LXII.

Chapter be engag'd to the Lord; this is the meaning of the Names Chephzibah and Beulah, the first fignifies voluntas mea in ea, the other maritata, both mean the fame thing, that God would fet his Affection on Jerufalem and the Land of Judah, and use them with the fame Tenderness as a loving Husband fhews to the Wife of his Bofom, which is more largely exprefs'd in the following Verfes.

Ver. 5, 6. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, fo fhall thy fons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoyceth over the bride, fo fhall thy God rejoyce over thee. I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerufalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not filence.] He calls the Prophets and Paftors, to whom the Care of God's People was committed, Watchmen, because they were to inform them of their Duty, and of the Danger of failing in it, as the Watchmen were to give notice of the Approach of an Enemy, to which End their Station was ufually on fome high Tower or Wall; these Spiritual Watchmen (fays the Prophet) fhall never cease either calling upon the People to put them in mind of their Duty, or calling upon God to pour down Bleffings on his People, and forgive their Tranfgreffions.

Ver. 7. And give him no reft, till he establish, and till he make Jerufalem a praife in the earth.] He directs the Prophets to call upon God inceffantly, as if he were to be prevail'd upon by Importunity, and would grant them their Petitions if it were for nothing but to get rid of their Noife; ye that make mention of the Lord, that is, ye Priests and Levites, who are fet apart to God's Service, keep not Silence, give him no reft till he establish and make Ferufalem a Praife in the Earth, by which he means if they pray'd to him he would eftablish her.

Ver. 8, 9. The Lord hath fworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his ftrength, Surely, I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies, and the fons of the stranger fhall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured: But they that. bave gathered it fhall eat it, and praise the Lord; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holinefs.] He not only affures them that Strangers fhall no more reap their Corn and drink their Wine, and confirms it by an Oath to them, but tells them who should, They

that

LXII.

that have gathered it, and they that have brought it together; Chapter by which he means the poor People of the Land, whofe Hands were ufually employ'd in getting in the Harvest, they fhall enjoy the Fruit of their Labour, and thou shalt not grudge to let them eat and drink of thy Corn and. Wine; fo plentiful fhall thy Harvest be, and thy Vintage fo good, thou fhalt fuffer them to take freely of both, and they fhall praise God for thofe and all other his Bleffings

in the Courts of his Sanctuary, in the Buildings and Places Lev. 16. 18. about the Temple, in which, by the Law of Mofes, the Tenths were to be eaten.

Ver. 10. Go through, go through the gates; prepare you the way of the people, caft up, caft up the high way, gather out the ftones, lift up a standard for the people.] Here the Style of the Prophet is very Pindarical, firft he speaks to the Captives as if he faw them near the Gates of Babylon, and bids them go through them, that is, pafs out of the place of their Captivity, then, as if he faw Workmen in the Road, he bids them level the Ground, and make it plain, that they may not be tir'd by afcending and defcending fteep Precipices, nor hurt their Feet with sharp Stones; then, as if they had not yet receiv'd notice of their Deliverance, or were not inform'd of the Place where they were to rendezvous, in order to return all together, he commands a Standard to be erected for the People, that is, over their Heads, fo high that it might be feen by thofe at the greatest distance.

Ver. 11. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy falvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.] Behold, the Lord has given Commiffion to Perfons appointed to that Purpofe to proclaim to the most diftant Bounds of the Chaldean Empire, that the Salvation of the Daughter of Sion is at hand; and this God did by putting it into the Heart of Cyrus to fet all the Jews at Liberty, a People he was perfectly a Stranger to, and had no Obligation upon him to fhew fo much Favour to.

Ver. 12. And they fhall call them, The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, a city not forfaken.] That is, the Nations round about, when they fee this wonderful Revolution, fhall lift up their

K kk 2

Hands

Chapter Hands and fay, thefe Jews are a holy People, that is, feLXII. parated by God from the reft of the World to be the Objects of his Kindnefs, they are the Redeemed of the Lord, for without the Interpofition of Providence the Chaldeans might have been fubdu'd by the Perfians, and yet the Jews have remain'd Captives ftill; and thou, O Jerufalem, fhalt be call'd, Sought out, a City not forfaken; & vous ne ferez plus appellè la ville abandonne, mais la ville recherchie & cherie de Dieu.

Bibl.
Port Royal.

(b) Hieron,
Cyril,
Haymo.
Forerius.

The ARGUMENT of Chapter LXIII.

Moft Interpreters understand the beginning of this Prophecy of
he triumphal Afcenfion of Chrift, and I think with as
much reafon it may be referr'd to the triumphant entry of
any Roman General; for I cannot fee one Word that looks
that way. Others (b) think the Prophet fpeaks of the Con-
version of the Gentiles to Christianity: Others of Christ's
Enemies, Death and the Devil, brought into fubjection
under his Feet, against which, this obvious Objection lies,.
that they were fuch Enemies, as had no Blood to ftain the
Garments of the Conquerors. Sanctius thinks the Prophet
may be understood of the Slaughter and Conquest of the Ene-
mies of the Jews in general, and Grotius of the Victories.
gain'd by the Jews, under the conduct of Judas Maccabeus
over the Idumeans, the inveterate Enemies of this Nation;
but I who fpeak in Righteoufnefs, and mighty to fave,
is too great a Character even for that fortunate General, and
belongs only to God. If after so many great Men,
fo I may
be free to give my own Thoughts, I am of Opinion that the
Prophet is still on the Subject of the deftruction of their Chal-
dean Oppreffors: I am fenfible it may be objected, that the
Scene of this Slaughter is laid in Edom and Bozrah, Pla-
ces at a great distance from Babylon, and no way concern'd
in the Conquest of Cyrus; to which I think this a fatisfacto
ry Answer, that the Prophet is not neceffarily to be under-
Stoud of a bloody Engagement in thofe very Places, but that
in thofe Places he first discover'd the Conqueror returning
from the laughter of the Babylonians, which he knew no-

thing of till he came to Edom and Bozrah, Places on the
borders of Judea, in the Road from Babylon to Jerufalem.
And this Interpretation is favour'd by the 4th Verfe, where
God fays. The Day of Vengeance is in my Heart, and
and the Year of my Redeem'd is come, which very Ex-
preffions the Prophet us'd before, ch. 61.2. where he cer-
tainly points out the taking of Babylon by Cyrus, and the
redemption of the Jews: I have no Authority to refer to, to
juftify this Obfervation, which has efcap'd all Commentators
I have feen, but I think it so natural, and so much favour'd
The Prophet had de-
by the Context, that it needs none.
fcrib'd God compleatly drefs'd in Armour, ready to fet out
againft the Enemies of his People, here, as if he discover'd
him afar off, in the Territories of the Idumeans, he asks him
the reafon, why his Garments are fo much ftain'd with
Blood? to which he answers, He has been treading the
Enemies of his People under his Feet; and then adds
the very Words us'd before, when he defcrib'd him fetting out
on this Expedition, I look'd and there was none to help,
I wonder'd and there was none to uphold. And after
this Prediction of the flaughter of the Babylonians, and the
fubverfion of the Empire, the Prophet in the Perfon of a
Captive Jew, makes a grateful acknowledgment of the Mer-
cies of God conferr'd on them from time to time, bewails
their many Rebellions against him, and begs him at last v. 15.
to look down with pity on their wretched condition, and re-
member the Relation they bear to him, that they are his Chil-
dren and he their Father; which comes in naturally, after
the flaughter of the Chaldeans by Cyrus, becaufe tho' the
Chaldeans were Conquer'd, they might have continu'd in
Captivity Still, and only chang'd their Masters, had not God
put it in the Heart of Cyrus to fet them free.

Ver. 1.

CHA P. LXIII.

W HO is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed

garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his ftrength? I that Speak in righteousness, mighty to fave] Bozrah was a Town in Idumea, and is here mention'd by the Prophet, not as if the Engagement he fpeaks of had happen'd there, but

as.

Chapter
LXIII.

Chapter as the Place where he first fet Eyes on this returning ConLXIII. queror, whom he defcribes richly drefs'd, walking with

Deut. 32. 12. Pfal. 77.20.

an air of Majefty, with the honourable ftains of Blood on his Garment, which raifing the Prophet's Curiofity, makes him ask who he is? and how he came by the Blood? and fo he begins a fhort Dialogue, the Defign of which was to let the Jews know, that God brought about their Deliverance by the flaughter of their Enemies, I who speak in righteoufnefs, mighty to fave; this is the answer to the Prophet's Question, I who perform my Promife faithfully, and am mighty to fave,: God defcribes himself by two of his Attributes which were exerted on this occafion, his Truth and his Power, I who have often by the mouth of my Prophets affur'd you that I wou'd deliver you out of Captivity, and am now as good as my Word, I am he whom thou beholdest with dy'd Garments. And that this Character belongs to God only, may be gathered from c. 49. 19. Ithe Lord fpeak righteousness.

Ver. 2. 3. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat?" I have troden the wine-prefs alone, and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will ftain all my raiment.] God anfwers the fecond Queftion of the Prophet in the terms it was propos'd, why are tby garments like him that treadeth the wine-prefs? I have troden the wine-prefs alone, I have conquer'd the Babylonians by my own Power, and none of them could bear up against me in Battle; for I trod them in mine anger, and trampled on them in my fury, and made fuch a flaughter among them, that my garments were ftain'd with their Blood: So the Verbs fhould be render'd not futurely, because he is giving an account of an Action already pafs'd: God here afcribes the Victory to himfelf, tho' Cyrus' with the Medes and Perfians, were inftrumental in gaining it, because he gave them ftrength to do it, he weaken'd their Enemies, and without his concurrence they could never have fucceeded in the Undertaking. Thus it is faid of the Jews, in their way to the Land of Canaan, the Lord alone did lead them, and yet we know he led them by the hand of Mofes and Aaron, as the Scripture expreffes it in another place.