»y There 1s ſome Diſputes amongſt Interpreters, Whether the words here Merathaim and Pekod be to be taken as common Nouns, the one ſignifying Rebels or Rulers, the other Vi fitation, becauſe the Chaldeans were Rebels againſt the Lord,and were great Rulers over all the contiguous Nations : Or whether they be pr6- per Names of ſome Places which Cyrus paſſed by, or, it may be, took 1n, ard conquered in his way to Babylon. x The latter are God's Words by his Prophet, like the former commanding him with his Armies togo up, and deſtroy them flying away,or them that ſhould ſucceed after them, their whole Pofterity ; intimating God's deſign utterly to deſtroy them,which deſtruction was gently begun by Cyrus, and perfeRed by Darius.
22 A ſound of Battel 5 inthe land, and of great
deſtruction 4. a That 15 1n the Land of Chaldeg.
23 How is the * hammer of the whole Earth cut a-” ſinder and broken ? how is Babylon become a deſo-
\lation amongl(t the Nations 6 ?
b The latter part of the Verſe exponnds the former, God had
e- made the Bzbylonians his Hammer, to break other Nations in pie-
dtiven him away 9, firlt the king of Aſſyria hath de-,
ces, now 1t was it ſelf broken ; the Particle how may be underſtood
re IM yr. 7 is} > - -1n9 of \<: : - rae” "dn" voured him, and laſt this Nebuchadrezzar king of either as expreſſing triumphand rejoycing, or admiration, or as
Babylon hath broken his bones.
'1nquiring how ſuch a thing could be in the laſt ſence. The nexc
P By Ifrazl 1s here veant the whole T« eive Tribes ( tho' ſome . Verſe iS an anſwer eo this.
times it fignifieth the Ten Tribes 1n oppofition to Fudah) they were all wandering Sheep, they became peaally ſcattered Sheep. g Enemies as fierce and cruel as Lions, had ſeized them, and car- ric them into Captivity. r Firſt the King of Aſſyriz devoured the Ten Tribes which were ſtriftiy call'd Iſrael, 2 Kings 17. 6. Then Nebucbadreggar the King of Buby/on rook Feruſalem as we h-aid Chap. 39. and carried away the People, and burnt the Temple, which the Prophet here calls a breaking of his bones,
13 Therefore thus ſaith the LORD of hoſts, the God of Iſrael, Behold, 1 will puniſh the King of Ba- bylon, and his land 7, as I have puniſhed the King of Aſſyria £.
r God may juſtly puniſh thoſe who do the things which he hath ermmanded them to do, it they do them not in that manner which he directeth, or, if what they do, be not done jn obedience to his: Command, but in fatisfaCtion to their own Luſts, which was che caſe of the Aſſyrtans, Iſa. 10.7. f Some refer tais to the puniſh- ment of the 4ſſjrians in the deſtruction of Senacherib and his Ar- my in tke time of H-3kiah. but the Propher ſeemeth here to
{peak of a deſtruCtion of 4ſſria, which followed after his de- youring of the Ten Tribes, from whence we may conclude, that Aſſyria was deſtroved betore the time of this Revelation,
Io And I will bring Iſrael again to his habitati- on 7, and he ſhall feed on Carmel and Baſhan, and his
24 I have laid a ſnare for thee, and thou art alſo taken, O Babylon, and thou waſt not aware, thou art found, and alfo caught c, becauſe thou halt ftri- ven againſt the LORD 4.
c Wearetold that Cyrus wich his great Army diverted the River Euphrates, ſo as his Army paſſed over and ſurprized the Cicy fo ſuddenly that thoſe in the mid(t of it, did not know it when part ofthe City was already taken. God dire&ted Cyrus to this Stratagem
for the raking of the City, which the Prophet calls a ſnare, where-
in the Babylonzans were taken. 4d The reaſon of this unexpetted rune to this great People was their finning agaiaſt the Lord, Yer. I4. Which 1s here call'd a firiving againſt him, as indeed all fin IS.
25 The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation :
for this 7s the work of the LORD God of hoſts, in
the land of the Chaldeans e.
& Babylon was 1o rich, and potent a Nation, and had been ſo great a Conquerour, that People looking only with the eye of ſenſe, and judging according to probabilities in the Eyes of Men,
Prophet here an{wereth, That the hand of God was to be eyed in the caſe, this was the Lord's Work upon the Chaldeans ; God hag
| opened his Arn.oury, and the Medes were to make uſe of the Wea -
foul ſhall be farished upon Mount Ephraim and Gi-; pons of his indignation. He who threatned this deſtruction was a-«
iead .
: Tiis muſt be underſtood of Fudah, which was part of that'
People who were called Tirael, for this day we have neither read ' por heard of the Ten Tribes being brought back again to their ha- bication. « The only dithculty is how it is faid that the Jews up- on their return ſhould feed upon Carmel and Bzſhan, and Mount Etbraim and G:lead, which were places that belon*'d not to the Tribes of Ja44h and Berjamin : to which it is anſwered, that mhele places were granted to the Jews by Demetrius the Father and
ble to carry it through, and it was nogreat matter what Weapons eicher the Babyloniars had to defend themſelves, or the Medes ro —_ ther, God's power and ſtrength was only to be regard- ed.
Chap
Fl. 20.
| might well ask how theſe things could poſſibly be > To which the |
26 Come againſt her + from the utmoſt border 4; + Heb. open her ſtore-houſes p : || caſt her up as heaps, and _ 1?
deſtroy her utterly : let nothing of her be lett, | [In
f Tie
end.
Or, 2)
fFY,
—_— wo > > = ww
I ; | "_ = F3 FN wn, E 7 pO # The Prophet in the Name of God callethto the Enemies of Babylon, the Medes, to come Up, from the furtheſt parts of ther Dominions, or from all parts, to fight againſt Baby/9n. g To open che Granaries, or Store-houles, or Treaſuries of che Babylonzans, i, And to calt up the Cities as heaps of Rubbiſh, and utterly to de- troy the Cicy, with luch a total deſtruction that nothing of 1t ſhould be let,
27 Slay all her bullocks : It them go down to the laughter g - wo unto them, for their day 18 come, the time of their Vitation.
g By Ballocks in this place Interpreters generally underſtand he great and rich Men of Babylon.
-3 The voice of them that flee and eſcape out of
& Cl:p- the land of Babylon * to declare 11 Zion the venge- 19.11 © of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple. 0
h Ne Prophet here brings in the poor Jews that had been Captives in Babylon going back upon Cyrys his Proclamation of Liberty. toward Zion there joyfully to declare the revenge which
t
ene Lui their God had taken for them, and tor his holy Temple, whict: the Chaliears had burnt and deſtroyed.