_Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city [where] David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices._ Ver. 1. _Woe to Ariel, to Ariel,_] _i.e., _ To the brazen altar, Eze 43:15-16 called here Ariel, or God's lion, because it seemed as a lion to devour the sacrifices daily burnt upon it. Here it is... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel._ Ver. 2. _Yet I will distress Ariel._] Though a sacred place. Profligate professors are the worse for their privileges. The Jew first. Rom 2:9 _ And it shall be unto me as Ariel,_] _i.e., _ It sh... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. Ver. 3. _And I will camp against thee round about._] I will bring the woe of war upon thee - a woe that no words, how wide soever, can possibly express. See this accomplished... [ Continue Reading ]
And thou shalt be brought down, [and] shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. Ver. 4. _And thou, shalt be brought down._] From those lo... [ Continue Reading ]
Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones [shall be] as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. Ver. 5. _Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers._] Thy foreign auxiliaries; these shall do thee no good, but be... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. Ver. 6. _Thou shalt be visited with thunder and earthquake,_] _i.e., _ _Fragosis, repentinis, vehementibus, et immedicabilibus plagis,_ with rattli... [ Continue Reading ]
And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. Ver. 7. _Shall be as the dream of a night vision._] Both in regard of thee to whom this siege and ruin shall happen beyond a... [ Continue Reading ]
It shall even be as when an hungry [man] dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, [he is] faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fi... [ Continue Reading ]
Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. Ver. 9. _Stay yourselves, and wonder._] _Sistite gradum,_ stand still, and stand amazed at this people's stupendous stupidity and desperate security. Piscator rendereth th... [ Continue Reading ]
For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. Ver. 10. _For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep._] By a judiciary hardness he hath rolled a stone upon your hearts, and given... [ Continue Reading ]
And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which [men] deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it [is] sealed: Ver. 11. _And the vision of all is become unto you, &c._] The Scriptures were so to the scribes and... [ Continue Reading ]
And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. Ver. 12. _And the book is delivered to one that is not learned._] Heb., Knoweth not to read. By the learned is meant, say some, the rulers in Church and State; by the unlearned, the... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Ver. 13. _Because this people draweth near to me, &c._] For their putid hypocrisy... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, [even] a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise [men] shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent [men] shall be hid. Ver. 14. _Therefore, behold, I do a marvellous work,_] _scil., _ By infatua... [ Continue Reading ]
Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Ver. 15. _Woe unto them that seek deep to hide._] That carry two faces under a hood, as all formalists and double-minded persons do, desirous to deceive... [ Continue Reading ]
Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? Ver. 16. _Surely your turning of things upside down._] Heb., _Invertere vestrum... [ Continue Reading ]
Isaiah 29:17 [Is] it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? Ver. 17. _Is it yet not a very little while?_] _Nonne adhuc paululum paululum; _ or, A hundred years hence the Gentiles shall be called by the p... [ Continue Reading ]
_And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness._ Ver. 18. _In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book,_] _i.e., _ The deaf and blind Gentiles being by the preaching of the gospel drawn out of darkness... [ Continue Reading ]
The meek also shall increase [their] joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Ver. 19. _The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord._] All sincere converts, such especially as have mastered and mortified their unruly passions and are cured of the fret,... [ Continue Reading ]
For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: Ver. 20. _For the terrible one is brought to nought._] This is part matter of the just man's joy; where observe the contrary characters given to the godly and the wicked; those are s... [ Continue Reading ]
_That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought._ Ver. 21. _That make a man an offender for a word._] When he meant no hurt, or by perverting and misconstruing his speeches. Thus they sought to trap Christ in... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. Ver. 22. _Who redeemed Abraham., _] _sc., _ Out of his idolatry, that pulled him as a brand out of Ur of the Chaldees. Jos 24:2-3 The Rabbis say t... [ Continue Reading ]
But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. Ver. 23. _The work of mine hands._] "Created in Christ Jesus unto good works"; Eph 2:10 and now sanctifying God's name in t... [ Continue Reading ]
They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine. Ver. 24. _They also that erred in spirit._] Erroneous opinions, and muttering against ministers, are here instanced as two special obstacles to effectual conversion. Those that relinquish not th... [ Continue Reading ]