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Chapter ing Sores; they have not been closed, neither bound

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up, neither mollified with Ointment.] The Prophet, by this Similitude of a Body, full of corrupting Sores and Bruifes from head to foot, gives a lively defcription of the degene racy of the Jewish State; though others think it may be referr'd to the forlorn Condition they were reduced.. to by the frequent Incurfions of their Enemies.

Ver. 7. Your Country is defolate, your Cities are burnt with Fire; your Land, Strangers devour it in your prefence, and it is defolate as overthrown by Strangers.] This is the first Prophecy of Ifaiah, and the words fhould therefore be render'd futurely, Your Country fhall be defolate, your Cities (a) A Lapide. Shall be burnt with Fire (a). Nothing of this Nature occurs in the Sacred Hiftory, in Uzziah's Reign; in Fotham's, God is faid to begin to fend against Fudab, Re(b) 2 Kings zin, King of Affyria, and Pekah the Son of Remaliah (b). 5. 37, . In the Reign of Ahaz, the fame Confederate Princes penetrated as far as Jerufalem, and took feveral Cities from the Jews; and in the next, a more powerful Enemy ravag'd the whole Country, with a prodigious Army, and wanted very little to put an End to the Jewish State: This Invafion of Judea, by Sennacherib, being more terrible than the reft, comes nearest the Defolation here threatned; which he calls Shemama kemahpecath Zarim, because when Strangers over-run a Country, the ravage they make is generally barbarous, because they are not touch'd by thofe moving Confiderations with which Natives are ufually affected, who in fpight of declar'd Hoftilities, retain a Love for their Country, and Compaffion to their Brethren.

Ver. 8. And the Daughter of Zion is left as a Cottage in a Vinyard, as a Lodge in a Garden of Cucumbers, as a befieged City.] Cities, from their Beauty and Ornaments, are fpoken of as Virgins and Daughters; but Jerufalem. in particular, might be called the Daughter of Zion, because it grew up as it were under the Protection of the Caftle which ftood on that Mountain, fecure from the fudden Attacks of an Enemy. By this and the following Similitude, the Prophet defcribes the future Defolation of their Land; Jerufalem, which at present was furrounded with multitudes of Towns and Villages,

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fhould find it felf reduced to the folitary Condition of a Chapter Cottage, in a long extended Vineyard, or a melancholy Lodge in the midst of a wide open Garden.

Ver. 9. Except the Lord of Hofts had left unto us a very Small Remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.] The Remnant the Prophet here fpeaks of, were thofe who fled to Jerufalem," and fav'd themselves and their Effects by a seasonable Retreat If God had not preferv'd thofe few, in the City, and by a miraculous Blow defeated the Affyrian Army; there had been an end of their Government, they must have been destroy'd, or carry'd into Captivity, which is the meaning of the Prophet's Expression, We should have been made as Sodom and Gomorrah.

Ver. 10, 11. Hear the word of the Lord, ye Rulers of Sodom, give Ear unto the Law of our God, ye People of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me, faith the Lord? I am full of the Burnt-Offerings of Rams, and the Fat of fed Beafts, and I delight not in the Blood of Bullocks, or of Lambs, or of He-Goats.] Having threatned them with fuch a Defolation, as fhould fall but a little fhort of that Destruction which befel the two infamous Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, he calls the Magistrates and People by the Name of Rulers of Sodom and People of Gomorrah, because their Manners refembled theirs. They were become as wicked as the Inhabitants of thofe Cities, and if God had utterly deftroy'd them in the fame manner, it was no more than they deferv'd. Therefore he calls on them to reflect on their Behavi our, and God's Forbearance, and not think to appease his Anger with Sacrifices only; of which the Prophet Speaks, as if God were furfeited with them, and could no longer bear in his fight what was grown loathfome and naufeous to him.

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Ver. 12. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand to tread my Courts ? Before the Temple the Priests had a Court in which they perform'd their Service, and the People another, where they stood to worship God: Therefore, by faying, My Courts, he reprehends both Priefts and People; Who hath required manded: this at your hands? As if he had faid, Tho' I have com

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Chapter manded you to appear before me every Year, and prefcrib'd Sacrifices to be offer'd for the Sins of the People, yet I have no where encourag'd you to think that I fhall be pleas'd with your Offerings, as long as ye continue to violate my Laws. Sacrifices I appointed to expiate involuntary Slips, fuch as Humane Nature cannot always prevent; but ye rush into my Prefence, and tread my Courts prefumptuoufly, as if ye thought I would wink at your Sins for the fake of your Sacrifices, and allow you to tranfgrefs all my other Commands, provided you were punctual in the Obfervation of thofe relating to Sacrifices and Feafts.

Ver. 13. Bring no more vain Oblations, Incenfe is an Abomination unto me, the New Moons and Sabbaths, the calling of Affemblies I cannot away with, it is Iniquity, even the fo lemn Meeting.] He calls their Oblations vain, because as long as they continu'd in their Sins, they were altogether infignificant, having nothing in them of reat value, to procure God's Favour, or pacify his Wrath. And as for their Solemn Feafts, and Affembling of themfelves together, they were appointed to promote Piety and Devotion; to keep up a fenfe of God in the Minds of Men, but they celebrated their Feafts with fo much negligence, and fo little regard to the Divine Inftitutor, that he could not be pleas'd with them.

Ver. 14, 15. Tour New Moons, and your appointed Feafts, my Soul bateth; they are a trouble unto me, I am weary to bear them. And when ye Spread forth your hands, I will hide mine Eyes from you; yea, when ye make many Prayers, I will not bear; your hands are full of Blood.] Here he gives the reafon why God could not take pleafure in thofe External Performances, on which the Jews laid too great a ftrefs, because their hands were full of Blood; by which Expreffion, whether we understand Sin in general, or the particular Sin of Murder, or a Spirit of Cruelty, Oppreffion, and Violence, which was often the occafion of a great deal of Mifchief, it could not ftand with the Honour of God, or the Holinefs of his Nature, to regard any thing proceeding from fo polluted hands.

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Ver. 16, 17. Wash ye, make you clean, put away the Evil Chapter of your doings from before mine Eyes, ceafe to do Evil, learn to do well, feek Judgment, relieve the Oppreffed, judge the Fatherless, plead for the Widow.] By feeking Judgment, the Prophet means, that they fhould not fuffer themselves by any Confideration to be prevail'd on to give a partial Decifion in any Caufe, but feek diligently on which fide Justice lay, and declare in favour of it.

Ver. 18. Come now and let us reafon together, faith the Lord; though your Sins be as Scarlet, they shall be as white as Snow, though they be red like Crimson, they shall be as Wool.] Having accus'd them of a univerfal Degeneracy or Corruption of Manners; God in this Verfe invites them to clear themselves, to alledge if they can any thing which may ferve to palliate their Crimes, or except against any Branch of the Accufation; but knowing they had nothing to fay in their own Vindication, he paffes over in filence the weak Defence they made, and only fets down upon what Terms the Debate concluded. Though we have pleaded together, and I have fully convinced you of the Sins I accus'd you of, yet if you repent and for fake them, though your Sins be never fo heinous, of the deepest dye, they fhall be pardoned; which is the meaning of being made white as Snow and Wool.

Ver. 19, 20, 21. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the Land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the Sword; for the Mouth of the Lord hath fpoken it. How is the faithful City become an Harlot? It was full of Fudgment, Righteoufnefs lodged in it; but now Murderers.] How is Jerufalem, that faithful City, fall'n from her State of Innocence, into the wretched Condi tion of a vile Prostitute, having broken her Covenant with God, by which he was, as it were, folemnly contracted to him. By this Metaphor the Prophet fets forth the Wickedness of the Jews; their Idolatry particularly, which in Scripture is reprefented as fpiritual Adultery; and therefore the City here guilty of it, is faid to be Zonah, a Harlot: The word fignifies alfo a Keeper of a Tavern, or any Publick House, who having frequent opportunities of Cheating, had as different Methods of

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Chapter fraudulent Practices, fometimes giving counterfeit Coin for current Money; at other times dafhing their Wine with Water, to which probably the Prophet alludes in the following Verfe. If we look into the History, to find out the time when Jerufalem was thus remarkably degenerated, we fhall find none fo likely as the Reign of Abaz, Who did not that which was right in the fight of the Lord, but made his Son to pass through the Fire, accord(4) 2 Kings ing to the Abominations of the Heathens (a). This, I fay, is the most probable Period to fix this Corruption of the Jewish State at; fince Uzziah and Jotham fet their Subjects good Examples, though the High-Places were not taken away in their Reigns; and Hezekiah not only fet them a good Example, but quite deftroy'd the HighPlaces and Groves.

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Ver. 22. Thy Silver is become Drofs, thy Wine mixt with Water.] By thefe Metaphors, the Prophet means that all thofe fhining Vertues, which diftinguish'd them from their Pagan Neighbours, were chang'd into contrary Vices; their Religion was turn'd into Hypocrify, their Justice into Oppreffion, their Sincerity and fair Dealing into Craft and Circumvention.

Ver. 23. Thy Princes are rebellious, and Companions of Thieves; every one loveth Gifts, and followeth after Rewards they judge not the Fatherless, neither doth the Caufe of the Widow come unto them.] The word which we render Rebellious, fignifies Head-ftrong, Contumacious, fuch as no Laws can govern, and no Punishment keep in awe: And fuch were the Princes of Judah, Companions of Thieves, fo far from putting the Laws in Execution against Robbers and other notorious Malefactors; that they conniv'd at their Infolence, fhar'd the Spoils with them, and were themselves the grand Oppreffors of the People.

Ver. 24. Therefore faith the Lord, the Lord of Hofts, the mighty One of Ifrael, Ah, I will eafe me of mine Adverfaries, and avenge me of mine Enemies.] The Prophet fpeaks of God after the manner of Men, who are pleas'd when they find an opportunity of destroying their Enemies; as if he hugg'd himself with the Thoughts of triumphing over them, and were ravish'd at the hopeful opportunity

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