And so all their designs shall be abortive and never come to perfection 7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom 8 Neither do they which go by say The blessing of the LORD be upon you k Which was an usual salutation given by passengers to reapers as Ruth 2. 4. So the meaning is It never continues till the harvest comes we bless you in the name of the LORD PSAL. CXXX A song of degrees This Psalm was composed by the Prophet when he was conflicting with horrors of his conscience for the guilt of his sins and imploring Gods mercy and pardon 1 OUt * Lam. 3. 5â—… Jon. 2. 2. of the depths a Being overwhelmed with deep distresses and terrors and ready to despair have I cried unto thee O LORD 2 Lord hear my voice let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications 3 * Psal. 143. 2. If thou LORD shouldest mark iniquities b Observe them accurately and punish them severely as they deserve O LORD who shall stand c In thy presence or at thy Tribunal No man can acquit himself or escape the sentence of condemnation because all men are sinners Eccles. 7. 20. Iam. 3. 2. To stand is a judicial phrase and notes a mans being absolved oâ—… justified upon an equal tryal as Psal. 1. 5. Rom. 14. 4. where it is opposed to falling 4 But there is forgiveness with thee d Thou art able and ready to forgive repenting sinners that thou mayest be feared e Not with a slavish but with a child-like fear and reverence This grace and mercy of thine is the foundation of all Religion and Worship of thee in the world without which men would desperately proceed on in their impious courses without any thought of repentance 5 I * 〈◊〉 27. 14. 〈◊〉 1. wait for the LORD f That he would manifest his favour to me in the pardon of my sins my soul doth wait and in his word g Wherein he hath declared his merciful nature Exod. 34. 6 7. and his gracious purpose and promises for the pardoning of sinners do I hope 6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that wait for the morning h Whether Souldiers that keep the night-watches in an Army or City or the Priests or Levites who did so in the Temple who being wearied with hard service and want of convenient rest diligently look for and fervently desire the morning when they may be discharged Compare Psal. 119. 148. ‖ 〈◊〉 which 〈◊〉 â—…nto the 〈◊〉 I say more than they that watch for the morning 7 Let Israel i Every true Israelite by the encouragement of mine example hope in the LORD for with the LORD there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption k Abundantly sufficient for all persons who shall accept it upon Gods terms and for the remission of all sins and therefore here is good ground of hope for all contrite and returning sinners 8 And he shall redeem l The Lord either God the Father by his Son or God the Son by his own blood Israel m All true Israelites whether of the carnal or spiritual seed from all his iniquities n From the guilt and punishment of all their sins PSAL. CXXXI A song of degrees of David This Psalm seems to have been composed by David during Sauls persecution When he was charged with boundless ambition and a greedy affectation of the Royal Throne and that he sought it by wicked practices against Sauls life and dignity And for his own just vindication he is forced to publish his own integrity and to declare that as the right 〈◊〉 the Kingdom was not sought or coveted by him but freely conferred upon him by the unexpected and undesired favour of God so that he had no thought or design to invade the Throne before his time but was willing to stay Gods leisure for it and in the mean time was resolved to behave himself towards Saul as became a faithful Subject seeking nothing but to preserve his own life from the rage of unrighteous and bloody men 1 LORD my heart is not haughty a Or lifted up with that pride whereof I am accused as thou the searcher of all hearts knowest nor mine eyes lofty b Which is a sign and effect of pride Prov. 6. 17. 21. 4. neither do I †〈◊〉 walk exercise my self in great * 〈◊〉 139. 6. matters or in things too †〈◊〉 wonderâ—… high for me c Heb. neither have I walked in great matters c. It neither is nor hath been my course to attempt or arrogate any thing to my self above my degree and private capacity or to affect worldly glory or domination 2 Surely I have behaved and quieted †Heb. my soul. my self d When my mind was provoked to irregular practices either by my own corrupt heart or by Sauls implacable rage and tyranny or by the solicitation of any of my followers as 1 Sam. 24. 26. I restrained and subdued all such evil motions * 〈◊〉 18. 3. â—… Cor. 14. 20. as a child that is weaned of his mother e Either 1. as void of all that ambition and malice wherewith I am charged as a child newly weaned or rather 2. as wholly depending upon Gods providence for the way and time of bringing me to the Kingdom as the poor helpless infant when it is deprived of its natural and accustomed food the mothers milk takes no care to provide for it self but wholly relies upon its mothers care and providence for its support my soul is even as a weaned child 3 Let Israel hope in the LORD f Let all Israelites learn by my example to commit themselves to God in well-doing and to fix all their hope and trust upon him alone †Heb. from now from henceforth and for ever PSAL. CXXXII A song of degrees The Penman of this Psalm was either 1. David when God had graciously declared his acceptance of Davids desire to build an house for God and his purpose of establishing the Kingdom to David and his seed for ever or 2. Solomon as may be gathered from the whole matter of the Psalm which seems better to agree to him than to David and particularly from v. 8 9 10. compared with 2 Chron. 6. 41 42. where we have the same words with no great alteration 1 LORD remember David a Either 1. thy Covenant made with David or rather 2. Davids eminent piety and zeal for thy service amplified by the following clause and all his afflictions b All his sufferings for thy sake all the solicitude of his mind all his hard and wearisom labours for thy service and glory and for provisions towards the building of thy Temple and for the establishment of thy people in peace and tranquillity that so way might be made for that
oft put for other Senses as Feeling Hearing c. as hath been oft observed before 17. And the residue thereof he maketh a god even his graven image he falleth down unto it and worshippeth it and prayeth unto it and saith Deliver me for thou art my god 18. * Chap. 45. 20. They have not known nor understood z This sheweth That they want common discretion and have not the understanding of a Man in them for he a To wit God who is easily understood and is oft expressed by this pronoun He and to whom this very act is frequently ascribed in other places of Scripture And therefore Men need not be shie in ascribing it to God here Which yet is to be soberly understood not as if God did make Men wicked but onely permits them so to be and orders and over-rules their Wickedness to his own glorious Ends. And such passages as these are added in such cases to give an account of the prodigious madness of Sinners herein because as they wilfully shut their own Eyes harden their own Hearts so God judicially blinds and hardens them and sends strong Delusions upon them and gives them up to believe Lies and then it is no wonder if they fall into such dotages hath †Heb. daubed shut their eyes that they cannot see and their hearts that they cannot understand 19. And none †Heb. setteth to his hearâ—… considereth in his heart b Whereby he implies That the true Cause of this as well as of other absurd and brutish practices of Sinners is the neglect of serious and impartial Consideration of things neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say I have burnt part of it in the fire yea also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof I have rosted flesh and eaten it and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination shall I fall down to †Heb. that which comes of a tree the stock of a tree 20. He feedeth of ashes c Which is an unsavoury unprofitable and pernicious Food and no less unsatisfying uncomfortable and mischievous is the worship of Idols * Hos. 4. 12. a deceived heart d A Mind corrupted and deceived by long custome deep prejudice gross errour and especially by his own Lusts. hath turned him aside e From the way of Truth from the knowledge and worship of the true God unto this brutish Idolatry that he cannot deliver his soul f From the snares and dangers of Idolatry This cannot is to be understood morally so as to note the great difficulty but not the utter impossibility of it for if Idolaters would consider things they might be convinced of and turned from that gross way of Wickedness as is implied from the foregoing Verse nor say Is there not a lie in ‖ Or at my right hand g What is this Idol which I have made with my right Hand i. e. with all my strength as was said before the right Hand being the strongest and the chief instrument of this and other actions which I set at my right Hand as the true God is said in Scripture to be at the right hand of his People Psal. 16. 8. 109. 31. 121. 5. Which I highly honour for the most honourable place was on the right Hand as is known to which I look and trust for relief and assistance which God in Scripture is said to afford to his People by being at and holding of their right hand Psal. 73. 23. 110. 5. What I say is this Idol Is it not a lie which though it seems and pretends to be something and to be a god yet in truth is nothing but vanity and falshood deceiving all that put their trust in it 21. Remember these h Either these Men Or which comes to one these things the deep ignorance and stupidity of Idolaters which may be a warning to thee O Jacob and Israel for thou art my servant I have formed thee thou art my servant O Israel thou shalt not be forgotten of me i I will not forget nor forsake thee and therefore thou shalt have no need of Idols Or as the ancient Interpreters and divers others render it do not forget me what I am and what I have done and can and will do for Thee the forgetting whereof is the ready way to Idolatry 22. I have blotted out as a thick cloud k As the Sun commonly dissolveth or the Wind scattereth the thickest and blackest Cloud so as there is no remnant nor appearance of it left thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins return l From thine Idolatry and other wicked practices unto me for I have redeemed thee m Therefore thou art mine and obliged to return and adhere to me 23. * Psal. 96. 11 12. Chap. 42. 10. 49. 13. Jer. 51. 48. Sing O ye heavens for the LORD hath done it shout ye lower parts of the earth break forth into singing ye mountains O forrest and every tree therein n By such invitations to the senseless Creatures to praise God with and for his People he signifies the transcendent greatness of this Mercy and Deliverance sufficient to make even the Stones if it were possible to break forth into God's praises and withal that as the brute Creatures were Sufferers by Man's Sin so they should receive benefit by Man's Redemption for the LORD hath redeemed Iacob and glorified himself in Israel 24. Thus saith the LORD thy redeemer and * Chap. 43. 1. he that formed thee from the womb o Of which Phrase see above on ver 2. I am the LORD that maketh all things * Job 9. 8. Psal. 104. 2. Chap. 40. 22. 42. 5. 45. 12. 51. 13. that stretcheth forth the heavens alone that spreadeth abroad the earth by my self p And therefore I can Save thee without the help of any other gods or men 25. That frustrateth the tokens of the liars q Of the Magicians and Astrologers and Sorcerers who were numerous and greatly employed and esteemed in Babylon Isa. 47. 12 13. Dan. 2. 2 48. and who had foretold the long continuance and prosperity of the Chaldean Empire But saith God I will confute their tokens or predictions and prove them to be Liars and maketh diviners mad r With grief for the disappointment of their hopes and predictions and their disgrace and loss which followed it that turneth wise men backward s Stopping their way thwarting and blasting their designs so as they can proceed no further but are forced to retreat and take new Counsels and giving them up to such counsels and courses as are foolish and pernicious to themselves and maketh their knowledge foolish 26. That confirmeth the word of his servant t Of his Servants the Prophets as appears from the next Clause which answers to this where he useth the plural number his messengers Isaiah and
by the sacrifices for any worth in them but onely in respect of Christ and that though all sins are not equal yet they are all expiated by one and the same price even by the blood of Christ. and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of * chap. 3. 1. peace-offerings 20 And the priest shall wave them g i. e. Some part of them in the name of the whole and so for the two lambs otherwise they had been too big and too heavy to be waved So it is a synecdochical expression with the bread of the first-fruits for a wave-offering before the LORD with the two lambs * Num. 18. 12 Deut. 18. 4. they shall be holy to the LORD †Heb. â—…o for the priests h Who had to themselves not onely the breast and shoulder as in others which belonged to the Priest but also the rest which belonged to the offerer because the whole Congregation being the offerer here it could neither be distributed to them all nor given to some without offence or injury to the rest 21 And ye shall proclaim on the self-same day that it may be an holy convocation i A Sabbath or day of rest called Pentecost which was instituted partly in remembrance of the consummation of their deliverance out of Egypt by bringing them thence to the mount of God or Siâ—…i as God had promised and of that admirable blessing of giving the Law to them at that time and forming them into a Commonwealth under his own immediate Government and partly in gratitude for the further progress of their harvest as in the Passeover they offered a thank-offering to God for the beginning of their harvest unto you ye shall do no servile work therein it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations 22 And * chap. 19. 9. when ye reap the harvest of your land thou k From the plural ye he comes to the singular thou because he would press this duty upon every person who hath an harvest to reap that none might plead exemption from it And it is observable that though the present business is onely concerning the Worship of God yet he makes a kind of excursion to repeat a former Law of providing for the poor to shew that our piety and devotion to God is little esteemed by him if it be not accompanied with acts of Charity to men shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest * Deut. 24. 19. c. neither shalt thou gather any gleanings of thy harvest thou shalt leave them unto the poor and to the stranger I am the LORD your God 23 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 24 Speak unto the children of Israel saying in the * Numb 29. 1. seventh month in the first day of the month shall ye have a sabbath a memorial of blowing of trumpets l i. e. Solemnized with the blowing of trumpets by the Priests not in a common way as they did every first day of every moneth Numb 10. 10. but in an extraordinary manner not onely in Ierusalem but in all the Cities of Israel This seems to have been instituted 1. To solemnize the beginning of the new year whereof as to civil matters and particularly as to the Jubilee this was the first day concerning which it was fit the people should be admonished both to excite their thankfulness for Gods blessings in the last year and to direct them in the management of their civil affairs 2. To put a special honour upon this moneth For as the seventh day was the Sabbath and the seventh year was a Sabbatical year so God would have the seventh moneth to be a kind of Sabbatical moneth for the many Sabbaths and solemn feasts which were observed in this more than in any other moneth And by this sounding of the trumpets in its beginning God would quicken and prepare them for the following Sabbaths as well that of atonement and humiliation for their sins as those of thanksgiving for Gods mercies an holy convocation 25 Ye shall do no servile work therein but ye shall offer an offering m What that was see Numb 29. 2 c. made by fire unto the LORD 26 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 27 * chap. 16. 30. Num. 29. 7. Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement it shall be an holy convocation unto you and ye shall afflict your souls n With fasting and bitter repentance for all especially their national sins among which no doubt God would have them remember their sin of the golden Calf For as God had threatned to remember it in after times to punish them for it Exod. 32. 34. so there was great reason why they should remember it to humble themselves for it and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD 28 And ye shall do no work in that same day for it is a day of atonement to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God 29 For whatsoever soul it be o Either of the Jewish Nation or Religion Hereby God would signifie the absolute necessity which every man had of Repentance and Forgiveness of sin and the desperate condition of all impenitent persons that shall not be afflicted in that same day * Gen. 17. 1â—… he shall be cut off from among his people 30 And whatsoever soul it be that doth any work in that same day the same soul will I destroy from among his people 31 Ye shall do no manner of work it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings 32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest and ye shall afflict your souls in the ninth day of the month at even from even unto even shall ye †Heb. rest celebrate your sabbath p This clause seems to be added to answer an objection how this day of atonement could be both on the tenth day ver 27. and on the ninth day here The answer is it began at the evening or close of the ninth day and continued till the evening or close of the tenth day and so both were true especially if you consider that the Jews did take in some part of the sixth days evening by way of preparation for the Sabbath and therefore would much more take in a part of the ninth day to prepare and begin the great and solemn work of their yearly atonement And this clause may be understood either 1. Of this particular Sabbath called here your Sabbath in the singular number possibly to note the difference between this and other Sabbaths for the weekly Sabbath is oft called the Sabbath of the Lord because that was in a special manner appointed for the praising honouring and serving of God and celebrating his glorious works as also the other Sabbaths here mentioned were whereas this was
stand 2 Chron. 18. 18. Luk. 1. 1â—… to minister unto him and to bless in his name h Either 1. Particularly to pronounce the solemn blessing of God upon the Congregation which was done in Gods name of which see Levit. 9. 23. Numb 6. 23 c. But that work was peculiar to the Priests not common to all the Levites or more generally to bless Either 1. God i. e. to praise him which being a considerable part of the Leviteâ—… work 1 Chron. 10. it is not probable it would be omitted here where their Office is so particularly described Or 2. The people whom they did bless by performance of those holy ministrations for the people and giving those instructions to them to which Gods blessing was promised and usually given and this they did in Gods name i. e. by command and commission from him unto this day 9 * Num. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren the LORD is his inheritance i i. e. The Lords portion to wit tithes and offerings which belong to God are given by him to the Levites for their subsistence from generation to generation as inheritances run according as the LORD thy God promised him 10 And * Exod. 34 28. I stayed in the mount according to the ‖ Or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first time forty dayes and forty nights and the LORD * Exod. 32. 32 33. 33. 17. hearkened unto me at that time also and the LORD would not destroy thee 11 * Exod. 32. 34. 33. 1. And the LORD said unto me Arise †Heb. go in journey take thy journey before the people that they may go in k This shews that God was appeased and reconciled to the people whom therefore he led forwards towards Canaan and possess the land which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them 12 And now Israel * 〈◊〉 6. â—… what doth the LORD thy God require of thee l By way of duty and gratitude to God for such amazing mercies but to fear the LORD thy God to walk in all his wayes and * Chap. 6. â—… to love him and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul 13 To keep the commandments of the LORD and his statutes which I command thee this day for thy good 14 Behold * Psa. 148. â—… the heaven m The airy and starry heaven and the heaven of heavens n The highest or third heaven 1 King 8. 27. 2 Cor. 12. 2. called the heaven of heavens for its eminency as the song of songs king of kings holy of holies c. is the LORD thy God's * Exo. 19. â—… Psal. 24. 1 the earth also with all that therein is o With all creatures and all men which being all his he might have chosen what Nation he pleased to be his people 15 Onely the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them p He shews that God had no particular reason nor obligation to their fathers any more than to other persons or people all being equally his creatures and that his choice of them out of and above all others proceeded onely from Gods good pleasure and free love and he chose their seed after them even you above all people as it is this day 16 Circumcise therefore * Jer. 4. 4 Colos. 2. 11 the foreskin of your hearts q Rest not in your bodily circumcision but seriously set upon that substantiall work which is signified and designed thereby cleanse your hearts from all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness which is fitly compared to the foreskin which if not cut off made persons profane unclean and odious in the sight of God Compare Deut. 30. 6. Ier. 4. 4. and 9. 25. Rom. 2. 28 29. Col. 2. 11. and be no more stiff-necked 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and * Rev. 17. 14 Lord of lords a great God a mighty and a terrible which * 2 Chron. 19. 7. Job 34. 19 Act. 10. 34. Rom. 2. 11. Gal. 2 6. Eph. â—… â—… Col. 3. 25. 1 Pet. 1. 1â—… regardeth not persons r Whether Iews or Gentiles but deals justly and equally with all sorts of men and as whosoever fears and obeys him shall be accepted of him so all incorrigible transgressours shall be severely punished and you no less than other people therefore do not flatter your selves as if God would bear with your sins because of his particular kindness to you or to your fathers nor taketh reward 18 He * Psâ—…â—…8 5. 146. 9. doth execute the judgment s i. e. Plead their cause and give them right against their more potent adversaries and therefore he expects you should do so too of the fatherless and widow and loveth the stranger in giving him food and râ—…iment 19 * Lev. 19. 33 34. Love ye therefore the stranger for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt 20 * chap. 6. 13. Mat. 4. 10. Luk. 4. 8. Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God him shalt thou serve and to him shalt thou * chap. 13. 4. cleave t With firm confidence true affection and constant attendance and obedience and swear by his Name 21 * Exod. 15 2. He is thy praise u Either 1. the object and matter of thy praise as Exod. 15. 2. whom thou shouldest ever praise Or rather 2 the ground of thy praise i. e. of thy praise-worthiness he who makes thee honourable and glorious above those people whose God he is not and he is thy God that hath done for thee these great and terrible things which thine eyes have seen 22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt * Gen. 46. 27. Exod. 1. 5. Acts 7. 14. with threescore and ten persons and now the LORD thy God hath made thee * Gen. 15. 5. as the stars of heaven for multitude CHAP. XI 1 THerefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God and keep his charge and his statutes and his judgments and his commandments alway 2 And know a i. e. Acknowledge and consider it with diligence and thankfulness ye this day for I speak not with your children which have not known and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God his greatness his mighty hand and his stretched-out arm 3 And his miracles and his acts which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt and unto all his land 4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt unto their horses and to their chariots * Exod. 14. 27. how he made the water of the Red-sea to overflow them as they pursued after you and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day b The effect of which destruction continueth to this day in their weakness and fear and our safety from all their further attempts against us 5 And what he did unto
to dwell in d I perceive by this thick darkness that thou art coming among us and therefore make haste and come O thou Blessed Guest into the Dwelling-place which I have built by thy Command and for thy Service a settled place for thee to abide in for ever e Not a Tabernacle which was made to be carried from place to place but a durable and I hope perpetual Habitation 14 And the king turned his face about f From the Temple towards which he was looking to observe that thick and extraordinary darkness to the Body of the Congregation and blessed all the congregation of Israel g Or Blessed to wit the Lord which is easily understood from the following words in which he onely blesseth or praiseth God but doth not bless the People at all with so the Hebreweth is oft used as hath been shewed before all the congregation Although he might do both first bless the Congregation which possibly he might do in that Solemn and Appointed Form Numb 6. which therefore it was needless to repeat here and then blessed God And indeed he doth both here below where these same words are used ver 55 56 c. and all the congregation of Israel stood h Partly in way of Devotion to God whom they adored and partly out of respect to the King 15 And he said Blessed be the LORD God of Israel which spake with his mouth unto David my father and hath with his hand fulfilled it i Praised be God both for his Grace in making such a promise and for his Goodness and Truth in fulfilling it saying 16 Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt k Until David's time for then he did chuse Ierusalem I chose no city l i. e. I did not declare my choice of it for so chusing is used for declaring or executing ones choice as Deut. 12. 1. 2 Chron. 6. 5. Zech. 2. 12. and things are oft said to be done when they are onely manifested or declared to be such in which sense God is said to be justified Psal. 51. 4. and Men to be guilty Hos. 5. 15. Otherwise to speak properly whatsoever God chuseth he chuseth from Eternity out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house that my Name might be therein m That my Presence and Grace and Worship and Glory might be there but I chose * 2 Sam. 7. 8. David n And in and with him the Tribe of Iudah of which he was and Ierusalem where he dwelt which is here implied by the opposition of this to the former part of the Verse to be over my people Israel 17 And * 1 Chr. 17. 1. it was in the heart of David my father o In his desire and purpose as this or the like Phrase is used 1 Sam. 10. 7. and 14. 7. 2 Sam. 7. 3. to build an house for the Name of the LORD God of Israel 18 And the LORD said unto David my father Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my Name thou didst well that it was in thine heart p Thy intention and affection was well-pleasing to me 19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins he shall build the house unto my Name 20 And the LORD hath ‡ Heb. established performed his word that he spake and I am risen up in the room of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel as the LORD promised and have built an house for the Name of the LORD God of Israel 21 And I have set there a place for the ark wherein is the covenant of the LORD q i. e. The Tables of the Covenant by a Metonymy wherein the Conditions of Gods Covenant with Israel are written which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt 22 ¶ And Solomon stood r Upon a Scaffold set up for him in the Court of the People 2 Chron. 6. 13. before * 2 Chr. 6. 12. the altar of the LORD s With his Face towards the Altar of Burnt-offerings in the presence of all the congregation of Israel t Who stood round about the Scaffold in the same Court with him and spread forth his hand toward heaven 23 And he said LORD God of Israel * Exod. 15. 11. 2 Sam. 7. 22. There is no God like thee in heaven above or on earth beneath who * Dan. 9. 4. keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart 24 Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him u That branch of thy Promise concerning the Building of this House by David's Son thou spakest also with thy mouth and hast fulfilled it with thine hand as it is this day 25 Therefore now LORD God of Israel keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him x Make good the other branch of thy Promise and do not lose the Glory of thy Faithfulness which now thou hast got saying * Chap. 2. 4. 2 Sam. 7. 12. ‡ Heb. there shall not be cut off unto thee a man from my sight There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel ‡ Heb. onely if so that thy children take heed to their way that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me 26 And now O God of Israel let thy word I pray thee be verified which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father 27 But * 2 Chr. 2. 6. Isa. 66. 1. Jer. 23. 24 Act. 7. 49. will God indeed dwell on the earth y Reflecting upon Gods performance of his promise concerning the building of the Temple he breaks forth into admiration Is it possible that the Great and High and Lofty God should stoop so low as to take up his dwelling here amongst men O astonishing condescension Behold the heaven z All thiâ—… vast space of the visible Heaven and heaven of heavens a The third and highest and therefore the largest Heaven called the heaven of heavens here as also Deut. 10. 14. Psal. 148. 4. for its eminency and comprehensiveness cannot * Amos 7. 10. contain thee b For thy Essence reacheth far beyond them being Omnipresent how much less this house that I have builded c This House therefore was not built as if it were proportionable to thy greatness or could contain thee but onely that therein we might serve and glorify thee 28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant d Though thou art not comprehended within this place yet shew thy self to be graciously present here by accepting and granting my present Requests here tendred unto thee and to his supplication O LORD my God to hearken unto the cry and to the
shall the children of wickedness b Such as are devoted and wholly given up to Wickedness elsewhere called Children of Bâ—…lial wast them any more as at the beginning 10 And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel moreover I will subdue all thine enemies Furthermore I tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house 11 And it shall come to pass when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers that I will raise up thy seed after thee which shall be of thy sons and I will establish his kingdom 12 He shall build me an house and I will establish his throne for ever 13 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will be his father and he shall be my son and I will not take my mercy away from him as I took it from him that was before thee 14 But I will settle him in mine house c In my Dwelling-place either 1. in Ierusalem the place where God had put his Name for ever 2 King 21. 4 7. 2 Chron. 6. 5 6. Compare 1 King 11. 36. 15. 4. Or 2. In the Temple which is more properly and constantly called Gods House and so this Expression agrees but very imperfectly with Solomon or his Successors who might be said to be settled in Gods House because they were settled near it and in some sort set over it because they were to take care that the Prieâ—…ts and others should perform their Offices and Gods Service in it but strictly and properly agrees onely to Christ to whom alone that Promise also of an Everlasting Establishment in this Kingdom belongs as was noted on 2 Sam. 7. And this Expression seems to be most emphatically added to signifie that that person in whom all those Promises should be fully and perfectly accomplished to wit the Messias should be settled not onely in the Kings Throne as others of Davids Successors were but also in Gods House or Temple and consequently that he should be a Priest as well as a King which Mystery was more clearly revealed to David Psal. 110. 1 2 4. and may be intimated though obscurely as was fit and usual in that State of the Church in these words and in my Kingdom d Either 1. In the Kingdom of Israel which God calls his Kingdom because he was in a special manner their King and Governour having raised them up and formed them into a Kingdom and given them that Protection and Assistance which Kings owe to their Kingdoms and because he expected and required from them what Kings do from their people that they should be wholly governed by his Laws and devoted to his Service Or 2. In Gods Kingdom in a more large and general Sence And this as well as the former Phrase may seem singularly to belong to the Messiah who was not onely to be the King of Israel but also of all Nations as was foretold even in the Old Testament as Psal. 2. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. 22. 27 28. 72. 11. Isa. 2. 4. Hagg. 2 7. And so this may be an Intimation of that great Mystery which is more fully revealed in the New Testament to wit that Christ is the Head or King or Governour of all Gods Church consisting of Jews and Gentiles and of all Nations and indeed of all Creatures the Angels not excepted all which is Gods Kingdom and by him given to his Son our Blessed Lord Christ. And for the signification of these great things there is so great and remarkable an alteration of the Phrase here from what it is in 2. Sam. 7. where speaking to David he constantly calls it his i. e. Davids Kingdom and his House v. 12 13 16 19 25 27. for which he here saith my House and my Kingdom which also he distinguisheth from his Throne which is mentioned in the next Clause of this Verse and in v. 11 12. But these things I submit to the Judicious Reader for ever and his throne shall be established for evermore 15 According to all these words and according to all this vision so did Nathan speak unto David 16 And David the king came and sat e Which may note either his Gesture or his Continuance there till he had finished this following Prayer before the LORD and said Who am I O LORD God and what is mine house that thou hast brought me hitherto 17 And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes O God for thou hast also spoken of thy servants house for a great while to come and hast regarded mâ—… according to the estate or a man of high degree O LORD God f i. e. Thou hast treated me as if I had been born the Son 〈◊〉 Great Monarch and not a poor Shepheard as indeed I was 〈◊〉 Lord God Oth. Thus Thou hast regarded or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Type or Figure or according to the Rank or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Man or Man of high Degree who is also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Messiah who is God-man i. e. Thou hast given to me and my House an Everlasting Kingdom which is the peculiar Priviledge of that Great Person the Messiah Dan. 2. 44. 7. 13 14. 18 What can David †Heb. 〈◊〉 speak more to thee for the honour of thy servant for thou knowest thy servant 19 O LORD for thy servants sake g In 2 Sam. 7. 21. it is for thy words 〈◊〉 i. e. for the sake of thy Word and Promise made to thy Servant as that Phrase for Davids sake is oft thus understood for Gods Covenants sake made with David and according to thine own heart hast thou done all this greatness in making known all these †Heb. greatnesses great things 20 O LORD there is none like thee neither is there â—…ny God besides thee according to all that we have heard with our ears 21 And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel whom God went to redeem to be his own people to make thee a name of †Heb. greatnesses and terrible 〈◊〉 greatness and terribleness by driving out nations from before thy people whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt 22 For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever and thou LORD becamest their God 23 Therefore now LORD let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever and do as thou hast said 24 Let it even be established that thy name may be magnified for ever saying The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel even a God to Israel h Or The Lord of Hosts the God of Israel is a God to Israel i. e. He is really to his People that which he hath stiled himself their God having taken such Care of them and shewed such Mercy and Truth to them as did fully answer that Title and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee 25 For thou O my
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
very People will prove degenerate 19 And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart to keep thy commandments thy testimonies and thy statutes and to do all these things and to build the palace for the which I have made provision t By purchasing the Place 1 Chron. 21. and providing for the Expences of the Work 20 And David said to all the congregation Now bless the LORD your God And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers and bowed down their heads and worshipped the LORD and the king u The Lord with Religious and the King with Civil Worship as it is evident 21 And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the LORD x Before the Ark which was there and offered burnt-offerings unto the LORD on the morrow after that day even a thousand bullocks a thousand rams and a thousand lambs with their drink-offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel y Either 1. on the behalf of all Israel to praise God in their Names to procure Gods Presence and Blessing for them all Or 2. so many that the Feasts which after the manner were made of the remainders of the Sacrifices were abundantly sufficient for all the Israelites which were then present and desired to partake of them or for all the Governours of Israel there assembled who may well pasâ—… under the name of all Israel because they represented them all 22 And did eat and drink before the LORD z i. e. Before the Ark in Courts or Places as near to it as they conveniently could Or as in Gods Presence in a Solemn and Religious manner praising God for this great Mercy and begging his Blessing upon this great Affair on that day with great gladness and they made Solomon the son of David king the second time a This is called the second time in reference to the first time which was either 1. when he was made King during Adonijahs Conspiracy of which see 1 King 1. 34 c. And so this was done after Davids death and not upon that day when this Feasting and Solemnity lasted as the words at first view seem to insinuate this being related in the same verse and immediately after the Relation of the Feast But there are Examples of things done at distant times put together in one verse as Act 7. 15. So Iacob went down into Egypt and died he and our Fathers i. e first he and afterward our Fathers So here They did eat on that day with great gladness and afterward they made Solomon king the second time And this Opinion seems to be confirmed by the following Passages in which it is related that at this same time they anointed Zadok to be Priest and that Solomon was King instead of David and that all Israel and all Davids sons submitted to him All which was not done till after Davids death as may be gathered by comparing this with 1 King 1. 2. or 2. in 1 Chron. 23. 1. where it is said that David made Solomon his Son King over Israel i. e. he declared him his Successor And so this second time was during Davids Life And what David had more privately declared ch 23. he now more solemnly owns in this great and general Assembly in which by Davids Order and the Consent of all that Assembly Solomon was anointed King i. e. to be King after his Fathers death And this Opinion the Text seems most to favour For it is said And they made Solomon King c. they who That must be fetched out of the foregoing Words and Verses they who did eat and drink before the Lord on that day with great gladness as it is here said and then immediately it follows and that with a copulative conjunction and they made Solomon King c. which without violence cannot be pulled away from the foregoing Words And therefore they must be David and all the Congregation who were then present v. 20. of whom it is said they sacrificed c. v. 21. and they did eat c. and they made Solomon c. The great Objection against this Opinion is that they anointed Zadok to be Priest at this time which was not done till after Davids death for till then Abiathar â—…s not thrust out from being Priest c. 1 King 2. 26 27. This indeed is a difficulty but not insoluble It must be remembred that the High-priest had his Vicegerent who might officiate in his stead when he was hindred by Sickness or other indispensable Occasion and that there seems to be something more than ordinary in Zadoks case for although Abiathar was properly the Highpriest yet Zadok seems after a sort to be joyned in Commission with him as we see 2 Sam. 15. 29. 19. 11. and it is expresly said Zadok and Abiathar were Priests 2 Sam. 20. 25. and 1 King 4. 4. And it may be further considered that this anointing of Zadok might be occasioned by some miscarriage of Abiathar not recorded in Scripture Possibly he was unsatisfied with this Design of translating the Crown to Solomon and did now secretly favour Adoniâ—…ahs Person and Right which afterward he did more openly defend Which being known to David by information might induce him and the Princes who favoured Solomon to take this course Which they might the more willingly do in consideration of that Divine Threatning 1 Sam. 2. 31 c. of translating the Priesthood from Ithamars and Elis House of which Abiathar was to Eleazars Line to which it had been promised to perpetuity Numb 25. 13. of which Line Zadok was And they might judge this a sit Season or might be directed by God at this time to execute that Threatning to the one and promise to the other Family And yet this Action of theirs in anointing Zadok did not as I suppose actually constitute him High-priest but onely settled the Reversion of it upon him and his Line after Abiathars death Even as Davids making Solomon king ch 23. 1. and their anointing Solomon to be the chief Governour here did not put him into actual Possession of the Kingdom but onely gave him a Right to it in Reversion after the present Kings death as Samuels anointing of David 1 Sam. 16. had done to David before him Hence notwithstanding this Anointing Abiathar continued to exercise his Office till Solomon thrust him out 1 King 2. 27 and even after he was removed from the Execution of his Office yet he was reputed the Priest till he died being so called 1 King 4. 4. And this I hope may in some sort resolve that difficulty For the other Arguments they seem not considerable For as for what follows v. 23 24 25. Then Solomon sat on the Throne c. that indeed seems to belong to the time after Davids death being sufficiently â—…eparated from this 22d verse and not so knit to the foregoing Words as those words and they made Solomon King c. are And for the particle then that is
place for thy dwelling for ever 3 And the king turned his face and blessed the whole congregation of Israel and all the congregation of Israel stood 4 And he said Blessed be the LORD God of Israel who hath with his hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David saying 5 Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in that my name might be there neither chose I any man to be * â—… Sam. 6. 21. Chr. 28. 4. a ruler over my people Israel 6 But I have chosen Jerusalem that my name might be there and have chosen David to be over my people Israel 7 Now * 2 Sam. â—… 2. Chr. 28. 2. it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel 8 But the LORD said to David my father Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build an house for my Name thou didst well in that it was in thine heart 9 Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house but thy son which shall come forth out of thy loins he shall build the house for my Name 10 The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken for I am risen up in the room of David my father and am set on the throne of Israel as the LORD promised and have built the house for the Name of the LORD God of Israel 11 And in it have I put the ark wherein is the covenant of the LORD that he made with the children of Israel 12 And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands 13 For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold of five cubits †〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—… long and five cubits broad and three cubits high and had set it in the midst of †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the court and upon it he stood and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands toward heaven 14 And said O LORD God of Israel * 〈◊〉 15. 11. 〈◊〉 3. 24. there is no God like thee in the heaven nor in the earth which keepest covenant and shewest mercy unto thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart 15 Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him and spakest with thy mouth and hast fulfilled it with thine hand as it is this day 16 Now therefore O LORD God of Israel keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him saying * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 12. 1 〈◊〉 24. 〈◊〉 †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if 〈◊〉 132. 12. There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law as thou hast walked before me 17 Now then O LORD God of Israel let thy word be verified which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David 18 But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—… 49. Behold heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee how much less this house which I have built 19 Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication O LORD my God to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee 20 That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy Name there to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 towards this place 21 Hearken therefore unto the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel which they shall †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make towards this place hear thou from thy dwelling place even from heaven and when thou hearest ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gr. forgive 22 If a man sin against his neighbour †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear and the oath come before thine altar in this house 23 Then hear thou from heaven and do and judge thy servants by requiting the wicked by recompensing his way upon his own head and by justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness 24 And if thy people Israel ‖ Or be smitten be put to the worse before the enemy because they have sinned against thee and shall return and confess thy Name and pray and make supplication before thee ‖ Or towardâ—… in this house 25 Then hear thou from the heavens and forgive the sin of thy people Israel and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers 26 When the * 1 Kin 17. 1. heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee yet if they pray towards this place and confess thy name and turn from their sin when thou dost afflict them 27 Then hear thou from heaven and forgive the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel when thou hast taught them the good way wherein they should walk and send rain upon thy land which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance 28 If there * Ch. 20. 9. be dearth in the land if there be pestilence if there be blasting or mildew locusts or caterpillars if their enemies besiege them †Heb. in the land of their gates in the cities of their land whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be 29 Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man or of all thy people Israel when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief and shall spread forth his hands ‖ Or towards this house in this house 30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling-place and forgive and render unto every man according unto all his ways whose heart thou knowest for thou onely * 1 Chr. 28. 9. knowest the hearts of the children of men 31 That they may fear thee to walk in thy ways †Heb. all the days which so long as they live †Heb. upon the face of the land in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers 32 Moreover concerning the stranger * Joh. 12. 20. Act. 8. 27. which is not of thy people Israel but is come from a far country for thy great Names sake and thy mighty hand and stretched out arm if they come and pray in this house 33 Then hear thou from the heavens even from thy dwelling place and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for that all people of the earth may know thy Name and fear thee as doth thy people Israel and may know that †Heb. thy name
is called upon this house this house which I have built is called by thy Name 34 If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name 35 Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication and maintain their ‖ Or right cause 36 If they sin against thee for there is * Prov. 20. 9. Eccles. 7. 20. Jam. 3. 2. 1 Joh. 1. 8. no man which sinneth not and thou be angry with them and deliver them over before their enemies and †Heb. they that take them captives carry them away they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near 37 Yet if they †Heb. bring back to their heart be think themselves in the land whether they are carried captive and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity saying We have sinned we have done amiss and have dealt wickedly 38 If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity whether they have carried them captives and pray toward their land which thou gavest unto their fathers and toward the city which thou hast chosen and toward the house which I have built for thy name 39 Then hear thou from the heavens even from thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplications and maintain their ‖ Or right cause and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee 40 Now my God let I beseech thee thine eyes be open and let thine ears be attent †〈…〉 unto the prayer that is made in this place 41 Now * Psal. 132. 8 c. therefore arise O LORD God into thy resting-place b O thou that sittest in the Heavens arise from the Throne of thy Glory and come down into this place which thou hast appointed for thy constant and fixed Habitation from which thou wilst not remove as formerly thou hast done from place to place thou and the ark c i. e. Thou in the Ark. of thy strength let thy priests O LORD God be clothed with salvation d Which is the Sign and Instrument of thy great power put forth from time to time on the behalf of thy people i. e. Let them be adorned and encompassed on every side with thy Protection and Benediction For he seems rather to speak of the Salvation afforded to the Priests than of that which by Gods blessing on the Priests Labours is conferred upon the People this being a Prayer for Gods Blessing upon the whole Community consisting of Priests and People and let thy saints rejoyce in goodness e i. e. Let them have cause of Rejoycing and Thanksgiving for the Effects of thy goodness imparted unto them 42 O LORD God turn not away the face of thine anointed f i. e. Of me who by thy Command and Appointment was anointed the King and Ruler of thy People do not deny my present Requests nor send me back from the Throne of thy Grace with a sad Heart and dejected Countenance remember * Isa. 55. 3. the mercies of David thy servant g i. e. Those which thou hast promised to David and to his House for ever CHAP. VII 1 NOW * 1 Kin. 8. 54. when Solomon had made an end of praying the * Lev. 9. 24. Judg. 6. 21. 1 Chr. 21. 26. fire came down from heaven a In token of Gods Acceptance of his Prayer See on Levit. 9. 24. 1 Kin. 18. 38. and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifices and the glory of the LORD b i. e. The Cloud which was the Sign of Gods glorious and gracious Presence filled the house 2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD c Compare Exod. 40. 35. because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORDs house 3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the LORD upon the house d The Cloud first came down upon the House and then entred into the House and was seen both within it by the Priests and without it by the People they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement and worshipped and praised the LORD saying * Ch. 5. 13. for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever 4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD 5 And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God 6 * 1 Chr. 15. 16. And the priests waited on their offices the Levites also with instruments of musick * 1 Chr. 16. 42. of the LORD which David the king had made to praise the LORD because his mercy endureth for ever when David praised ‖ the LORD †Heb. by their hand by their ministery e For David composed the Psalms or Hymns 1 Chron. 16. 7. and appointed them to be sung by the Levites and instrumental Musick to be joyned to their Voices and the priests sounded trumpets before them and all Israel stood 7 Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court f Of this and v. 8 9 10. see the Notes on 1 King â—… 64 c. that was before the house of the LORD for there he offered burnt-offerings and the fat of the peace-offerings because the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt-offerings and the meat-offerings and the â—…at 8 Also at that time Solomon kept the feast seven days and all Israel with him a very great congregation from the entring in of Hamath unto * 〈…〉 the river of Egypt 9 And in the eighth day they made †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a solemn assembly for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days 10 And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away unto their tents glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the LORD had shewed unto David and to Solomon and to Israel his people 11 Thus * 1 Kin. 9. â—… c. Solomon finished the house of the LORD g See on 1 King 9. 1 2. and the kings house and all that came into Solomons heart to make in the house of the LORD and in his own house he prosperously effected 12 And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night and said unto him I have heard thy prayer * Deut. 12. 5. and have chosen this place to my self for an house of sacrifice 13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain or if I command the locusts h i. e. Use my Authority and Power over them to cause them to do so A Metaphor elsewhere used
and particularly described as the former 65 Besides their servants and their maids of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven and there were among them two hundred singing-men and singing-women y For Women as well as Men were devoted to and employed in this exercise in the Temple-Service as appears from 1 Chr. 25. 5 6. And the Parents of these Persons had taken care to instruct and exercise them as far as they could in this Art both for Gods service and for their own benefit when Ierusalem and the Temple should be rebuilt which they knew would be done after Ieremiahs 70 years were expired 66 Their horses were seven hundred thirty and six their mules two hundred forty and five 67 Their camels four hundred thirty and five their asses six thousand and seven hundred and twenty 68 And some of the chief of the fathers when they came to the house of the LORD z i. e. To the ruines of the house or to the place where that House stood that is at Jerusalem offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place 69 They gave after their ability unto the * 1 Chr. 2â—… 20. treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams of gold ‖ A dram of Gold is supposed to be of the weight of the fourth part of a shekel and of the value of a French Crown and five thousand pound of silver and one hundred priests garments 70 So the priests and the Levites and some of the people and the singers and the porters and the Nethinims dwelt in their cities and all Israel in their cities CHAP. III. 1 ANd when the seventh month was come a Or rather was coming or drew near For the Altar was set up after this time v. 3. which yet was employed the first day of this month v. 6. This was a sacred kind of month wherein there were divers Festivals as appears from Lev. 23. for which the People had been preparing themselves and now came to Ierusalem to the celebration of them and the children of Israel were in the cities the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem 2 Then stood up ‖ Or Ioshua Hag. 1. 1. Zech. 3. 1. Jeshua the son of Jozadak b The High-Priest and his brethren the priests and ‖ Called Zorobabil Mat. 1. 12. Luk. 3. 27. called Salathiel Zerubbabel the son c i. e. The grandson for he was the son of Pedaiah 1 Chr. 3. 17 18 19. of * Deut. 12. 5. Shealtiel and his brethren and built the altar d Which was of more present and urgent necessity than the Temple both to make atonement to God for all their sins and to obtain Gods assistance for the building of the Temple and to strengthen their own Hearts and Hands in that great work wherein they saw they should have many Enemies of the God of Israel to offer burnt-offerings thereon as it is * Deut. 12. 5. written in the law of Moses the man of God 3 And they set the altar upon his bases for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries and they offered burnt-offerings thereon unto the LORD even burnt-offerings morning and evening 4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles e This seems to be mentioned Synecdochically for all the Solemnities of this Month whereof this was the most eminent and most lasting Otherwise it is not probable that they would neglect the day of Atonement which was so severely enjoined Lev. 23. 27 28 29. and was so exceeding suitable to their present condition See on v. 6. * Ex. 23. 16. as it is written and * Num. 29. 12. c. offered the daily burnt-offerings f Heb. burnt-offerings day by day i. e. Every day of that Feast they offered as many Sacrifices as were prescribed of which see Numb 29. 13 c. by number according to the custom †Heb. the matter of the day in his day as the duty of every day required 5 And afterward offered the continual burnt-offering g The Morning and Evening-Sacrifice of which see on Numb 28. 6. both of the new-moons and of all the set-feasts of the LORD that were consecrated h i. e. Set apart for the solemn and holy Service of God and of every one that willingly offered a free-will-offering unto the LORD 6 From the first day of the seventh month began they to ofter burnt-offerings i And the other Sacrifices which were to be offered with them upon that day being the Feast of Trumpets Numb 29. 1 c. Burnt-offerings are oft put for all Sacrifices as hath been observed once and again unto the LORD but †Heb. the temple of the Lord was not yet founded the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid k Though it is probable they had done somthing towards the removing of the rubbish and preparing the way for it 7 They gave money also unto the masons and to the ‖ Or workmen carpenters and meat and drink and oil unto them of Zidon and to them of Tyre to bring cedar-trees from Lebanon to the sea of * Act. 9. 36. Joppa according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia. 8 Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem in the second month began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upward to set forward the work of the house of the LORD 9 Then stood Jeshua l with his sons and his brethren Kadmiel and his sons the sons of ‖ Or Hodaviah ch 2. 40. Judah †Heb. as one together to set forward the workmen m By their presence and favour to encourage them to a chearful and vigorous prosecution of the work in the house of God the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brethren the Levites Not the High-Priest so called but a Levite of whom see chap. 2. 40. 10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD they set the Priests in their apparel with trumpets and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals to praise the LORD after †Heb. 〈◊〉 hands the * 1 Chr. 6. 3â—… 16. 7. 25. 1. ordinance of David n Heb. By or According to the hands of David i. e. in such manner and with such Psalms or Songs and Instruments as God had appointed by the Hands or Ministry of David king of Israel 11 And they * Ex. 15 〈◊〉 2 Chr. 7. 3. sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD because he is good for his mercy endureth for ever towards Israel And
from the Babylonish Captivity wherein he partly gives God thanks for that glorious deliverance and partly implores God's mercy in compleating that work and rescuing his People from the Relicks of their Bondage and from the vexation which they had by their Neighbours after they were returned to Canaan To the chief musician A Psalm ‖ Or of for the sons of Korah 1 LORD thou hast been ‖ Or well pleased favourable unto thy land a i. e. unto thy People in removing the sad effects of thy displeasure thou hast brought back the captivity b The Captives as that Word is used Psal. 14. 7. and 68. 18. and elsewhere of Jacob. 2 * Psal. 32. 1 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people thou hast covered all their sin Selah c So as not-to impute it to them or to continue the punishment which thou didst inflict upon them for it 3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath d Those Calamities which were the effects of thy just wrath conceived against us ‖ Or thou hast turned thine anger from waxsag hot thou hast turned thy self from the fierceness of thine anger 4 Turn us e Either 1. Convert us As thou hast brought back our bodies to thy Land so bring back our hearts to thy self from whom many of them to this day are alienated Or rather 2. Restore us to our former tranquillity and free us from the troubles which we yet groan under from our malicious Neighbours and Enemies For this best suits with the following Clause of the Verse which commonly explains the former O God of our salvation and cause thine anger towards us to cease f He prudently indeavours to take away the root and cause of their continued miseries to wit God's anger procured by their sins 5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations 6 Wilt thou not revive us again g Thou hast once revived us in bringing us out of Captivity give us a second reviving in bringing home the rest of our Brethren and in rebuking and restraining the Remainder of our Enemies wrath that thy people may rejoyce in thee 7 Shew us h i. e. Grant it to us as the next words explain it and as shewing signifies Psal. 4. 6. So also Psal. 60. 3. and 71. 20. Or manifest thy secret purpose of mercy to us by thy providential Dispensations thy mercy O LORD and grant us thy salvation 8 I will hear i i. e. Diligently observe And the Psalmist by declaring what he would do teacheth all the Israelites what they ought to do Or he speaks in the name of all the People of God what God the LORD will speak k Either by his Prophets or Messengers or by the works of his providence for that also hath a voice What Answer God will give to these my Prayers for * Zech. 9. 1â—… he will speak peace l For I am assured from God's gracious nature and declared will and promise that he will give an answer of peace unto his people and to his saints m Which Clause seems to be added by way of explication and restriction to shew that this glorious privilege did not belong to all that were called God's people but onely to those that were truly and really such even to his saints or holy ones but let them not turn again to folly n i. e. To sin which in Scripture is commonly called folly This is added as a necessary caution but when God shall speak peace to his People let them not grow wanton and secure nor return to their former wicked courses which if they do they will provoke God to repent of his kindness to them and to inflict further and sorer judgments upon them Others render the place And they will not or That they may not return to folly But the Particle al being prohibitive our Translation seems to be better 9 Surely his salvation o That compleat salvation and deliverance for which all the Israel of God do pray and wait even the Redemption of Israel by the Messiah of which not only Christian but even Jewish Writers understand this place and to which the following passage do most properly and perfectly belong And the Psalmist might well say of this Salvation that it was nigh because the seventy weeks determined by Daniel for this work Chap. 9. 24. were now begun this Psalm being written after Daniel's time is nigh them that fear him p The true Israel of God even all those that love and fear him By which words he both excludes all hypocritical Israelites from this salvation and tacitly assigns it to all that fear God whether Jews or Gentiles that * Zech. 2. â—… glory may dwell in our Land q And when that Salvation shall come we shall be freed from all that scorn and contempt under which we now groan and shall recover our ancient glory and the glorious presence of God the most eminent tokens whereof we have now utterly lost and the God of Glory himself even Christ who is called the brightness of his Father's glory Heb. 1. 3. comp Ioh. 1. 14. and the glory of Israel Luk. 2. 32. shall come and visibly dwell in this now despised Land 10 Mercy and truth are met together righteousness and peace r This is to be understood either 1. Of these Graces or Vertues in men So the sence is when that blessed time shall come those Virtues which now seem to be banished from humane Societies shall be restored and there shall be an happy conjunction of mercy or benignity truth or veracity righteousness or faithfulness and peace or peaceableness and concord Or rather 2. Of the Blessings of God of which the whole Context speaks And the sence is That great Work of Redemption by Christ shall clearly manifest and demonstrate God's mercy in redeeming his People of Israel and in the calling and conversion of the Gentiles his truth in fulfilling that great promise of the sending of his Son which is the Foundation of all the rest his righteousness in punishing sin or unrighteousness in his Son and in conferring righteousness upon guilty and lost creatures and his peace or reconciliation to sinners and that peace of conscience which attends upon it kave kissed each other s As Friends use to do when they meet See Exod. 4. 27. and 18. 7. So this is another expression of the same thing 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth t Either 1. Truth among men which shall be so common amongst all men as if it grew out of the earth Or rather 2. The truth or faithfulness of God which is most truly and fitly said to spring out of the earth partly because it had long been hid and buried like a root in a dry ground without any hopes of a reviving from whence yet God made it to grow as is noted Isa.
not readily grant it to those that greedily seek it and if any son of violence procure it he will make him pay very dearly for it and when the Saints suffer it for Gods sake as they frequently do it is a most acceptable Sacrifice to God and highly esteemed by him Thus the blood of Gods people is said to be precious in his sight Psal. 72. 14. And in the same sence the life of a man is said to be precious in his eyes who spareth and preserveth it as 1 Sam. 26. 21. 2 Kings 1. 13. Gods people are precious in his eyes both living and dying for whether they live they live unto the Lord or whether they die they die unto the Lord Rom. 14. 8. of his saints 16 O LORD truly I am thy servant b This is either 1. an argument used in prayer It becometh thee to protect and save thy own servants as every good master doth or rather 2. a thankful acknowledgment of his great obligations to God whereby he was in duty bound to be the Lords faithful and perpetual servant For this suits best with the context I am thy servant and * Psal. 86. 16. the son of thy handmaid c Either 1. the son of a mother who was devoted and did devote me to thy serviet Or 2. like one born in thy house of one of thy servants and so thine by a most strict and double obligation thou hast loosed my bonds d Thou hast rescued me from mine enemies whose captive and vassal I was and therefore hast a just right and title to me and to my service 17 I will offer to thee * Lev. â—… 12. the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the Name of the LORD 18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people e And as I said before so I now repeat my promise for the greater assurance and to lay the stricter obligation upon my self 19 In the courts of the LORD's house in the midst of thee O Jerusalem Praise ye the LORD PSAL. CXVII This Psalm contains a Prophecy of the Calling of the Gentiles as appears both from the matter of it and from Rom. 15. 11. where it is quoted to that purpose 1 O * Rom. 15. 11. Praise the LORD a Acknowledge the true God and serve him onely and cast away all your Idols all ye nations praise him all ye people 2 For his merciful kindness is great towards us b Either 1. towards us Jews to whom he hath given those peculiar priviledges which he hath denied to all other nations But this may seem an improper argument to move the Gentiles to praise God for his mercies to others from which they were excluded Or 2. towards all of us all the children of Abraham whether carnal or spiritual who were to be incorporated together and made one body and one sold by and under the Messias Iob. 10. 16. Eph. 2. 14. which mystery seems to be insinuated by this manner of expression and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever Praise ye the LORD PSAL. CXVIII This Psalm most probably was composed by David when the Civil Wars between the Houses of Saul and David were ended and David was newly setled in the Kingdom of all Israel and had newly brought up the Ark of God to his Royal City But though this was the occasion yet David or at least the Spirit of God which indired this Psalm had a further reach and higher design in it and especially in the latter part of it which was to carry the Readers thoughts beyond the Type to the Antitype the Messias and his Kingdom who was chiefly intended in it Which is apparent both from the testimonies produced of it to that purpose iâ—… the Neâ—…t Testament as Mat. 〈◊〉 9 42. Mark 12. 10 11. Acts 4. 11 c. and from the consent of the Hebrew Doctors both ancient and modern one evidence whereof is that in their prayers for their Messiah they use some part of this Psalm and from the matter it self as we shall see hereafter The form of this Psalm may seem to be dramatical and several parts of it are spoken in the name of several persons yet so that the distinction of the persons and their several passages is not expressed but lest to the observation of the intelligent and diligent Reader as it is in the Book of the Song of Solomon and in some part of Ecclesiastes and in many profane Writers David speaks in his own name from the beginning to v. 22. and from thence to v. 25. in the name of the people and thence to v. 28. in the name of the Priests and then concludes in his own name 1 O * 1 Chro. 16. 8. Psal. 106. 1. 107. 1. 136. 1. Give thanks a All sorts of persons which are particularly expressed in the three next verses as they are mentioned in like manner and order Psal. 115. 9 10 11. where see the Notes unto the LORD for he is good because his mercy endureth for ever 2 Let Israel b After the flesh all the Tribes and people of Israel except the Levites now say that his mercy endureth for ever 3 Let the house of Aaron c The Priests and Levites who were greatly discouraged and oppressed in Sauls time and shall receive great benefits by my government now say that his mercy endureth for ever 4 Let them now that fear the LORD d The Gentile-Proselytes whereof there were in Davids time and were likely to be greater numbers than formerly had been say that his mercy endureth for ever 5 I called upon the LORD †Heb. out of distress in distress the LORD answered me and * Psal. 18. 19. set me e Which Verb is tacitly included in the former and is easily understood out of Psal. 31. 9. where the full phrase is expressed and from the following word See the like examples in the Hebrew Text Gen. 12. 15. Psal. 22. 21 c. ‖ Or with enlargement in a large place 6 * Psal. 56. 4 11. Heb. 13. 6. The LORD is ‖ Heb. for me on my side I will not fear what can man f A frail and impotent creature in himself and much more when he is opposed to the Almighty God do unto me 7 * Psal. 54. 4. The LORD taketh my part with them that help me g He is one of the number of my helpers and enables them to defend me therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me 8 * Psal. 40. 4. 62. 8 9. Jer. 17. 5 7. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man h As mine adversaries do in their own numbers and in their great confederates 9 * Psal. 146. 2. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes i The neighbouring and
Angels just occasion to praise thee O LORD and thy saints shall bless thee 11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom and talk of thy power 12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom 13 Thy kingdom is †Heb. a kingdom of all ages an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations 14 The LORD upholdeth all h Either 1. all that look up to him for help or 2. all that are upheld whose support is not from themselves nor from other men but onely from Gods powerful and good providence that fall and * Psal. 146. 8. raiseth up all those that be bowed down 15 The eyes of all i Of all living creatures ‖ Or look unto thee wait upon thee k Expect and receive their supplies wholly from thy bounty Expectation is here figuratively ascribed to brute creatures as Psal. 104. 27. Rom. 8. 22. and * Psal. 136. 25. thou givest them their meat in due season l When they need it 16 Thou openest thine hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing m Or as divers render it and which is more agreeable to the order of the words in the Hebrew Text thou satisfiest every living thing with thy favour or good-will i. e. with the fruits of thy bounty the Pronoun thy being easily and fitly understood out of the foregoing clause 17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and ‖ Or merciful or bountiful holy n Or rather merciful as this word most commonly signifies There is a mixture of mercy in the most severe and terrible works of God in this life judgment without mercy being reserved for the next life Iam. 2. 13. Revel 14. 10. in all his works 18 * Deut. 4. 7. The LORD is nigh unto all them o To answer their prayers for relief that call upon him to all that call upon him in truth p Sincerely or with an upright heart trusting to him and waiting upon him in his way 19 He will fulfil the desire q So far as it is agreeable to his own will and convenient for their good not inordinate desires which God commonly denies to his people in mercy and granteth to his enemies in anger of them that fear him he also will hear their cry and will save them 20 The LORD preserveth all them that love him but all the wicked will he destroy r Frequently in this world but infallibly in the next 21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD and let all flesh bless his holy Name for ever and ever PSAL. CXLVI The design of this Psalm is to perswade men to trust in God and in him alone 1 †Heb. Hallelujah PRaise ye the LORD Praise the LORD O my soul. 2 * Psal. 104. 33. While I live will I praise the LORD I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being 3 * Psal. 118. 8. 9. Put not your trust in princes a In men of greatest wealth and power in whose favour men are very prone to trust nor in the son of man in whom there is no ‖ Or salvation help b Who are utterly unable frequently to give you that help which they promise and you expect 4 * Psal. 104. 29. Eccl. 12. 7. His †Heb. spirit So Gr. breath goeth forth he returneth c In his body Eccles. 12. 7. to his earth d To that earth from which all mankind Princes not excepted had their original in that very day e As soon as ever he is dead his thoughts f All his designs and endeavours either for himself or for others perish 5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help whose hope is in the LORD his God 6 * Gen. 1. 1. Which made heaven and earth the sea and all that therein is which keepeth truth for ever g Both because he liveth for ever to fulfil his promises and because he is eternally and unchangeably faithful 7 * Psal. 103. 6. Which executeth judgment for the oppressed which giveth food to the hungry * Psal. 68. 6. the LORD looseth the prisoners 8 * Mat. 9. 30. John 9. 7 32. The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind h Either 1. the eyes of their mind which he enlightens and directs in doubtful and difficult cases or 2. their bodily eyes which he did abundantly by his Son Jesus Christ. * Psal. 145. 14. Luke 13. 13. the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down the LORD loveth the righteous i Even when he doth afflict them which also he doth out of love Heb. 12. 6. 9 * Deut. 10. 18. Psal. 68. 5. The LORD preserveth the strangers he relieveth the fatherless and widow but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down k He overthroweth their goings as the phrase is Psal. 140. 4. He maketh them to lose their way he not onely frustrateth their plots and enterprises but turneth them against themselves This and all the foregoing sentences are so many arguments to encourage all good men to trust in God in all their straits and afflictions 10 * Exod. 15. 18. Psal. 10. 16. 145. 13. The LORD shall reign for ever even thy God O Zion unto all generations Praise ye the LORD PSAL. CXLVII This Psalm may seem from v. 2. 13. to have been composed by some holy Prophet after the return of Israel from the Babylonish Captivity It containeth an ample celebration of Gods praises both for common mercies and for special favours 1 PRaise ye the LORD for it * Psal 92. 1â—… is good a It is acceptable to God and greatly comfortable and beneficial to our selves to sing praises unto our God for it is pleasant and * Psal. 33. 1. praise is comely 2 The LORD doth build up Jerusalem b It is the Lords own doing and not mans * Deut. 30. 3. he gathereth together the out-casts c Or the banished who were carried captives out of their own land and dispersed in divers strange countries of Israel 3 He healeth the broken in heart d Either with the sence of their sins or with their sorrows and grievous calamities He seems to speak peculiarly of the captive Israelites now returned and bindeth up their †Heb. griess wounds 4 * Isa. 40. 26. He telleth the number of the stars e Which no man can do Gen. 22. 17. For those thousand and twenty five which Astronomers number are onely such as are most distinctly visible to the eye and most considerable for their influences he calleth them all by their names f This signifies 1. that he exactly knows them as we do those whom we can call by name he is able to give distinct names to each of them because he
testimony and the law or doctrine for so this Word is frequently taken he understands one and the same thing as he doth also v. 26. to wit the Word of God and especially that which is the main Scope and Substance thereof the Doctrine of the Messias which though now professed by all the Israelites shall be disowned by the generality of them when the Messiah shall come Bind up and seal are to be understood Prophetically Declare and prophesie that it shall be bound up and sealed as Isaiah is said to make fat and to blind c. Isa. 6. 10. and Ieremy to root out and pull down c. Ier. 1. 10. when they foretell these Events Moreover bind up and seal design the same thing and that is either 1. Security and Certainty as things are bound up or sealed that they may not be lost So he signifies That although this Doctrine would be lost among the Body of the Israelites yet it should be preserved among his Disciples Or 2. Secresie as many things are bound up or sealed that they may be hid from the Eyes of others And so he informeth them that this Doctrine now was and should be hid in a great measure among all God's People even till the Accomplishment of it and that even when it was accomplished it should still continue to be as a Secret and Mystery known indeed to his true Disciples but hid from the Body of the Nation who would not see it and therefore should be blinded by God's just Judgment that they should not 〈◊〉 as was prophesied Isa. 6. 9 10. Or 3. both Security and Secresie signifying That it should certainly be fulfilled yet withall kept secret from the unbelieving Iews For why may not these two be joyned in the Exposition of this Text as they were in the Event By God's disciples he means those who were taught of God as it is expressed Isa. 54. 13. where this very Word is used or every one that hath heard and learned of the Father and therefore cometh unto Christ as it is explained Iohn 6. 45. 17 And x Or as this Particle is rendred Ier. 2. 32 35. and elsewhere Yet notwithstanding this dreadful Prophecy concerning the Unbelief and Rejection of Israel I will wait upon the LORD y I will refer my self and this Matter unto God casting my Care upon him and expecting the Accomplishment of his Promise in sending the Messiah and in conferring upon me and all believing Israelites all his Mercies and Blessings to be procured by and through his Blood and Merits that hideth his Face z That now doth and threatneth that he will hereafter withdraw his Favour and Blessing as this Phrase signifies Psal. 10. 1. 27. 9. and oft elsewhere from the house of Jacob a From the Family or People of Israel and I will look for him b With an Eye of Faith and Expectation till his time cometh 18 * Heb. 2. 13. Behold c It is worthy of your observation and admiration These Words are literally spoken by Isaiah concerning himself but withal mystically concerning Christ of whom he speaks more frequently and fully than any other Prophet and of whom he was an evident Type and therefore they are fitly applied to Christ Heb. 2. 13. I and the children d Either 1. his natural Children whose very Names were Prophetical and Signs of future Events ch 7. 3. 8. 3 4. or 2. his spiritual Children whom he had either begotten or brought up by his Ministry For the Prophets were called fathers not onely with respect to the young Prophets who were commonly called the sons of the prophets but also in relation to others as 2 Kings 2. 12. 13. 14. And this sence seems more probable than the former because it agrees best 1. with the following Words which seem to be too lofty and emphatical to be used concerning his natural Children for their Prophetical Names which if they were Signs could not properly be called Wonders 2. with the Context and scope of the Place which is to set forth the Incredulity of the Israelites and their Contempt and Rejection of Christ and of all his faithful Messengers both the Prophets who were sent as Harbingers before his coming and the Apostles who were Witnesses of his coming 3. with Heb. 2. 13. where they are expounded of spiritual Children whom the LORD hath given me are * Psal. 71. 7. Zech. 3. 8. for signs and for wonders e Are a Gazing-stock to and admired by them for our Folly in believing God's Promises For so the believing Iews now were to Ahaz and the generality of the People who thought it their Wisdom and Interest to procure Aid from Assyria and esteemed those Fools who upon pretence of relying upon God would neglect so great an Advantage And so the Prophet foretells that they should be when the Messiah did come which is the mystical as the other is the literal sence and so both of them may be meant in this place in Israel f Even amongst the Israelites who have been taught and do profess better things from the LORD of hosts g Which comes to pass by the wise Counsel and Providence of God in which I willingly acquiesce which dwelleth in mount Zion h Where the Temple now was and where the Messiah was to set up his Kingdom 19 And when they i The Israelites to whom I and my Children are Signs and Wonders who are fallen from God and his true Religion and Worship into Superstition and Idolatry and will endeavour to seduce you into the same impiety shall say unto you k My Children whom the Prophet here arms against the common Temptation seek unto them l For Advice and Help and seek no more to the Prophets who have hitherto deluded you with vain Words This was the Counsel of the ungodly and unbelieving Iews that have familiar spirits and unto wizards m Of whom see Levit. 19. 31. 20. 27. Deut. 18. 11. that * Chap. 29. 4. peep and that mutter n That speak with a puling and low Voice as these two Words signifie which they affected to do speaking rather inwardly in their Bellies than outwardly and audibly with their Mouths and Voice as the Title of Ventriloqui commonly given to them signifies should not a people seek unto their God o This Answer the Prophet puts into their Mouths to the foregoing Counsel Doth not every Nation in Cases of Difficulty or Distress seek to their own Gods for relief Much more should we do so that have the onely True God for our God for the living to the dead p Shall they seek which Words are easily understood out of the foregoing Clause for the living c. That Living Men should enquire of the Living God is proper and reasonable but it is highly absurd for them to forsake him and to seek to dead Idols either to the
Grace or rather 2. all the Good and Great Works which have been wrought for us all our wonderful Deliverances and singular Blessings come from thee And so the Argument is this God hath delivered us formerly upon all occasions and therefore he will still deliver us and give us Peace Which Inference is frequently made by Holy Men in Scripture ‖ Or for us in us l Heb. to or for us 13 O LORD our God * 2 Chron. 12. 8. other lords besides thee m Others besides thee who art our onely Iudge and King and Lawgiver Isa. 33. 22. and besides those Governours who have been set up by thee and have ruled us for thee and in subordination to thee even Foreign and Heathenish Lords such as the Philistins and lately the Assyrians have had dominion over us n Have exercised a Tyrannical Power over us but by thee onely o By thy Favour and Help by which alone and not by our Strength or Merits we have been rescued from their Tyranny will we make mention of thy Name p We will celebrate thy Praise and trust in thee for the future Thou onely hast given us both Ability and Occasion to magnifie thy Name whereas without thy Succour we had gone into the place of Silence where there is no remembrance of thee as is said Psal. 6. 5. 14 They are dead they shall not live they are deceased they shall not rise q Those Tyrants and Enemies are utterly and irrecoverably destroyed so as they shall never live or rise again to molest us Possibly he speaks of the miraculous Destruction of Sennacherib's Army before Ierusalem therefore r That they might be so effectually destroyed thou didst undertake the Work Or rather because as this Particle is used Numb 14. 43. Psal. 42. 6. thou hast c. as it follows hast thou visited and destroyed them and made all their memory to perish s Thou hast destroyed both them and theirs and all the Monuments or Memorials of their Greatness and Glory 15 Thou hast increased the nation t Heb. Thou hast added to the nation Which may be understood either 1. in way of Mercy of adding to their Numbers as our Translation takes it and so we have in effect the same Phrase 2 Sam. 24. 3. The Lord add to the people c. and Psal. 115. 14. in the Hebrew Text The Lord shall add upon or to you or 2. in way of Judgment of adding to their Plagues or Miscries of which we read Rev. 22. 18. in which sence the Phrase is found in the Hebrew Text Psal. 120. 3. What shall be added to thee and in that usual Form of Imprecation The Lord do so to me and more Ruth 1. 17. 1 Sam. 3. 16. c. where it is in the Hebrew The Lord do so to me and add And this sence seems to be favoured by the Context as also by the ancient Greek Translators who render the Words add to them evil or punishments And so the Word adding may be used emphatically and sarcastically God indeed will add to them but what Not Numbers and Power and Glory as they expected but Plagues or Judgments one after another This nation is supposed by the Current of Interpreters to be the People of Israel emphatically called the nation Possibly it may be the Assyrians of whom he spoke in the last Verse But this I propose with submission O LORD thou hast increased the nation thou art glorified u Thy Justice is glorified in their Punishment or Destruction thou hast removed it far unto all the ends of the earth x Which may be understood either 1. of Israel and that either in a way of Mercy Thou hast by destroying the Assyrians enlarged thy People who were shut up in Ierusalem so that now they may go to the remotest parts of the Land or in way of Judgment Thou hast removed thy People out of their own Land and suffered them to be carried Captive to the ends of the Earth Or 2. of the Assyrians Thou hast removed them from Ierusalem which they had besieged and caused them to flee into their own Country which in Scripture-phrase was in the ends of the earth of which see Isa. 5. 26. 13. 5. 16 O LORD in trouble have they y To wit thy People as appears both from the Matter of this Verse and from the following Verses visited thee z Come into thy Presence with their Prayers and Supplications as the next Clause explains it they poured out a Which notes the Plenty or rather the Earnestness of their Prayers as Psal. 42. 4. 142. 2â—… a †Heb. secret speech prayer b Heb. a muttering or lowly speech such as Charmers use and such as Hezekiah used when he was in great distress Isa. 38. 14. Like a crane or swallow so did I chatter I did mourn as a dove and such as is usual in case of great humiliation and dejection of Mind when thy chastning was upon them c When thou wast punishing them for their Sins 17 Like as * Joh. 16. 21. a woman with child that draweth near the time of her delivery is in pain and crieth out in her pangs so have we been d Such was our Anguish and Danger in thy sight e Whilst thou didst onely look upon us like a meer Spectator without affording us the least degree of Pity or Help Or this Phrase notes onely the reality of the Thing God was Witness of this our Misery and knoweth the Truth of what I say O LORD 18 We have been with child we have been in pain we have as it were brought forth wind f We have had the Torment of a Woman in Child-bearing but not the Comfort of a Living Child Ioh. 16. 21. for we have brought forth nothing but Wind all our Labours and Hopes were vain and unsuccessful The Prophet here represents their deplorable and desperate Condition before God appeared so eminently to deliver them we have not wrought any deliverance g We found that we were utterly unable to deliver our selves in the earth h Or in the land in our own Country where yet we had far greater Advantages than we could have had elsewhere neither have the inhabitants of the world i The Assyrians or our other Enemies for they are here opposed to God's People fallen 19 Thy dead men shall live k The Prophet here turneth his Speech to God's People and gives them a Cordial to support them in their deep Distress expressed in the foregoing Verse Thy dead Men are not like those v. 14. for they shall not live as I there said but thine shall live You shall certainly be delivered from all your Fears and Dangers Nothing is more frequent both in Scripture and other Authors than for great Calamities to be compared to death and Deliverance from them to life and reviving and resurrection
to stand the most miserable condition that men can fall into Psa. 36. 12. 7 I will mention q Whether this ought to be the beginning of a new Chapter or no is not material but certainly here begins a new matter which contains the Prophets prayer either in his own name or the Church's to the end of chap. 64. wherein he begins with mentioning the great kindnesses that God had shewn the Iews and that Emphatically setting it forth with the greatest advantages and the more either to aggravate their great unkindness or to give them some hope of finding him the like again in their distresses or by way of argument with God to shew them mercy because he had been so good to them the loving kindnesses of the LORD and the praises of the LORD according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us and the great goodness towards the house of Israel which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses 8 For he said r viz within himself of old when he made a Covenant with our Fathers and brought them out of Egypt Surely they are my people s In Covenant though they are unworthy of me yet I cannot but look upon them as my people their enemies would persuade themselves O they are not God's People but cast ouâ—…s that none cared for or looked after but God will own them children that will not lie t That will keep my Covenant they will not deal falsly with me that are under such obligations or I presume they will not though they did go after their Idols and prove unfaithful to me in serving Baal and Ashteroth c. Now I presume they will do so no more thus Parents are apt tenderly to think of those Children that they have been indulgent to that they will not offer to abuse their kindness thus God thinks the best of them or he intimates here what they are obliged to do though he knew they would do otherwise or they will not degenerate after I have renewed them so he was their Saviour u viz. On these hopes and on these Conditions he undertook the charge of them Exod. 19. 5 6. Psal. 81. 8 9. 10. or he so â—…e alone was their Saviour when none to save none to uphold then he saved them not Cyrus Zerubbabel Nehemiah c. But Christ himself 9 * Judg. 10. 16. In all their affliction he was afflicted x Because of all the afflictions they endured in Egypt this notes the Sympathy that is in Christ he having the same Spirit in him that the Church hath and her head and Father or in all their afflictions no affliction so the words may be read their afflictions were rather favours then afflictions all that befell them from the red Sea through the wilderness and then Tzar is taken actively he afflicted not this may note his Clemency their sting was taken out either way it maâ—… be read according to the different spelling of â—…o whether by Aleph or Vaâ—… The first seems the more genuin they that list to drive this notion further may consult the Latine Synopsis and the English Annotations and the angel of his presence y The same that conducted them through the wilderness called an Angel Exo. 33. 2. and his Presence ver 14. and Iehovah Exo. 13. 21. so that it must be the Lord Jesus Christ who appeared to Moses in the bush as Stephen doth interpret it Act. 7. 35. c. Other Angels are in his presence but they were not always he was ever so therefore so called by way of eminency hence the LXX express it not a Lâ—…gate or Angel but himself saved them z From the house of Bondage brought them thorough the red Sea the wilderness c. Their rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10. 4. * Deut. 7. 7 8. in his love and in his pity a This shews the ground of his kindness they were a stubborn Superstitious Idolatrous people yet Christs Love and pity saved them for all that It was because he loved them he redeemed them and he * Exod. 19. 4. Deut. 1. 31. Chap. 46. 3. bore them and carried b He left them not to shift for themselves but bare them as a Father his Child or an Eagle her young onâ—…s he carried them in the arms of his power see Chap. 46. 4. and on the wings of his Providence see Deut 32. 10 11 12. and the Notes on Deut. 1. 31. And he is said to do it of old To remember his ancient kindness for many Generations past Olam signifies an Eternity or a long time past as well as to come from the daies of Abraham or Moses from their Bondage in Egypt to the time of Isaiah and it is used as an Argument to move him to do so still he will carry her till he bring her unto his Father them all the days of old 10 But they rebelled c Many of their Rebellions we read of in Exodus and Numbers in their Travels The Lord tells Moses that they had tempted him ten times and therefore severely threatens them Numb 14. 22 23. There were three principal Times of their Rebellion 1. In the Wilderness where they murmured for want of Bread and Water 2. In Canaan in noâ—… destroying but onely making Tributary suâ—…h Nations as God commanded them to destroy 3. Before the Babylonian Captivity when they set themselves against the Prophets which Stephen chargeth upon them Acts 7. 51 52. Among which also we may reckon all their behaviours under their Iudges and their Kings Or we may understand it of their not answering God's End and Expectation and * Exod. 15. 24. Num. 14. 11. Psal. 78. 40 â—…6 95. 9. Eph. 4. 30. vexed his holy spirit d Spirit of his Holiness they vexed him by their obstinacy against his will and mind and walking contrary unto him not that there are such Passions in God but it is spoken after the manner of men as they are vexed when their will is crossed therefore he was turned to be their enemy e He overthrew them not onely in the Wilderness Psal. 78. 31 33 59 60 c. sending among them fiery Serpents Numb 21. 6. but even in Canaan stirring up against them Adversaries sometimes the Philistines anon the Midianites and then the Moabites c. and he fought against them 11 Then f Or yet he remembred g This relates either 1. To the People and then He is collectively taken and so it looks like the Language of the People in Babylon and must be read he shall remember Or 2. It may look back to their condition in the Wilderness and thus they may properly say Where is he or that God that delivered his People of old to do the like for us now there is a like phrase used by Elisha 2 King 2. 14. Or rather 3. To God as it
due time to do And they were very unwilling to part with them because of the tribute and service which they did receive and expect from them 11 Therefore they did set over them task-masters m Heb masters of tribute who were to exact from them the tribute required which was both mony and labour that their purses might be exhausted by the one their strength by the other and their spirits by both * Gen. 15. 13. to afflict n Or oppress or humble to spend their strength by excessive labours and so disenable them for the procreation of children them with their burdens and they built for Pharaoh treasure-cities o Where they laid the Kings money or corn which is reckoned among treasures 2 Chro. 17. 12. and 32. 27. and wherein a great part of the riches of Egypt consisted for they had corn enough not onely for themselves but to sell to other countries so that Egypt was accounted the granary of the Roman Empire Or defenced cities in which Garrisons were to be placed which seems best to agree with the place and use of them For they were in the borders of the land and among the Israelites which appears concerning the one from Gen. 47. 11. where the land in which they were placed is called Rameses which in Hebrew consists of the same letters with this Raamses and seems to be so called then by anticipation from the City of that name now built in it and may be reasonably presumed concerning the other and therefore it is most probable that they were built to keep the Israelites in subjection and to hinder them from going out of the land Pithom and Raamses 12 †Heb. and as they afflicted them so they multiplied c. But the more they afflicted them the more they multiplyed p Through Gods over-ruling providence and singular blessing which God gave them purposely to hasten first their sorer affliction and next and by that means their glorious deliverance and grew and they were grieved * Through envy and fear because of the children of Israel 13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour q Or cruelty or tyranny with hard words and cruel usage without mercy or mitigation This God permitted for wise and just reasons 1. as a punishment of their Idolatry into which divers of them fell there Ios. 24. 14. Ezek. 20 5 7 8. and 23. 8. 2. to wean them from the land of Egypt which otherwise was a plentiful and desirable land and to quicken their desires after Canaan 3. to prepare the way for Gods glorious works and Israels deliverance 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage * Psal. 81. 6. in morter and in brick and in all manner of service in the field r Which was the basest and most laborious of all their services all their service wherein they made them serve was with rigour 15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives s Such as not onely were employed about the Hebrew women but were Hebrews themselves not Egyptians as some suppose as may appear 1. because they are expresly called not the midwives of the Hebrews but the Hebrew midwives 2. the Egyptian midwives would not willingly employ their time and pains among the meanest and poorest of servants as these were And if they were sent in design by the King he had lost his end which was to cover his cruelty with cunning and to perswade the people that their death was not from his intention but from the chances and dangers of child-bearing 3. the Hebrew women as they had doubtless midwives of their own so they would never have admitted others 4. they are said to fear God ver 17. 21. of which the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other t You are not to think that these were the onely midwives to so many thousands of Hebrew women but they were the most eminent among them and it may be for their excellency in that profession called to the service of some Egyptian Ladies and by them known to Pharaoh who might therefore think by their own interest and by the promise of great rewards or by severe threatnings to oblige them to comply with his desires and if he met with the desired success by them he meant to proceed further and to engage the rest in like manner Puah 16 And he said When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stools u A seat used by women when ready to be delivered conveniently framed for the midwives better discharge of her office if it be a son then ye shall kill him x Which it was not difficult for them to do without much observation but if it be a daughter then she shall live y Either 1. because he feared not them but the males onely and some adde that he was advised by one of their magicians that a male-child should be born of the Israelites who should be a dreadful scourge to the Egyptians or 2. they reserved them for their lust or for service or for the increase of their people and the raising of a fairer breed by them 17 But the midwives feared God z More then the King and therefore chose to obey God rather than the King their commands being contrary each to other and did not as the King of Egypt commanded them but saved the men-children alive 18 And the King of Egypt called for the midwives and said unto them Why have ye done this thing and have saved the men-children alive 19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women for they are lively a Or vigorous and active in promoting the birth of their own children or like the beasts which without any help of others bring forth their young So the Hebrew word signifies and so there is onely a defect of the particle of similitude which is frequent as I have noted before and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them b This might be no lye as many suppose but a truth concerning many of them and they do not affirm it to be so with all And so it might be either because their daily and excessive labours joyned with the fears of the execution of the Kings command whereof they seem to have gotten notice did hasten their birth as the same causes do commonly in other women or because they understanding their danger would not send for the Midwives but committed themselves to Gods providence and the care of some of their neighbours present with them So here was nothing but truth though they did not speak the whole truth which they were not obliged to do 20 Therefore c Because they feared God and spared the children ver 17 whereby they exposed themselves to the Kings displeasure because they would not offend God
work peculiar to the Priest and not to be done by Moses without Gods express command 28 And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle 29 And he put the altar of burnt-offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation and offered upon it the burnt-offering and the meat-offering g For the consecration of the Altar this being the first sacrifice as the LORD commanded Moses 30 And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar and put water there to wash withal 31 And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat 32 When they went in to the tent of the congregation and when they came near unto the altar they washed as the LORD commanded Moses 33 And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar and set up the hanging of the court-gate so Moses finished the work 34 * â—…ev 16. 2. Numb 9. 15. 1 King 8. 10. Isa. 6. 4. Rev. 15. 8. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the LORD h i. e. The glorious presence of God which having been forfeited and lost was now returned to them and took its habitation among them filled the tabernacle 35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent i Partly because of the extraordinary thickness and brightness of the Cloud which both dazzled his eyes and struck him with horrour as 1 King 8. 11. and partly because of his great reverence and dread of that eminent and glorious appearance of God and partly because he was not called to it as he was not able to go up into the mount till he was called Exod. 24. 16. of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle 36 And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle the children of Israel †Heb. journeyed went onward in all their journeys 37 But if the cloud were not taken up then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up 38 For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day and fire k The same pillar which in the day time was like a cloud in the night time had the appearance of fire See Exod. 13. 21. was on it by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys ANNOTATIONS ON LEVITICUS The ARGUMENT THis Book containing the actions of about one monthes space acquainteth us with the Levitical Ceremonies used after the tabernacle was erected and anointed in the wilderness and is therefore called Leviticus It treats of laws concerning persons and things unclean and clean by infirmity or accident as also purifyings in general once a year and divers particular cleansings with a brief repetition of Divers laws Chap. 19. together with certain feasts of 7 years rest of the Iubilee and the redemption of things consecrated to God c. but especially of such Ceremonies as were used about offerings and sacrifices which were both expiatory for trespasses wittingly or unwittingly committed whether by the people or the priests and also Eucharistical in the owning of Gods blessings here are declared also laws for the regulating of these and prescribing the lawful time for marriages here is set down how several abominable sins are punishable by the Magistrate and how these things are to be managed by certain persons appropriated to the tribe of Levi whose office is confirmed from heaven and the male-administration of it threatned and the Iudgement particularly inflicted on Nadab and Abihu for an Example here are also promises and threatnings to the observers or breakers of this law CHAP. I. 1 AND the LORD called unto Moses a Who stood without Exod. 40. 35. waiting for Gods call and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation b From the mercy-seat in the Tabernacle saying 2 Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them * chap. 22. 18. If any man of you bring an offering c There are divers kinds of sacrifices here prescribed some by way of acknowledgement to God for mercies either desired or received others by way of satisfaction to God for mens sins others were meer exercises of piety and devotion And the reason why there are so many kinds of them was partly respect to the childish estate of the Iews who by the custom of nations and their own natural inclinations were much addicted to outward rites and ceremonies that they might have full employment of that kind in Gods service and thereby be kept from temptations to Idolatry and partly to represent as well the several perfections of Christ the true sacrifice and the various benefits of his death as the several duties which men owe to their creator and redeemer all which could not be so well expressed by one sort of sacrifices unto the LORD ye shall bring your offering of the cattle even of the herd and of the flock d Or of the sheep though the Hebrew word contains both sheep and goats as appears both from the use of the word Gen. 12. 16. and 2â—… 9. and 38. 17. and from ver 10. and other places of Scripture Now God chose these kinds of creatures for his sacrifices either 1. in opposition to the Egyptian Idolatry to which divers of the Israelites had been used and were still in danger of revolting to again that the frequent destruction of these creatures might bring such silly Deities into contempt Or 2. because these are the fittest representations both of Christ and of true Christians as being gentle and harmless and patient and most useful to men Or 3. as the best and most profitable creatures with which it is fit God should be served and which we should be ready to part with when God requires us to do so Or 4. as things most common and obvious that men might never want a sacrifice when they needed or God required it 3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice e Strictly so called such as was to be all burnt the skin excepted Levit. 7. 8. See Gen. 8. 20. and 1 King 3. 15. For otherwise every sacrifice was burnt more or less These sacrifices did partly signifie that the whole man in whose stead the sacrifice was offered was to be intirely and unreservedly offered or devoted to Gods service and that the whole man did deserve to be utterly consumed if God should deal severely with him and directed us to serve the Lord with all singleness of heart without self-ends and to be ready to offer to God even such sacrifices or services wherein we our selves should have no part nor benefit of the herd let him offer a male f As being more perfect than the female Mal. 1. 14. and more truly representing Christ. without blemish g Of which see Exod. 29. 1. Levit. 22. 22 c. To signify
the rulers of tens or hundreds or the like who as they did many of them partake with the people in other rebellions so probably were involved in this guilt Now these are to be hanged up as other malefactours and condemned persons were Deut. 21. 23. 2 Sam. 21. 6. before the LORD n To the vindication of Gods honour and justice against the sun o i. e. Publickly as their sin was publick and scandalous and speedily before the Sun go down But withal this phrase may signifie that these also must be taken down about sunsetting as other malefactours were Deut. 21. 23. that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel 5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel * Exod. 32. 27. slay ye every one his men p i. e. Those under his charge for as these 70 were chosen to assist Moses in the government so doubtless the care and management of the people was distributed among them by just and equal proportions that were joyned unto Baal-Peor 6 And behold q This was done either 1. Before Gods command to Moses and by him to the Judges ver 4 5. such transpositions and disorders being not unusual in sacred story Or rather 2. In the order it is related to wit when Moses had given the charge to the Judges and as it may seem before the execution of it otherwise it is probable he would not have been so bold and foolish to have run upon present and certain ruin when the examples were fresh and frequent before his eyes one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren r i. e. Into the camp of the Israelites or to his Friends and Relations in his tent whither he carried her ver 8. for his or their fleshly satisfaction a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses s An argument of intolerable impudence and contempt of God and of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation t i. e. The rulers of the congregation with divers of the people of the children of Israel who were weeping u Bewailing the abominable wickedness of the people and the dreadful judgments of God and imploring Gods mercy and favour before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation 7 And * Psal. 106. 30. when Phinehas the * Exod 6. 25. son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest saw it he rose up from amongst the congregation and took a javelin in his hand 8 And he went after the man of Israel into the ‖ Or brothel tent x Or Brothel-house For since they gave way to such leud practises no doubt they singled out convenient places for their wickedness and thrust both of them through y Which is no warrant for private persons to take upon them the execution of justice upon any though the greatest malefactors because Phinehas was himself a man in great authority and power and did this after the command given by Moses to the rulers to slay these transgressours and in the very sight and no doubt by the consent of Moses himself and also by the special instinct and direction of Gods spirit the man of Israel and the woman through her belly z Or in her brothel-house for the word is the same before used and translated tent and it may be called hers because she chose or used that place for her wicked purposes as the rest doubtless did other places of like nature so the plague a Either the pestilence or some other sudden and grievous mortality was stayed from the children of Israel 9 And * 1 Cor. 10. 8. those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand b Object They were but 23000. 1 Cor. 10. 8. Answ. The odde thousand here added were slain by the Judges according to the order of Moses the rest by the immediate hand of God but both sorts died of the plague the word being used as oft it is for the sword or hand or stroke of God 10 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 11 * Psal. 106. â—… Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel while he was zealous c Fervent and resolute and valiant for my sake d For my satisfaction and vindication among them that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousie 12 Wherefore say Behold I give unto him my covenant of peace e i. e. The covenant of an everlasting priesthood as it is expounded v. 13. which is called a covenant of peace partly with respect to the happy effect of this heroical action of his whereby he made peace between God and his people and partly with regard to the principal end and use of the Priestly office which was constantly to do that which Phinehas now did even to mediate between God and Men to obtain and preserve his own and Israels peace and reconciliation with God by offering up sacrifices and incense and prayers to God on their behalf Numb 16. 47 48. as also by turning them away from iniquity which is the onely peace-breaker and by teaching and pressing the observation of that Law which is the onely bond of their peace Mal. 2. 5 6 7. 13 And he shall have it and his seed after him f Quest. What advantage had he by this promise seeing the thing here promised was due to him by birth Answ. 1. The same blessing may be oft-times promised as the Kingdom was to David and the renewing of this promise might feem convenient here to signifie that bloodshed was so far from polluting him and thereby casting him out of the Priesthood that it was a mean to confirm him in it 2. This promise secured him and his against divers contingences which otherwise have been befallen him or them as that he should live longer than his father else he could not have been the High-priest that he should be preserved from those blemishes which might have rendred him uncapable of the Priesthood which were many that he should have a seed and they such as were fit for that office even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood g i. e. To continue as long as the Law and Commonwealth of the Jews did Quest. How was this verified seeing the Priesthood went from Eleazars to Ithamars line in Eli and three or four of his Successours Answ. 1. This promise as others of the like nature was conditional and therefore might be made void and of none effect by the miscarriages of Phinehas his sons as it seems it was and thereupon a like promise was made to Eli of the line of Ithamar that he and his should walk before the Lord to wit in the office of High-Priest for ever which also for his and their sins was made void 1 Sam. 2. 30. Answ. 2. That was but a short interruption and not considerable in
Helekites 31 And of Asriel the family of the Asrielites and of Sechem the family of the Sechemites 32 And of Shemida the family of Shemidaites and of Hepher the family of the Hepherites 33 And * chap. 〈◊〉 36. 11. Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons but daughters and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah and Noah Hoglah Milcah and Tirzah 34 These are the families of Manasseh and those that were numbred of them fifty and two thousand and seven hundred e Whereas they were but 32200. in Numb 1. 35. So they are now increased above 20000. according to that prophecy Gen. 49. 22. 35 These are the sons of Ephraim after their families of Shuthelah the family of the Shuthalhites of Becher f Called also Bered 1 Chron. 7. 20. the family of the Bachrites of Tahan the family of the Tahanites 36 And these are the sons of Shuthelah of Eran g Called Edan or Hadan 1 Chron. 7. 26. the letters Daleth and Resh being alike in the Hebrew tongue and therefore oft changed as is evident from Scripture-instances the family of the Eranites 37 These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those that were numbred of them thirty and two thousand and five hundred These are the sons of Joseph after their families 38 * 1 Chro. 〈◊〉 The sons of Benjamin h Who were ten Gen. 46. 21. whereof onely five are here mentioned the rest probably together with their families being extinct ere this time after their families of Bela the family of the Belaites of Ashbel i Called also Iedaiel 1 Chron. 7. 6. the family of the Ashbelites of Ahiram k Called also Aharab 1 Chron. 8. 1. and Ehi Gen. 46. 21. the family of the Ahiramites 39 Of Shupham l Called also Shuppim 1 Chron. 7. 12. and Muppim Gen. 46. 21. the family of the Shuphamites of Hupham m Called Huppim Gen. 46. 21. 1 Chron. 7. 12. the family of the Huphamites 40 And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman of Ard n Or Arde and by transposition Adar 1 Chron. 8. 3. the family of the Ardites and of Naaman the family of the Naamites 41 These are the sons of Benjamin after their families and they that were numbred of them were fourty and five thousand and six hundred 42 These are the sons of Dan after their families of Shuham o Called by transposition Hushim Gen. 46. 23. the family of the Shuhamites These are the families of Dan after their families p The greater families subdivided into lesser families 43 All the families of the Shuhamites according to those that were numbred of them were threescore and four thousand and four hundred q All from one son and family whereas of Benjamin who had ten sons and here five families there were onely 45600. to shew that the increase of families depends singly upon Gods blessing and good pleasure 44 * 1 Chro. 〈◊〉 Of the children of Asher after their families of Jimna the family of the Jimnites of Jesui r Called Isui Gen. 46. 17. where also there is another son of Asher named to wit Ishuah whose family seems now to be lost the family of the Jesuites of Beriah the family of the Berilites 45 Of the sons of Beriah of Heber the family of the Heberites of Malchiel the family of the Malchielites 46 And the name of the daughter of Asher was Sarah s Who seems to be here mentioned because she was a woman of masculine wisdom or courage or other vertue 47 These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those that were numbred of them who were fifty and three thousand and four hundred t Whereas they were onely 41500 in Numb 1. 41. 48 * Gen. 46. 24. 1 Chro. 7. 13. Of the sons of Naphtali after their families of Jahzeel the family of the Jahzeelites of Guni the family of the Gunites 49 Of Jezer the family of the Jezerites of * 1 Chro. 7. 13. Shallum Shillem the family of the Shillemites 50 These are the families of Naphtali according to their families and they that were numbred of them were forty and five thousand and four hundred 51 These were the numbred of the children of Israel six hundred thousand and a thousand seven hundred and thirty u Very nigh as many as they were before Numb 1. 46. so wisely and marvellously did God at the same time manifest his justice in cutting off so vast a number and his mercy in giving such a speedy and numerous supply and his truth in both 52 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying 53 Unto these x To these families now mentioned the land shall be divided y By lot ver 55. The land was divided into nine parts and an half respect being had in such division to the goodness as well as to the largeness of the several portions and the lot gave each tribe their part for an inheritance according to the number of names z i. e. Of the persons names being oft put for persons as Act. 1. 15. Phil. 2. 9. Rev. 3. 4. and 11. 13. The meaning is that the share of each tribe was divided amongst the several families to some more to some less according to the number of the persons of each family Numb 33. 54. And withal if one of the lots or portions proved too large or too little for all the families and persons of that tribe in this case they might either give part of their portion to another tribe as Simeon and Dan had parts of Iudahs share Ios. 19. 4 40. or take away a part from the portion belonging to another tribe 54 * chap. 33. 54. To many thou a Thou Moses partly by thy self for he divided the land beyond Iordan to the two tribes and an half and partly by thy successour Ioshua whom thou shalt empower and command to do it shalt †Heb. multiply â—…is inheritance give the more inheritance and to few thou shalt †Heb. diminish â—…is inheritance give the less inheritance to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbred of him b According to the number of the families and persons now numbred and being 20 years old no regard being to be had either to any increase of the number by those who came up to that age between this time and the division of the land or to the diminution of this number by the sword of Canaanites or otherwise 55 Notwithstanding the land shall be * chap. 33. 54. Josh. 11. 23. and 14. 2. divided by lot c Which lots seem to have been cast onely for the tribes not as some would have it for the several families for the distribution of it to them was left to the rulers wisdom according to the rule now given ver 54. Yet if any lot was too large
LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob to give thee great and goodly cities * Psa. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which thou buildedst not 11 And houses full of all good things which thou filledst not and wells digged which thou diggedst not vineyards and olive-trees which thou plantedst not * Chap. â—… 〈◊〉 â—… when thou shalt have eaten and be full 12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of †Heb. 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 bondage 13 Thou shalt * Chap. 1â—… 〈◊〉 2â—… 〈◊〉 â—… Mat 4. 1â—… Luk. 4. â—… fear the LORD thy God and serve him and shalt swear g When thou hast a call and just cause to swear by his name h Understand onely as Deut. 5. 2. not by Idols or any Creatures 14 Ye shall not go after other gods of the gods of the people which are round about you 15 For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you i Heb. In the midst of you to see and observe all your wayes and your turnings aside to other Gods lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee and destroy thee from off the face of the earth 16 * Maâ—… 4. 〈◊〉 Luk. 4. 1â—… Ye shall not tempt the LORD k i. e. Not provoke him as the following instance explains Sinners especially presumptuous sinners are oft said to tempt God i. e. to make a tryal of God whether he be what he pretends to be so wise as to see their sins so just and true and powerful as to take vengeance on them for their sins concerning which they are very apt to doubt because of the present impunity and prosperity of many such persons See Numb 14. 22. Psal. 78. 18. Mat. 4. 7. Acts 5. 9. your God * Exod. 〈◊〉 Numb 〈◊〉 as ye tempted him in Massah 17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God and his testimonies and his statutes which he hath commanded thee 18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD l Not that which is right in thine own eyes as many superstitious and sinful practises seem right and good to evil minded men Let Gods will and word and not thine own fancy or invention be thy rule in Gods service Good actions are oft said to be right in Gods sight as Ier. 34. 15. Act. 4. 19. and evil actions are oft said to be right in our own eyes as Deut. 12. 8. Iudg. 17. 6. that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers 19 * Num. 33. 〈◊〉 To cast out all thine enemies from before thee as the LORD hath spoken 20 And when thy son asketh thee †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in time to come saying What mean the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments which the LORD our God hath commanded you 21 Then thou shalt say unto thy son we were Pharaohs bondmen in Egypt and the LORD brought us out of Egypt * Exod. â—… 〈◊〉 and 13. â—… with a mighty hand 22 And the LORD shewed signs and wonders great and †Heb. 〈◊〉 sore upon Egypt upon Pharaoh and upon his houshold before our eyes 23 And he brought us out from thence that he might bring us in to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers 24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes to fear the LORD our God for our good m The benefit of Obedience is ours not Gods Iob 35. 7. and therefore our Obedience is highly reasonable and absolutely necessary alwayes that he might preserve us alive as it is this day 25 †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 24. 13. And it * 〈◊〉 1â—… 5. shall be our righteousness n Heb. 〈◊〉 shall be to us We shall be owned and pronounced by God to be truly righteous and holy persons if we sincerely obey him otherwise we shall be declared to be unrighteous and ungodly persons and all our profession of Religion will appear to be in Hypocrisie Or 〈◊〉 shall be to us or witâ—… us For as the Hebrew word rendred 〈◊〉 is very oft put for 〈◊〉 as Psal. 24. 5. and 36. 10. and 51. 14. Prov. 1â—… 2. and 11. 4. 〈◊〉 9. 16 c. so this sence seem best to agree both with the Scripture use of this phrase in which righteousness seldom or never to my remembrance but 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 frequently is said to be to us or with us as 2 Sam. 15. 20. Psal. 89. 24. Prov. 14. 22. Gal. 6. 16. 2 Ioh. 3. and with the foregoing verse and argument God saith he v. 24. commanded these things for our good that he might preserve us alive as it is this day And â—…th he in this verse this is not all for as he hath done us good so he will go on to do us more and more good and Gods 〈◊〉 shall be to us or with us in the remainder of our lives and forever if we observe c. if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God as he hath commanded us CHAP. VII 1 WHen the * 〈◊〉 31. 3. LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it and hath cast out many nations before thee the Hittite and the Girgashite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite seven Nations a There were ten in Gen. 15. 19. But this being some hundreds of years after that it is not strange if three of them were either destroyed by Forreign or Domestick wars or by â—…tion and marriage united with and swallowed up in some of the rest greater and mightier than thou 2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee thou shalt smite them and * 〈◊〉 33. 52. utterly destroy them * 〈◊〉 1â—… 〈◊〉 10. 28 〈◊〉 11. 11 12 thou shalt †〈◊〉 â—…3 32. 〈◊〉 1â—… 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Josh. 2. 〈◊〉 9. 15. 〈◊〉 1. 24. make no covenant with them b To spare them or permit them to dwell with thee in the land Other Nations had more favour but these were for their great wickedness and for the good of Israel devoted to utter destruction nor shew mercy unto them 3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son nor his daughter thou shalt not take to thy son 4 For they will turn away thy son from following me that they may serve other gods c i. e. There is manifest danger of Apostacy and Idolatry from such matches Which reason doth both limit the Law to such of these as were unconverted otherwise Salmon marryed 〈◊〉 Mat. 1. 5. and enlarge it to
their hearts bethink themselves q Heb. bring back their hearts to wit their Sin Expressed ver 46. and implied in the following word Repent in the land whither they were carried captives and repent and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives saying r Sensibly and with an honest heart We have sinned and have done preversly we have committed wickedness 48 And so return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul s i. e. Sincerely Universally and Stedfastly in the land of their enemies which led them away captive and * Dan. 6. 10. pray unto thee toward their land which thou gavest unto their fathers the city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy Name 49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling-place and maintain their ‖ Or right Heb. judgment cause t Heb. their right against their Invaders and Oppressors For they had forfeited all their Rights to God onely but not to their Enemies whom though God used as scourges to chastise his Peoples Sins yet they had no pretence of Right to their Land nor any regard to it but onely minded the satisfaction of their own Lusts and Interests See Isa. 10. 5 6. and 47. 6. Zech. 1. 15. 50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee and * Psa. 106. 46. give them compassion before them who carryed them away captive that they may have compassion on them u i. e. May gently use them whilst they are there and proclaim Liberty to their Captives to go to their own Land 51 For they be thy people x For howsoever they may sin against thee or suffer from men yet still remember that they are thy peculiar People and therefore do thou pity and pardon and save them and thine inheritance which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt from the * Jer. 11. 4 midst of the furnace of iron y So called either from the Metal melted in it or rather from the Matter of which it consisted an Iron Furnace being more hot and terrible than one of Brick or Stone He understands hereby their cruel Bondage and painful Labours See on Deut. 4. 20. 52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant and unto the supplication of thy people Israel to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee 53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth to be thine inheritance z Thou hast begun to build a Work of great and glorious Mercy to them do not give occasion to thine Enemies to think thou wast unable to finish it or that thou art unstable in thy ways and Counsels or unkind to thine own Children * Exod. 19. â—… as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt O LORD GOD. 54 And it was so that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD he arose from before the altar of the LORD from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven 55 And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice saying 56 Blessed be the LORD that hath given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he promised * Deut. 12. 10. there hath not ‡ Heb fallen failed one word of all his good ‡ Heb. word Jer. 29. 1â—… promises a See the like Iosh. 21. 45. and 23. 14. 2 King 10. 10. which he ‡ Heb. spake promised by the hand of Moses his servant 57 The LORD our God be with us b By the presence of his Grace and Mercy as he was with our fathers let him not leave us nor forsake us 58 That he may incline our heart unto him c That he may not onely bless us with outward Prosperity and Glory but especially with Spiritual Blessings and that as he hath given us his Word and Statutes to teach and direct us so he would by his Holy Spirit effectually incline and engage our Hearts to keep and obey them to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments which he commanded our fathers 59 And let these my words wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night that he ‡ Heb. do the judgment maintain the cause of his servant d i. e. Of me as ver 28 29 30. their King and consequently of all my Successors and the cause of his people Israel e According to mine or their various necessities and exigencies ‡ Heb. the thing of a day in his day at all times as the matter shall require 60 That all the people of the earth may know f Both by our vertuous and holy Lives to which thou inclinest us by thy Grace and by the eminent manifestations of thy Power and Goodness in defending and delivering us from all the assaults and devices of our Enemies that * 35 the LORD is God and that there is none else 61 Let your heart therefore be perfect g i. e. Sincere and serious in your purposes of Obedience for sinless Perfection he himself taught them was not to be expected here Eccles. 7. 20. with the LORD our God to walk in his statutes and to keep his commandments as at this day 62 ¶ And * 2 Chron. 7. 4. the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifice before the LORD 63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice h By the hands of the Priests of peace-offerings which he offered unto the LORD two and twenty thousand oxen and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep i Not all in one day but in the 7 or it may be in the 14 days mentioned ver 65. so k i. e. By these Sacrifices and Holy Exercises the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD l i. e. Began to set it apart for the Work and Service of God 64 The * 2 Chron. 7. 7. same day did the king hallow the middle of the court m To wit of the Priests Court in which the great Altar was This he Consecrated as he did the great Altar to wit by Sacrifices but with this difference That he Consecrated That for lasting and perpetual use but This onely for the present time and occasion being warranted to do so both by the necessity of it for God's Service and for the present Solemn Work for which the Brazen Altar was not sufficient as it here follows and by the direction of God's Spirit where with Solomon was endowed as being a Prophet as well as a King Here therefore he suddenly reared up divers Altars which after this
for chariot and we will fight against them in the plain and surely we shall be stronger than they And he hearkned unto their voice and did so 26 And it came to pass at the return of the year that Benhadad numbred the Syrians and went up to Aphek l Not that in Iudah of which Iosh. 13. 4. and 15. 53. but that in Asher of which Iosh. 19. 30. Iudg. 1. 31. nigh unto which was the great Plain of Galilee And this seems to be one of those Cities which Benhadad's Father had taken from Israel ver 34. Here also the Syrians might Retreat if they should be worsted ‡ Heb. to the War with Israel to fight against Israel 27 And the children of Israel were numbred and ‖ Or were Victualled were all present m i. e. All the Forces of the Israelites were here gathered together to oppose the Syrians so if those had been Conquered all had been lost and went against them n Being perswaded and encouraged so to do partly to prevent the Mischiefs of a Siege in Samaria and the waste of all the rest of their Country and partly by the remembrance of their former Success and an expectation of the same Assistance from God again and the children of Israel pitched before them o Probably upon some Hilly Ground where they might secure themselves and watch for Advantage against their Enemies which may be the reason why the Syrians â—…rst not Assault them before the Seventh Day ver 29. like two little flocks of kids p i. e. Few and Weak and Heartless being also for conveniency of Fighting and that they might seem to be more than they were divided into Two Bodies but the Syrians filled the country 28 ¶ And there came a man of God and spake unto the king of Israel and said Thus â—…aith the LORD Because the Syrians have said q Which he knew either by common Report strengthned by their present choice of a Plain Ground for the Battel or rather by Revelation from God who discovered their secret Counsels 2 King 6. 12. The LORD is God of the hills but he is not God of the valleys therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand and ye shall know that I am the LORD r To wit The Universal Lord of all Places and Persons and Things 29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days and so it was that in the seventh day the battel was joyned and the children of Israel â—…low of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day 30 But the rest fled to Aphek in the city and the wall s Or the walls the Singular Number for the Plural than which nothing more frequent of the City or of some great Castle or Fort in or near the City in which they were now Fortifying themselves or of some part of the City where they lay Which might possibly happen through Natural Causes but most probably was Effected by the Mighty Power of God then sending some sudden Earthquake or violent Storm of Wind which threw down the Wall or Walls upon them or doing this by the Ministry of Angels Which cannot be incredible to any Man except to him that denies the Truth of all the Miracles Recorded in the Old and New Testament which being Attested many of them by Iews and Heathens it is the height of Folly and Impudence to deny For if ever Miracle was to be Wrought now seems to have been the proper time and season for it when the Blasphemous Syrians denied the Soveraign and Infinite Power of God and thereby in some fort obliged him for his own Honour to give a Proof of it and to shew That he was the God of the Plains as well as of the Mountains and that he could as effectually Destroy them in their strongest Holds as in the open Fields and make the very Walls to whose strength they trusted for their Defence to be the Instruments of their Ruine But it may be further observed that it is not said That all these were killed by the fall of this Wall but onely that the wall fell upon them Killing some and Wounding others as is usual in those Cases Nor is it necessary that the Wall should fall upon every Individual Person but it is sufficient to justifie this Phrase if it fell upon the main Body of them for the Words in the Hebrew run thus the Wall fell upon 27000 not of the men that are left as we render it but which were left of that great Army fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left and Benhadad fled and came into the city t Either 1. Out of the Fields as the rest of his Army did Which is distinctly and particularly noted of him because he was the most Eminent Person in it and the Head of it Compare the Title of Psal. 18. Or 2. Aâ—… and from the noise and report of that Terrible Fall of the Wall or Walls which possily might be in the outside or Suburbs of the City from whence he â—…led further into the City ‖ Or from chamber to chamber ‡ Heb. unto a chamber within a chamber into an inner chamber u Or a chamber within a chamber where he supposed he might lye hid till he had an opportunity of making an Escape or of obtaining Mercy 31 ¶ And his servants said unto him Behold now we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings x More merciful than others because that Religion which they had professed taught them Humanity and obliged them to shew Mercy let us I pray thee put sackcloth on our loins and ropes upon our heads y As a testimony of our sorrow for undertaking this War and that we have justly forfeited our Lives for it which we submit to their mercy 〈◊〉 and go out to the king of Israel peradventure he will save thy life 32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes on their heads and came to the king of Israel and said Thy servant Benhadad saith I pray thee let me live And he said Is he yet alive he is my brother z I do not onely freely Pardon him but Honour and Love him as my Brother 33 Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him and did hastily catch it a Or they took that Word for a good token and made haste and snatched it i. e. that Word from him i. e. from his mouth they repeated the word again to try whether the King would own it or it onely drop't casually from him or made haste to know whether it was from him i. e. Whether he spoke this from his heart or onely in dissimulation or design for it seemed too good news to be true and they said Thy brother Benhadad b Understand liveth for that he enquired after ver 32. Then he said
us in the mitigation of thy Judgments and hast given us such deliverances as this m So full so sudden and unexpected and amazing not onely to our enemies but also to our selves 14 Should we again break thy commandments n Was this a fit and just requital of all thy kindnesses or was this thy end and design in these actions or wilst thou take this well from our hands and joyn in affinity with the people of these abominations I wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us so that there should be no remnant nor escaping o Can we reasonably expect any thing from thee less than utter ruine 15 O LORD God of Israel thou art righteous p A just and holy God who dost hate and wilst infallibly punish sin and sinners Or thou art merciful as appears from hence that notwithstanding all our sins thou hast not utterly destroyed us but left a remnant of us The Hebrew word here rendred righteous is oft used for merciful as is well known to all the learned for we remain yet escaped q Or though we remain c. i. e. Though thou hast yet spared us in part yet thou art righteous and therefore wilt certainly punish and destroy us according to our deserts if we do not repent of and reform this great wickedness as it is this day behold we are before thee in our trespasses r We are here in thy presence and so are all our sins we are arraigning our selves before thy Tribunal acknowledging our selves to be vile offenders and thee to be just if thou destroy us for we cannot stand before thee s To wit in Judgment as that word is oft used as Psal. 130. 3. Compare Psal. 1. 5. we must needs fall and perish at thy presence as the phrase is Psal. 9. 3. because of this t Because of this our great guilt and the aggravations of it CHAP. X. 1 NOw when Ezra had prayed and when he had confessed weeping and casting himself down before the house of God there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children a Awakened by the words and example of this holy Priest and great Potentate So inexpressible is the good which is done by the good example and the evil which is done by the bad example of a great Person or of a Minister The fame of his great passion of grief and of his many and publick expressions thereof in the Court before the Temple being in an instant dispersed over all the City brought a great company together for the people †〈…〉 wept very sore b Being greatly affected with Ezra's prayer and with the common sin 2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel one of the sons of Elam answered and said unto Ezra We have trespassed c He saith we either 1. Because he was guilty in this matter Or rather 2. In the name of the people and their several Families and his own amongst the rest For this mans name is not in the following Catalogue but there we have his Father Iehiel and his Fathers Brethren five other Sons of his Grandfather Elam v. 26. It was therefore an evidence of his great Courage and good Conscience that he durst so freely and fully discharge his duty whereby he shewed that he honoured God more than his nearest and dearest Relations against our God and have taken d To wit into conjugal society with our selves strange wives of the people of the land yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing e In case of our repentance and reformation Therefore let us not sorrow like persons without hope nor sit down in despair but let us fall upon action and amend our errours and then trust to Gods mercy 3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to put away all the wives f Which though it may seem harsh yet is not unjust if it be considered 1. That Marriages made between some prohibited Persons as suppose between a Father and his Daughter a Brother and a Sister are not only unlawful but void Marriages and ipso facto null by the political laws of civil Nations And therefore these Marriages with Idolatrous and Heathen Women being expresly and severely forbidden by God might well be disannulled And it was one of good Theodosius his laws that those actions which were done against law should be accounted not only unlawful but null 2. That there were many peculiar laws given to the Jews concerning the Marrying and putting away of Wives as hath been observed before in their proper places and therefore it is not strange if there be something more in this case then is now usual with us 3. Supposing the matrimonial tye had continued yet they might be excluded from co-habitation with them as a just punishment upon them for the willful breach of a known and positive law of God and such as are born of them g This may seem harder than the former but many things may be said 1. Whatsoever evil befall either them or their Children they had all reason to accept it as the just and deserved fruit of their own sin 2. That Children may and sometimes do suffer at least temporal evils for their Parents sins or upon occasion of them is most evident both by the Scripture instances and by the laws and usages of Nations in some cases 3. This may seem to have been a necessary part of severity partly as a proper punishment of the Parents sin herein and to deter others more effectually from the like practices partly to prevent the corruption of their other Children by the conversation and society of this ungodly and Idolatrous brood and partly lest such Children being continually present with them and stealing into their affections might at last prevail with them to take their ejected Wives again 4. These Children were only cast out of the Families and Commonwealth of Israel but were not utterly forsaken and ruined but due care was probably taken by Authority that they should have some provision made for them some care taken about their Education in the Jewish Religion c. according to the counsel of my lord h Either 1. As thou counsellest and desirest us to do Or 2. Let us do it in such manner as thou shalt think fit and agreeable to the Law as it follows for it requires great caution as being a matter of no small difficulty and of those that tremble at the * 〈◊〉 â—… 2 3. commandment of our God i And of other serious and religious persons who may with thee consider and regulate the business and let it be done according to the law k This is meant either 1. Of the matter of the business let that be done which the Law requires let them be put away Or 2. Of the manner of it which must be
with his right hand that I should not fall under my burthen He upheld my spirit and person and cause 6. * Psal. 27. 3 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about p So that I see no humane way to escape 7. Arise q Bestir thyself on my behalf and be no longer as an idle spectator of my Miseries O LORD save me O my God r Who art mine by special relation and covenant and I am thy son and thy servant Lord save thine own * Psal. 31. 7 8. for thou hast smitten all mine enemies s Thou hast hitherto helped me do not now leave me upon the cheek-bone t Which implies either contempt and reproach as this phrase signifies 1. Kings 22. 24. Mich. 5. 1. Iohn 18. 22. and 19. 3. or the smartness and soreness of the blow whereby as the next clause explains it their teeth were struck out and so they did not only receive hurt themselves but were disenabled from doing that mischief to others which they desired and were accustomed to do thou hast broken the teeth u i. e. Their strength and the instruments of their cruelty He compares them to wild Beasts of the ungodly 8. * Psal. 3. 8. Jâ—… 3. 23. Hos. 13. 4. Jâ—…n 2. 9. Salvation belongeth unto the LORD x I expect not salvation from my forces but from thy power and favour alone thy blessing y Or rather let it be So he closeth with a prayer is upon thy people z Either upon my friends and followers who alone are thy people the rest being Rebels to thee as well as to me Or upon all thy people Israel to preserve my friends to convince and convert mine enemies and to save the body of the Nation which without thy mercy are likely by this civil War to be brought to utter ruine Selah PSAL. IV. To the ‖ Or 〈◊〉 chief musician a The master or directour of the sacred musitians and musick of the Temple of whom see 1. Chron. 6. 31. and 15. 16 17. and 25. 1 2. 2. Chron 20. 21. and 34. 12 13. Hâ—…b Tâ—… him that overcometh or excelleth or triumpheth to wit in his profession of Musick on Neginoth b Or on stringed Instruments as this word is translated Hab. 3. 19. for the Hebrew verb niggen whence this is derived signifies to play with the hand upon an instrument 1. Sam. 16. 23. and 18. 10. This Psalm is for the matter or substance of it much like the former and seems to have been made upon the same or some other like occasion when he was distressed either by Absolom or by Saâ—…l or by some other great and powerful Enemies a psalm of David 1. HEar me when I call * Psal. 25. â—… 59. 10 17. 109. 1. O God of my righteousness c Either the witness and defender of my righteous cause Or from whom I expect that righteous judgment and decision of my cause which I cannot obtain from mine Enemies who load me and my cause with maniâ—…old Injuries and Calumnies Or O my righteous God Or O God of my mercy which title is given to God elsewhere as Psal. 59. 10 17 whereas this title O God of my righteousness is not given to God in any other place of Scripture Psal. 59. 10 17. O God to whose mercy I owe all that I have or hope for which was a very fit and powerful Argument in Prayer and very agreeable to the following words in which there is an acknowledgment of Gods former Mercies and a petition for mercy And so this and other words in Hebrew and Greek which properly signify righteousness are oft used for mercy or kindness as Isa. 58. 8. Psal. 31. 1. and 36. 10. 2. Cor. 9. 9. and in many other places thou hast enlarged me d i. e. Freed me from my former straits and troubles So he urgeth God and strengtheneth his own Faith with his former Experiences when I was in distress ‖ Or be 〈◊〉 to me have mercy upon me e Thou maist justly destroy me for my many and great sins and therefore I flee from thy Justice to thy Mercy on which all my hopes are grounded and hear my prayer 2. * Psal. 6â—… 4. O ye sons of men f i. e. Princes and Potentates as this Hebrew Phrase seems and is thought to signify who are engaged with Saul or Absalom against me how long will ye turn my glory into shame g Or shall my Glory be for a shame i. e. be made by you matter of reproach and scorn By his Glory probably he means that high Honour and royal Majesty which God had either promised to him or conferred upon him wherewith when he was in great straits and dangers they might possibly reproach him in some sort as this Is this the man whom God so highly loves and honours and will exalt who now flees from one Mountain or Cave to another who runs away to the Philistins whom his own Son hath banished out of the land Is this the effect of his glorying and â—…oasting of Gods favour and promises how long will ye love vanity h i. e. Affect and pursue these courses and designs of opposing me and my Kingdom which you will certainly find to be vain and to no purpose and seek after leasing i Or lying the same thing with vanity these two words being promiscuously used as Psal. 62. 9. Only this seems to add some Emphasis and to intimate the fair hopes and promising probabilities of Success which they had and which aggravate their disappointment Or by lying he may design those horrid Calumnies which the Partisons either of Saul or Absalom had raised against him and which they joyned with their other Indeavours to make him odious to all the people and so the better to effect his Ruine Selah 3. But know that the LORD k You fight not against me but against the Lord. hath set apart l Or hath wonderfully separated me hath rejected the other royal Person and Family and hath called me by name and chosen me out of all the Tribes and Families of Israel and out of my father's Family though I was the youngest of them and thought by Samuel and by my Father to be most remote from this Honour him that is godly m i. e. Mâ—… whom though you traduce and censure as if I were an egregious Hypocrite and Impostor who only pretended Religion for my own ambitious ends God hath pronounced to be a man after his own heart 1. Sam. 13. 14. And that I am such in â—…ome good measure both my own Conscience and the general course of my life bear me witness Which testimony David gives to himself not out of a vain-glorious humour but meerly because he was constrained to it by the Calumnies of his Enemies for his own just and
and the supporn and Comforts of thy Spirit from me and filled me with the Terrors of thy wrath so that I am ready to sink under my Burden This was in part verified in David but much more fully in Christ who applies these Words to himself Mat. 27. 46. Why art thou so far †Heb. from aâ—… Salvation from helping me and from the words of my roaring e i. e. From regarding or Pitying or Answering my strong Prayers and lamentable Out-cries forced from me by my intolerable Distresses and Miseries 2. O my God I cry in the day-time but thou hearest me not and in the night-season and †Heb. there is no silence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 am not silent f i. e. I continue praying Day and Night without Intermission Or thus I have no silence i. e. No quietness or Rest as this word signifies Iudg. 18. 9. In which respect also the Sea and Waves thereof are said to be silent still i. e. and quiet Psal. 107. 29. Mark 4. 39. And so this last Clause answers to and expounds the Former Thou hearest me not which is most usual in this Book 3. But thou art holy g i. e. Just and true in all thy ways and therefore hearing Prayers and keeping thy Covenant a true Lover of Holyness and of all holy Men. This he adds Either 1. To aggravate his Misery that such a God should neglect and forsake him Or rather 2. To strengthen his Faith and to enforce his Prayers and prevail with God for the Honour of his holy Name to hear and help him O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel g Either 1. That dwellest in thy Tabernacle and Ark which is called Israel's glory 1 Sam. 4. 21. and the place where God was praised Isa. 64. 11. Or 2. That receivest and rightly possessest the praises of Israel whom thy People are perpetually praising for one Mercy or another and therefore I trust I also shall have occasion to praise thee But because this Hebrew Verb when it is used Transitively and is taken for inhabiting is generally as far as I have observed Construed with a Preposition which here it is not this Verse may seem to be better rendred thus as it is by divers Learned men Bâ—… thou abidest or preseverest or Continuest to be as this Verb is used Psal. 9. 7. and 55. 19. and 102. 12. Holy notwithstanding thy present neglect of my Prayers and Mâ—…series O the praises Or O thou who art the praises Or and the praises i. e. the great Cause and Object of the praises of Israel i. e. whom Israel solemnly and usually praiseth Deut. 10. 21. Ier. 17. 14. 4. Our father 's trusted in thee they trusted and thou didst deliver them h This he adds for the Reasons mentioned in the first Note v. 3. 5. They cryed unto thee and were delivered * Psal. 25. 〈◊〉 3. 31. 1. Isa. 49. 23. Rom. 9. 3â—… they trusted in thee and were not confounded i i. e. Not disappointed of that for which they prayed and hoped 6. But I am a Worm k Our Fathers were Honoured by thee and by others because of thy appearance for their defence and deliverance but I am treated like a Worm i. e. Neglected and despised both by thee who dost not afford me Help and by the men of my Age and Nation as it follows For the Phrase see Iob. 25. 6. Isa. 41. 14. and no man a reproach of men and despised of the people l Not only of the great Men but also of the common People Which doth not so truly agree to David who though he was hated and persecuted by Saul and his Courtiers was Honoured and Beloved by the Body of the people as to Christ Comp. Isa. 53. 2 3. 7. * Mat. 27. 39. All they that see me laugh me to scorn m Instead of Pitying or Helping deride me and insult over me such is their inhumanity they †Heb. 〈◊〉 shoot out the lip n They gape with their Mouths and put forth their Tongues in Mockery See Iob 16. 10. Isa. 57. 4. they shake the head o Another posture of Scoffers See Iob 16. 4. Psal. 44. 14. Isa. 37. 22. This and the next Verse are applied to Christ Mat. 27. 39 43. saying p This Supplement is very usual and here it is necessary because the next Words are the Expressions of his insulting Enemies 8. * Mat. 17. 43. †â—…eb He rolled himself â—…n the LORD He trusted on the LORD q He Rolled himself upon the Lord. Where they seem to Scoff not only at the thing but at the Expression Their Sence is He pretended that he did wholly lean and rest himself and cast his Cares upon God and quietly and confidently commit all his Affairs to his Providence assuring himself of an happy Issue from him that he would deliver him r Or without any Supplement let him deliver him as it follows though the Hebrew words be differing And so the same thing is twice repeated to shew both the Vehemency of their Hatred and their Confidence of Success against him They thought his Case desperate and past all hope and Remedy let him deliver him ‖ seeing he delighted in him s As he useth to alledge and boast but how vainly the Event now sheweth 9. But thou art he that took me out of the Womb t This is noted as an Effect of God's wonderful and gracious Providence And although this be a Mercy which God grants to all mankind yet it may well be alledged here partly in way of gratitude for this great though common Mercy nothing being more reasonable and usual than for David and other holy men to praise God for such Blessings and partly as an Argument to encourage himself to expect and to prevail with God to grant him the Deliverance which now he desires because he hath formerly delivered him This being a very common Argument See 1 Sam. 17. 37. 2 Cor. 1. 10. But this is applicable to Christ in a singular manner not as a late learned Writer takes it that God separated him from the Womb but that God did bring him out as the word properly signifies of the Womb to wit immediately and by himself and without the help of any Man by the miraculous Operation of the Holy Ghost which made him there or else he could never have been brought thence thou ‖ Or if be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 him didst make me hope u Or Trust i. e. Thou didst give me sufficient ground for Hope and Trust if I had then been capable of acting that Grace because of thy wonderful and watchful Care over me in that weak and helpless State Which was eminently true of Christ whom God so miraculously preserved and provided for in his Infancy the History whereof we read Mat. 2. It is not strange that Hope is figuratively ascribed to Infants seeing even the Brute-Creatures are said
Lamp meerly for want of Moysture 5 They are not †Heb. in the Trouble of other Men. in trouble as other men l Either 1. As good Men frequently are Or 2. As Men generally are They do by a secret and favourable Providence of God escape even common Calamities neither are they plagued †Heb. with like other men 6. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain m This Phrase notes both the extent of their Pride which appears on every side of them in their Countenances Discourses Gestures c. and their glorying in it The like may be said of the next Phrase violence covereth them as a garment 7 * Psal. 119. 70. Their eyes stand out with fatness n As they do in some fat Persons though not in others The meaning is They live in great Plenty and Prosperity as the next Clause explains it †Heb. they pass the Thoughts of the Heart they have more than heart could wish 8 They are corrupt o Or dissolved in Pleasure Or they Corrupt themselves and speak wickedly concerning oppression p Wickedly boasting of their Oppressions Either of what they have done or of what they intend to do in that kind they speak loftily q Arrogantly presuming upon their own strength and despising both God and Men. 9 They set their mouth against the heavens r i. e. Against God blaspheming his Name denying or deriding his Providence reviling his Saints and Servants and their tongue walketh through the earth s Using all manner of Liberty introducing and reproaching all sorts of Persons not caring whom they displease or hurt by it 10 Therefore his people t Either 1. The people of those wicked Blasphemers all their Children and Servants and Friends encouraged by their Example Or rather 2. The people of God who is oft understood under the pronoun Relative he or his though he be not expressed as Psal. 105. 19. Isa. 30. 23. See the like Psal. 87. 1. Cant. 1. 2. But then as God's People are of two sorts some that are so really and sincerely and others that are so onely in Profession and shew in which Sence the whole Body of the Israelitish Nation yea even the wicked among them are called his People as Psal. 81. 11. Isa. 1. 3. Ier. 2. 11. c. so this may be understood Either 1. Of those true Israelites v. 1. Even the godly were startled and stumbled at this as David was Psal. 37. and Ieremy Ch. 12. But although they might have some murmuring Thoughts about this Matter it seems not probable that they would either give Way to such Thoughts or break forth into such Expressions as are here ascribed to them v. 11. nor are such things to be imputed to them without necessity nor did either David or Ieremy in their Conflicts utter any thing of this Nature Or rather 2. Of the Carnal and Hypocritical Israelites who perceiving the impunity and Prosperity of these ungodly Wretches were easily drawn to the Approbation and imitation of their Courses And this may seem most suitable to the Context for the Description of the Condition and Carriage and Words of these ungodly men which begins v. 4. seems to be continued to v. 13. then follows the Psalmist's reflection and Consideration upon the whole Matter from v. 13. to the end return hither u Or turn hither i e. To this wicked Company or to their Course and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them x Waters in Scripture do oft times signifie Afflictions and as oft Comforts and Mercies So the Sence may be Either 1. And whilst the wicked prosper God doth wring out Waters out of the Cup of Tribulation and causeth his holy Ones to drink them up Compare Psal. 75. 8. and 80. 5. Isa. 51. 17. Ier. 25. 15. c. Or rather 2. And those Hypocritical Israel's find themselves gainers by their Apostacy and they partake of the same Prosperity with their Leaders and God seems to give them a full Cup of Consolation and to pour forth his Mercies upon them in such abundance as if he would wring or squeeze out all his Blessings out of his stores to bestow upon them And meeting with such success to their Wickedness it is not strange if they put that question v. 11. 11 And they y Either 1. The godly Or rather 2. Those wicked ones whose Words and Actions he hath been hitherto describing or the People Confederate with them For these and such like opinions are oft ascribed to the wicked in Scripture but never as far as I know to any good man And Iob though he used many intemperate Speeches and though some such Expressions as this were charged upon him by his Friends as Iob 22. 13 yet he utterly disowned them say How doth God know and is there knowledge in the most High z Seeing these cursed and impudent Blasphemers of God and Enemies of all goodness are Crowned with so many Blessings how is it Credible that there is a God who sees and Orders the Affairs of this lower World For if God did know these things certainly he neither could or would suffer them to be thus managed 12 Behold these are the ungodly a This is their Condition and Carriage in it These seem to be the Words of the Psalmist summing up the Matter and preparing his passage to the other part of the Psalm who prosper in the world they encrease in riches 13 * Job 21. 15. 34. 9. 35. 3. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain b and * Psal. 26. 6. washed my hands in innocency c i. e. Kept my Hands the great Instrument of Action and consequently the rest of the Members of my Body innocent and pure from evil Practises I have washed my Hands not onely Ceremonially with water wherewith Hypocrites satisfie themselves but also Morally or with the Waters of God's Grace and Spirit Innocency or Purity l Hence I was sometimes tempted to think that Religion was a vain and unprofitable thing at least as to the Happiness of this Life which yet God had promised as a reward to Piety True Religion is here fitly and fully described by its two Principal parts and works the cleansing of the Heart from sinful Lusts and Passions and of the Hands or outward Man from a Course of sinful Actions And although it be God's work to cleanse the Heart yet he saith I have cleansed it because every good man doth Cooperate with God's Grace in cleansing it Compare 2 Cor. 6. 1. and 7. 1. 14 For all the day long have I been plagued and †Heb. 〈◊〉 Chaâ—… was chastened every morning d Whilst their ungodliness hath been attended with constant Prosperity my Piety hath been exercised with continual Afflictions 15 If I say I will speak thus e I will give Sentence for the ungodly in this manner behold I should offend
like sparks of Fire of the bow the shield and the sword h Both offensive and defensive Weapons so as they could neither hurt God's People nor save themselves from Ruin and the battel i The force and fury of the Battle and all the Power of the Army which was put in Battel-Array Selah 4 Thou k O God To whom he directeth his Speech here as also v. 6 7 8. art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey l Either 1. Than the greatest Kings and Empires of the Earth which in Prophetical Writings are oft Compared to Mountains as Psal. 46. 2 3. Isa. 41. 15. Ier. 51. 25. Hab. 3. 6. And they are called Mountains of prey because then they generally were Established by Tyranny and maintained by preying upon their own Subjects or other inferior Kingdoms Or 2. Which amounts to the same thing than the most powerful Enemies of thy People upon whom they used and now desired and expected to prey Such Persons being oft expressed by the name of Mountains as Psal. 144. 5. â—…eth 4. 7. c. 5 The stout hearted are spoiled m Of all that Glory and Advantage which they either had already gotten or further expected from the Success of their present expedition which they promised to themselves They became a prey to those upon whom they hoped to prey they have slept their sleep n Even a perpetual sleep as Ier. 51. 39. 57. or the 〈◊〉 of Death Psal. 13. 3. called their sleep Emphatically as being peculâ—…ar to them and such like Men and not that sleep which is common to the good and bad Their Death he seems to call 〈◊〉 Because they were slain in the Night when they had Composed themselves to rest and sleep and so passed insensibly from one sleep to another For it is thought by many that this Psalm was Composed upon the occasion of that prodigious slaughter of the Assyrians in Iudah 2 Kings 19. 35. and none of the men of might have found their hands o They had no more strength in or use of their hands against the destroying Angel than they who have no hands 6 At thy rebuke O God of Jacob both the chariot and horse p The men who Rode upon and â—…ought from Chariots and Horses who fight with most Advantage and usually have most Courage and much more unable were their Footmen to resist or avoid the stroke are cast into a dead sleep 7 Thou even thou art to be feared and who may stand in thy sight q To wit to Contend with thee Standing is here opposed to flight or falling before the Enemy See Iâ—…sh 7. 12. Dan. 8. 4. when once thou art angry 8 * Psal. 46. 6 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven r Thou didst execute Judgment upon thine Enemies by an Angel sent from Heaven which is said to be heard Either because that was accompanied with terrible Thunders and Earthquakes which was not unusual in the descent of an Angel as Mat. 28. 2. and elsewhere Or because the same of it was quickly spread abroad in the Land and in the World the earth feared and was still s The effect of this Terrible Judgement was that the rest of the World were afraid to invade or disturb the Land and People of Israel and chose rather to sit still in their own Territories 9 When God arose to judgment t When God who for a season had sat still began to bestir and shew himself against his Enemies Or After God had risen c. Or Because God did arise c. to save all the meek of the earth u To save all the godly Persons who are oft called Meek ones as hath been noted again and again in Israel for whose sakes God wrought this great Deliverance which reached to all the People of the Land Selah 10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee x The blasphemous Speeches and furious Attempts of thine Enemies shall serve thy Glory and cause thy People and others to Praise and magnifie thee for that admirable Wisdom and Power and Faithfulness and Goodness which thou shalt discover upon that occasion the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain y Thou shalt prevent and disappoint the succeeding malicious Designs of thine Enemies who will meditate Revenge for those shameful and Terrible overthrows Or the râ—…der of wrath thou shalt gird thy self with i. e. Put it on as an Ornament which the Girdle was thou shalt adorn thy self with it as a Conqueror doth with the spoils of his Enemies 11 Vow z Vow a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving Either at this time for this wonderful Deliverance Or hereafter in all your Future straits and Troubles let this Experience encourage you to make such Vows to God with Confidence of Success and pay a But when God hath accepted your Vows and given you the desired Deliverance forget not to pay your Vows unto the LORD your God let all that be round about him b Either 1. All the Tribes of Israel who have the Benefit of this Mercy Or rather 2. All the neighbouring Nations on every side to whom the same of this mighty work of God shall come I advise them for the Future if they love themselves to cease from all Hostilities against God or his People and to submit themselves to the God of Israel bring presents †Heb. to the fear Gen. 31. 42. 53 unto him that ought to be feared c Whom though they do not love yet they see and feel that they have great reason to Fear and to seek his Favour 12 He shall cut off d As men do their Grapes in time of Vintage as the Hebrew Verb implies to wit suddenly violently and irresistibly This is all which they shall get by opposing him and therefore it is their Wisdom to bring Presents to him the spirit e Either 1. Their Courage Or rather 2. Their Breath and Life as he did in the Assyrian Army of princes he is terrible to the Kings of the earth PSAL. LXXVII The ARGUMENT This Psalm was Composed upon the occasion of some sore and long Calamity of God's People Either the Babylonish Captivity or some other To the chief musician †Heb. upon Psal. 62. to Jeduthun a Psalm ‖ Or for Asaph of Asaph a Either that Asaph who lived and Prophecied in David's time Or one of his Successors long after him called as was usual by his Progenitors name 1 I Cried unto God with my voyce even unto God with my voyce and he gave ear unto me b This Verse seems to contain the sum of the whole Psalm consisting of two parts to wit his earnest Cry to God in his deep distress and God's gracious return to his Prayers by supporting him under them and giving him assurance of a good issue out of them of both which he speaks more distinctly and particularly of
womb is his reward o Not a reward of debt merited by good men but a reward of grace of which we read Rom. 4. 4. which God gives them graciously as Iacob acknowledgeth of his children Gen. 33. 5. And although God give children and other outward comforts to ungodly men in the way of common providence yet he gives them onely to his people as favours and in the way of promise and covenant 4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man p When they are shot out of a bow by a man of great strength against his enemy which are of great use and power both to offend the enemy and to defend himself so are children of the youth q Children begotten in youth as an husband or wife married in their youth are called an husband or wife of youth Prov. 5. 18. Isa. 54. 6. Ioel. 1. 8. and as a son begotten in old age is called a son of old age Gen. 37. 3. And these he prefers before other children in this point partly because such are commonly more strong and vigorous than others and partly because they live longest with their parents and to their comfort and support whereas children born in old age seldom come to any maturity of years before their parents death 5 Happy is the man that †Heb. hath filled his quiver with them hath his quiver full of them r Who hath a numerous issue which as it is a great blessing in it self so Solomons want of it made it more valuable in his eyes they shall not be ashamed s Such parents fear not the reproach of barrenness which was grievous especially among the Jews of which see Luke 1. 25. nor any other shame from their enemies but they ‖ Or shall subdâ—… as Psal. 18. 47. or destroy shall speak with the enemies in the gate t They shall couragiously plead their cause in Courts of Judicature which were in the gates Deut. 21. 19. 25. 7. not fearing to be crushed by the might of their adversaries as weak and helpless persons frequently are PSAL. CXXVIII A song of degrees This Psalm contains a description of the blessedness of good men 1 BLessed is every one that feareth the LORD that walketh in his ways 2 * Isai. 3. 10. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands a Thy labour shall not be vain and fruitless and the fruit of thy labours shall not be taken away from thee and possessed by others as God threatned to the disobedient Deut. 28. but enjoyed by thy self with comfort and satisfaction happy shalt thou be and it shall be well with thee b Both in this world and in the world to come as even the Chaldee Paraphrast explains these words 3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine c Like the vine for fruitfulness or like that sort of vines known by this name for its eminent fruitfulness as some trees amongst us are for the same reason called the great bearers by the sides of thine house d Where the vines are commonly planted for support and other advantages Which being applied to the wife may signifie either 1. the wife's duty to abide at home Tit. 2. 5. as the harlot is deciphered by her gadding abroad Prov. 7. 11 12. or rather 2. the legitimateness of the children which are begotten at home by the husband and not abroad by strangers thy children like olive-plants e Numerous growing and flourishing good both for ornament and manifold uses as Olive-trees are round about thy table f Where they shall sit at meat with thee for thy comfort and safety 4 Behold that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD 5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion g From the Ark in Zion and with those spiritual and everlasting blessings which are to be had no where but in Zion and from the God who dwelleth in Zion and with all other mercies which thou shalt ask of God in Zion and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem h The prosperity of that City to which thou belongest and which is the onely seat of Gods special presence and of his Worship whose felicity therefore is very delightful to every good man and upon whose peace the peace and safety of every member of it depends as every seaman is concerned in the safety of the ship in which he is all the days of thy life 6 Yea thou shalt see thy childrens children and * Psal. 125. 5. peace upon Israel i Not onely upon Ierusalem and the parts adjacent but upon all the Tribes and people of Israel PSAL. CXXIX A song of degrees This Psalm contains a joyful and thankful remembrance of the Churches former and manifold calamities from barbarous enemies and of Gods wonderful mercy in delivering them out of their hands 1 ‖ Or much MAny a time have they a Mine enemies or oppressors which is easily understood both from the nature of the thing and from v. 3. where they are expressed under the name of plowers afflicted me from my youth b From the time that I was a people when I was in Egypt and came out of it which is called the time of Israels youth Ier. 2. 2. Ezek. 23. 3. may * Psal. 124. 1. Israel now say 2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth yet they have not prevailed against me 3 The plowers plowed upon my back c They have not onely thrown me down and trod me under foot but have cruelly tormented me wounded and mangled me and had no more pity upon me than the plowman hath upon the earth which he cuts up at his pleasure He saith upon my back either because they did literally scourge the Captives upon their backs with such cords as are mentioned v. 4. although we do not read that the Israelitish Captives were thus used by any of their enemies or by way of allusion to that usage which made a sort of furrows in their backs upon which they used to lay on their strokes they made long their furrows d They oft repeated their injuries and prolonged my torments 4 The LORD is righteous e Faithful or merciful as that word is frequently used he hath cut asunder the * Psal. 140. 5. cords f Wherewith the plow was drawn by which means they were stopped in their course So he persists in the same Metaphor of a plough By these cords he understands all their plots and endeavours of the wicked 5 Let them all be confounded and turned back g Forced to retreat with shame and disappointment that hate Zion 6 Let them be as the grass upon the house-tops h Which there were flat and therefore more capable of grass or green corn growing between the stones than ours are which withereth afore it groweth up i Which having no deep root never comes to maturity
beast both of man and beast 9 Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee O Egypt upon Pharaoh and upon all his servants 10 * Numb 21. 24 25 26 34 35. Who smote great nations and slew mighty kings 11 Sihon king of the Amorite and Og king of Bashan and * Josh. 12. 7. all the kingdoms of Canaan 12 * Josh. 12. 7. Psal. 78. 55. And gave their land for an heritage an heritage unto Israel his people 13 Thy * Psal. 102. 12. name O LORD endureth for ever and thy memorial O LORD †Heb. to generation and generation throughout all generations o These wonderful works of thine shall never be forgotten The land which thou gavest us v. 12. and which we yet enjoy is an everlasting monument of thy power and goodness and an obligation and encouragement to trust in thee in all our present or future difficulties 14 For the LORD will judge his people p Will in due time plead the cause of his people or give judgment for them as this phrase is used Deut. 32. 36. Ier. 5. 28 22. 16. and he will repent himself concerning his servants q He will recal that severe sentence which for their sins he had passed upon them and be reconciled to them 15 * Psal. 115. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold r Of this and the following verses see the Notes on Psal. 115. 4 5 c. the work of mens hands 16 They have mouths but they speak not eyes have they but they see not 17 They have ears but they hear not neither is there any breath in their mouths 18 They that make them †Heb. let them be So Gr. are like unto them so is every one that trusteth in them 19 Bless the LORD O house of Israel bless the LORD O house of Aaron 20 Bless the LORD O house of Levi ye that fear the LORD bless the LORD 21 Blessed be the LORD out of Zion s By the assemblies of his people in Zion or Ierusalem which dwelleth at Jerusalem t This clause may be added either to distinguish the true God from the gods which were worshipped in other places and countries or as a reason why they should bless God because he had blessed and honoured that place with his gracious and glorious presence Praise ye the LORD PSAL. CXXXVI The matter of this Psalm is the same with the former onely it is a little more fitted to the use and service of the Temple by the continued repetition of that solemn clause for thy mercy endures for ever which was much used by the sacred Singers See 2 Chron. 7. 3. 20. 21. 1 O * Psal. 106. 1. 107. 1. 118. 1. Give thanks unto the LORD for he is good * 1 Chr. 16. 41. for his mercy endureth for ever 2 O give thanks unto * Deut. 10. 17. the God of gods a Who is infinitely superiour to all that are called gods whether Angels or Princes or Idols for his mercy endureth for ever 3 O give thanks unto the Lord of lords for his mercy endureth for ever 4 To him who alone b He and none else Or he without the help of any other person or thing whereas no other being can do any thing alone or without his help doth great wonders for his mercy endureth for ever 5 * Gen. 1. 1. To him that by wisdom c To wit by eminent and admirable wisdom far exceeding the capacity of all humane or Angelical creatures made the heavens for his mercy endureth for ever 6 * Gen. 1. 9. Jeâ—… 10. 12. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters d Of which see on Gen. 1. 9. Psal. 24. 2. for his mercy endureth for ever 7 * Gen. 1. 14. To him that made great lights for his mercy endureth for ever 8 The sun †Heb. for the â—…lings by day to rule by day e Of which phrase and the like in the next verse see my Notes on Gen. 1. 16. for his mercy endureth for ever 9 The moon and stars to rule by night for his mercy endureth for ever 10 * Exod. 12. 2. To him that smote Egypt in their first-born for his mercy endureth for ever 11 * Exod. 12. 51. 13. 17. And brought out Israel from among them for his mercy endureth for ever 12 * Exod. 6. 6. With a strong hand and with a stretched out arm for his mercy endureth for ever 13 * Exod. 14. 21 22. Psal. 74. 13. 78. 13 To him which divided the Red sea into parts for his mercy endureth for ever 14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it f To wit without fear or danger by comparing this with the next verse for his mercy endureth for ever 15 * Exod. 14. 28. But †Heb. shaked off overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea for his mercy endureth for ever 16 * Exod. 15. 22. To him which led his people through the wilderness g Through that vast howling wilderness where there was neither way nor provision through which none but the Almighty God could have safely conducted them for his mercy endureth for ever 17 * Psal. 135. 10 11. To him which smote great kings for his mercy endureth for ever 18 * Deut. 29. 7. Ps. 135. 10 11. And slew mighty kings for his mercy endureth for ever 19 * Num. 21. 23. Sihon king of the Amorite for his mercy endureth for ever 20 * Num. 21. 33. And Og the king of Bashan for his mercy endureth for ever 21 * Josh. 12. 17. And gave their land for an heritage for his mercy endureth for ever 22 Even an heritage unto Israel his servant h He speaks of all that people as of one man because they were united together in one body in the worship of one and the same God Thus God calleth them all his first-born Exod. 4. 22. for his mercy endureth for ever 23 Who remembred us in our low estate for his mercy endureth for ever 24 And hath redeemed us from our enemies for his mercy endureth for ever 25 * Psal. 104. 27. 147. 9. Who giveth food to all flesh i Either to all mankind or to all living creatures For which God deserves great praises which the Psalmist by his example teacheth us to render to God for them because those who are most concerned either cannot or do not perform this duty for his mercy endureth for ever 26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven for his mercy endureth for ever PSAL. CXXXVII The Penman of this Psalm is uncertain the occasion of it was unquestionably the consideration of the Babylonish Captivity and it seems to have been composed either during the time of that Captivity or presently after
other things in which they glory shall be contemned b Shall be made contemptible to those who formerly admired them with all that great multitude c With the great numbers of their People of which they boasted and the â—…emnant shall be very small and ‖ Or not many feeble d Comparatively to what they were before Which might be very true and yet afterwards in an hundred years space they might be sufficiently recruited CHAP. XVII * Jer. 49. 23. Amos 1. 3. Zech. 9. 1. THE burden of Damascus a Both of that City and Kingdom as appears from v. 2 3. Behold Damascus is taken away from being a City and it shall be a ruinous heap b This was fulfilled by Tiglath-pileser 2 Kings 16. 9. although afterwards it was re-edified and possessed by another sort of Inhabitants 2 The cities of Aroer c Of that part of Syria called Aroer from a great City of that name of which see Deut. 2. 36. 3. 12. These Cities were possessed by the Reubenites and Gadites whom Tiglath-Pileser carried into Captivity 1 Chron. 5. 26. These he mentions here as he doth Ephraim in the next Verse because they were Confederate with Syria against Iudah are forsaken they shall be for flocks which shall lie down and none shall make them afraid d Because the Land shall be desolate and destitute of Men who might disturb them 3 The fortress also e Either Samaria their chief Fortress or all their Fortresses or Strong Holds the Singular Number being put for the Plural or all their Strength and Glory which answers to the kingdom in the next Clause shall cease from Ephraim and the kingdom from Damascus and the remnant of Syria f Or and from which Particle is easily understood from the former Clause the remnant of Syria So the sence is The Remainders of Damascus and of Syria shall be an Headless Body a People without a King they shall be as the glory * An Ironical Speech implying their contemptible Condition for their Glory is supposed to be departed from them by what he had already said of them The sence is Syria shall have as much Glory as Israel i. e. neither of them shall have any at all of the children of Israel saith the LORD of hosts 4 And in that day it shall come to pass that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin g Or shall be emptied as this Word is rendred Isa. 19. 6. and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean 5 And it shall be as when the harvest-man gathereth the corn and reapeth the ears with his arm h Taking care as far as may be that all may be gathered in and nothing left So shall the whole Body of the Ten Tribes be carried away Captive some few Gleanings onely being left of them as it is in the Harvest and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the Valley of Rephaim i A very fruitful Place near Ierusalem Ios. 15. 8. 18. 16. 6 * Chap. 24. 13. Yet gleaning-grapes shall be left in it k Some few Israelites were left after their Captivity who joyned themselves to the Kingdom of Iudah and were carried Captive to Babylon with them from whence also they returned with them as we find in the History of their Return in Ezra and Nehemiah as the shaking of an olive-tree two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof saith the LORD God of Israel 7 At that day shall a man l Those few Men that are left look to his maker m They shall sincerely respect and trust and worship all which are understood by looking to God and God onely as the next Verse explains it Their Afflictions shall at last bring them to Repentance and his eyes shall have respect to the holy One of Israel 8 And he shall not look to the altars n Not resort or trust to them or to the Worship offered 〈◊〉 â—…dols upon them the work of his hands o Their own Inventions for othâ—… 〈◊〉 the Altars made by God's Command were the Woâ—… of Mens Hands neither shall respect that which his fingers have made either the groves p Which were devised and planted by Men as fit Places for the Worship of their Gods and therefore were forbidden Deut. 16. 21. 1 Kings 14. 15. or the ‖ Or sun-images the images q Worshipped in their Groves The Word properly signifies images of the sun either having the Form and Shape of the Sun or at least erected to his Honour and Worship of which see Deut. 4. 19. 17. 3. 2 Kings 2â—… 5 11. Ier. 8. 2. 7. 18. 44. 17 18. 9 In that day r In the day of Iacob's Trouble of which he spake v. 4. and continueth his Speech unto these Words and afterwards shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough and an uppermost branch s Which he that pruneth the Tree neglecteth either because he esteems it useless and inconsiderable or because he cannot reach it which they left because of the children of Israel t The sence is either 1. Which they to wit the Enemies left or which shall be left the Active Verb being put Impersonally as it frequently is in the Hebrew Text because of or for the children of Israel which God inclined their Hearts to leave or spare out of his Love to his Israel Thus this is mentioned as a Mercy or Mitigation of the Calamity But this seems not to agree either with the foregoing or following Words both which manifestly speak of the greatness of the Judgment And that their strong Cities were not left for them but taken from them seems evident from v. 3 4. Or 2. As the Cities which Words are easily understood out of the former part of the Verse where they are expressed which they to wit the Canaanites as the Seventy Interpreters express it and it was needless to name them because the History was so well known to them to whom the Prophet writes left or forsook which they did either by departing from them or being destroyed out of them because of or before or for fear of the children of Israel And this was a very fit Example to awaken the Israelites to a serious belief of this Threatning because God had inflicted the same Judgment upon the Canaanites and that for the same Sins of which they were guilty and there shall be desolation 10 Because thou u O Israel hast forgotten the God of thy salvation and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength x That God who was thy onely sure Defence therefore shalt thou plant ‖ Or plants of pleasant fruits pleasant plants y Excellent Flowers and Fruit-trees and shalt set it with strange z Fetched from far Countries and therefore highly esteemed The sence
purpose to please and glorify me or didst dishonour me and pollute thy Sacrifices by thy wicked course of life I have not caused thee to serve with an offering nor wearied thee with incense p So the sence may be this I did not require these wearisome services of thee to wit upon these termes or to be offered in such a manner as God speaks Isa. 1. 11 12 13. But the words may very well be rendred Although I did not cause thee to serve with Offerings nor weary thee with Incense the particle Although being here understood as it is in many other places as hath been formerly noted And so this is an aggravation of their former sin of being weary of and negligent in his service although God had not laid such heavy burthens upon them nor required such hard services or costly offerings from them as might give them cause to be weary nor such as Idolaters did freely and greedily perform in the service of their Idols 24. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane q Or Calamus as this word is rendred Exod. 30. 23. which was used in the making of that precious Ointment Exod. 30. 34. and as a persume or for the Incense Exod. 30. 7. See Ier. 6. 20. The meaning of this clause seems to be this Thou hast been niggardly in my service when thou hast spared for no cost in the service of thine Idols as is elsewhere noted with Heb. made me drunk or abundantly moistned money neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices r Thou hast offered no more Sacrifices than were simply necessary thou hast not multiplied thy thank-offerings and free-will offerings though I have given thee sufficient occasion to do so but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins s Thou hast made me to bear the load and burden of thy sins which are very grievous and oppressive to me Amos 2. 13. and great exercises of my patience Yea thou hast made it necessary for me to take upon me the form of a Servant that I might bear and carry away thy sins This clause and that which follows are opposed to and aggravated by what he said ver 23. I did not make thee to serve or weary thee with offerings though that work was honourable and beneficial to thee as well as conducing to my service but thou hast made me to serve in the vilest manner with such things as are not onely offensive to me but also pernicious to thee thou hast * Mal. 2. 17. wearied me with thine iniquities 25. I even I t I whom thou hast thus despised and wearied and provoked to destroy thee am he that * Ezek. 36. 22 c. blotteth out u Out of my book in which they were all written and to be read unto thee and charged upon thee another day See Ier. 17. 1. Rev. 20. 12. Sins are oft compared to debts Mat. 6. 12 14 c. which are written in the creditors Book and crossed or blotted out when they are payd thy transgressions for mine own sake x Being moved thereunto not by thy merits but by my own meer goodness and free mercy and will not remember thy sins y So as to punish them and destroy thee for them as thou deservest 26. Put me in remembrance z I remember nothing by which thou hast deserved my favour and the pardon of thy sins if thou knowest any such thing bring it to my mind I allow thee free liberty to plead with me as it follows and if thou hast right on thy side I will justifie thee It is an ironical speech whereby he insulteth over those who were puffed up with an opinion of their own innocency and merit which was the case of many Iews as this and other Prophets have oft observed * Chap. 1. 18. let us plead together declare thou that thou mayst be justified 27. Thy first * Jud. 17. 10. 18. 19. father a Either 1. Adam from whom the guilt and filth of sin is propagated to thee Or rather 2. Abraham who might well be called the first Father of the Israelites because they all descended from him had all their right and title to Gods Ordinances and Promises and other special Priviledges from Gods Covenant made with Abraham and with his Seed and who is oft emphatically called their Father as Iosh. 24. 2. Isa. 51. 2. c. and the Iews gloried in and trusted to that relation which they had to Abraham as we read Mat. 3. 9. Ioh. 8. 33. and elsewhere And this agrees well with the foregoing context For having sufficiently intimated that they had no merits of their own he now addeth that even their Father Abraham to whose merits they trusted had no merits of his own nor any occasion of boasting for he also was a sinful man and hath left some instances of his failings Or the first Father may be put collectively for their Forefathers and so he tels them that as they were sinners so also were all their Progenitors yea even the best of them Abraham and David and others for whose sakes they expected to be pardoned and rewarded And this indeed is usual with God to upbraid the Israelites with the sins of their Fathers hath sinned and thy †Heb. interpreters teachers b Thy Priests and Prophets who were their Intercessours with God and who were generally presumed to be the holiest part of that people and therefore if these were transgressours the people had no reason to fancy themselves to be innocent have transgressed against me 28. Therefore I have profaned c As they have made themselves profane so I have dealt with them as such without any regard to the sacredness and dignity of their functions I have exposed them to contempt and destruction the ‖ Or holy princes princes of the sanctuary d The highest and best of your Priests whose persons were most sacred and therefore supposed by themselves and others to be furthest from danger and have given Iacob to the curse e To utter destruction to which persons or things accursed were devoted of which this Hebrew word is constantly used and Israel to reproaches f To be the Objects of their Enemies scorn and reproaches CHAP. XLIV 1. YEt now hear * Chap. 41. 8. 43. 1. Jer. 30. 10. 46. 27. O Iacob my servant and Israel whom I have chosen a Although I have Chastised thee for thy Sins and had just cause utterly to Destroy thee yet in judgment I will remember Mercy and will still own thee for my Servant and chosen People 2. Thus saith the LORD * Chap. 43. 7. that made thee and formed thee from the womb b From the time of thy Birth or coming out of the Womb. From that time that I first took thee to be my People I have been forming and fashioning thee by giving thee
Gentiles to receive thee as the true Messiah and Saviour of the World and the Holy One of Israel and he shall choose thee d And although thou shalt be rejected by thine own People and refused by their Builders or Rulers as was Prophesied Psal. 118. 22. and for a time and in some respects forsaken by God himself Mat. 27. 46. yet God will return to thee and chuse thee again and manifest unto the World that thou and thou onely art the Person whom God hath chosen to be the Redeemer of mankind and whom in spight of all opposition he will make the head-stone of the Corner For the Phrase see on Isa. 48. 10. But these words are well rendred by others who will chuse or hath chosen thee the conjunction and being put for the pronoun relative as Isa. 44. 14. and in many other places as hath been observed before 8. Thus saith the LORD e God the Father unto Christ. * 2 Cor. 6. 2. in an acceptable time f Heb. In a time of good will in that time when I shall have and in a special manner manifest my good will to the Sons of men in the day of my Grace and of mans Salvation as this Phrase is explained in the next clause in the time of the Gospel which is in the time of Gods good Will towards men as the Host of Heaven declared at the Birth of Christ Luk. 2. 14. In the dayes of thy flesh when thou didst offer up Prayers and Suplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save thee from death as we read Heb. 5. 7. which text is a good comment upon this place have I heard thee g Though not so as to deliver thee from death and from the sence of my wrath yet so as to keep thee from sinking under these burdens and so as thou shouldest not be holden under the Pains or Power of Death Act. 2. 24 and so as to Crown thee with Glory and Honoâ—…r and a blessed success of all thy labours and sufferings and in a day of salvation have I helped thee and I will preserve thee i Upon earth till thy work be finished and unto that eternal Kingdom and Glory which is prepared for thee and give thee for a covenant k To be the Mediator and Surety of that Covenant which is made between me and them as Christ is called Heb. 7. 22. and 8. 6. to renew and confirm the Covenant which the Messiah is said to do Dan. 9. 27. by his own blood by which God and men are reconciled and united one to the other And therefore he may well be called the Covenant by a known Metonymy which is very usual in such cases as upon the same account Circumcision the sign of the Covenant is called Gods Covenant Gen. 17. 10. and the Paschal Lamb is called the Passover Exod. 12. 11. and the Sacramental Cup is called the New Testament Luk. 22. 20. and the Communion of the Blood of Christ 1 Cor. 10. 16. of the people l Indefinitely of all my People not onely Iews but also the Gentiles as may be gathered from the context and by comparing this place with Isa. 42. 6. Where the same Phrase is used From both which places it is most manifest that the Messiah is designed and not Isaiah to whom this and divers other Phrases here used cannot be ascribed without great force ‖ Or raise uâ—… to establish the earth m To compose and settle the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof by making peace between God and men and between Iews and Gentiles and by establishing Truth and Righteousness and Holiness upon Earth and by subduing those Lusts and Passions which are the great disturbers of Humane Society which was the design of God in sending and of Christ in coming into the World to cause to inherit the desolate heritages n That desolate Places may be repaired and repossessed That Christ may possess the Heathen according to Psal. 2. 8. who were in a spiritual sence in a most desolate and forlorn condition h In the time of grace and of the Gospel which I have appointed for the working out of mans Salvation by thee 9. That thou mayest say o To wit with power and effect as when God said Let there be Light c. * Chap. 42. 7. to the prisoners p To the Gentiles who are fast bound by the cords of their sins and taken Captive by the Devil at his will as this same Phrase is understood Isa. 42. 7. Go forth q Come forth to the light receive Divine illumination and consolation to them that are in darkness Shew your selves they shall feed in the wayes and their pastures shall be in all high places r They shall have abundant provision in all places yea even in those which commonly are barren and unfruitful and such are both common roads and high grounds 10. They shall not * Rev. 7. 1â—… hunger nor thirst neither shall the heat nor Sun smite them s They shall be supplied with all good and necessary things and kept from all evil occurrents for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them t God who hath magnified his mercy to them will conduct them with safety and comfort even by the springs of water shall he guide them 11. And I will make all my Mountains a way and my high wayes shall be exalted u I will remove all hinderances and prepare the way for them by levelling high grounds and raising low grounds of which see on Isa. 40. 3 4. 12. Behold these shall come from farr x My People shall be called and gathered even from the most remote parts of the earth He speaks here and in many other places of the Conversion of the Gentiles with allusion to that work of gathering and bringing back the Iews from all parts where they were dispersed into their own Land and loe these from the North and from the West y From the several parts of the world which are here synecdochically expressed as they are in many other places and these from the land of Sinim z Either of the Sinites as they are called Gen. 1â—… 17. who dwelt about the Wilderness of Sin which was Southward from Iudea Or of Sin a famous City of Egypt called the strength of Egypt which may be synecdochically put for all Egypt and that for all southern parts And so he here mentions the several quarters of the World where the generality of the Iews were dispersed the North which is every where named as the chief place of their banishment and dispersion as Ier. 16. 15. and 31. 8. and elsewhere the West the western Countries and Islands and the South 13. Sing O Heavens and be joyful O Earth and break forth into singing O Mountains for the Lord hath comforted his People a God hath now sent that
long-desired Consolation of Israel and will have mercy upon his afflicted 14. But Zion said the LORD hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me b This is an objection against all these glorious predictions and promises hitherto mentioned How can these things be true when the condition of Gods Church is now so sad and desperate as it was when the Iews were Captives in Babylon in which the Prophet here supposeth them to be 15. Can a woman forget her sucking child †Heb. from having compassion that she should not have compassion on the Son of her womb yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee c Earthly Parents som times are so unnatural and monstrous but do not entertain such unworthy thoughts of me I will remember thee effectually to bring thee out of Babylon and which is infinitely greater to send my Son into the world to work out eternal redemption for thee 16. Behold I have graven thee upon the palmes of my hands d Mine eye and heart is constantly upon thee He alludes to the common practice of men who use to put signs and memorials upon their hand or fingers of such things as they dearly affect and would remember See Exod. 13. 9. Deut. 6. 8. Prov. 6. 21. Cant. 8. 6. Ier. 22. 24. thy walls are continually before me e My thoughts run continually upon the Walls of Ierusalem which are now broken down that I way repair them as soon as ever the set time cometh and then proceed to do far greater things for thee 17. Thy children f Or as others render it thy Builders which is favoured by the next clause where the destroyers are opposed to them Howsoever the sence is the same for her children were her Builders as we read in Ezra and Nehemiah shall make hast thy destroyers and they that made thee waâ—…te shall go forth of thee g Shall be separated and driven from among thee and so shall neither hinder nor annoy thee 18. * Chap. 60. 4. Lift up thine eyes round about and behold all these h To wit the Gentiles as sufficiently appeareth from what hath been already said and from that which followeth The sence is Thy Church shall not onely be restored and established in Ierusalem but it shall be vastly enlarged and adorned by the accession of the Gentiles to it gather themselves together and come to thee i To receive instruction from thee and to be incorporated with thee into one and the same Church as I live saith the LORD thou shalt surely cloth thee with them all as with an ornament k They shall not be a burden as the Gentiles formerly were when they mixed themselves with the Iews but an Ornament iâ—… respect of those excellent gifâ—… and graces wherewith they shall enrich and honour thy Church and bind them on thee as a bride doth 19. For thy waste and thy desolate places l Thy own Land which is now wast and desolate and whereof divers parts lay formerly wast and desolate for want of People to possess and manage them and the Land of thy destruction m Or rather Thy Land of destruction so called because it is 〈◊〉 and shall be exposed to destruction shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away n To wit from thee 20. The children which thou shalt have after thou hast lost o Heb. The Children of thine orbity or barren and Childless-slate Those Children which thou shalt have when thou art grown past the ordinary age and state of Child-bearing as Sarah in that case was made the Mother of a most numerous posterity to which he seems here to allude Those Gentiles which shall be begotten by thee to wit by the Ministry of thy Children Christ and his Apostles when thou shalt be deprived of thine own natural Children when thou shalt become barren and unfruitful as to Conversion of natural Iews when the generallity of the Iews shall cut themselves off from God and from his true Church by their Apostacy from God and by their unbelief and obstinate refusal of their Messiah the other shall say again p Or rather shall yet say though for the present it be otherwise in thine eares The place is too â—…raight for me give place to me that I may dwell 21. Then shalt thou say q Not without admiration in thine heart Who hath begotten me these r Whence or by whom have I this numberless Issue seeing I have lost my children s Seeing it is not long since that I was in a manner left childless and am desolate t Without an Husband being forsaken by God who formerly owned himself for my Husband Isa. 54. 5. Ier. 31. 32. and elsewhere a captive and removing to and fro u Which condition is in many respects a great 〈◊〉 to the proâ—…tion of Children and who hath brought up these x The same thing repeated again to express the miraculousness of this work and the great surprisal of the Iews at it which sheweth that he speaks of the Conversion of the Gentiles Behold I was left alone these where â—…d they been 22. Thus saith the Lord GOD Behold I will lift up mine hand y I will call them to me and command them to do this work as men commonly signifie their calls and commands by this gesture to the Gentiles and set up my standard z As Generals do to gather their Forces together See on Isâ—… 11. 12. to the people a Unto thee or to thy Church and People and they shall bring thy sonnes b Those which shall be thine if not by natural Generation yet by adoption that shall own God for their Father and Ierusalem for their Mother in their †Heb. besome armes c With great care and tenderness as Nurses carry young Infants The sence is even the Heathen shall contribute to the increase and preservation of those Children which shall be begotten to thee and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders d As sick or infirm persons used to be carried See Mark 2. 3. Luke 15. 5. 23. And Kings shall be thy †Heb. nourishers nursing fathers and their †Heb. Princesses queens thy nursing mothers l they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth and * Psal. 72. 9. lick up the dust of thy feet f They shall highly reverence and honour thee and shall most humbly and readily submit themselves unto thee which was not verified in any of the Persian Kings but onely in these Kings who were converted to the Christian Faith and Church The expressions are borrowed from the practice of the Eastern People in their protestations and adorations when they bowed so low as to touch and kiss the ground whereby they did or might seem to lick up the
Child by Sarah And this word alone seems to belong not only to this word wherewith it is joined but also unto the two following words especially if we consider the order of the words in the Hebrew Text where they lie thus for one or alone or when he was alone or but one I called him and blessed him and encreased him and blessed him and encreased him f Into a vast multitude when his condition was desperate in the eye of reason And therefore God can as easily raise and deliver his Church when they are in the most forlorn condition and seem to be dead and buried and consumed so that nothing but dry bones remain of them as it is declared at large Ezek. 37. 3 For g So this comes in as a reason why they should look unto or consider that famous example of Abraham and Sarah because they should find the like wonder wrought on their behalf Or Therefore or for the sake of Abraham my Friend and of that Covenant which I made with him and by which I promised to bless him and his seed for ever the LORD shall comfort Zion h His Church which is frequently called by that name both in the Old and New Testament he will comfort all her wast places and he will make her wilderness like Eden and her desart like the garden of the LORD i Although she shall be waste and desolate and like a Wilderness or Desart for a time yet she shall be restored and be made as pleasant and flourishing as the Garden of Eden was joy and gladness shall be found therein thanksgiving and the voice of melody 4 Hearken unto me my people k Seeing the Gentiles will hearken to me as I have formerly told you take heed that you Jews whom I chose to be my peculiar people do not reject my counsel nor forsake your own mercies as I fear you will do and give ear unto me O my nation for a law l A new Law even the Doctrine of the Gospel which ought to have the force of a Law with you and I expect your Obedience to it no less than to my Law delivered by Moses shall proceed from me and I will make my judgment to rest m Iudgment is here the same thing with Law in the former clause the word of God which is frequently called Iudgment as hath been observed again and again or the Evangelical Doctrine of which he saith that he will make it to rest i. e. settle and establish it whereby he may possibly intimate the stability and perpetuity of this light in the Church that it shall not be like the light of the Mosaical Dispensation which was only to shine for a season even untill the time of Reformation Heb. 9. 10. when all those dark shadows were to vanish and give place to the Sun of Righteousness and to that Kingdom and State that should never be moved as we read Dan. 2. 44. Heb. 12. 26 27 28. and in many other places for a light of the people n Heb. of or to the peoples not only to you Jews but unto people of all sorts and Nations who shall receive and walk in that light which you will reject and use all possible endeavours to extinguish 5 My righteousness o My Salvation as it is expounded in the next clause the Redemption of all my people both Jews and Gentiles which is the effect of his Righteousness either his Justice or his Faithfulness or his Mercy Goodness for all these are called by the name of Righteousness in Scripture and all these contributed to the work of Mans Redemption is near my salvation is gone forth p Shall shortly go forth my secret and eternal purpose of saving my People shall speedily be fulfilled and mine arms shall judg the people q Either 1. Shall destroy those People who obstruct or oppose this work Or rather 2. Shall subdue the Gentiles to mine Authority and rule them by my Word and Spirit which agrees best with the following clause the isles r The remote Countries of the Gentiles as Isa. 41. 1. 42. 4. and elsewhere shall wait upon me s Shall confidently expect and hope for this promised Righteousness and Salvation from me and from me only and not from Idols as they have none nor by any other way and on mine arm shall they trust 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look upon the earth beneath for * Ps. 102. 26. Mat. 24. 35. the Heavens shall vanish away like smoak and the earth shall wax old like a Garment t The Heavens and Earth shall pass away either 1. Simply and by a substantial corruption or annihilation which yet is to be understood comparatively or conditionally that these should sooner vanish into nothing than Gods promise of Salvation should not be accomplished as when it is said Heaven and Earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away Mat. 24. 35. It is thus expounded It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass than for one tittle of the Law to fail Or 2. In regard of their present State and Properties and Use as Smoak is here said to vanish although the substance of it be not destroyed and they that dwell therein shall die ‖ Or as a 〈◊〉 in like manner u As they shall be dissolved as we read 2 Pet. 3. 11. and death is nothing else but a dissolution but my salvation shall be for ever and my righteousness shall not be abolished 7 Hearken unto me ye that know x That love and practise it as knowing is commonly used righteousness the people * Ps. 37. 31. in whose heart is my law y Who are tacitly opposed to the carnal Jews that had the Law written only in Tables Compare 2 Cor. 3. 3. Heb. 8. 10. * Mat. 10. 28. fear ye not the reproach of men z The censures of the carnal Jews who will load their believing and godly Brethren with a world of Reproaches but let not these things discourage you neither be ye afraid of their revilings 8 For * Ch. 50. 9. the moth shall eat them up a Your Reproaches shall be easily destroyed and so God will revenge your cause upon them and deliver you from their Reproaches like a Garment and the worm shall eat them like wool b but my Righteousness shall be for ever and my salvation from generation to generation l Like a woollen Garment which is sooner corrupted by Moths or such Creatures than linnen 9 Awake awake c Thou who hast carried thy self like one asleep and unconcerned for thy People and unable to save them The Prophet having foretold what great things God would do for his Church and longing for the accomplishment of them and knowing that Prayer was one means by which God fulfills his Promises he poureth forth this Prayer to God in his own
pretended to fear and serve both the Lord and Idols yet in truth they did not and do not fear or worship the Lord but their own Calves or other vain inventions And God will not accept that mongrel and false Worship which they pretend to give to the true God Or this may intimate that the Israelites were worse than their Successors because these feared the Lord and Idols too but they did quite cast off the fear and worship of God in their captivity and wholly degenerated into Heathenish Idolatry neither do they after their statutes d i. e. God's Law delivered to their Fathers and to them as their Inheritance Psal. 119. 111. This is alledged as an Evidence that they did not fear the Lord whatsoever they pretended because they lived in the constant breach of his statutes or after their ordinances or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob e i. e. Themselves the Noun put for the Pronoun which is usual among the Hebrews * Gen. 32. 28. and 35. 10. whom he named Israel f A Name signifying his special interest in God and power with him which was given to him not onely for himself but for his Posterity also whom God frequently honours with that Name And by this great favour he aggravates their sin 35 With whom the LORD had made a covenant g Containing many precious promises upon the condition here following see Gen 17. 7. Exod. 19. 5. and 24. 7. and charged them saying * Judg. 6. 10. Ye shall not fear other gods nor bow your selves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them 36 But the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched-out arm him shall ye fear him shall ye worship and to him shall ye do sacrifice 37 And the statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which he wrote for you ye shall observe to do for evermore and ye shall not fear other gods 38 And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget neither shall ye fear other gods 39 But the Lord your God h i. e. God above as the whole context shews ye shall fear and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies i And therefore you have no pretence of need to go to other gods for relief 40 Howbeit they did not hearken but they did after their former manner 41 So k i. e. In like manner and after their example these nations l Who came in their stead feared the LORD and served their graven images both their children and their childrens children as did their fathers so do they unto this day CHAP. XVIII NOw it came to pass in the third year a In the third of those nine years mentioned chap. 17. 1. of which see there See below ver 10. of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel that * 2 Chron. 28 2â—… and 29. 1. He is called Ezekias Mat. 1. 9. Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign 2 Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign b How is this credible For then Ahaz who lived but Six and Thirty years chap. 16. 2. must beget Hezekiah at the Eleventh year of his Age. Ans. 1. There are some like instances mentioned by credible Authors which these very men will not deny who are so ready to quarrel with the holy Scriptures for such matters 2. This being the confessed custom of sacred and other Writers in the numbring of years sometimes to omit and sometimes to add those which are imperfect or unfinished And so Ahaz might be near One and twenty years old when he began to reign and near Seventeen years older when he died And on the other side Hezekiah when he began to reign might be onely Four and Twenty years old compleat and but entred into his Five and Twentieth year And thus Ahaz might be between Thirteen and Fourteen years old when he got Hezechiah which is not at all strange especially in that Nation to which God had promised a singular degree of Fruitfulness and in that House of David to which God had made so many and such great Promises 3. It is not certain that Ahaz lived onely Thirty six years for those Sixteen Years which he Reigned Chap. 16. 2. may be computed not from the first beginning of his Reign when he Reigned with his Father of which see the notes on Chap. 15. 30. which was at the Twentieth Year of his Age but from the beginning of his Reign alone 4. Some affirm That Hezekiah was not the Natural but onely the Legal Son and Successor of Ahaz for the name of Son is given in Scripture to such Persons as 1 Chron. 3. 16. comp with 2 King 24. 17. Matt. 1. 12. compared with Ier. 22. 30. and to Adopted Sons Act. 7. 21. Heb. 11. 24. And to Sons in Law 1 Sam. 24. 16. and 26. 17. Luk. 3. 23. Any of these Solutions are far more credible to any man of common prudence than that these Sacred Books whose Divine Original hath been so fully Evidenced both by God and Men are but the Fictions and Contrivances of a base Impostor And if none of these Solutions were sufficient it is absurd to conclude That a true Resolution 〈◊〉 be found because it is not yet found because it is 〈◊〉 That many difficulties both in Scripture and in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were formerly judged Insoluble have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore we may justly expect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Difficulties which may be thought 〈◊〉 Explained and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem his mothers name also was Abi the daughter of Zachariah c Or Abiah 2 Chron. 29. 1. 3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD according to all that which David his father did 4 * 2 Chro. 31. â—… ¶ He removed the high places d i. e. The most of them or such as the people most frequented for all were not taken away Chap. 23. 13 14. And this he attempted to do notwithstanding the peoples great and constant Affection to them partly because he had more Zeal and Courage than his Predecessors and partly because the Dreadful Judgments of God upon the Kingdom of Israel for their Superstition and Idolatry had made the People of Iudah more pliable to the Commands of God and of their good King and brake the †images and cut down the groves and brake ‡ Heb. Staâ—…es in pieces the * Numb 21. 9. brazen serpent that Moses had made e By God's Command to be an Ordinance or mean for the conveyance of God's Blessing to the People which therefore had been hitherto kept as a Memorial of God's Mercy but being now commonly abused to Superstition was destroyed for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it f Not
doubtless as to a God but onely as to an Instrument and token of God's Mercy by and through which their adoration was directed to God and given to that onely for God's sake and he called it Nehushtan g i. e. He said This Serpent howsoever formerly honoured and used by God as a sign of his Grace yet now it is nothing but a piece of Brass which can do you neither good nor hurt and therefore is no fit Object for your Worship 5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel h Without calling in Foreign and Heathenish Succours to stablish or help him which his Father Ahaz did Chap. 16. 7. and Isa. 7. and before him Asa 1 King 15. 18 19. with reflection upon whom this seems to be noted so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah nor any that were before him i To wit of the Kings of Iudah onely for David and Solomon were Kings of all Israel Object The like is said of Iosiah Chap. 23. 25. Ansiv Each of them excelled the other in several qualities or actions Hezekiah in this That he fell upon this Work with great expedition even in the beginning of his Reign which Iosiah did not Chap. 23. and with no less Resolution undertaking to do that which none of his Predecessors durst do even to remove the high Places wherein Iosiah did onely follow his Example Chap. 22. 1 3. 6 For he clave to the LORD and departed not ‡ 〈◊〉 fâ—…om after him from following him k In the general course of his Life and especially in the matters of God's Worship but kept his commandments which the LORD commanded Moses 7 And the LORD was with him and he prospered whithersoever he went forth and he rebelled against the king of Assyria l He shook off that Yoke of Subjection and Tribute to which his Father had wickedly submitted Chap. 16. 7. and reassumed that full and independent Soveraignty which God had setled in the House of David which Ahaz could not alienate further than for his own time And Hezekiah's Case differs much from that of Zedekiah who is blamed for Rebellion against the King of Babylon both because he had ingaged himself to him by a Solemn Oath and Covenant which we do not read of Ahaz and because he broke the Covenant which he himself had made c. because God had actually given the Dominion of his own Land and People to the King of Babylon and Commanded both Zedekiah and his People to submit to him And whereas Hezekiah is here said to Rebel that Word implies onely a defection from that Subjection which had been professed and performed to another which sometimes may be justly done and sometimes may not and therefore that Word doth not necessarily prove this action to be a Sin And these Words he rebelled c. are explained by the next following Words and he served him not And that it was not a Sin in him seems most probable because God did own and assist him therein and did not at all reprove him for it in that Message which he sent to him by Isaiah about this matter Chap. 19. 20 c. nor afterwards though he did particularly reprove him for that which might seem a less fault for his Vain-glory and Ostentation 2 Chron. 32. 25 26. For what he saith I have offended see on ver 14. and served him not 8 He * Isa. 14. 〈◊〉 smote the Philistines m And recovered from them what his Father had lost 2 Chron. 28. 18. and more even unto ‡ Heb. Azzâ—… Gaza and the borders thereof from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city n Of which Phrase see on Chap. 17. 9. 9 ¶ And it * Chap. 1â—… â—… came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah which was the seventh year of Hoshea o The Seventh of those Nine years expressed Chap. 17. 1 son of Elah king of Israel that Shalmanezer king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it 10 And at the end of three years p To wit of the Siege i. e. In the Third Year as this Phrase is used Deut. 14. 28. Iosh. 9. 16 17. Ier. 34. 14. comp with Exod. 21. 2. they took it even in the sixth year of Hezekiah that is * Chap. 1. 〈◊〉 the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel Samaria was taken 11 And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel into Assyria and put them * 1 Chreâ—… 〈◊〉 in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes q Of which see above on Chap. 17. 6. 12 Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed his covenant and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded r They began with one sin the Worship of the Calves but from thence they were led by degrees into the violation of all the other Commands although indeed that one Sin made them in some sort guilty of the breach of the whole Law Iam. 2. 10. and would not hear them nor do them 13 ¶ Now * 2 Châ—… 〈◊〉 1. Isa. 36. 〈◊〉 in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 rib Sennacherib king of Assyria s The Son or Successor of Salmanasser i. e. Against many of them universal Particles being frequently so used both in Scripture and other Authors for that all were not taken appears from Chap. 19. 8. And this success God gave him partly to lift him up to his own greater and more shameful Destruction partly to humble and chastise his own People for their manifold Sins and afterwards to raise them up with more comfort and glory and partly to gain an eminent opportunity to advance his own Honour and Service by that Miraculous Deliverance which he designed for his People come up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them t To wit against thee i. e. I have given thee occasion of Warring against me whereof I now repent Or his ill success might make him think that he had sinned against God in this action and might make him willing to submit to him though God graciously prevented it 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish saying I have offended u Of which see on Exod. 25. 39. return from me that which thou puttest on me will I bear And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold 15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the kings house 16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid x So repairing the injury which his Father had done to them and putting them into the same
all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid 12 But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers who were ancient men that had seen the first house o Which divers of them might very well do because it was destroyed not quite Sixty years ago as is manifest from 2 King 25. 2 Chr. 36. Ezek. 40. 1. when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes wept with a loud voice p Partly because of the poor and small preparations made for this in comparison of what was made for the other Temple partly because this Temple was divested and destitute of those things which were the principal Glory of the former Temple to wit the Ark and the Urim and Thummim c. partly because these foundation-stones were far inferiour to the former both for quantity and price 1 King 7. 9 10. and partly because these foundations were of a far narrower compass than the former for although the foundations of this House of the Lord strictly so called were at least of equal largeness with those of the former by comparing 1 King 6. 2. Ezra 6. 1 2 3. yet the Foundations of the whole building belonging to the first Temple and adjoining to it or in the courts of it were far larger than these and many shouted for joy 13 So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people for the people shouted with a loud shout and the noise was heard afar off CHAP. IV. 1 NOw when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin a The Samaritans as appears from v. 2 10. heard that †Heb. 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the children of the captivity built the temple unto the LORD God of Israel 2 Then they came to Zerubbabel and to the chief of the fathers and said unto them let us build with you b This they spake not sincerely as appears from their disposition and designs discovered in the following History but that by this conjunction with them they might pierce into their counsels and thereby get an opportunity to sin â—…me matter or pretences of Accusation against them for we seek your God as ye do c For so they did though in a mongrel way see 2 Kin. 17. 26 c. and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur d Son of Sennacherib and after him King of Assyria 2 Kin. 19. 37. Who brought or sent these persons hither either 1. In the days of Salmanasar who lived and reigned in Assyria but Eight years before Esarhaddons Reign and so Esarhaddon might be one of his most eminent Commanders and the man by whom that colony was sent Or 2. In the reign of Esarhaddon who sent this second Colony to supply and strengthen the first which brought us up hither 3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel said unto them †Heb. iâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 us Ye have nothing to do with us e As being of another Nation and Religion and therefore not concerned in Cyrus his Grant which was confined to the Israelites and to the worshippers of the true God to build an house unto our God but we our selves together f i. e. Who are united together by Cyrus his Grant in this work Or alone as this word is somtimes used as Iob 34. 29. Psal. 33. 15. Hos. 11. 7. will build unto the LORD God of Israel as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us 4 Then the people of the land g Heb. of that land the present Inhabitants of that Province to wit the Samaritans weakned the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building h By false Reports and Threats and other means described 5 And hired counsellers against them i Who by their Artifices and Interests in the Persian Court should give some stop to their work to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus King of Persia k For though Cyrus still favoured the Jews yet he was then diverted by his Wars and his Son Cambyses was left his Vice-roy who was a very wicked Prince and an Enemy to the Jews and their Religion even until the reign of Darius king of Persia l Heb. and until c. i. e. Not only in the Reign of Cyrus but also of Cambyses and of the Magician after whom was this Darius of whom see chap. 5 6. 6 And in the reign of †Heb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ahasuerus m Which is supposed by divers learned men to be from this time a common Name to divers succeeding Kings of Persia. And this makes it seem doubtful who this was This was either 1. Xerxes the fourth and rich King of Persia as he is called Dan. 11. 2. Or rather 2. Cambyses the Son and Successor of Cyrus as may appear 1. Because none but he and Sâ—…nerdis were between Cyrus and this Darius 2. Because Cambyses was known to be no friend to the Jewish Nation nor Religion and therefore it is very improbable that these crafty and malicious and Industrious Enemies of the Jews would omit so great an opportunity when it was put into their hands in the beginning of his reign wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem 7 And in the days of Artaxerxes n Either 1. Artaxerxes the Son of Xerxes Or 2. Smerdis the Magician Or rather 3. The same Cambyses called by his Chaldee name Ahashuerus v. 6. and here by his Persian name Artaxexes By which name he is here called in the Inscription of this Letter because so he was called by himself and others in the Letters written either by him or to him wrote ‖ Or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bishlam Mithridath Tabeel and the rest of their †Heb. socieâ—… companies unto Artaxerxes king of Persia and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue and interpreted o Or exposed or declared The sense is It was written in the Chaldee or Syrian Language and in the Syrian Character for sometimes the Chaldee or Syrian words are written in the Hebrew Character and Hebrew words are oft written in an English Character in the Syrian tongue 8 Rehum the chancellour and Shimshai the ‖ Or secretary scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort 9 Then wrote Rehum the chancellour and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their †Chald. sociâ—… companions the Dinaites the Apharsathchites the Tarpelites the Apharsites the Archevites the Babylonians the Susanchites the Dehavites and the Elamites p Several people thus called from the several places of that vast Assyrian Empire from whence they were fetched and who were united together into one Body and sent as