to punish any one man or people It must follow that the Lord is God and God only He hath not his equall The Lord intimateth here by the By for the comfort of the Iewes which were held Captive by the Babylonians that he would surely destroy the Babylonians by Cyrus and that no power should be able to deliver the Babylonians out of his hands I will work i. e. I will doe what I please 14. Thus saith the Lord your redeemer The Prophet returneth here to the Subject which he treated of in the beginning of the Chapter to wit the redemption of the Iewes out of the Babylonish Captivity which he intermitted at the eighth verse to argue against Idols and Idolatry upon the occasion there spoken of For your sakes I have sent to Babylon i. e. For your sakes I will send Cyrus with an Army to Babylon to fight against it and take it He puts here a preterperfect Tense for a future to signifie the certainty of what he speakes of This sending of Cyrus with an Army against Babylon was advantageous to the Iewes which were in Captivity for by this meanes the Babylonians who held them Captives were destroyed and they were delivered And have brought downe all their Nobles i. e. And will bring downe all the Nobles of the Babylonians which doth oppresse you and keep you in an hard Captivity and will tread upon them as mortar See Cap. 41.25 And the Chaldaeans In the Babylonish Empire the Chaldaeans were the chiefe of any other people the Emperour himselfe being a Chaldaeans and Babylon the head City of the Empire being in Chaldaea And hence it may be that he mentioneth the Chaldaeans by name in this place Or therefore may he mention the Chaldaeans here because they had more of the Captive Iewes then any other people under them and used them more hardly Whose cry is in the ships q.d. Who shall be heard to cry and howle in the ships He puts a Present Tense for a Future here as he puts a preterperfect tense for a Future a little before Babylon and Chaldaea have two great Rivers Tygris and Euphrates running through them or close to them navigable Rivers and certainely as able to beare as great Vessels as our Thames which beares Vessels of the greatest bulke yea Chaldaea reacheth to the Persian Gulfe where the greatest ships may ride and saile At the time which Babylon was taken by Cyrus no doubt but every Babylonian and Chaldaean endeavoured to escape as well as he could And as some endeavoured to escape by Land so others attempted to escape by water in ships and of these latter may he say Their cry is in the ships Or he may say that their Cry is in the ships or shall be in the ships not because they which cryed were or should be in the ships but because their cry should be so great as that it should be heard to the Sea of those which sailed in their ships Againe it was the custome of the Eastern people when they subdued a Nation to transplant the Inhabitants thereof an example whereof you may see 2 Kings 17.6 Cyrus therefore might send many of the Babylonians away in ships and they as they were in the ships might howle and cry for the misery which was come upon them 15. Your holy One i. e. He whom you have made choyce of to be your God and whom alone you worship and therefore will preserve and blesse you Your King See Cap. 33.22 This verse relates to that which went before in the fourteenth verse and containes a reason of what is there said q. d. For your sake I will send to Babylon and will bring downe all their Nobles For I am the Lord your Holy One the Creatour of Israel your King 16. Thus saith the Lord q. d. Yea thus saith the Lord. Which maketh a way in the Sea Rather which made a way in the Sea for this must be understood in the Preterperfect Tense God made a way for his people in the red Sea when he brought them out of Egypt Exod. 14. v. 21 22. And of this it is which he makes mention in this place And a Path in the mighty waters The Lord when the children of Israel passed over Jordan divided the River Jordan and made a way for them to passe over dry foot even when Jordan was so high as that it overflowed all his Banks Iosh 3. v. 15 16 17. Some therefore understand this place of this dividing Jordan and of the way which he made in it at this time But I rather take this to be a Repetition of the former Sentence Because our Prophet delighteth in such Repetitions and because in the next words he mentioneth that which fell out at the dividing of the red Sea and making a way for his people through it when their enemies were drowned 17. Which bringeth forth the Charet and Horse the Army and the Power Rather which brought forth the Charets and the Horses the Army and the Power supple of Pharaoh to their destruction When the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt he hardened Pharaohs heart so that Pharaohs heart and the heart of all his people was turned against the children of Israel and they said why have we done this that we have let Israel goe from serving us And Pharaoh pursued after the children of Israel with 600. chosen Charets and all the Charets of Egypt and in the pursuit followed the children of Israel into the midst of the Sea and there were drowned Exod. 14. This is that which the Lord here mentioneth and these things doth he mention in this place to wit His dividing of the Sea for the Israelites and his drawing out of Pharaohs host that he might drown it in the red Sea to put the Jews in minde of his power which is such as that no difficulty can hinder him from redeeming or delivering his people at any time and of that love which he bore to his people that they remembering these things might the more easily be induced to believe those things which he said he would do for them namely That he would deliver them out of the Babylonish captivity and destroy the Babylonians their Enemies They shall lie down together i. e. The Nobles of Babylon and the Caldeans shall lie down all of them in the dust of the Earth that is they shall be all brought down to the Grave Death is both in sacred and profane Writers often likened to a sleep and the Grave to the Bed in which we sleep and the Prophet alludes to the same here when he saith They shall lie down together for he alludeth to men lying down in a bed to sleep But his meaning is that they shall be slain and brought down to the pit They shall i. e. The Nobles of Babylon and the Caldeans shall lie down c. of whom he spoke vers 14. They shall not rise q. d. They shall not awake and rise any more
5.18 Wo to them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity where inquity is put for calamities and plagues which iniquity procureth and bringeth upon a man To this Metonymie may we reduce the Metonymie called Metonymia Antecedentis Metonymia Continentis Metonymia Continentis is a figure whereby the thing containing is put for the thing contained An example of this we have Isaiah cap. 23.1 Houle ye Ships of Tarshish where the Ships are put for them which are or fail in Ships And cap. 51.17 Which hast drunken at the hand of the Lord the Cup of his Fury Where the Cup is put for the drink or liquor in the Cup. Metonymia Efficientis for Metonymia Causae Metonymia Effecti Metonymia Effecti is a figure whereby the effect is put for its Cause An example of this you may have Isaiah 5.7 He looked for righteousness but behold a cry Where the Cry is put for Oppressions which causeth the poor to Cry And cap. 24.16 My leanness My leanness Where leanness is put for sorrow and grief of Heart which causeth lâ—â—nness in the body To this Metonymie may be reduced the Metonymie called Metonymia Consequentis Metonymia Materiae Metonymia Materiae is a figure whereby the matter of which a thing is made is put for the thing it self which is made of that matter An example hereof we have Isaiah cap 9.10 The Bricks are fallen down Where Bricks are put for housen made of Bricks And cap. 61.9 Their seed shall be known among the Gentiles Where seed is put for children because children are made of the seed of their Parents And cap. 10.34 He shall cut down the Thickets of the Forrest with Iron Where Iron is put for an Axe made of Iron Metonymia Subjecti Metonymia Subjecti is a figure whereby the subject is put for the Adjunct or Accident which it doth any way sustain An example of this you have Isaiah 7.20 The Lord shall shave with a Rasor the Head and the Hair of the Feet Where the Head is put for the hair of the Head And Philip. 2.1 If there be any consolation in Christ If any bowels and mercies where bowels is put for pitty and compassion And Isaiah 19.1 The heart of Egypt shall melt that is the courage of the Egyptians shall fail where there is a double Metonymie of the Subject For first the Heart is put for the Courage And then Egypt is put for the Egyptians or Inhabitants of Egypt Where note that when we speak De Metonymia Subjecti or of the Metonymie of the Subject The word Subject is to be taken in a larger sense than the Logicians take it For the Earth may be called a subject in respect of the men that live upon it And so may the thing containing in respect of the thing contained And Metonymia Continentis may be reduced to this Metonymie of the Subject 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a figure whereby we imitate another mans words or gestures An example hereof we have Isaiah cap. 10. Ver. 13. Thou hast said in thine heart I will ascend into Heaven I will exalt my Throne above the Stars of God I will also sit upon the Mount of the Congregation In which words the Lord doth imitate the speech of Sennacharib And cap. 19.11 How say you unto Pharaoh I am the son of the wise The son of ancient King Where the Prophet imitates the words of the Counsellors of the King of Egypt Parenthesis Parenthesis is a figure whereby a clause is comprehended within another sentence which clause may be left out and yet the sence of the sentence be compleat without it An example of this we have Isaiah cap. 16.6 We have heard of the pride of Moab He is very proud even of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath where that clause He is very proud is comprehended within that sentence we have heard of the Pride of Moab even of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath and yet the sence of the sentence is perfect without it Periphrasis Periphrasis is a figure whereby we express one word by many An example of this we have Isaiah cap. 5.8 That they may be placed alone in the midst of the Earth where in the midst of the Earth is no more than in the Earth And cap. 3.27 Behold the Name of the Lord commeth where the name of the Lord is put for the Lord. Prosopopoeia Prosopopoeia as Divines most commonly use it is a figure whereby we attriâ—ute reason and understanding to things which have neither reason nor understanding as though they were persons that is individual substances endued with reason or understanding An example hereof we have Isaiah cap. 1. Verse 2. Hearken O Heavens and give Ear O Earth c. Where he speaks to the Heavens and to the Earth as though they were persons endued with reason and understanding And cap. 3.26 Her gates shall lament and mourn and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground Where the material City of Ierusalem and her gates are spoken of as if they were women A Sarcasme Sarcasme is a nipping kind of taunting and scoffing An example hereof you have Isaiah cap. 14.10 Art thou also become weak as wee Art thou become like unto us Secundum quid See 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Concessio Syllepsis Syllepsis is a figure whereby we comprehend in a word or sentence more than the word or sentence doth properly or naturally signifie An example of this we have Isaiah cap. 26. verse 7. Thou most upright doest weigh the path of the just Where by weighing is not onely meant trying in the ballance but finding also to be good upon trial And cap 3.6 When a man shalâ— take hold of his Brother of the house of his Father saying thou hast clothing be thou our Ruler Where this sentence is comprehended Then shall a man take hold of his Brother of the house of his Father saying Thou hast clothing be thou our Ruler q. d. Then shâ—â— a man take hold of his Brother of the house of his Father saying Thou hast clothing be thou our Ruler But when A man shall take hold of his Brother c. Synecdoche Synecdoche is of divers sorts as may apâ—ear by what followeth Synecdoche Generis is a figure whereby the Genus is put for the Species An example of this we may have Mark 16.15 Preach the Gospel to every Creature Where the Creature in general is put for Man in special And Isaiah 66. verse 23. All flesh shall come to worship before me Where all Flesh is put for all Men. Senecdoche Speciei is a figure whereby the Species is put for the Genus An example of this we have Isaiah 2.4 Nation shall not lift up sword against Nation Where by the sword is meant any weapon Synecdoche Integri is a figure whereby the whole is put for a member or for a part of the whole An example hereof you may have Isaiah
besides And of thy glory i. e. And from the habitation of thy glory that is from thy glorious habitation He saith of glory for glorious as he said of holiness for holy Or else both holiness and glory may be put here per Metonymiam adjuncti for God himself q. d. From the habitation of thee that is from thine habitation who art holy and glorious Where is thy zeal i. e. Where is that love which thou hast heretofore shewed to us thy people in the days of our forefathers Zeal is oftentimes put for love but ardent love And thy strength i. e. And where is thy strength which thou hast heretofore shewed in delivery of us thy people out of the hands of our Enemies And the sounding of thy bowels and thy mercies towards me q. d. And where are those sighs and those groans towards me which thy pity and compassion was wont to move toward the sons of Israel This is also spoken in the person of a Jew The sounding of the bowels I take to be sighs and groans proceeding from the bowel◠that is proceeding from pity and compassion For the bowels being deemed the seat and subject of pity and compassion are often taken by a Metonymy for pity and compassion it self Ingemuit miserans graviter saith the Poet Virgil. lib. 10. Aenead vers 823. He out of pity sighed or groaned grievously Are they restrained i. e. Are thy zeal and thy strength and the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies restrained and kept in that they should not shew themselves towards me 16. Doubtless thou art our Father q. d. Surely thou livest and art still our Father and therefore wilt take notice of us as of thy children and of the miserable condition in which we are Though Abraham be ignorant of us i. e. Though Abraham who was our Father according to the flesh is now dead and therefore neither knoweth us nor our condition And Israel acknowledge us not i. e. And though Israel who was also our Father according to the flesh is now dead and therefore acknowledgeth us not though we were his sons Why was Abraham ignorant of them and why did not Israel acknowledge them at this time Ans Because Abraham and Israel were both dead at this time and so all their thoughts perished Psal 146.4 Thou O Lord art our Father i. e. Thou O Lord I say livest and art our Father Our Redeemer The people of the Jews calleth the Lord their Redeemer because he had redeemed them at all times out of the hands of their Enemies Thy Name is from everlasting i. e. Thou art from everlasting and so being from everlasting shalt be to everlasting for that which hath no beginning shall have no ending By this he preferred God as a Father before Abraham and before Jacob For though Abraham and Jacob were both their Fathers yet they were mortal and both dead and so had no longer any knowledge and care of them as a Father had of his children But God is everlasting and dyeth not and so can always both take notice and have a care of them which are his Thy Name i. e. Thou See Cap. 30. vers 27. He putteth the Lord in minde that he is their Father and Redeemer thereby to move him more vehemently to compassion 17. O Lord why hast thou made us to err from thy ways i. e. O Lord why hast thou suffered us so long to be oppressed by the Babylonians and by that means hast made us to err from thy Commandments Note that if the rod of the wicked lieth long upon the righteous it maketh them to put forth their hands to iniquity Psa 125.3 Hence it is that he saith here O Lord why hast thou made us to err from thy ways for Why hast thou so long oppressed us or suffered us to be oppressed per Metonymiam Effectus From thy ways i. e. From thy Commandments in which thou hast appointed us to walk And hardened our heart from thy Fear q. d. And why hast thou hardened our heart so as that we fear thee not God is said to harden their hearts so as he was said to make them err from his ways that is by prolonging their misery and captivity in Babylon Return i. e. Return unto us in mercy and deliver us out of our captivity and misery now after the time that thou hast been angry with us Anger oftentimes maketh one man to depart from another who returneth again when his anger is over and his wrath appeased In allusion therefore to such a one doth he say here Return speaking of God as of a man by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For thy servants sake i. e. For our sake who are thy servants lest if thou return not unto us we be utterly consumed The tribes of thine inheritance i. e. The Tribes to whom thou gavest the Land of Canaan which is thine inheritance to dwell in These words are governed of the former by Apposition and those which he called the Lords servants there he calls the Tribes of the Lords inheritance here for the people of the Lord were divided into Tribes Exod. 28.21 Though the people of Israel were sometimes called the Lords inheritance because the Lord chose them for himself to be his own as a mans inheritance is his own yet here the Land of Canaan which God gave them to dwell in and not the people themselves is called Gods inheritance as will appear by the next Verse And the Land of Canaan might be called Gods inheritance because God reserved to himself a peculiar right in that Land Levit. 25.23 18. The people of thy Holiness have possessed it but a little while i. e. Thy people or thy holy people the Jews have possessed the Land of Canaan which is thine inheritance but a little while Supple Therefore bring us back again O Lord out of our captivity in Babylon into thine inheritance that we may possess it yet longer according to thy promise He saith that they had possessed the Land of Canaan the Lords inheritance but a little while though they had possessed it◠eight or nine hundred years because the Lord promised that they should inherit it for ever Exod. 32.13 And what is eight or nine hundred years to that which is for ever The people of thine Holiness Of thine Holiness may be put here for Of thee Gods Holiness being put for God himself per Metonymiam Adjuncti q. d. Thy people Or the substantive of the Genitive case may be put here for an Adjective as the Hebrews often put it and so the people of thine Holiness may be put for thine holy people And the Jews the children of Israel might be called Gods holy people because God took them to himself and separated them from all the people in the Earth to be his servants for Holiness is nothing else but a separation from others by way of eminency It i. e. Thine inheritance mentioned Vers 17. Our adversaries have broken down
because they might have understood and believed what they had heard but they would not and they might have understood and believed what they had seen but they would not but obstinately and willfully refused to understand and believe whereby they might have repented and been saved and therefore because heretofore they would not now they should not understand and believe This I say is the exposition which I preferre before the former In Order to which I explaine the words as followeth Make the heart of this people fat and make their cares heavie and shut their eyes least they see with their eyes and hear with their eares and understand with their hearts and convert and believe q d. Tell this people that they willfully refused to understand and believe what they ought and might have understood and believed And that understanding and believing they might have repented and been saved I shewed before that the Heart Eares and Eyes are here Metaphorically taken for the Mind and Vnderstanding And to see hear and understand are all taken for to understand and believe Make the heart of this People fat c. i. e. Tell this People that they have made their heart fat c. i. e. Tell this people that they would not understand c. Note here that the Prophet useth a reall Verbe for a vocal when he saith Make the heart of this people fat c. For Tell this people that they have made their heart fat c. The like manner of speech we read Gen. 41. v. 13. Where Pharaoh's chief Butler speaking of Joseph to Pharaoh and telling him of Joseph's skill in interpreting Dreames saith Me he restored to mine Office for he told me that I should be restored to mine Office And him meaning Pharaoh's chief Baker He hanged For he told him that he should be hanged In like manner this we read Jer. 1. v. 10. I have this day saith the Lord to Jeremie set thee over the Nations and over the Kingdomes to roote out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down to build and to plant The meaning of which words is this I have set thee or appointed thee this day to Prophesie concerning the Natiâ—ns and concerning the Kingdomes and to tell that some of them shall be rooted up and pulled down and destroyed and some againe shall be built up and planted And make their eares heavie i. e. And tell this people that they have made their heart heavie To make the Eares heavy signifieth to stop the Eares so that they cannot receive the voice of him which speaketh And Eares so stopped are called heavy Eares Because that which stoppeth the Eares after this manner though it be not weighty in it self yet it is troublesome and seemeth heavy to him whose eares are stopped Or he calls heavy eares such eares as are slow and dull of hearing in allusion to heavy things which are slow of motion and hard to be moved out of their place whereas light things are quick and nimble And hence is the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth one that is heavy or dull of hearing By the Eares as I said before is here Metaphorically meant the mind or understanding and these men are said to have stopped or made heavy their eares because they would not understand and believe what was spoken Least they see with their eyes and hear with their eares and understand with their hearts c. There be other effects of a fat heart besides not understanding and other ends why a man may stop his eares besides that that he may not hear and other ends why he may shut his eyes besides that that he may not see For he may shut his eyes to preserve them from the dust And stop his eares to defend them from the cold To shew therefore why these men made their heart fat and their eares heavy and did shut their eyes He tells us that it was for this end least they should see with their eyes and hear with their eares and understand with their heart By which he signifieth Metaphorically that these men did wilfully refuse to understand and believe what they saw done and heard spoken by the Prophets in the name of the Lord as he willfully refuseth to hear which for this end stoppeth his eares and willfully refuseth to see which for this end shutteth his eyes and wilfully refuseth to understand who for this end maketh his heart fat That with which these men made their heart fat and stopped their eares and closed their eyes that is that which made these men so averse from understanding and bâ—lieving was the hatred which they had of the Prophets person and the delight which they had in sinne which they could not follow without remorse of conscience if they understood and believed the word of the Lord. And convert i. e. And turne themselves to the Lord from their evill wayes And be healed That is And be delivered from their afflictions and calamities whensoever they should befall them for their sinnes and from the fear of those calamities before they befell them See Jer. 6. v. 14. The judgements of God that is the afflictions and calamities which befall men for their sinnes are often compared to diseases and wounds and sores As Cap. 1. v. 6. c. 19. v. 22. c. 30. v. 26. And to these may the Prophet allude when he saith and be healed Or And be healed may signifie and have their sinnes forgiven For sinne is the Plague and Sicknesse of the Soul of which Plague and Sicknesse we are healed when our sin is forgiven But a man may object here and say Is it likely that any one would affect spirituall blindnesse and unbeliefe for this end that he might not be healed Answ It is not likely that a man would affect spirituall blindnesse and unbelief directly and chiefly for this end that he might not be healed But it is more than likely that many make it their indirect end and end by consequence For many make that their ends upon which this must needs follow For many do directly desire to enjoy the pleasures of sin without controll and for this end do hate them which tell them of the word of the Lord or denounce his judgements against them which notwithstanding they must hear and believe to before they can repent and be saved So they desire not to be healed by consequence and in the causes thereof though they do it not directly and in it self Note that what the Prophet delivereth here is not so spoke of the People of the Jewes which lived between the daies of Vzziah and the desolation which Sennacherib made in Judaea But that the Holy Ghost had a farther intent in it to wit to signifie the blindnesse and perversenesse of those Jewes also which lived in the time of our Saviour and of his Gospel as appeareth Mat. 13. v. 4. Act. 28. v. 26. For they in Isaiah's time were as it were a Type