f In that Common-wealth The state of that Kingdom is honourable and comfortable and safe so as good men can shew their faces with courage and confidence but when the wicked rise g Are advanced to Honour and Authority a man is ‖ Or sought 〈◊〉 hidden h The state of that Nation is so shameful and dangerous that wise and good men who only are worthy of the name of men with-draw themselves or run into corners and obscure places partly out of grief and shame to behold the wickedness which is publickly and impudently committed and partly to avoid the rage and injuries of wicked Oppressors and the judgments of God which commonly follow such persons and their confederates in sin Or as others both ancient and later Interpreters render it a man is sought out Sober and good men who had retired themselves are searched for and brought forth like sheep to the slaughter as being most suspected and hated and feared by bloody Tyrants 13 * Ps. 32. 3 5. 1 Joh. 1. 9 10. He that covereth his sins i That doth not confess them as appears by the opposite clause to God and to Men too when occasion requires it That being convinced or admonished of his sins either justifieth ordenieth or excuseth them shall not prosper k Shall not succeed in his design of avoiding punishment by the concealment of his sins shall not find mercy as is implied from the next clause but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them l By hearty dislike and hatred of all his sins and by a resolved cessation from a sinful course of Life This is added to shew that although the dissembling or hiding ones sins is sufficient for his damnation yet meer confession without forsaking of sin is not sufficient for Salvation shall have mercy m Both from God who hath promised and from Men who are ready to grant pardon and favour to such persons 14 Happy is the man n Because he shall thereby avoid that mischief which besals fearless sinners which is expressed in the next clause and procure that eternal Salvation which they lose that feareth o To wit the offence and judgments of God Who having confessed and forsaken his sins as was now said is afraid to return to them again and careful to avoid them and all occasions of them alway p In all times companies and conditions not only in the time of great trouble when even Hypocrites will in some sort be afraid of sinning but in times of outward Peace and Prosperity * Rom. 11. 20. but he that hardeneth his heart q That goeth on obstinately and securely in sinful courses casting off due reverence to God and just fear of his threatnings and judgments shall fall into mischief 15 As a roaring lion and a ranging bear r The Lion and Bear are always cruel and greedy in their natures and especially when they are hungry and want Prey in which case the Lions roar Psal. 104. 21. Isa. 31. 4. and Bears range about for it so is a wicked ruler s Instead of being a nursing Father and a faithful and tender Shepheard as he ought to be he is a cruel and insatiable Oppressor and Devourer of them over the poor people t Whom he particularly mentions either to note his policy in oppressing them only who were unable to withstand him or to revenge themselves of him or to aggravate his sin in devouring them whom the Laws of God and common Humanity bound him to relieve and protect or to express the effect of his ill government in making his people poor by his frauds and rapines 16 The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor u The Tyranny or Oppression of a Prince though by some accounted Wisdom is in truth a manifest act and sign of great folly because it alienateth from him the Hearts of his People in which his Honour and Safety and Riches consist and oft times causeth the shortning of his days either from God who cuts him off by some sudden judgment or from men who are injured by him and exasperated against him but he that hateth covetousness x Which is the chief cause of all oppressions and unjust practices shall prolong his days y By Gods favour the peace and satisfaction of his own mind and the hearty love of his people which makes them careful to preserve his Life by their servent Prayers to God for him by willingly hazarding their own Estates and Lives for him when occasion requires it and by all other possible means 17 A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person z That sheddeth any mans Blood or taketh away his Life unjustly shall flee to the pit a Shall speedily be destroyed being pursued by divine Vengeance and the Horrours of a guilty Conscience and the Avengers of Blood let no man stay him b So it is a prohibition that no man should endeavour to save the Life of a wilful Murderer either by intercession or by offering satisfaction or any other way Of which see Gen. 9. 6. Exod. 21. 14. Numb 35. 31. Or as the ancient and many other Interpreters render it no man shall stay him None shall desire or endeavour to save him from his deserved punishment He shall die without pity being an object of publick hatred 18 * Ch. 10. 25. Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved c To wit from destruction because God hath undertaken and promised to protect him but he that is preverfe in his ways d Heb. in two ways of which Phrase see above on v. 6. shall fall at once e Once for all so as he shall not need a second thrust 1 Sam. 26. 8. and so as he shall never rise more Or in one to wit of his ways Though he hath various ways and arts to secure himself yet none of them shall save him but he shall perish in one or other of them and shall be given up by God to the mistake of his way that he shall chuse that course which will be most pernicious to him 19 * Ch. 12. 11. He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread but he that followeth after vain persons f Chusing their company and imitating their Example who gives up himself to vanity and idleness and so is fitly opposed to the diligent man in the former clause shall have poverty enough 20 * Ch. 13. 11. 20. 21. 23. 4. 1 Tim. 6. 9. A faithful man g Heb. A man of truth or truths who deals truly and justly in all his bâ—…rgains and transactions with men shall abound with blessings * Ch. 13. 11. 20. 21. 23. 4. 1 Tim. 6. 9. but he that maketh haste h More than God alloweth him that taketh the nearest and readiest way to Riches whether it be right or wrong that is unfaithful and unjust in
anger against the obstinate and implacable enemies of his Son and Gospel like a man of war he shall cry yea roar u As a Lyon doth upon his prey and as Souldiers do when they begin the battle he shall ‖ Or behave himself mightily prevail against his enemies 14. I have long time held my peace x I have for many ages suffered the Devil and his Servants Tyrants and Idolaters and Persecuters to prevail in the world to afflict my people and to hinder the entertainment of my Doctrine and Worship in the World I have been still and refrained my self now will I cry like a travailing woman y Now I will bring forth and accomplish that glorious work which I have long conceived in my mind I will destroy and †Heb. swallow or sup up devour at once x. z I will suddenly and utterly destroy the incorrigible enemies of my Truth and of my Sons Kingdom He alludes to those wild Beasts which open their mouths wide and devour all their prey at one morsel or at one time 15. I will make wast mountains and hills a Not dry and barren ones for these were wast already but such as are clothed with Grass and Herbs as the following words imply Which is to be understood Metaphorically of Gods destroying his most lofty and flourishing enemies who are oft compared in Scripture unto Mountains and Hills and dry up all their herbs and I will make the rivers islands and I will dry up the pools b I will remove all impediments out of the way which is expressed in the Prophetical dialect by drying up Euphrates that the way of the Kings of the East might be prepared Revel 16. 12. He seems to allude to that which God did in drying up first the Red Sea and then Iordan to give his people passage into Canaan And this exposition is confirmed by the following verse 16. And I will bring the blind c The Gentiles who were blind and were called so above ver 7. and in many other places of Scripture and were so accounted by the Iews by a way that they know not d By the way of truth which hitherto hath been hidden from them until by my Word and Spirit I revealed it to them I will lead them in paths that they have not known I will make darkness light before them and crooked things †Heb. unto straightness straight e I will take away all hinderances and give them all advantages and conveniences for their Journey I will direct them in the right way I will enlighten their dark minds and rectifie their perverse wills and affections These things will I do unto them and not forsake them f Until I have brought them with safety and comfort to the end of their journey 17. They shall be * Psal. 97. 7. Chap. 1. 29. 44. 11. 45. 16 turned back they shall be greatly ashamed that trust in graven images g This may be understood either 1. Of the Converted Gentiles who shall be turned back from their former sinful course and shall sincerely grieve and be ashamed that they did trust c. as the word may be rendred that they should ever be guilty of such wickedness and madness to Worship and Trust in Idols Or rather 2. Of those Gentiles who when their Brethren embraced the true God and Christ persisted obstinately in their Idolaâ—…rous courses who shall be confounded and destroyed For this phrase of being turned back is generally used in Scripture in a bad sence or of them who are overthrown or put to flight in battel as Psal. 9. 3. 35. 4. 70. 2 3. c. And the like I may say of being ashamed or confounded or put to shame especially where this Phrase is joyned with the other as it is in the two places of the Psalmes last quoted that say to the molten images Ye are our gods 18. Hear ye deaf and look ye blind that ye may see h O you whosoever you are whether Iews or Gentiles which shall resist this clear light and obstinately continue in your former errours attend diligently to my words and consider these mighty works of God 19. * Chap. 43. â—… Who is blind but my servant i But no People under Heaven are so blind as the Iews who call themselves my Servants and People who will not receive their Messiah though he be recommended to them with such evident and illustrious Signs and Miraculous works as force belief from the most unbelieving and obstinate Gentiles or deaf as my messenger k My Messengers the Singular number being put for the plural as it is commonly in Scripture that I sent who is blind as he that is prefect l The Priests and other Teachers whom I appointed to instruct my People in the right way and blind as the LORDS servant m As the most eminent Teachers and Rulers of the Iews whom he calleth Perfect either because it was their duty to know and teach the way and truth of God perfectly or rather Sarcastically because they pretended to great perfection and proudly called themselves Rabbies and Masters as our Saviour observed and despised the People as cursed and not knowing the Law Ioh. 7. 49. and dirided Christ for calling them blind Ioh. 9. 40. m Which title as it was given to the Iewish People in the first clause of the verse So here it seems to be given to the Priests because they were called and obliged to be the Lords Servants in a special and eminent manner 20 Seeing many things * Rom. 2. 2â—… but thou observest noâ—… opening the ears but he heareth not n Thou doâ—…t not seriously and impartially consider the plain word and the wonderful Works of God of which thiâ—…e ears and eyâ—…s have been witnesses which are abundantly sufficient for the Conviction of any considering man 21 The LORD is well pleased o To wit with you Or as this word is most commonly used hath a good will to you or to this People which may be understood out of the following verse as is very usual in sacred Scripture The meaning seems to be this Although thou art a wicked people that rebellest against the clearest light and therefore God might justly destroy thee suddenly yet he is very unwilling to do it and will patiently wait for thy repentance that he may be gracious unto thee * Chap. 59. 16. for his righteousness sake p Not for thy sake for thou deservest no such thing from him but for the glory of his own faithfulness in fulfilling that Promise and Covenant which he made with thy pious Progenitors for themselves and for their Seed he will magnifie the Law and make Or him it honourable q He will maintain the honour of his law and therefore is not forward to destroy you who profess Gods Law and the true Religion
yet it was never done during that Kings Reign But in the year of our Lord 1577. which was tha 19th or 20th of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth Some Bishops published a new Translation but till that time the Bibles used in Churches were Tindalls and Coverdales being allowed by the publick Authority of King Edward 6. 1551. 1552. And to this day the Psalms and the Gospels and Epistles in our Service-Book are according to Tindalls and Coverdales Bibles which should make us wary in our Censures of that Translation tho we see reason in many things to dissent from it Onely we having a more correct Translation Established by Authority why for the avoiding the offence of the less knowing people we have not made use of that but retained a Translation not undertaken by any publick Authority and confessed to be more imperfect is what I cannot nor count my self obliged to account for Possibly God for the honour of his Martyr hath so ordered it After this King James coming to the Crown being a Prince of great Learning and Iudgment and observing the different usage of some words in his age from the usage of them in K. Hen. 8. or in Qu. Elizabeths time and also the several mistakes tho of a minute nature in those more ancient Versions was pleased to employ diverse learned men in making a New Translation which is that which at this day is generally used With what Reverence to former Translators what labour and care and pains they accomplished their work the Reader may see at large in their Preface prefixed to those Copies that are Printed in Folio and in their Epistle to K. James in our Bibles of a lesser form of which Translation tho it may not be without its more minute Errors yet I think it may be said that it is hardly exceeded by that of any other Church By this History Reader thou mayest understand the mighty workings of Divine Providence and wonderful goodness of God to this Nation in the plenty we have of Bibles and that of a very correct Translation tho possibly not in every little thing perfect Mr. Fox if we remember right tells us a story of two Maids in Lincolnshire that in Qu. Maries time parted with a considerable part of their estate for a few leaves of the Bible How good is God to us that we for a few shillings can have the whole Revelation of the Divine Will Considering which we offer it to the consideration of any thinking English man or Woman what he or she will answer for his ignorance in the Holy Scriptures or for the ignorance of his or her Children if having so much means as we have to learn to read any shall neglect the learning of their Children to Read it or themselves in case their Parents have neglected them or being able to Read shall neglect the practice of it Exercising himself in the Law of the Lord day and night and living up to the rule of it The English Bible is come to us at the price of the blood of one Martyr and the unwearied labour of a multitude of Holy and Learned men succeeding one another for more then Sixty years before we had the Translation so perfect as it is now in all hands Poor Coristians in Popish Countries either have not this Pot of spiritual food or must cry out Death is in the pot Our English Translators in their Preface observe that of late the Church of Rome would seem to bear something of a motherly affection to her Children and allow them the Scripture in the Mother Tongue but it is indeed a gift not worthy of its name They must first get a License in Writing before they use them and to get that they must approve themselves to their Confessors to be such as are if not frozen in the dreggs yet sowred with the leaven of their superstition Yet this seemed too much to Clement the Eighth who therefore frustrated the grant of Pius the fourth They will allow none to be read but the Doway Bibles and the Remish Testaments the corruptions of which have been sufficiently manifested by many learned men nor will they trust their people with these without the License of their own Bishops and Inquisitors This is the liberty they boast of given to any of their Religion to Read the Scriptures in English What it is worth let any man judge In the mean time those who are not affected with the mercy of God to us in this particular must declare themselves neither to have any just value for God in the mighty workings of his Providence to bring this about nor yet for the blood of Holy Mr. Tindall who died in his Testimony to this truth that no people ought to be deprived of so great a good nor for the labours and pains of those many Servants of God who travelled in this great work and thought no labour in it too much nor indeed for their own souls to the Salvation of which if the Holy Scripture in our own Language doth not highly contribute we must lay the blame upon our selves But altho we have the Bible in a Language we understand yet we may see reason to cry out as Bernard does with reference to the Song of Solomon Here is an excellent Nut but who shall crack it Heavenly Bread but who shall break it For though the Papists and such as have ill will to the good of souls make too great an improvement of the difficulties in Holy Writ in making them an argument against the peoples having them in a Language which they can understand for Augustine said true when he said there are Fords in them wherein Lambs may wade as well as depths in which Elephants may swim and what others observe is as true that things necessary to be believed or done in order to Salvation lye plain and obvious in Holy Writ yet it is as true that there is much of Holy Writ of which the generality of people must say as the Eunuch How can I understand except some man should guide me Acts 8. 31. besides the seeming contradictions that are betwixt the Holy Penmen of those Sacred Books and indeed it is hard to say what Book of Scripture is so plain that every one who runneth can read it with understanding such a vast difference there is betwixt the capacities of those who yet have the same honest hearts This hath made wise and learned men not onely see a need of larger Commentaries but also of shorter Notes Annotations and Paraphrases c. Nor is this a late discovery It is upward of three hundred years since Lyra wrote his short Notes upon the whole Bible what Vatablus and Erasmus tho all of them Papists have done since is sufficiently known to say nothing of many others of that Religion Amongst the Reformed Churches there hath been a learned Piscator in Germany Junius and Tremellius elsewhere who did the same thing but all these wrote their Notes in
is therefore particularly armed and comforted in these words 16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep and he said Surely the LORD is in this place k By his special and gracious presence and the manifestation of his Mind and Will to me and I knew it not l I little expected to meet with such a Revelation out of my Fathers House much less in this desart and doleful state and place when I thought my self rejected by God as well as abandoned by men 17 And he was afraid and said How dreadful m Or venerable both for the Majesty of the Person present and for the glorious manner of his discovery of himself is this place this is none other but the house of God n The Habitation of God and of his Holy Angels and this is the gate of heaven 18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows and * chap. 31. 45. and 35. 14. set it up for a pillar o As a Monument of Gods great kindness and gracious manifestation of himself to him which might bring this Mercy to his remembrance in his return Gen. 31. 13. This was an antient practise among the Patriarchs Gen. 35. 14. but afterwards upon the growing abuse of it among the Heathens it was forbidden by God Levit. 26. 1. Deut. 7. 5. and 12. 3. and poured oil p Which he brought with him either for Food or Medicine or for the anointing of himself as need required upon the top of it q As a token of his consecration thereof to this use to be a memorial of Gods favour to him Oil was used in Sacrifices and in the consecration of Persons and Places Exod. 30. 25 26. and 40. 9. 19 And he called the name of * Judg. 1. 23 20. Hos. 4. 15. that place ‖ That is the house of God Beth-el but the name of that City r Either of that City which was nearest to the Field in which Iacob lay or of that City which afterwards was built in or near to this place and was known by the name of Bethel was called Luz at the first 20 And Jacob vowed a vow s i. e. Bound himself by a solemn promise or obligation Compare Gen. 14. 22. Eccles. 5. 4. saying If God will be with me t He speaks not thus as if he doubted of the truth of Gods Promises or would like a mercenary Person make a bargain with God but rather supposeth that God will do this for him as he had in effect promised ver 15. and thereupon obligeth himself to a grateful return to God for this Mercy If God will be with me c. as he hath just now assured me he will or seeing God will be with me c. for the Hebrew im doth not alwayes imply a doubt but rather a supposition and is oft rendered seeing that as Exod. 20. 25. Numb 36. 4. 1 Sam. 15. 17. Amos 7. 2. And so the Greek particle answering to the Hebrew im is used Mat. 6. 22. Luk. 11. 34. and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me * 1 Tim. 6. 8. bread u Food convenient as it is called Prov. 30. 8. which is oft signifyed by the name of Bread See Gen. 3. 19. to eat and raiment to put on 21 So that I come again to my fathers house in peace then shall the LORD be my God x I will publickly own him for my God and the Saviour of men and will establish his solemn Worship as it follows 22 And this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be Gods house y i. e. A place where I will offer prayers and Sacrifices to God such places being commonly called Gods houses and God is oft sand to dwell in them in regard of his special presence there See Exod. 20. 24. Compare ver 17. of this chapter and Gen. 35. 1 3 7. and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee z To be laid out in thy service and for sacrifices and for the use and benefit of those who shall attend upon sacred things as also for the relief of the poor and needy whom God hath substituted in his room and to whom part of the Tithes were to be given by a following Law Deut. 14. 28 29. CHAP. XXIX 1 THen Jacob †Heb. list up his feet went a Heb. List up his feet which may note either the gesture of his Body that he went on foot or the temper of his mind that he went not sadly and unwillingly drawing his legs after him as we use to say but readily and chearfully being encouraged by Gods word on his journey and came into the land of the †Heb. Children people of the east b Which lay Eastward from Canaan as Mesopotamia did 2 And he looked and behold a well in the field and lo there were three flocks of sheep lying by it for out of that well they watered c The people belonging to that place watered or the flocks were watered It is an impersonal Speech the flocks and a great Stone was upon the wells mouth d To preserve the water which was scarce in those parts and to keep it pure 3 And thither were all the flocks gathered and they rolled the stone from the wells mouth and watered the sheep and put the stone again upon the wells mouth in his place 4 And Jacob said unto them My brethren e So he calls them partly in token of respect and affection and partly because they were of the same nature and employment with himself whence be ye and they said Of Haran are we 5 And he said unto them Know ye Laban the son of Nahor And they said We know him 6 And he said unto them †Heb. Is thâ—… peace to him Is he well and they said He is well and behold Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep f According to the manner of those times Exod. 2. 16. Cant. 1. 7 8. when Humility Innocency Simplicity and Industry were in fashion both among Men and Women of great quality There are some that quarrel with the Scripture and question the truth of such relations because they judge of the state of antient times and things by the present age whereby they discover great folly and deep ignorance of the state of former ages 7 And he said Loe †Heb. yet the day is great It is yet high day neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together g That they should be taken from their pasture and brought to be watered water ye the sheep and go and feed them 8 And they said We cannot h Either because of the greatness of the Stone which they could not remove till more help came or rather because of the Custom Order and Agreement made amongst themselves
weighty causes which the inferiour Judges cannot determine as it is explained ver 22. where they need and seek direction from God there thou shalt be as a mediatour between God and them to bring their matters to God as it here follows and to receive directions and commands from him See Numb 15. 33 34. and 27. 5 6. that thou mayst bring the causes unto God 20 And thou shalt teach them Ordinances and Laws u Thou alone shalt deliver and explain Gods laws to them which they may apply to their particular causes and occasions and so end their differences among themselves without giving thee any trouble and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk and the work that they must do 21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people * Deut. 1. 16. and 16. 18. â—… Chro. 19. 7 9. able men x Heb. men of might not for strength of body but for greatness resolution courage and constancy of mind which is the best preservative against partiality and corruption in judgement to which men of little minds or narrow souls are easily swayed by fears or hopes or gifts such as fear God y Which will restrain them from all injustice even when they have ability and opportunity to do wrong so cunningly or powerfully that they may escape the observation and censure of men men of truth z Or of faith or faithful such as love the truth and diligently labour to find it out in all causes and then pass a true and righteous sentence not at all respecting persons but onely the truth and right of their causes such as hate lies and slanders and will severely rebuke and punish them hating covetousness a This though included in the former is particularly expressed because gifts and bribes are the great corrupters of Judges and judgments and place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds rulers of fifties and rulers of tens 22 And let them judge the people at all seasons and it shall be that every great matter they shall bring unto thee but every small matter they shall judge so shall it be easier for thy self and they shall bear the burthen with thee 23 If thou shalt do this thing and God command thee so b If God approve of the course which I suggest to whose wisdom I submit my opinion For Iethro might well think that Moses neither would nor might make so great an alteration in the government without consulting God about it and expecting his answer Others render the place thus both God will give thee his commands i. e. thou wilst have leisure to ask and take his counsel in all emergencies which now thou hast not and thou wilst be able to endure then thou shalt be able to endure and all this people shall also go to their place c To their several habitations which are called mens places Iudg. 7. 7. and 9. 55. and 19. 28 29. where their calling and business lies from which they are now diverted and detained by fruitless and wearisome attendances in peace d Orderly and quietly having their minds much eased by this course and their contentions soon ended 24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law e This is one evidence of that meekness for which Moses is justly magnified that he disdained not to receive advice from one so much his inferiour in Wisdom and Learning and knowledge of the things of God And God would have this wise Counsel to come from Iethro not from Moses himself to shew how variously he distributes his gifts and to teach all men not to think too highly of themselves nor to despise the counsels even of their inferiours and did all that he had said f Not immediately but after he had received Gods approbation Numb 11. 16. and the peoples consent Deut. 1. 14. 25 And Moses chose g Not solely but together with the people as appears from Deut. 1. 13. able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people rulers of thousands rulers of hundreds rulers of fifties and rulers of tens 26 And they judged the people at all seasons the hard causes they brought unto Moses but every small matter they judged themselves 27 And Moses let his father in law depart h i. e. Dismissed him honourably See Numb 10. 29. and he went his way into his own land CHAP. XIX 1 IN the third month a Heb. Third new moon called Sivan including the latter part of May and the former part of Iune when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt the same day b Heb. in that day to wit when the moneth or new-moon began and when they departed from Rephidim to note that there was no Station between these two This is set down thus accurately because it gives an account of the original of the feast of Pentecost because the giving of the Law which was 3 or 4 days after this time was 50 days after the Passeover whereof 46 or 47 were past at their first coming to Sinai reckoning from the 15th day of the first moneth when they came out of Egypt to this time * Num. 33. 15. came they into the wilderness of Sinai 2 For they were departed from Rephidim and were come to the desert of Sinai c i. e. To that part of the desert which adjoyned to mount Sinai as Rephidim from whence they came was in that part of the wilderness adjoyning to Horeb which was another part of the same mountain See Exod. 17. 6. So they seem to have fetched a large compass and to have come from one side of the mountain to the other and had pitched in the wilderness and there Israel camped before the mount 3 And * Act. 7. 38. Moses went up to God d Into the mount of God to the place where God had now fixed his cloudy pillar and where he was about to manifest himself in a glorious manner So it is an anticipation and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain saying Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel 4 * Deut. 29. 2. Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I bare you on Eagles wings e i. e. safely out of the reach of danger and strongly against all opposition Compare Deut. 32. 11. Isa. 63. 9. Rev. 12. 14. and brought you unto my self f Into my presence and favour and fellowship to be my peculiar people to serve and worship me as your onely Lord and King 5 Now * Deut. 5. 2. therefore if ye will obey my voice indeed g Heb. obeying ye will obey i. e. if ye will obey me sincerely diligently and constantly and keep my Covenant then * Deut. 4. 20. 7. 6. anâ—… 14. 2. 26. 〈◊〉 3â—… 8 9. Psaâ—… 135. 4. Canâ—…
for thy neighbour but he saith against both because such perjuries slanders c. are most commonly designed against them and because this is a great aggravation of the sin when a man not only speaks evil and fâ—…lshood but doth this from malice and ill will But under this kind are contained other sins of a like though less sinful nature as in the other commands d A mans neighbour here is not onely the Israelite as some would have it but any man as plainly appears 1. because that word is frequently used in that sence not only in the New as all agree but also in the Old Testament as Gen. 11. 3. Lev. 20. 10. Esth. 1. 19. Prov. 18. 17. 2. because it is so explained Luk. 10. 29 36. Rom. 13. 9. compared with Mat. 22. 39. 3. from the reason of the thing which is common to all unless a man will be so hardy to say that he may bear false witness against a stranger though not against an Israelite and in like manner that when God forbids a man to commit adultery with his neighbours wife Lev. 20. 10. he may do it with a strangers wife and that though a man be commanded to speak the truth to his neighbour Zech. 8. 16. he may tell lies to a stranger 4. because the great law of love and charity which is the life and soul of this and all the commands and binds us to all binds us and bound the Israelites to strangers as appears from Exod. 23. 4. and Lev. 19. 33 34. 17 * Acts 20. 33. Rom. 7. 7. Thou shalt not covet e The coveting here forbidden is either 1. the inward and deliberate purpose and desire of a deceitful or violent taking away of another mans goods But this is forbidden in the eighth commandment And it is hard to conceive that St. Paul should think that this command did not forbid such a practise Rom. 7. 7. which even the better sort of heathens esteemed a sin whose words are that they who are with-held from incest or whoredom or theft onely from a principle of fear are guilty of those crimes especially seeing the Old Testament Scriptures which doubtless he diligently studied do so plainly condemn evil purposes of the heart as Lev. 19. 17. Deut. 9. 4 5. and 15. 7 9. c. or 2. the greedy desire of that which is another mans though it be without injury to him Thus Ahab sinned in desiring Naboths vineyard though he offered him mony for it 1 King 21. 2. or rather 3. those inward motions of the heart which from the fountain of original corruption do spring up in the heart and tickle it with some secret delight though they do not obtain the deliberate consent of the will For seeing this law of God is spiritual and holy Rom. 7. 12 14. and reacheth the thoughts intents and all the actual motions of the heart as is apparent from the nature of God and of his law and seeing such motions are both the fruits of a sinful nature and the common causes of sinful actions and are not agreeable either to mans first and uncorrupted nature or to Gods law they must needs be a swerving from it and therefore sin And this is the reason why this command is added as distinct from all the rest thy neighbours house thou shalt not * Job 31. 9. covet thy neighbours wife nor his man-servant nor his maid-servant nor his oxe nor his ass nor any thing that is thy neighbours 18 And * Heb. 12. 18. all the people saw the thunderings f i. e. Heard them One sence is oft put for another as seâ—…ing Gen. 42. 1. for hearing Act. 7. 12. and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoaking and when the people saw it they removed g From the bottom of the mountain where it seems they stood and stood afar off 19 And they said unto Moses * Deut. 5. 24. 18. 16. Heb. 12. 19. Speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die h This they speak from a sence of their own guilt and of the greatness and holiness of the Divine Majesty to whom they durst not approach but by a Mediatour See Deut. 5. 28. and 18. 16. Gal. 3. 19. 20 And Moses said unto the people Fear not for God is come to prove you i Or try or search you whether you are innocent and such as delight in my presence or conscious of your guilt and therefore afraid of my appearance whether you have such a righteousness as can abide the trial of a severe Judge or whether you are such as have cause to fear my wrath and to flee to my grace and mercy which of you are sincere and upright and which are hypocrites and ungodly persons or to try whether this terrible appearance will produce in you that reverence fear and obedience which I call for or to give you a law by which you will be proved whether you do indeed love and fear me as you pretend you do or whether you do not and that his fear may be before your faces k Gods fear is properly in mens hearts but here the sence seems to be this That his fear i. e. this dreadful manifestation of his Majesty and justice the act being here put for the object may be now and ever before your eyes and in your memories as an effectual preservative from sin that ye Sin not 21 And the people stood afar off and Moses drew near unto * chap. 19. 1â—… 1 King 8. 12. the thick darkness where God was 22 And the LORD said unto Moses Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel Ye have seen l i. e. Heard as ver 18. He may use the word seen here to intimate that this was all they could see of God to wit his voice and speech and that they saw no Image of him as is expressed in a parallel place and therefore should make no resemblances of him as it here follows that I have talked with you * Deut. 4. 36. from heaven m i. e. From the lower heaven to wit the air or the clouds which were over the top of mount Sinai Deut. 4. 36. Neh. 9. 13. and so the word heaven is oft understood as Gen. 1. 20. Iob 35. 11. Psal. 79. 2. And so this place may be reconciled with Heb. 12. 25. where this is said to be spoken upon earth 23 Ye shall not make * 1 Sam. 5. 4 â—… 2 King 17. 3â—… Ezek. 20. 39. 〈◊〉 43. 8. 2 Coâ—… 14 15 16. with me n i. e. To worship together with me I will allow no companion or to me as it follows unto you and ver 24. unto me and the particle eth is sometimes used for el or lamed as 1 Sam. 22. 14. 2 King 22. 14. or for me either to represent my person by comparing this with the parallel
bag to be taken into thy hand and carried with thee and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall chuse 26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after for oxen or for sheep or for wine or for strong drink or for whatsoever thy soul †Heb. asketh of thee desireth and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God and thou shalt rejoyce thou and thine houshold 27 And * chap. 12. 19. the Levite that is within thy gates thou shalt not forsake him k Thou shalt give him a share in such tithes or in the product of them for * Num. 18. 20. he hath no part nor inheritance with thee 28 At the end of three years l i. e. In the third year as it is expressed Deut. 26. 12. So in the end of three years or of seven years is the same with in the third or seventh year as appears by comparing Deut. 31. 10. Ios. 9. 16 17. 2 King 18. 9 10. and 17. 6. thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase m I joyn with those Expositors who make this same tithe with the former ver 22. as being called by the same tithe without any distinction between them save onely as to the place of eating them See above on ver 22. and Deut. 12. 17. the same year n This is added to shew that he speaks of the third year and not of the fourth year as some might conjecture from the phrase at the end of three years and shalt lay it up within thy gates 29 And the Levite because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow which are within thy gates shall come and shall eat and be satisfied that * See Mal. 3. 10 the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest CHAP. XV. 1 AT the end of * Lev. 25. 2. 4. every seven years a i. e. In the last year of the seven as is most evident from ver 9. Exod. 21. 2. Ier. 34. 14. So the like phrase is oft used as Deut. 14. 28. Ios. 3. 2. Ier. 25. 12. Luk. 2. 21. Act. 2. 1. And this year of release as it is called below ver 9. is the same with the Sabbatical year Exod. 23. 11. Levit. 25. 4. thou shalt make a release 2 And this is the manner of the release Every †Heb. master of the lendings of his hand creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it b Not absolutely and finally forgive it but forbear it for that year as may appear 1. because the word doth not signifie a total dismission or acquitting but an intermission for a time as Exod. 23. 11. He shall not exact it as it here follows i. e. force it from him by course of Law or otherwise to wit that year which is easily understood out of the whole context 2. Because the person releasing is called a creditor and his communicating to him what he desires and needs is called lending here and ver 8. whereas it were giving and the person giving it were no creditor but a donor if it were to be wholly forgiven to him â—…3 Because the reason of this Law is temporary and peculiar to that year wherein there being no sowing nor reaping they were not in a capacity to pay their debts 4. Because it seems unjust and unreasonable and contrary to other Scriptures which require men to pay what they borrow as Ps. 37. 21. Yet I deny not that in case of poverty the debt was to be forgiven but that was not by vertue of this law but of other commands of God he shall not exact it of his neighbour or of his brother c This is added to explain and limit the word neighbour which is more general unto a brother to wit in Nation and Religion to an Israelite who is opposed to a forreigner ver 3. Heb. and a brother for that is a brother the particle and being oft so used as Gen. 13. 15. c. because it is called the LORDS release d Or. a release to or for the Lord in obedience to his command for his honour and as an acknowledgment of his right in your estates and of his kindness in giving and continuing them to you If you are unwilling to release this for your brothers sake yet do it for Gods sake your Lord and the chief creditor 3 Of a forreigner e Or stranger yea though a proselyte for 1. They are oft called by this name as Gen. 17. 12. Ruth 2. 10. 2. Though proselytes were admitted to the Church-priviledges of the Israelites yet they were not admitted to all their civil immunities or priviledges See 1 Chron. 22. 2. and 2 Chron. 2. 17. 3. Such were not then freed from their personal debt to wit of their service Levit. 25. 44. Deut. 15. 12. Ier. 34. 14. therefore not from their real debt thou mayest exact it again but that which is thine f To wit by right though lent to him with thy brother thine hand shall release 4 ‖ Or to the end that there be no poor among you Save when there shall be no poor among you g So the words are an exception to the foregoing clause which they restrain to the poor and imply that if his brother was rich he might exact his debt of him in that year And indeed this Law seems to be chiefly if not wholly designed and given in favour to the poor and to the borrower as is manifest from ver 6 7 8 9 10 11. But the words are and may be rendred thus as in the margent of our Bibles To the end that there be no poor among you And so they contain a reason of this Law to wit that none be impoverished and ruined by a rigid and unseasonable exaction of debts They may also be translated thus Nevertheless of a truth or assuredly as the particle chi is oft used there shall be no poor among you and the sense may be this Though I impose this Law upon you which may seem hard and grievous yet the truth is supposing your performance of the conditions of Gods Covenant you shall not have any great occasion to exercise your charity and kindness in this matter for God will greatly bless you c. so as you shall be in a capacity of lending and few or none of you will have any need to borrow and thereby to expose his brethren to the inconvenience and burden of this Law Thus the connexion is plain and easie both with the foregoing and following words Object It is said the poor should never cease ver 11. Answ. That also is true and affirmed by God because he foresaw they would not perform their duty and therefore would bereave themselves of the promised blessing for the LORD shall greatly bless thee h And
station into which they came from the wilderness of Sinai Numb 10. 12. all this verse may belong to Gods appearance in mount Sinai where that glorious light which shone upon mount Sinai directly did in all probability scatter its beams into the adjacent parts such as Seir and Paran were and so this is onely a Poetical and Prophetical variation of the phrase and expression of the same thing in diverse words and Gods coming or rising or shining from or to or in Sinai and Seir and Paran note one and the same illustrious action of God appearing there with ten thousands of his Saints or holy Angels and there giving a fiery law to them as it here follows And this interpretation may receive some strength from Hab. 3. 3. where this glorious march of God before his people is remembred onely Teman which signifies the South is put for Seir which is here possibly to signify that that Seir which is here mentioned was to be understood of the Southern part of the country of Seir or Edom which was that part adjoyning to the Red Sea Others refer this of Seir to the brasen Serpent that eminent type of Christ which was erected in this place unto them he shined forth from mount Paran g A place where God eminently manifested his presence and goodness both in giving the people flesh which they desired and in appointing the 70 Elders and pouring forth his Spirit upon them Num 11. Though the exposition mentioned in the foregoing branch may seem more probable and he came with †Heb. holy myriads or ten thousands So Gr. See Jude v. 14. ten thousands of Saints h i. e. With a great company of holy Angels Psal. 68. 17. Daâ—… 7. 10. which attended upon him in this great and glorious work of giving the law as may be gathered from Act. 7. 53. Gal. 3. 19. Heb. 2. 2. and 12. 22. from his right hand i Which both wrote the law and gave it to men An allusion to men who ordinarily write and give gifts with their right and not with their left hand went †Heb. a fire of Law a fiery law k The law is called fiery partly because it is of a fiery nature purging and searching and inflaming for which reasons Gods word is compared to fire Ier. 23. 29. partly to signify that fiery wrath and curse which it inflicteth upon sinners for the violation of it 2 Cor. 3. 7 9. and principally because it was delivered out of the midst of the fire Exod. 19. 16 18. Deut. 4. 11. and 5. 22 23. for them 3 Yea he loved the people l i. e. The tribes of Israel which are called People Gen. 48. 19. Iudges 5. 14. Act. 4. 27. The sense is This Law though delivered with Fire and Smoke and Thunder which might seem to portend nothing but hatred and terrour yet in truth it was given to Israel in great love as being the great mean of their temporal and eternal Salvation And although God shews a general and common kindness to all men yet he loved this people in a singular and peculiar manner all his saints m All Gods Saints or holy ones i. e. his People as they are now called the people of Israel who are all called holy Exod. 19. 6. Num. 16. 3. Deut. 7. 6. Dan. 7. 25. and 8. 24. and 12. 7. because they all professed to be so and were obliged to be so and many of them were such Though some appropriate this to the true Saints in Israel are in thy hand n Or were in thy hand i. e. under Gods care to protect and direct and govern them as that phrase signifies Numb 4. 28 33. Ioh. 10. 28 29. These words are spoken to God and for the change of persons his and thy that is most frequent in the Hebrew tongue See Dan. 9. 4. This clause may further note Gods kindness to Israel in upholding and preserving them when the fiery law was delivered which was done with so much dread and terrour that not onely the people trembled and were ready to sink under it Exod. 20. 18 19. but even Moses himself did exceedingly fear and quake Heb. 12. 21. But in this fright God sustained both Moses and the people in or by his hand whereby he in a manner hid and covered them that no harm might come to them by this terrible apparition and they sat down at thy feet o Like Scholars to receive instructions and counsels from thee He alludes either 1. To the manner of disciples among the Jews who used to sit at their masters feet Luk. 10. 39. Acts 22. 3. See also Gen. 49. 10. 2 King 4. 38. But it is doubtful whether this custom was so antient as Moses Or 2. To the place where the people waited when the Law was delivered which was at the foot of the mount every one shall receive of thy words p The people easily understood from the foregoing words did or will receive or submit to thy instructions and it commands This may respect either 1. The peoples promise when they heard the Law that they would hear and do all that was commanded Deut. 5. 27. Or 2. The peoples duty to do so 3. The peoples priviledge that they were admitted to receive so great a priviledge as the words and Laws of God were 4 Moses commanded us a law q Moses speaks this of himself in the third person which is very usual in the Hebrew language even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob r The Law is called their Inheritance partly because the obligation of it was hereditary passing from Parents to their Children and partly because this was the best part of all their inheritance and possessions the greatest of all those gifts and favours which God bestowed upon them 5 And he was * See Gen. 36. 31. chap. 32. 15. king s Moses was their King not in Title but in reality being under God their supream and uncontroulable Governour and Lawgiver Though the word oft signifies onely a prince or chief Ruler as Iudg. 19. 1. Ier. 19. 3. and 46. 25. in Jeshrun t i. e. In Israel so called Deut. 32. 15. when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together u When the Princes and People met together for the management of publick affairs Moses was owned by them as their King and Lawgiver and he directed and ruled them as their superiour This he saith to shew that the people approved of and consented to the Authority and Laws of Moses 6 Let Reuben live and not die and let not his men be few x Though Reuben deserve to be cut off or greatly diminished and obscured according to Iacobs prediction Gen. 49. 4. Yet God will spare them and give them a name and portion among the Tribes of Israel and bless them with increase of their numbers 7 And this is the blessing
that the Israelites beyond Iordan were Circumcised at the same time at the * Or Gibeah â—…aaraloth hill of the foreskins 4 And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise all the people that came out of Egypt m This is to be restrained to such as were then above 20 years old and such as were guilty of that rebellion Numb 14. as it is expressed below v. 6. that were males even all the men of war died in the wilderness by the way after they came out of Egypt 5 Now all the people that came out were circumcised but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt them they n Either their Parents or the Rulers of Israel whose omission hereof was not through neglect for then God who had ordered the neglecter of Circumcision to be cut off Gen. 17. 14. would not have left so gross a fault unpunished but by Divine Permission and Indulgence partly because they were now in a Journey in which case the Passover also might be neglected Numb 9. 10 13. and in that Journey the Passover was but once observed and partly because there was not so great a necessity of this note of Circumcision to distinguish them from other Nations whilest they dwelt alone and unmixed in the Wilderness as there was afterwards had not circumcised 6 For the Children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness till all the people o The Hebrew word commonly signifies the Gentiles so he calls them to note that they were unworthy of the name and priviledges of Israelites that were men of war which came out of Egypt were consumed because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD unto whom the LORD sware * Numb 14. 23. that he would not shew them p i. e. Not give them so much as a fight of it which he granted to Moses much less the possession and enjoyment of it Or shewing is put for giving as it is Psal. 4. 6. and 60. 3. Eccles. 2. 24. the land which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us a land that floweth with milk and honey 7 And their children whom he raised up in their stead them Joshua circumcised q Which God would have now done 1. as a Testimony of Gods reconciliation to the people of which circumcision was a sign and that God would not further impute their Parents Rebellions to them 2. Because the great impediment of Circumcision was now removed to wit their continued Travels and frequent and uncertain removal 3. To prepare them for the approaching Passover 4. To distinguish them from the Canaanites into whose land they were now come 5. To ratify the Covenant between God and them whereof Circumcision was a Sign and Seal to assure them that God would now make good his Covenant in giving them this Land and to oblige them to perform all the Duties and Services to which that Covenant bound them of which Circumcision was the beginning and foundation all which they were expresly enjoined to do as soon as ever they came into Canaan Exod. 12. 25. Levit. 23. 10. Numb 15. 2. for they were uncircumcised because they had not circumcised them by the way 8 And it came to pass * Heb. When all the people had made an end to be Circumcised when they had done circumcising all the people that they abode in their places in the camp till they * Heb. lived were whole r. q Free from that pain and sore which Circumcision caused Gen. 34. 25. It was indeed an act of great Faith to expose themselves to so much pain and danger too in this place where they were hemmed in by Iordan and their Enemies but yet they had many considerations to support their Faith and suppress their Fears the fresh experience of Gods power and readiness to work Miracles for their preservation the great consternation of all their Enemies which they might observe and rationally presume the considerable number of the people who were above 40 years old and therefore circumcised before this time their great General being one of this number the time it would require for their Enemies to bring together a force sufficient to oppose them 9 And the LORD said unto Joshua This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt s i. e. Uncircumcision which was both in Truth and in the opinion of the Iews a matter of great reproach Gen. 34. 14. 1 Sam. 14. 6. and 17. 26. And although this was a reproach common to most Nations of the World yet it is particularly called the reproach of Egypt either 1. because the other neighbouring Nations being the children of Abraham by the Concubines are supposed to have been Circumcised which the Egyptians at this time were not as may be gathered from Exod. 2. 6. where they knew the Child to be an Hebrew by this mark Or 2. because they came out of Egypt and were esteemed to be a sort of Egyptians Numb 22. 5. which they justly thought a great reproach but by their Circumcision they were now distinguished from them and manifested to be another kind of people Or 3. Because many of them lay under this reproach in Egypt having wickedly neglected this Duty there for worldly reasons and others of them continued in the same shameful condition for many years in the Wilderness from off you wherefore the name of the place is called * That is râ—…lling Gilgal unto this day 10 And the children of Israel incamped in Gilgal and kept the Passover t Which was their third Passover the first was in Egypt Exod. 12. the second at Mount Sinai Numb 9. the third here for in their Wilderness-Travels these and all other Sacrifices were neglected Amos 5. 25. on the * Exod. 12. 6. fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho 11 And they did eat of the old corn u The Corn of the last year which the Inhabitants of those parts had doubtless left in their Barns being doubtless fled for fear of the Israelites into their strong Cities or other remoter and safer parts of the land on the morrow after the Passover x i. e. On the sixteenth day for the Passover was killed between the two Evenings of the fourteenth day and was eaten in that evening or night which according to the Iewish computation whereby they begin their days at the evening was a part of the fifteenth day all which was the feast of the Passover and so the morrow of the sixteenth day was the morrow after the Passover when they were obliged to offer unto God the first sheaf and then were allowed to eat of the rest unleavened cakes and parched corn y Of that years Corn which was most proper and customary for that use in the self-same day z Having an eager desire to enjoy the Fruits of the Land 12 And the
Nazarites to do Numb 6. 9 c. and which it is here supposed he did and by the Effects proved ‖ Or as when â—…e was â—…haven after he was shaven 23 Then the Lords of the Philistines gathered them together m Either upon some annual or customary Solemnity oâ—… rather upon this special occasion To praise Dagon for this singular favour And they did not appoint this solemn Service as soon as Sampson was taken but some considerable time after as appears by the growth of Sampson's Hair in the mean time because they would give sufficient time and warning for all their Friends and Allies to come thither and for the making of all necessary preparations for so great an Occasion for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon n Which is by most supposed to be an Idol whose upper part was like a Man and whose lower part was like a Fish whence there is mention of Dagon's hands but not of his Feet in 1 Sam. 5. 4. And this Place being near Aegypt where some of their gods were Worshipped in the form of Fishes and being near the Sea it seems most probable that it was one of the Sea-gods of the Heathens and that it had in some part the resemblance of a Fish their god and to rejoyce for they said Our God hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand 24 And when the people saw him they praised their god for they said Our God hath delivered into our hands our enemy and the destroyer of our country ‡ Heb. and who multiplyed our slain which slew many of us 25 And it came to pass when their hearts were merry that they said Call for Samson that he may make us sport And they called for Samson out of the prison-house and he made ‡ Heb. before them them sport n Either First Passively being made by them the matter of their sport and derision and of many bitter Scoffs and other Indignities or Injuries Or Secondly Actively by some ridiculous Actions or some proofs of more than ordinary Strength yet remaining in him like the ruines of a great and goodly Building whereby he â—…ull'd them asleep in security until by this seeming complaisance he prepared the way for that which he design'd otherwise his generous Soul would never have been forced to make them sport save in order to their Destruction and they set him between the pillars 26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth that I may lean upon them 27 Now the house was full of men and women and all the Lords of the Philistines were there and there were upon the roof o Which after the manner was flat and had Windows through which they might see what was done in the lower parts of the house about three thousand men and women that beheld while Samson made sport 28 And Samson called unto the LORD and said O LORD God remember me I pray thee and strengthen me I pray thee onely this once O God that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes p This Prayer was not an act of Malice and Revenge but of Faith and Zeal for God who was there publickly dishonoured and justice in punishing their Insolencies and vindicating the whole Common-wealth of Israel which was his duty as he was Judge to do And this is manifest from hence because God who heareth not Sinners and would never use his Omnipotency to gratifie any Mans impotent Malice did manifest by the Effect that he accepted and owned his Prayer as the dictate of his own Spirit And that in this Prayer he mentions only his Personal injury the loss of his Eyes and not their Indignities to God and his People must be ascribed to that prudent care which he had and declared upon former occasions of deriving the rage and hatred of the Philistines upon himself alone and diverting it from the People For which end I conceive this Prayer was made with an audible Voice though he knew they would entertain it onely with scorn and laughter which also he knew would quickly be turned into Mourning 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood and ‖ Or he leaned on them on which it was born up of the one with his right hand and of the other with his left q Qu. How could so great a Building containing so many thousands of People rest upon two Pillars so near placed together Here Infidels triumph as if they had got an unanswerable Argument against the truth of the Scriptures But it is a far more incredible and ridiculous thing to imagine that the Pen-man of this Book should feign such a circumstance as this is if it had been false whereby he would have utterly overthrown the Credit of the whole Book and that he should do this before a People that could easily have confuâ—…ed him and that the people should have so high a Veueration for that Book in which they knew so notorious a falshood to be these things I say are far more absurd to believe than the truth of this Relation But to this I shall add two Answers First It is no sufficient Argument to prove that this was not true because we do not at this day understand how it was done There were many great Works and excellent pieces of Art some footsteps whereof are left in ancient Writers but the exact way and particular manner of them is wholly or in a great measure unknown and lost so that Pancirollus hath written a whole Book of such things Particularly the old way of Architecture is much in the dark as is confessed by the Learned It may be pretended That though there might be curious Arts of Building in the Learned and Ingenious part of the World it is not probable they were among such a rude and barbarous People as the Philistines But this is certainly a very great mistake for these People were either a part of or very near Neighbours to the Phoenicians from whom it is confessed the Arts came to the Grecians And forasmuch as many things which were concluded by the Ancients to be impossible are by the wit and industry of later Ages found to be possible and certainly true it cannot be strange if some things now seem impossible to some men which were then known to be practicable And he that will venture his Faith and Salvation upon this Proposition That such a Building as this was simply impossible because he doth not see the possibility of it or which is all one That no man understands more than he doth will find few admirers of his Wisdom And to question the Truth and Divinity of the Holy Scriptures which is so fully and clearly proved by sundry Arguments upon such a moety as this is but a more learned kind of Doâ—…ing Answ. 2. Instances are not
Ancestors or by the Reports of the Hebrews when he ‡ Or deluded them had wrought ‖ Or reproachfully wonderfully among them * Exod. 12. 31. did not they let ‡ Heb. them the people go and they departed 7 Now therefore make a new cart o As David did for the same use â—… Sam. 6. 3. in Reverence to the Ark. and take two milch-kine on which there hath come no yoke p Partly in Respect to the Ark and paâ—…ly for the better Discovery because 〈◊〉 untamed 〈◊〉 are wanton and apt to wander and keep no certain and constant paths as Oxen accustomed to the Yoke do and therefore were most unlikely to keep the direct Road to Israels Land and tie the kine to the câ—… and bring their calves home from them q Which would stir up Natural Affection in their Dams and cause them rather to return Home than to go to a strange Countrey 8 And take the ark of the LORD and lay it upon the cart r Which God winked at in them both because they were ignorant of Gods Law to the contrary and because they had no Levites to carry it upon their Shoulders and put the jewels of gold which ye return him for a trespass-offering in a coffer by the side thereof s For they durst not presume to open the Ark to put them within it and send it away that it may go 9 And see if it goeth up by the way of his own coast s Or Border i. e. the way that leadeth to his Coast or Border viz. the Countrey to which it belongs to Bethshemesh then ‖ Or it he hath doâ—…e us this great evil t Which they might well 〈◊〉 if such Heifers should against their common use and natural instinct go into a strange path and Regularly and constantly proceed in it without any man's Conduct but if not then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us it was a chance that hapned to us u This Evil came to us from some Influences of the Stars or other unknown Causes Which was a weak and Foolish Inference depending upon a meer Contingency it being uncertain whether God would please to give them this Sign and probable that he would deny it both to punish their Superstition and to harden their hearts to their further and utter Destruction But wicked Men will sooner believe the most uncertain and ridiculous things than own the visible Demonstrations of Gods Power and Providence 10 ¶ And the men did so and took two milch-kine and tied them to the cart and shut up their calves at home 11 And they laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods 12 And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh x i. e. Leading to Bethshemesh a City of the Priests Ios. 21. 16. who were by Office to take care of it and went along the high way lowing as they went y Testifying at once both their Natural and Vehement Inclination to their Calves and the Supernatural and Divine Power which over-ruled them to a contrary Course and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left and the lords of the Philistines went after them z Under pretence of an honourable dismission of it but in truth to prevent all Imposture and to get assurance of the truth of the Event All which Circumstances tended to their greater Confusion and Illustration of God's Glory unto the border of Bethshemesh 13 And they of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat-harvest in the valley and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark and rejoiced to see it 14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua a Bethshemite and stood there where there was a great stone and they a Not the Lords of the Philistines but the Bethshemites to wit the Priests that dwelt there clave the wood of the cart and offered the kine a burnt-offering unto the LORD b There may seem to be a double Error in this Act. First that they Offered Females for a Burnt-Offering contrary to Levit. 1. 3. and 22. 19. Secondly That they did it in a forbidden place Deut. 12. 5 6. into which they might easily be led by excess of Joy and eager desire of returning to their long-interrupted course of Offering Sacrifices And some think these Irregularities were partial Causes of the following Punishment But this case being very extraordinary may in some sort excuse it if they did not proceed by ordinary Rules As for the first though they might not chuse Females for that use yet when God himself had chosen and in a manner Consecrated them to his service and imployed them in so Sacred and Glotious a Work it may seem tollerable to offer them to the Lord as being his peculiar and improper for any other use And for the latter we have many instances of Sacrifices offered to God by Prophets and Holy Men in other places besides the Tabernacle upon extraordinary occasions such as this certainly was it being fit that the Ark should at its first return be reâ—…eived with Thanksgiving and Sacrifice and this Place being Sanctified by the presence of the Ark which was the very soul of the Tabernacle and that by which the Tabernacle it self was Sanctified and for whose sake the Sacrifices were offered at the door of the Tabernacle 15 And the Levites took down c Or For the Levites had taken down for this though mentioned after was done before the Sacrifices were offered the ark of the LORD and the coffer that was with it wherein the jewels of gold were and put them on the great stone and the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the LORD 16 And when the five LORDS of the Philistines had seen it d To wit that prodigious return of the Ark to its own Countrey and the entertainment it found there they returned to Ekron the same day 17 And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the LORD for Ashdod one for Gaza one for Askelon one for Gath one for Ekron one 18 And the golden mice according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords both of fenced cities and of countrey villages e This is added for explication of that foregoing Phrase all the cities either to shew that under the Name of the five Cities were comprehended all the Villages and Territories belonging to them in whose Name and at whose Charge these presents were made or to express the difference between this and the former present the Emerods being onely five according to the five Cities mentioned v. 17. because it may seem the Cities onely or principally were pestered with that Disease and the Mice being many more according to the number of all the
heart 21 And turn ye not aside p To wit after Idols as they had often done before and notwithstanding this warning did afterwards for then should ye go q Or should ye turn aside which words are easily to be understood out of the foregoing Branch such Ellipses being most frequent in Scripture as Deut. 1. 4. 1 King 14. 14. 2 King 9. 27. after vain things r So Idols are called Deut. 32. 21. Ier. 2. 5. and so they are being meer nothings 1 Cor. 8. 4. having no Divinity nor Power in them no Influence upon us nor use or benefit to us which cannot profit nor deliver s i. e. Which will not onely be unprofitable but highly pernicious to you the contrary Affirmative being understood undet the Negative as Exod. 20. 7. Numb 21. 23. Deut. 2. 30. for they are vain 22 * Psal. 94. 14. For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great Names sake s i. e. For his own Honour which would seem to suffer much among men if he should not preserve and deliver his People in eminent Dangers as if he were grown feeble or forgetful or inconstant or unfaithful or regardless of Human affairs or unkind to those who own and Worship him when all the rest of the World forsake him Hence this Argument hath been oft pleaded with God not without good success as Exod. 32. 12. Numb 14. 13 c. And this reason God here alledgeth to take them off from all conceit of their own merit and to assure them that if they did truly repent of all their sins and served God with all their heart which is here supposed yet even in that case their Salvation would not be due to their Merits but onely the effect of Gods Free Mercy because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people t To wit out of his own Free Grace without any desert of yours as he saith Deut. 7. 7. and 9. 5. and therefore he will not easily forsake you except you thrust him away 23 Moreover as for me God forbid that I should sin against the LORD ‡ Heb. from ceasing in ceasing to pray for you u Think not that because you have so highly Disobliged and Rejected me that I will revenge my self by neglecting to pray for you or by Praying against you as I have now done for your Conviction and Humiliation and so for your Preservation I am sensible it is my Duty as I am a Man an Israelite a Minister a Prophet to Pray for you but I will teach you x Heb. and I will c. i. e. I will not onely Pray for you which is one Branch of my Duty but will also Teach and Instruct you which is the other Branch of it And though you have cast me off from being your Judge and Ruler yet I will not cease to be your Instructor and Monitor to keep you from Sin and Destruction the good and the right way 24 Onely fear the LORD and serve him y Otherwise neither my Prayer nor Counsels will stand you in any stead in truth with all your heart for consider ‖ Or what a great thing c. how great things he hath done for you z Or among you both at this time and formerly 25 But if ye shall still do wickedly ye shall be consumed both ye and your king CHAP. XIII SAul ‡ Heb. the son of one year in his reigning reigned one year a i. e. Had now Reigned one Year from his first Election at Mizpeh in which time these things were done which are Recorded chap. 11. and 12. to wit Peaceably or Righteously Compare 2 Sam. 2. 10. and when he had reigned two years over Israel 2 Saul chose b Heb. And i. e. Then as that Adverb is oft used as Gen. 3. 5. and 18. 10 c. Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel c Which he thought sufficient for constant Attendance and Service intending to Summon the rest when need should be whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash d A Tract of Ground near Ramah and Bethel in the Border of Benjamin and near to the Philistines and in mount Bethel and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent 3 And Jonathan smote the * Chap. 10. 5. garison of the Philistines e The first Design of Saul and Ionathan was to Free their Land from the Garisons which the Philistines had in it and they first begin to clear their own Country of Benjamin that was in ‖ Or the hill Geba f Not the same place called Gibeah v. 2. for if the place were the same why should he vary the Name of it in the same Story and in the next Verse Nor is it likely that Ionathan would chuse that place for his Camp where the Philistines had a Garison but another place in the same Tribe in which there were two distinct places Gebah and Gibeah Iosh. 18. 24 28. and the Philistines heard of it and Saul blew the trumpet thorowout all the land saying Let the Hebrews hear g i. e. He sent Messengers to tell them all what Ionathan had done and how the Philistines were enraged at it and made great preparations for War and therefore what necessity there was of gathering themselves together and coming to him for his and their own Defence 4 And all Israel heard say that Saul h i. e. Ionathan by Saul's direction and encouragement The Actions of an Army are commonly ascribed to their General had smitten a garison of the Philistines and that Israel also ‡ Heb. did stink was had in abomination with the Philistines and the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal i The place before appointed by Samuel chap. 1â—… 8. 5 ¶ And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel thirty thousand charets k This number seems incredible to Infidels To whom it may be sufficient to reply That it is far more rational to acknowledge a mistake in him that Copied out the Sacred Text in such Numeral or Historical passages wherein the Doctrine of Faith and Good Life is not directly concerned than upon such a pretence to question the Truth and Divinity of the Holy Scriptures which are so fully Attested and evidently Demonstrated And the mistake is not great in the Hebrew Schalosh for Schelishim and so indeed those two Ancient Translators the Syriack and Arabick Translate it and are supposed to have read in their Hebrew Copies Three thousand Nor is it necessary that all these should be Military Charets but many of them might be for Carriage of things belonging to so great an Army For such a distinction of Charets we find Exod. 14. 7. But there is no need of this Reply Charets here may very well be put for the Men that rode
God Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God m Who by his Zeal for thee hath manifested himself to be thy God and Friend in a singular manner and therefore will hear thy Prayers for me though he will not regard mine because I have forsaken him and his Worship and pray for me that my hand may be restored me again And the man of God besought ‡ Heb. the 〈◊〉 of the LORD the LORD n To assure Ieroboam that what he had said was not from ill-will to him and that he heartily desired his Reformation not his Ruine and the kings hand was restored again o Partly to assure him that the stroke was from God partly because he Repented of that Violence which he intended against the Prophet for which God inflicted it and partly that this goodness of God to him might have led him to Repentance or if he continued Impenitent leave him without all excuse and became as it was before 7 And the king said unto the man of God Come home with me and refresh thy self and I will give thee a reward p Horrid Stupidity He desires to requite the Instrument but takes no notice of the chief Cause and Author of this great and wonderful Mercy which was God 8 And the man of God said unto the king * â—…o Numb 〈◊〉 18. and 24. 〈◊〉 If thou wilt give me half thine house I will not go in with thee neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place 9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD q My refusal of thy favour is not from any contempt or hatred of thy Person but in obedience to the just Command of my God who hath forbidden me all further Converse or Communication with thee saying Eat no bread nor drink water r To wit in that place or with that People Whereby God declares how detestable they were in Gods Eyes not because their Idolatry was so bad as that of the Heathens but because they were vile Apostates from the True God and embraced this Idol-worship against the light of their own Consciences meerly to comply with the Kings humour and command and because their vicinity and Relation to the Tribe of Iudah made this more dangerous as to their infection by it nor turn again by the same way that thou camest s That by thy avoiding the way that led thee to Bethel as execrable although thou wentest by my special Command thou mightest teach all others how much they should abhor that way and all thoughts of going to that place or to such people upon any trivial and unnecessary occasion 10 So he went another way and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel 11 ¶ Now there dwelt an old prophet t A Prophet of the Lord one to whom and by whom God did sometimes impart his mind as is manifest from ver 20 21. and one that had a respect to the Lords holy Prophets and gave credit to their Predictions all which the following Relation shews but whether he was an holy and good Man may justly be doubted seeing all those qualifications might meet in a vicious man to and by whom he may Reveal some part of his Mind as he did to Balaam Numb 23. c. and in such his other qualities are sometimes found and we find him in a downright and premeditated Lye and that without any great temptation to it ver 18. And albeit an holy Prophet might possibly have continued in the Kingdom of Israel he would never have gone from his own habitation to dwell at Bethel the chief Seat of Idolatry unless with design to Preach against it which it is evident he did not his Sons seem to have been present at and to have joyned with others in that Idolatrous worship v. 11. and that not without their Fathers connivence in Bethel u For thither he came to dwell probably expecting some great advantages from Ieroboam but he came out of Samaria 2 King 23. 18. where he either was born and had lived before Or his usual dwelling was at Bethel but had lately been at Samaria and was now returned to Bethel and his ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 sons x Who probably were eye and ear-witnesses of what had passed came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel the words which he had spoken unto the king them they told also to their father 12 And their father said unto them What way went he for his sons had seen what way the man of God went which came from Judah 13 And he said unto his sons Saddle me the ass So they sadled him the ass and he rode thereon 14 And went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak y Being faint and weary with his journey and possibly with the heat which makes him chuse this shady place and especially with hunger and thirst ver 9. And he might easily guess that this was the old Prophet by his age and carriage and it may be by his Prophetical Mantle and by the Character which his Sons had given him and he said unto him Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah And he said I am 15 Then he said unto him Come home with me and eat bread 16 And he said I ‡ Heb. cannot â—…eut 12. 16. 〈◊〉 17. 5. and â—… Cor. 10. 21. may not return with thee nor go in with thee neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place z i. e. In Bethel where thou desirest me to do it 17 For ‡ Heb. a word 〈◊〉 it was said to me by the word of the LORD Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest 18 He said unto him I am a prophet also as thou art and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD saying Bring him back with thee into thine house that he may eat bread and drink water But he lied unto him a Not with evil design against him but out of curiosity to know all the truth and circumstances from his own mouth and to express his kindness to him and to relieve his pressing hunger whereby possibly he thought to please God and to compensate for his miscarriages But his sin was great for he did not onely tell a premeditated lye but also made God a lyar and to contradict himself and all this without any pretence of necessity or benefit to himself 19 So he went back with him and did eat bread in his house and drank water 20 ¶ And it came to pass as they sat at the table b There the Prophet meets with a severe Judgment where he was pleasing himself with this seasonable refreshment that the word of the LORD came c By secret instinct into his mind as sometimes God spake to Moses
you desire And all the people came near unto him and he repaired i Which by the Peoples help was quickly done the materials being all ready and very slightly put together onely for the present occasion the altar of the LORD k Which had been built there by some of their Ancestors for the offering of Sacrifice to the God of Israel which was frequently done in high-places of which this was none of the least eminent ones but being for some time neglected it needed reparations that was broken down l Either First By the Priests of Baal at this time who leaped upon it to that end of which see on ver 26. Or rather Secondly By some of the Baalites out of their enmity to the True God whose Temple because they could not reach they shewed their malignity in destroying his Altars ch 19. 14. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob m This he did partly to renew the Covenant between God and all the Tribes as Moses did Exod. 24. 4. Partly to shew that he prayed and acted in the Name and for the Service of the God of all the Patriarchs and of all the Tribes of Israel and for their good and partly to teach the people that though the Tribes were divided as to their Civil Government they ought all to be united in the Worship of the same God and in the same Religion unto whom the word of the LORD came saying * 〈◊〉 32 28. 2 〈◊〉 17. 34. Israel shall be thy name n Which Iacob was Graciously answered by God when he prayed to him and was honoured with the Glorious Title of Israel which noted his prevalency with God and men And I calling upon the same God doubt not of a like Gracious answer and if ever you mean to have your Prayers granted you must not seek to Baal for it who as you now see neither hears nor regards his most devout worshippers but unto the God of Iacob and if you would recover the honour which was once conferred upon Iacob and continued a long time to his Posterity you must return to that God from whom you are revolted 32 And with the stones he o With the assistance of the People who readily yielded their helping-hand built an altar p Which though generally forbidden he might do because he did it by the command and suggestion of God who can dispence with his own Laws and upon apparent and urgent necessity and for a work of great mercy to which even by Gods Command the Ceremonial Laws must give place Hos. 6. 6. Mar. 2. 27. even for the conversion of the Israelites whom it was impossible to bring to the Altar of Ierusalem at this time in the Name of the LORD q By the Authority of God and for his Worship and he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two measures r i. e. Two third parts of an Ephah which shews that the â—…rench was of a competent largeness of seed 33 And he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and laid him on the wood and said Fill four barrels with water s Which they could quickly fetch either from the River Kishon or if that was dried up from the â—…ea both which were at the foot of the Mountain See Ier. 46. 18. and * See Judg. 6. 20. pour it on the burnt-sacrifice and on the wood t This he did to make the Miracle more Glorious and more unquestionable and so more successful 34 And he said Do it the second time And they did it the second time And he said Do it the third time And they did it the third time 35 And the water ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 ran round about the altar and he filled the trench also with water 36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice u Which time he chose that he might unite his Prayers with the Prayers of the Godly Iews at Ierusalem who at that time assembled together to pray Act. 3. 1. that Elijah the prophet came near and said LORD God of Abraham Isaac and of Israel let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel and that I am thy servant and that I have done all these things x Brought this Famine gathered the people hither and done what I have done or am doing here at thy word y Not in compliance with my own passions but in obedience to thy command as thy Agent and Minister For that action of shutting up Heaven and that of killing the Priests of Baal must needs expose him to great envy and reproach which made this publick vindication necessary as it was also effectual being witnessed from Heaven 37 Hear me O LORD hear me that this people may know that thou art the LORD God and that thou hast turned their heart z That they may feel so powerful and sudden a change in their hearts that they may know it is thy Work and the effect of thy Grace to them and in them Or when thou hast turned c. or because thou c. So the Particle Vau is oft used and the sense is That they may know thee to be the True God by the effects of thy Divine Power in converting their hearts and that in so miraculous a way and in answer to my Prayers back again a Unto thee from whom they have revolted 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt-sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench 39 And when all the people saw it they fell on their faces b In way of acknowledgment and adoration of the True God and they said The LORD he is the God the LORD he is the God c He alone and Baal is a dull and sensless Idol And they double the words to note their abundant satisfaction and assurance of the Truth of their assertion 40 And Elijah said unto them d He takes the opportunity whilst the peoples hearts were warm with the fresh sense of this great miracle ‖ Or apprehend Take the prophets of Baal let not one of them escape and they took them and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon e That their blood might be poured into that River and thence conveyed into the Sea and might not defile the Holy Land and slew them there f Quest. How could Elijah do this seeing he was but a private Person Ans. First He had no doubt the consent of all the heads of the People who were here assembled and of the King too who durst not resist the universal torrent and could not deny that they were Impostors and worthy of Death and probably was by the Prophet assured of Rain when this was done Ans. Secondly As
destroy them 25 But †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when Esther came before the king he commanded by letters that his wicked device which he devised against the Jews should return upon his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows 26 Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of ‖ 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 Pur therefore for all the words of this letter and of that which they had seen t i. e. Both for the respect which they justly bare to Mordecai's â—…etter and because they themselves had seen and felt this wonderful work of God on their behalf concerning this matter and which had come unto them 27 The Jews ordained and took upon them and upon their seed and upon all such as joined themselves unto them u i. e. Gentile Proselites who were obliged to submit to other of the Jewish Laws and therefore to this also the rather because they enjoyed the benefit of this days deliverance without which the Jewish Nation and Religion had been in a great measure if not wholly extinct in the World so as it should not †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fail that they would keep these two days according to their writing x i. e. According to that writing which was drawn up by Mordecai with Esthers consent v. 23 29. and afterwards confirmed by the consent of all the Jews in the several places and according to their appointed time every year 28 And that these days should be remembred and kept throughout every generation every family every province and every city and that these days of Purim should not †Heb pass fail from among the Jews nor the memorial of them †Heb. â—…nded perish from their seed 29 Then Esther the queen the daughter of Abihail and Mordecai the Jew wrote with †Heb. all strength all authority y The former Letter v. 20. did only recommend but this enjoins the observation of this solemnity because this was not only Mordecai's Act who yet had by the King 's Grant a great Power and Authority over the Subjects of that Kingdom and consequently over the Jews but it was the Act of all the Jews binding themselves and Posterity to it v. 27. Or with all might or efficacy and as that word usually signifies He presâ—…ed it with all earnestness and vehemency to confirm this second letter of Purim 30 And he sent the letters unto all the Jews to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus with words of peace and truth z Or even words of peace and truth Which may respect either 1. The form of the writing wherein after the custom he saluted them with hearty wishes of their true Peace or prosperity or of the continuance of those two great blessings of God truth i. e. the true Religion and Peace either among themselves or with all men that they might peaceably and quietly enjoy and profess the truth Or 2. The manner of his writing which was with peace i. e. friendship and kindness to his Brethren and truth i. e. sincerity which is the more noted and commended in him because it is so unusual in such great Courtiers as he now was Compare ch 10. 3. or the matter of his Writing which was to direct and persuade them to keep both peace and truth i. e. both to live peaceably and lovingly both one with another and with all their Neighbours not insulting over them upon their confidence in Mordecai's great power or upon this late and great success as men naturally and commonly do nor giving them any fresh provocations and yet holding fast the true Religion in spight of all the artifices or hostilities of the Gentiles among whom they lived 31 To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them and as they had decreed †Heb. for their souls for themselves and for their seed the matters of the fasting and of their cry ‖ For or about those great and overwhelming calamities which were decreed to all the Jews and for the removing of which not only Esther and the Jews in Shushan but all other Jews in all places as soon as they heard those dismal tidings did doubtless according to the precepts of Scripture and the constant practice of their godly Predecessors in all Ages fly to that last and only Refuge of seeking to God by Fasting and earnest Prayers and strong Cries unto God which God was pleased graciously to hear and in answer thereunto to give them this amazing Deliverance And this was that which they were now to remember to wit the greatness of their danger and of their rescue from it And accordingly the Jews use to observe the first of these days with Fasting and crying and other expressions of vehement grief and fear and the latter with Feasting and Thanksgiving and all demonstrations of Joy and Triumph 32 And the decree of Esther †Who had received Authority and commission from the King to impose this upon all the Jews confirmed these matters of Purim and it was written in the book * Either in the publick Registers of that Kingdom Or rather in the Records which the Jews kept of their most memorable passages CHAP. X. 1 ANd the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land and upon the isles of the sea a i. e. Upon all his Dominions whether in the main continent or in the Islands 2 And all the acts of his power and of his might and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai whereunto the king †〈…〉 advanced him are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia 3 For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus and great among the Jews and accepted of the multitude of his brethren b Who did not envy his greatness as men most commonly do in such cases but rejoiced in it and blessed God for it and praised and loved him â—…or his right sweet management of his vast power seeking the wealth of his people and speaking peace to all his seed c Or for all his seed to wit the Jews who were of the same seed and root from which he was descended He spoke and acted with great Kindness and Friendliness to them when they resorted to him upon any occasion JOB SOme things are to be premised in the General concerning this Book before I come to the Particulars 1. That this was no Fiction or Parable as some have dreamed but a real History which is sufficiently evident both from the whole Contexture of the Book wherein we have an exact and distinct account of the Places Persons and things here mentioned with their several Circumstances and especially the succeeding Pen-men of Holy Scripture who mention him as a real and eminent example of Piety and Patience as Ezek. 14. 14. Jam. 5. 11. 2. That
Job said It may be that my Sons have sinned p His Zeal for Gods Glory and his true Love to his Children made him jealous for which he had cause enough from the Corruption of Mans Nature the Frailty and Folly of Youth the many Temptations which attend upon Feasting and Jollity and the easiness of sliding from lawful to forbidden Delights and †1 King 21. 10. 13. cursed God q Not in the grossest manner and highest degree which it is not probable either that they should do now especially when they had no provocation to do it as being surrounded with blessings and Comforts which they were actually enjoying and not yet exercised with any affliction or that Iob should suspect it concerning them but despised and dishonoured God for both Hebrew and Greek words signifie cursing are somtimes used to note only reviling or detracting or speaking evil or setting light by a Person Thus what is called cursing ones Father or Mother Ex. 21. 17. is elsewhere called setting light by them as Deut. 27. 16. Ezek. 22 7. See also 2 Pet. 2. 11. Iud. 8. and many other places in their Hearts r By sleight and low Thoughts of God by neglecting or forgetting to give God the Praise and Glory of the Mercies which by his favour they enjoyed by taking more hearty delight in their Feasts and Jollity than in the Service and fruition of God For these and such like Distempers of Heart are most usual in times of Prosperity and Jollity as appears by common Experience and by the many Divine Cautions we have against them as Deut. 6. 11. Hos. 2. 8. and elsewhere And these miscarriages though inward and secret Iob calls by such an hard name as usually signifies cursing by way of Aggravation of their sin which peradventure they were too apt to sleight as a small and trivial miscarriage Thus did Job ‖ Heb. all the day continually s i. e. It was his constant course at the end of every feasting time 6. Now there was a day t i. e. A certain time appointed by God when †Gr. Angels of God the Sons of God u i. e. The holy Angels so called Iob 38. 7. Dan. 3. 25 28. because of their Creation by God as Adam also was Luk. 3. 38. and for their great resemblance of him in Power and Dignity and Holiness and for their filial affection and Obedience to him came to present themselves before the Lord x i. e. Before his Throne to receive his Commands and to give him an account of their Negotiations Compare 1 Kin. 22. 19. Zech. 4. 14. Luk. 1. 19. But you must not think that these things were really done and that Satan was mixed with the holy Angels or admitted into the presence of God in Heaven to maintain such discourses as this with the blessed God or that he had formal Commission and leave to do what follows but it is only a parabolical Representation of that great truth that God by his wise and holy Providence doth govern all the Actions of Men and Devils to his own ends It being usual with the great God to condescend to our shallow capacities and to express himself as the Iews phrase it In the language of the Sons of Men i. e. In such manner as men use to speak and may understand and * Heb. the Adversary Satan came also ‖ Heb. in the midst of them among them y Being forced to come and give up his account 7. And the LORD said unto Satan Whence comest thou z God being here represented as Judge rightly begins with an enquiry as the ground of his further proceedings as he did Gen. 3. 9. and 4. 9. Then Satan answered the LORD and said From †1 Pet. 5. 8. going to and fro in the Earth a Where by thy permission I range about observing with great diligence all the Dispositions and Actions of Men and working in them and among them as far as I have Liberty and Opportunity and from walking up and down in it 8. And the LORD said unto Satan †Heb. Hast thou set thy heart on Hast thou considered my Servant Job b Hast thou taken notice of him and his Spirit and Carriage and what hast thou to say against him that there is none like him in the Earth a perfect and an upright man one that feareth God and escheweth evil 9. Then Satan answered the LORD and said Doth Job fear God for nought c i. e. Sincerely and freely and out of pure Love and Respect to thee No. It is policy not Piety that makes him good he doth not serve thee but serveth himself of thee and is a meer mercenary serving thee for his own ends 10. Hast thou not made an Hedge about him d i. e. Defended him by thy special Care and Providence from all harms and Inconveniences which is able to oblige and win persons of the worst tempers and about his House e His Children and Servants and about all that he hath on every side thou hast blessed the work of his Hands and his †Or Cattle Substance is ‖ Heb. broken forth Gen. 28. 14. increased in the Land 11. But put forth thine hand f To wit in way of Justice and severity as that Phrase is used Isa. 5. 25. Ezek. 25. 7 13 16. now and touch g i. e. Afflict or destroy as this word is used Gen. 26. 11. Ruth 2. 9. Psal. 105. 15. Zech. 2. 8. all that he hath * Heb. if he bless thee not to thy face and he will curse thee to thy face h He who is now so forward to serve and bless thee will then openly and boldly blaspheme thy Name and reproach thy Providence as unjust and unmerciful to him 12. And the LORD said unto Satan Behold all that he hath is in thy †Heb. Hand power i I give thee full Power and Liberty to deal with his Wife Children Servants and all his Estate whatsoever thy Wit or Malice shall prompt thee to do only upon himself k His Person Body or Soul put not forth thine Hand So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD l i. e. From that place where God was represented as specially present being forward and greedy to do the mischief which he had permission to do 13. And there was a day when his Sons and Daughters were Eating and Drinking Wine in their eldest Brothers House 14. And there came a Messenger unto Job and said The Oxen were plowing and the Asses feeding beside them m i. e. Beside the Oxen therefore both were taken away together 15. And †Heb. 〈◊〉 the Sabeans n A People of Arabia who led a wandring Life and lived by Robbery and spoiling of others as Strabo and other Heathen Writers note fell upon them and took them away yea they have slain the Servants
yours were such I should readily yield to them but what doth your arguing reprove p Or your arguing argue There is no truth in your Assertions nor weight in your Arguments and therefore are they of no account or power with me 26. Do ye imagin to reprove words q i. e. Do you think that all your Arguments are solid and unanswerable and all my Answers are but idle and empty words Or do you think it is sufficient to cavil and quarrel with some of my words and expressions without considering the merits of the cause and the truth of my condition or giving an allowance for humane infirmity or for my extreme misery which may easily force from me some indecent expressions and to reprove the speeches of one that is desperate r Of a poor miserable hopeless and helpless man for the words of such persons are commonly neglected and despised although there be truth and great weight in them See Eccles. 9. 16. And such are generally thought to speak from deep passions and prejudices more than from reason and judgment which are as wind s i. e. Which you esteem to be like the Wind vain and light without solid substance making a great noise with little sense and to little purpose But this last branch of the verse may be and by many is rendred otherwise And do ye imagine which is to be repeated out of the former clause as is very usual in Scripture the words of one that is desperate to be but wind i. e. empty and vain Do you take me for a desperate and distracted man that knows not or cares not what he saith but only speaks what comes first into his mind and mouth The Wind is oft used to express vain words as Ch. 15. 2. Ier. 5. 13. and vain things Iob 7. 7. Prov. 11. 29. Some render the whole verse thus Do you in your arguings think or ought you to think the discourses of a dejected or desponding or sorely afflicted man such as I am to be but words and wind i. e. vain and empty as indeed the discourses of such persons use to be esteemed by such as are in an higher and more prosperous condition But you should judge more impartially and more mercifully Possibly the verse may be rendred thus Do you think to reprove the speeches of a desperate or dejected or miserable man such as I am and you use me accordingly with the praposition being very frequently omitted and understood in the Hebrew tongue words and with for the Hebrew prefix Lamed oft signifies with as hath been formerly proved wind You think any words or Arguments will be strong enough against one in my circumstances So it agrees with the foregoing verse 27. Yea †Heb ye câ—…st to fall upon ye overwhelm t Your words are not onely vain and useless and uncomfortable to me but also grievous and pernicious the fatherless u Heb. You rush or throw your selves upon him For words in Hiphil are oft put reciprocally as Hebricians know You fall upon him with all your might and say all that you can devise to charge and grieve him A metaphor from wild beasts that fall upon their prey to hold it fast and devour it You load him with censures and calumnies u Or the desolate i. e. me who am deprived of all my dear children and of all my estate forsaken by my friends and by my heavenly father Which should have procured me your pity rather than your censure and ye dig a pit for your friend x Or you feed or feast for so this Hebrew word is oft used as 2 Sam. 3 35. 2 Kings 6 23. Iob 40. 15. upon your friend i. e. You insult and triumph over me whom sometimes you owned for your friend 28. Now therefore be content look upon me y Be pleased either 1. To look upon my countenance if it betrayes any fear or guilt as if I spoke contrary to my own conscience Or rather 2. to consider me and my cause further and better than you have done that you may give a more true and righteous judgment concerning it for it is †Heb. before your face evident unto you z You will plainly discover it A little further consideration and discourse will make it manifest and I shall readily acknowledge it if I lie 29. * Ch. 17. 10. Return a Turn from your former course of perverse judgment lay aside passion and prejudice against me let me beg your second thoughts and a serious review of my case I pray you let it not be iniquity b To wit in your thoughts or debates I beg not your favour but your justice judge according to right and do not conclude me to be wicked because you see me to be miserable as you have falsly and unjustly done Or there shall be no iniquity to wit in my words which I have spoken and which I am further about to speak Which you will find upon the review yea return again my righteousness is ‖ That is in this matter in it c i. e. In this cause or matter between you and me the Relative without the Antecedent which is frequent in the Hebrew Language You will find the right to be on my side 30. Is there iniquity in my tongue d Consider again and more throughly examine if there be any untruth or iniquity in what I have already said or shall further speak to you cannot †Heb. my palate my tast e i. e. My judgment which discerns and judgeth of words and actions as the tast or palate doth of meats discern perverse things f i. e. False opinions or sinful expressions I am not so bereft of common understanding as not to be able to distinguish between good and evil And therefore if I have uttered or should utter any perverse words I should apprehend them to be so as well as you do CHAP. VII 1. IS there not ‖ Or a warfare * Chap. 14. 13 14. Psal. 39. 4. an appointed time to man upon Earth a Is there not a certain and short time limited by God wherein man shall live in this sinful vain and miserable world after which he shall live in an holier and happier place and state And is it a crime in me to desire that God would give me some ease and respite for the present and bring me to that blessed and joyful period are not his daies also like the daies of an hireling b Whose time is limited and short being but for a few years Isa. 16. 14. 21. 16. and sometimes but for daies Iob 14. 6. Matth. 20. 1 2. and whose condition is full of toil and hardship 2. As a Servant †Heb. gapeth after earnestly desireth the shadow c i. e. The Sun-set or the Night the time allotted for his rest and repose Psal. 104. 23. And why may
e. To the arguments which I shall produce 7. * â—…p 17. 5. â—… 32. 21. â—… 35. 4. Will ye speak wickedly for God h Will you utter falshoods upon pretence of pleasing God or of maintaining Gods Honour or Justice Doth he need such defences And talk deceitfully for him 8. Will ye accept his Person i Not judging according to the right of the Cause but the quality of the Person as corrupt Judges do Will ye contend k i. e. Wrangle and quarrel with me and cavil at my Speeches and pervert my meaning for God l i. e. That you may gratifie him or defend his Rights 9. Is it good m Will it be to your Credit and Comfort that he should search you out n i. e. Narrowly examine your Hearts and discourses whether you have uttered Truth or Falshood and whether your Speeches proceed from true Zeal for God or from your own Prejudices and Passions and from a desire to curry Favour with him or as one mocketh another do ye so mock him o To wit by covering your uncharitableness and corrupt affections with pretences of Pietâ—… as if God could not discern your Artifices or by pleading his Cause with weak and foolish Arguments which is a kind of Mockery to him and an Injury to his Cause or by seeking to flatter him with false Praises as if he did distribute the things of this world with exact Justice prospering only the good and severely afflicting none but wicked Men. 10. He will surely reprove you p i. e. Punish you as this word is oâ—…t used as hath been once and again observed if ye do secretly q Though it be concealed in your own Breasts and no Eye see it yea though it be so close that your own Minds and Consciences through ignorance or inadvertency or slothfulness do not perceive it yet he who is greater than your Consciences sees and knows it accept Persons 11. Shall not his Excellency r His infinite Wisdom which sees your secret Falshoods and his Justice and Power which can and will punish you for it make you afraid s Of speaking rashly or falsly of his ways and Counsels And his dread fall upon you 12. Your remembrances t Either 1. Actively i. e. your Memorials or your Discourses and Arguments by which you design to bring things to my remembrance So he might possibly allude to that passage Ch. 4. 7 Remember I pray thee c. That and all your other Memento's are like unto ashes i. e. contemptible and unprofitable Heb. are Parables or Speeches of dust or ashes Or 2. Passively all that which is most excellent and memorable in you your Wealth and Dignity and Wit and Reputation or whatsoever it is for which you expect or desire to be remembered it is all but poor despicable dust and ashes And therefore you have just reason to abhor your selves and to dread the Divine Majesty as I now advised you are like unto ashes your Bodies u Though they be not full of sores and boils as mine is yet they are but dust and to dust they shall return as well as mine Heb. Your backs which being the strongest part of the Body is put for the whole Body Or Your Eminences or Excellencies as this word most properly signifies as Hebricians observe so it answers to their memoâ—…bles All those things wherein you do or think that you do excel others are but like Eminencies or Lumps or Heaps of Clay vain and useless things if compared with the Excellencies of God Or Your heights i. e. your losty Discourses are like Clay i. e. without solidity and strength are like to Bodies of Clay 13. †Heb. be silens from me Hold your peace x Do not now interrupt me in my Discourse which peradventure he observed by their gestures some of them were now attempting let me alone that I may speak y That I may freely utter my whole mind and let come on me what will z For the event of my Discourse with God wherewith you threaten me I am willing to submit my self to him to do with me as he pleaseth For I know he will not judge so severely and partially of me or my words as you do but will accept what is good and pass by any circumstantial defects in my Person or Speech as knowing that I speak from an upright Heart 14. Wherefore do I take my Flesh in my Teeth and put my Life in mine hand z According to this Translation the sense seems to be this If you speak truth and God punisheth none but wicked men why doth he bring me whom he Knows to be no Hypocrite as you slaunder me to that extremity of Pain and misery that I am almost constrained to tear and eat my own flesh which is mentioned as the Character of men in great anguish Isa. 9. 20. 49. 26. and am ready to lay violent hands upon my self Is it so great a crime to complain in this case or at least to enquire into the cause of this unwonted severity But this sense seems not well to suit either with the foregoing or following Verses but to come in abruptly Others therefore render the words thus Why should I take my flesh in my Teeth c. And so this may be either 1. A Reason of his ardent desire of Liberty of Speech because he could hold his Tongue no longer but must needs tear himself to pieces if he had not some vent for his grief So this agrees well both with v. 13. where he desired this freedom and with v. 19. where the same sense is expressed in plainer words Or 2. An Antidote against despair I perceive O my Friends by your Discourses that you intend to drive me to utter Despair if I do not turn to God in another manner than yet I have done Which if it were true I should certainly tear my flesh and violently take away my own Life But I see no reason why I should give way to any such despair or desperate Actions And this also hath a good dependance upon the foregoing words Let come on me what will But I have no reason to fear such Consequences as you suggest nor to despair of a merciful Audience and Relief from God and a good connexion with those which follow v. 15. where he declares his Hope and Confidence in God The Phrase of having ones Life in his hand notes a condition extremely dangerous and almost desperate as Iudg. 12. 3. 1 Sam. 19. 5. 28. 21. Psal. 119. 109. 15. * Psa. 23. 4. Prov. 14. 32. Though he slay me a Though God should yet more and more encrease my torments so that I could bear them no longer but should perceive my self to be at the point of Death and without all hopes of Recovery in this World yet I will trust in him b Or shall I not trust in him Should
Wherefore are we counted as Beasts c i. e. Ignorant blockish and stupid men Ch. 17. 4 10. and †Heb. hidden Lam. 4. 1. reputed vile d Heb. polluted or unclean i. e. not fit to be conversed or discoursed with or contemptible as such things are in your sight e Either 1. To your faces or in your own hearing Or 2. In thy sight or Judgment O Iob so he speaks of Iob in the plural number as he did v. 2. 4. He teareth †Heb. his Soul himself f i. e. Iob of whom he speaks in the third person for the second as Ch. 12. 4. 16. 7. Obad. 3 3. Or O thou that tearest thy self Thou complainest of us for vexing thee with our speeches when in truth thou art thy own greatest tormenter by thy own impatience and rage in his anger shall the Earth be forsaken g To wit by God Shall God give over the government of the Earth and Men and things in it and suffer all things to fall out by chance and promiscuously to good and bad men without any regard to his Truth or Wisdom or Justice Shall God forbear to rule the World righteously as he hath hitherto done in favouring good men and destroying the wicked for thee h i. e. For thy sake or to prevent thy Complaints and Clamours and shall the rock be removed out of his place i Shall the Counsels of God which are more firm and unmoveable than Rocks and the whole course of his Providence be altered to comply with thy fancies or Humours 5. Yea k The thing is true and certain notwithstanding thy dissatisfaction and opposition against it the light of the wicked shall be put out l All their Glory and Felicity shall perish and the spark of his fire m i. e. Their highest and brightest Glory which he calleth the spark c. because like a spark it shines briskly for a moment but is quickly extinct shall not shine 6. The Light shall be dark in his Tabernacle n i. e. In his Family In stead of his former splendour both he and his shall fall into extremity of misery and his ‖ 〈◊〉 Lamp Candle shall be put out with him o i. e. His Glory shall die with him and not descend to his posterity as he hoped and designed Or his Candle which was with him or shone upon him shall be put out 7. The steps of his strength p i. e. His strong steps by a vulgar Hebraism By steps he means his Counsels as the next branch explains it his attempts and actions and by steps of strength such of them as seem to be most firm and settled contrived with greatest strength of Understanding and carried on with great resolution and might shall be straitned q i. e. Shall be hindred and entangled He shall be cast into great difficulties and troubles and perplexities so that he shall not be able to proceed and to accomplish his Enterprizes but shall find himself ensnared by his own devices as the next words declare it This Phrase is used also Prov. 4. 11 12. and it is opposed to the enlarging of a mans way or steps which signifies success and prosperity as Psal. 4. 1. 31. 8. and his own Counsel shall cast him down r He shall be undone by his own contrivances either because God will give him up to dangerous and destructive mistakes of his way or because God will oppose him and turn his own devices against him which he can easily do by throwing in unexpected accidents 8. For he is cast into a Net by his own Feet s By his own choice and design and actions and he walketh upon a snare t And therefore must needs be entangled and destroyed 9. The * Chap. 5. 5. Grin shall take him by the heel u i. e. Take fast hold of him so as to keep him in those distresses and the Robber x When he is ensnared the Robber shall come upon him and take and spoil or kill him Or the horrible or terrible man the Huntsman that said the Snare for him A Metaphor from those who hunt for wild Beasts who first lay snares for them and then seize upon them in the snares shall prevail against him 10. The Snare is †Heb. hidden laid for him in the ground y Where he doth not expect nor discern it The former snare he laid for himself but this was laid for him by another and a Trap for him in the way 11. * Ch. 15. 21. Jer. 6. 25. 20. 3. 46. 5. 49. 29. Terrours z Both from men and from God and from his own unquiet Mind and guilty Conscience shall make him afraid on every side and shall †Heb. scatter him drive him to his Feet a Shall force him to flee hither and thither and he knows not whither being secure and safe no where but pursued by terrours from place to place 12. His strength b Either 1. His Children which are and are called a mans strength as Gen. 49. 3. Psal. â—… 27. 4 5. Or rather 2. His Wealth and Power and Prosperity shall be hunger-bitten c Or famished i. e. utterly consumed and * Ch. 15. 23. destruction shall be ready at his side d i. e. Shall follow him at the heels as a most diligent servant or constant companion 13. It shall devour the †Heb. bars strength of his skin e Heb. The bars or rather the branches of the skin i. e. either the veins and sinews which branch out themselves through the skin as well as elsewhere Or the fat and flesh which like Bars support the skin and adorn and beautifie it as branches do a Tree without which the skin is shrivel'd up and deformed even the first-born of death f i. e. A most remarkable and terrible kind of death The first-born was the chief of his Brethren and therefore this title is given to things eminent in their kind as Isa. 14. 30. Col. 1. 18. Heb. 12. 23. Rev. 1. 5. shall devour his strength 14. * Chap. 8. 14. 11. 20. Psal. 112. 10. Prov. 10. 28. His confidence g i. e. All the matter of his Confidence his Riches Children c. shall be rooted out of his Tabernacle h i. e. Out of his Habitation and it i To wit the loss of his Confidence shall bring him to the King of terrours k Either 1. Into extream Fears and horrours of mind Or 2. To Death which even Aristotle called The most terrible of all terribles And this it will do either because it will expose him to his Enemies who will kill him or because the sense of his disappointments and losses and dangers will oppress his Spirits and break his Heart 15. It shall dwell in his Tabernacle l It i. e.
translated either 1. Breasts But that seems very improper here because mens Breasts do not use to be filled with Milk Or 2. Milk-Pails But their fulness is common and no sign of eminent plenty which is here designed Besides the following Branch which in Iob and elsewhere frequently explains the former implies that it signifies some part of mans Body as all the ancient Interpreters render it either the sides as some of them have it or the bowels as others But for the following Milk they read Fat the Hebrew Letters being exactly the same in both words and the Hebrews by the name of Milk do oft understand Fat are full of Milk and his Bones are moistened with Marrow t Which is opposed to the dryness of the bones Job 30. 30. Psal. 102. 3. which is caused by Old-age or grievous Distempers or Calamities 25. And another u Either 1. Another wicked man Or 2. Any other man promiscuously considered either good or bad So hereby he shews how indifferently and alike God deals the concerns of this Life to one and another to good and bad So he shews that there is a great variety in Gods Dispensations that he distributes great Prosperity to one and great afflictions to another no worse than he according to his wise but secret Counsel dieth in the bitterness of his Soul x i. e. With Heart-breaking Pains and Sorrows and never eateth with Pleasure y i. e. Hath no pleasure in his Life no not so much as at Meal-time when Men usually are most free and pleasant 26. They shall lie down alike in the dust z All these worldly differences are ended by Death and they lie in the Grave without any distinction till the time of General Resurrection and Judgment comes So that no man can tell who is good and who is bad by any Events which befall them in this Life and the Worms shall cover them 27. Behold I know your thoughts a I perceive what you think and will object and say for your own defence and the Devices b Or evil Thoughts for so this word is oft used as Prov. 12. 2. 14. 17. 24. 8. Isa. 32. 7. which ye wrongfully imagine c Or wrest or violently force For they strained both Iobs words and their own thoughts which were byassed by their prejudice and Passion against Iob. against me d For I know very well that your discourses though they be of wicked men in the general yet are particularly levelled at me 28. For ye say e To wit in your minds where is the House of the Prince f i. e. It is no where it is lost and gone This is spoken either 1. Of Iob or his eldest Son whose house God had lately overthrown Or rather 2. In general of wicked Princes or Potentates as the following answer sheweth So the meaning of the question is That it was apparent from common observation that eminent Judgments even in this Life were sooner or later the portion of all ungodly Men. and where are †Heb. 〈◊〉 of the Tabernacles of the wicked the Dwelling-places of the wicked g which is added to limit the former Expression and to shew that he spake only of wicked Princes 29. Have ye not asked them that go by the way h These are the words either 1. Of Iob's Friends who thus continue their former Discourse by a second Enquiry Or rather 2. Of Iob himself who answers one question with another You may learn this which is the matter of our debate to wit that good men are oft afflicted and that wicked men do commonly live and die in great prosperity and are not punished in this World even from them that go by the way i. e. either from Travellers who having seen and observed many Persons and places and events are more capable Judges of this matter or from any person that passeth along the high-way from every one that you meet with It is so vulgar and trivial a thing that no man of common sense is ignorant of it and do ye not know their Tokens i i. e. The Examples or Evidences or Signs of this truth which they that go by the way can produce They will shew here and there in divers places the goodly Houses and Castles and other Monuments of Power and dignity which wicked Potentates have erected and to this day do possess and in which divers of them live and die He alludes here to those Tokens which are set up in high ways for the direction of those who travel in them 30. * Prov. 16. 4. That the wicked k This is the thing which they might learn of Passengers is reserved l Or with-held or kept back to wit from falling into common Calamities though in truth he be not so much kept from Evil as kept for evil he is reserved from a less that he may be swallowed up in a greater misery as Pharaoh was kept from the other Plagues that he might be drowned in the Sea to the day of Destruction they m He speaketh of the same person only the singular number is changed into the plural possibly to intimate that although for the present only some wicked men were punished yet then all of them should suffer shall be brought forth n To wit by the conduct of Gods Providence and Justice as malefactors are brought forth from Prison to Judgment and Execution though they be brought to it slowly and by degrees and with some kind of Pomp and State as this word signifies to †Heb. the day of Wrath. the day of Wrath o Heb. To the day of Wrath i. e. of special and extraordinary Wrath either to some terrible and desolating Judgments which God sometimes sends upon wicked Princes or People Or to the day of the last and general Judgment which is called in Scripture the day of Wrath For the day of the general Resurrection and Judgment was not unknown to Iob and his Friends as appears from Ch. 19. 25 c. and other passages of this Book 31. Who shall declare his way to his face q i. e. Plainly and whilest he lives as the same Phrase is used Deut. 7. 10. and who shall repay him what he hath done r No man can bring him to an account or punishment p i. e. His wicked course and actions and whither they lead him His power and splendour is so great that scarce any man dare reprove him for his sin or shew him his danger 32. Yet s Heb. And. The pomp of his death shall be suitable to the glory of his Life shall he be brought t With Pomp and State as the word signifies to the †Heb. Graves Grave u Heb. to the Graves i. e. to an honourable and eminent Grave The plural number being oft used Emphatically to note Eminency as Iob 40. 10. Prov. 1. 20. Lam. 3.
to him through the Mediatour and sincerely repenting of and turning from his former sins unto the serious practice of righteousness and true holiness and therefore must needs be favourable to him as he hath declared and ingaged himself to be in such cases 27. ‖ 〈…〉 He looketh upon men u Either 1. the sick Man shall look upon and converse with Mankind his Friends or others as he did before and shall say as the following word is and may be rendred I have sinned c. i. e. He shall confess to them that God was not to be blamed but that he by his own sin and folly did bring that evil upon himself And then he shall acknowledge God's great goodness to him and shall add what follows in the next Verse He hath delivered my Soul c. and my life c. as they render it Or rather 2. God diligently observes all Mankind and their several carriages especially in sickness and distress and if any say I have sinned x If there be any Man that sincerely saith thus God hears it and will pardon and heal him as it follows and perverted that which was right y Either 1. I have judged perversly of the just and right ways of God censuring his proceedings against me as too severe and rigorous whereas in truth I only was to be blamed Or 2. I have perverted God's righteous Law by bending it and making it comply with my crooked ways Or I have swerved from the right and good way of God's commands or I have made crooked paths So he repeats in other words what he said in the former branch of the Verse I have sinned and it profited me not z I got no good by so doing as I vainly promised my self but I got much hurt by it even diseases and griefs and extreme dangers This was the just fruit of my sins It is a Meiosis whereby less is said and more is understood of which we have seen many examples before 28. ‖ 〈…〉 He a i. e. God whose work alone this is will deliver his soul b Himself or as it follows his life from going into the pit and his life c See on v. 18. shall see the light d i. e. Shall enjoy either 1. prosperity which is oft called light as darkness is put for affliction or 2. the light of the living as it follows v. 30. the light of this World i. e. His life which was endangered shall be restored and continued This is opposed to his going down into the Pit in the former branch 29. Lo all these things worketh God e All these ways and methods doth God use to awaken and convince and save sinners †〈…〉 oftentimes with man f Either severally one way with one and another way with another or with the same Man trying several means one after another to bring him to repentance and prepare him for deliverance 30. * 〈◊〉 â—…6 13. To bring back his soul from the pit to be enlightned with the light of the living g i. e. That he may enjoy the light of life and continue in the Land of the Living out of which he was going 31. Mark well O Job hearken unto me hold thy peace h Attend to what I have further to say to thee with patience and silence and I will speak 32. If thou hast any thing to say i answer me speak for I desire to justifie thee k For thy own justification or in answer to the charge that I have already brought against thee k To wit as far as may consist with Truth and Justice I do not speak with evil design or a bitter mind or as one resolved to condemn thee whatsoever thou sayest and I shall be glad to hear any thing from thee which may make for thy just vindication 33. If not hearken unto me hold thy peace and I shall teach thee wisdom l i. e. What thy wisdom and duty is in thy circumstances CHAP. XXXIV 1. FUrthermore Elihu answered and said 2. Hear my words O ye wise men a Who are here present do you judge of the truth and reason of what I have said and am further to say for I am willing to submit all to the judgment of the truly wise and give ear unto me ye that have knowledge 3. * Chap. 6. 30. 12. 11. For the ear trieth words b i. e. Man's mind judgeth of things spoken and heard The ear the sense of Discipline is put for the mind to which things are conveyed by it See the note on Iob 12. 11. as the †Heb. palate mouth tasteth meat 4. Let us choose to us judgment c i. e. Justice and Equity judgment being oft synecdochically used for just judgment as Iob 8. 3. 19 7. 32. 9. Psal. 37. 28. Let us not contend for victory but only for Truth and Justice This shall be my only care and business Let us lay aside all prejudices and animosities which I perceive have had too great an influence upon thee and thy friends and impartially consider the naked truth and right of the cause let us know d i. e. Let us discover or make it known one to another among our selves what is good e Who hath the best cause 5. For Job hath said * Chap. 〈◊〉 I am righteous f Either 1. I am perfectly righteous But this Iob did not say but the contrary Iob 9. 2 3. 14. 4. Or 2. I am a sincere Person no Hypocrite as my Friends make me But this Elibu doth not deny or 3. I am so far righteous and have been so holy and blameless in my life that I have not deserved not had any reason to expect such hard usage from God And this Iob had oft intimated and Elihu doth justly blame him for it that he blazoned his own righteousness with tacit reflections upon God for dealing so severely with him and my God hath taken away my judgment g For so Iob had said Ch. 27. 2. i. e. He denies me that which is but just and equal to give me a fair hearing to suffer me to plead my Cause with or before him to shew me the reasons of his contending with me and what sins besides common infirmities I have been guilty of whereby I have deserved such extraordinary judgments Which Elihu justly taxeth him with as a very irreverent and presumptuous expression 6. Should I lie against my right h So Iob had said in effect Ch. 27. 4 5 6. Should I falsly accuse my self of such sins of which I am no way conscious to my self Should I betray mine own cause and deny my integrity and say that I deserved worse than I have done †Heb. mine Arrow Chap. 6. 4. 16. 12. my wound is incurable without transgression i i. e. Without any great or hainous or crying sin as
Gospel-Covenant their Children were admitted with them shall serve him it shall be accounted to the LORD for a generation h That believing seed shall be Reputed both by God and Men The Generation Or Children or People of the Lord at the 〈◊〉 formerly were â—…ut upon the Iews Contempt of Christ and the Gospel the Gentiles shall come in their 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 their Titles and Priviledges Compare this place with Psal. 87. 5. 31. They i shall come k To wit from Iudea and Ierusalem from whence the Gospel was first to go forth to the Gentile World to the several parts whereof the Apostles went upon this Errand and shall declare his righteousness l God's Righteousness Either 1. His wonderful grace and mercy to mankind in giving them Christ and the Gospel for Righteousness is 〈◊〉 put for Mercy or Kindness as hath been noted again and again Or 2. That Righteousness which God hath appointed for the justification of Sinners called the Righteousness of 〈◊〉 Rom. 3. 21. 22 Philip. 3. 9. which the Iews were ignorant of and would not submit to Rom. 10. 3. but the 〈◊〉 joyfully embraced or 3. His truth or faithfulness which is very frequently and fiâ—…ly called Righteousness in the performance of those exceeding great and precious Promises made and recorded in the Olâ—… Testâ—…ment and especially those two concerning the sending of the Messiâ—…s and concerning the calling of the Gentiles unto a people that shall be born m Either 1. Spiritually i. e. Born again for Regeneration is oft called a Birth as Psal. 87. 4 5. Ioh. 1. 13. 1 Pâ—…t 1. 23. and a Creation Psal. 102. 18. Or rather 2 Naturally i. e. Unto succeeding Generations Whereby David gives us a Key to understand this Psalm and â—…cheth us that he speaks not here of himself or of the Occurrences of his times but of things which were to be done in after-Ages even of the spreading of the Gospel among the Gentiles in the time of the New Testament that he hath done this n i. e. They shall declare that this is the work of God and not of Man and carried on by his only power in the World against all the Wit and force of Men. Or rather because this being added as a Proof or Demonstration of that Righteousness of God now mentioned He i. e. the Lord plainly understood here and expressed in the foregoing Verse hath 〈◊〉 oâ—… wrought it to wit his Righteousness i. e. He hath executed with his Hand what he spake with his Mouth he hath demonstrated the truth of his Promises by his Actions and by the Accomplishment of them 1. Either the Converts and Worshippers v. 27. 29. Or their seed last mentioned v. 30. Or this may be indefinitely spoken as such Verbs are oft used they shall come i. e. Some or other shall come and do the Work here mentioned to wiâ—… the Apostles and Ministers of the Gospel PSAL. XXIII The ARGUMENT The matter of this Psalm gives us some general Discovery of the time of it's writing which was when David was delivered out of his Distresses and quietly settled in his Kingdom A Psalm of David 1. THe LORD is * 〈◊〉 40. 11 Jer 23 4 Eze 34. 23. Joh. 10. 11. 1 Pâ—…t 2. 25 Rev. 7. 17. my shepherd a He hath shewed himself to be so by his gracious Providences towards me and for me and he hath taken upon him that Office and Relation to me by his enâ—…ing into Covenant with me Whereby he hath engaged himself to rule and feed and preserve and heal me and do all which Shepherds do or are oblig'd to do to their Flocks which David very well understood and had doubtless carefully performed his Duty to his Sheep and therefore he strengthens this Faith by his Consideration that God was his Shepherd and God was a much better Shepherd than he or any man could be so he might Confidently expect more than ordinary Benefits from his Conduct I shall noâ—… want b To wit any thing which is really necessary for me either for this Life or for the next But foolish man may think many things to be necessary for him which the all-wise God knoweth to be not only unnecessary but hurtful and therefore mercifully denies what men ignorantly desire to their hurt 2. He maketh me to lye down c To rest and repose my self at Noon as the manner was in those hot Countries See Cant. 1. 7. Isa. 13. 20. Ezek. 34. 15. in †Heb 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 green pastures d Where there is both delight and plenty of Provisions he leadeth me e Left I should wander and perish Heb. He leadeth me sweetly and 〈◊〉 accommodating himself to mine Infiâ—…mities as Shepherds do to their Sheep Gen. 33. 13. Isa. 40. 11. and 49. 10. beside f Or to the Particle al being oft put for el as Gen. 1. 30. and 16. 7. the †Heb. waâ—…er of quietness still waters g Quiet and gentle Waters either put into Watering-Troughs or Running in small and shallow Channels Which are opposed to great Rivers which both affright the Sheep with their noise and expose them to the Danger of being carried away by their swift and violent Streams whilst they are drinking aâ—… them 3. * Psal. 5. 8. 19. 8. 31. 3. He restoreth h Heb. He bringeth it back Either 1. From its Errors or Wandring Or 2. Into the Body out of which it was even departing and fainting away He reviveth or Comforteth me Comp. Ruth 4. 15. 1 Sam. 30. 12. Lament 1. 11. my soul he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness i In streight and plain and safe Paths where the Sheep is neither hurt nor wearied nor in Danger of wandering By his Word he directs me to the right ways of Truth and Holiness and Righteousness and by his Spirit he inclines and inables me to chuse them and to continue to walk in them for his names sake k Not for any worth in me but meerly for the Demonstration and Glory of his Justice and Faithfulness and Goodness 4. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death l Through a dark and dismal Valley full of Terrors and Dangers as this Phrase signifies Iob. 24. 17. Psal. 44. 19. and 107. 10. 14. Ier. 2. 6. * Psal. 3. 6 118. 6. I will fear no evil m I will not give way to my Fears but Confidently rely upon God for thou arâ—… with me thy rod and thy staff n Two words noting the same thing and both designing God's pastoral Care over him expressed by the sign and Instrument of it they comfort me o The Consideration thereof supports me under all my Fears and Distresses 5. Thou preparest a table p i. e. Thou furnishest me with plenty and Variety of Provisions and Comforts before me in the presence of mine enemies p They
Deut. 24. 15. 2. O my God I * Psal. 22. 5. 31. 1. 34. 8. Psal. 28. 7. Rom. 10. 11. trust in thee let me not be ashamed b i. e. Disappointed of my Hope which will be reproachful to me not without Reflection upon thee of whose Power and Faithfulness I have made my boast let not mine enemies triumph over me 3. Yea let none that wait on thee be ashamed c With me and for me For if I be frustrated all that trust in thee will be discouraged and upbraided with my Example let them be ashamed d Blast their wicked Designs and Hopes which transgress e Or Prevaricate or deal Persidiously with me violating their Faith given to me * Psal. 119. 78. without a cause f Without any Provocation of mine or without any sufficient Reason 4. * Psal. 5. 8. 27. 11. 86. 11. 119. 27. 143. 8. 10. Shew me thy ways g i. e. The way of thy Precepts what I ought to do in my Circumstances and Difficulties by what Methods I may obtain thy Favour and Help Whatsoever thou dost with me as to other things grant me this Favour teach me my Duty and cause me to keep close to it notwithstanding all Temptations to the contrary O LORD teach me thy paths 5. * Psal. 26. 3. Lead me in thy truth h i. e. In the true and right way prescribed in thy Word which is oft called Truth as Psal. 119. 30. Ioh. 8. 45 46. and 16. 13. c. Or by or because of thy Truth i. e. Because thou art Faithful do thou lead or guide me as thou hast promised to do and teach me for thou art the God of my salvation i i. e. Who hast saved me formerly and hast engaged to save me and from whom alone I expect Salvation on thee do I wait all the day 6. Remember O LORD * Psal. 103. 17 106. 1. 107. 1. Jer. 33. 11. †Heb. thy bowels thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses k O consider thy own merciful Nature and thy former manifold Favours vouchsafed to me and to other miserable Sinners and do like thy self for they have been ever of old l Thou hast been gracious to such as I am from the beginning of the World to this day and to me in particular from my very Infancy as he oft acknowledgeth in this Book yea from all Eternity thou hast had a good Will to me and therefore do not now desist and desert me 7. Remember not m So as to lay them to my Charge * Job 20. 11. the sins of my youth n The sins committed in my young and tender years Eccles. 11. 9 10. which God frequently punisheth in riper Age Iob. 13 26. Ier. 3. 25 and therefore he now prays that God would not deal so with him nor my transgressions o Nor any of my succeeding or other sins which either have been Acted by me or may be imputed to me according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness sake p Being a sinner I have nothing to plead for my self but thy free Mercy and Goodness which I now implore O LORD 8. Good q i. e. Bountiful and gracious to sinners ready to good and delighting in it and upright r Or Right i. e. Holy and True sincere in making Promises and in all his Declarations and Offers of Mercy to sinners and faithful in fulfilling them is the LORD therefore will he teach sinners in the way s Being such an one he will not be wanting to such poor sinners as I am but will guide them by his Word and Spirit and gracious Providence into the way of Life and Peace By sinners he doth not understand all that are so not such â—…s are obstinate and Proud and scornful whom God hath declared that he will not teach nor direct but will leave them to the Errors and Lusts of their own Hearts and will blind and harden them to their Ruine as is often expressed in Scripture but only such as being truly sensible of their sins do humbly and earnestly seek God for his Grace and Mercy or such as are Meek as the next Verse explains it for these he will not fail to assist and Relieve 9. The meek t i. e. The humble and lowly such as meekly submit themselves to Gods hand and word and are willing and desirous to be directed and governed by him will he †Heb. 〈◊〉 to go guide in judgment u i. e In the Paths of judgment or in the right way wherein they should walk as the next Clause explains this or by the Rule of his word which is oft called his Iudgment or Iudgments Or with Iudgment i. e. With a wise and provident Care and a due regard to all their Circumstances See Ier. 10. 24. 1 Cor. 10. 13. and the meek will he teach his way x Either Gods way which God prescribes Or his own way in which he ought to walk 10. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth y All the dealings of God with them yea even those that are afflictive and grievous to the flesh are done in kindness and faithfulness to them as being very necessary for them and tending to their great advantage unto such as keep his covenant z i. e The Laws or Conditions required of them by his Covenant Or as it followes his Testimonies i. e. His Precepts which are the Testimonies or Witnesses of God's Will and of mans Duty and his testimonies 11. For thy names sake a i. e. For the Honour of thy Goodness and Truth which is concerned herein O LORD pardon mine iniquity for it is great b And therefore none but such a God can pardon it and nothing but thy own Name can move thee to do it and the pardoning of it will well become so great and good a God and will tend much to the Illustration of thy Glory as the greatness and desperateness of the Disease advanceth the Honour and Praise of the Physician Or this may be urged not as an Argument to move God but as the Reason that moved him to pray so earnestly and that for God's Names sake Or though as this Particle is oft rendred as Exod. 34. 9. Psal. 41. 4. and elsewhere it be great Possibly he speaks of his sin against uriah and Bathsheba Or for or though it be much or manifold For the Hebrew word signifies both great and much 12. What man is he c i. e. Whosoever he be whether Iew or Gentile whether more innocent or a greater Sinner which is my Case that feareth the LORD him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose d i. e. Which God appointeth or approveth Or which he i. e. such Person should chuse for the future Tense is oft put Potentially and so as
the seat of the Affections and Fountains of support and Nourishment to the whole Body Thus the whole Man both Soul and Body inside and outside are Consumed 10. For my life t i. e. The time of my Life as the next Clause explains it is spent with grief and my years with sighing my strength faileth because of mine iniquity u Either through my deep and just Sence of my sins which have provoked God to Afflict me in this manner Or for the punishment of mine iniquity as this Word is frequently used and my bones x In which my chief strength lyes are consumed y The juice and Marrow of them being almost dryed up with excessive Grief 11. I was a reproach z i. e. The matter of their Reproaches and Scorns This said they is David anointed to be King of Israel a goodly Monarch indeed forsaken by God and Men and in a perishing and desperate Condition He pretends great Piety to God and Loyalty to Saul but in Truth he is a great Impostour and a Traitor and Rebel to his King among all mine enemies but * 〈◊〉 19 13 〈◊〉 38. 11. 〈◊〉 â—… 18. especially among my neighbours a Which aggravates their sin and his Misery Partly because they were obliged by the Laws of Neighbourhood to perform all friendly Offices to him and Partly because they were daily Witnesses of his Integrity and therefore sinned against their own Knowledge and a fear b Or a Terror They were afraid to give me any Countenance or Assistance or to be seen in my Company being warned by Abimelech's punishment for it 1 Sam. 22. to mine acquaintance they that did see me without fled from me c Either loathing me as a Monster of men and an unlucky Spectacle and such a Villain as mine Enemies represented me and they believed me to be Or to prevent their own Danger and Ruine which might be occasioned by it 12. I am forgotten d Whatsoever good Service I have done to the King or Kingdom or to any particular Persons Neighbours Friends or others which sometimes they have acknowledged and highly Commended is now quite forgotten by all of them Or at least they carry themselves to me as if it were so as a dead man e Whose Name and Memory is quite lost within a few days See Psal. 88. 12. Eccles. 9. 5. out of mind I am like a †Heb. a Vessel 〈◊〉 perisheth broken vessel f Made of Earth which is irreparable and useless and therefore despised by all 13. For I have heard g Partly with my own Ears and Partly by the Information of others the slander of many h Who reproach and defame me as a Turbulent and seditious Person an Enemy to the publick Peace a Conspirator against the Kings Life or Dignity * Jer. 6. 25. 20. 3. Lam. 2. 2â—… fear i i. e. Just cause of Fear even of the loss of my Life as appears from the next Clause was on every side while they took counsel together against me they devised to take away k To wit unjustly and violently as this Word is used Gen. 34. 2. and 24. 11. my life 14. But I trusted in thee O LORD I said Thou art my God l. g Mine by paternal Relation and Care and Affection and by thy Promise or Covenant made with me 15. My times m Either 1. The time of my Life how long I shall Live Or 2. My Opportunties or sit seasons for working out my Deliverance Or rather 3. All the Affairs and Events of my Life for time is oft put for things done or Accidents happening in time as 1 Chron. 29. 30. Iob 11. 17. Psal. 37. 18. Eccles. 9. 11. Dan. 2. 21. Act. 17. 26. are in thy hand n i. e Are wholly in thy Power to dispose and Order as thou secst fit and not at all in mine Enemies Power who can do nothing against me unless it be given them from above deliver me from the hand of mine enemies and from them that persecute me 16. * Psal 4. 6. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant o Manifest thy Love and Favour to me by answering my Prayers and saving me from all mine Enemies save me for thy mercies sake 17. * Psal. 25 2. Let me not be ashamed O LORD for I have called upon thee p And therefore thy Honour will be Eclipsed in my Disappointment as if thou didst not hear Prayers nor keep Promise nor make any Difference between good and bad Men. let the wicked be ashamed q Frustrated in their wicked Designs and Carnal Confidences and ‖ Or let them be cut off for the Grave let * 1 Sam. 2. 9. them be silent in the †Heb. Hâ—…ll grave r Seeing they are implacable in their Malice and Rage against innocent and good Men do thou cut them off by thy just Judgment and since either the Righteous or the wicked must be cut off let Destruction fall upon them who most deserve it 18. * Psal. 12. â—… Let the lying lips s Slanderous Tongues be put to silence t Either by thy Vindication and discovery of my Integrity Or by some Eminent judgment which may either Convince them or cut them off which speak †Heb. a hard thing grievous things u Heb. hard Words or Things the singular Number being put for the plural Of this Expression See 1 Sam. 2. 3. Psal. 60. 3 and 94. 4 Iude v. 15. He means such as were grievous and hard to be Born as bitter Calumnies Cruel Mockings Terrible Threatnings and the like proudly and contemptuously x With great Arrogancy and Confidence of success and Contempt of me and mine whom they look upon as few in number and impotent and Fugitives and such whom they can blow away with a Breath against the righteous y Against us whom thou knowest to be Righteous notwithstanding all their false Accusations and therefore for thy Love to Righteousness save us and silence our unjust Enemies 19. * Isa. 64. 4. 1 Cor. 2. 9. O how great is thy goodness z No words can express the greatness of thy Love and Blessings which thou hast laid up a Or hidden to wit with thy self or in thy own Breast The word is very Emphatical and removes an Objection of ungodly Men taken from the present Calamities of good Men. His Favour it is true is not always manifested to or for them but it is laid up for them in his Treasure whence it shall be drawn forth when they need it and he sees it fit for them that fear thee which thou hast wrought b Or hast Prepared as Exod. 15. 17. Or wilst work the past time being put for the Future to note the certainty of it as is Common in the Prophetical writings for them that trust in thee before the sons
Help from me 23. Stir up thy self and awake to my judgment even unto my cause d At last undertake to plead my Cause against mine Adversaries my God and my Lord. 24. Judge me O LORD my God according to thy righteousness e Whereby thou usest and lovest to defend the Innocent and to punish their Oppressors and let them not rejoyce over me 25. Let them not say in their hearts †Heb. Ah ah our Soul Ah so would we have it f Heb. Aha our Soul i. e. Oh our Soul cry Aha an Expression of mirth as before v. 21. Or Aha we have our Wish or Desire as the Soul is taken Psal. 41. 2. David is now as low as we could wish him let them not say we have swallowed him up 26. * Verse 4. Psal. 40. 14. Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together g As they gathered themselves together to deride and oppose me so do thou gather them together to destroy them Or in like manner one as well as another let the Proud and great Ones of them be disappointed and ashamed as well as the meanest among them that rejoyce at mine hurt let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnifie themselves h The same Ellipsis we have Psal. 38. 16. and 55. 12. Ier. 48 26. Or their Mouth as it is expressed Obad. v. 12. So Ezek. 35. 13. That extol themselves and their Power and look upon me with scorn and Contempt against me 27. Let them shout for joy and be glad that favour †Heb. my righteousness my righteous cause i That wish well to it although they want either Strength or Courage to Plead it yea let them say continually Let the LORD be magnified k i. e. Exalted and praised for his Righteousness and Truth and Goodness manifested in my Deliverance Mine Enemies great Design is to magnifie themselves v. 26. but my chief desire is that God may be magnified which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant 28. And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long PSAL. XXXVI The ARGUMENT This Psalm seems to have been Composed by David when he was persecuted by Saul and his Courtiers Upon which occasion he enlargeth his Thoughts further and Contemplates the sad state and Condition of the World and of the Church at that time in which Wickedness of all sorts greatly abounded and seemed to Prosper and withal he declares the great Felicity and Safety of God's People and gives an Account of their supports and Comforts under the Sence of these publick Dis-orders and Mischiefs To the chief musician a Psalm of David the servant of the LORD a i. e. One wholly and resolvedly devoted to the Service of God both in my private and publick Capacity This Title is as I remember but twice used in this Book Psal. 18. of which see there and in this Psalm Where it seems to be prefixed as a publick Protestation of his Resolution to cleave unto the Lord in this time of general Corruption of which he is now going to speak 1. THe transgression of the wicked saith within my heart that there is no fear of God before his eyes b When I consider the great and manifold Transgressions of ungodly Men I conclude within my self that they have cast off all Fear and Sence and serious belief of the divine Majesty 2. For c So this is the Proof of that Assertion v. 1. Or Although and so it is an Anticipation of an Objection against it * Deu. 29. 19. Psal. 10. 3. 49. 18. he flattereth himself in his own eyes d He deceiveth himself with vain and false Perswasions Either 1. Concerning God that he doth not see or mind his sins or that he will not punish them Or 2. Concerning himself and his sins Either that they are not sins which a Mind bribed by Passion and Interest can easily believe Or that they are but small and venial sins Or that they will be excused if not justified by honest Intentions or by outward Professions and exercises of Religion or by some good Actions wherewith he thinks to make some Compensation for them or some other way Oth. thus He flattereth him i. e. God in his Eyes i. e. Openly and publickly makes a shew of Religion as if he Designed to deceive or mock God whilst inwardly and secretly he is projecting Wickedness But it seems better to understand the last Word Reciprocally of his own Eyes as the same Word is used in the end of the foregoing Verse †Heb. to 〈◊〉 his iniquity to hate until his iniquity be found to be hateful e i. e. Uâ—…til God by some dreadful Judgment undeceive him and find i. e. Discover or make him and others to find and feel by Experience that it is a sin and a very hateful one too Or until his abominable iniquity be found out i. e. Punished as the same Word and Phrase is used Numb 32. 23. your sin shall find you out i. e. Bring you to Condign punishment In the Hebrew it is to find out his iniquity to hate But active Verbs are oft taken Passively of which there are plain Instances Ios. 2. 5. Esth. 6. 6. Psal. 32. 9. and 51. 6. Comp. with Rom 3. 4. and Psal. 119. 4. and so here to find is put for to be â—…ound and to hate for to be hated or to be hateful 3. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit f i. e. Are wicked and deceitful he hath left off to be wise and to do good g Once he had some shadows or degrees of Wisdom and sometimes did some things that were good in their kind but now he hath not so much as the appearance of it and iâ—… become an open Apostate from that which once he professed 4. * Miâ—… 2. 1. He deviseth ‖ Or Vâ—…ity mischief upon his bed h Which notes that he doth it 1. Constantly and unweariedly preferring it before his own Rest 2. Earnestly and seriously when his Mind is freed from all outward Distractions and wholly at leasure to attend that Business about which it is employed Comp. Psal. 4. 4. 3. Freely from his own inclination when none are present to provoke him to it he setteth himself i He doth not repent of his wicked Devices but resolutly proceeds to Execute them and persists therein in a way that is not good k i. e. Which is very bad as this Phrase is used 1 Sam. 2. 24. Prov. 20. 23. and 24. 23. and elsewhere he abhorreth not evil l Though he sometimes pretends Remorse and desists from his Violent Practises against me as Saul did yet he doth not truly repent of nor abhor his sin and therefore is ready to return to it when any occasion offers it self 5. * Psal. 57. 10. 108. 4. Thy mercy m
Though this be the Disposition and Carriage of mine Enemies towards me and therefore I can expect no good from them yet thou O Lord blessed be thy Name art of another Temper they are cruel and perfidious and unrighteous but thou art infinite in Mercy and Faithfulness and Righteousness and Loving kindness as it here follows and therefore though I despair of them yet I trust in thee as other men do for these Reasons v. 7. O LORD is in the heavens n Or is unto as the Prefix Bâ—…th oft signifies as Gen. 11. 4. and elsewhere and as it is here explained in the following Clause the Heavens As it is on the Earth of which there was no question so it reacheth thence to the Heavens i. e. It is infinite and Incomprehensible and thy faithfulness o The truth both of thy Threatnings against thine and mine Enemies and of thy Promises made to me and other good Men. reacheth unto the clouds p i. e. Is far above our reach greater and higher than we can apprehend it 6. * Job 11. 8. Rom. 11. 33. Thy righteousness q In all thy Counsels and Ways in the Government of the World is like †Heb. the Moâ—…tains of God Psal. 71. 19. the great mountains r Either 1. Stedfast and unmoveable Or 2. Eminent and Conspicuous to all men Or rather 3. Very high and out of our reach For so it agrees best with the foregoing and following Expressions thy * Job 7. 20. 1 Tim. 4. 10. judgments s i. e Thy Executions of thy Counsels or thy Administrations of the Affairs of the World and of thy Church are a great deep t i. e. Unsearchable as the Ocean is in some Parts O LORD * thou preservest man and beast u The worst of Men yea and the Brute-beasts have Experience of thy Care and Kindness and therefore I have no Reason to doubt of it 7. How †〈…〉 excellent is thy * 〈◊〉 103. 4. loving kindness x Or thy Mercy For it is the same Word which is used and so rendred v. â—… The Sence is though all thine Attributes now reckoned and the rest of them be excellent and Glorious yet above all thy Mercy is most Excellent or Precious and amiable as being most necessary and beneficial unto us poor sinful miserable Men. O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings y i. e. Cheerfully commit themselves to thy Care and Kindness notwithstanding their own Sinfulness and the Rage and Power of their Adversaries against all which thy Mercy is a sufficient security 8. They z i. e. Those Children of Men who trust in thee as he now said * 〈◊〉 65. 4. shall be †Heb. 〈◊〉 5. 19. â—…â—… â—…4 â—… 31. 14. abundantly satisfied a Though now they are straitned oppressed and Persecuted yet they shall not onely be Protected and Supported for the present but in due time shall have all their Wants and Desires fully satisfied Heb. shall be made Drunk i. e. Shall be as it were over-whelmed with the plenty of it which they shall no more be able to comprehend than a drunken Man is able perfectly to understand and Judge of things and shall be free as drunken Men also are from all Cares and Fears Either of not obtaining it or of losing it with the fatness of thy house b With those Rich and delightful Provisions which thou hast prepared for them in thy Habitation i. e. Either in the Tabernacle where they used to Feast upon the Remainders of the Sacrifices to which also he seems here to allude Or rather 2. In Heaven which is called God's House both in Scripture as Ioâ—… 14. 2. and in divers Antient heathen Authors For the Expressions here used as are too Magnificent to be bestowed upon those Feasts or indeed upon any of the Enjoyments of this Life and do ill become him who professedly disowns the having of his Portion in this Life and declares his Expectation of Happiness in the next Life Psal. 17. 14 15. And seeing it is apparent from Heb. 11. and from many other Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament that both David and Iob and Abraham and the rest of the Holy Patriarchs and Prophets had a firm Belief and Hope of the future Life and their Felicity therein it seems most reasonable to understand all those Passages of David and the other Prophets of it which naturally and without any force may be so understood Of which number certainly this Verse and the following is one and thou shalt make them drink c Before they had Fatness i. e. Fat Meats and New Drink to note the Compleatness of their Feast of the river d Which notes both their plenty and their Constancy and Perpetuity of thy pleasures e Which thou preparest and which thou enjoyest whence it is called the joy of the Lord Mat. 25. 21. Or this notes their great Eminency for things most excellent in their Kinds are entitled to God as the goodliest Cedars Mountains c. are called Cedars of God Mountains of God c. 9. For with thee f i. e. In thy Power to give it and in thy presence to be enjoyed is the fountain g Which notes 1. Causality It is in God as in a Fountain and from him is derived to us 2. Abundance 3. Excellency Water is sweetest in the Fountain and Fountains were rare and highly prized in those hot Countries of Life h Of that Glorious and Blessed and endless Life which alone is worthy of the Name of Life this Life being onely a passage to Death and a Theater of great and manifold Calamities Although it be true that God is the Fountain both of Natural and Spiritual Life in thy light i In the light of thy Countenance or glorious Presence which then shall be fully manifested unto us when we shall see thee clearly and Face to Face and not through a Glass and darkly as we now see 1 Cor. 13. 12. Comp. Psal. 17. 15. shall we k i. e. Enjoy as seeing frequently signifies of which see on Psal. 34. 12 see light l The light of Life as it is called Ioâ—… 8. 12. Light in this Branch being the same thing with Life in the former i. e. Joy and Comfort and Happiness which is oft signified by Light as the contrary is by Darkness See Iob 29. â—… Psal. 27. 1. Isa. 9. 2. There we shall have pure Light without any mixture of Darkness The word Light is Elegantly repeated in another signification in the former Clause it is Light discovering in this Light discovered or enjoyed 10. O †Heb. drawn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 continue m As this Word signifies Psal. 85. 5. Eccles. 2. 3. Ier. 31. 3. As thou hast begun so continue the Manifestation and Exhibition of it both in this Life and to the
and Cursed Death See Luk. 12. 50. Ioh. 10. 18. Heb. 10. 9 10. O my God yea thy law is †Heb. in the midst of my Bowels within * Psal. 37. 31. Jeâ—… 31. 33. my heart e i. e. I do not onely hear and understand it but I receive it with heartiest Love and Affection delighting both to meditate of it and to yield Obedience to it 9. * Psal. 35. 18. I have preached righteousness f To wit thy Righteousness as it is expressed in the next Verse i. e. Thy faithfulness as it is there explained Or Righteousness properly so called for both were fully declared and demonstrated in Christ the former in sending him into the World according to his Promise Act. 13. 23. and the latâ—…er in inflicting Death upon him for Mans sin Rom. 3. 25 26. in the great congregation g â—…n the most publick and solemn Assemblies not onely to the Iews but also to all other Nations to whom Christ preached by his Apostles as is observed Eph. 2. 17. â—…o I have not refrained my lips h To wit from Preaching it out of sloth or Fear or Self-Love but have Preached it publickly and even to the Face of mine Enemies though I knew my Preaching would cost me my Life O LORD thou knowest i I call thee to Witness the Truth of what I say 10. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart k I had it there v. 8. but I did not smother or shuâ—… it up there but spread it abroad for thy Glory and the good of the World I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation l Which thou hast wrought both for me and by me I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation 11. With-hold not thou thy tender mercies from me O LORD m This Prayer is uttered by David Either 1. In the Person of Christ to whom it may agree Or 2. In his own Person Having been Transported and carried forth by the Spirit of God to the Contemplation and Commemoration of the great Mystery of the Messias of whom he was an illustrious Type now he seems to be led back by the same Spirit to the Consideration of himself and his own particular Case let thy loving kindness and thy truth continually preserve me 12. For innumerable evils have compassed me about mine iniquities n Either The punishment of mine iniquities as Gen. 4. 13. 1. Sam. 28. 10. Psal. 31. 10. Or 2. The iniquities themselves This Phrase cannot be understood of Christ. For although our sins are said to be laid upon Christ Isa. 5â—… and upon that Account he is said to be made sin for us 2 Cor. 5. 21. yet the Scripture every where represents him as one that never knew nor did any sin aâ—… in that place and 1 〈◊〉 2. 22. and elsewhere and even when his Punishment is described yet it is expresly noted that he did not suffer for himself or for his own sins but onely for us and for our sins as Isa. 53. 4 5. Dan. 9. 26. 1 Pet. 2. 24. And therefore it is not probable that the Holy-Ghost would use such an Expression concerning the unless Christ of God as is never used in Scripture but either of a Man 's own sins or of the Punishment deserved by his own sins have taken hold upon me o Mens sins are figuratively said to follow them 1 Tim. 5. 24. and to find them out Numb 32. 23. and here to take hold of them as a Serjeant takes hold of a Man whom he Arrests so that I am not able * Psal. 38. 4. 10. to look up p Unto God or men with any Comfort and Confidence I am ashamed and confounded by Reason of my numberless sins Or so that I was not able to see Either because he was as it were drowned or overwhelmed with his sins Or because his Eyes did fail or were Consumed through Grieâ—… as he Complains Psal. 6. 7. and 38. 11. Or he means that he could not foresee them the Simple Verb being put for the Compound as it is frequently among the Hebrews They came upon him unawares and therefore were the more grievous to him they q To wit mine iniquities here mentioned Properly so called For God's people are more apt to aggravate their sins than the Punishments of them See Ezra 9. 13 14. are more than the hair of mine head therefore my heart †Heb. forsaketh faileth me 13. * Psal. 71. 1. c. Be pleased O LORD to deliver me r From my sins and the Punishments due to them O LORD make haste to help me 14. * Psal. 35. 4. 26. 70. 3. 71. 13. Let them be ashamed and confounded s For the disappointment of their Hopes and Designs together that seek after my soul k to destroy it let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil t i. e. My Life as Exod. 4. 19. 1 Sam. 20. 1. 15. Let them be desolate u Or amazed or dismayed or overthrown Of such Imprecations I have spoken before for a reward of their shame x i. e. Their sinful and shameful Actions as Shame is put for a shameful Idol Hose 9. 10. and as Fear is oft put for the Evil feared that say unto me Aha aha 16. Let all those that seek thee rejoyce and be glad in thee let such as love thy salvation y Either 〈◊〉 Such as desire and rejoyce in the Salvation and Deliverance which thou givest to me and to others of thy People which was a great Eye-sore and Grieâ—… to the wicked Or 2. Such as expect and seek for their Salvation and Happiness not from Idols nor from their wicked Courses nor from any Creatures as other men do but from the onely and gladly accept and embrace that Salvation which 〈◊〉 hast promised together with the Conditions required to it to wit Faith and Repentance Or 3. Such as love thy Messias upon whom both David's and other Holy Proâ—… and Saints Thoughts and Affections were much fixed a is Evident from many places of Scripture as Ioh. 8. 58. Act. 2. 30 31. 1 Pet. 1. 10 11. who is called the desire of all Nâ—…tions Hagg. 2. 7. and the Glory and Consolation of Israel Luk. 2 25. 32 yea and by the very Title here used God's Salvation Isa. 62. 11. Luk. 2. 30. whose appearance or coming the Godly of all Ages did Love and long for and of whom David had so lately and clearly spoken v. 6 7. c. All which considered this cannot seem a forced or very far fetched Intepretation say continually The LORD be magnified z Let them have continual Occasion to magnifie God for his Mercies vouchsafed to them 17. But I am poor and needy yet the LORD thinketh upon me thou art my help and my deliverer make no tarrying O my God PSAL. XLI The ARGUMENT
And so God's Blessing him with such solid and everlasting Blessings is noted as the Cause of this singular Beauty and Grace here expressed God hath blessed thee for ever 3. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh o Either 1. As an Ensign of Royal Majesty But that is usually and much better expressed in Scripture by putting a Crown upon his head Or rather 2. As an Instrument for War and Battel to smite his Enemies as it is declared v. 4 5. And the Sword is here put Synecdochically for all his Arms as it is in many other places as appears from v. 5. where we read also of his Arrows And this Sword of the Messiâ—…s is nothing else but the Word of God coming out of his Mouth which is fitly Compared to a Sword as may appear from Isa. 49. 2. Eph. 6. 17. Heb. 4. 12. Revel 1. 16. which is elsewhere called the Rod of his Mouth Isa. 11. 4 and the Rod of his Power Psal. 110. 2. O most mighty with thy glory and thy majesty p Or which is thy Glory and thy Majesty Or magnificence or Beauty For these Words are joyned with the Snord by way of apposition Which Sword or Word is the great Instrument of maintaining and propagating thy Honour and Glory and Kingdom 4. And in thy majesty q Being thus gloriously or magnificently girt and Armed †Heb. Prosper thou Ride thou ride prosperously r March on speedily which is signified by Riding and successfully against tâ—…ine Enemies i. e. Thou shalt do so as it is in the last Clause shall teach thee So Imperatives are ofâ—… put for Futures and Predictions are expressed in the form of Commands or Exhortations because of truth and meekness and righteousness s Or because of thy Truth c. i. e. Because thou art worthy of this Dominion and Success for thou neither didst obtain nor wilt manage thy Kingdom by Deceit or Violence and unrighteousness as the Princes of the Earth â—…requently do but with Truth and Faithfulness with Meekness and Gentleness towards thy People and to all that shall submit to thee with impartial Justice and Equity whereby thy Throne will be established Prov. 16. 12. and 20. 28. Or as it is in the Hebrew Word for Word upon the â—…ord of Truth c. which may seem best to suit with the foregoing Words which according to the Hebrew are Prosper thou Ride thou and then immediately follows upon the Word of Truth c. To wit the Gospel which is oft called Truth as Ioâ—… 8. 32. Col. 1. 5 c. and the word of Truth Eph 1. 13. and may no less truly be called the Word of Meekness because it is not delivered with Terror as the Law was at Sinai but meekly and sweetly by Christ and by his Ministers Mat. 21. 5. 2 Tim 2. 25. and the Word of Righteousness because it brings in everlasting Righteousness Dan. 9. 24. and strongly obligeth and excitâ—… all Men to the Practise of Righteousness and Holiness And so the Gospel is Compared to an Horse or Chariot upon which Christ is said to ride when the Gospel is Preached and carried about from place to place Revel 19. 11. And this may be here added to shew the great difference between the Kingdoms of the World that are managed with outward Pomp and Glory and the Kingdom of Christ which is a spiritual Kingdom and like a Spouse v. 13. all Glorious within as Conssisting in spiritual Vertues and Graces Truth Meekness and Righteousness and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things t i. e. Thou â—…alt do great and glorious Exploits which shall be Grievous and Terrible to thine Enemies as the next Verse explains it and this not by great Forces and the Assistance of others but by thine own single Power Compare Isa. 63. 3. Which doth by no means agree to Solomon who was a man of Peace and not ingaged in any martial Actions against his Enemies and if he had done any thing Considerable in that kind he could not do it by his own Right hand but by the Help of his Souldiers But this doth excellently agree to the Messias and to him onely Obâ—… The things which were done by the Messias at his first Coming were rather Comfortable than Terrible Ans. They were indeed Comfortable to all good Men but withal they were Terrible to the ungodly and particularly to the Body of the Jewish Nation to whom Christ was a Stone of stumbling and Rock of offence and an Occasion of their utter Destruction And upon that and other Accounts not onely Christ's second but even his first Coming is represented as dreadful as Ioâ—…l 2. 30. Mal. 3. 2. and elsewhere For the Phrase thy Right hand shall â—…each thee it is not to be taken Properly for so he taught his Hand and not his Hand him but the meaning is that his Hand should show him i. e. Discover and work before him for Verbal words are oft understood Really as Calling is put for Being as Isa. 1. 26. and 9. 6. so teaching or shewing is put for doing as Psal. 16. last and 60. 3. 5. Thine arrows u The same thing for Substance with the Sword v. 3. both noting the Instruments by which he Conquers his Enemies which is no other than his Word which is sharp and powerful and pierceth the Hearts of Men Heb. 4. 12. which also first wounds Sinners and then heals them and which is for the Fall as well as for the Rising of many Luk. 2. 34 and for Iudgment as well as for Mercy Ioh. 9. 39. to some a Savour of Death and to others a Savour of Life 2 Cor. 2. 16. and therefore is fitly Compared to Arrows which Title is sometimes given to words as Psal 64. 4. and frequently to God's Plagues or Judgments Deut. 32. 23. Psal. 18. 14. and 64. 7. such as the Word becomes to ungodly Men by their own Fault And these Metaphorical Weapons are oft ascribed to Christ who hath a Bow Revel 6. 2. and Weapons of Warfare 2 Cor. 10. 4. and whose Mouth God is said to make a Sword and an Arrow Isa 49. 2. are sharp in the heart of the kings enemies x i. e. Of thine Enemies the third Person being put for the second as is usual in Prophetical Writings which here may seem to have some Emphasis as describing the Persons against whom he shot his Arrows and the Reason why he did so because they were the Enemies of his Kingdom and would not have him to Reign over them Luk. 19. 27. whereby the people fall under thee y Either as slain by thine Arrows Or as prostrate at thy Feet after the manner of Conquered Persons Psal. 18. 38. and 20. 8. According to this and many other Translations the Words are Transplaced which in the Hebrew lye thus Thine Arrows are sharp whereby the People do fall under thee in the Heart i. e. in the midst which is oft called
to God for all their hard Speeches and unrighteous decrees against him 2. Yea in heart d Or with your Heart with free choice and Consent and not onely by Constraint and out of Compliance with Saul ye work wickedness ye * Psal. 78. 57. weigh the violence of your hands e Or you weigh Violence or injustice with your Hands The Phrase of weighing hath respect to their Office which was to administer Justice which is usually expressed by a pair of Ballances So he intimates that they did great wrong under the pretence and with the Formalities of Justice and whilst they seemed exactly to weigh and consider the true and fit Proportion between the Actions and the Recompences alloted to them they turned the Scale and Partly to curry Favour with Saul and Partly from their own Malice against David pronounced an unjust Sentence against him in the earth f Or in this Land where God is present and where you have righteous Laws to govern you and you profess better things 3. The wicked are estranged g Either 1. Hyperbolically even from their tender years Or 2. Strictly and Properly So the Sence is No wonder they Act so unrighteously for their very Natures and Principles are corrupt even from their Birth They are the wicked off-spring of sinful Parents And this Hereditary and Native corruption though too common to all Men he particularly ascribes to these Men Either because their immediate Parents were such as did not onely Convey a corrupt Nature to them but greatly improved it by wicked Counsel and Example Or because they themselves had improved that stock of Original Corruption and instead of mortifying it had made it their great Design and Constant business to gratifie and obey it from the womb h By actual sins the Fruit of their Original sin †â—… Heb. speaketh of Lyes they go astray * Go astray from the Belly as soon they be born i From their Child-hood as soon as ever they were capable of the Exercise of Reason and the Practise of sinning speaking lyes f To wit from God Eph. 4. 18. and from all Goodness 4. * 〈◊〉 140. 3. Their poison k Their virulent and Malicious Disposition is †〈◊〉 10. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 likeâ—… like the poison of a serpent l Partly in it self being natural and inveterate and incurable and Partly in its most pernicious Effects they are like the deaf ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adder that stoppeth her ear 5. Which will not hearken to * 〈◊〉 3. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the voyce of charmers charming never so wisely m This similitude doth neither justifie the Practise of Charming which in the very Word here used is Condemned Deut. 18. 11. no more than those which are drawn from unjust Steward Luk. 16. 1. c. and 18. 2. c. and from a Thief Revel 16. 15. nor yet affirm the Truth of what is Reported concerning the Asps or Adders are said to lay one Ear close to the ground and to cover the other with their Tail that so they may avoid the Danger of Enchantment but onely was taken from the common Opinion which he Poetically mentions to this purpose As they commonly say of the Asps or Adders c. such really are these Men Deaf to all my Consels and to the Dictates of their own Consciences and to the Voyce of Gods Law And yet of the Charming or inchanting of Serpents mention is made both in other places of Scripture as Eccles. 10. 11. Ier. 8. 17. and in all sorts of Authors Antient and Modern Hebrew and Arabick and Greek and Latin Of which see my Latin Synopsis And particularly the Arabick Writers to whom these Creatures were best known name some sorts of Serpents among which the Adder is one which they call Deaf not because they are dull of Hearing but as one of them expressly saith because they will not be Charmed 6. * 〈◊〉 4. 10. Break their teeth n Their Power and Instruments of doing Mischief He mentions Teeth Partly because the Adders poison lyes in its Teeth and Partly to make way for the following Metaphor O God in their mouth break out the great teeth o Called the Grinders which are more sharp and strong than the rest and more used in breaking and tearing what they are about to Eat of the young lions O LORD 7. Let them melt away as waters which run continually p As waters arising from melted Snow or great Showers or some other Extraordinary cause which at first run with great force and Noise and throw down all that stands in their way but are suddenly gone and Run away and Vanish and return no more * 〈◊〉 64. 3. when he q To wit any or every one of mine Enemies as appears from the foregoing and following Words bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows let them be as cut in pietes r i. e. Like Arrows broken asunder whilst a Man shoots which can do no hurt 8. As a snail which melteth s Which thrusts forth and seems to Threaten with its Horns but is quickly dissolved For when it goes out of its shell it spends its Vital moisture until by degree it waste away and Perish let every one of them pass away * 〈◊〉 3. 16. like the untimely birth of a woman that they may not see the sun t Which indeavouring violently and unseasonably to break forth from the Womb is choaked in the Attempt and doth not Live to see the Light of the Sun 9. Before your pots can feel the thorns u i. e. The heat of the Fire kindled by the Thorns put under them for that purpose Before your Pots can be thoroughly heated he shall take them x To wit mine Enemies Whose sudden Destruction he describes under this similitude away as with a whirlwind y i. e. Violently and irresistibly †〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 wrath both living and in his wrath z Heb. as Living i. e. Alive as he did Korah Numb 16. the Particle as being here not a Note of similitude but of Truth or Asseveration as it is Ioh. 1 14. and oft elsewhere as hath been noted as in which Proposition is frequently understood Urath i. e. As a Man moved with great Wrath destroys his Enemy without Mercy and is ready to devour him alive if it were possible Or both that which is raw as the Hebrew word Chai signifies Levit. 13. 16. 1 Sam. 2. 15. to wit the raw Flesh which is supposed to be put into the Pot that it may be boyled and the burning Fire There is indeed great Variety of Construction and Interpretation of these Hebrew words which is not strange especially considering the Conciseness of the Hebrew Language and that this is a proverbial Speech nor is it of any great importance because it is not in any great point of Faith and
because the Sence of it is agreed the onely difference being about the manner and ground of the Phrase The learned Reader may see more upon this place in my Latin Synopsis 10. The righteous shall rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance * i. e. The Vengeance of God upon his implacable Enemies not simply for himself but for the Blessed Effects of it The Vindication of God's Honour and the Deliverance of himself and of all good Men. he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked ‖ i. e. There shall be so great a slaughter of his Enemies that he might if he so pleased wash his Feet in their Blood See the same or like Expressions Psal. 68. 23. Isa. 63. 3. Revel 14. 20. 11. So that a man shall say Verily there is †Heb. Fruit of the c. a reward for the righteous verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth †And these Administrations of God's Providence shall be so Evident and Convincing that not onely good Men shall be sensible thereof but any man that sees them yea even such as were apt to Dispute or doubt of Gods Providence shall upon this Eminent occasion break forth into such Exclamations as this Now I see that Religion is not a Vain and unprofitable thing and that there is a God who doth now observe and Govern and when he sees fit judgeth the Inhabitants of the Earâ—…h and will hereafter judge the whole World in righteousness and Recompence every man according to his Works PSAL. LIX THE ARGUMENT The Matter and design of this Psalm is the same in general and for Substance with the former to wit a Declaration of the Cruelty and Treachery of his Enemies and a Prayer to God to deliver him out of their hands To the chief musician ‖ Or destroy not a Golden Psalm of David Al-taschith Michtam of David * 1 Sam. 19. 11. Psal. 57. Tit. when Saul sent and they watched the house to kill him 1. * Psal. 18. 48. DEliver me from mine enemies a He chiefly understands Saul but speaks in the plural Number out of Reverence to his King and that he might as far as he could in Truth derive the Envy and Hatred of these odious Practises upon those that were about him as he doth 1 Sam. 26. 19. and elsewhere O my God †Heb. set me on high defend me from them that rise up against me 2 Deliver me from all the workers of iniquity and save me from bloody men 3. For lo they lye in wait for my soul the mighty are gathered against me not for my transgression nor for my sin O LORD b Without any Provocation or Cause given them by me I am a sinner before thee O Lord but I have done them no injury 4. They run c To and fro first to receive Saul's Commands and then to Execute them with all speed and Diligence and prepare themselves d Or dispose themselves here and there round about my House that they may Catch me when I go out of it without my fault awake †Heb. to meet me to help me e Heb. to meet me as I come abroad and to Conduct me away with Safety and behold 5. Thou therefore O LORD God of hosts the God of Israel f A God in Covenant with all true Israelites whom thou hast promised to Protect and Bless awake to visit all the heâ—…then g Or these Heathen or Gentiles Who though they are called and accounted Israelites by their Birth yet in Truth and in their Dispositions and manners are meer Heathens and Barbarians In which respect such Men are elsewhere called Strangers Psal. 54. 3. Men of Sodom and Gomorrah Isa. 1. 10. and as Ethiopians Amos 9. 7. As among us ungodly Christians are oft called Iews or Turks or Heathens be not merciful h For indeed thou canst not with thine Honour nor according to thy Word be merciful to any such incorrigible Offenders to any wicked transgressors i Or perfiâ—…ious Transgressors such as persecute me and other good Men out of Malice and against their now Consciences which tell them that I am innocent and with Pretences of Friendship He might well pray so Vehemently against such not onely for his own Preservation but for the just and necessary Vindication of God's Honour and for the publick good of Mankind whose common Interest it was that such vile Miscreants should be taken out of the way Selah 6. They return at evening k After they have been busie all day Either in Plotting against me or in hunting after me in the Evening when they should Compose themselves to rest they return to their old Trade of Watching for me Which they did at this time all the Night long 1 Sam. 19. 11. they make a noise like a dog l Either when he is Hungry and pursuing his prey and howls for Meat Or when he is enraged and Grins and Snarles where he cannot or dare not Bite and go round about the city m When they did not find him in his own House they sought for him in other Houses and parts of the City where they supposed him to lurk 7. Behold they belch out n Or they your forth to wit Words for what else should come out of the Mouth Even sharp and bitter Words as the next Clause explains it abundantly and Vehemently as a Fountain doth Waters as this Word signifies See Prov. 15. 28. Ier. 6. 7. with their mouth swords o i. e. Words as keen and mischievous as Swords as Psal. 55. 21. and 57. 4. are in their lips for * Psal. 10. 11. 73. 11. 94. 7. who say they doth hear p David doth not hear us Either to discover and so to prevent our Plots or to punish us for them and God either doth not hear or not Regard what we say and do against David And therefore we may speak and Act what we think fit 8. But thou O LORD * Psal. 2. 4. 37. 13. shalt laugh at them q Disappoint their high Confidences and hopeful Designs ' and then deride them and make them Ridiculous and Contemptible to others thou shalt have all the heathen in derision 9. Because of his strength r i. e. Saul's strength Because he is too strong for me Or rather O my strength as it is v. 17. And all those Antient and venerable Translators the LXX and Chalde and Vulgar Latin render it my Strength In the Hebrew it is his Strength i. e. David's For David speaks of himself in the third Person as he oft doth And such sudden Changes of Persons are usual both in these poetical Books as hath been noted before and elsewhere as Dan 9. 4. Mich. 1. 2. will I wait upon thee for God is †Heb. my high place my defence 10. The God of my mercy s i. e. The Giver of all
An Old and Proud and insolent and cruel Enemy of Israel will I cast out my shoe f i. e. I will use them like Slaves Either holding forth my Shoes that they may pluck them off or throwing my Shoes at them Either in Anger or Contempt as the manner of many Masters was and is in such Cases Other I will take Possession of them which was done by Trading upon their Land Or I will tread upon their Necks as they did in like Case Ios. 10. 24. But these Notions suit not with this Phrase of casting or throwing the Shoe Philistia ‖ Or Triumph thou over me by an Irony triumph thou because of me g Or over me as thou didst in former years use to Triumph and insult over the poor Israelites It is an ironical Expression signifying that her Triumphs were come to an End 9 Who will bring me h None can do it but God as he declareth in the following Verses into the †Heb. City of strength strong city i i. e. The Cities the singular Number for the plural which is usual Having beaten his Enemies out of the Field and into their strong Cities from whence they hoped to renew the War he desires God's Assistance whereby he may take their strong Holds and so secure himself from further Attempts against him * Psal. 108. 10. who will lead me into Edom k Which was an high and Rocky Country Obad. v. 3 fortified by Nature as well as by Art and therefore not to be invaded and subdued without a divine Hand 10 Wilt not thou O God which * Psal. 44. 9. 108. 11. hadst cast us off and thou O God which didst not go out with our armies l To wit in former times but now hast graciously returned to us He brings to his own and peoples Minds their former Calamities that they may be more thankful for present Mercies and Deliverances 11 Give us help from trouble for vain is the †Heb. Salvation help of man m. 12 Through God * â—… 〈◊〉 19. 23. we shall do valiantly for he it is that shall tread down our enemies n Though I have some Reputation for Valour and Conduct and though my People are very Numerous and now united under me yet all this will avail little or nothing without thy Almighty help PSAL. LXI To the chief musician upon Neginah a Psalm of David The occasion of this Psalm was some great Distress of David's Either by Saul or by Absalom though it might be Composed some time after it was past 1 HEar my cry O God attend unto my prayer 2 From the end of the earth a Or rather of the Land To which David was driven by the Tyranny of his Enemies will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the rock that is higher than I b Convey me into some high and secure Fortress which I could not reach without thy Succour and where mine Enemies cannot come at me He alludes to their Custom of securing themselves in Rocks 1 Sam. 13. 6. c. 3 For thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy 4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever c I shall I doubt not be restored to the Tabernacle from which I am now banished and according to the desire of my Heart worship and enjoy thee there all my days I will ‖ Or make my Refuge trust in the covert of thy wings d In the mean time whilst I am in Danger and Trouble I will cast my self upon thy Protection with full Confidence Selah 5 For thou O God hast heard my vows e My servent Prayers attended with many Vows and Promises as was usual especially in Cases of great Danger or Difficulty Gen. 28. 20. Iudg. 11. 30 31. thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name f Thou hast alloted me my Portion with and amongst them that Fear and Worship thee who are the Excellent ones in whom is all my Delight And upon that Account I must acknowledge it to thy Praise that the Lines are fallen to me in Pleasant places Yea I have a goodly Heritage Psal. 16. 3. 6. Thou hast granted me this singular Mercy to live in God's Land and to enjoy his Presence and Favour and to Worship in his Tabernacle which is the Heritage that I and all that Fear thee prize and desire above all things in the World 6 †Heb. thou shalt add days to the days of the King Thou wilt prolong the kings life g i. e. My Life He calls himself King Either 1. Because he was actually King though Absalom Usurped the Throne Or 2. Because he was designed and anointed to be King and by calling himself King he supports himself under his present straits and declares his Confidence in God's promise of the Kingdom to him Yet we must not think that David did commonly and publickly Call or own himself to be King which had neither been True nor Covenient for his Affairs But this Psalm either was not Composed whilst Saul lived or at least was Penned onely for his private use and Comfort and not Committed to the chief Musician which indeed it could not be till David had the Kingdom and the Inspection of the sacred Musick and service of the Tabernacle and his years h i. e. The years of my Life and Reign †Heb. as Generation and Generation as many generations i As long as if I had a Lease of it for many Ages Thus he speaks Partly because his Kingdom was not like Saul's a matter of one Age expiring with his Life but Established to him and his Heirs for ever and Partly because Christ his Son and Heir should actually and in his own Person possess the Kingdom for ever 7 He shall abide k Or sit to wit in the Throne Ier 13. 13. Living and Ruling as in God's Presence and serving God with his Royal Power and Worshiping him in his Tabernacle before God l for ever O prepare m Or Order or appoint as this Word signifies Ionah 1. 17. and 4. 6. * Pro. 20. 28. mercy and truth n Either 1. The graces of Mercy or Compassion and Truth or Faithfulness which are the great supporters of Thrones Prov. 20. 28. and 29. 14. Or rather 2. Thy Mercy and Truth i. e. The Effects of them Thy Truth in giving me those Mercies which thou hast promised to me and thy Mercy in giving me such further Blessings as I need and thou â—…eest fit to give me which may preserve him 8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever that I may daily perform my vows o That so I may pay unto thee those Services and Sacrifices which I vowed to thee when I was in Trouble PSAL. LXII The ARGUMENT This Psalm was made in a time of great Danger
and full of Corn shall when they are shaken with the Wind make a noise not unlike that which the tops of the Trees of 〈◊〉 sometimes make upon the like occasion Which Expressions as well as many others of the like Nature in the Prophets being applied to Christ are to be understood in a spiritual Sence of the great and happy Success of the Preaching of the Gospel and they of the city n The Citizens of Ierusalem which are here Synedochically put for the Subjects of this Kingdom shall flourish like grass of the earth o Shall both encrease in number that there may be mouths to receive the Meat provided and enjoy great Prosperity and Happiness 17 His Name p The Honour and Renown of his eminent Wisdom and Justice and Goodness Which agrees but very obscurely and imperfectly to Solomon who sâ—…ained the Glory of his Reign by his prodigious Luxury and Oppression and Apostacy from God into which he â—…ell in the latter part of his days †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall endure for ever †〈…〉 his Name shall be continued q Or shall be Propagated or Transmitted to his Chilâ—… Which suits much better to Christ from whom we are called Christians than to Solomon as long as the Sun r Heb. 〈◊〉 the Sâ—… Either 1. Publickly and in the Face of the Sun Or. 2. Perpetually as a constant and inseparable Companion of the Sun as long as the Sun it self shall continue See before on v. 5. and * Gen. 12 3. 22. 1â—… men shall be blessed in him s Either 1. As a Pattern of Blessedness When any man shall with well to a King he shall say The Lord make thee like Solomon See on Gen. 22. 18. Or rather 2. As the Cause of it by and through his Merits and Mediation all nations shall call him blessed 18 Blessed be the LORD God the God of Israel who onely doth wondrous things t Who hath given to his People such a Glorious and excellent King and Governour and such wonderful Blessings as they do and shall enjoy under his Government 19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever and let the whole earth be filled with his glory u Heb. The whole Earth shall be filled with his Glory For this may be either a Prayer for or a Prophecy of the spreading of the true Religion in the Gentile-World Which evidently relates to Christ and his Kingdom Amen and amen 20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended x This Psalm is called the last of David's Psalms which are called Prayers because they consist very much of Prayers Either 1. The last of that part or Book of the Psalms which reacheth from the beginning of the Psalms hitherto whereof the far greatest number were Composed by David and all of them digested into this Order the rest of which follow being Collected by some other holy Man or Men of God after David's Death and Composed part by David and part by other Prophets Or rather 2. The last Psalm which David Composed For this was done but a little before his Death of which see the first Note on this Psalm PSAL. LXXIII The ARGUMENT The Subject of this Psalm is the same with Psal. 37. concerning the promiscuous Carriage of God's Providence towards good and bad Men. ‖ Or a Psalm for Asaph A Psalm of Asaph a Or for Asaph the famous Musician to whom divers of David's Psalms were Committed as Psal. 50. 1. c. But because Asaph was not onely a skilful Musician but also was Divinely inspired and the Author of some Psalms as is manifest from 2 Chron. 29. 30. and the style of this Psalm may seem to be something differing from that of David it may be thought not improbable that Asaph was the Author or Pen-man of it 1. â—… TRuly b Or 〈◊〉 The beginning is abrupt and sufficiently â—…tes that he had a great conflict within himself about this Matter and that many doubts and Objections were raised in his mind concerning it But at last he breaks forth like the Sun out of a Cloud and having by God's Grace silenced and Conquered his scruples he lays down this following Conclusion God is good to Israel c Though he may sometimes seem negligent of and harsh and severe to his People yet if all things be considered it is most certain and another day will be made manifest that God is Really and Superlatively good i. e. Most kind and bountiful and a true Friend to them and that they are most happy in him and have no Reason to Envy sinners their present and seeming Felicity even to ‖ Or 〈◊〉 such as are †Heb. clean of 〈◊〉 of a clean heart d To all true Israelites who love God with their whole Heart and serve him in Spirit and Truth and uprightness See Iob. 4. 43. Rom. 2. 28 29. So this Clause limits the former and takes off a great part of the force of the Objection even all that concerns the Calamities which befel the profane or False-hearted Israelites which were vastly the greatest number of that People 2 But as for me e Yet I must acknowledge this with grief and shame concerning my self notwithstanding all my Knowledge of this Truth and my own Experience and Observation of God's gracious dealings with me and other good Men. my feet were almost gone f My Faith in God's Promises and Providence was almost overthrown by the force of this Temptation and I was almost ready to repent of my Piety v. 13. and to follow the example of ungodly Men. my steps had well nigh slipt g Heb. Were almost poured forth like Water upon the ground which is unstable and Runs hither and thither with great disorder and uncertainty till it be irrecoverably lost So was I almost Transported by my own unruly Passionâ—… into unworthy Thoughts of God and a sinful Course of Life 3 * 〈◊〉 21. 7. Psal. 37. 1. Jer. 12. 1. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked h I grudged and murmured at it and had a secret Desire to partake of their Delicates 4 For there are no bands in their death i They are not dragged to Death neither by the Hand and Sentence of the Magistrate which yet they deserve nor by any lingring and grievous Torments of Mind or Body which is the Case of many good Men but they enjoy a sweet and quiet Death dropping into the Grave like ripe Fruit from the Tree without any Violence used to them Compare Iob 5. 26. and 21. 13. but their strength is †Heb. Fat firm k Heb. and their strength is fat i. e. Sound and good the best of any thing being called Fat in Scripture as Gen. 41. 2. Dâ—…n 1. 15. And in their Life-time they have great Ease and Health and Content till they expire like a
from the Babylonish Captivity wherein he partly gives God thanks for that glorious deliverance and partly implores God's mercy in compleating that work and rescuing his People from the Relicks of their Bondage and from the vexation which they had by their Neighbours after they were returned to Canaan To the chief musician A Psalm ‖ Or of for the sons of Korah 1 LORD thou hast been ‖ Or well pleased favourable unto thy land a i. e. unto thy People in removing the sad effects of thy displeasure thou hast brought back the captivity b The Captives as that Word is used Psal. 14. 7. and 68. 18. and elsewhere of Jacob. 2 * Psal. 32. 1 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people thou hast covered all their sin Selah c So as not-to impute it to them or to continue the punishment which thou didst inflict upon them for it 3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath d Those Calamities which were the effects of thy just wrath conceived against us ‖ Or thou hast turned thine anger from waxsag hot thou hast turned thy self from the fierceness of thine anger 4 Turn us e Either 1. Convert us As thou hast brought back our bodies to thy Land so bring back our hearts to thy self from whom many of them to this day are alienated Or rather 2. Restore us to our former tranquillity and free us from the troubles which we yet groan under from our malicious Neighbours and Enemies For this best suits with the following Clause of the Verse which commonly explains the former O God of our salvation and cause thine anger towards us to cease f He prudently indeavours to take away the root and cause of their continued miseries to wit God's anger procured by their sins 5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations 6 Wilt thou not revive us again g Thou hast once revived us in bringing us out of Captivity give us a second reviving in bringing home the rest of our Brethren and in rebuking and restraining the Remainder of our Enemies wrath that thy people may rejoyce in thee 7 Shew us h i. e. Grant it to us as the next words explain it and as shewing signifies Psal. 4. 6. So also Psal. 60. 3. and 71. 20. Or manifest thy secret purpose of mercy to us by thy providential Dispensations thy mercy O LORD and grant us thy salvation 8 I will hear i i. e. Diligently observe And the Psalmist by declaring what he would do teacheth all the Israelites what they ought to do Or he speaks in the name of all the People of God what God the LORD will speak k Either by his Prophets or Messengers or by the works of his providence for that also hath a voice What Answer God will give to these my Prayers for * Zech. 9. 1â—… he will speak peace l For I am assured from God's gracious nature and declared will and promise that he will give an answer of peace unto his people and to his saints m Which Clause seems to be added by way of explication and restriction to shew that this glorious privilege did not belong to all that were called God's people but onely to those that were truly and really such even to his saints or holy ones but let them not turn again to folly n i. e. To sin which in Scripture is commonly called folly This is added as a necessary caution but when God shall speak peace to his People let them not grow wanton and secure nor return to their former wicked courses which if they do they will provoke God to repent of his kindness to them and to inflict further and sorer judgments upon them Others render the place And they will not or That they may not return to folly But the Particle al being prohibitive our Translation seems to be better 9 Surely his salvation o That compleat salvation and deliverance for which all the Israel of God do pray and wait even the Redemption of Israel by the Messiah of which not only Christian but even Jewish Writers understand this place and to which the following passage do most properly and perfectly belong And the Psalmist might well say of this Salvation that it was nigh because the seventy weeks determined by Daniel for this work Chap. 9. 24. were now begun this Psalm being written after Daniel's time is nigh them that fear him p The true Israel of God even all those that love and fear him By which words he both excludes all hypocritical Israelites from this salvation and tacitly assigns it to all that fear God whether Jews or Gentiles that * Zech. 2. â—… glory may dwell in our Land q And when that Salvation shall come we shall be freed from all that scorn and contempt under which we now groan and shall recover our ancient glory and the glorious presence of God the most eminent tokens whereof we have now utterly lost and the God of Glory himself even Christ who is called the brightness of his Father's glory Heb. 1. 3. comp Ioh. 1. 14. and the glory of Israel Luk. 2. 32. shall come and visibly dwell in this now despised Land 10 Mercy and truth are met together righteousness and peace r This is to be understood either 1. Of these Graces or Vertues in men So the sence is when that blessed time shall come those Virtues which now seem to be banished from humane Societies shall be restored and there shall be an happy conjunction of mercy or benignity truth or veracity righteousness or faithfulness and peace or peaceableness and concord Or rather 2. Of the Blessings of God of which the whole Context speaks And the sence is That great Work of Redemption by Christ shall clearly manifest and demonstrate God's mercy in redeeming his People of Israel and in the calling and conversion of the Gentiles his truth in fulfilling that great promise of the sending of his Son which is the Foundation of all the rest his righteousness in punishing sin or unrighteousness in his Son and in conferring righteousness upon guilty and lost creatures and his peace or reconciliation to sinners and that peace of conscience which attends upon it kave kissed each other s As Friends use to do when they meet See Exod. 4. 27. and 18. 7. So this is another expression of the same thing 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth t Either 1. Truth among men which shall be so common amongst all men as if it grew out of the earth Or rather 2. The truth or faithfulness of God which is most truly and fitly said to spring out of the earth partly because it had long been hid and buried like a root in a dry ground without any hopes of a reviving from whence yet God made it to grow as is noted Isa.
necessarily hear The truth of the inference depends upon that evident and undeniable principle in reason that nothing can give to another that which it hath not either formally or more eminently in it self and that no effect can exceed the vertue of its cause he that formed n By which word he seems to intimate the accurate and most curious workmanship of the Eye which is observed by all that write upon that subject the eye shall he not see 10 He that chastiseth the heathen shall not he correct m He who when he pleaseth can and doth punish the Gentiles or Nations of the World is he not able to punish you for your wicked speeches and actions Or He that instructeth or teacheth as this word signifies Prov. 9. 7. Isa. 8. 11. c. the nations not onely the Jews but all other people all mankind as this clause is explained by the next he that teacheth man knowledge shall not he correct or reprove and therefore must not he discern and know all your hard speeches and wicked actions Thus the consequent seems to be put for the antecedent as is frequent in Scripture and that not without emphasis to Imply that God does not know their sins with a simple or speculative knowledge but so as to proceed upon that knowledge to judge and punish them he that teacheth man knowledge n By giving him understanding and the knowledge of many excellent things by the light of nature shall not he know o To wit mens thoughts of which see v. 11. and their words and actions of which he spoke v. 6 7. These words are not in the Hebrew Text but are easily understood out of the foregoing clause And the like defects we find elsewhere as 2 Sam. 5. 8. comp with 1 Chron. 11. 6. especially in vehement commotions of the mind when a mans passion stops his speech as it is here and Psal. 6. 3. and in other Authors 11 * 1 Cor. 3. 20. The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man p This is an answer to the foregoing Question shall not he know Yes he knoweth all things yea even the most secret things as the thoughts of men and in particular your atheistical thoughts and much more doth he know your wicked practices which you said he did not see v. 6 7. And he knows that they are generally vain and foolish and that whilest you mock God and applaud your selves in such thoughts you do not relieve but onely delude your selves with them that they are vanity 12 * Heb. 12. 11. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O LORD and teachest him out of thy Law q And whereas these ungodly persons esteem themselves the onely happy men and conclude thy people to be of all men the most miserable because of the manifold persecutions and afflictions which they commonly suffer and upon this account dispute against thy providence so far is their opinion from the truth that the contrary is most certain that as their prosperity is a real mischief to them so those afflictions of good men which are accompanied with divine instructions are great and true blessings to them themselves being judges 13 That thou may'st give him rest from the days of adversity until the pit be digged for the wicked r For their present and short troubles prepare them for and lead them to true rest and blessedness whilest the seeming felicities of the wicked make way for those tremendous judgments which God hath prepared for them 14 * 1 Sam. 12. 22. Rom. 11. 1 2. For the LORD will not cast off his people s Though God may for a time correct his people yet he will not utterly destroy them as he will their Enemies but will in his time put an end to all their Calamities neither will he forsake his inheritance 15 But judgment shall return unto righteousness t But although the World is now full of unrighteous judgments and even God himself seems not to judge and administer things justly because he suffers his people to be oppressed and the wicked to triumph over them yet the state of things shall be otherwise ordered God will declare himself to be a righteous Judge and will advance and establish justice in the earth and especially among his people and all the upright in heart †Heb. shall be after it shall follow it u To wit just judgment restored they will all approve of it and imitate this justice of God in all their actions whereas the wicked will still do wickedly as is said Dan. 12. 10. and in a land and state of uprightness will deal unjustly and will not behold the majesty of the lord as it is Isa. 26. 10. Oth. shall follow him to wit the Lord expressed v. 14. whose act it is to bring judgment to justice Whilest the wicked forsake God these will cleave to him as being confident that howsoever he may suffer them to be oppressed for a season yet he will in due time plead their cause and bring forth their righte ousness 16 Who will rise up for me x To defend and help me I looked hither and thither ' and called to my Friends for their help saying who will c But none of them appeared but God alone helped me as he saith in the next Verse against the evil doers or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity 17 Unless the LORD had been my help my soul had ‖ Or quickly almost dwelt * Psal. 115. 17. in silence y In the place of silence to wit the grave Compare Iob 3. 17 18. Psal. 88. 13. and 115. 17. 18 When I said My foot slippeth z I am now upon the point of falling into mischief and utter destruction thy mercy O LORD held me up 19 In the multitude of my thoughts a Whilest my heart was filled with various and perplexing thoughts as this Hebrew word signifies and tormented with cares and fears about my future state within me thy comforts b Thy promises contained in thy word and set home by thy spirit upon my soul and the remembrance of my former experiences of thy care and kindness to me Comp. Psal. 119. 50 76. delight my soul. 20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee c Wilt thou take part with the unrighteous powers of the World who oppress thy people It is true they partake of thy name being called gods Psal. 82. 1. but I know thou wilt not afford them thy Protection and Patronage but wilt manifest thy justice and displeasure against them This seems to have been one of those comfortable thoughts wherewith the Psalmist delighted his soul as he now said which * Isai. 10. 1. frameth mischief d Who devise wicked devices and lay heavy burdens upon men that are more righteous than themselves by a law e Either by vertue of those
those works his providence towards his people as it is expressed afterwards is * 〈◊〉 honour 〈◊〉 glory honourable and glorious g Becoming the Divine Majesty and bringing glory to him from all that observe and consider it and his righteousness h His justice or faithfulness in performing his word endureth for ever i Hath always been and will still be evident to his people in all generations and in all conditions even when he afflicts them and seems to deal most severely and to break his promise with them 4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembred k Either 1. by those memorials which he hath left of them in his Word or rather 2. by their own wonderful nature and the lasting effects and benefits flowing from them which are such as cannot easily be forgotten the LORD is gracious and full of compassion l Towards his people as appears from his works and carriage towards us in sparing and pardoning and restoring and preserving us when we have deserved to be utterly destroyed 5 He hath given * Heb. prey meat m Which includes all necessary provisions for their being and well-being The word signifies spoil and so may relate to the spoil of the Egyptians granted by God to the Israelites but it is sometimes used for food as Prov. 31. 15. Mal 3. 10. unto them that fear him n To the Israelites the onely people in the world which feared and worshipped the true God according to his will and especially to those among them that truly feared God and for their sakes to the body of that Nation as well in the Wilderness as in their following straits and miseries he will ever be n Or he hath ever been for both in the first branch of this verse and in the foregoing and following verses he is speaking of the former works of God So the Future tense is put for the past as it is frequently and as on the contrary the past tense is oft put for the Future mindful of his covenant o Which he made with Abraham and with his seed for ever whereby he obliged himself to be their God and to provide all necessaries for them 6 He hath shewed p Not onely by words but by his actions his people the power of his works q His mighty power in his works and especially in that which here follows that he may give them the heritage of the heathen r The land of Canaan which had been possessed and inherited by the heathens 7 The works of his hands s All that he doth either on the behalf of his people or against his or their enemies of both which sorts of works he spoke in the foregoing verse are verity and judgment t Are exactly agreeable to his word or promises and to the rules of justice * Psal. 19. 7. all his commandments u Either 1. his Laws given to the Israelites especially the Moral Law considered with its sanction the promises made to the observers of it and the threatnings denounced against transgressors Or 2. his works as it is in the first clause called his Commands because they are done by virtue of his decree and by his power and authority as in like manner God is said to command those blessings which he purposeth to give and doth effectually procure as Deut. 28. 8. Psal. 42. 9. 68. 28. 133. 3. and to command those creatures which he moveth and acteth as he pleaseth as 1 Kings 17. 4. Mat. 8. 27. are sure x Or faithful or certain constant and unchangeable as his Laws are being grounded upon the immurable rules of justice or equity infallible and irresistible as his counsels and ways are 8 * Isa. 40. 8. Mat. 5. 18. They †Heb. are established stand fast y Heb. They are established upon the sure foundations of truth and uprightness as it follows for ever and ever and are done z Constituted or ordered in truth and uprightness 9 He sent redemption a That deliverance out of Egypt which was a type and pledge of that greater and higher redemption by Christ. unto his people he hath commanded b i. e. Appointed or established firmly by his power and authority And so this word is oft used as Psal. 33. 9. 42. 9. 105. 31. 34. See also before on v. 7. the ground of which signification may be taken from hence that the command of a sufficient authority concerning any thing doth commonly establish and effect it his covenant for ever c Through all successive generations of his people to the end of the world for the Covenant is the same for substance in all and differeth onely in circumstances holy and reverend d Terrible to his enemies and venerable in his peoples eyes and holy in all his dealings with all men is his name 10 * Deut. 4. 6. Job 28. 28. Prov. 1. 7. 9. 10. Eccles. 12. 13. The fear of the LORD e Piety or true Religion which consists in the fear or worship and service of God is the beginning of wisdom f Is the onely foundation of and introduction to all true wisdom Or is the chief part of wisdom those things which are most excellent in their kinds being oft said to be first to wit in dignity as Numb 24. 20. Deut. 18. 4 c. and in other Authors And the first command Mark 12. 28. is called the greatest command Mat. 22. 36. ‖ Or good success a good understanding have all they †Heb. that do them Psal. 19. 9. that do his commandments g Heb. that do them to wit Gods commands or the things which the fear of God requireth his praise endureth for ever PSAL. CXII This Psalm containeth a description of a good mans gracious disposition and carriage as also of his blessed condition even in this life as well as in the next 1 * Heb. Hallelujah PRaise ye the LORD Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD a The fear of God as it is mans onely wisdom Psal. 111. 10. so it is his onely way to true happiness that delighted greatly b Who makes it his chief delight care and business to study and obey Gods commandments in his commandments c He intimates that zeal and fervency in Gods service is essential to true piety 2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth the generation d i. e. The posterity as this word is oft used as Levit. 23. 43. Numb 9. 10 c. called his seed in the former branch of the upright shall be blessed 3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house e Possessed by him whilst he lives and continued in his family after his death and his righteousness f i. e. The fruit or reward of his righteousness which is Gods blessing upon his estate for the work is oft put
demean my self in all the varieties of my condition and in all my affairs and actions so as is most agreeable to thy precepts so shall I talk of thy wondrous works a Even the wonders of the Law mentioned before v. 18. 28 My soul †Heb. droppeth melteth b Like wax before the fire it hath no strength nor consistency left in it but consumeth or pineth away for heaviness c Through grief partly for my extreme danger and misery and principally for my sins and thy wrath and terrors following upon them strengthen thou me d That so I may bear my burdens patiently and cheerfully and vanquish all my temptations according unto thy word 29 Remove from me the way of lying e Or of falshood either 1. the practice of lying and dissembling and cheating which is so rise in Sauls Court and in the Courts of most Princes but Lord let it not be so in my Court or rather 2. every false way of doctrine or worship for to this way he opposeth Gods Law in the next clause And he justly prayeth to God to keep him from Apostasie Heresie Idolatry and Superstition because his own corrupt nature of it self and without Gods grace was prone to these errours and not onely Heathens but many Israelites did frequently fall into them and grant me thy law graciously f Vouchsafe unto me an accurate knowledge and firm belief of thy Word and that I may constantly attend and adhere to it and govern my self by it in all things 30 I have chosen the way of truth g To wit thy Word or Law for my portion and the rule of my worship and whole life thy judgments have I laid before me h Or set before me as the Phrase is fully expressed Psal. 16. 8. as a delightful object or as a mark to aim at or as a rule to direct me 31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies i I have resolutely persisted in the practice of thy precepts in spight of all temptations reproaches persecutions and discouragements to which I was exposed in and for so doing O LORD put me not to shame k Either 1. by giving me over to Apostasie or transgression which will bring shame Or rather 2. by the disappointment of my hopes and confidence in those promises of the blessings of this life as well as of the next which thou hast made to the obedient of which I have made my boast 32 I will run the way of thy commandments l I will obey thy precepts with all readiness fervency and diligence when thou shalt enlarge my heart m Either 1. when thou shalt bring me out of my present straits or distresses This indeed is called enlarging as Psal. 4. 2. 18. 36. but never to my remembrance the enlarging of the heart Or rather 2. when thou shalt replenish my heart with more wisdom and love to and delight in thee and thy Law for this enlargement of heart in Scripture is ascribed to wisdom 1 Kings 4. 29. and love 2 Cor. 6. 11. and joy Isa. 60. 5. When thou shalt knock off those fetters of remaining corruption and give me a more noble and generous disposition towards thee and stablish me with thy free Spirit as it is expressed Psal. 51. 12. Thus David both ownes his duty and asserts the absolute necessity of Gods grace to the performance of it HE. 33 Teach me O LORD the way of thy statutes and I shall keep it unto the end n Or that I may keep it c. That I may persevere for Apostasie proceeds from the want of a good understanding 34 Give me understanding and I shall keep thy law yea I shall observe it with my whole heart 35 Make me to go o By directing my mind into the right way by inclining my will and strengthening my resolution in the path of thy commandments for therein do I delight p Forsake not him who delighteth in thee and in thy service and as thou hast wrought in me to will work in me also to do 36 * Psal. 141. 4. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies q To the love and practice of them and not to covetousness r Not to the inordinate love and desire of riches Which particular lust he mentions partly because this lust is most spreading and universal and there is scarce any man who doth not desire riches either for the love of riches or upon pretence of necessity or for the service of pride or luxury or some other lust partly because this lust is most opposite to Gods testimonies and doth most commonly hinder men from receiving Gods word and from profiting by it See Mat. 13. 22. Luke 16. 14. and partly because this lust is most pernicious as being the root of all evil 1 Tim. 6. 20. and is most mischievous in Princes and Governors such as David was and therefore in a special manner forbidden to them Exod. 18. 21. 37 †Heb. make to pass Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity s The vain things and lusts of this present evil world such as riches honours pleasures from beholding them to wit with admiration and inordinate affection for such a sight of the eyes doth usually affect the heart and stir up mens lusts and passions Of which see Numb 15. 39. Iob 31. 1. Prov. 4. 25. 23. 5 6. Mat. 5. 28. and quicken thou me in thy * Ver. 27. way t As I desire that I may be dull and dead in affections to worldly vanities so Lord make me lively and vigorous and servent in thy work and service 38 Stablish thy word u Confirm and perform thy promises as concerning the Kingdom so also for the giving of gracious assistances directions and comforts to those that fear thee of which number I am one unto thy servant who is devoted to thy fear 39 Turn away my reproach x Either 1. for the shameful disappointment of my hopes and confident boastings concerning the truth and certainty of thy promises or 2. for my manifold failings and particularly for that shameful matter about Uriah and Bathsheba or 3. for my instability in or Apostasie from thy ways which in respect of mine own weakness and folly I have great cause to fear which I fear for thy judgments are good y This may be a reason either 1. why he prayed and hoped that God would turn away reproach from him because Gods word and statutes were good and therefore it was not fit for any to suffer reproach in and for his diligent observation of them or 2. why he feared reproach because he had and feared he might hereafter transgress those judgments or statutes of God which were and he very well knew to be good i. e. just and holy and excellent and therefore it was a shameful thing to violate them 40 Behold I have longed after thy precepts z After a
immediately put it in execution to keep thy commandments 61 The ‖ 〈◊〉 bands of the wicked have robbed me b Or made a prey of me done me many injuries for my respect to thy Law but I have not forgotten thy law 62 At midnight I will rise c Out of my bed to praise thee in a solemn manner not being contented with those short ejaculations which he might have used lying in his bed to give * 〈◊〉 164. thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments d i. e. Laws which are so useful to direct and comfort me 63 I am * 〈◊〉 79. a companion of all them that fear thee e Not excepting the poorest and meanest whose society other Princes disdain and of them that keep thy precepts 64 The earth O LORD is full of thy mercy f Thou dost satisfie the just desires and necessities of all men and all creatures with the fruits of thy goodness teach me thy statutes g The generality of other men chiefly desire the blessings of this life but Lord give me thy spiritual blessings the saving knowledge love and practice of thy Law TETH 65 Thou hast dealt well with thy servant O LORD according unto thy word 66 Teach me ‖ 〈◊〉 goodness 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 So good judgment h Whereby I may rightly discern between truth and falshood good or evil between the mind of God and my own or others inventions that so I may be kept from those mistakes and errours in which many are involved that I may truly judge what thy Law requires or permits and what it forbids Heb. the goodness of taste an experimental sence and relish of Divine things Comp. Psal. 34. 9. and knowledge i A spiritual and experimental knowledge And judgment or taste and knowledge may by an useful figure called Hendiadys be put for judicious or solid or practical knowledge for I have believed thy commandments k I have believed the Divine authority of them and the truth and certainty of those promises and threatnings which thou hast annexed to them 67 * Ver. 71. and 75. Before I was afflicted I went astray l As men generally do in their prosperity See Deut. 32. 15. Psal. 73. 4 5 6 c. Prov. 1. 32. Ier. 22. 21. but now have I kept thy word 68 Thou art good m Gracious and bountiful in thy nature and dost good n To all men both good and bad Mat. 5. 45. and in all things yea even when thou afflictest teach me thy statutes o Which is the good that I desire above all things 69 The proud have †Heb. sewed a lye upon me forged a lie p A slander charging me with hypocrisie towards God and rebellion against my Prince against me but I will keep thy precepts q My practice shall confute their calumnies with my whole heart 70 Their heart is as fat as grease r The sence is either 1. they are stupid and insensible and past feeling not affected either with the terrours or comforts of Gods word So the like phrase is used Isa. 6. 10. comp with Iob. 12. 40. or 2. they prosper exceedingly and are even glutted with the wealth and comforts of this life but I delight in thy law s But I do not envy them their jollity and I have as much delight in Gods Law as they have in worldly things 71 It is good t Necessary and greatly beneficial for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes t He repeats what in effect he said before v. 67. partly to intimate the certainty and importance of this truth and partly because it is a great Paradox to worldly men who generally esteem afflictions to be evil yea the worst of evils 72 * Psal. 19. 10. Prov. 8. 11. The law of thy mouth is better unto me u Not onely thy promises but even thy precepts which are so unpleasant and hard to ungodly men to me they are more desirable and more needful and profitable because they do not onely give me abundant satisfaction and comfort in this life but also they conduct me with safety and delight unto that eternal and most blessed life where gold and silver bear no price than thousands of gold and silver IOD 73 * Job 10. 8. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me give me understanding that I may learn thy commandments x I am thy creature and therefore obliged to serve and obey thee with all my might which that I may do aright I beg thy instruction or assistance Or thou hast made me once make me a second time and renew thy decayed image in me that I may know and serve thee better and that as I was made by thee so I may be guided by thy grace to serve and glorifie my Creator 74 * Ver. 79. They that fear thee will be glad y Partly for my sake of whose innocency and piety they are convinced and therefore sympathize with me and partly for their own sakes both for the encouragement they have by my example to trust in God and for the manifold benefits both spiritual and temporal which they expect from my government when they see me z To wit alive and in safety notwithstanding all the force and malice of mine enemies and advanced to the Kingdom because I have hoped in thy word a In thy promise and have not been disappointed of my hope which is a great confirmation of their faith and hope in God that they shall obtain all the good things which God hath promised them 75 I know b By the convictions of my own conscience and by experience O LORD that thy judgments c i. e. Thy corrections as the next clause explains this are †Heb. righteousness Ps. 19. 8. right and that thou in faithfulness d In pursuance of thy promises and in order to my good that by my afflictions thou mightest purge me from those sins which might provoke thy wrath against me and prepare me for a better administration and more lasting and comfortable enjoyment of my Kingdom hast afflicted me 76 Let I pray thee thy merciful kindness be †Heb. to comfort me for my comfort according to thy word e Yet in judgment remember mercy and give me that comfort and assistance in and that deliverance out of my troubles which thou hast promised me unto thy servant 77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me that I may live f That I may be preserved from that violent and untimely death which mine enemies design to bring upon me for thy law is my delight g I humbly beg and expect thy protection because I am thy faithful servant 78 Let the proud be ashamed for they dealt perversly with me h Heb. they have perverted me either by their calumnies whereby they have put
usest to do unto those that love thy Name n As thou hast done in all former ages Do not deny me the common priviledge of all the faithful 133 Order my steps o By thy grace direct and govern all my motions and actions in thy word p In the way prescribed in thy Word Or by thy word Let thy Spirit accompany thy Word and ingraft it within me so that I may be guided and ruled by it and * Psal. 19. 13. let not any iniquity have dominion over me q And although I have evil inclinations and affections within me let them not bear sway in me nor withdraw me from the course of obedience 134 Deliver me from the oppression of man r As he prayed against the inward impediment of his obedience v. 133. so here he prayeth against an external impediment of it and a common temptation to sin so will I keep thy precepts 135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant s Look upon me with a pleased and favourable countenance Comp. Numb 6. 25. Prov. 16. 15. and teach me thy statutes 136 * Ver. 53. 158. Jer. 9. 1. 14. 17. See Ezek. 9. 4. Rivers of waters t Plentiful and perpetual tears witnesses of my deep sorrow for Gods dishonour and displeasure and for the miseries which sinners bring upon themselves and others run down mine eyes because they u To wit the wicked as before v. 126. who were not worthy to be mentioned for this Pronoun is oft used in way of contempt as Luke 14. 24. 19. 27. Ioh. 7. 11. 8. 10. Acts 16. 36. keep not thy law TSADDI 137 Righteous art thou x By thine essence and nature and therefore it is impossible that thou shouldest be unjust in any of thy Laws or Providences O LORD and upright are thy judgments 138 Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are †〈◊〉 righteâ—… righteous and very ‖ 〈◊〉 faithâ—… faithful y But this verse is otherwise rendred by all the ancient Interpreters and by divers others and that more agreeably to the order of the words in the Hebrew Text Thou hast commanded righteousness even thy testimonies or the righteousness of thy testimonies or thy righteous testimonies by a common Hebraism or rather righteousness in or by thy testimonies nothing being more frequent than the Ellipsis of the prefix beth which signifies in or by and truth or and true thy righteous and true testimonies although the other seems to be the better translation earnestly So the sence is Thou hast strictly and severely under the highest obligations and penalties commanded in thy Word that men should be just and true in all their actions And this agrees very well with the next foregoing verse wherein he affirmed that God is righteous and doth righteous things and then here he adds that he requires righteousness and truth from all men 139 * 〈◊〉 69. 9. 〈◊〉 2. 17. My zeal hath †〈◊〉 cut me 〈◊〉 consumed me z I am tormented and cut to the heart with grief and anger at it because mine enemies have forgotten thy words a i. e. Despise and disobey them which in Scripture use is oft called a forgetting of them as the remembring of them is oft put for loving and practising them 140 * 〈◊〉 12. 6. 〈◊〉 1â—… 30. Thy word is very †〈◊〉 30. 5. 〈◊〉 tryed or 〈◊〉 pure b Without the least mixture of any falshood or sin both which are frequent in the words or precepts of men therefore c Because of that exact purity and holiness of it for which very reason ungodly men either despise or hate it thy servant loveth it 141 I am small d Or a little one not for age but in respect of my condition in the world mean and obscure and despised yet do not I forget thy precepts 142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness e Constant and unchangeable the same in all ages and places and to all persons of eternal truth and justice never to be dispensed with nor to be made void and thy law is the truth f Nothing but truth or as true as truth it self 143 Trouble and anguish g Outward troubles and anguish of spirit or great anguish or distress have †〈◊〉 â—…ound 〈◊〉 taken hold on me yet thy commandments are my delights 144 * â—…er 106. â—… 160. The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting give me understanding and I shall live h I shall be kept from those sins which deserve and bring death KOPH 145 I cried with my whole heart hear me O LORD I will keep thy statutes 146 I criâ—… unto thee save me ‖ Or that may 〈◊〉 and I shall keep thy testimonies 147 * Psal. 5. 3. 130. 6. I prevented the dawning of the morning i Heb. the twilight to wit of the morning by comparing Psal. 88. 13. And so this word is used 1 Sam. 30. 17. and cried I hoped in thy word 148 * Psal. 63. 1 6. Mine eyes prevent the night watches k Heb. the watches which were kept onely by night And these watches were then three as hath been more than once observed And this is not to be understood of the first watch which was at the beginning of the night for the prevention thereof was very easie and frequent and inconsiderable but of the middle watch as it is called Iudg. 7. 19. which was set in the middle of the night and especially of the morning watch as it is called Exod. 14. 24. which was set some hours before the dawning of the day and so this is an aggravation and addition to what he said v. 147. that I might meditate in thy word 149 Hear my voice according unto thy loving kindness O LORD quicken me according to thy judgment l According to thy word which is oft called Gods Iudgment or according to thy custom or manner of dealing with me and with others of thy people as this word is taken above v. 132. 150 They draw nigh m To wit to me or against me as Psal. 27. 2. they are at hand and ready to seize upon me that follow after mischief they are far from thy law n They cast away far from them all thoughts of and respect to thy Law which forbids such wicked practices 151 Thou art near o To me Thou art as ready and present to succour me as they are to molest me O LORD and all thy commandments p Considered with the promises and threatnings which are frequently annexed to them Or the promises as this word seems to be used Psal. 111. 7. and elsewhere in this Psalm And God is said to command not onely his precepts or the observation thereof but also his Covenant Psal. 105. 8. 111. 9. which is a collection or body of the promises and his loving kindness Psal.
howsoever they are thought by themselves or others to be witty or wise yet in God's account and in truth are fools and he will love thee t Both for that faithfulness and charity which he perceiveth in thee and for that benefit which he receiveth from thee 9. * 〈◊〉 1. 5. Give instruction u In the Hebrew it is onely give for as receiving is put for learning Prov. 1. 3. so giving is put for teaching both in Scripture and in other Authors of which see my Latin Synopsis to a wise man and he will be yet wiser teach a just man x Called a wise Man in the former branch to intimate that good men are the onely wise men and he will increase in learning 10. * Job 28. 28. Ps. 111. 10. Chap. 1. 7. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledg of the holy y Either 1. of holy men whether such as all Saints learn or rather such as the holy men of God the Servants of this Wisdom teach from God's VVord Or rather 2. of Holy things the Hebrew word being here taken in the Neuter Gender as it is Numb 5. 17. and elsewhere for this seems best to answer to the fear of the Lord in the other branch is understanding z Is the onely true and necessary and useful knowledge 11. * Ch. 10. 27. For by me thy days shall be multiplied and the years of thy life shall be increased 12. If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thy self a Thou dost not profit me but thy self by it I advise thee for thine own good †Heb. and. but if thou scornest thou alone shalt bear it b The blame and mischief of it falls wholly upon thee not upon me or my VVord or Ministers who have warned thee 13. * Ch. 7. 11. A foolish woman c By which he understands either 1. folly which is opposite to that VVisdom of which he hath been so long discoursing and so it may include all wickedness either in principle as Idolatry Heresy c. or in practice Or 2. the Harlot which with submission seems most probable to me partly because all the following decription exactly agrees to her especially what is said v. 17. as also v. 18. which in effect was said of the Harlot before Ch. 2. 18. 5. 5. and partly because such transitions from discoursing of VVisdom to a discourse of Harlots are frequent in Solomon as we have seen Ch. 2. 16. 5. 3. 7. 5. is clamorous d Speaks loudly that she may be heard and vehemently that Persons might be moved by her persuasions she is simple and knoweth nothing e To wit aright nothing that is good nothing for her good though she be subtil in little artifices for her own wicked ends 14. For she sitteth at the door of her house f Which notes her idleness and impudence and diligence in watching for occasions of sin on a seat in the high places of the city 15. To call passengers who go right on their ways g Who were going innocently and directly about their business without any unchast design for others needed none of those invitations or offers but went to her of their own accord And besides such leud Persons take a greater pleasure in corrupting the innocent 16. Whoso is simple h Which title is not given to them by her for such a reproach would not have allured them but driven them away but by Solomon who represents the matter of her invitation in his own words that he might discover the truth of the business and thereby dissuade and deter those whom she invited let him turn in hither and as for him that wanteth understanding she saith to him 17. * Ch. 2â—… 17. Stolen waters i By which he understandeth either 1. Idolatry or other wickednesses which in Solomon's time before his fall were publickly forbidden and punished but privately practised Or rather 2. Adultery are sweet k Partly from the difficulty of obtaining them partly from the art which men use in contriving such secret sins and partly because the very prohibition renders it more grateful to corrupt Nature and bread †Heb. of secrecies eaten in secret is pleasant 18. But he knoweth not l i. e. He doth not consider it seriously whereby he proveth his folly that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell CHAP. X. 1. THe proverbs of Solomon a Properly so called for the foregoing Chapters though they had this Title in the beginning of them yet in truth were only a Preface or preparation to them containing a general Exhortation to the study and exercise of wisdom to stir up the minds of men to the greater attention and regard to all its Precepts whereof some here follow Of which in general these things are fit to be observed to help us in the understanding of them 1. That these sentences are generally distinct and independent having no coherence one with another as many other parts of Scripture have 2. That such sentences being very short as their nature requires more is understood in them than is expressed and the Causes are commonly to be gathered from the Effects and the Effects from the Causes and one opposite from another as we shall see 3. That they are delivered by way of comparison and opposition which for the most part is between Virtue and Vice but sometimes is between two Virtues or two Vices * A wise b i. e. Prudent and especially virtuous and godly as this word is commonly meant in this Book and in many other Scriptures son maketh ‖ Ch. 15. 20. a glad father c And a glad Mother too for both Parents are to be understood in both branches as is evident from the nature of the thing which affects both of them and from parallel places as Ch. 17. 25. 30. 17. although one only be expressed in each branch for the greater Elegancy but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother d The occasion of her great sorrow which is decently ascribed to the Mothers rather than to the Fathers because their passions are most vehement and make deepest impression in them 2. * Chap. 11. 4. Treasures of Wickedness e Either 1. All worldly Treasures and Riches which are called the Mammon of Unrighteousness Luke 16. 9. of which see the Reasons there to which Righteousness or Holiness which are spiritual and heavenly Riches may be fitly opposed Or 2. Such Treasures as are got by any sort of unjust or wicked practices profit nothing f They do the possessor no good but which is implied from the opposite member much hurt they do not only not deliver him from death but oft expose him to it either from men who take away his Life that they may enjoy his Wealth or from God
the Corn out of them Isa. 28. 27 28. He punisheth them severely as their Offences deserve This or such like punishments were not unusual among the Eastern Nations as we may gather from 2 Sam. 8. 2. 12. 31 Amos 1. 3. 27 The spirit t i. e. The reasonable Soul of a man is the ‖ Or lamp candle u Is a clear and glorious light set up in Man for his information and direction of the LORD x So called partly because it comes from God in a more immediate and peculiar manner than the Body doth Eccles. 12. 7. and partly because it is in Gods stead to observe and judge all a Man's actions searching all the inward parts of the belly y Discerning not onely his outward actions which are visible to others but his most inward and secret thoughts and affections which no other Man can see 1 Cor. 2. 11. The Belly is here put for the Heart as it is frequently The Soul can reflect upon and judge of its own dispositions and actions Which plainly sheweth that the Heart is not so deceitful but that a Man by diligent study of it and the use of the means appointed by God may arrive at a certain knowledge of its state and condition in reference to God and to Salvation 28 * Ps. 101. 1. Ch. 29. 14. Mercy z Clemency to Offenders and bounty to worthy and to indigent Persons and truth a Faithfulness in keeping his Word and Promises inviolably preserve the king b Because they engage God to guard him and gain him the reverence and affections of his People which is a Kings greatest safety and happiness and his throne is upheld by mercy c Which is again mentioned to shew that although it be an act of Grace and therefore in some sort free yet Princes are obliged to it both by their duty and by their Interest because it is a singular means of their preservation 29 The glory of young men d That wherein they glory as their Priviledge above old men is their strength and * Ch. 16. 31. the beauty of old men is the gray head e i. e. Their old Age expressed by the outward sign of it wherein they glory as their peculiar Priviledge as a Testimony of their Piety and God's Blessing and as a token of their great experience and wisdom The design of this Proverb is to declare the several advantages of several Ages and the mutual need they have one of another and thereby to engage them to mutual love and assistance and to friendly converse and to make every one contented with his own Age and Condition and not to envy nor yet despise his Brother or the difference of their Ages as is very usual among men 30 The blueness of a wound f Grievous wounds which make men black and blew or severe punishments †Heb. is a 〈◊〉 Mediâ—… against 〈◊〉 cleanseth away evil g Are the most effectual means to reclaim a wicked Man and to purge out his corruption so do stripes the inward parts of the belly h Heb. and stripes which answer to the wounds in the former Clause i Either 1. Which pierce even to the inward parts of the Belly and so we are to understand out of the former Branch cleanse away evil Or 2. They cleanse the inward parts of the Belly i. e. of the Heart So this is an addition to the former Clause and the sense of the whole is Grievous wounds or stripes do cleanse not only the outward Man by keeping it from evil actions but even the inward Man by expelling or subduing vile affections Which is mentioned as a great and blessed benefit of afflictions CHAP. XXI 1 THe kings heart a His very inward purposes and inclinations which seem to be most in a Man 's own power and out of the reach of all others and much more his Tongue and Hand and all his outward actions He names Kings hot to exclude other men but because they are more arbitrary and uncontrollable than other men is in the hand of the LORD as the rivers of water b Which Husbandmen or Gardiners can draw by little Channels into the adjacent grounds as they please and as their occasions require he turneth it c Directeth and boweth partly by suggesting those things to their Minds which have a commanding influence upon their wills and partly by a direct and immediate motion of their wills and affections which being God's Creatures must needs be as subject to his power and pleasure as either mens Minds or Bodies are and which he moves sweetly and suitably to their own Nature though strongly and effectually whithersoever he will d So as they shall fulfil his counsels and designs either of Mercy or of Correction to themselves or to their People 2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes but the LORD pondereth the hearts e This was said Ch. 16. 2. where it is explained and is here repeated either for the great importance and usefulness of it or because he perceived that the Israelites were very prone to self-deceit 3 * 1 Sam. 15. 22. Ch. 15. 8. Isa. 1. 11 c. Hos. 6. 6. Mic. 6. 7 8. To do justice and judgment f The conscientious performance of all our duties to men is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice g Than the most costly outward services offered to God joyned with the neglect of our Moral duties to God or men The same thing is affirmed 1 Sam. 15. 22. Hos. 6. 6. Mic. 6. 7 8 c. 4 * Ch. 6. 17. †Heb. haughtiness of eyes An high look h One gesture or sign of Pride put for all the rest Prov. 6. 17. and a proud heart i Pride lurking and reigning in the Heart though it do not discover it self to men by outward actions but be disguised with a shew of humility as it is frequently and ‖ Or the light of the wicked the plowing k Either 1. strictly and properly so called even their civil or natural actions which in themselves are lawful and good are made sinful as they are managed by ungodly men without any regard to the service and glory of God which ought to be the great end of all our actions 1 Cor. 10. 31. and with a design of serving their own wicked lusts by it Or 2. Metaphorically their designs and endeavours which are said to be sin because they are wholly and fully set upon sin and they make sin their trade or business which is called Plowing wickedness Job 4. 8. But all the ancient Interpreters and divers others render the word the Lamp or Light as this Hebrew word even thus pointed is rendred 1 Kings 11. 36. 15. 4. 2 Kings 8. 19. 2 Chron. 21. 7. and the Lamp of the wicked is a Phrase used in this
clause grace of his lips Whose discourse is gracious and sincere the king shall be his friend g The greatest men will or should desire and highly prize the acquaintance and advice of such persons rather than of Dissemblers and Flatterers wherewith they are most commonly pestered 12 The eyes of the LORD preserve h God by the watchful Eye of his Providence maintains and defends knowledg i To wit men of knowledge the abstract being put for the concrete as Pride is put for a proud man Psal. 36. 11. Deceit for the deceitful as Prov. 12 17. So here Knowledge for knowing and good men such as the last verse spoke of whose hearts are pure and speeches gracious not only the King shall be their friend as he said there but God also which he adds here and he overthroweth ‖ Or the matters the words k Their false and flattering speeches whereby they designed and expected to gain the favour and friendship of great men which are opposed to the sincere and gracious speeches of good men implied in the first clause of this verse and expressed in the foregoing verse Or as others render it and the word is very commonly used the matters all his Counsels Hopes Enterprizes and Concerns of the transgressor 13 * Ch. 26. 13. The slothful man saith l Alledgeth as his excuse to them who upbraid him with idleness or persuade him to diligence There is a lion without m There are extream dangers and invincible difficulties in my way I shall be slain n By that Lion or some other way in the streets o Which is added to shew the ridiculousness of his excuse for Lions abide in the woods or fields nor in the streets of Towns or Cities 14 * Ch. 2. 16. 5. 3. 7. 5â—… 23. 27. The mouth p Her fair and flattering speeches wherewith she enticeth him to gross filthiness as it is noted Prov. 7. 21. of strange women is a deep pit q Into which it is easie to fall but hard if not impossible to get out of it It is a rare thing for any person once entred into the course of Whoredom sincerely to repent of it and turn from it See Prov. 2. 19. he that is abhorred of the LORD r To wit in an high and singular manner who by his former impieties and contempt of God and of his Grace hath provoked God to leave and loth him and to punish one sin with another for otherwise all sinners as such are abhorred by God shall fall therein 15 Foolishness is bound s Is fixed and setled there as being born with him and rooted in his very nature and not plucked up without great difficulty and diligence in the heart of a child but * Ch. 13. 24. 19. 18. 23. 13. 29. 15 17. the rod of correction shall drive it far from him t The smart of punishment makes him weary of his sin and watchful against it 16 He that oppresseth the poor to encrease his riches and he that giveth to the rich u That vainly and prodigally casts away his estate upon those who do not need it or gives it to them with evil design as that they may assist him in oppressing the poor or at least not hinder him in it shall surely come to want 17 Bow down thine ear and hear the words of the wise x Of wise and holy men of God and apply thine heart y Thirst after it and give up thy self to the diligent study of it unto my knowledg z The knowledge of God and of thy several duties which I am here delivering to thee 18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them a The words of the wise †Heb. in thy belly Job 15. 35. 32. 18. within thee b Heb. in thy belly i. e. in thine heart which implies receiving them in Love and retaining them in mind and memory they shall withal be fitted c Be fitly expressed or be disposed or ordered The sense is when thou hast got them into thine heart thou wilt be able and ready to discourse pertinently and profitably of them in thy lips 19 That thy trust may be in the LORD d That knowing God and his word and Promises thou maist chearfully and confidently trust in him which is the only way to thy safety and happiness I have made †Them known to thee this day ‖ Or trust thou also even to thee 20 Have not I written to thee †Heb. things of command or authority excellent things e Or princely things as they are called Prov. 8. 6. the great things of Gods law as Hos. 8 12. in counsels and knowledg f Consisting of Counsels to direct thy practice and Knowledg to inform and enrich thy mind Or by that known Figure Hendiadis in counsels of knowledg i. e. in good counsels which proceed from sound knowledge and make a man knowing and wise which are opposed to the counsels of the wicked Prov. 12. 5. which are without knowledg 21 That I may make thee know the certainty of the words of truth g That I may teach thee not false or vain or uncertain things as the Teachers of the Heathen Nations do but the true and infallible Oracles of God that thou mightest answer the words of truth h That being instructed by me thou maist be able to give true and solid and satisfactory answers ‖ Or to those that send thee to them that send unto thee i To wit for thine advice in great and difficult matters Or to those that send thee i. e. that employ thee in any business of moment whereof they expect an account from thee 22 Rob not the poor because he is poor k This may be mentioned either 1. As a motive to this Robbery because he was unable to resist him or to revenge himself upon him Do not take advantage of his Poverty Or 2. As an Argument against it because he is a fitter object for thy pity and Charity than for thy Injustice or Cruelty It is base and inhumane to crush such a person * Zech. 7. 10. neither oppress the afflicted in the gate l In the place of Judgment or under pretence of Justice and much less in other ways where there is no colour of Justice 23 * Ch. 23. 1â—… For the LORD will plead their cause m Which he hath in a peculiar manner undertaken to do and spoil the soul n Take away not only their goods but their Lives too So fully will he recompence their wickedness to them of those that spoiled them 24 Make no friendship with an angry man and with a furious man thou shalt not go o Into his company not converse frequently and familiarly with him as friends use to do 25 Lest thou learn his ways p
upon dead carkasses and particularly to pick out their eyes as is noted by all sorts of Writers of which see my Latin Synopsis He saith the ravens of the valley either because they most delight in valleys or with a particular respect unto that valley near Ierusalem which was called the valley of dead bodies Jer. 31. 40. from the Carkasses cast out there to which therefore the Ravens resorted in great numbers according to their manner Or as others render the ravens of the brooks because they are of an hot and dry temper and therefore delight in places adjacent to the brooks of Water and the young eagle y Which also preyeth upon dead Carkasses and especially upon their eyes as the Ravens do the reason being the same in both whether it be the softness of that part which makes it more easie to them to take or from the pleasant taste of it shall eat it 18 There be three things which are too wonderful for me y The way whereof I cannot trace or find out yea four which I know not 19 The way z Either 1. The manner of her flight which is exceeding high and swift and strong Or rather 2. The way or part of the air through which she passeth without leaving any print or sign in it which though it be true of all birds yet is here attributed to the Eagle of whom this is more true because she flies out of sight where neither her body nor any sign of it can be discerned of an eagle in the air the way of a serpent upon a rock a Where she leaves no impression nor slime nor token where she was as she doth in softer bodies and as Birds leave their Feathers there the way of a ship in the †Heb. heart midst of the sea b Which though at present it make a furrow yet is speedily closed again and the way of a man with a maid c Either 1. The various Methods and Artifices which young Men use to entice or persuade young Virgins either to honest Love and Marriage or to unlawful Lust and uncleanness Or rather 2. The impure conversation of a man with one who goâ—…th under the name of a maid but is not so in truth which is managed with so much secrecy and cunning that it can very hardly be discovered Which exposition agrees best with the foregoing similitudes referred to it and with the following verse 20 Such d So secret and undiscernable is the way of an adulterous woman e Of her who though she be called and accounted a Maid yet in truth is an adulteress not a common strumpet for of such the following words are not true but one that secretly lives in the sin of Adultery or Fornication she eateth f To wit the bread of deceit in secret by which is understood the act of filthiness Prov. 9. 17. 20. 17 which such persons do as greedily desire and as delightfully feed upon as hungry persons do upon bread Thus chastly doth the Holy Ghost express the most filthy actions to teach us to avoid all immodest and obscene speeches as well as actions and wipeth her mouth g As a child doth when it hath eaten some forbidden food and would not be discovered and saith I have done no wickedness h Denies the fact and avoweth her innocency 21 For three things the Earth i Either 1. The earth itself trembleth and is moved so it is an Hyperbole Or rather 2. The Inhabitants of the Earth They do by their insolence and impudence cause great and dreadful disturbances in the places where they live is disquieted and for four which it cannot bear k Which are intolerable in humane societies 22 * Ch. 19. 10 Eccl. 10. 7. For a servant when he reigneth l When he is advanced to great Power and Dignity for such an one is ignorant and unfit for his place and therefore commits many errours he is poor and therefore an insatiable oppressor according to Prov. 28. 3. he is proud and imperious and being maligned and hated by others he is provoked to hate them and to be injurious and cruel to them and a fool m A conceited and wilful fool or an obstinately wicked man when he is filled with meat n Either 1. When he is glutted with meat or drink which dulls mens Reason and heats their Blood and stirs them up to many insolencies Or rather 2. When he abounds in Wealth which in that case is like a Sword in a mad mans hand being an instrument and occasion of innumerable wickednesses and mischiefs as appears from common experience 23 For an odious o Proud and perverse and full of hateful and offensive qualities woman when she is married p For then she displayeth and exerciseth all those ill humours which before for her own ends she concealed then she is puffed up and imperious and becomes intollerable to her own Family and to her Relations and Neighbours and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress q That possesseth her Estate either by the gift of her Mistress into whose Favour she had insinuated her self by her cunning and officious carriage or rather by the marriage of her Master which great and sudden change transports her beside her self and makes her insufferably proud and scornful and injurious to all that converse with her 24 There be four things which are little upon the earth but they are †Heb. wise made wise exceeding wise r Comparatively to other brute Creatures They act very wisely and providently not from any reason which they have but by the direction of divine Providence which secretly guides them to do those things for their own preservation which are most agreeable to the rules of Wisdom The design of this observation is either 1. To commend Wisdom to us and to teach us to imitate the Providence of these Creatures as we are provoked to imitate their diligence Prov. 6. 6. Or 2. To keep us from being proudly conceited of our own Wisdom because we are either equalled or exceeded therein by the unreasonable Creatures in the wise conduct of their affairs Or 3. To direct us to whom to resort for Wisdom when we want and desire it even to that God who is able to inspire Wisdom even into the brute Creatures 25 * Ch. 6. 6 c. The ants are a people s Which title is oft given to the unreasonable Creatures both in Scripture as Ioel 1. 6. 2. 2. and in Homer and Virgil and divers other Authors not strong yet they prepare their meat in the summer t Of which see on Prov. 6. 6 7 8. 26 * Ps. 104. 18. The conies are but a feeble folk yet make they their houses in the rocks u In rocky ground or in the holes of Rocks for their safety against their too potent Enemies 27 The locusts have
of humane policy in the conduct of Personal and Domestical and Publick Affairs this sore travel i This difficult and toilsom work of searching out these things hath God given to the sons of man k God hath inflicted this as a just punishment upon Man for his eating of the Tree of Knowledge that instead of that sweet and perfect knowledge which God had freely infused into Man at his first Creation he should now grope after some small parcels or fragments of it and those too not to be gotteâ—… without the sweat of his brows and brains ‖ Or to afflict thâ—…n to be exercised therewith l To employ themselves in the painful study of these things which now is both their duty and their punishment Or as it is rendred in the margent and by many others to afflict them in or by it to chastise their former curiosity and to give them matter of continual humiliation and vexation And therefore knowledge is so far from making men happy that it exposeth them to trouble and infelicity 14 I have seen m i. e. Diligently observed and in great measure understood all the works that are done under the sun and behold n For it was a great surprise to me and therefore may seem strange to you all is vanity and vexation of spirit o And not only unsatisfying but also troublesom and an affliction or breaking to a mans spirit or mind Or as others both ancient and modern Translators render it a feeding upon wind as these very words save only that there is the verb from which this noun seems most probably deduced are rendred Hos. 12. 1. where also it signifies a fruitless or lost labour and a disappointment of their hopes and desires of satisfaction And so this is arepetition of the same thing in other words according to the manner of these Books 15 * 〈◊〉 13. That which is crooked cannot be made streight p All our knowledg serves only to discover our diseases and miseries but is oâ—…t it self utterly insufficient to heal or remove them it cannot rectify those confusions and disorders which are either in our own Hearts and Lives or in the men and things of the world and †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is wanting q To wit in our knowledg and in order to mans compleat satisfaction and felicity cannot be numbred r We know little of what we should or might know or did know in the state of Innocency or shall know in the future Life 16 I communed with mine own heart s I considered within my self in what condition I was and what degrees of knowledg I had gained and whether it was not my ignorance that made me unable to rectifie those errours and supply those wants and wiser Men could do it though I could not saying Lo I am come to great estate t Heb. I am grown great to wit in Wisdom Or I have magnified or greatly enlarged and have gotten u Heb. have added As I had a large stock of Wisdom insused into me by God 1 King 3. 12. 4. 29. so I have greatly improved it by Conversation and Study and Experience * 〈◊〉 4. 30. 〈◊〉 7 23. more wisdom than all they that have been before me x Whether Governours or Priests or private Persons Which was no vain boast but a known and confessed truth and profession hereof was necessary to demonstrate his assertion in Jerusalem y Which was then the most eminent place in the World for Wisdom and Knowledg yea my heart †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had great experience z Heb. had seen much which intimates that his Knowledg was clear and certain and experimental as that is which we have from our own eye-sight of wisdom and knowledg a Two words signifying the same thing as may be gathered from v. 18. and from the promiscuous use of them in this Book and in the Proverbs and elsewhere and implying all manner of knowledge divine or humane speculative or practical political or philosophical 17 * 〈◊〉 2. 12. 〈◊〉 23. 25. And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly b That I might throughly understand the nature and difference of Truth and Errour of Virtue and Vice all things being best understood by contraries and might discern if there were any opinion or practice amongst Men which would give him full satisfaction I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit c Or feeding upon wind as v. 14. 18 For in much wisdom is much ‖ Or indignation grief d Or indignation or displeasure within himself and against his present condition and he that encreaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow e Which he doth many ways partly because he gets his knowledg with hard and wearisom labour both of Mind and Body with the consumption of his Spirits and shortning and imbitterment of his Life partly because he is oft deceived with knowledg falsly so called and oft mistakes Errours for Truths and is perplexed with manifold doubts from which ignorant Men are wholly free partly because he foresees and consequently feels the terrour of many miseries which are or are likely to come to pass which are unobserved by less knowing persons and which possibly never happen partly because he hath the clearer prospect into and quicker sense of his own Ignorance and Infirmities and Disorders and withal how vain and ineffectual all his knowledg is for the prevention or removal of them and partly because his Knowledg is very imperfect and unsatisfying yet increasing his thirst after more Knowledg and consequently after more dissatisfaction because instead of that just Honour and Delight and Advantage which he expects from it he meets with nothing but Envy and Opposition and contempt because his Knowledg quickly fades and dies with him and then leaves him in no better and possibly in a much worse condition than the meanest and most unlearned man in the World CHAP. II. 1 I Said in mine heart a Being disappointed of my hopes from Knowledg I resolved in my own Mind to try another course Go to now I will prove thee b O my Soul I will try whether I cannot make thee happy with mirth c By allowing to my self the free enjoyment of the present and sensible Delights of humane Life therefore enjoy pleasure d Take thy fill of pleasure and expect satisfaction thence and behold this also is vanity e Is vain and unable to make men happy because sensible pleasures are mean and unsutable to the noble and heaven-born Soul of Man and if excessively used apter to cloy and glut men than to satisfie them and are frequently mixed with and most commonly end in bitterness as being the great instruments and occasions of sin and of all its fatal consequences 2 I said of laughter f Of excessive Mirth which
Truth of what I say of hosts †Heb. If not c. Of a truth many houses shall be desolate y The Houses which you have so greedily coveted shall cast you out and become desolate even great and fair without inhabitant 10 Yea ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath z To wit of Wine The Bath contained about eight Gallons Thus an Acre did not yield one Gallon and the seed of an omer shall yield an ephah a Which was of the same Quantity with the Bath onely the Bath was the Measure of Liquid things the Ephah of Dry things and an Ephah was the tenth part of an Homer Ezek. 45. 11. So in stead of that great Increase which that fruitful Land commonly yielded they should lose nine parts of their Seed Thus a fruitful Land was made barren for their Wickedness according to God's threatning Psal. 107. 34. and they had as little comfort in their Lands as in their Houses which were the two kinds of their Purchases v. 8. 11 * Prov. 23. 29 30. Wo unto them that rise up early in the morning b Which was unusual and scandalous in that case Eccles. 10. 16. Act. 2. 15. They made Drinking their daily Trade and Business that they may follow strong drink that continue until night c Thereby wasting both precious Time and God's good Creatures and the Health of their Bodies as well as of their Souls till wine ‖ Or pursue theâ—… enflame them d He useth this Word partly to shew their â—…olly and Misery because the Wine was so far from quenching and satisfying their Appetites that it did indeed inflame and increase them and partly to prevent the vain Excuse of them who thought themselves innocent because they did not drink to Drunkenness although they cast themselves into an intemperate Heat through their Excess 12 And * Amos 6. 5 6. the harp and the viol the tabret and the pipe and wine are in their feasts e They give up themselves wholly to Luxury and that in a very unseasonable time as it follows but * Job 34. 27. Pâ—…al 28. 5. they regard not the work of the LORD f What God hath lately done and is yet doing and about to do among them his grievous Judgments partly inflicted and partly threatned which required another Course of Life even to give themselves to Fasting and Prayer and Reformation that so they might remove the incumbent and prevent the approching Calamities neither consider the operation of his hands 13 * Hos. 4. 6. Therefore my people are gone into captivity g Either 1. are actually gone which was true of the Ten Tribes in Hezekiab's Reign 2 Kings 18. 9. under whom this Prophecy might be uttered or 2. shall certainly and shortly go as the Two Tribes afterward did because they have no knowledge h No serious consideration of God's Works and of their own Duty and Danger and †Heb. their glory are men of famine their honourable men i Who thought themselves quite out of reach of Famine are famished and their multitude dried up with thirst 14 Therefore hell k Or the grave as this Word most commonly signifies hath enlarged †Heb. her soul. her self and opened her mouth without measure l To receive those vast Numbers which shall die by this Famine or otherwise as is here implied and their glory m Their Honourable men as they were called v. 13. being distinguished both here and there from the multitude and their multitude and their pomp n All their Glory shall die with them and he that rejoyceth o That spendeth all his days in Mirth and Jollity and casteth away all Cares and Fears shall descend into it 15 And * Chap. 2. 9 11 17. the mean man shall be brought down and the mighty man shall be humbled p All of them both high and low shall be brought to destruction and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled 16 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment q By the execution of this just Judgment upon his incorrigible Enemies and ‖ Or the holy God †Heb. the God the holy God that is holy shall be sanctified r Shall appear to be an holy God in righteousness s By his righteous Judgments 17 Then t When God shall have finished that Work of Judgment upon the Ungodly he will extend Mercy to a Remainder This is very usual in this Prophet in the midst of his Threatâ—… to insert something for the support of Believers shall the lambs u 〈◊〉 poor and harmless People who shall be left in the Land when the Rich are carried into Captivity as it fell out 2 Kings 25. 12. feed after their manner x Or by their fold as this Word is manifestly used Mic. 2. 12. the onely place of Scripture except this in which this Word is found and the waste places y The Lands left by their Owners who were either slain or carried into Captivity of the fat ones z Of the Rich and Great men so called Psal. 22. 29. 78. 31. Isa. 10. 16. shall strangers a The poor Israelites who were left to be vine-dressers and husbandmen 2 Kings 25. 12. who are called strangers because they were so in reference to that Land not being the proper Owners of it nor related to them as the Israelites of other Tribes are called strangers in opposition to the Levites as Numb 1. 51. and elsewhere yea and the Levites are so called in opposition to the Seed of Aaron Numb 16. 40. eat 18 Wo unto them that draw iniquity b That are not onely drawn to sin by the Allurements of the World or by the Perswasions of wicked men being surprised and overtaken by Sin as sometimes good men are Gal. 6. 1. but are active and industrious in drawing Sin to themselves or themselves to Sin that greedily and steadily pursue Sin and the Occasions of it and are not at rest till they have overtaken it that sin wilfully and resolvedly and industriously with cords of vanity c Or with cords of lying as the last Word frequently signifies i. e. with vain and deceitful Arguments and Pretences whereby Sinners generally draw themselves to Sin among which one follows in the next Verse to wit the Impunity which they promise to themselves Or these Cords may note the Means which they use to accomplish that Iniquity which they have devised and sin as it were with a cart-rope d With all their might as Beasts commonly do that draw Carts with Ropes 19 * Jer. 17. 15 Amos 5. 18. 2 Pet. 3. 3 4. That say Let him e To wit God in whose Name thou and other Prophets are always reproving and threatning us make speed and hasten his work that we may see it f He onely
way that he came by the same shall he return and shall not come into this city saith the LORD 35. For I will * 2 Kin. 20. 6. defend this city to save it for mine own sake and for my servant Davids sake 36. Then the * 2 Kin. 19. 35 angel of the LORD went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand and when they arose early in the morning behold they were all dead corpses 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh 38. And it came to pass as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword and they escaped into the land of †Heb. Ararat Armenia and Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead For the understanding of this and the foregoing Chapter the Reader is desired to consult my Notes upon 2 Kings 18. 19. part of 20. CHAP. XXXVIII 1. IN * 2 Kin. 20. â—… 2 Chr. 32. 24. those days was Hezekiah sick unto death and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him and said unto him Thus saith the LORD †Heb. give charge concernning thy house Set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live 2. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed unto the LORD 3. And said Remember now O LORD I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight and Hezekiah wept †Heb. with great weeping sore 4. Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah saying 5. Go and say to Hezekiah Thus saith the LORD the God of David thy father I have heard thy prayers I have seen thy tears Behold I will add unto thy days fifteen years 6. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria and I will defend this city 7. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken 8. Behold I will bring again the shadow of the degrees which is gone down in the †Heb. degrees by or with the sun sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward so the sun returned ten degrees by which degrees it was gone down 9. The writing of Hezekiah a Who was a good Man and full of the Holy Ghost and inspired by him to Write this both as a Testimony of his own Gratitude to God and for the Instruction of after Ages king of Iudah when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness 10. I said b To and within my self I Concluded it in the cutting off of my days c When my days were cut off by the Sentence of God related here ver 1. I shall go to the gates of the †Heb. hell Mat. 16. 18. grave d I perceive That I must die without any hopes of prevention The Grave is called a Man's long home Eccles. 12. 5. and The house appointed for all living Men Job 30. 23. and Death opens the gates of this House We read also of the gates of death Psal. 9. 13. 107. 18. I am deprived of the residue of my years e Which I might have lived according to the common course of Nature and of God's dispensations and which I expected and hoped to live for the Service of God and of my Generation 11. I said I shall not see the LORD f I shall not enjoy him for seeing is put for enjoying as hath been frequently noted even the LORD in the land of the living g In this World which is so called Psal. 27. 13. 116. 〈◊〉 â—…sa 53. 8. in his Sanctuary Which Limitation is prudently added to intimate That he expected to see God in another place and manner even in Heaven Face to Face I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world h I shall have no more Society with Men upon Earth 12. Mine age is departed i The time of my Life is expired and is removed from me as a shepherds tent k Which is easily and speedily removed I have cut off l To wit by my Sins provoking God to do it Or I do declare and have concluded That my Life is or will be suddenly cut off For Men are oft said in Scripture to do those Things which they onely declare and pronounce to be done as Men are said to pollute and to remit and retain sins and the like when they onely declare Men and Things to be polluted and Sins to be remitted or retained by God like a weaver m Who cutteth off the Web from the Loom either when it is finished or before according to his pleasure my life he n The Lord who pronounced this Sentence against him will cut me off ‖ Or from the â—…rum with pining sickness o With a consuming Disease wasting my Spirits and Life Some render this Word from the thrum from those Threds at the end of the Web which are fastned to the Beam So the similitude of a Weaver is continued from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me p The Sence is Either 1. this Sickness will kill me in the space of one day Or rather 2. thou dost pursue me night and day with continual Pains and wilt not desist till thou hast made a full End of me so that I expect that every day will be my Last day 13. I reckoned till morning q When I was filled with Pain and could not Rest all the Night long even till Morning my Thoughts were working and presaging That God would instantly break me to peices and that every moment would be my last and the like restless and dismal Thoughts followed me from Morning till Evening But he mentions onely the time before Morning to aggravate his Misery that he was so grievously Tormented when others had sweet Rest and Repose that as a lion so will he break all my bones from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me 14. Like a crane or a swallow r Or a crane and â—…llow the conjunction and being here as it is Hab. 3. 11. and elsewhere understood as is manifest from Ier. 8. 7. where it is expressed with these very words so did I chatter s My complaint and cry was like to the noise of a Swallow quick and frequent and like that of a Crane loud and frightful And this very Comparison is used of Mourners not onely in Scripture but in other Authors concerning which the Learned Reader may consult my Latine Synopsis I did mourn as a dove t Whose mournful Tone is observed Isa. 59. 11. Ezek 9. 16. and elsewhere mine eyes fail with looking upward u Whilst I lift up mine Eyes and Heart to God
oft put for other Senses as Feeling Hearing c. as hath been oft observed before 17. And the residue thereof he maketh a god even his graven image he falleth down unto it and worshippeth it and prayeth unto it and saith Deliver me for thou art my god 18. * Chap. 45. 20. They have not known nor understood z This sheweth That they want common discretion and have not the understanding of a Man in them for he a To wit God who is easily understood and is oft expressed by this pronoun He and to whom this very act is frequently ascribed in other places of Scripture And therefore Men need not be shie in ascribing it to God here Which yet is to be soberly understood not as if God did make Men wicked but onely permits them so to be and orders and over-rules their Wickedness to his own glorious Ends. And such passages as these are added in such cases to give an account of the prodigious madness of Sinners herein because as they wilfully shut their own Eyes harden their own Hearts so God judicially blinds and hardens them and sends strong Delusions upon them and gives them up to believe Lies and then it is no wonder if they fall into such dotages hath †Heb. daubed shut their eyes that they cannot see and their hearts that they cannot understand 19. And none †Heb. setteth to his hearâ—… considereth in his heart b Whereby he implies That the true Cause of this as well as of other absurd and brutish practices of Sinners is the neglect of serious and impartial Consideration of things neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say I have burnt part of it in the fire yea also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof I have rosted flesh and eaten it and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination shall I fall down to †Heb. that which comes of a tree the stock of a tree 20. He feedeth of ashes c Which is an unsavoury unprofitable and pernicious Food and no less unsatisfying uncomfortable and mischievous is the worship of Idols * Hos. 4. 12. a deceived heart d A Mind corrupted and deceived by long custome deep prejudice gross errour and especially by his own Lusts. hath turned him aside e From the way of Truth from the knowledge and worship of the true God unto this brutish Idolatry that he cannot deliver his soul f From the snares and dangers of Idolatry This cannot is to be understood morally so as to note the great difficulty but not the utter impossibility of it for if Idolaters would consider things they might be convinced of and turned from that gross way of Wickedness as is implied from the foregoing Verse nor say Is there not a lie in ‖ Or at my right hand g What is this Idol which I have made with my right Hand i. e. with all my strength as was said before the right Hand being the strongest and the chief instrument of this and other actions which I set at my right Hand as the true God is said in Scripture to be at the right hand of his People Psal. 16. 8. 109. 31. 121. 5. Which I highly honour for the most honourable place was on the right Hand as is known to which I look and trust for relief and assistance which God in Scripture is said to afford to his People by being at and holding of their right hand Psal. 73. 23. 110. 5. What I say is this Idol Is it not a lie which though it seems and pretends to be something and to be a god yet in truth is nothing but vanity and falshood deceiving all that put their trust in it 21. Remember these h Either these Men Or which comes to one these things the deep ignorance and stupidity of Idolaters which may be a warning to thee O Jacob and Israel for thou art my servant I have formed thee thou art my servant O Israel thou shalt not be forgotten of me i I will not forget nor forsake thee and therefore thou shalt have no need of Idols Or as the ancient Interpreters and divers others render it do not forget me what I am and what I have done and can and will do for Thee the forgetting whereof is the ready way to Idolatry 22. I have blotted out as a thick cloud k As the Sun commonly dissolveth or the Wind scattereth the thickest and blackest Cloud so as there is no remnant nor appearance of it left thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins return l From thine Idolatry and other wicked practices unto me for I have redeemed thee m Therefore thou art mine and obliged to return and adhere to me 23. * Psal. 96. 11 12. Chap. 42. 10. 49. 13. Jer. 51. 48. Sing O ye heavens for the LORD hath done it shout ye lower parts of the earth break forth into singing ye mountains O forrest and every tree therein n By such invitations to the senseless Creatures to praise God with and for his People he signifies the transcendent greatness of this Mercy and Deliverance sufficient to make even the Stones if it were possible to break forth into God's praises and withal that as the brute Creatures were Sufferers by Man's Sin so they should receive benefit by Man's Redemption for the LORD hath redeemed Iacob and glorified himself in Israel 24. Thus saith the LORD thy redeemer and * Chap. 43. 1. he that formed thee from the womb o Of which Phrase see above on ver 2. I am the LORD that maketh all things * Job 9. 8. Psal. 104. 2. Chap. 40. 22. 42. 5. 45. 12. 51. 13. that stretcheth forth the heavens alone that spreadeth abroad the earth by my self p And therefore I can Save thee without the help of any other gods or men 25. That frustrateth the tokens of the liars q Of the Magicians and Astrologers and Sorcerers who were numerous and greatly employed and esteemed in Babylon Isa. 47. 12 13. Dan. 2. 2 48. and who had foretold the long continuance and prosperity of the Chaldean Empire But saith God I will confute their tokens or predictions and prove them to be Liars and maketh diviners mad r With grief for the disappointment of their hopes and predictions and their disgrace and loss which followed it that turneth wise men backward s Stopping their way thwarting and blasting their designs so as they can proceed no further but are forced to retreat and take new Counsels and giving them up to such counsels and courses as are foolish and pernicious to themselves and maketh their knowledge foolish 26. That confirmeth the word of his servant t Of his Servants the Prophets as appears from the next Clause which answers to this where he useth the plural number his messengers Isaiah and
where there is something in the Text or Context which determineth it to some other Person or People And this very crime of stoutness or hardness of heart is most justly and most frequently charged upon the Iews by their own Prophets every where because of their gross contempt of and incorrigibleness under all Gods Words and Works And the Prophet speaks this either to the Iews of his Generation Or rather to that generation which was carried Captive to Babylon whose stout-heartedness is particularly noted and reproved Zech. 7. 11 12. Compare Mal. 3. 13 14 15. that are far from Righteousness e That are not onely voyd of but enemies to Righteousness and true holiness that give up your selves to wickedness that despise my counsels and promises and threatnings 13. I bring near my righteousness f Though you are most unrighteous persons and have given me just cause to make you to know my breach of Promise as I threatned in the like case Numb 14. 34. Yet I will shew my self to be a Righteous and Faithful God making good my promise of delivering you out of Babylon after seventy years and though you think the time long and are apt to distrust the thing it self yet it shall come and that speedily I will bring it near or cause it to approach or come unto you and as it follows it shall not tarry beyond the appointed time it shall not be far off g My work of saving you from the Babylonish Captivity and my salvation shall not tarry and I will place salvation in Zion h I will bring my People from Babylon to Zion and there I will save them from all their enemies for Israel my glory i In whom I will once again glory as my People and the illustrious monuments of my glorious Wisdom and Power and Truth and Goodness whom I will make a great and glorious People though now they are mean and contemptible and in whom I will once more settle my glorious Presence and Ordinances CHAP. XLVII 1. COme down a From thy Throne as it follows and sit in the dust b Either necessarily because thou shalt have no higher seat Or voluntarily as mourners do bewailing thine approaching calamities O virgin daughter of Babylon c So called either 1. because she had not yâ—…t been humbled and conquered Or rather 2. Because she was tender and delicate as the next clause informeth us sit on the ground there is no throne d To wit for thee The empire is taken away from thee and translated to the Persians O daughter of the Caldeans for thou shalt no more be called e Either be reputed so Or rather be so for to be called is frequently put for to be as hath been divers times noted Thou shalt be reduced to great hardships and miseries tender and delicate 2. Take the Milstones f Betake thy self to the Milstones as we commonly say take thy bed or betake thy self to thy bed The meaning is Thou shalt be brought down to the basest kind of slavery which grinding at the Mill was esteemed of which see on Exod. 11. 5. Iudg. 16. 21. Iob. 31 10. Lament 5. 13. For this work was not performed by horses as now it is but by the labour of Slaves and Captives and grind meal g Grind bread-corn into meal for thy Masters use Such metonymical expressions we find Isa. 28. 28. Hose 8. 7. and elsewhere uncover thy locks h Or thine hair Take off the Ornaments wherewith such women as were free and of good quality used to cover and dress their heads This and the following passages though delivered in the form of a Command are onely Predictions of what they should be forted to do or suffer as appears from the next verse make bare the leg uncover the thigh i Gird up thy garments close and short about thee that thou mayest be fit for service and for travelling on foot and as it follows for passing over those Rivers through which thou wilt be constrained to wade in the way to the Land of thy Captivity pass over the Rivers 3. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered k Either 1. for want of raiment to cover it Or rather 2. by thine enemies in way of scorn and contumely by comparing this place with Ezek. 16. 37. 23. 29. yea thy shame shall be seen l Upon thee for thy many and great injuries done to my people I will take vengeance m As a man meets his enemy in the field to contend with thee and I will not meet thee as a man n With moderation and gentleness as those men who have not quite put off Humanity use to do but like a Lyon tearing thee to pieces to which God in such case compareth himself as Hose 5. 14. 13. 7 8. Compare Hose 11. 4. 4. As for our redeemer the LORD of hosts is his Name the Holy one of Israel o According to this version the Prophet inserteth this passage in the midst of this Prophecy against Babylon as Iacob inserteth a like passage in the midst of his Bledings and Prophecies concerning his Children Gen. 49. 18. And this may be here interposed either 1. As the reason why the Judgment here denounced should be certainly inflicted because he who had undertaken it was the Lord of hosts and therefore able to effect it and the Holy One and the Redeemer of Israel whom the Babylonians had cruelly oppressed whose quarrel God would avenge upon them and whom he had determined and promised to deliver out of their hands Or 2. As a pathetical exclamation or acclamation of Gods People for this wonderful work of breaking the staff of their oppressors which they here ascribe to God as he is their God and Redeemer whom here they make their boast of and whom they celebrate for this glorious deliverance But because these words as for are not in the Hebrew Text and therefore another word may be as conveniently supplied this verse may be and is by some learned Interpreters otherwise rendred and joyned with the foregoing words thus I will take vengeance and I will not meet thee as a man saith our Redeemer whose Name is the Lord of Hosts the Holy One of Israel For the word saith or saying is frequently understood and therefore supplied by Translators as 1 King 20. 34. Psal. 27. 8. 105. 15. and in this very Prophecy as Isa. 5. 9. 45. 14. and elsewhere 5. Sit thou silent p Through grief and shame and as mourners use to do Iob. 2. 13. Cease thy vaunting and insolent speeches thou canst say nothing for thine own justification and get thee into darkness q Thou shalt go into an obscure disconsolate and calamitous condition O daughter of the Caldeans for thou shalt no more be called the Lady of Kingdoms r The chief and glory of all Kingdomes as Isa. 13. 19. the most large
Astrologers c. with whom they are said to have laboured both here and ver 12. who also may possibly be called their Merchants because they traded so much with them and because of their deceitful practices for which Ephraim is called a Merchant Hos. 12. 7. And so the following Clause may be rendred who have been thy Merchants from thy Youth Or the last clause may be understood of Merchants properly so called who came from several Countries to trade with Babylon as is noted in Scripture and by other Authors And the Verse may be thus rendred Thus vain and unprofitable shall they thy Sorcerers c. with whom thou hast laboured be unto thee So here is onely a transposition of Words than which nothing is more usual in Scripture Then follows another matter in the next Clause also Thy Merchants or they with whom thou hast traded from thy Youth shall wander every one to his own quarter be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured even thy merchants from thy youth they shall wander every one to his quarter none shall save thee x They shall all leave thee and flee away with all possible speed to their several Countries and Habitations CHAP. XLVIII 1. HEar ye this a What I am now going to say against thee that thou mayest be assured that that great deliverance which I have determined and declared to give thee is not for thy own sake but for my names sake O House of Jacob which are called by the Name of Israel b Which are Israelites in name but not in Truth as it follows and are come forth out of the waters of Judah c From the linage of your Progenitor Iudah as waters flow from a Fountain and as the Israelites are said to be of the Fountain of Israel Psal. 68. 26. Compare also Deut. 33. 28. Prov. 5. 15 c. which swear d Which profess the true Religion one act of Religion being put for all by the Name of the LORD and make mention of the God of Israel e Either in Oaths or otherwise that own him and seem to glory in him as their God and call themselves by his name but not in Truth nor in Righteousness f Which are the two chief ingredients of a lawful oath Ier. 4. 2. They are guilty of falshood and injustice both in oaths and in their whole Conversation 2. For g Or as others render it and this particle frequently signifies Though And so this is added as a great aggravation of their want and neglect of Truth and Righteousness they shall call themselves of the Holy City h They glory in this that they are Citizens of Ierusalem a City sanctified by God himself to be the onely place of his true worship and gracious presence which as it is a great priviledge so it laid a great obligation upon them to walk more holily than they did and stay themselves i Not by a true and well-grounded Faith but by a vain and presumptuous confidence flattering themselves as that people commonly did that they should enjoy peace and safety notwithstanding all their wickedness because they were the Lords people and had his Temple and Ordinances among them which disposition the Prophets frequently observe and sharply censure in them upon the God of Israel the LORD of Hosts is his Name k Or Whose name is the Lord of Hosts 3. I have declared the former things from the beginning l Those things which have formerly come to pass which I punctually foretold from time to time before they came to pass Whereby I gave you full proof of my godhead and they went forth out of my mouth and I shewed them I did them suddenly and they came to pass m What my mouth foretold my hand effected 4. Because I knew n Therefore I gave thee the more and clearer demonstrations of my divine nature and providence because I knew thou wast an unbelieving and perverse Nation that would not easily nor willingly be convinced that thou art †Heb. hard obstinate and thy Neck is an Iron sinew o Which will not bow down to receive my yoke nor to obey my commands It is a metaphor taken from untamed and stubborn cattel of which see also Nehe. 9. 29. Zech. 7. 11. Act. 7. 51. The sence is I considered that thou wast unteachable and incorrigible and thy brow brass p Thou wast impudent and therefore wouldst boldly pretend that thou didst forsake me for want of full conviction of my divine Authority and of thy duty therefore I determined that I would leave thee without excuse 5. I have even from the beginning declared it to thee before it came to pass I shewed it thee q I foretold these things that it might be evident that they were the effects of my counsel and not of thine Idols as I knew thou wast very inclinable to believe least thou shouldest say Mine idol hath done them and my graven image and my molten image hath commanded them 6. Thou hast heard see all this r As thou hast heard all these things from my mouth from time to time so now I advise thee to see i. e. seriously to consider them and to lay them to heart and will not ye declare it s I call you to witness must you not be forced to acknowledge the truth of what I say Deny it if you can Or have ye not declared it unto all People as occasion required it Have you not boasted unto the Gentiles of this as your Honour and Priviledge I have shewed thee new things from this time t And I have now given thee new predictions of secret things and such as till this time were wholly unknown to thee as it follows concerning thy deliverance out of Babylon by Cyrus even hidden things and thou didst not know them 7. They are created now u i. e. Revealed unto thee by me brought to light as things are by Creation Things are frequently said to be made or done in Scripture when they are declared or manifested Iob. 5. 3. I cursed i. e. I pronounced it cursed Psal. 51. 4. That thou mightest be justified i. e. declared and acknowledged to be just Hos. 5. 15. Till they acknowledge their offence which in the Hebrew is till they be guilty and not from the beginning x Heb. Not from thence not from these antient times when other things were revealed unto thee even y Heb. and or or as this particle is frequently used before this day Such pronouns are oft understood as we have seen and this day answers to none in the first clause and this clause seems to be added as an exposition of the next foregoing clause which is more general and ambiguous not from then or before this day before the day when thou heardest them not z Heb. and thou didst not hear them to wit before this time
5. and Iacob is called as many think by the name of his Grand-Father Abraham Act. 7. 16. and the name of Isaac is given to his Posterity Amos 7. 9. So here the name of Israel may not unfitly be given to Christ not onely because he descended from his Loins but also because he was the true and the great Israel who in a more eminent manner prevailed with God as that Name signifies of whom Iacob who was first called Israel was but a Type And as the name of Christ the Head is sometimes given to the Body the Church as 1 Cor. 12. 12. So it is not strange if on the contrary the name of Israel which properly belongs to the Church be given to Christ the Head of it But this Word may be otherwise rendred being joyned Either 1. with the foregoing words Thou art my servant unto or in or for Israel i. e. to bring them back unto me from whom they have revolted Or 2. with the following words it is Israel in whom I will glorify my self by thee in whom I will be glorified 4. Then I said l By way of Objection Lord thou saiest thou wilst be glorified by my Ministry but I find it otherwise I have laboured in vain I have spent my strength for nought m Without any considerable Fruit of my Word and Works among the Israelites and in vain yet surely my judgment n My right the reward which by his Promise and my Purchase is my right Iudgment is oft put for that which is just or right as Exod. 23. 6. Iob 8. 3. and in many other places And so this Clause agrees with the next and the Sence of both is this Though I see no fruit of my Labour among the Iews and meet with nothing but contempt and reproach and ill usage from them yet God sees my fidelity and diligence in my Work and he will give Judgment for me and my reward is laid up with and by him which he will give me in due time is with the LORD and ‖ Or 〈◊〉 râ—…ward my work with my God 5. And now saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob again to him o To Convert the Wicked and Apostate Israelites unto God Though Israel be ‖ Or that Israel may be ga thered to him and I may c. not gathered p Not brought home to God by my Ministry This Word implies That the Israelites were divided and scattered from God and divided among themselves as they were in an high degree when Christ came into the World and Turned every one to his own way as is said Isa. 53. 6. and therefore needed to be gathered Either it is a Metaphor from wandring Sheep which the good Shepherd diligently seeketh and bringeth home to the Fold Or it is an Allusion to the state of the Israelites who either now were or shortly were to be dispersed into several parts of the World from whence God had promised to gather them and bring them into their own Land and unto his Temple Isa. 43. 5 6. and elsewhere The Sence is Though Israel God's own and onely People reject me which will be an occasion of great wonder and scandal yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD q God will not despise me for the unsuccessfulness of my Labours but will honour and glorify me both with himself and in the face of the World in crowning my Indeavours with glorious Success among other People and my God shall be my strength r To support and strengthen me under this and all other discouragements and difficulties in the discharge of mine Office 6. And he s The Lord expressed both in the forgoing and following verses said ‖ Or 〈◊〉 thou 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then 〈◊〉 thou 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is a light thing t This is but a small favour in comparison of 〈◊〉 follows that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob u That remnant of them which shall surviâ—… all their 〈◊〉 and desolations and to restore the Or desolative preserved oâ—… Israel I will also give thee for a * Chap. 42. 6. light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation x I will make thy labour 〈◊〉 for the illamination and conversion and salvation of the Gentilâ—…in all the parts of the World Which cannot be said of Isaiah with any truth or colour and therefore must be understood of Christ by whom this was literally and fully accomplished By my Salvation he means the great Instrument and Author of that eternal salvation which I will give to the Gentiles unto the end of the earth 7. Thus saith the LORD the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One y The Holy One of Israel as he is frequently called ‖ Or to him that is despised in soul. to him whom man despiseth z To Christ to whom as he was in the dayes of his Flesh this description doth most truly and fully agree being the same in effect with that Isa. 5â—… 3. for men both Iews and Gentiles among whom he lived did despise him from their very hearts and souls as is here implied and the whole Nation of which he was a member and among whom he conversed and preached abhorred both his Person his Doctrine and he was so far from being a great temporal Monarch as the Iews vainly imagined that he came in the form of a Servant and was a Servant of Rulers professing subjection and paying tribute unto Caesar Mat. 17. 24 25. 22. 21. and being treated by the Rulers both of the Iews and of the Romans like a Servant being despitefully used and Crucified which was the proper Punishment of Servants to him whom the nation abhorreth to a servant of rulers Kings a Though for a time thou shalt be despised yet after a while thou shalt be advanced to such Royal Majesty and Glory that Kings shall look upon thee with admiration and reverence shall see and arise b From their seats in token of reverence as was usual Levit. 19. 32. Iudg. 3. 20. Iob 29. 8. or to worship thee as the next clause explains it shall see and arise may be put for when they see thee they shall arise to thee which is a common Hebraism Princes also shall worship because of the LORD that is faithful c Because God shall make good his promise to thee concerning thee raising thee from the dead and concerning the effusion of his Spirit upon thy Disciples by whose assistance they shall preach most powerfully and confirm their Doctrine by evident and glorious miracles and concerning the giving unto thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession as he promised Psal. 2. 8. These and such like considerations were the great motives which prevailed with the Princes and People of the
Gentiles to receive thee as the true Messiah and Saviour of the World and the Holy One of Israel and he shall choose thee d And although thou shalt be rejected by thine own People and refused by their Builders or Rulers as was Prophesied Psal. 118. 22. and for a time and in some respects forsaken by God himself Mat. 27. 46. yet God will return to thee and chuse thee again and manifest unto the World that thou and thou onely art the Person whom God hath chosen to be the Redeemer of mankind and whom in spight of all opposition he will make the head-stone of the Corner For the Phrase see on Isa. 48. 10. But these words are well rendred by others who will chuse or hath chosen thee the conjunction and being put for the pronoun relative as Isa. 44. 14. and in many other places as hath been observed before 8. Thus saith the LORD e God the Father unto Christ. * 2 Cor. 6. 2. in an acceptable time f Heb. In a time of good will in that time when I shall have and in a special manner manifest my good will to the Sons of men in the day of my Grace and of mans Salvation as this Phrase is explained in the next clause in the time of the Gospel which is in the time of Gods good Will towards men as the Host of Heaven declared at the Birth of Christ Luk. 2. 14. In the dayes of thy flesh when thou didst offer up Prayers and Suplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save thee from death as we read Heb. 5. 7. which text is a good comment upon this place have I heard thee g Though not so as to deliver thee from death and from the sence of my wrath yet so as to keep thee from sinking under these burdens and so as thou shouldest not be holden under the Pains or Power of Death Act. 2. 24 and so as to Crown thee with Glory and Honoâ—…r and a blessed success of all thy labours and sufferings and in a day of salvation have I helped thee and I will preserve thee i Upon earth till thy work be finished and unto that eternal Kingdom and Glory which is prepared for thee and give thee for a covenant k To be the Mediator and Surety of that Covenant which is made between me and them as Christ is called Heb. 7. 22. and 8. 6. to renew and confirm the Covenant which the Messiah is said to do Dan. 9. 27. by his own blood by which God and men are reconciled and united one to the other And therefore he may well be called the Covenant by a known Metonymy which is very usual in such cases as upon the same account Circumcision the sign of the Covenant is called Gods Covenant Gen. 17. 10. and the Paschal Lamb is called the Passover Exod. 12. 11. and the Sacramental Cup is called the New Testament Luk. 22. 20. and the Communion of the Blood of Christ 1 Cor. 10. 16. of the people l Indefinitely of all my People not onely Iews but also the Gentiles as may be gathered from the context and by comparing this place with Isa. 42. 6. Where the same Phrase is used From both which places it is most manifest that the Messiah is designed and not Isaiah to whom this and divers other Phrases here used cannot be ascribed without great force ‖ Or raise uâ—… to establish the earth m To compose and settle the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof by making peace between God and men and between Iews and Gentiles and by establishing Truth and Righteousness and Holiness upon Earth and by subduing those Lusts and Passions which are the great disturbers of Humane Society which was the design of God in sending and of Christ in coming into the World to cause to inherit the desolate heritages n That desolate Places may be repaired and repossessed That Christ may possess the Heathen according to Psal. 2. 8. who were in a spiritual sence in a most desolate and forlorn condition h In the time of grace and of the Gospel which I have appointed for the working out of mans Salvation by thee 9. That thou mayest say o To wit with power and effect as when God said Let there be Light c. * Chap. 42. 7. to the prisoners p To the Gentiles who are fast bound by the cords of their sins and taken Captive by the Devil at his will as this same Phrase is understood Isa. 42. 7. Go forth q Come forth to the light receive Divine illumination and consolation to them that are in darkness Shew your selves they shall feed in the wayes and their pastures shall be in all high places r They shall have abundant provision in all places yea even in those which commonly are barren and unfruitful and such are both common roads and high grounds 10. They shall not * Rev. 7. 1â—… hunger nor thirst neither shall the heat nor Sun smite them s They shall be supplied with all good and necessary things and kept from all evil occurrents for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them t God who hath magnified his mercy to them will conduct them with safety and comfort even by the springs of water shall he guide them 11. And I will make all my Mountains a way and my high wayes shall be exalted u I will remove all hinderances and prepare the way for them by levelling high grounds and raising low grounds of which see on Isa. 40. 3 4. 12. Behold these shall come from farr x My People shall be called and gathered even from the most remote parts of the earth He speaks here and in many other places of the Conversion of the Gentiles with allusion to that work of gathering and bringing back the Iews from all parts where they were dispersed into their own Land and loe these from the North and from the West y From the several parts of the world which are here synecdochically expressed as they are in many other places and these from the land of Sinim z Either of the Sinites as they are called Gen. 1â—… 17. who dwelt about the Wilderness of Sin which was Southward from Iudea Or of Sin a famous City of Egypt called the strength of Egypt which may be synecdochically put for all Egypt and that for all southern parts And so he here mentions the several quarters of the World where the generality of the Iews were dispersed the North which is every where named as the chief place of their banishment and dispersion as Ier. 16. 15. and 31. 8. and elsewhere the West the western Countries and Islands and the South 13. Sing O Heavens and be joyful O Earth and break forth into singing O Mountains for the Lord hath comforted his People a God hath now sent that
and this is favoured by the sequel where they seem to particularize those sins in the following verses 13 In transgressing s Properly we rebel against God so the word is ch 1 2. and have persisted in our Rebellion and lying t Being true to none of their Engagements Vows and Promises some make transgressing here and lâ—…ing to be one and the same thing inasmuch as in their transgressing of the Law of God they did break their solemn engagement to God upon Mount Sinai Exod. 19. 8. 24. 3. and elsewhere frequently which is a down â—…ight lying against God For wherein do we more lye to God than in a persidious withdrawing from him So that by transgressing here he doth mean not a breach of one or another of the Laws of God but their being as it were fugitives that would be under no yoke against the LORD and departing u i. e. Turning from God to Idols away from our God speaking x As it were talking of little else one among another but how to oppress their Neighbours and apostatize from God oppression and revolt conceiving and uttering y i. e. First contriving and forging in their heart false accusations to the ruine of their Neighbour and false Worship to the dishonour of God laying the contrivance so that it might be effectual and then uttering it or venting themselves one to another in their discourses thereby encouraging each other in their perverse ways see v. 3. and whereas it is said from the heart it notes a resoluteness in their wickedness being a great deal worse than now and then to deal falsly upon some occasion or temptation from the heart words of falshood z They are called words of falshood both with reference to men and to signifie slanders and false accusations as also to God and so signifie their dealing falsly with God as an Adulteress doth with her Husband hence Idolaters are called the seed of falshood ch 57. 3 4 5. and it is said from the heart to shew that when they dealt with men in ways of fraud it was from the heart but when they spake with God it was but from the lip He now enumerates some of those particular sins they proâ—…ss themselves to be convinced of whereby he doth not mean the sins of some particular persons or some slight sins but a general deâ—…ection and corruption of the whole body 14 And judgment is turned away backward a He speaks here of the Sentences and Decrees in courts of Judicature which are carried quite contrary to Right and Justice God denies you Justice as you have denied help to others and justice standeth afar off b Iâ—… notes the same thing with the former to shew that Justice and Judges are far asunder for truth is fallen c A Metaphor taken from a feeble person that wants support without which he falls thus Truth hath none to support or patronize it the same only otherwise expressed with v. 16. Truth is cast upon the ground and Justice trampled under foot in the street d i. e. in publick and equity cannot enter e No such thing will be admitted in their Courts all corrupt so that all Equity and Justice is violently kept off by the authority of the great ones 15 Yea truth faileth f q. d. Truth is more than fallen which he had said in the former verse It faileth For being onely fallen it may recover itself again but failing notes the loss of its very Vitals As being every where neglected in Court in City in Country in inferiour as well as superiour Ranks in the Streets in the Gates in the Markets in the Fairs in all publick places of commerce the condition much like that under the Beast coming out of the Earth Rev. 13. 11. c. See Ps. 10. 7. 8. c. All things are amiss neither Judgment or Justice or Truth is to be found among us but Fraud and Deceiâ—… vet none troubled at it and he that departeth from evil g That separateth himself from evil things and Persons will not be as vile as others ‖ Or is accounted 〈◊〉 maketh himself a prey h Or is accounted mad is laughed at that talks of Justice so some Iosephus tells us that immediately before the destruction of Ierusalem it was matter of scorn to be religious Though there be no solid ground for nor need of that marginal reading yet is it a truth The Translators reach the meaning by Prey The wicked like wild Beasts endeavouring to devour such as are not as bad as themselves where Wickedness rules Innocency is oppressed in bargaining as buying and selling they that are simple and innocent are outwitted by the crafty and fraudulent as not willing or rather daring to oppose fraud with fraud but to do all things in sincerity and the LORD saw it i i. e. Took notice of it 't is spoken of God after the manner of men as Gen. 11. 5. 18. 21. and many other places and †〈◊〉 it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it displeased him k â—… d. If you would know why God is so angry with you it is for such things as these the Lord takes notice of it and it is a great evil in his eye that there was no judgment 16 And he saw that there was no man l Viz. To intercede which is supplied from the following words or no man to help in such a case to shew himself and appear in such a corrupt state in the behalf of equity as ver 4. the like circumstances we have Ezek. 22. 29 30. or none fit to intercede and wondred m Heb. â—…istomen was amazed astonished as it were not knowing what to do This notes both Gods sollicitousness about their condition and their hypocrisie as if God took no notice of them together with their dulness and blockishness in not concerning themselves about it especially considering they had been a people so well instructed and yet under the guilt of such gross sins should be no more sollicitous about pardon which God would readily have granted if any such could have been found Ier. 5. 1. that there was no intercessour * Psal. 98. 1. Ch 63. 5. therefore n Or Yet as it is used ch 7. 14. 51. 21. his arm brought salvation unto him o This may relate 1. To the parties thus oppressed Or 2. To God as that either 1. He would do his work without help from any other ch 51. 5. Or 2. He would avenge himself his own honor thus the word is used 1 Sam. 25. 26. and this may and seems to be the meaning of the next clause Or 3. He had made provision for the maintaining his own righteous cause and peoples interest this sense that phrase so like this favours ch 63. 5. Salvation unto me and his * Ch. 42. 21. 63. 5. righteousness p Viz. His Justice q. d.
this people not for their immoralities or lewd lives but for their errors and superstitions in Divine Worship Other sins provoke God to wrath but those of this nature alone are enough to ruine Souls and Nations that wherein I delighted not 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God u You sinned deliberately chusing sinful courses the things which I hated which are here as often expressed by a Meiosis called the things in which God delighteth not In matters of Worship we ought to chuse nothing wherein God delighteth not and reason as well as Scripture will assure us he can delight in nothing of that nature which himself hath not directed It is observable that ruine is here threatned to this people not for their immoralities or lewd lives but for their errors and superstitions in Divine Worship Other sins provoke God to wrath but those of this nature alone are enough to ruine Souls and Nations Behold my servants shall eat but you shall be hungry x As there are a party amongst you who instead of serving God are the Servants of men in complying with Idolatry and superstition so I have some Servants amongst you who have distinguished themselves by keeping close to my institutions from the rest of you I will distinguish them from you in the dispensations of my Providence those that have eat bread at their Idol Feasts shall be hungry my people that would not do so they shall have enough those who have furnished a drink-offering to Meni or that number of Idols shall want that drink by which they have so prophaned my name but my Servants from whose mouths you pull'd the drink because they would only furnish a drink-offering to me they shall drink My Servants whom now you make to mourn and upon whom you pour shame and contempt shall rejoice and you shall be ashamed you that now rejoice and shout while my Servants that cannot comply with you are afflicted and by you made to mourn you shall cry for sorrow and houl through vexation whiles my Servants who keep close to my institutions shall sing for joy of heart Those who in an hour of Persecution for Religion can have patience under the Enemies Triumphs and Rage will find that the Rod of the wicked shall not alwaies rest upon the lot of the righteous Behold my servants shall drink but you shall be thirsty Behold my Servants shall rejoice but ye shall be ashamed 14 Behold my servants shall sing for joy of heart but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart and shall houl for vexation of Spirit ‖ Breaking 15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen y Your name shall rot as Pâ—…ov 10. 7. or only be used when men would curse others saying let them be made like such persons as the names of Leah and Racâ—…el Ruth 4. 11. and others of Gods Servants were used in blessing so your names shall only be used in cursing or when men will curse themselves they shall use your names as examples of the eminent wrath of God upon sinners for the Lord God shall slay thee z For you shall not perish by an ordinary hand but by the hand of the Lord God and as is the God so is his justice so is his strength yea God himself shall look upon your name as accursed and not suffer his people to be called by it they shall not be called Iews but Christians Acts 11. 26. The Children of God Iohn 1. 12. So detestable a sin is Idolatry that God will not suffer himself to be called by a name given to Idols how proper soever it be to express his perfection Hos. 2. 16 17. Nor yet suffer his own people to be called by a name by which Idolaters are known and * Chap. 62. 2. call his servants by another name 16 That he who blesseth himself in the Earth shall bless himself in the God of truth a I will bring it to pass that over all the world if any man bless himself or bless another it shall be in God Amen So the Heb. we translate it the God of truth Amen is a name given to Christ Rev. 3. 14. 〈◊〉 things saith the Amen the faithful and true witness being here applied to God many think it makes a great proof of the God-head of Christ and judge the sense of this text to be That under the times of the Gospel men should not bless themselves as before in the names of Abraham Isaac and Iacob but in the name of Christ in the God Amen nor is this an improbable sense Others taking it more appellatively by Elohim Amen here understand that God who shews himself true and faithful in his promises and * Deut. 6. 13. Psal. 63. 11. Chap. 19. 18. 45. 23. Zeph. 1. 5. he that sweareth in the Earth shall swear by the God of truth b In like manner it is prophesied that those that swear by which some understand worship God others calling God to be a witness should swear by the God of truth or in the God of truth Either worshipping God in Christ the Amen or calling the faithful God to attest their sincerity or swearing by that God who hath approved his truth and faithfulness by saving and delivering his people because the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hid from mine eyes c because they shall see what God promised is fulfilled the troubles of his people are at an end and they are hid from Gods Eyes that is they are at an end 17 For behold c I will tell you yet a more admirable thing I am about wholly to alter and change the state not only of my people who are now afflicted restoring them to a more lightsome state more free from trouble afflictions but I create * Ch. 66. 22. 2 Pet. 3. 13. Rev. 21. 1. new heavens and a new earth d Bringing a new face upon the world sending my Son to raise up a new Church and to institute a new worship Iohn 4. 21. 24. and giving out my spirit in a more plentiful manner Acts 2. 17. which new state shall abide until a new Heavens and Earth appear in which shall dwell nothing but righteousness 2 Pet. 3. 13. Rev. 21. 1. and the former shall not be remembred nor †Heb. shall come upon thy heart come into mind e That state of things shall be such and so glorious as the former state of my People shall not be remembred nor come into mind whether this new Heavens and new Earth here promised signifies such a state of the Church wherein Christ shall personally reign upon Earth over his Saints the wicked being destroyed as some have thought he shall for a thousand years I very much doubt do not see how from this and the parallel texts any such thing can be concluded 18 But be you glad and rejoice for ever f You
13. thou nor thy son nor thy daughter thy man-servant nor thy maid servant l This clause is added not as if children or servants were not immediately obliged by this command or were excused by God for the breach of this â—…aw at their masters commands which were to obey God rather than men contrary to St. Peters command and practice Act. 5. 29. and which were to limit the foregoing word thou and the law of the Sabbath onely to those that have children and servants which is an idle senceless and absurd as well as profane opinion but to restrain hard-hearted and covetous or ungodly persons that they should neither command nor suffer their children or servants to profane the fabbath so far as they can hinder it Which how far it concerns thousands of governours of families at this day they shall do well seriously and in time to consider nor thy cattle m Partly to teach us to exercise merâ—… towards the brâ—…te creatures compare Deut. 5. 14. partly because the use of cattel must have drawn along with it the attendance or employment of men and partly that by observing the rest of the cattel they might be more minded and quickened to the observation of this sacred rest nor thy stranger n i. e. The Gentile that sojourneth with thee lest their example should provoke the Israelites to imitate them and lest the Gentiles should have opportunity of gaining at that time when and by that thing whereby the Israelites were losers even by the religious observation of the Sabbath that is within thy gates o i. e. that dwells within thy cities which have walls and gates or within thy villages or territories So the word gates is oft taken as Gen. 22. 17. and 24. 60. and 2 Sam. 10. 8. compared with 1 Chron. 19. 9. 11 For * Gen. 2. 2â—… in six dayes p And neither in more nor less time as he could have done the LORD made heaven and earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested q i. e. Ceased from his creating works otherwise he worketh still Ioh. 5. 17. by his providence and grace and neither is idle nor weary Isa. 40. 28. but this rest is ascribed to him for our admonition and imitation the seventh day wherefore the LORD blessed r i. e. Made it a day of blessing as well of receiving blessings and praises from men as of conferring his blessings and favours upon those that religiously observe it The day is said to be blessed when men are blessed by it and in it by a common Metonymy as a mans field Gen. 27. 27. and basket and store Deut. 28. 5. and the work of his hands Iob 1. 10. are said to be blessed when a man is blessed in them the Sabbath day s It is remarkable the blessing and sanctification are not appropriated to the seventh day but to the sabbath day whether it should be the seventh day as to the Iews it then was or the first day as to us Christians now it is which change seems hereby to be insinuated and hallowed it t i. e. Separated it from the rest of the days and from all common employments and consecrated it to his own holy service and mans holy use 12 * Levit. 19. 3. Deut. 5. 16. Eph. 6. 2. Honour u Which word doth not onely note the reverence love and obedience we owe them but also support and maintenance as appears from Mat. 15. 4 5 6. and from the like signification of that word 1 Tim. 5. 3 17. which is so natural and necessary a duty that the Iews say a man is bound even to beg or to work with his hands that he may relieve his parents thy father and thy mother x The father is put first here and the mother Lev. 19. 3. to shew that we owe this duty promiscuously and indifferently to both of them Compare Exod. 21. 15 17. Deut. 21. 18. and 27. 16. Prov. 20. 20. and 30. 17. And because these laws are brief and yet comprehensive under these are contained all our Superiours and Governours that thy dayes may be long y Heb. that they i. e. thy Parents may prolong thy days or the days of thy life to wit instrumentally by their prayers made to God for thee and by their blessing in my name conferred upon thee though the active verb is commonly taken impersonally as Iob 7. 3. Prov. 9. 11. Luk. 12. 10. and so it may be here they prolong for be prolonged upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee 13 * Rom. 13. 9 Thou shalt not kill z To wit any man or woman without authority and without just cause which exception must necessarily be understood because many other Scriptures command the Magistrate to kill great offenders And this prohibition being delivered by God who made and searcheth and commands mens hearts must be extended not onely to the external act of killing but to all motions of the heart or tongue which tend that way as anger hatred envy malice strife blows and the challenges of Duellists which is clearly manifest by comparing this with other Scriptures as Mat. 5. 21. 1 Ioh. 3. 15. c. And here as in the rest is commanded the contrary duty of preserving the lives of our neighbours as much as lies in our power 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery a Here is mentioned one kind of uncleanness as being eminently sinful and unjust and pernicious to humane society But under this are comprehended and forbidden all other kinds of filthiness as beastiality Sodomy whoredom fornication c. and all means occasions and appearances of them as it â—…ears 1. from other Scriptures that forbid those things which â—…her belong to this command or to none of the ten which is very improbable 2. from the large extent of the other commands noted before 3. from our saviours explication Mat. 5. 27. And contrariwise all chastity and sobriety in thoughts affections words habits and gestures is here prescribed See 1 Thes. 4. 3 4. Heb. 13. 4. 15 Thou shalt not steal b i. e. Either by deceit or violence or without his knowledg and consent take away another mans goods Eph. 4. 28. but on the contrary shalt preserve and increase them as need requires and occasion is offered 16 * Deut. 19. 16. Thou shalt not bear false witness c Heb. not answer viz. when thou art asked in judgment Lev. 5. 1. 19. 16. or not speak a false testimony or as a false witness Which doth not onely forbid perjury in judgment but also all unjust censure slander backbiting scorning false accusation and the like and also requires a just and candid judgment of him and of his words and actions speaking well of him as far as truth and justice will permit and defending his good name against the calumnies and detractions of others against thy neighbour d No nor
for relief but in vain O LORD I am oppressed x By my Disease which like a Serjeant hath seized upon me and is haling me to the Prison of the Grave ‖ Or ease me undertake for me y Stop the Execution and rescue me out of his hands 15. What shall I say z I want words sufficient to express my deep Sense of God's dealings with me He did foretel it by his Word and effect it by his Hand This Clause and Verse is Either 1. a Continuance of his Complaint hitherto described God hath passed this Sentence upon me and hath also put it in Execution and to Him I must submit my self Or 2. he hath both spoken unto me and himself have done it a Transition or entrance into the Thanksgiving which is undoubtedly contained in the following Verses So the Sence is God hath sent a gracious Message to me by his Prophet concerning the prolongation of my Life and he I doubt not will make good his Word therein And this Sence seems the more probable 1. Because here is mention of his years to come whereas in his sickness he expected not to live to the end of a day 2. Because the Chaldee Paraphrast and the Seventy and Syriack and Arabick Interpreters expound it so in their Versions 3. Because this suits best with the context and coherence of this Verse both with the former and with the following Verse For as he endeth the foregoing Verse with a Prayer to God for longer Life so in this Verse he relates God's gracious Answer to his Prayer And if this Verse be thus understood the next Verse hath a very convenient Connexion with this whereas it seems to be very abrupt and incoherent if the Thanksgiving begin there I shall go softly b I shall walk in the course of my Life Either 1. humbly with all humble thankfulness to God for conferring so great a Favour upon so unworthy a Person Or 2. easily and peaceably with leasure not like one affrighted or running away from his Enemy Or 3. by slow and gentle paces as Men commonly spin out their Days by degrees unto a just length which is not unfitly opposed to his former state and time of Sickness wherein his days were swifter than a weavers shuttle and than a post as Iob complained upon the same occasion Iob 7. 6. 9. 25. and were cut off like a weavers Web as he complained ver 12. all my years in the bitterness of my soul c Arising from the remembrance of that desperate Condition from which God had delivered me For great dangers though past are oft-times very terrible to those that seriously reflect upon them But the Words may be rendred upon or after as this particle is rendred Isa. 18. 4. the bitterness of my soul after the deliverance from this bitter and dangerous Disease Which may be compared with ver 17. where he saith For or after peace I had great bitterness as here he presageth and assureth himself of the contrary That he should have Peace after his great bitterness The Chaldee Paraphrast renders the Words Because of my deliverance from bitterness of Soul bitterness being put for deliverance from bitterness as five is put for lack of five as we render it Gen. 18. 28. and fat for want of fat Psal. 109. 24. and fruits for want of fruits Lam. 4. 9. And other such like Defects there are in the Hebrew which is a very concise Language 16 O Lord by these things d By vertue of thy gracious Word or Promise and powerful Work by thy Promises and thy performances of them mentioned in the foregoing Verse This place may be explained by comparing it with Deut. 8. 3. Man doth not live by bread but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. The Sence is Not I onely but all Men do receive and recover and hold their Lives by thy Favour and the Word of thy Power And therefore it is not strange That one Word of God hath brought me back from the very jaws of Death men live and in all these things is the life of my spirit e And as it is with other Men so hath it been with me in a special manner for In these above all other things is the life of my Spirit or Soul i. e. either the comfort which is sometimes called Life of my Spirit or rather That Life which is in my Body from my Spirit or Soul united to it so ‖ Or hast recovered me and made me forer c. wilt thou recover me and make me to live f Or and or for thou hast recovered me c. to wit by these Things 17. Behold ‖ Or on my peace came great bitterness for peace I had great bitterness g My Health and Prosperity was quickly changed into bitter Sickness and Affliction Or as others render it My great bitterness was untâ—… peace was turned into Prosperity or became the occasion of my safety and further advantages For that drove me to my prayers and my prayers prevailed with God for a gracious Answer and the prolonging of my Life but †Heb abou hast loved my soul from the pit thou hast in love to my soul h In kindness to me the soul being oft put for the Man This is an emphatical Circumstance For sometimes God prolongs mens dayes in anger and in order to their greater misery delivered it from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back i Thou hast forgiven those sins which brought this evil upon me and upon that account hast removed the punishment of them which sheweth that thou didst this in love to me The phrase is borrowed from the custome of men who when they would accurately see and observe any thing set it before their faces and when they desire and resolve not to look upon any thing turn their backs upon it or cast it behind them 18 For k In this and the following verse he declares Gods design in delivering him that he might praise him in his Church which if he had died he could not have done the †Heb. Hell * Psal. 115. 17. grave cannot praise thee e death cannot celebrate thee they that go down into the pit connot hope for thy truth m They cannot expect nor receive the accomplishment of thy promised goodness in the Land of the Living l The dead are not capable of glorifying thy Name among men upon Earth which I desire and determine to do See the like expressions Psal. 6. 5. and 30. 9. and 88 10. c. The Grave is put for the persons lodged in it by a Metonymy 19 The Living the living he shall praise thee n They are especially obliged to it and they onely have this priviledge as I do this day the father to the children shall make known thy truth o They shall not
onely praise thee whilst they live but take care to propagate and perpetuate thy Praise and Glory to all succeeding generations 20 The LORD was ready to save me p Was a present help to me ready to hear and succour me upon my prayer in my great extremity therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments r According to the custom of those times all the days of our life in the house of the LORD q Both I and my People who are concerned in me and for me will sing forth those songs of praise which are due especially from me for Gods great mercy to me 21 For * 2 King 20. 7 Isaiah had said Let them take a lump of figs and lay it for a plaister upon the boil and he shall recover s This was rather a sign appointed by God than a natural means of the cure For if it had a natural faculty to ripen a sore yet it could never cure such a dangerous and pestilential disease at least in so little tune 22 Hezekiah also had said t Or For Hezekiah had said had asked a sign which is here added as the reason why Isaiah said what is related in the foregoing verse to wit in answer to Hezekiahs question what is the sign that I shall go up u Within three dayes as is more fully related 2 Kings 20. 5 8. to the house of the LORD x For thither he designed in the first place to go partly that he might pay his vow and thanksgivings to God and partly that he might ingage the people to praise God with him and for him CHAP. XXXIX 1. AT * 2 King 20. 12 c. that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a present to Hezekiah for he had heard that he had been sick and was recovered 2 And Hezekiah was glad of them and shewed them the house of his ‖ Or Spicery precious things the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious ointment and the house of his ‖ Or Iewels †Heb. vessels or instruments armour and all that was found in his treasures there was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah shewed them not 3 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah and said unto him What said these men and from whence came they unto thee And Hezekiah said They are come from a far countrey unto me even from Babylon 4 Then said he What have they seen in thine house and Hezekiah answered all that is in my house have they seen there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them 5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah Hear the word of the LORD of hosts 6 Behold the dayes come that all that is in thine house and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day shall be carried to Babylon nothing shall be left saith the LORD 7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee which thou shalt beget shall they take away and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon 8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken he said moreover For there shall be peace and truth in my dayes The History contained in this Chapter is related in the same words 2 Kings 20. 12 c. onely he who here is called Merodach is there called Berodach meerly by the change of one letter which is very usual in the Hebrew Language especially in proper Names as Dimon is put for Dibon Isa. 15. 9. and the same man is called Nebuchadnetsar and Nebuchadretsar This King is called Merodach from the Idol so called Ier. 50. 2. and Baladan from his Fathers Name But whether this man was an Assyrian or a Mede or a Babylonian it is not easy to determine nor worth while to enquire But this is certain that about this time there were Wars between the Assyrians and the Babylonians the issue whereof was that the latter subdued the former CHAP. XL. The Prophet having 〈◊〉 foretold the Babylonish Captivity chap. 39. 6 7. doth here arm his People against it by the consideration of their certain deliverance out of it and their blessed condition after it as in other things so especially in the coming of the Messiah and the great and glorious priviledges conferred upon Gods Church and People in his dayes 1. COmfort ye comfort ye my people a Ye Prophets and Ministers of the Lord which now are Or hereafter shall be deliver this comfortable message from me to my People that they may not sink under their burdens saith your God 2 Speak ye †Heb. to the heart comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her b Proclaim it in my name that her ‖ Or appointed time warfare c The time of her servitude and captivity and misery is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned d I am reconciled to her I will not impute sin to her to punish her any longer for it for she hath received of the LORDS hand * Jer. 16. 18. Lam. 1. 12. Dan. 9. 12. double for all e Not twice as much as her sins deserved for she her self confessed the contrary Ezra 9. 1â—… Lament 3. 22. but abundantly enough to answer Gods design in this chastilement which was to humble and reform them and to warn others by their example Double is oft put for abundantly as Isa. 61. 7. Ier. 16. 18. and 17. 18. God here speaks of himself after the manner of men and compareth himself to a tender-hearted Father who when he hath corrected his Child for his misdemeanour relenteth and repenteth of his severity and casteth his Rod away her sins 3 * Mal. 3. 1. Mat. 3. 3. Mark 1. 3. Luke 3. 4. John 1. 23. The voice f An abrupt and imperfect speech such as there are many in the Hebrew Language Methinks I hear a voice Or a voice shall be heard of him that crieth in the wilderness g Which words declare the place either 1. Where the cry was made Or 2. Where the way was to be prepared as it is expressed in the following clause which is added to explain this And such places being commonly path-less and many wayes incommodious to passengers it was the more necessary to prepare a way there But both come to one thing for the cry was to be in that place which was to be prepared This place seems to be understood immediately of the deliverance of the Iews out of Babylon and of smoothing their passage from thence to Iudea which lay through a great Wilderness but ultimately and principally concerning their Redemâ—…on by the Messiah whose coming is ushered in by the Cry 〈◊〉 the Baptist who did both cry and prepare the way in the Wilderness as we read Mat. 3. 1 c. Where this Text is directly expounded of him But withal the