3 But draw near hither 1, ye {ons of the forcerels m, the ſeed of the adu!tereſs, and the whore ».
1 To God's Tribunal, to anſwer for your ſelves, and to hear what I have to ſay againſt you, and to receive your ſentence. 2» Not by propagation, but by imitation; ſuch being frequently called a Man or Woman's Son. thar learn their Arr, and follow their Example: You Sorcerers, either p:operly or Metaphorically ſo called; For the Jews were guilty ot it both ways. » Nor the genuine Children of Abraham, as you pretend aid boaſt, bur be- Sotten in Fornication upon a common Whore. Which 1s not to be underſtood properly but figuratively, becauſe their diſpoſitions and carriages were far more ſuitable to a baia:dly brood, thin to Abraham's Seed. ;
4 Againſt whom do you ſport your ſelves o ? againſt whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue f? are ye not children of tranſgreflion, a ſeed of fal- thood 9?
o Conſider whom it is you mock and ſcoff when you deride God's Prophets, as they did, Iſaiah 28. 14: 22- and know that 1t'1s not ſo much men that you abuſe, as God, whoſe Cauſe they plcad, and in whoſe name they ſpeak. p Theſe are the known and com- mon geſtures of Mockers, of which ſee Job 16. 10- Pſalm 22. 7. and 35.21. 9 Either an adulterous brood, as was ſaid before : Or, a generation of liars, whoſe pra&ices groſly contradict your prin- Ciples and profeſſions, who deal deceitfully and pexfidioufly both with God and with men. Ls
5 Enflaming your ſelves + with idols r *under every
green tree s * {laying the children 7 in the valleys « un-
# Chap. L
tHcb.with gods, Or a-
might pur them in ſome cloſe corner, that they might keep them ſecret, it being opprobrious, and oft-times dangerous for th:m to worſhip Idols. f Thoſe Images or Monuments and tokens which thou didſt make and ſet up there as remembrances of thoſe Idol-gods whom they repreſented, or ro whom they belonged. He faith, thy remembrance, tm oppoſition to God's remembrances, or to that Writ-
ing of God's Law upon their. door-poſts, which God preſcribed to
keep him and his Law in their remembrance, Dew. 6. 9. and 17. 20. g Thou liait uncovered thy nakedneſs; i.e. profſtituted thy Body (as the Phraſe commonly iigniftes) ro others belides me thine Hul- band. Heb. from wich me (departing from me, or, as it were riſing our of my Bed) thou haft wicovered or proftitured thy ſelf ro others like an impudent and inſatiable ſtrumpet- h Into the adulterous bed, as this very word is uicd, Gen. 49. 4. many Adulrerers together. Thou haſt multiplied thine Idobs and Altars k Ftow hait covenanred toerve them, - and fo expe help from them. But becauſe rhe Verb here uſed being thus pur by it ſelf, neve? ſignifies 0 niake a Covensn?, it ſeems to be better ren- dred' in the margent of our Bible, and by others, baſf hewed it (to wit, thy Bed, whictt is expreſſed both in the next toregoing, and In the next following words: ) for thy Jelf (for thine Idolarrous
; That it might receive |
T-' 4 Bb
uſes: ) larger than theirs, than their Bed, as it follows: Or thus didft hew down (to wit, trees, which is calily underſtood both from j the Verb, and fiom the Nature of the thing) to or for thy ſelf (ro
make Images or other things relating to thy falſe Gotls) more than they, more than the Heathens, of whom thou haſt learned theſe* praCtices, as God complains, 2 Kmgs 21. 9. Ezekiel 16. 46, 47, 52. { No ſooner d dt thou ſee their Idols, but theu waſt enamuured | with them, and didſt fall down and woiſhip them, like an un- chatie and lewd Woman, who upon all occaſions, and at the very firſt view of any man, is inflamed with luſt towards them. Heb. Thou loveſ? their Bed (i. e. their filthy converſation ) in the place. ( for ſo this Hebrew word frequently ſignifies, as Dear. 23. 12. Ja:ah 22.18. and elſe-where,) where thou ſaweſt it. Or thus, Thou lovedſt their bed, thou aidſt provide ( as this word ſignifies, Exod. 18. 21. and ſo doth a word of the very ſame fignification, Get. 22. 8.) 2 place for it, to receive their Bed, roſet up their Idols in thine own houſe.
9 And||* thou wenteſt 7 to the King m with oint-
ſendchy meſlengers far off p, even unto hell q.
{ Either by thy ſelf, or, by thy Meſſengers, as it follows. thau aiaft look, to wit, earneſtly, with expeQation and vehement affection. » Either to Molochk, which was as it were the King or chick of their Idols,and which ſignifies a King. Or, to the great King of A4jris, called the King by way of Emicency, to whom the Iiraclites 1n the days of {ſaiah were very prone to ſeek, and truſt and ſend Preſents. Although the word King, may be here taken colleCively for the Kings of 4ſjria or Egypr,or any other King from
Or,