Chapter them to destroy one another, and fhed one anothers Blood J... with the fame Eagernefs as half-ftarv'd Wretches fall on a well-furnish'd Table; and Xenophon reports that many of the Chaldeans fell off from Baltazar their King, and join'd themselves to Cyrus, who were the most forward of all infurprizing the City, and fhew'd the Perfians the way to the King's Palace, where they flew him and all his Attendants.

Chapter

L.

The ARGUMENT of Chapter L.

The Prophet encourages the Captives,by affuring them whatever melancholy Reflections they might make on their prefent Condition, they had no reason to defpair, fince God had not entirely caft them off, nor made over his Right and Title to them to the Babylonians, therefore they need not to fear but in his good Time he would affert his own Right, and fet them at Liberty, efpecially if they confider'd that he wanted not Power to maintain his Title and recover his own; then the Prophet afferts the Authority of his Miffion, to let them know what he faid to them relating to their Deliverance was not the groundless Suggestions of a rambling Head or warm Imagination, but the Dictate of the Spirit of God, in Obedience to which, tho he had met with many Affronts already, he was refolv'd to go on with Conftancy, to tell them of their Sins, and the fatal Confequences of them, concluding with Advice to the faithful Servants of God, and a fevere Threatning against the refractory Sinners.

Verse 1.

T

CHAP. L.

Hus faith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mothers divorcement whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have fold you? Behold, for your iniquities have you fold your felves, and for your tranf greffions is your mother put away.] Jerufalem complain'd at the 14th Verfe of the former Chapter that God had forfaken her, and therefore the defpair'd of ever gaining. his Love again, to which the Prophet at the 15th Verfe anfwerd, That God lov'd her so affectionately that he could

not

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not forfake or forget her entirely; here he profecutes the fame Subject: If I have forfaken her, and quite caft her off, as ye imagine, ye defponding Captives, Shew me the Bill of Divorce, produce that undeniable Proof of my having rejected her, this I know ye can never do, therefore the remains my Spoufe ftill, and I will return to her again, and fhew her the fame Affection as before, which I could not do had I once given her a Bill of Divorce, and quite discarded her; this was unlawful by God's own Institution, and therefore, to keep up their Spirits, he lets them know, that tho' God fuffer'd them to be afflicted for a while, he had still a Propriety in them and an Affection for them; and as it was not lawful for any one to remarry a Wife folemnly repudiated after a Bill of Divorcement taken out, fo neither could a Father pretend to any Right in his Children, if he had fairly fold them, as under the Law they might; therefore he demands of them alfo, Which of my Creditors is it to which I have fold you? meaning that he never had been yet reduc'd to the Neceffity of parting with his Children to pay his Debts, and therefore if they were loft accidentally, or by Violence taken away, he had still a Right to them, and might recover them wherever he found them; by which he gives them to know, that tho' they were at prefent in Bonds, under the Command of Chaldean Mafters, ftill they were God's Propriety, and he would take an Opportunity to reclaim them.

Ver. 2. Wherefore when I came was there no man? when I called was there none to answer? Is my hand shortned at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the fea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fjh ftinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.] The Prophet here reckons one of the Caufes of their Captivity the Contempt of God's Meflengers; as if he had faid, Ye fold your felves to the Chaldeans by continuing obftinately in your Sins, for when I came unto you by my Prophets there was no Body took any notice of what they faid, they endeavour'd to reform you by good Inftructions and fevere Threatnings, but all to no purpose, Sin had got the Afcendant over you, and there was not a Man that. could be prevail'd upon to hearken to their Admonitions.. The Verfes are not rightly diftinguifh'd by the Mafforeths,

which

Chapter

L.

L.

Chapter which makes fome Confufion here, but all would appear plain and coherent if the beginning of the fecond Verfe thus tranflated, For when I came unto you there was no Man regarded me, when I call'd there was none would answer, were either added to the first Verfe, or with the latter part of that made up a diftin&t Verfe by it felf, and the next to begin with thefe Words, Is my hand shorten'd at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? As much as ever I had, for ftill I am able, as I did formerly, to dry up the Sea by a Word fpeaking, and make Rivers flow where there were none before; I can cause the Waters of the Ocean to fail, and make the Fish pine away and die for want of their natural Element.

Gataker.

Ver. 3. I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make fackcloth their covering.] This gives a great Idea of God's Power; tho' the Sun fhines fo bright that no mortal Eye can fteddily behold its Luftre, I can at Pleasure fend a thick Cloud and intercept his Rays, and make the Heavens appear as if they had put on Mourning.

Ver. 4. The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I fhould know how to speak a word in feafon to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning: he wakeneth mine car to hear as the learned.] Grotius thinks Lefbon Limmudim may be better tranflated Lingua aliis inftituendis idonea, tho' according to our Tranflation Isaiah may justly afcribe the Character of Learned to himself, his Stile being of all the Prophets more pure and elegant, and his Conceptions uncommon and magnificent; the generality of Interpreters understand this of Chrift, and it is true that feveral of the Expreffions are fuitable to his Character,but it by no means follows because they are capable of fuch a Senfe they muft be understood in no other; and Sanctims is fo far convinc'd of this, that here, as well as in the foregoing Chapter, he gives a double Interpretation, one of the Prophet, and the other of Chrift; God, fays the Prophet, has enabled me to speak comfortable Things to my Captive Brethren, to tell them they shall be redeem'd, and by that means to be inftrumental in keeping up their Spirits under their heavy Afflictions; he wakens me Morning by Morning, to this End he gives me frequent Revelations of his kind Purposes toward them, every Day as it were raising me out of my

Sleep

Sleep by an instructive Dream or Vifion, as careful Tutors Chapter rouze their drowfy Pupils, and call them to their Business.

Ver. 5. The Lord God bath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.] To open the ear fignifies to speak to one, from the Effect the Voice has on the Ear, thro' which it opens it felf a Paffage to the common Senfarium the Lord hath spoken to me, and commanded me to reveal his Will to my Brethren, which I was not in the leaft backward to perform.

L.

Ver. 6. I gave my back to the fmiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and Spitting.] We have too little of the Hiftory of thofe early times, to find these particulars verify'd in the ufage the Prophet met with: that he was ridicul'd and affronted he frequently complains, and they which mock and expofe a Man ufually clap him on the Back, which perhaps he means by giving his back to the fmiters: And to pluck off the hair of the Beard, was as high an affront as could be put on any one, as appears by David's refentment of the fame ill ufage, on the Perfons of his Ambaf- 2 Sam. 10. 4... fadors, for which he proclaim'd War against the Ammonites: And we read that Alexander took fuch care, that his Soldiers fhould not run the rifque of fo difgraceful a treatment, that he always made them fhave before a Battle.

7. For the Lord God will help me, therefore fhall I not be confounded therefore have I fet my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be afhamed.] Forerius thinks it fhould be render'd like Steel, but the generality agree with our Tranflators Which foever be the meaning of Callamish in the Original, the Senfe of the Phrafe is. this, I will make my Face as uncapable of blushing, as it would be were it of Flint or Steel, through which the Blood would not be able to find any paffage, nor difcover it self by its colour through the folid Superficies.

Ver. 8, 9. He is near that justifieth me, who will contend mit hme ? let us ftand together: who is mine adverfary? let him. come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help me, who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment: the math fhall eat them up.] As if he had faid, Tho' by

boldly

L.

Chapter boldly rebuking your Vices I provoke your displeasure, I value it not: For God will protect me, and juftify me, by bringing all these things to pafs which I foretel. Who is there then that will contend with me? Let us appear before that Impartial Judge, and I fear not losing my Caufe. Behold God is on my fide, and what Man dare condemn me? None but the wicked will do it, and they I know will foon be gone: Lo they all shall wax old as does a garment, they fhall all be destroy'd.

1

Ver. 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his fervant, that walketh in darkness, and bath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and Stay upon his God.] Having from the 5th to the end of the 9th Verfe, afferted the Authority of his Commission, and vindicated himself from Contempt, he here begins to comfort those who fhould continue obedient to God. Who is there among you, that in the midst of an Idolatrous Nation, keeps him ftedfaft to God? who obeys the Voice of his Prophets, tho' in the midst of afflictions? which he means by walking in darkness, and having no light: Let fuch repofe their confidence in God, and he will deJiver them at laft.

Ver. 11. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass your felves about with Sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the fparks that ye have kindled. This fhall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in forrow.] To understand the meaning of this Verfe, it is neceffary to obferve the Antithefis which the Prophet makes between the Light of God, and the Light of Men. In the foregoing Verfe he promises, that the faithful fhould be deliver❜d from the gloomy State of Captivity into the glorious Light of Liberty, which to them fhould be like the unconfin'd injoyment of the cheerful Sun, to one who along while had been buried in a close Dungeon. But the wicked kindle a Fire of their own, feek comfort among themselves, without having any recourse to God in their distress: But this Fire he tells them fhould be fo far from warming them, or giving them any refreshment, that it fhould confume them. This ye shall have of my hand, this ye may affure your felves of upon my Word, Ye fhall lie down in forrow, and never be able to recover your Health; he speaks

of