blasted with the East-wind sprung up after them 24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears and I told this unto the Magicians but there was none that could declare it to me 25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh The dream of Pharaoh is one s To wit In its design and signification both dreams portend the same thing God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do 26 The seven good kine are seven years and the seven good ears are seven years the dream is one 27 And the seven thin and ill-favoured kine that came up after them are seven years and the seven empty ears blasted with the East-wind shall be seven years of famine 28 This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh what God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh 29 Behold there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt 30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine and all the plenty shall be forgotten t There shall be no relicks of it to keep it in mens minds which will be so taken up with the contemplation of their present misery and future danger that they will have neither heart nor leasure to reflect upon their former plenty the remembrance whereof will but aggravate the present calamity in the land of Egypt and the famine shall consume the land 31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following for it shall be very †Heb. heavy grievous 32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice it is because the thing is ‖ Or prepared of God established by God and God will shortly bring it to pass 33 Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise and set him over the land of Egypt 34 Let Pharaoh do this and let him appoint ‖ Or overseers officers over the land and take up u Not by force or violence for Ioseph would never be the author of such unrighteous Counsels but by purchase at the common price which was like to be very low in that case and therefore might easily be compassed by that rich and mighty Prince the fifth part x Quest. Why not half seeing the years of Famine were as many as the years of plenty Answ. Because 1. Men would and should live more sparingly in times of Famine 2. It was likely that very many men would lay up great quantities of Corn in those years partly because they could not spend it all and partly in expectation of a scarcer and dearer time when they might either use it themselves or â—…ell it to their advantage 3. The fifth part of those years of great plenty might be more then the half yea equal to the whole crop of ordinary years of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years 35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh and let them keep food in the Cities 36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt that the land †Heb. be not cut off perish not through the famine 37 And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants 38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants Can we find such a one as this is a man in whom the spirit of God y Or of the Gods in his Heathen Language One whom God hath endowed with such admirable Knowledge and Wisdome is 39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this z i. e. Hath given thee this extraordinary gift of fore-seeing and foretelling things to come and of giving such sage advise for the future there is none so discreet and wise as thou art 40 * Psal. 105. 21. Mac. 2. 53. Act. 7. 10. Thou shalt be over my house and according unto thy word a i. e. direction and command Heb. moâ—…th which is oft put for command as Exod. 17. 1. and 38. 21. Numb 3. 16 39 c. shall all my people be †Heb. armed or kiss ruled b Or be fed they shall receive their provisions from thy hand and according to thy disposal Others shall kiss viz. the hand as inferiours used to do upon their address to or conference with great persons See Ioâ—… 31. 27. Hosea 13. 2. But it was frivolous for Ioseph to command them to do that which by the custom of the place they were obliged and wont to do Some render the words thus and that agreeable to the Hebrew at thy mouth shall the people kiss Which may be understood either properly as inferiours did sometimes kiss their superiors in token of their homage See 1 Sam. 10. 1. or rather metaphorically as the same phrase is used Psal. 2. 12. Prov. 24. 26. receive all thy commands with reverence and submission only in the throne c i. e. In soveraign power and dignity will I be greater than thou 41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph See I have set thee over all the land of Egypt 42 And Pharaoh took off his ring d Which was both a token of highest dignity and an instrument of greatest power by which he had authority to make and â—…ign what decrees he thought fit in the Kings name See Esth. 3. 10. and 8. â—…2 from his hand and put it upon Josephs hand and arayed him in vestures of ‖ Or silk fine linen e Wherewith the greatest Potentates were arayed See Prov. 31. 22 24. Ezek. 16. 10. Luk. 16. 19. Rev. 19. 8. and put a gold chain f Another badge of great honour See Prov. 1. 9. Ezek. 16. 11. Dan. 5. 7 16 29. about his neck 43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had g In the Kings second Chariot that he might be known and owned to be the next person to the King in power and dignity Compare 2 Chron. 35. 24. Esth. 6. 8. and 10. 3. Dan. 5. 29. and they cryed before him ‖ Or tender father Heb. Abrech Bowe the knee h They commanded all that passed by him or came to him to shew their reverent respect to him in this manner Compare Esth. 3. 2. Others tender father to signifie that he was to be owned as the father of the Countrey because by his prudence and care he had provided for them all and saved them from utter ruine and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt 44 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph I am Pharaoh i i. e. I onely am the King I reserve to my self the soveraign power over thee and over all As the name of Caesar among the Romans was commonly used for the Emperour so the name of Pharaoh for the King Or thus I have the supreme power and therefore as I have authority to give
thee the following power so I will make it good to thee and oblige all my people to observe and obey thee and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot k No man shall do any thing in the publick affairs of the Kingdom concerning matters of War or Peace without thy commission or licence in all the land of Egypt 45 And Pharaoh called Josephs name Zaphnath-Paaneah l i. e. The revealer of secrets as the Hebrews generally understand it and with them most others and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah m Not that Potiphar Gen. 39. 1. both because he had another Title and dwelt in another place and because it is not probable Ioseph would have married the daughter of so unchast a mother but another and a greater person It is the observation of a late ingenious and learned writer that among the Egyptians there were three words or endings of words near akin but differing in signification and in the degree of dignity and authority to which those names were annexed Phar which belonged to inferiour officers and Pherah which was given to those of greater dignity and power and Pharaoh which was appropriated to the King ‖ Or Prince Priest n Or Prince as the word signifies Exod. 18. 1. 2 Sam. 8. 18. and 20. 26. and elsewhere This sense is the more probable both from Iosephs high quality and from his holy disposition whereby he hated Idolatry and would never have married the daughter of an idolatrous Priest of On o A famous City of Egypt called also Aven Ezek. 30. 17. and afterwards as some think Heliopolis now Damiata See Ier. 43. 13. and Joseph went out p Upon his employment and to execute the Kings command and his own counsel over all the land of Egypt 46 And Joseph was thirty years old q Which is here noted to teach us 1. That Iosephs short affliction was recompensed with a much longer prosperity even for 80 years 2. That Iosephs excellent wisdom did not proceed from his large and long experience but from the singular gift of God when he stood r As his chief minister to stand before another is the posture and designation of a servant as 1 Sam. 16. 21. Dan. 1. 19. before Pharaoh King of Egypt and Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout ali the land of Egypt s To provide places for his stores and to constitute officers for the management of them 47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls t Or unto handfuls to wit growing upon one stalk or unto heaps or as the antients render it for the barns or storehouses i. e. in such plenty that all their storehouses were filled with heaps of corn 48 And he gathered up all the food u That is either all sorts of grain which was proper for food or all which he intended to gather to wit the fifth part ver 34. of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt and laid up the food in the cities the food of the field which was round about every city laid he up in the same 49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the Sea very much until he left numbring for it was without number 50 * chap. 46. 20. and 48. 5. And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah ‖ Or Prince Priest of On bare unto him 51 And Joseph called the name of the first-born ‖ That is forgetting Manasseh for God said he hath made me forget x i. e. Hath expelled all sorrowful remembrance of it by my present comfort and glory all my toyl and all my fathers house y i. e. The toil of my fathers house or the toil and misery which for many years I have endured by means of my fathers family and my own brethren who sold me hither A figure called Hendyadis 52 And the name of the second called he ‖ That is fruitful Ephraim for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction z i. e. In the land which hitherto hath been to me a land of affliction 53 And the seven years of plenteousness that was in the land of Egypt were ended 54 * Psal. 105. 15. And the seven years of dearth began to come according as Joseph had said and the dearth was in all lands * In all the neighbouring countries as appears by comparing this with Gen. 42. 1. but in all the land of Egypt there was bread 55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished the people cryed to Pharaoh ‖ As to their King and common father Compare 2 King 6. 26. for bread and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians Go unto Joseph what he saith to you do 56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth and Joseph opened all †Heb. all wherein was the store-houses and sold unto the Egyptians and the famine waxed sore in all the land of Egypt 57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn because that the famine was so sore in all lands CHAP. XLII 1 NOW when * Act. 7. 12. Jacob saw a i. e. heard as the word is used Exod. 20. 18. as seeing is put for smelling Exod. 5. 21. and for tasting Psal. 34. 8. and for touching Ioh. 20. 29. that there was corn in Egypt Jacob said unto his sons Why do ye look one upon another b Like lazy careless and helpless persons each one expecting relief from the other but none offering either counsel or help for all our subsistence 2 And he said Behold I have heard c This word explains the word saw ver 1. that there is corn in Egypt get you down d For Egypt was lower than Canaan whence on the contrary they are said to go up to Canaan Gen. 45. 9. thither and buy for us from thence that we may * chap. 43. 8. Psal. 118. 17. Isa. 38. 1. live and not die e An emphatical repetition of the same thing used here to make them more sensible of their danger 3 And Josephs ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt 4 But Benjamin Josephs brother Jacob sent not f Because he was very young and now his best beloved son with his brethren for he said Lest peradventure mischief befal him 5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came for the famine was in the land of Canaan 6 And Joseph was the governour over the land and he it was that sold g Either 1. by his Ministers and Commissioners appointed to that end as men in Scripture and in all Authors are said to do that which others do by their authority and command Or 2. he himself immediately contracted with the buyers
if he had presented the goodliest of them Pharaoh might have required their attendance upon him either at court or camp And for the same reason for which he did industriously represent them to Pharaoh as contemptible in their employment he might also present those to him who were so in their persons of his brethren even five men and presented them unto Pharaoh 3 And Pharaoh said unto his brethren What is your occupation And they said unto Pharaoh Thy servants are shepherds both we and also our fathers * This employment is not pretended nor taken up by us in design or in contempt of thee or thy people but was handed to us by our fathers and hath been our business to this day 4 They said moreover unto Pharaoh For to sojourn in the land c Not to dâ—…raud thy people of their lands and habitations but onely to be here for a season as strangers and sojourners till we can conveniently return to our own Land are we come for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks for the famine is â—…ore in the land of Canaan d Which being an higher ground then Egypt and watered in a manner onely by Rain from Heaven must needs sooner and sorer feel the effects of a drought and scarcity than Egypt which had relief from Nâ—…lus in that 〈◊〉 now therefore we pray thee let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen 5 And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph saying Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee 6 The land of Egypt is before thee e To view it and take thy choice where thou pleasest it is in thy power See Gen. 13. 9. in the best of the land make thy father and thy brethren to dwell in the land of Goshen let them dwell and if thou knowest any man of activity f Or of strength or vigour of body and mind fit for the employment By which expression it seems probable that those five presented to Pharaoh were of the meanest sort of them See on ver 2. amongst them then make them rulers over my Cattle 7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father and set him before Pharaoh and Jacob blessed g Not in an authoritative way as the greater blesseth the less 〈◊〉 in a general manner i. e. he saluted him thanked him for all his favours to him and his and prayed to God to bless and recompense him for it Thus blessing is put for saluting 1 Sam. 13. 10. 2 King 4. 29. for praying Numb 6. 23 24. for thanksgiving Matth. 26. 26. compare with Luke 22. 19. Pharaoh 8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob †Heb. how many are the days of the years of thy life how old art thou 9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh * Heb. 11. 9 13. The days of the years of my pilgrimage i i. e. Of my unstable or nasettled life in which I have been flitting from place to place See Gen. 17. 8. Psal. 119. 19. Heb. 11. 9 13. are an hundred and thirty years few and evil have the days of the years of my life been and have not attained unto the dayes of the years of the life of my fathers k Though I seem old in comparison of thy people yet I fall much short of my Progenitours Isaac and Abraham and Terah in the days of their pilgrimage 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh 11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt in the best of the land in the land of Rameses l A part of the Land of Goshen possibly that part where afterwards the City Rameses was built by the Israelites Exod. 1. 11. and 12. 37. whence it is so called here by anticipation For the Israelites were not now numerous enough to possesse the whole land of Goshen which was given to them but contented themselves with a part of it leaving the rest to the management of the Egyptians and therefore when they encreased greatly they were forced to spread their habitations amongst the Egyptians See Exod. 12. 7 23 35 37. as Pharaoh had commanded 12 And Joseph nourished his father and his brethren and all his fathers houshold with bread ‖ Or as a little child is nourished †Heb. according to the liâ—…le ones according to their families m Or According to the mouth of the Family mouth being put for their will or desire as it is Gen. 24. 57. Isa. 30. 2. as much as every one desired without any restraint Or according to the manner of a little child he put their meat into their very mouths it was brought to them without any more care or pains of theirs than an infant takes for its food 13 And there was no bread in all the land for the famine was very sore so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine n Quest. Whence came it that the people in this extremity did not take the corn by force out of the several storehouses Answ. Besides that singular providence of God which watcheth over Kings and Rulers and stilleth the tumults of the people Ioseph had no doubt foreseen this difficulty and took due care to prevent it partly by disposing the stores in strong and well guarded places partly by adding wealth and strength to the King whereby he might more easily suppress any seditious risings and principally by not permitting the people to despair or come to the utmost extremity but giving them relief in all their exigencies 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt o Wherein he did no more than any of the Subjects might have done he bought great store of Corn in the plentiful years with the Kings money and kept it till a time of Famine and sold it at a rate which was agreeable to the season and in the land of Canaan for the corn which they bought and Joseph brought the money into Pharaohs house 15 And when money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan all the Egyptians came unto Joseph and said Give us bread for why should we die p Why shouldest thou see and suffer us to perish for our want of money when thou canst relieve us in thy presence for the money faileth 16 And Joseph said Give your cattle and I will give for your cattle if money fail 17 And they brought their cattle unto Joseph and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses and for the flocks and for the cattle of their herds and for the asses and †Heb. led them he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year 18 When that year was ended they came unto him the second year q Not the second from the beginning of the Famine but from their great extremity the second year after that last mentioned wherein they had sold their
Cattle but this seems to have been the last year of the Famine because he now gives them Corn for food and for seed too ver 23. whereas in the six first years there was no sowing nor reaping Gen. 45. 6. and said unto him We will not hide it from my lord how that our money is spent my lord also had our herds of cattle there is not ought left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands 19 Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes r i. e. Whilst thou lookest upon us like an idle spectatour not pitying and relieving us both we and our land s The land is said to die improperly when it is desolate and barren and when the fruits of it dye or which is equivalent to it do not live buy us and our land for bread and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh t Pharaoh shall be the sole proprietor and we are content to be his Tenants to manage it for his use and give us seed u Because this was the last year of Famine as Ioseph informed them and therefore they tilled and sowed the ground for the following year that we may live and not die that the land be not desolate x Without inhabitants as it will be if thou sufferest us to die for want of bread 20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh for the Egyptians sold every man his field because the famine prevailed over them so the land became Pharaohs 21 And as for the people he removed them to tities y Under the Cities are here comprehended the Villages and Lands belonging to the Territory and Government of each City for the seed which he gave them was not to be sown in Cities but in the Countrey but the Cities onely are here mentioned because they were sent thither first either for the conveniency of nourishing them during this Famine out of the publick store-houses which were there or that they might all profess their subjection to the Governments of the several Cities which was convenient for the management of that numerous and tumultuous people or that the Cities might be first and most replenished with inhabitants as being the principal honour and strength and security of a Kingdom and that Arts and Trades and Merchandise might flourish without which the commodities of the Country would have been of less price and use But the Cities being first supplied the residue which doubtless was vast were dispersed in the Countrey from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof z Far from their native â—…oil and antient Patrimonies that none of them might plead prescription but that all might be forced to acknowledge that they owed their estates not to their own wit and industry nor to their Parents gift but wholly to the Kings favour and that the remembrance of their patrimonial Lands might be worn out and therewith the grief which would arise from their resentment of their loss of them which probably would be matter of tumults and seditions to which that people were very prone And it is probable that he so disposed of this affair that those who were apt and likely and used to unite together in seditious insurrections whether kindred or others should be separated one from another as far as might be If any think that Ioseph dealt hardly with them and made an ill use of their necessity he will see how moderately and mercifully he deals with them ver 24. 22 Only the land of the ‖ Or Princes Priests a Under this name he understands chiefly those who administred the Worship of the Gods or Idols of Egypt and withal those who applied themselves to the study of the arts and vertues called their wisemen and magicians Though some understand it of the Princes as that word sometimes signifies or Officers of Pharaoh who were nourished out of the Kings Treasures And possibly the same Hebrew word may here comprehend both viz. the ministers of the King and of their Idols too for both enjoyed the same priviledges as Diodorus Siculus relates And that the Priests are included if not mainly intended here will be evident enough to any one that considers the state of Egypt how mad that people universally were upon their Idols how numerous their Priests were and in how great honour and veneration both with Prince and People Besides reason of State obliged Pharaoh to ingage and secure to himself that sort of men which bore so great sway with the old inhabitants of their several places and were likely to have the same authority with the new inhabitants to quiet and satisfie them at their first change which must needs be very ungrateful to them bought he not b Of this immunity of the Priests that antient writer Diodorus Siculus makes mention But this is not to be ascribed to Iosephs will or choice for he who abhorred their Idolatry could not have a kindness for nor would have given encouragement to the great upholders and promoters of it but in this he was over-ruled either by Pharaohs express command it being not probable that so great an interest as that of the Priests should not have friends at Court or that their friends should not plead for them or that their pleas and desires should not be granted by an Idolatrous King or by the Laws of Egypt or by their customs and usages in things of a like nature which would have the force of a law among them for the Priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them wherefore they sold not their lands 23 Then Joseph said unto the people Behold I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh Lo here is seed for you and ye shall sow the land ‖ For this was the last year of the Famine as was noted before 24 And it shall come to pass in the increase that you shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh and four parts shall be your own c Whereas he might have reserved four parts to Pharaoh and have allowed them onely the fifth Herein he shewed both his humanity and kindness in mitigating that hard bargain which themselves had made and were necessitated to make and his prudence in composing sweetning and winning the hearts of the people to the King and making them pay their tribute for the future with more chearfulness for seed of the field and for your food and for them of your housholds and for food for your little ones 25 And they said Thou hast saved our lives d Without thy care and Providence we had all been dead men and therefore if thou hadst kept us to the first bargain thou hadst done us more kindness than wrong much more when thou hast used us with so much equity and clemency let us find grace in the sight of my Lord e Be thou our
speak to you not by an interpreter as hitherto I have done but immediately and in the Hebrew Language 13 And you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that you have seen and ye shall haste and * Acts 7. 14. bring down my father hither 14 And he fell upon his brother Benjamins neck and wept and Benjamin wept upon his neck 15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them and after that his brethren talked with him r To wit freely and familiarly being encouraged by his kindness 16 And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaohs house saying Josephs brethren are come and it †Heb. was good in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 pleased Pharaoh well and his servants s Because they all owed their lives unto Ioseph and his favour was now fresh and present and therefore he had more influence upon them and they more kindness for him 17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph Say unto thy brethren This do ye Lade your beasts and go get you unto the land of Canaan 18 And take your father and your housholds and come unto me and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt and ye shall eat * chap. 27. 28. the fat of the land t The choicest fruits of the land Fat oft is put for the best of any sort as Numb 18. 12 29. Deut. 32. 14. Psal. 63. 5. and 147. 14. 19 Now thou art commanded u Besides that absolute power which I have given thee to dispose of all things as thou pleasest I do particularly and especially command thee to do this thing this do ye Take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives and bring your father and come 20 Also †Heb. let not your eyes spare c. regard not your stuff x Heb. Let not your eye pity or spare any part of your stuff as loath to leave it behind you or afraid to lose it Sparing or pitying is an act of the mind but it is ascribed to the eye here as also Ezek. 7. 4 9. and 16. 5. partly because there it discovers it self by tears or otherwise and partly because the sight of the eye doth oft affect the heart and move pity for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours 21 And the children of Israel did so and Joseph gave them wagons according to the †Heb. mouth commandment of Pharaoh and gave them provision for the way 22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment y New and handsome garments which upon their coming into Pharaohs presence and on other occasions they might wear in stead of those more old and homely ones which they brought with them from Canaan Compare Iudg. 14. 12 19. 2 King 5. 5. but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of raiment 23 And to his father he sent after this manner z Heb. according to this What Either what went before changes of raiment or what follows ten asses c. ten asses †Heb. carrying laden with the good things of Egypt and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way 24 So he sent his brethren away and they departed and he said unto them See that ye fall not out a Or contend one with another each vindicating himself and laying the blame upon his brother by the way 25 And they went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father 26 And told him saying Joseph is yet alive and he is governour over all the land of Egypt And †Heb. his Jacobs heart fainted b Or was weakned or failed he fell into a swoon as it is ordinary because of the greatness and suddenness of the news and the conflict of contrary and violent passions raised hereby grief at the remembrance of his former loss and excessive joy for Iosephs recovery and felicity hope that this might be true and fear lest it should be but a fiction of theirs any one of these passions are able to cause a fainting of the Spirits but much more when all meet together especially in an aged person for he believed them not c Partly because of the greatness and strangeness and desireableness of the thing compare Psal. 126. 1. and partly because they were by this very relation convicted of one lye about Ioseph in saying that he was dead and therefore might easily be thought guilty of another 27 And they told him all the words of Joseph which he had said unto them and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him the spirit of Jacob their father revived 28 And Israel said It is enough d I desire no more no greater happiness in this world than to see him Which when I have done I am willing to die Joseph my son is yet alive I will go and see him before I die CHAP. XLVI 1 AND Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices a Both in thankfulness to God for former favours and especially for Iosephs preservation and happiness and by way of supplication to God for his direction in this great case whether he might leave the promised land of Canaan and go into the idolatrous and impious land of Egypt and for his protection and blessing as well in his journey as in Egypt unto the God of his father Isaac b Whom Isaac honoured and served and who had constantly protected and provided for Isaac and confirmed his covenant with him He mentions Isaac rather than Abraham partly for Isaacs honour to shew that though Isaac was much inferiour to Abraham in gifts and graces yet God was no less Isaacs than Abrahams God and therefore would be his God also notwithstanding his unworthiness and partly for his own comfort because Isaac was Iacobs immediate Parent and had transferred the blessing of the Covenant from Esau to Iacob and the validity of that translation depended upon Isaacs interest in God 2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night c i. e. In that way or manner of visions which God affordeth to men by night and in their sleep See Gen 20. 3. Iob 33. 15 16. Mat. 1. 20. and 2. 13 19. Act. 16 9. and 18. 9 c. and said Jacob Jacob d He doubles the name both in token of his friendship and familiarity with him and to raise Iacobs attention Compare Gen. 22 11. 1 Sam. 3. 10. And he said here am I. 3 And he said I am God the God of thy father fear not e For here were many causes of fear lest he should do evil in forsaking the promised and blessed land and going to a place which had been incommodious to his grandfather Gen. 12. 15. and forbidden to his father
friend with Pharaoh in this and upon all other occasions and we will be Pharaohs servants * To manage his land for him upon the terms which thou hast proposed 26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day that Pharaoh should have the fifth part f That the propriety of the land should be Pharaohs and that in token thereof the people should pay the fifth part of the products of it to Pharaoh except the land of the ‖ Or Princes Priests only which became not Pharaohs 27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt in the country of Goshen and they had possessions g i. e. Lands not for the dominion or propriety of them for that rested in Pharaoh but for the use and profit of them for their present subsistence therein and grew and multiplyed exceedingly 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years so †Heb. the days of the years of his life the whole age of Jacob was an hundred fourty and seven years 29 And the time drew â—…igh that Israel must die and he called his son Joseph and said unto him If now I have found grace in thy sight * chap. 24. 2. put I pray thee thy hand under my thigh h i. e. Swear to me as ver 31. that thou wilt do what I am now desiring of thee See the notes on Gen. 24. 2. He requires this not out of any distrust of Iosephs promise but partly as a more solemn protestation of his right to and affection for that promised land partly as a motive to all his children to have their minds and hearts there even when their bodies were in Egypt and partly to give Ioseph an argument and excuse to Pharaoh that he might more willingly permit Ioseph to fulfil his fathers desire because of his own oath and deal i Or that thou wilt deal as the Hebrew Vau joyned with the future tense is elsewhere used as Psal. 24. 7. and 35. 24. and 51. 15. kindly and truly k Kindly in promising and truly in performing thy promise with me * See chap. 50 25. bury me not I pray thee in Egypt 30 But I will lie with my fathers l Abraham and Isaac in Canaan See Gen. 23. 19. and 25. 9. and 35. 29. Which he desired not so much for himself as knowing that wherever he was buried he should rise to Glory as for his children to shew his own and confirm their faith in Gods promise of Canaan to discover his high valuation of that land not onely for it self but as it was a type and pledge of the heavenly inheritance to keep his childrens minds and hearts loose from Egypt a place of so much sin and danger and fixed upon Canaan that they might be more willing to go thither when God called them by vertue of that inclination which is in most persons to be buried with their Fathers and in the mean time to declare his detestation of Idolaters with whom he would have no communion either in life as far as he could avoid it or in the place of burial and on the contrary to profess his communion with his godly Ancestours by his desire to be joyned with them in burial And for the same reasons Ioseph desired the translation of his bones thither Gen. 50. 25. and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying-place and he said I will do as thou hast said 31 And he said Swear unto me and he sware unto him And * Heb. 11. 21. Israel bowed himself m Not to Ioseph who being now not upon his throne nor amongst the Egyptians but in his fathers house was doubtless more ready to pay that reverence as he did chap. 48. 12. than to receive veneration from him which he owed to his father but to God who is here to be understood as he is in the same phrase 1 King 1. 47. whom with this gesture he worshipped and praised as for the promise of Canaan and the assurance which he had now received from Ioseph of his being buried there so for all his favours to him and to Ioseph and by him to all his family upon the beds head n Iacob at this time was bed-rid through age and infirmity but being now to give God solemn thanks though the words and manner of it be not here expressed he raised himself and sâ—…t upon the head or uppermost part of his bed as he did also Gen. 48. 2. that he might express his reverence to God as much as he could by bowing when he could not do it as much as he would being unable to do it kneeling Others for bed read staff the discussion whereof I refer unto its proper place Heb. 11. 21. CHAP. XLVIII 1 AND it came to pass after these things that one told Joseph Behold thy father is sick and he took with him his two sons a To obtain his venerable and religious fathers blessing for them Manasseh and Ephraim 2 And one told Jacob and said Behold thy son Joseph cometh unto thee and Israel strengthned himself b He got new strength his spirits being quickned and refreshed by the tidings of Iosephs approach and he put forth all the strength which he had and sate upon the bed 3 And Jacob said unto Joseph God Almighty appeared unto me at * chap. 28. 13. and 35. 6. Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me 4 And said unto me Behold I will make thee fruitful and multiply thee and I will †Heb. make thee a multitude of peoples make of thee a multitude of people and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an evelasting possession 5 And now thy * chap. 41. 50. and 46. 20. Iosh. 13. 7. two sons Ephraim and Manasseh which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt are mine c By Adoption I shall own them as if they were my immediate children and each of them shall have equal share both in my present estate and future inheritance of Canaan with the rest of my children Thus Iacob transfers the double portion which was the right of the first-born from which Reuben by his transgression fell Gen. 49. 4. upon Ioseph 1 Chron. 5. 1. as Reuben and Simeon d Which two he names as the eldest who if any might seem to claim a greater priviledge than the rest they shall be mine 6 And thy issue which thou begettest after them shall be thine e Shall be reputed as thy children and my grandchildren and shall not have any distinct share in my present or future inheritance but shall have a part of their brethrens lot in such manner and proportion as thou shalt think fit or as their succeeding Parents or Governours shall determine But it doth not appear nor doth Scripture any where mention that Ioseph had any other sons
†Heb. and the Lord said c. NOW the * Act. 7. 3. LORD had said a To wit in Ur of the Chaldees by comparing Gen. 11. 31. with Act. 7. 3 4. or did say again i. e. renewed the command in Haran whilest Abram might possibly linger there as afterwards Lot did in Sodom longer than he should But the former interpretation is more probable because Moses speaks here of that command of God which came to Abram before he was gone from his kindred and fathers house and therefore before he came to Haran And this command was given to Abram either immediately or by Sem then the Governour of God's Church unto Abram Get thee out of thy countrey * Chap. 31. 3. and from thy kindred and from thy fathers house b From the Family of Nachor which was now become idolatrous Gen. 31. 30. Ios. 24. 2. and consequently their society was dangerous and pernicious and therefore God mercifully snatcheth him as a brand out of the Fire unto a land that I will shew thee c Which as yet he nameth not for the greater tryal and exercise of Abrams faith and patience Compare Isa. 41. 2. Heb. 11. 8. 2. And I will †Heb. make thee a great Nation make of thee a great Nation and I will bless thee d With all my blessings spiritual temporal and eternal See Deut. 7 13. and 28. 2 c. and Eph. 1. 3. and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing e i. e. Both a pattern and an instrument of blessedness to others to thy posterity who shall be blessed for thy sake to thy Servants and Friends who shall be blessed by thy instruction and help and to all the world as it follows 3. And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee f Those that are Friends or Enemies to thee shall be the same to me A marvellous condescension and priviledge * Chap. 18. 18. and 22. 18. Acts 3. 25. Gal. 3. 8. and in thee g i. e. In thy seed as it is explained Gen. 22. 18. and 26. 4. and 28. 24. i. e. in and through Christ Act. 3. 25. Gal. 3. 9 16 28 29. or for thee as the Chaldee hath it i. e. for thy sake or by thee i. e. by thy means or with thee by comparing this with Gal. 3. 8 9. i. e. in the same way and manner in which thou art blessed that is by a fruitful Faith Compare Rom. 4. 11 12 16. shall all families h i. e. All Nations which is to be limited to the Believers of all Nations by the whole current of the Scriptures All that shall be blessed shall be blessed by this means and no other way of the Earth be blessed â—… 4. So Abram departed k First from Ur and after his Fathers death from Haran as the Lord had spoken unto him and Lot went with him and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran 5. And Abram took Sarai his Wife and Lot his Brothers Son and all their substance that they had gathered and the souls l i. e. The persons as the word Souls is oft used as Gen. 14. 21. and 17. 4. Exod. 12. 15. Levit. 2. 1. Numb 23. 10. Deut. 24. 7. Mark 3. 4 c. that they had gotten m Heb. made i. e. either 1. begotten for though Abram had yet no Children Lot had and both their servants had Children by their fellow-servants born in their house which might well be numbred among Abrams and Lots persons because they had an absolute dominion over them Or 2. Instructed i. e. turned from Idolatry and taught in the true Religion as the Chaldee expounds it for such were most proper for Abram to take along with him out of his Fathers house in this expedition Or 3. Gotten i. e. procured either by conquest or purchase or any other lawful and usual way in Haran and they went forth to go into the Land of Canaan and into the Land of Canaan they came 6. And Abram passed through the Land unto the place of Sichem n Heb. Sechem a place afterwards so called in the Mountains of Ephraim Ios. 21. 21. Iudg. 8. 31. and here so called by anticipation unto the plain of Moreh And the Canaanite o Properly so called that cursed cruel impious and idolatrous Nation See Zach. 14. 21. This is added as an aggravation of Abrams faith and obedience that he durst and did profess the true Religion in the midst of such a people which could not be without great danger both of his Estate and Life was then in the Land p As a settled inhabitant to continue there for a long time whereas now in Moses his time he was forthwith to be expelled out of it 7. And the LORD appeared unto Abram q To encourage and comfort him against his wicked neighbours and said * Chap. 13. 15. Unto thy seed will I give this Land r See Geâ—… 13. 15. and 15. 18. and 17. 8. and 24. 7. Deut. 34. 4. and there built he an * Chap. 13. 4. altar s A place for Sacrifice and other parts of Divine Worship erected by him both to keep his Family in the true Religion and to separate himself and them from that idolatrous neighbourhood unto the LORD who appeared unto him 8. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the East of Beth-el t A known place which afterwards was called Beth-el but now Luz Gen. 2â—… 19. An usual prolepsis or anticipation as before v. 6. and pitched his tent having Beth-el on the West u Or On the Sea which is all one because the Sea was on the West part of the Land See Gen. 13. 14. and 28. 14. Num. 3. 23. Deut. 3. 27. and Hai x or Ai as it is called Ios. 7. 2. Ier. 49. 3. Isa. 10. 28. on the East and there he built an altar unto the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD 9. And Abram journeyed y Removing from place to place still hoping to meet with better Neighbours and to free himself from that perpetual vexation which he had in beholding their wickedness †Heb. in going and journeying going on still towards the South z i. e. the Southern part of the Land of Canaan towards Egypt 10. And there was a Famine in the Land a Or In that Land of Canaan a Land eminently fruitful Deut. 8. 7 8. This was partly to punish that peoples sins Psal. 107. 34. partly to try Abrams faith and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there for the famine was grievous in the Land 11. And it came to pass when he was come near to enter into Egypt that he said unto Sarai his Wife Behold now I know that thou art a fair Woman to look upon b Qu. How could she
serve his Father but Rebekah loved Jacob b Upon better grounds both because of his more pious and meek temper and because of the oracle and promise of God 29 And Jacob sod pottage and Esau came from the field and he was faint 30 And Esau said to Jacob feed me I pray thee †Heb. with that red with that pottage with that same red c Red by the infusion of Lentiles or Saffron or some other things of that colour The word is doubled in the Hebrew text to shew how vehemently he desired it pottage for I am faint therefore was his name called Edom d Which signifies red as he was at first so called from the colour of his hair so now that name was confirmed and given to him afresh upon this occasion q. d. He was rightly called Edom or red not onely historically for his colour but prophetically for this accident 31 And Jacob said sell me this day e i. e. Speedily without delay So this Hebrew word is used 1 Sam. 2. 16. and 9. 13 27. 2 Chron. 18. 4. thy birth-right f The birth-right then had divers singular priviledges as 1. Dignity and Authority over his Brethren Gen. 4. 7. and 27. 29 37. and 49. 3. 2. A double portion Deut. 21. 17. 1 Chron. 5. 1. 3. A special blessing from his Father Gen. 27. 4. 4. The Priesthood and chief Government of the affairs of the Church in his Fathers absence or sickness and after his death Numb 8. 16 17 c. 5. The first-born was a special Type both of Christ who was to be a first-born and of the Church which is called Gods first-born as Exod. 4. 22. and of the great priviledges of the Church particularly of Adoption and Eternal Life See Heb. 12. 23. And therefore he is justly called profane Heb. 12. 16. for slighting so sacred and glorious a priviledge Quest. 1. Could the birth-right be lost Answ. Yes See Gen. 4. 7. and 1 Chron. 5. 1. Quest. 2. Did Iacob well in this matter Answ. No because he tempted his brother to an act of profaneness and folly and so was guilty of his sin And though God had designed and promised this priviledge to him yet he should have waited till God had executed his promise in his own way as David did till God gave him possession of Sauls Kingdom and not have anticipated God and snatched it by an irregular act of his own as Ieroboam did the Kingdom from Rehoboam 32 And Esau said Behold I am †Heb. going to die at the point to die g Not with Famine which could not consist with Isaacs plentiful estate and house but by the perpetual hazards to which his course of life exposed him in the pursuit of wild Beasts and contending with other men and what profit shall this birth-right do to me h By which he plainly sheweth that his Care and Affections reached no further then the present Life 33 And Jacob said swear to me this day i Iacob acted subtilly in this affair he knew that delays were dangerous and Esaus consideration or second thoughts might have spoiled his bargain and therefore herequires haste as in the sale so in his Oath wherein he addeth another sin in hurrying his brother into an Oath by precipitation which neither his brother should have taken nor Iacob should have advised him to take without mature advice and he sware unto him and * Heb. 12. 16. he sold his birth-right unto Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of Lentiles and he did eat and drink and rose up and went his way k Secure and impenitent without any remorse for his ingratitude to God or the injury which he had done to himself and to all his posterity Preferring the present and momentany satisfaction of his lust and appetite before Gods and his Fathers blessing and all the glorious priviledges of the Birth-right thus Esau despised his birth-right l. CHAP. XXVI 1 AND there was a famine in the land * Chap. 12. 10. besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham and Isaac went unto * Chap. 26. 1. Abimelech a Not he mentioned Gen. 20. 2. but most probably his son and successour called by his Fathers name King of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2 And the LORD appeared unto him and said Go not down into Egypt b Whither it seems Isaac intended to go it being a very fruitful place and being incouraged to do so by his Fathers example upon the same occasion But God saw good reasons to forbid Isaac to go thither which it is needless to enquire and not difficult to conjecture dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of 3 Sojourn in this land and I will be with thee and will bless thee for unto thee and unto thy seed c To thee to enjoy for thy present comfort and to them to possess as an inheritance See the notes on Gen. 13. 15. and 15. 18. * Chap. 13. 1â—… and 15. 1â—… I will give all these countries and I will perform * Chap. 22. 16. the oath d i. e. The promises confirmed by Oath Gen. 22. 16 c. which I sware unto Abraham thy father 4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven and will give unto thy seed all these countries and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be * Chap. 12. 3. and 22. 18. blessed 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice e Here was a covenant made between God and Abraham and as if Abraham had broken the condition of walking before God required on his part God had been discharged from the promise made on his part so contrarily because Abraham performed his condition God engageth himself to perform his promise to him and to his seed But as that promise and covenant was made by God of meer grace as is evident and confessed so the mercies promised and performed to him and his are so great and vast that it is an idle thing to think they could be merited by so mean a compensation as Abrahams obedience which was a debt that he owed to God had there been no such covenant or promise made by God and which also was an effect of Gods graces to him and in him and kept my charge my commandments my statutes and my Laws 6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar. 7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife and he said she is my sister for he feared to say she is my wife lest said he the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah because she was fair to look upon 8 And it came to pass when he had been there a long time that Abimelech King of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw and behold Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife g Using more free and familiar carriage then became a Brother and Sister
This suits well with the nature of the thing for both the fruitfulness and the barrenness of Egypt depended under God upon the increase or diminution of the waters of that River seven well-favoured kine d Which when they appeared in dreams did portend in the opinion of the learned Egyptians the years or times to come and them either good or bad according to their quality and fat-fleshed and they fed in a medow 3 And behold seven other kine came up after them out of the river ill-favoured and lean-fleshed and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river e Which shews how sparingly the river overflowed the Lands 4 And the ill-favoured and lean-fleshed kine did eat up the seven well-favoured and fat kine So Pharaoh awoke 5 And he slept and dreamed the second time and behold seven ears of corn f Which are fit and proper resemblances of the thing here intended both because the fertility of a Land doth mainly consist in the abundance and goodness of these and because ears of Corn appearing to any in a dream did in the judgment of the Egyptian wise-men signifie years as Iosephus notes came up upon one stalk †Heb. â—…at rank and good 6 And behold seven thin ears and blasted with the East-wind g A boisterous wind and in those parts of the World very pernicious to the fruits of the Earth Ezek. 17. 10. and 19. 12. Hos. 13. 15. sprang up after them 7 And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears and Pharaoh awoke and behold it was a dream h Not a realthing as Pharaoh in his sleep imagined it to be Heb. behold the dream i. e. The dream did not vanish as dreams commonly do but was fixed in his mind and he could not shake it off by which he saw that it was no common or natural but a divine and significant dream 8 And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled i Because he understood not the meaning of it and dreaded the consequences of it Compare Gen. 40. 6. Dan. 2. 1 3. Matth. 27. 19. and he sent and called for all the Magicians k Whose profession it was to discover secret and future things which they did either by the observation of the Stars or by other superstitious practises and the help of evil spirits See Exod. 7. 11 and 8. 19. Dan. 2. 2 10. of Egypt and all the wise men l Who were conversant in the study of nature and by reason of their great sagacity did oft-times make happy conjectures thereof and Pharaoh told them his dream m He calls them both one dream either because they seemed to portend the same thing or because they were the product of one night and were divided onely by a very little interruption but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh 9 Then spake the chief Butler unto Pharaoh saying I do remember my faults n Not against Ioseph by ingratitude but against the King by which expression he both acknowledgeth the Kings justice in imprisoning him and his clemency in pardoning him this day 10 Pharaoh was wroth with his servants and put me in ward in the captain of the guards house both me and the chief baker 11 And we dreamed a dream in one night I and he we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream * Of which phrase see on Gen. 40. 5. 12 And there was there with us a young man an Hebrew servant to the captain of the guard and we told him and he * chap. 40. 12. c. interpreted to us our dreams to each man according to his dream he did interpret 13 And it came to pass as he interpreted to us so it was me he o Either 1. Pharaoh But then he would have mentioned either his name or title and not have spoken so slightly and indecently of him Or rather 2. Ioseph of whom he spake last and who is here said to restore the one and to hang the other because he foretold those events as Ieremy is said to pull down and destroy those Nations Ier. 1. 10. whose destruction he did onely foretell restored unto mine office and him he hanged 14 * Psal. 105. 20 The Pharaoh sent and called Joseph and they †Heb. made him run brought him hastily out of the dungeon †Or Prison by a Synecdoche of the part for the whole For it is not probable that Ioseph who was now so much employed and entrusted with all the affairs of the prison and Prisoners Gen. 39. 21 22 23. should still be kept in the dungeon properly so called and he shaved himself p For till then he suffered his hair to grow as the manner was for persons in prison or under great sorrow 2 Sam. 19. 24. But to appear in a mournful dress before the King was not convenient nor usual Compare Esth. 4. 4. and changed his raiment and came in unto Pharaoh 15 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph I have dreamed a dream and there is none that can interpret it and I have heard say of thee that ‖ Or when thâ—…s hearest a dream thou canst interpret it thou canst understand a dream to interpret it 16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh saying it is not in me q I cannot do this by any power or vertue or art of my own for I am but a man as your Magicians are but onely by inspiration from the great God Thus he gives the honour from himself unto God and leads Pharaoh to the knowledge of the true God For the phrase compare Matth. 10. 20. 1 Cor. 15. 10. God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace ‖ Or May God give c. It is my desire that God would vouchsaâ—…e to Pharaoh a comfortable and happy answer 17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph In my dream behold I stood upon the bank of a River 18 And behold there came up out of the river seven kine fat-fleshed and well-favoured and they sed in a medow 19 And behold seven other kine came up after them poor and very ill-favoured and lean-fleshed such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness 20 And the lean and the ill-favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine 21 And when they had †Heb. come to the inward parts of them eaten them up it could not be known that they had eaten them r They seemed to be neither fatter in the flesh nor fuller in their bodies As many times in Famine men eat much but are not satisfied because God withdraws his blessing from it by which alone it is that meat nourisheth us but they were still ill-favoured as at the beginning So I awoke 22 And I saw in my dream and behold seven ears came up in one stalk full and good 23 And behold seven ears ‖ Or small withered thin and
not said or done except in some special cases and we would not hear therefore is this distress come upon us z He is inexorable to us as we were to him 22 And Reuben answered them saying * chap. 37. 21. spake I not unto you saying Do not sin against the child and ye would not hear therefore behold also his blood a The punishment of his blood or death occasioned by us is required 23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them for †Heb. 〈◊〉 was between them he spake unto them by an interpreter 24 And he turned himself about from them and wept b Tears partly of natural affection and compassion towards his brethren now in great distress and anguish and partly of joy to see the happy success of his design and rigorous carriage in bringing them to the sight of their sins and returned to them again and communed with them and took from them Simeon c Whom he chuseth to punish partly because next to Reuben he was the eldest and as it may be probably gathered from his bloody disposition Gen. 34. 25. and 49. 6. the most fierce and forward against Iosepâ—… when Reuben was for milder counsels as we see here ver 22. and chap. 37. 29. and partly because the detainment of one of so perverse and furious a temper would least afflict his father and most secure Beniaâ—…in who was to come with his Brethren and bound him before their eyes d That it might make deeper impression upon their hard hearts and make their repentance more effectual 25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn and to restore every mans money into his sack and to give them provision for the way and thus did he unto them 26 And they laded their asses with the corn and departed thence 27 And as one of them e And after him the rest by his example and information did so as is affirmed chap. 43. ver 21. and it is not denied here opened his sack to give his ass provender in the Inne he espied his mony for behold it was in his sacks mouth 28 And he said unto his brethren My money is restored and lo it is even in my sack and their heart †Heb. went forth failed them and they were afraid f Lest this should be a design to entrap and so destroy them saying one to another What is this that God hath done unto us †Whoever were the instruments they knew that God was the chief author of this occurrent and wisely reflect upon his providence in it and their own guilt which provoked him against them 29 And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan and told him all that befell unto them saying 30 The man who is the Lord of the land spake †Heb. With us hard things roughly to us and took us for spies of the countrey 31 And we said unto him We are true men we are no spies 32 We be twelve brethren sons of our father one is not and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan 33 And the man the lord of the countrey said unto us Hereby shall I know that ye are true men leave one of your brethren here with me and take food for the famine of your housholds and be gone 34 And bring your youngest brother unto me then shall I know that you are no spies but that you are true men so will I deliver you your brother and ye shall traffick in the land 35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks that behold every mans bundle of money was in his sack and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money they were afraid g i. e. Their fear returned upon them with more violence having now more leisure to consider things and their wise and experienced father suggesting new matters to them which might more deeply affect them 36 And Jacob their father said unto them Me have ye bereaved of my children Joseph is not and Simeon is not h He gave him up for lost as being as he thought in the power of a cruel enemy and ye will take Benjamin away all these things are against me i I am the great sufferer in all these things you carry your selves as if you were neither concerned nor affected with them 37 And Reuben spake unto his father saying Slay my two sons k Two of the four mentioned Gen. 46. 9. An absurd proposition neither fit for him to make nor for Iacob to accept if I bring him not to thee deliver him into my hand and I will bring him to thee again 38 And he said My son shall not go down with you for his brother is dead and he is left alone l To wit of his mother my dear Rachel if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go then shall ye bring down my gray-hairs with sorrow to the grave CHAP. XLIII 1 AND the famine was sore in the land 2 And it came to pass when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt their father said unto them Go again buy us a little food a He saith a little either to shew that he took no thought to satisfie his or their curiosity or luxury but onely their necessity for which a little would suffice and that they must all moderate their appetites especially in a time of such scarcity or to encourage them to the journey by suggesting to them that they needed not bring great stores but onely what was sufficient for that year and that God would provide better for them hereafter so as they should not need to go so far for corn any more 3 And Judah spake unto him saying The man did †Heb. protesting he protested solemnly protest unto us saying Ye shall not see my face b See the same expression 2 Sâ—…m 14. 24 32. Act. 20. 25 38. Ye shall not be admitted into my presence nor to the purchasing of any corn here except your * chap. 42. 20. and 44. 23. brother be with you 4 If thou wilt send our brother with us we will go down and buy thee food 5 But if thou wilt not send him we will not go down c Because we shall both lose the end of our journey viz. the getting of corn and run the utmost hazard of all our lives for the man said unto us Ye shall not see my face except your brother be with you 6 And Israel said Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother 7 And they said The man †Heb. asking he asked us asked us straitly of our state and of our kindred saying Is your father yet alive have ye another brother and we told him according to the †Heb. mouth tenour of these words d We
compassion to our aged father and partly for thy own advantage because I can be more serviceable to thee than he because of my greater strength and experience a bondman to my Lord and let the lad go up with his brethren 34 For how shall I go up to my father and the lad be not with me lest peradventure I see the evil that shall †Heb. find my father come on my father CHAP. XLV 1 THen Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him and he cryed cause every man to go out from me a Remove all the Egyptians out of my presence and chamber Which he did partly that he might maintain the honour of his place and not make himself cheap and contemptible to the Egyptians by his excessive tears and passions and by his free and familiar and affectionate converse with his brethren and partly to preserve the reputation of his brethren by concealing their fault from the Egyptians and there stood no man with him while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren 2 And he †Heb. gave forth his voice iâ—… weeping wept aloud b His tears and voice which had been hitherto kept in by main force now breaking forth with greater violence and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard * Some who were near with their own ears and others by report 3 And Joseph said unto his brethren * Act. 7. 13. I am Joseph Doth my father yet live c He repeats his former question Gen. 43. 27. either because he questioned the truth of their former relation or would be further satisfied in it it being usual with men to ask over and over again what they long to know or because he now desired a more particular relation of his fathers condition and how he did bear up under all his calamities And his brethren could not answer him for they were ‖ Or terrified troubled at his presence ‖ From a sudden and deep sense of their horrid guile and their just fear of some dreadful punishment 4 And Joseph said unto his brethren Come near to me d Be not afraid of me but come nearer to me with chearfulness and confidence that you may be assured that I am he and that we may more freely and privately discourse together so as none others may hear It is probable that Ioseph sate in state and that they hitherto kept a due distance from him I pray you and they came near and he said I am Joseph your brother whom ye sold into Egypt e i. e. Sold unto them that brought me into Egypt and sold me there See Gen. 37. 28. and 39. 1. So they sold him into Egypt occasionally and eventually 5 Now therefore be not grieved f To wit immoderately and for the injury which you did to me or for the danger which you have brought upon your selves Otherwise he doth not disswade them from a godly sorrow for their offence against God for the procurement of which he designed and used that strange and rough carriage towards them †Heb. neither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be anger it 〈◊〉 eyes nor angry with your selves g Neither excessively torment your selves with the remembrance of the fact neither break forth into contentions and wrath and upbraidings of one another that ye sold me hither * Chap. 50. 20. Psal. 105. 16 17. for God did send me h God by his wise powerful and gracious Providence overruled your evil intentions to an happy end before you to preserve life i Not onely your lives for the expression is here indefinite and general but the lives of all the people in this and the neighbouring Countries Which though it doth not lessen your sin yet ought to qualifie your sorrow 6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land and yet there are five years in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest k Neither sowing nor reaping except in a few places near Nilus because the people could not spare seed-corn and would not lose it understanding from Joseph that their cost and labour would be lost and that the famine would be of long continuance 7 And God sent me before you to †Heb. to put for yoâ—… a remnant preserve you a posterity l That you and your Children might be sustained and preserved in this time of â—…amine and afterwards abundantly multiplied as God hath promised Or for a gâ—…at 〈◊〉 or escaping i. e. that you who are now but an handful escaping this danger may grow into a vast mulâ—…ude The word â—…on or escaping is here put for the persons that do escape as it is 2 Chron. 30. 6. Isa. 10. 20. and as captivity is oft put for the Captives as it is Numb 21. 1. Deut. 21. 10. And so what was said in the former clause is repeated in this with an emphatical addition in the earth and to save your live by a great deliverance m. 8 So now it was not you that sent me hither but God n That I came to this place and pitch of honour and power is not to be imputed to your design which was of another nature but to Gods over-ruling providence which ordered the circumstances of your action so as I should be brought to this place and state Compare Gen. 50. 20. and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh o To advise him and to provide for him as fathers do for their Children and to have the authority respect and power of a father with him and Lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt 9 Haste you and go up to my father and say unto him Thus saith thy son Joseph God hath made me lord of all Egypt come down unto me tarry not 10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen p A part of Egypt bordeâ—…ng upon Canaan well watered and fit for cattel and therefâ—…e most propâ—… for the Israelites not onely for present use and to keep them at some distance from the inward parts of Egypt and from the Court but also that they might have Canaan always in their eye and mind and in Gods time might with least disadvantage march thither Iâ—…seph promiseth this place either because it was least inhabited being in the borders of the Land or because he justly presumed upon the Kings favour and knew that the growing Famine would give him opportunity to dispose of the people as he pleased and thou shalt be near unto me thou and thy children and thy childrens câ—…ildren and thy flocks and thy herds and all that thou hast 11 And there will I nourish thee for yet there are five years of famine lest thou and thy houshold and all that thou hast come to poverty 12 And behold your eyes see and the eyes of my brother Benjamin that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you q Because I
and Ephraim * chap. 41. 50. which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah †Or Prince Priest of On bare unto him 21 * 1 Chron. 7. 6. and 8. 1. And the sons of Benjamin were Belah and Becher and Ashbel Gera and Naaman * Num. 26. 38 39. ‖ Ahiram Ehi and Rosh ‖ Shupham Muppim and ‖ Hupham Huppim and Ard r Whereof part seem to be born before his coming to Egypt and part in Egypt Benjamin being now but twenty and four years old 22 These are the sons of Rachel which were born to Jacob all the souls were fourteen 23 * 1 Chro. 7. 12. And the sons of Dan ‖ Shuham Num. 26. 42. Hushim 24 * 1 Chro. 7. 13. And the sons of Naphtali Jahzeel and Guni and Jezer and Shillem 25 * Chap. 30. 5. These are the sons of Bilhah which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter and she bare these unto Jacob all the souls were seven 26 All the * Exod. 1. 5. souls that came with Jacob into Egypt which came out of his †Heb. thigh loyns s Heb. thigh which is here put for the secret parts between the thighs which are called sometimes the feet as Gen. 49. 10. Deut. 28. 57. Ezek. 16. 25. for the like reason because they are between the feet From this Eastern manner of speech came that passage in the Greek fables concerning Baâ—…hus being born out of Iupiters Thigh besides Jacobs sons wives all these souls were threescore and six t So many they are excluding Iacob as the common Parent and Ioseph and his two sons as being in Egypt before Iacobs coming thither which four being included they make up 70 as it is ver 27. 27 And the sons of Joseph which were born him in Egypt were two souls * Deut. 10. 22. See Acts 7. 14. All the souls of the house of Jacob which came into Egypt u He doth not say which came with Iacob into Egypt because some of them came thither before him and others with him some in their persons and some in their Parents As for the difficulty arising from comparing this place with Act. 7. 14. it will be more fit to speak of it when we come to that place were threescore and ten 28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph to direct his face unto Goshen x Heb. to prepare or to teach him the way before his face i. e. before his coming to Goshen i. e. to shew him where it was and into what part of it he should come and settle himself or to give notice unto Ioseph of his approach before his face or coming into Goshen and they came into the land of Goshen 29 And Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father to Goshen and presented himself unto him y And doubtless fell down before him with all that reverence which children owe to their Parents and in this posture Iacob falls upon his neck c. Of which posture see Gen. 33. 4. and 45. 14. Luk. 15. 20. Act. 20. 37. and he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while 30 And Israel said unto Joseph Now let me die z Now I expect no greater happiness upon earth and therefore am content to die Compare Luk. 2. 29. since I have seen thy face because thou art yet alive 31 And Joseph said unto his brethren and unto his fathers house I will go up and shew Pharaoh and say unto him My brethren and my fathers house which were in the land of Canaan are come unto me 32 And the men are shepherds for †Heb. they are men of cattle their trade hath been to feed cattle and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have 33 And it shall come to pass when Pharaoh shall call you and shall say What is your occupation 34 That ye shall say Thy servants trade hath been about cattel from our youth even untill now both we and also our fathers that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen ‖ In which design and choice 〈◊〉 shews both his prudence and piety He brings them not to Court where it had been easie for him to have put them all into the best places and offices of the Court and as he is not ashamed to own himself a brother to shepherds which were contemptible among the Egyptians so he seeks not to advance them higher but continues them in their employment and placeth them in 〈◊〉 whereby 1. He kept them together which was very convenient for them in many respects 2. He secured them both from envy and as far as he could from the corruption of their Religion and Manners which was likely to follow their mixture with the Egyptians and especially their being at the Court 3. He put them into a capacity of returning to Canaan when God gave them opportunity for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians †Either 1. Because they did both kill and eat those creatures which the Egyptians adored Or. 2. Because of the fresh remembrance of the horrid cruelties lately committed there by the Phoenician Shepherds who as some very antient writers affirm were seated in Egypt in great numbers and had arrived to great power and waged a cruel War with other Egyptians wherein they wasted divers Cities and burned their Temples and barbarously murdered a multitude of people And therefore it is no wonder if the calling of Shepherds was grown out of use and credit among them True it is the Egyptians had some Sheep and other Cattle Gâ—…n 47. 6 17. Exod. 8. 26. and 9. 3. which they kept for delight or profit by their milk wool c or for sale to others but they did not use them as other Shepherds generally did kill and eat them And it is probable that they committed even the keeping of their Sheep and Cattle to those strangers which were dispersed among them and looked upon the employment as too vile and mean for any Egyptian And though Pharaoh offered it to Josephs brethren as a favour to be Rulers over his Cattle Gen. 47. 6. that might proceed onely from hence because he saw them firmly resolved upon that course of life and therefore could not bestow any higher preferment upon them CHAP. XLVII 1 THen Joseph came and told Pharaoh and said my father and my brethren and their flocks and their herds and all that they have are come out of the land of Canaan and behold they are in the land of Goshen a Either to abide there Or to remove thence to any other place which thou shalt appoint for them 2 And he took some b Or part as this Hebrew word is used Dan. 1. 2. Or the extremity or end or tail of them i. e. the meanest of them for person and presence as the word is taken 1 King 12. 31. lest
the Jews took it 2 Chron. 16. 14. Iohn 19. 39 40. Partly to do honour and shew his affections to his worthy Father and partly because this was necessary for the keeping of the body so long as the times of mourning and the journey to Canaan required and the Physitians imbalmed Israel 3 And forty dayes were fulfilled for him c i. e. For his embalming that so the Drugs or Spices which were applied might more effectually reach to all the parts of the dead body and keep it from corruption And the effect of their diligence and so long continuance in this work was that bodies have been preserved uncorrupt for some thousands of years for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed and the Egyptians †Heb. wept mourned for him threescore and ten dayes d i. e. Thirty days according to the custom of the Hebrews Numb 20. 29. Deut. 34. 8. to which doubtless the Egyptians in this case did accommodate themselves besides the forty days spent in embalming him which also was a time of mourning And thus I suppose the Egyptians reckoned those seventy two dayes which Diodorus Siculus saith they spent in mourning for their deceased Kings 4 And when the dayes of his mourning were past Joseph spake unto the house e The Houshold or Family namely those of them which were chief in place and favour with the King of Pharaoh saying if now I have found grace in your eyes speak I pray you in the ears of Pharaoh f Ioseph makes use of their intercession either 1. Lest he might seem to despise them or to presume too much upon his own single interest Or 2. By engaging them in this matter to stop their mouths who otherwise might have been ready enough to censure this action which they would have a fair opportunity to do in Iosephs absence Or 3. Because it was the custom here as it was elsewhere Est. 4. 2. that persons in mourning habit might not come into the Kings presence partly because they would not give them any occasion of sadness and partly because according to their superstitious conceits the sight of such a person was judged ominous saying 5 * chap. 47. 29. My father made me swear g Here is triple obligation upon Ioseph 1. His duty to fulfil the will of the dead 2. The obedience which he owed to his Fathers command 3. The tye of a solemn Oath All which had weight even with the Heathens and were so many arguments to Pharaoh and his Courtiers saying Lo I die in my grave which I have digged for me h According to the manner of those antient and succeeding times See 2 Chron. 16. 14. Isa. 22. 16. Matth. 27. 60. In that large cave which Abraham bought for a burying place for his Family Iacob had digged a particular and small cell or repository for himself as others did after him upon the like occasion And this reason is prudently added to shew that this desire proceeded not from any contempt of Pharaoh or his Land but from that common and customary desire of persons of all ages and Nations to be buried in their Fathers Sepulchres in the land of Canaan there shalt thou bury me Now therefore let me go up I pray thee and bury my father and I will come again 6 And Pharaoh said Go up and bury thy father according as he made thee swear h The Heathens by the light of nature discovered the sacredness of an Oath and the wickedness of perjury 7 And Joseph went up to bury his father and with him went up all i i. e. A great number of them as that word is understood Matth. 3. 5. and oft elsewhere For many of them were aged and infirm and many could not be spared from their attendance at Court or upon their employments c. the servants of Pharaoh k Courtiers of an inferiour rank the Elders of his house l The chief Officers and under him Governours of his Family and Counsels who used to reside at or near the Court. and all the Elders of the land m The great Officers Civil and Military whose places of habitation and command were dispersed in the several parts of the Land of Egypt 8 And all the house of Joseph and his brethren and his fathers house onely their little ones and their flocks and their herds n And such as were necessary to take care of them which must needs be understood they left in the land of Goshen 9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen o For their defence in case of any opposition and it was a very great company 10 And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad p A man so called or of thorn or thorns as the word signifies Iudg. 9. 14. Psal. 58. 9. So it might be a place either abounding or encompassed with thorns which is beyond q Or on this side for the word signifies both and it may be taken either way here the one in respect of Egypt the other in regard of the place in which Moses wrote It is certain they fetched a great compass whether for the commodiousness of the way for their charets and for conveniencies for so great a company or to prevent all jealousies in the people as if they came thither with ill design is not material Jordan and there r Because there was the entrance into that Countrey or Territory where he was to be buried they mourned with a great and very â—…ore lamentation s The Egyptians though they were not much grieved nor concerned for Iacobs death yet they used bitter cryes and lamentations which possibly were made or aggravated by persons hired and used upon such occasions See Ier. 9. 17. and he made a mourning for his father seven dayes t According to the custom see 1 Sam. 31. 13. 11 And when the inhabitants of the land the Canaanites saw the mourning in the floor of Atad they said This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians wherefore the name of it was called ‖ That is the mourning of the Egyptians Abel-Mizraim which is beyond Jordan 12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them 13 For * Act. 7. 16. his sons carried him into the land of Canaan and buryed him in the cave of the field of Machpelah which Abraham * chap. 23. 16. bought with the field for a possession of a burying-place of Ephron the Hittite before Mamre 14 And Joseph returned into Egypt he and his brethren and all that went with him to bury his father after he had buried his father 15 And when Josephs brethren saw that their father was dead they said Joseph will peradventure hate us and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him 16 And they †Heb. charged sent a messenger unto Joseph saying Thy father did command before he died
a time and by Ioseph had abundantly paid for their habitation there and therefore they might have demanded a total dismission 2. Moses doth not say any thing which is false but onely conceals a part of the truth and he was not obliged to discover the whole truth to so cruel a Tâ—…rant and so impâ—…cable an â—…nemy 3. Moses cannot be blamed both 〈◊〉 he was none of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 herein he 〈◊〉 the direction and command of his 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 him And God surely was not obliged to acquaint 〈◊〉 with all his mind but onely so far as â—…e pleased And â—…t 〈◊〉 him for viâ—…e and just reasons â—…o propose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that his denial oâ—… so 〈◊〉 a request 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make his Tyranny more manifest and Gods vengeance upon him more just and remarkable into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God d Which they could not do freely and safely in Egypt Exod. 8. 2â—… 19 And I am sure e I know it infallibly before hand that the King of Egypt will not let you go ‖ Or but by strong hand no not by a mighty hand f Though he see and feel the miraculous and dreadful works of a strong yea almighty hand yet he will not consent to your going Which the History makes good Nor did he let them go till he could hold them no longer till the fear of his own Life and the clamours of his people forced him to give way to it And yet after that he repents of his permission and laboured to bring them back again Others but or except by a strong hand i. e. except by my almighty power he be forced to it Both Translations come to the same sense 20 And I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof and after that he will let you go 21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians g So that they shall readily grant what the Israelites desire See Exod. 12. 36. and it shall come to pass that when ye go ye shall not go empty 22 * chap. 11. 2. Gen. 15. 14. But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour and of her that sojourneth in her house jewels of silver and jewels of Gold and raiment and ye shall put them upon your sons and upon your daughters and ye shall spoil ‖ Or Egypt the Egyptians h Whether this was just or no see on Exod. 12. 3â—… CHAP. IV. 1 AND Moses answered and said But behold they will not believe me a Which he conjectured both from reason because the greatness and strangeness of the deliverance made it seem incredible and their minds were so oppressed with cares and labours that it was not likely they could raise them up to any such expectation and from the experience which he had of them forty years before when their deliverance by his means and interest at Court seemed much more credible then now it did nor hearken unto my voice for they will say the LORD hath not appeared unto thee 2 And the LORD said unto him What is that in thine hand And he said a Rod. 3 And he said cast it on the ground And he cast it on the ground and it became a Serpent b i. e. Was really changed into a Serpent whereby it was intimated what and how pernicious his Rod should be to the Egyptians And Moses fled from before it 4 And the LORD said unto Moses put forth thine hand and take it by the tail c The dangerous part whereby God would try Moses his Faith and prepare him for the approaching difficulties And he put forth his hand and caught it and it became a Rod in his hand 5 That they may believe d An imperfect sentence to be thus compleated This thou shalt do before them that they may believe See the like in 2 Sam. 5. 8. compared with 1 Chron. 11. 6. and Mark 14. 49. compared with Matth. 26. 56. that the LORD God of their fathers the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob hath appeared unto thee 6 And the LORD said furthermore unto him Put now thine hand into thy bosom And he put his hand into his bosom and when he took it out behold his hand was leprous * 2 King 5. 27. as snow e For whiteness See Numb 12. 10. Hereby God would suggest to them how soon he could weaken and destroy the hard and strong hand by which the Egyptians Tyrannized over them It might also be done to keep Moses humble and depending upon God and to teach him and Israel to ascribe all the future Miracles not to the hand of Moses which was weak and liable to many distempers but wholly to the divine power and goodness 7 And he said Put thine hand into thy bosom again And he put his hand into his bosom again and plucked it out of his bosom and behold it was turned again as his other flesh 8 And it shall come to pass if they will not believe thee neither hearken to the voice of the first sign f To the voice or word of God delivered and confirmed by the first sign For Moses did not make dumb shews before them but acquainted them with the mind of God therein Or he saith the voice to note that Gods works have a voice to speak to us which we must diligently observe See Mic. 6. 9. that they will believe the voice of the latter sign 9 And it shall come to pass if they will not believe also these two signs neither hearken unto thy voice that thou shalt take of the water of the river g Nilus well known to Moses and called so by way of eminency as Euphrates also is and pour it upon the dry land and the water which thou takest out of the river †Heb. shall 〈◊〉 and shall 〈◊〉 shall become h Heb. shall be even shall be i. e. it shall assuredly be so blood upon the dry land 10 And Moses said unto the LORD O my Lord I am not †Heb. a man of words eloquent i Not able to deliver thy message acceptably and decently either to Pharaoh or to the Israelites neither †Heb. since yesterday nor since the third day heretofore nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant k Since thy appearance to me thou hast made some change in my hand but none in my tongue but still I am as I was most unfit for so high an employment But indeed he was therefore fit for it as the unlearned Apostles were for the Preaching of the Gospel that the honour of their glorious works might be entirely given to God and not to the instruments which he used but * chap. 6. 12. I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue 11 And the LORD said unto him
unto Abraham unto Isaac and unto Jacob by the Name of * Gen. 17. 1. and 48. 3. God Almighty but by my Name * chap. 3. 14. JEHOVAH was I not known to them * Quest. How is this true when God was known to them and called by the name Iehovah Gen. 15. 7. and 26. 24. c. Ans. 1. He speaks not of the letters or syllables but of the thing signified by that name For that denotes all his perfections and amongst others the eternity constancy and immutability of his nature and will and the infallible certainty of his word and promises And this saith he though it was believed by Abraham Isaac and Iacob yet it was not experimentally known to them for they onely saw the promises afar off Heb. 11. 13. Ans. 2. This negative expression may be understood comparatively as many others are as Gen. 32. 29. Mat. 9. 13. 1 Cor. 1. 17. q. d. They knew this but darkly and imperfectly which will now be made known more clearly and fully 4 And I have also established my covenant with them * Gen. 17. 8. and 28. 4. to give them the land of Canaan the land of their pilgrimage wherein they were strangers 5 And * chap. 2. 24. I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage and I have remembred my Covenant 6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel I am the LORD and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will rid you out of their bondage and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm b i. e. My almighty power A metaphor from a man that stretcheth out his arm and puts forth all his strength to give the greater blow and with great judgments c i. e. Punishments justly inflicted upon them as the word judging and judgments is oft used as Gen. 15. 14. 2 Chron. 20. 12. Prov. 19. 29. 7 And I will take you to me for a people d i. e. For my people you shall no longer be the people and slaves of the King of Egypt but my people and servants whom I will bless and preserve and I will be to you a God e To judge and deliver you and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians 8 And I will bring you in unto the land concerning the which I did †Heb. list up my hand See Gen. 14. 22. Deut. 32. 40. swear * Gen. 15. 14. 26. 3. 35. 12. to give it to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob and I will give it you for an heritage I am the LORD f And therefore have authority and power to dispose of lands and kingdoms as I please and faithful to give you what I have promised 9 And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel but they hearkened not unto Moses for †Heb. shortness or straitness anguish of spirit g Their minds were so oppressed with their present burdens and future expectations that they could not believe nor hope for any deliverance but deemed it impossible and having been once deceived in their hopes they now quite despaired and thought their entertainment of new hopes or use of further endeavours would make their condition worse as it had done and for cruel bondage 10 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 11 Go in speak unto Pharaoh King of Egypt that he let the children of Israel go out of his land 12 And Moses spake before the LORD saying Behold the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me how then shall Pharaoh hear me * chap. 4. 10. who am of uncircumcised lips h i. e. Of polluted lips Uncircumcision being a great defect and blemish whereby men were rendred profane contemptible and unfit for many services and priviledges may note any defect whether moral and of the spirit or natural and of the body So here it notes Moses his inability to cloath Gods commands in such words as might prevail with Pharaoh But this was a great weakness of faith as if God could not effect his purpose because the instrument was unfit 13 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel and unto Pharaoh King of Egypt to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt 14 These be the heads of their fathers houses i This genealogy he describes here to shew the linage of Moses and Aaron by whom this great work was to be effected Onely he premiseth in brief the genealogy of his two elder brethren Reuben and Simeon to make way for the third which he intended more largely to insist upon And he mentions them rather than any other either to advance the favour of God in preferring that tribe before the descendants of their elder brethren or to shew that although the parents were sharply censured and rather cursed then blessed by Iacob Gen. 49. yet their posterity was not rejected by God but received to mercy and admitted to the same priviledge with their brethren * Gen. 46. 9. 1 Chron. 5. 3. The sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel Hanoch and Pallu Hezron and Carmi these be the families of Reuben 15 * 1 Chro. 4. 24. And the sons of Simeon Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman these are the families of Simeon 16 And these are the names of the * Numb 3. 17. 1 Chron. 6. 1. sons of Levi according to their generations k From each of which proceeded a distinct generation or family called by their fathers name Gershon and Kohath and Merari and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years 17 The * 1 Chro. 6. 17. and 23. 7. sons of Gershon Libni and Shimi according to their families 18 And * Numb 26. 57. 1 Chron. 6. 2. the sons of Kohath Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel And the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years 19 And the sons of Merari Mahali and Mushi these are the families of Levi according to their generations 20 And * chap. 2. 1. Numb 26. 59. Amram took him Jochebed his fathers sister l Or rather kinswoman or coâ—…sin or neece for so this Hebrew word is sometimes used as appears from Ier. 32. 8 9 12. Obj. She is called the daughter of Levi Exod. 2. 1. Ans. Even Neeces are oft called daughters as we have shewed See Luk. 1. 5. and the notes on Exod. 2. 1. to wife and she bare him Aaron and Moses and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years 21 And * 1 Chro. 6. 37 38. the sons of Izhar Korah and Nepheg and Zichri 22 And * Levit. 10. 4. Num. 3. 30.
the sons of Uzziel Mishael and Elzaphan and Zithri 23 And Aaron took him Elisheâ—…a daughter * Ruth 4. 19 20. 1 Chro. 2. 10 of Aminadab m A Prince of the Tribe of 〈◊〉 Numb 1. 7. and â—… 3. Marriages were not yet confined to their own Tribes and when they were the Levites seem to have had this priviledge thâ—… they might marry a daughter of any other tribe because indeed the reason of that law did not concern them there being no danger of confusion or loss of inheritance on their part And especially there were many marriages made between the Tribes of Iudah and Levi to signifie that both were united in Christ who was to be both King and Priest It is observable that Moses is here silent in his own progeny but gives a particular account of his brothers not onely from his great humility and modesty which shines forth in many other passages but because it was of more concernment and the honour of Priesthood given to Aaron was to be hereditary and peculiar to his seed and therefore it was necessary they should be exactly known whereas Moses his honour and government was onely personal and did not pass to his children Sister of Naashon to wife and she bare him * Num. 3. 2. 26. 60. 1 Chron. 6. 3. and 24. 1. Nadab and Abihu Eleazar and Ithamar 24 And the sons of Korah Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph these are the families of the Korhites 25 And Eleazar Aarons son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife and * Numb 25. 11. she bare him Phinehas these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families 26 These are that Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies n i. e. According to their numerous families which were equal to great Armies and which went out of Egypt like several Armies in military order and with great power See Exod. 12. 41 51. and 13. 18. and 14. 8. 27 These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt These are that Aaron and Moses 28 And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt 29 That the LORD spake unto Moses saying I am the LORD speak thou unto Pharaoh King of Egypt all that I say unto thee 30 And Moses said before the LORD Behold I am of uncircumcised lips and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me CHAP. VII 1 AND the LORD said unto Moses See I have made thee a god to Pharaoh a To represent my person to act like God by requiring his obedience to thy commands and by punishing his disobedience with such punishments as none but God can inflict to which end thou shalt have my omnipotent assistance and Aaron thy brother shall be thy Prophet b i. e. Thy Interpreter or spokesman as chap. 4. 16. to deliver thy commands to Pharaoh 2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh that he send c Heb. and he will send or dismiss to wit at last being forced to it Success shall attend your endeavours the children out of his land 3 And I will harden Pharaohs heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt 4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you that I may lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth mine armies and my people the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt * chap. 6. â—… by great judgments 5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them 6 And Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them so did they d An emphatical repetition to shew their courage in attempting to say and do such things to so great a Monarch in his own dominions and their fidelity in the execution of all Gods commands 7 And Moses was fourscore years old and Aaron fourscore and three years old when they spoke unto Pharaoh e The ages of Moses and Aaron here as of Levi and Kohath chap. 6. 16 18. and before them of Iacob and Ioseph are so exactly set down that thence we may understand the accomplishment of Gods prediction Gen. 15. 13. and the time of Israels being in Egypt 8 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying 9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you saying Shew a miracle for you then thou shalt say unto Aaron f By whose hands this and other miracles were to be done and not by Moses immediately partly to take off the suspition that these miracles were wrought by some magical artifice of Moses and partly for the greater honour of Moses that he might be what God had said ver 1. a God to Pharaoh who not onely could work wonders himself but also give power to others to do so * chap. 4. 2 17. Take thy rod g The same rod is called the rod of God and of Moses and of Aaron here and ver 12. because it was appointed and as it were consecrated by God and used both by Moses and Aaron in their great works And this rod Moses ordinarily held in his hand and delivered it to Aaron upon occasion for the execution of his commands and cast it before Pharaoh and it shall become a serpent h Heb. A dragon which is a great serpent Others a Crocodile to whose jaws he had exposed the Israelitish Infants 10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh and they did so as the LORD had commanded and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants and it became a serpent 11 Then Pharaoh also called the wisemen * Under which general title he seems to comprehend all who were most eminent in any sort of wisdom either natural or civil or divine who were all called to give their opinion and advice in these matters and the sorcerers now the Magicians i The same now called sorcerers who acted by the power of the Devil whom by certain rites and ceremonies they engaged to their assistance Of these the two chief were Iannes and Iambres 2 Tim. 3. 8. of Egypt they also did in like manner k In shew and appearance which was not difficult for the devil to do either by altering the air and the spectatours sight and by causing their rods both to look and move like serpents or by a sudden and secret conveyance of real serpents thither and removing the rods Nor is it strange that God permitted those delusions partly because it was a just punishment upon the Egyptians for their horrid and manifold Idolatry and barbarous cruelty towards the Israelites and their other wickedness and partly because there was a sufficient difference made between their
impostures and the real miracles wrought by Moses and Aaron as appears from the next verse and from chap. 8. 18. and from other passages And this is a great evidence of the truth of Scripture-story and that it was not written by fiction and design For if Moses had written these books to deceive the world and to advance his own reputation as some have impudently said it is ridiculous to think that he would have put in this and many other passages which might seem so much to eclipse his honour and the glory of his works with their inchantments 12 For they cast down every man his rod and they became serpents l Either 1. in appearance For the Scripture oft speaks of things otherwise then they are because they seem to be so And therefore as the Devil appearing to Saul in the likeness of Samuel is called Samuel so may these rods upon the same account be called Serpents because through Diabolical illusion they seemed to be so Or 2. really in manner expressed ver 11. but Aarons rod swallowed up their rods m By which it was evident either that Aarons rod was turned into a real serpent because it had the real properties and effects of a serpent viz. to devour or at least that the God of Israel was infinitely more powerful then the Egyptian Idols or Devils 13 And he †The Lord to whom this act of hardening is frequently ascribed both in this book and elsewhere hardened Pharaohs heart that he hearkened not unto them * chap. 4. 21. as the LORD had said 14 And the LORD said unto Moses * chap. 8. 15. 〈◊〉 1 20 27. Pharaohs heart is hardened n Is obstinate and resolved in his way so as neither my word nor works can make any impression upon him he refuseth to let the people go 15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning lo he goeth out unto the water o i. e. Nilus whither he went at that time either for his recreation or to pay his morning-worship to that river which the Egyptians had in great veneration as Plutarch testifies and thou shalt stand by the rivers brink against he come and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take into thine hand 16 And thou shalt say unto him The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee saying Let my people go * chap. 3. 12 18. 5. 1 3. that they may serve me in the wilderness and behold hitherto thou wouldest not hear 17 Thus saith the LORD In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD p Because thâ—… saidst 〈◊〉 is the Lord and I know not the lord chap. 5. 2. thou 〈◊〉 know him experimentally and to thy cost * chap. 4. 9. behold I will smite q viz. by Aarons hand who shall do it by my command and direction Thus Pilate is said to give Christs body to Ioseph Mark 15. 45. because he commanded it to be delivered by others to him The same action is ascribed to the principal and instrumental cause with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river r Nilus which was one of their principal Gods and therefore it was inexcusable in them that they would not renounce those â—…eeble Gods which were unable to help not onely their worshippers but even themselves nor embrace the service and commands of that God whose almighty power they saw and felt and they shall be turned * Rev. 16. 6. to blood s Which was a very grievous Plague to them both because it was an eternal dishonour to their Religion and because from hence they had both their drink Deut. 11. 10 11. Ier. 2. 18. and their meat Numb 11. 5. for greater and lesser cattel they would not eat Exod. 8. 26. And it was a very proper punishment for them who had made that river an instrument for the execution of their bloody design against the Israelitish infants Exod. 1. 22. 18 And the fish that is in the river shall die and the river shall stink and the Egyptians t Therefore the Israelites were free from this plague and those branches of Nilus which they used were uncorrupted when all others were turned into bloud shall loath u Or shall weary themselves in running hither and thither in hopes of finding water in some parts or branches of the river to drink of the water of the river 19 And the LORD spake unto Moses Say unto Aaron Take thy rod and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt upon their streams upon their rivers and upon their ponds and upon all their †Heb. gathering of their waters pooles of water x Not that he was to go to every pool to use this ceremony there but he stretched his hand and rod over some of them in the name of all the rest which he might signifie either by his words or by the various motions of his rod several ways that they may become blood and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone 20 And Moses and Aaron did so as the LORD commanded and he * chap. 17. 5. lift up the rod and smote the waters that were in the river in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants and all the * Psal. â—…8 44. and 105. 29. waters that were in the river were turned to blood 21 And the fish that was in the river died and the river stunk and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt 22 * Wisd. 17. â—… And the Magicians of Egypt did so with their inchantments y It was not difficult for the Devil to convey bloud speedily and unperceivably and that in great quantity which might suffice to infect with a bloody colour those small parcels of water which were left for them to shew their art in Qu. Whence could they have water when all their waters were turned into blood Ans. 1. It might be had either 1. by rain which at that time God was pleased to send down either for this purpose or to mitigate the extremity of the plague or for other reasons known to him though not to us For that rain sometimes falls in Egypt though not much nor often is affirmed by antient writers and late travellers Or 2. from Goshen which was not far from the Court or from some houses of the Israelites who dwelt amongst the Egyptians as appears from many places of this history and who were free from these Plagues See Exod. 8. 22. and 9. 26. and 10. 23. and 12. 13. c. Or 3. from the pits which they digged ver 24. Or 4. from some branch of Nilus or some vessels in their houses whose waters were not yet changed For this change might be wrought not suddenly
which is not affirmed in this relation but by degrees which God might so order for this very end that the Magicians might have matter for the trial of their experiment and Pharaohs heart was hardened neither did he hearken unto them as the LORD had said 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house neither did he set his heart to this z He did not seriously consider it nor the causes or cure of this plague and was not much affected with it because he saw this fact exceeded not the power of his Magitians also 24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink ‖ It is not much material to us whether they lost their labour and found onely blood there as Iosephus affirms or whether they succeeded and found water there which seems more probable because these come not within the compass of Moses his commission ver 17 19 20. or whether they found the water something purified and less bloody though mixed with blood But it is observable that though the Devil could do something which might increase the plague or imitate it yet he could do nothing to remove it for they could not drink of the water of the river 25 And seven dayes were fulfilled †Ere all the waters of Egypt were perfectly free from this infection Quest. How could the Egyptians subsist so long without water Ans. 1. Philo tells us that many of them died of this plague 2. As the plague might come on so it might go off by degrees and so the water though mixed with blood might give them some relief 3. The juyces of herbs and other liquors which were untouched with this plague might refresh them 4. They might have some water either from their pits or by rain from heaven as was said before or from Goshen for though it be said that the blood was in all their vessels ver 19. yet it is not said that all that should afterwards be put into them should be turned into blood after that the LORD had smitten the river CHAP. VIII 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses Go unto Pharaoh and say unto him Thus saith the LORD let my people go that they may serve me 2 And if thou refuse to let them go behold I will smite all thy borders a All thy land which is within thy borders A Synecdoche so that word is used also Exod. 10. 14 19. 1 King 1. 3. Psal. 147. 14. Ier. 15. 13. So the gate and the wall are put for the city to which they belong Gen. 22. 17. Amos 1. 7 10 14. with * Rev. 16. 13. frogs 3 And the river b Under which are comprehended all other rivers streams and ponds as appears from ver 5. But the river Nilus is mentioned because God would make that an instrument of their misery in which they most gloried Ezek. 29. 3. and to which they gave divine honours and which was the instrument of their cruelty against the Israelites chap. 1. 22. shall bring forth frogs abundantly which shall go up and come into thine house and into thy bed chamber c Either because God made the doors and windows to flie open which it is easie to believe concerning God seeing this hath been many times done by evil Angels or because whensoever men entred into any house or any room of their house which their occasions would oft force them to do the frogs being always at their heels in great numbers would go in with them This plague was worse than the former because it was more constant and more general for the former was onely in the waters and did onely molest them when they went to drink or use the water but this infected all liquors and all places and at all times and annoyed all their sences with their filthy substance and shape and noise and stink and mingled themselves with their meats and â—…auces and drinks and crawling into their bedâ—… made them restless And many of them probably were of a more ugly shape and infectious nature than ordinary and upon thy bed and into the house of thy servants and upon thy people and into thine ovens and into thy ‖ Or dough kneading-troughs 4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee and upon thy people d Not upon the Israelites whom he hereby exempts from the number of Pharaohs people and subjects and owns them for his peculiar people The frogs did not onely invade their houses but assault their persons which is not strange considering that they were armed with a divine commission and power and upon all thy servants 5 And the LORD spake unto Moses e By inward instinct or suggestion to his mind for he was now in the Kings presence Say unto Aaron Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams over the rivers and over the ponds and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt 6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and * Psal. 78. 4â—… and 105. 30. the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt 7 * Wisd. 1â—… â—… And the Magicians did so with their inchantments f Nor was it hard for the Devil to produce them out of their own spawn and the slime of the river and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt 8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said Intreat the LORD that he may take away the frogs from me and from my people and I will let the people go that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD 9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh ‖ Or have this honour over 〈◊〉 Glory over me g As I have gloried over thee in laying first my commands and then my plagues upon thee so now lay thy commands upon me for the time of my praying and if I do not what thou requirest I am content thou shouldest insult over me and punish me Or Glory or boast thy self of or concerning me as one that by Gods power can do that for thee which all thy Magitians cannot of whom therefore thou now seest thou canst not glory nor boast as thou hast hitherto done * Or against when When shall I intreat for thee h Appoint me what time thou pleasest Hereby he knew that the hand and glory of God would be more conspicuous in it And this was no presumption in Moses because he had a large Commission chap. 7. 1. and also had particular direction from God in all that he said or did in these matters and for thy servants and for thy people to †Heb. to â—…ut 〈◊〉 destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses that they may remain in the river only 10 And he said ‖ Or against to morrow To morrow i Why not presently Ans. 1. Because he hoped ere that time they might be removed either by natural causes or by chance and so he should not need the favour of
Moses or his God 2. Because he thought it an hard and long work to remove so vast a number of frogs and that Moses might use divers Ceremonies as the Magitians did in his addresses to God which would require some considerable time And he said Be it according to thy word that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God 11 And the frogs shall depart from thee and from thy houses and from thy servants and from thy people they shall remain in the river only 12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh and Moses cryed unto the LORD k Though he was assured that the frogs would depart at his word yet he would use the means appointed by God for the accomplishment of it because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh l Or as the place is fitly rendred by others because of the word or matter of or about the frogs which he had given or propounded to Pharaoh Because he had given his word both for the thing and the time of it he prayed more earnestly lest God should be dishonoured and Pharaoh have occasion of triumph The Hebrew verbs to put and to give are frequently exchanged as appears by comparing 1 King 10. 9. with 2 Chron. 9. 8. and Isa. 42. 1. with Mat. 12. 18. 13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses and the frogs died out of the houses m A short speech for they died and were removed out of c. as appears from the next verse It being frequent in the Hebrew tongue under one verb expressed to understand another agreeable to it See Examples in the Hebrew Gen. 43. 33 34. Exod. 18. 12. and 25. 2. Prov. 25. 22. out of the villages and out of the fields 14 And they gathered them together upon heaps n Which doubtless they cast into their rivers or pits c. though that be not here mentioned God would not instantly and wholly take them away both to convince them of the truth of the miracle and to make them more sensible of this judgment and more fearful of bringing another upon themselves and the land stank 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite * chap. 7. 14. he hardened his heart and hearkened not unto them as the LORD had said 16 And the LORD said unto Moses Say unto Aaron o God it seems gave him no warning because he shewed himself in the very last plague to be both perâ—…idious and incorrigible Others think he was forewarned though that be not here expressed Stretch out thy rod and smite the dust of the land that it may become lice p So the Hebrew word is rendred by all the Iewish and most other Interpreters But it is probable that what is said of the locusts Exod. 10. 14. was true of these that they were much more loathsome and troublesome then ordinary throughout all the land of Egypt 17 And they did so for Aaron stretched out his hand with his roâ—… and smote the dust q Which was not fit matter to produce lice and therefore shews this work to be divine and miraculous of the earth and it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in man and in beast all the dust of the â—…d * i. e. A great part of it the word all being commonly so understood in Scripture 〈◊〉 became lice throughout all the land of Egypt 18 And the Magicians did so r i. e. Indeavoured to do so Thus to enter Mat. 7. 13. is put for striving to enter Luk. 13. 24. Thus men are said to deliver Gen. 37. 21. to fight Ios. 24. 9. to return Ios. 10. 15. when they onely attempted or endeavoured to do so And therefore when it is said in any of the plagues that the Magicians did so it is not to be understood that they really did the same thing but that they indeavoured to do so and that they did something which looked like it with their inchantments to bring forth lice but they could not s It was as easie for them to produce lice as frogs but God hindred them partly to confound them and their devilish arts and to shew that what they did before was onely by his permission and partly to convince Pharaoh and the Egyptians of their vanity in trusting to such impotent Magicians and in opposing that God who could controll and confound them when he pleased so there were lice upon man and upon beast 19 Then the Magicians said unto Pharaoh This is * 1 Sam. 6. 9. the finger t Which is either Synecdochically for the hand as it is Exod. 31. 18. Psal. 8. 3. and 144. 1. or metaphorically for the power or vertue as Luk. 11. 20. compared with Mat. 12. 28. of God u Of that supreme God whom both the Egyptians and other heathen idolaters acknowledged as superiour to all men and Idols and Devils This they said lest they should be thought inferiour to Moses and Aaron in magical art But hereby they own the soveraign God to be on Israels side and yet like the Devils they proceed to fight against him And Pharaohs heart was hardened and he hearkened not unto them x Either to his Magicians of whom he last spake or rather to Moses and Aaron as the following words shew For relatives oft belong to the remoter antecedents as Gen. 19. 13. 1 Sam. 7. 17. Mark 2. 13. as the LORD had said 20 And the LORD said unto Moses Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh lo he cometh forth to the water and say unto him Thus saith the LORD let my people go that they may serve me 21 Else if thou wilt not let my people go behold I will send ‖ Or a 〈◊〉 of noisome beasts c. swarms of flies y Heb. a mixture of insects or flies as appears from Psal. 78. 45. which were of various kinds as bees wasps gnats hornets c. infinite in their numbers and doubtless larger and more venemous and pernicious than the common ones were upon thee and upon thy servants and upon thy people and into thine houses and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies and also the ground whereon they are 22 And * chap. 9. 4 26. and 10. 23. and 12. 13. I will sever in that day the land of Goshen in which my people dwell that no swarms of flies shall be there to the end that thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth z Either 1. of the wâ—…e earth and consequently of Egypt that I am not oâ—…ly the Lord of Israel but of thee and thy dominions too God is here spoken of after the manner of earthly Princes who use to reside in the midst of their Kingdomes that they may more conveniently rule and influence them Or rather 2. of Goshen the words being properly thus rendred that I the Lord am in the midst of
that land to wit the land of Goshen now spoken of to defend and preserve it For God is said to be in the midst of them whom he protects Deut. 7. 21. and 23. 14. Ios. 3. 10. Psal. 46. 5. and not to be in the midst of others whom he forsakes and designs or threatens to destroy Num. 14. 42. Deut. 1. 42. and 31. 17. Compare Exod. 33. 3. with 34. 9. 23 And I will put †Heb. a redemption a division a Heb. a redemption or deliverance i. e. a token or mean of deliverance by a Metonymy a wall of partition by which I will preserve the Israelites whilest I destroy the Egyptians between my people and thy people ‖ Or by to morrow to morrow shall this sign be b This he â—…aith â—…y tâ—… gain the more belief to himself in what he now 〈◊〉 should further speak in Gods name to them and parâ—…â—…o warn them of their danger and make their disobedience more inexcusable 24 And the LORD did so c Immediately by his own word and not by Mâ—…ses his rod leâ—…t the Egyptians should think it was a Magicians wand and that all Moses his works were done by the power of the Devil and * Wisd. 16. 9. Psal. 105. 31. there came a grievous swarm of flies d Heb. an heavâ—… mixture of flies heavy i. e. either great as this Hebrew word is used Gen. 41. 31. Isa. 32. 2. or mischievous and troublesâ—…me or rather numerous as it is taken Gen. 50. 9. Numb 11. 14. 1 King 3. 9. compared with 2 Chron. 1. 10. into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants houses and into all the land of Egypt the land e i. e. Either the fruits and products of the land or rather the inhabitants of the land as the word land is taken Gen. 41. 36. 1 Sam. 27. 9. many of the people were poisoned or stung to death by them as appears from Psal. 78. 45. See also the book of Wisedom chap. 16. 9. was ‖ Or destroyed corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies 25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron and said Go ye sacrifice to your God in the land 26 And Moses said It is not meet f Heb. Not right neither in Gods eyes who hath appointed us the place as well as the thing nor in the Egyptians eyes as it follows so to do for we shall sacrifice the * Gen. 43. 32. and 46. 34. abomination of the Egyptians g That which the Egyptians abhor to kill or to see killed as not onely Scripture but profane Authours as Diodorus and Tully and Iuvenal witness because they worshipped them as Gods as is notoriously known to the LORD our God Lo shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes and will they not stone us h It was a just fear For when once a Roman had but killed a cat though imprudently the people tumultuously met together and beset his house and killed him in spight of the King and his Princes who used their utmost power and diligence to prevent it 27 We will go * chap. 3. 12. three dayes journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as * chap. 3. 18. he shall command us i For we know not what kind or number of sacrifices to offer to him till we come thither 28 And Pharaoh said I will let you go that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness only you shall not go very far away intreat for me 29 And Moses said Behold I go out from thee and I will intreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh from his servants and from his people to morrow but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice unto the LORD 30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh and intreated the LORD 31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh from his servants and from his people there remained not one 32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also neither would he let the people go CHAP. IX 1 THEN the LORD said unto Moses Go in unto Pharaoh and tell him Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews Let my people go that they may serve me 2 For if thou refuse to let them go and wilt hold them still 3 Behold the hand of the LORD a In an immediate manner not by my rod that thou mayest know it is not I but the Lord which doth all these things to thee is upon thy cattel b Which they kept for their wool or milk or manifold uses and services though not for food and sacrifice which is in the field upon the horses upon the asses upon the camels upon the oxen and upon the sheep there shall be a very grievous murrain 4 And * chap. 8. 22. the LORD shall sever between the cattel of Israel and the cattel of Egypt and there shall nothing die of all that is the childrens of Israel 5 And the LORD appointed a set time saying To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land 6 And the LORD did that thing on the morrow and * Psal. 78. 48. all c Either of all sorts or a very great number of them as the word all is frequently used or rather all that were in the field as it is expresly limited ver 3. but not all absolutely as appears from ver 9. 19 25. and chap. 14. 23. the cattel of Egypt died but of the cattel of the children of Israel died not one 7 And Pharaoh sent and behold there was not one of the cattel of the Israelites dead And * chap. 7. 14. the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he did not let the people go 8 And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace d To mind them of their cruel usage of the Israelites in their furnace of which see Deut. 4. 20. Ier. 11. 4. and let Moses e Both were to take them up but Mâ—…ses onely to sprinkle them as at other times Aaron onely did the work to shew that they were but instruments which God could use as he pleased and God was the principal Authour of it sprinkle it towards the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh 9 And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt and shall be a * Rev. 16. 2. boil breaking forth with blains f A burning scab which quickly raised blains and blisters whereby they were both vehemently inclined to scratch themselves and yet utterly disenabled from it by its great soreness upon man and upon beast throughout all the land of Egypt 10 And they took ashes of the furnace and stood before Pharaoh and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven and it became a * Deut. 28.
the land of Egypt and eat every herb of the land b This is no unusual Plague in Africa and Arabia where when the harvest is ripe they frequently come in vast numbers and eat up all their Corn and what they do not eat they infect with their touch and the moisture coming from them and afterwards dying in great numbers they poison the Air and cause a pestilence So that it is no wonder that Pharaoh and his Servants were so concerned for this Plague so well known to them especially considering that this was like to be far worse then all of the same kind which they had either seen or heard of even all that the hail hath left 13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land i Over divers parts of the Land shaking his rod towards the several quarters of it of Egypt and the LORD brought an East-wind k Which in those parts is a most violent and pernicious wind Exod. 14. 21. Numb 11. 31. and a dry wind and therefore fit for the ingendring of those Creatures This wind brought them from Arabia where they are in great numbers as we have seen ver 12. though God miraculously increased their numbers and their power of doing mischief upon the land all that day and all that night and when it was morning the East-wind brought the locusts 14 And * Psal. 78. 46. and 105. 34. the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested in all the coasts of Egypt very grievous were they before them there were no such locusts as they neither after them shall be such †Quest. How can this be true when the same words are used of the locusts in Ioeâ—…s time Answ. It might be true of both in divers respects of these for number and quality of them for long continuance for they lasted three or four years when these were but for a little time of these for Egypt of them for Iudâ—…a where they were fixed 15 For they covered the face of the whole earth so that the land was darkned l Either by their flying in vast numbers and so darkning the air as they have oft times done or by covering the green and lightsome herbs and productions of the earth with their dark and direful bodies and they did eat every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left m How could this be when the hail had smitten every herb and broken every tree chap. 9. 25. Ans. 1. There seems to have been some distance of time between these two plagues in which space new productions might be sprouting forth both out of the ground and from the trees 2. The words all and every are commonly understood of the greatest part and there remained not any green thing in the trees or in the herbs of the field through all the land of Egypt 16 Then Pharaoh †Heb. hastned to call called for Moses and Aaron in haste n Because this kind of plague in it self was most pernicious whereby whole countries had been wasted and grievous famines and pestilences caused and was mightily aggravated by the vengeance of God and by the peculiar quality of these Locusts which did not onely fall upon their herbs and fruits as they use to do but invade their very houses ver 6. infect their meats fill their beds poison them with their stink and with their venemous bitings whereby they killed many men as it is written in the book of Wisdom chap. 16. ver 19. and he said I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you o By contempt of your great and terrible works by breach of my promise made to you and by my denial of your just desires and commands given to me in his name whom I now find and feel to be the almighty and soveraign God 17 Now therefore forgive I pray thee my sin only this once p I desire no further favour I will no more offend nor need your pardon and intreat the LORD your God that he may take away from me this death q This deadly plague compare 2 King 4. 40. and 2 Cor. 11. 23. Besides it did destroy the life of herbs and trees yea of beasts and men either directly or at least by consequence in depriving them of the necessary supports of life only 18 And he went out from Pharaoh and intreated the LORD 19 And the LORD turned a mighty strong West-wind r Heb. a wind of the Sea i. e. coming from the Sea called there the great Sea and the Mediterranean Sea from whence came the North-west wind which did blow the locusts directly into the Red-sea which took away the locusts and †Heb. fastned cast them s Cast them as the Hebrew word signifies with a great noise and with great force so as they should never rise again to molest them * Joel 2. 20. into the Red-sea t Heb. the sea of bulrushes so called from the great number of bulrushes near its shore Or the sea of bounds or limits q. d. the narrow sea whereas they could see no bounds nor shore beyond the Mediterranean Sea It was called the Arabian gulf and by others the Red-sea either from its red sand or rather from Esau called also Edom which signifies red Gen. 25. 30. from whom as the adjoyning country was called Edom or red so this was called the Red-sea there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt 20 But the LORD * chap. 4. 21. hardened Pharaohs heart so that he would not let the children of Israel go 21 And the LORD said unto Moses Stretch out thine hand toward heaven that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt †Heb. that one may feel darkness even darkness which may be felt u It is an hyperbolical expression such being very frequent both in Scripture and in all authors For darkness being onely a privation cannot be properly felt yet it might be felt in its cause to wit those thick and gross vapours which filled and infected the Air. But the place may be rendred thus that there may be darkness after that so the Hebrew Vaâ—… is sometimes used as Micb. 7. 13. the darkness i. e. the darkness of the night or the common and daily darkness is departed or removed and the time of the day come for so the root from whence this word may be derived signifies Exod. 13. 22. And to this purpose the words are rendred by the Chaldee and Syriack and some others and the sence is that the darkness may continue in the day-time as well as in the night 22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven and there was a * Psal. 105. 28. thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three dayes 23 They saw not one another x Because these gross and moist fogs and vapours did not onely quite shut out the
light of the heavenly bodies but also put out their candles or other artificial lights or at least so darken them that men could have no benefit by them neither rose any from his place y Place here may be taken either 1. more strictly and particularly so the sence is the horrour of that darkness was so great that they durst not remove at all but stood or sat where the darkness found them like men astonished or affrighted and therefore unmoveable having their minds disturbed being terrified with their guilty Consciences which most affect men in the dark and with the dreadful noises which they heard Wisd. 17. 5. and with the apparitions of evil Angels as may seem from Psal. 78. 49. where the plague of evil Angels is put instead of this plague of darkness which therefore is omitted in that place where all the rest are reckoned up Or rather 2. more largely for their own houses or dwellings for so the Hebrew word is certainly used Exod. 16. 29. So the sence is they did not stir abroad out of their houses upon their most necessary occasions Obj. He saith not that they could not go but that they could not rise from their place which may seem to limit this expression to their particular places Ans. The word to rise is commonly put for going about any business and here it is a pregnant word as they call it and implies going in it none arose viz. to go or remove from his place And rising cannot be properly taken here for that particular posture unless we will suppose that this darkness found all men sitting which is absurd to imagine for three dayes * Wisd. 18. 1. chap. 8. 22. but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings z Whereby they might have conveyed themselves and families and goods away as afterwards they did in haste but they waited for Moses his orders and he for Gods command and God intended to bring them forth not by stealth but in a more honourable and publick manner in spight of all opposition 24 And a Or Therefore or Then to wit after the darkness was either wholly or in part removed Pharaoh called unto Moses and said Go ye serve the LORD only let your flocks and your herds be stayed b Either as a pledge of your return after your sacrifice is ended or as a recompence for the cattel which I have lost by your means let your little ones c And consequently the women whose help and service was necessary for their little ones in diverse regards also go with you 25 And Moses said Thou must give †Heb. into our hands us * i. e. Suffer us to take of our own stock also sacrifices and burnt-offerings that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God 26 Our cattel also shall go with us there shall not an hoof be left behind for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God and we know not with what we must serve the LORD until we come thither d Which was not a pretence but a real truth For this being a solemn and extraordinary sacrifice by the express and particular appointment of God they knew not either of what kinds or in what number or manner their sacrifices must be offered And for all these things they did not receive particular directions till they came to mount Sinai 27 But the LORD * chap. 14. 4 8. hardened Pharaohs heart and he would not let them go 28 And Pharaoh said unto him Get thee from me take heed to thy self see my face no more for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die 29 And Moses said thou hast spoken well e Heb. right not morally for so it was very ill said but logically that which agrees though not with thy duty yet with the event and truth of the thing for as thou hast warned me to see thee no more so I in the name of God assure thee that thou shalt see me no more to beg my prayers or to be helped out of thy troubles by my means And therefore that discourse of Moses to Pharaoh which follows chap. 11. 4 c. though it be put there out of its order and proper place as many other passages are yet was delivered at this time and upon occasion of these words I will see thy face again no more CHAP. XI 1 AND the LORD said unto Moses a Either 1. Whilest Moses was not yet gone out of Pharaohs presence So God might suggest this to his mind as he did other things to Michaiah when he was before Ahab and Iehosaphat 1 King 22. or rather 2. before his last coming to Pharaoh and the words may be rendred thus Now the Lord had said unto Moses And this is here added as the reason why Moses spake so boldly to Pharaoh because God had assured him of a good issue Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt afterwards he will let you go hence * chap. 12 31 33 39. when he shall let you go he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether b Men and women and children and cattel and all that they had which he would never do before 2 Speak now in the ears of the people and let every man borrow of his neighbour c The Israelites who at first lived distinctly by themselves when they were greatly multiplyed and Pharaoh began to cast a jealous eye upon them and to take cruel counsels against them were more mixed with the Egyptians as appears from chap. 12. 12 13. and many other places either by their own choice that they might receive protection and sustenance from them or rather by Pharaohs design who planted many of his own people among them to watch and chastise them Exod. 1. 11. and it may be removed some of them from Goshen to the parts adjoyning to it which were inhabited by his people and every woman of her neighbour * chap. 3. 22. and 12. 35. jewels d Or vessels as the Hebrew word properly signifies for they might more plausibly ask and the Egyptians would with less suspition lend them vessels which might be proper and useful both for their sacrifices and feasts than Jewels for which they had no present need or use of silver and jewels of gold 3 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians Moreover the man * Eccl. 45. 1. Moses was very great in the land of Egypt in the sight of Pharaohs servants and in the sight of the people e Therefore they complyed with their request not onely out of love to the people but out of fear of Moses lest he should punish them severely in case of refusal 4 And Moses said f To Pharaoh before his departure as appears by comparing ver 8. with chap. 10. 29. And therefore the three first verses of this chapter come in by way
of parenthesis and now he returns to the story and sets down the last words which Moses spake to Pharaoh for a final parting Thus saith the LORD About Midnight will I go out g God is said to go out or go forth or come down c. by way of condescension to the custom and capacity of men when he doth any eminent act of power either in way of Justice or mercy into the midst of Egypt 5 And all the first-born of the land of Egypt shall die from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne h Either now actually ruling with his father as Solomon did even whilest David lived 1 King 1. 34. or more probably he that is to sit the present time for the future he whose right this is by the custom of Egypt and by the law of Nations even unto the first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill i The poor captive slave that was in the prison as it is chap. 12. 29. and there did grind at the Mill. In those times and places they had diverse Mills which were not turned about by wind or water as ours are but by the hands of their servants who for that purpose stood behind the mill and so with hard labour turned it about See Iudg. 16. 21. Isa. 47. 1 2. Lam. 5. 13. and all the first-born of beasts 6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt such as there was none like it nor shall be like it any more 7 * chap. 8. 22. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue k In stead of those loud cries of the Egyptian families there shall be so great a tranquillity among the Israelites that even the dogs which are sensible of and awaked and provoked by the least noise shall not be stirred up by them against man or beast that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel 8 And * ch 12. 31 33. all these thy servants l Thy Courtiers and great Officers who now are so insolent and obstinate shall come down unto me ‖ Both by their own inclination and necessity and in thy name and by thy command and bowe down themselves unto me saying Get thee out and all the people that †Heb. that is at thy feet follow thee m That are under thy conduct and command as this or the like expression is used Iudâ—… 4. 1â—… 1 King 20. 1â—… 2 King 3. 9. Isa. 41. 2. and after that I will go out and he went out from Pharaoh in †Heb. heat of anger a great anger n Not so much for the affront offered to himself as for his incurable rebellion against God Compare Mark 3. 5. 9 And * chap. 3. 19. the LORD said unto Moses Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you that * chap. 7. 3. my wonders may be multiplyed in the land of Egypt 10 And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh and the LORD hardened Pharaohs heart so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land CHAP. XII 1 AND the LORD spake a Had spoken before the three days darkness as may appear by comparing ver 3. and 6. of this chapter with chap. 11. 4. And the mention of it was put off by him till this place aswell that he might not interrupt the history of all the plagues as that he might give the whole institution of the Passeover together unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying 2 This month b The first moneth after the vernal Equinox called Abib Exod. 13. 4. and 23. 1â—… Deut. 16. 1. and Nisan Neh. 2. 1. Esth. 3. 7. containing part of our March and part of April shall be unto you the beginning c Heb. the head which I conceive notes not so much the order which is more plainly mentioned in the following words as the eminency of it that it shall be accounted the chief and principal of all moneths as the Sabbath hath been called by some the queen of days And justly must they prefer this moneth before the rest whether they looked backward to their prodigious deliverance from Egypt therein or forward to their spiritual redemption by Christ and to the acceptable year of the Lord Luk. 4. 19. for in this very moneth our Lord Jesus suffered Ioh. 18. 28. of months it shall be the first month of the year unto you d Heretofore your first moneth for all affairs hath been Tisri which in part answers to our September and is the first moneth after the Autumnal Equinox and so it shall be to you still as to civil affairs as it appears from Exod. 23. 16. and 34. 22. and Levit. 25. 8 9 10. but as to Sacred and Ecclesiastical matters this shall henceforth be your first moneth 3 Speak ye unto all the Congregation of Israel saying in the tenth day e Partly that they might have the lamb ready for the Sacrifice and might not be distracted about procuring it when they should be going to use it partly that by the frequent contemplation of the lamb as a sign appointed by God they might have their saith strengthned as to their approaching deliverance and afterwards might have their minds quickned to the more serious consideration of that great deliverance out of Egypt and of that more glorious deliverance from Hell by Christ the true Passeover which should be offered for them partly to teach the Church in all ages how necessary a thing preparation is to the solemn duties and exercises of Religion and partly to signifie that Christ should be first set apart and separated to the Ministry which was done 3 or 4 Prophetical days i. e. years before his death and afterwards offered Most of which reasons being perpetual it may seem this usage was so too and not for the first passeover onely of this month they shall take to them f Into their houses where the Iews tell us he was tied to the beds post every man a lamb g Or Kid ver 5. for the same word signifies both though a lamb was commonly used and a kid onely in case of the want of a lamb and the Chaldee and LXX do almost constantly translate the Hebrew word lamb And Christ is seldom or never typified by a kid but generally by a lamb as he is called Ioh. 1. 29. partly for his innocency meekness patience c. but principally with respect to this 〈◊〉 lamb in stead whereof he was in due time to be offered whence he is called our Passeover 1 Cor. 5. 7. according to the house of their fathers * Or kid a †A â—…amb was to be disposed of to every house or family according to its quantity or the numbers of persons in it as the next verse explains it The several families are called the
to the first time for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever 25 And it shall come to pass when ye be come to the land h Viz of Canaan as ver 19. For in the Wilderness they kept this Feast but once and that by Gods particular direction Numb 9. 2. which the LORD will give you according as he hath promised that ye shall keep my service 26 * Jos. 4. 6. And it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you what mean you by this service i Or part of Divine Worship God expects this even from the Jewish Children and much more from Christian men that they should enquire and understand what is said or done in the publick Worship or service of God and therefore not to rest in dumb signs whereof they neither enquire nor know the meaning or in the service of God in a language which they understand not 27 That ye shall say It is the sacrifice of the LORDS Passe-over k The Passeover was both a Sacrifice as it was offered to God as it appears from Exod. 23. 18. and 34. 25. Numb 9. 7 13. Deut. 16. 2 5. and because there was in it the shedding and sprinkling of blood wherein the essence of a Sacrifice consists 2 Chron. 30. 16. and 35. 11 13. and also a Sacrament as it was received and eaten by men who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians And the people * chap. 4. 31. bowed the head l In token of their thankful acknowledgement of Gods favours and of their chearful submission to Gods command and ordinance See 2 Chron. 29. 30. and worshipped 28 And the children of Israel went away and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron so did they m They killed and did eat the Paschal Lamb in such manner as God prescribed 29 * chap. 11. 4. And it came to pass that at midnight n A great aggravation of the Plague For then darkness it self strikes men with horrour and makes any calamity more terrible then they were asleep and secure and least expected such a stroke * Numb 8. 17. and 33. 4. Psal. 78. 51. and 105. 36. and 135. 8. 136. 10. the LORD smote all the first-born o Both of man and beast whether Male or Female Some extend it to all that were first-born and so many persons might be killed in one house as both Father and Mother and several Sons which might be the first-born by several Mothers and Sons sons or Daughters c. Others confine it to the first-born Child in the Family I conceive the heads of the Family are not included for these though they might be the first-born Children of their Parents Families yet were not nor ever are called or accounted the first-born of their own Families but the heads and roots of them But for all the rest I conceive they are all included because all such were really first-born and did first open their mothers Womb and all such were to be set apart unto the Lord instead of these first-born of the Egyptians now slain chap. 13. 12 15. and therefore are in both places to be understood in the same latitude in the land of Egypt * Wisd. 18. 11. chap. 4. 23. from the first-born of Pharaoh that sate on his throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in the †Heb. house of the pit dungeon and all the first-born of cattle 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night he and all his servants and all the Egyptians and there was a great cry in Egypt for there was not an house p To wit of those houses which had any first-born in them for in divers families there might be no first-born And such restrictions of the universal particles are frequently understood where there was not one dead 31 And he called for Moses and Aaron q i. e. He sent this message to them for they came no more to him chap. 10. 29. by night and said Rise up and get you forth from amongst my people * chap. 10. 5. both you and the children of Israel and go serve the LORD as ye have said 32 * chap. 10. 26. Also take your flocks and your herds as ye have said and be gone and bless me also r Pray to God for me that I may not perish by this or any other plague 33 And the Egyptians were urgent s Not by force which they durst not now use but by earnest and importunate intreaties Exod. 11. 8. This was the ground of that fable of the heathens mentioned in Tacitus that the Iews were driven out of Egypt for their Scabs so they falsly and maliciously ascribed their own ulcers and scabs sent upon them by God to the Israelites upon the people that they might send them out of the land in haste for they said We be all dead men 34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened their ‖ Or dough kneading-troughs t Or as others rightly render it their dough-lumps or food or lumps of paste unleavened being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders 35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses and they borrowed of the Egyptians u Either before this time as they had opportunity when their hearts were mollified by the foregoing plagues or even at this time when the Israelites might well take confidence to borrow and the Egyptians would be willing to lend them partly that they might gain their affections and prayers and partly that they might more readily depart from them * chap. 3. 22. jewels x Wherewith they used to adorn themselves in the worship of their Idols and therefore supposed the Israelites might use them in the worship of their God Or vessels of which see on chap. 11. 2. of silver and jewels of gold and raiment 36 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians y i. e. Inclined their hearts to do it willingly and not onely out of fear so that they lent unto them such things as they required z Heb. and they lent them to wit the jewels or vessels mentioned ver 35. and they * Gen. 15. 14. chap. 3. 22. Psal. 105. 37. spoiled the Egyptians a To wit of their ornaments Quest. Was not this unjustly done of the Israelites to borrow these jewels which they never paid again Ans. No 1. because they did nothing in this matter but by Gods appointment chap. 11. 1 2. so that if there be any injustice it must be in God in whom there neither can be in any thing nor is in this thing the least blot or shadow of iniustice as well because he hath an unquestionable right in and power to dispose of all persons and things as being the maker and giver and lord of
for and about them by day in a pillar of a cloud e It was but one pillar Numb 9. 15 16. having two different appearances and uses of a Cloud by day to defend them from the heat Psal. 105. 39. which in those parts was excessive and of a fire by Night to illuminate them It was a Cloud erected towards Heaven like a pillar upwards but downwards flat and broad spread over the body of the people and afterwards more eminently over the Tabernacle to lead them the way f Which was altogether necessary in those vast and pathless Deserts Numb 10. 33. Deut. 1. 33. and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night 22 He took not away the pillar of the Cloud by day * Neh. 9. 19. nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people g Whilst they continued in the Wilderness and had need of such direction CHAP. XIV 1 AND the LORD spake a Or rather had spoken to wit before they came to Succoth chap. 12. 37. For what was there briefly and generally expressed is here more largely and particularly declared together with the occasion of it which was Gods command unto Moses saying 2 Speak unto the children of Israel * chap. 13. 18. that they turn and encampe before * Numb 33. 7. Pi-hahiroth b Heb. the mouth of Hiroth i. e. the entrance or straits of Hiroth two great Mountains between which they marched and were enclosed on both sides between Migdol c A City in Egypt Ier. 44. 1. wherein it is thought there was a garrison and the Sea over against Baal-zephon d Another place of note situated in an high place and having a fair and large prospect and possibly a garrison too before it shall ye encamp by the Sea 3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel They are entangled in the land the Wilderness hath shut them in e They are inclosed with Mountains and Garrisons and Deserts 4 And * chap. 4. 21. I will harden Pharaohs heart that he shall follow after them and I will be honoured f By the manifestation of my Power and Justice upon Pharaoh and upon all his host that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD And they did so 5 And it was told the King of Egypt that the people fled g Did not onely depart for three days to sacrifice at Horeb as Moses pretended but designed an escape and flight as appeared by their speedy march and other circumstances * Psal. 105. 25. and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people and they said Why have we done this h They who never truly repented of their sins now heartily repent of their onely good action that we have let Israel go from serving us 6 And he made ready his charet and took his people with him 7 And he took six hundred chosen charets i Quest. How could he use or carry his Chariots when all his Horses were killed by that Plague Exod. 9. 6. Answ. That Plague slew onely the Horses which were in the Field chap. 9. 3. not those kept in Houses as the Chariot-Horses generally were and now are and all k i. e. A great number all that could be got together in haste which the present service required the charets of Egypt and captains over every one of them l Over the men that fought out of every Chariot Or over all of them the command of all these Chariots being distributed to several Captains or Commanders 8 And the LORD hardned the heart of Pharaoh King of Egypt and he pursued after * Numb 33. 3. the children of Israel and the children of Israel went out with an high hand m Either 1. Of God with a Divine hand or power by comparing Exod. 13. 16. Or 2. Their own not with hands hanging down a posture betraying weakness and fainting fear and shame Heb. 12. 12. but with hands lifted up with courage and confidence not like fugitives but like valiant and victorious Souldiers openly boldly resolvedly as men are said to sin with an high hand Numb 15. 30. that sin in such a manner 9 But the * Josh. 24. 6. 1 Mac. 4. 9. Egyptians pursued after them all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army and overtook them encamping by the sea beside Pi-hahiroth before Baal-zephon 10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh the children of Israel lift up their eyes and behold the Egyptians marched after them and they were fore afraid n Which is not strange these being now a people of low spirits depressed by long and grievous servitude being also generally unarmed wearied with their journey and their fears aggravated by the presence and out-cries of their Wives and Children But they should have supported themselves by the consideration of the mighty power of God of which they had late and great experience and the children of Israel cryed out o Partly by petition and partly by complaint and expostulation unto the LORD 11 And they said unto Moses Because there were no graves in Egypt hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to carry us forth out of Egypt 12 * chap. 5. 21. and 6. 9. Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt saying Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians for it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians then that we should die in the wilderness 13 And Moses said unto the people * 2 Chron. 2â—… 15 17. Fear ye not stand still p Heb. make your selves to stand let not your hearts fail and sink or stagger through unbelief but with quiet minds look up to God It notes the frame of their minds not the posture of their bodies and see the Salvation of the LORD which he will shew to you to day ‖ Or for wâ—… as you haveâ—… the Egyptians 〈◊〉 day c. for the Egyptians whom ye have seen q Or. as ye have seen them to wit alive and armed and ready to devour you for otherwise they did see them dead and disarmed ver 30. to day ye shall see them again no more for ever 14 The LORD shall fight for you and ye shall hold your peace r i. e. Ye shall contribute nothing to the victory neither by your words nor by your deeds for this Hebrew word signifies a cessation not onely from speech but from action too as 2 Sam. 19. 11 Psal. 83. 1. Isa. 42. 14 15. Or rather do you hold your peace the future tense for the imperative as it is very frequent cease your murmuring against the Lord and me 15 And the LORD said unto Moses Wherefore cryest thou unto me s By fervent though secret Prayer For which he doth not reprove him
of the Amalekites and those other people who were leagued with them with the edge of the sword 14 And the LORD said unto Moses Write this for a memorial in a book n Even in this book which Moses was to write by Gods inspiration and appointment See Exod. 34. 27. Deut. 31. 9 22. and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua x Thy successour and the captain of my people that he and all succeeding governours may watch all occasions to execute this command for * Num. 24. 2â—… 1 Sam. 15. 3 â—… and 30. 1 17. 2 Sam. 8. 12. Esth. 9. 14. I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek y i. e. I will utterly destroy them for a person or people dead or destroyed are soon forgotten Psal. 31. 12. and the grave is called the land of forgetfulness Psal. 88. 12. Or thus though they are now a numerous and flourishing people and in great repute I will make them few and inglorious for such are little minded or remembered for this is not to be understood absolutely of a speedy and utter extinction of them for he supposeth their being from generation to generation v. 16. but comparatively from under heaven z From the face of the whole earth 15 And Moses built an Altar a Both for the offering of sacrifices of praise unto God and to be a monument of this victory and of the Author of it and called the name of it b viz. Of the Altar which he so calls metonymically because it was the sign and monument of Iehovah Nissi even as circumcision is called Gods covenant Gen. 17. 13. and the lamb the passeover Exod. 12. 11. and the cup the new Testament Luk. 22. 20. because they were the signs of them Or the word altar is to be repeated out of the former member which is frequent and the place to be read thus he called the name of it the altar of Iehovah nissi Or the name given to it signifies onely the inscription ingraven upon it which was not the single name of God but an entire sentence the lord is my banner By which words he takes all the praise of the victory from the Israelites and gives it to God ‖ That is the LORD my 〈◊〉 ner JEHOVAH-nissi 16 For c Or And as the Hebrew particle properly signifies for these words are not a reason of the passage next preceding but an additional sentence he said ‖ Or becauseâ—… hand of 〈◊〉 is against the throne of the LORD thereâ—… c. Because d Or surely as that particle is oft used as Iob 8. 6. and 20. 20. Psal. 10. 14. and 44. 22 c. 〈◊〉 Heb. the hand upon the throne of the Lord for the hand of the Lord upon his throne which is perfectly the same thing onely the order of the words is a little varied after the manner of the Hebrew tongue These words then are a paraphrastical description of a solemn oath by the usual posture of it viz. the listing up the hand which is usually put for swearing and in that sence is ascribed both to men as Gen. 14. 22. and to God as Deut. 32. 40. And this hand of God lifted up upon his throne where his Majesty doth peculiarly and gloriously dwell signifies that God swears by himself as is said Heb. 6. 13. And thus the Chaldee and Arabick Interpreters understand it Others render the place thus Because the hand or his hand the pronoun being here understood as it frequently is in the Hebrew language of which several instances have been given before i. e. the hand of Amalek which may easily be understood out of the following clause in which Amalek is named was against the throne of the Lord i. e. was stretched out against God himself for so God esteems it because it was done against that people among whom God had placed his throne or seat or dwelling according to his covenant made with them which also was well known to the Amalekites by the relation of their progenitours who in all probability had acquainted them with their own rights and with Iacobs arts whereby he robbed Esau the father of Amalek Gen. 36. 15 16. of his birthright and blessing and consequently of the land of Canaan to which now God was bringing them that he might plant them there and set up his throne among them And the Amalekites doubtless heard as the other neighbours also did in what a miraculous manner God had brought them out of Egypt and over the Red-sea And they knew better then others by tradition from their Parents that God had promised Canaan to them and now they saw that he was conducting them thither And therefore to prevent this they now commence a War against them and against God or his throne whose presence with and conduct over them was most manifest which was a great aggravation of their sin And this latter translation and interpretation seems most probable 1. because it exactly agrees with the Hebrew words and the order in which they are placed 2. It makes the coherence more clear than our translation doth the former part of the verse containing a reason of the latter to wit of that severe curse and everlasting war denounced against Amalek because they attempted by force to overthrow Gods throne and people and that with so many aggravating circumstances of which see Deut. 25. 17 18. †Heb. the 〈◊〉 upon thâ—…t 〈◊〉 of the LORD the LORD hath sworne that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation CHAP. XVIII 1 WHen * chap. 2. 16. Jethro the Priest of Midian Moses father in law heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt 2 Then Jethro Moses father in law took Zipporah Moses wife after he had sent her back a From the way to Egypt upon the occasion mentioned Exod. 4. 24 25. and because he found by experience that she was likely to hinder him from or discourage him in the discharge of his great and dangerous office and to give an ill example to the Israelites 3 And her two sons of which the * chap. 2. 22. name of the one was ‖ That is a stranger there Gershom for he said I have been an allen in a strange land 4 And the name of the other was ‖ That is My God is 〈◊〉 help Eliezer for the God of my father said he was mine help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh 5 And Jethro Moses father in law came b Not at this time but after the delivery of the law at mount Sinai as may appear 1. because he finds them encamped as it here follows at the mount of God i. e. Sinai whither they came not till Exod. 19. 2. 2. because the laws of Sacrifices were given before his coming as appears from ver 12. 3. because the
into the land of their enemies i. e. that they are not come into these calamities by chance nor by the misfortune of war but by my just judgment upon them All which confession is no more than Pharaoh made in his distresses and than hypocrites in their affliction use to make And therefore he addes if then their uncircumcised i. e. impure carnal profane and impenitent hearts be humbled i. e. subdued purged reformed if to this confession they adde sincere humiliation and reformation I will do what follows their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers with their trespass which they trespassed against me and that also they have walked contrary unto me 41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them and have brought them into the land of their enemies if then their * Jer. 6. 10. Rom. 2. 29. Col. 2. 11. uncircumcised hearts be humbled and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity x The Hebrew word avon commonly signifies iniquity but it is oft used for the punishment of iniquity as here and 1 Sam. 28. 10. Psal. 31. 10. Isa. 53. 6 11. The meaning is if they sincerely acknowledge the righteousness of God and their own wickedness and patiently submit to his correcting hand and would rather be in their present suffering condition than in their former sinful though prosperous estate if with David they are ready to say it is good for them that they are afflicted that they may learn Gods statutes and obedience to them for the future which is a good evidence of true repentance 42 Then will I remember my covenant y To wit so as to perform it and make good all that I have promised in it For words of knowledge or remembrance in Scripture do most commonly connote affection and kindness of which there are many instances some given before and more hereafter with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember and I will remember the land z Which now seems to be forgotten and neglected and despised as if I had never chosen it to be the peculiar place of my presence and blessing 43 The land also shall be left of them and shall enjoy her sabbaths while she lieth desolate without them and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity because even because they despised my judgments and because their soul abhorred my statutes 44 And yet for all that when they be in the land of their enemies * Deut. 4. 31. Rom. 11. 26. I will not cast them away neither will I abhorre them to destroy them utterly and to break my covenant with them for I am the LORD their God †Neither the desperateness of their condition nor the greatness of their sins shall make me wholly make void my covenant with them and their ancestours but I will in due time remember them for good and for my covenants sake return to them in mercy From this place the Iews take great comfort and assure themselves of deliverance out of their present servitude and misery And from this and such other places St. Paul concludes that the Israelitish nation though then rejected and ruined should be gathered again and restored 45 But I will for their sakes ‖ Or rather to or for them i. e. for their good or benefit for surely if one considers what is said before concerning the wickedness of this people he cannot say this deliverance was given them for their sakes but must rather say with the Prophet Ezek. 36. 22 32. not for your sake O house of Israel c. remember the covenant of their ancestors whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen that I might be their God I am the LORD 46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses CHAP. XXVII 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying 2 Speak unto the children and say unto them When a man shall make a singular vow a Or an eminent or hard or wonderful vow not concerning things which was not strange but customary but concerning persons as it here follows which he vowed or by vow devoted unto the Lord which indeed was unusual and difficult yet there want not instances of such vows and of persons which devoted either themselves or their children to the service of God and that either more strictly and particularly as the Nazarites and the Levites 1 Sam. 1. 11. and for these there was no redemption admitted but they were in person to perform the service to which they were devoted or more largely and generally as some who were not Levites nor intended themselves or their children should be Nazarites might yet through zeal to God and his service or to obtain Gods help in giving them some mercy which they wanted and desired or in freeing them from some evil felt or feared devoted themselves or their children to the service of God and of the Sanctuary though not in such a way as the Levites which they were forbidden to do yet in some kind of subserviency to them And because there might be too great a number of persons thus dedicated which might be burdensome and chargeable to the Sanctuary therefore an exchange is allowed and the Priests are directed to impose and require a tax for their redemption the persons shall be for the LORD b i. e. Dedicated to the Lord and consequently to the Priest by thy estimation c By whose estimation Ans. Either 1. thine O Priest to whom the valuation of things belonged and here is ascribed ver 12. Or rather 2. thine O man that vowest as appears from ver 8. where his estimation is opposed to the Priests valuation Nor was there any fear of his partiality in his own cause for the price is particularly limited But where the price is undetermined there to avoid that inconvenience the Priest is to value it as ver 8 12. 3 And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old d Which is the best time for strength and service and therefore is prized at the highest rate even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver after the shekel of the sanctuary 4 And if it be a female then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels e Less than the mans price because she is inferiour to him both in strength and serviceableness 5 And if it be from five years old f At what age they might be vowed by their parents as appears from 1 Sam. 1. though not by themselves and the children were obliged by their parents vow which is not strange considering the parents power and right to dispose of their children so far as is not contrary to the mind of God even unto twenty years old then thy estimation shall be of
which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab * chap. 6. 2 3. beside the covenant b i. e. That entring into or striking of covenant The covenant was but one in substance but various in the time and manner of its dispensation which he made with them in Horeb. 2 And Moses called unto all Israel and said unto them * Exâ—…d 19. 4. Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh and unto all his servants and unto all his land 3 * Chap. 4. 34. 7. 19. The great temptations which thine eyes have seen the signs and those great miracles 4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear unto this day c. d This verse comes in by way of correction or exception to the foregoing clause in this manner I said indeed ye have seen c. v. 2. and thine eyes have seen c. but I must recal my words for in truth you have not seen them in seeing you have not seen and perceiving you have not perceived them you have perceived and seen them with the eyes of your body but not with your minds and hearts you have not seen them to any purpose you have not yet learned rightly to understand the word and works of God so as to know them for your good and to make a right use of them and to comply with them Which he expresseth thus the Lord hath not given you c. not to excuse their wickedness but partly to direct them what course to take and to whom they must have recourse for the amending of their former errours and for a good understanding and improvement of Gods works and partly to aggravate their sin and to intimate that although the hearing ear and the seeing eye and the understanding heart be the workmanship of God Prov. 20. 12. and the effects of his special grace Deut. 30. 6. Ier. 31. 33. and 32. 39 c. yet their want of this grace was their own fault and the just punishment of their former sins their present case being like theirs in Isays time who first shut their eyes and ears that they might not see and hear and would not understand and then by the tremendous but righteous judgment of God had their hearts made fat and their eyes and ears closed that they should not be able to see and hear and understand as is manifest from the history of their carriage in the wilderness 5 And I have led you fourty years in the wilderness your cloths are not waxen old upon you and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot d So far that it was necessary for you to throw them away and to get new ones See on Deut. 8. 4. 6 Ye have not eaten bread e i. e. Common bread purchased by your own mony or made by your own hands but Heavenly and Angelical bread Deut. 8. 3. Psal. 78. 24 25. You have subsisted without bread the staff of life neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink f But onely water out of the rock that ye might know that I am the LORD your God g The Lord Omnipotent and All-sufficient for your provision without the help of any Creatures and your God in covenant with you who hath a true affection to you and fatherly care of you even when ordinary means fail 7 And when ye came unto this place * Num. 21. 〈◊〉 33. chap. 2. 32. and 3. 1. Sihon the King of Heshbon and Og the King of Bashan came out against us unto battel and we smote them 8 And we took their land and * Num. 32. 33. an inheritance unto the Reubenite and to the Gadite and to the half tribe of Manasseh 9 * chap. 4. 6. Josh. 1. 7. 1 King 2. 3. Keep therefore the words of this covenant and do them that ye may †Heb. 〈◊〉 dently So 〈◊〉 prosper in all that ye do 10 Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God h In his presence who sees your hearts and carriages and before his Tabernacle where it is probable they were now called together and assembled for this work See v. 2. your captains of your tribes your elders and your officers with all the men of Israel 11 Your little ones your wives and thy stranger i Such strangers as had embraced their Religion that is in thy camp from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water k All sorts of persons yea even the meanest of them such as these were Ios. 9. 27. all sorts and ranks of servants 12 That thou shouldest †Heb. 〈◊〉 enter into covenant l i. e. Into covenant or agreement confirmed by a solemn oath with the LORD thy God and into his oath l i. e. Into covenant or agreement confirmed by a solemn oath which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day 13 That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself and that he may be unto thee a God as he hath said unto thee and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob. 14 Neither with you onely do I make this covenant and this oath 15 But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God * See 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 5. 〈◊〉 and also with him that is not here with us this day m i. e. With your prosperity For so the covenant was made at first with Abraham and his seed by which as God engaged himself to continue the blessing of Abraham upon his posterity so he also engaged them to the same duties and conditions which were required of Abraham So it is even among men where a King confers an estate upon a Subject and his Heirs for ever upon some certain conditions all his Heirs who enjoy that benefit are obliged to the same conditions But whatsoever becomes of mans right God the Creatour and Soveraign Lord of all men and things hath an unquestionable right and power to oblige all persons that are or shall be to such conditions as he pleaseth and especially to such conditions as are for their own benefit which is the present case 16 For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt n Where you have seen their Idolatries and learned too much of them as the Golden Calf shewed and therefore need to renew your covenant with God where also we were in dreadful bondage whence God alone hath delivered us to whom therefore we are deeply obliged and have all reason to renew our covenant with him and how we came through the nations o i. e. With what hazards if God had not appeared for us which ye passed by 17 And ye have seen their abominations and their †Heb. 〈◊〉 gods
for all the rest He stood in the East and saw also Gilead which was in the Eastern part of the land and thence he saw the North and South and west and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh and all the land of Judah unto the utmost sea f i. e. The midland Sea which was the utmost bound of the land of promise on the west 3 And the south g i. e. The south quarter of the land of Iudah which is towards the salt sea which is described Num. 34. 3 4 5. Ios. 15. 1 2 3 4. as the western quarter of Iudah was described in the words next foregoing and the plain of the valley of Jericho h Or in which lies Iericho which was in the Tribe of Benjamin the city of palm-trees i i. e. Iericho so called both here and Iudg. 1. 16. and 3. 13. 2 Chron. 28. 15. from the multitude of Palm-trees which were in those parts as Iosephus and Straâ—… write From whence and the balm there growing it was called Iericho which signifies odoriserous or sweet smelling unto Zoar. 4 And the LORD said unto him * Gen. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 13. 1â—… This is the land which I sware unto Abraham unto Isaac and unto Jacob saying I will give it unto thy seed I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes k To wit by a miraculous power strengthning thy sight or making a clear representation of all these parts to thy view but thou shalt not go over thither 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab l i. e. In the land which Israel took from the Amorites which antiently was the land of Moab according to the word of the LORD 6 And he m i. e. The Lord last mentioned buried him either immediately or by the ministery of Angels whereof Michael was the Chief or Prince Iude ver 9. buryed him in a valley in the land of Moab over-against Beth-Peor but no man knoweth of his sepulchre n i. e Of the particular place of the Valley where he was buried which God hid from the Israelites to prevent their Superstition and Idolatry to which he knew their great proneness And for this very reason the Devil endeavoured to have it known and contended with Michael about it Iude ver 9. And seeing God would not endure the worship of the Relicks or Tomb of so eminent a person as Moses was it is ridiculous to think God would permit this honour to be given to any of the succeeding Saints who were so far inferiour to him unto this day 7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died his eye was not diâ—… nor his †Heb. 〈◊〉 natural force †Heb. 〈◊〉 abated o By a miraculous work of God in mercy to his Church and people 8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty dayes p Which was the usual time of mourning for persons of high place and eminency See Gen. 50. 3 10. Num. 20. 29. For others seven days sufficed so the dayes of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended 9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom q And other gifts and graces too as appears from the History but Wisdom is mentioned as being most necessary for the Government to which he was now called for Moses had laid his hands upon him r Which God had appointed as a sign to Moses and Ioshua and the Israelites that this was the person whom he had appointed and qualified for his great work See Numb 27. 18 c. compare Gen. 48. 10. Numb 8. 10. and the children of Israel hearkned unto him and did as the LORD commanded Moses 10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses s In the priviledges here following whom the LORD knew face to face t i. e. Whom God did so freely and familiarly and frequently converse with See on Exod. 33. 11. Numb 12. 8. Deut. 5. 4. 11 In all the signs u This is to be joyned either 1. with the words immediately foregoing as an eminent instance wherein God did know or acknowledge and own or converse so familiarly with Moses namely in the working of all his signs and wonders in Egypt where God spake to him so oft and sometimes even in Pharaohs presence and answered his requests so particularly and punctually whether he called for vengeance or for deliverance Or 2. With the more remote words there was none like unto Moses in regard of all the signs c. the words whom the Lord knew face to face coming in by way of parenthesis and the wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land 12 And in all that mighty hand and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel JOSHUA The ARGUMENT IT is not material to know who was the Pen-man of this Book whether Joshua as seems most probable from Chap. 24. 26. or some other holy Prophet It is sufficient that this Book was a part of the Holy Scriptures or Oracles of God committed to and carefully kept by the Jews and by them faithfully delivered to us as appears by the concurring Testimony of Christ and his Apostles who owned and approved of the same Holy Scriptures which the Church of the Jews did But this is certain that divers Passages in this Book were put into it after Joshua's death as Josh. 10. 13. compared with 2 Sam. 1. 18. and Josh. 19. 47. compared with Judg. 18. 1. and Josh. 24. 29 30. And such like Insertions have been observed in the five Books of Moses CHAP. I. NOW after the death of Moses a Either immediately after it or when the days of mourning for Moses were expired Ioshua was appointed and declared Moses his Successor in the Government before this time and therefore doubtless entred upon the Government instantly after his death and here he receives confirmation from God therein the servant of the LORD b This title is given to Moses here and v. 2. as also Deut. 34. 5. and is oft repeated not without cause partly to reflect Honour upon him partly to give Authority to his Laws and Writings in publishing whereof he only acted as Gods Servant in his name and stead and partly that the Israelites might not think of Moses above what was meet remembring that he was not the Lord himself but only the Lords Servant and therefore not to be worshipped nor yet to be too pertinaceously followed in all his Institutions when the Lord himself should come and abolish part of the Mosaical Dispensation it being but reasonable that he who was only a Servant in Gods house should give place to him who was the Son and Heir and Lord of it as Christ was See Heb. 3. 3 5
than kept Thirdly Yet they cannot be wholly excused from Sin in this matter for as it was folly to take such an Oath as it is expressed so the manner of freeing themselves from their own Snare is fraudulent and injurious to the Parents in disposing of their Children without their consent 23 And the children of Benjamin did so and took them wives according to their number d i. e. Each Man his Wife as is said v. 22. By which we â—…ay see they had no very favourable opinion of Poligamy because they did not allow it in this case when it might seem most necessary for the reparation of a lost Tribe of them that danced whom they caught and they went and returned unto their inheritance e Which being very near the place they could speedily do before the Parents could obtain redress and repaired the cities and dwelt in them f Not at that instant which could not be but by degrees increasing their Buildings as their number increased 24 And the children of Israel departed thence at that time every man to his tribe and to his family and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance 25 * Chap. 〈◊〉 and 18. 〈◊〉 19. â—… In those days there was no king in Israel every man did that which was right in his own eyes RUTH The ARGUMENT THis little Book by whomsoever Written which is not material to know is annexed to the Book of Judges and by some of the Hebrew Doctors made a part of it It is useful as for many other points so especially to shew the Genealogy of David and consequently of Christ and the Rise of Christ from a Moabitish Woman which was an useful document and a great encouragement to the Gentiles to believe in Christ. CHAP. I. NOw it came to pass in the days when the Judges ‡ Heb. judged Ruled a Which is noted as the cause of the following Famine because in much of that time they were guilty of great defection from God But under which of the Judges this happened Scripture being silent it seems presumptuous to determine nor is it necessary to know what is said about this matter from the Genealogy mentioned Chap. 4. 18 c. it will be most proper to consider it there that there was a * 2 King 8. 1. famine in the land b Or in that land to wit of Canaan and a certain man of Bethlehem-Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab c A Fruitful Land beyond Iordan Eastward he and his wife and his two sons 2 And the name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion Ephrathites d So called because this Bethlehem is otherwise called Ephrath or Ephratha Gen. 35. 19. Mich. 5. 2. either from Caleb's Wife of that name 1 Chron. 2. 19. and 4. 4. or from the fertility of the Soyl about it which title may therefore be used here to shew the greatness of the Famine which affected even fertile parts of Bethlehem-Judah e and they came into the countrey of Moab and ‡ Heb. were Numb 9. 21. continued there f To wit during the Famine 3 And Elimelech Naomies husband died and she was left and her two sons 4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab g Either these were Proselytes when they Married them which may well be doubted from v. 15. or they sinned in marrying them as appears from Deut. 7. 3. and 23. 3. Ezra 9. 1 2. Nehem. 13. 23. and therefore were punished with short Life and want of Issue v. 5 19 21. the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth and they dwelt there about ten years h As long as the Famine lasted 5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband 6 Then she arose with her daughters in law that she might return from the country of Moab for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread i i. e. Food so she staid no longer there than necessity forced her 7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was and her two daughters in law with her and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah 8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law * See 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 15. Go return each to her mothers house k Not that they wanted Fathers Ruth 2. 11. but because Daughters used to converse more frequently with their Mothers and to be most endeared to them and to dwell in the same apartments with them which then were distinct from those parts of the House where the Men dwealt the LORD deal kindly with you as ye have dealt with the dead l With my Sons your Husbands whilest they lived and with me 9 The LORD grant you that ye may find rest m i. e. A quiet and happy life free from those cares vexations incumbrances and troubles which Widows are in a special manner exposed unto each of you in the house of her husband Then she kissed them n As the manner there was when friends parted and they lift up their voice and wept 10 And they said unto her Surely we will return with thee unto thy people 11 And Naomi said Turn again my daughters why will ye go with me are there yet any moe sons in my womb that they may be your husbands o According to the Ancient Custome Gen. 38. and the express Law of God Deut. 25. 5 which doubtless she had acquainted them with before among other branches of the Jewish Religion wherein she did instruct them 12 Turn again my daughters go your way p for I am too old to have an husband if I should say I have hope ‖ Or if I were 〈◊〉 an husâ—…d if I should have a husband also to night and should also bear sons n Qu. Why doth she disswade them from this journey and not rather perswade them to go with her and to embrace the Jewish Religion Answ. 1. Possibly she thought such disswasion might be the best way to perswade them as it oft happens especially in that Sex 2. She would not have them rashly and inconsiderately to embrace the Jewish Religion in hopes of some advantage from it which she justly thought they would be disappointed of and withal exposed to many straits and troubles and on that occasion revolt from the True Religon which would be far worse than never to have embraced it And therefore she doth justly and wisely and piously in representing to them the truth of the business and the outward inconveniences which would accompany the Change of their Place and Religion as also our Blessed Lord Christ did Mat. 8. 20. 13 Would ye ‡ Heb. hope tarry for them till
made up The sence is If onely Man be wronged Man can right it and reconcile the Persons but if a man sin against the LORD e To wit in such manner as you have done directly and immediately in the matters of his Worship and Service wilfully and presumptuously ‡ Heb. who shall make himself a Judg for him who shall intreat for him f The offence is of so high a nature that few or none will dare to intercede for him but will leave him to the just Judgment of God He speaks after the manner of Men who do oft intercede with the Prince for such as have injured any private Person but will not presume to do so when the Injury is Committed against his own Person The Words are and may be thus rendred Who shall judge for him Who shall interpose himself as Umpire or Arbitrator between God and him Who shall compound that Difference None can or dare do it and therefore he must be left to the Dreadful but Righteous Judgment of God which is your Case and Misery notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father because the LORD would slay them f i. e. Because God had determined to Destroy them for their many and great Sins and therefore would not and did not give them Grace to hearken to Eli's counsel and to Repent of their Wickedness but hardned their Hearts to their Destruction 26 And the child Samuel grew on g He grew better in bad times which is remembred to his commendation and was in * Prov. 3. 4. Luk. 2. 52. Act. 2. 47. Rom. 14. 18. favour both with the LORD and also with men 27 ¶ And there came a man of God h i. e. A Prophet or Preacher sent from God See 1 Tim. 6. 11. 2 Tim. 3. 17. â—… Pet. 1. 21. Who this was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Revealed by God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…t iâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and impossible to determine unto Eli and said unto him Thus saith the LORD ‖ Or in appearing did I appear Did I plainly appear i Did I 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a favoâ—… and appear so evidently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 and is this thy requiâ—…l unto the house of thy father k i. e. Unto 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy Fathers House when they were in Egypt l See Exod. 4. 27. in Pharaohs house m i. e. Either 1. In Pharaohs Land the whole Kingdom being as it were oâ—… great Family whereof 〈◊〉 was the Master Or 2. In Pharaohs Court where 〈◊〉 might probably be at the time of this Revelation either to answer to some Accusation against him or his Brethren or to beg some Relaxation of the Rigor or for some other occasion 28 And did I chuse him n To wit Aaron thy father whereby the shews what he meant by his Fathers house out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest to oâ—…er upon mine altar to burn incense to wear an ephod o That golden Ephod which was peculiar to the High-Priest before me and * 〈◊〉 10. 14. 〈◊〉 18. 8. did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire p i. e. All the Priests part of the offerings He onely had the Office and he had the whole benefit of the children of Israel 29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice q Using them irreverently contemptuously and prophanely both by abusing them to your own Luxury and by causing the People to abhor and neglect them He chargeth Eli with his Sons faults and at mine offering which I have commanded in my habitation and honourest thy sons above me r Permitting them to dishonour and injure me by taking my part to themselves 〈◊〉 rather to offend me by thy connivence at their sin than to displease them by severe rebukes and effectual restraints and just punishments and so prefer their will and pleasure and honour before mine to make your selves fat s To Pamper your selves This you did not out of any necessity but out of meer Luxury with the chiefest of all the offerings t Not contented with those parts which I had allotted you you invaded those choice Parts which I reserved for my self of Israel my people 30 Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith I said indeed u Qu. Where or when did God say this Answ. Either 1. When he made that promise for the Perpetuation of the Priesthood in Aarons Family Exod. 28. 43. and 29. 9. Object If Eli and all his Family had been cut off yet that Promise had been made good in Eleazars Family how then was that Promise recalled by this Sentence against Eli Answ. It was recalled and made void though not absolutely and universally to all Aarons Family yet respectively to Eli and his Family which were wholly excluded from the benefit of it wherein otherwise they should have shared Even as Gods keeping of the Israelites out of Canaan and in the Wilderness for Forty years and destroying them there is called his breach of promise Numb 14. 34. although the Promise of Canaan was not simply made void to all the Israelites but onely to that evil Generation of them Or as Gods Covenant with David and with his Seed of which God saith that it should stand fast Psal. 89. 28. and that he would not break nor alter it v. 34. yet is said to be made void v. 39. to wit in regard of some particular branches or members of that Family Or 2. To Eli himself or to his Father when the Priesthood was translated from Eleazars to Ithamars Family for some cause not mentioned in Scripture but most probably for some great miscarriage of some of them If it be said That there is no such Promise Recorded in Scripture it may be so replyed That there are many sayings and doings noted in Holy Scripture which were not spoken of in their proper times and places as Gen. 24. 51. and 42. 21. Hos. 12. 4. Luk. 11. 49. Act. 20. 25. So the sence of the place may be this That promise and priviledge of the perpetuation of the Priesthod in Phinchas and his Family made to them Numb 25. 12. namely upon condition of his and their faithfulness in their Office which is plainly understood I now take away from that Family for their wickedness and I transfer it to thee and thine and will fix it there upon the same condition that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me x i. e. Minister unto me as High-Priest Walking is oft put for Discharging ones Office before me may signifie that he was the High-Priest whose sole Prerogative it was to Minister before God or before the Ark in the Most Holy Place for ever y As long as the Mosaical Law and Worship lasted as that Phrase is oft used but now the LORD saith Be it far from me z To wit to fulfil my promise which
prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee to day 29 That thine eyes may be open e To behold to wit with an Eye of favour and compassion So it is a Synecdochical Expression comp Psal. 33. 18. and 34. 15. Zech. 12. 4. toward this house night and day even toward the place of which thou hast said Deut. 12. 11. My name f My Presence and Glory and Grace See above ver 16. shall be there that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make ‖ Or in the place towards this place g This Temple to which Solomon did now look and it may be point and towards which the godly Israelites directed their looks in their Prayers See Dan. 6. 10. 30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel when they shall pray ‖ Or in this place towards this place and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place h Which he adds that the People might not Idolize the Temple nor presume upon it as if God were now fast tied to them as having no other Dwelling-place and to direct them in all their Addresses to God in this Temple to lift up their eyes above it even to Heaven where God's most True and most Glorious Dwelling-place is and when thou hearest ‖ Or be favorable So Gr. forgive i To wit the Sins of thy People praying and even of their prayers which if not pardoned will certainly hinder the Success of all their Prayers and the course of all thy Blessings upon them 31 ¶ ‡ Heb. Whatsoever a man trespass So Gr. If any man trespass k i. e. If he be Accused of a Trespass against his neighbour ‡ Heb. and he require an oath of him oâ—… tender an oath to him and an oath be laid upon him l Either by the Judge or by the Party Accusing him or by the Accused Person himself which was usual when there were no Witnesses See Exod. 22. 8 11. Numb 5. 12 15 c. to cause him to swear and the oath come before thine altar in this house m For here God who was appealed to as Witness was especially present Hence the Heathens used to Swear at their Altars 32 Then hear thou in heaven and do and judge thy servants condemning the wicked to bring his way n i. e. The just Recompence of his Wicked Action and Course upon his head and justifying the righteous to give him according to his righteousness o To Vindicate him and to manifest his Integrity 33 ¶ When * Lev. 26. 17. Deut. 28. 25 thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy because they have sinned against thee and * Lev. 26. 39 40. shall turn again to thee and confess thy Name p Give Glory to thy Name by acknowledging their Sins and thy Justice and by accepting the Punishment of their Iniquity and by trusting to thy Power and Goodness alone for their Deliverance and pray and make supplication unto thee ‖ Or toward in this house 34 Then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin of thy people Israel and bring them again q From the Land into which they are supposed to be carried by their Enemies into Canaan Quest. If they were Banished into a strange Land how could they Pray in this house as they are said to do ver 33. Answ. 1. That may be rendred to or towards this house as it is expressed v. 29. 30. The Hebrew Praeposition Beth in being oft put for el to or towards 2. This may be understood of divers persons and so the sence is this When the People of Israel be Defeated in Battel and many of their Brethren be taken Prisoners and carried into Captivity if then their Brethren remaining in the Land shall heartily pray for their Captive Brethren they shall be Delivered unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers 35 ¶ When * Lev. 26. 19. Deut. 28. 23. heaven r The lower Heaven in which the Clouds are as Deut. 11. 17. Psal. 147. 8. is shut up s The Heaven is compared to a great Store-House in God's keeping out of which nothing can be had so long as it is close shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee if they pray towards this place and confess thy Name and turn from their sin when thou afflictest them t Do not reject their Prayers because they are forced from them by their Afflictions as thou mayest justly do 36 Then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel that thou teach them u That their Sin being Pardoned and thou being Reconciled unto them mayest vouchsafe to Teach them Or rather as our Translators render the very same Words 2 Chron. 6. 27. When thou shalt teach or hast taught them not onely by thy Word for that was done before but by their Afflictions which is one of God's Schools and especially by thy Spirit enlightning their Minds and enclining their Hearts that they may learn and profit both by the Word and by their Afflictions And this is here fitly added to shew that he could not expect and did not desire from God the Pardon of their Sins but upon God's Terms to wit upon their True Repentance the good way x i. e. The way or Will of God or the way of their Duty as the following words explain it which is most rightly called the good way here and 1 Sam. 12. 23. because it is both Just and Holy and therefore good in it self and good both Delightful and Profitable to those that walk in it The meaning is When thou hast effectually taught them and they have throughly learned how to please and serve thee acceptably and to walk before thee in the way which thou hast prescribed them wherein they should walk and give rain y The order of Solomon's Prayer is very observable first and chiefly he prays for their Repentance and Forgiveness which is the chief Blessing and the onely solid Foundation of all other Mercies and then he prays for the Temporal Mercy thereby teaching us what to mind and desire principally in our Prayers which also Christ hath taught us in his Perfect Pattern and Form of Prayer wherein there is but one Prayer for outward and all the rest are for Spiritual Blessings upon thy land which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance 37 ¶ If * Lev. 26. 1â—… 26. there be in the land famine if there be pestilence blasting mildew locust or if there be caterpillar z i. e. The Plague of Locusts or Caterpillars infesting a Land by their great numbers and venomous or noxious qualities of which see Exod. 10. 4 5. Deut. 28. 42. Psal. 105. 34 35. if their enemy besiege them in the Deut. 28. 21 22 27 3â—… land of their ‖ Or
esteemed a corruption and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon 8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives o Having once given way to some few of his most beloved Wives he was forced to comply with the rest which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods 9 ¶ And the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel p From the express Command and from the Worship of God not that he wholly neglected God but because God esteems all the Worship of Idols though it be not exclusive of but conjoyned with his own Worship to be a forsaking of and departing from God and oft-times so calls it * Chap. 3. 5. and 9. 2. which had appeared unto him q To wit in an extraordinary and most Gracious and obliging manner twice 10 And * Chap. 6. 12. had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods but he kept not that which the LORD commanded 11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon r Either by suggestion to his mind or by appearance to him in a terrible manner or by the Prophet Ahijah of whom v. 29. Forasmuch as this ‡ Heb. is with thee is done of thee and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded thee * Ver. 31. Chap. 12. 15. I will surely rend s I will violently take away The word in the Hebrew is doubled for the greater assurance of the thing the kingdome from thee and will give it to thy servant t To one of thy Servants and Subjects which was Ieroboam v. 26. c. 12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy fathers sake u For the respect I bear to his memory and for my promise-sake made to him 2 Sam. 7. but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son 13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom but will give one tribe x How but one when he had both Iudah and Benjamin 2 Chron. 11. 12 Ans. Either Benjamin is swallowed up in Iudah because it was comparatively very small and their habitation much intermixed with that of Iudah or one to wit of that kingdom which he here threatens to rend away from him i. e. of the Kingdom of Israel and that was Benjamin one besides Iudah which was his own Tribe or but one because Benjamin was not entirely his but part of it adhered to Ieroboam as Bethel 1 King 12. 29. and Hephron 2 Chron. 13. 19. both which were Towns of Benjamin Ios. 18. 22. Or if God promised to give one and gave him two I suppose that was no great injury to him to thy son for David my servants sake and for Jerusalems sake y Not surely for its merits but because he had chosen it as it follows to be the Seat of his Temple and Worship it being Gods usual method to give to him that hath and to continue and multiply favours to them whom he hath begun to favour which I have chosen 14 ¶ And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon Hadad the Edomite he was of the kings seed in Edom. 15 * 2 Sam. 8. 14. For it came to pass when David was in Edom z To wit by his Army to War against it See 1 Chron. 18. 12 13. and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain a To wit the Israelites which were slain in the Battel 2 Sam. 8. 13 14. whom he honourably interred in some certain place to which he is said to go up for that end And this may be mentioned as that which gave Hadad the opportunity of making his escape whilst Ioab and his men were employed in that Solemnity * Num. 24. 1â—… Deut. â—…0 1â—… after he had smitten every male in Edom b Or and he sinote c. as it is in the Hebrew Which is here noted as the cause of Hadad's flight he sinote c. He understood what Ioab had done in part and intended further to do even to kill all the Males and therefore fled for his life 16 For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel until he had cut off every male in Edom 17 That Hadad fled he and certain Edomites of his fathers servants with him to go into Egypt Hadad being yet a little child 18 And they arose out of Midian c He fled at first with intent to go into Egypt as is said v. 17. but took Midian a Neighbouring Countrey in his way and staid there a while possibly till he had by some of his Servants tried Pharaoh's mind and prepared the way for his reception and came to Paran and they took men with them out of Paran d Another Countrey in the Road from Edom to Egypt where he hired Men to attend him that making his entrance there something like a Prince he might find more favour and respect from that King and People and they came to Egypt unto Pharaoh king of Egypt which gave him an house and appointed him victuals and gave him land e To support himself and his Train out of the profits of it 19 And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh f God so disposing his heart that Hadad might be a scourge to Solomon for his impieties which God foresaw long before they were done so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife the sister of Tahpenes the queen 20 And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaohs house and Genubath was in Pharaohs houshold among the sons of Pharaoh 21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the captain of the host g Whom he feared as much as David himself was dead Hadad said to Pharaoh ‡ Heb. send me away Let me depart that I may go to mine own countrey h Whether accordingly he came and was there even from the beginning of Solomon's Reign where he either lived as a private person yet secretly working for the recovery of his Crown when an opportunity was offered or rather by the near relation which was between his Wife and Solomons and by Pharaoh's intercession he obtained his Kingdom with condition of Subjection and Tribute to be paid by him to Solomon which condition he kept till Solomon fell from God and then it seems he began to be troublesome to him and dangerous to his House and Kingdom 22 Then Pharaoh said unto him But what hast thou lacked with me that behold thou seekest to go to thine own countrey And he answered ‡ Heb. Noâ—… Nothing Howbeit let me go in any wise 23 ¶ And God stirred him up another adversary Rezon the son of Eliadah which fled from his lord Hadadezer i When David had defeated him See 2 Sam. 10.
by other Authors that I may go in and dress it for me and my son that we may eat it and die b For having no more Provision we must needs perish with Hunger For though the Famine was onely in the Land of Israel yet the Effects of it were in Tyre and Sidon which were fed by the Corn of that Land See Acts 12. 20. Or the same Famine might be in those parts also the chief cause of the Famine to wit the Worship of Baal being common to both places 13 And Elijah said unto her Fear not go and do as thou hast said but make me thereof a little cake first c Which he requires as a tryal and exercise of her Faith and Charity and Obedience which he knew God would graciously and plentifully reward and so this would be a great Example to encourage others to the practise of the same Graces upon like occasions and bring it unto me and after make for thee and for thy son 14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel d In whom I perceive thou trustest The barrel of meal e i. e. The Meal of the Barrel An Hypallage or Metonymy So the cruse of oil â—…or the oil of the cruse shall not waste neither shall the cruse of oil fail until the day that the LORD ‡ Heb. giveth sendeth rain upon the earth 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah f Giving Glory to the God of Israel by believing his Prophet and she and he and her house did eat ‖ Or a full year many days g i. e. A long time even above Two Years See Chap. 18. 1. Heb. days i. e. A full Year as ver 7. namely before the following Event about her Son happened and the rest of the time of the Famine after it 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not h God still Creating new as fast as the old was spent neither did the cruse of oil fail according to the word of the LORD which he spake ‡ Heb. by the hand of by Elijah 17 ¶ And it came to pass after these things that the son of the woman the mistress of the house fell sick and his sickness was so sore that there was no breath i Or no Soul or Life as this Hebrew Word oft signifies i. e. He died as is manifest from the following Verses See also Heb. 11. 35. left in him 18 And she said unto Elijah What have I to do with thee k Wherein have I injured or provoked thee Or Why didst thou come to Sojourn in my House as the following Words seem to Explain these if this be the fruit of it They are Words of a troubled Mind favouring of some rashness and impatience O thou man of God art thou come unto me l Didst thou come for this end that thou mightest severely observe my Sins and by thy prayers bring down God's just Judgment upon me for them as thou hast for the like cause brought down this Famine upon the Nation to call my sin to remembrance m Either 1. To my remembrance that I should by this dreadful Judgment be brought to the knowledge and remembrance of my Sins which have procured it Or rather 2. To God's Remembrance for God is oft said in Scripture to remember sins when he punisheth them and to forget them when he spares the Sinner See 2 Sem. 16. 10. Have I instead of the Blessing which I expected from thy presence met with a Curse and to stay my son 19 And he said unto her Give me thy son n Into mine Arms. And he took him out of her bosom and carried him up into a loft o A private place where he might more freely and fully pour out his Soul to God and use such Gestures or Methods as he thought most proper without any offence or observation where he abode and laid him upon his own bed 20 And he cried unto the LORD and said O LORD my God hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn by slaying her son p A Prayer full of powerful Arguments Thou art the Lord that canst revive the Child and my God and therefore wiltst not do not deny me She is a widow add not Affliction to the Afflicted deprive her not of the great support and staff of her Age She hath given me kind entertainment let her not fare the worse for her kindness to a Prophet whereby Wicked Men will take occasion to Reproach both her and Religion 21 And he ‡ Heb. measured stretched himself upon the child q Not as if he thought this could contribute any warmth or Life to the Child but partly to express and withal to increase his grief for the Child's Death and his desire of its reviving that thereby his Prayers might be more fervent and consequently more prevalent with God and partly that it might appear That this Miracle though wrought by God alone yet was done for the sake of Elijah and in answer to his Prayers Compare 2 King 4. 34. Ioh. 9. 6. Act. 20. 10. three times and cried unto the LORD r First he stretched himself then he prayed and that for Three times successively and said O LORD my God I pray thee let this childs soul come ‡ Heb. into 〈◊〉 inward parts into him again s By which it is evident That the Soul was gone out of his Body and therefore doth subsist without it after Death Compare Gen. 35. 18. This was a great Request but Elias was incouraged to make it partly by his Zeal for God's Honour which he thought was concerned in it and would be Eclipsed by it partly by the experience which he had of his prevailingpower with God in prayer and partly by a Divine Impulse moving him to desire it 22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah and the soul of the child came into him again and he revived 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the chamber into the house and delivered him unto his mother and Elijah said See thy son liveth 24 ¶ And the woman said to Elijah Now by this I know t Now I am assured of that concerning which I began upon this sad occasion to doubt that thou art a man of God and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth u That the God whom thou professest is the True God and the Doctrine and Religion which thou Teachest is the onely True Religion and therefore henceforth I wholly Renounce the Worship of Idols CHAP. XVIII AND it came to pass after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year a Either 1. From the time when he went to hide himself by the Brook Cerith Six Months before which time the Famine might begin though it was not yet come to extremity And so this being in or
and two measures of barley for a shekel according to the word of the LORD 17 ¶ And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate t Partly to prevent tumults and disorders and mischiefs amongst the people and partly to take order about the shutting of the Gates if need were and if the Syrians should happen to return upon them and the people trode upon him in the gate and he died as the man of God had said who spake when the king came down to him 18 And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king saying Two measures of barley for a shekel and a measure of fine flour for a shekel shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria 19 And that lord answered the man of God and said Now behold if the LORD should make windows in heaven might such a thing be And he said Behold thou shalt see it with thine eyes but shalt not eat thereof 20 And so it fell out unto him for the people trode upon him in the gate and he died CHAP. VIII THen a This Particle of time may be understood either particularly and definitely of the time next following the former History or more generally and indefinitely as it is frequently used of the time in which Elisha and this Shunamitish Woman lived Possibly this might happen before the History of Naaman chap. 5. or at least before the Siege of Samaria chap. 6. But this is not certain spake Elisha unto the woman b Expressing his gratitude for her former kindnesses by taking special care for her preservation * Chap. 4â—… whose son he had restored to life saying Arise and go thou and thine houshold and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn c In any convenient place out of the Land of Israel for the LORD * Psal. 〈◊〉 Hag. 1. 〈◊〉 hath called for a famine d i. e. Hath appointed to bring a Famine or a great scarcity of Provisions This expression intimates that all afflictions are sent by God and come at his Call or Command and it shall also come upon the land seven years e A double time to the former Famin under Elijah Iam. 5. 17. which is but just and reasonable because they were still obstinate and incorrigible under all the severe and succeeding Judgments of God and under the powerful Ministry of Elisha who confirmed his Doctrine by Glorious Miracles See Levit. 26. 21 24 28. 2 And the woman arose and did after the saying of the man of God and she went with her houshold and sojourned in the land of the Philistines f Either because that was near her Lands and Dwelling which she thought she might have an eye to when occasion required or because there was more plenty than in Iudah or because she knew that her going to dwell in Iudah would be very displeasing to the King of Israel whose favour she was like to need hereafter Nor was there now that danger of Idolatry from the Philistines as theâ—…e had been formerly because their power and influence was now grown inconsiderable and probably many of the Iews and Israelites lived among them And this Land though bordering upon Israel was free from this Famine that it might appear that this was a special Hand and Judgment of God upon the Israelites for their Idolatry and for their unprofitableness under all the means of Grace which now they plentifully enjoyed by Elisha and many other Prophets which the Philistines not enjoying their sin was much less and therefore their present condition was better seven years 3 And it came to pass at the seven years end that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines and she went â—…orth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land g Which having been forsaken by her were possessed by her Kindred or others who had obtained them from the King and now intended to keep the possession of them 4 And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God h Quest. How could the King speak with Gehazi who was a Leper Ans. Either the King might speak with him at a convenient distance it being usual for others to discourse with Lepers as 2 King 7. 8. Matth. 8. 2. Luk. 17. 12. or his Leprosy might be of that sort which was not infectious or if his Leprosy was such as made him yet to be unclean the Kings great Curiosity might easily prevail with him to break a Ceremonial Law who made no scruple of violating Gods Moral Law saying Tell me I pray thee all the great things that Elisha hath done 5 And it came to pass as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life that behold the woman i By Gods wonderful and Gracious Providence brought thither in the most advantageous season whose son he had restored to life cried to the king for her house and for her land And Gehazi said My lord O king this is the woman and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life 6 And when the king asked the woman k Concerning the truth of Gehazi's relation she told him So the king appointed unto her a certain ‖ 〈◊〉 officer saying Restore all that was hers and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land even till now 7 ¶ And Elisha came to Damascus l Either to the City or rather to the Kingdom of Damascus by comparing v. 9. as Samaria which properly was the name of the City is sometimes the name of the Kingdom of which see on 1 King 13. 32. Hither he came by the special direction of the Spirit and under Gods protection upon the Errand here following and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick and it was told him saying The man of God is come hither 8 And the king said unto Hazael Take a present in thine hand m By which he thought to purchase his favour and the healing of his Disease and go meet the man of God and enquire of the LORD by him saying Shall I recover of this disease 9 So Hazael went to meet him and took a present ‡ Heb. in his hand with him even of every good thing of Damascus forty camels burden n Hazael carried the more noble Present hoping as his Master did to get some interest in the Prophet and advantage to himself by it Whether the Prophet received it or not is not here mentioned but it is most probable he did not from his former practise chap. 5. and because the reasons which then swayed him were still of the same force and came and stood before him and said Thy son Ben-hadad o He who before persecuted him as an Enemy chap. 6. 13 14. now in his extremity honours him like a Father king of Syria hath sent me to thee saying
relieved them which was done upon the Sabbath day see 2 Kings 11. 5 7. or that in which the Guard or Watchmen of the Temple kept their station or that under which the King used to sit to hear God's Word and see the Sacrifices which is called the covert of the Sabbath because the chief times in which the King used it for those ends was the Weekly Sabbath and other solemn days of Feasting or Fasting which all come under the name of Sabbaths in the Old Testament upon which the King used more certainly and solemnly to present himself before the Lord than at other times that they had built in the house and the kings entry without e By which the King used to go from his Palace to the Temple see on 1 Kings 10. 5 12. turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria f i. e. That he might ingratiate himself with the King of Assyria by his publick contempt and rejection of that Religion which had been the onely Partition-Wall between the Kings of Iudah and other Kings and which possibly the present King of Assyria did vehemently dislike and hate and therefore required these things from Ahaz 19 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah 20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead CHAP. XVII IN the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah ‡ Heb. reigned began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign a Quest. How can this be true seeing it is said that he reigned or began to reign in Israel in the twentieth year of Iotham chap. 15. 30. which was the Fourth Year of Ahaz as was there noted Ans. He usurped the Kingdom in Ahaz his Fourth Year but either was not owned as King by the generality of the People or was not accepted and established in his Kingdom by the Assyrian till Ahaz his Twelfth Year Or in his Eight First Years he was onely a Tributary Prince and the King of Assyria's Viceroy and after that time he set up for himself which drew the Assyrian upon him in Samaria over Israel nine years b To wit after his confirmation and peaceable possession of his Kingdom For in all he reigned Seventeen or Eighteen Years to wit Twelve with Ahaz who reigned Sixteen Years and Six with Hezekiah 2 Kings 18. 10. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD but not as the kings of Israel that were before him c For he neither worshipped Baal as many of his predecessors did nor compelled the People to worship the Calves one of them that of Dan being destroyed or carried away before as the Hebrew Writers affirm nor as some add hindred those by force who were minded to go to Ierusalem to worship And yet the measure of the Israelites sins being now full vengeance comes upon them without remedy Compare 2 Kings 23. 26. 3 ¶ Against him came up Shalmaneser d The Son or Successor of Tiglath-pileser The ancient Hebrew Writers make him the same with Sennacherib who Eight Years after this time invaded the kingdom of Iudah See chap. 18. 10 13. it being very frequent in the Eastern parts for one man to be called by several Names especially by the People of several Countries Iosephus affirms that he met with his Name in the Annals of the Tyrians which were extant in his days He came against him either because he denied the Tribute which he had promised to pay or that he might make him Tributary king of Assyria and Hoshea became his servant and ‡ Heb. rendred gave him ‖ Or tribute presents e Swore Fealty to him and engaged to pay him a Tribute 4 And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt f By Heathen Writers called Sua or Sabacus that by his assistance he might shake off the Yoke of the King of Assyria who now was and for many Years had been the King of Egypt's Rival See 2 Kings 18. 21. Ier. 37. 5. and brought no present to the king of Assyria as he had done year by year therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison g To wit after he had come up against him and taken him with Samaria the particular Relation whereof here follows 5 ¶ Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years 6 ¶ * Chap. 18. 10. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away into Assyria and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes h This is added to distinguish this place from the former which was either in Assyria or in the Mountainous and less inhabited parts of Media Hither he carried them partly to replenish his own Country and partly because these places were at so great a distance from Canaan that this would cut off all hopes and thoughts of returning to their own Country 7 For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt and had feared other gods 8 And walked in the statutes of the heathen i i. e. According to the Laws and Customs of the Heathen is the Worship of their Baals and other of their sins whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel and of the kings of Israel which they had made k i. e. Which the Kings of Israel had ordained concerning the Worship of the Calves and against their going up to Ierusalem to worship 9 And the children of Israel did secretly thâ—…e things that were not right against the LORD l This belongs either 1. to their gross Idolatries and other abominable practises which they were ashamed to own before others Compare Ezek. 8. 12. Or 2. to the worship of Calves And so the words are otherwise â—…ndered and that agreeably to the Hebrew Text thâ—…â—…ed or disguised or covered things that were not 〈◊〉 against or before or towards the Lord i. e. They 〈◊〉 their idolatrous worship of the Calves with fair preâ—…ences of necessity the Two Kingdoms being now divided and at enmity and of their honest intention of serving the true God and retaining the substance of the Iewish Religion from which they alledged that they differed onely in circumstances of Worship their God and they built them high places in all their cities from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city m In all parts and places both in Cities and in the Country yea in the most uninhabited and neglected parts
and †〈◊〉 set a 〈◊〉 upon the land put the land to a tribute k To wit a Yearly Tribute whereby they should acknowledge him to be their Superior and for which he would be their Protector when they needed his help of an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold 34 And Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah l Whom he perceived to be of a more mild and peaceable disposition king in the room of Josiah his father and turned his name to * Matt. 1. 11. called Ioâ—…im Jehoiakim m Because the giving of Names was accounted an act and sign of Dominion which therefore Parents did to their Children and Conquerors to their Vassals or Tributaries Compare Chap. 24. 17. Dan. 1. 7. and took Jehoahaz away n Partly as a Punishment for him and partly that he might give no disturbance to his Brother and he came to Egypt and died there 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh but he taxed the land to give the money according to the ‡ Heb. mouth commandment of Pharaoh he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land of every one according to his taxation to give it unto Pharaoh-nechoh 36 ¶ Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign o Either 1. When he began to Reign alone and with full Power or after Iehoahaz his Death till which the people would not disown him whom they had Anointed King which was esteemed a great tie 2 Sam. 19. 10. nor own or accept Iehojakim as their King but only as his Brothers Vice-roy though Pharaoh had by violence forced him upon them And so Iehoahaz might be his Elder Brother and the same who is called Iohanan and is first mentioned as the eldest son 1 Chron. 3. 15. though he may be placed first not in regard of his Birth but of his Dignity the Crown being first put upon his Head Or 2. When he was first set up by Pharaoh and so this was the Elder Brother though by popular Violence put by his Right See on ver 31. and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem and his mothers name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah 37 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD p By Idolatry the Oppression of his People and the Persecution of the Prophets and other good men Ier. 26. 20. Ezek. 19. 5 6 7. according to all that his fathers had done CHAP. XXIV IN * 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his days a i. e. In Iehoiakim's Reign in the end of his third Year Dan. 1. 1. or the beginning of his Fourth Ier. 25. 1. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon b The son of Nabopolassar who quite subdued the Assyrian first his Lord and then his Competitor and made himself Absolute Monarch of all those parts of the World came up c To wit against Iehoiakim as the Friend and Confederate of Pharaoh whose Forces he had lately Conquered Ier. 46. 2. and Jehoiakim became his servant three years then he turned and rebelled against him d By the instigation of the Egyptian who threatned him if he did not Rebel and promised him his utmost Assistance if he did 2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Caldees and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the children of Ammon e For Nebuchadnezzar's Army was made up of several Nations who were willing to Fight under the Banner of such a Puissant and Victorious Emperor and sent them against Judah to destroy it * Chap. 〈◊〉 and 23. 〈◊〉 according to the word of the LORD which he spake ‡ Heb. by the hand oâ—… by his servants the prophets 3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah to remove them out of his sight for * Chap. 〈◊〉 and 2â—… 〈◊〉 the sins of Manasseh f Properly and directly for their own sins and occasionally for the sins of Manasseh which had never been charged upon them if they had not made them their own by their impenitency for them and repetition of them according to all that he did 4 And also for * Chap. 〈◊〉 the innocent blood g To wit of those Prophets and Saints who either reproved or would not comply with his Idolatrous Worship that he shed for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 God 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 or â—…e â—…rable 〈◊〉 which the LORD would not pardon 5 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah 6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers and Jehoiachin h Called also Iechoniah 1 Chron. 3. 16. as Iehojakim also was by comparing this with Matt. 1. 11. and in way of contempt Choniah Ier. 22. 24. his son reigned in his stead 7 And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land i To wit in this Kings days nor until Zedekiah's time Ier. 37. 6 7. nor to any purpose He could not now come out to Protect the King of Iudah being scarce able to defend his own Kingdom for * Jer. 4â—… â—… the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt 8 ¶ Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reigh k Object He was then but Eight years old 2 Chron. 36. 9. Answ. 1. Both are true in his Eighth Year he began to Reign with his Father who made him King with him as divers other Kings of Israel and Iudah had done in the like times of trouble and in his Eighteenth Year he Reigned alone 2. He is called a son of eight years when he began to reign 2 Chron. 36. 9. because this was the Eighth Year not of his Age but of the Babylonish Captivity or Bondage under which both he and his Father had been just so long for it began in the Fourth Year of Iehojakim as it is affirmed Ier. 25. 1. and continued all his Reign which lasted Eleven Years Chap. 23. 36. and so the First Year of Iehojakim was precisely the Eighth Year of that Captivity And this is certain That the Years of Kings mentioned in Scripture are not always accounted from the beginning of their Age but from some other Remarkable Time or thing thus Saul when at Man's Estate is called the son of one year 1 Sam. 13. 1. of which see my notes there and Ahaziah whose Father lived onely Forty Years 2 Chron. 21. 20. is called a son of forty and two years when he began to reign 2 Chron. 22. 2. because that was the Forty and second Year of the Reign of Omri's Family as most think And therefore it cannot seem strange if the Years of this King be computed not from liis Birth but from the beginning of so great
all his host against Jerusalem a To chastise Zedekiah for his Rebellion and Peâ—…jury 2 Chron. 36. 13. and pitched against it and they built forts against it round about b Partly to keep all supplies of men or provisions from entring into the City And partly that from thence they might shoot Dâ—…rts or Arrows or Stones into the City See Ier. 52. 4. Ezek. 4. 2. and 17. 17. 2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah 3 And on the ninth day of the * Jer. 52. 6. fourth month c Which word is easily understood by comparing this and the first verse and Ier. 39. 2. and 52. 6. where it is expressed the famine prevailed in the city and there was no bread for the people of the land d i. e. For the common sort of people who flock'd thither from all parts upon the approach of the Babylonian Army but only for the great Men and Soldiers See of the grievousness of this â—…lamine Lam. 4. 10. and Ezek. 5. 10 12. 4 ¶ And the city was broken up e By the Chaldeans who broke and entred the gate Ier. 39. 3. and all the men of war fled f Which word is fitly supplied out of the parallel place Ier. 39. 4. or out of the following verb went away by night by the way of the gate between two walls g Between the outward and inward wall of the City by a private way having the advantage of the darkness of the night and possibly of some Vault under the ground which is by the kings garden now the Caldees were against the city round about and the king h This word also is necessarily to be understood partly by its singular which agrees not with the men of war and partly out of the next verse where it is expressed went the way toward the plain i Of Iericho as it follows 5 And the army of the Caldees pursued after the King and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army were scattered from him 6 So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah k Of which see above v. 23 33. and below v. 21. where Nebuchadnezzar staid that he might both supply the hefiegers with more men and Military provisions as their occasions required and have an eye to Chaldea to prevent or suppress any commotions which might happen there in the time of his absence and they ‡ Heb. spake judgment with him gave judgment upon him l The Kings Officers appointed thereunto examined his cause and passed the following sentence against him 7 And they flew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and ‡ Heb. made blâ—…d put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with fetters of brass and carried him to Babylon m Thus two Prophecies were fulfilled which seemed contrary one to the other that he should go to Babylon Ier. 32. 5. and 34. 3. and that he should never see Babylon Which seeming-contradiction because Zedekiah the false Prophet could not reconcile he concluded both were false and that Ieremy was a false Prophet and it seems Zedekiah the King might stumble at this difficulty 8 ¶ And in the fifth month on the seventh day of the month n Quest. How doth this agree with Ier. 52. 12. where he is said to come thither on the tenth day Ans. Either he came to Ierusalem on the seventh day and burnt the Temple on the tenth day Or this sacred Writer speaks of the day of his departure from Riblah towards Ierusalem and Ieremiah speaks of his coming to Ierusalem which was about three days journey from Riblah which is * See Chap. 24. 12. and Ver. 24. the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came Nebuzar-adan ‖ Or chief Marshal captain of the guard a servant of the king of Babylon unto Jerusalem 9 And he burnt the house of the LORD o Which had now stood about 450 years and the kings house and all the houses of Jerusalem and every great mans house burnt he with fire 10 And all the army of the Caldees that were with the captain of the guard brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about 11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city p Whom neither the Sword nor Famine had destroyed who were 832 persons Ier. 52. 29. being members and traders of that City For it is likely that there were very many more of the Country-people who were fled thither who were left with others of their Brethren to manure the Land as it here follows and the ‡ Heb. fallen away fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon with the remnant of the multitude q To wit of the Inhabitants of the Country did Nebuzar adan the captain of the guard carry away 12 But the captain of the guard left of ‡ Heb the poverty the poor of the land to be vine-dressers and husbandmen 13 And * Chap. 20. 17. Jer 27. 19 22. the * 1 Kin. 7. 15. pillars of brass r The carriage whereof to Babylon was foretold Ier. 27. 21 22. that were in the house of the LORD and the * 1 Kin. 7. 27. bases and the * 1 Kin. 7. 23. brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD did the Caldees break in pieces and carried the brass of them to Babylon 14 And the * Exod. 27. 3. 1 Kin. 7. â—…0 pots and the shovels s Of these and the following words see on Exod. 27. and 1 King 6. and 7. and the snuffers and the spoons and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministred took they away 15 And the fire-pans and the bowls and such things as were of gold in gold and of silver in silver the captain of the guard took away 16 The two pillars ‡ Heb. the one sea one sea and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD * 1 Kin. 7. 47. the brass of all these vessels was without weight 17 * 1 Kin. 7. 15. Jer. 52. 21. The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits and the chapiter upon it was brass and the height of the chapiter three cubits and the wreathen-work and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about all of brass and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work 18 ¶ And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest t The High-Priest Grandson of that Hilkiah of whom ch 22. 4. and Father of Iehozadack who as it seems was taken with his Father and when his Father was slain v. 21. he was carried away to Babylon as it is noted 1 Chron. 6. 13 14. and * Jer. 29. 25. Zephaniah the second priest u Who was the High-Priests deputy when he was hindred from the execution of his Office see on Numb 3. 32.
Iudg. 21. and because God foresaw that they would be faithful to the House of David in the division of the Tribes and therefore he would not have them diminished And Ioab presumed to leave these two Tribes unnumbred because he had specious Pretences for it for Levi because they were no Warriours and the Kings Command reached onely to those that drew sword as appears from v. 5. And for Benjamin because they being so small a Tribe and bordering upon Ierusalem their Chief City might easily be numbred afterward for the kings word was abominable to Joab 7 †Heb. and it was evil in the eyes of the LORD concernning this thing And God was displeased with this thing d Because this was done without any colour of necessity and out of meer Curiosity and Oftentation and carnal Confidence as Davids own Conscience told him which therefore smote him as it is related 2 Sam. 24. 10. therefore he smote Israel e Which is particularly related in the following verses 8 And David said unto God * 2 Sam. 24. 10. I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing * 2 Sam. 12. 13. but now I beseech thee do away the iniquity of thy servant for I have done very foolishly 9 And the LORD spake unto Gad Davids seer saying 10 Go and tell David saying Thus saith the LORD I †Heb. stretch out offer thee three things chuse thee one of them that I may do it unto thee 11 So Gad came to David and said unto him Thus saith the LORD †Heb. take to thee chuse thee 12 Either three years famine or three months to be destroyed before thy foes while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee or else three days the sword of the LORD even the pestilence in the land and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel Now therefore advise thy self what word I shall bring again to him that sent me 13 And David said unto Gad I am in a great strait let me fall now into the hand of the LORD for very ‖ Or many great are his mercies but let me not fall into the hand of man 14 So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men 15 And God sent an * 2 Sam. 24. 16. angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it and as he was destroying the LORD beheld and he repented him of the evil and said to the angel that destroyed It is enough stay now thine hand And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing-floor of ‖ Or Araâ—…nah 2 Sam. 24. 18. Ornan the Jebusite 16 And David lift up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem then David and the elders of Israel who were clothed in sackcloth f i. e. In mourning Garments humbling themselves before God for their Sins and deprecating his Wrath against the People fell upon their faces 17 And David said unto God Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbred even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed but as for these sheep what have they done let thine hand I pray thee O LORD my God be on me and on my fathers house but not on thy people that they should be plagued 18 Then †Heb. an angel the * 2 Chr. 3. 1. angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite 19 And David went up at the saying of Gad which he spake in the name of the LORD 20 ‖ Or when Orâ—…nan turned back and saw the angel then he and his four sons with him hid themselves And Ornan turned back and saw the angel and his four sons with him hid themselves g Or And Ornan turned back i. e. turned his face from the Angel for or when for the Hebrew vau is frequently used both those ways he saw the angel and so did his four sons with him hiding themselves partly because of the Glory and Majesty in which the Angel appeared which mens weak and sinful natures are not able to bear and partly from the fear of Gods Vengeance which was at this time riding circuit in the Land and now seemed to be coming to their Family Now Ornan was threshing wheat 21 And as David came to Ornan Ornan looked and saw David and went out of the threshing-floor and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground 22 Then David said to Ornan †Heb. give Grant me the place of this threshing-floor that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD thou shalt grant it me for the full price that the plague may be stayed from the people 23 And Ornan said unto David Take it to thee and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes â—…o I give thee the oxen also for burnt-offerings and the threshing-instruments for wood and the wheat for the meat-offering I give it all 24 And king David said to Ornan Nay but I will verily buy it for the full price for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD nor offer burnt-offerings without cost 25 So * 2 Sam. 24. 24. David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight 26 And David built there an altar unto the LORD and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings and called upon the LORD and he answered him from heaven by fire h Heb. by fire sent from Heaven which was the sign of Gods Acceptance See Levit. 9. 24. 1 King 18. 24 38. 2 Chron. 7. 1. upon the altar of burnt offering 27 And the LORD commanded the angel and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof 28 At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite then he sacrificed there i When he perceived that his Sacrifice there offered was acceptable to God he proceeded to offer more Sacrifices in that place and did not go to Gibeon as otherwise he should have done 29 For the tabernacle of the LORD which Moses made in the wilderness and the altar of the burnt-offering were at that season in the high place at * 1 King 3. 4. Ch. 16. 39. 2 Chr. 1. 3. Gibeon 30 But David could not k i. e. Durst not go before it l i. e. Before the Tabernacle where the Altar stood to enquire of God m Heb. to seek God i. e. humbly to beg his Favour by Prayer and Sacrifice for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD n i. e. When he saw the Angel stand with his drawn Sword over Ierusalem as is related above v. 15 16. he durst not go away thence to Gibeon
instantly but * Num. 11. 33. while their meat was yet in their mouths 31 The wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them r The most healthy and strong who probably were most desirous of this food and fed most eagerly upon it and grew fatter by it and least suspected their own danger and †Heb. Made to 〈◊〉 smote down the ‖ Oâ—… young 〈◊〉 chosen men of Israel 32 For all this * Nâ—…m 14 〈◊〉 16 and 17. they sinned still and believed not his wondrous works 33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity s In tedious and fruitless marches hither and thither sometimes forward and sometimes backward which they knew would never bring them in their own persons to their promised and much desired land and their years in trouble t In manifold Diseases Dangers Perplexities and Horrors of their own minds and consciences 34 When he slew them then they sought him u They prayed to him to deliver them from their deadly dangers which even Pharaoh frequently did and they returned x To wit from their Idols unto the outward worship of God or being moved with fear they ceased for the present from their grosly wicked courses which they might easily do without a dram of true repentance or hearty conversion to God and enquired early after God y Speedily and earnestly sought to God for ease and safety and comfort as wicked men in such cases frequently do 35 And they remembred that * Deut. 32. 4. God was their rock and the high God their redeemer z They considered that God and God alone had preserved them in all their former exigencies and that he onely could now help them and not those Idols or Creatures which they had preferred before him and therefore being driven by absolute necessity they fled to him for relief 36 Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth and they * Hos. 11. 12. lied unto him with their tongues a They made glorious but false professions and protestations of their sincere resolutions of future obedience if God would spare them 37 For their heart was not right with him b All their confessions and petitions were but hypocritical and forced and did not proceed from an upright heart truly grieved for their former offences and firmly resolved to turn unto the Lord. neither were they stedfast in his covenant c They discovered their hypocrisie by their Apostacy from God as soon as their danger was past 38 But he being full of compassion †Heb. Attoned oâ—… expiated Psal. 65 3. forgave their iniquity d Not simply and absolutely for so it is undeniably certain from the Holy Scriptures that God pardons none but true penitents such as these were not but respectively and so far as not to destroy them at that time which he threatened and was about to do as the next words limit and explain it He remitted their punishment for iniquity is oft put for the punishment of it Heb. He expiated their iniquity He accepted of their attonement or of their professed repentance so far as to comâ—…ensate it 〈◊〉 a removal of this outward and present affliction as he did 〈◊〉 to wicked â—…hab upon his hypocritical humiliation 1 King 2â—… 29. And this God doth for the encouragement of all true penitenâ—…s who may hence learn how much greater and better recompences they may expect and shall receive from God and destroyed them not yea many a time turned he his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath e But set bounds to iâ—… and though he chastened them yet he would not utterly destroy them as they deserved 39 For * Psal. 103 â—…4 he remembred that they were â—…ut flesh f Which here notes either 1. The corruption of their natures which was perpetually inclining them to sin and consequently exposing them to God's wrath which must needs have consumed them utterly and speedily if God had let loose his anger upon them See the same argument used to a like purpose Gen. 8. 21. Or rather 2. The frailty or infirmity of their natures as the next clause interprets this which is such that if I should not restrain my wrath I should quickly cut off the body oâ—… this wicked people and their children with them whom I have promised to carry into Canaan Numb 14. 31. a wind that passeth away and cometh not again g That are quickly cut off and when once they are dead they never return to this life 40 How oft did they ‖ Or rebel against him provoke him in the wilderness and grieve him in the desert 41 Yea * Num. 14. 2â—… they turned back and tempted God and limited the holy one of Israel h They limited either 1. God's power as above Vers. 19 20. Or 2. God's will directing and prescribing to him what to do and when and in what manner and murmuring at him if he did not always grant their particular and various desires 42 They remembred not his hand i The great and glorious works of his hand on their behalf nor the day k Nor that remarkable and never to be forgotten day that self same day as it is called Exod. 12. 41. which God had fixed four hundred years before Gen. 15. 13. in which God delivered them from their greatest enemy the tyrant Pharaoh when he delivered them ‖ Or from affliction from the enemy 43 How he had †Heb set wrought his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Zoan 44 * Exod. 7. 20. And had turned their rivers l The several branches and streams of the river Nilus and those many rivuleâ—…s which they brought from it into blood and their floods that they could not drink 45 * Exod. 8. 24 He sent divers sorts of flies among them which devoured them m Or destroyed them which they might do by their cruel and numerous stings for these flies were doubtless extraordinary in their nature and quantity and poysonous and hurtful qualities And the like is to be thought concerning the frogs here following who also might destroy the people by infecting the air with their stink and corrupting their meats and drinks and * Exod. 8. 6. frogs which destroyed them 46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar and their labor n The herbs and grains which were come up by their care and diligent labour * Exod. 10. 13. unto the locust 47 * Exod. 9. â—…3 He †Heb. killed destroyed their vines with hail and their sycomore-trees o Or wild Fig-trees which were there in great plenty Under these and the vines all other trees are comprehended And this hail and frost did destroy the fruits of the trees and sometimes the trees themselves with ‖ Or great â—…ail-stones frost 48 †Heb. He shut up He
Gods strength Psal. 63. 3. and 78. 61. and the ark of his strength Psal. 132. 8. seek his face e i. e. His gracious presence in his Sanctuary and the blessed fruits of it See on Psal. 27. 8. evermore 5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done his wonders and the judgments of his mouth f Either 1. the laws delivered from his mouth Or rather 2. the Plagues or punishments as this same word is used here v. 7. and every where which he brought upon Egypt by his meer word or command as is oft noted in the History of them in Exodus 6 O ye seed of Abraham his servants ye children of Jacob g To whom he restrains the former more general expression because these were the onely branch of Abrahams Seed to whom the following Covenant and Blessings belong his †Heb. 〈◊〉 ones chosen 7 He is the LORD our God his judgments are in all the earth h Either 1. the fame of his judgments upon the Egyptians is spread over the face of the earth Or 2. God executes his Judgments upon all Nations and people Which may be here noted as a foil to magnifie God's Grace to them who were the Monuments of his mercy when all the World besides them fell under his just severity 8 He hath remembred i Practically so as to perform it as that word is frequently used in Scripture his covenant for ever the word k The word of promise or the Covenant as is explained both in the foregoing and following words And so the word is taken Iudg. 13. 12. Luke 1. 38. which he commanded l i. e. Established or ordained or appointed as this word is oft taken as Psal. 68. 28. 71. 3. 133. 3. Isai. 13. 3. 23 11. to a thousand generations m To all generations a certain number being put for an uncertain He seems to allude to that passage Exod. 20. 6. 9 Which covenant he made with Abraham * Gen. 17. 2. 22. 16 c. 26. 3. 28. 13. 35. 11. Luke 1. 73. Heb. 6. 17. and his oath n Wherewith he ratified the Covenant with Isaac Gen. 26. 3. unto Isaac 10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for †Heb. a statute a law o Either that it might be as firm and irrevocable as a Law or that it might have the use and force of a Law towards God because God did hereby put himself under an obligation of making it good in regard of his own truth and righteousness and to Israel for an everlasting covenant 11 Saying * Gen. 13. 15. 15. 18. Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan †Heb. the cord the lot p The portion assigned to you by lot and the designation of Divine Providence See on Deut. 32. 9. Psal. 16. 6. of your inheritance 12 * Gen. 34. 30. Deut. 26. 5. When they were †Heb. men of number but a few men in number q Heb. Men of number i. e. few who could easily be numbred very few as the next words explain it yea very few and strangers in it 13 When they went from one nation to another r Both in Canaan where there were seven Nations Deut. 7. 1. and in Egypt c. from one kingdom to another people 14 He suffered no man to do them wrong yea he reproved s Both verbally and really by his judgments See Gen. 12. 17. and 20. 3. kings for their sakes 15 Saying Touch not t Hurt not as this word is used of these very persons Gen. 26. 11 29. and elsewhere mine anointed u My Prophets as the next words explain it to wit Abraham and Isaac and Iacob as is evident who are called Gods anointed because they were eminently blessed of God and consecrated to be his peculiar people and to be Kings and Priests in their Families and replenished with the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost in respect whereof many persons are said to be anointed in Scripture who never had any material Oyl applied to them as Psal. 45. 8. Isa. 61. 1. 2 Cor. 1. 21. And they are called Prophets because God did familiarly converse with them and revealed his mind and will to them and by them to others and because they were instructers or teachers of others in the true Religion See Gen. 18. 19. and 20. 7. and do my prophets no harm 16. Moreover †〈◊〉 41. 54. he called for x i. e. He effectually procured as this word is used 2 Kings 8. 1. Isai. 47. 1 5. 56. 7. Rom. 4. 17. a famine upon the land he brake the whole ‖ 〈◊〉 3. 1. staff of bread y i. e. Bread which is the staff or support of our animal Lives See Levit. 26. 26. Psal. 104. 15. Ezek. 4. 16. 17. * 〈◊〉 45. 5. 〈◊〉 â—…0 He sent z By the direction of his secret Providence a man before them †〈◊〉 37. 28. even Joseph who was sold for a servant 18. ‖ 〈◊〉 39. 20. Whose feet they hurt with fetters †〈◊〉 his soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iron he was laid in iron a Heb. his soul came into iron Which seems to be added emphatically to aggravate his imprisonment and to shew how grievous it was to his very soul which must needs sympathize with his body and moreover was greatly vexed to consider both the great injury which was done to him and yet the soul and publick scandal which lay upon him 19. Until the time b Till which time his eminent Prudence and Innocency and Piety gave him no relief that his word c Either 1. Iosephs word or his Prophecie concerning the chief Butler and Baker which is said to come when it was fulfilled as that word is used Iudg. 13. 12 17. Ezek. 24. 24. and elsewhere But the event confutes this for Ioseph was not delivered at that time but two years after it Gen. 41. 1. Or rather 2. the word of the Lord as it follows the Pronoun Relative being here put before the Substantive to which it belongs as it is also Exod. 2. 6. Iob 33. 20. Prov. 5. 22. 14. 13. He seems to speak of that word or revelation which came first to Pharaoh in a Dream Gen. 41. 1 2 c. and then to Ioseph concerning the interpretation of it v. 15 16. For the word of the Lord is said to come not only when it comes to pass but also and most commonly when it is first revealed as Ier. 7. 1. 11. 1. 18. 1. and God is said to come when he doth reveal it as Gen. 20. 3. 31. 24. came the word of the Lord tried him d Either 1. tried his sincerity and constancy But that was not done by Gods word but by his rod. Or rather 2. discovered him to wit unto Pharaoh and his Courtiers how innocent and holy and knowing
a person he was or purged him from those calumnies which were cast upon him and so prepared the way for his release which here follows v. 20. This Verse may well be rendred thus Until the time that his word came even the word of the Lord which tried him such Ellipses being most 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hebrew Text. 20. * 〈◊〉 41. 14. The King sent and loosed him even the ruler of the people and let him go free 21. ‖ 〈◊〉 41. 40. He made him Lord of his house and ruler of all his †〈◊〉 possession substance d Heb. of all his possession i. e. of his whole Kingdom 22. To bind his Princes e By his commands and if they were refractory to punish them at his pleasure and teach his Senators f His wisest Counsellors whom he commanded to receive instructions from Ioseph upon all occasions wisdom 23. * 〈◊〉 46. 6. Israel g Iacob in his Person and with his Children also came into Egypt and Jacob sojourned in the Land of Ham h i. e. Egypt so called here also Psal. 78. 51. 106. 22. from that cursed Ham Gen. 9. 22. who was the Father of Mizraim or the Egyptians Gen. 10. 6. And the Psalmist seems to call it by this name to intimate that they were the People of Gods curse and thereby to caution the Israelites against returning to that land which they were particularly forbidden to do Deut. 17. 16. 24. And †Exod. 1. 7. he increased his people greatly and made them stronger i Not really but according to their Enemies apprehensions and expressions Exod. 1. 9. Or more numerous as this word is elsewhere used So this latter branch answers to the former And this was true for though they were not simply more in number than the Egyptians yet they multiplied much faster than their enemies 25. ‖ Exod. 1. 8. He turned their heart to hate his people k Not by putting this wicked hatred into them which is not consistent either with the holiness of Gods nature or with the truth of his word and which was altogether unnecessary because they had that and all other wickedness in them by nature but partly by withdrawing the common gifts and operations of his spirit and all other restraints and hinderances to it and wholly leaving them to their own mistakes and passions and corrupt affections which of their own accord were ready to take that course partly by ordering the affairs of his people in such manner as might give them occasion of hatred and partly by directing and governing that hatred which was wholly in and from themselves so as it should fall upon the Israelites rather than upon other People to deal subtilly with his servants l To destroy them by crafty devices of which see Exod. 1. 11 c. 26. * Exod. 3. 10. He sent Moses his servant and Aaron whom he had chosen m To be the companion and interpreter of Moses in this expedition of which see Exod. 3. 10. 4. 12 c. This clause he adds to shew that Aaron was no less called and chosen by God to this work than Moses which otherwise was not so evident from the History Or this clause may belong to both Moses and Aaron 27. ‖ Exod. 7. 9. They shewed †Heb. words of his signs his signs n Heb. the words of his signs an emphatical expression First they boldly declared the Word and Will of God concerning the several Plagues and then they actually inflicted them among them and wonders in the land of Ham. 28. * Exod. 10. 22. He sent darkness and made it dark and they rebelled not against his word o Either 1. the darkness and other Plagues which obeyed Gods word and instantly came at Gods call So this may be a reflexion upon the Egyptians that those brutish or unreasonable Creatures were more obedient to the will and command of God than they were Thus diseases are said to come or go at Gods command Matt. 8. 8. Or rather 2. Moses and Aaron mentioned v. 26. and called they v. 27. whose obedience in denouncing and inflicting these Plagues and especially that Plague of darkness is noted and commended here as an act of great faith and fortitude because they inflicted that Plague after Pharaoh had threatned them Exod. 10. 10. as the obedience of their Parents is commended as a great act of faith because they preserved and hid their Son contrary to the express command of the King of Egypt 29. †Exod. 7. 20. He turned their waters into blood and slew their fish 30. ‖ Exod. 8. 6. Their land p Their Country for otherwise they were produced by their Rivers Exod. 8. 3. brought forth frogs in abundance in the chambers q Which entred into the Chambers of their Kings r Of Pharaoh and his Sons and his chief Nobles and Governours of Provinces under him for such persons are oft called Kings in Scripture Iudg. 1. 7. 1 Kings 20. 1 12. Isa. 19. 2. 31. * Exod. 8. 17. 24. He spake and there came divers sorts of flies and lice in all their coasts s Or Borders i. e. in all their Land even to the utmost Ends or Borders of it 32. ‖ Exod. 9. 23. †Heb. he gave their rain hail He gave them hail for rain and flaming fire in their land 33. He smote their vines also and their fig-trees and brake the trees of their coasts 34. * Exod. 10. 4 13. He spake and the locusts came and caterpillars and that without number 35. And did eat up all the herbs in their land and devoured the fruit of their ground 36. †Exod. 12. 29. He smote also all the first-born in their land the chief of all their strength t To wit their first-born as it is in the first clause who are so called Gen. 49. 3. Psal. 78. 51. and the beginning of their strength Deut. 21. 17. 37. ‖ Exod. 12. 35. He brought them forth also with silver and gold and there was not one feeble person u Diseased or unable for his journey which in so vast a Body and in a time of such Mortality as it had been in Egypt and in a People which had been so long and so dreadfully oppressed as the Israelites were was wonderful but they all journeyed on foot Exod. 12. 37. among their tribes 38. * Exod. 12. 33. Egypt was glad when they departed for the fear of them x i. e. Of the Israelites left God for their sakes should destroy them fell upon them 39. †Exod. 13. 21. He spread a cloud for a covering y To protect them from the heat of the Sun which in that hot and open Country had otherwise been intolerable to them especially in so long a Journey and fire to give light in the night 40. * Exod. 16.
12 c. The people asked and he brought quails z He speaks of the first giving of Quails Exod. 16. 13. which God gave them as a refreshment notwithstanding their Sin in desiring them which he graciously pardoned and not of that second giving of Quails which God gave them in judgment Numb 11. and therefore would not have been numbered here amongst Gods favours vouchsafed to them and †Psal. 78. 24 25. satisfied them with the bread of heaven a With Manna which came out of the Air which is commonly called Heaven 41. * Exod. 17. 6. Num. 20. 11. 1 Cor. 10. 4. He opened the rock and the waters gushed out they ran in the dry places like a river b They flowed in Channels which God provided for them and followed the Israelites in their March as is noted 1 Cor. 10. 4. Hence they complained no more of want of Water till they came to Kadesh Numb 20. which was many Years after this time 42. For he remembered * Gen. 15. 14. his holy promise and Abraham c Or rather with as this Particle is oft used Abraham made with or to Abraham his servant 43. And he brought forth his people with joy and his chosen with †Heb. singing gladness 44. * Deut. 6. 10 11. Josh. 3. 17. And gave them the land of the heathen and they inherited the labour of the people d The Fruits of their labour their Cities Vineyards Oliveyards c. 45. ‖ Deut. 4. 1. 40. 6. 24 25. That they might observe his statutes and keep his laws Praise ye the Lord. PSAL. CVI. This Psalm was unquestionably composed in the time of the Israelites Captivity and Dispersion as is manifest from v. 47. but whether it was that of Babylon or some other of a later date is neither easie nor necessary to determine 1. †Heb. Hallelujah PRaise ye the Lord O * 1 Chr. 16. 34. Psal. 107. 1. 118. 1. 1â—…6 1. give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever a He deserves our Praises notwithstanding all our sufferings which are not to be imputed to him for he is Gracious and Merciful but only to our own Sins 2. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord who can shew forth all his praise b i. e. His Praise worthy actions by an usual Metonymy 3. Blessed are they that keep judgment c That observe and practise what is just and right towards God and Men which in the next clause he calls doing righteousness and he that doth righteousness at all times d In Adversity as well as in Prosperity And this clause may belong either 1. to the last foregoing Words that doth righteousness at all times constantly and perpetually Or rather 2. to the first Words they are blessed at all times even in the Day of their calamity which therefore ought not to hinder us from this great and just Duty of praising God And so this verse coheres with the former 4 Remember me e Or us for he speaks here in the name and on the behalf of the whole Nation as is evident from v. 6 7 47. of which he oft speaks as of one Person O Lord with the favour †Heb. of thy People that thou be arest unto thy people f With those favours and blessings which thou dost usually and peculiarly give to thy People such as the pardon of all our Sins by which we have procured our present miseries and a compleat deliverance and that improved to thy praise and glory as well as to our own comfort as is clearly implyed v. 47. O visit me with thy salvation g Give me that salvation or deliverance which thou hast promised and which none but thou canst give 5. That I may see h i. e. Enjoy as the next clause explains it and as this word is frequently used the good of thy chosen i Of thy chosen People which thou usest to give to thine Elect or to such as are Israelites indeed that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation k With such joy as thou hast formerly afforded unto thy beloved Nation or People that I may glory l That we may have occasion to glory in Gods Goodness towards us with thine inheritance m Either in the Congregation of thy People that we thy People may jointly and solemnly praise thy Name Or as thy People who are commonly called Gods inheritance in former ages have frequently done for the Particle with is sometimes used as a Note of comparison as it is in the very next Verse and Iob 9. 26. Eccles. 2. 16. 7. 11. 6. * Dan. 9. 5. We have sinned with our fathers n As our Fathers did and have not been made wiser or better by their examples as we should have been we have committed iniquity we have done wickedly 7. Our fathers understood not o Or considered not to wit so as to be rightly affected with them to give thee that Love and Praise and Trust and Obedience which they deserved and required thy wonders in Egypt they remembred not the multitude of thy mercies †Exod. 14. 11 12. but provoked him at the sea even at the Red sea p When those wonders of thy Power and Goodness in Egypt were but newly done and fresh in memory 8. Nevertheless he saved them for his names-sake q That he might glorifie his name and vindicate it from the Blasphemous 〈◊〉 which the Egyptians and others would have cast upon it if they had been destroyed This Argument was urged by Moses Numb 14. 13 c. ‖ Exod. 9. 16. that he might make his mighty power to be known 9. * Exod. 14. 21. He rebuked the Red sea also and it was dried up so he led them through the †Psal. 136. 13. Isa. 63. 11 12 13. depths as through the wilderness r As securely as if they had walked upon the dry Land 10. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them s Of Pharaoh who pursued them with cruel Rage and Hatred and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy 11. * Exod. 14. â—… 15. 5. And the waters covered their enemies there was not one of them left 12. ‖ Exod. 14. 31. 15. 1. Then believed they his words they sang his praise 13. * Exod. 15. 24. 17. 2. †Heb. they made hast they forgat They soon t Even within three days Exod. 15. 22 23. forgat his works they waited not for his counsel u They did not wait patiently and believingly upon God for supplies from his hand in such manner and time as he in his own counsel had appointed and thought fit 14. * Num. 11. 4. 33. 1 Cor. 10. 6. But †Heb. lusted iâ—… lust lusted exceedingly
who shortens his days and makes his death more terrible as being attended with guilt and with the second death but righteousness g Either 1. True Holiness of Heart and Life Or 2. Justice and Equity in the getting of Riches or an Estate honestly obtained which may be fitly opposed to Treasures of Wickedness Or 3. A liberal and charitable use of Riches which is oft called Righteousness as Psal. 112. 9. Dan. 4. 27. 2 Cor. 9. 10. c. and is indeed but an act of Justice of which see on Prov. 3. 27. which also is conveniently opposed to an unjust getting of Riches and so this contains a great Paradox yet a certain truth that the charitable laying out of Mony is more profitable to men than an unjust and covetous laying it up delivereth from death h Oft times from temporal death because men generally love and honour and will assist such persons in cases of danger and God gives them the blessing of a long Life and always from eternal death when such Charity proceeds from a sincere and honest mind and a good Conscience 3. * Psal. 33. 19 37. 19 25. The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish i Will preserve them from Famine according to his Promises Psal. 34. 10. and elsewhere which as other temporal Promises is not to be understood simply and universally but with this limitation except this be necessary for Gods Glory which in all reason should over-rule the Creatures good and for their own greater benefit For to say nothing of eternal Felicities which follow every good mans death it is certainly in some times and cases a less evil for men to be killed with Famine than to survive to see and feel those miseries which are coming upon them and upon the Land where they live but he casteth away ‖ Or the wicked for their wickedness the substance k As this word is used Psal. 52. 7. or the Wickedness i. e. the wealth gotten by wickedness as Righteousness v. 2. is by divers understood of an Estate got with Righteousness of the wicked l Who by that means shall be exposed to want and Famine 4 * Ch. 12 24. 19. 15. He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand m Negligently and slothfully as appears from the diligence opposed to it in the next branch and from the use of this word in this sense Prov. 12. 24 27. 19. 15. Ier. 48. 10. Heb. with a deceitful hand so called partly because it seems and pretends to do somthing when in truth it doth nothing and partly because such persons usually endeavour to maintain themselves by deceit and wickedness which they cannot or will not do by honest labour and diligence but * Chap. 13. 4. 21. 5. the hand of the diligent maketh rich n Not by it self nor necessarily as is manifest from Experience and is noted Eccles. 9. 11. but through Gods blessing which commonly is given to such by comparing this verse with v. 22. here following 5. He that gathereth o The fruits of his field in summer p In harvest as it follows which is a part of Summer He that watcheth for and improveth the proper seasons and opportunities of doing good to himself and to others is a wise son but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame q Both to himself for his folly and that Poverty and Misery caused by it and to his Parents to whose negligent or evil Education such things are oft and somtimes justly imputed 6. Blessings are upon the head of the just r All sorts of blessings are wished to them by Men and conferred upon them by God He saith upon their head either to shew that these Blessings come from above and that openly in the sight of the World so that he can confidently speak of them to God's Praise and to his own Comfort and Honour or because Blessings were commonly pronounced by men with this Ceremony by laying their hands upon the Head of the party blessed but * Ver. 11. violence covereth the mouth of the wicked s Violence either 1. Their own Violence or Injustice which may be here put for the fruit or punishment of it as Iniquity is oft put for the punishment of Iniquity Or 2. Violence or the violent and injurious and mischievous practices of others against them deserved by their own Violence committed against others and inflicted upon them by the curse and righteous judgment of God shall cover the mouth of the wicked i. e. shall fall upon them This Phrase of covering their Mouth is used either 1. With allusion to the ancient custom of covering the Mouths and Faces of condemned Malefactors of which see Esth. 7. 8. Iob 9. 24. Or 2. To signifie that the Curse and Judgment of God upon them should be so manifestly just that their mouths should be stopped and they not be able to speak a word against God or for themselves Or 3. to intimate that Gods judgment upon them should be publick and evident to all that behold them as any covering put upon a mans mouth or Face is as for the same reason the blessings of the just were said to be upon their Heads And the Mouth may be put for the Face or Countenance by a Synecdoche But this clause is otherwise rendred by divers learned Interpreters the mouth of the wicked covereth i. e. concealeth or smothereth within itself and doth not utter that violence or injury which he meditateth in his Heart and designeth to do to others and therefore shall be accursed and miserable But this suits not so well with the former clause wherein the Blessings of the just are not meant actively of those Blessings which they wish or give to others but passively of those Blessings which others wish or give to them and consequently this violence is not understood of that which they do to others but of that which is done to them by others 7. * Psal. 112. 6. The memory of the just is blessed t i. e. Honourable and acceptable to those who mention them Compare Iob 31. 20. Psal. 62. 5. but the name of the wicked shall rot u Shall perish and be cursed and detestable amongst men shall stink above ground 8. The wise in heart will receive commandments x Is ready to hear and obey the Counsels and Precepts of God and of Men by which means he shall stand fast and live but †Heb. a fool of lips a prating fool y One who is slow to hear and swift to speak who instead of receiving good Admonitions Cavils and Disputes against them In the Hebrew he is called a fool of Lips either because he discovers the folly of his Heart by his Lips and thereby exposeth himself to the mischief here following or because he is without heart as is said of Ephraim Hos. 7.
are well inhabited and such as were in a great measure desolate Or 2. such as they found very fruitful but made them desolate and in the holes of the rocks o To which possibly the Israelites fled for refuge and upon all thorns and upon all ‖ Or commendable trees bushes p Which he mentions partly because Flies and Bees use frequently to rest there and partly to intimate that no Place should escape the fury of this Enemy 20 In the same day shall the LORD shave with a * 2 Kings 19. 35. rasour q i. e. Utterly spoil and destroy as shaving takes away all the Hair and leaves not any thing of it visible as there is when the Hair is onely cut or polled that is hired r Either 1. by Ahaz who did hire them 2 Kings 16. 7 8. And so the Prophet notes the just Judgment of God in scourging with a Rod of their own making and by this Threatning he endeavours to prevent that wicked Design which then was on foot of hiring Assyrian Succours Or 2. by God who did stir them up and send them upon his Errand against Iudah as he threatens Isa. 10. 6. and paid them liberally for that Service as he did Nebuchadnezzar of which see Ier. 25. 9. 27. 6 7. Dan. 2. 37 38. namely by them beyond the river s Euphrates called the river by way of eminency Psal. 72. 8. Ier. 2. 18. beyond which Assyria lay by the king of Assyria t By the Successive Kings of the Assyrian Empire Sennacherib 2 Kings 18. 13. c. Esarhaddon 2 Chron. 33. 11. and especially by Nebuchadnezzar who having subdued the Assyrian Monarchy from thenceforth was King of Assyria as well as of Chaldaea And the Prophet rather mentions Assyria than Chaldaea or Babylon partly because the Assyrian began and continued to execute this Judgment although the Babylonian compleated it and partly to inform them that they laid the Foundation of their own Ruine by opening the Door to the Assyrian who afterwards entred at his pleasure and left it open for Nebuchadnezzar the head and the hair of the feet u Of the lower or secret Parts which come under that name Ezek. 16. 7 25. and elsewhere as hath been noted again and again and which the Iewish Writers affirm to have been shaved in the Purification of Lepers and Levites Levit. 14. 8 9. Numb 8. 7. and it shall also consume the beard x Which they highly esteemed as a great Ornament By these Metaphorical Expressions he signifies the total Destruction of their State from head to foot from the highest to the lowest 21 And it shall come pass in that day that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep y This and the following Verse contain either 1. a Mitigation of the foregoing Calamity or some Comfort for the Remainders of the People after the publick Devastation or rather 2. a further Declaration of the threatned Desolation which best agrees not onely with the foregoing but also with the following Verses So the sence of this Verse is this They who formerly used to keep great Herds of Cattel and many Flocks of Sheep shall esteem it a great happiness if they can keep but one Cow and two Sheep to keep themselves from extremity of Famine 22 And it shall come to pass for the abundance of milk that they shall give z Because they shall have excellent and large Pastures by reason of the great scarcity of Cattel whereas formerly their Lands were oft times over-stocked with Cattel he shall eat butter for butter and honey a Which may be here mentioned either 1. as mean and vulgar Food being very common in those Parts which are opposed to that Flesh and Corn and other excellent Fruits of the Earth wherewith their Land formerly abounded or 2. as very good and pleasant Food which the poorer sort had formerly used to sell to procure more necessary and cheaper Food for themselves but now the Land should be so destitute of People that there were none to whom they could sell them and those few who did survive might freely eat all sorts of Provisions shall every one eat that is left †Heb. in the midst of the land in the land 23 And it shall come to pass in that day that every place shall be where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings b Or pieces of silver as the same Word is commonly rendred Whereby we may understand either 1. so many Pounds a Pound for each Vineyard to wit for the Annual Rent or 2. so many Shekels which Word is most commonly understood when no particular kind of Coin is expressed as 2 Sam. 18. 11 12. Mat. 26. 15. and then the meaning is not that the thousand Vineyards were let for a thousand Shekels a Vineyard for a Shekel which is a contemptible Price but that each of the thousand Vineyards might have been sold or let for a thousand Shekels which was the yearly Rent of some excellent Vineyards as may be gathered from Cant. 8. 11. Except we understand this not of so many Vineyards as other Interpreters do but of so many single Vines as the Word properly and generally signifies planted together in one large Vineyard which may be here meant by the place of the River and then each Vine may be valued at a Shekel But this place may possibly be otherwise rendred and that exactly according to the Hebrew Text Every place where there are a thousand vines shall be for a thousand pieces of silver i. e. It shall be valued or offered either to be let or rather to be sold at that Price which was a very low Price and therefore â—…itly signifies the greatness of the Desolation it shall even be for briers and thorns c. o Because it shall be utterly neglected and therefore overspread with them Or yea it shall be for briers and thorns No man will either buy or hire it upon any terms 24 With arrows and with bows d Either to hunt or to defend themselves from Wild Beasts which commonly abide in such desolate and overgrown Grounds shall men come thither because all the land shall become briers and thorns 25 And on all hills that shall be digged e Or that were digged to wit formerly that used to be digged and dressed for the planting of Vines or other choice Fruit-trees with the mattock there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns f The Words thus rendred sound like a Promise But that doth no way agree with the scope of the Place And they may be and are by some understood not of Briers and Thorns growing in those Grounds which would hinder the feeding of Cattel there but of such wherewith they were fenced and by which the Cattel were affrighted or hindred from breaking into them which cause of their Fear being now removed by the general
then of the churl in this Verse he deviseth wicked devices y He useth all his Wit and Art to do Injury to others without any inconvenience to himself to destroy the poor with lying words z With false and unrighteous Decrees even ‖ Or when he speaketh against the poor in judgment when the needy speaketh right a When their Cause is just and good 8. But the liberal deviseth liberal things and by liberal things shall he ‖ Or be established stand b He who is truely Liberal and Vertuous will shew it by designing and practising liberal or vertuous Actions And he who doth so will not destroy himself thereby as wicked Men falsly suppose but establish and advance himself But this Verse also as well as the former is and may be otherwise rendred And repeat he shall be called as before liberal who deviseth liberal things and persisteth or continueth in liberal things If it be thought strange That so many Verses should be spent in Affirming that which in effect was said ver 5. it must be considered that these Verses do not onely contain an Affirmation that they should be called vile persons or churles or liberal that were so but also a Description of their Qualities and Practices which was useful for their Conviction and for the Instruction of others 9. Rise up c Bestir and prepare your selves to hear as it follows and shake off Sloth and Carelessness ye women that are at ease d That indulge your selves in Idleness and Luxury hear my voice ye careless daughters e Heb. confident or secure who are insensible of yoâ—… sin and danger give ear unto my speech f The same before called women Whom he here reproveth and threatneth for their Sins as he did the Men before for seeking to Egypt for Help and divers other Sins whereof the Men were most Guilty 10. †Heb. days above a year Many days and years f Heb. Days above a year i. e. a year and some days Which notes Either 1. the time from this Prophecy to the beginning of this Judgment Or rather 2. the time of the continuance of it that it should last for above one Year as indeed this did and no longer For Hezekiah Reigned in all but twenty nine Years 2 Kings 18. 2. and Sennacherib came in his fourteenth Year and after his defeat and departure God promised and added to him fifteen Years more 2 Kings 20. 6. shall ye be troubled ye careless women for the vintage shall fail g During the time of the Assyrian Invasion And this Commination is here added to qualify the foregoing Promise and to warn them that although God would give them so good a King and there should be some Reformation of their former abuses under the Government of Ahaz yet as there were many Sins among them yet not repented of so they should be severely chastised for them the gathering h To wit of the other Fruits of the Earth as that Feast which was observed after the gathering of all the Fruits was called the feast of in-gathering Exod. 23. 16. shall not come 11. Tremble ye women that are at ease be troubled ye careless ones strip ye and make ye bare i Put off your Ornaments as God commanded upon a like occasion Exod. 33. 5. that you may put on Sackcloth instead of them as Mourners and Penitents used to do and gird sackcloth upon your loyns 12. They shall lament for the teats k Either 1. properly because through Famine your Teats are destitute of Milk for the nourishment of your poor Children Or rather 2. Metaphorically as the following Words explain it for the pleasant and fruitful Fields which like Teats yielded you plentiful and excellent Nourishment for which the Land was said to flow with milk Ezek. 20. 6. And the Earth being compared to the Womb that bare us Iob. 1. 21. it is not strange if its fruitful Fields be compared to the Breasts which nourish us for †Heb. the fields of desire the pleasant fields for the fruitful vine 13. * Chap. 34. 13. Hos. 9. 6. Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers l If any of you think thâ—…e is no great cause for such Trembling and Lamentation which shall last but for a year and some days know that this Calamity by the Assyrians is but an earnest of further and sorer judgments For the time is coming when this Land shall be laid desolate and instead of Vines and other Fruits it shall yield nothing but Briers and Thorns of which see on Isa. 7. 23 24. ‖ Or burning upon c. yea upon all the houses of joy m Upon that Ground where now your Houses stand in which you delight and take your fill of mirth and pleasure in the joyous city 14. Because the palaces n Heb. the palace the King's House and other magnificent buildings in the City shall be forsaken the multitude of the city shall be left o Or rather shall be forsaken to wit of God and given up into their Enemies hands And the Verb in the foregoing Clause may be rendred shall be left the ‖ Or clifts and watch-towers forts and towers shall be for dens for ever a joy of wild asses p Desolate places in which wild Asses delight to be Iob. 39. 5. Ier. 2. 24. a pasture of flocks 15. Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high q And this Calamity and Desolation shall in a manner continue until the time come in which God will pour or as the Hebrew Word properly signifies reveal i. e. evidently and plentifully pour out his spirit from Heaven upon His people Which was done in some sort upon the return of the People from Babylon when God by his Spirit stirred up the Spirit both of Cyrus to give them liberty of returning to Ierusalem and of the people to return and build the City and People But was far more clearly and fully accomplished in the days of the Messiah And indeed the promises contained in these and the following Words and Verses were not fulfilled upon their coming out of Babylon after which time they had but a little reviving in their bondage as is said Ezra 9. 8. and continued in servitude and distress under the Peâ—…sian Emperours Nehem. 9. 36 37. and afterward suffered many and grievous Calamities from the Kings of Syria and Egypt and from the Romans which suits very ill with that glorious Promise here following ver 18. And therefore these promises concern the times of the Gospel when God's Spirit was in a most evident and glorious Manner poured forth upon the Apostles and other believing Iews to the Astonishment of their very Adversaries and when the following Promises were in a good Measure fulfilled and are more fully to be accomplished in God's due time and * Chap. 29. 17. 35. 2. 37.
name and in the name of Gods People put on strength d Cloath and adorn thy self with mighty works put forth thy strength O arm of the LORD awake as in the ancient days in the generations of old Art thou not it that hath cut e Heb. hewed with thy Sword Rahab f Egypt so called here and Psal. 87. 4. 89. 10. either from its Pride or strength or from the shape and figure of that Land and wounded the * Ps. 74. 13 14. Ezek. 29. 3. Ch. 27. 1. dragon g Pharaoh so called Psal. 74. 13. Ezek. 29. 3. 32. 2. 10 Art thou not it which hath * Ex. 14. 21. dried the sea h Art not thou the same God and as potent now as then thou wast the waters of the great deep that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed i For thy people whom thou didst redeem and bring out of Egypt to pass over 11 Therefore k Or So. Heb. And. This verse contains an answer to the Prophets Prayer It is true I did these great things and I will do the like again * Ch. 35. 10. the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion and everlasting joy shall be * Ps. 7. 16. upon their head l Like a Crown of Glory But for the accomplishment of this magnificent Promise we must needs look beyond their return from Babylon into their own Land when they met with many discouragements and troubles and calamities and extend it unto the coming of Christ by whom these great things were procured and actually conferred upon his People they shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and mourning shall flee away 12 I even I am he that comforteth you who art thou m How unreasonable and distrustful art thou O my Church how unlike to thy self how unsuitable in these despondencies unto thy own professions and obligations that thou shouldest be afraid * Ps. 118. 6. of a man that shall die and of the son of man which shall be made * Ch. 40. 6. 1 Pet. 1. 24. as grass n Of a weak Mortal and perishing Creature 13 And forgettest the LORD thy maker o And dost not consider the infinite power of that God who made thee and who will plead thy cause that hath * Job 9. 8. Ps. 104. 2. Ch. 40. 22 42. 5. 44. 24. stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor as if he ‖ Or â—…ade himselâ—… 〈◊〉 were ready to destroy p As if it were in his power to destroy thee in a moment and where is the fury of the oppressour q What is become of the power rage of the Babylonians Is it not all gone Are not they broken and thou delivered He speaks of the thing as if it were already done because it should certainly and suddenly be done Where is it It is no where it is quite lost and gone as this Phrase is frequently used as Psal. 42. 3. Zech. 1. 5. 1 Cor. 15. 55. 14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed r God is not slack as you think but maketh haste to fulfil his promise and to rescue his captive and oppressed People from all their oppressions and miseries and that he should not die in the pit nor that his bread should fail 15 But I am the LORD thy God ‖ Or that â—…leth tâ—…e sea when the waves thereof roar that * Job 26. 12. Jâ—…r 31. 35. divideth the sea whose waves roared the LORD of hosts is his name 16 And I have put my words * Deu. 18. 18. Ch. 49. 2 3. in thy mouth s These great and glorious Promises which are in thy mouth are not the vain words of Man a weak and unconstant and unfaithful Creature but the words of the Almighty unchangeable and faithful God and therefore they shall be infallibly accomplished These words are manifestly spoken by God either 1. To Isaiah by whom these promises were delivered Or 2. To Christ of whom and to whom many things are said in this Prophecy as we have already seen and will further appear And such abrupt and sudden Apostrophe's to persons not mentioned in the foregoing words are not unusual in this Prophesie as hath been observed Or rather 3. To Israel to Gods Church and People to whom he speaks both in the foregoing and following verses For Gods Word is frequently said to be put into the mouths not only of the Prophets but of the People also as Isa. 59. 21. as also Deut. 30. 14. Ios. 1. 8. c. and have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand t Have protected thee by my Almighty power See the same Phrase Isa. 49. 2. that I may plant the heavens and * Ps. 11. 3. 60. 2. 75. 3. lay the foundations of the earth u I have given thee these Promises and this protection in all thy calamities to assure thee of my care and kindness to thee and that I will reform thee in a most glorious manner and bring thee unto that perfect and blessed estate which is reserved for the days of the Messiah which in Scripture Phrase is called a making of new Heavens and a new Earth Isa. 65. 17. 66. 22. 2 Pet. 3. 13. and elsewhere and say unto Zion Thou art my people x That I may own thee for my People in a more illustrious manner than ever I have done 17 * Ch. 52. 1. Awake y Either 1. Out of the sleep of security Or 2. Out of the sleep of death Heb. Roâ—…ze up thy self come out of that forlorn and disconsolate condition in which thou hast so long been This sense suits best with the following words awake stand up z Upon thy feet O thou who hast falln and been thrown down to the ground O Jerusalem which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury a Which hast been sorely afflicted for so this Metaphor is used Psal. 75. 8. Ier. 25. 15 c. 49. 12. thou hast * Ps. 75. 8. drunken the dregs of the * Zâ—…ch 12. 2. cup of trembling b Which striketh him that drinketh it with a deadly horrour and ‖ Or sucked them out wrung them out c Drunk every drop of it See on Psal. 75. 8. 18 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up d When thou wast drunk with this Cup and not able to go neither thy Princes nor Prophets nor Priests were able or willing to lead and support thee 19 * Ch. 47. 9. These two things e Either 1. Those who were now