'LI.: Chapter thee, of being_reftor'd to their own Country, which after fo many Years Afflictions, would make it seem to them as if they were Tranflated into another World. The Expreffions in the Original are very peculiar to that Language: covered thee in the shadow of mine Hand, that thou mighteft affure my People, that I will plant the Heavens and lay the foundations of the Earth; that is, that I will restore them to fo happy a Condition, that it fhall feem as if they breath'd in a new-created Air, as if the Heaven and Earth were chang'd for the better, as well as their Circumftances: This is plain and natural, offers no violence to the Words, as their Expofitions do, who fuppofe Chrift fpeaks to his (a) Apoftles, or God the (6) Father to his Son. *cbius. (1) Cyril, San&ius. Ver. 17. 18. Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerufalem, which (b) Hieronymus, Forerius haft drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; thou Tirinus, Meno haft drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. There is none to guide her among all the fons whom The hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand, of all the fons that he hath brought up.] This plainly fhews the Prophet is to be understood of their deliverance out of Captivity, he fpeaks to them as if they were in the Hands of their Oppreffors, and were grown ftupid and infenfible by the length and sharpness of their Sufferings. Awake, awake, raise up your Heads ye drowzy Captives! And he fets forth God like a Phyfician, mixing a bitter Potion for Jerufalem, putting as it were into One Cup all the Anger he had conceiv'd against Her, and standing by to fee her take it off, that not a drop fhould be fpilt, or any of the naufeous fettlings left behind A Potion fo ftrong that it made her tremble every Limb of her, and fo giddy that she stood in need of one to lead her: But fuch were her Misfortunes, that none of her Inhabitants were able to fupport her; by all which the Prophet means, that her Afflictions fhould be fo great as to turn her Brain, and make her fink under the load of them. Ver. 19. These two things are come unto thee: who shall be forry for thee? defolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword by whom shall I comfort thee? What these tmo Calamities were is not diftinctly deliver'd by the Prophet. Prophet. Some think the four Terms Vaftitas, contri- Chapter tio, Fames & Gladius, are to be reckon'd one, and Quis Con- LI. dolebit the other: Without they fhould be furrounded with all forts of Calamities, and have no comfort within among themselves; but (a) others reconcile the matter (4) Forerius, by referring Famine, and the Sword as one Calamity Menochius. which befel the Citizens, and defolation and deftruction as the other which befel the City. Ver. 20. Thy fons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God.] Here he fpeaks of the deftruction of Jerufalem, as of a thing already pafs'd: Thy Inhabitants fainted for want of Spirits, and were no longer able to refift the too powerful Chaldeans; they fell here and there in the Streets, and lay weltering. in their own Blood, ftrugling in vain for Life like a wild. Bull in the toil, full of the fury of the Lord, and the rebuke of their God, unable to bear up against their Enemies, affifted by their angry Maker. Ver. 21, 22, 23. Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine. Thus faith thy Lord, the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the caufe of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury, thou shalt no more drink it again. But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee: which have faid to thy foul, Bowe down, that we may go over and thou haft laid thy body as the ground, and as the street to them that went over.] The Context requires that Laken fhould be render'd Notwithstanding, or Although: Notwithstanding this forlorn condition, to which thou art or should be reduc'd. Behold I will take out of thine Hand, this Cup of mine Anger which has put thee into fo great diforder, which thou shalt no more taste of these many Years: And I will put it into the Hand of them that afflict thee, thy Babylonian Oppreflors, who have faid to thy Soul, that is, to thee O Jerufalem, bow down that we may go over. Who have trodden thee down and trampled thee under Feet, alluding to the infolent Custom of the Eaftern Monarchs, who in the height of their exultation for a Victory would call for fome of the best of their Prifoners, and tread upon their Necks, or walk over them. Fofbua 10.24. The Chapter Marlorat. The ARGUMENT of Chapter LII. He promises Liberty to the Jewish Captives, and bids them change their fervile Rags for gay Apparel, fuch as was fuitable to the joyful Occafion; then he defcribes the Watchmen of Jerufalem looking out from fome high Station, and rejoycing at the pleafing Sight of the returning Exiles; at the 11th Verfe he speaks to them as if he faw them ftill in Babylon making unneceffary Delays, and quickens their Departure, advifing those whofe Business it was to carry back the Veffels of the Temple to purify themselves, having convers'd fo long with the polluted Heathen, promifing them Time enough to perform the Ceremonies ufual on fuch Occafions, fince God defign'd to bring them forth in Triumph leisurely, not in the Hurry of a Flight, as their Fathers came out of Egypt; the Three last Verses of this and the following Chapter making one entire Prophecy relating to the humble State of the Meffiah, fhould be join'd together and make the 53d Chapter. CHA P. LII. Verfe1, 2. put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem the holy city for henceforth there jhall no more come into thee the uncircumcifed, and the unclean. Shake thy felf from the duft: arife and fit down, O Jerufalem: loofe thy felf from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.] He speaks of Jerufalem as of a Woman, and according to the Custom of Women, who vary their Dreffing with the Seafons of Joy and Sorrow, go cover'd with homely Garments in Times of folemn Mourning, but fet themselves out with all imaginable Gaiety upon any joyful Account; this the Prophet advises Ferufalem to do, becaufe her God had not only set her at Liberty, but was refolv'd to defend her for the future, and not fuffer the uncircumcis'd Babylonians, or any other Heathen Nation, to tread down her beautiful Palaces; but did not Antiochus ranfac Jerufalem, and Titus utterly deftroy it? To which may be anfwer'd, That fuch Promises are not made without fome tacit Condition; if the Jews anus, had kept God's Commandments he would have defended Chapter them against both. (a) Sed huic objectioni refpondet fatis He- LII. braici Idiomatis confuetudo que id quod poft longum tempus venturum eft non ultra aut nunquam effe futurum affirmat. By (4) Sandiw loofing the Bands of thy Neck the Prophet feems to intimate Lyranus, at c. 1. that they wore Chains round their Necks, in Token of Slavery, as our Negroes do Collars at this Day, or that they were chain'd together, or to fome Poft, to prevent their efcaping, by Chains fix'd to their Necks. : Ver. 3. For thus faith the Lord, Ye have fold your felves for nought and ye shall be redeemed without money.] I may justly rescue you out of the Hands of your Oppreffors, fince I never made over my Right in you to them, I never fold you, only permitted them to fieze on you by Violence; therefore I have a just Claim to you, and there is no Reafon but that you should be reftor'd to me without any Ranfom. Ver. 4, 5. For thus faith the Lord God, My people went· down aforetime into Egypt to fojourn there, and the Affyrian oppreffed them without caufe. Now therefore, what have I here, faith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, faith the Lord, and my name continually every day is blafphemed.] Some think by the Affyrian the Prophet means Salmanafar, (b) others Tig- (b) Adamus lath Pilefer, or Sennacherib, (c) others Pharaoh; (d) but the Sasbout. Difficulty of this obfcure Verse vanishes by fupplying a (c) Hieronym. few Words, My People went down aforetime into Egypt to fo- Arias Montan. Vatablus, journ there, and the Egyptians grievously afflicted them, Leo, Caftrius. but I deliver'd them out of their Hands; the Affyrians alfo (d) Forerius. often opprefs'd them without a Cause, but I appear'd in their Defence: Now therefore what have I here? What do I do here at Ferufalem while my People are in Babylon? Or What to me here? What do I get by this prefent Oppreffion of my People, that I do not deliver them, as in former Times? Or, as Grotius turns it, Thus far I have fuffer'd the Enemies of my People to infult over them, but must I bear this alfo, look on their Captivity with Patience, and fee them treated inhumanly by a blafpheming idolatrous Na tion? Ver. 6. Therefore my people fhall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day, that I am he that doth Speak, behold, Chapter it is 1.] He gives the Reafon why he was refolv'd to deliver LII. his People; therefore because as long as the Babylonians had them in their Power the Name of God was continually blafphem'd, that is, fays Sanctius, the Chaldeans did the fame as Sennacherib when he blafphem'd against God, they up⚫ braided the Jews every Moment with the Impotence of the God they worshipp'd, that the Gods of their Country were ftronger than he, elfe he would have protected them then or deliver'd them fince; this Argument of their Success they would be often ufing to bring over the Jews to their idolatrous Worship, and this was the Scandal God was refolv'd to bear no longer, but make them know his Name, that is, be fenfible of his Power. Ver. 7. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publifheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publifheth falvation, that faith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth? The Prophet, to fhew the Certainty of their Reftoration, fpeaks as if he faw them at a distance returning to Judea, and heard the joyful Forerunners declare the glad Tidings to Jerusalem, that her Sons, whom she had fo long mifs'd, were just approaching, as if he heard them fing God reigneth, he has conquer'd his Enemies, destroy'd Babylon, deliver'd his People, and fhewn that he alone reigns in all the Kingdoms of the Earth. Ver. 8. Thy watchmen fhall lift up the voice, with the voice together shall they fing: for they shall fee eye to eye, when the Lord fhall bring again Zion.] He reprefents the Watchmen difcovering them, and giving notice of their coming to Jerufalem, and the News he tells them may be depended on, because they do not rely on uncertain Rumors, or the Conjectures of those who fancy they fee them coming, but on a nearer View may find themselves mistaken, but they fhall be fure of it, as those who have a clear diftinct View of what they look on; Eye to Eye they shall fee them, so near as to exclude any Poffibility of a Mistake. Ver. 9. Break forth into joy, fing together ye wafte places of Jerufalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerufalem.] He calls on the defolate Places, which now for 70 Years had been forfaken of their Inhabitants, to rejoice at their Return, as if they were pleas'd to find |