The ARGUMENT of Chapter LV.

This Chapter is by meft Interpreters underfood of the Times of
the Gofpel; and the Prophet fuppos'd to invite all Nations
to imbrace Chriftianity, under the Parabolical Expreffions
of buying Milk and Wine without Money and without
Price. But the fame reafon which has often oblig'd me to
leave them before, obliges me here also to take a different
Method, and understand the Prophet of the Jewish Captives;
because, at the 12th Verfe I find them plainly pointed at,
and their Deliverance out of Captivity defcrib'd in fuch
Afcending
terms, as are not capable of any other Senfe.
higher, I find God affuring the fame Captives, That he would
be as good as his Word to them; calling upon them at the 7th
Verft to forfake their Sins, and at the 6th to feek God while
be may
be found. Thus far the fame Perfons are certainly
meant, because, from the 6th Verse to the end of the Chap-
ter, there is a vifible Connexion between every Verfe, and
why the Prophet should be fuppos'd to speak to the Jewish
Captives in one part, and in the other to fuch as fhould live
perhaps a thousand Years after, is what no Reafon can be
affign'd for. Therefore, most Commentators who understand
the beginning of this Chapter of the Church of Chrift, un-
derftand it all fo; and rather than break the Connexion, will
make the Prophet Speak what they please: When he talks of
their going out of Captivity, understand him, Of going out of
the Captivity of their Sin, and the like; which is racking the
Prophet, and extorting fuch a Sense out of his Words, as they
have a mind to find in them, rather than interpreting his
Meaning by his Words.

Verse 1.

CHA P. LV.

O, every one that thirfteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat, yea come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price.] He calls upon the Captives to raise up their Thoughts to God, and to learn his Will from his Pro

phets;

Chapter

LV.

LV.

Chapter phets; for fuch he had among them even in Captivity; without which, in all probability, they would have funk into Despair, and feeing no likelihood of Redemption, have turn'd' Idolaters, and there have periff'd. But Ezekiel, Daniel, and other good Men among them, indu'd with the Spirit of Prophecy, kept up their Hopes, by putting them in mind of the antient Oracles, and comforting them with new; endeavouring continually to keep them right in their Notions of God's Power and Goodness, and in a fteady dependance on him, as much as was poffible in thofe fad Circumftances; ufing all poffible Methods to keep up a Senfe of Religion among them, and the know-. ledge of God, without which they knew there was no hopes of Redemption. Therefore the Prophet, as if he was afraid they should quite lofe the knowledge of their Mafter, cries out to them, Come and endeavour to gain that Knowledge, which will fatisfie the Defires of every vertuous Soul, as much as the cool Water does the Travellers Thirft. Qui vult difcere (fays the Chatdee Paraphrafe) veniat & difcat; nothing is more ufual in Scripture, than to compare Knowledge to Meat and Drink, because it refreshes the Mind as naturally, as they do the Body.

Ver. 2. Wherefore do ye fpend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which fatisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your faul delight it felf in fatnefs.] Hecarries on the fame Metaphor, and gently expoftulates with them, why they would spend their time in learning the vain unprofitable Arts of the Babylonians, from whence they could expect to reap no folid Advantage; and then advises them, inftead of that thin Diet of Magic Rites and Speculative Sciences, which afford little Nourishment to the Soul, they would betake themselves to a more wholfom Food, even the Knowledge of God, which would be as agreeable a Refreshment to their Minds, as the choiceft Meat to their Bodies.

Ver. 3. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your foul fhall live, and I will make an everlasting 'covenant with you, even the fure mercies of David.] When you hear my Prophets fpeak to you in my Name, give attention to what they fay: Leave your Idols, and come unto me your God,

t

LV.

God, and ye fhall live, live to be reftor'd to your own Chapter Country, and fee Ferufalem flourish once again; and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you, and ingage to bestow upon you the fure Mercies of David; fuch Bleffings and Mercies as David fo often returns Thanks to Almighty God for; fuch as he all along promifes to thofe who lead a godly Life, even Peace and Profperity. Or thofe Mercies which were promised to David, That his Throne fhould be established for ever; which the Prophet here mentions, becaufe by the Babylonian Captivity, the Succeffion of David's Line might feem to be in danger of being cut off.

Ver. 4. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.] He fpeaks of Cyrus, not Jeremiah, as Grotius thinks; Behold, I will give him for a witness to the people; that is, Cyrus fhall be my Witness to my People, that I am as good as my Word; he fhall be a leader and commander to the people; that is, He shall command, and they fhall immediately be fet at liberty, and he fhall lead them out of Captivity, and fee them fafe out of their Enemies Hands.

Ver. 5. Behold, thou shalt call a Nation that thou knoweft not, and Nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, becaufe of the Lord thy God, and for the holy One of Ifrael; for That is, as Grotius rightly interhe hath glorified thee.] prets this difficult Verfe; Thou, O Captive Nation of the Jews, fhalt, in thy way homeward, call to the People thou art not acquainted with, to come and worship the fame God with thee; and People whom you was not acquainted with, fhall obey thy Call, and run unto thee, becaufe of the wonderful things which God has done for thee.

Ver.6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye 'upon him while he is near.] An Exhortation directed to the Jews of the Prophet's own time, fays St. Jerom; to the Jews in the time of Chrift, fays Forerius; to the unconverted Gentiles, in the time of the Redemption of the Jewsout of Captivity, fays Grotius; but I think it may as well be understood of the Captives themfelves, whom the Prophet calls upon to acknowledge the true God, and keep faithful to his Service; having before their Eyes fo furprising an inftance of his infinite Goodnefs, and Almighty Power, Aben Ezrah fays, visibly display'd in their Deliverance.

God,

1

LV.

Chapter God may be found every where, and at any time, ante obfignationem decretorum, which fealing of his Decrees, he reckons that critical Time when the conditional Purposes Apud Grotium of God,concerning the deftruction of a People, are by their incorrigible Perverfhefs turn'd into abfolute Ones.

Haymo,
Forerius.

your

Ver. 7, 8, 9. Let the wicked for fake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nei-· ther are your ways my ways, faith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher then the earth, fo are my ways higher then ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.] As if he had faid, ye have no reafon to doubt of being delivered out of all your Afflictions, if ye turn from your Sins; For tho' you may find, among Men, fome that are implacable, and never forgive Offences committed against them, yet I am of a different Difpofition, as far exceeding in Gentlenefs and Clemency the moft merciful of the Sons of. Men, as the Heavens are above the Earth.

Ver. 10. 11. For as the rain cometh down, and the fnow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give feed to the fower, and bread to the eater: So fhall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me void, but it fhall accomplish that which I pleafe, and it shall profper in the (b) Hieron. thing whereto I fentit.] This Similitude is varioufly apply'd by Interpreters; (b) fome think by the Word is to be understood Chrift, becaufe call'd Logos in the New Teftament, who was fent into this World, and return'd not again to Heaven, till he had impregnated the Earth with the Seed of his Heavenly Doctrine: But others with greater reafon, think the Prophet is to be understood of the foregoing Promife of God, which Promise fhall not be ineffectual, like Thunder, a mere found only, but like a gentle fhower refreshing the Earth. Therefore, fays Gataker, as thofe inferior Creatures, through my Bleffing, do not fail of their intended end, in caufing the Earth to fructifie for the good of Mankind; fo fhall thefe gracious Promifes of Mercy and Deliverance not fail you, but fhall certainly take place.

LV.

Ver. 12. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with Chapter peace the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into finging, and all the trees of the field fhall clap their hands.] That is, ye fhall have liberty to go out of the Prisons and Working-houfes in which your Oppreffors have long confin'd you; ye fhall go out of the Dominions of your Chaldean Conquerors, and return to your own Country with Songs of Joy in your Mouths; the Mountains shall re-eccho your joyful Acclamations, and the Trees, by the gentle motion of their Heads, feem to applaud your Felicity; almost the fame with that of Virgil, Ipfi latitia montes ad fydera jactant, Ipfa fonant Arbusta. The Figures are bold, but not extravagant, like the nodding mountains of Statius, and the fame gefture of clapping the Hands we find attributed to the Floods.

Ver. 13. In ftead of the thorn fhall come up the fir-tres, and in ftead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting fign that shall not be cut off. Some understand this of the accommodation the returning Captives fhould meet with, in their passage thro' defolate Places; others of the flourishing condition they should find their own Country in. Their Minds might be troubled when they began to think what there wou'd be to entertain them in a Country fo long uninhabited Therefore the Prophet tells them, that instead of a Land over-grown with Bryers and Thorns, they should find it adorn'd with ftately Trees, not only useful but ornamental. And it shall be to the Lord for a name, or as the Words may be render'd, This fhall be to the Lord for a Name; This deliverance of his People fhall caufe the Name of God to be glorify'd, and be an everlasting Memorial of his goodness.

Pf. 96. 12.