f That by ſome viſible Appearance, he may ſee the Inviſible Guard of Angels which incompaſls & defend us. q Which is uſeful, both for Defence to thoſe that are ſurrounded by it,8& Offence to the Enemies who ſhall arremprt to break through ir. »r Either the Mountains were round about the City, and therefore round about El:jha who was within it: or, he ſaw in a Viſion, Eliſbs upon the Mountain encompatled with Fiery Horſes and Chariots.
13 And when they came down to him s,Eliſha pray- ed unto the LORD, and faid, Smire this people, 1 pray thee, with blindneſs. And he ſmote them with blind- neſs i, according to the word of Elitha.
5s Either in the City, into which they eaſily gor admiſſion wh they Declared, Thar the only end of their coming, was to tas Elijba : or in the Field without the City, whither he went ro meet theme : Nor with a toral Blindneſs, that they could fee nothing, for then they would not have followed him ; but with a partial Biind- neſs taat they could nor diſtina&iy diſcern the Man they ſought ; which mighr be by ſome Alteration made by God in their Brain, or in the Air. Sce the Notes on Gen. 19: 11.
199 And Elitha faid unto chem, This is not the way, neither #s this the City « : + follow me, and I will bring + neb. you to the man whom ye ſeek x. Burt he led them to come ye Samaria y. : eto.
uTo wir, where you will find the Man for whom you ſcek,which was very true ; becauſe he was now come out of the City ; and if they had gone on in that way into the City, they had found that Elijba was gone thence. There is indeed ſome Ambiguity in his Speech, and an Intention ro deceive them, which hath ever been eireemed lawtul in the ſtare of War,as apprars from the uſe --fStra- tagems x And ſo he did, though not in ſuch manner as they expected and defired.y Which ſeemed to them to be ſme ſmall and ordinary
322 Fo
; City ; their Senſes being {till deluded by a Divine Operation. 5 Butas one was felling a beam, the F ax head f fell
20 And it came to paſs, when they were come into Samaria, that Eliſha ſaid, LORD, open the eyes of theſe men, that they may ſee. And the LORD opened their eyes, and they ſaw,and behold rhey were in the midſt of Samaria. _
21 And the king of Iſrael z ſaid unto Eliſha, when he ſaw them, My father «, ſhall I ſozite them ? ſhall T ſmice them 6?
z To whom E!;ſbz had doubtleſs ſent notice of his Intentions, that he might accordingly p:epare himſelf. a Now he gives him this Ti- tle of Reverence and Affecrion, becauſe of a great & preſent Benefit he received from him ; though ctherwiſe he hated him, and would not hearken to his Counſel. 6 The repetition of the queſtion ſhews his great deſire to ſmite them, and that with utter Deſtruction.
22 And he anſwered, Thou fhalt not ſmite them : Wouldeſt thou ſmice choſe whom thou haſt taken cap- tive with thy ſword,and with thy bow c ? ſer bread and
water before them 4, that-they may eat and drink, and go to their miſter.
c Ir is againft the Laws of humaniry,and Cuſtom of War,to kill Captives,though chou thy ſelf haſt raken them with thy own Sword and Bow; which may ſcem to give thee ſome colour of Right to deſtroy them ; but much more unworthy will it be in cold Blood to kill! thete, whom nor thy Arms, but Gods Miraculous Providence hath put into thy Hands. 43. e. Give them Meat and Drink, which may refreſh and ſtrengthen them for their Journey. Which was an action of ſingular Picty and Charity,in doing good to their Ene« mies, which was much to the Honour of the true Religion; and
of no leſs Prudence, that kereby the hearts of the $7/2%7 might be 3M 2 both
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hap.
VI.
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both mollified towards the Iſ-aelites,and afraid to Oppoſe that Peo- ple who had ſuch an Invincible Protettor: 23 And he prepared great proviſion for them, and
when they had eaten and drunk, he ſent them away e, and they went to their maſter. >o the bands of Syria
came no more f into the land of Iſrael.
e Refreſhed, bur diſarmed, as is moſt probable. f Either, 1. In ſuch a manner,to wit, in ſmall Bands,or Companies, which might be Entrapped, as theſe had been : bur their next Artempt was, by an open and ſolemn War,and a Conjunttion of all their F orces,which they till ridiculouſly conceited would be roo hard for the King, & Prophet,and God of [ſrael;notwithſtanding their multiplied Experi- ences to the contrary. Or, 2. For ſome conſiderable time; unt11 the Terror of theſe Examples was got our of their Minds.
24 © And it came to paſs after this, that Benhadad
king of Syria g gathered all his hoſt, and went up,and
beſieged Samaria.
g He whom Ahab wickedly and fooliſhly ſpared, 1 Kings 20:42. who now comes to requite Ababs Kindneſs and to fulfil thar Divine Prediftion. Benhadad was a name very frequent among the Kings of Syria, 1 Kings 15. 18, &«- and Chap: 13 24+ 2 Kings 13:3, 24. 1t not common to them all- See Jer: 49: 27- Amos 1: 4» .
25 And there was a great famine in Samaria : and behold they beſieged it,until an afſes head was /0/d for fourſcore pieces 6 of ſfilver,and che fourth part of a kabz
of doves dung & for tive pieces of ſilver.
h Suppoſed to be Shekels ; and the common Shekel being valued at fifteen pence of Engliſh Moneygthis amounts to five pounds. A vaſt price, eſpecially for that which had on it ſo little Mear, and that unwholſome,and unclean by Law,Levir 11.13.though neceſſity might ſeem to excuſe their Violation of that Law. 7 A meaſure containing 24 Eggs. k Which they uſed not for Fre ( for he is ſpeaking here only of the ſcarcity of Food) but for Fo:'d Which if it ſeem 1n- credible,it muſt be conſidered, Firſt, That Famine hath conſtrained People to eat things as improper and unfit for nouriſhment as this, as dry Leather,and Mans Dung,as is implied, 12.36.12. and affirmed by grave Hiſtorians. Secondly, That ſome Creatures do ulually cat the Dung of others. Thirdly, That Doves Dung,though it be hor- ter than ordinary,might in other reſpe&s be fitter for Nouriſhment
than other, as being made of the beſt and pureſt Grains, and hav- ing ſome moiſture 1n it, &«c. Fourthly, That this H:brew Word be- ing of an abſcure & doubrful ſignification,and no were elſe uſed, may be,and is by Learned Men otherwiſe rendred and underſtood: either, firſt, of the Corn which is found in the Crops of Doves: or, ſecondly, of the Guts and other Inwards of Doves : or rather, thirdly, of a ſort of Cicer or Pesſe, which in the Arabick Language