© Kingdom of 1/72el 4d Of which ſee Ezek. 26, 27. and 28 chap. a I? rich, well fortified, and pleaſant City, and ſecure too, that afrer- Ward held out thirteen years Siege againft all the Power of the Baby» a Empire in Nebuckddnezzar's time, e Is now well provided,ſeems nvincible, is as ſecure as Tyrus was in her Proſperity ; perhaps reckons
þ er Strength ſhall break the Enemies, or Money buy Friends : or xd, © Mzgnificence and Beauty of their Palaces and Dwelling ſhall be 10- va Safety to them ; but all this ſhall avail nothing. f Though mul- ot5 Me of Children to ſend forth in mighty Armies againft the Enemy, | yy BW: *! be but a ſending them out to the Slaughter ; God is depart- uit fall ho them, and will not go out with their Armies ſo they hall | 2 7 the Sword of the Enemy, as they needs muft, whom God doth | E It befriend in a War.
14 Give them, O LORD 7zZ ; what wilt thon give hz Sethent a+ miſcarrying womb #, and dry breaſts k,
| _& It:is an abrupt but very pathetical Sp-ech of one that ſhews his
them with a tota! Extermination, and in moſt dreadful manner, as des [Cribed ver, 11,12,13- Now give ſome Mercy. # The d1ys are COm+ ing when the barren Womb will be a Bleſſing ; give this, O Lord ! 'tis le!s Miſery to have none, than to have all our Children murdered by a barbarous Enemy, Luke 23.29. k Not to ftarve the Children born, zur tis farther Explication of the former; dry Brexfts are Sy mproms of a barren Womb, whether by Abortion, or Non-conception, by one or other: Prevent theſe woful Effets of our Enemies unjuſt Rage,and of thy moft righteous Diſpleaſure againſt us, O Lord.
Is All } their wickedneſs #2 * & in Gilgal #- for there 1 hated them o: for the wickedneſs of their do-
Ings p 1 will drive them out q of mine houſe y, 1 will
rers 4.
I The Chief, or Sum, or: Beginning, it is not to be underſtood exclit- five to other Places, for every City was full, there was all kind of Sin ellewhere. m In rejeting God and his Government ; here Saul was made King, and Samuel was rejeted:; Here they began to turn the remarkable Bleſſings God gave them in this Place, into a uperſtitious and hypocritical Veneration of the Place,and began their Will-worſhip and Jdolatcies : If all the Impiety of Ephraim may be reduced to their horrible Degeneracy and Corruption in State and Church, here it be- gan,and fo all was here. = Where 1/rael firſt pitched their Tents after they paſſed oyer Fordan.&c. Vid.chap.4.15.let.e. 0 As there they Began to {in ſo. notoriouſly, there alſo I began to ſhew that I hated them. Þ For the continued Wickedneſs which from their firſt beginning there they have propagated to other Places, and increaſed daily, and with Obftinacy. q As Mean thruſt out of their Honſes,one-that is alto- gether unworthy to dwell longer with them. r By a Synechdoche,the Houſe tor 'Land, or out of their Houſe 3 which though theirs for Uſe, Was yet God's Propriety ; and when God caftsEphraim out of his Houſe, he ſends him into Captivity. $I will ceaſe to expreſs any more Love to thee, it is a Mezofis,l will add no more to love them +7,e, I will add to hate them, and puniſh them z I will leave them in the Hand, and under the Fury of their Enemies in a firange Land. r Their Kings,Ru- lers, both Civil and Ecclefiaſtical. « Are and have been Idolaters ever fince the Diviſion in Feroboam Son of Nebat, not one of their Kings but were Tdolaters, and obftinate, and perverle in it alſo,
16 Ephraim is ſmitten =, their root is dried up y,
they ſhall bear no fruit z : yea, though they bring
x This gives us ſome Gueſs at the time of this Prophecy,which was after Feroboam's Death z in whoſe Life and Reign Epbraim was as a very flouriſhing Tree,whoſe Roots were full of Sap and Life ; but after the Death of this King they were, as here 'tis expreft, a. Tree ſmirren, as if ſcorch'd with Lightning, or burnt up with-a vehement and conti- nued Heat and Drought by day : Blaſted they were,whatever was the Means ; or poflibly it may refer to thoſe Seditions, Civil Wars, and Rebellious Conſpiricies which (ſay ſome) did for tome years affict the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes, which unnatural Wars were as an AX to the Root of this Tree,and gave 7: King of Aſjyria Opportuni- ty and Courage to ſet upon them, of whom they were forced to buy their Peace at a dear rate,viz. a thouſand Talentsof Silver ; or to the captivating of Naprhali,and taking many fortified Towns out of Petah's Hand by 7igleth Pileſer, who came up to the Reſcue of Aba; 2 Kings 15+ » This hath dried up the very Roots of this Tree ; this Blaft from Heaven hath nut only fcorch'd the top-Boughs, but rended the very Body of this J/7acliziſh Tree, and hath ſpoiled its Roots ; or Civil Wars firft,and Foreign Wars next,have cut upthe Roots of this Tree, the ſtrong and valiant young Men, who were to perpetuate the Life and Beauty of this People. - 4 As ſuch a dead Root cannot fpring out, lo thele Epbraimites never ſhall ſpring forth; they ſhall ever be barren. 4 Suppoſe they ſhould yet bring forth, (ſuch a Suppoſition yau meet with ver.12,which ſee) they ſhall not grow to Maturity and Greatneſs. b Either by Diſeaſes which are legibly from God's hand, or by the Sword of one another, or of a foreign Invader ; if you do not enume- rate all the Ways God will take, we are ſure he will rake Ways e-
| nough to make good his own Word, and lay their beloved Children,
thoſe Children that were the more beloved, for that: their Parents had either few, or elſe: had loft ſome they had before.
t7 My God c will caſt them away 4, becauſe they did not hearken unto him e : and they ſhall be wanderers f among, the nations g.
_ © No more thy God, O Epbraim ? thou canſt no more have hope or
that account ; but my Go, faith the Prophet, my God, who hath re- vealed his Purpoſe to me, and who will accompliſh it, who will make good the Word I have ſpoken againſt yous 4 Your Sins have been 2
Wearineſs, a Loathing to my God ; and now as a vile, loathed, and
weariſom thing is caſt off by a Man, ſo ſhall you be caft off from your
God. e Neither did hearken to God to prevent Apoſtacy, nor would.
' ever after hearken to God at firft to repent and turn to him z like a
wilful Adultereſs, they would not keep faithful to their Husband, nor
return to him when once departed from him. f Have no City of their
own, no ſettled Dwelling-place ; as much ſuſpected, hated, ill uſed,and
puniſhed as Vagabonds are in *well-ord:x 4 Common-wealths 5 ail