Chapter cruel Tyrants, but haft deliver'd us in thy good time; by XXVI. Thee only we now furvive to celebrate thy Name, on therefore thy Name only will we call upon in our Diftrefs. Ver. 14. They are dead, they fhall not live; they are deceafed, they fhall not rife: therefore haft thou vifited and defroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.] He fpeaks of the Affyrian Hoft, as if the destroying Angel had already executed his Commiffion, using the Prefent inftead of the Future Tenfe, They fhall die, they shall not live; they shall depart, they fhall not rife. again; for thou wilt vifit and destroy them, and make their Memory to perish. Ver. 15. Thou haft increased the nation, O Lord, thou haft increased the nation, thou art glorified; thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.] The Nation of the Jews. was increas'd by the Return of numerous Exiles, and many others who return'd with them and fettled in their Country; but the Words may be render'd, Thou wilt add [Bleffings] to this Nation, thou wilt be glorified in the Deftruction of their Enemies, thou wilt enlarge all the ends of the Lands, that is, make those who have been coop'd up in the City spread themselves over the Land; the whole Nation of the Jews feem'd fhut up within the Walls of Jerufalem, by the raising the Siege they were fet at Liberty, ftretch'd out into a wider Compafs, and fpread again to the very Borders of the Land. Ver. 16, 17, 18. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like as a maman with child that draweth near the time of her delivery is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy fight, O Lord. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind, we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth, neither have the inhabitants of the world faln.] We have been with Child. He fpeaks of the fame Perfon as in the 16th Verfe, tho' he changes from the third to the first, and ufes a Proverbial Expression, not unlike the Parturiunt Montes of the Latins: It was not with us as with pregnant Women, who, deliver'd of their Burden, are at eafe; we wanted not Pain, but we found no Iffue; all our Attempts and Endeavours prov'd weak and unfuccessful, we could not effect any Deliverance for the Land; neither have the Inhabitants of the World fain before us, we had not Strength Strength of our felves to make our Enemies fall before us, we could not drive the Affyrians from our Walls, who might at this time properly enough be ftil'd the Inhabitants of the World, because of the Largeness of their Dominions. Chapter XXVI. Ver. 19. Thy dead men fhall live, together with my dead body fhall they arife: awake and fing ye that dwell in duft: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth fhall caft our the dead.] This is a kind Answer God vouchsafes to give his fupplicant People, or Prophet; I have heard, and will fulfil thy Defires, thy People, who were in the Shadow of Death, ready to be fwallow'd up every Moment by their Enemies, fhall be deliver'd out of the Danger they are in, and restor❜d to fuch Profperity, that it fhall feem as if they had been dead, and were rais'd again to Life; together with my dead Body fhall they arife: Nebelathi (a) ficut corpus (a) Vatablus, vel cadaver meum; Ferufalem, my City, which lay like a Pagnin. breathlefs Carcafe, unable to do any thing in its own Defence, fhall be rais'd, as it were, to Life; therefore awake and fing ye that dwell in the duft, for the Bleffing wherewith God will bless you in this Extremity of Danger fhall be as refreshing as the Dew which falls on the fading Plant, makes it recover its beautiful Verdure, and raise up its drooping Head: And the Earth fhall caft out the Dead; he compares the Earth, by which he means Jerufalem, to the Womb, which, by its natural Contractions, vigorously promotes the Birth of the Child within it, and means that they fhould be freed from their Confinement. Ver. 20. Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and fhut thy doors about thee: hide thy felf as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpaft.] He advises the Inhabitants of Jerufalem to retire into their Chambers, and keep close within their Houses, and there, in filent Refignation to Providence, expect the promis'd Deliver-. ance, in Allufion perhaps to their Ancestors, who kept within Doors while the deftroying Angel pafs'd over Egypt. Ver. 21. For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punifh the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth alfo fhall difclofe her blood, and shall no more cover her flain.] That is, the Earth fhall disclose the Blood of the Jews flain by the barbarous Affyrians, that God by the affecting Sight Cc 2 might Chapter might be mov'd to revenge it; but Grotius thinks it is to XXVI. be understood of the Blood of the Affyrians, which fhould be shed in fo great a Quantity that the Earth fhould discover it, that is, not be able to foak it in, nor afford room for the dead Carcafes. fa) Munfter, Chapter The ARGUMENT of Chapter XXVII. The first Verse of this Chapter is rang'd by Mr. Whifton under the Title of Prophefies relating to the Deftruction of the Turks at Hermageddon, the 6th among those which relate to the future Restoration of the Jews, and paffing over the following five, as not applicable, I fuppofe, to thofs Times, he joins the 12th and 13th to the fixth, as relating to the fame future Restoration; I fhould be apt to suspect my own Eyefight, being able to discover none of these Things here, did not I find all Interpreters which have come to my Hands dimfighted as my felf, I mean as to the Turks, or Hermageddon, or Antichrift, of which Altum filentium; but then (a) they find out the Devil here, which is as extraordinary a Difcovery, and bring him in by Head and Shoulders, which I impute to Strength of Imagination, or a groundlefs Opinion that wherever Serpent or Dragon occur they must denote that Apoftate Angel; but to me it seems as plain as the clearest Demonftration, that the Prophet by Leviathan means Sennacherib, and thus I can make the Words of the Prophet coherent with what preceeds and follows, which cannot be done by any other Interpretation. Verse 1. IN CHA P. XXVII N that day the Lord with his fore and great and Strong Sword shall punish leviathan the piercing ferpent, even leviathan that crooked ferpent, and he shall flay the dragon that is in the fea.] Livjathan fignifies a Whale, the largest Fish in the Sea, which preys on the reft at pleasure, and reigns Sovereign of the Ocean, a fit Emblem to reprefent the Affyrian Tyrant, whom, because of his Cruelty, he ftiles the piercing Serpent, with respect to the Sharpness Sharpnefs of that Animal's Teeth, and crooked, with refpect of its turning and winding it felf into different Poftures, by which he denotes his Subtlety; this Leviathan or Dragon did God punish when he destroy'd his Army, made him retreat precipitately into his own Country, and there flew him by the Hands of his Sons Adramelec and Sharezer. Ver. 2, 3. In that day fing ye unto her, A vineyard of red, wine. I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment; left any burt it, I will keep it night and day.] As if the Prophet had faid, When the Lord fhall have deftroy'd the Affyrian Army, then ye joyful Inhabitants fing of or fay to Jerufalem, fhe fhall be as a. Vineyard planted with the choicest Vines, I the Lord will keep it carefully, and water it every moment, I will watch over it day and night, and keep out the ravenous Animals which would tread down her Banks and devour her Trees, by which he plainly means that he would not fuffer the Affyrian or any other Enemy to prevail against Jerufalem. Ver. 4. Fury is not in me: who would fet the briers and thorns against me in battel? I would go through them, I would burn them together.] That is, I am not fo angry with my People as to fuffer them yet to be destroy'd, as the haughty Enemy confidently prefumes: Who would fet the briers and thorns against me in battel? Which Words fome think fhould be enclos'd in a Parenthefis, as if the Prophet had faid, Yet who would encourage the Briers and Thorns to come against me, as if I fhould fpare them because they find I am not angry with my Vineyard? Others think the Prophet is to be understood as if he had faid, Yet if Briers and Thorns grow up in her, and bid me Defiance, I will pass thro' my Vineyard and burn them together with my Vines. Farerius thinks Kemah fignifies a Wall, and makes the Vineyard fpeak in the first part, and God in the latter part of the Verfe, If the Vineyard shall fay I have never a Wall, I am expos'd to mine Enemies, who will furround me with a Hedge of Thorns?Populus Ifrack loquitur fub nomine vinea, non fatis muris & munitionibus fidens, auxiliares copias fibi adeffe optat, quibus poffit belli tem pore boftibus refiftere; but this is forc'd, the whole Verfe, bthink, may be thus paraphras'd, Fury is not in me against my Vineyard to deftroy her, but yet who would fet the bri Chapter XXVII. érs Chapter ers and thorns against me in battel? If any one fhould be fa XXVII. rafh I would fhew that I can be angry to purpose, I would go through them, and burn the unprofitable Plants together; which is as much as if the Prophet had faid, Tho' I fpare my People at this time for the Sake of the few Righteous among them, yet if they degenerate more and more they fhall feel the Effects of my confuming Indignation. Ver. 5. Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may • make peace with me, and he shall make peace with me.] That is, or if I am angry with my Vineyard, fhe knows how to appeafe my Anger, let her take hold of my Arm and hold it that I may not ftrike her, let my People humble themfelves in Duft and Afhes, and turn from their wicked Ways, and I fhall foon be at Peace with them; he fpeaks in Allufion to one who feeing another with a ftretch'd-out Arm ready to ftrike him to the Ground prevents the Blow, by taking hold of his Arm, and holding it fast that he cannot ftir it. Ver. 6. He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root; Ifrael fhall bloffom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.] Habbaim, which we render them that come, may be tranflated venientibus diebus; tho' at prefent my People are like a Tree to outward appearance decay'd and wither'd, yet the Days are coming when Jacob fhall take root, Ifrael fhall bloffom and bud, and fill the face of the earth with fruit; that is, after the Overthrow of Sennacherib they fhall flou rifh again, and grow populous, which is all that the Prophet means by the hyperbolical Expreffion of filling the World with Fruit. Ver. 7. Hath he smitten him, as he fmote those that fmote him? or is he flain according to the flaughter of them that are flain by him?] By this we are to understand that God deals not with his own People fo feverely as with their Enemies, which is to be taken in general of the Egyptians, and other Enemies of their Nation, as well as the Affyrians, most of whom he entirely cut off. Ver. 8. In measure when it shooterh forth, thou wilt debate with it; he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east-wind.]. Here the Difference appears between the Chaftisement of God's People and the Correction of their Enemies, he metes out their Sufferings in due Proportion, not accord |
