not, let us cheer our Hearts with Wine, and drown the thoughts of such improbable Chimera's, let us take our pleafure to Day, and never doubt but to Morrow we fhall be full as merry, and fo on for many Years.. The ARGUMENT of Chapter LVII. * Santius understands the two fix ft Verses of our Saviours Death, and the third of the degeneracy of the Jews, who put him to Death: But if he had confider'd that the Jews, after their Captivity, were never guilty of Idolatry, of which they are here accus'd, he would have given the Words a.different Interpretation; for he cannot but own, hæc de Juftis generaliter fumi ut cum S. Thomâ cenfuerunt alii, The truth is, the Prophet fpeaks of the Jews just before their Captivity; upbraids them with ridiculing God's Prophets,and running mad after Idols, which he defcribes under the fimilitude of a Prostitute, decking her felf with all the Ornaments of Art and Nature, perfuming her felf with the richeft Ointments, fending to Foreign Countries for softly Silks, to recommend her Jelf the better to the affections of the Perfon fhe has a defign on: Thefe, at the 13th Verse, he threatneth to leave to the Care of their Gods, and fee whether they will deliver them. But those who trust in him fhall poffefs their own Land again, and inherit his Holy Mountain, for he will not contend with them for ever, verfe 16. but will heal thofe Wound's he shall inflict, and adminifter Comfort to those who shall take patiently the fevere correction he shall lay upon them. * CHA P. LVII. Verse 1:HE righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it TH to heart, and merciful men are taken away, none confidering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.] He complain'd in the foregoing Chapter of the ignorance and debauchery of their Priefts and Magitrates, their Spiritual and Civil Guides: In this he takes notice of the fatal ftupidity and inconfiderateness of the People,who could behold Men of eminent Piety and Vertue fnatch'd Chapter LVII. Chapter LVII. Chapter fnatch'd from among them every day, and not think at LVII. the fame time, that it was fo order'd by Providence, to Vatablu.. remove them from beholding thofe Calamities he defign'd to bring upon them: And this gradual decrease of good Men was fo great at last, that God declares, by his Prophet Jeremiah, That if in the whole City they could find one fingle good Man, he would fpare it for his fake. Ver. 2. He shall enter into Peace: they fhall reft in their beds, each one walking in his uprightnefs.] That is, The Righteous, when they are taken away, go to reft in their frient Graves, where they repofe, as if lull'd asleep in Beds of Down. Ver. 3. But draw near hither, ye fons of the forceress, the feed of the adulterer, and the Whore.] He fpeaks to thofe wicked ones, who fhould live in thofe difmal times of the Ruin and Defolation of the Jewish State, and first in lively Colours defcribes their Wickednefs. A Map, in Scripture-language, is faid to be his Son, whofe Manners and Difpofition he refembles; therefore he tells them, They might pretend to be of the Seed of Abraham, which, if they were, they would imitate his Vertues: But they were fo far from bearing any Refemblance to that good Patriarch, that he should rather think them the Sons of fome Sorcerefs or Witch; Benè Nonena, filii auguratricis, because they were mightily addicted to Divinations: And, the feed of an adulterer, because of their proneness to Idolatry, which is reprefented in Scripture as Spiritual Adultery. Ver. 4. Against whom do ye fport your felves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of tnanfgreffion, a feed of falfhood?] He fpeaks as if he faw them making fport with God's Meffengers; expofing them by all the ufual Gestures of Scorn and Contempt; fuch as making a wide Mouth, lolling out the Tongue, and other external affronting Tricks. Ver. 5. Enflaming your felves with Idols under every green tree, flaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks? Alluding, Ad vefanos amores & aftus meretricis: and for the Word is rendred Incalefcitis by other TranflaPagninus. tors. They were in love, as it were, with their Idols, and would omit no kind of Sacrifice which they thought might please them, under every green Tree in fuch places the LVII. the Gentile Idolaters us'd to fet up their Tutelar Idols, Chapter that the heat of the Sun might not moleft them at their under the Devotion. Slaying their children in the valleys, clifts of the rocks; fuch private Places being fit for fuch Sacrifices as could not be feen without Horror: And perhaps the Prophet alludes to the Valley of Hinnom near Jerufalem, where they paid the bloody Tribute of their Children to Moloch, their God, Sen. 1. 5. ep. 41. Vatabl. Pagnin. Ver. 6. Among the smooth stones of the fream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them haft thou poured a drink-offering, thou haft offered a meat-offering. Should I receive comfort in thefe?] He fpoke to them in the Plural hitherto; here he changes the number, and fpeaks to the Jewish State in the Singular Feminine, reprefenting her, at the next Verfe, as a Common Prostitute. As God is the Portion of the Good, fo he calls the Idols the Portion and Lot of their Worshippers. Thy Idols, in which Pfal. 16. 45. thou delighteft, are fet up among the fmooth Stones of the Stream. If thou happeneft, on the brink of a River, to fpy a Stone made fmooth by the continual Course of the Water, this, as if it had fomething Sacred in it, was a proper Place to fet up an Idol, and never fail'd to be without one long. Thus Bekalleke is by fome understood; but it may also be render'd, In the Divifions of the Brooks, in thofe finall private Ifles, which fometime happen'd to be made by the divided Streams of a River, they fet up their Idols, for the fame reafon as 'under the fhady Trees, and in fuch Places, I fuppofe, they perform'd their Superftitious Worship in Summer time; here they offer'd their Meat-Offering, and pour'd out their Drink-Offerings, facrificing to their Idols after, the fame manner as God had injoyn'd for himself. By the Law of Mofes, unto every Sacrifice of any Beaft, was to be added a certain quantity of Flour, mix'd with Oyl call'd Mincha, as Numb. 15. 4. we render it, a Meat-Offering, and a certain quantity of Wine call'd Nefek, which we relider, a Drink-Offering, and the Sacrifice was not teckoh'd compleat without cur Should I receive comfort in thefe? what Joy or Gomfort can' I have in fuch People? or, according to the ather fignification of Nachard, Shall I not be angry and punish them for these things? as the old Latin and LXX inFff Ver terpret it. Chapter Deut. 6. 9. Gataker. Ver. 7. Upon a lofty and high mountain haft thou fet thy bed: even thither wenteft thou up to offer facrifice.] Here the Prophet joyns together a proper and figurative. Expreffion: The People did actually go to the tops of high Mountains to worship, as appears by the frequent mention of High Places in Scripture: But fetting up the Bed is a Metaphor us'd by the Prophet, to fet forth the Idolatry of the Jews: Tho' Grotius understands it literally, and thinks they convey'd their Beds to fuch High Places, in expectation of prefaging Dreams. Ver. 8. Behind the doors alfo and the pofts haft thou fet up thy remembrance for thou hast discovered thy felf to another then me, and art gone up thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made a covenant with them; thou lovedft their bed where thou fameft it.] They plac'd their Idols behind their Doors, that going out and coming in, they might fhew them Reverence; the very Place where the Commandments of God were, by his fpecial Order, to be fet up. Thou haft inlarg'd thy bed, that is, thou walt not contented with one Idol, but got a number of them, with which fhe is faid to make a Covenant, because by Sacrificing to them, the folemnly engag'd her felf to their Service, transferring that Obedience to the Idol, which by Covenant fhe ought to pay only to God.. Ver. 9. And thou wenteft to the King with ointment, and didft increafe thy perfumes, and didft fend thy meffengers far (4) Forerius. off, and didst debafe thy felf even unto hell.] Some (4) think the Prophet upbraids his Country-men for looking for help of the King of Affyria, and neglecting their God: (b) Hieron. But (b) Lammelek may be read with other Vowels, and understood of the Idol Molock, whose favour they were ambitious to merit, tho' at the greatest Expence. San&tius. Ver. 10. Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet faidft thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou waft not grieved.] Thou haft taken a great deal of Pains in thefe Idolatrous Courses, and fhould't begin to be tired with them at laft, yet still thou art fond of them, even to dotage, Tet thou didst not Tay, there is no Hope, that is, I can never hope to receive any Good of them. Surely thou haft found those that can strengthen thine Hands, and enliven them to any Work that they fhould fhould not be weary; therefore thou waft not griev'd or Chapter tir'd with Idolatry: The Prophet here fpeaks Ironically, LVII. and paffes from the Metaphor of a Traveller, to that of one who works with his Hands. Ver. 11. 12. And of whom haft thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and haft not remembred me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and thou feareft me not? I will declare thy righteoufness, and thy works, for they fhall not profit thee.] As if he had faid, Waft thou afraid leaft the Gods of the Heathen should do thee harm, that thou haft broken thy Faith to me? No, but thou thoughteft that I would wink at thy Idolatry, because I have held my Peace a long while, and have not reveng'd the Affront, therefore thou haft not been afraid to give my Honour to Idols. But I will declare thy Righteoufnefs, (he fpeaks Ironically) I will lay open thy Abominations to the Eyes of the whole World, by the feverity of the Punishment I will inflict on thee, and thefe, the Gods thou art fo fond of, fhall not be able to fhelter you. Ver. 13. When thou crieft, let thy companies deliver thee: but the wind fhall carry them all away; vanity fhall take them : but he that putteth his truft in me, fhall poffefs the land, and fhall inherit my holy mountain:] When ye groan under the loads of Oppreffion, and your Afflictions fit heavy on your Minds, then I know ye will lift up your Eyes to me for Succour, and cry aloud to the God of Ifrael, but let the Troops of Idols ye worship, deliver you if they can: Which they fhall be fo far from doing, that they shall be broke to pieces, and fcattered about by the Wind like Duft; which is the meaning of the Hebrew Phrafe, Vanity fhall take them, Ventis ludibria fient. But he that putteth his Truft in me, and keeps fted faft in my Service in the midst of the Idolatrous Heathen, fhall again poffefs the Land of Judea, and inherit my Holy Mountain. Ver. 14. And shall fay, caft ye up, caft ye up, prepare the way, take up the foumbling-block out of the way of my people.] That is,and in order to their re-eftablishment in their own Country again, the Roads through which they must país fhall be made plain, and all Impediments remov'd which might give 'em any Uneafinefs, or make their Journey incommodious, and fhall fay, Caft ye up, caft ye up, that is, Fff 2 the |