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

CHAP. II.

Ver. 1. ANd he said unto me] Christus solio sic infit ab alto, Christ from his lofty throne thus bespake me, who had now my mouth in the dust, and had no more to say but this, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.

Son of man] So this Prophet is called almost an hundred times in this Book: four times in this short Chapter. The reason hereof I take to be this, saith a judicious Divine. He had visions both more in number and more rare in kind revealed unto him, then any other Prophet had. Now, lest he should be exalted out of measure through the abundance of Revelations, the Lord often putteth him in mind of his estate by nature, that he was but a son of man, a mortal man, even a worm.

Stand upon thy feet] God, for good ends, casteth down sometimes those that are dearest to himself: but then he comforteth the abject, 2 Cor. 7.6.

And I will speak unto thee] So Dan. 10.11. Oracles are for standers, not prostrate ones: they require utmost attention of body, intention of mind, and retention of memory. See Num. 23.18. Judge. 3.20. with the Notes.

Ver. 2. And the Spirit entered into me] This was right, when Word and Spirit went together. See Isa. 59.21. with the Notes.

And set me upon my feet] Called me off from earthly cares, and made me hear savingly. In the Scriptures the Holy Ghost speaketh 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , 1 Tim. 4.1. Let him that hath ears to hear, hear &c. Let him draw up the ears of his mind to those of his body, that one and the same sound may pierce both.

Ver. 3. I send thee to the children of Israel] So they will needs call themselves: But what saith God, Mic. 2.7. O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the Spirit of the Lord straitened? are these his doings? See the Notes there.

To a rebellious nation] Heb. Gentiles: so the Jews call us Christians in scorn: so God calleth them here in great contempt, a rebellious nation (See Amos 9.7.) Gentes Apostatrices, as the Vulgar here hath it.

They and their fathers have transgressed against me] A serpentine seed they are, a race of rebels, neither good egg nor bird, but Mali corvi mala ova.

Even unto this very day] being nothing bettered by all that they have suffered: See Jer. 16.13. Isa. 1.5.

Ver. 4. For they are impudent children] Heb. hard of face. Sin hath oaded such an impudency in their faces that they can blush no more then a a sack-but. Os tuum ferreum, saith Cicero to Piso, that brazen face of thine: and Durus hic vultus lachrymare nescit, Thou canst not blush, much less bleed for thine offenses, saith Seneca to one.

And stiff-hearted] Duri-cords, incurvi cervicati, quosque citius fregeris quàm flexeris, such as will sooner break then bend. Many of our hearers, alas, are no better. We do even wash a tile-sheard, draw water with a seive, &c.

I do send thee unto them] About hard service: sed curam exegerit non curationem, it is the care and not the cure of the charge, that is charged upon thee.

Thou shall say unto them] Proficiscere, & Prophetato. Thou shalt be as my mouth, Jer. 15.19.

Ver. 5. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear] Some refractaries will not so much as hear a Minister of God; but bid him, as those old Italians once did the Roman Ambassador, ad quercus dicere, se interim alia acturos, speak to the posts, they had somewhat else to do then to give ear to them. See 1 Cor. 1.22. Of those also that do hear, scarce the hundredth man believeth our report, saith Calvin: nay scarce the thousandth man saith Chrysostom.

For they are a rebellious house] This was small encouragement. Hence Prophets have so hung off, as Moses, Isaiah, Jonah, Jeremy, &c. Knox when called first to preach, burst forth into abundance of tears. Bradford was hardly persuaded by Bucer to enter into the Ministry, &c.

Yet shall know that there hath been a Prophet amongst them] Let them prove incorrigible, they shall also prove inexcusable, and self-condemned. See 2 Cor. 2.16. with the Notes. Convinced they shall be, if not converted: and who knows how the word, now slighted, may hereafter work upon them? Saepe fit ut audientes verbum moleste, suscipiant fructuose: they may better bethink themselves.

Ver. 6. Be not afraid of them] Of their lordly looks (such as Steven Gardener set upon Dr. Taylor, and was well told of it) of their bitter scoffs, dreadful threats, as if they could undo us at their pleasure. Our times are in God's hands: kill us they may, but hurt us they cannot. See Jer. 1.17. Matth. 10.25. When Bonner said to Hawkes A faggot will make you turn; No, no, said Hawkes, a point for your faggot, you shall do no more then God permitteth you, &c. A Minister of God should live by faith, and not die by fear: he should make his hearers afraid of him rather, as Herod was of the Baptist, V • lens of Basil, &c. When Eudoxia the Empresse threatened Chrysostom, Go tell her, said he, that I fear nothing but sin. I will rather choose to die, said Calvin, then comply with those that refuse to submit to Church discipline.

Though briars (or rebels) and thorns be with thee] Refractarii & spinei, such as thou canst not handle without hurt, deal with without danger, 2 Sam. 23.6. Psal. 55.21. & 58.10. Mic. 7.4. catching they are and scratching, as sharp-pointed thorns, Num. 32.55.

And thou dost dwell among scorpions] Which are most venomous and perilous creatures, joined with fiery serpents, Deut. 8.15. Pliny saith, that there is not one minute wherein it doth not put forth the sting to do mischief. It is also a crafty creature, & occultis machinationibus ferit. The Churches enemies are cruel-crafties, Neh. 4.11.

Be not afraid of their words] Their bubbles of words.

Nor be dismayed at their looks] Their swellings and brow-beatings.

Though they be a rebellious house] A race of rebels.

Ver. 7. And thou shalt speak my words] God's Word must be spoken, however it be taken.

Whither they will hear] See ver. 5. Christ, once at least, preached away the most of his hearers, Joh. 6.66. Beza so delivered himself with that evidence and efficacy of truth in Colloquio Possiaceno, that Cardinal Lorraine wished that either he had been dumb, or that his hearers had been deaf. Too many of ours are so, &c.

For they are most rebellious] Heb. rebellion, in the abstract; as if they had been transfomed into sins nature.

Ver. 8. Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house] It is no hard matter to symbolize with sinners: See Isa. 6.5. with the Note; to dwell among them, is dangerous: for sin is catching, and oft Epidemical. Precious therefore and worthy of all acceptation is the Apostles counsel, Rom. 12.2. Lawyers tell us, that we must not look so much what men do at Rome, as what they ought to do.

Eat that I give thee] i. e. The roll, ver. 9. that is, whatsoever I shall henceforth dictate unto thee, do thou get it by heart, digest it, propound it to the people; work it first upon thine own, and then upon the affections of thine hearers: See Rev. 4. and observe how alike the Lord dealt with Ezekiel and John the Divine.

Ver. 9. Behold a hand was sent] A hand from heaven: A hand is index rei & instrumentum operationis.

And loe a roll of a book] The Jews folded or rolled up their books upon a cedar stick, to preserve them from dust and other dangers: See on Isa. 8.1.

Ver. 10. And he spread it before me] Till Christ unfold heavenly mysteries, men understand them not, Rev. 5.5. Matth. 11.27. 1 Joh. 1.18. & 15.15. He is the excellent Interpreter.

And it was written within and without] To show abundance of miseries coming on the Jews, and others.

Lamentation and mourning and woe] Foretold all along this volume, till Chapter 40. sad songs, doleful ditties.

CHAP. III.

Ver. 1. SOn of man, eat that thou findest] Eat this roll or volume, without tergiversation, or so much as sciscitation: yield simple obedience to the heavenly vision: It was in vision doubtless, that the Prophet did eat the roll, and not in very deed; as the foolish Patient did the Physicians Recipe, or as Mr. Lewis of Manchester made the Bishops Summoner eat the citation which he brough for his wife (a Martyr in Queen Mary's days) by setting a dagger to his heart, and to drink to it, when he had done. It was non reipsa, sed spiritu, saith an Interpreter: See ver. 10.

Eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel] First learn, and then teach others; that thou mayest utter my mind readily, dexterously, and affectionately; speaking à cord ad cor, and digging thy discourses out of thine own bosom, as it is said of Origen, and after him of Petrus Comestor, who merited that title, because by his often allegations of the holy Scripture, he seemed to have eaten it up and digested it.

Ver. 2. So I opened my mouth] Without delays or consults, I obeyed Christ's command, & hausi quodammodo donum prophetiae, and yielded to become a Prophet. This was well; but not long after, Ezekiel, through infirmity of the flesh, would have declined the office, and therefore sought to lurk among his countrymen-at Thelabib, ver. 15. till Christ called him out again and new-employed him. v. 16.

And he caused me to eat that roll] See on ver. 1.

Ver. 3. Cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels] i. e. Deeply and duly ponder and practice those holy truths thou hast to press upon others: preach thine own experiences, &c. See 1 Tim. 4.15.

And it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness] So was God's Law to good David, Psal. 119.29.103. to Austin, Scripturae tuae sunt deliciae meae, saith he, Thy Scriptures are my delight: to Alphonsus, King of Aragon, who professed he had rather lose his Kingdoms, then be without the knowledge of God's blessed book, which he had read over above a dozen times, together with such Commentaries thereupon as those times afforded. See Rev. 10.10.

Ver. 4. Go get thee unto the house of Israel] This was a hard task, all things considered: but hard or not hard, there was a necessity of going on God's errand. Necesse est ut eat, non ut vivat, as he once said.

And speak with my words unto them] But see they be mine, and then I will bear thee out: then also they will the sooner take impression. Speak as the Oracles of God, 1 Pet. 4.11.

Ver. 5. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language] Heb. deep of lip, and heavy of tongue: as Jonas was so sent, and those that now preach to the Natives in New-England in their own language, not without some good success.

But to the house of Israel] Amongst whom thou must use vulgari & vernaculo sermon, who also are well seen in the Scriptures; they are indeed God's Library-keepers, which is no small privilege, Rom. 3.2. and therefore the better to be dealt with.

Ver. 6. Surely had I sent unto them, they would have hearkened] Or, If I had sent thee to them, would they not have hearkened unto thee? It may seem by the Ninevites, that they would, for they repented at the preaching of Jonas, Matth. 12.41. at one single Sermon made by a mere stranger, who sang so doleful a ditty to them, that their City should be shortly destroyed, &c. Vatabus rendereth this text Dispeream nisi te audissent, si ad eos te misissem. And couldest thou but skill of foreign languages, thou couldest not easily be without Disciples. The punishment of strange language, saith a grave Divine, was an heavy punishment; next to our casting out of Paradise, and the Flood.

Ver. 7. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee] They will not: See the like, Joh. 5.40. and 8.44. A man's will is his hell, saith Bernard. And it is easier, saith another, to deal with twenty men's reasons, then with one man's will. What hope is there of those that will not hear; or if they do, yet have made their conclusion aforehand, and will stir no more then a stake in the midst of a stream?

For they will not hearken unto me] Speaking unto them in the Scriptures. See Hos. 8.12. Mat. 10.24, 25. Joh. 15.18, &c. Let this speech of God to the Prophet comfort faithful Ministers contra cervicosos & cerebrosos istes hypocritas that reject or resist their preaching. What are we that we may not be slighted, when as Christ himself the Arch-Prophet is?

Impudent] Heb. stiff of forehead: This was a point next the worst. Illum ego perjisse dico cui perjit pudor, said that heathen: he is an undone man who is past shame.

Ver. 8. Behold I have made thy face strong against their faces] I have steeled thy forehead, and strengthened thine heart, that thou shalt budge for none of them: I have rendered thee insuperable.

Ver. 9. As an adamant, harder then flint] Heb. strong above a Rock: instar rupis quae in mari vadoso horridi Jovis, & irati, ut ita dicam, Neptuni fer vidis assultibus undique verberata, non cedit, aut minuitur; sed ob •• ndit assuetum fluctibus latus, & firma duritie, tumentis undae impetum sustinet ac frangit. This invincible courage and constancy in God's Ministers, the mad world calleth and counteth pride and pertinency: but these know not the power of the Spirit, nor the privy armor of proof that such have about their hearts.

Fear them not, &c.] See chap. 2.6.

Ver. 10. Son of man, all my words receive in thine heart, &c.] This is to eat the roll, to turn it in succum & sanguinem, that it may surely nourish: See on ver. 1, 2, 3.

Go get thee to them of the captivity] The fruit whereof they have lost in great part; because so little amended thereby.

Unto thy people] For I can scarce find in my heart to own them. So Exod. 32.7. God fathers that rebellious people upon Moses.

Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear] q. d. let them choose: and if they have a mind to it, be miserable by their own election. See chap. 2.5.

Ver. 12. Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me, &c.] This was for the Prophets encouragement, and to put mettle into him, as it were, that he might the better bear up amidst all, since he should shortly bear a part in that Angelical consort, whose 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as Theodoret hath it, their daily service is singing of Psalms.

Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place] i. e. From heaven, where Saints and Angels glorify his name without ceasing or saciety. Monica after a discourse with her son Augustine, about the happiness of heaven, concluded thus, Quantum ad me astinet, fili, nulla re amplius delector in hac vita. Quid hîc facio? As for me, what make I here, since I take no more pleasure in anything that is here to be had? A picture of a globe of the whole earth, saith one, set out with all the brave things that sea and land can afford with this sentence encircling it round, To be with Christ is far better, is a Christians Emblem, and should be his ambition.

Ver. 13. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures] In consent with the former doxology.

That touched one another] Heb. kissed: noting the love and good agreement that is betwixt the holy Angels: no woman is so well affected to her sister, as they are one to another, in serving God and his people.

And the noise of the wheels] As the Angels, so all actions and motions do, as they can, sing praise to God.

Ver. 14. So the spirit lifted me up] As it did afterwards also Philip, Act. 8.39, 40. not visionally but really.

And took me away] To Tel-abib.

And I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit] Heb. I went bitter in the hot anger of my spirit, q. d. I was in a great pet, as considering that God's truths must be spoken, however they are taken: and full ill they would be taken from me by mine untoward Country-men. This made me, for the time, much out of temper: but I soon denied myself, and got the better of mine unruly passions. For

The hand of the Lord was strong upon me] I was overpowered by the Spirit of God, who soon brought those high thoughts of mine into captivity and conformity to Christ, 2 Cor. 10 5.

Ver. 15. Then I came to them of the captivity of Tel-abib] Which was the name of some chief place or plantation of the Jews in captivity, saith Diodat. It was in the middle part of Mesopotamia, saith Junius, between two rivers, Chebar and Saocorah.

I sat where they sat] Sculking, and lusking, or at least not acting according to my propheticke function, and the gift bestowed upon me, which I ought to have stirred up and exercised for the good of my fellow-captives. This he freely confesseth, as giving glory to God, and taking shame to himself.

Seven days] Which circumstance of time increased his sins, saith Polanus.

Ver. 16. And it came to pass at the end of seven days] Probably on the Sabbath-day, that day of grace, and opportunity of holiness. God glorifieth his free grace in coming to his offending Prophet, as the Physician doth to his sick Patient; and by setting him a work again, sealing up his love to him: like as he also did to the eleven Apostles, by sending them abroad to preach the Gospel, after that they had so basely deserted him at his apprehension, and death upon the Cross.

Ver. 17. Son of man] So Christ constantly calleth this Prophet, to keep him humble. See chap. 2.1.

I have made thee a watch-man] I, who am the chief Bishop and Shepherd of souls, 1 Pet. 2.25. have set thee in thy watchtower, with charge to look well to my flock with golden fleeces, precious souls, that none be lost for want of warning. See therefore that thou be Episcopus, not Aposcopus; an over-seer, not a by-seer; a Watcher, not a sleeper: somnolentia Pastorum est gaudium luporum. Shall the Shepherds sleep when as the wolves watch and worry the flock? Act. 20.29, 30. Herodotus telleth of one Euenius, a City-shepherd, who for sleeping and suffering the Wolf to enter the fold and kill sixty sheep, had his eyes pulled out. God threateneth the like punishment upon sleepy watchmen, idol-shepherds, Zach. 11.17.

Therefore hear the Word at my mouth] Who am the Arch-Prophet, the only Doctor of my Church, Mat. 23.8. and 17.4. admonish them therefore in my words, foresee and foretell them their danger in my name, and stead. See Habak. 2.1. 2 Cor. 5.20.

Ver. 18. When I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die] When I bid thee tell the wicked from me it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hands shall be given, Isa. 3.11. even death the wages of sin, Rom. 6.23. death of all sorts, which is the just hire of the least sin: woe then to the wicked, say.

And thou givest him not warning] Heb. non expolieris, Gr. non distinxeris, if thou do not distinctly and clearly warn him, seeking to rub off his rust, and to make his soul clear and circumspect, as Psal. 19.12. Eccles. 4.13.

To save his life] That iniquity may not be his ruin. Sin hales hell at the heels of it.

But his blood will I require at thine hand] These are fulmina, non verba, not words but thunderbolts, saith Erasmus. This sentence sounding much in his ears made Austin constant and instant in preaching, and premonishing the people of their danger. Bernard also, for the same reason, thus bespeaketh his hearers: if I deal not freely and faithfully with you, it will be to your loss, and mine own danger. Timeo itaque damnum vestrum: timeo damnationem meam, si tacuero.

Ver. 19. He shall die in his iniquity] Because now he falleth with open eyes. Many sorrows shall be to such wicked as will not be warned, Psal. 32.9, 10.

But thou hast delivered thy soul] sc. From thine other-men's sins, 1 Tim. 4.16.

Ver. 20. Again when a righteous man] So esteemed by others, and haply also by himself; a self-deceiver.

Doth turn from his righteousness] As he may soon do, where it is but a semblance. Falling stars were never but Meteors.

And commit iniquity] This a righteous man, rightly so called, doth not, Joh. 8.34. 1 Joh. 3.8. See the Note.

And I lay a stumbling-block before him] i. e. I cause him to prosper in his sin, saith Vatabius, which is an heavy judgment. Fatted ware is but fitted for the shambles.

Because thou hast not given him warning] Hast not uncased and unkennel'd the hypocrite, driving him out of his starting-holes.

And his righteousness] His works that were materially good, but not formally and eventually. Bonum non fit nisi ex integra causa.

Sholl not be remembered] i. e. Reckoned to him: he shall not thereby set off with God, or make amends by his good deeds for his bad: nay, his dissembled sanctity shall pass for double iniquity, and he shall be held therefore the worse, because he pretended to be better.

Ver. 21. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous] As the best may need to be warned: and must take it for a mercy.

Ver. 22. And the hand of the Lord] i. e. The Spirit of the Lord, whereby he led his Prophet into all truth and holiness.

Arise, go forth into the plain] Or valley, where thou mayst be alone and at liberty, solitary and sedate, that I may further converse with thee.

Ver. 23. Then I arose and went forth] Such prompt and present obedience meeteth with mercies unexpected.

As the glory which I saw] The same as before, for the Prophets further confirmation. So Act. 10.10. and so God sealeth to us again and again in the Sacrament of the Supper; showing us all his goodness, as Exod. 33.19.

And I fell on my face] The nearer any one draweth to God, the more doth rottenness enter into his bones.

Ver. 24. Go shut thyself within thine house] q. d. Thou hast a mind, I perceive to do so: but tis not thy wisest way to decline thine office, how hard soever it seemeth..

Ver. 25. Behold they shall put hands upon thee] Thy friends shall bind thee for a mad man: See Mar. 3.21. with the Note.

Ver. 26. And I will make thy tongue] A spiritual and a special judgment upon the people, thus to silence the Prophet. So he dealt by our Ancestors, upon the setting up of Queen Mary.

Ver. 27. But when I speak with thee] As speak I will with thee again, by prophetike revelation, ere long be.

He that heareth, let him hear] See chap. 2.5. whether more or fewer hearken to thee, be not troubled: I shall have my purpose howsoever.

CHAP. IV.

Ver. 1. THou also son of man] Hitherto we have had the Preface: followeth now the Prophecy itself, which is both concerning the fall of earthly Kingdoms, and also the setting up of Christ's Kingdom amongst men. The siege, famine and downfall of Jerusalem is here set forth to the life, four years at least before it fell out: not in simple words, but in deeds and pictures, as more apt to affect men's minds: like as he is more moved who seeth himself painted as a thief or skellum hanged, then he who is only called so. This way of teaching is ordinary with the Prophets, and was used also by our Savior Christ: as when he set a child in the midst, washed his disciples feet, instituted the sacraments, &c.

Take thee a tile] An unburnt tile, saith Lyra; and so fit to pourtray anything upon: some take it for a foursquare Table, like a tile or brick, that will admit engravement. Jerusalem, the glory of the East, was here pictured upon a tilesheard. How mean a thing is the most stately City on earth to that City of pearl, the heavenly Jerusalem?

And pourtray upon it the City] Not with the pensil, but with the g • aving tool: Where yet (as in Timanthes his works) more was ever to be understood then was delineated.

Ver. 2. And lay siege against it] This to carnal reason seemeth childish and ridiculous: not unlike the practice of boys that make forts of snow: or of the Papists St. Francis, who made him a wife and children of snow; fair, but soon fading comforts: or of his disciple Massaeus, who is much magnified, because at his masters command, he did (not Diogenes -like, tumble his tub, but) himself tumble up and down as a little one, in reference to that of our Savior, Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven, Mat. 18.3. But it must be considered, that what the Prophet did here, he did by the Word and Command of the most wise God. This made the sacrifices of old, and doth make the Sacraments still to be reverend and tremend; because holy and reverend is his Name who instituted them. It cannot be said so of Popish ceremonies, men's inventions: they have not God's image or inscription; and are therefore frivolous and fruitless, worthily cast out of our Churches.

Ver. 3. Moreover take thee unto thee an iron pan] Sartaginem ferream, in token of God's hard and infl • xible hatred bent against so hard-hearted a people: whom he will therefore fry as in a pan, and seeth as in a pot, Jer. 1.13. so that they shall pine away in their iniquities.

Set thy face against it, and thou shalt lay siege] This the Prophet was to do in the name and person of God and his Soldiers, the Chaldeans. Hard hearts make hard times, yea they make Deum, naturâ suâ mollem, misericordem, & melleum, durum esse & ferreum, (as one saith) God to harden his hand, and hasten men's destruction.

Ver. 4. Lye thou also upon thy left side] Which for so long a time to do, could not but put the Prophet to great pain, and try his patience to the utmost, especially if he lay bound all the while (as Theodoret thinketh he did) to set forth Jerusalem's great miseries during the siege, or rather God's infinite patience in bearing with their evil manners, with so perverse a people.

Thou shalt bear their iniquity] i. e. Represent my bearing it; and forbearing to punish them for it.

Ver. 5. Three hundred and ninety days] That is, say some, the siege of Jerusalem shall continue so many days, viz. thirteen months or thereabouts. But they do better, who taking a day for a year in both the accounts (as ver. 6.) and making the forty of Judah to run along with the last year of Israel's 390. end both at Nabuzaradans carrying away to Babylon the last relics of Israel and Judah: and begin Israel's years at Jeroboams Apostasy, and Judah 's at Huldah 's prophesy in the eighteenth of Josiah 's reign, when the law was found but not observed by that idolatrous people (as appeareth by the complaints made of them by Zephaniah and Jeremy ) neither were they warned by their brethren's miseries; the ten tribes being now carried into captivity.

Ver. 6. And when thou hast accomplished them] That is, art within forty years of accomplishing them.

Thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days] i. e. Years: beginning at the eighteenth year of Josiah, or (as others compute it) at his thirteenth year, and ending them in the eleventh of Zedekiah, which are the bounds of Jeremy 's prophecy. A very learned man yet living observeth, that God doth here set and mark out Judah 's singular iniquity by a singular mark: for that they had forty years so pregnant instructions and admonitions by so eminent a Prophet as Jeremy: yet were they impenitent to their own destruction. And the like may well be said of Dr. Usher, that Prophet of Ireland, who (upon the Toleration of Popery there) preaching before the State at Dublin upon a special solemnity, made a full and bold application of this text unto them in these very words. From this year, said he viz. Anno 1601.) will I reckon the sin of Ireland; and dare say that those whom you embrace shall be your ruin, and you shall bear this iniquity. And it fell out accordingly: for, forty years after, viz. Anno 1641 began the Rebellion and destruction of Ireland, done by those Papists and Popish Priests then connived at.

Ver. 7. Set thy face toward the seige of Jerusalem] Steel thy countenance, be stern and resolute, to show that the Chaldees should be so. Thus this Prophet proceedeth to write as it were in Hieroglyphics, and to preach in Emblems.

And thine arm shall be uncovered] i. e. Thou shalt do thy work bodily: which when soldiers and servants set themselves to do, they make bare their arms, ut sint expeditiores, for quicker dispatch. Even Orators also pleaded with their right arm (as Oecolampadius here noteth) stripped up, and strecht out.

And thou shalt prophecy against it] By these signs and dumb shows at least: See chap 3.26.

Ver. 8. And behold I will lay bands upon thee] To show that he was unchangeably resolved to ruin Judah, whom the Prophet here personateth. Some make the sense to be this, I will give thee strength to hold out in that thy long lying on one side, till the City be taken. Of a Noble-man of Lovain it is storied, that he lay sixteen years in one posture, viz. with his face upwards. And Pradus saith he saw a mad man who had lain upon one side fifteen years.

Ver. 9. Take thee also unto thee wheat and barley, &c.] Promiscuam farragintes, to show what shall be the condition of the City in the time of the siege: Miscellan bread shall be good fare, but hard to come by in that grievous famine.

Three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof] Not sleep all the while, as some Papists would have it, grounding their conceit upon their Trent -Translation of ver. 4. Sleep thou also upon thy left-side, &c. but lying and sleeping are distinct things, as may be seen, Psal. 3.5. & 4.8.

Ver. 10. Twenty shekels a day] Five ounces, or ten at most: not Prisoners pittance, quâ proinde per diem trahitur magis anima quam sustentatur. See this complained of Lam. 1.11, 19. & 2.11, 12, 19, 20. & 4.4, 9, 10. & 5.6, 9, 10. They had sinned in excess, and now they are punished with cleanness of teeth. The famine of the Word is far worse.

Ver. 11. From time to time shalt thou drink] i. e. At thy set times, in flata tempora comparcito, make no waste: the least drop is precious.

Ver. 12. And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes] Baked on coals made of homely fuel, man's-dung burnt.

And thou shalt bake it with dung] For want of wood. Lam. 5.4. To the hungry soul every bitter thin is sweet, Pro. 27.7.

In their sight] This then was more then a vision.

Ver. 13. Eat their defiled bread] Not able now to observe that ceremonial purity in their meats which God had commanded. This was just upon them for their worshipping those their dungy-dieties.

Ver. 14. Ah Lord God, behold my soul hath not been polluted] Neither had it been here by eating such like bread, because God bade him do it, and his command legitimateth anything. But a good soul feareth and deprecateth all kind of pollution: Keep thyself pure, 1 Tim. 5.22. Abstain from all appearance of evil, 1 Thes. 5.22. The Prophet in this Prayer of his is very pathetical, Ah Domine Jehovi • not Jehovah but Jehovi. See the like Gen. 15.2, 8. Deut. 3.24. & 9.26.

For from my youth up] Let us be as careful of spiritual uncleanness, since the devils excrement, the corruption of a dead soul. Constantine Copronymus is reported to have delighted in stench and filth. The Panther preferreth man's dung before any meat: so do many feed greedily on sins murthering morsels.

Ver. 15. Loe I have given thee Cows-dung] This was some mitigation. Something God will yield to his praying people when most bitterly bent against them.

Ver. 16. Behold I will break the staff of bread] Bread shall be very scarce, and that which men have, shall not nourish or satisfy them; they shall have appetitum caninum. See Isa. 3.1. with the Note, and take that good cousel, Amos. 5 14, 15. lest we know the worth of good by the want of it.

Ver. 17. And be astonied] At their straits and disappointments.

And consume away for their iniquity] Levite. 26.31. They shall pine away in their iniquity: this is the last and worst of judgments there threatened, after those other dismal ones.

CHAP. V.

Ver. 1. ANd thou, son of man] See on chap. 2.1.

Take thee a sharp knife] This was the King of Babylon, as Isa. 7.20. The Turk is at this day such another. Mahomet the first was, in his time, the death of 800000 men. Selymus the second, in revenge of the loss received at Lepanto, would have put to death all the Christians in his dominions.

Take the a barbers razor] Not a deceitful razor, as Psal. 52.2. but one that will do the deed; sharp and sure. Pliny telleth us out of Varro, that the Romans had no barbers, till 454 years after the City was built: ante intensi fuere.

And cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard] As hairs are an ornament to the head and beard, so are people to a City. But, as when they begin to be a burden or trouble to either, they are cut off and cast away: so are people by God's Judgments, when by their sins they are offensive to him; dealing as Dionysius did by his god Aesculapius, from whom he presumed to pull his golden beard. David felt himself shaved in his Ambassadors: so doth God in his servants (whose very hairs are numbered, Matth. 10.30.) in his Ministers especially (who, by a specialty, are called God's men, 1 Tim. 6.11. & 2 Tim. 3.17.) with whom to meddle is more dangerous then to take a Lion by the beard, or a bear by the hair.

Then take the balances to weigh] This showeth that God's Judgments are just, to a hairs weight: And capillus nous suam habet umbram, saith Mimus.

And divide the hair] Dii nos quasi pilas habent, saith Plautus: imo quasi pilos, saith Another.

Ver. 2. Thou shalt burn with fire a third part] i. e. with famine, pestilence, and other mischiefs, during the siege of Jerusalem. Pythagoras gave this precept among others, Unguium, criniumque praesegmina ne contemnito. But God findeth so little worth in wicked people, that he regardeth them not, but casteth them, as excrements, to the dunghill, yea to hell, Psal. 9.17.

And smite about it with a knife] They shall be slain with that sharp knife or sword, ver. 1. after that the City is taken.

Thou shalt scatter in the wind] Sundry of them shall fly for their lives: but in running from death they shall but run to it, Amos 9.1, 2, 3, 4. & 2.13, 14, 15, 16.

Ver. 3. Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number] A remnant is still reserved, that the Lord God may dwell among men, Psal, 68.18. See Jer. 44.28. 2 King. 25.12. Isa 1.9. & 6.10.

Ver. 4. Then take of them again and cast them into the midst of the fire] Thus evil shall hunt a wicked man to overthrow him, Psal. 140.11. (See the Note there) he shall not escape, though he hath escaped: his preservation is but a reservation to further mischief, except he repent.

And burn them in the fire] Such he meaneth as were combustible matter: for there were a sort of precious ones amongst them, who being brought by God through the fire, were thereby refined as silver is refined, and tried as gold is tried, &c. Zach. 13.9. See the Notes there.

Ver. 5. This is Jerusalem] i. e. This head and beard so to be shaved, ver. 1. by the hair of the head some think the wise men of that City are figured out, and by the hair of the beard are the strong men: the razor of God's severity maketh clean work, leaveth no stub or stump behind it.

I have set it in the midst of the nations] As the head, heart, and center of the earth: See Psal. 74.10. Ezek. 38.12. and God had peculiar ends it it, that the Law might go forth out of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and that all Nations might flow unto it. Isa. 2.2, 3. Talis est Roma Christianis, Such now is Rome to Christians, saith à Lapide; bur lay a straw there, say we; or as the Gloss saith upon some decrees of Popes, Haec non credo, I believe it not. See Rev. 17.5.

Ver. 6. And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness] This was a foul change: this was to do evil as she could, Jer. 3.5. this was ingratitude of the worst sort; such as Socrates called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 manifest in • ustice. Such a wretched change is complained of Jer. 2.11. & Rom. 1.23, 25. Jude 4. but nowhere in so high an expession as this, as One observeth.

More then the Nations] Because the Jews had better Laws, but worse dispositions then they.

Ver. 7. Because ye multiplied] sc. Your transgressions and superstitions, or because ye have abounded with blessings, and made me so ill a requital. Some render it Quia tumultuastis ves plus quam vicinae gentes: and indeed there were many murders committed amongst them, and many revolts from foreign Princes, whom they had sworn to serve.

Neither have done according to the judgment of the nations] But have out-sinned them qui deos suos quamvis viles & multos non mutant, who change not their gods (as you have done Me, Jer. 2.10.11.) but follow the natural light of reason (some of them at least do so) Rom. 2.14. which you have debauched. See 1 Cor. 5.1. Ezech. 16.46, 47, 48.

Ver. 8. Behold I even I am against thee] Whether thou wilt believe it, or not. Thou holdest it unlikely, but shalt find it true, and that I am very serious, not saying these things in terrorem only. Ecce me adversum te venientem, so some render it; Behold I am upon my march against thee, and will punish thee surely, severely, suddenly.

And will execute Judgments] For the non-execution of my Judgments in the former sense taken, as ver. 7.

In the sight of the nations] In whose sight thou hast so sinned, and who will rejoice at thy sufferings.

Ver. 9. And I will do in thee that which I have not done] None shall suffer so much here, or sink so deep in hell, as a profane Jew, a carnal Gospeller: who is therefore worse then others, because he ought to be better. Oh the height and weight of those Judgments that shall be heaped upon such. See Lam. 4.6.

And whereunto I will not do anymore the like] For where ever read we that the fathers did eat their sons in an open visible way? and the sons, the fathers?

Ver. 10. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons] See this fulfilled in the pitiful mothers, Lam. 4.10. and may it be thought saith one, that their hungry husbands shared not with them in those viands? Oh the severity of God. Cavebis, si pavebis.

And the whole remnant of thee will I scatter] A miserably disjected people the Jews are to this day; banished out of the world as it were, by a common consent of Nations.

Ver. 11. Wherefore as I live saith the Lord] This is God's usual oath (in this Prophet especially) and therefore should not be used as an oath or asseveration by any other; since He only liveth (to speak properly.)

Therefore will I also diminish thee] Or, I will break thee down, or I will shave thee, as ver. 1. Jer. 48.37.

Ver. 12. A third part of thee, &c.] See ver. 2.

Ver. 13. Then shall mine anger be accomplished] God is then said to be angry, when he doth what men do when angry, viz. 1. Chide. 2. Smite.

And I will be comforted] This also is spoken after the manner of men, who are much comforted when they can be avenged: Their song is, Oh how sweet is revenge!

The same word in Hebrew that signifieth vengeance, signifieth comfort also: for God, wll be comforted in the execution of his wrath. But what a venomous and vile thing is sin, that causeth the most merciful God to take comfort in the destruction of his creature?

And they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in my zeal] That is, seriously threatened by my Prophets, whom they have vilipended, and derided, but shall now feel the weight of their words.

When I have accomplished my fury in them] This he doth not usually all at once, but by degrees: he suffereth not his whole wrath to arise till there be no remedy, as 2 Chron. 36.16.

Ver. 14. Moreover I will make thee waste] In ariditatem, a dry and barren wilderness; whose fruitfulness and plesantnesse is so much celebrated, not only by divine but profane Authors also. See Psal. 107.34. with the Notes.

In the sight of all] See on ver. 8.

Ver. 15. So it shall be a reproach and taunt] See this fulfilled, Lam. 2.15.16.

An instruction] They shall enjoy thy folly, grow wise by thy harms. I will make thee an example to the Heathen.

An astonishment] A terror, some render it.

Ver. 16. When I shall send upon you though evil arrows of famine] Not to warn you (as Jonathan's arrows did David ) but to wound you to the heart, and to lay you heaps upon heaps, Deut. 32.23, 24.

And break your staff of bread] See chap. 4.16. penuria fiet pecuniae, saith Oecolampadius here; you shall want money to buy you bread.

Ver. 17. Evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee] Rob thee of thy children, destroy thy cattle, make thee few in number, and thy high-way desolate, as was long before threatened, Levite. 26.22. See 2 Kings 17.25.

I the Lord have spoken it] I Jehovah, who will give being to my menaces as well as to my promises.

CHAP. VI.

Ver. 1. ANd the Word of the Lord came unto me] Junius observeth, that this and the two following Prophecies ( viz. those, chap. 7, & 8.) were delivered on the Sabbath day; that's the proper season of preaching.

Ver. 2. See thy face toward the mountains of Israel] i. e. The Jews, who are haughty and hard as mountains, who are asperi & inculti, rough and rude, as Mountaineirs use to be. In Mount Olivet itself (besides other mountains) they boldly set up their idols, even in the sight of the Lord: so that he never looked out of the Sanctuary, but he beheld that vile hill of abominations; called therefore by an elegant Agnomination, the Hill of Corruption, 2 Kings. 23.13.

Ver. 3. Behold I, even I will bring a sword upon you] Because ye are polluted by man's sins, and so made hateful unto me. For as God thinks the better of the places wherein he is sincerely served; yea where his Saints are born, Psal. 87.5. or make abode, Isa. 49.16. so the worse of such places where Satan's seat is.

Ver. 4. Your images shall be broken down] Heb. your Sun-images, whence also Jupiter Hammon had his name, which Macrobius saith was the same with the Sun. See 2 Chron. 23.5.

And I will cast down your slain men] Cruentatos vulneratos, vel interfectos vestros, such as when wounded, fly to their idols for safety.

Before your idols] Heb. your d • i stercorei, dunghill-deities, more loathsome then any excrements.

Ver. 5. And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel, &c.] That in the very places where they have sinned, there they may suffer. So in the valley of Hinnom, and at Pilate's Praetorium, &c.

Ver. 6. In all your dwelling-places] Omnia everram & evertam funditus: I will turn all topsy-turvy.

Your works shall be abolished] Those toilesom toys, your Mawmets and monuments of idolatry. This the Prophet telleth them again and again: that he might waken them, and work them to repentance.

Ver. 7. And ye shall know that I am the Lord] That I am dicti mei Dominus, one that will be as good as my word. So shall all, not idolaters only, but broachers of heresies also, quae furere & faetere cultores suos faciunt, saith Oecolampadius here.

Ver. 8. Yet will I leave a remnant] For royal use. See on chap. 5.3.

Ver. 9. And they that escape of you shall remember me] Here beginneth that true Repentance never to be repented of, Psal. 22.27. and 20.7.

Because I am broken off from their whorish heart] i. e. I am troubled, saith Piscator, I am tired out, saith Zegedine, and made to break off the course of my kindness. I am broken off from their whorish heart, so Polanus rendereth it: that is, saith he, I leave them, though loath to do it: the breach is merely on their part: for they have an Impetus, a spirit of whoredoms in them, that causeth them to err, and go a whoring from under their God, Hos. 4.12. & 9.1.

And with their eyes] Those windows of wickedness through which the devil (who is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as saith Synesius ) doth oft wind himself into the soul.

And they shall loath themselves] They shall displease themselves, saith the Vulgar; but that's not enough. Pudefient in faciebus suis, say others; they shall bleed inwardly, and blush outwardly, deeply detesting their former abominations, and not waiting till others condemn them, they shall condemn themselves.

Ver. 10. And they shall know] By woeful experience. He that trembleth not in sinning, shall be crushed to pieces in feeling, said blessed Bradford.

And that I have not said in vain] In terrorem only.

Ver. 11. Thus saith the Lord God] Sic ait Dominater Dominus.

Smite with thine hand] Manibus pedibusque obnixe omnia facito, do thine utmost by gestures and speeches to make this stupid people perceive their sin and danger.

Alas, for all the evil abominations] Propter omnes abominationes pessimas: we cannot call sin bad enough: the worst word in a man's belly is too good for it. O perdita Israel (dicere vult) quae tot malas abominationes operata es, &c.

Ver. 12. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence] Pluribus verbis hunc locum tractat. Ointments must not only be laid upon the part that aketh, but also rubbed and chafed in: so must menaces and promises, that they may soak and sink into the soul.

Ver. 13. Then shall ye know that I am the Lord] Vexatio dabit intellectum, smart shall make wit: See ver. 10. Four times in this chapter are these words used; Verba toties inculcata, viva sunt, vera sunt, sana sunt, plana sunt.

Among their idols] See on ver. 4.

Where they did offer sweet savor] Idolatry is costly.

Ver. 14. Then the wilderness toward Diblath] Which was horriditate noble, bordering upon that terrible howling wilderness mentioned by Moses, Deut. 8.15. See Jer. 48.22.

CHAP. VII.

Ver. 1. MOreover the word of the Lord came unto me] Five or six years afore it fell out. God loveth to foresignifie, to premonish, or ere he punish. Let us upon whom the ends of the world are come, take warning, and think we hear the trump of God sounding, as here, An end is come, is come, is come, it watcheth for thee, behold it is come: ver. 2, 3, 6.

Ver. 2. An end, the end is come] Exitium & excidium. Great Kingdoms have their times and their turns, their rise and their ruin. The wicked's happiness will take its end, surely and swiftly.

Upon the four corners of the land] Heb. the four wings: called also the four winds, Mat. 24.31, They had defiled the land from corner to corner, as Ezra 9.11. God therefore now would sweep it all over, with the beesom of utter destruction.

Ver. 3. Now is the end come upon thee] Even upon thee, O Israel: who would ever have thought it? Lam. 4.12.

And I will send mine anger upon thee] Reveal it from heaven, as Rom. 1.18.

And will judge thee according to thy ways] i. e. I will punish thee for thy ways, as Hos. 4.9. Obad. 15.

And will recompense upon thee] Heb. I will give or put upon thee all thine abominations, q. d. Thou hast hitherto put them upon me, but I will have a writ of remove, and set them upon their own base, as Zach. 5.11.

Ver. 4. And mine eye shall not spare thee] Chap. 5.11. See on Jer. 13.14.

And thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee] Ut quae antea latuerant, in apertum prodeant.

And ye shall know that I am the Lord] That smiteth you, ver. 9.

An evil, an only evil] viz. Without mixture of mercy: or that shall smite thee down at one only blow, as 1 Sam. 26.8. See on Nahum. 1.9. The Vulgar, after the Chaldee, rendereth it An evil after an evil, q. d. Lighter and lesser judgments have done no good upon thee. Now I will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Rom. 9.28. Ruinam pracedunt stillicidia.

Ver. 6. An end is come, the end is come] Still the Prophet ringeth this doleful knell in their ears, whom sin and Satan had cast into such a dead lethargy, that they could not easily be arroused. Battologia est, sed necessaria verborum redundantia, saith Pintus.

It watcheth for thee] Which hitherto lay at the door, Gen. 4.7. sleeping dog-sleep, as we say. In the Hebrew there is an elegant Agnomination between hakets an end, and hekits watcheth. See 2 Pet. 3.3.

Ver. 7. The morning is come unto thee] The morning of execution, as Jer. 21.12. Psal. 101.8. Confer Hos. 10.15. Gen. 19.23.24. worse then the Sicilian Vespers, or the French Massacre. Thine utter destruction, been mane in te irruet, shall be upon thee betimes, as it was upon Sodom: and as the morning light breaketh in upon those that are fast asleep. Sicut decoctores multa sibi promittunt, interim pereunt: so it befalleth the wicked.

The day of trouble is near] Hajom mehumah, Day in Hebrew is thought to have its name from the stir and noise that is made in it, the humming noise and bustle of business. A troublesome and tumultuous day is here forethreatned, such as that Isaiah 22.5. and Zeph. 1.14, 15, 16, 17.

Not the sounding again of the mountains] Not an empty sound, or an Echo (resonabilis Echo] but a worse matter, that shall do more then beat the air.

Ver. 8. Now will I shortly pour out my fury] See on chap. 5.13.

And I will judge thee, &c.] See on ver. 3.

Ver. 9. I will recompense] The same as before. Nunquam satis dicitur, quod nunquam satis discitur.

That I am the Lord that smiteth] Think not that I am made all of mercy, or that I will ever serve you for a sinning-stock. Ye shall know that I have verbera as well as ubera: and can so set it on as no creature can take it off.

Ver. 10. The morning is gone forth] Matutina sententia, the decree bringeth forth, as Zeph. 2.2. See there.

The rod hath blossomed] You have had your Floralia, and shall shortly have your Funeralia. Nebuchadnezzar (that rod of my wrath) is at hand.

Pride hath budded] And will shortly bring forth: viz. the bitter fruit of your bold rebellion. Not much unlike to this was the Almond rod seen by Jeremy, chap. 1.11.

Ver. 11. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness] Their oppressions speak them most wicked, and will make them most wretched.

Nor of their multitude] Or, their tumultuous persons, their Thraso 's, saith Tremellius, quantumvis circumstrepant famulitio numeroso, with all their train and retinue, that keep a clutter.

Neither shall there be wailing for them] Their dearest friends shall not dare to lament the loss of them, for fear of the enemies who are present would punish it. We read in the Roman history of one Vitia who was put to death by the command of Tiberius, for that she had lamented Geminus her son, executed as a friend to Sejanus.

Ver. 12. The time is come, the day draweth near] Let this voice ever sound in the ears of those negligent spirits who cry Cras Domine: whiling away their time as she, Rev. 2 21. and so fooling away their own salvation, as those Virgins, Mat. 25.

Let not the buyer rejoice] He shall have no such great joy of his purchase: since the enemy shall shortly take all, & qui latifundia habuerunt, ne latum pedem retinebunt, and no man shall be master of his own, nay not of a molehill.

For wrath is upon all the multitude thereof] Or, upon all the wealth thereof. To like purpose the Apostle, 1 Cor. 7.29. This then I say brethren, The time is short, or trussed up, contracted, Let them that have wives be as though they had none; they that weep as though they wept not; they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy as though they possessed not, &c. Rebus non me trado sed commodo, said the wise heathen. Hang loose to all things here below: and labor after that undefiled and unfadable inheritance, 1 Pet. 1.4.

Ver. 13. For the seller shall not return,] sc. At the year of Jubilee, by reason of the lands desolation.

Which shall not return] Or rather, it shall not return, sc. void and ineffectual: but shall be accomplished.

Neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life] That's but an ill defense. The spirit of power and of a sound mind are fitly set together, 2 Tim. 1.7. Men's iniquity will be their ruin. Munster rendereth the text thus, For that when as the vision was to the whole multitude thereof, no man returned, neque ullus propter iniquitatem suam pro anima sua se roborabat, neither did any one (by reason of his iniquity) strengthen himself for his own soul, i. e. use means to escape the just punishment of it.

Ver. 14. They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready] But all to no purpose; since God hath dispirited them (as he did the old Canaanites, the Saxons and Picts in that Victoria Hallelujatica, the Germans against the Hussites in Bohemia, &c.) and struck them with a Panick terror, with utter despondency; so that they were feeble and faint-hearted, and the strong were become as tow, Isa. 1.31.

Ver. 15. The sword is without, and the pestilence, &c.] No safety can be to such as are pursued by the divine vengeance; called therefore by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , because there is no outrunning of it. Of these three judgments (seldom separated) see chap. 4.

Ver. 16. But they that escaped of them] Here we have the mournful repentance of them that escaped, Fere autem fit ut, malo demum accepto, oculos aperiamus, saith Lavater here.

All of them mourning, everyone for his iniquity] Thus Hezekiah mourned as a dove, Esa. 38.14. And we mourn sore like doves, saith the Church, Isa. 59.11. happy if it be every man for his iniquity, and not for the punishment of it only or mainly. See that it be a sorrow according to God, a sorrow to a transmentation, 2 Cor, 7.10, 11.

Ver. 17. All hands shall be feeble] As after some grievous disease, or as in extreme cold weather: ye shall not be able to handle your arms, wherein ye so trust. God strengtheneth or weakeneth the arms of either party, Ezek. 30.24.

And all knees shall be weak as water] Fluent aquis: put a sudore ex gravi angustia, vel potius urina, ex pavore. Not so those that wait upon God, Esa. 40.30, 31. Let wicked Thraso 's think on this.

Ver. 18. They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth] They shall be a miserable mourning people for a long while.

Horrour shall cover them] Such heart-quake as is in earth quakes: horripilatis.

Shame shall be upon all faces] Pudor à rebus putidis: ashamed they shall be of their doings, ashamed of their disappointments.

And baldness upon all their heads] A sign of sorrow among the Jews. The Romans (contrariwise) in times of sorrow suffered their hair to grow, saith Plutarch: so did Mephibosheth in David's days.

Ver. 19. They shall cast their silver in the streets] As burdensome, and not beneficial to them. Thus Judas threw away his wages of wickedness: and many on their death-beds detest their cursed hoards of evil-gotten goods: saying unto them as once Charles the fifth did, Abite hinc, abite longe, away from me, away, away.

Their gold shall be removed] Shall be for a dunghill, saith the Vulgar: it shall be esteemed, as it is, the guts and garbidge of the earth.

Their silver and their gold] See Prov. 11.4. Zeph. 1.18. Eccles. 5.8. with the Notes.

They shall not satisfy their souls] Silver and gold are not eatable, as Midas found, and the great Chaliph of Babylon, whom Haalon the great Chan of Tartary affamished to death in the midst of his infinite treasures; which though they were in valor great, and with great care laid together, yet served they him not now to suffice nature best contented with a little.

Because it is the stumbling blok of their iniquity] Their wealth is the occasion of their wickedness: and they are much the worse men for their worldly substance. See Psal. 52.7. with the margin. Jer. 5.27, 28. Luk. 16.9, 13.

Ver. 20. As for the beauty of his ornament] That is mine Ark, saith Junius: or my silver and gold, ver. 19. as others.

He set it in majesty] In superbiam posuit, so some render it, they were proud of their abundance: their good and their blood rose together, as the proverb is.

Therefore have I set it far from them] I will (for their ingratitude and abuse of my good things) take away mine own and be gone, as Hos. 2.8, 9.

Ver. 21. And I will give it into the hands] So he did the pleasant land to be plundered, the Sanctuary also to be rifled and rasacked by the Babylonians, Syrians, Romans, &c. See Lam. 1.10. with the Notes.

And to the wicked of the earth] Sept. to the Pests of the earth.

Ver. 22. My face will I turn also from them] From the Chaldees, that they may spoil at pleasure: or from the Israelites, that they may perish without succor.

And they shall pollute my secret place] Even the Holy of Holyes, whereinto none was to enter but the high Priest once a year: yet (besides these Babylonian burglers) Heliodorus and Pompey did, but the one fell mad, and the other never prospered after it.

For the Robbers shall enter into it] Effractores, by this name Breaechmakers, the Jews at this day term our Nobles and Grandees.

Ver. 23. Make a chain] Which is an emblem of bondage.

For the land is full of bloody crimes] i. e. Capital crimes, unjust sentences and other deadly evils.

Ver. 24. Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen] velut carnifices, who may plunder you to the life, and take away your lives, Hab. 1.6, 7, 9. The Jews were bad enough, but the Chaldees were worse, if worse might be; Malignants above measure, Poneropolitans, breathing devils. A hard knot must have a harder wedge, as the Proverb is.

I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease] I will crush the crests of those Potentates, and lay them low. See Esa. 14.11, 12.

Their holy places shall be defiled] Sacella & lararia corum, their Chapels or Oratories made in or near unto their houses for divine worship.

Ver. 25. Destruction cometh] Not, mercy shall come, as the Septuagint ill render it) but utter excision: as when a weaver cutteth the web he hath finished, out of the loom, Isa. 38.12.

They shall seek peace] Of God, but all too late: of the Chaldees, but all in vain: for they were Cockatrices, and would not be charmed, Jer. 8.17.15. & 12.12. & 16.5. Note here how Jeremy and Ezekiel say the same thing; as being acted by the same spirit.

Ver. 26. Mischief shall come upon mischief] Aliud ex alio malum. I will heap mischiefs upon them, Deut. 32.23. War is called evil or mischief by a specialty, Esa. 45.7.

And rumour shall be upon rumour] sc. Of Nebuchadnezzar's advance, acts and atcheivements.

Then shall they seek a vision of the Prophet] As a drowning man catcheth at the sprig of a tree, which before he slighted.

But the Law shall perish from the Priest] Not only Prophecy, which is an extraordinary gift, shall fail them, but also the ordinary preaching of God's Word, and all good advice and provision of human wisdom. And yet this foolish people were wont to sooth up themselves and say, The Law shall not perish from the Priest, nor wisdom from the Ancient, Jer. 18.

Ver. 27. The king shall mourn] With a funeral mourning, as the Sept. express it: with a continued mourning, as the Hebrew importeth.

The Prince shall be clothed with desolation] Opplebitur tristitiâ ad stuporem.

And the hands] Which they had so oft lifted up to vanity.

According to their deserts] See ver. 3, 4, 8, 9.

CHAP. VIII.

Ver. 1. IN the sixth year] Of Jeconiah 's captivity.

In the sixth month] Elul, answerable to our August.

In the fifth day] Which was Sabbath-day, saith Junius.

As I sat in mine house] In Mesopotamia, among the captives.

And the Elders of Judah sat before me] As their wont was upon the Sabbath-day, 2 King. 4.23. These Jews were ever learning, but never came to the knowledge of the truth. Yet God still bore with them, and taught them better.

That the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me] i. e. The Spirit (the Spirit of Prophecy, saith the Chaldee ) to whom the absolving and perfecting of God's Work is congruously attributed. He is fitly said to brood the waters, Gen. 1.2. to overshadow the Virgin Mary, Luke 1.35. to seal the elect, Ephes. 4.30. to add ultimam manum; for God the Father doth all by the Son, through the Holy Ghost. Ezekiel had here a mighty impulse of the Spirit, which fell upon him quasi fulgur efficax & penetrans, as lightening.

Ver. 2. Then I beheld and loe a likeness] Of a man, likely. This was the Lord Christ, whose eyes are like a flaming fire, Rev. 1.14. and even our God (as well as the Jews God) is a consuming fire, Heb. 12. ult. Here, in the fire, was set forth his vengeance against the wicked; in his brightness upwards, his Majesty say some; his Clemency, say others,

As the color of amber] Or, of a coal intensely hot, as chap. 1.

Ver. 3. And he put forth his hand] As to me it seemed: for all was visional, not real.

And took me by a lock of mine head] Tanquam herus inofficiosum servum. The Prophet seemeth to have had no great mind to the matter: but there was no remedy. Ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trabunt.

Where was the seat of the image of jealousy] Of Baal likely, for whom wicked Ahaz had been so zealous, 2 Kings 16.14. and against whom God was ever so jealous, as to devour whole lands by the fire of his jealousy, Zeph. 3.8.

Ver. 4. And behold the glory of the God of Israel] i. e. The glorious God of Israel, Acts 7.2. See there.

Was there] sc. At the inner gate where that image of jealousy stood. The Jews were great idolaters before the Captivity; not so afterwards, Rom. 2.22.

According to the vision] This befell for his further confirmation, ne remum abjiceret, ut aiunt: this was now the third time; and all was but enough.

Ver. 5. The way toward the North] Where was the greatest concourse of idolaters.

At the gate of the Altar] Why so called, see 2 Kings 16.14.

This image of jealousy in the entry] Idolatry committed in God's own Temple was most abominable; as when an adulteress hath her stallions under her husband's nose, Messalina -like.

Ver. 6. That I should go far from my sanctuary] Which is now become omnium turpitudinum Arx (as was once said of Pompey 's great theater at Rome, ) a receptacle of all roguery, & impiae gentis arcanum, as afterward Florus unworthily called it.

And thou shalt see greater abominations] All sins are not equally sinful then, as the Stoics affirmed: but there are degrees of abominations. See Deut. 32.5. with the Note.

Ver. 7. And he brought me] Mystagogus ill Angelus.

To the door of the court] Of the Priests court.

A hole in the wall] Which should have been kept in better repair.

Ver. 8. Behold a door] A secret door, by which they entered into their idol-chapel. Such privy-passages there are in the Popish Monasteries, and in the whole Romish religion not a few. Ante paucos annos suaviter convivebant Monachi & Nonnae, &c. The Council of Trent was carried by the Pope with such infinite guile and craft, as that themselves will even smile at the triumphs of their own wits (when they hear it but mentioned) as at a master-stratagem. But the Author of the history of that Council hath found a hole in the walls of Rome, and many of our worthy Champions have digged and discovered their detestable practices.

Ver. 9. Go in and behold the wicked abominations] No words are bad enough for sin. Solomon calleth it wickedness of folly, even foolishness of madness, Eccles. 7.25. mischievous madness, chap. 10.13. So Luke 16.11. Mammon of unrighteousness, and 1 Pet. 4.3. abominable idolatries.

Ver. 10. And behold every form of creeping things] These, belike, were their dii minorum gentium, their petty-deities, their vulgar idols; whereof as there was great store, so not so great respect given unto them. This piece of idolatry the Jews had learned of the Egyptians, who madly worshiped Oxen, Asses, Goats, Dogs, Cats, Serpents, Crocodils, the bird Ibis, &c. Praeter impietatem ingens stultitiae exuperantia ostenditur, saith Theodoret on this text: besides their impiety, were these men in their wits, think we? And what shall we say of Popish superstition? Do not they religiously worshp Agnus Dei's, relics of Saints, painted doves resembling the Holy Ghost, the Ass whereon Christ rod, they say, on Palm-Sunday? The tail of that Ass they show still at Genua, and require low obeisance to be done thereunto.

Ver. 11. And there stood before them seventy men of the Ancients] The whole Sanhedrin or great Council haply. Councils may err, and have done often. The ill example of these Ancients was very attractive. Magnates Magnetes.

Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan] A Cheiftain amongst them; and haply, President of the Council, whom they called Nasi or Prince. His father Shaphan was Scribe in Josiah 's days, as some think, 2 Kings 22.12.

And a thick cloud of incense went up] Abundantia nubis. Papists to this day cense their images: semel singulis thuribulum ducat sacerdos, saith the Roman Mass-book. The Primitive Christians were pressed by their Persecutours to throw at least a little frankincense into the fire: which when Origen and Marcellinus did, through infirmity of the flesh, they were cast out of the hearts of good people, and branded with the name of Thurificati, i. e. Incensed persons.

Ver. 12. What the Ancients of Israel do in the dark?] Idolatry is a deed of darkness. The Athenians had their Eleusinia, the Romans the rights of their Bona Dea, and the Egyptians their Ofiridis Pamylia, all done in the dark. The Popish Temples are many of them dark; and some so stuffed with presents and memories, that they are thereby made much the darker.

For they say, The Lord seeth us not] Atheism is the source of all sinfulness. These fools, being in the dark, thought that God could not see what they did there.

The Lord hath forsaken the earth] Hath cast of all care off us, and therefore we must see to ourselves, look us out some other deities. See Jer. 18.15. What a base speech is that of Pliny, Irridendum vero curam agere rerum humanarum, illud quicquid est, Summum? It is no way likely that God taketh care what becometh of man's matters: Os durum!

Ver. 13. Turn thee yet again] q. d. Little didst thou think, Ezekiel, that thy Country-men of Jury were so prodigiously abominable, as now thou seest: And what more sure then sight?

Ver. 14. And behold there sat women] These were Priests of Isis, whose impious and most impudent kind of worship is largely described by Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, and Eusebius: as celebrated with very unseemly ceremonies, worse if it might be, then those of Priapus. But who would ever have looked for such immodest doings among God's professed people? See 1 Cor. 5.1.

Weeping for Tammuz] i. e. For Osiris King of Egypt, and idolatrously adoring his image, which his wife Isis had advanced.

Ver. 15. Hast thou seen this] q. d. And canst thou easily believe thine own eyes? Nevertheless these flagitious persons have the face to say, In all my doings they shall find none iniquity in me: that were sin, Hos. 13.8. Say not Popish Idolaters still as much?

Thou shalt see greater abominations] Idolatry is stintless.

Ver. 16. Were about five and twenty men] These say some, were the King and his Council: See chap. 11.1.

With their backs toward the Temple] And yet in a part of it: hoc fuit signum nimiae improbitatis. Here to turn their posteriours upon God's house, and Ark, which they were commanded to look towards, as a Type of Christ, was to bid open defiance to him, and to renounce his service, cum ingenti contumelia sanctitatis Domini: Oh the unspeakable patience of God!

And they worshipped the Sun] So did the Persians, under the name of Mithra: the Assyrians, of Osiris: the Egyptians of Orus son of Isis, &c. Heathens thought that Christians did so too, because anciently they prayed with their faces Eastward.

Ver. 17. And loe they put the branch to their nose] In honor to the Sun, whose heat produceth the most redolent wines. Or they might be branches of Laurel, dedicated to the Sun. R. Solomon rendereth it, they put a stinck to my nose, even ventris crepitum pro suffitu. Vah, Vah, Vah.

Ver. 18. Mine eye shall not spare] Chap. 5.11. & 7.4.

And though they cry in mine ears, &c.] Because it is the cry of the flesh for ease, and not of the Spirit for grace.

CHAP. IX.

Ver. 1. HE cried also] God, to whom vengeance belongeth, calleth aloud and with a courage, as we say) to the Executioners of his wrath, to come and fall on.

Cause them that have charge over the City] i. e. The Angels here called the visitations or visiters of Jerusalem, the prefects of the City.

Every man with his destroying weapon] Called ver. 2. a maule, or battle-ax, telum dissipatorium,

Ver. 2. And behold six men came] Ad hunc Dei clamorem vel clangorem the Angels came, the Chaldees came, at the call of this Lord of Hosts, who hath all creatures at his beck and check.

By the way of the higher gate] Called also the New gate, Jer. 26.10. built by Jotham, 2 Chron. 27.3.

Toward the North] Where stood the idol of jealousy, and whereby Nebuchadnezzar entered:

One man among them] This was a created Angel say some, chap. 10.2. Christ, the Angel of the Covenant, say others, with more likelihood of truth.

Clothed with linen] As High Priest of his people, and withal, an offering for them, and that without spot, Heb. 7.

And a writers inkhorn by his side] An ensign of his Prophetical office, say some: as his linen clothing was of his Priestly; and of his Kingly, that he was Among or in the midst of the six slaughter-men, as their Captain and Commander.

They went in and stood beside the brazen altar] Where they might receive further instructions from God. So in the Revelation, those Angels that were to pour out the vials of divine vengeance, are said to come out of the Temple.

Ver. 3. And the glory of the God of Israel] i. e. The Son of God appearing upon the glorious Charret, 1.3. & 3.23. and being the brightness of his Fathers glory, the express image of his person, Heb. 1.3.

Was gone up from the Cherub] i. e. From those four Cherubim, upon which the glory of the Lord did then appear to the Prophet, chap. 8.4. He was gone from his Ark, to show that the refractary Jews were now discovenanted: and from his Mercy-seat, to show that he would show them no more mercy. Many removes God maketh in this and the two following Chapters, to show his loathness utterly to remove. And still, as he goeth out, some judgment cometh in. Here he removeth from the Cherubims in the Oracle to the threshold: and upon that remove see what followeth, ver. 5, 6, 7. So for the rest, see chap. 10.1, 2. chap. 10.19. & 11.8, 9, 10. chap. 11.23. and when God was quite gone from the City, then followed the fatal calamity in the ruin thereof. But that he went away by degrees, and not soon and at once, was an argument of his very great love and longsuffering. He left them step by step as it were, and plaid Loth to depart: but that there was no remedy. Tyed he is not to any place, as these fond Jews thought he was to their visible Temple, which now he is about therefore to abandon, and to make their very Sanctuary a slaughter-house.

Ver. 4. And the Lord] That great Induperator.

Go through the midst] Discriminate, make a difference, take out the precious from the vile. God will sever his Saints from others in common calamities, and deliver them, if not from the common destruction, yet from the common distraction.

And set a mark upon the foreheads] Vulg. Et signa Thau. Whatever this mark was, it was signum salutare. The letter Tau some think it was, as part of the word Tichieh, i. e. Thou shalt live; according to that, The just shall live by his faith: or as part of the word Torah, i. e. The Law to show that these had the Law of God written in their hearts, and this made them mourn to see it so little set by. Howsoever, it is not the sign of the cross as Papists would have it: but rather the blood of the cross, wherewith when believers are sprinkled from an evil conscience (as the houses of the Israelites in Goshen were with the blood of the Paschal-lamb) they are sure of safety here, and salvation hereafter. The Election of God is sure, and hath this seal, The Lord knoweth who are his, 2 Tim. 2.19. and it shall appear by them, Psal. 91. Tau is the basis of the Hebrew Alphabet, saith One, and marking by Christ is the basis of all true comfort, and sound profession. Tau endeth and closeth up the Alphabet, saith another: so he who persevereth to the end, shall be saved. The mark here mentioned was not corporal but spiritual, even the Merit and Spirit of Christ, the Value and Virtue of his death and sufferings.

Of the men that sigh and cry] That sigh deeply, and cry out bitterly for their own and other men's sins and miseries; and this out of Piety and Pitty. These are not many, yet some such are found in all ages, Rev. 11.3. Inter vepres rosa nascitur, & inter feras nonnullae mitescunt. Le us mourn in time of sinning: so shall we be marked in times of punishing.

Ver. 5. Go ye ofter him] Go not till he hath marked the Mourners: so chary and choice is God of his jewels. Mercy is his first-born, saith One, and visits the Saints, ere Judgments break out, Isa. 26.20, 21.

Ver. 6. Slay utterly old and young] A dreadful commission: see it fully executed, 2 Chron. 36.17. all sorts, sexes and sizes of people were corrupted; and since there was no hope of curing, there must be cutting.

But come not near any upon whom is the mark] These were the precious sons of Zion, the excellent ones of the earth (as whatsoever is sealed is excellent in its kind, Isa. 28.25. hordeum signatum ) these are the darlings, the favorites; handle them gently therefore for my sake, touch not mine anointed, come not near any such to fright them, but keep your distance.

And begin at my Sanctuary] From whence went forth profaneness into the whole land, Jer. 23.15. These Sanctuary-men were an ill generation, at them therefore begins the Judgment. God will be sanctified in all that draw near unto him. Nadab and Abihu found the flames of jealousy hottest about the Altar. Uzzah and the Bethshemites felt that justice as well as mercy is most active about the Ark. Murderers must be drawn from the Altar to the slaughter, Exod. 21.14. Holy places were wont to be refuges: not so here, but the contrary.

Then they began at the Ancient men] At those seventy Seniours, chap. 8.11. whose foul offenses had flown far upon the two wings of evil example and scandal.

Ver. 7. Defile the house] Once hallowed by myself, but now abhorred and rejected as a stews or sty of filthiness.

Fill the courts] That where they have sinned, there they may suffer, as did Ahab, 1 King. 22.38. 2 King. 9.26.

Ver. 8. And I was left] And, as I was apt to think alone, Rom. 11.3.

I fell upon my face and cried] This is the guise of the gracious in evil times; as may be seen in Moses, Jeremy, Paul, Athanasius, Ambrose, &c.

Ah Lord God] Adonai Jehovi, (not Jehovah, as elsewhere usually) so the Saints have sometimes prayed, tanquam singultientes in patheticis precibus, or rather sighed out their most earnest suits to God, as Gen. 15.28. Deut. 3.24. and 9.26.

Wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel] Brevis quidem est haec querimonia Prophetae: at multa complectitur: This is a brief but a complexive complaint, and hath much in it.

Ver. 9. The iniquity of—Israel—is exceeding great] Still there is a cause (to be sure:) and God's judgments are sometimes secret, ever just. And as swift rivers, when they once fall into lakes or seas, are at rest: so are our restless minds, when once they fall into the depth of the Divine Justice duly considered.

And the City full of perverseness] Or wresting of judgment. Mutteh, id est mishpat din Mitteh, saith the Hebrew Scholiast; that is judgment turned from the biasse, as it were: when the balance of Justice is tilted o' toone side, as Paul's word importeth, 1 Tim. 5.21.

For they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth] See on chap. 8.12. Hic est fons omnium scelerum, saith à Lapide: hinc ruunt homines in scelerum abyssum, saith Theodoret. When men are once turned Atheists, what will they not dare to do? what should hinder them from laying the reins in the neck, and running riot in wickedness?

Ver. 10. And as for me also] Quapropter etiam ego, wherefore also I: and there's a stop, by an elegant Aposioposis.

Mine eye shall not spare] Chap. 5.11. & 7.4. & 8.18. See a just Commentary upon these words, Jer. 9.3, 4, 5. — 17.

Ver. 11. And behold the man—reported the matter] The Vulgar hath it Respondit verbum: as if he had been asked before, whether he had done as was bidden.

I have done as thou hast commanded me] So did David, Psal. 119.112. Act. 13.22. and the son of David, Joh. 17.4. & 14.51. and Paul; witness his famous vox 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , 2 Tim. 4.6, 7, 8. Let every of us so carry the matter toward God, that at death we may say with that servant, Luk. 14.22. Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded.

CHAP. X.

Ver. 1. THen I looked, and behold in the firmament] Heb. In that expanse, or firmament mentioned, chap. 1.22.

That was above the head of the Cherubims] Called before, living creatures, chap. 1. Now God is represented as in his Temple, where things are more clearly discryed and described, Psal. 29.9. In his Temple doth everyone speak of his glory. Cherubims the Angels are called, from the greatness of their knowledge, saith Jerome, as God's Rabbin's: or rather, because the Lord rideth upon them, Psal. 18.20. & 99.1. as upon his chariot, 1 Chron. 28.19. Here they are said to be under the firmament and near the throne, to execute God's commands with expedition. It is not therefore as those miscreants said, chap. 9.9. The Lord hath forsaken the earth.

There appeared ever them as it were a saphire-stone] i. e. Jehovah in his glory.

As the appearance] It was but as, and as the appearance: we cannot see God as he is. Some have seen Merchabah velo harocheb, say the Hebrews, the chariot, but not the Rider therein.

Ver. 2. And he spake unto the man] See chap. 9.2. Christ, who had marked the mourners, scattereth coals upon the rebellious City. Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish.

And scatter them over the City] To show that Jerusalem was to be burnt by the Chaldees: as must likewise Rome by the Kings of the earth: for strong is the Lord who judgeth her, Rev. 18.8.

And he went in my sight] Saints see and foresee that ofttimes which is hid from others.

Ver. 3. Now the Cherubims stood on the right side] i. e. On the South side: being now removed from the North-door, chap. 8.3, 4. with 9.3. as loathing that place of so great idolatry.

And the cloud filled the inner court] To signify that now upon God's departure there should be darkness in the Temple, yea in the Priests court. See Psal. 18.11. Rev. 15.8.

Ver. 4. Then the glory of the Lord went up from the Cherub] i. e. From the Cherubims: so it had done once before, chap. 9.3. and returned again: to show that he was even driven out by the people's impenitency.

And stood over the threshold of the house] As taking his last leave of it.

And the house was filled with a cloud] Sublatenter abit à suo loco Dominus: so Isa. 6.4. the house was filled with smoke. Josephus saith that when God departed, a voice was heard out of the Temple, saying, Let us leave these seats: like as a little before the last desolation of it, there was heard Migremus hinc, let us go hence. And a heathen writer saith that a voice greater then man's was heard, that the gods were thence departing.

Ver. 5. And the sound of the Cherubims wings was heard] As applauding Christ's act, and rejoicing thereat.

As the voice of the Almighty God] i. e. As thunder, Psal, 29. Hereby might also be signified insignis & insolita mutatio in urbe, a notable noise that should be made in the City by clattering of arms, neighing of horses, roaring of enemies, &c. The Hebrew word here used is Shaddai, which signifieth vastatorem & victorem, saith Ibn-Ezra, a Waster and a Victour.

Ver. 6. When he had commanded the man] Christ as Mediator was at his Fathers command, Mat. 12.18. John 14.31. & 15.10.

Then he went in and stood beside the wheels] As considering, saith one, the mutability and uncertainty of all things: and observing the equity of the divine proceedings.

Ver. 7. And one Cherub stretched forth his hand] The holy Angels whom the Jews looked upon as Ministers of God's grace unto them ( Josephus calleth them the Keepers of the Jewish people ) are here brought in as Ministers of those weapons wherewith they were to be destroyed.

Who took it and went out] Nevertheless the City was not burnt, till four or five years after this vision;

Meanwhile how jocund were the Jews, as if no such judgment were likely to befall them?

Ver. 8. And there appeared—the form of a man's hand under their wings] Quasi gladius intra vaginam, as a sword within the scabbard, ready to be drawn out for execution. The hand, saith Aristotle, is the instrument of instruments. Nature hath given us hands, saith Cicero, multarum artium ministras, &c. to act and do business. Angels have neither hands nor wings, to speak properly: yet are said here to have both: to show their activity and celerity in God's service: Hands of a man they are said to have, to show that they do all prudently and with reason: and these hands are under their wings, saith one, to signify their hidden nature and operation. A good man, like a good Angel, saith another, hath the wings of contemplation, the hands of action: the wings of faith, the hands of charity: wings whereon he raiseth his understanding, and hands wherewith he exciteth his will, &c.

Ver. 9. And when I looked, behold the four wheels] This chapter compared with the first, do, like glasses set one against another, cast a mutual light.

As the color of a Beryl stone] Lapidis Berylli thalassis: See chap. 1.16. wheels are voluble, and the sea tumultuous: so are all things and places in this present life: lay hold on life eternal.

Ver. 10. As if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel] So intricate and perplexed ofttimes are God's ways and works, that the wisest men know not what to make of them, Zech. 14.6. In that day the light shall neither be clear nor dark, but betwixt both, tanquam 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

Ver. 11. Upon their four sides] That is, to their several quarters assigned them by God, who doeth things methodically, and in order.

But to the place whither the head looked] That is, God who guided the whole chariot by an universal and equal inspiration, chap. 1.12, 20, 21.

Ver. 12. And the whole body] viz. Of the Cherubims, as chap. 1. The wheels are said to be full of eyes. God who overruleth all, is All-eye. His Providence is like a well-drawn picture, which vieweth all that are in the room.

Ver. 13. It was cried unto them] By him who sat upon the throne, calling for their obedience: as indeed all things here, yea even the senseless creatures are God's servants, Psal. 119.91.

O wheel] O round world, q. d. Hear the voice of thy Maker and Master: or, oh how unstable and changeable art thou!

Ver. 14. The face of a Cherub] i. e. Humana quidem, sed splendidissima, saith Junius: facies pueri alati, saith another. There are that tell us that in the Syriac tongue the word Cherub is taken from a word which signifieth drawing the plough, which is the bullocks proper labor. We must believe therefore, say they, that Cherub signifieth properly the figure of a bullock: under which hieroglyphically was represented an Angel. The laborious Preachers face shall once shine as an Angels.

Ver. 15. Were lifted up] Or, they lift up themselves, sc. to follow and attend their departing Lord.

That I saw by the river of Chebar] And now saw again, for further confirmation.

Ver. 16. And when the Cherubims went] Angels have a great stroke in ordering the affairs of the world, as hath already been noted on chap. 1. Quod vero candem rem saepe repeto, lectori molestum esse non debet, saith Lavater in his Preface to this Prophet.

Ver. 17. When they stood] See chap. 1.21.

The spirit of the living-creatures] Or, of life. God governeth all events: He moveth the Angels, they the wheels. No Clock hath so certain motions, as the vicissitudes of all things are over-ruled by God.

Ver. 18. Then the glory of the Lord departed] This, the stubborn Jews would never be drawn to believe possible, till it befell them: hence they hear of it so often, but to little good purpose as to them.

Ver. 19. Over the East-gate] The gate of the Court where the people met and prayed with their faces West-ward: here now stood the Cherubims, and here stood the Glory over them; that all the City might see that God was going from them, and seek by all good means to retain him with them.

Ver. 20. And I knew that they were the Cherubims] Now at last I knew. Divine light is darted into the soul by degrees: and at several times.

Ver. 21. Everyone had four faces apiece] Ad taedium usque candem rem repetis, ut nihil excusationis haberent. These careless and cross-grained Jews are told the same things thus over and over: to leave them without all excuse, if they would not be wrought upon by all.

Ver. 22. They went everyone straight forward] Let us, by their example, learn to advance forward to the high prize of the heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.

CHAP. XI.

Ver. 1. MOreover the spirit lift me up] The same Spirit of God that lifted up and acted the living wights, and the wheels: like as the same breath causeth the diverse sounds in the Organs.

Unto the East-gate] Of the outward Court, chap. 10.19.

Five and twenty men] Proceres populi, the Senators of the City with their Prefect or President. The like number is now at Rome, and likewise at London: an Alderman in each of the twenty four Wards, and a Mayor. See Rev. 4.4.

Among whom I saw Jaazaniah] I saw them and knew them by name, but for no good.

Ver. 2. These are the men that devise mischief] That whet their wits and beat their brains about it: the Politicians of the time, who like children are ever standing on their heads, and shaking their heels against heaven.

And give wicked counsel] As Balaam and Ahithophel did of old: as Machiavel did at Florence, and Gondamor here did of later times. The Prophet here nameth a couple: and taketh the same liberty to reprove them, that they took to do amiss.

Ver. 3. Which say it is not near] sc. The evil day is not: the vision that he seeth is for many days to come: and he prophesieth of the times that are far off, chap. 12.22, 27. See Am. 6.3. Isa. 29.1. 2 Pet. 3.4. And this was likely the evil counsel they gave the King and people: lulling them asleep in the cradle of carnal security.

Let us build houses] Though Jeremy hath counseled us to the contrary, chap. 29.5. though he (with all the wit he hath) hath told us that this City is the Cauldron, and we are the flesh, chap. 1.13. Some such thing Jeremy had indeed foretold: and these profane scoffers make a jear at it: Captant argutias quibus elevant omnem fidem doctrinae coelestis. This made god Jeremy complain heavily, chap. 20.7, 8. I am in derision daily, everyone mocketh me, &c. Our Prophet Ezekiel, though he name him not, yet confirmeth his holy sayings; and threateneth his scurrilous adversaries. Ministers should stand by, and for one another, &c.

Ver. 4. Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy] Urget & repetit, ne cunctetur. Out of greatest indignation against these Pests he pricketh him on to Prophesy, as having vengeance in a readiness for the disobedient, 2 Cor. 10.6. Mockers shall be sure to have their bands increased, Esa. 28.22.

Ver. 5. And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me] Et irruit in me Spiritus Jehovae, with force and power: it was a mighty illapse from a God much offended.

Thus have you said] As ver. 3. but better ye had held your peace: or, thus have ye thought, and as good ye might have spake out.

For I know the things that came into your mind] Heb. And the ascensions of your Spirit, I know it, i. e. I know them everyone, as if they had all been but one: I understand your Ironies, your sly jears, and will deal with you accordingly. See Luk. 24.38. Deut. 31.21.

Ver. 6. Ye have multiplied your slain in this City] Called therefore a bloody City, chap. 22.2. and 9.9. and 7.23. and it shall therefore despume you. Evil counselors are cruel and bloody minded: their craft is never but accompanied with cruelty; and their cruelty seldom without: craft: none of them wanteth their mate, as the Scripture speaks of those birds of prey and desolation, Esa. 34.16.

Ver. 7. Your slain] Whether ye have slain them out-right, or have laid them a bleeding and a dying by your oppressions; for a poor man's livelihood is his life, Mar. 12.44. Luk. 8.43. he is in his house l • ke a snail in his shell; crush that, and you kill him.

And this City is the cauldron] Thus, their own words spoken in mockage, are wittily retorted upon them, and driven back again down their throats, as it were.

But I will bring you forth out of the midst of it] As rotten flesh to be cast out, or as filthy scum to boil over.

Ver. 8. Ye have feared the sword] And yet they made as if they feared nothing; they doubted not but to die in their nest: but all guilt hath fear, and all such fear hath torment.

And I will bring a sword upon you] Such as all your craft can never keep off. Ineluctabilis vis fatorum, cujus fortunam, mutare constituit, consilia corrumpit. See Prov. 10.24. with the Note.

Ver. 9. And I will bring you out of the midst thereof] The same again, for better assurance. We use to do so oft, when we threaten ought.

Ver. 10. I will judge you in the border of Israel] In the Northern border, even at Riblah, 2 King. 25.6.21. Jer. 52.10, 24, 27.

Ver. 11. This City shall not be your cauldron] Ye shall not be so happy as to die in your own native Country, atque ante or a patrum: but elsewhere, at Riblah or Antiochia.

Ver. 12. And ye shall know that I am the Lord] That which ye would not take knowledge of by the words of your Prophets, ye shall now be made to know by the swords of your enemies.

For ye have not walked in my statutes] When God is about to proceed in judgment against evil doers, there is ever a cause for it, and they shall know it.

Ver. 13. And it came to pass that when I prophesied] God heweth men by his Prophets, and slayeth them by the words of his mouth, and his Judgments are as the light (or, lightening ) that goeth forth, Hos. 6.5. Elisha hath his sword as well as Jehu and Hazael, 1 Kings 19.17. See Jer. 1.10. 2 Cor. 10.6.

Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died] Suddenly, and before his time in Solomon's sense, Eccles. 7.17. Driven away he was in his iniquity, Prov. 14.32. so were Ananias and Sapphira, Corinthus, Arius, Steven Gardener, Cardinal Pool, Dick of Dover, as they called the persecuting Suffragan there, Nightingal Parson of Bocking, &c. See Prov. 6.14, 15.

Then fell I down upon my face] Out of an holy solicitude about God's Elect, lest they also should have perished, as Pelatiah had done: whose very name might seem somewhat ominous, for it signifieth The escaped one of the Lord: and therefore his so sudden death might portend destruction to the remnant of Israel.

And cried with a loud voice] Suddain or singular Judgments put Saints upon humble, earnest, and argumentative prayer.

Ver. 14. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me] In answer to my prayer; though there was something in it of unbelief, and human frailty. See Psal. 31.22. with the Note.

Ver. 15. Thy brethren, even thy brethren] i. e. Thine unbrotherly brethren of Jerusalem seek to unbrother and to unchurch thee and the rest of thy concaptives. See Isa. 65.5. Papists and Sectaries deal so by us.

The men of thy kindred] Viri vindiciarum tuarum, or they that have the right of redemption.

And all the house of Israel] Tota downs Israelis, quanta quanta est. The Hierosolymitanes challenged the Lord, and the Land, and all therein to be theirs; excluding and as it were excommunicating the Captives at Babylon, who were dear to God. So dealt the Scribes and Pharisees by the Christians, Joh. 16.2. Acts 26.9, 10, 11. So did the Rogatian Heretics and the Donatists, who gave themselves out (as now the Papists do) to be the only Catholics. The Arians called the Orthodox (by way of scorn and contempt) Ambrosians, Athanasians, Homousians, &c.

Get ye far from the Lord] Gressus removete, profani: Iee in malam crucem: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 : ye are cut off from the people of God, and may go whither you will: we are heirs and owners of the promises; ye are outcasts, and abjects.

Ver. 16. Although I have cast them] What a Cornucopia of comfort may this promise be to poor prisoners, forlorn Exiles, and such as by sickness or otherwise are necessitated to keep from public Ordinances, that they shall have God's presence and protection, the comfort and conduct of his Spirit, &c?

Yet I will be to them as a little Sanctuary] By hearing their prayers, sanctifying their natures, bringing to their remembrance what things they have heard and learned touching Me and my will, Themselves and their duties; They should in Babylon worship God in spirit and in truth; and in the life to come, the Lord God Almighty and his Lamb should be their Temple, Rev 21.22.

Ver. 17. I will even gather you from the people] How impossible or improbable soever you may think it, and those of Jerusalem pronounce it. The Prophet Isaiah in many Chapters of his Gospel (which beginneth at chap. 40.) setteth himself to cheer up these poor captives with good hopes of a return, after a little while, as some render the word Megnat in the foregoing Verse.

Ver. 18. And they shall take away all the detestable things] So God calleth their Mawmets and monuments of Idolatry; not daigning to call them by their usual names. After the Captivity the Jews would never endure idols. To this day they say that there is an ounce of the golden calf in all their sufferings.

Ver. 19. And I will give them one heart] Opposed to a divided heart (such as the Paphlagonian Partridges are said to have) Hos. 10.2. that is partly for God, and partly for the world, Ezek. 33.31. This oneness of heart truly and entirely cleaving to God alone, is that boon that David so dearly beggeth, Psal. 86.11. that he might attend upon God without distraction, 1 Cor. 7.35. and as the visive beams are wholly bent upon the thing that is beheld by the eye, and as it were concentred in it: so might his desires and endeavors be entirely carried toward God, and firmly fixed upon him.

And I will put a new spirit within you] The same soul for substance, but altered in the frame, renewed in the qualities thereof. Mark 16.17. they shall speak with new tongues. So we read of a new Song: The strings are the same, but the tune is changed. See Psal. 51.12. Ephes. 4.23. 2 Cor. 5.17.

And I will take the stony heart] Extraham, say the Sept. I will draw or pull it out: which none can do but the hand of Heaven. God only can make the flinty heart fleshly, that is, sensible, soft, pliant, penetrable, buxom and obedient to his holy Will.

Ver. 20. That they may walk in my statutes] The Covenant of grace is suited to all the exigencies and indigencies of a poor Saint: It is ordered in all things, 2 Sam. 23.5.

Ver. 21. But as for them] This is added, lest any wicked men should misapply the Promises, as they do quisperando praesumunt & praesumendo pereunt.

Ver. 22. Then did the Cherubims] Now God is utterly leaving the refractory Jews, He did so much more, after their rejection of Christ and his Gospel.

Ver. 23. From the midst of the City] From the East-gate.

And stood upon the mountain] Mount Olivet. There he made his last stand, to see if they would meet him with entreaties of peace, that he might stop or step back. Here it was that Christ wept over the City; and hence he went up to heaven: after which came the Romans and destroyed it.

Ver. 24. By the Spirit of God] i. e. In a supernatural rapture.

Ver. 25. Then I spake unto them of the Captivity] These were his proper charge, and now God's chiefest care: to them therefore he delivered the whole counsel of God, which he had seen and heard for their better settlement.

CHAP. XII.

Ver. 1. THe Word of the Lord also came unto me] This variety of visions shows the great unbelief of the people, whose Captivity and calamity is here further described and assured by a new Type, which is set out in the first six verses, and then applied in the ten following. One sermon pegs in another, and the man of God must stick to his work, and stand over it, 2 Tim. 4.2.

Ver. 2. A rebellious house] Heb. a house of rebellion, domus perduellis, that hath cast down the gauntlet of defiance against me.

Which have eyes to see, and see not] sc. To any good purpose: they will not see, Isa. 26.11. and who so blind as such? they wink willfully: which is no small aggravation of their sin, Joh. 9.4. Eph. 4.18.

Which have ears to hear, and hear not] h. e. Castigatiores non evadunt, they are not a button the better for what they hear: they draw not up the ears of their minds to the ears of their bodies, that one sound might pierce both.

Ver. 3. Therefore thou son of man] i. e. Nevertheless do thou as thou art bidden: and let what thou doest and sayest be for a testimony against them, stick in their souls and flesh, as the envenomed arrows of the Almighty throughout all eternity.

Prepare thee stuff for removing] Heb. instruments, or vessels: Convasa res tuas, collige sarcinas, pack up and away. See if this way thou canst work upon them.

It may be they will consider] sc. By this express sign, though they profit not by thy plain preaching. Ministers must study their people's souls: turn themselves into all forms and shapes of spirit and of speech, to win upon them.

Ver. 4. Thou shalt bring forth thy stuff] Arma viatoria, for an ocular demonstration. What surer then sight?

Go forth at even] The King and his men of war were glad to do so, 2 Kings 25.4. but it would not do.

Ver. 5. Dig through the wall] Make any shift. Necessitas magnum telum. He that digd Mortimer's hole (as they call it) at Nottingham Castle, earned his liberty dearly. God might have said to the Prophet at once, Get thee gone out of thy country, (how sad a thing that is, Ovid when banished, setteth forth in many elegant Elegies) sed cuncta per partes digerit, but he must do it piecemeal and by degrees, that it may the more affect them.

Ver. 6. In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders] To show that King Zedekiah himself should carry out some of his most precious things upon his shoulders when he fled: See ver. 12. This was a base thing for a King to do. King Alphonsus indeed is renowned for drawing a poor perishing man out of a ditch, and bearing him on his back to a place of relief.

Thou shalt cover thy face] In token that Zedekiah should be made blind. A just hand of God upon him who had eyes and saw not, ver. 2. like as it was upon Muleasses King of Tunis, who had those eyes of his digd out which had been insets of lust, and which he oft covered with his hat pulled over them, that he might listen the better to wanton ditties and profane Music.

For I have set thee for a sign] Portentum, a sign portending their going into Captivity.

Ver. 7. And I did as I was commanded] Though well laughed at for my labor, by the mad world, ever besides itself in point of salvation; and looking upon God's Jordans, as Naaman did, with Syrian eyes. The outward signs in our Sacraments are in themselves mean and ordinary matters; yet the Minister is to make use of them, and the people to climb up to heaven by them as ladders of life. Hence, even in the ancient Church-liturgy, they had their Sursum corda, Life up your hearts. Rideant Athei & ringantur.

Ver. 8. And in the morning came the Word of the Lord] Mane, id est, Mature. God not only betime, but timeously admonished his people: but they refused to be reformed, would none of his counsel.

Ver. 9. Hath not the house of Israel — said unto thee, What dost thou?] q. d. Nothing less: so stupid they are or so stubborn, that they never once asked any such question: Or if they did, it was in a jear, as who should say, you are a wise man to trouble yourself and us in this foolish and childish manner: a great deal of gravity sure you show therewhile.

Ver. 10. This burden concerneth the Princes in Jerusalem] There is an elegancy in the Original. Princes who over-burden their people, shall one day have their back burden of miseries. Potentes potenter torquebuntur.

Ver. 11. I am your sign] And, so it pleaseth you to make me your mocking-stock. Sedrisus hic est Sardonius. Of such laughter one may safely say it is mad: and of such laughter, What dost thou? Eccles. 2.2.

Like as I have done] My removal is Mira, nova, inimica, & ludicra: but upon you it will fall heavily, and horridly. That which hath befallen me in type only, shall befall you in truth and reality.

Ver. 12. And the Prince that is among them] Zedekias that profane wicked Prince, chap. 21.25.

Shall bear upon his shoulders in the twilight] His precious things; see on ver. 6. This though it be not recorded in the holy history, yet that it was so, we are assured by this Scripture. Great men, in exigence stoop to low offices. This load upon his shoulders might hinder his flight, and further his surprisal, as it did Baiazets, when he was beaten out of the field by Tamerlan, that he stayed to water his horse. The Vulgar rendereth it (but not well) in humeris portabitur, he shall be carried on men's shoulders. The Pope indeed is ordinarily so carried: but he was glad to foot it when forced by the German and Spanish Soldiers. A. D. 1527. he was glad to secure himself in his castle St. Angelo.

They shall dig through the wall] The door, haply, or inlet of some under-ground passage.

He shall cover his face] See on ver. 6. This he did haply through fear, or shame, or for a disguise: but his sin found him out.

Ver. 13. My not also will I spread upon him] Princes usually love hunting and fouling. Loe, the Chaldees shall hunt him, and over-catch him.

And he shall be taken in my snare] Snares are set secretly, catch suddenly, hold certainly. A strong hold the Hebrew word here used, doth also signify.

Yet shall he not see it] For his eyes were put out at Riblah, 2 King. 25. And yet behold a greater blindness that befell him then this. Josephus testifieth that Zedekiah not understanding these words of Ezekiel, and thinking them to be contrary to Jeremiah 's words, he resolved to believe neither of them.

Ver. 14. And I will scatter toward every wind] His life-guard, Esquires of his body, Auxiliaries. I will put him into an helpless condition: Psal. 146.3. If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? said that King to her that cried to him for help, 2 King. 6.27.

Ver. 15. And they shall know that I am the Lord] The Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, Neh. 1.5. This they shall know magno suo malo, who would not take knowledge what was said unto them by the Prophets.

Ver. 16. But I will leave a few men] Heb. Men of number, a company scarce considerable, in comparison of the Many.

That they may declare all their abominations] Give glory to God, take shame to themselves, and thereby do much good to those Heathens, hardened before by their evil behavior. Vere magnus est Deus Ghristianorum, said one Calocerius an Heathen.

Ver. 17. Moreover the word, &c.] See on ver. 1.

Ver. 18. Eat thy bread with quaking] With tumult and trepidation, as an affrighted and perplexed person, that eateth his bread in peril of his life.

Ver. 19. They shall eat their bread with carefulness] Better fast then feed on such bread. Men may sooner by their carking care add a furlong to their grief, then a cubit to their comfort, saith One.

Because of the violence] The Jews were ever, and are still a covetous and cruel people.

Ver. 20. And ye shall know] By woeful experience, ver. 15.

Ver. 21. And the Word of the Lord] See ver. 1.

Ver. 22. What is that Proverb] We have also many profane proverbs common amongst us, as Thought is free, Every man for himself, and God for us all: words are but wind. In space comes grace: Fair and softly goes far, &c.

The days are prolonged] Ludibrium crassum: Because judgment is not speedily exicuted, &c.

Ver. 23. The days are at hand] Opponit aliud dictum fere tot syllabarum, a plain and plenary confutation.

Ver. 24. For there shall be no more] God could have really confuted them by present execution; but he is patient.

Ver. 25. For I am the Lord] And that you shall shortly feel to your small comfort. What I have uttered with my mouth, I will perform with my hand without fail.

For in your days] Within six years.

Ver. 26. Again the Word] See on ver. 1.

Ver. 27. For many days] Either 'tis nothing, or long hence.

Ver. 28. There shall none of my words be prolonged] Abused mercy turneth into fury.

CHAP. XIII.

Ver. 1. ANd the Word of the Lord] See on chap. 12.1.

Ver. 2. Prophesy against the Prophets] Illis enim omnia mala feru • tur accepta. See Jer. 29.32, 33, 38.

That prophesy out of their own hearts] Whose prophesies came by the will of man, 2 Pet. 1.21. and not cum privilegio.

Ver. 3. Woe unto the foolish Prophets] Wise enough they were in their generation (and so are the foxes, whereto they are compared, ver. 4.) but in the things of God, silly-simples, blinder then moles.

That follow their own spirit] And their own fancies; acted and abused by that great lying spirit.

And have seen nothing] Nothing from God, though they thought and pretended they had seen something. All was but lies, Jer. 27.10. dreams, Jer. 23.32. things of naught, Ezek. 22.28. As Antipheron Orietes in Aristotle thought that everywhere he saw his own shape and picture going before him: so here. Now a woe is denounced against these; Vae is a little word, but very comprehensive, as there is oft much poison in little drops.

Ver. 4. O Israel, thy Prophets are like the foxes] Cowardly, crafty, cruel, greedy: venatores eludunt, & cum mortuae videntur, reviviscunt. Heretics are such, and false Prophets; Arius for instance.

Ver. 5. Ye have not gone up into the gaps] Reclaimed the People from their impieties (those inlets of plagues) nor interceded for them by your prayers to God to turn away wrath, but hastened it. Ye have built indeed a wall, and daubed it with mortar, but such as is untempered, ver. 10. arena sine calce, like ill architects.

Neither made up the hedge] To keep foxes out of God's vineyard: it is even opentide.

To stand in the battle] As David's three Worthies did in the Barly-field and delivered it, 1 Chron. 11.14. Or as Marulla the maid of Lemnos, who like a fierce Amazon, desperately fought with the Turks in defense of her country Coccinum (a City in that Island) and kept them out, till more company came to her relief, moved with the alarm.

Ver. 6. They have seen vanity] This is soon seen, ver. 3.

Saying, the Lord saith] By a lying pretence, familiar with falsaries, to father their fancies upon God.

Ver. 7. Have ye not seen a vain vision?] i. e. I appeal to your own consciences, have ye not falsely feigned all? Seducers are extreme impudent, of perverse minds, cauterized consciences.

Ver. 8. Behold I am against you] Heb. Behold I against you, by an angry Aposiopesis. The Chaldee hath it, I will send my wrath against you; and that's an evil messenger; for who knoweth the power of thy Wrath? saith Moses, Psal. 90.11.

Ver. 9. And my hand shall be upon the Prophets] God's hand is a mighty hand, 1 Pet. 5.6. the heaven is spanned by it, the earth held in the hollow of it.

They shall not be in the assembly of my people] Or, in the secret, or counsels: they shall have no communion with them. A heavy threat: for the communion of Saints, next unto communion with God, is the greatest comfort here attainable.

Neither shall they be written] As members of that Commonwealth, (much less of the Jerusalem that is above, Esa. 4.4.) but rooted out of the world, written in the earth, Jer. 17.13. See Psal. 69.28.

Neither shall they enter] They shall never come back out of Babylon, nor enter into heaven.

Ver. 10. Because, even because] Heb. for that, and for that: an angry Epiziuxes: See ver. 8.

Saying peace, peace] Making all fair weather before them, when as the storm of God's wrath (never to be blown over) was bursting out upon them.

And one built up a wall] Ipse aedificabat parietem, one of the devils chief dirt daubers: such as was Shemaiah, Hananiah, &c. Jer. 28.29. who, together with their she upholsters, that sewed pillows to allarwholes, ver. 17. made foul work, and did much mischief among God's people; like as do the Jesuits and Jesuitisses (into whom all the old seducers have fled and hid themselves) at this day.

And lo others daubed it] By cunning collusion, they plastered and parjetted over the mud wall that was so set up. Ita extruunt illi vel potius destruunt Ecclesiam Dei, such proper builders were these. Like unto whom are the Popish Priests, who bring the poor people into a fools paradise: and such idle Ministers amongst us, as shoot off at best, a few pot-guns against gross sins: or when they have done their worst at it, lick them whole again with I hope better things of you, or I hope there are none such here, &c. Many silly people also judge themselves honest, because the daubing Minister will give them the beggarly pasport, and so die like lambes, being woefully cheated, and willing to be so, Jer. 5.31. Mat. 24.11.

With untempered mortar] Which will make but a bulging wall; not like to stand long.

Ver. 11. Say unto them] Tell them so from me, and they may trust to it: Dei dicere est facere.

That it shall fall] And the fall of it shall be great, as Mat. 7.27. where our Savior seemeth to allude to this text.

There shall be an overflowing shower] The Chaldean army, Isa. 59.19. and 8.7, 8.

Great hailstones] Sept. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , catapultes, battering-rams to make breaches in stone-walls. The Hebrew is Elgabish, i. e. grandis grandinis lapides, huge hailstones of God own hurling.

Ver. 12. Lo • when the wall is fallen] As fall it will and with a force, because made of ill mortar: and they that stand under it for shelter shall perish, as did sometimes seven and twenty thousand of Benhadad's men in Aphek: Vocat autem eloquenciam saecularem & Rhetoricam inanem lutum sine palea, &c. saith Oecolampadius here, i e. by untempered mortar is meant worldly eloquence and empty Rhetoric in Sermons; this is as sand without lime, or as lime without litter, hair, chaff or the like stuff to hold it together.

Where is the daubing] What's your false doctrine come to? your work is lost, if not your souls, 1 Cor. 3.15.

Ver. 13. I will even rent it with a stormy wind] Vento turbinum, with a whirlwind or Hurrican. See Es. 25.4. and 29.6. Jer. 23.19.

And great hailsto • es in my fury] Thrice in this one verse is fury threatened: so hot is God's displeasure against Seducers.

Ver. 14. So that the foundation thereof shall be discovered] So that all men shall see your falsehoods. See 2 Tim. 3.9. Rev. 17.16. The old whore is first made naked and then desolate. Mr. Philpot Martyr dealt plainly by the Popish Prelates in open-Convocation when he said to them, Afore God ye are all bare-arst: God hath detected you, &c.

And ye shall be consumed] See on ver. 12.

Ver. 15. Thus will I accomplish my wrath] God's wrath is dreadful, when let out in little minnums only: but when to be accomplished, who can abide or avoid it?

Neither they that daubed it] It may very well be that some of these cementaries of Satan were slain by the people, when once they saw themselves cheated by them into remediless misery.

Ver. 16. To wit the Prophets of Israel] A name too good for them: but so they would needs be called. See Tit. 1.12. 2 Pet. 2.1.

Ver. 17. Likewise thou son of man] A Prophets work is never done: Agricolis redit labor actus in • rbem.

Set thy face against the daughtrs] The Prophet had rather have contended with men then women, and more honor it had been for him; but he must do as bidden. Mulieres genus fragile sunt: yet the Prophet must set his face against them as stout agents for the devil, who hath ever made great use of them. Such were Noadiah, Neh. 6.1. that Apocalyptical Jezebel, Briget Matild, those two Jezebels of New-England. Mrs. Hutchinson, and Mrs. Dyer, our late most impudent Preacheresses in London and elsewhere.

Ver. 18. That sow pillows] In token of most certain and constant rest and peace.

To make kercheifes] Vela vel pepla. The Roman Soothsayers, caput velabant cum volebant exordiri suos exorcismos, used the like ceremonies: so did those that gave oracles at the den of Trophonius.

To hunt souls] And so to destroy them. See Prov. 6.26. Women are insinuative creatures, especially when they have a repute for holiness, and are esteemed prophetical.

Will ye hunt the souls] O indignum facinus! Are precious souls no more set by?

Upon the head of every stature] Fitting the humors of all sorts and sizes of people: by prophesying to the younger of pleasure, and to the elder sort of profit. David, by a like Art, tells old men of gold and silver, young men of honey and honeycomb to be found in God's statutes, Psal. 19 10.

Will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?] q. d. I hardly think you will. Will ye not kill and eat, as the hunter doth his prey? or rather w • ll not the devil deal by you both, as the cock master doth by his fighting cocks, take pleasure in their mutual killing one another, that he may make a supper of them both?

Ver. 19. For handfuls of barley and for pieces] Like so many base Gypsies, or common beggars. Cato upbraided M. Caelius (and worthily) that being a pleader, he would sell either his tongue or silence for a morsel of bread. These were low-prized prophetesses.

To slay the souls] sc. By denouncing death to them, or by stirring up the people to slay them as miscreants.

That hear your lies] Such as deceive expectation: for so the word here used, signifieth.

Ver. 20. Behold I am against your pillows] God's hatred against sin is such, that he hateth anything that is made use of about it. The serpent was cursed, because he had been abused by the devil.

To make them fly] High-pitches; as our High attainers with their new truths, and strange speculations, do now pretend to do. Such were the Swenkfeldians, (Stinkfeldians Luther called them for their ill savor) Swenkfeldius himself bewitched many with those lofty terms (which were much in his mouth) of Illumination, Revelation, Deification, the Inward and spiritual man, &c.

Ver. 21. And they shall be no more in your hand] God's own people may be, for a time, in the hand of Seducers, and taken in their nets, carried away by their false opinions: but God will at length deliver his people out of their hand.

Ver. 22. Because with lies ye have made the heart of my people sad] False doctrines and wicked practices grieve the hearts of the godly, and strengthen the hands of the ungodly; as these unhappy times do abundantly evince. The times truly are good (and in many respects better then they have been) but the days are ev • l.

By promising him life] Though he walk in hell-ways.

Ver. 23. Therefore ye shall see no more vanity] By rendering you not only contemptible, but ridiculous: Or, by ridding the world of such pestilent people.

CHAP. XIIII.

Ver. 1. THen came certain of the Elders unto me] Rulers and chieftaines of the captives in Babylon, pretending to be far better then those Elders at Jerusalem, complained of chap. 8. but indeed no better: nay so much the worse, because they had lost the fruit of all their afflictions, and were as arrant hypocrites as those veteratores the Scribes and Pharisees, that came to Johns baptism, and to our Savior's sermons, with evil and exulcerate minds.

A Doeg may set his foot as far within the Sanctuary as a David.

And sat before me] Demurely, and (to see to) devoutly. But why could they not stand to hear the Word of God for reverence sake? Balac did so, Num. 23.18. though a King: And Eglon, though unwieldy, Judge. 3.20. and a better man then they both, Constantine the Great, as Eusebius recordeth, and further telleth us, that being pressed, after long time of hearing, to sit down, with a stern countenance he answered, It were a great sin in me not to hear with utmost attention, when God is speaking.

Ver. 2. And the word of the Lord came] Lest the Prophet, seeing these seniors coming thus unto him, should favor them too far, God uncaseth them as he doth (mostly) such gross hypocrites, in this present life; Jerob • am and his wife, Ananias and Sapphirah, Simon Magus, and others for instance. How else indeed should the name of such wicked wretches rot as they must? Prov. 10.

Ver. 3. These men have set their Idols in their hearts] Though they would seem to abhor idols, yet the devil is at inne with them, and their hearts are no better then so many Idol-temples, as thou wouldest easily perceive, hadst thou but my fiery eyes, and couldest see their insides, as I do. Sustulerunt stercoreos deos suos super cor suum, they have laid their dungy-deities upon their very hearts; a place where I only should be by right, for it is the bridal-bed.

And put the stumbling-block of their iniquity] i. e. They are impudent sinners, as the Scholiast interprets it, and resolved of their course, whatever comes of it.

Should I be inquired of at all by them?] q. d. No, never; I scorn the motion, I abhor such ludibrious devotion as this is: Away with it. Piscator rendereth the words, An ergo serio interrogor ab eis? Thinkest thou that I am seriously sought unto by these? q. d. Nothing less.

Ver. 4. I the Lord will answer him] Or, as I am the Lord (oath-wise) I will answer him, but with bitter answers.

According to the multitude of his idols] i. e. As by his abominations he hath well deserved: or, concerning the multitude of his idols; that's a sin he shall be sure to hear of, and to suffer for.

Ver. 5. That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart] Ut deprehendam, or as others, ut reprehendam, that I may convince their consciences of their impieties, and sting them to the heart with unquestionable conviction and horror.

Because they are all estranged from me] And fallen in with the devil, who is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as saith Synesitu, a great promoter of idolatry. Idola sunt prima saliva, & initium deficiendi à Deo. Idolatry paveth the way to utter Apostasy.

Ver. 6. Repent and turn yourselves] Or, turn others: for true converts will be converting their brethren. They like not to go to heaven alone.

And turn away your faces] Alii dicunt uxores vestras (saith Lavater here) your wives which are according to your hearts, like as in water face answereth to face. Wean them from their idols, and win them over to the true God.

Ver. 7. For everyone of the house of Israel] The same over again, and yet no vain repetition: duris enim illis capitibus res non potuit satis inculcari, to these dizzards nothing could be said too much.

Or of the stranger] But proselyted to the Jewish religion, as Jethro, who was the first of that kind that we read of.

Which separateth himself from me] As an harlot doth from her husband: See Hos. 4.14. & 9.10.

I the Lord will answer him by myself] Non verbis sed verberibus, not with words but with blows: Or, according to my most holy Truth and Justice. Or, by myself, sc. do I swear, that I will do it: See ver. 4.

Ver. 8. And I will set my face against that man] I will look him to death: Or, laying aside all other business, I will see to it, that he be soundly paid.

And will make him a sign and a proverb] That when men would express a great punishent upon any, they shall resemble it to his, as the Jews did to Ahab 's and Zedekiah 's (that naughty couple) and the Heathens to that of Tantalus and Tityus.

And I will cut him off from the midst of my people] This is yet a further and a more formidable menace: this is far worse then to be a by-word to the people.

Ver. 9. I the Lord have deceived that Prophet] I had not only a permissive but an active hand in that imposture; not as a sin, but as a punishment of other sins: See 1 Kings 22.20. Job 12.16. Jer. 4.10. 2 Thes. 2.11.

And I will stretch out mine hand upon him] i. e. Upon that false-prophet, who although he hath thus acted, not without my providence, yet hath sinned against my Law, which is the rule men must walk by, or else suffer for their transgression. Aut faciendum aut patiendum. Now God hath long hands, as we use to say of Princes: neither may any think to live out of the reach of his rod.

Ver. 10. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity] Neither shall excuse other: but as they have sinned together, so shall they suffer together, quia volentes & scientes errabant, they willfully went astray. Quandoquidem hic populus vult decipi, decipiatur, they shall infallibly perish. An evil Pilot may easily drown himself, and all that are with him on the same bottom.

Ver. 11. That the house of Israel may go no more astray] Thus when God's Judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness, Isa. 26.9. Those elect that were bad will become good: and they that were good will be made better. Paena ad paucos, metus ad omnes.

Ver. 12. The Word of the Lord came again to me] The utter destruction of this perverse people is once again denounced, and declared to be inevitable.

Ver. 13. Son of man] See on chap. 2.1.

When the land sinneth against me] i. e. The Inhabitants of the land; not as if the land itself were alive and endued with reason, as Origen doated, and as Plato held that the Spirit of God was the soul of the world.

By trespassing grievously] Praevaricando perfide, by doing evil as men could.

Then will I stretch out my hand] See ver. 9.

And will break the staff] See chap. 4.16. & 5.26.

And I will send famine] Extream famine, a heavy Judgment, as hath elsewhere been shown out of sacred and profane history.

Ver. 14. Though these three men] See on Jer. 15.1.

Noah, Daniel and Job] What could not these three (so mighty with God) have done if the matter had been fe • sible? Daniel was now alive, and in his prime. Ezekiel, his contemporary and fellow-Prophet, envieth him not, but celebrateth him: as also Peter doth Paul, 2 Epist. 3.

They should deliver but their own souls] Because the decree was past, an end was come, chap. 7.2, 4, 5, 6, 10.

Ver. 15. If I cause noisome beasts] As Lions, Wolves, Bears, Serpents, &c. Great hurt hath been done not only by such, as Num. 21.6. 2 Kings 2.24. & 17.25, 26. Josh. 24.12. but also by tamer creatures, whem set on by God. Rebellis facta est, quia homo numini, creatura homini. Rats, Coneys, Frogs, Wasps, Moths, have done much mischief.

Ver. 16. Though these three men were in it] All alive, and lustily tugging; yet it would not do. In common calamities Heathens had their supplications and sacrifices: Papists have their Litanies and Processions, though to small purpose. Let us, in the like ease, up and be doing, that the Lord may be with us.

They shall deliver neither sons] Heb. if they deliver sons, &c. q. d. then never trust me more.

Ver. 17. Or if I bring a sword] The sword, whensoever it comes, is bathed in heaven, Esa. 34.5.

Sword, go through the land] When the sword rideth circuit (as a Judge) it is in commission: See Jer. 47.67.

Ver. 18. Neither sons nor daughters] Though never so dear to them: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the Greeks call them.

Ver. 19, Or if I send a pestilence] Which Hippocartes calleth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , because God hath a special hand in it. Physicians can give no good reason of it.

In blood] i. e. In great slaughter, laying heaps upon heaps.

Ver. 20. Neither son nor daughter] Though it were an only one, and so more dear to them.

They shall but deliver] Howbeit a good man also may die of the Plague, as did Oecolampadius, Greenham, &c.

Ver. 21. My four sore Judgments] Every of the four ( Cardan reckons three more of like nature, viz. earthquakes, inundations, and great winds) are sore judgments indeed, each of them is pessimum, i. e. perniciosum. Cavete.

Ver. 22. Yet behold] See a thing sudden and serious.

They shall come] Be Captives here, as you are.

And ye shall see their way] How wicked it was, and worthy of punishment.

Ver. 23. And they shall comfort] i. e. Quiet and qualify your spirits.

CHAP. XV.

Ver. 1. ANd the Word of the Lord came unto me] This shortest Chapter is added to all the foregoing as a Corollary. In consisteth of a Type or Simile, and the Application thereof. It is God's usual way, and should be ours, to teach by Similitudes. See Hos. 12.10. with the Note.

Ver. 2. What is the vine-tree more then any tree?] The Jews took upon them, because a vine brought out of Egypt, and such as God's own righ-hand had planted. But insomuch as they were now become fruitless and also useless, trees twice dead, plucked up by the roots, Jude 12. what had they to glory in above other Nations? surely they were therefore worse then others, because they ought to have been better. True it is, that a Vine in itself considered with the fruit it beareth, is no contemptible tree. But if it be withered or pulled out of the earth, it is no way comparable to other trees or shrubs, which, when felled, are put to sundry good uses, that the Vine (a crooked, low, writhen thing) will never serve to; as to make spears, doors, tables, ships, houses, &c.

Ver. 3. Shall wood be taken thereof, to do any work?] No, hardly: tis good for nothing, no not so much as to make a pin or a peg of, to hang a hat or bridle on, because it is a sappy and brittle wood. Think the same of that empty vine, the profligate Professor; being abominable, disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Ver. 4. Behold it is cast into the fire for fuel] But then it must be taken afore it be over-dry: and so Corn. à Lapide testifieth that they burn little else in Italy but faggots made of vine-branches. See Joh. 15.6. with the Note.

The midst of it is burnt] Ustulatum, scorched and seared, so that it is altogether unuseful, and is therefore cast again into the fire, out of which for some other purpose it had been pulled. Woe to Apostates: the hottest fire in Hell abideth them.

Ver. 5. Behold when it was whole] The Jews when at best, were too too bad: a foolish people and unwise, disobedient and gainsaying all the day long: how much more then now that they are hardened and seared with so many Judgments!

Ver. 6. As the Vine-tree] Adaptat parabolam: Here beginneth the Apodosis or Application of the parable. That which is not for fruit, is for the fi • e. Salt which hath lost the savor, is thrown out.

So will I give the Inhabitants of Jerusalem] Those sinners in Zion, Isa. 33.14. those sacrificing Sodomites, Isa. 1.10. I will make them as a fiery oven in the time of mine anger; I will swallow them up in my wrath, Psal. 21.9. besides that, hell gapeth for them.

Ver. 7. And I will set my face against them] See chap. 14.8. Levite. 17.10.

They shall go out from one fire] And then think themselves safe and happy: but this is but gaudium lachrymosum; their preservation is but only a reservation: for

Another fire shall devour them] A man pulleth a brand out of the fire sometimes, and then presently casteth it in again: he gathereth up the sticks-ends, but it is to cast them into the middle of the fire: So dealeth God ofttimes with the wicked; to whom also whatsoever they suffer here is but a typical Tophet. See Amos 5.19. Jer. 48.43.

And ye shall know that I am the Lord] i. e. True of my word, and terrible in mine executions. The Prophets could not get you to believe that your sins were so heinous, that my wrath was so hot, that your judgments were so heavy, &c. but now ye shall surely feel what you would not then believe, and cry out Nos insensati, &c, O we fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets had spoken unto us!

When I set my face against them] As being fully resolved to have my full blow at them, and to pay them home.

Ver. 8. And I will make the land desolate] The land itself oft suffereth propter incolarum inemendabilem malitiam, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. Idolatry especially is a land-desolating sin.

Because they have committed a trespass] A grand trespass, a wickedness with a witness; they have deeply revolted, and backslidden with a perpetual backsliding. Apostates as they sin not common sins, so, with Core and his complices, they die not common deaths many times.

CHAP. XVI.

Ver. 1. AGain the Word of the Lord came unto me] For the better setting on of what had been said in the foregoing Chapter, for cutting the combs of the self-conceited Jews, and convincing the • m of their wickedness, and wretchedness thereby. The Chapter consisteth of Law and Gospel, ver. 60 and is a lively type animae peccatricis & poenitentis of an offending and repenting soul.

Ver. 2. Cause Jerusalem to know her abominations] Which as yet she taketh no knowledge of. Rebuke her therefore sharply; that she may be found in the faith, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.

Ver. 3. Thy birth] Heb. thy cutting out: Confer Isa. 51.1.

And thy Nativity] Vide insignem gentalogiam, vide 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 pudendum. Mutato nomine de te Fabula narratur. Tully saith, the old Britons were as barbarous as the Scythians▪

Thy father was an Amorite] An Amorite thou mayest seem to be rather then an Abramite: for thou hast filled the land (as they did, Ezr. 9.11.) from end to end, with thine uncleanness.

And thy mother an Hittite] Those worst of women, Gen. 27.46.

Ver. 4. Thy navel was not cut] None was so courteous as to do any of these necessary good offices for thee, a poor, forlorn, helpless wretch. No creature is so shiftless as a new born babe; which cast out and left to the wide world, must needsly perish.

Ver. 5. None eye pitied thee] No not thy mother, in whose heart God had planted natural affection for that purpose. Neither would thy Lucina become thy Levana (two heathen deities) to take thee up from the ground, where thou layest, alas weltering in thy gore, and more like to a slain then a live child.

Ver. 6. And when I passed by thee] Not by chance, as Luke 10.31. but of free choice, and accorging to mine eternal purpose.

And saw thee in thy blood] In this deplorable condition: blood is in this verse thrice mentioned, to set forth the greatness of man's misery in his pure (or rather impure) naturals, and the freeness of God's Grace toward him, all along, Matth. 11.26.

I said unto thee — live] God speaketh spiritual life to his poor people, Isa. 55.3. and oft repeateth to them his precious promises, whereby they come to partake of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, 2 Pet. 1.4.

Ver. 7. As the bud of the field] He prosecuteth the Allegory of a miserable maiden, with whom the matter beginneth to mend: Jam enim menses patiebatur, ubera creverant & pili circa pubem: so that now she was marriageable.

And thou art come to excellent ornaments] Heb to ornaments of ornaments, such as virgo nobilis, cum jam est nubilis, habet, young Ladies have, when grown up especially. Whereas thou wast naked and bare] Heb. nakedness and rejection. God looked upon us and loved us, when as yet we had not a rag to our backs.

Ver. 8. Behold thy time was the time of love] When thou wast both fit for marriage, and desirous of it. For as the man misseth his rib, so the woman would be in her old place again, under the man's arm or wing, See Ruth 3.1, 9.

And I spread my skirt over thee] See Ruth 3.9. with the Note. I covered thy nakedness, and took thee into my care and company, as a wife. A marriage-rite is imported by this expression.

Yea I sware unto thee, &c.] So much ado God hath with us, to make us believe. The Apostle mentioneth the work of faith: She hath somewhat to do before she can fasten.

Ver. 9. Then washed I thee with water] I cleansed thee from all thy pollutions by the Merit and Spirit of my dear Son. See 1 Cor. 6.11.

And I anointed thee with oil] New-married wives were usually washed, anointed, and richly arrayed. The dead also were washed, as Dorcas, and embalmed, as Jacob, and Prov. 31.8. they are called been chaloph, which signifieth change of raiment. Death strips us all, but happy are they whom Christ hath spread his skirt over: See 2 Cor. 5.2, 3, 4.

Ver. 10. I clothed thee also with broidred work] With variety of precious graces, whereby thou didst outshine Solomon in all his bravery: for one grain of faith is better worth then all the gold of Ophir: and one remnant of Hope, beyond all the gay clothing in the world.

And girded thee about with fine linen] The Church hath a rich wardrobe for woollens and linnens; God's plenty of both.

Ver. 11. I decked thee also with ornaments] See ver. 7. such as render thee amiable and admirable. Christ himself, who was not moved at all with the offer of all the worlds good, Matth. 4.10. confesseth himself ravished with them, Cant. 4.9.

Ver. 12. And I put a jewel on thy forehead] Heb. on thy nose, See on Gen. 24.47.

Ver. 13. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver] Yea with far better abiliments: for what is gold and silver but the guts and garbage of the earth? It was observed of Queen Elizabeth (as of her father before her) that she loved to go very richly arrayed. Hir sister Queen Mary had, at her Coronation, her head so laden with Jewels, that she could hardly hold it up. This was much, but nothing to the Churches beauty and bravery, which yet was all but borrowed; as is said in the next Verse.

Thou didst eat fine flower, and honey] i. e. The very best of the best: thou didst eat of the fat and drink of the sweet of my holy Ordinances.

Ver. 14. And thy renown went forth] Pliny saith of Jerusalem that it was the most famous of all the Cities of the East; of the World he might have said, all things considered.

Through the comliness which I had put upon those] As Abraham 's servant put the jewels upon Rebecca. See on ver. 13. That's a famous Canon of the second Ara •