enemies q.d. Although I have heretofore given the meat which thou hast taken paines for to the Assyrians and to the Babylonians and other thine enemies yet now I will doe so no more The sonnes of the stranger shall ntt drink of thy wine for which thou hair laboured i. e. Strangers such as the Assyrians and the Babylonians are shall not take away thy wine which thou hast laboured for by force and drinke wtthout thee 9. But they that have gathered tt shall eate it i. e. But they that have been at the cost or at the paines to sow the corne and to reape it and to gather it into the Barne shall eate it Haâ—e gathered it By gathering the corn into the Barne understand by a Syllepsis all other costs and paines necessary for the having of corne It i. e. The corne v. 8. Shall eare it Supple In the courts of the Lords house to wit the Temple See Deut. 14. v. 23. But note that the Tithe onely of the corne c. was to be eaten before the Lord in the court of his house but their eating of the Tithe there according to the Lords command was as it were an earnest that they should peaceably eate the whole harvest at their own places And praise the Lord Supple For his bounty and goodnesse in giving them corne to eate They that have brought it together i. e. They that have brought the wine together into their cellars and store-houses out of their severall Vineyards c. It That is the wine v. 8. Shall drink it in the courts of my holinesse i. e. Shall drinke it in my courts as I have commanded Deut. 14.23 In the courts of my holinesse i. e. In my courts Gods holinesse is put here Per metonymiam adjuncti for God himselfe so that in the courts of my holinesse is q.d. In the courts of me that is in my courts 10. Goe thorow goe thorow the gates q.d. Make hast make hast and goe yee into your own Land O yee Jewes which have been held here in Babylon captives This is spoken in the person of Cyrus or some from Cyrus to the Jewes which were in captivity and signifieth to them that they might goe out of their captivity so soon as they would Prepare yee the way of the people i. e. Prepare yee the way of the Jewes by which they are to passe from Babylon to Judea that their way may be without let or hinderance This is spoken to the way-makers or those which were set to see to it that the wayes were good See Cap. 40. v. 3. This sudden turning from persons to persons is done as if the Jewes were even then hastening to depart out of Babylon to their own home by which is signified the certainty of their returne Cast up cast up the highway See Cap. 57.14 Gather up tho stones Supple Out of the way in which they must goe that they may no way trouble or hinder them in their way Lift up a standard for the people This is spoken to other persons then before And the sense is q.d. call the Jewes together from the severall places of their captivity that they may goe together to their own Land He alludeth to the manner of Souldiers for whom when they were to meet together a standard was set up for them to meet at 11. Behold the Lord hath proclaimed untâ— the end of the world supple saying i. e. Behold the Lord hath sent out his proclamation into all even into the uttermost parts of the world saying The proclamation here mentioned may relate to that proclamation which Cyrus made 2 Chron. Cap. 36. v. 22.23 For what Cyrus did by motion from the Lord the Lord himselfe may be said to doe Say yee to the daughter of Sion i. e. Say yee to Sion By the daughter of Sion is meant Sion that is Jerusalem As Cap. 1.8 And he speakes to Sion as to a woman by a Prosopopoeia And the sense of those words say yee to the daughter of Sion is q.d. Let the daughter of Sion know for these words say yee are to be taken indefinitely This and what followeth is the substance of the proclamation which the Lord proclaimed Behold thy salvation commeth i. e. Behold thy Saviour commeth even he which will save thee out of the hands of the Babylonians Salvation is put here for Saviour Per Metonymiam effectus The Saviour here meant is the Lord who saved the Jewes out of the hands of the Babylonians by Cyrus Behold his reward is with him i. e. Behold he hath brought with him the reward with which he will reward those Jewes which are meek and mourne and have not departed from him but have put their trust in him in the midst of their affliction which they suffered in captivity See Cap. 40.10 And his worke before him i. e. And his reward is in a readinesse This is a repetition of the former sentence By worke is meant the reward due to the work pe Metonymiam efficientis When he saith his worke or his reward is before him It may be that the Prophet alludeth to some such games as the Apostle alludeth to 1 Cor. 9.24 Where they that came to be Judges of the victory had the garland which was to be given to the victor carried before them to the Stadium or place of exercise and when they were there they had it lying before them ready to bestow upon him who deserved it best And they shall call them the holy people i. e. And they to wit the Jewes which are now in captivity shall be called the holy people They shall call them is put here for they shall be called The holy people i. e. The people whom God hath severed from all the people of the earth and preferred above them all by his blessings See Cap. 4.3 The redeemed of the Lord i. e. The people whom the Lord redeemed out of the hands of the Babylonians And thou shalt be called sought out i. e. And thou O Sion or O Jerusalem shall be sought out What it is for one to be called so or so See verse 4. Sought out i. e. Shee which was lost like a lost sheep but now is sought out and found againe See Ezek. Cap. 34.16 A City not forsaken See vers 4. ISAIAH CHAP. LXIII WHo is this that commeth from Edom The Lord appearing to Isaiah in a vision like a man of warre comming from Edom Isaiah asketh him who he is who receiveth his answer to this and other questions which he maketh in this and the verses following By this vision is signified the victory which the Jewes should have over the Edomites their enemies which victory was atchieved by the Jewes under Judas Machabaeus of which you may reade 1 Mach. 5.3 The Edomites were a people which did alwayes rejoyce at the afflictions and miseries of the Iewes Psal 137.7 Therefore it was very materiall for the Iewes to be acquainted with this victory which they should have over the
in saying We have made lyes our refuge and under falshood have we hid our selves he speaks rather as the Truth was and as he interpreted it then as they spoke for they would not have called their specious doings lyes and falsehood Note again that it is plain from hence that many which were in Jerusalem and they chief men too because they believed not the Word of the Lord spoken by Isaiah concerning the safeguard of Jerusalem when the Assyrians should come against Judah and because they feared the power of the Assyrians and thought that Jerusalem would not be able to stand out against it betook themselves to humane policy and leaving Jerusalem thought to comply with the Assyrians and to make their peace with them who nevertheless failed in their purpose and were destroyed when as they might have been safe if they had never stirred out of Jerusalem 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord God i. e. Yet thus saith the Lord God Take Therefore for Yet and put an emphasis upon the words The Lord God for he opposeth these to those words Because or Though ye have said Vers 15. q. d. Though ye have said c. yet thus saith the Lord c. Behold I lay in Sion c. q. d. Behold I lay indeed in Jerusalem a foundation for those which believe but yet I lay judgment to the line for the wicked which believe not c. This is the sence in brief of this and the following Verse Sion i. e. Jerusalem See cap. 1.8 I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone a tryed stone a precious corner stone a sure foundation By the foundation and stone here mentioned may be meant the Word of Promise which God made to the inhabitants of Sion that is to the inhabitants of Jerusalem that notwithstanding the threatenings of the Assyrians they should be safe For as a house which is built upon a strong foundation is safe notwithstanding the blowing of the winds and the falling of the rain and the beating of the floods because it is founded upon a strong foundation So were as many safe as were in Jerusalem and relyed upon the Word of Promise which God made notwithstanding the fury and threatenings of the Assyrians because they relyed upon the Word of God which is as a sure foundation and which endureth for ever See the like Metaphor Cap. 14.32 Yet because in the second and more sublime sence this foundation is interpreted of Christ 1 Pet. 2.6 We may interpret and perhaps with more probability this of Hezekiah who as in other things and elsewhere he is a Type of Christ so may he be in this and here And Hezekiah may be said to be layd in Sion for a foundation because he was the foundation of safety against the Assyrians to all which remained in Jerusalem For God promised to save Jerusalem and all that kept themselves within her for his sake and he might be well called the foundation of that safety of which he was so principal a Cause by a Metaphor A stone He means such a stone which used to be layd for a foundation of a building which is great and durable A tryed stone i. e. A stone tryed and found fit for such an use as to lie for a foundation A precious corner stone i. e. A corner stone or chief stone of great worth And Hezekiah might be called a precious corner stone because of his great vertues In the Hebrew dialect the corner signifieth that part of a building which by its own strength alone sustaineth and upholdeth the whole structure Hence Magistrates and Princes which are the props and upholders of the Commonwealth are called the corners Judg. 20.2 1 Sam. 14.38 Isai 19.13 The corner stone therefore in the Hebrew phrase is as much as a sure foundation-stone So that all these words A stone a tryed stone a corner stone signifie but one and the same thing A sure foundation Hezekiah might be called a sure foundation because as a sure foundation cannot easily be shaken or overthrown so Hezekiah could not be shaken in his faith by the threats of the Assyrians nor could the Assyrians with all their power overthrow him or Jerusalem which God had given him by force of Arms. He that believeth Supple That which I say or that Promise which the Lord hath made Shall not make haste Shall not need to make haste or will not make haste Supple Out of Jerusalem to run into Egypt or Pathros or Cush or Elam or into any other far Country to save himself as many which believed not did at the hearing of Sennacheribs coming against Judah with a mighty Army nor will he make haste to comply with the Assyrians and make his peace with them as many others did but will abide in Jerusalem and shall be safe there What is spoken here of Hezekiah in the first sence is spoken of our Saviour Christ in the second and more sublime sence as appears 1 Pet. 2.6 and Rom. 9.33 For as we have often observed and shall often observe the temporal deliverance of the Jews was a type of the spiritual deliverance of the Christians As therefore the temporal deliverance of the Jews was a type of the spiritual deliverance of the Christians So they which were any way the cause of the temporal deliverance of the Jews were a type of Christ our Saviour so far forth as they were the causes of that temporal deliverance And the Holy Ghost while it speaks of them doth so order the words of the Scripture as that the same words which are spoke of them may oftentimes be applyed to Christ also yea oftentimes be more properly applyed to Christ then to them 17. Judgment also will I lay to the line q. d. But yet judgment also will I lay to the line and bring desolation and destruction upon you according as I have threatened you By judgment is here meant that desolation and destruction which God brought upon the men of Judah by Sennacherib and by the line is meant the threats of that judgment which God gave out by his Prophets by whom he threatened a great desolation and destruction of all in the Land of Judah excepting those which believed and were in Jerusalem onely Now as a Carpenter frames his Work to his Line so God saith here that he would bring his judgments to pass according to those his threats And righteousness to the Plummet This is a repetition of the former sentence And as by judgment he meant the desolation and destruction which the Lord brought upon the Land of Judah by Sennacherib so also doth he mean by righteousness And that desolation and destruction he calls judgment and righteousness per Metonymiam adjuncti because it was just and right and no other then the men of Judah deserved To the Plummet By the Plummet understand the line also to which the Plummet is appendent by a Syllepsis And the hail shall sweep the refuge of lyes The sence is q. d.
when he redeemed them by Cyrus out of the Babylonish Captivity Of which salvation our Prophet speaketh often from the fourth Chapter of this Prophesie to the end thereof And in the 45. Chapter and the eighth Verse he speakes of it Metaphorically as he doth here that is as of a Branch or a Plant which the Lord maketh to spring out of the Earth The branch of the Lord shall be beautifull and glorious c. q. d. The Salvation which God will work for those which escape of Jews shall bring honour and glory to them that escape and make them honourable and glorious â—n the eyes of all men How honourable and glorious the Jews were by reason of this Salvation see among other places Chap. 40. v. 5. Chap. 41. v. 10. c. Chap. 43. v. 14. Chap. 45. v. 17. Chap. 49. v. 9 23. c. Chap. 52. v. 9. Chap 54. v. 1. c. And the fruit of the Earth i. e. And the fruit which shall spring up out of the Earth This is but a repetition of the former Sentence And the fruit of the Earth signifieth the same here as the Branch of the Lord doth there Note that the fruit of the Earth is of larger extent than the fruit of Trees or Plants or Branches For not onely the friut of Trees and of Plants and of Branches but Trees and Plants and Branches themselves may be called the fruits of the Earth And comely i. e. And an Ornament For them that are escaped of Israel i. e. For those Jews which shall escape death and survive after the destruction and captivity which the Babylonians shall bring upon that People Of Israel i. e. Of the Jews to wit the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin see Chap. 1.3 3. He that is left in Sion and he that remaineth in Hierusalem By him that is left in Sion and him that remaineth in Hierusalem is meant he that remaineth alive of the Jews after the Babylonish captivity Note therefore that in Sion and in Hierusalem is as if he should say in Jacob and in Israel For as Jacob or Israel is often put for the Jewes and that per Metonymiam Efficientis Because Jacob or Israel was the Father of the Jews So is Sion or Hierusalem put for the same Jews by the same figure Because Sion or Hierusalem was the Mother of the Jewes But observe that Jacob or Israel was the true naturall Father of the Jews But Sion or Hierusalem was called their Mother onely by a Metaphor yet that she was so at least called their Mother we may learn from Chap. 49. Vers 20. and Chap. 50. Vers 1. and Gal. 4. Vers 25. But yet we may take Sion and Hierusalem here plainly without a Metaphor that the sense of these words may be this Viz. And he Supple of the Jews which is left alive Supple and shall dwell in Sion and he Supple of the Jews which remaineth Supple alive and shall dwell in Hierusalem after the Babylonish captivity shall c. For note that though many of the Jews survâ—ved after the Babylonish captivity yet the Blessings spoken of in this Chapter did appertain onely to them which returned and dwelt in Hierusalem Shall be called Holy i. e. Shall be holy For the Hebrews doe often use vocall verbes for reall and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be called for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be To be holy doth primarily and originally signifie to be separated from others by way of excellencie Hence they which excell the vulgar sort of Men in Piety and Religion are commonly called Holy and in this sense may these Men be called Holy in this place Yet because this place speakes both in the precedent and Subsequent Verses of the blessings of God to this People in keeping and preserving them I had rather take Holy here for such as God separates and sets apart from other People by his blessings to them and hedge of protection about them by which he maketh a difference between them and other People In which sence the word Holy is taken Exod. 19. Vers 5 6. where we thus read Now therefore if yee will obey my voice indeed then shall ye be a peculiar treasure unto me above all the people For all the earth is mine And ye shall be unto me a Kingdome of Priests and an holy Nation In opposition to Holinesse thus taken God is said to prophâ—ne the Princes of the Sanctuary Chap. 43. Vers 28. Every one that is written among the living in Hierusalem i. e. Every one which shall be alive after the Babylonish Captivity and shall live in Hierusalem shall be called Holy He alludeth here in this phrase to the Mustering of an Army after a Battle where the names of those which escaped in Battle are written and entered into a Muster-Roule or Muster-Book that so they m ght know what they have lost and what forces they have left 4. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth c. i. e. When the Lord shall have washed away the sins c. He likeneth the sin of the Soul here to the filth of the body And the taking sin away to the washing away of that filth by water But the way by which God took away the filth of sin here spoken of was by destroying the incorrigible sinner and bringing others to amendment of life both which he did by the Babylonians into whose hands he gave them The filth of the Daughter of Sion Read Chap. 3.16 To wh ch place the Prophet doth here allude The bloud Bloud is put here Metonymice for Murder by which the bloud of man is shed And that againe is put Hypâ—rbolice for Oppression See Chap. 1. Vers 15. The Prophet doth here allude to the Oppression which he spake of Chap. 3. Vers 12. c. From the midst of her i. e. From her or out of her An Hebrew Periphrase By the Spirit of judgement The Spirit of Judgement is put here Periphrastically for Judgement the word Spirit redounding by an Hebraisme By Judgement the Prophet meaneth the Calamities and Punishment which God brought upon this People by the Babylonians which kind of Calamities and Punishments are called Judgemenes because of the Justnesse of them and that by a Metaphor from those Punishments which are inflicted upon a Malefactor upon a Just Sentence or Judgement given against him And by the spirit of burning i. e. And by burning for the word Spirit redounds here as it did before He meaneth the same thing by burning here as he did by Judgement just before But he alludeth here to the manner of Goldsmiths and other the like Crafts-mens who purifie their Gold and other mettals from their drosse by Fire and Burning 5. And the Lord will create upon evey dwelling place c. The meaning of this Place is that God will protect them and keep them in all their dwellings and will be no lesse pâ—esent with them for this purpose than â—e was with their fathers when he
Answer which Ahaz made to Isaiah He calls them the house of David to mind them how farre they had degenerated from their Father David To wearie man i. e. To vex a man as I am while he is wearie and not able to bear it But will you weary my God also q. d. But will you with your crossnesse vex my God also who hath sent me to you and hath offered you by me to do such things for you untill you have made him weary also to bear your doings He speakes of God here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 14. Therefore the Lord himselfe shall give you a signe q. d. Therefore because you will not ask a signe of the Lord when he bids you v. 12. The Lord himselfe shall give you a signe without asking Or Therefore may be taken here for Neverthelesse q. d. Yet neverthelesse though you are so perverse as that you will not aske him a signe when he bids you the Lord himself will of himself give you a signe See cap. 30. v. 18. Behold a Virgin i. e. Behold one who is now a Virgin This Virgin to speak of this place in its first sence is most probably thought to be that Prophetesse which our Prophet took to wife Cap. 8. v. 3. Shall conceive By a Husband which she shall take And bear a Sonne It may be that this sonne was born before Rezin and Pekah laid siege to Hierusalem For that which is here spoken was spoken at that time in which it was tould the house of David that Syria was confederate with Ephraim v. 2. And no doubt but the house of David heard of this Confederacie so soone as it was made And it may be that they did not begin to levie Souldiers so soon as ever they had entered into this confederacie Moreover so great an Armie as Rezin and Pekah marched with against Judah could not suddainly be mustered and gathered together and fitted for a march And when they were come into Judâ—a it asked some time to vanquish that before they came to lay siedge to Hierusalem which was the last thing they did and in the mean time when Ahaz saw that this Virgin was with child he might be confirmed in the truth of the Prophets words being that the fruit of the womb is a speciall guift of the Lord. Immanuel This name Immanuel signifieth God with us Matth. 1. v. 23. And it was given to this Child to signifie that God would be with the Jewes so that though he suffered them to be diminished and brought low by their Enemies yet he would not suffer them to be utterly cut off that they should be no more a People Marvail not that God gave this name Immanuel for a speciall Sign For Isaiah saith that his Children were for Signes and for Wonders Chap. 8 v. 18. which they were onely by reason of the mystery and signification of their names Probable it is as I said that this Immanuel was the Sonne of the Prophetesse which is mentioned Chap. 8. v. 3. And that she conceived him by Isaiah and that this Immanuel was the same with Mahar-shalal-hash-baz mentioned in the eighth Chapter compare the first verse of Chap. 8. with verse 8. of that Chapter for it is not unusuall with the Hebrewes that one man should have many names Note here that though in the first sense the Virgin here meant was the Virgin which Isaiah afterwards took to wife by whom he had a Sonne called Immanuel Yet in a second and more sublime sense the Virgin Mary is here signified who was a Virgin and a Mother both in sensu Composito as the Schoole speakes that is a Virgin even when she was a Mother And the Sonne which was born of her was Immanuel not in name but in deed For he was true God who being made Man dwelt with us and among us Matth. 1.23 and was our Salvation of which Immanuel Immanuel the Sonne of Isaiah was but a type The temporall Calamities and Afflictions which the Jews suffered by their enemies were Types and Figures of the Spirituall miseries which men suffered by Satan and their sinnes And this calamity which the Jewes suffered by Rezin and Pekah was a Type and Figure thereof as well as any other As therefore Immanuel which was born of her which was a Virgin at this time though she afterwards conceived by Man was a sign that the Jewes should not utterly perish but be delivered at length from this temporall calamity and destruction So was Christ Jesus who was the true Immanuel God with us born of a Virgin which conceived him by the Holy Ghost a sign that Men should not all perish eternally but a remnant at least should be saved everlastingly And a greater sign was he than that Immanuel in that he was not onely signum portendens but signum operans a sign not onely foreshewing but working out their redemption 15. Butter and Honey shall he eat that he may know to refuse the evill and choose the good As milk and honey signifieth Plenty and Delicates Exod. 3. v. 8. So doth butter and honey Job 20. v. 17. And the Prophet saith That this Child should eat butter and honey till he cometh to know how to refuse the evill and choose good to shew the plenty of food which should be in Jerusalem during the siedge because Ahaz and the Jewes feared that if Rezin and Pekah should lay siedge to Jerusalem though it should happen that they were not overcome by force yet they should at length be starved out by famine That he may know i. e. Untill he knoweth For this Particle That signifieth here not the end or intent of a thing but the term of time as also the Originall doth To refuse the evill and choose the good By this Phrase is signified the Age which is able to make good use of Reason and which hath understanding to discern between Good and Evill which Children are held commonly to have when they are about seven yeares old So Infants are usually described by this That they have no knowledge between Good and Evill as Deut. 1. v. 39. 16. For before the Child shall know to refuse the evill and choose the good q. d. And or Moreover before this child shall come to the use of Reason For is put here for And or Moreover The Prophet doth here prevent an Objection For because he said that the Child should eat butter and honey till he came to be so old as to make use of his reason the Jewes might object out of fear that though they should have plenty so long yet afterwards Rhezin and Pekah might starve them out and so vanquish them He therefore answers here and saith That that shall not be for before that time both Pekah and Rezin shall be dead The Land i. e. The Lands Viz. of Syria and Israel A Singular number is put here for a Plurall Or else he speaks of them Two as One Land because they were at this time joyned
of Israel but destroyed the first-born of the Egyptians 6. Turn ye to him Turn ye therefore unto him O ye inhabitants of Jerusalem From whom the children of Israel i. e. From whom the men of Judah I take Israel here for the two Tribes of Judah and Benjamin as cap. 1.3 which two Tribes go often under the name of the men of Judah because Judah was the chief of the two and they two onely of all the Tribes of Israel were faithful to the heirs of David King of Judah Have deeply revolted By forsaking him and seeking to Egypt vers 1. 7. For in that day i. e. And in that day Supple That the Assyrians shall distress you and besiege you For is put here for And. Every man shall cast away his Idol i. e. Let every man cast away his Idols He puts a future tense of the Indicative mood for an Imperative See Cap. 30. vers 22. For a sin q. d. Whereby ye have sinned against God This Particle For is a sign not of the intent but of the event 8. Then shall the Assyrian i. e. Then shall the Assyrians which besiege Jerusalem He puts the Assyrian for the Assyrians the singular for a plural number Not of a mighty man Supple But of an Angel See 2 King 19.35 Not of a mean man Supple But of a mighty Angel When he saith neither of a mighty man nor of a mean man he excludeth all sorts of men But he i. e. But Sennacherib himself King of Assyria Sennacherib was not come to Jerusalem he was coming when the Angel destroyed his Army but was no further then Nob cap. 10.32 He puts a Relative here without an Antecedent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sennacherib himself was not slain by the Angel as appears 2 King 19.36 but escaped and fled into Assyria with fear and shame enough which to a generous nature was worse then death it self From the Sword Supple Of the Angel And his young men i. e. And his Court attendance or they which wait upon him Or by his young men may be meant that part of his Army which did attend him which certainly was of the most able bodyed men though the Commanders thereof might be old and such are young men 2 Sam. 2.14 Shall be discomfited i. e. Though they brag and boast and are very lustie shall be discouraged and become so heartless as that they shall tremble and be afraid at the moving of every leaf 9. And he shall passe over to his strong hold for fear i. e. And Sennacherib himself shall run and not stay for fear till he gets to Nineveh that strong City and to the Castle of that City 2 Kings 19.36 And his Princes i. e. And his Nobles and chief Commanders of that part of his army which was with him Shall be afraid of the Ensign i. e. Shall be afraid if they do but see an Ensign thinking when they see it that some company of their enemies are nigh at hand or do pursue them Whose fire is in Sion i. e. Who hath fire in Sion wherewith to destroy the adversaries thereof or thus whose Altar is in Sion whereon the fire burneth continually to burn the Burnt-offerings which are offered to him Or thus who dwells in Sion for where a man keeps his fire there is his habitation If God have fire in Sion he will use it against the enemies of Sion if he be honored by sacrifice in Sion he will preserve Sion for his honors sake If he dwells in Sion he will not suffer the Assyrians to cast him out of his house but will defend his dwelling place In Sion i. e. In Jerusalem A Synecdoche of the part for the whole And his furnace at Jerusalem By his furnace may be understood his dwelling place by a Metaphor from such tradesmen which use a furnace in their Trade which furnace for their more convenience they have at their dwelling houses yea whatsoever is meant by fire before may be meant by the furnace here because a furnace is of no use without fire and so these may be a repetition of the former words ISAIAH CHAP. XXXII BEhold a King shall reign in righteousness By this King he meant Hezekiah King of Judah whose praises he here declareth but in a more sublime sence is meant Christ Jesus who was King of righteousness and of whom Hezekiah was a Type Note that this cohereth with the former Chapter and containeth a reason why the Lord would destroy the Assyrians namely for Hezekiahs sake See the same reason of the same thing cap. 9.6 and cap. 10.27 and cap. 11.1 Note that as the Lord did destroy the Assyrians which were the enemies of Jerusalem and delivered the Jews for Hezekiahs sake So doth the Lord destroy the spiritual enemies of his Church redeem his faithful people for Christs sake yea and through Christ In righteousness i. e. With righteousness administring Justice equally to every man And Princes By Princes he meaneth such as this King to wit Hezekiah should make Princes that is Judges and Magistrates in the Land In judgement i. e. With Justice 2. And a man c. He repeateth here what he said before and whereas he said a King before he saith a man here but meaneth the same man viz. Hezekiah As an hiding place from the wind i. e. Shall be as a place in which a man may hide himself or keep himself from the blustring wind What is meant by this we shall shew in the latter end of the Verse A covert from the tempest i. e. A covert in which a man may hide or save himself from the tempest As rivers of water in a dry place Rivers of water must needs be a great comfort to Travellers which travel in dry places where they may have the waters of those Rivers to quench their thirst withall As a shadow of a great rock in a weary Land A shadow or shady place is a great refreshing to those which travel in the Summer time in a hot scorching wilderness when they are even scorched with the heat of the Sun He mentioneth the shadow of a rock rather then of a tree because he speaks of a wilderness where there are more rocks then trees In a weary Land i. e. In an hot scorching wilderness which tireth and wearyeth those which travel in it Metonymia Effecti By all these Metaphorical expressions the Prophet meaneth that Hezekiah should right those that suffer wrong and be a great comfort to those that are afflicted in their misery 3. The eyes of them that see By them that see he meaneth Judges and Magistrates whom he called Princes vers 1. whose duty is to see and look though not upon persons yet into the Causes which are brought before them and that throughly too before they give sentence Shall not be dim Their eyes shall not be dim because they shall look acutely into the Causes which are brought before them they shall not be blinded either with ignorance or affection or
no Counsellor that when I asked of them could answer c. I beheld and there was no man i. e. I beheld the Idols of the Nations and there was none viz. that could answer a word There was no man i. e. And there was not any one of all the Idols The word man as it is taken here signifieth no more then any Even amongst them i. e. Even amongst those Idols This Chapter speaketh of the Idols of the Nations as though they were assembled together in a Court to maintain their Divinity against the Lord And here the Lord doth as it were point at them being so assembled when he saith I beheld even amongst them And there was no Counsellor i. e. And there was no Counsellor amongst them all He calls an Idol a Counsellor And Idols might be called Counsellors either because Idolaters did call them their Counsellors or because they did seek to them for counsel though their Idols were mute and could not answer them yet there were many Idols of the Heathen which did answer when their counsel was asked and yet not they but the Devils and evil spirits which were in them for Devils and evil spirits did sometimes lurk in the Idols to keep men the faster to Idolatry And therefore it is that what the Gentiles did sacrifice to Idols they sacrificed to Devils Deut. 32.17 Psal 106.36 37. 1 Cor. 10.20 21. For these Reasons I say might Idols be called Counsellors yet I conceive that there is a more peculiar Reason why Idols may be called Counsellors here to wit because they took counsel together at this time how they might defend their Divinity against the Holy One of Israel who denyed it See Cap. 45.21 He calls them therefore Counsellors here by a Sarcasm That when I asked of them Supple Whether they had foretold or could from their own selves foretell what I had foretold concerning the Restauration of the Jews 29. They are all vanity i. e. All the Idols of the Nations are vain things and things of nought Vanity is put here for vain an Abstract for a Concrete Their works are nothing See v. 24. Their molten images i. e. The molten Images which the Nations worship The Lord seems to have pointed at the Idolaters which were then in Court in the sight of all when he said Their molten Images c. And to make this sudden turn or Apostrophe to them from the Idols Are wind i. e. Are vain empty things And confusion i. e. And a mass or chaos of Confusion mishapen things c. He puts confusion here for that in which there is a confusion of things by a Metonymy ISAIAH CHAP. XLII BEhold my servant c. By the servant of God is here meant Isaiah himself But though in the first sence Isaiah be here meant yet in the second and more sublime sence this is to be understood of Christ of whom Isaiah was here a figure Matth. 12.18 For as Isaiah brought good tydings to the Jews of their Redemption from the temporal Captivity which they suffered under the Babylonians So did Christ bring good tydings of mans Redemption from the spiritual Captivity which they endured under Sin and Satan c. Whom I uphold i. e. Whom I will preserve in the work in which I employ him He puts a present for a future tense and useth a Metaphor of which see cap. 41. vers 10. Mine Elect i. e. Him whom I have made choyce of to do my business In whom my Soul delighteth i. e. Whom I love and who is dear to me He speaks here of God as of a man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and puts the Soul for the whole man by a Synecdoche I have put my spirit upon him i. e. I have furnished him with gifts fit for the work to which I have called him By Spirit is meant Metonymicè the gift of Gods Spirit He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles i. e. He shall denounce my judgments against the Babylonians for holding my people captive When he saith He shall bring forth he alludes to a man which is an housholder which brings forth what is needful out of his treasure or store-house for his servants See Matt. 13.52 2. He shall not cry i. e. He shall not be clamorous and full of noise and cry q. d. He shall do what I command him without passion or bitterness of spirit Nor lift up Supple His voyce in passion or anger Nor cause his voyce to be heard in the streets i. e. He shall not be of that violence of spirit as they are of who when they are angry speak so loud as that they are heard abroad in the streets by those which pass by the doors or windows of the house 3. A bruised reed shall he not break and the smoking flax shall he not quench i. e. He shall not be grievous or heavy to any but meek and gentle to all As for these phrases they are Proverbial and Metaphorical taken from a man who treads so lightly as that if he should tread upon a bruised reed yet he would not break it or if he should tread upon the wiek of a candle with his foot which is almost extinguished yet he would not quite put it out Smoking flax By flax is meant the wiek of a candle which was wont to be made of flax per Metonymiam Materiae And that he calls smoking flax which rather smokes then burns and though there is no flame or fire in it yet the smoke doth give some resemblance of a flame and makes it more easily to receive a flame then if it were quite cold and smoked not He shall bring forth judgment unto truth i. e. He shall denounce my judgments in truth that is truly and faithfully without any mixture of his own passions Vnto truth Some render the Original here In truth others render it unto truth and say that it signifieth as much as in truth But though there be some difference in the rendering I finde no difference in the sence He may be said to bring forth judgment unto truth that therefore brings it forth that judgment and truth may meet together or that he may joyn judgment with truth And then do judgment and truth meet and then are they joyned together when judgment is denounced or delivered truly and faithfully 4. He shall not fail nor be discouraged q. d. But though he be not furious and violent in execution of his office yet he shall not be timorous and want courage for he shall not fail in doing his office through fear nor be therein discouraged till he shall have made known Gods judgments in the Earth Till he have set judgment in the Earth i. e. Till he hath made known the judgments which God threateneth to the men which dwell on the Earth These judgments were especially denounced against the Babylonians Some think that the Prophet alludes here to the setting of a King or Queen on their Throne when he speaks of
Land of thy destruction for thy Land which is destroyed putting a Substantive of the Genitive Case for an Adjective or a Participle after the Hebrew manner Even now i. e. So soon as ever they to wit thy children which gather themselves together to come to thee shall be come to thee And they that swallowed thee up i. e. And the Babylonians which destroyed thee and now dwell in thee c. See verse 17. He saith swallowed thee up for destroyed thee by a Metaphor from a Lion or Beare or some such ravenous Beast or other which is wont to swallow downe his prey And they that swallowed thee up shall be farre away Read these words as with a Parenthesis 20. Thy children which thou shalt have i. e. These words have their immediate connexion with the formost words of verse 19. viz. with those Thy wast and thy desolate places and the Land of thy destruction shall even now be too narrow by reason of the Inhabitants And are for sense the same with them The children which thou shalt have Supple Even now He speakes as though the Jewes which were in Captivity in Babylon and dispersed elsewhere were even now comming to Sion or Hierusalem their mother After thou hast lost the other Supple Which thou hadst before the Babylonians besieged thee who slew some and carried others of thy children away Captive and made others to flye into forraigne Lands Shall say againe in thine eares i. e. Shall say againe to thee or in thine hearing Againe This relates to such time or times before the Babylonish Captivity in which Hierusalem was very populous so that many of the people thereof were faine to dwell in other Cities and Villages of Judah For they which did so did in effect say The place is too straight for mee The place is too straight for me i. e. The place wherein we dwell is too little for us we must seeke us a dwelling elsewhere For me i. e. For us For here is an Enallage of the number The Singular being put for the Plurall Give place to me that I may dwell q.d. Give me a place elsewhere that I may have a place to dwell in 21. Then shalt thou say in thine heart i. e. Then when thy children shal come to thee and they shall be straightned for want of roome to dwell in thee thou shalt wonder to see that they are so many and shalt say within thy selfe Who hath begotten me these i. e. By whom have I these so many children Seeing I have lost my children Supple Which I had Shee lost her children when the Babylonians slew many of them made many to flye away for feare of their lives and carried the rest away Captive into Babylon And am desolate i. e. And am without an husband The Lord was her husband and had married her but had put her away Cap. 50.1 So that shee was at this time desolate and without an husband A Captive and removing to and fro And shee which is a captive removing to and fro hath but little propension to the procreation of children A Captive Supple to the Babylonians Removing to and fro Conquerours use to hurry their Captives from place to place and City to City at their pleasures and seldome suffer them to abide long in one place Ob. It may be here objected that Sion being a City could not remove from place to place to and fro Ans What is said in this Chapter of Sion and attributâ—d to her is spoken of her and attributed to her by a Prosopopoeia by which figure shee may be made aswell to remove from place to place to and fro as to speake But what is spoken of Sion in this Chapter and attributed to her is spoken of her and attributed to her to set forth the condition of the Jewes as it was at that time as I said before And who hath brought up these And who hath nourished and brought up all these Behold I was left alone Supple without children and none of them all were with me therefore I could not nourish them and bring them up These where they had been q. d. Where have all these been wheresoever they have been they have not been with me so that I could not bring them up 22. Thus saith the Lord God behold I wil lift up mine hand to the Gentiles q. d. Moreover thus saith the Lord God Behold c. In the 18 19 20 verses the Lord assured Sion that her children should come to her to comfort her Here that he may yet further comfort her and shew her how mindfull he was of her she sheweth the manner how they shall come to her and how happy she shall be when she hath received them I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles i. e. I will call the Gentiles to me He alludeth to one man beckning to another with his hand to come to him And set up my Standard to the people i. e. And I will gather the people or Nations together For what end he will call the Gentiles to him and gather the Nations together he sheweth in the next following words This phrase is the same for sense with that which went immediately before but he alludes herein to a Captaine which sets up his Standard for his souldiers to come together and to be in a readinesse for what march or service he shall appoint them And they shall bring thy sonnes in their armes i. e. and they shall bring thy sonnes to thee in their armes as nurses use to carry their little ones And thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders i. e. And they shall carry thy daughters to thee upon their shoulders Supple on soft beds or pallate as they which are weak were wont to be carried Mark 2.3 The meaning is that the Gentiles shall carefully provide and accommodate the Jewes with all things necessary and convenient for their return from Babylon and other parts of the world to their own Land How this was fulfilled in part read Ezra 1. 23. And Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and Queens thy nursing mothers i. e. And after thy sonnes and daughters are brought to thee Kings and Queens shall be as carefull to provide and shew kindnesse to thee as nursing fathers and nursing mothers are to their Foster-children Kings shall be their nursing fathers This was fulfilled in Cyrus Darius Artaxerxes whose good deeds to the Jewes are mentioned in the book of Ezra and Nehemiah and Assuerus of whom we read Esther 8.7 c. And Alexander the Great and his successors and especially Demetrius whom Josephus writeth of All which were exceeding good to the Jewes and to Hierusalem and to the Temple and gave them many gifts and priviledges And thâ—ir Queens thy nursing mothers This was fulfilled in the Queenes of some of those forementioned Kings and particularly in Ester as may be seen in the book which beareth her name They shall bown down to thee with their face towards the
earth and lick up the dust of thy feet This as some think is not to be understood of the same Kings and Queens which were nursing fathers and nursing mothers to Sion But of others as of the Kings of Edom and of Moab whom the Jewes subdued after their return out of the Babylonish captivity for to bow down so low as to the earth and to lick the dust of the feet is not the gesture say they of Kings which are friends and benefactors but of enemies which are subdued and of such as worship rather out of feare and flattery than of love as will appeare Psal 72.9 Isaiah 60.14 Exod. 11.8 The sense therefore is say they q. d. And those Kings and Queens which will not be as nursing fathers and nursing mothers to thee shall bow down to thee with their face to the earth and shall lick the dust of thy feet for thou shalt subdue them and bring them under thee When therefore he saith They shall bow down to thee He doth as it were point at those which would not be nursing fathers and nursing mothers to Sion but would rather envy her and hate her But though these phrases taken in their prime and proper sense signifie as they aforementioned say yet by an Hyperbolicall Synecdoche putting one species of respect for any respect in generall they may signifie such respect as Kings which are friends and benefactors shew even to their inferiours And then the same Kings which are nursing fathers to Sion and the same Queens which are nursing mothers may be said to bow down to her with their faces towards the earth and lick up the dust of her feet because of that civil respect which they they gave unto her They shall bow down with their face towards the earth This sheweth respect and reverence to him to whom we bow but a submissive respect and reverence in the prime and proper sense of the words And lick up the dust of thy feet Many to shew their extream submission and reverence and respect to others have kissed the very footsteps where they have trod and licked up the dust which clove to their feet And thou shalt know that I am the Lord i. e. And thou shalt know by those things which I will doe for thee that I am the onely God for I will doe such things for thee as none but the true God can doe For they shall not be ashamed which wait for mee i. e. For they which wait with patience upon me in expectation and hope of salvation from my hand shall not be disappointed of their hope and expectation They which hope and look for great matters if they faile of their hope and expectation they are ashamed Hence he may be said not to be ashamed which obtaineth what he hopeth for 24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty q. d. The Babylonians are mighty in power and I and my children are their prey They have taken us by the sword and kept us captive and hath any one so great strength as to deliver us out of their hands This is spoken in the person of Sion who doubts of the Lords sayings concerning the coming of her children to her again of her own happiness after their coming to her because of the great power which the Babylonians had and therefore doth she object thus against the Lord Shall the prey be taken from the mighty That which made Sion doubt of the delivery of her children v. 14. was the distrust which she had of the love of God That which makes her doubt here was the conceit which she had of the great power of the Babylonians which she thought invincible Or the lawful captive delivered Supple From the terrible This is but a repetition of the former words The lawful captive That is called a lawful captive here which is taken in a lawful war and that is called a lawful war which is denounced between people and people according to the Law of Arms before it be begun though otherwise that same War may be very unjust and injurious in respect of the Law of God and of the Moral Law Now a Captive which is taken in such a war as is denounced before it be begun sheweth the power of the Conqueror more then that Captive doth which is taken in a war which was not denounced For in a war which is denounced before it is begun he that begins the war relieth upon the greatness of his own strength and believeth that he can master the Enemy by meer force and therefore is more terrible in power But he that wageth a war and denounceth it not hath more confidence in the unpreparedness of his Enemy and such like advantages then in his own power and therefore is not so much to be feared for his strength as the other is 25. But thus saith the Lord even the captives c. This is the Lords Answer to Sions Objection Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away i. e. Thou and thy children though ye be lawful captives of the mighty Babylonians yet shall ye be taken away out of their hands And the prey of the terrible shall be delivered q. d. And though ye be the pâ—ey of the Babylonians which are a terrible Nation yet shal ye be delivered from them For I will contend with him that contendeth with thee i. e. For I the Lord who am Almighty and can do whatsoever I please will fight against the Babylonians which fight against thee Concerning this phrase see cap. 41.12 and cap. 54.17 26. I will feed them which oppress thee with their own flesh they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine i. e. I will set the Babylonians which oppress thee with hard captivity one against another and they shall fight one with another and slay one another in great number The phrases here used are metaphorical taken from wilde beasts which fight with and kill one the other and when they have killed one the other eat the flesh and suck the blood one of the other Their own flesh Their own blood This is not to be understood of the flesh and blood of their own natural and individual bodies but of the flesh and blood of their Kinsmen and Country-men For these especially Kinsmen are said to be of the same flesh and of the same blood because they came out of the loyns of the same forefathers That which is here spoken might be fulfilled not onely by the Civil Wars of the Babylonians if any such were for we have not Records extant of all things memorable but also when many Babylonians served under Cyrus against other the Babylonians The mighty One of Jacob. i. e. The mighty One whom Jacob serveth and who protecteth Jacob. By Jacob he meaneth the Jews the children of Jacob. The Lord though he calleth himself most usually the holy One of Israel and the holy One of Jacob as cap. 29.23 yet here he calleth himself the
mother by a Prosopopoeia Thy God reigneth God is said to reign in general when he doth shew by any act worthy his greatness that he is King and in particular here he is said to reign because he shewed his Kingly Power in the delivery of his people out of the hands of their Enemies the Babylonians That which Isaiah speaketh here of a Messenger bringing good news of peace and salvation befaln the Jews in Babylon Saint Paul speaks of the Apostles and Ministers of Christ preaching peace and salvation by Christ and this may both do Isaiah in the first Saint Paul in the second and sublime sence For as I have often said as the temporal miseries of the Jews under their Enemies were a type of our spiritual miseries under Sin and Satan that grand Enemy of mankinde so were the Deliverances of the Jews out of those miseries types of our deliveries by Christ and of that Salvation which we have by him And the Holy Ghost doth often so order the words of the Prophets that they shall signifie as well one as the other word by word in particular 8. Thy watchmen shall lift up the voyce i. e. Thy watchmen which shall stand upon thy towers shall lift up their voyce and cry and shout aloud for joy O Sion He alludeth to the Watchmen which use to stand upon the Towers of great Cities to give notice of any danger or any great company approaching to the City See cap. 21.5 Why these Watchmen shall lift up their voyce he tells a little after viz. because they shall see when the Lord bringeth again Zion But why doth hâ— mention the Watchmen here rather then any other Ans Because they shall see when the Lord bringeth Siâ—n again before any other as being placed in the high Towers and set purposely to watch what companies approach to the City With the voyce together shall they sing i. e. They shall sing with a loud voyce Together This word signifieth All. For they shall see Supple From the Towers whereon they stand They shall see eye to eye i. e. They shall see very plainly and evidently and not be deceived in their sight When the Lord shall bring again Sion The Preposition To is here to be understood as also it is left to be understood in the Hebrew Text cap. 35.10 and cap. 51.11 though it is there expressed in our Translation and not here The sence therefore of this place is this When the Lord shall bring again to Sion that is When the Lord shall bring his people back again out of Babylon the place of their captivity to Sion their own City Here is such an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in those words cap. 49.8 To cause to inherit the desolate heritages Yet by Sion may be here meant the Jews the children and inhabitants of Sion either as the same Jews are called Jacob because they are the children of Jacob cap. 41.14 Or as Kir is taken for the Citizens and Inhabitants of Kir cap. 22.6 9. Ye waste places of Jerusalem See cap. 51.3 The Lord hath comforted his people Supple Which were in captivity in Babylon by setting them free again He hath redeemed Jerusalem Supple Out of her captivity For she also was a captive vers 2. and cap. 49.21 He speaks of the City of Jerusalem as of a captive He speaketh also as if the Lord had comforted his people and redeemed Jerusalem already at this time And so do the Prophets often speak before the thing they speak of is come to pass to signifie that it shall as surely come to pass as if it were already come 10. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm i. e. The Lord hath shewed his peerless power viz. in overthrowing the Babylonians whose power was thought invincible and in delivering and bringing back again his people out of captivity Note here that the arm of the Lord is put for the power of the Lord and therefore is it put for the power of the Lord because the Prophet speaks here of the Lord as of a man by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the strength and power of a man is seen in his arm Again because that a man when he would shew his arm must strip up the sleeve of the arm and make it bare he puts the making bare of the Lords arm for the shewing of his power His holy arm i. e. His matchless arm his peerless power For the word holy signifieth that which is separated from other things by way of excellency See Notes cap. 6.3 And all the ends of the Earth i. e. All they which dwell at the ends of the Earth that is All the Heathen Shall see the salvation of our God i. e. Shall see the Salvation which our God hath wrought for his people which were captive to the Babylonians by Cyrus 11. Depart ye depart ye This is spoken in particular to the Levites which were in Babylon intimating that they might go freely thence out of captivity and it is spoken as if Cyrus had already subdued Babylon and vanquished the Babylonians and given the Jews leave to depart thence to their own Land Go ye out from thence i. e. Go ye out from Babylon Here is a Relative put without an Antecedent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Touch no unclean thing q. d. Touch no unclean thing thereby to defile your selves and make your selves unclean The unclean things here mentioned were such as caused legal uncleanness in those that touched them or such as those were which we read of Levit. 11.24 25 26 c. and Lev. 22.4 c. which uncleanness was not to be upon the Levites when they did any way minister about the vessels of the Lord that is about the vessels of the Temple or Sanctuary because they were holy things Go out of the midst of her i. e. Go out of her that is out of Babylon Be ye clean i. e. If ye are clean keep your selves clean If ye are not clean but are defiled by touching some unclean thing be ye cleansed and purified that ye may be clean That bear the vessels of the Lord. i. e. O ye Levites By the vessels of the Lord are here meant the vessels of the Sanctuary or of the Temple which were consecrated to the service of the Lord which kinde of vessels the Levites were appointed to carry Numb 1.50 and 2.8 c. By these therefore which bore the vessels of the Lord are meant the Levites which were appointed to carry those vessels See Ezra 8.30 Note here that when the Babylonians had taken Jerusalem Nebuzaradan one of the Captains of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon carryed the vessels of the Temple away into Babylon 2 King 25. vers 14 15 c. These vessels there continued during all the time of the Jews captivity and when Cyrus delivered the Jews out of captivity he gave them also these vessels of the house of the Lord which were brought from Jerusalem to carry to Jerusalem back
again Ezra 1. vers 7 8 c. And being that the Levites were by their Office to carry them he saith to the Levites Touch no unclean thing be ye clean ye which bear the vessels of the Lord. 12. For ye shall not go with haste nor go with flight i. e. The Prophet prevents an Objection here For whereas he bids the Levites which were unclean to purifie themselves they might object and say It may be we shall not have time to purifie our selves for we may go out of Babylon in haste and by flight and they which go in haste and by flight cannot finde so much time and leasure as to purifie themselves To prevent this Objection therefore the Prophet saith Ye shall not go out with haste nor go with flight For the Lord will go before you and the God of Israel will be your reerward He giveth a reason here to prove that they should not need to go out with haste nor go with flight And the reason consists in this that they that go out of any place in haste or go with flight they haste and fly because they are in fear But they which shall go out of Babylon need not to be in fear of any thing for they need not to fear any thing who have the Lord to go before them and the Lord to come after them Psal 23.4 But they which shall go out of Babylon shall have the Lord to go before them and the God of Israel to be their reerward Therefore they need not go in haste or go with flight For the Lord will go before you Supple as a Captain and will secure you against all that shall go about to oppose you or set upon you in the front And the God of Israel will be your reerward q. d. And the God of Israel will march in your Reer and come behinde you and defend you so that none shall fall upon your backs 13. Behold my servant shall deal prudently This is the beginning of a new Sermon wherefore many make it the begining also of a new Chapter That this and the next Chapter is meant of Christ at least in the second and more sublime sence no Christian ever denyed and many Jews have confessed it For indeed no Scripture of the Old Testament hath so many plain characters of Christ together as this hath which are so plain as that they might seem rather to have been written after Christs time then to have been foretold of Christ so many ages before But yet I doubt not but that as it is understood of Christ in the second and more sublime sence so it is to be understood of some other in a first and meaner sence But of whom it is so understood is a question yet I take it to be understood of the Prophet Jeremy as being by reason of his many sufferings a most express type of Christ and to him it will very well agree Behold my servant shall deal prudently q. d. Behold my servant Jeremy shall behave himself wisely in the execution of that Prophetical Office into which I shall put him He speaks here in the person of God He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high Jeremy was in great esteem and account with the Caldeans in his life time Jer. 39. vers 11 c. and cap. 40. And his memory was precious with Alexander the great and others after his death 14. As many were astonied at thee his visage was so marred more then any man and his form more then the sons of men q. d. As many shall wonder to see or hear that he should be so despitefully used and cast into prison yea into a dirty dungeon and there pine with hunger and stink and noysomness c. Note here first that a preterperfect tense is put for a future Note secondly that Tò thee is put for Tò him a second for a third person and that the second and the third person are used here promiscuously of one and the same man to wit Jeremy Note thirdly that Jeremy is here said to have his visage marred more then any man and his form more then the sons of men because Jeremy was much changed in his countenance because of his hard usage and cruel imprisonment which is able to alter the countenance of any man and to make the most beautiful face to look ill-favored Concerning Jeremy's hard usage and imprisonment see Jerem. 37. v. 15. cap. 38. v. 6 28 c. 15. So shall he sprinkle many Nations Supple With astonishment and admiration that is So shall he make many Nations to admire at him even to astonishment c. Understand this especially of the Babylonians and the Nations which were under them As they admired at Jeremy to see or hear of his pitiful looks which he had by hard usage vers 14. So here they shall admire at him for his gift of Prophecy and other virtue which they shall see and understand to be in him Shall he sprinkle This word is used here Metaphorically So Pindarus Pyth. Od. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I adorn Alcmaon with Crowns And I besprinkle him with an Hymn The Kings shall shut their mouths at him The Kings shall admire at him even to silence Understand this especially of the King of Babylon and the Kings which served him Silence as it is a sign of other things so it is sometimes a sign of wonder and admiration For that which had not been told them shall they see i. e. And they shall see that is And they shall believe that which he had foretold and which they never heard before from any of their Wizzards For is put here for And. That which had not been told them Supple By any of their Wizzards or Southsayers but was told them by him Shall they see Shall many Nations and their Kings believe To see is sometimes taken for to believe See Notes cap. 6.10 And that which they had not heard i. e. And that which they had not heard from any of their Wizzards or Southsayers but they heard from him Shall they consider i. e. Shall they think upon as they which seriously think upon that which they believe shall surely come to pass The Nations and their Kings which saw many things exactly fulfilled in their days which Ieremy had foretold were thereby induced to believe many other things which Ieremy had foretold though they were not at that time as yet fulfilled That which Ieremy foretold and the Kings and Nations believed and that which they heard from him and considered may be meant especially and is meant as I conceive of that which Ieremy prophecyed of the Iews being in captivity and serving the Babylonians seventy years of which see Ierem. 25.11 ISAIAH CHAP. LIII WHo hath believed our report This must be continued with the end of the former Chapter for the better Connexion whereof some understand the Adversative Conjunction But q. d. But who hath believed our
highly honour him and reward him But if you would know what particular honour and reward the Lord gave his Sonne and Servant Christ Iesus read among other places Ephes 1. v. 20 21 22 23. and Phil. 12. v. 1.81 91 101.11 But for the understanding of this That these words I will devide him a portion with the great signifie no more than this I will highly honour him and reward him know this that those places of Scripture which carry two senses in them are Historicall as I may call it and a Mysticall though they carry the Historicall sense word for word yet they carry the Mysticall sense for the most part but in Grosse though here and there there be sometimes such sentences interserted as apperteine according to the words themselves not onely to the Historicall but also to the Mysticall sense of which I spake more at large in the Preface And he shall divide the spoile with the strong This is the same for sense with former words Because he hath poured out his soul unto death i. e. Because he hath not spared his life but parted with it to the uttermost By His soule is here meant His life by a Metonymie for Life is nothing else but the Union of the soule with the body which Union is mainteined by the apt dispositions of the body to reteine it When he saith he hath poured out his soule he useth a Metaphor taken from the powring out of water out of Buckets He saith He hath poured out his soule unto death in pursuance of that Metaphor Of powring out of water out of a Bucket where the water is so poured out to the last drop as that there is not a drop thereof remaining And he was numbred with the transgressours i. e. And because he was accounted as a Transgressour though he were innocent and was put to death amongst Transgressours This was fulfilled when he was crucified between two Thieves Mark 15. v. 27 28. And he bare the sinne of many i. e. And he bare what the malice of the Jewes and the Gentiles under Pontius Pilate could lay upon him See Acts Cap. 4.27 By Sinne understand here the Torments and Afflictions which were the effect of the sinne That is of the malice and envy of the Jewes c. By a Metonymie And made intercession for the transgressours i. e. And because he made intercession for these who through envy and malice did put him to death ISAIAH CHAP. LIV. SIng O barren thou that didst not bear i. e. Sing for joy O Sion or O Jerusalem thou which hast been like a barren woman and bore no children He prophecyeth here of the joyful deliverance of the Jews out of the Babylonish captivity as he did cap. 49.51 52. and elsewhere And he speaks to the material City of Sion or Ierusalem as to a woman by a Prosopopoeia whom he calleth barren and one that did not bear because all the time of the Babylonish captivity she was empty of Jews which were to her as children for they were all carryed away into Babylon and there was none left in her to encrease the Nation See cap. 49.21 Cry aloud Supple For joy Thou that didst not travel with childe This is a repetition of those words Thou that didst not bear For more are the children of the desolate i. e. For more shall thy children be O thou which wast desolate and as a widow and as one forsaken of her Husband during the Babylonish captivity c. He changeth the person here and speaks of Sion or Jerusalem in the third person to whom he spoke in the foregoing words in the second and he useth a present for a future tense Sion or Jerusalem was called desolate and as one forsaken of her Husband because God who was her Husband vers 5. and cap. 62.5 had forsaken her cap. 50.1 And therefore as a woman which is desolate and forsaken of her Husband beareth not children so was Ierusalem barren and without children while God had forsaken her who might be called her Husband as in other regards so in this that while he had a favor to her he did encrease her children within her as a woman multiplyeth her children by her Husband Then the children of the marryed wife i. e. Then thy children were when thou hadst an Husband any time heretofore and wast a marryed Wife The meaning is that Jerusalem though she had been afflicted and brought into captivity by the Babylonians and had her Children or Citizens carryed away from her yet now she should be more populous then ever she was at any time before that her captivity Note that when he saith More are the children of the desolate then the children of the marryed woman he speaks as though he spoke of two several persons but he speaks but of two several states or conditions of the same person So we say of a man that is changed from what he was that he is another man though not his substance but his condition onely is changed This which I have given is the first sence of this place But Sion here as she became fruitful after her widowhood was a Type of the Church of Christ So that in the second and sublime sence this place is to be understood of the Church of Christ as will appear Gal. 4.27 For as Sion while God had put her away from being his Wife and had given her over to be spoyled by the hands of the Babylonians was barren and brought forth no children but when he took her to him to Wife again she encreased in children as the Stars of Heaven for multitude So the Church of Christ while she was a stranger to the bed of Christ and was without the seed of his Word that is while all Nations were suffered to walk in their own ways Acts 14.16 and were given over to the god of this World to be blinded by him Acts 17.30 brought forth no children unto God But when Christ took her to his bed Ioh. 3.29 and redeemed her out of the hand of Satan and gave her the seed of his Word she so encreased in children as that all the ends of the Earth were full of her issue So that she far exceeded the Synagogue of the Iews when it was most populous Note here that Sion as she was considered before the Babylonish captivity was a Type of the Synagogue of the Iews but as she was considered after the Babylonish captivity was a Type of the Church of Christ As therefore Sion was more populous after the Babylonish captivity then ever she was before so was the Church of Christ more populous then ever the Synagogue of the Iews was Wonder not that I make Sion a Type of the Synagogue and the same Sion a Type of the Church upon divers considerations For Saint Paul makes her a Type of the Synagogue Gal. 4.25 and a Type of the Church Rom. 9.33 It may be objected here That the Church of Christ was not the Church
out of the Babylonish captivity to their own homes again As the Doves to their windows By windows understand here the windows or lover-holes of the Dove-houses or Pigeon-houses by which the Doves or Pigeons go in or out of their houses to wit the Pigeon-houses or Dove-houses 9. Surely the Isles shall wait for me and the ships of Tarshish first to bring thy sons from far i. e. Surely the Inhabitants of the Isles and the Merchants of Tarshish shall wait upon me as servants upon their Master that they may bring thy sons to me at my command The Isles By the Isles he meaneth the Inhabitants of the Isles that is of the sea-coasts by a Metonymy The ships of Tarshish By the ships of Tarshish he meaneth the Merchants of Tarshish who traffique by sea in ships What Tarshish was see cap. 2.16 First i. e. Before they do any other thing or take any voyage either for themselves or any other To bring thy sons from far i. e. To bring thy sons O Zion from those far Countries into which they were fled or were carryed when the Babylonians invaded Judea Thy sons He makes Zion here as a Mother and the Jews as her sons Their silver and their gold with them i. e. And to bring their silver and their gold with them This may be understood either of the silver and gold of the Merchants which they should bring with them to traffique within Jerusalem as vers 6. or of the silver and gold of the Jews which either they had gained by their labor or carryed with them when they fled for fear of the Babylonians or which had been given them by the benevolence of others for their Gods sake as Ezra 1.6 Note that these ships of Tarshish might have been employed to bring the Jews to Jerusalem not onely from Tarshish but from any other part of the World besides Vnto the Name of the Lord thy God That is To the dwelling place of the Lord thy God Note here that by the Name of the Lord God is meant the Lord God himself by a Metonymy Then by the Lord is meant the dwelling place of the Lord by another Metonymy as Vcalegon in the Poet is put for the house or dwelling place of Vcalegon Jam proximus ardet Vcalegon Virgil. Aenead lib. 2. Then by the dwelling place of the Lord is meant Jerusalem see Psa 76.2 To the holy One of Israel i. e. To the dwelling place of God who is the holy One of Israel This is a repetition of the former sentence Note here the Enallage of the person and how God speaketh of himself in the third person Because he hath glorified thee i. e. Because he hath honored thee and will honor thee in the sight of all the Nations 10. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls i. e. And strangers shall build up thy walls The sons of strangers are put for strangers by an Hebraism And those he calls strangers which were not Israelites born The walls of Jerusalem were beat down by the Babylonians 2 Chron. 36.19 and they were built up again after the Babylonish captivity by the favor and liberality of Cyrus Darius Hystaspis and Artaxerxes Ezra cap. 6 7. and by the hands of many Proselytes And their Kings shall minister unto thee i. e. And the Kings of strangers shall minister unto thee those things which are necessary for that worke Supple Of building up thy Walls For in my wrath I smote thee i. e. For I smote thee because I was angry with thee for thy sinnes Then he smote her when he gave her over into the hands of the Babylonians 11. Therefore thy gates shall be opened continually i. e. Moreover thy gates shall stand open continually Therefore for Moreover That men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles i. e. That the Armies of the Gentiles may be brought to thee as Captives in chaines He sheweth here the reason or end why the gates of Jerusalem should stand open continually night and day to wit that the captives which they took in warre should be brought thither And by saying that the gates shall stand open continually day and night he intimates the frequent victories which the Jewes should have and their often conquests over the Gentiles And that their Kings may be brought supple To thee as captives in linkes of Iron Note that what is here said of Sion in the first sence is to be understood of the Church of Christ in the second and sublime sense of which Sion was here a Type Revel 21.15 12. That will not serve thee i. e. That will not doe offices of civillity and kindenesse to thee but rather injure thee and wrong thee and give thee just cause to make warre upon them And when thou doest so make warre upon them will not submit to pay Tribute to thee and doe other conditions which thou shalt require of them Note that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to serve signifieth sometimes to doe offices of civillity and kindenesse to another as Cap. 19. v. 23. So that he that will not doe offices of civillity and kindenesse to another may be said to deny to serve him Yea to deny to serve a man may sometimes signifie to injure and wrong a man by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Note further that to pay tribute and to performe other conditions which a potent Prince or People exacteth of another Prince or People doth usually fall under the name of service And tributaries are frequently called servants so that not to serve may signifie also not to pay tribute and not to submit to such conditions as a more powerfull Prince or People shall exact See 2 Sam. 10.9 1 Kings 4.21 2 Kings 18.7 Shall perish Supple From being a Nation or Kingdome of it selfe and living under its owne Lawes for thou shalt subdue it and bring it into captivity to thy selfe Yea those Nations Supple That will not serve thee Shall be utterly wasted Supple By thy sword Josephus writes of the victory of the Jewes over the Tyrians and those of Ptolemais as also of their victory over the Ammonites and Gileadites lib. 12. Antiq. Cap. 16. He writes also of the subversion of Pella by the Jewes lib. 13. Antiq. Cap. 23. In the book of Macchabees also we read of the victories of the Jewes by Judas Macchabaeus 1 Macchab. Cap. 5. c. All which tend to the fulfilling of this Prophecy 13. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee By the glory of Lebanon is meant the Cedar which is the tallest and stateliest of all Trees and it is called the glory of Lebanon because it brought a great deale of renoune to Lebanon which bore it and upon which it grew and made it famous Per metonymiam efficientis Lebanon was an high hill scituate on the North side of the Land of Canaan which brought forth as other godly Trees so especially the Cedar hence the Cedar of Lebanon went for a kinde of proverbe 2