c Finding no help from Heaven,they turn their Eyes downward looking hither and thither for Comforr. d Many Words expreſſing the ſame thing are put together, to ſignific the variety and extre« mity and continuance of their Miſeries.
CH A Þ, IN
Toy in the midft of afflition, 1 5. The Birth : Perſon : Office, and Kingdom of Chriſt, 6, 7, Juagements for their Pride, &—12. for their Impenitency aud Hyocriſte, 173 bk, :
Evertheleſs, the dimnefs ſhal not be ſuch as was in her vexation a, when at the firſt 5 he c lightly. afli&ed 4the land of Zebulun, and the land
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22 *" a The Words thus rendred contain a Mirigarion of the forego- Es ing Threatning : Ani ſo the ſenſe of the Verſe may be this, The Calamity of this Land and its Inhabirants ſhal be great, yet not ſuch as that which was brought upon the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes by the King of 4ſjria, wha at firſt 1ndeed dealr more gently with them, but afterwards quite root:d them our, and carried them away into a dreadful Captivity, from whence they were not to return, no not when the Me{iah came into the World ; for, af- ter this Darkneſs, of which I have now ſpoken, there ſhal come a glorious Lighr, as it follows in the next Verſe. The Dutch Interpre- ters tak? it in the ſame ſenſe, and render the Words thus, But the Land that was diftreſſed ſhal not be utterly darkned, To the ſame purs poſe they may be thus rendred, according to the Hebrew, But darks- neſs ſhal uct be ( i e, ſhal not abide or continue ; for to be is ſome- rimes put for to abide os continue to be, as 1 Sam; 12. 1g« Prove 23. 5. Mat. 17. 4. Heb. $. 4. ) unto her ( towit, the Land, which by the the conſent of Interpreters is underſtood here, as it was c<. 8. 21.) to whom this diſtreſs is or ſhal bz. She ſhal be diſtreſſed and darkned, as I faid before, c<: 8: 22, but not irrecoverably, nor for ever.Some underſtand the Words to be an aggravation of the:Darkneſs or Mt- ſery threatned, <<: 8:22. rendring the Words thus, for the dinmeſs ſhall zot be, &c. And ſo the ſenſe is, This ſhal not be ſo ſlight an Affi- | : Qion as that which befel them by Pul, 2 Kings 15. 19. nor as that | which ſucceededit by Tig/ath-7ileſer,whoat the deſire of Ahaz, did about this time make another Invafion into the Land of 1ſ-ael,2 Kings 15. 29- and was an heavier Stroke than the former; bur this ſhal be far heavier than either of them. But the former ſenſe ſeems better to agree both with the following Verſes and with Mat. 4: 13, 14,15- b where theſe Words are expoufided as a Promiſe, and ſaid to be ful= filled by Chriſts preaching rhe Goſpel in theſe parts. 6 1n the firſt Ivaſion which the King of 4ſhria made upon Jjrael. c To wit,God whois oft underſtood in ſuch caſes, and who is here ſuppoſed to be the Author or Inflifter of this Judgment. Or, it is an imper- ſonal Speech, he affiied for was affiiFed,;than which nothing is more common in the Hebrew Language. 4 Either, 1. By Pul; or rather 2 By Tiglath-Pil:ſer, who at this time invaded and ſubdued theſe parts, as is expreſſed, 2 Kings 15:29, e The(e parts are particularly mentio-
Chap.l < more fully, v, 6, 7- q Or, yet not encreaſed therr joy, Which might very truly and fitly be ſaid of the JewiſhNation, upon this occaſion. partly becauſe they did not rejoyce in the Converſion of the Gentiles,as they ſhould have done, but murmured,and grieveds and ſtumbled at it ; and partly, becauſe through rieir perverſe- neſs and unbelief,that would be unto them an occaſion of their ut- ter Ruine, the Converſion of the Gentiles being attended with the RejeCtion of the Jews. But becauſe this Tranſlation ſeems not to agree with the following Words which aſcribe great joy to them, ſome render the Words otherwiſe; eitherthus, and wilc thou not encreaſetherr joy > To which Queſtion, the next words give an affirmative Anſwer. So the Hebrew Particle lo is put interrogatives ly for halo, as it is in many other places which I have formerly ob- ſerved: Orthus, and haſt increaſed to it, or him, or them ( to that Nation ) their joy. For though the Hebr2w lo be written like an Ade verb, yet it may be read like a Pronoun, as it is both by Jewiſh and Chriſtian Interpreters acknowledged to be in many places ; of which ſee morsin my Latin Synopſis, » In thy Preſence, and in the Place of thy Worſhip ; not with a Carnal and Worldly,but with a Spiritual and Religious Joy, giving thee the Praiſe and Glory of all thy Favours afforded to them, «s When Men receive with great Joy, that for which they have laboured much, and long waited-See Plalm 125, 5, 6. t When, after a bloody Fight, and a glorious Vittory, they come to take the Spoil,
4 || For thou haſt broken « the yoke of his burden x, jg} .,
and the ſtaff of his ſhoulder y, the rod z of his oppreſſour uu bred
2, as in theday of * Midian b, eff. [2 # This Notes the Matter and Occaſion of the foregoingJoy .xHis Judges}
urdenſome and heavy yoke, as the Throne of Holineſs is put for the2. Þ} Holy Fhrone, Pſalm 47. 8. y Either the Staff wherewith his Shoulders Ch:19: 26 were ſmitten, or the Staff or Staves by which he was forced to care ry Burdens upon his Shoulders. z Wherewith he beat him. Or,che Scepter, the Power and Tyranny which he exerciſed over him. # Of all his Oppreſſors, but eſpecially of Sin andof the Devil.6 When (zod deſtroyed the Midianjres in fo admirable a manner, and by ſuch unlikely and conremprible means, by three hundred Men, and they not fighting, but only holding Lamps in their Hands, and
ſounding their Trumpets, Which was an eminent Type of Chriſts ned, becauſe this Storm fe1l moſt heavily upon them ; but under | conquering rhe Devil and all his Exemies,by dying upon the Croſs, |
them the other parrs of the Land are underſtood by a common Fi- and by the Preaching of afew unlearned and deipicable Perſons, gure called Synecdoche, f Either 1. By Tiglath-Pileſer,or rather 2. By Oc.