God's miraculous interpositions

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5

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A. M. 3378. 4 And his brightness was as the || held, and drove asunder the nations; A. M. 3378. light; he had horns coming out of and the everlasting mountains were his hand; and there was the hiding of his scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways power. are everlasting.

5 d Before him went the pestilence, and 6 burning e coals went forth at his feet.

7 I saw the tents of 7 Cushan in affliction : and the curtains of the land of Midian did

6 He stood, and measured the earth: he be- tremble.

5 Or, bright beams out of his side.- d Nah. i. 3.- - Or, burning diseases, Deut. xxxii. 24.

e Psalm xviii. 8.

f Nahum i. 5.- - Gen. xlix. 26.—7 Or, Ethiopia.- -8 Or, under affliction, or, vanity.

splendent brightness to be approached, or gazed at, by mortals. Before him went the pestilence-Occasionally inflicted on the Israelites for their guilt: see Num. xi. 33, and xiv. 37, and xvi. 46. And burning coals-Or rather, as the expression would be better translated, devouring fire, or lightning, went forth at his feet-See Lev. x. 2; Num. xi. 1, and xvi. 35, in which passages we read of the Israelites being consumed by a fire which went out from Jehovah. And (Lev. ix. 24) we learn, that the burnt-offering was consumed by a fire which came out from before him.

Verse 6. He stood and measured the earth-"It was customary for a conqueror, as soon as he became possessed of a country, to measure it out, and divide it among his people. Thus David, (Psa. lx. 6,) I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Suc coth. Hence Jehovah, who takes possession of the land of Canaan, upon the flight and cession of its guilty inhabitants, is represented as dividing it among the tribes of Israel."—Green, who translates the former part of the verse thus: He stood and measured out the land; he beheld and scattered the nations: the eternal mountains dispersed, the perpetual hills bowed. The passage is certainly extremely poetical; representing, not only the inhabitants of Canaan, but the land itself, as struck with conscious terror at the approach of Jehovah. His ways are everlasting-His purposes, foreknown from all eternity, will infallibly be executed in their appointed time: or, his wisdom, goodness, justice, holiness, and power, exerted and manifested in governing his people, are immutable and eternal.

soon as he enters the land of Canaan, (verse 6,) he takes possession of it as rightful Lord; and the seven nations of Canaan, conscious that they had forfeited it by their wickedness, flee at the sight of || him. The mountains of the land disperse to make way for him, the hills bow to pay him obeisance, and the highways own him for their Lord; and so great is the dread of him, that the neighbouring nations tremble while he passes by, verse 7. "Throughout the whole passage the prophet preserves the same magnificence with which he begins, choosing the noblest images which so copious a subject could afford, and illustrating them with the most splendid colours, images, figures, and the most elevated style. What crowns the sublimity of this piece, is the singular elegance of the close; and were it not that antiquity hath here and there thrown its veil of obscurity over it, there could not be conceived a more perfect and masterly poem of the kind."--Bishop Lowth. "The grandest images," adds Bishop Newcome," are selected; and the diction is as splendid as the subjects." Teman is thought to have been first the name of an encampment, and afterward of an Idumean city: see Job ii. 11; Jer. xlix. 7. Paran was a part of Arabia Petræa, near mount Sinai: see Gen. xxi. 21; Deut. xxxiii. 2. His glory covered the heavens--That excessive splendour which filled the air when God descended on mount Sinai, in flames of fire, lightnings, and thunders, to give the law to his people. And the earth was full of his praise--Green reads, And his glory filled the earth. Verses 4, 5. And his brightness was as the light -Green renders this verse thus: His brightness was as the brightness of the sun; he had rays of light beaming from his hand; and there was the hiding--Since Moses's wife, who was a Midianite, is called place of his power. The Hebrew word, here rendered light, is translated the sun, Job xxxi. 26; and that rendering seems to improve the sense here. The word 'p, rendered horns, being derived from 17, to shine, or emit rays of light, is much better rendered rays, or splendours, here, than horns: see Parkhurst on the word. In this illustrious passage, then, we see the brightness, or splendour, poetically represented as streaming from the hand of God, that awful hand which is mighty in operation, and which has so often manifested the divine power to a wondering world. Or, as others explain it, The Shechinah, or symbol of the divine presence, had rays of light issuing out on every side, and yet that was but ahiding, or veil, to the Divine Majesty, who covereth himself with light as with a garment, (Psa. civ. 2,) and who dwelleth in light inaccessible, or of too re

Verse 7. I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction

(Num. xii. 1) a Cushite, Cushan may be here another name for Midian, and then the two members of this period will be equivalent; but if they be different, then the Cushites must have been an Arabian nation who dwelt in tents near the Midianites, and were seized with the same consternation, at the approach of Jehovah and his people Israel, as the latter were. The total overthrow which the Israelites gave the Midianites and their allies, as recorded Num. xxxi. 7-12, is probably here referred to. We can never sufficiently admire the strength and spirit, as well as justness and propriety, of this whole description. "The glory with which Jehovah is arrayed, is such as fills the heaven and the earth; a glory arising not from the pomp of external grandeur, and the parade of honourable followers, but from himself. His power is the terror of all the

God's miraculous interpositions

HABAKKUK.

for his people. A. M. 3378. 8 Was the LORD displeased against || by: the deep uttered his voice, and A. M. 3378. the rivers? was thine anger against lifted up his hands on high. the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea,

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B. C. 626. 11 m The sun and moon stood still in their

h that thou didst ride upon thy horses, and thy || habitation: "at the light of thine "arrows chariots of salvation? they went, and at the shining of thy glittering

9 Thy bow was made quite naked, accord- || spear. ing to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. 10 Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed

12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thrash the heathen in

anger.

13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointcxiv. 4. Exod. xiv. 22; Josh. iii. 16.- - Josh. x. 12, 13. 11 Or, thine arrows walked in the light, &c.— Joshua x. 11; Psalm xviii. 14; lxxvii. 17, 18. Jeremiah li. 33; Amos ì. 3; Micah iv. 13.

world around him; the insignia of it being, not the clouds, (here termed his horses,) and carried upon sword or the fasces, but the pestilence and devour- the wings of the wind as in a chariot: see notes on ing fire; and so great is the dread of him, that the Deut. xxxiii. 26; Psa. civ. 3; Isa. xix. 1. Thy bow Canaanites flee at his approach, the land trembles at was made quite naked-Or, Thou didst lay bare thy his presence, and the nations around are not able to bow, to fight for Israel; that is, thou didst fight for hide their dismay. Such is Habakkuk's description || Israel, as evidently as if thou hadst been seen with a of Jehovah, simple and plain, but yet grand and sub- bow in thy hand; according to the oath, &c.-That lime; as much excelling every pagan description of thou mightest fulfil the oaths and promises which Jupiter, as light surpasses darkness."-Green and thou hadst made, to give the tribes of Israel full posHoubigant. session of Canaan. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers-Thou didst cleave the hard rocks, and the earth about them, and make the waters to run down in great streams, like rivers, which followed them a great part of their journey. The mountains saw thee, and they trembled-Mount Sinai, and the hills adjoining, felt the effects of thy presence. The overflowing of the water passed by-Or, hasted away, as Green renders it. "At the season when the Israelites passed over Jordan, this river overflowed its banks; but as soon as the priests who bare the ark entered into it, the waters, rearing themselves upon the right hand and upon the left, parted asunder with a mighty noise; here nobly described by the deep uttering its voice, and lifting up its hands on high:" see Josh. iii. 15, 16.

Verses 8-10. Was the Lord, &c.-After the description of Jehovah, given in the preceding verses, the first of his wonderful works, recounted by the prophet, is the passage through the Red sea, where he represents the Lord as appearing at the head of the Israelites in his chariot of war, with his bow drawn in his hand, to rescue them from their cruel oppressors the Egyptians, and to give them the land of Canaan, according to the oath which he sware unto them, verses 8, 9. The next is his giving them water to drink in the wilderness, where the mountains moved at his presence. The next, his passage over Jordan, where the waters, testifying their ready obedience to his will, opened to the right and left to make way for his people to pass through. The next,|| his interposition at Joshua's engagement with the Amorites, when the sun and moon stood still to give them time to discomfit their enemies, verses 9-11. The last wonderful works which the prophet recounts were performed after this engagement, when Jehovah marched before them to execute vengeance on the Canaanites, and to protect the Israelites; destroying utterly the princes of Canaan and their states, at a time when they made sure of Israel for their prey; and giving his own people entire possession of their country, from the river Jordan on the east, to the Mediterranean sea on the west, verses 12-15.-Green.

Was the Lord displeased against the rivers Can it be imagined, that when God caused the Red sea to be dry in the midst of it, and the waters of the river Jordan to stop, it was done out of displeasure against the waters? Surely not. But it was done out of God's singular care of, and regard for, his people, for whose deliverance he appeared in as illustrious a manner, as if he had been seen riding in the

998

Verses 11, 12. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation-At the command of Joshua. At the light of thine arrows they went-Or rather, by their light (namely, the light of the sun and moon) thine arrows flew abroad, and by their shining, thy glittering spear. It was to give the Israelites time for the destruction of their enemies, that God caused the sun and moon to stand still; and while these gave them light, Jehovah sent out his arrows and scattered them, &c., Psa. xviii. 14. He alludes to God's casting down great hailstones and lightnings from heaven, to discomfit the Amorites: see the mar gin. Thou didst march, &c.-Jehovah is here represented as marching before his people, through the land of Canaan, in his chariot of war, and trampling under foot those that rose up against him; which seems to be the meaning of the second clause, Thou didst thrash, &c.

Verses 13-15. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people-For their deliverance and protection; even for salvation with thine anointed—

3

The prophet's faith in the

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CHAPTER III.

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mercy and goodness of God. A. M. 3378. ed; thou woundedst the head out of || into my bones, and I trembled in A. M. 3378. the house of the wicked, 12 by disco- myself, that I might rest in the day vering the foundation unto the neck. Selah. of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, 14 Thou didst strike through with his staves he will 15 invade them with his troops. the head of his villages: they 13 came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

17 Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall 16 fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

whose bones are rendered rotten by disease. That I might rest in the day of trouble-These words are interpreted in different ways: some suppose that the prophet here expresses a desire of being gathered to his fathers in peace, before the king of Babylon should invade Judea, and carry the people away captive; and that he adds, as a reason of his prayer, a description of the desolation which should then come upon the land. In this sense the clause is understood by Mr. Green, who therefore interprets it, O that I might be at rest before the day of distress, when the invader shall come up against the people with his troops! But Noldius, whose interpretation is approved by Lowth, reads, Yet I shall rest in the day of trouble, when he shall come up against the people, even he who shall invade them with his troops. The prophet may be considered as speaking in the person of every truly pious Jew; I shall rest secure under the divine protection, when the Chaldeans shall come to invade Judea. This sense of the clause accords well, perhaps better than any other, with the following verses; in which we have a plain and noble description of the confidence we ought to have in God, in the most trying times, and when involved in the greatest calamities.

With those appointed and qualified to be leaders and rulers of thy people; such as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and David. Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked--That is, the heads, or confederate princes, of the Canaanites, Josh. x. 3, and xi. 1; by discovering the foundation unto the neck-Or, as Green renders it, Thou rasedst the foundations even to the rock. Thou didst strike through with his slaves, &c.-Waterland reads, Thou didst strike through the head of his warriors among his tribes: and Houbigant, Thou, with thy sceptre, didst strike through the head of his princes. Thou didst dis- || comfit all the petty kings of the several clans carrying on the war against Joshua. They came out as a whirlwind to scatter me--The prophet here assumes the person of the Israelitish people, and therefore says, They came out to scatter me. Armies are sometimes spoken of as whirlwinds: see Zech. ix. 14. Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly--Or, in secret, that is, to devour those who were weak and defenceless, and should keep themselves in secret for fear. So the enemies of the Israelites, who came out as a whirlwind to scatter them, thought that they were not able to oppose them, but would hide themselves through fear; and they therefore exulted, as if they were marching to Verses 17, 18. Although the fig-tree shall not certain victory. Thou didst walk through the sea || blossom-Though all outward means of support with thy horses--This seems to be a highly figura- should fail, yet will I still have a firm confidence in tive expression, to signify God's dividing the waters the power, goodness, and faithfulness of God, that he of the Red sea and the river Jordan, and making them will preserve me, and supply me with all things neto stand on a heap, while the Israelites went through|| cessary; and therefore, amidst the most threatening with as much safety as if they had rode on horses. appearances of affairs, I shall still preserve inward Verse 16. When I heard, my belly trembled--The peace and serenity of mind, as trusting in him in prophet, having recounted, for the present encour- whom is everlasting strength, Isa. xxvi. 3, 4. The agement of the faithful, the wonderful works which state of the land during the captivity may be here God had formerly wrought for his people, here re- prophetically described, when the vineyards, oliveturns again to his first subject, namely, the revela- yards, fields, and pastures, would be in a desolate tion which he had received from God, concerning and barren state: or the prophet may be considered as the calamities which should be brought on the Jew- declaring, that even such circumstances should not ish people by the Chaldeans. My belly trembled, shake his confidence in God. Yet will I rejoice in my lips quivered, &c.--A consternation and shaking the Lord-I shall have him to rejoice in, and will seized me, and I could not speak for grief and as- rejoice in him. I will joy in the God of my salvatonishment, at being informed what great miseries tion-In the knowledge and love, the favour and were coming upon my nation. Rottenness entered friendship, the care and kindness of him in whom into my bones-I could no more stand than a person || I have present, and hope to have future and eternal

The prophet's faith in the

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19 The Lord GOD is "my strength, || upon my high places. To the chief A. M. 3378. and he will make my feet like singer on my 17 stringed instru* hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk ||ments.

u Psa. xxvii. 1.

2 Sam. xxii. 34; Psa. xviii. 33. salvation. Observe: reader, this is the principal ground of our joy in God, that he is the God of our salvation; our everlasting salvation, the salvation of our souls; and if he be so, we may rejoice in him as such in our greatest distresses, since by them our salvation cannot be hindered, but may be furthered. Instead of, the God of my salvation, the LXX. read, ETL TW ƉEW TW Owτnpɩ μov, in God my Saviour; and the Vulgate, in Deo Jesu meo, in God my Jesus, or, in Jesus my God. "That Jesus," says Calmet, "who is the joy, the consolation, the hope, the life of believers; without whom the world can offer us nothing but false joys; who was the object of the desires, and the perpetual consolation of the prophets and patriarchs:" see Joon viii. 56.

y Deut. xxxii. 13; xxxiii. 29.-17 Heb. neginoth, Psa. iv. title. strong for our spiritual warfare and work, The Lord God is my strength, the strength of my heart, Psa. Ixxiii. 26. 2d, We may be swift for our spiritual race, He will make my feet like hinds' feet, that with enlargement of heart I may run the way of his commandments. 3d, We may be successful in our spiritual enterprises, He will make me to walk upon my high places: that is, I shall gain my point, shall be restored unto my land, and tread upon the high places of the enemy: see the notes on Psa. xviii. 33; Deut. xxxii. 13, and xxxiii. 29. Thus the prophet, who began his prayer with fear and trembling, concludes it with joy and triumph; for prayer is the support and consolation of a pious soul. And as he seems to have had the beginning of Moses's blessVerse 19. The Lord God is my strength-He|ing in his eye, at verse 3, so in this he alludes to the that is the God of our salvation in another world, will be our strength in this world, to carry us on in our journey thither, and help us over the difficulties and oppositions we meet with in our way, even then when provisions are cut off, to make it appear that man does not live by bread alone, but may have the want of bread supplied by the graces and comforts of God's Spirit. Observe, reader: 1st, We may be 1000

conclusion of it. Some think it appears from the last words, To the chief singers, &c., that this prayer was sung in the temple service. Houbigant, however, gives the last words another turn, rendering them thus: And shall bring me to the tops of the mountains to victory in my song; or, that I may overcome, when those things which I here sing shall || have their completion.

3

THE

BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH.

ARGUMENT.

ACCORDING to Epiphanius, Zephaniah was of the tribe of Simeon. He prophesied in the reign of Josiah, as he himself tells us, verse 1, but in what part of his reign is not certain; although it is probable, from the description which he gives of the disorders which prevailed in Judea in his time, that it was before the eighteenth year of it: that is, before that prince began to exert himself to effect a reformation in his kingdom, according to what we read, 2 Kings xxii., xxiii. Some think, however, that Zephaniah uttered these prophecies toward the close of Josiah's reign, when religion had greatly declined among the Jews, through the hypocrisy of those who had at first concurred with that pious king, in endeavouring to bring about a reformation. The first chapter of this prophecy contains divers threatenings against the kingdom of Judah in general, and the city of Jerusalem in particular. In the second he calls the people to repentance, and prophesies against the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Assyrians, &c. The third and last consists of two parts: the first, a prophecy against Jerusalem and its inhabitants; the second, a promise of a return from their captivity upon their repentance, and a restoration of the Jewish state to a flourishing condition. The style of this prophet is poetical; but his book contains nothing remarkable or striking, either with respect to the arrangement of his matter, or the colouring of his diction. His method and his subject bear so near a resemblance to those of Jeremiah, that St. Isidore asserts him to have been his abbreviator. Nor is this the only prophet whom Zephaniah resembles, as every one must own who compares him with Joel. See Calmet and Bishop Lowth.

CHAPTER I.

In this chapter, after an account of the prophet, and the date of his mission, we have, (1,) Denunciations of utter destruction to Judah and Jerusalem, particularly to such as worshipped idols, and neglected the worship of God, 2-6. (2) A command to submit to the divine judgments in silence, because they had greatly sinned, 7–9, 12, 17; and to howl, because the judgments would extend to all ranks and all places, and would be most terrible and unavoidable, 10-18.

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A. M. 3374. THE word of the LORD which || Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the A. M. 3374. came unto Zephaniah the son days of Josiah the son of Amon, of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of king of Judah.

NOTES ON CHAPTER I.

Hezekiah's having any son but Manasseh. In the Verse 1. The word that came to Zephaniah-days of Josiah-The Jews were wont to allege, that The divine revelation that was made to him. The son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, &c.—If these were not prophets, as the Jewish doctors make them, yet it is probable they were persons of some note in Judah. The son of Hizkiah--Although both the letters and points of this name in the Hebrew are the same with those of King Hezekiah, and some therefore have thought that the prophet was his great-grandson; yet that could not be the case, because there was not a sufficient distance of time between King Hezekiah and Josiah, in whose time he flourished, for four descents: nor do we read of

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their kings obliged them to practise idolatry, and rendered them in other respects corrupt in their manners; but God, by raising up the pious Josiah to be their king, deprived them of that excuse. For so far was he from encouraging them in any branch of impiety or vice, that he used his utmost efforts to effect a thorough reformation among them, although, alas! to little purpose, for they continued to be exceeding corrupt, both in their principles and practices; or, if any change took place among them for the better, it seems to have been but very partial, and of very short duration.