in every Page of the Bible, as is evident to any one who Chapter reads and ufes his Judgment, when he reads either IV. St. Cyprian adverfus Judeos, or Juftin's Dialogue with Trypho; but fince their Interpretations are forced and unnatural, as will appear to any one who confults A Lapide, Forerius, or almost any Catholic Commentator, I hope I may be excus'd for leaving the beaten Road, and keeping clofe to the Original, especially fince a great many (4) learned Men have given the fame turn to the (4) Grotius, Words.

Thomas, San&ius, Pradus,

Ver. 3. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zach. Urfinus. Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerufalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Ferufalem.] The words at firft fight feem to intimate, that those who remain'd in Jerufalem, and were not carry'd into Captivity, fhould be holy; but the Prophet means those of the antient Inhabitants of Jerufalem, who should outlive that long Interval of Bondage, and fee the joyful day of their Return; for many to be fure expir'd under the Hardfhips they met with, and many were fo inur'd to fervile Drudgery, that they had no defire of Liberty, nor Inclination to return, and therefore remain'd in thofe Parts, tho' they had leave to return to their Poffeffions. Thefe Remains of antient Sion fhall, when they' return again to Sion, be Holy, diftinguish'd from the diffolute Heathen by their Piety and Religion, or feparated from other Nations, by being receiv'd into God's Favour, and made his peculiar People as they were before; and written among the Living, that is, in the Lift of her Inhabitants, which was call'd, Liber Vita vel viventium, becaufe, as foon as any died, he was fcratch'd out of that Roll which the Prophet Ezekiel (b) (b) 13. 9° plainly alludes to, when fpeaking of thofe who should not return to their Native Country, he fays they fhall not be written in the Writing of the Houfe of Ifrael. Which plainly proves that Mofes, when he defir'd God to blot him out of the Book of Life, Exod. 32. only defir'd he might die inftead of the People; not that he might be condemn'd to eternal Death, as fome have imagin'd.

Chapter
IV.

Ver. 4. When the Lord fhall have washed away the filth of the Daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the Blood of Ferufalem from the midst thereof, by the Spirit of judgment, and by the Spirit of burning.] He compares the Sins of the Soul to the Filth of the Body, and the Calamities they underwent in Captivity, firft to Water, and then to Fire As Water washes away the Filth of the Body, and Fire feparates the impure Drafs of Metals, and makes them fine, fuch fhould be the effect of their Affiction, it should wash them from the Pollutions of Sin, and root out those inveterate Habits, which by long practice were grown almoft natural to them; which is faid to be done by the Spirit of Judgment, that is, the Force and Efficacy of a long and fevere Correction; and by the Spirit of Burning, that is, the violent Heat of that hot Furnace of Affliction.

Ver. 5. And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon her Affemblies, a cloud and smoak by day, and the fhining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory fhall be a defence.] God will protect them, and keep them in their Habitations, as he did their Predeceffors, when he went before them by Day in a Pillar of Cloud, and by. Night in a Pillar of Fire: Upon all the Glory, that is, over the glorious Ones, or Sons of Glory, who shall return, as it were, in triumph to Fudea, fhall be a Defence, a Shelter from all manner of Injuries, alluding to the Covering of Goat's Hair, or Ram's Skins, by which the Curtains of the Tabernacle were kept clean.

Ver. 6. And there fhall be a Tabernacle for a fhadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from form and from rain.] He alludes to the moveable Tabernacles made by their Ancestors in the Wilderness, to fecure them from the inconveniencies they muft have fuffer'd had they been expos'd day and night in the open Air, to the viciffitudes of Heat and Cold of fultry days and piercing nights; and may be underftood of the Captives, either on their way from Chaldea, or at their arrival in Judea; where, tho' they fhould find their Houfes demolish'd, and nothing but ruinous Heaps, they fhould nevertheless be shelter'd from the Weather, and fuffer no inconvenience thereby.

The

The ARGUMENT of Chapter V.

The Prophet complains of the unfuitable Returns made to God
by the Jewish Nation, under the Similitude of a Vineyard,
which having been cultivated by all the Methods of Improve-
ment, and had every thing done which could be done by
Art or Industry, deceiv'd at last the Planter's Expect a-
tion, by yielding forry, wild, unnatural Fruit. At the 7th
Verfe he explains what he means by this Similitude, and
tells them by the unfruitful Vineyard he defign'd to give a
lively Defcription of the Behaviour of the Houfe of Ifrael
and Men of Judah to God their Benefactor; and by the
wild Grapes, he means their Covetousness, Drunkenness, and
Injustice, for which he threatens them with Captivity; and
defcribes the Power and Courage of those whom he de-
fign'd to make the Inftrument of his Vengeance. Whether
the Prophet means the Affyrians, Chaldeans, or Romans,
cannot be pofitively determin'd, because the Characters are
general, but I think it most natural to understand him of the
two first, for this reafon, because the House of Ifrael and
the Men of Judah, are mention'd as two diftinct Nations,
which they were not in the Reign of Vefpafian

Verfe 1.

CHA P. V.

No
Ny Beloved touching his Vineyard', may well-

OW will I fing to my well-beloved a Song of

beloved hath a Vineyard in a very fruitful Hill. Grotius gives this fenfe to thefe words, I will fing to the Glory of God, whom I greatly love, a Song which my belov'd Creator may justly fing, with reference to his ungrateful People. (a) Others render Jedid by Patruus or Patruelis, (a) Vulg. Fo and think the Prophet fpeaks of King Amazia his Uncle, rer. who when he would fignify any one's having labour'd in vain, us'd to exprefs himself in this proverbial manner, My Friend had a Vine in a fruitful Soil; he expected good Grapes, but it brought forth wild Grapes.] But this, in the Opinion of St. Jerom, is too frigid and Jewish, who therefore interprets it of our Saviour, of the fame Fa

mily

Chapter

V.

mily with Ifaiah, according to the Flefh, I will fing the Song of my beloved Coufin, which he fhall fing when he comes in the Flesh to the Jewish Nation; which he did (fays Eftius) when he spake the Parable of the House-holder, Matth. 21. But if Ledidi be referr'd to the Jews, for whofe well-fare the Prophet had a very tender Concern, and by Dodi be understood Friend in general, the fenfe will be plain and easy, Now will I fing a Song to my well-beloved Country-men, a Song which my Friend us'd to fing concerning his Vineyard; my Friend had a Vineyard in a very fruitful Hill. Bekeren ben Shamen, which the Chaldee Paraphraft rightly paraphrafes, In monte excelfo & terrâ pingui, which the Prophet mentions to fhew the unaccountable ftrangeness of the thing, that a Vineyard fo advantageoufly planted fhould not fucceed, having made it his bufinefs not only to pick out the beft Soil he could find, but a high Situation on an airy Hill, which (a) Virg. 1. 2. Vines particularly delight in.-Apertos (a) Bacchus amat

Georg.

(b) Perfius Satyra ult.

Colles.

Ver. 2. And he fenced it, and gathered out the ftones thereof, and planted it with the choiceft Vine, and built a Tower in the midst of it, and also made a Wine-prefs therein; and be looked that it should bring forth Grapes, and it brought • forth wild Grapes.] Some think the Hebrew Sakal may fignify to build a ftone Wall, which the careful Owner might build to prevent his Vineyard from the Injuries it might be fubject to from Beasts or Robbers; but more probably it refers to the practice of Planters, who us'd to clear their Ground of Stones, which the (6) Roman "Satyrift means by Exoffati agri.

Ver. 3, 4. And now, O Inhabitants of Jerufalem, and Men of Judah, judge, I pray you, pray you, betwixt me, and my Vineyard. What could have been done more to my Vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth Grapes, brought it forth mild Grapes?] As if God had faid, fuch a degenerate Vineyard are ye, O Inhabitants of Jerufalem, and Men of Judah; and I appeal to your felves, whether any thing has been wanting on my part, whether the caufe of their bringing forth bad Fruit can with any colour of reafon be laid to my charge, who have done every thing which the most in

dustrious

duftrious Husband-man could do, not only to increase Chapter the Product, but meliorate the Fruit.

Ver. 5, 6. And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my Vineyard, I will take away the hedge thereof, and it Shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it fhall be trodden down. And I will lay it waste, it shall not be pruned, nor digged, but there fhall come up Briers and Thorns; I will alfo command the Clouds that they rain no rain upon it.] The Caufe between God and his Vineyard having been fairly try'd, and no Omiffion to be laid to the Owners charge, he here gives Sentence against the unprofitable Ground, and refolves to be at no farther Expence or Trouble about it: He will break down the Fences, and lay it open to be trampled under foot by the Beasts of the Field; it fhall no more have its luxuriant Branches prun'd, nor the Ground about it digg'd and clear'd of Weeds: I will leave it to spend its strength in fruitless Shoots and Thorns to intercept the generous Sap; and no refreshing Showers fhall cheer its thirsty

Roots

Ver. 7. For the Vineyard of the Lord of Hofts is the House of Ifrael, and the Men of Judah his pleasant Plant; and he Looked for Judgment, but behold Oppreffion; for Righteousness, but behold a Cry.] Here the Prophet begins to fhew what those wild Grapes are which the Vineyard produced fo contrary to its Lord's Expectation: By Cry, he means Oppreffion, the fame which he mention'd in the preceding Sentence. Inftead of a regular Execution of Justice, and a fteddy Adherence to the Laws he had prefcrib'd them, nothing was to be heard in their Streets but the loud Complaints of Subjects groaning under the Oppreffion of their Arbitrary Governors; but Sanctim thinks the Prophet means Sin in general, which in the Language of the Scripture is faid to cry to the Lord.

Ver. 8. Wo unto them that join Houfe to Houfe, that lay Field to Field, 'till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the Earth.]. Here he upbraids them with unfatiable Avarice, that they were never at eafe, 'till they had got into their Poffeffion all the Land which lay round their Houses, 'till they could take a view on

F

every.

V.