Chapter all the Vigour fhe has any one that comes near to hurt XXXI. them; by paffing over the Prophet alludes to that memora ble Tranfition, when God feeing the Blood of the Lamb on the Doors of the Ifraelites, left them untouch'd in that general Slaughter which he brought on the Egyptians. Ver. 6. Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Ifrael have deeply revolted.] It may be more clearly tranflated, Turn unto him from whom ye have greatly revolted, O ye children of Ifrael. God interprets their feeking to Egypt for Help as a base Desertion of him, to whom they were engag'd by the most folema Obligations. Ver. 7. For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of filver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a fin.] That is, then, when the Affyrian Army fhall diftrefs you by a clofe Siege, let every Man caft away his Idols, the Work of his own or other Mens Hands; the Prophet calls them the work of their own hands, not as if they made them themfelves, but becaufe by worshipping them they made them their Gods; he that made them gave them the Shape, but they made them their Idols by proftrating themselves before them. Ver. 8. Then fhall the Affyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man, and the word, not of a mean man fhall devour bim: but he fhall flee from the fword, and his young men shall be difcomfited.] I think the greatest Mafter of Language in the World, fully acquainted with all the Particulars of the Overthrow of the Affyrian Army, cannot exprefs himself in Words more exactly agreeing with that furprizing Event than this Verfe affords, Then fhall the Affyrian Troops be cut off, not by the Power of Men, but the invisible Agency of an Angel, with the Concurrence of Omnipotency, the Expreffions not of a mighty man, nor of a mean man, excluding all; he, the King himself, fhall flee from the Sword of the Deftroyer, and his furviving Soldiers lose their Courage. Ver. 9. And he shall pass over to his ftrong hold for fear,, and his princes fhall be afraid of the enfign, faith the Lord, whofe fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerufalem.] He, the King of Affyria, fhall make hafte to recover fome fortify'd Town in the Frontier of his own Dominion, or Fear fhall make him flee fo faft that he fhall pass by feveral ftrong Holds, XXXI. in which he might be fecure, and fhall not have Cou- Chapter rage to stop, till he arrive at his Capital City Ninive. His Princes fhall be afraid of the Enfign, if they see but an (4) Enfign at a Distance, they fhall think the whole 2 Kings 19. 36. Nation of the Jews at their Heels, and tremble at the Mariana. (a) Imaginary Approach of their Victorious Enemies. But Diodat Gataker thinks the Prophet means the Enfign or Standard of God, which was lifted up as it were for a Sign to his invisible Hoft to fall upon them. Whofe Fire is in Sion and his Furnace in Jerufalem, who has his Altar in Sion, A Lapide, and will defend the place where his Honour dwells. The ARGUMENT of Chapter XXXII. Procop. The (a) Fathers understand the beginning of this Chapter of (4) Hieron. Chrift and his Spiritual Kingdom: (b) others of Hezeki- Cyril. ah, (c) others Historically of Hezekiah, and Allegorically, (b) Grotius, as they call it, of Chrift. But as I meet no part of it by Gataker. the Writers of the New Teftament, apply'd to our Sa- (1) Thomas, Hugo. viour, and fee nothing in the words themselves, which should Vatabl. incline me to believe that the Prophet had Him in his Eye, Pagnin. I cannot but fall in with those who understand it of Hezekiah only. Whether he foretells the happy beginning of his Reign, and the great alterations which should be made in the Court of Jerufalem, after the Death of Idolatrous Ahaz, or of a change which should be made among the great Officers of his Houfhold, after the defeat of Sennacherib, when he began to reform thofe diforders which he had not obferv'd, or had not had time to correct before, I fhall not pretend to determine; but this I am fure of, no other Perfon can be fixt on from the time of Ifaiah, to the end of the Regal Government among the Jews, to whom the words of the Prophet can be fo properly apply'd. At the 9th Verfe, he directs himself to the Women of Judea, and denounces the fame Judgments against them as were to befal the Men: which Calamities be tells them should continue a Year or more, ver. 10. Until the Spirit be pour'd upon them from on High, ver. 15. and from thence to the end of the Chapter, he deferibes the happy times they should enjoy when this storm was СНАР. blown over. Hh 2 Chapter (4) Ifdor. Clari Idem. Cb. 29. 10. Verse 1. BE Ehold, a King fhall reign in righteousness, and princes fhall rule in judgment.] This Chapter may be connected with what goes before, and contains a reason why God defign'd to be fo gracious to the Jews, as to destroy the Affyrians, namely for Hezekiah's fake; as if he had faid, if ye reflect on the Sinfulness of the Nation, ye may be apt to doubt whether it may ftand with my Juftice to be fo good to fo Rebellious a People, but behold at that time a King hall reign in Righteoufnefs, not like his Father an Idolatrous Tyrant oppreffing his People at pleafure, and corrupting them by his loofe Example: But One that fhall Minifter ftrict Juftice among his Subjects, and countenance Vertue by the Luftre of it in his own Royal Perfon. Ver. 2. And a man fhall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempeft: as rivers of water in a dry place, as the fhaddow of a great rock in a weary land.] That is, and he fhall be a hiding Place from the Wind, as we may render the Hebrew (a) Idiom. The Aufpicious Reign of Hezekiah fhall be to the Jews as a Place of fhelter in a Stormy Tempeftuous Night, as a fafe Harbour to weary Mariners, like a refreshing Shade in a fultry Day, and like a Cooling Stream to a Thirfty Traveller: By which Expreffions the Prophet defign'd to fet forth the great Benefits which fhould redound to the Jewish State, by a free courfe of Impartial Justice, whereby thofe that were Opprefs'd fhould have all their Grievances redrefs'd, and the King himself be the Common Patron of every injur'd afflicted Subject. Rex ille erit omnium afflictorum refugium, ad quem afflicti fugient haud fecus ac homines, in tempore magnorum ventorum ac imbrium ad tuta latibula confugiunt. Ver. 3. And the eyes of them that fee, fhall not be dim ; and the ears of them that hear, shall hearken.] That is, God who threatned to cover the Prophets, that is give them no more Revelations but keep them Hood-wink'd as it were, and in the dark, pleas'd with the Reformation began began by this exemplary Prince, fhall open their Eyes again, and let them fee into the future Designs of his Providence, disclose his Mind to them in fuch Visions as they had been us'd to, and difpofe the People to observe with more Attention the important Truths they should declare. Chapter XXXII. Ver. 4. The heart alfo of the rafh fhall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the .ftammerers fhall be ready to speak plainly. Such as before were heady and inconfiderate, fhall be better instructed; Afflictions fhall make them have a juft fenfe of their Obligations to God: And the Tongue of the Stammerers fhall be ready to speak plainly, that Gataker.. is, their Language, which before was rude, barbarous, and unpleasant, fhall then be pure and pious, feafon'd with Grace, and pleafing in God's Ear; but Grotius thinks the Prophet means thofe that were dulleft among them, fhall become fenfible of God's Goodness toward them, and the very stammering Infants break forth in his praife. Ver. 5. The vile perfon fhall be no more called liberal, nor the churl faid to be bountiful.] A vile Perfon fhall no more be advanced to any honourable Employment in the Government, as many in all probability had been in the Reign of his Father Ahaz, nor the Churl faid to be bounti ful; no niggardly mean begotten Muckworm be rais'd to the Dignity of a Gentleman, purely upon the account of his Riches, without any other Qualification or Merit. Ver. 6. For the vile perfon will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practife hypocrifie, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the foul of the hungry, and he will caufe the drink of the thirsty to fail.] In this and the following Verfe the Prophet gives the reafon why fuch Perfons as he before defcrib'd fhould not be promoted to any Place or Title, because Preferment makes no alteration in the Principles of fuch Men; in fpight of Honours heap'd on them, they will retain the fame fordid Difpofition, and appear in their natural Colours upon every occafion. Such as they will be Villains, they will utter Error against the Lord; that is, give wrong Judgment, tho' God has exprefly forbid it; fuch as they will gripe the Chapter the Poor, and by unconscionable Extortions force away. XXXII. from them that little they have, tho' they leave them to starve. Gataker. Ver. 7. The inftruments also of the churl are evil: he devifeth wicked devices to deftroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy fpeaketh right.] By the Inftruments of the Churl, fome understand their falfe Weights and Meafures: But the Prophet being difcourfing about corrupt Magiftrates, or fuch as prefided in the Courts of Justice, the word may denote the under Officers made ufe of by corrupt Judges, to terrify the People with Menaces, or any other illegal ways extort their Money from them, or bring them into Trouble. These partial Difpenfers of Juftice will give Sentence against a poor Man, even when he fpeaketh right, when he wears in his own behalf, or his Witnesses teftify for him. what they have seen or hear'd, and are convinced to be true. Ver. 8. But the liberal devifeth liberal things, and by liberal things fhall he ftand.] But the honourable Perfon never entertains a Thought below his Dignity; he fcorns to do a mean unhandfome thing, but takes care that all his Actions be fuch as becomes a Perfon of his Rank. I conceive rather, fays Gataker, that the words fhould be render'd, But the Princes fhall take ingenuous Courfes, and by ingenuous Courfes fhall he be establish'd; fpeaking of Hezekiab. Ver. 9. Rife up ye women that are at ease, hear my voice ye careless daughters, give ear unto my speech.] At this Verfe Sanctius thinks a new Prophecy begins, wherein the Prophet foretels the Ruin of the Cities of Ifrael by Salmanafar, 6to Hezekia, or of Judah, as St. Ferom thinks appears by the 16th Verfe. Others by Women underftand the effeminate Jems, (a) others the Provinces of Paraphraft, Judea, (b) others the Women of that Age, who liv'd more at eafe, and were more fecure in their own opinion than the Men; yet the Prophet tells them, they should partake of the fame Misfortunes: I fee nothing which fhould make it improbable that the Prophet speaks ftill of the fame Time, viz. Sennacherib's Invafion., (a) Chaldee Münster. (b) Vatablus. |