Commentary on Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel

CHAP. XIV.

Ver. 1. FOr the Lord will have mercy upon Jacob] And therefore destroy Babylon, as chap. 13. Such is his Love to his Church, that for her sake, and in Revenge of her wrongs, he will fall foul upon her enemies. Si in Hierosolymis fiat scrutinium, quanto magis in Babylon.

And the strangers shall be joined with them] Proselyted: especially when made partakers of the grace of the Gospel.

Ver. 2. For servants and for hand-maids] Their Converts shall be willing to lay their hands under their feet, as we say, and glad to do them any service: like as Cyprian was for Caecilius (whom be called novae vitae parentem ) and Latimer for Bilney, whom he called Blessed Bilney. See Isa. 49.23.

Ver. 3. That the Lord shall give thee rest, &c.] The Church hath her Halcyons here; neither is she smitten as those are that smote her, but in measure, in the branches, &c. God stayeth his rough-wind, Isa. 27.8. that is, such afflictions as would shake his plants too much, or quite blow them down. Yea whether South or North-wind bloweth, all shall blow good to them, Cant. 4. ult. Blow off their unkindly blossoms: and refresh them both under and after all their sorrow, fear, and hardship.

Ver. 4. That thou shalt take up this Proverb] Or taunting speech: this exultatory and insultatory song, which upon the fall of Babylon shall be in every man's mouth.

How hath the Oppressor ceased!] q. d. This is wonderful and beyond all expectation.

The golden City] Or, Gold-thirsty City.

Ver. 5. The Lord hath broken the staff] Wherewith these Exactors cudgelled men (as so many beasts) into subjection and obedience.

And the Scepter] Or Rod of the Rulers who ruled with rigor.

Ver. 6. He that smote the people in wrath, &c.] This is the Tyrants Epitaph: there is at their death a general joy, as was when the world was well rid of Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Heliogabalus, &c. When Domitian died, the Senate decreed that his name should be razed, that all his Acts should be rescinded, and his memorial abolished quite forever. When Caligula was cut off, his monies were all melted by the decree of the Senate▪ like as King Richard the thirds cognizance, the white Bore was torn from every sign, that his memory might perish.

Ver. 7. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet] Quievit, conticuit. All's husht, that was used to be set in an uproar by these restless Ambitionists.

They break forth into singing] By a wide opening of the lips and lungs, as the word signifieth.

Ver. 8. Yea the Fir-trees rejoice at thee] A notable Metaphor, whereby sense and speech is attributed to senseless creatures: the trees once afraid to be felled, are now freed from that fear. This Tyrant was the terror of things on earth, and things under earth. Hence men and trees are said to rejoice, Hell to be in an hurry, &c.

No feller is come up against us] As was wont to do, for thy Shipping, Buildings, Warlike Engines, &c.

Ver. 9. Hell from beneath is moved for thee] Infernus ab inferendo: Shaeal from its unsatiableness, and continual craving. Here is an Ironical and Poetical representation of the King of Babylon's coming into Hell, and his entertainment there; the dead Kings rising from their places for reverence, to receive him.

Even all the chief ones of the earth] Heb. The He-goats, such as lead and go before the flock; such Rhetoric as this we meet with in Lucians Dialogues. Of Laurentius Valla, that great Critick, who found fault with almost all Latin Authors, One made this Tetrastich;

From their Thrones] i. e. From their Sepulchers, saith Piscator.

Ver. 10. Art thou also become weak as we?] Interrogatio sarcastica & insultabunda. Hast thou also an Hic fitus est, or Mortuus est, set upon thy Tombstone? This if thou hadst fore-thought, thou wouldest have better behaved thyself, whilst alive: the meditation of Death would have been a death to thy passions, and an allay to thine insolencies. Virgil saith, if swarms of Bees meet in the air, they will sometimes fight, as it were in a set battle with great violence; But if you cast but a little dust upon them, they will be all presently quiet.

Had Nebuchadnezzar or his Successors bethought themselves of their Mortality and of Deaths impartiality, they would have been more moderate.

Ver. 11. Thy pomp is brought down to the grave] Ipsaque justa sepulta jacent, Funeral rites (those Dues of the Dead ) are wanting to thee. This was fulfilled in Belshazzar slain at his impious Feast, whilst he profaned the vessels of God's house to quaff in, to the honor of Shac his drunken god, and had no doubt variety of Music. See Jer. 51.39, 41, 47. Dan. 5.1, 30.

The worm is spread under thee, and worms cover thee] Pro li • eamine tinea sternitur: pro lodice vermes superimponuntur: for sheets thou hast Maggots, and for a coverled, worms: and this the rather, because whereas the Assyrian Kings, as Strabo testifieth, and the Babylonian Kings, as Herodotus, were wont to be Embalmed after their death, that they might keep sweet, Belshazzar was not so, ver. 19.20.

Ver. 12. How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer!] That is, not O Beelzebub (as some Ancients) but O Belshazzar rather, called Lucifer here, or the Morning-star, for his beauty and brightness: and as much wonder it was to see the Chaldean Monarch at such an under, as to have seen Lucifer (the Suns constant companion) fallen from Heaven: He was the terror of the world, and as he thought, superior to Fortune: yet a sudden and dismal change befell him. In the Chariot of the Roman Triumpher, there hung up a little bell and a whip; to put him in mind he might one day be whipt as a slave; or as an offender, lose his head. Nemo confidat minium secundis.

Ver. 13. For thou hast said in thine heart] The natural heart is a Palace of Satanical pride: it is like unto the Table of Adonibezek, at which he sat in a Chair of State, and made others, even Kings, to eat meat like dogs, under his feet, with their thumbs cut off.

I will ascend into Heaven] Vide quomodo non satientur honor superbi. Ambition as the Crocodile, grows is long as it lives, and is never satisfied.

Above the stars of God] i. e. Above all the Kings of the earth, or above the Saints, Rev. 12.1. those earthly Angels.

I will sit also upon the Mount of the Congregation] I will sit upon the skirts of God's Church: yea I will set my Throne upon God's Throne, and take up his room. See the like madness in Pharaoh, Ezek. 29.3. that proud Prince of Tyre, Ezek. 22.28. Antiochus surnamed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Herod, Act. 12. Caligula, Chosroes, Diocletian, Antichrist, of whom and his practices One cries out, O Lucifer out-devil'd, &c. 2 Thess. 2.4. One of the Popes Parasites Valladerius saith of Paul the fifth, that he was a God, lived familiarly with the Godhead, heard Predestination itself whispering to him, had a place to sit in Council with the most blessed Trinity, &c.

In the sides of the North] In Mount Moriah, where the Temple stood.

Ver. 14. I will ascend above the height of the clouds] Vt verbo dicam, ero summa & sacra majestas.

Ver. 15. Yet thou shalt be brought down to Hell] To the counterpoint of thy haughtiest conceits, ad infimam Erebi sedem. So a merry fellow said that Xerxes, that great Warrior who took upon him to control the Sea, was now mending old shoos under a shop-board in Hell.

To the sides of the pit] i. e. Of the infernal Lake: a Tartesso in Tartarum detrusus; from the sides of the North, ver. 13. whether thou hadst pierked thyself, ad latera luci, to the sides of the pit, and to an odd corner of the burying place. This was a foul fall, and worse then that of Hermannus Ferrariensis, who having been canonized for a Saint, was thirty years after unburied, and burnt for an Heretic by Pope Boniface the eight: or that of Thomas Becket, of whom, forty eight years after he had been Sainted, it was disputed among the Doctors of Paris, whether he were damned or saved?

Ver. 16. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee] Shall look wishly upon thee, as scarce believing their own eyes, for the strangeness of the thing.

Is this the man that made the earth to tremble?] The earth to quake, and men's hearts to ache? yea sure; this is very He. At one end of the Library at Dublin was a Globe, at the other a Sceleton, to show (saith mine Author) that though a man be Lord of all the world, yet he must die, nullus{que} fiet, qui omnia esse affectabat.

Ver. 17. That made the world as a Wilderness] Nero the Tyrant came into the world an Agrippa, or born with his feet forward; and turned the world upside down ere he went out of it: so that the Senate at last proclaimed him a public enemy to mankind, and condemned him to be drawn through the City, and whipped to death.

That opened not the house of his prisoners] Or, that did not lose his prisoners homewards, but kept them in durance with prisoners pittance, Lam. 3.34.

Ver. 18. All the Kings of the Nations] i. e. Very many of them have their stately Pyramids, Tombs, Mausolaean Monuments erected, as amongst us at Westminster Henry the sevenths Chapel is a curious and costly piece.

Ver. 19. But thou art cast out of thy grave] i. e. Cast out, and kept from thy grave. This befell Baltasar upon the surprisal of the City, Dan. 5 30. And the like also befell Alexander the Great dying at the same City: and our Will. Conqueror, who having utterly sacked the City of Mants in France, and in the destruction thereof got his own, died shortly after at Rouen, where his corpse lay three days unburied, his interment being hindered by one that claimed the ground to be his.

Like an abominable branch] The matter is here set forth by three notable similitudes, such as this Prophet is full of.

Ver. 20. Thou shalt not be joined to them in burial] i. e. To thy Compeers, thy fellow Kings in Funeral-state and pomp. Christians have an honest care 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , with whom they be buried, and where they are laid when dead, that as they lived together and loved together, so in their death they may not be divided, 2 Sam. 1.23.

Because thou hast destroyed thy land] Tyrannized over thine own Subjects also. So did Saul, Manass • h, Herod (who butchered about Bethlehem 14000. Infants, as some affirm, and his own son among the rest) Tiberius that Tiger, Nero that Lion, Commodus, who was (saith Orosius) cunctis incommodus, Charles 9 of France, &c.

The seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned] The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the Tabernacle of the upright shall flourish, Prov. 14.11. See the Note there: & notanto hoc parents, & à sceleribus se abstinento: ni sibi velint parcere, ut posteritati parcant.

Ver. 21. Prepare another slaughter for his children] For Baltsars posterity. This is God's charge to the Medes and Persians. See on ver. 20.

Ver. 22. For I will rise up against him] And therefore it is to no purpose for them to rise up to possess the Land, and to fill the face of the world with Cities, as ver. 21. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, &c. Ezek. 21.27. and who shall gain-stand it?

Ver. 23. I will also make it a possession for the Bittern] Which is a kind of water-fowl that maketh a hideous noise.

And I will sweep it with the besom of destruction] Scopa vastatrice verram cam, Vatab. I will not brush them for Ornament, but sweep them, or rather scrub them to their ruin by my Persian Praedones whom I will set upon them. And here the Jewish Rabbins acknowledge that they came to understand this Text by hearing an Arabian woman mention a broom or a besom in her Language, to her maid. Apollos a learned Teacher may yet learn of a Tent-maker.

Ver. 24. The Lord of Hosts hath sworn] If he had but said it only, it had been sure enough (for he cannot lie, he cannot deny himself ) but when he sweareth anything we may build upon it, especially since he is Lord of Hosts. He can do more then he will, but whatsoever He willeth shall undoubtedly be done: for what should hinder? Juravit Jehovah, is the best assurance.

Ver. 25. That I will break the Assyrian in my Land] Or, as in breaking the Assyrian in my Land: for here, saith Junius, the overthrow of the Assyrian Monarchy, which should shortly be, is given for a sign of the overthrow of the Babylonian.

Ver. 26. This is the purpose that is purposed] Heb. The Council that is consulted. Now there are many devices in the heart of man, but (when all's done) the Counsel of the Lord, that shall stand, Prov. 19.21.

Ver. 27. For the Lord of Hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it?] Emphasin habet interrogatio. An excellent and unanswerable way of arguing from the irresistible Will, and Almighty power of God: the like whereof is used by a certain Persian in Herodotus, in most Elegant expressions, as Junius here noteth.

Ver. 28. In the year that King Ahaz died] A very good worlds riddance: When Tiberius the Tyrant died, some of the people offered sacrifice for joy: others in detestation of him cried out Tiberium in Tiberim, Let Tiberius be thrown into Tiber: Think the like of Ahaz, that stigmatical Belialist. Howbeit, as bad as he was, the Philistines hearing of his death, hoped to find some advantage thereby against the Jews, who are therefore here encouraged.

Ver. 29. Rejoice not thou whole Palestine] That is, the Philistines, quos Judaei animis armis{que} sibi infestissimos habuere. These were as bad Neighbors to the Jews as the Dunk • rkers now are to us. Uzziah had subdued them, 2 Chron. 26.6. but Ahaz had been much damnified and despoiled by them, 2 Chron. 28.18▪ and in the beginning of Hezekiah's Raign, they thought to have over-run all the Country. Here therefore God's decree concerning them is published, for the comfort of his poor people, and it is this: Philistaeis non jubilandum sed ejulandum. Philistines must not be over joyed but rather weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon them.

Because the Rod of him that smote thee is broken] Because Uzziah is dead, and Ahaz hath had ill success against you through his own sinfulness, and sluggishness: do not you thereupon take boldness to set up your crest, and think all's your own.

For out of the Serpents root] Out of Uzziah's issue.

Shall come forth a Cockatrice] or Basilisk, which is said to kill with his looks only: and hereby is meant Hezekiah, as also by the fiery flying Serpent: for thus he is called both for his fierceness and for his swiftness, two very commendable properties of a Commander. J. Caesar was in omnia praeceps, very fierce, and withal notable nimble, witness his Veni, Vidi, Vici, I no sooner came, but overcame. The Hebrews from this text have a Proverb, Out of the Serpents root shall come forth a Cockatrice, i. e. One woe is past, but behold a worse at hand.

Ver. 30. And the first-born of the poor shall feed] i. e. God's poor people shall: who though never so poor (as they were at a very low ebb under Ahaz ) were God's first-born, and, in that respect, higher then the Kings of the earth, Psal. 89.27.

And I will kill thy root] See Zeph. 2.4. with the Note.

Ver. 31. Howle O gate] Philistines are elsewhere taxed for flashy and foolish mirth, Judge. 16. 2 Sam. 1. Here they are told they have more cause to fear then steer, to sigh then sing, to bowle then hollow.

From the North a smoke] i. e. Hezekiah's army raising a dust, and setting all in a combustion.

Ver. 32. That the Lord hath founded Zion] Not Hezekiah but Jehovah hath done it.

CHAP. XV.

Ver. 1. THe burden of Moab] A burden, saith Jerome, ever betokeneth sad things to follow; A vision doth joyful; at last howsoever. The Chaldee paraphraseth thus. The burden of a cup of cursing for Moab to drink off. Moab was the brat of an incestuous birth, as his name also (De Patre) declareth. There is now no such nation, their very name is rooted out, ever since they were destroyed, first by Shalmaneser, as is here fore-threatened; and then by Nebucadnezzar, as Jer. 48. (where we meet with many like passages as here) so that they live but by fame only, as they are mentioned in holy Scripture, but never for any good. Their destruction is foretold for a comfort to the poor afflicted Jews, to whom they were near-allied, but very ill-affected.

Because in the night] nocte intempestâ: the night is dark and dreadful: or in the night▪ i. e. subito, derepente, praeter opinionem, suddenly, unexpectedly. These Moabites dwelt in a fruitful country (near to those five Cities of the Plain) and giving themselves up to loose and luxurious living, saith Jerome, they worshipped Chemosh or Bacchus: as they had been incestuously begotten by Lot in his drink, so they proved accordingly. Ebrius te Pater genuit, said One to a desperate drunkard. Some think they are threatened with wasting in the night, in allusion to that dismal night-work, and that deed of darkness, the begetting of their father and founder Moab, Gen. 19. Whence other nations were wont to reproach the Moabites, as children of the night, saith Jerome.

Ver. 2. He is gone up to Baiith and to Dibon] two chief places of their Idolatrous service, whereunto they ran in their distress, but all in vain. The like at this day do the Papists to their Ladies of Loretto, Shechem, &c. and the Turks to their Mahomet at Mecha (scituate in the same country, as once Moab, and perhaps in the same place with one of these Idol-temples) by troops and Caravans: but they do worse then lose their devotion.

To weep] and to pray too, chap. 16.12. but to no good purpose, for want of a right object, principle, motive, end. So afterwards the Romans, in a like exigent, cum conjugibus ac liberis jussi sunt à Senatu supplicatum ire, pacemque exposcere Deum, omnia delubra implent, &c. they were by the Senate commanded to go with they wives and children into the temples of their gods, and there to pray, make their peace, and to seek for aid.

Moab shall howl over Nebo and over Medeba] Cities surprised and sacked by the enemy. But this chapter is so much the more obscure to us, because the Cities here mentioned are long since destroyed: and the Scripture setteth not forth the manner of their site or downfall.

On all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off] This was commonly done in those Eastern parts, in times and in token of lamentation, Job 1.20. Ezra. 9.3. Ezek. 7.18. Alexander mourning for the death of his friend Ephestion, not only tore off his own hair, but clipped his horses and mules hair: yea he plucked down also the battlements of the walls of the City, as Plutarch writeth. Pudeat nos lathrymis delicta non abstergere, & spiritualia damna non deplorare, saith Oecolampadius: What a shame is it then for us Christians not to weep over our sins, and to bewail our spiritual wounds and wants?

Ver. 3. In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth] Saccum & cilicium non curat Deus: God careth not for these externals, where there is not an heart sprinkled with the blood of his son. The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind? Prov. 21.27.

On the tops of their houses] thence, as it were, to require help from heaven.

Weeping abundantly] Heb. descending with weeping, like as with weeping they ascended: they get nothing of their God's, though they cried to them. But He that goeth to the true God with an honest heart and lawful petitions, is sure to speed: See Isa. 45.19.

Ver. 4. And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh] See on ver. 2.

The armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out] as being faint-hearted and unwilling to fight, because to no purpose.

His life shall be grievous to him] Heb. his soul shall be ill-affected to him, or, for himself: that is, say some, all his care shall be for himself: let others shift as they can.

Ver. 5. My heart shall cry out for Moab] Let others do as they will, saith the Prophet here, I can do no less then bewail the woeful condition of Moab, bad though they be.

His fugitives shall flee unto Zoar] Whither once their father Lot fled for refuge; but it was too hot to hold him. Or, His fugitives shall cry to Zoar.

An heifer of three years old] Which being in her prime loweth aloud, coelum mugitibus implens: so shall these fugitives set up their Note clamore fragos • boantes, as they pass thorough the countries, they shall even break or rend themselves with crying.

Ver. 6. For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate] What these waters of Nimrim were, it doth not appear. Jerome saith that Nimrim is a Town near the dead Sea, where the waters are salt, and the country about it barren: so should the Land of Moab now be forlorn and fruitless.

Ver. 7. Therefore the abundance they have gotten] Here the Prophet seemeth to tax the covetousness of the Moabites, qui coacervandis thesauris operam dederint, who made it their work, to hoard and heap up riches.

And that which they have laid up] Heb. their visitation, that is their treasures which they often looked upon.

Shall they carry away to the brook of the willows] The Moabites shall cast it into the water; as hoping there to find it again, when the enemy was gone: Or, shall they (the Assyrians) carry away to the valley of the Arabians, who were their confederates, and for such good offices spared (as Herodotus saith Lib. 3.) that, that they might keep and convey home for them, the spoils they had taken from other nations.

Ver. 8. For the cry is gone round about, &c.] When the Prophet thus describeth the mourning of the Moabites as excessive, and as a fruit of their unbelief, we must learn to moderate our mourning for outward losses and crosses; and that out of hope of God's mercy promised to his penitent suppliants.

The howling thereof unto Eglaim] See on ver. 2.

Ver. 9. For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood] Non tingentur solum, sed etiam inundabunt: and the bloody enemy shall haply be heard to cry out, as once Hannibal did when he saw a pit full of man's blood, O formosum spectaculum! O brave sight! The very name Dimon signifieth bloody: so called, as some think, on this occasion, instead of Dibon the old name, ver. 2.

I will bring more upon Dimon, Lions upon him that escapeth of Moab] Heb. I will put additions upon Dimon, i. e. additions of evils. viz. Lions, and other like fierce and cruel creatures, which shall prey upon the Moabites there, Chap. 35.9. 2 King. 17.25. Some say by Lion is here meant Nebuchadnezzar, Jer. 4.7. fitly compared to a Lion for his strength and swiftness. Certain it is that God hath in store plenty of plagues for evil-doers: and if they escape one mischief, they shall fall into another: their preservation is but a reservation except they repent.

CHAP. XVI.

Ver. 1. SEnd ye the Lamb] For prevention of those Lions, Chap. 15.9. submit to Hezekiah your right Liege-Lord: a Lamb, i.e. your appointed number of tribute-Lambs, in token of homage: But especially make your peace with God the Ruler of the whole World, 1 Chron. 29.12. by paying him homage and fealty; that there may be a lengthening of your tranquility.

From Selo in the wilderness] otherwise called Petra (because beset with rocks) whence the country it stood in was called Arabia Petraea. Some make it the head-City of Moab, others of Edom; a place it seemeth it was full of cattle, and by King Amaziah who took it, called Jok • eel, 2 King. 14.7.

Ver. 2. For it shall be that as a wandering bird, &c.] Or, Otherwise it shall be that as, &c. i. e. except ye do as I have advised you, ver. 1. a double mischief shall befall you: 1 dissipation, as a wandering bird, &c. 2 deportation, at the foords of Arnon, where ye shall be carried captive.

As a wandering bird] See Prov. 27.8. with the Note.

Ver. 3. Take counsel, execute judgment] Or, make a decree, or deal equally and uprightly: show the like kindness to Abraham's posterity as he once did to your proginitour Lot whom he rescued; or as Lot did to the Angels whom, as strangers, he entertained; fac, inquam, quod suggero, dum subdo.

Make thy shadow as the night in the midst of noonday] i. e. Shelter and shade my persecuted people, este illis securum perfugium, & jucundum refrigerium, protect them, refresh them, do all k • nd offices for them, which your fathers did not, but the contrary, Deut. 23.3, 4.

Ver. 4. Let mine outcasts] who are dear to me, Jer. 30.17. though I may seem to have cast off the care of them. Out easts they may be: but not castaways. See chap. 52.5, 6. persecuted, but not forsaken, 2 Cor. 4.9. Bowels of mercy must be put on toward godly Exiles especially, who are Dei 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , and should therefore be dear to us.

For the extortioner is at an end] Heb. Emunctor, the Milker, or Squeezer, or W • inger out, Prov. 30.33. so the Assyrian Tyrant is called: as also Vastator & Proculcator, the spoiler or plunderer, and Conculcator, the Oppressor or Treader down, is consumed out of the Land: and it shall not be long ere I fetch home my banished: be content therefore to harbor them awhile: herein thou shalt do thyself no disservice at all.

Ver. 5. For in mercy (or piety) shall the throne be established] Hezekiah's throne shall, (but especially Christ's) from whom ye may once have occasion to borrow that mercy which now you are called upon to lend to those outcasts of Israel.

And he shall set upon it] i. e. He shall make it his business to relieve and right his people.

And seeking judgment] Making inquisition after wrongs of such as dare not complain. The Grand Signior, they say, show himself on purpose weekly abroad, for the receiving the poor's petitions, and punishing the Grandees of his Court by whom they are oppressed: whence also he styleth himself Awlem Penawh, i. e. the worlds Refuge.

And hastening justice] Dispatching and dispeeding causes.

Ver. 6. We have heard of the pride of Moab] His harsh and haughty carriage toward God's poor people, though he were advised the contrary, ver. 1.3, 4. Good counsel is but cast away upon a proud person. Now, the Moabites were as much noted then for their pride as now the Spaniards are. And their pride appeared by their brags and threats. But

His lies shall not be so] Or, his indignation is more then his strength, as Jerome rendereth it. His boastings and blusters shall come to nothing: his pride shall be his bane and break-neck.

Ver. 7. Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab] One Moabite to another, or each within himself, ut solent desperantes.

For the foundations of Kirharesheth] Which shall be utterly rased and harased. Kirhareseth is interpreted the city of brick walls (as was Babylon ) or rather the city of the Sun (as Bethshemesh and Heliopolis ) because there the Sun was in a special manner worshipped.

Shall ye mourn] Or roar, or mutter, or muse.

Ver. 8. For the fields of Heshbon langu • sh] as being decayed and destroyed: hence so great mourning in Moab. Their father and founder was begotten in wine: and themselves were likely great wine-bibbers. Historians say that some of their Cities were built by Ba • chus. Fitly therefore are these drunken Moabites bereft of their vines: as those gluttonous Sodomites were of their victuals, Gen. 14.11. The Drunkards motto is Take away my liquor, and take away my life.

The Lord's of the heathen have broken down the principal plants therereof] The great Turk causeth all the vines to be cut down wherever he cometh, as hearing out of the Quran, that in every grape there dwelleth a devil.

Ver. 9. Therefore I will bewail with the weeping] Defleo fletum (Paronomasia) that is, the misery of Jazer. Or, I will with weeping bewail Jazer, and the vine of Sibmah.

For the shouting for thy summer-fruits] i.e. Thy joy and jollity over thy summer-fruits, and over thine harvest, expressed by songs and shouts, do now fail and cease.

Ver. 10. And gladness is taken away] Laetitia, i. e. quicquid laetificum erat, all matter of mirth is removed. Heb. gathered up, or gathered in; as your harvest also is to your hand by the enemy.

Ver. 11. Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab] The elect of God holy and beloved, have bowels of mercy, tenderness and kindness toward their very enemies also, Colos. 3.12. whom they do oft pity more, then they pity themselves, as Habakkuk did the Chaldeans calamity, Chap. 3.16. and as Daniel did Nebuchadnezzar's downfall, Dan. 4.19. Sicut cithara plectro tacta dat sonitum in funere funereum; As they have mournful music at funerals, Jer. 9.17, 20. Mat. 9 23. or as the strings of a Shaulm sound heavily, so do my heart-strings, for miserable Moab. In an harp, if one string be touched, all the rest sound: so it should be with us, in regard of fellow-feeling: We should feel others hard cords thorough our soft beds.

Ver. 12. That Moab is weary on the high place] tired out in his superstitious services, by all which he is not a button the better: but a great deal the worse.

But he shall not prevail] This is every wicked man's case and curse: for we know that God heareth not sinners. Joh. 9 31. He will never accept of a good motion from a bad mouth, Isa. 1. The very heathen could say

Ver. 13. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken] And is therefore sure and certain: for the word of the Lord cannot be broken, Joh. 10.35.

Since that time] i. e. Since Balaam hired by Balac (say the Hebrews) cursed not the Israelites as he would have done, but the Moabites, as he was made to do. Ex tunc.

Ver. 14. Within three years] In which time the sins of the Moabites shall be full, and themselves ripe and ready for vengeance. Three years hence therefore, sc. in the fourth year of King Hezekiah: for then came up Salm inezer against Samaria, and tis probable, that in his march thither he invaded and subdued these Moabites, that he might leave all safe behind him. An hundred years after which, or more, Nebuchadnezzar utterly ruined them, according to Jer. 48.

As the years of an hireling] i. e. praecise, nec citius nec tardius, three years precisely. This time Moab had to make his peace in: but he minded nothing less, and therefore deservedly perished. So, alas, shall all such infallibly as repent not within their three years space, which perhaps may not be three months, or three days, saith Oecolampadius, I may add, three minutes: and yet ex hoc momento pendet aeternitas, upon this short inch of time dependeth eternity. Up therefore and be doing: Stat sua cuique dies, &c.

CHAP. XVII.

Ver. 1. THe burden of Damascus] See chap. 13.1.

Of Damascus] That is, of the Kingdom of Syria, the head City whereof was Damascus: and it was destroyed by Shalmaneser, five or six years after this burdenous Prophecy: the like whereunto see chap. 49.23. Am. 1.2. Zech. 9.1. It had been taken before by Tiglath-pileser, 2 King. 1. and hath been rebuilded since, Act. 9.2. 2 Cor. 11.32. being at this day a noble City of the East, civitas laetitiae & landabilis, as Jeremy calleth it, Chap. 49.

And it shall be a ruinous heap] It was so till re-edified, and inhabited by a new people.

Ver. 2. The cities of Aroer are forsaken] i. e. The country beyond Jordan, Deut. 2.36. is desolated, and depopulated; the Gadites and the Reubenites being also together with the Syrians, carried captive by Tiglath-pileser, 1 Chron. 5.26.

Ver. 3. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim] Heb. shall sabbatiz • , or rest. Ephraim or the ten tribes had joined with Syria in a confederacy against Judah: they justly therefore partake with them in their punishment.

Shall be as the glory of the children of Israel] Poor glory now: but so their low condition is called Ironically, and by way of contempt, saith Oecolamp.

Ver. 4. The glory of Jacob shall be made thin] Their multitudes wherein they gloried shall be greatly impaired.

And the fatness] He shall be cast into a deadly consumption. Now the consumption of a Kingdom is poverty, and the death of it is loss of authority, (saith Scultetus ) wickedness being the root of its wretchedness, like as the causes of diseases are in the body itself.

Ver. 5. And it shall be as when the harvest man] Their utter captivity is set forth by three lively Similitudes, for better assurance, a very small remnant only left in the Land. This by some Ancients is alleged to show how few shall be saved: surely not one of ten thousand, said Simeon. And before him Chrysostom, How many think you, shall be saved in this City of Antioch? Though there be so many thousands of you, yet there cannot be found an hundred that shall enter into God's Kingdom: and I doubt much of those too, &c.

In the valley of Rephaim] which was nigh to Jerusalem, Josh. 15.8. nam simili tudine populari propheta ulitur.

Ver. 6. Ye • glea • ing grapes, &c.] See on ver. 5.

Ver. 7. At that day shall a man look to his Maker] The Elect among the Israelites shall do so, having been whipt home as before. There is an Elegancy in the original (as there are many in this Prophet) that cannot be Englished. Here also, and in the next Verse, we have a description of true Repentance, the right fruit of Afflicton sanctified. Penitency and Punishment are words of one derivation.

Ver. 8. And he shall not look to the Altars] As, having looked before to his Maker with a single eye, with an eye of Adamant that will turn only to one point. See on Hos. 14.8

Ver 9. Which they left for the children of Israel] Which the enemy left, by a sweet providence of God; the like whereto see on Zech. 7.14.

Ver. 10. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation] Thou hast disloyally departed from him, as a Wife doth from her Husband: though he were both able and ready to have saved thee.

Therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants] But all to no purpose. Hoc patres familias pro regula habeant oeconomica: There is a curse upon the wicked, though never so industrious: all will not do, God cannot abide to be forgotten.

And shalt set it with strange slips] i. e. Rare and excellent ones: but for the enemies use, as ver. 11. Deut. 28.29.

Ver. 11. In the day thou shalt make thy plant to grow] So Prov. 22.8. he that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the more serious and sedulous he is at it, the worse shall it be with him, Gal. 6.8.

But thy harvest shall be an heap] This is a Proverb among the Jews, to signify labor in vain.

In the day of grief and desperate sorrow] Heb. aegrae, sc. plagae: for grapes ye shall gather thorns, for figs thistles.

Ver. 12. Woe to the multitude of many people] Met to make up Sennacherib's Army. Or, O the multitude, &c. The Prophet wondereth, as it were, at the huge multitude of the enemies, and their horrible noise.

Like the rushing of many waters] Ob impetum & fremitum.

Ver. 13. The Nations shall rush] Or, rustle. The Assyrians did so, when they brake in, chap. 36.1.—20.

But God shall rebuke them] i. e. Chide them, smite them, and so set it on, as none shall be able to take it off

And they shall flee far off] Heb. he shall flee, viz. Sennacherib, who frighted with the slaughter of his Soldiers by the Angel, shall flee his utmost.

Ver. 14. And behold at even-tide trouble] Or, terror, sc. within Jerusalem besieged by Sennacherib's forces. But this mourning lasted but till morning. The time of affl • ction is ordinarily short; a day, or a night; a piece of a night, as here: a moment, Isa. 54.8. a small moment, ver. 7. Or if longer, yet 1. there are some breathing-whiles betwixt. 2. There's much good got by it. 3. It is nothing to Eternity.

Before morning he is not] He and his forces are all gone. The wicked (saith Oecolampadius here) at the even-tide of their death have an hard tug of it: and in the morning of the Resurrection they are not, or could wish they were not.

This is the portion of them that spoil us] Epiphonema ad populum Dei. He closeth up his discourse with a word of comfort to all God's people: for whose sake also it is that all this is said against Assyria, Syria and other foreign States, enemies to the Church.

CHAP. XVIII.

Ver. 1. WO to the Land] To Ethiopia described here. 1. By the shady Mountains wherewith it is surrounded. 2. By the Rivers wherewith it is watered.

Which is beyond the Rivers of Ethiopia] Or, which is along by the Rivers, even Ethiopia, which also may be said to be beyond the Rivers, i. e. beyond the seven streams of Nile, in respect of Jerusalem.

Ver. 2. That sendeth Ambassadors by the sea] Heralds to defy the Assyrian, and to bid him battle, to their own ruin.

Even in the vessels of bul-rushes] Or, in paper barks-well pitched. These were much in use among the Ethiopians and Egyptians, both for expedition, and also for safety against Rocks, shallows and falls of Rivers.

Go ye swift messengers] Tirhaka's words to his Heralds. See 2 King. 19.9.

To a Nation scattered and peeled] i. e. To the Assyrians, whose great Forces are at this time scattered up and down in several Countries; and therefore with more ease and safety to be set upon. Thus the Ethiopian pleaseth himself in the conceit of an easy Conquest, but was quickly confuted; the Jews who trusted unto him were disappointed, and Sennacherib more enraged against Jerusalem.

To a people terrible] The mauls of mankind; but I shall chastise them. Thus he triumpheth before the victory, having already devoured Assyria in his hopes.

A Nation meted out, and trodden down] Or rather, meting out, and treading down, or shortly to be meted out to corculcation or destruction.

Whose Land the Rivers have spoiled] Or, the floods (inundations of enemies) shall spoil; Or, whose Land the Rivers (1. the Ethiopians who live by the Rivers, ver. 1.) do despise: For this Chapter is not more short then dark: and diversely rendered and sensed.

Ver. 3. All the Inhabitants of the world— see ye] Or, ye shall see when he lifteth up a banner on the Mountains, and when he bloweth a Trumpet, ye shall hear, i. e. ye shall shortly see the Assyrians returning from the Conquest of the Ethiopian, with glory and great joy. But what will the Lord do the while?

Ver. 4. I will take my rest, I will consider] He will sit and bethink himself as it were, how he may best bestow his poor people: The Assyrian shall go on with his great design for a while, and none shall interrupt him: but the Church mean-while shall not be unprovided for.

Like a clear heat upon herbs] Or, after-rain, which makes herbs and plants suddenly to sprout and shoot up a main. God will not only look upon his people, but refresh them in troubles.

Ver. 5. For afore the Harvest] Or, Vintage.

When the bud is perfect, &c.] When the Assyrian, fleshed with his former Victory, maketh full account that all is his own, God shall make his hopes to hop headless, He shall slaughter his Forces, as ver. 6. branches and sprigs, great and small.

Ver. 6. They shall be left together] They, that is, the Assyrians slain by the Angel, as Psalm 79.2. Chap. 37.37.

The fowls shall summer upon them] Both birds and beasts of prey shall have enough to feed upon the whole year about.

Ver. 7 In that time] When the Assyrians are thus slain.

Shall the present be brought] sc. By the Jews, who shall consecrate a considerable part of the spoils of the Assyrians, according to Numb. 31.28, 47, 50, 54. Thankfulness for public deliverances is still due to the most High: Bring presents unto him that ought to be feared, Psalm. 76.11.

CHAP. XIX.

Ver. 1. THe burden of Egypt] See chap. 13.1.

Behold the Lord rideth] Heb. riding: sc. as a Judge, or General of an Army.

Upon a swift cloud] i. e. Speedily, suddenly, and irresistibly: Clouds are rarely seen in Egypt where it raineth not, but Ezek. 30.18. we read of a Cloud that should cover Egypt. By swift cloud here some understand the Virgin Mary, others our Savior's body, or human nature. And they further tell us that as soon as the child Jesus was brought into Egypt, down fell all the Idols there, as Dagon did before the Ark. This they ground upon the following words.

And the Idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence] Whereby I conceive is only meant that rheir gods should not be able to help them, and should therefore lose their Authority, be discredited and decried.

And the heart of Egypt shall melt] As it did first when Sennacherib, and then when Nebuchadnezzar came against it.

Ver. 2. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians] Commiscebo Egyptios inter sc. I will embroil them in a civil War. This fell out, saith Junius, under King Psammeticus after the death of Sethon, about the end of Hezekiah's Raign, or the beginning of Manasseh's, whilst Isaiah was yet alive.

And Kingdom against Kingdom] Or, Rectory against Rectory; for as here in the Heptarchy, so there the Land was divided into many Provinces or Jurisdictions, even 66. saith Ortelius.

Ver. 3. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail] Fail and falter; their wits shall not serve them, but be drained and emptied, as the Hebrew word here signifieth. By spirit here understand their Wisdom, Learning and Sharpness, for the which they were famous among, and frequented by other Nations. Moses was skilled in their Learning, Acts 7.23. Pythagoras, Plato, Solon, Anaxagoras, and other Philosophers gat much by them. Mercurius Trismegist saith of Egypt, that it was the Image of Heaven, and the Temple of the whole world. By spirit here, some understand their familiar spirits. See Levite. 19.31.

And they shall seek to the Idols] Whereof they had great store (so that they were derided by other Idolaters) but their chief Deity was Latona, saith Herodotus.

And to the charmers] Who have their name in Hebrew from their low or slow speaking.

Ver. 4. And the Egyptians will I give over] Heb. shut up, sc. as fishes in a pond.

Into the hand of a cruel Lord] Heb. Lord's, viz. those twelve Tyrants that reigned after Sethon, and were put down by Psammetichus one of their own number, who afterwards reigned alone, and with rigor.

And a fierce King] viz. Psammetichus, the Father of that Pharaoh Necho, who slew Josiah, 2 King. 23.29. This fierce King reigned fifty four years: and by his harshness caused 200000. of his men of War to leave him, and to go into Ethiopia.

Ver. 5. And the waters shall fail from the sea] i. e. Their Sea-traffick shall be taken from them, to their very great loss. Historians testify, that by frequent Navigation out of the Bay of Arabia into India and Trogloditice, the revenue of Egypt was so increased, that Auletes the father of Cleopatra received thence yearly twelve thousand and five hundred Talents.

And the River shall be wasted and dried up] i. e. The River Nile, which watereth Egypt and maketh it fruitful: See Deut. 11.9, 10. Ezek. 29.3, 9.

Ver. 6. And they shall turn the Rivers far away] The Assyrians shall: or some of their own fond and vain glorious Princes shall drain the River Nile at several passages and in several places, to the impairing of the River, and the impeaching of the State.

The reeds and flags shall wither] These were of great use there: for of flags they made their barks and boats, matts also, wheels, baskets, &c. of reeds they made their Sails, ropes, paper, and a kind of juice serving them for food, &c. As therefore the Palm-tree is to the Indians a Cornu-copia, yielding sundry commodities, so are Reeds and Flags to the Egyptians.

Ver. 7. The paper-reeds by the brooks] i. e. By the streams of Nile: for where this River arriveth not, is nothing but a whitish sand bearing no grass, but two little weeds called Suhit and Gazul, which burnt to ashes maketh the finest Crystal-glasses.

And everything sown by the brooks] As far as Nile over-floweth, is a black mould, so fruitful as they do but throw in the seed, and have four rich Harvests in less then four months.

Ver. 8. The Fishers also shall mourn] Because their Trade decayeth, or they take pains to no purpose, ver. 10.

Ver. 9. They that work in fine flax—shall be confounded] sc. For want of materials; such as were wont to be sown by the brooks, ver. 7. See 1 King. 10.28. Prov. 7.16. Ezek. 27.7. Plin. lib. 9. cap. 1.

They that weave net-works] Or, rather white-works, that is, white garments made of the fine-flax of Egypt. These were much worn by Nobles, Esth. 8.16. Dan. 7.9. Whence also in Hebrew they have their name. 1 King. 21.8. Neh. 2.16. Eccl. 10.17, &c.

Ver. 10. And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof] Heb. In the foundations, as Psal. 21.3. Purposes are the foundation of Practices: but are oft disappointed.

And ponds for fish] Heb. ponds of fowl, stagna voluptaria (Tremellius) standing pools of desire. In Hebrew, the word used elsewhere for a pond or fish-pool, signifieth a blessing also.

Ver. 11. Surely the Princes of Zoan are fools] Otherwise they would never have so ill-advised their King, so to drain the River for his pleasure, to the public detriment. Zoan was an ancient City in Egypt, Numb. 13.22. The Septuagint and Vulgar versions call it Tanis. Here it was that Moses did all his Wonders, Psalm, 78.12. Exod. 7.8, 9. Here Pharaohs Princes took counsel, but not of God, and covered with a covering, but not of his Spirit, that they might add sin to sin, Chap. 30.1.

The counsel of the wise Counselors is become brutish] Such as was that of Machiavel the Florentine Secretary, who proposeth Caesar Borgia (notwithstanding all his villainies) as the only Example for a Prince to imitate.

How say ye unto Pharaoh?] How can ye for shame say so of yourselves. Or quomodo dictatis Pharaoni? How can ye dictate or put such words as these into your Kings mouth? What gross flattery is this?

I am the son of the wise] Or, a son of wise ones: as if Wisdom were proper to you, and hereditary. The Egyptians cracked much of their wisdom, yet more of their Antiquity, as if they were long before other people, yea before the Moon (as the Arcadians also boasted) and that their Philosophy was very ancient.

Ver. 12. Where are they? where are thy wise men?] q. d. Vile latens virtus: if they have that wisdom they pretend to, let them predict thy calamities, and help to prevent them. Mihi hominum prudentia similis videtur talparum labori non sine dexteritate sub terra fodientium, sed ad lumen solis coecutienttium. The worlds Wizards are like children always standing on their heads, and shaking their heels against Heaven.

Ver. 13. The Princes of Zoan are become fools] Wilful fools: this they are told twice over, because hardly persuaded to it. See ver. 11.

The Princes of Noph] Called also Moph, Hos. 9.6. and therehence Memphis, now Grand-Cairo, famous once for the Pyramids and Monuments of the Egyptian Kings.

Even they that are the stay of the Tribes thereof] Heb. The corners of the Tribes or Rectories: that is, either the King and Chieftaines, as some sense it; Or, as others, all the Inhabitants of the Country from one corner thereof unto another. How these wise men of Egypt deceived others, is not expressed: but probably they did it by approving and cherishing the superstition, impiety and carnal security of the Princes and people.

Ver. 14. The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit] Or, given them to drink a spirit of giddiness. Heb. a spirit of extreme perversities: He hath stupefied and as it were intoxicated them with the efficacy of error.

And they have caused Egypt to err in every work] Psammetichus their King was twenty eight years in besieging Azotus, ere he could take it: and other things went on with them accordingly.

Ver. 15. Neither shall there be any work] See on ver. 14.

Ver. 16. In that day shall Egypt be like unto women] Feeble and faint-hearted, nihil mascule aut fortiter facturi, sed mulieribus meticulosiores. See Prov. 28.1. with the Note.

Because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord] When as yet he threateneth only: how much more when he striketh in good earnest? See Chap. 30.32.

Ver. 17. And the Land of Judah stall be a terror unto Egypt] For how should Egypt hope to speed better then Judea had done? How Sethon King of Egypt was put to hir trumps, as we say, when Sennacherib invaded Egypt, imploring the aid of his God Vulcan, whose Priest he was, see Herodot. lib. 2.

Ver. 18. In that day] When the Gospel shall be there preached, whether by Mark the Evangelist or others, as Clement, Origen, Didymus.

Five Cities] A considerable number of Egyptians.

Speak the Language of Canaan] Called the Jews language, chap. 35.11, 13. the Hebrew tongue wherein were written the lively Oracles of God. This Language therefore the Elect Egyptians shall learn, and labor for that pure lip, Zeph. 3.9. to speak as the Oracles of God, 1 Pet 4.11. Wholsom words, 2 Tim. 1.13. Right words. Job 6.25. Words of wisdom, Prov. 1.6. Of truth and soberness, Act. 26.25. to be Examples to others, not only in faith and conversation, but also in words and communication, 1 Tim. 4.12.

And swear to the Lord of hosts] Devote themselves to his fear and service, taking a corporal oath for that purpose as in baptism, and other holy covenants: whereupon haply they might be enabled to speak with tongues, the holy tongue especially, as most necessary for Christians. Here then we have a description of a true Christian, not such as the Jesuits in their Catechism give us, viz. A Christian is he who believeth whatsoever the Church of Rome commandeth to be believed, swearing fealty to Her.

One shall be called the City of destruction] i. e. Nevertheless there shall be a few cities that shall despise Christian Religion; and shall therefore be destroyed for neglecting so great salvation: It shall be easier for Sodom one day then for such. Others render the text, Heliopolis or the city of the Sun shall be accounted one, sc. of those 5 converted cities; and become consecrated to the Sun of righteousness.

Ver. 19. In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord] A spiritual altar for spiritual sacrifices, as ver. 20. Heb. 13.10. Onias the Jewish Priest who hereupon went and built an altar at Heliopolis in Egypt, and sacrificed to God there, was as much mistaken as the Anabaptists of Germany were in their Munster which they termed new Jerusalem and acted accordingly, sending forth Apostles, casting out orthodox Ministers, &c.

And a pillar in the border thereof] that is, saith One, the Gospels and writings of the Apostles, that pillar and ground of truth: Or a public confession of the Christian faith, Rom. 10 9. An allusion to Josh. 22.10, 25. See Zech. 14.9 20, 21.

Ver. 20. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness] The doctrine of Christ's death is a clear testimony of God's great love and kindness to mankind, Rom. 5. and 8.

For they shall cry unto the Lord for their oppressors] As the Israelites sometimes had done, under the Egyptian servitude, Exod. 3.9.

And he shall send them a Savior] not Moses, but Messias, that great Savior: for God hath laid his people's help on One that is mighty, Psal. 89.19. See Tit. 2, 13.

Ver. 21. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt] They shall both know the Lord Christ, and be known of him, as Gal. 4.9. See Rom. 10.20.

And shall do sacrifice and oblation] Perform reasonable service, Rom 12.1. such as whereof they can render a reason. Not a Samaritan service, Joh. 4.22. or Athenian, Act. 17.23. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, &c. God will have no such blind sacrifices, Mal. 1.8.

Yea they shall vow a vow, &c.] That in baptism especially.

Ver. 22. And the Lord shall smite Egypt] That he may bring it into the bond of the covenant, Ezek. 20.37. Heb. 12.9. Hos. 6.1.

He shall smite and heal it] Heb. smiting and healing. Una eademque manus, &c. Una gerit bellum monstrat manus altera pacew, as it was said of Charles 5.

And shall heal them] Pardon their sins, heal their natures, and make up all breaches in their outward estates.

Ver. 23. In that day there shall be an highway &c.] All hostility shall cease, and a blessed unanimity be settled amongst Christ's subjects of several nations: Hereunto way was made by the Roman Empire, reducing both these great countries into Provinces.

And the Egyptiant shall serve] Serve the Lord with one shoulder, as Zeph. 3.9.

Ver. 24. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt] The posterity of Sem, Ham, and Japh • t, shall concur in the communion of Saints; the pale and partition-wall being taken away.

Even a blessing in the midst of the earth] The Saints are so. Absque stationibus non staret mundus. If it were not for them, the world would soon shatter and fall in pieces.

Ver. 25. Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless] Or, For the Lord of hosts shall bless, and then he shall be blessed; as Isaac said of Jacob, Gen. 27.33.

Blessed be Egypt my people] A new title to Egypt, and no less honorable. Vide quantum profecerit Aegyptus flagellis, saith Oecolampad. here, i e. See how Egypt hath got by her sufferings: See ver. 22. She who was not a people, but a rabble of rebels conspiring against heaven, is now owned and taken into covenant.

And Assyria the work of my hands] For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, Eph. 2.10.

And Israel mine Inheritance] This is upon the matter, one and the same with the former: every regenerate person, whether Jew or Gentile, is all these three in conjunction. O the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the heaped up happiness of all such! Let Israel rejoice in him that made him; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King, Psalm 149.2. For the Lord her God in the midst of her is mighty: he will save, he will rejoice over her with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over her with singing, Zeph. 3.17.

CHAP. XX.

Ver. 1. IN the year that Tartan] A certain Commander under Sennacherib, 2 King. 18.17. who came against Ashdod (among other Cities of Judah ) about the twelfth year of King Hezekiah.

Came to Ashdod] Called also Azotus, Act. 8.40. and much praised by Herodotus in Euterpe.

When Sargon] That is, Sennacherib most likely, who had seven Names, saith Jerome: eighth, say some Rabbins. Commodus the Roman Emperor took unto himself as many names as there are months in the year; which also he changed ever and anon, but constantly kept that of Exuperans, because he would have been thought to excel all men. The like might be true of Sargon.

And fought against Ashdod and took it] Psammetichus King of Egypt had before taken it, after a very long siege; now it is taken again from the Egyptian by the Assyrian; to teach them and others, not to trust to Forts and fenced Cities.

Ver. 2. At the same time spake the Lord] Against Egypt and Ethiopia, whom he had comforted, ver. 18. & 19 and yet now again threateneth; showing by an ocular demonstration what miseries should befall them. This was done in Jury; but the report thereof might easily come to these confederate Countries: and the Jews howsoever were given hereby to see how vain a thing it was to trust to such Confederates.

By Isaiah the son of Amos] Heb. by the hand of Isaiah, whom God used as a dispenser of this precious Treasure.

Go, loose the sackcloth from off thy loins] i. e. Thy thick rough garment, such as Prophets usually wore, 2 Kings 1.8. Zech. 13.4. Matth. 3.4. Or else thy sackcloth put on as a mourning-weed, either for ten Tribes lately carried captive: or else for the miseries ready to fall shortly upon thine own people.

And put off thy shoo from thy foot] The Nudipedales in Moravia might as well a vouch Isaiah for their founder, as the Carmelites do Elias.

And he did so] God is to be obeyed without sciscitation; his Commands, how unreasonable soever they may seem, are not to be disputed but dispatched.

Walking naked] Not stark-naked, but stripped as a prisoner, his Mantle or upper garment cast off, See 1 Sam. 19.24. Act. 19.16. Mic. 1.8.

Ver. 3. Like as my servant Isaiah] Servants are either Menial, or Magisterial: Prophets and Preachers are of this latter sort.

Hath walked naked and barefoot three years] i. e. Three days: a day for a year, as Ezek. 4.4, 5, 6. Tremellius rendereth the Text thus: hath walked naked and barefoot for a sign and wonder of the third year against the Egyptians, and against the Ethiopians, that is, for a sign that the third year after this Prophesy, the Forces of the Egyptians and Ethiopians under the conduct of Tirhaka shall be worsted, slaughtered, and carried captive by the Assyrian Monarch. And this was preached not more to their ears then to their eyes, ad fidem faciendam, for more assurance.

Ver. 4. So shall the King of Assyria led away] As men use to lead or drive cattle, for so the Hebrew word Nahag importeth; so are poor captives led: and so shall the Lord also one day lead forth with or in company of the workers of iniquity (notorious offenders) all such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, Hypocrites and dissemblers: when as peace shall be upon Israel, upon the pure in heart, Psalm 125.5.

Young and old] Young men are for action, old men for counsel. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , They were all carried away together in a sad and sorry condition, little better (and sometimes more bitter) then death itself.

Even with their buttocks uncovered] Vel ad Iudibrium, vel ad libidinem hostium, for the enemies either to scorn at, or to feed their filthy eyes upon. Thus and for such a purpose dealt the mitred fathers with the poor Albigenses (those ancient Protestants) in France; when they had forced them to take quarter for their lives, voluerunt Episcopy viros & mulieres nudos egredi, &c. And so Tilly dealt with the miserable Citizens at the sack of Magdeburg. And much worse then so dealeth the Devil with all his wretched captives, whom be driveth away Hell-ward naked and barefoot with their buttocks uncovered; the shame of their nakedness exposed to public view, for want of the white Rayment of Christ's Righteousness that they might be clothed, Rev. 3.18.

Ver. 5. And they shall be afraid and ashamed] They, that is, as many as confided in them, seeing themselves thus confuted, shall be abashed and terrified, perterrefient at the fall of their Confederates, and their own approaching calamity.

Ver. 6. And the Inhabitant of this Isle shall say, &c.] Judea, though part of the Continent, is here called an Isle or Island, (whereas it was indeed an inland ) 1. Because it was bounded on the West with the Midland-sea, and on the East with the Lake of Gennesaret. 2. Because it was beset with many enemies, and beaten upon by the waves of Wars from all parts, but especially from Egypt and Babylon, which is called a sea, chap. 21.1. See chap. 8.8. 3. Because begirt with God's favor, power and protection, which was greater security to it then the Sea is to Venice (which yet is media insuperabilis unda ) or then wooden walls can be to any Island.

Behold, such is our expectation, &c.] Here's their shame, and well it might be: for if Hezekah relied not upon the Egyptian for help against the Assyrian, yet the people did, as Rabshakeb also could tell, 2 Kings 18.24.

And how shall we escape?] Here's their fear, ver. 5. How much more shall wicked men say thus at the last day?

CHAP. XXI.

Ver. 1. THe burden of the Desert of the Sea] i. e. Of Babylon, ver. 9. which is here called a sea, because scituate by many waters, Jer. 51.13, 36. and the desert or plain of the sea, because it stood in a Plain, Gen. 11.2. Or was to be turned into a Desert: see chap. 13. & 14. Jer. 51. It is so often prophesied against. 1. For the comfort of God's people, who were to suffer hard and heavy things from this City. 2. For a caution to them, not to trust in such a tottering State; A Lapide saith, that about the time of this Prophesy, Hezekiah was making a League and amity with Merodach King of Babylon, to whose Ambassadors he had shown all his Treasures, and was well shent for it, 2 King. 20.12. To take him off which Design, the ruin of Babylon is here fore-prophesied.

As whirlwinds in the South pass thorough] Patentibus campis, ac locis arenosis, vehementissimo impetu cuncta prosternentes, without stop or stay, bearing down all before them: covering whole armies with sand sometimes, and destroying them.

So it cometh] Or, so He cometh, that is Cyrus with his Armies, Vastator Babyloniae, he cometh fiercely and furiously.

From the Wilderness] From Persia, which is desert in many places, especially toward Babylon.

From a terrible Land] From Media, the people whereof were barbarous, and brutish, skillful to destroy. Nitocris Queen of Babylon feared an hostile irruption from this Land, did her utmost to prevent it: but that would not be.

Ver. 2. A grievous Vision] Heb. Hard, harsh; tyrannorum speculum: here's hard for hard; God loveth to retaliate. Babylon had been the maul of the earth, Jer: 51.20. now a hard Messenger is sent, a harsh Vision is declared against her. They who do what they should not, shall hear what they would not; a burdenous Prophesy, a grievous Vision! This treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and this spoyler spoileth: for so some read the next words.

The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously] Or, O thou treacherous dealer and notable spoyler: thou Elam I mean, go up thou Media, besiege. God oft maketh use of one Tyrant to punish another: as here he stirreth up the Persians to plunder and waste the Babylonians. So the Persians were afterwards in like sort punished by the Macedonians, the Macedonians by the Romans those Romans by the Huns, Vandals, Lombards, Sarazens, Turks: all whom Christ shall destroy at his last coming.

Go up, O Elam] i.e. Thou Persian: Elymais is properly that part of Persia that lieth towards Media. Here they are appointed their work, 170. years before it was done: and Cyrus afterwards named as the chief doer.

All the sighing thereof have I made to cease] Thereof, or of her, that is, of Babylon, (not of Judea, which the Prophet ever had in his heart, as some sense it) the sighing, quo ipsa, sua tyrannide & appressione, cogebat alios flere & gemere, that she forced from others, specially from God's oppressed people. Or, they shall not have long to sigh, for I will soon put an end to their lives.

Ver. 3. Therefore are my loins filled with pains] I Babylon, or I Belshazzar am in a woe case: this is here set forth by a notable Hypotyposis, ac si res ipsa jam tum gereretur, personâ Regis in se per Mimesin assumptâ, acting Belshazzar's part, as Dan. 5.5, 6. where we may read this Prophesy punctually fulfilled.

I was bowed down at the hearing of it] Belshazzar's senses were sorely afflicted: how much more shall it be so in Hell? The Prophet here elegantly imitateth his groans and out-cr • es, O dolorem lumborum! O torsiones! O cordis amissionem! O tremorem & terrorem! O the doleful woe and alas of the damned spirits!

Ver. 4. My heart panted] Or, fluttereth too and fro, as not able to keep in its place. Viro impio calamitatibus presso nihil desperatius est, Nothing is more hopeless and crestfaln then a wicked man in distress: for why? his life and hopes end together.

The night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear] That dreadful and dismal nigh Dan. 5. intended for a revelling night, and dedicated to the honor of Shac: but the Hand-writing on the Wall, and the irruption of the Persians, marred the mirth.

Ver. 5. Prepare the Table] Insultat regi Balthasari, ac irridendo voces illius memorat. Prepare the Table, said Balthasar: but more need he had to have said, Prepare the battle, set the Army in array, &c. But this secure sot thought of no such matter: his destruction, though at hand, was hid from his eyes by the Lord, who

Watch in the watch-Tower] That we may revel the more securely.

Eat, drink,] Etiam si Hannibal sit ad portas; feed without fear, notwithstanding the siege.

Arise ye Princes, anoint the shield] q. d. It would better become you, O Babylonian Princes so to do, viz. to stand to your Arms, to furbish your shields, for your better defense against the Medes and Persians. Some make these words to be the Watchmans warning given upon the Persians entering the City.

Ver. 6. For thus hath the Lord said unto me] Confirming by a Prophetical Vision, what I had foretold concerning the calamity of the Chaldees.

Ver. 7. And he saw] sc. In a Vision.

A Chariot with a couple of horsemen] Darius and Cyrus.

A Chariot of Assesand a Chariot of Camels] Beasts of both sorts, both for burden and service: great store of them.

And he hearkened diligently with much heed] Attendit attente, attentissime, the Watchman did who was set to watch in the Vision.

Ver. 8. And he cried a Lyon] i. e. A stout and cruel enemy is upon us. Or, he cried as a Lyon (so some render it) that is, the Watchman cried aloud, professing his utmost vigilancy in performance of his duty.

Ver. 9. And behold here cometh a Chariot of men] Or, behold even now are gone in, that is, Cyrus and Darius (as ver. 7.) have broken into the Town, and surprised it.

And he answered and said,] He, that is, the Watchman, numinis quodam afflatu commotus, by a divine instinct; or rather God himself.

Babylon is fallen, is fallen] That is, shall fall, certo, cito, penitus, certainly, speedily, utterly,— ruit alto à culmine Troja: so shall shortly mystical Babylon, Rev. 18. as the Jesuits themselves Ribera & a Lapide confess; only they say This shall be toward the end of the world, when Rome shall become Idolatrous; as though it were not so now. But what said Petrarch long since? There yet standeth near at hand a second Babylon, cito itidem casura, si vos essetis viri, which would soon be down, would you but stand up as men.

Ver. 10. O my threshing, and the corn of my floor] That is, O my Church and people, whom by so many tribulations I have hitherto been threshing, that I might sunder thee from the chaff, and make thee the corn of the floor, or, as the Hebrew here hath it, my son of the floor, and may lay thee up as pure grain in my Garner. See chap. 28.27.

That which I have heard from the Lord of Hosts] viz. That you my poor Country-men shall be threshed for a while, and winnowed by Babylon (see chap. 25.10 & 41.15. Jer. 51.33. Mic. 4.13.) Ut cum triturando e gluma, & follibus suis utriculis{que} triticum educitur, and that you shall at length be delivered from this grievous affliction: all this you may write upon as certain and infallible. I have herein told you not the dreams of mine own heart, but the very undoubted words of God himself.

Ver. 11. The burden of Dumah] i. e. Of Idumea, or of the Edomites: for burden, see on chap. 31.1. This Prophesy is the shorter, the harder. The Jews apply this Prophesy to Rome: they read for Dumah Roma: the Romans they call the new Idumaeans, and the Popes Kingdom the wicked Kingdom of Edom. Some of them say that Julius Caesaer was an Idumean: Others that Aeneas came out of Idumea into Egypt, from thence into Libya, thence to Carthage, thence to Italy: and that there he built Alba out of which sprang Rome. The rise of this Fiction seemeth to have been the destruction of the Jewish State by Titus and his Romans, who were thereupon for their cruelty by those Jews called Edomites.

He calleth to me out of Seir] Or, One is calling to me out of Seir, which was a Mountain possessed by the Edomites.

Watchman, what of the night?] Interrogatio Ironica est at{que} sarcastica; a scoffing question whereby the Prophet is derided and upbraided with false foretelling a night of misery to the Edomites, when as they felt no change, but enjoyed rather a lightsome morning; a fine time, as we say, of liberty and prosperity.

Ver. 12. The Watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night] This is a short and sharp answer, q. d. say it be yet morning with you and clear day; yet, as sure as the night followeth the day, a change will come, such as whereof you shall have small comfort.

If ye will inquire] sc. of the Lord by me, whom you call Watchman in disdain: but I profess myself to be so, that is, to be a Prophet; and do take it for an honor.

Enquire ye] Do it seriously and not sarcastically: be not ye mockers, lest your bonds be increased, chap. 28.22.

Return] To God by true Repentance.

Come] Come over to us who are his people. And all this is delivered by an Elegant Asyndeton in short and quick terms; importing that haste must be made, if the forementioned danger shall be prevented. Habent aulae suum cito, cito; they must be nimble that shall find favor in the Court of Heaven. It is an unsafe thing always to begin to live. How many are taken away in their offers and essays, before they have prepared their hearts to cleave to God? Castigemus ergo mores & moras: Up therefore and be doing that the Lord may be with you.

Ver. 13. The burden upon Arabia] As a burden upon a beast. These Arabians o • Hagarens had assisted (likely) Tihakah the Ethiopian against Sennacherib; and are therefore set upon by him: sure it is they were enemies to the Church, Psalm 83.

In the Forest—shall ye lodge] In the wide and wild woods, glad to lurk anywhere for safety, glad to quit your huts.

O ye travelling companies] Ye troops of Travelers.

Ver. 14. Brought water to the thirsty] Or, bring forth water wherewith to meet the thirsty; with your bread prevent those that flee: Be speedy, and spontaneous in your beneficence. Blessed is the man that considereth the poor and needy, Psalm 41.1. qui praeoccupat vocem petituri, which preventeth the request of the poor beggar; so Austin rendereth it.

Ver. 15. For they fled from the swords, &c.] Swords, bows, battle to all the rest. Crosses seldom come single. See on James 1.2.

Ver. 16. Within a year, after the years of an hireling] See on chap. 16.14. before the year be come about.

All the glory of Kedar] Whose tents, Psalm 120.5. were rude, but rich, Cant. 1.5. See there the Note.

Ver. 17. And the residue of the number of Archers] Heb. of the bow, whereby these Kedarens lived much, as had also their Ancestour Ishmael, Gen. 21.20.

For the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it] Who will surely see it done, and yet he loveth mercifulness: but can less then Mithridates could, endure those who hate virtue forsaken of Fortune, as they call it.

CHAP. XXII.

Ver. 1. THe burden] See chap. 13.1.

Of the Valley of Vision] i. e. Of Zion or Jerusalem (as the Septuagint express it) which is called first a Valley (though set upon a knole) because environed with Mountains, Psalm 125.2. secondly, because shortly to be laid low and leveled with the ground; ita ut vallis aut vorago dici posset.

Of Vision] So Jerusalem is called, First, Because there 〈◊〉 God's visible or aspectable presence. Secondly, Because it was a Seminary of Seers (as Jerome elegantly termeth it) not without some allusion, as tis thought, to Mount Moriah (whereon stood the Temple) which signifieth Vision, q. d. O Zion, thou wast Moriah, but now thou art Marah: thou wast the Mountain of Vision; but now thou art a Valley of tears and of darkness: thou wast the Temple of God, but now thou art a den of thieves.

What ayleth thee now that thou art wholly gone up to the house-tops?] Luctus & salutis causa, saith Scultetus, there to lament thy distress, or else for safeguard in this destraction: Shouldest thou not rather go out to fight, then go up thus wholly and fully to the tops of thy Terrisies?

Ver. 2. Thou that art full of stirs] Clamoribus fragosis: how soon hast thou changed thy cheer and thy Note? thy joyful acclamations into doleful exclamations?

Thy slain men are not slain with the sword] sed mortui ex anxietate, but are fore-slain with fear, or as others, by the visible vengeance of God, as Titus acknowledged at the last sack of that City, and as the Poet sang of Troy,

Ver. 3. All thy Rulers are fled together] As not knowing what to do, or whether to turn themselves.

All that are found in thee, are bound together] Either in fetters, Jer. 52.11. or with fear, Psalm 76.5.

Which have fled from far] Or, they fly far away, even as fast and as far as they can out of danger.

Ver. 4. Therefore said I, look away from me] Ut luctui & lamentis me totum dedam, that unseen I may soak myself in the salt-tears of sorrow for Zion.

Ver. 5. For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down] Great is the woe of War: no words how wide soever, can set forth to the full, the distress and destruction thereof.

And of perplexity] Mebusah samebucah, so the original elegantly, as in the last words of the verse, rythmically.

Breaking down the walls] According to chap. 5.5.

Ver. 6. And Elam] i. e. The Persians (great archers, as Corabo testifieth, lib. 16.) as Kir standeth here for the Medians, 2 King. 16.9. good at Sword and Buckler: called also Syromedians.

Uncovered the shield] Kept covered till then for fear of rusting. These were desperate fellows, bloodily bent, skillful to destroy.

Ver. 7. Thy choicest Valleys shall be full of Chariots] Iron Chariots armed with Sythes: these were, saith Vegetius, first a terror, and then a scorn.

In array at the gate] sc. To force entrance into the City, as Judge. 9.44, 52.

Ver. 8. And he discovered the covering of Judah] That is, he that is the enemy took the City: hoc enim significat nudari operimentum, i. e. protectionem Judae; Or, as others sense it, God took away his Protection, the Rampire and Defense of their Country. See Exod. 32.25. Numb. 14.9. Mic. 1.11. Or the enemy destroyed the Temple wherein the Jews so foolishly confided, Jer. 7.

To the armor of the house] To anything but whom they should have looked unto. Our hearts are top-full of harlotry, ready to shift and shark in every by-corner for comfort: to hang their hopes on every hedge rather then to roll themselves upon God the hope of Israel.

Ver. 9. Ye have seen also—and ye gathered together, &c.] This they did, when in distress, to prevent the enemy, and provide for their own safety: and this they might well have done, had not God been neglected: This of all things he can least endure. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the Nations that forget God, Psalm 9.17. See chap. 30.1.

Ver. 10. And ye have numbered] This they did not till now, that they might make the City more defensible, and the better keep out the enemy. General Vere told the King of Denmark, that Kings cared not for Soldiers and Warlike preparations, until such times as their crowns hang on the one side of their head.

Ver. 11. Ye made a ditch also] A new ditch (lest the old one should not suffice) to hold water for the besieged. All this was well and wisely done: had not the main matter been left undone. See 2 Chron. 32.3, 5. with 2 King. 18.14, 16. The community of the Jews were carnal, and trusted in the arm of flesh. Hezekiah also himself faltred, &c.

But ye have not looked unto the maker thereof] i. e. To the Author of that trouble, treading down and perplexity, ver. 5. Or, to the Founder of Jerusalem, which, say the Rabbins, was one of those seven things which God had in his thoughts before he made the world.

Ver. 12. And in that day did the Lord God of Hosts call to weeping] Ponit arma quibus civitates ab hostibus defenduntur, nempe arma poenitentiae. These are the best defensive Weapons, which therefore God of his goodness calleth people to, or ere he punisheth them. He calleth them, I say, by his Word, and by his Works, both ordinary and extraordinary, that his Justice may be magnified, and every foul mouth stopped.

To weeping and mourning] The walls of Zion cannot but stand firm, if well tempered with the tears of true penitents.

And to baldness] Forbidden in other cases, Lev. 19.27, 28. and 21.5. Deut. 14.1. but here, and Mic. 1.16. called for in the practice of holy Repentance, which hath nothing to do with despair: See Ezra. 9 3.

Ver. 13. And behold joy and gladness] Or, But behold; see the madness of these cross-grain'd creatures, who to thwart the Almighty, in laetitiam & luxum prosiliunt, take a clean contrary course to what he had prescribed, as if they had donit on purpose.

Eating and drinking] This was all they minded, or were good so, as we say, Gulonum non alia est cura quam cibum ingerere, digerere, egerere, saith Bernard. The belly-god is set all on his panch; as the Ass-fish hath his heart in his belly: as the Spider is little else but belly: as the Gulon (a beast so called) eateth that which he preyeth upon; if it be a horse, till all be devoured; ever filling his belly, and then emptying it, and then falling to it again till all be consumed: such a delight hath he in his appetite.

For tomorrow we shall die] So the Prophets tell us, but we are wiser then to believe them: so the enemy threateneth us, but we are too well fortified to fear him: so it may fall out, for we are all mortal; let us therefore make much of ourselves whiles we may.

Saint Paul saith, that the Epicures of his time used the like Atheistical expressions, 1 Cor. 15.32. See there. It is the guise of graceless wretches to jest out God's Judgments, and to jeer when they should fear.

Ver. 14. And it was revealed in mine ears] It was told me for certain: God is absolute in threatening because resolute in punishing: such is his hatred against scoffing Epicures.

Surely this iniquity shall not be purged] Heb. If it be ever purged, let me be never trusted again.

Till ye die] That is, Never: for ye shall die in your sin, die Eternally: O fearful! Pavete, cavete.

Ver. 15. Go get thee unto this Treasurer] This is Actio Jesaiae in Shebnam, sicut Ciceronis in Verrem. Shebna was a great Courtier and an ill member; advanced likely by King Ahaz, and tolerated for a time by good Hezekiah, as Joab was by David, because he could neither will nor choose: or as Stephanus the Persian was by Justinian the second Emperor of Constantinople: who being praefectus aulae likewise, set over the house, grew so insolent, that he spared not the Emperors mother though she were Augusta, but whipt her, as if she had been his bondslave: This Shebna is thought to have been an Egyptian, a Sochite, and of mean Parentage;

Shebna likely, was one of those jeering Epicures above-taxed and now particularly threatened: Some for Treasurer render Fautor, adjutor, a favourer and helper, sc. of those profane scoffers, ver. 13. or of the enemies, with whom he under-hand dealt and packed: he is therefore threatened to be ex officed, and sent packing into a strange Country.

Ver. 16. What hast thou here?] What inheritance, possession?

And whom hast thou here?] sc. of thy stock and kindred? Art not thou a forraigner, a new man, an upstart mushroom? why then dost thou cut thee out such a costly and stately Sepulcher in Jerusalem, as if thou wert of the stock-Royal? or as if thou wert sure to die here in thy nest? Will it not prove a true 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as the Greeks call it? Some conceive that for the safeguard of his Tomb, and other trinkets, Shebna was one of those Princes, 2 King. 19. that gave the King counsel to fortify so strongly. The Hebrews say, that he likewise secretly kept correspondency with the enemy, that he might have a stake in store, which way soever the dice chanced to turn: yea that he treacherously agreed with the enemy to deliver the City into his hands: and therefore it was but time to take him a link lower, as Hezekiah did upon this Prophecy of Isaiah. Some add, that for betraying the City he hoped to be made King there till his death; and therefore hewed him out a Mausolaeum or Royal Sepulcher there, and that among those of the House of David, say the Rabbins.

Ver. 17. Behold the Lord will carry thee away, &c.] Or, is casting thee out with casting, O thou mighty man: Not, God will carry thee away as a cock is carried, so the vulgar Translator hath it: which caused a learned Interpreter to say, he wondered whence this cock flew into the Text.

And will surely cover thee] As they used to do to condemned persons unworthy any longer to see the light; they covered their faces, as Job 9.24. Est. 7.8. See the Note there.

Ver. 18. He will surely turn and toss thee] Turn thee like a bowl, and toss thee like a ball. How and when this was fulfilled, the Scripture relateth not: But the Talmudists tell us, that Shebna revolting to Sennacherib was by him (after the execution done by God's Angel upon his Forces) carried to Nineveh, there tied to an Horse-tail, and drawn through briars and brambles till he died.

There shalt thou die]—Ingloria vita recedet. Spotswood Arch-Bishop of St. Andrew's, who had discouraged and by degrees extirpated many faithful Ministers of Scotland, thought it seasonable, Anno 1639. to repair into England, where he died: and so was fulfilled upon him the prediction of Mr. Walsh a famous Scottish Minister, who in a Letter to the Bishop written long before, told him, he should die an outcast.

And there the Chariots of thy glory] Thy stately Chariots wherein thou delightest to be hurried up and down, these shall also die or cease; O domus regiae dedecus! O optimi regis opprobrium! (for so some read the words by an Apostrophe to Shebna ) O thou that art such a blur to thy good Master, and such a disgrace to his House. Shebna affected to bear as great a port almost as the King himself did: sed passus est manes suos, but he came to an ill end. So did the Duke of Guise in France: and so did here Cardinal Woolsey, Sir Thomas Moor, Sir Francis Bacon, &c.

Ver. 19. And I must drive thee from thy station] This was done in part, when as of a great master of the Court, Chancellor, Lord Marshall, or Lord high Treasurer, (for so many ways the word Sochem, ver. 15. is rendered) he was made Scribe or Secretary, chap. 36.3. (which was a far inferior place) but much more when all that befell him that is threatened ver. 17.18. as it did no doubt.

Ver. 20. I will call my servant Eliakim] Such as honor God, shall surely be honored: He will call them to it, who else would choose to live and die in their self-contented secrecy: like as the sweet Violet grows low to the ground, hangs the head downward, and besides, hides itself with its own leaves.

Ver. 21. And I will clothe him with thy Robe] i. e. Vest him in thine Honors and Offices, thyself being laid by, and looked upon as an Officiperda.

And he shall be a Father] A fit Title for a Ruler: as this Text is a fit Looking-glass for a good Counselor.

Ver. 22. And the Key of the House of David will I lay upon his shoulder] Rulers have their back-burdens.

The meaning is, he shall have chief authority under the King, together with dexterity and discretion to manage it aright. And herein Eliakim was a Type of Christ, Rev. 3.7. Let us pray for such Eliakims as a common blessing.

Ver. 23. And I will fasten him as a nail] Paxilli simile & concinnum & amabile est. On a nail are hung Utensils of the house: any such thing as cannot stand by its own strength. Eliakim was to be a common support to the people; but especially to his fathers house.

And he shall be for a glorious Throne] He shall ennoble his whole stock and kindred.

Ver. 24. And they shall hang upon him] As upon a nail.

The offspring and the issue] All his Allies both great and small shall be the better for him: he shall employ and prefer them. And this Shebna is told the more to spite him.

Ver. 25. Shall the nail that is fastened] So Shebna once seemed to be, but now it shall appear to be otherwise: for he shall fall, and with him all his dependants shall be ruined.

CHAP. XXIII.

Ver. 1. THe burden of Tyre] Heb. Tsor, whence came Tyre. It was the chief City of Phoenicia, the chief mart of the East, a very Microcosm or Epitome of the whole world, for its wealth and wickedness. It was not far distant from Judea (our Savior, Matth. 15. went from Galilee into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon ) in whose misery she made herself merry, Ezek. 26. and is therefore here threatened with utter destruction.

Howl ye ships of Tarshish] i. e. Of Tartessus in Spain, or of Tarsus in Silicia (St. Paul's Country) or of the main Ocean.

For it is laid waste] viz. By Nebuchadnezzar, and afterwards by Alexander the great, who of an Island made it part of the Continent, and then razed it to the ground.

So that there is no house] Or thus: so that there is no house, nor coming in for those from Chittim, is made known to them.

Ver. 2. Be still ye Inhabitants of the Isle] A nundinatorio strepitu quiescite, & plorate, Be quiet and mourn.

Ver. 3. And by great waters the seed of Sihor] i. e. Of Nile, by the over-flowing whereof Egypt is made exceeding fertile, being styled the Granary of the world. Tyre was much enriched by its store thereto transported thorough the Mid-land Sea, called here great waters.

Ver. 4. Be ashamed, O Zidon] sc. of Tyre thy Daughter and Confederate.

For the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea] Or, the seaport: By the sea, and sea-port we are to understand Tyre, who sat in the Sea (as now Venice doth) and Soveraigned it.

I travel not, nor bring forth children] I send forth no Colonies, as sometimes I have done. Pliny saith of Tyre, Olim partu clara urbibus genitis, Lepti, Utica, Carthagine, etiam Gadibus extra orbem conditis. But now it was past that time of day with her.

Ver. 5. As at the report concerning Egypt] i. e. Concerning their overthrow once at the Red-sea, Exod. 15.14. They are also shortly to be over-run by Nebuchadnezzar, to whom God hath promised Egypt as his pay for his pains taken in taking Tyre.

Ver. 6. Pass ye over to Tarshish]—Tyrii migrate coloni, be packing any whether, and make any shift to save your lives, Ultra Sauromatas fugite hinc, &c. To Carthage many of them went, say some: and the Septuagint for ships of Tarshish, ver. 1. have ships of Carthage.

Ver. 7. Is this your joyous City] q. d. So ye were wont to hold her, and to b • ast of her: but now tis somewhat otherwise. Cities die as well as men, saith One: they also have their times and their turns, their rise and their ruin. Hic immoremur parum & pedem figamus oportet. Let this be duly considered, and an abiding City sought, Heb. 12.14. The wicked may revel in this world, the Godly only rejoice.

Whose antiquity is of ancient days] Palaetyrus, or the old Town especially: and this was a piece of her silly glory;

Ver. 8. The crowning City] Heb. The crowning or crowned: a City of Kings, as Cyneas once said of Rome: This is a style better befitting Heaven, and the crowned Saints there.

Whose Merchants are Princes] Little Kings, as we say. So they are at Venice; so the Hogens Moghens of the Netherlands.

Ver. 9. The Lord of Hosts hath purposed it] Here the Prophet sets forth both, who had decreed the downfall of this famous and flourishing City; and why, see Ezek. 27.5, 6, 7.

To stain the pride of all glory] Ut faede • fastum omnis gloriae, to bring down the height of all haughtiness. This hath God Almighty decreed, and it shall stand. Let us therefore have Grace, whereby we may serve Him with reverence and godly fear, Heb. 12.28.

Ver. 10. Pass through the land as a River] i. e. Hastily: Abi praeceps, pack up and be gone with all speed, be there never so many of you here at Tyre.

There is no more strength] Heb. girdle, that is Soldiery, or shipping, or Sea to encompass it: Occolampadius sets this sense upon the words, Non est ei cingulum reliquum, There is not so much as a girdle or such like mean commodity left in Tyre: she had been so plundered.

Ver. 11. He stretched out his hand] That mighty hand of his, 1 Pet. 5.6. wherewith he spanneth the Heavens, chap. 48.13. brought the red Sea upon the Egyptians, Exod. 14.26. and still shaketh the wicked out of the earth, as by a canvase, Job 38.13.

He shook the Kingdoms] Shook and shattered them, viz. by Nebuchadnezzar; the Kingdom of Tyre especially, to the terror of others, Ezek. 26.15.

The Lord] That man of War, Exod. 15.3. Mighty in battle, Psalm 24.8.

Hath given a Commandment] Bidding his Forces Fall on.

Against the Merchant City] Heb. against, (or concerning) Canaan; so he calleth Tyre the posterity of the old Canaanites, and a place of great Merchandise. See Hos. 12.7.

Ver. 12. Thou shalt no more rejoice] Heb. exult, revel.

O thou oppressed] Or ravished damsel, daughter of Zidon, hactenus intacta vi hostili, never till now subdued.

Arise, pass] Asyndeton, q. d. Haste, haste.

Over to Chittim] To Cyprus, Greece, Italy.

There also shalt thou have no rest] Succor or shelter. Cain's curse was upon them, the visible vengeance of God followed them close at heels: see Deut. 28.65, 66.

Ver. 13. Behold the land of the Chaldeans] q. d. The Chaldees were once no such considerable people, but lay hid under the grandeur of the Assyrian Monarchy which did set them up. Howbeit in time the Assyrians at length were devoured by the Chaldees, Nineveh by Babylon; filia devoravit matrem, as the Proverb is: And why may not the like be done to Tyre? Others make this to be the Prophets speech to the Chaldees, Behold O land of the Chaldees! This people (of Tyre ) was not (however they boast of their Antiquity) till the Assyrians (those Monarchs of the World) founded it, Ut esset statio Carinis, to be a fit place for shipping, or for Barbarians. See 2 King. 17.24. Down with it therefore; bring it to vastity.

Ver. 14. Howl ye ships of Tarshish] He concludeth this Prophecy of Tyres downfall, as he began, ver. 1. The Inhabitants of Tarshish (or Tarsus in Silicia ) were great Ship-masters: they sent a Navy of an hundred ships to Xerxes when he went against Greece.

Ver. 15. Tyre shall be forgotten] i. e. Laid aside by God, as if not at all minded in her misery: slighted also and unfrequented by men, as a withered Harlot.

Seventy years] So long as the Jews (whom they jeered) were held captives in Babylon.

According to the days of one King] i. e. The duration of the Babylonish Monarchy, under Nebuchadnezzar, his son, and his sons for, Jer. 17.7.

Shall Tyre sing as an harlot] Ut meretrix, i. e. Mercatrix. Harlots fallen into some foul disease are abandoned: but recovering thereof, they seek by singing and other allurements, to regain their Paramours: so should Tyre deal by her old customers, being (as was once said of Helena after her return from Troy ) 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , no changeling, but as good as ever.

Ver. 16. Take an harp] In bidding her do so, he foretelleth that she shall do so sc. ad ingenium suum redire, fall to her former practices.

Make sweet melody &c.] The Tyrians were much addicted to music, Ezek. 26.13. & 28.13.

Ver. 17. The Lord will visit Tyre] Bad though she be, he will graciously visit her: both by suffering her to grow rich again, as here, and by converting some of them to the faith of Christ, ver. 18. See it fulfilled, Act. 21.3, 4, 5. Euscbius also telleth of many made Martyrs there.

Ver. 11. It shall not be treasured] Being once converted, they shall leave heaping and hoarding wealth, and find other use for it, viz. to feed and clothe God's Ministers and poor people freely and largely.

And for durable clothing] The Vulgar hath it Vestientur ad vetustatem.

CHAP. XXIV.

Ver. 1. BEhold the Lord emptieth] It must needs be a matter of some rare and marvelous consequence, that Behold (the O-yes of the Holy Ghost) is thus set before.

The Lord emptieth] i. e. Will empty, an Idiom proper to God's Prophets, who saw in the Spirit things to come as if they were even then done.

The earth] Or, the land, sc. of Jury, by a woeful desolation, Lege & Luge: Some hold it to be a Metaphor from ships over-laden: which therefore must be disburdened: so was the Land to be eased of her Inhabitants, which she could hardly stand under.

And waste] Making havoc of persons, and things of worth.

Turneth it upside-down] Ferens, agens sursum deorsum omnia, turning all things topsy turvy, as they say.

Ver. 2. And it shall be as with the people, so with the Priest] Or, Prince. Digninity and Wealth hindereth him not ( Doth he esteem nobility or riches, or anything that fortifieth strength?) Poverty or meanness findeth no favor with him. In a common calamity, all, commonly, share and fare alike.

Ver. 3. The Land shall be utterly emptied] See on ver. 1.

For the Lord hath spoken this word] And his words are not in vain: Doth he say, and shall he not do it? Numb. 23.23.

Ver. 4. The earth mourneth and fadeth away] Luxit & diffluxit, waileth and saileth: gallant Rhetoric in the original, as this is a stately Chapter all along: all the rowlings of Demosthenes are but dull stuff to it.

The world languisheth] As a sick man, so enfeebled that he cannot stand high-lone.

Ver. 5. The earth also is defiled] Viz. With sin, and therefore so decayed: yea the very visible Heavens are defiled with man's sin, and shall therefore be purged by the fire of the last day: like as the vessels that held the sin-offering was to pass the fire.

Because they have transgressed the Laws] Natural and moral; those bounds and banks set to keep men within the compass of obedience: but the unjust knoweth no shame, Zeph. 3.5. is Lawless, Awless, Yokeless, untameable, intractable, as the wild Ass-colt, as the Horse and Mule, &c.

Changed the Ordinances] Or passed by the Ordinances, sc. By sins of omission, as before by commission: so Heb. 2.2. every transgression and disobedience, i. e. every commission and omission.

Broken the everlasting Covenant] Disannulled, vacated the Covenant founded in Christ, when coming unto his own, his own received him not; when the Pharisees and others by slighting holy offers and Ordinances of Grace, rejected the counsel of God against themselves, Luke 7.30. This last especially brought the curse, ver. 6. Some by Laws here understand the judicial Laws: by Ordinances the ceremonial; and by everlasting Covenant the Decalogue: Others by Laws, the municipal Laws of the Common-wealth: by Ordinances the Laws of Nations, as not to violate an Ambassador, &c. by everlasting Covenant the Law of Nature, which is that Light that lighteneth every man that cometh into the world, John 1.9.

Ver. 6. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth] The Chaldee and Vatablus render it the perjury, viz. in transgressing the Laws, &c. which they had covenanted and sworn to observe; See Psalm 119.106. That dreadful curse of the Jews, Matth. 27.25. is come upon them to the utmost, devouring their Land, and desolating the Inhabitants thereof: Though the curse causeless come not, yet God sometimes saith Amen to other men's curses, as he did to Jotham’s upon the Shechemites, Judge. 9.57. How much more to men's banning themselves?

Ver. 7. The new wine mourneth] As being spilled and spoiled by the enemy.

All the merry-hearted do sigh] Who were wont to sing away care, and to call for their cups.

Ver. 8. The mirth of Tabrets ceaseth] Quicquid laetitiarum fuit, in luctum vertitur.

Ver. 9. They shall not drink wine with a song] Revel it as they had wont to do▪ non convivabuntur pergroecando. We use to call such merry-griggs: that is, Greeks.

Ver. 10. The City of confusion] Urbs desolanda, destined to desolation: whether it be Babylon, Tyre, Jerusalem, or any other, Mundum intellige in quo nihil nisi vanum, saith Oecolampadius: that is, by this City of vanity (so the Vulgar translateth it) understand the world, according to that of the Preacher, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Austin in the beginning of that excellent work of his De Civitate Dei maketh two opposite Cities: the one the City of God, the other the City of the Devil; the one a City of Verity, the other a City of vanity.

Ver. 11. There is a crying for Wine] The Drunkards weep, the Ale-stakes yell, because the new Wine is cut off from their mouths, Joel 1.5.

All joy is darkened] Heb. It is eventide with joy. As the air in the evening waxeth dark, so shall their mirth be turned into heaviness.

The mirth of the land is gone] Together with their liquor. Wine is by Simonides called the expeller of sadness.

Ver. 12. In the City is left desolation] There is nothing of any worth left, but havoc made of all; it is plundered to the life, as now we phrase it; since the Swedish Wars Custom is the sole Mint -Master of currant words.

Ver. 13. When thus it shall be in the midst of the Land] Or, for so it shall be in the land among the people, as in the beating of an Olive-tree, &c. En misericordiae specimen, still there is a remnant reserved for royal use; quando omnia passim pessum • unt: God never so punisheth but he leaveth some matter for his mercy to work upon: A Church on earth he will ever have.

Ver. 14. They shall lift up their voice, &c.] Laudabunt Deum & laetabuntur: this Elect remnant in all Countries shall be filled with spiritual joy and peace through the belief of the Truth, which shall vent itself by singing praises to God. And here we have the very mark of the true Church, which is to celebrate and profess the great and glorious Name of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the Majesty of the Lord] Or, for the magnificence: that great work of his especially of divulging his Gospel all the world over; and thereby gathering his Church out of all Nations.

They shall cry aloud from the sea] i. e. From the Islands and transmarine parts, as we do now from great Britain (thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift) calling to our Neighbor-nations, and saying,

Ver. 15. Glorify ye God in the fires] In ipsis ignibus, in the hottest fires of afflictions, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, praise God for crosses also: this is Christianorum propria virtus, saith Jerome.

In the Isles of the sea] Quicun{que} quocun{que} loco, & inter quoscunq sitis.

Ver. 16. From the uttermost part of the land have we heard songs] Or Psalms, aliquid Davidicum: The Martyrs sang in the fire; Luther in deep distress called for the 46. Psalm to be sung in contemptum Diaboli, in despite of the Devil.

Even glory to the Righteous] To Jesus the just One, 1 John 2.2.

But I said, my leanness, my leanness] The Prophets flesh was wasted and consumed with care and grief for his graceless Country-men. See the like in David, Psalm 119.158. and Paul, Rom. 9.1, 2.

Woe unto me] Or, Alas for me.

The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously] They have crucified the Lord of Glory, upon a desperate and deep malice, out of most notorious contumacy and ingratitude. This was with most treacherous treachery to deal treacherously: this was to do evil as they could.

Ver. 17. Fear and the pit and the snare are upon thee] Metaphora à venatoribus, a Metaphor from Hunters, elegantly expressed in the original by words of a like sound. God hath variety of plagues at command: his quiver is full of shafts: neither can he possibly want a Weapon to beat his Rebels with. If the Amorites escape the Sword, yet they are brained with Hail-stones, Josh. 10. If the Syrians get into a walled Town, yet there they are baned by the fall of a Wall upon them, 1 King. 20.

Ver. 18. He who fleeth from the noise of the fear] See Am. 5, 19. with the Note, and learn to fear God, the stroke of whose arm none may think to escape.

For the windows from on high are opened] The cataracts or sluices of the clouds, as once in the general Deluge.

The foundations of the earth do shake] Heaven and earth shall fight against them, and conspire to mischieve them.

Ver. 19. The earth is utterly broken down] This he had said before. Oil, if not well rubbed in, pierceth not the skin: Menaces must be inculcated, or else they will be but little regarded. Let Preachers press matters to the utmost, drive the nail home to the head: not forbearing through faint-heartedness, nor languishing through luke-warmness.

Ver. 20. The earth shall reel too and fro like a drunkard] As the Inhabitants thereof had drunk in iniquity like water, Job 15.17. so they should now drink and be drunk with the Cup of God's wrath.

And shall be removed like a cottage] Or lodge, but or tent, so shall they be tossed and tumbled from one place to another.

And the transgression] i. e. The punishment of your transgression. Observe here the wages and the weight of sin.

Ver. 21. The Lord shall punish the host of the high-ones that are on high] Altitudinis in excelso: Hereby he may mean the Jews God's first-born, and therefore higher then the Kings of the earth, Psalm 89.27. though now for most part degenerated, and therefore in the next words also heavily threatened: for versum vicesimum primum secundus explicat, saith Scultetus.

Ver. 22. And they shall be gathered together, &c.] Id quod de poenis Judaeorum intelligimus, saith an Interpreter: that is, This we understand of the punishment of the obstinate Jews, whose bodies after death were clapt up close prisoners in the grave, their souls held fast in hell till the last day: when after many days they shall be visited, i. e. in the whole man punished, with eternal torments. Caveamus, si sapimus, à destinata peccandi malitia. Origen was certainly out when he argued from this Text, that the damned in Hell should after a time be visited, that is, delivered. There are that begin the promise at these words,

And after many days shall they be visited] i. e. In mercy and favor (as chap. 23.17.) thorough Christ. This gracious visitation began in Israel, Luke 1.68. and then came abroad to the Gentiles also, Act. 15.14, 15.16, 17.

Ver. 23. Then the Moon shall be confounded] The glory of Christ's Kingdom shall be so great, that in comparison of it the Sun and Moon shall cast no light. See Isa. 54.11, &c. and 60.12.

When the Lord of hosts] The Lord Christ, summus coelitum Imperator.

And before his Ancients] The whole Church, and especially her Officers, which are the glory of Christ, 2 Cor. 8.23.

CHAP. XXV.

Ver. 1. O Lord, thou art my God] Sunt verba fidelium in regno Christi, saith Piscator: These are the words of the Subjects of Christ's Kingdom, who in the end of the former Chapter are called his Ancients or Elders: See Rev. 4.4. But that of Oecolompadius I like better; More suo in jubilum & hymnum • rumpit Propheta. The Prophet as his manner is, breaketh forth into a joyful jubilation: and being ravished, and as it were wrapped beyond himself with the consideration of so marvelous things, he first maketh a stop or breathing, and then sweetly celebrateth God's Power, Truth, Justice, and Mercy; the naked bowels whereof were seen (as it were in an anatomy ) in the sending of his Son, and the benefits thereby: concerning which, the Apostles afterwards discoursing more plainly and plentifully, do yet make use of some passages in this Chapter, as is to be seen, 1 Cor. 15. Rev. 7. & 21.

Thou art my God] So to say ex animo is the very pith of true Faith: the property whereof is to individuate God, and appropriate him to itself.

I will exalt thee] This we do, when we bless and praise him for his blessings. But what a mercy is it of so great a Majesty, that he should count himself thus exalted and magnified by such worthless worms as we are? and how should this excite and edge us to so holy a service?

For thou hast done wonderful things] In the Worlds creation, but especially in the Churches preservation.

Thy counsels of old] Thy promises and threatenings are all fulfilled and verified: they are faithful and firm.

Ver. 2. For thou hast made of a City an heap] Babylonem intelligit, say some. Narratur eversio urbis Romae, say others: the ruin of Rome is here foretold: which is therefore also, say they, called a palace of Strangers, because Antichrist with his adherents reigneth there. Jerome saith, the Jews understand it of Rome, which shall be in the end destroyed, and then their poor Nation shall be relieved, as v. 4. It may be so.

Ver. 3. Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee] Will they, nill they, they shall confess, as Julian did, that thou art too hard for them: and that thy Church is invincible. Thus God wringeth out of the mouth of the wicked a confession of his praises, and a counterfeit subjection, Isa. 60.14.

Ver. 4. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, &c.] That is, Thou hast protected thy poor people from the persecution of the Antichristian rout, saith Piscator. Great is God's mercy in succouring his oppressed ones: This is here set forth by a double comparison: First

A refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, &c.] Where the Churches enemies are compared to raging waters that bear down all before them: God to a place of refuge to fly unto. Secondly

Ver. 5. As the heat in a dry place] Where the insolency of these Strangers ( from the l • fe of God, the Antichristian rabble) the stir and ado they make, is resembled to a heat and drought that doth parch and scorch the godly: God's protection of his, to a thick shadow.

The branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low] Some read the Text thus: As the heat (is ubated) with a thick shadow: So the song or chanting of the terrible ones was abased: Others, the whole verse thus, As the heat in a drought thou hast brought down the stir of the strangers: heat, I say with the shadow of a cloud, which (heat) did answer (a life) to the branch of the terrible ones. That is (say they) served well their turn, and was most commodious for the wicked, who think their branches spread and flourish, when the Godly are scorched with calamities.

Ver. 6. And in this mountain] i. e. in the Church, Chap. 2.2. God's Court, chap. 24.23. as the Tablestood in the Sanctuary.

Shall the Lord of hosts make] Instead of that tree of life, in Paradise, See Rev. 2.7.

Unto all people] i. e. To the Elect among all people: for reprobates are not worthy, Mat. 22.8. with Rev. 3.4.

A feast of fat things] The very best of the best; fat things, and marrow of fatness; wines, and the most refined; so that the meek shall eat and be satisfied, Psal. 22.16. Their soul shall delight itself in fatness, chap. 55.2. In the life to come, especially where there shall be solidum hujus convivii complementum ac plena perfruitio. Meanwhile the Saints have here (at the Lord's Table especially) their dainties and junketting dishes, their celestial viands, and most precious provisions, fat things marrowed, (as the Hebrew word is) not only full of marrow, but picked, as it were, and culled out of the heart of marrow: Wine, first in the lees that keepeth the smell, taste and vigor, ( Vinum Cos, as they call it) as Jer. 48.11. Next, of the finest and the best; such as at Lovain they call Vinum Theologicum, because the Divines there (as also the Sorbonists at Paris ) drink much of it. Jesus Christ in his Ordinances and Graces, is all this, and much more, Prov. 9.2. Mat. 22.2. and yet men had rather, as Swine feed on swill and husks, then on these incomparable delicacies.

Ver. 7. And he will destroy in this mountain, &c.] Absorbebit velum faciei, id est, faciem veli. Christ came a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on him, should not abide in darkness, Joh. 12.46. Faith freeth from blindness; we no sooner taste of the bread of life by Faith, but the veil of ignorance, which naturally covereth all flesh, is torn: and men are suddenly brought out of darkness into a marvelous light. This is the first Elogy and noble commendation of the doctrine of the Gospel, Light: there follow two more, viz. Life, and Joy spiritual ( chap. 35.6.) which is the life of that life, ver. 8.

Ver. 8. He will swallow up death in victory] As the fire swalloweth up the fuel: or as Moses 's Serpent swallowed up the Sorcerers Serpents. The kisses of Christ's mouth have sucked out the sting of death from a justified believer: so that his heart doth live forever, as Psal. 22.6. and if so, then in death itself: which made Cyprian receive the sentence of death with a Deo gratias; as did also Bradford, and many more Martyrs, accounting the days of their death their Birth-days, and welcoming them accordingly. Jerome insults over death as disarmed and devoured, Illius morte tu mortua es: devorasti, & devorata es, &c. Ever since Death ran through the veins of Jesus Christ, who is Life Essential, it is destroyed or swallowed up: like as the Be dieth, when she hath left her sting in the wound. Hence Saint Paul doth so crow over death, and as it were, call it craven, 1 Cor. 15.55, 56, 57.

And the Lord God w • ll wipe away] A Metaphor from a Mother.

And the rebuke of his people] Or, the reproach; their afflictions and persecutions, for which the world reproacheth them.

Ver. 9. Lo this is our God] sc. Jesus Christ our sole Savior, who is God blessed forever; and our God by a specialty. Wait for him, for he waiteth to be gracious, chap. 30.18.

Ver. 10. For in this mountain] In the Church, as ver. 6, 7.

Shall the hand of the Lord rest] i. e. settle for their safeguard.

And Moab shall be trodden down] i. e. Contumax quisque & perversus hostis Dei & Ecclesiae Piscator thinketh Papists are here meant by these Moabites, who were nearly allied to God's Israel, but Ardeliones, bitter and brutish enemies, skillful only to destroy, as Ezek. 21.31.

As straw for the dung-hill] Or, as straw in Madmenab, Jer. 48.2. God will make an hand of all his people's adversaries, as is here and in the following verses set forth by three several Metaphors.

Ver. 11. And he shall spread forth his hands▪ &c. i. e. He shall destroy them with greatest facility. The motion in swimming is easy, not strong: for strong strokes in the water would rather sink then support. Vatablus refers this to Christ stretching out his hands upon the Cross, whereby he overcame Satan and his Imps.

Together with the spoils] Or, wiles of his hands, i. e. his wealth gotten by wrench and wile, as we say.

Ver. 12. Shall he bring down, &c.] To show that there is no strength against the Lord, the true 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

CHAP. XXVI.

Ver. 1. IN that day] Before the morrow, and while the mercy was yet fresh. We are not to take day for return of thanks, but to do it forthwith.

In that same day shall this song be sung] As an evidence and effect of their spiritual joy and security, mentioned, chap. 25.9. Is any man merry? let him sing Psalms, James 5.13. and so set an edge upon his praises and thanksgivings. Thus Israel sang Exod. 15.1. & Numb. 21.7. Spring up O well: sing ye unto it. Thus in the Apostles times, Rom. 15.9. and afterwards, Justin, Tertullian, Athanasius, others, voice praeiverunt, gave the Note. Constantine and Theodosius ever sang Psalms with their Soldiers, before they gave battle: They knew, that it is a good thing to sing praises to our God: it is pleasant, and praise is comely, Psal. 147.1.

We have a strong City] The Church is invincible: hell-gates cannot demolish it, whatever became of Moab's munitions, chap. 25.12.

Salvation will God appoint] All manner of health, help, and safety. Satan cannot have so many means to foil and spoil the Saints, as Jesus (to whose sweet name our Prophet here and elsewhere oft alludeth, as much delighted therewith) hath means to keep and hold them up.

For walls and bulwarks] pro muris & antemurali, for walls, and rampart or counterscarf. So Scipio was said to be fossa & vallum, the wall and trench to the Romans against Hannibal. If Salvation itself cannot save Jerusalem, let her enemies triumph, and take all. If her name be Jehovah-shammah, as Ezek. 48.35. The Lord is there, let her enemies do their worst.

Ver. 2. Open ye the gates] Room for the Righteous: for such only are free-men of this City, Rev. 22.14. such only are written among the living in Jerusalem, chap. 4.3, 4. Psal. 118.19. And this seemeth spoken to those door-keepers the Ministers, to whom God hath committed the keys of his kingdom: setting them as upon a watch-tower to keep out enemies, and to let in the true Citizens.

That the righteous nation which keepeth the truth] Heb. the truths, or faiths, (as Peter hath Godlinesses, 2 Pet. 3.11.) that both observeth Christ's Law, and preserveth it; striving together for the Faith of the Gospel, Phil. 1.27. and accounting every particle of Truth precious, Jude 3. And here we have a true definition of a right Church-member. Civil righteousness is but a beautiful abomination. If men men lay not Faith for a foundation to their virtue, 2 Pet. 1.5. it is no better then a glistering sin.

Ver. 3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace] Heb. peace, peace, that is, a multiplied peace with God, with himself, and with others; or a renewed, continued peace, or a perfect, sheer pure peace, as One senseth it. What the old Translatour here meaneth by his Vetus error abiit, is hard to say. An excellent description of true saving Faith may be taken from this Text: and Mr. Bolton maketh mention of a poor distressed soul relieved by fastening steadfastly in his last sickness on these sweet words: saying that God had graciously made them fully good to him.

Because he trusteth in thee] So far as a soul can stay on and trust in God, so far it enjoyeth a sweet peace, and calm of spirit: perfect trust is blessed with perfect peace. We have a famous instance for this in our blessed Savior, Joh. 12.27, 28. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope perfectly for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 1 Pet. 1.13.

Ver. 4. Trust in the Lord forever] To trust in God, is to be unbottom'd of thyself and of every creature; and so to lean upon God, that if he fail thee, thou sinkest.

For in the Lord Jehovah] Heb. for in Jah Jehovah: in him who is the all-powerful Essentiator, and faithful promise-keeper, &c. Here then, look not downward (saith One) upon the rushing and roaring streams of miseries and troubles which run so swiftly under us; for then we shall be taken with a giddiness, &c. but steadfastly fasten on the power and promise of Jah Jehovah, and ye shall be established.

Is everlasting strength] Heb. The rock of ages, or the old rock: so called of old, Deut. 32, 4, 18, 31. and so found to be from the beginning: Et quia in aeternum non mutat aut nutat erga pios, licet montes & colles nutent, Isa. 54.10. The name of the Lord is a strong Tower, Prov. 18.10. A munition of rocks, Isa. 23 16. rocks so deep, no Pioner can undermine them; so thick, no Cannon can pierce them; so high, no ladder can scale it.

Ver. 5. For he bringeth down those that dwell on high] Even all adverse power, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God▪ 2 Cor. 10.5.

The lofty City he layeth it low] This, Musculus understandeth of Babylon, that towering City; as also of Rome, that spiritual Babylon, to which it was long since said,

Ver. 6. The foot shall tread it down] He saith not the hand shall beat it down, but the foot shall spurn down this lofty City, even the feet of the poor and abject ones, as once Sampson dealt by the Philistines, Judge. 15.8. and as men use to spurn base and pesantly fellows that stand in their way. God can and sometimes doth (to show his power and wisdom) make desolation itself to scale a fort, Amos 5.10. Men thrust through, to rise up and set whole Cities a fire, Jer. 37.10. bring to pass mighty things by base and abject means.

Ver. 7. The way of the just is uprightness] Heb. Uprightnesses, that is, just and strait courses: They turn not aside to crooked and wry ways, as do the workers of iniquity, Psal. 125.5. but hold on in an even way without windings or writhings, Prov. 4.26, 27. the Kings high-way to heaven is their rode, and this leadeth them to that City of God, ver. 1, 2.

Thou most upright dost weigh the path of the just] Or, Thou dost by levelling make the just man's path even. By thy preventing grace thou makest him just and upright, and by thy subsequent grace thou strengthenest and directest him, that he may run and not be weary, walk and not faint, Isa. 40.21.

Ver. 8. Yea in the way of thy judgments] Rough though it be, and rugged: even when thou hast wrought against us in the rigor of thy punishments, as One paraphraseth it: in the discipline of thy chastisements, as Another: There are that by this phrase understand the doctrine of the Gospel, which teacheth another way of judging of a righteous man then the Law doth; and such as the Church trusteth to alone, and to none other, sc. Justification by Faith in Christ Jesus.

And to the remembrance of thee] i. e. to all the signs, gages, and testimonials which thou hast given us of thy Grace by thy Word, Sacraments and Work.

Ver. 9. With my soul▪ &c. with my spirit] Spirit, Soul and Body must all be for God, 1 Thes. 5.23. all that is within us especially, Psal. 103.1. the fat and inwards were consecrated to him: the heart is his Bride-chamber, his bed of spices, Cant. 6.2. In the lives of the Fathers mention is made of a certain Monk to whom boasting of perfection, it was answered from heaven, Illa est perfectio, quae Lunam, Solem & Canis iram Deo tribuit, id est COR, that is, Perfection consisteth in giving the whole heart to God.

For when thy judgments are in the earth, &c.] God's judgments are the best Schoolmasters. Q. Elizabeth learned much from Mr. Ascham, but more from her affliction. Our Savior himself learned something by the things which he suffered, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Heb. 5.8. so do all his Members, Ezek. 20.37. the worst are forced to say with Phlegyas,

It was a true saying in the general of the Proconsul to Cyprian at his Martyrdom, though ill applied to him in particular; In sanguine tuo caeteri descent Disciplinam, by thy punishment others shall learn wisdom. As when one Scholar is whipped, the rest are warned: And as a thunder-bolt falleth with the danger of few, but with the fear of all: so is it here.

Ver. 10. Let favor be shown to the wicked, &c.] No fair means will work upon him, whatever foul may do. But as an evil stomach turneth good meat into bad humors; so here, all's lost that's laid out upon them.

In the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly] In the Church where Righteousness reigneth. Or, in a land of evenness he will wry and stray. Ye all know, (saith holy Bradford in a certain letter of his) there was never more knowledge of God ( viz. in good King Edward 6. his days) and less godly living and true serving of God. It was counted a folly to serve God sincerely: and earnest prayer was not past upon. Preaching was but pastime: Communion was counted too common, &c.

And will not behold the Majesty of the Lord] Or, and he shall not see the Majesty of the Lord, sc. in his heavenly kingdom, Heb. 12.14.

Ver. 11. Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see] i. e. Observe, consider, and take warning: let God's hand be never so high and glorious, so lifted up and exalted, yet these Buzzards will not behold his Majesty, as ver. 10. as being more blind then Moles, more deaf then Sea-monsters, they refuse to regard ought.

But they shall see and be confounded] But yet, maugre their head, (as One well paraphraseth the words) they shall be driven both to see, and to acknowledge to their shame, the great and mighty hand of God, his zeal for his people, and the fire of his wrath to consume his foes: See Zach. 1.15, 14. experientur suo magno malo, they shall to their cost, feel the weight of God's hand, which the higher it is lifeed, the heavier it will light at length. Mrs. Hutchinson, that Jezebel of New England, as she had vented about thirty misshapen opinions there, so she brought forth about thirty deformed monsters. She and her family were after this (because they would not be reclaimed, but turned off admonition, saying, This is for you, ye Legalists that your eyes might be further blinded by God's hand upon us, in your Legal ways, &c.) slain (some say burnt) by the Indians who never used to exercise such an outrage upon any.

Ver. 12. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us] Or. Lord, dispose peace for us.

For thou also hast wrought all our works in us] Or, for us, Certum est nos facere quod facimus, sed Deus facit ut faciamus: without Christ we can do nothing, John. 15.5. In him alone is our fruit found, Hos. 14.8. It is well observed by a grave Interpreter, that the Church in the Canticles is nowhere described by the beauty of her hands or fingers, because God alone worketh all her works for her: and had rather that she should abound in good works in silence, then to boast of them at all.

Ver. 13. O Lord our God, other Lord's besides thee have had dominion over us] Or, have mastered us: Oh that men were so sensible of their spiritual servitude, as thus to complain thereof to Jesus Christ! But alas they do nothing less for most part, delighting on the Devils drudgery, which they count the only liberty, and dancing, as it were, to hell in their bolts.

Will we make mention of thy name] For which end we would not be the servants of men (much less the slaves of Satan, that basest of slaves) but the free-men of Christ: where the spirit is, there is liberty; and if the Son set us free, we shall be free indeed.

Ver. 14. They are dead] Those other Lord's of ours are, ( ver. 13.) But seldom lieth the devil dead in a dyke, saith our proverb: yet he and his agents have their deadly wound, and shall be trodden under our feet shortly, Rom. 16.20. Oh groan in spirit after that sweet day of full redemption, &c.

Therefore thou hast visited] Or, because thou hast visited. Woe be to a person or people, when God taketh them to do.

Ver. 15. Thou hast increased the Nation] That righteous Nation which keepeth the truth, ver. 2. Some render and sense the words thus, Thou hast indeed increased the Nation, sc. of the Jews, thou hadst done it (O sweet mercy, I am the better to speak of it, and therefore I speak it twice) but thou wast heavy-laden, sc. with their sins: therefore thou hast removed it far unto all the ends of the Earth. Who knoweth not what a dispersed and despised people the Jews are in all places, banished as it were out of the world by a common consent of Nations: Be not therefore high-minded, but fear.

Ver. 16. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee] Pulcherrimus afflictationum fructus, precandi ardor & assiduitas. Affliction exciteth devotion, as blowing doth the fire. Christ in his agony prayed most earnestly, Luke 22.44. Martha and Mary when their Brother Lazarus was sick, sent Messengers to Jesus, Joh. 11.3. quos putas nisi suspiria continuata, nisi prece • irremissas, saith Scultetus: i. e. what were those Messengers but their continued groans, and earnest prayers? See Hos. 5.15. with the Note. Prayer is the Daughter of affliction, and the Mother of comfort.

They poured out] Freely and largely, and well-watered, as 1 Sam. 1.10. & 7.6. ver. 9.1.

A prayer] Heb. A charm, a mussitation, a submiss and lowly speech. Spels and Enchantments were conceived to be full of efficacy, containing much in few; think the same of prayer. But how much was he mistaken in this kind of charm or spell, who would haunt the Taverns, Play-houses and Whore houses at London all day, but he durst not go forth without private prayer in the morning: and then would say at his departure, Now Devil, do thy worst.

Ver. 17. So have we been in thy sight] Heb. From thy face, i. e. By reason of thy wrath. So 2 Thes. 1.9. who shall be punished from the presence of God, that is, of God himself present to their terror.

Ver. 18. We have been with child] With divers devices and hopes, which yet have miscarried and run aslope. See Job 15.35. with the Note there.

We have as it were brought forth wind] As did Queen Mary, to her own great grief, and the disappointment of her Expectants; Dale the promoter for instance: Well (quoth he at the apprehending of Julian Living) You hope and hope, but your hope shall be aslope. For although the Queens conceptions should still fail (as they did) yet she that you hope for shall never come at it; for there is my Lord Cardinals grace and many more between her, and it. But my Lord Cardinals grace departed the very next day after Queen Mary, having taken, as tis thought, some Italian Physic, and Queen Elizabeth succeeded in the Throne to the great joy of all good men.

Ver. 19. Thy dead men shall rise] So shall not thine enemies, ver. 14. This may seem to be Christ's gracious answer to his poor desponding people: and it is, say some, argumentum à beata Resurrections sumptum, an argument taken from the happy resurrection of the righteous; the wicked also shall be raised at the last day, but not by the like means, nor for the like blessed purpose, Dan. 12.2. Some read the words thus, Thy dead, my dead body shall live; for the faithful, say they, are Christ's body, Eph. 4.12. and therefore to show this, My dead body is here added by Apposition; to show how the faithful being dead and buried, are to be accounted of, even Christ's dead body, &c. and shall be raised at the last day, by virtue of that mystical union which still they hold with Christ. Hence they are said to sleep in Jesus, to be dead in Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. The Hebrews call a dead corpse Nephesh, i. e. a soul, Numb. 5.2. & 9, 10. & 19.11. Hag. 2.14. to note that it shall live again, and that the soul shall return to it. At this day also they call the Church-yard Bethcaiim the house of the living: and as they return from the burial-place, everyone plucks off grass from off the ground twice or thrice, and casts it over his head saying, florebunt de civitate tanquam foenum terrae, &c. Psal. 92.12, 13. so to set forth their hopes of a resurrection. Neither need it seem incredible with any that God should raise the dead. Acts 26.8. considering what followeth: 1. Together with my dead body shall they arise, i. e. with Christ's body raised as the first fruits of them that sleep, 1 Cor. 15. One of the Rabbins readeth it, As my dead body, they shall arise. 2. The force of Christ's all-powerful voice, saying, Awake and sing ye that dwell in dust: Arise and come away, lift up your heads for your Redemption is at hand. The Resurrection is in the Syriac called the Consolation, Joh. 11.24. 3. Thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead, i. e. Qua facilitate herbulas reficit Deus, eadem mortuos animare potest. God can as easily raise the dead, as refresh the herbs of the earth with a reviving dew, when they were even scorched to death with the heat of the Sun. See we not a yearly resurrection of grass, grain, flowers, fruits every Spring-tide: And surely if Nature can produce out of a small seed a great Tree, or a Butter-fly out of a worm, or the beautiful featherd Peacock out of a misshapen egg, cannot the Almighty raise our bodies out of dust, who first out of dust made them? or can the condition of any people or person be so desperate, that he is not able to help them out? The assurance of God's power which shall show itself in the raising of the dead, is a most excellent argument to confirm us in the certainty of God's Promises, seem they never so incredible to flesh and blood. Atque haec de Cantico.

Ver. 20. Come my people] Thus God lovingly bespeaketh his, as leading them by the hand to an hiding place of his providing. So he shut up Noah in the Ark, secured Lot in Zoar, hid Jeremy and Baruch when sought for to the slaughter: bade Daniel to go away and rest before those great troubles foretold, chap. 12.13. Austin and Pareus died a little before Hippo and Heidelburg were taken. So did Luther before the bloody wars of Germany. For Mr. Brightman, a Pursuivant was sent, a day or two after he was buried. The burying place is not unfitly called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a resting room to the Saints, the grave a bed, Isa. 57.2. the bier that carrieth men to it, Matteh, i. e. a pallet, 2 Sam. 3.31. Lyra and others by Chambers here understand the graves, (Confer Rev. 6.11. Joh. 16.33.) those chambers of rest, and beds of down to the bodies of the Saints, until the last day. There are that by chambers, will have meant the closets of God's Providence and Protection, such as Pella was to the Primitive Christians. Hitherto the Saints are exhorted to retire till the storm be over, the enemy gone, the destroying Angel passed over, as Exod. 12.12. possessing their souls in patience.

As it were for a little moment] Heb. A little af a moment. Nubecula est, cito transibit, as Athanasius said when persecuted by Julian, This storm will soon blow over: this indignation doth not transire, but pertransire, pass, but pass a pace.

Ver. 21. For behold] This is as a crier to prepare attention.

The Lord cometh out of his place] Here God compareth himself to a Prince upon his Throne, who goeth from his place of State into Countries, to quiet mutinies and rebellions among his people.

The earth also shall disclose her blood] Murder shall out: oppression, whether by force or fraud, shall be certainly and severely punished: See Job 16.8. See an instance hereof in Leviathan, chap. 27.1. whether you understand it of the Devil that old man-slayer, as Many Ancients do: or else the Kings of the Nations, and especially of the Turks, as some Rabbins.

CHAP. XXVII.

Ver. 1. IN that day] The day of God's great Assize, and of execution to be done on the enemy and the Avenger, chap. 26.21. Now we know how well people are pleased, when Princes do Justice upon great Offendors.

The Lord with his sore, and great, and strong Sword] Heb. With his Sword, that hard or heavy one, and that great one, and that strong one: that is, with his Word, saith Oecolampadius, who by Leviathan here understandeth the Devil, who is elsewhere also called the Serpent and the great dragon, Rev. 12.9. & 20.2. But they do better in my Judgment, who by Leviathan here understand some great Tyrant, acted by the Devil against the Church: such as was Pharaoh, see Ezek. 29.3. Sennacherib, see chap. 8.7. or Nebuchadnezzar, see Jer. 51.13. and at this day, the Grand Signior, who hath swallowed up countries, as the Leviathan or the Whale doth fishes: For in the greatness of his Empire is swallowed up both the Name and Empire of the Sarasines, the most glorious Empire of the Greeks, the Empire of Trapezonum, the renowned Kingdoms of Macedonia, Peloponnesus, Epirus, Bulgaria, Servia, Bosna, Armenia, Cyprus, Syria, Egypt, Judea, Tunis, Argeirs, Media, Mesopotomia, with a great part of Hungary, as also of the Persian Kingdom. His Territories do somewhat resemble a long and winding Serpent, as some learned men have observed: and for the slights & might which he useth against Christians still, who knows them not out of the Turkish story? God therefore will shortly take him to do: sharpening haply the Swords of men (as he hath lately and marvelously done of the Venetians) as instrumental to ruin this vast Empire, which laboreth with nothing more then the weightiness of itself.

And he shall slay the Dragon that is in the sea] i. In fluctuante hujus saeculi aestuario. Of the strange length of Dragons, see Aelian. l. 2. c. 21. and Plin. l. 8. c. 11. In the last year of the reign of Theodosius senior there was a Dragon seen in Epirus of that vast bigness, that when he was dead, eight yokes of Oxen could hardly draw him. By Dragon, some understand the same with Leviathan, v • z. the Whale or Whirlpool. The Dragon is never satisfied with blood, though never so full gorged: no more are Persecutors.

Ver. 2. In that day sing ye to her] Or, of her: a new song for a new deliverance. Haply this shall be done by the Christian Churches upon the conversion of the Jews, after the Turks downfall: like as at the building of the second Temple, the people sang and shouted Grace Grace unto it, Zech. 4, 7.

A Vineyard of red Wine] i. e. Of rich and generous Wine, Vini meri, non labruscarum, ut cap. 5. See Prov. 23.31. Gen. 49.22. By this red wine Oecolampadius understandeth Christ's blood, wherewith the Church is purged and beautified. Sanguis Christi venustavit genas meas, said a certain good woman, a Martyr.

Ver. 3. I the Lord do keep it] And then it cannot but be well kept. The matter is well amended with God's Vineyard since chap. 5.5. The Lord is with you whiles ye are with him, 2 Chron. 15.2. The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him: but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. Ezra 8.12. Do good O Lord, unto those that be good, &c. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, &c. Psal. 125.4, 5.

I will water it every moment] God will be to his Vineyard both a Wall and a Well; a Sun and a Shield; as Psal. 84.11. all that heart can wish, or need require. Of all possessions, saith Cato, none requireth more care and pains, then that of Vineyards. Corn comes up, and grows alone, Mar. 3. but vines must be daily dressed, fenced, supported, watered. Plantas tenellas frequentius adaquare proderit, saith Primasius. Yong Vines must be often watered: God's Vines shall not want for watering, though once he forbad the clouds to rain upon them, chap. 5.6. He hath not been wanting to England either for watching or for watering it. We may now much better say of it, then once Polydor Virgil did, Regnum Angliae Regnum Dei: he meant because none seemed to take care of England, but God. He grant we may at length walk worthy of such a mercy: Amen. The Vulgar here rendereth it, but not so well Repente propinabo ei, I will shortly drink to her.

Lest any hurt it] Heb. Lest he visit on it: left any profane person should rudely and unmannerly rush upon it, he gardeth it constantly.

Ver. 4. Fury is not in me] Whatever you may think of me, because of my many dreadful menaces, and your heavy calamities; Non est in me sed in vobis culpa istarum calami, atum: the fault is not in me but in yourselves: do you but mend, and all shall be soon well betwixt us. It is but displeased love that maketh me chide or strike my dear children; Lop my Vines, Ut bonus Vinitor Vites luxuriantes falce putat & purgat, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Job. 15.2. leases and luxuriances must be taken off, or it will be worse. Better the Vine should bleed, then die: better be preserved in brine, then perish in honey. But assure yourselves I am not implacable: as your sins have put thunder-bolts into my hands, so by sound repentance you may soon disarm me.

Who would set the briars and thorns] God's Vineyard is not without briars and thorns, his Field without tares, his Church without Hypocrites, which prick God and his people, galling them to the heart. These he will make an hand of, take an order with, by treading them down and burning them up; especially if once they shall be so mad and mankind, as they say, as to bid him battle; See Job. 9.4. with the Note.

I would burn them together] Or, I will burn them out of it; See 2 Sam 23.7. with the Note.

Ver 5. Or let him take hold of my strength] i. Of mine arm wherewith I am about to smite him, or to throw the fire of my wrath at him; let him by true repentance, appease me, as submitting Abigail once did angry David: let him but meet me with entreaties of peace, and he shall have peace, yea he shall be sure of it. See Job 22.21. with the Notes. To run in to God, is the way to escape sin: as to close and get in with him that would strike you, doth avoid the blow.

Ver. 6. He shall cause them that come to Jacob] i. e. His Proselytes; Or, that come from Jacob. i. e. his Posterity. Vitium hoec conditio est, the condition of Vines is such as that they must undergo cold blasts and hard winters: howbeit at the return of the Spring they recover their verdure, and flourish again; so shall the seed of Jacob: their dead shall live, chap. 26. and the mountain of the Lord shall be exalted above all mountains, chap. 2.

Ver. 7. Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him] No: for the one he smote to