Chapter were to let the Land reft, and neither fow nor reap, yet XXXVII. he promises enough fhould grow up of it self to maintain

'them without any Culture out of the Corn fcatter'd in the former Year; and then in the 16th Year God affures them of Liberty to Till their Land, as they were wont, and that they should fow and reap as in a Time of Peace, when no Enemy appear'd, nor there was any fear of any; but until the Corn fprung up and was ripe, that Year they liv'd upon what grew of it felf, the Sabbatical Year, without Tillage. Which demonftrates the wonderful Providence of God over this People, in taking care they fhould want nothing in thofe Years, without any Care of their own, if they believ'd in his Word. See Levit. 25. where the Precept about this Sabbatical Year is deliver'd, and was obferv'd by this People from the firft Conqueft and Division of the Land of Canaan, 47 Years after the coming out of Egypt. See Dr. Alix Reflections on the Old Testament, Part II. Chap. 1..

Ver. 31. And the remnant that is efcaped of the house of Judah, hall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.] He purfues the Metaphor from Corn that is fown in the Ground, fignifying that they should have firm Poffeffion of their own Country, and therein increase and multiply, and flourish exceedingly.

Ver. 32. For out of Ferufalem fhall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hefts fhall do this.] For they who are now fhut up in Ferufalem fhall be at liberty, and they who efcap'd the Enemies Fury in the Country, and fled thither for Refuge, fhall go out of Mount Sion to their own Poffeffions; his great Love to his own Honour and to his People fhall do these Wonders, to vindicate his Glory from that Contempt which was caft upon it by Sennacherib.

Ver. 33. Therefore thus faith the Lord concerning the King of Affyria, he fhall not come into this city, nor fhoot an arrow there, nor come before it with fhields, nor caft a bank against it.] He promifes the King of Affyria fhould be fo far from poffeffing himself of the City at this time, that he fhould not affault it, by fhooting fo much as an Arrow into it, no, nor appear with his Army againft it, or raise Bulwarks to befiege it; or, as the Hebrews understand it, they should

not

not caft a Stone out of their Engines against it; Rabfaris Chapter Tobfery'd, v. 8. continu'd the Siege, but whatsoever he XXXVII. did before, after this Mellage of Ifaiah he made no Attempt upon them.

Ver. 34. By the way that he came, by the fame shall be return, and shall not come into this city, faith the Lord.] He confirms what he faid before Verse 29.

Ver. 35. For I will defend this city to fave it, for mine own fake, and for my fervant David's fake.] To preferve it from Deftruction, for my own fake, and for my fervant Davids fake. upon which Account he had formerly fpar'd them, when they deferv'd to be punifh'd, 1 Kings 11, 12, 13.

Ver. 36. Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Affyrians a hundred and fourfcore and five thoufand: and when they arofe early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpfes.] By a Peftilential Difeafe, as Jofephus calls it, or vécor, fuch a vaft Number were fuddenly cut off; it is a Question whether this Deftruction was made in the Army that befieg'd Libnah, or in that Hoft which Rabfhakch brought up against Ferufalem; Jofephus thinks the latter, for it is probable Rabfhakeh was come with his whole Host against Jerufalem, which before was ftraiten'd by Rabfaris, and pr rñs, woλropnías vúnla, the first Night after they had begirt the City the Angel of the Lord made this great Slaughter among them, Lib. X. Antiq. Cap. 2. where a little before,at the End of the first Chapter,. he takes notice of an horrible Lie which Herodotus reports from the Egyptians, who fay their King, being alfo a Priest, by his Prayers to God brought this Deftruction upon the Affyrians as they lay before Pelufium, a great many Rats coming in the Night and gnawing all their Bow-strings in picces, fo that they could not fight, fo ftudious they were to pervert the Truth and corrupt the facred Story,

Ver. 37. So Sennacherib King of Affyria departed, and went, and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.] Being afraid that Tirbaka fhould come and deftroy the remainder of his broken Army.

Ver. 38. And it came to pass as he was worshipping in the house of Nifroch his god, that Adramelech and Sharezer his fons fmote him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Armenia and Efarhaddon his fon reigned in his ftead.] Nn 2

The

Chapter The LXX here call this God Afarac, and in the Book of XXXVII. Kings, where this Story is again told, Neforach, but what

any of thefe Names fignify Mr. Selden acknowledges he cannot tell, having in all his Reading never met with any thing that might explain it, but Kircher adventures to fay it was the Image of a Ship, reprefenting the Ark of Noah, the Reliques of which Jofephus tells us fome reported were in his Time in the neighbouring Mountains of Armenia; and a later Writer, Beyerus, (in his Additions to Selden de Diis Syris) thinks it fignifies as much as the Bird of Noah, that is, a Dove, which was worfhipp'd by the Affyrians, or, as others conjecture, (for they can do no more) this Word is deriv'd from Nes, which in Chaldee fignifies a Province and Rac, which fignifies a King, that is, Jupiter, the King and Confervator of that Province; Efarhaddon was the King that fent a Colony to people the Country of Samaria, because he fear'd Hezekiah might take Poffeffion of it after fuch a Defeat as his Father Sennacherib had receiv'd; his Name is courtail'd feveral ways, for in the Book of Tobit he is call'd Sarchedon, C. 1. v. 21. the firft Syllable of his Name being cut off, and the LXX cut off the next, calling him Aferdan, and Ifaiah cuts off both, calling him Sargon,

C. 20. I.

The ARGUMENT of Chapter XXXVIII.

him

White Sennacherib was gone against Tirhaka, and the rest of
his Forces under Rabshakeh block'd up Jerufalem, at or
about this Time Hezekiah fell fick of a Disease, which would
have carry'd him off had not his earnest Supplication to God
prevail'd on him to fpare his Life this time, and grant
a Continuation of it for Fifteen Years, in Token of which he
promis'd to make the Sun go back Ten Degrees in the Dial of
Ahaz; and the King, in Gratitude for fo great a Favour,
compofes a Poem, wherein he gives an Account of the Violence
of his Difeafe, how he thought every Day it would put an End
to his Life, and how he was miraculously preferv'd, for which
be not only returns prefent Thanks, but engages to do it very
folemnly as long as he liv'd.
..CHA P.

Verse 1.

IN

CHAP. XXXVIII.

N thefe days was Hezekiah fick unto death: and Tatah the prophet the fon of Amoz came unto bim, and Jaid unto him, Thus faith the Lord, Set thine houfe in order: for thou shalt die and not live.] This is fet down after the Death of Sennacherib, but with this general Note only of the Time wherein this Sickness fell out, In thofe Days. Which, as Primate Ufher obferves, in his Annals, doth not relate to what went juft before, as is evident from ver. 6. of this Chapter. Where he promifes to add Fifteen Years to his Life; and alfo to deliver him from the Affyrian: Which Deliverance was therefore after this Sicknefs, which was in the latter end of his Fourteenth Year; to which if we add Fifteeen, we make up the whole 29 of his Reign. When the Prophet faith to him thou shalt die and not live, he means that his Difeafe was in its own Nature mortal, and could not be cur'd by any Human Remedy. Therefore he wish'd him to fettle his Eftate, and (as we fpeak) to make his Will how all things in his Houfe fhould be difpos'd when he was Dead.

Ver. 2. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord.] That is, toward the Wall of the Sanctuary, as the Targum Expounds it. See Dr. Hammond upon Acts 10. Annot. 6. He thought as it was not beyond the Power of God to restore him, fo he had not peremptorily decreed that he fhould die, but there was a tacit condition in the Meffage, otherwife he would not have p:ay'd to be fpar'd.

Ver. 3. And faid, 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 fight: and Hezekiah wept fore.] He was not Confcious that he had omitted any thing which was to be done, for the reftoring of the true Worship of God. In which he had been fo exact as to take away the High Places, which had continued ever fince the time of David, and none durft remove them, and therefore he prefum'd to beg that he might live to fettle and establish what he had.

begun

Chapter XXXVIII

Chapter began to do. One Reafon of his Weeping was, as many XXXVIII. think, that he had not as yet a Son to Succeed him on

the Throne: For he liv'd after this Fifteen Years, and when he died Manaffeh was but Twelve Years Old, who therefore was born after this Sicknefs.

Ver. 4, 5, 6. Then came the word of the Lord to Ifaiah, faying, Go and fay to Hezekiah, Thus faith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, 1 have feen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. And I will deliver thee and this city, out of the band of the King of Affyria: and I will defend this city.]. This Sicknefs was that Year when Sennacherib threatned to deftroy the City.

Ver. 7, 8. And this shall be a fign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath Spoken: Behold, I will bring again the fhadow of the degrees which is gone down in the fun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward. So the fun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.] It is obferv'd by many Modern Interpreters, that there is not a Word here fpoken concerning the Suns going back, but only of the Shadow upon the Dial; which might by the Power of God go either forward or backward, the Sun ftill holding its Courfe, as it was wont to do. And the Degrees, or Lines in the Dial may fignify Hours, or half Hours, or, as fome think, quarters. See -Voffius de Orig. & Progrefs. Idololat lib. 2. chap. 9. Therefore they conclude that the Miracle was wrought on the Dial only, and not upon the very Body of the Sun. It is faid indeed, So the Sun return'd ten Degrees, but they think that may be meant of the Shadow of the Sun; God fo difpofing the Rays and ordering the Light, that no fhadow fhould be projected but where the Prophet foretold. This I thought fit to reprefent, but muft add that the Antient Jews and Chriftians too, took the Words of Ifaiah, to fignifie, that the Sun it felf went back and not merely the Shadow; whom Primate Ufher in his Annals follows, whofe Words are thefe: The Sun and all the heavenly Bodies went back, and as much was detracted from the next Night as was added to this Day, A. M. 4001. Which was done I fuppofe, on a fudden, by the Power of God; and lafted not long before all was reftor'd again

to