8 The way of peace they know not x, and there 5s co || judgment y in their goings z: they have made theds crooked « paths: whoſoever goeth therein ſhall not know þ peace.
# They arc of ſuck turbulent Spiris, livinglin ſuch continual
EC 4 H, contentions, azd diſ:ords. that, breaking in pieces the very bonds of Society, they neither know 1. How to make and keep Peace; Neither 2. Do they feel or enjoy the ſweet Fruits of it: And there. fore by conſequence 3. They rake not the courſe thar {cads to Pro. iperity and Happineſs. They are nor Friends to Peace. y i.e. No Juſtice, Equiry, Faith or Integrity, which are the Foundation of Judgment. z As Paths did note their habitual way or manner of living, ſo Goings do ſignifie their aQtuall progreſs in that way, or their works, this Fo . #& They walk by no rule, ' whick ſhould diſcover the crooked from the ſtraight; they are full of un- evennefles and uncertainties, contraty to what David ſpeaks, Pſalm 26. 12. The LXX render it Perverſe : Meſes joins them both toge- ther, Deut. 32.5. and fo doth Solomon, ſpeaking what Wiſdom ſhall deliver from Prov. 2. 15. andir ſtands in oppoſition to them that walk uprightly, Prov. 28. 18. It may note 1. Their Hypocrifie thar pretend one thing, and do another, that oppreſs under a pre= rence of Juſtice. .Or 2: Their profcfſed and owned irregularities and deviations from the rule ofJuſtice. 6 i.e. Shall not experience it; whoſoever do as they do, will be turbulent, and perverſe, as they are, and have as little Peace within, or Happineſs without, as they have chap. 57.21. They ſhall be poyſoned by having converſe with them, as in verſe 5. which the-next words do intimate.
9 Therefore is *zudgment far from us c, neither doth juſtice 4 overtake us: we wait for light e, but behold ob. {curity ; for brightneſs, bt we walk in darkneſs f.
© This ſ:ems to be ſpoken in the perfon of thoſe Jews that dic parfake of theſe ſins, giving the reaſon by way of complaint of thoſe evils thar they groaned under. 4 Judgement, and fo Juſtice is here taken, for deliverance, J1/aiah r. 27. 9. d. God doth.nor de- fend our Right, nor Revenge our wrong, nor d-liver us, becauſe of thele outrages, and aQs of violence, inzuſtice,and oppreſſion, that are committed among us, ſo that Deliverance is called here Judge= ment and Juſtice by a Metonymy of the efficient. 9. d. If we had executed Judgement, and Equiry among one another, they would not now have been farfrom us; as works are ſometimes pur for the reward of works, Job 7. 2. Pſalm 109. 20. So Judgement and Ju« ſtice is put for the Reward of Judgement and Juſtice ; or wicked men are in Power, and Seats of Judicature,that execute no Judge« met or Juſtice in the behalfofthe Oppretied. e How the Hebrews uſe Light and Darkneſs; ſee before on chap. 58. 8, ro., f Or, MiF, weare in ſuch a thick miſt, thar, which way ſoever we look, we ſee no way out, no hope of Deliverance, ,we are till in Captivity, and like ſo to be, till we ſee Judgement and Juſtice executed, and then we may expe& good days.
x0 We * prope g for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes b : we ſtumble at noonday #
£ As a blind man that hath no ower Eyes than his Hands, feels for the Wall, from whence he expeQs either direQion, or a reſt- ing place to lean on, ſo they expe Salvation as it were blindfold, nor taking dire&tion from the Prophets, but hoping to obtain it by their cries and faſts, though they continued in their ſins, and therefore may well be ſaid to grope after it; See Deuteronomy
put for yes, thereby aggravating the miſery in repeating the ex- preſſion, # This notes their exceeding; blindnefs, as it muſt needs be with one that can diſcern no more at noen day, rhan if it were midnight, Jeb 5. 14. k He compares their Captivity to Men dead without hope of Recovery: Their bonds render tacm as free a= mong the dead, Pſalm 88. 5, They can ſce the way, or get out of their Captivity no more than dead Men can get our of their Graves; Thus a calamitous eſtate is fer forth, Pſalm 44. 19. great calamity, and deſpair oft going together : They are as men caſt our no more to'be looked after. Compare £am. 3. 6. All darkneſs is uncomfortable, but that of the Grave terrible. 1x We roar ] all like bears, and * mourn »» ſore like doves: welook for Judgment, bur there is none ; for Salvation, but it is far from us ». Nj I This ſignifies the greatneſs of their anguiſh, thar forced from them theſe loud out-cries, w This notes tome ſenſe of their con= dition, that wrought in them theſe iorrowful Lamentations: Or, it may relate to the condition, that both ſorts of peaple were in under their opprefling Governours. It made the wicked roar like Beaxs, and the Godly mourn like Doves: It is thus expreſſed, be« cauſe theſe properties are peculiar to theſe Creatures. The Bear,when robbed, goes into her den and roars : The Dove,' when abſent from her mate, ſits ſolitary, and mourns. = Sce the Expoſition of this laſt part of the verſe; wv. Fa + 12 For our tranſgreſſions » are multiplied before thee o, and our fins teſtifie p againſt us : for our tranſ- grefſions are with us q, and as for our iniquities we know them r. | | n The word here ſignifies fins of an high nature, ſuch as where« in there is much of man's will, againſt Light: Rebellious Sns. 0 9.4. They admit of no excuſe ; for they are ated before, thee, and multiplied againſt thee, whereby thou art juſtly provoked to deny us all help. p Every fin thar is charged upon us, is like ſs many Witneſſi:s produced to prove the guilt of our Conſciences x Or, as the Hebrew word, &o anſwer, and ſo ſome make it an ele= gant Metaphorical Alluſion to the Eccho, which, as it returns the voice. again, ſo hots Fa they cry our of, are but the me« ritorious Repercuſlion oftheir fins: They had been cruel to others, neither had they execnted Judgment, and Juſtice, and here they ſuffer all kind of cruelties, and indignitics from the Chaldeans, as the true and juſt Repreſentation or Eccho of their own works Sec a perſonal inſtance in Adoni-bezek, Judges 1. 6,7. q i.e. We lie under the guilt of them,. they are a burden to us; (God hath
not yet forgiven them. » We are convinced of them, our guilty
' Conſciences muſt own and acknowledge them, Pſalm 5r. 3.