Chapter off the more natural Application of the other; Behold, my . so nnderstand my Will, as to perform it; or, according and be very high, divers Expressions to represent in part the Gataker. transcendent and unexpressible Advancement of Christ in regard of his Human Nature assum'diby the Deity : But this was in my Opinion rather a Debasement to him, and is so reprelented in the New Testament, therefore (a) others Tirinus. understand the Words of his Exaltation to Heaven; Gro tius, he shall be in great Honour and Reputation among the Babylonians, they shall look upon him as a Person of Beren. 40.4. extraordinary Merit, and for a time treat him accordingly. Ver. 14. As many were astonished at thee ; (bis visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the Tons of men)]. This Verse, I think, may be more clearly render'd, as it is in the Port Royal Translation, Comme vous avez etè l'etonnement de plusieurs par votre defolation. Il paroitra aussi fans gloire devant les Hommes, 6 dans une forme meprisable aux yeux des Enfans des Hommes. Or thus, As many as were astonished at thee, at the mean Figure he made, for he appear'd before Men without Glory, and in a Form altogether despicable in the Eyes of the Sons Biblia Maxo of Men: He changes the Person,which obscures the Sense, and speaks as if the Mefiah had already appear'd ; but the Words should be render'd futurely, and the Person either both in the Second or in the Third: As many shall be astonish'd at him, for he mall appear before Men without Glory, and in a Form despicable in the Eyes of the Sons of Men. There is a great variety of other Translations, but this I think beft agrees with the Words, and is so suitable to the mean appearance of our Saviour among Men, that I need not be at the trouble to point out the obvious agreement; Grotius refers the Words to the great alterations the hardships which the Prophet Jeremiab met with in Caprivity made in his Coun tenance, Sons of, but ble to the tenance, how wan and ghastly his Looks were by long Chapter confinement LII. Ver. 15. So shall be Sprinkle many nations, the Kings shall shut their mouths at him : for that which had not been told them, mall they fee; and that which they had not heard, shall they consider. ] So shall he Sprinkle many Nations, that is, his Dóarine Mall be propagated in many Nations, and the Inhabitants become a pure People, holy and acceptable to the Lord, as by the sprinkling of the People with the Blood of the Sacrifice, all their Pollutions were wash'd away. Kings shall put their mouths at him and reverence Heb. 9. 13: him, and submit to the Laws he prescribes them, verify'd in Constantine, and the rest of the Christian Princes since his time: And they who had never seen or heard any thing of him before, that is, the Gentiles, Mall consider his Heavenly Doctrine, and mall be converted unto it. Grotius of Jeremiah, he shall convert many of the Heathen, among whom he convers'd from Idolatry to the Worship, of the true God: The Princes of Babylon, Ihall have an awful regard for him, keep silence as it were in his Presence, as Men are us’d to do in the presence of those they highly esteem: Because they shall be convinc'd he foretold their destruction, which none of their Diviners could inform them of, and they shall see it come to pass exactly as he foretold. The ARGUMENT of Chapter LIII. preters agree, even (a) those who have all along understood (a) Hugo. Bbb 2 begiris Chapter LIIL. Lan Verse 1. W H O hath believed our report ? and to tohom is the arm of the Lord revealed ?] That is, How •few are they who will believe the Gospel, when preach'd to them? Who will believe and sincerely embrace the glad Tidings of Salvation' we publish to the World ? He speaks in the Person of Christ and his ApoItles, foreseeing how ineffectual their Preaching was like to prove, how insensible the greatest part of the Jewish Nation would be of the mighty Power of God, working and manifesting it self in Christ. Grotius thinks the Prophet speaks in his own Person, as if he had said, Tho' I tell them over and over again, of the Captivity and their Deliverance out of it, they will neither believe one nor Other. Ver. 2. For he shall grom up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness: and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we pould defire him.] He gives the reason why so few of the Fews should entertain Christ the Mefiah, because of his mean. Appearance, which he describes under the Metaphor of a forry Plant or of a Sprig hooting out with great difficulty 'out of the Root of a decay'd fapless Tree in a poor barren Ground, and therefore very unlikely to make any figure, or thrive and look well: He hath no form or comelines, that is, He shall be void of all new and luftre, without any pompous retinue to draw the Eyes of People, and ingage their Affections to him. Grotius, when they are in the Hands of their Oppressors, they will not believe the glad tidings of their Redemption Preach'd by Jeremiah, because of his mean outward circumstances, who being bred up in obfcurity, in a small Village, shall want authority to give weight to his Words. We fee nothing (they will fay) which Thould incline us to believe what he says, nor can we imagine if God de sign'd to do such things for us, he would reveal his De- Chapter signs to a Person of so unpromising a look. . LIII. Ver. 3. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of fore rows, and accquainted with grief : and we bid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.] I need not mention the base treament our Saviour met with from his Country-men, every Chriftian is accquainted enough with this, as well as the particulars of his Sufferings : And it cannot be deny'd but Jeremiah might be injonivuay us d by them, and undergo a great deal of Contempt and Ignominy from the fetos, as well as hardThips from the Babylonians. But what is this to the Sufferings of the Messiah? How far does the utmost he underwent fall short of this Expression, viduang koli; one intimately acquainted with sorrot, as one Friend is with another, one who has try'd every sort of it, and felt the most exquisite anguilh ; as our Saviour did in the Garden, and on the Cross. We hid as it were our Faces from him: Kemaster Panim mimmennu; He was as one from whom the People turn their Heads, as they are apt to do when they behold any thing they loath and abhor ; by which Expression the Prophet design'd to give an idea of the lowness of the Condition in which the Messiah should appear, so far from attracting the Eyes of the multitude by a glittering outside, which he could have easily commanded, that they could not endure to look upon him : Which is not applicable to Jeremiah, for what.' ever condition he was in, in all probability the greatest part of the Captives were in a worse, and had no reason to despise him. Ver. 4. Surely be bath born our griefs, and carried our Sorrows : yet we did esteem bim stricken, smitten of God, and affli&ted.] The Application of this to our Saviour is so obvious that every Christian Reader cannot fail to make it, as soon as he reads the Words: Which Grotius thinks will admit of a Sense applicable to the Prophet Jeremiah: A Man of sorrow he is, but our Sins have brought upon him all his Misfortunes, the grief he bears is ours, due to us, which we might have prevented by hearkning to his Inftru&ions: Which I think is very unnatural. "Tet did we efteem him (mitten, stricken of God and afflicted, thao |
