Chapter but 16 Years in all, the Time of his Death muft fall about VII. the Third or Fourth of Abaz, and Rezin was taken Pri foner and flain by Tiglath Pilefer probably fooner, immediately after this unfuccefsful Expedition of the Confederates, of which Abaz was fo much afraid, 2 Kin. 16. 9. He speaks of Syria and Ifrael, as if the Confederacy had made them one Land under Two Kings; and by the Land which he abhorr'd, being forfaken of both her Kings, he means, that both Pekah and Rezin fhould be dead before this prophetic Child was wean'd or came to the first Dawnings of Reason. Ver. 17. The Lord fhall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy fathers houfe, days that have not come from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah: even the king of AfSyria.] The Prophet addreffes himfelf to Ahaz and the incredulous Jews, as if he had faid, I have foretold the Deftruction of your Enemies, but fince ye will not believe me, by the fame Affyrians, whom ye fo much confide in at prefent, jhall fuch Calamities befall you as your Nation never felt fince the Time of Jeroboam. Abaz himself foon faw this Prophecy fulfill'd by Tiglath Pilefer, who came to him and diftreffed him, but ftrengthened him not, tho' he had taken a portion out of the houfe of the Lord, as the Particle which our Tranflators render for fhould be render'd, 2 Chron. 28. 21. Ver. 18. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord fhall bifs for the fly that is in the uttermoft part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Affyria.] When the Lord fhall punish the Jews for their Infidelity, as he threaten'd in the foregoing Verfe, he speaks of that Defolation he defign'd to bring upon Judea, not Syria and Ifrael, (fays Sanctius) because the Defolation in this Verfe foretold is to be executed by the Affyrians and Egyptians, whereas the Deftruction of thofe Two Kingdoms was to be effected by the Affyrians only. The Sacred History makes no mention of the Egyptians making War with the Jews, or joyning with the Affyrians against them till the Reign of Fofia, who was kill'd in a Battel with Pharo Neco King of Egypt. To fupply this Defect of History some have recourfe to Conjectures, and fancy Sennacherib, when he went against Tirhaka King of Ethiopia, might bring fome Egyptian Recruits with him, to fupply the Places of thofe VII. those he loft in that Expedition, and to enable him to put Chapter a fpeedy Difpatch to the Reduction of Judea, by taking Jerufalem, the only Place which held out in all that Kingdom: But there is no Neceffity of understanding the Egyptians themselves by the Fly in the uttermoft part of the rivers of Egypt, fince by that Expreffion other Nations bordering on Egypt will be fignify'd, and if there were, it might justly be excus'd if every Circumftance is not exactly pointed out, fince the Annals of thofe early Days are fo very deficient and fhort. Ver. 19. And they shall come, and shall reft all of them in the defolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.] Benachalé habbathoth in the Valleys of Defolations; having compar'd the Affyrian Ar my to a Swarm of Flies and Bees, he carries on the Metaphor, and reprefents them overfpreading the lower Grounds which Flies moft ufually frequent, and mentions the Holes of the Rocks in Allufion to Bees, who are apt to harbour in fuch unfrequented Places, according to that of the Pfalmift, With honey out of the ftony Rock Should I have fatisfied thee. By thefe figurative Expreffions, fays Forerius, the Prophet means, that the Affyrian Army fhould plunder within and without, in Cities and in Fields, private Houses as well as Palaces, and leave no place unranfack'd. Ver. 20. In the fame day fhall the Lord fhave with a rafor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Affyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall alfo confume the beard.] By the Metaphor of a hir'd Razor is meant the univerfal Pillage they fhould fuffer by the Affyrians, and the Prophet feems to have added the Epithet hir'd for no other Reafon but to upbraid Ahaz with Simplicity, for inviting a powerful Prince into his Country whom he could never pretend to drive again out of it, and by the Richness of his Prefents let him know that his Country was worth the conquering. The River here mention'd must be Euphrates, which divided Syria from Affyria, fince the Prophet explains his own meaning, that thofe beyond the River are the Affyrian Forces. Ver. 21, 22. And it shall come to pafs in that day, that a man fhall nourish a young cow, and two sheep. And it fhall come VII. Chapter come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give, he Shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land. In thefe Two Verfes the Prophet fets forth the horrible Devaftation they fhould make by another obvious Similitude; all that the most fortunate fhould preferve from their ravenous Jaws fhould be a Cow and a Sheep or Two, and yet fo great should the Slaughter be, that they fhould yield Milk enough to preserve the largest Family from ftarving; but Forerius thinks the Prophet means that the Fields fhould lye unmanur'd for want of Husbandmen, and the furviving few fuftain themfelves with Butter and Honey, the Product of their Cattle and Bees. Ver. 23. And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place fhall be, where there were a thousand vines, at a thousand filverlings, it fhall even be for briers and thorns.] Here he gives another Inftance of the fad Effect of their barbarous Ravages, their choiceft Vineyards which in Times of Peace and Security were worth, or would let for a Thousand Shekels, fhould be over-run with Briers and Thorns, no Body caring to be at the Charge of Improvement, or to lay out Money in Things of Ornament and Curiosity, when they did not know but they might the next Hour be trod under Foot. Ver. 24. With arrows and with bowes fhall men come thither; because all the land fhall become briers and thorns.] All the Land fhould become one entire Wilderness, over-run with thick bushy Trees, which affording the wild Beasts Shelter, it should be fo dangerous to travel that Men fhould be oblig'd to go arm'd for their Security. Ver. 25. And on all bills that shall be digged with the mattock, there fhall not come thither, the fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the fending forth of oxen, and for the treading of leffer cattel.] Some understand this Verfe of a Change for the better, but this being contrary to the Design of the Prophet, who is threatning the Jews with a terrible Devastation, thofe, fays Gataker, come nearest the Prophet's Mind, who understand the Words of fuch Places on the Hills which the Rich had fenc'd in for Pleasure or Profit, which Fences being caft down by the Affyrians they fhould lye open to the Cattel, who before were kept at 9 atva diftance, and durft not come near for fear of the prickly Briers and fharp Thorns; but Zach. Urfin thinks the Prophét means no more than that thofe few who fhould efcape the Hands of the Enemy should retire with their Cattel to the Mountains, and there lay poorly on what fuch barren Places yielded, there should be no Inclofures, no Hedges to keep their Beafts from curious Plants, but every thing open to every one; and that their Cattel may have the better Food and Pafture in more plenty, they rubb'd up the Bushes and Briers which grew in the Way and the Walks of the Cattel with Mattocks. The ARGUMENT of Chapter VIII. Chapter In the 7th Chapter God promis'd Ahaz and his dejected Subjects that a Child fhould be born who should be call'd Immanuel, and by that Name fignify to them that God would stand by them against their Enemies, who fhould be deftroy'd before that prophetic Boy fhould arrive at the Ufe of Reafon; that the Child fpoken of in this Chapter is the fame which was to be born of a Virgin, in that we have the Teftimony of the Ancients before cited, which may be confirm'd by this, that this Chapter is connected to the former by Vadjomer: The Lord Spake unto Abaz at the 10th Verfe, and promis'd a gracious Sign of his Deliverance, and to be as good as his Word the fame Lord here fpeaks to the Prophet, who, by his Direction, takes a Wife, and fhe bare a Son, and, according to the exi prefs Command of God, this prophetic Name is given him, Maher-fhalal-chafh-baz, to fignify to the Jews that the Ifraelites and Syrians, whom they now so much dreaded, fhould become a Prey to their Enemies before this Child could call his Father and Mother by Name, the fame Period of Time denoted by knowing to refuse the Evil and chufe the Good, which plainly proves that the Son of the Virgin in the former Chapter,and the Son of the Prophetess in this,is one and (a) Thomas the (a) fame Child, whom therefore at the 8th Verse of this Vatablus he calls by his firft Name Immanuel; this is much more na- Brixian, Em. tural than to fuppofe this an imaginary Reprefentation, as nus. (b) those do who tell us the Prophet feem'd to write this (b) Hieron. Name in a Volume, but not understanding the meaning of Cyril Batil., Sa. Monta loc. Chapter what he writ, he is directed by God, Adire quandam venerabilem matronam & prophetiffam ac videre quòd illa conciperet & pareret filium, of which Interpretation Oleafter gives his Opinion in thefe Words, Videtur nimis torquere literam. This clearer Revelation of God's gracious Defign of delivering them from their Enemies was as unfuccefsful as the former, they dare not rely on God's Word, but think of calling in the Affyrian to their Affiftance, therefore he threatens to make them smart for their Infidelity by those very Affyrians they fo much depended on. Verse 1. CHAP. VIII. Oreover, the Lord faid unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a mans pen, concerning Maher-fhalal-hash-baz.] If thefe Words are to be understood in their plain obvious Signification, the Prophet is hereby commanded to write not this Name a) Capel, in only, as (a) fome fancy, who will have the Two first Words to the Title, and the Two others the Body of the Book it felf, for which it needed not to be Gathol large, but (b) Gataker. this whole (6) Prophecy relating to Maher-fhalal-chafh-baz, in a fair legible Character, to be fix'd in fome public Place, as a Monument of God's gracious Defigns toward them and their Infidelity, that when they should hear of the Destruction of thofe Confederate Princes, at whofe Approach they were now fo alarmed, they might remember God had foretold this, and they would not believe him. Becheret Enofh, fays the Prophet, with the Pen of a Man, which the Chaldee Paraphraft interprets Meparash Mochi fcripturam claram, and Enofh is added to distinguish it from an Inftrument us'd by Women in curling their Hair, call'd Chereth; but Huetius (b) thinks that thefe ftrat. Evang. Expreffions are Enigmatical. Librum grandem appellat uxorem, ftilum hominis eam partem qua honeftè nominari non poteft & jubetur in eo fcribere velociter fpolia detrahere, hoc eft filium cum ea gignere cui id nominis futurum erat. Maxima enim eft Hebraica lingua verecundia: adeo ut genitalium partium propria vocabula nulla habeat... (c) Demon Ver. 2. And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Feberechiab.] In terpreters |
