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Chapter (as the Sequel concerning Shebnah fhews) intended for the XXII. Times of the Affyrian Invafion; the Verbs fhould be render'd futurely, as they are in the 8th Verfe; And he shall difmantle many of the fortify'd Cities of Judah, and then fhall ye. look to the Armour of the Houfe of the Foreft, that is, think of providing for your Defence; there was an Arfenal within Jerufalem call'd the Houfe of the Foreft, perhaps with refpect to fome Refemblance it might have with fome Building in the Forest of Lebanon, and for fome other Reafon unknown at prefent; there is all the Reafon in the World to think this Arfenal was in the City, fince we find in the Time of Rehoboam that the Shields of State which his Soldiers wore when they attended the King to the Temple were kept in an Apartment of the Palace Royal, among other more neceffary Furniture of War; nor is it improbable but this may be the fame which is call'd the Tower of David, (a) faid to be built for an Armory, and to be ftor'd with Thousands of Shields and Targets for Warriors.

(4) Cantic. 4.4.

Ver. 9. Te have seen alfo the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.] That is, when firft ye hear of the Approach of the Affyrian Army ye fhall furvey the Walls of Jerusa lem, and find out the weak Places thereof which want to be repair'd, and ye fhall take care to get Store of Water in the lower Pool, to enable you to hold out the Siege; fo gracious is God to his People, that at the very time when he is denouncing Judgments against them, he gives them Hints of what they should do to preferve themselves, and escape those Judgments, as far as may be, without bringing his Veracity into question.

Ver. 10. And ye have numbred the houses of Jerufalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.] This they might do to proportion their Provifions to the Number of neceffary Mouths, to take an Account of the Men fit for Service in every Family, to fee which Houses might be fpar'd to furnish Materials for repairing the Wall, which would be advantageous to the Enemy, and which to themfelves; or lastly, to see which might be fet apart for those whofe Houfes were to be demolish'd, either within or without the City.

Ver. 11. Te made alfo a ditch between the two walls, for the "Chapter water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker XXII. thereof, neither had refpect unto him that fashioned it long ago.] Jerufalem was very ill furnish'd with Water, having none but what came from a fmall Brook and a Fish-Pond without the City; therefore he tells them they fhould make Receptacles for Water between the two Walls of the City; all which Hezekiah did, 2 Chron. 32.4.. Ver. 12, 13. And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with fackcloth And behold joy and gladness, flaying oxen, and killing Sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink, for to morrow we shall die.] Having defcrib'd the Diligence and Care of fome of the Inhabitants to fecure themselves from the danger they fhould be in, with their neglect of God, on whom they ought chiefly to have depended: Here he blames the fecurity and fenfuality of others, who at a time when they ought to have been at their Prayers, to beg of God to divert this Storm, abandon'd themfelves to all manner of Licentioufnefs, and extravagant Mirth. Thefe Sinners feem not to have been the fame with those mention'd in the former Verfe; for though they look'd not to God, yet they look'd to the Houfe of their Armour, and to their Fortifications, and trusted to them against their Enemies, but these trusted neither in God, nor in their Armory, or Fortifications; but look'd for nothing but Death, and therefore they thought it beft to rejoice while they might, and make the best of those few uncer tain hours they had to live.

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Ver. 14. And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hofts, furely this iniquity fhall not be purged from you, till ye die, faith the Lord God of hofts.] Thefe unthinking Infi dels, who made a wrong ufe of God's Judgments, were in all probability cut off by the Enemy, or ftarv'd in the City for want of that Food which they had foolishly lavish'd away before.

Ver. 15. Thus faith the Lord God of hofts, Go, get thee unto this Treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and fay,] (a) Here fome think a new Prophecy commen- (4) Santius. ces; but I fee no reafon for it, from any Expreffion in

Chapter this or the following Verfes. It (a) feems to have been XXII. deliver'd by God to the Prophet, and by the Prophet made known to the People at the fame time with the (4) Gataker. former. What his Carriage was, whereby he procur'd to himself this heavy Doom is not certain, any more than the Place he was poffefs'd of, or the time of his being turn'd out of it. St. Jerom thinks he was High-Prieft, others High-Treasurer, Nal babbaith being to be render'd either Over the Houfe or Over the Temple, Montanus, that he enjoy'd both Places at the fame time; and Sanctius, that he was turn'd out of the Place of High-Prieft, or Chief Intendant of the Temple, which he had obtain'd in the Reign of Ahaz, and remov'd to that of Chief Secretary, for which he was better qualify'd: Certain it is he was not High-Prieft, because about this time we find another High-Prieft mention'd, viz. Azarias; and because 2 Chron. 31. the Pontificat was never tranflated from one Family to another, from the firft Inftitution in Aaron, to the time of the Maccabees. Sochen fignifies Treasurer; this, I fuppofe, was the Office which Shebnah enjoy'd at the beginning of Hezekiah's Reign; in confequence of which he was Nal babbaith, or had the Chief Management of the King's Houfhold or Family, out of which he was turn'd, in all probability, for correfponding with his Mafter's, Enemies, and banih'd the Kingdom about the time that Sennacherib invaded Judea, who having no place to retire to, fell into the Hands of the Affyrians, and was by them carry'd into Captivity with the rest of the Prifoners he took in his way to Jerufalem.

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Forerius.

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Ver. 16. What hast thou here ? and whom haft thou here? that thou hast hewed thee out a fepulchre here as he that heweth him out a fepulcre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?] Mab leka Po, & Mi leka Po, are two Hebrew Phrafes us'd by the Jews when they had a mind to play upon thofe who took pains to no purpofe; and this Shebnah was guilty of, by being fo fimple as to hope to establish his Name by a Monument : But this is not all, he not only fhew'd the Vanity of his Heart, but his Infidelity too by building this Tomb, because it was a public Declaration, that he believ'd not a word of the Captivity fo often threatned by this and other

other Prophets, but that he fhould dye in peace, and Chapter his Pofterity after him, and their Bones remain undi- XXII. fturb'd in the Sepulcre of their Family.

rina.

Ver. 17. Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will furely cover thee.] Taltela Gaber Projectione Viri, which the Prophet adds to fignify the remoteness of the Country into which he fhould be tranfplanted, because Men are able to fling a thing farther than Women, generally speaking. But (a) others (4) Pagnin. take Gaber in the Vocative Cafe, Behold, ambitious Man, Veino. Tiguthe Lord' will carry thee away into Captivity, and furely (b) cover thee with an ordinary Monument inftead of (b) Moller. that which thy Pride erected. Now it cannot be fuppos'd that this Shebnah fhould live fo long as the Babylonian Captivity; and therefore if the Banifhment before mention'd will not be allow'd of, it may be fuppos'd that he furviv'd Hezekia, and, together with Manaffes, was carry'd into Captivity by Efarhaddon.

2 Chron. 33

Ver. 18. He will furely violently turn and tofs thee, like a 11. ball into a large country, there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory fhall be the shame of thy Lorus use. ] The words may be better render'd, He will wrap thee up clofely and tofs thee like a Ball; the Metaphor being taken from travelling Tradefmen, who bind up their Commodities in clofe bundles, and carry them on their (c) (c) Idem.. backs. He adds, A large Country, to aggravate his Mifery, there being lefs likelihood of being redeemed out of a large populous Place than in a fmall one, where every Body is known: He means Affyria. There thou shalt die, and there thy glorious Chariots, in which thou ufedft to ride in thy Profperity, fhall be deftroy'd, and the fhame of thy Lord's Houfe die with thee; or as others render the laft words, O Dedecus familie Domini Tui.

Ver. 19, 20, 21. And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy ftate fhall be pull thee down. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my fervant Eliakim the Son of Hilkiah: And I will cloath him with thy robe, and Strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy govern ment into his hand, and he thall be a father to the inhabitants of Ferufalem, and to the house of Judah.] Princes and Magiftrates, when admitted to their Offices, were us'd to

be

Chapter be cloath'd with diftinguishing Garments peculiar to PerXXII. fons of their Rank and Character; which the Prophet alludes to when he tells this difcarded Courtier, that Eliakim fhould be cloathed with his Robe, and ftrengthned with his Girdle, meaning, as he explains himself afterward without a figure, that he should be fubstituted in his Place.

Ver. 22. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his fhoulder: Jo he shall open and none shall fhut, and he Shall fhut and none shall open.] The Key is an Ensign of Authority worn in our Courts at prefent by Perfons of greatest Trust in the Government; and it is faid to be laid on theShoulder of Eliakim, to fhew the weight and importance of the great Bufinefs he was call'd to, which required more than ordinary Strength to go through.

Ver. 23. And I will faften him as a nail in a fure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his fathers house.] To The Power of executing what belong'd to this Place, God adds a Promife that he would establish him in it; he fhould not fit like his Predeceffor, tottering in that Seat of Honour, ready to be blown down by every puff of Wind; but his Vertues fhould make him neceffary, fixt in his Royal Mafter's Favour, beyond a poffibility of being remov'd, and the whole Nation be ready to acknowledge him the main Prop and Support of the Go

vernment.

Ver. 24. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his fathers houfe, the off-fpring and the iffue, all veffels of Small quantity: from the veffels of cups, even to all the veffels of flagons. All his Friends and Relations fhall find the benefit of his Promotion, whofe Advancement shall be a means to bring them into honourable Pofts. He fhall fupport and bear up with Honour and Credit, not thofe only of his Family, who are Perfons of great Capacity, and fit for Bufinefs, but even thofe of meaner Parts and lefs Efteem, from the Veffels of Cups to the Veffels of Flaggons, that is, from the higheft to the lowest.

Ver. 25. In that day, faith the Lord of hofts, shall the nail that is faftned in the fure place, be removed, and be cut down and fall, and the burthen that was upon it shall be cut off, for the Lord hath Spoken it.] That is, when Eliakim is thus

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