great things yea even the mightiest and most terrible of them as perceiving that no strength of any people could secure them from his wrath and that this should tend much to the Praise and Glory of God Or 3. the fierce and mighty Nations that had before carried themselves most proudly and rebelliously against God being humbled by these Judgments should be converted to the Faith of Christ and so becoming God's people should praise God for his mercy to them and that not with their lips only but with their lives too as being such as should unfeignedly fear and serve him Ver. 4. For thou hast been a strength to the poor a strength to the needy in his distress c. This is mentioned as another of the wonderful works of God for which the Prophet undertakes here to praise his Name namely that as he had destroyed those mighty ones ver 2. so he had also protected and delivered his poor weak afflicted people where by their low condition they were also made low in spirit humbled and so fit for mercy and had been as a strong Fortress to them to secure them from their enemies A refuge from the storm a shadow from the heat when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall to wit that sorely shatters or overturns the wall or at least beats with such violence upon it that it is likely to carry all before it The deliverance of Jerusalem from the siege of Sennacherib and the Jews from their Captivity in Babylon were remarkable accomplishments of this Promise But I see no reason why the place should be restrained to either of these Ver. 5. Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers c. That is Thou shalt abate or suppress and put an end to the furious commotions and triumphings of the Heathens the enemies of thy people As the heat in a dry place that is as thou dost many times abate and suppress the heat of the Sun in some dry desert where otherwise there would be no refreshing for the poor Traveller neither water to quench his thirst nor shadowy tree to be a shelter to him Even the heat with the shadow of a cloud That is as thou dost allay or suppress the scorching heat of the Sun by the interposition of some thick Cloud and somtimes by the cooling showers that fall from thence so shalt thou abate and cause to cease the burning rage and heat of the enemies of thy people against them see the Note Exod. 13.21 The branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low That is their Posterity also shall be so ruined and brought down that they shall not be able to hurt God's people any more This must needs be the meaning of this last clause according to our Translation But indeed many of our best Interpreters hold that it should rather be rendred The Song or the triumph of the terrible ones shall be brought low Ver. 6. And in this mountain c. The Prophet having ended his Hymn of Thanksgiving in the foregoing verses wherein he had praised God for those wonderful things which he had foretold should be done by him doth here return again to his Prophetical discourse and sheweth what God would farther do in those glorious times whereof he had spoken Chap. 24.13 And in this Mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto all people a Feast of fat things that is Cattel and Fowl fatted usually esteemed the daintiest food A Feast of Wines on the lees that is old and strong Wines not racked but remaining still upon the lees This I conceive our Translation must needs intend And true it is that the remaining of Wines upon the lees for some time doth feed and preserve them and makes them the stronger and the more odoriferous whence is that Jer. 48.11 Moab hath been at ease from his youth and he hath setled on his lees and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel Therefore his taste remained in him and his scent is not changed Yet some I know understand hereby pure refined Wines drawn off from the dregs and lees and therefore not muddy but clear and so hold that the next words are added to explain these Of fat things full of Marrow of Wines on the lees well refined But however all this must be understood Spiritually to wit that in the Church of Christ that Mountain mentioned before Chap. 24.13 whereof Zion was a Type see the Notes Chap. 2.2 3. God would feast his people of all Nations not Jews only but Gentiles too 1. here in this life with the sweet comforts of Christ tendred them in the Gospel and Gospel-Ordinances together with the Gifts and Graces of his Spirit for which see the Notes Psal 22.26 and Prov. 9.2 with respect whereto our Saviour himself doth in like manner compare the preaching of the Gospel to a great Supper Luk. 14 1â— and to a Feast made by a King at the Marriage of his Son Mat. 22.2 â—nd 2. in Heaven hereafter with the fulness of Happiness and Joy wherewith they shall be there satisfied unto all Eternity which Apoc. 19.9 is called the Lambs Marriage-Feast and the Table in the Kingdom of Heaven Luke 2â— 30. and Mat. 8.11 wherewith God shall for ever feast his people See â—â—e Notes Psal 17.15 and 36.8 Some I know would have this understâ—od of God's destroying his and his peoples Enemies But the Context shew plainly that this cannot be here intended And though we should yield â—â— that which others indeed more probably say That the Prophet might have some respect in that which is said here to the occasion which God would give both the Jews and other Nations of exceeding great joy by their deliverance out of the Babylonian Captivity and that in expressing this he compares God to some great King making a Feast to his Nobles and Captains after some great Victory obtained by him Yet certainly this was only looked to as a Type of that greater Spiritual Feast which is here principally intended namely the Celestial Joy which he would bestow upon his people of all Nations in and through Christ first by the glad tydings of the Gospel and afterward by the enjoyment of himself for ever in his Kingdom of Glory Ver. 7. And he well destroy in this mountain c. Here the Prophet begins to recite the dainties they should have in the Feast promised in the foregoing verse that is the benefits that should redound to them by Christ And the first he mentions is that in his Church he will utterly destroy the face of the covering cast over all people and the veil that is spread over all Nations that is he will free his people from that blindness and ignorance that vail of darkness which lies naturally upon the minds of all mankind so that they cannot find the way unto Life Eternal and of which the Apostle speaking as with respect unto the Jews saith Which vail is done away in Christ 2 Cor. 3.14 Some I know by this destroying the face of the covering cast over all people do understand Christ's destroying Death and
Apostle Peter also explains these that went before and let him be your fear and let him be your dread that is fear him so as to fear nothing else in comparison of him And just so the Apostle Peter also explains these words 1 Pet. 3.14 15. Be not afraid of their terror neither be troubled But sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts Ver. 14. And he shall be for a Sanctuary c. As if he had said The holy God will be as a Sanctuary a sacred and inviolable place of refuge to those holy and faithful ones that do sanctifie him as was said in the foregoing verse we find the same expression Ezek. 11.16 I will be to them as a little Sanctuary in the countries where they shall come And in both places there seems to be an allusion in the words to the custom of mens flying for shelter to the Tabernacle or Temple see the Note Psal 27.5 But for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel that is to the rest of the wicked and ungodly ones even to the whole body of the Israelites both in the Kingdom of Judah and that of Ephraim that refuse to be ruled by him and to rely upon his promises the Lord will be as a stone lying in the way at which men stumble or as a rock against which if a man or ship casts violently it will bruise and break them that is he will be an occasion of their ruin in that they shall stumble and take offence at his word not believing what he said and so shall bring destruction upon themselves And to the same purpose are the following words added For a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem to wit to shew that his word would be but as a snare to intangle them to their utter perdition only it is withal observed that these words to the inhabitants of Jerusalem are here inserted purposely to imply either 1. That it was not the Royal seat or Gods Sanctuary then that should secure them but that they also should suffer with the rest Or 2. that God in his word should be an occasion of ruin not only to the meaner sort of people but also to the chief amongst them even to the Rulers and Priests at Jerusalem Now the main drift of all this was to encourage the faithful not to be carried away with the stream of the people that would not believe nor obey Gods Word because the Lord would be a Sanctuary to those that did believe and obey but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to the rest But withal most observable it is that in many places of the New Testament this is applied to Christ the true Immanuel mentioned before ver 8. as in Act. 4.11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders which is become the head of the corner And Rom. 9.32 33. where it is said of the unbelieving Jews They stumbled at that stumbling-stone as it is written Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone and rock of offence And 1 Pet. 2.7 8. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious but unto them which be disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed the same is made the head of the corner and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence even to them which stumble at the word See also Mat. 23.42 And the ground of this is because Christ and so God in him was to those that believed in him a foundation-stone a rock of Salvation concerning which see the Note Psal 118.22 but to others who through their blindness and madness took offence at the meanness of his outward condition and the Doctrine of life and salvation which he taught them he became a stumbling-stone and a rock of offence that is an occasion of their ruin and perdition and thus he was the savour of death unto death to some but the savour of life unto life to others 2 Cor. 2.16 and was set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel Luk. 2.34 see also Joh. 9.39 Ver. 16. Bind up the Testimony c. This is a part of that charge which as is said before ver 11. was given by God particularly to the Prophet by way of informing him what he should do Bind up the Testimony seal the Law among my disciples By the testimony may be meant 1. The Law or Word of God in general which is often so called in Scripture See the Notes Exod. 25.16 Psal 19.7 78.5 and that because the Lord hath therein made known his will to his people and by a solemn and severe sanction had attested thereto Or 2. the great roul which the Prophet was commanded to write mentioned ver 1. of this Chapter and that because there was therein a Testimony written concerning the defence of this people and the ruin of their enemies that were combined against them Or 3. The whole Word of God which he had now delivered to them both in the roul which he had written and set up for the people to read and in that Prophecy which he had now spoken to them in the name of the Lord the Doctrine which he had now taught them and wherein he had testified what the Lords will was that the faithful should do namely that they should not walk in the way of that incredulous people Yea herein also may be included what he fore-prophecyed concerning the Messiah the true Immanuel that mystery which was testified afore by the Prophets Rom. 1.2 And so likewise the same may be meant by the Law to wit either the Word of God in general or else that word or message he had now delivered to them to which they were bound to yield obedience as to a command or Law given them from God But now what is meant by binding up the Testimony and sealing up the Law amongst Gods disciples I answer that this is diversly expounded by Expositors for 1. some conceive that the Prophet was hereby charged to fold and bind up that roul again mentioned before ver 1. that the promise therein contained concerning their approaching deliverance might not be any longer exposed to the neglect and scorn and derision of an incredulous people but that withal he should still preach and press the truth therein contained upon the faithful his followers that were capable of understanding such mysteries and ready to receive and embrace them and that he should more and more assure them of the certainty of it that it might be esteemed as a sealed truth amongst them and an established Law according to the direction whereof they were to order themselves 2ly Others understanding it of the whole Word of God which he had now delivered them take it to be an information given to the Prophet concerning the success his words should find amongst the people to wit that his Disciples only that were enlightened and taught by him should understand and embrace them as
that in the expression here used there is an Allusion to the Face-cloth wherewith the faces of dead men are wont to be covered Joh. 11.44 or to the custom of covering the faces of condemned Malefactors see the Note Esth 7.8 But this of Christ's destroying Death is added in the next verse and the former therefore is rather here intended namely the freeing of his people from that ignorance under which they lay by Nature by the enlightning of the Gospel which was signified by the rending of the Veil of the Temple at the Death of Christ And all this is said should be done in this mountain as before not only because it should be done in the Church made up both of Jews and Gentiles but also because the Gospel whereby this was to be done was at first to go out of Mount Zion See the Notes Chap. 2.3 Ver. 8. He will swallow up death in victory c. That is He will destroy Death for ever as the word in the Original here translated in victory doth properly signifie so that it shall never more prevail over his redeemed ones but Christ shall reign this his last Enemy being destroyed for ever and ever Now though this was done partly by the Death of Christ whereby he abolished Death 2 Tim. 1.10 having by his suffering Death delivered his people â—â—om that Death which their sins had deserved Heb. 2.15 yet it shall chiefly bâ— accomplished at the Resurrection of the just when they shall pass into Lifâ— Eternal after which there shall be no more death Rev. 21.4 for so the Apostâ—â— saith expresly 1 Cor. 15.54 When this corruptible shall put on incorruption and thâ— mortal shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass that Saying â—â—at is written Death is swallowed up in victory And the like may be said of thâ— following words And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces to wit of his people even as a tender Mother wipes away the tears of her weeping little Child For though God doth this partly by the comforts of his Word and Spirit here yet it is not completely done till they be taken up into Heaven to which estate therefore this passage is applied by St. John Revel 7.17 and 21.4 And so likewise in the next clause And the rebuke or reproach of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth the meaning is that God would free his people from that extreme scorn and contempt which was cast upon them all the world over and from the worlds base and despightful usage of them in their continual afflicting and persecuting of them as if they were a people not worthy to live upon the face of the earth But now the accomplishment of this here principally intended is the exceeding Glory whereunto God's people shall be advanced in Heaven For when God shall take them into this blessed and glorious condition then indeed all the Inhabitants of the earth shall be effectually taken off from that vile and base esteem which they formerly had of them Many good Expositors do I know apply all this to the deliverance of God's people out of Babylon But it is only as looking upon that as a Type of this far greater deliverance promised to God's redeemed ones in and through the Lord Christ Ver. 9. And it shall be said in that day c. That is In that day when these Promises shall be accomplished the people of God shall say to wit with wonder and exceeding great joy for this is as it were the language of the Guests at the Feast mentioned before ver 6. Lo this is our God we have waited for him and he will save us c. Which may be understood 1. in the Type of the rejoycing of God's people at the Lord 's delivering them out of Babylon which they had long expected and came at last to pass according to God's Promise and their earnest expectation And taking it thus observable it is that in this expression of their present joy and confidence in God they do withal covertly judg and condemn themselves because before their being carried into Babylon by their disobeying God's Laws and seeking to foreign Princes for help in their dangers they had not carried themselves towards the Lord as now they found they should have done Or 2. of the people of God's owning Christ at his coming in the flesh and embracing him by Faith when tendred to them in the Gospel as the true God their Lord and Saviour long ago promised them with great joy because of the peace made by him between God and them Or 3. of the Churches triumphing in Christ when he shall come to judge the world and to receive them into his Kingdom of Glory Ver. 10. For in this Mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest That is His powerful Providence shall be constantly and continually over his Church to protect and bless them See the Note Psal 80.17 It is the same in effect with that of our Saviour Mat. 28.20 And lo I am with you alway unto the end of the world And Moab shall be trodden down under him c. That is under his feet Psal 110.1 Moab is here particularly mentioned because none were more constantly and more fiercely bent upon doing mischief to God's people than they were but under these by a Synecdoche all the wicked enemies of his people are intended Even as straw is trodden down for the dunghil to wit the worst of the straw not fit to be reserved for any other use The word which we render trodden down some translate threshed and accordingly they read this verse thus And Moab shall be threshed under him even as straw is threshed in Madmenah and then take Madmenah to be a City of Moab called Madmen Jer. 48.2 and hold that because this City being scituate in a rich Corn-country where there was abundance of straw which was the less regarded thence the Prophet useth this expression here of straw threshed in Madmenah Ver. 11. And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim c. Some hold that this is spoken of Moab with relation to the last words in the foregoing verse to wit That as the Swimmer stretcheth forth his hands to swim so he being trodden down by his enemies should in the midst of them stretch forth his hands to beg for mercy both of God and his enemies Or that he should though in vain strive with all possible endeavours to save himself from utter ruin even as a ship-wrack'd man being fallen into the Sea laboureth with all his might by swimming to escape drowning But clearly as I conceive this is spoken of God That he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth
not go on and express this in his Prayer was because he was not able to speak any longer for weeping as it is immediately added in the Text and Hezekiah wept sore And so what he could not or perhaps was afraid to ask in words because it was contrary to what God had said should be his tears spake and God heard them But see the Note 2 King 20.3 Ver. 4. Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah saying To wit as it is expressed in the Book of Kings afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court so near was the sick bed of this good King to the Throne of God in Heaven even his sighs and groans God heard and was presently careful to have him comforted with a promise of longer life and that for the better strengthning of his faith by the same Messenger that had made known to him the Sentence of Death that God had pronounced against him But see the Note 2 King 20.4 Ver. 5. Go and say to Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord God of David thy Father c. By these words he makes known to Hezekiah that he was mindful of the Covenant he had made with David concerning his continuing of the Kingdom of Judah to his Posterity I have heard thy Prayers I have seen thy tears behold I will add to thy days fifteen years that is To the days thou hast already lived In 2 King there is another particular inserted in the promise here made to wit That on the third day he should go up to the House of the Lord. But for this and the following verse see the Notes 2. King 20.6 Ver. 7. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord c. In 2 King 20.8 It is said that Hezekiah desired a sign of the Prophet Isaiah to assure him that this which he had promised him should certainly be which the Prophet hath likewise noted in the close of this Chapter and that hereupon God by the Prophet made him this promise of a sign for which see the Note there Ver. 8. Behold I will bring again the shadow of the Degrees which is gone down in the Sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward c. In 2 King 20.9 10. it is said that when Hezekiah desired a sign of Isaiah for the strengthning of his faith the Prophet tendered to him two different signs leaving him to his choice which of them he would take namely That the shadow on the Sun-dial should either go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees and that when Hezekiah answered That it was a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees and desired rather that the shadow might return backward ten degrees for all which see the Notes in that place hereupon this promise was made him of bringing back the shadow ten degrees the accomplishment whereof is related in the next words so the Sun returned ten degrees by which degrees it was gone down to wit after the Prophet had prayed that it might be so for this is expresly inserted 2 King 20.11 And Isaiah the Prophet cried unto the Lord and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward c. for all which see the Notes there Yet withal this also is here observable that those words so the same returned ten degrees may well induce us to think that the miracle now wrought was not as some would have it in the going back of the shadow in the Dial of Ahaz whilst the Sun kept on its course but in the retrograde motion of the Sun it self And indeed how else could they in Babylon take notice of this Wonder See the Note 2 King 20.12 And beside the Analogy between the sign and the thing signified depends much upon this Princes are in their Kingdoms as the Sun in the World The bringing back therefore of the Sun when it was hasting to its setting and the lengthning of the day thereby beyond its natural time was most fit to signifie that after the same manner how impossible it might seem considering the desperateness of his disease and the Sentence of Death by God himself pronounced against him Hezekiah should be brought back from the Grave whither he was posting and his life be lengthned out beyond expectation Ver. 9. The writing of Hezekiah King of Judah when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness That is The Song of Thanksgiving which he composed and committed to writing even as his Father David used to do intending to leave it to posterity as a Monument of his own fainting heart in the time of Gods mercy in recovering him out of his sickness and his hearty thankfulness for it Ver. 10. I said in the cutting off of my days c. That is When I perceived partly by the violence of my sickness but especially by the sentence of death which the Prophet had pronounced against me that God was now hewing me down in great displeasure I began to think within my self or I concluded fully within my self as I lay upon my sick bed I shall go to the gates of the grave that is I am now a dead man See the Note Psal 9.13 I am deprived of the residue of my years that is the years I might have lived by the ordinary course of nature Thus in the first place he acknowledgeth his own weakness and the terrors wherewith he was surprized when he saw himself likely to be cut off by an untimely death in the flower of his age the reasons whereof see before in the Note 2 Kin. 20.3 the more hereby to magnifie the mercy of God to him in his recovery Ver. 11. I said c. See the foregoing Note I shall not see the Lord to wit in his Temple See the Notes Psal 27.4 and 42.2 even the Lord it is twice repeated to set forth how vehemently he was afflicted herewith in the land of the living see the Note Psal 27.13 And indeed his particular expressing of this when he desired a sign of his recovery ver 22. What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord doth plainly show that this was one main thing that troubled him when he lay under the terrors of Death I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the World that is I shall no longer live amongst the Children of men here in this World Or as I shall no more behold God in his Ordinances so I shall also be cut off from the Communion of the Church of the living and so I shall not do that good to the people of God that were under my charge that I desired to do Ver. 12. Mine age is departed c. The time of my life and abode here in this World is at an end and gone and is removed from me as a Shepherds tent who use not to stay long in a place but to remove their tents from one place to another See the Note Job 27.18 I have cut off like a Weaver my life
and Gods great goodness to him in raising him upon his Prayers to him so speedily out of so sad a Condition he would be careful to walk all his days as became a true Penitent softly that is Pensively and mournfully as to his bewailing the sins wherewith he had displeased God or softly that is Warily and circumspectly as to his care for the avoiding of every thing whereby he might offend and displease him for the time to come Neither indeed can I see how this last clause as it is in our Translation can be any other way probably understood Ver. 16. O Lord by these things men live c. This verse is several ways translated by Interpreters But according to our Translation the meaning is clearly this O Lord by thy favour and promises by the word of thy command and by thy providence accomplishing what thou hast spoken is the life of men continued to them or prolonged as thou pleasest yea even to those that were at the brink of the Grave or that haply had before the sentence of Death pronounced against them for this is spoken with reference to that in the foregoing verse he hath both spoken unto me and himself hath done it See the Note Deut. 8.3 and in all these things is the life of my spirit that is And by these things doth my soul still continue within me chearfully and comfortably enlivening my body so wilt thou recover me and make me to live that is And so by thy will it is that I am recovered and do live or so thou wilt perfect the work of my recovery which thou hast begun and make me to live that remainder of years thou hast appointed for me Ver. 17. Behold for peace I had great bitterness c. Or on my peace came great bitterness that is When I was healthful and well and had not the least fear of any distemper of sickness that was coming upon me yea when by Gods miraculous destroying the Assyrian Army both my self and the whole Kingdom seemed to be in a way of setled peace and thereupon I began to promise my self that I should now live the remainder of my days in prosperity and peace on a sudden I was surprized with this bitter affliction but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption that is Out of thy fatherly love to me See the Note Psal 3.2 thou wert pleased to recover me even from the very grave for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back to wit as things loathsome to thee which yet thou wert pleased to forget and forgive so as never to charge them upon me And Hezekiah that had before alledged that he had walked before God in truth and with a perfect heart and done that which was good in his sight ver 3. doth yet withal acknowledg here That his sins had been many and the cause why God had visited him with his late dangerous sickness and doth not so much rejoyce in his recovery as in Gods love and pardoning mercy which was better than a thousand lives to him Ver. 18. For the grave cannot praise thee death cannot celebrate thee c. See the Notes Psal 6.5 and 30.9 and 115.17 Hereby Hezekiah intends to intimate that he knew that Gods end in restoring him to his former health was That here in this World he might set forth his praise and that this therefore he would certainly do yea that upon this account he chiefly rejoyced in his recovery Ver. 19. The living the living he shall praise thee as I do this day c. The repetition of this word the living the living is very Emphatical and amongst other things doth clearly discover how full of joy his heart was upon the thought of this that by his recovery he should have so fair a season afforded him to speak good of Gods name the fathers to the children shall make known thy truth that is Thy faithfulness in performing thy promises as thou hast now done unto me they shall teach their Children what great things thou hast done and how they ought upon such occasions to extol thy name and so thy Praises shall be continued from Generation to Generation yea these words may seem probably to imply that Hezekiah had it now in his thoughts that by Gods gracious lengthning out of his days he might come to have a Son to succeed him in his Throne whom he might instruct to live to Gods praise and glory Ver. 20. The Lord was ready to save me therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments c. That is I will do it with and in the publick Assemblies of thy people as indeed Hezekiahs recovery was a great blessing and a just cause of thankfulness to all the people and he saith we will sing my songs either as intending the Psalms which he meant to compose or else those Psalms of Thanksgiving which he and the people used to sing upon such occasions Ver. 21. For Isaiah had said Let them take a lump of figs c. See the Note 2 King 20.7 Ver. 22. Hezekiah also had said What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord See the Note above ver 7. In 2 King 20.8 it is What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day But the last clause is here only mentioned because this implies how earnest his desires were that he might go up to the Temple to praise God for his recovery CHAP. XXXIX VERSE 1. AT that time Merodach-Baladan the Son of Baladan King of Babylon sent Letters and a present to Hezekiah c. To wit by the consent and advice of his Princes whence it is that these Messengers are called the Embassadors of the Princes of Babylon 2 Chron. 32.31 But see the Notes for this whole passage 2 King 20.12 c. Ver. 2. And Hezekiah was glad of them c. To wit as being vain-gloriously joyed with thinking how renowned he was become even in remote Countries and withal haply as chuckering himself with a conceit that by the friendship of this King of Babylon he should be the safer for the future from any further Invasion of the Assyrians and if this were so it must needs argue that he was not so confident in Gods protection as the remembrance of Gods late miraculous Deliverance of him from the Assyrians might well have made him But for this and that which follows and shewed the house of his precious things See the Note 2 King 20.13 Ver. 3. What said these men and from whence came they unto thee c. This the Prophet demanded of the King not because he knew not who they were and whence they came but that by the Kings answer he might take occasion to deliver the Message which God had given him in charge As for his answer They are come from a far Country c.
the word which we Translate Prison some understand the restraint under which he was held after they had apprehended him yea including his imprisonment in the Grave where his dead Body was sealed up and watched by a guard of Souldiers And some add too those bonds of anguish and anxiety that were upon the Soul of our Saviour from the apprehension of Gods wrath when in his Agony he sweat drops of Blood Luke 22.44 and when upon the Cross he cryed out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Matth. 27.46 And then by Judgment they understand as is before said the Judgment that was pronounced against him and executed upon him And thus they make the meaning of this first branch of the Verse to be this That he was taken from all his sufferings rising again triumphantly out of the Grave and then ascending up into Heavenly Glory But 2. Others understand it only of what he suffered from his Enemies namely that the intent thereof is to shew either that after they had him under restraint and had pronounced sentence of Judgment against him he was taken away by death and some think too that in the expression here used there is relation to his being taken up to the Cross according to a like expression used else-where Joh. 12.32 or else the violence and precipitancy of their proceedings against him to wit that after they had him once under restraint they presently carried him away to the Judgment Seat and when Pilate had pronounced Judgment against him immediately without any delay they hurried him away to Execution so that as it is clear in the Evangelists all was done in a violent hurry they apprehended him but over night and he was condemned and executed the very next day And indeed because the Prophet both before and after these words speaks of his sufferings this last Exposition I judge the best But then for the following words and who shall declare his generation It is confessed that most of the ancient Writers have understood it either of the generation of Christ of God the Father from all Eternity as he was the only begotten Son of God See the Notes Psal 2.7 and Prov. 8.24 or of his Conception and Birth as man of the Virgin Mary without the knowledge of man And indeed both these are wonderful Mysteries which no man is able to comprehend or express But why in this place they should be mentioned it is hard to conceive And therefore the most of our later Expositors do understand it otherwise and that three several ways For 1. Some by his generation do understand the duration or continuance of his Life and Kingdom as indeed the word is sometimes taken Chap. 13.20 Having said in the foregoing words say some that he was from his sufferings taken up into Heavenly Glory he adds here expressing it by way of admiration that after that the continuance of his Age his Life and Kingdom would be uncountable even unto all Eternity it should not be with him as with them who being delivered from Death do yet afterwards dye again because Christ being raised from the dead dyeth no more Death hath no more dominion over him Rom. 6.9 Yea and some extend this also to the Life everlasting of his Church and People which indeed agreeth well with that which follows ver 10. He shall see his Seed he shall prolong his days Or say others Having in the foregoing words spoken of his being taken away by Death here he adds as in opposition thereto but who shall declare his generation as if he had said Though he lived so short a time and was cut off in the flower of his age yet who can count his age who shall live and reign even unto Eternity 2. Others by his generation understand the Men of that generation wherein he lived and so make the meaning of the words to be this who shall declare his generation that is who is able to set forth the monstrous impiety and wickedness of that generation of men that could deal thus with the Lord of Glory that came to save them And 3. Others by his generation understand his Spiritual Seed or Issue as the word is taken Psal 22.30 And this too is conceived to be added as in opposition to the foregoing branch thus Though he shall be taken away by Death yet oh what an innumerable generation shall spring from him In an ordinary way when a man is slain there is an end put to the enlarging of his Posterity but it shall not be so with him no man shall be able to count the Spiritual generation that shall spring up to him after his Death to wit of those that shall believe in him which is that is said afterwards ver 10. He shall see his Seed c. And then for the last Clause for he was cut off it is the very same word that is used concerning the death of the Messiah Dan. 9.26 from the Land of the Living See the Note Psal 27.13 for the transgression of my People was he stricken therein a reason is given why he should not be quite destroyed by Death but should be taken up into Heavenly glory for as is said before so some understand the first words of this Verse and should live and see his Seed or Generation unto Eternity namely because he should not dye for any wickedness of his own but in obedience to his Father and that to bear the punishment due to the Sins of Gods People that is the Sins of Gods Elect People say some See 2 Tim. 2.10 Or the Jews amongst others that put him to death And thus the Prophet might call them his People Though indeed because of those words for the transgression of my People many Expositors hold that these last words are spoken in the Person of God the Father Ver. 9. And he made his Grave with the wicked and with the rich in his Death c. It is in the Hebrew in his Deaths because of his many grievous sufferings which were as so many Deaths to him as the Apostle said of himself that he was in Deaths oft 2 Cor. 11.23 Not only because he was often in danger of Death but also because his Afflictions and Sufferings were as sore and bitter as Death it self There are many Expositions given of these words which seem to me extreamly forced and some which our Translation can by no means admit I will only mention those that may consist with our Translation and which have some appearance of probability in them 1. Some understand it of the just vengeance which befell the Jews for their Crucifying of Christ when they were destroyed by the Romans to wit that God the Father or Christ would bring that wicked People even the greatest and richest of them who are particularly mentioned because such being puffed up with their greatness and riches are usually most boldly wicked and oppressive of others to be as harshly and cruelly dealt with by others
Arthur Jackson 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pinx … st fecit Annotations UPON THE WHOLE BOOK OF ISAIAH WHEREIN First all such Passages in the Text are explained as were thought likely to be questioned by any Reader of ordinary Capacity Secondly In many Clauses those things are discovered which are needful and useful to be known and not so easily at the first reading observed And thirdly many places that might at first seem to contradict one another are reconciled Intended chiefly for the Assistance and Information of those that use constantly every day to read some part of the Bible and would gladly always understand what they read if they had some man to help them By ARTHUR JACKSON late Minister of St. FAITHS LONDON John 5.39 Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testifie of me Psal 119.27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts so shall I talk of thy wondrous works LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers-Chappel 1682. Academiae Cantabrigiensis Liber TO THE VIRTUOUS and PIOUS AND My very good Friend Mrs Elizabeth Beale IT is Solomon's advice Prov. 27.10 Thy friend and thy fathers friend forsake not that is use all good means to keep and preserve such a friend Such a friend have you always approved your self to the Author of these Annotations and all his Family and on that account I am forc'd to think my self obliged to take this opportunity of testifying my grateful sense of such Friendship by presenting to you these Annotations tho I know they would otherwise have been valued and made use of for the Authors as well as your own sake towards whom and all his you have inherited a most kind and affectionate Friendship from your Worthy and Pious Father deceased and your yet surviving eminently Holy Mother who is as great an instance of a religious humble uniform persevering Christian as any I know I am sure I need say nothing to inhance the value you have for the Authors Memory whose true plain hearted Cordial affectionate Friendship I have so often heard you mention with a great resentment of his loss But I may not forbear gratefully to take notice of your constant and frequent Visits of the Authors Widow my most dear Mother notwithstanding the infirmities of her age hath rendred her unable to be apprehensive of the greatness of your kindness I am never like to have any other way of returning your love and kindness than by hearty desires of the welfare of you and yours and praying to the Lord to return into your bosom full measure pressed down and running over And therefore I heartily pray the Lord to continue those earthly blessings which he hath bestowed on you and to enable you so wisely to improve them that they may not hinder but fit you for those better most solid and durable blessings which remain to be the portion of all that love and serve the Lord and that he himself may be a God and Father to you and yours shall be the Prayer of MADAM Your much obliged Friend and Servant in our Lord John Jackson TO THE Christian Reader ONE main cause why these Annotations which were by the Author in his life-time fairly transcribed with his own hand fit for the Press do come abroad so long after his decease is because some quires of the Copy being parted from the rest were mislay'd and not found again for many years I suppose the Authors Prefaces to the former Volumes do discharge me from any need of giving the Reader an account of them or directions how they may be made most useful to those of ordinary capacities to serve whose spiritual interest they were chiefly designed and towards whom especially the younger and more bashful persons he did always exercise a more than ordinary winning and encouraging freedom in his whole converse having no appearance of that morose austerity and reservedness for which some good men have been blamed and which oft-times hinders those who most need it from desiring and receiving direction and assistance from their Spiritual Guides And therefore I have only to recommend them to the Christian Readers serious perusal and humbly to beg the blessing of the Lord upon them There is only one service which I find many good people judg I owe to the Memory of my most endeared Father and that is to give some brief account of some such passages of his life as may be thought worthy a remark wherein I shall be religiously careful to mention nothing but what I know or have abundant ground to be assured of its truth Mr. Arthur Jackson was born in Little Waldingfield in Suffolk his Father Mr. John Jackson a Spanish Merchant of London dyed when he was young his Mother afterwards married Sir Tho. Crooke Baronet who carried her into Ireland where she dyed He was by his Guardian Mr. Joseph Jackson of Broomfield in Edmunton carried to Cambridg and placed in Trinity Colledg but under the Tuition of one so little minding the faithful discharge of that great Work he undertook that I have often heard him say He might have been half a year absent and his Tutor not known it But by the Grace of God he was betimes engaged in a way of serious constant and resolved studiousness seldom studying less than fourteen or sixteen hours in a day for the first three or four years as I have heard him sometimes declare and then I suppose he took up that course of rising at three or four a clock summer and winter which he practised ever since I can remember and till his death being scarce ever when well in bed at six a clock unless perusing his Notes and indeed he was at 73 as fit and willing for his work as at 40 his sight so good that without spectacles he could read the smallest Greek print in his study by Moon light but so short-sighted that he could not distinguish his friends when he met them in the streets which occasioned many persons who were not acquainted with him to think his not returning their civil salutes to be out of pride or slighting when 't was only his not seeing them occasioned his passing by them unsaluted He continued some time in the Colledg after he was Master of Arts till he married Mary the eldest Daughter of Mr. Tho. Bownert of Stoneberry in Hertfordshire with whom he lived 47 years in great endearment of mutual love by whom he had three sons and five daughters and who with two sons and two daughters do yet survive him He was married in the year 1619 not long after he was chosen by the Inhabitants of Michael's Woodstreet to be their Lecturer and after the death of Mr. Bragden their Pastour When the great Sickness came in 1624. he sent his Wife and Children to her Father and continued himself in the City discharging all the Offices and Duties of a faithful Pastor to his flock
being content to hazard his own life to serve the necessities of his peoples souls often visiting persons infected with that sad disease in which good and holy work the Lord did wonderfully preserve him from all infection when thousands fell on either hand of him I remember to have heard him relate how a Countrey Minister being to preach for him desired he might sit where he might not be near any that were or had been infected To whom he answered Alas Sir I wonder you will come to the City if you be so fearful of the Sickness for you cannot walk the streets nor come into any company but you meet those who are or have been infected And the next tidings he heard of him was his death of the plague He preached constantly twice on the Lords day and likewise catechised the children before Sermon and repeated the Sermon in his Family to which many of his hearers did resort and in Lent always spent some hours in the Church two days every week in examining and instructing the men and maid-servants and others to fit and prepare them for the Lords Supper the benefit of which I know some yet alive that use to mention with thankfulness to God and him and indeed in Catechising he had such a particular faculty that he did not only profit but please so that some who at first came with great unwillingness were so affected with his serious loving and familiar way that afterwards they were eagerly desirous to go and some have declared they never went any whither with more pleasure than to him on that account He likewise Preached every Holy-day for many years being desirous to help Servants and others to improve that Liberty which they then had for the best and highect purposes in which courses the Lord was pleased to give him many Seals to his Ministry by the conversion of many from their sin and folly unto the Lord to whom he was a true spiritual Father Not long after his coming to London thâ— Company of Cloth-workers of which Society his Father and Vncle were Members and Governours chose him for their Minister before whom he preached every Quarter-day at the Chappel commonly called Lambs Chappel where was a turn-up Table used sometimes for the Communion and at other times for the Master to sit in when the Governours had occasion to meet for ordering the affairs of the Chappel and Alms-people this was made known to Bishop Laud then of London who sent for Mr. Jackson and declared his great dislike of it but understanding from him that he had no power to order any thing there nor other concern than to preach and pray at the desire of the Company he was satisfied but in discourse concerning the Table said I know not what you young Divines think but for my part I know no other place of residence that God hath on earth but the High Altar He did not I suppose then think of the good mans heart where not only the Scripture but the best of the Heathen Theology assures us God most truly dwells as also the Homily which tells us The chief and special Temples of God wherein he hath greatest pleasure and most delighteth to dwell and continue in Hom. of right use of the Church are the bodies and minds of true Christians and the chosen people of God Though he never read but was fully resolved against reading the Book for Sports on the Lords Day yet Gods Providence preserved him from being disturbed about it It was told him That some complaining of him to the A. B. L. he made answer Mr. Jackson is a quiet and peaceable man and therefore I will not have him medled with or words to that effect The same Eulogy he hath since had from another in the same Place Spoken to Dr. V. H. viz. A. B. Sh. notwithstanding the known difference in his judgment concerning Church-Government and Ceremonies He continued in the Rectory of Michaels Woodstreet many years notwithstanding the maintenance was so small that he hath been heard to declare That he could evidence that he had spent 2000 l. of his own Estate since he came among them Then he was chose to Wapping and proffered Sixscore pound a year and an house but his old Neighbours prevailed with him to stay with them upon their promising 100 l. a year but in two years time they fell short so far that his Friends that most desired his stay were forc'd to persuade him to accept of any other Offer which being known he was soon after called to be their Pastor by the Inhabitants of Faiths under Pauls where he continued preaching twice every Lords day except when about seventeen weeks in the Fleet for refusing to swear before that which was then called An High Court of Justice till Aug. 44. 1662. Vpon his Majesties Return he was chosen by the Ministers of London to present the Bible to Him in his first passage through the City which he performed with a short gratulatory speech to which his Majesty made that pious and gracious Answer taking the Bible into his hands This is the Book which I shall make the Rule of my Government and the Rule of my Life In both places of his fixed Ministry he had a great and special care of young persons using not only common and publick but private and peculiar means of engaging their Souls to and strengthning and truly confirming them in real holiness goodness and religion and therefore did perswade and prevail with several of the most serious and considering young men both married and unmarried to meet weekly together and by prayer and holy conference to stir up and provoke one another to a good and holy life he himself often meeting with them and praying with and for them advising them how to manage the work for their Souls best advantage and cautioning them against those spiritual evils which are apt to invade and creep into the most holy performances And that their discourses might be the more useful he advised them at one meeting to propound a question of which at the next each of them gave such account as they were enabled to do the benefit of which many of them have often and still do with great affection and thankfulness remember and mention And indeed I find the Learned and Worthy Dr. Simon Patrick at the close of his Sermon at the Funeral of his indeared Friend Mr. Samuel Jacombe taking notice of this course as a singular remark of Mr. Jacomb's early piety and a good means of promoting Religion in the Souls of young persons and I doubt not bat he spake his own experience when he saith of it The benefit of which some can to this day remember which beneficial thing I hope he doth still continue to promote in those great advantages and opportunities which his present circumstances put into his hands After Mr. Jackson was discharged from publick Service he retired into the Country first to Hadly near Barnet