comp. Prov. 31. 31. Isa. 3. 26. These Gates he elegantly opposeth to the former and declareth that if he be brought off them he will go into these of the daughter of Zion l Either 1. Of Ierusalem so called also Isâ—… 1. 8. Zech. 9. 9. Because at this time it was subject to Zion which at this time was the seat of the Kings Palace and of the Ark. For Cities or Towns belonging or subject unto any Metropolis are commonly called its Daughters as Ios. 15. 45. 2. Chron. â—…3 19. Psal. 48. 11. As the chief Cities are called Mothers as 2. Sam. 20. 19. Gal. 4. 26. Or 2. Of the People who live in or belong to or meet together for civil and religious Matters in Zion For Cities are as it were Mothers to their People giving them Birth and Breeding and therefore the People are commonly called their Daughters So the Name of the Daughter of Egypt Ier. 46. 11. and of Edom Lam. 4. 21 22. and of Tyre Psal. 45. 12. and of Babel Psal. 137. 8. and of Ierusalem Lam. 2. 13 15. Mich. 4. 8. Are put for the People of those places I will rejoyce m To wit with spiritual Joy and Thanksgiving else it were no fit Motive to be used to God in Prayer in thy salvation 15. * 〈◊〉 7. 15. 〈◊〉 6. 〈◊〉 22. 8. The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made n Fallen into that Destruction which they designed to bring upon us in the net which they hid is their own foot taken 16. The LORD is known o Or hath mads himself known or famous even among his Enemies by his most wiâ—…e Counsels and wonderful Works by the judgment which he executeth p Upon the Wicked as it followeth the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands * 〈◊〉 92. 3. Higgaion q This is either a musical Term or a Note of Attention a kind of behold intimating that the Matter deserves deep and frequent Meditation or Consideration as the word signifies Selah 17. The wicked shall be turned into hell r Either 1. Into the Grave which is oft called Schâ—…ol into which they are said to be turned or to return because they were made of or taken out of the Dust Eccles. 12. 7. Or 2. Into the place of eternal Perdition which also is sometimes called Schâ—…ol as Prov. 15. 24. and elsewhere For he seems to speak here of those Punishments which are peculiar to the Wicked whereas the Grave is common to good and bad And as v. 8. He seems to speak of the last and general Judgment of all the World so this Verse may be understood of the general Punishment of all Persons and Nations consequent upon it And into this place wicked Men may be said to be turned back or to return either 1. Because it is their own proper place Act. 1. 25. to which they belong and from which they have their Original and their wicked Qualities as being of their Father the Devil Iohn 8. 44. In which respect the Locusts who are by all Interpreters understood to be living Men are said
I have set the LORD always before me c i. e. I have always presented him to my mind as my Rule and Scope as my Witness and Judge as my Patron and Protector in the discharge of my Office and in all my Actions Hitherto David seems to have spoken in his own Person and with special respect to himself but now he seems to have been transported by an higher Inspiration of the Spirit of Prophecy and to be carried above himself and to have an Eye to the man Christ Jesus who is and was the end of the Law and the great Scope of all the Prophets and to speak of himself only as a Type of Christ and with more special respect unto Christ in whom this and the following Verses were much more truly and fully accomplished than in himself Christ as man did always set his Fathers will and Glory before him as he himself oft declareth especially in St. Iohn's Gospel because * he is at my right hand d To wit to strengthen me for the right hand is the chief seat of a Man's strength and Instrument of Action to Protect assist and Comfort me as this Phrase signifies Psal. 109. 31. and 110. 5. And this assistance of God was necessary to Christ as man I shall 〈◊〉 2. 25 〈◊〉 73. 23. â—… â—…1 5. not be moved e Or removed either from the discharge of my Duty or from the attainment of that Glory and Happiness which is prepared for me Though the Archers shoot grievously at me and both men and Devils seek my Destruction and God sets himself against me as an Enemy withdrawing his favour from me and filling me with deadly sorrows through the Sence of his anger yet I do not despair but am assured that God will deliver me out of all my Distresses 9. Therefore f Upon this ground and Confidence my heart g The proper seat of joy and of all the Affections is glad and my glory h Either 1. my soul which is indeed the Glory of a man Or rather 2. my Tongue which also is a mans Glory and Priviledge above all other living Creatures and the Instrument of glorifying both God and man and which is oft called a mans Glory as Gen. 49. 6. Psal. 30. 12. and 57. 8. and 108. 1. and 149. 5. And so this very Word is translated Act. 2. 26. And thus the distinction between Heart and Glory and Flesh is more certain and evident rejoyceth i Or exsulteth i. e. Declares or expresseth my inward joy For this Verb signifies not so much internal joy as the outward and visible Demonstrations of it in Words or Gestures and Carriages my flesh also shall †〈…〉 rest k i. e. My body shall quietly and 〈◊〉 rest in the Grave to which I am hastening in hope l i. e. In confident assurance of it's Incorruption there and of it's Resurrection to a blessed and immortal Life as it is explained v. 10 11. The flesh or body is in it self but a dead and senceless lump of Clay yet Hope is here ascribed to it figuratively as it is to the brute Creatures Rom. 8. 19. because there is Matter and Foundation for such hope if it were capable of it the good promised and expected being certainly future 10. * 〈◊〉 2. 31. 13. 35. For thou will not leave my soul m i. e. My Person as this word is every where used by a Syneâ—…doche of the part and then the Person by another Synecdoche of the whole is put for the Body The soul is oft put for the Body either for the living Body as Psal. 35. 13. and 105. 18. or for the Carkass or dead Body as it is taken Levit. 19. 28. and 21. 1. Numb 5. 2. and 6. 6. 9. 11. and 9 10. and 19. 11. 13. And so it is interpreted in this very place as it is produced Act. 2. 29 c. and 13. 36 37. in hell n i. e. In the Grave or state of the Dead as appears 1. From the Hebrew word Scheol which is very frequently so understood as is undeniably evident from Gen. 42. 38. Numb 16. 30. Iob 14. 13. Comp. with 17. 13. Psal. 18. 5. and 30. 3. and 141. 7. Eccles. 9 10. Ezek. 32. 21 27. Ionab 2 2. and many other places 2. From the following clause of this Verse 3. From Act. 2. and 13. where it is so expounded and applied neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One o i. e. Me thy holy Son whom thou hast sanctified and sent into the World It is peculiar to Christ to be called the holy one of God Mark 1. 24. Luk. 4. 34. to see corruption p Or Rottenness i. e. To be corrupted or putrified in the Grave as the Bodies of others are Seeing is oft put for perceiving by experience In which 〈◊〉 men are said to see good Psal. 34. 13. and to 〈◊〉 Death or the Grave Psal. 89. 48 Luk. 2. 26. Ioâ—… 8. 51. and to see sleep Eccles. 8. 16. And the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 though sometimes by a Metonymy it signifies the Pit or place of Corruption yet properly and generally it signifies Corruption or Perdition as Iob 17. 14. and 33. 18. 30. Psal. 35. 7. and 55. â—…3 Ionâ—… 2. 6. and is so rendred by the seventy Jewish Interpreters Psal. 107. 20. Prov. 28. 10. Ier. 13 14 and 15. 3 Lament 4. 20. Ezek. 19. 4. and 21. 31. And so it must be understood here although some of the Jews to avoid the force of this Argument render it the Pit But in that Sence it is not true for whether it be meant of David as they say or of Christ it is confessed that both of them did see the Pit i. e. Were laid in the Grave And therefore it must necessarily be taken in the other Sence now mentioned and so it is properly and literally true in Christ alone although it may in a lower and Metaphorical Sence be applied to David who had a just and well grounded Confidence that although God might bring him into great Dangers and Distresses which are called the sorrows of Death and the pains of Hell Psal. 116. 3. yet God would not leave him to Perish in or by them 11. Thou wilt shew me q i. e. Give me an exact and experimental knowledge of it for my own Comfort and the benefit of my People the path of life r i. e. The way that leadeth to Life not to a temporal and mortal Life here for he is supposed to be dead and buried v. 10. But to an endless and immortal and blessed Life after death in the presence of God as it followeth the way to which is by the Resurrection of the Body So the Sence is Thou wilst raise me from the Grave and Conduct me to the place and state of everlasting Felicity * Psal. 21. 6 in thy presence s Heb With or before my Face i. e. In that heavenly
3. I will call upon the LORD who is worthy to be praised so shall I be saved g Or I did call and was saved For the Future Tense is commonly used for that which is Past. And this seems best to agree with the whole Context which is to praise God for mercies already received from mine enemies 4. * Psal. 116. 3 The sorrows of death h i. e. Dangerous and deadly Troubles Or the Bands or Cords of Death which had almost seized me and was putting it's Bands upon me Compare Psal. 73. 4. compassed me and the floods of †Heb. 〈◊〉 ungodly men i Their great multitudes and strength and violent assaults breaking in upon me like a Flood made me afraid 5. The ‖ Or Cords sorrows of hell k Or of the Grave which brought me to the brink of the Grave compassed me about the snares of death prevented me l Had almost taken hold of me ere I was aware of my danger 6. In my distress I called upon the LORD and cryed unto my God he heard my voice out of his * Psal. 11. 4. temple m Either 1. Out of his Sanctuary whence he promised to hear and answer the Prayers of his People which are either made there or directed thither Or 2. Out of his heavenly Habitation which is oft called his Temple See on Psal. 11. 4. and my cry came before him even unto his ears 7. Then the earth shook and trembled n Then God appeared on my behalf in a miraculous and glorious manner and with the great Terror and Confusion of all mine Enemies which is here compared to an Earthquake the foundation also of the hills were moved and shaken o The Earthquake was so deep and violent that it overthrew whole Mountains by the Roots Whereby he designs his lofty and potent Enemies such being oft compared to Mountains as Psal. 46. 3 4. and 144. 5. Isa. 41. 15. c. because he was wroth 8. There went up a smoke †Heb. by his out of his nostrils p As is usual in Persons Transported with great anger and rage He manifested his great displeasure against my Adversaries and fire out of his mouth devoured coals were kindled by †Heb. him it q Which notes the Fervency Constancy and Efficacy of his anger 9. He bowed the heavens r By producing thick and dark Clouds by which the Heavens seem to come down to the Earth also and came * Psal. 144. 5. down s Not by change of place but by the Manifestation of his Presence and Power on my behalf and darkness was under his feet 10. And he rode upon a cherub t Or upon the Cherubims by an Enallage of number that is upon the Angels who are so called Gen. 3. 24. Heb. 9. 5. who are also called God's Chariots Psal. 68. 17. upon which he is said to sit and ride All which is not to be understood grossly but only to note God's using of the Ministry of Angels in raising such Storms and Tempests as are here described and did fly yea * Psal. 104. 3. he did fly upon the wings of the wind u As swiftly as the Wind. He came to my rescue with all speed 11. He made darkness his secret place x Or his hiding Place i. e. He covered himself with dark Clouds from whence he secretly shot at his Enemies as it follows his pavilion round about him were dark waters y i. e. Watry Vapours and thick Clouds as the next Words expound these and thick clouds of the skies 12. At the brightness that was before him z At his glorious and powerful appearance his thick clouds passed a Or passed away i. e. Vanished as this Word is oft taken as Psal. 90. 5 6. Isa. 29. 5. Hab. 3. 10. being dissolved into showers of Hail-stones c. hail stones and coals of fire 13. The LORD also thundered b in the heavens and the Highest gave his voice c i. e. Thunder oft so called The same thing expressed in other Words hailstones and coals of fire q To wit against my Adversaries Thunder is a sign of God's Anger 1 Sam. 2. 10. and 7. 10 14. Yea he sent out his arrows d To wit Lightnings as it is explained in the next Clause and scattered them e To wit mine Enemies Which is sufficiently understood from v. 3. and 17. and from the whole Context and he shot out lightnings and discomfited them 15. Then the channels of waters were seen and the foundations of the world were discovered f By mighty and terrible Earthquakes which overturned the Earth and made it's lower parts uppermost and visible at thy rebuke O LORD at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils 16. * Psal. 144. 7. â—…7 3. He sent g Angels or assistance otherwise from above he took me he drew me out of ‖ Or great waters many waters 17. He delivered me from my strong enemy and from them which hated me h From them that wanted neither Malice nor Power for they were too strong for me 18. They prevented me i They were too cunning for me and had almost surprized me but they could not prevent thee in the day of my calamity but the LORD was my stay 19. * Psal. 118. 5. He brought me forth k Out of my Straits and Difficulties out of the little Caves in which I was shut up and imprisoned also into a large place l Into a state of Freedom and Plenty and Comfort he delivered me because he delighted in me m Or loved me or had a good will to me as this Phrase commonly signifies Whereby he ascribes all his Mercies and Blessings to God's good Pleasure and free Grace as the first spring of them Which he thought fit to Premise lest the following Expressions should seem to savour of boasting of his own Merits which he oft disclaims 20. The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness n As I had a just Cause and made it my Care and Business to deal righteously with God and with Saul and all others so God who hath engaged himself by his Promise to succour and reward them that are such was graciously pleased to own me and to plead my Cause against my unrighteous Enemies And Because I would not deliver my self from my Straits and Miseries by unrigteous means namely by killing Saul as I was advised to do God was pleased to deliver me in a more honourable and effectual manner according to the clanness of my hands o hath he recompensed me n i. e. The innocency of my Actions and carriage towards Saul from whose Blood I kept my hands pure 21. For I have kept the ways of the LORD p I have observed and obeyed his Precepts and made mine own Will and Passions and Interest stoop to them and
to Hope Rom. 8. 20. and to wait and Cry to God Psal. 145. 15. and 147. 9. when I was upon my mothers breasts x i. e. When I was a sucking Child Which may be properly understood 10. * Psal. 71. 6. I was cast upon thee y I was like one forsaken by his Parents and cast wholly upon thy Providence I had no Father upon Earth and my Mother was poor and helpless from the Womb thou art my God from my Mothers belly 11. Be not far from me z To wit as to affection and succour for trouble is near a At hand and ready to swallow me up And therefore if thou dost not speedily deliver me it will be too late Which is an Argument that David oft useth as Psal. 6. 5. and 88. 11. c. for there is †Heb. nâ—…t a 〈◊〉 none to help b Thy help therefore will be the more seasonable because it is most necessary and thou wilâ—…st have the more of Glory by it because it will appear that it is thy work alone 12. Nany bulls c Wicked and violent and potent Enemies for such are so called Ezek. 39. 18. Aâ—…os 4. 1. have compassed me strong bulls of Bashan d i. e. Fat and Lusty as the Cattel there bred were Deut. 3. 13. and 32. 14. and therefore fierce and furious have beset me round 13. They †Heb. 〈◊〉 their 〈◊〉 against me gaped upon me with their mouths e Partly to affright me and principally to tear and devour me as the following Metaphor explains it Otherwise it might be understood of their Crying out with loud and earnest Voyces that he might be Condemned and put to Death as a ravening and a roaring lyon 14. I am poured out like waters f My Heart saileth my Spirits are spent and gone like water which once spilt can never be recovered my very flesh is melted within me and I am become as weak as Water See the like Phrase Ios. 7 5. and Compare â—… Sam. 14. 14. Iob. 14. 11 and all my bones are ‖ Or 〈◊〉 out of joynt g I am as weak and unable to move or help my self and withal as full of Torment as if I were upon a Rack and all my bones were disjoynted Or all my bones are separated one from another as they were in some sort in Christ by the stretching of his Body upon the Cross. my heart h The seat of Life and fountain which supplies Spirits and Vigour to the whole Body is like wax i Melted as it follows through fear and overwhelming grief Comp. Psal. 68. 2. and 97. 5. it is melted in the midst of my bowels 15. My strength is dryed like a potsherd k I have in a manner no more Radical moisture left in me than is in a dry potsheard and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws l Through that excessive thirst and drought See Ioh. 19. 20. and thou hast brought me into the dust of death m Partly by thy Providence delivering me into the power of mine Enemies and partly by thy Terrors in my Mind and Soul 16. For dogs n So he calls his Enemies for their vileness and filthyness for their insatiable Greediness and implacable sury and fierceness against him have compassed me the assembly of the wicked o He explains who he means by Dogs even wicked men who are oft so called not some few of them singly but the whole Company or Congregation of them whereby may be noted either their great Numbers or their consulting and conspiring together as it were in a lawful assembly Which was most litterally and eminently fulfilled in Christ. have inclosed me they pierced my hands and my feet p These words cannot with any probability be applied to David nor to the attempts of his Enemies upon him for their design was not to Torment his Hands or Feet but to take aâ—…ay his Life And if it be pretended that it is to be understood of him in a Metaphorical Sence it must be Considered that it is so uncouth and unusual a Metaphor that those who are of this Mind cannot produce any one example of this Metaphor either in Scripture or in other Authors nor are they able to make any tolerable Sence oâ—… it but are forced to wrest and strain the Words But what need is there of such forâ—…ed Metaphors when this was most properly and literally verâ—…fied in Christ whose Hands and Feet were really pierced and nailed to the Cross according to the manner of the Roman Crucifixions to whom therefore this is applied in the New Testament See Mat. 27. 35. Mark 15. 24. Luk. 23. 33. Ioh. 19. 18. 23. 27. 17. I may tell all my bones q Partly through my Leanness caused by excessive grief which is much more Credible of Christ than of David and partly by my being stretched out upon the Cross. * Maâ—… 15. 〈◊〉 Joh. 19. 37. they look and stare upon me r To wit with Delight and Complacency in my Calamities as this Phrase is used Psal. 35. 21. and 37. 34. and 54 7. and 59. 10. Obad. v. 12. Comp. Luk. 23. 35. 18. They part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture s This also cannot be applied to David without an uncouth and strained Metaphor but was literally fulfilled in Christ Mat. 27. 3â—… Ioh. 19. 24. 19. But be not thou far from me O LORD O my strength hast thee to help me 20. Deliver my soul from the sword t i. e. From the rage and violence of mine Enemies †Heb. from the hand as the next Clause explains it and as the Sword is oft taken in Scripture See Ier. 25. 16. 27. 29. Ezek. 38. 21. †Heb. my only one * Psal. 35. 17. my darling from the power x Heb. the hand Which is oft put for Power and in that Sence is ascribed to a Flame Isa. 47. 14. and to Evil Hab. 2. 9. of the dog u Heb. My one or only One to wit his Soul as he now said which he so calls either because it was very dear to him Or rather because it was left alone and destitute of Friends and Helpers for so this word is used Psal. 25. 16. and 35. 17. 21. Save me from the lyons y Either the Devil that raging and roaring Lyon who did many ways assault and annoy him Or on his Lyon-like Enemies mouth for thou hast heard me z i. e. Answered and delivered me from the horns of the unicorns a A strong and fierce and untameable Wild beast though the learned are not agreed about the kind of it See of it Deut. 33. 17. Iob 39. 9 10 Psal. 92. 10. Isa. 34. 7. and my Latin Synopsis on Numb 23. 22. For it is not worth while to trouble the unlearned Reader with such Disputes 22. * Heb. 2. 12. I will declare b
that Occasion to break forth into Prayer which also he continues in the following Verses Onely as he prays there for justification or Pardon of sin so here he prays for Renovation or Sanctification So his meaning is this Therefore as the Particle and is oft used as hath been shewed in the hidden Part do thou make me to know Wisdom Or thus thoâ—… wouldest have me know for Futures are oft taken Potentially as Psal. 118. 6. and Mat. 12. 25. Compared with Mark 3. 24. and elsewhere And Verbs which signifie making or causing are sometimes understood onely of the Will or Command as Ieroboam is said to make Israel to sin 1 Kings 14. 16. because he Commanded them to do so Hos. 5. 11. This I propose with Submission but if this Sence be admitted the last Clause of the Verse answers very well to the former as it doth in the foregoing and following Verses and every where in these Books For this thou wouldest have me know Answers to that thou willest or desirest and in the hidden part Answers to that in the inward Parts and Wisdom is the same thing for Substance with Truth onely called by another Name wisdom y i. e. True Piety and Integrity which is called Wisdom Iob 28. 28. Psal. 111. 10. and in many other Texts as sin on the contrary is commonly called as it really is Polly And to know Wisdom is here meant of knowing it Practically and Experimentally so as to approve and Love and Practise it as Words oâ—… knowledge are most frequently taken in Scripture and in other Authors 7. * Lev. 14. 6. Numb 19. 18. Purge me with hyssop z Or as with Hyssop the note of similitude being frequently understood As Lepers and other unclean Persons are by the appointment purified by thy use of Hyssop and other things Levit. 14. 6. Numb 19. 6. so do thou cleanse me a most Leprous and polluted Creature by thy Grace and by the Vertue of that Blood of Christ which is signified by those Ceremonial usages and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be * Isa. 1. 18. whiter than snow 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness a Send me glad Tidings of thy Reconciliation to me and by thy Spirit seal the Pardon of my sins to my Conscience which will fill me with joy that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce b That mine Heart which hath been sorely Wounded and Terrified by thy dreadful Message sent by Nathan and by the dismal Sentence of thy Law denounced against such Sinners as I am now by this Occasion brought home to my Conscience may be revived and Comforted by the Manifestation of thy Favour to my Soul 9. Hide thy face from my sins c Do not look upon them with an Eye of indignation and Revenge but forget and forgive them and blot out d See v. 1. all mine iniquities 10. Create in me a clean heart e Seeing I have not onely defiled my self by these actual sins but also have a most filthy Heart corrupted even from my Birth v. 5. which nothing but God's Almighty and Creating Power can purifie do thou Effectually work in me an Holy frame of Heart whereby both my inward filth may be Purged away and I may be prevented from falling into such actual and scandalous sins O God and renew f That good Temper which before this Apostacy I had in some measure be pleased graciously to restore it to me with Advantage ‖ Or a constant Spirit a right g Heb. Firm or Constant or Stedfast that I may not be so easily shaken and cast down by Temptation as I have been but that my Resolution may be more fixed and unmoveable spirit h Temper or Disposition of Soul or Spirit as the Word Spirit is very frequently used in Scripture within me i Heb. In my inward Parts He wisely strikes at the Root and Cause of all sinâ—…ul Actions 11. Cast me not away from thy presence k i. e. From thy Favour and Care and gracious Communion with thee and take not thy holy spirit l Thy sanctifying Spirit by which alone I can have Acquaintance and fellowship with thee from me 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation m The Comfortable Sence of thy saving Grace and Help promised and vouchsafed to me both for my present and everlasting Salvation and ‖ Or lâ—…t 〈◊〉 free Or â—…ly Spirit uphold me uphold me n A weak and frail Creature never able to stand against Corruption and Temptation without thy powerful and gracious Succours with thy free o Or ingenuous or Liberal or Princely Which he seems to oppose to his own base and Illiberal and Dis-ingenuous and servile Spirit which he had discovered in his wicked and unworthy Practises and Desires a better Spirit even the Spirit of God which may free him from the Bondage of sin and inable and inâ—…line him freely and Cheerfully and constantly to run the way of Gods precepts See Exod. 35. 21. Psal. 110. 3. Rom. 8. 15 16. 2 Cor. 3. 17. spirit 13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways p Either 1. Thy Will and their Duty and the way to their eternal Happiness Or rather 2. The manner of thy dealing with Sinners whom thou dost so severely Chastise for their sins and yet so graciously receive to Mercy upon their Repentances Both which I will shew them in my own Example which I will declare unto them although I shall therewith publish my own shame which I shall most willingly bear that I may in some measure repair the Injury which I have done to thee and others by my publick and scandalous Crimes and sinners shall be converted unto thee q And I perswade my self that my Indeavours shall not want Success and that either thy Justice and severity or thy Goodness and Clemency will bring them to Repentance 14. Deliver me from †Heb. Bloods blood-guiltiness r Heb. from Bloods because he had been the Cause of the Death not onely of uriah but of others of the Lords people with him 2 Sam. 11. 17. O God thou God of my salvation and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness s Either 1. Thy Faithfulness in making good thy Promises Or rather 2. Thy Clemency and Goodness as that Word is frequently used 15. O LORD open thou my lips t Which are shut with shame and Grief and Horror Restore unto me the Opportunity and Ability and Liberty which formerly I had of speaking to thee with Freedom and Boldness and Familiarity as this Phrase signifies Ezek. 3. 27. and 24. 27. Eph. 6. 19 20. and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise 16. For * 〈◊〉 50. 8. 〈◊〉 1. 11. â—…er â—… 22. Hos. 6. 6. thou desirest not sacrifice u Which is not to be understood absolutely and Universally as appears from v. 19. but
representation of Gods mercies and judgments he invites all nations to an acknowledgment of the true God to praise him for his favours and to tremble at his judgments which is their just duty and reasonable service 1. O * Psal. 106. 1. 118. 1. and 136. 1. Give thanks unto the LORD for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever a This whole verse occurs also Psal. 106. 1. Only there the address is made to the Israelites and here to all mankind 2. Let the redeemed of the LORD b All they whom God hath redeemed as it is expressed in the next clause or delivered from all the following calamities say so c To wit that the Lord is good c. as it is v. 1. whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy d Of such as had taken them Captives either in Battel or in their Travels to which they were led by their own inclinations or by their necessary occasions 3. And gathered them out of the lands from the east and from the west from the north e Bringing them into their own land out of the several quarters of the World into which they had been carrled and †Heb. from the Sea from the south f Heb. from the Sea Which in Scripture commonly notes the West because the great Mid-land Sea was on the West of Canaan but here as it appears from the opposition of this to the North it notes the South so called from the Red-sea which was on the South and which is sometimes called the Sea simply and without addition as Psal. 72. 8. 114. 3. 4. They wandred in the wilderness g Mistaking their way which they might easily do in the vast and sandy desarts of Arabia in a solitary way they found no city to dwell in h Or rather no City or Town inhabited where they might refresh themselves as Travellers used to do for they did not go into the Wilderness to seek for a City or Habitation there but only intended to pass through it as appears by the context and by the nature of the thing 5. Hungry and thirsty their Soul fainted in them i Partly for want of necessary Provisions and partly through anguish of spirit 6. Then they cryed unto the LORD k Heb. Unto Iehovah to the true God For the Heathens of whom he speaks had many of them some knowledge of the true God and did in their manner worship him with and in their Idols and especially in their distresses when they discovered the impotency of their Idols they did direct their Prayers immediately to the true God of which there are many instances of Heathen Writers in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses l In answer to their Prayers which he did not because their Prayers were acceptable to him but partly out of the benignity and compassionateness of his nature to all his creatures partly to encourage and preserve the use of Prayer and Religion among the Gentiles and to oblige them to a more diligent search after the knowledge of the true God and of his Worship and partly to give his own People assurance of his great readiness to hear and answer all those Prayers which with upright hearts they offered to him according to his word 7. And he led them forth m Out of the Wilderness where they had lost their way v. 4. by the right way that they might go to a city of habitation n See before on v. 4. 8. †Heb. let them 〈◊〉 to the LORD his goodness So Gr. Oh that men would praise o Heb. Let them praise Or They shall praise i. e. They are highly obliged to praise the LORD for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men p Not only to his peculiar people but to all mankind to whom he is very kind and bountiful 9. For he satisfieth the longing q Either the thirsty opposed to the hungry here following or the hungry as this general phrase is limited and expounded in the next clause soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness r With the fruits of his goodness with good things Psal. 103. 5. with food and gladness Act. 14. 17. with that good which they wanted and desired 10. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death s In a disconsolate and foâ—…lorn condition in dark prisons or dungeons being bound in affliction and iron t With afflicting or grievous irons Or in the cords of affliction as they are called Iob 36. 8. and particularly in iron fetters 11. Because they rebelled against the words of God u Against Gods commands made known either 1. by his written Word delivered to the Jews of which the Gentiles were not ignorant which therefore they should have diligently inquired after and searched into as the Queen of Sheba came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and as divers of the Heathens travelled into very remote parts to gain a more perfect knowledge of the Arts and Sciences which will justly be laid to their charge and condemn them for their neglect of that Divine wisdom which was treasured up in the holy Scriptures Or 2. by the Prophets who some times were sent to the Gentiles Or 3. by the Law and light of Nature and by it's Interpreters their wise and learned Philosophers who delivered many excellent rules and precepts of piety and virtue which were sufficient though not for their salvation without Christ yet for the conduct of their lives in a great measure and to leave them without excuse for their gross disobedience thereunto and contemned the counsel of the most High 12. Therefore he brought down their heart x The pride and rebellion and obstinacy of their hearts with labour y Or with trouble or troubles they fell down and there was none to help z They fell into their enemies hands and into hopeless and remediless miseries 13. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses 14. * Psal. 68. 6. 146. 7. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and brake their bands in sunder 15. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men 16. For he hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron in sunder a He restored them to liberty in spight of all impedimen's and oppositions 17. ‖ Psal. 38. 5. Fools b i. e. Wicked men whom he calls fools because of the mischiefs which through their own folly they bring upon themselves †Heb. from the way of because of their transgression c Heb. because of the way of their transgression i. e. their custom and course of sinning as the word way is used Psal. 1. 1. Prov.
God the sad effects whereof they daily see in the destruction of their Brethren in iniquity yet they will boldly and madly run themselves into the same miseries Both ways the sense comes to the same 18. And u Or But or Yet or So for all these ways this Particle is used Which is more fully expressed in the next Verse The destruction which they design to others falls upon themselves Their blood answers to their feet v. 16. belongs to the sanâ—…e Persons they lay wait for their own blood x they lurk privily for their lives 19. So y As is expressed both in the foregoing and following words are the ways z The actions and courses which are so in the tendency and event of them of every one that is greedy of gain a That seeks gain by unrighteous and wicked practices which b Either which greediness or rather which gain by comparing the last words taketh away the lives of the owners thereof c Brings sudden and violent death upon those who had made themselves Masters and Possessors of such gain 20. †Heb Wisdom that is excellent Wisdom * Ch. 8. 1. Wisdom crieth d Having expressed the counsels and invitations of folly and of wicked men he now declareth the voice of Wisdom By the name of Wisdom or Wisdoms he seems to understand the wisdom for counsel of God revealed to the Sons of men by his Word Which he calls Wisdoms here as also Prov. 9. 1. either to note the excellency of this Wisdom beyond all other as the greatest and chief of Beasts is called Bebemoth or Beasts Job 40. 15. or because it consisteth of a multitude of wise Precepts or because it hath been delivered to Mankind at sundry times and in divers manners and by many Persons Prophets and Apostles and especially by the Son of God who is called the Wisdom of God Luke 11. 49. And this wisdom is said to cry with a loud voice to intimate both God's earnestness in inviting sinners to repentance and their inexcusableness if they do not hear such loud cries without e Or abroad or in the streets or open places as many others render it and as it is in the next Clause Not in corners and privily as Seducers perswade men to error or wickedness being afraid of the light but openly and publickly before all the World she uttereth her voice in the streets 21. She crieth in the chief place of concourse f Where there is probability of most success in the opening of the gates g Where Magistrates sit in Judgment and People are assembled So it crieth both to the wise and to the unwise as Paul preached Rom. 1. 14. in the city h Not onely in the gate but in every part of the City Or in the Cities the Singular number being put for the Plural she uttereth her words saying 22. How long ye simple ones i Ye ignorant and easie and credulous Persons who are so soon cheated by the World and the Devil and do not understand your own Interest will ye love simplicity k Being unwilling to part with it or to be made wiser and the scorners l That scoff at all Religion and contemn the Word and faithful Ministers of God delight in their scorning and fools m Willful and wicked fools as Prov. 17. 10. 26. 4. hate knowledg 23. Turn ye n From your evil courses unto me at my reproof o Upon this admonition here given to you behold I will pour out p If you will do so I will freely and abundantly impart unto you my * Isa. 44. 3. spirit q Either my mind as Spirit is taken Psal. 77. 6. Prov. 29. 11. or the gifts and graces of my Spirit which he hath promised to such Persons Luke 11. 13. Iohn 4. 14. 7. 39. unto you I will make known my words unto you r By my Spirit I will cause you truly and savingly to understand my word which is hid from others 2 Cor. 4. 3. 24. * Isa. 65. 2. 66. 4. Jer. 7. 13. Ezek. 8. 18. Because I have called s By my Ministers and by my Judgments upon you or others and by the motions of my Spirit and your own Consciences and ye refused I have stretched out my hand t Offering Grace and Mercy to you and earnestly inviting you to accept of it Lest through your deafness or distance from me you should not hear I have beckned to you with my hand which this Phrase signifies Isa. 13. 2. 65. 2. and no man regarded u Few or none complied with it 25. But ye * Psa. 107. 11. Luk. 7. 30. have set at naught x Or despised or made void resisted its power and authority all my counsel y Either 1. my design of doing sinners good which you have made of none effect to your selves Or 2. my commands and counsels which suits better with the next Clause and would none of my reproof 26. I also z As you have scoffed at me and my ways will laugh at your calamity a i. e. destroy you without pity and take pleasure therein Comp. Revel 18. 20. I will mock when your fear b The misery which you do or should fear The act for the object as Isa. 8. 12. and elsewhere cometh 27. When your fear cometh as desolation c As some desolating Sword or Judgment which quickly over-runs a whole Countrey and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind d Which instantly spreadeth it self from place to place with great and irresistible violence and doing much mischief when distress and anguish cometh upon you 28. * Job 27. 9. Isa. 1. 15. Jer. 11. 11. 14. 12. Mic. 3. 4. Zech. 7. 13. Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early e Or in the Morning as the word properly signifies and is here rendred by others as soon as their calamity comes or rather with great diligence and servency as this Phrase commonly signifies but they shall not find me f Because they do not seek me by choice and with sincerity but onely by constraint and that they may be freed from their miseries 29. For that they hated knowledg f To wit the practical knowledge of God and of their duty to him as it is explained in the following Clause and did not chuse g Not heartily approve of it and love it but onely made some shew of it the fear of the LORD 30. They would none of my counsel h They refused to be guided by my Counsels or Precepts they despised all my reproof 31. Therefore * shall they eat of the fruit of their own way c and be filled with their own devices k With the fruits or effects of their wicked devices What was sweet in their Mouths shall be bitter in
supposed to be such by reason of that severe Law against these practices in Israelitish women Deut. 23. 17. or are justly reputed Heathens as being degenerate Israelites which are oft called Strangers as hath been noted in the book of the Psalms and partly because conversation with such Persons is forbidden to men as those Israelites which were not Levites are called Strangers Numb 1. 51. in respect of the Holy things which they were prohibited to touch and forbidden Fire is called strange fire Num. 3. 4. * Ch. 5. 3. 6. 24 7. 5. even from the stranger which flattereth with her words d Which useth all arts and ways to allure men to unchast actions one kind being put for all the rest 17. Which forsaketh * Jer. 3. 4. the guide of her youth e To wit her Husband whom she took to be her guide and governour and that in her youth which circumstance is added to aggravate her sin and shame because love is commonly most sincere and servent between an Husband and Wife of youth as they are for that reason emphatically called Prov. 5. 18. Isa. 54. 6. Ioel. 1. 8. Mal. 2. 14 15. and forgetteth f i. e. Violateth or breaketh as that word is commonly used in a practical sense the covenant of her God g The marriage Covenant so called partly because God is the Author and Institutor of that society and mutual Obligation and partly because God is called to be the witness and judge of that solemn Promise and Covenant and the avenger of the transgression of it 18. For her house inclineth unto death h Conversation with her which was most free and usual in her own House is the ready and certain way to Death which it brings many ways by wasting a Mans Vital spirits and shortning his life by exposing him to many and dangerous Diseases which Physicians have declared and proved to be the effects of inordinate lust as also to the fury of jealous Husbands or Friends and sometimes to the Sword of Civil Justice and undoubtedly without repentance to God's wrath and the second Death This is here mentioned as one great priviledge and blessed fruit of Wisdom and her paths unto the dead i Or as the Chaldee and some others render it unto the Giants to wit those rebellious Giants Gen. 6. 4. or as others unto the damned or unto Hâ—…ll See for this word Iob 7. 9. Psal. 88. 11. Prov. 9. 18. 21. 16. 19. None k Few or none An hyperbolical expression used Isa. 64. 7. that go unto her l That go to her House or that lie with her as this Phrase is used Gen. 16. 4. 30. 4. Ios. 2. 3. return again m From her and from this wickedness unto God Adulterers and Whoremongers are very rarely brought to repentance but are generally hardned by the power and deceitfulness of that Lust and by God's just judgment peculiarly inflicted upon such Persons Heb. 13. 4. He alludes to the nature of corporal death from which no man can without a Miracle return to this life neither take they hold of the paths of life n Of those courses which lead to true and eternal Life 20. That thou mayest o This depends upon v. 11 and is mentioned as another happy fruit of Wisdom the former being declared from v. 12. to this Verse walk in the way of good men p Follow the counsels and examples of the godly Whereby he intimates that it is not sufficient to abstain from evil company and practices but that we must choose the conversation of good men and keep the path of the righteous 21. * Psal. 37. 29. For the upright shall dwell in the land q Shall have a peaceable and comfortable abode in the Land oâ—… Canaan which also is a type of their everlasting felicity See Psal. 37. 3 9 18 29. and the perfect shall remain in it 22. * Job 18. 17. Psal. 104. 35. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the transgressors shall be ‖ Or pluckt up rooted out of it CHAP. III. 1. MY son forget not my law a My doctrine or counsel or the Law of God which might be called his Law as the Gospel is called Paul's Gospel 2 Tim. 2. 8. because delivered by them * Deut. 8 â—… 30. 16 20. but let thine heart keep my commandments b By diligent meditation and hearty affection 2. For * Chap. 4. 10 22. length of days and †Heb. years of life long life and peace shall they add to thee c God will add these Blessings which he hath promised to the obedient Deut. 8. 18. 30. 20. 1 Tim. 4. 8. 3. Let not mercy and truth d Either 1. God's Mercy and Truth So it is a promise God's Mercy and Truth shall not forsake thee Or rather 2. That Mercy and Truth which is Man's duty So it is a Precept which seems most probable both from the form of the Hebrew Phrase and from the following words of this Verse which are plainly preceptive and from the promise annex'd to the performance of this Precept in the next Verse Mercy and Truth are frequently joyned together as they are in God as Psal. 25. 10. 57. 3. c. or in men as Prov. 16. 6. 20. 28. Hos. 4. 1. and here Mercy notes all that benignity clemency charity and readiness to do good freely to others Truth or Faithfulness respects all those duties which we owe to God or Man to which we have special Obligation from the Rules of Justice forsake thee * Exod. 13. 9. Deut. 6. 8. Ch. 6. 21. 7. 3. bind them about thy neck e Like a Chain wherewith Persons adorn their Necks as it is expressed Chap. 1. 9. which is fastned there and not easily lost which also is continually in ones view write them upon the table of thme heart f Either 1. upon those Tablets which the Iews are said to have worn upon their Breasts which are always in sight So he alludes to Deut. 6. 8. Or 2. in thy mind and heart in which all God's commands are to be received and engraven as is oft required in this Book and every where So the Table of the Heart seems to be opposed to the Tables of Stone in which God's Law was written as it is Ier. 31. 33. 2 Cor. 3. 3. 4. * Psal. 111. 10. So shalt thou find favour g i. e. Obtain acceptance or be gracious and amiable to them and ‖ Or good success good understanding h Whereby to know thy duty and to discern between good and evil The serious practice of Religion 〈◊〉 an excellent mean to get a solid understanding of it as on the contrary a vitious life doth exceedingly debase and darken the mind and keep men from the knowledge of Truth which not onely Scripture but even Heathen
and countenance as Psal. 10. 4. In whose heart Pride rules is an abomination to the LORD though hand join in hand n Though they have many Friends and Assistants See the same Phrase Prov. 11. 21. he shall not be †〈…〉 unpunished 6 By mercy and truth o Either 1. By Gods Mercy or Grace and by his truth in performing his Promises made to sinners in Christ. Or 2 By mens Mercy and Truth as those very words are jointly used Prov. 3. 3. 20 28. and elsewhere and as in the following clause the fear of the Lord is a Grace or Disposition in men by a merciful and just and faithful frame of heart and course of Life which are here opposed to Sacrifices as mercy is Hos. 6. 6. by which the hypocritical Jews expected to obtain the expiation of their sins iniquity is †〈…〉 purged p Not meritoriously but instrumentally as they qualifie a man to offer up acceptable Prayers to God for the Pardon of his sins and to receive and apply to himself that pardon which Christ by his Blood hath purchased for all sincere Believers who are filled with Mercy and Truth and other Graces and by the fear of the LORD q By a filial Reverence or Respect unto God and by an holy fear of offending God and by a dread of Gods judgments men depart from evil r They are kept from abusing pardoning Mercy and from returning to Folly or Wickedness So he sheweth that Justification and Sanctification are constant and inseparable Companions 7 When a mans ways please the LORD he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him s By disposing their hearts to kindness towards him 8 * Psal. 37. 16. Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right t This was in effect said before Prov. 15. 16. and is here repeated partly because of the great importance and usefulness of this truth and partly because men are very hardly brought to a serious belief of it 9 * Ver. 1. A mans heart deviseth his way u Considers and proposeth to himself what he will do but the LORD directeth his steps x Over-ruleth and disposeth all their designs and actions as he pleaseth and not as they list 10 †Heb. diviâ—… A divine sentence y Heb. Divination which is somtimes taken in a good sense for Prudence as it is Isa. 3. 2. A great sagacity and piercing judgment to discern dubious and difficult cases is z Or should be for the verb is wanting in the Hebrew and this may be supplied as well as is And he seems not so much to speak of the matter of Fact as if it were thus in all Kings which is notoriously and confessedly untrue as of the duty of Kings in whom Wisdom is a necessary qualification For thus the two following Proverbs concerning Kings v. 12. 13. must be understood otherwise they are repugnant to common Experience in the lips of the king a Either 1. Of wise Kings who onely are worthy of that Name and Office King being here put for a wise King as a Name is put for a good Name and a Woman for a good Woman Eccles. 7. 28. and then this is true in fact as it was in David 2 Sam. 14. 17. and in Solomon 1 Kin. 3. 28. Or 2. Of Kings in general in the sense before given for seeing the word is generally expressed without any limitation both here and v 12 13. it may seem presumption to confine it to those few Kings which are or were wise and good * Chap. 20. 8. his mouth transgresseth not b Or Shall or should not transgress or go beyond the bounds of Religion and Justice in judgment 11 * Lev. 19. 36. Chap. 11. 1. A just weight and balance are the LORD's c Are Gods work as it follows made by his direction and appointment so as no man can corrupt or alter them without violating Gods Rights and Authority and incurring his displeasure †Heb. all the stones all the weights d Heb. the stones which they then used as weights See on Prov. 11. 1. of the bag are his work 12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness e They should not onely abstain from all wicked practices but abhor them both in their own persons and in all their servants and subjects It is too plain that he speaks not of the common practice but of the duty of Kings as on v. 10. And such affirmative expressions are oft used in Scripture to express mens duty onely as 1 Cor. 6. 19. your body is i. e. should be the temple c. and 7. 32. careth c. i. e. ought to care for * Ch. 20. 28. 25. 5. 29. 14. the throne is established by righteousness f And which is implied weakned and sometimes overthrown by unrighteousness and therefore this is necessary for their own security and happiness 13 Righteous lips are the delight of kings g All wise and good Kings do and all Kings should delight in employing such Counsellors Judges and Officers under them as are just and faithful in their Counsels and Sentences and Actions because such bring great honour and advantage to them and they love him that speaketh right 14 * Ch. 19. 12 The wrath of a king is as messengers of death h Is as terrible as if many Messengers were sent to denounce the sentence of death and to execute it but a wise man will pacifie it i Will use all prudent and lawful means to pacifie it 15 In the light of the kings countenance is life k His Favour and smiling Countenance is most sweet and refreshing especially to him that was under a Sentence of death v. 14. and * Ch. 19. 12. his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain l As acceptable as those clouds which brings the latter Rain whereby the fruits are filled and ripened a little before the Harvest of which see Deut. 11. 14. Iob 29. 23. Iam. 5. 7. 16 * Ch. 8. 11 19. How much better m It is inexpressibly and unconceivably better as this Phrase implies Psal. 31. 19. 36. 7. 92. 5. c. is it to get wisdom than gold n Because it brings a man more certain and compleat and lasting comfort and advantage and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver 17 The high-way of the upright o Their common road in which they constantly purpose and desire and customarily use to walk although somtimes through frailty or temptation they slip into the by-paths of sin is to depart from evil p From the evil of sin and consequently from the evil of punishment he that keepeth his way q That takes heed to walk in that high-way preserveth his soul r From that mischief which befalls those that walk
Book Ch. 13. 9. 24. 20. as also Iob 21. 17. whereas the Plowing of the wicked is a Phrase not elsewhere used And this seems best to agree with the Context for by their Lamp he seems to understand all their pomp and glory that worldly greatness and Prosperity which is the Fewel of their Pride and therefore is most fitly joyned with it of the wicked is sin l It is by them turned into sin and made the occasion of much wickedness The whole Verse may be thus rendred An high look and a proud Heart which is the light or glory of the wicked i. e. wherein they glory esteeming it magnanimity or gallantry of spirit is sin i. e. is a great and grievous sin And in this manner the learned Mercer renders the Verse save onely that he translates the Hebrew word Nir the Plowing 5 * Chap. 10. 4 The thoughts of the diligent m Who carefully and industriously prosecutes what he hath wisely contrived and resolved tend onely to plenteousness but of every one that is hasty n Who manageth his affairs rashly without due consideration onely to want o Is likely to bring himself to po verty 6 * Ch. 10. 2. 13. 11. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue p By false-witness-bearing or by any other false or deceitful words or actions whereby many men get riches is a vanity tossed to and fro q Is like the Chaff or Smoak driven away by the Wind it is neither satisfactory nor durable but quickly vanisheth away as hath been frequently observed of Estates ill-gotten of them that seek death r Not designedly but eventually that take those courses which will bring Death or Destruction upon them or theirs 7 The robbery of the wicked shall †Heb. saw them or dwell with them destroy them s The injury which they do to others shall either by God or men be returned upon their own heads because they refuse to do judgment t They wilfully and obstinatly give up themselves to unrighteous practices 8 The way u The course of his life of man x Of every Man of Man by Nature and in his corrupt estate of a wicked or impure man to whom the pure is opposed in the next Clause is froward and strange y Estranged from God and from Man's primitive Integrity and from the rule of his actions Reason and Scripture in which respects wicked men are called strangers Psal. 54. 3. Ezek. 44. 7. and elsewhere but as for the pure his work is right z But he whose Heart is pure and upright his conversation is agreeable to it 9 * Vers. 19. Ch. 19. 13. 25. 24. 27. 15. It is better to dwell a To wit alone in quietness as appears from the opposite clause in a corner of the house top b Of the roof of the House which in those Countries was flat and plain and habitable but was exposed to all the injuries of the Weather than with †Heb. a woman of contentions a brawling woman in a †Heb. an house of Society wide house c Or in a common House or an House of Society where Husband and Wise live together or which is capable of many Friends or Companies 10 * Jam. 4. 5. The soul of the wicked desireth evil d His Heart is fully and earnestly set in him as it is expressed Eccles. 8. 11. to do evil to work wickedness to do mischief to others to satisfie his own lusts though it be with injury of others his neighbour †Heb. is not favoured findeth no favour in his eyes e If he either dissuade him from his wickedness or stand in the way of his Lusts. He spares neither friend nor foe 11 * When the scorner is punished the simple f The honest or plainhearted man as Chap. 19. 25. where this whole verse for the substance of it is contained and explained is made wise and when the wise is instructed g Or prospers as this word is used Prov. 17. 8. and elsewhere So the sense of the verse is The simple learn Wisdom both from the punishment of wicked men and from the prosperity of good men he receiveth knowledg 12 The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked h He looketh through its present Power and Glory which dazleth the Eyes of others unto that ruine to which it is designed but i Or now or that this being the thing which he wisely considereth God overthroweth k Or will overthrow in his due time though for a season he bear with them the wicked for their wickedness 13 * Mat. 18. 30 c. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor l When they cry out by reason of Oppression or want and beg relief from him he also shall cry himself m Unto God or Men in his straits which God will bring upon him but shall not be heard 14 * Ch. 17. 8. 18. 16. A gift n To a person loffended and angry with us as the following words shew in secret o Which makes it more acceptable for gifts openly given savour of ostentation in the giver and cause some shame or contempt to the receiver pacifieth anger and a reward in the bosom p Secretly conveyed into his bosom See on Prov. 17. 8. 18. 16. strong wrath 15 It is joy to the just q The sense is either 1. He is highly pleased and delighted with it Or 2. He reapeth much comfort and benefit by it which is opposed to the following destruction joy is put for matter or cause of joy to do judgment r To do what is just or good for this is opposed to working of iniquity but destruction s Or as others render it terror or horror opposite to joy shall be to the workers of iniquity 16 The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding t That forsaketh the rule of Gods word and walketh after his own Lusts. shall †Heb. rest remain in the congregation of the dead u Shall without Repentance be condemned to eternal Death or Damnation 17 He that loveth ‖ Or sport pleasure x That gives up himself to the pursuit and enjoyment of sensual and immoderate pleasures shall be a poor man y Takes the ready course to Poverty he that loveth wine and oil z Which are put for all delicious fare and luxurious feasting for Wine and Oil were much used in Feasts in those parts shall not be rich 18 * Ch. 11. 8. The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous a The wicked shall be brought into those troubles which were either threatned by God or designed by wicked men against the righteous and by that means as by a ransom the righteous shall be delivered Thus
Achan was a ransom for Israel Ios. 7. 26. and Haman for Mordecai and the transgressor for the upright 19 * Ver. 9. It is better to dwell †Heb. in the land of the desert in the wilderness than b Understand in a wide house as it is expressed above v. 9. and as the opposition here requires with a contentious and angry woman 20 * Psal. 112. 3. There is a treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise c Wise-men lay up all necessary and desirable treasures for their own use and for their Children and Families Oil is particularly mentioned partly because that was a considerable part of their Wealth and Treasures in those Countries of which see Deut. 7. 13. 28. 40 51. Iudg. 9. 9. Mic. 6. 15. c. and partly to shew that his Providence reached not only to necessaries but even to matters of just and lawful delight but a foolish man spendeth it up 21 He that followeth after d That fervently desires and diligently and constantly endeavours to attain to them for such shall and will certainly obtain them righteousness and mercy e Living in the constant exercise of these virtues findeth f Shall obtain from God what is right and due to him either from God by vertue of his gracious promise or from men whose hearts God will dispose to deal justly and kindly with him life righteousness and honour 22 * Eccl. â—… 14. c. A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty g Wisdom and policy is oft times more considerable and powerful than strength and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof h The strongest forts to which the Citizens trust most for their defence 23 * Ch. 12. 13. 18. 21. Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue i From offensive and provoking speeches keepeth his soul k His person from troubles l Which a licentious and abusive Tongue frequently brings upon a man 24. Proud and haughty scorner is his name m Instead of that respect and glory which he seeks by such courses he shall be branded with the Title and Imputation of an arrogant and scornful person which is most contemptible and hateful to Mankind who dealeth †Heb. in the wrath of pride in proud wrath n Who in the conduct of his affairs and dealings in the world is not governed by Reason and Justice but by his own Pride and Passions 25 * Ch. 13. 4. The desire of the slothful killeth him o Either 1. Tormenteth him almost to death whilst he passionately desires that which he sees he shall not enjoy and will not take pains to procure Or 2. Exposeth him to extream want and so to death or so such wicked courses for the supply of his wants as bring him to an untimely death for his hands refuse to labour 26 He p The slothful man mentioned in the last verse But because the Verses in this Book are for the most part independent one upon another this clause is and may be otherwise rendred There is that coveteth c. Or the wicked which may be understood from the opposition of the righteous in the next clause coveteth c. coveteth greedily all the day long q Spends his whole time in vain and lazy desires but will not labour to get any thing either to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or to give to others but the * Psal. 1129. righteous giveth and spareth not r By Gods Blessing upon his 〈◊〉 he procures enough not onely for his own support but also for the liberal relief of others 27 * Psal. 50. 9. Ch. 15. 8. Isa. 66. 3. Jer. 6. 20. Amos 5. 22. The sacrifice s All the most glorious and costly services which they offer to God of the wicked is abomination t God rejects and abhors them because they are offered by such men and in such manner as God justly abhors how much more when u Or because as all the antient Translators render it the Hebrew particle aph being expletive Or even because so the following clause gives the reason of the former Proposition he bringeth it †Heb. in wickedness with a wicked mind x With an hypocritical and impenitent Heart or with a bad design not in obedience to Gods Command and with respect to his honour and service but either to cover or countenance or promote some wicked intention or course which notwithstanding all his professions of Religion he is resolved to prosecute 28 * Ch. 19. 5 â—… †Heb. 〈◊〉 of lies A false witness y Heb. A witness of lies one who is forward to swear or speak false things or such things as he hath not heard nor learned from others nor seen but devised in his own heart shall perish z Shall be severely punished either by God or Men and shall be confounded and silenced because none will for the future regard or credit his testimony but the man that heareth a He who hears before he speaks and witnesseth nothing but what he hath heard or seen and knows to be true speaketh constantly b Doth not contradict himself but always affirmeth the same thing Or as most other Interpreters render the words speaketh or may speak dare speak freely and boldly for ever when lyars are cut off he lives and is in a capacity of speaking and bearing witness again and again as occasion requires as long as he lives and his Testimony will be received 29 A wicked man hardeneth his face c Continueth in evil courses with obstinacy and impudence in spight of all the Commands of God or Counsels of Men. but as for the upright he ‖ Or considereth directeth his way d He ordereth his steps aright and if at any time he goeth away he doth not add Rebellion to his sin nor persist in his errour but considereth his ways and turneth his feet to Gods testimonies as David did Psal. 119. 59. Or considereth his way remembring with grief and shame what he hath done and taking better heed to himself for the future 30 * 〈◊〉 9. 23. There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD e Which can prevail against the Counsel and Will of God 31 * 〈◊〉 20. 7. 〈◊〉 17. The horse f Under which particular all warlike provisions are comprehended is prepared against the day of battle but * 〈◊〉 3. 8. ‖ 〈◊〉 â—…ictory safety is of the LORD g The success of the battle depends not upon any humane strength or art but meerly upon Gods Providence who gives the victory when and to whom he pleaseth and oft times to those that have least reason to expect it Compare Eccl. 9. 11. CHAP. XXII 1 A * 〈◊〉 7. 1. good name a Heb. name put for good name as Eccl. 7. 2. the word good being
for relief but in vain O LORD I am oppressed x By my Disease which like a Serjeant hath seized upon me and is haling me to the Prison of the Grave ‖ Or ease me undertake for me y Stop the Execution and rescue me out of his hands 15. What shall I say z I want words sufficient to express my deep Sense of God's dealings with me He did foretel it by his Word and effect it by his Hand This Clause and Verse is Either 1. a Continuance of his Complaint hitherto described God hath passed this Sentence upon me and hath also put it in Execution and to Him I must submit my self Or 2. he hath both spoken unto me and himself have done it a Transition or entrance into the Thanksgiving which is undoubtedly contained in the following Verses So the Sence is God hath sent a gracious Message to me by his Prophet concerning the prolongation of my Life and he I doubt not will make good his Word therein And this Sence seems the more probable 1. Because here is mention of his years to come whereas in his sickness he expected not to live to the end of a day 2. Because the Chaldee Paraphrast and the Seventy and Syriack and Arabick Interpreters expound it so in their Versions 3. Because this suits best with the context and coherence of this Verse both with the former and with the following Verse For as he endeth the foregoing Verse with a Prayer to God for longer Life so in this Verse he relates God's gracious Answer to his Prayer And if this Verse be thus understood the next Verse hath a very convenient Connexion with this whereas it seems to be very abrupt and incoherent if the Thanksgiving begin there I shall go softly b I shall walk in the course of my Life Either 1. humbly with all humble thankfulness to God for conferring so great a Favour upon so unworthy a Person Or 2. easily and peaceably with leasure not like one affrighted or running away from his Enemy Or 3. by slow and gentle paces as Men commonly spin out their Days by degrees unto a just length which is not unfitly opposed to his former state and time of Sickness wherein his days were swifter than a weavers shuttle and than a post as Iob complained upon the same occasion Iob 7. 6. 9. 25. and were cut off like a weavers Web as he complained ver 12. all my years in the bitterness of my soul c Arising from the remembrance of that desperate Condition from which God had delivered me For great dangers though past are oft-times very terrible to those that seriously reflect upon them But the Words may be rendred upon or after as this particle is rendred Isa. 18. 4. the bitterness of my soul after the deliverance from this bitter and dangerous Disease Which may be compared with ver 17. where he saith For or after peace I had great bitterness as here he presageth and assureth himself of the contrary That he should have Peace after his great bitterness The Chaldee Paraphrast renders the Words Because of my deliverance from bitterness of Soul bitterness being put for deliverance from bitterness as five is put for lack of five as we render it Gen. 18. 28. and fat for want of fat Psal. 109. 24. and fruits for want of fruits Lam. 4. 9. And other such like Defects there are in the Hebrew which is a very concise Language 16 O Lord by these things d By vertue of thy gracious Word or Promise and powerful Work by thy Promises and thy performances of them mentioned in the foregoing Verse This place may be explained by comparing it with Deut. 8. 3. Man doth not live by bread but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. The Sence is Not I onely but all Men do receive and recover and hold their Lives by thy Favour and the Word of thy Power And therefore it is not strange That one Word of God hath brought me back from the very jaws of Death men live and in all these things is the life of my spirit e And as it is with other Men so hath it been with me in a special manner for In these above all other things is the life of my Spirit or Soul i. e. either the comfort which is sometimes called Life of my Spirit or rather That Life which is in my Body from my Spirit or Soul united to it so ‖ Or hast recovered me and made me forer c. wilt thou recover me and make me to live f Or and or for thou hast recovered me c. to wit by these Things 17. Behold ‖ Or on my peace came great bitterness for peace I had great bitterness g My Health and Prosperity was quickly changed into bitter Sickness and Affliction Or as others render it My great bitterness was untâ—… peace was turned into Prosperity or became the occasion of my safety and further advantages For that drove me to my prayers and my prayers prevailed with God for a gracious Answer and the prolonging of my Life but †Heb abou hast loved my soul from the pit thou hast in love to my soul h In kindness to me the soul being oft put for the Man This is an emphatical Circumstance For sometimes God prolongs mens dayes in anger and in order to their greater misery delivered it from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back i Thou hast forgiven those sins which brought this evil upon me and upon that account hast removed the punishment of them which sheweth that thou didst this in love to me The phrase is borrowed from the custome of men who when they would accurately see and observe any thing set it before their faces and when they desire and resolve not to look upon any thing turn their backs upon it or cast it behind them 18 For k In this and the following verse he declares Gods design in delivering him that he might praise him in his Church which if he had died he could not have done the †Heb. Hell * Psal. 115. 17. grave cannot praise thee e death cannot celebrate thee they that go down into the pit connot hope for thy truth m They cannot expect nor receive the accomplishment of thy promised goodness in the Land of the Living l The dead are not capable of glorifying thy Name among men upon Earth which I desire and determine to do See the like expressions Psal. 6. 5. and 30. 9. and 88 10. c. The Grave is put for the persons lodged in it by a Metonymy 19 The Living the living he shall praise thee n They are especially obliged to it and they onely have this priviledge as I do this day the father to the children shall make known thy truth o They shall not
it was with the first child but the rest were reputed his own 9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his and it came to pass when he went in unto his brothers wife that he spilled it on the ground lest that he should give seed unto his brother l Two things are here noted 1. The sin it self which is here particularly described by the Holy Ghost that men might be instructed concerning the nature and the great evil of this sin of self-pollution which is such that it brought upon the actor of it the extraordinary vengeance of God and which is condemned not onely by Scripture but even by the light of Nature and the judgment of heathens who have expresly censured it as a great sin and as a kind of murder Of which see my Latin Synopsis Whereby we may sufficiently understand how wicked and abominable a practice this is amongst Christians and in the light of the Gospel which lays greater and stricter obligations upon us to purity and severely forbids all pollution both of Flesh and Spirit 2. The cause of this wickedness which seems to have been either hatred of his brother or envy at his brothers name and honour springing from the pride of his own heart 10 And the thing which he did †Heb. was evil iâ—… the eyes of the Lord. displeased the LORD m An expression noting a more then ordinary offence against God as 2 Sam. 11. 27. wherefore he slew him also n This just but dreadful severity of God is noted both for the terrour of such like transgressors and to provoke love and thankfulness to God in those whom he useth more indulgently 11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in Law Remain a widow at thy fathers house o Whither he sent her from his house that Shelah might not be insnared by her presence and conversation till Shelah my son be grown p So he dismisseth her with a pretence of kindness and a tacit promise of marriage to her which he never intended to keep as the following words imply for he said q Or rather but he said for the Hebrew chi oft signifies but as Gen. 45. 8. Psal. 37. 20. Eccl. 2. 10. and 6. 2. So here is an opposition between what he said to Tamar and what he said to himself or in his own heart as that word said is oft used He intimated to her that he would give Shelah to her but he meant otherwise and said in himself I will not do it Leâ—…t peradventure he die also as his brethren did r Imputing the death of his two sons either to her fault or to her unluckiness rather than to his own or his sons miscarriages and Tamar went and dwelt in her fathers house 12 And †Heb. the days were multiplyed in process of time s When many days had passed and Shelah though grown was not given to Tamar the daughter of Shuah Judahs wife died and Judah was comforted and went up unto his Sheep-shearers t To feast and rejoyce with them at that time as the manner was then and afterwards See 1 Sam. 25. 36. to Timnath u A place not far from Adullam of which see Ios. 15. 57. he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite 13 And it was told Tamar saying Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep 14 And she put her widows garments off from her and covered her with a vail x As harlots used to do in those modester ages of the World when they had not learnt to outface the Sun nor to glory in their villanies and wrapped her self and sate in †Heb. the door of eyes or of Enajim an open place y Where she might be soonest discovered by Passengers This is noted as the practice of Harlots Prov. 7. 12. and 9. 14. Ier. 3. 2. Ezek. 16. 24 25. which is by the way to Timnath for she saw that Shelah was grown and she was not given unto him to wife 15 When Judah saw her he thought her to be an harlot because she had covered her face z And was doubtless careful not to discover her self by her voice 16 And he turned unto her by the way and said Go to I pray thee let me come in unto thee for he knew not that she was his daughter in law and she said What wilt thou give me that thou mayest come in unto me 17 And he said I will send thee †Heb. a kid of the goats a kid from the flock and she said Wilt thou give me a pledge till thou send it 18 And he said What pledge shall I give thee And she said Thy signet and thy bracelets a Or handkerchief or girdle or any other ornament made of twisted thread which the Hebrew word signifies and thy staff that is in thine hand and he gave it her and came in unto her and she conceived by him b God so ordering things by his Providence that his sin might be discovered And this and other such horrid crimes committed sometimes by the Patriarchs and other eminent persons it hath pleased God for divers wise and holy reasons to leave upon record partly to discover how great and deep the corruption of mans nature is and that even in the best partly to oblige all men to an humble sence of their own infirmity and to a diligent application of themselves to God for his gracious succors and to a greater circumspection and watchfulness to prevent those evils in themselves partly to encourage even the greatest sinners to repentance and the hope of Pardon and partly for the just punishment and obduration of incorrigible sinners who make such sad examples matter of their delight and imitation 19 And she arose and went away and laid by her vail from her and put on the garments of her widowhood 20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite to receive his pledge from the womans hand but he found her not 21 Then he asked the men of that place saying Where is the harlot that was ‖ Or in Enajim openly by the way side And they said There was no harlot in this place 22 And he returned to Judah and said I cannot find her and also the men of the place said That there was no harlot in this place 23 And Judah said Let her take it to her Lest we †Heb. become a contempt be ashamed b Note that fornication was esteemed sinful and shameful amongst the heathens behold I sent this kid and thou hast not found her 24 And it came to pass about three months after that it was told judah saying Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot and also behold she is with child by whoredom and Judah said Bring her forth c To the Magistrate from whom she may receive her sentence and deserved punishment Iudah had
not the power of Life and Death at least not over her who was a Canaanite and who was not in his but in her own fathers house But he being a person of great estate and authority and as it seems of obliging conversation could do very much to perswade those who then had the power of the Sword either to draw it forth at least in a just cause on his behalf or to sheath it upon his desire and satisfaction and let her be burnt d As guilty of Adultery which was punished with death by the laws of God Deut. 22. 23 24. and of Nations too Ier. 29. 22 23. He chargeth her with adultery because she was betrothed to Shelah See Deut. 22. 23. This eagerness of Iudah proceeded not from zeal of Justice for then he would not have indeavoured to destroy the innocent child with the guilty mother against Gods law Deut. 24. 16. Ezek. 18. 20 but from worldly policy that he might take her out of the way which he esteemed a burden and a blot to his family 25 When she was brought forth she sent to her father in law saying By the man whose these are am I with child and she said Discern I pray thee whose are these the signet and bracelets and staff 26 And Judah acknowledged them e His guilty conscience and the horrour of so foul a fact together with his sudden surprizal forced him to an ingenuous confession whereas he might have used many pretences and evasions which would easily have prevailed with such partial Judges and said She hath been more righteous than I f She was more unchast because she knowingly committed Adultery and Incest when he designed neither but he was more unjust because he was the cause of her sin both by withholding Shelah from her who was hers both by right and by Iudahs promise and by whom her chastity should have been preserved and by his solicitation and encouragement of her to the sin because that I gave her not to Shelah my son and he knew her again no more g Shewing the sincerity of his confession by his forsaking of the sin confessed See Iob 34. 32. And it may be probably concluded that he neither knew her nor any other Woman afterward because there is no mention of any Child which he had after this time 27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail that behold twins were in her womb 28 And it came to pass when she travailed that the one put out his hand and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a skarlet thread h In token of his being the first-born which she confidently expected he would be saying This came out first 29 And it came to pass as he drew back his hand that behold his brother came out and she said ‖ Or wherefore hast thou made this breach against thee How hast thou broken forth this breach be upon thee i Be imputed to thee as the same phrase is taken Genesis 16. 5. therefore his name was called ‖ That is a breach * 1 Chron. 2. 4. Matth. 1. 3. Pharez 30 And afterward came out his brother that had the skarlet thread upon his hand and his name was called Zarah CHAP. XXXIX 1 AND Joseph was brought down to Egypt and * Chap. 37. 36. Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh captain of the guard an Egyptian bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites which had brought him down thither 2 And * 1 Sam. 16. 18. and 18. 28. Aâ—…t 7. 9. the LORD was with Joseph a With his gracious presence and blessing as this phrase is taken here ver 21. and Gen. 21. 22. and 26. 24. and he was a prosperous man and he was in the house b He doth not endeavour to make an escape to his Father but demeaned himself patiently and faithfully in the station into which Gods Providence had brought him of his master the Egyptian 3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him c The Heathens owned a supreme God and his overruling Providence in affairs though they did not glorifie him as God but worshipped the Creature with and more than the creator Rom. 1. 25. and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand d i. e. Under his ministery as this phrase is used Exod. 4. 13. Levit. 8. 36. Prov. 26. 6. and oft elsewhere 4 And Joseph found grace in his sight and he served him e Not now as a slave but in an higher degree and he made him overseer over his house and all that he had he put into his hand f i. e. Committed to his care and management as Gen. 16. 6. Object How could this be when Ioseph understood not the Egyptian Tongue Answ. Ioseph doubtless when he came thither did as much as possibly he could endeavour to get the knowledge of that Language and being a person of excellent parts would soon obtain it especially because of the great affinity between that Language and his own Nor must we think that Ioseph was thus highly advanced in an instant but by degrees step by step and after some considerable time 5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house and over all that he had that * Chap. 30. 27. the LORD blessed the Egyptians house for Josephs sake and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house and in the field 6 And he left all that he had in Josephs hand and he knew not ought he had save the bread which he did eat g He took care for nothing but that he might eat and drink and fare deliciously Nor did he indeed take any care for that it being provided for him by other hands Others thus he took care for nothing but committed all to Ioseph except his bread which he would not have provided by an Hebrew hand because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews Gen. 43. 32. But that was no impediment for neither did Ioseph eat with his master nor was he the cook to dress it for him But he might provide food for him as afterwards he did for all the Egyptians without any scruple on their side and Joseph was a goodly person and well-favoured 7 And it came to pass after these things that his masters wife cast her eyes upon Joseph h In a lascivious and unchast manner See Ioâ—… 31. 1. Mat. 5. 28. 2 Pet. 2. 14. and she said lie with me 8 But he refused and said unto his Masters wife Behold my master wotteth not what is with me in the house and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand 9 There is none greater in this house than I neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee because thou art his wife how then can I do this great wickedness and * Chap. 20. 6. Lev.