the coming be and how highly esteemed shall the persons be of every one of those that shall bring to Zion the Metropolis of Judea situate in a Mountainous Country the glad tydings of the Destruction of Babylon and the deliverance of Gods People from their Captivity there yet there may be I confess an emphasis in these words how beautiful are the feet c. as if it had been said The very feet of these Men though dusty and dirty with travel will be beautiful and amiable in the Eyes of Gods People See the Note Chap. 40.9 that publisheth Peace See the Note Chap. 48.18 that bringeth good tydings of good that publisheth Salvation that saith unto Zion thy God reigneth that is he hath now manifested his regal Power in governing the World by destroying his Enemies and delivering his People and hath again taken them to be under his Protection and Government and to serve and worship him in his Temple according to his Laws as formerly Now by these welcome Messengers are meant both the Prophets that foretold these things and likewise those that did first make known to the Jews the purpose of Cyrus to set them at Liberty and the Messengers that from Babylon were sent before-hand to acquaint those that were left in Judea But certainly this was chiefly accomplished in the Apostles preaching the Gospel as is evident by the Apostles applying this place thereto Rom. 10.15 As it is written how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace and bring glad tydings of good things And as this is intended the Phrase here used seems to have respect to the Apostles travelling into many Countries to preach the glad tydings of that Salvation and Peace which in Christ was tendered to them See the Note Chap. 9.6 And that which is said thy God reigneth is meant of the Kingdom of Christ according to that expression so frequently used by the Baptist and Christ Behold the Kingdom of God is at hand Ver. 8. Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice c. By the watchmen here some understand the same that in the foregoing Verse were mentioned as the Messengers that brought good tydings to Zion And indeed if by them we understand the Prophets and Apostles it is clear that both these are tearmed watchmen in the Scripture See Ezek. 3.17 and Heb. 3.17 But it is very probably by others said that by their Watchmen here are meant those Watchmen that should stand in the Watch-Tower about Zion who when they should see the People flocking home from Babylon according to what the Messengers sent from thence had told them should lift up their voice to wit with great joy and confidence to proclaim unto the People those glad tydings See the Notes Chap. 40.1 9. And to imply that many of them should do this which was a clear evidence of the certainty of it therefore is that added with the voice together shall they sing to wit as being ravished with Joy to see Gods People come back again for they shall see Eye to Eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion that is they shall with their Eyes see the poor Captives come home into their own Country As the Prophet Ezekiel was appointed to say to Zedekiah Ezek. 34.3 Thine Eyes shall behold the Eyes of the King of Babylon and he shall speak with thee Mouth to Mouth But now referring this to our Redemption by Christ the Watchmens lifting up their voice must be understood of the Apostles preaching the Gospel unanimously with great joy and assurance of Faith to all Nations according to that of the Apostles Rom. 10.18 Their sound went into all the Earth and so likewise that which is said of their seeing Eye to Eye when the Lord should bring again Zion must be understood of their being Eye witnesses of Christs performing the great work of our Redemption for which see Act. 4.20 and 1 Joh. 1.1 Ver. 9. Break forth into joy c. These words may be taken as the Words of the Prophet or the words of the Watchmen mentioned in the foregoing Verse Break forth into joy sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem to wit because now upon the return of Gods People we shall be all built up again and abundantly replenished with Inhabitants See the Notes Chap. 49.19 and 51.3 And under this may be also comprehended the building up of the Church especially by the access of Gentiles which at the coming of Christ was miserably wasted and weakned See the Note Chap. 35.1 for the Lord hath comforted his People to wit by their Redemption and the blessed effects that followed thereupon See the Note Chap. 51.3 for so it is expressed in the following words he hath redeemed Jerusalem See the Note Chap. 44.23 But withall observable it is how this expression agreeth with that Luke 2.25 where it is said that Simeon was a just and devout man waiting for the Consolation of Israel Ver. 10. The Lord hath made bare his holy Arm in the Eyes of all the Nations c. By making bare that is stretching forth or stripping his Arm is meant the clear discovering and making visible his Almighty power to Men by delivering his People and destroying their Enemies so that all Nations far and near should with admiration take notice of this wonderful work of God and he saith his holy Arm because it was Gods holiness that ingaged him to do this for those whom he had set apart to be a holy People unto himself But see the Notes Psal 98.1 2. and all the ends of the Earth shall see the Salvation of our God See the Note Chap. 40.5 Ver. 11. Depart ye depart ye go ye out from thence c. To wit out of Babylon See the Note Chap. 48.20 It is thus often repeated to imply the care and speed that was required herein And under this typical departure out of Babylon men are also called to come out of the World namely out of that state of uncleanness and bondage wherein the World lies and from the fellowship of the wicked of the World by a true Conversion and Profession of Christ according to that of the Apostle Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing 2 Cor. 6.17 as it follows here touch no unclean thing go ye out of the midst of her which as it enjoyned a care to keep themselves clean or to purifie themselves from all legal uncleanness so likewise especially that which was signified thereby that they should not suffer themselves to be polluted with the Superstitions and other wickedness of the Babylonians amongst whom they lived be ye clean ye that bear the Vessels of the Lord that is ye that are Priests and Levites for I conceive it is clear by that which is said Ezra 8.24 See the Note there that the carrying back of the holy Vessels and Utensils of the Temple which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away to Babylon
Tyre and Zidon is called a Woman of Canaan And indeed considering the word Canaan is sometime used for a Merchant as we find it translated Hos 12.7 where it is said of Ephraim He is a Merchant the ballances of deceit are in his hand and that Tyre was the chief Mart-Town for Merchandizing in those parts I conceive it is best rendred in our Bibles The Lord hath given a Commandment against the Merchant-City And the meaning however is That God had given a Commission to her Enemies the Assyrians or Babylonians to pull her down and therefore it was in vain to think that her great strength should secure her to destroy the strong holds thereof or the strengths thereof as it is in the Margin that is whatever she had which she might hope would be a means to defend her Ver. 12. And he said Thou shalt no more rejoyce O thou oppressed Virgin Daughter of Zidon c. By the Daughter of Zidon here most Expositors hold that Tyre is meant and that she is so called because she was a Colony of Zidons see above ver 4. But according to the usual Language of the Scripture it is rather Zidon her self or the Inhabitants thereof that is here called the Daughter of Zidon a Virgin-Daughter she is termed not only with respect to the beauty of the City and the delicacy of the inhabitants living at ease and pleasure but also especially because she had never been hitherto subdued and brought under by any hostile power but withal an oppressed Virgin because now even Zidon was to be destroyed as well as Tyre And this I conceive is that which is intended by this Expression Thou shalt no more rejoyce O thou oppressed Virgin Daughter of Zidon not that Zidon should never after this be in a flourishing and rejoycing Condition for it is most probable that when Tyre was restored again as is here afterward foretold ver 17. Zidon also together with Tyre did also recover her former state nor that Zidon should no more rejoyce in hope of her enriching and advancing her self still more by her trading with Tyre because Tyre was to be destroyed but that she should not any longer triumph and be in such jollity as she had hitherto been and that because together with Tyre even she should be also destroyed And thereupon to assure them of the certainty of this he adviseth the Zidonians to flee away and to seek some place of shelter elsewhere see the Note above ver 10. or else foretels that they also should be carried away captives into Foreign parts Arise pass over to Chittim see the Notes before ver 1. there also shalt thou have no rest to wit because even thence they should be carried away as Slaves into remoter parts Or because even those parts also should be invaded by the proud Conqueror Ver. 13. Behold the land of the Chaldeans c. Expositors differ very much concerning the meaning of this verse That which seems most probable is That to prevent any thought of the impossibility of Tyres being destroyed because it was a place of such exceeding strength impregnable and invincible in the eye of reason and because it was a City of so great Antiquity that had stood unsubdued and flourished prosperously for so many Ages the Prophet doth here propound as considerable that the Assyrian a Nation far more ancient and more potent than the Tyrians was at last subdued and ruined by the Chaldeans whom the Assyrian had raised to all their greatness inferring from hence that therefore it was no wonder at all though the Chaldean and Assyrian now joyned together should destroy Tyre This I conceive is most probably the scope of this place and accordingly I understand the words thus Behold the land of the Chaldeans that is Behold the people that now possess the land of Chaldea that very people by whom God means now to destroy Tyre this people was not that is They had not the name of a people no body made any reckoning of them till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness that is Till the Assyrian gathered them together that after the Flood or after the Dispersion occasioned by the Division of Tongues Gen. 11.11 were scattered abroad here and there and lived in the wilderness in waste and desolate places as a wild rude people not having any setled places of habitation but dwelling in Tents and setled them to live together as one associated people in the land of Chaldea they set up the towers thereof they raised up the palaces thereof that is The Assyrians brought them to live together in Townships and Commonalities which by degrees came to be stately Cities and places of great strength and he brought it to ruine that is God ruined the Assyrian this ancient people that were the first Founders of that great Empire of Chaldea or rather the Chaldean that was at first brought to be a people and raised to such a flourishing Condition by the Assyrian did at length by degrees subdue and ruine all the power of the Assyrians and taking Niniveh the chief seat of their Empire did translate the Empire from the Assyrians to themselves Some I know do hold That it is the Babylonian or Chaldean that is here instanced in as the people that being of greater strength and antiquity than Tyre was yet at last subdued by the Assyrian that had raised them to their greatness And indeed we find that Babylon is mentioned 2 Kin. 17.24 amongst those Kingdoms that had been subdued by the Assyrian yea and there are that take the last clause as spoken prophetically with respect to the Persians subduing Chaldea and he brought it to ruine that is God by the Persian will bring it to ruine And lastly some say that the drift of these words is to shew that though Tyre did boast so much of her invincible strength and antiquity yet she should be ruined by a State more ancient and mighty than she was to wit the Chaldeans Behold the land of the Chaldeans this people was not that is This people had not any form of a State or Common wealth till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness that is till the Assyrian founded it as a fit harbour for his shipping and so brought in Colonies of people that had formerly dwelt in wild and waste places they set up the towers thereof they raised up the palaces thereof that is the Assyrians or Chaldeans were they that brought Tyre to be such a strong and stately City and he brought it to ruine as if the Prophet had said And thus Tyre is now like to be destroyed by them that at first founded her But the first Exposition seems to me the best Ver. 14. Howl ye ships of Tarshish c. See the Notes above ver 1. for your strength is laid waste that is Tyre that was your strong harbour for your shipping and by trading with whom you became so
the confirming of the promise he had made you therefore the Lord himself will of his own accord notwithstanding this your infidelity and contempt and without your will or desire give you a sign see the foregoing Note ver 3. and that indeed far more strange wonderful and miraculous than any you could have asked Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son which doubtless was meant of our Saviour Jesus Christ as is clearly affirmed by the Evangelist St. Matthew Chap. 1.22 23. where having related how the Angel made known to Joseph that the Virgin Mary his espoused Wife was conceived with child by the Holy Ghost and should bring forth a Son whose name should be Jesus he adds Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet saying Behold a Virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a Son and they shall call or his name shall be called Emmanuel which no way differs from that which is said here that he should be called so by his Virgin-mother Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call his name Immanuel Or Thou O Virgin shall call his name Immanuel For the Prophets meaning was not that this name should be given unto Christ either by his Mother or any body else as a name whereby he should be ordinarily called for at his Circumcision by the foreappointment of the Angel his name was called Jesus Luk. 2.21 but that he should be and should both by his Mother and others be owned to be Immanuel that is God with us Mat. 1.23 and that not only because he was both God and Man the Godhead and Manhood being in him Personally united together according to that of the Apostle Col. 2.9 In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily but also because by him there was a perfect reconcilement made between God and us 2 Cor. 5.19 And indeed frequently in the Scripture it is said of Persons and places that they should be called by such or such a name when the meaning is not that men in speaking to them or of them should give them that name but only that that which was signified by those names should be in them so exactly accomplished that they might be in that regard most fitly and deservedly called by those names See the Note Chap. 1.26 so we find it said upon this account concerning Solomon that his name should be Jedidiah 2 Sam. 12.25 and yet we do not read that he was ever ordinarily called by that name And the like may be said concerning those names given to Pashur Jer. 20.3 and to Jerusalem Ezek. 48.35 and to our Saviour himself Chap. 9.6 Jer. 23.6 And therefore I conceive it is not to be questioned but that the same is intended here in saying that the Son of the Virgin Mary should be called Immanuel namely that he should be true Immanuel God with us And yet notwithstanding I would not deny what I find affirmed by many learned men that by expressing this in those words that his Virgin-mother should call his name Immanuel there might be a covert intimation of that great mystery that because he had no father upon earth therefore it is said that he should be so called by his Virgin-mother But now the great question is How this supernatural conception and birth of our Saviour Christ can be fairly maintained to be indeed that sign which is here foretold by the Prophet The Jews deny this with much confidence but with little or no colour of truth For 1. whereas they say that the Hebrew word which we translate a Virgin doth properly signifie any young Damsel Virgin or other married or unmarried of this they are not able to give us any one instance where the word is so used in the whole Scripture And besides what an absurdity is it to think that the birth of any child conceived and born in an ordinary way should be here foretold by the Prophet as such a strange miraculous sign And 2. whereas they affirm that this Son whose conception and birth is here foretold was Hezekiah the son of Ahaz for so some of them say and that of him it is said that his name should be called Immanuel because in his days God was with them indeed in an eminent manner when he delivered them so miraculously from the mighty army of the Assyrians that had besieged Jerusalem or else a Son which the Prophets wife bare him whose name was indeed called Immanuel as by way of prediction that God would be with them to deliver them from the intended Invasion of the Israelites and Syrians neither of these can be maintained with any probability of reason For 1. If Hezekiah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign as it is said he was 2 King 18.2 then sixteen years before that which was in the beginning of his father Ahaz his reign for he reigned in all but sixteen years 2 King 16.2 he must needs be about nine years old and how then could he be the Son whose conception and birth was here foretold to Ahaz And 2. for that which they say that the Prophets wife had three Sons who had all names given them by Gods appointment as by way of Prophetical foretelling things to come as namely 1. Shear-jashab mentioned above ver 3. And 2. Maher-shalal-hash-baz mentioned Chap. 8.3 And 3. This Immanuel of whom the Prophet here speaks for this last that he was to be conceived and born by the Prophets wife besides that they have no Scripture-warrant for it but meerly their own conjecture can no way consist with that which is said Chap. 8.8 for were this Immanuel to have been of no higher descent why should the Prophet there call the land of Judah his land in regard of his special interest in it and dominion over it and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land O Immanuel And 3. however neither any Son of the King or of the Prophet can be that Immanuel that is here foretold unless it can be maintained that his mother was both before and after his conception and birth a pure Virgin The most plausible objection indeed that is made by the Jews against this great truth that this is a Prophecy of the conception and birth of out Saviour Jesus Christ of the Virgin Mary is this How that which was to come to pass so many ages after could be now given as a sign to those to whom the Prophet here spake to confirm the promise made them of the deliverance of them and the City Jerusalem from the surprisal of those two potent Kings that were coming against them which the words indeed do plainly import But to this it may be justly answered 1. That strange and wonderful things that are long after to come to pass may be foretold as signs for the confirming of some present promise given because the confident prediction
them out of the hands of their Oppressors and taking vengeance on them that had so sorely wronged and vexed them and that they should glory and triumph in this according to that Jer. 51.10 The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God And indeed the word justified is sometimes so taken as Chap. 50.8 He is near that justifieth me saith the Prophet to wit against the false aspersions of mine Adversaries Who will contend with me But because there is in the foregoing Verses such a clear Prophecy of the Calling and Conversion of the Gentiles I rather do understand it with the general current of Expositors of that Justification whereby those that come to God in Christ are discharged from their Sins and owned as Just in his sight and some conceive that this is added by way of confirming that triumphing of the faithful in the foregoing verse Surely shall one say In the Lord have I righteousness and affirming that so it should indeed be In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory See the Note Chap. 44.5 yea and it may well be which some conceive that by calling those Converts that should be justified and glory in the Lord the seed of Israel the Prophet did purposely seek to prevent the Jews any thought that he intended that God would cast off the Jews and take the Gentiles to be his people in their stead No God would own them still as his first-born People and the Gentiles should be ingrafted into their Stock and made the Children of Abraham the Seed of Israel together with them CHAP. XLVI VERSE 1. BEL boweth down Nebo stoopeth c. These were the principal Idol-gods of the Babylonians those doubtless which they esteemed their great Tutelary Gods but under these all the rest of their forged Deities are comprehended for the drift of the Prophet here is to shew that God would destroy together with Babylon even their Idol-gods too in whom they trusted See the Note Chap. 21.9 And this might be mentioned also as a figure of the utter ruine of Idolatry throughout the World by the Gospel of Christ the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon being by all acknowledged to be a figure of that great work of our Redemption by Christ Of Bel we read Jer. 50.2 Babylon is taken Bel is confounded c. and again 41.4 I will punish Bel in Babylon and in Pliny there is express mention of an Idol called Jupiter Belus yea and probable it is that with some respect to this Idol-god it was that Daniel was called Belteshazzar when he was brought a Captive into Babylon Dan. 1.7 because of that Nebuchadnezzar saith of him Dan. 4.8 But at the last Daniel came in before me whose name was Belteshazzar according to the name of my God Indeed of the other Idol Nebo we find no mention elsewhere in the Scripture but we find a City so called from one of their Idol-gods See the Note Numb 32.38 And many of the Babylonian Princes and Nobles seem to have had their Names from this Idol Nebo as Nebuchadnezzar Naburadan Nabopolassar and others The word Nebo according to the Hebrew imports Prophecy and therefore it is generally thought that this Idol was an Oracle amongst them to whom they resorted for information concerning future things As for that which is said of these Idols Bel boweth down Nebo stoopeth it is clearly a Prophecy of the ruine and destruction of these Chaldean Idols when Babylon should be taken by Cyrus some indeed would have these terms of bowing down and stooping only to imply that these Idols that had been so magnified and highly esteemed should now decline and sink in their Credit and others that they should stoop to the Yoke of Captivity but the following words do plainly shew that it is meant of the Persian Souldiers beating them down being made of Silver and Gold that they might carry them away as a rich Booty Indeed considering that this was spoken when Babylon and her Idols were yet in their height of Glory it may well be which some say that these Expressions are used to imply that their downfal drew nigh Bel boweth down Nebo stoopeth as if he had said they are falling they are falling they begin to totter and will not stand long however it is certainly spoken in a way of derision as importing that those lofty Idols before whom the Heads and Knees of the proud Babylonians had so often bowed should now bow and fall down themselves their Idols were upon the beasts and upon the cattel that is they were by the Persians laid as so much luggage upon their beasts or tumbled into Waggons that they might be carried as a rich prize into their own Country your carriages were heavy loaden they are a burden to the weary beast This may be taken as spoken either to the Persians or to the Idols as terming the carriages wherein they were carried away their carriages However this is all spoken by way of derision as if it had been said Surely these are weighty gods the poor weary beasts have much ado to carry them Ver. 2. They stoop they bow down together c. Some understand this of the weary beast that carried the Babylonian Idols to wit that they fainted and sunk under the weight of them and so likewise the following words they could not deliver the burden which they would have to be all one as if it had been said The poor beasts could not free themselves from their burthen Or they could not carry the Idols to the place where they were to deliver up that their burden But rather it is meant either 1. of the Babylonians that they stooped and hung the head they could not deliver the burthen that is they could not save their Idols from being carried away when they saw the Persians lading their beasts with them Or rather 2. Of the Idol-gods For the first words They stoop they bow down together are in effect no more but a repetition of what was said in the beginning of the foregoing verse to wit that both Bel and Nebo and all the rest of their Idols together with them did stoop and bow down that is were broken down by the Persians and carried away upon their beasts And accordingly they understand that which follows they could not deliver the burden that is say some they could not keep themselves from being a burthen to the weary beasts Or rather they could not deliver the burden wherewith the beasts were laden out of the hand of the enemy that is they could not deliver themselves but themselves are gone into captivity That is even their Idol-gods so far they were from delivering the People that they themselves together with the People were carried Captives It is in the Hebrew their Souls are gone into captivity which is an Hebraism intending no more than what is said in our Translation themselves