Jidfly with him, as the Choice and Flower of his valiant and truſty Servants, who would guard him through all Dangers in the Flighr till he might reſt ſomewhere in ſafety : This was verified , 2 Kings 25, 4, 5. and Jer. 39. 5. © Whether Auxiliaries, or his own trained $9]. diers. d Send the Enemy after them with drawn Sword, wherewich
ployed in. {| Either the Stuff or thy ſelf ; thou ſhalr g0 forth 1n the ewilight, when there is a little Light ro guide thy Way, but more Darkneſs te conceal thy Perſon and thy Flight. y As full of Shame , and exceeding unwilling to be ſeen or known. = There is good reaſon why thov ſhouldeft do this, how ftrange, unmanly, orridiculous ſoever this may ſ.em; the Moral concerns the Houic of 1ſrael and its King ; I have {cr thee ſor a Sign to them, and thou ſhalc tell them the Mean- ing of theſe Hieroglyphicks in due time. 7 And I did fo as I was commanded: I brought 4 forth my ſtuff by day, as ſtuff for captivity , and in the Fr . »., even 1 + digged through the wall with 5 mine hand; I £2 > h:cughe it forth in the ewilight, 7d I bare zt upon my ſhoul- " _ der 1n their fight. |
a Either out of the Houſe into ſome Court or Yard, through the Wall whereof he digged : Or, elſe here is a Tranſpoling of his Ati- ons, and rehearſal of that in the firſt plac? which was atted in the ſecond place. 6 Yr? 5. ler.r. :
$ & And in the.c morning came the word of the LORD unto me, faying, .
; In the Evening he pack?, digged through the Wal], and removed in the ſight of the People ; next Morning enquiry is made how the People rejent 1t.
9 Son of man, hath 4 not the houſe of Iſrael, the rebel- lious houſe, ſaid unto thee, What doſt thou ?
d What are none come to thee? are they all ſo ſtupid, and regard- I: of my Word and Judgments? Do none enquire that they may now, and do, what is necellary in their Circumſtances? Do not thy t:llow Captives think theſe Affions are ſignificative ? Do they not ask whether they in Babylon, or their fellow Citizens at Feruſalem, are Con- cerned in what thou doeſt ?
10. e Saythouunto them, f Thus ſaith the Lord GOD, £ This burden cencerneth the þ prince in Jeruſalem, and 7 all the houſe of Iſrael that are among them,
e Though they regard not to enquire , yet give them to know
what I mean hereby. f This to add Weight and Authority to the, Fears that ſhake them. Word. gs This dreadful Prognoſtic, this Prophecy is a Burden | which the Kingdom ſhall groan under, and your King and Inhabi- |
tants of Jeruſalem with him. h Zedckiah. i None may be excepted. Ii. Say, & 1 a»zyour ſign: like as I have done, fo ſhall
: Heb. gy i be done unto them : they ſhall / - remove and go mz into
Femoving Captivity.
£9 72% 02) þ My Perſon is the Emblem of your's, and my Ations in theſe Caſes are Signs of that you ſhall do; and where you do not attively the like, yer the like ſhall be done to you, O Inhabitants of Jeraſalem ! / Change their Habitations, and carry away their Goods, ſuch as the emency of a Conquerour will pzrmit. 9 You to whom TI tell theſe things, ſhall ſee them come from Jeruſalem unto Babylon as dejeGted, iroicd, and naked Captives.
12 And the » prince that is among » them ſhall pbear upon his ſhoulder tn the twilight, and ſhall go forth: they ſhall dig q through the wall to carry out thereby: he {hall r cover his face, that he ſee not the ground with his cYes. | :
a 7Zidebiah. 0 InfJirujalim. p As a common ordinary Servant, in Lope foto eſcape ; bur ro conceal himſelf he flies in a Diſguiſe, and chooſeth the Twilight as the time that would beſt favour his Deſign, ſo 2 Kings 25.4. 4 Fulfilled when they broke down theWall to fly. as Jer. 39 4. probably they had built up ſome flight Wall to blind the En:zmy which now they break to fly through. 4 Partly out of Grief, partly out of Shame, partly prefiguring Zedekia/'s future Iols of his Eyes, and his Blindneſs, which the Inſolency of Neouchadnezzar afflicted him with ; bur Zedekiah did by this clhicfly aim at concealing hint{elf in diſguiſe, and covering his Face.
13 5 My net * alſowill : I Ipread upon him, and he ;: ſhall be taken in my ſnare; and I » will bring him to Babylon to the land of the z Chaldeans, yet ſhall he not ſee 4 it, though he ſhall die there.
* In the Diſguiſe this Fugitive might poſſtbly eſcape from the Net of Neb: baduerzar, and ofhis Captains. Bur poor Zed:kzah doſt thou notat laitſce that the Babylonians are employed of God, and that God w1ll bring thee into his own, and into Nebuchaanezzar's Net ? t inal. Iuſion to thoſe thattake Birds or Fiſh in Nets, they ſpread it toits ful] extent ; ſo will God fpread his Net that it ſhall cover Z:dck:ahand his Followers. « Mentioned as the principal, though he was not taken a'one, many vere taken with him. « The Chaldeans carried him,and God brought him to Babylon 3 fo ſecond-cauſes cowork with the firſt, y Which was the Metropolis of the Kingdom. z That ſtrange Land where they were Captives whom God {ent before, and whither obſti- rate Jer:/a/-mites muſt now go. 2 Neither the Land nor the City , though he thall ſpend the reſt of his days there, and there die; bur the Bavzlon;jh Tyrant will put out his Eyes at R'vlah, 2 Kings 25. 7. and Jer. 39. 7.
*Chcitc, 14 And *I will ſcatter toward every wind all that
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they ſha!l be ſlain, Fer. 42. 22. and 43. 9, io, I.
15 And they ſhall e know that I am the LORD, when [ F ſhall ſcatter them among the nations, and diftreſ: chem in the countreys.
e They ſhall ſee, confeſs, and be ſenſible of my Power , Juſtice and Truth, who make good my Threats againſt obdurate Sinners as well as my Promiſes to Believers. f Two Expreſſions of the ſame thing, which is frequent in Scripture ; and as ituſually magnifi:th the Geod or Evil, ſo enſures either.
16 But g I will leave + a few < men of them from; MM che ſword , from the famine, and from the peſtilence, »=:þ that they 7 may declare all their abominations among the nmvwF heathen whither they come, and they & ſhall know that 1 am the LORD,