Annotations Upon Isaiah
I answer, 1. Because this dimness was not perpetual, as the other was. The Jews that were carried captives into Babylon returned afterward back again into their own Country (which the Israelites that were carried away by the Assyrians never did) at which time both the City and Temple at Jerusalem were rebuilt again.
And, 2. Because some few years after, the promised Messiah should come, and then they should enjoy the light of the Gospel, which to the faithful should yield so great comfort, that it would make them forget all their former sufferings and sorrows. And indeed it is clear, that the Evangelist St. Matthew doth in the place above cited apply that which he saith there concerning the springing up of the light of the Gospel to the places here mentioned by the Prophet; implying that as those parts first tasted of the miseries here spoken of, so they should be first revived by the bright shining of the Gospel amongst them.
Ver. 2. The people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light, &c.] This was in part accomplished, first, when Sennacherib's army was destroyed, wherewith he had besieged Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah, and so the siege was broken up, and the enemies were forced to fly out of the land with great confusion and shame; for then the people of Judea might well be said to have seen a great light, not only because their joy must needs then be exceeding great, after such a dark time of extreme distress and sorrow, but also because their deliverance in such a miraculous way was so apparently the mighty hand and work of God.
2. When the Jews were delivered out of Babylon, and brought back again into their own land, at which time some of the Ten Tribes also returned, in regard whereof it may be spoken of the whole Nation of Israel. And indeed considering that when by Nebuchadnezzar the City and Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed, and so the people were wholly taken off from the public Worship of God, it might seem hereby that the Covenant betwixt God and them was broked off, and the hope they had of the promised Messiah was at end, therefore when the Lord had brought them back again from the land of their captivity, their joy must needs be exceeding great, see Psal. 126.2, 3.
But, 3. principally and most clearly by the coming of Christ, and the breaking forth of the light of the Gospel, when the Jews (and Gentiles too) were enlightened by the shining of that Sun of Righteousness amongst them, and delivered from that blindness, and that bondage under sin and Satan, wherein formerly they abode (whereof the Babylonian captivity was a type), and brought into an estate of clearer knowledge, and greater joy than ever that people had enjoyed before in the time of the Law. And indeed, as is partly noted before, this I conceive is the chief reason why Zebulun and Naphtali, and the land about Jordan, were particularly mentioned in the foregoing verse, to wit, because the light of the Gospel did first break forth in those parts; and there Christ wrought his first Miracles, and the chief of his Apostles were there first called. And the same is intended in the following words, They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined; for this also may comprehend both the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon, where they seemed to have been in as hopeless a condition, as men are that lie dead in their graves, according to that which is said of them, Ezek. 37.12. O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And likewise more especially the deliverance of Christ's redeemed ones from that darkness of sin and death, both temporal and eternal, under which they lay by nature, see the Note, Job 3.5. And observable it is, that to express how certain it was that this should be, the Prophet still speaks of that which was to come to pass many years after, as if it were done already.
Ver. 3. Thou hast multiplied the Nation, and not increased the joy, &c.] The Prophet still proceeds in a Prophetical strain, speaking of future things, as if they were past already. The words may be read, as it is in the Margent of our Bibles, Thou hast •••• ipli •• • he Nation, and to him increased the joy; as if he had said, Thou wilt multiply this Nation, and wilt increase their joy. And indeed, whether we understand this of the joy of the Jewish Nation, either, 1. at their deliverance from Sennacherib's army that had besieged Jerusalem: Or, 2. at their deliverance from the Babylonian captivity: Or, 3ly, at their deliverance by Christ, their promised Messiah, these two may well be joined together concerning the multiplying of the Nation, and the increasing of their joy: Because,
1. When Sennacherib had made great havoc amongst the people in the land, after his army was destroyed so miraculously, to the great joy of that Nation, God was pleased to cause them to multiply and thrive again, according to that promise made to Hezekiah, Chap. 37.31. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah, shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
2ly, Because after their joyful return out of Babylon, through the blessing of God upon them, the people did great multiply, as was foretold by the Prophets, Jer. 31.27. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel, and the house of Judah, with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And Zach. 2.4. Jerusalem shall be inhabited as Towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein. And,
3ly, Because at the coming of Christ, which was a time indeed of greatest joy, the people of God were exceedingly multiplied, by the confluence of multitudes of the Gentiles that joined themselves to the Church of Christ. See the Notes, Chap. 3.1, 2. & Psal. 17.1, &c. And this Marginal reading of the Text I cannot but judge far the most probable, because according to this Translation of the words, the meaning of the place is so clear and easy; whereas if we read it as it is in our Bibles, Thou hast multiplied the Nation, and not increased the joy; there seems to be a manifest contradiction betwixt this and the following words, They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. Whence it is that so many ways have been found out by Expositors to salve this seeming contradiction: For, first, some understand the first part of the verse of the Assyrian, to wit, that though the Assyrian had raised, or though God by his Providence had suffered him to raise a very numerous army, yet their joy was not answerable thereto, because by the sword of an Angel there was such havoc made amongst them, as they lay before Jerusalem, and so they returned not home rejoicing and triumphing in their victory, as they thought to have done. And then the following words they understand of the Jews, to wit, that they had cause of abundant joy, though the Assyrian had none. They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. And,
2ly, Some understand both branches of the verse of the Jews in the days of the Gospel, that then they were many in number, as God had promised, or that they were multiplied by the access of the Gentiles, who joined themselves to the Church of the Jews; but that this was without any great joy of the Jews, the Nation to whom Christ and the Gospel were peculiarly promised, because so few of them did embrace the faith of Christ; or because they did very much envy the Preaching of the Gospel amongst the Gentiles, or because they were within a few years after rooted out by the Romans. Or else, of the Church of Christ, as made up both of Jews and Gentiles; to wit, that though God's people were then mightily increased in number, yet their joy was not answerable thereunto, and that because of the grievous persecutions, and the manifold calamities and miseries that were continually their portion. And now because in both these joys there was a mixture of much grief and trouble of spirit, therefore they say in the following words, this joy of theirs is compared to the joy of men in harvest, when their joy is mixed with a great deal of toil and labor; and to the joy of those that divide the spoil, which is not obtained without much hardship, and after many sharp and bitter conflicts.
But, 3ly, others understand that the Prophet in the first part of the verse speaks of the Jews in former times, to wit, that God had exceedingly multiplied that Nation in former ages, as he had promised (under which term some also comprehend the advancing of them, and their growing great in riches, power, and many glorious victories); but that their joy then was comparatively nothing in regard of that joy they should have in the breaking forth of that light whereof he had spoken in the foregoing verse. Then their joy should be such as it had never been since God began first to multiply that Nation; which is therefore set forth in the following words by those expressions, They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, &c. And this may be understood of their joy: Either, 1. When Jerusalem was delivered from Sennacherib's army. Or, 2. when the Jews were delivered from the Babylonian captivity. Or, 3. when Christ came to deliver them from the bondage of Sin, Satan, Death and Hell. And indeed because it is expressly said, that the joy of this Nation when they were returned out of Babylon, and had begun to build their City and Temple again, was not so great as it had been in former times, see the Note, Ezra 3.12. therefore I conceive the joy the Prophet here speaks of, is chiefly meant of the joy that redounded to believers by Christ; which was indeed as much greater than all the joys of God's people in former ages had been, as the light of the Sun is greater than the light of a candle; and that because this was the greatest mercy that ever was promised God's people, and because the light of the knowledge of God, and the way of Salvation was far more clearly discovered and imparted to them, than ever it had been in former times. As for that expression, they joy before thee, &c. either that is spoken with respect to the thank-offerings and praises which they offered up unto God, upon their deliverances, in the Sanctuary, and in the assemblies of his people. Or else to set forth the heartiness, and reality, and sincerity of their joy, to wit, that they should be indeed heartily and inwardly joyed, as acknowledging God's wonderful work in their deliverance.
Ver. 4. For thou hast broken, &c.] Here the Prophet shows us what the ground should be of that wonderful joy promised to God's people in the foregoing verse, to wit, God's wonderful delivering of them from that miserable bondage under which they had been sorely oppressed; which as it may be partly understood of the Jews deliverance both from that bondage under which Sennacherib endeavored to bring them, and from the yoke of the Babylonian captivity; yet it must be principally understood as looking farther, even to that great redemption of God's people by Christ, when the yoke of Satan, and sin, and the world, and death, and hell was broken, and they were brought into the glorious liberty of God's children. Thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, that is, the burdensome yoke of that bondage, and those many heavy pressures under which thy people lay; and the staff of his shoulder, that is, the staff wherewith their shoulders were beaten; the rod of the oppressor, that is, the tyrannical rule of those that oppressed him, or the rod wherewith their task-masters were wont to beat them, by way of forcing them to pay their taxes, or to dispatch those works of drudgery that were imposed upon them; as in the day of Midian, that is, totally, and easily, and wholly by the out-stretched arm of God, without the help of man and military forces, as when Gideon overcame the Midianites. And to this it is thought the deliverance here promised is compared, because the deliverance of the Jews from Sennacherib's army, and from the Babylonian captivity, but especially our deliverance by Christ, was indeed effected, not by the power of man and weapons of war, but solely by the almighty power of God, and because in the manner of Gideon's vanquishing the Midianites there was such a notable typical resemblance of the victory of Christ and his members over Satan, that great oppressor of his people, for which see the Notes, Judge. 7.19.
Ver. 5. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, &c.] If we read this verse according to the Translation that is set in the Margent of our Bibles, When the whole battle of the warrior was with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood, &c. then the whole verse seems clearly to be meant of that overthrow of the Midianites mentioned in the foregoing verse, when the whole army of the Midianites being suddenly struck with a panic fear, there was a confused noise amongst them, and they fell upon, and flew one another, so that they lay tumling in their own blood. And if we thus read the Text, then the meaning of the last clause, and it was with burning and fuel of fire, must needs be this, either that the bodies of the Midianites, together with their garments, being thus soaked and spoiled with the abundance of blood that was spilled, were fain to be burnt, and made fuel of fire; or else that by this their slaughtering one another, their whole army was easily, instantly, and utterly destroyed, as when any combustible matter is suddenly consumed and burnt up with a flaming fire. But now if we read it, as it is in our Bibles, as consisting of two parts, the one opposed to the other, For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood, but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire, then these words must needs be added to set forth, why he had compared the deliverance now promised, to that of Gideon's victory over the Midianites, namely, because it should be effected in a strange and miraculous way, and not by the vanquishing of their enemies in battle, as usually people are delivered; For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood, that is, with the confused noise of Drums and Trumpets, the clattering of arms, and neighing of horses, the shouting of Soldiers, and the cries and skreeks of men wounded and slain, that lay weltering in their blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire, that is, this deliverance of God's people which is now promised, shall not be effected by the power of man, by fighting and bloodshed, but by the almighty power of God, consuming the enemy on a sudden in a miraculous way, as with a flame of fire. And this some think is meant of that miraculous destruction of Sennacherib's army, that had besieged Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah, which was effected without any tumult of a battle, without any fighting or bloodshed, multitudes of the Assyrian army being suddenly slain in the dead of the night by the stroke of an Angel, and so were destroyed, as if they had been smitten with lightning from Heaven, and burnt up and consumed like so much fuel of fire. But others understand it of the deliverance of God's people by Christ from the bondage of Sin and Satan, which is not accomplished by weapons of war, battles and bloodshed, but by the Preaching of the Gospel, and the mighty working of the Spirit of God, purifying their hearts, and burning up their lusts and corruptions, the strong holds of Satan, 2 Cor. 10.4, 5. even as when any combustible matter is burnt up and consumed by fire. See the Note, Chap. 4.4. Or else (as some think) of Christ's destroying the enemies of his people in a strange and wonderful way, and his making them at last the fuel of Hell-fire.
Ver. 6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.] To wit, Jesus Christ, the great gift of God's free Grace, who as he was the only begotten Son of God, (see the Notes, Psal. 2.7. & 2 Sam. 7.14.) so he was also a child conceived and born of the Virgin Mary; the same that was before foretold by the name Immanuel, Chap. 7.14. (for which see the Note there; for much is there said to show the ground why these Prophesies concerning Christ are inserted in these places, and to prove that they cannot be meant of Hezekiah, as the Jews would have it.) To imply the certainty of that which is here foretold, the Prophet still expresseth this which was to be done many years after, as if it were done already, For unto us a child is born, &c. where by those words unto us, the Jewish Nation may be primarily and peculiarly meant, from whose Royal stock he was descended, according to that which the Angel said to the shepherds, Luk. 2.11. Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And hereby it is clear, which is observable, that Christ was given of God to be a Savior, even to those that lived in the days of the Old Testament. But withal they must be extended to all mankind in general, because this Son of God by taking man's nature upon him, became a Savior for man in general, upon condition of believing in him; and because all that do believe in him (to whom only he is effectually given to be a Savior) become spiritually the seed, and are joined in one body with the Church of the Jews. Now this concerning the birth of Christ is here inserted, as a reason of all that was said before, For unto us a child is born, &c. 1. Because the deliverance of God's people by Christ was the great mercy that was principally intended in the foregoing promises, the victory which was to be accomplished without tumult and bloodshed, and that which should be the matter of such exceeding great joy to them; see the foregoing Notes, ver. 2, 3, 4, 5. 2ly, Because the great mercy intended in those temporal deliverances, included also in the foregoing promises, to wit, that when Jerusalem was saved from Sennacherib, and that of the Jews return out of Babylon was the preservation of the Royal stock of David, that so from thence this great Redeemer the Lord was to spring, in whom that Kingdom of David was to be continued unto eternity, and by whom the restauration of the Church, begun in the return from Babylon, was to be perfected and brought to a more flourishing and joyful estate than ever. And, 3ly, Because even those temporal deliverances of the Jews before mentioned were effected by this their Messiah, and the virtue of the great work of his Redemption.
And the Government shall be upon his shoulder.] That is, God shall appoint him to be the King of his Church, and impose upon him the Government of his Church, yea he shall make him his Viceroy for the ruling and governing of the whole world under him, that so he may the better protect and provide for his Church, and order all things for the benefit and advantage thereof. See the Note, Psal. 2.6. This phrase, The Government shall be upon his shoulder, may seem to allude to the custom of carrying a Scepter upon the shoulder, as the sign of Regal power; as the like is noted in that which is said concerning Eliakim, Chap. 22.22. The key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; but the meaning is clear, that God should commit the Government of the Church to him, and so the care of it should in all regards lie upon him, and he should uphold it with his care and power; he should not commit the Government of it to others, as needing no other to help him to bear the burden of it, but he should manage it wholly by his own power; and whereas other Kings are wont to be burdensome to their subjects, it should not be so with him, because he should bear his subjects as his burden. Yet there may be also in these words an allusion to that which he had said before, ver. 4. Thou hast broken the staff of his shoulder; and so the drift of them may be to imply, that having freed them from the tyrannous oppression of their enemies, they should live as a free and happy people under his just and righteous Government.
And his name shall be called, &c.] That is, he shall be, and shall by God and his people be owned to be, Wonderful, Counsel • r, &c. The Jews that they may with some show of reason, apply this Prophecy to Hezekiah, do violently transpose the words of the Text, and read it thus, He that is Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, shall call his name, The Prince of Peace. But the words as they are in the Hebrew, will not bear such a reading as many of their own do acknowledge; for they stand clearly in the order as they are rendered in our Translation, And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, &c. First Wonderful, to wit, with respect to that incomprehensible wonder of his two natures, the Divine and Human nature, united together in one person; as likewise with respect to the wonder of his Concepton, Death, Resurrection and Ascension, together with all the miraculous works that were done by him, and especially that great and astonishing work of man's Redemption, which the Angels themselves did admire, 1 Pet. 1.12. 2ly, Counselor, as being abundantly furnished to reveal all truths to his people, and in all things to counsel and direct them what to do. See the Note, Prov. 8.14. 3ly, The mighty God, which shows clearly that this cannot be understood of Hezekiah, or any other mortal man, but only of the Lord Christ. 4ly, The Everlasting-Father, to wit, because it is he that regenerates the faithful in all ages, and is the father of eternity, the author of life eternal to all that believe on him. And, 5ly, The Prince of Peace, to wit, because he should not advance his Kingdom by force of arms, but in a way of peace; because he makes our peace with God, and united Jews and Gentiles together, as one people; and because he is the sole author of all the peace of his people, outward and inward, temporal and eternal. See the Note, Chap. 2.4.
Ver. 7. Of the increase of his Government and peace there shall be no end, &c.] This is added with respect to the last Title, given to Christ in the foregoing verse, The Prince of Peace, to wit, that the extending of his Principality and Government, and the peace and prosperity thereof, should never come to an end, but should still proceed farther and farther; which is especially accomplished by the enlargement of his Kingdom amongst the Gentiles. See the Note, Psal. 2.8. And observable it is, that by foretelling the increase of the peace of his Kingdom, together with the great extent of his dominions, these singular privileges are implied, 1. That his Kingdom should be carried on, not by the sword, but by the Gospel of peace. And, 2. that whereas the enlargement of other Princes Kingdoms do usually tend to their ruin, it should not be so with his. As for that which followeth, 1. It is said that this his Government should be upon the throne of David, and upon his Kingdom, because Christ was David's son and heir, and David's Kingdom was a type of Christ's, see the Notes, 2 Sam. 7.11, 16. Ps. 72.1. & 132.11. And accordingly even in Jerusalem, the seat of David's Kingdom, Christ Preached the Gospel, and was owned as the Son of David, and vanquished the spiritual enemies; and from thence the Gospel of the Kingdom went forth into all the world. 2ly, It is said that this should be to order it, and to establish it, that is, for the well-ordering, the strengthening and settling of his Church and Kingdom, with judgment and with justice, that is, with just judgment; or by punishing the wicked, and protecting and rewarding the righteous. See the Notes, Psal. 89.14. Prov. 16.12. And, 3ly, it is said that this shall be from henceforth even forever, that is, from the time that Christ in man's nature shall undertake the Government of his Church, unto all eternity. And, 4ly, because the accomplishing of these great things which he had promised, might in the declining estate of David's Kingdom seem impossible, therefore he addeth that clause, The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this; for which see the Notes, 2 King. 19.31.
Ver. 8. The Lord sent a word in to Jacob, &c.] It is not a matter of any concernment to know whether this be a new Prophecy, or a continuation of that which went before; clear it is, that after the interlacing of the foregoing comfortable promises, the Prophet here returns to foretell the judgments that were coming upon the men of Israel, and that for the comfort of Judah, who were now terrified with the confederacy of Israel with Rezin King of Syria against them. The Lord sent a word into Jacob, that is, the Lord hath by me, or rather by the many Prophets that have been sent to them, made known the ruin that is coming upon the posterity of Jacob in the Ten Tribes; and it hath lighted upon Israel, that is, it shall light upon Israel; however they flatter themselves, even upon them it shall fall; it shall certainly come upon them, as it hath been foretold. See the Note before, ver. 7. Yet there are some Expositors that would have it understood thus, and it hath lighted upon Israel, that is, the word sent unto them, was accordingly delivered to them, and known amongst them, falling amongst them, as the seed doth on the ground where it is sown.
Ver. 9. And all the people shall know, &c.] That is, when the judgment threatened shall come upon them, then they shall all know to their cost experimentally, that it was indeed the word of God that was spoken to them, though now they will not believe it, but do vainly flatter themselves, even Ephraim, (see the Note, Psal. 78.9.] and the inhabitants of Samaria, that is, of the Kingdom of Samaria, to wit, the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes of Israel: or rather the inhabitants of the City Samaria, the Royal and chief City of that Kingdom; who are particularly mentioned by way of intimating to them that they should not escape by the strength of their fortifications, but should the rather be destroyed for their vain confidence therein, as is more clearly set forth in the following words, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, to wit, that which is added in the next verse.
Ver. 10. The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones, &c.] That is, our enemies have beaten down our brick-buildings, but we will build them again of hewn stones, which will be far more costly, and strong and stately; the Sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars; that is, they have hewn and broken down our houses made of the timber of Sycamore-trees, which was of no great reckoning; but we will build others of Cedar-Timber, far more stately and lasting. Some, I know, understand this last Clause of planting Cedars in the room of those Sycamore-trees, which the enemies had cut down, when they made all the spoil they could in the Country; which cannot so probably be thought to be here intended. But however the meaning of these Proverbial Expressions is, that though their State and Land had suffered much by their Enemies, yet they would soon bring all things into a more splendid and glorious condition than ever they had been in before; insomuch that the ruins the Enemy had made should prove an advantage to them, as being an occasion of making their Cities more beautiful, and their defences and fortifications stronger, than they were before. And most probable it is, that this is meant of that havoc which Pul had made in the Land of Israel, 2 Kin. 15.19. Or else it must be meant of that which after him Tiglath-Pileser was to make amongst them, 2 Kin. 15.29.
Vers. 11. Therefore the Lord shall set up the Adversaries of Rezin against him, &c.] In showing how the Judgment threatened against the Israelites should light upon them, as the Prophet had said before, verse. 8. First he tells them, how the Lord would raise up Adversaries against Rezin, with whom they had made a Confederacy, and on whose side they did so much rely, and would make them prevail over him; which is meant of the Assyrians, who did indeed invade Syria, and took Damascus their chief City, and slew Rezin, 2 Kin. 16.9. And then he adds, And join his enemies together; which some would have to be understood of the many Nations that should be joined together in the Assyrians Army against Rezin. But I rather think, that having first shown how the Lord would cut off Rezin, in whose Confederacy they so much gloried, he then adds, that this being done, he would then join his enemies together, that is, Israel's Enemies, to wit, those mentioned in the following words.
Vers. 12. The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind, &c.] That is, the Syrians, in whose help they put so much confidence, being subdued by the Assyrian, and become his Subjects, shall come under his conduct; and being joined with his Forces, shall invade the Israelites on one side, and the Philistines at the same time shall invade them on the other side; And they shall devour Israel with open mouth, that is, As so many ravenous beasts, that with open mouth fall upon their prey, they shall with all greadiness and eagerness seek utterly to devour and destroy them. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For which see the Note, Chap. 5.25.
Vers. 13. For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, &c.] That is, they are not reclaimed and brought home to God, by the Judgments that God brings upon them, and therefore greater must follow; Neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts, to wit, by Prayer and Repentance.
Vers. 14. Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, &c.] That is, all of all sorts, from the highest to the lowest, from the chiefest to the basest and most despised amongst the people, see the Note, Deut. 28.13. And such another Proverbial Form of Speech is that which follows, Branch and rush: For thereby seems to be meant, both the strong and weak; or more particularly, their choice young men, the beauty of each Family from whence they sprang, as the Branch doth out of the Tree; and likewise those of the poorer and meaner sort of people. And it is said, that this should be done in one day; that is, at one and the same time; they should be all cut off suddenly and together: Which was done when they were all carried away into Captivity by Shalmaneser, and other Nations planted in their stead, 2 King. 17. But withal observable it is, that in setting forth this destruction of the Kingdom of the Tribes, he threatens the cutting off the branch, not the cutting down of the tree; because the root and stock of this people was still to be preserved. Nor is it wholly to be disregarded which some add, that in those words, The Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail; He speaks of the Israelites, as of a people that were transformed into a beast, and that to imply their Wickedness and brutish Sins.
Vers. 15. The ancient and the honorable, he is the head, &c.] The Prince and Magistrate, he that is of high account for Age or Office, he is the Head; to wit, because the Magistrate doth take care for, order and govern the people, even as the Head doth the Body. As for the word honorable, See the Note Chap. 3.3. And the Prophet that teacheth Lies, he is the tail: And I conceive lying Prophets are so called, to imply, how base such men were in the esteem both of God and good men, according to that which God spake of the wicked Priests, Mal. 2.9. I have made you contemptible and base before all the people. Yet it might be also spoken with respect to their abject and base outward condition, because it is likely that their false Prophets were of the meanest and lowest of the people, as Jeroboam 's Priests also were; See the Note, 1 King. 12.31. Neither is it wholly to be disregarded what some Learned Expositors have added, that the Prophet that taught Lies, might well be compared to the Tail: 1. Because instead of going before the people with holy Doctrine, and an exemplary holy Life and Conversation, as it was fit the Lord's Prophets should do, they were still ready to comply with the people, the great ones especially, in saying whatever they would have them say, and doing whatsoever they would have them do, turning and winding themselves after them; even as the tail of a beast follows and turns about which way soever the beast goeth. And 2. Because for their Bellies sake, even for pieces of Bread, as the Prophet Ezekiel saith, Ezek. 13.19. they were wont with vile and sordid Flatteries to fawn upon the People, and especially those that were in high places, even as dogs (to whom such lying Prophets are compared, Chap. 56.11.) use to fawn upon men with wagging their tails. Now if it be questioned▪ why the Prophet doth not here explain what was meant in the foregoing verse by branch and rush, as well as what was meant by head and tail: To this it is answered, that the reason of this was, because he intended chiefly to strike at those that were the chiefest Offenders, and that were a main cause of all the wickedness that was amongst the people. Yet it may be that which follows, verse. 17. may be added to explain that Proverbial expression of the branch and rush.
Vers. 16. For the Leaders of this people cause them to err, &c.] See the Note, Chap. 3.12. This is added as a reason why God would cut off both head and tail; to wit, Because the Leaders were Seducers, and the people were so ready to be misled by them.
Vers. 17. Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, &c.] This may be intended to explain what was meant before, verse. 14. by branch and rush. And the meaning is, That whereas usually when the people of God do walk as becomes his people, the Lord doth rejoice in them, and in seeing them in a prosperous condition, according to that, Chap. 65.19. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and that which David saith, That the Lord hath pleasure in the Prosperity of his Servants, Psal. 35.27. See the Note, Deut. 28.63. And consequently is delighted to see their young men to grow up and prosper, as being a chief stay and strength for them: Now on the contrary, because of their sins, he would not rejoice in them, nor in their young men, nor in anything that should be for their welfare; but as being grieved at their wickedness, Psal. 95.10. He would not spare them nor show them any favor, but would punish and destroy them. This I conceive is the full intent of this expression. Yet it may be understood Figuratively thus, The Lord shall have no joy in their young men; that is, he will detest and abhor them: Neither shall have mercy on the fatherless and widows; as if he should have said, Though these even bloody enemies are sometimes wont to spare; or, though God be usually very favorable to these, and very tenderly careful and watchful over them; yet now he will not spare them, he will regard neither Sex, nor Age, nor State; For everyone is an hypocrite, and an evil d • er, and every mouth speaketh folly, or villainy, as it is in the Margin. The meaning is, That they were not ashamed openly and impudently to declare their wickedness: For all this his anger is not turned away, &c. See the Note, Chap. 5.25.
Vers. 18. For wickedness burneth as the fire, &c.] Some understand this merely of the growth of wickedness amongst the Israelites, to wit, that as a fire in combustible matter doth spread and rise higher and higher, so had all kind of wickedness grown and increased amongst that people, so that it had overspread the whole land, and was grown up to a mighty height. But the words seem plainly to intend the destruction of a people. And therefore I take this to be the meaning of them, that as a fire kindled in the underwood, the briers and thorns, in some great wood or forest, doth first devour them, and then afterward taking hold of the higher trees, doth likewise consume them, (which is expressed in these words, It shall devour the briers and thorns, it shall kindle in the thickets of the forest ), so this people's wickedness, by reason of the wrath of God it would bring upon men, should consume and destroy the whole people, even in the most populous places, from the lowest to the highest; see the Notes, Deut. 32.22. Psal. 97.3. & 83.14. And they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke, that is, the people being made the fuel of Divine vengeance, shall be utterly consumed, and vanish away to nothing. See the Note, Psal. 37.20. yet some add, that hereby may also be implied, that their punishments should be a terror to all that were about them.
Vers. 19. Through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts is the land darkened, &c.] That is, the land of Israel shall be brought into a very calamitous, sad, dreadful and hopeless condition, see the Notes, Chap. 5.30. & 8.22. In this expression, I conceive, the Prophet alludes to the last words of the foregoing verse, they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke; as is the more evident by the following words, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire, concerning which see the foregoing Note: No man shall spare his brother, that is, as men in the dark, they shall fall foul upon one another, and consume and destroy one another. The land shall be full of uproars, seditions, and civil dissensions, wherein they shall mutually spoil and destroy one another, not sparing their nearest relations; which yet cannot be meant of those civil outrages mentioned, 2 King. 15. because they were before this was Prophecyed. Lest the people should flatter themselves with a vain hope that none of the evil here threatened by the Prophet should come upon them, because there was no appearance nor likelihood of any enemy that should invade them, therefore they are told, that rather than God would want those that should execute his vengeance upon them, he would arm them against themselves, and make everyone destroy his brother.
Ver. 20. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied, &c.] That is, they shall spoil and plunder all that are about them on every side, without making any difference of the persons of whom they make a prey, whether they be rich or poor, strangers or near relations; like so many famished, starved men, they shall snatch at everything they come nigh, and yet after all this they shall still be hungry and unsatisfied; which is added, either to imply the extreme scarcity that should be in the land, in that those that used such violence to supply their wants, should not be able to get enough to satisfy the necessity of nature; or else to imply their insatiable covetousness or cruelty, and the apparent curse of God that was upon them. They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm; that is, they shall prey upon their nearest Relations, being herein like so many distracted men, or so many men turned mad with extremity of hunger, that gnaw and eat their own flesh. Yea, because by spoiling and destroying their Brethren, they spoiled and destroyed those that might have been a defense to them; therefore it is said, that they should eat not only their own flesh, but also the flesh of their own arm.
Ver. 21. Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh, &c.] Manasseh shall rob, and eat, and devour Ephraim, and Ephraim shall do the same to Manasseh. These two Tribes are particularly mentioned, because they were obliged to one another by somewhat a more singular relation, as being not only descended from Jacob, as the other Tribes also were; but likewise as being both of them the Posterity of Joseph, which the other Tribes were not: And therefore it was the worse in them mutually to spoil and destroy one another: And they together shall be against Judah: that is, They shall both join together to destroy their Brethren of the Tribe of Judah; though that were the Tribe to whom God had assigned the Regal Power, and from whom God had promised their Messiah should descend. And this haply might be accomplished, when the Israelites of the ten Tribes were subdued by the Assyrians, and so might serve under the command of Sennacherib, Eswhaddon or Nebuchadnezzar, when they invaded the Land of Judah. As for that clause, which was before twice inserted, verse. 12, and 17. For all this his anger is not turned away, &c. See the Notes, chap 5.25.
CHAP. X.
VERSE 1. WO unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, &c.] Here again the Prophet returns to mention some notorious Sins, for which the Judgments before threatened should come upon them; as namely, the Oppressions of their Magistrates: which he the rather insists on, to let them know, that as they had a chief hand in the Sins of the Land, so they should be the first or the chief in the Punishment: Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees; that is, the Princes that make unrighteous Laws, and the Judges that pronounce unjust Sentences in Courts of Judgment. And the very same thing may be intended by the following Clause, And that write grievously what they have prescribed; that is, That cause Laws, or Decrees, to be written down, entered and enrolled, that were very grievous and burdensome to the poor Subjects, not being ashamed that they should be kept as a public Monument of their Injustice. But yet there are divers Learned Expositors that do rather read the second Clause, as it is in the Margin of our Bibles, And to the writers that write grievousness which they have prescribed, and so hold that Judgment is here denounced severally; 1. Against those that made such unrighteous Laws, and pronounced such unjust Decrees: And 2. against their Scribes or Registers, that were subservient to them, in writing and enrolling these Decrees; which to me seems most probable.
Ver. 2. To turn aside the needy from judgment, &c.] That is, To keep the poor from being able to proceed in a course of Law before their Tribunals against those that wrong them, and so at last to get a day of hearing; or some way to obstruct the course of Law, that Justice shall not be done them, nor a just Sentence pronounced for them; which last is more clearly expressed in the following words, And to take away the right from the poor of my people. Some would limit the Injustice of those Laws and Decrees, whereby the Judgment of the poor was turned aside, to their making the Fees and Charges of Law-suits so insupportable, that a poor man could not in a way of Law seek at any time to right himself. But I see not why it should be limited to this. Many other ways the poor might be kept from having Justice done them. As for that expression, The poor of my people. See the Notes, Chap. 3.12, 15. That widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless. See the Notes, Chap. 1.17, 23.
Ver. 3. And what will ye do, &c.] This is spoken to the unjust Princes, reproved in the two foregoing verses; And what will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? That is, from the Land of Assyria. Even their coming from a Country so far off, did imply them to be a mighty Nation; because else they could not have born the charge of so great an Expedition. But see the Notes, Chap. 5.26. and 7.17, 18. And see the Note also Job 31.14. To whom will ye flee for help? As if he had said, You that would not be a refuge to the poor, when they fled to you for help, shall in that day find no refuge for yourselves. Your great friend Rezin will then be cut off; and the Syrians, now your Confederates, shall then join with your Enemies against you (see the Note Chap. 9.12.) and your Idol-gods will be then found no way able to defend you, so that you will be left destitute of any help: And where will you leave your Glory? that is, your Riches and your Bravery, wherein you did so exceedingly glory? where will ye find a place wherein you may secure them? where will ye find any to whose trust ye may commit them, that so afterwards ye may receive them back again? As if he should have said, Alas, there will be no saving them, the enmy will make a prey of them all. And could they be hidden in any place of safety, when you are carried away into captivity what benefit or advantage will the securing of them be unto you? Or else by their Glory may be meant their Honor and Greatness, their Dignity and Eminency in the World: Where will ye leave your Glory? It is Ironically spoken; as if he had said, And what will then become of your Glory? you will then be cast down from your high state and dignity. Now ye exalt yourselves above the people like so many Demi-gods, and very glorious titles of honor are still given you; but who will make any reckoning of your greatness and glory, or give you any such titles in that day? The Sword of the enemy will put no difference betwixt you and the meanest of the people.
Ver. 4. Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain, &c.] According to this Translation of ours, the meaning must needs be, either 1. That were it not that God had respect to the glory of his Name, and to his faithfulness in making good his Promises, and did thereupon resolve to remember mercy in the midst of Judgment; they should be all miserably destroyed, either captivated or slain. Or 2ly. That they should be all made Prisoners or slain, but without any fault in God; their destruction would be wholly of themselves, Hos. 13.9. Or 3ly. That because they had cast off God, and God had justly cast off them, therefore as a people that had no interest in God, nor hope of help from God, they should be most miserably destroyed. For this, They shall bow down-under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain, may be an Hyperbolical expression, implying, either 1. That they should humble themselves, crouch and bow to their enemies, even beneath those that are taken Prisoners, and those that are slain; or rather, 2ly. That their misery should exceed the misery of those that were extremely miserable, that they should be more hardly, cruelly, and reproachfully used, than other captives and slain men used to be. And this was done when Shalmaneser took Samaria, 2 King. 17.6. And observable it is also, that this is spoken to their wicked Princes and Judges; as if it had been said, And this shall be the end of all your Glory. As for that which is again repeated, for all this his anger is not turned away, &c. See the Note above Chap. 9.25.
Ver. 5. O Assyrian, &c.] Here the Prophet begins to threaten the Assyrians with destruction, and that to support and comfort his faithful ones amongst his people, as giving them to understand hereby, that though for a time he might make use of the Assyrian by way of scourging his people for their sins, yet it should not be long ere he would call them to an account, and destroy them for all their wickedness. O Assyrian; it is in the Hebrew O Ashur; for so it seems the land of Assyria or the Inhabitants thereof, were called, either from Ashur, the son of Shem, Gen. 10.22. as it is most genera'lie thought, or from one of the posterity of Ham, of the same name. See the Notes Gen. 10.11. and Psal. 83.8. And hereby in this place is meant the King of Assyria, to wit, Sennacherib, (together with his army) as appears plainly, ver. 7. Are not my Princes altogether Kings? and in many other such like passages. As for this expression, O Assyrian the rod of mine anger, either it may be taken, as spoken by God in a way of calling the Assyrian to come and destroy the I • raelites, according to the Commission which God in his anger against Israel had given him; or else as in a way of lamenting the sad miseries that were coming upon his people, when the Assyrian should be used as his rod to punish them for their sins: which is also repeated in the following words, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. The meaning whereof seems to be, That as the Assyrians were God's Rod to correct his people, so the staff in their hand, the weapons wherewith they came armed, and all the power which they had wherewith to fight against the Israelites, were but the Instruments of God's Indignation for the punishing of the people. Indeed, if we read the first words, as they are in the margin of our Bibles, Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of mine anger; then the next clause may be read also, as it is there rendered, though the staff in their hand is mine indignation. And then the drift of this clause, must be to imply, that though God in his just indignation would make use of the Assyrian for the punishing of his people; yet woeful destruction would at last come upon the Assyrians for all that; so that this is clearly added for the comfort of God's people, to whom the very name of the Assyrians must needs be dreadful, because of some incursions they had formerly made into the land of Israel.
Ver. 6. I will send him against an hypocritical Nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, &c.] That is, against the people of Israel, that do continually and without ceasing provoke me to wrath against them, and against whom therefore I am highly offended, and have determined to pour forth my wrath, upon them; yea, this expression, the people of my wrath, may seem to imply that there was nothing in them, but what might justly stir up God's indignation against them, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, &c. which is fully an explanation of what was signified by that Prophetick name given lately to the Prophets Son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, for which see the Note Chap. 8.1.
Ver. 7. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so, &c.] To wit, That he is employed by me, as the Rod of mine anger, or that he is sent by me to punish the wickedness of my people; no such thought will ever come into his heart. All that he will mind, will be the satisfying of his cruel and ambitious desires, by conquering Kingdoms, and destroying the people. As for that which may be objected, how then did Rabshakeh say to Hezekiah, 2 Kin. 18.25. Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? the Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it; see how this may be answered in the Note there.
Ver. 8. For he saith, Are not my Princes altogether Kings? That is, Are not my Nobles and Princes, that attend upon me, every way equal to Kings in riches, glory, state and power? Or, Are not the several King that I have subdued, become my Princes, holding me as their Sovereign, and serving under my command? And thus from the pride of the Assyrian, the confidence he had in his own greatness and power, the Prophet proves what he had said in the foregoing verse, that he minded not God in his expedition against the land of Israel, but went forth merely in the proud confidence he had of his own unresistible power.
Ver. 9. Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?] As if he should have said, Have not I, my Father and other Progenitors, subdued all these strong Cities and Provinces, as well the one as the other? When any one of them stood out against us, were they not brought under our power, as the other before had been? And thus from his prevailing over these, he intends to infer, that he should certainly prevail over others whom he had not yet subdued, and particularly over Jerusalem. In 2 King. 18.34. we find a like vaunting speech uttered by Rabshakeh, wherein some of the places here named, are also mentioned. And because that, and divers other of the vaunting and blasphemous speeches of his there recorded, are so like to these wherewith the Prophet doth here set forth the blasphemous pride and self-confidence of the Assyrian, it seems most probable that it is that Invasion of Sennacherib that is here pointed at. Because Calno, or Calneh, Amos 6.2. is said to have been in the land of Shinar, Gen. 10.10. and Carchemish is expressly said to be a City lying by Euphrates, 2 Chron. 35.20. therefore it is thought the most of the places here named were in those parts.
Ver. 10. As my hand hath found the Kingdoms of the Idols, &c.] That is, As I have subdued and gotten to myself by my great power several Kingdoms that were under the patronage and protection of their several God's, and whose graven Images did excel them of Jerusalem and Samaria; that is, were mightier God's than theirs. But for the better understanding of this passage, we must know, 1. That to set forth how easily he subdued these Kingdoms, he useth this expression, As my hand hath found the Kingdoms of the Idols; he found it no harder work to take these Kingdoms, than it is for a man to take up a birds-nest that he finds in his way, as he doth afterwards express himself, ver. 14. 2ly. That his intention was blasphemously to insult, not only over the Nations whom he had vanquished, and also over their God's, whom he also esteemed God's not able to defend their people, purposely that he might in like manner reproach the God of Jerusalem, on whose aid he knew Hezekiah and his people did with much confidence rely; for agreeable hereto were these blasphemous vauntings of Rabshakeh, 2 King. 18.33, 34, 35. and 19.12. 3ly. That he calls their gods Idols and Graven-Images, either because it was the constant course of the heathens to worship their gods in and before Idols and graven Images; or else as by way of contempt, as not accounting their gods worthy the name of gods in comparison of their great God Nizrech, 2 King. 19.37. that had advanced the Assyrian Empire to such a mighty height. 4ly. That the reason why he doth so peremptorily aver, that the graven Images of the Kingdoms whom he had vanquished did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria, was because they judged of the greatnese and power of their God's, according to the multitude and greatness, the riches and prosperity, the success and victories of the people that worshipped them: and it may be to according to the multitude of Sacrifices that were offered them, and the Pomp and Solemnity used in their Worship. And observable also it is herein, with what horrid Blasphemy, by preferring those Idols before the God of Jerusalem, this Miscreant makes thr true God less than nothing; for an Idol is nothing, saith the Apostle, 1 Cor. 8.4, 5. That the words of this Verse are an abrupt and imperfect kind of speech, As my hand hath found the Kingdoms of the Idols, and whose graven Images did excel them of Jerusalem and Samaria; as if he had said, so shall my hand also much more find and subdue Jerusalem too, as is more fully expressed in the following verse.
Ver. 11. Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her Idols, so do to Jerusalem and her Idols?] Hezekiah had demolished all the Idols in Judah, when the Assyrian went up against Jerusalem; but this Heathenish King after his manner speaks no otherwise of the true God, the God of Jerusalem, than of the Idols of other Nations.
Ver. 12. Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, &c.] To wit, his Church and People; and see also the Note, Chap. 1.27. When the Lord hath fully done by the Assyrian what he means to do, by way of taking vengeance on his People for their wickedness, (for that is his work, as he is the just Judge of the world) and by way of Fatherly Correction, for the humbling, purging and reforming his chosen ones; when he hath sufficiently quieted them under his hand, and brought them home by Repentance unto himself; then, saith the Lord, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria; that is, his blasphemous and reproachful speeches uttered against God, and against his Servants, his proud vaunting speeches concerning himself, and all his hard and cruel usage of God's people. It is in the Hebrew, I will visit upon the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria; an Expression used with respect to God's forbearing, and not seeming to mind the wickedness of a people for a time, when yet afterward he appears against them to punish them; as likewilse to imply, that God never punishes or corrects without a due cognizance of the Cause and Crime; see the Note, Gen. 11.5. As for the last words, And the glory of his high looks, thereby is meant all the Assyrian did proudly and contemptuously against God and his people.
Ver. 13. For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, &c.] That is, By my great Power, by the multitude and strength of my Armies, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent; that is, by my Craft and Policy, in sowing Discords amongst Nations, in raising occasions amongst them for my invading of them, and other such-like State-stratagems, and by my wise managing of all my Designs when I did invade them: And I have removed the bounds of the people, to wit, by bringing them all as one people under my Dominion, and distributing them under the Government of my Viceroys after what manner I pleased: and have robbed their treasures, that is, their secretest stores and treasures, whether public or private; and I have put down the Inhabitants like a valiant man, that is, like a man of extraordinary courage and strength, I have destroyed the Inhabitants, though never so many, and never so strongly fortified.
Ver. 14. And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people, &c.] That is, I have as easily seized upon the riches of the people, in the several places that have been subdued by me, as a man may take eggs out of a Birds nest, where all the labor indeed is in finding the Nest; when a man hath once found it, he may easily put in his hand and take the eggs away with him: which is more fully expressed in the following words; and as one gathereth eggs that are left, to wit, the Dam not being there, or flying away for fear; have I gathered all the earth; that is, even with as much ease have I gathered together, and taken to myself the wealth of the whole world; and so he speaks in a proud vaunting manner: because he had conquered the greatest part of the Earth then known, and brought it under his Dominion. Some I know in this Phrase, of his gathering all the Earth, would have his carrying away the Inhabitants of the Land included, as well as his surprising of their Treasures. But I conceive that is not here, at least principally, intended. And with how little difficulty he did this, is farther set forth in the following words, wherein proceeding still in the same Similitude, he adds, And there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. Birds when they are in their Nests, will sometimes in defense of their eggs strike with their wings, or peck with their bills, or make some kind of peeping noise, out of a kind of discontent against those that disturb them; or else they will fly about, and with some chattering or crying Note will express their anger against those that rob them. And therefore to express how easily he took away the wealth of those places where he prevailed, he compares himself to one that takes away the eggs out of a birds nest, where there is no bird in the least to stir against him; there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped; that is, there was none that durst in a manner make any resistance against him. Such a terror fell upon them, that they scarce durst lift up a hand, or mutter against me, or so much as expostulate the matter with me, or complain or cry to others for help.
Ver. 15. Shall the Ax boast, &c.] This is inserted by the Prophet by way of discovering the absurdity of the fore-recited vauntings of the Assyrian: Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or shall the saw magnify itself against him that sh • keth it? That is, when the workman hath made a piece of work, shall the ax or saw, which he made use of, glory and vaunt, that it was they which made the work, and not the Artificer that made use of them? That were against all reason. It were absurd enough, if an Ax or Saw of a better metal, and sharper than another, should advance itself against one that were blunter and of a worse metal; and that because it is not from itself, but merely from the pleasure of him that made them, that they are better or sharper than others; but much more absurd it would be, if they should advance themselves against him that made use of them. And every way as absurd it was for the Assyrian to advance himself against God, that made use of him for the hewing, and wounding, and cutting down the Nations, considering that he had all the Power he had from God; neither could he have done anything against them, had not God been pleased to make use of • im herein. And to the same purpose is the following clause, As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up; or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood; that is, as it were absurd for a rod or staff to advance themselves against the man that should smite with them, saying, It was we that gave the strokes, and not you; so forgetting, as it were, that they are but pieces of dead wood, no way able of themselves to stir or move themselves; even so absurd and ridiculous it was in the Assyrian, who was raised up by God, and enabled by him to do what he did, to exalt himself against God, and to ascribe all that he did to himself; so forgetting what a poor contemptible creature he was in himself, unable to have done anything, had not God been pleased to make use of him as a rod and a staff, to scourge and beat his people. This last clause may be read, as it is in the Margin of our Bibles, As if a rod should shake them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up that which is not wood; which implies the very same thing, that as it is against all sense and reason to think that a rod or staff should have power over a living man, that is not a dead piece of wood, as that is; so it was a most unreasonable thing for the Assyrian to exalt himself against God. But the Translation which is in our Bibles is (I think) clearly the best.
Ver. 16. Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness, &c.] That is, Because of this proud and blasphemous boasting of the Assyrian against the Lord, and because of his rage and cruelty against his people, God will pull down his great strength and power, in the confidence whereof he doth thus arrogantly exalt himself. In denouncing this judgment, he gives God the title, The Lord, the Lord of Hosts, by way of opposing the Lord's Almighty Power to the weakness and pride of the Assyrian; and the hosts which God hath under his command both in Heaven and Earth, to Sennacherib 's Army, which he deemed so invincible: and the Judgment intended is the dreadful destruction that was brought upon the Assyrian Army, whilst it lay before Jerusalem, by one of the Lord's Heavenly Host. As for this Figurative expression wherewith their destruction is set forth, The Lord shall send among his fat ones leanness; either that slaughter is meant that was made amongst the Princes and great Commanders of his Army, of whom he had boasted before, ver. 8. (for which see the Note 2 Kin. 19.35. and what is noted upon the like expressions, Job 15.27. and Psal. 22.29.) Or more generally, that the vast and huge body of the Assyrian Army should by the slaughter of so many thousands be suddenly consumed and brought down to a very poor and thin company. A Similitude therefore the fitter, because the Assyrian in his exalting himself against God, is thereby covertly compared to some fat pampered horse, that will not be under command, but kicks and flings, and at last casts off the man that rides him. See the Note, Deut. 32.15. And then in the following words the same judgment is set forth under another Similitude, And under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire; whereby is meant, that his glorious and victorious Army, whereof he vaunted so greatly, and for which he was so glorious and dreadful amongst all the Nations round about, should be suddenly and utterly consumed, even as so much wood would instantly be burnt up by a fire that should be kindled under it. And herein it may well be there is an Allusion either to that Custom which was used in those times, of burning the dead bodies of men upon piles of wood, whereon they were laid; or else to the manner of that miraculous destruction of Sennacherib's Army, which some say was done by a burning Pestilence, and others by some strange kind of blasting, such as was that of Nadab and Abihu, Levite. 10.2. and that of the Israelites, Numb. 11.1. But see the Note above, Chap. 9.5. and likewise Psal. 21.9. and 83.14.
Ver. 17. And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, &c.] That is, The God of Israel who is usually the enlightner and comforter of his people, both by cheering them up in their afflictions, and by delivering them out of the darkness of their tribulations, as he was to the Jews at that time of their great distress, when they were besieged by the Assyrian Army, (the Prophet alludes to what he had said before, Chap. 9.2. for which see the Note there) shall be as a fire to burn up their enemies, and his holy One for a flame; See the Note, Chap. 1.4. The meaning is, that the holy God, who had sanctified Israel to be his peculiar people, would manifest himself to be such, both by defending them and destroying their enemies; And it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers; that is, the Soldiers of his Army, that as briers and thorns had sorely galled and distressed God's people, in one day, that is altogether at one and the same time; the Army that was so long a time-gathering and forming, should be all suddenly destroyed. And indeed though this were done in the night, 2 King. 19.35. yet it might be properly enough said to have been done in one day; because the night is a part of the natural day. Some would have the briers and thorns to be meant of the meaner sort of the Assyrian Army. But I conceive that this, concerning the destruction of all sorts amongst them, great and small, may rather be thought to be set forth in the following verse.
Ver. 18. And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, &c.] That is, the Bravery and Pride of his glorious Army, (See the Note before, verse. 16.) which by reason of the multitude of the Soldiers therein, and by reason of the Spears and Launces wherewith they were armed, seemed to resemble some mighty forest, full of all sorts of trees, as thick as they can stand one by another; or some rich field, wherein the ears of corn do lift up their heads as close as they can possibly grow together: This seems to be the plain meaning of this Metaphorical Expression. Yet it may also well be, which some think, that by the glory of his forest may be meant the great ones, his Princes and Commanders in the Army, that were as so many lofty and stately trees; and by the fruitful field, the meaner and inferior body of his Soldiery: Or else, that his Camp being of a very large extent, that part of his Army that lay encamped in the higher and more eminent places, is compared to the high trees of a Forest; and that part that lay in the plains and lower grounds, is compared to • corn in the Valleys. The greatest difficulty is in the following words, Both Soul and Body, which is in the Hebrew, From the Soul, and even to the flesh: And therefore it is so many several ways expounded; As 1. that the vengeance of God should fall not upon their Bodies only, but upon their Souls too. Or 2. that both man and beast should be destroyed. Or 3. that not only the Soul should • e smitten, and the Life taken away, but also their Bodies should be destroyed and consumed. Or 4. that by smiting their Bodies, they should be bereaved of their Souls, their Lives, and so they should be utterly destroyed. Before they were threatened with a consumption or leanness, verse. 16. which might be without loss of Life: but here it is expressed that they should be slain and utterly destroyed, even as fire by burning the body doth take away the Life. Or 5. that the Commanders and Captains, who were as the Soul and Spirit of that vast body of their Army, should be cut off; and withal the body, that was enlivened, as it were, and governed by the Soul, should be destroyed. And these two last indeed I judge may most probably be here intended.
And they shall be as when a Standard-bearer fainteth.] That is, As when a Standard-bearers heart melteth away, because he sees his Soldiers forsake their Colours, and thereupon he flies with the rest, and so the Standard is taken; or as when a Standard-bearer faints, and falls and dies, the whole Army is usually then discouraged and routed; so it shall be with the Assyrian Army, upon this miraculous havoc that shall by an Angel be made amongst them, they shall be all dismayed, and irrecoverably disordered and forced to fly. But yet some do particularly apply this to the fainting and flight of Sennacherib their King, 2 King. 19.36, 37. and the terror that fell upon the Nations under his command, upon his destruction.
Ver. 19. And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a Child may write them.] That is, of the Soldiers of that numberless Army, there shall be but a very few left alive. Some shall escape, that they may report in their own Country what the God of Israel had done to them; but they shall be but a poor small number. In this expression, A child may write them, there seems to be an Allusion to the enrolling and listing of the names of the Soldiers by the Muster-masters, or Clerks of their bands; and so it is all one in effect, as if the Prophet said, that there would be no need of any such Officer to keep a Roll of them; even a Child would be sufficient to take an account of them. And indeed observable herein it is what was the issue of the proud boasting of Rabshakeh, 2 King. 18.23.
Ver. 20. And it shall come to pass in that day, &c.] To wit, when the Lord hath finished his whole work upon his people, and hath punished the Assyrians, by whom he was pleased to correct them, That the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, that is, the remnant that shall escape and not be destroyed in the Assyrian Invasion, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them, that is, the Assyrian, but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. See the Note, Chap. 1.4. In truth, that is, sincerely, not hypocritically, as they had formerly done, when they made an outward profession indeed of trusting in God, but did rely wholly upon the Assyrians. The meaning is, that when the remnant that were escaped had experimentally found the sad fruit of their own folly, in calling in the Assyrian to their help, and in resting upon him with so much confidence, in that he had proved a scourge to them instead of an help, and God had made them sorely to smart for it; and when by God's destroying the Assyrian, they had learnt what a reed the Assyrian was to be leaned upon, and how Almighty and Merciful the Lord was, this should make them resolve never more to stay themselves upon the Assyrians, or any such as they were, but wholly and solely to rely upon the Lord.
Ver. 21. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.] To wit, of whose infinite Power they should have clear experience by that Destruction which God would bring upon the Assyrian Army, and the Deliverance which thereby should be wrought for Jerusalem, which they had straitly besieged. It is as if the Prophet had said, And indeed so it shall be; that which I foretold by the Prophetick name of my Son Shear-jashah, which is, being interpreted, The remnant shall return, (concerning which see the Note, Chap. 7.3.) shall certainly come to pass; a remnant shall escape, that shall not only come back to the places of their abode, from whence they had been driven by the Assyrian; but also return to God by unfeigned Repentance.
Ver. 22. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the Sea, yet a remnant of them shall return.] That is, only a small remnant of them shall escape, and by Repentance return to the Lord their God. If we read these words, as if Israel were spoken to in the V • cative Case, For though thy people, O Israel, be as the sand of the Sea, they may be taken as spoken by way of Apostrophe, either to the Patriarch Jacob. Though the Promise made to thee concerning the wonderful increase of thy Posterity shall be wonderfully made good to thee, yet but a remnant of them shall be saved: Or else to the people of Israel: Though thy people, O Israel, shall be as the sand of the Sea, yet but a few of them shall be saved. But as they are expressed in our Bibles, they seem rather the words of God to the Prophet, For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the Sea, yet a remnant of them shall return. And indeed when the Assyrian had not only carried away the ten Tribes of the Kingdom of Israel into Captivity, but also had so far impaired the number of the other Tribes that were of the Kingdom of Judah, by the havoc he hade made amongst them in the days of Hezekiah, this was then clearly accomplished concerning a remnant only that should be preserved. And because this was a clear Type of those few of the Jewish Nation that were in the Apostles time converted to the Faith of the Gospel, therefore St. Paul speaks of that, as an accomplishment of that which the Prophet here saith, Rom. 9.27. Isaiah also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the Sea, a remnant shall be saved.
The consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.] Or, in righteousness, as it is in the Margin. The meaning is, that the destruction wherewith God had determined to consume and waste the Jews, should as a mighty flood (see the Notes before, Chap. 8.7, 8.) overflow the Land, and thereby sweep away the Inhabitants, to wit, so far as God had withal decreed it should go; and that this should be done with righteousness, or in righteousness, in that hereby he should proceed with great Justice and Righteousness for the punishing of the wickedness of his people, and withal approve himself faithful and just in reserving a remnant according to the Promise he had formerly made for the preservation of the seed of Abraham, and the raising of the Messiah out of his stock. This I conceive is the clear meaning of this clause; and that this is purposely added, to show why he had said in the foregoing words, that only a remnant of them should return. But yet many others hold, that by the consumption decreed is meant that little remnant that should be left of the people thus wasted and destroyed; and that it is said that this consumption decreed should overflow with righteousness; because this remnant being reclaimed and refined by their Afflictions, should abound in Holiness and Righteousness; which they say was partly fulfilled in the remnant that returned unto the Lord in Hezekiah 's days, when God had so miraculously delivered Jerusalem from the Assyrian Army; but most remarkably in that eminent Grace that was so conspicuous in that remnant of the Jews that embraced the Faith of Christ, the Apostles and other Christians of the Primitive Church. Yea others would extend this further, namely, that this small remnant left of the consumption decreed, should cause Holiness and Righteousness to overflow the whole world, to wit, by their spreading of the Gospel amongst all Nations.
Ver. 23. For the Lord God of Hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the Land.] That the Jews might not slight all the Prophet had spoken, either in the confidence of their own strength, or as pretending it to be incredible, that God should bring such a consumption and destruction upon his people, to whom he had made so many gracious Promises, and with whom he had made an everlasting Covenant; the Prophet doth here yet once again assure them, that so it should be; the Lord, even the Lord of Hosts, would certainly bring this desolation upon them, even in the midst of all the Land, that is, all the Land over; or, even in the heart and inmost places of the Land. Where the Apostle Paul cites some part of the foregoing verse, to prove that there would be only a remnant of the Jews converted and saved; he adds also the words of this verse, but according to the Translation of the Septuagint, Rom. 9.28. For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness; because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth: wherein though the words seem to differ much from these here, which are rendered according to the Hebrew; yet the sense is the same, the drift of the Apostle being thereby to show, that what the Prophet did of old foretell, should be fulfilled in those times; because God had proposed to make a short work of the business, even speedily and within a short time, to cut off in a manner the whole Nation of the Jews, to wit, by the Romans; and so then likewise only a remnant should be saved.
Ver. 24. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Hosts, &c.] See the Note above, ver. 16. Because the Prophet had spoken of such an universal consumption that should be amongst the people of the Land, lest the faithful amongst them should be overmuch disheartened and discouraged thereby, he now by commission from God cheers up them; and because the immediate storm that was coming, and was most likely to be dreadful to them, was the Siege of Jerusalem, therefore he addresses his Speech particularly to the Inhabitants of that City, together with those that had fled thither for refuge, O my my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian, that is, be not extremely terrified when the Assyrian shall come to invade you and besiege you, because of this which I have said; to which purpose observable it is, that in these words he owns them still as his people, and hints to them the tender respect he had to Zion; which he had chosen to be his dwelling-place; He shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up a staff against thee after the manner of Egypt. This hath respect to that which he had said before, verse. 5. O Assyrian the rod of mine anger, &c. for which see the Notes there: And the meaning is, that as formerly God suffered the Egyptians to oppress them sorely, but did not suffer them to destroy them, or to keep them in perpetual bondage, but did at last destroy Pharaoh, and deliver them; so it should be with the Assyrian; God would use him as a rod to scourge his people, and as a staff to beat them, but not as a Sword to slay them; he should not be able utterly to ruin them as he intended; but God would at last seasonably deliver them, and destroy Sennacherib, as he did Pharaoh. And so likewise under this might be implied, that at the near approaching Invasion of the Assyrians by Sennacherib, they should not take Jerusalem, (he should only lift up his staff against them, and threaten them sorely, as it is said afterwards, ver. 32. He shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion ) and that they should not carry away the people into Captivity, as they had carried away the ten Tribes of Israel. But now if we read this passage according to the Translation that is set in the Margin of our Bibles, He shall smite thee with a rod, but he shall lift up his staff for thee after the manner of Egypt; then the meaning must needs be clearly this, that though God would sharply chastise them by the Assyrian, his rod, as he did their Forefathers by Pharaoh, yet as then by the lifting up of Moses 's Rod upon the Red-Sea, he did save their Fathers, and destroy Pharaoh and all his mighty Army, so he would now lift up his staff for the defense of Jerusalem and his people, when they should seem to be in as desperate danger, as the Israelites were in at the Red-Sea; they should only stand still and see the Salvation of God; the Lord of Hosts himself would lift up a staff for the securing of them, and for the utter destruction of Sennacherib and his terrible Army.
Ver. 25. For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.] That is, It shall be but a very little while before I will utterly destroy the Assyrian, and so in his destruction there shall be an end of mine anger and indignation against mine own people. But now because there was not an end of God's anger against the Jews, upon the destruction of Sennacherib 's Army, therefore some would extend this very little while, to the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon. But I conceive there is no necessity of that. Upon the destruction of Sennacherib 's Army God did no more for a time afflict the Jews by the Assyrians; and this may be all that is intended in this Promise.
Ver. 26. And the Lord of Hosts, &c.] See the Note before, ver. 16. These words may be taken either as the words of God, speaking of himself in a third person; or else rather as the words of the Prophet. And the Lord of Hosts shall stir up a scourge for him, that is for the Assyrian; As if he had said, When God hath chastised his people by the Assyrian, as a Father corrects his Child with a rod, he shall bring a sorer judgment upon the Assyrian, beating them with a scourge, as a Master doth his Slave; according to the slaughter of Midian, that is, suddenly, even in one night, by the immediate hand of God, without the loss of any one of God's people. See the Note before, Chap. 9.4. At the r • ck of Oreb, see the Note, Judge. 7.25. And as his rod was upon the Sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt. See the Note above, ver. 24.
Ver. 27. And it shall come to pass in that day, &c.] As above ver. 20. that his burd • n shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck; see the Note, Chap. 9.4. for under this may be comprehended the deliverance of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon, (which the taking off the yoke from their neck doth most properly imply) but principally and most immediately I conceive it is meant of the freeing of the Jews from that tribute, and those heavy pressures and exactions which the Assyrians had imposed upon them, and from that perpetual bondage under which Sennacherib intended to bring them, by God's miraculous destroying of his mighty Army, wherewith he went up to besiege Jerusalem. 1. Because the drift of the Prophet here, seems to be the comforting of God's faithful Servants against the terrors of the near approaching invasion; and 2ly, because in the following verses there seems to be a Description of Sennacherib's going up against Jerusalem. And though Hezekiah had assayed to shake off this yoke by refusing to pay the Assyrian his tribute; yet it was not done till God destroyed Sennacherib's Army. And the yoke shall be destroyed, (that is, not only taken off and broken for the time, but also so marred and spoiled, that thou shalt be no more afflicted therewith, as thou hast been) because of the anointing, that is, because of Christ the promised Messiah, God's anointed; see the Notes, Psal. 2.2. and 45.7. and 132.17. Or because of the eternal Kingdom promised to David's posterity in Christ, whereof the anointing of the Kings of Judah was a type. So that hereby is implied, both that God would preserve the Royal stock of David, with respect to the accomplishment of his promise for the springing up of the Messiah from thence (and so under this may be comprehended his respect to holy Hezekiah, in destroying the Assyrian Army upon his Prayer) and likewise that God would deliver his people for the sake of his anointed, the Lord Christ. And thus way is made, as some conceive, to that glorious Prophecy concerning Christ, which is inserted in the following Chapter.
Ver. 28. He is come to Aiath, &c.] That is, the Assyrian mentioned before, ver. 24. Here the Prophet begins to describe the march of Sennacherib with his Army (to wit, the head-quarters of his Army, where himself was present; for his Army was no doubt spread abroad all the Country over) how he passed along from one place to another; and what Cities he took and plundered one after another by the way, as he went up to besige Jerusalem. And that which was designed hereby, was, That when all things came exactly to pass, as is here foretold, the faithful might be assured hereby that the Assyrian moved not a foot, but according to the foreknowledge, and fore-appointment of God; and that therefore their deliverance foretold likewise by the Prophet, would be exactly accomplished, as this was; yea, and withal, the manner how the Prophet relates this is observable, to wit, as if he had seen all this done in a Prophetical rapture or vision; or as if he were telling the rumors that were everywhere in the affrighted people's mouths, concerning the raging and prevailing of the Assyrian Army; He is come to Aiath, or Ai, see the Note, Josh. 7.2. He is passed to Migron, see the Note 1 Sam. 14.21. at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages; a place not far from Migron and Gibeah, 1 Sam. 13.2. and 14.5. and it is probable, that there he left his carriages, wherein he had his train of Artillery, and all kind of luggage and provision for his Army, purposely that he might march with the more speed against Jerusalem; and because he looked upon that as a convenient place where he might lodge them safely under the custody of some few of his forces, and supply his Army from thence as occasion did require. Yet some would have it, that he did it out of confidence, That he should presently take Jerusalem, and so should then return thither again.
Ver. 29. They are gone over the passage, &c.] That is, Having left his Carriages at Michmash, as is said in the foregoing verse, he with his Army went over that strait, rocky and difficult passage between the Mountains, which in 1 Sam. 13.23. is called The passage of Michmash, concerning which see also the Note, 1 Sam. 14.4. They have taken up their lodgings at Geba, which I take also to be the same that is called also Gibeah, 1 Sam. 14.5. because the passage there spoken of is said to lie between Michmash and Gibeah. But however, there was a Geba in the Tribe of Benjamin, (in whose lot all the rest of the Cities here mentioned were) as we may see in Josh. 21.17. and Neh. 11.31. And the mention that is here made of their lodging at Geba, may seem to be to imply, that the hard labor they had undergone in getting thorough the passage at Michmash, made them glad to stay a while to refresh themselves at Geba, or Gibeah; and yet that withal they were so eager to pass on to Jerusalem, that they lodged there but one night, and then presently away they went. Ramah is afraid, as being near to Geba. Gibeah of Saul is fled; that is, the Inhabitants of that Gibeah where Saul of old dwelt: See 1 Sam. 10.26. and 11.4. And this I coneive is also added to show how easily Sennacherib should take these places, when the rumour of his approach should strike the Inhabitants with such a terror, that multitudes of them should immediately fly away to save their lives.
Ver. 30. Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim, &c.] See the Notes, 1 Sam 25.44. and 2 King. 19.21. The meaning is, that there should be a grievous outcry amongst the Inhabitants in that City, upon the breaking in of the Assyrians upon them; and the same is intended in that which is added concerning Anathoth, one of the Towns in the Land of Benjamin that were given to the Priests, where the Prophet Jeremy was born and had his abode, Jer. 1.1. Cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth. That is, Do thou also, O poor Anathoth, lift up thy voice so, that it may be heard unto the utmost borders of the Land of Israel, (which is an Hyperbolical expression, to set forth the extremity of her misery, with respect whereto also he calls the Town, poor Anathoth. ) For that Laish was in the utmost North-parts of Canaan nigh unto Zidon, see Josh. 19.47. and Judge. 18.29.
Ver. 31. Madmenah is removed, &c.] That is, the Inhabitants of Madmenah (which was a City in Judah, Josh. 15.31.) are fled and gone. See the Note above, ver. 29. yet some conceive there is an Hyperbole in the expression the Prophet here useth; as if he had said, That Madmenah was so shaken, as if it would have removed to some other place; Or, that the terrified Inhabitants were in such a tumult, as if they would have carried the City away with them; the Inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee, that is, every man being afraid to flee apart by himself, they gather themselves together to flee in companies, that they might the better defend themselves, if they should meet with any straggling Soldiers of the enemy by the way.
Ver. 32. As yet shall he remain at Nob that day, &c.] According to our Translation, the meaning of these words seems to be this, That though the Assyrian with his Army got as far as Nob (a City of the Priests in the Tribe of Benjamin, see the Note 1 Sam. 21.1.) that day that he marched from Geba, where he lodged for a night, ver. 29. yea, as the words seem to import, some good time before night (so great speed they made to get to Jerusalem ) yet being a • Nob, he should remain there that day, to wit, to order his Affairs for the Siege of Jerusalem. And because at Nob he was so nigh to Jerusalem, that he might see Mount Zion; therefore it followeth, he shall shake his hand against the Mount of the daughter of Zion (see the Note Chap. 1.8.) the hill of Jerusalem, to wit, by way of contempt and threatening, as intimating that it should not be long ere he would be with her. And now all this concerning the Assyrians carrying all this as a torrent before him, is thus set forth, purposely to show, That it was merely by the mighty hand of God, that the Jews were afterwards delivered from him. And indeed as much is covertly intimated in that which is said here of his shaking of his hand against Jerusalem; for this implieth, That this was all he should be able to do to her. He might straiten and affright her, but she should never come to assault her. And therefore, as in opposition to this shaking of the Assyrians hand against her, it was afterwards promised, That in a way of scorn and derision she should shake her head at him, 2 King. 19.21.
Ver. 33. Behold the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, &c.] See the Note above ver. 16. Many learned Expositors hold, That here the Prophet proceeds to show in this and the following verse, what havoc the Lord would make by this victorious Army of the Assyrian amongst the Jews, both high and low, rich and poor. And the principal reason that induced them to think that this passage was thus to be understood, was, because the mention that is made in the following verse of the • elling of Lebanon, and the thickets of the forest, with iron, was not so proper to express the destruction of the Assyrian Army, as the destruction of the Jews, to whom Lebanon did belong; and who were indeed hewn down with iron, that is, by the sword of the Assyrian; whereas the Assyrians were destroyed by the stroke of an Angel. But these Objections may be easily answered. Neither seems it to me probable, That the Prophet should thus largely set forth, as he hath in the foregoing verses, how the Assyrian Army should over-run all without any opposition, till he came to Jerusalem; and yet then should add nothing concerning the miraculous destruction of his Army there. And therefore I rather understand both these verses, of the hewing down of the Assyrian Army. Behold, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts shall lop the boughs with terror; as if he had said, When the Assyrian is thus gotten to the very walls of Jerusalem, behold suddenly and unexpectedly, and in a manner that shall bring great terror and affrightment with it, God shall hew down this strong and mighty Army of the Assyrian, or, the strong and mighty ones of this Army: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled; that is, his Princes and Commanders shall be utterly destroyed.
Ver. 14. And he shall cut down, &c.] As before the Prophet had compared the destruction of Sennacherib's Army to the burning of a Wood or Forest, (see the Notes above ver. 17, 18.) so here he compares it to the hewing down of a Forest; And he shall cut down the thickets of the Forests with iron, that is, the Lord shall hew down the main body, the mixed multitude of the common Soldiers, in the Assyrians numerous Army, made up of many several Nations, even as a Wood is cut down with Axes and Hatchets; and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one, that is, the mighty Army of the Assyrians that shall be like to Mount Lebanon for the tall Cedars and abundance of thick Woods that are thereon, shall fall by the immediate stroke of an Angel, 2 King. 19.35. Some I know, understand this literally of the waste made in Mount Labanon by the Assyrians hewing down the trees there, according to that which is said of him, 2 King. 19.23. With the multitude of my Chariots I am come up to the height of the Mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall Cedars thereof, and the choice Fir-trees thereof. But for that see the Note there. Here the destruction of the Assyrian Army is rather intended by the felling of Lebanon, as is before said, in the foregoing Note. And that there is no impropriety of speech herein, is evident enough, because elsewhere the Assyrian King is called a Cedar of Lebanon, to wit, Ezek. 31.3.
CHAP. XI.
VERSE 1. AND there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, &c.] They that understand the two last verses of the foregoing Chapter, of the Assyrians hewing down the State and people of the Jews, even as when a whole Wood is felled and cut down to the ground, do accordingly hold, That this is added to show, that notwithstanding this grievous devastation made amongst them, there should afterwards a little sprig spring forth from the seeming dead stock of David's family, to wit, the promised Messiah, that should by degrees grow up to a mighty Wood which should overspread the whole world. But rather the inference of this promise concerning Christ, upon that which went before, may be by way of rendering a reason of that which had been said in the foregoing Chapter, verse 27. That God would deliver Judah from the Assyrian bondage, because of the anointing, namely, because there was a necessity of preserving the Royal Stock of David's Family, from whence the promised Messiah, the Lord Christ, was to spring; and because the accomplishment of the great promise of sending Christ into the World, was the foundation, fountain and cause of all other mercies and deliverances, which God should at any time afford his people. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots; that is, when David's Family shall be in a manner utterly ruined, so that there shall not be the least appearance of any Regal Dignity in it, but it shall be reduced to a very mean and low estate, like the stub, the trunk, or stump of a tree, that is cut down almost close to the ground; so that there is nothing left of it, but a little dead stock that hath its roots still in the ground; then unexpectedly there shall spring up a small, weak, contemptible twig or branch out of this seeming dry and dead stump, and shall grow up, that at last in and by him, the family and Kingdom of David, yea, that whole seed of Abraham shall mount up to a greater estate of Glory than ever formerly they enjoyed. And observable it is, that •• e better to set this forth, it is said, That this rod or sprig should come forth out of th • stem▪ • ot of David, but Jesse, to imply, that when this should be done, David's Family should be in as low a condition, as it was in the days of his Father Jesse, who was a mean obscure man, see the Note 1 Sam. 10.27. Now of Hezekiah, as the Jews would have it, this cannot be meant; because in his days the Family of David was never brought so low. And far greater things are here spoken of this branch, than can with any show of reason be applied to Zerubbabel, or any other Ruler of the Jews after their return from the Babylonian Captivity. But now in Jesus Christ this was fully accomplished; because by the mean condition of the Virgin Mary his Mother, (who at her Purification brought the Offering of the poorer sort of people, Luke 2.24.) and his Foster-father Joseph, to whom she was married, a poor Carpenter, it appears plainly, that the Royal Family of David, from whom they both were lineally descended, was at that time brought to a very contemptible condition, even like to the dry and dead stump of a tree. And accordingly the outward condition of Christ, the weak and poor twig that sprung from this withered stub, was very base in the eye of the world. But yet we see to what a height of Spiritual Glory the Kingdom of David was in Christ soon advanced by the preaching of the Gospel. By the last clause, and a branch shall grow cut of his roots, the same in effect (I conceive) is meant; yet some would have it, That by growing out of his roots, is meant his being descended from Abraham and others the Progenitors of David, to whom the Messiah was promised. And because the Hebrew word here translated a Branch, is Nezer; therefore some conceive there is an allusion herein to the City Nazareth, where Christ usually dwelt, Matth. 2.23.
Ver. 2. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, &c.] That, is the Holy Ghost, and therewith the gifts of the Holy Ghost shall take up its perpetual uninterrupted residence with him, and in him; which was signified at the Baptism of Christ, when the Holy Ghost came down upon Christ in the likeness of a Dove; and as the Baptist said, it abode upon him, Joh. 1.32. Indeed we read of the Spirit's resting upon others, as upon the seventy Elders that were chosen to assist Moses in the government of the people, Numb. 11.25. upon Elisha, 2 King. 2.15. yea, upon all real Christians, 1 Pet. 4.14. If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you. But we must know, that the Spirit rested upon Christ in a more special and singular manner than it doth, or ever did upon others. 1. Because in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, Col. 2.9. 2ly, Because the gifts of the Holy Ghost were conferred upon his human nature in all perfection, both for number and measure, Joh. 3.34. See the Note Psal. 45.7. Amongst men, some have some gifts of the Spirit, and others have other gifts; but Christ had all that others have, and more than all others have. And again, others have gifts requisite for the members of the Church, some in a greater measure, and some in a less; but now Christ had gifts requisite for the head, proper and peculiar to himself. And 3ly, Because the Spirit so rested upon him, even in regard of his person, that it was impossible it should ever be removed from him. However observable it is, how clearly it is hereby implied, That the Kingdom of Christ was to be wholly a spiritual Kingdom; in that the Prophet having in the foregoing verse spoken of his first coming into the World, and then undertaking here to show how he should be in his person fitted for the discharge of the Office of the Messiah, he mentions this, as that wherein the whole Power, and Glory, and Majesty of his Kingdom should consist. That the Spirit of God should in so eminent a manner rest upon him, and that he should be so superabundanly furnished with spiritual gifts, even that he might be as an everlasting treasure from whence these gifts should be continually imparted to his Church. And accordingly the Prophet does here recite some of the choice endowments wherewith he should be fully replenished both for the managing of his spiritual Kingdom, and the constant supply of his people; the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, whereby men are enabled to understand things aright, and to order all things wisely and prudently; the Spirit of Counsel and might, whereby men are enabled to judge rightly in difficult cases and straits, and courageously to undertake and go through with anything they are called to do or to suffer in a just cause. (See also the Notes, Chap. 9.6.) The Spirit of Knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord; that is, the power of discerning the most hidden things, and a reverential fear towards God. But now we must know, that under these all other the manifold gifts of the Spirit are by a Synecdoche comprehended; only these seem to be particularly mentioned, with respect to Christ's Regal Power for judging his people, whereto these gifts here named, are principally requisite.
Ver. 3. And shall make him of quick understanding, &c.] That is, the Spirit of the Lord that shall rest upon him, shall make him exceedingly, yea, infallibly sagacious in discovering persons and things; for the Prophet having in the foregoing verse, shown the excellent endowments of the person of Christ, here he proceeds to show how he should exercise these his gifts and endowments in the Administration of his Regal power. It is in the original, And he shall make him sent or smell in the fear of the Lord; which therefore some expound thus: That by reason of this his being so abundantly anointed with the holy Spirit of God, he should breathe forth nothing but what was sweetly pious and religious; or that in all his courses he should send forth a sweet sent suitable to the precious savor of his spiritual unction. But rather by this figurative expression is only meant that which we have in our Translation, And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. By the smell we discover things more secret, than those things are which appear to the eye or ear; and likewise by the smell we discover things more easily and quickly than any other way; so that when it is said, That the Spirit should make Christ sent or smell in the fear of the Lord; This seems to intend, that he should be of a sharp and quick understanding, certainly and presently to discover the truth of things; as in our ordinary speech we use to say of a man that doth quickly find out a thing, That he hath soon smelt out the matter. As for that which is added concerning the fear of the Lord, and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, thereby is shown wherein the quickness of his understanding should be discovered, to wit, not in earthly things, which are far beneath his Cognizance; but in the things that appertain to Religion and the fear of God, and in judging of men's persons, as to the inward frame of their Spirits; that looking into their hearts, he would soon discover whether they were such as did truly fear the Lord, or such as did not fear God, even when they did hypocritically make the fairest shows of Piety; yea, and some would have this also farther included in that expression, That he should judge of men in these regards according to the fear of God, that is, justly and uprightly, acquitting and saving those that truly fear God, and judging and condemning those that are void of his fear; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears; that is, he shall not be carried away with respect of persons, neither shall he acquit or condemn any man merely upon outward appearances, the looks, or gestures, or words of men, or what is rumoured, reported or affirmed by others, but according to the clear knowledge which he shall have of their hearts. Men that have no other way to judge, but according to what they see or hear, are often mistaken in judging. But so it could not be with Christ, because he should of himself know all things, yea, even the thoughts and intentions of men's hearts.
Ver. 4. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, &c.] See the Note before, Chap. 2.4. and likewise the Notes, Psal. 72.1, 2. The meaning is, That he should do justice to the poor as well as to the rich, though he should not favor them in any unjust thing because of their poverty; or, that he should, as a righteous King, rule and govern his people, poor, broken-hearted, self-condemned sinners, protecting them against all their enemies temporal and spiritual. And much to the same purpose is the following clause, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth, to wit, That he should plead the cause of his poor people that were meek and gentle under their sufferings, rebuking and punishing their proud Oppressors. Or, that he would correct his own meek ones, but it should be with gentleness and moderation, as intending to reform and not to destroy them.
And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.] This may be understood, 1. of the preaching of the Gospel, (which as it is elsewhere called the word of his mouth, Rev. 2.16. and 19.15. so here it is called the rod of his mouth, and the breath of his lips, to wit, that with this word, as with the Scepter of his Kingdom, Christ should sharply smite those that dwell on the earth, as with a rod, reproving and convincing them of their sins with such mighty efficacy, that some should thereby be brought to submit themselves, and so his word should be the savor of life unto life to them; and others should be mortally wounded, even to despair, and so the Gospel should be the savor of death unto death to them: And 2ly, of the Almighty Will, the sovereign sentence and command of God, to wit, That Christ should only with a word of his mouth smite the earth, that is, wicked earthly-minded men, the enemies of God and his people, and should utterly destroy them, as we know it is peculiarly said of Antichrist, That the Lord shall consume him with the Spirit of his mouth, 2 Thes. 2.8.
Ver. 5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, &c.] Because in those times, 1. men did constantly use girdles to bind their loose Garments close to their bodies: And 2ly, by binding up their long Garments about their loins, they were the better fitted and strengthened for the dispatch of any work or service they undertook: And 3ly, they wore also their Girdles as a choice Ornament; and there was a Belt or Girdle that was usually the special Ornament of Princes (for all which, see the Notes Job 12.18.) therefore it is said here, That righteousness should be the Girdle of Christ's loins, and faithfulness the Girdle of his reins, to imply, 1. That he should be constantly and eminently fitted and funished with righteousness and faithfulness for the execution of the Office which God had imposed upon him. 2ly, That he should most justly, faithfully and industriously manage and perfect the work he had undertaken for the Salvation of his people. And 3ly, This should be an honor and glory to him throughout the world. These glorious endowments of God's Spirit should be to him instead of those outward Ornaments that are usually wore by the great Princes and Potentates of the World.
Ver. 6. The Wolf also shall dwell with the Lamb, and the Leopard shall lie down with the Kid, and the Calf, and the young Lyon, and the fatling together, &c.] That is, those men that were before of a proud, fierce, cruel and savage disposition, most intractable, most brutish, and ravenous, and shameful in the places where they lived, more like Wolves, and Lions, and Leopards than men, when they shall once be subdued by the Gospel and Spirit of Christ, and give up their names to him, shall become meek and gentle, tame and tractable, so that they shall live and converse together in the same Church with other poor Christians quietly and harmlesly; and the weakest that are, shall not need to fear them. Now this is mentioned as one of the strangest and most glorious effects of the Kingdom and Government of Christ, that thereby the most wicked and mischievous men should be changed, as if they were transformed out of beasts into men; and so consequently to show what wonderful peace and concord there should be in the Church of Christ. All which I conceive was chiefly accomplished in the conversion of the Gentiles.
And a little child shall lead them.] That is, though they were never so fierce before, yet being converted and brought into Christ, they will become so tame and tractable, that it will be an easy thing for anybody to guide and govern them. Though their Pastors given them of God to be their guides, be never so mean and contemptible in the World (as we know it was eminently so with the Apostles) yet they shall readily and willingly give up themselves to obey them, and to be ordered and governed by them; there will be no need of any external power to compel them; yea, they will be willing to be taught and directed by the meanest that is able in anything to inform them and counsel them for the best.
Ver. 7. And the Cow and the Bear shall feed, &c.] To wit, together, as it follows in the next words, their young ones shall lie down together; which is added, the better to set forth the real change that should be wrought in these ravenous Creatures, in that their regard to their young ones should not make them, as it is usually with such beasts, the more eager and violent to make a prey of all they come near; and the Lyon shall eat straw like the Ox, that is, say some, the greatest and mightiest, and those that were most savage amongst them, shall yield themselves to be fed with the word and Sacraments, no less than the meanest of the common sort of people; Or, as others say, they shall not live any longer upon spoil and rapine, but shall be content with what they can get by any honest labor and employment. And it may well be, which some think, that in this expression here used, there is an allusion to the state the Creatures lived in at their first Creation before man sinned; when, as many learned men think, they all lived upon such fruit as grew out of the earth, Gen. 1.29, 30. neither was there any that lived by prey and devouring of other Creatures. But indeed, all that I conceive is intended hereby, is, that those men that were before most fierce and mischievous, upon the change that should be wrought in them by the Spirit of Christ, should be as harmless towards those with whom they conversed, as any others were.
Ver. 8. And the sucking Child shall play on the hole of the Asp, &c.] That is, The weakest and simplest amongst God's people (some say, those that are newly converted, new-born Babes in Christ) shall without any danger converse with those that formerly were most subtle, poisonous and hurtful; yea, the expression here used of their playing on the hole of the asp, may seem to imply, that they should count it a recreation and delight to converse with them. And the same is in other words repeated again in the following clause, And the weaned child shall put his hand on the Cockatrice den, to wit, out of a childish curiosity to thrust his hand, as if it were into a birds-nest, to feel what is there.
Ver. 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy, &c.] As if he had said, they shall be so far from destroying, that they shall not so much as hurt one another, in all my holy mountain; that is, in my whole Church, spread abroad throughout the whole World, see the Note, Psal. 15.1. Whereas other mountains are usually full of ravenous beasts, it shall not be so (saith the Lord) in my holy mountain; and that because God's people there, shall be a holy people. And therefore we see that this wonderful change here spoken of, is meant only of those that are true Believers, truly regenerate and made new Creatures; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, that is, of the true and saving Knowledge of God in Christ, as the waters cover the Sea, that is, those hollow places of the earth wherein the Sea is held. The meaning is, That the Knowledge of God should be spread abroad everywhere all the World over, as there is water everywhere in the Sea; and that there should be far more abundant Knowledge in those days, than there had been in the time of the Law; by means whereof there should be such a marvelous change made in the Spirits of men. And therefore the Prophet speaks of this, as of a rare and unusual thing, that had not hitherto been seen in the World.
Ver. 10. And in that day, &c.] This is added, as the cause of that wonderful peace that should be amongst men, mentioned in the foregoing verses, even amongst those that were formerly of such a brutish and savage temper of Spirit. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, that is, that Rod or Branch mentioned before, verse. 1. springing up out of the root of Jesse (for which see the Note there) namely, the Lord Christ; we have the like expression concerning Israel, Hos. 14.5. He shall grow as the Lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon; and concerning Christ also, as Chap. 53.2. He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; and Rev. 5.5. and 22.16. where he is called the root of David, that is, the branch that sprung out of David's stock or family. And as for that which follows, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; the meaning of that is, That this low contemptible branch should by degrees mount up to such a height, that he should be as an ensign lifted up in the sight of all the Nations of the World, who should thereupon through Faith, as by a kind of Divine instinct, gather themselves together to him from all parts of the earth, even as soldiers do to a Standard or Ensign that is set up, that under his conduct and defense they may maintain a constant fight against their spiritual enemies. All which was accomplished when Christ was lifted up first on the Cross, John 8.28. and 1 • .32. and afterward in the Ministry of the Gospel, whereby he was made known to all Nations; concerning which, see the Note Numb. 25.8. yea, and the expression here used is observable, a root of Jesse shall stand for an ensign of the people, because this implies, that though the enemy should bend all their force against this ensign (as in Battels it useth to be) Luke 2.34. Behold, this Child is set for a sign, which shall be spoken against; yet it should still stand victoriously, neither should they be able to over-bear, or overcome it: to it shall the Gentiles seek, that is, they shall voluntarily come in to him, as their Savior and Redeemer, even as soldiers are wont to flock in to their ensign. See the Note Gen. 49.10. And so the Apostle doth expressly expound this Prophecy concerning Christ, Rom. 15.12. And again Isaiah saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust. As for the last words, and his rest shall be glorious; some understand this of Christ's death and burial, to wit, how ignominious soever his death should be to him in the sight of the world, yet he should be then and thereby exceedinlgy glorified, according to that which he said when he was preparing himself to die, Joh. 17.1. Father, the hour is come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. And indeed it cannot be denied, but that this Rest of his, was glorious, first, because he then overcame all the powers of darkness: and 2ly. because his name was then highly honored by the great and wonderful things that were done at his Death, and the eclipsing of the Sun, &c. and especially by his Resurrection, honored with the apparition of Angels, and many miraculous passages, and by his triumphant Ascension into Heaven; and 3ly. because of the great Glory given him by the Church for that great work of their Redemption. But yet I do rather conceive, that the meaning of these words in this place, is either, that the Rest and Peace of his Church would be very glorious; or else that his Church, the place where he had determined to settle his perpetual residence, (according to that, Psal. 132.13, 14. The Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation: this is my Rest forever, &c. and that, Matth. 28.20. Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world; and the people upon whom he had settled his love and favor, should be very glorious, to wit, in regard of the glorious signs and effects of his presence amongst them, in the abundant knowledge and eminent holiness that should be wrought in them by his word and Spirit, and in the great and wonderful things that should be done amongst them for their deliverance and safeguard. And herein there seems to be an Allusion to that which is often formerly said, That the Tabernacle and Temple was filled with the Glory of God. See Exod. 40.34, 35. Lev. 9.23. and 1 King. 8.11. And see also the Note before, Chap. 4.2, 4.
Ver. 11. And it shall come to pass in that day, &c.] In the foregoing verse, the Prophet foretold the Conversion of the Gentiles; here now he adds, that at the same time the Jews should also be converted. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time, &c. Some understand the first deliverance here intimated to be that of the Israelites out of Egypt; and the second here promised, to be that of the Jews out of Babylon. But because the Jews that were delivered out of Babylon, were for the generality only of the two Tribes of Judah and Benjamin; and here the Prophet speaks of the deliverance of his people of all the Tribes from all parts of the World, and that too in the days of the Messiah (that ensign that should be lifted up, whereof he had spoken in the foregoing verse) I rather think, that this is meant of their deliverance by Christ from the spiritual Bondage of Satan, Sin, Death and Hell, to wit, that as the Lord did once before with an out stretched arm, deliver the Israelites out of Egypt by the Ministry of Moses, so he would the second time with great zeal again set himself to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left; that is, to bring home to himself by Christ those of his ancient people the Jews, which shall there remain undestroyed amongst the Gentiles, as being still mindful of the Covenant he had formerly made with them. And this was partly accomplished in those many thousands of Jews, Act. 21.20. (though but a remnant in comparison of the whole body of the Nation) that were by Christ and his Apostles won to embrace the Faith of the Gospel; and shall be more fully performed, when the main body of the residue of that Nation shall in the last days be brought in to Christ; of which the Apostle speaks clearly, Rom. 11.25, 26. And indeed because the Prophet doth in this place, first foretell the gathering in of the Gentiles to Christ (in the foregoing verse) and then doth here after that, add this concerning the bringing in of the Jews; therefore many learned Divines have thought that it is that last Conversion of the Jews, that is here principally intended by the Prophet. As for the places here mentioned, from which the believing Jews should be gathered from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Buthros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the Islands of the Sea; it is hard clearly to determine what all these Countrys are. It may suffice us to know, that upon the grievous miseries that were brought upon this people, first by the Assyrians, and afterward by the Babylonians, many of them did of their own accord leave the Land of Judea, and flee into Egypt, (of which, Pathros seems to have been one particular Province, Jer. 44.1, 15.) See Jer. 43.57. and 44.27, 28. and so likewise into other Countrys; and that many of them that were carried away Captives by the Assyrians and Babylonians, might by them be sold to other Nations, and so be dispersed all the world over: And evident it is in Scripture, that all those Countrys that bordered upon the Sea, and were divided from them by the Sea, were by the Jews usually called the Islands of the Sea, Jer. 47.4. See also the Note Gen. 10.5.
Ver. 12. And he shall set up an ensign for the Nations, &c.] See the Note before ver. 10. But this I conceive is a farther Explanation of what was said in the foregoing verse, concerning the Conversion of the Jews; and therefore by saying, that the Lord should set up the ensign of the Gospel for the Nations, either the Prophet intended, that the Jews should be gathered in hereby to the Church from the Nations amongst whom they were dispersed; or else, that the Nations should hereby be summoned to bring in the Jews unto Christ; or at least, that the Jews should be converted by the preaching of the Gospel, together with other Nations: for that the Prophet doth principally here speak of the Conversion of the Jews. And therefore by saying that the Lord should set up the ensign of the Gospel for the Nations, either the Prophet intended, that the Jews should be gathered in hereby to the Church from the Nations, amongst whom they were dispersed; or else, that the Nations hereby should be summoned to bring the Jews unto Christ; or at least, that the Jews should be converted by the preaching of the Gospel, together with other Nations; for that the Prophet doth principally here speak of the Conversion of the Jews, is evident by the following words, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel. (See the Note Psal. 147.2.) and gather together the dispersed of Judah, from the four corners of the earth. It is in the Herew, from the four wings of the earth, that is, from all parts of the world, even from the utmost skirts of the earth; wherein there is a clear Allusion to that promise made to the Israelites, concerning God's bringing them home upon their Repentance from the uttermost parts of the world, Deut. 13.3, 4.
Ver. 13. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, &c.] That is, in the days of the Messiah they of the ten Tribes shall not envy those of Judah, as now they do; and the Adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; that is, As they shall not be any longer enemies one to another, so also their Foreign enemies shall be destroyed, that so they may every way enjoy the greater peace. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim: The sum of all is briefly this; By foretelling the ceasing of all envy and discord between Ephraim and Judah, who had been so many years contending about the Kingdom of Israel; that which the Prophet intends is, That the people of God under Christ should live peaceably together, as well Jews as Gentiles, without any discord or enmity one against another. How the truth of this Prophecy can consist with the great Dissensions and Wars that have been, and are still amongst Christians, see in the foregoing Note verse 9. and in the Notes Chap. 2.4. The Prophet speaks only of real Christians, and doth comprehend in these words that peaceable estate whereto all shall be brought to at last.
Ver. 14. But they shall flee upon the shoulders of the Philistines towards the west, &c.] That is, The people of God, both of Ephraim and Judah, shall jointly together with much speed and fervency of zeal, fall upon the Gentiles by the preaching of the Gospel, even as an Eagle or Hawk doth fall upon the shoulders of anything, Lamb or Kid, or smaller Bird, which they seize upon as their prey; and some of them they shall bring in to Christ, and others they shall at least render inexcusable; yet indeed this expression of fleeing upon the shoulders of the Philistines, may imply the bringing of them under the yoke and dominion of Christ, Matth. 11.28. because the yoke or burden on the shoulder, is an Emblem of servitude. See the Notes Chap. 9.4. and 10.27. They shall spoil them of the East together; that is, They shall gather in God's elect from amongst them, in despite of all the mighty men of the world that shall oppose them. See the Note Chap. 2.6. They shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, that is, They shall seize upon them, and subdue them, according to that expression, Psal. 89.26. I will set his hand also in the Sea, and his right hand in the Rivers. And some think too, that this implies, how suddenly and easily they should be subdued by the Gospel, even with as much ease as a man may put his hand into a birds-nest, to take the young ones from thence. And so there may be an Allusion to what the Assyrian had said before in a vaunting way, Chap. 10.14. and the children of Ammon shall obey them, to wit, by embracing the Doctrine of of the Gospel. The drist therefore of all these expressions, is to show, how the remnant of the Jews that should believe in Christ, should immediately with all cheerfulness and diligence bestir themselves to spread abroad the Gospel for the Conversion of the Gentiles. But in expressing this, he mentions only those neighbouring Nations that were making War upon the land of Israel; the Philistines, the Edomites, and Moabites, either because the Christian Jews did first carry the Gospel into those neighbouring Countrys, and then afterwards into the remoter parts of the world (as indeed we read of Philip's preaching of the Gospel at Azotus, or Ashdod, Act. 8.40. and Peters at Lydda, Act. 9.32. and at Joppa, Act. 10.5. which were Cities in the Country of the Philistines) or else to imply, that when this blessed peace foretold should be wrought amongst them by the Gospel, even those Nations that were now continually afflicting them, should by them be subdued to the Scepter of Christ.
Ver. 15. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea, &c.] By the tongue of the Egyptian Sea, here, is meant the Red-Sea, that out of the main Ocean shoots up into the land, between Arabia and Egypt, in the form and fashion of a tongue, broader at the first, but growing narrower still by degrees, and licking the land, as it goeth along; for having before, ver. 11. compared that second deliverance there promised them, to wit, their deliverance from their spiritual bondage, and the reducing of them to the obedience of their Messiah, the Lord Christ, to the first deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt; suitable hereunto he doth in these words promise, that as in that first deliverance, God made way for his people to go into Canaan by dividing the Red-Sea before them, so in that second here promised, he would not divide, but destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea, that is, utterly dry it up, that it should be no more. But the meaning is only, that he would in the days of the Gospel utterly remove all lets and obstacles, that might hinder the bringing of his people unto Christ, by whom a way was opened for them into the Heavenly Canaan; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the River, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry-shod; that is, he shall utterly dry up the River Nile in her seven streams, as formerly by a mighty wind he divided the Red-Sea before the Israelites, Exod. 14.21. It is evident by many ancient Writers, that Nile, called the River of Egypt, Josh. 15.4. did, as it drew near to the Sea, divide itself into seven Channels, which were commonly called the seven Mouths of Nile, whereby it emptied itself into the Sea. Now because the passages out of Countrys are chiefly for the most part shut up by Seas and Rivers, therefore to imply, that nothing should be able to hinder the Apostles and others from spreading the Gospel over all the world, and from bringing in God's Elect to Christ from all Nations; the Prophet in a figurative expression saith here, that to the Red-Sea, and the River Nile, even near the Sea, when it was deepest, should be dried up before them. As for that expression of shaking his hand, with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the River, either it is mentioned as a gesture of threatening (see the Note Chap. 10.32.) Or else by way of alluding to Moses lifting up his Rod over the Red-Sea, when it was thereby divided before the Israelites.
Ver. 16. And there shall be a high-way for the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, &c.] That is, a plain, easy Causey-way; Because the Israelites of the ten Tribes, that were already carried into Assyria, when the Prophet spoke this, or were shortly to be carried thither, might seem to be utterly lost and cast off by God without all hope of recovery, as being carried much farther than those of Judah were, that were carried into Babylon, and not likely to return back to their Country, when those of Judah should return; therefore the Prophet doth here particularly assure them, that even they should at last be brought home to Christ by the preaching of the Gospel. However incredible it might seem in the eye of Reason, yet God would make a clear way for this their return, like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt; as God did miraculously effect that, so he would as miraculously accomplish this.
CHAP. XII.
VERSE 1. AND in that day, &c.] That is, In that day when the root of Jesse shall by the preaching of the Gospel be lifted up as an ensign for the gathering in of God's people (see the Notes before Chap. 11.10, 11.) Thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee, that is, Thou my Church and people (he speaks to them collectively, as to one man, because of that firm Union of hearts that should be amongst them, Act. 4.32.) shalt praise God with a Song of Thanksgiving, as once the Israelites did, when they were delivered out of Egypt, Exod. 15.1. for having in the latter end of the foregoing Chapter, ver. 11, 15, 16. compared the deliverance of God's people by Christ to the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt, even in this gratulatory Song that is here prescribed, there may be also an Allusion, as I conceive, to that Song of Moses. And though it might be intended as a Psalm of Thanksgiving for their deliverance out of the Babylonian Captivity, as that was a type of our Redemption by Christ; yet it is evident by those promises in the foregoing Chapter, that this Song doth chiefly relate to the great deliverance of God's redeemed ones in the days of the Gospel; there being also further assurance given them of the assured certainty of that great work, by prescribing them a Song to be sung by them.
Though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.] that is, Though in thy just displeasure thou seemedst utterly to have cast us off, by driving us out of our Country, depriving us of thine Ordinances, and scattering us abroad all the world over; yet now by calling us home to thyself, thou hast fully comforted us again.
Ver. 2. Behold, God is my salvation: I will trust and not be afraid, &c.] This may have particular respect to that wonderful work of our Redemption by Christ, who was true and very God; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my Song, he also it become my Salvation. See the Note Exod. 15.2.
Ver. 3. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the Wells of Salvation.] By the Waters here promised, may be meant all the benefits which Christ hath purchased for poor sinners; and move especially the word of life, and the Spirit of Christ, together, with the Graces and Comforts of his Spirit, which are often compared to Water in the Scripture, as Joh. 7.38. 1. Because they wash and purify men spiritually, Ezek. 36.26. Then will •• inkle clean Waters upon you, and ye shall be clean, &c. 2ly. Because they make men fruitful in good works, see the Note Psal. 1.3. And 3ly. because they do fully quench the thirst of men's souls, as well by taking away men's insatiable thirst after earthly things, as by satisfying their earnest desires after righteousness and life eternal, Joh. 4.14. Whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst, &c. And then by the Wells of Salvation, may be meant, either the promises of the Gospel, or else Christ himself, from whom all these Blessings are derived unto Believers, Joh. 1.16. And of his fullness have all we received and Grace for Grace: so that the meaning of the words is summarily this, That in the days of the Gospel Believers should abundantly, day after day, with ready and strong desires draw forth unto themselves from Christ and his Gospel-Promises and Ordinances, all those precious Benefits which are there stored up for them; and that with as much joy, as when thirsty men do meet with pure and wholesome waters wherewith they may quench their thirst; yet withal, these words [with joy] may be inserted, as in opposition to the hard labor which men do usually undergo, in drawing water out of deep Wells; thereby to imply, that their endeavors to draw forth these Spiritual Waters for themselves, should be no way grievous and burdensome to them, as the drawing of water useth to be unto men.
V. 4. And in that day shall ye say, Praise ye the Lord, &c.] See the Note 1 Chro. 16.8. The meaning is, That in those days the faithful should not only praise God themselves, but should also stir up one another to do it; yea, and that they should take care for the converting of others, that they who being brought in to Christ might praise God together with them: Call upon his name, to wit, as thereby acknowledging, that in him is all your hope of Salvation; yet it may be read as it is in the Margin, Pro •• nim his name, to wit, by your thanksgiving and speaking to his praise; declare his doing among the people, to wit, as all other the great works of God, so especially what he hath done for man's Redemption by Christ. See the Note Psal. 57.9. make mention, that his name is exalted, to wit, by the great things he hath done, and by the making of them known throughout all Nations.
Ver. 5. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things, &c.] Even this is also principally meant of the excellent things done by Christ for the Salvation of his redeemed Ones. And therefore is that added, this is known in all the earth.
Ver. 6. Cry out and shout, thou Inhabitant of Zion, &c.] that is, shout for joy all ye that are of the Church and people of God, for great is the holy One of Israel in the midst of thee; that is, God; see the Notes Chap. 1.4. and Psal. 48.1. But it may be meant also of Christ, who dwelt in the midst of his people in regard of his bodily presence, whilst he lived upon earth, and did great and ineffable things for them, even when he was of so little esteem in the eyes of the world; and hath promised, that he will by his Spirit be continually with them even unto the end.
CHAP. XIII.
VERSE 1. THE burden of Babylon, &c.] See the Note 2 King. 9.25. which Isaiah the son of Amos did see; for which, see the Note Chap. 1.1. In the twelve following Chapters the Prophet foretells the sore Judgments and ruin that should shortly come upon most of the foreign States and Nations round about them; those especially upon whose help they had most relied, or by whom they had been, or were hereafter like to be most vexed and oppressed, such as were the Moabites, the Syrians and others. And this was purposely done, that God's people might see, that these Judgments being thus foretold, came from God; and that all Nations are under his power and command, that they might be afraid of those sins for which they saw them punished so severely; as considering, that if God spared not the wickedness of those heathen people, much less would he spare them that had the Law and Word of God to inform them. 3ly. That they might not think that God dealt worse with them, than with others; or that he favored those wicked Nations. And 4ly. That they might be comforted with this discovery of God's love to them, and tender care over them, in the vengeance he would bring upon their mischievous enemies. Accordingly therefore he begins first with foretelling the Destruction that should come upon Babylon, the chief City of the Chaldean or Babylonian Empire, built at first, as it is generally held, by Semiramis; but, it seems, greatly enlarged and beautified by Nebuchadnezzar, as appears by that vaunting speech of his, Dan. 4.30. Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the Kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the Honor of my Majesty? For because the Babylonians (against whom this Prophecy was delivered in the year that King Ahaz died, Chap. 14.28.) were like to prove their most formidable enemies, by whom Jerusalem was to be destroyed, the Temple burnt, and the people carried Captives into Babylon; therefore to fore-arm the faithful against the terror of these sad Calamities, and to support the poor Captives in that long Captivity, it was most necessary, that the downfall of the Babylonian should be foretold, as the means whereby a way should be opened unto them for their return again into their own Country.
Ver. 2. Lift ye up a standard upon the high mountain, &c.] This is spoken as in God's name to the Medes and Persians that were to destroy Babylon; And indeed the Medes are afterward in this Chapter expressly named, ver. 17. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them. By the high mountain some understand Babylon; and that this City, though situated in a low, plain Country, is so called, either because in its vast greatness, and the exceeding height and eminency of her buildings, it looked like some great Mountain, and seemed too as immovable as a Mountain; or else because the State of Babylon did so proudly lift up herself, and was at that time in Power and Glory exalted above all other Nations. And indeed it is clear, that upon these accounts Babylon is elsewhere called a mountain, Jer. 51, 25. Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, faith the Lord. Now they that thus understand these words, do accordingly hold, that by lifting up a standard upon this high mountain, the taking of Babylon is intended, because when a City is taken, the soldiers are wont to set up their colors upon the walls; and as a parallel place hereto, they allege that passage, Jer. 51.12. Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon; and to the same purpose they also expound the following words, Exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, because, say they, there is never more shouting, nor lifting up and brandishing the sword in the hand, than when a City is taken; but with most of our best Expositors, I rather conceive, that the mention here made of lifting up a standard, is to foretell the gathering together of a mighty Army for this service against Babylon. See the Note Chap. 5.26. and to imply how readily upon the least sign or notice given, soldiers should come flowing in to them; and the standard is appointed to be lifted up upon the high mountain, because they used in this case to set up their Ensigns, and display their Banners upon the tops of hills and mountains, from whence such a signal might best be descried. As for the following words, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, either the same thing is intended, to wit, the calling in of soldiers near or far off, by crying out, or by beckning to them with the hand; or else it is meant of giving them a signal, whether by shaking the hand, or by some shout or word of command, by way of encouraging them to make an assault upon the City; and that also to signify how ready they should be to do it; that they may go into the gates of the Nobles, that is, into the houses of the Nobles, which is said, because soldiers at such a time are wont to choose to break into such houses, where they expect the most and best pillage; or into the gates of Babylon, where the King kept his Court commonly, and so most of the Nobility had their constant residence there; or where many of the Inhabitants by reason of their great wealth, lived like Princes or Nobles. And withal, observable it is, that to signify how easily they should prevail over this seeming strong and invincible City, he speaks of the taking of it, as if there were no more to be done for the effecting of it, but their mere going into the gates without any resistance.
Ver. 3. I have commanded my sanctified ones, &c.] That is, by a secret instinct and guidance of my providence I will stir up the Medes and Persians under the conduct of Cyrus and Darius, to go against Babylon. And he calls them his sanctified ones, because he had set them apart, destined and prepared them for that holy service of destroying the wicked Babylonians. Those that are separated to any any holy service of God, are usually said to be sanctified thereto, as we see in that which is said of Jeremiah, Chap. 1.5. Before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a Prophet unto the Nations. And accordingly because the Scripture doth usually speak of the slaughtering of wicked men, as of a sacrifice offered up to God, Ezek. 37.17. Speak unto evey feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves and come, gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, &c. And Zeph. 1.7, 8. The Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests: And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the Princes, &c. therefore the Lord here calls those that were to slay the Babylonians, his sanctified ones. See the Note also Exod. 32.29. And so in the following words he calleth them his mighty Ones, I have also called my mighty Ones for mine anger; to signify, that God would furnish them with courage and strength to fit them for the service he had called them to, even the pouring forth of his vengeance upon the Babylonians, even them (saith the Lord) that rejoice in my highness, that is, that will be cheerfully forward to do my work upon Babylon, with great bravery and gallantry; and then will with great exaltation triumph in the doing of it. And this their valor, their gallant success, victory and triumph is called God's Highness; 1. because it was by God their Commander in chief, that they should so gallantly demean themselves, and attain so great glory by subduing and triumphing over the pride of Babylon. And, 2ly. because the infinite eminency of God's Power, and Holiness, and Justice, as likewise of his Mercy and Faithfulness, was gloriously discovered by the just vengeance that he brought upon that wicked and mighty City Babylon, and the great deliverance which thereby he effected for his own people.
Ver. 4. The noise of a multitude, &c.] The Prophet speaks this in such a manner, as if he would report, that he heard that actually doing, which in the foregoing verse the Lord said he had commanded to be done. As a Watchman set upon a Watch-Tower is wont first to relate what he hears, and afterwards when he discovers what that noise was, then to make known that too; so doth the Prophet here: The noise (saith he) of a multitude in the Mountains, as of a great people; as if he should have said, Methinks I hear a confused noise upon the Mountains, as is wont to be in a place where a great multitude of people are gathered together. And then he tells what this noise was, and that God was amongst them; a tumultuous noise of the Kingdoms of Nations gathered together, that is, of people of several Nations and Kingdoms; which is said, because the army gathered against Babylon, was to consist of many Nations, according to that of the Prophet Jeremy, Chap. 50.9. I will raise and cause to come against Babylon an assembly of great Nations from the North-Country. And so again Chap. 51.27, 28. The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle, as if he had said, And where this King of Nations is Commander in chief, it is no marvel though such a numberless multitude come in to him upon the setting up of his standard, as was said before, ver. 2. even a mighty army fit to vanquish such a mighty City. As for the mountains here mentioned, thereby may be meant, either the mountains of Media and Persia, where this huge Army was to be first gathered and mustered; or else the mountains over which the Army was to march, that they might break into Chaldea; yet some think the mountains are particularly mentioned, because Armies are wont to seize upon them, as places of greatest strength and security, and from thence their none is most easily heard far abroad; according to that, Joel 2.5. Like the noise of Chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap.
Ver. 5. They come from a far Country, &c.] To wit, from Media and Persia, Countrys far distant from Babylon. See the Notes, Chap. 1.7. and 5.26. from the end of heaven; see the Note, Neh. 1.9. even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation; that is, the armies, together with all their warlike Provision, wherewith the Lord intends to fight in his wrath against Babylon, to destroy the whole Land; to wit, not only the City, but also the whole Country of Babylon.
Ver. 6. Howl ye, &c.] As if he had said, You, O Babylonians, that are now in so great jollity, shall shortly howl for the extreme miseries that are coming upon you: for the day of the Lord, that is, the day wherein the Lord hath determined to take vengeance on Babylon, (See the Notes, Job 24.1. and Psal. 37.13.) is a • hand; which is spoken as with reference to what the Prophet had said before, wherein he had spoken of those that were to execute this vengeance upon Babylon, as if they had been already upon their way going thither. It is true indeed that Jerusalem 's destruction was nearer at hand than Babylon 's (for it was about two hundred years ere Babylon was destroyed ) and therefore there might seem to be greater cause to call upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem to howl, than the inhabitants of Babylon. But for this we must know, that the drift of the Prophet here, was to comfort the Jews against they came to be Captives in Babylon, by letting them know how confidently they might expect that Destruction that is here threatened to Babylon. And notwithstanding it was so long ere Babylon was to be destroyed, yet 1. with reference to God, to whom so long a time was but as a day; And 2ly, with reference to the security of the Babylonians, who were so confident in the strength of their City and Empire, it might well be said, That this day of the Lord was at hand, it being nearer indeed than any of them would have expected; and see the Notes on the last verse of this Chapter, it shall come as a Destruction from the Almighty; that is, it shall be inevitable and irreparable, so grievous and horrid, that everyone shall plainly see, that it was the work, and from the wrath of an Almighty God.
Ver. 7. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt.] See the Notes 2 Sam. 4.1. Josh. 7.5. and Psal. 22.14. The Prophet doth here covertly deride the proud confidence of the Babylonians; for when God should thus bereave them of all courage and strength, what good, alas, would all their Wealth do them, and all the strong Fortifications of their seeming invincible City?
Ver. 8. And they shall be afraid, &c.] That is, extreme fear shall surprise them. And this is mentioned as the cause of that feebleness and faintness threatred in the foregoing verse, Pangs and sorrows shall take hold-on them, they shall be in pain as a woman that travelleth, that is they shall be inwardly tortured with grievous vexation and anguish of Spirit, that shall suddenly seize upon them by reason of their terrors, they shall be amazed one at another, that is, they shall stand silent, gazing upon one another, as men astonished; to wit, either as wondering mutually at their fear and faint-heartedness, that they that had wont to be so renowned for courage and valor, should now be so heartless and cowardly, suffering themselves to be enslaved by the Medes and other Nations that had been formerly in subjection to them; or else out of desperate perplexity of Spirit, as being at their wits end, not knowing what to think, or what to say, or which way to turn themselves; though they were able enough to resist their enemies, yet they should have no heart to do anything that might tend thereto; but as men overwhelmed with despair, they should stand staring one upon another, unable to encourage or counsel one another, or so much as to express their minds or sorrows; their faces shall be as flames, that is, red like fire, say some, as blushing for shame at the consideration of their strange distraction, dismayedness, and base fears, according to that, Ezek. 7.18. shame shall be upon all faces; or, as others think, as being inflamed with anger and fury; which indeed will usually make the blood to come into men's faces, as if they were all on a fire. But I rather think it is meant of the paleness of their faces through fear, which is that the Prophet is here speaking of; and that therefore it is said, their faces shall be as flames, either because their faces should look pale, and wan, like the flame of a fire; or else because their faces should be pale, and swarthy, and dim, and dead-coloured, and full of horror, even as it useth to be with men that work at the Forge, or that stand before some kind of fire, that use to look as if they had no blood in their bodies, so that this place may well be paralleled with those, Jer. 30.5, 6. We have heard a voice of trembling of fear—and all faces are turned into paleness; and Joel 2.6. Before their faces the people shall be much pained; all faces shall gather blackness.
Ver. 9. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel, both with wrath and fierce anger, &c.] This is thus expressed, to set forth how cruelly God should cause the enemy to deal with them as it is said of Babylon's enemies, Jer. 50.42. They are cruel, and will not show mercy; and that it should be from God's just wrath against them, that they should be so severely handled. To lay the Land desolate, and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it, that is, the wicked ungodly inhabitants thereof, especially the great ones amongst them.
Ver. 10. For the stars of heaven, and the constellations thereof, shall not give their light, &c.] To wit, those figures in the Heavens, consisting of many bright Stars, such as those mentioned Job 9.9. The Sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. The drift of all these expressions, is to set forth, that the state of the Babylonians in that day, should • e extremely sad and dreadful, so full of horror, confusion and distraction, that they should not have, neither by day nor by night, the least glimpse of comfort. They may be intended to imply, that the calamity of those times should be so grievous and horrible, that the Heaven should, as it were, muffle up itself, that it might not behold it: Or, because when the Sun, and other the Heavenly lights do shine clear and bright, God seems to smile upon men; therefore God's frowning upon the inhabitants of Babylon, may be implied by this darkening of them. But I rather think, that all that is implied is, that they should be in a most doleful and dismal Condition, void of all Comfort, and not knowing which way to turn themselves; insomuch that the very light of the Sun, Moon and Stars, which are so pleasing and delightsome to others, should be as no light, no way comfortable to them, but rather displeasing and distasteful to them; neither should any of the Creatures yield them any refreshing or comfort. See the like expressions Ezek. 32.7. Joel 2.10, 31, and Matth. 24.29.
Ver. 11. And I will punish the World for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity, &c.] By the World is meant the Babylonian Monarchy, that had brought the greatest part of the then known World into subjection under them, according to that which Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. 4.22. Thy greatness is grown and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth And it is the rather thus expressed, to imply, that no strength that is, can stand before God; and that if all the world conspire to rebel against him, he can easily destroy them, as he did the old world; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and I will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. See the Notes Chap. 2.11. and 10.12.
Ver. 12. I will make a man more precious than fine Gold, even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.] The meaning is either, 1. That the enemy should make such a mighty slaughter amongst the Babylonians, that there should be but a very few of them left alive; a man shall be a rare thing to be found amongst them. See the Note 1 Sam. 3.1. Or, 2ly. That the soldiers should be so cruel to them, that they should not spare their lives for the greatest quantities of the purest gold that could be tendered to them, according to that which followeth, ver. 17. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver, and as for gold they shall not delight in it; which may seem the more probable, because we read, that in that night when Babylon was taken, Belshazzar their King was slain, Dan. 5.30. And it is likely that with him, many of the great ones were likewise cut off, that would have been glad to have redeemed their lives at a great rate. But yet because we find not either in the Scripture, or in any other History, that there was such a general slaughter made of the inhabitants, when Babylon was taken by the Medes and Persians, therefore many learned Expositors do understand both this, and that which follows, of the utter Destruction of Babylon in future times, whereof this subduing of that proud City by the Medes and Persians, should be only the beginning; yea, our Annotations do propound it as considerable, whether this that is said here, That a man shall be more precious than fine gold, may not be spoken with respect to Babylon's being utterly deserted in the time of this her great danger, by those auxiliary forces which they had taken in for their defense; of which the Prophet speaks afterward again, ver. 14.
Ver. 13. Therefore, &c.] To wit, that I may be avenged on them for their wickedness, mentioned before, ver. 11. Or, by reason of this grievous terror and dread that shall seize upon them, when the Medes and Persians shall invade them; I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, that is, they shall be in such extreme confusion and destruction, that the very Heaven and earth shall seem to them to shake and tremble. See the Notes Chap. 5.26. and 2 Sam. 22.8. and Psal. 76.8.
Ver. 14. And it shall be as the chased Roe, and as a Sheep that no man taketh up, &c.] That is, Babylon, or the Babylonian army shall flee as a Roe, chased by some Huntsman or wild beast, or shall wander up and down like a straggling sheep, that is not able neither by flight, nor otherwise, to secure itself; and that hath no shepherd to take it up or defend it. See Ezek. 34.6. The meaning is, that they should not be able to bear the sight of the enemy, but should presently run away, and seek to shift for themselves; and that no man should be able to keep them to their colors, or to bring them to make a stand, or to rally again together; or else, that no man should dare to receive them into their houses when they fled, to shelter and hide them there. And indeed, that this is chiefly meant of the auxiliary forces, which they had taken into Babylon from other Nations, that they should disband and be gone for fear, or flee before the enemy, is apparent by the following words, they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee everyone into his own Land; which fully agreeth with that which the Prophet Jeremy foretold concerning Babylon, Jer. 50.16. and 51.9.
Ver. 15. Everyone that is found shall be thrust through: and everyone that is joined unto them, shall fall by the sword.] Some think that here the Prophet speaks of the slaughter that should be made in the City, having spoken in the foregoing verse of those that should seek to save themselves by flight. But I rather think that it may better be understood of all, both within and without the City; and that the meaning is, that the enemy should put all to the sword they could find, whether they were Natives, or Strangers that lived amongst them, or that had joined themselves to them as soldiers that came in to aid them. Or else by them that were found, are meant, those that were found wandering and fleeing alone by themselves; and by those that were joined, those that were gotten together into a body, or were gathered together into any place of strength for the defense of themselves.
Ver. 16. Their Children also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes, &c.] See the Note Psal. 137.9. And thus the Babylonians, through the just Judgment of God, were destroyed with the same cruelty wherewith they had destroyed God's people; for they slew the Children of Zedekiah before his eyes. See the Note 2 King. 25.7. and in 2 Chron. 36.17. it is said, that they had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age. And the same must be understood of that which follows, their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished, to wit, before their eyes. See the Notes before, Chap. 1.7. And herein likewise the Babylonians had dealt so with the Jews; whence is that, Chap. 33.1. Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wert not spoiled—when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and that Jer. 50.15. Take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her. And Lam. 5. they ravished the Women in Zion.
Ver. 17. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, &c.] To wit, together with the Persians, for they also joined with the Medes in this Expedition against Babylon; whence was that Exposition of the Hand-writing on the wall made by David to Belshazzar, Dan. 5.28. PERES, thy Kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. But the Medes are here only named, because the Expedition was chiefly undertaken upon their account; for, as we find in other Histories, the proud Babylonian joining with Croesus, King of the Lydians, had made war upon the Medes, whose King Cyaxares then was, who is also called Darius the Son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, Dan. 9.1. Hereupon Cyrus King of the Persians, the Son-in-law of this Cyaxares or Darius, rising up in the defense of his Father-in-law, and having first subdued the Lydians, did afterwards join with Cyaxares or Darius his Father-in-law, then sixty and two years old, in this Expedition against Babylon. See the Note, Ezra 1.1. And indeed considering that this was foretold by the Prophet about two hundred years before it came to pass, when the Medes had no quarrel against Babylon, and were besides, a poor despised people comparatively, and no way likely to subdue such a mighty City; this was a clear evidence, that the Prophet had this by revelation from God. As for that which is here added concerning the Medes, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it, see the Note before, ver. 12. They would not spare the lives of the Babylonians, neither for silver nor gold; but when they had destroyed them, they were eager enough upon the pillage; whence is that in the foregoing verse of their spoiling men's houses.
Ver. 18. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces, &c.] The meaning may be either, 1. That not staying to shoot them, they dashed out their brains with their Bows; or 2ly. that not content to have shot them through, and slain them (so great should be their rage) they should afterwards beat their dead bodies to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the Womb, that is, the Child whilst it is yet in the Womb; yet hereby may be meant young Children in general, who are called the fruit of the Womb, Psal. 127.3. And then the same is repeated again in other terms in the following words, Thine eye shall not spare Children, that is, tender Infants and young Children crying out and clinging to to their Mother for help. See the Note before, ver. 16.
Ver. 19. And Babylon the glory of Kingdoms, &c.] That is, the chiefest and most glorious State and Monarchy that ever was; therefore termed the Lady of Kingdoms, Chap. 47.5. and the praise of the whole earth, Jer. 51.41. and compared to a head of fine gold in Nebuchadnezzar's Dream, Dan. 2.32. the beauty of the Chaldees excellency, that is, the City, in the beauty whereof the Chaldees did exceedinly vaunt themselves, and might well indeed be said to excel all other Nations, that City being in those times counted one of the seven wonders of the World, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrhah, to wit, not only because it was utterly and irreparably destroyed, and in such a manner, that it was apparent to be from the wrath and indignation of God against her, as when God overthrew those Cities; but also because in the Destruction of Babylon, one of the most goodly places in the world was laid desolate, as it was in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrhah, of the pleasantness and fruitfulness of whose situation, see Gen. 13.10.
Ver. 20. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation, &c.] To wit, after it is once utterly destroyed, never to be built up again. It was not indeed thus utterly destroyed by Cyrus •• e • he took it, but it stood long after that, in great splendor and glory. But then it lost the Empire, and Ctesiphon, and Seleucia being some years after built not far from Babylon, they by degrees drained away the riches and glory of Babylon; and so some ages after, followed her total ruin; for that is now still remaining as another Babylon, built not far from the Babylon which still lies desolate. See the Note above ver. 12. Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, that is, the people of Ararabia the desert, a thievish wild people, that used not to dwell in houses, but in Tents, which they removed from one place to another, as they wandered about to seek herbage for their cattle; and the same may be intended in the following words, neither shall the Shepherds make their fold there; or else the meaning may be, that neither the Arabians, nor any other Shepherd should seek to fleed their cattle there. See Jer. 50.3. to wit, either because there should be no grass, where the ruins of the City lay, but only nettles, and thorns, and briars should grow up there; or because of those terrible and hurtful Creatures that should lodge there, as is expressed in the following verse; or as some think, because the very soil of the land thereabouts should be accursed of God. However, the drift of these words is to set forth the wonderful change that God would bring upon Babylon, in that thievish Arabians and poor shepherds shall not vouchsafe to have their abode there, where Kings and Princes had wont to dwell.
Ver. 21. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, &c.] That is, such as use to lodge in desert places. The word in the Original, Ziim, is derived from an Hebrew word, which signifieth a wild and waste place, Psal. 68.6. And therefore it is sometimes used for people, that inhabit such dry and desert places, as in Psal. 72.8. where this word is translated, they that dwell in the wilderness. But here it must needs be meant of some wild Creatures living in such solitary places; for which see the Note also Psal. 74.14. and their houses shall be full of doleful Creatures (Octim it is in the Hebrew) which seems to be derived from an Interjection of exclaiming and crying out in a time of affrightment and fear; or else of mourning or groaning; and consequently Interpreters hold, that the word imports either Creatures of such a terrible aspect, that they should make men, when they see them, cry out for fear; or else such as make a mournful, doleful noise; and Owls shall dwell there, see the Note, Job 30.29. It is in the Hebrew, the daughters of the Owl, that are wont to make a dreadful skreeking noise when their Dams are from them, especially when they want food. But that may be only an Hebraism; and Satyrs shall dance there, whereby I conceive is meant either some kind of strange, monstrous, ugly beasts (which seems the more probable, because elsewhere the Prophet speaks of them, as of beasts that are wont to cry one to another, Chap. 34.14. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the Island, and the Satyr shall cry to his fellow ); or else Devils, appearing to men like hairy, shag Creatures. See the Note Lev. 17.7. such as it may well be the Satyrs were, of whom the Ancients speak so often, that used to haunt Woods and Deserts, having faces and hands like men, and going upright as men do, but yet were horned, and hairy, and cloven-footed like Goats. And indeed such unclean Spirits love to appear, and to haunt men in such solitary places, because there men are most apt to lie struck with terror; and thence may that be, Math. 12.43. When the unclean Spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places. And that Prophecy concerning mystical Babylon is fully parallel with this, Revel. 18.2. Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a •• ge of every unclean and hateful bird.
Ver. 22. And the wild beasts of the Islands, &c.] That is, that breed or keep in Islands void of Inhabitants, and whereto others do seldom or never come, Shall cry in their desolate houses, and Dragons in their pleasant Palaces; that is, shall answer one another with a loud cry. See the foregoing Note.
And her time is near to come, &c.] That is, the time of the beginning of the miseries here threatened against her, when Babylon was to be taken by the Medes and Persians. See the Note above, ver. 6. And so likewise in the following words, And her days shall not be prolonged; either the same is again repeated, to wit, that the day of her overthrow should not long be deferred; or the meaning may be, that the days of her prosperity should not continue much longer.
CHAP. XIV.
VERSE 1. FOR the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, &c.] This is given as a reason, why God would hasten the destruction of Babylon, foretold in the foregoing Chapter, as he had said he would do in the last words of that Chapter; to wit, that the Jews might by Cyrus, who was to subdue Babylon, be sent home again into their own Country. See the Note, Ezra 1.1. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own Land; that is, He will yet again receive them into his favor, whom he had cast off for a time, as if he had chosen them anew; or, He will by appearing wonderfully for them, make it evident, that they were his chosen people; or, He will choose or pick out the remnant of his people, whom he intends to deliver, out of the places where they were dispersed. And by Jacob and Israel are meant the Posterity of Jacob, the Jews, principally those of the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin; but together with them, those likewise of the ten Tribes, that came in to those of Judah in the days of Hezekiah, and so were with them carried into Babylon, and afterward sent back with them into the Land of Judea: And the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob: that is, many of the Heathens amongst whom they had lived in Babylon, Chaldeans, Medes and Persians, being converted to the Jewish Religion, either by the instruction and persuasion of the Jews, or by observing the holiness of their lives, or by taking notice of the wonder of their deliverance out of Babylon, (see the Note, Psal. 126.2.) shall join themselves to them, and go along with them to Jerusalem, (see Ezra 2.65.) as it was with the Israelites when they went out of Egypt, see the Note, Exod. 12.38. But though this was partly thus accomplished, as in a Type, by strangers joining themselves to the Jews in their return into their own Land; yet the conversion of the Gentiles in the days of the Gospel, when they joined themselves to the Church of the Jews, is the principal thing here intended.
Ver. 2. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place, &c.] That is, say some Expositors, the several Tribes and Families of the Jews shall take those strangers, those Proselytes mentioned in the foregoing verse, that had joined themselves to the house of Jacob, and receiving them into their company and society, shall carry them along with them into the Land of Israel. But the meaning rather is, that the people of several Nations, the Babylonians, Medes and Persians; with others that dwelt in the way, whereby the Jews were to return home into their own Country, should afford the Jews all the respect and help they could, in and for their return into Judea, entertaining them and encouraging them on their way, and furnishing them with cattle, and carriages, and all other necessary accommodations for their Journey, as Cyrus had commanded. See the Note, Ezra 1.4. and see also Neh. 2.7.9. And the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord (see the Note, Exod. 15.17.) for servants and handmaids; that is, many of these people shall become servants to the Jews, when they are settled in their own Land. And this some understand of those Proselytes or Strangers that had joined themselves to the Jews, either that they should be as serviceable to the Jews, as any servants could be; or else that in process of time some of them, or their children, should be sold to them for servants, which was indeed agreeable to God's Law concerning Servants, Levite. 25.44, 45, 46. And others again understand it of the Babylonians, who being vanquished by the Medes and Persians, should be sold by them to the Jews for slaves; or by reason of their penury should voluntarily yield themselves up to be their servants. Whereupon it follows, And they shall take them captives, whose captives they were, and they shall rule over their oppressors; that is, those Nations should be servants to the Jews, to whom the Jews had formerly been in bondage: which some also extend to the Jews vanquishing and bringing into bondage those Nations, after their return out of Babylon, in the days of the Maccabees, as had before lorded over them. But now most Expositors understand all this spiritually, as well they may, of the conversion of the Gentiles by the Ministry of the Jews in the days of the Gospel; to wit, that the Jews should by the Preaching of the Gospel bring those Nations under the yoke of Christ, to whom they had formerly been captives; and hereupon the Gentiles should show great respect to them, as owning them to be God's first-born people, and should submit themselves to the word of the Gospel, and should be subservient to the believing Jews, in laboring to establish Christ's Kingdom in the world, and in gathering in his Elect to his Church. So that the Dominion here promised to the Jews over the Gentiles, is not a Temporal Dominion, but a Spiritual; their ruling over them in the Lord. See 2 Cor. 10.3, 4, 5. L • ke 22.25, 26. 2 Cor. 1.24. and 1 Pet. 5.3.
Ver. 3. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, &c.] That is, when thou shalt be delivered from thy Captivity in Babylon, and from all the griefs, and fears, and sore miseries thou there enduredst.
Ver. 4. That thou shalt take up this Proverb, &c.] or taunting speech; See the Note, Numb. 21.27. against the King of Babylon, to wit, Belshazzar, the last of the Babylonian Monarchs, together with whom that State fell; and say, How hath the Oppressor ceased? the golden City ceased? That is, the City that was so full of Gold, and was so confident in her excessive wealth. And therefore set forth by a head of Gold, Dan. 2.32, 38. and by a golden cup, Jer. 51.7. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand. It is spoken by way of deriding Babels pride and confidence: as if it had been said, How is it possible that this cruel Tyrant and his golden Monarchy should be thus ruined in one night, and so by that means the poor people of God be delivered from their bondage? That which we render, the golden city, some translate, the exactress of gold; that is, the City that drained all the gold from other Nations: But our Translation I conceive is the best. However observable it is, that the word in the Original seems to be Syriac, the language then used amongst the Chaldeans, Dan. 2.4. and so the Prophet mocks the Chaldees with a word taken from the Chaldean tongue.
Ver. 5. The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the Scepter of the Rulers.] See the Notes, Chap. 9.4. and 10.5. This is in answer to the foregoing question, verse. 4. as if the Prophet had said, Wonder not at the sudden destruction of Babel: It is the Lord that hath done it by way of taking vengeance on them for their horrid wickedness and oppression.
Ver. 6. He who smote the people in wrath, &c.] To wit, Not in a way of Justice, but of Rage and Fury, with a continul stroke; that is, immoderately, and implacably, and with extreme cruelty. He never thought he had laid on load enough; neither was there any pacifying his wrath. And therefore the Prophet adds, that the like should be done to him, He that ruled the Nation in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth; that is, he shall be destroyed inevitably and irreparably: he shall not be able to defend himself; and for others, they shall not be able, neither shall they have any mind to do it.
Ver. 7. The whole earth is at rest and quiet, &c.] That is, the Inhabitants of the world, that could never be quiet for this proud City: They break forth into singing; to wit, for the downfall of this great oppressing Empire.
Ver. 8. Yea, the Fir-trees rejoice at thee, &c.] Some understand this Figuratively of those States and Princes that had been oppressed formerly by the Babylonians. See the Note, Chap. 2.13. But it is better understood literally, that it should be a joy, as it were, to the trees of the Forest, that the Babylonian was destroyed, because he had wont to make such havoc in felling down the Fir-trees, and as it follows, the cedars of Lebanon, that were so far from him, partly to make passages for his Armies, and partly for the building of his Houses and Ships, and for the raising of his Bulwarks, and other uses in his Wars; whereas now, the Babylonian being hewed down, they should stand quietly in their places without any molestation, Since thou art laid down, (say they) no feller is come up against us. And indeed it may well be, that this is spoken with reference to that which had been said before, Chap. 2.13. concerning the great havoc that should be made by the Babylonian in the forest of Israel.
Ver. 9. Hell from beneath, &c.] Or rather, the grave from beneath, because this agrees best with that which followeth, ver. 11. Thy pomp is brought down to the grave—the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. Having related, how all the inhabitants of the earth, yea, even the senseless creatures, the trees, should rejoice at the down-fall of the Babylonian Monarch, the Prophet now proceeds to show, in a like poetical strain, that not only the living, but the dead also from beneath should rejoice at his ruin and death, and insult over him: To which end he speaks here of Hell, or the grave, as under the person of some great Prince or King, having the dead under his dominion and command. Hell, or the grave from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming; whereby seems to be meant, either 1. That this Prince of the lower Regions was moved with fear, to wit, at the report of the coming of this mighty Monarch towards them, as fearing lest he would cause as great troubles amongst the dead as he had done amongst the living, and that he was coming to subdue them under his dominion, as he had done the several Nations of the world above; and thereupon was resolved to meet him, and to oppose his coming thither: Or else 2. That he was moved with awe of his greatness, and with care about entertaining him with all requisite solemnity, as people use to be when they hear of some great King that is coming towards them, and so thought to go forth to meet, and to receive him magnificently, with all the honor they could afford him. Or. 3. That he was moved with astonishment at his fall, or with indignation against him for his horrid oppressions and cruelty, and so intended to go out to meet him, that they might keep him off, as unworthy to be buried and lodged amongst them, or that he might insult over him for his pride and cruelty; which last seems indeeed the more probable, because this is afterwards expressed. And accordingly we must understand that which followeth; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; to wit, that Hell or the grave had stirred up all the dead under his power to resist him, or to entertain him honourably, or to deride and scoff at him; and amongst the rest, all the great Kings and Monarchs that were amongst the dead; to wit, either as their King, all little enough to resist him, or that the presence of those might contribute much to the honor of his entertainment, or because those great ones that had been slain by him, were fittest to insult over him. And indeed observable it is, that in the last clause, it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations; by their thrones are meant their Sepulchers; or Royal Monuments, wherein their bodies lay interred; or the Prophet speaks of them in a Poetical way, as if they had thrones in the lower Region, as they had when they lived in the world; and that phrase of their being raised up from their thrones, may seem to imply, that as Princes are wont to rise up from their seats to some great Monarch, so should these Kings rise up from their graves before the Babylonian, as to him that had conquered them, their Lord and Sovereign. But still all is spoken by way of derision and scorn.
Ver. 10. All they shall speak, and say unto thee, &c.] That is, when the dead, even the chief among the dead before mentioned, that were stirred up to meet thee, or to resist thee, or insult over thee, shall see thee come naked and unarmed, not to subdue Hell or the grave, but to be there in the same condition with other dead people, they shall then say to thee, as in a way of derision, Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? As if they should have said, What! art thou come amongst us? Is it possible! How camest thou to die as others die? Thou that wert feared by all Nations, as if thou hadst been invincible, that wert extolled by thy Parasites, as if thou hadst been some Demi God, and that wert ready to adore thyself, as somewhat more than a man, art thou at last found to be a poor mortal creature, as we were?
Ver. 11. Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols, &c.] That is, all the pomp and glory, together with the delights and pleasures wherein thou hast lived, and wherein thou wert exalted far above others, is now laid in the dust, and buried in the grave with thee. And it may well be also, that in the mention that is made of his Viols, there is some respect had to that mighty feast which Belshazzar made for his Princes (that jollity whereof we may well think was accompanied with variety of music) at the very time when the City of Babylon was surprised, Dan. 5.1. the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.] That is, maggots and worms shall be thy bed or carpets under thee, and thy coverlets over thee. Instead of a soft bed to lie upon, or of rapistry carpets, whereon thou wert wont to tread or sit; and instead of those rich and gorgeous coverlets, wherewith thou wert wont to cover thee, thou shalt have worms under thee, and worms above thee. Yet some there are that refer this wholly to the Babylonians being cast forth without burial; to wit, that instead of being embalmed and wrapped up in sere-clothes and fine linen, as great Princes used to be, that their bodies might be preserved from putrefaction, he should be left to rot above ground, and to be eaten up of worms: Yea, some extend it to that of the worm that never dieth, Mark 9.44. And here I conceive is the end of the speech of the dead to the Babylonian, begun ver. 10. and that in the following verse the Prophet proceeds on in that proverbial taunting speech or song, began ver. 4.
Ver. 12. How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer! &c.] Or, O day-star! see 2 Pet. 1.19. son of the morning; that is, that art usually the immediate fore-runner of the morning; and therefore also called the morning-star, see Rev. 2.28. because this is the greatest and brightest of all the stars (whence it is observed, that the beams of none of the stars do cause a shadow but this only; and that this is seen in the Firmament a while after the Sun-rising, when none of the stars else can be seen), therefore to set forth, that the Babylonian Monarch seemed to be advanced, as it were, to the very Heavens for his riches and glory, and did as far exceed all other Kings of the earth in splendor and Majesty, as this did excel all the other stars in beauty and brightness; and that there seemed to be no more fear of his downfall, than there seemed to be of the falling of this day-star out of the Heavens; therefore (I say) is the wonder of the fall of this great Monarch, or Monarchy, expressed in these terms, How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning▪ And to the same purpose are the following words, how art thou cut down to the ground, to wit, like some lofty tree, that being hewn down is laid along on the earth; which didst weaken the nations? That is, oppress, waste and destroy them.
Ver. 13. For thou hast said in thine heart, &c.] This is added as a reason of the Babylonians downfall; to wit, that it should be for his proud exalting himself against the great God of Heaven: Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into Heaven, that is, I will assume unto myself the honor and glory due only to God; I will exalt myself, as it is expressed in the following verse, as one like the most High, as one that intended to fight against God: I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, that is, the highest or brightest stars, see the Note, Psal. 104.16. Or rather the stars of God's making, and which he hath set in the Heaven, the place of his own peculiar habitation. Now though these things may be said of the Babylonian Monarch, (or Monarchy) with respect to any thought of his, wherein out of a presumptuous conceit of his own wisdom and power, he arrogated anything to himself, above what could justly be ascribed to man; as his affecting the universal Monarchy of the world, that he might have all Mankind under his command; and his requiring to be owned and worshipped as a God, (in his image) Dan. 3.5. Yet I conceive they are principally spoken with respect to his proud resolving to invade and subdue the Jews, God's peculiar people, together with his Temple and Sanctuary, never minding the Almighty Power of God, whereby he heard they were defended, which was all one in effect, as if he had resolved to subdue and dethrone God himself: And if thus we understand that which is said here, then the following words may seem to be added by way of explaining these, I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the North, see the Note, Psal. 48.2. That is, I will set my Throne upon Mount Zion, called here, The Mount of the Congregation, because there God's people used to assemble themselves together to meet with their God; as for the same reasons the Tabernacle was of old called, The Tabernacle of the Congregation, see the Note, Exod. 29.42. And hereby may be meant, either that he would assume the same honor to himself, which by the Jews was given to God in Mount Zion; or else rather, that he would bring Jerusalem, and the Temple in Mount Zion into subjection under him. And indeed Belshazzar's proud triumphing in this was the immediate fore-runner of Babylon 's ruin. For the same night that City was taken, by way of insulting over God, he sat drinking with his Princes and Concubines in the vessels that had been taken out of the Temple, Dan. 5.2.
Ver. 14. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the most High.] See the foregoing Note.
Ver. 15. Yet thou shalt be brought down to Hell, &c.] That is, instead of climbing up to Heaven, thou shalt be cast down to Hell, or the Grave. See above, verse. 9. To the sides of the pit; as if it had been said, Instead of sitting upon Mount Zion in the sides of the North, (for to that foregoing brag of the Babylonian, verse. 13. there is a clear Allusion in this place) thou shalt be cast down into the basest room of the infernal Pit; or rather, into some obscure corner of some common pit, digged upon some other occasion; and that this shall be to thee instead of a Sepulcher. And indeed it is probable, that Belshazzar was in the fury of the Surprize of Babylon thus cast out amongst others that were slain, without any decent burial.
Ver. 16. They that see thee, &c.] This may be understood either of the living, that should behold the Babylonians carcase so cast out, as is beforesaid; or else of the dead, as formerly; ver. 13. that should gaze upon him, when he came among them. They that see thee, shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee; that is, they shall look wistly upon thee, to wit, as wondering at his great, and sudden, and unexpected fall, doubting whether it were he or no, and scarce believing their own eyes: Saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that raised an earthquake, as it were, throughout the world, that did shake Kingdoms? to wit, by the terrors, the troubles, the ruins and alterations which he brought upon them.
Ver. 17. That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the Cities thereof, &c.] That is, that laid all waste where he came, slaughtering the Inhabitants, or carrying them into Captivity, and burning up the houses where they dwelt: That opened not the house of his prisoners, that is, say some, so inhumane he was, that he would never suffer his prisoners to stir out of the Prison-doors, though with Shackles about their heels. But rather the cruelty of the Babylonian here intended is, that he would never release those whom he had once cast into Prison; either he would slay them, or else damn them to perpetual Imprisonment. And therefore some read this place, as it is in the Margin of our Bibles, That did not let his prisoners loose homeward; that is, never set his prisoners free, that they might go away to their own homes: which may be said with special respect to the Jews, that could never get to be released and sent back to their own Country, till the Medes and Persians had subdued and destroyed Babylon.
Ver. 18. All the Kings of the Nations, even all of them, lie in glory, everyone in his own house.]