[then take thee 7 balances to & weigh ard divide the pair, | @ It is not unlikely that this Command was given to the Prophet ſo ſoon as he had underſtood the former Chapter's Viſion. 5 Vid. £5. 2. 1. c Procure it by any means. d A Sword or Knife very ſharp, as Heb. ſo the grievous Judgment is expreſs'd, ch. 21.9. 19. 11 14. 15 16. and here the ſpeedy, irreſiltible, and ſweeping Judgmeat againſt this people is aptly ſer forth. e This in different Words is the ſame thing. and explains the former, and makes the Emblem more exa& : for by Hair ſhaved and deſtroyed, is the Deſtrucicn of 5:+»/:!:w3 and its Peo- ple repreſented to us. Now that this may appear in the Certainty of ir, both a Sword tor Strength, and ſharp for cuttico, nav, a Ruby much ſharper, that ſhaves cloſe, leaves nothing behind 15, and cues be reſiſted by the weak Hair, fo ſhall it be here with this Pcovie. f Ar Hebraiſm, ſhave cloſe with it. g The Chief, as Kins, and Rul-rs, the City. h The common Citizens; or, the Towns round abou:, 7; Jutt and exa& Scales, an Emblem of Divine Juſtice and Equiry. & The Pcophers weighing repreſents God weighing theſe Men and their ways, ! Theſe light, vain and worthleſs ones, Inhabirancs of this ſinful City, 2 Sam. IO 4. 5. Jer. 41.5. & 48. 37. Thus foretel them their mo 11. ing, Reproach, and Detormity that 15 coming, for all this is ſignified by this ſhaving Head and Beard. ET 2 Thou ſhalt burn - with fire a third part in the midſt of the » city, when the days of the ſiege are o fulfilled, and thou ſhalt take a p third part, and {nice about it with q a knife, and a r third part s thou ſhalt ſcar. cer in # the wind, and 1 « will draw out a x {word alter
chem. .
This Verſe tells you into how many Parts the Hair was to be diviled, and how to be diſpos'd of, and ſo plain it neels little Explication. m Soeither Peſtilence, or Famine, with the Difpleafure of God, and che burning of the Ciry, and of the Citizens, is noted our. » DUetcril. 4 on the Tile, ch. 4. 1. a Type of what would be done in 7-2! 0 When the 390 Days of the lying againſt the pourtray'd City tha}} be ended ; for when Jeruſalem ſhall be raken at the end of che Siege, rhe City ſhall be burnt, and who can fay that none of the Inhabitants were burnt, as the two falſe Prophets Ahab and Z-4:kia: Jer, 29 22? To be ſure many that hid themſelves under ground, in Vaults and C-llats, were burnt wath the burning of the City. p "Tis not necetlary this part ſhould be equal to the former, if it be proportional 'tts enough, perhaps ir might be ſomewhat leſs than the fi:ft third. 4 For theſe were ſuch as fell, in either defending che Walls, or fallying out during the Siege, or were found in Arms when the Ci:y was taken, or were overtaken in their Flight, with their moſt unhappy King, or by Law. Martial were adjudged to die by the conqueror ; theſe many yet weak ones, Women and Children which dic*l in the Sizge by Famine and Peſtilence, might be a greater third. » Thoſe that fell ro the Cha/geusc, or fled to Egypt, or other Ccuntreys, though they ſcape ſomewhat lon- ger, yet carrying like Sins, are at laſt overtaken with like Evils, 5 Tho theſe diſpos'd ot themſelves, yet there was God's Hand a!ſo in it, he ſcattered thoſe that of their own accord did fly, 7 Violent, uncer- tain, and troubletlome, ſhou'd their Enemies prove to them, » God will purſue them. x Figuratively *cis waſting Puniſhmear, liccrally 'twas fulfilled, Jer. 42 16. 17. 22. & 43. 10. 11. © 44. 27.
and 4 bind chemin thy # skirts. 7 i. e. Of the laſt third which were to be diſperſed. z Or ſmall Quantity. @ Or by number as it may be read, tell our a ſmall parcel of the Hair. bþ As Men tie up in an Handkerchief, or in the Skirr of their Garment what they wou!d not loſe: So ſome few ſhall be kepr, God will not cut off the whole Houſe of 1/-az!, but reſervesa Remnanr.
4 » Then take ol them again, and 6 caſt them into the midft of the fire, and burn c them in the fire, 4 for e thereof ſhall a fire come forth into all the houſe of If.
rael,
a Another Diviſion make of that little Number, the preſcrved Remnant. 6b Throw ſome of them into the Fire, they are not all to be ſaved who are delivered at the end of the Siege, c Literally bucn rhe Hair, but ſignify the burning them that are meant by it. 4 Of God's Diſplezſure, and of Civil War or private Conſpiracy, as in Ima! againſt Gedaliah, Jer. 40. 41. 42. 43 e From their Sin againſt God, their Diſcontenrs at their State, and Conſpiracies againſt their Gover-= nour, appointed by Nebachadnezzar, Evill, like another Fire, ſhall break out, which ſhall devour the moſt, and be near conſuming all che Houſe of Iſrael, as happened to them after G:daliah's Death, and their going down to Egypt, as Fer 40. 41.42. 43 44. 46. under Johanan's Revolr, which the Chaldean did revenge at-laſt.
5 «f Thus faich the Lord GOD, g This + « Jeruſalem : I have # ſet it in & the midſt of the nations and countreys
that are round / about her.
f This ſolemn Declaration in God's Name the Prophet uſech by ex- preſs Order, << 3. 11. g This pourtrayed Ciry. 4 Is typically 7e- raſalem and her Inhabitants. 7 Placed her in a moſt delightiull Situa- tion, choſe out the beſt part of the known World for her. k In 2 Neighbourhood to moſt rich and plenteous Countries, with whom ſhe might have convers'd and ſpread forth my Name. / Either as Szr- vants about a Miſtreſs: or, as meaner Houſes about the Palace or Ma- nour of a Lord: or, as Traders about an Empory, much to advantage of Jeruſalem. : ;
6 And / ſhe hath »» changed my » judgments into o wickedneſs more than the p nations, and my q ſtatutes more than the countries that are round about her : for r they have refus?d 5 my judgmenes and my ſtatutes, * they have not walked in them.
1 Jeruſalem, the Metropolis. where the Temple and the ſolemn Feaſts and Sacrifices were, which in likelihood was forwardelt, fulleſt, and moſt expenſiveon cther invented Modes of Worſhip, the who was moſt obliged tome. m The H:5. includes a Rebellion and Contumacy ; and theſe were cauſe of her changing, as Rebels change the Laws of a Kingdom. n The Laws of Holy, Righteous, and Sober Living ; che
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exaCt Rules of Manners, o Iimprobity, =_ Injuſtige goward cach _
Chap. V.
3 Thou ſhalt alſo rake y thereof a | tew & in number, fHeb.
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