and 47:1- mired, Verſe 45,19, 20, 34- |
3 _ THE word that the LORD ſpake * againſt Babylon F _ and againſt the land of the Chaldeans + by Jere-
© hando L ; ub miah the prophet #»
were added to the Church, and whether a further fulfilling of it be not yet to come, time muſt ſhew.
6 My people hath been loſt ſheep 7, their ſhepherds
have cauſed them to go aſtray mz, they have turned
them away oy the mountains » : they have gone from : mountain to hill o, they have forgotten their 4 reſting Aooge '3.
lace p. I All Men are compared to Sheep that go aſtray, 1/a. 53: 6. here _ it is applied to the Jews who are called the Lord's People by reaſon of the ancient Covenant Ged made with their Fathers : they are ſaid to be loſt, cither with reſpect to their captivity being calt out: of the Land which God gave them for Paſtures, or in reſpect of their Idolatry. »» Their Civil and' Eccleſiaſtical Governours have - been a cauſe of it- The former by their wicked Commands for- cing them to Idolatry and Superſtition,or at leaſt by their wicked Example ſetting them an Example, and by their ill goverament conniving at them in their Idolatrous Practices, for which they are
SONG
Chap. L.
broken in pieces, her idols are confounded, her ima- _ <Þ2P- I:
= by A. ha. rite Is
Chap L.
j] Or, deſtroyer,
T Heb.
b;e, 87 corpulent,
1] Or, neigh & flecay,
7 E R E
gone into Captivity. Their Piicfts, ant Ecclefiaſtical Governors. t-aching. them ſuch Praftices and incouraging them by their own Examples, and promiſing them impunity, and ſecurity in them. » Either they have been a cauſe of their offering Sacrificesto Idols upon the Mountains, or of their being carried into Caprivity over
the Mountains. o Either wandring up and downin a ſtrange Land,
or in their way thither, or running from one ſpecies of Idolarry to arother. p They have forgotten the Land of Canaan which I gave - them fora reſting place after their toilſom Travel in the Wilderneſs, or ( as ſome would have it ) they have forgotten me who am their
relt.
7 All thatfound them have devoured them 9, and their adverſariesſaid, We offend not, becauſe they have ſinned againit the LORD r, the habitation of juftice s, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers z. |
g As they be inthe condition of loſt Sheep, fo they have been ander the fate of loſt Sheep, which every Dog, Fox, Wolf devours. 7 And thoſe that are their Enemies have pretended that in deſtroying them they have done noill, becauſe they had ſinned, ſo as the fins of the Jews did both expoſe them to the Wrath of God, and alſo
emboldned their Enemies, and encouraged them to think that they '
did God Service in deſtroying them. «5 The habitation of Juſtice. Some think this is a Name here given to God, who indeed is the habita- tion of Juſtice, but whether the Chaldeans would call him ſo may be a queſtion. Others therefore think the prepoſition /n-is underſtood, making this the aggravation of the Jews ſins, that they were com- mitted in a Land which'ought to have been an habitation of Juſtice, as ſz. 26. 10. it is ſaid that the wicked Man in 4 land of uprightneſs will deal unjuſtly. Mr. Calvin hath another notion, viz. "That the
Prophet here incourageth himſelf againſt what the Adverfaries had '
promiſed themſelves becauſe the People had offended God :. vis. that notwithſtanding this, God was a righteous God, in whom Juſtice dwelt, and who would be faithful.to his Promiſes. # And he was their hope, and had been he in whom their Fathers before them had hoped, and that nor in vain. |
8 Removeout of che midſt of Babylon «, and go forth out of the iand of the Chaldeans, and be as the he- goats
before the flocks.
u Theſe words immediately following the other, confirm Mr. Calvin's notion. God by his Prophet commanding his people to remove out of Babylon, and to go forth chearfully and Skipping like the He-goars of the Flock leading the way, and ſetting an Ex- ample unto others. We fiad much ſuch a Call, 1s. 48. 20. Chap.
Fr..5. which is applied to Spiritual Babylon, Rev. 18 4. where the -
coming out is to beunderſtood of aſeparation from them as to any Religious Communion, which alſo wastheir Duty asto old Babylon, but that is not the coming outhere ſpoken of.
9 © For lo, I willraife and cauſe to come up againſt Babylon, an aflembly of great nations from the north- countrey, and they ſhall fer themſelves in array againſt her w, from thence ſhe ſhall be taken 3 their arrows ſhall be as of a mighty [| expert man : none ſhall returnin vain .*.. : ; |
w He means the Medes and Perſians (as it isexpounded afterward) . I will ſo direfſt their Arrows, that every Arrow they ſhoot ſhall pierce ene or other. Or, ( as ſome rather chuſe to interpret it) no Soldier of that aſſembly of great Nations, that ſhall come up againſt Babylen ſhall return without ſome Booty or other. The scaſon of the diff:rent reading- noted in the Margent, is the diffe- renee of a point in the Heb, which if ſet on the right fide of the Letter, the word ſignifieth a deſtroyer : if on the left lide, an expers 21an as we tranſlate 1t.
10 And Chaidea ſhall be a ſpoil : all that ſpoil her
ſhall be facisfied. faith the LORL x-
* Sarisfied with Spoil and plunder, for Babylon and Chaldes was at that time one of the richelt places in thoſe parts of the World She was abundant in treaſure, Chep. 51. 13.
11 Becauſ: 'ye were giad, becauſe ye rejoyced x, Oye deſtroyers of mine heritage y, becauſe yearegrown Þ far, as the heifer at grafs, and || bellow as bulls z. |