Chapter from deep Caverns in the Earth, and was almost spent XXIX. before it reach'd the Ear.

mus, Grotius.

Ver. 5. Moreover, the multitude of thy ftrangers fhall be like fmall duft, and the multitude of the terrible ones fhall be as chaff that paleth away: yea it shall be at an infant fud(a) Hieroni- denly.] (a) Some think by this Similitude is fet forth the Number and Swiftnefs of their Enemies coming upon them; but I think it more natural to understand it of the fudden Overthrow of the Affyrian Army, which is here meant by the multitude of Strangers; as if the Prophet had faid, But be not dejected at the Numerous Hoft of Affyrians, which from thy Walls thou mayft behold, for they shall be scatter'd like fmall duft before the Wind, the multitude of their terrible ones fhall be as chaff, eafily diffipated; they fhall vanish, as it were, in a moment, thou shalt lofe fight of them all on a fudden: And thus fays Munfter the Jews understand this Verfe, De Affyriis una nafte in favillam redactis.

Ver. 6. Thou shalt be vifited of the Lord of bofts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noife, with form and tempeft, and the flame of devouring fire.] He fpeaks to the Affyrian King or Army in the fecond Perfon as most think, without any reason, fays Vatablus; for Tippaketh may as well be taken in the third Perfon, Feminine, as in the fecond, Mafculine, and be render'd, It shall be vifited of the Lord of Hofts with Thunder. What? But the Multitude of the Strangers and ftrong Ones in the former Verfe; and I can fee no reason why these terrible Commotions of Heaven and Earth, attended with Lightning and Thunder, may not be fuppos'd at the deftru(b) Varablus, &ion of the Affyrian Army, as well as they are (b) fuppos'd to have happen'd at the destruction of Jerufalem.

Clarius.

Ver. 7, 8. And the multitude of all the nations that fight, against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition and that diftrefs her, shall be as a dream of a night-vifion. It Shall even be as when a hungry man dreameth, and behold be eateth; but he awaketh, and his foul is empty or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold he drinketh; but he awaketh, and behold he is faint, and his foul bath appetite: fo fhall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against mount Zion.] That is, they fhall vanish away fo fuddenly that the In

bitants

habitants of Ferusalem fhall almoft think they had only dream'd they were inclos'd by a Foreign Army, and be in the fame furprize as a Man whofe Imagination has all Night long been entertain'd with the pleafing Scene of an Imaginary Banquet, who waking finds himfelf hungry and wonders what's become of that heap of Victuals he thought he faw and fmelt, and fed on heartily: So fhall it be with the Jews, they fhall wonder in the Morning what is become of that formidable Hoft which over Night they beheld from their Walls with great Anxiety.

Ver. 9, 10. Stay your felves and wonder, cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep feep, and hath clofed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the feers hath he covered.] As if he had faid, Tho' I tell them fo plainly of the deftruction of their Enemies, yet they will not believe me: Stop therefore ye Paffengers and wonder at their Infidelity, 'till having confider'd the matter, ye fee reafon to cry out, They have loft the ufe of their Senfes, like Men whofe Brains are turn'd with the Fumes of Wine: The Lord has fuffer'd them to go on fo long in a contempt of his Prophets, that their Underftandings are in a manner shut up, as if they were feiz'd with a Lethargy, by which their Spirits were render'd uncapable of fuch a Motion as may conveigh to their Mind a fenfe of the words they bear: The fame thing he expreffes again in other words, He hath covered your Rulers and Seers; that is, the Eyes of their Prophets and Governours he has, as it were, Hood-wink'd, made them as uncapable of feeing, as if a thick Covering were drawn over their Eyes.

Ver. 11, 12. And the vifion of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is fealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, faying, Read this, I pray thee; and be faith, I cannot, for it is fealed. And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, faying, Read this, I pray thee, and he faith, I am not learned.] That is, I have prophecy'd to you of the Straits to which I will fuffer Jerufalem to be reduced, and I have told you of the fudden deftruction which fhall fall on your Enemies, but my Prophecy is no

more

Chapter

XXIX.

Chapter more understood or believ'd, than the words of a Book XXIX. which is close feal'd up can be understood by a Perfon

Gataker.

who has not the liberty to open it; or the words of an open Book, by one ignorant of the Language in which it is written.

Ver. 13. Wherefore the Lord said, Forafmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do bonour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precept of men:] He accufes the Jews of Infincerity, that their Religion was mere Formality; they faid fine Things of the God of Ifrael, and as often as they mention'd his Name did it with wonderful Reverence, as if they really lov'd, esteem'd and honour'd him; but all this while their Heart was remov'd far from him, and if they fear'd him and obferv'd his Laws, it was not from fuch a Principle of Love as fhould make them afraid of offending him for his own fake, but purely out of a fervile Fear of fuffering, they kept out of the reach of the Law.

Ver. 14. Therefore behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work amongst this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wife men fhall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men fhall be hid.] He calls the deftruction of the unbelieving Jews of thofe Times a marvellous Work, and Wonder, for the fame reafon for which he call'd it before a strange Work, because it was contrary to his Inclination, and fuch as he feldom did. For the Wisdom of their wife Men fhall perish; all the politic Contrivances of thofe who think themfelves wife enough to shift for themselves, fhall only expose them more certainly to Danger, which he expreffes with a little variety in the next words, and the Understanding of their prudent Men fhall be hid; that is, they and their Prudence fhall perish together.

Ver. 15. Wo unto them that feek deep to hide their counfel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they fay, Who feeth us? and who knoweth us?] The Perfons here fpoken of feem to be thofe fceptical Statefmen who derided the Predictions of the Prophet, and thought their own Wisdom fufficient at any time to fecure themselves: But God tells them tho' their Devices and Designs were

fo

Chapter

XXIX.

fo cunningly contriv'd and fo clofely manag'd, that they might feem to lye too deep even for God himself to dif cover or disappoint, yet they fhould no more be able to conceal their Designs from him, or bring about any thing which he intended to cross them in, than the Clay of the Potter is able to keep out of his Sight when he has it in his Hand, or to mould it felf into a different Shape than Amama d. what he defign'd it.

Ver. 16. Surely your turning of things upfide down fhall be efteemed as the potters clay: for fhall the work fay of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed fay of him that framed it, He had no understanding?] Your turning things upside down to conceal your intended Designs, or that which ye roll up and down in your Thoughts, devifing how to contrive it fuccessfully, cafting it this way and that till it please your Fancy, lyes as open to the Eye of God as the Fashion of the Clay to the Potter when he has it before him on the Wheel.

Ver. 17. Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon fhall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field fhall be efteemed as a foreft?] This fome expound of a general Devastation of the Land, that Mount Lebanon, adorn'd with goodly Cedars, fhould have all its ftately Trees cut down, and be reduc'd to the fame Condition as Carmel, that is, have no more Trees than their Plains us'd to have, and Carmel, or their fruitful Plains, abounding before with Corn, be reduc'd to a mere Lebanon, bear no more Corn than that or any other Mountain: Which I prefer to the Parabolical Expofition of Grotius, Sublimes quales erant Affyrii dejicientur, agri plani attollentur in montium fpeciem, (i. e.) Hebrai afflictiffimi erunt victores; but against the former Expofition there lyes this Objection, that it turns a Promife into a Threatning, for by what follows in this Chapter,and by the 32d Chapter and the 15th Verse, where the fame is repeated, it appears to be a gracious Promife of the great Fertility and Fruitfulness God would abundantly blefs their Land with, upon the Restitution of their State after the Affyrian Depredation; which Fertility fhould be fo great, that the Forefts and woody places like Lebanon, which yielded nothing but Matter for Building or Fuel, fhould yield as plentiful Crops as the most

Ff

fruitful

Gataker.

Chapter fruitful Plains, be fo replenish'd with Corn and Trees, XXIX. that they fhould feem to be fo many Forests.

Ver. 18. And in that day fhall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind fhall fee out of obfcurity, and out of darkness.] That is, then thofe who were flow of Heart to believe this Prophecy, and minded Isaiah no more than if they had been really deaf, fhall hear, that is, fhall understand the meaning of this Prophecy, and those who were blinded by Prejudice have the Eyes of their Understanding open'd, and perceive the meaning of it by feeling the good Effects of it.

Ver. 19. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men fhall rejoyce in the holy One of Ifrael.] By the Meek understand thofe who were not wilful and refractory, but fubmitted themselves to the Lord, and depended on him, who retir'd to Jerufalem for Shelter, and there underwent a great deal of Hardship, till God deftroy'd their Enemies, and then their Hearts were fill'd with Joy.

Ver. 20. For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the fcorner is confumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:] The terrible one, or the terrible ones, is all along the Epithet of Sennacherib and his Army, whofe Approach justly rais'd Confternation in every Quarter; thefe terrible ones fhall be brought to nought, fays the Prophet, and fo they were, nothing remaining of them but their Carcafes; and the fcorner shall be confum'd; thofe fceptical Jews, who giving no Credit to the Words of the Prophet, took no care for their Security, and were in all Probability moft of them either flain or carry'd Captive into Affyria; and all they who watch for iniquity, that is, were fo malicious as not only to defpife the Threatnings of the Prophet, but to feek his Ruin for telling them the Truth.

Ver. 21. That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a fnare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn afide the just for a thing of nought.] The Prophet fpeaks of himself in the Third Perfon, he was the Man whom they made or accus'd as an offender, and, if they could have prevail'd, would have had him put to Death, juft as they ferv'd Jeremiah afterwards; he was the Perfon who reprov'd them in the Gates, in all their public Places of Refort, boldly

told