2 And will ſend unto Babylon * fanners,tnat ſhall fan her, and empty her land6: for in the day of trouble they ſhall be againſt her round abour c.
b Wicked Men are compared to Chaft, P{a!. 2. 4. Sach as exe- cuce judgment on them are called Fanners, Fer. 15. 7. So Matth. 2. 12, becauic as the Fanner keepeth what 1s in the Fan unguiet in 4coninusl motion and agiation, by which (advantaged by the Wind) heemytieth it of the Chat, to the Executioners of God's Vengeance, by a ſucceſſion of jidgments keep a People from quiet, till all their Cha be winnowed out, and the Fan be emp- tied of all but the more ſolid Grain. c For (he ſaich) as the Fan- ner firſt ridleth what he hath in his Fan one way, then another. frft throweth it up, then lets it fall into the Fan, ſo the Enemies ould be round about Babylon, and God would be on every fide and every way deſtroying them.
s Acuinſt him that bendeth , Iet the archer bend hrs bow, and againft him char lifteth up himfelt 1n his Brigandine 4? and ſpare ye not her young mea, de- ſtroy ye utterly ail her hoſt c.
4 Vihar ever Arms the Babylonians ſhall be Armed with, they fall meer with their Matches, thoſe thatare Archers, ſhall meet with Archersto bend the Bow againſt them ; and thoie whoare orherwile armed ſhall meet with Perions prepared to 1ncounter them at their own Weapons. e Their whole Hoſt thall be de- {t:oyed botii young and old Men.
4 Thus the ſlain ſhall fall in the land of che Chal- deans, and zhey that are thruſt through * 1n her {ſtreets f. | |
f thus all of them ſha!i be deftroyed, ſome 1a the Fields, ſome in the S.reets of their Cities.
s For Hrael hh not been forſaken, nor Judah of
2)
niſh:nent was very great, her caſe too ſad for them to help. The reaching of things to. Heavens, and lifting them up to the Skies are Phrales uſed co fignitie high and great mealures, and degrees of things ſo expreſſed G-n. 11, 4, and 28, 12+ Deus. 1,28. 1 Sam F. 12, 2 Chron. 28.9. Pſal. 107. 26.
of the LORD our God g.
q Thele words are ſpoken as 1n the perſon of the Fews own ing che deſtruction of Babylon. 1. Tobe the mighty Work of God. 2. An aCt ot Juſtice and Judgment, pleading the Cauſe and re- venging the Wrongs of hits People; and owaing the Fewiſh Re- ligion, and calling one to another to go tothe Temple to declare what God had done tor them, and to give thanks un to him for IT
the LORD, the vengeance of his temple --.
r Prepare the Arrows for fighting, whether by feathering, ſharpning, or poliſhing and cleanſing of them, is not much ma- terial. ſ You that are Chaldeans gather all the Shields you have together, you Will have need of them all: or you that are the E- nemes of the Chaldeans, gather you together your Shields, x For God hath put a Spirit into Cyrus and Darizs, &c. and his defign 1s againlt Bzbylon to deſtroy it. u It is a day ia which God is reſolved to take vengeance 0:1 Babylon; to take venzeance for the indignities they have offered to, and the horrible Protanation of his Temple.
12 Sctup the ſtandard upon the walls of Babylon;
lis God, of the LORD of hoits 7; though their land was filled with Itn againtt the holy one of Tfravl &,
z That is, notutterly forſaken”; for ina ſence they were for-| faizen as to lome gradual maniteſtations of God's Love to them, Put Fudab and Tfract were not lefr as a Widow. or were not di- yorced trom God. The word tranilated fin, fignifies a molt hei- nous finning or delolation, and the beſt Interpreters judge thar fin here fheniftieth the puniſhment of fin. God hath not forſaken the Fows utcerly, though as they were formerly filled with grie- vous flas, 16 they be now filled with grieveus Judgments becaule
Of L261. {101S» 6 * Flze ont of the midſt of Babylon, and deliver
quity z: for * this z- the time of the LORD's venge- ance, he will render unto her a remembrance k.
7 It is matter of no great moment wherher we underſtand theſe words as ſpoken to the Fews in the Captivity of Babylon, as Chap. 50. $- or to thote whom the Chaidezns had hired to help them ; or to ſuch ſtrangers as for their tecuiar advantages lived in Babylon. By Soul here tcemethto be meant Life, and by Iniqui- ty the puniſhm=nr of the Babylonians iniquity : (as the Heb. word oft f1gnifies) Though in the New Teftament thete words be uſed
Chap. [1
+, Hed-þ
Ita. i;
ſed and done that which he ſpake againſt the inhabi- #4
tants of Babyſon. ;
w Some judge theſe worc's ſpoken to the Medes, declaring the Will of God that they ſhould uſe all probable means to conquer Babylon, or (as 1ome would have it) diſplay their Banners upon the Walls of it, as ftgns of its being already conquered : But cer- tainly jt 1s more reaſonable to conclude them the Prophet's words to the Babylonians, either rouſing them cur of their ſecurity (for it appears they were ſtrangely fecure trom Dan. 5. Hiſtorians tell us,that the City was fortihed by Walls fitty Cubits high, and two hundred Cubits broad, and by a very deep and Jarge Ditch, be- ſides that on one fide it had the River Euphrates) or at leaſt quick- ening them to make all the preparation they could, though all would beto very little purpole, tor God had refolved upon what he would do unto Babylon, and it was already as good as done.
73 © thou that dwelleſt upon many waters x, a- bundant in treaſures y, thine end is come, ard the meaſure of thy covetouſacſs z.
x Babylon 1s (aid to dwell upon many Waters, becauſe upon the great River Euphrares, which they ſav did not only run by it but almoſt incompaſs it,branching jt 1elt into many imaller Rivers
as a monition to People ro ſeparate trom the Tdolatries of myſti- Cal Babylon, yet they leem here to be only a warning to others to remove our of the reach of Babylon's fall. k for the time is come When God hath determined to take Vengeance on Babylon, and to recompence t0 her all her fin, and that cruelty which ſhe ſhew-
ed ro the Fews in particular.
which made jevera! pa-ts of the City, Hlands. y It is a City much noted 1n Scripture for Wealth.and made much more wealthy than itwas by Traflick, by the Conqueſt ot many Nations. + The Prophet tells them that now their gathering time was over:there was now a boundary et totheir covctouinets. In the Hebrew it 1s the Cubit of 1'y coverovine's, WhICh is by ou; Tranflators well :ranflaced a m-aſure, bectule it was amongſt the J-ws the com-
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