Paraphrase Upon the Books of the Psalms, Book 4 · Psalm 104
The Hundred and Fourth Psalm.
The hundred and fourth Psalm is a most elegant pious meditation on the power and wisdome of God, in framing and preserving all the creatures in the world. 'Tis uncertain by whom it was composed, though in‖Greek, Latine, Syriack, Arabick, Aethiopick. some translations it hath Davids name in the inscription of it.
1. BLesse the Lord, O my soule: O Lord my God, thou art very great, thou art clothed with†glory and beauty, foreign honour and majesty;
Paraphrase. There is no more consonant imployment or exercise for the soule of man, who…e chief end and hope it is to come to the vision of God, then to ponder and meditate on his glorious essence and attributes, his power and providence or wisdome, the greatness and vastness of the one, and the infinite goodness and excellence of the other, such as cannot but be liked and admited by all that consider it. To which if I adde his grace and mercy, wherein he hath revealed himself to me, not onelyonly as a Lord and Prince of the whole creation, but withall as my most gratious God, and Father, and preserver, and Redeemer, I shall be obliged to acknowledge my selfe under innumerable ingagements to bless and magnify him with my very soule, and all the faculties thereof.
2. Who coverest thy selfe with light as with a garment, who stretchest out the heavens like aa. *tent.curtain;
He hath set up his throne and palace in the highest heavens, that place of the greatest splendor, which was at first all light, the chief work which is mentioned of the first dayes creation, Gen. i. 3. In this he afterwards on the fourth day placed those glorious luminaries, the Sun, Moon, and multitudes of Starrs, Gen. i. 14. and on that glorious spangled robe, the great Jehova seems to shroud himselfe from humane view; and whensoever he appears, or exhibites himselfe to his servants (being in himself an infinite spirit, and so invisible to the eye of flesh) he doth it in a bright shining cloud, a weak image of that immense splendor and glory, thereby to challenge that admiration and reverence which is most due to him. Then under that pure luminous body of the heavens, he framed on the second day the regions of the aire, Gen. i. 6. erected them as a spacious tent or Tabernacle or pavilion, expanded and extended round about, so as to incompass the earth, which was placed in the midst of that great globe, as the center of it, and by his secret power he hath ever since susteined it in this posture.
3. Who laieth the beams of his‖upper rooms b.chambers in the waters, who maketh the clouds his charet, who walketh upon the wings of thec. wind;
In the middle region of this element of aire he placed also vast receptacles of waters, Gen. i. 6. which he dispenseth to things below, as he sees convenient for them, and so also a multitude of clouds; and if at any time he will evidence his special presence, come down in judgment, or in mercy, among us men, those clouds are his high triumphant chariot, as it were, wherein he sits, and the wind as it were the wheels of that chariot, on which, as on the wings of Cherubims in the Arke, overshadowing the mercy-seat (i. e. by the ministry of Angels) he is pleased to descend toward us.
4. Who maketh his Angels†winds, see note c. spirits, his ministers a flaming fire;
For though he be able to doe all things by himself, to administer the whole world, as he first created it, by a word, by saying, and it was done, yet is he pleased to make use of the ministry of Angels, who some of them in subtile bodies of aire, others of fire, come down, and execute his commands here upon the earth.
5. Who*hath built the earth upon her bases foreign laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
As for the globe of the earth, which is incompassed with the regions of aire and celestial spheres, and hath no visible support to sustain so heavy a body, hanging in the midst of such an expansion, yet hath God setled and established it as firme as if it rested on the most solid basis or foundations, fitted so strange a place for it, that being an heavy body, one would think it should fall every minute, and yet which way soever we would imagine it to stirr, it must contrary to the nature of such a body fall upwards, and so can have no possible ruine but by tumbling into heaven. Thus hath God provided for its sustentation, and so shall it be sure to continue till the end of the world.
6. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment, the waters stood above the mountains.
7. At thy rebuke they fled, at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
At the first creation, the earth was covered all over, and as it were clothed with the great deep, that vast expansion of aire and waters; those that are now the highest mountains, were then all under that liquid element: But in the second day a division was made, and the Firmament placed betwixt the upper and lower waters, Gen. i. 7. And then as at Gods command v. 9. these inferior waters were all gathered together into one place, and dry land appeared, and in the cavities of the earth large roome was made for an Ocean of waters, and for many lesser streams and lakes, and so the earth became habitable by this means, and a bare word of God did all this; so the other portion of those waters were made to flote aloft in the aire, and when they are ready to discharge themselves, thereby to drown what is beneath them, at the blast of an unseen wind, as at a rebuke of Gods, they disperse and hide themselves, and at the voice of thunder which purifies the aire, they immediately vanish, and are so farr from overflowing the earth, which their posture seemed to threaten, that they are not discerned to be at all, save only to refresh us sometimes with their seasonable shours.
8. d.They‖climb the- foreign goe up by the mountains, they†fall down …n foreign goe down by the valleys, unto the place which thou hast*prepared, provided foreign founded for them.
This great body of waters being thus disposed, and withall the earth distributed into mountains and valleys, some parts much higher than the other, it pleased God that the water which was thus placed in the lower abysse or ocean, should by secret passages through the bowels of the earth, where it meets with an advantage to rise by, ascend farr above its level, and so break forth and spring in those mountains, and from thence tumble down into the valleys, and so again by a perpetual alternation return unto the Ocean;
9. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over, that they turne not again to cover the earth.
And being there inclosed, though it be perpetually tumultuous, foming and swelling and tossing it selfe, labouring to overswell and overflow them by its waves, and billows, and surges, daily threatening to recover its old position of incompassing the face of the whole earth, yet hath God set such boundaries and banks to it, and by his own power so wonderfully restrained it, and promised alwayes to do so, that it observes a regularity in its disorder, a temper in its madness, keeps still a just return of ebbing and flowing, seldome transgresses the known water-marks, and so frees us from all fear that it shall ever be able to prevail to drown the earth (see Jer. v. 22.)
10. He sendeth the springs into the‖brooks foreign valleys, which run†between foreign see note e. among the hills.
11. They give drink to every beast of the field, the wild Assese. quench their thirst.
12. By them shall the fouls of the aire have their habitations,f. which*send out their voice from between the b…ughs or leaves. sing among the branches.
But on the other side, the water thereof God dispenseth through veins of the earth, which sweetens and takes off all the brackishnes of it, and then pours it out in springs, and those fill the hollow or low places, set by him for receptacles of waters; and having from the hills, as they pass, still fresh supplies, they grow at length into deep and navigable rivers, from which all the wants of men and beasts and fouls of the aire (that feed on flyes and insects, and fishes generated there, and are sheltered with the thickets which that moisture plentifully produces, and fill the woods with variety of sounds) are sufficiently provided for.
13. He watereth the hills from his‖or upper rooms, see note b. chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
14. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattel, and herb for the service of men, that he may bring forth food out of the earth,
15. And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oile to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth mans heart.
As for those superior parts of the earth which are not thus furnished, the clouds are a store-house for them, and those God by his speciall care and providence empties out upon the earth, when he sees fit, and gives it its fill of moisture, whereby it is inabled to bring forth grass for the beasts, all manner of plants and grain for men, bread and wine and oile, all manner of provision both for necessity and delight, for daily food and festivities; all which are by this means demonstrated to be the special productions of Gods all-wise and gratious providence.
16. The trees of the Lord‖shall be satisfied foreign are full of sap, the Cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted;
17. Where the birds make their nests: as for the storke, theg. firr-trees are her house.
18. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for theh. conies.
And the same wise providence extends to the trees of the forrest, affords maintenance even to the tallest and goodliest of them, the Cedar and the Firr; and that in the most improbable soile, the tops of the barrenest mountains, never manured or planted by humane industry, in the midst of rock and flint, where no grass can grow to any height, and where 'tis hardly imaginable how the roots of such trees should fasten: This sure an act of no less then a divine power and wisdome, designed for some more then common end. The Cedars are of such excellent use for buildings, that they seem to have been planted and nourished by God on Lebanon on purpose for the most magnificent structure of the Temple; and both that and the firr-tree grow to a vast height, so as to secure the birds that build in them, as the tops of the steepest hills secure the goats (that have the peculiar faculty of climbing them, where no hunter can follow them) and as the holes in the rocks are a safe retreat for the rabbets, passing a mine and building themselves an house, where no crows of iron could make entry.
19. He appointed the moon for seasons, the sun knoweth his going down.
A special work of the same providence it is, that by the motion and influences of the moon, the fit seasons of husbandry and other humane actions are measured and directed, according to the different quarters thereof; on this depend the stationary returns of tides, the growth of plants, the increase and decrease of humours in the body even of man, and peculi…rly his brain, the seat of his understanding, is much concerned in it. In all which respects it is, that the sun, which hath so much to do in the governing and blessing every part of the world, doth not allwayes keep up in any horizon, but leaves some part of every natural day to that other luminary to manage.
20. Thou makest dark…ess, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forrest†tread or move, see note k. creep forth.
21. The young Lions*roaring for prey, and to seek foreign roar after their prey, and seek theiri. meat from God.
And as between these the day and the night are divided, so there are evidences of Gods wisdome in each of these, special uses for each. The darke of the night is usefull to beasts of prey, which are pursued by mankind, and are sain to keep in their holes and caverns all day, when if they should come abroad, they would much disturbe the quiet of men, but then by advantage of the darkness of night are inabled to ravage, and seed, and sustein themselves; and though the Lions for want both of swiftness and of sent be ill qualified to provide for themselves, yet hath divine providence taken care of them, directed them to make use of another creature which is swift, and of a quick sent, and that joyns in league with them, and having seised the prey, stands by, till they have filled themselves: A wonderfull dispensation, to which, and to the hand of God in it, they owe their food as discernibly as they would doe, if God in answer to their roaring, as by way of returne to our prayers, immediately powr'd down, or bestowed their food upon them.
22. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.
23. Man goeth forth to his work, and to his labour untill the evening.
And the day is more eminently usefull for other offices, the doing all the works incumbent on us, for the culture of the earth, &c. and for this a fair space is assigned from sun-rise till sun-set, all which space those beasts of prey lie close in their dens, to which they gather themselves in companies, though by the same providence it is ordered that they go not out in herds, (if they did there would be no resisting them) and thither they betake themselves at the same time that men rise to their labour, i. e. constantly every morning.
24. O Lord, how manifold are thy works? in wisdome hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches.
25. So is‖the sea, great and wide in space this great andk. wide sea, wherein arel. things†swimming creeping innumerable, both small and great*living creatures, see note k. beasts.
26. There go the ships, there is thatl. Leviathan, whom thou hast‖formed to scorn, or triumph, or contemne. made tom. play therein.
Thus hath God created and disposed not onelyonly these, but all things else, in all variety of excellencies; his wisdome and his bounty is seen in all things; and not onelyonly in the earthly part of the globe, but in the other as to appearance barren and destructive element, that most vast and spacious ocean, furnished with such a multitude of fishes of all sorts and sizes, usefull also to the benefit of men by navigation, and famous for the great sea-dragon, the whale, which is fortified against all force and art, so as to contemn all assaults of men.
27. These wait all upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
28. ‖Thou givest foreignThat thou givest them, they gather; thou openest thy hand, they are filled withn. good.
And for all these hath God made abundant provision of food, to support and refresh them when they stand in need of it, and that by wayes of his own wise dispensing, without any care or sollicitude of theirs, requiring no more of them than to partake of that festival entertainment which he hath prepared for them.
29. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
30. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created, and thou renewest the face of the earth.
And from him their very life, and all the joyes and comforts thereof every minute depend. The withdrawing his favour and benigne aspect and concurrence, and sustentation, is the cause of all their misery, of all the strokes and judgments that light upon any part of this lower world, and of their present death, and returne to the elements whereof they are compounded, when he sees fit to summon them. And as at first by his bare will and command, as by a breath and word of his mouth, all these were created out of nothing; so by the same omnipotent creative power and wise disposal, of his own meer will and pleasure, he continues the species of each by seed and succession, by which, as by a natural stock of supply to all that decayes and departs, he doth yearly and daily renew the world, and keep it up as full as if nothing ever perished in it, (an emblem of his future dealing with us men in the resurrection.)
31. The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever; the Lord shall rejoyce in his works.
This method and course of Gods, for the setting out and illustrating the glory of his infinite power and providence, shall thus last as long as this world continues; and as God in the first creation, had his rest and sabbath, took delight in his own work, lookt on it alltogether, and behold it was exceeding good; the same complacency hath he in the continuance, and managery of it ever since. (O let not us men be the only ungratefull part of his creation; let us for ever praise and glorify his name, transcribe that festival Sabbath of his, and returne him the tribute of our obedience and our most pious acknowledgments for these and all his abundant mercies, afford him that equitable content and delight, of not pouring out his benefits on such unworthy receivers as we men most frequently are, and as we shall be, if we live not in uniforme obedience, in all works of piety before him.)
32. He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth; he toucheth the hills, and they smoak.
And as his providence, so his sovereign power and dominion is continued over all the creatures in the world. As one breath or act of his will created all, so one look of his, one least expression of his displeasure, is enough to set the whole earth a trembling, and the loftiest parts of it, the mountains, a smoaking (and so to cast the stoutest proudest sinner into an agony of horror and dread. 'Tis a most formidable thing to fall into the hands of the living Lord. As the Law was given on Sinai with thundrings and lightnings and earthquakes; so shall our obedience be exacted of us, and our disobedience avenged in a most fearfull manner. And the foresight of all that may very reasonably charme us to all duty and observance.)
33. I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34. My meditationo. †shall be sweet to him.of him shall be sweet; I will be glad in the Lord.
On both these accounts every faithfull servant of his having a rational soule to apprehend, a spirit inflamed and enlightned to observe, and a tongue and voice to speak these wonders, will finde very frequent occasions of continuing to bless and praise his name as long as God allows them life and faculties to do it: They will take care to be constantly and diligently exercised in performing this most acceptable duty to him, and take more pleasure in it, than in all the most dilectible divertisements or transporting sensualities in the world, and never be fully cheated but in some exercises of piety or virtue, which they are assured is gratefull to him, and will be it selfe a reward to him that is thus exercised; and yet hath assurance of much more, God himself will be to all such their joy and gladness.
35. Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth,and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord O my soule. Praise ye the Lord.
As for those that will still stand out against his so just, so reasonable, so honorable, so joyous an imployment, and in spight of all conviction and obligation maintain their stubborn disobedience against the all-wise, all-powerfull, all-mercifull Creator, and force him to the exercise of his justice, they can look for nothing but perishing and utter destruction. O let my lot be among them that praise him here, and shall for ever praise him hereafter, I will therefore make hast to joyne with the blessed Saints and Angels in heaven, and now early beforehand practice that which I hope to chant out for ever, and end, as I began, by calling all men to joyne with me in an Hallelujah. Blessed be the name of the Lord now and to all eternity.
Annotations on Psalm CIIII.
V. 2. Curtain] What foreign foreignproperly signifies, will appear by Ex. xxxvi. there we finde ten foreign of fine twined linen— v. 8. and those being coupled one unto another became one Tabernacle, v. 13. Over these he made foreign of goats hair for the tent or covering over the Tabernacle. Here 'tis evident that both the sides of the tabernacle, such as we usually call curtains, and the top, which in a bed we call a Tester, in a tent the covering, were indifferently called foreign; which concludes it to be any expansum, whither of linen or skin, of which tents were wont to be made, and from thence the tent it selfe, which consisted of such. So 2 Sam. vii. 2. the Arke of God which was then in the Tabernacle or Tent, was said to dwell foreign, say the Lxxii. in the midst of the Tent or Tabernacle, as that is there opposed to an house of Cedar. So Cant. i. 5. the foreign of Solomon are to be understood by analogy with the tents of Kedar precedent, from which they differed as faire from black, those being plain and black, but Solomons (as all the rest of his furniture) sumptuous and magnificent, but still both of them of the same common nature of Tents, though one much finer than the other. From hence it is that Jer. iv. 20. dwellings are exprest as by tents, so by foreign, which the Chaldee there renders foreign my towns or cities. So that still the word signifies a Tent or Tabernacle, or the materials whereof such were made, which being ordinarily skins, the Lxxii. here render it foreign, the Latine pellem a skin, the Syriack and Chaldee reteining the Hebrew word. And being here applied to the heavens or body of the aire (which is oft exprest in the Scripture by this word foreign heavens) it must probably signify not the uppermost part of the tent, the tester or canopy only, but the whole tent, canopy and curtains both, for by that the aire which incompasses the earth is most fitly resembled, in respect of us here below, for whose use it is that God hath thus extended or stretcht it out. Agreeable to this it is that Gen. i. 6. the aire, which there divideth or separateth, (as foreign from foreign in Arabick is to separate as a curtain doth) betwixt the waters, is called foreign, which we render firmament, but coming from foreign expandit, is better rendred expansum, expansion, being thus extended over all the earth, as a tent about it; so that the earth is placed (as it was said of the Arke 2 Sam. vii.) foreign in the midst of a Tent or Tabernacle. This Tent God is said to stretch out, by his secret invisible virtue doing that which in Tents here below is wont to be done with cords.
V. 3. Chambers] foreign from foreign ascendit, signifies any upper room, to which they ascend. So 2 Sam. xviii. 32. he went up to foreign the chamber over the gate. Accordingly the Lxxii. here render it foreign an upper room, and the Latine superiora ejus, his upper stories. By foreign foreigntherefore must be meant, though not the supreme, yet the superior or middle region of the aire, which is here described as an upper story in an house, laid firme with beams (accounting the earth and the region of aire about that as the lower room) and this floor is here said poetically to be laid in the waters, those waters which Gen. 1. are above the expansum. This is most evident by v. 13. where God is said to water the mountains foreign from these his upper rooms, these clouds, whence the rain descends: the Chaldee calls them foreign the house of his superior treasuries, where plenty is stored up, and from whence it is rained down upon us. And so as v. 2. the highest heavens are in the first place set down, exprest by light covering God, (a luminous palace where he dwells especially, who is every where present, and next after that, the clement of aire, as a Tent or Tabernacle for the earth; so here in the third place we finde the waters, that part of them which remained in the middle region of the aire (when the lower region of the aire called foreign the expansion Gen. i. 6. divided the waters from the waters, the superior waters kept in the aire from the inferior which now fill the Ocean) in which, saith the Psalmist, the beams of these upper room were laid; (see note a. on Psalm cxlviii.) i. e. whereas in the building of an upper story, there must be some walls or pillars to support the weight of it, and on that the beams are laid, God here by his own miraculous immediate power laid, and ever since supported these upper rooms, there being nothing there but waters to support them, and those, we know, the most fluid tottering body, not able to support it selfe: and therefore that is another work of his divine power, that the waters, which are so fluid, and unable to contein themselves within their own bounds, should yet hang in the middle of the aire, and be as walls or pillars to support that region of aire, which is it selfe another fluid body.
Ibid. Wind] What foreign,foreign which sometimes signifies spirit, sometimes wind, which is nothing but aire moved, is set to import here, might be somewhat uncertain, were it not for the next verse, where 'tis said of the Angels, He maketh his Angels foreign, and his ministers a flaming fire, (which the Apostle Heb. i. 7. expresly expounds of the Angels.) There as Angels & ministers are but several names of the same divine creatures, so foreign and fire are but expressions of the several appearances of them, sometimes in aiery, sometimes in flaming clouds. In this part of v. 3. Is described the use of clouds for Gods appearing to us here below, exprest by mention of his chariot and wa…king. He is we know an infinite Spirit, and so invisible to any material, created, finite faculty; yet he is said to come down to us to presentiate and exhibite himself to us at some times more than others, then especially when the Angels, who are the attendants and officers of his Court, the satellitium or guard that wait upon him,†Boeth. mentemque profundam circumeunt, and incompass this profound minde (as the Platonists styled God) do visibly appear unto us. And these again being in their own nature either spiritual, and so invisible substances, or else, if bodies, of a most subtile, indiscernible nature, are wont (when they purpose to appear) to come in clouds, either aery, or (that aire being ascended) fiery and flaming. In which respect that aery or fiery cloud, when it is in motion especially, is fitly resembled to an Eagle with wings, in which those Angels descend, and overshadow first, then perhaps light on us, as an Eagle, or Dove doth first hover over, then light on any thing, and then God is agreeably said to come, or fly, or walk on those wings of the wind, or moved aire, or white cloud, i. e. to be eminently present, where the Angels thus appear. From hence therefore it may be resolved that as foreign foreignin the plural in the next verse are the winds, i. e. agitated aire, or clouds, wherein the Angels appear, and those defined (by their opposition to flaming fire) to be clouds of pure aire, white not fiery clouds; so the foreign here is the generical word, belonging to both those sorts of clouds, which the Angels make use of to descend and appear in, and those clouds of such a breadth, as to resemble the wings of an Eagle or great bird: and then God who makes the clouds his chariot, his vehiculum to bring him down, may fitly be said to walk on these wings toward us. Thus Psal. xviii. 10. God's riding on the Cherub, is again exprest by flying on the wings of foreign which we there also render the wind. There the Angels are sure meant by the Cherub, and those (as in the Arke) pictured with wings. Now in the Arke the wings of the Cherubim were so placed one toward the other, that they made over the Propitiatory a kinde of Seat, and that was looked on as the seat of God; and accordingly the foreign or spirit, there and here, on whose wings God is said to fly there, and walk here, must be those agitated clouds, whereby, as with wings, the Angels fly down to us; and so God is said to walk, or be present on them. This makes it necessary to render foreign in the same sense in both verses, and that (according to the original notion of it) aire, or wind, which are exactly all one, save that the latter intimates motion, and so is the fitter to express these clouds by which the Angels descend, most frequently with some incitation, foreign, a violent rushing blast, Act. ii. 2. Aben Ezra and Kimchi in this fourth verse are willing to take the word foreign winds in the genuine notion, and Angels in a metaphorical, interpreting it by Psal. cxlviii. 8. wind and storme fulfilling his word, where the wind is described as a kinde of minister, and so Angel of God. But the Apostle Heb. i. 7. expresly applying the words of this fourth verse to the Angels, obligeth us thus to interpret them.
V. 8. They goe up by the mountains—] It is not here certain whether foreign foreignmountains, and foreign foreignvalleys or plains, be to be read as in the nominative, or as in the accusative case. If they be in the nominative, then we must read as in a parenthesis (the mountains ascend, the plains or valleys sink down) joyning the end of the verse, unto the place— to hast away, v. 7. thus, The waters once stood above the mountains, those places which now are such, but at the uttering Gods voice, they fled and hasted away (the mountains ascending, and the valleys descending) unto the place which thou hast prepared for them. Thus the Lxxii. and Latine understood it, foreign, ascendunt montes, & descendunt campi, the mountains ascend, and the plains descend, referring to the change that was made in the earth, from being perfectly round and incompassed with waters, into that inequality wherein now it is, great mountains in some parts, and great cavities in other parts, wherein the waters were disposed, which before covered the face of the earth. But they may be more probably in the accusative case, and then foreign foreignthe waters v. 6. which were understood v. 7. though not mentioned (for it was the waters that there fled and hasted away) must be here continued also, viz. that the waters foreign foreignascend or climbe the mountains, and foreign descend or fall down upon the valleys or fissures, or hollow places, ditches and the like receptacles of waters (for so foreign now signifies among the Rabbins.) And this sense the Chaldee follow, they ascend from the abysse foreign to the mountains, and they descend foreign into the valleys, to the place— And this is the clearest exposition of it, rendring an account of the course of waters, since the gathering them together in the Ocean, that from thence they are by the power of God directed to pass through subterranean meatus to the uppermost parts of the earth, the hills and mountains, where they break forth in springs, and then by their natural weight descend, and either finde or make channels, by which they run into the Ocean again, that foreign foreignplace which God hath hewed out as a receptacle for them; and by their thus passing they are profitable for the use of men, in watering the cattel, and the fruits that grow on the earth, v. 10. &c.
V. 11. Quench] foreign foreignfrom foreign to break, and applied to hunger, or (as here) to thirst, must signify to allay, or quench, to debilitate, and take off the keenness of the appetite. The phrase is communicated to other languages, and is usual among us, who take breaking of fast, for eating. The Lxxii. here read foreign, they expect or wait for their thirst; and so the Latine, expectabunt, reading no doubt foreign foreignfrom foreign with ש (not ש) which signifies to expect or wait: so v. 27. all these wait on thee foreign, the Lxxii. there, as here, read, foreign expect. So Psal. cxlv. 15. the eyes of all foreign waite on thee. But (as the Chaldee, so) the Syriack assures us of the other reading of it, who render it foreign are filled or satisfied, when they thirst. This is here peculiarly remarkt of the asses in the dry remote and sandy deserts, which though a dull and stupid creature, are by providence taught the way to the waters, and there is no such way for the thirsty travailer, as to observe the herds of them descending to the streams.
V. 12. Sing] The word foreign foreignis not elsewhere used in the Bible, but onelyonly in the Chaldee Dan. iv. 12, 14, 21. There 'tis interpreted by the Lxxii. foreign leaves, as here by the Chaldee foreign boughs or leavs (from foreign being moved or shaken) because the boughs or leaves are agitated by the wind. There it is distinguished from foreign branches, which are there exprest by another word, foreign his branches. It is therefore most reasonable to render it here either boughs or leaves, and foreign foreignmust be in strict rendring from between (so foreign foreignmust be rendred v. 10. not among but between, foreign say the Lxxii. to denote the hollow receptacles for waters betwixt the hills, or risings of the ground on both sides.) From between these boughs or leaves then the foules of the aire foreign foreignsend out their voice, not by singing only (for that is peculiar to few) but by making any noise that is proper to them. It is here hard to divine upon what ground, or by what understanding of the word, the Lxxii. should render it foreign rocks, and yet the Latine follow them in the reading, and the Syriack by foreign mountains, or rocks, seem to consent to them, the context inclining it to the notion of boughs or leaves, and the use of the word in Daniel confirming it. 'Tis possible they might apply it to the springs praecedent, v. 10. which coming out of rocks or mines, they might think those rocks poetically exprest by branches of those springs. But it is most probable that for foreign they read foreign, and so render it rocks, for so we know Cepha signifies.
V. 17. Firr-trees] For foreign foreignfirr-trees, so understood both by the Chaldee and Syriack, the Lxxii. read foreign is the captain of them, the Latine, dux est eorum, reading, 'tis probable, foreign in the head of them.
V. 18. Coneys] For foreign foreignrabbets or coneys (so used Lev. xi. 5. Deut. xiv. 7.) some copies of the Lxxii. now read foreign hedghoggs, others foreign hares, and the Latine follows the former, reading herinaceis hedghoggs; and that most probably is the right reading of the Lxxii. because both in Leviticus and Deuteronomy they so render foreign. That the word cannot signify hares, is certain both from Deut. xiv. 7. where foreign the hare is set down distinct from it, and from the context here, which makes the rocks their refuge, as to coneys they are, but not to hares: and the same prejudice lies against the other; and therefore the Chaldee render it foreign coneys, and so Abu Walid, saying, 'tis a creature not so common in the East, but in the Western parts frequent, and call'd foreign, Alconilie, the corruption of Cuniculi; and so the Jewish Arab, foreign to the Coneys; and the Syriack foreign (not as the Latine translator Leporibus, but) to coneys.
V. 21. Meat from God] What is here said of the Lions peculiarly,foreign that they roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God, may be illustrated by what is observed of those creatures, that to their great strength, and greediness, and rapacity, they are not proportionably provided with swiftness of body to pursue those beasts in the desert on which they prey, nor yet so quick-sented, as to be able to follow and trace them to their places of repose. It hath therefore been necessary to the providing for these, that some supply should be made to these defects by some other way. And it hath been affirmed by some, that their very roaring is usefull to them for this end, and that when they cannot overtake their prey, they do by that fierce noise so astonish and amate the poor beasts, that they fall down before them. But it is more credible, what is reported of the Jackales, a sort of larger foxes, that being provided of those abilities which the Lion wants, is joyned to him, first by interest (as wanting that strength which the Lion hath) but more by the great Law of Nature, into a league and strict confederacy, and so constantly hunts for the Lion, and when he hath seized the prey, stands by, till the Lion hath sufficiently gorged himself, and then contents himself with the remainder. If this have that truth, which it professes to have, it gives a clear account both of the phrase of roaring after the prey, and of seeking it from God: of roaring, as being able to doe nothing else toward the getting it, but only thus to frighten the hearers, and express his own hunger and want, in which respects the Devil, in seeking whom he may devour, is exprest in this style of a roaring Lion, 1. as very greedy of his prey, 2. very unable to get it, unless we voluntarily yield to his loud noises, beside which he hath no other means to prevail upon us, and if we resist or not give our consent to his temptations, we have conquered, and he, as worsted, will fly from us. Of his seeking his meat from God, who by this extraordinary dispensation bestows it on him, as it were in answer to his call, the roaring here being proportionable to the crying, or gaping of the young Ravens, Psal. cxlvii. 9. and so this, as that, interpreted to be a natural way of calling on God, which he that relieves the destitute, obliges himself to answer.
V. 25. Wide sea] One Epithet of the sea here is, that 'tis foreign,foreign which the Latine renders spaciosum manibus, wide in hands, by hands signifying the extent of the branches thereof both wayes, on this side and on that side; but the Chaldee foreign wide or spacious in the bounds; the Jewish Arab, wide of banks, or shores; and the Lxxii. very properly foreign of wide extent. The Syriack reteins the Hebrew, foreign from foreign which as it signifies hand; so it is used also for space or place, because those are wont to be distinguished by the right and left hand. So Deut. xxiii. 12. foreign and thou shalt have a place without the camp, where the Lxxii. read foreign place. So 2 Sam. viii. 3. foreign his place, we render his border; and so many times more in the Old Testament.
Ibid. Things creeping] foreign foreign(from foreign to tread or goe) signifies any kinde of incessus or motion, whether on the earth or water, and must be rendred as the context directs it. v. 20. 'tis used of the beasts of the forrest, foreign,foreign and then must be interpreted not creep, but goe, or move, or walke; and here being applyed to the fishes of the sea, it must be rendred swimming; and so Gen. i. 21. where in the waters God is said to bring forth whales and every living soule foreign that moves as things move in the waters, i. e. that swims. In proportion wherewith the foreign foreignthat follows, are not to be rendred beasts (which we use not to apply to fishes) but by some more general word or phrase, living creatures, which is exactly answerable both to the original foreign from foreign vixit, and the Greek foreign.
V. 26. Leviathan] Of Leviathan, the Whale,foreign or vast bulk of fish, we have a large description Job xli. 1. &c. The summe of it is, that he is of too great a size to be taken with hooks and lines, as other fishes are, to be brought to hand, or managed, as beasts of the land oft are, and so made usefull and serviceable either to our sports or business, to be slaughtered for food, and either eaten or sold, as others, or any wayes to be assaulted and taken. He is so fortified by nature, that there is little hope to combate with him, and prevail; consequently all care and sollicitude is removed from him, as long as he hath his guide, the foreign or Musculus, by whose conduct he steers, but being deprived of that (which 'tis the fishers first designe to procure) he runs himself a ground, and so perisheth. And this may give us the notion of foreign foreignhere, which is applied to Leviathan. The word signifies to deride, scoff, or contemn, and is applied to God Psal. ii. 4. speaking of the oppositions and tumults of the people, He that sitteth in heaven foreign foreignshall laugh at them, contemne them, as those that are not able to doe any thing against him. So Job xxxix. 7. foreign he shall laugh at the tumult of the city; and in the description of Leviathan ch. xli. 29. foreign and he shall laugh at the shaking of the sphear, i. e. contemn all the weapons that can be brought against him. And this certainly is the meaning of it in this place, that the Whale is so fortified with his scales, which are so near one to another, that no aire can come betwixt them, they are so joyned and stick together, that they cannot be sundred, Job xli. 16, 17. (and from thence the word Leviathan seems to be fetcht, from foreign to be joyned and stick fast together) that he scorns and laughs at, and triumphs over all opposition or assaults which can be made upon him in the sea. The Lxxii. well render it foreign, to mock, or scoff, or laugh at.
V. 28. Good] foreign foreignhath the notion of goodness onelyonly, not of benignity also; which we accordingly in vulgar style call Bounty or Bonity. The Lxxii. here read foreign benignity, and other copies foreign fatness: and it is here applied to the great plenty that God provides for all creatures, even to saturity (so foreign foreignsignifies) a kinde of festival diet, according to the notion of foreign a good day, i. e. a festival. The word is also used sometimes to signify a great degree, as when in our language we use a good deal, for a great deal, and well done, for throughly done; and so the Lxxii. oft renders it foreign very much, and foreign exactly; and so here foreign may signify well i. e. plentifully filled, and that returns to the same sense.
V. 34. Of him] It may be thought dubious whether foreign foreignto, or on him, belongs to the meditation, or the sweet. If to the first, then our English is right, My meditation of, or on, him shall be sweet, viz. to him that meditates; and to that the consequents well accord, I will be glad, (which is an effect of sweetness in him to whom it is such.) But all the antients joyne in the second way of understanding it, My meditation shall be sweet to him, or, as the Jewish Arab, foreign with him, according to that of the Psalmist Psal. xix. 14. Let the meditation of my heart be allwayes acceptable in thy sight. Thus the Chaldee here foreign before him, the Lxxii. foreign, Let it be sweet to him, the Syriack foreign to him, and so the others also. And so foreign signifies to, as well as on.