15 would we hte og CT ns ne prepoſi- ,*10n 22 15* underſtood, making this che 1ggravarion of rhe j:ws {ins,that they were commitred in a Land whici: ought co have been an habication of Juſtice, az 7/2. 25. 10, it is faid, thar the wicked Man in a land of uprightneſs will deal unjutly Mr, Calvin lat
anorh=rnorion, viz. Thar the Prophet here incourageth himſ-1* '2gai0ſt what the Adverſaries had promiſed themſelves becauſe che
People had offended God : viz, that notwithftanding this, God
— %
vain, | $ Remove onutof the midſt of Babylon z, and £0 forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goates before the flocks.
4 Theſe words immedaarely following the orher, conficm Mr Calum'snotion, God by his Prophet commanding his People = ;remove out of Baby!oz, and ro go forth chearfully and <k1pping hike the He-goars of the Flock leading the way, and ſerting an Ex- ample unto orhers, We find much ſuch a Call, 7/2. 43.;
to any Rejigious Communion, which alſo was their Daty as ro old Bavylon, but that is nor the coming out here ſpoken of.
9 © For lo, I will raiſe and cauſe to com? un 54 gainſt Babylod,an aſſembly ofgerett nations from the 'north-country, and they ſhall ſer themſelves in array againft her w, trom thence ſhe ſhall be taken : rheir arrows ſbal/beas of a mighty ||-expert man - none ſhall rerurn 11 Vain *.*
w He means the Medes and Per/ezns ( a51t 1s expounded after- ward )*. I will ſo direR their Arrows,cthar every Arrow they thoor fhall pierce one or orher. Or,/45 ſome rather chuſe co interpret ir no Soldier of char afſembvly of grear Nations, rhar thall come ws againft B2vby/on ſhall recurn withour ſome Booty or nther. The
rea{on of the different reading noced in the Margent, 15 the diff. rence of a point tn the H:b.which if ſer on rhe right fide of he Letrer, the word figmfierh a de/troyer ; 1f on che lefe fide, an: x- pert man as we tranilate 1t,
15 And Chaldea {hill bea ſpoil : all that ſpoil her ſhall be ſatisfied, faich che LORD -.
x Satisfied with ſpoil and plunder, for B:by/3; and Ch:/des was
ſhip. & And, being ſenfivle that chey had broken the Covenant which their Fathers had ſormzrly made with God, with a defire to renew their Covenant, and rhar not fora time, but for ever. See Cha). 31.31. The only Queſtion 1s, Wherher this Promiſe be yer accompliſhed or no, or when 1t was, or ſhall be fulfilled ? Anſy It was without douhr in 4 great meaſure fulfilled upon the Jews coming out of che Captivity of Bzbylon, when rhoſe of the King- dom of «44 rerurned to Jeryſalem, ahd were very Zealous for reſtoring the true Worſhip of God, and renewed their Covenant wich God, ( as weread in the Books of Exr2 and Nehemiah ) bur Mr. Calvin thinks it was more eminently fulfilled under the King- dom of the M-/£:", when though many believed nor, yer miny others did believe, and were added to the Church, and whether a furcier fulfilling of it be nor yer ro come, cime muſt ſhew,
6s My people hath been loſt ſheep /, their ſhpherds have cauſed th:m to go aſtray mz, they have turned them away 67 the Mountains z : they have gone from mountain to hill o, they have forgattea their Þ reſt- ing place p.
| All Men are compared to ſheep that go aſtray, Tſ/z. 53. 5. here it is applied ro the J?ws,who are called rh2 Lord's People by reaſon of che ancient Covenant God made with their Fathers : They are
ſaid to be loſt, either with reſpeR to their Captivity, being caſt out of the Land which God gave them for Pattures, or in reſpe& of
4c thac time one of rhe richeſt places in thoſe parts of the World, She was abundant 1n trealure, Cp. 51.13.
11 Becuuſs ye wore glal,becauſ ye rejoycnd x, © ye deſtroyers of mine heritage
bulls z.
Human'ty , but behave themſelves decently, and as Perions has are ſenfible of the miſeries which chetr Brethren ſuff-r. y God calls chem his Herirage, bec uſe rhey formerly were a People whom he owned above all other People. There 1s ſome differetice amongit crirical Interpreters, wherher the Heifer here mentioned be ro he underſtood of a Heifer ar Graſs (as we rranſlare it)or an Heifer uſed to tread out the Corn; or wherher the laft words 1e to \1e vn. derſtood of a Horſi-ntighing, (45 the words may be interpreted } or a' Ball bellowing. Bur theſe are things of very ſmall momenc. The cauſe for which P 4by/9z 13 threatned, was doubtleſs cheir Lux- ury of all ſorts commonly atrending great Wealth, and Profpericy meeting with hearts unfan&fed. |
12 Your mother ſhall be ſore confounded. He that
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 rhelr wicked Example ſetting them an Example, and by their ill Government conniving art them in their 1dolatrous Practices, for which they are gone into Captivity. Their Prieſts, and Ecclefiaftical Governours, reaching them ſuch praRices and encouraging them by their own Examples, and promiſing them impunity, and ſecurity in them. n Either they have been a cauſe of their offering Sacrifices ro Idols upon the Mountains, or of their being carried into Caprivity over the Mountains, o Either wandring up and down in a ſtrange Land, or in their way thither, or running from one ſpecies of Idolatry to another, p They have forgotten the Land of Canazr which I give them for a reſting place afrer their roilſom Travel in the Wilder- nels, or ( as ſome would have it) they have forgotten me who am their reſt,
7 All that found them have devourzd them g, and their adverſaries ſaid, We oftend not, becauſe they
bare you ſhall be aſhamed # : behold, the hindermoit of the nations b ſhall be a wilderne(s, a dry land, and a deſarts, |
s Your chief City Babylon, or your Ccuntry, which is the com- mon Mother of all the Cyalde2rs ſhail be deitroyed, or ſhall be a- ſhamed of you,who are nor able co defend her, b The fence here ſeems a little difficulr,becauſe it appears no {uch ftrange thing rhat the hindermolt of rhe Nations ſhould be a Wildernefs. Ic is theres fore probable that the words ja be, are to be underſtood before the hindermoſ? of the Nations, our Tranſlation ſupplierh then: at- rer, ſo the reading will be, # ſ2a!l be the hindermal of © 5: nat ons, 4 wilderneſs, &c. That 15, Babylon, char hath cen to fa- mous, and accounted rhe head of the Nations, ſhall become che meaneſt ofall Nations, a meer Wilderneſs, and 2 dry Land,and 4 Deſarr,