highly honour him and reward him But if you would know what particular honour and reward the Lord gave his Sonne and Servant Christ Iesus read among other places Ephes 1. v. 20 21 22 23. and Phil. 12. v. 1.81 91 101.11 But for the understanding of this That these words I will devide him a portion with the great signifie no more than this I will highly honour him and reward him know this that those places of Scripture which carry two senses in them are Historicall as I may call it and a Mysticall though they carry the Historicall sense word for word yet they carry the Mysticall sense for the most part but in Grosse though here and there there be sometimes such sentences interserted as apperteine according to the words themselves not onely to the Historicall but also to the Mysticall sense of which I spake more at large in the Preface And he shall divide the spoile with the strong This is the same for sense with former words Because he hath poured out his soul unto death i. e. Because he hath not spared his life but parted with it to the uttermost By His soule is here meant His life by a Metonymie for Life is nothing else but the Union of the soule with the body which Union is mainteined by the apt dispositions of the body to reteine it When he saith he hath poured out his soule he useth a Metaphor taken from the powring out of water out of Buckets He saith He hath poured out his soule unto death in pursuance of that Metaphor Of powring out of water out of a Bucket where the water is so poured out to the last drop as that there is not a drop thereof remaining And he was numbred with the transgressours i. e. And because he was accounted as a Transgressour though he were innocent and was put to death amongst Transgressours This was fulfilled when he was crucified between two Thieves Mark 15. v. 27 28. And he bare the sinne of many i. e. And he bare what the malice of the Jewes and the Gentiles under Pontius Pilate could lay upon him See Acts Cap. 4.27 By Sinne understand here the Torments and Afflictions which were the effect of the sinne That is of the malice and envy of the Jewes c. By a Metonymie And made intercession for the transgressours i. e. And because he made intercession for these who through envy and malice did put him to death ISAIAH CHAP. LIV. SIng O barren thou that didst not bear i. e. Sing for joy O Sion or O Jerusalem thou which hast been like a barren woman and bore no children He prophecyeth here of the joyful deliverance of the Jews out of the Babylonish captivity as he did cap. 49.51 52. and elsewhere And he speaks to the material City of Sion or Ierusalem as to a woman by a Prosopopoeia whom he calleth barren and one that did not bear because all the time of the Babylonish captivity she was empty of Jews which were to her as children for they were all carryed away into Babylon and there was none left in her to encrease the Nation See cap. 49.21 Cry aloud Supple For joy Thou that didst not travel with childe This is a repetition of those words Thou that didst not bear For more are the children of the desolate i. e. For more shall thy children be O thou which wast desolate and as a widow and as one forsaken of her Husband during the Babylonish captivity c. He changeth the person here and speaks of Sion or Jerusalem in the third person to whom he spoke in the foregoing words in the second and he useth a present for a future tense Sion or Jerusalem was called desolate and as one forsaken of her Husband because God who was her Husband vers 5. and cap. 62.5 had forsaken her cap. 50.1 And therefore as a woman which is desolate and forsaken of her Husband beareth not children so was Ierusalem barren and without children while God had forsaken her who might be called her Husband as in other regards so in this that while he had a favor to her he did encrease her children within her as a woman multiplyeth her children by her Husband Then the children of the marryed wife i. e. Then thy children were when thou hadst an Husband any time heretofore and wast a marryed Wife The meaning is that Jerusalem though she had been afflicted and brought into captivity by the Babylonians and had her Children or Citizens carryed away from her yet now she should be more populous then ever she was at any time before that her captivity Note that when he saith More are the children of the desolate then the children of the marryed woman he speaks as though he spoke of two several persons but he speaks but of two several states or conditions of the same person So we say of a man that is changed from what he was that he is another man though not his substance but his condition onely is changed This which I have given is the first sence of this place But Sion here as she became fruitful after her widowhood was a Type of the Church of Christ So that in the second and sublime sence this place is to be understood of the Church of Christ as will appear Gal. 4.27 For as Sion while God had put her away from being his Wife and had given her over to be spoyled by the hands of the Babylonians was barren and brought forth no children but when he took her to him to Wife again she encreased in children as the Stars of Heaven for multitude So the Church of Christ while she was a stranger to the bed of Christ and was without the seed of his Word that is while all Nations were suffered to walk in their own ways Acts 14.16 and were given over to the god of this World to be blinded by him Acts 17.30 brought forth no children unto God But when Christ took her to his bed Ioh. 3.29 and redeemed her out of the hand of Satan and gave her the seed of his Word she so encreased in children as that all the ends of the Earth were full of her issue So that she far exceeded the Synagogue of the Iews when it was most populous Note here that Sion as she was considered before the Babylonish captivity was a Type of the Synagogue of the Iews but as she was considered after the Babylonish captivity was a Type of the Church of Christ As therefore Sion was more populous after the Babylonish captivity then ever she was before so was the Church of Christ more populous then ever the Synagogue of the Iews was Wonder not that I make Sion a Type of the Synagogue and the same Sion a Type of the Church upon divers considerations For Saint Paul makes her a Type of the Synagogue Gal. 4.25 and a Type of the Church Rom. 9.33 It may be objected here That the Church of Christ was not the Church
when he redeemed them by Cyrus out of the Babylonish Captivity Of which salvation our Prophet speaketh often from the fourth Chapter of this Prophesie to the end thereof And in the 45. Chapter and the eighth Verse he speakes of it Metaphorically as he doth here that is as of a Branch or a Plant which the Lord maketh to spring out of the Earth The branch of the Lord shall be beautifull and glorious c. q. d. The Salvation which God will work for those which escape of Jews shall bring honour and glory to them that escape and make them honourable and glorious â—n the eyes of all men How honourable and glorious the Jews were by reason of this Salvation see among other places Chap. 40. v. 5. Chap. 41. v. 10. c. Chap. 43. v. 14. Chap. 45. v. 17. Chap. 49. v. 9 23. c. Chap. 52. v. 9. Chap 54. v. 1. c. And the fruit of the Earth i. e. And the fruit which shall spring up out of the Earth This is but a repetition of the former Sentence And the fruit of the Earth signifieth the same here as the Branch of the Lord doth there Note that the fruit of the Earth is of larger extent than the fruit of Trees or Plants or Branches For not onely the friut of Trees and of Plants and of Branches but Trees and Plants and Branches themselves may be called the fruits of the Earth And comely i. e. And an Ornament For them that are escaped of Israel i. e. For those Jews which shall escape death and survive after the destruction and captivity which the Babylonians shall bring upon that People Of Israel i. e. Of the Jews to wit the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin see Chap. 1.3 3. He that is left in Sion and he that remaineth in Hierusalem By him that is left in Sion and him that remaineth in Hierusalem is meant he that remaineth alive of the Jews after the Babylonish captivity Note therefore that in Sion and in Hierusalem is as if he should say in Jacob and in Israel For as Jacob or Israel is often put for the Jewes and that per Metonymiam Efficientis Because Jacob or Israel was the Father of the Jews So is Sion or Hierusalem put for the same Jews by the same figure Because Sion or Hierusalem was the Mother of the Jewes But observe that Jacob or Israel was the true naturall Father of the Jews But Sion or Hierusalem was called their Mother onely by a Metaphor yet that she was so at least called their Mother we may learn from Chap. 49. Vers 20. and Chap. 50. Vers 1. and Gal. 4. Vers 25. But yet we may take Sion and Hierusalem here plainly without a Metaphor that the sense of these words may be this Viz. And he Supple of the Jews which is left alive Supple and shall dwell in Sion and he Supple of the Jews which remaineth Supple alive and shall dwell in Hierusalem after the Babylonish captivity shall c. For note that though many of the Jews survâ—ved after the Babylonish captivity yet the Blessings spoken of in this Chapter did appertain onely to them which returned and dwelt in Hierusalem Shall be called Holy i. e. Shall be holy For the Hebrews doe often use vocall verbes for reall and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be called for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be To be holy doth primarily and originally signifie to be separated from others by way of excellencie Hence they which excell the vulgar sort of Men in Piety and Religion are commonly called Holy and in this sense may these Men be called Holy in this place Yet because this place speakes both in the precedent and Subsequent Verses of the blessings of God to this People in keeping and preserving them I had rather take Holy here for such as God separates and sets apart from other People by his blessings to them and hedge of protection about them by which he maketh a difference between them and other People In which sence the word Holy is taken Exod. 19. Vers 5 6. where we thus read Now therefore if yee will obey my voice indeed then shall ye be a peculiar treasure unto me above all the people For all the earth is mine And ye shall be unto me a Kingdome of Priests and an holy Nation In opposition to Holinesse thus taken God is said to prophâ—ne the Princes of the Sanctuary Chap. 43. Vers 28. Every one that is written among the living in Hierusalem i. e. Every one which shall be alive after the Babylonish Captivity and shall live in Hierusalem shall be called Holy He alludeth here in this phrase to the Mustering of an Army after a Battle where the names of those which escaped in Battle are written and entered into a Muster-Roule or Muster-Book that so they m ght know what they have lost and what forces they have left 4. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth c. i. e. When the Lord shall have washed away the sins c. He likeneth the sin of the Soul here to the filth of the body And the taking sin away to the washing away of that filth by water But the way by which God took away the filth of sin here spoken of was by destroying the incorrigible sinner and bringing others to amendment of life both which he did by the Babylonians into whose hands he gave them The filth of the Daughter of Sion Read Chap. 3.16 To wh ch place the Prophet doth here allude The bloud Bloud is put here Metonymice for Murder by which the bloud of man is shed And that againe is put Hypâ—rbolice for Oppression See Chap. 1. Vers 15. The Prophet doth here allude to the Oppression which he spake of Chap. 3. Vers 12. c. From the midst of her i. e. From her or out of her An Hebrew Periphrase By the Spirit of judgement The Spirit of Judgement is put here Periphrastically for Judgement the word Spirit redounding by an Hebraisme By Judgement the Prophet meaneth the Calamities and Punishment which God brought upon this People by the Babylonians which kind of Calamities and Punishments are called Judgemenes because of the Justnesse of them and that by a Metaphor from those Punishments which are inflicted upon a Malefactor upon a Just Sentence or Judgement given against him And by the spirit of burning i. e. And by burning for the word Spirit redounds here as it did before He meaneth the same thing by burning here as he did by Judgement just before But he alludeth here to the manner of Goldsmiths and other the like Crafts-mens who purifie their Gold and other mettals from their drosse by Fire and Burning 5. And the Lord will create upon evey dwelling place c. The meaning of this Place is that God will protect them and keep them in all their dwellings and will be no lesse pâ—esent with them for this purpose than â—e was with their fathers when he
he sheweth what they were whom the Assyrian brought into the Land of the Caldeans to dwell when he carried the Caldeans thence they were such as lived in the Wilderness in Tents like the Arabes Scenitae and Scythians Note here that these words according to their right order should follow those this people and the order and sence of this verse hitherto is this Behold the Land of the Caldeans this people that dwelt first in the Wilderness and now dwell in it that is in the Land of the Caldeans was not in it that is in the Land of the Caldeans till the Assyrian founded it for them The like trajection of words we shall finde 2 Cor. 4.4 where we read In whom the God of this world hath blinded the mindes of them which beleeve not for to them which beleeve not in whom the God of this world hath blinded their mindes They set up the Towers thereof i. e. The Caldeans built the strong Towers and places of refuge in Caldea Here is a Relative without an Antecedent nigh to it They raised up the Pallaces thereof i. e. The Caldeans built the stately Pallaces which were in the Land of the Caldeans And he brought it to ruine i. e. And the Assyrian did ruine and destroy them It for them a singular for a plural number The sence of this place is this the Caldeans built strong Towers of defence and large Pallaces and Buildings in their Land and rooted themselves there yet notwithstanding their towers of defence and their Pallaces the Assyrian brought their Land to ruine That which the Prophet saith here is this that the Caldeans were an antient people and had in their Land many Towers of defence and large Buildings of strength yet notwithstanding the Assyrians did vanquish them and destroy their Land And he saith it for this end that he might make it appear that if the Assyrians were able to vanquish the Caldeans which were an antient and strong people and had many places of strength and defence in their Land the Babylonians would be able to vex and afflict the Tyrians as here he prophesieth of it and lay Tyre waste also 14. Howle ye ships of Tarshish q.d. Howle therefore ye Ships of Tarshish See verse 1. For your strength is laid wast i. e. For Tyre which you said was so strong shall be laid wast See vers 1. He puts strength here in the Abstract for strong in the Concrete to signifie the exceeding strength of that which he speaks q. d. Your exceeding strong Citie Tyre c. And he calls it their strength Or their exceeding strong Citie because it should prove to be so exceeding strong onely in their report and in their sayings it should not prove so indeed So when we heare a man speake highly of any thing which proveth otherwise we say to him that is or this was your so and so 15. In that day i. e. At the time in which she shall lye wast Tyre shall be forgotten Supple Of her lovers The meaning is that Tyre shall not be frequented with Merchants and Traffiquers as she wont to be Note that from this place to the end of the Chapter the Prophet speakes of Tyre under an Allegory wherein he compareth Tyre to an Harlot The Merchants and Traffiquers which were wont to trade with Tyre to her lovers the gain which she got by those Merchants and Traffiquers to the hire which an Harlot hath for prostituting her body c. Seventy years according to the dayes of one King q. d. Seventy years to wit so long as one King and his Seed or Race shall reign By this King and his Seed or Race is meant Nebuchadnezzar and his seed for Nebuchadnezzars seed was extinguished by Cyprus King of Persia at which time in all probability Tyre began to flourish again as her Neighbour Jerusalem did and this was seventie yeares after Nebuchadnezzar had smitten them Jer. 25. v. 11 and 12. Of one King i. e. Of one King and his Seed or Race for often times though one individall person be onely named or mentioned yet his seed or race or children are also tacitely included So God said to Abraham I am the Lord which brought thee out of Vr of the Caldees to give thee this Land meaning the Land of Canaan to inherit it Genes 15.7 But this latter Pronoune Thee though it signifieth onely Abrahams person yet it includeth Abrahams Seed also as appeareth Gen. 13. 15. So Galat. 3.18 Paul saith that God gave the Inheritance to Abraham by promise wherein Abraham is included and Abrahams seed also as appeareth Galat. 3. verse 16. So 2 Sam. cap. 7. vers 16. The Lord said to David Thy Kingdom shall be established for ever before thee thy throne shall be established for ever where in that word Thy which signifies plainly David onely Davids Sonnes are also included as appeareth in the twelfth verse of that Chapter Shall Tyre sing c. He speaks of Tyre as of a Woman by a Prosopopoeia Sing as an Harlot i. e. Sing merrily as an Harlot useth to sing when she would allure Lovers to turn in to her saying 16. Take an harp c. This is the Song which Tyre should sing at that time in which Song Tyre stirreth up her self to mirth Go about the City i. e. Go about the streets of the City Thou Harlot These are the words of Tyre to her selfe who calls her self an Harlot for the reason expressed in the next verse Thou hast bin forgotten viz. Of thy Lovers The meaning of this Metaphoricall phrase is that she had not bin frequented with Forreigne Merchants as she was wont to be but had bin as one quite forgotten by them That thou maist be remembred i. e. That thou maist be remembred of thy Lovers and that they may come again and visit thee He persists in his Metaphor and the meaning is q. d. That thou mayst be frequented by Merchants as thou wert heretofore 17. After the end of seventy years See verse 15. The Lord will visit Tyre To wit In favour and mercy by delivering her from the oppression and cruelty of her enemies And she shall turne to her hire i. e. And she shall turne to her again which she was wont to make by Traffique and Merchandize with other people which came thither to buy and sell their rich Commodities The Prophet continueth his Metaphor of an Harlot and calls her gaine her hire because she got gaine of those with whom shee traffiqued by her Merchandize as an Harlot doth her hire of her Lovers by the use of her body c. And shall commit fornication with all the Kingdomes of the World i. e. And she shall trade and traffique and Merchandize with all the Kingdomes of the World by which she shall get gain as an Harlot doth an hire by her fornication By her Fornification therefore he meaneth Metaphorically her dealing and traffiquing with those Merchants which came to her With all the Kingdoms
in saying We have made lyes our refuge and under falshood have we hid our selves he speaks rather as the Truth was and as he interpreted it then as they spoke for they would not have called their specious doings lyes and falsehood Note again that it is plain from hence that many which were in Jerusalem and they chief men too because they believed not the Word of the Lord spoken by Isaiah concerning the safeguard of Jerusalem when the Assyrians should come against Judah and because they feared the power of the Assyrians and thought that Jerusalem would not be able to stand out against it betook themselves to humane policy and leaving Jerusalem thought to comply with the Assyrians and to make their peace with them who nevertheless failed in their purpose and were destroyed when as they might have been safe if they had never stirred out of Jerusalem 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord God i. e. Yet thus saith the Lord God Take Therefore for Yet and put an emphasis upon the words The Lord God for he opposeth these to those words Because or Though ye have said Vers 15. q. d. Though ye have said c. yet thus saith the Lord c. Behold I lay in Sion c. q. d. Behold I lay indeed in Jerusalem a foundation for those which believe but yet I lay judgment to the line for the wicked which believe not c. This is the sence in brief of this and the following Verse Sion i. e. Jerusalem See cap. 1.8 I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone a tryed stone a precious corner stone a sure foundation By the foundation and stone here mentioned may be meant the Word of Promise which God made to the inhabitants of Sion that is to the inhabitants of Jerusalem that notwithstanding the threatenings of the Assyrians they should be safe For as a house which is built upon a strong foundation is safe notwithstanding the blowing of the winds and the falling of the rain and the beating of the floods because it is founded upon a strong foundation So were as many safe as were in Jerusalem and relyed upon the Word of Promise which God made notwithstanding the fury and threatenings of the Assyrians because they relyed upon the Word of God which is as a sure foundation and which endureth for ever See the like Metaphor Cap. 14.32 Yet because in the second and more sublime sence this foundation is interpreted of Christ 1 Pet. 2.6 We may interpret and perhaps with more probability this of Hezekiah who as in other things and elsewhere he is a Type of Christ so may he be in this and here And Hezekiah may be said to be layd in Sion for a foundation because he was the foundation of safety against the Assyrians to all which remained in Jerusalem For God promised to save Jerusalem and all that kept themselves within her for his sake and he might be well called the foundation of that safety of which he was so principal a Cause by a Metaphor A stone He means such a stone which used to be layd for a foundation of a building which is great and durable A tryed stone i. e. A stone tryed and found fit for such an use as to lie for a foundation A precious corner stone i. e. A corner stone or chief stone of great worth And Hezekiah might be called a precious corner stone because of his great vertues In the Hebrew dialect the corner signifieth that part of a building which by its own strength alone sustaineth and upholdeth the whole structure Hence Magistrates and Princes which are the props and upholders of the Commonwealth are called the corners Judg. 20.2 1 Sam. 14.38 Isai 19.13 The corner stone therefore in the Hebrew phrase is as much as a sure foundation-stone So that all these words A stone a tryed stone a corner stone signifie but one and the same thing A sure foundation Hezekiah might be called a sure foundation because as a sure foundation cannot easily be shaken or overthrown so Hezekiah could not be shaken in his faith by the threats of the Assyrians nor could the Assyrians with all their power overthrow him or Jerusalem which God had given him by force of Arms. He that believeth Supple That which I say or that Promise which the Lord hath made Shall not make haste Shall not need to make haste or will not make haste Supple Out of Jerusalem to run into Egypt or Pathros or Cush or Elam or into any other far Country to save himself as many which believed not did at the hearing of Sennacheribs coming against Judah with a mighty Army nor will he make haste to comply with the Assyrians and make his peace with them as many others did but will abide in Jerusalem and shall be safe there What is spoken here of Hezekiah in the first sence is spoken of our Saviour Christ in the second and more sublime sence as appears 1 Pet. 2.6 and Rom. 9.33 For as we have often observed and shall often observe the temporal deliverance of the Jews was a type of the spiritual deliverance of the Christians As therefore the temporal deliverance of the Jews was a type of the spiritual deliverance of the Christians So they which were any way the cause of the temporal deliverance of the Jews were a type of Christ our Saviour so far forth as they were the causes of that temporal deliverance And the Holy Ghost while it speaks of them doth so order the words of the Scripture as that the same words which are spoke of them may oftentimes be applyed to Christ also yea oftentimes be more properly applyed to Christ then to them 17. Judgment also will I lay to the line q. d. But yet judgment also will I lay to the line and bring desolation and destruction upon you according as I have threatened you By judgment is here meant that desolation and destruction which God brought upon the men of Judah by Sennacherib and by the line is meant the threats of that judgment which God gave out by his Prophets by whom he threatened a great desolation and destruction of all in the Land of Judah excepting those which believed and were in Jerusalem onely Now as a Carpenter frames his Work to his Line so God saith here that he would bring his judgments to pass according to those his threats And righteousness to the Plummet This is a repetition of the former sentence And as by judgment he meant the desolation and destruction which the Lord brought upon the Land of Judah by Sennacherib so also doth he mean by righteousness And that desolation and destruction he calls judgment and righteousness per Metonymiam adjuncti because it was just and right and no other then the men of Judah deserved To the Plummet By the Plummet understand the line also to which the Plummet is appendent by a Syllepsis And the hail shall sweep the refuge of lyes The sence is q. d.
mother by a Prosopopoeia Thy God reigneth God is said to reign in general when he doth shew by any act worthy his greatness that he is King and in particular here he is said to reign because he shewed his Kingly Power in the delivery of his people out of the hands of their Enemies the Babylonians That which Isaiah speaketh here of a Messenger bringing good news of peace and salvation befaln the Jews in Babylon Saint Paul speaks of the Apostles and Ministers of Christ preaching peace and salvation by Christ and this may both do Isaiah in the first Saint Paul in the second and sublime sence For as I have often said as the temporal miseries of the Jews under their Enemies were a type of our spiritual miseries under Sin and Satan that grand Enemy of mankinde so were the Deliverances of the Jews out of those miseries types of our deliveries by Christ and of that Salvation which we have by him And the Holy Ghost doth often so order the words of the Prophets that they shall signifie as well one as the other word by word in particular 8. Thy watchmen shall lift up the voyce i. e. Thy watchmen which shall stand upon thy towers shall lift up their voyce and cry and shout aloud for joy O Sion He alludeth to the Watchmen which use to stand upon the Towers of great Cities to give notice of any danger or any great company approaching to the City See cap. 21.5 Why these Watchmen shall lift up their voyce he tells a little after viz. because they shall see when the Lord bringeth again Zion But why doth hâ— mention the Watchmen here rather then any other Ans Because they shall see when the Lord bringeth Siâ—n again before any other as being placed in the high Towers and set purposely to watch what companies approach to the City With the voyce together shall they sing i. e. They shall sing with a loud voyce Together This word signifieth All. For they shall see Supple From the Towers whereon they stand They shall see eye to eye i. e. They shall see very plainly and evidently and not be deceived in their sight When the Lord shall bring again Sion The Preposition To is here to be understood as also it is left to be understood in the Hebrew Text cap. 35.10 and cap. 51.11 though it is there expressed in our Translation and not here The sence therefore of this place is this When the Lord shall bring again to Sion that is When the Lord shall bring his people back again out of Babylon the place of their captivity to Sion their own City Here is such an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in those words cap. 49.8 To cause to inherit the desolate heritages Yet by Sion may be here meant the Jews the children and inhabitants of Sion either as the same Jews are called Jacob because they are the children of Jacob cap. 41.14 Or as Kir is taken for the Citizens and Inhabitants of Kir cap. 22.6 9. Ye waste places of Jerusalem See cap. 51.3 The Lord hath comforted his people Supple Which were in captivity in Babylon by setting them free again He hath redeemed Jerusalem Supple Out of her captivity For she also was a captive vers 2. and cap. 49.21 He speaks of the City of Jerusalem as of a captive He speaketh also as if the Lord had comforted his people and redeemed Jerusalem already at this time And so do the Prophets often speak before the thing they speak of is come to pass to signifie that it shall as surely come to pass as if it were already come 10. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm i. e. The Lord hath shewed his peerless power viz. in overthrowing the Babylonians whose power was thought invincible and in delivering and bringing back again his people out of captivity Note here that the arm of the Lord is put for the power of the Lord and therefore is it put for the power of the Lord because the Prophet speaks here of the Lord as of a man by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the strength and power of a man is seen in his arm Again because that a man when he would shew his arm must strip up the sleeve of the arm and make it bare he puts the making bare of the Lords arm for the shewing of his power His holy arm i. e. His matchless arm his peerless power For the word holy signifieth that which is separated from other things by way of excellency See Notes cap. 6.3 And all the ends of the Earth i. e. All they which dwell at the ends of the Earth that is All the Heathen Shall see the salvation of our God i. e. Shall see the Salvation which our God hath wrought for his people which were captive to the Babylonians by Cyrus 11. Depart ye depart ye This is spoken in particular to the Levites which were in Babylon intimating that they might go freely thence out of captivity and it is spoken as if Cyrus had already subdued Babylon and vanquished the Babylonians and given the Jews leave to depart thence to their own Land Go ye out from thence i. e. Go ye out from Babylon Here is a Relative put without an Antecedent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Touch no unclean thing q. d. Touch no unclean thing thereby to defile your selves and make your selves unclean The unclean things here mentioned were such as caused legal uncleanness in those that touched them or such as those were which we read of Levit. 11.24 25 26 c. and Lev. 22.4 c. which uncleanness was not to be upon the Levites when they did any way minister about the vessels of the Lord that is about the vessels of the Temple or Sanctuary because they were holy things Go out of the midst of her i. e. Go out of her that is out of Babylon Be ye clean i. e. If ye are clean keep your selves clean If ye are not clean but are defiled by touching some unclean thing be ye cleansed and purified that ye may be clean That bear the vessels of the Lord. i. e. O ye Levites By the vessels of the Lord are here meant the vessels of the Sanctuary or of the Temple which were consecrated to the service of the Lord which kinde of vessels the Levites were appointed to carry Numb 1.50 and 2.8 c. By these therefore which bore the vessels of the Lord are meant the Levites which were appointed to carry those vessels See Ezra 8.30 Note here that when the Babylonians had taken Jerusalem Nebuzaradan one of the Captains of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon carryed the vessels of the Temple away into Babylon 2 King 25. vers 14 15 c. These vessels there continued during all the time of the Jews captivity and when Cyrus delivered the Jews out of captivity he gave them also these vessels of the house of the Lord which were brought from Jerusalem to carry to Jerusalem back
enemies q.d. Although I have heretofore given the meat which thou hast taken paines for to the Assyrians and to the Babylonians and other thine enemies yet now I will doe so no more The sonnes of the stranger shall ntt drink of thy wine for which thou hair laboured i. e. Strangers such as the Assyrians and the Babylonians are shall not take away thy wine which thou hast laboured for by force and drinke wtthout thee 9. But they that have gathered tt shall eate it i. e. But they that have been at the cost or at the paines to sow the corne and to reape it and to gather it into the Barne shall eate it Haâ—e gathered it By gathering the corn into the Barne understand by a Syllepsis all other costs and paines necessary for the having of corne It i. e. The corne v. 8. Shall eare it Supple In the courts of the Lords house to wit the Temple See Deut. 14. v. 23. But note that the Tithe onely of the corne c. was to be eaten before the Lord in the court of his house but their eating of the Tithe there according to the Lords command was as it were an earnest that they should peaceably eate the whole harvest at their own places And praise the Lord Supple For his bounty and goodnesse in giving them corne to eate They that have brought it together i. e. They that have brought the wine together into their cellars and store-houses out of their severall Vineyards c. It That is the wine v. 8. Shall drink it in the courts of my holinesse i. e. Shall drinke it in my courts as I have commanded Deut. 14.23 In the courts of my holinesse i. e. In my courts Gods holinesse is put here Per metonymiam adjuncti for God himselfe so that in the courts of my holinesse is q.d. In the courts of me that is in my courts 10. Goe thorow goe thorow the gates q.d. Make hast make hast and goe yee into your own Land O yee Jewes which have been held here in Babylon captives This is spoken in the person of Cyrus or some from Cyrus to the Jewes which were in captivity and signifieth to them that they might goe out of their captivity so soon as they would Prepare yee the way of the people i. e. Prepare yee the way of the Jewes by which they are to passe from Babylon to Judea that their way may be without let or hinderance This is spoken to the way-makers or those which were set to see to it that the wayes were good See Cap. 40. v. 3. This sudden turning from persons to persons is done as if the Jewes were even then hastening to depart out of Babylon to their own home by which is signified the certainty of their returne Cast up cast up the highway See Cap. 57.14 Gather up tho stones Supple Out of the way in which they must goe that they may no way trouble or hinder them in their way Lift up a standard for the people This is spoken to other persons then before And the sense is q.d. call the Jewes together from the severall places of their captivity that they may goe together to their own Land He alludeth to the manner of Souldiers for whom when they were to meet together a standard was set up for them to meet at 11. Behold the Lord hath proclaimed untâ— the end of the world supple saying i. e. Behold the Lord hath sent out his proclamation into all even into the uttermost parts of the world saying The proclamation here mentioned may relate to that proclamation which Cyrus made 2 Chron. Cap. 36. v. 22.23 For what Cyrus did by motion from the Lord the Lord himselfe may be said to doe Say yee to the daughter of Sion i. e. Say yee to Sion By the daughter of Sion is meant Sion that is Jerusalem As Cap. 1.8 And he speakes to Sion as to a woman by a Prosopopoeia And the sense of those words say yee to the daughter of Sion is q.d. Let the daughter of Sion know for these words say yee are to be taken indefinitely This and what followeth is the substance of the proclamation which the Lord proclaimed Behold thy salvation commeth i. e. Behold thy Saviour commeth even he which will save thee out of the hands of the Babylonians Salvation is put here for Saviour Per Metonymiam effectus The Saviour here meant is the Lord who saved the Jewes out of the hands of the Babylonians by Cyrus Behold his reward is with him i. e. Behold he hath brought with him the reward with which he will reward those Jewes which are meek and mourne and have not departed from him but have put their trust in him in the midst of their affliction which they suffered in captivity See Cap. 40.10 And his worke before him i. e. And his reward is in a readinesse This is a repetition of the former sentence By worke is meant the reward due to the work pe Metonymiam efficientis When he saith his worke or his reward is before him It may be that the Prophet alludeth to some such games as the Apostle alludeth to 1 Cor. 9.24 Where they that came to be Judges of the victory had the garland which was to be given to the victor carried before them to the Stadium or place of exercise and when they were there they had it lying before them ready to bestow upon him who deserved it best And they shall call them the holy people i. e. And they to wit the Jewes which are now in captivity shall be called the holy people They shall call them is put here for they shall be called The holy people i. e. The people whom God hath severed from all the people of the earth and preferred above them all by his blessings See Cap. 4.3 The redeemed of the Lord i. e. The people whom the Lord redeemed out of the hands of the Babylonians And thou shalt be called sought out i. e. And thou O Sion or O Jerusalem shall be sought out What it is for one to be called so or so See verse 4. Sought out i. e. Shee which was lost like a lost sheep but now is sought out and found againe See Ezek. Cap. 34.16 A City not forsaken See vers 4. ISAIAH CHAP. LXIII WHo is this that commeth from Edom The Lord appearing to Isaiah in a vision like a man of warre comming from Edom Isaiah asketh him who he is who receiveth his answer to this and other questions which he maketh in this and the verses following By this vision is signified the victory which the Jewes should have over the Edomites their enemies which victory was atchieved by the Jewes under Judas Machabaeus of which you may reade 1 Mach. 5.3 The Edomites were a people which did alwayes rejoyce at the afflictions and miseries of the Iewes Psal 137.7 Therefore it was very materiall for the Iewes to be acquainted with this victory which they should have over the
is not onely understood immediately by the letter of the mercy of God in reserving a few Jewes in the Land of Judah from the destruction and desolation which Rezin King of Syria and Pekah King of Israel should make of the Jewes But also of the mercy of God in saving a remnant according to the election of grace from everlasting destruction by Christ Jesus Rom. 9.29 And what we read Cap. 8.18 I and the Children which the Lord hath given me is understood of Isaiah and his children by him begotten for Isaiah there speakes in his own person But it is not onely understood of Isaiah but also of Christ of whom Isaiah was a Type Heb. 2.13 And those words which we read Cap. 25.8 He will swallow up death in victory And these the Lord God will wipe away teares from all faces Though they are understood of that joy which should be to the Iewes and all the neighbouring people upon the slaughter of the Assyrians which laid Iudah waste and besiedged Hierusalem Yet they are to be understood also of that joy which the Redeemed of Christ should enjoy when He had put their spirituall Enemies under his feet 1 Cor. 15. v. 55. Rev. 7. v. 17. and 21. v. 4. And what we read Cap. 53. v. 7. How beautifull are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings that publisheth peace that bringeth good tidings of good that publisheth salvation Though it be understood according to the letter of those which brought good tidings of the delivery of the Iewes out of Babylon Yet it is understood also and according to the letter too of the Preachers of the Gospel Rom. 10. v. 15. I shall not need to bring any more examples of this for they which shall read this our Exposition may have the opportunity to observe many Notes of this kind as of the others also which I have propounded But it may be objected against these Observations and asked here If the Word of God carry a double sense with it and the sentences of the Scripture may have a double meaning are they not like the Oracles of the Devill which carried a double sense and had with them a double meaning Answ God forbid For first the Oracles of the Devill though they had a double meaning and carried a double sense with them yet their double meaning and double sense was concerning one and the same thing But the Word of God where it hath a double meaning or a double sense relateth not to one and the same thing but to severall things whereof one is as the Type and Figure of the other Secondly Though the Word of God doth carry a double sense with it in many places yet is each part of the sense determined to its proper subject and not left in suspense and doubtfull But the double sense which the Oracles of the Devill had were not determined to any one truth but left in suspense and doubtfull that the Devill upon the Event of the thing of which he gave his Oracle might apply it as he list to save his credit with his followers Thirdly The double sense of the Oracles which the Devill gave was contradictory the one part thereof to the other and could not both parts of it be possibly true in the event because they implied a Contradiction But though many parts of the Word of God and many sentences thereof doe carry with them a double sense or double meaning yet are both of the senses and meanings true there is no disagreeing between them in that matter Examples of the Word of God which carry a double sense with them I have given divers a little before Now take one instance of the Devils Oracles and by that judge of the rest When Pyrrhus King of Epirus had a mind to goe to battle against the Romans he was desirous to know what successe he was like to have before he went to battle and therefore asked counsell of Apollo who gave him this answer Aio te Aeacide Romanos vincere posse which I render thus I say that Pyrrhus the Romans can overcome which answer hath a double sense for the sense may be this that Pyrrhus can overcome the Romanes or this that the Romanes can overcome Pyrrhus where you see first that this double sense is concerning one and the same subject Secondly That the sense is not determined but left in suspense and doubtfull for he doth not determine whither Pyrrhus can overcome the Romans or the Romans Pyrrhus And thirdly One part of the sense is contradictory to the other and therefore cannot both parts be true in the event For if it be true that Pyrrhus can vanquish the Romans then cannot it be true that the Romans can vanquish Pyrrhus And if it be true that the Romans can vanquish Pyrrhus it cannot be true that Pyrrhus can vanquish the Romans The Fourth thing that I desired might be taken notice of was That though in many Histories and Prophesies of these holy Writers there be sometimes one sometimes more sentences which signifie immediately by their words some passage or passages which appertain not onely to the First Literall Historicall or Meaner â—ense But also some passage or passages which appertain to the Second Mysticall or Sublime Sense yet the words are not alwayes to be taken after the same manner but sometimes in a different manner in one from that in which they were taken in the other sense And this we may see illustrated and verified by divers examples The sixty ninth Psalm was a Psalm which David made when he was in distresse and therein he complaineth grievously of his Enemies being no doubt in great streights and pressure at that time Now as David was a Type of Christ so doth this Psalm which sets forth the afflictions of David prophesie of the afflictions and miseries which Christ should suffer while he was on the earth by the Sonnes of Men And as the whole Psalm in the first sence concerneth David so in the second and sublime sense it concerneth Christ and some particular sentences are understood acording to the words as well of Christ as they are of David but of David in a Proverbiall and Figurative of Christ in a proper kind of speech For that sentence In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink Vers 21. Is spoken of David onely figuratively and in the manner of a Proverb and signifies that when he had need of comfort they did in stead of comforting him adde sorrow to his grief But it is spoken of Christ properly and foretels that his enemies should give him vinegar indeed to drink and it was fulfilled while he hung upon the Crosse Iohn 19. vers 28 29. So Psal 19. v. 4. It is written according to our old Translation and according to the Septuagint and according to Saint Paul's reading Rom. 10. v. 18. Their sound is gone out into all Lands And their words into the ends of the world which are spoken in the First
or Literall or Historicall or Meaner sense of the Heavens and that Metaphorically And the Heavens are said to sound out and speak the praises of God all the world over because they are seen to all the world to be so excellently made as that men may understand thereby the eternall power and God-head of him that made them But as they are spoken in the First or Literall or Historicall or Meaner sense of the Heavens Metaphorically So are they spoken of the Apostles who preached the Gospel in all the world in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense properly Rom. 10. v. 18. And note here that Saint Paul alledgeth these words of the Psalmist in that place of the Romanes not by Accommodation onely that is not because they are words fit for his purpose without any relation to the intent of the Prophet David in that place but he alledgeth them as words intended by the Prophet David as a man inspired by the Holy Ghost to signifie that for which he there alledgeth them as he that seriously considereth the Text and Context must needs confesse But if you ask me how the Prophet David though inspired by the Holy Ghost can signifie by those words in that place the preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles throughout the world Take these my Notions such as they are in a place of much difficulty and controversie The work of Christ in the whole redemption of Man is as a new Creation and hath resemblance thereunto intended by the Holy Ghost Hence we read 1 Cor. 5. v. 1 7. If any man be in Christ he is a new Creature Old things are passed away behold all things are become new And Gal. 6. v. 15. In Christ Jesus neither Circumcision nor Uncircumcision availeth any thing but a new Creature The Psalmist therefore while he speakes of the Heavens which is the highest and lightest and chiefest part of the materiall world and the glory which they bring to God their Maker doth in a mysticall sense foretell of the Apostles and the glory which they shall bring to the Lord who gave them to be Apostles by their preaching For in the new world which Christ framed that is in the Church of Christ the Apostles are the highest and chiefest Creatures hence in the similitude of an house they are likened to the foundations which are the chiefest parts and most to be regarded in a building Ephes 2.20 And they are the lightest also for our Saviour saith to them Yee are the light of the world Matth. 5. vers 14. But to return to that from which we may seem to have digressed That which our Prophet saith of himself in the first sense Cap. 18. v. 12. I and the children which thou hast given me is said also by Christ of himself in the Second and Sublime sense Heb. 2. v. 13. But it is spoken by Isaiah otherwise than it is by Christ for it is spoken by Isaiah properly for he was the naturall father of these children which he speakes of But Christ is called the Father of these Children which he speakes of onely by a Metaphor So in these woâ—ds Isaiah 25. v. 8. He will swallow up death in victory Death as the words are considered in the First Literall Historicall and Meaner sense is to betaken Metonymically for Sorrow Or if Death be taken for that which deprives a man of life the meaning of the words is this That the Lord will destroy death that it shall kill no more But as the words are taken in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense as they are taken 1 Cor. 15. v. 55. Death is to be taken properly for the deprivation of life And the sense of the words is That the Lord will so destroy death and triumph over it as that he will restore those which are dead to life again So Isaiah 35. v. 4. In the words which we read there to wit Then shall the lame leap as an Hart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing The lame and the dumb as the words are taken in the First or Literall or Historicall and Meaner sense are taken Metaphorically for those that are in such extremity of grief as that they have no desire either to talke or to walk but sit as dumb and lame men But in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense they are taken properly for him that is lame indeed And him that is dumb indeed Matth. 11. vers 5. The Fifth and last thing that I desired to betaken notice of was this That though in many Histories â—as I may call them and Prophesies of those holy Writers there be sometimes one sometimes more sentences which signifie immediately by their words not onely some passage or passages which appertain to the First Literall Historicall or Meaner Sense But also some passage or passages which appertain to the Second Mysticall and Sublime Sense Yet it is not necessary neither is it alwayes so yea it is very seldome so that every sentence of the whole Prophesie or History as I may call it doth signifie immediately by its words those passage or passages which appertain to the Second Mysticall or Sublime sense as they doe those passages which appertain to the First or Historical or Meaner Sense Which some not observing where they have assuredly found a sentence belonging to some passage of the Sublime sense thinking therefore that the whole Context must necessarily thereunto appertain word by word have attempted to construe the Context word by word accordingly and have rack'd the words yet have they not made them speak good sense But that it is not necessary nor is it alwayes true that where one sentence is found appertaining word by word to the Second Mysticall or Sublime sense the sentences adjoyning must therefore appertain to the same sense word by word is evident by these examples following for Exod. 12. v. 46. Those words Neither shall yee break a bone thereof appertain in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense to our Saviour Christ John 19. v. 36. But though that sentence appertaineth word by word to our Saviour Christ in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense yet cannot the sentences preceding or following be construed of him word by word as he which readeth them must needs confesse So that sentence 2 Sam. 7.14 I will be his Father and he shall be my Sonne is spoke of our Saviour Christ in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense Heb. 1. v. 5. Yet cannot the words following in that verse be understood of him to wit If he commit iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men So those words Isaiah 1. v. 9. Except the Lord of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant we should have been as Sodome and we should have been like unto Gomorrah signifie in the and Second Mysticall and Sublime sense that many should perish through unbelief and that a Remnant onely should be saved according to the election
of Grace Rom. 9. v. 29. But the preceding verses of the Context cannot be understood and construed word by word of the same subject Now by what hath been spoken it is easie to conjecture which of the two where there be these two senses is the thorow-Thorow-sense that is which of the two senses the First Literall Historicall or Meaner or the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense is that which is continued and carried word by word through an whole History or Prophesie For I cannot perswade my self that any holy Writer is herein defective and that he should neither one way nor other goe through with his sense Certainly it is the First Literall Historicall or Meaner sense and for the carriage through of this as being that which must be first known before we can rightly know the Second Mysticall or Sublime sense I have bent my poor labours in this work But you will say to take paines about the First Literall Historicall or Meaner sense is to favour Judaisme and to make the heart of the Jew which is obstinate enough yet more obstinate towards the Gospel and Christianity yea it is to weaken the cause of the Christians I answer That to take paines for the finding out of the Literall sense is no whit to favour Judaisme but to seek out the Truth and if the seeking of the Truth makes the Jew obstinate towards the Gospel or towards Christianity it doth it but occasionally and the very best things may be an occasion of the worst of evils Where the Jew hath good reason to stand for a Literall sense there to deny him a Literall sense may prove a stumbling block in his way But if we grant him his Literall sense we take away the stumbling block yet we give him no advantage against the Mysticall which I may call the Gospel or Christian-sense For what if we grant him a Literall sense can he therefore justly deny a Mysticall Doe not many places of the Law and the Prophets carry a double sense with them The Jew therefore cannot justly be hardened by this neither can this weaken the cause of the Christian yea by this the cause of the Christian is rather strengthened against the Jew and the Jew hath nothing justly to object against it But though I have taken paines about the First Literally Historicall or Meaner sense I have not neglected the Second Mysticall or Sublime sense But have as neer as I could cleared all the Texts of this our Prophet which either our Saviour Christ or his Apostles made use of in that sense in the New Testament And if any Text hath been omitted it may easily be cleared by Observation of what I have said before and what I shall now say First Therefore the corporall and earthly Redemptions and deliverances of the Israelites and the Prophesies thereof were Types and Figures and Prophesies of the spirituall and heavenly Redemption which is wrought by Christ And by this Rule doe the Apostles for the most part walk in applying of the Testimonies which they bring out of the Old Testament to the things of the New And hence it is because the Inhabitants of Hierusalem were delivered from the Assyrians for Hezekiah's sake And because the Jewes were delivered from the Babylonians by Cyrus And because Isaiah preached and prophesied of this deliverance that Hezekiah and Cyrus and Isaiah were Types and Figures of Christ for whose sake and by whom Man was redeemed and who came and preached himself of this Redemption Secondly The temporall destruction of those Cities and those Men were they Jewes or others which were Enemies either to God or to his People and the Predictions thereof were Types and Figures of the eternall destruction of Unbelievers and the Enemies of the Gospel of Christ and Predictions thereof And from these considerations to wit that the corporall and earthly Redemptions and deliverances of the Israelites were Types and Figures of the spirituall and heavenly Redemption which is wrought by Christ And that the temporall destruction of those Cities and those Men which were Enemies to God and to his People were Types and Figures of the eternall destruction of Unbelievers and the enemies of the Gospel of Christ From these Considerations I say it seemeth to be that our Prophet prophesying of the temporall salvation of the Jewes and the temporall destruction of their Enemies and the Enemies of God doth often speak of them in such high and hyperbolicall termes as though he would not have us to look onely on the immediate subjects which he speaks of which fall farre short of those expressions which he useth of them in their proper and naturall signification but to some higher subjects also which the words taken in their height would better fit at least in generall Thirdly Because the ten Tribes were rejected of God from being his People Hos 1. v. 6 9. And God did afterwards receive this people again which he had rejected though not to be a People of themselves yet to live in his favour as many of them as believed the Prophets with the Jewes Hos 1. v. 10. Therefore was the reception again of the ten Tribes whom the Lord had rejected a Type of the calling and accepting of the Gentiles under the Messiah whom he had neglected and rejected before And hence it is that that which Hosea speakes of the reception again of the ten Tribes Hos 1. v. 10. in these words And it shall come to passe that in the place where it was said unto them ye are the sonnes of the living God And again Hos 2. v. 23. I will say to them which were not my People thou art my People And they shall say Thou art my God St. Paul applieth to the calling and accepting of the Gentiles as meant of them in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense Rom. 9. v. 25 26. Where note that if any sentence be spoken of any passage of any thing to come to passe before the dayes of the Messiah in the First Literal Historicall or Meaner sense And of a passage to come to passe in the dayes of the Messiah in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense the immediate Subject of the whole History or whole Prophesie of which that sentence is a part is to be deemed if I be not deceived as a Type and Figure of the whole thing which was to come to passe in the dayes of the Messiah Fourthly Those Jewes which would not give credit to Isaiah and those Prophets which the Lord sent to them during the time of the Law were a Type and Figure of those Jewes which would not believe the Gospell of Christ in the dayes of the Gospel Hence it is that that which was said of the one Isaiah 7. v. 9 10. is spoken also of the other Matth. 13.14 Mark 4.12 Acts 28.26 Rom. 11.8 Fifthly Those Heathen which joyned themselves to the Lord and became Proselytes under the Law were a Type of the coming in of the Gentiles to the
4.19 And therefore are called an host because of their multitude and order for an host or an army are not more and more orderly composed and better ranked then they are and they are called the high ones which are on high because they are placed in the Heavens which are the uppermost parts of the World The Assyrians did worship the Sun and the Moon and the Stars and made Images and representations thereof which also they worshipped and carryed about with them in their Camp and these Images or representations were destroyed when Sennacherihs Army was destroyed And because they were destroyed the host of the high ones that are on high that is the Sun and the Moon and the Stars themselves are here said to be punished So the Lord was said to execute Judgment upon all the gods of Egypt Exod. 12.12 and Numb 33.4 among which gods were the host of Heaven as may be gathered Deut. 4.19 Amos 5. v. 25 26. Acts 7. v. 43. for the gods there mentioned were such as the Israelites had seen worshipped in Egypt and learned from them And upon them is the Lord said to have executed Judgment because he flung down their Idols and Representations and broke them in pieces the same night that he brought Israel out of Egypt But some take the host of the high ones that are on high not for the Sun and Moon and Stars themselves but for the Images of the Sun Moon and Stars which the Assyrians carried with them to worship for the Gentiles called the Images of things by the names of those whose Images they were as the Image of Jupiter is called Jupiter Acts 14.13 But you will say whether by the host of the high ones that are on high are meant the Sun the Moon and the Stars or the Images or Representations onely thereof Nothing can be said properly to be punished but such as is endued with Reason But neither the host of Heaven nor their Images have any reason Therefore they cannot properly be said to be punished Ans This therefore that they are said to be punished is Metaphorical as sense and reason is Metaphorically given to Idols cap. 19.1 Or secondly this being put as a calamity of the Assyrians the Prophet may speak according to the sense and thoughts of the Assyrians Now the Assyrians which worshipped the Sun and the Moon and the host of Heaven thinking them to be gods thought that they had understanding and that as they were delighted with the Images and Representations which were made of them and with the honor and worship which was given to those their Images and Representations So they thought that they were contrarily affected and grieved when their Images and Representations were contumeliously used and disgracefully broken Note that the Prophet saith here that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high because the Assyrians worshipped them and relied on them for their good success as in all other their enterprizes so in this against Judah And the Kings of the Earth upon the Earth i. e. And the Kings of the Earth which are upon the Earth By the Kings of the Earth are meant the chief Commanders of Sennacheribs Army for they were all Kings cap. 10.8 these God punished by his Angel 2 King 19. vers 35. Note here that these two titles The high ones and the Kings of the Earth are such ambiguous titles as may belong each of them both to the Sun and Moon and Stars and also to the Kings which served Sennacherib for those Kings might be called high ones because of their high places and dignities and the Sun and the Moon and the Stars might be called the Kings of the Earth according to the conceit of the Assyrians which accounted them as gods for God is King of all the Earth Psal 47.7 To distinguish therefore the one from the other when he speaks of the Sun and the Moon and the Stars which the Assyrians accounted as gods he calls them the high ones which are on high and when he speaks of the Princes which served Sennacherib he saith the Kings of the Earth upon the Earth 22. And they shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit c. i. e. And the Inhabitants of Jerusalem which is the chief City of the Land shall be gathered and shut up in Jerusalem as prisoners are gathered together and shut up in a prison or in a dungeon for so soon as they hear of the approach of Sennacheribs Army they shall run every one to his home and then as prisoners cannot go out of the prison or dungeon in which they are imprisoned so shall not they go out of Jerusalem again because of the Assyrians who shall encompass them besiege them and block them up Note that this Conjunction And doth not relate to the words which went immediately before but to the twentieth verse And when he saith They shall be gathered together c. he seemeth to point at the inhabitants of Jerusalem In the pit i. e. In the prison The pit is that part of a prison which they call the dungeon which is a deep place under ground and it is here put for the whole prison it self And shall be shut up in prison i. e. And shall be shut up as it were in prison And after many days i. e. After they have been shut up in prison that is after they have been besieged many days Shall they be visited i. e. The Lord shall visit them in favor and mercy and deliver them by sending his Angel to destroy the Assyrians which besieged them which was fulfilled 2 King 19.35 This I do conceive to be the most probable meaning of this place and that as the Prophet did prophecy against the men of Judah vers 17 18 19 20. and comfort them again with the destruction of their Enemies vers 21. So doth he here in the former part of this verse prophecy against the men of Jerusalem and in the latter end thereof and in the next Verse comfort them again The onely Objection which can be made against this exposition is That there is no mention here of the men of Jerusalem and that there is no Nominative case to these Verbs but what is in the former verse To which I answer That the Prophet might point as it were with his finger at the men of Jerusalem when he spoke of them and so he needed not to name them his pointing at them might be enough to signifie whom he meant Again as he doth often put a Relative without an Antecedent and leaves the Antecedent to be understood by the circumstances of the place so might he leave the Nominative case which should go before the Verb to be understood Examples whereof we have Cap. 9.3 and 23.5 Mark 8.22 and 4.36 c. 23. Then the Moon shall be confounded and the Sun ashamed By the Sun and the Moon some understand the Images of the Sun and the
Land of thy destruction for thy Land which is destroyed putting a Substantive of the Genitive Case for an Adjective or a Participle after the Hebrew manner Even now i. e. So soon as ever they to wit thy children which gather themselves together to come to thee shall be come to thee And they that swallowed thee up i. e. And the Babylonians which destroyed thee and now dwell in thee c. See verse 17. He saith swallowed thee up for destroyed thee by a Metaphor from a Lion or Beare or some such ravenous Beast or other which is wont to swallow downe his prey And they that swallowed thee up shall be farre away Read these words as with a Parenthesis 20. Thy children which thou shalt have i. e. These words have their immediate connexion with the formost words of verse 19. viz. with those Thy wast and thy desolate places and the Land of thy destruction shall even now be too narrow by reason of the Inhabitants And are for sense the same with them The children which thou shalt have Supple Even now He speakes as though the Jewes which were in Captivity in Babylon and dispersed elsewhere were even now comming to Sion or Hierusalem their mother After thou hast lost the other Supple Which thou hadst before the Babylonians besieged thee who slew some and carried others of thy children away Captive and made others to flye into forraigne Lands Shall say againe in thine eares i. e. Shall say againe to thee or in thine hearing Againe This relates to such time or times before the Babylonish Captivity in which Hierusalem was very populous so that many of the people thereof were faine to dwell in other Cities and Villages of Judah For they which did so did in effect say The place is too straight for mee The place is too straight for me i. e. The place wherein we dwell is too little for us we must seeke us a dwelling elsewhere For me i. e. For us For here is an Enallage of the number The Singular being put for the Plurall Give place to me that I may dwell q.d. Give me a place elsewhere that I may have a place to dwell in 21. Then shalt thou say in thine heart i. e. Then when thy children shal come to thee and they shall be straightned for want of roome to dwell in thee thou shalt wonder to see that they are so many and shalt say within thy selfe Who hath begotten me these i. e. By whom have I these so many children Seeing I have lost my children Supple Which I had Shee lost her children when the Babylonians slew many of them made many to flye away for feare of their lives and carried the rest away Captive into Babylon And am desolate i. e. And am without an husband The Lord was her husband and had married her but had put her away Cap. 50.1 So that shee was at this time desolate and without an husband A Captive and removing to and fro And shee which is a captive removing to and fro hath but little propension to the procreation of children A Captive Supple to the Babylonians Removing to and fro Conquerours use to hurry their Captives from place to place and City to City at their pleasures and seldome suffer them to abide long in one place Ob. It may be here objected that Sion being a City could not remove from place to place to and fro Ans What is said in this Chapter of Sion and attributâ—d to her is spoken of her and attributed to her by a Prosopopoeia by which figure shee may be made aswell to remove from place to place to and fro as to speake But what is spoken of Sion in this Chapter and attributed to her is spoken of her and attributed to her to set forth the condition of the Jewes as it was at that time as I said before And who hath brought up these And who hath nourished and brought up all these Behold I was left alone Supple without children and none of them all were with me therefore I could not nourish them and bring them up These where they had been q. d. Where have all these been wheresoever they have been they have not been with me so that I could not bring them up 22. Thus saith the Lord God behold I wil lift up mine hand to the Gentiles q. d. Moreover thus saith the Lord God Behold c. In the 18 19 20 verses the Lord assured Sion that her children should come to her to comfort her Here that he may yet further comfort her and shew her how mindfull he was of her she sheweth the manner how they shall come to her and how happy she shall be when she hath received them I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles i. e. I will call the Gentiles to me He alludeth to one man beckning to another with his hand to come to him And set up my Standard to the people i. e. And I will gather the people or Nations together For what end he will call the Gentiles to him and gather the Nations together he sheweth in the next following words This phrase is the same for sense with that which went immediately before but he alludes herein to a Captaine which sets up his Standard for his souldiers to come together and to be in a readinesse for what march or service he shall appoint them And they shall bring thy sonnes in their armes i. e. and they shall bring thy sonnes to thee in their armes as nurses use to carry their little ones And thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders i. e. And they shall carry thy daughters to thee upon their shoulders Supple on soft beds or pallate as they which are weak were wont to be carried Mark 2.3 The meaning is that the Gentiles shall carefully provide and accommodate the Jewes with all things necessary and convenient for their return from Babylon and other parts of the world to their own Land How this was fulfilled in part read Ezra 1. 23. And Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and Queens thy nursing mothers i. e. And after thy sonnes and daughters are brought to thee Kings and Queens shall be as carefull to provide and shew kindnesse to thee as nursing fathers and nursing mothers are to their Foster-children Kings shall be their nursing fathers This was fulfilled in Cyrus Darius Artaxerxes whose good deeds to the Jewes are mentioned in the book of Ezra and Nehemiah and Assuerus of whom we read Esther 8.7 c. And Alexander the Great and his successors and especially Demetrius whom Josephus writeth of All which were exceeding good to the Jewes and to Hierusalem and to the Temple and gave them many gifts and priviledges And thâ—ir Queens thy nursing mothers This was fulfilled in the Queenes of some of those forementioned Kings and particularly in Ester as may be seen in the book which beareth her name They shall bown down to thee with their face towards the
earth and lick up the dust of thy feet This as some think is not to be understood of the same Kings and Queens which were nursing fathers and nursing mothers to Sion But of others as of the Kings of Edom and of Moab whom the Jewes subdued after their return out of the Babylonish captivity for to bow down so low as to the earth and to lick the dust of the feet is not the gesture say they of Kings which are friends and benefactors but of enemies which are subdued and of such as worship rather out of feare and flattery than of love as will appeare Psal 72.9 Isaiah 60.14 Exod. 11.8 The sense therefore is say they q. d. And those Kings and Queens which will not be as nursing fathers and nursing mothers to thee shall bow down to thee with their face to the earth and shall lick the dust of thy feet for thou shalt subdue them and bring them under thee When therefore he saith They shall bow down to thee He doth as it were point at those which would not be nursing fathers and nursing mothers to Sion but would rather envy her and hate her But though these phrases taken in their prime and proper sense signifie as they aforementioned say yet by an Hyperbolicall Synecdoche putting one species of respect for any respect in generall they may signifie such respect as Kings which are friends and benefactors shew even to their inferiours And then the same Kings which are nursing fathers to Sion and the same Queens which are nursing mothers may be said to bow down to her with their faces towards the earth and lick up the dust of her feet because of that civil respect which they they gave unto her They shall bow down with their face towards the earth This sheweth respect and reverence to him to whom we bow but a submissive respect and reverence in the prime and proper sense of the words And lick up the dust of thy feet Many to shew their extream submission and reverence and respect to others have kissed the very footsteps where they have trod and licked up the dust which clove to their feet And thou shalt know that I am the Lord i. e. And thou shalt know by those things which I will doe for thee that I am the onely God for I will doe such things for thee as none but the true God can doe For they shall not be ashamed which wait for mee i. e. For they which wait with patience upon me in expectation and hope of salvation from my hand shall not be disappointed of their hope and expectation They which hope and look for great matters if they faile of their hope and expectation they are ashamed Hence he may be said not to be ashamed which obtaineth what he hopeth for 24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty q. d. The Babylonians are mighty in power and I and my children are their prey They have taken us by the sword and kept us captive and hath any one so great strength as to deliver us out of their hands This is spoken in the person of Sion who doubts of the Lords sayings concerning the coming of her children to her again of her own happiness after their coming to her because of the great power which the Babylonians had and therefore doth she object thus against the Lord Shall the prey be taken from the mighty That which made Sion doubt of the delivery of her children v. 14. was the distrust which she had of the love of God That which makes her doubt here was the conceit which she had of the great power of the Babylonians which she thought invincible Or the lawful captive delivered Supple From the terrible This is but a repetition of the former words The lawful captive That is called a lawful captive here which is taken in a lawful war and that is called a lawful war which is denounced between people and people according to the Law of Arms before it be begun though otherwise that same War may be very unjust and injurious in respect of the Law of God and of the Moral Law Now a Captive which is taken in such a war as is denounced before it be begun sheweth the power of the Conqueror more then that Captive doth which is taken in a war which was not denounced For in a war which is denounced before it is begun he that begins the war relieth upon the greatness of his own strength and believeth that he can master the Enemy by meer force and therefore is more terrible in power But he that wageth a war and denounceth it not hath more confidence in the unpreparedness of his Enemy and such like advantages then in his own power and therefore is not so much to be feared for his strength as the other is 25. But thus saith the Lord even the captives c. This is the Lords Answer to Sions Objection Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away i. e. Thou and thy children though ye be lawful captives of the mighty Babylonians yet shall ye be taken away out of their hands And the prey of the terrible shall be delivered q. d. And though ye be the pâ—ey of the Babylonians which are a terrible Nation yet shal ye be delivered from them For I will contend with him that contendeth with thee i. e. For I the Lord who am Almighty and can do whatsoever I please will fight against the Babylonians which fight against thee Concerning this phrase see cap. 41.12 and cap. 54.17 26. I will feed them which oppress thee with their own flesh they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine i. e. I will set the Babylonians which oppress thee with hard captivity one against another and they shall fight one with another and slay one another in great number The phrases here used are metaphorical taken from wilde beasts which fight with and kill one the other and when they have killed one the other eat the flesh and suck the blood one of the other Their own flesh Their own blood This is not to be understood of the flesh and blood of their own natural and individual bodies but of the flesh and blood of their Kinsmen and Country-men For these especially Kinsmen are said to be of the same flesh and of the same blood because they came out of the loyns of the same forefathers That which is here spoken might be fulfilled not onely by the Civil Wars of the Babylonians if any such were for we have not Records extant of all things memorable but also when many Babylonians served under Cyrus against other the Babylonians The mighty One of Jacob. i. e. The mighty One whom Jacob serveth and who protecteth Jacob. By Jacob he meaneth the Jews the children of Jacob. The Lord though he calleth himself most usually the holy One of Israel and the holy One of Jacob as cap. 29.23 yet here he calleth himself the
Isaiah and other Prophets of the Lord preached to the Jews concerning their delivery out of the Babylonish captivity might well be a type of the Gospel preached to the Jews in after-days for the delivery of the Jews out of their temporal and bodily afflictions was a type of the spiritual and eternal Salvation which they had by Christ which Salvation is contained in the Gospel 2. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground Having explained the Text from the thirteenth Verse of the foregoing Chapter hitherto according to the second and sublime sence thereof I return now to the first and meaner sence of what followeth For he shall grow up i. e. Now Jeremy shall grow up Note that the Particle For is not a Conjunction causal here but signifieth as much as Now as where it is said Now the Birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise Mat. 1.18 And now all this was done that it might be fulfilled c. Mat. 1.22 The Prophet doth here describe that servant of the Lord which he spoke of Cap. 52.11 even Jeremy and foretells what manner of man he should be and what should befall him in his life time and in his death Before him i. e. Before the Lord Supple As a Servant before his Master For this phrase intimateth the relation of a Servant to his Master See 1 King 10.8 As a tender plant and as root out of a dry ground Note that these words out of a dry ground relate as well to those a tender plant as to those a root Now a tender plant or a root which springeth out of a dry ground doth not thrive so well as that which groweth in a fertile soyl neither is it so luxuriant but small and slender and skragged The Question therefore will be Why Jeremy is here compared to a tender plant or root growing up out of a dry ground Ans Some say to signifie that he should be a man of a meagre and spare body Others to shew that he should be a man but of small fortunes and of little wealth and worldly estate As a root By a root understand here a sprout sprouting out of a root by a Metonymy as cap. 11.10 The Prophet by likening Jeremy here to a tender plant and root seemeth to intimate that Jeremy should serve the Lord in his tender yâ—ars and so he did for the Lord callâ—d him while he was a childe Jer. 1. vers 6. He hath no form or comeliness i. e. He shall not be a man of any amiable face or lovely countenance He puts a preterperfect tense for a future When we shall see him i. e. When he shall be born and shall live among us There is no beauty that we shall desire him i. e. We shall see no loveliness in his visage Jeremy is thought to have been a man of a sad wan and meagre countenance 3. He is despised and rejected of men i. e. He shall be despised and disrespected of men He putteth here a present or a preterperfect tense for a future as before A man of sorrow i. e. A man full of sorrows and as it were composed thereof And acquainted with griefs i. e. And a man which feeleth griefs throughly This speech is metaphorical and seemeth to be taken from such who not onely know one another by sight or by hear-say but are familiarly conversant and throughly acquainted one with another by conversing long together We hid as it were our faces from him To wit As though we scorned to look upon him or as though we abhorred him 4. Surely he hath born our griefs and carryed our sorrows q. d. Whereas Jeremy hath been a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs truly we were they which did put him to these griefs and to these sorrows by those afflictions which we layd upon him The griefs and sorrows which Jeremy did bear they call their griefs and their sorrows because they proceeded from them and they were the cause and authors of them by that hard usage with which they used him This is spoken in the person of those good and godly Iews which lived after the taking of Ierusalem by the Babylonians who by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reckon themselves among those wicked Iews which persecuted and tormented Ieremy Yet we esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted q. d. Yet we esteemed him as stricken of God and smitten and afflicted by his just judgment As though he had had been a most notorious sinner and that God would not suffer him to escape but would stir up the people to take vengeance of him for his sins and particularly for his prophecying against Ierusalem and against the Temple Jerem. 26.9 Note that we must understand those words Of God as well after stricken and afflicted as after smitten 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions q. d. But he was not stricken of God and smitten and afflicted by him in way of vengeance but he was wounded of us through our hardness of heart and hatred and malice against him For our transgressions i. e. Through our transgressions to wit Because we were wicked Note that the Hebrew Prefix Mem signifieth Through as well as For and denoteth the efficient cause and whatsoever is reducible thereto as well as the final and therefore the Preposition From must either be taken here in the same latitude as the Hebrew Prefix Mem is or else while we interpret the Text according to the first and meaner sence we must render Mem Through or By reason of Note secondly that by the transgressions here spoken of are meant the Jews hardness of heart by which they would not believe what Ieremy prophecyed and their hatred and malice which they conceived against him because he prophecyed not unto them pleasing things but such things as they could not endure to hear of For because he reprehended them for their sins and prophecyed of their overthrow and the overthrow of the City and of the Temple and of their captivity by the Babylonians they conceived such hatred and malice against him as that they thought no affliction or punishment too much for him no though they killed him He was bruised for our iniquities This is a repetition of the former sentence The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed q.d. Yet we said Supple when we wounded and bruised him that the chastisement of our peace was upon him c. Understand here those words Yet we said for those and the like words are often left to be understood as cap. 33.14 Ioh. 7. v. 28. Acts 1. v. 4. Understand also those When we wounded and bruised him which are easie to be understood from the foregoing words The chastisement of our peace was upon him i. e. That chastisement was upon him which would appease the wrath of God and procure our peace As Ahab thought of Elijah that he was he which troubled
out of the Babylonish captivity to their own homes again As the Doves to their windows By windows understand here the windows or lover-holes of the Dove-houses or Pigeon-houses by which the Doves or Pigeons go in or out of their houses to wit the Pigeon-houses or Dove-houses 9. Surely the Isles shall wait for me and the ships of Tarshish first to bring thy sons from far i. e. Surely the Inhabitants of the Isles and the Merchants of Tarshish shall wait upon me as servants upon their Master that they may bring thy sons to me at my command The Isles By the Isles he meaneth the Inhabitants of the Isles that is of the sea-coasts by a Metonymy The ships of Tarshish By the ships of Tarshish he meaneth the Merchants of Tarshish who traffique by sea in ships What Tarshish was see cap. 2.16 First i. e. Before they do any other thing or take any voyage either for themselves or any other To bring thy sons from far i. e. To bring thy sons O Zion from those far Countries into which they were fled or were carryed when the Babylonians invaded Judea Thy sons He makes Zion here as a Mother and the Jews as her sons Their silver and their gold with them i. e. And to bring their silver and their gold with them This may be understood either of the silver and gold of the Merchants which they should bring with them to traffique within Jerusalem as vers 6. or of the silver and gold of the Jews which either they had gained by their labor or carryed with them when they fled for fear of the Babylonians or which had been given them by the benevolence of others for their Gods sake as Ezra 1.6 Note that these ships of Tarshish might have been employed to bring the Jews to Jerusalem not onely from Tarshish but from any other part of the World besides Vnto the Name of the Lord thy God That is To the dwelling place of the Lord thy God Note here that by the Name of the Lord God is meant the Lord God himself by a Metonymy Then by the Lord is meant the dwelling place of the Lord by another Metonymy as Vcalegon in the Poet is put for the house or dwelling place of Vcalegon Jam proximus ardet Vcalegon Virgil. Aenead lib. 2. Then by the dwelling place of the Lord is meant Jerusalem see Psa 76.2 To the holy One of Israel i. e. To the dwelling place of God who is the holy One of Israel This is a repetition of the former sentence Note here the Enallage of the person and how God speaketh of himself in the third person Because he hath glorified thee i. e. Because he hath honored thee and will honor thee in the sight of all the Nations 10. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls i. e. And strangers shall build up thy walls The sons of strangers are put for strangers by an Hebraism And those he calls strangers which were not Israelites born The walls of Jerusalem were beat down by the Babylonians 2 Chron. 36.19 and they were built up again after the Babylonish captivity by the favor and liberality of Cyrus Darius Hystaspis and Artaxerxes Ezra cap. 6 7. and by the hands of many Proselytes And their Kings shall minister unto thee i. e. And the Kings of strangers shall minister unto thee those things which are necessary for that worke Supple Of building up thy Walls For in my wrath I smote thee i. e. For I smote thee because I was angry with thee for thy sinnes Then he smote her when he gave her over into the hands of the Babylonians 11. Therefore thy gates shall be opened continually i. e. Moreover thy gates shall stand open continually Therefore for Moreover That men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles i. e. That the Armies of the Gentiles may be brought to thee as Captives in chaines He sheweth here the reason or end why the gates of Jerusalem should stand open continually night and day to wit that the captives which they took in warre should be brought thither And by saying that the gates shall stand open continually day and night he intimates the frequent victories which the Jewes should have and their often conquests over the Gentiles And that their Kings may be brought supple To thee as captives in linkes of Iron Note that what is here said of Sion in the first sence is to be understood of the Church of Christ in the second and sublime sense of which Sion was here a Type Revel 21.15 12. That will not serve thee i. e. That will not doe offices of civillity and kindenesse to thee but rather injure thee and wrong thee and give thee just cause to make warre upon them And when thou doest so make warre upon them will not submit to pay Tribute to thee and doe other conditions which thou shalt require of them Note that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to serve signifieth sometimes to doe offices of civillity and kindenesse to another as Cap. 19. v. 23. So that he that will not doe offices of civillity and kindenesse to another may be said to deny to serve him Yea to deny to serve a man may sometimes signifie to injure and wrong a man by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Note further that to pay tribute and to performe other conditions which a potent Prince or People exacteth of another Prince or People doth usually fall under the name of service And tributaries are frequently called servants so that not to serve may signifie also not to pay tribute and not to submit to such conditions as a more powerfull Prince or People shall exact See 2 Sam. 10.9 1 Kings 4.21 2 Kings 18.7 Shall perish Supple From being a Nation or Kingdome of it selfe and living under its owne Lawes for thou shalt subdue it and bring it into captivity to thy selfe Yea those Nations Supple That will not serve thee Shall be utterly wasted Supple By thy sword Josephus writes of the victory of the Jewes over the Tyrians and those of Ptolemais as also of their victory over the Ammonites and Gileadites lib. 12. Antiq. Cap. 16. He writes also of the subversion of Pella by the Jewes lib. 13. Antiq. Cap. 23. In the book of Macchabees also we read of the victories of the Jewes by Judas Macchabaeus 1 Macchab. Cap. 5. c. All which tend to the fulfilling of this Prophecy 13. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee By the glory of Lebanon is meant the Cedar which is the tallest and stateliest of all Trees and it is called the glory of Lebanon because it brought a great deale of renoune to Lebanon which bore it and upon which it grew and made it famous Per metonymiam efficientis Lebanon was an high hill scituate on the North side of the Land of Canaan which brought forth as other godly Trees so especially the Cedar hence the Cedar of Lebanon went for a kinde of proverbe 2
and to whom he made great promises in Cyrus cap. 45.2 3 4 c. That was not calâ—ed by my Name i. e. That is not mine that is not mine by peculiar choyce as the Jews were Concerning this phrase see Cap. 63. vers 19. Note that Cyrus and the Persians lighting upon the Will of God here and doing it were a type of the Gentiles embracing the Gospel which is the Will of God concerning man and walking according to it And therefore the Apostle in the second and sublime sence maketh use of this Verse to shew that the believing of the Gentiles was foretold of old Rom. 10.20 2. I have spred out my hand all the day long to a rebellious people i. e. I have spred out my hand all the day long to my people the Jews which are a stubborn and a rebellious people c. In the first Verse the Lord shewed that he had heard the prayer which was made to him in the two former Chapters and that the Medes and Persians should perform his pleasure concerning the overthrow of the Babylonians and the redemption of the Jews according to that prayer But lest any one should think that he intended to redeem the wicked and irrepentant Jews he sheweth here that he had no such intent but because the greatest part of the Jews were wicked and irrepentant he would take vengeance of them to the full and destroy them yet he would redeem the better part to wit those which were sorry for their sins and were mindful of his service I have spred out my hands to a rebellious people i. e. I have invited a people to come unto me and have spred out my hands as being ready to receive them in mine arms but they would not come unto me Or thus I have preached to my people the Jews and called upon them to repent and turn from their evil ways but they would not hear Because the spreading out of the hands was a gesture which was wont to be used by those which preached to the people either to raise attention as Acts 26.1 or to move affection The spreading out of the hands may be put here for preaching All the day long q. d. Without ceasing To a rebellious people This people were that part of the Jews which would not accept of Gods invitation nor give ear when he preached to them by his Prophets but would run on still in their transgressions Note here that these rebellious Jews which would not accept of Gods invitation nor hear him when he preached unto them by his Prophets were a type of those obstinate and unbelieving Jews which would not believe the Gospel when the Gospel was preached unto them Rom. 10.21 That walketh in a way that is not good i. e. Which do that which is evil After their own thoughts i. e. That walketh after their own lusts 3. A people that provoketh me to anger Supple By their sins To my face The Lord speaks here of himself as of a man to shew their impudency in sinning and the greatness of their provocation For men are more provoked with that contumely which is done to their face then with that which is done behinde their back And they are more impudent in sin which commit sin before the face of one that looketh on then which commit it in private where they are not seen That sacrificeth in Gardens Idolaters were wont to sacrifice in Gardens and in Groves and it seemeth the Jews many of them did so sacrifice while they were captives in Babylon contrary to Gods command Deut. 12.13 14. And burneth incense upon Altars of brick This was contrary to the words of God Exod. 30. v. 1. Howsoever they sinned by burning Incense out of the Temple 4. Which remain among the graves They did remain among the graves that they might consult with evil spirits which haunt those places Or that they might use some kinde of Necromancy or other which was forbidden Deut. 18.11 And lodge in the monuments This is a repetition of the foregoing sentence For sepulchers are called monuments because of the monuments which are there erected to the memory of the dead Which eat Swines flesh Contrary to the Law Levit. 11.7 Deut. 14.8 And broth of abominable things is in their vessels i. e. And which have in their vessels broth made of the flesh of unclean beasts such as were forbidden to be eaten Levit. 11. and Deuter. 14. and therefore were abominable for a man to eat 5. Which say Supple To other men notwithstanding their own wickedness Hypocrites as they are Stand by thy self i. e. Keep off Come not neer to me Supple To pollute me with thy company These are a smoke in my nose i. e. These are a vexation to me as smoke is to the eyes or the nose of a man A fire that burneth all the day i. e. Such as kindle my wrath by their wickedness continually or such as vex me all the day long He likeneth these men to fire either because they did kindle Gods wrath against themselves as fire kindleth the wood Or else because as fire raiseth a smoke which vexeth the eyes and nose of a man so did they commit sins dayly by which they did vex the Holy One of Israel 6. It is written before me i. e. That which these men have done and do do shall not be forgotten but I will keep it in continual remembrance He alludeth to the Books of Records which Kings use to have and to read in as Eâ—th 6.1 This Particle It is a Relative without any formal Antecedent which is a thing frequent with the Hebrews Or it relateth to all the sins before mentioned without observing the number I will not keep silence Supple But will rebuke them in my fierce anger Gods rebuke goeth not with his actual afflicting and punishing and therefore though rebuke with men signifieth but words yet with God it signifieth deeds also But will recompence Supple Their iniquities as it followeth in the next verse that is I will pay them as much punishment as their sins deserve Even recompence into their bosom By the bosom is meant the lap And he alludeth to an housholder paying his laborer his wages in corn which corn the laborer takes of him in the lap of his garment and so carryeth it to his own home For in those days men went in loose garments as well as women though different in fashion 7. Your iniquities i. e. Their iniquities These words relate to the word recompence in the former Verse Note here the confusion of the persons how he confounds the second person with the third and saith Your for their iniquities The like we read cap. 1.29 And the iniquities of your fathers together i. e. And the iniquities of their fathers together A question will here presently arise How it can stand with the Justice of God to punish the iniquities of the fathers upon their children Answ God is said to punish the iniquities of the