_GOD IS TO BE SOUGHT UNTO, AND NOT IDOLS. AS HE VISITED HIS PEOPLE FOR SIN, SO HE WILL SAVE AND RESTORE THEM, WHEN PENITENT._ _Before Christ 517._ THIS chapter is a continuation of the prophesy begun in the preceding one, and goes on with a representation of the future prosperities of Judah and I... [ Continue Reading ]
ASK YE OF THE LORD, &C.— _They asked of the Lord,_ &c. _so the Lord gave them thunders and large showers, and every one had a green and flourishing field._ This verse certainly ought not to have been separated from the foregoing, as it accounts for the joyous and plentiful harvests there spoken of,... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOATS— This should be rendered _the he-goats,_ the chiefs and leaders of the flock, metaphorically put for the principal persons in a state. See Jeremiah 50:8; Jeremiah 50:46. _AGAINST THE SHEPHERDS_— Or, the wicked priests, who purchased the priesthood for money. The next clause may be rendere... [ Continue Reading ]
OUT OF HIM— _Out of it:_ that is, out of the house of Judah. _THE CORNER_— Or, _chief._ A community is often represented as an edifice or building; and the corresponding parts expressed by the same name. Hence as the largest stones or timbers are used in the angles to bind together and strengthen t... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH TREAD DOWN, &C.— _Treading down the mire of the streets in battle, when they fight; because,_ &c. _THE RIDERS ON HORSES_— The people of Gog and Magog are said to be riders on horses, Ezekiel 38:15. See ch. Zechariah 12:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL HISS FOR THEM— _I will whistle for them,_ or _give them the signal._... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL SOW THEM, &C.— _When or though I have dispersed them among the nations, yet shall they remember me in far countries; and their children shall live and shall return._ Houbigant. All this pertains to the last restoration of the Jews, which is adumbrated by the return of the Israelites from... [ Continue Reading ]
AND PLACE SHALL NOT BE FOUND FOR THEM— _And it shall not suffice them._ Houbigant.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SHALL PASS, &C.— Some render these words, _And when they shall be in straits_ or _under difficulties, in passing over the sea,_ or _river_ [_Euphrates_]; then they shall smite the waves in Euphrates, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up. REFLECTIONS.—1st, God is now returning in mercy... [ Continue Reading ]