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
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
or Literall or Historicall or Meaner sense of the Heavens and that Metaphorically And the Heavens are said to sound out and speak the praises of God all the world over because they are seen to all the world to be so excellently made as that men may understand thereby the eternall power and God-head of him that made them But as they are spoken in the First or Literall or Historicall or Meaner sense of the Heavens Metaphorically So are they spoken of the Apostles who preached the Gospel in all the world in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense properly Rom. 10. v. 18. And note here that Saint Paul alledgeth these words of the Psalmist in that place of the Romanes not by Accommodation onely that is not because they are words fit for his purpose without any relation to the intent of the Prophet David in that place but he alledgeth them as words intended by the Prophet David as a man inspired by the Holy Ghost to signifie that for which he there alledgeth them as he that seriously considereth the Text and Context must needs confesse But if you ask me how the Prophet David though inspired by the Holy Ghost can signifie by those words in that place the preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles throughout the world Take these my Notions such as they are in a place of much difficulty and controversie The work of Christ in the whole redemption of Man is as a new Creation and hath resemblance thereunto intended by the Holy Ghost Hence we read 1 Cor. 5. v. 1 7. If any man be in Christ he is a new Creature Old things are passed away behold all things are become new And Gal. 6. v. 15. In Christ Jesus neither Circumcision nor Uncircumcision availeth any thing but a new Creature The Psalmist therefore while he speakes of the Heavens which is the highest and lightest and chiefest part of the materiall world and the glory which they bring to God their Maker doth in a mysticall sense foretell of the Apostles and the glory which they shall bring to the Lord who gave them to be Apostles by their preaching For in the new world which Christ framed that is in the Church of Christ the Apostles are the highest and chiefest Creatures hence in the similitude of an house they are likened to the foundations which are the chiefest parts and most to be regarded in a building Ephes 2.20 And they are the lightest also for our Saviour saith to them Yee are the light of the world Matth. 5. vers 14. But to return to that from which we may seem to have digressed That which our Prophet saith of himself in the first sense Cap. 18. v. 12. I and the children which thou hast given me is said also by Christ of himself in the Second and Sublime sense Heb. 2. v. 13. But it is spoken by Isaiah otherwise than it is by Christ for it is spoken by Isaiah properly for he was the naturall father of these children which he speakes of But Christ is called the Father of these Children which he speakes of onely by a Metaphor So in these woâ—ds Isaiah 25. v. 8. He will swallow up death in victory Death as the words are considered in the First Literall Historicall and Meaner sense is to betaken Metonymically for Sorrow Or if Death be taken for that which deprives a man of life the meaning of the words is this That the Lord will destroy death that it shall kill no more But as the words are taken in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense as they are taken 1 Cor. 15. v. 55. Death is to be taken properly for the deprivation of life And the sense of the words is That the Lord will so destroy death and triumph over it as that he will restore those which are dead to life again So Isaiah 35. v. 4. In the words which we read there to wit Then shall the lame leap as an Hart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing The lame and the dumb as the words are taken in the First or Literall or Historicall and Meaner sense are taken Metaphorically for those that are in such extremity of grief as that they have no desire either to talke or to walk but sit as dumb and lame men But in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense they are taken properly for him that is lame indeed And him that is dumb indeed Matth. 11. vers 5. The Fifth and last thing that I desired to betaken notice of was this That though in many Histories â—as I may call them and Prophesies of those holy Writers there be sometimes one sometimes more sentences which signifie immediately by their words not onely some passage or passages which appertain to the First Literall Historicall or Meaner Sense But also some passage or passages which appertain to the Second Mysticall and Sublime Sense Yet it is not necessary neither is it alwayes so yea it is very seldome so that every sentence of the whole Prophesie or History as I may call it doth signifie immediately by its words those passage or passages which appertain to the Second Mysticall or Sublime sense as they doe those passages which appertain to the First or Historical or Meaner Sense Which some not observing where they have assuredly found a sentence belonging to some passage of the Sublime sense thinking therefore that the whole Context must necessarily thereunto appertain word by word have attempted to construe the Context word by word accordingly and have rack'd the words yet have they not made them speak good sense But that it is not necessary nor is it alwayes true that where one sentence is found appertaining word by word to the Second Mysticall or Sublime sense the sentences adjoyning must therefore appertain to the same sense word by word is evident by these examples following for Exod. 12. v. 46. Those words Neither shall yee break a bone thereof appertain in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense to our Saviour Christ John 19. v. 36. But though that sentence appertaineth word by word to our Saviour Christ in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense yet cannot the sentences preceding or following be construed of him word by word as he which readeth them must needs confesse So that sentence 2 Sam. 7.14 I will be his Father and he shall be my Sonne is spoke of our Saviour Christ in the Second Mysticall and Sublime sense Heb. 1. v. 5. Yet cannot the words following in that verse be understood of him to wit If he commit iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men So those words Isaiah 1. v. 9. Except the Lord of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant we should have been as Sodome and we should have been like unto Gomorrah signifie in the and Second Mysticall and Sublime sense that many should perish through unbelief and that a Remnant onely should be saved according to the election
against the Lord. 2 Chron. 28.22 The whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint He proves here that though the men of Judah should be smitten yet they would revolt more and more And he proves it from former experience for experience shewed that though God had smitten them that they should amend yet for all that they were not the better for it And where men grow not the better they grow worse and worse The Prophet compareth the people of Judah here to the body of a man and the calamities and plagues which God had laid upon them to wounds and bruises and putrifying sores and other sicknesses By the head of this body are meant the King and Princes and Judges and other the Rulers of the Common-wealth and by the heart he meaneth the Priests and Levites 6. From the soal of the foot even to the head Here he includes all the members of the naturall body and by them he understands all the members of the body Politique q. d. There is none from the highest to the lowest in all the Kingdome or Common-wealth of Judah which hath not been smitten by the hand of God There is no soundness The soundness here spoken of is opposed to the wounds bruises and putrifying sores spoken of in the next words In it That is In the body Note that this Relative It is put here without an Antecedent And indeed it is usuall with the Hebrewes to put a Relative without an Antecedent and to leave the Antecedent to be gathered by the Circumstances of the place But wounds and bruises and putrifying sores These are opposed to the soundness spoken of just before And by these are meant all the calamities and plagues which had been of late inflicted upon the Jewes They have not been closed These words relate especially to the wounds before spoken of and by closing here is meant the â—queezing of the lips of the wounds together that the crude and raw bloud which is in them might be got out that they might heal the better Note that this praepositive Pronoune They is put for the Subjunctive Which q. d. Which have not been closed Neither bound up Supple with swathes and clothes as wounds and bruises and sores use to be bound up by Chyrurgians to keep them from the aire and to keep them warm Neither mollified with ointment Neither suppled with ointment Wounds and sores cause a hardnesse or stiffness in the adjacent parts through the afflux of humours which hardnesse or stiffness is mollified and supled with fit ointment Note that the Prophet is not curious in observing the method of Chyrurgians in this place For the binding up of wounds or sores is the last thing which the Chyrurgians do though here it be put before mollifying them with oyntment Those wounds and bruises and putrifying sores which have not been closed nor bound up nor mollyfied with ointment must needs be grievous And by these is meant that the plagues and miseries which the Lord had brought upon the Jewes were still grievous and lay heavie upon them even at this time when he spake Note that the Prophet leaves somewhat here to be understood to complete the sense And it is this Viz And yet ye are never the better but rather worse and worse and revolt more and more 7. Your Country is desolate Understand here yet neverthelesse q d. But though ye will revolt more and more if ye be stricken and are never awhit the better for all the calamities which have been brought upon you yet neverthelâ—ss ye shall undergoe more calamities and ye shall be stricken againe for your Country shall be desolate A Country is said to be desolate when it is spoiled of its Inhabitants which should manure it And when the Cities and dweling places thereof are ruined and the Vineyards and Gardens cut down and laid waste Note that the Prophet useth a present tense in this place for the future And so do Prophets use to do often to signifie thereby that that which they speak of shall as certainly come to passe as if it were already come The desolation and misery here prophesied of was that which the King of Syria and Israel brought upon the land of Judah 2 Chron. 28. Verse 5. c. A Question might here be asked why God said Why should ye be stricken any more ye will revolt more and more And yet for all that did strike them againe Answer When God tells them here that they wâ—ll revolt more and more if they be stricken he doth it for this end that they might not revolt And herein he imitates a careful Father which asketh an untowardly son why he should scourge him and tells him he will be never the better for scourging And this he doth that his son may be the better for he scourgeth him for all that that he may reclaim him Secondly Though God doth see the meanes which he useth will do but little good yet neverthelesse he will use them that it may appear that not He but man is the cause of his own perdition Thirdly Though the greatest part were like to revolt more and more upon the Lords striking them againe yet it was likely that some few of the best of them would returne and repent and for these few sakes the Lord might strike them Your Cities are burnt with fire Here he puts againe a Present or a Praeterperfect tense for a Future and so he doth throughout this and the next Verse Your land strangers devoure it q. d. Your land and whatsoever is therein strangers shall devoure Note that the Relative Pronoune It is often redundant as it is here in this place In your presence i. e. before your face which will cause the greater grief And it is desolate as overthrown by strangers That desolation is the greatest which is made by strangers For strangers do more waste a Country by warrs than inhabitants of the Country do For strangers have not that love of a Country which the natives and inhabitants thereof have neither do they hope for that good from it in times to come as the inhabitants do therefore they spoile it and devoure it so that they may either enrich themselves for the present or hurt their enemies for the future 8. And the daughter of Sion Sion was a famous hill within the walls of Hierusalem upon which the Palace of the Kings of Judah was built and that which was called the City of David 2 Sam. Chap. 5. Vers 7. But by a Synechdoche it is here taken for Hierusalem it self By the daughter of Sion or the daughter of Hierusalem is meant the City of Sion or the City of Hierusalem as we say the City of London For the Hebrewes do usually speak of a City as of a woman by a Metaphor or Prosopopeia and because among the sex of women the Daughters that is the young Maides and Virgins are commonly the fairest therefore they do call a City sometimes a Daughter sometimes
come within a short time hereafter And so do they here signi e in the first and meanest sence That the last daies may signifie that which is to come within a short time hereafter may be proved per argumentum a contrario For if the beginning may signifie that which was done not long since then may the last daies signifie that which is to come to passe within a short time For as the last daies being absolutely put do signifie the end of daies or the last daies in order of time so doth the beginning being absolutely put signifie the beginning of time or that time before which there was no time as may appear Isaiah 40. Vers 21. But that the beginning may signifie that which was done not long since is evident Isai 48 Vers 3 5 and 7. In which last place we read thus They are created now and not from the beginning The meaning whereof is this they are made known now and not at any time heretofore Note therefore that the Hebrewes are often Hyperbolicall in their expressions of times But you may say if the meaning of these words in the last dayes be hereafter or ere long be why did not the Prophet say And it shall come to passe hereafter ere long be but say And it shall come to passe in the last daies Answ Because the Prophet was in these words to prophesie not onely of what was to come to passe ere long but of what was to come to passe in the daies of the Messiah and time of the Gospel also And to signifie what was to come to passe in the daies of the Messiah and time of the Gospel he could not better do it then by saying And It shall come to passe in the last dayes Note here that when the Holy Ghost intendeth two several senses by one and the same words the words do for the most part declare the sublimer sense and that which concerneth the daies of the Messiah or of the Gospel in a full signification But the lower sense and that which concerneth the Jewes and the time of the Law in a signification not so full But in a jejune and as I may so say scantie and restrained signification in respect of the latitude of the words and that because of the scarcitie of words which cannot signifie both with the like propriety And the Holy Ghost condescendeth to use the words of men The Mountaine of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the Mountaines The â—emple of Hierusalem which is here called the Lords house was built upon mount Moriah which Mount was not a distinct Mountaine from Mount Sion But as sometime one Hill hath severall tops so were Mount Moriah and Mount Sion severall tops of the same Hill or Mountaine whence it cometh to passe that Mount Moriah is sometimes called Mount Sion And as the Temple of the true God was built upon an Hill or Mountaine so were the Temples of Idols and false Gods also for the most part And to these Temples so built doth the Prophet allude when he saith The Mountaine of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the Mountaine That therefore which the Prophet saith is this that the Mountaine on which the Temple of the Lord is built which is Mount Moriah or Mount Sion shall be set upon the tops of the Mountaines on which the Temples of the Idols are built And his meaning is this That the Temple of God shall surpasse all other Temples and be above them all in honour and esteem And shall be exalted above the Hills This is the same with the former sentence And all nations i. e. For many of many nations Note that All is not allwayes put for All without exception but sometime for Some or Many and so it is to be here taken as appeareth by these words Many people vers 3. And Nations and People do not allwayes signify whole Nations and whole People but Some or Many members of those Nations or People per Synecdochen integri and so must we take them here Shall flow unto it Here is a Metaphor taken from the flowing of waters in a River where because the waters flow downwards they flow naturally And so their flowing by a Metaphor sheweth a willingnesse and doing of a thing without compulsion And because waters in a River are many some continually succeeding others they signifie abundance too So that the meaning of this place is that many of many Nations and People shall come with chearfullnesse and in great abundance to the Temple of God in Hierusalem to worship the Lord there and it containeth a reason why the Temple of God should surpasse all other Temples and be above them all in honour and esteem and the reason is because all Nations shall forsake the Temples of the Idols and shall come willingly and in abundance to the Temple of the Lord to worship the Lord there This Prophesie in its first and meaner sense seemeth to have been fulfilled in the dayes of Hezekiah when the Angel of God had destroyed an hundred fourscore and five thousand in one night in the Campe of the Assyrians And when God that he might give to Hezekiah a signe of his recovery when he was sick brought the shadow of the Sun ten degrees backward by which it had gone down in the Diall of Ahaz For when these great miracles were heard of no doubt but many did enquire after the truth of them and finding the Truth to be according to the Report did conclude with themselves that the Gods which they worshipt were not like to the God of Israel who had done these great Things yea they were no Gods in comparison of Him therefore they would worship Him and He should be their God This is confirmed by that that these miracles were so taken notice of as that the Princes of Babylon sent Ambassadors to Hezekiah to enquire of the wonder of the Suns going back that was done in the Land of Judah 2 Chron. 32.31 And upon the cutting off of so many of the Assyrians in Sennacharibs Camp by the Angel it is said that many brought gifts to the Lord to Hierusalem so that he was magnified in the sight of all Nations from thenceforth 2 Chron. 32.23 But yet as I said in a second and more sublime Sense the Prophet without doubt doth here prophesie of the Glory of the Church of Christ in the time of the Gospel and the calling or coming in of the Gentiles to that Church 3. And many People i. e. And many men of many kind of People See Vers 2. Shall goe and say i e. Shall say supple one to another That word Goe is Redundant here The like we read Cap. 27. Vers 37. Where it is said Sennacharib King of Assyria departed and went and returned for departed and returned The like also is to be read John 15. Vers 16. He will teach us of his wayes i. e. He will teach us by
which may happily give light to this place Yet we may interpret For the glory of his Majesty for fear of his great army to wit his great army of Babylonians which shall be led by Nebuchadnezzar who shall be the Lords Lievetenant in this expedition For it is usuall with the Hebrews to put the word glory to signifie an army or great power of men by a Metonymie because an army brings glory to him and makes him renowned whose army it is See Chap. 8. Vers 7. 11. The lofty looks of man The lofty looks of man is put here for the man of lofty looks by an Hypallage or a Metonymie and by the man of lofty looks is meant the proud man for the proud useth to carry his head high and his eyes lofty And the haughtinesse of man c. The haughtinesse of man is put here for the man of haughtinesse that is for the haughty look'd or the haughty minded man by the same figure as before Shall be humbled i. e. Shall be brought low How or when these men were brought low see ver 17. And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day See ver 17. 12. For the day of the Lord of hosts i. e. The day in which the Lord hath appointed to avenge himself Shall be upon every one c. i. e. Shall come upon every one c. q. d. For that day shall come in which the Lord of Hosts shall punish and avenge himself upon every one c. 13. And upon all the Cedars of Lebanon Lebanon was an hill which lay North of the Land of Israel and divided it from the Land of Syria This hill was famous for the goodly Cedar trees which grew thereon Whereupon the Cedars of Lebanon were taken to signifie goodly tall Cedars That are high and lifted up i. e. That are high and tall And upon all the oaks of Bashan Bashan was a region beyond Jordan of which Og was sometime King which region when Og was slain Moses gave to the Gadites and the Reubenites and half the Tribe of Manasses Josh 12.4 c. This Bashan abounded with fat Pastures and large and tall Oakes Hence Proverbially an Oake of Bashan may signifie a tall Oake 15. Vpon every fenced wall By fenced wall he meaneth walls which are made for the defence and safeguard of a City which walls are higher than other walls use to be And such walls are calld fenced walls because they use to be fenced with Towers and Motes to hinder the enemy that he approach not to them to beat them down with Rams and other Engines 16. And upon all the ships of Tarshish Tarshish was an ancient City of Spaine called Tartessus which stood at the mouth of the River Boetus and had great commerce with the Phoenicians and the Phoenicians with that Now because the Phoenicians were wont to traffique to Tartessâ—â— in Spaine and the Tartessians to Phoenicia againe the shipps of Tarshish may signifie Merchant shipps which were wont to go to and from Tartessus for Merchandize as we call those East-India shipps which use to go to and from the East-Indiaes By the Shipps of Tarshish therefore are meant the tallest kind of shipps which were made to saile in the Vast Sea and were like to suffer wind and stormes and all manner of tempestuous weather and therefore were built accordingly Which shipps for bulke farre excelled those vessells of Bull-rushes which were used about Nilus Cap. 18.2 And those little shipps or fisher-boates which were used in Judaea about Genezareth c. And upon all pleasant Pictures By Pictures are here meant shipps For as now so of old they were wont to adorne the hindecks or Poopes of the shipps with Pictures And because the hindecks or Poops were adorned with Pictures he calls the hindecks or Poopes themselves Pictures per Metonymiam adjuncti And by the hindecks or Poopes he meaneth the the whole shipps per Synecdochen partis As Puppis is put in Latine for Navis the hinder part or Poope for the whole ship He calls the shipps pleasant Pictures or Pictures delightfull to the eye because they were pleasant to behold and that either by reason of the Pictures with which the hindecks or Poopes were adorned or else by reason of the Artificiall or neat building of the ships and the tallnesse thereof and the tackle thereto belonging Now to distinguish these shipps from those which he called Shipps of Tarshish we may say that by the Shipps of Tarshish were meant Merchants shipps and by these Men of warre But yet notwithstanding the former interpretation of these words which is that which Interpreters most generallly follow I take it as not improbable that by Pleasant Pictures may here be meant Idols For what the Prophet hath spoken from the 12. Verse hitherto he doth repeat againe in the two next following Verses and there he mentioneth the abolishing or pulling down of Idols c. Note here that by the Allegory of the Cedars of Lebanon the Oakes of Bashan the high Mountaines and Hills the high Towers fenced walls and Shipps of Tarshish are meant proud and lofty men which he spoke of before plainely but here under an Allegory 17. And the loftinesse of man i. e. And the man of loftinesse or the lofty man Here is an Hypallage or Metonymie as v. 11. Shall be bowed down i. e. Shall be brought down whether he will or no as sticks and trees are bowed down against their natural inclination And the haughtinesse of man i. e. Men of haughtinesse or the haughty men Here is an Hypallage or Metonymia adjuncti as before vers 11. Shall be made low All this came to passe when some of them fell by the sword others were glad to run into the Clifts of the Rocks and holes of the earth to hide themselves and others were led away captive into Babylon by the Babylonians And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day q. d. Though now these men which I speak of are high and lofty and carry themselves like so many Gods and their Idols are exalted and set up as if they were not stocks and stones or gold or silver but Gods indeed yet in that day the Lord onely shall be high lofty For all other high and lofty ones shall be cast down by him and he alone shall keep his state I take to be exalted here for to be high and lofty rather than to be praised and magnified as it often signifieth For so the Context seemeth to require it it being opposed here to the condition of these which he spoke of when they are brought down and made low Yet to be exalted here may be taken for to be praised and magnified and the sense of this place may be this q. d. And though these Men and their Idols be now magnified and praised yet the Lord alone shall be magnified and praised in that day For their praises shall come to an end and their glory shall cease The Lord
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
in One against Ahaz Which thou abhorrest Viz. Because of the Enmity which their Kings and People bear against thee Shall be forsakâ—n of her Kings i e. Shall be rid of Rezin and of Pekah both which shall die a violent death Of Pekahs death we read 2 Kings 15. v. 30. and of Rezins 2 Kings 16. v. 9. 17. The Lord shall bring upon thee c. Because Ahaz would not believe for all this nor rely upon God but would rely upon Tiglath-Pileser King of Assyria for help against Rezin and Pekah 2 King 16. v. 7. therefore the prophet breaks out here into a threatning Prophesie against him saying The Lord shall bring upon thee c. Dayes that have not come i. e. Such dayes as the like have not been for misery and calamity to you and your People and your Fathers house From the day that Ephraim departed from Judah i. e. Since the day or time that the ten Tribes of Israel revolted from the Tribe of Judah and made them a King of their own and a Kingdome distinct from that of Judah which was done by Jeroboam in the dayes of Rehoboam the Son of Salomon 1 Kings 12. Ephraim is taken here for the ten Tribes see notes verse 2. Even the King of Assyria Here we must repeat those words The Lord shall bring upon thee that the sense may be this The Lord shall bring upon thee even the King of Assyria Supple which shall more sorely afflict thee than ever thou wast afflicted since the dayes of Rehoboam The King of Assyria here meant was Sennacharib 18. In that day Supple In which he intendeth thus to afflict thee A Relative without an Antecedent He shall hisse for the flie that is in the utmost part of the Rivers of Egypt He puts the flie here for flies and part for parts Singular for Plurall Numbers And by the utmost parts of the Rivers of Egypt he meaneth the brimms or brinks of Nilus and other the Rivers of Egypt where flies were wont to breed and abide in great abundance By the flies that are in the utmost parts of the Rivers of Egypt are here Metaphorically meant the Egyptians themselves which he signifieth here by the Metaphor of flies because of the abundance of flies which were in Aegypt by reason of the store of Rivers and waters which were there in which kind of places flies doe breed and multiply abundantly Or because as the flie is an impudent creature So were the Egyptians an impudent People Or because the flies use the wings and so are speedy and because they usually are in swarms and so are many Therefore doth be signifie the Egyptians under the Metaphor of flies to shew the great number of them which should come and their speed in coming against Judah He shall hisse for This sheweth how easily God can doe this For he shall but hisse for them and they shall come And for the Bee that is in the Land of Assyria The Bee is put here for Bees a Singular number for a Plurall By the Bees in the Land of Assyria are Metaphorically meant the Assyrians themselves perhaps because Assyria abounded with Bees as Aegypt did with Flies Or he calls the Assyrians Bees because of the great number of them which should come into Judaea and the speed which they should use As he called the Aegyptians Flies Or he might call the Assyrians Bees because of the dexterity which they had to hurt as Bees have to sting Or because of their strength and order in war as Bees are in their kind strong and orderly in which two things as Bees do excell Flies So did the Assyrians excell the Aegytians Note here that he speakes not of the Aegyptians and Assyrians as of two distinct Armies under two distinct Generalls But as two Nations joyned in one and the same Armie of Sennacherib 19. And they shall come and shall rest all of them in the desolate Vallies in the holes of the rocks c. He persists in the Metaphor of Flies and Bees and alludeth to their nature in saying They shall rest in the desolate Vallies and in the holes of the rocks and upon all thornes and upon all bushes But under this Metaphor he meaneth that the Army of the Assyrians should come up against Judah in such a number as that they should fill all Judaea so that no place should be free from them 20. In the same day shall the Lord shave with a Rasor that is hired By a Rasor that is hired he meaneth a sharp Rasor For those things which we use to hire are of the best in their kind and fittest for our purpose What he meaneth by shaving with a Rasor that is hired he explaineth in the next words By them beyond the River i e. By the Assyrians which dwell beyond the River Euphrates The Assyrians are they which are meant by the Rasor By the King of Assyria q. d. That is By the Forces of the King of Assyria The King of Assyria who was the head of his Army is put here for his whole Army per Synecdochen And these words explain the former and tell us that by them beyond the River he meaneth the Assyrians The head i. e. The hair of the head Metonymia subjecti And the hair of the feet By the hair of the feet is meant the hair of the privy members For so the Hebrewes use to speak out of modesty and call the privy members the feet The Prophet compareth the Land of Judah to the body of a man and the men of that land to the hair of that body And this he saith that as the hair of the body useth to be shaved with a Rasor so shall the men of Judah be cut off and slain by the Assyrians And it shall consume the beard q. d. Yea the Rasor shall also cut off the beard Note that the Prophet doth here allude to the manner of the ancient Hebrews who as Vatablus tells us were wont to shave their heads and their privy parts but to let their beards grow long And when he saith that the Lord will shave with a Rasor that is hired the head and the hair of the feet his meaning is that the Lord will cut off and kill all high and low and when he addeth and it shall also consume the beard his meaning is q. d. and he shall spare none 21. And it shall come to passe in that day By this day he meaneth the day or time after this invasion and desolation made by the Assyrians He useth a Relative here without a Antecedent as the Hebrewes often doe A man shall nourish a young Cow and two Sheep i. e. A man shall have but onely one young Cow and but onely two sheep to nourish This sheweth the paucity of Cattel which should be left after this for after this a man had not heards of kine and beasts and flocks of sheep as before but a man had onely one young Cow and two Sheep to keep
by Salmaneser because of the league which the Syrians had there with the ten Tribes against Assyria 2 Kings 18.9 c. Is taken away for being a City i. e. Shall be destroyed and be no City but an heap of rubbish He puts a Preterperfect for a Future tense as Prophets are wont And it shall be a ruinous heape i. e. And it shall be reduced to a heape of stones and rubbish 2. The Cityeâ— of Aroer are forsaken i. e. The Câ—tyes of Aroer shall be forsaken and left desolate because the Inhabitants shall either flie away or be slaine or carried into Captivity Aroer Aroer was a Tract of land by the brink of the River Arnon which the Reubenites and Gadites and Manassites did possesse of which Deut. 2.36 And of this Aroer do some interpret this place thinking it to have been held by the Syrians at this time Others had rather take it of a Tract of land in Syria called also by the Hebrews Aroer by Ptolomie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They shall be for flocks i e. Sheep and other Cattle shall feed and lodge there They shall lie down Supple Quietly And none shall make them afraid Because there shall be left none of those Cityes to disquiet them 3. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim i. e. Samaria also shall be taken away from the ten Tribes of Israel which was the Royall City of that Kingdome By the Fortresse is meant Samaria which he calleth a Fortresse from the strength and Fortifications thereof For it was as strong and as well fortified as if the whole City had been a Fortresse so strong and well fortified it was as that Salmaneser besiedged it three yeares before he took it 2 Kings 18.9 10. By Ephraim he meaneth the ten Tribes of Israel See Cap. 7.2 Because Ephraim and Syria joyned in their sin they are here joyned in their punishment and are both so distressed as that the one is not able to help the other And the Kingdome from Damascus So that Damascus shall not be a Royall City and head of a Kingdome as before And the remnant of Syria Supple So that none of the Syrians which shall be left shall come to be Kings of Syria or of the Syrians They shall be as the glory of the Children of Israel i. e. The Syrians though they are very many for number glory of their multitude yet they shall be as the glory or multitude of the Children of Israel that is they shall be brought low and diminished as the Children of Israel shall That is q. d. The Syrians and the Children of Israel though now they are exceeding many for number yet both of them shall be brought low they shall become few in number The glory of a Nation consisted in the multitude of a People And that most commonly the Prophet calls a Nations glory either because they gloried in it themselves or were renowned abroad for it by others That therefore that the Prophet saith here is this as I said viz. that the great multitudes of the Syrians shall become as the great multitudes of the ten Tribes of Israel If you ask what became of the great multitudes of the ten Tribes of Israel he will tell you in the next following verses that they were diminished and brought to a small number Note that the Prophet gives a reason here why he said the remnant of Syria q. d I said the remnant of Syria for the great multitudes and glory of the Syrians shall be as the glory of the Children of Israel it shall be diminished and brought to a remnant as they shall Note that there is no formall Antecedent here going before this Relative They but the Antecedent may easily be understood 4. And in that day it shall come to passe For In that day it shall come to passe c. He puts And for For For he sheweth here in what he likened the Syrians or the glory of Syria to Children of Israel or the glory of Isra l. In that day i. e. At that time in which the Lord wiil scourge the Israelites by Salmaneser The glory of Jacob shall be made thinn i. e. The great multitude of the ten Tribes of Israel shall be diminished and brought low and left as but a remnant This is the sense of these words but the Prophet useth a Metaphor here and puts Jacob the Father for the ten Tribes of Israel which were the Children of Jacob by a Metonymie As Jacob therefore was a single man so doth he there speak of all the ten Tribes as if they were but one single man yet a bigg fat and corpulent man and the multitude and great numbers of the ten Tribes he likeneth to the corpulency and fatnesse of that man For as a man groweth big by his corpulency and the fatnesse of his flesh So doth a Nation or Kingdome by the multitude of its People And as a man growes thin and slender when the corpulency and fatnesse of his flesh abateth So is a Kingdome or Nation diminished and brought low when the multitude of its People is destroyed The glory of Jacob. By the Glory of Jacob is here meant the Corpulency and bignesse of the naturall body of Jacob by which as I said is meant the multitude of the politique body of the people of Israel which multitude is a Peoples glory And the fatnesse of his flesh i. e. And the fatnesse of Jacob's flesh by which he meaneth the multitude of the children of Israel as he did by the glory of Jacob. For as man groweth big by the fatnesse of his flesh so doth a People wax great by their multitude Shall be made lean i. e. Shall be diminished or brought low 5. And it shall be as when the harvest man gathereth the Corn and reapeth the eares with his arme i. e. And the glory that is the multitude of the Children of Israel shall be as when the harvest man gathereth the corn and reapeth the eares with his arme For as the harvest man gathereth the corn and reapeth the eares with his arme that he may carry them out of the field into the barne So shall Salmaneser gather the great multitude of the Children of Israel and fetch them from their severall dwellings to carry them out of their own land into Assyria Note that the Antecedent to this Relative It is the glory or multitude of Israel likened to the glory or fatnesse of Jacobs flesh v. 4. For the Prophet often passeth from the thing signifying to the thing signified Note that these two Phrases gathereth the Corn and reapeth the Eares Are but repetitions and signifie the same thing for the Prophet loves to repeat the same thing by diverse words Or if they signifie divers things by gathering of the corn is meant the gathering and grasping of the standing corn with the left hand in reaping that he may the better cut or reap it with the right hand And by the reaping of the eares is meant the
words Is her revenue He calls the Corn of Egypt the revenue of Tyre by a Metaphor because it was as duly brought into Tyre when it was ripe and there sold as the rent or revenue of land is to the Landlord Or therefore it might be called the Revenue of Tyre because Tyre had land of her own in Egypt from which she had a great return of corn yearly And she is a Mart of Nations q. d. Thou who art a Mart of Nations He calls Tyre a Mart of Nations because all the Inhabitants of the known world came there to traffique 4. Be thou ashamed O Zidon q. d. Blush ye and be ashamed O ye Sidonians which were the builders of Tyre and which did people it at first to see the misery of Tyre and to hear her moans and not to be able to help her Men are then ashamed when they have hopes of a thing and cannot attain to their hopes when therefore the Prophet bids the Sidonians be ashamed or tells them that they shall be ashamed he intimates that the Sidonians should hope and perhaps attempt to relieve Tyre but should not be able to do it Here the Prophet useth an Apostrophe to the Sidonians The sea hath spoken even the strength of the sea By the sea and the strength of the sea he meaneth Tyre which he calleth the sea per Metonymiam Adjuncti because it was scituate in the sea and compassed about by the sea as being an Island And he calls it the strength of the sea because it was the strongest of all Maritime places and the Tyrians were stronger by sea then any other people whatsoever that dwelt upon the Mediterranean I travel not nor bring forth children neither do I nourish up young men nor bring up virgins Note that the Hebrews have neither Optative nor Potential nor Subjunctive Mood here therefore is used an Indicative for an Optative and the sence is q.d. would to God I travelled not nor brought up children nor nourished up young men nor brought up virgins This Tyre speaks and thus she wisheth because of the miserie which was like to befall her Children that is her Inhabitants 5. As at the report concerning Egypt so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre q. d. As the nations were afraid and troubled when they heard what befell the Egyptians when they were drowned in the red sea Exod. 15. v. 14 15 c. So shall they be troubled and grieved at the report which they shall hear of the miseries of Tyre as many as shall hear of it Note that the Suppositum or Nominative case Nations is here left to be understood See the like cap. 24.22 Be sorely pained He speaks of such pains as a Woman hath in her travel but transferres these paines to the grief and anguish of the minde by a Metaphor This grief and anguish of minde did proceed from a fear which they had lest their turn should be next or out of the apprehension which they had of the losse of trade which they should suffer by this desolation of Tyre 6. Passe ye over to Tarshish This is an Apostrophe to the Tyrians and he counsells them here to passe over the Sea to Tartessus that they may be out of danger there which they could not be at home and no doubt but many Tyrians as they had opportunity fled thither at this time To Tarshish Tartessus was as was said a City of Spain which had great commerce and correspondency with Tyre thither therefore he wisheth them to fly both because they were their friends and because it was remote from Tyre the whole length of the Mediterranian sea being between Howle ye Inhabitants of the Isle i. e. Lament as ye go O ye Tyrians for the miseries which shall befall you Ye Inhabitants of the Isle i. e. Ye Tyrians See vers 2. 7. Is this your joyous City i. e. Is this your Tyre the City which hath known nothing else but joy He speaks with a Sarcasme here laughing at the vain confidence and boasting of these men of Tyre Whose antiquitie is of antient dayes q. d. And your antient City whose antiquity is of a long time The antiquity of Tyre was from the times of Agenor of which the Tyrians boasted and thought Tyre their City above all miserie because she had so long continued Her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn q. d. For all her joy and for all her antiquity she shall be glad to fly for safety to far places when the Babylonians shall come against her and that not in Charets or on horse-back but on foot as delicate and tender as she is Note That that is attributed to Tyre which was done but by some Tyrians for not all but some Tyrians only fled at this time and that therefore he speaks of Tyre as of a person by a Prosopopoeia To sojourn That is to live in a strange land 8. Who hath taken this counsell against Tyre q. d. Who hath determined to bring this misery upon Tyre and thus to afflict her The crowning City q. d. Which is as it were the crowning City The note of similitude is often left to be understood He calls Tyre as it were a crowning City because the Tyrians became as Princes and Princes fellows whose chiefest Ornament is a Crown because of the abundant wealth which they got by their traffique and merchandize at home whither all kind of Merchants brought their commodities to sell Whose Merchants are Princes i. e. Whose Merchants are as Princes for wealth and riches Whose traffiquers are the honourable of the earth i. e. Whose Merchants are as the honourable of the earth that is as Princes This is a repetition of the former sentence 9. The Lord of Hosts hath purposed it q. d. The Lord of Hosts hath taken this councel against Tyre and hath determined to bring this miserie upon her and thus to afflict her Her he gives an answer to the question moved in the eight verse To staine the pride of all glory i. e. That he may pull down the pride of all the glorious Ones of Tyre and make it contemptible To staine This word is used here metaphorically and the Metaphor is taken from a fair cloth which is spotted and stained with inke or the like whereby the beauty and lustre thereof is marred Of all glory i. e. Of all the glorious Ones He puts glory here for that which hath glory in it or which is glorious per Metonymiam Adjuncti and by these he meaneth such as he called Princes verse 8. All the honourable of the earth i. e. All the Merchants and Traffiquers of Tyre which are the honourable of the earth Yet not onely the pride of all the glory and of all the Merchants and Honourable men of Tyre was hereby stained but also the pride of all the glory and of all the honourable men of the whole earth for the bringing down of the pride of all the glory
he sheweth what they were whom the Assyrian brought into the Land of the Caldeans to dwell when he carried the Caldeans thence they were such as lived in the Wilderness in Tents like the Arabes Scenitae and Scythians Note here that these words according to their right order should follow those this people and the order and sence of this verse hitherto is this Behold the Land of the Caldeans this people that dwelt first in the Wilderness and now dwell in it that is in the Land of the Caldeans was not in it that is in the Land of the Caldeans till the Assyrian founded it for them The like trajection of words we shall finde 2 Cor. 4.4 where we read In whom the God of this world hath blinded the mindes of them which beleeve not for to them which beleeve not in whom the God of this world hath blinded their mindes They set up the Towers thereof i. e. The Caldeans built the strong Towers and places of refuge in Caldea Here is a Relative without an Antecedent nigh to it They raised up the Pallaces thereof i. e. The Caldeans built the stately Pallaces which were in the Land of the Caldeans And he brought it to ruine i. e. And the Assyrian did ruine and destroy them It for them a singular for a plural number The sence of this place is this the Caldeans built strong Towers of defence and large Pallaces and Buildings in their Land and rooted themselves there yet notwithstanding their towers of defence and their Pallaces the Assyrian brought their Land to ruine That which the Prophet saith here is this that the Caldeans were an antient people and had in their Land many Towers of defence and large Buildings of strength yet notwithstanding the Assyrians did vanquish them and destroy their Land And he saith it for this end that he might make it appear that if the Assyrians were able to vanquish the Caldeans which were an antient and strong people and had many places of strength and defence in their Land the Babylonians would be able to vex and afflict the Tyrians as here he prophesieth of it and lay Tyre waste also 14. Howle ye ships of Tarshish q.d. Howle therefore ye Ships of Tarshish See verse 1. For your strength is laid wast i. e. For Tyre which you said was so strong shall be laid wast See vers 1. He puts strength here in the Abstract for strong in the Concrete to signifie the exceeding strength of that which he speaks q. d. Your exceeding strong Citie Tyre c. And he calls it their strength Or their exceeding strong Citie because it should prove to be so exceeding strong onely in their report and in their sayings it should not prove so indeed So when we heare a man speake highly of any thing which proveth otherwise we say to him that is or this was your so and so 15. In that day i. e. At the time in which she shall lye wast Tyre shall be forgotten Supple Of her lovers The meaning is that Tyre shall not be frequented with Merchants and Traffiquers as she wont to be Note that from this place to the end of the Chapter the Prophet speakes of Tyre under an Allegory wherein he compareth Tyre to an Harlot The Merchants and Traffiquers which were wont to trade with Tyre to her lovers the gain which she got by those Merchants and Traffiquers to the hire which an Harlot hath for prostituting her body c. Seventy years according to the dayes of one King q. d. Seventy years to wit so long as one King and his Seed or Race shall reign By this King and his Seed or Race is meant Nebuchadnezzar and his seed for Nebuchadnezzars seed was extinguished by Cyprus King of Persia at which time in all probability Tyre began to flourish again as her Neighbour Jerusalem did and this was seventie yeares after Nebuchadnezzar had smitten them Jer. 25. v. 11 and 12. Of one King i. e. Of one King and his Seed or Race for often times though one individall person be onely named or mentioned yet his seed or race or children are also tacitely included So God said to Abraham I am the Lord which brought thee out of Vr of the Caldees to give thee this Land meaning the Land of Canaan to inherit it Genes 15.7 But this latter Pronoune Thee though it signifieth onely Abrahams person yet it includeth Abrahams Seed also as appeareth Gen. 13. 15. So Galat. 3.18 Paul saith that God gave the Inheritance to Abraham by promise wherein Abraham is included and Abrahams seed also as appeareth Galat. 3. verse 16. So 2 Sam. cap. 7. vers 16. The Lord said to David Thy Kingdom shall be established for ever before thee thy throne shall be established for ever where in that word Thy which signifies plainly David onely Davids Sonnes are also included as appeareth in the twelfth verse of that Chapter Shall Tyre sing c. He speaks of Tyre as of a Woman by a Prosopopoeia Sing as an Harlot i. e. Sing merrily as an Harlot useth to sing when she would allure Lovers to turn in to her saying 16. Take an harp c. This is the Song which Tyre should sing at that time in which Song Tyre stirreth up her self to mirth Go about the City i. e. Go about the streets of the City Thou Harlot These are the words of Tyre to her selfe who calls her self an Harlot for the reason expressed in the next verse Thou hast bin forgotten viz. Of thy Lovers The meaning of this Metaphoricall phrase is that she had not bin frequented with Forreigne Merchants as she was wont to be but had bin as one quite forgotten by them That thou maist be remembred i. e. That thou maist be remembred of thy Lovers and that they may come again and visit thee He persists in his Metaphor and the meaning is q. d. That thou mayst be frequented by Merchants as thou wert heretofore 17. After the end of seventy years See verse 15. The Lord will visit Tyre To wit In favour and mercy by delivering her from the oppression and cruelty of her enemies And she shall turne to her hire i. e. And she shall turne to her again which she was wont to make by Traffique and Merchandize with other people which came thither to buy and sell their rich Commodities The Prophet continueth his Metaphor of an Harlot and calls her gaine her hire because she got gaine of those with whom shee traffiqued by her Merchandize as an Harlot doth her hire of her Lovers by the use of her body c. And shall commit fornication with all the Kingdomes of the World i. e. And she shall trade and traffique and Merchandize with all the Kingdomes of the World by which she shall get gain as an Harlot doth an hire by her fornication By her Fornification therefore he meaneth Metaphorically her dealing and traffiquing with those Merchants which came to her With all the Kingdoms
such knowledge were vexed to hear themselves accused of ignorance and counted as doltish as children and therefore they mocked Isaiah when he told them of it and when he said Precept upon precept precept upon precept line upon line c. And they repeated his words in a ridiculous manner as if they stammered wherefore because they stammered out his words in a ridiculous jeering maner he threatneth them here from the Lord with stammering lips that is with a punishment like to their sin Another tongue i. e. Another tongue then they understand and use or a tongue different from their own tongue or language Will he speak to this people By this people may be meant the people of Judah in general whom God would punish with stammering lips for their Priests and Prophets sake Or we may understand by this people the Priests and Prophets onely though the punishment denounced here against them redounded to all the Jews also for we call a certain company of men of the same calling and profession oftentimes a Nation or people The Lord was said to speak unto this people with stammering lips and another tongue when he brought the Assyrians upon them under Sennacherib whose language they understood not and so the Assyrians seemed to them to stammer for tongues which we understand not seem to us as stammering tongues See Deut. 28.49 Besides the general calamity which the Jews suffered by these stammering tongues that is by the Assyrians No doubt but many particular Jews received many a stripe and many a kick because they understood not the Assyrians which would have them do this or that at their command while they were under their power Note here that the Apostle 1 Cor. 14.21 makes use of this place to abate the conceit which many of the Corinthians had of the gift of strange tongues above the gift of prophecying and the force of the Apostles argument for this purpose consisteth in this That God did sometimes send strange tongues to such as would not believe him speaking in his Prophets to punish them So that strange tongues were sometimes a sign to the Unbelievers of Gods displeasure towards them But the gift of prophecying was given or sent to Believers not as a sign at any time of Gods displeasure but always as a sign of Gods good-will towards them Now that which is always sent as a sign of Gods good-will towards Believers is to be preferred before that which is sometimes sent as a sign of Gods displeasure to Unbelievers and therefore the gift of prophecying is to be preferred before the gift of strange tongues 12. To whom he said This is the Rest c. i. e. Whom he would have taught the right way that they might have taught others also according to their place but they would not be taught but mocked c. To whom he said i. e. To which people he said What he here said he spoke to the Priests and Prophets onely who were to teach and instruct others also But you will say If he spoke to the Priests and Prophes onely how is he said to speak it to the people Ans I said that by the people may be understood the Priests and Prophets onely But if by the people we understand all the people of Judah yet may that which is spoken onely to the Priests and Prophets be said to be spoken to them as an Vniversity is said to determine a question whereas it is determined by the Doctors thereof onely or a message is said to be sent to an Vniversity which is sent onely to the Heads thereof To whom he said Supple In love and kindness by me Isaiah This is the Rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest q. d. This which I teach you is the Truth of God wherewith when ye are instructed ye may instruct those which are in error and desire to come to the knowledge of the Truth and bring them out of that their Error to the knowledge of the Truth This is the meaning of these words which were spoken to the Priests and Prophets as they were Priests and Prophets that is as they were by their Calling Teachers and Instructers of the people and who as they had erred themselves at this time and caused the people to err by their Errors so might have learned the Truth themselves and have instructed the people also therein and by that have brought them out of their Errors if they would have harkened For the farther understanding of the words know that the words are if not Proverbial yet Allegorical and that the Allegory is taken from travellers and that by occasion of that that we call falshood error and say of him which is of a false Opinion and holdeth that which is false That he erreth and is out of the way as Vers 7. First then The holding of a false Tenent or being of a false judgment is likened to the erring or straying of a traveller out of his way Secondly The man which seeth that he is in a false Opinion and desireth to be instructed in the Truth is compared to a Traveller which knoweth he is out of the way and is weary with wandering out of his way For as such Traveller is weary of his wandering so is such a man weary of his Error which seeth his Error and desireth to come to the knowledge of the Truth for his desire to come to the knowledge of the Truth sheweth that he is weary of his Error for a desire of change argueth a weariness of our present condition Thirdly The knowledge of the Truth is compared to the Rest which the Traveller findes when he is weary for as rest sets an end to the Travellers former wanderings so doth the knowledge of the Truth to his erring and going out of the way who was in an Error before Now the words being thus allegorized may be thus expounded This is the Rest i. e. This is the Truth Wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest Wherewith ye may cause those which have erred and are weary of their Errors to rest from that weariness by bringing them to the knowledge of the Truth c. And this is the refreshing Supple With which ye may refresh them These last words are the very same for sence with the foregoing words But yet if you think refreshing signifieth more then rest interpret it of the delight which Truth being known bringeth along with it besides the rest or cessation which it brings from erring Yet they would not hear i. e. Yet they would not harken to the voyce of the Lord who offered thus to instruct them in the Truth Note that these words This is the Rest are not so to be understood as if God had used these formal words to these men but the meaning is this That God would have taught these men his Truth but they would not be taught it 13. But the Word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept c. q.d.
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.
we do also beleeve it as also because before we can beleeve a thing we must know it 13. Draw neer unto me with their mouth To draw neer to God is to come to him to his Temple where he sat between the Cherubins To draw neer him with the mouth is to come to his Temple and there to pray and to performe lip-service But have removed their hearts far from me Their heart was removed from God in that they did not heartily serve him and fear him for if they had heartily served him and feared him they would have also believed his words and in particular the vision of all which the Prophet here speaks of And their fear to me By the fear of God may be meant Synecdochically all and any kinde of duty which we owe to God and in particular here it may be taken for the belief of his word Their fear of me is taught by the precept of men i. e. They fear me and serve me and beleeve me but as they are taught by their false Prophets and Rulers to fear me and serve me and beleeve my word so that what they teach to be my honor must go for my honor and what they teach to be my fear must go for my fear and what they teach to be my words must go for my words and must be believed but no more no though I the Lord my self teach that I will have more honor and more fear and more to be beleevâ—d as my word By the precept oâ— men By men here he meaneth men which were not instructed of God but were carnal-minded men yet in some authority with the people who judged of the Word of God as it made for or agreed to their humor so that what agreed not with their humor they did not allow of but taught that it was neither Gods Word nor to be beleeved such were the Prophets and the Rulers and the Seers vers 10. This people here spoken of were a Type of those which lived in our Saviours time and these Prophets and Rulers and Seers a Type of the Scribes and Pharisees which ruled that people Mat. 15.8 14. I will proceed to do a marvelous work amongst this people i. e. As I have determined so will I go on with my determination to do a marvelous work amongst this people Note here the Enallage of the Person how he passeth from the â—econd to the third person A marvelous work amongst this people even a marvelous work and a wonder that which he calls a marvelous work here and a wonder he calls a strange work cap. 28.21 which is all one with sence for this This work is to destroy these men of Jerusalem by the Assyrians which he calls here a marvelous work and a wonder for the same reason as he calls the â—â—struction of the Jews a strange work there Had these men beleeved the words of the Lord as others did they would have remained in Jerusalem and so have been saved as others were which remained there but because they beleeved not they would not trust themselves in Jerusalem but being led by their Prophets and Rulers and Seers went out from thence to practise other means for their safety and so fell into the hands of the Assyrians and were destroyed either by the Assyrians or by the hand of the Angel while they were mingled among the Assyrians and took part with them For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish q. d. Neither shall the wisdome of their wise men nor the understanding of their prudent men hinder my work and save them for the wisdom of the wise men shal perish c. The Prophet prevents an Objection here for some might object and say That there be many wise men among these which you O Isaiah finde fault with and they by their wisedome and understanding will prevent this marvelous work and wondeâ— which you speak of To this Objection the Prophet answers That for all their wise men the Lord will bring this marvelous work and wonder to passe For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish c. That which Isaiah speaks here of the wisdome of these wise men Saint Paul alledgeth to shew that God would not make use of the wisedome of the wise men of the world in mans salvation 1 Cor. 1.19 And that Saint Paul might well do because the temporal Salvation of the Jews was a Type of the spiritual Salvation by Christ and these wisemen and their humane wisdom a Type of all the wisdom and wise men of the world of whatsoever profession they were As therefore the wisdom of these men could not prevail to save them selves or other of their Country men out of the hands of the Assyrians no more can the wisdom of the wise men of the world avail to save men and bring them to salvation and these words though in their first and meaner sense they shew that these wise men among the Jewes should not save themselves or their Countrey-men from the Sword of the Assyrians yet in the second and sublime sence they shew that the wise men of the world cannot with all their wisedome deliver a man out of the snares of the Devil and bring him to salvation The wisedome of their wise men shall perish c. q. d. The wisedome of their wise men shall come to nought The wisedome of those wise men is said to perish and come to nought because they could not by their wisedome save this people Shall be hid This is a repetition of those words shal perish for because a thing which is perished is not to be seen and that which is not to be seen is as it were hid from our eyes therefore doth he say shall be hid for shall perish or come to nought 15. Wo to them that seek deep to hide their counsels c. i. e. Wo to them which are close in their counsels and think that their counsels are perceived by none He useth a Metaphor here taken from a man which having a treasure to hide digs deep in the Earth to hide it for the deeper it lieth the safer it is and more difficult to be found The Prophet denounceth this particular woe against those wise and prudent men which he mentioned Vers 14. which did not believe either that the Assyrians should be destroyed or that Jerusalem should be delivered from the fury of the Assyrians and therefore took or would take secret counsel some of delivering all up into the Assyrians hands that so they might provide for their own safety others of calling in the Egyptians to their ayd others of flattering with and insinuating themselves into the affections of the Assyrians by feigning themselves to affect theirs rather then their own Religion c. Which counsel of theirs they carryed as close as they could that it might not come to Hezekiah's or Isaiah's ears And they thought that they had carryed it so wisely and closely as that no man no not
gifts which blinde the eyes of the wise Deut. 16.19 He speaks not here of the eyes of the body but of the minde that is the understanding Them that hear i. e. Them whose duty it is to hear By these he meaneth the Judges and Magistrates as before whose duty is to hear in a Case brought before them both parties what they can say and the proofs which are brought in every cause Shall harken i. e. Shall harken diligently and attentively to the proofs and allegations which are brought on either side in every cause which depends before them 4. The heart also of the rash i. e. Those Judges and Magistrates which have been rash and heady in giving sentence in a Cause which hath been brought before them before they well understood the truth of the Cause Shall understand knowledge i. e. Shall have perfect knowledg of the Cause and understand it throughly before they give sentence in it Knowledge is put here for the object of knowledge that is for that which ought to be known in a Cause before the Judge giveth sentence And the tongue of the stammerers By stammerers are here meant Judges and Magistrates which are soon angry and easily carryed away with Passion which blinds the minde and is a most unfit thing in a Judge or Magistrate Note that anger makes many men to stammer in their speech so that while they are in this passion they cannot speak plain nor bring out their words orderly Wherefore the Prophet calleth angry Judges and Magistrates stammerers per Metonymiam Effecti vel Adjuncti Shall be ready to speak plainly i. e. Shall speak plainly and readily The meaning is That they shall be temperate men and men free from passion As angry men stammer in their passion so do the same men when they are voyd of anger speak plain hence he puts here speaking plainly for vacancy of anger and passion Note that when the Prophet saith the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge and the tongue of the stammerer shall be ready to speak plainly we need not understand the rash and him that understands knowledge of the same individual men nor the stammerers and those which speak plainly of the same individual persons But it is enough to make the sence of this place good if men of knowledg and of good temper be put in the place of rash men and men which speak plainly in the place of stammerers For it is usual to speak of men which succeed one another in the same place or office as if they were the same individual men 5. The vile person shall be no more called liberal i. e. A vile person shall be no more advanced to the place of a Judge or Magistrate neither shall he that is already in that place if he be vile continue in that place Note that the word liberal here is a term of honor which was wont to be given to Princes Judges and Magistrates like that of Benefactor Luk. 22.25 Therefore not to be called liberal is as much as not to be Prince Judge or Magistrate Nor the churl i. e. Nor the covetous man Be said to be bountiful i. e. Shall be called bountiful Note that the word bountiful was wont to be a term of honor given to Princes Judges and Magistrates as the terms Liberal and Benefactor This therefore is a repetition of the former sentence 6. For the vile person will speak villany q. d. For though a Judge and a Magistrate should speak nothing but what becometh honest grave and wise men neither upon the bench nor elsewhere yet a vile person will speak villany both upon the Bench and elsewhere For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Matt. 12.34 And he will give villanous judgment against the upright And his heart will work iniquity i. e. And he will do indeed that which is unjust He saith his heart for he by a Synecdoche To practise hypocrisie i. e. Though he doth study to practice hypocrisie and maketh all villany any iniquity under a vizard of truth and righteousness Here is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of those or the like words Though he doth study Hypocrisie is a feigned righteousness and he practiseth hypocrisie that laboreth to seem just when he is indeed unjust And to utter error against the Lord Supple With a shew and colour of truth To utter error signifieth here to give false judgment or to pronounce a false sentence for whatsoever is false is erroneous And to utter error that is to give false judgment or to pronounce a false sentence is said to be against the Lord because the Lord hath said Thou shalt do no unrighteousness in judgment but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor Lev. 19.15 As also because Judges judge not for man but for the Lord 2 Chron. 19.6 To make empty the Soul of the hungry i. e. That he may take away from him who is poor and hungry that little which he hath left to buy him bread Supple under a colour of justice which respecteth not the person of the poor Exod. 23.3 The Soul of the hungry i. e. The hungry A Synecdoche of a part for the whole man Because Covetousness and Injustice is a most odious thing in a Judge and Magistrate there is no Judg or Magistrate so covetous and unjust but desireth to hide his covetousness and injustice under a vizard of liberality and righteousness These words To practise hypocrisie and to utter error against the Lord to make empty the Soul of the hungry may make this place more easie if we read them as with a Parenthesis And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail i. e. And he will by his iniquity in judgment extort from the poor all that he hath so that he will not leave him a peny to buy him a drop of drink when he is thirsty This sentence is to be coupled with that viz. His heart will work iniquity 7. The instruments also of the Churl are evil i. e. The tricks and devices also which covetous Judges use are naught He deviseth wicked devices i. e. He inventeth and deviseth many wicked tricks and devices to corrupt and pervert the true meaning of the Law and to weaken the proofs of the poor mans witnesses and to delude the arguments which are brought in the poor mans Cause To destroy the poor with lying words i. e. That he may destroy the poor with these his wicked devices which are altogether lyes The sence is q. d. He deviseth wicked devices even lying words to destroy the poor thereby even when he speaketh right He saith to destroy the poor for to destroy the right of the poor Or he calls the oppression of the poor the destruction of the poor by an Hyperbole as he calls it blood or murder cap. 1.15 Even when the needy speaketh right i. e. Even when he and his witnesses and his advocate speaks right for all these are meant by Him
the Lord mentioneth both his power and his good will towards Hierusalem and her children the Jewes that he might the better perswade the Jewes of what he said verse 23. To wit that he would redeeme Jacob and glorifie himselfe in Israel For what will not come to passe where neither power nor good will is wanting This latter part of the Chapter is as a reason therefore to enforce these words The Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified himselfe in Israel and may be ushered in with the causall conjunction For q. d. For thus saith the Lord thy redeemer c. Thy Redeemer i. e. Who hath often redeemed thee and will yet redeeme thee That formed thee from the wombe See verse 2. That stretcheth forth the Heavens i. e. That made and preserveth the heavens He alludeth to the stretching out the Curtaines of a Tent or Tabernacle Alone i. e. Without the helpe of any other q.d. And needed not the helpe of any Idoll to helpe me For he seemes to speake this especially in opposition to and in depression of Idols That spreadeth abroad the earth See Cap. 42.5 By my selfe i. e. Without any other to helpe me This is also spoken in opposition to and depression of Idols as that before 25. That frustrateth the tokens of the Lyars i. e. Which makes the Signes and the Tokens which Astrologers take from the Starres of future Events to be vaine and of no effect So that that shall not come to passe which they prognosticate from those signes and tokens in the Starres The Tokenâ— i. e. The Signes of future Events which they gather from the position of the Starres c. Of the Lyars By Lyars he meaneth Astrologers whom he calls Lyars because the Event of things shall not answer their Praedictions and Prognostications but happen or fall out cleane otherwise than they did prognosticate and foretell He speakes here of frustrating the tokens of Lyars because many Aâ—trologers did at this time Prognosticate by the Starres that Everlasting happinesse and dominion should be to the Babylonians and Eternall Captivity and Servitude to the Jewes And maketh Diviners mad i. e. And which will make the Divinations and Praedictions of Diviners and Sooth-sayers to prove false whereupon they shall runne mad to see their Divinations and Praedictions of so little worth or truth He speakes of making Diviners mad because many Diviners and Soothsayers did at this time Prophesie Peace to Babylon and Mercy without hope of redemption to the Captive Iewes And when Diviners and Sooth-sayers speake confidently of a thing to come if the thing doth not come to passe which they speake of they are oftentimes laughed and mocked and scoffed at by the People at which proud natures not knowing either how to beare it or how to avoyd it are so vexed as that they fret and storme and runne even mad to think of it That turneth wise men backward i. e. Which turneth the wise men from wisedome to folly That is which maketh the wise men of the earth fooles by infatuating their Counsells He useth a Metaphor taken from a man which when he either turneth or is turned from a thing hath his backe toward the thing from which he turneth or is turned He speaketh here of turning wise men backward and making their Counsell foolish because the State Counsellors of Babylon where the Iewes were Captive were famous for their wisedome and Policy in State Affaires From the 24. verse hitherto the Prophet hath showne especially the power of God from this place to the end of the Chapter he sheweth especially the good will of God to Hierusalem and so to the Iewes that the Iewes may no whit doubt of their Redemption out of Captivity 26. That confirmeth the word of his servant i. e. Which will make good the word of his Prophet Isaiah which he spake concerning the delivery of his People the Iewes out of Captivity And performeth the Counsell of his messengers i. e. And which will performe the Newes or Message which he sent by his Prophets his Messengers concerning the Redemption of his People out of Babylon and Babylons downfall The Counsell of his messengers He saith the Counsell of his messengers for the message of his messengers by a Metonymy because their message conteined the Counsell or determination of God concerning the downefall of Babylon and the Delivery of his People thence That saith to Hierusalem thou shalt be inhabited i. e. Which saith to Hierusalem though thou art now desolate and without Inhabitants thy Inhabitants being carried away Captive into Babylon yet thou shalt be inhabited againe for thy children and thine Inhabitants shall returne from Babylon and dwell againe in thee He speaketh to the City of Hierusalem as to a Person by a Metaphor or Prosopopoeia Yee shall be built i. e. Though the Babylonians have burnt you or beat you downe with Ramms and other Engines yet shall my ancient people the Iewes come out of Babylon where they are Captive and build you and dwell in you again And I will raise up the decayed places thereof i. e. For I will raise up the decayed places thereof And for For 27. That saith to the deep be dry and I will dry up thy Rivers By the deep I understand here the River Euphrates for not only the Sea but any great River also may be called the deep and Euphrates was the greatest River which was then known And by the Rivers I understand the waters of Euphrates and those smaller Rivers which either came out of or ran into Euphrates that great River of Babylonia For many such Rivâ—rs there were Now as for the meaning of these words in this place they may be taken Allegorically and the sense thereof may be this q. d. which say to all impediments which may hinder the way of my People the Iewes in their returne out of Babylon and the Dominions thereof homewards Be yâ—e removed and hinder not my People For understanding of which sense know that the Iewes though they were all Captive to the Babylonians yet many of them were carriâ—d into Captivity beyond the City of Babylon so that between the Land of Iudah and the place of their Captivity ran Euphrates and its other Rivers which might be a stop and an hindrance to the ready passage of the Iewes which were to passe from the Lâ—nd of their Captivity into the Land of Iudah their owne home That thereâ—ore he might signifie that none of the Iewes should be hindred in their passage homeward out of their Captivity He saith That saith to the deep be dry and I will dry up thy Rivers alluding herein to what the Lord did to Iordan when he brought his pâ—ople out of Egypt into Canaan for at that time he divided the waters of Iordâ—n and made his people a way throuâ—h the Channell thereof Iosh 3. Or Secondly the sense of those words Allegorically taken may be this q. d. That will destroy the King of Babylon and all his
to wit light and darkness peace and evil It may be asked Why the Lord doth here mention this That he is the Author of prosperity and adversity c. Ans He doth it that that which he promiseth in the next following Verse may be received with the greater credit and that it may be known that he is able to do what there he promiseth 8. Drop down ye Heavens from above What the Lord would have the Heavens to drop down is mentioned in the words following to wit Righteousness By the Heavens are meant the Skies Under this commâ—nd which he gives to the Heavens and to the Skies there lieth a divine promise for what the Lord commands the Heavens and the Skies to do that he will bring to pass himself Let the Skies pour down Righteousness q. d. Yea let the Skies pour down Righteousness And is put here for Yea and in the word pour down there is an emphasis And thâ—se words seem to be a correction of the former By this the Lord sheweth the abundance of righteousness which he would send which he compareth here to rain in abundance Righteousness By righteousness is meant the deliverance and salvatiâ—n whereby the Jews were delivered and saved out of the hands of the Babylonians and other the blessings which he bestowed upon them after their delivery and salvation And this deliverance and salvation and these blessings thâ— Lord calls righteousness per Metonymiam Efficientis because they were an effect of his righteâ—usness that is of his fidelity or faithfulness in keeping promise for God had promised to deliver the Jews and to save them out of the hands of the Babylonians and to bless them exceedingly Again This deliverance and salvation and these blessings might also be called righteousness because they were an effect of the righteousness that is of the justice of God for it was a righteous and just thing with God to comfort his people and to deliver them and to bless them and to destroy their Enemies when they had received at his hands double for all their sins as Cap. 40. vers 1 2. See 2 Thess cap. 1. vers 6 7. Note that when he saith Let the Skies pour down righteousness he compareth righteousness to the rain And though righteouâ—ness be the fruit which should spring out of the Earth by this rain yet he calls this rain by the name of righteousness because righteousness was produced thereby So we usually say of a sweet showre that it raineth grass because it causeth the grass to grow out of the ground in great abundance But you will say What is then meant by the Heavens or the Skies and their rain and what is meant by the Earth Ans Similitudes and Metaphors must not be racked and every part examined but enough it is if we understand the whole meaning by the whole but yet by the Heavens and by the Eâ—rth Cyruâ— may be understood here who delivered the Jews out of the Babylonish captivity and enriched them greatly and gave them many priviledges and by the rain may be mâ—â—nt those means which Cyrus usâ—d fâ—r this purpose Let the Earth open i. e. And let the Earth open to receive what the Skieâ— pour down This Conjunction And is here to be understood And let them bring forth Salvation i. e. And let the Skies and the Earth togethâ—r bring forth salvation as the Earth and the Heavens by their showres bring forth grass By salvation understand here meerly the delivery of the Jews out of tâ—e hands of the Babylonians by Cyrus And let righteousness spring up together i. e. And let righteousness spring up by their concourse that is by the concourse of the Heavens and of the Earth together with it that is together with salvation That rigâ—teousness and salvation may not signifie the same thing in this place I conceive that righteousness is to be taken here in a more strict signification then it was taken before in this Verse and that here it signifieth onely those blessings which the Lord bestowed upon tâ—e Jews by Cyrus after he had delivered them or saved them out of the hands of the Babylonians whereas in the former part of the Verse it signified both that salvation or deliverance and those blessings too I the Lord have created it i. e. I the Lord have appointed it to bâ— so or I the Lord will create that is I will bring it to pass or I will have it so In this last sence a preterperfect is put for a futâ—re tense 9. Wo unto hiâ— that striveth with his Maker This is spoken to the unbelieving and murmuâ—ing Jew For the unbelieving and murmuring Jew hearing God say Drop down ye Heavenâ— and let the Skies pour down righâ—â—ousâ—â—ss might out of an unbelieving heart murmur against God and say to him Thou sayst Drop down ye Heavens from above c. but thou art not able to make the Heavens drop down or the Skies to pour down righteousness as thou sayst Wherefore the Lord doth by way of prevention first reprove those men for their sauciness and murmuring against him in Vers 9 10. and then in vers 11. he assureth them that are believing of his power and love to them and that he can and will deliver them and save them and bless them as he said Vers 8. Vnto him that striveth with his Maker i. e. Wo to him that speaketh against God to his face even against God which made him for God will rebuke him for it This strife is a strife of words Let the potsheard strive with the potsheard of the Earth q. d. Let one potsheard strive with another and let it not strive with the Potter and let one man strive with another and not with God who made him Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it What makest thou i. e. Shall the Clay contemn the Potter and say to him in contempt What makest thou If he should say so to the Potter the Potter would break it presently in pieces What makest thou This is spoke with contempt as though the Potter could not make an handsom pot q. d. What goest thou about to make dost thou go about to make a neat or handsom pot that 's past thy skill Or thy wâ—rk Or shall thy work O Pâ—tter say of thee He useth an Apostrophe here to the Potter He hath no hands Supple Able or cunning enough to make an handsom vessel When he saith He hath no hands he doth not say absolutely that he hath no hands but relatively that is he hath not hands fit or cunning enough to make an handsom vessel 10. Wo to him that saith to his Father What begettest thou q. d. Wo to him that being born lame or blinde or deformed saith to his Father What begettest thou Thou hast begotten a lame or blinde or deformed childe but thou canst not beget a well-favored and perfect childe Or to the Woman Supple Which brought him forth that is to his Mother What hast thou
brought forth q. d. Thou hast brought forth a lame or blinde or deaf or deformed childe but thou canst not bring forth a childe which is of perfect limbs and senses and which is well-favored Whosoever shall say this to his Father or his Mother Wo be to him for certainly the Lord will judge him for this his repining and irreverent speech against his Parents And if they shall not escape judgement which thus repine and murmur and shew themselves thus irreverent against their Parents much lesse shall they escape which doe irreverently repine and murmur against God 11. Thus saith the Lord c. The Lord having in the two former verses reprehended the murmuring Jew for repining and striving against him doth here assure the meek and believing Jew of his love to his people and his ability to deliver them and blesse them confirming what he said vers 8. And his maker i. e. And the maker of Israel The Lord is said to be the maker of Israel because he made Israel that is the children of Israel to be a People yea a peculiar people to himself But he speaks here of them as of a single person and alludeth to a Potter making a vessel Ask me of things to come concerning my sons i. e. Ask me how mercifully and well I will deal with the children of Israel which are my sons in time to come though now they be captives My sons The Lord called the children of Israel his sons because he delt with them as a father doth with his sons And concerning the work of my hands command ye me This is a repetition of the former sentence Concerning the work of my hands Whom he called his sons in the former Verse he calls the work of his hands here even the children of Israel and he calls them the work of his hands in allusion to a Potter because he was their Maker that is because it was he which made them a people Command ye me Supple To tell you what I intend to do with or for the work of my hands This is like that speech of Moses to Pharaoh Exod. 8.9 Glory over me c. though it be from a more worthy person And God speaks of himself as of a man by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 12. I have made the Earth c. Between this and the former Verse something is left to be understood that the sence may be this viz. And what I shall tell you concerning my sons and the work of my hands I shall be able to bring to pass for that you may not doubt of my power know that I have made the Earth c. What therefore is too hard for me I with my hands have stretched out the Heavens i. e. I even I made the Heavens with my hands Where note that the Heavens were not first made and afterwards stretched out like a curtain but their substance and expansion were created both at once When he saith my hands he speaks of God as of a man by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and alludes to a work-man who doth what he doth by the skill and strength of his hands And all their host have I commanded i. e. And all the Stars of the Heavens have I created By the host of the Heavens he meaneth the Sun and Moon and Stars which he calleth an host because of their number and order in which regard they are like to an Host or Army He saith I commanded them for I created them for he commanded and they were created Psal 148.5 He said Let there be lights in the firmament of the Heaven c. and it was so Gen. 1.14 15 16 By this also he may signifie the command and power which he hath over the Host of Heaven for when he calls unto them they stand up together cap. 48.13 13. I have raised him up in righteousness i. e. I will raise up Cyrus according to my word and my promise A preterperfect tense is put here for a future Him That is Cyrus A Relative is put here without an Antecedent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In righteousness i. e. For my righteousness sake In is put here for For And by righteousness is meant that righteousness which is observed in keeping promise which is commonly called fidelity and truth Note here that when God bad his people to ask him what he would do concerning his sons and the work of his hands in time to come vers 11. that it is to be supposed that his people did ask him that question and upon their asking he gives them an answer here saying I will raise up Cyrus in righteousness and I will direct all his ways he shall build my City c. I will direct all his ways i. e. I will direct him in all his ways They cannot go amiss or have any other then good success in their ways whom God directeth He shall build my City i. e. He shall build Jerusalem which the Caldees have burnt down Cyrus is said to have built Jerusalem because he furnished the Jews with power and necessaries to build it My City Jerusalem is called the City of God because he chose it for the place of his worship Psal 132.13 And he shall let go my Captives i. e. And when he hath overcome Babylon he shall let go those children of Israel which are my sons which were there in captivity Not for price nor reward q. d. And though he let them go he shall ask no ransom of them but shall let them go freely 14. Thus saith the Lord the labor of Egypt c. In the former Verse the Lord said that Cyrus would let his captives go not for price nor for reward therefore here the Lord saith that because Cyrus would let his Captives go not for price or reward that he the Lord would reward him for this his magnificence to his captives for the Lord is never behind-hand with them that serve him The labor of Egypt i. e. Those riches which the Egyptians have got by their labor And the merchandize of Aethiopia i. e. And the wealth which the Aethiopians have got by their merchandize And of the Sabeans men of stature i. e. And the wealth of the Sabeans though they be men of a great stature and therefore lusty and strong and like to preserve their own Shall come over unto thee i. e. Shall come from being theirs to be thine And they shall be thine i. e. And the Aegyptians Aethiopians and Sabeans themselves shall be thine They shall come after thee in chains they shall come over q. d. Yea the Aegyptians and Aethiopians and Sabeans themselves shall submit themselves to thee and yield to thy mercy They shall come after thee Entreating thy mercy or entreating thee to accept of them for thy people In chains shall they come over i. e. They shall come to thee with chains on their hands or necks or feet as Captives to shew their humble submission to thee In chains They that were
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
should not dye in the dungeon as many of his Brethren have dyed through such hardness as he hath there suffered heretofore and which you are now afraid of By the pit is meant that part of the prison which is called the Dungeon which is as a pit under ground But by this also he meaneth Babylon or the Land of the Jews captivity by a Metaphor Nor that his bread should fail i. e. And that he might not be starved in captivity for want of bread as many of his brethren have been and which you now fear Supple And he shall prevail 15. But I am the Lord thy God that divided the Sea c. The Lord prevents an Objection here which Sion might make For Sion might say But for all this I have cause to be afraid and to fear continually every day for the Babylonians are men which are maliciously bent against me and their fury is such as that it cannot be withstood To which the Lord here answers saying I 'l grant that the Babylonians are men maliciously bent against thee but yet I am the Lord who am more mighty then all the men of the Earth thy God who will have a care of thee and protect thee whose friendship is more to be esteemed of then their enmity to be feared who divided the sea whose waves roared and therefore am able to chastise them be their fury never so great and tumultuous against thee The Lord of Hosts is my Name therefore can I give victory to whom I please and trample under feet whom I will That divided the sea whose waves roared He alludes to the division which he made in the red Sea for his people Israel to pass through which he divided notwithstanding the roaring of the waves Exod. 14. v. 16 21. The Lord of Hosts is his Name i. e. The Lord of Hosts is my Name He putteth here the third for the first person for the Lord speaketh here of himself This Name The Lord of Hosts intimateth a great deal of power and the Lord mentioneth it here to uphold Sion against the conceit which she had of the great power of the Babylonians her Enemies or Oppressors 16. And I have put my words in thy mouth c. And that it may be known that I have not onely power to redeem thee O Zion and thy children the Jews but will also to restore all prosperity and joy to you and where power and will meet together the effect must needs follow I have put my words in thy mouth O Isaiah The Lord maketh a sudden Apostrophe to Isaiah And have covered thee with the shadow of mine hand See cap. 49.2 That I may plant the Heavens and lay the foundations of the Earth q. d. That I may plant the Heavens and lay the foundations of the Earth Supple As I have determined to plant and lay them upon the Jews repentance i. e. That I may make new Haevens and a new Earth according to what I have decreed when the Jews have repented That these words are not literally to be understood but onely Metaphorically is plain and manifest and denyed by none Quest. But what is it which is meant by them Answ The meaning is as if he should say that I may put a new face on things and make the Heavens to give their light and the Earth to flourish and be verdant as when they were at first created that is That I may bring back all joy and gladness into the Land of Judah where there is now sorrow and grief c. For the understanding of which sence note that the Scripture saith of the Heavens in times of great calamity that they are darkened and that the Stars of Heaven give not their light neither doth the Sun and the Moon cause their their light to shine as cap. 50.30 cap. 13.10 And on the contrary in times of great prosperity it saith of the Heavens that they give their light and that the light of ths Moon is as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun is seven-fold as the light of seven days c. as cap. 30. v. 26. Therefore to make new Heavens is to make the Heavens to give their light as brightly and as clearly as when they were at first created and that signifieth to give or reduce great prosperity and great joy And as for the Earth during the time of the Babylonish captivity the Land of Judah was accounted as a Wilderness and as a Desart because of the barrenness and squalidity thereof vers 3. When therefore the Lord saith that he will lay the foundations of the Earth his meaning is that he will make the Earth to flourish and be as verdant as when it was at first created and that signifieth that he will take away that barrenness and squalidity under which the Land of Judah lay during the captivity and make it as Eden yea even as the Garden of the Lord as it was at the first Creation as is said vers 3. Where note that by the Heavens are particularly here meant the Heavens which were over the Land of Judah as cap. 5.30 And by the Earth is particularly meant the Land of Judah as cap. 24.17 c. and that by a Synecdoche By this therefore that the Lord saith That he will plant the Heavens and lay the foundations of the Earth is meant that he will make the Land of Judah a joyful and a fruitful Land But it may be here asked How it is to be understood that the Lord here saith that he put his words into Isaiabs mouth c. that he the Lord might plant the Heavens and lay the foundations of the Earth that is That he the Lord might give great prosperity and joy to the Land of Judah and make the Land of Judah a joyful and a fruitful Land Ans As the Lord took away all prosperity and joy out of the Land of Judah and made it a barren and a doleful Land because of the sins of the Jews which dwelt therein so he was determined to reduce all joy and prosperity into it and to make it a fruitful and a flourishing Land again if the Jews would repent them of their sins That therefore they might be induced to repent he put his words into Isaiahs mouth and covered him with the shadow of his hand that upon his words they might repent and upon their repentance he the Lord might bring back all joy and fruitfulness into the Land of Judah And thus is the Lord said to put his words into Isaiahs mouth that he the Lord might plant the Heavens and lay the foundations of the Earth That I may plant the Heavens Here is a Metaphor taken from a Gardiners planting Trees or Herbs And lay the foundations of the Earth Here is a Metaphor from a Builder And say unto Sion thou art my people This might the Lord say when he had brought back the Jews out of Babylon to Sion and clothed Sion with them as
c. Therefore I will divide him a portion c. I will divide him a portion with the great i. e. I will divide him a portion with the Babylonians which are great in power For when the Babylonians have overcome Judah and Jerusalem and taken the spoyls thereof they shall give Jeremy a portion of the spoyls and of the Land which they have taken And he shall divide the spoyl with the strong This is a repetition of the former sentence Because he hath poured out his Soul unto death i. e. Because he did not fear death but did willingly hazard his life in preaching the Word which I gave him to preach and in performing the work in which I employed him See Jerem. 26. vers 13 14 15. And he was numbered with the transgressors i. e. And because he was accounted as a Malefactor for doing my work and preaching my Word and was imprisoned and used as a Malefactor And he bare the sin of many And because he bore the sin of many Jeremy may be said to bear the sin of many either because he brought them to repentance and so bore that is took away their sin of which see vers 11. Or because he suffered many grievous things at the hands of the Iews through their hatred and malice towards him of which see vers 5. And in this last sence the sin of many is taken for the hard usage and punishment which they did inflict upon Ieremy through their sin that is through their hatred and malice which they bore against him by a Metonymie And this last Sense seemeth most agreeable to this place And made intercession for the transgressours i. e. And because he made intercession and prayed to God to have mercy upon them who did persecute and imprison him VERSE 2. For he shall grow up before him Having interpreted this Chapter from the second verse hitherto in the first meaner sense I returne to the Second verse to interpret this Chapter from thence to the end in the second and more sublime sense For he shall grow up i. e. Now the Messiah called the Servant of the Lord Cap. 52.13 shall grow up Before him i. e. In his Service As a tender Plant and as a root out of a dry ground i. e. As a tender Plant and as a root which springeth out of dry ground For as a plant or root which springeth out of a dry ground doth not thrive so well as that which groweth out of a fertile soile neither is so luxuriant but is small and slender and skragged So Christ shall not be in regard of worldly riches any great man neither shall he abound with worldly wealth So farre was Christ from having any abundance of worldly riches as that he had not of his own where to lay his head Matth. 8.20 By saying that he shall grow up as a tender plant he intimateth that the Messiah should be imployed in the Lords worke in his tender yeares and so he was Luke 2.46 He hath no forme and comelinesse and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him This some would have to be understood of Christ all the time of his mortality And they which do so do and must apply it to the outward condition and estate of Christ in respect of wealth and honour and worldly pompe For they cannot apply it to the feature and form and beauty of his body For it is generally received that Christ was a man of a goodly countenance and frame of body and to him do many apply that of the Psalmist according to the letter Thou art fairer than the Children of men grace is powred into thy lips c. Psal 45.2 Others would have this to be understood of Christ only in his latter dayes and dayes of his suffering in which dayes though Christ was naturally beautiful of a lively countenance his beauty was much marrâ—d and his countenance dâ—formed by the spittings buffettings wounds and griefs which he susteined 3. He is despised and rejected of men i. e. He shall be despised and rejected of men He useth a Praeterperfect Tâ—nse for a Future after a Prophetique manner to shew the certainty of what he speaks of Christ was sufficiently despised when they said of him in contempt This fellow Mat. 12.24 and 26.61 And when they called him Glutton Wine-bibber A friend of Pvblicanes and Siners Matth. 11.19 And when they said he was a Samaritane and had a Divell Iohn 8.48 And when they put a Crowne of Thornes upon his head and a robe upon his back and a Reed in his hand and bowed the knee before him and mockt him saying Haile King of the Jewes Matth. 27.29 c. And rejected of men To omit how often Christ preached unto the people and was not heard and how often he would have gathered Jerusalem as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings but she would not Matth. 23.37 Then was he rejected to the full when they asked Barabbas and refused Jesus Matth. 27. v. 17.20 A man of sorrowes and acquainted with griefes Then was Christ truly a man of sorrowes and acquainted with griefe when he was wounded with Thornes bâ—ffeted and spit upon and forced to carry his own Crosse and at last was crucified as a Malefactor Matth. Cap. 26.27 And we hid as it weâ—e our faces from him Supple Oâ—t of our hard hearts as not affording him any pitty Or out of disdaine as not vouchsafing to give him a kinde look This is spoken in the person of those Jewes and others whose heart God had touched with the sight and hearing of Christs sufferings and which did afterwards believe in him See Luke 23. v. 47.48 4. Surely he hath borne our griefes and carried our sorrowes q. d. He hath borne many griefes and carried many sorrowes especially on the Crosse But surely those griefes and these sorrowes which he hath borne and which he hath carried are our griefes and our sorrowes that is are griefes and sorrowes which he susteined for us and for our sins See 1 Pet. 2.24 By Griefes and Sorrowes are meant Metonymiâ—e the Torments and punishments which Christ suffered which torments and punishments caused griefes and sorrows and those torments and punishments they call theirs beca se Chriâ—t suffâ—red them for their sins St. Matthew applyeth this passage of the Prophet to Christs delivering those which were vexed with Divells and healing all those which were sick Matth 8. v. 16 17. As though the Prophet had foretold these things of Christ in these wordes But how can St. Matthew say that these words are to be understood of Christs casting out Divells and healing those which were sicke when as they are to be understood of Christs sufferings Ans What Christ suffered he suffered for this end that he might take away our sinnes and all the miseries which are come upon us by reason of our sins such as is the power of the Devill over us sicknesse diseases death
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
for their sinnes For as it is the duty of dogs to barke at Thieves So it is of Priests and Prophets to reprehend sinne Sleeping lying downe loving to slumber He persists in the Metaphor of dogs and by these qualities of a dogge he signifies the lazinesse of those Priests and Prophets which loved their ease and would take no paines in their calling 11. Yea they are greedy dogs which have never enough He persists still in his Metaphor of dogs and sheweth them to be like dogs in this also that they are greedy of gain as dogs are of meat And they are shepherds that cannot understand He calls them shepherds here whom he called watchmen before and whom he reprehended and described under the Metaphor or similitude of Dogs and therefore doth he call them shepherds because they should feed the people committed to them and guide them in the right way as shepherds do their flocks That cannot understand He said that they were blinde and ignorant of the Law of God vers 10. And here he sheweth that they cannot heal that blindness and overcome that ignorance because partly their Idleness partly their Covetousness and looking after gain hindered them from studying the Law of God and meditating therein whereby they might come to understand Yet some make these a meer repetition of those words to wit His watchmen are become blinde They all look to their own way every one for his gain from his quarters q. d. They all of them have their several ways and practices to get mony and they are every one wholy intent upon those their ways and practices This is the sence of these words but the words themselves seem to be Metaphorical and the Metaphor to be drawn from a man who expecting some welcom guest stands at the door of his house and looks that way which his guest is to come to see if he can see him coming To their own way Under the Metaphor of a way he meaneth their practices and courses to get mony which he calls their own way either in opposition to the way of God as not being the way in which God would have them to walk in but which they themselves either chose or found out for themselves Or else because every one of them had his own peculiar way to get gain For his gain He doth here compare gain to a welcom guest which a man expects at his house From his quarters i. e. From his house or place of aboad This appertains to the Metaphor last mentioned 12. Come ye say they I will fetch wine q.d. Moreover the Priests and the Prophets say either to their fellow-Priests and Prophets or to the people whom they invite to drink with them Come I will fetch wine and we will be merry To morrow shall be as this day q. d. We have been merry to day and we will be as merry to morrow as we have been to day This day hath been abundant with wine and strong drink and mirth and to morrow shall be as abundant as this And much more abundant q. d. Yea to morrow shall abound with more wine and strong drink and mirth then this day doth or hath done These are the sins in part which were the cause that the Jews were so destroyed by the Babylonians and carryed away captive into Babylon Other sins also there were which follow in the next Chapter which as I said should have been joyned with the last part of this Chapter or the last part of this Chapter with that ISAIAH CHAP. LVII THe righteous perish and no man taketh it to heart e. i. Moreover the righteous man dieth and no man taketh it into consideration Supple why God taketh him away This as I said should have been continued with the end of the foregoing Chapter And mercifull men are taken away none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come q. d. And mercifull men are taken away by death that they might not see the evil which is to come upon the Nation as Josiah was taken away 2 Kings 22.2 20. yet no man considereth that they are taken away that they might not see the evll to come These are a repetition or explanation rather of the former words If men would seriously consider and think with themselves that good men are taken away from the evil to come they would think of the evils and of the judgements which hang over their own heads and humble themselves and break off their sins before their judgements fell upon them But when they wil not be admonished of Gods judgements nor think upon them but put far from them the evil day they give themselves liberty of sinning and doe in a manner scorn and puffe at the threatnings of the Almighty which must needs provoke the Lord to anger 2. He shall enter into peace i. e. The righteous man which perisheth or dieth shall goe to the place where he shall be freed from all the troubles and molestations of this world and shall enjoy perfect Rest They shall rest in their beds i. e The mercifull men which are taken away out of this world by death shall rest in their Sepulchers as in their beds Each one walking in his uprightnesse i. e. Even every one of them which have walked uprightly in his waies and turned or staggered not either to the right hand or to the left 3. But draw neer hither ye sons of the Sorceresse the seed of the Adulterer and the Whore q. d. But draw neer ye which are wicked and hear what I say to you ye shall not enter into their peace nor rest in your beds as they do but ye shall live to be tormented and afflicted without Rest and when ye die ye shall be brought down to the grave with blood or one grievous plague or other This sence this Adversative Particle But seems to require and thus by order of words should the Prophet have spoken But because he called the wicked among the Jewes the sonnes of the Sorceresse and the seed of the Adulterer and the Whore they mocked him and made a mouth and drew out their tongues at him whereat the Prophet was transported with an holy anger and indignation against them and being thus transported did as it were forget what he was about to say But yet for sence he saith that vers 20. which he should have said here in formall words Draw neer hither Supple To heare what I have to say to you Ye sons of the Sorceresse i. e. Ye which are given to Sorcery and to Witchcraft This is an Hebrew Idiomie or an Hebrew kind of speech in which the son of the Sorceresse is as much as the Sorcerer That the Jewes were given to sorcery and witchcrafts see 2 Kings 21.6 The seed of the Adulterer and the Whore i. e. Ye bastards which are not the sons of Israel as ye call your selves but the sons of adultery or fornication and begot between an Idol and an Idolater
dead men cannot get out of their sepulchers no more can we out of the Land of our captivity In desolate places i. e. In the Land of our captivity They call the Land of their captivity desolate places in allusion to sepulchers because as sepulchers are places of darkness so was the Land of captivity to them a place of darkness and obscurity that is a place of sorrow and of mourning Note that the sepulchers of the Ancients were rooms of some space vaulted over-head with gates also belonging to them and these he calleth desolate places because no living man did there abide or inhabit 11. We roar all like Bears and mourn like Doves Supple Because of the great oppressions and miseries which we endure We look for judgment but there is none for salvation but it is far from us See Vers 9. 12. For our transgressions are multiplyed before thee i. e. For our sins are many and that thou knowest very well as being committed in thy sight Here is an Apoâ—trophe to God And our sin te tifie against uâ— i. e. And our sins come in as witnesses against us and witness that we are worthy of that which we suffer and unworthy of salvation or to be delivered from oâ—r sufferings He speaks of sin as of a pe son by a Prosopopoeia For our transgressiâ—ns are with us and as for our iniquities we know them q. d. For we cannot say that we have not transgressed and sinned for our transgressions are always before our eyes and as for our sins we know them very well Here is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Brachylogy We know them i. e. We know them and confess them for we cannot deny but that we are guilty of them 13. In transgressing and lying against the Lord i. e. We have sinned by transgressing and lying against the Lord. These words We have sinned are here to be understood I take their transgressing and lying against the Lord to signifie here both one and the same thing For their tranâ—gressing the Law of the Lord may be called lying againâ—t the Lord because the Jews promised the Lord solemnly in Moâ—nt Sinai and elsewhere to keep his Laws and yet broke this their promise which what was it else but lying against God Departing from your God i. e. Leaving the worship of God to serve Idols Speaking oppression and revolâ— i. e. Advising one another and teaching one another how to oppress the poor and to forsake the worship of God and serve Idols Conceiving and utâ—ering from the heart words of falshood i. e. Conceiving in our hearts false reports and false accusations to the hurt of our neighbors and dâ—sloyalâ—y to the dishonor of our God and bringing them out of our hearts where they were conceived by the mouth or tongue Note that this word falshood may relate both to God and to their neighbor and as it relates to their neighbor it may signifie false reports and â—alse accusations and as it relates to God it may siâ—nifie disloyalty in breaking tâ—e Coâ—enant and the Promise which they made to God as câ—p 57.4 14. Judgment is turned away backward i. e. And judgment is gone away and will not come at the Courts of Judicatâ—re By judgment understand upâ—â—ght dealing in pleading and making Dâ—crees and giving sentence in Courts of Jâ—dicatâ—re And note that he speaketh of it as of a pers n by a Prosopâ—poeia And justice standetâ— aâ—ar oâ— i. e. And justice standeth afar off and will not come nigh to the Courts and places of Judicature What he called Judgment before he calleth Justice here and useth the like Pâ—osopopoeia So that this is but a repetition of the former sentence For Truth is falâ—en in the streets and Equity cannot enâ—eâ— i. e. Bâ—caâ—se Truth is overthrown by falshood and faln in the very streets and Equity cannot enter into the Courts or places of Judicature being kept out as it were by force This containeth a reason why Judgment turned backward and Justice ood aâ—ar of For Judgment turned backward and Justice stood afar off because they saw Truth beaten down and Equity kept out of the Courts and places of Judicature For Judgment and Justice will not be nay they cannot be where Truth and Equi y are not entertained He speaks of Truth and Equity here as of persons by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he did of Judgmenâ— and Justice before 15. Yea Truth faileth i. e. It is more for Trâ—th to fail then to â—aâ—â— for if Truth fall she may recover strength and rise aâ—ain bâ—t if she fail or languish her very vitals are decayed And he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey i. e. And if any man hate evil and cleaveth to that which is good he is therefore hated and persecuted and made a spoyl to wicked men This is a sign that Equity failed as well as Truth And the Lord saw it i. e. And the Lord took notice of it that there was no Judgment in Courts and places of Judicature 16. And the Lord saw that there was no man i. e. And the Lord looked about to see if there were any man supple that did intercede with him to take away his displeasure from us And he wondered that there was no intercessor i. e. And he saw that there was none that did intercede with him for us and he wondered at it It was a matter of wonder that none among all that people which had been so brought up and so instructed from time to time should intercede and be earnest with God to pardon so great sins as these were of the people He speaks of God as of a man by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore his arm brought salvation to him i. e. Notwithstanding this his arm brought salvation to him c. Therefore is put here for Yet notwithstanding as cap. 7.14 cap. 51.21 And the sence is q. d. Though our wickedness is so great and there is none to intercede for us yet notwithstanding the Lord will deliver us his people out of the hands of the Babylonians to wit so many as are righteous and do repent in Jacob. His arm brought salvation unto him and his righteousness it sustained him q. d. His arm will bring salvation to Jacob that is to the Jews and his righteousness will uphold him that is Jacob that is the Jews against the Babylonians yea and deliver him out of their hands This may seem to be the natural Interpretation of these words and so should I have took it had not a parallel place to wit cap. 63.5 which is not so capable of this Interpretation put me to seek another When therefore I consider those words cap. 63.5 Therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me and my fury it uphâ—ld me and when I consider withall those words which follow in this place viz. For he put on righteousness as a brestplate and an helmet of salvation upon his head My thoughts are that there is both
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