faith the Lord, by that which is not God; and I will move them to jealoufy, by those who are not a people. And again, As he cried, and they would not hear; fo they cried, and I would not hear, faith the Lord ' of holts.' 3 ¶ And it fhall come to pass in the day that the LORD fhall give thee reft from thy forrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou waft made to ferve. The particular period is here marked wherein the preceding prophecy fhould receive its accomplishment.In the day the Lord fhall give thee reft from thy forrow, &c. Sorrow, fear, and hard bondage, hath, at certain feasons, been the lot of the pofterity of Ifrael, who were, from time to time, subjected to the greatest calamities. Sorrow is that uneafy fenfation which is excited by difstress, and the natural effect of the affliction from whence it takes its rise. Tranfgreffion is the caufe of all the calamities which befal mankind; and calamities are the fource of grief and forrow, from which the house of Ifrael were not exempted.-Fear fometimes expreffes in fcripture, the uneafy paffion which bears that name, and at other times the dreaded object from whence it arifes. Between the paffion, and the object which occafions it, there is a very intimate connection, in fo much that when the latter is removed, the former commonly ceases. The fear from which the Lord was to give Ifrael reft, was that perplexing and tormenting paffion which proceeds from the dreaded approach of thofe formidable evils that embarrass and enfeeble the mind, and incapacitate for action those on whom it feizeth.-The hard fervice which they were made to ferve, may chiefly refer to the very painful and difficult labours wherein they were employed, with great rigour and severity, by the Babylonians. At the time in which God was to deliver them them from the forrow, fear, and bondage, that they had experienced, they were to enjoy the benefits foretold in the preceding verfes. This remarkable prophecy was accomplished foon after the destruction of the Babylonifh empire. The Ephraimites having been carried away into Affyria and Media, the Jews were led captive to Babylon. At the expiration of feventy years, the period fixed for theit continuance in a itate of exile, God was pleased to fhew them mercy, to restore them to their own land, and to perform what is here foretold. For this purpose, he raised up his servant Cyrus, who iffued the memorable decree, recorded 2 Chron. xxxvi. 29. To carry forward this great work, of refcuing his people from their forrow and bondage, he employed Ezra the fcribe, whofe name fignifies a Helper, and Nehemiah the governor, whofe name denotes the Confolation of the Lord, to affift and comfort them. These great men, with Zerubbabel and Jofhua, conducted from the captivity and thraldom in which they had been detained at Babylon, above forty-two thou fand of them, befides more than feven thousand men and women fervants, who were probably firangers that had joined them. About the fame time, many profelytes were made to the Jewish religion, who joined the house of Jacob, as we learn from the book of Efther; where we read, that, after Mordecai's pro-. motion, the Jews had joy and gladnefs, a feaft and a good day: and many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. Thus the Lord gave them, in fome meafure, reft from forrow, fear, and bondage. "The "circumstances mentioned in this prophecy (fays the "learned Dr. Lowth, in his Notes) which did not, in . any complete fenfe, accompany the return from the "captivity at Babylon, feem to intimate, that this "whole prophecy extends its views beyond that VOL II. *Efther viii, 17. 67 event," " event," to the kingdom of Jefus Chrift, in which it shall receive a full accomplishment, and to which we look forward with hope and joy. 4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and fay, How hath the oppreffor ceafed! the golden city ceased! The prophet now returns to defcribe the fall of the Babylonish empire, by means of which great event, way should be made for the accomplishment of the predictions that we have been confidering.This fubject is introduced, with the utmost propriety, in the form of a triumphant fong. A chorus of Jews first express their furprise and aftonishment at the fudden downfal of Babylon, and the great reverfe of the tyrant's condition, who, like his predeceffors, had oppreffed his own and neighbouring kingdoms. Against the debased monarch, they are called, to take up this proverb. The Hebrew verb of the noun tranflated proverb, fignifies, to exercise authority, to compare one thing with another, to utter weighty fayings or parables. The noun is used to exprefs every fort of fententious, figurative, and fublime fpeech; fuch as the Proverbs of Solomon, which are delivered in fhort fentences, frequently figurative, and generally authoritative, both in matter and form. Such alfo are the wife maxims, and pithy fayings of Jefus Christ, recorded in the gofpel: where he faith, No man ⚫ can ferve two masters; Where your treasure is, ⚫ there will your heart be alfo.' heart be alfo.' Some proverbs are obfcure, and fignify fomewhat different from what the words feem to intimate: of this fort was that anciently used in Ifrael, The fathers have eaten four grapes, and the childrens teeth are fet on edge;' and that mentioned by the apostle Peter, The dog is turned again to his vomit; and the fow that was Ezek. xviii. 2. ⚫ washed, 'washed, to her wallowing in the mire. Others aré plain, moral fentences; of which you have an instance, i Samuel xxiv. 13. in the fpeech of David to king Saul,' As faith the proverb of the ancients, Wicked⚫ nefs proceedeth from the wicked.' The proverb which was to be used by the men of Judah, was a taunting kind of fpeech, in which the power and pride of Babylon was to be infulted, and treated with contempt. In this view alfo, you may confider the following words of triumph, in which the people of God were to exprefs their joy at the deftruction of that great city. How hath the oppreffor ceafed! the golden city ceased! The oppreffor is a name which emphatically defcribes the character of the king of Babylon, whofe government was stained with injuftice, violence, and oppref fion, and fupported by heavy exactions impofed on the neighbouring ftates, to fupport his magnificence and grandeur.The golden city is a graphical description of that city, which was renowned for its immense riches and incomparable fplendor. Ta express their astonishment at the event alluded to, they inquire, How hath the oppreffor ceased! the golden city ceased! He who oppreffed us and other nations, who made us to ferve with hard bondage, how is he come to nothing! Who hath accomplished his ruin, and by whom hath his deftruction been effected? Both the prince, and the city, have ceased. The king was flain, and the city overthrown. 5 The LORD hath broken the ftaff of the wicked, and the fceptre of the rulers. Thefe words contain an anfwer to the preceding inquiry God is acknowledged the author of this. wonderful defolation. The king of Babylon might justly be called the staff of the wicked, in as much as + 2 Peter ii. 22. he 1 he greatly promoted the practice of all manner of wickednefs, and was a chief fupport of its interefts. This instrument of corruption and guilt the Lord hath broken; he hath fuddenly crushed him by a violent death, whereby a final period is put to all his mighty power and influence. And the Sceptre of the rulers. The royal authority (fignified by a fceptre), which was exerted, by means of the rulers and governors of the provinces, over the people, was likewife broken and deftroyed. Thus did the Moft High take away from the earth this wicked, tyrannical prince, and his proud ambitious rulers, that his people might enjoy the ineftimable benefits of liberty and fafety. 6 He who fmote the people in wrath with a continual ftroke; he that ruled the nations in anger, is perfecuted, and none hindereth. The language of exultation and triumph, begun in the foregoing verfe, is ftill continued.The king of Babylon made war with the people of Ifrael, and the nations of the earth; and, having conquered them, he fmote them, not with temper and moderation, but with wrath and fierce anger; not with an occafional, but with an uninterrupted and continual ftroke. He ruled over the kingdoms which he van, quifhed, not with mildnefs and equity, but with extreme rigour and feverity: he governed them, not with juftice and clemency, but with tyranny and op preffion.- This haughty, angry monarch is perfecuted, and none hindereth. He was purfued, overtaken, and feized, by the juftice of God, and quickly brought to condign punishment. None of the neighbouring states or princes, who were tributary to him, or in alliance with him, afforded him any affiftance, or interpofed in his behalf, to ward off the blow given him by the direction and appointment of Heaven. Thus doth the Lord pour contempt upon princes, and abase |