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Chapter be well with them,as they have behav'd themfelves dutifully III. to God, his watchful Providence will preferve them in the midst of those Judgments, which fhall be pour'd down on the finful Nation: As there is a vifible difference between their Actions and the Actions of the Wicked, fo fhall their Recompence be different; Bleflings, the Fruit of good Actions, fhall attend the one; and Judgments, the proper Reward and natural Confequence of Wickedness,

the other.

Ver. 12. As for my People, Children are their Oppreffors, and Women rule over them: O my People, they which lead thee, caufe thee to err, and deftroy the way of thy Paths.] Some think Menonel in the Original fhould be render'd Spoil, Oppreffors Spoil my People, by a Metaphor taken from gleaning. after Harvest: But by adding, Women rule over them, it appears that he returns to thofe Judgments he had threatned them with before, ver. 4. by Boys and Women meaning the Cowardice and Imprudence of their Princes, which fhould expofe them to many Calamities: Your Directors, your Priests, and your Prophets, whofe Business it is to point out the right way ye fhould walk in, even these cause thee to go aftray by their irregular Examples; but others render mea fhréka felicitantes Te, thofe who are always foothing thee up with foft Words, and lulling thee Afleep with the pleafing Sound of Peace and Security; those who tell you ye are the People of God, and let the Prophet fay what he will, 'tis incredible he fhould ever be brought to fuch Extremities with you: Thefe are the causes of your Destruction, leading you smoothly on till you come on the brink of a steep Precipice, where the way feems as it were swallow'd up, fo that ye muft of neceffity fall, which is the meaning of deftroying the way of thy Path.

Ver. 13, 14. The Lord ftandeth up to plead, and ftandeth to judge the People. The Lord will enter into judgment with the Antients of his People, and the Princes thereof: For ye have eaten up the Vineyard; the Spoil of the Poor is in your Houfes.] The Prophet means, that God would call the griping Magiftrates to account for all their illegal Extortions; tho' they think themselves too powerful to have their Proceedings look'd into, that the Laws were in their Hands, and

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no body would be fo hardy as to Appeal where there was no probability of being righted; yet the poor injur'd Subjects fhall find a Patron, even God, who will plead their Cause, and make their Oppreffors refund all their unjuft Acquifitions,

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Ver. 15. What mean ye that ye beat my People to pieces, and grind the Faces of the Poor, faith the Lord God of Hofts?] Thefe Metaphors are taken from the Method us'd in get ting the Flower of Wheat, which was done either by grinding it in a Mill, or beating it in a Mortar (a). Hence (a) Prov. 27. they which exact unreasonable Sums from the Poor, or ufe 22. them with uncommon Barbarity, to force them out of their Poffeffions, or put any other Hard fhip on them, are faid to beat or grind their Faces.

Ver. 16. Moreover, the Lord faith, Because the Daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with ftretch'd-forth Necks, and wanton Eyes, walking, and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their Feet.] Taphof telakna, which we render mincing as they go, fome think fignifies the Noife which their filken Garments made, as they walk'd along by collifion with one another; or a certain regular Sound they made with their Feet in dancing. Pars pedibus plaudunt Choreas, Some think they wore Pearls in their Shooes, which striking against one another as they walk'd, caus'd a Sound to be heard at fome diftance; which ferv'd the Roman Ladies, fays Pliny (b), instead of a Lictor, the (6) Lib. People when they heard that Noife readily giving way, c. 35. as knowing fome Perfon of Quality to be near. Ezra thinks the word denotes an affected wantonnefs of (c) Sandius. Gate, fomething resembling the motion of an Amble, because Sus Taphaaf in Arabic, fignifies a pacing Nag; and Gouffel thinks it fignifies to walk as if one had Fetters on.

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The following words made ufe of in defcribing the Ap- Apud Bochart. purtenances of the Jewish Lady's Toilets, are of as uncer- Phaleg. 1. 4. tain fignifications as this, which I fhall not trouble the Eng- . 19 lifh Reader with.

Ver. 17. Therefore the Lord will fmite with a fcab the crown of the Head of the Daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their fecret parts.] They took a Pride, it feems, in the elegant Compofure of their Hair, and were extremely nice in adjusting the pofition of every Lock

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Chapter therefore God threatens to deprive them of what they took fo much Pride in, by fending a Disease among them, which should make their Hair fall off; or by making them carry heavy Burdens in Captivity, which would spoil their extended Locks.

Ver. 18. In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling Ornaments about their Feet, and their Cauls, and their round Tires like the Moon.] The Original fignifies Compedes, and may be taken for Shooes, about which it might be the Fashion of thofe Times to wear fomething fonorous. Cawls were Ornaments which hung at the bottom of their Garments, fuch as the Bells of the High Prieft.

Ver. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. The Chains, and the Brace lets, and the Mufflers. The Bonnets, and the Ornaments of the Legs, and the Headbands, and the Tablets, and the Ear-rings. The Rings, and Nofe-jewels. The changeable Suits of Apparel, and the Mantles, and the Wimples, and the Crifping-pins. The Glaffes, and the fine Linen, and the Hoods, and the Vails. And it shall come to pass, that instead of Sweet Smell, there fhall be Stink; and instead of a Girdle, a Rent; and instead of wellfet Hair, Baldness; and instead of a Stomacher, a Girding of Sackcloth; and Burning instead of Beauty.] By Burning inftead of Beauty the Prophet intimates, that they should be forc'd to labour and drudge in the open Air, by which the colour of their Faces fhould be chang'd into a dark fwarthy Complexion, occafion'd by the violent Heat of the Sun. .1.

Ver. 25. Thy Men fhall fall by the Sword, and thy Mighty. in the War.] Hence, fays Sanctius, it may be probably Collected, that this laying afide of thefe Ornaments, fhould be occafion'd by the Slaughter of their Friends and Relations, upon which melancholy Accounts they us'd to fhave their Heads, cover themselves in a courfe, homely Garb, and appear negligent of outward Finery to an af fectation of Naftinefs. But the other Interpretation, which makes the haughty Dames to be depriv'd of these Ornaments, feems more probable, because 'tis a greater Calamity to have them taken away altogether, than to lay them afide voluntarily for a while.

Ver. 26. And her Gates shall lament and mourn, and fhe being defolate, fhall fit upon the Ground.] Within the Gates of the Cities there us'd to be spacious Rooms, wherein publick Affemblies, were held about their National Affairs. Thefe (fays the Prophet), fhall as it were bemoan the lofs of the Citizens, and grieve to find themfelves left empty; and then he speaks of the City Jerufalem, as of a difconfolate Matron bewailing the lofs of her Children, in the common posture of Mourners upon the Ground.

Chapter

III.

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The ARGUMENT of Chapter IV.

In this Chapter he speaks of the fame deftruction of Jerufalem by the Chaldæans, in which fo many Men's Lives fhould be loft, that the remaining Numbers fhould bear no proportion to the Number of Women. And then he tells them, they shall be refter'd to their own Country, and the fame glorious Condition they were in at the height of their Profperity, but not till their Sufferings had brought them to a Senfe of their Duty, and purg'd away that Perverfenefs and Refractoriness which had all along appear'd in them from the very first, and their Strong propenfion to Idolatry. When this was done, they might expect God would bring them again to their own Country, and furnish them with all Conveniencies by the way.

CHA P. IV.

Chapter
IV.

Verse 1. ND in that day feven Women fhall take hold of one Man, faying, We will eat our own Bread, and wear our own Apparel, only let us be call'd by thy Name, to take away our reproach.] This Verfe ought to be join'd to the foregoing Chapter, containing an Inftance of the greatness of that Defolation which he defcrib'd ver. 26. So great fhall the Slaughter be, and the Number of Men fo diminish'd, that many Women fhould Addrefs themfelves to one Man, and each earnestly Court him for a Husband, and excufe him of thofe Obligations a Husband was under by the Law of Mofes of providing Food and Raiment for his Wife. Only let us be call'd by thy Name; Exod. 21. 10. E 2 All

IV.

Chapter All we defire is to have the Reputation and Honour of being call'd by thy Name, Da tantum Nomen inane Connubii, liceat tumulo fcripfiffe Catonis Martia. Not that any fuch thing as this fhould happen, but the Prophet takes this Method, to give a lively Idea of the great Slaughter of Men which fhould be at the taking of Jerufalem, which in all fuch cafes falls heavier on the Men than the Women, because they are the Perfons that make Oppofition, and are found in Arms; and there is fomething in Women more apt to stop a Soldier's Fury, and incline him to Compaffion.

Ver. 2. In that day fhall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the Fruit of the Earth fhall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Ifrael.] What time the Prophet here fpeaks of may be gather'd from the fourth Verfe; When the Lord fhall have wash'd away the filth of the Daughter of Zion. Which must be understood of the Babylonian Captivity, because in the next the Prophet defcribes them returning to their own Country under the immediate Protection of God, just as their Fathers came out of Egypt. The Prophet compares the Collective Body of the Jews in Captivity, to an old decay'd faplefs Tree, without Branches, Leaves, or Fruit; and thofe who return'd to Judea, to a ftately Tree with spreading Branches, and inviting Fruit: As if he had faid, Tho' at prefent my People look like a Tree decay'd and wither'd, without the natural Ornaments of Leaves or Branches; yet in that Day of Restoration, a glorious Branch shall spring up out of that feemingly wither'd Trunk, and bear excellent and beautiful Fruit, even the Deliver'd of Ifrael. Or this last Member may be referr'd to the Soil of Jerufalem, which they might justly expect to find at their return over-run with Weeds. But they fhall find it crown'd with Fertility (fays the Prophet) full of Corn and other Products of the Earth of the beft Sort, and in full perfection. This is the true literal meaning of this Verfe; tho' I am not igno(4) Galat. 1.3, rant that fome (a) of the Rabbins, and moft Chriftian Inter-. preters expound this of the Meffiah; and the Chaldee Paraphraft exprefly mentions his Name; which was enough to draw after him the zealous Interpreters of Antiquity, who were apt enough to find fome part of his Character

16.

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