XXX. Chapter fhew; and therefore he would have it written before them, that they might fee their own Character in a lively manner reprefented, and themfelves painted in their proper colours. This care he takes because he was about to do a strange Act and marvellous Work, that all the World might know that it was not his but their Faults, that the fhould deal thus with them, contrary to his own Inclination toward them. Ver. 9, 10. That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which fay to the feers, See not, and to the prophets, Prophefie not unto us right things, fpeak unto us smooth things, prophefie deceits.] This is not to be understood as if they faid thus exprefly, totidem verbis, but by their infolent Behaviour to the Prophets they declar'd their Mind as plainly as if they had vented it in opprobrious Language. 1 Ver. 11. Get you out of the way, turn afide out of the path, cause the holy One of Ifrael to cease from before us.] That is, do any thing elfe, employ your Time otherwise than by troubling your felves and us with incredible Stories of what fhall befall us the Lord knows when, Make no more mention to us of the holy One of Ifrael, that State-Preface to all your impertinent Harangues, it being ufual with the Prophets to introduce their Difcourfes ad Populum, with, Thus faith the Lord.. Ver. 12, 13, 14. Wherefore thus faith the holy One of If rael, becaufe ye defpife this word, and truft in oppreffion and perverfeness, and stay thereon. Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, fvelling out in a high wall, whofe breaking cometh fuddenly at an inftant. And be fhall break it as the breaking of the potters veffel, that is broken in pieces, he shall not Spare; fo that there shall not be found in the bursting of it, a fhend to take fire from the bearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.] By reafon, of this your Iniquity ye fhall be like a piece of a high Wall, which fwells outwardly, and is juft ready to fall, yea, that falls and breaks to pieces fuddenly, without giving any warning: By this comparison the Prophet fets forth the fuddennefs of their deftruction, as he does the large extent of it by the dashing in pieces of the Potter's Veffel: And tho' we meet with no account of any particular Judg ment ment which fingled out the Wicked of thofe Times, yet it is very probable it fell feverest on them, becaufe giving no credit to the Prophet, they had not time either to fly into other Countries, or retire to Jerufalem; and thousands of them without doubt were put to death by the plundering Affyrians, and many of them were fent into Captivity; for moft, if not all the Cities of Judah, except Jerufalem, were in their hands, and they ravag'd the defenceless Country a great while, before their Army overthrown. Ver. 15. For thus faith the Lord God, the holy One of Ifrael, In returning and rest shall ye be faved, in quietness and in confidence fhall be your strength, and ye would not.] That is, in returning to God, or from your vain defign of. fending to Egypt for Succour, and in refting quietly with in your Walls fhall ye be fav'd. Tho' fome of the Fathers hence prove the Efficacy of Contrition, whereas neither Shuvah, nor any Verbal thence deduced, ever fignifies Repentance in Scripture. Ver. 16, 17. But ye faid, No, for we will flee upon horses; therefore fhall ye flee: and we will ride upon the fwift; therefore fhall they that pursue you be swift. One thousand fhall flee at the rebuke of one: at the rebuke of five shall ye flee, till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an en-.. Sign on an hill. But ye faid, No, we will not return, and alter our purpofe, we will not reft and fit ftill at home, but we will go down into Egypt, and provide our felves with good Horfes there, that if we be overcome by the Af fyrians, we may fly the faster from them: All this your Enemies fhall do, they shall ride on the Swift, and overtake you run you never fo faft; and instead of making head against them, which ye pretend to do, a thousand of you fhall run away at the approach of a fingle Affyrian, and a fmall handful of Affyrians hall drive the whole Nation before them, 'till there be not two of you left together in a Company. Beacons ftanding by themselves in fome folitary Place: And the Prophet, fuppofe, means the fame by the other Similitude of an Ensign on a Hill; tho? Forerius gives it this turn, And they fhall be scatter'd on the face of the Earth, and People fhall gather themselves Chapter XXX. Chapter to gaze at them as they flock to a Standard erected on XXX. fome cminent Place. may be Ver. 18. And therefore will the Lord wait that he gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment; bleffed are all they that wait for him.] Velaken, which we render and therefore, may fignify yet not withstanding, and the fenfe of this Verfe be thus understood, Tho' Destruction fhall overtake the rebellious Jems, yet will the Lord wait 'till ye have fortify'd your City, and put your felves in a folemn manner under his Protection, before he brings the Affyrian into your Country, that he may fhew favour unto you; yet will he be exalted, by having Mercy upon you; for the Lord is a God of Judgment, that is, of Mercy and Compaffion, as the word plainly fignifies in that of the Pfalmist, O Lord correct me but with judgment, not in thine anger least thou bring me to nothing. Ver. 19. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Ferufalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee, at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.] For the People that truft in the Lord fhall dwell fecurely in Jerufalem. In a fhort time ye fhall be out of all danger, and no more be dejected at the fight of the Affyrians; for I will be gracious unto you when ye make your Supplications unto me, and will not be deaf to your Requefts. Here the Prophet fpeaks of the fame Perfons first in the third, and then in the fecond, and of God in the third. This plainly proves that the Propet has been difcourfing concerning the Affyrian, not the Chaldean Invafion, because in this they were fo far from dwelling fecurely in Jerufalem, that the City was quite destroy'd, and they that efcap'd the edge of the Sword, were carry'd away into Captivity; tho' Sanctius, in favour of that Interpretation, thinks it may be understood of their dwelling fecurely in Jerufalem, after their return from Captivity; but I think it very unlikely that the Prophet by dwelling in Sion, fhould mean returning again to that City, fince he has not faid a word of their being driven out of it. Ver. 20. And though the Lord give you the bread of adverfity, and the water of affliction, yet fhall not thy teachers be XXX. be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes fhall fee thy Chapter teachers:] Tho' ye find your felves reduc'd to Extremities ufual in long Sieges, tho' ye be ftinted to a fhort Allowance of Bread and Water, and are forc'd to undergo a great many other inconveniencies, yet ufe not my Prophets ill, make them not run into Corners to hide themselves from the violence of an impatient multitude; but be glad to fee them among you and let their Examples incourage you, to bear up handfomly under the fhort Afflictions which fhall then be upon you. This (a) is the plain meaning of the Words, (4) Grotius, without running to the whimsical Expofitions of fome Lyranus, who by Panis Anguftia, as the Vulgat renders, Lekem Em. Sa. tzar make the Prophet mean the Compendious Doctrine of the Gospel, or Chrift himself or the Eucharift, and the like Dreams. Ver. 21. And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, faying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.] The words may be thus Tranflated, and when ye turn to the right hand or to the left, let thine Ear gladly bear the word behind Thee, faying, this is the Way, walk Te in it: The expression is Metaphorical, taken from those who have Children under their care, whom if they fee doing any thing amifs they call to them and direct them, and give them inftructions how to behave themfelves on the like occafion another time. (b) Leo Caftrius. Ver. 22. Te shall defile alfo the covering of thy graven images of filver, and the ornament of thy motten images of gold: thou shalt caft them away as a menftruous cloth, thou shalt fay unto it, Get thee hence.] That is, ye caft away out of the Temple, and out of your Houfes fhall all Idols, with their Superftitious Appurtenances; their Coverings, and their Ornaments. That the Images of the Pagan Gods were cover'd with Attire, we learn from the Story of (c) Dionyfius, who difrob'd the Statue of Ju- (c) Cicero, piter of a Veft made of beaten Gold, under pretence de Natur. that it was too hot for him in Summer, and too cold Deor. 1.3. for him in Winter: And the Jews we find had the fame ...1. Custom of Adorning the homely Objects of their Worfhip, that they might feem to be fomething more than they were. Gg 2 Ver. Valer. Max. Chapter Ver. 23. Then fhall he give the rain of thy feed that thou XXX. fhalt sow the ground withal, and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day fhall thy cattle feed in large paftures.] The words are more clearly render'd in the Port Royal Verfion, Le Seigneur repandra la pluie fur vos grains par tout ou vous aurez femè: · la terre produira des bles avec abondance dont vous ferez d'excellent pain. God fhall water thy Seed with Rain wherefoever it is fown; the Earth fhall produce abundance of "Corn, wherewith ye shall make excellent Bread; and ye fhall have plenty of Meat alfo, for then thy Cattle fhall feed in large Paftures, and have abundance of Grafs; which could not but be comfortable News to those who had the melancholy Prospect before them of a long Siege, a Country difpeopled and laid wafte by an Army of Barba (a) Hieron. rians. Ver. 24. The oxen likewife and the young affes that ear the ground, fhall eat clean provender which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.] By this the Prophet fets forth the great Plenty of all Things which fhould then be, they should have no need to mingle Chaff with the Provender they gave to their Cattle to make it hold out the longer, but give it them pure and unmix'd. Ver. 25. And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters; in the day of the great flaughter, when the tower's fall.] Mountains which are naturally dry and barren, fhall abound with Streams of Water, by which he means that they should be fruitful, and yield a plentiful Harvest, because Fields well water'd are commonly moft fruitful; and all this fhall be in the Day of the great Slaughter, when the Affyrians are destroy'd, and the Towers which they had erected against Jerufalem are pulled down. (a) Rivers of Grace fhall flow by Christ when the Enemies of the Faith of Christ fhall be deftroy'd by Conftantine; then the Towers fell, that is, the Heathen Emperors and Princes, and all the Wisdom of the Gentiles became fubject to Christ. Eclairciffement marvellieux. Ver. 26. Moreover, the light of the moon fhall be as the Light of the fun, and the light of the fun fhall be feven fold, as the light of feven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the |