j=&s. Which ir is more than probable Belſhazzar did, and it 45 CEre tain that his Parents and Predeceſfors kad done, whoſz Sins con- tributed, togerker with his, to bring down Gods jJuagment upon that Empire» s Such as Belſhazzar was, being defcended from that Nebuchadnezzar who had made fuch horrid Slaughters and Dee vaſtations in the World, meerly to gratifie his own unſatiabie Luſts, and who had been ſo impious towards God and his Tem» ple, and fo bloody towards his Church and People, # Or, ſhall not be ren2wied for ever. Although I have long born with thee and thy Family, and ſuffered them to ger a great Name in th? World, yer I will now put a period to the Renown of thy Family and Empire.
2r Prepare ſlaughter for his children » * for the *Fx:20:5- iniquity of their fathers x ; that they do not rile 7, Mx:23:35 nor poſleſs che land, nor fill the face of the world with Cities 2, | 4 O ye Nedes and Perſians, cut off all the Branches of the Royal Family of Babylon. x In the Guilt whereof the Children arejuſtiy involved, partiy becauſe of that Community of Nature and Inte- reſt which is berween Parents and Chitdren, which makes them for the moſt part bear a ſhare with them, as in their Rewards and Advantages, fo alſo in their Puniſhments 2nd Miſeries ; and part- Iy, becauſe they juſtified their Sins by their Impenitency,and Imi- tation of their wicked Example. y 7. e. Not recover their for- me: Splendour and Powei. z Ere&ed by them, either as Inſtru- ments of Tyranny, to keep the Countrey round about them in Sla» very, oras Monuments of their Power and Riches, as Babylon was, Dan: 4: 30.
22 For I will riſe up againſt them, faith the LORD of hoſts, and cut off from Babylon the name and remnant «, and ſon, and nephew, faith the LORD.
# The Remembrance of thoſe that are dead, and the Perſons of thoſe who yet ſurvive,
23 * I will alſo make it a poſſeſſion for the *Ch:341t bittern b, and pools of waterc ?: and TI will ſweep dephs2.14 gr” with the beſome of deſtruction, faith the LORD of hoſts.
b A great WatereFowl, which thruſting its Bill into ſome bro- ken Reed, or hollow thing, makes a great noiſe; which aiſo de- lights in ſolitary places, as alſo in Wateriſh Grounds, ſuch as thoſe were about Babylon, Others render the Word Heage-kog, or Porcupine : Butthis being nor conſiderable in it ſelf, nor at all ne- ceſſary for the clearing of the Text. I ſhal not trouble the Englſh Reader with any Diſcourſe about it : And the Learned may con- ſult my LatinSynopſis. c The Ground about Babylon was of it ſelf very moiſt and wateriſh, becauſe of the grear River Euphrates run- ning by it, which was kept from overflowing the Country with Charge and Labour ; which being negletted, as it muſt needs be when the City was deſtroyedand diſpeopled,it was eaſily turned in- to Pools of Water.
24 The LORD ofhoſts hath ſworn,faying, Surely
as K have thought, ſo ſhal ir come to paſs;and as I have purpoſed,ſo ſhal it ſtand #, 4 I will not repent of this Threatning, as I did of that againſt Nineveh, Jonah 3. 4, 10. And this ſolemn Oath is added to con- firm the Faith of Gods People, becauſe otherwiſe the Deſtruftion of this vaſt and mighty Empire might ſeem incredible, Burt 1t is to be diligently obſerved, that this Verſe doth not only concern this preſent Prophecy of Babylens Deſtru&tion by the Medes and Pere fans, but is alſo to be extended unto the foregoing Prophecy con» cerning the overthrow of Sennacherib and the Aſſrian Hoſt, ch. 10. aS appears by the next Verſe, where the ſum of that Prophecy is re- peared. Nor is this any Digreſſion,but very pertinent to the main Deſign and Buſineſs ok this Chapter ; inaſmuch as the Overthrow of that great Aſjrian Hoſt, and of the Deliverance of Gods People at that time, was a Pledge of the certain Accompliſhment of that future DeſtruQion of the City and Empire of Babyler, and of their Deliverance out of that Captivity»
Nt. 25 * That Twill break the Aſſyrian e in my land f,, vi anduponmy mountains g tread him under feet: then ſhal his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their ſhoulders bh. e Sennacher:b, and his Aſſyrian Army. F In Judes, which 1s my Land in a peculiar manner, being choſen by me, and confſecra- ted to my Uſe andService, andinhabited by my People, g In ey Mountainous Country, for. ſuch Judea was, Deur: 8: 9. £/al, x33- 10. Etek: 6: 2,3. and 39. 2 4+ 17-- efpectally about Jeru- ſalem, Bſal: 125: 2. upon: ſome of which probably his Army was lodged. b Which Words are repeated from [ſs 10. 27. wherethey are explained.
26 This is the purpoſe rhat is purpoſed, upon the »Whole earth 5 . and this is the hand & that zs ſtretched out upon all the nations,
; Upoa this vaſt Empire, now in the hands of the 4ſrians,and Kortly to come into the kands of the Babylonignr, The while varth
; Cong 2,35. - 29 Rejoyce not thou whole Paleſtina, becauſe the ; Longs | rod of #: him that ſmote thee is broken : for out of the 16120. ſerpents rootſhal come forth a |] cockatrice,and his fruit || Or,04e ihal be a fiery flying ſerpent ». I
m Noſt underſtand this of Uzziah, who did then much miſchief 2 Chron 26.-6. Buthe was dead Thirry two years before this time, and therefore their Joy for hisDeath was long ſince paſt, Others un= derſtand it of 454az; Buthe was io far from ſmiting .rhem, that he was ſmitten by them, as was noted on. v. .27\ © Ic ſeems better to underſtnd it more generally, of the Royal Race, or foregoing Kings of Judsh, who had been a terrible Scourge to them, whole Rod might be ſaid. to be broken, becauſe that Srepter was come into the hands of florhful and degenerate Princes, ſuch as 4haz was, wins hid been lately broken by the P:ibifiiues, and who probably was alive when this Prophecy was d-livered, beciuſe he kere ſpeaks of Hezekiah not as a preſent but as a future king. Ir is ſaid indeed, that Fhis eurden was inthe year that Alex died. But ſo it might be, though 1t was before his Death, »n From the Root and Race of D.rvid ſhall
come Hezek:#+h, who, like a Serpenc thal ting thez todcath, is he did, 2 Kings 18, 8.
3-Andrhe firſt horn of the poor s ſhal fed p,and the . needy ſhal lie down in ſafety : and 1 wiil kill thy root | q with famine,and heſhal flay thy remnanc.