Ver. 5. And it shall be as when the harvest-man gathereth the Chapter XVII. corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm: and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.] That is, and the Glory or Multitude of the Children of Ifrael fhall be as when the Harvest-man gathers the Corn, and reapeth the Ears with his Arm; for as the Harvest-man gathers the Corn, and reapeth the Ears with his Arm, that he may carry them out of the Field into the Barn, fo fhall the Affyrian gather the Children of Ifrael and carry them into Captivity into his own Country; the fame is exprefs'd with a little Variety in the latter part of the Verfe: The Valley of Rephaim was a fruitful Valley near Jerufalem, call'd The Valley of the Giant, as the Word Rephaim often fosh. 15. 8. fignifies. Ver. 6. (Yet gleaning grapes fhall be left in it, as the shaking. of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermoft bough four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, faith the Lord God of Ifrael.] Yet tho' God will permit the Enemies of his People to afflict them thus, he will not fuffer them at this time to ruin them, they fhall not all be carry'd into Captivity, but a Remnant of them be preferv'd, a few in Comparison of their former Numbers, like the gleaning Grapes, which at the firft gathering efcap'd the Hand and Eye of the Gatherer, and were to be left for the Poor of the Land; and like a few Olives Levit. 19. 10. left here and there on the highest Branches, which happen to stick too close to be fhaken down by the fame Strength which brings down the reft of the Berries. Thefe Similitudes fome think are applicable to the Captivity of Ifrael by Salmanazar, to which I cannot agree, because it is faid, in relation to that Captivity, The Lord was very 2 Kings 17. angry with Ifrael, and remov'd them out of his fight, there was 18. none left but the Tribe of Judah only: Salmanafar left no Remnants behind, but carry'd them all clear away, and if there were any of them in thofe Parts afterwards, they were fuch as efcap'd into other Countries, and return'd to their own Land when Salmanafar was gone. Ver. 7. At that day fhall a man look to his maker, and his eyes fhall have respect to the holy One of Ifrael.] When these Judgments fhall come upon them then fhall the Children of Ifrael look up to their Creator, whom they had long forgot, S Chapter forgot, and bethink themselves of the Holy One of Ifrael, XVII. to whom for a great many Years they have preferr'd ftrange Gods; and thefe Judgments had fo good an Effect upon the Remains of them, that a Multitude of the People, even many of Ephraim, Manaffe, Iffachar and Zebulun, were prefent at Jerufalem, and kept the Feast of unleaven'd Bread Seven Days with great Gladness in the first Year of Hezekiah's Reign, as appears by comparing the 18th and 21th Verfes of the 30th Chapter of the fecond Book of Chronicles with the third Verfe of the 29th Chapter; and it is not at all unlikely that foon after the Captivity of their Brethren they began to have thefe Thoughts of returning to God. Ver. S. And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images). The Word which we render Groves feems to be fometimes us'd not only for a Grove, or Deut. 16. 21. a Company of Trees growing thick together, of which it was unlawful to plant any near the Temple of God, but for a Model or curious Piece of Workmanship, of Gold or other precious Metal, refembling a Grove, for fuch probably was that which Jofiah met with in the Temple, and dealt with it as Mofes did with the Golden Calf; however by Groves and Images the Prophet to be fure means the Objects of their idolatrous Worship, fome material Reprefentations of the Gods of the Heathen, which they should no longer worship, but pay that Duty to the God of Hea ven, to whom alone it was due. 2 Kings 23. Gataker. Ver. 9. In that day fhall his strong cities be as a forfaken bough, and an uppermost branch which they left, because of the children of Ifrael: and there fhall be defolation.] His strong Cities fhall be as a forfaken Bough, that is, not forfaken by the Birds that us'd to neft in it, or by the Beasts that us'd to take Shelter under it, tho' they might in either of thefe Senfes be fo call'd with respect to their Inhabitants, but left standing by themselves, like the Branch of a Tree, all others round about it being lopp'd off, their strong Cities fhould ftand folitary and defolate, all the open Towns and Villages being deftroy'd, as Forerius thinks the Original Charash fignifies: which they left for the Children of Ifrael, that is, which trong Cities fhall be left by the Enemy Enemy untouch'd for the Sake of the Children of Ifrael, Chapter of whom a Remnant fhall be preferv'd. The Vulgat ren- XVII. ders it, Sicut aratra & fegetes, as if the Prophet had meant, The Affyrians fhall flow in upon them with fo violent a Stream that they fhall forfake even their fortify'd Towns, as the Cananeans and Amorites left their Ploughs and their Corn behind them upon the Approach of the Children of Ifrael. But the firft is the more natural Interpretation. Bib. maxima var. vers. Ver. 10. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy falvation, and haft not been mindful of the rock of thy ftrength: therefore fhalt thou plant pleasant plants, and fhalt fet it with Strange flips] This Verfe is very obfcure, as any one may guefs by the many different Tranflations which are to be met with of it, fcarce Two Commentators giving the Words the fame Turn; but to me it appears very intelligible in the following Paraphrafe, which I think offers no Violence to the Words; Because thou haft forgotten the God of thy Salvation, and haft not been mindful of the rock of thy Strength, but left him to follow Idols, therefore thou fhalt plant pleafant plants, and fet thy Vineyards with choice Vines, the beft that can be pick'd up in foreign Countries. (a) Thus Zemorath Zar muft fignify, becaufe (4) Vatablus, the former is in Regimine, as the Grammarians term it, Forerius. and cannot therefore be render'd as (b) fome would have (b) Sandim, it, Germen alieno feminabis, or Germen fpurium, as St. Jerom, Tirinus. Slips that would certainly degenerate,or Slips which fhould thrive, but bear Fruit for Strangers, and not for their Owners; and thus the Port Royal Tranflation has it, Vous planterez de bon plant & vous femerez des grains qui viennent de loin. Ver. 11. In the day fhalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy feed to flourish: but the harveft fhall be a heap in the day of grief, and of defperate forrow.] Here is as much Obfcurity and as great Variety of Verfions as in the former Verfe, but to me this feems the Senfe of the Prophet; In the Day-time thou fhalt trim thy tender Plant, to make it grow, and in the Morning fhalt make it to flourish, by careful watering, but the Harvest fhall vanish, Bejom Nachalah, in the Day in which thou thoughtest to gather the Fruit, and there shall be great Sorrow; that is, after all thy Care and Pains and Expence thou S 2 fhalt Chapter fhalt look in the Time of Vintage for Fruit, but shalt find XVII. it gather'd by other Hands, and be concern'd at the Lofs of it; thus Grotius, with whom Forerius agrees, with fome little Variation; 'tis his Obfervation that Bejam, if follow'd by Babboker, is a Hebrew Idiom, meaning At first, primo tempore, which taking for granted, and that Neth, which we render a Heap, may be taken verbally, and fignify aufugit, evanuit, he gives this loofe Interpretation of the Words: Thou shalt plant pleasant Plants, and fet thy Garden with Slips from foreign Countries; at first thoufhalt increase thy Nurfery, thy Trees fhall sprout andthy Vines extend their Branches, but when the Time of gathering comes thy Harveft fhall vanifh, instead of which thou fhalt reap nothing but Sorrow; which comes to the fame with the Interpretation of Grotius. (a) Gataker, Clarius, Urfin, Munfter. Ver. 12. Wo to the multitude of many people, which make a noife like the noise of the feas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters.] At this Verfe the Prophet begins a new (a) Subject, turning from the melancholy Confideration of the Affyrians over-running his Brethren of the Ten Tribes to the Overthrow of the Affyrian Army, which he defcribes flowing in upon the Jews like a Deluge, roaring like the Waves of the Sea when disturb'd by a violent Wind; tho' (b) others understand them of the Syrians and other Nations which accompany'd them in their Expedition against Jerufalem. But 2 Kings 16.5. the Tenour of the Text, and all the Circumstances of it well weigh'd, carry it for the first. (b) Forerius, San&tius, Grotius. Ver. 13. The nations fhall rush like the rushing of many waters, but God fhall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and Shall be chafed as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.] They fhall break in upon the Land of Judea with fuch irresistible Violence as the Sea over-runs a Champain Country when it has broken down its Banks; but God fhall rebuke them, put a Stop to their expeditious Progrefs, as a Master, who feeing his Servant running with full Speed makes him stop short and expect his Commands by one autoritative Call. In the Original it is, He shall be rebuk'd, that is, Sennacherib, whose swift Flight into his own Country is defcrib'd by the Similitude of Chaff and a rolling thing, that is, like a Wheel, Galgal Galgal, before the whirlwind. Comme un tourbillon de poudre Chapter qui eft emporté par la tempête, as the Verfion of Maitre de XVII. Saci has it, any thing which is round is eafily mov'd, therefore the Prophet compares the Flight of Sennacherib to a Wheel or Globe of Duft, the fame which Virgil means by, Quis Globus, O Cives, caligine volvitur atra. Ver. 14. And behold, at evening-tide trouble, and before the morning he is not: this is the portion of them that Spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.] That is, all within Ferusa lem over Night fhall be affrighted and caft down at the Threatnings of Rabfbakeh, and the Sight of fo great an Army, but before Morning he fhall be quite vanish'd out of Sight, and not an Enemy be feen the next Day. The ARGUMENT of Chapter XVIII. Interpreters are very much divided about the Place against which the Woe is denounc'd here, the Imagination of (a) fome tran- (a) Ludovic Legionenf. Sporting them to the Weft-Indies, as if the Prophet foretold Montanus. the Conqueft of the new World by the Spaniards; (b) others (b) Juftin in not wandring fo far out of the way, but miffing the Mark as Dial. cont. much as they, think the Prophet fpeaks of the Land of Judah; Tryphon, but the (c) greatest Number understand him of Egypt, Leo Caftr. (c) Hieron. agreeing in this with Bochart, tho' they differ from him in the manner of their Expofition; (d) others will have him Lyranus. to fpeak of Ethiopia, because in the next Chapter he prophe- (d) Grotius, fies against the Land of Egypt, Menever, which our Tran- A Lapide, flators render beyond, fometimes fignifying near or about; Urfin. I shall not pretend to determine, but leave the Reader in So great Variety to chufe for himself. CHAP. XVII. O is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: That fendeth ambassadors by the fea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon Verse 1, 2. Wo to the land shadowing with wings, which "the Haymo, Chapter |